#this is where i am now soooo give me a follow if you want? cool. cool.

[dulcewrites]

Fool Me Once (part 5)

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x reader (Aegon ii x reader 👀) (wc: 6k)

Summary: As the further truths are uncovered, the battle for the Iron Throne begins

A/N: soooo, I said part 5 would be the last part, but in typical annoying writer fashion I’m not so sure now 😭. Either way, I truly cannot express how grateful I am for all the followers, and support I have received since starting it. I consider fmo my brain child but our baby with how interactive people have been. I’d love to get feedback or request on what hotd stuff you guys want to see from me. My inbox is always open so please let me know how you liked fmo (any thoughts or headcanons) and what you want to see 🫶🏽

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“We should run away to Yi-Ti.”

You look up from Aemond’s desk at Aegon with an exasperated expression. It was not the first time Aegon had thrown out the idea of leaving King’s Landing for good. There always an idealistic nature about Aegon that is as sweet as it is delusional. You know the guilt he would feel about leaving, and he knows you would too.

I have a dragon we can who can drop us anywhere. I can shave my head and we can change our identities

“You are supposed to help me be looking for this map,” Not bothering to give the same speech you tell him every time he brings it up.

Gently placing everything where you found it, you squat down to check the cabinets of the desk. Aemond kept his study annoyingly tidy, and you are sure we would notice if anything were out of place. The last thing you need is another argument.

There are multiple books, all of them relating to Westerosi histories, and a plethora of written works of poetry. Nothing stands out till you find a pile of letters. Your throat tightens. It shouldn’t hurt anymore, but now the situation has moved past just Aemond wanting to be with someone else. It affects your kids, your relationship with everyone in the family.

You are just tired, and you just want it end. Or at least to have some sort of closure through an explanation or an apology. You are not holding your breath for the later.

With a sigh, you sit, slumped against the wall. Across from the desk. Noticing you are out of his view, Aegon walks around the desk and sits next to you. The two of you sit in silence before Aegon speaks.

“We can skip dinner,” he suggests softly. “I am sure our absence will not be noticed.”

It is a lie. You both know that if you do not show up, you will be in for an earful from Alicent. Especially now that Viserys has finally worked up the strength to leave his chambers. Aegon reaches over to grab your hand. You look at the large ring on his pinkie finger. The golden scales an ode to Sunfyre. Even with all the problems Aegon has with family, he has always fully embraced his dragon. A bond you have never seen before between rider and dragon. You run your hand over the cool metal.

“You know, despite my hesitance towards dragons, sometimes I am envious of you guys for having them.” you laugh flatly. “It is not even the beasts themselves, but everything they represent. This strange strength that means you are better than everyone else. A free pass for destruction.”

The past year and a half had been a sobering one. You feel so disconnected from yourself. Depleted by actions outside of your control.

“But then I think maybe it is good I do not have a dragon; or more so I do not have the power that comes along with it. I have spent my whole life doing exactly what I was supposed to, just to still get dealt a hand of misfortune,” you murmur emotionless. “I fear that there was tiny seed of hate put in me when I first found out about Aemond’s actions, and that everything that has happened since has only made me more bitter and revengeful. I was told that fighting wrong doings with more destruction was never the answer. I do not know how much I believe that now.”

You look over at Aegon with an illegible look in your eyes. “I would go mad with the things I would do with that kind of power.”

Aegon swallows thickly. Honestly, his first instinct is to make a joke. You, the girl who got teary eyed when she learned about the field of sheep kept in the Red Keep for the dragons, speaking with such gravity. But his eyes travel to the faded scar on your arm and back up to you. The harm done to yourself, grief-stricken eyes, and tired frown. He’s only seen that type of look on his mother. The most persistent person he has ever known, and probably will ever know. She wakes up every day to tend to a man that has never done right by her and run a kingdom she did not want in the first place. There is a simmering type hate in your eyes that he is sure only comes from being around his family for too long.

He wonders if this is how his mother felt when she had him. Young, exhausted, and utterly pissed.

“You are not the only one who feels that way,” he softly. “But - you cannot let it get the best of you. Once you get in that place, it is hard to get out.”

You know he speaks from experience. Resentment leaves a bad taste in the mouth of those who feel like life has let them down.

You want to say that another worry is what will happen if you ever find equal footing with the men in your life. Would the spell wear off you were a flight risk? Would you be seen as a volatile powder keg if not a maiden to come to the defense of? Would you be seen as the prize in his eyes if you were not in the position you ate in? In that moment, you think you should tell him about what you let his grandsire do. If anyone would understand, it would be Aegon. Instead, you lean your head against his shoulder.

You do not have the words for that just yet.

————

The search for the map in Aemond’s study goes unsuccessful. You decide to change tactics. There is a slight uneasiness you get digging through his things in the chambers. Soft whiff of lavender and citrus hit you nose as you look through folded clothes of his. You heart rate spikes when you see a scroll of thin parchment. Looking back to check the door, you then unroll the paper.

There is various lines and arrows, but the words are all in high Valyrian. You have picked up and word here and there since being in the Red Keep, but not well enough translate every word. Instead, you follow the arrows. Walking around the room in a way you are sure would look silly to someone if they walked in.

You find yourself in front of the small outline wall next to your clothing wardrobe. Blinking blankly at the wall, you frown. You run your fingers gently across the fabric on the wall. The deep red and gold stitching smooth under your hands. You push harder than intended and gasp when the wall swings open.

In front of you are stairs that lead down a pathway. A tunnel. You do not venture too far, but you see where the path is leading to. Daemon had given Aemond a direct line to outside the Red Keep. And a direct line for anyone to come in.

But why?

As you walk down the tunnel, something shiny catches your eye on ground. You pick up a single earring. A gold plaited coin earring. It is oddly familiar, but you cannot seem to put your finger on who it belongs to.

All you do know is that someone has been using the tunnel recently.

A part of you wanted to storm through the castle and find Aemond. Have him explain what the Seven Hells has been going on. Or if he even used the tunnels. But you surprise yourself when you knock on the Hand’s study door. Perhaps he is not the best person to go to in this state. You know it is not comfort you will find. But for all his faults, Otto Hightower will tell you want you need to hear or at least you will have his ear.

You are now not naive to how much Lord Hightower seems to want to keep you around.

After it was decided Aemond and you were to get married, you were not clueless enough not see the clear advantages not only for you house, but also for his. Your only naive thought being the mutual benefit would keep you safe or protected.

When you walk into the study, you find Otto sitting at his desk, staring out of the window. You know Viserys’ surprise appearance at the petition hearings rattled him as much as it pleased Rhaenyra and her family. You do not know where to begin or what you are even expecting of this conversation.

“Did you know about the tunnels,” you blurt suddenly. “The ones that run under the castle.”

In typical Otto fashion, his face does not give anything away. But he does shake his head, and gestures for you to continue.

“I…. I think Prince Daemon may have had something to do with my… problem.”

That makes Otto lean forward in his seat, the mention of Daemon clearly stirring something in him. You aren’t ready to put anything on Princess Rhaenyra yet. Partly because you are still wonder where her limits are opposed to seeing exactly how Daemon operates. And because just saw what happens when you question Rhaenyra, even if you have proof or a valid criticism.

“And if they had something to do with her, I cannot help but wonder if they had something to do with what happened to Alaric’s blanket,” you still shudder thinking about it.

You already had a deep sense of guilt since giving Otto the go ahead to find Alys. Taking a life is not something you want on your hand and conscious, and it only doubles knowing how this all could have been a perfectly plotted scheme. Your anger at your husband reaches a new level. Whether Alys was the shiny poisoned apple or a woman in love that has gone rouge, this still involves your kids.

“It seems your family’s influence is something many have noticed,” Otto finally speaks, voice gravely and tone even.

Your brows furrow. “They think threatening my son is going to make me tell my parents or uncle to back Rhaenyra’s claim?”

Your grandsire was an old man by the time Rhaenyra was named heir; your uncle took over for your house shortly after that time. And your uncle was just as thrilled as your parents when you married Aemond, clearly excited to have familiar ties to the Targaryen family. Now that you thought about it, you had never asked him where he stood when it comes to Rhaenyra being heir. But based on knowing how your family acquired their wealth and how they operate, they have never been ones to stray from tradition. Despite your grandsire bending the knee to Rhaenyra, you get the feeling everything is up the air especially with you being the good sister to the other possible claim.

“No, dear girl,” Otto sighs, eyes growing tired. “But I am sure they think you feeling unsafe here and having no love for your husband’s actions will.”

Your mind goes back to Rhaenyra’s offer. You are always welcomed at Dragonstone.

They hoped you would seek refuge in them, and in turn feel compelled to drop any allegiance you have to this side of the family. Did they know about how close you had grown to Aegon or to Helaena? Or that even through this turbulent time, you still find yourself having a soft spot for Alicent. You are sure they would reassure your safety if you ever switched side, but you know your safety was not a priority to them. Only the men or ships that would come with it.

“I am not shocked Daemon would go to such lengths, if true,” Otto says. “I would say I am shocked Rhaenyra would go along with it, but the Princess has always found a way to involve herself in things while feign innocence.”

His words make you raise a brow. You never knew if the Hand’s anger towards the Princess came from how she treated Alicent or his grandchildren, or if it came from the pressure he felt to get Aegon on the throne. Perhaps it is Alicent, even all this time and animosity, still craving a relationship with Rhaenyra that eats him up the most.

“You do not need to worry about that. Everything will be put to rest once the rightful heir is put on the throne, and any possible threats have been ridden,” his tone turns stern. You scoff sardonically in response. This is never going to end till there is a clear winner, and win to means there was a fight. War. That would only start if…

“The Queen would never let you do that. Usurp the throne or kill Rhaenyra,” you say immediately. Otto eyes narrow; the tell. It will always be Rhaenyra for his daughter, and it burns him inside. But that can be used in your favor. “Not unless she had more reason to. Rhaenyra could be a good queen for all we know, but her brazenness will always be her pitfall. Now she has Daemon at her side. Spilled blood is clearly not something he is worried about.”

You sit back in your chair and think for a second. Entitlement is like a dangerous herbal, and many members of this family get off on it.

“If you want Aegon on the throne, it may be best to take your time with this. Give Rhaenyra the chance to do what you think she does best… mess it up.”

By the time the power struggle between Rhaenyra and Daemon finally comes to fruition, maybe Aegon think differently. Your mind goes to Aemond, stewing silently about how his brother manages to get everything handed to him. You bite back a smile. Is a miserable existence to always be in the cards for him? If being with you is so terrible to him, maybe that is exactly what he deserves.

“I think I know how to start this off.”

———

You leave Otto’s study, but not before he leaves you with a long, meaningful glance and tells you he needs to discuss somethings with others. You assume it is the council, but you have a feeling his daughter is not privy to that.

The next time you see everyone is at dinner. Your eyes strained on the empty plate in front of you. A sick feeling coming over you every time you look down the table at Daemon and Rhaenyra. A large gap for the king between Rhaenyra and Alicent.

There is something unsettling about how everyone seems to think what happened in the Grand Hall was nothing. You all saw a man beheaded, and now are to sit down to a "family meal" at the behest of the King. The only mention of Vaemond comes in a prayer from Alicent; you catch the eyeroll given by Daemon. The lives of others are expendable if it prolongs or prompts up whatever claim is being fought for.

False promises do nothing to move you while that is all that makes up the Targaryen family. False promises to make up for future deceit. The gull of Viserys to plea for peace when many the broken relationships in the family can be tied to him. Tied to his indecisive, feeble reign as a king. The King That Never Should Have Been perhaps.

A sick sense of irony rushes over you watching his rioting body and empty eye socket while sitting next to Aemond. You have learned that the Gods can be deliciously cruel.

The crown not stand strong is the House of the Dragon remains divided

It’s all flowery words that seem to go in one ear and out the other for your peers. You can tell by the way Aegon’s eyes gloss over, Helaena brows burrow as she fiddles with whatever butterfly Aegon gave her, and how Aemond’s back stiffens that this final push for family unity comes too late. But it seems that all the older adults in the room are moved by the Viserys' speech, or at least Alicent and Rhaenyra are.

You and Otto, sitting across from each other, share a look when Alicent says that Rhaenyra would make a fine queen. The Queen and Princess exchange shy smiles and peripheral glances; for a moment, they look like young girls, untarnished by the world around them.

Your eyes catch Jacaerys’, and he gives you a warm smile. You try to replicate it to the best of your ability. None of Rhaenyra or Daemon’s children have done anything to make you suspicious of them, especially Baela and Rhaena. But you do notice how Lucerys never seems to look you in the eyes. You are still trying to figure out if that is a byproduct of you being Aemond’s wife or if he is privy to information.

When you were receiving offers for your hand, Jacaerys’ name had come up by members of your house but was instantly shut down by your parents. Though the idea of you being future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms was tempting, but they did want to risk the embarrassment of the worst kept secret being spoken. Marrying a bastard was not the vision they had for you, Queen or not.

But when the music behinds, you do get an idea.

“I going to dance,” you whisper to Aemond.

“You know I do not like dancing,” Aemond sighs, and Aegon gives you a look at the corner of his eye. You roll your eyes at him. You remember the lecture his mother had to give him before the wedding festivities about being a good sport, and dancing with you.

“I never said I wanted to dance with you,” you hiss at him, and get up. You feel Aemond and Aegon watching you as you walk to Jace.

“I was wondering if we could dance,” you hold your hand out. Eyes going from Jace to Baela. “If your betrothed is fine with it of course.”

Baela gives you a good-natured shrug and smile. Jace looks surprised by your offer, but nonetheless grabs your hand and leads you to the free area near the table. You turn back briefly to see Aegon and Aemond look at you with mirrored looks of disbelief and disgust. You have duck your head to keep from laughing.

“I have to warn you I am not much of dancer,” Jace smiles as you begin to dance. “But I am sure I cannot be any worse than my uncle.”

You raise a brow at the comment but say nothing. While you are dancing, you see Viserys get carried out. The fact that he has lived to this point is a marvel… and a confusion. He refuses to go away.

“I do hope after that all of this, our families can see each other more often,” he lowers his voice slightly. The sentence seemed sincere enough, but he has also grown up having pretend half of him does not exist. If it is something Alicent and Rhaenyra’s children have in common, it is knowing when to put on a front. They learned it beautifully from their mothers. “I am sure Daella would appreciate seeing Dragonstone. And the girls would love you around.”

There is that mention of Dragonstone again. Before you can even reply, a commotion disturbs you. You turn to see Aemond standing with a drink in his hand.

“I want to make some final tributes,” a small smirk comes onto his face, and his eye flicks over to you. “First, to my dear wife. A gracious mother, and always keeps me on my toes.”

Your face gets hot when everyone’s eyes turn to you. Alicent looks at her son with a nervous look in her big eyes, confused by his sudden need to speak after a dinner of silence.

“And to health of my nephews - Jace, Luke, and Joffrey,” a sinking feeling comes into your stomach. There’s a glint in Aemond’s eye that you recognize all too well, and know not to trust. You see Jace’s shoulders tense at the mention of him and his brothers. “Each of them handsome, wise…. Strong.”

Your throat tightens. Even putting aside, the absolute irony of that coming from him now, you all just saw what happened to someone who questions the parentage of them. And now he is doing here in front of everyone.

“Aemond,” you begin, not even caring to use formalities with him. He cuts you off and continues.

“Come, let us drain our cups to the three Strong boys.”

And of course, to make matters worse, Aegon confidently raises his goblet in the air. They’re imbeciles. Everything seems to happen in slow motion - Jace punching Aemond, Aemond pushing Jace with ease, to out of the corner of your eye, Aegon slamming Luke’s face into the table. You wince at the scene before you as Helaena gets up to move you out of the way of the guards restraining Jace and Luke.

Alicent and Rhaenyra both get up from the table, yelling at their boys to stop. You take notice of the roasted pig on the table; you had heard about the pink dread prank from Helaena. It was never something you pushed with Aemond or Aegon, knowing it led to a large rift in their relationship. You know they love each other; you can tell by the way they backed each other up that they do. They just do not have the words to express their love, or their pain.

A dinner that was meant to bring everyone together ruined. There will probably always be too much bad blood, and not enough honest or apologies for reconciliation. Before Daemon leaves the room after staring Aemond down, he gives you a smile filled with mirth. A chill runs up your spine.

You watch as Alicent all but walks up to Rhaenyra, eyes soft and pleading. She gently rubs her arm as they smile at each other.

With the dinner going wrong, Aemond stalking out of the room, and learning about the map - everything seems to be put into perspective. As you watch your good mother, you wonder if that is how you will be with Aemond. Always waiting and ready for reconciliation, even despite mistreatment. Foolishly dismissive to how you can be hurt again if it means just moments of reprieve. Or maybe a better comparison would be Rhaenyra and Daemon. Knowing exactly what situation you got into, but still finding yourself wanting more because you thought you would be the exception. Both scenarios mean being in a constant loop of love and hate, praying for the day you reach apathy.

Rhaenyra seems to share Alicent’s warm disposition. Everything is warm and lovely when Rhaenyra smile. She is the Realm’s Delight for a reason. Even with the little time you have spent around Rhaenyra, you see how she operates. It is the way all Targaryens are treat her like the world revolves around her, and she’s yours. Entitlement and confidence used to mask a hallow shell, a trait she shares with her husband.

The possible reconnection of old companions would be a sweet affair. Instead, you finally get the complaining Aegon does about his half-sister. To hear the praises of those who have little regard for you.

Daemon giving Aemond the map, Alys introduction into your life, Rhaenyra telling you Dragonstone will always be a place you can go, and your families ties to this family are all connected. The same way your marriage to Aemond was always leading to something.

It was always a question you pondered since coming to the Red Keep. Does the Iron Throne corrupt those who vie for it or do those who vie for it corrupt the Crown itself?

Now not only have you been caught in the crossfire, but you children as well. And who knows what will come of the rest of your family once King Viserys dies. One thing you do know is that you will not leave any stone unturned by the time Rhaenyra tries to sit the throne. If your involvement is what they want, your involvement is what they will get. If your happiness and well-being is worth the price of the throne, what would happen if it was taken away right when she had it? Like your stability or sanity, ripped away without any caution or care.

This power that Rhaenyra is sure is hers to claim. The one that those want so badly for Aegon. The seat Aemond watches enviously as Aegon scoffs at the idea of it.

“Princess Rhaenyra,” you call out after her before she leaves the dining hall. You reach out to grab her hand in a similar manner to Alicent. “I want to talk with you about Dragonstone.”

If they are willing to rip each other apart for the Iron Throne, so be it.

Aegon and Aemond stare at you like you have three heads when you tell them about wanting to stay at Dragonstone. Aegon goes as far as to giggle at your proposal. His eyes wild and glossy from the abundance of wine.

A part of you thought maybe you should just leave, but you know them. There is nowhere you can go that they cannot find you on dragon back. Plus, you still had to explain everything to your parents. You let them in on you leaving while holding some cards to your chest. Their faces go through a mirage of expressions. Aegon's brows shooting up when you mention the tunnels and Daemon while Aemond's going painfully stoic. You know he does not want you or Aegon to get a read on what he is thinking.

"So, you think Daemon and by extension Rhaenyra knew about the Strong whore, and wanted you to be upset enough to leave," Aegon begins sardonically, and Aemond's eye flickers to him when he says whore. "And in response.... you are leaving. Wow dearest, you are really sticking it to them."

You glare at him. You know he is hurt that you are leaving, even if it is for a short time. He is upset that this all leads back to the throne. For every part of Aegon that is loyal and loves deeply, there are parts that are equally selfish. It hits you that Aegon has never had to try with relationships; the only ones he knows are with women that are his family or with ones where he can buy their affection. Those women have no choice but to be around. But you are leaving, and without him… that would be a blow he would not recover from.

"I am not going for long, and I will be taking Quinton with me," you say, and Aegon rolls his eyes in response. "They involved my son, so I will get to the bottom of it."

"I'm sure Jace will be thrilled to hear it," he scoffs.

"You have no right to be jealous; you are not my husband."

It was cruel to say, and you can tell by the way his resolve turns from anger to bitterness. "I am needlessly reminded of that, thank you."

Your brows furrow at that. Who is reminds him of that? You sigh, running your hands over your face.

“This is punishment. This is because of me.”

Aemond finally speaks up, interrupting your argument with Aegon. He looks away from the fire and at you with a look you have not seen in moons. Sadness. You are sure this news is a lot for him to take in. It would be a lie to say that you are not at least a little happy that he feels uneasy about you possibly leaving. Or a little happy that the love story he had built in his head was not exactly what it seems.

It would serve him right. He felt comfortable enough to do what he has done because there was always the expectation you would be around. Sitting in the Red Keep, taking care of your children and waiting to him to finally come around.

“Give us the room,” you whisper to Aegon. He leaves in a huff, not happy with you. You walk over and sit on the seat opposite to Aemond's.

The only noise that permeates throughout the room is the crackling of the fire in front of you two.

“It is foolish for you to think they would not harm you, especially now,” he starts to fiddle with his fingers, a tick he has picked up from his mother. “You would in place surrounded by her people… by dragons.”

“She would not hurt me. Not now, she wants my family’s support,” you rebut.

He does not answer right away.

“You would be giving her exactly what she wants. Us apart.”

Us. You two have not been an ‘us’ for quite some time, and Aemond referring to you as that makes you chuckle coldly.

“That’s the point, dear husband,” your eyes drift from him to the burning flames. “You know how your sister is. She wants everything entirely too much, and now she has a guard dog, planning and watching her every move. This just one step in her 'preparing' for the throne, and what may happen if she takes it."

“She is not fit for the throne. Neither of them is,” he says bitterly. “It would cut her up inside and out just like it did my….”

He trails off softly. Viserys was never made to be King, but then again who is. By the time everything falls into place, things will be different.

“So, we let it.”

Your conversation is stopped by Quinton opening the door for Jayne.

"Sorry, my lady but your parents were asking for you," she says softly. You notice how her eyes seem to survey the room. Taking inspection of anything and everything in it. Your parents watched Daella and Alaric for you during dinner. You nod in acknowledgment, but as you get up you notice the necklace she wears.

A gold plaited coin dangling on a dainty gold chain, perfectly matching the earring you found in the tunnel. Your blood runs cold.

"Thank you, Jayne," you stand up slowly as your eyes go to Aemond. You hope he can read something, anything from the look in your eyes. Your eyes travel to the wall where the secret door is. His eye looks at you, then to Jayne, and you watch him swallow and sink back into the chair.

"Ser Quinton, if you do not mind staying," Aemond says softly, going back to staring at the fire. "I have something I need you to tend to."

Quinton gives you a skeptical look, knowing the tense history between him and Aemond but you give him a reassuring smile.

Maybe it is time Quinton proves his unwavering loyalty to you.

“I just need…. to get away,” it was not a complete lie. On top of having things to figure out, you were looking forward to getting away from the Red Keep. Even if it was to Dragonstone of all places.

Your father had giving you a skeptical look when you mentioned going to Dragonstone. You tell him this the perfect time for him to stay in King’s Landing in your stead. You whisper to him to stay close to the Hand and to Prince Aegon. When his resolve still did not chance, you told him about this being an opportunity for Daella to get connected to her ancestral home, and he understood. He always has a soft heart when it comes to his grandchildren.

It was your mother who gave you the most grief about the proposition. She stays in the room after your father has left.

“I do not think it is appropriate you leave your husband,” she sighs. “Especially at a time like this.”

It has always been her concern. Your allegiance to Aemond and in turn to the who she thinks should sit the throne. A part of you wants to tell her the plan. Maybe rub in her face that Aegon wants you.

But you know you would not be met with an impressed gaze or her questioning how your life has come to this place. Instead, she would ask why you haven’t debased yourself for him yet? Why haven’t you jumped at the chance to be in his bed, in his mind, under his skin the way real lovers do. Sometimes you look at Aegon and ask yourself the same questions. The most frustrating part is you know he would take you up on it. Aegon would indulge the most depraved parts of you because those of the ones he likes the most.

Your mother always manages to seep her way into things that should be good for you. It happened moons ago when you first became friends with Helaena. It is how you are in this mess now. Telling her about Aegon before the right time would be fatal. A blow to your plan, and the last remaining pieces of your heart.

“Perhaps he can come with you?”

“The point is to have some time away from each other. He thinks it would do us some good too.” Your spine feels tight as you are painfully aware of your posture in front of her, “The Princess offered, and it would be rude not take her up on it. She is till the heir till otherwise.”

Your mother stares at you for a moment. She scrutinizes every part of your face, the face she gave you wholly. Her only daughter. The person she has invested so much in.

“You always do this,” she starts coldly. “Shrivel up when things do not go your way. You have so much put in front of you, and you do so little with it. Leaving your husband when things are tough? I thought I raised you better than that.”

A lump grows in your throat. You are taken back to your wedding day. Your mother talking you through a panic attack, telling you to think of your future. That not going through with the marriage means throwing away years of work. In the end, you walked down the aisle. You followed through, and now the debt comes due. You are her biggest star, and her gravest disappointment.

Everything she could have had, and nothing she ever was at your age. You know your mother is happy with her position now, later in life. Reaping the benefits of your father’s house, but it was not always like that. There was never an opportunity to be draped in silk or have the ear of the royal family when she was your age.

“When this does not work, I hope you will not go running to your father.”

And with that she gets up and leaves you in the kids’ room.

You flinch when the door slams. As you sit in silence, you wonder if you would have gotten a different response if you told her about Alys. Maybe she would have pulled you into her arms like she did when you were younger. Deep down, you know she would have asked you what you did wrong; what did you do to make Aemond want to find comfort in another woman. Regardless of the pretenses, he still jumped at the first chance he got at something he saw as real. She would see it as a sign of failure on her part. She did not instill the right values in you to keep your husband happy. She has a funny way of flipping everything on its head, and yet you still crave any validation from her.

Your mother is as cruel as she is dutiful. As cold as she is charming. And as calculating as she is hurt and wounded by the world, she grew up in. The more your plan falls into place the more you find solace.

You are your mother’s daughter.

Taglist: @hydrationqueensworld @xkennobi @dc-marvel-girl96 @lyannesworld @msmarvel-19 @tremendouswolfsaladranch @widemiffyhappy @thenovelcarnival @hanihoney88 @kore-of-the-underworld @xoprincessmel @strawbrryquinn @targaryenmoony @blazzlynch @curlszx88 @crazymusicgirl104 @fanfics4ever @anndraco0523 @weepingwitchofthewest @alinagonewlid @signyventia

#aemond x reader #aemond targaryen angst #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen imagine #aemond targaryen #hotd imagine #aemond fic #aegon ii x reader #aegon x reader

[aemonds-little-belle]

Feelings Sold Separately

CHAPTER EIGHT (THE FRIDGE)

Modern!Aemond Targaryen x Reader

TAGS - (REPOSTED FROM AO3)

Alternate Universe - Sugar DaddySugar BabySugar Baby AUAUokay this is a whole ass story that's just one long ass brain fartliterally i am just coming up with this on the spotlow key really love it thoughSugar Baby/Sugar Daddyobviouslytalks of class issuesaemonds been hurt in the pasti think there will be some sexy stuff eventuallywait fuck i didn't mention this is a modern!aumodern!AUAlternate Universe - Modern Setting<3Aemond "One-Eye" Targaryen is Bad at Feelingsstop that was recommended but so accurateI don't know how to do tagsI'm SorryI promise it's goodAnd no one diesand it's just so classically a sugar baby/ sugar daddy au it hurtsreader works at a cafe ... obviouslythis will follow a similar storyline to the show just modern and also not at allFamily Issueswait probably dom/sub vibes tooDom/subLight Dom/subclearly i don't know where this is going yetmy readers are always written fat because i am fatso keep that in mindSlow Burnit's so slowbut I think it's greatlike genuinely two idiots in lovebut they take soooo long to noticeUghI love fanfiction

NOTES - (REPOSTED FROM AO3) -

This chapter will begin to dip into the more serious side of sugar baby/sugar daddy tropes, such as talk of money being needed for more than just clothing. The last chapter, and this one too, signal a sort of change between the two characters, they've grown closer over the past day, / last a billion chapters I'm sorry I don't know why I made it slow burn! So do know the story will begin to grow now, the pace may get quicker, and Dom/Sub vibes, though very minimal, will begin to pick up. That's all! Just a little heads up! ALSO, get your glasses, some water, and a snack, they finally get into a fight ...

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REBLOG!

+ + + + + +

The grocery store was huge and unfamiliar, the overhead light cool and bright, a stark contrast to Y/n’s favorite little market down the road from her apartment. Plus this store had a huge selection of things she had never heard of, things she didn’t know if she even wanted to try, like the fruit some woman was holding, the colour strange, texture clearly unpleasant. “Ready?” Aemond asked, a large cart in tow.

“I don’t need that much stuff, a basket would be better.” Y/n began looking around, trying to find where they kept their baskets, though from how fancy the store was she wouldn’t be surprised if they came with a personal shopper too.

“We’re fine, come on.” Aemond said in a reassuring tone, noticing Y/n’s sudden anxious wave, her panic to make everything work perfect taking over, his hand settling on her back to comfort her. “What do you need to get?” He asked, his tone one she hadn’t had the chance to hear, the softness in it, the genuine care he was giving, it was new, but she needed it.

“Um, some bread, and crackers.” She answered quickly.

“That’s it?” He asked, confused, the last time she seemed to make this errand seem like something so long and boring Aemond wouldn’t even want to go.

“I guess maybe some juice too.” Y/n’s eyes seemed to meet every person who passed them, assessing them, making sure they weren’t doing the same to her.

“Y/n, look at me.” Aemond huffed slightly. “Are you okay?”

“Yah I’m fine.” She didn’t seem so sure. “I promise, I just want to get home, really, no big deal.” Aemond didn’t believe her, but knew he had to learn to trust her, just like she was learning with him.

+

Aemond and Y/n stood awkwardly outside her building, bags in each of their hands, though not a lot, Aemond had convinced Y/n to buy a few extra things at the grocery store. “Are you going to open the door?” He asked, looking to her, her looking away.

“I can bring them all up on my own, it's okay.” Y/n smiled, one that she didn’t mean, the gesture hardley meeting her eyes.

“That’s not going to happen, little dragon, I’m sure you're strong but your building has no elevator.” He smirked, one she would have regularly enjoyed, but not in this moment. ‘How does he even know I don’t have an elevator here?’ Y/n just took a few steps towards the main door, her key meeting the lock, the stairs only steps away.

“Just be careful, the stairs can be tricky sometimes.” She mumbled, her chest growing heavier and heavier the further they got. The third floor hallway had even dimmer lights than the last two, the doors worn, beige walls stained with time. “You can just leave the bags there.”

“Y/n!” An old lady's voice shouted.

“Hi Miss Falker.” Y/n smiled.

“Your fridge, young lady!” Miss Falker pointed to her. “I thought you got it fixed, the noise is driving me nuts.”

“I know.”

“Just.” The lady seemed to take a sudden stance of pity. “Make sure you and your Targaryen wannabe keep quiet.” And With that she walked away, a door slamming to the left, Y/n’s giggle quietly drowning the sound out.

Aemond had a stunned look on his face, his lips turned into a smile. “She’s nice.”

Y/n laughed a little louder, Aemond happy to see the slight sparkle back in her eye. “She is, sometimes. Other times she can be a little.” Y/n tilted her hand side to side.

“Why don’t I take a look at your fridge?” Aemond offered, still holding bags, not giving up his want to see her apartment.

“It’s not making a noise, I promise.” Y/n unlocked her door. “Mr Bayle lives on the other side of Miss Flaker, it’s his fridge that’s making the noise, I just don’t want there to be more drama than necessary.” She explained, still not actually opening the door. “You can go take a look at his fridge if you want?” She playfully offered. Aemond just ignored her, placing his hand over hers and turning the doorknob.

The studio apartment was small, the kitchen dated, though he enjoyed the little window ledge with a built-in bookcase under it. It was quite empty, only a few things here and there, a total of four books under the window, a couple lamps, a small plant sat beside her bed, and some t-shirts scattered on the floor, though the sun had gone down quite a bit, so everything was heavily shaded. “Um, well, yah, thank you for today.” Y/n rushed, she seemed antsy, a state Aemond didn’t wish to leave her in.

“What books do you have?” He asked pointing to the bookshelf, his head swiveling, looking for a light switch.

“Poetry by the great ..” A *click* could be heard but nothing happened, then another *click*. “The light switch is just a little finicky.” Y/n tried to explain, Aemond shook his head, finally putting two and two together, he walked towards the fridge, hearing Y/n mutter a quiet ‘Aemond’ under her breath. When the door opened he was met with empty shelves, no light, and the sound of Y/n sniffling in the background.

“Y/n” He hummed, almost angry.

“It might just be a power outage, I …” Her voice was shaky, though she tried to hold it together.

“You told me your pay at the cafe covered rent, groceries, and your utilities.” He wasn’t sure what to feel, he was angry she lied, but more mad at himself for not checking.

“It does, I promise.” She took a step back, hiding from him, herself, the goddamn fridge at this point. “It’s just, the fridge was making a weird noise and.” She paused to sniffle again. “And the guy charged me more than I could afford, I, just, it threw me off a bit that’s all.” Y/n’s shoulders collapsed in on one another, he could pay her a thousand dollars a minute and not even falter, she couldn’t even scramble an extra two hundred in time to pay her bills. She wished she could confidently think he wasn’t going to mock her, or say something mean, but she didn’t know, she had no idea how he would react. What if he thought she needed him too much? What if this was his last straw? What if she’s just too different for him? “It’s really not a big deal.” She tried to reason, her mind already pitting Aemond against her.

“Not a big deal?” Aemond shut the fridge door a little too loudly. “Little dragon, it is cold as ice in here, you have no food in the fridge, how are you even charging your phone?” Then it clicked, she ran earlier, she couldn’t call him, her phone must have died, she was in the mall stranded, with a dead phone, and he left her there, to fend on her own. “Your phone died?” He asked, his tone softer, no wonder she seemed off throughout the day. Every time something remotely related to the power came up she hid again. This morning, she cut her words off, changed the subject when she mentioned the fridge noise, her phone was dead and she couldn’t call him, causing her to face the situation again, the grocery store. “You didn’t get anything that needed to go in your fridge, you don’t have anything that needs to be cooked.” He felt his own heart racing, he knew why she didn’t tell him, it’s a vulnerable thing to tell someone you just met, but he should have known, he’s supposed to know. “How long? How long have you been living like this?”

“Four days.” Y/n barely whispered.

“You could have asked for help.” Aemond sighed.

“Could I?” Y/n cried. “I didn’t want you to look down on me, or, or be mad at me.” Tears were falling down her cheeks at this point, her chest heaving slightly. “I didn’t have a choice! My fridge needed to be fixed, sacrifices had to be made, that’s how the real world works Aemond!” She knew her words might sting, but she couldn’t stand silent as he asked her such obvious questions.

Aemond stormed out of her apartment, the door still open as he ran down the stairs, Y/n just stayed still, crying, she didn’t want him to see this, she hated herself for letting him in, yet she knew he would get here eventually, see how different they are, see how he lives in a totally different world. Suddenly all she could hear was banging from below, fist banging on a door and then yelling. “Are you the guy that runs this place?” She could hear Aemond’s voice, the idea of him yelling at the man she depended on for a roof over her head made her stomach churn, her moving to go downstairs to stop whatever was happening, move on. Aemond seemed to know she was coming. “Y/n? How much do you owe this man?” Aemond didn’t break eye contact with the man in front of him, no doubt scaring him into submission.

“Two hundred dollars.”

“Three hundred, missy.” The guy stepped to the side to point at her, like she had just thrown him under the bus. Aemond wasted no time pulling on the guy’s shirt, forcing him to stand in front of him, to look at him, in his terrifying targaryen stance, money practically dripping from him like sweat would.

“I gave you a hundred last night, Gunner!” Aemond hated the way she said it, like she had pleaded with him before, like he had tried, and probably, scammed her before, though this time she clearly had backup.

Aemond chuckled lowly, letting the man go, reaching into his suit pants and pulling out his wallet, a wad of cash in hand as he carefully, and slowly, just to prove how much money he had, ‘seriously?’,counted each bill before handing Gunner the money. “Two hundred.” Aemond spat, his hair a little messy, his shirt buttons hanging on for dear life as he heaved breaths in and out, the true picture of a deranged, ‘hot’, man willing to do anything for his girl.

Y/n began walking back up to her apartment, expecting Aemond to walk out and not turn back, a kind gesture and no goodbye. But before she could close her apartment door he walked in behind her, watching as the lights finally turned on, a small whizzing noise passing through, signaling electricity, water flowing through the pipes again. “You didn’t have to do that.” Y/n mumbled, waiting for the shoe to drop, waiting for him to walk out.

Aemond huffed. “This entire arrangement I have told you to rely on me, to let yourself need me. I don’t care how many times I have to say it again. Of course I am here to spoil you, sure, but I’m also here to keep you safe, protect you, keep you out of danger, make sure you have fucking power Y/n!” Y/n hadn’t seen him like this before, part of her shocked he had this side, the other half widely attracted to him. “That’s what’s important.” His hands were on his hips now, he looked like a mother out of breath, like he just did a zumba class, though he was really just exhausted from holding in the want, ‘need’, to punch Gunner in the face. “I am happy you let me buy you things today, shoes, clothes, some bread.” He looked at the bag full of pitiful snacks. “But this is what matters, your well being.”

“I just thought ...”

“Don’t.”

“What?”

“Don’t think next time, just ask.” ‘I will give you the world, the air from my lungs.’ “Just ask.” His words were breathy, low, and serious. “You want to make me happy? Pay me back?” ‘You don’t have to.’ She nodded her head. “You’re going to charge your phone, eat some food, and you’re going to go to sleep.” Aemond picked up the bag of food from the floor, setting it on the small island space to his right, taking out the things and laying them out nicely. “Do you have any allergies?”

“I don’t know.” She mumbled, shrugging her shoulders, she hadn’t really had the chance to go out, try the foods of the world, and see if any decided to close her throat up, and it wasn’t something she felt the need to do. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to buy you some groceries and make you some proper breakfast in the morning.” Aemond shook his head. “All you ate today was a bagel! I didn't even think to stop and pick something up.” He couldn’t help but beat himself up, he knew she wouldn’t ask for things, he knew he needed to take the lead, and yet he was struggling, and his failure was eating him from the inside out.

“I actually ate a few crackers when you were putting the cart away.” Y/n’s sassy voice, though much more diluted, rang through the room.

Aemond chuckled, looking to the ceiling. ‘Gods help me, she’s going to be the death of me. I don’t mind’. “Tomorrow you start asking for things, and tomorrow I make sure my focus is you.” He turned around to face her.

“You seemed to look at me alot for someone who wasn’t focused on me.” Y/n’s fingers were once again anxiously playing with one another, her mind still swirling.

“And you seemed to look at my hands alot for someone who wouldn’t ask to hold them.” Aemond quipped back, Y/n cracking a genuine smile, one he could never get sick of. “So do we have a deal?” He asked, Y/n nodding her head.

“Yes, I’ll start asking for things, I promise.” Y/n nodded her head, her smile still lingering. “But, Aemond, your money isn’t going to fix every problem I have, I’m not your responsibility.” She added. “You shouldn’t put all this weight on your shoulders, I’m okay, I can take care of myself, I promise.”

“You don’t have a great record of doing so, Y/n.”

She huffed. “I have made it all these years without you, Aemond, I can certainly keep going.”

“But you don’t have to.”

“And I know that now.” She explained, looking at the light above her. “But you don’t have to defend my honour.” ‘I want to.’ “I’m your sugar baby, you don’t need to turn your life upside down for me.” ‘I will anyway.’

Aemond’s heart seemed to stop, was this her setting up boundaries? Did she want him to back off? Step away? Treat her like she meant less to him? Because she didn’t, how was he supposed to get that across? She, even though it had only been four days, meant everything to him. “I know my money isn’t going to solve all your problems.” He admitted, leaning against her counter, his arms crossed against his chest, the damned, ‘gods sent’, tattoo on full display. “But I have power in political and corporate worlds, I have multiple university degrees, my family is practically royalty, and last time I checked most people find me terrifying.” He chuckled slightly. “Other than Miss Falker.” Y/n laughed with him then. “So stop thinking you have to do everything on your own, I have every base covered, I can fix anything, even your neighbors fridge if it bothers you too much.” ‘Do I sound like I’m begging?’ “So stop pushing me away.”

“We’ll see.” Y/n pretended to hold her head high, the leftover tear stains making her look of pride falter.

“We’ll see?” Aemond adjusted his arms, tightening them, his forearms flexing, Y/n trying not to stare.

“It’s a big ask, Aemond, I’m only one person.”

“I thought you wanted to change the world?” He tilted his head slightly.

“Stop bringing that up!” Y/n raised her hands in defeat. “I will try to let you help.” She bit back her desire to take the words back.

“Y/n!” Miss Falker could be heard from outside the apartment. “Get that bleach blonde boy out of here before I do it myself!”

Y/n hummed. “You interrupted her TV time.” She giggled slightly.

“Her what?”

“He’s too loud, I couldn’t hear the damn TV!” Miss Falker yelled, as if on cue.

“He’s just leaving Miss F, I promise!”

“You’re pretty enough Y/n.” She yelled back. “You could get a real Targaryen boy, you deserve one.”

Y/n looked to Aemond, who had a mixed look of amusement and pure rage lingering on his features, his hair every which way, clearly not a man to mess with, and yet Miss Falker was ripping him to shreds. “I’ll be sure to keep an eye out.”

#aemond targaryen x oc #aemond fanfiction #prince aemond #aemond one eye #aemond targaryen #modern au #modern!aemond x reader #aemond targaryen x original character #hotd aemond #house of the dragon #hotd #sugar daddy!aemond targaryen #sb/sd!au #sugar baby!au #aemond x reader #aemond x y/n #aemond x fem!reader #aemond imagine

[grogusmum]

Halloo, Hazel! 💚 OK, Din and Grogu have one Earth week to visit here (ignoring the how or why). Please and thank you:

First meal you share together? Either home cooked or favorite restaurant; and

One souvenir for each of them to take home, as a reminder of you.

Hey Maggie May! Thank you for playing with me! 💚 I'm sorry this is getting to you Sunday morning, I was getting sleepy and wanted to give this the attention it deserves!

So this is not connected to AGalaxy Far Far Away, but a new take on Din and Grogu on Earth...

This was written on my phone, in my drafts, and barely edited... sorry 😬

Din put Grogu down to let him stretch his legs after a very long journey in the N-1.

"I've gotta get a new Razor Crest," Din sighs, shaking his head slowly . Grogu has much to say on the matter and does so.

"We need to stay here for a few rotations, week tops, then we can finish our journey. Then will give this thing back to Peli."

Din looks around, he needs to feed the kids that's task number one, as if Grogu knows exactly what he's thinking starts complaining and looking for something to eat in the tall grass they find themselves in.

Suddenly, they hear someone laughing and calling to someone else. Din looks, and there is a human with, well, a four-legged animal with fur, reminding him of a fuzzy massif. It catches a disc in its mouth that seems to have been thrown by the human.

Soon, they are out of the tall grass dotted with flowers, and in more manicured grass, there is a large square cloth on the ground and a basket on top of it. A picnic, Grogu recognizes it right away and hustles over.

"Grogu," Din calls, "kid no!"

Before he knows it Grogu has the basket open and is digging into the sandwiches and fruit he finds.

You throw the Frisbee one more time and then head over to have your lunch. You were planning on meeting a friend with their furbaby, but they canceled last minute, so its a picnic for you and Molly, your pitty mix today.

Molly bounds over seeing strangers in her basket.

"Molly!" You shout in surprise. Then, putting on your best alpha dog voice, "Leave It!"

Molly stops only 10 feet from the picnic basket thief, a small green, something, in a little tan coat. Then Molly growls at the armored person.

"Sit-stay." You say, treat in hand, knowing your good girl will follow your directions. When she does, you praise her and give her a bit of chicken.

Din's hand lowers from his blaster.

"I am very sorry, Grogu, is only a child. We've been on a long journey, and he is very hungry. I will happily reimburse you for the food."

You have no idea who or what's going on, but you're incredibly intrigued.

"No problem, I have extra anyway."

Molly watches Grogu hustle up, reaching for her. She gives the little green fella a sniff and Grogu giggles and coos delighted. Molly gives him a big wet kiss that bowls him over. Grogu laughs and scrabbles up.

Instant best friends.

You smile at the whole exchange, comfortable with Molly's behavior with little ones, and since this very usual one is behaving just like a toddler, you knew she would be fine.

"Soooo, Comic Con?"

"Um, I don't... we are here for a week, then heading off world." Din points to the n-1 behind him.

You blanch, hoping it isn't too noticeable.

"Well, okay... wanna sandwich?"

Din hesitates, then takes off his helmet, "Thank you."

Did the sun just come from behind a cloud? This guy is gorgeous, you think... keep cool. Keep cool. You pull out drinks and two more sandwiches not decimated by Grogu. As you eat, you watch Molly, who is now giving Grogu a ride.

"So, um where are you staying?"

"We haven't secured lodging yet," Din says, biting into a sandwich, and then looking at it pleased.

You put a bowl of cut fruit down between you.

"This," Din swallows," is very good, thank you. I insist on giving you some credits."

"Credits?"

He pulls some large discs out of a pouch in his belt. You are not sure what to do. Are they really from "off world"?

"Um, those won't spend here."

Din looks down at the Calamari Flan, then takes out some imperal credits and shows them to you.

"No," you say apologetically.

"Well, huh..."

"Listen, I have a small finished, sort of, basement apartment, I've been renting it to comic con folks for years, and it's available. You can stay there, it's clean and safe."

"You are too kind," Din stammers.

You have no idea what they are, how they got here, but you feel you should help them.

"Not a problem!"

So the week goes along. You have work, but after you take them to see the sights of your little corner of Earth. Molly and Grogu can't hardly be separated, and you've fallen for the little green bean, too. You teach him to throw the frisbee, and somehow, despite having such little arms, his throws sent the frisbee straight and far, and Molly loves it! And Din, well, he’s... oof. You are soon thinking about him after you say goodnight and wonder if his lips are as soft as they look.

On the second to last day, you take a chance and kiss him goodnight.

Which in turn had leaves Din a little dumbstruck, he thinks about your lips pressed against his until he falls asleep and then he dreams about them.

Today is their last day, on Earth or whatever...

Though somewhere during the week, you'd started to think that they were truly aliens from another galaxy, and it just made you laugh at how wild that was.

"We will miss you," Din says, stepping into your space.

"We'll miss you," you tell him, looking into his warm brown eyes. You are never going to forget them.

Din dips his head down, bringing his mouth to yours. Your lips meet his, and become hungry. Your arms wrap around his neck, and the kiss deepens further.

When you break away, you are both out of breath and warm from the tips of your ears to the tips of your toes, your lips tingling.

When it's time to say goodbye (for now, Din insists) you give Din the necklace you've been wearing, it's a two inch long quartz crystal with a piece of abalone shell wrapped to the top of it. (Grogu finds it very interesting, but he's given the frisbee, which he's delighted by)

Din prys Grogu from Molly, who licks Grogu and whimpers. Grogu whines and reaches for you and Molly. You blow him a kiss, and hand Din a cooler of sandwiches, fruit, and drinks as Din settles his son in the cockpit.

He puts on his helmet and his gloved hand goes to your cheek.

"Goodbye," you whisper, eyes glistening. Din takes your chin and tips it up gently by one finger-

"Until our paths cross."

"Until our paths cross," you smile as a tear slips down.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! 💚

#slumber party saturday #din djarin x you #din and grogu

[kirby-the-gorb]

reply roundup!

I guess vaguely once a month is just how these things work now, I do try to read everyone's tags and replies and stuff but a lot of them I just don't really have anything to reply with sorry! as always I appreciate the supportive words and well wishes and stuff <3

I also love the trifurcation of responses to [go to bed]: one group of people is like "yeah u right I sleep now thanks", one is like "sorry but I can't", and one is just like "no! I refuse!!!" lol

I did get two different "posts that have 10k to me" tags though, on [one] that actually passed 10k and [another] that is still barely triple digits and will probably stay there XD

anyway [chess kirb] was on the radar which is neat

also my birthday is this weekend :)

oh yeah and reminder that I also have a craft blog @sleepy-princess-craftery

on [the last roundup] @sacrasm said: oh the clonk'd is just my queued post tag! thr other one is self explanatory he is little he is pink and i affectionately call things freak sometimes (in combination with other words)

ohhhh that makes sense lol it was the clonk'd that I was baffled by thank you for explaining -u-

on [drowsy] @ceylonsilvergirl said: being laid up sick or injured is terrible, but I think we also need to acknowledge that it’s also boring as hell. can’t do anything fun. boring boring boring

it is!!! it's so boring!!! especially since I'm already baseline sick all the time so I have less options to start with, so to do even less than that is literally nothing!

anonymous asked: Gwah being sick sucks. I wish immune system upon you!

thank you! (I think I actually need less immune system? on account of the immune disorder. but either way I do not have an active infection anymore 👍)

on [tumble] @chefwhatnot said: get chucked idiot

where's that post like "'get (blank)ed idiot' is the funniest joke" cuz they're right

on [mask] @macro-microcosm said: glad you're feeling better! i agree that we should all still be masking up, it bothers me soooo much to see that so many people have stopped

like honestly, scientifically speaking it is way more effective and more accessible than just leaning on vaccines, and it protects people from all kinds of stuff not just covid! but nobody wants to wear masks and even people who think they're being cautious just want to lean on vaccine requirements, which is doubly inaccessible for me personally and probably millions of other people :( stresses me out too.

anonymous asked: Magicking you up some new containers

thanks! they didn't have what I wanted at target but we got some usable stuff from daiso, so at least it's not all still shoved in a ziploc bag.

@thewizardgnome asked: But what if I say bye

I mean yeah you can do that too if you want I guess lol

on [paper] @breathelifeintothatsoul said: Cool! I've always wanted to try and make my own (recycled) paper one time

it's fun! there's a lot of extra steps you can add in if you want to, but the absolute basics of it is just dump a bunch of paper strips into a bin, fill it with water, wait until it breaks up enough for your liking, then dunk some kind of stiff screen into it (horizontally) so you can pull out even layers of pulp to dry somewhere.

on [paper] @hermitfox said: oooo making your own paper is do much fun, I have fond memories from kindergarten doing that. ... actually what stops me from doing that as an adult. I should make paper again

do recommend, making things is fun and also good for you :) also the paper pulp is very Texture (affectionate) (to me) (I'm sure to others it can be very Texture (derogatory) but I like it)

on [yarn] @ceylonsilvergirl said: I am very envy of people who can follow a pattern, I can’t do that. I can do a friend being like “Oh this next one is two one two one’’, i can’t translate abbreviations into an idea in my mind. give me a diagram instead

I'm the opposite tbh, I find the abbreviations really easy to follow but looking at a diagram for knitting and crochet just turns into like, visual noise if it's more complex than like, a single fan stitch or whatever.

@my-life-is-a-bad-sitcom asked: You’re Kirby’s are so cool and I love your art style. Honestly awesome. Giving you a standing ovation. 👍

thank you! I love to draw a little guy

anonymous asked: I saw you on tumblr radar just now!! congrats!! -@secondbeatsongs

woah thanks sbs!

@darkchaogarden-blog asked: Tumblr's doing that dumb thing it's been doing lately where I can't reblog anything, so I'll just write to you personally that your art is excellent! Have a good day!

that sounds like such an irritating bug but thank you! I hope you had a good day too whenever this was :)

on [chess] @shiinteractsif said: dudes at the search thingy image. congrats

oh cool I wondered where the radar posts showed up on mobile!

on [chair] @mads-is-tired said: i’ve never played a kirby game but i desperately want to BECAUSE LOOK AT HIM

honestly so valid, he's basically a character brand to me (like hello kitty or rilakkuma). I'm probably biased, but I feel like the best games to start with are either forgotten land (the one that came out on switch last year) or crystal shards (originally for the n64, also available through the nintendo online vc). I think they're the most visually appealing (aside from epic yarn which is not a mainline game) and while they reward exploration they're not as complex as some of the handheld titles to fully explore, nor are they as hand-holdy as some of the other console titles. a good middle ground of feeling like you did the thing, without being frustrating.

on [soup] @give-soup-please said: ME #soupblogging #fucking same

how delightful that this post managed to find you :) these tags make me happy whenever I think of them

on [soup] @lord-chiopet said: me too bud. you too op hope the weather approved

good news, the weather has improved :) now it is overcast and drizzly, my favorite!

on [chess] @wealmostaneckbeard said: Neither of them know how to play so they made up some rules...

what a cute idea! I hope they are having fun with their new game.

on [baseball] @hutbug said: the teal color is called northwest green and we still wear it all the time!! its beautiful u did an amazing job

thank you for the info! before this season I hadn't really had access to baseball for the past like 8 years or something and a lot has changed lol so I didn't really trust my memory

on [blue] @ceylonsilvergirl [added] "I CAN TRY AGAIN TOMORROW! Or next week! or next month..."

that really is the vibe lately huh.

anonymous asked: Your kirbys bring me daily serotonin

aww good!

#reply roundup #asks answered #text #title text #long post #readmore #coronavirus #swearing #sacrasm #ceylonsilvergirl #anonymous #chefwhatnot #macro-microcosm #thewizardgnome #breathelifeintothatsoul #hermitfox #my-life-is-a-bad-sitcom #secondbeatsongs #darkchaogarden-blog #shiinteractsif #mads-is-tired #give-soup-please #lord-chiopet #wealmostaneckbeard #hutbug

[fatbiatchforever]

Out of Time (Pt. 5)

This is super long but I had to. Everything felt like an absolute necessity. Sorry guys.

Were you embarrassed by the kind of role model you were becoming for your son? YES! But, honestly, you needed the alcohol to keep your mind from spiraling out of control. That's why Riley's birthday was a blur at the end.

You were cleaning the kitchen when the phone rang, "Yo."

"Hey Y/N."

"Oh, hey Cass! What's up?"

"Can we come over? We got this new game and it's soooo cool. Xander needs to play it."

You laughed, "Come over. Why are you even asking?"

"She said yes! Can we go now?" Cass shouted.

You heard the phone being passed around till Sam was on the line, "Heyyyyyy."

"Hey, what's happening?"

"They want to come over."

"Okay, come over then."

Sam lowered his voice, "There's a tiny detail that I'm not sure about."

"What?"

"So I have some work to care of-"

"Ok, I can look after Riley and the boys."

"I got them a baby sitter."

"Cool."

"Right, but I need to leave right now. So, the baby sitter would have to drop them off."

You were getting a tiny bit agitated at this point, "Sam, I'm failing to see the problem over here."

"You know the baby sitter."

"Great, I have company while the kids have fun. What's the issue?"

"The company. I don't think you'll be a fan."

"Nooooooo-"

"Yessssssss."

"Sam! Really?!"

"Y/N, I tried. The boys wouldn't stop bothering me. You should have known something was wrong when Cass asked if he could come over!" Sam whisper yelled, "We're not civilized like that!"

"I can't believe you! How the," you lowered your voice, "fuck did you get Bucky to babysit?"

"It's an emergency. He offered and I said yes! I didn't know the boys would start this. If you think about it, it's their fault."

"You. Are. Unbelievable. He's there right now, isn't he?"

"Mhmmm."

"I'm going to kill myself."

"I'll give the phone back to Cass. Just say something came up and you can't do today."

"But he would know."

"Nah, Cass believes everything."

"No, Bucky!"

"What about him?"

"Cass announced I said yes. Since you're speaking in a lower voice, he knows we're talking about him and probably listening to our conversation because of that damn serum. He would know I'm saying no because of him."

"And it matters?"

"Yeah! I don't want him to think I can't face him."

"But you cannot?"

"Excuse me! I can!"

"Then it's settled. Bucky will be there with the kids in few."

You were dead serious, "Sam,"

"Yeah?"

"If I get to know that all of you are planning something behind my back, I swear on my kid, that shield will split your head in two. Am I clear?"

"Sweet Jesus! We're not planning anything."

"Fine."

You wanted to smash the phone on the counter. You knew you would have to face him again. Especially, since he's back now. But the thought of him coming to your home felt like a lot.

"Xander," you walked inside his room, "Cass, AJ and Riley are coming over. Could you please clean up a bit?"

He stood up and jumped, "Yes! I can show them my new toys ma!"

You sat on the ground and looked at his drawing book, "Uhuh. What are you drawing?"

He picked it up and weaseled his way into your lap. You laughed and moved your hands so he could sit comfortably, "You're lucky you're cute."

He pointed to the drawing, "That's me. And that's you." 

"Wowwww!"

"I'm a super hero and I'm strong enough to pick you up and save you from the monsters."

"You look handsome." You kiss his hair and hug him tighter. 

Xander whined, "Ma, you're messing the drawing!"

"Oops. I love this. You're my favorite superhero for sure."

"Really?" He turned his cute, small face towards yours.

"Hell yeah! And it's only fair my favorite superhero's artwork is displayed right. Xander, could I please display this marvelous piece of art on our fridge?"

With that he zoomed off to the kitchen. You followed him into the kitchen, where you found him standing infront of the refrigerator.

"Any idea where?"

"In the middle." He pointed. You took the paper from him and placed the drawing in the middle, "Perfection."

"Perfection." He repeated.

"Xander, your room. Please?"

The bell rang. 

You felt it in your stomach. You frowned internally as Xander happily ran to the door. You dragged your feet to the door and looked down at him,

"Saved by the bell."

You opened the door and that feeling intensified by million. But this time it was different. It was like you had butterflies. Similar the ones you had the first time you met him. Maybe because he looked the way you met him the first time. The short hair, the stubble, the dark blue shirt with his leather jacket, the faded black skinny jeans and that small smile on his face. Riley and the baby bag were additions that made him look soft and some might say even hotter. Not to mention, he was looking at you too. That made your stomach form infinite knots. 

You cleared your throat and looked down at Xander leaping on the boys to give hugs. 

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Y/N!" Both of them replied. Riley cooed in his arms.

"Oh my god!" Xander screamed.

You looked at him, "What?"

"Ma THAT'S BUCKY!"

Yep, you're four year old son had finally recognized his favorite superhero. Was it a big fuck you when Xander deemed Bucky his favorite out of every avenger? Yes, Sam took it the hardest though. Now that Bucky looked similar to every toy he has out there, it would be a miracle if he didn't get tackled by kids.

Bucky looked shocked but you knew he would enjoy it. It annoyed you a bit. Why was he put on a pedestal when you were there since day one? You didn't leave. 

You knew that wasn't fair, but you weren't in the mood to be rational.

Xander moved really close to Bucky and looked up, "Can I fight aliens with you?"

"Xander, let them breathe, huh?"

Bucky smiled, "We can talk about it."

Xander shrieked again and turned to you, "YES! I'm going to smash everyone."

"Okay hulk. Boys, come in."

All three ran to Xander's room.

"Heyyyy Riley." You took her and bounced on your hips, "You're literally cutest kid ever."

She giggled as you continued to bounce her on your hips. You looked at him again. He was smiling till he noticed you looking at him and cooled it down.

"Hey."

"Hey, sorry for bothering you."

"They're welcome anytime."

Bucky nodded and handed you the bag, "Call me when they're done and I'll pick them up."

"I don't have your number."

"Oh,"

You internally groaned again, "Do you want to come in and wait?"

He wasn't expecting that, "uhm," you could see the struggle on his face, "I, Uhm- okay."

You walked in with Riley. You turned back to watch Bucky awkwardly step in and close the door.

You whispered, "Do you like him? It's okay if you don't Riri."

You handed Xander's figurine to her and placed her on the counter.

"Do you want anything to drink? Coffee?"

Bucky stopped ogling every corner of your living room and looked at you, "You drink coffee?" 

"Nooo." You laughed, "Do you really think I can take that?"

"With a cup of sugar and a drop of coffee, I still see you complaining." He stood behind the counter. Exactly behind Riley, you noticed.

"Mhm, so is that a yes?"

"Yeah." Bucky pulled Riley closer to him, so you could move.

"You don't drink coffee but you have a coffee machine?"

You grabbed a mug, "Adrian. He "gifted" it to me. A lousy excuse for him to have coffee when he's here."

"Oh."

You looked back at that Oh. As if he was annoyed by what you said.

Riley's cries grabbed both of yours attention. The panic on Bucky's face stifled a laugh in you. You picked Riley up and smelled the problem.

"Damn. Let's get you out of that."

You looked at confused Bucky, "Could you get me the bag?"

He shook his head and grabbed the bag instantly.

"There should be this flower mat kinda thing. Could you lay that out?"

You laid Riley on the mat, "On the side, there's a blue troll. Hand me that please?"

He looked at you for confirmation before passing it to you.

"Here you go Riri." 

"Get me the wipes and the powder."  

Bucky handed you everything as you asked him to. You did steal few glances at him. He looked at everything you were doing so intently. Doing everything you asked of him. You knew where this was going and you stopped yourself from feeling all of that.

"And voila. Riri is a happy baby again."

Bucky stepped in to hold Riley as you threw the diaper away.

"Thanks do- Y/N."

FUCK NO! He wasn't.

"F-For?"

"For being there. To change her diaper."

"Oh, I had the fortune to change a lot of diapers on my own. So, I know the drill."

Bucky looked away, "Right."

"You were great. I'm sure you'll get it soon."

"Yeah, if I have you right beside me every time."

Your eyes spoke panic and his spoke panic. But, comfort. What he said radiated comfort. Fuck, this radiated comfort. Four years ago Y/N would have swooned at how domestic this was. But that was four years ago Y/N. Right?

"Bucky?"

Both of you looked away and looked at the source.

"Yeah?"

"Can I show you my kick move?" Xander asked.

"Xander, let-"

"Of course."

"Let's go."

Bucky turned to you. You took Riley from him, "Thanks. He loves you and he's just excited."

"Anytime."

———

After Xander tried to convince Bucky to let him come to his next fight, everyone hurdled in front of the TV to play the new game. Riley was crawling around as the boys taught Bucky how to play.

You knew all of this wasn't right. But, it felt like old times- watching AJ and Cass teach Bucky to play their new games. This was even better because, UGH you didn't want to admit, but seeing Bucky interact with Xander was... cute. And not to mention Riley occasionally trying to steal Bucky's attention was extra cute.

You were having an internal fight. Whether you should allow yourself to feel or not?

"Y/N?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Here's your coffee."

Bucky sat down and took a sip. That smile again.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Come on."

"It's different."

"I added a spoon of sugar. Do you need more?"

"No. I mean, it's different when you make it. In a good way."

Your cheeks heated up, so you turned back to look at anything else.

"So, how's life back?"

"I found a place."

"The while is getting longer then."

"Mhm."

You took the plate out and the rolls from the fridge.

"When you moving in?"

"I moved in."

"Damn." You placed two on the plate, "You've got everything, right?"

You clicked on 30 seconds and turned back.

"Yeah."

"More than a mattress and a tv?"

He huffed, "Yes Y/N." 

"Good good."

You took the plate out and dumped heaves of cream cheese. He liked it like that. You kept the plate in front of him, "Cinnamon rolls anyone?"

The boys didn't even bother replying to you.

"That's a no."

"They're missing out. You made this?" He ate as if someone would take it away from him in next ten seconds.

You smiled, "Yeah."

"I missed your baking."

You laughed, "Thanks." 

Then, it settled. What he just said.

"Can I ask you something?"

You nodded.

"How old is Xander?"

"Four."

You could see the gears turning in his head. You laughed, "I popped him out the minute you dipped."

Bucky immediately tensed up, "Y/N."

"Oh, NO. Nope. No, I adopted Xander."

"Oh," 

"Yeah."

"Why? I mean,"

You shrugged, "I was where I wanted to be work wise and I felt like I was ready for my family. So, I looked into the process. A year later, I had my kid. When I started it, I never thought something would happen. But having him in my arms was the most realest thing I've ever felt."

Bucky smiled, openly at that, "He's amazing."

"Yeah. My best impulsive decision ever."

"Are you, Uhm, you know." 

You raised your eyebrows, "I don't."

"Y/N,"

"What? Tell me."

"Are you with someone?"

"Nope. Are you?"

"Nope."

"Cool cool cool cool cool. Why?"

He shrugged and looked back to check on Riley, "No reason."

"Are we ever going to talk about what happened?"

#james buchanan barnes #bucky marvel #james bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x female reader #james barnes #avengers x reader #avengers imagine #avengers fic

[the-guiding-qui]

Today I've been digging a LOT for official DS2 gameplay statistics and it's impossible to find actual stuff. Wish someone archived the data in waybackmachine but it might not have been within it's capability to record cuz it was behind dropdown menus so anyways...

This is the thing I knew existed and soooo many places site that IGN article specifically. Of note: (March 2014)

Data provided by From Software reveals that the Fume Knight from Crown of the Old Iron King is statistically the most punishing boss in Dark Souls 2, defeating challengers almost 93 percent of the time. The Ruin Sentinel gauntlet wins the prize for the single most-frequented boss encounter among all Dark Souls 2 players. Heroes have pitted themselves against the Sentinels almost 25 million times, with an average success rate of 76 percent across all platforms, meaning the Sentinels win about one out of every four attempts.

That article however has absolutely ZERO SOURCES :/ So! I searched. I found a total of 3 articles talking about stats and the other 2 thankfully DID SITE THEIR SOURCES.

March 2014

the Xbox 360 side of the site claims 1,311,973 total deaths, while the PlayStation 3 side reports 2,991,976.

April 2014

which enemy was killed most? If you answered "Stray Hound," reward yourself with a cookie and a pat on the back. As of this writing, PlayStation 3 players have killed 78,396,878 of these easy foes, whereas Xbox 360 players have only felled 32,200,775 of them. The runner-up in deaths is the Hollow Royal Soldier (Greatsword), dying 65,805,375 times on PlayStation 3, and 26,948,637 times on Xbox 360. The enemy that has perished the least is the Prowling Magus. PlayStation 3 players have only reaped the souls from 228,949 of them, and Xbox 360 have only racked up 83,934 kills against this adversary.

These are really cool stats from early in the game's life and they're basically all that remains from it. Where is the info from? Now I know, thanks to the previous 2 links, they're from Beyond the Bonfire/farfire.darksoulsii.com a site that no longer exists. So now I had a direction.

The data nerd I am would've loved seeing this back in the day. At this point I knew I would never find a full list for any part of it but I needed to figure out what it looked like at least. So, of course, the next step is waybackmachine and it doesn't quite give me things to work with cuz the data was behind a dropdown menu and it didn't collect the numbers at the time so, what we're left is just... The skeleton of the website and a couple articles on it. You can look at these if you want, they're actually pretty damn cool (and donate some money to wayback while you're at it if you want). farfire international https://web.archive.org/web/sitemap/http://farfire.darksoulsii.com/ darksouls 2 dot com https://web.archive.org/web/sitemap/https://darksoulsii.com darksouls dot jp https://web.archive.org/web/sitemap/http://info.darksouls.jp

So, if I couldn't find it to take pictures of, I had to look for pictures of it. And 2014 means the best place to look is forums. The following is all I could find and they're a combination of Reddit, GiantBomb, SomethingAwful and Fextra forum searching. Aug 08, 2014 Level Distribution, PS3/XBOX 360/PC https://fextralife.com/forums/t37291/dark-souls-current-player-sls-8814/

Cause of Death Ratio PS3 March 12th 2014 https://www.giantbomb.com/dark-souls-ii/3030-40798/forums/dark-souls-2-live-stats-lost-souls-deaths-network-1474994/

Evidence the site was where the standardized wiki names for the enemies came from https://fextralife.com/forums/p607878/enemy-naming-based-on-official-quotfarfirequot-site?hilit=farfire.darksoulsii.com#p607878

Online Activity May 3rd 2014 https://forum.donanimhaber.com/dark-souls-ii-2014-scholar-of-the-first-sin-2015-ana-konu--87486929-31

### PC ### Cov. members total : 214,396 Times cleared : 17,505 Total deaths : 44,346,355 Total coop : 6,676,797 Total invasions : 1,338,490 ### PS3 ### Cov. members total : 168,581 Times cleared : 280,986 Total deaths : 225,297,890 Total coop : 3,762,881 Total invasions : 1,421,950 ### XBOX ### Cov. members total : 72,001 Times cleared : 211,047 Total deaths : 87,546,635 Total coop : 1,542,398 Total invasions : 838,648

Most popular gear per platform April 8th 2014 https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/22igio/fromsoft_is_collecting_data_on_player_deaths/

Player deaths etc on PS3: http://i.imgur.com/1cqSsWt.jpg Player deaths etc on 360: http://i.imgur.com/3ZwIr56.jpg Most popular armor (just showing helm/armor, was same on both consoles): http://i.imgur.com/2ey2We1.jpg Most popular rings on PS3: http://i.imgur.com/P2opb4I.jpg Most popular rings on 360: http://i.imgur.com/tWsdV1z.jpg

Really happy with the last one in particular but the whole haul was fun :3 ty for reading

#dark souls 2 #soulsborne #scholar of the first sin #game journalism #research #rabbit hole #infodump

[trsf-theblog]

I just wanted to say that your fic is really impressive. It's probably the longest I've ever read, and not many people would be able to write over 800,000 words and still maintain a coherent plot with character development and new ideas every chapter. Thank you for deciding to write it, and for not giving up!!

Thanks so much, Iwannarunawayandbeapirate! (side note: badass username 😉)

I'm really glad you have enjoyed the story, despite the ridiculous length. And, omg, we're not even half way through 🤦 We're getting close to halfway, I think, but to be honest I haven't done a lot of planning for season 4 and 5, so who knows how long they'll be (please don't be as long as season 2. Please, pleeeeeeeease).

There's no point in fine-tuning the plans for those seasons yet - whatever I write that goes off-map from the blueprints (and it always goes off-map. Thank you, Miss Muse!) would very likely end up clashing with any planning this far out. When that happens, I have to juggle both where the writing ended up and where I wanted it to be, which actually makes my job so much harder than just letting the writing go where it wants in the first place.

So I've only got the big details planned for seasons 4 and 5 (and yes, you can go ahead and insert maniacle cackling here). Who knows, maybe by then I will somehow, miraculously, stop being so verbose 😅

Kiiiinda doubt it though.

I don't 100% know what has kept me going through such a long fic, other than the fact that I know I have some really cool ideas, and I want to share them with people I know will love them as much as I do! So really, the story has only made it this far because readers have been interested in my ideas!

When I first got going, I thought there was a good chance my interest and motivation would trail off before the end of season one. When I made it to season two, I was surprised, but also realized I was unlikely to lose interest at that point. We've started getting into the really good stuff; the stuff I want to share soooo badly, and that'll keep me going. Plus, omg, this story has such an amazing following - way beyond anything I expected. And that has helped more than anything. No way I can leave everyone hanging now! Now when there's soooo much good stuff planned! 😊

Anyhoo, this answer got away from me (surprise surprise 🙄) Thank you so much for reaching out. It means the world to me, as does the acknowledgement that this beast of a story hasn't been easy! But I am so, so happy to be able to share it with you ❤️

Cheers,

Silence

[rollercoasterwords]

hiii, substack guy here just wanted to say that i absolutely love rob horning and little dog, my beloveds. zombies are also my favorite monster!! so ill definitely check and then i woke up, and am so accepting more zombie recs if you have any to give (btw i love your zombie apocalypse AU). Hmm what else. i fangirled so much over one of your girls (esp the music video) as someone who's been following troyes career since blue neighbourhood. Oh, and the haunted ~experience~ seems so fucking cool. we dont really do halloween where im from so the most im doing is some movie marathons and parties, which are super cool but seeing the pic you took got me yearning for some more elaborate celebrations. hope you're doing well!!

hi substack guy <3 another rob horning fan omg!! his essay "social media is not self-expression" is a fave of mine (although the title is maybe overstating his point a bit lol) so i was soooo excited when i found his substack. & yeah on earth we're briefly gorgeous kinda wrecked me ngl...i understand why everyone was raving abt it now...

+ a fellow zombie fan omg fun <3 unfortunately i do not have many zombie book recs bc. well most of them r bad i will not lie...unless we're talking nonfiction in that case i really like zombies and sexuality: essays on desire and the living dead. fiction-wise and then i woke up is probably one of my fave "zombie" stories i've read; i'd recommend severance by ling ma as well although it's not really a zombie story in the classic sense...i still kind of think of it as adjacent 2 the genre. if ur looking 4 movie or show recs tho...hmu happy 2 share my faves...

i have not actually watched the music video for 'one of your girls' yet lol but i'm loving the song!! + yeah i grew up watching troye sivan on youtube + went 2 see him live during the blue neighbourhood tour so it's really cool 2 see how his trajectory as an artist has progressed <3

haunted experience WAS so fun omg it was super elaborate...it was like on this big outdoor park/complex/event space + divided into 4 different sections where u essentially followed these hiking trails through the woods, but each section had a different theme w all these scary sets + props + lights etc. & scare actors in full costume + makeup jumping out + shouting + trying 2 scare u...i've been 2 similarly elaborate haunted houses before but never an outdoor one where ur on hiking trails (outdoor-wise i've only ever been 2 haunted corn mazes...which i will be doing at the end of the month <3). hope ur doing well as well + enjoying ur own halloween celebrations movie marathons + parties sound v fun <3

#ask

[pips-squeak]

CONVERSATION STARTER

LYLA: 20, introvert, would rather stay home and read, likes to wear dresses.

AKETA: Whimsical looking, talkative, also early 20s.

Tag Line

Two girls are set up on a blind date, and must find something to talk about.

Setting

(As the lights come up we see a grassy field with a red and white picnic blanket and a picnic basket. Aketa is sitting on the blanket cross legged, wearing a light flannel and jean shorts. She’s playing with her fingers and humming. Lyla enters, wearing a flowy summer dress and hands clasped behind her back.)

SCENE 1

AKETA

(AKETA notices LYLA.)

Oh! Hi.

(AKETA goes to shake LYLA’s hand, hesitates, then hugs her)

LYLA

Hi.. It’s, uh, nice to finally meet you. I’m Lyla.

(LYLA gives a warm smile. AKETA returns it)

AKETA

Aketa. Sorry, I know this is a little awkward. Cassie set this up. She can be a bit much, yknow? My first blind date.

LYLA

Yeah, of course. I mean, I think we both know. It’s my first blind date, too.

(They both laugh softly. AKETA goes to sit back down and LYLA follows suit.)

AKETA

Soooo, what are your hobbies? Do anything fun?

LYLA

Well, I like to read. I’m on a Greek mythology kick right now, if I’m honest.

AKETA

Oh, I love Greek mythology! My parents are even more into it than I am, to be fair. That’s why I have this silly name.

LYLA

No, no, I like it. It’s, it’s cool. I’ve never met anyone with that name before.

(They smile at each other, and slowly take out the food from the basket. Something bubbly is poured into plastic wine glasses.)

AKETA

If you like mythology, what’s your favorite myth? I’m a sucker for Achilles and Patroclus. It’s perfectly tragic.

LYLA

(LYLA thinks for a moment)

Hm, I guess Hades and Persephone? The most common version of the story is a tad upsetting, but the different tellings are kind of cool.

AKETA

(AKETA tilts her head in confusion.)

There are different versions? What, do they view Hades as her knight and shining armor?

LYLA

No, no! Not at all. I’m not sure if the different versions are actually historical, but I don’t know. I like those versions more.

AKETA

Well, are you going to tell me them?

(AKETA holds a bread loaf to LYLA’s mouth like it’s a microphone.)

Go on.

LYLA

(LYLA giggles.)

Ok, so as far as I know there are a few different versions, but my personal favorite is the romance based one, who’s surprised.

(AKETA silently sips her drink, and leans back.

It’s the one where Persephone goes with Hades willingly. There’s also a few different versions of that version itself, whether she follows him because of love or the power she might gain or just to get away from her mom.

(AKETA looks suspicious.)

I’m not lying, trust me! I don’t know why I would lie about it in the first place. You can look it up.

AKETA

(Aketa smiles.

I mean, I guess so. I’ll take your word for it.

(The two sit in a comfortable silence while they eat)

You have a point. That is a much nicer story than her being kidnapped. Yknow, my mom and dad eloped together. Her dad didn’t want the two to get married because my dad didn’t earn enough money for his liking. Their whole love story is like something out of a fairy tale.

(LYLA continues to listen quietly. AKETA keeps talking, voice trailing off.)

I always think those kinds of stories are fake until I think of them.

LYLA

Ah, well, I think with the amount of romance I read I could believe anything. But, yeah, sometimes love and relationships and ‘soulmates’ seem kind of ridiculous, even to me. My parents are divorced, so I never really had the best example of love when I was little.

(AKETA suddenly takes LYLA’s hand, and squeezes.)

AKETA

I hope you find a way to regain that belief in love.

(AKETA smiles at LYLA, and LYLA returns the smile.)

LYLA

Thanks. You too.

(Their hands stay clasped as the lights fade to black.)

(tag list below)

@indecisiveaesthetic @idkjustgowithitok @cupsmp @moonlitartist @violexides @dog55teeth @cavern-of-shenanigans

#pips writing #writing #one act #this took forever to format onto tumblr dear god #pls rb if you’re gonna like!! #long post #srry abt that lmao

[anywaysitsemily]

00:57 23/06/22

I’ve been wanting to write recently, it’s weird but I like the feel of typing on my laptop, that’s probably something I shouldn’t say out loud as it sounds weird but I’m kinda curious if anyone can relate to that. I don’t know what to write about, I’ve not written in a very long, anything of value anyway. I’ve been getting into reading again recently and just loved the idea of publishing something people could read but I never have the ideas or the correct wording and grammar to put out into the world in a form that people would enjoy- so I decided why not just write how I’m feeling on a blog and I didn’t really know where to do this but Tumblr seems like a pretty cool place, so I logged back into my old account and well, I’ve started writing. 

I haven’t been very well recently, probably covid but fingers crossed its not. I have a wedding to photograph on Saturday so I’m hoping I will feel better by then but obvs I will make sure to do a test before hand. I’m super nervous about it, I photographed a wedding a very long time ago and hated it. The stress was too much for me but right now... I was desperate for money and it was for a friends relative and I wanted to capture their happiest moment even if I’m not very good (they must have thought I was to ask me). Oh, I have something good to talk about for once, I GOT A NEW JOB! I won’t say its a dream job but it seems pretty up there from the interview. Everyone seemed so lovely and they told me all about the benefits of working for them and what the office is like and it just seemed like a dream, I really hope I do well. I was sad as I had an interview last week and got declined and I really had my hopes for it but I believe everything happens for a reason and maybe the reason I didn’t get this job is because there is something better for me out there. I know a lot of that rubbish could be fake and just something I tell myself but saying everything happens for a reason kind of gives me a bit of comfort and well I appreciate that. 

I’ve also been playing minecraft today, I haven’t played it in almost a year and SOOOO MUCH has changed, I have no idea what is going on anymore. I just wanted to mine for some iron and bruh, wtf, why do I have to smelt the raw iron to get iron, I mean that makes sense in realistic terms but god you just made my life so much harder mojang! Or microsoft, I have no idea who owns what anymore. 

I know nobody will read this but I’m really enjoying just kind of writing. I am wanting to get some hobbies, I am thinking of doing streaming as I love talking to people and playing games and making friends so I’m thinking maybe I should start streaming on twitch or even youtube, I don’t mind, either is fine, I just want to build a nice community that talks and helps each other. I don’t care about money or anything like that, I have a job for that reason, I think it would just let me feel a bit more creative and that is something I appreciate. 

Anyways, I’m done writing for now I think. This is my first ever time writing a blog on this account, kinda mad, since I’ve had it so long. Is this what tumblr is for? I really don’t know. If you actually read this then hi and thanks. Follow me for more I guess? I’m not sure how this works but thanks for reading. Okay bye!

xoxo Emily

[thegongoozlerreacts]

Welcome Home: Homewarming Update

ok so. yes i KNOW its been like several weeks already since this has been first updated and im very much late to the party (thankfully not late enough to have missed everything) but i was soooo freaking busy since the update dropped, and now i finally have the time to check it out!!!! lets GOOO!!!

spoilers under the cut

so number one thing i noticed: new link and in fact, new site domain (is that what its called?? well my point is that it's no longer being hosted by wix which yeah, that makes sense)

another thing i noticed is there are no more bug videos and doodle audio (aww)

i havent checked if the askew letter links still work but i will check now

ok just checked and nope! does not work, which means most of the secret links prior to this website change are no longer working (unsure if they'll be added back later on, but i hope they will) it's not too bothersome that they're gone, since im sure they've all been uploaded somewhere on YouTube, but it's more fun going to the actual links myself hehe

anyways! moving on to the actual update

Christmas!! or, as they call it, Homewarming

the little doodles are cute, however I am a bit suspicious of the star with its red eye (but the ham is most suspicious, what's it doing there in a tree?!?!?)

interesting placement for this tree, since it is boxing in a letter

i wonder if that means there's some new secret links? i'll take note of it

now, let's head over to the News page

he is presenting jello to me

so the post regarding the actual update is dated as December 25 2023, followed by a correction where the person says they're unsure how they made that mistake

lolol nice we got Christmas in spring

anyways, it says that there are toys, more cookbook pages, AND more vinyl records!! excited to check these out!!

let's head on over to the Merchandise page

??? CIGARETTES????

bro 😭😭 who thought it was a good idea to sell child-friendly tobacco pipes,,, thats crazy,,, also another brand mention: Hooplah cigarettes

ok so among the website changes, there's also some changes to old stuff, such as the telephone (the layout for the audio is different, and it seems Wally's audio is no longer there (not even hidden, like before)

new cookbook pages!

the first ten pages are of various hotdogs with one-sentence puns about them,, incredible

this one is my favorite LMFAOOO

DD: OH NO !!!

the crispy sweets pancakes look like they'll give me diabetes

the single pea in gelatin recipe is singlehandedly the funniest recipe i've ever seen because like,,, you made a whole gelatin, and you put just a single pea in the center of it,, just one.. LMFAOOOO

Julie's gelatin just. makes you put in a whole MUG in the gelatin?!??!?!? a mug full of hot cocoa??!? at least Frank's gelatin is edible all throughout?!?!?!

bye i saw 'Poppy Partridge' and the picture of a turkey and i was like '?? yOU COOKED HER???' but then i read the full title and it says it's a bird-free birdseed turkey LMFAO

perfect. the best recipe in this whole cookbook, im sure

there's a cigarette here?? even tho this isnt the smoking merch?? its a book??

so the book is a catalogue for toys and merch they were selling during the holidays, very cool

hELP THEY LOOK SO SILLY

what did they do to my boys 😭😭 his forehead is MASSIVE

lowkey tho i want that Julie Build-Your-Own-Game Kit cuz like wow, that is a bunch of toys in that one kit n its really cheap????

oh my god i just realized. the Marlo logo looks like a swirly eye inside a house what the hell

anywyas now its time for the radio advertisement ft. Santa himself

hmm interesting how the ad ends in glitchy noises upon saying Eddie's name, the only one who was not mentioned with a specific set unlike the others (tho that may not be that important of a detail)

next up is another storybook record! featuring Wally singing a song??!? awesoem

sorry im laughing at the absolute difference in tone and energy between the Narrator and Wally

Narrator's got a boisterous loud voice and then cut to Wally in his little low-energy voice LMFAO

Barnaby and Wally are so cute together <333

FRANK: How I would say what? JULIE: What who would the huh?

LMFAO the way Julie said her line was way too funny

FRANK: (Frank greets Wally Warmly, but is cold with Barnaby.) Hello, Wally. Barnaby. BARNABY: (Said in a similar tone mockingly.) Hiya Jewels! Frank.

Frank and Barnaby fighting is honestly one of the funniest dynamics in the whole Neighborhood to me

Julie goes into hibernation?? legit ??? nice

HELP ME WALLY JUST DEADPAN SAYING 'Shush.' TO BARNABY'S LOUD ASS VOICE LMFAOOAOA

i dont think the 'Caninus Coccinellidae' is a real bug that exists, since i tried searching it up and only got coccinellidae in general i wonder what exactly this insect is, since the word 'caninus' means it relates to canines or dogs a dog ladybug sounds like a very interesting creature

help did Howdy somehow sneak an advertisement for his store in the narrator's script 😭😭 incredible

i really like Howdy's voice, its really fitting for him

SALLY IS CLIMBING THE TREE?????

she's climbing it to stay the biggest star in town LMFAO

is she just gonna be there the whole season or something??? at least her outfit slays???

i love how dramatic Sally is but like girlie dont fall off the tree??!??!?!

oh Santa Claus mention

this talk about food is making me hungry LOL

wait did the narrator just say that all the neighborhood's been accounted for?? but what about Eddie??? he hasnt shown up??

what the hell?? what's that weird noise in the back of Wally saying 'How can that be?' is it a voice? it kinda sounds like its saying something

well this was a very cute story (still wondering where Eddie is)

after this is audio of Wally singing!! more Wally singing!! very cool

and now we've got an album of (almost) everyone else singing too!

interestingly, there's a drawing of an envelope on the audio tab thing i wonder if thats important

Sally's really good at singing actually all their singing voices are really good

SALLY: Juliette, I fell from the sky, you fell from a house... LMFAO they're so silly

next up is a track featuring Howdy's family? oooh

i cant believe his mom and dad are named 'Hiya' and 'Biya' respectively,,, amazing,, is the rest of the family gonna be named with words used for greetings and farewells??

his brother is named Latter tho oh,, Latter like 'later' like 'see ya later' because his sister and brother are named Seeya and Latter and wow,,,, amazing

also Howdy's clear favorites LMFAO

ok i kinda feel bad for Latter that Howdy likes his brother-in-law more than his own brother 😭

also?? Seeya and Beeya's kids being named Howdo and Youdo??? amazing lmao

also its interesting how on the album cover you can see how Howdy's parents and his sister have wings but theyre still caterpillars???

i think its really funny that there's just some random person there named 'Sue' who isnt even part of the family LMFAOO

also the grandma being named Sally Tations is really clever i think

Barnaby showing up at the end only adds fuel to the fire of my Barnaby x Howdy ship

and now its the tobacco pipe merch that absolutely baffles me

the ad audio features Barnaby and Howdy advertising it to Howdy's nephews,,,,, at least theyre not letting them smoke for real?????

now we got a Frank solo album where he sings a song about hibernation, cute

Even if I might not be able to see you, I know it’s for the best, I can’t keep you,

OUCH? this song is kinda sad what the fuck 😭😭 aww Frank :(((

more merchandise after this is some greeting cards for homewarming that are very cute, but not much to see other than a hibernating Julie and Barnaby and Wally being besties

after that is a crispy sweets frosted cereal, that apparently has a holiday-themed decoder ring?? with Eddie?? hmmm interesting

OH MY GOD. THE LITTLE DRAWINGS ALL OVER THE SITE ARE FOR THIS DECODER RING???

but whats the key?? is it just this as it is on the box? is there another clue on the site?

ok i think first i will finish checking all the pages before going around and looking for the symbols

checking the guestbook, and while you still cant submit anything new, it seems there also is just... no more guestbook?? thats too bad

theres new Homewarming stickers!! i love them theyre so cute!! everyone in a snowglobe doing things that we've heard them doing in the storybook audios! nice nice

nothing new in media, the 'whats welcome home' page, and the about us page (besides the Homewarming symbols)

oh actually something notable about the About Us page is that there is no longer any of the glitchy overlayed text, which makes sense since they mention in the News page that the website is free of bugs and glitches

aww everyone's homes in The Neighborhood page are all Homewarming-themed now! hmm except for Home and Eddie's post office

well, you can see a decorated Home when you enter the page but the Post Office being the only not decorated even a bit is interesting,,, Eddie also wasnt in the Homewarming Storybook Record,,, hmmmm

i dont know if it means anything but it is interesting

the staff only version of The Playfellow Exhibition is no longer on the site (or if it is i cant find it)

well it seems like i've gone through every new thing besides the secret code, which i think might be a link, since on the guestbook page there were 3 symbols that looked like a genie's lamp, which translates to 'w' so its probably a link

actually, now that im looking at it closer its probably like. a cup like the one that pours out gravy in the dinner scene in Coraline

ok im pretty sure i've got all the symbols scattered over the site, but i have NO idea what order they should be in

i, o, m, a, a, r, e, t, y, g, y, e, r, f, s, n, e, w, n, w, w, w, y

maybe instead of a link its a scrambled message?

ok i honestly have no idea where to go from here so,,, searching the internet it is !!

OK!!! since i am so incredibly late to the party, i've found the secret code on the internet kakakka

it is this https://www.awayfrompryingeyes.net

oh that makes sense,,, its a phrase that was similar to one used in the news update about Homewarming "Don’t you feel at peace exploring these pages? Free from worry? From prying eyes?"

very very interesting! lets check it out

very very interesting indeed,, ok so basically this site is gonna be an archive for the secrets from before, and all entries are signed 'W' which is very interesting too

the person writing these seem to be the creator of the site? or at least someone who manages the site

lets check out the evidence thats been archived here so far

ok so i think these evidences are actually NEW things which is cool! presumably past secrets (such as the bug videos, doodle audios, askew letters and others) will be added onto here at some point in time

now lets listen to this phone call that 'W' has gotten from Wally himself

so Wally is singing Toyland again

i wonder if there will ever come a time where we can be able to respond or communicate with Wally

he mentions that Barnaby will be here soon hmm tbh when the site first launched i had read some theories that maybe Wally was literally physically isolated from the rest of the neighborhood (something to do with the so below stuff i think?) but if Wally is being a reliable narrator (as in, he's telling the truth that Barnaby really is gonna visit him soon), then that disproves that

he seems to be left alone most of the time tho i think?? well at least now during Homewarming season since he said everyone's busy

he might not be physically isolated from the rest of the neighborhood, but he probably still feels pretty lonely :((

anyways, the next evidence is under 'commercials' i wonder what this will be

omg??? animated stuff??? thats so cool :000 an animated commercial for crispy sweets, incredible

oh! a commercial for the cookbook why is there just. a ham?? under the tree ?? i think the one single pea on a plate is the funniest gag ever

Wally's ball and cup,,,, what does it say about me that even tho its not real i still want it??? its said to be made by the 'you-wont-believe-it' company, which is interesting since im pretty sure so far the only companies noted to be involved with Welcome Home is Playfellow, Marlo, and the crispy sweet cereal so now we've got another affiliation (oh and the cigarette brand, Hooplah)

commercial for the "Homewarming Harmonies for Hearth and Home" Album, featuring a duet with Frank and Poppy!! Poppy's voice sounds really good also the Homewarming tree is made of food???

A COMMERCIAL FEATURING EDDIE ?? Eddie who has been suspiciously absent from the Homewarming festivities??

ah i see... Eddie's been working during Homewarming huh? maybe thats why the Post Office isnt decorated and he wasnt in the storybook record? cuz he was working??? no but thats weird,, Wally and Barnaby were walking around so surely they wouldve at least bumped into him delivering stuff?? maybe he was in his post office then?

an ad-break card with Frank and Sally, cute cute i remember there was a similar holiday-themed 'we'll be right back' card with Frank and Julie decorating a cake, i wonder if that will appear here?

OH?? a commercial featuring Barnaby's mom?? aww ok their dynamic is cute (even if its just a commercial for eggnog)

OMG ANOTHER ANIMATED COMMERCIAL WITH HOWDY AND BARNABY its for the cigarettes LOL

EDDIE AGAIN oH NO I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM IS HE ALONE ON THE HOLIDAYS??? SO HE'S JUST BEEN IN THE POST OFFICE THIS WHOLE TIME BY HIMSELF???? PLEASE,,,, EDDIE GO OUTSIDE or someone like. go inside or call this man i cant take the idea of Eddie being alone wtf?!??!?!?

and now an ad-break card with Poppy and Julie

and now what i think is a continuation of the commercial for the Homewarming album

NOOOOOOOO EDDIE....... GO OUTSIDE JUST DONT WORK...... PLEASE..... someone give this man something to deliver GAH he's mad ?!??! Eddie Dear please go outside (SOMEONE TALK TO THIS MAN) he's played several games of tic-tac-toe by himself,,,, my guy,,,, go on that walk thank you

the fact that Eddie isnt in ANY of these commercials,, oh my god,,,,,,,

another continuation for the Homewarming album

Sally, Julie, and Poppy singing together,,, thats so cute,,

i cant. everyone hanging out together in these commercials with no Eddie in sight i feel so bad

FRANK AND SALLY FIGHTING?!??!

is this a commercial for sleeping pills????? im ??? this show is so so crazy like ?? the in-universe show i mean,, cuz what?? they got so many merchandise and records and a bunch of brand deals and its all just been wiped?!??!?! like ?? what happened???

oh no time to dwell on that we got Sally and Eddie lets go he's getting some social interaction

lets go he has a happy ending he's at the party !!!

ok i read ahead in the transcript and oh no im afraid now ?? Eddie?? hello?? Eddie are you ok?? i dont think this man is ok he needs help oh my god what is this

im scared LOL this was not a good idea to do at 3 am im really unnerved right now but mostly i think this guy needs help someone please help him

something about reality is shattering for him i think??? maybe ?? its the way the video is going back and forth between live-action scenes and a drawing of Eddie's face (and Home's eyes)

jesus that was a jumpscare with Frank's voice coming in out of the silence

ah its still all glitchy and distorted i dont know what's the correct term for what Eddie is experiencing but he is NOT having a good time

FRANK SWITCHING FROM CALLING HIM 'MR. DEAR' TO 'EDDIE' HAS ME ILL being in Eddie's perspective with static in the ears while he's looking down is so. i dont know how to explain it but its uncomfortable and unnerving (which is probably what he's feeling)

the fact that he only looks up after Frank probably shook his shoulders or something to get his attention ughdjskdhfkjdssjkjkew (cuz his arms are outstretched when the camera pans up to look at his face/when Eddie looks up at Frank)

bro that was a jumpscare with the narrator after like,, that whole segment i guess

so rewatching that last bit when Eddie seems to be like. present enough to respond/say something or be aware of whats going on i guess, the screen gets less glitchy and distorted and thats like a nice detail

so thats why Eddie’s been kinda just,, missing from the Homewarming on the actual site

i hope Eddie turns out ok :(((( PLEASE THIS STORY NEEDS TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING OR I WILL CRY SO HARD THAT I WILL TRANSFORM INTO AN OYSTER

interestingly W’s note after the compiled commercials says that “the show never appeared beyond clips of Eddie Dear”

so all those segments with Eddie were, i guess, the ‘holiday special’ that the commercials were interrupting and all

thats so so crazy,, im so late to the party but i honestly dont even know where to begin with all of that but like. im rooting for you Eddie !!!!!

well thats it for now, until the next update! make sure to wave up high, neighbors

#welcome home

[honeyviscera]

Some headcanons for Hunter's dynamic with the rest of the Bad Girl Coven when he joins because OF COURSE he will:

(he's going to join the found family. he's going to. he will. he is going to be loved and cherished and valued and shown real affection and *starts crying*) - He has a very brother-and-sister vibe with Luz. They love each other, he's eternally grateful to her, they love studying wild magic together, and he loves learning about glyphs, but they ALWAYS do the most to bug the other. Luz teases Hunter and playfully pokes him to get a reaction and she's always successful, but THEN he sees how Luz is around Amity and. hehe. Suddenly he has fodder for playful teasing revenge.

- Also hugs. He needs hugs and Luz loves giving hugs and yes. them. hugging. (please let him be hugged.) - He and Amity. just. Understand each other. They will sit in the living room of the Owl House in silence and just Vibe for hours, Amity reading Azura and Hunter reading texts on wild magic, and occasionally they will make Understanding Eye Contact. On the flip side, they also love to gush about their respective interests to the other, and they always listen to what the other has to say.

- Amity also helps Hunter do his research in the library and they make up some bs about Important Emperor's Coven Business in order to access all those Restricted Books on Things The Emperor Doesn't Want You To Know, and it becomes an inside joke with them, where they act out more and more outlandish reasons in order to get to the books to each other, while everyone else looks on with varying degrees of amusement, confusion, and concern.

- They also talk about family issues. It's cathartic. Amity realises that Hunter never got Supportive Older Siblings and decides (maybe? ill-advisedly) to introduce him to Emira and Edric. This goes about as well as you would expect. But at the end of that meet up, Hunter just. can't stop smiling. Amity thinks that maybe this wasn't such a bad decision after all. - Gus can't stop draping himself all over Hunter. With finger guns, side hugs, etc, and Gus' endless stream-of-consciousness talking style, Gus just. drags Hunter everywhere because "Oh wow! It's another guy in the Bad Girl Coven! We're bros now. We are officially bros."

- Gus tries to act all cool around Hunter in order to impress him, which fools nobody, but Hunter is just kinda overwhelmed by Gus' enthusiasm and also he's once again amazed he has Yet Another Friend that he just. goes along with it. - He and Willow are besties. yes. At first, he's kinda terrified of her because of her power and Pure Feral Energy, but quickly realises she's really warm the rest of the time.

- Willow is very affectionate around Hunter and Hunter is just. internally sobbing like "oh my god you're so sweet what did I do to deserve this"

- Hunter always listens to Willow gush about her plants and he takes Very Detailed Notes because this stuff is helpful to his research (and also he thinks Willow is Very Cool) - Eda is soo incredibly nice to him and supportive of his rebellion and at first he's kinda afraid of her because he has Trauma but quickly realises Eda is absolutely awesome

- She encourages him to embrace his inner desire to Disobey The Emperor and do Illegal Things and after a while she is 100% successful

- She gives him the love and affection he has so desperately been lacking and the first time she praises him he bursts into tears. This is followed by a hug from Eda. It's very sweet.

- Hunter is worried Eda will kick him out when she finds out who he is but she's like. "Kid. You're fine. I literally housed and cared for my estranged sister who cursed me as children. What matters is that you've rebelled, and you deserve to be cared for because Belos is an abusive asshole."

- Cue Hunter crying once again

- Yeah Eda just adopts Hunter as one of her children. Hunter is shocked but incredibly grateful and there are a lot of tears.

- When he meets Lilith again, at first Lilith is like. "Ugh. It's the young whippersnapper. Little brat." but very quickly she realizes "Oh wow. This is a literal child. This is a literal actual child who is heavily traumatized. I am so sorry, I am so glad you're safe, come on let's do some illegal research together I have soooo much info on what you're looking for, you won't even begin to believe it" Anyways please let this poor child be loved he needs it

#please i need hunter in the found family. asap. #the owl house #the owl house spoilers #toh #toh spoilers #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #eda the owl lady #lilith clawthorne #gus the owl house #the owl house gus #willow park #amity blight #hunter the owl house #the owl house hunter #the golden guad #golden guard #the owl house headcanons #lumity #maybe? i kinda implied it a little #anyways #ocean talks

[noonachronicles]

Messes We Made Pt. 1

Choi Seunghyun/ TOP X Reader & Kwon Jiyong/ G Dragon X Reader

Word Count: 20k

Warnings: language, smut, infidelity

Genre: Non-idol/AU. Sort of friends to lovers? Forbidden romance? lol I don't know.

A/N: 800 years ago I got an ask requesting this and now it's finally (the first part anyway) ready to be posted. I can not find the ask, but I think it was anonymous anyway. So if you asked for a y/n cheating on GD with TOP story like two years ago and you're still following me, this one's for you! Also I tried do do something different than I'm used to and as a consequence I'm not entirely confident and am worried everyone will hate this soooo... If anyone ends up liking it I'll keep going with the other parts, if not then, I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Jiyong’s fingers were wrapped around your neck. Tight but not enough to worry you. The look in his eyes had been feral since you’d walked into his office, like tonight more than any other night he had something to prove. Earlier on he’d literally torn the strap off your dress trying to expose your breasts but you didn’t think you could be too mad about it considering he’d been the one that bought the thing in the first place.

When he pulled out of the lip lock he’d had you in your lips were sore and swollen. He lifted his other hand from where it had been tucked between your thighs and you groaned lightly, feeling the loss of him. You took a look at him. His dress shirt had been pulled open, courtesy of you, and there were red lipstick splotches all over his chest. Also courtesy of you. You knew if you looked down at your own chest, the tops of your breasts would be peppered with splotches as well, from when he’d marked you with his mouth.

“Be a good girl and bend over the desk for me.” He whispered against your skin.

Speechless and nearly breathless you turned around and laid your bare chest down against the cool mahogany. You closed your eyes as you felt his fingers move up the backs of your legs, dragging the skirt of your dress up your hips along with them. He hooked onto the waistband of your panties and pulled them down your legs. As they dropped to your ankles you shivered at the feel of his teeth scraping against the skin of your ass.

“You’re fucking perfect.” He said as he stood up, and your face burned with a blush at his words.

And then, in a breath, he was buried inside of you and your hands gripped the edge of the desk to hold on for the ride. He’d assured you several times that there wasn’t anyone else left in the offices for the night and you hadn’t seen anyone else when you had walked through to his personal office earlier. Still you found yourself to be timid. Only allowing little moans of pleasure to escape through your lips despite the urge to be much more vocal, the way he knew you could be.

Jiyong was panting gruffly as his hips slammed into your ass. You could feel the wood of the desk digging into you but you didn’t complain. It felt good, he felt good. The sound of his cock moving inside of you grew wetter and sloppier with every thrust. All you could really do was stay where you were and let him take control which was perfectly okay with you. Your toes curled inside your high heels and you wanted to scream as he inched you closer to your climax.

“Come on, baby.” He urged, fingers digging into the skin of your hips. “Let go. Just give me what I want, let me hear you.”

“I can’t.” You gasped beneath him. “Not here.”

He stopped for a moment, removing himself from you, making you pout. Then he was lifting one of your legs up until it was resting on the desk and you were spread open for him.

“Yes, you can. I know you can. Please? I love it so much.” he begged, “I love knowing how good I make you feel. I love knowing how much you want me.”

Pushing yourself up on your elbows you looked back at him. Sweat glistened across his chest, his face covered in desperation. You took a breath, your head focusing on his hands moving gently over your skin. Looking away you peered through the glass windows that looked out to the rest of the office. It looked okay. It looked fine. Dark, motionless, empty.

Turning back to Jiyong you smirked, “Okay. Do your worst.”

With a pleased smile he leaned over you, his lips at your ear he said, “No, I’m gonna give you my best.”

You let out a little gasp as his teeth tugged at your earlobe and he plunged back into you. This time you gave him what he wanted. Unrestrained cries of absolute passion. Sounds tore from your throat that you’d only ever let out in the privacy of the bedroom. He’d been right, somehow just the sound of your own pleasure made it better. Made it feel hotter and dirtier.

“Fuck! Jiyong, I'm so close.” You whined, ready for your orgasm.

You bit your lip hard, feeling him wrap his fist in your hair, knowing what he’d do next. Your back arched backwards as he pulled your head up by your hair.

“Are you whining?” He muttered against your stretched out neck, nipping at your salty skin. You shook your head and he pulled your hair a little harder. “And now you’re lying.”

“Please?” You begged.

He kissed your rouged cheek, “Only because I like you.”

Still pulling you against his chest with one hand he dropped the other between your legs. His fingers quickly found your clit as he proceeded with his aggressive thrusting. You reached your arms back until your hands dug into his hair and you tugged. Another cry ripped through your body as you hit your orgasm. Leaning back against his chest fully you opened your eyes as he kept going to meet his own finish.

Lifting your heavy gaze from the hardwood floor you caught sight of something you hadn’t expected. A pair of glistening black leather dress shoes. You didn’t scream or panic or make a move to cover yourself up. Your apathy could have been caused by several different factors.

It could have been that you were too worn out or too caught up in your slowly relenting orgasm. Or maybe it was because you didn’t even have to look past the shoes to know exactly who it was and you’d wanted him to see you. It could be argued you didn’t make a move because this wouldn’t have even been the first time you’d imagined him watching you.

Legs spread open with your pussy on display. You should have felt ashamed. Your dress was tugged down to your waist, showing off your breasts. Your skin was covered in a layer of sweat leaving a nice sheen, a glow. You should have been mortified. If it was anyone else you would have been.

Still in a daze your eyes followed up from the shiny shoes to the black dress pants that covered his long, slender legs. Your teeth dug into your lip. For a moment, while you drank him in like a refreshingly tall glass of chardonnay, you forgot Jiyong was even there. The shirt under his black blazer was a dark teal and you couldn’t help yourself but to think how flattering the color was on him. Truthfully every color looked good on him.

When you finally caught up to his face he met your gaze. He looked unmoved by the sight of you. Unimpressed. Unconcerned. It wasn’t until that moment that you began to feel truly self conscious. For you to be half naked before him, chest still heaving as you tried to catch your breath, and for him to not react at all was a little ego shattering. You could feel Jiyong sputter to a finish and squirmed uncomfortably under his grip. He still had you by the hair.

Finally he let you go and you fell limp against the desk. When you pushed yourself up, Seunghyun was gone and you wondered if he had actually been there in the first place or if it was just your imagination again. With a sigh you stood up straight and tried to put your torn dress back on as best you could.

“Jiyong?” You said as you turned to look at him, and sat back against the desk. He raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment but kept his eyes on where he was fitting his belt back on. “Are you sure Seunghyun’s not here?”

“Baby, come on.” He sighed, finally looking up at you. “I told you a hundred times there’s no one else here. We’re fine. Seunghyun went home early today. He had a dinner he was going to.”

“Okay.” You said quietly, though still unconvinced it hadn’t really been him. When you imagined Seunghyun before it had never been during actual sex. It was only ever when you were alone. And he never looked at you the way he had tonight. It didn’t feel the same, it just didn’t sit right.

Jiyong leaned in and kissed your shoulder. The taste of your skin left him groaning and he kissed you again. “Are you hungry? Let’s get some dinner, I’m famished.”

You grabbed the dangling strap of your dress and whipped his arm with it playfully. “My dress is ruined, remember? I can’t go out like this.”

Gnawing gently on his bottom lip he took a look at you for a long moment and then the light turned on above his head. Jiyong reached beside you, pulling open a desk drawer and pulling out a pair of heavy silver scissors. You watched as he cut the torn strap from your dress completely and then he cut off the other strap as well so both sides matched before tossing the scissors and fabric onto the desk with a clunk.

“Beautiful. Let’s go.” He gripped your hand in his and tugged you from his office.

It wasn’t until you were standing in the elevator, waiting for the door to close that you noticed the obvious light coming from under Seunghyun’s office door. A light that definitely hadn’t been there earlier.

-

You and Jiyong had been together for about ten months. It felt like it had been barely any time at all and like it had been forever all at the same time. Forever because you’d never had a relationship last so long without it getting dull or toxic and having to bail. And it felt like no time at all when you compared it to all of your friends that had been getting married to partners they’d been with for years.

Things were good though. They were great even. You really loved being with Jiyong. You really loved Jiyong. He was funny and so caring. He’d do anything for you and had proven it many times already. There was just that one thing that always felt like it was in the way of perfection. The achilles heel of your relationship, one he didn’t even know about. The urge deep in your gut that drove you crazy. A desire to be with Seunghyun when you saw him. Every. Single. Time. You didn’t even fully understand where it came from which made it a difficult feeling to get rid of.

Though you’d met Jiyong the same day you'd met Seunghyun, technically you’d met Seunghyun first. You were a journalist for a top tier, finance centric, business magazine. It was not your dream. You couldn’t imagine that writing about business trends was anyone’s dream job but it was work. It was work that paid well and gave you opportunities you wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else. Mostly your job was to do interviews with the incredibly wealthy. You were to make them seem relatable and like their lives were attainable. That way people who had no chance of ever living the same experience would eat up the rest of the magazine content like a guidebook. Buy things they didn’t need, invest in things that would never actually pay off.

That day, when you’d met the guys, it was for work. You were there to meet with the co- CEO’s of what was still considered a startup company at only four years old. Albeit an incredibly successful startup company that was only growing in popularity among the finance community and young entrepreneurs.

Despite having been at your job for several years you still got nervous before an interview. These were incredibly wealthy people you were meeting with. People that had their hands in many different pots. People it would only benefit you to impress and to harbor relationships with. Despite your nerves or perhaps because of them you’d yet to truly embarrass yourself in front of anyone. You did your research beforehand. On both professional and personal levels you learned these people to the best of your ability.

Even still, prepared or not, before every interview you had a routine. You would go to the building early and sit in your car or go inside and find a restroom to hide in and hype yourself up. You’d remind yourself what a rockstar you were. You’d remind yourself that you had it, you were prepared, and everything was going to be great. Then you’d freshen up your lipstick, head out, and nail your interview.

The only problem this time was that when you strolled out of the bathroom, shoulders back and chin held high with absolute confidence, it was head first into Choi Seunghyun. Your interviewee, one of them anyway. You had slammed directly into his chest going full force. Both of you had stepped back from the impact to try and catch your footing. It wouldn’t have even been that bad if his assistant hadn’t been following behind him with a full cup of coffee. Your eyes blew wide open and you audibly gasped at the sound of the splashing liquid at his feet. His entire back and his assistant were drenched in a Colombian dark roast with three sugars. His eyes closed as he took a patient breath.

“I’m so sorry.” You trembled, all of your previous confidence destroyed.

When he looked at you, you weren’t sure you’d ever seen anyone so annoyed and angry in your entire life. His eyes pierced through you like daggers. His mouth was a tight, thin line across his face. His eyebrows were fierce and their sharp angle perfectly reflected his feelings towards you in that moment. It was then that all those facts you’d learned about him came flooding back into your mind.

Choi Seunghyun, to those he knew and who knew him well, was a great man. Friendly and funny. He was a jokester. He was caring. Charitable and thoughtful. To those who knew him well. And at that point, you did not. To those he didn’t know and did not know him he was honestly terrifying.

He didn’t like to be near strangers or touched by them. By many accounts he seemed to be so severe about it that there was a rumor he was a germaphobe. He gave off the impression that he was cold and hard. A face and disposition likened to granite. Rarely a smile to be seen outside of photos from personal events. Though he was fairly average in height, people always noted that he seemed to tower over you no matter how tall you were in comparison. Personally he intimidated you like you’d never been intimidated before. And in the same breath you’d never been so attracted to someone so instantly. You wanted to run but you also wished he would kiss you. Touch you. Acknowledge you.

He said absolutely nothing to you in return. He only turned on his heel and went into the men’s room. Followed quickly by his assistant who was buzzing around him like a panicked bee. When you saw him again later, you were sitting in the waiting area at the front of the office. He’d changed into a new, dry, suit and as he passed by you he glared at you in such a way that your stomach turned.

You hadn’t even been escorted to the meeting room yet and you already felt like the interview was tanked. You didn’t know how things could possibly improve. There was no way you could walk out of this interview feeling good about yourself. You were fully prepared for it to be painfully awkward, uncomfortable, and unsuccessful.

Then, like an absolute blessing, in walked Kwon Jiyong. A ray of hope in what was sure to have been an otherwise miserable experience. He’d come out to greet you personally. Apologizing for making you wait and explaining he’d been stuck on a teleconference call. He could have said anything to you in that moment and it wouldn’t have mattered. You’d been so mesmerized by the way he smiled at you. You’d never even met the man and yet he smiled at you like he’d been looking forward to seeing you all day. You were blushing almost immediately.

He was exactly as charming and charismatic as everyone said he was. A completely opposite persona than Seunghyun. Whether he knew them or had never met them in his life, people talked about what a pleasure it was to be in Jiyong’s presence. During your recon of the young CEOs you’d read so many stories about what a great guy Jiyong was that you’d become certain it was a lie. An over exaggeration. He was paying people to speak so kindly about him. There was no way, he couldn’t possibly be the treasure everyone made him out to be, but he was.

He saved your interview that day. He eased you out of your discomfort so well in such a short time that when Seunghyun joined the two of you in the conference room you felt fine. You weren’t tense or anxious at all. In fact you were perfect, a total rockstar, and you nailed it. You nailed it so hard that much to your surprise before you left as he walked you to the elevator, Jiyong asked, with a bold confidence that only he could pull off, if he could see you again.

Regardless of how things turned out that day. Regardless of how good Jiyong was to you and had been to you since that very first day, you couldn’t shake it. You couldn’t rid yourself of the twisting feeling low in your belly that occurred every time you saw Seunghyun. You were better with it now, you had control of it. It didn’t bother you as much or leave you twisting in your seat in discomfort whenever he was around. But it was there. The urge to kiss him and touch him and be with him.

“You don’t have a thicker jacket?” Jiyong asked, cupping your face in his hands. “It’s gonna be cold, much colder than it is here.”

“No, mother.” You laughed, “This one will be just fine.”

He hummed, pressing his lips to yours, “Oh! You brought an extra charger cord?”

“Yes.” You groaned, fingers gripping his little hips. “It’s in my bag.”

“Because you have a real knack for breaking phone chargers when you go out of town.”

“Jiyong!”

“I know! I know.” He whined, “I just…I wish it was me taking you. I’m sorry it couldn’t be.”

“It’s okay. I know you’re a very busy, very important person.” You smirked, giving his pouty lips a kiss. “Though I do wish it was you too.”

“That’s totally fine, no offense taken.” Seunghyun sighed, leaning against the hood of the car. “I’m just standing right here. Bunch of ungrateful…”

“Thank you, Tabi!” Jiyong smiled over at his friend, “If it can’t be me, I’m grateful it’s you. At least I know she’s in good hands.”

“Oh my god! You make it sound like I’m headed off to war.” You growled, “Seunghyun, tell him we have to go. Tell him it’s only a couple hours. I keep trying but he won’t listen.”

“Ji,” he laughed, “This will be quick and painless. I’ll have your precious cargo back before your head hits the pillow tonight.”

With a final sigh Jiyong pulled you into a tight embrace. “I love you. And I’m gonna miss you. And you’re going to be amazing. My beautiful rockstar.”

“I love you too.” You nuzzled into the comfort of him. “We’ll be back tonight. I’ll probably be home before you get back from your dinner. You won’t even notice I’m gone.”

“That’s not true, I notice” he pulled away reluctantly and opened the car door for you, “but, go. Be safe.”

-

It had already been a couple months since the incident at the office and much like your apparently insatiable desire for Seunghyun you had shoved the memory somewhere deep and mostly forgotten inside of you. It was necessary if you were going to stay sane. The two of you saw too much of each other. You’d become too close to let fruitless urges get in the way of one of your most important friendships.

Seunghyun hadn’t said a word about it to you, despite having countless opportunities, and neither did you. You also didn’t mention it to Jiyong. You hadn’t actually said a word about that night to anyone. So everything just stayed exactly as it was before. Jiyong was your doting boyfriend and Seunghyun was your good friend.

And that was true, he was very much your friend. Spending time with Jiyong often meant spending time with Seunghyun because they were always together. They’d been best friends before starting the company and they were determined to keep it that way. So while a lot of the time the three of you spent together was centered around business, a lot more of it was just the two of them being idiots together.

From not knowing him at all, and ruining his thousand dollar suit, you became one of those lucky people that he knew and who knew him well. In fact you’d become quick, close friends. Which was why, when you needed to take a trip to the mountains for an interview and Jiyong was busy hosting a possible new business associate, Seunghyun offered to drive you in place of him. You could have gone on your own, you were perfectly capable but your boys wouldn’t hear it. So that Friday morning, under a clear blue sky, you were headed up north.

“You know you’ve met him, right?” Seunghyun asked, side eyeing you as you frantically flipped through the papers on your lap.

“Huh?”

“Kihyun, you already met him. You don’t have to be so anxious, it’s gonna be fine.”

Looking up and out at the road ahead you realized you were well out of the city limits and must have been for sometime. Which meant you were also a terrible driving partner if he’d driven that far with you barely saying a word. You’d just been so focused on learning everything you could about the man you were about to interview. For a moment you tried to remember if you had actually met him and then shook your head.

“I don’t think I have.” You looked over at Seunghyun who only raised his eyebrows from under his sunglasses, a smug little smile on his face. “I have?”

“He was at the launch party we had over the summer. The rooftop pool party one. Not the prohibition themed night club one.”

You tried to think back. Jiyong had brought you to a hundred events during the summer, it felt like. The two of you were just announcing your relationship officially, and he wanted you by his side constantly to show you off. Rooftop pool party launch…That would have been the time Seunghyun wore a pair of board shorts. At that point you’d still rarely seen him outside of work events which meant never seeing him out of dress pants and you’d almost gone completely feral seeing him look even slightly more casual than normal. If you’d met Kihyun that day you were fairly certain you wouldn’t have been paying attention.

“You’re probably right, but I don’t remember.” You shrugged.

“How could you have forgotten?” Seunghyun laughed, “He threw the ice sculpture of a dolphin in the pool and tried to ride it before it melted. He had frostbite on his thighs.”

“Oh. OH!” You chuckled as the memory came back. “Yes, okay. You’re right. I met him. Rich people…you guys are so weird.”

“Excuse me? ‘You guys’?” He tried his best to sound offended. “I’m normal, okay! I would never do anything like that.”

“Two words, Choi.” You scoffed, “Barcelona. Weekend.”

He was quiet for a second and then laughed, “That's fair. In my defense though we were already three vineyards in and I was pretty buzzed.”

You rolled your eyes dramatically, “Pretty buzzed? You were absolutely hammered. You were so far gone by vineyard number two that you bought number three on sight.”

“Anyway! If I’m remembering correctly it was your boyfriend who initially crashed that wedding! I was just following along as support. Someone has to have that guy’s back and it seems it’s my burden.”

“Mmhmm.” You hummed, looking back down at your file, wanting to absorb a few more useful details. “This is a really nice house, but I could never live that far from the city.”

“Oh, Kihyun doesn’t live there full time. It’s more like a weekend cabin. He has a gorgeous penthouse downtown.”

“A weekend cabin?” You asked, staring back down at the picture, “There’s a helipad.”

“Yeah, in case he doesn’t feel like taking the drive. It’s smart.”

“Rich people.” You muttered.

Flipping the folder closed and tucking it into your bag you finally leaned back in your seat. Seunghyun hit the button on the steering wheel that turned up the radio and the two of you enjoyed the rest of the scenic drive up the mountain together.

-

Kihyun was just as eccentric as you could have imagined. You were glad to have Seunghyun there with you as a buffer because at several points he’d just become too much. His home was insane. Gorgeous, yes, but insane. For the interview he walked the two of you around on a tour as you asked him about his newest investments and his most recent business venture, an app called Pigeon that used drones for a delivery service.

You tried to remain on point and professional, even as he showed you the bowling alley, movie theater, and both the indoor and outdoor pools. There were horse stables, a golf course, and a racetrack with several cars on hand for racing. At each new turn you shared a look with Seunghyun who continuously bit his lip to keep from laughing at your complete disbelief. Halfway through the interview you all had a lovely lunch prepared by Kihyun’s professional, personal chef. It was an experience to say the least and you had enough content to write about to last you an entire spread and then some.

When you and Seunghyun finally got back into the car the sky had gone pretty dark with clouds and it was beginning to rain. You felt nerves of anxiety building in your stomach but Seunghyun assured you that he could still make it home in no time. Unfortunately, he’d been wrong. Only an hour into the four hour drive home it had become so dark and the rain so heavy that he had to pull the car over on the side of the road for fear of crashing from low visibility.

As you waited for a break in the storm to keep going you made a quick call to an incredibly concerned Jiyong. He said he’d heard about the incoming storm on the news. He told you it was expected to last for several more hours and would continue to be just as unrelenting. There was a moment when the rain was coming down hard but at least not in sheets and Seunghyun pulled back onto the road. After several promises to call him back as soon as you knew what your plan was, and reminders to him that he was supposed to be having drinks with potential business partners, Jiyong let you off the phone.

It wasn’t much longer until the rain picked up and became too heavy once more. Luckily Seunghyun had found a place to stop, hopefully for the night, before the hail started. It was hard to decipher exactly what you’d pulled into. Some sort of tiny town. There was a building that looked like a hotel, several dark, small private looking homes lined the property, and there was even a brightly lit store. As you walked past it to get to the hotel you peeked inside to see what looked like half a grocery store and half a souvenir shop.

By the time you’d walked from the parking lot to the hotel lobby, both of you were completely drenched from the rain. You shivered in your cold, wet outfit as you followed Seunghyun up to the desk. You hoped and prayed that they’d have some place for you to stay the night.

“Welcome to Valley Village Inn and Resort!” The woman at the desk smiled cheerfully. “How can I help you this evening?”

“Well we were hoping you might have a couple of rooms available.”

“Oooh.” the look on her face was already apologetic, “No reservation, huh?”

“No, we thought we’d make it back to the city by tonight but got a little held up.” He explained, gesturing outside, “The storm is just too much for us to try and get any further.”

“Hmm, I know for sure we don’t have two rooms but let me see what I can find.”

Seunghyun looked over his shoulder at you and gave a hopeful smile. You sighed, not feeling too lucky. He lifted his hand and brushed his thumb over your cheek.

“We’re gonna be okay.” He mouthed.

“We might be in luck.” the woman said brightly after a couple minutes, “We did have one cancellation due to the storm. It’s not a room, it would be one of our cabin suites which does run a little pricier, unfortunately. It’s a one bedroom with a kitchenette, living room, and a hot tub on the balcony that overlooks the valley. It will be just absolutely beautiful in the morning with the clear skies and nice cup of coffee or tea. So romantic”.

“Is there a couch in the living room?” Seunghyun asked, ignoring her comment about it being romantic. “Is it a pullout?”

“No but the bed is a king so it should fit you both just…oh.” She said with realization. “You’re not a couple, are you?”

“No.”

“Well, I could always see if we have anyone available that could bring you a cot to the room?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Seunghyun shook his head, figuring if someone had to drag a cot to the cabin it would be too soaked through to use anyway. You could tell he was getting uncomfortable and frustrated. He didn’t want to take it out on her though, it wasn’t her fault. “We can figure it out. We’ll take the room.”

You sighed when he dropped his credit card on the desk, “I’ll pay you back.”

He looked over at you with a scowl, “Don’t insult me.”

“Fine. But I’m going to buy you one of those wine glasses from the convenience store we passed.” You joked.

“Oh, yes!” The concierge said suddenly as she stapled several papers together before handing them over to Seunghyun with his card. “Please stop in our Village Shop before heading to your room. The kitchen was closed about an hour ago so we don’t have room service currently, but if you’re hungry there is food in the shop. They have different snacks and some gourmet coffee for the morning. And some great souvenirs! The postcards are my absolute favorite.”

“Well.” Seunghyun grinned and threw his arm over your shoulder, “I just have to see these postcards.”

You thanked the concierge for her help and the two of you made your way back out into the rain. When you reached the convenience store both of you quickly realized how hungry you were and how reckless it was to shop on an empty stomach. You spent an absurd amount of money on silly gifts that you didn’t really need and food you were unlikely to eat in the short amount of time you intended on being there. When you were both done buying out half of the shop, Seunghyun drove the car around to the cabin you'd be staying in. One of the private looking homes you’d spotted earlier. Then, avoiding the rain as much as you could, you carried in about six bags each.

It was exactly as the sweet girl at the front desk had said it would be. A romantic little cabin suite that would have been ideal for a couple to share a weekend away. You tried not to think too much about it. Seunghyun impressed you greatly by making quick work of the fireplace. He had it going, with the living area half heated by the time you’d finished putting away all the perishable foods you’d grabbed from the shop.

When you were done in the kitchen you made your way into the living room where he was checking everything out, including the rain outside the panned glass door that was not stopping.

“Okay, Choi, “ you said, sitting down on the carpet in the living room, pulling the rest of your bags in front of you. “Let’s see what you got.”

“Wine.” He said simply, placing his bags on the coffee table.

“Seriously?” You asked with a raised eyebrow, “Six bags and nothing but wine?”

“Basically.”

“Well, I did get some things to cook for breakfast but nothing to cure a hangover. So we may be in trouble.”

Seunghyun only laughed and you watched a little wide eyed as he peeled off his drenched blazer and tossed it to the side. It hit the wood floor with a heavy splat. When he started to unbutton his soaked through dress shirt you looked away though you couldn’t help but let your eyes wander back.

Seunghyun was always such a…private person. Even in situations where it would be natural to be less clothed and more casual. Pool party events for the company or on group trips to the beach, he always kept himself so covered up. It was rare for most people to ever see him out of a three piece suit. You were lucky to have many experiences with the jeans and T-shirt version of him. You’d never seen him shirtless though, and the possibility of seeing it brought your curiosity levels into overload.

You wanted to be as respectful as possible while still feeding your curiosity. It was unlikely you’d get a chance like this again any time soon. Shuffling through the things in the bag on your lap you peeked at him through your peripherals. Your jaw dropped slightly as you watched him toss the wet, white shirt on top of his blazer. Seunghyun was gorgeous.

“I got a cheap, scratchy pajama set too. Really looking forward to it.” He muttered sarcastically, reaching over the table with his long toned arms and into one of his bags.

You looked over at him, figuring it was okay since he’d acknowledged you first. It took everything you had not to audibly gasp at the treat he’d been hiding underneath it all. He was impossibly beautiful and he looked so warm. All you could think about was being wrapped up in him. You never imagined he’d be so muscular and broad, he always looked so lanky under his clothes.

“Sexy noodle man.” You muttered under your breath.

“What?”

You looked up at his face wide eyed, not realizing you’d made your ridiculous comment out loud. “Huh?”

“I thought you said something.” He said as he pulled the shirt over his shoulders and buttoned it over his bronze chest.

“Looks a little tight.” You said clearing your throat.

“It was the biggest size they had.” He groaned, “Happens all the time. This is why I always wear my suits. Can’t get a wrong fit with custom tailored.”

“You wear custom tailored pajamas to bed?”

He grinned as he unbuttoned the too tight top. “Who says I wear anything to bed?”

Your face flushed completely and it felt like you couldn’t breathe. “I…uh-“

“I’m joking. It’s a joke.”

“Yeah, no, it was funny.” You said with a huff of a laugh, “I laughed, didn’t I laugh?”

“I must have missed it.” He winked.

“Um, well. Here.” You reached into several of your bags looking for the right one before you found it. Pulling out a folded up grey shirt, with Valley Village Inn and Resort screen printed on the front in forest green, you lifted it up to him. “I bought it to sleep in so it's super oversized. It should fit you better than the button up at least.”

“You sure?” He asked, holding out the shirt to take a look at the size. “What’ll you wear?”

“I bought a sweater as a silly gift for Ji. I can just wear that with the shorts I got to go with the shirt.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course.”

You watched as he pulled the shirt over his head. It looked good on him, much more comfortable. Then you watched as he grabbed a bottle of wine from one of his bags and brought it to the kitchen.

“Well I guess it would be more appropriate for me to change out of my pants in the bathroom then in here with you.” he mentioned, searching the drawers for a bottle opener.

“I-uh,” you sputtered out your words, “Yes. Um. I’m actually gonna go change in the room and call Jiyong with the update.”

“Good idea. It’s been more than ten minutes, he’s probably in the middle of a hysterical anxiety attack.”

“Be nice.” You said quietly as you thought about your boyfriend, “Some women are stuck with men that wouldn’t even notice if they were missing for a week. I’m lucky he cares about me so much.”

“That’s true. Tell him I said I’m sorry for lying and I’ll have you back as soon as I can.” He said, popping open the wine, “I’ll put together some sandwiches for dinner.”

As quickly as you could you grabbed the sweater and the pair of plaid pajama shorts you’d bought to sleep in and moved to the bedroom where you clicked the door shut behind you. In the room you took a half a dozen deep breaths to try and pull yourself together. Seunghyun was just being friendly and flirty like he always was. And your brain was ready to take it too far.

Once you’d discarded your wet clothes and adorned your new outfit you sat on the bed with your phone in hand.

“Thank god you’re okay!” Jiyongs voice came over the line almost as soon as you hit the green button to call him. “You are okay, aren’t you?”

“I’m okay. We’re okay.” you chuckled, “ Seunghyun actually found us a pretty nice place to stay for the evening. We’ll start heading back in the morning after the storm passes and we’ve gotten some sleep.”

“This sucks.” you could hear the sound of his bed groaning beneath him.

“Have you eaten yet?” You frowned. “You can’t go to bed if you haven’t had something for dinner. Just because I’m not there doesn’t mean you don’t have to take care of yourself.”

“I love you too.” The smile in his tone was clear. Jiyong was always giving you the impression no one had cared for him like you did or let him care for them the way he liked to with you. “And I promise I’ll eat something before I go to sleep. It’s been a long day of worrying, I just wanted to rest for a minute.”

“How was drinks?”

He groaned with more enthusiasm than his mattress, not really wanting to talk about it, not really caring. “It was work. It was fine. They accepted the proposal. Legal is looking over it now and they’ll sign the paperwork on Monday.”

“Baby, that’s so great!” He only hummed across the line, “So why do you sound miserable.”

“I miss you. You’re one of my best friends, you know that? I just get so bored when you’re not around. And the bed is so big and empty, I can’t sleep without you...” he complained.

“It’s only one night.” You laughed. “How did you manage to survive before me?”

“I’m not sure I even existed before you. Not the way I do now.”

You blushed as you leaned back against the pillows. “Why are you like that?”

“Like what?”

“So sweet. So romantic, and caring. And cheesy, god you’re so cheesy.” Sighing you tried to picture how handsome he would look like right now. “And perfect.”

He laughed at that. A big belly laugh like it was the funniest thing he’d heard all week. You could perfectly picture his gleaming, gummy smile brightening the whole room.

“I’m not perfect. I’m only like this because it’s you.” He admitted, “And that’s not just a line. I’ve never been like this with anyone. You can ask all my exes. I’m pretty sure they’ll all say the same thing. I was an absentee boyfriend that was never around and only cared about himself and his work.”

“Impossible. There’s no way that was you.”

“It is. I know because it’s what they all yelled in my face when they broke up with me.” Jiyong laughed but not in the same way he had before. This was sadder.

“Then what? You met me and your whole world changed and you became the man you were always meant to be?” You joked.

“Yep. That’s exactly what happened.” In contrast there wasn’t a hint of humor in his tone. “The moment I saw you sitting in our offices, I knew I had to know you. And every new thing I learn about you, that makes me love you more, is just proof that I was right.”

“I love you.” You sighed desperately into the phone. “Go eat, okay?”

“Okay. You eat too, I know you haven’t since lunch.” The sound of the bed moving beneath him made you smile, knowing he really would take care of himself. “Call me in the morning before you guys hit the road. I love you, y/n, good night.”

“Good night.”

When the call ended you were a little pouty but you plugged your phone in to charge and went to join Seunghyun in the kitchen, except he wasn’t there. It didn’t take you but a moment to find him. The light colored shirt you’d let him borrow was bright in the pitchblack dark of the sky and you could see him pacing the balcony. The orange cherry of his cigarette was clear too as it moved from his mouth to his hip and then back again as he paced so you didn’t even have to wonder why he was outside in the cold. There were two glasses of wine on the table and two surprisingly delicious looking sandwiches considering where it’s components came from. You sat down at one of the seats and waited, but not too long.

“These look great.” you smiled over at him as he clicked the door shut behind him and shivered.

“It’s the bread. Good bread can make a sandwich and they had surpassingly good bread in that little shop.” He shrugged, taking the seat across from you. “The wine has been aerating for a bit, it won’t make that much of a difference in the quality but if you give it a good swirl it should taste just fine.”

“I’m sure it’ll be delicious.”

The room was quiet around you as the two of you ate, just the subtle crackling coming from the fireplace and the occasional roll of thunder outside from the storm. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Silence with Seunghyun was never uncomfortable. He’d even finished before you and sat quietly, patiently, sipping his wine as you polished off the last of your sandwich. When you were done he cleaned up the plates and brought them to the kitchen before bringing over a new bottle of wine.

“There’s games.” he said almost too casually, as he stood in front of the chair he’d been sitting in previously. “If you want to play. Just seems a little too early for bed.”

You’d agreed and the two of you moved over to the coffee table. Drinking through another bottle and a half of wine you played a couple rounds of UNO, and three rounds of checkers. Growing tired and a little drunk, you had started playing through the slowest round of slap jack in the history of the game. Both of you were sitting on the couch. Seunghyun with his legs up on the coffee table and you turned towards him, cross-legged, as you played on the cushion between the two of you. Enough time had passed and you had enough wine in your system that you couldn’t hold in your thoughts as well as you should have.

“Can I ask you something?” You asked, the nervousness clear on your face, as you dropped another king card down on the pile.

“Sure.” He put down the two of hearts.

“A couple of months ago...” You hesitated, “You were there, weren’t you? In the office that night?”

“Oh.” Unable to look at you he looked down at the pile of cards, embarrassed. “I was. Yeah, I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to mention it. Honestly, I hoped you hadn’t seen me.”

“I want you to know I would have never done it if I’d known anyone was there.” You gulped, as he leaned forward and grabbed his wine, “I’m so sorry, Tabi. I would never do anything to make things weird between us. I would have absolutely never done that if I’d known you were there. Jiyong was so certain we were alone.”

“I’m sure he was.” He scoffed into his glass. “I’ve known Ji for a long time now, it’s not the first time that’s happened. He loves to rub salt in the wound. Anyway, don’t worry about it. It’s old news.”

“What does that mean?” You asked, confused by his statement. “You think he did it on purpose?”

“Doesn’t matter.” he said and put down a jack card without even realizing it.

You placed your hand down on the pile and pulled it towards yourself. “I’m still sorry.”

“Forget it. Seriously.” He said and pushed himself off the couch, dropping his remaining cards on the cushion. “Let’s do something else.”

Grabbing his cards you shuffled them in with the pile in your hand and then dropped them on the coffee table before grabbing your drink to finish off the inch left in your glass. Then you leaned back against the couch and watched Seunghyun move around, looking at the shelves. Books, games, music, and even little trinkets. It made the cabin feel more like a cozy home than an unpersonalized hotel room. He moved over to the ancient walnut stand up radio in the corner and messed with the knobs until there was a crackling from the speakers and then music filled the room.

“Does it ever bother you that people think we’re together because we’re so close?” Seunghyun asked, not even turning to look at you, just keeping his eye on the radio.

“No,” you grinned as you thought about it.

It was true, people were always misinterpreting your relationship with Seunghyun. Even since the beginning you were very close with him. The three of you went to events together so often that people made suggestions about you being a thrupple. And Jiyong was such a social butterfly that he’d leave you and Seunghyun to entertain one another. There had been so many pictures of just the two of you that people weren’t sure who was dating who.

You’d always suspected it was a big part of why Jiyong had wanted to make the two of you official so quickly. Jiyong had been with a number of women, you’d read about all of them in your research of him, but he never referred to them as his girlfriends. Not publicly anyway. That’s why it had surprised you when he asked if you would be comfortable with him telling people about you after just a couple of months.

“I think it’s funny.” you continued, “Ji hates it. He loathes it. Always correcting people, and calling magazines for redactions.”

“Pretty soon he won’t want you talking to me.”

“That’ll be really sad for him, because it’s never happening.” You shrugged. “You’re just as much my friend as you are his.”

“I know.” Finally he stood up and turned towards you, leaning back against the radio.

“Do you want to know something funny?” You asked with a blush that was half from the wine and half from the embarrassing confession hanging off your tongue.

“Always.”

“When we first met I had a thing for you. A big thing. Huge, actually.” You admitted. “I hoped for a long time that it was gonna be me and you. Not me and Jiyong.”

“You never said anything.” He pouted thoughtfully, “You didn’t even really start talking to me until you and Jiyong made it official. Not anything deep anyway, not the way we talk now.”

“I don’t know if you know this Tabi, but you tend to be very…intimidating.” You laughed but neither of you really thought it was funny. “I was scared. I just wanted you to like me so bad that I could barely talk to you. I didn’t want to embarrass myself or make you hate me any more than I already assumed you did. So I said nothing and then Ji and I got together and all the pressure was gone and I wasn't nervous around you anymore.”

“I liked you.” He confessed, “That first interview. I thought you were beautiful and you were funny…smart. I liked you so much.”

“I thought you hated me.” You said with another huff of a laugh at the irony. “Especially because of the coffee.”

“No, I didn’t give a shit about the coffee. I just,” he sighed, “I’ve been burned really bad before. It takes a lot for me to trust people, to open up to them. I- I always move too slow.”

“Imagine if either one of us was any good at communication.” you muttered sourly.

“Sure, we’d be great but, you’re happy now.” he said pushing himself forward, “Aren’t you? You and Ji, you guys always seem happy.”

“We are!” you said suddenly, “I don’t know why I said it like that. I'm very happy. I love Jiyong, please don’t get me wrong. It’s not what I meant. I just wonder sometimes.”

With a soft sigh he held out his hand and you grabbed it with no question. He pulled you to your feet and wrapped his arm around your waist, moving you slowly across the open floor in a slow dance to the music.

“If you’re happy then there’s really no need to wonder about it.” he was quiet, “You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

You fit so differently in Seunghyun’s arms than you did in Jiyong’s. You knew that already. This wasn’t the first time the two of you had danced. It wasn’t the first time he’d held you. Even still you couldn’t help but think about it every time you found yourself in his arms. In many ways it was the same. It was warm and you felt safe and you felt inexplicably cared for and loved. But Seunghyun’s heat was different from Jiyong’s. It was somehow always intentional.

Sometimes with Jiyong he could touch you and you would find yourself in an immediate frenzy. You could just look at him and he would look at you and both of you would just know you were sharing a need to be together. Other times it was a subtle, lazy warmth that moved over you slowly. His skin would press against yours in a hug or he hold your hand, or your legs would bump together under the sheets as you tucked in for bed and you didn’t need anything else. It was so comfortable, you could just enjoy the radiating warmth of his body against yours. Like sitting out by a bonfire at the beach.

With Seunghyun the heat was always the same, it was like being engulfed in flames. Even if you didn’t say anything or look at each other there was an unspoken desire pulsing through your body into his and back again. Feeding off one another until it was just a raging forest fire. You used to think it was just you but after his confession you couldn’t help but wonder if it had really been both of you all along.

“Can I ask you something else?” You asked quietly, head resting on his shoulder as the two of you swayed.

“Go ahead.”

“When you saw me, when I was naked, you looked,” you sighed, “bored? Like I wasn’t anything special. I guess I was just wondering, do you think I’m ugly?”

Seunghyun scoffed in disbelief but he didn’t respond right away. The two of you kept dancing and after a moment he asked, “How would you have wanted me to react? I’d caught one of my very best friends fucking his girlfriend, who also happens to be a very good friend, over his desk in the office we do business. What was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. I just…I thought it would be different.”

“What do you want from me?” He asked, finally getting to the question he’d been most curious about. “What can I do to make you feel better about yourself? Do you want to hear how fucking gorgeous I think you are? That I think about you constantly and have since well before that night? That I can barely close my eyes now without seeing the face you make when you cum. Do you want me to wish you were with me instead of him? Do you want me to wish that it was me fucking you? Should I confess how I’m in love with you and it makes me feel pathetic every single day? It won’t change anything. Trust me, I've been wishing for those things for almost a year now. It doesn’t make a difference.”

The two of you had stopped dancing but he was still holding you and you still held onto him. You didn’t know what to say. It was like he’d confessed all the things you’d wished you’d heard from him, but there still wasn’t anything to be done about it because he said them far too late.

“Yes.” You admitted, “Yes, that’s what I wanted to hear.”

He finally stepped back then and looked down at you, “That’s fucked up, y/n.”

You nodded in agreement, “I know. You wake up and feel pathetic for wanting to be with me? I wake up almost every day feeling like absolute shit. I feel disgusted with myself all the time. I can’t stop. I try, I’ll be okay, and then I see you and I just…sometimes it feels like you want me too. And when it happens I can’t help but want you in ways that I should never even think about.”

Despite the conversation neither of you had let the other go. Seunghyun’s arms were so steadily around you that you were certain he had no immediate intention of letting you go at all. The thought had you terrified and excited all at once. And then quickly sick to your stomach because you knew it was wrong. All of this was wrong.

“I flirt with you.” Seunghyun confessed quietly after a minute had passed.

“What?”

“I flirt with you. Sometimes I flirt with you and I can see it on your face. Like you’re unsure if what you think I’m doing is what I’m doing. It is.” His fingers moved over your hip and you were overly aware of them, “The little touches here and there. The things I say that teeter over into inappropriate. The looks I give you that make you rub your thighs together.”

“Why?”your heart was racing faster with every word.

“Because I’m an asshole and I want you.” He whispered. He leaned down, his lips brushing soft against your temple as he spoke. “I want you to want me back. I want to give you that feeling deep in your gut that makes you feel like you’ll never be truly satisfied until you’ve had a taste of me because that’s the feeling I get every time I look at you.”

You felt faint in his arms. Weak in the knees as he told you all the words you’d been waiting to hear for the last ten months. Here it was, being handed to you on a silver platter and all you could think about was how badly what was happening right now would hurt Jiyong.

“Fuck.” you muttered as you stared at the gulp that moved down Seunghyun’s throat.

“Let me kiss you.” He said dropping down just a little further. He was right there, this was it.

But you shook your head and stepped back, finally collecting the strength. Finally, when you should have done it minutes ago. Finally, when it should have been much easier for you to walk away.

“I can’t.”

“I know”.

“I’m so sorry. I feel like this is my fault. I feel like I led you on. And I swear I didn’t mean to. And I swear if it was anyone other than Ji… But I really love him.”

“It’s okay.” He assured you, “I get it. I love him too.”

Seunghyun finally dropped his arms from your body and moved over to the counter, you watched as he swallowed down the rest of the last opened bottle of wine. He didn’t look back at you and you were pretty grateful to him for it.

“I’m gonna go to bed.” You said quietly, “It’s been a really long night.”

“Sleep well.” Seunghyun nodded, and reached for his pack of cigarettes. He still didn’t look at you as he turned and went to the balcony.

In the bedroom you laid on your back in the dark and stared up at the ceiling. At some point you’d heard Seunghyun come back in from the balcony. And you heard him move around the living room of the cabin. He used the restroom and then finally settled. You assumed he was on the couch, maybe trying to sleep. Maybe thinking about you.

Avoiding thinking about what had happened you tried to decide whether or not you liked the exposed beams aesthetic of the cabin. You thought about what the natural wood ceiling would look like painted cream or even a slate gray. You thought about the faded, floral bedding and wished it was a solid white or even a nice flannel pattern. When you had completely redecorated the room in your head you tried to focus on the sounds outside. The storm raged on for at least another hour before the pounding sound of rain softened to something else. Calming.

You were about to finally close your eyes and sleep but instead you sat up with a sigh. Sitting on the edge of the bed you turned on the bedside lamp. You couldn’t sleep knowing things were so strained between you and Seunghyun. You pushed yourself off the mattress and went over to the door. When you opened it you could see his lengthy body struggle to get comfortable on the couch that was far too small for him to be sleeping on.

“Why don’t you just come and sleep on the bed?” you asked.

He turned to look at you as if he was surprised, as if he hadn’t noticed the stream of light from the bedroom door slicing through the living room.

“Oh, no I’m okay.”

“Don’t be stupid, Seunghyun. We’re two grown adults. Surely we can share a bed together.” you rolled your eyes and moved back to the bed, leaving the door open.

You tucked yourself under the blanket and waited for him to come in. It felt like it was taking a lifetime but he finally came into the room and walked around to the other side of the bed. When he slipped under the blankets you leaned over and turned off the light.

“Are we okay? Or what?” You asked into the dark. “I can’t stand for things to be weird between us.”

“We’re okay.”

You didn’t know why hearing his voice had surprised you the way it did. You’d asked him a question of course he was bound to answer. Still his voice was so deep and smooth that made the hair on your arms stand straight up.

“Everything can just go back to normal then?” You gulped.

“If it’s what you want.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” You asked, turning your body towards his.

“I don’t know how to say it any clearer. If you want everything to go back to normal then everything will go back to normal.”

“It kind of gives off the impression that I have any other option. It makes me think you might not want it to.”

He was staring up at the ceiling, his arms crossed over his stomach. After a few seconds he sighed and said, “It doesn’t really matter what I want.”

“Yes it does. Of course it matters.”

“No, it doesn’t.” He said with a sense of finality. “For you there is only one option. The option is to go back to how it was before and forget everything either of us confessed.”

“Seunghyun.”

“Go to bed, Y/n. I’ll get over it. Everything will be just like you want it to be.”

You didn’t move to lie on your back. You stayed facing Seunghyun. The whole conversation played through your head over and over. It was supposed to have cleared things up but only left you feeling even more confused than before. What was he telling you? That he wanted you to be with him instead of Jiyong? He wanted you to be with him despite Jiyong?

At some point Seunghyun turned towards you, he was still wide awake too. It was only the silhouette of him in front of you, but you couldn’t look away. Every once in a while the storm clouds would clear up enough that the room filled with the soft glow of the moon. In those moments you could see his face and he could see yours. The two of you would just stare at one another until another cloud would smother the light.

A long while passed, maybe an entire hour, and that’s how you stayed. Both of you. Neither looking away, neither of you actually going to sleep. The air felt so thick with feelings and unspoken words. Conversations you knew you shouldn’t and couldn’t have with him despite how much you’d wanted to.

Not entirely sure what his plan was, Seunghyun moved his hand across the mattress. He stopped it about halfway between the two of you and waited. He wanted to give you the choice. The decision was yours to take it further or leave it like it was. After a minute you moved your hand to his and watched his hand take yours over. His fingers slipping between your fingers. His skin was so soft and warm against yours.

Your heart was pounding in your head and in your ears so hard you couldn't hear your thoughts. Not really sure what you were doing or what it would mean, you looked up from your linked hands to Seunghyun and waited until his eyes met yours.

“Kiss me.”

His body already made a move to be closer to you before he was able to get out, “Are you sure?”

You nodded and leaned yourself forward to be closer to him as well. He lifted his hand up and curled his fingers around the base of your neck. He stayed still for a moment. His forehead pressed against yours, the tips of your noses brushing against one another. One last minute reminder that once this was done he couldn’t take it back.

Then there it was. His lips against yours. The first one was just a taste. A little test to see how you both felt about it. Both of your mouths still tasted like wine. Your eyes were closed and you were immediately ready for this to last much longer. The little expectant noise that left your lips let him know as much. With little effort your body was pressed against his and your hand was moving over his hip.

He kept his hand cradling your head as he pressed his lips to yours again, harder. Your teeth tugged gently on his bottom lip, pulling him back in everytime he pulled away. His wet pink tongue brushed along your lip and you opened your mouth for him. It should have concerned you then, just how willing you were to give him everything.

You couldn’t be sure how long the kiss actually lasted but when he finally pulled away for good both of you were panting lightly, a little breathless. He hovered over you for another moment, long enough to push a few of your hairs back into place and to leave a sweet kiss against your forehead with his swollen lips. Then he laid down beside you. On his back, staring up at the ceiling. Neither of you said anything after that, you just went to sleep.

-

A phone ringing woke you up. It wasn’t your cell phone though it was a regular old phone which left you feeling a little confused and displaced. The room you were in was bright and you hadn’t even opened your eyes yet. Then you heard Seunghyun answer the phone and realized where you were. Very soon after you remembered what you’d done. Your eyes flew open and you sat up on the bed. The door to the bedroom was closed but you could hear Seunghyun pacing along the creaky floorboards. Getting out of the bed you snuck over to the door to listen to what he was saying.

“Okay, well what does that mean for us?” He asked and waited, “Is there a time frame?…That’s a joke you must be joking... Why is there only one?? Doesn’t anyone have a fucking snow shovel or something to dig us out?…No, I apologize, I know it’s not your fault. Surely, you can understand where my frustration is coming from? This wasn’t a planned trip for us we intended on going home today….Right. Right. I get it. I appreciate the generosity.”

As he kept talking you walked over to the sliding glass door that opened to the patio and pulled the white curtain back. Your mouth fell open at the sight. At some point during the night the rain turned to snow. Outside there was nothing visible but a blanket of pure white snow covering everything. It sparkled under the sunlight. With a shiver you pulled the curtain back into place.

When you got back to the door the living room was quiet. It sounded like the call was over. Keeping the sweater you were wearing on, you pulled on your jeans from the day before. Thinking ahead you’d laid them out by the heater so they were dry and warm. When you opened the door to the living room Seunghyun was making his way back in from the deck having just finished a quick cigarette.

“Hey.” You offered quietly as he looked over at you.

“Hey.” He nodded towards the kitchen. “There’s coffee.”

“Cool.”

You made your way to the kitchen and found a mug. Looking up into the living room you watched Seunghyun stand in front of the bookshelf awkwardly, pretending to read the titles of the books it had to offer. Moving around the corner you stood uncomfortably as well, not sure what you should say or if you should say anything at all.

“Um.” You finally cleared your throat, “I should call Jiyong. When should I say we’ll be heading home?”

Seunghyun nodded. “Yeah, um, that’s a…that’s currently an unanswerable question.”

You just looked at him, not sure what he was talking about. He walked over to the front door of the cabin and opened it wide to show a wall of snow.

“Don’t panic or anything.” He said closing the door. “There are people coming to help clear out the snow so that we’re not trapped. However… those people are waiting for the roads to be cleared because they are blocked with snow.”

“Okay.”

“And there’s only one snowplow up here. The nice woman at the front desk has advised us to sit back and relax because it’s going to be a while. It might not be until tomorrow morning until they get to us. Plus side is that we won’t be charged for however much longer we’re stuck in the room.”

“What?” You asked breathlessly. “We’re stuck here until tomorrow?”

Seunghyun nodded slowly, “We have enough coffee and food to last us. Looks like our past impulsive shopping selves really saved us there.”

“I mean…” you sighed, “What can we really do?”

“Exactly.”

“I’m gonna call Jiyong.” You said again.

Seunghyun nodded and sat down at the dining table with his coffee. You went back into the room to grab your phone and then slipped on your shoes before going out onto the covered deck.

“Hey baby.” His voice was somber as soon as he answered and you assumed Seunghyun had already given him the news.

“Hi.” You attempted something cheery but it felt too fake.

“Tabi texted me about the situation.”

“I figured he had by how miserable you sound right now.”

“Unhhhh,” he groaned, “I really don’t like this.”

“Me neither.”

Jiyong sighed, defeated by the situation, “I swear I’m ready to hire a snow plow for an hour just to get you back to me.”

“Well, I guess they promised we’d be able to leave by tomorrow. We can survive one more night apart, right?

“We could.” He agreed, “Or I could buy a helicopter, and drop out of the sky to pluck you out of your snow prison. I could probably have a helicopter on standby in about thirty minutes.”

You let a little laugh escape but part of you wished he would. Especially now, after hearing his voice. You felt so overwhelmed with guilt. There was something wrong with you, there had to be, because it was so obvious to you how much you loved him.

“Always with the dramatics.” You said quietly, you could feel yourself on the verge of tears. “I miss you, Ji.”

“You okay, baby?” He asked, “You sound really upset.”

You sighed, not really sure how to respond, Oh, I just kissed your best friend so I’m feeling pretty guilty right now, “I’ll be fine. Hearing your voice just… I don’t know. I know I laughed at you last night but being away from you is harder than I expected. It hasn’t even been a full day. What did you do to me?”

“Next time you’ll take me more seriously.”

“Yeah,” you scoffed lightly, “Or maybe we can make sure there’s not a next time? You go wherever I go, I’ll go wherever you go. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Hey, when I get home you could hold me for a while, yeah? We could turn on some music or put on a movie and you could wrap your arms around me. Everything could be okay again. Sound good?”

“Alright that’s it, I’m getting the helicopter, find your way to the roof. I’m on the way. We’ll be snuggled up on the couch in an hour.”

Finally you laughed again, genuinely this time, “I really love you so much. I hope you know that.”

“I really love you too, beautiful.” He hummed as he tried to think of a way to make things better, “It’ll be okay. Today is going to go by so fast and then tomorrow morning will feel like nothing. Then it’s just me and you. And you know what, I’m thinking…I’ll take Monday off. Tomorrow afternoon won’t be enough.”

“You make it sound so easy. And amazing.” You admitted, “Actually, I could probably spend the day writing my piece on Kihyun. If I have it done by tomorrow then I can take Monday off with you. What do you think?”

“I think you’re a genius.” You could hear the smile on his face. “Well I’ll let you get to work then, you have an article to write and I have to restock the snack cabinet for our movie marathon.”

“What are we marathoning?”

“Anything, doesn’t matter.”

“You’re a good man, Kwon Jiyong.”

“And you’re an even better woman.” He chuckled, “Love you.”

“I love you, I’ll call you tonight and check in.”

When you went back inside Seunghyun wasn’t in the room, which you were grateful for, and the bathroom door was closed so you made your assumption. To avoid any awkward tension you topped off your coffee mug and grabbed a yogurt from the fridge before shutting yourself into the bedroom.

Several hours passed without a word between the two of you. You stayed in the room, working on your profile on Kihyun, and Seunghyun stayed in the living room. At some point he turned the radio on, a light jazzy compilation of songs played behind the door. You didn’t mind it so you didn’t complain. Every once in a while your cup would be empty or the coffee had gone cold so you’d peek out the door. Whenever Seunghyun wasn’t in the living room, whether he was in the bathroom or outside, you’d run to the kitchen for a refill and to grab another snack.

It wasn’t until well into the afternoon that Seunghyun finally came into the room unannounced. You looked up from your laptop in surprise.

“Hiding from me in here is just making things weirder between us.” He said as he leaned against the doorframe. “You realize that don’t you?”

“I’m not hiding.” You nodded down to your laptop, “I'm just trying to finish what work I can with all this free time.”

“Which is why you wait until I’m in the bathroom to sneak into the kitchen for coffee and snacks?” He grinned, looking over your shoulder at the half eaten back of chips and empty yogurt containers on the nightstand. “You really thought I didn’t notice? That I actually use the bathroom every hour on the hour, conveniently just after I’ve made a fresh pot of coffee and wasn’t just doing it for you.”

“Okay, yes. Maybe I have been reluctant to join you in the living room, but I really am getting a lot of work done! And I just figured it would be the easiest way for us to avoid any residual tension.”

“Listen, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night. I don’t want you to feel unsafe with me. I won’t try anything like that ever again. It was a one time mistake, I promise.”

“It’s not that I feel unsafe.” You assured him. A large part of you was relieved that he even still wanted to be around you. “How about after I finish this piece and submit it to my editor, I come out and kick your ass at checkers again?”

“That sounds great. Maybe you’ll let me make you a real meal.” Seunghyun suggested. “And if I promise to be quiet out here will you at least agree to leave the door open? It’s horribly stuffy and cold in this room.”

“All of that sounds great, but now that I’m not avoiding you and the living room, what I’d really like to do is pee.” You said tossing your laptop to the side and jumping off the bed. Seunghyun just laughed as you sped past him.

When you finished in the restroom you felt relieved on every level. Back in the living room Seunghyun was sitting in a chair near the window with a book in hand. He didn’t say anything as you made your way back to the bedroom but it was back to that comfortable silence you were familiar with instead of the awkward kind of silence you hated

In the bedroom you found that Seunghyun had cleaned up your contraband snack mess and left out one of his beautiful looking sandwiches with a glass of ice and a bottle of sparkling water. He’d also made the bed and plugged in your computer while you were indisposed. You didn’t know how he’d gotten so much done when all you’d done was quickly use the restroom, washed your face, and combed your fingers through your hair until it looked presentable. Though part of you did suspect he’d already had the sandwich made before he’d come in before.

“Thank you!” You called out to him through the open door as you sat back down on the bed and pulled your laptop over.

“You’re welcome.” He called back a definite hint of amusement in his voice.

After finally consuming something other than straight caffeine your productivity levels exceeded what they’d been before and you were completely finished with your piece on Kihyun after another hour and a half. You felt so lively off your successful weekend that you joined Seunghyun in the living room with more enthusiasm than he had expected from you.

For the rest of the afternoon the two of you played through the entire collection of board and card games that were available to you. You ate through all the snacks and drank through almost all of the coffee and tea. You only saved some knowing that you’d need it for the morning. Neither one of you said a single word about the kiss you shared. And as the afternoon turned into the evening you became more and more certain that neither of you would.

When dinner time rolled around you sat at the counter that separated the kitchen and the living room and watched as Seunghyun played a round of Chopped. Using only the ingredients you had left from your binge shopping the previous night he had to improv a meal for the two of you. He did an amazing job. You allowed him the use of the Christmas tree shaped pasta you’d bought for the white elephant gift exchange you knew you’d be having at work. And to top that he made a delicious white wine sauce with bacon that you’d gotten for breakfast and hadn’t been used.

The two of you ate at the table and shared the wine that wasn’t used for the sauce, plus another bottle on top of that. Afterwards while you cleaned the dishes from dinner Seunghyun set another fire in the fireplace and put a record on. When you were done in the kitchen the two of you sat on the couch together just drinking wine, enjoying the music, and watching the fire.

It was too quiet in the room. Despite everything there still wasn’t enough to distract you and your mind wandered. Little flashbacks to moments from the kiss you shared. His fingers on your neck, his skin under your hand. You thought about the way his body looked when he’d tossed his soaked shirt on the ground. You thought again and again about the way he’d looked at you that night in the office until you finally realized he hadn’t been bored when he looked at you, he was tortured.

“I need to ask you a favor.” You said quietly, still staring at the fireplace. You weren’t sure you’d be able to get it out if you actually looked at him.

“I can’t promise I can fulfill your request but you can always ask.”

“Will you kiss me again?”

Seunghyun looked over at the wine bottle on the table that he’d brought over after dinner. It was only half empty but he had to ask. “Are you drunk?”

You shook your head as your eyes moved over to his lips, “Are you?”

“No.”

“I know it’s not really fair for me to ask but, please?” Your chest was aching with a desire for him that you couldn’t stand any longer. “I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s driving me crazy. I shouldn’t want you like this and I know you’ll think less of me and I deserve that but I-”

Your rant was silenced by his mouth on yours. He’d leaned over the space between you and your face was in his hands. There it was again, the flame from last night burning brighter than ever. He leaned you back against the couch, kneeling on the cushion between your legs. You should have said something, pushed him away. Instead you just moaned into his mouth and gripped his hips to pull him closer.

“Does that feel good?” He asked, pulling back only once his lips were sore. You assumed he meant the fact that you’d been grinding against his thigh just trying to get relief.

“Yes.” You gasped and he ran his tongue along your lip.

“Let me make you feel even better.”

He dipped his tongue into your mouth and after that it was a blur of hands and lips. Your fingers dug into his hair securing his head so that his mouth was trapped against yours, not that he’d showed any sign of trying to escape you. Rather than continue hovering over you, Seunghyun let his body mold itself against yours on the couch and one of his hands found the waistband of your jeans. He flicked the button open and pulled down the zipper while you continued on kissing him mindlessly.

When his fingers slid along your wet sex your head fell back with a moan. Seunghyun took the chance to latch his mouth to the skin of your stretched out throat.

“God you’re so fucking hot, y/n.” He muttered against your ear, his fingers easing their way inside of you. “I’ve wanted you for so long.”

“You feel so good.” You groaned back arching.

Your hands that had gone momentarily limp at your sides had found their strength once more and you held his face in your palms. He kissed you again, pulling your lip between his teeth. You rolled your hips up to meet him. His fingers felt amazing. His fingers that pumped in and out of you while his thumb circled your soaked clit. He kept going until your thighs were shaking.

“You’re gonna make me cum.” You whimpered, your body wiggling beneath him in anticipation. “Shit! Oh shit! Ohhhh Seunghyun…”

He kept his hand where it was, fingers curling softly as you came down from your orgasm. His forehead pressed against yours and in that moment it was everything you’d been fantasizing about. He removed his hand from between your thighs and gripped your hip, pulling you into him. You could feel his erection against your thigh as the two of you kissed and you closed your eyes.

The satisfaction, the bliss, only lasted a minute before realization laced with guilt washed over you. When you opened your eyes it was overwhelming. You pulled away from him, rolling awkwardly onto the floor beside the couch. You stared up at a very confused Seunghyun as you realized you weren’t breathing and gasped.

“Oh my god.” Your hand moved up to cover your mouth. “What did I do? Why would I let that happen?”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Seunghyun said quietly, placing a hand on your shoulder to comfort you.

“Don’t.” You shrugged him off. “I’m sorry. Please don’t touch me, I need a minute. I’m so sorry, Seunghyun. I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“Okay. Alright.” He nodded, “Just tell me what you need from me.”

“I need to be alone. I’m not thinking straight, I need to think.” You pushed yourself up off of the ground and to your feet. “I’m gonna use the restroom. I need a minute.”

Alone in the bathroom the heft of what you’d done weighed down heavier than ever. And you’d thought the kiss had left you feeling ill. You’d felt so good one minute and so confused the next. You couldn’t take the roller coaster much longer. And the worst part was that even the guilt couldn’t stop you from still wanting more.

“Are you okay?” Seunghyun asked, standing up from the couch, his hands twisted together in front of him, when you finally re-emerged from the restroom after cleaning yourself up.

“Yeah, I’m better.” You were so embarrassed, so ashamed of what you’d done and how horribly you’d reacted. Seunghyun was still being supportive, and you didn’t think you deserved it truthfully. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to feel like I used you on purpose. I had thought about- wanted to…reciprocate. It hit me, you know?“

“It’s fine.” He shrugged, stepped a bit closer “I get it. I didn’t mean to push you too far. I’ve wanted you for so long and I couldn’t stop myself. And if that moment is all I get with you then so be it. It was worth it.”

“You didn’t push me.” He was so close now all you had to do was lift your hands for them to be able to grip his hips so you did.

Lifting his own hand his fingers moved across your cheek, and you rested your face in his palm. His large, soft palm. You closed your eyes and eased the hands at his hips around his waist and he stepped forward, that single step left between you. It was so quick. And then there you were again, wrapped up in his arms with your head against his shoulder. You inhaled the scent of him and it sent a shock through your body.

“I have to walk away from you.” You muttered into his neck. “I’m gonna go to bed before I do something worse.”

When you leaned back to look at him, his eyes were so sad. Both of you gulped at the same time.

“It’s probably for the best.” He nodded.

Lying in bed you stared at the ceiling but your mind was jam packed with images from just a little while before. The panting and the kissing. His hands, all over you. His fingers, buried inside of you. The way he smelled and the taste he left on your lips. You’d gone more than far enough with him and yet selfishly you wanted to keep going. You had to know the rest. You had to know all of him.

You’d told yourself the kiss would cure you of your desire but it had only made things worse…and now this. Still there was a voice at the back of your head that swore to you, if you just went all the way then you would know and you wouldn’t wonder anymore. After that you could let this go.

In the dark you slipped out of bed and moved over to the door of the bedroom. You opened the door just a little, just to peek. Seunghyun had folded himself up to fit the couch.

“Tabi…” you whispered into the dark. Just the dim light from the moon outside was shining on him. You weren’t sure if he was awake or not at least until his head popped up.

“Everything okay?” He asked with genuine concern.

You nodded. You weren’t sure how to tell him what you wanted. It was so wrong you didn’t even want to say it out loud. Everything about this was so horribly wrong but you couldn’t stop yourself. You felt somewhere in between completely disgusted with yourself and not caring because all you knew now was your insatiable need for him.

You gave him a look, sad and longing, teeth pulling at your lip. It was just a look, no words were spoken. It was all he needed anyway. Then you moved back into the room and slipped into bed. For a minute you weren’t sure if the look had worked the way you thought it had.

You wondered if he regretted what you’d done more than you. If he thought you were disgusting and wanted nothing to do with you. Then you heard the shuffling of his feet at the door and sighed a breath of relief. You watched his silhouette move across the room to the other side of the bed. He got in slowly, unsure how close you really wanted him.

Watching his eyes as they latched onto your mouth, you moved your hand to his sharp jaw. Your palm moved over the warmth of his skin. Along his cheek and into his soft hair. He moved his own hand to the small of your back.

“What are you thinking about?” He whispered.

“The way your lips felt earlier.”

He hummed thoughtfully, “Just my lips?”

“And maybe your hands too.” You blushed. “I know you said that we didn’t need to go any further but, what if I wanted to?”

You could feel his jaw tighten under the palm of your hand. “Whatever we do going forward, it has to be your choice. All you have to do is tell me what you want.”

“I want,” you dragged your fingers down his neck and over his chest, “I want you.”

“Are you sure?”

“I love Jiyong, but I’ve wanted to be with you for so long it’s becoming unbearable and I just think…”

“The best way to get over someone is to get under them?”

“I don’t think that’s the saying.” You laughed.

“I agree. I think we should…get it over with. We can leave this cabin with our friendship intact. Better even, renewed.”

“Perfect, it’s a plan.”

“Should we…kiss first?”

“Actually, I think I still owe you for earlier, yeah?”

“You don’t have to but I also would not complain.”

With a small smile you moved yourself under the sheets and down the bed, settling yourself between his legs. Your fingers moved along the strip of skin that was exposed between his pajama pants and the shirt he wore. You could feel the muscles in his abdomen tighten at your touch. You slipped your fingers into the waistband of the pants and tugged. He lifted his hips to make it easier for you to drag his clothes off, leaving them in a pile at his feet. While you undressed him from the waist down he pulled his shirt off.

As he laid still and naked beneath you, your hands trailed back up his ankles, over his bare calves, and gripped his thighs. Under the sheets you were blind as a bat, but your hands found his stiff cock easily. You closed your eyes as you moved your hand over the soft skin. Teasing him with your fingernails, cupping him, squeezing him. Eyes still closed you could imagine just how pretty his dick probably was as you worked him your hand, piecing it together in your mind. Thick shaft, pretty, throbbing head. Your mouth was watering.

From under the sheets you could hear him release a satisfied hiss as you finally wrapped your mouth around him. The taste of salty precum and skin covered your tongue. One of Seunghyun’s hands moved under the sheet and rested on the top of your head. Apparently you were doing fine on your own since he didn’t force anything, his fingers just curled into your hair and held on in case you needed encouragement later on.

He was more vocal than you expected but his deep, guttural moans laced with a string of profanities only motivated you further. Cheeks hollowed, you continued to bob your head beneath the sheets. Your tongue swirled around his sensitive skin and one of your hands worked the base of his cock where your mouth couldn’t quite reach. Your other hand had stayed put on his thigh where you could feel the muscle tighten and release beneath your palm.

After a few minutes his hand curled tighter in your hair and his hips started to lift, just slightly, off the mattress to meet your mouth. You thought he was getting close, like if you had just another minute you’d be able to make him cum. But before you could he tore the sheets from his legs and from you and pulled you off of him by your hair.

You couldn’t completely imagine what a mess you looked like, but you knew it wouldn’t be very pretty. What with the knotted birds nest at the back of your head from where he’d held you and the precum and slobber dripping from your mouth.

“I could have kept going.” You said lamely, and honestly a little put out as you wiped your lips. “It was right there. Wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” he agreed and slipped off the bed, “but I also really want to fuck you and I don’t waste time getting hard again. I’m going to grab a condom from my wallet.”

“Okay.”

You sighed as you watched his silhouette leave the room. Your teeth tugged at your bottom lip as you thought about how Jiyong loved getting off several times when you were together. It always felt like he almost preferred all the foreplay in between to the actual sex. Though you didn’t think Seunghyun would be entirely grateful to you making the comparison so you kept it to yourself. As soon as he was back in the room, so was your head.

“Come here.” He beckoned you to the edge of the bed.

You moved over the bed and sat on your knees, looking up at him expectantly. He lifted his hand to cup the back of your head and pulled your face to his. This kiss was rougher than the others. His tongue moved in your mouth with very little intention. He was more focused on his other hand, the one he had tugging on his dick. When he was ready he pulled back and you watched him roll the condom on.

“How should we…” you asked, feeling a bit awkward. You’d become so accustomed to being with Jiyong and everything happening smoothly. He knew you and what you liked, and in return you knew him.

“What do you usually like?” Seunghyun asked, looking down at you.

“I like everything, really.” You shrugged.

“Okay,” he sat down and leaned back against the headboard. “Why don’t you come get on top?”

Without a word, just a nod, you pushed yourself up in the dark and moved your leg over his lap until you were straddling him. He gripped both of your thighs. You watched his hands move up your legs. When they were high enough he used one thumb to pull your panties to the side and the other one to run along your patient pussy.

“So wet.” He murmured, almost to himself, as he pressed his thumb inside of you.

Gripping his shoulders for balance, you held yourself up, hovering over him. He lined himself up with you and you eased yourself down on his shaft. For a moment you just sat and took it all in, adjusting to the feel of him and how different it was from what you were used to. Different but still completely satisfying.

Momentarily paralyzed you didn’t move. It was not even enough time to have blinked but it was long enough that you felt thrown from your own body with the realization that it was done. A kiss you could come back from maybe but having another man inside of you. In that moment you knew you’d made a mess. What you didn’t know, what you couldn’t have known, was that it was about to get so much worse.

“Still with me?”

Seunghyun’s voice brought you back to your body. His fingers left a tingle against your skin as he moved them along your jaw.

“I’m here.”

“We’re still good?”

You nodded, “Of course.”

He lifted hips just a little. Enough to encourage you, to remind you sex usually included a little more movement than you were providing. As your hips started to move and you really started to enjoy yourself you watched as Seunghyun visibly relaxed beneath you. He even released an actual sigh of relief. It hit you that he must have imagined you had some expectation of him or maybe he’d had been expecting more of you. All of your worries had been in a general sense that you didn’t even consider being worried about anything happening at the moment.

It also seemed you’d forgotten that you weren’t the only person in the room. All your thoughts and feelings had been about you. What you were doing. How wrong you were for doing this. What you were risking. For a while you’d forgotten that, as nonchalant as he was being, Seunghyun was invested in this too. He also had feelings, he too had something to lose.

The whole time you hadn’t even thought about whether or not the sex would actually be any good. You had only been thinking about how you wanted to have it and how it was wrong to want it. With a deep breath you decided to be present. It was too late to take back so you might as well make it worth it.

You moved your hands over his shoulders to hold the back of his neck and leaned in. It felt intimate, but not uncomfortable, to kiss him like this. His hands had been on your waist, thumbs rubbing circles on the skin of your hips. You left a little moan against his lips before pulling away.

Your hands dragged down his chest, “You have to tell me what you like, okay? I want you to feel good.”

At that he smirked, “No complaints so far. We could get this sweater off of you though, don’t you think?”

You grabbed the bottom of the sweater and pulled it over your head so that you were naked except for your underwear. Seunghyun's hands moved from your hips up your sides until they were cupped underneath your breasts. He pulled you forward, wrapping his lips around one of them. He let out a moan so animalistic your whole body seemed to react, tense with excitement. Your fingers gripped his hair as he kissed and sucked at the skin of your chest.

After several minutes he pulled back, his lips looking exceptionally pink and pillowy. Leaning back, your hands gripped his knees as you kept going, rolling your hips back and forth, around in a circle. Your head rolled back, pleased by the feeling, but you needed more.

“Touch me.” You demanded.

Seunghyun sat up from where he’d been resting against the pillows. His narrow fingers moved from your hips, over your skin. They moved up your stomach to tease your breasts and back down your sides. His hands moved up your back and pulled you forward so he could bury his face against your warm skin. He licked and nibbled at your breasts again. His mouth moved all over your skin until he found a soft spot he liked at your clavicle.

One of your arms wrapped around his shoulder, the other one still offering you leverage. After a few minutes of being suffocated by your skin he threw his head and gasped. He watched you as you rode on top of him while he caught his breath. Ending up catching his second wind he gripped your hips once more and lifted himself up.

With an exhausted gasp you fell backwards onto the mattress and let your eyes move over him. Kneeling between your legs he grabbed the elastic waistband of your panties and pulled them from your legs tossing them off the bed into the dark of the room. Then you watched as he crawled his way on top of you.

Until then you’d just been enjoying yourself but you realized from the look on his face that he was after something, though you weren’t sure what it was exactly. He tried every position he could think of and you allowed him to move you in every which way, hoping to help him find what he was looking for. Your legs over his shoulders, your legs practically over your own shoulders. On your side, on your stomach, on your back. You half worried he’d ask you to get on your head. It wasn’t bad by any means, but not knowing what he needed from you was taking you out of it.

“Am I doing something wrong?” You asked as he moved himself back into a more traditional missionary position. His whole body stilled at the question.

“Not at all.” He panted, “Am I? Is this not as good as I thought it was?”

“No!” You tried to assure him as you watched his shoulders drop. “No, Tabi. It’s great. You’re great! It just seemed like you weren’t getting what you needed.”

“I want to make you cum.” He said bluntly.

“I want you to make me cum too.” You grinned.

“Am I even close?” He asked, “You came so easy for Jiyong that night….I thought I could do it too.”

“Well sure he did but we’ve never done this before, you and I. It doesn’t have to be perfect.”

“Tell me what he would do.”

“Um, well,” You racked your brain trying to think about what Jiyong would be doing. “First off all he’d move. He’d get going on the stroke game.”

“Right.” Seunghyun nodded and slowly started to ease himself in and out of you once more. Finally, it felt like he’d remembered he knew what he was doing.

“See that feels good already. Fuck that feels really good.” You moaned and it seemed to please him. “Then he would…touch me, kiss me , he’s big on affection. It’s okay if you’re not, but it’s what he does.”

“I am not opposed to kissing you.” He laughed as he leaned in and pressed a kiss against your lips and then your cheek and your neck. He sucked gently on your skin and then murmured, “I can feel your heartbeat on my lips.”

“Oh,” you groaned against his ear, “keep fucking. Just like that. I’m gonna cum for you.”

When he moved his mouth back to yours, tongue moving between your lips to massage yours, you slipped your hand down your body. It moved all the way down your stomach until your fingers reached between your thighs. It seemed the vision of you touching yourself did more for him than either of you expected. He pulled away from the kiss and pressed his forehead into your shoulder to look down at where your bodies were colliding.

“Are you close?” He asked, his face contorting slightly, “Fuck I’m gonna cum. Are you… fuck...cummi-.”

His hips pumped into you in spurts as he came and you weren’t entirely sure what to say. He collapsed on the bed beside you. With a sigh he reached down to take the condom off. Your teeth dug into your lip as you watched him move off the bed. He walked through the cabin to the restroom where he tossed the used condom and washed off. Then he made his way back to the bed.

“You came right?” He asked. “I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Yeah,” you smiled over at him, and then waited a moment just watching his glistening chest rise and fall. “I’m gonna go wash off in the shower. I’ll be right back.”

The water took a minute to heat up. While it did you spent the time staring at yourself in the mirror, every inch of you, until the steam finally hid you away. You weren’t sure why but you expected yourself to look different. For your skin on the outside to look as diseased and disgusting as you felt inside. The worst part was that you wouldn’t take it back. You hoped now that it was done you’d be able to let it go. You’d be able to let Seunghyun and all of your unspoken desires of him fall at your feet and move on.

Truthfully you weren’t even that upset you didn’t get off. It felt like not getting your orgasm was appropriate. It was your penance for cheating on Jiyong. It was God or the universe's way of telling you what a terrible person you were and that you’d made a mistake.

You picked your phone up from the counter and pressed the green button for your favorite contact. It didn’t surprise you when he didn’t pick up.

“Hey you, I’m sure you’re asleep. Actually, I hope you’re asleep. I know we talked earlier but I just can’t stop missing you. I thought maybe it would be nice for you to wake up with a voicemail from me confessing how in love with you I am. If this weekend has taught me anything it’s that I love you more than I ever imagined. So good morning beautiful man. I love you and I can’t wait to see you later.”

Hanging up the phone you had, for the time being, satisfied the urge to be the best, most supportive, most loving girlfriend Jiyong ever knew. He could never know why but he’d benefit every day from the aching guilt boiling up inside of you.

Back in the bedroom it looked like Seunghyun had nodded off. Wrapped up in a towel, you quietly searched the dark floor for your clothes. You found the abandoned sweater and your underwear. Though wearing them seemed dirty, so you opted to just wear the shorts you’d worn the night before without them.

Once dressed you washed off your panties in the sink and laid them out by the heater before climbing into bed. You were surprised when you felt Seunghyun move behind you. His arm eased over your body, around your waist and his nose tucked into the warmth of your neck.

“What are we supposed to do now?” You muttered, cheek against the warmth of your pillow.

“I don’t know,” his voice was so low you could feel it vibrate against your back. “I don’t want to worry about it right now. We can figure it out in the morning.”

-

The morning came sooner than either of you would have preferred. It felt like you’d only gotten an hour or two of sleep before the sun was blasting its way through the windows and you could no longer keep your eyes shut. Seunghyun seemed to be having an easier time of it so you carefully removed yourself from the bed and went into the kitchen to make some coffee. While the liquid magic began to brew you went back in the room to grab your phone off the charger and your clothes.

After you’d gone to the restroom and changed back into your clothes from the first day you felt anxious and ready to get back home. Leaning over the counter with your fresh cup of coffee you opened your phone and were treated with an adorable selfie from your blushing boyfriend who had been laying in bed still when he took it. Along with that was a message that said while he loved waking up to your voicemail he preferred waking up to you. The message filled you with so much joy you stared at it for nearly thirty whole minutes until Seunghyun came out from the bedroom.

“Good morning.” He offered up with a yawn.

He was fully dressed as well, back in his suit from days before. He looked ready to go home as well.

“Morning.” You smiled as you finally put your phone down.

“Did the front desk call yet with an update?”

You watched him move around the small kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. “Nope. Nothing yet, unless we both missed it.”

“I’ll give them a call after some coffee.”

He leaned against the counter with his mug at his lips and you watched his eyes move over you. You knew he was thinking about it. Thinking about you and what you’d done. The way his gaze burned into you, it had you thinking about it too.

It was supposed to be over, you thought it was over. With the exception of the guilt you’d felt you’d gone to bed feeling like you’d satiated your urges. And you’d woken up feeling even better. You were ready to go home and be done with it. Your head had been so clear. Looking at Seunghyun now, however, had your mouth watering which made no sense to you. It hadn’t even been as mind blowing as you’d expected.

“I love Jiyong.” You didn't know why you felt like you’d needed to confess it to him. You’d hoped he already knew.

“I never said you didn’t.” He shook his head, “I love him too. He's my best friend.”

“Okay, so we can agree, this has to stop?” You asked, “You’ll have to stop.”

“Stop what?” He scowled into his coffee cup.

“Looking at me like that.”

“Looking at you like what?”

“Like you’re thinking about fucking me.”

“Oh.” He rolled his eyes, “But it’s fine for you to look at me like that? I can’t just stop looking at you like that, y/n, because I can’t just stop thinking about it. I can hear the way you moan my name echo through my head. Jesus, I can still feel you pulsing around my cock. And I don’t want to just let it go. I’m not ready to let it go. I still want more.”

“Whatever happened between us, it can not leave this cabin. Do you understand me?” You asked as he moved around the counter towards you.

“Fine,” he stepped a little bit closer, leaning into you, “then give me one more time before we leave and it’s over.”

“Seunghyun-“

“Just let me taste you. I never got the chance to taste you.” He whispered against your ear, his hands moving up the backs of your legs.

You gulped, “Then we’re done.”

“Then we’re done.” He agreed.

He kissed just beneath your ear and you let out an exasperated sigh. His fingers undid the buttons of your blouse while his lips stayed against your skin. Moving down your neck to your chest and then trailing down your stomach until he was kneeling in front of you leaving kisses along your waist.

Lip snug between your teeth you watched his fingers make quick work of unfastening your pants, and pulling them down your thighs. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips against your soft bare skin. With his hands on your ass he pulled you forward, burying his face in you.

He hummed something satisfactory as you felt his tongue move through you. Leaning back you gripped the edge of the counter. Your toes curled against the hardwood floor. His fingers felt so good inside of you, just like they had the day before.

“God, I could eat you for breakfast every morning.” He mumbled, leaning back on his heels, his face glistening with you already. “You taste so good.”

“You can’t,” you gasped and then out a little moan, “Just today.”

“I know.”

He dipped his tongue back into you for another taste. Your knees grew weak and your body sank down onto him. Seunghyun lifted your trembling leg over his shoulder, bearing most of your weight as you crumbled for him.

“I’m gonna cum.” You groaned, after a few minutes had passed, your thighs tightening against his cheek.

He kept going. His mouth licking and sucking, his fingers curling inside of you. He didn’t stop until your legs gave out and he was the only thing keeping you off the ground.

Waiting until after your legs had gained back a little of their stability Seunghyun pushed himself up to his feet. He moved his fingers over your shoulders, watching as the fabric of your blouse slipped down your arms.

“Turn around.” He commanded, “Bend over the counter for me.”

Still catching your breath you did as you were told. With very little warning he’d sunk himself deeply inside of you. He started slow, easing in and out as he trailed intimate little kisses up your spine and across your shoulders.

“You like that don’t you, baby?”

“Yes. Ohh. I love it.”

“You love it when I fuck you?” He asked, picking up speed.

“Yes!”

He reached his arm around you, lowering his hand between your thighs to find your clit, “Do you love the way my cock feels?”

“Yes! Fuck yes!” You moaned,

You were close, you could feel it. Your head was in an absolute daze but there was still a part of you that was still very aware. You couldn’t understand right away what was so different. Why was this so much better than the night before?

Suddenly it hit you, the night before Seunghyun had been trying to give you something he thought you wanted. He had been so gentle, wanting to make love rather than give you what you’d always imagined having with him. Which was this, to just be fucked.

With one hand still between your thighs Seunghyun’s other hand got a grip of your hair and pulled you back towards his chest.

“Do you love me?” He asked, the bass of his voice vibrating across your overstimulated skin.

“Yes!” You cried, the only thing on your mind was that you were seconds away from your orgasm.

“I love you too.” He muttered before latching his mouth to your neck.

“Oh my god!” You gasped, fingers clutching the countertop with everything you had. “Yes! That’s it, oh…oh…right there! Seunghyun! Fuck!”

His fingers continued to circle your clit until your legs were shaking, knees turned completely to jello, and you were dependent on the counter to keep you upright. You’d been far too dazed from your own to even notice if Seunghyun had reached his climax.

He kissed you all along your naked back, “I knew you didn’t cum last night. I had to make it up to you.”

“Well, you definitely did that.” You said breathlessly.

So much for God and the universe trying to give you a punishment for your wrong doings. And it seemed it wasn’t that you and Seunghyun were incompatible either. Apparently the night before had only been so underwhelming because both of you were stunted by your own expectations. A fluke. Knowing that now didn’t help you at all. In fact you wished you’d never found out, it would only make things harder, you’d have more to figure out.

You jumped slightly at the sound of knocking on the door. That must have meant the snow had been cleared.

“Go get cleaned up.” He said, zipping his pants back up. “Sounds like it’s time to go home”.

You cleaned up for the last time in the cabin's little bathroom. When you were done you checked and double checked that you had everything in your work bag. Your laptop, all of your papers, and your chargers. While he went outside to warm up the car and clea the snow from the windows, you packed up the remaining souvenirs, snacks, and the last of Seunghyun’s wine. After putting the bags in the backseat you looked over the roof of the car at him.

“Are we good?” you asked.

“We’re good.” he said and then in an instant his teeth were chewing on his lip. He looked like he was thinking about something and you weren’t sure you wanted to ask but you did anyway.

“But?” you asked, “Looks like there's a but somewhere in there.”

“I don’t think I can leave it here.” he admitted, “We need to talk about what happened, and what it means for us going forward.”

“I-” you sighed, you knew he was right but you had no idea what you would even say at this point.

“We don’t have to do it right now. We can take the ride home to think about it, maybe take a couple days to think about it before either of us makes any rash decisions. I just don’t think that I can’t let it go as easily as I thought, and we should consider a conversation.”

You nodded in agreement. “Okay. That sounds fine. It’ll be good for us to think about it, to talk about it. As long as we’re okay.”

He assured you again that the two of you were fine and then ducked into the driver’s seat. You eased yourself down into the passenger seat and put on your seatbelt. Seunghyun set the radio and then put the car in gear before driving down the drive to the main road. He didn’t say anything and neither did you but when he held out his hand to you, you placed your hand in his. You tried not to think too hard about what it meant, but there wasn’t much else to concern yourself with. As the drive continued on you wondered if you were both on the same page. Or if maybe one of you had taken this weekend to mean more than it did to the other.

The further the car got from the cabin the further away you felt from Seunghyun. It was a subtle and unintentional separation. The two of you had gone from holding hands to having your hands in your laps until finally you leaned against the passenger side door as if your body couldn’t get far away enough.

When the city came into view neither of you spoke, not that you’d been saying much before that anyway. It was so quiet and so tense. You could just feel that whatever had happened between the two of you was over. You didn’t have to worry about some long process of figuring anything out, it figured itself out for you. There had been magic in the cabin, or it had been some alternate universe. You’d forgotten briefly who you were. There had to be an excuse for what had happened. A reason that every feeling you had, that caused you to make the choices you did, had melted away like the snow.

As Seunghyun pulled the car up to the private entrance of Jiyong’s building you could see him standing there looking anxious as he waited. Any confusion or uncertainty you thought you felt was gone. Every muscle in your body was screaming to be near him. Your heart was racing and your foot tapped unrelentingly as you became more and more impatient.

“There’s my girl!” Jiyong shouted as you jumped from the vehicle the second it stopped, his face beamed with a smile.

Dropping your bag on the ground you ran over to him. You couldn’t help but match his smile with your own. You thought you had missed him but apparently the distraction of your time spent with Seunghyun kept you from realizing just how much. A happy giggle escaped your lips as he wrapped you up tight in his arms.

“Mmm.” He hummed, tickling your neck, “I missed you, beautiful.”

“I missed you too.”

“You sound surprised.” He pulled back, just barely, just enough to kiss you.

“No! Not at all. Why would you even say that?” you asked, clearly panicked.

“I’m joking,” he laughed, “I know you missed me too. I’m still never letting you go anywhere without me again.”

As proof of his statement, with his arms still tightly wrapped around your waist, he started walking back towards the car where Seunghyun was waiting with your other bag. You laughed as you stumbled over your own feet trying to walk with him, albeit backwards.

“Hey, thanks for taking care of her.” Jiyong said, patting Seunghyun on the shoulder. “I mean that, thank you for keeping her safe. I was worried but it would have been worse if I didn’t know she had you there.”

“Of course.” Seunghyun gulped as he looked down at you and you had to look away, the guilt of everything starting to flood through you once more.

“Seriously, if you ever need anything let me know. I owe you.”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.” He shrugged.

“It was to me.” Jiyong looked at you with a smile. “I love this girl. She’s everything.”

“Yeah.” Seunghyun agreed quietly, “She’s pretty great.”

“Why don’t you park the car and come inside for a bit? We’ll have a beer and you can tell me about your crazy weekend.”

“No. I mean I’d love to but I really need to get home. Some other time.”

“Of course. I’ll see you at work then.” Jiyong turned and kissed your cheek. “I’ll get your bags for you, baby.”

“Thank you.” You said giving his arm a light squeeze. “I’ll be right there.”

You waited until Jiyong was out of earshot and then looked back at Seunghyun with a small smile, “So you’re right. I think we should talk.”

“Now I’m not so sure. I think I’d rather not.” He smiled back, “I think I know what you’re going to say. What you’ve decided. I’d rather not hear it just yet. If it’s all the same to you.”

“I'm sorry, Seunghyun.”

“Nope.” He shook his head, “Not now. Later.”

“Okay.” You agreed. “We’ll talk later.”

“I’ll see you around.”

Standing on the sidewalk you watched as he ducked into the driver’s seat of his car. You stood there long enough to watch his car all the way to the end of the drive and pull onto the main road. It was then you heard Jiyong’s voice calling you from the door. You smiled before turning towards him and hurrying up the walkway to be with him. He carried your bags in one hand and threw his free arm around your shoulder. You were happy with your decision. For now at least it felt like things were going to go back to normal. Everything would be fine.

#g dragon scenario #g dragon smut #kwon jiyong scenario #kwon jiyong smut #choi seunghyun scenario #choi seunghyun smut #big bang scenario #big bang smut #g dragon x reader #choi seunghyun xreader

[venusacrossthestars]

Could you write a tech x reader where the reader gets hurt and tech freaks out? I love your work !

"I Told You So"

A/N: hehehe my second request! and thank you for the compliment, it made my day! I also used female pronouns just let me know if those aren't what you use and I'll change it, but here you go I hope you enjoy. (thank you @arieslost for being my lovely, amazing beta-reader)

Word Count: 2.8k

Pairing; Established Relationship Tech x fem!reader

Warnings: Blood, injury, hospital mentions, overall health care. I didn't include echo in this bc it takes place during CW but then I mention Anakin so like over plot errors lol

Summary: Force user!reader (think CW S7 Ahsoka were she isn’t in the order but is helping the republic/jedi out) gets hurt on a mission and Tech loses his cool, secrets are spilt and emotions are shown.

Star Wars Masterlist

It was an easy mission they said. In and out. A recon mission, no explosives, no one was supposed to know that you were here. Oh, how it all seemed so easy when Anakin explained the plan.

“Oh Y/n we need you and clone force 99 to sneak in and grab the battle plan, oh it will be soooo easy,” you mimicked Anakin’s voice.

“Are you still complaining about General Skywalker's request?”

“Yes Tech I am, and I will continue to do so until we are back on the Marauder and I can personally comm Anakin and tell him off,” you reply.

This wasn’t the first time you’ve been asked to do a favor for the Republic or the Jedi Order and you highly doubted it would be the last.

Being a private contractor had its perks, being a force using private contractor, however, had its disadvantages. Exhibit A- this kriffing mission. This wasn’t the first mission you’ve done with the boys of the bad batch, in fact you could say you were all well acquainted with one another, and one more than the others.

You’ve been asked plenty of times why as person with such a strong connection to the force isn’t part of the jedi order and the answer is simple, your parents loved you. No seriously, they did. They’ve heard stories of the Jedi taking children from their homes, preparing them to be “keepers of the peace” or as your father put it “magical soldiers for the Republic”. They heard how they aren’t supposed to form attachments or fall in love, and your parents didn’t want that. According to them forming attachments and having emotions is what made you alive. Your parents never discouraged the use of your gifts, instead they embraced them. They helped you control them, control your emotions, they helped you understand.

Not being a part of the order had its perks, you didn’t have to follow their rules, live by their lifestyle, wear their silly robes, and you got to form attachments. That last one was a big one especially now, it wasn’t that hard to follow after the death of your parents when you were out alone in the galaxy taking spare jobs here and there to live. That’s how you were found by the Jedi Order, one of your previous clients gave your information to a Jedi needing assistance, for makers sake Dex you can’t be giving out information to all those who ask. That was the first time you were ever asked by Master Yoda and Master Kenobi to help assist them and a small groups of clones on a mission for the Republic.

That small group of clones you soon learned called themselves the bad batch were your counterpart, outcast of their own group essentially is what you were. The first time you ever met them was a day you are certain you will never forget. Wrecker was welcoming so was Hunter, Crosshair was standoffish and quiet, but Tech, Tech asked you so many question you thought your head was going to explode. ‘If you are a force user how come you aren’t a Jedi, my only other calculator is that you are a Sith but that is highly unlikely since you are working for the Republic. But yet you don’t have a lightsaber, fascinating’. And while it was true that you weren’t a Jedi nor Sith, nor did you have a lightsaber you were proven a great asset that day, and since forward everytime the Republic or the Jedi needed you, there you were and the members of clone force 99 weren’t far behind.

“Y/n did you hear me?” Tech ask while tapping you on the shoulder.

“No I was too busy thinking, what did you say.”

“I said that according to my information the guard change should be happening shortly and that is the most optimal time to advance into position.”

“Ah, I love it when you talk all smart to me,” you respond back with a grin.

“It’s time, are you ready to go mesh’la?” Tech asks while slowly moving from your hiding place, holding his hand out for you to take.

Tech, the reason you were happy to never be apart of the Jedi Order. Being apart of the Order meant you could never have an attachment to him, and how could you not? He was smart, attentive, unknowingly funny, and attractive. Conversation were hard at first, you and him didn’t have much in common but after some awkward small talk you two soon found common interest and from there a friendship and from there a relationship. Well, a private relationship.

While it wasn’t illegal to have a relationship with a clone, it was unorthodox and unheard of. The two of you decided to keep it a secret in case it affected how future missions would go, although with your guys’s success they wouldn’t dream of splitting up you, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

“I’m always ready Tech,” you reply, grabbing his hand.

The two of you fully move out from your position and into the open field that surrounds the communication center. They say that being one with the force gave you heightened senses, you never really believed it until you went on more and more mission, every time you thought something was going to go wrong it did, everytime you thought someone was watching you, they were.

Once you two enter, you made your way towards the abandoned section of the communication center. That same feeling wraps around your gut, something is off. Something is going to happen.

In a panic you yank on Tech’s hand, halting him to a stop. “Tech, I have a really bad feeling about this.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” He asks worriedly.

“I feel like someone is watching us, I have the feeling we aren’t alone.”

“Well according to General Skywalker’s plans and my own research this part of the base has been abandoned for a while, we have nothing to worry about.”

“No, Tech you don’t understand. Everytime I get this feeling, something happens.”

“Y/n, I understand your concern, but with all the information I found it is highly unlikely that anyone is going to be here, and besides according to the information General Skywalker had gotten from his source it is their meal break, everyone is probably eating.”

“Tech, I appreciate you trying to calm my nerves but this is something more than that. You said its hight unlikely, well that doesn’t mean its not impossible.”

“Mesh’la-”

You cut him off before he can get another word in, “Tech just trust me on this, I’m not saying that we turn back, I’m just saying lets take a little extra precaution.”

“Of course mesh’la, if it eases your mind.”

You don’t respond to that, instead you grab Tech’s hand and give it a tight squeeze, in which he returns.

After a few minutes of walking down corridors, making your needed turns you reach the door that leads to the records room. Tech proceeds to hack the door, which opens to reveal rows and rows of computers, comms, basically a storage unit of data.

Sighing, you turn to Tech, “Where do we even start?”

“I suppose the main computer will have an index of where everything should be located, I’ll start on that if you would like to keep a look out.”

You simply nod and start to walk back towards the door, shutting it leaving you and Tech incased in a glorified storage closet. You proceed to start walking up and down the rows of old containers filled with old data pads, comm links, and computers.

“Y/n!” Tech comms, “I’ve found what we need, I'm downloading the files now, shouldn’t be more than a few minutes.”

“Tech are you almost done, we have a slight issue.”

“Okay!” You comm back.

As you continue to wander you see a red flashing light in one of the containers. Making your way towards it you notice that its a comm, a comm that looks much newer than the rest of the ones in the bin. A moment of realization takes over as you start to sprint back towards Tech.

“Yes I am finishing up now, what seems to be the issue?”

“They know were here, there was a comm device mixed in with the others, transmitting. They’ve heard every word we’ve said since we got here. I turned it off but it’s only a matter of time till we have some company.”

“Okay, okay lets get going then.” He proceeds to comm Hunter, “Hunter, Hunter, do you copy? We’ve been compromised. Hunter this is Tech do you copy? Karabast, it seems that they’ve jammed our communications.”

The two of you pick you the pace, running and turning throughout the corridors. The two of you make it to the exit, and before you can leave Tech places his arm in front of you, stopping you from leaving the building.

He pulls out his datapad and sighs, “it seems this exit is surrounded, there is no escaping this way without harm or,” he pauses, “death. Without communication to the rest of the team I do not know there where abouts. There are other exits, although they take us through the main part of the communication center, but that way has the chance of having less battle droids.”

“Yeah, lets go with the avoiding death option please,” you say as you drag Tech to the stairs. The two of you run throughout the building till you reach the next exit.

“Crosshair, Hunter, Wrecker, does anyone copy?.... Crosshair, what is your position…. Okay will be coming out on that side, can you cover us? Okay we’ll see you shortly.”

“There is about 50 battle droids out there and I don’t know if there will be more on the way, but I was able to reach Crosshair and he’s ready when we are. There is cover to the right of us, I suggest we move there and start with formation 7.”

“Formation 7? That only proves successful when we have all members, even then its risky.”

“Formation 7 is the best bet since Crosshair is our eyes in this, I trust that he isn’t going to let us get killed.”

“When we get back to the ship I am so saying ‘I told you so’.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less mesh’la.”

As the blast doors open, we are greeted with blaster fire, Crosshair picking them off from the top, Wrecker and Hunter are here as well. You and Tech rush to your right dodging the blaster fire and take cover behind some crates.

“You thought I was going to tell Skywalker off before this, oh I am going to chew his ear off now!” You shout over the chaos.

You and Tech join the fight, picking off the droids one by one, too immersed in the battle you fail to notice the little red beeping device at your feet.

Before you have time to react, the bomb goes off and you are sent flying back through the crates. Everything is ringing, you can hear nothing but everything at once. You try to open your eyes but your brain feels all shaken up.

Tech could watch in horror as your body in flung into the middle of the battlefield. He’s even more worried when he sees you are moving.

Tech has always been rational, thinking of the pros and cons of every situation. Estimating the statistics of success, while his brothers might find it annoying, he does it because he care, he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. But, you, when it came to you all that rational thinking went out the window. Every statistic or what if wasn’t even a thought.

While all you could feel was pain, all Tech could feel was panic. While his rational thinking wasn’t in play, he wasn’t dumb enough to go rushing into an active battle and get himself killed, there were only a few driods left and none of them seemed focused on you.

Him and his brothers quickly picked off the rest of the droids with ease and with that Tech was rushing to unmoving form.

“Y/n? Mesh’la, can you hear me?” Tech kept repeating and gently shook your shoulders.

Only able to answer in a groan you were able to alert Tech that, yes you could hear him.

The rest of his brothers eventually came to the scene as Tech was trying to keep you awake.

“You need to stay awake for me, you understand. You’ll be fine, you just got your bell rung. You’ll be fine.” Tech says, ultimately trying to convince himself more than you.

“Tech, we need to get her to the ship, and to professional medical help immediately, her head, its bleeding,” Hunter says while placing a hand on Techs shoulder.

To Tech's horror he looks and sees that under your head is a growing puddle of blood, growing larger and larger by the second.

Time moves slow for you as you feel yourself being lifted off the ground and onto what you assume is a cot on the Marauder. The pain in your head is too much to focus on what else hurts. You try to fight the urge to fall asleep, remembering from one of Techs rants on first aid and medical training (a whole course he made you listen to the first time you ever went on a mission with the batch) that patients with head trauma were supposed to stay awake, or at least try too.

But it was just too hard, everything hurt, everything was too loud, and if you tried to open your eyes, everything was too bright. You were fighting a loosing battle and eventually slipped into unconsciousness.

The entire time in hyperspace, Tech wouldn’t leave your side. He was constantly checking your pulse, your breathing and applying pressure to your head while trying his best to treat all the other wounds that littered your body.

He was in completed distress, and it wasn’t going unnoticed by his brothers.

“Tech she’ll be okay, she’s a fighter she’ll pull through,” Hunter tries to reassure.

Wrecker pipes in, “Yeah! She’s tough, she’ll be okay.”

Crosshair just sits staring, at the couple it takes him a moment before he pipes up, “She’ll be okay, you love her and that’s what is going to keep her fighting.”

At Crosshairs comments the three others whip their heads at him, Tech opens and closes his mouth repeatedly trying to find the right comment to his brothers words.

“Love him? What do you mean Crosshair?” Wrecker asks the sniper.

“You guys don’t know? The two of them have been together for a while, Im surprised you having caught them trying to suck each others faces off.”

The questions and comments keep flying until it was time to drop out of hyperspace. As soon as the Marauder landed on a base on a random planet in the middle rim, you were quickly carried off and into surgery.

Tech was a mess for the hours that you were in surgery and the hours you were out but under intensive care watch. The batch had to report to General Skywalker but that could wait until you woke.

When you finally woke up the first thing you noticed, other than a killer headache, was a pressure against you hand. You looked to your side, seeing Tech fast asleep on your hand. You gently reached over with your other head to stroke his hair. At the movement Tech awoke, and you have never seen so many emotions flash across your eyes as you did then.

“I told you so,” you croaked.

“That you did, and I am so sorry for not listening, I should’ve listen. For makers sake you have the force, of course you would’ve known if something was wrong. This is all my fault-” Tech rambled on.

“Hey, this is not your fault, it wasn’t you who threw the bomb. I was the one who agreed to take the mission and help out. No one forced me to do anything,” You reassured him.

Tech looked down at your intertwined hands, to which you removed them and place them on his cheeks. Swiftly you pulled him into a quick kiss, which Tech accepted.

“You had me worried,” Tech admitted.

“Well I would be concerned if you weren’t.”

“It was a trap, we were given faulty information.”

“We were and that’s why you are going to get me General Skywalker so I can chew him out and you can watch me do so.”

“Of course mesh’la”

“Thank you Tech.”

Tech gets up to leave and before he walks out the door he looks over his shoulder at you, “I love you Y/n.”

With a grin you respond, “I love you too Tech.”

#tech x y/n #tech x you #tbb tech x reader #tbb tech imagines #tbb imagine #tech x fem!reader #techxforce user!reader #tbb tech #star wars imagine #star wars x reader #tech x reader #tech imagine #tbb x reader #tbb x you #the bad batch x reader #the bad batch imagine

[psychovigilantewrites]

Stay Away

Pairing: Reader/Jason Todd

Genre: Smut

TW: AGE GAP!! PSEUDO-INCEST! PLEASE READ SUMMARY, IVE RECEIVED LOTS OF CRITICISMS FOR THIS FIC SOOOO 

Summary: THIS IS A REPOST SINCE TUMBLR TOOK IT DOWN DUE TO POSSIBLE REPORTS LOLOL 

This fic is about a young Robin!Reader with a much older Jason. Mentions of past sexual abuse. This started out as a drabble lol, I got carried away. Anyway, Hope you enjoy! I love reading comments, so don't be shy!

Edit: Due to this fic being my only controversial one, I’d like to update the warnings by giving a brief description of what happens. Reader is adopted by Bruce at 14, she has a small innocent crush on Jason that isn’t explored until she is older (Jason has ZERO feelings for her at this stage because SHE IS JUST A KID HERE). At 16, she becomes more aggressive in flirting with Jason. At 17 (Gotham’s legal age of consent- I based this on New York’s age of consent), she has oral sex with Jason. At 18, they have sex (Jason is 27).

I wrote this a while back, and now that I’ve learned a few things along the way, I realise that a sexual relationship between a 27 year old and an 18 year old is still highly problematic- even though legal. I do not condone these actions in real life, and I doubt Jason would as well. This is purely fictional, an outlet for my fantasies when I was younger. I still do not believe in creative censorship and I want people to enjoy this fic even if it has no place in the real world. We are all allowed to escape into fiction and our own fantasy and enjoy them privately without guilt. 

“And this is Jason,” Bruce introduced you to him.

Another one?, Jason thought, though he felt slightly guilty for thinking it. He had many problems with Bruce, but deep down he knew that Bruce adopted all of them out of kindness and good intentions.

“Hey,” he grunted, holding out his hand.

You just looked at him with big, frightful eyes, still sticking close to Bruce’s side. You looked young. You couldn’t have been older than fourteen. Your hair was cropped messily short, and it made you look almost like a young boy.

Jason raised an eyebrow and dropped his hand when you didn’t take it.

“Who’s he?” you whispered to Bruce with a soft voice that the average person wouldn’t have been able to hear.

“He, well,” Bruce hesitated, “He’s Red Hood.”

Jason’s eyebrows shot up.

“I decided to tell her everything,” Bruce explained to Jason, “So she can make an informed choice since young.”

“When you’re that young,” Jason glanced at you then back to Bruce, “Anything would sound cool. Even something dangerous that will rob you of your childhood. It’s not an informed choice, you’re basically dangling a cookie in front of her.”

“I’m not young,” you squeaked, “You’re just old.”

Jason scoffed at that.

Though you had voiced out your comeback, you were still shaking in nervousness, refusing to meet his eye.

Jason couldn’t blame you for that. He knew how his eyes looked.

“All of you were younger than her when you chose this life,” Bruce said softly.

“Did we really choose, Bruce?” he argued back.

“I’m not encouraging her,” he defended, “In fact, I’m doing the exact opposite. This time, I’m telling her the truth and nothing but the truth. The good, and the ugly.”

Jason saw how you didn’t like the way the conversation was going, talking about you as if you weren’t there. You had a deep frown on your face that made you look older than you were, but also, paradoxically, a cute pout that brought out the child in you.

“Whatever,” he finally shrugged, “Your kid. As if any of us had a say in anything anyway. If this was the only reason why you asked me to come here, I’ll be leaving.”

He turned to leave the manor, to go back to his safe house.

“Good riddance, old man!” you called out after him in a shaky voice.

Jason looked back and raised an eyebrow. You immediately blushed and avoided his eyes. In the back of his head, he thought about how he could recognize your accent anywhere.

***

The next time Jason visited the manor, which was about two months after the initial introduction, he found Bruce training you basic self-defense in the Cave.

Your hair had grown slightly, and you probably fixed the cut to suit your features better.

“What happened to being discouraging?” he said out loud.

You jumped at his voice, but Bruce looked at Jason knowingly.

“It’s just self-defense,” Bruce explained, “Useful regardless of Robin or not. She’s a fast learner.”

Jason saw how your face lit up at his praise.

Great, he thought. You weren’t even Robin yet and you already got that Robin complex every one of them seemed to have had.

The constant need for praise and emotional connection from Bruce, as well as a sense of delusional idolization of the man who adopted all of you.

“Where’s Grayson?” he huffed.

“Right here, Jay,” Dick’s warm and bright voice came from behind. Jason resisted the urge to jump just like you did.

Dick was already in his Nightwing costume, and walked towards you.

“Hey little sis!” he greeted, arms open. You flung yourself at him for a hug.

Jason rolled his eyes.

“Don’t the two of you live here?” he scoffed.

“Just because you’re emotionally constipated doesn’t mean the rest of us are,” you shot at him.

Jason smirked. You were feisty, yet still wary of him.

He found that adorable.

“She’s right,” Dick chuckled, “You wanted to see me, Jay?”

“Later,” he mumbled, and changed into his alter ego.

Once Jason and Dick were alone on patrol, he brought it up.

“Don’t you disagree with this?”

“With what?”

“Her,” he said, “Or more specifically, him bringing her into all of this.”

“I did at first,” Dick frowned, “But you’ve only met her once, Jay. You don’t live with her. She’s been through a lot, and her being Robin, well, I think it’d be good for her.”

Jason felt his chest tightening. Bruce had always used the excuse that he made all of them into Robin to help channel their emotions into doing good, to prevent them from falling into darkness.

Yet, Jason still did. And he fell right into an abyssal void that he was still trying to get out of.

“Maybe,” Dick continued, “You should get to know her. You’ll see what I’m talking about, and what Bruce sees in her. Tim disagreed at first as well, but after a while, even he warmed up to the idea.”

He frowned at Dick, and then looked away, sighing.

“Whatever.”

***

A month later, Jason had agreed to meet Dick and Tim at a diner.

The food wasn’t that good, and the service average, but it held many memories for him. Dick used to take him there after patrol when he was still Robin. When he went rogue, Dick had brought Tim there. Post-rogue, all three of them would meet up.

He was early, because he was closer. He waited about ten minutes before he saw Tim walking through the door, with Dick behind him. Following Dick, he saw you.

He frowned.

He supposed that he had to get used to you being around, since you were already in the picture.

He didn’t know why he felt like distancing himself from you. With Tim, he had a good reason. A personal reason that he had moved on from.

But you? He had no reason to push you away. Though, Jason had the tendency to push everyone away.

Dick took a seat next to Jason at the booth, and across from him were Tim and you. You were dressed simply in an oversized hoodie he recognized belonged to Dick. It made you seem smaller and younger than you really were. Your hair was in a short bob now. So you were growing it out after all.

Fine. He decided to give you a chance. He had been unfair to you, after all.

“Isn’t a bit too late for you to be out, kid?” he poked at you, “Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“Fuck you, you colossal freak of nature,” you cussed at him.

Jason was taken aback.

And then he started laughing out loud.

You weren’t so bad after all. The shyness and wariness that you displayed the earlier times almost all gone, and then there was that familiar accent that he somehow felt at ease listening to.

Dick let out a loud groan.

“You owe me twenty,” Tim suddenly said to Dick.

“Come on,” Dick addressed you, “I had faith in you! What happened?”

“It’s just in my nature, okay?” you pouted, “I can’t help it.”

Dick fished out a twenty and threw it at Tim.

“What is happening?” Jason asked, confused.

“I bet ten that the first thing she says to you would be an insult, twenty if she threw in the word ‘fuck’,” Tim grinned.

“And I,” Dick enunciated dramatically, “Thought that she would at least hold it in until after we finished eating.”

“What, you a potty mouth or something?” Jason smirked at you.

“Unless Alfred or Bruce is around,” you grinned.

It was the first time you smiled at him.

“Coward,” he shook his head, “I used to say all sorts of shit even in front of Bruce and Alfred. You gotta step up your game, kid.”

“And Alfred got you bankrupt, didn’t he?” Dick reminded, “You had to put so much of your allowance in the swear jar.”

“I believe in freedom of expression, alright?” Jason huffed, “I had to stand by my principles.”

“Principles?” Tim scoffed, “You?”

“Yes, me, Timbers,” Jason reiterated, “I’m a man of my word. If I’m gonna swear, I’m gonna go all the way.”

“You’re an old man of your word,” Jason heard you mumble.

“I’m only twenty-three, sweetheart,” he responded, “Dick’s the old man here.”

“Am not!” Dick protested.

“Yeah, Dick’s not,” you agreed.

“How does that make any sense?” Jason challenged.

“Because Dick doesn’t treat me like I’m a kid,” you shrugged, “He brings me up to his level, so I don’t see him as an old man. You on the other hand…”

“But you are a kid!” Jason argued back, “What are you, twelve?”

“You know for a fact that I’m fourteen!” you growled.

Jason grinned at you, and expected you to continue defending yourself. But for some reason, you just remained silent, and he saw a blush of red settling on your cheeks.

“Whatever you say, kid.”

***

The time that passed between that night and the next time he came back was shorter. He watched you train with Dick, and saw that you had already improved a lot.

He went back, and came back again, three weeks later. Your moves were faster, cleaner, more efficient.

He went back, and came back again, a week later. You landed a blow on Tim.

Soon, he realised that he was looking forward to his visits, because he wanted to see how much you progressed during the short time he was gone- and you never disappointed.

“She must be training nonstop,” he casually said to Tim one night on patrol. Bruce still didn’t allow you out with them yet, because you were still too new.

“Dude, she wakes up at four every morning to train for two hours before going to school,” Tim told him, “After she gets back, she does her homework and studies for a bit, and then trains again for another three hours before going to bed. She’s borderline crazy.”

Jason frowned to himself.

He knew that pattern. Training relentlessly to lose himself in the physical exertion, to feel like he had some sort of power every time he landed a punch, to regain some sort of control.

You were either running away from something, or towards something.

“I never asked,” he started, “But how did he end up adopting her?”

“Uh,” Tim rubbed the back of his head in hesitation, “I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you. You should ask her yourself.”

“Oh, come on,” he groaned, “You mean to tell me that you asked her yourself? Dick or Bruce didn’t tell you?”

“Of course!” Tim grumbled, “We’re friends, Jason. We hang out. We talk. You’re the only one missing from the circle.”

“Fucking whatever.”

***

He really wanted to ask, he really did.

If not out of care, then out of curiosity.

But honestly, a heart to heart talk with another human being? That wasn’t him.

Yet, he really wanted to know.

He had tried to sit down next to you when you were just watching TV alone in the living room, he had tried to knock on your door while you were blasting shitty music out loud. He had even tried to call you up and see if you wanted to meet him for dinner somewhere.

But he never got to it.

In the end, a year had passed since he first met you, and it was your big night. It was your first debut as Robin.

“Stick to at least one of us,” Jason overheard Bruce instruct you in the Cave, “Don’t go off on your own, don’t act first, and always listen to orders.”

“Yes, sir,” you rolled your eyes, then put on your domino mask.

Jason smirked at your attitude. You had come out of your shell and he learned that you were really a feisty, sassy, annoying little brat.

He thought the Robin uniform suited you. It was more modern than his was- the colors more muted- and he saw that you probably had demanded Bruce to include designs of your own. Like how your black cape sort of shimmered in the light, and how there was fucking lace at the lateral sides of your legs.

Your hair was long now.

All of you split up during patrol, and Jason had found himself panting on a roof after taking down a dozen guys who thought it was a good idea to seek revenge for the time he pissed on them from the edge of a building while they were doing a drug exchange.

It had been pretty funny, the way they were so furiously humiliated.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a movement. He turned to look at the building from across the street, and saw that you were sitting there on the edge, legs dangling, overlooking the alley below.

He grappled to where you were and silently approached you from behind.

“I thought he told you to stick to someone,” he said.

“Jesus, fuck,” you jumped, “Stop doing that, you asshole.”

“Think of it as training for your ears,” he chuckled, and sat down next to you.

“I was with Bruce, then Dick, then Tim, then I ran away from Tim to find you,” you explained, “Looks like you found me first, though.”

“Why did you want to find me?”

“Dunno,” you shrugged, “It’s my first night. Just wanted to see everyone in action.”

“Well, you missed one big fight,” he said, “Took out a dozen guys in under five minutes.”

“Not bad,” you smirked, “Wish I could have seen it.”

“You will eventually,” he hummed, “It’s not a big deal.”

“Yes, because you obviously have done worse,” you poked.

“Is that why you were so afraid of me in the beginning?” Jason wondered, “Because you knew I killed people?”

“I was never afraid of you,” you frowned, “What gave you that idea?”

“You couldn’t stop shaking the first time I met you,” he reminded.

“Fine,” you conceded, “You looked pretty big and scary. And when Bruce said that you were Red Hood, that shook me up a bit. But it wasn’t because you killed people.”

“That’s a first,” he scoffed.

“But now I know that you’re just a massive prick who pretends to be badass to cover up the fact that you’re just a sad, fragile being- well, it’s hard to be scared.”

“Oh, we’re throwing shade now are we?” he snickered, “What about you and your obsession with training just to compensate for the fact that you feel small and weak inside with no control over your life?”

He had expected you to retort, but you just frowned and looked down towards the alley.

Shit.

Jason always had that problem where he didn’t know when to shut up, or what not say to people. Granted, most of the time he didn’t care if the other party got offended or not.

But he didn’t want to hurt you.

He was just going to open his mouth to apologize until-

“I’ve been here before,” you started, “This alley. A long time ago. My big brother- he dragged me here away from my dad so he could beat me up.”

Jason remained silent in shock.

“Not that my dad was any better,” you added, “I guess my brother was like that to me because my dad was like that to him.”

He didn’t know how to respond to that. Was he supposed to comfort you? Or tell you something funny to distract you from the sadness?

Instead, he asked, “What about your mom?”

Jason’s mom had been there, yet not fully there. But when she was, he was grateful at least, to know the warmth of a hug in a run down apartment with no heater during the winter.

“Died giving birth to me,” you explained, “Dad always blamed me for it. He’d tell me that he wished I was never born- that he wished he wore a condom when he fucked mom, that at least if she was alive, he didn’t need to fuck whores.”

“And fuck whores, he did,” you continued bitterly, “But they weren’t enough, I guess. He- he even- I-”

You never finished your sentence, but you didn’t need to. Jason was smart enough to put two and two together.

He felt his blood boil, his rage seeping in. It was like he was that Red Hood again. And for the first time since he came back to Bruce, he didn’t try to push that memory away.

He could go rogue again. Just one more time.

“Where is he- they- where are they now?” Jason managed to grit, tasting blood in his mouth.

“Dead,” you snorted, “Thanks to you.”

“What?”

That took him out of his burning anger.

“Turns out dad was working with Black Mask,” you elaborated, “He dragged my brother with him as well. It’s how he managed to afford all those prostitutes and heroin, I guess. I think they were at one of those shipments you crashed or something back then. You left twenty dead.”

Fuck, he remembered.

Black Mask was at the docks, waiting for a shipment of weapons, drugs, and girls. He remembered feeling frustrated that Black Mask slipped away before he got to him, so he took out his anger on everyone else working with Black Mask.

“Lived in the streets after that,” you continued, “Fend for myself. Cut my hair short so people would think I was a boy. I had to stay tough, you know? When Bruce found me, I was doing an odd job for one of the local gangs. Small one. Was supposed to recruit people my age. Start them young, he said. I guess Bruce had been following me for a bit. He approached me and that scared the shit out of me.”

You paused to smile sadly at the memory.

“But he just asked me for my name, and age,” you stared into space, “And he told me that I could do better than that. That I had potential. He asked me if I wanted to help people rather than drag them into dangerous stuff. And how could I say no? Especially after wishing for so long that someone would come and help me when I was with my dad and brother living in a run down apartment with a leaking roof near Crime Alley.”

You finally looked at him.

Jason was glad that he was wearing a helmet, because he wanted to hide from the stabbing guilt he felt. He didn’t want you to see him that way.

“So you’re right,” your blank white lenses pierced his own, “I train because I want to feel strong, because I’ve felt weak my whole life. I train to feel as if I have control over my own body, my own movements. Hell, even the fact that I grew my hair long gave me a sense of control.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason finally managed to croak, “I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine,” you dismissed, “Plus, you did me a favour before. I kind of owe you one.”

“Favour?”

“You got rid of my dad for me,” you stood up, “Thanks.”

And for the first time, looking up at you as you were looking down, smiling at him, he didn’t see you as a kid.

“Sure thing, kid.”

***

Jason started dropping by once every two weeks. Sometimes he would even come around twice in a week.

He had warmed up to you after you told him your story, though he was kind of frustrated that Dick, Tim, and Bruce were all right, and he was the wrong one all along because he didn’t know you.

But then, you also started warming up to him.

And that became the major issue.

Since you donned the Robin uniform, your ego had spiked up. Your confidence and arrogance came with every progress you made. A year into Robin, Jason couldn’t see a semblance of that frightened little girl with the short hair, voice shaking as she tried to insult him.

No, now you were just so fucking annoying.

And for some reason, you started to be more aware of your sexuality as your confidence grew.

At the age of 16, you had started coming onto Jason strong.

“Jason,” you pouted at him, “Why don’t you come stay at the Manor anymore?”

“Because you’re there, kid,” he joked, staring at Gotham’s skyline from the rooftop where you, him, and Batman would occasionally stop to catch a breath.

“Jasooon,” you whined, high pitched and long, “I miss spending time with you.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, because you were touching his arm, squeezing his biceps. Not that you could see his face, given the helmet he wore. He kind of missed how you were back then. All you had were insults and swear words for him, and you definitely didn’t whine.

“Don’t you have Tim to annoy?”

“He’s always busy,” you huffed, “And when he’s not busy, he’s sleepy. Tim’s boring. You’re more fun, in an assholey cocknose dickweed kind of way.”

Ah, there it was, your colorful language. He had to admit, your creativity impressed him.

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” he chuckled.

“So why don’t you come over some time and we can have some fun?” you purred seductively.

Jason was taken aback.

He wasn’t sure whether you meant it innocently, or whether you had hidden motives. He glanced at Bruce who was minding his own business, ignoring the two of you.

He didn’t think you would flirt with him in front of Bruce, so he dismissed it and blamed himself for thinking lewd things.

“My idea of fun involves a bottle of whiskey and B-Grade horror movies, kid,” he patted you on the head, “And you’re too young to drink.”

“Hmph,” you slapped his hand away, “That’s not what I was talking about, but whatever.”

You strutted away.

It wasn’t that he didn’t find you attractive, it was that he shouldn’t find you attractive. What was a 16 year old doing flirting with someone his age? Weren’t you supposed to have crushes on the quarterbacks in your school?

Hell, even if you wanted someone who knew of your nighttime activities, there always were the Teen Titans, whom you regularly joined. That Aqualad wasn't a bad kid, but for some reason he didn't like the thought of you dating just yet.

But still, you had no business with someone like Jason. Age wise, or personality wise.

*** Two weeks later, he dropped by again for movie night.

When he walked into the living room, the only person who quirked up when they saw him was you, probably because the rest had already heard him coming.

“Jay!” you squealed, and ran to him, flinging your arms around his neck in a hug.

“Hey- oomph,” he slightly stumbled. It was the first time you hugged him.

And now that you were so close, he was hyper aware of you. You were wearing shorts and a tank top- with no bra. He could smell your vanilla lotion and your chocolate spice shampoo.

He could feel your strong arms, your heavy weight, your burning heat against him.

And for the first time, he actually got turned on by you.

Fuck, he thought. He shouldn’t be thinking of you like that. As if the age difference wasn’t vast already, you were still underaged.

He awkwardly patted you on the back, in an attempt to respond to the hug. He could make out Tim and Dick snickering at him at his obvious discomfort.

“You’ve gained weight,” he gruffed, trying to break the hug because he was dangerously close to popping a boner.

As expected, you let go of him.

“Yeah, I did!” you grinned happily, “I’ve gained about five pounds of muscle mass!”

You started flexing your toned biceps comically.

“Maybe you can gain five pounds of brain mass next time, kid,” he smirked and ruffled your hair.

“I’m pretty sure that’s a medical condition, you twatwaffle arsebadger,” you shot back at him.

“Jar,” a chorus of lazy mumbles from everyone else rose.

You grumbled and walked towards a coffee table, where a clear mason jar almost filled to the brim with folded notes sat. You shoved in five dollars.

Jason took off his jacket and sat next to Dick on the long sofa. You then hopped towards him and started snuggling next to him.

Jason looked at Dick in question.

Dick merely shrugged.

Jason had a hard time concentrating on the movie that night, because you leaning your head on his chest, and playing with the denim of his jeans absentmindedly.

He wasn’t used to it.

Human contact.

And he knew how you were. You were probably the same with Dick and Tim. You just chose him that night to snuggle up to.

But then you made a comment about how hot the guy in the movie was. Jason didn’t think much of it until you leaned up to press your mouth on his ear and whispered, “Not as hot as you, though.”

That made him jump out of his seat in panic.

Everyone else looked at him suspiciously, but you were just looking at him with a knowing smirk.

“Toilet,” he mumbled, and left.

“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck,” he paced in small circles in a washroom down the hall.

He looked at his reflection only to see how red he was at his ears. He gripped the edges of the sink and took deep breaths, trying to play it cool.

Now, it was obvious that you were flirting with him. There was no denying it.

But why on God’s planet were you?

Jason groaned quietly to himself.

Whatever. He thought that you’d probably just drop it eventually.

***

Half a year later, and it didn’t.

And it got bad. Real bad.

Jason still kept visiting regularly, and every single time he did, he would get almost sexually harassed by you.

He was just sitting down in an armchair in the living room, reading a book, when you came along, and with the most arrogant, most entitled smirk, sat on his lap.

“Get off,” he grit, eyes never leaving his book. He was scared of what you were wearing this time.

“But you’re so warm,” you hummed, swinging up your legs across his lap, so that you were being cradled by him and the armchair.

“The fire’s right there,” he pointed to the fireplace, “If you need help, I can throw you in it.”

“I’d rather you throw me in bed,” you purred.

He snapped his book shut and squeezed the bridge of his nose.

“Just. Get. Off,” he growled.

It was dangerous. Your smell was intoxicating, and you were shifting and shuffling against his front. His mind started to wander, and he hadn’t even looked at you yet.

“But Jasooon,” you whined, “You’re nice and soft.”

He glared at you.

And regretted it.

You were wearing an almost see-through white loose t-shirt that exposed your shoulders. The thin fabric clung onto the curves of your breasts which were- thankfully- covered by a pink bra. You had a pair of satin booty shorts on which hardly covered your ass, which was sitting on top of his crotch.

“Actually, no let me take that back,” you pretended to wonder, “You’re pretty hard.”

And you gave him a wicked grin.

His eyes widen in panic and he stood up suddenly, causing you to fall flat on the floor.

“Fuck!” you cursed, “What's the big deal, jizzcock?”

He left the room and rushed to the toilet. He looked down, and found his penis was normal, flaccid, non-erect, unfilled.

That bitch fucking tricked me, he thought.

And he fell for it.

He went to look for Bruce who was in the cave, in front of the computers.

He took a wheeled chair and sat behind him.

“Bruce,” he started, “I need to talk to you.”

“What is it?” Bruce asked without sparing a glance at him.

That ticked him off a bit.

“It’s about your daughter.”

Jason saw Bruce pause, and then turned around to finally face him. “What about her?”

“She’s been flirting with me,” he grumbled.

Bruce raised an amused eyebrow.

“She’s sixteen, and she’s flirting with a twenty-five year old man!” he complained, “If she’s doing this to me, God knows who else she’s been doing this to!”

“And?” Bruce questioned.

“And? And?” Jason repeated, “And aren’t you worried?”

“She can take care of herself,” Bruce stated, “She’s mature. She won’t let herself be taken advantage of.

“Look, Bruce,” Jason squeezed his temples, “It’s great that you trust her and all that, but don’t you think it’s kind of fucked up? Christ, she’s sixteen!”

“And she’s well aware of that,” he said, “What would you have me do? Do you want me to talk to her?”

“Forget it,” he gave in, and left for his safehouse without saying goodbye to you.

Because that night he laid on his bed in the dark, guiltily thinking about your ass on his dick earlier. But thankfully unlike earlier, he had allowed his cock to fill up.

He knew he shouldn’t, but he thought of that time when you and him went jogging around the manor. You wore just a sports bra that showed off your cleavage, and sports shorts that rode up your ass. He couldn’t resist looking at the way your tits bounce with every step, and when you ran in front of him, his eyes darted down to check out your ass before he realised what he was doing and excused himself.

Excuse himself because he needed to stop looking, to stop thinking.

But now, he let his thoughts free.

He thought about how that one drop of sweat trickled down between the valleys of your breasts, how your muscular back glistened in the sun, how flushed your cheeks were.

He glanced down at his cock, which was already hard and leaking precum onto his stomach, twitching in need of attention.

“Don’t touch it, don’t touch it,” he muttered.

He couldn’t stop his mind from wandering, but he could try to resist from touching himself.

He owed you that at the very least.

He gulped loudly.

It really wasn’t fair. You didn’t look sixteen, or act sixteen. You were far mature even at a younger age.

But you were still sixteen.

And it wasn’t fair how you could tease him and get away with it.

“Fuck,” he groaned in frustration.

The way you swore sort of turned him on as well, oddly. He loved your use of language, and how dirty your mouth was.

How even dirtier your mouth would be if he shoved his cock in-

“No,” he whined, and he touched his cock.

He stroked it once, twice, three times, and then he came hard, long ribbons splashing onto his chest.

“I am a jizzcock,” he whispered to himself in shame, and then cleaned himself up.

***

Three months later, Jason had just come back from a mission in Mexico. Throughout his trip, he’d been bombarded with texts from you.

The topics spanned from the usual banter about training, Dick, and how you’ve been annoying Alfred with “ok, boomer” memes, to you sending him mirror selfies of yourself in fitting rooms trying out clothes that made Jason almost drool and you attempting to flirt with him.

Jason responded normally to the former, but sent short uninterested texts to the latter.

But when he came back to his safe house, he found his spare handgun on his bed- which was not where he last put it. On it, was a sticky note with a written message:

Try not to lick. R.

“What the fuck?” he muttered. R must have stood for Robin, and then suddenly Jason gulped, wondering what the fuck you had done to his gun.

He opened his phone to check his conversation with you, only to find that you had sent him a ten-minute length video.

His thumbs were shaking when he clicked play.

The video started with a closeup of your face in an awkward position, setting what Jason presumed to be your phone, on a surface with an angle you had in mind. Jason looked behind him and saw that his chair had been placed right in front of his bed, where you must have put the phone on.

“Fuck,” Jason realised. He did not like where this was going.

Or did he?

In the video, you then strolled to his bed, fingers touching his sheets. You were wearing nothing but a white flowy sundress that Jason thought made your skin look absolutely radiant. But instead of sitting on his bed, you had gone out of the frame, and then came back with the gun.

He swallowed hard.

You sat on the edge of the bed with a naughty glint in your eye. And then, you started to caress yourself sensually, squeezing your breasts as you made your way down to between your legs.

Jason realised he had started sweating and panting, getting aroused as his cock slowly started to fill out.

You spread your legs and dipped your hand beneath your dress, but Jason still couldn’t see anything because you had taken the fabric and hid what was going on under. He saw your mouth fall open and you let out a long, loud moan.

“Jason.”

Jason’s breath stuttered. His cock was aching in his jeans, begging to be touched.

Your hands were working underneath the fabric, teasing Jason with only an idea of what you were doing.

“I’m so wet, Jay,” you purred at the camera.

And then, your other hand went to take the gun.

You brought it up to your lips and flattened your tongue against the gun and licked all the way to the muzzle. Even in the low quality, he could see your saliva wetting his gun. Then, you gave him a wink and brought the gun to where your other hand was, between your legs.

Jason stopped the video then and squeezed his eyes shut, breathing hard through his nose at an attempt to calm himself down. Once he did have a semblance of control, which took almost five minutes of just trying to steady his breathing, he opened his eyes and dialled your number.

“Hey, Jay,” you picked up.

“What the fuck?!” he roared, “How the fuck did you get into my safehouse? Hell, how did you even know where it was?!”

“Oh, Jason, please,” he could hear you roll yours eyes, “You’re overreacting.”

“Over-?” he growled, “Overreacting?! You came into my house and then started to- started to-”

“Fuck myself with your gun?” you giggled.

His dick twitched.

“You need to stop this, kid,” he tried to bring his rage in, “Stop it, before you regret it.”

“Or what?” you teased, “What would you do to me, Jason? Spank me?”

He couldn’t. Jason just couldn’t with you. So he ended the call and threw his phone across the room.

He sat down at the edge of the bed and buried his face in his palms. His cock was still aching, and he was dying to touch it.

He glanced at the gun next to him.

“Fuck,” he groaned, and then unbuttoned his jeans, letting out a hiss of relief when he could finally take it out.

He started to furiously stroke his cock, just staring at the gun laying there. He wanted to smell it. He wanted to lick it. He wanted to see if he could still taste you on the metal.

“God fucking dammit,” he cursed, and then he came in pulses.

*** “What’s up, fucktrumpet?” you poked.

Jason let out a long and heavy breath from his nose, the sound becoming static as it went through the voice scrambler of his helmet.

It was a week later, and Jason had joined patrol with you, Bruce and Tim.

“Fuck off, kid,” he walked away from you, pretending to be looking out for something from the ledge of the roof.

“Oh, come on,” you whined, coming closer to him anyway. “You enjoyed it.”

“Tim,” Jason turned away to approach the younger man, “How’s things?”

“Don’t ignore me!” you ran after him.

“Leave me out of whatever this is,” Tim sighed. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Pfft, you’re always in the mood for me, Timbers,” Jason nudged his side with his elbow.

“No, she’s always in the mood for you,” he pointed to you, “For some reason.”

“Well, I’m not in the mood for her,” he grit.

“Meanie,” you pouted, “All I’ve ever been is nice to you, Jay. And what do you do? Act like an absolute thundercunt.”

He wanted to laugh at that, but he couldn’t. He had to keep up his appearances.

“Listen here, you brat,” Jason finally turned to you and poked your shoulder hard with his finger, making you wince. “You stay the fuck away from me.”

“Hey, Jay,” Tim suddenly interrupted, “You don’t need to do that, man.”

“This little bitch broke into my house and started defiling my things, Tim,” he growled, “Yes, I need to do that.”

“Defiling your things?” Tim repeated.

You let out a soft giggle.

“Forget it,” Jason threw his hands up in the air. “I’ll patrol alone.”

Jason saw the slight disappointment in your eyes when he left which made him feel a little guilty, but he ignored it.

Whatever, you were basically just asking for it.

***

Another half a year went by, and Jason found himself at the Manor for Dick’s barbecue and pool party. He was already dreading it, because he knew you would be up to no fucking good, especially when you had the excuse to wear a bikini in front of him.

He had contemplated about not going, but Roy was going to be there, and Roy was making him go.

The first person Jason looked out for was you, because he had to be on his guard. He was standing at the glass sliding door of the manor that opened to the pool to survey the crowd. He spotted you in the pool, laughing at who he assumed was Aqualad- Jason didn't bother to learn his name- wearing a dark red bikini top that fixated behind your neck.

“Jaybird! You made it!” Roy’s voice boomed all the way from the other side of the pool and came running to where Jason was standing awkwardly.

He knew many of Dick's friends, but he was never particularly close to any of them besides Roy and Kori. Now that Kori was gone, Roy was all he had left.

“Don't call me that,” he grumbled back.

“Aw, come on,” Roy groaned, “You came to a pool party in a t-shirt and jeans? Seriously?”

“I wasn't planning on swimming,” he shrugged.

Roy was sporting a horrible bright yellow swimming shorts with green palm leaves.

“Well, I was, so I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

“Yeah,” Jason nodded and decided to head to the pool chairs and put on his sunglasses. He even brought a book to bury his nose into to avoid social interaction.

He heard a splash of water and from the corner of his eye, saw you coming towards him.

“Don’t even,” he snapped at you before you could get a word out.

“I wasn't even going to do anything, fucking dipshit,” you shot back.

Jason forced his eyes back to his book to avoid getting caught looking at how the water trickled down your glistening skin that looked oh so soft-

“What do you want then?” he huffed, turning a page.

“Well,” you began, taking a seat on the pool chair where Jason's feet were, “I was going to ask you about Roy.”

Jason glared at you, peeking from the top of his book.

“What about Roy?”

“You guys are close, right?” you hummed.

“I guess so.”

“Like, best friends?”

“What are we, twelve?” he scoffed, “Why are you asking me so many questions?”

“Well, since you're close to Roy,” you started, “I was wondering if you knew his type.”

“His type?”

“Yeah, like what kind of girls does he like?” you grinned.

“Ones who aren't underaged,” Jason growled.

“Jason I'm already seventeen,” you reminded, “Which is the legal age of consent in Gotham.”

“It doesn't matter,” he grumbled, “He's older than me, which makes him way too old for you. Forget it.”

You pouted, and then stood up. He had to redirect his gaze back to his book.

“It’s like you don't even know me, Jaybird,” you snickered, and with a flip of your wet hair which splashed droplets of water onto him, you strutted away.

He was gritting his jaw so hard he could feel his teeth ache.

Fuck, why can't you just stop?

“I need a fucking drink,” he muttered to himself and left for the kitchen where he rummaged through the refrigerator to find a stout.

He popped open the bottle cap on the marble edge of the kitchen island.

“Alfred would kill you if he saw you do that,” a voice laughed.

Jason rolled his eyes at Dick, who was sipping on a can of beer behind him. “I’ve gotten in trouble for worse.”

“God, I forget how similar you guys are,” he leaned against the counter.

“Who?”

“You know who. Her,” he pointed out.

“We’re not the same,” he denied, heading back outside.

“No, she deals with her issues better than you did,” Dick followed him, “As a matter of fact, you're still dealing.”

“Get to the point, Grayson,” he snapped.

“The point is, she’s not a kid, Jason,” Dick told him, “Why don't you give her a chance?”

Jason stopped in his tracks, standing still before exiting through the glass door. It was quieter inside the manor.

“A chance for what?” he grit.

“To prove herself to you,” Dick explained, “I've noticed how you treat her, Jay. Tim as well. It's like you're trying to push her away. Why? You don't think she's good enough?”

“Holy shit,” Jason started laughing humourlessly, “You think this is about me simply not liking her? You guys think I'm just being angsty?”

“Isn't it?” Dick cocked his head to the side.

“She's been fucking flirting with me, Grayson,” Jason said.

“Okay, I get that, but she sort of flirts with everyone,” he shrugged.

“She comes and sit on my lap, whispers stupid shit in my ear, sends me pictures of herself trying on revealing clothes, makes vulgar motions with her hands, fucking tries to seduce me,” he listed down, “Don't tell me she does that with everyone.”

“Okay, maybe not,” the older man frowned.

“Let me tell you, then,” Jason walked closer to Dick, “She broke into my fucking house, sat on my fucking bed, and started recording herself on her phone, and then sent the video to me.”

“Wait, what?” Dick sputtered, “Recording herself doing what?”

“You fucking know what,” he stated.

“Oh, Jesus,” Dick ran a finger through his hair, “Wow, she's ballsy.”

“That's your reaction?” Jason scoffed, “She's ballsy?”

“I mean-”

“She's sexually harassing me, Grayson!” he argued.

“But,” Dick began, “What did you really think about it? I mean, really?”

“What do you mean?” he hissed.

“Did you watch it?” Dick persisted. “The video?”

“What- I- no, I just-” Jason spluttered, caught off guard.

“You can't lie to me, Jason,” Dick gave him a mischievous smile, “You like her, too. That's why you're pushing her away. Because you don't think you're good enough for her.”

Fuck Dick and his fucking superior detective skills.

“She's too young for me,” Jason simply stated.

“Well, apparently not too young for Roy,” Dick smirked.

“What-” Jason turned around and looked outside.

You were in the pool, standing in the corner. You had a hand on Roy’s chest, looking up at him and laughing. He had a hand on your waist, and was whispering something into your ear.

Jason went into a fit of rage when he saw Roy touching you.

“Mother fucker,” Jason swore, and without thinking, went straight to where you were. He stood there at the edge of the pool, arms crossed, and looking down at the two of you who were both unaware of his presence.

“Roy,” Jason growled.

Roy jumped and looked at Jason in panic, and as if you electrocuted him, immediately jumped away from your touch.

“H-hey, Jaybird,” he awkwardly laughed, “I was just- I was- uh- I was telling her about what a great friend you were.”

“Oh, really?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah!” he nodded vigorously, “Jason here is super good with his aim as well. Could even rival mine.”

Jason ignored Roy, and glared at you, who was looking up at him with obviously fake innocent eyes.

“Out,” he commanded.

“What?”

“I said out,” he repeated. “Out of the pool. I need to talk to you.”

“Oh, come on, Jason,” you started to whine, but then stopped when you saw his expression.

You climbed out of the pool, and again, Jason had to avert his eyes. Without sparing a glance at you, he gripped you by the arm and pulled you to go inside.

“Ow! Jason, let go, fucking cocksucker!” you cried.

He snatched a towel from Tim’s grip as he walked, ignoring Tim’s protests and stares from others, and then threw it on top of your head.

“Ugh- Jason!” you complained. He continued to lead you inside the manor, up the stairs, and to his old room.

He slammed the door shut behind him.

“What's the big deal, you shitpouch?! Who do you fucking think you are? Fucking cumwipe, pisswizard, cuntpuddle...”

That wasn't the end of your swearing. You went on for another good minute of words that could make Batman blush, before stopping.

You were fuming. Your face red, your expression twisted into a scowl, water dripping all over the wooden floors, the fluffy towel around your neck that you hadn't used.

God, you were so hot when you were angry.

“You done?” he deadpanned. He sensed that you were going to go into another stream of name calling, so he cut you off.

“I told you to forget Roy,” he grit.

“And since when have I ever done what you told me to do?” you shot at him

You had a point.

“Look, kid-”

“I'm not a fucking kid, Jason!” you yelled at him for the first time, “I haven't been a kid since my dad- since I was twelve!”

Jason suddenly felt pain in his chest.

“I know you've been through shit,” Jason acknowledged, “What happened with your dad and your brother- I’m fucking glad I killed them. And even if I hadn’t back then, I would have broken every single rule and hunt them down and make them suffer before ending their lives after finding out what they did to you. Hell, before you told me that they were dead, I was already ready to turn every single rock to find them.”

Your expression softened at that.

“And I know you had to grow up fast,” he continued, “All of us who lived there did. But you're out of that now. You don't have to fucking try so hard to act older than you are anymore.”

Your eyes shone with anger once more.

“That's the thing you never got, Jason,” you spat, “I'm not trying. I never did. This is who I am.”

You were looking at him with such fierce intensity that Jason almost forgot how to breathe.

Because you were right. He had gone through the same process where he was made to grow up fast, where he couldn’t afford to act like a kid.

He looked at you, trying not to show much emotion on his face.

Somehow in the heat of the argument and you yelling cusses at him, the two of you had gotten closer to each other, and Jason could even see the tears brimming in your eyes that were threatening to spill.

He immediately felt like a piece of shit, like every word you called him. He never wanted to hurt you.

“Whatever,” Jason huffed, looking away to avoid your glare, “Just stay away from Roy.”

“Why, you two dating or something?” you smirked.

He simply glared at you. You obviously had recovered from your anger and was now back to your usual snarky self.

“Or,” you began, “You were jealous.”

“Don't be ridiculous,” Jason objected, “Why would I be jealous?”

“Because,” you drawled, walking closer to him, “You like me.”

Jason had backed up each time you walked to him, and before he knew it his back was hitting the door.

Fuck, he hated how much you affected him. You had him backed up against the fucking door, for fuck’s sake.

To get a semblance of power back, he stared at you straight in the eye, unblinking, and leaned closer to you.

“You wish,” he said coldly.

He noticed that your breath stuttered, and a blush creeped up your cheeks.

Then, he leaned back and smirked.

“Oh, no you don't,” you shook your head, “You think you can win this game, Todd?”

“Unlike you, I'm not playing a game.”

“But yes you are, Jay,” you placed your palms flat on his chest, “You’ve been playing hard to get with me.”

“Playing hard to get is only used when the other person actually wants you,” he scoffed.

He didn't know why, but he was sweating. His respiratory rate had gone up, and shit.

Shit.

He could feel his dick getting filled up.

Maybe it was how close you were to him, maybe it was the fact that you were half naked in front of him with all the privacy he could have asked for.

Maybe it was the fact that it was you who had him in a corner instead of the other way round.

“I'm not a fucking idiot, Jay. Batman trained me, too. I've seen how you look at me and I’ve seen how you tried not to.”

Fuck.

“Your pupils dilate, your breathing gets faster, you start to sweat,” you went on, “And then suddenly you excuse yourself. You run away.”

Your hands went up to his shoulders, and your body was now against his, getting his clothes wet. He could smell the chlorine on you when you leaned into his ear and whispered.

“You fucking coward,” you breathed.

Jason's breath hitched and he had to squeeze his eyes shut. He pressed his palms against the door behind him to restrain himself from touching you, grabbing you, squeezing you, slapping you.

Jason knew he was fully hard now, because it was getting painful.

Suddenly, the pressure and heat of your body against his own disappeared. He opened his eyes.

But sucked in a breath when he saw that you were on your knees in front of him, eye level to his crotch, the tent in his pants mere inches away from your lips.

“What the fuck are you- mmpf,” he threw his head back, hitting the door.

You had gripped his shaft hard, sending a pulse of pleasure through his body.

No. Jason had to stop this. He couldn't go through with this. He shouldn't.

“You want me to suck your cock, Jay?” You purred.

Jason swallowed hard, just trying his best to restrain himself.

He remained silent for a beat. And then-

“Do whatever you want,” he managed to choke out.

You showed him a winning grin, and then unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants, pulling down his jeans.

You started to mouth his length through the fabric of his boxers, getting it translucent with your spit. He had never been so horny in his entire life.

As much as Jason’s head was screaming at him, telling him to stop you, telling him how inappropriate it was, he didn’t have the strength to voice it out.

He wanted to tell you to stop teasing him, to hurry up and put your mouth around his cock already, but again, it was like he had lost his voice.

He was utterly conflicted, so he opt to just stay silent.

You hooked your fingers in the waistband of his briefs and then pulled it down, revealing his cock to you. He hissed slightly at the relief.

Jason wanted to remember your expression the minute you saw his cock forever, he wanted to burn it in his brain and immortalize it. Your eyes had gone rounder, your mouth popped open with a gasp, and your excitement grew.

“It’s everything that I’ve dreamed about and more,” you fluttered your eyes dramatically before gripping his shaft and licking one long, steady stripe from the base to his tip.

Jason bit his lip to muffle his groan.

You licked him again, and again, and then started to swirl your tongue around the head of his cock, tracing your tongue around the sulcus underneath his head.

Fuck, you were so fucking good at teasing him, and making him squirm.

He looked down at you, and you were looking up through your long lashes, eyes almost innocent. And then, you took him in his mouth, going all the way down.

“Fuck,” Jason gasped.

You immediately built a rhythm, the most perfect rhythm that he liked. It was suspicious how you knew his preference, and at the back of his head he made a mental reminder to check his room for hidden cameras.

You provided him with the right amount of tongue, the right amount of suction, the right amount of teeth gently grazing him from time to time that he swore could have drove him insane.

Your mouth was soft, and warm, and wet, and before he knew it, he was ready to fucking explode.

As if you were familiar with his expressions, you picked up the pace and started sucking even harder each time you bobbed your head. Jason felt his balls tighten, the heat spreading to his toes and making them tingle.

“Fuck- I’m gonna- I’m gonna-” he rasped.

And then he released with sudden explosion into your mouth, going through a sensory overdrive because as he was releasing, he could still feel you sucking him dry and swallowing.

When he was done, you released his cock with a pop and a grin.

Jason had to catch his breath for a while, because it was the best head he had ever received in his entire life, and he had managed to keep his hands off you the entire time.

“You made me jealous on purpose,” he panted.

“Duh,” you stood up after politely zipping him back up, putting your hands on your waist so fucking proudly, like a power stance.

“Where the hell did you learn how to suck cock that good?” he interrogated.

“You’ve lived in Titans Tower before,” you winked, “You should know.”

He didn’t like that. He didn’t like that statement and implication one bit.

“This can’t,” he started, “We can’t-”

“This can’t happen again?” you finished for him, rolling your eyes. “Typical. Just get over yourself already, Jason. It gets tiring.”

“I’m no good for you,” he avoided your eyes.

“You say that right after coming into my mouth,” you scoffed, “Sure.”

He clenched his jaw. You were right. He was trash for doing that to you, defiling you like that.

Jason must have let his emotions leak, because you suddenly added, “What I meant was, we’ve already crossed that line. We don’t have to go back to how it was before. I like you, Jason. And I know you like me, too.”

“That doesn’t matter,” he muttered, “This was a mistake. We can’t do this again. I’m sorry. Just stay away from me.”

He left.

***

He had avoided you for a long time after that.

Months went by, and he ignored your texts and your calls. Even the knockings outside his door. He had made sure to upgrade his security, with both Tim and Roy’s help so you couldn’t break in again.

When he went on patrols with everyone else, he made sure you couldn’t catch him alone, so he arrived at the very latest, and left at the very soonest, never exchanging more than a few words with you.

And every time, it killed him. He saw the hurt flash in your eyes every time he left quickly, he noticed that you had texted him less and less as the months went on, and eventually came to a complete stop.

You had even stopped calling him those weird, creative swear names that he loved so much.

Jason finally won. He had managed to get you to give up on him.

But hell did it make him feel like absolute shit.

Eight months had passed by, and he was getting ready for the event he had absolutely been dreading. It was your 18th birthday party that Bruce had used as an excuse to host a charity gala at the manor.

Jason thought it was a dick move for him to take advantage of your birthday for the sake of his own gain, but apparently you had been more than supportive over it, understanding Bruce’s position as one of Gotham’s elite.

He didn’t want to go. He couldn’t bear to face you again where you could pull him somewhere private to talk to him. But Dick and Tim had convinced him.

It was your birthday after all.

When he arrived, everyone was staring at him.

Well, he was wearing just a leather jacket over a black shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans after all.

“You couldn’t have dressed for the occasion, Jason?” he heard Tim approach him from behind.

Tim was sporting a suit, just like everyone else.

“Couldn’t be bothered,” he shrugged, “What’s the agenda?”

“Mingling, dinner, speeches, more mingling,” Tim listed down, “Typical charity ball. The others are at the tents. We should get going.”

“I’m the dead son, remember?” he pointed out, “I don’t need to sit with you guys.”

“We’ll introduce you as Dick’s boyfriend or something, come on,” Tim gestured.

“Oh, the media would love that,” Jason muttered under his breath and went along.

The banquet area was set outside in the backyard of the Manor, where tents with clear plastic canopies were propped up, decorated with fairy lights. Since it was spring, the weather was cool enough for suits and warm enough for strapless dresses.

The main tent had a stage where a band was playing classical music- typical tunes you would hear at any other fucking gala.

Each table seated ten, and Tim had brought Jason to a table closest to the stage where he saw Dick, Bruce, and you were already seated with four others. He recognized the Mayor, the Commissioner, Lucius Fox, and a middle aged woman with greying hair he didn’t recognize with who Jason presumed was her husband.

Jason avoided looking at you, but he knew that you were staring right at him. Tim took a seat, and Jason cursed softly when he realised that the only other seat available was in between you and Dick.

Looking straight ahead, he calmly sat down. From the corner of his eye and from a portion of what he could make out, he saw that you were wearing a midnight blue dress, and a silver bracelet around your wrist which you rested on the table.

Bruce had started to converse with the guests, and Dick and Tim were having a banter amongst themselves.

“Hey,” he heard your voice.

“Happy birthday,” he mumbled.

“Thanks,” you replied.

And that was that. The two of you remained silent, with Jason occasionally checking his phone and still avoiding looking at you.

“It’s time for our speech,” Jason heard Bruce whisper to you.

He heard you get up and shuffled to the stage. He was hardly paying attention during Bruce’s welcome speech.

“...and then, the woman of the hour, my lovely daughter,” Bruce introduced you. The audience broke out in applause. Jason still hadn’t turned your way.

“Hello, everyone,” he heard your uncharacteristically nervous and shy voice over the sound system. He took a sip of wine. “T-thank coming for you all- uh- I mean-”

The audience laughed, but not in mockery. Jason couldn’t help but look at you now.

He accidentally inhaled his wine, and ended up trying to cover his coughing fits.

Up on stage, where the spotlight was on you, he had noticed your midnight blue dress had small sparkling stars on them, making you seem like you were wearing the clear night sky. Your hair was done in a simple graceful updo, which exposed your neck that he noticed was flushed, a blush creeping up to your cheeks at your own embarrassment.

Your eyes were wide in panic, and you kept on playing with your thumbs subconsciously.

His breath stuttered, because he thought you were the most beautiful creature he had ever laid his eyes on.

You were usually so snarky, so full of confidence, and wit with a mouth that could make a sailor blush- but there you were spluttering all over the microphone, a blushing mess. And hell, did that make Jason’s chest tighten in yearning for you.

“I’m sorry, I’m not used to crowds like my father is,” you tried to laugh it off, “Here, let’s try again.”

Despite your fumbles, you had a certain charm on stage that made everyone just like you.

“Thank you all for coming to my eighteenth birthday party,” you started, “I must admit, at first I wanted my party to be small and intimate. But I realised that this celebration could be used for something good instead.”

Another round of claps.

“I come from a very… humbling area in Gotham. I’m sure we’re all familiar with Crime Alley,” you stated, confidence growing as you got used to being on stage, “It was hard, living as a child in the streets. But I got lucky. Bruce Wayne found me.”

“Being the daughter of Bruce Wayne has taught me a lot about understanding and acknowledging my own privilege and using it to help others. Growing up there, myself and many other children were faced with the harsh reality of poverty and abandonment. Therefore, I would like to announce that I have started a foundation called Wayne’s Foundation for Children of Hope, where all proceeds will go to the development of Crime Alley.”

You paused and smiled at the flashing cameras of the media and waited for the applause to die down.

“Our first initiative is to build a home for lost children aged eighteen and under, to provide shelter, basic healthcare, food, and education. The primary goal of these shelters is to help kids find a place where they belong, and to help set them back on the right track. These kids also have the option to maintain anonymity for cases that involve abusive environments.”

Jason was looking at you in awe. You were standing proudly at the podium, graceful in your posture, a fierce intensity in your eyes- all previous nervousness completely gone.

Next to him, Dick leaned in and whispered, “It was all her idea, you know. Every single plan for this foundation, even the future plans she hadn’t mentioned. All hers.”

Jason remained silent and watched as you continued your speech.

“But the truth is,” you smiled sadly, “It’s still not enough. The situation in a lot of areas in Gotham is painfully swept under the rug. But hopefully with this, people like us can make things a little better for them. If you’d like to donate to the foundation, it would mean a lot to me, and to the other kids who had to grow up too fast.”

You made eye contact with Jason at that last statement, causing his heart to suddenly drum faster.

The crowd broke in a loud applause and you thanked them graciously, waving as you stepped down from the podium to take your seat.

This time, Jason didn’t take his eyes off you.

“That was great!” Tim gave you a thumbs up, “You did great!”

“Well done,” Dick grinned.

Jason took your hand and gave it a little squeeze, just smiling at you in silence. You looked at him with obvious shock, and then grinned back.

“Beautiful, Ms. Wayne,” the Mayor sitting across from you beamed, “You’ve taken after your father’s charms.”

“Thank you, Mr. Mayor,” you nodded, “But I’d like to think that my charms are my own.”

Jason had to bite back a laugh when he saw the man turn red.

He was somehow more relaxed now, even sparing occasional glances at you as you conversed with others. The dance floor was now open, and the guests had left their seats to mingle with others. The MC also announced that the bar was open.

“That’s my cue,” Jason winked at you, and then went straight to the bar to get himself something strong. From there, he just leaned back and watched how the disgustingly rich people made themselves feel better about themselves by donating the occasional couple of million dollars. Soon enough, he got sick of the pearls and diamond earrings, the solid gold watches.

He checked his own battered and scratched Swiss Army watch he had lifted from a drug lord many years ago. He should be going back soon. It wasn’t like he was needed there anyway. He had already wished you and made peace.

“What do you think?” he heard your voice approach him.

He turned and saw you come up next to him.

“Too fancy for my taste,” he started, “Looks like it took you a whole hour just to get into the damn thing. And those shoes? Looks like the crowbar was less painful than walking around in that.”

It took you a couple of seconds before realising that he was talking about your outfit.

“I meant the foundation, you fucknugget,” you hissed.

“Be careful there, sweetheart,” he raised an eyebrow, “Don’t want these people hearing you speak like that. You’ll lose your charm.”

“I don’t know how Bruce does it,” you shook your head, “It’s so exhausting.”

Jason hummed back at you as a comfortable silence fell. The two of you leaning back against the bar and just watching the crowd.

“I think it’s a great idea,” he finally said.

“Thanks,” you pursed your lips, “I kept on thinking of you, you know? When we were coming up with the plans. Was wondering what you would think of it.”

“You’re making it sound like I’m the only one from there.”

“Well, you’re the only one who would understand,” you explained, “The others, of course they empathized. But they wouldn’t understand. Not like how you and I do.”

And Jason realised that it was that factor that probably drew you close to him when you first came to them, the fact that Jason understood at more than just a superficial level how shit your life was before coming to the manor. It was a painful past that only the two of you shared, and only the two of you could talk about.

Silence fell again.

“I’m sorry,” you suddenly brought up.

“For what?” he frowned.

“For making you uncomfortable for so long,” you whispered, “I don’t know why I did it. I guess I liked your reactions. And I guess I just wanted your attention. And during that pool party- I- I thought-”

Jason waited for you to finish your sentence.

“Nevermind,” you looked away, “Forget it. I just wanted to say sorry. I crossed the line. After you stopped talking to me, I just. I don’t want that. So I’ll stop, okay? You don’t have to avoid me anymore.”

He turned around to face you.

“I stopped talking to you not because I was mad at you,” he told you, “I stopped talking to you because I was mad at myself.”

You faced him with curious eyes.

“I thought- well- fuck,” it was Jason’s turn to splutter. He took a deep breath and started again. “I thought that it was a real shit move for me to do what I did to you.”

“Wait, what?” you questioned, “What you did to me?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled, “You know. That.”

“Jason, I was the one who practically jumped you,” you scoffed, “I basically forced it on you. Why are you blaming yourself?”

“Force me? Pfftsh, you couldn’t force me to do anything.”

“Jason.”

“I liked it, okay?” he threw his arms up, “I didn’t stop you because I liked it, and I shouldn’t have liked it. I was taking advantage of you. It was wrong of me to do so.”

“God, you’re so fucking stupid,” you laughed, “I’ve been pining over you since Bruce told me you were… You know who.”

You lowered your voice.

“Want to talk inside?” he offered.

“Good idea,” you agreed.

The two of you made your way past the garden and into the manor.

“Is it okay for the birthday girl to disappear from her own party?” he smirked when he closed the door to Bruce’s study, which was the nearest room that offered privacy.

“Oh, please,” you waved your hand and sat on Bruce’s desk, “The whole party was never about me. I’m just another excuse for those cuntflaps to show off their new diamonds.”

He chuckled. “Anyway, you were saying? Something about Bruce telling me I was Red Hood?”

“Yeah,” you bit your lip in nervousness, “I’ve had a crush on you since then.”

“Really?”

Jason knew that you obviously had a crush on him, especially because of the neverending teasing and seductions, but he didn’t know it stemmed from that long ago.

“Yeah,” you nodded, “I remember thinking to myself, like wow. This is the guy who killed them. And you know what? You looked exactly like how I thought you would.”

“What? How so?”

“Huge,” you started, “Scars everywhere. Grouchy as hell.”

“I’m not as grouchy as Bruce,” he defended himself.

“Still,” you chuckled, “You looked exactly like how I imagined my hero to look.”

“Super hot, sexy, and good looking?” he joked.

He had expected you to roll your eyes and throw an insult at him, but you just tightened your lips and looked away.

“Look, k- sweetheart,” he stopped himself from calling you a kid. From what he saw on the stage earlier, you were already so much better than he was. “I’m going to be honest, alright? And you better damn well appreciate it, because I’m never honest.”

You giggled softly. He walked to stand in front of you at the desk.

“I think you’re great,” he stated, “And I think you’re beautiful, and sexy. And…”

He hesitated, thinking of whether or not to continue.

Fuck it. He might as well.

“And I like you,” he forced out, “More than you know. Fuck, I like you. I like you so much it fucking hurts sometimes.”

You looked up at him with hopeful, glistening eyes.

“But I’m no good for you,” he repeated what he said all those months ago, “I can never do what you just did. Start a fucking charity on your birthday and announce it to the world as if it was nothing. Fuck, I don’t think I should even be seen walking around next to you when you look like that. I’m a fucking mess, sweetie. You don’t want that.”

He saw as you digest what he had just said. Then, you looked up at him and asked, “What do you think I want?”

“What do I think?” he repeated.

You nodded.

“I think you should be with someone who’s closer to your age, for one,” he rolled his eyes, “And someone who doesn’t have scars all over their face. Someone who isn’t grouchy. Someone charming who can stand next to you on stage wearing a proper suit and tie.”

“You’re right,” you nodded, “I should be with someone like that.”

Jason felt a pang in his chest at your agreement.

“But I don’t want to be with someone like that,” you continued, “I want to be with someone who was ready to hunt down and hurt the people who terrorized me for years. I want to be with someone whose face is littered with scars as proof that they went through just as much shit as I did and survived.”

You hopped from the desk and stood up straight, stretching your hand up to cup Jason’s face. He leaned into the warmth of your caress, his breath hitching at the close contact. His hands automatically went to rest on your waist, still respectfully high.

“I want you, Jason,” you whispered, pulling him down to your lips, “I want someone who can handle my bites.”

To demonstrate, you sucked in his lower lip, eliciting a low moan from him.

And then you bit down hard.

He gasped at the stinging pain, and then sighed when you massaged his lip with yours. Heat suddenly spread throughout his body, particularly at his member which was growing hard fast. He could smell the wine on your breath that you must have snuck a few sips from, the vanilla lotion you always wore, and a new particularly enticing perfume that you must have gotten for the occasion.

“I want someone who can call me a little bitch straight to my face,” Jason felt you grin against his lips.

The two of you were kissing now, harsh and forceful, as if deprived of touch. Fuck, he loved how you were nipping at his lips and his tongue, tugging his hair lightly.

Both of you gasped for air, and just stood there foreheads against each other, his erection pressed against your stomach, your hands around his neck.

“I want someone who is resourceful enough to enhance his home security to make sure I don’t break in and fuck myself with his weapons again,” you chuckled.

“Was it…” he started, “Was it loaded?”

“You bet it was,” you smiled.

“Fuck,” he swore and then crashed his lips against yours again. He lifted you up to sit on the desk, and then stood in between your open thighs. At the slightly elevated level, he could properly grind his erection against your pussy, still covered by your dress.

“You liked that?” you giggled, “I thought you weren’t into that. I got a bit worried.”

“Hell yeah, I liked that,” he rasped, “What kind of sane man wouldn’t?”

He started to nibble on the skin on your neck, sucking and biting and licking

“I’m pretty sure not everyone is into the thought of fucking a loaded gun into a pussy,” you laughed, “Which proves my point. You and me? We’re perfect, Jay- fuck, don’t leave any marks, dumbass.”

“Point taken, baby.”

“Mmm, call me that again,” you moaned.

He stopped nibbling on your neck, brought his eyes to yours, and with a defiant smirk, he said, “No.”

It was like Jason saw the switch in you flick on, because you suddenly pushed him away aggressively. He stumbled, not expecting it.

“Oh, you think you’re in control, Todd?” you purred, twisting your fists in his leather jacket. You were shorter than him, and your frame much smaller. But Jason just loved the authority that radiated from you.

“You think you’re the one who has power over me?” you drawled, pulling him to the side where Bruce had set up a leather sofa and a coffee table.

“When all this while, I’m the one who had you wrapped around my finger?” you snarled, and then pushed him down on the sofa.

Before Jason could even register what was happening, you were already on top of him, straddling him. He looked up at you, the pressure of your weight on his crotch making him pant with want.

“So are you going to call me baby again?” you asked sweetly, tugging at his jacket to remove it.

“Maybe in due time,” he gasped when you bit the flesh that connected his neck and shoulder hard.

Fuck, he was throbbing in his pants.

You took off his shirt and ran your hand down his body. Jason smirked when he saw you bite your lip as you took in his figure.

He still had a bit of fight left in him, and he wasn’t going to beg.

Yet.

“Why must you be so stubborn, Todd?” you breathed, teeth catching at his earlobe and biting. You were rocking your hips against his erection, and he swore that if you didn’t take it out, he was going to rip a hole in his pants with it.

“H-hey, you’ve always been the pushy one,” he stuttered.

“That’s because I like to get what I want,” you pinched his nipples hard.

“Fuck!” he yelped at the sudden pain, and then glared at you as you just grinned cheekily. “I don’t know why I never took you for a sadist before this.”

“Because you’re an idiot, Jay,” you teased, “All I did was torture you.”

“Yes, you did,” he rested his hands on your hips, motioning for you to grind on him harder, “You made me so fucking hard on purpose, and then I had to go back and jerk off to you, which made it worse because I felt so fucking guilty after.”

“That was your own fault,” you frowned. You were finally, finally unbuckling his belt. “You saw me as a kid when I wasn’t.”

“You were still underaged, you brat,” he laughed, “It didn’t matter if you were wise beyond your years- ah, fuck yeah.”

You had finally unzipped him, releasing him from the constraints of his denim.

“Take everything off for me, Jay,” you demanded, sitting up on your knees to give him room to do so.

He listened to you happily, glad to be rid of his clothes. His cock slapped against his lower abdomen, already leaking so much precum.

“Why am I the only one naked?” he voiced out his displeasure.

“Because it took me twenty minutes to get into this dress, and I’m not undressing for anyone before the night is over,” you announced.

“But, baby,” he pouted, rejoicing at how he made your breath hitch, and rested his chin between your breasts, “I want to see your tits.”

You frowned and bit your lip as you looked down at him, considering his plea. He made a mental reminder that you must like dirty talk.

“Then make sure you don’t go home so early tonight,” you managed to choke out.

Jason thought that you also must have liked to be the submissive one, as well.

You leaned into him and kissed him again, this time less rough. He moaned into your mouth, slipping his tongue in as he grabbed your hips and tried to rub his cock against your pussy, underneath your dress. He gasped when he felt that you were already bare, and leaking.

“What happened to your- your panties?” he rasped.

“Long gone,” you winked.

“Fuck, you fucking nymph,” he chuckled, and then groaned when you started to slide the head of his cock between your wet lips.

“Jason, I’ve wanted your cock so bad,” you muttered into his ear as you rubbed your slick all over his length, “You’ve no idea how many times I’ve fucked myself with- with whatever I could find, pretending it was you.”

“Fuck, baby,” he whined, throwing his head back against the couch. Your dirty mouth was doing so many things to him, he was worried that he was going to come right there and then.

“After that time I sucked you off?” you continued, “All I wanted was to choke on it, Jay. I just want your dick in my throat.”

You lifted your hips and sank down onto him. Both of you groaned lowly in pleasure. Fuck, you were so tight, and warm, and wet, and oh so soft.

“Ah! Jason!” you cried out when he bottomed out, “Fuck, I’m going to feel you for fucking days.”

“Shit, baby,” he choked, “Baby, please. Please, move.”

“You want me to move?” you teased.

“Yes,” he whispered.

“How would you like me to move, Jay?” you smiled.

“Any- I don’t care-”

“Nice, and slow like this?” you lifted your hips up, and Jason could feel the torturously slow drag of your walls against his shaft, even as you sanked back down you were slow.

���Hnng- fuck-” Jason mewled, lost for words. “Please.”

It was all he could say.

“Or hard and fast like this?” you slammed your hips down, and started bouncing on his cock at a brutal pace that knocked his breath out.

“Fuck!” he yelled, “Fuck, baby, fuck!”

You weren’t being any softer as well. Through tear-filled hazy eyes, Jason saw your eyes fluttered close in pleasure, your mouth falling open as you cried out wanton moans, and gasped, and groaned for him.

“Jason! Fuck, Jay, fuck!”

He couldn’t take it anymore.

He gripped your hips hard, and then started to fuck himself up into you, matching your pace, making you fucking scream.

He could feel your walls tighten around his cock, the same time you started whining, “Jason, Jason, I’m gonna- I’m gonna-”

“Me too, sweetheart, me too,” he gasped.

“Come inside me, Jason, please!” you sobbed.

“But-”

“Just- just- please, please, please,” you squeezed your eyes shut and threw your head back.

Jason felt your pussy clench tight onto him, triggering his own orgasm. He released inside you while still fucking you hard, trying to prolong both of your highs.

Soon, he was oversensitive, the feeling of your walls almost painful. You calmed down, still panting above him, and he just couldn’t help but stare at you in amazement.

“Holy shit,” you giggled above him, “Holy shit, that was the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“Uh- I,” he panicked, “I came inside of you, fuck!”

“I’m on the pill, don’t worry,” you smiled, “Fuck, I just. I just wanted to walk around after this with my panties soaked in your cum.”

“How the fuck are you eighteen and already so fucking kinky,” he groaned.

You only laughed and slowly lifted yourself off of him. He hissed at the movement, feeling hypersensitive at every touch.

You went to look for your panties, which Jason noticed were a lacy black, and then put them on under your dress.

He was still sprawled out on the sofa naked, sweaty, and well spent.

“I also didn’t want any of your spunk to get on my dress,” you told him.

“S’pretty dress,” he mumbled back to you.

“You should get dressed, Jay,” you walked towards him, hands on your hips.

“Do I need to get back out there?” he complained, “Can’t I just wait in your room?”

“If you get dressed and attend the party, I’ll let you fuck me with one of your guns,” you promised.

“Really?” his eyes widen, and then he jumped back up to put on his clothes.

“I gotta tell you something, though,” you started.

“What is it?” he hummed, tucking his black shirt into his jeans.

“The safety was on,” you said, “On the gun, I mean. It was loaded, but the safety was on.”

“Oh, baby,” he looked at you seriously, “If you told me the safety was off, I would have shot you myself for being so stupid.”

You giggled.

He gave you his arm. “Shall we?”

“Yes, we shall,” you took it. “By the way.”

“What?”

“Are you going to switch back to a more lax security?”

“And have you breaking in again? You wish, kid.”

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 328: Pandora’s Box of Discourse

Previously on BnHA: DEKU TOOK A BATH.

Today on BnHA: 

Also Naomasa grew a beard. Goddamn. 

please let this be a cool chapter that plays nice with my ADHD lol

(ETA: lol I feel guilty because a lot of people hated this chapter, but I’m just happy there was a lot of stuff to make fun of, and also that I have another week to work on my backlog of meta posts since the kids were MIA.)

around one month ago?? ah, okay, so we’re gonna find out what was in that Tartarus security file huh

I love that they just randomly set the place on fire

was it necessary to do this in order to escape? no. was it a good idea to set the island they were occupying on fire while they were in the midst of still occupying it? uh. was it cinematic as fuck? fuck yeah

wow it’s a pervert!!

that’s so great that the villains set loose this fine fellow who I’m sure is definitely not a serial rapist. truly the LoV is so noble and misunderstood. they’re just trying to free society from its chains people

oh my god??!

SHANKED!!! oh my god I cheered for Stain before I realized what I was doing. time to have an identity crisis I guess

so he’s all “hey what’s going on.” which, while a respectable question, is something I personally would have waited to ask until I had put a bit of distance between myself and the fiery murder island. but that’s just my personal preference

Stain you really are tenacious I’ll give you that

“what’s the point of escaping prison if you’re not gonna be smart about it” well shit. anyways yeah you’re dead right, society is in the process of collapsing and the outside world is in total chaos, good call there

oh shit

I mean it’s not like we really expecting anything otherwise, but still. fucking brutal. I feel like these guys’ fates were decided the minute that one guy called AFO “scum” back in chapter 94. AFO is unmatched at getting long-term revenge

??

ahh, was it the security footage??

fdsdfk he’s still alive??

and he’s immediately launching into an inappropriately theatrical monologue even as the darkness closes in on him fdlfksjdlk. you know, was it ever confirmed that the other guy back in chapter 297 was Seiji’s dad? I’m just saying

very impressed that he’s still coherent enough to weigh the pros and cons before making the decision to gamble on giving this info to Stain, who at the very least has his own moral code and isn’t allied with AFO. it was definitely still a risk, but as we now know it was also the right call

what a weird alliance. so Stain tells him that he’ll give it to a just person, and the guy is all,

okay for real though I’m gonna need someone to run a DNA test on this guy. maybe it was some kind of cuckold situation?? the other guy had the family resemblance, but this guy absolutely 100% raised Shishikura Seiji and you are not going to convince me otherwise

anyway, so Stain is all,

PRISON GUARD: “???? ??????? what the hell. what the fuck does that fucking mean. I’m dying here, jesus christ, whatever man fuck you”

(ETA: I kind of feel like this might have been Stain’s last appearance in the manga, given all the fanfare. there’s not really much else he can do for the story at this point, and he seems to have gotten all the character development Horikoshi was planning on giving him. so if this really is it, hasta la vista and good riddance I guess.)

DWLFDKSLDK MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE

(ETA: I feel like this is meant to be evocative of that Sermon on the Mount painting, but in a really fucked up way lol.)

if it were me stumbling upon this scene I would just shake my head and walk right back into the flaming building. not getting involved in that mess. sorry not sorry. I’ll take my chances with the fire, especially given that it’s half-assed neutered BnHA fire lol

blah blah blah and so he decided to pass the info on to All Might -- HOT DAMN, HOLY SHIT

NAOMASA HOLY SHIT. THE APOCALYPSE LOOKS GOOD ON YOU, BOY

“I really like that facial scruff thing Aizawa’s got going on, I think I’m gonna get in on that” yes sir. “also thinking of ditching the tie in favor of the bulletproof vest look. also thinking of getting totally fucking jacked.” good lord. except I’m pretty sure that’s just body armor, but also I don’t care. anyway I should probably stop staring and actually read the fucking speech bubbles here lol

“All Might first handed this information over to Nao, and then went to see Deku, and then came back to Nao” thanks for that tidy little summary Horikoshi. we are capable of piecing events together in sequential order, I just want you to know that. but thank you

“so has Deku finally gotten a bath? also, sucks that Stain saved the day, but what are you gonna do” Nao I missed you so fucking much and didn’t even realize. how am I just now realizing that you are the perfect man

for a second I was gonna ask why Tartarus’s security systems would be cut off from the outside world, and then I remembered that’s a basic security control, and then I actually got impressed by how sensible that is. like, it’s been a while since I could genuinely say that the good guys (excluding class 1-A) did something smart. not that it helped them much in the end, but still

anyway so they’re talking about how AFO was able to coordinate the attack by communicating between his horcrux self on the outside and his ugly peanut-faced self on the inside

huh

okay you have my attention. I am taking notes here lol please continue

ah okay so he says that prior to Jakku, the transfer of information between him and his Vestige self was only one-way. but post-Jakku when Deku was in the hospital, he was able to tell what was happening inside the OFA Radical Lisa Frank Dead People Book Club Realm when he touched him. I feel like we established that before, actually. but he didn’t talk about how it actually felt, though

boy we already know this lol. yes AFO can talk with his horcrux self. and he can also communicate with his little bro in OFA too, let’s talk about that sometime why don’t we. what exactly does that imply, based on the rules we’ve established here

my god I cannot get over Naomasa and his fucking facial hair

no wonder All Might was in such a hurry to leave Deku and get back here

like I have no idea what this radio waves nonsense is but my god, people

that jawline. also so it’s a quirk, I see. except last I checked Deku didn’t have a radio waves quirk, so that doesn’t really explain his connection to AFO. but whatever, hopefully we’re at least getting closer to some kind of reveal here

(ETA: since I sometimes forget that other people’s lives don’t revolve around my theory posts, here are the two relevant links if you by chance want to know my thoughts about this.

Hagakure is still The U.A. Traitor™ regardless of whether Deku is passing information on to AFO through his psychic link, which he almost certainly is.

speaking of said psychic link, Deku is a horcrux.

just posting these now, because whenever trippy OFA stuff happens I tend to get an influx of theory asks. so hopefully this will be a bit of a time saver lol.)

-- wait, what

THAT’S what the recording was??!? holy SHIT. I genuinely was not expecting that. y’all wiretapped his fucking telepathy. fucking quirks, man. wild

AND THEY USED THAT POWER TO DETERMINE WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW, HUZZAH. GOOD SHOW

-- oh shit wait lol, except I forgot we’re not talking about 38 days from the present, we’re talking about 38 days from the date the conversation was recorded. heh. um

yeah that’s the face I would make too if All Fucking Might just casually told me we had eight days left until the end times

oh, pardon me. three fucking days

r.i.p. anyone who thought we were going to have another band arc sob. I sure hope Deku is enjoying that nap

(ETA: I realize people were hoping for a longer rest period here, but given that the man warned us all the way back in chapter 306 that we were entering the final act, you can’t really blame him too much when that turns out to be true. anyway but I do recognize that we’ve reached the point in the story where this kind of discourse is going to become a weekly occurrence, simply because there’s no possible way for Horikoshi’s actual endgame to line up perfectly with the variable headcanons of millions of fans, all of whom have wildly differing and in many cases contradictory expectations which can’t possibly all be fulfilled. anyway, so I’m already bracing myself for that lol. this coming year is going to be a wild ride.)

damn, U.A. out here looking like the motherfucking United Nations

-- is this U.A.?? I actually just realized, U.A. is four interconnected buildings, not two. wait holy shit is this Shiketsu?

wait holy SHIT

based on the overwhelmingly powerful vibes of bureaucratic incompetence, I’m thinking this really is the (future) U.N., or whatever organization it is that deals with international hero stuff

“just let them handle it themselves I’m sure they’ll be fine” yeah okay, thanks guys. appreciate it

wait oh shit did he say that it’s not just Japan?

soooo, what you’re telling me is that AFO is this close to bringing about the end of not just Japan, but the entire world, and you guys don’t think it’s a good idea to help the Japanese heroes stop him? so, genuine follow-up question: are you guys already planning your rich people exodus into space a la Wall-E, and that’s why you don’t give a fuck?? like, what??

omg international heroes

these guys are from World Hoodie Mission, right? is this Horikoshi’s way of reminding me to buy tickets

(ETA: and it worked too lol.)

WHO??? WHAT???

don’t tell me you’re introducing yet another badass new female character for me to fall in love with only to watch as you dismember them and/or blow them up, Horikoshi. I’m getting tired of playing this game my dude. don’t lie and tell me this time will be different. we’re not doing this again goddammit

noooooooooooooooooooo

god fucking dammit lmao. [sighs and rips the previous paragraph into shreds]

on behalf of Americans I apologize for our superheroes always being Like This

I also apologize because I love her already and I’m gonna be shameless about it. so fucking shameless you guys

is her fucking hair red white and blue. it is, isn’t it

this is the volume cliffhanger, 100% lol. it will take every ounce of Horikoshi’s willpower not to put her on the volume cover. he’ll have to settle for the spine or the inner cover this time because Deku VS his class 1-a superpals takes precedence. but it will be a close thing let me tell you

tbh it’s that smile that does it for me. she’s definitely All Might’s protege. get out there and show them how it’s done girl. and maybe call Salaam and BRD and see if you can’t convince them to play hooky from their governments as well. why not. world’s ending in three days you guys. “sorry, I’m busy this weekend” ain’t gonna cut it lol

so while I am not fully caught up with Vigilantes, I have read far enough to know that there’s an American hero named Captain Celebrity whose superpower from what I recall is being a humongous douchebag. and while I haven’t read far enough to know what happens to this guy, I can’t say I’m very disappointed to learn that he’s no longer the number one hero in the U.S. (actually, didn’t they kick him out and that’s why he moved to Japan to begin with?). anyway, so my thanks to Horikoshi for having a marginally higher opinion of Americans than Furuhashi, even though we have definitely not done anything to warrant said opinion lately, and you may have inadvertently opened the door to a pandora’s box of discourse lmao

(ETA: lol I went into the tags and they don’t disappoint. “why is she dressed like a flag” because she’s an homage to Captain America and Major Victory and literally every other character on this list. again, I apologize for fictional American superheroes being Like This. “oh boy another thicc waifu to make the fanboys happy” look, tumblr fandom never seems to have a problem thirsting over Dabi or Tomura or Aizawa or Nao, lol, I’m just saying. “where is Captain Celebrity” idk, probably murdered by the exploding bee cartel, let’s just be grateful for our good fortune and try not to Beetlejuice the man.)

anyway, so let’s see if Horikoshi’s recent character development with regards to making Mineta not terrible anymore will apply to other aspects of his writing as well. I know I was making light of discourse just now, but I do think the complaints about him introducing yet another new character at the 11th hour to be cannon fodder in the final battle are absolutely valid. and again, it wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t keep maiming/killing off his female characters one by one instead of developing them and letting them kick ass long-term. but that said, I will never complain about Horikoshi adding another female character to the series, regardless of how clumsy the attempt may be. go ahead and pander away, just give us more girl power lol

anyway so we’ll see how it goes, but I think I’m gonna be optimistic and let myself hope once again, even though I’m probably gonna regret it lol. it is what it is. she is standing on an airplane just chilling for fuck’s sake. I’m only human. anyway fingers crossed

#bnha 328 #stain (bnha) #tsukauchi naomasa #all might #stars and stripes (bnha) #all for one #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #eta: how did I forget to type 'bnha' in the title sob