#uh oh my muse is le back | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mechaknight-98 · 3 months

Text

Gathering Side Story: Bonehoard Dracosaur

Authors note: I'm sorry @okaylikesmomo I'm using your muse for a little bit, but I promise I'll take good care of her. This is probably my most out-there piece and takes my best and (worst traits) as a writer to their logical extremes which works for this specific project so enjoy.

I got a call from Kkura before the mixer. She asked my status on helping with the mixer and I explained to her that Astrid and Emma were “going through a rough patch.” so my status was not currently on priority.

“Ugh ever since she started dating her she's been so annoying.” Sakura Groaned. There was a gap after

“Uh, Kkura Did you need anything else?”

I waited for a moment then heard “Yeah can you babysit Chaewon for a couple of days?”

I pause and think to myself how to respond to this. What would be “tactful” and what would be “appropriate” but ultimately I kept being hung up around the fact that Chaewon was a grown woman. Then I realized maybe I heard wrong,

“Did you mean Eunchae?” I asked patiently

“No I meant Chaewon.” sakura said matter of factly

“Kkura Chaewon is a grown-ass woman,” I responded

“Yes, and you've seen her she so. What does Jen say? Baby coded” Sakura responded

“Kkura I am going to ask this once…why?” I said

“Chaewon will be lonely because we all have schedules and I don't want her alone at the dorm. Don't worry we’ll make you look like staff if privacy is an issue.” Sakura answered

“That's not the… you know what fine. I'll do it but you owe me.” I responded

“I know. See you tomorrow?” sakura said pleasantly. I could almost hear her smug smirk.

The next day was arduous and prolix at work so when I arrived at the fimmies dorm I was drained. When I had finished I made the journey to the Le Sserafim dorm. I arrived at half past noon there time and knocked on the door.

I heard a cute whine of “Who is it?” Before responding “The pizza guy.” The door opened and Chaewon smiled (probably because I brought pizza) and let me in. After I set the food down on the dorm counter Chae held me tight for a solid 5 minutes. Then after breaking the hug smiled and stared at me with those big soft brown eyes, and said “I missed you Sho.”

“Oh, using my middle name are we? I should have never told you that.” I teased.

Chae’s eyes light up with competitive energy. “It’s only us here.” She fired back.

I relented and said, “fair.” Chae’s eyes softened and my heart fluttered with the look she gave as she held me tight.

“I missed you Sho. Why did it take you so long to visit?” Chae asked, and I gave her an honest answer

“I wasn’t invited and I didn’t want things to be awkward between Sakura and I. So I waited for her to reach out.”

Chaewon didn’t like that answer and said, “Why didn’t you ask me what I wanted? We could have hung out like old times!” Her fiery tiger was coming out and if I wasn’t careful she was going to shift on me right here and now.

“Listen palm top tiger if you wanted to hang out you could have called me instead of avoiding me.” Chaewon’s fury didn’t extinguish but was greatly diminished by my statement. Chae scoffed before saying

“You’re lucky you’re so kind.” As she walked away my mind was consumed and confused by that emotional moment. Does Chaewon like me??

Nah there’s no way. I thought to myself as I took my seat next to her. She opens the first pizza box and then turns to me surprised. She happily grabs a slice and takes a bite. Her eyes widened as she said “Mmm so good” before taking another bite

As we eat I ask her about her upcoming comeback. Chae’s eyes light up

“It’s good I’m so glad Fimmes are excited and enjoying the trailers. Also (Chae looks around) don’t tell anyone this but we’re planning a world tour.“

I squinted at Chae then said “I…uh who would I tell. Y’all are pretty much my only friends who would care.” Chaewon laughs and then looks at me with sad eyes.

“Hey, you do film stuff right like Screenwriting maybe my mom could help you get a job out here,” Chae says in a tone that was unfamiliar to me coming from her.

“Okay, Chae if you think it will help I will do it your way.” Chae’s eyes widen in such fervor that she says

“Okay let's visit my mom after we finish eating!” she exclaims

“Wow, there tiger don't you think this is a lot to spring on your mom in one go?”

“No!” Chaewon said flatly. I laughed as she leaned into me as she ate. After she finished her slice she began to sniff me, I turned to her and her eyes flashed red.

“You smell wonderful I bet you taste good too. She said before licking my neck seductively.

*I forgot that Chaewon is a weretiger and that this weekend was a blood moon. So Chae might not be fully composed for the next few days.*

She used her surprising strength and pinned me to one of her dorm walls. Her grin was cute but her energy was ferocious. “You taste so sweet.” she cooed her eyes blood red. She opens her mouth after saying “I want you in my pack.” she bares her fangs as she starts to partially shift. I'm paralyzed by her pheromones, but I know I can't let her turn me because I have no self-control so I try to get her back in control.

“Chae, Chae boundaries,” I say as she nears closer and closer. Before her eyes went back to their normal yellow tiger eyes then to the soft brown. Her eyes stare into mine as she slowly recollects herself.

“So what's going on?” she asked a bit disoriented.

“Oh nothing you just told me you had a crush on me.” I teased.

Chae rolled her eyes and said, “Please you? I'd never, but since you're already close.” as she finished her retort she hugged me again. After that she had me go with her to visit her mom. It was a cold winter day so we both bundled up. Chae as always looked adorable and I got that weird feeling in my heart again. Thankfully for me, the trip to her mom’s house was quick so we weren't in the cold too much. When we arrived her mom was surprised to see me (obviously I'm a random black dude) and joyful to see her daughter.

“Mom!” Chaewon exclaims happily as I follow her in.

“Hey Chae Chae,” Chaewon’s mother said. Chaewon’s mother was smiling brightly till she saw me her smile dimmed slightly. “Who is this?” her mother asked

“Oh this is Percival Showa Carmichael, but I call him Sho. He's my friend who I'm hanging out with this weekend.”

“Um, Chae this weekend is the order Elders’ assembly. You can't “hang out” this weekend.” Chaewon’s mother said. Chaewon’s eyes narrowed then she had to excuse herself as she needed to take a call. Leaving me alone with her mom. When Chaewon leaves her mom’s eyes narrow and she stares at me with furious eyes.

“Why are you here?” she asks coldly. It would have been intimidating if she wasn't tiny like Chae

“As a favor to Sakura mostly but also because I like Chaewon’s company.”

Ran-hee (chaewon’s mom) eyed me maliciously, “Really you're not here looking for a job or any other benefit.”

“Personally no, but your daughter wants me to stay but your daughter came here to ask, and with their being a blood moon. I figured it's best to not give her any issues this weekend. I'm not saying no to anything from her. Going to feed her at regular intervals and make sure she is taken care of this weekend so I'll make it out alive.”

Ran-hee’s eyes flared red as she stared at me, “You know of our condition.” I nod which enraged Ran-hee more somehow. “What's in it for you?”

“Honestly I don't know. I get another favor from Sakura but to be honest I have like 5 of those already and have no idea how to cash in on them.”

Ran-hee looked at me confused then asked, “So you have favors from Sakura, but come to me for help on your account.”

I blinked several times and then said “holy cow you're right. I had been so focused on being a good friend to the Fimmies that I never considered myself in their lives. Especially since Sakura got Connor and Dexter all those Fearless Kkura episodes.”

Ran-hee laughed hearing me go through my thought process before saying, “I see why my daughter talks so highly of you.” now it's my turn to look at her confused

“She's met me 5 times before though”

“Yes, and it was enough to make an impression. She says you're aggressively kind-hearted and an exceptional friend. You are absent-minded though.” Ran-hee proclaims

“Oh yeah, I get that a lot.” I respond “I am a little tired but thank you for the kind words though.”

Ran-hee nods then her tone shifts, “Since you know about my family’s condition I will warn you. She will expect you to go with her to the Elders’ assembly this weekend, and you best watch your back. The other packs may not take as kindly as my daughter’s hand is highly prized.” I nod at her warning. Then I realized the implication.

“Oh uh, Chae and I aren't uh.” I stammered. Ran-Hee laughed at my discomfort like a big catch watching its prey squirm before going in for the kill

“You know you are the first male friend my daughter has brought home singularly,” Ran-hee explained “so she must be comfortable with you. I'm curious what you think about my daughter.” realizing I had been pinned by a woman in Chaewon’s family for the second time today. I stayed silent in hopes of avoiding saying something silly but Chaewon's mom’s gaze was unrelenting. Thankfully as I was about to break Chae walked in.

“Oh, Chae your friend Sho was just telling me how he'd be happy to go with you to the Elders’ assembly.” Chae’s eyes grow bigger than I've ever seen and hugs me.

“Thank you,” Chae repeats while hugging me.

I see Chae’s mom shoot me a teasing smile before she mouths “Good luck” I loosen up in Chaewon’s grip. She in return hugs me tighter.

“So Chae what caused your visit?”

“Oh, Chae Chae you mentioned you had something to ask me before you left what was it,” Ran-hee said as I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, I was wondering if you knew anyone looking for a cameraman because Sho is looking so he can stay in Korea.” the two ladies began speaking in Korean faster than I could understand so I just stood there as Chaewon’s sapient teddy bear listening to the sounds of their voices. After Chae and I left back to her dorm. When we arrive she changes back into a crop top and sweatpants, I sit on the couch while she does this. When she finishes she walks back into the dorm living room. Her eyes are lidded as she approaches. Her pheromones are overwhelming as she sits next to me.

“Hey Chae is everything alright I ask.”

Chae smiles, “You're so sweet caring so much for me.” as she speaks her eyes flicker between a vibrant gold and a vibrant red. “You've been so supportive,” Chae adds as she begins to cling to my body as she does she looks up at my eyes.

“Hey Sho what happened to your eye,” Chae asked. She was the first to ask about it since it happened.

“Um remember that military sans frontier liberates situation a few years ago.”?”

“Yeah, some mercenaries took over California and turned it into a militant war state, but were defeated by a group of guerilla fighters who….oh my God you were a Guerilla fighter!” Chaewon concluded.

“Kind of.” I responded Chae scowled, “What do you mean kind of?”

“Well, I found the Phi Codex Nanite and pushed both Militias out of My home.

“Wait so you're not a nexo?”Chaewon asked

“Nope… I lie because no one believes me when I tell them the truth.” I explained

“But I believe you,” Chaewon said nestling closer

“Well you're the first,” I answered

Chaewon stopped getting closer when our heads touched. She smelled sweet like fruit. Her eyes locked with mine.

“Well, why would you lie? About that.” Chae asked. I nodded at Chae who smiled at me. Her eyes were bright red. She moved in closer. Any closer and we'd be kissing.

“Chae you're close,” I said

“I know but you're not telling me to move.” Chae chides

“Chae. I…” I stammered

“Can you stop thinking for a moment and just feel? I know you “turned your heart off but tell me what do you feel right now?” Chaewon said. Her pheromones overwhelmed me and I kissed her all my rational thoughts were gone. Chaewon returned the kiss with even more fervor. Her fire was only rising as she intensified the kiss. When she broke it a trail of saliva connected us. Chaewon licked her lips before saying “You're mine now.” she said with lidded crimson eyes and then her eyes went back to normal well the regular gold then brown, but her pheromones still bathed the entire room so I was panting as she broke from the kiss.

“Oh, Sho what's going on your breathing is so heavy. Still not fully recovered I kissed Chaewon again. She yelped in surprise this time before pushing me off.

“You what the heck dude, you can't just kiss me like that,” Chaewon yelled. As her pheromones dissipated I responded

“Chae you have been blasting me with mating pheromones for the past few hours.”

Chae rolled her eyes until she sniffed the air and then said “Oh god is that why it smells like…oh that's me.” she said as realization hit her. She looked at me ashamed. “I am so sorry I have been having “episodes”

“Of you blacking out and waking up moments later.” I finished

“Wait how did you know,” she asked

“Chae you're a true alpha,” I say

“No that's just a myth. I'm just a new omega variant” she said meekly

“No Chae. You are a true alpha.” I explain

“But then why do I have all the pheromones and abilities of others…”Chae started

I stopped her before she could get going then interjected “Chae I know it may seem far-fetched but can I ask that you trust me on this.”

“Okay fine. So what do we do now?” Chae asked

“Well, what do you want to do?” I asked Chae

“Can you keep it a secret during the assembly?” I nod but something is bothering me about our dynamic

“Hey, Chae do you have romantic feelings for me?”

“What no why would you think that we are friends,” Chae said stammering

“Chae” I repeated

Chaewon looked at me with misty-eyed tears beginning to well within her big brown eyes which made me feel guilty, “No I don't besides how can I feel any kind of way when you had feelings for Kkura, plus you're never around anymore.”

“Chaewon!” I exclaimed firmly which caused her to yelp and then break down into tears.

“Why did you have to have a crush on Sakura? why wasn't I good enough? Why did you leave me?” Chaewon pestered me with questions as the tears began flowing. She also began hitting me but they weren't hard. I wrap my arms around Chaewon. I hold her tight as she sobs. Something about this felt familiar, but I couldn't place it.

I look down into her big brown eyes. I hold her face softly then kiss her again. This one is certainly less aggressive the the pheromone-fueled one earlier and hopefully established how I felt about her. When our eyes opened and we broke this kiss she looked at me startled and then she regained composure.

“What's wrong?” I asked

“Nothing thought I saw something but probably just a trick of the light,” Chaewon answered putting me at ease.

I nodded and then asked her if she still wanted to date so there was no confusion about how I felt or where I stood whatsoever. Chae smiles and then nods quickly. I smile back we stand there awkwardly in this hug trying to figure out what to do next for a few minutes as I didn't expect this to happen. Eventually, we just sat down and cuddled. I know Skinship was a huge thing for Chaewon and Sakura so I let her indulge to the fullest. Thankfully she wasn't pheromone blasting me so nothing escalated

“Hey, whatever happened between you and Ahin? You went to that party with her, and we heard nothing else.

“Oh right, I forgot to tell y'all. She was dating the CEO of the company she models for.” I explained and Chaewon nodded “She just wanted to let her friend Kim Lip have a +1 for the party.” I added

Chaewon gave me a confused look“So what happened between you and her ?”

“Literally nothing. I tried to make sure she had a good time but the language barrier was a bit of an issue.” I answered along with a shrug.

“Yeah, you're Korean needs work.” Chaewon said smiling, “But it's okay though. I'll help you learn it in no time.” Chaewon smiled

A little while later we both fell asleep together on her dorm’s couch I woke up to a sudden gasp by Chae

“We should build a pair of two-headed giant commander decks,” she said,

I squinted “Chae that's the nerdiest and dorkiest thing you've ever said. Of course, let's do it.”I said as I watched Chae’s face turn from sad and defeated to jubilant and joyful.

“Okay let's start with themes. Do you have any ideas that aren't in the color combinations of Naya, Esper, Jund, Sultai, Jeskai, Mardu, and Abzan Grixis?”

“So you want complimentary Bant and Temur decks?”

“Yes.”

“Well, there are limited themes I could come up with; creature combo, creature feature, and Voltron maybe are what comes to mind. What did you have in mind, any commander preference?” I ask Chae

“What's Creature feature?” Chae asked confused.

“Creature feature is a deck centered around mainly one Creature type or subtype that is structured around the synergies of said creatures. Originally it was called “tribal” but that was deemed an obsolete term so they call it something else I'm just going to call it creature feature as that's easier to explain than having to go over the discussion which is the popular term now. ”

“Okay but how did you come up with the name “creature feature”” Chaewon asked curiously

“Well, love (Chaewon rolled her eyes at that sarcastically) around the 1950s or so there were these films in the US that were typically horror films centered around one Creature. These films were usually feature length so the Genre became known as Creature Features. I think it gets the principle across and rolls off the tongue a lot better than Typal Kindred or whatever the new term is.” I said

“Creature Feature. I like it” Chaewon said Smiling. I gave her a thumbs up and Chae lit up excitedly and then said, “Yeah let's do that.” I nod then get to work. I start building a dinosaur deck which Chae laughs at.

“So now we’ll have two dinosaur decks in the mix.”

“Let me guess Dexter is running the other?”

“You got it,” Chaewon said with a smile as we spent the rest of the day testing and adjusting to make sure our decks were a well-oiled machine together. She built Rigo Streetwise Mentor, and I built Owen and Blue. Surprisingly the decks worked well together. Mostly the support pieces but turns out my putting in last March of the ents and Ghalta stampede tyrant was also a big boon to her. Her big walls gave me the resources needed to have some truly explosive turns. She also loved my flicker shenanigans which helped her consistently push ahead since a bunch of jet creatures had impressive etbs. In the end, Chaewon smiled and then said, “Woo finally done.” I nodded and went back to the pizza that was still there

“Mm mashta,” Chaewon said as we finished the rest of the food and snacks. As we finished Chae got up and beckoned for me to follow. She pulled me into a comfortable hug (even though I was taller) and she said, “You know tomorrow you're going to have to fight in our rituals right?” I nod. Chae looks up at me and then says. I know it will be difficult but can you try not to hurt anyone?” I nodded and Chaewon smiled. After that, we got ready for the night. Chaewon insisted I sleep in her bed with her but also on “no funny business.”

“Well then don't Pheromone bomb me and we won't have issues.” I teased. Chaewon hit me lightly and said, “Yeah no teasing.” I nod and spoon her to sleep. I dream I was a dinosaur being chased by a large pale bear, and when the bear caught me it said

“You need to remember” but before I could do anything else I woke up to Chaewon ruffling up my hair.

“You ready?” she asked with a vibrant smile. I nod. As we got ready the other Fimmies entered the room. All but Kazuha were surprised to see me. Kazuha was the first. She walked in and said our greetings before she left. She asked me to keep Chaewon on time which I was more than happy to do. Next was Eunchae who needed eyeliner from Chaewon’s room. I handed it to her which caused her to yelp in surprise.

“Civy Oppa,” Eunchae said perplexed. I gave a silent wave. Which caused her to smile Mischeviously

“Unnie did you and Oppa…” Eunchae asked before trailing off. She didn’t say anything but the implication was there.

“Yah Manchae!” Chaewon yelled which caused the other Fimmies who hadn’t already been in the dorm to enter.

“Oppa?” Yunjin said as she came in. Sakura was the last to come in she saw me and then said “What?” After that Chaewon had me get in the shower while she explained everything to her members afterwards Sakura and Yunjin cornered me before leaving

“Oppa why did you kiss Chaewon yesterday?” Sakura asked

“The first time or the second time or the third time?” I asked.

“The first time duh,” Yunjin asked

“Because Chae has no control over her pheromones and she had to blast me with them throughout the day, but if you’re worried about that being the only reason it’s not. She asked me why I didn’t choose her when I first met you all. So I asked if she even still wanted to date me. She said yes. So I chose her.”

“Percival!” Sakura exclaimed. I knew it was serious because she made the effort to say my first name. “You can’t just go playing with her heart like that.”

“What?”

“You can’t be this dumb with how smart you are. you can’t use your Chae to get to me.” Sakura said. I was taken aback by that response so me having a response to that was not easy.

“I uh what?”

“Don’t try to deny it you haven’t reached out in almost 8 months and you magically want to date Chaewon now?”

“Um, Sakura what was the last message I texted you?” I asked

“That you needed time and space to work on yourself,” Sakura answered

I groaned and reached to my phone to see if I still had the messages. I did and handed my phone to Sakura

“Dear Kkura I’m good let’s hang out again sent October 27”

Yunjin looked at me and then at Sakura. “Um, Unnie why didn’t you tell us this?” She said confused

“I never got this message,” Sakura said confused

“Well, I hope I’m in the clear because we built matching decks for two-headed dragon. I’m committed to Chaewon now.” I replied to which Yunjin laughed and replied

“That’s so cute.” I gave Yunjin the thumbs up as she smiled. Chaewon eventually finds me and asks what we are talking about.

I grab her tight in a hug before saying, “Oh just telling them about our new decks.” Chaewon pouted before hitting me.

“Babe it’s supposed to be a secret.” She whined. I smiled

“Look honey it will be fine they don’t know anything else except that we built new decks.”

“Okay but no more saying anything else. Got it?”

“Of course love.”

With that weird situation over we left the dorm to meet up with Dexter and Connor. After that, we all arrived at the assembly location. It was a place on Jeju Island that was separate from public access so it would be quiet. Hopefully.

I open the door to the assembly for my friends which draws a lot of looks from them.

“That door can only be opened via the aura of a were person. how did you do that?” Dexter asked.

I shrugged and gestured for everyone to get inside.

As we walk in I see some familiar faces. Well familiar in that I've seen them on a screen it's all of Izone. I watch as both Chae and Sakura squeal before running to their friends. I smile until I hear an oddly familiar voice say “Showa?”

I turn to see Donna and several memories (many of them painful) flood back into my skull

“You did this to me!” I yell as my blood starts to boil and I take a step toward her. flames begin to burn holes in my clothes

“Turned me then left me to die,” I yelled as I took another step. The left side of my face began to bubble pop as my skin began melting off.

“They made me a monster hybridizing me with everything they could find.” another step as my bone extended outside of my regular skin and was replaced with new molten flesh.

“That wasn't even the worst part. they made me hunt others and kill and kill and kill.” my voice trailed off as my skin melted off in molten sludge and then the rest of my human body exploded like a volcano leaving my Dinosaur Dragon form

“Look at what they made me. Look at what you made me!” I growled as the air burned around me. Donna looked at me in terror. Before I could move 7 elders came in front of me

“Halt!” one demanded

“What pack are you with? Who is your alpha?” another asked. I chuckled and turned my head a full 108 down

“My Alpha is right there,” I said pointing to Donna however before I could announce that I didn't have a pack another familiar voice said,

“Stand down he's with me.” every turn around another” Donna approached. I knew this Donna as my boss Voruna.

the elders stood down and one of them said to Voruna, “You'd better keep your beta on a short leash.”

Voruna turned to the Elder and pointed to me, “You see his eyes. Do those look like the eyes of a beta to you?” she said coldly. “Don't forget your place I am still a primarch,” Voruna says. She then turns to me and chuckles. “I'm surprised to see you here Caliban, but it's good that you're here I need your help. So shift back.” Voruna says swiftly. My anger dissipates into the emotional equivalent of a groan. I shift back and turn back to my friends who were looking at me shocked, “Sorry guys duty calls.” I say as I follow her. Chaewon however wasn't pleased with that answer and ran to me.

“Wait Sho (rats she called me that in public) what just happened there?” She said standing in between Corina and I

“Chae it's a very long story.”

“Then shorten it,” Chaewon said unmoving her eyes went red and her pheromones began to flow. These weren't mating ones, however, but submission ones.

“Chae I.” I stammered as the Alpha in me was beginning to come out again at being challenged by a “lesser one, but my heart wanted to talk to her.

“Sorry Mrs Kim I need your boyfriend for a moment I promise I'll give him back to you, and I am in a bit of a hurry.”

Chaewon stood firm, a glimpse of her back to her Izone days as one of the tough-as-nails makes.

“Oh not intimidated? I like it. Okay, I'll throw you a proverbial bone. My sister Donna turned you boyfriend because he would become an ancient. However, before she could welcome him to the circle The Machinist found him. They had him do some very bad things without his consent, but thankfully it was to some very bad people. However, having an ancient unaccounted for was still a mess. A mess my sister made of course but being the kind older sister I am I found him and cleaned him up. Now I need to properly “pack him” As you can see he is an Alpha with no pack.” Chaewon’s eyes widened but she relented on the condition she could come with. Which led to everyone following. Voruna groaned but let everyone follow. Eventually, we came to an Alpha-only meeting. So everyone who wasn't an alpha had to hang back due to the “charm” on the outside. So needless to say Chae got a few stares when she galavanted in with me.

I get stares on the back end when we enter the meeting. I see Karina talking to a guy I don't recognize but they seem friendly. They approach Chae and I (Voruna left to ameliorate some other issues )

“Hi, Daewon. Hi Karina.” Chaewon says as they walk over

“Chae?” Karina says surprised Chaewon nods proudly

The two of them start speaking Korean faster than I can keep up. Daewon approaches me skeptically and says “So you Voruna’s newest clean-up project.” I shrug.

“You're pretty nonchalant for someone who almost everyone is going to be gunning for. I mean going after Chaewon whose alpha abilities despite being an omega make her highly sought after and being Voruna’s lapdog. Everyone is going to be itching to face you in the rituals.” Daewon says

I yawned disinterested and said, “Look boss I know you mean well but I'd just like to put some things into perspective. 1.) Okay so everyone gunning for me, as far as I can tell I'm the only ancient. 2.) I am used to fighting apexes no one else here has probably even seen one. 3.) I've been fighting alone for so long against impossible odds what's another set of em” Dawson smiled then said,

“I like you I hope you win. We need more revolutionary Alphas.” taken aback not expecting to agree with Daewon goes back to Karina when she says,

“Oh honey the meetings are about to start.” as the two of them walk away I point to Karina and Daewon

“Fiancee” she mouths. I nod in understanding. The meeting starts and I can feel all of the hostile eyes on me. I felt isolated Alone like when I was taken by the machinists. I was merely an object of malignant interest to these people. As my rage began to swell I felt a hand forcibly open mine and grip it. I look over to see Chaewon biting her nails nervously. She looked to me for security so I had to push my rage down and offer encouragement. I caressed her hand and Chaewon’s distressed frown became a hopeful smile.

“First order of business. We have a new Alpha to introduce today.” Voruna says. Which causes me to snap my attention to the center of the hall.

“Caliban why don't you introduce yourself to the council of Elders?”

I nod and say, “Hello My name is Percival Showa Anderson. I'm from California…” before I could say anything else a fist slammed on the table from one of the elders

“Why are we acknowledging this monster.” the elder said. I tried to hide my smirk. I reveled in being called that because if I was feared as a monster they'd be less courageous in facing me, and cowards often roamed in packs.

“Ask Donna she turned me,” I reply all eyes turn to the Daylight Primarch.

“Why Donna?” the same elder who's challenged me twice before asked.

“Because I saw he was going to be an ancient and we needed the power. I never expected that any of what happened would.” I look into the eyes of the daylight primarch and surprisingly see remorse and sadness. I swallowed hard as maybe I was too harsh on her earlier. I softened the menacing aura I brought into this and eased my mind. Leaning into Chaewon I smile at her and she does the same back. I can tell she's worried

“Don't worry it will be fine,” I say.

#kpop fanfic #fanfic #edh #mtg commander #le sserafim #le sserafim chaewon #chaewon

99 notes · View notes

livesincerely · 2 years

Text

“You’re great with them,” Jack says, coming over to stand beside him. “I’m sure you knew that already, but you really are.”

“I try,” Davey says softly, his fingers brushing over the front cover one last time before he finally reshelves it. “The kids are honestly the best part of the job.”

“Do you have any?” Jack asks.

Davey shakes his head.

“Not yet,” he says. He gives Jack a careful look, then continues, “I definitely want kids someday, but I’m not sure if I want to have them.”

“You’d adopt?” Jack asks, turning towards him.

“Well, I’d like to foster first,” Davey says, lifting his chin, like he’s used to having to defend this choice. “But, yeah.”

Jack’s expression or scent must give him away, because Davey’s brow furrows. “Jack?”

“I, uh…” He scrubs a hand up the back of his neck, his mouth already forming the words before he’s fully decided he wants to say them. “I was a foster kid. Me and my brother, I mean.”

And he already knew that Davey wouldn’t judge him, wouldn’t think less of him for his imperfect upbringing, but it settles something in his stomach when all he does is ask, “Your brother?”

“Yeah, my brother, Charlie?” Jack says, relieved at the easy question. “The lawyer? Likes to bake, made those brownies last week?”

Davey’s eyes have gone wide behind his glasses. Jack wishes, for what feels like the thousandth time, that he was able to scent him.

“Charlie’s your brother,” he says—slowly, like he’s testing the shape of the words in his mouth.

“Didn’t I mention?” Jack wonders aloud. “I coulda sworn—“

“You definitely did not,” Davey says, with a flat certainty that cuts Jack’s musings off at the knee.

“Oh,” Jack says, lamely. “Well, yeah, me and my brother.”

Davey’s throat works, tension pulling at the corners of his mouth for a brief moment. But there’s nothing but concern in his voice when he asks, “Were you fostered together?”

“Yeah,” Jack assures him. “Medda was able to take us both in, make sure we weren’t separated.”

“Good,” Davey says, nodding once. “I’ve got two, my sister, Sarah, and my baby brother, Les. I can’t even imagine…” he trails off, deep in thought.

“Take it from me,” Jack says after a long moment. “There’s plenty’a kids in the system that’re desperate to hold on to whatever family they got left. Charlie and I got lucky, but it don’t usually turn out that way.”

“I imagine there aren’t many people looking to take in multiple children at once,” Davey agrees, and his expression is gentle, but not pitying. Jack’s heart pounds hard in his chest. “And especially not ones old enough to be traumatized.”

“Yeah,” Jack says roughly. He clears his throat and once he trusts his voice to stay steady, he asks, “Would you wait ‘til you’re mated? Or would you be fine being a single-parent?”

Davey’s shoulders slump, like he hadn’t gotten that far in his plans. “Oh,” he murmurs. “Well…”

“Not that I don’t think you’re capable of going it alone,” Jack quickly continues. “I jus’ know it’s hard.”

“Do you want kids?” Davey asks instead of answering.

“I think so,” Jack says, taking a second to consider it. “You know, someday. But only if I’d found the right person to raise ‘em with.”

“Makes sense,” Davey says quietly.

#newsies #javid #*the writing desk #*editor's note #bits & bobs #soul[mates] variations #👀👀👀#this is for that abo didn’t know they were soulmates thing #which is now at over 9k hahahahaha #🙃#don’t ask me why I made Crutchie a lawyer just roll with it

28 notes · View notes

audaciousanonj · 8 months

Text

9 people you would like to know better

@itischeese tagged me twice, as in both me and @ajhasmademistakes (also me), so here ya go. Of the twenty asks you answered thirteen are from me. of whatever asks you haven't answered a lot of them are from me as well. i can get such super specific numbers by going into the archives, filtering asks only, then subtracting any you reblogged to get a total number of asks and counting up the ones i know i sent. this is probably completely normal behavior.

Three Ships

KakaObi (Kakashi and Obito from Naruto), IruKaka (Iruka and Kakashi from Naruto), and. hmm. ok those two are obvious, to me, but I actually don't know what to put down for the third. Well it just says three ships, doesn't say they have to be your top three ships, so I will put down MadaGai (Madara and Gai from Naruto) just because it's a crackship i think would work.

First ship

Rocketshipping (Jesse and James from PokeAni (pokemon anime)).

Last song I listened to

According to my ipod it is in fact "Get Back" by the Beatles, because I was at work and just put on whatever albums/artists are easy listening for me. Playlist also includes any song on my ipod by The Killers, Muse, or They Might Be Giants, the entire Undertale the Musical by Man on the Internet including Pacifist and Genocide runs, FALLEN: An Undertale Tribute album by the Materia Collective which has since gone the way of its name and fallen from the internet, Hamilton Album, Into the Woods album, Les Mis album, Best of Queen, all the Weather from the first three years of WTNV plus the first four of year four, and so on. the last song i listened to on my computer was Bastille's "The Draw"

Last movie I watched:

oh man this was months ago, it was the Mario Movie. excellent soundtrack. but yeah i don't watch movies or tvshows much.

Last series:

probably steven universe. back when it was airing. i don't watch many shows. and not the new therapy series, the original. oh god, this was before covid happened. i haven't watched a series since covid.

yeah i don't watch tv much. kinda actually hate it in fact. who needs tv when fanfic exists? trust me you don't even need to watch the show to read the fanfic, i've seen one (1) episode of naruto and it's kakashi v obito. I know what I'm about.

Currently reading:

Fanfic. Actually I've been binging llamallamaduck's works, they've got some weird (positive) shit. I also enjoy literally every naruto work by @itischeese.

Last consumed:

Roast beef, Pasta, Broccoli, Oreos, Mints. Dinner.

Currently craving:

sleep? sleep. maybe also fanfics. also even more content of kakaobi as boys, being boys about it.

Oh Yeah the Tagging people thing

uh yeah you don't have to if you don't want, standard disclaimer, but also @miniongrin, @microrockets, @captainkirkk, @chucktaylorupset, @virtualcarrot, @mynameisdoofthelizardandamlesbi, @wafflelate, @insanelyadd, and uh @animetrashmuffin

6 notes · View notes

adromedaichi · 2 years

Text

Devoured Desire

Reiner x Fem!Reader College AU

This was a commission. If you want to commission me DM me!

Word Count: 3k

Genre: Smut

Warnings: Reiner lifts reader at one point, smut, oral (f. receiving), nipple play, and general smutty themes. Idk just ask me if you want something tagged.

Tips

The breeze hitting your cheeks, the crisp autumn air, and the warm coffee in your hand have become a routine part of your day. It wasn’t that these things hadn’t existed before you started college, but now that you spent most of your morning walking from your dorm to class to the next class and then back to your dorm again. You just spent more time outside than in the confines of a stuffy, overcrowded classroom.

How had you survived 18 years of that? You couldn’t fathom having to go back to that life ever again. Thank god you had no plans or reason to.

Adjusting your earbuds, you smile as Novacane by Frank Ocean starts to play. This song might as well be another part of your routine, given that you had added it to all your playlists in the last few weeks. It wasn’t new or anything your friends were playing in the dorms or at parties, but something about the beat just made you happy. It made you feel motivated, plus some of the lines made you giggle.

Someone steps in front of you as you’re about to cross the courtyard of the student union, a microphone is thrust in your face. You remove an earbud and pause the song. His hazel eyes meet yours, and you smile politely.

“What song are you listening to?” Oh, you notice his friend with the camera now. You’ve seen them before on TikTok doing this. He’s a lot taller in person than you had thought.

“Uh,” you hold up the screen, letting him see. “Novacane, Frank Ocean.”

“Nice, have a good day!” He calls after you as you continue your walk.

You sneak a few peaks back at him and his friend, noticing his eyes are following you even with his friend talking to him. You turn around, cheeks warming, and rush to get to class. You make a mental note to check TikTok later to see if you make the cut for his account. How hadn’t you recognized it was your campus he was filming on before?

Regardless, you don’t have time to think about that now. The professor walks in, dropping her bags on the table and smiling at everyone in the lecture hall.

“What do we know about basic literature tropes so far?” She asks and hands shoot up.

Reiner, that’s his name, you notice as you scroll through his account. He hasn’t posted today, but you start watching more of the videos, starting to pay attention to the surroundings, and feeling silly for just now noticing the familiar buildings and scenery that makes up your campus. You roll on your stomach, bedding shifting and crumpling up even more than before.

“Whatcha watching?” Your roommate muses, looking over at you from her desk.

“Oh, just a TikTok. I think I met this guy today and might be in one later.” You tell her and her eyes grow larger.

“Oh!” She crosses the room to peek at your phone. “I’ve seen him all over campus. I think he belongs to one of the frats and they run that page together.” She tells you, always a source of information.

“Do you know which one?” You ask, locking your phone and letting it drop on your pillow.

“Sorry, I just listen to rumors. I don’t ever follow through on them or go to the parties.” She shrugs, sitting down on the edge of your bed. “Buuuut…” she elongates the word, “my sources say they have them Thursday through Sunday. You just have to get there before they’re overcrowded and shut down.”

“Well, we just have to go check it out for ourselves then.” You say, smiling wide. “After all, I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.

She starts laughing, shaking her head slightly. “We shall see,” she says hesitantly. “You meet the guy one time, and you want to hook up already?”

“Is there anything wrong with that?” You frown, nudging her shoulder with your fist.

“As long as I don’t have to leave the comfort of my room this time, I couldn’t care less who you hook up with.”

Rolling your eyes, you laugh and open your phone again. She’s right, maybe this time you won’t have to beg her to let you have the room. You’re sure the frats have more than enough space for a one-night stand, and maybe even a bed bigger than the twin in your dorm.

Friday nights in the dorm have a buzzing energy about them that you’ve started to get addicted to. All down the hall doors are open with music playing from them. Many of the girls offer to do anyone and everyone’s makeup or hair for the evening. Clothes are even swapped, sometimes tossed down the hall and from room to room. Other floors aren’t like this, you realized that a few weeks ago when you were invited to play games with a friend. You’re glad this floor has something special.

“Are you ready yet?” Your roommate asks, and you nod while applying a layer of gloss. You finally convinced her to come out to this party with you.

“All done,” you toss it in your small purse. “Wow, you look… hot!”

“Thanks.” She looks you up and down. “You look like you’re ready to get fucked.”

“Slutty would have been a better term,” you giggle, pushing her out the door.

You picked to live in the dorm closest to campus, and by default, the frat houses. The walk is short and there’s already a sea of people on the streets. The older students all seem to be going the opposite direction than you, heading towards downtown with the bars, clubs, and other places you’ve heard of but yet to venture into. Honestly, you don’t think you will until your friends also do. All of which, are perfectly content with the frats and house parties for now.

This one is not unlike any of the others you attend. Each night you go, it’s just added to a memory of blurring lights, overwhelming sensations, and little to remember once the hangover settles in the next day. Those are far more memorable, by far.

Your eyes scan the crowded living room, looking for the familiar build and blonde hair you’ve decided is tonight’s conquest. He’s not here. You push through the crowd, drinks spilling on your already dirty shoes. The kitchen is less crowded, spilling into the dining room which is abandoned except for one person sitting at the table.

There he is.

Reiner sits leaning forward, his elbows on the table while he looks through his phone. The blue light illuminates his face, a frown across his brow piques your interest. You fill a cup with the punch on the counter, grabbing a second cup for Reiner at the table.

“Hey,” you say loud enough to draw his attention.

He looks up and smiles, so you slide the cup across the table to him. “Oh, thanks.” He takes a sip then eyes you again. “We met earlier, right?”

You nod, sitting on the seat adjacent to him. Smoothing the pink skirt over your thighs, you watch as his eyes watch your fingers, moving down the supple skin of your thighs. “Yeah, you asked what I was listening to.”

His eyes meet yours again, and you bite your bottom lip nervously. “Oh… that’s right. I do so many of those, it becomes a blur sometimes.”

“Oh,” your brows furrow and you take a long sip from your cup. Whatever confidence you had going into this tonight, you’re losing quickly. He doesn’t seem like he’s up for what you had planned and now it’s just awkward.

“It’s not that-“ He rubs the back of his neck with his hand, his bicep flexing. “Sorry, that probably came off really bad,” he laughs. “I didn’t mean that you’re not interesting or anything… I should probably just start over…” you notice the nervousness when he speaks, something you find incredibly endearing. “I’m Reiner.”

You tell him your name and smile, putting your right hand over his left on the table. You squeeze it softly, reassuring him hopefully. He responds by turning his hand, so his palm is against yours. Mission accomplished.

“Do you not like crowds?” He asks while intertwining your fingers with his.

“They don’t bother me, I just found something more interesting here.” You can’t help the sly smile that graces your face. “What about you? Sitting in here all alone.”

“Honestly, these get boring after a few years.” He shrugs, leaning closer. “So, what is it that you found so interesting?” His smile isn’t nervous or innocent now.

“You,” you say sweetly.

Standing, you manage enough bravery to move closer. Reiner turns in the chair, making it easy for you to straddle his thighs and sit yourself down on him. His hands rest lightly on your hips. You drape your arms around his neck as he leans back in the chair to look up at you.

“What about me?” He asks, and you can’t help but roll your eyes. So typically male to fish for a compliment this way.

“Dunno,” you lie, leaning forward and pressing your forehead against his. You note the way his sculpted chest feels against your breasts, and the tightness growing in his pants against your core. “Maybe I just thought you’d be a good ride.”

His eyes close before his lips touch yours. His kiss is hungry, full of need and desire. The tips of his fingers dig into your hips, his right hand trailing down to your ass, squeezing tighter. You roll your hips once, dragging your core against the growing erection in his pants. He gasps into your mouth, giving you access to him more. Your tongue drags across his, sucking it into your mouth.

You will devour him tonight.

He holds your ass tight in his hands, pulling you roughly against him. The softness of his joggers against your inner thighs sends shivers down your spine. One hand leaves your ass, the coolness of the room replacing the once warm grip. His fingers tangle in your hair, gripping your hair tight against the roots.

“I don’t feel like sharing how appetizing you look to the rest of this house.” His tone is anything but the nervous boy you originally thought he’d be. Instead, it’s full of confidence and command. “Let’s go down to my room.”

He lifts you off of him and onto the floor. You stand, wobbly from the sudden movement, but take note of the difference in your heights. You’d remembered he was tall when you met him earlier but being this close to him unleashes something in you that you didn’t expect to feel.

As you follow him down the stairs to what you assume is his room, you can’t help but mentally undress him. Remembering the hardness of his chest against your breasts only increases the wetness threatening to pool in your underwear. Pulling your skirt down, you step off the last set of steps leading to the basement. Reiner closes the door to the stairs, locking it behind him.

You only have a few seconds to examine the room, noting the couch you’re backed into. Reiner’s body presses against yours as you melt into the soft cushions. His weight on you makes your stomach explode with excitement, building, and building into a tense bundle. His shirt comes off quickly, his impatience with waiting for you to pull it over his broad shoulders.

Your fingernails graze down his chest, and he tosses his head back with a hiss. “Fuck, do that again.”

You do, digging in slightly harder. His lips attack yours before you have time to react, your skirt is pushed above your ass. His fingers tease your cunt through the lace fabric of your underwear. You dig your nails into his shoulders, a wild grin from him indicates it’s just what he wanted.

“So pretty when I tease this wet little cunt,” his words leave you trembling. “I bet you taste as sweet as you look.”

“Why don’t you find out then?”

His chuckle warms your chest, your body heating inch by inch. His lips kiss down your neck, to your collarbone. His fingers pull your top and bra down just enough to reveal your bare breasts to him. The first flick of his tongue against your perked nipple makes you moan louder than you expected. You arch into his mouth, his other hand lighting pinching your nipple and squeezing your breast.

“Oh god,” you moan louder, your fingers biting into his skin.

His mouth moves to the other breast, giving it the same tortuous attention as the other. His fingers slip beneath the flimsy lace of your underwear, finally giving you some of what you want.

“Are you always this wet?” He asks, looking up at you from between your breasts.

He doesn’t wait for you to answer, instead, he slips your top off your body, unfastening your bra and tossing them across the room. He kisses down your chest, to and past your navel, then slowly kisses down your hip bones. You buck your hips forward, begging with your actions. When that doesn’t work, you have to bed for real.

“Please,” your voice breaks mid-word, making him smile up at you.

Your underwear is pushed down your thighs, past your calves, and tossed in the general direction of the rest of your clothes. You go to take the skirt off, but your hand is stopped as you’re reaching for the zipper.

“Leave it, please. I like how it looks bunched up around you.” He pulls your hand away and you nod.

He kisses just above your clit making you whine. His tongue licks up then back down, making you squirm closer. He grabs your hips holding you still while he takes his time with you. His middle and forefinger slip into you, fucking you at the same slow pace. You drag your fingers across his shoulders, tangling them in his blonde hair.

His fingers hit that sweet spot inside of you, making you push his face closer. Your thighs shake as he fucks you faster with his fingers while sucking on your clit. His tongue does wonders on you. It’s impossible to remember anything but him.

The tension that’s been building in your stomach is so tight, you’re about to explode. Just before you’re about to cum, he pulls his fingers and lips away. You start to whimper, but the taste of yourself when he kisses you disrupts it. His tongue floods your mouth and you pull him into you. Wrapping your leg around his waist you’re desperate to close all the gaps between you.

“I thought you wanted to ride me, gorgeous. Or do you not think you can handle me?” He whispers against your lips.

You place your hands on his shoulders, smiling and pushing him back. He smiles wildly as you sit up on your knees, unzipping the skirt and clumsily taking it off. It joins the floor with your other clothes. When you focus back on him, you see he’s already slipped his joggers off and is stoking himself lazily.

Fuck…

His lips curl into a smirk. You don’t let it rattle you, instead, you slip onto his lap like earlier. You take his face in your hands, biting his bottom lip and pulling back. He moans against you, and you move one hand to line him up with you. As you sink down, you whine and moan.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you chant as you adjust to his size.

“You got this baby,” he smiles up at you his eyes glossy with desire. “You feel so good, fuck.” His head lays back against the couch.

Leaning forward you kiss his neck, biting and sucking intermittently as you start to slowly roll your hips. His cock fills you, dragging against your walls with each motion. He grabs your hips, fucking up into you and taking your breath away. As your mouth opens and your tongue lolls out, he fucks into you harder making you cry out.

“Oh god, again please,” you whimper against his lips.

He fucks into you over and over, holding your hips and using the momentum to bounce you. You’re lost in him; the taste of his lips and the feeling of his cock deep in you with each thrust. His lips attach to your breast, and you wrap your arm around his neck and hold him close. His teeth graze your nipple, and you can’t stop yourself.

“Reiner, holy fuck. Oh gods,” you whine louder and louder as you cum around his cock. He chuckles against your nipple, never slowing his thrusts.

“You sound so sweet when you cum,” he tells you, kissing along your neck. “I’m going to have to hear it again and again until I’m fully satisfied.” The warning in his tone makes that tension coil in your stomach.

You came tonight expecting to devour him, but it seems he had the exact same thought…

And he’s winning…

Not that you care, after all you’re feeling better than you ever have before. As you’re lost in the sensation that is him, he flips you onto your back, fucking deeper into you. He holds your hips while he finishes inside of you. He groans, falling down onto his elbows above you. His forehead rests against yours while he catches his breath and you kiss his lips, cheeks, and nose softly while he relaxes more.

“So, you like Frank Ocean?” He asks, smiling down at you, dick still inside you

You can’t help the laugh that leaves your body. “Oh my god,” you kiss him, grabbing his face again.

“What?” He asks, pulling away and out of you. He settles beside you on the couch, draping his arm around you. “I was editing the video when you came in, so I asked.”

“Right after blowing my mind,” you add giggling. He joins you in laughing this time.

#♓️.writing #🌌.aot #reiner braun smut #reiner braun x reader #attack on titan smut #shingeki no kyojin smut #aot smut #snk smut

256 notes · View notes

thequestoftheravenclaws · 3 years

Text

The Goldfinch: Boreo Fic Rec List

These are some of my favorite boreo Goldfinch fanfics. None of these are mine. These ones really stuck with me and were beautiful to read.

a spring memorandum by yowler

“In the dark where no one can see, Boris presses his lips to the thin knot of scar tissue over Theo’s wrist. It’s a request; for forgiveness, for absolution, for something neither of them has a name for.

“But you are alive,” he says, “you idiot.”

(Theo and Boris meet during the war.)”

you are my sweetest downfall by punkrockdog

“There's nothing wrong with sleeping with his best friend of almost ten years on a regular basis.

If Theo tells himself this enough, he might start to believe it.”

the needle in the dark (when the sun kicks out) by p3trichor

“Boris thinks a lot about how they’d die in Vegas. Boris with some dramatic explosive death, chaotic and loud and maybe an accident. Falling off a building or getting hit by a car or killing himself with drugs. Theo would implode in on himself, quiet and polite and nondisruptive. Drinking himself to death or bleeding out in a bathtub. Both boys just like dying stars, deciding whether it’s worth it to turn into a black hole or not.

Theo and Boris keep finding each other, for better or for worse.”

le cirque des rêves by basha

““Theo Decker spends most of his life obsessed with the magical Night Circus and the strange boy who lives in it.”

notes from a catastrophe by patrokla

“Life, Potter. I always find that I want more of it.”

In post-catastrophe Manhattan, Theo investigates a rumor and finds Boris.”

they are one person, they are two alone, they are three together by lesbianbabydriver

“There were many nights Boris remembers that Theo doesn’t--always a gulf between them, these things unacknowledged. Boris would always know more about Potter than Potter would know about him. There would always be the sound of sobs echoing in Boris’s ears, always the vodka-soaked late night admissions, the jumping off the roof, the blood spattering on the tiles. Always the feeling of Potter’s breath hot against his neck as he said “she called me Puppy sometimes” and then, always Boris allowing himself to whisper tsutsenya later when the dust and rubble tore Theo’s mother away in his dreams and brought Potter gasping back to reality in Boris’s arms.

There would always be the night Potter showed him the painting.

“You’re a blackout drunk, Potter, you know that?”

or, Boris tries to remember why he took it”

The Before, After, and Forever by makkachincrossing

“The attack at The Met… That wasn’t the first explosion it had survived.”

“No?”

“No, a gunpowder factory exploded nearby Fabritius’ studio, killing him and destroying nearly all of his paintings,” I took a breath, unsteady. “But The Goldfinch… The Goldfinch survived.”

A hand on my shoulder. Long fingers, a firm squeeze, grounding me to earth. “You survived too, Potter.”

I looked to him, eyes aching behind my glasses.

“Life exploding around you. You survived. You, too, are Goldfinch.”

Lights Up If You Know Who Are by nothingwithoutyouxo

“After accidently stumbling upon the Mirror of Erised, Theo is determined to show Boris what he saw.”

Find Other Muses by deadspy

“Theo folds and unfolds the old postcard from Boris. GREETINGS FROM KANSAS! it reads, same as it always has, but now it just feels like a taunt.

Ten years after Amsterdam, Theo and Boris find themselves, and each other, in the most unlikely of places.”

if you promise to stay conscious I will try to do the same by scenedenial

“The doctor has a soft voice and wears too much blush. She asks him about his eating, his anxiety levels, his headaches, his reflex times. About his partner.

“Teeth is...” Theo bites at his lower lip, never knowing what answer to this question they want. Boris—Teeth—is a brutal shot. His knuckles are always raw and bruised from going hand-to-hand. He drinks black tea with honey and is constantly taking the piss. Sometimes, Theo gets up to him vomiting behind a closed door. Sometimes, he jerks awake in the night and cries so hard that Theo thinks it may never stop. “He’s solid.”

Theo wonders like hell what Boris says about him.”

A New Life for You (and Me) by Mystical_Artist

“Boris buys them a house in the country.

Theo thinks the whole thing seems kind of gay.

If the old lady across the street with binoculars is any indication, he's not the only one.”

Death & Disaster. by theweakestthing

“The street lights haloed Boris, spilling orange light through his hair and around his face. It was only then that Theo heard the music again, it was muffled through the windows of the car, at first he didn’t recognise what it was. Then the words ‘I’m not in love’ cut through Theo’s head and he knew exactly what it was. He didn’t miss the irony, though he wished he had.”

made this place for you by pissard

“Theo is back in New York and things come together then begin to unravel”

i hear you, you analog boy by camellialice

“Theo just wants to ask his next-door neighbor to have quieter sex. In return he gets his life turned upside down, a new best friend, a lot of heartache, and maybe even a kiss or two.(or: on broken edges and flimsy walls, cracks and nonsense, finding love in the in-between)“

Carry Me Home by zoeburchard

“Three times Boris carries Theo and one time Theo carries Boris.

"“What the mother fuck, Boris!?” He practically jumped out of my arms, onto the pavement where he promptly fell on his ass.

I shrugged, “You were shit faced, falling all over. You trip and pass out, had to get you home somehow.”

Eying me suspiciously up through his glasses he pushed himself to his unsteady feet brushing himself off. I gave him a look that said What? Did nothing wrong! And he seemed to understand.

Pushing his his glasses up, he looked down, almost shyly, and said, “Oh— uh, thanks I guess.”"

#boreo #the goldfinch fanfic #boris x theo #tgf #theo decker #boris pavlikovsky #the goldfinch #fic rec list #fanfic

209 notes · View notes

theangrycomet-art · 3 years

Photo

No Time for This

Hiro stood before the Chem Lab entrance, blinking at the cyan foam as it oozed out from the entrance. A small step to the side and his sneakers were spared of the strange substance.

“Okay. So, why did you grab me?” Turning, he glanced at his student, neck tilting back a little to meet her eye. “I don’t exactly specialize in chemistry, Karen.”

The blue-haired physics student rubbed her hands together awkwardly.

“Well in all honesty your the first teacher I could find.” she confessed. “I was trying to find Professor Possible when I bumped into you.”

“Which one?”

“Uh, the red one?”

“Yeah, Tim’s on leave and Jim’s... working on another project.” He vaguely recalled Lilo dragging him off by the ear to undo what ever he and his twin had done to her ship as Tim himself made his escape from the irate Hawaiian. Hiro himself had been running off to hopefully make it on time to his classes.

It was frankly embarrassing when the teacher was late.

“What about Honey Lemon?”

“Professor Le’mone?” Scratching at the shorter side of her bob, Karen continued to fidget. He wasn’t sure if it was just her social awkwardness or if his reputation as a teacher was just that bad amongst the students. “I think she’s in there?”

“Great. Go get Granville while I deal with-” He gestured at the door. “What ever this is.”

Nodding, he waited until she scampered off before running a hand down his face.

“Please let this just be Honey Lemon being excessively extra.” He muttered.

Hand deep in his pocket he pulled out his lanyard. With a flash of plastic, he swiped his ID across the door handle and he stepped to the side as the the door begrudgingly slid open.

SWOOSH!

A slopping splash of bubbles and tidal wave of suds rushed out, filling the hall. Students yelped and began to run, those less fortunate being completely immersed in the stuff. The more dramatic wailed as they “drowned” while the sleep-deprived screeched to save their tech at the onslaught.

Hiro spared them a glance and a roll of the eyes before going in.

“See- cleans everything right up in mere seconds!” A familiar, cracking voice cheerfully zipped through the air with a small chuckle.

Varian. Of course it was him. It always was his selected student in the center of of the mess.

This wouldn’t have been a problem if he were just a student- but no. Varian was Hiro’s “project”, which meant Professor Granville wouldn’t hesitate to drop the clean-up paperwork on his desk. Heck, she’d smile as the stack of paper smacked against the steel In box.

He would never have agreed to this whole teaching thing had he known how much paperwork there was.

Batting bubbles away, he attempted to navigate the lab through memory. Meaning his knees cracked against each chair as his hips checked the sturdiness of every counter top.

“Now THAT is what I call a bath bomb!” Honey Lemon gave a zealous cry.

Maybe I could pass the paperwork onto her, he mused, hand grazing his chin. Varian was doing a dual major after all, and the Chemistry Queen had practically snatched the little prodigy from his hands already.

He dismissed the idea immediately. The kid was already dabbling on the Mad Scientist side, and while most of his tendencies could be attributed to theatrics, leaving the two unsupervised would be disastrous at-

His foot proceeded to step on some sort of fluffy rod-like mass, he stiffened.

A loud yowl ripped the air. The mass wrenched out from under him, taking his foot with it.

“What the hell?!” Hands grasping air, he crashed to the ground with a swear. Bubbles flew out of the way, off the ground, and into the air, bumping into science equipment and threatening to knock them over.

“Ruddiger! What happened buddy?!” Asked Varian alarmed, words bumbling over each other over the chitters of complaint. “Wait- Professor Hamada?”

“Hiro?” Pumps softly tapping the floor, Hiro wrenched his hand towards his body. Just in case. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d accidentally crushed someone’s hand. “Is that you?”

“Yes.” Batting the bubbles off his head, he harrumphed, pulling himself off the floor and onto his feet.

A Kentucky-Kaiju roar emitted from his phone as Fred texted him.

“Do I even want to know what happened in here?” Glancing at the screen, he frowned at the emojis. A bunch of lightning bolts and dancer emojis filled his screen. “Actually- never mind where are you?”

“Hold on- just one second- annd!” Varian said, from where Hiro could only assume the 14-year old was standing. The sounds of test tubes clinking floated across the bubble-ridden air. A slight hiss and a glittery mist began to coat the bubbles dissolving them. “Voila!”

Grimacing as the mist approached him, the bubbles covering him dissipated, leaving him surprisingly clean.

Varian stood before him, bubble-free and smiling cheerfully as he lifted his old-school goggles.

“Tada!” Turning behind him, his grin only widened as he gestured for a surprisingly clean Honey Lemon. The lack of obliterated material on her clothes was enough for an eyebrow raise of its own. ”See this is what I thought bath bombs were- I mean, c’mon. It’s a called bath bomb, not a bath solvent.”

Hiro crossed his arms.

“You realize half the lab is coated in this stuff?”

“Oh my compound has definitely coated all of the available surfaces.” Varian nodded, assessing his work with a proud grin as the raccoon that seemed to follow him everywhere crawled onto his shoulder. If he was bothered by this, the kid didn’t show it, holding his chin thoughtfully.

“Though it didn’t reach nearly as high as I’d hoped. So much for a clean ceiling.” He shrugged, continuing his spraying before he paused.

“Oh! Was there something you needed Professor Hamada?” He asked, eyes sparkling.

They really needed to find whatever energy ran this kid and put in a bottle.

His phone roared again. Now distressed faces littered the screen.

“No- er yes! I need to talk to Honey Le- Professor Le’mon-” It was weird calling her that. Hiro gave her a pointed look. “About some volunteer work.”

“Wha- now?” She asked incredulously, looking for her bag amongst the bubbles. “It’s not even 10 o’clock!”

“Alright than.” Varian went back to misting the bubbles away.

They gave him a few minutes to take the hint.

“Varian, Professor Hamada-”

Hiro cringed at the mantle. A few months into teaching and it still felt alien in his ears. It should be something someone like Tadashi was called, not him. It felt to... Adulty.

“-and I need to talk in the lab.”

“Okay. ”

Another minute and Varian had obliviously cleared a path to the exit. Pinching the bridge of his nose, 3 more roars and 2 cute chirps had emitted from their phones as Hiro tried a different approach.

Walking over, he grabbed his student by the shoulders and began to guide him to the exit.

“So what were you developing this for anyways?” He said, watch Honey Lemon dash off.

“Oh actually- it was for the project you assigned us- I was looking for a no water- cleaning product for Mo to use when he’s active that also could get to areas couldn’t reach and-”

“Wait- Mo?”

“Yeah. M-O. My Microbe Obliterator. It’s kind of a mouthful so, I started calling him Mo. He seems to like it- it’s the only thing he’ll say now so sometimes it’s tricky to figure out what he’s trying to tell you-”

Varian continued to ramble as Hiro pushed him from behind. The raccoon hopped from table to table beside them, playing with the oddly shaped orb. Hiro gave off the occasional ahuh, phone buzzing all the while until he saw Granville weaving her way through the bubble ridden halls.

“Oh, I was also wondering if I could have your opinion on-” Raising a finger in question, he glanced back as Hiro cut him off.

“Yeah- ahuh- very interesting- look Varian, let’s continue this conversation at a later time.” He scowled at how short that came out, man he did not have time for this. He tried for a softer tone. “I’m already REALLY late for the Volunteer thing- why don’t we talk about more about Mo after class tomorrow?”

“Oh, uh, okay.” Awkward, he scratched his neck as Hiro nodded.

“Great.” He glanced at Granville. “Gotta go.”

WIth that proclamation, he dashed through the halls, bubbles flying from his feet as he summoned his Skymax.

#TheAngryComet ART #TheAngryComet WRITES #BH6 #Hiro Hamada #Professor Hamada #Honey Lemon #Professor Le'Mon #Tangled the Series #Varian Ritter #Modern!Tangled #Big Hero 6 #Fanfiction #Varian #D Crew AU

20 notes · View notes

doginthecorner · 2 years

Note

verse roulette

Send “verse roulette” for me to choose an AU version of my muse to introduce to yours!

The Barkeep

It was noon, an hour until opening, and Daryl was starting to clean up the bar from the previous night. He goes about collecting cups and plates and putting them in the sink in the kitchen. He scrapes old food from them, gives them a rinse, and sets them in the sanitizer, lowering the hood and walking out of the kitchen to gather the bar mats. He’s picking them up when he hears the door open, he glances up, expecting Beth in for her shift, instead it’s a skinny woman with short grey hair.

“We ain’ open fer an hour.” Daryl mutters, reaching for the second bar mat.

“I’m not - I’m - i’m here about the job.” She mutters, pointing to the sign in the window.

“Oh.” Daryl frowns. That sign had been there for a month, since Beth had announced she'd gotten into some music program out of state. No one had inquired, and if he was honest he really wasn’t looking very hard. He didn’t want to replace Beth, as much as she was prone to getting under his skin she was a good worker, the customers liked her, and more importantly, she remembered to lock up when he was too shit faced to do it. “Le’ me get these t’ the back, an’ uh - yeah we’ll do an’ interview.”

@wexarethewalkingxdead

#wexarethewalkingxdead #v; the barkeep #queue

2 notes · View notes

tuanyiems · 3 years

Text

Champagne Truffles

Yugyeom x Reader (f) It’s a little angsty at the start oops but still this is a fluffy one, it’s me after all words: 4k plot: it’s your anniversary date night and he’s determined to make this a night you’ll never forget, established relationship!au a/n – Forgive this unedited piece, it’s 3am rn lulz I spent too much time gushing over got7 I had to take out the smut content to make the deadline lol but anyways, make sure to stream Last Piece as you’re reading!!! And this concludes my November of posting exclusively for Yugyeom! (It still counts as November if I haven’t slept yet!) And what a beautiful month it was! Thank you for following me on this Chocolatier journey, I’m sure these two will show up again in a drabble or two in the future. But until, please enjoy and give got7’s new album a listen if you haven’t already. It truly is another masterpiece album c’: // part of Le Chocolatier drabble series, which you can find the masterlist for in my blog. feel free to read this as a one-shot or part of the series, in any order you want <3

“So, how was work today?” you start, climbing into bed where Yugyeom is already tucked in and scrolling on his phone. The bright light illuminates his face, and you pause, admiring his profile as you wait for him to answer.

But Yugyeom only shrugs, not even bothering to look at you. You grab your own phone from your nightstand, twisting it awkwardly around in your hands as you think of something else to say.

“It’s getting colder these days, isn’t it?” you ask softly, staring down at your phone as you flip it once more and watch it light up to a picture of you and Yugyeom at a carnival. It was one of those summertime, pop-up fairs. Yugyeom had convinced you to call in sick and the two of you made a trip an hour out from the city to play like two teenagers in love.

Your lips twist as you press your thumb into the screen where Yugyeom is holding your hand in his. Even when your hands were getting clammy from the summer heat and the nerves of waiting in line for the pirate ship, he had refused to let go.

“Nice try,” he had scoffed, before lifting his hand to kiss the back of yours. “If I let you go for even a second, you’ll definitely find a way to hurt yourself.”

You rolled your eyes, “You’re so protective for the weirdest things.”

“Weird? Who was the one who fractured their wrist while bowling?”

You looked away, pretending not to hear.

“And who’s the girl who got a concussion while walking in a department store, hmm?”

“Hey! That time wasn’t my fault!” you pouted, allowing yourself to be tugged along as the line moved up. “Who puts such heavy items on the top shelf anyways?”

“But what normal person climbs the shelves?!”

“An! Independent! Woman!” You defended, slapping his chest with your free hand with each word.

He only laughed, eyes shining down on you. “You could’ve called for help, or oh I don’t know, asked your boyfriend to get it for you? I mean, what else is my height good for?”

“Eye candy, of course!”

“I’m just a piece of meat to you, aren’t I?” he joked, bumping you by the hip before quickly pulling you back into his chest.

You giggled, “Oh course not, babe. I’m obviously using you for our future offspring too. It’s my gracious consideration for future generations.”

“Future offspring?” Yugyeom’s cheeks blushed a rosy hue and as soon as you noticed, you followed suit.

“I mean! Uh-well…if…” you sucked in a breath, forcing your heart to calm. “Anyways, if they end up inheriting your height and my butterfingers, it’ll end up being a disservice to society actually.”

He chuckled, hand squeezing yours. “Probably,” he mused softly, cheeks still warm with daydreams.

When you turn your phone again, the screen flickers awake and there is his blushing face again, eyes twinkling with thoughts of the future…or, that’s what you always thought he was imagining when you look at this photo, but maybe you were just being delusional. It could’ve just been the summer heat making him flush.

The Yugyeom from that memory and the one sitting next to you feel like completely different people. You don’t understand what happened, only a few months had passed since that day. At first, you had summed up his quiet behavior to the changing season. It’s not like Yugyeom had never been quiet or moody before, but never has he iced you out like this for so long.

It makes you nervous actually. In two days, it’ll be your three-year anniversary. This is supposed to be a good thing of course, but in the back of your mind sits the nervous belief that something bad will happen on that day.

None of your previous relationships have ever lasted longer than a year. You and Yugyeom were always so stable that you never thought this would be a problem, but his sudden changes have made you more superstitious.

“Baby?” you utter softly, touching his wrist to put his phone down. He looks over but doesn’t say a word. “Um, I was wondering how you wanted to spend this Saturday? We haven’t really talked about it, so…”

Your voice trails. He looks at you almost fiercely, a slight frown on his lips.

You swallow. “Not that we have to do anything. Maybe we could just have a quiet day inside. We can marathon that anime you really like! What was the name again? With the cute pig?”

“Seven Deadly Sins,” he answers, looking back at his phone.

“Yeah, that one!” you say, voice much brighter than how you feel. “But…I was just suggesting. We can do what you want to do. Did you have something in mind? Food you’re craving?”

Yugyeom sighs, turning on his side to turn the lamp off. “It’s late, babe, let’s decide later.”

“Oh, okay.”

In the darkness, your worries fester though.

“Baby?” you whisper cautiously. Quietly, you curl against his back, wrapping your arms around his waist. “Goodnight, Gyeom.”

A moment passes before he twists in your arms and pulls you to his chest. You smile, looking up even though you can barely make out his features in the darkness.

“Night baby, I love you,” he presses a kiss to your forehead, and you find yourself relaxing in his arms.

That night you fall into a sleep so good, you end up missing your alarm.

Rushing around the apartment in only a forest green blouse and your nude hip huggers, you unpack your purse for the fifth time that morning.

“Babe, have you seen my charger?” You yell from the bedroom.

“It’s not in your purse?” Yugyeom calls from inside the bathroom.

You huff, throwing the items haphazardly back into your bag. “No!”

“Just take mines!”

“Thank you!”

Rounding the bed, you make your way to Yugyeom’s nightstand. Unlike your own though, his drawer is a disorganized mess. You furrow your brows, shifting through the old mail and random trinkets.

“How does he find anything in here?” you mutter, stuffing your hand to the back and hoping the wire was buried somewhere there.

“Y/N!” Yugyeoms voice booms from behind you. You jump in surprise. “Why are you going through my drawer?”

He snatches your hand out and slams his drawer shut.

“I-” You try to blink back your surprise. “I was just looking for the charger.”

He let out an exasperated sigh, bending behind the nightstand, and pulls the wire out.

“Here,” he tosses it into your hand before walking to your shared closet. “And don’t go through my things.”

Gaze on his back, you place the charger into your purse meekly. Grabbing your cream trousers from the bed, you quietly step into them as Yugyeom gets dressed too.

“Sorry,” you mumble when he finally turns to you.

He lets out a sigh, threading his fingers between yours. His thumb rubs over your hand gently. “I’m sorry too, I didn’t mean to yell.”

“Jackson,” you slide on your rolling chair towards your cubicle buddy, cup of hot chocolate between both palms.

“Uh oh,” Jackson looks at you once before twisting dramatically in his chair. “You’ve got the frowny face!”

“Frowny face?” Jinyoung pokes his head into your cubicle. Seeing your expression, he immediately walks into your cubicle, leaning onto Jackson’s desk. “Who do we need to hurt?”

“No one,” you sulk, stirring your drink. “I just had a question.”

“It was Susan, wasn’t it? I hate her,” Jinyoung scoffs, crossing his arms. Jackson chuckles, nudging him to stop.

“No, I was just wondering,” you pause, looking at your cream flats. “What are some signs when a guy no longer loves you?”

“I’m going to kill Yugyeom.”

“Why is murder always your go-to?” Jackson jokes, trying to lighten the mood. “It can’t be that bad, the last time I saw Yugyeom he was madly in love with you!”

“I just…I don’t know…it’s a feeling,” you frown, gut twisting as you’re speaking the words aloud. “It’s probably nothing.”

“Well, what signs have you been getting from Yugyeom?” Jinyoung asks.

“He’s just gotten quieter in the last couple of months. Sometimes it feels like he’s hiding something from me. Like last night, he was mostly on his phone even though I was trying to talk to him.”

“On his phone doing what?”

You tilt your head, shrugging. “I don’t know, Instagram? Twitter? But that’s not the point.”

“Wait, Instagram or Twitter, Y/N? Was he scrolling through news or was he sliding into DMs? These are important details,” Jinyoung interrupts. Both you and Jackson look at him with wide eyes.

You feel your heart jump to your throat. “Y-you think…maybe, he’s c-cheating on me?”

That thought had never even occurred to you as a possibility but now that you hear it…Your vision starts to blur.

“Oh my gosh, Y/N!” Jackson slaps Jinyoung’s thigh, pushing him away as he hurries to put an arm over your shoulder. “Jinyoung was just asking stupid questions. Yugyeom’s not that kind of guy.”

“But what if he’s right?” you mumble. “This morning I was looking in his drawer to borrow his charger and he yelled at me for going through his things. He’s never done that before! And every time I ask about his day, he won’t really tell me anything.”

You sniffle, rushing to wipe your falling tears.

“Don’t cry, Y/N,” Jinyoung pats your hand softly. “You’re probably just spiraling right now. I don’t know Yugyeom the way you do. He was probably just scrolling through pictures of tattoo art or something.”

“But he’s so handsome and amazing, he could have any girl he wants. What if he’s found someone better? Someone who doesn’t burn toast or, or-”

“Hey,” Jackson squeezes your arm with a frown. “We don’t tolerate that kind of talk in this house.”

“House?” Jinyoung chuckles.

“Our cubicle home!” Jackson clarifies, making you smile.

“Ah, I see a smile,” Jinyoung announces, making your lips stretch wider.

“My makeup is running, isn’t it?” you laugh weakly.

“Yeah, you’re a mess,” Jinyoung teases.

“Good time to ask Susan for an early weekend,” Jackson nudges you playfully.

“Yeah, leave early and go have a real conversation with Yugyeom about how you’re feeling. No use in holding things in if it’s just going to make you cry anyways.”

“Someone’s crying?” Susan, your project manager, pokes her head into your cubicle. When she sees your state, she gasps. “Y/N, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

“I’m okay,” you flush with embarrassment.

“Nonsense, you should let her start the weekend early, Susan,” Jinyoung states before smiling at her sweetly. “And as her favorite co-workers, you should let us join her!”

“Nice try, Jinyoung,” she laughs goodheartedly, before turning to you. “You two have to stay, but Y/N, you’re free to go. Come back Monday, feeling better, okay?”

She sends you a wink before striding off.

“I hate her so much,” Jinyoung grumbles.

“You gotta stop lying to yourself, man,” Jackson laughs. He turns to you and pulls you into a hug. “Go and talk to him, Y/N. The longer you wait it out, the longer you’ll just be running circles in your head.”

You nod, convinced. “Alright, I’ll do that. Thanks guys.”

“Call me if you need a hitman!” Jinyoung calls as you rush out of the cubicle.

“Hey, why are you calling at this hour?”

“I just missed you,” you hum into the phone, as you walk down the familiar sidewalk towards your favorite chocolate store. “How’s work?”

“Um, actually,” there’s a pause on the other line before he continues, “It’s kind of busy. Probably be home late today.”

“Oh, okay,” you put on a tone of disappointment as you round the corner to the store. You snicker to yourself. Maybe surprising him at work and helping him with the shop will pick his mood up.

“Yeah, sorry, but you know this time of year. People like to eat chocolates.”

You smile to yourself, slowing your step as you reach the storefront. “Yeah, I know. It’s how I met you.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” you chuckle.

“Anyways, I really have to go now.”

“O-” You freeze, staring into the window of the chocolate store. “Okay.”

“Bye,” Yugyeom doesn’t wait for you to reply before he cuts off the line. You barely register the dead phone line though. You gulp, watching as your best friend, Jenny, pulls Yugyeom into a tight hug between the counter. In her arms, he smiles with full cheeks.

Stepping back, you cross the street in a rush, collapsing into a seat outside the French café across from Yugyeom’s store before your legs give out entirely.

This doesn’t make sense. While Jenny was one of your closest friends, she and Yugyeom weren’t especially close. This was partially due to the fact that Jenny lives in another city two hours away from yours. Yugyeom has never expressed any interest in spending time with your friends unless you were with him, and so things just don’t add up.

Jenny never sent you a text that she’d be in town, especially on a Friday. Just as you’re about to go through the text messages in your phone just in case, you see the door of the chocolate store open and out walks Yugyeom and Jenny. They’re so deep in their own conversation, they don’t even glance at you, right across the street from them.

You take in a breath, shaking your head. This just doesn’t make sense. Getting up again, you make your way down the street, watching them from across. Maybe Jenny needed a special order of chocolates. Was there a birthday you were forgetting?

You stop in your tracks, watching as Jenny practically jumping with excitement alongside Yugyeom. She must’ve said something funny, because he tilts his head back, mouth open wide, the same way he always laughs at you when you make a stupid joke.

Shaking your head again, you continue your steps. No, Jenny is a trusted friend. You’ve known her since high school. But the longer you follow, the more your stomach starts to hurt. It’s exactly because you’ve known Jenny for so long that you know she would never be this animated with your boyfriend.

Your chest hurt at just the thought, but you can’t help it from echoing in your brain. That the two of them look too comfortable—like they’ve been meeting for a while.

Biting your lip hard, you stop in your tracks again and force yourself to turn around. No, this just didn’t add up. And you didn’t want to trail after them like some kind of stalker.

You trust Yugyeom and you trust Jenny.

Hailing the nearest cab, you enter with a huff. It was like Jinyoung said, you were probably just spiraling.

“I’m home,” Yugyeom calls softly as he enters the house. You freeze in your seat at the kitchen table, despite having sat there for three hours for this very moment.

“Hey,” Yugyeom peeks his head into the kitchen, looking at you with furrowed eyes. “What are you doing just sitting here by yourself?”

You chuckle dryly, trying to shake off your nerves. “Oh, I guess I was just spacing out.”

He smiles at you before sitting down in the chair across from you. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything’s okay,” you lie. “How was work?”

“It was fine. Busy as usual,” Yugyeom shrugs. “What did you have for dinner?”

“I made pasta. There’s leftovers in the fridge for you.”

“It’s okay, I’m stuffed already.”

“Oh? You ate?”

Yugyeom’s eyes grow wide before he is blinking away, running his fingers through his hair. “Uh, yeah, um…Bambam, he bought me dinner.”

“That was nice of him,” you mumble. You breathe loudly, trying to keep yourself collected despite feeling like you were going to vomit with each second that passes.

He chuckles before raising his voice abruptly. “Anyways! Let’s talk about tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow? Did you have something in mind?” your chest jolts with hope.

“Actually, I was thinking you could have a girl’s day with Jenny! And then we could do something in the evening.”

“Jenny’s in town?” you watch him closely, noticing the way he licks at his lips and swallows.

“Oh! Yeah! I uh, I heard it from Bam. He must’ve seen a story update from her or something.”

You dig your nail into the cuticle bed of your thumbs as you listen to him lie straight to your face.

“Jenny didn’t text me though. She probably has something else going on this weekend.”

“Nope!” Yugyeom whips, smiling far too big for this conversation. “I messaged her about tomorrow already.”

“So, you want me to hang out with Jenny…on our anniversary?” You question slowly.

Yugyeom looks away, his ears flushed. He brushes at your hand. “Yeah, you two should catch up, get your nails done or something. You should really stop doing this to your nails.”

You look to your hands, your nail beds raw.

“I’m tired,” you mutter, getting up from your seat first. “I’m gonna go to bed first.”

“Oh, okay…well, just remember, you and Jenny at noon!”

You don’t answer.

“You’ve been awfully quiet,” Jenny turns to you with concern as the nail technician keeps her right hand hostage. “Is something bothering you?”

“Why are you in town again?” you ask, eyes concentrated on the deep red shade that your nail tech paints onto your fingernails.

“Oh!” In your peripheral, you can see her noticeably jolt. “I came for a conference on Friday and when Yugyeom reached out to me I decided to stay for the weekend.”

“A conference, huh?”

“Yeah,” she mumbles, turning back to her technician. “You know how much the beauty industry loves their conventions.”

“Must’ve been draining.”

“Yeah, totally. That’s why I didn’t text you I was in town. I was completely exhausted by the end of it that I completely forgot.”

“That’s understandable.”

“Mhm,” she turns back to you. “You should add a gold accent. Gold accent, please!”

Your nail tech nods, bringing out another tray of gold embellishment from underneath her desk. You turn your head, hearing the click of Jenny’s nails on the screen of her phone. There’s a bright smile on her face and it makes you want to burst into tears on the spot.

At first you thought maybe the two of them planned for Jenny to reveal the truth to you. You didn’t think Yugyeom was a coward but lately, none of the things you thought before make sense anymore. However, after hours spent with Jenny, all you’ve managed was getting prettier nails and lots of lies from who you thought was your best friend.

“Gorgeous,” Jenny coos, leaning in to admire your fingers.

“Yeah,” you murmur half-heartedly, feeling your spirit fully deplete.

No confession comes. No explanation. When evening comes, Jenny sends you right back home. Your walk up to the apartment is slow. This is it, isn’t it? Gyeom needed time to prepare himself to break up with you. It’s why he didn’t want to be with you for your anniversary.

Your stomach sinks when you get to your door. Was this your last time ever entering? Where were you going to move to?

As the familiar tone of the keypad rings in your ear, hot tears prick at your eyes. Stepping into the house, your vision blurs as you step through the hallway and into the kitchen. Yugyeom is standing at the stove when he turns to you with a smile.

“You’re back!” he greets you. When you hear his laughter, tears spill down your cheeks. “Crying already, babe? You haven’t even tasted it.”

Hiccupping, you try to calm yourself but the more you try to contain the tears, the more your chest fills with fear and floods you. You cry even harder, a terrible wail leaving your throat.

The sound of tin crashes onto the floor and quickly, you are enveloped in Yugyeom’s warmth. The feeling only makes you more sick and you bury your face into his chest, crying harder. Your last embrace. Your last time being comforted by him. The thoughts send sharp pains straight to your chest.

Yugyeom holds you tight against him, taking the impact of your shaking body to his chest. “Baby, what’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

It’s a long time before you feel calm enough to stand on your own. When you finally do, stepping back from his arms, you feel yourself tearing up again from seeing the concern on his face.

“What happened?” he whispers, fingers reaching out for yours.

You pull away though, taking another step back.

“Yugyeom,” your voice comes out shaky but determined. “Are we breaking up?”

Tears spill again.

Yugyeom looks at you with a shocked expression. “What? Where is this coming from?”

“You don’t love me anymore,” you cry.

“Of course I do! What are you talking about?”

“Then why did you lie to me?” You look at him sharply, gaze severe despite the shine of tears. He doesn’t say anything, and the silence breaks your heart.

Lips quivering, you sit down at the kitchen table. “You lied to me. Jenny lied to me…H-how long? How long have you been doing this?”

“Baby,” Yugyeom whispers, bending to the floor. He rests his hands on your thighs, looking up at you and there are tears in his eyes two. “Baby…baby, you’ve got this all wrong.”

“Even if it’s not Jenny, it’s still not me, is it?” you whimper, tears spilling down your chin. They splatter on the back of his hands. “You don’t talk to me anymore. You don’t want to share anything with me. Not even stories about your day.”

Tears run down Yugyeom’s cheeks as he presses a kiss to your knee.

“No, no, baby, you’re wrong.”

You sniff, cupping your palm to his wet cheek. “I want to be wrong. Please prove me wrong, Gyeom.”

“I was trying to keep it a secret,” he scoffs to himself, shaking his head. “I was planning this for months.”

“Planning?”

“I was so afraid I’d accidentally let it slip, or that you’d find it.”

You frown, brows furrowing in confusion now. “Find what, Gyeom?”

Yugyeom takes in a deep breath, breaking into a gentle smile as he glances down at the kitchen floor. Following his gaze, you realize he had dropped a tray of chocolates earlier.

“Chocolates?”

“Champagne Truffles,” he tells you, reaching down to grab one.

“You…you made a new recipe?”

Yugyeom lets out a loud sigh. “Good thing I marked it.”

You look at him, bewildered. He chuckles softly, turning to you again.

“I’m not going to break up with you, baby,” he laughs, digging his thumb into the spine of the chocolate until it bursts with a pop. “I’m trying to spend my whole life with you.”

Your hands to fly to your mouth in surprise as a fresh wave of tears spring to your eyes. He drops the chocolate shell to the floor, holding onto the shining gold band with shaking hands.

“Every day since meeting you,” his voice breaks and you cry, hands coming to cup his face as tears run down his cheeks too. “I thought I had a good life, and then I met you…And then I realized, I was missing everything before you came into my life.”

“Gyeom,”

He sniffs, breaking into a smile as more tears fall from his eyes. “Baby, you’re my everything. You’re the first person I want to tell anything to. You don’t know how hard it’s been trying to keep this from you.”

You laugh with him, “And Jenny.”

He nods. “She was helping me pick out the ring, plan the event, pick the flowers.”

You grin, pressing your forehead to his. “You bought me flowers!”

He laughs, nose brushing softly against yours. “Yeah, and a ring too…if you want it.”

“I do, I do, I do,” you giggle against him as your tears wet his cheek.

He chuckles, breath ghosting your lips.

“Not yet, baby, that one’s for the wedding,” he chuckles and you laugh with him.

“Either way, it’s I do.”

#got7 scenarios #got7 imagines #got7 reactions #kim yugyeom #got7 series #fluff #angst #writing #fanfiction #le chocolatier series

80 notes · View notes

fullsuuns · 4 years

Text

a fateful day in new york | l.jn

PAIRING: jeno x reader

GENRE: fluff

WORD COUNT: 1.4k

SYNOPSIS: jeno is the cute botanist that saves you from the rain.

SONG REC♫: pink lemonade - the wombats

he’s beautiful.

no — he’s radiant.

if not for the fact that he was a worker at the floral shop off the corner of main street — les fleurs du soleil — then definitely so when he catches you outside in the rainstorm in front of said shop and offers you shelter.

the rain is heavy; it’s a stream of endless pitter patters against the cracked pavement. you’re drenched; your hair is damp and your tan coat drips droplets of water. it’s cold in new york; the january air that had bitten at your skin had your cheeks growing red over time.

without an umbrella and waiting for the city bus in one of the busiest and most traffic-heavy corners in all of manhattan while it’s raining sure does have its perks despite the heavy burdens.

it comes in the form of a young man: soft black hair and kind, worried eyes when he asks you if you would like to come inside the flower shop. teeth-chattering, you nod, walking towards him with your arms around your shivering frame. he doesn’t seem to mind when water trails behind you, dripping onto the marble tiles as you step inside.

instead, he just opens the door wider for you.

the place sensitizes your smell almost instantly; the heaps of flowers serve to give a natural floral aroma around the place. pretty bouquets are on display everywhere, and there are potted plants hanging from the ceiling as decoration. there’s also music playing softly through the speakers; an indie song you’re unfamiliar with, but it’s pretty. you turn to the boy behind you. he’s taller, much taller than you expected him to be.

he gives you a smile. his eyes fold to create delicate crescents, and you swear you have to stop your own breath from hitching. he’s wearing an apron over a black dress shirt; a charming choice for his broad shoulders. you look down to see a pair of doc marten boots on his feet when you hear heavier-than-normal strides as he walks towards you.

“would you like a warm drink?” he asks, offering his hands out to take your coat. it takes you a minute to realize his gesture. you shrug it off for him, and he sets it on the rack near the front entrance to dry off. you notice that he, too, smells of soft floral scent.

“what do you have?” now coatless, you sit down on the stool he provides for you next to the check-out counter. the song selection changes and your ears perk when you hear the familiar tune of pink lemonade. you hum, “i love this song.”

“i can make you some tea, or coffee, or can just get you some water if you’d like,” he suggests, pulling out a small plastic box with what you think are floral tea samples. “and really? i didn’t think many people knew of the wombats - they’re one of my favorite bands, actually.”

“mine too.” you say shyly, smiling at him despite your slightly shivering form. “and i’ll take jasmine,” you spare a moment to look for the name tag on his apron. “jeno. wow, unique name. don’t think i’ve ever met a jeno before.”

he laughs at your words — a warm, deep laugh from within his chest that makes your heart stammer momentarily. picking up a teabag, he sets the box of samples aside. “it’s actually not that common in korea, either. i’ve never met someone with the same name as me when i’ve visited.”

you hum an understanding. he pulls out a mug and a tea kettle from under the counter — previously heated up water, you assume. steam climbs out of the surface as he pours water into the mug, the heat almost grounding as it contrasts against the cold wetness of outside. the stream of water is a calming sound under the soft indie music, and there’s a tranquil smile on jeno’s lips as he speaks, “hope you don’t think this is weird, i made tea myself before you came in.”

shaking your head, you say, “no, no. i get it.”

there’s a calming presence that comes from him. his hands are structured, strong despite his soft features. you can see this when he opens a packet and places the teabag into the mug and pushes it towards you. “it’s still hot, so be careful.”

you thank him, bringing the mug up to blow into it. the smell of jasmine hits your nose; the scent of it is ever so familiar. jeno brings his own mug to his lips, tilting his head back and exposing his bobbing adam’s apple as he takes the last gulp of what’s left in his cup.

a metaphorical lightbulb goes off in your head.

“how do you like new york?” you ask, hoping your question can keep your conversation with the beautiful stranger — well, jeno now — going.

he licks his lips, and you hope he doesn’t notice the way your eyes drift down to catch his tongue prodding at his bottom lip before he answers you.

“well, it’s big - for one thing. the people here are nice, though they always seem to be in a rush,” you nod at his words, knowing exactly what he means. “i like being able to live out my dream here - and i like the part time job i have as well.”

“dream?” you inquire. the song that’s playing ends, switching to one you’ve never heard all while you take a sip from your mug. the jasmine tea hits the back of your throat - it’s warm, and comforting, and heats you up almost instantly. “you seem to have good taste in music, by the way.”

“oh, it’s nothing much, just my spotify playlist,” he chuckles, the light airy laugh almost music to your ears. “and yeah, dream. uh - i major in film and minor in photography at nyu.”

your eyes widen. “wow, nyu? i’m a student there too.”

he laughs again; you’re sure the vibrant sound never gets old. his voice muses when he asks, “really?”

nodding and unsure of what to say next, you both settle for a comfortable silence for a few minutes as you bask in the warmth of your jasmine tea. when you do meet jeno’s eyes, they’re expressive — a kind doe look that contrasts his aura greatly for sure; they also serve to make you shyly look away each time.

by now, you’ve realized that the rain against the reflective glass has stopped. turning your head to peer out the window, you’re surprised to see sunlight hitting the pavement, a telltale of how quickly new york’s weather could change.

still looking out the window, you ask, “hey, jeno, what time is it?”

you turn back in time to see jeno pulling out his phone from the pocket of his apron.

“3:42. have somewhere to be?”

at this, you know you have approximately three or so minutes to make it out to the bus stop at the corner of main street — if you don’t want to miss your ride home, that is.

you nod, albeit a little disheartened since you know you have to part ways with the cute botanist. still, ever charming jeno smiles at you and nods an understanding.

your eyes dart everywhere for something to write with (you want to laugh at the sheer irony that you find one of those pens with a flower attached to the top of it next to the cash register). digging into your pocket, you pull out one of the crinkled stray receipts you had. your handwriting is rushed with the little time you’re given: a mess of scribbles as you write down your name and phone number.

“it’s been a while since i’ve written down my phone number on a piece of paper like this for someone,” you say, a hearty giggle escaping you, “but call me sometime and we can, i don’t know, grab coffee? when it’s not raining, of course.”

you slide the paper over to him, stepping off the stool to rush over to the coat rack. your coat is drier now, both coldness and warmth hitting your figure at once when you put it on and pull your hair out.

“sure,” jeno agrees, looking down at the receipt once. he smiles, “. . .y/n - cute name.”

hearing him say it almost makes nervous butterflies flutter in your stomach, but you push those down in favor of giving him one last smile as you walk towards the exit.

you can hear the jingle of the door intermix with the music still playing inside as you push it open. you wave your hand towards the dazzling raven, voice calling out behind you just before you can step outside and run towards the bus stop, “great! it’s a date!”

#jeno drabbles #jeno fluff #jeno scenarios #jeno x reader #jeno imagines #lee jeno scenarios #nct dream scenarios #nct dream x reader #nct dream fluff #nct dream drabbles #nct scenarios #nct fluff #nct blurbs #nct x reader #nct imagines #nct dream imagines

169 notes · View notes

snarkwriteswrasslin · 3 years

Text

15.12, le tits now, trent baretta

Title: le tits now ( let it snow wrapping paper used wrongly, ftw.)

Theme: Wrapping paper

Fandom / Character(s):Trent Baretta, AEW

Warnings: It’s flirtatious and a little comedy. Oh and definitely over the top fluffy. That’s p. much it.

Word Count: uhhh... roughly 2k.

This is my entry to @champbucks 12 Days Of Christmas Challenge for the day.Listen.. I was shown a picture by my bb @schizoauthoress that I immediately took and ran with. So.. thank them for the inspo. The wrapping paper is supposed to say let it snow, but instead, it’s wrapped horribly enough that it reads le tits now. Annnyway. I went full on sexy rom com funny with this, so I really hope ya’ll like it? I had way too much fun writing it.

BTW>. i made the banner thing. No stealing.

Tagging:

@kyleoreillysknee

@rampagewriting

@writertoo18

@thatnerdwriter

@wrestlingismyguiltypleasure

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@waywardwrestlewritingwaif

@sassymox

@champbucks

@hungmanhorsecarriage

@wardl0w

@ryantaylorgirl

@dilfmoxley

@hotyeehawman

@gabbynorth98

@bec0m

@irish-newzealand-idian-dutch

@daddyslittlevillain

[ about page | masterlist | tag list ]

The baseball cap was being passed around Catering and for the most part, I ignored it. Only vaguely noticed it. Hell, if I’m being honest, I was only halfway listening to Brandi Rhodes as she explained the ‘rules’ that went along with Secret Santa.

Kris leaned in and elbowed me, whispering with a soft laugh, “I hope I get OC.”

“I don’t care who I get as long as it’s not Hager. Because I can’t punch him in the dick and call it a present to humanity.” I mumbled, shrugging lazily as I scrolled Twitter.

More to the point, I may or may not have been scrolling Trent’s Twitter… For the fourth time that day. As soon as Kris caught onto it, she smiled and teased quietly, “But you’d really like it if you got Trent’s name.. Right?”

“I mean.. I wouldn’t exactly complain.” I answered Kris, putting down my phone and looking up at her, laughing softly. I could feel someone staring at me but I didn’t bother turning around. It was probably Hager again, being gross.. Again.

The baseball cap made it’s way to our table. Kris went first, pulling out a slip of paper.

“Ooh.”

“What’s ooh? Did you get OC?” I asked, teasing a little.

“No, actually.” Kris was giving me this smug little smirk. I pretty well knew she wasn’t going to tell me just yet. And it didn’t really bother me.

I eyed the baseball cap. “Well, here goes nothing. Please baby Jesus in the manger, don’t be Hager. Don’t be Hager..” I reached in and grabbed at two slips, letting the first one settle back in the hat and pulling out the second. I opened it, eyes scrolling over the writing on the page.

“Oh thank god. It’s not Hager.” I may or may not have said it a little too loud, because at the table behind us, I heard Chuck Taylor start snickering, immediately launching into an impersonation of Hager that prompted me to turn and laugh as I nodded and gave him the thumbs up.

“You have to sound dumb as a brick next time though, Chuckie.. Man’s as dumb as a brick.”

“Noted, darlin. Who did you two get, huh?” Chuck asked Kris and I.

“We’re not supposed to tell! That ruins the whole surprise!” Kris’ eyes went wide. I laughed and shook my head. I nodded my head subtly towards Kris when she was preoccupied and Chuck smirked, leaning in to whisper, “Just shove her in a room with Orange. Pretty sure it’ll make both their Christmas real jolly.”

“Noted, Chucky boy.”

Knowing that Chuck was one of exactly 3 people who kind of knew about my little crush on Trent, I leaned in a second later and whispered, “Any idea who got Trent’s name?”

Chuck shrugged but he waited and leaned across the aisle when everybody else was occupied or talking and muttered quietly, “If I find out, I’ll send ‘em your way.”

“Yeah, that’d be great. I got Kris, but I’ve already got her a present or two.” I explained. And honestly, after that I totally forgot about the whole thing.

XXX

“Who did you get, man?” Chuck asked the question because Trent was.. In deep thought mode and hadn’t been listening to at least the last ten minutes of the conversation currently going on around him. The question was enough to pull Trent out of his deep thought and Trent chuckled, raising his hips so that he could dig around in the pockets of his jeans to find the slip of paper he’d drawn earlier that night in Catering when they all drew names.

Chuck took the slip and looked at it, promptly chuckling.

“So you’re going for it, huh?”

“Mhm. Was there any doubt though, Chuckie?”

“Good. Good, man.”

Orange spoke up from the back. “I got Trent.”

Trent chuckled.

“Thinkin about tradin though. Found something I wanted to get Kris.”

Chuck rubbed his chin thoughtfully and filed away what Orange revealed for later. Maybe he’d run into his friend again later, when he didn’t have Trent and Orange hanging around.

Orange eyed Chuck and asked, “Who’d you get?”

“Stunt. I’ll get the kid some guitar strings and a few picks or something. That’ll be a damn breeze.”

“Excuse me, did you say you were trading my name, Orange? I thought we were buds.” Trent pretended to pout and Orange rubbed his chin, smirking as he shrugged. He sank back against the backseat and dragged his fingers through his hair. “We are. Just thought it was time I did something.”

“Yeah, same thing with me. I get it, man.” Trent explained. And he smirked to himself, because he had more than a few ideas just how he could go about what he had in mind.

XXX

I’d just stepped into the hotel lobby when an arm shot out from behind the christmas tree tucked away in the corner. I’d been just about to start swinging when I realized it was Chuckie.

“Dude, what the hell?”

“I have news.”

“Yeah?” I eyed him, wondering what the hell was up. When he explained that he knew who’d gotten Trent’s name and that this person might be willing to trade, especially if I had Kris’ name… I nodded, smirking and giving Chuck a high five. “Take me to this person. Let’s do this. I’m ready for things to… Finally come out.”

Chuck gave me this smirk that gave me the distinct feeling that there was more that he wasn’t saying, but instead of pressing him for it, I chose to follow along. We wound up by the vending machines and while I waited and Chuck texted whoever he was telling me about just a second or two ago, I got myself some junk food and a few sodas for the night, promptly popping the top on a wild cherry Pepsi and taking myself a seat on the floor, my back to the machine.

About a minute later, Orange Cassidy appeared, leaning lazily in the doorway, smirking as he rubbed his chin. “She’s the one, huh?” and he went quiet again, as if he were in thought. “You have Kris’ name?”

“I do, yeah. I already got her presents that I want to give her… Hey, wait… Are you looking for her name specifically?” I flashed Orange a teasing grin and he shrugged, answering with a quiet “Maybe.”

I dug around, producing the slip of paper, holding it out. Orange dug the slip of paper with Trent’s name on it out of his jacket pocket, but before he handed it over, he gave a teasing smirk. “At least you’re cool.”

“I,uh.. Thanks I think?” I dragged my hand through my hair and gave a soft laugh and as we switched names, I asked, “This stays between us… Right?”

“Definitely. See ya around. Chuck, Trent’s looking for you.” Orange nodded towards the check in desk. After another second or two of Chuck teasing me and saying that he should have known I had a thing for Trent because apparently I wasn’t as good at hiding it as I thought I was, Chuck and Orange left, leaving me sitting there to finish off my Pepsi in silence as I waited on the line at the check in desk to die down just a little.

And as I did that, I scoured a few shopping sites, trying to settle on what exactly I wanted to get Trent for Christmas, while mumbling to myself audibly, “I should just show up on the night we’re to meet up face to face in a big red bow…”

From behind me, I heard Kris giggle.

“So you did get Trent…” Kris mused, flopping down to sit beside me. I smiled and nodded. There was absolutely no way I was going to ruin the whole surprise where Orange willingly trading around til he wound up with her name was concerned, so for now, I saw no need in mentioning that I’d traded.

“It might be a little cold for your idea just now.” Kris cautioned and I gave a laugh, shrugging it off. “It was just a thought. I think I’m gonna get him a gag gift the first night.. Something that’ll make him blush.. Oooooh.. Hey.. do you feel like going to that adult store in town with me in the morning before we hit the gym?”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Massage oils. And a new neck pillow for flights. He gets the worst tension in his neck I’ve noticed..”

“Flavored massage oils?” Kris taunted, poking her tongue out at me.

I pretended to be shocked and gaped at her. “I.. Never said that… I mean, not exactly...”

“I know how your mind works, A.” Kris teased me gently and I gulped, blushing a little over how well she managed to call me out just now. “That is an idea to file away for the future… I mean.. If this all doesn’t backfire in my face.” I pulled myself off of the floor that I’d been sitting inappropriately on, and I reached out, grabbing for the heels I’d pretty much abandoned upon entering the building.

“Still think those new stilettos were good for tonight?” Kris was teasing me again and I laughed it off as I debated on whether I actually wanted to put them back on and have my feet screaming at me in sheer agony.

I quickly decided that no, no I did not feel up to that tonight.

“They made my ass in these jeans look amazing, so yeah. Yeah I do, Kris.” I taunted, making her laugh and shake her head as she remarked, “Opposites attract is definitely true in your case, huh?”

“God, yes.. And speaking of opposites, there he is now..”

I stared like a helpless idiot as Trent walked past with Orange and Chuck flanking him. Chuck managed to look back and catch me staring, holding up two fingers. To anybody else that would’ve been a peace sign. But to me, that was a reminder.

I had two nights until I was face to face with Trent, revealing myself and probably, everything I felt for the guy.

XXX

“You’re actually giving her the present.. Wrapped like that.” Chuck was trying his best to hold in laughter. Almost failing miserably, but he was trying. Trent eyed the box he held in his hand and smirked at Chuck, nodding. “I am, why? What the hell is wrong with my mom’s leftover wrapping paper, huh?”

,, for starters you wrapped it so bad it reads le tits now, but hey.. You do you, buddy.” Chuck could’ve said it, but what Trent was doing was a huge deal. It was something Trent probably should’ve done a while ago, as opposed to just keeping his feelings to himself and going above and beyond to kind of keep his distance from the girl in question unless they had to interact.

Because yeah.. While all the quiet staring and the pining going on was cute as hell between the two, it was getting to a point where the sexual tension was so heavy that literally everyone around them was suffering for it also.

“Tonights night one, man.”

“That it is, Chuck.” Trent took a long and deep breath, almost as if he were centering himself. He waited until no one was looking and made his way into Catering, over to the decorated tree that sat on top of a table in the back already loaded down with presents.

And when he knew the coast was clear, he stuck the box on the nearest pile and quickly, he walked out of catering.

XXX

Everybody was already crowded into Catering when Kris and I made our way into the room and found a seat close to the door. I let the stilettos on my feet hit the floor with a soft thud and tugged my hair free. The blazer I’d been wearing that evening to conduct my two backstage interviews was sitting on the tabletop in front of me, right next to my travel bag.

Britt named herself Santa for the night, so she was calling out names. I was talking quietly to Kris, only half listening for my own to be called.

We were trying to anticipate who we might have gotten. I was trying to resist the urge to tell Kris that Orange had gotten her name. I was more than a little excited for her because just the sheer joy that she had over having managed to get his name was enough to make me truly happy.

I wasn’t terribly worried about who might have gotten my name, because the important thing here was that I’d taken steps to make sure I wound up with Trent’s name. That I was finally doing something I should’ve done months ago.

Britt must have called my name more than a time or two, because I looked up to find Brandi standing over me, trying not to double over laughing as she held out a hastily wrapped gift.

The wrapping paper caught my eye immediately. Whoever wrapped it had chosen wrapping paper that was pretty.. Shiny and sparkly, with silver snowflakes and pale blue lettering. The bow tied on the package somehow did not fit the packaging itself, but honestly, I just couldn’t stop staring at the way Let It Snow was turned into Le TitS now because of the way my Secret Santa had hastily wrapped the box.

I swallowed hard, getting a bit of a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach because at this point, I was at least 90 percent sure that the wrapping paper itself was a clue of some sort.

“Le TitS now, huh? Hager, are you the secret santa? Because if you’re behind this, man.. I can personally assure you, you dumb fucking Okie, you are.. Not even on the bottom of the very short list of men I’d willingly show my tits to.” I mumbled aloud.

“Well? Are you at least going to open it?” Kris asked from beside me. Brandi was watching expectantly too and under the pressure, I tore into the gift after neatly removing the way the bow had been tied so pretty and so carefully.

I wanted to keep that.

“Ooh, you’re gonna keep the bow, right?”

“It’s beautiful, Fuck yes.” I answered Kris as I gaped at the black velvet box in my hand. The other hand raised, catching in dark waves and tousling as my mouth opened and closed. “This is.. Okay.. Let me breathe here, I…”

I was at a complete and total loss for words suddenly.

And when I opened the box and spied the silver necklace with a shooting star pendant that I’d probably made 3 trips past a certain jewelry store in the mall in town just to stare at it…

Jake Hager spoke up from behind me.

“If you want, darlin. I can fasten it.”

“Ew, no! Fuck right off, you dumb Okie. Oh and if you’re the one who got me this, thanks but… This is as far as it goes, Hager. You’re not, nor will you ever be… Seeing any tits.”

Jake gave me a blank look and shrugged, wandering off. Kris was trying not to die laughing from beside me, as were Chuck,Trent and Orange from the table across from ours. I turned to Kris and held it out carefully. “Will you put it on? You’re probably the one other person I trust to do it without trying to cop a feel at this rate.”

“Except the guy you wish would cop a feel.” Kris muttered, making me gaze briefly at Trent, watching as he opened the tiffany blue and white wrapped gift box that contained what I’d gotten him.

When I saw the way his eyes lit up, I let out a ragged breath. Somehow, I got the feeling that he’d enjoy the controller. And the neck massager pillow that he was putting around his neck already, a goofy grin playing at his lips as he sank back against the booth and muttered aloud, “Nobody talk to me. I’m takin a nap.”

I couldn’t resist saying something.

“It’s.. heated, I think? There’s a little button on the back to turn on the heat. I..”

,, you absolute goof, what the fuck are you doing, A?” my mind shrieked as soon as the words left my mouth. I covered quickly, the words tumbling out of my mouth almost breathlessly as Trent’s eyes fluttered open and locked on me intently. When he licked his lips while still staring, I had to cross my legs under the table.

“It does, huh? Awesome.” Trent flashed me that cocky grin and I wanted to melt. If I thought forming words was a bit of a struggle before, compared to now, it seemed so much easier.

“Yeah.. I uhh.. I have a pink one.” I finally managed to stammer, going back to my own conversation and gushing over the necklace sitting around my neck out loud and excitedly with Kris.

I mean, it wasn’t a lie. I did have a pink one exactly like it. And a red one. And I’d actually said a lot more than usual to him tonight. Without stammering or saying the wrong thing entirely like I tended to on occasion.

XXX

“Did you see her face light up?” Trent was still on cloud 9 after watching her open the secret Santa gift earlier in the night. Now he was texting his mother to see if the gift he’d gotten her for the last night of the gift exchange had shown up yet.

Chuck spoke up, chuckling. “Was funny as hell when she told Hager he didn’t stand a chance in hell, man. And then when he tried to sneak up on her under that mistletoe that Brandi put up earlier, her threatening him with her shoe.”

Trent chuckled, even though his jaw set firmly and he grumbled. Right after Jake had tried pulling that stunt, he’d gotten the guy off to himself and quickly told him if he caught him attempting it again, he was going to take him outside.

Lucky for Jake, Chuck and Orange managed to get between the two. Because Trent was personally beyond fed up of the disgusting way that Jake behaved around her all the time. She shouldn’t have to threaten the guy with mase or a knee to the nuts to make him leave her alone.

No woman should.

“You know.. You could’ve done it, man. You could’ve snuck up on her.” Chuck teased his best friend as he glanced over at him.

“I’m saving that for tomorrow, Chuck. I have a plan, remember?”

“Says the man who wrapped the gift so that it read ‘le tits now’.” Orange chuckled from the backseat.

Chuck and Orange burst into laughter and Trent grumbled, smiling and laughing as he flipped them both off. “Yeah, well neither of you saw to point it out either.”

“I assumed you could read the damn packaging? My bad, Trenty.”

“I was just too caught up in getting to the arena and giving it to her, man. You know I’ve been waiting to do this a while!” Trent groaned as he let his head fall back against the headrest behind it and laughed.

“Maybe you should just let Sue wrap it this time, huh?”

“That’s not entirely a bad idea.” Trent chuckled as he said it, texting his mom to ask if she’d mind wrapping the present for him when it finally got to her place the next morning.

“She knew it said that too?” he grumbled aloud a few seconds later when his eyes scanned his mother’s response text.

[ mama bear ] I wanted to tell you before you left but you were so excited…

[ mama bear ] Did she like the necklace, son? I thought it was beautiful…

[ trentylocks] She loved it, mom. Was excited, doing that cute thing where she talks loud and giggles a lot, talking with her hands. Just wish me luck for tomorrow, please? I’m gonna need it.

[ trentylocks ] She loved the bow you tied just as much, by the way. ;) She kept it. When I saw her leaving the arena, she had it tied around her wrist.

[ trentylocks] Did you still want me to invite her over for dinner?

[ mama bear] You talk so much about her, of course! I have to meet her. Make sure she’s sweet enough for my baby.

[ mama bear ] I see you, trying to get her brownie points. But I’m glad she liked the bow. Says a lot about her that she kept it.

Trent slipped his phone back into his pocket and started to nod off, awakening when Chuck cleared his throat and asked aloud, “So what did you get her for tomorrow night?”

Trent smirked. “For the actual present, I got her a photo album. Because remember that time we were in the airport and her luggage burst? And the pictures inside it went everywhere?”

“Awww, for a cranky jerk, you can be sweet sometimes, Trenty.”

“Look who’s talkin, bigger cranky jerk. I also got her an actual warm blanket. Because she’s always walking around with that fuzzy pink thin one draped around her like she’s cold as hell. And roses. But I’m not givin’ her those until we’re face to face.”

“You giant sap.” Chuck teased his best friend as he grinned. “If it helps, man.. I don’t think you have to worry about tomorrow night going south. I think things might surprise you with how they turn out.”

“Oh you do, huh? What are you now, a psychic, Taylor?” Trent asked, giving Chuck a raised brow, wondering why he got the feeling that Chuck definitely knew more than he was saying.

“No, I just know how to read that particular girl, Beretta.” Chuck smirked, not even having to look over to know that Trent was giving him a dirty look at the reminder that Chuck had become friends with her first.

XXX

[ dad] Well, how did the secret santa go, sweetpea?

[dad] did this Trent like his present?

I smiled as I read the texts from my dad while standing in line to check into the hotel. After a second or two, I answered.

[sweetpea] He did! I’m glad I took your advice and didn’t try to go overboard. Now it leaves the romantic part for tomorrow night. Thank you, sir!

[sweet pea] remember that necklace I told you I was thinking about getting myself? The one like mama’s? I don’t have to… apparently, my secret santa knew somehow that I liked it and got it for me?

[ sweet pea ] But the way they wrapped the present, oh my god. I nearly died laughing.

[dad] you should call around. Find a restaurant. Your mama.. She liked cozy candlelit dinners. Just a thought.

[ dad] they did, huh? That’s good! Be careful driving to the hotel, sweetpea. The news said snow for your area tonight.

[sweetpea] Night, daddy. Don’t stay up all night watching the news or Blue Bloods. Go to bed, sir.

I put my phone away and at the tap on my shoulder, I turned. I found myself body to body with Jake Hager. I raised a brow and bit my lip, stepping away from him as quickly as possible. “What’s up?”

His eyes settled on the necklace and he chuckled. “Do you really think I’d have bought you that cheap lookin crap if I were the guy, princess?”

I glared and started to turn around, rolling my eyes. But Jake produced roses from behind his back. I eyed the roses and him and laughed as I shook my head no. “Life pro tip, Jacob.. Save the flowers for your actual girlfriend? Stop wasting your time with me. I have an ideal man and you sir, are not it. And you never will be.”

“Yeah? How about given a guy a chance?”

A throat cleared from behind us and a look around Jake revealed Trent standing there, muscular arms folded over his chest as he smirked at Jake.

“Do you have a fucking hearing problem, Hager? Or are you really that damn dense? She’s told you a thousand times to get bent by now.”

Somehow, in the midst of all this, I wound up right between Trent and Jake.. with my back pressed right against Trent’s chest. I gulped and tried like hell to hold myself together, but it just wasn’t working.

“Hey, whoa.. Can we just not, boys? Please?” I knew Jake would ignore me because he always does, so when I asked the question, I chose to turn.. Body to body with Trent.. And lock eyes with him, biting my lip and giving him my best pleading look.

Because holy hell, is it awkward when people make a scene like this.

Trent was glaring, tensing up all over. But at my question, he seemed to un-tense just slightly, tearing his eyes off of Jake to gaze down at me. “Yeah. He’s not fucking worth it anyway.”

“Exactly, Trent.” I muttered quietly, swallowing hard because I was lost in deep brown eyes and I knew it. And I couldn’t pull myself away from him, either.

The clerk’s throat cleared and gingerly, I managed to finally break gazes with him and stepped back, pouting before I turned to face the front and check into the hotel.

XXX

“You ready for this, man? Tonight is the big night.”

Trent chuckled, nodding. “It is. My mom came by earlier and dropped this off. Already wrapped.”

“You got the roses right, buddy?”

“Mhm. Over there.” Trent nodded to a dozen long stemmed red roses. Almost the same vibrant red as the lipstick she always wore.

He smoothed a hand over his hair and eyed the stupid jacket he was wearing. “This is a bit much.”

“It kind of is, man. A isn’t.. She’s not into male model types, man. Just dress comfortable.” Chuck shrugged as he chuckled. Trent took off the jacket and tossed it lazily at the second bed in the room and after he grabbed his key, he started out the door.

“I won’t wait up for you, man.”

Trent paused and gave him a laugh and shrug as he stepped out and into the hallway.

On the surface, he seemed calm, but on the inside?

An actual nervous wreck.

He knew she liked the presents she’d unwrapped in Catering earlier in the night, she hadn’t been without the blanket that he’d gotten her to unwrap there for the duration of the show. And as soon as she’d opened the photo album, she got the softest smile on her face, trailing her fingers over the cover.

She’d looked around the room and then gone back to whispering to Kris. But he’d managed to over hear her say that she knew it wasn’t Hager, because Hager had the emotional depth of a teaspoon and never would’ve thought to get her something as thoughtful as an actual photo album as opposed to her just tossing her photos in her luggage every time she went on the road.

Trent took a deep breath and made himself focus as he stood waiting on the elevator, goofy grin on his face.

He was meeting her at the town square because there was this huge christmas tree there and he liked the way her eyes lit up every time she saw it. It felt like time dragged at a hellish and slow pace from the time he was out in the parking lot, waiting on the Uber he’d called, to the time that Uber was pulling to a stop at the little park.

When he got out, he caught sight of her, approaching from the opposite direction. So he hung back, watched her walking past as he worked on getting himself reasonably pulled together and mentally prepared to reveal himself to her.

He let her settle in on the bench closest to the lit up tree and after a few deep breaths, he stepped out, roses in hand, clearing his throat.

XXX

[galaxybae] well? Is anyone there?

[galaxybae] are you sure this dress I borrowed was a good idea for tonight, A? I feel so damn naked right now…

[galaxybae] answer your texts woman.

[brunettebarbiedoll] not yet.. What about on your end? See anybody familiar?

I typed in the response to her first text and briefly, because i felt the sensation of being stared at intently, almost to the point of literal eye-fucking… It had my thighs clenching. It had me sitting up, alert and looking around, then pouting when I didn’t see anyone right away. I wandered over to the lit Christmas tree, a soft smile coming as the warm twinkle of soft white lights shined on me.

I felt good about tonight. Tonight’s secret santa gifts had pretty much blown my fear and theory that Hager was my secret Santa out of the water because Hager lacked the emotional depth and the practicality to pick out the gifts that my secret Santa had chosen for me.

At the thought, I snuggled tighter into my jacket, wishing I’d lugged the oversized plush winter white throw blanket along with me for both warmth and the comfort it made me feel.. As if I were being wrapped in a warm embrace whenever I had it wrapped around me.

And it didn’t go amiss by me that it smelled familiar somehow. Like a cologne I’d smelled somewhere, on more than one occasion.

And that thought further had me giving a soft and sappy smile over the thought of the gift. My fingers drifted upward, lingering at the shooting star charm that hung from the necklace that had been my gift the night before.

And I realized that I still hadn’t answered Kris’ two other texts. I sighed and looked around again, still seeing nobody around and yet, still feeling as if I were being visually fucked somehow.

Not in bad way though. Just… hungry, maybe.

,, it’s just the frenzy you’ve got yourself worked up into.”

I eyed my watch. I hoped my secret Santa showed themselves soon, because I still had to get through revealing myself to Trent.

And boy, was I ever a bundle of raw nerves over it.

[brunettebarbiedoll] Still nobody. I guess my secret Santa is gonna remain a secret? Either way, I’m kind of starting to get really nervous because I still have to wait on Trent to get here and reveal myself.

[galaxybae] Don’t you dare leave!

[galaxybae] Oh.. Oh.. i.. I think my person is here. Gotta go, bye!

I smiled to myself and put the phone away just as I felt my eyes being covered with something and then felt myself being turned around, what felt like flower stems being placed into my hands. I caught a whiff of the same cologne that I’d smelled on the blanket earlier and I swallowed hard. “Hey, no fair. You’re supposed to reveal yourself, sir.” I managed to get the words out as my body brushed against hardened muscle when I was pulled closer. So much closer. And arms wrapped around my waist.

I gaped as the fabric that had been placed over my eyes was lowered and it gave way to me standing body to body with Trent. Who was staring down at me intently, this soft smirk playing at his lips.

“Trent?”

“Mhm.” he chuckled quietly, a hand moving from it’s resting spot across my lower back to drag through thick dark hair.

I couldn’t help the fit of giggles that came. He eyed me with a brow raised and when my giggle fit finally died away, I explained with a teasing smile, “I was supposed to be meeting you here to reveal myself to you.”

His eyes widened and he chuckled. “Vanilla massage oil, hm?”

“In my defense, you always seem tense?” I bit my lip as I laughed softly. I was melting into him, awestruck at the realization that my forehead hit almost perfectly at the center of his chest. He used his grip on my body to pull me up a little and I wrapped my legs around his waist, making him laugh as our mouths brushed against each other clumsily.

“Was it an offer though, hmm?” Trent questioned, licking his lips as his eyes locked on my mouth.

“Possibly. I mean, I am pretty good at massages...” I teased, daring to trace the outline of his mouth with my tongue. Which only had him tangling a hand in the hair at the back of my hair and pulling my mouth against his completely.

The kiss broke and we pulled apart. I climbed out of his arms and leaned against him, raising to tiptoe to press another kiss against his lips as I muttered, “Are you hungry, Trent?”

“I could eat, yeah.. Why?”

“Well, there’s this cozy little place about a block away, I.. Kind of thought that maybe if things went okay when I had to meet you here, I’d ask you if you wanted to go with me?”

He grinned and slipped an arm around me, pulling me into his side as we made our way down the sidewalk.

“Did you wrap the first present the way you did intentionally?”

“No, I didn’t actually.” Trent answered, giving a sheepish laugh. “Did you think I did?”

“Well, when I thought was Hager, I didn’t think it was a stretch to imagine that yeah, he’d purposely done it. For the record.. If you wanted to see my tits, all you had to do was ask.” I teased, not stopping to think how suggestive what I said actually sounded until it left my mouth and I saw Trent’s jaw drop, and a flash of hunger flash in his eyes as he leaned down and muttered against the shell of my ear, “Ya know… I might actually take you up on that, doll.”

#12daysofchristmas #12 days of christmas #trent beretta imagine #trent beretta fanfiction #trent beretta fanfic #trent beretta imagines #trent beretta one shot #my writing; trent beretta #my fics; trent beretta #my oneshots; trent beretta

58 notes · View notes

caitlesshea · 3 years

Text

you make a fool of death with your beauty

For @blood-suits-and-tears for the TOG HQ Secret Santa! I couldn’t resist immortal husbands + found family and I hope you like it!

“Nico? Nico!” Joe tries to move but everything feels stuck.

After a couple of minutes he’s finally able to turn over and through the wreckage he sees Nicolò laying underneath something heavy.

“Nicolò,” Joe wheezes just as Nicky stirs and moves his head to look at Joe.

“Yusuf.” Nicky reaches his hand out and Joe grasps it as he crawls closer to Nicky.

Joe’s able to move what looks like a seat off of Nicky and they both notice the open doorway as they get up slowly and stumble through it.

“Survivors! We have survivors! I need a medic!”

Joe and Nicky look at each other with wide eyes as they turn as one to see the mangled subway car behind them.

“What?” Joe’s about to ask when suddenly they’re surrounded by rescue workers and EMT’s.

The questions come in rapid fire as they’re taken to a triage situation and Joe feels like his head is going to explode.

Yes, they were on the subway together.

No, they don’t remember the crash.

Yes, they feel fine and would like to go home.

Joe leans his forehead against Nicky’s, thankful his husband is okay. He wipes some of the blood off of his forehead, a little concerned there’s not even a scrape on either of them, but thankful nonetheless.

“We’re okay,” Joe whispers in Italian. Nicky nods in return and grabs his hand, absently running his fingers over Joe’s simple wedding ring.

“I don’t remember the crash.” Nicky looks at him with wide eyes and Joe kisses him.

“Neither do I.”

“Just flashes, two women together at a shooting range, two men playing cards, and a man and another woman somewhere, Greece maybe?”

Joe’s breath catches and he looks at Nicky, confused.

“You saw all that, too?”

“Sì. Was it a dream?”

“I don’t know.” Joe runs a hand over his side, his tattered and blood covered shirt makes it looks like he was stabbed with something but like Nicky there’s not even a scratch.

“Okay gentlemen,” Officer Keane starts as he walks over to them. “Looks like the medics have checked you out, so you’re free to go. Here’s my card if you remember something and we’ll be in touch if we need your statements for anything.”

“Thank you, sir,” Joe jumps off the back of the ambulance and helps Nicky get down as well.

“We can have one of the officers drop you off somewhere so you’re not walking around the city like this.”

“Oh.” Joe looks down at both of their dusty and ruined clothes and nods. “Yes please, that would be nice.”

It’s not until they’re sitting in the car that Joe realizes how tired he is. Nicky’s head is lolling onto his shoulder and Joe brings his arm around Nicky to pull him closer.

When they finally pull up in front of their apartment building Joe grumbles at their five story walk up. Nicky makes a protesting noise as he wakes up and Joe shushes him as they make their way into the building.

He has half a mind to grab coffee and a pastry from the bakery at ground level that they work at but Joe would much rather lay down in their bed.

Their studio apartment has served them well over the years; artwork, rugs, and plants taking up a majority of the space, but it’s home.

Two broke college kids when they first moved in and now it’s over ten years later and they’re married and still sharing the same full sized bed. Joe smiles.

Not much has changed from when they met as young kids and decided to follow each other here for school.

“We should shower first, Joe.”

Joe slips out of his musings and looks down at himself and grimaces. “Yeah, we should.”

“I think the clothes are toast.”

Joe chuckles warmly. “Seems that way. C’mon, we can both fit.”

“Yusuf,” Nicky says exasperated. “You know we can’t.”

“Please, amore mio?”

Nicky must sense Joe’s desperation because he agrees quickly and they both jump into the tiny shower.

Joe relishes in the hot water as Nicky massages his scalp and winds his fingers through his curls.

“How are we not injured?” Joe asks as they step out of the shower and get into sweats so they can lay in bed together.

“I don’t know.” Nicky turns to face him and Joe pulls him closer.

“I was so scared, Nico. You were under all that rubble and - ”

“Shh, Yusuf, we’re okay.” Nicky brings Joe’s face towards his neck and Joe sinks into the familiar embrace.

We’re okay.

It’s Joe’s last conscious thought before he succumbs to sleep.

In the morning, Joe’s barely coherent enough to get out of bed, much less open the coffee shop they’ve been working at since college, that they now own.

“Yusuf, sit. I’ll open.”

“Are you sure?”

“Sì. It won’t take long. Here.” Nicky pushes Joe’s favorite chai tea latte into his hands and Joe sits down at a table to sketch while Nicky busies himself with opening the coffee shop.

Joe’s so lost in his sketching that he barely registers the front door opening until Nicky’s voice carries through the shop.

“We’re closed!”

Joe looks up and drops his charcoal as his mouth hangs open.

“Nicolò,” Joe whispers as Nicky comes from the back of the shop.

“Joe? What?” Joe watches Nicky freeze and drop the towel he’s holding.

They both turn almost comically to look at the strangers in their shop, almost like they’re seeing ghosts.

The familiarity is hard to swallow because standing in front of them are the people from their dreams during the crash.

“This is a nice place you have here. Espresso?” The tall woman with short black hair and piercing blue eyes asks and Nicky nods as he goes to grab her a drink.

“Uh, anyone else?” Nicky asks as an afterthought and as everyone prattles off their order Joe stands to help, thankful for something to do.

“Why did we dream of them?” Joe whispers to Nicky as they start making drinks.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think they caused the crash?”

Nicky looks at him sharply. “Do you?”

Joe looks over at the people scattered throughout their shop and feels something tug in his chest. “No.”

Nicky nods his agreement and leans in to kiss Joe and Joe smiles as they carry the various drinks to the six others.

Various thank you’s and a couple of happy moans later, Joe and Nicky sit down at the last empty table.

“I’m sure you have questions.” The same woman speaks again.

They nod.

“I’m Andromache the Scythian, but you can call me Andy. This is Quynh, James Copley, Sébastien le Livre, Nile Freeman, and Lykon.

“Joe al-Kaysani.” Joe points to himself.

“Nicky di Genova.” Nicky responds and grabs Joe’s hand.

Andy nods. “You own the shop?”

“Yes.”

“And you live upstairs?”

“How do you?”

“I just do.” Andy’s no nonsense voice is truly something to behold.

Joe doesn’t like it but he nods anyways.

“Why are you here? Why did we dream of you?” Nicky gets right to the point and Joe squeezes his hand.

“We dream each other,” James says slowly. “When we die.”

“When we?” Joe swallows roughly.

“You died on that train, but you came back to life.” Quynh chirps in a sing song voice.

“We what?”

“You can’t die,” Andy says as she drinks her espresso like it’s no big deal.

“We can’t die?”

“Not anymore,” Nile responds this time. “I know it’s confusing.”

“You think?” Joe snaps and Nicky rubs his thumb over Joe’s hand to calm him down.

“We’re immortal. All of us and now you two, as well. We each have our own story but mine started thousands of years ago, and we dream of each other when we first die, until we meet, so we can find each other,” Andy says in one long winded breath and Joe and Nicky stare at her with wide eyes.

“We can’t die?” Joe whispers.

“Not anymore,” Sébastien responds gruffly.

“And we don’t age?” Nicky, ever pragmatic, asks.

“You’ll forever be the ages you are now.” Lykon points to them.

“We, we can’t leave.” Joe thinks of their home, their shop, their friends.

“You have about ten years before people start to get suspicious, especially if you adjust your appearances, but we can deal with that when the time comes,” James responds and Sébastien snorts.

“We don’t have to go with you?”

“Not if you don’t want to.” James looks sharply at Andy and she nods.

“Eventually the people around you will age and die, but…”

“It’s just us,” Nicky’s outburst is met with confused stares. “It’s just us, our families are gone.”

“But, we have the shop and we don’t want to leave it.” Joe adds.

“Then you won’t.” Nile smiles at them. “Plus maybe you could use another barista?”

“Wait really?” Joe asks bewildered.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve spent any time in this city, I think we can stay,” Andy states and everyone releases a collective breath.

“Really, Boss?” Sébastien asks.

“Yeah, Book.”

“Book?” Joe and Nicky ask.

“Booker,” Sébastien responds. “It’s a nickname.”

“It’s very original, darling.” James leans across the table to kiss Sébastien, whose face has turned slightly pink.

Joe smiles at them and leans closer to Nicky.

They look at their new friends as they let their voices wash over them. The gentle teasing that only comes from knowing someone a long time.

Time that Joe and Nicky seem to have an abundance of, now.

“Forever, hayati,” Nicky whispers with a reverence that makes Joe’s heart sing.

“Forever.”

#joe x nicky #the old guard #tog hq secret santa #mentions of blood #canon temporary character death

48 notes · View notes

xhanisai · 4 years

Text

Blanc Noise - Chapter One

AO3 / FFN

Summary:

It first began with the feeling of being watched and the flicker of shadows.

Then along came missing items being returned in the most odd places.

Soon it was the glimpses of blue eyes in the darkness and a silhouette of white that haunted her.

Marinette thought she saved him, that she saved her Chat Noir from the dystopian timeline.

She was wrong...oh so wrong...

A/N: Wassup mah d00ds! I hope you're all doing well and everything! Anyways, on tumblr, I made a quick AU of 'What if Chat Blanc comes back but as a ghost?' and it got lots of positive attention hence I decided to start a full fledged story. After all, I am a fucking slut for Mariblanc~ Big thanks to my good friend @/gale-of-the-nomads for the title name (sometimes, he has a good idea or two despite the amount of terrible puns he spews lol). Nevertheless, enjoy! P.S: The story takes place after the episode: Ladybug. Therefore, Maître Fu is still around, the love square is still going strong and Ladybug is not the guardian. Additionally, I've tweaked the timeline. The duo have now started their final year in collège in September (the events of Ladybug happened just before the summer holidays). Do I make myself clear? Good. Have fun! Song listened to whilst writing: White Silence - TK from Ling tosite sigure

~(x)~ . . . "MmmMhmm! That smells amazing! What have brought this time, My Lady?" The feline hero leapt to his feet, faux ears and tails wiggling with delight and pupils dilating with elation. Ladybug laughed softly at her endearing partner, sitting down on their favourite beam of the Eiffel Tower and beckoning the boy to come closer, wiggling the Tupperware in her hand teasingly. Chat Noir didn't hesitate to scurry towards her, plopping down on the spot opposite the heroine as she placed the container in his greedy hands. If he wasn't such a gentleman, he would have immediately tore off the lid and scarfed the delectable goodies down his throat like the alley cat his Lady proclaimed him to be. "Guess." Ladybug humoured him. "And before you ask, the clue is that it's a savoury dish this time. Don't shake it up too much." She playfully took it away from him and then placed it on the spot between them, grinning as Chat's face scrunched up into a thinking expression. Lips pursed, eyes narrowed and arms folded. Absolutely adorable. "Hm...it can't be steamed garlic prawns. You brought that yesterday." Noir mused. "And it doesn't smell like duck pancakes either." He added, scrutinising the mystery within the container. "You mean the Běijīng kǎoyā? Not after that horrible heartburn it gave you last week." Ladybug cheekily flicked his forehead, earning an annoyed grunt from him. "Geez no need to flex on the Chinese, Mlle. I don't know a lick of Mandarin." He tried to swat away Ladybug's hands when she attempted to poke him for making fun of her, chuckling at her mock angry face. "Okay okay! I'll behave- the heartburn was worth it by the way~ I started to crave for more days after, hahaha-" "I know SOME Mandarin, stupid!" "Insults and crude words do not count, My Lady." "Just guess the food in the Tupperware already or else I won't share!" Her threat froze the black cat comically. Chat quickly blabbered out apologies, clearing his throat and then eyed the container again. The sound of his stomach rumbling broke the silence, embarrassing the hero whilst his partner barely kept in her snickers. "Vermicelli rolls?" "Nope." "Kung-Pao chicken?" "Nah." "...wontons?" "You're getting closer," "Agh...okay from when I shook it, it sounded quite hard and crispy so..." He carefully shook the container once more, ears pressed against the cool surface as he tried his best to identify the treasures. Finally, an idea struck him, evident in the way his faux ears and tail shot upwards. "Aha! Spring rolls! It's spring rolls, isn't it?" His face looked like one who won the lottery and Ladybug couldn't help but coo internally. He was such a dork. "That's right, Chaton. Now, if you guess the correct fillings, I'll let you have some." Ladybug added nonchalantly, eating up the way Chat spluttered and the frazzled gestures he made, eyes begging to let him have the treats already. "Oh come on! You're not that cruel, Bug." He pouted but didn't attempt to snatch away the container. He directed his beady glare at his Lady, arms folded. "...La-aaaaady-bu-uuuuug..." He whined. "Just kidding~ Here, Bon appétit ," Ladybug didn't waste time, tearing off the lid and beckoning Chat to take some of the spring rolls. The boy's eyes widened at the sight of the delicious looking treats. The pastry was golden and crisp, the size of each roll were consistent and big enough to finish in three bites and the enticing, spicy scent made the feline salivate. And, they were still piping hot. Hell yeah, Bon appétit indeed! Without hesitation, Chat took a bite, unaware of Ladybug's anticipating look. . "Holy shit...I'm in heaven..." The teen blurted out, eyeing his spring roll with a tearful look, as if it was too beautiful for him to eat. He shoved the whole pastry in his mouth, moaning in delight without a shame whilst his Lady's tinkling giggles was like music to his ears. What a way to spend the last evening of summer before school. A beautiful summer night, a beautiful lady and amazing food! 'Yes, this cat is content for life,' He purred to himself, smiling at his partner as she offered him another roll. "Thank dieu you enjoyed it. I wasn't too sure if you were going to be keen on the secret ingredient I mixed in with the vegetables." Ladybug twirled her roll, cheeks ever so slightly flushed with happiness. "Is it that exotic spicy scent that I've been smelling this whole time?" "Yes. Maman's friend who's from the south-east gave her these homegrown naga-chillies. They're really, really hot on their own but without the seeds, they're bearable to me and make the vegetable filling taste so good." She bit into her roll as if to emphasise her point. She was blind to the way Chat Noir watched her with a pleasant, fulfilled smile. The warmth that pulsed in his stomach provoked his heart to skip a few beats or so- a standard reaction that the love of his life always gave him. 'I wish you would be mine forever...' His unsaid words were left floating in the back of his head as he nibbled on his food. The duo spent the rest of the night laughing, joking, exchanging bizarre stories without giving away their civilian lives and before they knew it, it was midnight. "Uh-oh...I'm turning into a pumpkin! Save me!" Chat Noir wailed dramatically, curling up into a ball and leaning against Ladybug. Her hearty laughter grew in volume, the girl clutching her stomach as she gasped for a breath only for Chat to join her with his contagious laugh. Soon, they calmed down. With the calm came the thoughts. The crescent of the moon shone like a beacon. The temperature of the summer air started to cool and the beautiful city lights below shone like diamonds. The two were hesitant to leave, wanting to prolong their last summer night. The older of two wanted to spend as much time as he wanted with the girl he loved. The younger on the other hand? She wanted to keep him happy and close. After all, She would rather die than fail her partner again and let him be akumatised. Little did she know how potent her sadness was. The atmosphere turned tense in a flip of a switch, sending shivers down Chat's spine and he was quick to glance at his now, forlorn looking Lady. As if they didn't just have a laughing fit and a mini picnic. It was that damn empty, distant looking face again. The boy under the mask absolutely despised it. He would do anything to get rid of it. "You know I'm always here for you, Bug." He placed his hands on her forearms, beckoning her to look at him. Ladybug refused to meet eye contact so he tilted her chin up with a finger, delivering a soft, sad grimace. "It's been months now and yet you wouldn't tell me what happened. Did you think acting more sweet around me would distract me from your tears?" The girl hadn't noticed her eyes were watering till her Chaton pointed it out and wiped away a stray tear. She knew he was much more smarter and perceptive than most would give him credit for yet she couldn't help but pray that he would leave her be. 'He's always been too good for you. You know it. I know it. So why don't you just hurry up and throw the earrings away so that someone else who's actually worthy of utilising the power can properly look after him?' "I told you, nothing happened. Just silly, civilian stuff." Ladybug tried to shrug him off, quickly wiping her eyes and trying her best to not sniffle. "Let's just go home-" "When will you stop lying to me?" The boy hissed out, tail lashing against the beams in anger and feline ears pressed against his dishevelled locks. His acidic green eyes pierced through Ladybug's being. A deadly scowl that would surely cause the blood in Le Papillon's body to freeze and petrify him. Ladybug tried her best to not show how he surprised her, keeping a poker face and swallowed quietly. However, with the way his hands were clasped around her wrists, she feared he could feel her rapid pulse. Why was it always her that caused his rare anger to rise on an occasion or two? It was simply not fair. How righteous his anger was towards her. A sudden gust of wind swept through their hair, ending the summer season and introduced the newly born autumn with a howl. It felt like ice seeping through their suits. Yet, the polka dotted heroine didn't dare move a muscle, observing her partner with a cool, neutral expression. Chat Noir hated it. He absolutely hated it. It was one of the few faces she made when she was forced to keep a secret away from him even if it took a toll on her body and mind. He felt disgustingly useless. "I'm fine, Chat Noir." Ladybug wiggled her hands to free them of his grip, bringing them to her chest as she glanced towards the city below. "Can we please not do this tonight? Please? I want it to end on a good note." Her wish was met with a defeated sigh from her partner, not flinching for even a split second when his tail whipped against a stray beam. An echo of his anger prior. Just as it was quick to come, it was quick to leave, thankfully. "I'm not give up on you," His resolute tone induced a quiet gasp from Ladybug, the girl herself cut her gaze towards him with parted lips. "But for tonight, I'll let you be." He didn't smile but...he didn't frown either. Reaching for her hands one last time, Chat Noir brought them to his lips. His bold, fiery greens never left her soft, steady blues whilst his lips brushed against her knuckles in a traditional kiss. Taking advantage of her lack of hesitation, he kissed the backs of her hands too and then brought them to his chest so that she could feel his fierce, beating heart. It began to lash against his chest when a light rouge tinted her cheeks. "I'm always here for you, always. No matter what, you can count on me to protect you." Then, with a determined nod, he launched forward and pecked her head before letting go of her swiftly and vaulting away with an impeccable speed. Ladybug remained frozen in her position, cheeks flaming until his figure became smaller and smaller in the distance. By the time she could no longer see him, she sunk to her knees, grasping her chest as her throbbing heart felt like it was going to burst out and explode. Millions of emotions ran through her body, fighting against each other as the memory of him kissing her head replayed over and over again. Like the sweetest of poison. Addicting but deadly. Despite the warm, fluttering butterflies, despite the smooth, softness of his lips, despite the comforting, protective touch of his, Ladybug couldn't help but have the memories of the other timeline flare in her mind like a warning sign. An unwanted threat that has never failed to wreck her mind. Biting her lips, she tried to keep her tears at bay, body shaking and pushing against the sobs that threatened to spill out. She was so tempted to run back to him and tell him everything. To care for him like the way he deserves. To love him like the way he needs. Yet the haunting, crazed ice blue eyes of the past invaded the temporary soaring feelings like a virus, eating away all the positivism and hope she tried her upmost best to maintain. 'You have no right to be happy...' An ugly gloom hooded her eyes, killing all her emotions as she staggered back up to her feet, using a beam nearby for support. The harsh wind clawed through her hair, ridding her trademark ponytails of their ribbons and blowing them away to the other side of Paris. Ladybug simply didn't have the energy to get them back, using muscle memory to swing herself back home. Her ribbons long forgotten. It was a cold, bleak September now. ~(x)~ It was quiet. Too quiet. Standing up from her crouch after detransforming on her balcony, Marinette immediately spun around and glared at her surroundings whilst Tikki hovered close. Not a single sound was heard. Not even the wind. Suddenly, Marinette's heart began to pick up pace as beads of sweat started to form on her forehead. The only thing she could hear was her heartbeat as she felt something weird. Her entire neighbourhood was asleep, evident in the lights out and the pitch black environment. The only source of light in her vision were the few lamp posts on the streets as well as around the park. Yet, she couldn't ignore the feeling of being watched. Not wanting to show fear at a possible stalker, Marinette took large strides till she was at the edge of her balcony, clutching the railings and scanned the scene with more scrutiny. One of the lamp posts merely flickered as moths buzzed around it. The trees simply swayed along with the inaudible breeze. The streets and roads remained empty. Not a single soul out. Marinette exhaled softly, eyes never stopping its study of her surroundings. She took a step back, tension leaving her body bit by bit, leaving an aching throb in her chest. The adrenaline that fuelled her veins vaporised. "I don't think there's anyone around, Marinette." Tikki whispered, clutching the girl's loose strands as she also watched for anything suspicious. "Can we go back inside? I'm cold." "...okay." Marinette glared at the scene from her peripheral vision once more, almost swearing that she saw movement under one of the lamps only to brush it off as paranoia and made her way back to the trapdoor. Since she wasn't paying attention, the teen bumped into her table, almost tripping over her feet but thankfully caught herself. "Eek! Are you okay?" The little Goddess freaked out, flying in front of her charge and scanning her from head to toe for any injuries. She was waved off with a tired smile. "Don't worry, it's probably just a little...bruise...?" A slither of red caught Marinette's attention from the corner of her eye only for her to gawk. There, on the railing of her balcony was... ...One of her ribbons. Inhaling sharply and leaping towards the railings, clutching her treasured ribbon, Marinette spied around the neighbourhood desperately like a hawk. Tikki's presence on her shoulders did nothing to alleviate her stress as sweat from palpitation grew on her palms. Her mouth on the other hand ran dry and she refused to blink. She didn't dare to tremble. She was Ladybug. Nothing should scare her. ...with her partner's possible akumatisation aside that is. Regardless, Marinette fixated her stare at the specific lamp post. The area where she brushed off momentarily. The light flickered back and forth whilst moths carried on fluttering around it without a care in the world. She watched. And watched. And watched. . Still nothing. Without looking away, knuckles white from her grip on the ribbon and her free hand cradling her beloved kwami, Marinette walked backwards, gingerly going down her trapdoor and quickly closed it till it was locked shut. . The silence haunted her all night. ~(x)~ "Ma-ri-nette!!!" Instantly, said girl was glomped by her best friend in a hug that would surely asphyxiate a commoner. Thankfully, Marinette was not only Ladybug in disguise but also trained vigorously in many of the martial arts by her dear maman. "Alya! I missed you! How was Morocco with Nino and his family?" Marinette leaned against Alya as the taller of the teens hooked their elbows together, leading them inside the school. "Girllllll I have so many scoops to share, so many deets-" "The million texts and selfies you sent me daily weren't just it?" "They barely scratched the surface! But anyways, it was amazing! I couldn't believe my parents were willing to let me go even when Nora threw a fit haha! I got to relax so much, spent quality time with Nino and his extended family, took so many pictures and tried so many different food. Ah~ Best. Summer. Ever." "Oh the food...I can't believe you shamelessly ate all of that without sharing it with me," The raven-haired girl teased, pushing her hip against Alya's who pushed back without a beat. "You wouldn't be moping if you came along, Mari. Remember the tagine you tried at the local restaurant nearby and you thought that was divine? Lemme tell you, it is nothing compared to the authentic, fresh tagine made by Nino's tante. One taste and I was in heaven. Absolute heaven." "Alya you're making me jealous, I get it, I get it." Marinette playfully scoffed but then her energy soon wore off and fatigue took over her body. Alya was quick to catch the tired girl as soon as she began to sway, perfect brows sculpted in worry as she eyed her best friend. "Marinette...girl...you do not look okay. I'm telling you this 'cos I love you. Go back home and sleep." The brunette brushed Marinette's fringe gently, noting the tired, dark rings under her eyes and the unhealthy paleness of her skin. It was as if Marinette avoided the sun all her life. "I don't wanna..." The stubborn girl whined but didn't fight back when Alya led her to a nearby bench, sitting them both down. "I've been missing you all too much and couldn't wait to see you all again," She admitted, earning a coo from the curvy girl and another hug. Alya's sun-kissed honey skin was a stark contrast against Marinette's pale, porcelain skin. "Alright then but I'll be keeping an eye on you, girl. I can see the effort you put into your cute bun and soft make up. How you do your eyeliner freehand without a guide will always baffle me~" Just as Marinette was about to retort back, the duo were engulfed by a surprise hug from the back. Neither fought back as the familiar laughter and soft, masculine brown arms were registered. "Babe! And dudette! My best girls!" Nino popped his head forward, in between the girls and squished their cheeks against his. "Heyyyy~" He waggled his eyebrows stupidly, his shit eating grin widening when his girlfriend burst out laughing and Marinette following with a quiet giggle. "Nino, g'morning," Alya quickly pecked his lips. To further his dramatics, Nino pretended to swoon and flopped backwards between the girls with a dopey smile. "Finally, a good lundi morning," Nino sighed with exaggeration, his girl still trying her best to stifle her laughter whilst Marinette fondly rolled her eyes at him. "I can now brave through these useless lessons and deal with M. D'Argencourt's bullshit rambles during registration. Oh how amazing the power of lo-oooove truly is!" "Oh yeah, I almost forgot that we won't have Mme. Bustier this year. Was about to say that I was gonna miss her but not gonna lie, she lost all my respect when you got expelled." Alya huffed, pulling Marinette against her like a worried mother hen. "To think that I almost had to spend my last year here without my precious Marinette~" "But Babe! What about me?" "You wish you were as precious as sweetcheeks over here." Alya blew a raspberry at her boyfriend, cheeky grin widening at his dramatics. Marinette on the other hand simply smiled, savouring every moment. The fact that there was a possibility that she would have had to attend a different collège for her final year without her friends made her quiver and she didn't falter in snuggling closer to her best friend. She's been through so much this year. Surely she deserved some sort of happiness. Even if she failed her partner at one point... Right? 'No. You do not deserve anything but pain and suffering you selfish, self-righteous brat. Because of you, how long did your beloved partner go through that hell? How many nights did he spend wide awake after destroying the world? Face it, you don't deserve him or your friends or any sort of love-' The dark, twisted, ugly thoughts and whispers that preyed upon her mind was quick to diminish at the sound of pure sunshine. "You guys! Hey!" Marinette didn't get a chance to look up fully as she and the rest of the small group was tackled by their loving blonde friend in a comfy, sweet hug. Her heart malfunctioned on the spot as all she could smell was the fresh, crisp autumn air that lingered in his soft hair and coat. Her mind rebooted over and over again at the feel of his strong, sturdy arm wrapped around her. Her lips quaked at the feel of his brushing against her cheek despite the gleeful smile he wore. "A-A-Adrien?" The model pulled back slightly to face the stammering girl, lips quirking into a silly but sweet smile. Not thinking twice, he pressed his forehead against Marinette's tenderly, their fringes intermingling with each other and their cool breaths hitting each other's lips. Adrien's eyes sparkled like emeralds and the aspiring designer couldn't help but be mesmerised. "Missed me~?" His nose was touching hers now and his pearly whites gleamed mischievously. Poor Marinette couldn't help but blink, blush already blooming in her cheeks. Dammit. They may have gotten much, much closer yet there were still times that the boy rendered her speechless! What's with the green eyed blonde boys in her life and making her heart a complete wreck?! "B-Bro...can't breathe...I don't wanna die!" Nino's muffled pleas shattered the moment and Adrien immediately broke the hug, snickering at the way Nino gasped for air and clutched a deadpanned Alya. Though, he took a seat besides Marinette and kept an arm around her waist, leaning against her as they watched the couple bicker and banter. "Enjoyed your holidays, Adrien?" Marinette began, playing with the fraying threads of her purse and peeked at him below her lashes. Adrien hummed, sitting up and then directed his gorgeous greens at her. 'Be still, my heart.' Marinette couldn't help but beg. "It was alright. Didn't leave Paris though and had too many photo-shoots. What about you? Didn't you get to go to Shanghai for a week?" Adrien's question almost went unheard as Mari couldn't help but be hyper-aware of the warmth of his hand on her waist. The way his finger casually tapped against it. The innocent smile he had on his lips. This boy was going to be the death of her. 'But you don't deserve him. You don't deserve either of them. Be lucky that they even acknowledge your filthy existence.' The eerie whispers clawed through her brain, her body begging to run away and cry. Yet, she forced her fingers to move away from her purse and pull on the seams of her navy pea-coat, smile never faltering. "Yes, I did. I really enjoyed it there. I wish I got to stay for lo-longer..." She trailed off, swallowing down any babbles or word soup as Adrien squeezed her waist as a gesture of comfort. He was being really sweet today... "I don't blame ya- all the pictures you posted online looked so cool. The skyline at night, the food, heck even your relatives! If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought that cousin of yours was your brother." "You wouldn't be the first to mistaken us as siblings," She giggled. "When we were younger and they came over to Paris to visit, some people used get mixed up between me and him. It didn't help that I had my hair really short at the time and wore nothing but blue and red." "That would have been really cute to see. Hmm, it also makes sense with how easily you accepted that Félix and I were just cousins instead of that weird conspiracy theory that Kim concocted up." "Oh I wouldn't say I accepted it too easily. You and your cousin are like mirrors of each other. It's insane! I thought for a minute that you had an evil twin." Marinette winked merrily, her giggles simply grew while Adrien rolled his eyes at her. "Come on. Not you too." His fake pout didn't last long and he quietly chortled alongside her. Just a smile from his Princesse was enough to brighten up his day despite the small fight he had with Ladybug eight hours prior. Yes, Ladybug was the love of his life. Yes, he would go to the moon and back for her. However, he would be an absolute idiot and horrifically obtuse to deny that his feelings for Marinette weren't as strong. With rare wisdom from his lazy kwami, Adrien learned that having feelings for more than one person was not only natural but also healthy in a way. It showed that he wasn't forever stuck on one person and it eased the pain of his Lady's rejection to his advances. Ladybug and Marinette were his best friends first and foremost and he wouldn't dare to sabotage his precious friendships. It didn't mean he couldn't wish for Ladybug to fall for him one day. Same for Marinette. He's still a silly teen; he could keep dreaming and fantasising! Till then, he was going to go with the flow and see what the future entailed. As far as he was concerned, his future was leaning more towards Marinette and frankly, he did not mind one bit. Abruptly, the morning bell rang, indicating that it was time for the students to head to class for registration. Grunts and groans were heard from the swarm of students in the courtyard, Kim's distinct "It's time for hell, bitches!" being one of the more prominent voices in the crowd along with Alix's curses. "Thank fuck Mari-bee was the class president last year and made sure that we got our class to be the same for this year. I'd have eaten my own hands if I had to deal with that one annoying kid obsessed with magic again." Nino shot a friendly punch against Marinette's shoulder and then wrapped an arm around Alya's waist as she led them to their new classroom. "Did he just indirectly mention that he'd rather have Chloé and Lila over Jean as his classmate?" Marinette huffed with endearment, taking the hand that Adrien offered to help her up. The sudden rush to her head caused her to wobble on the spot. Luckily, Adrien steadied her without a word, hands clasping her forearms. "S-Sorry..." She attempted to step away but the boy's grip on her tightened, halting her. Marinette glanced back at Adrien with confusion, cocking her head to the side slightly and lips pursed. "...you're not feeling well, aren't you?" A nail in the coffin. Adrien scanned her body from head to foot, frown growing deeper. "You can barely stand." "I'm fine. I just...couldn't get any sleep. I was nervous for the first day of school and also didn't want to oversleep." Marinette answered quickly, looking away from him. She didn't expect his finger to hook under her chin, forcing eye contact. For the first time, Adrien glared at her. Glared. He leaned in closer, bending down so that he could reach her height. "Are you lying?" Neither of them budged. The mutterings and chatter from the students that were around grew fainter and fainter until all that was heard was the classroom doors slamming shut and the echos of the teachers doing the register. Marinette wanted to quickly deny the allegation. She wanted to push him aside and run to class. She wanted to forget how she momentarily confused Adrien with her partner. Though, even the Ladybug could run out of luck. "Adrien," She began. "We're going to be late." Her stoic, cool expression showed that she wasn't going to budge, pissing off her friend completely. The model tsked with irritation, quick to grab her hand whilst using his other one to adjust the strap of his bag over his shoulder. He moodily led her to their class, refusing to utter another word. For a split second, the defiance and stubbornness in Marinette's eyes were a hundred percent identical to Ladybug's. He almost blurted out his treasured nickname for her. The annoyance of said stubbornness and refusal to accept his help grew stronger instead, causing him to try and forget about it and brood later on. What's with his treasured girls and their stupid reluctance to let him help!? . He wasn't aware of the horror that was plastered on Marinette's face. The girl refused to tear her eyes away from the main door behind them as a lone, torn up, dirty ribbon flayed in the entrance. A familiar ribbon that was most definitely not there ten seconds ago. When M. Haprèle closed the door, Marinette could have sworn... ...that there was a pair of blue eyes watching her right back. . . . ~(x)~ A/N: That's the end of chapter one! It's more like a prologue ish, slow chapter since we're building up- so bear with me, aight? I hope you enjoyed reading it regardless. I stayed up till 5am to write it after all :0 If this chapter gets at least ten comments, I will update! Till then, see you next time~

153 notes · View notes

yn-dere · 4 years

Text

La sorcière • Y!K.TH

Synopsis: The goddess Ashtoreth seemed to have found her worshipper.

Ship/s: Photographer!Taehyung x Antagonist/seductress!Reader

Warning/s: Angst, Yandere/Dark themes, Manipulation, Mentions of killing, Bored and mean reader.

(Note: this takes place in the late 19th century)

'It is not the quality of the desired object that gives us pleasure, but rather the energy of our appetites'

~ Charles Baudelaire, The end of Don Juan

A dejected summer, that's what it was. The suffocating air that leaves you sweltering in your corset but I am anything but, naked on my cold feet with a cigar between those gentil fingers, sluggishly looking out from my apartment window into the florid affluent streets which were once quite and reserved. The sounds of playful squabbling, the occasional delightful squeals of children, the ecstatic laughter of women did nothing to soothe that covetous feeling throbbing at the pit of my stomach. Nor did the family of stars splattered all across the dark night sky with the dazzling moon nowhere to be seen. They seemed to be mocking me with every sparkle, impersonating my woe by disappearing this second only to come back and laugh at my face. Oh well. It hurts my chest as I exhale out the smog; I forgot that I even took a drag. Not even smoke can replace that void in my lungs now.

This moment is slightly pleasant though, accompanied by the crisp breeze that blows in through the drapes, strong enough to make my locks flutter and trigger my cigar to litter on the window railing (that I'm not bothering to clean anytime soon) but not enough to take the glum away with it. The only thing that found me pleasant enough to return. And... the troubled men that found home in my cosy and welcoming bed. Neither of them were guaranteed.

Thinking about men, I glance back into the dark room to spot the man I chose for the night. Blissfully sound asleep between my covers, with a small but radiant smile adorning his regal face. He really emulated the beautiful night sky, the baby constellation spreading across his portrait in the form of les grains de beauté. The way the light reflected off of his unblemished face puts la lune to shame, almost looking as if it is it's own light source. His beauty truly was bewitching and I would've felt envious of it if I didn't know any better.

If I didn't own an enormous dressing mirror in the corner which kept reflecting the street lights back onto my eyes; it was adorned with pink crystals, fresh roses and myrtles, white feathers and burnt out incense that left behind a soft but strong scent. It truly looked like an altar for venus herself, towering over me to have me take a look at the highly sexual, supremely confident, alluring female that offers endless pleasure and a bit of... danger. At least, that's what people men see. And I agree with it. I know the expression does sound like something that would come out of Narcissus' mouth as he stares into his reflection but can you really blame me?

It's the huge impact left on me by years and years of society misjudging me as just another pretty face in the crowd. No matter how hard I worked on something, it would always be de-emphasized. All the blood, sweat and tears only to be wasted because individuals couldn't see the nimble brain past the pleasant portrait. I wanted to stand out, and I did at times but.. not in the way I wanted to. But soon enough, I began to convince myself that maybe this isn't so bad at all, and wearily...

... I accepted it.

I accepted my place in the stupid community as one of those women, a blood sucking succubus is just how they saw me to be exact. Mind you, I've never stood sturdy in any of my subjects until I slowly started to abuse my power and it made me feel competent and sure enough I felt powerful enough to destroy families, to get someone to chase me so feverishly that they lose control but I guess I was never that valuable to keep nor was I important enough for someone to actually care about me. The only difference between your pompous narrator here and a poor mistress is that I don't have a fickle of hope nor do I really care enough about a particular visitor to be left heartbroken.

It still kills me to feel impotent at the end of the day (or the start of the day, when they leave me with nothing). I feel like THE FOOL, a frail dog chasing a car....

....But as the lonely sun finally decides to set to rest and the family of stars gets more discernable with every shimmer against the dark and misty horizon; I, once again find myself repeating history as if my life's a record on the phonograph. But as one get sick of listening to the same song over and over again, there's a momentary pause... and then an appalling revelation; it's seems as though you've been singing the most important part of the song, the chorus, wrong.

And suddenly I can grasp it all..

You see, lust is what makes one take a glance at you. Temptation is what makes them throw caution in the air, when they know they shouldn't. But is it really enough to keep the attention on you? Is the beauty really enough for the sirens who beckon sailors to their destruction? If that was the case, wouldn't mermaids be able to do the same? Love is-

"...h-hey?"

That deep voice...

Then suddenly, lean icy fingers grabbed my arm and pulled me back into reality just when I started inching through the darkness in my mind.

Oh God. How did I not see him wake up? Especially with the mess he made in an effort to get up from the bed? One of the pillows accompanied with the sheets are on the floor... those velvet covers are really hard to wash. I will never forgive him for that.

But my irritation soon turned into embarrassment when I pondered over how crazy I must have looked, naked while just staring into my mirror with a cigar in hand. Or what was left of it, the soft ash on my fingers, my bare breasts and one of my thighs.

"Is everything a-alright?" He questioned. I looked down to his palm which was still holding my arm with a firm grip. He followed my gaze, his eyes widening slighting as he quickly let it go. "I m-mean, you were kind of dazed off or something. I thought..." he muttered after clearing his throat in a futile attempt at ceasing the stuttering. "Yeah.. I was just thinking about something" I replied as I looked up at his eyes and his orbs that were just suffering with nervousness and uncertainty were now swimming in curiosity. I couldn't help but let a giggle get past my lips. He hummed in response as his brows furrowed. "about.. this." I uttered, feigning a bashful look. His brows furrowed even further, creating small lines on his otherwise smooth forehead. "What do you mean by "this" ?" He seems to have forgotten his tense stance and the risqué side of me wanted to bring it back so I tried. "Our liaison, everything we did and...." if it weren't for the pin drop silence in the room, I would've never heard his breath hitching as he waited for me to continue. "Us." I finished with a whisper...

... After what seemed like an eternity of waiting for him to answer, my patience wore thin so I couldn't help but gently poke his chest. It surely did broke the trance he was in and the cute timid man was back. "Uh- I- uhm" he stuttered, looking at everything but my presence. I slowly started to feel the disappointment building up in the bottom of my stomach. Why do I when I didn't even expected anything else? If this is the only way it can go for me, why not have a little fun? I couldn't help but let out a smirk which I covered in a second, hoping he didn't see it. "I might be quite racy at times but I don't just do this with anyone. I thought I told you in the tavern that if you are to leave, leave already..." as soon as I finished bluffing the sadness in my voice, I casted my eyes downwards at his feet as I anticipated the same white lies but they never came. I awaited the "I will never leave you", "you're the best thing that ever happened" or my personal favorite one " I have a wife and kids that I love very dearly" but he didn't say anything. And just as I was about to look up, the smooth dark honey voice cut me off.

"And I thought I told you that I didn't want to follow you back home for whatever fleshly pleasures you had to offer.." the hint of disappointment was evident. This was a new one to add in the book, eh? "But because my precious cameras are all in vain without your figure and your lively soul.. like an empty canvas to an artist with no references or muse." My ears couldn't help but perk up as he continued, " Sure, they might not be too good at capturing the enigma that is you as the films only render in shades of grey which evidently fails to recognize the different shades of your blush and the undertones, but this is all that I have..."

It's his time to wait as I, for the first time, didn't know what to say. He opened his lips once again "I would be lying if I said I didn't gravely fell in love the second I took my first glance at you months ago. Love at first sight was never my thing but you cleared all my doubts about the idea". I wanted to mock him and tell him about how lust in first sight is a thing, not love but I rather chose to humor him. "That's what they all said..." I slowly look up at his face, looking at each and every feature carefully leaving out his mors than intense eyes. "Who are "they"?" He asked with a slight fury in his voice and the sharp edge of the words spoken almost gashed my already tainted soul. I wish I didn't faked the courage and take a glance into his orbs since I saw the immense anger and hatred through his narrowed eyes as he scrutinized my very existence. I withered uncomfortably under his glare, already regretting opening my mouth without thinking.

"You seriously didn't just compare me to those men, did you? After everything I've done? After I got rid of those hideous women that had nothing else to do but spread nasty rumours about you because the same husbands that couldn't get it up for them were lusting after you? Because they couldn't hold their husbands accountable so they were threatened by you?" He took a sharp but shaky breath before continuing, "Or after I got rid of those men who bonded over their heinous fantasies about violating you?..." I cover my mouth, I feel like throwing up. Not because I don't want to/can't believe it but because this is alot of information to take in in a few minutes. I heard him sigh and his voice suddenly changed from being gruff to soft in a second as he saw my terrified look, "you see these hands, sweetheart?" He said in a slightly coaxing voice as he laid his large hand on top of mine, "They were only used to clicking pictures of everything beautiful and developing them but now, they're stained with shed blood of anyone who dared to lay a finger on you.... You made me this way. You made me so empathetically challenged. You did this."

Me? Me...

I did this. I made him this way.

"How could you have been so blind?"

How could I have been so blind?

Maybe I didn't give myself enough credit.

And as he continued to stare into my frame with such adoration that it reminded me of what I was thinking about before he startled me by waking up...

As I was saying previously, lust is what makes one take a glance at you. Temptation is what makes them throw caution in the air, when they know they shouldn't but it's still not enough to keep the attention on you. Love is. It is the greatest weapon of all. It's the most exceptional power that you can have over someone. Making them do what they never thought they ever would do, act in ways they might've mocked previous to meeting you, taking up any space in their mind that was left for rationality and instead plaguing it with sweet obsession. Not even fear dares to compete with love when it comes to power. If anything, they go hand in hand. It truly turns a mermaid to a siren.

Wow. It's not the family of stars that I envied, who would want to look like some aliens just jizzed all over the sky? I was made to be la lune, who with all her blemishes littering her skin still stood unfazed as her admirers wrote poems about her beauty. It's not the homely women that I envied, I have always been quite sophisticated but I just wanted to belong somewhere.

I wanted power over someone or something.

And the thought of me making this man do the most vile acts of crime that humanity cannot even begin to visualize in their brains flared up the familiar feeling of ascendency and competency but this time? It was about to stay. Why? Because he is to stay.

I softly smiled at that thought and slowly held my small hands up to his face to caress his cheeks. The shyness got to him as he squeezed his eyes shut to relish in the contact without having to look at my amused face. I could feel him slowly shaking under finger tips, his face was warm unlike the rest of his body. The effect that my small gesture had on him is unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced. This isn't vulgar, this is sensual. And sure, what I feel might not be love but it has one thing in common with it. It's a drug. A high we're both on, and not even my cigar, my only companion for so long can compete with it.

Let's see how long this lasts before I drain all life out of him... or maybe, this is forever but I doubt. Then again, he- wait a minute... what's his name, again? This is going to suck. As I was saying, he does like to surprise me so let's hope for the best.

"Okay, let's just forget we met like this... hello, my name's y/n", I reached out for his hand to shake with a small smile on my face. He erupted into giggles as he took my hand, "Nice to meet you y/n, this is taehyung." Taehyung. Oh taehyung. And suddenly the cheerful atmosphere turned into something sinister as I pulled him in.

"Taehyung, I am like a raging flame.. don't be a moth and get too close or I might destroy you" I whispered in my raspy voice, the smirk that played in my rouge lips being incredibly devilish along with that red unnatural glint in my eye.

"I want to be destroyed."

146 notes · View notes