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xxnghtclls · 2 months

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Flickering Lights

Chapter 2: A Tall, Pink Haired Man

Chapter (1/3)

True Form Sukuna x Reader

For tags and synopsis, please see Chapter 1!

Bam!

You slam the door shut behind you. Finally you’re home in your small apartment, still thinking about what happened in your office. Sitting down on one of your two chairs, you absentmindedly tap with your key into the surface of your kitchen table.

Tap.Tap.Tap.Tap.

“Who was that?” you mumble to yourself, while your leg is wiggling nervously. “Where and… why? Four eyes and four arms, too?”

A pause.

Tap. Tap.

“HOW?” you blurt out loudly and distort your face in confusion. Your brain is so tired.

Shaking your head, you decide to get up and get a hot shower.

-Monday me- is going to have a huge problem, leaving the office like this.

“This” meaning a broken window, a crack in the floor and the wall. Your computer is for the trashcan, too. A fucking mess.

Motherfucker.

You kind of hope it was a dream, a hallucination or a lightning. Monday you will get back to your same old habit, going to work and writing emails, lists and calculations. And then Tuesday. And then Wednesday. Thursday. Friday.

Sigh.

Rashhhhh

You close the shower curtain in front of your face and turn on the water. Warm steamy drops are tickling your face and calming your nerves. Sleepiness washes over you with the steamy warmth and you’re quick to finish soaping you up. You let out a big yawn, as you turn off the water and step out.

“Time for bed.” you sigh, before you brush your teeth and dry yourself. Taking your phone with you, you carry yourself up the ladder to your elevated sleeping space. The perks of living in tokyo.

Mini studio apartments.

Crawling onto the futon, you pull the blanket up to your nose. A last time you peek onto your phone, before your eyes shut themselves.

- 01:38 a.m. -

“Goodnight...” you mumble, before you fall asleep. “Stranger.”

♫ Up with the sun, gone with the wind, she always said I was lazy-

“The fuck?” you breathe into the darkness, still half asleep, as you peek onto your phone, trying not to get blind from your display brightness.

- 6:00 a.m. -

“Ughhh shut up, Bob.” you groan, as you shut your alarm off. You must have forgotten to adjust the settings in your alarm to workweek only, after you had to get up for an out of schedule meeting last saturday.

But, today is free.

You close your eyes and think about what you want to do today.

Get new earphones perhaps. Get groceries. Find out who…who…

Zzzzz…

After a moment, you send another peek to your phone.

- 10:12 a.m. -

“Good morning sunshine.” you grumble to your sleepy self, before you yawn and stretch. “Sorry Bob, now you can sing.” you mumble and put on Bob Seger’s song that ripped you out of sleep earlier.

-play-

“Travelin maan, love when I caan. Turn loose my hand ‘cause I’m goiingg.” you sing, as you’re making yourself some eggs for breakfast, checking your social media inbetween. You roll your eyes, as you read that there’s some unnecessary discourse over something unimportant AGAIN and you swear to yourself, that you’re going to delete that app sooner or later. It just makes you angry.

Fucking idiots.

Your eggs are ready and you sit down, take a bite and text your bestie Mio.

Oy. Akiba in 45 mins?

👍

Good. Need new headphones. Mine broke last night.

No wonder. Get some real ones.

You huff at her text.

“No way.” you smile, as you’re putting your phone away and shove the last bite of eggs into your mouth. You need to get dressed quickly, in order to catch the next train to Akihabara.

On your trainride, you stare out of the window across from you. Listen to the railway and see the houses passing by, the sun shining onto the roofs, before the train goes underground again. Silhouettes and moving lights run along the window.

Moving lights. Flickering lights.

And suddenly you remember last night.

What happened?

That creature, that… man.

How unusual he looked and how his eyes pierced through your soul.

Uncanny.

You wonder if you should tell Mio about it.

Maybe not…

Maybe it was a dream or a hallucination or a lightning after all.

…That rip in space definitely.

But what if he was not?

“Excuse me, is everything alright?” an elderly woman that’s sitting right next to you asks you.

You must’ve zoned out, looking so concentrated… maybe even, as if you’re constipated or something.

“No, I’m fine. Sorry- I mean, thank you.” you force a smile at her, before you pull out your phone to look busy at least.

And you start to scroll on your socials.

And scroll.

Not thinking anything, just remembering that man’s face. Those tattoos. The nose.

Kinda pretty nose, you think as your lips turn into a pout.

Two slits in his eyebrows.

That mask.

So interesti-

Wait what?

Interesting…?

Sigh.

…He is.

You get out at Suehirocho Station and walk to the next 7-eleven, the point where you’re going to meet with Mio. She’s not there yet, so you decide to walk in and buy an Onigiri.

Only one?

No, two.

For later.

Of course you open the first one immediately and bite into it. The first bite is always the best.

Goddamn.

You love it. Closing your eyes, to savour the taste, you stand in front of the store, enjoying the bliss.

“Oy, peanut!” Mio’s voice comes up behind you. You turn around and nudge your head to her, shooting her a look.

“What’s up?” you say with your mouth full.

“Got one for me, too?” she eyes your Onigiri.

“No.” you bite into it another time.

She cocks her eyebrows at you, probably already knowing that you bought two and that you don’t want to share, before a little pout cracks upon her lips.

“Get your own!” you complain, before she pokes her finger into your arm.

“I’ll get you some snacks later!” she coos.

“Fine!” complain and offer her a bite of your last piece.

“Mwuah hah hah!” she laughs deeply in excitement, before she gulps down the whole remaining Onigiri. “I know you love me.”

“Ehhh.” you sigh, letting your shoulders sink, disappointed that she ate it all.

“Sorry.” she brushes off her hands on her jacket. “Anyway, let’s go, my greedy little peanut.” she says, before she hooks her arm into yours. “Did you cut your hair?”

You laugh her question off, as you both start to walk into the city.

While on the search for new 5000 yen headphones, you both keep bullying each other lovingly, laugh and talk about the week. No matter how exhausting your workweek is, she always manages to distract your mind, makes you feel not as lonely. She really is the light of your week.

You don’t really know how it came to this. To feel like this in this city of millions. You used to go out, to dance and fuck a guy every now and then. But maybe it was just the start of how you feel now. The nights of clubbing grew rare, the nights at the computer and phone listening to music grew more frequent. Because nothing could really satisfy it. This hole in your heart. Listening to music helps. Spending time with Mio helps, but only to a degree. Because you wish for a change in your life. More than work and eat and shower and sleep. More than everyday life.

However, you decide not to tell her about what happened last night. Maybe you’ve gone crazy after all. Even if you’re not, you still feel odd about it. Feel, like it might be the change you yearned for, an adventure.

Feel like it only belongs to you.

Quickly you find some new headphones and earn a mocking joke from the side, while Mio continues to buy herself a new phone case. Huge, pink and with little glittery stones and charms.

So ugly.

“Don’t look at me like that, when you’re the one who walked around with a Hello Kitty phone for the longest time!” she complains.

“At least I wasn’t mistaken for a disco ball.” you sneer at her.

You walk to another store to get your promised snacks and after a while, when the hottest gossip is done being discussed, you catch yourself getting silent inbetween.

Because your mind wanders off.

Because you remember.

Those eyes.

Dangerous.

Sometimes she notices and throws you a glance, but you just wave it off, excuse it with sleepless nights because of work.

And she buys it.

At least you hope she does.

“I need to get home.“ you sigh, as you arrive at the next train-station. “I still need to get some groceries. I’m gonna gonna see you next week?”

She sighs too and stops in her tracks. You turn and look to her, seeing her face turning serious. Suddenly the energy shifts. You halt and frown at her in confusion.

Something’s wrong.

“What?” you ask.

“I need to tell you something.” she looks to the ground and it makes you worried.

“What is it?” you poke her shoulder.

She hesitates.

“You’re gonna hate it…” she mumbles and your heart starts pounding. You hate situations like this. Last time she acted like this, she told you she lost the one pair of very expensive headphones you bought in your life. You hated her for it, but you learned your lesson.

Crossing your arms, you keep staring at her, almost holding your breath, trying to remember what kind of item you possibly could’ve lent her recently.

A pause.

“I’ll be on a work trip.-”

“Jesus.” you complain, as you exhale loudly in relief, rolling your eyes.

“For the next week.” she continues, a smug smirk on her face. So proud, knowing to have you fooled so good. “Coming back on Sunday night.”

You sigh.

“I’ll manage!” you exclaim snobbish into her face, but deep down, you know it’s gonna be hard. You’re not gonna see her for two weeks and you’re gonna miss her. A lot. Next to the fact that you can’t meet up with her next weekend, she’ll be busy too and not be able to text you much during the week either.

She punches your shoulder, before you grab her sleeve.

“Come.” you tug on it. “We gotta wish you a safe travel and return.” you mumble, as you drag her with you.

“Huh?” she exclaims, but gives up and willingly walks down to the underground with you.

“I didn’t go to the Meiji shrine in a while. Let’s hang up an Ema there.” you fiddle with her sleeve, as you’re both sitting next to each other in the train towards Yoyogi Station.

“Is everything alright?” she asks and you notice real concern in her voice.

She knows something’s up.

“I think I need to go out more, Mio.” you mumble. “If you’re not here to cheer me up, I need to see someone else then.”

“Sounds as if you’re already have someone in mind.” she jokes and you feel the heat rising in your ears, feel caught.

“Yeah.” you fake-laugh, before you try to change the topic. “Where are you going next week?”

“We’re going to have some meetings in Gifu. But also team-building events, this sort of stuff.” she says, while fiddling with her new phone case and you nod.

“Never went there.” you respond. “Tell me if it’s nice, yes?”

“Sure, little peanut.” she smiles, before she looks back at you. You smile back before, looking around in the wagon.

“Maybe you should go out while I’m gone.” she says, making you look back at her. “Try to focus less on work and have some fun. Treat yourself.” she punches you in your arm again.

Hard.

“Ow!”

“It’s just work after all.”

“I shall.” you hiss, while you rub your hand over the soon-to-be bruise, as the train stops at Harajuku-Station.

After a short walk, Mio and you arrive at the entrance of the shrine. It’s busy, just like the last time you visited, but as soon as you walk through the Torii, it grows calmer with each second. You might not believe, that in you’re a city of millions, when you walk through the beautiful area around the shrine. Trees and plants seal yourself off the loud noises of the streets.

Quiet.

Maybe I need a vacation.

“I’m thirsty.” Mio longingly says, as you walk past the huge Sake barrels.

You snort at her comment.

“Mio Mio Mioooo.” you squeak like a bird. “You called me greedy.”

“That’s what you are.” she chimes. “I know you still have that second Onigiri in your jacket.”

“Shut your mouth.” you smile, while you look up to see the sunlight shine through the branches of the trees, as a gentle breeze flows against your faces. It’s beautiful at this place, but somehow, a weird feeling grows in your gut.

After a ten minute walk along the shrines nature, you arrive at the camphor trees where the Emas are hanged upon. Mio steps forward, reading some of the wishes that are already hung up. After purchasing a little wooden plate yourself, you tipple to the desks and start writing.

For my lovely Mio.

Please let her have the safest travel, a lot of fun and a more safer return to her little peanut.

You draw a little raccoon in the corner, since that’s her favourite animal and turn around, ready to hang it up, only to notice, that Mio holds a little wooden plate in her own hand as well.

“No! I already got one!” you wiggle it into her direction, before you hang it up.

She steps into the corner of your eyes, hanging her own plate right next to yours. You’re about to complain that she bought an unnecessary one, as your eyes catch what she wrote.

For my lovely y/n.

Please let her have the most fun, good food and a little adventure, until her Mio returns.

“Is this for me?” you ask with wide eyes.

“Bro, it’s your name right there!” she sneers as if you’re stupid, tapping her knuckle loudly against the plate.

Your heart warms up, before you continue in a serious voice.

“You forgot to draw a cat.”

“I cannot draw a cat.”

“Bullshit. Everyone can draw a cat.” you wave her off and turn around, only to see-

Oh shit.

You freeze in your spot, as you see that tall man from last night standing in front of the holy praying area of the shrine. His back is turned to you, but his height, his black cloak and the pink spiky hair is proof enough.

A sinister energy reaches your feet and crawls up your legs.

“What’s up?” Mio asks, as she notices how you froze in your spot, tugging at your sleeve.

Your heart starts pounding.

Badum. Badum. Badum.

In the corner of your eyes, you see Mio catching focus on that man herself.

“I’ve never seen a guy that tall-“

“Me neither.” you mumble, while you keep staring. In the corners of your eye, you see many people walking around the mean, peeking and staring and mumbling about his unusual appearance.

He walks up the stairs, shoving a middle aged woman out of his way. She tipples, looses balance and-

Bam!

falls down the stairs, while he’s stepping closer to the doors that lead to the praying area. The huge doors, that now don’t seem to tall in comparison anymore.

“Disrespectful asshole!” Mio exclaims in disgust, as an appalled gasp is heard from the by-standing people and the feeling in your gut grows into a huge lump. Others rush to the woman to help her back up, and Mio wants to go forward too, but you grab her sleeve, holding her back. You stay silent, as you keep watching the man intensely, seeing him lay his right hand on the wooden surface of the saisen-bako that’s placed inbetween the doors. People start to talk to him, try to get his attention, but he is ignoring them, concentrated on doing what he came to do.

Your eyes are fixated on his hand, a tattooed black ring decorating his wrist. The people around him grow louder and louder, but the sound grows mute in your ears. Almost as if you’re hypnotised, you watch how the wooden surface starts to vibrate, the lines between his hand and the wood start to blur. A deep humming starts to vibrate in your ear, just like last night.

Mio notices your trance and calls you, but you hear without hearing.

Whatever he’s doing, it has you in his grip.

Mio calls you again, louder and snips her fingers in front of your face to wake you from your trance but you keep being fixated on his hand until-

“Hey!” another man loudly exclaims and tugs on his cloak to get his attention. Without even looking, the pink haired man flicks his left hand and suddenly the throat of the other man bursts with blood and his head falls from his shoulders.

Fwip!

Pap.. Pap… pap.

Down the stairs it falls and rolls. Your heart drops and everyone starts to scream, as your eyes widen in horror. Blood splatters everywhere, as the head rolls and comes to a halt next to the woman, coating the holy grounds with red essence.

“Y/N!!” Mio calls your name again, now very loud and clear, making your body finally start moving.

You meet Mio’s eyes and grab her wrist, before you run towards the entrance, already seeing security guards run into the opposite direction. Other people run in panic as well, shoving you out of their way, almost make you stumble. For some reason, shortly before you can run through the huge gate, you need to turn around.

Turn around.

The time slows down.

Exhale.

You look.

Focus.

And he turns around, too. Making your eyes meet his for the split of a second, before you turn back forward again, running through the gate.

Inhale.

Sirens are already howling in the distance, as Mio and you and many other people run through the shrine grounds in order to get back to the entrance you came from. Your heart is pounding in your throat and your throat is as dry as sand, as you finally reach the streets. A glance to Mio and a nod from her confirm that you will not separate your ways right now. She’ll come with you.

Bam!

Zschk Zing!

You lock your front door behind you, as Mio sighs loudly, slumping down on one of your kitchen chairs.

“Jesus.” you sigh under your breath, your hands still lingering on the door-lock, your eyes staring into nothing. The image of that mans head rolling down those stairs keeps replaying in your head.

“Gonna make tea.” Mio says, before she gets up and fills the cattle.

You blink and shake your head, before you turn around and sit down on the other chair on the adjacent corner of the table.

You have seen some bad stuff on the internet before. Multiple times unfortunately. However it’s still different to see such things in real life.

“The police will get him right?” she asks.

“Maybe they shot him on sight.” you mumble. “Most probably.” you try to assure her and yourself.

She hums and the kettle starts to whistle.

Louder and louder.

Until Mio takes it from the stove and fills your cups with water.

You take a sip and the warmth flows through your body, making you feel better in an instant.

“I still got no groceries.” you mumble into your cup.

“Let’s just wait a bit. It’ll be safe in a few hours.” she mumbles into hers.

A pause.

And you ponder.

“He wouldn’t have slashed that man, if he let him do his thing in peace.” you sip absentmindedly. “Whatever he was doing.” you add and she glances over to you, cocking an eyebrow.

“If he didn’t shove that woman down the stairs, he wouldn’t have been bothered.” she responds annoyed. “Nothing he was doing can justify this.”

“Yeah.”

Another pause.

“Doesn’t matter now, they probably shot him.” she sighs.

Your eyebrows twitch at the thought. Somehow, you don’t feel like it’s true.

A few silent hours go by, sipping tea, trying to calm down. Both of you avoid to read the news, try to distract you from what just happened, talk about anything, except about what happened at the shrine today.

And somehow, it works. They probably shot him after all.

The sun sets and it grows dark outside. Mio taps on her phone.

- 10:13 p.m. -

“I think I should go now.” she sighs. “Gotta get up early tomorrow.”

You inhale deeply, knowing it’s the last time you’re gonna see her for at least two weeks.

“Alright.” you exhale, as you stand up and walk her to your door. “Text me when you’re at the station, k?”

“Sure, peanut. The police is probably still roaming around. And if not they got him.” she smiles at you and leans in for a tight hug. “Gonna miss you.” she whispers in your ear and it almost makes you tear up.

What today happened was a lot for you and now you have to deal with it alone, if the distraction looses its effect. For two whole weeks.

“Gonna miss you, too!” you sniff into her ear and press her against you, before you separate.

“Stop crying, bitch.” she jokes and boops your nose.

You stick out your tongue and with wet eyes, you unlock your front door.

“Here you go, your Majesty. Please return safely.” you bow, trying to overact your upcoming crying-session and it makes her giggle.

“It’ll be fine.” she waves you off and walks down the hallway. “I’m a big girl.”

“Text me!” you yell after her, before you close and lock up the door.

Zschk Zing!

Silence.

Too silent.

You grab your back and pull out the new headphones you bought. In all the hectic you forgot to properly charge them, but luckily, they always are charged halfway up when you buy them.

You sit down on your kitchen chair and go to your phone’s settings, to connect it via bluetooth with your headphones.

It worked.

You put them on and scroll through your music library, not sure what will give you the right mood for now. If you want more distraction or if you want to cry. Already feeling an empty feeling spreading in your heart, you scroll and scroll and your eyes keep watering.

Maybe crying it is.

Mio didn’t text yet and you hope she’s about to arrive safely at the station. It’s just a short walk anyway. You keep scrolling. Being a person who listens to almost everything, it’s difficult to choose sometimes. Closing your eyes, you tap on shuffle, letting fate decide what song to play.

But right in the moment, when the song is about to start, a loud knocking is heard on your door.

Knock.

You quickly look to the door.

Mio?

Maybe she forgot something.

Without turning off the music, you put your headphones on the table and tipple to the front door.

“Mio, is that you?” you call.

No answer.

You frown in suspicion, before looking through the peephole.

And your heart drops into your socks, as you see a deformed fish-eye version of a stranger.

A tall, pink haired man.

#flickering lights #flickering lights chapters #sukuna #true form sukuna #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #sukuna smut #jjk smut #jujutsu kaisen smut #true form sukuna smut #sukuna x reader #sukuna x you #sukuna x y/n #jjk x reader #fanfiction

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jupitermaidalinejoy · 6 months

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Wednesday: Enid, why are you showering at 3 a.m?

Enid: Because, then my hair will be perfectly dry and ready to style by the morning!

Wednesday: Don’t you use that torture device to induce dryness?

Enid: A blow dryer? I mean, I used to, but I hear it’s actually really bad for my hair. I’m trying to be healthier!

*She says, as she steps out of the bathroom, already packing more bleach onto her hair, and mixing up hair dye in the next bowl*

Wednesday: Obviously

#wednesday x enid #wenclair #enid sinclair #wednesday addams

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tanith-rhea · 1 year

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Only Pretending #3

I declare the angst has STARTED! Muahahahahahah

Word count: 2.3k

Larissa woke up the next morning with a wry neck from sleeping on the couch and a headache to match the ones Wednesday gave her. The early sunlight was coming through her office window and warming her lap. You weren’t around; in fact, you’d left yesterday quite unexpectedly, with a kiss on her cheek.

God damn it, she thought to herself, exhausted from more than bad sleep. She had scared you away. Maybe her fingers tracing patterns on your shoulder, or the way she couldn’t keep from pulling you close when you were getting comfortable on her chest made you uncomfortable. You were only trying to familiarize yourself with being near her and she couldn’t keep her pine to herself.

It was bittersweet; the way she plainly described how she came to realise her adoring feelings towards you, and you thought it was a well-developed lie. “Makes perfect sense.” Yes, of course, it did because it was true.

She knew the safe course of action was to keep you at a distance. Since your first interactions, she’d been intrigued by your character, easily coming to respect you and the seriousness with which you treated your work, but also the sweetness you showed to the students. She hadn’t felt anything like it in quite some time.

Letting out a grunt, Larissa got up; searing pain in her neck. She still had some matters to take care of and needed to pack for the trip. She couldn’t afford a single misstep; it was infuriatingly important to her that Morticia bit her own tongue. One day she might be able to let it go, to stop caring, but that day hadn’t come yet.

While preparing for a shower, she internally lectured herself on the importance of self-control and how much of a fool she had made herself the previous night. You probably regrated agreeing to such a juvenile endeavour, she thought, acting lovesick to help a grown woman incapable of finding someone who liked her enough to consider even asking her out.

With a sharp intake of breath, she opened the shower curtain, already steeling herself for the day ahead.

You were finally enjoying some extra hours of sleep. With nothing more to do than to anxiously await your next encounter with Larissa or berate yourself for being such a handsy drunk, you decided sleeping and pretending everything was fine worked best.

However, not everyone agreed to your plans, and a knock came from your door.

“Coming!” You put on a robe and went to see who was bothering you in the quaint hour of ten a.m. It was Enid.

“Good morning, professor.”

“Enid? What are you doing here? Weren’t you going with the Addams two days ago?” You stepped to the side so the girl could get in.

“I told Wednesday I would see my family first and then go there,” her voice sounded strained as she walked in and looked around, avoiding your gaze.

“And you didn’t go to see your family?” You came to her, sitting on your bed and tapping the space beside you for her to sit. She did.

“I’m…” she took a deep breath, looking straight ahead with her eyebrows knit as if talking herself into continuing.

“Enid…” when she didn’t continue, you decided to give her a hand, “Why are you here?” you said softly, but still nudging her to tell you.

“There’s no one else I can talk to here,” she admitted in a whisper.

“I’m sure there are counsellors and even the principal that could talk to you. Why are you here, really?” you pressed.

“Because I think you can understand. Since you and the principal are together.”

What? How did she come to that conclusion?

“What was that?” you turned to look at her more attentively.

She remained silent, slowly raising her gaze to you in what looked like not-so-well-concealed apprehension.

“I heard teacher Alfred discussing with the coach. I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about. Hell, that’s what I’m worried about.”

“Razvan and Vlad shouldn’t be talking about this near students-“

“They weren’t! I was sneaking out to see the moon before it turns full” she interrupted you in a near panic.

“I’m not mad at you Enid, calm down.” You smiled and rubbed a hand on her back, she seemed very on edge. “Yes, I suppose now that you know I won’t deny it. Larissa and I are together, but we would like to keep it a secret for now.”

You felt bad for lying to her, but it was very convenient, and Enid would be at the party, so the small tingling in your chest had everything to do with your plan working and nothing at all with how good it felt to say the words.

“Are you here to discuss that? Because that wasn’t my impression. Are you worried someone will know?”

“Not about you, no. You’re a very cute couple, by the way! Congrats!” She smiled weakly at that. “What I’m worried about is that my parents will find out about me…”

You didn’t understand at first. Wednesday and Enid had been together for almost seven months, you thought, and before they were just so onto each other’s tails that it seemed even longer.

“Your parents don’t know? That’s why you didn’t go home?” you said gently, pulling her closer to your side.

“Yes. I promised Wednesday I would tell them, but my mother will throw me out, I know it! I already took too long to wolf out and now the prospect of not giving her grandchildren-“

“Woah there, slow down!” You interrupted, getting up to kneel in front of her. “You are too young to worry about this.”

“But my mom-“

“Your mom shouldn’t be worrying about this now either. You’re seventeen and that is so far away in the future.” You stood up to kneel at her feet, squeezing her shoulders in the hope that she’d understand. “It’s ok to feel scared. I was too when I was your age and look at me now. I left my home, studied, made friends to whom I owe my life, built a career and ended up at the most incredible school in the world, teaching the most amazing students I ever met. And you are one of the most astounding within them; I’m sure one way or another your mother knows that.”

You felt her crying before you saw it, her shoulders moving with a hiccup. You hugged her tightly and waited for the sobs to subside, crying was good; the tension slipped away with the tears and left everything a bit less heavy.

When she stilled, breathing softly on your damp robe, you separated and put some of her hair behind her ears, taking her face in your hands.

“I say you don’t worry. Wednesday won’t be disappointed in you, your mother won’t be able to negate your endless set of abilities and good qualities, and I’ll be here every time you need a shoulder or advice.” You stroked her cheek with your thumb, and she smiled, covering your hands with hers and uniting them between you as she stood.

“Thank you, professor l/n, I knew you’d understand.” She hugged you with more strength than you thought she possessed. “I’m really happy for you and principal Weems.” And with that, she skipped out of the room.

“I’m really happy for you and principal Weems” suddenly the tingling wasn’t there anymore, and that only hurt.

That night, Larissa opened the door before you could knock. Eyebrows set harshly atop steely eyes, creating a powerful picture of cold-controlled rage.

“How does Enid know?” she hastened you inside with a hand on your elbow. You didn’t really understand what was happening, but you were equally fearful and excited by her firm grip on you.

“What happened? Did she say something?” Larissa closed the door forcefully and let go of your arm, marching into the office and leaning against her desk; one hand massaging her forehead and another steading her on the flat surface.

“She came this afternoon to say ‘congratulations.’” She tilted her head to the side, prompting an explanation.

“I didn’t tell her. She visited this morning to ask my opinion on something and told me Vlad and Razvan were talking about it.” You approached slowly, her eyes accompanying you all the way until you sat at the chair in front of her. Her angered gaze reminded you of the very few times in the past when she had been pushed to the limit by students. If you had a principal looking at you like that as a teen, you’d have been to detention many more times than you did. “She promised not to tell anyone. And we had a serious conversation, so I don’t think she was just saying it to appease me,” your voice was soft, and you could tell Larissa believed you from the way her anger melted into resignation.

“I think it’s a good sign we’re not on her Instagram page yet,” she conceded, “I was just worried this could be blown out of proportion by all students thinking it was true.”

The thought made you smile. If Enid had written about your “secret relationship”, maybe you would have had to pretend for a little longer than a weekend.

“No, she’s safe. And she’ll be at the party, so that’s a bonus on our cover.”

“Is she?” Larissa relaxed a bit and dropped her other hand to casually rest beside her body. You wished you had a camera or any drawing skills to capture her figure at the moment, leaning in a very soft angle backwards, wondering expression and slightly unkept hair from recent stress. If you didn’t have the context you could almost imagine other ways she would have messed up her perfectly styled waves.

“Yes.” You got up, suddenly unable to keep still, and walked directly to her front, pondering on whether to put or not your hand on hers and deciding not yet. “But I think we have other things that actually need our attention right now.”

Her face lighted up with amusement and a mischievous quirk of her eyebrow forced you to look away, biting your cheek, “Oh my, I didn’t know we were like that already.”

You hid your face in your hands and groaned, walking away a few steps.

“I’m just messing with you, don’t worry,” her soft chuckle sounded nearer than before, and you turned to see her right behind you with two glasses and a bourbon in hand. She gestured to the sofa. “Shall we begin?”

You talked more about how you started, when you did, how things went at the beginning and why you still hadn’t gone public. The drink was stronger than the other night and burnt while going down. You didn’t need more than a pour and a half for your inhibition to fly throw the window, but Larissa seemed just fine. You could bet she liked stronger things. You liked it as well, but she was made for it.

“Alright, enough of imaginary dates and made-up happenings. I want to know you,” you said after almost an hour of just that, “If I dated you for the past five months I’m bound to know things about you that most people don’t,” you were far too comfortable being blunt to be sober.

“Okay, what would you like to know?” her voice was soft. She put her glass away and leant on her forearm, elbow resting atop the backrest.

“What’s your favourite food?”

She laughed. Not the belly laugh you adored so much, but a gentler one, quieter, and you could almost say you loved it if that wouldn’t make things harder.

“I don’t think I have a favourite food. I like pasta, cheese, hamburger-“

“Ok, what? How do you go from fancy to ‘I like hamburger’?” you snorted ungracefully. She seemed amused.

“Pasta is not fancy, it’s pasta, and cheese is an ingredient, so what are you talking about?”

“Oh, don’t gimme that!” You pointed at her, smiling way too much.

“I didn’t know there was a rule against liking hamburgers-“

“No, there’s just a rule saying that stunning, posh, scotch-drinking, British women can’t like the food we mortals do.”

“I drink more hot chocolate than scotch, I’ll have you know!

“Shut up! You can’t be normal, you’re too good for that!’

She was laughing and you were feigning indignation and it all felt so good you thought your heart would explode in happiness.

When she calmed down, her eyes glimmered softly, and she was smiling almost as if fond of you. You knew it was your alcohol-addled brain, but you wanted so desperately to get closer.

You didn’t sit as the other night; she was at the end of the sofa and you were in the middle, there were maybe six inches between you but it felt like miles.

“…Do you think we should be closer?” you almost whispered. Damn if you weren’t the most horrible drunk on earth. You knew you would regret it the second you asked.

She didn’t respond, just looked at you quizzically, like you were a puzzle she couldn’t figure out. You thought you were quite obvious, but maybe she was more inebriated than she appeared.

“Would you be comfortable with that?” did she still doubt it?

“I mean… we’ll have to, once we get there. If not now when we can consent, imagine then.” You would always consent, of course, but the look of hurt on Larissa’s face and her dry swallow made it clear the feeling wasn’t mutual.

Suddenly you could not take it anymore. You felt tears forming in your eyes and your chest tightened. You had to leave. You quickly got up, surprising her and yourself; your legs weren’t also expecting it and you almost stumbled over before scurrying to the door.

“Y/n?” you heard her get up before opening the door.

“I think that’s good enough for now, we can continue on the way there.” You rushed to say and left the room, walking the faster you could to your quarters with a hand on your mouth to stifle your sobs.

Chapter Four

#larissa weems #female reader #normie!reader #teacher!reader #fake/pretend relationship #angst #hehehe #principal weems #larissa weems x reader #principal weems x reader

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avi-on-jumblr · 4 months

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A grocery store in Toronto was targeted today (January 3 2024). It was set on fire, the windows were broken, and "free Palestine" was graffitied on the doors. The grocery store's name is "International Delicatessen Foods", and so its acronym IDF was part of its signage, which was likely the factor in the antisemitic attack. That, and/or the fact that the owner is Jewish.

According to officials, police and firefighters were called to the scene at about 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday. When firefighters arrived, they saw smoke coming from the rear. Fire crews entered the building and quickly extinguished the blaze. Gray said officers found the graffiti on the outside of the building at the same time that the fire was discovered. She said police suspect the incident was motivated by hate and believe it was committed "with bias or prejudice." "We're very early on in the investigation and I must highlight when I say it's organized, they didn't just happen upon this business. Let's be not silly here. These people have targeted this business and so that means they've been here before," she said.

#i cannot understand how stupid you have to be to not realize it's just a random grocery store #anyways. it's scary. i was just in toronto visiting family so this hits particularly close.#antisemitism #jumblr #leftist antisemitism #antizionism is antisemitism #israel #i/p #jewblr #avi posts

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in-restless-walks · 3 months

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After they couldn't have the (rather beautifully illustrated) all-familiar suggestion on the cover of Wednesday Morning 3A.M., it really begs the question why any of these two pics couldn't have been the cover of Bookends. Richard Avedon, please.

#s&g #simon & garfunkel #simon and garfunkel #bookends #wednesday morning 3 a.m.#album cover #photography #richard avedon

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miyseung · 8 months

Text

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃

summary: you did not expect to be breaking up with hyunjin so late at night in a situation like the one you were in.

includes: heavy angst, established relationship go brr, kissing, reader calls him ‘prince’ and he calls reader ‘love’ for a bit, very slight mention of possible self harm (nothing direct), not proofread

pairing: bf! hyunjin x fem! reader

word count: 1.2k

a/n: i hurt myself and whatever emotions i had writing this in 30 minutes

“Y/N…?”

It was some ungodly hour in the night when you got a call on your phone. You were sound asleep, dreaming about Shrek dancing to WAP when your phone rang. Your ringtone, which was an audio of your boyfriend Hyunjin screaming, startled you so much that you fell out of bed.

For a few seconds, you considered just lying on the floor and ignoring the call. Who the hell would call you at 3:25 a.m. on a Wednesday morning?

Apparently, Hyunjin would.

Your plans of giving the caller a piece of your mind were thrown out of the window as you heard his voice. His tone was tired- he sounded almost dead.

Instant concern.

There were those days where he ranted to you about how stressful being an idol was, but you never heard him sound like this before.

“Prince? What’s wrong? Did something happen at practice or-“

“Y/N, love, I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry.”

Concern to panic.

“Hyun…Hyunjin! Please, tell me what’s wrong- what are you planning to do? Don’t try anything stupid, dumbass-“

Call ended.

You got up, a million thoughts racing through your head. You didn’t bother fixing your appearance, Hyunjin was more important now. Who was going to see you anyway? You ran out of your apartment, phone in hand, emergency services ready to dial, just in case. You managed to get there in 15 minutes with sheer determination, considering how the dorms weren’t that far from your place.

The security at the entrance recognized you, and let you in. Fumbling with the spare keys that Hyunjin gave you, you finally unlocked the dorm door that he shared with Chan, Changbin and Jisung. The lights were off, so you turned on your phone’s flashlight. You walked quietly to his room, not wanting to wake up the other guys just in case.

You opened the door only to see the most heartbreaking sight.

Hyunjin lying on the floor, curled up into a ball, small sobs escaping his lips.

“Prince?”

No response. You moved nearer to him, closing the door behind you. You checked that there was nothing dangerous near him, before placing your hand on top of his.

“Hyunjin?”

He swatted your hand away.

“Go away, Y/N.”

No pet names, nothing. Just your name. This wasn’t him, and it hurt.

“What’s wrong? Please- I need to know.”

“It’s nothing. Just go.”

“Prin- Hyunjin, look, I want to help you. I’m your girl-“

“Not anymore.”

What?

“Huh?”

His voice was broken and strained.

“You and I, Y/N…we’re over. Done.”

“You’re not serious…?”

“I am.”

You stared at his face. He didn’t even open his eyes to look at you, when usually he’d spend all the time he could staring at you, admiring you.

“But…why? If I did anything wrong- I’ll fix it, I’m sorry, just tell me what’s wrong- we can still salvage this, we can-!”

He sits up properly now, his back against his bed. He opened his eyes, and they were red and puffy, his cheeks tear-stained.

“It’s not your fault, Y/N. I…just don’t think we can continue like this anymore.”

“After all the times you told me that we’d be forever? After all the words we exchanged? After all those cuddles and kisses? After-After- all those ‘I love you’s? After…everything, you just say we can’t continue?”

You stared at him again, disbelief and sadness mixed on your face. Tears pricked your eyes, but you refused to let them fall. He looked away, and you could tell by his expression that ‘just thinking’ wasn’t all that there was to it.

“What’s the actual reason, Hyunjin?”

He looks down at the floor, avoiding eye contact by any means. Again, broken and strained voice.

“The…the company.”

Those two words were enough.

“But you said- you said you didn’t care about the company or the fans-“

He held your hands in his, looking at your face now.

“I did. I did, yes…but I couldn’t change their minds. They were adamant. It was either- either I break up with you, or I leave the group.”

You couldn’t say anything there. He loved the boys too much, and they were super close to him. They were his family, and you knew how much they meant to him.

“But- you’ve long passed the dating ban now. Why- why do you have to?”

“Dispatch. It came to JYP-nim and well…he said it’d be a bad image for me and the group. I’m sorry, Y/N, you know- you know how much- I love you, right? I tried my best to argue- I tried so hard, but-“

He let the floodgates open, and you hugged him tight. He wrapped his arms around you and cried into your shoulder.

You did not expect to be ending things with Hyunjin and hugging him like your life depended on it at 3:56 a.m.

Yet, here you were.

He kept mumbling “I’m sorry” into your shoulder over and over, and you just rubbed circles in his back, trying to soothe him as much as you could. You silently cried as well, the emotions were strong.

“Y/N…love, can you kiss me one last time?”

You let go of him a little, his body loosely in your arms. You looked at his facial features set in desperate agony, and nodded.

He wasted no time and kept his hand on the back of your head, pulling you closer gently, your face mere inches from his. Your breath mixed with his as he looked at your face one last time, trying to engrave every detail about you into his mind before he had to let you go.

He then closed the gap between you, and his soft lips met yours. His other hand held your waist, fingers digging into your skin ever so gently. The kiss was emotional and passionate, and neither of you wanted to break it. At some point, you pulled you in more, silent whimpers and cries escaping his mouth as he kissed you harder one last time, trying to savor the moment. Tears fell from his eyes and yours, but neither of you cared.

After around a minute, he let go of you, knowing that all good things had to come to an end. His hands left your head and waist, and just rested on your sides. He looked at you, his eyes regretful.

“So I guess this is the end, then.”

“Yeah. Even fairytales don’t last forever.”

“I wish ours could work, Y/N, I do-“

“I know, I know. You don’t need to apologize. Maybe, just maybe someday.”

He watched you get up and go to the door of his room. He didn’t bother to get up, no, he was too tired for that. You waved and smiled sadly at him, and he returned it before you left.

As you walked back to your apartment, you let it all sink in. It wasn’t a plot twist in your dream.

You wished it was. You wished that you could wake up from this nightmare which went from Shrek twerking to…this. You rubbed your eyes, but no. You were on the street near his dorm, your face having dried out paths of salty water trailing from your eyes to your chin.

Why, just why couldn’t you be a princess from a perfect fairytale, who ended up spending her whole life with the perfect prince she managed to pull?

Hell, even Shrek and Fiona ended up with three kids and three more sequels.

You had your prince, but now you lost him.

It wasn’t even your fault, neither was it his.

You just had to move on and accept the fact that he wasn’t going to be a major part of your life anymore, and neither were you.

That was it.

The end.

#kpop #kpop fanfic #kpop bg #angst #stray kids #stray kids imagines #skz #hyunjin #hyunjin imagines #hyunjin angst #hyunjin x reader #K-pop x reader #breaking up #fem reader #boy group imagines #boy group x reader #skz x reader #mallow's works #mallow's oneshots

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tessa-liam · 7 months

Text

Turning the Page

Chapter 3 – Regrets

Choices, The Royal Romance, AU

Series Premise: As Riley Brooks journeys through life as a single parent in New York City, an epiphany strikes as she contemplates the future for herself and her two-year-old son.

Turning the Page Masterlist

Main Pairing: Liam Rys x F!MC Riley Brooks

All characters belong to Pixelberry, except William Brooks (Rys) and Matteo Magro, who belong to this series.

Category: On-going series, contains angst/fluff/depression

Rating: M🔞Warnings - crude language – not Beta’d - please excuse all errors.

Words: 2487

Turning the Page

Regrets – Chapter 3

Chapter Summary: Maxwell meets William for the first time as Riley continues to confide her truth to her Cordonian friend. Olivia attends a Royal council meeting at Liam’s invitation. Madeleine announces her pregnancy.

Music Inspiration: I Want to Know What Love is, Foreigner

A/N1: In this alternate universe, after King Constantine orchestrates two individual scandals to humiliate and entrap Riley Brooks and Olivia Nevrakis in shame, Madeleine Amaranth secures her position as the Queen of Cordonia. Riley, as the King’s mistress and Olivia, in self-imposed exile. Tariq is never found.

A/N2: My submission for @choicesflashfics, Week #51, Prompt 1 – "There isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for you.”

A/N3: My submission for @choicesseptemberchallenge2023, @midnightmelodiz, Day 30 – Home, Heart, “I’m here for you. Always.”

Brooklyn Heights, New York City

The tapping sounds of rain pelting on her bedroom window startled her awake. Her eyes fluttered open as she tried to get her bearings. The last thing she remembered was crying herself to sleep after talking with Maxwell.

Riley glanced at her clock on her bedside table, 2:30 a.m. She sighed and laid her head back on the pillow. She closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would take her, but it did not. Instead, her thoughts returned to the conversation she had with Maxwell the previous evening.

‘He misses you so much. He is not the same without you.’

The rain picked up its pace, now pounding against the glass with intensity. Riley rolled over and gazed at the window, watching the droplets slide down the pane.

‘You have no idea how much he loves you.’

Just like last night when speaking with Maxwell, her tears fell once again.

‘He’ll be happy to know that you came back. That you want him too.’

Riley jumped when the thunder roared, and a flash of lightning filled her room with light. That is when she heard Li’s little voice from down the hallway; he was crying.

“I’m coming, Li Li.”

Riley climbed out of bed and quickly threw on a robe before heading towards his room.

Approaching his bed, she cooed, “Hey, little one.”

“Did the storm wake you?”

William sniffled and held his arm out to her; his other arm wrapped tightly around his Scooby-doo plushie.

Riley smiled and scooped him up, cradling him close to her chest.

“Don't worry, I’m here for you. Always.”

Riley rocked him in her arms, gently swaying side to side as he laid his head against her shoulder. Once William fell back to sleep, she tucked him back into his bed.

“Mommy loves you very much,” she whispered.

"There isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for you.”

Riley once again felt tears stinging her eyes.

“I love you, Li,” she breathed, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

Thinking of Liam, Riley crumbled to the floor. The memories and guilt overwhelmed her once more.

Cordonian Royal Palace, Capital, Cordonia

It was early Wednesday morning when Liam sat down with Regina for an early breakfast in the dining room. Today, the Royal council was set to meet with a new member; which will be an interesting surprise for the members.

Liam smiled to himself as he stirred sugar into his black coffee and looked across the table at Regina. He could sense that something was on her mind and was surprised when she told him that Madeleine wanted the press conference re-scheduled for Friday afternoon.

“Friday, why so soon?” Liam challenged his stepmother.

Regina looked at him with a stern expression.

“Liam, the sooner you and Madeleine make a public statement, the sooner the rumors will stop.” He was aware of the rumblings at court.

Liam scoffed. “The rumors? We are not having a child!”

The final time he told Madeleine that he would never consummate a child with her, she decided to conceive a child with her lover. As per the Cordonian arrangement that was legally agreed upon, any child born outside of the Royal marriage would become the heir under the Queen’s guardianship.

Madeleine was well aware of the one stipulation that the King had added to this contract. Liam had the definitive authority to legally name his heir. She also knew he would also be expected to abide by his duty as monarch and produce an heir.

“Liam, I understand that this is a sensitive topic for you. But it is imperative that you perform your duty as King and husband. Regardless of how you feel about her, the rumor has already spread through the nobility that you are unwilling or unable to produce a child. With Madeleine now pregnant, the two of you need to come forth through the media to the people of Cordonia. We need to put a stop to the rumors before it gets out of hand.”

Liam squared his shoulders with a warning expression.

“I am the King; my birthright. If I say the rumors are false, they are false.”

“And the people will believe you, but the nobles will not. They will continue to question your ability to produce an heir.”

“Then let them question. It is not their concern.”

Regina sighed and folded her hands on the table, “Liam, please. This is important and...”

“Enough!” Liam slammed his fist down and stood up menacingly.

“If you are concerned about the image of the crown, then I suggest that you recommend to Madeleine that she must address the nobles at court herself. Let her explain the decision she made; let them see her for what she is for themselves.” Liam spat.

“I am not concerned about the image of the crown, Liam. I am worried about you. Ever since Riley disappeared, you have been miserable.”

Liam didn’t reply. Preferring to remain silent, he knew she was right.

“I have spoken to Drake,” Regina continued. “He agrees with me. The only time you smile is when you talk about Riley. It has been almost three years. You need to let go of her and move on. You have a kingdom to rule.”

Liam’s jaw tightened at her words.

“Regina, I know you mean well, but I cannot do that; I will not do that. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a meeting to attend.”

Liam bowed to Regina and turned towards the grand staircase. Climbing the staircase two steps at a time, at the third level, he turned to the right towards his study.

Brooklyn Heights, New York City

Cracking another egg into the bowl of ingredients, Daniel began to quickly whisk the pancake batter while the griddle got hot. Looking up to see Riley carrying William into the kitchen, he stopped stirring to rush over to pick up his Godson.

“Good morning, buddy. How are you today?”

William laughed excitedly, “dan dan!” As he wrapped his arms around Daniel’s neck, Riley sat down at the kitchen table after pouring herself a cup of coffee.

“Are you going to watch me make pancakes?” William nodded and let Daniel seat him in his booster seat next to Riley. “How is Mommy doing, buddy?”

Daniel looked over at Riley who sat looking out the large kitchen window next to the table. She was in deep thought and when she heard the familiar voice greet Daniel, she turned towards William.

It was past midnight when the trio arrived back at the brownstone after walking home from the pier. Daniel had invited Maxwell back home to stay and crash, instead of him having to cab back to his hotel.

Considering there were plenty of words left unsaid, Maxwell agreed quickly in the hope of learning more about his friend. She was clearly struggling; he was genuinely concerned about Riley’s state of mind. His heart broke watching his friend last night; she looked so defeated. Her ‘bright light’, snuffed out.

“Good morning,” Maxwell sing-songed, but stopped abruptly in the doorway upon seeing the little blond-haired boy sitting beside Riley.

“Hey, Max. I hope you are hungry.” Daniel acknowledged and invited him to sit.

“Thank you... yes, I am starving.” Riley slowly raised her eyes to meet his; “would you like some coffee?”

Maxwell answered, “please and thank you, little blossom.”

As Maxwell looked at the little boy once more, time stood still. He was frozen in place staring at the little boy drinking from his sippy cup. Max's mouth open... he was speechless.

“This is Liam’s son. His name is William.” Riley whispered, her voice trembling.

The resemblance was uncanny – the same piercing blue eyes, the same hair color, the same expressive features.

The boy was undoubtedly Liam’s son; a mirror image of his father, back in time.

Maxwell’s heart skipped a beat. He remembered Riley’s heartbreak as he held her in Bossina cathedral as the newly married King and Queen passed by, walking back up the aisle.

Liam, his childhood friend, had devastated Riley’s world the night he chose another.

The scandal and shame she had to endure during the engagement tour.

He remembered the pain in Riley’s eyes when she announced that she would stay in Cordonia as his mistress. Just to remain in his life and to live as a secret; she would be bound by a cordonian agreement.

And now, standing in front of William, he understood why Riley disappeared; leaving Liam and Cordonia behind.

William looked up to Maxwell with those familiar eyes, a mixture of curiosity and uncertainty in his gaze.

Maxwell knelt beside William at eye level and smiled warmly.

“Hey there, William. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

William hesitated for a moment, but then gave Maxwell a tender smile, mirroring his father's charm.

Riley went on to explain her dire situation to Maxwell. That Madeleine, if she found out about William, could and would threaten to take him away from her.

That was why she called upon Maxwell for help, knowing that he was the only person she could trust to keep her secret and remain a connection to Cordonia.

Maxwell's mind raced as he tried to figure out a solution. He could not bear to see Riley go through more pain. And he could not ignore the innocent child who had unknowingly become a potential pawn for Madeleine.

“We'll find a way, Riley." Maxwell assured his friend.

"William deserves to know his father. And you deserve to remain part of his life and Liam's.”

Maxwell sat beside Riley and wrapped his arms around her as more tears flowed.

Maxwell couldn't help but think that William was not just a split image of his father. But also, a reflection of the love that will always exist between Riley and Liam.

Royal Council Meeting

The silence was deafening.

Then, the murmurs began.

As Olivia Nevrakis confidently strode into the boardroom and settled into her seat on the left-hand side of the King, she exuded an air of self-assurance. Her posture was erect, and her green eyes held a determined gleam. Olivia was known for her ambition and determination, and she was unapologetic about her presence in the room.

When Queen Madeleine walked into the room, her regal presence commanded attention. The murmurs circulating the room were at once silenced as her gaze swept over the attendees, her expression initially neutral but with a discerning eye.

When her eyes settled on Olivia, a storm seemed to brew within her. A flash of irritation crossed Madeleine’s features and her brow furrowed. It was clear that something about Olivia's presence had struck a nerve. In a moment of tense confrontation. Queen Madeline 's voice cut through the room.

“You," she spat. Her tone sharp and commanding.

“Leave this room at once.” Madeleine glowered unabashedly.

Olivia, never one to back down from a challenge, met the Queen's demand with her own fiery resolve.

“I have every right to be here, your majesty,” she retorted, her voice unwavering.

“I am a member of this council by royal decree, and I will not be dismissed.”

Liam watched with his hands steepled, seated with a stoic demeanor; observing the unfolding drama with keen interest. As king, and husband to Queen Madeleine, he had his own role to play in the proceedings. His impassive expression gave little away, but his trained, watchful eyes took note of the reactions of each council member to the unexpected clash between the Queen and Olivia. Notably, his queen’s subtle glances with her father, Godfrey, the Duke of Karlington.

Clearing his throat, everyone turned to their King.

"Thank you all for your attention. The Queen has a statement to declare concerning her 'situation'. "

Madeleine spun around and glared at Liam. "Yes... yes I do."

Speakeasy, Duchy Domvallier, Cordonia

In the heart of Duchy Domvallier, hidden behind an unassuming facade, lay the notorious Speakeasy known as the ‘Midnight Reverie’. It was a place where the world outside faded into obscurity, and where secrets were exchanged amidst the smoky haze of jazz-filled nights.

A perfect getaway for King Liam and his trusted childhood friends, Drake and Rashad. The three of them had grown up together, forging an unbreakable bond that transcended their differences in station. Here, beneath the flickering candlelight, they could shed their titles and be ordinary men.

Rashad started off the conversation. “Why did Beaumont fly to the States?”

“He mentioned that he was going to a concert in Madison Square Gardens,” Drake responded. “He sends his regrets, though.”

“Gentlemen, tonight feels like a night for confessions. Let’s start with our own regrets. Drake?” Rashad questioned.��

“My biggest regret is not completing my degree at University.”

Rashad nodded in understanding, contemplating his own.

“For me, it’s the time I spent chasing wealth and status instead of cherishing the moments with my family. Those are years I can’t get back.”

Liam took a slow slip sip of his scotch, his eyes distant.

“Regrets. I have many, but there is one that haunts me above all others.” He paused; his voice filled with melancholy.

Drake and Rashad exchanged curious glances before urging him to continue.

“What is it, Liam?” The question asked even though they already both knew the answer.

Liam's gaze was fixed on a distant point beyond the dimly lit room.

“My greatest regret is not proposing to Riley on the night of my coronation; scandal be damned.”

Drake and Rashad again exchanged knowing glances.

“I thought I had to put my duty before my desires, so when the scandal was broadcast the night of the coronation. I chose another when I had already given my heart to Riley just as she had given her heart to me. When we couldn’t find Tariq to clear her name before the wedding, I listened to my father and the advisors and went ahead with the wedding. Instead of letting her go, I selfishly asked her to stay. But every day since, I have regretted that decision. I should have let her go."

Liam breathed deeply, "then she ended up leaving anyway.”

Rashad offered a reassuring hand on Liam’s shoulder.

“Regrets are heavy burdens, my friend. But perhaps it’s not too late to mend that old wound. Life is unpredictable.”

Drake added, "perhaps, one day, you will get the opportunity to find her again, and be given the chance to re-write that story."

Thanks for reading⚘️

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creepycrawliesanonymous · 1 year

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The call couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time.

You had just sat down for an episode of Community. Not even 3 minutes in, hand resting on top of an almost full bowl of potato chips, your phone lit up.

Lemon: pick us up

Lemon: now

Lemon: please

Lemon: <3 or whatever the fuck

If the other cars on the road could see smoke coming out of your ears, they wisely didn’t say anything. You pulled over in front of what was probably the grossest (yet cheapest) dive bar in all of London, which had recently gotten a new makeover to the tune of a smashed window and several broken seats both inside and outside the bar. And most notably, the two headaches that you call your roommates.

Lemon stuck his elbow into Tangerine’s ribs at the sight of your beat up Toyota Camry. With a certain amount of wincing from Tangerine, and sheepish-yet-still-angry glances from Lemon, they started to walk over to you. This was not the first time this had happened. The bar owner (a pre-calc classmate of yours from school that was held back a couple times, but that barely matters here) had stopped calling the police, knowing that the pair would be back the next day to put things in order for him. They may be heathens but they didn’t completely disregard the service industry.

Lemon opened the back door of your car and loaded up his companion into the seats, swiping away the various candy wrappers and assorted animal figurines you had floating around back there. Tangerine let out a low grumble, bringing a hand up to gingerly massage at his rib cage.

“Fucker threw me through a window.”

“I can fucking see that.”

Lemon climbed into the seat next to you, and you swiftly, while also obeying traffic laws, pulled away from the wreckage and started home.

“Honestly don’t know what he was thinking. He was being a prick the whole night. Would’ve thrown him out the window myself, to be honest.” Lemon was desperately trying to get into your good graces, but you kept your eyes focused squarely on the road in front of you.

“I can’t believe you two,” you huffed out. “Honestly, what the fuck.” You snuck a glance at Tangerine out of the rear view mirror, who was looking notably morose, yet still clearly a bit fired up from the whole ordeal. “Are you okay? You fucking idiot, don’t even think about lying to me.”

“Ribs.”

“I’ll look at them when we get home.”

Lemon moved to change the music playing, but you slapped his hand away.

“George Harrison stays on.”

He quieted down after that, seemingly content to listen to you quietly seethe. The track switched to “Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.” while Tangerine poked at his abdomen and quietly groaned. You knew in your heart of hearts that you were unequipped to properly treat whatever he had gone and done to himself. Tomorrow you would call your friend in med school to walk you through the motions, but tonight it was bandages and pain killers for him. Maybe an ice pack or two.

“I’ll get him inside,” Lemon nudged your forearm before leaving from beside you, hoisting his brother out of the car amidst various British-sounding curses (let’s be clear, from both of them, how typical). Giving them a moment, or more accurately giving yourself a moment, you leaned your forehead against the steering wheel and took some measured breaths. You knew once you properly cooled off, you’d be left with a rather embarrassing nervous vulnerability. Not to say you’d never gotten emotional in front of them, they saw you when you were a scraggly awkward teen and by some miracle that didn’t put them off, but now that you were all older you couldn’t help but become hyper aware of the growing differences between you and the two of them. You were wary with how you were finding scarier weapons in Tangerine’s room, or how Lemon started talking about gory ways to make extra money. You weren’t going to stop them, but goddamn it you were allowed to worry.

A rapping at your window knocked you out of you spiraling. “You comin’ out?”

“Yeah, yeah.” You scrubbed at your cheeks and stepped out of the car. “He still cogent?”

Lemon huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, for now.” He paused, before pulling you into a hug. “Listen. I know shit’s difficult right now, and we’re both fucking idiots. We don’t like making you worry.”

You tucked your face into his shoulder, letting yourself be held for at least this small moment.

“I just need you two to be okay.”

You leaned back, swiping at any stray moisture that may or may not have collected under your eyes. He swung his arm around your shoulders, rubbing his knuckles into the top of your head, just like when you were 10. For now, that would be enough.

#bullet train #bullet train x reader #tangerine x reader #lemon x reader #tangerine bullet train #lemon bullet train #nobody comment on which brother I’m biased towards #I mean uhhhh #I love both of my sons equally

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collecting-stories · 10 months

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Long Story Short - Steve Harrington

Request: Hii <33 can i request long story short for steve harrington?

Summary: You wake up in the middle of the night from a terrible nightmare and seek out Steve's help to calm yourself down.

TS Anthology Series | Stranger Things Masterlist

...long story short it was a bad time, long story short I survived...

You were vaguely aware of Robin saying your name, she kept repeating it like a mantra, begging you to give any indication that you could hear her. And you did, hear her, but you couldn't answer. When you opened your mouth nothing came out, as if someone had switched off all the sound except for Robin's voice, echoing in your head. You clutched at your chest and your legs felt tangled in something as you kicked into the darkness, lurching forward and...suddenly you were in your room.

You searched for the light switch on your lamp, a dull yellow glow emanating through the room. Glasses on and realization beginning to set in, you weren't in the upside down, Robin wasn't calling your name, it was all just a bad dream. A really terrible nightmare-of-a-dream but a dream nonetheless. No one and nothing was hunting you or your friends. On legs that felt like they could crumble at any moment, you made your way to the kitchen, passed your parents room, the living room with a solitary light on by the door, and finally to the sink where you poured a glass of water and tried to calm your nerves. Your hands were still shaking and you thought about calling to see if Robin or Nancy might be awake but the analog clock on the counter said it was three in the morning and you doubted any of your friends were actually awake right now. Their parents definitely weren't and you knew that neither household would appreciate a 3 a.m. wake up call.

Still, the thought of facing those monsters again, whether real or imagined, alone, was too much for you to handle. With your pajamas still on, you slipped on a pair of shoes and took your coat; leaving by the kitchen door. Hawkins at night was a familiar entity but you had lost the sense of comfort you used to have in its existence. When it snowed at midnight three weeks ago you'd hesitated at the kitchen door, weighing the likelihood that something could be there in the shadows, just beyond the glistening light cast over your yard and your neighbors'. You could remember staying out as long as possible before the fall of '83, playing hide-n-go-seek or tag or some iteration of both. Now you worried walking the trash from the garage to the curb on Wednesday nights. Vecna or One or whatever it wanted to be called was gone, Hawkins had survived and most everyone had moved on from what they perceived to have happened but you remained somewhat stuck in the past. Like a scratched record that kept looping back to the same outro, never able to move on.

The light above the back door of Steve Harrington's house flickered on and you realized you'd walked yourself all four blocks over to his street. You'd been thinking of Robin's in actuality, and then thinking of Robin had you thinking of Steve and the still somewhat unresolved conclusion to your embarrassing outburst of emotion when you'd made it out of the Upside Down alive. Kissing Steve Harrington and telling him that you loved had not been in the cards.

"Hey."

As equally embarrassing as showing up unexpected on his back porch at three in the morning after not speaking to him for two months was, you were still happy that Steve was the one standing there on the other side of the glass sliding doors and not his mom. How would you even begin to explain to her what you were doing at her house?

"Uh, hey," you held your hand up as if you were going to wave and then lowered it to your side again.

Steve slid the door open, "do you want to come in or..." He looked passed you at the emptied pool and you shook your head. It was January in Hawkins and you were beginning to realize how cold you actually were. He stepped to the side and you came into his kitchen, crossing your arms in some half-hearted attempt to comfort yourself. Or maybe regroup? What were you doing here?

"Did something happen?"

"Not exactly..." You replied, trying to sort out both your thoughts and what had propelled you to Steve's house. Not Robin or Nancy or even Dustin but Steve. Who you swore you would never see again. Or at least never speak to again so that you couldn't further embarrass yourself in front of him. "I mean...not really. Not here, or well, here but you know...not here." You gestured awkwardly trying to sign what you couldn't say, "I had a bad dream, basically."

"Shit," he nodded like he completely understood and you were sure that he did. "Are you okay?"

"I just..." You took a breath, trying to center yourself, "It just felt real." There were tears forming at the corners of your eyes and before you could keep trying to explain the dream, Steve had pulled you into a hug, wrapping his arms around you and crushing you against the sweater he was wearing. You hugged him back, purely because you'd been denying yourself any interaction with him for the last two months and you felt relieved when he was the first to act. As if, maybe, he hadn't realized you were being distant.

"It's not real," Steve promised, as if you might not've been sure that it was just a bad dream. It was a surprisingly reassuring sentiment. "This is real. You and me, right now. That's real."

"I know...I know it's past I just...I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I can't let myself let it go." You admitted. Despite coming through the Upside Down and Vecna with everyone, you had a tendency to close down. It was over and you could breath but when the nightmares and the bad memories resurfaced, you felt guilty for mentioning them. You didn't want anyone else to feel like you were feeling.

"That's okay," the reply came almost as a surprise to you, like a validation of all your worries. It was okay to feel stuck, it was okay to be frozen in this time loop, and it was okay to ask for help. "Do you wanna...we could put a movie on or something, if it would take your mind off of stuff?"

"Yeah, that'd be good." You nodded.

There was an unmistakable feeling of awkwardness in the air, as though neither of you was quite sure how to act around each other. You really couldn't blame Steve for feeling uncomfortable, if he did. It was entirely possible that you were only projecting your own discomfort at being here again after such a long time and so much distance. You wanted to apologize for telling him that you loved him. Not that you didn't mean just that you didn't mean to make things so awkward between the two of you.

Steve led the way into the den, two beige recliners dominating the small room and an entertainment center set up in front of them. You took the seat on the right, waiting to recline while you watched him scan the collection of VHS tapes his parents had.

"What do you want to watch?"

"Something that I don't have to think to hard about," you admitted. You weren't sure you had the mental capacity for anything serious.

"Secret of Nimh?" He asked, holding the VHS up for you, the animated mouse staring back.

"You have the Secret of Nimh?" You asked, perking up at the mention of it.

"I have all the mouse movies," Steve joked, setting that one down a pulling out a couple more as proof.

"The Rescuers and An American Tail?" You laughed, "I'm kinda tempted to watch them all."

"Do you want to?"

"I shouldn't be keeping you awake," you answered, catching the time on the clock hanging above the entertainment system. You were more than positive that Steve had better things to do than entertain you all night (or morning at this point) and sleep was one of those things.

"I don't care," he promised, "I'm glad you came here. After...you haven't really...well, I haven't seen you. I thought maybe you were avoiding me."

"Honestly?" You looked guilty as you replied, "I was."

"Ouch."

"I don't mean like...after I, said what I said...I just thought it'd be better not to bother you."

"Why?" Steve set the movies down and placed his hands on his hips the way he did when he was reprimanding Dustin, though in this case he looked far less stern and far more confused.

"Because..." You gestured with your hand, trying to explain yourself with a wave of your hand instead of speaking. What could you say? "Because I...didn't think you..."

"Did you think I didn't feel the same way? That I don't feel the same way?" He asked.

"I don't expect you to."

"Well I do."

"What?" You were the one who was confused this time, genuinely flustered as you tried to determine exactly what he was telling you.

"When you told me you loved me, I wanted to tell you that I loved you too...I just. It just caught me off guard. I'd wanted to tell you and when you were in the Upside Down I didn't think I'd ever get to and then all the sudden you were there, in front of me and saying it and I just...reacted too slowly." Steve admitted. "I wanted to tell you, every day since, but I didn't want to push you."

"All I thought about, when I was there, was telling you. I mean, obviously I thought about getting out of there alive but also...that if I did I would tell you and I didn't care if you felt the same way. But then, when you didn't say anything, I kind of realized I did care. I didn't want to hear you say that you didn't feel the same way."

"I guess we kind of fucked up huh?" Steve laughed at the end though it seemed more him mocking himself than anything else.

"I mean, not totally." You replied, "if we both feel the same way...kind of a round about way of figuring it all out but that doesn't mean its too late or something."

"Yeah..." He agreed, glancing back at the clock himself, "but it is too late right now. You should be trying to sleep, not spending time focused on everything that happened." He moved away from the entertainment system to grab a blanket from the basket in the corner, handing it over to you. "We can talk later."

"I don't want to miss any opportunities." You admitted, taking the blanket from him.

"You won't...we won't. I just don't want you to feel bad in the morning." He replied, leaning over and pressing a kiss to your forehead, hand gripping the armrest of your recliner, "we have time."

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