#Kaliope imagines

[voicesfoundmymemories]

(Me note: I really wanted to do the last prompt from this, so hello again, this might be a little short)

Nanami x Reader, Fluffy, Maybe a little suggestive CW: None that I can think of Word Count: idk like under 100 perhaps

"Ours."

It'd been nearly a month since your date with Nanami and though things might've been moving a little fast you felt it was long overdue seeing how long you'd had the teensiest of crushes on him.

He was so sweet and charming and kind and not to mention a gentleman, it was hard not to.

He was everything you expected and more, and he'd asked you out right after the date because he said he'd "Wanted our second date to be as a couple."

Which was so sweet it made your heart burst into pieces anytime you thought of it.

Your second date didn't last that long, dinner forgotten on his table and a litter of clothes that made a messy trail to his bed.

You'd both taken to staying over on the weekends at each other's houses, too caught up in each other to find the urgency to get home at a reasonable hour.

You knew Nanami was an early riser because he'd send you sweet good morning texts before your alarm went off for work but he always managed to sleep in when you were staying over.

The smells of breakfast wafted throughout the small apartment, filling it with the warmth of you. The pot sizzled as you hummed to yourself in the kitchen, struggling to flip a few pancakes when you felt a pair of arms languidly wrap around your waist.

"Good morning-" A smile slowly forms on your face, watching your pancakes bubble.

"Morning." He gruffs, face in the crook of your neck as he breathes you in. "Is that my shirt?" He muses and you let out a laugh.

"You mean our shirt? Yes. Yes it is." You scoop the pancakes out of the pan and put them on a plate.

"Ours? Really?" You could hear the grin in his voice, heart warm with the need to see him.

"Mhm." You smile, turning around in his arms. "I like it. Its nice and soft and it smells like you." You hum.

"Hm." He looks down at you, sleepy eyes still holding enough warmth to heat an oven. His hands shift from your waist to the counter behind you, lips pressed sweetly against yours. "Ours."

[tothewaterhq]

KALIOPE HILADE // SCORE OF 6

Her fingers trembled wrapped around Levi’s arm, who smiled over at her, trying to keep both of them positive as they waited what seemed like hours for their turn to be judged. Kali needed to get herself under control. She needed to be at her best.

She unwrapped her fingers from Levi’s arm and sat up straight in her chair watching as the little girl from District Ten walked into the den of Gamemakers. Inhale, exhale, that’s all I’ve got to do, Kali thought to herself, pretending she herself was one of her mother’s patients. This was just a wave of nervous energy flowing through her that had to abate before she went through those doors.

To focus, she thought back to the conversation she had with Dior about the Private Training she was about to have. Show off your strengths, she had said to Kali. There was a plan, the first part was stupid, but to be fair the rest was pretty good - if she could pull it off. Kali shook her head in disbelief, striking the first part of her strategy off. Sneaking in would be dumb because she did need to be seen. The Gamemakers needed to see her as a threat. She needed that score. Kali wanted to go home and she needed help to do that.

But still, her hands were trembling. Maybe it was the thought of having to be in front of a panel of judges. Kali was always the silent judge, drawing people’s secrets and acts out for others to see. She never wanted to be the one on the opposite side.

Kali grabbed Levi’s hand as the District Eleven male tribute was called into the room. She squeezed tightly, hoping her best friend would give her the strength that she needed. Levi cracked a couple of jokes, giving Kali a little laughing fit and a sense of calm before the storm.

“Kaliope Hilade, District Twelve.”

The doors slid open and Kali stood, her head held high and strode into the room. She walked with purpose, her fingers still trembling in her clenched hands. Kali stood frozen for a second as she reached the middle of the room, trying to decide her best course of action. She settled for nervous talking.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, Head Gamemaker. I hope to please you.” Kali internally gagged at the sentence that floated out of her mouth, but asskissing would surely not be detrimental to her plan.

She got to work. Kali brought over a mannequin and set it up in clear view of her assessors, and then brought over a table. She piled it with a bit of medical supplies and some plants and berries that could be used as paints. Wanting to work in her finesse and stealth, Kali quietly and quickly maneuvered herself around the different set-ups to the knives. She pulled out two, quickly twirling them in her hands before dashing back, as silent as a graveyard.

With a quick glance at the Gamemakers, Kali stood several meters away from the mannequin and threw the first knife, dashing quickly after it to simulate some kind of combat. It embedded itself in the left bicep of the mannequin, a little bit off centre from her target of the chest. As she neared the mannequin, she catapulted herself upwards and forwards, tackling into the mannequin and stabbing her other knife into the mannequins shoulder.

The mannequin fell to the ground from the sheer force and Kali held on until the last moments and jumped off, falling hard on her shoulder but still managing to roll back up onto her feet. Her chest was heaving a little bit.

She lifted the mannequin back up to show off her stab wounds and how deep she had gotten them into the realistic flesh of the mannequin. Both knives were still sticking out of the mannequin and she pulled the one in the bicep out, letting it clatter to the floor loudly, hoping to get or keep some attention of the Gamemakers. Kali grabbed the other knife by its hilt and pulled it through the fake flesh across the mannequin’s chest. She pulled it out when it reached it’s left side and also threw it down on the ground with a loud clatter.

The speed of this frenzied action had taken Kali out of her anxious state, but now as she rounded the corner into healing and painting time, her mind caught up with her. She walked slowly to the medical supplies and reached for honey, chamomile, and aloe vera.

She didn’t use a bowl and combined the ingredients into a paste with just her fingers and the surface of the table. “Right now, I am making a healing salve for the deep stab and gash wounds that have been inflicted on this poor dummy. Honey, chamomile, and aloe vera, are all great ingredients that can be found in a lot of different kinds of climates. Any one of these would help heal.”

Kali slathered the paste into the stab wound and the gash wound, wiping the excess off on her pant legs. “With the stab wound, I would apply a tourniquet and then apply a dressing, which I will demonstrate for you now.” She took a large piece of cloth and tore a couple of pieces off before tying the tourniquet around the mannequin’s arm just below the stab wound she had inflicted with her throw. Kali’s hands trembled a little bit, but not enough for her to mess up this kind of bandaging. She took some of the gauze and wrapped it tightly around the stab wound, before quickly assessing the gash wound that she had inflicted.

“This one,” she explained loudly, gesturing to the gash, “would need stitches, but in the Arena it would be very hard to get the supplies needed to do that. So, just dressing the wound would suffice until real medical attention can be given.” It was a cop out, Kali knew it. She didn’t have time to actually prep and sew this cut shut if she wanted to show off her real talent.

Kali sighed and quickly wrapped up the long gash she had given this poor mannequin. “Finally,” she started, as she squashed several blackberries and blueberries and mixed them with water, “I am going to paint this mannequin as if he were to blend in with last year’s Arena.”

Kali had maybe 7 minutes left, max. She applied the purply-black concoction to the mannequin’s chest, imagining the outside of the haunted mansion. Kali detailed the outside with brown mud she had gathered from the tracking station. She streaked the paints across the mannequin’s chest, ignoring his arms and head and legs and trying to be as detailed as possible in this one section of the mannequin.

Time slowly ebbed away. Kali was sweating and the mannequin was turning out pretty good. A large bell chimed from somewhere and Kali stepped away her art. The middle of this mannequin looked like the paneling on the side of the haunted mansion. There were several knots of wood in the paneling and the colours reflected the eerie mood of the mansion.

She had hoped to have moved faster, to have done better with the healing and the throwing of knives, but Kali was at least pleased. She hadn’t failed, it was decent. Kali smiled up at the Gamemakers and bowed.

“Thank you for your time, ladies and gentlemen,” she said, a sweet lilt at the edge of her voice. “Head Gamemaker,” she bowed again to them and quickly darted out of the room.

[requingoestocollege]

may 16th, 2019

I don’t know why I’m so bad at keeping journals. Maybe because there was...I guess a lot of really bad stuff happening. And a lot of really good stuff! I find myself torn on which to start with--the good stuff or the bad stuff. I don’t know if I should omit the bad stuff altogether and pretend the first 5 months of this year weren’t difficult as hell.

I guess that answers my question.

Let me just do the bad stuff quickly: Living in that apartment on 990 Geary turned my life into a living hell for a couple months. I couldn’t eat properly. I was scared of showering. Sleeping was a nightmare. I kept wanting to lock the door against everything scary in the world, like Inigo going to film school, my grades wobbling, having to sleep in the same room as the person who sexually harassed and gaslit me. Oh yeah. Things fell apart with Ray. I cried really hard in front of Fran and then Fran didn’t do anything and I felt so profoundly like no one really cared about my problems. It...sucked. I confronted Ray and they turned the whole situation back on me. It hurt. I got really close to self-harming again, then I did. I’m still mad about that. Inigo and I fought about the film school thing a couple times. That also sucked and hurt, but I’m trying to be cool about it now.

Okay, fuck all that stuff because let me talk about good stuff, in sort of chronological order.

Sage and Elliot finally got their dues after pestering us about all that BERT and OSCRR stuff--they went to the highest point and they STILL sided with us. Haha, in your face anti-Semites. Spectrum was great. Not the best thing I’ve ever done, but at that point, it was a reaffirmation of my friendships with people and a way of getting closer to God in a time that I really needed Them. Lent was HARD but then I got to drink juice again! I went to FRANK IERO AND THE FUTURE VIOLENT’S SHOW WITH EZRA!!! That was SO MUCH FUN and a fulfillment of a freshman year dream. I spent time with my sisters and and family and things felt really good and normal while I spent time with them all over spring break. Easter happened and I prayed a lot and felt really good.

Then, I got cast in She Kills Monsters as Tilly.

I guess it seems silly to be so uplifted by a play, but from the start, I finally got to work with Janelle and Tiana again, plus Katie and Robin directed it and Pippa was stage manager! Uh, here let me just do the whole cast list really fast. 

Janelle as Agnes, me as Tilly, Eden as the Narrator/Steve, Aidan as Miles, Jon as Chuck, Tiana as Lilly, Eve as Kaliope, Isaiah as Orcus, Gabi as Farrah, Lexie and Kaitlin as the Succubi, and Annie as Vera. On the production side, we had Katie and Robin as directors, Pippa the stage manager, Adelaide on lights, Madison on sound, Bean on costuming, Bex, Gabby, and Angela on backstage crew.

Whew! Anyways. So I was really nervous coming onto the cast, but the show is awesome and again, at the point we started rehearsing, I was still living at 990 Geary, so I was also seeing it as an excuse to be out of the apartment all the time. But WOW! I was so excited to be a part of the play because it just means a lot to me as a younger sibling who’s also a BIG NERD. Honestly, in another life I guess I could have been Tilly Evans. Working with everyone was a TOTAL BLAST because everyone was so nice! I really felt safe, loved, and accepted while I was working on it, plus I got to explore my character, acting as a main role, doing all sorts of exercises with everyone, and fight choreography!

This was at a point in my life where I felt so crazy overwhelmed with negativity, so when our fight choreographer Dave (of Dueling Club SF!) and everyone else was complimenting me, I finally felt like I was free of the rut that I had kept getting pushed into. Here was a place where people recognized the work I put in, asked me to take care of myself, always checked in with me, and treated me with sorely needed kindness. Plus, being able to work on a show that so closely involved my special interests made me feel just PHENOMENAL all the time! My grades picked up! My friendships got stronger! And I feel like my acting really improved! All in all I really loved working on it and then the show came around and we FUCKING KILLED IT! The first night, we had some technical difficulties, but the second night was literally INCREDIBLE and I actually legitimately cried onstage because the show was powerful...and because I was sad about leaving such an awesome team.

I don’t know if I could have managed to do all the stuff I did this tough semester without the cast of SKM making me feel like a normal person. I got to move out of an abusive environment, pick up my grades, and get more emotionally stable because I had the wonderful support of everyone around me. I was so phenomenally happy and still am because of everyone.

Um, let’s see. Some mundane stuff.

Moving in at 159 23rd has been cool. I guess it’s sort of weird because we’re not all moved in yet, so I’ve mostly been living by myself with a little bit of Morgan thrown in. (Psst my mom really likes Morgan which is funny to me! Hee hee!) I’m excited but also nervous for Aaron and Ian to move in, I guess because I’m nervous about how living with all of them will be! Will I be self-conscious? Will I accidentally fuck up and not know how to handle it? I don’t know!

In other news...I finished junior year today! Or yesterday, really. It didn’t feel as momentous as I thought it would, or at least, it didn’t feel as momentous as it did when I was a junior in high school, which WHAT THE FUCK that’s super far away now. Isn’t it weird how I remember high school better than college in some ways? I still think it’s kind of fucked up that I graduated high school three years ago and I’m like an adult that pays bills and lives on my own and stuff. I guess that’s normal. I mean, I’m gonna be 21 this year. And I hope this is the year that I keep making good things happen for myself and all that. I guess it just feels like in some ways I’m still 14 wishing I could go to college, and 16 wishing I could leave home, and 18 wondering how I was gonna make it and now I’m 20 and looking back. I hope I haven’t squandered my college years. I really think this last year, despite everything getting fucked up in crazy ways I couldn’t imagine, was also really great in a lot of ways. And I have a lot of hope for my future.

But for now, I should probably get to sleep because I’m writing this at 00:32 and I have WORK tomorrow for Christ’s sake! Anyways. Good luck future me. And just know that I love you and that you are loved by many people other than me. Stay strong, magical, and powerful!

[voicesfoundmymemories]

You've started something you can't get out of by the way, my requests (demands) will be met. 🧶

Mmm craving a Nanami x reader kinda thing, I've gathered guidelines all would be preferred but I'm happy at two.

"I’d feel much better if you’d let me walk you home.”

“If I asked you to stay, would you?”

Is that my shirt?” “You mean our shirt?”

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely, 🎚️

(Me note: thank you for the demand request! We love nanami and I hope you enjoy!) P.S sorry I didn't add in the last one I forgor but maybe it can be a follow up in the near future.

Cw: Mugging on the news, corporate jobs Word Count: 732

Safe and Sound

"Crime continues to plague the city as a slew of new muggings have been reported. While we don't know what has caused the influx in armed robberies, the police have given out tips on how to prevent these..."

You let your shoulders drop, exhaling as you close your computer. You'd worked late again, and now it was getting dark out.

You stand up, stretching a bit as you look around at the basically empty office. 

It's quiet, and without the droning of your coworkers the office sounds almost peaceful. The hum of a printer in another room, the tired lights buzzing. 

You make your way down to the entrance of the building, absentmindedly trying to fit your laptop into its bag amongst the folders that didn't belong in there.

In your struggle you didn't hear the footsteps slowly approaching you, nor the brisk "ahem" that followed.

"Are you planning to walk home alone at this time of night?" You look up from your struggle, a folder in hand as your eyes meet the blonde man's.

"Oh, Kento. You could've scared me-" Your lips inch with a smile. "Yeah, I don't live far from here."

"Well that's even worse. There's been muggings around here lately. It was on the news." He chides.

"Nanami I've been working here for over a year. You trust my work don't you?" You raise an eyebrow at him.

"...What does that have to do with-"

"Then trust my ability to stay vigilant!" You fix your bag onto your shoulder, having gotten everything to fit nicely. "Besides, what'll they take? My laptop can make eggs if I open more than 3 tabs at once." 

He huffs, looking at you with warm eyes despite his attempt to be stern.

"If you're going to walk home do it earlier in the evening. But since it is so late, I should come with you." He says with a finality, shrugging on the suit jacket he'd been holding on his arm. 

"Come with me?" Your brows raise as you try to conceal your excitement.

"Yes. I'd feel much better if you'd let me walk you home, no matter how... vigilant, you may be." He opens the door with an expectant look on his face and you couldn't hold in your big smile as you walked through, eyeing him.

The two of you walk down various streets in comfortable silence, eventually seeing your apartment building up the road.

"Should I count this a mini date? Or are we still, 'unacquainted' with each other?" He scoffs, adjusting your bag on his shoulder.

"You aren't going to ever let that die are you. Can we not move past that?" A small smile pulls at the corner of his lips. "Besides, I think we've become familiar over the year." He glances down at your wrist, still wearing the silly bangle he'd bought for the office secret santa. 

"If you'd like to consider this a mini date, you can, but I'd much rather take you on a real one." You turn around, mouth agape in shock.

You see his eyes flicker with amusement as you become increasingly flustered, trying to form a coherent thought. "You're serious?"

"Have I built a reputation for jokes?" He muses and you are struggling to keep your cool.

"Well no... A real date, would be- nice." You eye him, reaching a hand out for your bag.

He looks up at the building, "Let me walk you to your door."

"It's a two floor complex, the hallway is visible from the outside." You follow his gaze.

"I don't do half-assed jobs. Now come on, darling." You follow him up the stairs, your heart beating wildly in your chest as you're left to think about his proposal.

You get to your apartment, looking through your keys and opening your door. "Thanks for walking me home, Kento." You say softly. Neither of you wanted this to end, eyes meeting in a silent dance of emotions.

Nanami sucked in a breath. "Of course-"

"Would you-" You blurt out, steadying the heartbeat currently thrumming in your ears. "If I asked you to stay, would you?"

His shoulders dropped, like he'd been dying to say the same and you'd beat him to it. "I would."

Your smile matched his as you backed up into your apartment, letting him in. "Do you want tea? I have chamomile." "I'd love that."

[tothewaterhq]

ACCEPTED // KALIOPE HILADE

district twelve → tribute → yara shahidi fc

positive traits: creative, confident, agile negative traits: proud, foolhardy, cunning weapon of choice: dagger token: small leaf necklace

did they volunteer? if so, why?: Kali did not volunteer. She would never.

biography:

For most of her life, it was just Kali and her mom. Her father was just someone that flitted in to her mom’s life and disappeared. They did not talk about him and Kali did not bother to ask. To her, this man was nothing. Her mother had given her such a wonderful life and she was determined to make her mom’s good as well.

Her childhood was filled with happy memories. They often would spend their time either in the market area, making house calls to sick merchants or sit in the back room of her mom’s shop. When she wasn’t spending time with her mom, Kali was off exploring the town, wandering as far as the mines, drawing. Charcoal was easy to come by and Kali would just swipe it out of the fireplace before striding out the front door of the shop, little bell jingling. By the time she got home every evening, her hands were covered in black suit and her sketchbook filled with new drawings.

The shop that Natasha ran was filled wall to ceiling with different plants, medicines, and salves to heal whatever or whoever walked into her shop. The jars and boxes were adorned with Kali’s drawings, which Natasha took great pride in. Her practice was steady and it made them enough coin to live above their shop and away from the Seam.

When Kali was just ten though, the explosion ripped through the mines. When her classmates rushed off to the mine, Kali rushed home. She almost collided with her mother who was toting a large bag of supplies and a grimace on her face. Wide-eyed Kali walked into the shop, told to write down any information of people that walked in looking for remedies. As she passed the Jameson’s house, she saw two scared faces in the windows. She was scared for her mom, but Kali couldn’t imagine what they were feeling.

The Jamesons were knocked to their knees after the explosion, having had their husband and father ripped from their lives. Their next-door neighbours needed them and Kali and Natasha helped them. Dinners, card games, and the occasional charades night filled the Hilade’s calendar.

As the years passed, Kali was less interested in school and more interested in the lives of people who puttered around the town. She enjoyed the lives of real people, watching them as there secrets unfolded in front of them. Kali would scale trees, sit on roofs, and act nonchalant as people had their secret meetings with lovers, exchanges of contraband, and messy break-ups. She would store those secrets as if they were her own, excited to be apart of these people’s lives, even if they did not know it. Her sketchbook was filled to the brim with these meetings and anything that she could draw.

When she could, Kali quit school, going to work for her mom and in her spare time continued to draw and spy on the people of Twelve. Kali learned some of the healing arts, bandaging up scrapes, sewing deep gashes shut, and learning to mix different tinctures for the various infections that spread around Twelve.

A couple of the citizens of Twelve noticed Kali drawing and watching people. No one saw her in the trees or on roofs, but some decided they needed her skills. So, Kali became a spy and a map-maker. She worked out of the back of her mother’s shop, working on commissions for new maps of the mine, when they found new veins of coal or their old maps became unusable. Private citizens would ask her to find out information and give them proof. She would sketch out the scene and helped people catch cheating spouses or trinket thieves.

Kali has settled into her life where she lived happily with her mom and they became the most wonderful dynamic duo. There was not much that could tear her down. Right?

PLAYED BY // CASSIE

[rahuratna]

This is so lovely!!

(Me note: I really wanted to do the last prompt from this, so hello again, this might be a little short)

Nanami x Reader, Fluffy, Maybe a little suggestive CW: None that I can think of Word Count: idk like under 100 perhaps

"Ours."

It'd been nearly a month since your date with Nanami and though things might've been moving a little fast you felt it was long overdue seeing how long you'd had the teensiest of crushes on him.

He was so sweet and charming and kind and not to mention a gentleman, it was hard not to.

He was everything you expected and more, and he'd asked you out right after the date because he said he'd "Wanted our second date to be as a couple."

Which was so sweet it made your heart burst into pieces anytime you thought of it.

Your second date didn't last that long, dinner forgotten on his table and a litter of clothes that made a messy trail to his bed.

You'd both taken to staying over on the weekends at each other's houses, too caught up in each other to find the urgency to get home at a reasonable hour.

You knew Nanami was an early riser because he'd send you sweet good morning texts before your alarm went off for work but he always managed to sleep in when you were staying over.

The smells of breakfast wafted throughout the small apartment, filling it with the warmth of you. The pot sizzled as you hummed to yourself in the kitchen, struggling to flip a few pancakes when you felt a pair of arms languidly wrap around your waist.

"Good morning-" A smile slowly forms on your face, watching your pancakes bubble.

"Morning." He gruffs, face in the crook of your neck as he breathes you in. "Is that my shirt?" He muses and you let out a laugh.

"You mean our shirt? Yes. Yes it is." You scoop the pancakes out of the pan and put them on a plate.

"Ours? Really?" You could hear the grin in his voice, heart warm with the need to see him.

"Mhm." You smile, turning around in his arms. "I like it. Its nice and soft and it smells like you." You hum.

"Hm." He looks down at you, sleepy eyes still holding enough warmth to heat an oven. His hands shift from your waist to the counter behind you, lips pressed sweetly against yours. "Ours."

[voicesfoundmymemories]

reblog so that i can pretend im still writing

You've started something you can't get out of by the way, my requests (demands) will be met. 🧶

Mmm craving a Nanami x reader kinda thing, I've gathered guidelines all would be preferred but I'm happy at two.

"I’d feel much better if you’d let me walk you home.”

“If I asked you to stay, would you?”

Is that my shirt?” “You mean our shirt?”

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely, 🎚️

(Me note: thank you for the demand request! We love nanami and I hope you enjoy!) P.S sorry I didn't add in the last one I forgor but maybe it can be a follow up in the near future.

Cw: Mugging on the news, corporate jobs Word Count: 732

Safe and Sound

"Crime continues to plague the city as a slew of new muggings have been reported. While we don't know what has caused the influx in armed robberies, the police have given out tips on how to prevent these..."

You let your shoulders drop, exhaling as you close your computer. You'd worked late again, and now it was getting dark out.

You stand up, stretching a bit as you look around at the basically empty office. 

It's quiet, and without the droning of your coworkers the office sounds almost peaceful. The hum of a printer in another room, the tired lights buzzing. 

You make your way down to the entrance of the building, absentmindedly trying to fit your laptop into its bag amongst the folders that didn't belong in there.

In your struggle you didn't hear the footsteps slowly approaching you, nor the brisk "ahem" that followed.

"Are you planning to walk home alone at this time of night?" You look up from your struggle, a folder in hand as your eyes meet the blonde man's.

"Oh, Kento. You could've scared me-" Your lips inch with a smile. "Yeah, I don't live far from here."

"Well that's even worse. There's been muggings around here lately. It was on the news." He chides.

"Nanami I've been working here for over a year. You trust my work don't you?" You raise an eyebrow at him.

"...What does that have to do with-"

"Then trust my ability to stay vigilant!" You fix your bag onto your shoulder, having gotten everything to fit nicely. "Besides, what'll they take? My laptop can make eggs if I open more than 3 tabs at once." 

He huffs, looking at you with warm eyes despite his attempt to be stern.

"If you're going to walk home do it earlier in the evening. But since it is so late, I should come with you." He says with a finality, shrugging on the suit jacket he'd been holding on his arm. 

"Come with me?" Your brows raise as you try to conceal your excitement.

"Yes. I'd feel much better if you'd let me walk you home, no matter how... vigilant, you may be." He opens the door with an expectant look on his face and you couldn't hold in your big smile as you walked through, eyeing him.

The two of you walk down various streets in comfortable silence, eventually seeing your apartment building up the road.

"Should I count this a mini date? Or are we still, 'unacquainted' with each other?" He scoffs, adjusting your bag on his shoulder.

"You aren't going to ever let that die are you. Can we not move past that?" A small smile pulls at the corner of his lips. "Besides, I think we've become familiar over the year." He glances down at your wrist, still wearing the silly bangle he'd bought for the office secret santa. 

"If you'd like to consider this a mini date, you can, but I'd much rather take you on a real one." You turn around, mouth agape in shock.

You see his eyes flicker with amusement as you become increasingly flustered, trying to form a coherent thought. "You're serious?"

"Have I built a reputation for jokes?" He muses and you are struggling to keep your cool.

"Well no... A real date, would be- nice." You eye him, reaching a hand out for your bag.

He looks up at the building, "Let me walk you to your door."

"It's a two floor complex, the hallway is visible from the outside." You follow his gaze.

"I don't do half-assed jobs. Now come on, darling." You follow him up the stairs, your heart beating wildly in your chest as you're left to think about his proposal.

You get to your apartment, looking through your keys and opening your door. "Thanks for walking me home, Kento." You say softly. Neither of you wanted this to end, eyes meeting in a silent dance of emotions.

Nanami sucked in a breath. "Of course-"

"Would you-" You blurt out, steadying the heartbeat currently thrumming in your ears. "If I asked you to stay, would you?"

His shoulders dropped, like he'd been dying to say the same and you'd beat him to it. "I would."

Your smile matched his as you backed up into your apartment, letting him in. "Do you want tea? I have chamomile." "I'd love that."