#oh to be the polite and quiet to a this fool's angry and loud

[payaso-affairs]

thinking really hard about this one but we might have another one for the collection, boys-

[primofate]

Genshin x fem!reader [Volleyball Team AU - Inspired by Haikyuu!] He introduces S/O to the team

Before you read this, might be a good idea to read the introduction first. To give you the whole low-down of the team and their dynamicsssss.

Other works in the Volleyball Team AU Series: Click Here

Scenario: You and him have been dating for a while now. Why does the team not know and what’s their reaction in finding out/when he introduces you?

Warnings: AU if that’s not your thing then don’t read, not proofread...as usual.

#1 Zhongli (Captain/Wing Spiker/Ace)

You’ve been dating for nearly 5 months at this point. Beforehand the two of you were close friends. So the team kind of already knew you guys were close, but you’d never met the team properly.

It’s not that he was HIDING your relationship, its that he didn’t want to pressure you into meeting his team. They could really be an overwhelming bunch of high schoolers sometimes.

As it happens he walks to the gym hand in hand with you one day, his other hand on his duffel sports bag, thinking that he’d be the earliest one there as always. 

But when he slides the gym doors open his WHOLE TEAM greets him “CAPTAIN!” and then there’s an awkward silence that descends as they all catch him with his hand intertwined with yours.

KAEYA AND TARTAGLIA LOSES IT. “C-Captain, you had a girlfriend and didn’t tell us?!” “You finally made a move on her?!” “S’about time!”

Needless to say they both get knocked on the head by Zhongli’s fist. 

Zhongli sighs and turns to you apologetically but you say that you don’t mind meeting them. He perks up and claps his hands to ask his team to line up.

They do so diligently. Kaeya, Tartaglia and Thoma are giddy while looking at you. Xiao and Kazuha have their mouth slightly agape as if you’re some kind of rare species. Diluc and Albedo stare you down. 

You introduce yourself as Zhongli’s gilrfriend and as you do so Tartaglia’s eyes dart towards Zhongli who has a slightly shy expression on his face. 

“Oh, oh question time!” Thoma raises his hand “Does the captain secretly eat sweets behind our back?” You haven’t even answered when Kaeya asks “Does the captain ever glare at you (he mimics Zhongli’s face) and say 10 Push ups NOW!” Surprisingly Diluc raises his hand too “...Is the captain strict with you too?”

Zhongli gets irked the more questions are asked and he finally steps in with an ominous presence. “10 laps around the gym...NOW!” 

He apologizes to you again but you reassure him it’s totally fine and they all seem like such fun. 

#2 Diluc (Vice Captain/Wing Spiker/Defense Specialist)

The vice captain is a very secretive guy.

Not even his brother knew.

It’s not that he was ashamed of you, he just liked his privacy and you already knew that. 

But there was this one time where he forgot his textbooks under his desk and you had to go and give it to him while he was at practice.

Shyly looking into the door the first one that spots you is Albedo.

“...Do you need something?” you tense up at Albedo’s question and shakily hand him the textbooks.

“U-Uhm... D-Diluc’s...”

Albedo tilts his head and turns to shout at the team. “Someone’s looking for the vice captain,”

Everyone stops what they’re doing and snaps there head towards you.

Diluc jogs over, sweat still fresh on his forehead. Without thinking he takes the books from you, small smile on his face and thanks you.

The rest of his team freezes up all thinking: “Hold on, is he...SMILING?”

You’re oblivious to them staring and give him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. When Diluc turns back his team is glaring daggers at him, he stares back at them. Doesn’t say anything, and continues practice.

No one is brave enough to ask him about it.

Tartaglia whispers to Kaeya “You didn’t know about it either huh?”

#3 Kaeya (Middle Blocker)

This MF would talk about you whenever he had the chance.

Y/N this, Y/N that, Y/N is so cute. 

Frankly the team is kinda tired of it. 

But when you finally visit one of their practices the team levels their gaze at you and think “Oh shit, he wasn’t lying, she is actually cute,”

Sees his teammates expression and brags even more. “I know what y’all are thinking. You’re thinking, OH! She’s actually really cute! Hm?”

Slings an arm around you shamelessly with a grin. “Back off boys, I’ll block all your attempts,”

Diluc is the one that walks up to you and you blink at him. Kaeya blinks at him, confused as well.

Diluc suddenly bows, “I feel sorry for you but please take care of him,”

The rest of the team either bursts out laughing or snickers behind their hand.

Their vice captain is low key savage

#4 Albedo (Setter)

The team finds out about you cause when they finish practice they find you waiting outside the gym.

Kazuha asks politely while the others look on “Are you lost?”

You straighten up and stutter a little, “Ah, uh, no, I’m...” You’re at a loss for words. 

Then Albedo suddenly appears from the gym doors and sees you. “Ah, were you waiting long? Sorry,”

Thoma tilts his head in question. “Albedo...Your sister?”

Albedo at this point was standing next to you already. “...No, my girlfriend,” like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Everyone is stunned into statues.

“H-How did you get one before me?” Tartaglia looks as if his soul had been sucked out of his body.

“Next time you can just come inside and wait inside the gym, it’s dark out here,” their responsible captain suggests and you’re amazed at his kindness and bow at him with a thank you.

Albedo doesn’t see what’s the big deal and just grabs your hand and starts walking away.

#5 Tartaglia (Middle Blocker/Wing Spiker)

The team already knew since the first date. It’s because he.would.not.shut.up.about.it

That particular day at practice his spikes were a tad bit stronger than usual.

“Oi... you’re getting too excited...” Xiao mumbles at him. Tartaglia just grins and scratches the back of his head. “Aaaahhhh... I can’t help it, I’m so nervous for my date with Y/N!”

A few more dates later he starts showing off his phone wallpaper to the others. It’s a picture of you and him.

Kaeya tries to piss him off by saying, “Huh, we’ve never actually seen her in person. Maybe it’s photoshopped,” The others snicker.

Is so pissed, asks you to come immediately.

You thought it was an emergency so you come into the gym with a worried look on your face only to be hugged tight into his chest. “See? See? She’s totally real and totally cute!”

Albedo crosses his arms and blinks, then looks at Kaeya “...You totally baited him, he’s such a simpleton.”

Kaeya responds with a smirk “Right?”

#6 Kazuha (Decoy/Middle Blocker/Wing Spiker)

The most formal out of all of them and even tells them seriously that he had an announcement to make.

Next day he comes into practice with you in tow.

Properly introduces you as his girlfriend. 

Everyone is wide-eyed at how official it feels. Then you suddenly take out a big container of fruits and tell everyone it’s for them (The captain doesn’t allow sweets, he thinks it’ll fatten them up or some crap.)

EVERYONE IS BLESSED BY YOUR PRESENCE and Kazuha is just enjoying you getting along with them.

Kaeya and Tartaglia try to whisper and bribe you into making cookies for them. 

Albedo and Xiao stares at Kazuha thinking ‘If someone like you can get a girlfriend, we can get one too, right?’

You offer to come back next time with more fruits and some secret cookies.

#7 Xiao (Libero)

Tried to keep it a secret because he knows his team will make a fuss about it.

The team finds out when his phone suddenly starts ringing in the middle of practice and he asks for a timeout to pick it up.

“Mm... Yeah... I’ll pick you up when I finish,” Everyone starts nudging each other when they hear him talk to you in an unusually calm and soft tone. So different from when he plays volleyball and gets angry at them.

By this point everyone tries to keep quiet and enlarge their ears to eavesdrop.

“Idiot... I won’t be late. I promised to take you out didn’t I?” 

Hearing their tsundere libero say something so sweet makes everyone combust.

When he turns back everyone is staring at him with smirks on their faces. “Hey, why not just ask her to come here?” Kaeya sneakily suggests.

Xiao blushes “A-As if I’d let her near you bumbling fools!”

He was worried it would scare you away, actually.

#8 Tohma (Pinch Server/Middle Blocker)

Literally no one is surprised he has a girlfriend.

It would be MORE of a surprise if he DIDN’T have one.

But they find out cause he left his phone out on the bench one day and there’d been a text message while Xiao was conveniently sitting on the bench.

“...Tohma, someone me--” Xiao looks at the screen where the message ‘I love you!’ is clearly written.

Xiao is so curious but is not gunna admit it so he nudges Kaeya or Tartaglia who might be sitting next to him and secretly motions over to the phone.

They read it and ask in a real loud voice “Oi Tohma! Who’s Y/N? They said I love you!” 

Tohma laughs nervously and since it’s already out he might as well introduce you. 

“This is my princess,” he says when you enter the gym to walk home with him that afternoon. You bow and introduce yourself and everyone looks at you thinking... “Ah, they look like the perfect domestic couple,”

Low-key everyone is jealous of how you dote on him.

Hello Hello! Technically this could be counted as fluff, but I understand that not everyone is fond of AUs, so, if you don’t mind being tagged to something like this, please fill in the survey again (I’ve added AU as an option, just click that one if you’ve signed up for the others before!)

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[kuroos-moon]

『  Mistaken Kisses 』

a/n: i really suck at reading word per word huh, my eyes kinda missed accidentally 🤠✨ anon i apologize for being trash pls i’ll make it up to you anytime 😭 

part two | atsumu, sakusa, kenma

pairings: oikawa x reader, tsukishima x reader, sugawara x reader, kuroo x reader

warning/s: slight angst (for all except Suga), language

☾ Oikawa Tooru

unbelievable 

leaving the gym late at night and the first thing he sees is you being kissed by someone else

short-circuits, wanting to lash out and sink into the abyss out of depression at the same time 

it’s the ultimate heartbreak for him rlly and it manifests into ugly annoyance and anger

He watches you push him off, his hand twitching to slap the guy in the face as hard as he serves. “Kunimi-kun, can you hand me that ball over there,” he says, his junior quick to follow his demand at the rare occurrence of his serious demeanor. 

One minute you’re cursing at the person and the next he’s on the ground, groaning in pain with a bloodied nose, the volleyball now bouncing off somewhere. You look to the source and freeze when you see your frowning boyfriend who looked so disappointed in you. 

He only walks off as if he hadn’t seen anything, with you practically jogging in long strides to catch up with him. 

“Toru, I know how you must feel but I didn’t want it either!” You try to reason with him but he pretends to not hear, tightening his grip on his bag as he continues to walk away. 

You grab him by his wrist making him stop to look at you, “oh, y/n-chan didn’t see you there! Why’re you here, did you finish so soon with your other guy?” His smile doesn’t fool anyone at all with his eyes cold and piercing. 

“You saw how I pushed him away! He kissed me out of nowhere,” tears start to gloss your eyes, normally it would stop him from acting childish when you guys fought before but right now, he simply can’t shake off the feeling of betrayal. 

He scoffs, “how would you feel if I have other girls kiss me?” 

You glare at him, knowing fully well how childish and immature he could be but this was a tad bit too much. “I wouldn’t like it all! But I didn’t let him kiss me, you saw so yourself! Don’t be so difficult!” 

“Are we done here?” He spitefully says, withdrawing his arm from your hold. You watch him in disbelief when he actually walks away again, leaving you there.

To your surprise though, he turns on his heel and makes his way over to you with a frown, muttering under his breath and all you hear was “stupid, stupid, baka, everything’s so stupid.”

“Are you alright?” He asks, a small scowl on his lips as he refused to look at you. “I was surprised when he grabbed me, Toru, I really wouldn’t do that to you,” you manage to choke out despite the lump in your throat, and he looks at you in alarm.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” he coos, tucking locks of your hair behind your ears before cupping your face.

“It’s getting late, let’s go home, yeah?” He smiles, before you both walk in the dark streets hand in hand.

☾ Tsukishima Kei

first off, what the actual fuck

he stands still, unconsciously clenching his fists by his sides as he watches you push off the guy

“I’m sorry, I was dared to,” he explains and you hold the look of disgust, frightened when you finally see Tsukishima 

in a heartbeat, the person who kissed you was on the ground, having been kicked by Tsukki out of nowhere 

“Tsukki!” You hiss, going up to his side immediately while he looked down on the guy clutching his side. “Ah, gomen, gomen, did it hurt?” He says with false sincerity, a taunting smirk playing at his lips and you actually fear for what he was going to do next. 

“Tsukki, it’s fine, let’s just go,” you tug on the white shirt he wore, fresh from practice thus the sweat. He momentarily scans your face and he could tell you were frightened and disgusted all at the same time, but what was this bitter feeling he felt? 

Unreasonable jealousy that’s what. 

He sighs before wrapping an arm around your shoulders as he brings you inside the gym, leaving you in the care of Yamaguchi for a while before he exits the gym once more, grabbing the poor kid by the collar. 

“Who gave you the fucking right to kiss my girlfriend?” He sneers in a low chilling voice, scoffing at the terrified expression he wore. “Pathetic,” he tuts before letting him go, deciding it was best to check on you first. 

You’re both in the changing room now, and he had you drink water while he stood shirtless before you. “Next time you should really wait inside,” he tells you, the image burned to the back of his mind that was no good for his temper at all.

“I’m sorry Tsukki,” you guiltily say, looking down at your feet. It actually bothered him so much to have seen you being kissed by someone else, but he knows how none of it was your fault, he really does, that’s why he felt so bad for being slightly irritated at you but he can’t help it. 

“Whatever, let’s go,” he says, finally putting on a shirt and not waiting for you to stand up as he leaves the room first. 

☾ Sugawara Koushi 

this baby’s lit up face as he makes his way over to your classroom contorts to a look of pain once he sees you

before the ache grew he had already assessed the situation though, seeing as how you’d pushed him off cursing

but what the fUck he is anything but chill 

doesn’t really show though as he makes his way over to you, hand resting at the small of your back

You instantly feel safe and secure, looking up to meet his soft eyes on yours, he wanted to reassure you that he understood and that he wasn’t mad at you one bit, it still kinda sucked though. 

“Koushi, he suddenly did it, I don’t know why,” you explain and he strokes your hair, “I know, don’t worry about it,” he smiles. He instantly looks at the pathetic excuse of a guy before you, and the still smiling Suga spooked him out. 

“Why’d you kiss her though, h/n-kun?” He politely asks, and you questioningly look at him, like how is he so calm and like?? not loud?? You’re very much aware how he is when he explodes. 

“I’m sorry man, I just kinda thought she’d like it,” he sheepishly says, avoiding his eyes. You’re both caught in surprise when Suga chuckles, and it almost sounded legit if not for the cold and vicious look pointed at him. 

“Daijoubu, daijoubu,” he says, making his way over to him, and you’re beyond confused when he sticks out his hand, the naive boy stupidly accepting it. 

“You better not come anywhere near her again though,” he warns, his voice dropping low and cold as he looks him straight in the eyes. “I won’t do it again, but we’re classmates so- ow,” he winces. 

You glance down at their hands, noticing how his was obviously being squeezed tight and hard by Suga himself. “I get it, I get it,” he huffs, taking his hand away. “Geez,” he mutters, eyeing Suga darkly before he walks off, and not soon after, he stumbles to the ground because of Suga’s stuck out foot. 

“You didn’t even apologize to her, where are your manners?” He frowns, “dirtbag.” 

Suga took you to an isolated hallway after that, doting on you, and once you’ve assured him you were fine and all, you’re embraced in a warm long hug. “It must’ve pissed you off, Koushi,” you say, guilt behind your voice. 

He merely hums in approval, running his hand up and down your back. “It did, I really really wanted to beat him up but,” he sighs dramatically, and you raise a brow. “I don’t wanna be a bad guy in front of you,” he offers a shy smile. 

☾ Kuroo Tetsuro 

like Oikawa, he would practically stop functioning for a while like what even- what tf in the world is he seeing

he could’t process it, you’d never do that to him but it hurt him so much

quick to catch on that it was without your consent though as you struggled to push him off 

needless to say, i think we all know how Kuroo with his towering height and buffed build could be scary and intimidating

“It was a prank, a harmless prank bro!” He defends, panicked as he was pinned to the locker door behind him with Kuroo clutching on his collar. 

“Harmless?” He repeats with a tone of disdain, and you could practically feel his shiver at Kuroo’s words while you watched their exchange. “Kuroo, please don’t start something,” you touch his arm hesitantly, worried about your teacher’s pet and perfect-deportment boyfriend. 

“I’d never,” he grins sadistically, yanking him before slamming him back to the locker. “Tetsu!” You hiss, trying to pull at him but it did absolutely nothing. “I swear it was just a prank, I planned to kiss any girl- 

“And out of all the girls you decided to kiss mine?” He almost growls, and they both had a resemblance of that of a predator and its prey. “Tetsu, stop it!” You demand, and he does, immediately letting him go and scoffing when he runs away. 

“Calm down,” you hold both his hands in yours, and his dark eyes look at you. He remains quiet, taking you with him as he walks off to the empty volleyball court. 

“Are you mad?” You hesitantly ask, looking at his back as he turned on the lights, “furious,” he shortly answers. He really was fuming mad, no matter how rare he got angry, the incident a while ago was like a stab to the chest for him. 

“I’m sorry,” you mutter, feeling small as you stood still in your spot. He halts his actions though once he hears you, “I wish I could turn back time to avoid him but- 

“Sweetheart I’m not mad at you,” he cuts you off, guilt consuming him as he reflected on his actions a while ago; not once had he asked if you were okay, instead he succumbed to his anger and disregarded how you felt. 

“You’re not?” You ask, looking up at him, and he sighs, “come here,” he opens his arms, and you’re more than happy to rush towards him. “I’m sorry for losing my cool,” he says after you practically threw yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his torso. 

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” you mumble against his chest, and he clenches his jaw, the mere memory of it making him feel hurt and angered at the same time. “It wasn’t your fault, but it totally sucked, I’ll give you that,” he groans, burying his face in your shoulder. 

“Let’s get you home so you could brush your teeth thrice, and then let’s make out,” he grins. 

________________________________________

General Taglist [Open]: @noyasbitchh​ 

[kinktae]

bitchin’ || pt. 10 (FINAL)

The 80s were a time of choices. Which perm was right for you? What color neon would you wear next? None of these choices, however, were more questionable than a certain deal you made with Jeon Jungkook.

pairing: fratboy!jungkook x reader

word count: 5.1k

genre: 1980s au, eventual smut, e2l

warnings: angst

A/N: This fic was inspired by To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Thank you to @junqkook for letting me use her likeness! Thank you all for sticking with this story and these characters <3

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10

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PART TEN (FINAL) 

Jungkook wasn't looking for you when he finally found you that day on campus. He had just come from the student services building, leaving the meeting with his counselor feeling somewhat content. He had officially changed his major to digital communications and multimedia. He never would have done it if it weren’t for you making him feel like he could, of course.

It had a full week since break had ended, and he felt like he was in hell, knowing you were somewhere nearby on campus, but not knowing whether or not you’d want to see him yet. If ever.

He had just finished buying his lunch and was heading to find a table to sit outside when he finally saw you.

You looked just as lovely as he remembered you, your hair braided prettily with your torso bundled up tight in your oversized jacket. You always hated the cold weather, he remembered.

You weren’t by yourself, though, Yara and Taehyung sat with you, laughing amongst themselves. The three of you together looked so normal that before he could stop himself; he found himself walking over to your table, his heart in his throat.

“Hey, guys.”

All conversation came to a halt, the three students turning to face the cautious frat boy, looking familiar yet different all the same.

Jungkook’s words sung awkwardly in the air for a moment as Yara and Taehyung exchanged a quick look. You didn’t need to see Jungkook to know the words had come from him. You recognized the soft timbre of his voice immediately, your eyes locking down on the denim material of your jeans.

Fuck.

For a moment, Jungkook worried that his greeting might go by ignored altogether. The idea made him feel sick, that he had lost the three most important people to him within three weeks.

Taehyung broke away from Yara’s stare, thankfully flashing a genuine smile at him, “Sup, JK. Long time no see. How was your break?”

You let yourself steal a glance at Jungkook as Taehyung sat up and offered him a hug, which he returned gratefully.

You were surprised. His hair was no longer shaggy and long like you remembered it. Instead, it had been freshly cut, looking healthy and neatly styled for the first time since you met Jungkook.

But despite his clean look, there was something off about him. Something that made you feel guilty.

“It was fine.” Jungkook responded halfheartedly, eyes flickering over to you experimentally. You were the whole reason he had come over after all. His stomach sank as he found your eyes jerking away from him, directing your attention to anywhere but him.

“Take a seat, man.” Taehyung invited, ignored the deadly glare being drilled into the side of his face by your best friend.

Jungkook contemplated for a moment, but nodded, joining the table hesitantly.

“Hey, Yara.” He began politely, blatantly aware of the way the girl in question was looking at him as if he were the gum on her shoe that she had stepped in.

“Jockstrap.” The petite girl acknowledged him dryly.

You could feel his attention shift over to you.

God, please don’t.

“Y/N.” His voice was soft and apologetic, and you wanted to scream. You’d be lying if you hadn’t been toying with the idea of possibly meeting up with him once back in school, but as he sat across from you; looking at you as if you were the only person in this room, you felt yourself begin to panic.

Yara could feel the way you had tensed beside her, every alarm in her protective best friend system going off. She turned to you immediately.

“So, Y/N, you never finished your story. How was Erik?” She began casually as if the two of you had been discussing this topic before Jungkook arrived.

“Um...” You blinked, confused at the sudden change of conversation by your scheming best friend.

“Was it weird to catch up with him after all this time?” She continued, words loud and clear as her lips wrapping around the straw of her drink.

“Oh, um...” you caught on, mind racing as you caught Jungkook’s eyes widening at Yara’s words from the corner of your eye.

You knew exactly what your best friend was trying to do. She knew how Jungkook felt about your ex and was using that against him. Two weeks ago, you would’ve gladly rubbed Erik in Jungkook’s face, but after weeks of contemplation, you just felt crummy.

“Erik as in… you ex-fiancé Erik?” You heard Jungkook speak up finally, not even bothering to hide the disbelief in his tone.

And then, you made the mistake of meeting his eyes. All the nerve you could have possibly called upon at that moment dissipating the moment you saw the disquiet confusion in his eyes.

“I, um…”

He didn’t have to say a word. You knew exactly how he felt, his face said it all.

“...have to go.” You finished weakly, chair dragging against the tile floor as you stood up abruptly.

Jungkook was the next up on his feet, “Y/N.”

Any effort he had planned on going after you was halted by an angry-looking Yara, who was throwing her bag over her shoulder as she hurried after you.

“Back off, shit head.” She scowled as she jogged off, leaving Jungkook feeling terrible, sinking back into his seat with a defeated breath.

Taehyung couldn’t help but stare at his best friend with pity. And as much as he wanted to offer some words of comfort, he had none, caught in between friends.

“Fries?” He finally spoke up, a sheepish smile on his handsome face.

Jungkook turned to face his brother slowly, eyes falling on the tray of the potato treat on the table before reaching for one, offering Taehyung a grateful smile that didn’t seem to reach his eyes.

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Jungkook had no idea what he was doing. In fact, standing in front of the dorm door of two girls who he knew most definitely hated him had him feeling like a real tool.

Of course, Jungkook wanted everything to go back to the way it was, with you and him still spending every second together and with Yara as your abrasive, but supportive cheerleader. But he had given up on the idea after the first 15 unanswered phone calls. He had given up on you ever returning his feelings, and that wasn’t why he was here.

As he rapped his knuckles against the door, he knew that he had come to apologize. You were owed at least that much. If you listened, he would tell you how sorry he was and just how much he would take it all back if he could. How he didn’t want to keep bothering you, but couldn’t leave you alone until you got the apology you deserved.

All courage seeped out of him, however, the second he was met with a tiny stature and auburn hair, the scarier of the dorm’s residents answering the door. Meaning he had seconds to get his point across before Yara shut the door in his face.

“I know you don’t want to talk to me right now—”

To his surprise, however, the scary girl walked out into the hall to face him, shutting the dorm door behind her.

Jungkook took a step back as a precaution, knowing better than to piss off an already angry Yara.

“Oh no, I’ve got loads to say to you, actually." Yara said once she was sure the door was closed, her voice low and hard. "Like how you’re a jerk. A tool. A coward. Not to mention a total scumbag–”

Jungkook nodded, interrupting her without thinking, "I know, and I–"

"Oh, I'm not done!” She huffed, and the meathead fell quiet. “A fool. A buffoon. A pathetic excuse for a man. A lecherous ape. A salacious, prurient degenerate!"

Jungkook flinched at Yara’s words. And what colorful words they were too. She was making good use of that English degree, he supposed.

A few silent, tense moments ticked by, neither of them saying a word.

"Anything else?" Jungkook offered, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously. Yara glared at him, arms crossed over her chest defensively.

"...Bedswerver."

He blinked, "Is that even a word?"

"I dunno, I read it in Shakespeare's Winter's Tale the other day. Just felt right, not gonna lie." She shrugged passively.

"Well... I guess I deserved that."

"You think?" She scoffed, clearly still heated. “You’ve been fooling around with Y/N all this time like it’s nothing, and at the first chance, you fuck your ex… only to sleep with Y/N again immediately after! Do you realize what a fucking douche move that is? To both Y/N and Kiri?”

Jungkook could feel his cheeks turning red, very much feeling like a child getting reprimanded by their parent. A child who was undoubtedly in the wrong.

“You're right. I fucked up. Majorly. And I know we can't ever go back to the way we were, that's not why I’m here. I hurt her. She deserves so much – far more than I could ever give her – but at least this... at least I can give her the apology she deserves."

Yara pressed her lips together, letting out a huff if agreement, “I'm surprised your itty bitty, underdeveloped, primitive ant-brain could figure that much out."

Jungkook frowned. She really was laying on the insults thick, wasn’t she?

“Ok, fine, sorry, I'm done now.” She sighed, arms coming back to her sides.

Of course, she was pissed. This entire situation was so entirely frustrating. From the moment those two had shook hands, it was evident that their relationship was heading down a path that neither of them was ready for.

Staring down the dark-haired boy, Yara wondered if this all could have been avoided if these two boneheads were just honest with one another from the beginning. But no, instead, feelings went left unsaid, and her best friend got dirty dicked in the process.

Relationships – even fake ones – were way too much drama for Yara.

Jungkook had remained quiet for now, allowing the door keeper to stare him down, trying to decipher his sincerity in his intentions. She let out a hum.

“You have 15 minutes.”

Jungkook felt his shoulders relax.

“She’s in the living room. I’ll be standing out here the entire time, and if I hear you as so much as raise your voice even a single decibel, I will rip off your dick.”

Of course Yara was going to let Jungkook in; she knew there was a lot still needed to be said between the two of them, and Y/N deserved a chance to speak her mind as well. Besides, Y/N had been rambling all week about reaching out to Jungkook herself. It was the closure both of them needed, and she wasn’t bitter enough to deny him that opportunity. She was just currently enjoying the way he squirmed under her stare.

“Thank you, Yara.”

“I'm serious. You will be penis-less. You'll go crying to the doctors to try and reattach it, but it'll be all in vain as I'll have ripped it to shreds by the time you reach them, way past the point of reconstruction. Do you understand?" She deadpanned.

Jungkook swallowed, head nodding rapidly, "I understand.”

Letting out a sigh, Yara stepped aside, clearing the path to the door.

“Don't fuck this up, jockstrap." She warned, an unexpected softness in her tone.

Holding her stare for a moment, he sent her one final grateful nod, reaching out and pushing the door open.

Entering the dorm, there was a weird sense of melancholy to the space. What once was a place where he spent most of his time, now just felt like an unfamiliar dorm– one in which he wasn’t particularly welcomed.

"Y/N?”

You weren’t propped up on the couch like he had expected you to be. In fact, as Jungkook scanned the space, he realized you weren’t in the common area at all.

Were you in your room? He wasn’t exactly sure how comfortable he felt walking into your room without your permission, given the current circumstances.

Whatever inner debate he was having, however, stopped off quickly as he took note of the light coming from within the shot door of the bathroom. And most notably, the shadow of two feet from underneath the door.

You had panicked.

Naturally, at the sound of Jungkook’s voice, you scurried over to press your ear to the door, hung on his and Yara’s every word. When you heard that he was coming in, you were sent scrambling for a place to hide. The bathroom was merely the best you could do with such a short time frame.

You cursed internally as his footsteps neared your way, stopping once he had reached the locked door. 

"I know you're in there."

You tutted, “So? Am I not allowed to use the bathroom in my own dorm?"

"You aren't using the bathroom." His voice called out from the other side of the door.

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not. You’re pee shy and there is no way you'd be using the restroom with me in the room."

You grimaced. In all the time you had spent with Jungkook, you had timed all your bathroom activities skillfully so that there was no chance he could hear you. This bathroom habit wasn’t only with him. Even Yara had to be tucked away in her room for you to pee comfortably. It was an odd, insignificant quirk of yours and frankly, a stupid thing for him to remember.

“Please… can we talk?”

“Just leave me alone, Jungkook.” You leaned your back into the door, voice void of emotion.

“I can't. Not with how we left things.” He placed a hand against the door, wishing it was your face he was holding instead. “You’re my best friend, Y/N.”

Bitterly, you thought back when Jungkook had called Kiri his best friend the night the two of you first slept together. One way or another, it always seemed to come back to her. 

God, did it piss you off.

Angry now, you pushed yourself off the door, turning to face it as you imagining it was Jungkook's stupid face your eyes were burrowing into.

“You said Kiri came over asking for you back, yet you still came over and slept with me the next day. Even though the two of you had sex the night before. Do you understand how that makes me feel?”

“I’m—”

“Like garbage!" You emphasized, the white paint of the door somehow irritating you further. "I felt like I was something you threw away and picked back up whenever you felt like getting your dick wet.”

Your chest was rising and falling rapidly, and you tried your hardest to not let your emotions get the best of you.

“Not to mention to everyone else, it looks like you cheated on me. Which makes me look like a fucking idiot." You scoffed.

Jungkook said nothing in reply, which somehow made it easier to say all you should have said that day in your room.

“It just sucks to realize that someone you once cared about sees you as nothing more than a toy. It fucking sucks.”

Your words were small now, clearly hurt, and it made Jungkook’s heart sink.

“Fuck, Y/N, you’re right, you’re totally right. It was fucked upand gross and disrespectful, and I'm so fucking sorry I did that to you. I’m so sorry I hurt you like that. Y/N, you’re not just a toy to me. You’re more. You are so much fucking more.”

“...Why did you sleep with her?” You muttered pathetically, selfishly wanting to know.

Jungkook pressed his lips together. He had been asking himself that very question every day since he did it.

"I just... I thought it was what I wanted. It was what I was supposed to want.” His eyebrows furrowed. "The entire time, I kept telling myself... This is it. I got what I wanted. Y/N was right. We're both gonna be happy now. But that’s not what happened. And that scared me."

God, how he wished he could see you right now.

"I didn't come over the next day to sleep with you. I just saw you... that was not... my head went blank and– ah, fuck, I practiced what I was gonna say on the way here. What am I even saying right now?" Jungkook groaned out to himself suddenly, hands entangling themselves in his hair.

How was he supposed to tell you that the second you opened that door that morning, all logical thinking stopped, and all he could think about was the fact how much he had missed you last night and how badly he needed to feel your lips again to forget hers. How he lost himself in the way you felt and tasted wasn't strong enough to stop himself.

In fact, he had nearly forgotten all about his terrible mistake when you suddenly brought up spending Christmas together, realization sinking over him. Of course, he wanted to spend it together, but there was no way he could lie to you for any longer. No way he could meet your parents after what he had done.

There was no sugarcoating it. He really was pathetic. And there is no easy way to tell you that.

"Why are you here? Honestly, Jungkook, what do you want from me?" Your words rang out suddenly, taking Jungkook by surprise.

What did he want from you?

What didn't he want from you? He wanted all of you. He wanted to tell you that you were the only thing he thought about all winter break. How you could take his heart and do whatever you deemed fit with it. That you had him wrapped around your finger, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

But none of that mattered now.

"I know we can never go back to how we were before. What we had is ruined and that's because of me. I just wanted to apologize for ever making you feel like all I ever wanted was sex from you. I'm so fucking sorry."

You had your hands buried in your palms, wishing this wasn’t all so hard. That you had just broken the contract off the second you realized you had real feelings for him.

"The night at the roller rink, you told me that if I love something and it inspires me then I should go after it, right?”

Lifting your head from your hands, you frowned at Jungkook’s words.

Your roller skating date? God, that felt like ages ago...

“Yeah. So?”

“S-So, um–" Jungkook stuttered, ears turning red as he contemplated his next words, "so, for me... you're that something. And I couldn't just let you go with at least letting you know how sorry I was. Fuck, that was so lame, sorry, I probably sound like such a wastoid right now."

You wanted to cry, not because you weren’t happy but because you were so tired of hating Jungkook and pretending like you didn't just want to run back to him. You had spent the last three weeks rejecting his calls yet wondering all the same what he was doing. Your heart and mind were in constant paradox, torn between wanting him back and wanting him to know just how much he had hurt you.

Your mind ultimately won the battle, of course, but as Jungkook stood just a few inches of drywood apart pouring his heart out, it was hard to say which major organ was responsible for your next words.

The creak of the door being pushed open sent Jungkook's eyes wide, revealing your hesitant form. You had your arms crossed over your chest as if to guard the contents inside of it.

You looked like an angel underneath the bathroom's blue fluorescent lights, beautiful and lovely, a stark contrast from your next crushing sentence.

“I slept with Erik.”

You weren’t expecting the news to go over well with him, but what you weren’t expecting was the way Jungkook’s face fell entirely slack as if he had just witnessed his world fall in front of him.

You weren’t exactly proud of what you had done. You and Erik had gone out for dinner, admittedly enjoying each other’s company and catching up on all the years you spent apart. You didn’t have plans on sleeping with Erik when you first called him up. Honestly, it was Jungkook’s name being continuously brought up during the car ride home that spurred on the impulsive decision to kiss Erik, just to get him to shut up really. But more than that, you knew precisely where kissing him would lead.

As always, Erik was predictable, and he fed into your request without question, and you felt terrible about it. It was a mistake at worst and a distraction at best.

Hardly even a distraction, as Jungkook was inescapable. He was in the back of your mind the entire time, looking at you with sad doe eyes that you were trying your hardest to ignore.

Even as you slipped back on your shirt when the deed was done, code brown starting to set in as the reality of what you had done hit you, you couldn’t escape him, as Erik wished you well and that he hoped things between the frat boy and you worked out.

Needless to say, you spent the rest of you break absolutely miserable — hating yourself using Erik in the same way Jungkook had used you.

The sound of Jungkook swallowing dryly brought you back from your thoughts. “Did you… I mean, are you two back together?”

He placed a hand into the front of his jean’s pocket as you contemplated your next words.

He continued on, “If… if he makes you happy..."

A gross feeling washed over you, watching as the boy you loved tried to hide the way his breath was trembling. You bit down on your bottom lip.

“When Erik and I…” you paused as you watched Jungkook’s expression fall further, “I was expecting it to be all intense and emotional. Because I once loved him.”

You frowned, the memory still somewhat fresh, “But I wasn’t. It felt foreign and detached and—”

“Wrong.” Jungkook finished for you, a melancholic shine in his eyes. You nodded.

“I didn’t understand at first. I have been having casual sex with you for all this time, but it felt nothing like that.”

“I know exactly what you mean.” He breathed.

You turned away from him a moment, trying to grab hold of your wit before you could once again flee from the scene, leaving your meathead ex fake boyfriend in your dust.

"I'm not saying what you did was justifiable, because it's not, but... I guess I'm not exactly in any position to not forgive you. Because I used Erik to forget about you. And it felt horrible."

"What are you saying?" Jungkook didn’t know what to make of what your cautious words.

Turning back towards him, you held his stare with certainty.

"I'm saying that... I forgive you."

A sharp breath came tumbling out of the boy’s mouth, eyes growing wide as he tried to make sense of how he had ever earned your forgiveness after what he had done to you.

He took a step towards you instinctively, only to be stopped as you held out a hand to halt him.

“I need you to understand something.” Your arms tightened around yourself, growing shaky. “I don’t need you. I had a life before you, and I know I'll have one after you.”

Jungkook nodded at you, despite how much it hurt him. He understood. You had given him forgiveness; he wasn’t owed anything more.

All you had to do was say the word, and he’d be out of your hair forever. He’d do anything you’d ask him to, despite the way every part of him was screaming for you.

“I don’t need you… but I don’t think I want a life without you.” You finished shyly.

Your eyes were locked with his when suddenly a small noise escaped him, eyes pulling away from yours as his head moved to attempt to hide the way his eyes had grown wet.

At the sight of a tear rolling down the side of his face, you were by his side, hands gripping his jacket worriedly.

"Wha– Why are you crying?!" You panicked, never having dealt with a crying meathead before. This was uncharted territory.

"Fuck, I'm sorry. I just..." your heart lurched at his broken tone, watching as he wiped at his cheeks with the back of his hands. "Didn't think I'd ever see you again after this. I missed you so much. I'm so fucking sorry for hurting you."

“I missed you, too.” You cooed softly, tugging at his jacket so that he’d face you again.

And suddenly, the sound of paper hitting the floor rang out, the two of you pulling back to look at what had come tumbling out of Jungkook’s pocket.

“What’s that?” You asked innocently, not seeing the way his cheeks had gone pink.

“N-Nothing.” He was quick to reach for it, cursing lowly as you beat him to it, taking the crumpled up paper in your hands.

He watched miserably as you pried it back open, scanning through the paper in confusion.

“Jungkook… What is this?” You muttered.

Jungkook’s face was positively burning, time moving slowly as he realized what was about to happen.

“I, um, wrote it one night when I couldn’t sleep... I forgot I put it in this jacket. I meant to throw it away.”

Your face held an expression of uncertainty, as if unsure how to proceed. It was undoubtedly addressed to you, an affectionate “Nerd” up on the top.

So you opened the paper further, flatting it out with your hands as you began to read.

“Do you mean what you wrote?” You finally spoke, voice wavering.

Jungkook wished he could disappear into the floor right now. Never in this wildest dreams did he imagine a scenario where you would find out about his feelings for you through a sappy love note he had written when he was moping around late one night.

“Yeah, I do.” He told you honestly, your heart skipping several beats.

In that case, it was time you were honest as well.

“You're right when you say things can't go back to the way things were.” You began, cheeks warm. “Not because you ruined it but because I'm not putting myself through that again. I'm sick of half-assing shit and tired of lying to you and to myself. I know what I want, and it's you… not because I have something to prove, not because I want to make Kiri jealous but because of the sole reason that you make me happy." Your strong facade began to crumble as insecurity began to suddenly sink in. “But if you don’t want that, if you don’t want something real... then nevermind, I guess.”

And all at once, Jungkook realized that all this time it hadn’t been just him.

Two arms made their way around you, and suddenly, you were engulfed in warmth, Jungkook’s close proximity pulling a wave of emotions out of you.

“I love you, nerd. I don't why it took me so long to realize that, but I know without a doubt that you are it for me. Nothing could change the way I feel about you.”

And finally, you let out a cry, breaking down all the walls you had built up to keep Jungkook from perceiving you as weak. Because maybe you were. Maybe you were weak for this boy, but as you buried your wet face into his chest, you no longer cared, the weight of everything you had felt these past three weeks crushing down on you.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Jungkook cooed softly, chin coming up to rest upon your head.

"I love you, too." Was your weepy reply.

Jungkook’s eyes fluttered shut, tears rolling down his cheeks as he pressed a kiss into your head, wanting nothing more than to stay like this with you forever.

"Are you two dorks done crying?" Yara’s voice rang out suddenly, causing both of you to jump apart.

"Yara, you creep! Privacy, dude! Ever try knocking?" You sniffed, wiping at your face hurriedly.

How long had she been standing there?

"What? Like you were peeing with Jungkook in the bathroom? Please." She waved you off, walking back into the living room to give you two some privacy. She did say Jungkook had 15 minutes before she’d have to come back in after all. "Anyway, Tae will be over in 10 minutes for the Saved By The Bell marathon that’s on so you guys are more than welcomed to join." She called out from her newly seated position on the couch.

"Sure, whatever..." You huffed back, flashing Jungkook an exasperated look. So much for that special moment.

Jungkook didn’t seem too bothered though, the fullest, most boyish grin on his lips, taking in the puffy-eyed girl in front of him that he could now with full confidence call his.

And that girl couldn’t help but smile back at him just as stupidly because for once, there was nothing fake about your boyfriend.

"How is it that a piece of paper is the start of both our real and fake relationship?" He mused suddenly, hands reaching to take yours. You hummed, taking in the way your fingers intertwined.

“Funnily enough, we broke, like, every rule of our contract." You quirked up a brow.

“You know…” Jungkook began, flashing you a mischievous look, “it states very clearly on the bottom that the contract will be terminated upon completion. We can’t terminate the contract if we never completed it.”

“What are you saying? We keep the contract going?” You laughed.

“I’m saying that you are contractually stuck with me.”

“That contract is in desperate need of some amendments.” You rolled your eyes.

“Yeah? And what did you have in mind?” His hands found your waist, pulling you into him.

“Rule number one has gotta go. The one kiss policy just won’t slide with me.”

Jungkook let out a laugh, his palm finding your cheek, eyes locked on your lips. You were preening for his kiss, mouth parting slightly as you anticipated it.

“Partners?”

The question took you by surprise, eyes widening at your not so pretend lover.

Idiot.

“Partners.” You smiled softly, eyes shiny and brimming with tears as he kissed you for what must have been the millionth time, but still somehow felt like the first.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

And just like that, bitchin’ is over :’( thank u all for ur support, seriously I was not expecting this kind of response (consistent too!) to this story and I'm so beyond grateful and I hope you all know I never take your engagement for granted. thank you for letting me share my stories <3

[extramemberkpop]

MTL Popular Ships with the Members

(Plus a favorite moment) I’ll do a separate post about the nicknames.

Yoongi - Kigi: The fans love how protective Yoongi is of Kira, plus knowing that he is completely soft for her makes the fans incredibly happy. They know that Yoongi would do anything for Kira and seeing the two interact makes fans' hearts grow warm. 

Numerous fans were waiting in the airport to try and get a glimpse of BTS. Once the group was spotted the fans became rowdy, some even trying to push their way towards the group. Seeing Kira jump slightly from the fans closing in around them, Yoongi instantly wrapped an arm around Kira’s shoulder’s and tucked her into his side. Kira looked up at Yoongi and whispered a quiet “thank you”, only for him to give her a quick kiss on the forehead in reply. 

Taehyung - Taera: The fans adore how smiley and goofy the two get around each other. Watching the two try to make each other laugh (which really isn’t difficult) and then get scolded by Namjoon or Jin always makes fans smile. 

Being on the Ellen show for the first time, Kira knew that it was between her and Namjoon to translate for the group. This made Kira very focused on her task and stayed pretty serious throughout the interview. Taehyung had other ideas though. During the interview he kept trying to get her attention when Ellen and Namjoon weren’t paying attention. Finally with one silly face after another, Kira couldn’t hold in her giggles anymore. She quickly threw both of her hands over her mouth and looked away from Taehyung. But Taehyung was satisfied with making her laugh and had a huge smile on his face through the rest of the interview. 

Jimin - Jira: Fans love how these two are almost always next to each other and touching in some way. Though this isn’t the most popular overall ship it is the most popular ship in the sense that fans ship them romantically. 

Jimin was in the middle of a solo Vlive answering fan questions when there was a soft knock at his door. He turned his head as Kira opened the door and stuck her head through. “Squish?” She asked. “Yes, jagi?” He replied, waiting for her to continue. “Could we cuddle? You can still stay on live.” A bright smile instantly made his way onto Jimin’s face, “Of course! Come here.” He pushed his seat back and opened his arms, welcoming Kira into his embrace. A smile made her way onto her face as she skipped over. She crawled into his lap, wrapping her arms around his waist and shoving her face into his neck. 

Jungkook - Kirook: The two being so close in age is probably the main reason that these two are shipped together pretty often. These two are also so sweet together though which makes the fans very happy.

Kira and Jungkook were casually playing with a basketball, though Kira was quickly becoming frustrated because Jungkook was doing a lot better than her. “It’s not fair! You’re too tall.” Kira exclaimed with a pout.  Jungkook smiled, “You’re just too short, Ra.” This made Kira’s pout grow, if that were even possible. Jungkook only laughed in response walking up to her and turning her around so that she faced away from him. Kira opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing but shut it when he lifted her by the waist, allowing her to easily make the next basket.  Kira’s frown turned into a huge smile as he gently placed her back on the ground. “Thanks, Kookie!”  “Anytime.” He replied as he ruffled her hair.

Namjoon - Namra: Fans love seeing these two nerd out together. Between talking about books and random facts that they learned, they always have something interesting to talk about. Everyone thinks it’s sweet how these two are constantly learning something new because of the other.

Kira bounced up and down, gripping Namjoon’s hand tightly as she pulled him along. Namjoon chuckled as he watched her, “Calm down, Belle. Hogwarts isn’t going anywhere.” “I know, but I’m so excited. There’s so much for us to do! I need to get a wand and my robes. Plus we need to drink butterbeer and -” Her sentence gets cut off with a loud squeal as her eyes land on Hogwarts castle. “There it is Joon! It’s so beautiful!” Namjoon let out another loud laugh but before he got the chance to reply, Kira threw her arms around his neck pulling him into a tight hug. “Thank you so much for taking me here!” “I’ll do anything to get you to smile like this, Belle.”

J-Hope - Hora: Fans always think it’s really cute how playful this pair is. Called the “sunshine pair” by some because their smiles can light up any room. Though it isn’t the most popular ship fans are constantly looking forward to any interactions the pair may have.

The group was at Buzzfeed answering fan questions and playing with puppies. Namjoon and Kira took turns reading the questions, though Namjoon definitely ended up reading more due to Kira being distracted by the dogs. One of the questions Kira did read though was “Who gives the best hugs?” Which caused Hobi to immediately reach over and pull her into a side hug screaming, “Minha vida!” The others quickly nodding their heads in agreements. Not knowing how to respond, Kira hid her blushing face by raising one of the puppies to block her.

Jin - Jinra: Though this may be the least popular ship out of the group, don’t let the placement fool you. So many of the fans adore their interactions because they get to see how sweet and motherly Jin really can be.

Kira usually picks up on choreography pretty fast considering that she’s been dancing since she was three. But for whatever reason she kept messing up one part of the DNA routine. She told the boys that she was going to stay behind and work on the part for a little longer. Both Hobi and Jimin asked if she wanted them to stay behind to help, though she politely declined saying she wanted to work by herself for a while.  Again and again Kira tried but only got more annoyed as time went on and she still wasn’t getting the choreography right. Angry at herself and unaware of Jin entering the room with food she threw her phone across the room and slid down the mirrors with her head in her hands.  “Oh angel.” At the sound of Jin’s voice, Kira whips her head up. The older boy quickly makes his way over to her as she fights to hold back her tears.  “I can’t do it Jinnie.” She mumbles as Jin cradles her in his arms. “Yes, you can. You’re being too hard on yourself. You need a break. I brought food and after you’re done eating we’re going back home so you can sleep.” “I need to practice more.” Kira tries to argue. Jin instantly glares, “No.” He says sternly. “You’re coming home with me and taking a nice warm shower and then bed. Practicing more right now is just going to get you more worked up. You’ll get the dance down tomorrow. You always do.” Kira bite her lips but nods, knowing he’s right. She leans in to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek then turns to her food, just realizing how hungry she is.

[tsukikento]

Empathetic Chapter 13

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Summary: After your mom, the number 1 hero in America, gets offered a teaching position at U.A., you two pack up your things and head to Musutafu, Japan to start a new life. Pressure for you in America was at an all-time high, and now you’re in Japan, where almost no one knows you, or your family’s past.

This tale starts on your first day of class where your new teacher decides the best way for you to fit in is to fight against the strongest person in your class: Bakugou Katsuki.

Warnings/Genre: This piece will feature some angst and reference to an abusive parent, if you are ever worried about other tw’s feel free to send me an ask and I will let you know. There will also be fluff, slight angst, pining, and slowburn.

A/N: I finished this weeks ago and then took forever to do my final edit! Which may suck, but I think the wait is worth it. I’m hoping to write much more in the new year! :) Please let me know what you think.

(masterlist)

It was another mundane and busy week until anything eventful occurred.

Although, there were still highlights to your week, particularly the lunch periods.

On Monday, you ate with Ashido, Kirishima, and the rest of that small group of friends you were becoming more acquainted with. News of Ashido and Kirishima’s relationship spread quickly as they sat together before class started and were giggling messes for much of the day. Therefore, the couple decided to sit next to each other during lunch instead of in the usual seating order. Because of the seating change, you were now positioned next to Bakugou who kept rather quiet except for the few times he nudged you to laugh at how idiotic the couple was being.

Tuesday was rather similar, except now Kaminari and Sero were pretending to be a couple in order to mock Ashido and Kirishima. They comically fed each other lunch, called each other disgustingly sweet pet names, and even pretended to kiss a few times. You, out of everyone there, found this the funniest. You could not help but laugh loudly at their antics while Ashido and Kirishima swayed between being upset, bashful, and laughing along. Bakugou had a small smile planted on his lips throughout the lunch, but did not bark out a laugh once.

On Wednesday, Ashido practically ruined your plans by telling you that she was eating with just Kirishima that day. You had been so excited to sit with Bakugou once more that you weren’t quite sure what to do. After some debate, you ended up sitting with the rest of the Class 1-A girls. They spent most of the lunch talking about school, which wasn’t horrible, but they were much less humorous than the ridiculous and rambunctious boys you had been sitting with.

On Thursday, you once again sat with the girls. However, Uraraka was missing today and was replaced by an Ashido who could not stop staring at Kirishima. Despite ogling him during lunch, she firmly believed in spending time with other people and taking things slow. This resulted in her promising one day for “just us girls!” As the two lovesick puppies continued to shift in their seats to get a look at the other.  You even found yourself preemptively looking towards the table of boys to catch Kirishima’s glances. It seemed Bakugou had the same idea because you made eye contact with him almost as much as Kirishima and Ashido had.

When Friday rolled around, you were fairly tired. School picked up quickly and you were still working on catching up from the weeks you missed. With little sleep, you trudged to the table with Ashido and Kirishima and allowed anyone but you to carry on a conversation. Luckily, that was easy for the group sitting with you.

Although you weren’t quite sure what was happening, you were fairly certain Ashido and Kaminari were rallying a humorous bit about Aizawa and another hero. Something about jokes? Or somebody with a lot of jokes?

However, the happy atmosphere changed quickly as Mineta approached you all with a sick smirk plastered on his face.

Despite Kaminari and Sero being friendly with Mineta in their first year, and not outright hating him now, they knew better than to welcome him with open arms to a table with two girls, the chivalrous Kirishima, and a short-tempered Bakugou. With this in mind, they stayed quiet as the purple-headed boy arrived at their table and gained everyone’s attention.

“Can we help you?” Kirishima asked politely. He cautiously wrapped his arm around Ashido, very aware that Mineta could be more vulgar than the average person.

“I just wanted to congratulate you on your relationship,” He began, surprising all of you.

Even you turned to look at him out of surprise. The action wasn’t too difficult because he was positioned between you and Bakugou who sat at the head of the table. You furrowed your eyebrows as you watched him begin to speak once more.

“I have to say I’m pretty jealous you get to tap that pink a—“

“Oh my god,” Ashido’s voice covered up his last word and you all looked at him in mal contempt and utter disgust.

Anger immediately flooded through your veins and you almost threw yourself away to distance yourself from Mineta as much as possible. Furthermore, despite your tired mind, you had been wanting to destress for hours, and you swiftly placed your hand on the short boy’s shoulder as you saw the opportunity arise. Although it pained you to even touch him, you craved to let your aggressions go much more than your craved distance.

You smirked as his emotions ran through you. With as much control as you could muster, you did not allow his perverse feelings overcome you and instead focused on his insecurities.

“Pretty big words from someone who wouldn’t even be a hero if it wasn’t for your grape-filled brain,” You said, letting your aggression take over your conscious. “I wouldn’t make comments like that knowing full well all of us here could kick your ass. You don’t even fit well into our class when your quirk is easily outdone by Sero and your smarts are far from the best in the class.” Every word your spoke spit the venom of a snake, but you couldn’t stop yourself from letting though go into the loud cafeteria.

“Holy shit,” You heard Kaminari chuckle out of pure surprise once you finished ridiculing Mineta.

You removed your hand from his shoulder and stared at him with a sickly evil smirk, practically begging the purple pile of garbage to try and retort to much too real claims.

“Scram,” A deep voice beside you spoke up.

You looked over to Bakugou and saw as much anger in his eyes as you were sure were in yours. However, you were quite sure yours were now being replaced with confusion.

Mineta fled with his theoretical tail between his legs. You didn’t have to remove your earbuds to know he was regretting ever coming to this table.

Good, you thought as you watched him leave.

Once he was a good distance away, you turned back to your groups of friends who stared at you in shock.

“Damn, L/N-san,” Sero commented, very purposefully using formal language around you.

“Your tongue is as sharp as Bakugou’s,” Kirishima added while Ashido ran around to give you a hug for defending her.

“Thank you,” She whispered in your ear, her tone happier than you would expect at this time.

You nervously chuckled and scratched the back of your head, not expecting them to be so accepting of your angry side. It really only ever come out during a fight or when someone was particularly pissing you off.

“Yeah,” Bakugou quietly added. You looked over to him as he continued to speak, “It was,” A pregnant pause filled the table, “Cool.” Despite him still looking dissatisfied with his choice of words, you didn’t push for him to clarify.

“Thanks,” You replied, a gentle smile stretched across your hot cheeks. His own cheeks tinged a hue of pink you saw rarely and you knew that this moment was special. You didn’t want to rush to conclusions because assumptions were never ideal, but you hoped Bakugou actually liked seeing your quick wit come out.

The bell rang, signaling that your session of lunch was coming to a close and you had 5 minutes to get to your next class. You grabbed your small dessert before tossing the rest of your lunch. While Bakugou, Ashido, and Kaminari departed in a separate direction for the class with your mom, you gingerly walked with Sero and Kirishima back to the 2-A classroom.

The two boys continued to compliment you as you walked into class on your impressive words.

“If it was anyone else, I would be nervous to say this,” Kirishima spoke, “But Mineta is so crude that he kind of deserves it. Especially considering what he was saying about Ashido.”

You smiled at Kirishima, who currently had pink spreading across his face. “I’m sure you would have stepped in if I hadn’t,” You added, knowing full well that Kirishima was very polite.

The conversation continued until you arrived at your class. Sero moved to his seat while you and Kirishima walked together to the back to sit in your seats one behind the other.

When Monday had come, Aizawa still hadn’t prepared anything for the class to do, but today he came prepared.

With a pop quiz.

Everyone in the class groaned as he insisted it would give you all a better chance than the other students on the next exam.

By the time you got out of class, you were sure Ashido, Kaminari, and Bakugou were still with your mom.

Despite knowing full well that you should head over to your mom’s house and feed your cat, you were also very tempted to sit in on the class. Or at least see Bakugou again.

You felt butterflies erupt in your stomach, something that had become more and more common, at the thought of seeing him. You felt like such a fool with your ridiculous crush, but you couldn’t help how excited you got at the idea of seeing him.

Additionally, today’s class was supposed to be her day with every year rather than just one. The large crowd would mean she wasn’t as intense and detailed. Finally, you decided to use a simple excuse of a question to have a reason to go and see your friends.

Primarily Bakugou, you admitted to yourself as you trekked the halls to the large gymnasium.

Despite his previous comments, Bakugou’s temperament towards your mother’s class had gone down by Monday when she was able to talk to him more one on one about manipulating his explosions and how it matched with her fire manipulation.

Having sat in on your own siblings' training sessions multiple times, you knew the speech about fire, or explosions in Bakugou’s case, not being able to provide nearly as much defense as offense.

Ashido had recanted to you that Bakugou spent most of the day trying to use his explosions to block attacks from whatever partner he was with instead of using his explosions to attack them.

You were glad they were getting along with each other, but you want for them to get along together also scared you to death.

Is me wanting them to get along too much? You questioned, trying to be conscious of how quickly your feelings were getting the best of you.

Reluctantly, you attempted to swallow your nerves and went to grab the door handle of the gym.

Since your mother would be talking to all her students as opposed to just one years’ worth, you knew you would have quite the audience as you opened the loud door to the gym. That could be positive and negative.

As you predicted, a plethora of eyes moved from your mother to look at you as you bashfully came in. They were currently sitting on the ground as your mother talked to them about who knows what.

Immediately your eyes found Bakugou’s sharp vermillion eyes. You felt your face flush as his piercing gaze stared back at your shamelessly. It was almost intense enough for you to look down and run out of the gym.

However, before you had a chance, your mother whipped around and smiled at you as she noticed herself lose everyone’s attention.

“Ah!” She cheerfully exclaimed as you tentatively approached her and stood in front of more than fifty students.

You couldn’t help but watch Bakugou as his eyes brazenly traveled up and down your body as you approached the group of students. The smirk on his lips was a bold reminder that he was much more confident than you.

“Everyone,” Your mom spoke and she turned to face the crowd, “This is my daughter, Y/N!”

Although you knew what type of situation you put yourself in, you still nervously waved at the class before leaning into your mom. “Sorry, I just needed to ask you something.”

“We’ll be right back,” She told the class. Gently, she grabbed your elbow and pulled you away so the students couldn’t hear you. “Yeah?” She asked.

Although you appreciated her moving you both out of earshot, you were intending to talk to her in English, which many of the students knew very little of considering it was your first language and most likely their second.

“I was just about to head over to feed Cody and remembered you being a little low on food on Wednesday. Do you want me to pick up more?” You asked.

“Oh, yes! That would be perfect!” She exclaimed, “Thank you for remembering.”

“Okay, cool, see you la—”

“Come talk to the class before you go!” Your mother excitedly said as she pulled you back to the students, clearly wanting to show off one of her 5 prodigies.

Although she was strict when it came to training and held standards for you that were much different from her siblings, you were still her pride and joy. She acted so childishly when not focused on work, and it almost felt like Ashido was the one dragging you to do something you didn’t want to do.

“Tell them about how I am as a teacher,” She said in Japanese so the class could understand.

You sighed before looking to the students and trying to find the best words. Although there were many people in the audience you knew, you only kept your eyes on Bakugou as you spoke. Having my mom as your teacher can help you so much, so pay attention, you thought to yourself before speaking. “She is a hard-ass. She knows your potential and knows you can do better than you think. She is kind to you, but when you slack off, she gets more serious than you will ever see. Take this class seriously.” You paused for a moment before adding. “My mom trained all four of my older siblings. She is the number 1 hero in America, and they are all in the top 20 and climbing. You are lucky to have her help.”

Your tone was serious, but your mother’s kind smile was what made the situation scariest. She didn’t even correct you or criticize her for calling her a hard-ass. Many students had shocked faces with only a few exceptions for the students you knew would take her seriously and use her skill before she left.

“Thank you so much for stopping by,” Your mother spoke before turning to only address you. “This class is almost done, but I have a meeting, so I won’t be home by the time you feed Cody.”

You promptly nodded before turning to leave. You were too nervous to spare a glance at your friends, but you heard Ashido and Kaminari say goodbye as you opened to gymnasium door.

You used the small walk to the local pet store and then to your mother’s house as an opportunity to be with yourself. You thought over your week and what you needed to do. From homework, you needed to catch up on, personal training, and your hero costume, your life was fairly busy.

Additionally, the back of your mind prodded you with questions about Bakugou.

Did it seem weird that you stopped by your mom’s class?

Is it obvious you like him more than others?

You shouldn’t even be thinking about romance when you have to focus on your career!!

You knew full well that you had leaps to take in order to be an excelling hero. You knew it was more important to force yourself to actually train and practice than to worry about little friendships and romances. However, you felt tired.

You tried to calm yourself down by reminding yourself that you just moved to a new country and started school in a whole new place.

This school is made to help me train and get better, at least I have that if I am not doing much extra outside of class.

By the time you arrived at your mom’s house and were done feeding Cody, your feet, and brain ached. You spent the next half an hour on the couch with your cat by your side, lackadaisically petting him while scrolling through your phone.

Once your feet were no longer crying for a break, you made your way back home. The sun was still up, the warm sun shining perfectly on the concrete. It was just now entering the end of May and many bushes and trees were lush with green leaves and various vibrant other colors. The temperature was nice and tepid, making the walk home very comfortable because of the occasional breeze.

By the time you were home, the sun was just beginning to set. You quietly took off your shoes and greeted the few students downstairs.

“Ah, L/N-san,” Iida began once he saw you. He, Asui, and Tokoyami were currently stationed in the kitchen. “I know you aren’t used to the normal schedule yet, but we usually eat dinner around 6. Everyone takes turns cooking.”

You nodded while walking up to them. They were currently cooking up a pasta dish and the smell was making your stomach ache.

“Once you feel comfortable, we would love to add you to the list,” Iida continued.

Although a little tired, you still smiled at the trio, “I would love to. Is there a spreadsheet or list? I really only know American dishes so…” You trailed off at the end of your sentence. You enjoyed cooking, but you hardly knew how to make true Japanese dishes.

“Of course,” Asui began. She pulled out her phone to show you. “Each day has certain people with the dishes already listed. The school provides us with some money for food and different people go shopping each Saturday. It is usually the girls though, ribbit,” She explained.

Your eyes glazed over this month’s sheet. Each person appeared a few times with the respective dishes also listed.

“Who makes these?” You asked.

“Momo does,” Iida quickly replied while he drained a large pot of pasta.

You nodded, debating what would be your best action. “I’ll talk to Momo some time about getting put onto the schedule.”

The three classmates nodded and thanked you for understanding.

You sheepishly waved them off, telling them you were happy to help. You finally made your way upstairs with a small snack in hand. You were quite hungry at this point and hoped it would help satiate you until the food was ready in an hour.

You immediately plopped down on your bed and pulled out your phone once upstairs.

I can do homework after dinner, you told yourself as you scrolled through social media.

However, before you had a chance to really relax, you heard 3 rapid knocks against your wooden door. Quizzically, you stood up from your bed, debating who could be knocking in such a short, yet recognizable way.

Unsurprisingly, Bakugou was the person on the other side.

I should have known, you told yourself as you took in his outfit. He wasn’t too sweaty, but it was clear he has been active for at least the past hour. He was dressed in basketball shorts and a basic t-shirt.

“Can I help you?” You inquired. It seemed he rushed over to talk to you, making you wonder by he couldn’t wait.

“I want to fight,” He bluntly explained.

“Okay, um,” You mumbled, “I am pretty good right now. Can I take a rain check?” You retorted. You definitely were not ready for a challenge.

The blond rolled his eyes as you and sighed, “Dummy. I don’t mean right now.” His voice was harsh and it made you want to laugh at his reaction to your reply.

Your mouth formed into an ‘O’ shape and Bakugou leaned up against the door.

“Are you gonna invite me in?” He asked. The pout on his lips was rather cute, but you tried to stay focused on what he was saying.

“Do you even want to come in?” You pushed.

Bakugou scrunched up his nose at your sarcastic comment and leaned up to stand tall against you. “It would be rude not to. We have to plan when we are going to train together.”

“Ah,” You mumbled.

You moved aside to let Bakugou in. When he came in, you finally noticed the water in his hand and the way his eyes scanned over your room carefully.

“I didn’t realize you meant training,” You explained as you quietly closed your bedroom door.

No matter how calm you tried to stay it was rather difficult to do so when he was looking over everything you had.

He turned to look at you. “Are you dumb?” He judged, “Do you need coffee or something?”

You waived him off and grabbed your laptop, not feeling the need to keep this small spat going. You gestured for him to sit at your desk chair while you perched onto your own bed.

“Do you know your schedule?” You asked him as you pulled up the calendar app on your laptop.

“Yeah,” He began while taking a seat at your small desk chair. He slouched over in the chair and gave off a very nonchalant vibe.

You wondered for a moment what kind of vibe you gave off.

“I am free on Wednesday and Sunday,” He explained.

You nodded and looked through your schedule. You didn’t really have anything that couldn’t be moved considering you had only been living in Japan for a few weeks now. Silently, you wished your schedule would pick up more. You noticed most of your classmates were gone a few times throughout the week for their internship.

You bit your lip, debating your schedule before mumbling out, “Do you cook dinner at all?”

Bakugou stared at your quizzically, your eyes glued to your laptop screen. “Huh?” He replied, his voice louder than intended. He honestly wasn’t even sure if you knew you asked that question.

You looked up from him and immediately felt nerves wash over your body. “I’m just curious because Iida was talking to me about adding myself to that schedule. I was wondering if you did in the case that would mess up our training. Or, like, also because I know you go to your internship a lot and wanted to make sure I didn’t take up too much of your time. Sorry, I didn’t m—”

“You talk too much,” Bakugou interrupted.

You abruptly stopped talking. You stared at Bakugou, not quite sure what to say.

Is he even going to answer my question, you debated as you watched him.

“I do,” He finally added. “On Mondays.”

You nodded your head and simply looked back to your computer. You gulped down the lump in your throat before mumbling out a small and meek, “Cool.” Your eyes gloss over your computer once more despite already having your schedule memorized. “Wednesday and Sunday work for me too.”

Bakugou stood up from the chair. “Good,” He replied, before making his way to the door.

“Wait!” You exclaimed just before he opened the door.

He turned to look at you, his features were curious as to what else you could add.

“What time are we going to meet up?” You asked. “And where?” You added. A small pause, “And what are we going to do?”

“Geez, you have so many questions,” Bakugou groaned, he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. You found your eyes scanning over his slightly damp hair. It was still standing at attention and looked incredibly fluffy.

You didn’t react at all and simply gestured for him to keep talking.

“We can meet this Sunday at three in the afternoon. Just meet me downstairs and I’ll walk us to the Cityscape I end up renting out.” He paused and looked you over. “We are going to fight.”

You let his words wash over your and you simply nodded, giving him his cue to leave. When the door finally shut and Bakugou was gone, you sighed.

You definitely needed combat training but were not excited to face the fiery hothead again. You were absolutely sure he held a grudge and would put his all into beating you.

Reluctantly, you jotted down the time in your calendar and made notes for all following Wednesdays and Sundays to close off at least part of the day to training. You weren’t sure how long this would last considering you would rather face a wide variety of people a few times than consistently work with only one person. However, you were sure it would at least last a few sessions and that you would both surely help each other get better.

~~

After dinner, which was quite delicious and filling, you stopped Momo to tell her you wanted to sign up for dinner duty.

Delighted, the hero in-training took you to her room where her computer was and showed you the schedule.

Each day was color-coded. In the description were the people cooking and the type of cuisine they would make.

“Most days are balanced with good cooks and not as great cooks,” She explained. “We keep the cuisines here for variety, but the groups have to choose 2 weeks ahead of schedule what they will be making. That way we can buy them with enough time.”

Your eyes glossed over the screen and looked at the various cuisines. Most were nights were dedicated to Japanese food except Friday, which was dedicated to pasta, Tuesday, which was dedicated to American food, and Wednesday, which was dedicated to Chinese food.

“The groups can also change the cuisine if they want,” She added after seeing you intensely scanning the days.

“Yeah,” You mumbled out. “I’m just not sure if I should go with the cuisines that would be easier for me like Tuesday or Friday. It might be nice to work on the Japanese days because I would be learning.”

Momo nodded understandably. “I’m sure everyone would be happy to work with you. I would note though that every day except Monday has 3 people. You would even out that group if you chose to and learn Japanese cuisine.”

That was Bakugou’s day, you immediately noted.

You looked at the calendar schedule and saw that he was also set to be cooking with Sero on those days.

You hummed while debating your options. “Could I try out Mondays? Maybe if I don’t like it I could move the day?”

Momo eagerly nodded. “Of course!” She moved her computer closer to you and put your name in the schedule. “Do you have their numbers?”

“Just Bakugou’s,” You quickly replied.

Momo nodded and pulled out her own phone. “Let me give you Sero’s so you can make a group chat.”

Once the kind girl gave you his number, you tentatively put him into your phone and made a group chat with the three of you. “Thank you, Momo,” You spoke while standing up to bow.

Yaoyorozu bashfully replied with a “You’re welcome.”

After a brief goodbye, you left her room and made your way back to your own. Homework… you mumbled over and over in your head as if it would make you more likely to actually get things done.

Once in your room, you posted up at your desk, laptop in front of you. However, instead of doing anything important, you stared at the blank, black screen.

After debating your actions for a few minutes, you grabbed your phone from your pocket and unlocked it.

The group chat stared back at you as you thought about what to say. You knew it was important to start the conversation, but you had no idea how to. You bit your lips and tried to calm your nerves, knowing full well that there was no reason to be anxious. However, you still felt your nerves crawl up your spine.

After way too long, you finally typed out a small message.

Hey, this is Y/N! Momo had me join you both for dinner night on Mondays. Hope that’s okay and please let me know how to help!

You immediately put your phone on silent and tossed it onto your bed, telling yourself that you needed to focus on homework.

You opened your laptop up and grabbed your notebook and pen.

You sighed before beginning an assignment. You just needed to finish it tonight so you would have time to work on your hero costume tomorrow.

[pedropascalspain]

NEW RULES

NEW RULES

Pairing: Javier Peña x Reader

Warnings: not very much, mentions of sex and some curse words.

Notes: This fanfic is completely inspired by Dua Lipa’s song New Rules. Also, english is not my native language, so please forgive me if it has some mistakes.

***************************************************************************

You knew him for only a couple of months but you feel like you knew him from a long time. He had a way of making you feel special, feel loved, and you were falling in love with him, something that you regret every time you think about it.

You spend very special times with him and you felt like he cared, but rumors got it that maybe it was not this way at all. He had a reputation from being quite a ladies man and you thought it didn’t matter, that it will not affect you but at last it sank under your skin.

Being with him was special for a lot of reasons. It was the little things that made it special. You knew he didn’t want something serious, but you thought it was ok for you to be just a casual relationship. In fact it all began with just sex, let’s say it, but oh! the sex! He was amazing, among other things. He was also the most handsome man you ever saw, and that didn’t help because you felt like crazy. Every time you saw him you told yourself that it was just casual, that you were having a good time, but the reality was very different because you began feeling things and you began falling deeply for him but at the same time you suspected he wasn’t feeling the same.

You met him at the embassy where you were working as a secretary. That complicated things, because you were working at the same place, and people always talk. This time, it seemed too easy for other people to laugh about you, to sympathize about you and how easily you fell for Javier Peña. 

You were normally a shy and reserved person. At the embassy, you were very quiet but people confused it and now it seemed that you were so naïve. Everybody knew about Javier’s ladies man reputation, how he slept with all of the secretaries he could, and all of the confidents too, but you seemed not to care. And you felt angry with the people, because why can a man sleep with a woman like something casual, but a woman can’t? If he did it, it was fine, it was just a ladies man. If you did it, you are too naïve or you are a whore. That was something you would never understand.

About your “relationship” with Javier, at the beginning you thought it was something to help you de-stress from work, something to help you cope with the fact of being in another country, something to help keep your sanity after working hours and hours every day, something to help you feel special for a moment, something to help you feel not so alone. You needed to remember yourself it was only that. But as the weeks passed by, it was harder and harder. The fact that he wasn’t an ordinary man didn't help. He had to be different, sexy as hell, smart and very confident, but he was also very caring and that made you realize that if you looked beneath the surface you could see a really really big heart. You were certain about that, but also knew that heart wasn't for you.

And that was the problem, that you saw his heart, and it was even more beautiful than his face or his body, the only problem was that it wasn't available at the moment. In fact, it was normal that he didn't want to complicate things. He was a very busy man, with a very stressful work. So you told yourself not to get too involved if you wanted to avoid having your heart broken, even if this wasn’t his intention on the beginning of it all. But falling so deeply wasn't your intention neither.

So when you realized what your feelings were, you began to act more distant because you knew that the relationship wasn't going anywhere, it was just a distraction for both of you. But you don't want to be a distraction for his job during the day. He had a very dangerous work, and the less you wanted was to put him in more danger. So you thought it would be better for both of you to stop seeing each other. You wanted him to remember you as something good, something fun, not another problem in his life. And you wanted to remember him the same way. That was the reason that made you began to question the relationship: you were falling too deeply and you didn’t want to force anything, you didn't  want to do this to yourself or to him.

On a normal week, the days usually ended the same way. He called you or he passed by your house, and then you spend the night together. The next day it was just friends, or colleagues from work. Sometimes he called you very drunk, normally when he had a really bad day chasing Escobar, but the end was similar to other days: you ended up in bed. One day you saw him leaving work with a face that screamed for help. He seemed more stressed than ever, but you never asked him about what happened, because you knew better than made him relieve all the horror. That day you looked at him in the eye and you could swore he was almost crying, so you acted like a friend and took him to a bar to talk, dance and forget everything, but ended having sex as usually, so you woke up in his bed in the morning. 

The situation couldn’t stand for itself anymore, so one night you woke up in the middle of the night and you couldn’t stop thinking about him and you had to say to yourself “this is it, I can’t with this anymore”. Consequently the next day when he called you didn’t pick up the phone because you knew you couldn’t do that anymore. You had to speak to him but you didn’t want to make such a big deal, so you started without picking him the phone this time.

Another day passed and he came by your house and knocked on your door, but you stayed silent and pretended you weren't at home, even when he said through the door that he knew you were there. The next morning you prayed for not cross paths with him in the office, and it seemed that your prayers were listened until the end of the day. When you were ending work and preparing to go home he appeared at your desk with a confused face and told you he had a very bad day at work, so he asked you for going out to have diner and then to a bar to de-stress, but you apologized saying you were very busy and tired, and hurried out of the office before both of you could say anything else. It broke your heart leaving him this way, but you couldn’t be his friend at the moment if you didn’t want to wake up in his bed in the morning another time.

You arrived home almost crying but told yourself it was better this way, the sooner you did it the better for both of you. You left your things and took a shower to erase all the day form you. Then you put on your pajama and seat in the couch. You weren't hungry so you switched on the TV to distract yourself. You laid in the couch, half asleep and ready to call it a day when someone knocked on your door. You didn't answer but then you heard the voice of Javier.

“I know you’re in there. It’s late in the night, and I could see light and hear the TV”.

“Shit” you told yourself. You weren't expecting that, so you kept silent.

“Open the door or I will, and believe me when I tell you it’s not the first door I have to open in a non polite way”. 

You went to the door and open it with a confused look. “What are you doing here at this time Javier?”.

“We need to talk. You were acting weirdly, so tell me what happened”. His voice was firm and his gaze was intense.

“Nothing happened, I don't know what you mean”.

“Bullshit! You're gonna tell me what happened, and I’m not gonna leave until then”. With that, he entered your house and closed the door behind.

You were a little shocked because you didn't think he would be so insistent, you thought he moved on with another of his conquests. But he deserved an explanation after all, so you took a deep breath and began. “Ok, first of all it has nothing to do with you. I’m the problem. Look, I can’t continue with the situation anymore”.

“Situation?”.

“Yes, situation. Call it what you want: sex, situation, relationship… the fact is that I’ve been a fool and began feeling something about you. And you don't have to say anything because I understand perfectly what it all was, and it was fun and ok and I hate ruining it but I didn't mean to complicate things so I preferred to stay away”. 

He kept quiet, frozen in fact, trying to process your words.

“Well, you wanted me to tell you what happened, so I told you what happened. Now you can leave”.

You began walking to open the door when he caught your arm and turned you around. “And that’s all? You’ve just woke a couple of days ago and thought it was over, and took the decision all by yourself?”.

You looked at him a little angry. “Of course I took the decision by myself when I was the one affected. The other day I was talking in my sleep at night, making myself crazy, out of my mind. I couldn’t sleep so I had to wake up and wrote it down hoping it would save me. I knew at that moment that I need you, that you make me feel like nobody else. But I also knew that you don't love me, and I don't want to be a burden. So I have to tell myself something to feel better, to not hate you because I could never hate you but I don't want to hurt myself too. I had to make something”.

“You could have talked to me, at least”. He said defeated.

“I couldn’t, I’m not as brave as you are. So I made new rules for me, to help me cope this situation. To help me count them when I feel weak”. 

“Can I see them?”. He gave you a puppy eyes gaze. You looked at him quizzically as if not understanding what he asked you. “You tell me you wrote them. Can I see them?”

You felt all the blood going to your face, very ashamed of showing him the damned paper. But he deserved something better. So you walked to your bedroom and came back with a piece of paper, and you gave it to him avoiding his gaze. You felt like a child that had been reprimanded.

He started reading out loud, and you thought he was trying to torture you: “One: don’t pick up the phone, you know he’s only calling cause he’s drunk and alone”. He looked at you  raising his eyebrow, but you couldn't look at him. So he continued: “Two: don’t let him in, you have to kick him out again. Three: Don’t be his friend, you know you’re gonna wake up in his bed in the morning, and if you’re under him you ain’t getting over him”. He stopped for a second and then closed his eyes while saying “Why do you think I don't care about you?”.

“It is obvious. I keep pushing forward in some ways but you keep pulling me backwards, like I have nowhere to turn. I tried to be there for you, but you didn’t try to be there for me. You acted distant in the office. You only reached me for sex. So when I was standing back from you, I finally saw the pattern. There was a moment when I knew that you didn't want to be with me but I wanted to be with you, so I tried to end it all before it was too late for both of us”.

“I get it, but do you think I am so selfish that you couldn't talk to me about anything?”.

You became speechless, maybe he was right and the selfish was you. You tried to speak and began mumbling “I-I don’t know what to say…”.

He interrupted you “What do you feel? Tell me”.

“I’ve already told you. I was falling in love with you and I didn’t want that to happen because that was not what we would want and…”.

“I asked you what do you fell now, not then. Those rules, did they work?”.

“Well, practice makes perfect, I’m still trying to learn it by heart. I told myself eat, sleep and breath it, rehearse and repeat it cause I…” you stopped for a second to look at him straight in the eye. He was looking you with a smirk on his face, like you were saying something funny.

“So you acting weirdly this week was because of this rules?”.

“I’ve got new rules and I count them, I gotta tell them to myself”.

At that moment he looked at the piece of paper still in his hands and tear it very slowly in front of you, several times, making tiny little pieces of paper and letting all of them fall in the room.

“What are you doing?” you asked confused. 

“I never liked rules”.

“But those are my rules”.

“I’m well known for not following anybody’s rules” he said, as he was approaching to you very seductively. “I’ve listened to you, but I have to say there are a few things that weren't  right from the beginning”. Now he was pinning you to the wall. He talked very slowly and with a low voice, almost a bedroom voice “You made them making a big mistake. You assumed that I don't love you, but that isn’t true”. With that he kissed you and you knew that your life will never be the same again.

[undergroundkid]

11. If I can have you I can do anything

What was supposed to be a sweet release, turned into obstinate mania.

However soothing Hyungwon’s affirmations were, there was no denying; your ego grew bigger than you let yourself realize. He might kiss your stained hands, hazed your thoughts, and erased doubts for a moment, but after toe-curling ecstasy, you were left with a bitter truth.

I am a bad person.

When you got off your new-proclaimed throne it didn’t hit you right away. Your wobbly legs barely held you up, hair stuck to your face, the muscles groaned in exasperation and hummed with delight simultaneously. Probably too many sensations still occupied your body and mind; so of course, it had to be Chae’s words that put you back in reality.

- This is your sin – he said, half-laying on the bed with an open shirt and sweat-kissed skin. Then he added with a small laugh:- Pride, Miss Y/N.

How this man could take you to the highest peak of pleasure and then throw you off straight into a freezing stream of maliciousness was beyond you. But he did it, time after time, always leaving you shocked when you should already learn.

Few days passed without sign of any of the apartment’s guests. Such a restful way should give you some peace when you could focus on your job in quiet. No sudden meetings, no suspicious events, no unprofessional situations with clients – just how it worked before.

It did work before you were aware of yourself. In the past, you didn’t have to ponder on your actions, because you always believed them to be the best you could do. Now the seed of the doubt was sowed, uncertainty always behind your back questioning your true motives.

It was tiring; you wished to be a silly doe once again.

You worked slower, not so actively pursuing your guests' attention. If your manager noticed, she didn’t mention it, simply burying you in paperwork. Or maybe she didn’t want to? Maybe she’s also like me? Perhaps we’re all egocentric creatures, pretending to care, only for our own advantage, without any selflessness?

- Child, you’re spacing out again. Everything’s alright?

Or perhaps not – there may be people with personal interest, like your mother. She looked at you intently, her hands moving uneasily; she must be worried.

- Oh, yes – the answer came out automatically:- Yes, I’m okay.

As you furrowed your brows, concerned why you won’t simply voice out your thoughts, your mom managed to drop her troubles. Your short reply sufficiently good to go her own merry way.

- Good! Hurry up sweetheart or you will be late to the hotel!

You nodded, empty inside once again. Only one purpose: work.

Chae told you there was greatness in evil. How could you not believe him, swept by powerful affirmations? Such a beautiful face of his will convince anyone. Sour veracity flowing from pretty lips, drowning you in his ideals.

- It does feel good, doesn’t it? – he took a rich grip of your thighs, not urging you, just enjoying the heat of your flesh. You looked at him with a small smile, relishing in the way his manhood slid sweetly along your slick walls. No hurry, only the delectation of erotic closeness, fulness again.. having him below you, the stunning man that downgraded you.

His hands moved to your backside, coercing you to move up his shaft. Betraying his lust like this, instinctual pressure to chase the climax made you tilt your head back with a chuckle.

You sat down fully, gripping him tight with inner muscles. Delighted by male’s hiss, you placed your hands on his sweated arms comfortably.

- You tell me – you responded, voice calm as you rose and sink down again; his broken sigh already an answer, but you couldn't help yourself and had to ask:- Does it feel good, Mr Chae?

It definitely did.

At that moment, you ate his words easily. Driven by his praises, easy acceptance of your dark side, you really felt like a goddess. But that was it, just a moment; the person changing into the receptionist’s uniform wasn’t a deity anymore. Not a scared doe either – just a fool, more angered by the idea of being arrogant shrew than the fact she jumped at another’s client's dick.

The discomposure after the encounter with Hyungwon fell short of the one with Mr. Changkyun. Shame ate you alive then, now just warmed up your ears and moistened the hands. The morals? Fitfully unstable.

- Y/N, I left the shift report on the desk, take a look – your colleague chirped at the exit in a typical pink-collar worker’s voice:- There were some complaints to take care of, I know you will do your best! See you next time!

Placing the responsibilities on me over and over; you had to bite your tongue to stop the thoughts. Where do they come from? Am I always presumptuous like this?

- Uh, Miss Y/N?

- Sorry, what’s up?

- The report? – young intern handed you papers, deciding to summarize it anyway:- Guests from the third floor claimed there’s loud music coming from somewhere.

- Music?

- Ah, it’s stated here – she pointed to the last paragraph. If the hotel has musicians or any other vocalists under their roof, the curfew doesn’t work? However skilled, 3 AM piano performance isn’t appreciated.

- Probably someone’s played the CD too loud.. can we even find out who was it?

- Oh hey, something’s wrong? – Yoonho cut in, emerging from behind the corner; your eyes met briefly before he focused on the apprentice. He didn’t stay in your company for long since your silly argument – if you could call it an argument at all. Funny boy, obvious to the suddenly high-pitched voice of the girl between you.

- Loud music? I didn’t hear anything yesterday and I stayed until midnight?

Huh, so he does avoid me.

- Well.. what.. what can we do? Should we stay tonight longer too? – her voice toned down with uncertainty.

- Ah, it doesn’t make sense.. you want to sit at the stairs and pretend to just chill out?

- Probably best if we check it out personally? I mean.. maybe we will hear this wonderful piano serenade room 322 wrote about?

You cringed your nose involuntarily, third-wheeling the awful teenage romance drama. Why the heck she’s so obsessed with him was unclear. He was sweet but way too childish.. proper good-looking at the best, especially among the clients here.

- You said piano? – porter chuckled with annoyance:- Oh, no worries then, your supervisor will solve this puzzle.

Did I say childish?

Yoonho looked at you with an upturned nose. He reminded you of an offended kid; still cute, but definitely testing his limits. Who the hell he thinks he is, little shit-

This is your sin, Miss Y/N.

Wait, why am I getting angry already? It’s nothing for the God’s sake..

Pride.

Oh no, I am better than this, better than you, him and everybody here-

- That’s true – you smiled your best service’s worker smile, taking younger acquaintance by surprise:- I think I can take care of it.

*

You could hear the song on the second floor already; it felt like you were the only one, the other guests not paying any attention to you or elegant tones vibrating in the air. It was a different melody than before, accompanied by a graceful male’s voice, singing the song in a language unknown to you.

The source of the complaint was found in the emergency staircase: the duet of an old piano and young man.

- Looks like we’re meeting again, Miss – the gentleman welcomed, changing the tempo of his song to more relaxing. His white sweater matched the room perfectly; with the new line of chords, he gave off a cozy aura.

- Mr. Yoo – you bowed:- I was looking for you. Did you decide to wander here last night perhaps?

- Is that a proper question from a young lady? – he shifted on a small bench, offering you a seat. You took it without hesitation, feeling at ease in his presence. The effect of his music, harmonic vocals, and polite behavior was soothing for your soul. Exactly what you needed after the vortex of the last events.

- We had a complaint about the noise, sir. You should finish the concert before 10 PM for everybody’s comfort.

- I see.. my apologies – he slouched a bit, big glasses sliding down his nose. He stopped playing to adjust them:- I thought it wasn’t a big deal. There’s a lot of loud singing at the night here.

Frowning was enough to make him explain.

- Intense, melodic .. and greatly feminine.

You could see the rising panic in your face from the reflection in Kihyun’s lenses; he just smiled, a little, almost with adoration.

- It was very beautiful – he assured, calming you down instantly. Soothing came naturally to him – surely he meant your latest stunts, yet his short affirmation was enough to put discomfort for later. No judging, maybe even a bit of understanding. Now you could simply enjoy his appeasing company.

His fingers started waltzing lazily on aged piano keys, filling the silence.

- It made me lonely – Mr. Yoo admitted:- Music makes me feel less miserable.

- I see.. hotel is full of people, but it doesn’t matter. I am sorry to hear this, sir.

A simple nod was the only answer. Seeing the man who until now provided nothing but comfort for you in sorrow mood was upsetting. He deserved better.

You lightly brushed your shoulder against his to lighten up the mood.

- I am here now, sir. With you.

He chuckled.

- That’s what I was hoping for.

Tiny tingling danced under your ribs for a few seconds. Letting it warm you up, then quelling it out habit – you shouldn’t let the simple compliments captivate you. Why you still held to the old manners you were taught? You didn’t exactly follow them lately. Quit the act already.

- Your presence.. conciliate me – hushed words, spoke with caution:- It did last time and so do now. I am afraid I will need it more.

- I.. can help, sir. Please call reception next time, we can talk?

Kihyun laughed, shaking his head with amusement.

- Dear Miss Y/N.. this solitude is a bottomless pit, unfortunately..

His hand came to your jawline, following the path behind your ear. He touched the delicate skin with eyes full of wonder.

- It will never be enough – he stated, then added with a sigh:- I am gluttonous like this.

Nobody wants to be lonely, after all – it’s human nature. He found out your dirty secrets and might want to take his own piece of this cake, hiding it under lame excuses.. but why would he do that? How can you suspect the most courteous man in this hotel? Always polite to you, adding some smarty remarks to keep you on your toes. No pushing your boundaries though – he acknowledged your actions without any criticism.

Maybe he is just alone, wishing for someone to heal the emptiness. What’s wrong with looking for affection anyway? It’s what led you to previous encounters, too. You were touch-starved. Both Changkyun and Hyungwon made you aware of it, appeased the basic hunger, then left you to hunt for yourself.

The doe became huntress, so you closed the gap between you and Yoo with an urgent kiss. He melted with pleasure, almost as if he was waiting for your move.

- So am I – you agreed, clenching his white sweater:- I am greedy, too, sir.

- Oh I can tell – he whispered with a snicker, staring at your moving hands.

The kisses became heated quickly. You were torn between admiring his foggy glasses and reddened lips. The gentleman was focused on chasing your mouth though, arms encircling your frame to close any possible space between you two. His soft touch contrast to your previous lovers, both Im and Chae more fervently urgent. Even your ex-boyfriend, your first.. however considerate he was of your virginity, his inexperience was clear. You didn’t blame him; he was a sweetheart, head over heels in love with you.. at some point at least.

Nonetheless, you couldn’t help but contemplate if he ever loved you for real. Maybe it was a stupid young crush and you stayed together out of habit, playing it safe. It looked like he wanted another type of partner inferring from his social media. No point in complaining now, you were both adults, going their own path.. his more of a party animal, yours.. well. Boring, uneventful, and stable until now; even so, still regretful.

Kihyun’s approach unlike anyone was making you feel treasured as if he was waiting a lifetime for a chance to have this moment. Hyungwon set you on a pedestal, that’s true, but he did it with mendacity, leaving you more mentally confused than before. The male beside you handled you with utter care, gracing you with a love-struck smile. You answered with a grin before you could catch yourself. What a lovely man, worthy of the best, yet he was with you and it seemed to make him the happiest.

Maybe I can honestly bring him joy, maybe I.. maybe I am not as bad as I thought of myself.

Your hands trembled, which didn’t go unnoticed by your partner. He instantly shifted to meet your eyes properly, observing your face for any kind of discomfort. His concern practically startling, given how unused you were to that level of care. Nobody paid attention to your feelings much, obvious hardship dismissed even by your own mother.

This man did on the other hand. He worried about trivial troubled gesture, despite the hollowness of his heart.

I can help; I can be virtuous, whatever Chae implied. You felt he can be wrong this strong for the first time since his arrival.

- Something’s wrong, dear?

You shook your head dismissively.

- No – you answered, grazing male’s legs briefly:- Actually, quite the opposite.

He tried to ask again, however, was silenced with a quick kiss – to stop him from questioning and to provide a distraction from sneaking hands down his trousers, towards a recognizable bulge. He moaned straight into your mouth, such a pure noise you thought of it as your new favorite sound. You needed more of this dissolute melody then and there.

Driven by a desire to take care of your sweet lover, you slid between his legs on your knees.

- Ah, Miss Y/N – blush prominent on cheeks, he still tried to play it cool:- Don’t you favor me way too much?

You shushed him, massaging his crotch that was now your eye-level. He weakly tried to pry your hands with some gentle words, something among the lines of ladies first, although it didn’t stop you.

- Mr. Yoo – unzipping his pants, freeing him from briefs and still you didn’t shy away from his heated gaze:- I want to hear you sing more..

You had your goal now. Clear purpose helping you redeem yourself.

- Please, play the piano and sing – you requested, kissing the head of his erected member. He answered you with a shaky breath, which determined he needed a moment to collect himself. Cute.

The moment he started the new tune, your tongue glided along salty skin. He faltered for a few seconds, picking up the tempo with trouble.

It made you smile; it made you powerful, once again, but at your own rules.

When Kihyun decided to sing, you swallowed him as much as you could. The vocals broke into a loud whine, fueling you to go even deeper, faster, wilder.

You could give him a piece of heaven, sneak peek into oblivion. It was possible without looking for own gain or offensive commentary. Just two people searching for the warmth of intimacy. He chanted foreign words above you out of breath, still harmonic as always and you sensed both your climaxes coming; his primal, your spiritual.

Cure the loneliness out of the pure heart. I don’t want anything, after all; just feel better.

Is that nothing? Or am I seeking for my own benefit?

The piano stuttered, chords losing original pace, throwing the song into chaos. Yoo’s voice slowed down to sinful groans with infrequent lyrics. He was close, exhalation hasty just like the thoughts coming through your head.

Am I proving Chae’s word wrong?

The piano stopped abruptly, some keys pressed together with a smash of Kihyun’s arm. He hid between his elbows and your head, uttering an uncommonly bashful cry. Bitter substance filled your mouth along with an even more savage realization.

You gulped down his cum, stunned enough to not care for typical male’s taste. Tucking him back into pants, mental nausea grew stronger every passing second. You hoped to bolt before facing him, however difficult it might be.

Pointless as expected, when your rose back again he embraced your hips with wobbly palms.

- Not so quick, Miss – sweated from orgasm, not any less handsome:- Let me return the favor.

Favor? It wasn’t a favor. Only a confirmation; you were corrupt as Hyungwon said you were. Determined to convince him you can be good simply because you couldn’t stand the insult. Too proud to admit the truth over again. Not able to accept the accusation so much it made you blow the first willing guy. Extra violation on your naughty list.

- You don’t have to – there was no use to drag the show anymore, so you opted to give up before you could regret it all even more. Kihyun opened his mouth to protest with what could be another wise-ass reply, but you beat him to it:

- We are all lonely in our pleasure in the end.

thank you for reading

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[shadowsfascination]

Shadamy swordland AU - part 4

The air was knocked out of Amy’s lungs by his statement and her skin paled, drawing long shadows over her usually cheerful face. Her head began to ache and she rubbed her forehead as if to rub to swirl of emotions inside her away. Shadow on the other hand crossed his arms and legs, a hint of sorrow playing his ruby eyes.

Amy hunched her back and leaned on her hands, eyed Shadow and drew a breath. She intended to speak, but found no words. Instead she watched the light of the flickering candle cast constantly changing shadows on him, the warm tones of its’ flame contrasting with the now chilly atmosphere between them.

Unaware of it Shadow gritted his teeth in distress. At a total loss for words or the slightest idea how to behave in this situation, he chewed his lip and mildly pinched his arms. He couldn’t talk anymore. It was somehow beyond his control and he despised powerless it made him feel. His body froze and the longer the silence lasted, the further the words drifted away from him. Meanwhile his mind became a cacophony of tangled, blurry thoughts.

I have to snap out of this!

Shadow took a deep breath and closed his eyes, tracing the source of the messed up chaos energy in his body and changing it into a state of tranquillity again.

“Amy.”

The sudden renewed confidence in him broke not only the silence, but the seal between them as well. She couldn’t somehow deny his gaze and locked eyes with him, her eyes full of questions and expectations. He took her hands to cover them in his own. They were warmer than she’d expected.

“I cannot explain any of this to you.”

Amy frowned at him in annoyance and backed off to escape his hold, her eyes starting to blaze. A series of angry growls escaped her lips and she clenched fists. Her knuckles made a cracking sound from it.   “Please, oh please tell me you’re joking!”

He blinked twice, innocence and incomprehension written all over his face.

“I’m not. It would be a poor jest.” “You can’t just drop this bomb on me, fall quiet and then not explain any of it!”

She was prepared for a whole lot of it, but this? – she thought to herself. As soon as the thought landed in the conscious part of her mind she labelled herself a fool, questioning what she did expect from him. She knew Shadow… Why did she keep getting so thrown off by his untactile behaviour?

Blood rushed through her veins at high speed, causing a rustle in her ears. There it was again: the unwanted announcement of her bad temper. He’d soon have to deal with it if he didn’t make haste with properly explaining this… mess! At this rate, she still had control over her temper, but that could change in the blink of an eye. “You’re not saying anything yourself either. Although, knowing you, I hardly believe you don’t have any questions. I’m not throwing that in your face, am I?” “Well, can you blame me?!” “A little, yeah. You carry your heart on your tongue. You always know what to say.” “I don’t right now!” “I don’t believe you. I think you’re trying to spare my feelings and I don’t care for it.”

“Oh no, Shadow. You’re NOT shifting YOUR responsibility to explain who you actually are to me.” “I’m not.” The pink female whirled around and caught his attention with her fierce turquoise orbs. The warm, yellowish tones of the dancing flame were fighting for precedence with the luminary aqua in her eyes. He could see her hands gesturing, signalling him her upset internal state in the blurry background of his view.

“Then talk.”

“I can’t.” “Blast, Shadow! I can’t believe how incredibly rude you are to me! I’m your girlfriend! You’re keeping so many important things from me…I wonder how you in 300 darn years still achieve to be totally oblivious about how to act polite and chivalrous around a woman!”

“You should know me better than to mistake me for a soft, gooey fool who drops every aspect of his personality when with a woman. I might be a knight, but surely I’m not going to be your imaginary heroic boyfriend. Or always treat you like a queen when you’re being a huge pain in the ass, Amy. If that’s what you want, than better rethink your choices…”

Another of her romantic bubbles burst by another blunt statement, one he made her aware of she had it in the first place. Amy shifted her headstrong gaze to the red, green and blue-checked woolen blankets on the bed. Ignoring him, she distracted herself to follow the lines from the wrinkles on them with her fingers. The raw texture of the wool prickled through her gloves. It was a unpleasant feeling and she wondered how he was able to sleep under them.

“… Besides: I’m sharing my deepest secrets with you! Do you think that’s easy for me? What more could you possibly want?” “I want you to explain who on Mobius you are!” she shouted. “I want you to explain how it’s even possible to be that old? I wanna know what you are. A ghost? Some divine creature? And what about your strange, dark powers and the stone?! Did you have kids in the past? What does this all make you?!” Both their ears fell back, the awkward silence became deafening on them. Amy’s eyes reddened from the upcoming tears and anger. She bit her lip and bravely fought against the waterworks. A few salty tears quietly dripped down her cheeks though. Amy battled the strong tendency to cry once more. She felt so hideous whenever she cried- and she did see herself cry before. She felt she looked awful and so she did her uttermost best to hide it- in comparison to when she was a young girl. “What’s it make us? Just tell me.. something! ANYTHING will do!”

Her loud, hoarse voice cracked and she sniffed. Shadow’s hand squeezed and crinkled the blanket with force. He cursed under his breath.

“I KNOW, OKAY?! I know ANY words will do, but there are no words! NONE! They’re stuck! I don’t mean to be rude or inconsiderate of your feelings. Plagues! If anything, that’s what’s making me freeze up. I have no idea at all how to handle this!”

An upcoming sense of guilt sent a series of shivers down her spine. Her stupid pride and temper pushed him too far. A lump in her throat now accompanied the already present stress-related stomach aches.

“I don’t either… It’s scaring me.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Shadow, I don’t want to be the reason you’re holding back. And don’t tell me I’m not, because I know I am. Sorry about that. Just spill. I’ll learn to deal with it.”

“It’s not just that. I can’t verbalize all this.”

He concentrated on the chaos energy in his body once more, shards of them whirling around like a hive of bees. They seemed impossible to catch. His focus shifted to his irregular, high paced breathing and he breathed out some of the stress in his body. The shards immediately lowered their impossible-to-follow rhythm and he was finally able to catch some of them.

I never lose my confidence.

With a certain determination Shadow grasped her gloved hands. They were tensely folded into fists. Their touch revealed the quivers they were both trying to control. Shadow suddenly scooped her onto his lap and then rose to carry her bridal style, all much to Amy’s confusion.

“However, I can show you.”

His signature self-sufficient smile now curved his lips.

“Come on, I’ll carry you. I know how much you love this romance-stuff and I am a knight after all.” He blew out the candle, letting the darkness swallow them entirely before calling out the ‘Chaos control’. With this single chant he overcame the barrier of space and time. The darkness around them swiftly faded into a serene surrounding, filled with flowy, intertwining ruby, royal blue, shiny silver and regal gold ribbons of light.

They weightlessly soared through the pacifying, outstretching void. A sea of glowing orbs laid ahead of them and with confidence. Shadow commanded some of them to come closer, each carrying a memory. He let some fragments play out before her eyes to see for herself what happened in his past, for he was unable to tell her.

It was all there, right before Amy’s eyes: the mystery of what he was, his unknown origin and lonesome existence by surviving everyone he’d ever cared for in the past. He had roamed around the planet for years and years in order to keep his immortality a secret.

There was also a set of painful memories in which he was fighting, on the run or hiding for the many different faces of danger. They were a tad blurry and she couldn’t quite capture the meaning of it. The memory of the unknown hero neared and she witnessed his amazing powers, bravery and strength. It replaced her unsettling state of being with much softer feelings, easing her temper away. Amy smiled when concluded to herself that neither his physics or personality had seemed to change. The Shadow she knew now was as stubborn, blunt, socially awkward, dedicated, loyal and brave as in his past. Without having to verbalize he answered everything she wanted to know and more. Amy’s sweet, caring nature calmed her temper and she empathized with Shadow. She felt for the challenges his long life had brought upon him and pulled him into a deep, consoling hug.

“Shadow, I’m sorry I pushed you. I misjudged and jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

The scenery of his bedroom slowly faded in again and Shadow gently put her down. He lit the candle again. A shameful blush coloured his cheeks and played his eyes. His ears drooped backwards. Shadow felt like he was stripped to the bone. “I know everyone thinks I excel in many things, but communicating my inner state isn’t one of them. It heaves me down whenever I… feel strongly about something. Actions speak louder than a thousand words to me.”

“Thank you for being honest with me, for showing me all this. I imagine it must’ve been hard on you. You seemed so lonesome all these years.”

Hiding his face in his hands, he stared without focal point in his gaze. Shadow broke down internally, forcefully biting the insides of his lips to prevent him from crying like an infant.

“You’ve seen it for yourself now. You’ve seen me fight…My past…It’s the most private thing that I carry with me.”

“You don’t have to carry this burden all by yourself.” “You’re the very first to learn about it.”

“I already assumed I was, given your struggle to share it with me. I’m glad you told me.”

Amy smiled, trying to lighten up the mood again. “It’s awful and humiliating to share. I even killed in the past. I can’t help but feel like a monster sometimes. It haunts me.”

“You’re a knight. There’s times where you’re left no other choice than to eliminate your enemies. If anything, you’re a hero, Shadow.”

“I’m not! You weren’t there! Y-you d-d-don’t…You don’t know…”

He whimpered almost inaudibly while his shaking body sank into her embrace. Amy petted his back and caressed his quills while he hid his face in her chest. She cupped his tear-stained muzzle and made him look her in the eye. When his red, bloodshot eyes met her aqua ones they showed the strong-minded, yet hopelessly emotional Amy Rose Shadow had fallen for.

“There’s still so much that I don’t understand, but my emotional compass tells me you’re reliable and trustworthy. I’d like to believe you must’ve had your reasons… Tell me whenever you’re ready.”

She let herself fall back on the bed and pulled Shadow onto her, snuggling up to him under the prickly woolen blankets. On any other night the knight would’ve protested and let his self-discipline never allow her to stay over, but they were exhausted. Shadow and Amy couldn’t battle their minds anymore and forgot about the possible consequences they’d have to deal with in the morning. It didn’t seem to matter anymore. None of it. Even though their minds were loaded with troubles, which usually would’ve kept them awake, it somehow did not tonight.

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I struggled with this chapter. I’ll try to make the next one more uplifting (: Sometimes it seems to me that neither of these two dorks know a single thing about relationships, yet they have so much love to give to one another. 

I’d appreciate if you share your thoughts and send me a message if you find any annoying typo’s or grammar mishaps. 

@shadamyheadcanons, here you go!

[slightlymore]

I’m both

Genre: One-shot | Smut Pairing: Taeyong x Fem Reader Warnings: Spanking, light bondage, unprotected  Word count: 3.8K Summary: Taeyong gets invited to your family’s New Year party. Described as a sweet, caring and shy person, you underestimate him big time

Note: this was so hARD to write, these days I’m out of fuel (I respect the literate community but it ain’t me), I also went through multiple mental breakdowns lol :) so I hope it’s any good (roast me in the tags, send me a diss, fight me in a parking lot) 

MASTERLIST TO-DO LIST

“He’s the kindest young man I’ve ever met; every parent would want a child like him,” said your mother while finishing to set the table. You hummed as to indicate that you were listening but weren’t that interested. Your hands were busy folding red and gold napkins for the New Year Eve party your family was hosting.

Every year your family would host a small party with all the extended family, neighbours and friends. That year you’ve been more busy than usual (mostly mentally) since your mother thought that it would be wonderful to invite over the couple that she and your father met during the summer break while being on a vacation. They are wonderful people, she’s been saying for months now, and it would be a shame to not maintain the friendship, she added. Moreover, their son was being described as this Perfect Son TM, responsible, kind, smart, funny, thoughtful and incredibly good-looking. You sighed. You weren’t a perfect daughter, but you’ve never made your parents sad or angry. People have always complimented you on what a good child you were, and the appearance of this new Good Child made you anxious and jealous. “Did I tell you he’s absolutely gorgeous?” asked your mother as she finished to place the last decorations and was admiring them with hands on the hips. You took in a deep breath trying to not roll your eyes. “Yes, mom. He’s the best-looking man you’ve ever seen in your whole life” you replied. She looked over at you while frowning a bit. “Oh, come on, Y/N. There’s no reason to feel all this dread. I’m not setting you up with him. I just think it would be nice for you to become friends” she said. As she has said in other countless situations. Every situation in which your mom tried to “befriend you with this great boy” revealed itself to be a big failure. You shrugged. “I’m not feeling any dread, mom. It’s just not necessary for me to be all that excited to meet a guy. It’s just whatever”. Oh, and you were so wrong. It was not whatever at all. Most invitees were already scattered around the house when the doorbell rang for the millionth time that evening. You were the butler for the night, so you put on your best (fake) smile to greet the new guests, again. But it soon disappeared from your face as you saw your parents’ new friends. You weren’t expecting any of it. You didn’t know what to do. First of all, he (HE) didn’t look as you were anticipating. Like, at all. Is this the good boy people were talking about? Looking like that? You tried to look over at your mom, as the family entered the house one by one greeting you, as to telepathically tell her that “Mom! He has bright red hair and 20 piercings!” but she didn’t see you. “Mom! He has a split eyebrow!” you yelled in your own head as you shook his hand. But as he looked at you, with round and innocent eyes, and smiled while saying his name, Taeyong, you got confused. He was wearing a black, velvet suit and shiny shoes. His cheeks were a little bit red, maybe from the cold, maybe from being timid, and you relaxed a bit. As he turned around and kissed your mom on the cheeks, you saw him as your mother described him, sweet and cute as a child. You closed the door behind you and followed them, quite dizzy. Grabbing a drink, as they did, you tried to not stare. He didn’t look at all like you imagined. Not that he looked bad. He looked absolutely ethereal. For once, your mom wasn’t messing around and was right. He was definitely the best-looking man you’ve ever seen in your whole life. But his looks and his personality didn’t match at all. You found that rather charming and you acknowledged that you were intrigued. Taeyong’s voice was deep and pleasant and he and his parents showered you all with compliments on the food, the decorations and thanked for the invitation. They have never visited your city and were pleasantly surprised by how pretty it was. “Our Y/N, did most of the house decorations by herself,” said your grandfather, making you jerk your head into his direction. You were probably staring at Taeyong. “You mean, handmade them?” asked him, impressed, by looking at your grans first, then at you. Your family proudly said that yes, you handmade most of them and you opened your mouth as to say something as well but didn’t know what to add. “They are very good. You might as well sell them” commented Taeyong’s dad. You smiled at the compliment and thanked him. The conversation then moved around the room leaving you alone. You walked around hoping that Taeyong would come to talk to you, but he didn’t. You could see that he was glancing often in your direction and you understood that he was too shy to approach you first. At a certain point during the evening, you managed to move finally near him, as you both were munching on food by the buffet and looking awkwardly at the older people making a fool out of themselves. Taeyong was rather endearing. His looks were so intense that you’ve gotten shy as well at first, but his awkwardness gave you a little more confidence to approach him and you started to ask questions. He answered them all and politely asked you some as well. The music was so loud that you had to almost scream into each other’s ears and being so near him made you quite excited. It was probably the champagne talking but you were really bored and Taeyong was so cute that you wanted to have some fun. It was embarrassing and probably rude to assume (even if only in your head), but Taeyong didn’t look like someone who would have had a lot of experience. In fact, he was probably a virgin. “I can show you if you want to,” you said to him as he wondered how the process of crafting decorations went. He looked at you, a little bit taken aback, but then he agreed and followed you upstairs, to your room. You entered chatting away but then stopped as Taeyong went suddenly quiet. Looking behind your shoulder, you could not help yourself but giggle a little as you saw him hesitant to enter. “What’s wrong?” you asked. He was looking around your room with his hands in his pockets, trying to give off a nonchalant look. “Why?” he asked, after finally entering with a deep breath and looking immediately at your shelves, trying to hide his face. You smiled. “No, nothing,” you said in the end. He was really busy making himself concentrate on the objects in your room so he wouldn’t have to look at you. You ended up having to talk to his very attractive backline. You looked at his hair first, then slowly at his neck, his broad shoulders and his long legs. You were about to say something flirty to go on with your plan when he talked before you could. “Like what you see?” he asked. His voice was suddenly low and deep. You winced. He was looking at you through the mirror at his right. You couldn’t believe that he caught you checking him out. How dumb could you be? You were about to laugh it off, sure that he was feeling as embarrassed as you were, but then you noticed his eyes. Those weren’t his usual eyes. The corner of his lips was lifted slightly as to imitate his raised eyebrow. Instead of looking like a deer, he was more like a predator. You gulped. He turned around. “What’s wrong?” he asked, almost lazily, just like you’ve asked just moments before that. He was very confident, almost cocky. He was another person. There was another person in front of you. Relaxed, with hands in his pockets, he tilted his head to the side, observing you. “Your vibe is totally different” you managed to say, hoping that it didn’t sound stupid. He laughed at your comment and for a split second, you could see the shy person that you’ve talked to the whole evening, before being totally overshadowed by this person that you’ve never seen before. “What do you mean? You look a little bit scared. Am I scary?” he asked. “No, not at all. You’re not scary, you’re just different all of a sudden” you tried to explain. “You’re… sexy” you added, hoping it didn’t sound weird. You thought that Taeyong would laugh and blush because you were definitely blushing and didn’t want to feel alone. He was playing. You were sure he was putting on an act to mess with you, just like you were trying to mess with him. He didn’t blush though, nor did he laugh. Or, better, he smirked, yes, he was amused, he liked the compliment a lot, but it didn’t embarrass him. You could see that. As if he knew already. You felt your heart shaking. You didn’t want to admit to yourself before, but Taeyong had such a powerful aura mixed with that soft personality of his, that it gave you confidence. You liked it when he was hesitant and shy to enter your room and you felt superior. You had no idea he had that other side to him, and you weren’t sure about your confidence anymore. “You’ve been checking me out all night. It’s flattering, coming from you” he complimented you as well. “Do you want to see how I did the decorations?” you blurted out, before realizing how stupid your change of subject was. You walked past him like wind and opened your crafting kit. He accepted the change in dialogue and didn’t add anything, he just got closer. Hoovering a bit over you he tried to look at what you were holding. “It’s actually very easy, you just have to…” you started to explain but froze as his fingers lightly brushed against your arm and shoulders. “Your dress strap fell” he explained in a low voice. His fingers were slightly colder than your body and you got goosebumps all over your skin. You forgot what you were about to say. “You just have to…?” Taeyong asked, seeing you silent. “Uhm…” you hummed uncertainly. Taeyong’s breath tickled your ear as he chuckled. “Am I making you nervous, Y/N?” he asked in vain, as you both knew the answer to that. “It’s funny how you brought me up here, hoping to make me feel nervous when in reality you’re the nervous one” he commented. You shut your eyes for a brief second trying to swallow the embarrassment of being found out. “What are you talking…” you tried to ask but couldn’t continue as he spoke over you, accompanying his voice with his hand on the small of your back. “What did you want to do to me?” he asked. You took in a deep breath. The same hand that fixed your dress strap just moments before, was the same that delicately made it fall again. Your goosebumps were back, and you shivered even more than before. Taeyong smiled. “You’re very sensitive” he commented, appreciative. “I’m curious to see how your body will react when I do this” he added as he placed the softest kiss to your exposed shoulder. You looked over it to watch him. One strand of hair fell out of his styled fringe covering his eyes that he promptly directed on yours. His gaze was dark but amused at your reaction. His plump lips hoovered over your skin for a little after kissing it. Your own lips were partially open when he quickly shortened the distance between your faces and even if you were expecting it, it still took you by surprise. It was a hot kiss, nothing to do with awkwardness and inexperience. His hands, placed on the small of your waist, slowly caressed your back up until reaching the top of your dress zip. You broke off the kiss to breathe at the same time as your dress started to fall gently off your body. The room was heated but you suddenly felt cold and tried to stop yourself from shivering. It was impossible though, as Taeyong’s fingertips were drawing intricated figures on your skin. You held firmly onto the edge of the desk in front of you, arching your back under his touch and closing your eyes. His hands didn’t stop for a second, endlessly feeling you, trying to find the spots that most make you jolt, before settling to your ass and grabbing it hard. You let out a low mm. “Do you like it rough?” he asked. His voice was low and amused. You looked over your shoulder again with a quickened breath. “Yes,” you replied. His pupils shook slightly at your honesty. Then he spanked you once. Hard. Then once again. The whine that escaped your mouth was louder than you intended so you quickly bit your lower lip. Your bra suddenly got replaced by his hands as he pressed you harshly against his body, pulling you close. You let your head fall on his shoulder as Taeyong hungrily pressed his face into your neck, kissing and biting every centimetre. His hands were restlessly squeezing your breasts and pinching your hard nipples. You could feel him pulsing against your ass, so you let your hand fall behind you and stroked him with your palm. He indulged a few seconds into the sensation before grabbing your hand by the wrist, turning you around and pushing you on the bed. You gasped surprised as you landed on the mattress, not expecting it, then propped yourself up on your elbows to look at him. Taeyong was at the end of the bed, smirking and taking off his jacket before delicately putting it on the chair behind him. Turning to face you again, he slowly opened his wrist buttons, almost if putting on a show for you to watch, and as slowly he rolled one sleeve first then the second, exposing his strong forearms. It was nothing, but it drove you insane as if he suddenly stripped of every piece of clothing he was wearing. Again, as slowly as before, he unbuckled his belt, but as he did with the shirt, he wasn’t intending of taking off his pants. With a fluid movement, he straddled over your legs and slowly made his way up to reach your arms. Your back hit the bed as he took your hands into his. He pressed his lips onto your wrists giving them sweet kissed before tying them up with his belt. You jolted a bit and hissed through your teeth as the rough material bruised your skin. He then proceeded to place them over your head delicately and hoovering over you he got as close as to whisper: “Don’t move”. Your chest was rising and falling quickly. You were a little afraid but so very excited by the unknown. “What are you going to do?” you asked. Taeyong didn’t reply and instead got back on his feet, admiring his work pleased. His eyes traced the line of your body, every curve, before stopping at your closed legs. He clicked his tongue as if disapproving. “Open up for me, love, would you?” he commanded. You breathed in, deeply, before slowly opening your thighs, completely exposed in front of him. He licked his lips at the view. His gaze was so strong that you were feeling as if he was already touching you. And after a whole minute of moving and fidgeting you were wondering why he wasn’t touching you already. “What’s wrong, babe?” he smiled, almost innocently. A wolf wearing a sheep mask. He was laughing at how needy you were. You puffed irritated but also amused. You had no idea how you ended up in that situation. Taeyong was supposed to lay almost naked under you while you teased him to death, definitely not the other way around. How the tables have turned. “Don’t be a coward and touch me” you finally spoke. Taeyong raised his eyebrows while pointing at his face. “Me? A coward?” he asked. You raised your chin provokingly. “Mama’s boy is afraid of some pussy? Is this the first one you see?” you teased him. He scoffed, incredulous and with a quick movement he teared up your frail, lace panties. You opened your mouth as to breath in but instead, a loud moan came out of it as he buried his face into you. He didn’t bother to get down on you and preferred to lift you up by your waist to meet his hungry tongue. You threw your head deeper into the pillows and closed your eyes. Your toes were curling at every millimetre of skin Taeyong tasted, rough and fervent. Oh fuck, you whined. Taeyong’s tongue drew quick and wet circles around your clit, then between your folds and deeper inside you, then out, then sucking hard, alternating kitty licking and hard tasting. His head then raised up from you and he let go of you. Your back hit the mattress with a muffled sound. You were out of breath and your wrists hurt badly as you tugged at the belt trying to lunge for the blanket underneath you. But Taeyong didn’t let you rest. He grabbed your legs hard and raised them up. Your thighs were touching your stomach as he roughly caressed them with his palms before directing them underneath you to hold onto you. He quickly made his way between your lips again, this time slower, sliding his tongue across your core a few times then adding his fingers to the action, rubbing onto your clit as his tongue proceeded to make you flinch every second. Your moans intensified as he switched and finally slipped them inside of you while his mouth erotically worked you up. “You’re driving me crazy with those whimpers of yours,” he said with a deep voice while following with the tongue the outline of your pussy. You moaned violently again as he arched his fingers inside of you, his mouth full of you. That sweet torture didn’t have to last long. With a last rub, the burning sensation spread across your whole body, through your blood, up to your head, leaving you all shaking and panting. With not a single ounce of force in your limbs, you looked at how your legs slid around Taeyong’s body until reaching the mattress. And that’s when you saw his smiling while smacking his lips like after a delicious meal. His eyes told you that it wasn’t over. You whined as he grabbed you by the waist and quickly turned you around. Your face was pressed against the pillows, your arms still stretched painfully over your head, your chest squished under you, your legs parted and your ass up. Taeyong hummed pleased rubbing his hand all over your buttocks, thighs and lower back. “Taeyong… I can’t take it anymore” you managed to say. He looked at you with furrowed brows as if concerned. “Oh no, what do we do?” he asked playfully. “I shall go then” he added trying to get up from the bed. “No” you stopped him. “No” you added more softly. “Please, just untie my hands” you asked. He thought about it for a second as he probably felt sorry for you. He got closer and tugged at your wrists. You rested on your side while he untied the belt looking at his face. His lips were red and swollen as he passed the tip of his tongue wetting them. You didn’t wait any longer. As your hands were free you pushed him down into the mattress and straddled him to keep him down. The surprised look on his face delighted you and made you laugh. “You’re finally mine” you whispered as you started to dry hump him on top of his pants. He looked up at you trying to talk back but the words got stuck into his throat at the sensation. He closed his eyes and started to breathe heavily. The fabric rubbing your already raw clit drove you insane and you didn’t have any force in your arms anymore. After a few seconds, you let yourself rest on his chest. Taeyong, getting a hold of himself, unbuttoned his pants, finally releasing his throbbing cock and directing it towards your core. You buried your face into his shoulder with a moan as it easily slid into you filling you up and stretching you good. He didn’t wait a single moment and wrapping his arms around your body he started to thrust hard. You let out a cry and between groans he hushed you, incessantly caressing your ass and back and pushing you against his hard body. Your nipples were rubbing up and down his shirt and you were feeling oversensitive, a whole mess. Taeyong let go of your waist and sliding his hands up he wrapped them up around your neck then on your cheeks. A few strands of his hair were stuck on his sweaty forehead as he was pounding deep into you. You supported yourself up as much as you could by placing your arms around his head making it easy for him to reach your breast. He didn’t miss the hint and started to suck on them while letting out husky moans. Eager to add to the pleasure you started to lightly tense the muscles around his cock making him swear. Out of control he threw his head on the pillows and grabbed ass hard, spanking it, leaving red marks. All your nerves were awake and burning. As you broke down, trembling from head to toe on top of him, he didn’t stop, quick and hungry until you felt his warm cum fill you up. Both panting, you slid off him slowly and rested on your back with not an ounce of force. Taeyong’s chest continued to rapidly rise and fall until finally settling down to a normal pace. He then zipped his pants and got up from the bed. You looked over at him as he walked towards the mirror and checking himself up, he tried his best to style up his hair like before. He then looked at you, still a mess, as he unrolled his sleeves and buttoned them up. His gaze was relaxed and his smile tired, almost shy. With a fluid movement he wore his jacket back and walking towards the bed, he hovered over you and surprisingly kissed your lips softly. Trying to get up again, you stopped him by lightly tugging at his collar. “Which one are you really?” you asked in a whisper. He looked at you sweetly. His cheeks were rosy from fatigue and you wondered, maybe slight embarrass. “I’m both” he replied with a smile before leaving.

[it-stheaulifeforme]

It was normal enough, Tintin walking down the street, hands in his coat pockets alongside Haddock back to Marlinspike Hall, Snowy happily trotting by his feet occasionally scaring some pigeons.

“There’s just something odd about this whole thing,” Tintin said, frowning, talking about their latest mystery with the captain, “Even I can’t understand it.”

“Whatever they’re hiding, we’ll find out somehow, the damn blasted fools,” the captain remarked, but quickly changed his tune, “maybe once we get back to Marlinspike and clear our heads, something will come of it.”

Tintin hummed, briefly and quietly in response, eyes focused on the street below him. He occasionally glanced up at the crowded area in front of them, trying to keep an eye on Snowy before he ran off chasing something.

He did a sly double take though, narrowing his eyes as he caught a glimpse of a figure in a beige suit and hat making eye contact with him. He looked down and back up and the man’s eyes had shifted for a second before catching his eyes again.

It was hard to shake off, and he was about to discreetly tap the captain’s arm when in his distraction he failed to notice someone brushing past him in a hurry without apologising. Snowy started barking at the sudden impoliteness that had taken Tintin off guard.

“What in blistering--” the captain turned around, about to curse at the gentleman but he had far disappeared into the crowd to do anything about him. Tintin touched his arm.

“It’s fine,” he reassured him, “Someone’s just in a rush, that’s all.” Tintin hoped he could be convincing after what he saw earlier but didn’t manage to tell him, far too wrapped up in his own thoughts. He would if he was just seeing things this time. He hoped.

The walk home was generally pleasant after streets merged gradually with more green areas, the road soon turning into gravel as they managed to let themselves in at the gates. Tintin felt a bit unsteady on his feet, blinking wearily up at the sky in the afternoon light, but managed to walk up the steps of the hall and be let in by Nestor, Snowy bounding eagerly past him into the main area of the place.

He stepped in out of the sunshine, removing his coat and murmuring a polite ‘thank you’ to Nestor as he took it, and went to ascend the stairs, Snowy starting to follow suit. There was a voice behind him.

“Hey, lad,” the captain said, sounding concerned, “Are you alright?”

Tintin didn’t realise he’d been holding onto the banister so tightly, the unsteadiness creeping ever more into his muscles. It took enough just to stay upright without his legs collapsing beneath him.

He blinked properly, feeling like the room was beginning to spin around him. Snowy was quiet, standing on his hind legs and pawing at his owner’s trousers, giving small whines.

“I’m fine, captain,” he replied, letting out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding, “I won’t be long.”

Snowy was making quite the fuss, but when he heard a hesitant silence, he resumed climbing the stairs, trying not to continue worrying the captain. He wanted to look back, but his head was swimming and the floor felt like it was moving underneath him. He walked uneasily to his room, Snowy worriedly whining at his heels.

He shut the door, the room spinning so much that Tintin thought he was going to be sick. He stumbled forward, his legs finally giving way underneath him as his knees hit the floor, an agony like fire running through his stomach. That wasn’t an accidental brush of his arm, he thought, mind running. He’d been distracted.

He’d been so concentrated on this sudden rush of pain and weakness that he was forgetting Snowy’s frantic scrabbling and loud barking at the door, fortunately managing to attract attention as heavy footsteps made its way to his door.

He barely managed to register a rough hand on his shoulder, his body now curled up on its side and he had his arms around his stomach, no strength left in his body to even breathe properly, let alone hold himself up. Everything was moving and swimming around to much for him to focus, but he could nonetheless hear the captain’s voice, distantly.

“Oh Tintin, you damned fool, why didn’t you tell me?” he less asked and more worriedly stated, slipping his arms under the young boy, “I got Nestor to get a doctor, I knew I should’ve---”

Tintin sharply inhaled, swallowing as he grabbed the front of Haddock’s jumper, eyes that were normally full of calm and inquisitiveness, now wide with panicked agony. “It was them,” his voice came out in a hoarse whisper, “they knew what we were doing, they were watching us...they were working for them...”

“Tintin you’re not making any sense---”

“They brushed against me on the street and ran off---”

A wave of pain hit Tintin and something that sounded like a raw screech escaped his throat. Snowy was there, whimpering, distressed by the pain his owner was in. Anger flashed in Haddock’s eyes though, as he lifted the young boy, half-limp, from the floor who was now clearly overtaken by the delirium and breathlessness of whatever substance that these people had plagued him with.

“Those blasted attempted child murderers, god what I’d do---” he started, but looked down at the poor boy, able to do nothing but suffer these ill effects, “the doctor should be here soon, but I’m here, and I’m not leaving.” He carried him over to the bed, Snowy bounding frantically over before jumping on the bed and curling up next to his owner. He yapped quietly, looking over at the captain.

“He’ll be fine, Snowy,” he muttered, glancing over at the door, “just whenever this damn doctor will get here, it’d be perfect.” He was angry, but fear was evidently sitting there in his voice. This boy was so young and he cursed himself every time he left him alone, especially showing signs of how troubled he was.

He knew Tintin didn’t want to bug people with his feelings and Haddock hated insisting. He was still just a boy despite consistently able to put himself at risk to solve mysteries and catch criminals, but seemed to be more ambivalent to talk about how he really felt. He didn’t want to constantly hang around the boy, but it seemed very much the instinct with his interests to be around him. He couldn’t help it.

Hopefully the people responsible for this would be made to suffer for this. He’d make sure of it.

[nineteenninety-six]

PARTNERS

REQUEST: Could you write a Thomas Shelby imagine where and his fiance get into a fight about how Tommy calls her his partner but never truly lets her help him and he claims it for her safety and Polly has to remind him that her stubbornness and loyalty is one of the reasons he fell in love with her.

I’m so tired of posting and deleting over and over again because it never appears in any of the tags

My inbox is now empty :( So pls request if you want to! :) 

Word Count 2073

“And if you leave your details with my partner outside, I’ll contact you within a week.”

(Y/N) felt her eye twitch as Tommy’s words that floated through the partially open office door. ‘Partner’ oh how she hated that word. Although that was what Tommy called her, ‘secretary’ was much more fitting. She spent most of her time at her desk doing paperwork or if she was lucky, Tommy would send her to do some low risk work around Small Heath. 

(Y/N)’s thoughts were interrupted as the man who was speaking to Tommy stepped out of his office and made his way over to her and a few minutes later she was leading him outside with a polite smile and his contact information scribbled down a piece of paper. 

As soon as she shut the door her smile was replaced with a frown, as much as she tried, she couldn’t get rid of the irritation that built at Tommy’s words. It wasn’t even lunch time yet but her day was already ruined and she still had to spend the rest of the work day with Tommy and go home with him.

(Y/N) knew that she should of told Tommy of the effect that his words and actions were having on her, they were engaged for christ’s sake but she had a nasty habit of keeping things in until she exploded.

Taking a deep breath, (Y/N) paused knowing that the sight of Tommy would make her irrationally angry but she had to do her job. She pushed open the door and was greeted by the sight of Tommy slumped back in his chair and a cigarette in his mouth, as per usual.

“Here.” She said as she made her way over to his desk, “Mr. Walcott’s details.”

She doesn’t spare him a glance as she places the piece of paper on his desk, intent on just dipping in and out but Tommy had a different idea.

“What’s wrong?” Like usual Tommy knew something was up with just one look at her.

“Nothing.” (Y/N) pulled her hand out of his grip and pushed herself away from his desk, wanting to leave his office as soon as possible.

"(Y/N)." 

Pausing briefly at the door, (Y/N) looked over her shoulder at him, looking at him for a moment, "Leave it Tommy" she left quickly after. The rest of the day was filled with thick tension and snappy answers. Their stubborn personalities prevent them from speaking first.

Drinking at the Garrison was the last thing (Y/N) wanted to do but she was dragged out by Tommy to have drinks with the rest of the Shelby clan but she could tell that her continued sourded mood was grating on him, it wouldn't be long until he snapped but she also knew he didn't like making unnecessary scenes, so it wouldn't be until they got home that he would finally snap. 

“What’s Tommy done now?” (Y/N)’s head snapped up in surprise, she didn’t hear anyone make their way over to her and yet Polly was sat right there next to her. 

“How do you know Tommy’s done something?” It was a stupid question since Polly always knew when something was happening, (Y/N) knew that but she asked it anyway.

“Because that nephew of mine is a lot more trouble than what he thinks he is.” (Y/N) felt her lips quirk, it was true, Tommy was a massive pain in the arse, something he refuses to acknowledge.

“It’s nothing Pol, we’ll talk it out when we get home. Don’t worry.”  Polly simply gave a nod at (Y/N)’s words, knowing not to push it at the current moment. 

The women continued talking through the rest of the night, Polly bringing (Y/N) out of her mood enough that she actually ended up enjoying the night but her good mood was quickly squashed when Tommy stood up and gave her a lot that told her to say her goodbyes as it was time to leave. 

“Are you finally going to tell me what’s been making you moody?” Tommy asked her as they walked through the streets of Small Heath. 

“Are you going to actually listen to what I’ll say or will you brush it off like usual?” (Y/N) quickly shot back, not in the mood to deal with his snarkiness.

Tommy grit his jaw in frustration before relaxing it and taking a deep breath, “I’ll listen to you but you have to tell me everything, I can’t help you if you only tell me part of the reason why you’re so upset.” 

They had arrived home at this point, (Y/N) hanging up their coats before shuffling to the kitchen to make them tea while Tommy lit a fire in the fireplace, bathing the living room in warmth.

“You gonna tell me then?” Tommy asked after she kicked her heels off with a relieved sigh and stretched out like a cat. Ignoring her pointed glare, Tommy lit himself a cigarette waiting for her to speak.

“Do you not trust me?” 

Tommy was taken back, out of all they things he expected her to say, this wasn’t one.

“Of course I trust you.” Tommy spoke gently

“Do you think I’m weak?”

Tommy’s mind was racing, he didn’t know why (Y/N) was asking these questions, “Why are you asking me this?”

(Y/N) paused before she spoke again, gazing heavily at the flames that danced in the fireplace “You call me your partner yet the word secretary is a more apt word for me, don’t you think? I’m your partner yet I sit on a desk outside your office taking calls and notes for you. I’m your partner but you don’t tell me anything that is going on with the company. Do you know how insulting that is to me, how low it makes me feel that my fiancé treats me as if I’m some local lad who’s working for them instead of his wife-to-be.”

 Tommy was speechless for a moment, he never knew she felt like like this but he had a valid reason why he didn’t get you heavily involved with the business.

“(Y/N)...you have to understand the reason why I keep you away from gang stuff is because those people out there that I interact with aren’t nice people and they’ll hurt you if they have to you. I do this to keep you safe.” 

“Safe?” (Y/N) scoffed, “How many times have I been in danger thanks to you Thomas? Whether you keep me close or at a distance won’t matter to these people Tommy, if they know we’re together then they’ll try to harm me regardless.”

Tommy reached over and took (Y/N)’s hands in his, gently pulling her face so she faced him instead of the fire, “You’re my weakness and I cannot let those men out there harm you.”

He expected (Y/N) to soften and become understanding but instead her eyes became hard and she ripped her hands out his, “If I’m your weakness then it’s your problem Thomas, stop taking it out on me. Do you even realise that I barely know how to defend myself, you refuse to teach me how to use a gun so I’m stuck walking around with a small pocket knife, hoping that it’s enough to defend myself in case I’m ever attacked. Your reluctance to teach me how to defend myself may be the thing that ends up being your biggest mistake.”

(Y/N) stormed off quickly after, the slamming of their bedroom door tells Tommy that he would be sleeping in the guest bedroom tonight and every night until he rectifies the situation. 

Tommy wasn’t surprised that (Y/N) hadn’t come into work the next day, though he expected her to go running to Polly so when his aunt didn’t come storming in telling him off, he was mildly surprised but knew it wouldn’t be long till she did go to Polly. And he wasn’t wrong, the door to his office opening with a loud bang a few days later. 

“Do you want to tell me why I was dealing with a very frustrated and upset (Y/N) earlier today?”

His aunt made herself at home, pouring herself a glass of whiskey before she down in one of the chairs opposite him and lighting herself a cigarette.

“It’s just a big misunderstanding.” Tommy sighed, the reason why he had gotten his own office away from the betting den was so he could have peace and quiet and no one would be barging into his office without invitation and his aunt’s presence made me realise how much he didn’t miss the den on Watery Lane. 

“Well, she told me that you two had a fight about her safety and it just spiraled from there.”

“She doesn’t understand Pol. I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing this for her but she’s too damn stubborn to see it. 

“Tommy,” Polly shook her head and Tommy knew she was internally calling him a fool, “Do you remember what you said to me years ago? That her stubbornness and loyalty is of the many reasons why you fell in love with her and that you wouldn’t change it for the world. You being overly protective of her isn’t going to do anything but push her away. I know you love her but this isn’t the way to show it.”

Tommy let out a loud sigh, Polly was right and they both knew it. 

“Yea, orright. Where is she then?”

“Back at your place.”

Tommy and Polly left his office together, his aunt pressing a kiss to his cheek and whispering words of encouragement in his ear before she left for the betting den. Tommy stopped off at florist, picking up a bouquet of flowers on his way. When he stepped into the house, he was greeted by the sound of the radio playing quietly and your soft humming accompanying it, following the sound, he was taken to the kitchen where you making lunch. 

He stopped and admired for a few minutes before he made his presence known by knocking on the doorway. (Y/N) paused what she was doing to look over her shoulder and scowled when she saw him. 

“What do you want?”

“I want to apologize. I’m sorry.” (Y/N) turned around at his words, surprise written all over her face.

“Your what?” Tommy couldn’t blame her for the incredulous tone that seeped into her voice.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong about protecting you and keeping you distanced from the company. You’re your own person and are able to make decisions for yourself and it isn’t my place to tell you what you can and can’t do. I was projecting my fears on to you and I apologize for that.”

(Y/N) couldn’t believe it, Tommy Shelby was actually apologizing to her, “You’re really sorry?”

“I’m really sorry. Honest.”

“I forgive you. I’m glad you realised all that.” (Y/N) nodded, returning the shy smile Tommy thew her.

“You were also right about defending yourself, so this weekend I’ll teach you how to use a gun and give you one for safety eh.”

“Really?” (Y/N)’s smile was so wide, Tommy couldn’t help but return it.

At Tommy’s nod of confirmation, (Y/N) squealed and leapt into his arms causing him to let out a huff of surprise along with a laugh. 

After he placed her down, he presented her flowers the he had got for her, his smile growing as he watches her face light up.

“For me?”

Tommy nods, his smile faltering when she giggles.

“What?”

“Mr. big scary gangster Tommy Shelby buying his fiancé flowers, who woulda thought it?”

“I can be nice when I want to be.”

“Hmm.” (Y/N) smiled with her eyebrows raised, an expression that meant she didn’t believe him. 

“I absolutely can.” 

(Y/N) laughed, “I didn’t say you didn’t!” 

“I know you and all your expressions! Don’t try to lie to me.” Tommy nudged his head against her, brushing his lips on her neck.

(Y/N) reached up and kissed him properly on the lips before she pulled back, her face still close to his, “Thank you, I love you.”

“I love you too.” Tommy whispered before he kissed her again.

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Roguish Women Part 40

Summary: Kate is an American who fled to Paris to escape her past life. Now she's dancing and  playing the part of a courtesan at the Moulin Rouge. There she meets Tommy Shelby who thinks she can be useful in expanding his empire. But has he been blinded?

Part 40: Tommy moves the vendetta along while Kate confides in him about what Polly said. 

            Late that night, Kate and Tommy were in bed but neither of them could sleep. Their minds were racing with everything that had been going on.

            “Did you speak with Aberama more?” Kate asked. The silence was killing her so she was desperate to break it.

            “Yes,” Tommy said, holding her close. “He wants me to make his son a champion boxer. Says that’s all he wants apart from the money.”

            “The kid on the horse?” Kate frowned. “He didn’t look very big.”

            “He’s not. But apparently, he can pack a punch.” He sighed. “I don’t have high hopes but if it’ll make Aberama happy, then why not?”

            “So that’s what you’ll be doing tomorrow?”  

            He nodded. “May is coming to pick up a horse. I was hoping you could go down to the yard to speak with her. I asked her to look after Blue for you while we were away. I’ll send Isaiah and Finn with you.”

            “Oh, good. I’d like to ask her how he’s doing.” Kate already missed going out to the stables to see the beautiful gelding. She missed a lot about Arrow House. She missed dancing in the ballroom, having breakfast out on the lawn, the clean air, and seeing Tommy smile in the sun.

            “Pol said she talked to you after the funeral.”

            Kate stifled a groan. She should’ve realized Polly was going to push her to tell Tommy. “Yeah, she came to see me before she went to the yard.”

            “She was implying that it might’ve been an important conversation.”

            The room fell quiet again and it was driving Kate mad. She took a deep breath. “I’ve been feeling sick for about a week, I guess. Polly seems to think I might be pregnant.”

            Tommy clearly had not been expecting such news. He thought maybe Polly was talking to Kate about séances or the Changrettas. He sat up a bit to look at her. But for a long pause, he couldn’t think of anything to say.

            She could hardly meet his eyes. “I know it’s not a good time. I told her maybe it was just stress. I don’t think…well I don’t know for sure. I just thought it was such a shit time to be pregnant.” She stammered, hoping Tommy would interrupt her.

            He touched her cheek. “It’s okay.” His voice was steady even though his fear was suddenly heightened. There was no fooling Polly when it came to babies, so more than likely his aunt was right. Now he had to look after his unborn child. “It’s going to be okay.” He repeated it if only to calm himself down. “But you cannot tell anyone else about this. This stays between you, Polly, and me.”

            Kate nodded. She understood. A pregnant fiancée was the perfect target for a vendetta or even a hostage situation. News of a pregnancy would put them all at more risk. “Okay. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

            He hugged her close. “It’ll be okay. We’ll make it through this and, when the time comes we’ll go back to Arrow House to raise a family.”

~~~`~~~~~~~ 

            Isaiah and Finn walked with Kate down to Charlie’s yard so she could meet with May. They arrived just as the trailer truck was pulling up beside the canal.

            May got out of the truck and smiled politely when she saw Kate. “Tommy said you’d be here to meet me.” She waved to Curly as he came over to open the trailer for the horse.

            “I was hoping it would be under better circumstances,” Kate admitted. “Thank you for taking Blue in while we’re away though. That means a lot to me.”

            “Of course. Any horse trainer would love to have a stunning horse like yours around the stables.”

            “I miss him already,” Kate admitted. “But hopefully we’ll be back soon. Once Tommy’s business is finished.”

            “How is Tommy?” May inquired.

            “Well…”

            “He’s got the Americans after him, Mrs. Carleton.” Curly piped up as he and Charlie lowered the ramp.

            “Americans?” May raised an eyebrow.

            “The mafia.”

            “Dear God.”

            Kate sighed and nodded. “It’s Tommy Shelby, what else could you expect?” She tried to laugh it off. But she wanted to blurt out that the Italians were after her too for what she’d done to Santo. Everyone could go around blaming Tommy but she knew that they all had a hand in it. No one was blameless.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

            When Tommy came home that night, he was frantic. He tore his coat off and rushed into the kitchen where Kate was boiling water. “Did anyone come to find you today?”

            She was startled by his sudden appearance, she hadn’t even heard him unlock the door. “Today? Who would…what are you talking about?”

            “Did anyone approach you today? Did anyone come to the house? Did anyone call?”

            “No, I just spoke to May Carleton at the Yard and came back here. I haven’t been anywhere today. The only phone call I got was from Ada.” She replied. “Tommy, what is going on?”

            “Luca Changretta. He showed up. Walked right through the fucking door and into me office.” His voice was teetering on the edge of breaking.

            Kate’s face went pale. “What? You mean…you saw him? He was there?” The brazen move wasn’t completely unlike Luca’s mode of operation, but it was still shocking to hear.

            “I had a whole fucking conversation with him, Kate. If he had a gun and wanted to shoot me, I’d be fucking dead!” He shouted.

            “Where was everyone? How could he have just walked in?” She was panicked. Their territory was supposed to be safe as long as they weren’t out alone.

            “The whole factory walked out. Those communists raised up a strike, they all fucking walked out. It’s that Jessie Eden. Emptied the whole place so Luca fucking Changretta could walk right in!”

            Kate gripped the edge of her sweater as she sank into a chair at the kitchen table. “It was just an opportunity he took, Tom. The Italians wouldn’t work with communists here.” She replied quietly. “They don’t get political when it comes to vendettas.”

            “Well, he at least knew it was going to fucking happen. He didn’t just wander in there on chance. He knew when it was going to happen, where it was going to happen, and where I was going to be when it happened. Someone who knows a lot told him. And I need to find out who or we’re all dead.”

            Kate nodded, too caught up in what-ifs to say much. She wasn’t going to argue with him about being dramatic. It really was a matter of life or death at this point. And if Polly was right about the baby, she had a lot to protect. “You need to talk to Ada and you need to find out who in the factory has authority over these sorts of things. If-if you have to, then you’ll have to speak to Jessie Eden again.”

            Tommy continued to pace back and forth around the kitchen before he stopped to take out a cigarette. “I need to get men back on the line. We need to keep the factories active. I need to get the family’s approval to give the bullet to Aberama.”

            Kate watched him moving about frantically. His hand was shaking as he lit the cigarette. “What…like you’re going to hire him to kill Luca instead? Tom, I thought he was just protection? You said Arthur was going to kill Luca.”

            “I’m not risking anyone else from my family to bring that bastard down. I’m not losing another brother.”  

            She could agree with the sentiment but she knew how vendettas worked. “Arthur’s not going to listen.”

            Tommy took a few drags from the cigarette by the kitchen window. His blue eyes always seemed to be watching for something, waiting for an attack, preparing a plan for an ambush. It seemed useless to try and cast aside the soldier that was inside of him, always on the ready, always on the lookout. It was foolish, his instincts from the war were the only things keeping him alive. “That’s why I’m putting it to a family vote. He won’t have a choice if the others agree with me.”

            “I told you not to alienate them any further.”

            “This is a matter of protecting him.”

            “Tom, he’s angry, you know this is how the game is played. He wants revenge for what Luca did to John!”

            “I decide how the fucking game is played!” Tommy shouted. His loud voice coming from seeming nowhere. “I won’t hold another fucking funeral for one of my kin. Not again. He can be fucking angry but he’s not being stupid!”

            Kate didn’t shy away from him. She was intelligent to know that his emotions weren’t directed at her. She wasn’t the root of his angst. So, she stood up and took the cigarette from his hand, tossing it into the basin beside them. “You said I was your voice of reason. The mediator in all of this.” She cradled his cheek with one hand and ran the other through his hair. “All I’m doing is telling you what to expect from Arthur. I’m not taking sides because there shouldn’t be any sides to take. You’re all family. You’re not enemies. Luca is the enemy. If you give into all this fighting, this bickering, then you might as well surrender.”

            Tommy realized that he always took deep breaths around her. At first, he thought it was because he found her perfume comforting. But come to find out, it was because she had become his rock. Something to ground him, center him, and steady his racing thoughts.

            He found her lips, kissing her deeply as she knotted her fingers in his hair. Perhaps to blow off some steam, or maybe they were just craving each other’s presence, Kate and Tommy were quick to rid each other of their clothes.

            Tommy beat Kate to it, easily getting her sweater and dress off while she was still trying to rid him of all the layers he wore. Before she could even get to the top buttons of his dress shirt, he swept her off her feet to place her on the kitchen table.

            Their kissing became feverish, Kate begging between breaths. “Please, Tommy.” Her hand moved from his hair to grip onto the edge of the table as he worked two fingers into her. Her head lolled back with a grateful moan and Tommy mouthed at her neck and collarbone.

            But the moment was not to last as there was a loud banging at the front door. Usually, Tommy and Kate would choose to ignore a disturbance, but given the heightened atmosphere, they both drew apart.

            “Tommy!” Arthur shouted from the front door. “We need you at the office. We’ve got men coming in who are willing to work tomorrow!”

            Knowing it wasn’t a threat, Tommy groaned and weighed the options. Process paperwork of factory workers all night or fuck his gorgeous fiancée until she was crying his name for all of Small Heath to hear.

            Kate saw the conflict in his eyes. “Go.” She murmured before giving him a quick kiss.

            He sighed and stepped away from her so he could compose himself. Kate slipped off the kitchen table and put on her dress again. But before she could shoo him out the door, he pressed her up against the kitchen counter to properly kiss her goodbye.

            Arthur banged on the door again with his fist. “Tommy! I ain’t fucking doing this alone, so get out here!”

            It would be a long night. Especially knowing Kate was waiting for him at home.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~

            Tommy was at the office late, taking in the paperwork for the foremen who were willing to cross the picket line and work at the Shelby’s factories during the strikes. He got home about one in the morning. By then, Kate was already fast asleep and hardly even stirred when he got into bed with her.

            It wouldn’t be a restful night. At five in the morning, he was out the door, leaving Kate a note as she continued to sleep soundly.

             Kate,

I’ve gone early to the factory. It’ll be a long day of business for me. If you’d like to come sit in on the meeting about Arthur and Aberama, we’ll be meeting at the hospital at noon. In the meantime, I would like you to send out a telegram to Alfie to ask him if he knows anything about gin.

            I love you, see you soon

            Tommy

             Kate found the request for telegramming Alfie odd, especially given the subject. Gin? What on Earth did they need to know about gin at a time like this? But she complied, sending a letter to Alfie giving him her well wishes, informing him about the engagement, asking after Cyril, and finally inquiring about gin.

            By the time she sent the telegram, it was about time to head over to the hospital. Two Lee boys showed up, fully armed to escort her to the hospital.

            She arrived just after Tommy and before the rest. He greeted her with a kiss and pulled out a chair for her.

            “Michael, how are you feeling?” She asked sympathetically.

            “Better, thanks. Should be back on my feet soon.”

            “That’s good to hear.” She smiled.

            Tommy lingered around the door, waiting for the others to arrive. “Were you able to send out the telegram?”

            “Mhm.” She nodded. “What’s so important about gin that Alfie needs to know?”

            “Now that we’re distilling it, I was wondering if I could get his opinion.” He replied casually, but there was clearly something he wasn’t saying.

            And Kate was onto him immediately. “You really think that should be our priority with him? Gin? Are you sure there isn’t anything else I should��ve asked him over the telegram?”

            He shook his head. “Nope, nothing that could be said over telegram.”

            “Ah.” She nodded. “So, it needs to be said in person.” She understood.

            The door opened and Polly, Ada, and Lizzie all made themselves comfortable around the table. Polly gently touched Kate’s shoulder. A gesture that Kate knew the meaning of. She wanted to know how Kate was feeling but didn’t want to raise questions. No one else could know about the pregnancy, not even Ada or Lizzie.

            “Where’s Arthur?” Tommy asked.

            “Do I look like his fucking mother?” Polly retorted.

            He glanced at his watch with frustration. “We need to get started without him then.”

            Knowing what was on the agenda, Kate balked. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Tom. Maybe we should find out where he is to make sure he’s okay.”

            “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can figure out why he’s late.” He replied in a strict business tone before carrying on with the meeting as planned.

            Kate did her best to listen but once the photographs of Luca were distributed, she could hardly hear anything else but her own heartbeat in her ears. It had been a long time since she’d seen Luca. She went years hoping she would never see his face ever again. He was a tentative ally of Santo during the time Kate was bootlegging. With his connections in New York and Chicago, he made it difficult for her in every sense of the business. Many times he tried to coax her into handing over her assets in the best interest of herself and her mother. Kate was convinced that Luca had something to do with the Chicago outfit killing her mother. Ever since then, she despised his name and that of his family.

            “You look pale, Kate.” Ada interrupted Kate’s ruminating.

            Polly looked up from the photograph with concern. “Maybe you should go for a walk.” She suggested. “I’ll see if the nurse will get you a glass of water.”

            Tommy became nervous at the idea of people picking up on the subtle hints that Kate was potentially pregnant. If fewer people knew, Tommy could keep better control of things. Better control over the things Luca could leverage against him.

            “She’s fine, Pol,” Tommy interjected in a clipped tone.

            Ada looked aghast at her brother’s seemingly lack of care for his fiancée.

            But Kate understood. “He’s right. I just didn’t get much sleep last night. I was worried about the strike.” She explained and attempted to look a little less sick to her stomach. “I’ll be right back; you can continue without me.” She stood and went out to get a bit of fresh air. Even as she left, the image of Luca’s face was planted in her head. A mixture of anger and fear was making her blood race. No way she would let that man take anything else from her or her newfound family. No way.

Permanent Tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @biba3434 @kimmietea @karmezii @enrapturedbythemoon @vampgirl1997 @tarafaithe @evelynshelby

Tag list: @radical-gecko @actorinfluence @meltingicequeen @merlettina @w1nterchild

Masterpost

PB Masterlist

[iwillgiveyoumyhappiness]

이장준, Lee Jangjun

anonymous asked:

Hi 화성아! Could I please request a Jangjun imagine where you're their new stylist and he gets feelings for you? (Sorry if it's incredibly vague) as usual take your time!

Group: Golden Child (골든차일드)

Member: Jangjun

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Jangjun plopped himself in front of the mirror, mussing his hair up a little, tucking it behind his ears prettily and fluttering his lashes to make his members laugh. They thought it was funny, but they were also trying to reign in their crazy a little bit.

Why? 

Because there was an unfamiliar face in the room, and they didn’t want to seem too weird for her tastes. 

She was a new stylist, dressed in a nice mixture of business and casual, setting up her work area and laying out all of her eye shadow shades with a sensible, yet somehow random attention to detail.

She was pretty and looked well put together while still having an air of chill coolness about her that didn’t make her seem unapproachable, and of course—when it came to someone interesting like that—the members were thrown into a state of, “Oh my gosh, everyone shut up, we need to make a good impression.” 

In Jangjun’s eyes, he didn’t see the point in hiding themselves. Especially since she was going to be around there for pretty much ever. 

“’Scuse me!” he called, waving his hands and grinning widely into the mirror. 

She met his eyes in the glass, giving a small smile. “Yes?” she said. “You up first?” 

“Aye, aye, ‘cap,” he joked. He settled himself comfortably in the leather-covered chair, his sweaty hands sticking to the arms and making a sound akin to velcro tearing when he readjusted them.

She glanced down at his hands as she brushed through his hair. “You nervous?” she asked. 

He followed her gaze, chuckling at himself. “Seems like it,” he said, stretching out his fingers and cracking his knuckles. “I don’t actually know why, though.” 

“I admire the honesty,” she murmured, trying to carefully comb her way through a small tangle. 

He smiled proudly to himself. “Why, thank you, ma’am.” He snapped his fingers, a thought coming to mind. “By the way, what’s my concept for today?” 

She hummed thoughtfully. “I’m thinking... Misunderstood bad boy? Leather-clad with passionate red undertones. Maybe a bandana tucked into the pocket.” She nodded confidently to herself. “Yup, definitely that. I can envision it going super well with the Without You choreography.”

Jangjun blinked, but his smile never lessened. “I don’t really know what you just said, but I’m down for it and I approve,” he said, flashing a thumbs up.

She chuckled under her breath, too quiet to hear. “Well, isn’t that good to hear,” she joked, pulling some scarlet hair extensions out of her makeup bag. She experimentally held them up to his hair, playing around with a few different placements. 

She made an ‘ooh’ noise at one point, commenting under her breath that they “really brought out the highlights in his eyes”, so he could only assume that was a good thing.

She tied his bangs up with a cute Strawberry Shortcake scrunchie, the hair sticking up like a bean sprout. He couldn’t help but snort a little. “This part of the concept?” he asked.

“What do you think?” she challenged playfully. It wasn’t really something that required an answer; they just chuckled easily. “Hey, can I ask you a question?” she said, mixing together a blend of orange and brown eye shadow.

He nodded, smiling in a friendly, reassuring way. “Sure,” he said, “what’s up?” 

“Is it just me”—she gave him a look, as if asking for permission to apply his makeup. He closed his eyes as a silent answer—“or are your members kinda scared of me?”

Jangjun almost burst out laughing, but he stopped himself so as to save himself an eye-gouging via makeup brush. It’d happened before and it was unpleasant in every sense of the word. 

“Perceptive,” he answered, the hint of laughter in his tone. “It’s really not you, though,” he assured her. “They’re just worried that they’re too weird, so they’re acting all overly-polite and uptight. Heck, Donghyun’s even pretending to read a book! Probably doesn’t even notice it’s upside down. Don’t worry, though—they’ll warm up to you fast.”

She skimmed the makeup brush over his skin, a feather-light and skillful action that felt as if it were barely there at all. “So why don’t you try to hide how weird you are?” she asked casually, as if it were the most normal thing to ask. “Don’t smile, please” she warned, noticing the corners of his lips begin to turn upward.

He sucked in his lips in an attempt to keep the smile under wraps. “Oh, believe me,” he started, “this isn’t half the weirdness that I have to offer. Don’t wanna scare you off too fast.” 

She chucked. “Is that right?” She instructed him to purse his lips, applying a light layer of tint to them. “Well, I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of that zaniness, Mr. Celebrity.” 

“Mr. Celebrity?” he echoed. “I have a name, y’know.”

She started filling in his eyebrows. “Hey, there’s ten of you guys and I just started working today,” she said. “Cut me a little slack, yeah? Until I’ve memorized all of your noses, you’re Mr. Celebrity #1, he’s Mr. Celebrity #2, so on and so forth.” 

“At least I’m number one,” he shrugged, pausing for a moment before a realization dawned on his. “Also, what was that about noses?”

She stopped her movements for a moment, almost as if realizing she’d said something dumb. “Nothing, really,” she said, trying hard to sound nonchalant about it. “It’s just a...” she searched for the right word, fiddling with the brush in her hand, “...thing that I have.”

He peeked an eye open. “And what is this thing?” he asked playfully. “I’m curious now.”

She huffed a breath of air, pulling the scrunchie out of his hair and letting his bangs flop onto his forehead, covering his eyes just slightly. “I have a thing where once I recognize and remember a person’s nose, I can pick them out just about anywhere,” she explained, grabbing a comb from off the side table.

She parted his hair on the side, carefully brushing out any tangles. “Basically, it’s nothing special,” she said. “Just a thing.” 

“It’s cool, though!” Jangjun insisted, smiling at her in the mirror. “Out of all the noses in the room, whose nose do you think you’ll memorize the fastest?” he asked, gesturing around the room.

She looked around for a moment, pursing her lips in thought. “Him,” she finally said, pointing off to the left. “The handsome guy with the light hair and thick lips that’s glaring down at his phone because he just lost a round of Angry Birds.”

He laughed loudly, catching the attention of a few of the members. Daeyeol muttered something between the lines of ‘you’re loud’ and ‘I wish you were more awkward, ‘cause I’m jealous’, quickly trying to get back to his pre-performance nap. 

“That’d be Jaehyun,” Jangjun said. “Why his nose?”

She shrugged, going back to his hair. “I don’t know,” she said simply, “it’s just not one that you easily forget. It’s kinda bumpy and long, I guess? But in a nice way.”

He laughed again. “Oh, he’s gonna love hearing that,” he said, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.   

She frowned. “I’d prefer if you didn’t tell him,” she said.

“If it’s a secret, why’d you tell me then, huh?” he joked, quirked an eyebrow up at her.

“Because you asked!” she defended herself.

He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “So you’re one of those people that does whatever people say... How disappointing.” 

Her jaw dropped. “You have got to be kidding.” 

He managed to keep a straight face for all of thirteen seconds before he bust out in giggles. “Lucky for you, I am.” He gave her a thumbs up. “Your nosy secret’s safe with me.” 

She left out a relieved sigh. “Don’t mess with me like that!” she warned. She put her hands on her hips. “You know I’m in charge of how you look on stage, right?” 

He blinked. “You have made a fair point. I’ll reign in the idiot that’s trying to jump out of my body.”

“Oh, he’s not already out?”  

Jangjun froze for a minute, letting her words sink in before he laughed and covered his face, feeling a little bit embarrassed. “You know, I think you’ll fit in here nicely,” he said. “You’ve already got the roasting down pat.”

She smiled a little, not letting it reach its full brightness. “I’ve had practice,” she said. “Got enough siblings to keep me busy.” 

He made a curious little chirping noise. “Tell me about that.”

That’s how their conversations went for weeks, going on months. Always a new subject, never boring and always filled with laughs. It turns out, even though they were pretty different, they also had a lot of similarities. 

They enjoyed cheesy movies with a passion, they had their ‘dumb sides’ (as some of the members liked to put it), they both had a habit of accidentally making themselves seem like fools, but it didn’t matter much as long as someone else laughed—all in all, their chemistry was something he enjoyed.

In fact, he couldn’t remember frowning in front of her yet.

Something he did remember, though—and that liked to wake him up at midnight to torture him with embarrassing thoughts—was how gentle her fingers were, filled to the brim with a tingly kind of tenderness. 

The way they carded through his hair to try out a new style, the way they smoothly gilded across the skin of his cheek as she applied concealer or highlights. Not to mention the focus on her face when she was applying his makeup and the ridiculous butterflies he’d started getting whenever she had to lean close and put something on his lips or work on an important detail with his eyeliner. 

Recently, all he could think in those moments were, “Shit, shit, shit, please don’t come any closer—I might die.” 

Perhaps a bit dramatic, but when wasn’t he?

The only irritating thing was, the closer he got to her, the closer the others got, too. Close enough for her and Daeyeol to go out on coffee runs together, close enough for her to cheer Seongyoon on during games and compliment him on his voice, close enough to have a joint playlist with Youngtaek and so many other things that he didn’t even want to mention. 

In summary: they were close. They were all friendly with her and getting closer as the months passed by, and Jangjun supposed that he must like her as more than just a friend, because that bothered him. 

A lot.

So, he’d made up his mind. Today was the day. 

If she liked him, she did. If she didn’t, oh well. They could still be good friends and have a successful work-relationship. He didn’t have the time to think about consequences or any of that dumb stuff, he just really wanted to tell her how he felt.

His eyes didn’t come off of her once as she spread the powder foundation gently across his cheeks. He couldn’t help but notice the curve of her lips and her nose; the apples of her cheeks. The attention in her eyes as she worked skillfully to give him the best appearance possible.

“How long are you gonna keep staring at me like that?” she asked absentmindedly, capping the jar of concealer. “It’s gettin’ a little creepy,” she joked.

He didn’t really answer. He just chuckled, smiling earnestly. 

She gave him a look. “Seriously, you’re being weird,” she said, “and not your usual weird.”   

He shrugged. “You look nice,” he said.

“Thanks...?” She furrowed her brows. “That was sudden.” 

He laughed. “Not as sudden as this,” he said, leaning forward and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

She jumped back, a cutely surprised look on her face. “Dude!” she whisper-shouted, threatening to smack him over the head with a makeup brush. Her eyes darted side to side, trying to make sure no one had seen. “What the heck was that about?”

“You look nice,” he repeated. “You looked nice, and I wanted to kiss you.” 

She stared at him, mouth hanging wide open. “You’re kidding, right?”

He shook his head, his expression getting more serious. “Not this time,” he said. A flash of worry came over him. “Unless... you want it to be a joke.” There was a beat of silence. “If you want it to be one, we can just laugh it off and forget it,” he offered. 

She cleared her throat, her cheeks hot and red. “No...” she mumbled quietly, rearranging her lip tints like her life and sanity depended on it. “No, it’s fine.” 

He gave her a questioning look, tugging at her shirt for a moment to get her to look at him. “What do you mean?” he asked, a brow quirked curiously.

She looked shyly down at her feet. “It’s just...” She met his eyes, but only in the mirror. It was like a little wall between them that gave her a little courage.

“I memorized your nose first.”

.

.

.

I hope you enjoyed it, 나의 쌍둥이! Jangjun is such a cutie. ;-; He’s like a magical happiness pill. And, if you’re wondering about the nose thing, I have NO idea where that came from. I was just writing it and that came to mind, and for whatever I thought, “Yup, we’re gonna go with that.” Love ya!!

[mxliv-oftheendless]

Twist of Fate, Chapter 1

Oh my, what could this possibly be??? Why, IT’S A NEW KISSTERIAVERSE STORY!!! One that I have been dying to write for so long now omg. I don’t know how this is gonna go down or how you guys will receive it, but I hope you guys like it! **Important note before we start: this story is a major time skip to years in the future. I still haven’t figured out when exactly but it’s before the Reunion Tour.** Special shout-out to @cosmicrealmofkissteria for freaking out with me over ideas for this story for... literal months now lol. Love you, Shandi! 

After a messy break-up with Nikki Terror, Starchild has been dedicated to improving himself and growing as an individual. It’s been years since he gave any thought to pursuing a romantic relationship. But will a diplomatic trip to Jendell change his mind? 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If Starchild were to ever look back, he would probably berate himself for being such a fool. He had been naïve and idealistic, thinking he could change Nikki Terror by loving him. He had given him everything, ignoring all the warnings from his friends and ignoring all the reasons why he shouldn’t, forgiving Nikki for everything he did, because he thought it would change him for the better. There were so many things wrong with him—and with Nikki, but he was the most concerned about himself by the end.

He would also think sadly about how it ended up taking a major threat from a demon called Blackie, that Nikki himself had Summoned, and KISS teaming up with the Motley Crue to deal with it, to make him realize all of this. He was stressed, angry, tired, and confused, but even amid his confusion, he knew one thing—he couldn’t be with Nikki anymore. For the sake of his sanity and mental health, he couldn’t stay in a relationship that had decayed away to nearly nothing. So he ended it, completely severing their ties.

After that, he focused on himself—if he wanted to be happy, he had to work through his own problems that he had avoided or ignored for so long. So he did. He meditated; he started keeping a diary; he focused on KISS and his friends; he even found himself drawing again. He hadn’t picked up his sketchbook in years, not since leaving KISSteria with Demon, Ace, and Catman to form KISS. He took his duties as KISSteria’s Prince more seriously, finding books on politics from both Earth and his home and soaking up as much information as he could. He tried to forgive himself when he made a mistake, rather than consider himself a failure. Slowly, but surely, piece by piece, he dried his eyes, put his shattered heart back together and moved on. He always remembered how envious he was of Demon and Vinneketh’s loving relationship—if he couldn’t have someone who loved him like that, then he would try to love himself.

Life went on around him, and he tried to move with it. Revenge was recorded and they went on tour, and he tried embracing another side of himself; one that was loud and proud and swore and was outspoken and had fun. He liked that side of himself, and how he was able to embrace it and have fun with it without any strings attached. The years went by, blurred together, until one day he heard someone mention Motley Crue and Nikki Sixx… and he felt nothing. He simply smiled to himself and went back to the book he was reading. He was okay; he was sure now. He was going to be okay. He still felt like he had miles to go, even after years, but he was willing to try. Whether he succeeded or failed, or did both, he wanted to at least try.

“Starchild?”

Starchild blinked and pulled himself out of his thoughts. He turned from gazing out the ship window to the Elder. “Yes, Mother?”

“Are you all right? You’ve been quiet for a while now.”

Nodding, Starchild smiled slightly. “Yes, I am. I was just thinking.”

“A good pastime. What were you thinking about?”

He shrugged. “About our trip. I’m excited; I haven’t visited Jendell in years.”

“That is right, you haven’t. Would you be more excited if it weren’t for diplomacy? Gods know I would be.”

Starchild laughed with her. “I would, but I’m still excited. Diplomacy is important if we want to maintain our friendship with Jendell. If it means more years of peace, I’ll gladly participate.”

A slow smile came to the Elder’s face, and Starchild had decided after years of seeing it that he loved that smile—it meant she approved of his words and was proud of his words. No feeling in the world could match knowing he had his mother’s approval and feeling like he deserved it. “I’m very glad to hear that. The meetings will be numerous, and taxing, but they will be worth it.”

“I hope so,”

They were nearly there, so Starchild went back to looking out the window. Truth be told, he was mostly excited, but still a little nervous. He hadn’t seen Ace in years, only once after he married Princess Amalthea. And even then, it was awkward and painful, and he ended up avoiding him the entire time. Hopefully, things would be better this time.

When the ship landed, he could see a gathering of Jendellian officials waiting for them, and at the very front was Ace and Amalthea, with Tomaziel beside the King as always. It was nice to see Tomaziel was still Ace’s aide, as loyal and dedicated as ever.

Starchild and the Elder stood to get off the ship, and let the procession go first before them. The Elder went first, and Starchild paused to fix his black cloak patterned with silver stars before following behind her.

“Welcome, Elder,” Ace greeted, dressed in royal Jendellian robes. He gave them both a wide smile. “Welcome, Prince Starchild. Thank you for agreeing to make the journey.”

“I hope it was not a difficult one,” Amalthea said, dipping into a respectful curtsy.

The Elder smiled warmly at her. “You needn’t bow to your friends, Queen Amalthea. But no, the journey was far from difficult.”

“We were happy to make it,” Starchild spoke up, smiling respectfully.

Ace turned his eyes to him and smiled wider. “It’s good to see you again, Starchild,”

Starchild’s own smile widened. “It’s good to see you too, Ace,”

Then he suddenly found himself pulled into a hug, a friendly one. The two old acquaintances shared a laugh, and he felt a surge of happiness at the hug. It was a friendly one, yes, but he hoped it meant there were no hard feelings. All his worrying about how Ace would react to seeing him again faded away.

When Ace let him go, he turned to Amalthea and bowed his head to her. “Queen Amalthea. It’s lovely to see you looking so radiant.”

Amalthea laughed and returned the bow. “Why, thank you,”

Then Starchild turned to Tomaziel and nodded to him. “It’s good to see you again, too, Tomaziel,”

“The feeling is mutual, Prince Starchild,” Tomaziel bowed his head, then looked up in slight surprise when Starchild came forward and offered his hand. He looked up at Starchild, who only smiled invitingly, then back down at the extended hand. A small smile came to his face, and he reached out to take the hand and shake it.

But when their hands touched, Starchild jerked his away when he felt a sudden static shock and gave a surprised yelp. “Ow!”

Panic immediately came to Tomaziel’s face. “I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed, holding his hands up apologetically. “It was an accident! I swear, I did not mean to do that. I’m still learning how to control my electricity—I shouldn’t have done that. I am so sorry!”

“It’s all right, Tomaziel,” Starchild interrupted. He showed his hand. “I am perfectly fine. It was an accident, I understand. Really, it’s all right.”

Tomaziel briefly stared at him, then relaxed. “If you say so, Prince Starchild,”

“I do say so,” Starchild gave him a kind smile. “I could tell you about so many times where accidents happened because my own powers weren’t under control.”

Amalthea interrupted politely. “Shall we have our servants show you to your rooms? You would surely like to rest a bit before dinner.”

The Elder nodded. “That would be lovely, thank you. I am not as young as I used to be,” she added, smiling jokingly.

The five laughed and entered the palace.

-JENDELL-

Later that evening, Starchild stood in front of his mirror as he prepared for dinner. He set down his comb and looked over his reflection. It was still a little difficult for him to look at his reflection and not immediately see little things wrong with his appearance; especially now when he had to make an impression to so many Jendellian government officials. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, shaking out his nerves, and opened his eyes to look again. He smiled at himself—he looked good. It was good enough for him. It would be good enough for the rest.

He had been walking down the hallway to the dining hall alone for a while when he turned a corner and almost crashed into Ace. They both froze in time, then Ace laughed. “Glad I stopped; I would’ve ruined your outfit.”

“And we definitely can’t have that happen,” Starchild chuckled. “If I nearly ran into you… Does that mean I was going the wrong way?”

Laughing again, Ace nodded. “I think you were,”

“I haven’t been here in a while,” Starchild shrugged sheepishly. “Could we walk together?”

“Sure. Amalthea and Tomaziel are already there anyways.” He grinned at him. “Wouldn’t it be funny if we ended up being the only ones left to arrive?”

Giggling, Starchild shrugged again. “Then we’ll be fashionably late,”

They set off down the hallway, and after a moment of silence Ace spoke again. “So… How are you? How have you been?”

Starchild thought for a moment before answering. “I’ve been alright. And you?”

Ace smiled. “I have a daughter now,”

“That’s wonderful! What’s her name?”

“Her name is Monique.” He laughed lightly. “She almost threw a tantrum when she learned she wouldn’t get to see the KISSterians arrive today. She’s been talking about how excited she is to meet you and the Elder since she learned you were coming.”

Starchild chuckled. “I can’t wait to meet her,”

“Knowing her, she’ll find a way to sneak away from her governess and seek you out herself,”

“Well I shall await that moment with bated breath,”

Ace laughed. “And what about the band? Did you…” here he sobered. “Did you find a replacement for Fox?”

Starchild’s smile faded at the thought of Fox. The loss of one of his dear friends still pained him. “We did. Catman was the one who suggested him. Eryk, the Wildcat Apprentice.”

Ace raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Eryk?” He smiled. “That’s great; I always liked him. What about Bla—Heather? Is she still traveling around with you?”

Starchild’s head lowered sadly. “No… She left. She didn’t want to be a burden.”

Ace looked away sadly. “I’m sorry,”

“Don’t be. It was her decision, and I couldn’t have stopped her even if I tried… And I tried. I hope she finds the peace she deserves.”

“I… I’m sorry,” Ace laughed nervously, “I keep asking ya questions…”

Starchild shook his head, smiling. “It’s all right. You’ve missed a lot.”

“Okay… I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I heard…” he paused, “I heard you cut ties with Nikki Terror.”

Starchild’s smile faded, but he nodded. “Yes, I did. I reflected on everything, and I realized being with him was doing me more harm than good. I,” he shrugged, “I couldn’t even tell myself a good enough reason to stay, by the end. So I ended things.”

Ace nodded slowly. “Okay… And how have things been for you since?”

“Honestly?” He smiled again. “Things have been lovely. I’m trying to be a better person than I was before, and to be honest… I’m happier with myself than I was before.”

“I thought so,” Ace smiled at him. “I can see it. If you’re happy with the way you are, then I think what you’re doing is great.”

Starchild returned the smile. “Thank you,”

They finally approached the doors to the dining hall. Starchild heard voices through the doors and laughed. “It looks like we are the last to arrive,”

Ace laughed out loud. “Guess we’re gonna be fashionably late!”

He was about to request that the guards open the doors for them when Starchild suddenly stopped him. “Wait… There’s something I need to ask you.”

Ace turned to him. “Yeah?”

Starchild took a breath and went on. “I know the last time I was here… wasn’t the best of times. If it hurt you, the way I acted, I’m sorry. You’re clearly happy married to Amalthea, and I would never do anything to jeopardize your happiness, so…” he extended his hand with a nervous smile, “could we still be friends?”

There was a moment of silence where Ace looked down at his extended hand. Starchild’s heart thumped nervously as he waited for his response. Then a wide grin burst across Ace’s face and he took Starchild’s hand. “Of course we can still be friends. I still care about ya, Starchild, even if we aren’t together anymore.”

Starchild grinned happily and hugged Ace tightly. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me,”

When he pulled away, Ace grinned at him. “Well—c’mon, friend. Let’s go have dinner; I’m starving.”

Laughing, Starchild followed him the rest of the way down the hall. “Same here, friend,”

He entered the dining hall alongside Ace with a much brighter mood than when they arrived. His nerves were gone, and he was looking forward eagerly to the next three weeks. This was going to be a good trip—he was sure of it, now.

[honorfallen]

The need for a draught

A few swings of his broom and the goose finally began to vacate the doorway of the haberdashery, giving a final rebellious honk until another tap from the brush warded it off for good. Duard cleared his throat as the white-feathered beast waddled away towards the Lion’s Rest or wherever it saw fit. 

The door slammed behind him after he re-entered the small shop. He shoved the broom next to the doorway, the loud wooden thump sounding off the man’s frustration knowing that he would need to fetch it again because of that goose. His fingers scratched at the side of his face, agitated. There was no itching feeling, but he just needed to scratch--

The damned thing is just going to come back. I should just kill it. Just grab the knife next time... or better yet, the daggers~ 

Duard’s left hand tilted towards his face and he glared carefully at his palm. Fingers began to flex a few times to estimate the strength of his grip. He brushed his palm with his right finger to feel where the calluses would be: softening up. These hands were forgetting what it felt like to hold daggers. They quivered, begging for the action once more.  Please, for old time’s sake--

No. Now in place of the daggers were quills and paper, cloth and leather. The careful precision that once targeted hearts, spines, throats, and arteries now focused on more delicate crafts. More productivity and legitimate work, but the distractions were worsening. A tiresome issue, but one he shouldn’t have to deal with for long. He would receive his much-delayed draughts soon enough, and then things would be better, again. Until then, just deal with it...

Duard approached the counter, leather furs, and buckles strewed into several messy piles. In the middle of the table was a half-assembled handbag; it’s partially sewn edge patiently waiting to be finished, hopefully with no further disturbances. Taking the crafting awl into his hand, he ran the needled tip across the bag, browsing for the ideal place to puncture...

A bead of sweat began to form on the side of his forehead as he readied himself to cleanly gouge a vital area-- just like a kill spot. 

Hmm.. the Jugular, heart, or the kidney...? 

With a quick thrust, the pop from piercing the leather was satisfying. Lips turned into a frown. 

The memory of the taste of blood made him wince. It was guilt.

The sweet buttery flavor. The nectarous scent.

This awl would still do great for a single jab in a throat; a fountain of candied red is so easy to create. All that also came with the melody of adrenaline-filled hearts beating faster combined with the wailing screams of the poor creature: music to his ears. 

Prestissimo.  Prestissimo.

His own heart beat harder and faster as it sank into his chest. The bead of sweat finally sliding down his cheek. His hands first clenched the side of his head to squeeze the horrible thoughts away, then they moved to cover his face in shame for having them in the first place.

This is not me. I’m better, now. I’m better. 

Suddenly, a footstep creaked the store’s old floorboards-- a change in the air snapped him from his suffering. The smell of someone else was in the room. But where? His back tightened, feeling the presence of the intruder directly behind him.

Duard twisted backwards and grabbed the shirt collar of the intruder, slamming him into the wall. He held the awl at the man’s throat.

An angry voice yelled out. “Firelord’s flaming farts-- what are ye doin’?! Put me down!” Large beard, weird expletives being shouted about, bald as sin-- it was not just any man or stranger. Oddly enough, a friend; one he was waiting for who was very, very late.

Duard took a deep breath and held it, trying to kill his adrenaline by suffocating it. With one hand, he realized had his associate lifted up entirely off the ground, pinned to the wall. The other hand was ready to take another life. 

Human-limited strength returned to Duard at the same rate as his clarity, dropping Bordus onto the ground. 

“You know not to sneak up on me,” Duard said and he rolled his eyes.

“Sneakin’?!” The dwarf clenched both of his fists and released them into the air as he exclaimed, “How coulda ye missed me walkin’ in, even if ye been screwin’ around chasin’ that bird I’m nae that small that ye dinna see m--” 

“Do you have it?” Duard interrupted. Pacing the floor helped continue recollecting himself. Patience was a virtue that was becoming unaffordable. 

“-- if ya told me ya were good as huntin’ as ya claim, I’d never believe ye! Ye got tha instincts of a thousand year ol’ geriatric swine whose senses ben dulled from smellin’ Deathwin’s arse all day!” It felt like at least a minute of Bordus going on with a performative outrage.

“For fuck’s sake!” Such vulgarity rarely spilled from Duard’s lips. He turned around and swung his arm in a wide arc, throwing the awl across the room. The needle burrowed into the side of the wall, inches from the dwarf’s face, humming like a spring doorstop before slowly quieting down.

Now that he had his attention Duard marched towards Bordus, feet eerily quiet on the wooden floor. His suppressed anger was hidden by a polite grace. Face to face, his eyes seeming more amber than usual, Duard spoke.  “Do you have it?” Each syllable was heavily accentuated so there would be no misunderstanding.

Anger, and some color, drained from Bordus’s face, but the dwarf managed to speak out. “Yer a fool tae doubt Bordus!” He shouted. The dwarf’s tone quickly changed to whimsically talkative. “‘Bout tha timin’, though. Tha witch says she’s been strugglin’ tae make tha stuff. Not much supplies since tha night elves lost everythin’. Not like we can go beggin’ door tae door fer poisons n’ crap.” 

From his pack, Bordus drew one small phial from the batch and handed it to the man. “Best tae keep that on yer mind. Might want tae consider talkin’ to her about it. ‘Specially if this is how yer going tae act when yer low-- let me guess: ‘ol’ habits’?”

“Maybe.” Duard’s answer should have been ‘If it wasn’t obvious enough, no shit’. 

With his precious draught in hand, had Duard lost any more of his senses he would have bitten through the glass to get to the precious concoction. Instead, though still with desperation, he bit down on the cork and yanked it out, spit it off to the side, and took a large sip of the contents. 

The effect was immediate, the anger was melting away... as was his vision. Duard stepped backward and had to lean on the counter to balance himself but he slowly slid down and keeled over on the floorboards. He was unmoving for a good ten seconds. Apparently still conscious, he reached out with his index finger and pointed it at Bordus. “You-- stay the hell away... from the money drawer...”

Bordus looked quite offended at the accusation. “Fine, fine, lad.” He folded his arms as if he needed the extra security against temptation.

Another minute passed. Eventually, Duard leaned upward and grabbed his forehead after getting over his brush with clinical death. “I... am fine.” He remarked nonchalantly. “Just too much too soon. Have not had a proper dosage for too long... Ugh.” His hand reached upward and grabbed the counter and he hoisted himself back to his feet. Dusting himself off, he sighed. “I apologize for my previous behavior. That was not like me.”

A familiar dull look returned to his hazel eyes: the boring man was reborn, plagued no longer by pointless urges or troublesome thoughts.

“Sober you is not tha real you, huh.” Bordus scoffed. “Ya sure it ain’t tha other way around?” 

“Of course not.” Duard’s eyes glanced over and focused onto the awl still buried in the wall. It took a strong pull, but he managed to get the tool out in a single try. His thumb brushed over the hole left in the wall, and his face drooped with concern at the damage. Shoulders lifted in a dismissive oh well, he turned to the dwarf. “You can leave the rest of the phials on the counter. I will pay you when everything is done, here. Right now I... I need to finish my work.” He waved the dwarf away.

No more distractions. No more anything. Emptiness.

Just the work at hand, now. 

---

Author’s Note:

Just ideas I had because I never addressed a lot of stuff I have about my merc boys and their stuff going on. Still working on the dwarf accent btw