#then again i've talked about how his thought processes are... meant to be confusing to read / interpret because they legitimately. are. like

[lo1k-diamonds]

Make It Right 💜 Part 2

I won't make that mistake again.

PAIRING: Idol!Jungkook x (f) Reader

SUMMARY: After the last concert in Busan, Jungkook decides to stay at his parents' and make the best of that pause. He never dreamed he would have the chance to meet you again, but now that he has, he won't give up. This is his chance to make things right.

WORD COUNT: 13.1 k

GENRE: Idol AU, childhood friends to lovers, reunions, angst

RATING: Explicit

WARNINGS: arguing, angst, Jungkook likes to tease you a lot, nipple play, dry humping, cum eating, oral (both), unprotected sex, creampie, reader calls Jungkook by his actual name (Jeongguk), reader has a nickname

A.N. I've been seeing so many GIFs about Yet to Come JK that ouuuf 🥵 like please and thank you! Anyway, I hope the ending matches the vibe of the first part :) I wanted them to be soulmates without a soulmate AU and show their history a bit, even though this is only a two-shot. A huge thank you to @downbad4yoongi Jasz for helping me fine-tune this one 💜 Enjoy 💜(Thank you @eerieedits for the cool banner 💜)

Masterlist | AO3 | Wattpad | < Part 1

“Imo-nim,” Jungkook greeted with a respectful bow.

Your mother beamed, “Jungkook! How wonderful to see you! Do you need something?”

He raised his head and looked behind her for a split second. “I was hoping to catch Mimi.”

Your mother's face showed wonder, then sadness. “Oh, she doesn’t live here anymore. Hasn’t in a couple of years.”

His heart dropped. “She’s not here? I thought… Did she not come here last night?”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “She had dinner and left.”

Jungkook looked behind your mother as he processed that information. He had trouble sleeping, so he was out front for at least an hour, waiting for a decent hour to knock on your parents’ door. You couldn’t have left without him seeing it. And your mother wouldn’t lie to him, she’d have no reason to because you wouldn't have told her what happened last night. Which meant you hadn’t come here last night, and he was even more at a loss. 

“But I can give you her address so you can go talk to her.”

Jungkook was instantly relieved, but he worried as your mother turned to a nearby table in her foyer to grab a Post-it and a pen. “Only if you think she won’t mind. I don’t want to upset her.”

Your mother chuckled as she scribbled. “Let her get upset. She’s already mad at me for yesterday anyway.”

“Because you were late?”

She hummed quizically and gave him the paper. “Late? No, because I told her it was time to stop sulking and talk to you. She wasn’t pleased about that.”

Jungkook safely tucked the paper with your address in his closed hand and pressed his lips, unsure how to reply.

But your mom just smiled. “I’ll be happy to see you two together again, even if it’s none of my business,” she added with a sigh, raising her hands in surrender. Then she smirked. “I can call her to let her know you’ll be coming over, if you want. Or give you her—”

“No!” he interrupted mindlessly, instantly regretting his outburst. “No, it… It will be okay like this. I’ll drop by tonight; maybe it’s best that she doesn’t know about it.”

Your mother raised a playful eyebrow. “Why are you waiting until tonight? You should go now. She has the day off.”

His shoulders stiffened as he licked his lip, instantly eager to do precisely that, and your mother simply chuckled.

“Take your time, okay? She might put up a fight at first, but that kid cares a lot about you. Always has.”

Jungkook’s heart fluttered as he squeezed the Post-it in his hand, and he didn’t linger. He thanked your mother properly, then made his way to his parents’ garage to borrow their car. The GPS quickly showed him where you lived, how to get there, and where to park, and he felt every minute of that twenty-minute car drive. 

The further he got into the city proper, the more he realized he had no clue about what he would say to you. On top of it, you’d surely be angry that he had your address. Not to mention, there was no telling if you’d open the door to see him, but he had to try, especially with your taste lingering on his lips. 

As soon as he parallel parked across the street from your building, he hopped out and took a few long strides to cross the road. Once he got there, his stomach finally twisted with nerves. The building's front door was locked, and he prayed that you'd open it for him as he stared at your name on the intercom panel.

He rang your apartment, looking at his feet while he waited, fully aware of the red light, the camera, and the beep. Especially when it stopped, but the light stayed on.

“Talk to me, Mimi,” he said quietly, raising his arms to support his weight on either side of the intercom. He stared into the camera, knowing you could see him. “I’m not letting this happen again. When we were kids, we were… stupid and silly and insecure and selfish and overwhelmed, and ugh— But not now. I won’t leave with things left unsaid,” he stated. “I won’t leave without seeing you. I won’t make that mistake again. I know you’re there, will you please open the door?”

The red light was still on, but no one replied. He glanced at your name again before nodding.

“Okay, well, then I’ll start. I said I thought I was over you, but I lied. How can I get over someone who contributed so much to who I am today? I thought of you in my darkest moments, and your strength pushed me through. And now seeing you, feeling you— No, it’s not possible. I can’t get over you.” He shook his head with a sigh. “You’re my person. We might never work, but you’ll always be my person. I’m sorry I ever hurt you. At thirteen, sixteen, or yesterday, it feels like I keep hurting you when I—I never meant to, I'm so sorry.”

His voice wavered as he lowered his head. Were you even listening? Truly listening? Did you even understand or relate to anything he was saying?

He raised his eyes in time to see the red light turn off. His heart dropped; did you turn it off? Or had it timed out?

His chest tightened with a mix of emotions, making him close his fists and clench his jaw, but then the light turned on again.

“You’re there,” he breathed, staring at the camera. “You just activated it again, didn’t you? Please let me in. Let’s talk.”

His guts twisted as he waited, his emotions tethered to anxiety as he wondered if you'd give him, and you both, a chance.

A long buzz followed by a click was his answer. He pushed the door open and ran up the stairs so fast, it felt like he teleported to the fourth floor. Then he stopped and stared at your closed door. Another barrier, another question. Would you—?

The door opened, and the first thing he saw were your eyes. Heavy and glistening, avoiding him before you opened the door further to let him in.

Suddenly, getting inside wasn't the priority— you were. “Are you okay?” he asked, stepping towards you.

Suddenly, a few loud barks made him raise his eyebrows and look down. A white Jindo was fast approaching, hurrying to stand by your legs, barking and wiggling its tail in excitement.

Jungkook was too stunned to speak. It was so out of character for you to have a dog, but there you were, giving a command. “Sit.”

The Jindo looked up at you and sat down obediently, wiggling its tail incessantly with its tongue hanging from its open mouth. You reached your hand to pet its head, and Jungkook was stunned.

He could still see the faint scar on your hand as you stroked its white fur. Nobody would have noticed the mark, but he did because he knew about it.

“You have a dog?”

You nodded, and Jungkook instantly looked at the Jindo differently. He kneeled in front of your pet, and it was enough for it to restart barking and attacking Jungkook with its tongue, almost knocking him down.

Jungkook laughed, catching the excited dog before it could do so and calming it down with soothing pets, while you scolded, “Nal, no. Come on, bed. On your bed.”

The dog was too excited to listen to you now, giving its full attention to Jungkook, who was befuddled.

“You called him Nal?”

“I called her day, yes.”

Nal had calmed down, lying on the floor to get belly rubs from Jungkook, whose eyes were fixed on you. His heart was in such turmoil that he couldn’t speak. Not only did you have a dog, but you had called her Day, just like you used to talk about. It was enough to make him want to grab you and kiss you. It was enough for him to be mad that you wouldn’t let him.

“Why did you run away?”

You bristled and stepped further inside. “Come inside first. Nal, come.”

Nal instantly got up and happily followed you, but Jungkook took a second before doing the same and closing the door behind him. There was something wonderful about following you inside and seeing you walking side by side with a dog, without fear. With your dog, who was looking at you endearingly as you crossed the living room and told her to settle on her bed, a large gray pillow in the corner. You knelt beside her, stroking her shiny white coat, a sharp contrast to your black sweater and leggings.

He blinked. Those were just like the clothes from yesterday. Which reminded him of why he was there, so he repeated the question. “Why did you run away?”

Your eyes flickered towards him before you gave Nal one last pet and got up. “What do you mean, why? What was I supposed to have done?”

“Stay!”

“And what?” You turned to face him. “Give you the chance to let me down slowly?”

“Does it look like that’s what I want to do?”

“What else can you do?!”

“Figure it out!” He snapped, pushed by your tone. “With you!”

“What? How can you say that?!” Your voice trembled. “After you left and stayed gone all these years?!”

His anger diminished rapidly, and he finally understood where your reaction stemmed from. “That was then, this is now. I told you, we’re adults now. Writing our story and taking it wherever we want it to go.”

Your anger simmered down, finally leaving only sadness in its wake. “Yes, okay. Well, your story led you very far away and—”

“But I’m here now,” he cut in, stepping closer to you.

“Now? What now? That’s just bullshit!”

You were easily upset again, but he wasn't. “Why? Mimi, why do you think it’s bullshit?”

“Because I know through my mom! You barely visit home, you’re always busy! How long can you even stay now?”

“As long as I want to.” He was firm, and you heaved a deep breath. “Things are different now. You know why, you said you worked on the concert.”

“I know,” you muttered, looking down.

“Then you know BTS is going on hiatus for a while. And I told you yesterday that I'm taking time off.” Your eyes were fleeting, and he insisted, “What are you afraid of?”

“Everything!” you breathed before you ran your hands through your hair. “I don't know what we're doing! We're supposed to be part of the past.”

“And if we’re not?” he asked. You looked at him, and he insisted, so eager he couldn't hide the want in his voice. “Is that so bad?”

Yet you smiled sadly. “Yes. Because it won't be a dream anymore.” Your eyes softened as you eyed him, and his heart thumped underneath your gaze. That was the first time he saw clear affection in your eyes as they met his. “If… If I kiss you the way I want to, you won't be in the past anymore. You will be someone I want now, and… What do I do then? I'll just have to let you go. You don't belong here,” you added, even as he shortened the distance between you and raised his hands to your waist. Your hands met his chest, and you looked into his eyes as you whispered, “A part of me wants to do it anyway, no matter how little you can give, but I have to be smarter than that. I know how much it will hurt. Heck, it will be even worse this time.” You chuckled. “So yeah, I ran away. I’m sorry.”

He pressed you closer. “I don’t want to be your dream anymore, and I don’t want you to be mine. I want you to kiss me and give us a present. A future.”

Your lips parted as you looked at him, stunned. He couldn't believe the words out of his mouth either; twenty-four hours ago, he would never have guessed where he'd be or with whom, and feeling so sure about his heart. 

But the more he looked at you, with your sparkly eyes and nose freckles, the more certain he was. 

Yet your expression saddened as you whispered, “But you don't even know me anymore…”

“But I can get to know you. And you can get to know me. Who else will ever know me the way you do? Understand me? Accept me?” Your eyelashes fluttered, and he knew you understood exactly what he meant. “I have time now, so I can finally choose us and treat you right.”

You shook your head in disbelief. “Why would you want to do that? I'm just someone you left behind.”

“You're someone I could never forget and thought I had lost forever,” he corrected, feeling it heavily in his heart. “Meeting you like this is… It's the most amazing opportunity. All the what-ifs, doubts, regrets, certainties I could never confirm… and then I saw you. Met you, talked to you, touched you, kissed you—” He could feel the desire seeping through his voice, and seeing your cheeks gaining color made him lick his lips. “Everything is so clear to me now. I could have never made you promises before, but I can now. I can actually spend time with you and do this right. If it doesn't work out, it won't be because I'm never around or too busy to call. We can be together and see where things go, and I really want to. You heard me, I'm not over you. You stayed in the back of my mind even though I was certain that for my whole life, you’d just be someone I used to know. Someone whom I would have held in my arms, had all my firsts with, and loved madly if things had happened differently.”

You whispered, “You can’t know that.”

He smiled. “Yes, I can. I know I'm a romantic at heart, but… I mean, if I had never left, I would have tried, of course… It doesn’t mean you’d ever see me as more than Jeongguk, but—”

“Oh, shut up!” You swatted his chest with no real strength. “I saw you as more years before you did!”

He smiled playfully. “That’s true. So is what I’m saying that crazy?”

“No,” you admitted quietly, then pushed on his chest softly. “But I’m afraid of believing it and getting my head full of dreams and ideas that are impossible.”

He held you firmly by the waist. “Mimi…”

“Don’t.”

“I have to,” he countered gently, despite the ache at seeing you trying to put distance between you two. Even after he saw in your eyes how his words touched you. “I will fight for you unless you tell me you don’t want me. If what happened yesterday was just two people getting each other off, that’s fine. I can accept that even if that’s not how I see it. Is that what it was?”

His tone was gentle as you stopped pushing his chest and crumpled his sweater in your hands instead.

“No.”

His eyes softened. “Okay, tell me what it was.” You kept your eyes firmly on his chest, and he insisted. “What happened yesterday?”

You pressed your lips together, and he couldn't handle the silence. 

“Did you get carried away?”

“Yes.”

His eyebrows twitched, but he kept going. “Was it an impulse?”

“Yes.”

You refused to look at him, and he began tensing up, both knowing you weren't lying and that there had to be more to the way you felt about him.

“Has your curiosity been satisfied?”

You pursed your lips, and he bit his lip.

“You hate me and want nothing to do with me.”

Your eyes snapped up. “That’s not true.”

But he was already irked. “You kiss everyone like that,” he whispered.

“That’s not true!”

“I know, I could feel it!” He squeezed your sides to tame his annoyance. “So won't you tell me what you’re thinking and how you feel. Talk to me.”

“I don’t know what to say!”

“Yes, yes, you do. Your secrets.” You opened your mouth to counter him, and he interrupted you, “That, right there. That thought you’re not voicing.” Your eyes flitted between his, and still you hesitated. “You always told me everything. Trust me again.”

Your eyes watered. “It won’t make sense,” you whispered. 

“I’m the only one who it will make sense to,” he assured gently. 

You let your head fall to his chest and embraced him so firmly that the air was squeezed out of his lungs.

Then, you whispered, “I don't know what to do. I thought you had forgotten all about me, but now, I—I don’t know what to do. I was in love with you for so long,” you breathed, hiding your face in his shoulder. “The type of innocent, childish first love that never blossomed, never materialized, but still haunted me for years. I was angry, so angry. So hurt and angry, I despised you and myself for feeling that way about you. And jealous. Everyone would talk about you, how mature and responsible you were, and I’d burn with jealousy of whoever got to be with you while I became smaller than a side note you had already forgotten.” 

He had to grab you as gently as possible to pull you away enough to face you. To see you as you finally let him know about your heart.

You were tearful and anxious, but you continued, “I had to work hard on myself to let it all go. To move on with my life and accept all that was unrequited feelings and a bruised ego. And now you’re here, what do you want me to do? To say? I can’t even be angry at you anymore!” Your voice trembled with tears as you shook your head. “I’m so sorry I didn’t try harder! I shouldn’t have shut you out, I should have been there for you!”

A tear escaped your water line, and he instantly held you closer as you wiped it away.

He spoke softly, “You did your best. I should have tried harder to reach out to you, too.” Your shoulders shook as you tried calming your breathing, and he pressed a kiss to your temple. “I’m sorry you went through all of that by yourself. I should have been there to tell you your feelings weren’t unrequited. That I couldn’t even talk to girls for so long because I had you on my mind, and it felt wrong. That I had to accept that our lives went their separate ways. That it drove me crazy to think that if I ever saw you again, I’d find you settled down with an amazing life that didn’t include me or the dreams we had growing up. That I wished I had stayed in your life, and it hurt every single day.” His voice turned to a whisper as you cradled his cheeks, seeing his pain. “That's why we deserve this, Mimi,” he assured you with a warm heart. “We've been apart for too long, we deserve to—”

You tilted his head until his lips were close and got on your tip toes to shut him up with a kiss. Instantly, he groaned into your mouth, lifting you to his chest. You drove him wild, making him recklessly kiss you as if he missed you for a lifetime and feared never tasting you again.

His ache materialized when you pulled back, breaking apart your kiss, even though you were still holding onto his sweater.

“It will make a mess of things.”

“Or make everything right,” he countered, kissing your head.

“We’ll get hurt,” you whispered painfully, squeezing your eyes shut.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” The hope that had settled in his chest was not enough for him to mindlessly insist this time. “I want everything but that. If that's the only future you see for us and prefer to leave things as they are, I’ll leave.”

It was the first time he offered, and it didn't come without pain and disappointment. Fortunately, looking into your eyes, he saw that you didn't take the matter lightly. You knew there was a chance of getting hurt no matter what, and it made you hesitate, but not outright take his offer.

He brushed your hair behind your ear gently. “It’s okay. However you feel is right, you can tell me.”

You leaned into his touch. “I don’t want you to leave. Ever again.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him into a smothering hug, and he chuckled, nuzzling your neck.

“Me neither.” He breathed in your perfume and sighed, relaxing further into your embrace. “I believe in us. I remember playing mom and dad and the talks we had about one day having children and dogs and a house and—”

“You remember all that?”

“I do, and I cherish it,” he promised, kissing your neck. “And you do, too. Or you wouldn’t have named her Nal.”

You pulled away, glancing at your dog, asleep on her pillow, before looking back at him. Despite the hue on your cheeks, you hesitated.

He brushed a finger down your warm cheek. “Just like I named my dog Bam.”

You gasped mutely, and he couldn’t help but smile and cradle your cheek.

“I used to believe it was a dream, but after yesterday, I know it’s real. I know we’re special. I feel vindicated after all these years.” He chuckled.

“But it’s crazy,” you countered with a sniffle.

“My life is crazy. Meeting you again and finding out you’re the love of my life would not be the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. But it would make me the happiest.”

Your mouth parted as you stared at him, blushing furiously, stunned and silent. It made him smile; your shock was endearing, especially after everything he had told you today.

He leaned in to peck your nose and cheeks, waiting for your reaction. Your response.

You squeezed your eyes shut, whispering, “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be…” He kept holding you and kissing your skin tenderly. “We’ll figure it all out together. Like we used to.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“And it can restart now for an even longer time.”

You looked at him with stars in your eyes despite the puffiness and nodded. And he never felt more ecstatic in his whole life, lifting you and spinning you around as you laughed and held on. Nal finally woke up and looked at you both groggily before lying back down. By then, your feet were already on the ground, and the world stopped.

Your eyes were different—affectionate and curious— as you cradled his cheek. It was as if you were taking the time to really look at him for the first time. It brought tears to his eyes and such a warm tenderness to his heart when you guided him to lower his face to yours, and your lips met. That kiss felt different, settling so deeply and lovingly in his heart, he felt complete. He didn't know what was missing for so long, but now that he had you in his life again, something had definitely been restored, and he was at ease.

You pulled away with a smile, and he was sure that kiss was the first of many.

“Well,” you cleared your voice, “can I offer you something to drink? If you have time.”

He smirked. “I'm not leaving anytime soon.”

You nodded. “Get comfortable, then.” You immediately moved away to the kitchen. “What would you like to drink?”

“Is coffee okay?”

He made way to the entryway nearby, taking his shoes off as Nal happily followed him. “Yeah!” he replied, petting Nal as she sniffed his shoes next to yours. He scratched behind her ear as he pictured Bam there as well. He'd also be excited, thinking he’d go out for a walk. “Do you walk her much?”

“Oh, yeah. She's super energetic,” you told him with your back turned as he saw you busying around. “I usually walk her twice a day. She already went out once today.”

He nodded, impressed, and petted Nal once more before getting up and crossing your small apartment towards the kitchen. “Bam is also like that. He plays a lot, but he also sleeps a lot.”

The espresso machine came to life as your milk frother buzzed and he quieted, observing as you moved around preparing the coffee. Your back was turned, but he could tell you were careful and precise as you poured the espressos, milk, and foam into cups. When you finally turned to him with a cup, his lips rounded to an ‘o.’

“I hope a cappuccino is okay,” you said as he took the cup, then grabbed yours as you pointed to get back to the couch.

He kept staring at the pattern you had made with the milk foam that resembled a leaf. “It's perfect.”

You chuckled as you sat on the couch, petting Nal's head once before pulling a blanket to cover your legs. “It's pretty, not perfect. I'd need freshly brewed coffee for that.”

He sat next to you. “You seem to know a lot about it.”

You grinned as you blew gently on the cup. “I worked as a barista in Canada during my semester there.”

He gaped. “You studied in Canada?”

“And learned all about coffee,” you confirmed, finally tasting your cappuccino while he tasted his.

“Wow!” he exclaimed, and you chuckled, knowing he was exaggerating. As the Jeongguk you knew would.

Nal sat on the floor in front of you expectantly, and you patted her affectionately a few times on her head.

“How do you know where I live?” you asked, brushing the fur around Nal's collar.

“Your mom.”

Your eyes darted to his before you rolled them, and he tried stifling a small smile. He knew you'd be annoyed by it, but could you even complain?

“Maybe you should thank her,” he suggested casually, pulling on the blanket to also get it over his legs, and you huffed.

“No, thank you. I'd never hear the end of it.”

He chuckled as you put your legs over his while still petting Nal.

“When she finds out…”

You opened your mouth to counter him, but nothing came out. Because you knew there was little to argue there, and he smirked again. 

“Because you can't keep your mouth shut,” you whined, pouting, and he shook his head.

“Because I don't want to.”

Your pout fell through, and you leaned closer to him, letting your head fall gently to his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around you.

Nal stayed seated, happily receiving pets while she eyed you both with her tongue hanging cutely from her open mouth.

“She's such a good girl,” he commented, surprised she wasn't jumping to get on the couch with you.

“Usually, she's protective over me,” you told him, smiling at your baby. “I don't think I've ever seen her so relaxed with a stranger.”

“She likes me.”

He was sure of it as he said it because your dog's tail kept swishing on the floor, looking at him like she had always known him.

“She must. I mean, she was sleeping while we argued.”

You sounded playful, but his expression sobered before he said, “Because she knows you're safe with me.” You smiled. “How old is she?”

“Two years. I got her when I moved out.”

He nodded as Nal's eyes started closing, soothed by your pets. Your bond was undeniable.

“I never thought you'd get a dog.”

“Why?” You were genuinely curious. “You helped me get over that fear.”

“Yeah, but you only ever let my parents' dogs near you.”

You nodded. “You told me they were family, so I should love and respect them. I still visited them after you left.”

He shook his head as he chuckled. “You grew up with my dogs in my stead.”

“I guess I did. Because you didn't take them with you.”

“I couldn’t. We were too many in the dorm, and by the time there was space, I was never home.”

“And Bam?”

You sipped on your coffee as he explained, “He stays with someone who takes care of him when I’m away. But what about you? How come you decided to get a dog by yourself?”

“When I moved here, I felt lonely and… brave,” you said, looking into his eyes for a moment. “I decided I could do it alone. I didn't need to wait for anyone else. Then a neighbor had a litter and I saw her and I just knew. My sweet Nal.”

You scratched under her ears and squeezed playfully before falling back into his embrace. Nal decided to lie down right there, as if that was the perfect place for a nap, and you relaxed into his side. Jungkook adored the way you loved Nal; it warmed his heart, especially as you placed your now free hand on his lap, the faded scar still visible. 

“Of course, I couldn’t risk freaking out, so Nal went to puppy school for almost two years,” you confessed with a sheepish shrug. “She listens very well.”

“That’s good. And good that you thought of that. I’m amazed by you. You got over your fear and have a family now.”

You leaned back on his shoulder and chuckled. “That’s true, she is my baby. Do you want to show me Bam?”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened a dedicated photo gallery. You gasped as he opened the latest photo of his Doberman, sleeping on a couch.

“He’s so beautiful! And has dark fur,” you remarked, glancing at Jungkook, who nodded while biting his lip.

“That’s why he’s called Bam… Thankfully, we don’t both have Bams or Nals,” he joked, earning a light poke with your elbow so he’d show more pictures. He thumbed to the next photo. “I was in Daegu with a friend and someone he knew had puppies, so we went to take a look. He was the only reddish pup, and he was the only one not getting any milk from his mom. When I saw that, I just knew I had to take the little buddy with me. And I’m glad I did,” he mused as you gasped when he reached a puppy photo of Bam in his arms. “Puppies shouldn’t be given dog food early on, but they were doing that to make the puppies bigger, and I complained about it. They tried to deny it, but I found out because Bammie vomited all over me when we drove back to Seoul,” he recalled, smirking. “All over me,” he gestured to his chest as he laughed, “and it was all dog food.”

“Ohh.” You pouted, certainly imagining the sweet puppy being sick.

“Yeah, so I complained about it,” he told you, quieting as he put his phone away.

“You did well,” you assured, and Jungkook smiled as he drank from his coffee. He tended to do the right thing and speak up, and so did you. You wouldn’t be the one to discourage him, quite the opposite. “Caring for them properly is important, especially when they’re so fragile. And I get it when you say all over,” you added with a chuckle. “Nal also gets carsick very easily.” You eyed his phone and asked, “How old is he?”

“Almost two years old,” he replied, putting the empty cup on the coffee table next to the couch. “I’m going to live with him and enjoy it until I have to go into the military… He’s already a big dog, so he’ll stay at a dog school while I’m away.”

He saw in your face that you knew what he was talking about. “When are you going?”

“Not now,” he declared, looking deeply into your eyes. “I decided to rest and maybe make a solo album before going. Not sure when, but…” He sighed. “I just want to rest right now. To live a little. I can think about all of that later.”

He relaxed further into the couch, looking at you under his arm. He couldn’t read your expression, but he knew you were listening attentively. He wanted you to.

“Is Bam well-behaved?” you asked before taking a sip of coffee.

“He can be a rascal, but he listens well.” He grinned, missing Bammie dearly even though it had been only a few weeks since he left his dog in Seoul. “I promise you’ll feel safe with him.”

Your eyes showed no fear as you sighed. “Well, he’s in Seoul and I’m here. And I wouldn’t want Nal to be uncomfortable.”

His eyes traced your features. “Seoul is a drive away, and Nal wouldn’t be uncomfortable. Something tells me they’d bond straight away.”

You smirked. “Because of their names?”

He nodded, lacing his fingers with yours on his lap. “Among other things.”

You smiled and looked at your hands. “I’m thankful, you know. If you hadn’t helped me and built up my trust again after that dog attacked me, I’d never have taken the risk of getting Nal. I would have been lonely. So, thank you.”

Jungkook's emotions got stuck in his throat as you spoke. To hear he had a positive influence on your life, even when he was absent and hurt you, made him tear up.

“What about you?” he croaked after clearing his throat. “I wouldn’t even be alive if it weren’t for you.”

“What?”

“Remember when you stopped me from going down the driveway on my bicycle and onto the road? I lost balance and you grabbed me and almost got dragged with me,” he recalled, remembering perfectly the second he saw the red car fast approaching, knowing it would hit him. Only for you to yank on the handlebars of his bike, making him fall on top of you. “My mom said it herself: if it weren’t for you, I would have been hit by that passing car.”

“You would have been fine.”

He looked at you, dumbfounded. “One second and my whole life could have been different or nonexistent!”

“You also saved me all the time,” you said, as though that countered his belief. “Like that one time I fell from a tree straight on top of you.”

He groaned. “That hurt.” He chuckled painfully, remembering taking his eyes off you for a second, only for you to drop on him from a tree branch literally. “Your mom thought I broke a rib.”

You nodded and snuggled up more to his side. “Fortunately, you didn't. But see, I could have broken my neck.”

He shook his head — there was no way he would have ever let that happen. “What about when I was running on the pool deck, and you tackled me into the pool? Mid-air?!”

You shook your head, though you were laughing with him. “We were so reckless back then.”

“Yeah, but it was sooooo cool!” 

He grinned as you leaned to put down your empty mug next to his. “It wasn’t always cool. Remember when we used to fight?”

His grin widened despite squinting his eyes. “Ahh…”

“How old were we?”

“Six? Maybe seven?”

“It got rough, and you got so upset because I’m stronger than you,” you continued, returning to your spot with his arm over your shoulders.

He had to laugh. “Stronger than me?!” You had a wide Cheshire grin, and he shook his head. “At the time, perhaps. But I shouldn’t have kicked you like that.”

You shrugged. “And I shouldn’t have eaten your chocolates behind your back.”

He gasped dramatically with wide eyes. “So you admit it!”

“It’s all bygones now, right?”

“No!!” He scoffed despite his incredulous smile. Meanwhile, you had that familiar angelical smile he remembered so well. “I believed you when you said you didn’t eat them! You started crying!”

His accusation made your smile wider. “Ahh, yes… I always cried.”

“To fool me!”

“No, I was upset you were getting mad at me.”

You tried pouting with sparkly eyes, and he felt the need to hold you in his arms and whine, “You ate my chocolate!”

“But I didn’t know that would make you so upset,” you smiled, and he scoffed. “What about that time you drank my banana milk when I asked you to hold it while I tied my shoe laces?”

It was his turn to have a wide, mischievous grin. “Ahh, revenge.”

You opened your mouth in mock outrage. “You said you believed me! You’re horrible!”

You raised one leg from his lap under the blanket and kicked him playfully, and he tried catching your foot. “You got another one!”

“Because you drank mine!” you insisted, kicking him again.

He laughed and finally caught your foot, pulling on it to drape your leg over his lap again. As he did, he realised, “You stole my chocolate all the time, but still, I love banana milk the most. Your favorite.”

His heart skipped a beat when you leaned in with a playful smile and asked secretly, “Want one?”

You sprang from the couch in a second, giving him no opportunity to reply. He stayed seated as you went back to the kitchen, and Nal followed you. He already missed your legs on his lap, but now he was sure you’d come back.

You returned to him with a gleeful smile, passing him one banana milk bottle while you kept the other. He pierced the foil with a straw, same as you, playfully and silently, as you both kept an eye on the other.

As soon as there was a faint noise from the hallway, your head snapped in its direction. “Nal? Ah, shit. Nal, no!”

You leaned further to get a peek at Nal, forgetting all about your drink. After a third call, Nal finally stopped whatever she was doing and happily trotted to you for a pet.

“Ugh, I’m sorry,” you apologized, petting her head before turning to him. “She likes to play with sh—”

You gasped, and he pulled back before you could swat him. While you were distracted, he sneakily leaned in to drink your banana milk. He knew you’d catch him immediately, and your shock was priceless. 

“You are horrible!” you whined, then tried drinking some more. It lasted barely a second before you gasped again. “You drank it all?!”

He could only laugh mischievously as he went back to drinking his banana milk, but you weren’t having it. 

“Give me yours!”

He dodged your first attempt easily, but you didn’t give up. You put the empty bottle on the coffee table and got on your knees on the couch, trying to grab his drink. He kept slowly drinking out of his straw, keeping you at bay with his free hand, even as you huffed and puffed.

“Jeon Jeongguk! Stop being mean!”

He almost choked with how much he wanted to laugh at your reaction, but eventually his taunt backfired. You managed to pass through his defenses and grab his hand, and he had to let go of the straw and pull away to prevent you from using your whole body weight against him. 

You managed to fall on top of him, and he let go of the bottle to support you. You exclaimed victoriously before putting the straw in your mouth, only to whine two swigs later.

“You—! You’re the worst!” you accused, and all he could do was laugh as he supported you on his lap. “You owe me a banana milk!”

“And you owe me a mountain of chocolate,” he retorted, knowing you could see in his eyes how gleeful he was.

You tried slurping the last drops of banana milk before saying, “You first.”

He chuckled. “My mom always said ladies first…”

You swatted his shoulder, leaning back to put the empty bottle on the coffee table, fully supported by his hands on your waist. Then, you placed your hands on his shoulders. “Ladies first, huh… Does that mean you’re waiting for me to make the first move?”

“The first move?” He hummed. “Wasn’t that me?”

He tilted his head, and you squinted. “You’re here, yes.”

“And I kissed you yesterday.”

You huffed lightly. “You don’t have to win every time, you know?”

“On the contrary.” He grinned, feeling the way you adjusted yourself on his lap. “I’ll always win, regardless of who does what first.”

You chuckled, leaning in slowly with your arms around his neck. “Such bullshit, Jeongguk-ssi,” you whispered, then pressed your lips to his cheek. “You like to brag.”

For a second, he was caught up in the way his body was warming up underneath yours. But your words made him smirk and relax. “Not really,” he challenged, closing his eyes as you kissed his jaw. “Not about this.”

“No?” you teased, pecking his skin as he heated up underneath you.

“No,” he breathed, hoping your lips would meet his. Instead, you nuzzled him, and he looked up at you. “We’re in this together.”

Your lips curved in a smile as though his words warmed your heart, and you finally closed the gap between your mouths. He couldn’t help but sigh as you grazed his lips gently, your kiss tasting sweet, like home. He very much liked that you kissed him on that note — he had asked for a present and a future, and it felt like you wanted the same.

His heart fluttered as you kissed, letting you guide where things were going. As always, he’d gladly go wherever and at whatever speed you needed, but things sparked quicker than usual. He groaned mutely when you deepened the kiss, making him heat up even more, but it wasn’t just that. His hands gripped your sides firmly as you adjusted yourself on his lap, and at first, he didn’t think much of it. But eventually, the air between you became torrid as you ground against him, his fingers tangling in your hair to keep you close.

He realized the state of things when you moaned into his mouth, sparking such an intense desire that he had to stop you and hide in your neck. Inhaling your perfume as he heard you panting, both soothed and taunted him, but he stayed put, calming down. All rational thought left him as he held you in his lap by his grip in your hair, your own hands tangled in his hair. He had stopped thinking and just did what he wanted recklessly, but he wanted to do things right.

“What’s wrong?” you whispered near his ear as he nuzzled the crook of your neck.

“I don’t want to go too fast,” he whispered. You stayed silent, so he pulled away to look at you, relieved when you rubbed your nose along his and caressed his cheek. “I want us to take our time.”

“You said we've been apart for too long,” you recalled, brushing his hair sweetly. “I agree. Which means we have to catch up, not wait.”

He could see the fire in your eyes, hear the passion in your voice, and feel the want in your fingers. He sighed. “I don’t want this to be an impulse. We have time, we can wait.”

You smiled as you kept caressing his jawline. “I understand what you mean. How about a compromise? We do it slowly, but we don't hold back.”

He closed his eyes as your nails grazed his scalp gently, treading dangerously between a tender caress and an inflaming touch. He didn’t want to stifle something as beautiful and intense as what you two had, but he also didn’t want to mess it up. He was sure he wanted something more with you, and looking into your eyes, he trusted you wanted the same.

“Okay,” he whispered, feeling the tension between you become even tighter.

“Good,” you crooned, kissing the corner of his mouth. “I want to see you,” you confessed, looking into his eyes.

He was about to ask what you meant when your hands moved under his sweater, grazing his stomach. His breath caught before he breathed, “I want to see you, too.”

You smiled and eagerly pulled on his sweater so he’d take it off. Instantly, you were so caught up in the view that you barely thought to put the sweater aside so you could touch him. So he did it for you; he pulled the black fabric out of your hands to free them, and your fingers instantly splayed over his broad shoulders. His heart thrummed under your touch, but it was more than desire. The way you looked and touched him didn’t invoke only lust, but recognition. A mix of memories and dreams with the need to set all the details straight. 

You touched every inch of skin, noting his moles, marks, and scars, and asked about them. You knew the one from when he fell from his bike and pointed at a mole that used to be much bigger. He smiled as you did this — you didn’t just make him feel seen, but remembered.

Then you trailed your fingers down his arms, and of course, you focused on his tattoos. They were part of him, but they were, in a way, examples of his impulsiveness. 

“It’s incredible,” you breathed, tracing over the details on his skin.

“Do you have any?” he asked, much more interested in talking about you.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” you teased, passing a digit over the inked microphone. “Why do I have the impression you didn’t think them through?”

He let his head fall back as he laughed mischievously. “'Cause you know me too well,” he agreed, fiddling with his lip ring.

You noticed. “Same with the piercings, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But those you can take off, so it’s not as permanent if you regret them.”

“I don’t regret my tattoos,” he explained, following your finger over the details of his birthflower. “I might not have started them with a clear idea of what I wanted or gotten them in shady places…” Your eyes darted to his, and he chuckled, knowing what you’d say. “But I don’t regret any of them. I’ll keep improving them; my arm is like my canvas.”

You shook your head. “At least do it at a trustworthy place.”

“I was… a bit reckless.”

“A bit?” You raised an eyebrow, then sighed. “You have a good one now?”

“Yes,” he assured you with a grin.

“Good.”

He bit his lip as he observed your focused features. Your worry made him all fuzzy — he felt thirteen again, about to do something stupid, more excited about you trying to stop him than actually doing it.

Your fingers traced the lines of his stomach until they reached his lower stomach, grazing his abs, and he eyed you expectantly. What would you say? How would you react?

All you did was look back up at him before you took a deep breath. “My turn, right?”

“If you want to.”

You did your best to hold back a smirk. “I think I want to.”

His hands stayed on your hips as you grabbed the hem of your sweater and pulled it over your head. He couldn’t see much as you lowered the fabric in front of your chest, yet the way your hair fell all around you made him swallow dryly. His heart was racing as he waited with bated breath to see more of you. And as your eyes locked with his, he knew you realized how caught up he was.

But you didn’t keep him waiting. You pulled your arms out of the sleeves and let the sweater fall on the couch, near his and the crumpled blanket. Despite the lack of obstacles, his eyes stayed on yours, waiting, and you smiled. You leaned in to peck his forehead and the tip of his nose before straightening up so he could see you, and he did.

He tried his best to do it slowly, but it was hard to deny how immediately smitten he was. You were beautiful; that much he knew, his hands had shown him. What he didn’t know was that your round breasts were even more perfect than he had imagined, or that your waist was so tiny. But what really surprised him was what eluded him while being right under his nose.

“Woah!” he let out as his inked fingers traced your navel piercing.

You smirked. “You didn’t notice it yesterday, did you?”

“No!” he admitted, touching the two-beaded golden piece of jewelry. He was surprised by it and was about to tell you this when his eyes raised and he noticed something else. “Oh, wow!”

You raised your arm slightly to let him see the tattoo on your side, right where your bra should have been. It was a flame about the size of his thumb, contoured in black, filled with orange and red hues. At the base, a black line shaped into a diamond was a window inside you, letting the flames peek out. He touched it with his thumb and could swear he could feel the flames’ relief on your skin.

“Why fire?” he asked, although, meeting your eyes, he instantly thought it was perfect for you.

“Because it’s our element,” you replied, referring to the birth year of both of you. He nodded in understanding. “I’m impulsive and passionate but also have a temper at times.” He chuckled, sliding his hands to your waist again. “It’s complicated, but fun, right?”

“I didn’t think it was fun when you ran away from me…”

You huffed. “I explained it to you.”

“I know, and you’re right,” he soothed, shuddering with your fingers playing with his hair around his neck. “You’re all those things, and I’ll learn how to balance them.”

You pursed your lips as he leaned forward to trail his lips over your collarbones. “We’re both fire,” you breathed, and he saw the goosebumps form as he kissed your skin. “We might just burn to ashes.”

He shook his head as he nuzzled down your chest. “No, we won’t. We’re older now,” he whispered, letting your sigh make the hair on his neck stand on end. “And we’re the same. The same flame. Separated for many years, and now together again, reuniting our flame back into one.”

You cradled his cheeks and raised his head so he could look into your glistening eyes, and he gave you a subtle nod. He was in this with you, through and through.

Your kiss was more than an acceptance; it was an invitation. You shifted closer to him, letting the skin of your chests touch, and he had to force his brain to stay focused. His hands traced your back as you kissed him, feeling your warm and feminine figure. Every curve was another chance for him to lose sight of reality. Your hands slipped down his chest, and he shuddered. Your touch was like a flame licking his body, and a permission to burn further.

You moved slightly away, fumbling with his jeans’ button, and he gave you space. He grumbled something, brushing your hair falling on both your faces when you got up from his lap. He had to jump and squirm to get his pants off, forcing him to break your kiss. Fortunately, there was an instantaneous silver lining — you also took the opportunity to get your leggings off, letting him see and feel your smooth legs as they were revealed. Then you stood in front of him only in panties, and as soon as your eyes locked, his dick throbbed. You must have noticed as you glanced at the bulge in his boxers, and he didn’t try to hide it. He didn’t want to rush things, but suddenly, he craved you like the air he breathed. He needed to feel you; nothing else mattered.

You reached out your hands for support, and he helped you get on his lap, knowing then and there that he really liked that. It was strangely liberating, despite being pinned down under your body, because it meant he could touch you with both hands, pepper your neck and chest with kisses, and still look at you whenever he wanted, which was just perfect.

You moaned gently when his lips found their way to your breasts and his dick throbbed yet again from the anticipation. Once a nipple was inside his mouth while he pinched the other one, he realized that trying to stop things from developing quickly between you two was futile and silly. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, and neither were you, and yet he felt as wild and unrestrained as he had back then. With the bonus that it was you, and this time he knew exactly what he wanted — you in his life with no end in sight. 

And your hips bucking on his lap, trying to align with his hard, stiff length, only made him more sure. You wanted to take this all the way, and he didn’t dream of stopping you.

At least, voluntarily. When his stomach thundered, you stopped your keening and pulled away to look at him. He couldn’t help a groan or the thread of saliva that connected his lips to your nipple.

“You’re hungry? Wait, let me grab something.”

He was so dumbfounded that he watched you get up and go to the kitchen in stunned silence. Only when he saw you bending down to open a cabinet did he realize what had just happened. He had to bite down on his lip so as not to whine at you to get back on his lap. His dick throbbed painfully and he had to adjust it, though it made it worse. His eyes closed as the elastic squeezed the tip of his dick, giving him the slightest bit of pressure. 

“Fuck,” he said under his breath, looking down. There was a bead of precum wetting his skin.

“I only have choco pies and American chocolate chip cookies,” you told him, returning to him with two boxes in your hands and more banana milk. His hand darted to the side to grab the blanket and cover his lap before you placed everything on the coffee table. “I hope you still like those.”

“I do,” he croaked, leaning forward to take a choco pie.

You eyed the blanket. “Are you cold?”

He hummed, stuffing the cookie with marshmallow filling in his mouth. He needed to focus on food before he’d start begging you for more. 

Slow. He had said slow, and he was not going to change his mind minutes after promising you he could wait.

Not even when you were almost naked in front of him, grabbing the blanket and leaning in. “I’ll warm you up.”

He grabbed your wrist to stop you from uncovering his lap and swallowed the cookie harshly before looking up at you. Your shining eyes and raised eyebrow were a dangerous tease right now, and he told you as much with a look that was probably half desperate, half brimming with lust.

“I know you said we should take our time,” you crooned, setting one of your knees on the couch next to his thigh. “And I promised we would do it slowly, but remember we also agreed not to hold back.”

The tension relented as he nodded; you did say that. You were partners in this; he had to trust you as well.

He let go of your wrist and pulled the blanket away, heating up at your mere gaze. He was so ready for you.

“Just so we’re clear, you can see and are one hundred percent sure that I’m not a boy, right?” you taunted, taking support on his shoulders to get your leg over his lap to straddle him.

Your question annoyed him, so he grabbed your waist and pulled you in to fall on his lap. “Yes, I know. I always knew, and now I’ll never forget it. How warm and beautiful you are,” he muttered, licking across your chest while his fingers grabbed fistfuls of your ass and squeezed. “So don’t you forget that.”

You chuckled sensually. “I might tease you about it forever.”

He nipped your breast. “If you do, I’ll remind you how well I know it.”

“By telling me I’m warm and beautiful?” you whispered, and he pulled away from your chest, then leaned in to ghost your lips.

“By being inside you.”

He spoke without thinking, and instantly the need to have you reared its ugly head. You smiled and glanced down between your bodies, knowing without a shadow of a doubt how much he wanted you. How easily he could slip your underwear aside and push his hard cock into you, doing so much more than prove his point.

The thought alone made his balls tense up, yet your soothing voice meddled with his mind. “Not yet. Slow and all that.”

For a split second, he believed you were teasing him yet again, and his fingers lowered to your waist, pressing, ready to show you just how badly he craved you.

He couldn’t trust himself to speak. He realized that you genuinely agreed with him, so he just nodded, quietly enjoying your proximity again.

“Have you ever thought about us like this? I mean, us doing this,” you clarified, brushing his hair back absentmindedly.

“Yeah,” he rasped, observing your lips as you smiled.

“Me too. What have you thought about?”

“Everything,” he breathed, struggling to focus.

You giggled and nuzzled his cheek. “Same, but come on… Pick something. The last time you thought about it or—”

“Eating— Eating you out,” he pushed out, after trying to interrupt his snitching mouth. Your eyes were curious, so he explained, “Last night, your taste. I couldn’t help thinking about it.”

You licked your lips as you listened, then bit down on your lip, and he hoped. If you were curious as well, perhaps you’d let him.

“Last night… As anxious as I was when I got back, I must confess the thought crossed my mind,” you admitted, licking your lips again, and that was all he needed.

In a flash, he grabbed you and rose from the couch with you, only to place you back down gently with your legs wide open around him. Instantly, he noticed the dark, damp spot on your panties, and his mouth started salivating. He wanted to bury his face in you and get your slick all over him. The thought alone made his eyes glint dangerously. But he couldn't do it. All he did was press his lips to your inner thigh, and suddenly, his personal space was invaded.

Nal had woken up, perhaps because of how abruptly Jungkook had moved. But now that your Jindo was trying to lick his face, he couldn’t continue. On the contrary, you started laughing, and he had to laugh too. Nal thought it was time to play, and Jungkook had to keep her at bay.

“She’s so cute!” you gushed, and he nodded as he petted your dog.

“She is, but she’s interrupting.”

He couldn’t help the slightest frustration in his voice, and you smirked. “Can’t have that, can we? Can I invite you to my bedroom?”

He got up and grabbed your hands, pulling you to him and picking you up in his arms in a heartbeat. You giggled and held onto him as he carried you with a happy Nal following you. 

As he had done so far, Jungkook didn’t even take in his surroundings — your home, your style — he’d have time to look at it all later. For now, all he wanted to do was get back on track to getting his mouth on you as quickly as possible.

So he placed you gently on the double bed, even as Nal tried to stop him playfully before attempting to get on the bed.

“Nal, no. Off.” Your commanding voice was enough for Nal to get back down. “Bed.”

Nal hesitated for a second, then left the room with a purpose, and Jungkook closed the door behind her. 

Looking at you, you had the widest smirk. “Thought you wouldn’t get lucky, huh?”

He stalked back to the bed, his eyes focused entirely on you. “Don’t you mean you?”

You chuckled sensually as you opened your legs for him. “No, I mean you.”

Your confidence was sexy as hell, bringing him to his knees before you figuratively and literally. He took his time nuzzling your leg from your knee to your thigh as you tried reaching for a pillow behind you to get comfortable. You threw one to the floor next to him as well as he looked at your beautiful naked form above him. This was really happening. He was overcome with excitement and driven to nibble on the sensitive skin of your inner thigh. You squirmed, holding your breath as your legs trembled around him. His eyes were glued to you, taking in the way your breathing was ragged, and you bit your lip. Your sparkling eyes were beautiful, making this worth every second of longing.

His kisses led him down, closer, and he followed his deepest wishes — he pressed his face to your covered core and inhaled deeply.

He loved the way you writhed against his face as the heady scent of your arousal permeated his senses. Getting pussy drunk was a personal favorite. He had to have your taste flooding his mouth.

He licked you through the delicate lace covering you, nuzzling you with curiosity. Your hips swiveled around, controlling every point of contact, and when he chased your clit to suck on it, you moaned. It was a deep, breathless sound by someone caught by surprise, and it made him throb inside his boxers. You were so fucking delicious, and he didn’t mean just your taste that he was so close to devouring. 

But first things first.

“Tell me what you like,” he whispered, nuzzling your sex hard before pulling away to pepper kisses on your inner thighs instead.

You sucked in a raspy breath. “What?”

“I want to know what you like,” he repeated, stopping his kisses so you could think.

“You’re doing great,” you said, and your voice trembled as he nuzzled your clit through the fabric. Schooling your emotions must have been hard, and he had barely started.

“Could you cum like this?”

“Definitely,” you declared, with no hesitation. The way you looked at him made him smile.

“See, some of it can be good.”

He couldn’t help a teasing smile, and you laughed, letting your head fall on the pillow. “Ahh, you’re right! Finally! You’re giving me something good to remember.”

“More,” he mumbled. “I want to be more than something good you remember.” His words gave him the final push to withdraw and pull your panties down your legs, never looking away from your eyes. “You’ll never have to complain about dating or not being satisfied,” he told you, then his eyes dropped to your slicked folds. He drooled. “You found the right person,” he promised, lowering his lips.

His first taste was a light lick from bottom to top, yet the second wasn’t as kind. He pushed in between your folds with his tongue, diving into where your taste was strongest, and you whimpered. Your legs squeezed around his head as he dove in, licking and searching, following your warmth and clenching entrance out of pure hunger. And you replied to him in kind, your fingers curling into his hair while trying to raise your hips, chasing the pleasure. He loved it, every little buck made him want to give you more. He’d be the best for you, the one you should have had all along. Make you crave him as much as he craved you. Make you never want to leave.

“Your—” You could barely talk between moans, and he didn’t want to slow down. “Your fingers,” you breathed, and he immediately obliged. He moved his mouth higher, around your clit, and brushed your folds with his fingers. Your reaction wasn’t as strong as he expected, so he touched harder, feeling how wet you were, slippery and welcoming. Your clenching hole instantly tried sucking his fingers in and he burned as he let it happen. “Fuck,” you moaned, trembling from head to toe. He licked and licked, but he was greedy, pushing inside you to know how you felt all the way. You tightened around him, and he groaned into you. “Stay—” you tried, and it took a second and more information for him to make sense of your request. “In and out and in and out—”

Your voice wavered. You were dripping and warm and perfect. Just imagining how he’d feel with his cock burried in you instead of his fingers knocked his thoughts right out of his head. Your taste was finally getting to him, as was everything. You were a moaning mess, covering his face with your juices as he slurped hungrily, and it was almost bliss.

Bliss came when you trembled against him with a deep, wanting moan before you let your head fall to the pillow as your back arched off the bed. You spasmed around his fingers, and he chased you, preventing his mouth from losing you.

He licked and fingered you to completion, becoming increasingly gentle as your hips relented their bucking as well. Then, he groaned, reluctant to let you go.

“What the fuck,” you whimpered, and he parted his tongue from you, only to shove his wet fingers inside his mouth. He probably looked as crazy as he felt, with his hair disheveled and his mouth and chin covered in your wetness, but he didn’t care. When you looked at him, with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, you didn’t seem to mind. “You’re damn good with your mouth you know that?”

He nodded, eyes glazed as he licked his fingers with his eyes fixed on you. “Would it be too much if I asked you to get on top of me?”

You were flushed and beautiful before him and bit your lip. “I thought you said to wait.”

His stomach dropped. He let his hand fall to the mattress as he reeled it all in, trying to shake the haze clouding his brain. How could he do this? He said he’d wait and now—”

“Hey, look at me,” you said, and he realized he had closed his eyes. Opening them, he saw you sitting at the edge of the bed with him between your legs. Your hands cradled his cheeks and made sure he looked at you. “I’m joking,” you whispered, but he was still stunned. Maybe he was doing something wrong, and in any case— “Jeongguk, look at me,” you insisted, nuzzling him. “I’m just teasing you. Please forget it, I said something stupid,” you whispered. Your voice became wanton as you pecked his lips and confessed, “I just like teasing you, I don’t want you to stop. I want to keep going. I want to get on top of you and give you the ride of your life,” you revealed, and he felt his cheeks burning underneath your lips. Your legs wrapped around him as you hugged him. “I want to feel you inside me, I need to.” Your voice morphed into a whimper as you moved closer to his ear, and he closed his eyes, focusing on feeling every detail, from the need in your voice to your nipples brushing his chest. “I need us to make a mess and make everything right. I don’t want to stop.”

He shuddered from head to toe, and when he opened his eyes to face you, there was no need for words. He had concluded there was no use in trying to hold back, and if you wanted him… he was already yours.

He pressed a firm kiss to your mouth, a final warning before he touched you, and your reaction was instant. Your fingers gripped his hair as your legs locked behind him, pressing his hardon to your wet core, and he was unleashed. He grabbed your hair by the nape of your neck and squeezed your side so hard, you whimpered, opening your mouth. His tongue darted out to meet yours, telling you faster than words could how much he wanted you. That there was a fire inside him to be with you, as though that was his sole purpose. He wasn’t holding back. He was in it with you. All the way.

He got up from the floor with you on his lap and crawled on top of the bed, lowering you as gently as possible. He could feel by the way you kissed him and pressed him to grind on you that you wanted this just as badly, but he needed to get the damn bowers off.

So he pulled away and sat on the bed to strip them, and you wasted no time. You were on your knees in a flash, gluing your mouth to his neck. You suckled, and he was no longer responsible for the sounds exiting his mouth. The band of his boxers was forgotten, pressing the swollen tip of his dick to his lower stomach, and before he could get a grip and strip, you took over.

You kissed him harshly, biting on his lip ring and pulling gently before withdrawing, and he could barely catch his breath. You had kissed him hard enough that he was lying back on the pillows now, but he still tried to reach for his boxers to get rid of them. Because he needed to be inside you as quickly as possible. But you were faster than him.

You were still trailing your lips down his chest and stomach, but your fingers were already hooked on the hem of his boxers, sliding them down in an instant. He tried kicking them off his legs, but the world stopped when you sank your mouth on his dick.

He writhed under you, groaning from the bottom of his heart, gripping the sheets desperately as you kept going greedily. You sucked him into your mouth unabashedly, taking him as far as he could go, and he moaned. His hand managed to let go of the sheet to find your hair, and the way you looked at him with his hard cock disappearing between your lips made him throb. Your eyes glistened as you swallowed around him, and again, whimpers fell from his lips. He wouldn’t last if you kept going, not when you looked at him like that.

But you looked down and gave him a reprieve, letting his dick go with a pop, and he sighed. He could finally stretch his legs and—

Your lips became tauten around the tip of his cock as you hummed, closing your eyes, and his chin dropped. Your suckling had him holding on to the sheets and your hair with everything he had. Meanwhile, your hand searched for his balls. One tender caress was enough for him to shiver, but then you grabbed them firmly, and he tensed up from head to toe.

His mind soared to another plane of existence. Your massage had the perfect rhythm to match your mouth, and suddenly, he was floating. His toes curled, and he couldn’t breathe without moaning. The pleasure got such a hold on him that he just closed his eyes, starting to see white.

But then you pulled away, stroking him as you looked at him. “Are you close?” you whispered, and he looked at you.

“So fucking close,” he almost whimpered, bitting his lip.

“I thought I recognized that sound,” you teased with a mischievous smile, and he groaned. His hips bucked, making your strokes slightly faster, but that wasn’t the problem. He could edge himself forever, but you knew better. You knew to make a fist and add pressure and it was too fucking good. He tried his best not to squirm but still had to throw his head back and groan. You did some fucking magic with your hands on him like that. “I want to ride you. Can I?”

He almost got whiplash. “Fuck yeah!”

He groaned when your hands released him, but he was eager to help you get on top of him and straddle him. He had to bite his lip as you grabbed his cock and aligned it with your slit as quickly as possible, wondering if he’d burst as soon as he was in. Wondering if his soul would fucking combust the moment he was finally united with you.

You looked him in the eyes as you sat down, and everything was perfect. You moaned as you sank slowly, and he had to close his eyes. He felt everything. He finally felt you around him, and as you bucked your hips, accommodating his size, he did feel like he would combust. You were wet, warm, tense, restless on his cock, like riding him was as essential as breathing, and when he looked up at you, he finally was certain that everything was exactly how it was meant to be. Yes, he was supposed to be writhing under you on the verge of orgasm as you moaned above him. Yes, he was supposed to hold your waist and fuck you, letting the squelching sounds complement your every moan. And yes, he was supposed to have you drapped over him like the goddess you were, fucking him like you needed your insides covered in his cum.

“Fuck,” you moaned against his lips.

He tried kissing you as he rutted into you, feeling a roaring fire climb his spine, but he didn’t stop. He knew he was risking it, but your moans, your eyes, your wet cunt taking him so well, and your nails on his neck and shoulder as you held on were everything. Your moans turned to whimpers as you arched your back, and he somehow knew to stay consistent. He locked his legs with yours and fucked you with purpose. He was so fucking happy. He was with you. You.

You tried speaking but couldn’t, and he just looked at you, transmitting as much trust and safety as possible with his gaze. He knew you were close; you were telling him in other ways. Every moan, writhe, and breath of yours was pure, sharing with him as rawly as possible how you felt with every pound. 

“Fuck,” he groaned, suddenly realizing it — he was raw inside you. “Fuck,” he breathed, gripping your hips even more, not relenting his thrusts. The thought almost blindsided him, but he was in control. “Mimi— Where do I—?”

You couldn’t answer him because you gasped and arched as much as you could inside his arms, and he selfishly kept you close. In seconds, your climax started a thrum around his cock and he thought he could take it, but he couldn’t. 

His orgasm started from so deeply within him that he saw white again. He moaned with you, crushing you to him as he fucked into you desperately, letting your walls milk him dry. He couldn’t breathe because it was as though your orgasms fed off each other, pushing aftershock after aftershock that made you whimper and him tremble and sweat.

And then suddenly you both collapsed, and he thought he would faint. He was lightheaded and breathless as you lay on top of him, but he didn’t dare move as he recovered. Even his balls had tensed up to empty inside you and now needed a moment.

He chuckled at his thoughts, soothingly trailing his hands up and down your damp spine. He was so happy and at ease. He just knew you were the one.

“I’m so happy we didn’t wait,” you whispered near his neck, and he smirked.

He kissed your head. “We should have done it sooner.”

“Sooner?” you asked, raising your head to look at him. “When?”

“From the start,” he whispered, brushing your hair behind your ear. “It was you all along.”

He could have sworn that you blushed even more. Meanwhile, he couldn’t be happier to say such soppy things. He grinned as you tried to comb your hair properly. Then you seemed not to know what to do with his full attention, so you started brushing his hair with your fingers.

He couldn’t stop smiling widely and happily until you stopped, looking at him, mesmerized.

“Perfect as always.”

“That’s my line,” he told you as he brushed your cheek. Your sparkling eyes, along with your endearing smile, enveloped his heart, and he kissed you. He was finally connected to you, and every second a bit more. He couldn’t be happier.

You kissed his lips and then his chest before sliding off him. He hoped to snuggle, but you suddenly raised your legs, bent at your knees above your chest.

“Can you grab a tissue or something?”

He blinked at you before nodding and getting up, but you called him back. You pointed at the tissues on your nightstand, and he cleared his throat, grabbing a few to clean you. You teased him as he did, and for the first time, he couldn’t keep up with you.

“Couldn’t help yourself, hmm?” you taunted while he cleaned you carefully, unable to keep his eyes away from every detail of your naked body. “Needed to make a point about being the right person, huh?” 

Your voice became softer, but he still didn’t reply. You had his cum forming rivulets out of you and it changed something for him. You were beautiful, the one, and his.

“Yes,” he breathed, finally looking into your eyes. “Can I be the one for you?”

Your expression soothed as you lowered your legs and raised your hands to welcome him to lie beside you again. As he did, you tangled your legs and held him close, and he hid his face in your hair, breathing you in.

“You are, Jeongguk,” you whispered, caressing his head, and he sighed. He didn’t know what would happen now, but at least every piece had fallen in its rightful place. “What’s next?” you asked.

“I think breakfast.”

“We have to go to the grocery store then. What do you like to eat?”

He withdrew to look at you and smiled widely. “Will you cook?”

“We can alternate,” you answered cautiously. “How are your skills?”

“I’m improving.” He grinned, excited. “We need drinks, too.”

“Yup, let’s go,” you told him, tapping his leg. “We need to get condoms, too.”

He raised an eyebrow, and you laughed. 

“Let’s go!”

[http-tokki]

weird script/conversation between you and himbo bestie jayce. idk, im just tryna get back into writing bestie jayce x reader plus hints at viktor x reader

“Hey, can I ask you a weird question?”

“All your questions are weird, but sure.” 

Jayce looks up from his packed lunch, eyes wide with inquisition as he waits for your so-called weird question. 

“Umm.. Do you…” your voice catches, throat thick with nerves. “Do you know if Viktor is single?” 

Jayce freezes mid bite, fork still on the way to his mouth as he narrows his eyes at you. 

“Why?” he stretches the word as if buying time to come up with his own conclusion.

“I'm just interested.”  you shrug, turning your attention back to your lunch, spearing the potatoes with your fork. 

“Just interested or interested?” Jayce carefully places his fork to his bowl, brows now furrowed in confusion. 

“Is there a difference?” you don’t look up from your plate. 

Jayce nods despite your inattention. “Well, yes. Just interested implies that you are merely interested in information about him but interested alludes that you are interested in him.” 

You purse your lips but remain silent and staring at your food as if deep in thought over the next piece of vegetable to choose from your lunch. 

“So are you?” 

Finally, you look up. “Am I what?” 

“Interested.” Jayce clarifies. 

“Depends on the answer.” 

It’s Jayce’s turn to look away, his own thoughts racing as your question rolls over and over and over in his mind. Why would you be asking? What would you do with the information once attained? Were you working for something bigger? Had you been employed by someone else who did not have the relationship you had with Jayce? Or was this endeavour for knowledge self serving? 

“Jayce.” his name drags him back to reality and he looks up from his lunch.  “Is he?” you pose the question again, afraid he has gotten distracted and forgot.

“Is he what?” Jayce blinks, thoughts a mile away. 

“Single.” you sigh, jaw clenching as you take in a calming breath. Gods, this kid would be the death of you.

“Ohh, yeah. He is.” He nods, still not fully present in the conversation. “Why?”

“I’m not doing this with you again.” you snap, shaking your head at the circle you are caught in. It was a simple question yet nothing about his answering process was.

“No. Why are you asking?” he presses.

“Jayce, did you get hit in the head? How are you not getting this-” genuine concern starts to cloud your judgement because he should not be this confused.

“Why are you asking me? There’s no reason to unless someone else wants to know but you don’t talk to anyone else and you can’t be interested, you’re not into-?” Your friend begins to ramble, picking up speed like a rock down a hill. 

“Not into what?” you cut him off, staring at him unsure of where he was going with that point. 

“Guys.” Jayce looks at you as if it was the most obvious ending to his sentence. 

It’s your turn to blink at him, stunned by his accusation.

“Are you…?” He asks, hesitantly, terrified of the answer. 

“Into men? Yes!” it comes out louder than you intended but the park is empty and this is something that you felt needed to be shouted for your friend to get the point. 

“How was I meant to know!? Look at how you dress!!” Jayce shouts back, pointing at you from across the table.

You look down at your body, the usual jeans and shirt nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that screamed lesbian so why would he assume it? 

“The pants and the shoes! You wear that clip on your belt loop, and I don’t think I've ever seen you in a dress! Plus, I’ve heard the way you talk about men, why would I think that you were anything but-” He trails off, afraid to continue as he sees your pointed glare. 

“Just because I wear jeans to work doesn’t mean I'm a lesbian! Gods, Jayce.” 

“That’s not the only thing but-”

“You’ve known me for how many years now? Three? You’ve seen me make out a guy before!” you shouldn’t be as offended as you are but it’s laughable to believe that inside his big genius brain, he couldn’t comprehend that a woman can wear jeans and converse and not be lesbian. 

“I just thought it was a drunken thing,” he shrugs, voice small, looking at you with sad, puppy eyes, begging for your forgiveness. “You never mentioned it, and I didn’t wanna ask in case it was a thing you weren’t ready to talk about.” 

That was  sweet.  Despite him being a bit of a dumbass, he was sweet in his own stupid way. 

“You know, for someone who is as smart as you, you’re really stupid.” 

—---

Jayce strolls into his office twenty minutes later, head held high and eyes bright with his newfound information. This was going to rock Viktor’s world. The three of you had been friends for a few months now, having hung out occasionally after work, even going on errands last weekend before going out for dinner. Never once did Jayce think you looked at his friend that way. If anything, you almost ignored him. Afraid to talk around him, never really looking at him, hyper aware of your movements around him as if you didn't want to be touched by a man….ohhh. 

“Hey, Vik, guess what?” Jayce announces as he walks into the lab, his partner bent over the desk working through a new equation. 

“I do not like these games, you know this.” Viktor mutters, too enrapt in his work to look up. “Just tell me what it is.”

“Nah, you’ve gotta guess.” Jayce beams, all but bounding over with excitement. 

Viktor sighs and pushes away from the desk, chair rolling away with a sharp grate against the floor. “First clue.”  He has played his game too many times before. 

“It’s about Honey.” Jayce waggles his brows suggestively, and it does not go unnoticed by the other.

“You kissed her?” Viktor asks, uninterested in the current topic and glances back at his notebook. 

“Nope but it is along those lines.” 

“You slept with her?” Viktor is beyond indifferent as he sighs. 

“Eww, no.” Jayce cringes. “But turns out she would be into that.” 

“Meaning?” 

“She’s into guys.” Jayce drops the bomb, excited to finally see Viktor shocked for once but no reaction comes from his partner. 

“And…?” 

“There is no and. That’s it. She’s into dudes.” Jayce sighs, throwing his hands in the air. 

Viktor frowns. “I know.”

“You know!?” Jayce exclaims, pinning Viktor with an incredulous look as if he had just told him the world started spinning backwards. 

“Yes. We ended up talking at that party you dragged us to a few months ago, remember? the one where you went off with Mel?”

“So you’ve just been holding out on this information? What did you talk about?” Jayce glares, scrutinising his partner’s every move. 

Viktor inhales, as if to steady his voice. “We talked about ourselves and our lives and how we had come to find you as a friend. We kissed a few times, it was really nice. She is a very pretty girl, I will admit that.” Viktor can’t help the soft smile at the memories of your lips on his. 

“You kissed her?” Jayce is dumbfounded, jaw on the floor as his entire world spins.

“Yes.” 

“Are you talking?”

“Occasionally as friends, yes. Why? Is that an issue for you?”   

Jayce shakes his head, taking in a deep breath to steady his racing thoughts. His two closest friends had kissed, had been talking and now you were asking if Viktor was single? Is he truly this oblivious to the world around him?

“Did you like the kiss?” Jayce finally asks. 

Viktor waits for a moment, debating on how to answer and opts for the truth. “Yes. Very much so. Why are you so interested in this? Have I overstepped?” 

“No. Not at all.” Jayce chuckles to himself, rubbing at his jaw, already planning out the entirety of your relationship with Viktor. 

Oh you would never hear the end of this. 

“I know someone who likes you.”

---

a/n: this is possibly the stupidest fucking thing I've ever written but I'm getting back into writing and just needed something stupid and today at work I got told I dress like a lesbian (I can't fault them cause I kinda dress like adam sandler and yk if I saw me I'd also think I was lgtv like i am but less wuh-luh-wuh more wuh-luh-wuh-and-muh yk) but anyway, thought it would be pretty funny to have this interaction with himbo bestie jayce

[deceasedream69]

YOU'RE SAFE

This is LONG, but I hope it's worth it lol

Warnings: mentions of kidnapping, torture, SA, cursing, punches and smut (in part 2)

-

Jake woke up slowly, his neck hurted from the position. He tried moving but he couldn't, his hands were tied to the arms of a chair, and his legs too.

He breathed heavily, looking around, adjusting his eyes to the room's lighting.

A man is standing in front of him, a few feet away, leaning on a metal table. Looks like he was waiting for Jake to wake up.

Jake says nothing, waiting for the man to speak first.

- Jake Peralta

Jake's eyes were fixed on the man, he didn't know what all of this was about, confused, cold, hungry and very scared.

His chest went up and down rapidly, heavy, his hands moving under the ropes.

- you're a pain in my ass, did you know that?

Jake just shook his head.

- I've been said that before, no one really took the time to tied me up for it.

The man just laughed.

- guess I'm the first one to do something about it, huh? Let me introduce myself then. My name's John.

- ooh, right, John!

- you have no idea who I am, do you?

- not at all, no. It's hard to remember when your thoughts are tied up.

- and that's how they'll stay

- just saying, you know, this could be really easier if you just untied me and we talked like normal people.

- you know what, Peralta, imma quit playing, you're people is investigating my people, taking really good workers away from me, and for what? For them to rot away between 4 walls.

- well, I mean, it's kinda my job - Jake laughed nervously. Being a police officer meant having a lot of people against you, and just being there, practically at they're feet, was terrifying.

But what was about to come was worse.

A man entered the room, carrying y/n in his arms. She was deeply asleep, probably due to drugs.

Jake moved in the chair, trying to break from the ropes and put you safe.

But, obviously, he couldn't.

They put you over the metal table, tying your hands to some metal bars next to your hips.

The table was cold, Jake's gaze switched from your body placed over the table and the faces of the man tying you up.

You were wearing a white tank top, shorts and socks, that's it.

The weather isn't good for this, she's gonna get cold. Jake's mind was filled with panic about everything that could make you feel bad.

What are they planning on doing? Are they going to hurt her? I can't let that happen, but, I can't just sell my work.

The man leaned against the table again, covering part of your body from Jake's sight, but he could still see your face, so he'll be able to notice if you wake up.

- don't hurt her - there was rush and panic in his voice.

- you don't tell me what to do, I give the instructions here, and they've been set, so talk - he got a knife out of his pocket- or you know what'll go down.

Jake twitched even harder in his seat. Hands gripping at the chair.

Another man grabbed Jake from his shoulder and tied him from the chest, to secure him even more to the chair.

- start talking, Peralta - he made the knife dance above your cheek - I don't really want to ruin this pretty face.

- what- stop- just- what... What do you want to know?

He looked defeated, sighing heavy with disappointment, but lifted his gaze, looking directly to the man's eyes.

I opened my eyes slowly, everything felt heavy, my arms were cold, my neck and head were sore. I tried moving but I just, couldn't, everything felt so heavy and difficult.

- I- I just don't like it, ok? When you play dumb.

He slapped me.

Well, that's a way to wake up. I looked around the room, processing what was happening. I looked at Jake, he looked worried, he was tied to a chair.

The man in front of me seemed to be huge from this perspective.

I blinked a couple of times, trying to understand everything.

- I'm not! Ok? I'm not- it was an honest question, please, don't hurt her

- hurt her? Now you're making demands and still - he got behind the table - not answering what I want.

He got his knife out of the pocket and cut acrossed my arm, not too deep but if felt like hell.

I could feel the drug effects going away.

I screamed in pain and shock.

He took the knife and walked in front of Jake, putting my blood on his face.

- my team found your star worker, Thomas Johnson, they brought him to the station to question him, while being there he said some compromising things, that gave us a warrant to search his house, and that's how we found most information about the drugs. Please, hurt me instead of her, she has nothing to do with this.

- you're a cop, she's a cop, I don't give a fuck, besides, what did I tell you about giving me orders?

Another guy near the table threw a bucket of cold water at me. I really didn't want to seem weak, but hell that shit was cold.

Jake threw his head back, another guy took his head.

- look at her, look what you're causing. Keep talking and she'll have it better.

- That's how we knew where to search, the people working for you and the places you owned. My team went to get them and they all had the same things at their house, so we knew it was teamwork, but none of them seemed to be- well, the head of the operation.

The man laughed.

- of course they didn't.

Jake kept trying to move his head but the guy behind him kept moving it so he would be looking at you the whole time.

Breathing heavy, trying to ignore the cold, even tho your body was shaking like crazy, you had to keep focused.

- keep talking, god dammit, Peralta!

He slapped me again, and then punched me twice.

- STOP! Ok!! After that give tried to give them deals to keep them talking, but no one wanted to talk, so we kept investigating at the sightings, with CIs and undercover agents.

- who are the undercover agents?

- we don't have any at the moment

He got on top of the table, grabbing my neck.

- give me the names, Peralta

- I swear, the mission was cleared while we found another perspective to investigate! I swear! Please, your hurting her.

My head was dizzy with adrenaline, fear, anxiety and all sort of bad things.

The man was huge, he had his hands around my neck and he for sure was strong.

My hands kept trying to break free from the table, gasping for air, tears scaping from my eyes while I watched his face filled with anger.

- I don't believe you, Peralta, that's not good for your girl here.

- please, ok! Fine! Greenhood, Edward Greenhood, I think he goes by the name of trevor or something like that, I'm not sure, he's not exactly from my team.

He let go of my throat and I immediately gasped for air, letting it fill my lungs, it hurted so much, everything hurted.

I turned to look at Jake and he just mouthed "I'm so sorry"

The man went to the back to talk with his guys.

Jake whispered really low.

- I'm sorry, y/n, we'll be fine, I promise

I turned to look at him tiredly. Ain't hard to say that I felt drained, like shit, and like I just wanted to get this over with.

I looked at the ceiling, shivering, closed my eyes and tried to calm myself.

- you've been very helpful Jake.

He said untying me from the table.

- she's been very helpful too, gotta give her props for that.

He carried me in his arms, laying me right in front of Jake, at his feet.

Kneeling beside me, he caressed my hair, putting it behind my ear.

- now, the last thing I asked you - he lifted his eyes to look directly into Jake's, still touching my hair - I need the names of your team.

Jake swallowed hard.

The man came close to my ear, whispering.

- come on darling, tell him, ask him for help.

He sat me up, face to face with Jake. His hand strong at my neck.

- tell him how much you need him to say the names.

- Jake...

His lip quivering, his eyes watery, and his chest going up and down quickly.

- don't give him the names - I said looking directly into Jake's eyes.

He got upset, smashing me against the floor, running his hands through his hair from the anger.

I sat up, spitting blood on the floor.

He quickly grabbed me and threw me to the floor again, pulling my shorts off.

- no, please, no! - I tried pushing him.

- get off her!

- you'll talk - he said grabbing my cheeks - or I won't loose the opportunity with this pretty thing, and trust me, I'll enjoy it very much - he hooked on finger on my underwear, looking at Jake's reaction closely, licking his lips.

He undid his pants, touching under my blouse. Jake, turned his head to the side, preparing himself to talk, but the other guy quickly pushed his head to us.

- look what you're causing - he smiled viciously.

I don't remember anything after that.

- NYPD! ON THE FLOOR NOW! DROP YOUR WEAPONS, YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!

Jake sighed in relief. Turning to look at y/n with pain.

-

You woke up screaming.

- you're safe! It's okay, everything is fine! I'm Jake, I'm here!

He took my hand but I pushed it away.

- it's okay, everything's fine, you're not alone.

His voice was soft but a little loud, for me to hear over my panic attack.

He took my hand again, caressing it slowly while he made sure I was stabilizing.

I froze, my whole body, even my eyes stuck.

- you're safe here, y/n, it's me, Jake, I'm here with you. You're safe, the doctors say everything is fine, ok? Can you hear me?

I barely moved my head, signaling yes.

- that's good, that's very good, I'm glad your okay.

He kissedy head.

I turned to look at him.

- cause, if you disappear, who am I gonna bug?

I small smile appeared on my lips, I laid back down, still not fully comfortable, but already processing that I wasn't in danger anymore.

That's when everything that happened came to my mind.

I didn't- I mean, I knew it wasn't Jake's fault, but... I don't know, it was bothering me the fact that he was intact sitting next to me, trying to reassure me, after not speaking back there.

I mean, I know I told him not to say names, I don't know, everything feels wrong right now.

I move my hand away from his, rubbing my eyes, I don't even want to turn to look at him.

I stay there, frozen.

- it's okay, I know you need to rest, I'm glad you're safe now, we're safe - he gave me a kiss on the forehead and got out of the room.

[zigrethsnotebook]

I love your writing! I saw you wrote Stan with a chubby reader- it was great!

Could I request some Ford x chubby/self conscious reader?👉👈

Thank you and have a great day!

thank you so much and absolutely!! have fun<3

Chubby

Ford x Reader

words: 1,009

tags: sfw, fluff, insecurities, talk about weight

"You two are horrible, you know that?" Stan's gruff voice broke the silence in the living room. He was in his old recliner and Ford and you had made yourselves comfortable on the ground with some blankets and pillows.

"What are you talking about, Stanley?" Ford's voice sounded vaguely annoyed already. You stifled a chuckle, knowing he reacts that way because they're brothers.

"You two never go out. Which means! I never get an evening for myself." Now you looked up at him as well, untangling yourself a little from Ford’s arms as you did so. Ford must have frowned at him because he tried to make his words less harsh really quickly.

"Don't get me wrong, I love ya both but come on! When was the last time you two went out to eat, or to the movies or... anywhere, really? I had kinda hoped a partner would get you out of the basement more often, Sixer." As you thought about it, you realized he was right and immediately felt bad.

You never made an effort to go into town for a date because you didn’t like the way people stared at you both. You knew you weren't skinny but to stare at you like that? It hurt and was making you worry if you really deserve to be with someone like Ford.

He was so fit for his age, insanely handsome. Meanwhile you were just... you. Heavier than most people and while you tried to hide it as best as you could, you weren't very successful. Your weight had reached a point of not being able to be 'covered up'.

You had never spoken to Ford about this, your insecurities about your weight, and that that's why you didn’t enjoy going into town that much. Funnily enough, with Ford you had found someone who wasn't big on socializing like that either. He usually kept to himself down in his lab so he never brought it up.

But now Stan did. You swallowed heavily. Meanwhile Ford seemed to light up at the idea. "You're right, we should go on more conventional dates! It could be fun!"

Ford's voice got a little louder in your ear as he turned to you for the next sentence, squeezing your belly a little tighter in the process. "And I would get to show you off to the townsfolk while we're out."

Your expression had turned into a frown and without a word you took his arms off of you, got up and left the living room. Stan and Ford looked at each other in confusion for a moment before Ford got up to follow you.

"Love?" He called out and quickly found you in the kitchen. "What's wrong?" His voice was a lot softer now that he saw how upset you were. You sat at the table with your hands holding your head and eyes squeezed shut.

"I know I'm not much to look at but you don't have to mock me." You spat the words out more harshly then you meant to. "What?" His voice was barely above a whisper now, unable to grasp what you were talking about.

"I'm fat. I know, okay! You don't need to make fun of me for it." You had opened your eyes to look at him, anger flaring in them. Meanwhile Ford looked at you with so much concern, love and care that you felt like something was wrong. But the anger was already there.

"Why would I ever make fun of you for that?" His question was honest and the fiery rage started to flicker. "Wh- Because- You just said 'show you off' while squeezing my belly. I've seen the way the people looked at me the last time we went out together. How was I supposed to interpret that?"

Ford looked down at your belly for a moment and then locked eyes with you again and you could see the pain in his eyes. Making you feel bad was the last thing he wanted! He was only being honest. He loved you and wanted everyone in town to know about it.

"As... an honest sentiment? I... I love you, all of you. You know that, right?" Your anger was barely holding its own against the wind of his words that was trying to blow it out. Instead, his words now brought tears to your eyes.

"I said I want to show you off to the townsfolk because I do! I want to take you into the townsquare and yell: Look at my beautiful partner! They chose me! Aren't I lucky?"

Ford was kneeling in front of you now, reaching one hand out to cup your cheek. You leaned into his touch, a single tear rolling down your cheek and being immediately wiped away by Ford's thumb.

"I squeezed your belly because, well first off all, because that's what I was holding in that moment. But also, because I love your belly! It's a part of you that I love like any other part. And the fact that it's a little bigger is a plus in my eyes! It means that when we fall into another dimension we'll have more time to find a solution before we starve to death."

You furrowed your brows and chuckled lightly. "If... If we fall into another dimension, right?" Ford averted his eyes, his chuckle sounding more nervous than reassuring. "Right. If."

He looked back into your eyes, letting his thumb caress your cheek. "What I mean to say is: You are the most beautiful person in my eyes and I don’t care what anyone else thinks, okay?" His eyes held nothing but honesty and genuine affection for you.

You believed him. "Okay... yeah." You shook your head, the realization of all the stupid things you accused him of setting in. "God, I’m so sorry, Ford." "Don't be."

His voice was as gentle as before and he reached his other hand up as well to wrap you in a tight hug which you happily reciprocated. "Thank you."

[kaisers-house-of-desires]

So I just read your Muzan and Gojo fluff and loved them so much! Do you think it would be possible for me to request something like the Muzan one where the reader joins Sukuna in becoming a cursed spirit, but they're on opposing ends? Like lovers that are enemies kinda thing 👀

Thank you for the kind words~!

As for your request, I had to do a deep dive into spirits as it's been a hot minute since I've seen anything JJK story wise. In that research, following your request was a bit difficult but I still hope you enjoy it nonetheless~

For all readers: Please keep in mind the process I will use is not canonical in any way and is merely me making this up for the sake of the story.

This may be a bit cheesy, but you know what? We're here to enjoy and indulge in all things.

Should you desire a part 2, do let me know~

Title: To Live with You

Characters: Sukuna x m!reader

Contains: fluff, human transformation, Sukuna is in Yuuji's body

Fandom: Jujutsu Kaisen

Full request below the cut

All characters are 18+

MINORS, FEM ALIGNED, AGELESS/BLANK BLOGS DNI

Reblogs > likes

Cold...It's so cold...

It felt like ice was coursing through your veins, but you couldn't fight it. Everything was dark, your senses dulled to nothing save for the blistering chill that seemed to spiral through your body.

"I'm almost done. I know, it must hurt."

That voice...whose was it? It sounded so familiar yet so foreign. It didn't help with how fuzzy it sounded, how muffled and distant it was.

You wanted to agree that it did hurt, but your mouth wouldn't budge, no part of you would no matter how hard you tried. You only wished you could remember how you got here so you could try and steady your heart.

Except your heart was already still.

That had to be it. You had to be dead, right? You never knew death would be so cold. Strangely enough, it wasn't terrible. If you got cold enough, everything would numb up, and you would eventually pass, surely.

But it never came, and you continued to lay in frozen limbo.

"Just one more vial...and it will be complete..."

Vial? Complete? Just what was this voice talking about?

Any thought you had would come to a screeching halt as whatever icy sensation you had to give way to a roaring flame. Your body felt like it was engulfed in heat, like you were dropped into a pit of fire. Compared to the numbing cold, you wanted to scream out with how this felt. Going from frozen to blazing was a shock, one that practically shook you out of the comatose sleep you were in.

Eyes snapping open, you sat up, sweat rolling down your face as you panted heavily, gripping at the fabric of your shirt that resided over your chest. You could once again feel the pounding of your heart, though it felt unknown, as if it wasn't meant to beat again. Your vision struggled to focus, your body unsure of its state. You felt wrong, but it was his voice that brought you back.

"Y/N..."

It took you a moment, but once you were able to meet the red eyed gaze of the King of Curses, you knew you were safe. In fact, your memories came flooding back.

The long conversations you two had, the uncertainty, the confusion, fear, acceptance, it all came back to you like a ton of bricks.

He had transformed you as promised.

You instantly wrapped your arms around Sukuna's shoulders, pulling him into a deep kiss, which he returned without hesitation. It lasted longer than any other kiss you had before, but you deserved it for the hell you endured to get to where you were now.

With this cursed transformation, you could live by Sukuna's side.

Except for one thing.

"We need to head back," he breathed once you two broke the kiss. "It's almost sunrise."

It was only now that you realized you weren't in your bed, but instead in a desolate alleyway, free from any peering eyes, but his words made the dull ache return to your body.

"Sukuna--"

"The change is faint for now, but you need to work on surpressing the energy okay?"

"Can't we just run--"

"You knew well what you were signing up for." Sukuna's voice was firm, but careful. He was right, and you knew it. Now, you had to fight more than ever to keep yourself hidden. The change was risky, but you did so to be with the King of Curses as long as you could. "Remember, I won't hold back if we ever need to fight."

You gave a small chuckle, standing on shaky legs. "Try me. With this new change, surely I can handle you."

"Now don't get cocky," Sukuna teased with a smirk, standing with you and holding you steady. "Let's get back before it's too late."

[tunastime]

Hello beloved tuna 💚

How about a number 9 for the spotify wrapped?? (And if u feel like throwing any SEN guys in there I would simply love to see them)

HI THEO. you can tell I've been listening/reading too much murderbot when I start writing in the cadence that freaking kevin r free uses to do the audiobooks. so here, have some SEN ranchers. this song is actually on the SEN ranchers playlist! so I drummed up a little something that I think takes place around that time, where tango is about to receive notice that he's to come back to the Prometheus

(794 words)

Jimmy feels the pressure of all his emotions in his chest like a bubble about to burst. He's made of complex metal lattice, wires and tiny fibers that move like muscle, tubes and chambers holding cooling fluids and lubricants, silicon that filled spaces left behind and protected the various moving parts, made up his skin filled with sensors. Still, the part of him that felt, that processed emotion in a way he wasn't sure he was supposed to, still created that sense of feeling in his chest, as if the air filters and chambers of fluid had seized up all at once and were grinding to start again.

It wasn't a bad feeling though. This one he liked. A lot. It was the closest he had felt to being real in a long time. But it sucked to know that he liked it, and that he only liked it because it made him feel present, because the present was a time in which he knew minutes were slipping through his hands in a way his internal clock couldn't properly count. 

Way back, when Tango first arrived, almost three months ago, he had told Jimmy that he was only there for a month. The successes and failures of their botanical project had meant Tango had stayed longer. It had given them more than enough time to become friends, dissect the little things that made them something other than human, find a piece of each other within the parts most similar. It was odd. And good. And Jimmy liked the idea of being like someone, rather than so different from his shipmates.  

Tango was in his room now—their room, maybe, if Jimmy were feeling brave. The thought of sharing, be that personal space, personal data, personal storage, memory, RAM, emotion, feeling, thought, was a thing that was equally as confusing as it was terrifying. Jimmy was made of emotion—concocted from a hacked emotional core that HASA allowed to be installed in him, and with no way of processing any of the emotion, to filter it through subroutines designed to handle it, to manage it, with the secondary buffer it was supposed to have, Jimmy had too many times fallen victim to its overwhelming charge of his system. So sharing that very large, very vulnerable part of him wasn’t something he thought Tango could handle. Tango simply wasn’t housing an emotional core. Sure, his processor was large, and the long-term storage he had was complex (and Jimmy would know, they’d both poked around in his code and parts as a fun side project, considering Tango had finally decided that Jimmy should simply upload the rest of his data into Tango’s memory in case their project ended early. Tango had been reluctant to do that when he first arrived—he was built to learn, not to just store and retrieve. But what was learning but storing and retrieving, Jimmy had argued, and by the time their three months were meeting a yet-unknown close, they’d gone and backed up the data into Tango’s skull, and looked for fun), but he didn’t have the emotional capacity Jimmy did. And maybe he wouldn’t for a long time.

But he’d let him in. Just like Tango had let Jimmy root around inside his code and trusted him not to delete something essential. And Jimmy hated the idea that he might be losing this soon. He’d overheard Fwhip at some point, talking low to Tango in the hallway. Something about callbacks and data transfers, names of admirals Jimmy had never heard of, but sounded important. He had meant to ask Tango, but had never summoned the strength or reason to do so.

Jimmy watches Tango out of the side of his vision. Tango stayed because he had something to do. Maybe if Jimmy sabotaged their data, Tango would stay. Maybe if he changed something, fixed part of the system but not another, took data into long-term storage where they couldn't access it. Whatever he could do. Tango would stay here. And he wouldn't be alone.

But he couldn't do that to Tango. Which is why this feeling hurts so much. He liked it, because it hurt. And he hated it, because it meant he was coming to terms with the idea that Tango was leaving.

Scott called it grief. Jimmy thinks that robots shouldn't have learned how to grieve. It made looking at his friend Tango that much harder. It made watching him try to laugh and smile that much more difficult. But tucked away in Jimmy's room, watching the display surface show reruns of media Jimmy had long since seen, Tango laughs, and Jimmy grins his way. He’s getting better at that—laughing. Jimmy likes it.

And maybe he likes grief. Just a little.

(send me a number 1-100 and I'll try to write a little something based on the song!)

[cecilyv]

🌟 Please and thank you! Although I see you already received some stars so if you want this narrowed a little, I would looooove some director’s commentary on “awful quiet.”

Ooh, it's been a while since I've really thought about the writing process for this one (almost a year! Which is crazy!).

So, funny story. This was not intended to be the first buck/tommy break up/make up fic. This was my "I really want canonically bi buck"--I wanted to SEE him actually wrestle with that and what it meant.

Full transparency, I still have the "how I sold @liminalmemories21" from our chat. We had just finished I'm in love and I had spent two hours in a car and then I word vomited at her:

Bisexual buck break up fic — like post breakup but tommy still comes to 118 things or is friends with Eddie whatev . They’re at some bar, each with new so’s, and Tommy’s like this is my friend Evan the same time buck tells his girlfriend — this is my ex, Tommy — and they stare at each other and the buck deliberately is like, “I was telling you about him, the guy who helped save Athena?” And then like a couple of months later, Buck’s back at the basketball game and Tommy’s confused and also like, who are you going to maim this time and Buck’s all “I’m not here to play, I’m here to watch the gun show” and Tommy meets Buck’s new boyfriend And basically it’s the canonical back and forth no one thinks he’s really bi but buck’s like, no this really makes sense to me And then the weirdness of being bi in the queer community And also I’m fine with them getting back together — I’m not sure why they’d have split to begin to with other than a reason to give Buck a girlfriend again

Looking at the fic, that first paragraph above ended up being the first scene, which I feel set the tone for the whole story really well. I did get the "gun show" line in, which I really wanted. And I think I got some of the buck wrestling with being bi and what that meant, and how that made people see him. How that impacted how he saw himself.

And because of Lim, we did actually get them back together.

***

There's a couple of lines that I really love in this one. We don't write Buck pov very often, so that was pretty fun.

"Tommy had stopped himself from saying a lot, at the end, Buck knows this." -- I think we literally just saw this in the kitchen scene from 8x11, like you can literally see Tommy swallow his words. And I liked having Buck acknowledge that.

---------

"...he has a horrified realization that he's the adult in their lives. He's their Bobby.

He doesn't feel like he's got his shit together enough to be anyone's Bobby." -- this line was all Lim, and it did so much work. In the story and in Buck's realization of how much he'd changed. Who he could be. I think it shifted how he saw the world. I really love that line from her.

-------

“He’ll find me later,” Buck says. -- earlier in the fic, Buck would never have said this, seen this, been able to believe it. To me, this was end of the story and the rest was just window-dressing.

---okay, this was really fun. I apparently could talk about it all day. Any thing else about it that you'd like to know?

[jccatstudios]

I have been following your soc comic adaptation and it just so good!!! I love how you draw them!

I have just one question: Why did you not include Inej's opening musings about Kaz on the first page? (Kaz Brekker didn't need a reason etc) I actually really like how there is not text on the first two pages, it's really atmospheric and moody so this really is not a criticism, I don't want to insult you. I guess I was just wondering what the thought process behind that was?

Oh, I've been wanting to talk about this for a while! Buckle up, this is gonna be one of my long comic rants. (Also, no offense taken at all! Anyone's welcome to question my artistic choices and I'm always happy to take critique, even though that isn't your intention.)

So, the thing is I actually planned on including that first paragraph into the comic! Here's when I first shared the thumbnails on here. Just for the sake of this post, I'll insert them here too.

The boxes are meant to be where excerpts of that introduction would go. When I was creating the thumbnails, I was thinking about how iconic these lines were and how well they introduce the world and characters. I even finished the pages with the intention to include those lines. This is from my original csp file.

When I lettered it all out, I felt like something wasn't right...? Hard to explain. I wanted silence for the opening and the narration took that away. I then thought about the reader who'd go into this without reading the novel first, wondering if they'd be thinking, Who's this Kaz Brekker guy? Is it this character on the page? It's clearer in the book, but I didn't think it paired well with what I drew. I didn't want any confusion. It's also Inej's chapter, and while Kaz's parts take up most of it, I still wanted it to feel like her POV and her story. We can hold off officially meeting Kaz until page four.

But the main reason I took it out comes down to my philosophy when it comes to comic adaptations. I believe that an adaptation should use the original story in the best way for the secondary medium. A comic adaptation should play to the strength of comics, not the original source material.

Time and time again, I see a lot of comic adaptations of books try to use a book's strength instead of a comic's. When that happens, you get pages upon pages of narration boxes and exposition that could've easily been told in a single panel's image. If you want to read excerpts from the original novel, go do that! They're beautiful and well-crafted and you should be reading the original anyway! If you're making a comic adaptation, make a comic, not an illustrated version of the novel (that's a whole field of its own).

This whole thing really ties well into what I'm doing for Chapter 3. Kaz is such an internal character, his chapters have a lot more exposition that isn't setting description or character actions. I've had to do a lot more of my own writing for this chapter than the last just to turn that exposition into his own voice as an internal monologue. Sometimes, it's just a change from "he" to "I," but there are other times I've had to write new dialogue and find ways to naturally flow between thoughts. If I didn't do the work to adapt the expository text and instead just put in narration boxes of text from the book, there would be a greater disconnect between the reader and Kaz. Third-person limited works great in books and doesn't separate the readers from the story, but in comics, first-person internal dialogue keeps the readers inside the scene better.

If I were to redo Chapter 2, I think I would try to find a way to incorporate the information from the chapter intro better. I think by losing the intro I initially planned to include, I didn't establish certain ideas very well. Ketterdam and Kerch are established later on pages 4 and 5, but I don't think I ever go back and mention The Barrel. Also, the idea that Kaz is deliberate, even if his reputation says otherwise, is important too. I've made sure to fix this kind of issue in Chapter 3 and keep record of what kind of information I'm losing as I adapt it.

[newtthetranswriter]

Finding the truth

Paring: Yuji Itadori x gn! Reader

Summary: Being Yuji’s best friend before he goes to Jujutsu tech and him hiding the truth from you leads to a miny argument and sharing feelings.

Warnings: Yuji is kinda mean and stupid, Sukana trying to bite reader.

Word count: 3768

A/n:Just some angst to comfort I wrote for Yuji. enjoy and remember in everything I write all characters are aged up to college age. MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT

I have been friends with Yuji for a while, but I haven’t seen him in five months. You see, Yuji transferred to a school in Tokyo shortly after his grandfather passed away. I completely understand it, getting away from a place that was once full of happy memories can really help with the grieving process. The only thing is he’s been going there for half a year and I have yet to meet any of his friends, I haven’t even visited him at school. We talk over text and call all the time, but everytime I suggest I come visit he changes the subject. It feels like he’s hiding something. And I know you must be thinking, “oh you just like him” but that’s not it he’s like a brother to me and having not seen him in so long hurts.

That’s why today I've decided I’m going to surprise him. I just got to Tokyo, the only problem is I have no clue where the school is or what the name is. I have no idea how to find my friend without telling him I’m here and making him come find me. I spent about an hour pondering what to do. If I don't know the name of the school, or the location, there is no way to find it. I guess the only option is to call him. I grabbed my phone and called the pink haired idiot.

“Hey Yuji, I need to ask a favor.” I said as he answered the phone.

“Sure Y/n, what’s up?” Yuji asked. I could make out the sounds of people talking on the other line before Yuji snapped at them to be quiet.

I couldn’t help but laugh at that, “ Oh, well, I kinda need you to come pick me up from the train station.”

There was a pause before he responded. “Umm, why are you at the train station? I thought you agreed that you wouldn’t come visit.” It was obvious he didn’t want me there, and it hurt a bit. He’s one of my best friends who I haven’t seen in months and he just doesn't want to see me. 

“Well, I thought I’d surprise you with a visit cause last time we talked you seemed stressed. I just wanted to hang out with my best friend and meet the friends I’ve heard so much about.” I responded feeling like this was a stupid idea, and that I’m losing my best friend. “ but if you really don’t want to see me, I’ll just go home and you won’t hear from me again.”

“Y/n, that’s not what I meant, there's just been a lot going on recently and I don’t have time right now.” He said giving the same excuse he’s given every time I offered to visit. “Please understand that, just go h-”

“ Hi, I’m Nobara Kugisaki, one of Yuji’s friends here, don’t listen to him. We will be there in twenty minutes. Can’t wait to meet you.” A girl said, having taken the phone from my friend, as i heard Yuji telling her to give him back his phone.

“Ok, see you soon I guess?” I responded as the line went dead.

P.O.V change to Yuji’s dumbass

“Why would you do that Kugisaki? They don’t know anything about Jujutsu Tech, they think I just left because my grandpa died.” Yuji said to his friend as she just smirked at him before grabbing his and Megumi’s arms and pulling them off the school grounds towards Tokyo.

“ Well, It’s shocking to know you have friends outside of school, and so I need to find out what is wrong with them. It’s hard to believe someone would willingly travel to see you.” Nobara said, rolling her eyes finally letting the boys go.

Megumi just looked at the two confused as to what was going on and why he was being dragged along. “ Why was I dragged into this? I don’t care.”

Nobara just turned her head slightly and said “Well, someone has to be able to keep this idiot in check so he doesn’t send his friend home after they made the journey here to see him. And you can do that with one of your shikigami or just hold his mouth shut.” She shrugged at the last bit before facing the path in front.

“Fushiguro, please tell Kugisaki that this is dumb, we can’t bring a non sorcerer to Jujutsu tech. It’s dangerous.” Yuji said, trying to convince his friend to agree with him.

The ten shadows user just rolled his eyes and kept walking not caring for their stupid bickering. But he could say he was intrigued that someone would want to be friends with the brainless idiot. The walk to the train station consisted of more of the same, after about half an hour they arrived.

P.O.V change back to Y/n

I had been waiting for Yuji and his friend to come get me for the train station, hoping to get some answers as to why he’s been hiding stuff from me and being rude. I really hope it wasn’t something I did. I broke out of my thoughts scanning the crowd once again for my pink haired friend. After looking for a moment I spotted the familiar two toned hair, with a brunette and a guy whose hair looks like a sea urchin. I stood up and made my way towards them.

“So Itadori, where’s this friend that you don’t want us meeting?” The brunette said, looking around.

I smiled slightly as I got closer. “That would be me, I’m Y/n Y/l/n, It’s nice to meet you.” I introduced myself glad to be meeting Yuji’s friends even if he didn’t want me here.

The girl looked at me and smiled. “I’m Nobara Kugisaki, and the one who looks like he’d rather be anywhere else is Megumi Fushiguro. It’s lovely to meet you. I’m sorry Itadori was rude over the phone, it seems he’s an idiot.” 

I just chuckled at her comment, waved at Megumi and then turned to Yuji. I could see him shy away from my cold glare knowing that I’m upset and rightfully so. “Yuji Itadori, you are an ass. I just wanted to surprise you and you act like it’s a personal attack. Is it wrong to want to see my best friend after almost half a year?” I snapped at him. 

He looked almost scared, while his friends just looked shocked that i’d call him out in public. “Why don’t we go back to Jujutsu tech and you guys can talk this out in private and not in the middle of a train station.” Megumi offered, sensing this was probably going to turn into a scene if it was handled quickly.

“Fine, lead the way but I’m not talking with him, until he apologizes and explains everything.” I motioned for someone to lead me to my friend's school.

The walk to Jujutsu tech took about thirty minutes but it felt so much longer because it was spent in silence. It seemed like Megumi and Nobara didn’t want to get into mine and Yuji’s fight, while Yuji hasn’t said anything since I spoke to him on the phone before they came to get me. It was pissing me off, he basically told me to get lost, and now won’t face the fact that he’s been a shit friend for the past almost six months.

Arriving at the school I was shocked, “This is a school, it looks more like an ancient temple.” I continued staring at the “school”. I failed to notice a tall man wearing a blindfold walking toward us.

“Hey, who’s the new kid?” I jumped as I finally noticed the white haired giant. His face was pointed in my direction so I assumed he was looking at me. I’m really confused, who is this guy and why is the school in an old temple.

Megumi stepped in front of me and addressed the man. “ Gojo, This is Y/n, they are one of Itadori’s friends from before he joined Jujutsu tech. They came here to see him as he has apparently been avoiding them since he came here." He explained who I was and why I was here. It was honestly the most I had heard him speak since I met him thirty minutes ago. It was kind of shocking as he seemed like the type to stay quiet.

“Yeah, and Itadori tried to make them go home, after they spent time and money just to come visit him. What an ass am I right?” Nobara said, nudging me in the side.

The man I now know as Gojo turned towards Yuji. “Why would you do that, it's awfully nice of them to come all this way to visit you. And Y/n welcome feel free to ask any questions you may have, Yuji will be happy to answer them and give you a tour of the school. Anyway, Kugisaki and Megumi, you're coming with me, you have a mission. Have fun you two.” He said the last bit with a smirk and dragged the other two away without giving anyone a chance to protest.

I just looked at Yuji as he stood there in shock before turning to me and finally speaking. “I’m sorry I was being a jerk. If you follow me I'll show you around." I just watched as he turned and walked away. It took me a moment to realize what was going on before following after him.

We walked in almost complete silence as he showed me around the school. He showed me the dorms and classrooms, only talking when saying what a place was. When we headed back outside, I finally said something having grown tired of the awkward silence. “So Yuji, what is really going on? That guy with a blindfold said your friends had a mission, what did he mean? And why have you been keeping this from me?” I was ready to get some answers.

“It’s a lot to explain, let’s go sit down and I’ll do my best to explain.” He answered, guiding me to an open field. We both sat down and I waited for him to start explaining everything to me. “You see, this place is called Jujutsu tech. It is one of two schools here in Japan for learning Jujutsu sorcery.  Jujutsu sorcery is what we use to exercise cursed spirits using cursed energy.” Now I’m really confused what the fuck is cursed energy, as much as I wanted to say that I kept quiet letting him continue. “Cursed energy is basically negative energy powered by negative emotions, Sorcerers learn how to harness this energy to destroy cursed spirits. Cursed spirits are made from the cursed energy that leaks out of non sorcerers because they don’t know how to control it.” He explained curses and cursed energy.

“Ok but why are you going to this school, how did you get roped into all of this?” I wondered how he got here.

He paused for a second, almost like he was debating how to tell me something. “You see, the night my grandpa died, I met Fushiguro. He told me that I had picked up a cursed object and it was crucial that I gave it to him because it was extremely dangerous. Only problem was I didn’t have it, I had given it to a classmate in the occult club. When he heard that he made me show him to the school where they were trying to open the object. By the time we got there it was overrun by cursed spirits also trying to get the object. I tried to help out but I almost got Fushiguro killed. In order to save him I had eaten the object because he had previously said it would boost the strength of a cursed spirit if it ate it, and figured it would work on me. It kind of worked but instead of just boosting my strength I became the vessel of an ancient cursed spirit known as Sukana and now I'm here at Jujutsu tech. They’re using me to find all twenty of his fingers which are cursed objects and when we find all of them, they’ll make me eat them and then kill me to get rid of Sukana for good.” He said leaving me speechless.

How was I supposed to respond to my best friend telling me he was being fed fingers just to be killed down the line? It made no sense. “They’re just going to kill you, can’t they destroy this Sukana without killing you? How is that fair, you’re helping them just to die?” I asked, upset at the idea.

“It’s okay, Y/n. I’ve accepted it. I'm going to help save as many people as possible before that happens. It’s for the best, without Sukana then he can’t come back and hurt anyone ever again.” He said, confident in his choice but still looking sad.

I was completely stunned, he was okay with this? He was fine with sacrificing himself for ‘the greater good’. How am I supposed to accept this? “So you just weren’t going to tell me? You were just going to let these people kill you and make me think you just gave up on our friendship. I can’t believe you, I thought you were better than that.” I said trying to figure out if he was going to keep this from me till the end.

He turned away avoiding eye contact. What he said next was so quiet I could barely make it out, but it still shook me to my core. “I don’t want to lose you.” I looked at him wide eyed. How could he think he would lose me?

“You would never lose me. Sure I’m upset that you didn’t tell me and were apparently going to keep it from me until you died, but you won’t lose me. Yuji you’re my best friend, when you told me to get back on the train and go home it nearly broke me. I thought I had lost you. I can’t go through that again, I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I may not be able to fight these curses or whatever but I can still be your friend.” I told him. It really did hurt that he hid this from me, I’m supposed to be his best friend and it hurt to think he didn’t trust me enough to tell me what was really going on. 

He finally turned to truly face me and I could see the worry in his eyes. “I know that Y/n, you are my best friend as well. I just don’t want something to happen to you. It’s dangerous being a Jujutsu Sorcerer, I did want someone or something to use you against me. There are bad people who use Jujutsu to hurt others and I can’t imagine what would happen if someone hurt you.” He said, voicing his worries. “ I care too much about you for you to be dragged into this life. That’s why I didn’t tell you, I thought that even if you hated me for it at least you would be safe. I can live with the thought of you hating me as long as you are safe, but if you got hurt or worse because of me I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.” I just sat silent as I watched him think for a moment, completely amazed by how much he was opening up about it. 

There was a brief pause as he thought and I took everything in, he said something I never would have expected. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I like you, as more than a best friend. And the thought of you getting hurt by a curse or a curse user scares me so much. It’s fine if you don’t feel the same, but you asked me why and I just had to tell you. If you decide that this is all too much and want to leave that’s fine. You said I would never lose you but I wouldn’t blame you if all this changed your mind.” I froze, he just said he liked me like me, and kept all this from me because he thought it would be easier to push me away than watch me get hurt.

It left me speechless. I sat for a second thinking of a response. Sure I like him, he’s my best friend but hearing his confession and everything he’s going through has made me realize something. I love Yuji Itadori. He is so kind and caring that he tried to push me away to save me from monsters that are invisible to most of the world. He put me at arms length to try and protect me from a secret world below my own. He was willing to sacrifice his own feelings not only to save me but to save countless lives. Yuji is truly an incredible person.

Coming to terms with my realization, I launched myself towards him, wrapping my arms around his chest and barring my head in the crook of his neck.“I like you too, Yuji. I’m not changing my mind, you can’t get rid of me that easily. Like I said I may not be able to see these curses but I’m here for you, whether as best friend, significant other, or just someone to talk to when it all gets to be too much. Just remember that okay.” I said not lifting my head from his neck. I felt him wrap his arms around me and lean his head against mine.

We sat there for a few minutes just enjoying each other's embrace. I had almost fallen asleep in his arms when I felt what felt like someone opening their mouth against the side of my head where Yuji was leaning against me. It was strange, not just because Yuji wouldn’t try to bite me, but because he hadn't turned his head and his cheek was resting in my hair. As I was about to lift my own head to see what was going on, I felt sharp teeth scraping against my scalp and pulling my hair. I yelped and launched away from Yuji looking at him confused, being completely startled to see a mouth had formed on his cheek as well as the strange mark under his eye had split open to reveal a small red eye. Yuji was also startled by me jumping and when he noticed the mouth on the side of his face he slapped his hand over it.

“What the hell Sukana? That’s not okay. Don’t bite people, especially Y/n.” He said, I assumed talking to the curse who inhabited his body.

I looked at him for a second before finding the words to express how I was feeling. “Why is there a mouth on the side of your face and why the fuck did it bite me?” I was completely confused by what just happened.

He paused for a second keeping his hand over where the mouth had formed. “That is Sukana, the curse that is currently living in me. He’s an ass and likes to just pop up randomly by forming a mouth on my face or hands. I’m sorry he bit you, if I could hit him I would.” He explained what just happened. “Are you okay though, he didn’t hurt you did he?” He asked with concern written over the part of his face not covered by his hand.

I nodded at him, about to say that I was fine before another mouth opened in the back of his hand and began speaking. “They're fine, they jumped out of the way before I could do anything. And don’t call me an ass, you brat.” The mouth said in a deep voice that gave me goosebumps. Yuji responded by slapping his other hand over the mouth and looking at me embarrassed by the second soul living in his body.

“Again I’m sorry about him, are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again.

I smiled at him. “I’m fine Yuji, he didn’t hurt me, gave me a fright more than anything. And I may not completely understand but I bet it’s difficult dealing with another mind living in you and fighting for control.” I said, trying to reassure him that everything was fine. 

He responded with a small nod. “It’s good that you’re ok. I’ll try to get him to stop being an ass. But you’re also right in the fact it’s hard to deal with him, it’s like having a fly that won’t stop buzzing near your ear.” he said with a light chuckle. I responded with the same light laugh.

“Hey Yuji, It’s getting late, we should really think about calling it a night.” I noticed that the sun had set and stars lit up the sky. He also looked to the stars for a second, also registering it was rather late.

He turned back towards me and started to stand up before saying, “You’re right, You can stay in my room tonight. It’s too late to make you take the train back home, you can also take the bed. I'm fine sleeping on the floor.” He reached his hand out and helped me stand up before we headed back to the dorms.

I was going to fight it but decided against it, he’s too nice to let me sleep on the floor and is way too awkward to even think about sharing the bed. I just accepted my fate and lied down on his bed as he placed a pillow and blanket on the floor. “Thank you for letting me stay the night. We may have talked everything out earlier but I still expect you to make it up to me somehow, after all you did hide from me for six months.” I said making eye contact with him as he sat down on the floor.

He just smiled before responding. “I already have a plan. Just get some sleep because we are spending the whole day together tomorrow and I will do anything you want.” he lied down before saying a quick “Good night” and rolling over to get some sleep.

I whispered a “Sweet dreams” in response before falling asleep thinking of what I can make him do tomorrow to make up for his stupidity.

[einsatzzz]

"even in teyvat, they fight…"

More commissioned arts from @azaracyy to celebrate the release and homecoming of our boi(tm) Oro//ron who is included in the limited banners of the Gensh//in update today 😆💜✨ Both Cyl and I successfully got him, so yippeee!!! My brain is currently trying to make the math.exe on how I want the layout for this to look like as an acrylic stand.

This one came up while Cyl and I were talking about how Oro//ron has the same JP VA as Hibari (CV: Kondo Takashi). Then it became about how he is an Electro character and that Kana's main (Rai//den Shog//un) is also an Electro character. And then Cyl told me about how she can imagine them both fighting to assert their Electro dominance in some Genshin/Streamer AU. Of course, my brain went 🤯🤯🤯😳😳🥴🥴✨ at the idea, so I quickly went to Vgen and sent her the comm request to draw it hahahahaha I sent the request so fast‼️ I forgor ‼️ that oro\ron's full design ‼️ hasn't been released yet back then‼️🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭 this is truly a "no thoughts, head empty, only hibakana" moment...💀💀💀

Also, the rest of Cyl's caption for this on VGen is so good! I love it so much! 😭💖✨ So I'm putting it here too! Artist spotlight from one of my fave artists ever 🫶🥰✨

rambling ahead because i have A LOT to say about this commission, you've been warned! 😅😂 i'm not gonna lie, this has been the most challenging skeb and chibi art i've ever done, mostly because oro\ron's design was not even released yet when ein's request came in, and the fact that oro\ron wears so much black confused me for a while lmao 🗿 oh you know, gen\shin character design and the intricate details. i'm very pleased with the result though, i think the patience really paid off ✨ featuring: - ein's oc kana as rai\den shogun, and - KHR's hibari as oro\ron oro\ron & hibari are matched because they share the same japanese VA (kondo takashi). funny that hibari and kana end up being related to electro characters so knowing ein's oc lore of hibakana they'd totally fight as usual to assert dominance 😭 even in the video game world of tey\vat a small interesting detail i noticed while coloring these two: rai\den shogun and oro\ron's outfit design both feature an "eye" shape. rai\den's should be obvious if you play genshin and uses her skills. oro\ron's "eye" design in his scarf and his overall color scheme reminds me of turkish evil eye for some reason either way, it's cool and this is one of the moments for a yumeship enjoyer, in which i go "this is fate, they are so meant to be!!" obviously, none of them will ever win in tey\vat. after all, gen\shin doesn't support pvp 😭 the context of this artwork is supposed to be when yuikanarumi are about to co-op, a 4th player joined in and surprise, it's hibari 🤣 cue hibari likely being the first to attack kana and the two end up running after another endlessly (i like to think they end up killing mobs too in the process rip). hibari wields two Rust bows as a joke to his canon weapons... his oro\ron uses physical dmg build 🧍‍♂️ (would be hilarious if this build is actually viable when oro\ron's playable) poor kurumi (hu t\ao) and yui (zho\ngli)... then again, they're probably already used to it... maybe they can trail after hibakana all around tey\vat to collect free materials from their fight... 😂

[asterri-writes]

🅰🅲🆃 【1】 : Ⓒⓗⓐⓟⓣⓔⓡ I

Mafia Main Character!I.N x author!reader(fem)

Masterlist

Content & Trigger Warnings: uoıʇɐɹɓıɯsuɐɹ⊥, mentions of cursing

~~~~~

"I shall remember:

When Caesar says 'do this,' it is perform'd."

__________

'Well... Where shall we start?'

'Ahem... I'm (y/n) (l/n), ### years old and welcome to Disney Channel!-'

"(n/n)? Hello? You aren't talking to yourself like a weirdo again, are you?"

A familiar voice echoed through the (h/c)-haired's laptop speakers as (y/n) snapped out of her thoughts that she unconsciously blurted out and gave her childhood friend, Fuyuko, a sheepish smile.

"Aha... I talked my mind out again, didn't I?" (y/n) ended up giggling a bit when she saw the amethyst colored eyes reflected a deadpan expression.

"Why are you introducing yourself like you're literally in that cringe Disney channel and where did that censored sound come from? Were you using the Discord Soundboard? You're literally-" But before Fuyuko, the black-haired boy could finish his sentence, (y/n) excessively hushed him no matter how many times he tried to speak up about her age, leaving him to roll his eyes instead in annoyance as (y/n) took his turn to speak.

"No no no! That's case sensitive! Don't remind me of my age, no more! I beg!"

"Fine so stop cutting me off, it's one of my pet peeves, remember? Ugh... What am I going to do with you..." Fuyuko muttered under his breath even though he knew (y/n) could hear it and carried on to continue their conversation on why she decided to call so abruptly, at 12 AM no less?

"So, why'd you ring again at this time? Can't you tell the time, (n/n). I need sleep."

(y/n) couldn't help but feel a tad bit guilty when she saw Fuyuko's irises red from the lack of sleep he had been getting from her spontaneous calls these previous days but this is what ‘two peas in a pod are always together’ meant, right?

"(Y/N)." Fuyuko grumbled, one of the few indications that he was genuinely about to get angry that she had realized through the hard way, so with haste, she quipped her reason; An angry Fuyuko Amane was never a good sign after all.

"Okay, okay sorry! I called you because I couldn't sleep because I've been thinking about 'what would happen if you, an author, would get sucked into their story sporadically with no exact time but only every past midnight and be the main character who had a really tragic story behind them'?"

Fuyuko gave her an incredulous look at how strangely specific (y/n)’s late night thought was as he tried to process every single word into his brain and all he could muster up was,

"The fuck?"

Getting slowly embarrassed at the awkward silence Fuyuko dragged on, (y/n) shouted at him to make him snap out of his confusion, "Answer me already and make it quick!" Adding an apologetic "Please?" When she saw him glare at her.

"Ugh... That was very oddly specific but if it were me, I'd try to act as the main character and just survive and find a way to get back to the real world... Happy now?"

"Yep! Thanks and good night!"

"Wait hu-??" (y/n) quickly hang up on him as she splayed herself onto her bed and looked at the ceiling with a defeated look before she yelled,

"But that's what I've been doing for the last two days now and nothing's changed at all!"

©️ asterri-writes

[ultimateissuessimp]

Teach me

One shot

Word count: 900

Warnings: None

Notes: I used Slovak as Sokovian, because I've read somewhere that Sokovian was a mix of Slovak and something else. I also used google translate, sooo. Yeah.

He knew that Zemo was Sokovian, he wasn't stupid, but hearing him speak his native language always put him in awe. It sounded so beautiful, like a comforting melody his mother used to quietly sing to him so he could fall asleep. So when he heard the baron conversing with Oeznik in Sokovian, he couldn't help but listen in and marvel at how smoothly the words flew out of his lips. When they stopped, Y/N approached Zemo with the intent of asking the man to teach him some Sokovian.

-It might sound like a strange request, but could you teach me some Sokovian? Your language fascinates me and I'd love to learn it - he said, his heart skipping a beat at the look the baron gave him at his question. His palms grew slightly sweaty as nerves started to appear. Did he overstep? Was it invasive to ask a man who lost his country and everyone he cared about to teach him his native language?

-Why? - such a simple question left Zemo's mouth, yet it only made more questions swirl inside Y/N's head.

-I just… I wanted to give you more opportunity to speak it, I know you have Oeznik who you can talk in Sokovian with, but the thought of having more people to speak to in your native language sounds… Nice, in my opinion it wouldn't feel as lonely, as… Alienated, I guess - he explained his thought process, articulating what he meant with his hands and awaited with bated breath Zemo's response. At that moment something in Helmut moved, his heart picking up pace.

The man he grew so fond of in such a short amount of time wanted to give him some normalcy. It felt too good to be truth, he wanted to believe that there was some ulterior motive, his mind screaming at him that there was no way Y/N wanted just that. There had to be something hidden underneath those words. Yet his heart begged him to have some trust in the man and it was what made him nod his head, agreeing to Y/N's proposal.

A large smile appeared on the man's face when he got an approval from the baron. Zemo took them to a different room, an office to be more specific, telling him to sit down as he himself sat on the opposite side of the desk. He gave him a piece of paper and a pen so he could note everything he was about to learn. A good half an hour passed and Y/N already learned some words in Sokovian, how to create a sentence and one sentence on it's own, but he didn't know the meaning of it quite yet since Zemo kept it to himself, almost like a secret.

-Say it once more, slowly - Zemo instructed the man seating in front of him, gesturing towards the seemingly easily spelled two words on the paper.

-Zbož-… Zbožňujem ťa. Was that good? Did I say it right? - Y/N asked, unsure about his pronounciation, not wanting to make a fool out of himself by being overly confident and failing at saying something.

-Again - the baron told him, as if he didn't hear the rest of what Y/N had said except those two words, looking right at the man's lips.

-Zbožňujem ťa - Y/N repeated himself, eyes holding a bit of confusion as he stared at Zemo, waiting for what to do next.

-Again… - Helmut said once more, seemingly in a trance as he not even for a second took his eyes away from the movement of Y/N's lips.

-I-… Okay… Zbožňujem ťa - Y/N said for what felt like a hundredth time, but he didn't really seem to mind.

-Just… One more time, please - he requested for Y/N to repeat his words. He couldn't get enough of how pretty those two words sounded out of the man, their meaning making his head spin and his heart increase in speed.

-Zbožňujem ťa - the E/C man said again, staring at Zemo as if he was a painting hang in an art gallery. Yet the moment he stopped speaking, Zemo quickly leaned over the desk, cupping his face into his hands and pressing his lips against Y/N's in a gentle kiss. Y/N let out a soft sound of surprise and contentment into Zemo's mouth before closing his eyes and letting himself get lost in the motion of their lips. When they separated, he couldn't help but smile and look into the baron's eyes.

-Aj ja ťa zbožňujem - Zemo replied, a soft look taking over his features as he looked back at Y/N, stroking his cheeks with his thumbs and pressing his forehead to the man's.

-Okay, but what does that mean? - Y/N asked, still confused as to what potentially could the words mean to put Helmut in such a state and spring him up to action. He only got a chuckle in response and he immediately set his goal to hear that sweet sound more often. - Oh come on, what do they mean! Zemo, tell meee! - he whined comedicaly when he saw the man move away and stand up to leave the office, a way of teasing Y/N with an answer which made the man himself spring up and chase after him, demanding an answer while they both giggled like idiots.

[charmante-mp3]

The Death of Me

Yeosang x m!reader (feat. Yunho, Mingi, and Wooyoung) A bit angsty/lil sprinkle of fluff/suggestive/non-idle au This took me forever to write but here it is, lowkey one of my favorite stupid little pieces I've written.

TW; SUGGESTIVE/CURSING

18+ MINORS DNI 3.0k

---

The rain fell, mixing with the tears flowing from my eyes. After all these years of being by his side, why couldn’t he choose me? He chose her, of course he did. She’s everything I’m not. She’s extravagant, and I am only his best friend. A side character never chosen to be the romantic interest. Then again, I’m nothing like her, I’ve never been a woman and I never will be. 

~

I don’t remember when we met, I just know we’ve always been attached to the hip. Every Sunday was dedicated to dinners with the Kang’s. Which meant Mrs. Kang would come over in the afternoon with Yeosang, we’d run around the house constantly being scolded. Until we got in middle school, those Sundays we now sat in mine or his room now glued to stupid multiplayer video games. Finally, high school when everything changed. I saw things differently, I saw my childhood best friend as something more. A dirty secret I’ve kept for years. Now it’s our final summer break before our last year of high school. 

“Y/N!” I heard the deep voice yell from down stairs. I was barely awake when Yeosang barged in my room, a normal occurrence. 

“Yeosang what are you doing, it’s 9am?” I sat up trying to shrug off the sleep.

“You do remember that even if it’s summer we still have practice,” He stated. I flung myself out of bed.

“Shit,” I muttered rustling around my room to find my gear. I met Yeosang downstairs, and we booked it to school. 

After many drills and a practice game I slumped myself on the ground. Grabbing my water, my eyes flung over to an approaching Yeosang. Who was in the process of wiping his face with his shirt, causing his abs to be shown off to the world. Averting my eyes quickly, I chugged down most of the water in the bottle. I tried to shove every thought I just had to the back of my brain when he sat beside me.

“How’s it feel to finally be captain?” He said while propping his elbow on my shoulder. My heartbeat had begun pounding in my ears.

“A little weird,” I said, my voice raspy. I saw Yeosang’s eyes widen a bit, yet I had no idea why.

“Remember when you swore up and down you would be soccer captain one day? Guess you weren’t lying,” His deep chuckle rang in my ears.

“Yeah I do,” I shrugged his arm off as subtly as possible, which didn’t work at the slight offense glazed over his face.

“I think I’m gonna head home this shirt is sticking to my back,”

~

My brain had been playing tricks on me the past few days leading up to school starting once more. I thought I would see Yeosang’s gaze linger a little longer and softer. It definitely changed my mind when he started talking to this girl.

“She said yes, I’m taking her on a date!” He exclaimed. I could feel the emotional pain rip through my body. Her name was Rose, Yeosang had spoken so highly of her for two weeks.

“That’s great, Sang. But do you mind I have a bit to do,” I trailed off trying to make an excuse.

“Like what?” He said, confused. I was trying to find a lie and didn’t notice him come lean over my shoulder. 

“I don’t feel well!” I blurted out as I noticed his presence lean over me, trying to glance at my laptop. Which I abruptly closed soon after. 

“Y/n?” 

“Don’t ask Yeosang, go about your day,” This was not how you planned to come out to your lifelong best friend.

“Are you helping Mingi?” He asked dead serious. I couldn’t help the overwhelming urge to facepalm.

“God Yeosang, your density will forever be my favorite thing about you,” I chuckled, “Why would I help Mingi when everyone already knows?” I continued glancing over just to see his eyes widen. 

“Is it Hongjoong?” 

“Christ Yeosang, it’s me!” 

“Oh,” It suddenly got really quiet, which made anxiety creep up my veins. He began to speak again but I didn’t let him.

“Alright Yeosang, go enjoy your date I’m sure Hongjoong would absolutely love to dress you up! Bye,” I said, shoving him out of my room just to slam the door in his face. I pushed my weight against it, feeling the tears prick my eyes. It was time to call Wooyoung.

~

“He literally only said ‘oh’,” Wooyoung’s face dropped in annoyance. 

“Yup! Right after exclaiming his date with a girl. I didn’t even know he liked anyone,” I explained the situation that happened just half an hour ago. 

“I didn’t either,” He trailed off.

“I don’t believe it, you two have been pining at each other since the beginning of the semester,” San pitched in, walking up behind Wooyoung.

“San where the fuck did you come from?” I questioned more at Wooyoung. 

“He’s been here the entire time,” Wooyoung admitted and my eyes flew open to glare at my gossip buddy. 

“Literally everyone knows about your crush, you make it so painfully obvious,” San says, retreating away from the camera.

“Except for Yeosang apparently,” Wooyoung added.

“You’re an ass,” 

~

Graduation had come and gone and with that college started. By some curse or straight luck, Yeosang and myself had gotten a soccer scholarship to the same school. This meant you also roomed with him in a college dorm and with that he became aware of the growing distance between you two. However, you did obtain two new friends that were undeniably flirty as fuck, Mingi and Yunho.

“Yeosang for the millionth time you’ve done nothing I’m just busy,” You said walking away from the blonde headed man. 

“Too busy to go to Wooyoung’s party tomorrow?” I stopped in my tracks. Wooyoung’s parties were something I did really enjoy, simply because you never knew what it would consist of. 

“We’ll see,” I said before stepping into my class, leaving him in the halls.

~

Part of me didn’t want to go knowing Rose and Yeosang would be attached to the hip, but I ended up at Wooyoung’s house, seated in between Mingi and Yunho. 

“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her hookup with someone at my university,” Mingi said. Both of them had their eyes trained on Yeosang and his girlfriend as I tried my best to ignore it by taking a drink of the cheap shit in my hand. 

“You should hook up with us to get your mind off of it,” Yunho stated, causing all of what I drank to be spit right back out. I expected them to laugh and shrug it off while I was coughing up my lungs, but they didn’t.

“You’re not being serious,”

“He’s being dead serious,” Mingi said to my left. 

“What the fuck,” I muttered.

“What you’re hot! Most of us would fuck you given the chance,” Gesturing to literally everyone in the room.

“Except for Yeosang apparently,” Wooyoung said, coming up just to plop himself into my lap.

“Oh fuck off you three,” I threw my head into Wooyoungs’ shoulder.

“I don’t understand why Yeosang has all your attention,” Yunho said, shoving his head in your neck, sending a shiver down your spine. As he said that my eyes flicked over to Yeosang who was already looking this way. His eyes widened along with mine as Wooyoung turned himself around in my lap. 

“I have a really funny plan,” Wooyoung said, his face inches from mine.

“We’ve already had this plan,” Mingi said, following Yunho steps in shoving himself in my neck.

“What fucking plan,” I said. I could feel the heat of embarrassment grow up my neck.

“We’re just gonna give Yeosang a little push,” Wooyoung cackled out. He draped his arms over my shoulder. I could tell they were a little tipsy.

“Just let us kiss and feel you up and you’ll see what we see,” Mingi said in my ear.

“We won’t actually fuck you, unless you want it of course,” Yunho said. 

“You three are going to give me a heart attack. Honestly whatever, I do need a little distraction,” I said, tilting my head on Yunho. Apparently that was enough from all three of them. I could feel Mingis’ hand wandering to my thigh, Yunhos’ teeth scraping my neck, and Wooyoung slightly move around in my lap. The sensations caused a grunt to rip through my vocals. My eyes couldn’t help but wander to Yeosang over Wooyoungs’ shoulder. I thought I saw a glint of anger in his eyes, but I wasn’t able to look long enough as Wooyoung gripped my chin.

“Come on Y/n, play with us,” He said before clashing his lips with mine. Wooyoung continued to wiggle around slightly in my lap and I could feel the blood rush below me.

“Fuck,” was the first thing that left my mouth as he detached himself from me. My hands quickly found Wooyoungs’ hips to actually ground myself. 

“You know, Yeosangs’ got heavy eyes on us,” Mingi said.

“He’s gripping his cup so hard I’m surprised it hasn’t broken,” Yunho added.

“Along with the hundred eyes that are around, I think Yeosang is the last person on his mind,” Wooyoung said, still breathless.

“It’s unfortunate for him really. Y/n’s lips are the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted,” Wooyoung flirted sitting up straight now.

“I want a taste,” I heard Yunho grumble to my right, soon followed by hands gripping my chin. Yunho’s teeth clashed with mine and I gripped Wooyoungs’ hips harder as Mingi attacked my neck. I could feel the harsh bites and sucks that he littered from my jaw to my shoulder. I ripped myself away from Yunho as Wooyoung grinded harsher in my lap.

“Holy shit,” I said loudly, almost forgetting the crowd of others. 

“As much as I think Yeosang’s enjoying the show, I’m not much of an exhibitionist,” Mingi said, pulling himself away from me. I caught a glimpse of Yeosang approaching us, my heart started to pound in my chest.

“Oh? Are we getting company?” Yunho stated eyes subtly looking at the scene in front of him. Yeosang was a few steps away when his girlfriend ran over engulfing him in her arms. 

“That’s enough for me,” I said, grabbing Wooyoung and lifting him up. 

“You coming?” Wooyoung asked Mingi and Yunho over my shoulder.

“Hell yeah we are,” However, we didn’t get very far as a hand roughly grabbed my wrist.

“I wanna go home,”

~

It was 4am when I arrived back at my shared apartment with Yeosang.

“You enjoyed the party huh?” Was the first thing he said after closing the door. 

“Yeah, could’ve been more interesting,” I said with my eyebrow raised.

“Is that why you’ve been ignoring me? Didn’t want those three to think I was fucking you too?” That caught me off guard.

“Yeosang what the hell?” He started ranting about who knows what as I drowned him out. “Yeosang! There’s no reason for you to be this pissed about it!” I interrupted his rant. He did nothing but stare at me with a harsh glaze. After a few seconds of silence he walked off towards his room, followed by a slight slam of his door. 

The past few days consisted of Yeosang and I completely avoiding each other, which was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be. Walking along the street, towards one of my favorite cafes, my mood was soured by the sight in the window. It was Rose and Yeosang, chatting and looking as happy as ever. 

‘He’d be perfectly fine without me in his life’ the thought crossed my mind more than once these past weeks. I could feel the familiar sting of tears as the words replayed in my head. A drop of cold water hit my head making everything ten times better. The rain fell harder and so did my tears, I started walking away oblivious to the eyes trained on my figure.

~

“So you’re gonna change schools just because of a boy?” Seonghwa, my older friend asked. 

“Why not, I’ve got others dying to have a pro soccer player,” I muttered out, my laptop displaying my options.

“He hasn’t even contacted me Seonghwa, it would be easier on both of us if I just dwindled out of his life,” I said, slamming the device shut. 

“So, you’re gonna find a whole new roommate too?” That was one question I hadn’t thought about just yet. 

“Don’t go to Wooyoung, that'd be a horrible idea,” Seonghwa said before I could even get the suggestion out of my mouth. My next suggestion got cut short as my phone rang through the air. Speaking of the devil Wooyoung was calling me, I couldn’t even say hello when I answered.

“I told Yeosang where you were hiding out,” 

“Wooyoung you dick,” My mind raced trying to find out why he even wanted to know.

“Are you an idiot or did you mute his messages,” Wooyoung asked, knowing I swore up and down he hasn’t contacted me. My face fell as I checked any messages from Yeosang. I had at least twenty messages asking where I was, if I was okay, he was sorry, and we needed to talk. If your heart could fall to your toes, that’s where mine would be. A loud knock echoed through the house and Wooyoung abruptly hung up.

“You can handle this, I'm out,” Seonghwa said as he opened the door.

“Seonghwa you bitch,” I muttered out as he walked to a different room. Yeosang slowly rounded the corner, he looked as if he’d been through hell and back.

“Fuck Yeosang what happened?” I jumped up to his side, completely forgetting my dilemma.

“Why are you hiding here? I know what I said was out of line but running isn’t your thing,” His voice was hoarse. 

“Let’s not have this conversation in Seonghwa’s living room,” I said. I gathered my stuff, told Seonghwa we’re out, and led Yeosang back to our shared apartment.

~

“You’re not getting that answer,” I told him as he kept asking why I was avoiding him.

“Rose cheated, and you weren’t here. I think I deserve to know why,” I heard his voice crack along with my heart. I felt horrible even if I was in love with him, but I was still his best friend and I left him in a hard spot.

“Yeosang, that’s even more reason not to tell you. I’ll make you tea and once you get over her, I’ll tell you about it,” I said getting up from my spot.

“What if I was already over her?” I barely heard behind me as well as slight movement. I turned and noticed he was following him to the kitchen and I let him.

“Crying over a girl doesn’t make you weak Sangie,” I heard a sigh of relief as he sat at our kitchen island.

“I was more upset at the fact you weren’t here,” He said words that only made me grow softer for him.

“Yeosang you don’t realize how much you’re killing me,” I said out loud, I didn’t mean to it just flew out before I could think.

“What do you mean?” I could hear his voice crack again. I swung my head around and could see tears beginning to cloud his eyes. I muttered out a curse and decided to throw all dignity out the window. Wrapping my hands around him I pulled him into my chest as he shook with silent sobs.

“Sangie, I’ve been in love with you since high school. These stupid feelings are hurting both of us, so I needed to distance myself or drop out of your life completely,” I finally confessed. His hands around my waist crumbled up my shirt and I let my own tears flow out. However, his sobs came to an abrupt stop.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I almost didn’t hear him as he pulled me closer into him. I stayed silent for a while as the inner panic got worse. Suddenly, he stood up pushing me back a little as his head was still tucked into my chest. I would be surprised if he couldn’t hear the rapid beating of my heart. Making it worse, he softly shoved me back at arm's length. His eyes dead set on mine and I could see the remnants of tears all over his face. His push didn’t do much as he got closer, our faces just inches apart

“Yeosang, whatcha doing?” I whispered. We stood there for what felt like hours, in reality it was probably only a few seconds. 

“I wasn’t lying when I said I was already over her,” He said. I was about to ask why that was when the most unexpected thing happened. My eyes widened as Yeosang pulled me in for a rough kiss. I tensed up and he began pulling away when I realized what was happening. Pulling him back in, I kissed him as if it was the last thing I’d ever do. I heard a slight moan come from him, which went straight to my groin. 

“Can you choose me over Wooyoung now?” 

“I already have,”

~

I was blasted awake by the loud ringing of my phone. Wooyoung was once again calling me.

“Why do you call me at the stupidest fucking times?” I asked, thoughts of last night ran through my head and I had convinced myself it was a dream.

“Did you finally fess up to Yeosang?” I rolled my eyes at him. I was about to respond when hands slowly wrapped around my waist. 

“Yeah he did, now shut the fuck up so we can sleep,” I heard the unmistakable deep voice close in my ears. 

“Holy shit it wasn’t a dream,” I heard Wooyoung’s hyena cackle mixed with Yeosang’s low chuckle. With that Wooyoung left us and I turned over to face my best friend of so many years. He definitely wasn’t fully awake, I wasn’t really either until I took notice of the state we were in.

“You really will be the death of me,”

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: hi, mbti-notes! ESTJ-friend-meltdown anon again. thank you for the good advice! i think that i will definitely try to be gracious if they ever want to open the door to having a conversation again… but yes, i think i agree that this is only if they want me and our friends to be their helpers.

for context though, if there were any further thoughts you had, you were on the money about them being the type to swallow their stress until it explodes. the primary sources of stress, as i understand them anyway, were external to us (financial, family, health, etc.) though.

speaking for myself also, the meltdown itself wasn't surprising. it was the way they chose to go about it, lashing out and then cutting off myself and our friends, that caught us off-guard.

in terms of immediately precipitating events, i did have a confrontation with them where an unusual-feeling scheduling conflict led me to pointing out that their behaviour had felt a bit erratic lately and that their intentions were confusing me. b/c of aforementioned bottling up, they often resort to passive aggression, and i felt i needed to ask for an explanation b/c it had finally gotten too hard to read and upset me. i asked for them to confirm whether they were trying to passive aggressively communicate something to me, whether they were just not thinking very clearly under stress, or whether our values/priorities were unaligned (and then whether this was something we could see eye to eye about, or was this a serious issue).

when they confessed to feeling under immense pressures, i believed them and switched gears to focusing on comforting them and assuring them that me and our friends would find ways to help and that their honesty meant a lot to me. when we parted ways, it was on a good note and with concrete ideas of ways to help with some of their load (ex. giving them food to take home to help minimize their stress about meal prep, etc.). i felt much better after that, and i felt empowered to focus on being a good friend to them - but this is where things have gone sideways.

when they came to me to cut things off, it was uncharacteristically vague and flighty and with outright refusal to explain themselves, almost implying that they believed i would manipulate them. they confirmed they had felt better after we talked too, but that others had convinced them otherwise. between the first asks i sent and this one, it has more verifiably come out that they are likely being encouraged to treat myself and our friends this way by someone who has apparently, unbeknownst to me, had a grudge against me for some time too. i definitely feel blindsided by this aspect, and i am processing a level of betrayal/hurt now. this has become altogether a rather strange and upsetting situation.

oh, also i should say thank you for taking the time to read through these messages and offer advice. i've been a follower of your blog for some time now and have learned a lot from it.

-----------------------

Health and money problems are generally the most stressful kinds of problems because of how existentially threatening they can be. Existential stress eats away at the foundation of one's sense of self and brings to light the true extent of how fragile, weak, and vulnerable it is to be a mortal being. From what I've observed of inferior grip, one should not underestimate the power of existential stress to twist up people's thinking and behavior.

It's certainly unpleasant to be on the receiving end of passive aggression. Such behavior isn't uncommon, so it pays to understand why it happens, if you hope to help rather than hinder conflict resolution. Passive aggression is a sign that a person is bottling up their feelings, which means they don't feel free to express their truth and advocate for their needs.

There can be a variety of reasons why people don't feel free. Perhaps their parents silenced/shamed them every time they asked for something. Perhaps they were trained by teachers or authorities to be self-sacrificing and put others first. Perhaps it is a matter of stubborn personal pride and not wanting to burden others. Perhaps their feelings were never validated or constantly invalidated in past relationships. Whatever the reason, the main point is that they've met negative consequences for expressing feelings and, as a result, have come to believe feelings are a "disturbance" to be avoided.

Unfortunately, what they don't understand is that bottling up feelings and emotions doesn't get rid of them and even causes them to become more and more unstable. When feelings are minor or inconsequential, it's easy to set them aside, and this can be a good way to get on with life. However, if the root cause of negativity isn't addressed, negative feelings will generally recur. Recurring negativity builds up pressure in the mind and eventually forces a way out of the body, one way or another. At that point, feelings come out in a very distorted and even disturbing form, because the negativity has escalated to the point of hijacking the rational thought process.

Imagine how tense the mind gets when a person has very strong feelings to express but doesn't believe those feelings are allowed or even feels too ashamed to admit them to oneself. It's no accident that we describe emotionally unstable people as being "out of their mind". Emotional instability makes people highly vulnerable and more likely to fall victim to bad logic. Since they are desperate for a return to stability, they might embrace anything that brings some emotional relief, even if that something ends up being harmful. For example, they might accuse or attack, believe in conspiracy theories, do drugs, or get tricked into quick-fix schemes.

Whether your friend is being influenced or not, the most important point is that they are in a vulnerable and unstable state of mind. If you truly want to be of help, the key is to be a reliable source of strength and stability, rather than worsen their vulnerability and instability. You need to avoid getting triggered into being unstable yourself. It's not easy to accomplish this in close relationships. The people closest to you have the most power to influence you, so it's hard to stay strong when they're baiting you, pushing your buttons, lashing out, or being passive aggressive toward you.

For example, you could easily get pulled into a "competition" with this other person influencing your friend. You might feel compelled to counter their claims. However, this would result in your friend getting stuck in the middle of a tug-of-war. It would be very difficult for them to regain stability with two people constantly pulling them in opposite directions, each vying for power over their perception. You'd be applying even more pressure when what they really need is space away from pressure to sort things out.

My previous suggestion still stands. If you want to salvage this relationship, the best you can do is keep trying to be a good friend. Some general points:

- Maintain objectivity. This is especially important if you're being suspected of things like manipulation. Don't get baited into battles or drama because that would only "confirm" that you have some kind of ulterior motive. During communication, focus only on information gathering and learning the truth. It is necessary to understand as much as possible about their state of mind and their situation if you hope to discover good opportunities to move forward. If they're unwilling to open up, express that you respect their boundaries and leave it to them to open up when ready.

- Be affirming by validating their feelings. People feel what they feel, at least until they have reason to feel otherwise. Feelings reflect a person's truth, so it's futile and foolhardy to argue against feelings. It's possible to validate people's feelings without addressing the factuality of their beliefs. Express that you want to understand where they're coming from and why they feel the way they do. Invite them to speak and then listen without judgment. Whatever it is they say and no matter how negatively they put it, try to figure out what it is they really need, deep down, and work your way up from there.

- Be realistic and know the limits. There's a fine line between being assertive and being pushy. "Help" should not result in people feeling even more stressed. You ought to be assertive and offer help when you are in a good position to help. However, when you're not in a good position to help or they don't want your help, it's probably best to step aside and cheer them from the sidelines. Express how sorry you are that you can't help but still do what you can to help them access all other available resources.

- Be kind, patient, empathetic, compassionate, and forgiving. Always focus on the bigger picture of working toward a healthy relationship. Reiterate that, despite whatever negativity has transpired, your concern is always about ensuring everyone's well-being. Express that you value the friendship and would be open to reconnecting and resolving issues whenever they feel ready for it.

You have a right to your feelings, whether it's feeling confused, hurt, or betrayed. You have every right to maintain protective boundaries whenever you get mistreated. As ideal as it would be to seek resolution from your friend, timing is everything. They are obviously not in the right headspace to discuss the relationship in a constructive way. You either have to sit on your feelings until the right time, or find another way to generate closure for yourself.

[dragonmasterhiccup]

“That’s it? Because I remind you of you? And that I ‘deserve’ to be happy?” She paused, taking a breath. “Why do you care so much about this? About me being happy? A-and don’t just say ‘because I deserve it’, there has to be an actual reason why you’re putting so much effort into this.”

“How would it ‘affect’ you? Or anyone? It’s not like I play an important role here, you wouldn’t be losing your best farmer, or cook, or mentor, you’d just be losing someone who’s not helping with anything, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.” She was so confused, she was trying to understand his thought process, she really was, but all of it was just beyond confusing.

Her frowned deepened slightly, she knew what he meant. At his comment about her potentially hating him, she shook her head. “No, I don’t hate you, I just thought that you hated me, so I didn’t wanna… I dunno, mess it up even more and make you more mad.” Also because she was scared of him not liking her anymore, mainly because he was the closest thing she had to a friend, and she didn’t want to lose that.

She bit the inside of her cheek in thought, waiting until he was finished speaking to talk. She immediately shook her head. “No, you don’t need to leave! It’s okay.” She wanted to just have this conversation now and not have to split it up over the course of who knows how long.

Although, those were in fact big questions, but they were ones that she knew the answers too, and even if she was nervous about answering them, she knew she needed to tell the truth. “I just miss my friends, and I don’t think I can be happy anywhere without them. I know I need to move on but I just can’t. I-I keep having nightmares and I keep seeing things, and I guess that’s just scaring me because I thought I would’ve been done with that by now, bu-but I feel like if I do stop having nightmares and seeing things n’ all that, then I’m going to forget about them over time, and I really don’t want to forget them, Hiccup-“ She cut herself after realizing that she had been ranting and she turned her gaze down towards the blanket once again. She wiped her eyes, which had started glossing over with tears, and she took a few breaths. “I do want to stay, I like it here, but I just feel so out of place, like I don’t belong here. I’ve seen it when I walk around, these people, they all work together like it’s nothing, it’s like second nature to them, and I just don’t have a place with that, I can’t fit myself in… It sounds stupid, I know, but it’s true a-and you wanted me to tell the truth..”

He leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his eyes, eyes closed as he took a breath. "Alright." He crossed his arms. "I've mentioned this before, how the village saw me as just a nuisance? I didn't fit in, either, and I was born here. I was out of place, and the others didn't miss a chance to remind me. So yes, I have some understanding of what you're feeling, and that's also part of why you remind me of myself." He won't mention the fact that it took him almost dying, and Toothless saving his life, for the majority of Berk to change their minds.

"The difference is, no one looks down on you here like they did with me. There is a place for you here, Danny. You just need to find what you're interested in, and go for it. Learn, learn everything you can about that, and it will change everything."

His expression saddened at the mention of her friends. "Your friends...they're gone, aren't they? I know of one, you had told me about him, but I get the feeling the others are, as well."

He shifted in his seat, shaking his head. "You won't forget them, I promise you that. Would they want you to be sad, unable to move on? If they were truly your friends, they'd want you to move on, to be happy. You're an artist, why don't you draw a portrait of them, as you want to remember them? Hang it up somewhere in your hut, let it be a reminder. Talk about them, tell their stories. That's how you can keep them with you... memories fade, it's true, but sharing them is what keeps them in the front of your mind. It helps more than you'd think."

Toothless listened as they spoke, rumbling in agreement every now and then.

"Do you really think how we feel about others is based on their 'worth'? Who cares if you aren't the 'best' at something? We're still friends, aren't we? I may have been frustrated during our disagreement, but I don't hate you, even if some of what you said was...well, that doesn't matter now." He paused. "I know that couldn't have been easy, so thank you for telling the truth."

[chris-elkar]

On a random weekday, Chris made his way to the art gallery following the impulse that had been nagging at him ever since they all got out of 'phantom creak.' The people at the front desk let him back into the administration area after they'd called up and told them who it was. He'd found the right door quickly but hesitated before knocking. He hadn't really known Arjun in the real world outside of the one time they'd met at Judas's art opening, but now? They'd had an affair that Chris had hoped would develop into something more, and then he'd seen Arjun hanged. He needed his  of Arjun's face to be something other than fear and heartbreak.

"Hi." He stood awkwardly inside the office for a moment just staring. "I'm sorry, I just really need to..." He approached slowly and slid his arms around Arjun's waist, leaving plenty of time for the deity to see what he was doing. He hooked his chin over Arjun's shoulder and let out a sigh of relief. Silly or not, it was nice to know he was actually solid and there outside of the strange dream. "It's really good to see you alive again."

-

The dust had not settled on everything that had happened yet. Arjun was alive. Better yet, he was himself again. His nature, his life, it was all back, but he had been left confused and frazzled and with a million questions circling around in his head. So yes, work had turned into a momentary source for comfort, helping the deity to avoid the world outside for a while longer.

Standing at the centre of his of his office, Arjun was focusing all of his energy and thoughts on a painting. A donation from one of his art collector friends in Spain -he needed to find a place for it and, marvelous as the piece was, that was a difficult job. "I told you not to interrupt me, Frances." he said out loud when the door was opened. The voice that he heard, however... "Chris?" What on earth was he doing here? Blinking, Arjun had time only to process what it meant to see the vampire again before the press of his arms surrounded him. He heard him again, felt the relief, and ..frooze for a moment before hesitantly pressing the side of his face against his temple. "..did you come all the way just for this?"

-

This was real life. Arjun was fine. Just like everyone else who had died in the dream. "Pretty much, yeah." He was a little bit sheepish about it, but had needed the reassurance. He pulled back a half step so they could talk face to face but still had his hands lightly clasped behind Arjun's back. It was starting to feel awkward but he wasn't quite ready to let go yet. "I've checked on the people I know who died before I did, and I've had a few people call me. I guess I needed to make sure you were ok."

-

The deity was unsure how to proceed, so leaving it up to Chris felt like the most appropriate solution. For now, of course. As a step back was taken, the deity dragged his hands to hold the back of the vampire's arms..his gaze falling to the floor momentarily. "..I understand. We are all pretty shaken from the experience. At least that is what I would think." he frowned, then choosing to look directly into his eyes. He couldn't exactly tell him that he still felt the noose at night or that his age and power had not been a factor in preventing any of this from happening.. but yes, assure him, he could. "I'm well, Chris..we'll work out who is behind this and we will stop them."

"Has it been difficult to be a vampire again?"

-

It felt like Arjun was more 'shaken' by the whole thing than he was trying to let on, but they weren't close enough in the real world that Chris felt like he could flat out call bullshit. Still, it made him stay where he was, offering to be physical support if nothing more. Chris furrowed his brows at the question. He hadn't really thought about it. "I don't think so. I guess I've gotten used to being a vampire, so once I made the switch I felt comfortable again." This was also his chance to press Arjun. "What about you? I'm guessing you've been a deity a lot longer than I've been a vampire or a human."

-

Arjun seemed surprised by what he heard. Who would have thought that a vampire as young as Chris would have had no issue adjusting to immortality? "..and the hunger?" the deity frowned again, absently running the tips of his fingers along his own collarbone. It was a habit he had developed, it seemed.. "About three million years old, give or take..and you could say it's been an..adjustment." Arjun moved back slightly, wondering where this was going. "I think I missed my powers."

-

"Oh you meant in general, not just these past few days post whatever-" He let go of Arjun and brought his hands up to gesture to his head before folding his arms loosely over his chest. "It's been an adjustment." It was the right phrase, even if he hadn't meant to just imitate it. "I've been dealing with no longer being human. I've also had a lot of help."

Three million years? It was actually hard to wrap his mind around. And here he'd thought people who were 1000 were old. He followed Arjun's hand up to his neck and couldn't help a small grimace when he remembered what it had looked like... Chris dropped his eyes to the floor and shifted his shoulders a bit self consciously. "You know, when I woke up I kept checking my back to make sure that the injuries hadn't somehow carried over."

-

Arjun's chest heaved as he exhaled softly, "Both, actually..but it pleases me that you have not had to do this alone." He did vaguely wonder if that also involve Judas and whether they had both silently agreed not to bring up their name. Odd..but also to be expected, somehow.

The deity watched the vampire's expression vary slightly with regards to his real age. "Shocked?" It was not uncommon, after all. The only other residents as old as he was in Vievecor were Ursa and Elio. Why they had decided to keep existing was often more surprising. "..what injuries..?" Oh, wait.. "..did you die too?" Suddenly, the deity felt ..worry?

-

Right, Arjun would have been 'dead' before Chris was taken out. "Uh, yeah actually, the night after you one, of the killer monster things got me. I meant to go to the hotel to get the money you'd and get out of town, but I didn't make it." He let out a breath, staying composed for a moment before his face crumpled and he snorted. Chris held a hand in front of his mouth to stifle the giggles. "I'm sorry. It's- It's not funny that you died, it's not funny that I died... but if you put the sequence of events together it's an emotional roller coaster." Part of this was his own nervous energy about coming to talk with Arjun coming out in an inappropriate way, part of it was also him still trying to process everything.

-

"...did you see them?" Yes, it was frustrating that he had not been there to witness who had committed such atrocities but he had a feeling things got progressively worse. Chris, however, did appear to share his feeling.. Arjun blinked, hearing him laugh and smiled, too, when he offered an explanation. "..what was? Our relationship?" His first time acknowledging it, both in the dream and in reality, and it did not sound that off. "..I have to say, it is an interesting way to know someone..or well, a version of them, anyway."

-

"No, I was attacked from behind, so I didn't know who it was until the end." Which had been torturous enough on it's own, even before he'd started trying to sort through the emotional fallout. His laugher died out as quickly as it had come, and he suddenly felt just as awkward as he had when he'd first come in. "Yeah." Was it a 'relationship?' Or what sort of relationship did it count as when you had feelings for someone in a dream and then still felt the ghosts of them back in real life? "I don't really know what to make of it. Like do I make a big deal or just pretend like it never happened?"

-

"..I see." They could both agree that it had been a rather unpleasant experience which lacked any real purpose..that he knew of, of course. Weeks ago his gallery had been the stage of a murder and now this.. Sighing, Arjun glanced at the art work to their left and back, observing the subtle changes in Chris' expression and yes, sensing his feelings, too. "..maybe relationship is not the right word? Though 'affair' feels odd, too. Me and your ex-partner were not together in that verse." he frowned, "..it's probably fine, you know? As long as we both agree it is over. I like Judas."

"..a lot."

-

For a moment he was absolutely burning with jealousy, feeling like Arjun was almost rubbing it in that he was with Judas now. Chris had to stop himself from saying anything stupid while he took a breath. Of course he liked Judas, everyone did. And if Arjun was anything like he was in the dream in real life then he would be good for Judas, someone they could actually lean on rather than someone who needed them to to put out fires. Also, the tiny voice at the back of his head added,  Chris no longer had any right to have a say in who Judas was involved with.

"Entanglement? Or just 'thing'?" He suggested eventually. "Yeah I know, I uh... Judas is fantastic. No matter how much he doesn't seem to believe it." And Arjun was in a much better position to help convince him of that.

-

"Sure. We had a 'thing'." The deity huffed with a smile, his eyebrows shaping into a soft frown as he looked at the vampire. "I can perceive your emotions, Chris. You know that, right?" He leaned in again and touched his cheek, his thumb skimming softly over the vampire's cool skin. "You're worthy of love. I know I have something..someone that you want, but unless you start believing that you are deserving of it, things are hardly going to go your way."

-

Chris half winced in embarrassment. So much for trying to keep his cool. "I forgot you guys could do that." He closed his eyes, leaning into Arjun's hand and actually giving himself a minute to calm down. Worthy of love, huh? It wasn't something Chris had given a lot of thought to but maybe he should. "I obviously still have feelings for Judas, but I'm not going to try to come between the two of you. Judas is back in my life and that's the important part for me."

-

"It is both an advantage and a disadvantage." Arjun had found it difficult to block people's emotions at times. It was a conscious decision, whereas the opposite came naturally. Chris retained many human qualities and that ..made him easy to read. "Something tells me that you will never stop having feelings for them. I understand that." the deity went on to say, "..and I appreciate your decision not to interfere with what is blossoming between us. I do hope that you're being truthful...with yourself as much as you are with me." With that said, Iqbal took a few steps back towards his desk, "I should return to work now, if you don't mind..but we can probably meet for a coffee sometime, if you want?" Arjun looked at the young vampire with some warmth in his eyes. Hope, perhaps, that he would say yes.

-

"Yeah coffee sounds good. I'll get out of your way for now." He headed towards the door and stopped. "Thank you, for understanding. Both with Judas and the 'needing to make sure you were still alive' thing." It was a little weird in hindsight, showing up and hugging him out of nowhere, but Arjun had humored him.