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[matthewdodd12]

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[fuctacles]

Steve's Day Care for Big Kids

For @subeddieweek

M | 2.6k | Pre-Relationship, Daddy Steve but in a Caregiver Way, Little Eddie, Little Space, Little Robin, Chrissy, Jon and Argyle too, scheming Robin, (mutual) pining, hella weird flirting, non sexual Age Play and Agere | the M rating is just for the Caregiver/Little theme | this is kinda Pilot-y | Ao3

When Steve used to say he wanted to be a dad, he never thought it would end up like this. He'd never guess there would be so many kids, or that they'd be so big. 

"Steve! Steve!"

He looks up from where he's helping Jon and Argyle assemble a brick house. 

"What's up, Robbie?"

"Look!" 

She shoves a coloring page in his face to show off her favorite superhero, Spider-Gwen, clad in pink and orange hues of a lesbian flag. 

"That's a cool idea!" he praises her. "And you barely went out of the lines!"

"Thanks!" Robin grins. "Can I get a gold star?" She blinks up at him all innocent and child-like. 

To draw out the suspense, Steve strokes his non-existent beard thoughtfully, making loud humming sounds to really sell it. Argyle giggles at his antics, and he can see Jon is smiling too. 

"Will a rainbow star suffice?" he eventually asks. 

"Yes!" Robin agrees immediately, so Steve pulls a tiny sticker box from his pocket and lets her have her pick. 

"Ready for a snack break?" he asks as she looks through the assortment of stars. "Or do you wanna color some more?"

Robin visibly deflates at the question. 

"I have to go home," she sighs, looking at the colorful clock above them.

Steve makes an exaggerated pout. 

"I'll grab you a juice box for the road and walk you out," he says, raising up from his seat and groaning in pain to the enjoyment of his kids. "We'll see if you'll be laughing when you're my age!" he scolds them playfully. 

The daycare is an open space with designated areas for playing, reading, and eating. Steve leaves the soft carpet of the playroom for the cold tiles of the small kitchen annex.

"Apple?" he asks, opening the small fridge in the corner. 

"Apple."

"Can I have orange?" someone pipes up from behind. 

"I want orange too!" 

"Robin is getting one because she's leaving early," Steve patiently informs the other kids. "We'll all have a snack break in ten minutes, okay?"

The scattered group choruses their 'okays' with varying enthusiasm.

"Now everyone say 'bye' to Robin."

"Bye, Robin!" The chorus is more unison this time.

Robin slaps the star sticker on a folder full of her other drawings and coloring pages, puts it back on her shelf, and grabs her juice. 

Outside the playroom, there is a waiting space, with cozy armchairs, a drink station, and some magazines. Robin falls on one of the chairs while Steve pours her some tea from a thermos and goes to grab her jacket.

"Did you have fun today?" he asks, sitting next to her to gently scratch at her head.

"Yes, Steve." She rolls her eyes. "I always have fun here. Do you want me to fill out a customer experience survey?"

Steve perks up, looking around.

"Actually, I should have them here somewhere."

Robin swats his knee.

"Go back to the others, I'll finish my tea and leave in a bit."

"You sure?" 

"Yeah, yeah." She waves her hand dismissively. "I'm too stressed about the interview to get in the zone today."

"I know you'll kill it." Steve squeezes her knee. 

"What I'll kill is myself if I have to spend one more day reading through the same, unrealistic job descriptions."

"Robs!" Steve hisses, looking at the closed door to the play room. "The kids may hear you!"

"The kids have probably heard worse."

"Yeah, but not here!" He widens his eyes incredulously. Then he breaks into a smile. "Okay, I'm going back to work. Good luck with the interview." He rustles her hair once more. 

"Thanks. Good luck with Eddie."

Steve flips her off before re-entering the playroom.

He gets jump-scared immediately by the quiet figure of Jonathan standing behind the door. 

"Jesus, Jon!" He clutches at his chest. "You scared me."

"Ten minutes is up," the kid points out unapologetically, briefly glancing at the clock. "It's snack break."

"Yeah, okay, sheesh. I'll get you your snacks."

From the fridge, he pulls out a whole pack of juice boxes and hands them over to the small group gathered around his desk. 

"Can I have two?" asks Chrissy, a blonde girl in a princess tiara. Steve raises his eyebrow.

"And where's Eddie?" he asks.

"Reading," she shrugs. 

"Eddie should know by now that a snack break means a break from reading too," Steve says, handing her one juice box before standing up. "I'll go get him, you can sit with the others."

Chrissy frowns but nods, joining the group around the eating table where bowls full of fruits are waiting for them. Meanwhile, Steve walks over to the corner by the window, with bean bags and pillows and shelves full of books. Eddie is sitting there, fully immersed in one of the comics. Next to him is a book with fairies on the cover, a fluffy bookmark sticking out of it—probably Chrissy's pick for the day.

He stops for a while, smiling at the sight the kid made. With his tattoos, wild hair, torn jeans and chains, sitting among fluffy pillows and colorful designs of the kindergarten, he stands out even more than the others. Definitely way more than his best friend Chrissy, who likes to put on tutus, fairy wings and tiaras when in the daycare.

Steve knocks on the window frame, attracting Eddie's attention. His big brown eyes look up from the book reluctantly. 

"We're having a snack break, come sit with us."

"Can I finish my comic first?" Eddie asks with a pout to his lips. But Steve can see he's only halfway through. 

"If you join us now, you can finish it during nap time," he bargains. 

The boy's eyes widen, but then squint suspiciously. 

"Really?"

"I promise." Steve places a hand on his heart. He knows how much Eddie hates the naps. By the time he winds down enough to actually rest, the others are usually getting up, ready to leave. 

"Hmmm, okay," Eddie graciously agrees, bookmarking his comic with a crooked paper dragon he's made a week ago, and places it on top of Chrissy's book. When Steve holds out his hand, he eyes it for a moment before accepting it.

"Atta boy!" Steve smiles, pulling him up. "Let's get some sugar in you." He walks him to the eating table holding his hand and grabs an orange juice box on the way. There's a space next to Chrissy waiting for him, but he scoots more so Steve can fit too. 

"Here." Steve hands him the juice and sits next to them, grabbing a banana for himself. 

"Thanks, dad," Eddie answers reflexively and freezes, eyes wide. 

Steve just pats his shoulder, ignoring the ache in his chest.

"Don't worry, it happens. I call you my kids all the time."

"Really?" Eddie throws him a distrustful glance, his ears red. 

"Really. I take care of you here, so it feels natural."

None of the other kids react to Eddie's slip up, except for Chrissy, who grins wide and kicks him under the table. Eddie kicks back. 

"No kicking!"

* 

Steve knows he shouldn't let his kids continue activities during nap time. They don't have to sleep, but this time should be spent winding down and resting, getting ready to transition back into the adult world outside. There's the waiting area for that, too, but what would be a kindergarten without nap time anyway? And once that is done, everyone is hurrying to their families, jobs, and responsibilities. Though they do stop sometimes to exchange contacts or simply continue chatting about their favorite dinosaurs over coffee.

But, true to his promise, he lets Eddie set his blanket next to Steve's bean bag and open his comic. In an act of solidarity, he grabs his own book too, making Eddie smile. 

Steve doesn't wake up his attendees as a rule unless he needs to close up or has been asked beforehand. So he watches a few people stir up and quietly leave after half an hour, others switching to quiet meditation for the next 15 minutes, and when those start to leave, whoever's left usually blinks their eyes open. 

Almost an hour passes when the last person, Chrissy, leaves, waving to them both. Steve looks down at Eddie, who sluggishly waves back, rubbing his eye.

"You should have taken a nap."

"Dun' wanna."

"Uh huh. I can see that."

Eddie glowers at him, but with the childish petulance and being wrapped in a star blanket on the floor, it doesn't do much damage. 

Needless to say, Eddie seems reluctant to leave the child headspace, and Steve has a soft spot for him, so he's going to let him stay in it for a little longer. 

"Do you want to help me clean up?"

"No," Eddie says, but gets up with a yawn, and starts to fold his blanket anyway. Steve shakes his head fondly. 

Together they put away the discarded toys, fold the blankets and put them in the designated cubicles. Without being asked for one, Steve puts a bright yellow star on Eddie's shirt. 

"For helping out." He smiles.

"Thanks!" Eddie grins. "I'm gonna win soon!"

"This isn't a competition," Steve reminds him with a tilt of his head. Eddie scrunches his nose at him.

"Maybe to you. I'm trying to beat Robin. She has too many stars."

Oops. Maybe Steve has been favorizing her more than he thought.

"Does Robin even know about it?" he asks with a small smile. 

"Of course!" Eddie huffs, following Steve as he checks the windows and files away the attendance list. "She says it's because you like her more."

Steve looks Eddie in the eye.

"You know that's not true, I like all of you the same." He needs to have a talk with her about stirring Eddie up.

"Yeah, but you live with Robin!" the boy points out. 

"Well, yeah, but—"

"But she said I can marry you if I win!"

"She said that?" Steve blinks at him, aghast. The talk with Robin will be a long one. 

"She said I need the best friend's blessing," Eddie recalls. "And then I'll be your wife and you'll like me more!" he explains his logic.

Steve can't help his amused smile. 

"Not my husband?" 

Eddie's cheeks turn slightly pink. 

"No."

"No? Why not?" 

"Because!" Eddie stomps his foot and turns around, on his way to the waiting area. 

"Because what?" Steve calls after him, barely containing his laughter. He quickly gathers his things to follow him out.

"Because!!!" he repeats, slamming the door behind him. Steve chuckles to himself. There's a pleasant flutter in his stomach, the already familiar need to protect. With a hint of very unprofessional possessiveness. 

When he enters the waiting room, he can see Eddie struggling to lace his shoes. 

"Need help with that?"

"No!" Eddie answers, still grumpy. 

"Alright." Steve shrugs, nonplussed. "Want your adult juice?"

He's silent for a moment, before muttering a quiet, "Yes, please."

"And there I thought you completely forgot the magic words existed," Steve teases, turning to fix them both coffee. As the express comes to life, he leans on the counter to observe the man. He's stubbornly trying to lace his shoes while sitting, which isn't the best or most comfortable angle. But as he's not asking for help, Steve won't offer it again, no matter how much his fingers itch. 

Only Robin knows how much he wants to lace Eddie's shoes for him, wrap him in a jacket, and send him to work with a kiss to his temple. How much he wants to buy him toys and prepare snacks for when he's too busy to remember about eating.

When he was starting up the daycare, he hoped it would satiate this need most of his dates didn't understand. And it did, to some extent. Until Eddie signed up. 

His friend, Chrissy, dragged him here, all sharp edges and scoffs that tried and failed to hide his shyness and embarrassment. But once he opened up, it was hard to pull him out of it. Both the playroom and the headspace. 

"You have a tattoo project to finish," Chrissy would remind him five minutes after official closing time, already in the waiting room, since adult topics weren't allowed in the playroom. 

"Bleh, adult stuff," Eddie would stick a tongue at her, already brown from his coffee. (Which they would soon start calling adult juice to make it sound more appealing and magical—a potion turning Eddie back into a grown-up.)

The first time Eddie ran up to him in his mismatched socks and a huge grin, showing off the lopsided braids in his hair, telling him, "Look! I'm an elf!" Steve felt all the professional distance leave his body with a piercing shot through his heart.

"You sure do," he choked out. "Let's see if I have a bow and arrow somewhere."

The excited squeal Eddie let out made a shadow of embarrassment pass through him, but Steve quickly squashed it with a warm smile. With a mental note to order a green cape for a proper elven immersion, he realized he's in trouble.

It's been a few months now that Eddie's been coming to the day care, and a month of Steve giving in to his weakness, walking him home until their paths split. He tells himself it's because he's making sure he's coming off little space safely, that it's his responsibility—aftercare, in a way. But he knows Eddie is an adult, at the end of the day, and has Chrissy to take care of him at home. His "help" might be counterproductive, actually, making him feel like he's still in the daycare when Steve's with him. 

But he's held his hand on the crosswalk only twice, so.

Eventually, Eddie gets his laces sorted, even if the knots are a little lopsided. Steve puts lids on their travel mugs and hands Eddie his coffee. 

"Ready?"

"Mhm. Thanks, Da—" His eyes widen at almost slipping up for the second time that day. "Uh, Steve. Sorry. Thank you, Steve," he mumbles, taking a sip of the hot drink. 

Steve loves and hates when he does that. He's been called a dad by the attendees before, which always left him yearning to have someone of his own to call him that. But it seems like Eddie's been slipping up more often as the time passes. It's feeding the possessive beast in his chest.

"Don't worry about it." Steve waves his hand, knowing he'll do all the worrying needed. "I've heard it's normal to want to marry your—"

"No!"

"—parental figure," Steve finishes with a grin.

"No. No, no, no. La la la la la la la." Eddie presses one hand to his ear, since the other is occupied with the coffee mug. "I'm leaving!"

"I thought you didn't want to?" Steve points out, grabbing his things to follow. 

"I changed my mind!"

Eddie waits for him to lock the door anyway, sipping on his coffee and not looking at him. 

"Feeling bigger?" Steve asks him when the key is safely in his pocket and he's ready to go. 

"A bit," Eddie nods. 

"Great! So, any new projects you're working on?"

One of the outcomes of their walks together is learning about adult Eddie—his part time job at a tattoo studio and his passion for music. At first he had the tiniest hope that finding out he's more than a kid he could care for, would tune his feelings down, but no. He finds himself intrigued by adult Eddie as well, could see them becoming friends, and every day, the offer to hang out one-on-one, either with his big or little version, itches at the tip of his tongue. 

He's worried one day it will spill out and the reality will have nothing on the fantasy he's built up in his mind. 

tags: @blasvemous @wheneverfeasible @phantomcat94

[transtundras-fr-archive]

Tell me when,

When the end is nigh,

I’ll sober up and come down in time

— Pillar of Na by Saintseneca

——————

The sun had not yet set, but in the thick of the tangled wood, it mattered not. Danny hoisted his torch and followed the marked path known only to him and few others, in runes long forgotten. It had been about four years since he had last visited his friend, but it could have been merely a day for all he knew. The smell of wet tar and petrichor was enough to flood his mind with memories, making his last conversation seem much more recent.

He paused as his paw hit something… wet. Holding it up to the light of his torch, he squinted, recognizing the telltale shade of iridescent midnight. He was getting close. Wiping his paw off on his shawl, he carried on, the scent of tar and rain becoming more intense. It got so dark he soon could not see even a few feet in front of him. Only his sense of smell to guide him, he grimaced as the wetness did not abide underfoot. It caused him both disgust and concern; the ichor had never flowed out this far. It made him wonder how the others were fairing.

Finally, he approached a tall, imposing arch, the stone comprising it existing from before the third age. He chuffed, setting his lantern down as he waited, knowing better than to enter without permission. The stench of tar was overwhelming, encouraging him to break out his smelling salts to help him not be overloaded. Danny briefly mused as to why he did not brink a mask to filter the smell, but then realized it would be harder to find his way with one. Shrugging, he wiped his paws on the rocks, waiting.

He almost fell asleep when he finally registered a new smell, one that was old and familiar. Even after all this time here, he could still tell her distinctly from the stench of ichor. A musk of pine and saffron approached, and he could hear the clicking of a crossbow drawn.

“State your name and purpose, whelp.” Her voice was thick in the old Shadow accent, one not commonly heard anymore. Danny chuffed again in amusement, turning to face the two pale purple eyes peering from the darkness.

“Danny, traveler. You know why I’m here, Dryd.”

There was a pause, a tension, before he heard the crossbow lowered, followed by a chuckle. “You could try to lie sometime, you know. Would be funny. Besides…” she struck a match, lighting the lanterns on the stone arch. With the newfound light, it revealed a tall, limber guardian, clad in crimson and with shimmering blue scales. Her gaze flickered back down at him, cracking a smile with her jagged mouth.

“If you were someone else, you’d be dead before you got this far.”

——————

“… and so we still have no report on her whereabouts. I still think my theory stands.”

Danny paused to sip his coffee, finding the inside of Drydwen’s lair much cozier than trudging through the damp undergrowth. He cleared his throat, watching the guardian check on the stew she began a few hours ago.

“I mean, don’t you think we would have heard from her by now if she still was alive?”

Drydwen shrugged, gazing over her shoulder as she tasted her stew again.

“I don’t know, Danny. It’s best to keep on guard in case she still is out there. Either way, I don’t think about it much, not when I have my own charge.”

“Ah, fair enough. I suppose it’s a timely topic change anyhow.” He leaned forward in his chair, refilling his thermos and locking eyes with her.

“I noticed the streams have begun to spread out more.”

Drydwen’s expression turned from neutral to clear frustration, making a deep guttural sound and looking down at her stew.

“I know. The pool is beginning to overflow.”

“What? I thought it was supposed to be bottomless, what with the spell—“

“Well apparently it isn’t! Or it stopped working. Either way, it’s a problem. It won’t be long before some clueless bushwhacker stumbles along, and then—“ She paused, taking a deep breath, looking down at her tundra houseguest. Her expression was twisted, conflicted, and Danny could smell her heartache.

“Listen, I know she wasn’t good, none of them were, but I don’t want the same thing to happen to her that happened to him. It doesn’t feel right.”

Danny nodded solemnly, rising from his seat and approaching her, taking his much larger hand in his own.

“I agree completely. It’s why we do what we do.”

She bowed her head, exhaling and holding his hand quietly for a moment. Very few left in the world could empathize with their struggles, with the burden unwillingly placed upon them.

Danny eventually broke the silence, never one to idle long.

“Tomorrow I will make for the Ruins. If anyone could help push back the tide, I think it would be Zeziri.”

“You’re probably right.” Drydwen released his hand, looking out the window at the thick, bubbling pool of ichor, expression pensive.

“I wonder if they would have done what they did, had they known the consequences?” She pondered.

“Do you want my honest opinion?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think anyone could have told them anything to deter them otherwise.”

———

END OF PART 1

[taelme]

Friends-to-lovers!Mark

genre: friends-to-lovers!au, (fluff, angst, mutual pining lol might seem like slow burn) 

pairing/s : Mark / Reader, the dreamies all appear in this!! 

word count: 12k+ 

tw:  mild language, bullying :( but nothing too major im too weak to write that shit HAHHA 

a/n: this was a rly cute concept I always wanted to write,,, like a older brother figure best friend mark and it takes place in a church camp!! but you can just ignore that and pretend its a normal camp if you're not like religious I guess u know idk I hope u guys like this!! it was rly fun to write smth with all the dreamies :( gif creds to original poster

Stepping into the hall of the camp, you took in a deep breath of the air through your thin mask, the only thing you could smell being the stale material of the mask mixed with the warmth of the air you breathed out. Your eyes wandering around the room before landing on the familiar head of light brown hair. Lugging your duffel bag and sleeping bag over to where the boy was, you greeted, “Hi,” tone sounding too tired for his liking.

Looking up from his phone, he shot you a displeased look, his nostrils flaring slightly with the deep breath he took in as a prelude to the sigh you knew he was about to give you. “Took you long enough. What’s with the mask?”

“Mom told me she wouldn’t let me leave the house without it, says I’ll spread my germs to you guys,” you drawled with evident disbelief.

Donghyuck’s heart shaped lips curve into a smirk, “Strange, that’s never stopped you before, though.”

You shrugged, running a hand through your hair absentmindedly, eyes simultaneously searching the room for where Mark was and it didn’t take Donghyuck very long to catch onto what you were doing. 

“Dunno, I mean, it’s Mark’s first time as a camp coordinator. I wouldn’t want him having to deal with a whole flu breakout here..” you trailed off  

Donghyuck cooed sarcastically at your statement, “how disgustingly thoughtful of you. So, basically, what you’re trying to say is that you’re doing this to make life easier for your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” you protested, earning an eye roll from Donghyuck- and a rather long one at that.

“I call bullshit!” You heard another voice pipe in and soon enough you could place a face to the voice when you saw Renjun take a seat next to Donghyuck, half-turning to Donghyuck to mutter, “I heard the word boyfriend and assumed she was denying her love for Mark again.”

You gasped, doing your best to look offended as you watched open-mouthed as Donghyuck shook hands with Renjun in approval, “Absolutely correct.”

You heard a shout of your name, turning your head to find the direction of the noise when you saw a navy blue sweater clad Mark, landyard round his neck, jogging towards you with a lazy smile on his face, his brown hair ruffled messily making him exude a certain boyish charm.

“Hey, I’ve been looking everywhere for-” his smile curved downwards into a frown upon noticing the mask you were wearing on your face. “You still sick?”

You nodded, “It’s weird, I feel like I’m fully recovered but felt like I should put this on just in case.”

Donghyuck and Renjun took that as a cue to proceed with their own individual conversation and leave you two to converse after Mark’s lack of an acknowledgment towards their presence.

Mark nodded slowly, his lips pressed into a thin line like how they did whenever he was thinking. He wouldn’t say, but he knew the mask would be gone before the day ended since you never liked the feeling of it covering your face; also because he was familiar with how much you loved your reactions to be unrestricted.

“Oh, right, I remembered what I was gonna ask you. D’you mind helping with bag checks later? There are really few girl helpers here now since most of them told me they’d be showing up later,” he shot you a pleading pout.

You whined in reluctance but nodded nonetheless. “Mark, you know how much I hate that,” you put on your best glare in the hopes it would dissuade him.

Jutting out his lower lip and batting his eyelashes profusely at you in response, you were prompted to continue, “It’s always so hard to be patient with them when they’re always rolling their eyes at me and giving me attitude for confiscating their phones.”

“That’s why I’d rather you do it, ‘cause if they had a problem with you, I know you’d just give them attitude too, also because I’d make sure no one gives you any trouble if I can help it.”

You scoffed at his snickering, trying your best to ignore the way his nose scrunch tempted you to reach your hands out and pinch his cheeks. The both of you walked over to the tables they had set up for bag checks, Mark following close beside you.

“You say it like you wouldn’t do that if it was another girl helper,” you accused him with a teasing lilt in your tone, seeing Mark shrug casually yet not making any move to deny your accusation.

“Well, just that if it was you half the work would already be done for me,” he winked, making you gasp, whacking him on the arm.

“Can’t believe my best friend is making things easier for himself at the expense of my emotional state.”

Mark rolled his eyes at your dramatic sigh, a soft smile never faltering as he spoke, “oh, shut up, you know I love you.”

You couldn’t help but hear that as nothing but platonic, hoping Mark couldn't hear the hitch in your breath, shrugging as nonchalantly as you could, “of course.”

You were friends with Mark ever since he transferred schools and moved into your neighbourhood, occupying the house just directly opposite yours. All it took was a single dinner invite to his family and the two of you shared an immediate bond over a friendly dance battle on the wii console. ( Till today you'd like to remember it as a victory for you since Mark's flailing limbs didn't help him very much in moving along to Lady Gaga ).

From then on, you never felt like him being 2 years older than you prevented you from getting closer - hell, you barely even believed it - with his constant presence near you, be it in school and out of school, cheering you on at your drama performances and vice versa at his band performances and basketball games. You weren’t sure when it started being an unspoken thing that if you were somewhere, there he would be as well.

But that was never awkward till you entered your teen years, Mark's changed physique gaining him more attention from girls, whereas your beauty grew more and more each day ( well at least it did to Mark ) and there was an unspoken knowledge that the both of you knew that your feelings for each other could start to wobble over the line separating platonic and romantic, but neither of you ever brought it up. You always just brushed off Mark's habits of buying you your favourite melon milk before school or saving you a seat at his table with his group of friends as all part of his duty as your 'older brother' best friend figure.

While you were busy fumbling around to setup a table for bag checks, Mark was fumbling as well in the pantry for his vitamin drink and preparing a thermos flask full of ginger tea for you to soothe your throat. Once he’d finished, he sounded the siren on the megaphone- after many minutes of ‘oh shit’s from pressing the wrong buttons on accident -signalling for everyone to gather as he strolled to the assembly hall, the corner of his lips quirking up ever so slightly at the sight of everyone already gathered and seated there upon his arrival.

“Sup- I mean uh…alright guys, thanks for being so fast in gathering," he began, silence ensuing in the hall other than the clean tapping of his shoes against the shiny wood floor, and hushed chatter from Donghyuck and Renjun, as he made his way towards where you sat in the circle, making as if wanting to seat himself next to you.

Not without an offended scoff, Renjun shifted his bum to the right to make space in between himself and you for Mark to sit down, the older boy holding the thermos flask in front of you with an expectant look.

"Ginger tea," he answered before you could even ask him what the flask contained, "make sure to finish it by lunchtime for your throat," he gave you a rather forced-looking close-lipped smile, unbeknownst to him that he was being watched by the entire service team, the only thing on his mind being to give you that and see to it that you fully recover.

"Thanks, Mark," you mumbled, grasping the flask tightly and lowering your head to avoid the stares you were receiving from the team, especially Donghyuck and Renjun who made their smugness a little too obvious.

He's just taking care of you as a little sister, you reminded yourself, desperately hoping your words would lessen the severity of the heat you felt on your cheeks.

Mark proceeded to run through the details of the camp programme, mentioning details of the day like wet games and whatnot. You would’ve remembered if you were actually paying any attention. The tip of his pink tongue would occasionally peek out to wet his lips as he spoke, his hand coming up to nudge his glasses up his nose bridge whenever he looked at his papers scattered on the floor.

You were starting to think it was a little ridiculous your heart rate could speed up watching him just sitting there, not doing anything particularly mind-blowing. Just sitting there being, well...Mark.

"Is that alright?" you snapped out of your trance when he glanced at you for approval of whatever he had been talking about for the past five minutes. You nodded mindlessly, shooting him a smile of reassurance.

"Yep, it's fine," you answered along with a few other murmurs from around the circle.

Mark sighed in relief, nodding as he stood up swiftly, clipping his pen to the string of the lanyard he’d slung across his chest.

"Campers are to be here in about fifteen minutes, everybody be on standby and mix around with your group till the time for the opening address I guess, I mean- yeah, just do that.” and just like that everyone slowly stood up in groups, dispersing around the hall. Mark held out a hand for you to take to help you off the ground just as you heard Donghyuck snort at something Renjun did, turning to you as his next target.

"Hey, Y/N. Try to get up without using your hands," your competitive nature got the better of you and you heaved yourself off the floor with just your legs, grinning proudly at Haechan, Mark’s hand withdrawing to his side quickly in the hopes no one saw what had just happened.

Mark winced as he felt Renjun slap him between the shoulder blades, his chuckle sounding all too obnoxious, "better luck next time, bro," as Mark flushed red, dismissing the blonde haired boy's teasing.

Mark huffed, not feeling bitter or anything, couldn’t help the endeared smile that appeared on his face at the way you cheered triumphantly at Donghyuck, who mussed up your hair as you simply grinned back at him, then at Mark. Mark’s breath almost hitched as you stared at him as if saying ‘did you see what I just did?’, and his smile stayed unwavering, shooting you a thumbs up because god, did he love you.

===

“Don’t you ever get tired of the pining?” Renjun prodded at Mark as the both of them made their way to the water coolers, the blonde haired boy twirling his bottle in the air with each throw.

“What?” Mark felt as if he hadn’t processed whatever Renjun had just said to him.

Renjun shot him a tired look, “Don’t act dumb, Mark. You know what I’m talking about.” Renjun was who Mark had first confided in when he realised that he had feelings for you, obviously earning a long lecture from the younger boy, who was very much insistent that Mark should do something about the way he felt before it was too late.

“Of course I do,” Mark muttered with a defeated tone, the muted whirring of the water cooler matching his sentiments.

“Then? Why aren’t you doing anything about it?”

“Ever heard of fear, dude? She’s like...my best friend, I can’t just like drop a bomb like that on her, it’s too risky.”

Renjun rolled his eyes, “And hopelessly pining for her every day is a better option?”

Mark’s mouth opened in protest, holding his now filled water bottle up in protest, “It’s not hopele-“

“I heard Jaemin’s gonna ask her out.” Renjun lied, making Mark fall silent as his eyes widened, speaking for themselves. Though it arguably wasn’t the best method, Renjun knew that someone like Mark would need a push like this if he wanted Mark to take action.

Mark’s jealousy was slowly creeping in, making its authority evident in his tone as he countered with a scoff, “I’d like to see how that turns out.”

“Well, you’re not exactly ‘Johnny Bravo’ yourself, dude. You gotta up your game! C’mon, you’ve got so many chances to do that in the next 3 days, might as well use them to your advantage,” Renjun karate chopped the metal railing for emphasis as they walked up the stairs. Though he was convincing, Mark wasn’t sure if Renjun would be the angel or devil on his shoulders in this situation, but whatever it was that he was trying to do certainly was doing its job in getting Mark riled up.

Walking back into the assembly hall, Mark spotted you chatting with your group members excitedly, the mask you were wearing in the morning now no longer covering your face- which Mark would never outrightly admit he was happy about.

“Remember what I said, dude. Don’t miss your chance,” Renjun’s words lingered in Mark’s mind, meandering around every other thought that occupied his head and slowly tainting each one with possible thoughts of how he was going to tell you about how he felt. Campers were almost fully gathered in the assembly hall now, with bag checks finished and opening address not due for another ten minutes but as Mark saw you spot him across the room and start to make your way to him, he felt his heart start to race- no, sprint -in his chest, threatening to burst.

“Babe! The tea you made me was amazing, I feel even better now,” you grinned at him, his heart at a loss, not knowing it was possible to flutter so hard until he heard the pet name bubble so casually from your lips, accompanied by your heart stopping ( well, for Mark definitely ) smile. Your hands flew up to cup his face, squishing his cheeks together with a giggle, the sound itself making Mark panic, his fist clenching but his finger accidentally knocking the button on the megaphone that sounded the siren, making you shout in surprise, squishing his cheeks even harder before letting go quicker than you imagined you could.

Donghyuck and Renjun, who were watching the scene from afar were busy laughing at the fact that you had managed to fluster Mark into sounding the siren, attracting the attention from the entire hall.

“Sorry, false alarm,” he spoke into the mic, not sounding apologetic at all, more preoccupied with how to make his ears not give away how he felt. What he didn't notice was that his cheeks were already wildly pink, both from embarrassment and the blood rushing back into them after that pressure from your hands.

“Are you cold? your ears are really red,” you laughed, playing with his ears absentmindedly as your wrist rested just against his collarbone, making him shove you away quickly in a desperate attempt to put at least some distance between the both of you.

“Excuse me, facilitator, aren’t you supposed to be getting to know your group now instead of bothering the person in charge?” he told you as authoritatively as he could in his panicked state, raising an eyebrow at you to which you scoffed.

“Power has changed you, Mark Lee,” you shook your head in mock disappointment, “won’t even let your best friend talk to you now that you’re all up there,” you used your hand to gesture high above you before you coughed, wiping away fake tears from your cheeks before sticking your tongue out at him when you realised it wasn’t making him budge.

“Get,” he shooed you away before taking his place at the front of the assembly hall, fiddling with his phone before he sat there idling away, trying to stop his gaze from wandering over to where you were with your group, the sound of your loud laughter attracting his attention whether he liked it or not, but soon Mark settled for subtly scanning the room so he could let his gaze linger on your group a little while longer before he resumed scanning the room like it was part of his role.

===

You shrieked upon the feeling of cold water rushing over your head, down your face, wetting your neck and travelling down the rest of your body. Turning around rapidly, you heard the camera shutter go off with an all-too familiar voice ringing out a "Smile!" your eyes landed on the culprit which was none other than said cameraman, Mark Lee, carrying a camera in one hand and a - now empty - bucket in the other.

Letting the camera dangle from the toy story camera strap you gifted him hanging around his neck, his giggly giddy laugh echoing within the almost-empty underground carpark. Usually this would've been enough to cloud your judgement with sheer endearment for the boy, but you opted to whack him on the arm and kick his butt as punishment for getting you wet with foamy water.

"You're lucky you have that camera or I would've drowned you by now," you huffed, seeing him pucker his lips at you, shaking his butt from side to side in some sort of attempt to mock you, which you found unbearably cute instead.

“I know," he told you in a matter-of-fact tone, throwing the empty bucket aside before bringing his hand up to comb through his hair and wipe the sweat from his face with the hem of his t-shirt, which of course caused you to look away quicker than lightning. The hair that he had now pushed back messily on his head was recently dyed back to black from its previous stunt of blonde he thought would be fun to try. You had to say, as much as he was annoying you right now, how he looked in his hawaii print shorts and his white shirt was distracting you.

"Feels good to be an organizer, no getting wet and gross like you," he stuck his tongue out, making you roll your eyes in response, snatching the bucket back from where he threw it on the floor so you could hand it back to the logistics member running the particular station game you were at.

"Don't you have other people to take pictures of?" you sneered, his seagull eyebrows rising in disbelief that you sounded as if you didn't want him there so he turned around, making as if he were about to leave.

"Well sure if you don't want me here," you grabbed his shirt before he could walk any further, pulling it so he stumbled back next to you, slippers stomping noisily.

"No, wait. I’m kidding stay here don't leave me," you pleaded, flashing him your signature pout with your best attempt at sympathetic eyes, making his nose scrunch up in a smile as his hands unconsciously clenched.

"God, don't give me that face," one of the participants in your group waggled her eyebrows at you behind Mark's shoulder, making you flush and shoo her away with a flick of your hand.

"Good, isn't it? if I keep practising, you bet I can get my mom to checkout my shopping cart for Christmas in no time," you grinned, earning a good-natured shake of the head from Mark.

"It's shower time after this right?" you asked, the sludging and squeaking of your wet slippers irking you as you walked behind your group with Mark, who glanced at his watch before nodding at you.

Mark couldn’t help the giggle that escaped from his lips as he saw the way your arms would unconsciously raise as you tried to take your steps with minimal noise. “Yeah, you guys can hit the showers after this, especially you.”

You heard his stomach grumble, your gaze shooting up from the floor so you could frown at him.

“Please tell me you ate during lunch...” Mark was sheepish, laughing nervously as he shrugged, his hands fumbling around as he debated on whether to avoid the question or listen to the scolding he assumed you were about to give him.

"Well, I got a lot of reviews on the catering??" you sighed at his reply, making sure he knew how displeased you were at that fact.

"Mark,” your hands found their way to your hips, “you can't just keep forgetting things like this, I swear, no one else is gonna remind you to eat if I don't," you told him, recalling how Mark had been like this ever since high school when he started taking up more responsibilities in student council and being basketball captain and whatnot. You remembered the many lunch periods you would have to spend with him in the council room with him rushing a proposal or his homework.

"Well, at least I still have you right?" he offered with a hopeful smile, but your expression remained unwavering so he continued, "c'mon, it's my first time leading a camp; I want to do a good job."

You looked at him in understanding, resigning to the fact that Mark wouldn't back down so easily since he wanted to work hard. "Alright, fine. But I’m still gonna hound you about necessities whether you like it or not, mister," he seemed to have no objections to that, simply choosing to nod at you as if it was something he wanted.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," he picked up his megaphone and held it away from you, pushing the button- successfully, for once -to signal the siren for the facilitators to dismiss their groups for shower time.

After you were showered and in a fresh pair of clothing, you brought your things down to the canteen for dinner. It wasn't surprising that you already saw Mark waiting in the canteen, though he was looking rather rigid while talking to Jaemin, which you were curious about since you knew them to be quite comfortable with each other. Walking past them, you caught Jaemin’s eye, making him halt his conversation with Mark to wave at you with a smile, yet Mark seemed to be glaring at Jaemin the entire time.

Gathering your group of kids to get their food, you made your way to the drink dispenser, doing your best to carry multiple cups at once so you wouldn't have to make a second trip back.

"Here, lemme help you with that," Mark showed up in front of you, obstructing your path as he proceeded to take half the cups from you, earning more than a few unnoticed stares from the campers who absolutely adored the idea of you and Mark actually dating.

"Thanks," you murmured, the tip of your tongue peeking out from your lips in concentration so you wouldn't spill your drinks.

"How's the food?" he asked you.

"Haven't eaten it yet, but smells great," his eyes crinkled in a bright smile at your reply.

"Really? That's great," he sighed in relief.

After placing the drinks on your group's table he sat at one of the empty seats and spoke with you for a while as your campers slowly came back one by one. You missed the suspicious stares your campers were giving you at Mark's presence at the table. He had a hand resting on the back of your chair casually, an almost identical scene from when you had to make sure Mark ate while he buried himself in student council work.

The two of you shared food from one plate since Mark had helped take enough for the both of you, not getting a separate one for himself because he was lazy. You know, totally not because he just wanted an excuse for you to feed him while he pretended to be busy skimming through the agenda for the rest of the day.

"Do you have to leave soon for prep?" you asked him, seeing an look of realisation wash over his face, nodding at you when he glanced at the time.

Letting out a breathy sigh, he stood up, megaphone in one hand while picking up your now empty plastic plate and cutlery to help you dispose of it.

"See you later, dude," you waved sadly, and you couldn’t help but laugh as he let out his signature nose scrunch and giggle before his lips jut out in a pout, waving goodbye as he left.

Considering the fact that for the rest of the day you were busy with your group and Mark was busy making sure everything was in order, the both of you didn’t manage to find the time to stop and talk to each other when you even simply crossed paths in the hallways, settling for a playful poke in his side or a nod of the head from him as a greeting.

Thankfully, just as your back had started to hurt and your eyes started to feel heavy, it was time for the night debrief. You walked into the room, glad to see Mark had saved a space for you and was waving you over to come sit with him, beckoning you over while patting the empty space next to him.

"Hey," he greeted you with a smile, his nose scrunching when you knocked over the hood of his jacket to ruffle his hair.

"Glad that one day is almost done with," your words were slightly muffled as you yawned, seeing him shoot you a look of agreement and nod with a sigh.

"I know, right? Hope none of the committee make noise tonight, I’m really hoping I can sleep as soon as possible," he admitted, pressing his lips into a firm line as he glanced at the things he was supposed to discuss during the debrief.

You wanted to get something to munch on to keep you awake during the debrief, looking around the room as if scanning to see if any members of the service team were in possession of food, and it was as if Mark could read your mind when he took out a pack of cookies from his jacket pocket, passing it to you ever so subtly.

“Thanks, dude,” you heard Donghyuck’s voice interrupt when he reached over to take the packet from your hands, bursting it open and munching on one, much to the dismay of Mark, though he didn’t say anything, simply smiling and returning to his papers when you flicked Donghyuck on the forehead and reclaimed your cookies.

Debrief went by fairly quickly, with Mark running through the points he needed to take note of as quickly as he could. You were already feeling a little restless after finishing your cookies so you leant your head against Renjun’s shoulder since he was sitting closest to you in the circle, earning a soft chuckle from him, “Careful now, your boyfriend might get jealous,” he teased.

Harshly whispering back, “what boyfriend,” you huffed, rolling your eyes.

When debrief had ended, you were feeling really tired so after washing up and changing into your sleeping clothes you were happy to have found Mark already waiting for you outside the girls’ dorm to walk with you to the communal sleeping area.

“You’re not sleeping yet?” you asked, already yawning. Mark shook his head with a yawn himself, “still gotta finalise some stuff for tomorrow’s program.”

You frowned, waiting obediently as he had already helped the both of you take a mattress each and lay it at the side facing each other since there wasn’t much space left in the room.

Squatting next to your mattress and laying out your sleeping bag, you voiced out as softly but firmly as you could, “why couldn't they have told you earlier? It's not fair that you have to stay up doing work for them while they’re all happily asleep," you felt a tinge of annoyance at the unfairness of it all but Mark simply ruffled your hair good-naturedly, assuring you it was okay, all the while his face was heating up from his heart fluttering at your concern for him.

Once you were tucked into your sleeping bag you glanced up at Mark who was still sitting with one knee tucked under his chin, his face illuminated by the light from his phone. As if feeling your stare on him, he glanced from his phone to you, placing his phone down to give his attention to you.

“Go to sleep, you’ve got a long day tomorrow,” his voice was barely a murmur, fatigue laced in his tone.

“You should be sleeping too, you know. It’s not as if we go through different camps..”

Mark let out a soft huff of laughter, whispering back trying to reassure you, “I know, I will. Don’t worry about me and get some sleep, alright?”

Rolling over in your sleeping bag, you stared Mark down as hard as you could, “no. I refuse. For as long as you’re awake, I’m not gonna sleep,’ you huffed.

Mark knew that your claim was far- fetched, seeing as he could tell you were tired, with how your head would lull to the side ever so often and your breathing would even out before you would jolt awake suddenly, remembering your promise to stay awake.

But true enough, he wasn’t even 2 pages into his documents when he heard the light thud of your head hitting the mattress, your breaths slowing down and becoming deeper. Seeing as you didn’t bring a pillow to the camp, Mark figured he could do without his jacket since he probably wasn’t getting much sleep tonight anyway, folding his jacket carefully into a nice rectangle, one hand lifting your head gently to slide the jacket underneath so your head could rest gently on it.

“Goodnight,” he murmured, tugging your sleeping bag up to cover you more before he resumed browsing his documents.

===

The next morning, during the briefing in the morning, one of the members leading the service team had decided to add morning exercises to get everybody’s energy up, part of this including stretches.

You were a little hesitant to do the stretches since you realized your shirt would ride up a little when you had to do certain stretches, but you tried your best. Mark was a little late, walking in and not being able to help the laugh from slipping out of his mouth when he saw you struggling to do the stretches, but he couldn’t stay entertained when he saw one of the older guys from the service team checking you out while you were doing the stretches.

His best solution he could think of in the moment was to shed himself of his jacket and wordlessly walk over to tie it around your waist, successfully covering you adequately and making you a lot more comfortable, as evident in how you could freely stretch without fear of exposing too much you weren’t comfortable with.

Your cheeks flushed, not expecting Mark to swoop in with such a gesture that you obviously weren’t prepared for so early in the morning.

“Sleep well?” he asked, his voice still hoarse from sleep, joining the stretches smoothly and you had to keep your gaze focused forward so you wouldn’t lose concentration.

“Yeah, you?” he nodded.

“What’s for breakfast, organizer?” you grinned.

“Cereal, dummy. You were the one that bought it, remember?” your mouth formed an ‘o’ shape in realisation.

“Oh, right,” you laughed.

The rest of the day went by fairly fast, the highlight of it being that Donghyuck wouldn’t shut up about how flustered Mark was when he was caught off guard during your session you were giving, when he was too busy admiring you and not paying much attention to what you were saying. “He was totally drooling! Renjun can vouch for it,”


“Renjun is not a reliable source, if anything, Mark was just tired, and zoning out. That’s all.”

You could practically hear Donghyuck rolling his eyes at you. “Listen to me, I’m just saying. I’ve known Mark longer than you have, and if anything, the last time I saw him act like this was... basically never, because Mark’s never cared about someone other than his family as much before.”

“Yeah, you said it, family. That’s what he sees me as, hyuck.”

“Yeah, his wife!” you choked on your fruit punch, pushing your dinner further from you on the table since you were done with it. “I mean, everyone can see it, might as well make it clear to the both of you before I have to resort to bringing you both together myself.”

“I love you too, hyuck,” he made a face of dismay, mocking you as he repeated what you had said.

“Also, does Mark have beef with Jaemin? He’s been acting really weird around him,” you voiced out, having noticed it yesterday during lunch.

Donghyuck laughed a little too loud, shaking his head vigorously, “Mark’s just weird,” he continued, voice dropping to a mutter, “I don’t know why you like him, he’s an idiot. But you know, I’m not here to judge, you do you.”

“Get out,” laughing, you shoved him off his chair, and his high pitched giggle rang out like bubbles.

Mark couldn't help the way his eyes searched the room for you whenever he stepped in, landing on you and Donghyuck when he heard the younger boy's laughter ringing in the distance.

"I bet if Y/N usually wore stripes you'd be really good at where's waldo," Renjun snickered at Mark's resemblance to a lovestruck-puppy as he looked at you and Donghyuck every five seconds while he ate.

Mark's head shot up at the sound of Renjun's comment, glaring at the boy seated in front of him.

"Whatever," he murmured, cheeks hollowing because of the way he pursed his lips, chewing aggressively on the food in his mouth as he saw Jaemin approaching you and Donghyuck to join the conversation.

"He's totally not her type anyway," he justified to no one in particular, earning a rather intense eye roll from Renjun.

“Does saying that make you feel like you have a better chance than Jaemin? It's not as if u can just… telekinesisJaemin away from her, you might as well man up and do something about it yourself if you wanna guarantee that he won’t get in the middle of whatever you two have going on,” Renjun sighed, shrugging as if he hadn't just had an encouraging best friend moment, leaving Mark wondering how Renjun could still manage looking so innocent sipping his orange juice.

Mark didn’t even notice when you had left the canteen with one of the participants from Jeno and Chenle’s group that wasn’t feeling well, leading him up to the toilet as quickly as you could because he needed to throw up.

The boy had mentioned that he had a history of bad health, and he wasn’t feeling well enough to stand on his own, so you figured it would be best if you could follow him to the toilet to make sure he wouldn’t faint. After many minutes of retching and coughing, the boy was starting to feel a little better and you let him wash his mouth before moving to lead him out of the toilet, only to come face to face with some of Mark’s fellow committee members- who you didn’t remember the names of, but you weren’t very fond of them anyway.

“What are you doing with this kid? Did you know that we’ve had to spend the last 15 minutes looking for you while you were doing God knows what in the male toilet?” one girl with a sleek ponytail had snapped, her voice sharp and cutting.

You furrowed your eyebrows, confusion taking over you, “hey, you should go join the rest now, tell Jeno and Chenle I’ll join them later.”

Turning your gaze to the committee members after you had seen the boy disappear around the corner, you continued, “I’m sorry, I think you’ve gotten the wrong idea. He wasn’t feeling well and I saw that Jeno and Chenle were busy so I took him to the toilet myself, that’s all that happened...”

“You couldn’t have asked another male facilitator, could you? Or were you just so eager to bring him to the male toilets yourself. You know, it’s hard to believe what you’re telling us, Y/N. I mean, we don’t necessarily have the bestimpression of you,” another one of the group had spoken up, and a strange feeling bubbled within your chest. You barely even knew any of these people, yet they seemed to have so much to say to you.

“This is a church camp...” you murmured, flinching slightly at how quick they were to bite back at you with an answer.

“Yeah, a church camp where this situation would have required a male facilitator to follow the participant, not you. Wonder what Mark would think if he saw you in the male toilets with a participant, whom, you know, is younger than you,” the ponytail girl had hummed, making you scoff.

“Mark knows I wouldn’t do that,” you spoke up, trying to make your voice as firm as possible.

“Yeah, but does everyone else know?” you were at a loss, your fists clenching and unclenching as you tried to find the right words to say to them, however they seemed to have beaten you to it.

“What’s your aim, huh? Are you mad because they made us in charge and not you? Did you think that you would’ve been chosen as well just because you’re close to Mark?” one of the guys had added, folding his arms and taking a step closer to you, his height practically towering over you. “You know, he’s not even doing that great of a job, for that matter-”

“Don’t you dare talk about Mark like that,” you frowned, though their laughter only served to make you feel even smaller in their presence. “Oh? Are we not allowed to? I mean, it’s the truth after all. The dumbass doesn’t even know we’ve just been making him do all our work for us,” she shrugged nonchalantly, making your frown grow even deeper.

“Is that how you make him go to your beck and call too? hmm?”

“My relationship with Mark isn’t like that...” you started, though you couldn’t seem to know what to say after that, which of course, gave them the perfect opportunity to mock you once again.

“Really, now?” the ponytail girl had leaned closer to you, the sarcasm in her tone making your eyes roll. “Then what is it like? like you and that kid you fooled around with?”

You held yourself back, not wanting to tear up from their words but not being able to help your frustration.

“I did not fool around with him. He was sick and I brought him to the washroom,” your voice trembled with the sheer amount of anger you were feeling.

“Sure, whatever, Y/N. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.” They left before you could say anything else, leaving you dumbfounded as you made your way back to the hall for the next session.

===

It was no surprise that Donghyuck found your behavior suspicious when you returned to the hall, and though you acted as per normal through the session, when Mark had dismissed everyone for an hour of free time before dinner, he’d taken the opportunity to sit you down and squeeze whatever gossip material he could get out of you.

“What happened during lunch? You left with Jisung, right?”

You nodded, picking up the crumbs of bread that had fallen on your pants and tossing them elsewhere, “yeah, he needed to puke and Jeno and Chenle were busy serving food.”

A silence fell between the both of you as Donghyuck continued to look at you expectantly, “Yeah, and?” he prompted with a ‘duh’ tone.

“What do you mean, ‘and’? that’s it.”

“Cut the bullshit, dude. Jeno and Chenle told me Jisung came back without you, said the committee were giving you shit.”

You sighed, finishing the last bite of your bread and gesturing to Donghyuck to hand you your water-bottle, taking your time to sip your water- and pluck up your courage -before you decided to continue, “they were just talking shit, as usual. No big deal.”

“What did they say to you?” he prodded again, making you shoot him a look.

“You’re not gonna stop till I tell you everything, aren’t you?” he nodded with a sickening smile, batting his eyes at you expectantly.

“I don’t know...you know, like....they started saying I brought Jisung into the cubicle with me on purpose or something-”

Donghyuck’s eyes widened, before his eyebrows furrowed in confusion “Huh? To do what?”

“I don’t know!” your tone was exasperated, glad that Donghyuck felt the situation was just as absurd as you thought it was. “Whatever it is it clearly wasn’t what I was really helping Jisung out with!” you huffed.

“They said it as if I was fooling around with him or something...then they were saying shit like, like I don’t know they make Mark do all their work for them? And they asked me if I manipulated him that way to get him to do things for me as well and when I said that wasn’t the kind of relationship I had with Mark they were like ‘oh so you do the same things with Mark that you did with Jisung’? and I don’t know hyuck it was just really horrible and I felt like shit and I wanted to cry because I was so embarrassed but it was like I couldn’t even talk!” you gasped, practically panting after telling Donghyuck what had happened at one go.

Donghyuck paused, letting a silence fall between you for a while before letting out a scoff, and a rather exaggerated one at that, “aren’t you pissed? I’m super pissed and it didn’t even happen to me!”

You pouted at the floor before frowning at Donghyuck exasperatedly, “you know that there’s nothing I can do about it now. And as a matter of fact there’s nothing I want to do about it now. It’s over, Jisung is okay, and that’s all that matters.”

“You know that’s not it, Y/N.” In all your time of knowing Donghyuck, you would have to say that this was the most serious you’ve ever seen him act ( well, aside from when he’s playing video games with Jeno or Renjun ).

“Well, what do you suppose I do about it, genius?” you shot back, downing a big gulp of water to soothe your still slightly hoarse throat.

“I think you should tell Mark,” he told you as if it was the best idea in the entire world, earning a violent shake of the head from yourself.

“No way in hell- I mean, heck, that Mark is gonna know about this. Hyuck, I’m serious,” you put a hand on his knee that was on the bench to steady yourself.

“Mark already has so much on his plate, I can’t afford to have him worrying about even more things, especially not if it concerns me.” You could see that Donghyuck was thinking hard about this, the pout on his lips seeming to deepen as he glanced elsewhere with his eyebrows slightly furrowed, his eyes squinting the more deep in thought he got.

“I know! What if it wasn’t about you! I can just tell him the committee were giving somebody shit-“

“Donghyuck, are you hearing yourself right now? You’d have to mention me eventually if you went with that plan. Scrap that plan, go with my plan. Which is to just not tell Mark at all,” you grinned at him, holding two thumbs up in an attempt to be more convincing, earning yourself a very slow and accentuated eye roll from Donghyuck.

“Hyuck, I mean it. I know you’re gonna wanna do something to get back at them but believe me when I say I reallydon’t want this to be made into a big deal.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever. You have such little faith in me.”

You heard the sound of the megaphone’s siren signalling that it was dinnertime, so you said goodbye to Donghyuck and joined your own group to eat dinner.

Donghyuck, on the other hand, was busy gathering him and Mark’s group of friends to, if put in Donghyuck’s words- “spill the tea.”

Jaemin, Chenle, Renjun and Jeno were currently surrounding Donghyuck at one of the stone tables in the church that Donghyuck figured would make his announcement more professional, “okay, boys, first order of business. Let me tell you what happened to Y/N just now after she helped Jisung puke and whatever,” Jeno and Chenle shared what seemed to be a knowing look whereas Renjun and Jaemin just looked confused.

“Something happened?” Renjun spoke up, earning an equally confused sound from Jaemin, to which Donghyuck nodded gravely, proceeding to tell them exactly what you had told him prior to dinner time.

“I knew it!” Chenle shouted, standing up in his excitement before being shushed and shoved back into his seat by Jaemin and Renjun.

“I knew something was up when I was having touch time with Jisung just now, he said that the committee were saying things that ‘weren’t so nice’ to her but he couldn’t exactly remember what it was,” Jeno explained on Chenle’s behalf since the latter was too busy enjoying the fact that he was right about his suspicions against the committee.

“And she just stood there and took all of that?” Jaemnin asked, concern laced in his tone, glancing at a pissed-looking Renjun mid-speech.

“Well, she did say she was so humiliated and I doubt she could’ve gotten anything else in with all of those psychos ganging up on her,” Donghyuck shrugged, “which is why I say we should do something about it! Avenge our dear sister whom Mark just so happens to be in love with!” Donghyuck pumped his fist in the air, earning a sound of agreement from Jeno and Chenle, but he felt opposition the moment he glanced at Renjun and Jaemin’s concerned expression.

“I don’t know, hyuck. I mean she did say she didn’t want it to be a big deal...” Jaemin started.

Chenle jumping in quickly to add, “Unless we just tell Mark?”

“But that’s exactly what she didn’t want us to do!” Jaemin shushed Chenle again, who simply shrugged in defeat, “well that’s the limit of my ideas, man,” Chenle shrugged.

“I think we should tell Mark,” Renjun piped up, to which Jaemin asked, “wait are you on our team or against us?”

“Nobody’s against anybody here!” Donghyuck sighed, desperately wanting to facepalm, thinking again to himself why he thought telling them would be a good idea.

“The only people we should be against are those stupid committee members.”

“Wait who are they again?” Jeno asked, earning a loud groan from Jaemin.

Eventually, their discussion drifted elsewhere after someone had mentioned the brownies being served for dessert, leaving Renjun to be the only one silently thinking of how to approach Mark to break the news to him before it was time for debrief since the group of them couldn’t decide on things for shit.

===

“Dude I need to talk to you,” Renjun closed the door to the empty committee room that Mark was currently in, since after the groups were done sharing they would have to be dismissed to go to sleep and it would already be time for debrief.

“Uh-huh,” Mark barely glanced away from his notes he’d taken in the day, earning a tired look from Renjun.

“Dude I’m serious, I need to talk to you it’s about Y/N.”

“Huh?” Mark finally tore his gaze from his papers, before shaking his head and returning his glare to them again, saying, “Renjun, I’m really sorry but can this wait? I really need to make sure  got everything down here, the priest is gonna be there at the debrief later and if I screw this up it’s gonna look really bad on me as the person in charge.”

Raising his hands in an action of surrender, “Ok, fine man, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

===

When you got to the room where the debrief was going to be held, you avoided the smug looks on the committee members’ faces as they whispered amongst themselves and pointed at you not-so-subtly as you made your way next to where Mark was seated.

“Hey,” you chirped, seeing his head tilt up to look at you, a smile on his face when he realized it was you.

“Hey,” he greeted.

You chose not to distract him since he seemed to be rather focused on his notes, making you feel a little upset at how he was over here stressing out about the agenda for the debrief while the other committee members were lounging on the table idling away.

Thankfully, Mark had started the debrief a little early today, with the reasoning that he understood everyone would like to go to sleep as soon as possible after the long day you had today. Running through the list of things to cover quickly, what was next was when Mark would routinely ask if any participants were not feeling well and he would proceed to check back with the groups on those participants whose sicknesses were already reported to him.

“Group 7?” Mark asked, and you knew this was Jisung’s group, so you were expecting Mark to ask about Jisung but Chenle and Jeno’s statement caught you off guard.

“Jisung was actually feeling really bad around lunchtime? Chenle and I were busy serving food so he was accompanied by Y/N instead, since it was pretty urgent and he’d puked up a lot according to him,” Chenle made a disgusted face at Jeno’s words.

“He’s still feeling a little queasy but we gave him some medicine before we sent him to bed. HIs mom says he has a really sensitive stomach but he claims after he puked he felt a little better. But thankfully since Y/N was there it really helped him- and us -loads.” Chenle nodded, flashing you an appreciative smile as Jeno awaited Mark’s reaction.

Mark’s expression darkened, turning to the committee members who were behind him to ask, “why was I not notified that we had a participant that threw up and was under medication?” the ponytail haired girl suddenly seemed as though she had a lot less to say compared to when she was outside the washroom with you earlier.

“Well, you know....uh, well, we assumed since Y/N was the one who was so eagerly helping Jisung, she would’ve told you about the situation,” she shrugged, her gaze pointed at you.

Mark turned to you momentarily before narrowing his eyes at the committee once again, “so you were aware that this was happening and none of you decided to double check if I was notified about this?”

One of the taller guy members sitting next to the ponytail haired girl had spoken up, “well since Y/N-”

“Whether or not she was involved is not the main concern here. Her responsibilities do not include doing the work that is meant to be done by the group of you.”

You looked at Donghyuck with a panicked expression, seeing his lips pressed together in an attempt not to laugh amidst the tense atmosphere that had fallen throughout the room.

“What the heck is going on?” you mouthed to Renjun since Donghyuck didn’t seem to be able to be of any help right now, seeing Renjun shrug, pointing at Mark before using both his index fingers to make angry eyebrows on his face.

Mark lowered his voice so he could direct his words more specifically to the committee members, “I don’t know what you take your responsibilities in this camp to be, but clearly you’re not taking them seriously enough, not with you thinking I’m actually stupid enough to not realize you’ve been asking me to do extra work since you’re all seemingly incapable of doing it, and to add on to that you think that even non committee should be taking care of and receiving blame for your faults?” Mark’s voice raised slightly before he remembered the presence of the priest in the room, which served to remind him to keep his calm a little.

Mark turned back around to face the rest of the team, “Any other issues you would like to raise? if not there’s no further things we need to discuss on the agenda, you guys are dismissed. Committee please stay behind.” Mark’s aura was a lot more intimidating than you’d seen him in a while, and you understood why since you knew this was his first time being in charge of a camp and he wanted to do a good job and prove himself, but it seemed like things weren’t going as planned.

You decided it was better to leave him to do his own thing now before he could get more triggered, leaving the room after giving him a gentle squeeze of his arm.

Renjun had met Mark downstairs in the canteen after most of the service team members had gone to sleep. He felt a little pity for the older boy, seeing how his eyes had dark circles under them, his hair was messy now probably after many times of frustratedly running his hands through it, and he looked absolutely ready to pass out.

“So...debrief, huh,” Renjun let out a low whistle.

“I know, it was a mess. I can’t believe I could let that happen-“

“Did they tell you what happened?”

Mark’s eyes narrowed at Renjun, taking a seat at the bench in the open air, enjoying the cool wind of the night time that served to comfort him just a little in the midst of him feeling like absolute shit. “You mean you’re telling me there’s more that happened?” Mark’s voice was tired, sounding as if nothing would surprise him any more than he already was.

“The committee, they basically attacked - well, verbally attacked -Y/N when they saw her coming out of the male toilets with Jisung.”

Mark frowned, already getting riled up at the thought of what kind of things they could have said to you.

“They were talking to her as if she’d brought Jisung to the toilet to do....things with him, and they sort of told her that you weren’t doing that great of a job as someone in charge and asked her if she manipulated you into being at her ‘beck and call’ too…and- I don’t know there was a lot of things. They sort of put her on the spot,” Mark fell silent, the only thing he could liken his emotions to was a washing machine with his anger just busily rolling around in his mind and heart.

“Okay before you get mad, or more mad actually, the rest of the gang and I were saying that we wanted to respect her decision of not wanting to make this a big deal-”

“Wait so the rest of the guys know what happened already? I’m the last one to know?”

Renjun sucked in a sharp breath, “well....yeah,”

Mark ran his fingers through his hair for what must’ve been the hundredth time that night, “What the hell...why didn’t she tell me?”

“I mean-” Mark stood up suddenly, shocking Renjun. Mark fiddled with his phone, quickly thumbing out a message to ask you where you were.

12:18am -huh, why? i was just about to go to the sleeping area-

Mark 12:18 am -wait for me at the door-

Mark pocketed his phone quickly, “sorry, man, I gotta go.”

“Okay, fine, just totally abandon your friend who just gave you important information. It’s fine with me,” Renjun threw his hands up in exaggerated offence.

Mark was anticipating some sort of dramatic confrontation to happen when he reached the door but when he actually saw you in front of him, he’d felt as though he’d lost all the words he wanted to say.

You were relatively quiet since you weren’t sure how Mark was feeling, but you let him do the usual and bring mattresses for the both of you to lay it on the stage.

Since you were already tired beyond belief from the events that happened during the day, you didn’t refuse this time to lay in your sleeping bag and get ready to sleep, hearing Mark mumble something next to you, making you turn your head to face him, a small hum escaping your lips.

“What happened this afternoon?” he asked you, his voice clear enough that you wouldn’t have mistaken him to be saying something else. Though at this time of the night, you were desperate to give him answers to his questions so you could go to sleep, simply choosing to tell him what you thought he was asking you.

“Jisung wasn’t feeling well, he said he felt like throwing up so I brought him to the toilet.”

You heard a silence from him, assuming he was finished with his questions, “I’m gonna sleep no-”

“I asked about you, not about Jisung.”

You were too tired to realize the annoyance in his tone, turning to face him, eyebrows furrowing, “me? Nothing happened to be I mean yeah sure seeing him puke kind of made me want to puke but-”

“God, why the f-“ he stopped himself, looking at you before letting out a shaky breath, “when will you just put yourself first for once,” he turned around in his sleeping bag so his back was facing you.

“Mark,” you whispered, hoping he would turn around.

“Mark,” you murmured again, “Mark. Turn around, what are you trying to say?” you reached out a hand to shake him gently on the shoulder, feeling him grip your hand tightly, peeling it off his shoulder.

“Go to sleep, Y/N.”

===

The next morning you weren’t surprised to have woken up and found that Mark wasn’t next to you, and you hated the looks of confusion Donghyuck was giving you as to why you weren’t talking to Mark that morning. Making your way downstairs with Jaemin to have breakfast, you chose not to bother Mark more since he obviously seemed annoyed with you for some reason.

“Are you feeling better?....you know, after yesterday?” Jaemin asked, concern laced in his tone.

You shrugged, “If I were being honest....I feel even worse. I thought it would be okay, you know, after it got brought up during the debrief but..” you shrugged, trailing off as you collected your breakfast from the servers, waiting for Jaemin to collect his drink. “But I don’t know, Mark said something to me last night and he sounded pretty annoyed at me and it just made me feel...like shit I guess,” you shrugged again.

Leading you to the table where Donghyuck and Chenle were sat at, you’d joined them for breakfast, Jaemin successfully cheering you up after you’d seen Mark come into the canteen and leave with Renjun shortly after, not even remembering to take his breakfast with him, yet something in you knew you couldn’t exactly tell him to eat his breakfast now.

“Dude what’s wrong with you? I thought you would’ve worked things out with her by now?” Renjun waved his hands frantically in front of a zoned-out Mark’s face.

“Huh?”

“Why, are you, so awkward, with her?” Renjun said slowly, pausing between the sentence to break down each word for Mark with a sarcastic tone.

Mark made a disgruntled sound in response. “I just need to calm down first, okay? Everytime I see her I just think of what happened and why she didn’t wanna tell me. If I confronted her about it now what would I even say?” Mark frowned, “oh yeah I’m in love with you lol haha ttyl? It’s not that simple, Renjun.”

Renjun’s mouth dropped open, poorly stifling his laugh at whatever you could call what Mark just did.

“Mark... you know I love you but...but if she still loves you after that kind of confession, that’s how you know it’s real love.”

Mark whined, “shut up, Renjun.”

“Where is she anyway?” Mark did his best to sound nonchalant but it was hard to act nonchalant when you seemed to be completely fine at your table playing games with the guys and being so close to Jaemin, and no, Mark didn’t care if the game required you to cross hands with the person next to you because to Mark any contact with Jaemin was just automatically deemed unnecessary.

Mark saw you jump away from Jaemin and look and his direction, not even realizing why until Renjun took the megaphone out of his hand.

“What are you doing!” Renjun clicked a button on the megaphone to stop the siren, talking into it, “sorry guys false alarm.”

Shoving the megaphone back into Mark’s chest, a muffled grunt sounding from Mark, Renjun shook his head in disappoinment, “times like this I really need to remind myself why I’m your friend.”

===

Later on in that day, the committee had separated everyone into different groups to carry out the clean-up for the respective areas, and your assigned area was the carpark, which meant you were busy lugging around heavy buckets of water around the carpark in an attempt to clean it without slipping on the water and falling.

Your pants were rolled up to your knees and you were struggling to carry up a bucket to the second floor of the basement with Chenle because the more he laughed the more the water tended to spill over to your side of the bucket. Once you had set the bucket down, you thought you could finally take a break but you heard Jeno calling you over to where he was.

“Y/N, can you please go to the canteen to help shift the stuff upstairs?”

You hesitated, since your feet and slippers were already so wet, shifting the things upstairs in your condition now was just going to be a pain in the ass that you didn’t really want to deal with right now.

“Please, please please, I’m really busy right now, I’ll buy you a drink when we’re done or something,” he clasped his hands in front of him in a begging action.

Your eyes widened in interest, “I get to decide what drink it is?”

“Yeah sure of course!” You grinned in response, running ( or trying your best to with your wet slippers ) up the stairs to the canteen, looking around to see who you were supposed to help until you saw Mark, the instinctive urge to pick flight instead of fight taking over you.

You decided there was no going back now since you did want that free drink after all, so you made your way over to where Mark was, seeing his eyes widen at the sight of you there instead of Jeno.

“What are you doing here? I called Jeno.”

“Oh, uh...he was busy with stuff so he told me to come up to help instead,” you told Mark, not missing the way he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot, bringing a hand up to grasp the back of his neck.

“Do you want me to leave? I can like call someone else to come here instead-”

“Yeah,” he breathed, your eyes widening in response. “Wait!, I mean, no! I mean, like- Jeno, no wait, you-” he stopped himself, taking a deep breath in and out, facing you with a serious expression.

“Don’t leave. Just help me shift this stuff upstairs.” He handed you two boxes stacked on top of each other. Not wanting to get in his way, you decided to turn to walk the other way up the stairs but you seemed to have turned too sharply, the smooth surface of the floor and the water on your slipper causing you to trip, landing roughly on the floor, boxes scattered elsewhere as the only thing you could focus on was the sharp pain that shot through your ankle.

Mark had immediately put down whatever he was holding, shocked sounds escaping him at an uncontrollable rate as he made his way to your side, asking you if you were okay, his eyes scanning your limbs rapidly to see if you had injured yourself.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, whatever’s in those boxes must be broken because of me-“

“Even now you’re still thinking of the boxes?” he gave you a displeased look.

“Huh?” you frowned.

“I mean, whatever was in the boxes was probably really important....”

He shot you a look, “so are you, you know....you’re like....” he looked away, “important...and stuff.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that threatened to bubble from your throat, “oh my God, please shut up and get me off the floor before you continue.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Mark asked, making you snort in reply.

“Yeah, my heart.”

“Huh?”

“My leg, Mark. My ankle really hurts,” you pointed at your ankle, letting him hobble you over to the nearest bench you could find, awkwardly trying to point your gaze elsewhere when he knelt down in front of you and took off your slipper, “oh my-Mark don’t, that’s gross! Please, my feet are wet!”

“Shut up, can you just-“ he shot you a look, “let me do this, I know what I’m doing. This happened to the basketball guys all the time.”

You nodded slowly, still trying to avoid looking at him in fear that you’d get even more shy than you were now.

“That was like a metaphor, you know, in case you didn’t get it.”

“Mark, I didn’t take literature,” you added pointedly, earning an eye roll from him, choosing to press particularly hard on your ankle at that point.

“Sorry if I...you know, annoyed you last night or something,” you muttered, finally making eye contact with him when he looked up at you with an unreadable expression.

“No, I sort of was being a dick to you last night... I was just kind of...stressed I guess,” he shrugged, continuing to massage at your feet.

“Look, Mark. You obviously know about everything that happened yesterday afternoon right?” he looked up to nod at you, “and you can say that you weren’t the least bit worried?”

He let out a scoff, “What? Of course I was worried! I was so pissed off-”

“Mark that’s precisely why I didn’t want to tell you in the first place! I knew that you had a lot going on and a lot that you needed to take care of, and worrying about me was the last thing I wanted to add to your list of things to do,” you told him, seeing his ears start to tint red.

“Yeah but how do you think it feels for the girl I like to leave me out of things like this?” he asked you, a challenging tone laced in his voice.

“Wait, you like me?” you asked.

Mark’s eyes widened, “shit, wait...that was not how I planned to tell you.”

He let go of your leg, standing up and taking a seat next to you, turning his body to face you. “Okay, rewind. Pretend I didn’t say that,” you nodded at him, trying your best to stifle your laugh but you could feel yourself grinning widely at him.

“I like....wait, do you have a thing with Jaemin?” He narrowed his eyes at you, using his index finger and middle finger to cross each other.

You burst out laughing at that, especially because Mark’s sincere pout made it even funnier, “no, of course not. Who even told you that?”

Mark let out an annoyed groan, “not important, anyway. As I was saying, I didn’t wanna tell you because I didn’t want to impose anything on you, not with the whole possible Jaemin situation anyway. Also because...you know.....secret boy stuff.”

“Secret boy stuff?” you quirked an eyebrow at him.

“I was scared, okay?” he glanced up nervously at you before looking down at his interlocked fingers and continuing, “I thought...it’d be weird for us to keep being friends if you didn’t feel the same way, and I didn’t want things to just end like that, you know?”

You nodded slowly, “I get it, you and your secret boy stuff,” you smiled, reaching out a hand to pat him on the head.

“I guess I only realized how much I actually...oh my god this is so embarrassing to say but...I only realized how much I liked you when I heard what those committee members said to you. And I just, kind of, felt really horrible because of how I was just over here acting like I was having the hardest time when you were too.”

“You weren’t acting, Mark.”

He contemplated mentioning to you how he sometimes pretended to be busy with work so you would give him attention but decided against it, lest you stopped doing that.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better…I like you too, you know,” you told him, enjoying the way his eyes widened, his gaze immediately flitting elsewhere from being too shy to keep your gaze.

This time it was Mark’s turn to laugh, shaking his head as a soft smile found its way onto his features, “we’re kind of stupid, aren’t we?”

You looked at him, not being able to resist smiling at the sight of him, “very,” you nodded your head.

===

The last day of the camp brought the usual, photo taking, bag packing, you and Jeno bringing the leftover snacks from the camp home for yourselves. Everything seemed as if it was just like any other camp, but Mark was insistent on finding every opportunity to remind you he was dating you now.

“Here, let me carry your bag,” he offered as you were walking down the stairs to the front entrance of your church, saying goodbye to the campers that walked past the both of you to leave.

“Mark, just put it on the floor we’re not even leaving yet.”

Donghyuck snickered at your comment, holding out his bag in front of Mark, “I’ll gladly let you carry mine.”

“You guys need a lift? My mom’s sending me home,” Chenle jogged over to you guys, earning murmurs of ‘no’s and ‘its okay’s except for the ‘yes please’ that Renjun squeaked out, practically wobbling under the weight of his duffel bag.

“My mom can send you back, unless you’re coming over to my place?” Mark told you, or more like asked you.

You hummed, “I don’t know, I kind of feel like going home and taking a good shower, maybe I’ll come over after that?”

Mark grinned, nodding in approval.

“You guys haven’t gotten enough of each other yet? I’ve seen enough of Jaemin to last me 5 years,” Renjun shot you and Mark a disgusted look.

You were caught off guard when Mark slung his hand over your shoulder, pulling you closer rather abruptly, squishing your face against him “never,” he said confidently.

Gagging sounds resounded around the group, Donghyuck letting out a pained groan, “I kind of miss when they weren’t aware of each other’s feelings now,” he cringed, earning a high five from Renjun.

“I think it’s kind of cute,” Chenle piped up, earning a handshake from Mark, “thanks for the support, man.”

Jaemin burst out laughing, “Chenle’s opinion doesn’t count he thinks everything is cute.”

You saw Mark’s mom’s car drive into the church, nudging Mark gently, “hey, your mom is here.”

After saying goodbye to the guys you got into the car, not missing the knowing look Mark’s mom was giving Mark but choosing not to say anything about it.

“Y/N’s coming over later, mom, so you can cook more for dinner.”

“uh-huh, alright,” she smiled. She’d already heard from Donghyuck about what happened that very morning when she met him in the church so she wasn’t surprised in the least, especially when she heard from Donghyuck about how Mark was so shy he had to stop to giggle first before asking if he could hold your hand.

You were home sooner than you’d wanted to be, stepping out of the car and bidding Mark and his mom goodbye with a ( too breathless-sounding ) “see you later” and once you were gone, Mark let out a big sigh, fanning his face as he made eye contact with his mom in the rear-view mirror.

“Finally, huh.”

“Well, you know...I like her.... and stuff.”

[monstersandmaw]

Whoop! It's week three of Mermay somehow!! And it's time for a female monster. It's been ages since I've written a female non-human (or a male reader), so I'm anxious to see if you enjoy this one too - it's a long one at nearly 8k! Although the reader is male, and there is an nsfw scene, the rest of the story is relatively gender neutral.

Contents: male reader on a long road trip in his van, and makes a stop in Evergreen Glade, a town about 150 miles from Starfall Springs. He meets a really big centaur, a very beautiful woman, and goes for drinks with her... After finding out something about her that he wasn't expecting, he decides to leave the next day and head on to Starfall Springs, only to realise his mistake... Fluff, story, angst, and nsfw. Words: 7982

Next up will be a male orca mer, and if anyone remembers him, it's Viggo from sharkman Tai's story (Tumblr link). Hope you're keen for that too (it'll be for all tiers).

Preview:

You reached for your thermos mug, only to remember that it was empty - and had been for the last fifty miles - and you growled.

Van life was… not quite as romantic as the Instagrammers and YouTubers made it out to be, that was for sure. It was cold, at times a little bit sketchy, dirty, and really fucking exhausting. Sure, you’d had some of the best experiences of your life since setting out on this somewhat insane road trip, but you’d also hit some pretty low times too.

Last night you’d slept perhaps three hours in total, and the caffeine had long since worn off. Blinking to refresh your prickling eyes, you sighed. A road sign up ahead announced that you were three miles from a place called ‘Evergreen Glade’, and on a whim, you decided to stop there. You’d planned to try and push on to Starfall Springs, knowing that there was a campsite you could park at with the van, but both you and the van were running on fumes, and you needed to stop.

The road took you through a dense pine forest, emerging at the top of an incline onto the main street of what was obviously a former logging town. There was even a petrol station at that end, so you and the van chugged in and drew up.

With the van refuelled, it was time to see to yourself.

The buildings scrolled past like a beautiful old film set as you drove along the main street, with inviting, hand-painted signs for gallery-cafes and antique shops, quaint little jewellers and shops selling hiking equipment. How every road-tripper passing through this part of the country hadn’t Instagrammed the shit out of this place was a mystery to you, but you parked up your modest old van and hopped out, stretching the pent-up stiffness from your neck and spine.

A gnoll was selling ice creams from a little push-cart on the corner, wearing a cute little pink apron with the company’s logo on, and as a faun and her little girl drew up to order one, you watched them exchange warm, easy-going laughs; clearly this was a community that got along well. A tight anxiety that had been brewing in your chest eased a little. You’d seen enough creepy towns on your trip to know you didn’t want to linger long in another if you didn’t have to.

Pausing beside an inviting gallery and cafe, with bright, white-and-pastel interiors and a variety of art on the walls from traditional to ‘more-wacky-than-you-were-qualified-for’, you let your eyes skim down the menu outside and were surprised to find the prices extremely reasonable. Most artsy places like that charged an arm and a leg for a luke-warm cup of mildly caffeinated froth, but if the giant slab of cake on one patron’s plate was anything to go by, this place seemed more than worth it, and you pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Freshly ground coffee and the enticing scent of sugary pastries and cakes filled the air and instantly your mouth began to water as you joined the back of a short queue to order.

To your surprise, the person standing behind the counter and making drinks was a colossal centaur. If this was indeed an old logging town, he looked like he should be the one hauling the timber down the mountain, but instead, he was artfully making cappuccino froth into a panda for a customer. The juxtaposition was so jarring it almost gave you whiplash.

He had the lower body of a Shire horse, with a glossy black coat and fluffy white feathers which were just visible behind the counter as he moved about, setting the steel pot of frothed milk down and reaching for a plate on which to set a brownie the size of a house brick. He was even clad in a flipping red tartan ‘lumberjack’ shirt, with his long black hair tied back into a scruffy bun at the nape of his thick neck. His arms were massive too, and obviously and enviably muscled, and around his anvil of a jaw was a close-cropped, dark beard, flecked attractively with white. He nudged the brownie and cappuccino towards an elf waiting at the front, who turned gracefully and headed for a table.

Warm, honey-brown eyes flickered briefly over in your direction as you entered, and you flashed him a quick smile. He jutted his chin upwards by way of a gruff greeting, and then turned back to his work for the woman in front of you who was currently leaning against the rustic, dark-topped wooden bar.

When you saw her, you wondered how on earth you could possibly have missed her, but you’d been so distracted by the unexpected sight of a huge centaur in a dainty, pastel-themed coffee shop that perhaps it was understandable. As she turned to see who the centaur had been looking at, you found your breath catching and your mind stalling. She had to be Fae. White hair fell around her porcelain face in soft waves, coming halfway down her back, and her eyes were large and definitely inhuman somehow, the colour of forget-me-nots and shining with a too-bright glimmer.

Her clothes looked handmade too, perfectly tailored to her body which wasn’t quite as waifish and willowy as you’d first thought. Wearing a loose, white, sleeveless tunic, belted at the waist and ending halfway up her thighs, and ash-grey leggings that disappeared into soft, leather boots, she had toned, strong arms and her shoulders were dappled with beautiful, barely-there freckles.

The centaur caught you staring and scowled a little from behind her, but the young woman only smiled at you.

Her rosebud mouth curled into an extraordinarily pretty smile that left your heart racing, her cheeks dimpling, and then she turned back to take her drink from the centaur and spoke. In a delicately accented voice, she thanked him and wished him and his family well. “I’ll be by tomorrow with those paintings you wanted for the display in the corner,” she added.

The centaur - apparently called Finn - nodded, looking almost as thunderstruck as you felt, but he recovered more quickly.

The Fae woman met your gaze once more and smiled again, nodding. “Hi,” she said as she passed you, and as she left the cafe, it felt like she took all the air out with her.

Read the whole thing right now, along with all the other Mermay stories this month, over on my Patreon!

[coffeecomicsgalore]

25 Days of Adrien (+6 of Marinette)

For my LadyNoir fans.

Part of the MLHolidays2k19 Prompts

Ao3

Chapter 2 - Hot Cocoa

After another amazing evening together, the night eventually had to end. Adrien needed to finish some homework and get ready for an early morning photo shoot, and Marinette had to work on a commission – at least that’s what she had told Adrien to excuse herself for the night.

Once she kissed Adrien good night, Marinette ran up to her room to get ready for patrol. She always looked forward to these nights. It helped her relieve some of the stress from all the problems of the day. She may not have many problems right now, especially now that she is with Adrien, but her only problem is keeping her secret identity from him.

She hates that she has to keep this secret from Adrien. Hates that she has to hide this half of her life. But yet, it also feels so freeing. Running across the rooftops, swinging alongside the monuments. She feels so carefree in those moments.  

One of her favorite parts is spending those moments with her best friend. That makes keeping this secret so much easier, especially knowing he has to do the same.

She and Chat Noir have gotten so close over the last few years. After a year of being in this role, Chat had finally stopped pining for her, moving on a few times that ended in heartbreak for him. She did the same, moving on from Adrien that led to heartbreak a few times over. Moving on from the deep first love was just as hard for her as it was for him.  

They both became the comfort each other needed to move past the heartbreak, growing their friendship so much closer. When they both entered into their new relationships a few months ago, they couldn’t be happier for each other. From what she gathered, this girl was good for him, someone he needed to help him through the hard times.  

Thinking of her leather-clad partner, she decides that she needs to do something for him today. She really wasn’t in the mood for patrol and just wanted to relax a bit instead. She collects a basket of goodies from the bakery – some of their favorite pastries along with a thermos full of warm goodness – to bring with her tonight. A blanket for warmth is definitely needed for this evening’s “patrol”. The snow is falling a little harder now, but still light enough that it won’t weigh down on them as they relax for a bit.

“What are you doing, Marinette?” Her pink kwami asks sweetly.

Marinette hands her over a cookie. “I know Chat doesn’t have a loving home, at least that’s what I’ve gathered over the years. I know this is a hard time of year for him so I thought I could cheer him up a bit with some of his favorite treats.”

“You’re so sweet, Marinette! He’s very lucky to have a friend like you.”

She thinks of him as she finishes packing the sweets. “He’s one of my best friends, Tikki. I could never let him feel alone or unloved.”

She finishes gathering all the supplies before turning to the kwami. “Tikki, spots on!”

She transforms and gathers all the items before swinging out of her skylight. She heads off to their favorite meeting spot, swinging from monument to monument. She runs across the rooftops as quickly and steadily as she can with the items in her hands, all without falling off the snow-covered roofs. As she swings towards the Eiffel tower, she sees a black figure sitting on the beam, swinging his legs as he sings his favorite song.  

“Little kitty on the roof, all alone without his- oh, hey bug!” Chat says with a smile.

“Sorry I’m late, Chaton. But I have some treats to make it up to you.”

Chat smiled with his Cheshire Cat grin. Ladybug handed him the basket as she laid out the blanket. He opened the basket to smell the treats. The air around them started to fill with the sweetness of the pastries. “Ooh, is that a strawberry tart I smell?”

“Yes, and I also brought some croissants too!”

“Oh bugaboo, you know a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

She stifled a giggle. “What, does your girlfriend not feed you enough?”

“She feeds me plenty, but I can never say no when you bring me treats.”

As they sit on the blanket, she pours him some hot cocoa into the mugs she brought along. “Treats and hot cocoa? What’s the occasion bug?”

She looks over to him and feels a little ping in her chest. “Nothing at all, Chat. I just wanted to spoil one of my favorite fellas today.”

“Well this is a cat-tastic treat then, my lady.” He grabs a croissant and tears into one with his teeth.  

She laughs at the pun as she hands his mug over to him. She grabs a chocolate éclair and bites into the pastry, some of the filling oozing out onto her gloved hand.

“I’m such a mess.” Ladybug says as before licking off the goop.

He lets out a laugh. “Never a mess, bug.”

Chat takes a sip of his cocoa before placing it down beside him. He brings his arms back a bit, allowing him to lean back and soak up the view. The snow was slowly dissipating, but the landscape was covered in a beautiful dusting. The trees, rooftops, and roads were covered in white, making everything feel breathtakingly new.  

They sit and stare at the sight for a while before the silence becomes too much to bear.

“You know...” Chat waits until he can feel Ladybug look over to him as he continues to stare into the speckled void, “I’m happy to have both of my favorite ladies in my life. It makes this cat’s life a little bit brighter.”

Ladybug gives him a loving smile. “I’m glad that you’re in my life too Chaton. I couldn’t imagine having my life without you.” She leans over to him and gives him a kiss on the cheek.  

He smiles back at her as he picks up his mug. He brings it over to her as he says, “Thank you for being here for me. Thanks for being in my life.”

Ladybug takes her own mug and clinks it against his. “Thank you for being in mine.”

She lays her head against his shoulder, enjoying the moment together. They sit there in silence for a bit longer, finishing their treats. The night was quiet enough. Skipping patrol would be okay just for today.  

[bhumiworld]

Why Choose Cladito International for Thermo Pine Wooden Cladding?

Cladito International, based in Delhi, is the best company for Thermo Pine Wooden Cladding. Cladito International offer clients the best services and have a skilled team of experts who are trained for years to supply the best cladding services Several customers from Delhi have shown their gratitude after receiving Thermo Pine Wooden Cladding Delhi services.

The products that the company used for the Cladding Services are high quality and are resistant to changing weather conditions. The most fascinating thing about dealing with Cladito International is that We provide customers with designs and profiles that are unique, they use various species of wood, size length and also grade. Thermo pine adds beauty to the roof top and is a natural product of nature. 

Thermo wood has great endurance and finality. The wood cladding is ecological and clean and also increases stability.  The facade decreased the distorting, swelling and shrinkage and also increased the beauty and appeal of the wood. 

The Thermo cladding is extremely affordable and it can be used for different industrial applications. It is one of the best options that is chosen. 

Wood cladding with the use of pine is easy to work with. Thermo wood facade rotes and is resistant. The cladding of Pinewood is suitable for extremely high foot traffic places. 

Why Cladito International Is the Best for Thermo Pine Wooden Cladding? 

Cladito International offers customers Thermo Pine Cladding that is environmentally friendly and durable. The products that are used are not processed using chemicals. It is processed using heat and environment-friendly chemicals. The Thermo cladding is usually made to enhance the structural aesthetics. The cladding that the company offers has a smooth and hard surface and it is durable. It resists decaying and it is stable dimensionally. 

The wood pine that is used for the application is decay proof and can withstand the changing weather conditions. 

Cladito International has a team of fabricators and carpenters who provide customers with support craftsmanship. We choose amazing materials that help you get amazing results at the end. The crew of this company knows and therefore they are capable of mending the problem that is faced by some people related to Decking and Thermo Pine Cladding with efficiency. 

The group has professionals who are committed and have extensive field knowledge. Our expertise in using the right machines and tools enables the company to provide timely services to the customer. 

Other Features Of Thermo Pine Cladding Delhi Services

Cladito International provides you with services using wood that is anti-termite and increases the aesthetics of the building. These services that you receive from the company are known for their durability, rich, warm and amazing beauty. It is the best choice that people make and it also increases the overall value of your house. 

Cladito International products that make your outdoor space look elegant and classy. 

Some more features that make these services better are: 

• It is Eco-friendly and a hundred percent natural wood is used. 

• The wood can last for more than twenty-five years 

•  Fire, weather, mould and also resistant to termite

• The surface is natural and feel of nature with weatherproof feature thermo treatments.

• The material used is harder and more durable

• It will not sink in the water and it is the densest hardwood 

• It has a higher level of tannic acid which makes it resistant to mould, insects, and decay. 

 It can withstand all the changes that occur in weather and does not decay

Hire experts from Cladito International and get Thermo Pine Wooden Cladding Delhi services within your budget. Choose the designs that you would love to have outdoors and increase the level of worth of your building. It will increase the overall look and value of your house.  

Cladito International is the best company for these services and they provide you with excellent products and materials at an affordable rate. You would not be disappointed by the services that the professionals and experts of Cladito International offer to customers in Delhi and other parts of the country.

[pergola800]

Thermowood Pergola – The Ultimate Material You Should Consider

Thermowood is the most cutting-edge material available. Thermowood, sometimes known as thermally treated wood, is becoming increasingly popular in Dubai and across the world. In fact, thermowood raises the bar for landscaping projects.

The most interesting fact is that it has a natural look and feel, as well as outstanding resilience and impact resistance, even in the harshest climates. It’s perfect for decks and a variety of outdoor buildings including sun blinds, pergolas, wall panels, and fences.

Not only that, thermowood is harmless to use due to its non-toxic composition, and its low weight makes it simple to handle. It also stands out from other wood products with extremely smooth texture and natural appearance.

In this blog, we have put together a comprehensive reference to Thermowood so you can see why it is the ultimate material that you must consider.

What is Thermowood?

As the name implies, thermally transformed hardwood and softwood have been heat-treated to uncover some very significant benefits. The wood is roasted to a temperature above 100 degrees till it gets transformed into a completely new material, which is a perfectly natural and non-toxic treatment.

The heating procedure is done in an oxygen-free atmosphere, eliminating chemical molecules from the lumber cells and permanently altering the wood. The resultant wood is far more stable, with very little moisture absorption. Insects and fungi that cause timber deterioration have less to feed on as a result of the increased durability. Thermowood is exceptionally lightweight due to its low water content, making it suited for a broad array of applications.

In addition to the internal structure of the wood changing as a result of the extreme heat treatment, Thermowood has a distinct appearance. Thermally treated wood has a thick, dark brown color, giving it an appealing, almost exotic aspect. Many designers and architects choose this chocolate color since it can be kept with the correct finishing or left to deteriorate naturally to a grey hue.

The most common tree species, including Ash, Spruce, Pine, Frake, and Ayous, are amenable to thermal alteration. However, as oak is inherently sturdy, it is not readily accessible for thermal modification. But still many people are using thermal modification techniques to improve its beauty.

What makes thermally modified wood a preferable choice?

The benefits of thermo-modified wood are extensive, with lighter weight and structural durability being only two of the characteristics that make it the first option for many applications. It does not deform or lose form as much as genuine wood due to its resilience and low solubility. Instead, it keeps its contour for several years, ensuring maximum performance with little upkeep. Another advantage is its resilience to mold, rot, and insects.

Thermowood is not only good for the ventures it is employed on, but it is also beneficial to the environment. Thermowood is far more ecologically friendly since it is treated with simply heat and vapor, instead of the chemicals that are generally employed. This is why, in addition to its strength and longevity, the vast majority of the people chose this particular method.

As compared to other chemical options, the chemical-free approach utilized to change the wood is healthier. Human health can be harmed simply by coming into touch with chemically treated wood or inhaling in the air that surrounds it. As a result, Thermowood is a healthier and safer option to pressure-treated wood.

Where can Thermowood be used?

Thermowood is a natural option for cladding because of its strength and mold resistance, as well as its outstanding thermal properties. It may also be utilized in other exterior applications, such as hardwood decking, siding, and flooring, that are prone to constant wet weather. Even in less stable, high-moisture situations, such as basements, it is giving enviable solutions.

Thermowood, with exception of pressure-treated wood, can be installed in combination with metal too. Metals in touch with thermally changed wood do not corrode as much due to its reduced moisture content, however, stainless steel is usually preferred.

Where can you get quality assured Thermowood Pergola?

With 800PERGOLA, you can now have the highest-quality thermowood pergola professionally installed on your property. As one of the top thermowood manufacturers in Dubai, they hold specialization in offering high-quality, personalized services to their clients. To learn more, you can choose to connect with their customer service team over the phone or Whatsapp to get a price for your thermowood pergola straight away.

[au-mex]

Au-Mex Ltd. is involved with the production and supply of high-quality wooden products that are used in building construction, flooring and even interior design. The company prides itself on offering products that are leading in the industry in terms of quality, durability, special designs and aesthetic appeal.

The company has its head offices in the Prague, Czech Republic with several strategic production centres in the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Russia. These are close to wood sources and are important in ensuring the constant supply of raw material.

The company strategy is to develop a highly efficient and seamless wood products supply chain that delivers quality and affordability to our clients. This can only be achieved by taking charge of the production process, efficient logistics, and sound management practices.

For Engineered oak flooring visit at - https://www.au-mex.com/products/wooden-engineered-flooring

For Industrial ash parquet visit at - https://www.au-mex.com/products/solid-wood-flooring/oak-ash-parquets/solid-oak-industrial-parquet

For Merbau decking visit at - https://www.au-mex.com/products/wooden-decking/exotic-species

For Solid Oak Flooring visit at - https://www.au-mex.com/products/solid-wood-flooring

For Teak Decking visit at - https://www.au-mex.com/products/wooden-decking/exotic-species/teak

For Thermo Ash Decking visit at - https://www.au-mex.com/products/wooden-decking/softwoods/thermowood-pine

For Thermo Ash Cladding visit at - https://www.au-mex.com/products/wood-cladding

[katymacsupernatural]

Sleigh Ride

Sam Winchester x Reader

1100 Words

Summary: Sam surprises the reader with a sleigh ride. Butthat’s not the only thing he surprises her with. 

This is for @thing-you-do-with-that-thing and @like-a-bag-of-potatoes 12 Days of Christmas Challenge. Today’s prompt: Riding in a one horse open sleigh.

“Sam!” You giggled breathlessly as the man in question bent down, tying a bandana around your neck. “What are you doing?”

Making sure the bandana was snug, Sam leaned down, his warm breath trailing across the sensitive skin of your neck. “Something that should have been done a long time ago.”

Standing there, the hair on the back of your neck rose as Sam's hand slid slowly down your side, before his fingers intertwined with yours. “Are you ready?” He whispered, before picking you up in his arms. Without warning your entire world shifted, weightless as Sam held you tight against his chest, up in the air.

Without a struggle, Sam carried you down the hallway. Without your sight, you relied on your other senses, the coolness of the room telling you he had made his way into the garage.

Letting you slide down his long and lanky body, he steadied you against him, as you heard the door creak open. With his hand gently pushing on your head, he helped you inside, leaning in to buckle your seatbelt.

Sitting there,  you fought the urge to pull the bandana off as Sam started the car. “It's about a ten minute drive.” He started explaining.

“And I have to keep this on the entire time?” You asked, his chuckle your answer.

“Most definitely. Can't ruin the surprise.”

Suddenly you felt his hand reaching for yours, holding it tight as he continued to drive. “Here we are!” He exclaimed when you didn't think you could handle being in the dark any longer.

Reaching up to take off the bandana, he stopped you. “No, not yet.”

“Sam.” You whined, as he came around the car.

“You are so impatient.” He teased, but you could fill his hands working to undo the knot holding the bandana in place.

Once you could see again, your mouth hung open, amazed at what was in front of you.

You had felt the chill in the air, and now you could see the snow softly falling to the ground.  Trees lined both sides of the small parking lot, pine trees covered in a dusting of snow. In front of you was a small covered bridge, decorated with lights and garlands. Beyond, you could see horses and reindeer, and small buildings selling small trinkets. “Oh Sam, it's wonderful! You exclaimed, letting him take your hand and walk through the old fashioned covered bridge.

“Just wait and see what I have planned.” He told you, excitement lacing his words.  

“Hello Mr. Winchester.” An older lady exclaimed, coming up and shaking his hand. “Everything is set up for you.”

She guided the two of of towards the stables where a beautiful wooden sleigh sat, already hooked up to a large horse. A man with salt and pepper hair sat in the front, the reins in his hands. “Is that for us?” You asked, and Sam nodded, a nervous smile crooked on his face.

“You planned all of this?” You asked him, and he nodded. Cupping his cheek, you stood on your tiptoes, barely brushing your lips across his cheek.

After helping you into the back of the sleigh, Sam reached back down, taking the blanket and thermos the woman handed up. Tucking the blanket around the two of you, Sam turned to the driver, nodding.

The sleigh set off, a gentle pace across the snow covered ground, following a bath around the small farm, through pine trees. The snow was still coming down, dusting Sam’s mahagony hair, slowly turning it white. Reaching over, Sam pulled you snug against his side, his arm wrapped around your shoulder as the two of you enjoyed the ride in silence.

As the ride continued, and the trees grew closer and closer, you could literally feel the nervous energy rolling off of Sam in waves. “Sam, is everything okay?” You asked him.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t things be okay?” He mumbled, just as you passed through a thick patch of fur trees.

“You seem kind of tense.” You whispered, your eyes widening at the scene in front of you.

It was a small open area surrounded by snow covered pine trees. In the middle were hundreds of lights, carefully put together to form words. “Sam, look, isn’t that beautiful?” You breathed out, wondering who had taken the time and thought to put that together. Knowing whoever the recipient was was a very lucky girl.

“It is. What do you think of it?” He asked you carefully, his eyes never leaving your face to look at the words spelled out in glittery lights.

“I think that whoever this girl is that that sign is made for is very lucky.” You answered, before you began to put things together. “Sam, is that…. Did you..?”

He nodded, and you covered your mouth with your mitten clad hand. “This is really for me?”

“Yes.” He answered simply, and you glanced back at the lights spelling out Marry Me?

“Sam, I’m…. you went through all this trouble?” You asked him, knowing in a million years you would have never guessed this.

“Y/N, you’re the love of my life. Our lives aren’t easy, and I should have done this a long time ago. But I know that I want you in my life, forever. As my wife. So what do you say?”

“I say yes!” You exclaimed, throwing your arms around his neck, accidentally rocking the sleigh, making the horse nervous. “Sam, this is wonderful!”

“I’m glad you liked it.” He answered, all the tension immediately leaving his body. Smiling widely at him, you cupped his cheeks, marveling at how adorable he looked with his bright red nose and sparkling hazel eyes. This man meant so much to you, more than you ever thought anyone would. You couldn’t believe all the work he had gone through to make this even more special for you.

“I even got a ring, but I thought it could wait until we got back to the bunker, and celebrated with Dean, who’s nervously waiting to hear the news.” Sam explained, as the driver continued on, slowly circling back to the ranch.

“Is he excited?” You asked hopefully. You and Dean were close, but you were afraid he wouldn’t be happy about Sam getting so close to someone else.

“More than happy. He’s been telling me for weeks now that I’ve been waiting too long to do this.” Sam answered, as you snuggled deeper against him. “I hate to say it, but he was right. I should have done this a long time ago.”

“But I’m kind of glad you waited. Because today was perfect.” You whispered.

Sam/Jared Tags:

@a-girl-who-loves-disney @barbedwireandbubblegum @jared-padaloveme @mysteriously-lost @lenaabs @sadmac356 @sizzlingbearpolice @sortaathief @queen--glitch

Forever Tags(Closed): 

 @16wiishes @amanda-teaches @andreaaalove @angelsandwinchesters @anxuanpham @artisticpoet @atc74 @babydanixox @bambinovak @bea789 @be-amaziing @beltz2016 @benjerry707 @bish-its-me @bohowitch @boxywrites @bradygabrielle-blog @brooke-supernatural16  @brunettechick 

@buffytheangelslayer @camelotandastronauts @cantsleepian @cascar24 @castielhasthetardis @captainaudreystark @captainemwinchester @captainradicalpassion @chelsea072498 @clairese1980 @createdbybadappreciation  @criesateverything @crystal923  @darthdeziewok

 @delessapeace-blog @destiel-addict-forever @disneychic8 @dixonsvixon2017 @docharleythegeekqueen @dontslurp @dslocum89 @duckieburns @easelweasel  @edward-lover18 @emmazach @emoryhemsworth @emmysthougts @ericaprice2008 @evyiione @essie1876 @extreme-supernatural-lover @faegal04  @freddy-fuckboy-tammy 

@gabriels-trix @generalgoldfishldrm @ginamsmith @gloria1097  @goldenolaf25 @growningupgeek @haleyhay96 @hetsgrinch @hollandisstilinski @hunterpuff @iliketowrite02 @imboredsueme @impatient-witch @inlovewithbja @iriyelle  @ithinkimadorable-67 @iwriteaboutdean 

@jarpadandjensenaremyheroes @jayankles @jenna-luke @jensen-gal @juatanotherbandgirl @just-another-busy-fangirl @karlee-fay-my-wayward-son @katelynbkool @keelzy2 @likesiriusly @linki-locks11 @li-ssu @littleblue5mcdork @livingasafangirl @loricwizardbluetoastedcake @love-untiltheresnoloveleft @lowlyapprentice  @mariahoedt 

@marvelandwinchesters927 @maui137 @mellowlandrunaway @mogaruke @moosesamdeancasbees @mrsbatesmotel53 @mrssamfuckingwinchester @mrswhozeewhatsis @myplaceofthingsilove @my-squirrel-and-moose @nanie5 @naviwhite  @nerdybookwormsinger @ohgodjensen @oneshoeshort 

@padackles2010 @pancake-pages @percussiongirl2017 @pilaxia @pizzarollpatrol @plaid-lover-bay25 @jayankles @procratsinator @quiverhope @randomthings077 @ria132love @riversong-sam @rosegoldquintis @roxyspearing @sai-kida134 @samisimportant @sammysgirl1997 @sandlee44

 @sanity-is-overratedxp @saoirsewhittle @sgarrett49 @sgtbxckybxrnes @shamelesslydean @simplycheyenneautumn @spnbaby67 @spnbaby-67  @spn-dscc @starstruck-sugg @summer-binging-spn @superbadassnatural @supernatural-jackles   @tardis-full-of-fallen-angels @tatortot2701 

@thebikiniinspector @the--blackdahlia @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @thoughtsoftheantagonist  @tokentransboy @trashforwinchesters @tunadean @upon-a-girl  @vvinch3st3r @walkslikesummeractslikerain @waywardmoeyy @winchester-writes @wonderange @zombiewerewolfqueen

[himalayanseo]

Cherish the Best Peak Climbing Expeditions with Himalayan Adventure Trips

In the midst of our busy lives, an adventure in the mountaineering expedition offers more than just an escape from the humdrum of modern life. Mountain climbing awakens the spirit of adventure when we explore the verdant valleys, between the dense forests, and crystal glaciers that have a perfect dazzling experience.

Peak climbing expeditions in India is an ideal way to experience adventure throughout the -summer season. From green to snow-filled peaks, the trekkers get the chance to capture the blessed beauty of Mother Nature.

So, are you ready to take on the adventure thrill?

Here are Some of the Best Tour Destinations for Mountain Climbing in India.

For the Beginners

Friendship Peak Expedition:

Friendship peak is one of the most majestic mountain peaks. It is a wanderlust 5289-meter trail, that runs on the Pir Panjal mountain range in Himachal Range.

If this is your first expedition then, you should go for this trip filled with adventure. This is a perfect trek for beginners and you can enjoy the fun of mountaineering.

This peak highlights the infinite beauty of nature. Tourists from all over the planet come here to climb the three magnificent ranges with its breath-taking views- Pir Panjal Range, the Great Himalayan Range, and the Dhauladhar Range.

The beautiful glistening rays falling on the expansive snow-capped foothills of mountains, the dense forests. Friendship peak will give you a spectacular panoramic experience. So, what are you waiting for? Book your expedition and have a wonderful trek.

Cheema Peak Expedition:

The hike from the Cheema peak in Lahaul Himalayas covers 3 to 4 days on an amazing scenic trail at the height of 6105 m with a nearby view of Karcha Nala.

This peak is known for the unique humongous height that offers marvelous and breath-taking views of the surrounding lower valleys. While taking an exhilarating trek, you will cross the rivers five times. Starting from the Moon Lake, the Chandratal Lake that will surely quench your eyes with its spectacular view. The mountain ranges comprise slopes and valleys that are loved by backpackers and trekkers.

Mount Deo Tibba Expedition:

Known as 'the God Hill', Deo Tibba is a beautiful trek in the Manali region. Covered with snow-capped mountains, it is located in the Kullu district at a height of 6001 m in the Pir Panjal range of mountains. Gradually, it is considered the beginners' peak as it is not so high.

Tourists from all over the world come here to see the emerald blue waters at the foot of Deo Tibba peak. This is a dome-shaped peak where you will be trekking through the lovely forests of the Kullu valley gushing through the trees. Trek to Deo Tibba Base is a treat to the eyes. It is one of the most beautiful treks in the country. It takes trekkers through the beautiful meadows giving glimpses of snow-clad peaks of Deo Tibba and Indrasan and the glaciers of Jagatsukh and Deo Tibba.

For the Intermediate and experienced

Kedarnath Dome Peak Expedition:

Kedarnath, one of the most spectacular crests in the Himalayan region, for both nature lovers and ardent trekkers who tend to enjoy the experience of peak climbing in dazzling weather. Kedarnath dome peak expiation is especially beautiful in the winter months, the magical sunrise dome 6,940 m.

The forested floors of the massive mountain peaks with the meadows of the pine trees make a stunning backdrop to your communal journey. Kedarnath has the most gorgeous campsites, full of harmony especially that will surely help in rejuvenating the soul in Akruti Thach campsite, which is so alluring.

Pangarchulla Peak Expedition:

If you are an adventure enthusiast and want to satisfy the desire for mountain climbing, then consider Pangarchulla peak in your wish list destination. It measures a good altitude of 4575 meters above sea level and stands as an ideal rising destination for trekkers.

With the start of the summer season, countless tourists check out Pangarchulla and take the chance to experience climbing uphill. While on the trek you will be able to explore Joshimath and the glorious views associated with Nanda Devi.

Mamostong Kangri Peak Expedition:

Mamostong Kangri Peak expedition is located in Nubra Valley of Ladakh. An expedition route can be a marvel, testing human endurance to its limit and providing succor at just the right moment. Mamostong Kangri expedition is such test of endurance that offers stunning views of peaks over 7516 M. It flaunts a diverse range of flora and fauna along with high passes, gushing rivers and extreme altitude, also known as "Mountain of thousand Devils'

Mount Mamostong Kangri Expedition is only for experienced trekkers and aspiring climbers. To climb this expedition, you have to be a good mountaineer and experienced.

Things to Carry While Planning Mountaineering Trips:

If you plan to go mountain climbing in India this year, then here are the few essentials that must carry for your expedition.

Some of them are as follows:

Climbing Gears: Helmet, hiking poles, Headlamps

Clothes & Accessories: Mountaineering boots, Thermal mountaineering socks, light-weighted Layers of sweaters, and coats, Raincoats,

Other essentials: compass, extra food, first-aid kit, thermos

There are a number of essentials required when you go mountaineering. These are just a glimpse.

Conclusion:

The beautiful mountains of India act as a one-stop destination for the peak climbing expedition for all the mountain climbers in the world. Expect to spend the most unforgettable moments of your life in the mountains with the best Mountaineering expedition packages.

The mountain climbing offers you to cover diverse terrain and adventure camping in a treasure chest of beautiful trekking trails.

[aruneshgoyal]

1. Sari - Symbol Of Love Or A Napkin?

Sumati and Prakash are studying in the Delhi University; Sumati in B.A. I Year while Prakash in Economics (H) III Year. Prakash is brilliant at academics while Sumati is at best an average student. But, she makes up for it with other qualities like sincerity of purpose, love and affection for fellow beings, sensitivity towards others’ feelings and so on. On the other hand, Prakash is a bit rude & arrogant but overcomes these negatives with graceful charm and gay abandon attitude. It is for these reasons that Sumati is attracted towards Prakash. Prakash too is aware of Sumati’s feelings and has a soft corner for her in his heart of hearts. At the annual function this year, Prakash is to be felicitated for his all-round brilliance by the Chief Guest, Mr. Amitabh Bacchhan, who is himself alumni of the institute way back in the seventies. The versatile actor has since then come a long way having been part of TV programs like KBC (“Kaun Banega Crorepati?”) amongst others. In fact, he is now a full-fledged film celebrity in his own right. Now, it so happened on the day of the function that it started raining heavily and the entire program went haywire & topsy-turvy. 

Amit Ji got delayed in the resulting traffic snarls & imbroglios and the function started late. It was supposed to begin at 7:00 pm but could only start around 8:45 pm. The two hours delay caused the program to end late in the night around 11:00 pm. Of course, Prakash had no reason to complain and was beaming with smiles all around as he went to collect his coveted prize – “A Mathematics Fun Puzzle Booklet” – from Mr. Amitabh. 

Sumati was watching the entire show with great keenness, especially the proud moment Prakash received his trophy from the honorable Chief Guest, who in his keynote address to the students had exhorted and called upon them to not only showcase their talents but realize them to their full potential for the mutual benefit of one and all. He was, of course, lustily and loudly cheered at every word and got a rousing reception and a standing ovation from the motley gathering, which had come in large numbers just to have a close glimpse of their favorite star in spite of the heavy rains. Be that as it may, after the end of the function, there was hardly any transport available and Sumati was left stranded high and dry on her own. Anyway, she started walking towards her PG (Paying Guest) room at least 4 km away. Just then, she heard a horn beside her. It was Prakash riding on his Bajaj scooter. He offered her a lift and she after a bit of hesitation, accepted it gracefully. 

The road journey was far from smooth and straightforward. In view of the rains, several potholes had come up all along the way and even though Prakash tried to negotiate them as well as he could, the scooter bumped many a time. Anyway, they arrived at the PG house safely whereupon Sumati not only congratulated Prakash heartily for his fine achievement but also invited him in for a cup of tea/coffee as it was getting quite cold now. Prakash told her that he be better on his way now as it was getting too late and as for tea/coffee, he could come some other time. And, on this note, they parted company that day. 

But, it was not long before they met again. It was Sumati’s Birthday and she had been to Lord Shiva’s temple, first thing in the morning, asking for an able & decent life partner as she entered the nineteenth year of her life. Her friends wanted a birthday treat and after the classes, they decided to go to the Nirulas @ Connaught Place for the reason. Prakash too had inkling of what all was going on and the very next day after the college was over, he accosted Sumati and wished her a very happy albeit belated birthday. Sumati, though inwardly happy at the turn of events, said at length – “why? Why didn’t you wish me yesterday?” “Because yesterday, you were too busy with your friends” – came the prompt reply. “And, I wanted to wish you with nobody else around!” he added. “Oh!” – Sumati blushed. “Won’t you invite me for tea/coffee today?” – Prakash continued. “Why not” – said Sumati and the two of them made their way to Sumati’s PG room on Prakash’s scooter. After tea, Sumati insisted that Prakash have dinner with her as well.  And, of course, after dinner, both felt like a good round of warm stimulating coffee. Prakash regretted the fact that he had not brought any birthday gift for Sumati. Sumati replied that that can wait and in any case, the fact that he had personally come to greet her was more than enough and she did not need anything else. 

After that day, their meetings and meeting places increased by leaps and bounds. Both knew they were in love and there could be no denying or regretting about this. Finally, as Prakash finished his graduation and got a job in Hindustan Unilever Ltd., he proposed to Sumati for marriage. Sumati initially was reluctant especially citing the fact that she had not yet finished college but Prakash told her that there was no need for any more college studies for her now and in any case she could complete her studies by correspondence. Sumati had no answer to Prakash’s logic and after a brief period of romantic engagement, they finally tied the nuptial knot on September 21. 

The first few months of their married life were all bliss and happiness. Prakash doted on Sumati a lot and showered on her gifts of all kinds. Be it her wardrobe or her kitchen or her toiletries/cosmetics, nothing was left. They celebrated their first anniversary by a candle lit dinner at the Taj. This was the experience of a lifetime for Sumati she had longed for in her dreams and often wondered at this marvel and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Clad in a black nylon silk sari Prakash had especially brought for her to mark the occasion, she indeed looked chic and ravishing amidst the glowing beauty and white splendor of the Taj. The black sari was indeed a white symbol of love between the two thirsty lovers pining for more and more. 

Coming back from the Taj Mahal, Sumati & Prakash boarded the Taj Express bound for New Delhi from platform no. 11. They had brought only two sets of clothes for this one day tour/journey of theirs. Sumati had kept away the black nylon silk sari gifted to her by Prakash at this moment and was wearing a simple white sleeveless suit comprising a kurti, a salwaar & a dupatta. After the luncheon served by the pantry car, Prakash suddenly started coughing and vomiting violently. “What happened” – Sumati tried to control the situation. “Here, take some water” – she poured out a glass from the biggish 2l Eagle thermos flask. But, Prakash was going and getting out of control. 

In spite of Sumati’s herculean efforts, he vomited on the two train berths meant for them. Sumati tried to make Prakash lie down but he won’t. Only when he had wiped the seats clean with the black nylon silk sari (much to Sumati’s dismay & discomfiture) did he find some peace! Sumati was perforce forced to think – “IS SARI A SYMBOL OF LOVE OR A WASTE NAPKIN??”  

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