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spencers-renaissance · 3 years

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Emergency Contact

Summary: When Spencer ends up in the hospital again, his emergency contact — who happens to be his boyfriend, Luke Alvez — is called. Too bad he hasn't told the team about him yet...

Tags: whump, h/c, hurt spencer, broken ribs, coming out, relationship reveal, protective derek, team as family, fluff, au: different first meeting

Pairing: Luke Alvez x Spencer Reid // (heavy on the Derek & Spencer friendship, too)

Word Count: 2.6k

Masterlist // Read on AO3 // Bad Things Happen Bingo

Okay, so Emily was not in S11, but for this fic she is, because I wanted supportive Penemily and that's what I gave myself. Other than that, this fills the square "broken ribs" for my Bad Things Happen bingo card. Enjoy the whump mixed with fluff!

Spencer doesn’t mean to get hurt again, but he also isn’t exactly surprised when it happens. If anything, Hotch really needs to stop sending him out to scope places and suspects out by himself. Surely Tobias Hankel proved he’s a trouble magnet in that regard years ago.

The summerhouse the suspect rents is a nice enough place to lay incapacitated while he waits for back-up, he supposes, but he’s not exactly able to lie and enjoy the sunshine when his ribs have been smashed in with a metal baseball bat and he knows the suspect is currently hightailing it down the beach. Not to mention the fact that it’s worryingly difficult to breathe.

Still, it’s better than a dilapidated cabin in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere Georgia, pumped full of heroin while his feet are whipped. Small mercies.

“Goddamnit, Spencer, again?” Derek asks amusedly when he finally arrives and crouches down by his side, but the undercurrent of worry in his voice doesn’t elude him.

“Sorry,” he wheezes, still winded and in immense pain from the ambush. “I didn’t see him coming.”

Derek raises a brow, chuckling slightly. “Yeah, pretty boy, I figured that.” His hand goes to Spencer’s hair as his expression furrows in concern again. “Did you see where he went? I’ll send the others after him while I go with you to the hospital.”

Spencer smiles a little, relieved that he won’t be alone. It’s become a strange sort of tradition to sit in one another’s hospital rooms after the job kicks their ass, and he’s glad Derek isn’t about to break it now.

“I saw him turn right out of the backdoor, but that’s all,” he says breathlessly, before cringing at the effort and folding in on himself even more.

“Okay, Spencer,” Derek says soothingly. “Just relax. The ambulance will be here any second.”

He obeys and closes his eyes as he listens to Derek call Hotch on the radio and send the team in the right direction before coming back to sit next to him on the floor.

“This might be one of the nicer places one of our unsubs has owned, huh?”

Spencer nods, mirroring Derek’s morbid amusement. “Crime pays better than investigating it,” he manages, smiling up at his friend.

He snorts. “You can say that again. With the way the market’s turned in the last couple years it’s more like this is my hobby and my properties are my day job, rather than the other way round.”

Spencer tries to reply, but he moves involuntarily in amusement, and a fresh wave of pain has him wincing again, trying to will the tears away.

“You’re alright, Spence,” Derek says gently, his hand returning to his hair. “Help will be here soon, okay?”

Thankfully, the medics do show up in a semi-timely fashion, and both of them are loaded into the back of the ambulance as the EMTs check him over, Derek’s hand not leaving his person unless it absolutely has to.

“How many times were you hit, Dr Reid?”

He cringes. “Four.” It’s almost embarrassing that the unsub got four hits in, and the only reason there weren’t more is because he was fleeing the scene, not because Spencer was able to fight back. He tries to remind himself that there isn’t much you can do when caught-off guard by a furious arsonist armed with a steel baseball bat, but his ego is still bruised. Albeit not as badly as his poor ribs.

“I’m gonna fucking kill him,” Derek mutters under his breath, his grip tightening on Spencer’s shoulder minutely enough for him to know he isn’t doing it consciously.

Spencer smiles appreciatively, closing his eyes against the pain. The non-narcotic painkillers they’re feeding him through the IV really aren’t doing anything.

“I think you’ve managed to avoid internal bleeding,” the EMT says, all though he tacks on a pointed, “just. But I’m concerned about the possibility of a punctured lung. There’s a chance your trouble breathing is solely pain-induced, but I don’t like the way your chest sounds. The doctors will check everything out when we get to the hospital, and get you all patched up.”

“Hold in there,” Derek says urgently. “I really can’t have you dying on me, pretty boy.”

Spencer smiles as comfortingly as he can through the immense pain in his chest and his mangled breathing. “Trust me, I don’t intend on it.”

The x-ray reveals two broken ribs and confirms the paramedic’s suspicions of a punctured lung, although thankfully, minor enough to not require surgery. He’s set up with oxygen and regular nurse check-ups in a quiet room after the doctor is able to remove the excess air in his chest cavity.

“How are you doing, Spence?” Derek asks worriedly as he pulls up a chair next to Spencer’s bed as soon as he’s allowed to see him.

He pulls away his oxygen facemask to answer. “A bit better,” he says, but his voice is dry and raspy from the oxygen so he certainly doesn’t sound it. “The pain meds are actually working now.”

Derek’s tight, anxious expression relaxes slightly. “That’s at least something.”

Spencer nods tiredly, but before he can respond, a nurse is popping her head round the door. “Dr. Reid,” she says genially, “sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve managed to get a hold of your emergency contact, and they’re on their way.”

Spencer’s eyes widen. How could he have forgotten? Granted, he was a little preoccupied with the whole punctured lung, broken ribs thing, but how could he have let it slip his mind that this little accident would lead to the secret he’s been keeping under wraps getting out?

When he’d first met Luke at an FBI gala last year, he never could have foreseen the most intimate and special relationship of his life coming to fruition, but it had. They’d connected on so many different levels, and the chemistry between them felt like something out of one of the fantastical romance novels Penelope reads, and when he’d asked if it was okay for Spencer to put Luke down as his updated emergency contact, he’d been rewarded with a wide, beautiful grin and a firm, heartfelt kiss.

It was serious enough, sure, and they were coming up on having been together for a year, but besides Emily and Penelope — who’d met Luke and developed an amusing, playful rivalry with him — he hadn’t introduced him to anyone on the team.

“On their way?” Derek asks, raising an eyebrow in mild confusion. “Isn’t your contact Hotch? He already knows you’re in the hospital.”

Spencer just stares at him like a rabbit caught in the headlights, completely blanking on something to say. They’re working a local case, so it won’t be long before Luke is bursting into his hospital room armed with cuddles and comfort, and as much as he craves that, he’s too busy panicking about his team finding out to really look forward to it.

Eventually, after watching Derek’s face morph into even stronger, more suspicious confusion, he gives up. They’re going to find out anyway. “I’m dating someone.”

Derek’s face lights up. “Pretty boy!” he exclaims happily, playfully pushing his shoulder as gently as he can. “That’s amazing! Why didn’t you say something? What’s her name?”

Ah. That’s the primary reason he hadn’t told his team about Luke. He’s nowhere close to being ashamed about his sexuality, he accepted himself decades ago, but he’s still not worked up the courage to share that part of himself with his team. Excluding Penelope and Emily who have been together for years (he’s still baffled as to how the others haven’t caught on yet), everyone’s in the dark.

It had started as a basic survival tactic. He’d joined the FBI two years younger than the standard entry age in the early 2000s, and he was far too concerned with just getting by than living outwardly as a gay man. And then, as time went by and he knew his team was accepting and welcoming, he found it too awkward to try and correct people when they assumed he was straight. There just wasn’t ever the right time.

“I’m gay.”

Derek’s happy expression falls and for a split second, Spencer feels a flash of panic. Maybe Derek’s okay with gay people as long as they’re not his immediate friends, as long as he doesn’t playfully call them ‘pretty boy’ and play with their hair when they’re injured, maybe—

“Well, what’s his name, then?”

Spencer looks up from his panic, seeing Derek smiling again, eyes maybe even brighter than they were just seconds ago.

“Wait—”

“Spencer, if you think I’m gonna care that you’re gay — if you think any of us will care that you’re gay, then you have another thing coming,” Derek reassures him. “Wait, that isn’t why you didn’t tell us right?”

He suddenly looks distraught at the idea that Spencer might not have felt comfortable coming out to him, and Spencer rushes to correct him. “No! No, I know everyone would be fine with it, I just didn’t really know how to say it. Penelope and Emily know, but only by accident.”

Derek relaxes, chuckling a little. “I’m sure there’s quite a story there.”

Spencer blushes. “Maybe.”

“I’ll find out later,” he says confidently, winking at him, and something in Spencer loosens at the fact that Derek hasn’t changed his behaviour at all. “But I’m more interested in Mr. Sexy Emergency Contact Mystery Boyfriend Man right now.”

Spencer outright laughs at that, before wincing painfully as his ribs twinge, and he has to fit the oxygen mask around his face again and breathe deeply for a couple of breaths before the nasal cannula can suffice again.

“I met him around this time last year at an FBI gala actually,” Spencer manages. “Everyone on our team bailed except Penelope, Emily, and me. He’s called Luke and he works in the Fugitive Task Force. We just clicked as soon as we met, you know? We have this chemistry that I’ve never felt with anyone before, and we started dating pretty quickly. We actually moved in together last month when his lease was up, but we’re thinking of moving to a bigger, nicer place in Mount Pleasant. Luke’s actually had his eye on this one house that went up…”

He trails off when he notices Derek looking at him strangely, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “What?”

“Nothing,” Derek says gently. “You just look happy, pretty boy. When you started talking about Luke you got this happy, dopey smile on your face, and I’ve just never seen you like that. It’s nice.”

“Oh.” He blushes fiercely at the acknowledgement of just how soft he is for his boyfriend, but it’s not embarrassing, he’s just ridiculously happy and head over heels in love.

Still, feeling a little awkward at the attention, he raises the oxygen mask to his face just for something to do.

“Does he treat you well?” Derek asks seriously, suddenly looking like the FBI tough guy he really is.

Spencer grins and nods, pulling the mask away again. “So good. He’s one of those people that looks out for everyone before himself, you know? He listens to my rambles and tangents like he actually knows and cares about what I’m saying, and he insists on making me every meal we’re both home for. Every day off, he brings me breakfast in bed, and he’ll even suffer through my documentaries even though his favourite thing to watch is action movies. He’s the best boyfriend I could hope for.”

“Good,” Derek says fiercely, even though he’s smiling just a little at the thought of Spencer being taken care of. “But if anything ever changes, I won’t hesitate to—”

“Spencer?” Derek’s interrupted by the door flying over, and a very harried looking Luke Alvez rushing towards the bed, seemingly not noticing the man literally threatening his death right next to him. “Oh my God, Spencer, I was so worried, I thought—”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Spencer says, voice still a little weak. Can’t he at least sound convincing when he’s trying to tell these people that he’s fine? “I’m okay, I’ll be out of here before you know it.”

“Are you sure, baby? Do I need to get the doctor? Have they been looking after you, because I swear—”

“Luke,” he laughs, interrupting his worried tangent. “I’m fine, I promise.”

He watches amusedly as Luke sags with relief. “Oh thank God,” he breathes, and it’s then that he appears to notice Derek. “Oh, shit.”

He looks to Spencer with an alarmed look in his eyes, knowing full well that he isn’t out to his team yet, but before apologies can start dripping off his lips, he rushes to fill him in.

“It’s okay. I told him.”

Luke’s face brightens in an illuminating smile, his eyes wide and happy. “You did? I’m so proud of you, cariño.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Derek says, rising from his chair to shake Luke’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you in the last ten minutes.”

Luke grins. “All good things, I hope.”

Derek winks teasingly at Spencer. “Oh, better than good. Spencer here seems quite gone for you.”

He blushes again, but Luke just sits on the edge of his hospital bed and takes his face in his hand. “Well, I’m just as gone for him as he is for me. Probably even more so.”

“No way,” Spencer protests as vehemently as he can with an oxygen mask glued to his face again. “I definitely love you more.”

His words are half swallowed by the mask, and half muffled by the gaggle of FBI agents pouring into his room, all talking over one another loudly.

Luke jumps off the bed and stands to attention as they all quieten down, three of them in complete shock, one of them — Emily, recognising Luke — in anticipation of what’s about to happen.

“Uh,” Spencer starts unsurely, eyes flicking between his boyfriend and his team. “Meet my boyfriend?”

There’s a brief pause before everyone jumps into action again: Emily greeting him warmly, JJ introducing herself, and Hotch and Rossi giving him firm, threatening handshakes as a warning that no harm is to come to their pseudo-son.

Spencer knows they don’t have to worry about that, though, not with Luke, and they’re quickly shown that when he takes his rightful place sat on the edge of his hospital bed again, hands smoothing his hair gently.

“Thank you,” he says to Derek, voice soft and sincere as everyone’s sat leisurely around the room, doing their own thing now they’re calmed down after the initial meet and greet, “for taking care of him. I worry about him, you know, and it’s good to see that he has so many good people looking after him.”

“We all do,” Derek replies, looking over at Spencer fondly. “We’re all incredibly overprotective. Residual effects from him joining the team so young, probably.”

“I can see that,” Luke smiles, looking over at Hotch and Rossi, who still have their eyes trained on him, despite having warmed up to him quickly.

“Well between us all,” Emily interjects diplomatically, “I think we have Spencer covered. He has a lot of good people looking out for him.”

Spencer knows they all think he’s asleep, but he can’t help but say something. “I definitely do,” he slurs tiredly, causing Luke to quickly turn his attention to him, pressing a tender kiss to his forehead as he runs his fingers through his hair with the hand not intertwined with Spencer’s. “Love you.”

“I love you too, baby,” Luke murmurs. “And so does everybody in this room.”

Smiling softly and feeling safe as anything, Spencer finally gives into the heavy pull of tiredness, and lets himself drift off to sleep.

I'm such a sucker for coming out fics omg, I hope you didn't mind that element! But God, I've missed writing Ralvez fics. If anyone has any Ralvez prompts then please send them my way because I want to write them so badly but I really find it hard to find plot for them! <3

taglist: @criminalmindsvibez @suburban--gothic @strippersenseii @takeyourleap-of-faith @makaylajadewrites @iamrenstark @hotchseyebrows @reidology @spencerspecifics @tobias-hankel @goobzoop @marsjareau @garcias-bitch @oliverbrnch @im-autistic @anxious-enby @kuolonsyoja @ropoto

#my writing #ralvez #criminal minds #cm #criminal minds fic #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction #luke alvez #spencer reid #derek morgan #hurt spencer reid #spencer reid whump #luke alvez x spencer reid #spencer reid x luke alvez #spencer reid/luke alvez #luke alvez/spencer reid #ralvez fic #ralvez fanfic

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aschlindartroom · 2 years

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Find the Word: Tag Game

Thanks to @aohendo for the tag! My words are problem, thought, caution, and ship.

I'll tag @jess-p-edits, @ryan-shepard-writes, @athenixrose, @tryingtimi, and @author-a-holmes. Should you choose to accept them, your words are lungs, laugh, long, and luck.

Problem

“Sometimes, I remember how much this position asks of you,” Eckehart said. “It’s a lot of pressure.” Martin grinned and waved his hand dismissively. “What did I tell you when we first met?” he asked. Eckehart sighed and sat back. “I seem to remember an exhausting elevator pitch.” “I told you that it doesn’t frighten me to solve big problems with high stakes,” Martin said. He sipped at his coffee. “I also told you that the work comes easy, when you’re hungry for it.” Eckehart watched him carefully. “Are you still hungry for it?” he asked. Martin blinked slowly, cat-like, smile fading slightly. “Insatiably,” he replied, “Same appetite, different diet.” “Vegetarian?” Eckehart asked. “Cruelty-free?” Eckehart took a moment to consider how they’d changed one another, and saw Martin doing the same.

Thought

Seung nodded. She stood and padded across the floor on bare feet to stand in front of him. “Desperation is a good motivator,” she said. “Adapt or fail—those are your choices.” Ehren frowned. “Is that supposed to help me?” “No,” she replied, “it’s just a fact.” She looked out the open door of her room, out into the morning sunlight and the apple orchard. “You have time though. Whatever you’re afraid of, it isn’t here.” But it is. Ehren thought of blood on the floor. Skin parting from skin under Chul’s blade. Seung’s empty eyes, staring through the floor and into nothing—gone of the focus and light he hadn’t noticed there until it had been gone. What I’m afraid of is right here.

Caution

Belks had gotten far too comfortable with Martin’s side-stepping, his charming winks of reassurance and his low tones of confirmation-- always to what Belks had already said, never stating outright. He couldn’t be sure what had done it, whether it was a sudden insight on his part or a slipping of Martin’s mask, but Belks’ sense of self-preservation had begun to twitch. If it were at Martin’s usual deviousness, Belks would have pushed the feeling aside-- Martin, for all his charm and smiling attitude, was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and Belks preferred him that way. No, this feeling tugged at his ear in Martin’s presence and whispered a caution altogether unexpected: He’s grown a conscience, the voice whispered. The monster’s shown his belly. It was a thought that smarted, moreso because once he had seen it, he could not unsee it. It had become impossible to see anything else. Belks had sat on the plush couch of his office in this same way many times before, puzzling over problems that normally ended in blood. This would be no different. A test of loyalty would be required to test the waters.

Ship

Seung could reach across the table, find an exposed bit of Ehren’s skin and flood him. He would know the stakes then—enough to back down, to allow Seung to leave quietly with them and plan a regrouping later. But he would see the rest, too. He would see Seung’s first transference, the visit to the Clever Nightcap she’d kept from him. He would see what bit at the back of her mind like a dog at her heels: Elder Tomly’s croaked voice, and his telling of a broken future with Seung at the helm of a war ship.

#seung kim #eckehart schmidt #franklin belks #martin hightower #ehren schmidt #tag game #tag games #second serpent #bird and fish #writing community #second serpent wip #writers of tumblr #novel #bird and fish wip #writeblr

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vyeoh · 3 years

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this is your chance: wax poetic about an Empires or DSMP character of your choice to a fan who is new to both. Explain why I should love them. I need guidance in this new and meme-populated land.

okok this is a lot of pressure haha. Spoilers for EmpiresSMP and DreamSMP below, obviously. I wrote a lot so prepare yourself, anon

I watch a lot of empires POVs but the ones I most anticipate every week are Scott and Sausage.

c!Scott (I'll call him Smajor for the sake of simplicity) starts off the series chilling, not really getting involved with the rest of the server, and staying aggressively neutral. After all, he's an elf. He has lived far longer than most of the other rulers already, and will most likely outlive them for many years. So, the best thing is to stick to his mountains and not get invested in the dealings of mortal affairs, maybe sometimes causing problems on purpose and dipping because what's life without a little spice right.

But then, this demon comes to the server, Xornoth. He's going around causing havoc and wants to send the world into an eternal winter, but he doesn't bother the kingdom of Rivendell much so Smajor stays tentatively cautious but ultimately unbothered. But then, the puzzle pieces start falling together. The first thing that the audience noticed was was Xornoth sounded like Smajor, but we mostly thought that this was just due to cc!Scott voicing both of them and there was nothing more to it. However, then, the people the demon starts possessing start chanting in elvish. The demon hates mortals, and the elves are conveniently one of the two confirmed not fully mortal races in Empires.

This culminates when Smajor stumbles across a cave that contains the backstory of the patron god of Rivendell, Aeor. Basically, there's two opposing forces, Aeor and Exor, and both have a champion. In a previous life, those champions were two brothers, where Aeor eventually prevailed and banished Exor. In this life though, the champions are - you guessed it - Smajor, and the demon Xornoth.

So now Smajor is like. Well fuck. It's my literal god-given destiny to be responsible for defeating this demon who is technically my brother, and if I fail the server gets plunged into an eternal winter. And I have no fucking clue what is happening because I've just been here on this mountain actively trying to stay out of the issues outside my kingdom. We watch him panic and teeter on the verge of spiraling for an entire episode, and when the followers of Xornoth go to the End to kill the dragon, releasing Xornoth's full powers, he fails to stop him. Smajor is a character who was used to being the smart one, the prepared one, the one who has the least deaths on the server. But he's also a character who runs away from his problems and ignores them. Before and during the dragon fight, we hear the desperation in his voice, as he's thrown into a situation he is wholly unprepared for, and it's bigger than him going to the Cod Empire to kill their king, or assisting in other people's plans to kill the codfather. He can't run from this. cc!Scott plays this scene so well as well, as I've said before, one of the best parts of Scott's acting is how he's never super dramatic, but he's so effective in the little things like inflection to make you feel, viscerally, the panic and dread.

So after the dragon fight, Smajor realizes, I can't do this on my own. I've tried and failed. So he gets allies. We watch him, someone who has so strongly been an isolationist, learn the benefits of allies and watch him learn to trust others and watch him learn how to get that trust in return.

My favorite thing about Smajor's characterization is that he's an incompetent protagonist, but not in the way of the "plucky young adventurer". He's capable skill-wise, and fairly jaded and very pessimistic. However, his issue is that up until recently, he did not care about the rest of the server at all, and by the time he learned to, it was way too late.

Also, in 3rd Life, cc!Scott and cc!Jimmy were canonically married and they reference it sometimes in Empires. Like, Scott goes over to the Cod Empire every so often both in and out of character to kill and/or flirt with Jimmy, the ruler of the Cod Empire, which may develop as a secondary plot into the future who knows. So ty Scott for giving the gays what they want o7

Now onto Sausage: his is a story of Icarus, his hubris and ambition being his downfall. He's one of the two followers of Xornoth, who promised him endless power in exchange for his servitude. He started the series being eccentric, but not outright unhinged, but slowly gets more and more extreme as the series progresses, as he gets brought more and more to Xornoth's side.

One of the best parts of Sausage's character, in my opinion, is how his gradual corruption affects the people around him. Initially, he got into a conflict with the Cod Empire and was allied with two other people in the Witherrose alliance. They were allies, but also close friends. The fandom liked to joke that the three had sibling energy, and I'm pretty sure the ccs played to that even more lol.

It was painful to watch the other two members, Gem and fWhip, watch Sausage get corrupted right in front of them, and see them desperately clinging on to this old idea of Sausage in their head because if they faced the truth, it would mean that their friend was gone. Eventually, they do finally cut him out of the alliance, leading him to fully commit to the side of the demon. Sausage felt very clearly betrayed by this, and declared the remaining two Witherrose alliance members to be enemies.

He gets more and more possessed, and we even see the other Empires, his enemies even, slowly realize that something is very wrong with the ruler of Mythland. He starts doing more and more evil things, like killing people more, making sacrifices to the demon, and eventually helping to kill the dragon to free Xornoth. So things are good for Sausage, for a bit. He won, and is more powerful than ever. Then he finds out: he's going to die. Xornoth's possession is slowly killing his soul, and eventually, his body going to be fully taken over and he himself is going to be trapped in the spirit realm. So how do you react to this? Over the next few episodes, we watch Sausage struggle between "the demon is literally killing me" and "the demon has given me so much, and I love it", all while Xornoth takes over more and more of him. We hear him exclaim that "don't worry!! I'm still about 15% there!" while trying to downplay every time Xornoth completely takes over his body. We watch him willingly oppose anyone who is trying to end the thing that is killing him.

My favorite thing about Sausage is that he is undoubtedly evil and proud of it, but he's also undoubtedly human. If you like to watch evil characters go absolutely feral, he's the guy for you. He makes the deal with Xornoth in the beginning, knowing and fully embracing the evilness of the demon, but at the same time he knows what he's doing is detrimental to both himself and everyone around him, but he's gotten in way too deep at this point, and to be fair the demon has held up its end fo the bargain, right?

Also, I would be damned if I don't talk about cc!Sausage's editing. Every one of his videos is like a movie. The way he does camera angles and uses music is so skillful- every lore scene feels like something out of a high fantasy action saga (think: LotR). Every big lore event I always wait in anticipation for Sausage's ep because his editing truly takes lore to another level.

I'm just generally very excited to see where this series goes. Empires is such a good mix of talented builders and good lore. Part of the reason why the series is so immersive for me, beyond any other lore smp, is that they have the settings to back it up. There is a certain charm to the DreamSMP's objectively terrible builds (with a few exceptions) but in Empires, the settings help sell the plot so much.

Another part of why I love EmpiresSMP is how much the ccs are involved with the fan community. I'm sure you've seen the memes about Scott being on tumblr, and Sausage regularly goes through the EmpiresSMP fanart tag on Twitter and likes art, even ones not related to Mythland. Most of the ccs, in fact, have brought up tumblr content on stream at some point or another. Like, several ccs have said that they read tumblr lore theories and hcs and stuff and sometimes take inspiration from them. Fun fact: Rivendell's church was inspired by my pinned drawing; confirmed by Scott Smajor himself. It's just such a good cycle of ccs and fans being excited about each other.

As for DreamSMP, I'm gonna be honest here, the only person I really am invested in in Technoblade. I started watching when he joined the server, and he's the only person whose lore I keep up to date with.

Techno's fun to watch because he's like the Deadpool of DreamSMP. Virtually unkillable, very skilled and scary, but consistently cracks jokes and breaks the 4th wall during plot. His POV is just fun. Like, he does wild plans and gives speeches and some of the stuff that happens to him should be called deus ex machine if it wasn't for the fact that Technoblade is the one who's doing it, and all the stuff is grounded in the fact that cc!Techno is just that good at the game.

However, the fact that he rarely takes anything seriously makes the few times Techno is 100% serious so much more impactful. His whole character has a basis in being perceived as inhuman and being treated as such, and therefore in return trying to hide his humanity. So, when he shows that humanity, whether that's fear, anger, or genuine love for his friends, it really makes you go "oh shit."

Techno's often said not to have character development, but I'd argue that while he remains steadfast in his moral code, he develops leaps and bounds as a person. Like, at the beginning, he's brought onto the server to help Wilbur and Tommy overthrow a government; them knowing he's 1) an anarchist and 2) very very powerful. His character was more of a plot device at that point and was treated as such in the canon. Wilbur and Tommy straight-up lie to him about their plans to establish another government after they overthrow the current one, while he was led on to believe that they were abolishing all governments in the area. But he isn't a plot device. He's a person, as much as he only shows the terrifying, blood god side of himself.

After the establishment of New Lmanburg (the new government its a long story), his friend Phil joins. And for the first time, we see him be fully human with someone and we see someone treat him like a human. Like, we saw glimpses before, with Wilbur and Tommy in Pogtopia, but Phil is the first person we noticeably see he trusts 100%. Then Doomsday happens, and Techno essentially retires to the tundra. During this time, we see Techno learn to be more human, first with Ranboo, then Niki when he establishes the Syndicate. In fact, the two of them, along with Phil, canonically throw him a birthday party, which is a far cry from his treatment in Pogtopia.

Techno's development is one of a god learning to be human, and I just think he <3

#vio.ask #empiressmp #empires smp #dreamsmp #scott smajor #smajor #smajor1995 #mythicalsausage #mythical sausage #technoblade #to be clear i am not an apologist for any character #i fully realize that they are doing wrong and I like to watch it happen #minecraft roleplay got be in full character analysis mode #long post

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horrorhot-line · 4 years

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salt, not sugar

head cannons for saiki with a signifcant other who tries to cook a meal for him, but the end product is horrible. (requested)

➵ masterlist (requests are open)

before you read:

‘saiki telepathically communicating with reader.’

‘reader thinking or interacting with saiki through thoughts.’

“saiki talking without moving his mouth.”

“saiki talking using his mouth.”

➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵

➵ ➵ let’s be honest, if this man tastes your food and it’s bad he’ll tell you. he won’t hold back on critisicm. he’ll commend you for trying, but he will not pretend your cooking is good if it isn’t. saiki only gives credit when it’s due. he’ll be blunt about what you did wrong so that you can improve.

➵ ➵ see below for reference:

➵ You are by no means a good cook. You've managed to burn water. You're a disaster in the kitchen, long story short.

➵ You can never seem to get the number of ingredients right in a recipe. For the life of you, you can't measure the amount accurately.

➵ Saiki knows this, so he's sceptical when you tell him that you will prepare the food for the day.

➵ He looks up from the book he's reading, to give you his attention.

➵ "You're a bad cook."

➵ He's blunt. He outright tells you, he doesn't even beat around the bush.

➵ You comically cry at his words.

➵ You don't expect anything less from him, though. He never does hold back when it comes to voicing his thoughts.

➵ "You're so mean! I wanted to try cooking since your mom taught me how to make curry the other day!"

➵ It's true, his mom had gone out of her way to give you cooking lessons.

➵ Under Mrs Saiki's supervision, you had managed to get the recipe almost perfect.

➵ The only thing you did wrong was that you had put in one too many spoons of salt, but it was still good, albeit sour.

➵ Saiki only raises his eyebrow, still doubtful of your ability to cook. He's tasted your food before, after all.

➵ You try to plead with your eyes to get him to listen to you.

➵ 'Don't give me that look.'

➵ 'It's the only way I can convince you. Give in to the power of my puppy eyes, Kusuo!'

➵ '...Good grief. Fine, go for it, do whatever.'

➵ You pump your fist at the small victory.

➵ Saiki goes back to reading his book, quietly sitting on the couch as he tries to enjoy his free time.

➵ You turn to go to the kitchen, glad that you can make food for him this time around.

➵ You want to be a good significant other, and that means you want Saiki to approve of your cooking at least once.

➵ It doesn't take much effort to make the curry, and when you get to the salt, you make sure to put in the right amount.

➵ You double-check, then triple-check the recipe you searched up on your phone, just to be sure.

➵ All that's left is to sit back and wait for the stove to do the rest of the work.

➵ You park yourself at the dining table in the kitchen, scrolling through tik tok to pass the time.

➵ Once the food is done, you scoop out some rice from the rice cooker, the steam coming from the food warming your face.

➵ You carefully pour the curry into the bowl, trying your best to make the meal look appetising.

➵ Preparing the table doesn't take much time; Saiki beats you to the job.

➵ He uses his psychic abilities to get the plates and utensils in the right place.

➵ The dining table may be small, but it's cosy. You sit across from Saiki, so you can accurately gouge his reaction to your cooking.

➵ You're pretty sure it will at least be edible, this time.

➵ You make yourself comfortable as you get ready to dig in.

➵ It smells nice, so it should taste just as good, right?

➵ Saiki is the one who breaks the silence first.

➵ "Have you tasted it, yet?"

➵ "Uh... No?"

➵ Saiki's emotionless expression tells you he's unimpressed by your actions.

➵ Even without him saying it outloud, you already know why he's looking at you like that. You've gotten better at reading him, despite his stoic exterior.

➵ "Geez, so judgemental! I just thought it would be better if we ate it together."

➵ Saiki sighs, admitting defeat. If he gets food poisoning because of you, he'll just find a way to get back at you.

➵ He takes a bite before you do, and for a second, all is well.

➵ And then it isn't.

➵ Saiki chews the food in his mouth once, freezes and then proceeds to grab the napkin on the dining table so he can spit out his food.

➵ You give him a look of incredulousness.

➵ 'It's that bad?!'

➵ 'Yes.'

➵ You don't know whether to laugh or cry. What mistake did you make this time?

➵ "You put sugar instead of salt. The curry is sweet."

➵ You shoot Saiki a look of disbelief, your eyebrows furrowed and your mouth gaping.

➵ For a moment, you can't believe what you're hearing. You gaze down at the curry and rice in front of you.

➵ It's not Saiki to lie to you, though. He has to be telling the truth.

➵ Seriously? How did you manage to mistake sugar for—

➵ You sigh, looking down at your plate as you wonder if it's worth it to take a bite just to confirm Saiki's statement.

➵ 'Fuck it.'

➵ He's right.

➵ The curry is sweet— so sweet that you nearly gag at the taste.

➵ How did he keep a straight face when he was eating? The food tastes horrible!

➵ For a moment, you wonder if it truly was you who had made such an abomination.

➵ Just like Saiki, you also end up spitting the food out onto a napkin.

➵ You quickly stand up, pushing your chair back.

➵ "That's it! I'm trying again!"

➵ Cooking from scratch was never your strong suit, but practice made perfect, no?

➵ "Absolutely not."

➵ After a while, he eventually gives in after you beg persistently.

➵ On one condition.

➵ "Only if I supervise."

➵ "You got it!"

➵ That night you learn that Saiki is amazing when it comes to chopping up vegetables. Fast and swift. Had he been holding out on you?

➵ He's also exceptional when it came to cooking food. The aroma of the food fills the room, and it makes your mouth water.

➵ The two of you work together to make curry again.

➵ "Sorry. I really thought I got it right this time..."

➵ "It's fine. You tried, didn't you? So it doesn't matter."

➵ "..."

➵ "What? Why'd you go all silent?"

➵ "...Saiki... I love you!"

➵ "Idiot! Don't jump on my back when I have a knife!"

➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵

taglist: @biscuit-buddy @gvthic-gvrl @dunnieko @milkierei @kyrasworld @baby-unidorn @moonflowerpetals @the-mellokid @bangtxnbby @alexiswheeze @tanzaniiite @mo0o0milk @omilkandhoneyteao @turntechsquishy @gukkarchive @peachesuck @hartbeat-art @franko-pop @ima-attention-whore @ola-is-dead @daisysinadarkmedow @froppysgirl @xjaelee @beanst0ck

if you want to be tagged, let me know!

#saiki x reader #saiki k x reader #saiki kusuo x reader #kusuo x reader #saiki #saiki kusuo #Saiki Kusuo no PSI Nan #the disaster of psi kusuo saiki #saiki kusuo no ψ nan #the disastrous life of saiki k.#saiki k #headcanon #x reader #reader #fluff

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romanogers-lyrics · 3 years

Text

TFAWS Ep 5: finally some good fucking ✨vindication✨

Scratch that rewind what I said- this is the best episode (maybe in comic book tv history). Closure, growth, and redemption 🙌 just when I was worried they wouldn’t be able to tie things up they fucking give me this 😩🤩👏✊🏽

Holy hell my poor heart died and ascended to the moon to hang out with Steve and Natasha. ✨Goddamn the mastery of storytelling in this episode is why I love the MCU so much ✨

The opening fight between Walker, Bucky, and Sam had me on the edge of my seat. Like in most fights you know the stakes are low because the main heroes always win but this fight... whew it was consequential and more personal than the civil war fight imo. I genuinely was worried about the outcome for Sam and Bucky physically and emotionally. Every beat was character driven! This was cathartic. 🙌 the stunt coordinators knocked it out of the park lovelovelove 💕.

“I am captain America” homie you giving me Gollum vibes. “It’s (the shield) MINE!” Like-

So many creative stunts with the wings!!!

Bucky and Sam working TOGETHER

BUCKY DROPPING THE SHIELD AT SAM’S FEET 😭

The golden light seeping into the frame at the end of the fight 🤌🏼

Sam wiping the blood off the shield. 🥲 I can’t even articulate but it makes me feel-

Sammy’s wings got snapped off and he eventually left them with Torres (passing the mantle?) which symbolizes Sam growing out of his old super hero role. It was cleansing. He’s ready to be more. He’s ready to take action rather than let things happen to him 👏

Baby boy Torres trying to talk to Mr Bucky 🥺. You have both sleeves today Mr Bucky sir 💕

I want no I NEED 😫Torres to fly in with the wings next episode.

How we feeling about Walker?? On the one hand I feel him. Us gov did him dirty but at the same time he made the choices he made. Maybe there is room for redemption? Idk... 🙃 or will he continue to get worse?

I am SO glad that Sam went back to talk to isaiah. He needed to know the full story. He needed closure. I could ramble on and on but the writers made the points so much better than I could but just-

Steve did the exact same thing as Isaiah in the first avenger. He went behind enemy lines to rescue Bucky- without permission! He was a hero for it. And Isaiah was thrown in jail? The double standard is so frustrating

I think Isiah’s point that “no self respecting black man” would use the shield makes sense with his background and story. It makes me sick what was done to him. Things really haven’t changed 😞. At this point I honestly wasn’t sure what Sam was going to do. More later on about this-

Zemo’s theme is so beautiful every time I hear it. 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼

What a beautiful scene. Cinematography 💯 Such a great moment between Bucky and Zemo. Zemo fully expects to die and then Bucky does the one thing zemo didn’t expect- the one thing he wasn’t “programmed” to do. Fuuuuuckcjfkekxn

“I crossed my name off in your book” 😭. He obviously grew to respect Bucky and wants him to have peace at last with all the civil war stuff.

Ayo back to calling Bucky white wolf 🐺 love to see it.

The kids playing with the shield and tracing the star has me CRYING. Kids are our hope and they still see something special in the shield. They still believe in it. 😭 such a small moment completely floored me.

Wholesome boat fix up 🥺. I feel like this is the montage where SamBucky fall in love 😂

When Sarah and Sam are talking about the boat- how it is their history- I think again of Isaiah. His history was erased. Sam has to preserve his history ✊🏽

Sarah is a goddamn queen and I Stan 🤌🏼✨

The montage was just a sip of cool water in the desert of trauma that is the MCU.

OKEEEE the conversation between Sam and Bucky where they’re tossing the shield is great on so many levels 😍:

Physically the shield matches the dynamic of the convo. Someone makes a point and throws it. Someone accepts what that person said and catches the shield. Bucky physically offers the shield when he says “I’m sorry” and Sam accepts the shield AND the apology.

The difference between avenging and amending. I was surprised they even used that word bc it calls out the avengers for maybe not doing the emotional work involved in being a hero. Healing is part of the hero job now. #phase4

A small detail but as a person of color I valued it; when Bucky said I’m sorry Sam did not say “it’s okay” or “no worries” because he didn’t have to, I feel like as a POC I’m always making white people feel better and for once I’d like to be confident enough to just accept someone’s apology outright and know I deserve it.

Pivotal when Sam said “it doesn’t matter what Steve thought” at first I was like biiiihhh??! 😠 but he had a point. Both Sam and Bucky have been trying to do hold onto another person who is gone. They gotta heal but more importantly they have to find their own reasons to keep fighting.

The training montage 🤌🏼🙌🤩🥲🥺😭✊🏽. Like FEED ME YEs WE ARE EATiNG. Sammy deserves it all

Sam’s cap theme music is similar to Steve’s but still different. Goddamn so beautiful 💕💕😩

Sam has been pretty passive in this show- almost wanting confirmation he did the right thing. Isaiah didn’t give Sam that comfort but neither did Bucky at first. Sam had to make his own choice 😤✊🏽

It’s a heavy burden to be cap knowing all the shit that has come before but Sam is the only one who can make that decision to be or not to be. And he’s seen the alternative now. In life taking action and taking control of our situation is empowering but always harder than doing nothing. He says it best- what’s the point of all that struggle if you’re not going keep on fighting ✊🏽🥺 I love and respect Sam so much 😭 spoken like captain America! 👏

Show me the suit you COWARDS I WANNA SEe

Goddamnit damnit to hell... I need to SEE IT

Is Sharon setting a trap for Karli???

🚨 end credit: I’m not sure if they are making an iron man comparison. What do you guys think?

Ready for the showdown throwdown next week 👀

All in all it was fucking wild ya’ll and I felt catharsis watching this and so fucking hopeful. I cry 😭

Please feel free to share any thoughts you have about this episode💕

there’s so much in this show that is world building within mcu but also in greater conversations about heroism and power. It is a moral re evaluation of the superhero. Malcom Spellman being head writer you know this shit is not happenstance it is intentional. The took the long road and it totally paid off in this episode 😭

🙇🏻‍♀️ I am emotionally manipulated by this show 🙇🏻‍♀️

Huge shout out to all the cast and crew for making something both respectful to the lore but also challenging it to be better 🙌

My ep 4 review:

Tag list: @soliloquy-of-nemo

#romanogers #mcu #captain america #marvel #avengers #black widow #natasha romanoff #steve rogers #stackie #sam wilson #sambucky #tfaws spoilers #tfaws #john walker #sharon carter #helmut zemo #marvel memes #joaquin torres

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i-make-fun-of-spn-characters · 3 years

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i actually did think you didn't like sam and cas for the longest time, but it's more than your bias for dean is evident. it took awhile to see through that and understand you are coming at sam and cas out of love and in a fun way and just happen to like dean more. there are a lot of other blogs that make digs at characters (esp sam and cas) in a NOT fun way, but pretend they "love all of TFW" and that's on me for lumping you in with them.

You know Anon, back when I used to post absolutely NOTHING except for memes, and also had a Sam banner and icon, someone asked me who my favorite character was, and I made it a poll because I was curious how good of a job I was doing keeping my content even. Lo and behold—they chose in order by vote percentage:

Sam

Cas

Dean

Jack

Then as the poll has stayed up ever since, I think Dean and Cas have traded places in the voting (but by now everyone knows Dean is my favorite). But a very large percentage of people did not know Dean was my favorite starting out. I was surprised, because I do indeed love Dean very VERY much. It isn't that I don't like Sam and Cas—but to me, Dean is possibly one of the greatest characters of all time. I could not possibly put into words how much I enjoy his character and all of the reasons why he's touched my heart. There is just no one out there quite like him in my mind. I think my bias for Dean has come through more in recent times—especially since the finale, because I miss him very much and his shitty death gutted (DON'T) me.

I think watching the show, when you look at the story only through one characters' lens, it's very easy to resent the others for not being perfect friends/family/brothers. I have even seen someone voice the sentiment before, "To some degree, to love Sam is to hate Dean, and to hate Dean is to love Sam" (paraphrasing). The thing is, when you genuinely look at your favorite (whether that's Dean or Sam or Cas) and look at their motivations and feelings and actions, it's clear that they love each other very much. That's an unavoidable fact in my mind. Both the best and worst things they've done have been at least partially motivated by the love they have for one another. I cannot, ultimately, dislike Sam or Cas knowing how much Dean loves them. To hate them would be to hate a part of Dean that is innate to who he is—his love for his family—and the choices and sacrifices he has made due to that love. It would be to say that there is something broken inside him that makes him unable to make the right choices about who should and should not be in his life. It would be to say that the foundation of the show, at the center of which is Dean's heart and how people around him are pulled inside of its orbit, is something tainted and unworthy.

It would also be to say that Dean's mistakes are okay and theirs are not, because you will find countless parallel events and threads tying their different actions together in ways that are different but also are often very much the same, if you get their motivations.

I think, for every stan out there of any main character... it would be a good idea to watch through the show trying to see it through a lens besides that of your favorite. I did this with Sam, and I am currently doing a rewatch where one of the goals is to focus on Cas's point of view more. Nothing can give you greater compassion and understanding than trying to step inside someone else's shoes, and having done this is one of the primary reasons I can't bring myself to follow many SPN accounts I have come across on Tumblr, because resentment runs rampant in many places, over characters or ships, and I don't care for that negativity. It's also the primary reason I started this blog to begin with. I wanted to carve out a positive space, where I didn't completely refuse to engage with the characters flaws (god knows fandom won't shut up about them anyway), but a place where I pointed out their flaws only to say those flaws are okay, don't make any one of them more unworthy of love than any of the others. Those flaws (at least—the ones I agree exist... there's a lot of flaws attributed to Sam, Dean, and Cas that I don't agree with at all) are what makes them human (err... or angel, respectively). I am not interested in Mary Sues (and I am definitely not interested in fans who sand down characters into Mary Sues to escape any semblance of their favorite being "problematic"). Just show me why they make the choices they do, even when those choices are broken, and I'm compassionate and I'm fascinated. I dare anyone to do better than the characters did with the cards they were dealt—with the lives they lived.

I can't say I've had the same experience on Tumblr as you with blogs pretending to like Sam and Cas while having a clear bias for Dean... I've tended to see quite a lot more of the opposite or worse. There are, after all, several blogs dedicated to absolutely nothing except trying to spread outright hate for Dean, and there was a time not long ago that you could not even go in the Dean tag without seeing countless ugly posts spewing vitriol about him (that has faded significantly since the show ended). But I think we're all bound to be most wise to the bias against our favorites (hell—I have picked up on someone's dislike of Dean from a gif blog before... and it was later confirmed that I was right). This is also part of what feeds the culture of anti-ism in the fanbase. People watched these characters for 12-15 years, and they latched onto one of them, and they know that character, and in many cases find identity and comfort with that character, and they see that character accused of terrible things that really aren't accurate at all, and the kind of innate human response to that is to want to do the opposite—hate their favorite because they hate yours. I think it's clear that that isn't what we're really supposed to get out of SPN. I don't think the intended narrative is that Dean hates Cas or Sam or that Sam hates Dean or that any one of them is unworthy of love and acceptance or is perfect or is too flawed. People can choose the narratives they want, but I'll continue vehemently disagreeing with them and making fun of them with the tag #don't feed the stans after midnight.

#being serious for 5 seconds #spn finale poo poo #mail #don't feed the stans after midnight

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stanknotstark · 3 years

Text

Astral Pt. 7 (Loki x Reader)

Ok so i lied Loki doesn’t come back yet, NEXT CHAPTER i promise XD I didn’t realize there was more I needed to write out, strengthening the relationship with the Avengers and such. We’re finally at the part where they reunite though AHH :) (i don’t think you guys understand I’m writing this and I’m getting just as excited as you all at Loki’s return!!! It’s taking everything in me to not post the next part already XD)

It’s two years later, you’re 21, when you’re offered a spot on the Avengers. You accept right away only too sad you weren’t asked before the Chitauri invasion considering if you had been on the team you would have seen Loki in person.

You had been working over time on one of the command computers trying to run diagnostic on what was and wasn’t working in the system, what had been compromised when a brainwashed Clint had attacked. You had watched the CCTV cameras picking up on just who was attacking Earth. Of course with you having to work over time you didn’t get to visit the God in his temporary cell when he had been aboard the helicarrier. (The sight and knowledge of him being so close to you stole your breath and made your stomach flutter though) However, you thought on this and decided it was for the best you hadn’t seen him, considering he had been delirious for power and subjugation of the human race. You couldn’t help but doubt the invasion was all Loki because this didn’t seem like the Loki you knew. Loki was caring and that one time he even said you may have changed his mind on humans, even if it was ‘meagerly’.

Something in your gut told you he wasn’t of his own mind too but no one would listen to you. You had your proof though, his bright blue eyes told you. The Loki you had first met had lovely, hypnotizing green eyes. You regarded your proof as 100% foolproof when you got a close up of Clint and Dr. Selvig who also had bright blue eyes. You couldn’t outright tell Fury though because then you would have to explain where you knew the God from and, in turn, then explain where you got your magic from. Luckily Fury had been willing to let slide where you got your powers from when they brought you in on your 18th birthday. He had skirted around the question and when you didn’t give up anything he just outright asked you. You told him you’d prefer if you could keep this one secret, he could have anything else he wanted from you but that. Fury reluctantly yielded to your one demand and let it drop.

So, you may have slipped past Fury, making sure to touch him, on his way to speak to the Avengers after the invasion and planted a thought you knew would flourish in his mind. The thought that maybe Loki had been brainwashed too and flourish it did. Fury had told Thor that he would talk to the World Security Council about Loki. Fury then came to you and asked you to gather all possible evidence that Loki had been brainwashed then Thor would look over the information and videos to either confirm or deny if it was something he thought his brother would, or wouldn’t, do.

With you working missions with both Natasha and Clint you made a name for yourself, you were finally noticed by people. No one had given you a super hero name just yet but you vowed, in due time, you’d give them a reason to. Working with both Nat and Clint however did get you a seat on the Avengers. Natasha had written that you were dependable, adept, and a good team player. Clint had written that you adapted to situations with ease, stayed calm under pressure, and would trust his life in your hands.

So, you walked into your new room in Stark tower that Tony had all to happily given to you. You had an entire floor to yourself. You couldn’t even begin to fathom how much money Tony had in his bank account right now if this didn’t leave a dent in his pocket. You sighed and fell face first into your new bed, forgetting your two duffle bags at the door. You groaned in delight as you rolled on the bed.

A knock at your door had you snapping upright in embarrassment. You caught the smirk on Natasha’s lips before she glanced to her right and you saw Captain America, the Steve Rogers, standing in your doorway almost timidly. You smiled and made your way to them, holding a hand out to shake the Captain’s hand.

“Rogers, y/n, y/n, Rogers.” Natasha said.

You smiled shyly and then nodded behind them. “You both want to go to the living room, probably be more comfortable than here.”

“From the sounds you made, I think your bed is quite comfy but sure.” Natasha said making you flush again.

When all three of you settled in the living room you asked Steve the questions you had been dying to ask since he had awoken from his cryostasis.

“What’s a new food you like that wasn’t around back then?” You asked, relaxing your body into the couch and setting an arm on the top of the couch while the other hung loose on your lap. Natasha and Steve sat on a couch adjacent to you.

Steve pursed his lips and looked around the room in thought before you looked back at you and smiled. “Not a food per se but I didn’t realize there were so many ways to make coffee.”

You raised your brows and looked at Natasha with jealousy, “You took him to Starbucks and left me out?” Natasha gave you a smile like a cat that caught their mouse. Steve chuckled.

“It wasn’t anything too exciting you missed out on.” Steve said, smiling softly.

“Oh I don’t know, Steve, Your face got pretty red when the barista asked you what you wanted and you couldn’t give her an answer for 5 minutes.” Natasha said, bringing her legs up under her on the couch across from you. Steve sputtered. “You didn’t tell me there would be over 20 choices when I’ve only known of black coffee with sugar!”

You laughed with Natasha at an embarrassed Steve.

“So?” You asked Steve who looked at you confused, “What did you order and did you like it?”

Steve shook his head, smiling. “I ordered a white chocolate mocha frappuccino and it was amazing!”

“Steve has a major sweet tooth.” Natasha quipped. Steve knocked his knee into Natasha’s. Hmmm not an unwelcome development you smelled but kept your queries about their relationship to yourself.

“Has anyone shown you the internet yet?” You asked Steve.

“I know what Google is but that’s about it, haven’t really had the time to explore it more.”

As Steve said this an evil smirk grew on your lips, Natasha rolled her eyes at you but was smiling, Steve looked at you innocently.

Things were great for a few weeks, the world was moving past the alien invasion and rebuilding New York City. Any time the Avengers stepped out of the tower they were bombarded with questions. Questions about the invasion, questions on if there would be more attacks, questions about how come they could parade about with no legal repercussions. The last question made you sit on edge but no one on the team answered it so you let it die out.

Your days consisted of talking with the team (Bonding, as Steve liked to put it), embarrassing Steve, knocking Tony a few pegs down with your refined sarcasm, laughing with Clint and Natasha as you talked about old, botched missions. Even sparring together in an interactive training room Tony had made specific to each Avenger if you went in solo, and more general if you all trained as a team. The coolest thing about it was that the A.I. Tony imbedded in it would adapt to you so things never became too easy to handle.

Then Thor came back.

Without Loki, of course.

Thor took to you like icing to cake. You spent the first few days finding each other’s boundaries in humor and physicality but once you both got comfortable you were inseparable. He was like a brother you wished you had. Then the week passed and he asked the question he had been sent to ask.

“Would it be alright if my brother, Loki, resided here until his banishment is revoked?”

You held your breath as the room tunneled and all you could see was Thor. Loki would be coming here. He would be within touching distance. What would you both say to each other? Would he even grace you with a look, let alone a conversation?

“Y/n?” Tony asked you, snapping you back to what was going on now, everyone had answered. Considering they knew Loki was brainwashed they all said yes, even Clint although his yes was a little strained.

“Yes.” You breathed out. Swallowing the lump in your throat at Thor’s smile.

“You will love my brother, y/n, he has just your kind of humor, perhaps he could further your training on magic!”

You forced out a laugh and smile.

“I bet he can, Big Guy.”

Pt. 6/Pt. 7/?

Tag list: @justfangirlthingies @emelieh99 @high-functioning-lokipath

#loki x reader #astral pt6 #astral #my writing #thor #tony stark #steve rogers #natasha romanov #clint barton #avengers #IM FREAKING OUT CUZ THEYRE GONNA BE REUNITED AND I DONT HAVE IT PLANNED OUT SO IT'S GONNA BE A TRIP FOR BOTH OF US XD #i mean is loki still mad? ;) are you over your own anger for loki making you choose? ;) is it gonna be awkward or will you both just ignore #each other?#idkkkkkk #i guess youll find out tomorrow :)#:))))))))#trust me im just as frustrated about not posting the next part yet XD

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sonnet77 · 3 years

Text

Cyrus Lupo // Collateral

Summary: You and Lupes cared about each other, but the courage to say it outright? Not so much. Until, this happened...

Warnings: brief mentions of blood due minor injury

2,971 words

You enjoyed working at the D.A.’s office, but there was always something special about when you got to get out of the courthouse or One Hogan Place-- and tag along with the detectives somewhere. Detective Lupo always made Detective Bernard sit in the back, because you were the guest. Bernard let it go, after you said you appreciated it and so did your stomach, avoiding car-sickness. He didn’t want to chance it, neither did you.

Except when you sat up front, you started to have another fluttering feeling. It started to happen when you let yourself glance at Lupo occasionally. It wasn’t intentional at first, just a random occurrence. Then somehow you enjoyed seeing how his eyes crinkled at something you said, how his hair stuck stupidly out from his navy beanie, how his bearded smile or low chuckle was something to look forward to. Because it was contagious and made your day-- typically dark due to the subject matter of your jobs-- a little brighter. You liked hanging out with both detectives though, you all had a rapport that worked and balanced each other, and you self-centeredly assumed that they liked working with you more over Cutter.

You had accompanied Lupo and Bernard to execute a search warrant of a property you believed was unoccupied. You were there to confirm logistics, because in the past, little grammatical and inferences on the spot, messed up what technically meant what was and wasn’t able to be searched, and evidence got thrown out and threw a wrench in the case. You didn’t want that happening here. The detectives went to knock on the front door, out-of-courtesy, and peered into the front windows which were covered. You heard a faint noise, one that they hadn’t picked up on. You wondered if you had heard it at all, as you were leaning against the car by the road, coat in your hands now since the warm sun had been shining on your waiting frame. Your feet, however, were curious, and wandered in the direction of the sound you thought you heard further around the house. You noticed a side-door, and turned your head to check the surroundings. That’s when out of nowhere you suddenly felt a force pushing you to the ground, your arms immediately stretching out to prevent your head from hitting the asphalt. You yelped as you made contact, sliding against dirt on the pavement. The prior disturbance and running feet, enough for Lupo and Bernard to notice.

Moments before, Lupo had briefly turned from where he was at the porch, noticing your silhouette no longer by the car. He knew you wouldn’t listen, but he still warned you every time.

“Dammit,” he mumbled out of an exhale, knowing you and your dogged inquisitiveness and also the twinge of trepidation that came with it. He quickly walked down and towards the front yard, until he heard the sounds of the scuffle. Then he ran.

“Guys! There’s someone!” Your adrenaline managed to yell out, as Lupo rounded the corner of the house, seeing your body still on the ground, at the same time a guy was running past him.

“Bernard!” He yelled, “You’re one o’clock!”

Lupo started taking a step towards you, his mind torn at wanting to check on you, and wanting to chase after that guy, in a split-second. You saw him, debating, as you were half-way leaning up, “Lupes, I’m fine, go!” you ordered, without another thought.

He nodded at receipt of your instruction, as Bernard yelled something else to him. And then Lupo was gone. They managed to catch the guy off guard, and apprehend him. You missed the sight of it, muddling to get up, your arm sore from the unexpected injuries. You got up slower than you had intended, not wanting to put your pain and sudden fear on display. You knew the detectives would think twice about it next time, if you made this a big deal. And, it wasn’t a big deal. You were fine. Lupo met you again halfway, on your small trek back to the car, your one ankle feeling slightly off as you walked, but you didn’t say anything.

Your search was delayed, but a patrol was posted out-front in case other surprises were expected at the house. You went back to the precinct for the booking, annoyed that the day was disrupted. The guy in question was stuck in interrogation room #1 with Bernard only currently...

Because Lupo had to give himself another minute to stop the flames boiling his blood. He asked multiple times on the drive back, if you were okay. You said you were, secretly nursing your sore arm underneath the coat around your shoulders. It could’ve been worse you assured him. He still wasn’t satisfied, his eyes glaring underneath his aviator sunglasses at the idiot in handcuffs in the back-seat. Cyrus knew you could’ve gotten a concussion, or that guy could’ve had a gun. He stopped those same thoughts stuck again on a loop, sensing the tension running from his chest outward. He already went over-the-speed limit driving back. He needed to calm down then, and he still wasn’t any better now, staring at the man behind the two-way mirror. His hand balled into a fist. Lupo crossed his arms, covering up his overbeating heart-- that you were stuck in a part of, permanently, despite if he knew it fully or not.

You held your coat in your hands again, watching over the conversation that wasn’t really much of one in the small room. You shifted, your breath hitching at a burning pain you felt as your arm moved against the fabric of your shirt.

Lupo turned, hearing your gasp in the silence. That’s when he observed the stain on your light grey sleeve. He called out your name forbearingly, to which you turned to,

“You’re bleeding,” he stated plainly, as your eyes now stared at him.

“What?” You dropped your head, rotating your arm, trying to hide the sharp pain that increased when doing so, “Ugh,” you cleared your throat to shove the pain back down, “I’ll be fine.”

He ignored you completely, “No, at least let me get you a bandage, it’s bleeding still. I’ll be right back.”

You couldn’t argue against it, because he had already left the room. You inspected the wound, knowing the ache was growing and he was right, it was bleeding again. The bright red mixing with the darker dried colour on your sleeve, you wondered what bruises were forming underneath the surface. You realized you were lucky, aware of some of the other risks that could have happened. You knew you’d be okay, you could handle yourself, you always had.

“This was all I could find,” Lupo’s voice called out again, gesturing to the band-aid and alcohol wipe in either of his hands.

“Cyrus,” you gently whined. It was a name you liked, but never said much, falling from your lips in warning, “You don’t have to.”

“Well, my guilt says otherwise,” he argued, opening the cloth, before holding out his one hand for your arm to rest on.

“It wasn’t your fault, though, it was mine.”

“Technically, yes,” he agreed obviously, as he held back a smirk, “But without you as a distraction I don’t think the perp would’ve ran towards the front of the house and towards us,” he explained, calmly, as he cleaned up the wound, “so he could’ve gotten away.”

He felt your arm flinch at the strong sting of the alcohol. The grip of his one hand, which supported your arm, sensed your reaction, his thumb comfortingly grazing the unhurt skin as a distraction for you. He hadn’t even noticed he was doing it.

Regardless, it worked, your pain fading as your own heart fluttered again. Your brain tried to remind you there was an interview going on a few feet from you, a different wrench in the current case. That this was totally unnecessary too. But you were still engulfed in the small act of caring willingly offered. Even if your face thought nothing of it on the surface, you tried to keep those feelings that were creeping in, at bay. You looked up at the compassionate detective, feeling the band-aid just freshly pressed against the wound, knowing he was finished tending to you.

“Thank you,” you, quietly and sincerely, uttered-- your softened voice causing a tug at the edges of Lupo’s lips that he fought to show fully.

“You-- you didn’t have to do this,” you meekly added.

“I know,” his low voice answered, before nodding, “I wanted to.”

Your eyes got caught in his gaze. You had intended to be nonchalant, but you failed. Or, Cyrus Lupo just observed your eyes enough to know differently. He saw the gratefulness, the vulnerability, the uneasiness. And, he thought he saw something else too, but wasn’t sure, because it was a new look.

His stare was so genuine, but at the same time too profound-- like he figured out how to get through every lock you put on the invisible doors into your head. It scared you, but at the same time you didn’t want to look away. A small smile was still sitting near his lips, coming into full view now, which caused you to mirror the expression on your face.

“Alright, apparently, Leon Anders...”

Reality snapped back to both of you, as Bernard’s voice hit your pairs of ears. You hadn’t been watching the room to see that the other detective had left.

“...Am I interrupting something?” Bernard questioned, his eyebrows raising at the odd sight of two-working professionals previously sharing smiles in the silence.

“Uh, inside joke.” Lupo easily explained, his head turning away to hide the burn that was traveling from his ears to his cheeks, scratching his beard.

“You’re not that funny, Lupes,” Bernard quipped back, with a tilt of his head, eyes still traveling between both of your faces.

“Leon Anders, what’s his deal?” You asked, interrupting the confused, awkward, and doubtful air in the room surrounding everyone now.

Bernard’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t push it, “Anders was apparently squatting in the house, as he was told to stay there until he heard future instructions from Minetti, but then never did.”

“Does he know about--” Lupo began to inquire, Bernard knowing where he was going,

“I’m not sure. But, how he’s handled things up to this point, I’m guessing no.”

“Well, you can still keep him right now, give him an hour to see if he gets talkative again,” you added.

“I’m going to cross-reference the names to see if anything comes up. You can try a run at him, if you want,” Bernard offered to Lupo, before going to leave the room.

“Wait,” you called out, the detective stopping at the doorway, “What about the search warrant? Why wait on that any longer?”

“Yeah, Anders may or may not know something-- most likely not, but if anything is stashed away-- we can find it and confirm it immediately,” Lupo reasoned, “Or before anything else happens.”

“Well if you’re up for it,” Kevin asked, his own concern evident over what happened to you earlier, “then by all means.”

Bernard knew since you two suggested it, you two wanted to go together, and he wouldn’t intervene. It’s not like he never saw both of you sneaking glances at each other from the backseat. Come on, he was a reasonable guy. He rolled his eyes at it, but he wasn’t one to meddle.

You and Lupo shared one glance of agreement, before walking alongside each other to the exit without a word. You didn’t know if Cyrus was going to say anything before Bernard dropped in. You hadn’t had anything planned, besides continuing to grin there like an idiot. Ugh, you couldn’t stop it. Maybe you did hit your head, and didn’t realize it. First-aid wasn’t anything to read into. Speaking of injuries, you and your sore foot were thankful the car wasn’t parked in the farther lot.

When you walked down the steps of the precinct, the ankle you thought had stopped hurting decided to give out on you, without warning. You felt your leg buckle, your balance shift, and fear rise into your throat as you started to fall forward the last remaining couple of feet. Your voice made an unintelligible squeak in response to the impending injury. Your eyes shut and because of that-- you missed the keen reaction time of Cyrus Lupo, who had jumped off the last three steps, which wasn’t really much for his longer legs, and swung his body around in front of yours to catch you as gingerly as he could.

Your body stayed upright, and fell against soft layers of fabric over a strong chest, instead of the predicted concrete.

“Woah there,” Lupo exclaimed, mixing in his sarcasm, “No new parkour tricks on my watch.”

Your eyes shot open, and there he was with that scruffy smile. Dammit.

“You alright?” Lupo asked, eyebrows raising, noticing you hadn’t said anything.

You swallowed the lump in your throat, and nodded a yes. Your brain couldn’t process words-- too frazzled over the multiple messages from your nervous system: pain, embarrassment, and a feeling that flooded your cheeks when you sensed someone’s strong hands snug around your waist just moments ago. In addition, your arm was ringing in pain from being jarred again. You squinted your eyes, trying to hide not only yourself, but also your hurting-- your other arm tending to your injured one.

At your response, Cyrus stepped a foot back, his arms letting you go, but not his gaze, which was still uncertain, “What about your arm? It doesn’t seem all right,” the detective inquired, his voice kind, but adamant.

“It’s just sore, like my ankle, I guess,” you replied as nonchalantly as you could, hating that you were admitting this out-loud.

“Do you need--”

“No. No hospital,” you cut him off, as you walked to the passenger side-door, “Let’s go. I’ve added to the delay enough.”

Cyrus hadn’t followed you. He was still on the curb, staring at you, shaking his head at you and your stubbornness.

“I’m fine!” you argued flatly, arms outstretched like it wasn’t a big deal, then gesturing to him to hurry up.

He unlocked the car, and you got inside, rolling your eyes to yourself. You hoped your blush had died down by now.

Lupo rolled his eyes, before approaching the car. He sighed, before opening the door and getting into the driver’s seat. The door shut and the engine started. You sensed the air was filling with aggravation. You bit your lip, pausing in thought, “Lupes?”

He tilted his head towards you, waiting for whatever you were going to say.

“I don’t want you guys worrying about me. It’s not necessary. It takes energy away from the job you do and it’s not fair to the victims. But uh, thank you for preventing me from getting a face lift from the ground right now,” you said, forcing a laugh, trying to shift the tone of conversation you had created.

“You’re welcome.”

Lupo debated himself in regards to saying anything more right then, but as he saw how your loose hair was framing your face, how the light falling from the window hit your eyes and made them flicker with some enticing glow, and how your mere presence existing in the passenger seat made him feel better, he couldn’t help it.

“I do actually like your face very much the way it is,” Lupo assured with a lopsided grin, as you felt a flutter behind your coat’s collar, “But unfortunately, you can’t control what other people worry about. It just comes with the territory of the job.”

“Well, thanks I guess, but I don’t need it.”

“When people care about other people, Y/N, they just do. It’s not something based on need.” Cyrus calmly argued, arm leaning against the steering wheel.

“You care about me?” Your brain blurted out, unconvinced at the fact or that you actually needed to hear it.

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Duly noted,” you said, your own heart feeling too vulnerable in this smaller space, spilling over with something you hadn’t felt in some time, you took a deep breath, looking out the windshield, “I care about you too, you know.”

Lupo’s cheekbones rose with a small smirk, “Duly noted,” he mirrored, before adding, “But, if I have to prevent another workplace injury today, I’m going to have to start seeking reimbursement for medical costs.”

“How about dinner?” You boldly stated, leaving it open-ended, just in case, sneaking a glance at him after the last word left your lips. He saw that same new look in your eyes and suddenly he understood what it meant.

“Dinner?” His eyebrows raised, slightly surprised, his head leaning to the side, contemplating the question he already knew the answer to, “I’d like that.”

“Good,” you agreed, “my cooking is the collateral,” you noted, before getting back to the case at hand.

“Wait-- are you a good cook, though?” His eyes jokingly wide, “I want reciprocity made in good faith here.”

“Did you manage to get through another chapter of your law book?” You bantered right back.

He arched his eyebrow, “It was two chapters, actually. And, I still didn’t get an answer.”

“Shut up, and yes,” you said, before continuing with the case.

Cyrus let you talk and listened, his smirk turning into a grin to himself, as he put on his sunglasses. He put the car in gear and started the drive back to the house. He made sure not to speed, this time. Taking the slower side streets, on purpose. You didn’t mind, stealing another glance of him as he drove.

#cyrus lupo #cyrus lupo x reader #law and order #law and order fanfiction #cyrus lupo x you #cyrus lupo imagine #law and order svu fanfiction

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tea-and-la · 4 years

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i didn’t wanna tag the op, but this take makes me uncomfy for A LOT of reasons, and i don’t even know how to even begin unpacking the harm that those words imply.

okay, so let’s start here:

“Katara has given him many, many positive signals”

it doesn’t matter how many “positive signals” you presume she gave to suggest that she saw him as ‘more than a friend.’ the context of that moment within the scene--with her closed off body language and the way she’s being careful with choosing her words--expresses with no ambiguity that now isn’t the time. (also the phrasing of “she gave so many positive signals” just gives me the same vibe as irl when people suggest that a girl led someone on.) tbh, she could’ve even outright said that she loves a/ang and confirmed her feelings in prev episodes and that STILL would not justify her being kissed in this situation. this is toeing the line of the faulty thinking where people assume that you cannot be non-con kissed by a significant other or spouse, which is wrong.

The reason Aang got bent out of shape at EIP is that, with the lines of the Katara actress about his being like a brother, Katara has said similar things before. His frustration didn’t just come out of nowhere.”

there is no reason to get ‘bent out of shape’ about the possibility that your friend may not see you in a romantic light (to the effect of saying “if i hadn’t blocked my chakra, i’d be in the avatar state right now.”) his frustrations are valid and understandable, but in no way should they be taken out on katara. it is much more appropriate for those frustrations to manifest as sadness, not expecting an answer right then and there--putting pressure on your friend (”when will you know? why don’t you know?”) at the end of the day, a friends-to-lovers trope is about being friends first and valuing that person’s presence in your life regardless of whether or not you get a relationship status upgrade. it seems like a/ang was heading in this direction in the final scene of the show, when he’s on the balcony looking at his friends smiling. instead of giving us the meaningfulness of them exchanging words (like for example a/ang saying something like “hey i’m sorry .... also if you want to be friends, i am okay with that because you’re important to me.”), we just get her walking out wordlessly, then they hug and kiss. i just think it would’ve been more meaningful if a/ang had said something like that and then katara had confirmed her feelings in her own words and expressed why she was confused (i.e. if it really was bc of the war, she could’ve said “but that’s behind us now.”)

also:

“Katara essentially said she would figure out her feelings after they weren’t in the middle of a war. Which … she then did.”

i don’t think it’s appropriate to summate all that she said in that scene in this way. katara has never had a problem with speaking her mind, and if she were going to say that, she would’ve. there are a multitude of things that she could’ve said beyond “i’m confused.” and also, her saying “i didn’t say that, an actor said that” ... she could’ve straight up confirmed that no, she doesn't see him as a brother (that still would’ve left a bit of ambiguity for the finale, because she didn’t have to confirm romantic feelings here.)

#antikataang #i'm not really anti #but this take was really uncomfortable to read #it doesn't matter how many positive signals you give someone #all the takes i've seen on this scene have been bad #saying things like 'he had a lot of stress on his shoulders etc' for example does not excuse this #and i've talked about this in a post before but we dont see katara's response to being called avatar's girl #all of these things culminate in the lack of agency or consideration for feelings on herpart #in my version of canon sweet a/ang doesn't react this upset to her #he is okay with being just friends until she's ready

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cherishedkids · 4 years

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how the others react when they find out muichiro and giyuu has a secret s/o!

A/N: i’d like to thank @akaasemitodoroki (i cant tag you as well :((.) for requesting this! i took a lot of liberties since it was a bit vague but i very much had fun writing this! i also did my best in writing a gender neutral s/o since they never said what the pronouns were, so i hope that’s okay. thank you again!

tokito muichiro

tokito muichiro is a person who only thinks of himself.

there is no place for emotion in his heart.

anything that involved the word ‘feelings’ would be set aside, as there were more important things to do.

if you could describe him in one word, logic would be the first thing you’d think.

the boy has lived his whole life ruled by it.

at least, that was what the others thought of him.

imagine their surprise when they find out he has been involved in his own romantic endeavours.

nakahara sumi almost drops her bowl of water when she sees muichiro sitting on a chair, running a damp cloth over your forehead.

maybe she goes over her thoughts, thinking logically.

were the two of you best friends?

was he just extra worried about you?

but the distance between the two of you seemed awfully… nonexistent.

terauchi kiyo sees sumi ogling at something through the crack from the sliding door.

she’s curious.

as she goes to see what exactly she’s so shocked about, her eyes go wide.

then comes takada naho and kanzaki aoi.

aoi does not hold herself back.

“tokito-dono, what are you doing!?”

the three other girls curse and thank her for her tactlessness.

you lay there, gingerly raising your hand up to wave at them.

he only stares blankly at them.

the warmth that he gave you was gone as he stared at the four other girls.

“i was just tending to ___… is it wrong?” he had an irritated tone present in his voice.

“did you need something?” you ask, shushing muichiro’s objections.

aoi starts to sweat. “n-no… carry on!”

“yes, please leave us alone.” muichiro says coldly, as he dips the cloth back into water to put on your forehead again.

the four of them scatter away.

soon, a rumour starts to float around.

the hashiras and demon slayers hear of this, and start to watch his every move.

some, going as far as spying on him whenever the two of you were alone.

it seems like it has become a mystery if the cold muichiro has found someone to warm his heart.

they start to make bets, whether or not the two of you were together.

even shinobu kocho had her ears peeled whenever muichiro or you visited the butterfly estate.

she’d listen to the gossip of the workers who helped either of you.

she was one of the first people who knew, just from the frequent visits the both of you gave to each other.

kanroji mitsuri starts to give him love advice, for no reason at all.

“you see, muichiro, the key to a person’s heart is their stomach! give them as much food as you want and they’ll love you forever!”

he’d just nod at this, seemingly not listening.

a few days passed, and they saw muichiro and you visiting a ramen shop.

according to the witnesses, it seemed like muichiro was berating you for not eating much.

the next time muichiro saw mitsuri, he gave her the cold shoulder.

“muichiro, are you mad at me?”

he nods.

“why?” mitsuri’s face contorts to one of sadness.

he stays quiet for a moment.

then, he speaks lowly.

“your love advice didn’t work… they only got angry at me for telling them to eat…”

this confirms it for mitsuri.

the very next day, tengen uzui pats him on the back.

muichiro looks at him in confusion.

“congratulations, muichiro. soon, you’ll have as many wives as me!”

“what do you mean?”

he only winks at him.

obanai iguro’s interest was only ever lit because of mitsuri’s constant gushing over them.

iguro sees muichiro in the same position as him.

“make sure you take care of them.”

muichiro is offended at that.

“___ can take care of themself.”

when iguro shares this exchange with mitsuri, she explodes.

you get barraged with questions the moment the news breaks.

you were resting in the butterfly estate when aoi rushes in.

“are you and muichiro really together together?”

you are taken aback, but honestly, it’s been a struggle watching the girl contain herself from asking the question.

“what do you mean by that?”

the moment you reply, the three other girls enter the room and explain the situation.

even tsuyuri kanao visits your room to see what the commotion was.

kamado tanjiro, who happened to be passing by, was elated at gossip.

“muichiro and you?! that boy has really grown!”

shinobu enters, as the noise was too much for her to work in.

as she starts to scold the people who were inside the room, muichiro slides the door open.

all eyes are on him as he holds a box.

but he doesn’t look fazed.

“why is everyone here?”

they all sheepishly smile, and shinobu glares at them to get going.

they all rush to get out, but secretly hang by the door to watch the interaction.

“i don’t know why they’re all so obsessed,” he wonders, as he opens the box for you.

“aw, let them be! it’s been fun watching them speculate,”

“they won’t speculate for long after i give this to you,”

they see him present something to you and you audibly gasp.

a necklace comes out of the box.

when you hug and kiss him on the cheek, they all squeal outside.

they break the sliding door and you and muichiro untangle yourselves from each other.

“congratulations, muichiro!” tanjiro exclaims, and nezuko gives the both of you a thumbs up.

“god, the butterfly estate is so loud today.”

it really was.

but it was really a wonder as to how the stoic tokito muichiro found love.

the answer was simple.

he made space for you.

he just didn’t understand why they all started screaming and blushing when he kissed you in front of them.

maybe he wasn’t that logic driven after all?

tomioka giyuu

it was no secret to the hashiras just how much of a prick tomioka giyuu was.

he was certainly withdrawn from the rest of them.

he kept his serious face when insulted them.

the worst thing about that was when he didn’t know he was even insulting them.

all the other hashiras had in common with him was the respect they held for ubuyashiki kagaya.

he was quiet during hashira meetings, and they were thankful for that.

they didn’t know if they could endure the wisecrack if he started talking more.

but when ubuyashiki kagaya says the words “giyuu, i trust that you and your fiancé can handle this district,”

their ears perk up at this.

fiancé?

suddenly, they wanted him to speak up more.

“yes, i have trust that they alone can handle the demon alone.”

ubuyashiki smiles. “... of course, i respect your trust in them.”

kocho shinobu is the first one to ask him about this.

after they are dismissed by ubuyashiki, she immediately confronts him about the news.

“tomioka, can i ask you a question?”

he looks at her, face indifferent.

“yes?”

“you have a fiancé, and you didn’t tell us?”

her face still has the ghost of a smile.

“i didn’t think it was necessary for any of you people to know,”

she closes her eyes in disagreement, but forces out a smile.

“plus my fiancé would be turned off by your personalities,”

“this is exactly the shitty reason why none of us like you.” shinazugawa sanemi butts in.

kanroji mitsuri smiles at him.

“i think it’s his private business! i just wish he didn’t keep it a secret,”

obanai iguro agrees with kanroji.

still, no one really believes this.

there must have been a mix up!

but ubuyashiki never made a mistake when it came to his hashiras.

he gave great care in knowing his subordinates.

still, they would not believe it until they actually saw you.

naturally, the news of tomioka giyuu having a fianće spread among the demon slayer corps.

one of the most serious and respected hashira—actually has someone he loved for real!

kamado tanjiro hears this, and the next time he sees giyuu, he beams at him.

“congratulations, tomioka! i heard the news,”

giyuu is concerned at how the hashiras decided to spread the fact that he had a partner.

but he wasn’t phased by it.

numerous times, they had just blabbered off, expecting someone to keep a secret.

but he guessed secrets were hard to keep among his colleagues.

“ah, yes, thank you, tanjiro,”

he replies stiffly, unable to hide his unease.

“giyuu, who’s this?”

your soft voice asks from behind him, and he can already hear the gossip that will be coming out of this.

tanjiro might be hard-headed, but he connected the dots.

“___, this is tanjiro, the kid i’ve been telling you about,”

“yes, i’m kamado tanjiro, chief! nice meeting you!”

he then looks at giyuu, a determined look on his face.

tanjiro then makes a shushing gesture and it seemed like he was promising not to tell anyone.

but giyuu knows it won’t be long until the spread of your name reaches the hashiras.

the next day, giyuu receives a letter from a crow.

it kept cursing him as it handed him the paper.

it was a note from urokodaki sakonji.

it was far too long and full of explicit words.

the basic gist of it was urokodaki’s disappointment that his own student did not share this news to him and he had to find out through tanjiro.

that brat.

he started to receive gifts through crows from his fellow hashiras.

some were thoughtful, like mitsuri and iguro’s letter of congratulations with fruits sent along with it.

he was kind of worried for the crow who had to carry the heavy load.

some were useful, like himejima gyomei’s sharpening stone wrapped in red cloth, apparently for good luck.

one was outright insulting, like shinobu’s gift to you, specifically.

he almost threw the book she sent.

it read, ‘how to deal with an annoying husband’.

the others didn’t care, and he was more thankful to the people who didn’t make a huge deal about it.

however, it made missions a bother since some lower-ranked demon slayers decided it was their duty to protect him so he would be able to marry you.

he wasn’t a child who needed protection.

but he couldn’t do anything about those who took it upon themselves to save him.

he just wished the attention was directed to you instead.

in the end, even though tomioka giyuu had a lot of secrets, his soon-to-be fianće wasn’t.

he was alright with it, as he considered you someone he should be proud of knowing.

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aimeelouart · 4 years

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How about cursed cloud ending up in a universe where his and Sephiroth's roles were reversed?

The Calamity’s Cursed Child - 1789 words, ASGZC, dimension-hopping, may have a part two later

(Why do all my prompts go off the rails from what I expected? Whatever. I hope you enjoy it anyway!)

When Cloud first started bouncing between dimensions, he spent no more than a few minutes in each new world before being sent to the next. Then, slowly, the time between jumps started to stretch. First five minutes, then ten, then thirty, then an hour, then several hours. It was a mixed blessing at best. If he was in a good world, or at least a world that lacked the power to subdue him, then he had a chance to rest. If it was not, then he...endured.

Always, he endured.

This newest world took all of three seconds to go sideways, and his only saving grace was that the previous world had afforded him nearly four uninterrupted hours of sleep. He drew in a breath as the buzzing faded, immediately diving to the side and smoothly drawing Tsurugi as he heard the whistle of air over a sword’s keen blade.

Sephiroth stood across from him, silver hair rippling in the wind. Cloud had narrowly avoided being impaled by Masamune for the...well, he’d long since lost track of the number of times he’d been impaled on that blade, actually.

Cloud wasn’t surprised. In fact, it was such a familiar scenario that he didn’t feel much of anything. He didn’t speak. He didn’t attack. He waited, ready to act once this Sephiroth revealed what kind of man he was. If he had to fight, he would. If it was better to flee, he would. He had neither pride nor preference left in him.

“Strife,” Sephiroth said, voice hard.

Ah. That was a new one. Cloud cocked his head to the side. Sephiroth either called him Cloud, possessive as a hand around his throat, or he didn’t recognize him at all. Cloud had never been addressed with the cold distance of Strife before.

Zack was by Sephiroth’s side, expression equally hard. It wasn’t the first time Zack had been hostile to him, but it still burned like a physical wound. “How are you back, Strife?” he spat, sword in hand. “Haven’t we killed you enough already?”

Ah. Ah. Cloud thought he finally had an idea of what was going on. Well, this would either give him another chance to rest or he would be playing an unpleasant game of high-stakes tag against a mirror-image of the family he once knew. He blinked at them tiredly and spoke, not quite ready to holster Tsurugi yet: “Ah. No. I’m not the ‘Strife’ you know. Knew. The opposite, really. I’ve come from a different dimension entirely and I have no wish to fight you.”

Zack scoffed. “You expect us to believe that? After what you did?”

But Sephiroth held up a hand. “Wait. Zack, does he not look different to you?”

Cloud just stood silent, endlessly patient as the two SOLDIERs examined him closely. Zack’s expression in particular slowly melted from angry, wounded hostility to wary confusion.

“Yeah,” Zack said eventually, tensed muscles relaxing. His eyes lingered on Cloud’s. “Yeah, he does.”

Cloud took a risk, slinging Tsurugi back over his shoulder and locking it to the magnetic holster. They might still try to kill him, but now he would have enough warning to bolt. In response, they slowly lowered their own weapons, though neither fully put them away.

“...Cloud?” Zack asked, soft, cautious...hopeful.

A tiny, tiny smile tugged at the edge of Cloud’s lips. “Most people do call me that, yeah, Zack.”

The dark-haired man’s answering grin was absolutely blinding in its intensity. He took a step forward, only to be stopped by one of Sephiroth’s hands on his chest.

“Wait,” Sephiroth said, a hard light still lingering in his eyes. “Do you have any way to prove your claims...Cloud?”

He snorted. “I’m guaranteed to vanish into the next dimension within a few hours, but other than that, no.” He shook his head. “I doubt I could even offer you confirmable information. Where I came from⁠, and most of the worlds I’ve seen...well, I’m not the one Zack usually greets with hostility.”

They both blinked in surprise. “What?” Zack asked, head cocking to the side.

“This is just a guess, but by your reactions the Strife of this universe went Jenova-crazy and tried to destroy the world, right?”

Immediately, Zack’s expression shuttered and Sephiroth’s returned to coldness. “Something like that,” Sephiroth said.

“Mm,” Cloud hummed. “Well, sorry to spring this on you⁠—” he wasn’t “⁠—but nine times out of ten, Sephiroth is the one who gets...Jenova’d.”

Zack looked at Sephiroth, aghast. “Is that⁠—would that have been better or worse?”

“I don’t want to know,” the silver-haired man said flatly. Cloud nodded in agreement. Apparently his words, or maybe his agreement, was enough proof for the silver-haired man to relax from outright hostility. Sephiroth finally dismissed Masamune and Zack followed suit, holstering the broadsword that...wasn’t the Buster.

Cloud didn’t want to know about that either.

Then Zack bounded forward. Cloud flinched as he was swept up into a hug without any warning. His feet were no longer touching the floor. He fought down the reflexive urge to cast a point-blank Firaga. After a few more seconds he even managed to convince his body to relax into Zack’s arms.

“It’s so good to see you again, Cloud,” the dark-haired man murmured, a world of weight behind his words.

The blond huffed. He didn’t share any history with this Zack, a fact which most Zacks tended to conveniently forget (or ignore), but the lingering wounds of his own Zack’s death made him willing to return the embrace and the words. “It’s good to see you, too.”

Zack finally let go, setting him down only to take his face in his hands in a surprisingly intimate gesture. He brushed his thumbs across the dark (and probably permanent by this point) circles beneath Cloud’s eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked, leaning in close. “You look like shit, babe.”

Oh boy. Cloud suddenly got the impression that he was missing some very critical pieces of information about the Cloud of this world. He’d also never been confronted by this particular issue before⁠—his mind went blank, which was unhelpful at best.

His expression must have been something to behold, because Zack immediately let go of his face and stepped back. “Oh,” he said, eyes wide, “oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s uh⁠—” Was his face on fire? It felt like his face was on fire. “It’s fine. We⁠—I mean, you two were…?”

“Two?” Zack said, glancing at Sephiroth. “There were uh...a bit more than just us two involved?”

He stared. For once, something other than terror was steadily burning away his fog of tired apathy. “Sephiroth?” he squeaked. “We—I mean, you and him and Sephiroth?”

Then, to his shock (shock deep enough that his hand automatically jerked toward Tsurugi’s handle) Sephiroth threw his head back and laughed. In fact, he laughed until he had to lean on his knees and tears streamed down his face. “Oh⁠—” he gasped, “oh it really is you, Cloud.”

Cloud looked to Zack for help, but the dark-haired man just grinned and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Me, and you, and Sephiroth,” he agreed. There was a mischievous gleam in his eye that immediately set Cloud on edge. “And... maybe one or two more.”

Sephiroth was still...giggling. Cloud didn’t think his eyes could get any wider without popping right out of his skull. “More? How many more? What the hell?”

“Oh man, is every version of you unbearably cute?” Zack cooed⁠—or maybe flirted, Cloud wasn’t exactly the best at differentiating⁠. “Dunno how you avoided it, but we five fell into each other like...gravity. It felt inevitable, really. You, me, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal.”

“I⁠—what? While I was at Shinra?” He and Zack hadn’t even met until the two commanders defected. A thought struck him. “Was I a SOLDIER?”

Both Zack and Sephiroth shot him odd looks. “Uh, ‘course? You were practically Shinra’s golden boy! Had a fanclub and everything!”

That explained it. Part of it. He didn’t understand why he felt like he’d dodged a bullet. “I never made it into SOLDIER. I was Infantry when we met for the first time.”

At his words, Sephiroth sobered back into the nearly emotionless mask Cloud was used to. “But you are enhanced, clearly. Based on the way you spoke, I would guess that you are enhanced to the same levels that Strife was.”

“Enhanced, yes.” Cloud smiled with bitter humor. “SOLDIER, no. This was Hojo’s doing. I caught his attention by killing my Sephiroth as an ‘unworthy little Infantry brat.’”

They both winced. “I’m...sorry,” Zack said, sincere and awkward. He glanced down, arm still heavy on Cloud’s shoulders. No one seemed inclined to continue that line of inquiry, which was fine by him. “Listen, I⁠—this is selfish of me to ask, but...you said you have a few hours before you leave, right?”

“Four, give or take,” Cloud confirmed. He’d been planning on stuffing himself into a nondescript hole somewhere to sleep, but he was willing to do a lot for Zack. “What is it?”

“Would you...would you come home with us? Not like that!” He added the second part when Cloud blanched and flushed crimson. “It’s just...the others, Gen and Ange, they….they deserve to see you too.”

“Zack…” Cloud sighed, “I’m not the Cloud you knew. You understand that, right?”

Zack’s lips pressed together. He stepped away, letting his hand slide over to rest on the top of Cloud’s shoulder even as he put some distance between them. “I do. I do get that. But you’re still...you. And you are...you’re sane. You’re...whole. It’s enough just to see you. Please. I know it’s selfish. You can say no, we’d still help you, but...” He reached out with his free hand and brushed a thumb over the dark circle under his eye for a second time. “You can just go right to sleep on the couch if you want. It’s enough just to see you. Please.”

He understood the impulse. Hadn’t he been thinking earlier about how soothing it felt just to see any version of Zack alive and happy? For some unfathomable reason, Cloud glanced over at Sephiroth. He nodded in agreement, an unfamiliar softness to the set of his eyes. Huh.

“Alright, Zack,” he said, relenting with a sigh. “I’ll sleep on your couch. All the...boyfriend wrangling is on you, though. I’m not much of a conversationalist even at the best of times.”

Zack just laughed, squeezing his shoulder once before letting go entirely. “I promise I’ll wrangle my boyfriends for you,” he said with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

Cloud regretted his decision immediately.

#ask #fic reply #cursed to strife #ASGZC #cloud strife #zack fair #sephiroth #ff7 #aimeelouwrites #my fics

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wonderlustlucas · 4 years

Text

jack pot ; part 1 - hwang hyunjin

⇢ prompt You know it’s bad when you’re high as a kite and he’s still on your mind. ⇢ pairing hwang hyunjin x female reader, seo changbin x female reader for like 2 minutes ⇢ word count 7.5k ⇢ genre fluff, angst (not heavy, just in a slow burn kind of way), slight smut ⇢ warnings drug use!!! & lots of it (marijuana), grinding, implied smut ⇢ summary College is a matter of working hard and playing hard. It’s an opportunity to start fresh, to grow as an individual and to blossom with those you befriend. People come and people go, leaving their mark on your life and showing you all the parts of becoming an adult. Some, however, do more than leave their mark. Some take just as much as they give. Things become complicated once they take the entirety of your love because you outright offered it to them.—college!au ; stoner!au ; friends to lovers!au ⇢ a/n yo!!! disclaimer: this initially was going to just be a long one shot but i decided to split it up into 3 parts, so just to let u all know part 1 & 2 does not have a ton of hyunjin interaction, they’re more character/plot building. part 3 is when things will get spicy ♥︎ i hope u enjoy! if u rb make sure to let me know what u thought in the tags mwah also i finally switched from ___ to yn are u guys proud of me :)

prelude.

Sometimes you really, truly, honestly think you could go right ahead and kill Han Jisung.

You say it all the time. Sometimes it’s a simple, “I will literally kill you,” or when you are feeling extra spicy, “Sleep with one eye open tonight.” He, of course, laughs it off like you aren’t vibrating with the urge to kick his kneecaps in. You seriously have lost count of all the times he has brought you to the brink of insanity.

And honestly, you have watched enough murder documentaries on Netflix that you probably could do it, but, you know, spending the rest of your life in prison does not sound that appealing. Plus, there’s the ever-troubling detail that Han Jisung is the closest thing you have to a best friend. So, it sort of goes against your basic human morals to backstab—literally—the most important human in your life.

But he really makes you crazy. Why you agreed to share an apartment with him in the first place is a mystery, but the fact that you leased it again for junior year is what really makes you lose sleep at night. Because, while he may be your best friend, Jisung is the epitome of a little shit. If such a compound word was in the dictionary, it simply would say ‘Han Jisung.’ Somehow, though, it makes you love him even more. Maybe it’s true that ‘opposites attract,’ or, perhaps, maybe it’s because no matter how much embarrassment and general self-loathing he may have caused you in the past, it has benefitted you in the end.

For example, his constant teasing about your lack of friends eventually led to you befriending a group of girls you always admired from afar. His snarky comments concerning your nonexistent social life finally got to you and now you can proudly wear the title of one of the best beer pong players in your class. His presence in general has taught you to stand up for yourself and what you believe in, whether it’s against him, your parents, a toxic friend, hell, even a professor. Proving people wrong, especially Jisung, is your favorite pastime.

Sometimes, though, it’s not that easy.

There’s one area in your life where you have accepted defeat. One area in your life where Jisung has his most fun. One area, or, perhaps one person, where you simply cannot step beyond your comfort zone.

Hwang Hyunjin is your Achilles tendon and Jisung is the arrow. There are times, along with all the times you’ve considered strangling Jisung in his sleep, where you have sat and actually prayed to the gods to send someone else. Someone not nearly as perfect as Hyunjin and someone not nearly as unattainable. Alas, these prayers, hook-ups, Tinder dates, anything to get him off your mind has proved futile; because here you are three years later, stuck with this stupid, absolutely infuriating crush on the only boy who has ever owned your heart because you outright gave it to him.

one.

You are beginning to think the two bubbly junior girls who led the campus tour you attended last year lied about the dining hall.

Correction: they one hundred percent lied.

Because even though the newly renovated food court looks nice—unscratched linoleum floors, shiny marble countertops and all sorts of seating to choose from—there must be something fishy going on with the cooks. Literally. Just last week, an upperclassman had a breakdown when she forked into her tuna (why anyone would want college seafood is another story) to find a worm right there in the middle of it. You have found little shards of glass in the yogurt and bugs even at You-Cook, but that’s all a part of the college experience, right?

“Are you sure there’s no spiders or anything? Did you check?” Beside you, Maddie watches with furrowed brows as you spoon a hefty serving of scrambled eggs onto your plate. Chuckling, you move down to grab a few sausages and a chocolate chip muffin before they are gone for the rest of the day; Lord knows, you are only a month in and carbohydrates have quickly become your emotional support, just like everyone else. “Yes, I checked,” you assure her, hiding a laugh with your hand as she leans over to further scrutinize the eggs, “I didn’t see any arachnids.”

“Good,” she hums, satisfied with your answer, “can you grab a banana muffin for me? They’re usually at the bottom.”

Nodding, you turn back to the blessed muffin basket, pushing away blueberry, corn, double chocolate, all because Maddie has to be different and go for the macadamia nut banana.

“Are those the dinosaur socks they were selling on move-in day?” In front of you, someone asks, and your first instinct is to look down at your feet just to confirm. 8:30 calculus simply turns your brain to mush and remembering how you dressed for the day is near impossible. “Yes!” Laughing, you lift your leg to get a closer look at the cute green t-rexes on skates. “I was sold once I heard they were a dollar.”

Tearing your gaze away from said socks, you look up and suddenly feel as if you have bumped into an angel. Maybe there were spiders in the eggs, deadly poisonous spiders that crawled up the spoon while you weren’t paying attention and bit your hand and now you are dead and this is the angel leading you to the heavens. That, or this simply is the most beautiful human you have ever seen up close and your brain does not know how to process it. Well, maybe that’s a little extreme, but you definitely have never been so starstruck in your life.

The boy in front of you says something but you don’t hear it, senses and thoughts momentarily Off™ as you gawk at him. Aside from the deep undereye bags you all have claimed the past few weeks, this stranger is as close to perfect as you can get. Sure, Seungmin and his roommates are pretty cute—but what the fuck?

Something tells you that you have been silently staring at him, wide-eyed and mouth hanging open for far too long when his brows raise in a mix of confusion and expectation. Shit. What did he say? Synapses suddenly shooting like fireworks in your brain, you desperately try to remember his reply but instead, all you had focused on was the plumpness of his lips as he spoke and not the words themselves.

Clearing your throat, you blink once, twice, hoping you were hallucinating the whole time and the boy in front of you is not Hercules incarnate.

Lucky for you or him, you can’t tell, but he is still as attractive as he was two seconds ago. “Sorry, what?” You blurt, loud, too loud, flinching at the sound of your own voice. Instead of recognizing that you are totally off your rocker, he smiles, a soft, toothy smile that has your muscles turning to goo.

“I said I bought them, too,” cutest-boy-in-the-universe repeats, looking down and you follow his gaze, “my roommates were making fun of me, so I’m glad I finally found someone who bought them.” Alas, as he tugs at the fabric of his jeans to slightly lift the cuff you see that he, too, wears the same socks. You think you’re in love.

“Well, your roommates clearly have no taste,” you deadpan, shakily meeting his eyes once he looks back up. He laughs softly, eyes scrunching at the action and you positively swoon until silence settles over you and he takes the opportunity to regard you, gaze sweeping down your frame and up again. You hold your breath because, 1) holy shit, you would get on your knees for him right now and 2) you suddenly wish you were wearing more than the ‘just-woke-up-to-get-pegged-by-calc’ fit.

“I’m Hyunjin,” he finally says and you release all the air trapped in your lungs. “YN,” you return, grasping his outreached hand and thanking the heavens it is as sweaty as yours. “Well, it was nice to meet you, YN,” Hyunjin proceeds, releasing your hand and offering a gentle smile.

“You too, Mr. Sock Man,” you grin, rocking on your heels and realizing with a pang of disappointment that your breakfast has probably gone cold. Well, that’s okay, because right now you are totally content standing here in the middle of the dining hall, silently staring at this Hyunjin with a stupid smile plastered on your face. And the best part? He apparently is just fine doing that, too.

“YN!” Somewhere behind you, Maddie calls your name and it thrusts you head-first back into reality. “Did you find a banana muffin? I can’t find— oh. Who’s this?” Appearing beside you, visibly shocked having found you in a staring contest with a very tall, very cute boy. “Oh, uh,” you huff out a laugh, scrambling to get yourself together, “Hyunjin, this is Maddie, my roommate. Maddie, this is Hyunjin. We have the same socks.”

Brows shooting up at the puzzling introduction, Maddie bites back a laugh and looks back and forth between you and Hyunjin. “Well, you don’t hear that every day,” smiling to hide her confusion, she offers him a small wave with her hand full of muffin packs, “nice to meet you.”

Hyunjin smiles in return, gaze quickly returning to you. “I’ll be off, then. Gotta get the waffles while they’re still warm. I’ll see you around.”

And before you know it, he’s off toward the other end of the breakfast counter.

“Um, what the fuck?” Maddie whispers excitedly as you make your way toward your usual table, elbow repeatedly jabbing into your side. “I have no idea what just happened. I think I’m dreaming,” you sigh blissfully, relieved to find that Jisung and Seungmin were able to claim your favorite booth. “No, definitely not dreaming. He’s totally into you. You have to hang out.”

“What?” You sputter, nearly tripping over your own two feet. Then, lowering your voice as you near the two boys, “I – no, he isn’t. How can you tell? That was like, the cutest guy I’ve ever talked to, and you think he’s into me?”

“Who’s the cutest guy ever?” Jisung pipes up, eyes lighting up and you curse him and his fucking bat hearing.

“No one,” you grumble, smiling softly at Seungmin when he gets up so you don’t have to sit on the end, leaving Maddie to sit next to the other one. “Is it me?” Jisung grins with a flutter of his eyelashes. He’s convinced the only reason you dislike him is because you’ve actually fallen in love with him, but that’s far from the truth. You don’t even dislike him—he’s just one of the first guys you’ve met who meets your sarcasm with as much ferocity, and that is a hard pill to swallow.

“In your dreams, Han,” you sneer, gracing him with a dramatic eye roll before tearing open the bag of your muffin. Comfortable conversation quickly falls into place as you eat, complaints about your classes, Seungmin trying to convince you to join them at the first party they will be attending while Jisung mocks you for wanting to stay home, Maddie asking where Felix is and Seungmin explaining that he got so high last night he ended up staying up past four playing Overwatch and is currently sleeping past all his classes.

Then, in the midst of guzzling your apple juice, Jisung leans out of his seat to call down the aisle. “Hwang! Come pull a chair over!”

Curiosity peaked, you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand and crane your neck to see over Seungmin’s fat head for who this ‘Hwang’ could be until, like the universe is really trying to kill you, the Hyunjin you met not even ten minutes ago has reached your table. “Hey,” he grins brightly, dabbing up the two boys before he glances to you, mouth promptly falling open. Certain you mirror the same expression, you struggle to find your words as Jisung and Seungmin look between you in shared confusion. “First we share socks, now it’s these dumpheads?”

Ignoring the way they scowl, Hyunjin giggles shamelessly and grabs a chair from an adjacent table to sit at the head of your booth. “It would seem that way.”

“Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. You guys know each other?” Jisung scoffs in disbelief, pointedly looking at you as if you’ve gone and disproved everything he pegged of you. “We just met,” Hyunjin replies with a shy smile, sparing you a quick glance before cutting into his waffle. Jisung looks to you and you offer an affirmative nod.

“And how are you guys friends?” Maddie asks, sensing your panic. “He’s Changbin and Minho’s roommate,” Seungmin answers.

You choke on a mouthful of juice.

“Christ, you good?” Seungmin snickers, offering a few slaps to your back. With a muffled yes, you look to Hyunjin with pleading eyes. “Please don’t tell them I said they have no taste.”

He laughs, arching a brow at you. “No way. They’ll get a kick out of that.”

“Oh, Christ,” faking a cry, you bury your face into your palms, “so much for making friends.”

“It’s okay, YN,” Jisung soothes with faux sympathy, “no one wants to be your friend anyway.”

Scoffing, the table quickly falls silent when you look up with rage in your eyes. “I bet when someone asks your parents about you, they change the subject,” you spit, shooting daggers at him before stabbing your fork into an innocent chunk of egg. To your utmost surprise but total delight, the other three burst into a fit of laughter, leaving you smirking smugly and Jisung sulking.

“Anyway,” Maddie promptly changes the subject back to her chemistry professor who has started every class playing Britney Spears. Tucked away in your corner finishing the last of your sausage and stifling the urge to get up for more, it isn’t until Hyunjin begins to speak do you realize that you have been quietly watching him the entire time. You would blame the soft morning sunshine shining through the windows and illuminating the right side of his face for making him look so ethereal, but you know that isn’t the case; from short, messy black hair, silver hoop earrings, thick, defined brows, the soft curves of his nose and the pouty fullness of his lips, you are totally, completely mesmerized.

And then, the sole of a sneaker is slammed right into your shin. “OW!” You yelp, loud, and for a moment you forget the pain in favor of the embarrassment that comes with the number of heads that turn to look at you. “Sorry. Bit my tongue,” you lie, earning an unconvinced look from Maddie. “Go on,” you nod toward Hyunjin to continue whatever he was saying before directing a furious glare to Jisung, who fails to hide his triumphant smirk as he enthusiastically types on his phone.

Just as you have bent down to rub at your throbbing leg, your phone vibrates twice against the table.

han jisung [now] stop staring, ur lucky hwang is as dense as a rock or he would have left a long time ago bc of you

han jisung [now] so THAT’S the ‘cutest guy ever’ huh? so ur straight after all

Squeezing your hands into fists, you prepare to fire back a reply that will have him crying. But he has different plans.

“Oh, Hyunjin, did YN tell you she’s a dancer, too?” He exaggerates your previous mention of dancing and has the audacity to wink at you. Thanks, Mr. Match Maker.

“Really?” Hyunjin gasps excitedly, eyes lighting up and totally missing the flabbergasted what? that sputters from your lips.

“I – well, no,” you hiss, scowling at Jisung, “I used to do ballet when I was younger but that’s it. Why, though? Do you dance?”

“He’s here on a scholarship,” Seungmin explains, “and minors in creative writing.”

“Oh,” you squeak, glancing to Hyunjin who is all but smiling like a cherub, completely oblivious, “that’s amazing. You must have a crazy schedule.” Chewing the last of his waffle, he hums in agreement. “Yeah, it gets really stressful at times. But it’s worth it,” Hyunjin chuckles. Then fucking winks.

Unable to hold his gaze, you whip your head back around in a panic and reach for the mere sip left of your juice. “Speaking of crazy schedules,” he hums, slapping both Jisung and Seungmin on the shoulders, “I must head out. This was fun. I may start crashing the party more now.” Rising from his seat, Hyunjin swings his bag over a shoulder and grins brightly. Realizing it would be rude to not say goodbye, you force yourself to look back to him and offer a feeble wave.

“And YN, don’t bite your tongue when you eat, yeah?”

You’re going to pass out.

two.

Felix likes to think of you as his corrupted child when it comes to smoking weed.

A few weeks before you would all be returning home for winter break, he came knocking on your door with a proposition. “No one wants to smoke with me. Do you want to?”

This, for sure, was not what you were expecting on a cold Tuesday night in December. Despite the general curiosity and always wanting to ‘try it’ simply to feel like a teenager breaking the rules, you told him you never smoked before. “I know,” he said with a smile, “that’s why I’m asking.”

So, you agreed. Reaching for your hand, Felix snuck you out the window and led you halfway across campus to the junior parking lot, giving you ample opportunities to back out when he felt how badly you were shaking. “Whose car is this?” You laughed in disbelief when he unlocked a beaten-up Nissan near the outskirts of the lot.

“Kim Woojin. The junior?” He replied once you settled in the passenger seat next to him. “Oh.” You blinked, confused. “He lets you smoke in his car?”

“He gets me weed, too,” Felix giggled, reaching into the pockets of his sweatshirt and coming out with two tightly wrapped blunts, each about two inches long, “I’ll turn the heat on a little so we don’t freeze but we have to keep the windows open. I’m not going to have you hotbox for your first time.” You had no idea what that meant, but you agreed nonetheless.

With a brief lesson on what to do that truly made no sense until you tried it for yourself, Felix lit the blunt, took a few small hits to get it started, and then passed it to you. Holding it gingerly between your thumb and index finger, you brought the unlit end to your lips and sucked as he instructed ‘like a straw,’ breathing it into your lungs and ignoring the faint taste of smoke. Unsure of when to stop, it wasn’t until your throat felt as if it was on fire did you realize just how much you had inhaled.

“Shit,” you wheezed, coughing and choking and watching with wide eyes at the amount of cloudy white smoke that left your mouth and nostrils. Passing it back to Felix, you scrambled for the cold water bottle he brought along, downing half of it in one go to soothe the burn. “Good?” He asked, blowing out the window and turning back to you with eyes full of concern.

“Yeah,” you huffed, “give me a few, though.”

Humming in agreement, Felix connected his phone to the car’s Bluetooth and began playing what he calls his ‘getting high playlist,’ and before long, you fell in love with the feeling.

When break was over, you were dying to try it again. Felix was more than happy to be of service.

For all of March, it turned into a daily thing.

Now, you try to smoke only once a week for the sake of not dying, or something.

australian felix kjellberg❤️ [now] come hang at 201?

When the text notification pops up in the corner of your laptop screen amid your YouTube binge, your bones jitter with a mix of dread and excitement.

Dread, because that’s Hyunjin’s room. Excitement, because that’s Hyunjin’s room.

Maddie must hear your sigh. “What’s wrong?” She asks from her cozied position in bed, hand deep in a bag of popcorn.

“It’s Felix,” you start, “but he said to go to Hyunjin’s room.”

She blinks, unfazed. “And? I don’t see the problem here.”

“Well, I don’t know,” you count on your fingers, “first, I don’t know how to act around Hyunjin sober. Second, I don’t know how to act around Hyunjin high. Third, I am very touchy when high. Fourth, Hyunjin is always touchy.”

Maddie scoffs. “That’s a pretty lame argument, YN,” she laughs, “isn’t that what you want to happen?”

“Well,” she’s got a point, “yes, but it still makes me nervous. He makes me nervous.” Closing your laptop, you shimmy out of bed and debate changing out of your cotton shorts and tee shirt. Nah. You’ll probably end up going back to Felix’s and sleeping there. You put a sports bra and deodorant on and call it a day.

Maddie finds this hilarious. “You know what should make you nervous? The fact that you’re usually the only girl getting high with, what? Six guys? You know they all want to fuck you.”

“I try not to think about that, actually,” cringing, you try to erase Felix’s voice when he’s high as a kite or Changbin’s arms from your mind, “and you don’t know that. Sometimes Ryujin and Lia are there. Or, you know, you could always come. You don’t have to smoke, just come hang out. I know you want to give Minho a fat smooch.”

Her nose wrinkles in disgust. “I love you, and I appreciate the invite, but I don’t feel like babysitting a bunch of stoners, even if Minho is there.”

Laughing, all you can offer her is a shrug. “I don’t blame you,” grabbing your phone, wallet, and charger, you make your way over to her and bend over to press a goodnight kiss to her forehead, “if you need me, don’t. I’ll probably be dead.”

“Oh Lord,” Maddie cackles, watching you struggle to open the window, “don’t die. I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“I’ll try,” you grin, military saluting once you’ve managed to flop over the ledge. With one last wave, you close the window behind you and thank admissions for giving you a room on the first floor.

[9:34 PM] YN: omw now, gather your forces to help me in :)

Nights in 201 are always interesting. First, their room is on the second floor, so climbing through the window is an experience. Things would be a hell of a lot easier if you could just walk in and out of residence halls as you please, but with the officer at the front desk documenting who comes in and who goes out, there would be a knock at the door at midnight asking you to leave. Second: as Maddie said, 201 means the whole squad is showing up. And when the whole squad shows up, you’re bound to feel a mix of anxiety and desire deep within your bones no matter how hard set you are on Mr. Hwang. And third: you know you’re in for one fucked up night.

[9:42 PM] YN: hereee

Standing awkwardly behind their building, you try and calm the nerves that always come when you know you will be with Hyunjin. Considering how close the two of you have become over the past few months, one would think you would have gotten a grip on those pesky feelings.

Yet again, it’s kind of hard to do that when he looks and acts like that all the time.

When the window slides open, you are expecting Changbin to hang halfway out for you to grab on to with the rest of them holding onto his legs. Instead, a tall, metal ladder of sorts is pushed out until it lands with a thud! at your feet, granting you a perfect staircase into the room.

Well, you certainly don’t see that every day.

Blinking in confusion, you do not know whether to focus on the crowd of boys waving at you from above or this abomination of a stepstool that was practically thrown out a window for you. Accepting the chain of events as just another fever dream of an experience in 201, you shake your head and begin to ascend on shaky legs, graciously taking Jisung’s hand and clinging to both him and Seungmin as they help you into the room. “Thanks,” you huff, giving them both a hug in return to their chivalry. And they dare say it’s dead!

Behind you, Changbin and Hyunjin lift the ladder-stepstool mutation back into the room and it isn’t until they have folded it into a more compact piece and set it against the wall do you speak up.

“Did you… buy a ladder?”

“Yes!” Minho bellows, thrilled by your successful entrance. “Isn’t it great?” After pulling back from a hug, he keeps his hands on your shoulders just to shake you like a bobble-head.

“Yes,” you grunt once he’s released you, head swimming, “a lot easier than hauling both me and Changbin through the window, right?” Looking to said boy, you can’t help but melt into his side when he pulls you close. “No worries,” Changbin beams, rubbing your arm, “at least we have some funny memories now.” When he moves to flop onto his bed, you realize with a shudder that you are alone with Hyunjin.

Well, technically not alone since they are all right there, but alone in the sense that they are not paying attention to you nor him.

“Hey, YN. I missed you,” he singsongs, engulfing you in one of his monster bear hugs. Disregarding the heart palpitations they may cause, Hyunjin’s hugs are truly the best and you wish you would initiate them more if it didn’t seem like such a big deal in that smooth brain of yours. “I missed you, too,” you mutter into his chest, squeezing your arms around him as if to engrave this feeling into your mind forever. “We saw each other, like, five hours ago,” he reminds you, finally pulling back and taking your will to live with him. God, he has no idea.

“And? You’re the only one here who doesn’t make me suicidal,” you lie because, in reality, he actually does. Just in a different way. “Aw,” he coos, large hand squeezing your side and you think you could orgasm on command, “good thing we have tonight, then, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you squeak, finally remembering to breathe when he steps away to sit beside Seungmin on his bed. Suddenly, you are feeling incredibly grateful no one is next to Changbin because, well, 1) he is closer to Felix and 2), you need a distraction.

“Hello, Felix,” you greet the boy sunk deep in a bean bag chair, busy grinding leaves and packing them into the bowl of a bong. “How are you this fine evening, YN?” He asks once you have settled beside Changbin, brows knitting together when the older boy drapes his arm around your waist.

“Good. Tired, though. How ‘bout you?”

“You didn’t have to come if you’re tired! We all know you work your ass off, no one’s gonna judge if you chose to stay home and sleep,” Felix expresses, giving you a look that screams ‘mom.’

“No! I’m not that tired,” you assure him, reaching for his hand and squeezing for extra effect, “you know I wouldn’t miss this. You’ve made me a pothead.”

With a proud smile, he returns to his designated job and begins working on the second, smaller bong. “So,” stretching to set your things on the desk beside Changbin’s bed, you turn to him with a knowing smile, “how’s the album coming?”

“Great!” He beams, eyes lighting up at the topic. “Jisung is a great addition. Did I tell you we started meeting with someone else, too?”

“No, who?”

“He’s a sophomore, Bang Chan?” Somewhere behind you, Felix passes a bong to Jisung for the first hit. “Bang Chan? Holy shit, Binnie,” repeatedly punching his arm to express your excitement, “that’s amazing! I didn’t know he was into music production. Not that I’ve ever talked to him, but.”

“No, I get you,” he hums, giving your side a firm squeeze, “he’s really awesome making beats. I hope we’re successful.” Then, reaching past you, he takes the second bong and a lighter from Felix. When he resituates himself, he’s considerably closer than before. You don’t mind.

“Ladies first?” Changbin offers with a crooked grin, handing them to you. Then, on second thought, he holds onto the lighter to do the honors. “Sure. Thanks,” you laugh, glancing across the room to find everyone arguing over which color to set the lights to as they wait for their high. Bringing the tube to your lips, you offer a miniscule nod to him and then he is setting flame to the bowl. Sucking strong enough to generate bubbles, you unplug the bowl once he stops and breathe in as much as your lungs can handle in one go. Then, once you have exhaled, you quickly finish what’s left in the tube before passing it to Changbin with a pleased smile.

“That was a lot,” he points out once you have handed the bong back to him. “Hey, you’re the one who kept lighting it for thirty seconds. Mother would be proud,” you joke, reciprocating the same service and lighting the bowl until he glares at you beneath his bangs.

The best part about being high is the fact that you are constantly laughing. Things won’t even be that funny, but once someone starts laughing—you’re done for. You laugh so hard it hurts, and then once it’s all over, you realize it wasn’t funny at all. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like a squirrel?” Minho asks Jisung at some point. You absolutely loose it. It quite possibly is the funniest thing you have ever heard.

Pouting, Squirrel Boy leaves Minho alone on his bed to come crash beside you. “How are you, my tender oozing blossom?”

Squinting at him past the way your eyes burn, you make grabby hands and pull him close to wrap your arms around his teeny waist. Changbin grumbles in protest, but he’s too transfixed on the light’s soft in and out fade of different colors to say anything else. “Please, don’t ever call me that again,” you mumble into Jisung’s mop of brown hair.

“What?” He gasps, tilting to look up at you with puppy eyes. “You didn’t like it?”

“Nope,” smiling lazily, you rest your head atop his, “I love you, but I’m not ready for pet names yet.” His face morphs from a frown to one lit with excitement. “Holy shit, did you just say you love me? Do my eyes deceive me?”

“That would be your ‘ears,’ but yes,” you hum, brain simply not capable of denying it the way your sober self would. “More than Changbin?” Jisung whispers.

“Yes, but don’t tell him,” you return quietly, biting back a laugh.

“More than Hyunjin?” He counters. At this, you look up to find said boy sat with his legs to his chest across the room. Next to Seungmin, he looks like a giant; but a happy, pouty giant that keeps talking about how much he could go for a winter melon tea right now.

“Never.”

One and a half (half because it was just the rest of Minho’s terribly big hit that left tears streaming down his cheeks) and an unfinished game of Cards Against Humanity later, you find yourself in a blissful headspace. The song playing quietly through Felix’s speaker makes it feel like you are bouncing down stairs and then going up again, and the lights are oh so pretty, pink fading to red, yellow to green, blue to purple and so on. Things are fuzzy but crystal clear at the same time, the popcorn you’ve been shoveling into your mouth tastes heavenly, and your body feels like it is engulfed in a warm, comforting hug.

Or, that could just be Changbin.

Somewhere in between trying to get more comfortable and him yanking you to stay next to him when you attempted to get up and hug Seungmin for something sweet he said, you now find yourself on your back with a clinging Changbin on your side. You are so comfortable, but also insanely hot, and as you begin to slowly come down from your high as the hours tick by, you begin to realize it’s for another reason.

What started as an innocent hand on your side turned into his thumb rubbing meaningless patterns against your shirt, which then turned into his hand slipping beneath to splay against the warmth of your skin. Growing increasingly needy as the minutes go by, you turn to look at everyone around you. Jisung, who found himself returning to Minho, appears to be passed out with him on the far end of the room. Seungmin, curled up on the floor with a pillow and a heap of blankets. Felix, who finished off the rest of his weed, scrolls aimlessly on his phone still at the peak of his high.

And Hyunjin, who you assume has been fast asleep on his bed for a while now if the arm flung over his face tells you anything. For a moment, you feel sick with sadness. So close, but so far he lies, always a step out of reach. But you can’t deny how Changbin makes you feel—for right now, at least. And it would be a shame to miss out on an opportunity with someone else because the one you want is unattainable.

Right?

Changbin must sense the way your breathing increases, must feel the way your body reacts to the slightest of touches, yet he takes his time. He is soft in the way his hand travels up your arm, rough fingertips grazing over your collarbones before smoothing down over your chest and abdomen. It isn’t until you are about to burst at the seams does he give your ass a strong squeeze and urge your leg over his hips.

“Changbin,” you sigh, biting your lip to keep from whimpering when he begins pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses down the length of your throat. “Please touch me.”

He only makes a sound of agreement, savoring the way you squirm and grip onto his arm for dear life. When he offers an experimental roll of his hips to grind against you, you practically go feral. The last time you were touched in such a way was at a party in the beginning of the semester Jisung and co. physically forced you to go to, and Changbin has barely even touched you and it’s already better than the rushed sex you had that night.

“Wait,” he huffs, pausing his ministrations no matter how difficult it is to do so, “we can’t.”

“What?” You hiss, trying to keep your voice quiet, “why?”

“Because you’re high, and I’m high, and I’m not going to do anything unless you really want me to,” Changbin explains, pressing a gentle kiss to your lips when you frown in response. “But I do want you to,” you huff, chasing his mouth for another, “I trust you one hundred percent.”

“Are you sure, YN?” What about Hyunjin? is what he really means and you know he’s right. You should have never told Felix.

Trying to ignore the wetness of your underwear, you turn to lie on your back. “Whatever. Never mind,” you mumble, and when you glance back to him, you can’t help the way your heart soars with him still pressed closely to your side, blinking tiredly at you. But like he said, it’s not Hyunjin. “Just get some sleep, Binnie. Forget it happened,” smiling past the tears that threaten to spill, you ruffle his hair and press a softer kiss to his forehead.

“I’m sorry,” Changbin whispers, returning the affection with a kiss to your shoulder. In minutes, he is snoring softly beside you.

You can’t fall asleep to save your life.

Reaching for your phone to check the time, you grit your teeth once you realize it’s almost four and you definitely have been staring at the ceiling for more than an hour. For starters, you are freezing now; unlike these passed out hooligans, you are showing a lot more skin and not being under the blankets is not doing you well. And secondly, it’s hard to fall asleep when your thoughts are flying miles a minute.

Is this how it’s going to be, then? Whenever you see someone, will the little guy on your shoulder whisper in your ear that it’s not Hyunjin? Or will people deem you off limits because they know of your infatuation? People who know, at least—Changbin is the first, apparently.

Just need to get comfy, you decide, trying to ignore such thoughts and turning to lie on your stomach. Bless Felix for leaving the lights on, too—you may be coming down from your high, but the vibe is simply immaculate. Tucking a hand under your cheek and following the ropes of light on the ceiling and up the walls, you find this to be enough to calm your nerves. Enough to make your eyelids heavy. Finally.

Someone lets out a monster train snore. Seungmin, you think, biting your lip to keep from laughing. Or, it could be Hyunjin. The thought is so amusing you can’t help but squint at the boy across from you to better see his outline, hoping he will do it again just to confirm.

No, not Hyunjin.

Because he’s facing you, eyes open, a soft smile plastered on his face. Well, fuck.

No reason to panic, you console yourself, returning a gentle smile in the assumption he can even see you. And you stay like that for a while, simply watching one another for an infinite amount of time. It’s not much, but it means something, you think, lost in the way the contours and highlights of his face change with each color the lights fade to. Just as you remember the whole point of getting on your stomach was to fall asleep, Hyunjin moves. Reaching for his phone, you watch in confusion as he brings it close to his face and starts typing.

hwang hyunjin👁👄👁 [now] Come sleep w me?

You almost throw up in your mouth. You must be dreaming. Surely.

Blinking against the harsh light of your phone, you cannot help your smile as you reread the text.

[4:02 am] YN: wont that b a little sus for bin

[4:02 am] hwang hyunjin👁👄👁: If anyone asks just say he kept kicking u or something

You don’t need to be told twice. Now that he has turned onto his side facing the other direction, Changbin does not stir once you slowly move to sit up and stand, nor when you reach for the quilt crumbled at the foot of the bed to pull over him. It’s not much, but hopefully it will keep him from waking in a few hours freezing to death. Then, as you tiptoe your way over to Hyunjin’s bed, avoiding Felix now that he’s sprawled half way off the bean bag, you cannot tell if you are still shivering from the cold or if the fact you are going to be sleepingwith Hyunjin in one, tiny single bed is finally clicking in your brain. Like Maddie said, this is something you want, right?

As you draw closer, Hyunjin shifts to make room and lifts the covers for you to quietly slip beneath. “Thank you,” you whisper, pulling the blanket up to your chin and trying to ignore the feeling of being so close to him. “Of course. You looked real cold over there,” he smiles tiredly. Then, his arm cautiously curls around you to rest by your head, fingers swiping stray hairs away from your face.

“I was,” you admit. Eyes level to his lips, you strain to look him in the eyes to resist the temptation now that he’s pulled you so close. “Changbin fell asleep and I felt bad waking him.”

Hyunjin doesn’t reply. He seems momentarily lost in thought, brows slightly furrowed as he chews on the inside of his lip.

“Do you like him?” He finally asks, voice shaky with hesitation.

“What?” You sputter, shocked at such a presumption. Yet again…

“No, no I don’t. I mean—as a friend, yes, but, you know,” you trail off, squeezing your eyes shut. You desperately wish you were not having this conversation right now. “He was touching you, though. And it looked like you liked it,” Hyunjin whispers, thumb swiping against your cheekbone.

“I mean, well yeah, I did. But I’m not close enough to like him like that. It’s just a physical attraction,” realizing you are discussing what went down with Changbin to Hyunjin, you suddenly pull back and lean up on an elbow to get a better look at him, heat now spreading up your limbs like fire. “Were you watching us, Hwang?”

“Yes,” he admits, “it’s kind of hard not to.” Your heart stops beating.

“I – what?” You manage once you have remembered how to breathe. “I didn’t know you were awake, we wouldn’t have… what do you mean, ‘it’s kind of hard not to?’”

“You know what I mean, YN,” Hyunjin mutters, arm slipping around your waist and pulling you to lie down with him again, this time, your chest pressed to his. “I like looking at you. You’re very pretty.”

You definitely must still be high, because you are seriously having a hard time wrapping your mind around Hyunjin calling you pretty, as well as being so close, and somewhere deep in your mind wonders if he knows. If he knows how your heart is on the line here. Knows that with him moving closer, you are taking a huge risk.

When Hyunjin kisses you, you forget that this could be the worst mistake you’ve made in a long time. Wrapped around his fingers, you pray this is his way of saying he feels the same.

“YN!” You wake to Seungmin gently shaking your shoulder. “YN, wake up. Your phone has been vibrating for twenty minutes now. It’s Maddie.”

The wave of panic washing over you dispels the grogginess you feel from suddenly being yanked from sleep, as well as the recognition of where you are and who you’re with. Frantic, you sit up and nod in thanks to him before taking the call. “Hello?”

“Oh, thank God you answered,” Maddie cries, voice choked, “I’m sorry, I know you’re still out, but I just threw up and I feel so terrible and when I get up I feel so nauseous. Can you come home?”

“Shit, Maddie, don’t apologize,” you whisper, rushing to grab your things as Seungmin unfolds The Ladder as quietly as possible, “I’m leaving now. Don’t move, you don’t want it to get worse. I’ll be there as fast as I can, okay?”

“Okay,” she whimpers before hanging up.

“Thank you, Minnie,” pressing a kiss to his cheek, you begin to climb down. “Is everything okay?” He asks, watching as you go with a worried frown. “Yes, it’s fine. Just a little emergency, don’t worry,” praying no one is out and about watching as you climb from the back of their building, you rush back to help Maddie as fast as you can.

You stay back in your dorm with Maddie for the rest of the weekend, fetching her water and ginger ale and food she can handle, helping her to the restroom, and binging all sorts of shows and movies with her. Seungmin, Jisung, and Minho visit Sunday evening, joining you for a few hours to watch Pokémon. You think it’s just because Minho knew it would be a good opportunity to snuggle with Maddie.

You can’t help but feel disappointed when Hyunjin isn’t with them. You refrained from telling Maddie what happened in 201, too caught up wanting to make sure she was alright, and by now you are starting to feel as if it wasn’t even real. Maybe you made the whole night up in your marijuana-infused brain. And snuggled up with Jisung, you can’t help but wish it was this annoying shit you were falling in love with.

On Monday morning, Hyunjin doesn’t show up for breakfast. On Tuesday, you find out he has been hanging out with a girl he met at his favorite boba joint and apparently won’t shut up about. First, you run back to your dorm to cry to Maddie, having to explain all of Friday night to her. When she leaves for her lab, you call Felix for an emergency smoke session. When Maddie texts that she is going to be out late working on a project, you call Changbin to tell him that you really do want him to.

Like you said, it’s just a physical attraction, right?

⇢ part 2

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