#(and today both changed their answer to no. due to circumstances that everyone was already aware of yesterday. not very cool i think)

[varjopeura]

.

[stargazer-sims]

Journal Entry #11

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__________

Victor

Strange day today.

Why, you ask? I think I came out to my mom this morning. Sort of.

This might be complicated, but I’m going to do my best to explain, so bear with me because it might take me a few minutes to get the point. Some of this stuff isn’t something I’d usually discuss, but it’s really important for me to put it here, especially since you’re getting to know Yuri and me through our journal.

As you already know, Mom arrived yesterday morning. I feel like it’s been forever since we were together, and I was thrilled to be reunited with her. The moment we saw each other in the airport was one of the happiest of my life so far.

I’m not certain Yuri is particularly happy about our current circumstances. I know he loves my mom, but I’m not sure he likes her. Or maybe he’s jealous because he’s had my undivided attention up till now. I’ll need to find out soon because I don’t want him to be accidentally hurt by a misunderstanding. He’s my everything, even more than my mom is, and for me that’s saying a lot. I’d never want to make him feel like he’s less important all of a sudden. He’ll always be the most important to me.

Anyway, Yuri and I decided that while Mom’s here with us, she could stay in his room and he’d come in with me. For some reason, when we sleep together we share my bed more often than we share Yuri’s, so it seemed logical. He moved his laptop and his work stuff and his violin into my room, and I helped him hang up some of his clothes in my closet. We had to relocate our snowboards and gear too because we’d been keeping them in Yuri’s closet due to it being bigger and less cluttered than mine.

While all that was going on, Mom was genuinely surprised that we had to rearrange some stuff for her. I think she thought our second bedroom was Yuri’s home office or maybe a den or guest room. She seemed shocked that we each have our own room, and I could tell she really wanted to ask me about it.

Later, when Mom and I were on our way up the mountain, she brought up the subject of me and Yuri having separate rooms. I had to explain that Yuri doesn’t always want to share a bed with me because of his physical contact issues, and also because sometimes when he’s in a lot of pain, he’s really restless and he worries that he’ll keep me awake. Besides, everyone has times when they need their own space. Each of us having a room gives us that.

She seemed satisfied with my answer, but unfortunately it led to a whole new set of questions from her about Yuri’s health. My mom is kind of nosy, but she isn’t doing it to be a busybody. She’s truly concerned about others and likes to know as much about them as she can. The problem is, not everyone always wants to talk about everything in their lives.

I definitely wasn’t comfortable talking about Yuri’s personal stuff with her. I said she’d have to ask him about it and warned her that he probably wouldn’t want to tell her. I know all about it myself, of course, but I’m the one who takes care of him and goes to all the doctor visits with him and everything. I’ve seen him at his worst, when he’s crying in pain and can’t even get up out of bed without my help. We both hate those days, and I know Yuri would never want anyone he doesn’t trust to hear the details of just how bad it can get. My guess is, only me and his mother know the full extent of it.

The rest of the afternoon was awkward. Don’t get me wrong; I’m super excited and happy to have Mom here and I hope she can stay with us for a while, but yesterday I realized that something’s changed between her and me in the last year and a half. I used to feel like there was nothing about my life that was none of her business. Now, there are things I want to keep private, and I don’t know what it means that I can’t share everything with her any more.

Last night when Yuri and I were in bed, I told him about it.

“It’s known as ‘becoming an adult’,” he said.

At twenty-five, I suppose that makes me a late bloomer. Oh well. Better late than never, right?

This morning, I enjoyed some quiet time while Mom was still in bed and Yuri was getting ready for work. That’s something else I’ve noticed that’s apparently changed about me. I never used to like being by myself and I didn’t like it when things were too quiet, but recently I’ve started to appreciate it more. I still don’t like being completely alone, but it’s fine when I’m doing my own thing and I know Yuri isn’t too far away. I could hear him in my room, singing to himself. He’s a terrible singer but I was pleased to hear him because I assumed it meant he was feeling reasonably good.

I’ll tell you one thing. When he eventually made his way to the kitchen, he was looking good. I mean, Yuri always looks good. He’s one of those people who could wrap himself in a trash bag and still look like he’s on the runway at Paris Fashion Week, but Yuri in a tailored charcoal grey suit that probably cost more than an entire paycheque at my last job was just... wow. His silk dress shirt was this dainty shade of pink that somehow still managed to look masculine while suggesting ‘expensive rose bouquet’, and his tie was a darker pink with a swirly grey pattern on it. He legitimately could’ve been in an ad for a menswear store.

“Hey, cute boy,” I greeted him. “Are you trying to impress somebody today?”

“You know I am,” he said.

“Well, it’s working. I don’t know about those bigshots at your job, but you’re impressing the heck out of me right now.”

“Those bigshots at my work are going to be more interested in my presentation than in my outfit, I think,” he said. “Thank you, though.”

“If I was there, I probably wouldn’t be able to pay attention to the presentation. I’d be too busy staring at you.”

Yuri smiled. 'Why do I feel like you’d have trouble paying attention to it anyway, no matter what I had on?“

"Maybe because that’s exactly what’d happen,” I admitted.

“You’re impossible, Victor.” He went to the fridge and got out some juice. “Where’s your mother? Is she still in bed?”

“She hasn’t come out of the room yet, so I think so,” I said. “She probably has jetlag. It’ll take her a few days to adjust. I know it did for me.”

“I remember,” Yuri said. He poured orange juice into a glass, but I noticed he set the glass on the counter rather than lifting it and taking a drink. “You were so adorable, wandering around all sleepy in the middle of the afternoon. I think that’s the calmest you’ve ever been since I’ve known you.”

I grinned. “And then it all went crazy for you after that.”

“It’s a good kind of crazy. I don’t mind,” he said. “Tell your mother I’m sorry I didn’t get to say good morning. I’ll be gone for the day before she gets up. Unless she gets up within the next five minutes, that is.”

“Aren’t you going to eat breakfast?”

He shook his head. “No time.”

“It’s a good thing we showered together,” I said. “Imagine how much longer it would’ve taken you to get ready if you’d had to wait for me to get done in there. And why did it take you so long to get dressed? I thought you laid out your suit and your lucky socks and everything last night.”

A soft blush spread across his cheeks and nose. "I was slowed down by anxiety mostly.”

“Mostly?” I stepped over to him so I could hug him from behind and give him a little pat on the stomach. “If it was mostly that, what was the other part? The angry belly monster?”

He tried not to laugh. I could tell because I felt him tense a tiny bit as he held his breath. His effort failed, however, and he made a kind of squeaking noise. “It’s still funny that you call it that,” he put his hands over mine. "And no, my stomach’s not angry today, thankfully.”

“And you don’t want to risk upsetting it with breakfast?”

“Something like that, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll take one of my protein drinks and have it while I’m on the train.”

“Good. Do that,” I said “Did you remember your medication?”

“Yes,” he said. “You already reminded me twice.”

“Sorry. I just want today to go well for you. I know this meeting’s really important.”

I didn’t know what the meeting would be about exactly, but I knew Yuri’s boss had asked him specifically to come into the city to attend it and give an in-person presentation. The public relations and marketing firm Yuri works for has some really big, high-profile clients, but the files Yuri usually works on are the smaller ones. He writes stuff like press releases, official correspondence, advertising materials and content for company websites and social media. Judging by what Yuri told me and how stressed he was, I think his boss was considering giving him a bigger file to work on. I think they were supposed to meet with this potential new client, and if the client decided to hire them, Yuri would get the client’s account and be primarily responsible for it. It seemed like a super big deal to me, and I was nervous for him even though I was confident he’d do well.

“Mr. Tanaka says I’ll get a bonus if we can land this account today,” he said.

“A bonus sounds good,” I said. “Who’s the client?”

“Snowy Peak Sporting Equipment.”

I stared. “That’s literally huge, Yuri! That’s like, an international company.”

“Yes,” he affirmed. “And it’s headquartered here in Matsumori. The VP of Marketing and Sales, Stephen Fujikawa, was an Olympic skier before he went to work with his father and aunt at the company. His son’s a professional athlete too. A figure skater.”

“You obviously did your homework.”

“I’d hardly go into a meeting with Mr. Fujikawa without knowing something about him and his family and his company,” Yuri said. “It pays to be prepared for this sort of thing. But even so, I’m terrified I’ll mess it up somehow.”

“You won’t,” I said. “You’ll be awesome.”

“I hope so.”

“Try not to worry.”

“Easier said than done,” he said.

“You got this,” I told him. “Tell them you’ve got personal experience with Snowy Peak snowboards.”

“What? My snowboard isn’t—”

“No, but both of mine are, and you’ve ridden my non-competition one before. Plus, you’ve seen what the Silver Storm can do.”

“When you’re on it.” He coughed delicately. “Pardon me. Him.”

“Well, he doesn’t win medals by himself, does he?”

“Sometimes I wonder which of you is really running the show up there on the mountain.”

“We’re a team. We run by telepathy.”

Yuri laughed. “Of course you do.”

“We do,” I insisted. “Anyway, don’t get me started on snowboarding. Do you have all your notes for the meeting?”

“Yes,” he said. “They’re on my iPad.”

“Good. Now, remember you’re supposed to take your other meds at noon. With food. Oh, and don’t forget your phone. And your train ticket.”

“I know.”

“I made lunch for you, and it’s in your bag. There’s a protein bar and a bottle of that carrot juice you like too. I want you to try to eat at least half of what I gave you. Think you can do that?”

“I’ll try,” he said. “No promises.”

“Do your best.”

“Okay.”

“Okay. Good luck kiss before you go,” I said, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

He squirmed in my arms, trying to get away, but he was laughing again. “Victor, stop. I have to leave right now, or I’ll be late for the train. No more nonsense, please. I’ll see you when I get back.”

“All right,” I said and let him go. “I know you’ll make a big impact on everyone today. It’ll be great.”

“I’ll tell you all about it when I get home,” he promised. With that, he grabbed his messenger bag and hurried out the door.

After Yuri left, I gazed at his abandoned glass of orange juice on the counter for a while before eventually deciding to drink it myself instead of covering it and putting it in the fridge for him for later. Then, I got out my own iPad and started looking at job ads online.

Sadly, the whole snowboarding instructor idea didn’t work out, so I’m still searching. The guys at the Recreation Association said they’d gladly hire me if they had any open positions, but there’s nothing at the moment. They said I should ask again at the beginning of winter, but that’s too far away for me. I need a job now or at least very soon. Yuri and I will have a lot of extra bills to pay after our move, and I doubt we’ll get another place with rent as cheap as this one.

On the plus side, I do have a job interview tomorrow. It’s at the wellness center in Kiyosaka. Yuri was right that they were looking for someone to fill a personal health and wellness coach position, but I still don’t know how I feel about working there. I love helping people learn what they can do to feel their best, but I’m worried I won’t fit in with the type of people who can afford the astronomical fees that place charges its clients. It’s possible I might feel better about it if my salary would reflect the cost of the services I’d be providing. If I get the job, though. I guess we’ll see.

Most of the employment ads I found were for stuff like food service and retail. I’d likely be good at retail, but I’d rather do something in the health and wellness field, or something that involves sports because I doubt I’d be content for long, selling clothes, electronics or household appliances.

Around ten o'clock, Mom finally emerged. She looked well rested and none the worse for wear for somebody who’d travelled halfway around the world. She offered to make breakfast, and I said yes. I’d already eaten earlier, but I never turn down second breakfast. Mom made hot cereal and cut up fresh berries to put on top, and it reminded me of when I was a little kid.

“How was your first night in Matsumori?” I asked when she’d joined me at the table. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Once you and your boyfriend stopped making so much noise in the next room, I slept very well,” Mom said. She gave me a mischievous grin. “I presume you killed all the zombies?”

“Yeah. Sorry about that. Yuri and I really get into our video games sometimes,” I said. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Oh? Do you usually let men who aren’t your boyfriend wear your clothes and kiss you passionately in the doorway of the bathroom?”

I could feel heat rushing into my face, and I imagined I was as red as the strawberries Mom had put into my cereal bowl. I didn’t realize she’d seen Yuri kissing me this morning. She must’ve come out of Yuri’s room and noticed us, decided it was better not to interrupt, and then gone back in.

For the record, passionate isn’t the word I would’ve used to describe what happened between Yuri and me in the hallway, although to be fair, he did kind of have me pinned against the wall so it may have looked like something it wasn’t.

Here’s what actually happened.

Yuri’s not a morning person at all, but he usually doesn’t need an alarm because I am a morning person and I wake him up if he’s got early conference calls. But last night we were both concerned enough to set an alarm just in case, since he was taking the train into the city and definitely could not oversleep and miss it.

No surprise, I woke up before the alarm, but Yuri was still asleep and he looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to wake him until I absolutely had to. I tried to slip out of bed without disturbing him, but I guess he missed my body heat and woke up anyway, and then came to find me.

I should add that Yuri was wearing nothing but underwear and a long-sleeved tee, and I was more or less naked except for a ratty old pair of gym shorts, so that probably also contributed to my mom’s misreading of the situation. And she would totally have recognized the oversized red shirt Yuri had on as mine. The huge Royal Maple High School Soccer logo on it is hard to miss, not to mention that it has NELSON and a big number 14 on the back.

Yuri pretended he was mad that I went off to the shower without giving him a good morning kiss, and said he wasn’t letting me go until I did. The sight of him standing there all rumpled and cute and failing so hard at his fake angry face made me laugh, and I willingly let him push me back against the edge of the bathroom door.

“I hope you know you’re in big trouble,” he said.

“You’re so aggressive today,” I teased him. “So demanding.”

“It’s your fault,” he replied. “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d woken me up and kissed me good morning like you’re supposed to.”

“I’m sorry. I guess I’ll just have to take the consequences for being so inconsiderate, won’t I?”

He eyed me as if he were sizing me up. “Brave of you, especially since you don’t know what they are.”

“I figure you’re going to tell me,” I said.

“Yes. I… am going to shower… with you.” He punctuated each phrase with a series of little kisses that started on my cheek and ended over my collarbone.

“Mmm… okay. But if you’re going to help me wash my hair, no getting soapy water in my eyes this time.”

“That’s your own fault, too,” he said. “You need to learn to keep your eyes closed,”

’“Okay, Mr. Bossy.”

I don’t know how much of our interaction my mom witnessed, but I guess it might’ve looked kind of intense for someone who doesn’t understand the nature of our relationship. To us, it was our typical playfully affectionate morning nonsense, but if you didn’t know what you were looking at, maybe it seemed more like foreplay than just two boys being silly.

It occurred to me that too many seconds had passed and I hadn’t answered Mom’s question when I heard her prompt me with, “Victor? Sweetheart, are you even listening to me?”

I must’ve been sitting there with a stupid look on my face, and even my ears were burning from my blush at that point. “Sorry,” I said, trying to focus on my cereal so I didn’t have to look directly at her.

“What were you thinking about just now? You looked a little dreamy for a minute, there.”

“Uh… it was Yuri, actually,” I mumbled, “But just a little bit.”

“Yuri, who’s not your boyfriend?”

“He’s not,” I said. “It’s not like that. What you saw this morning… We were just messing around. It’s, uh... it’s not what you think.”

Yeah, I really did sound that dumb.

"It’s okay if he is your boyfriend,” Mom said. “You know I’ll accept whoever you love. Yuri is precious, and the two of you clearly belong together. It’s hard not to see that.”

“Thanks.”

“I know you’re into boys, and that’s absolutely fine,” she went on. “I’m not about to judge you.”

“I know,” I said. “But here’s the thing, Mom. I’m not into boys. Yeah, sometimes I am attracted to other boys or to people who don’t identify as strictly male or female, but I really like women too.”

“Yuri is a boy,“ Mom said, and then frowned as if she might be reconsidering her statement. "He is a boy, isn’t he?”

“Yes, Mom,” I said, doing my best to keep any sort of emotion out of my tone. “I can tell you for sure, Yuri is definitely a boy.”

“But you’re not into boys.”

“No, I am. What I’m trying to say is that it’s not exclusively boys I’m into. I guess you could say I’m into people,” I said. “Like, I love Yuri because he’s Yuri, not because he happens to be a boy. It has nothing to do with his gender or biological sex or whatever. It’s like, more fundamental than that.”

“I see,” Mom said, but I wondered if she did.

I sighed. “I guess I’m not doing very good at explaining it. Maybe it’ll make more sense if I tell you why Yuri and I decided we’re not boyfriends.”

Mom looked confused at that. “I’m not sure I understand.“

“We’re not boyfriends because usually when people hear ‘boyfriend’, they automatically assume it’s about, like... sex and everything. But, it’s not like that with us. We’re not sleeping together.”

“You aren’t?”

“Okay, we do sleep in the same bed a lot but we’re not, you know… doing stuff.”

“You’re not having sex, you mean,” she said.

“Right. Because we don’t want to.”

Mom smiled. “You’re not ready yet, perhaps.”

“No,” I said. “We don’t want to. We’ve both done it with other people, so it’s not as if we don’t know anything about it. We just don’t feel like our relationship is sexual.”

“It certainly looked sexual from where I was standing this morning,” Mom said.

“I think a lot of people get confused and think sex and intimacy are the same thing,” I told her. “But they’re totally not. Like, me and Yuri are intimate, but it doesn’t feel sexual to me. When we’re playing or when we’re cuddling, it just feels like trust and affection and safety, and… I don’t know. It’s everything, and it’s enough.”

What I didn’t tell my mom is that Yuri and I both find sex disgusting and uncomfortable, him even more so than me. Obviously I can’t speak for him, but he told me that the time he did it was one of the most horrible and traumatizing experiences of his life. My previous experiences with it weren’t all that amazing either. I would’t go so far as to say my encounters were traumatic, but they were pretty awful.

For me, it happened three times with two different people, and I can tell you that the results weren’t better after the first time, or with a different partner. Instead of leaving me with a desire for more, I was left feeling generally unhappy and overwhelmed, and weirdly violated even though it was always consensual and nothing bad or painful happened. Honestly, after it was over each time, all I wanted was to take a very long, hot shower with calming aromatherapy soap and to cry a little bit where no one could see me.

Yuri is asexual, and I’ve figured out that I’m probably grey asexual because sometimes I do feel sexually attracted to certain people and want physical pleasure from them. And by certain people, I mean Yuri.

Yuri doesn’t like to be touched at all by anyone he doesn’t know and trust. It took a while for him to trust me enough to let me touch him, even though neither of us had any doubts about how much we already loved one another when I came here. When I first arrived, the most he could tolerate was a slight squeeze of his hand or the occasional hug as long as it wasn’t too close and didn’t last too long. He said he wanted more and I believed him, but I knew it was difficult for him and I tried hard to be as patient as i could. Now, he’s comfortable enough to initiate things himself, like when he sneaks under the covers with me in the middle of the night and wakes me up by kissing the back of my neck. I adore that he feels safe enough with me to do that, but I know he still prefers to express his love in other ways, and to have people express their love for him without physically demonstrating it.

Me, though? I’m a hugger and I don’t mind casual contact with people I don’t know well, but I’d really have to trust them before I’d let them touch me even a fraction as intimately as Yuri does.

Sometimes when I’m attracted to someone, I can imagine snuggling with them or maybe even kissing them, but I’d never kiss someone on the first date and possibly not even the tenth date if I wasn’t really into them. If I did kiss them, I’d keep my mouth closed because tongues... eww. Yuri and I agree; neither of us like tongues. I thought I was going to pass out, the one and only time a woman put her tongue in my mouth. Just remembering it makes me cringe.

But, enough about that because thinking about it is grossing me out and I’d really like my two breakfasts to stay where they belong. Besides, this whole kissing discussion is all hypothetical now, since I don’t ever want to kiss anyone but Yuri for the rest of our lives.

But, maybe that’s too much information? Maybe I’ve got a PG-13 audience. Who knows?

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that Yuri and I are connected on a level that’s way stronger than physical attraction. Our friendship and the first couple years of our relationship were completely non-physical, due to us living ten thousand kilometres apart, and when you can’t even touch one another, you grow closer in other aspects. You make every word, every gift, every shared song and video count, and you learn about your person’s heart and mind before ever getting acquainted with their body.

“Okay,” Mom said, catching me mid-thought again. “If Yuri’s not your boyfriend, how am I supposed to refer to him when I’m bragging about the two of you to Julian and your uncles and aunts and all my friends? ‘My son’s friend’ doesn’t seem adequate.”

“Uh… I think we’d rather that you didn’t brag about us.”

“But, I can’t help it,” she said. “I do it because I’m proud of you. Both of you. Your Yuri is a wonderful, caring person and I can tell he’s exactly what you need, regardless of what word you use to describe your relationship. I can also tell he loves you very much.”

“I love him too, and I’m lucky to have him,” I said. “He is exactly what I need.”

"You’ve matured so much this year, Victor,” Mom said. “You know, when you told me that you wanted to move here, I was scared to let you go. I was afraid you’d struggle to adjust and I was concerned how you’d get along without me. But now I see that I was worried for nothing.”

“Maybe not for nothing. Sometimes I do struggle, because life as a grownup is really hard.”

“It is,” Mom agreed. “But, the difference is that the old you would’ve given up when things seemed too difficult. Now, here you are, being responsible and taking care of your… Yuri.”

“Soulmate,” I said. “Yuri is my soulmate.”

Mom smiled. “Yes, I think that suits the two of you perfectly. Taking care of your soulmate, looking for a job, and generally keeping yourself together. I know things are stressful and scary for the two of you right now, but you’re handling it so well. That makes me extremely proud.”

“Thanks,” I said, embarrassed. “I’m just trying to do what I think is right, that’s all.”

“You’re doing fine,” Mom assured me. “You and Yuri. I’m still going to brag about you, whether you like it or not, and I’ll be very pleased to tell everyone back home about my amazing son and his soulmate.”

[the-universe-in-our-mind]

DAY 5 OF FLUFFTOBER: x + 1

Pairing: Darla x Reyner

Words: 1736

A/N: Yes, I am late again so be prepared to have a lot of these prompts coming very quickly in all one shot!

Arriving in Moonsburry as a chemist had been… a challenge, if Darla had to say it in a polite way. With the way how people didn’t trusted her at all at first, which was understandable due to circumstances, and how she had to gain their trust for weeks before they actually saw her as a part of the village , it had been rough.

But she kept on pushing and pushing, knowing she couldn’t treat people in the best way if they didn’t trust her at least a little. With weeks turning into months, she could now say that she was at least now acquaintances with everyone in the village, getting greetings everywhere she went and being now able to ask for help if needed.

Belonging was hard though. She hadn’t had a place to consider home in years, moving from places to places too often. But perhaps this place would change it all.

She got close to some people in the village, Reyner being one of them. It all started as a patient and chemist relationship, innocently enough.

She walked in the carpenter’s shop on a random Wednesday, after a big storm had hit the village. The realization that the clinic was not made for stormy weather, Darla knew something had to be done about it.

"Hi, Reyner! How have you been lately? Your shoulder is still doing good?" She asked as she entered, a smile on her face.

The carpenter turned to her and offered a smile of his own. She had been helping him for a while now with some quests he had asked and he was thankful for that.

"Hi Darla, yeah, it’s been fine. A little pain again but it’s not as bad as it used to be." He affirmed, trying to ease her mind from the injury he had.

The answer made Darla think for a second.

"Hum… I might have an onguent for that. I’ll try bringing it back here later in the day." She assured before approaching the register.

"There’s really no need to, though, you’ve been pretty busy lately." Tried to dismiss Reyner, not wanting to disturb her. He knew the villagers were already keeping her pretty busy.

"No, no, I can still make time for that! Anyway, I’m here to help for things like that, am I not?" Darla replied with a chuckle and it made the carpenter smile again.

She then shook her head before looking at him.

"This is not why I came to you today though. I was hoping you could help me fix something for the clinic." The chemist asked.

"Sure, I can help with that. What do you need?" Reyner replied, interested by what was going to be asked from him.

"I feel like the roof could be reinforced a bit. With all the big winds these days, I’d rather be more on the safe side." She sighed as she said that and Reyner nodded. She was right, the winds had been pretty hard these last past days.

“Sure, I can do that for sure." He assured and Darla smiled, satisfied.

"Well then, that’s perfect. How much do I owe you for today?" She replied, getting her purse out.

After settling down the price for the renovations and the payment done, Darla prepared herself to leave.

"Whenever you can get to it, just come by the clinic. If I’m not there, just assume that I trust you with the renovations." She said but Reyner replied quickly, as he grabbed his own tools.

"Well, actually, I have time right now if you don’t have anything planned." He proposed and Darla stayed surprised, but still nodded in agreement.

"Oh! Well, sure, that’s perfect for me!" She said and Reyner joined her to the other side of the counter.

"Lead the way." He said and they both walked to the clinic.

Reyner went immediately to work as they arrived, which took not much time as he knew exactly what needed to be done.

A few hours after, both of them discussing a bit between him doing renovations and her making round-trip from her house and the clinic, it was finally done.

"There you go. That should fix it all up." Reyner said, putting his tools back in his box.

"Thank you Reyner, I appreciate it so much." She thanked him, yet still being a bit disappointed by the fact they didn’t had time to finish their conversation. Turns out they had more in common than she thought…

"No problem. I’ll be on my way then." He said back, before grabbing his box and turning to walk back to the carpenter’s shop.

"… Wait a second, actually." She stopped him at the last second, hoping it wouldn’t sound weird. The carpenter turned to her, with a confused look on his face.

"I… do have some coffee or tea if you want to stay so we can continue about what we were talking about. I mean, if you want to. You’ve seem so busy lately, maybe a break wouldn’t be so bad, don’t you think?" She offered, with a shy look, even if she did tried to seem confident.

There was a silence, where Reyner seemed to think, still looking a bit confused. Anxiety started to fill up Darla, who spoke again.

"… I’m sorry, I know this is out of nowher-" She started but got interrupted by the boy.

"Sure. I wouldn’t say no to coffee." He replied, with a small smile.

So it started as just that. Him staying for a while after renovations were done at Darla’s place or at the clinic. Both of them grew closer, spending more and more time together slowly, Darla coming more often to "check on Reyner’s shoulder".

"Hi Reyner! Saw you wanted help for another project, got it here!" She said during one of her other visit she made to his shop, dropping the supplies he needed. He smiled at her, satisfied with what he received.

"You’ve been helping me a lot lately actually… Thanks. I appreciate it." Reyner replied as he put the stuff he just had received in the back before coming back to the counter.

"That’s really no trouble! With all the help you’ve offered for the clinic and the house, it’s only fair." She assured him before adding something in a mumble.

"And perhaps… Spending time with you isn’t so bad."

"I’m sorry, what did you just said? I didn’t hear you clearly…" Reyner questioned, not sure if he had hear correctly or the right thing. The question made Darla a bit flustered as she quickly moved on.

"Oh, nothing to worry about! I’ll see you later!" She replied before quickly walking away and leaving the store, leaving a confused Reyner behind.

What confirmed it all, what changed their relationship status was the day Runeheart asked Darla to come check on Reyner, that he was supposedly sick, which made Darla worried, hoping it wasn’t anything too bad.

She had quickly made her way to Reyner’s shop, where they both were waiting for her, Runeheart updating her on Reyner’s condition as soon as she walked in.

"He said that he’s been unable to sleep ever since you last checked on him. " Runeheart said and Darla’s mind started working.

Could it be insomnia? But what would cause it? The onguent was not supposed to have any side effects like these…

"He also mentioned that his heartbeat has been particularly fast and that he’d lost his appetite." Runeheart kept going as Darla assimilated the information.

Heart problem, maybe? Or stress or anxiety? Maybe the pressure of the job was getting too much? It was also an option.

"And sometimes, he’d felt his chest get kind of warm inside."

That… She wasn’t sure. Cause it didn’t fit the other symptoms. She couldn’t explain this one logically.

"The warmth in my chest is feeling better now…" Reyner said, which angered Runeheart.

"You told me earlier that it was like a burning sensation in your chest!" She protested, which made the carpenter flustered. Runeheart sighed in frustration.

"Spit it out and get to the point!" She said roughly and Reyner hesitated for a second before admitting.

"I guess I’m overthinking. What Darla told me back then… about my shoulders and everything… I thought people from the capital were different…" He started explaining and Darla tried to decipher what he meant.

What had any of this any link to what he described? If it wasn’t a physical problem or a mental one, what could it b- Wait.

Wait.

Runeheart started laughing loudly as Darla’s cheeks got red at the realization.

"That’s not a disease, you donkey! I think you have a crush on Darla!" Runeheart teased and Reyner froze, his own cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"I’ll leave you two together then." Runeheart said with a smirk on her face, walking to the exit.

"R-Runeheart, wait, I- …oh." Tried Reyner but she was already gone, leaving the two alone.

There was a silence between the twos and Reyner couldn’t look at Darla in the eyes… Until she started laughing, which made him scowl at her reaction.

"I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you, I promise! I just… Wow. I did not see that coming." She tried to calm her down but it seemed like the carpenter felt even more embarrassed, not saying a word.

As she finally was able to calm down, she approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder softly.

"Hey, don’t be like that… Especially when I’m feeling the same, Reyner." Darla confessed, a bright smile on her face. She noticed Reyner’s eyes widening as he stared at her.

"What? You do?" He asked, full of hope.

"Duh. Why do you think I spent most of my times here?" Darla laughed again and Reyner smiled, chuckling a bit at the realization. Like the pieces of the puzzle were finally placing themselves together after a long time.

"So… How about dinner sometimes?" He suggested and Darla nodded immediately.

"Yeah, I like that idea. Let’s start there, alright?" She proposed, with an excited smile.

It was the moment she realized he was her +1. The last reason she needed to make her belong here. As she bought the moon brooch, a few weeks later, she knew she had made the right decision to stay. She couldn’t help but being giddy at how Reyner would be when she’ll give it to him.

[somewhatgreatexpectations]

Rooftop Conversations (Wanda Maximoff/ Reader/ Yelena Belova)

Hi everyone!

This is a little shorter, but hope you all enjoy!

Summary: Reader shares a complicated history with Wanda. What will happen when Natasha introduces her sister to the problem? Who will reader end up with?

“Y/n.”

The closer you got the tower you called home; the more anxiety began to bubble in your chest. You had been away for over three months now and the entire time you were away Yelena refused to accept any of your calls. Admittedly they were few and far between due to circumstances, but the rare instances when you were able to get your hands on a phone, the other woman would always be miraculously busy.

You didn’t blame her.

Not in the slightest. Still, with every flimsy excuse Natasha gave you whenever you asked to speak to Yelena, you couldn’t help but feel that you were losing a part of yourself. Yelena was woven into your being and being shut off from her was something that was… entirely your fault.

It always made your heart ache though. To know she didn't want to even speak to you. To be away from her. There was so much about her you missed. Like her voice, her laugh, her jokes…

You just missed her.

“Y/n!” You jumped slightly and turned your attention to Steve who was glancing at you out of the corner of his eye. “Everything okay?”

All you managed was a weak nod as you focused back on the world around you. It was something you had to do often over the last few months. “Fine.” You replied, turning to face him as you awaited whatever it was he wanted to say.

“You can stop fidgeting with your necklace. We shut down all the bases. That’s all we could do.” He eventually said.

It wasn’t until Steve pointed it out that you realized that your fingers were fiddling absently with the charm that was hanging from the necklace Wanda had given you before you left. “What are you talking about?” you questioned, your brows furrowed in confusion.

Steve gestured broadly in your general area with one hand, while the other hand remained on the controls of the quinjet. “Whenever you get nervous you start fiddling with the necklace.” His hands returned to the controls as he shifted his attention. “Like a safety blanket.”

Grumbling absently, you folded your hands and looked out the window like a child who had just been caught doing something you weren’t supposed to. “Says the one with the pocket watch.”

In response, Steve shrugged. “Touché.”

You smirked and leaned back in your chair. “That’s what I thought." He chuckled. "Besides, I know we did all we could on the mission. I’ve come to terms with Dr. Wilkerson getting away, without his bases of support though he’s nothing.”

“Is that not what you were nervous about?” Steve prodded.

You shook your head. “I’m worried Yelena is going to hate me forever.” You admitted, your hand once again flying up to fiddle with the charm on your necklace.

Steve whistled lowly. “Still no word from her?” You shook your head again. “All you can do is be honest, kid. Earn her forgiveness. While you may have had good intentions, you lied. Even if it was to protect her. She reserves the right to be angry about it.”

“I know.” You replied. “I agree entirely, but… I don’t want to lose her. I can’t lose her. She-… She means… Everything to me.”

There was a moment of silence. “Do you love her?”

It had been months since you had allowed yourself time to think about the inner workings of your heart, yet the answer remained the same and came with no hesitation. “Yes.”

Steve nodded. “Does that mean you’re over Wanda then?”

The question took you by surprise and suddenly the pendant burned under your touch, like every nerve ending in your body went haywire. Overwhelmed with the thought of the two women that unabashedly occupied your heart. You feebly let your hand fall back to your lap.

Again, silence hovered in the air until, “No.” You replied softly, knowing it was the truth. Knowing you had no reason to lie to Steve.

Again, there was no hesitation in your answer.

“Sounds like you still have a lot to figure out then, kid.” Steve reached over and pat your shoulder sympathetically, “Between you and me though, I always thought you and Wanda would find your way back to each other. You’ve always been like magnets you two.” He admitted. “Natasha disagrees with me. She seems to think that you and Yelena are the most irritatingly perfect match. Her words not mine.”

You narrowed your eyes slightly. “You and Romanoff better not be placing bets on my love life again. You remember what happened last time, Rogers.” You warned with a point of your finger.

Steve chuckled and raised his hands innocently. “No bets were made. I’m just telling you the information.” He paused slightly. “Though I will say if it was a bet, I'd probably win since I did say Wanda would be the one to ask you out originally because you’d be too nervous to even get a word out. You won me fifty bucks that day.”

You punched his shoulder. “I can’t stand any of you.”

“That’s what families do.” You rolled your eyes and chose not to respond as you both distracted yourselves with your own tasks.

Just over an hour later Steve spoke again. “Hope you got enough thinking done because we’re touching down at the compound in five minutes.”

You sucked in a breath as the clouds opened up and the sharp points of the familiar building filled the sky before you.

Suddenly it was as if you blinked, and Steve was lowering the quinjet onto the waiting platform. “It’s good to be home.” You mumbled as you gathered what little you had and walked off the jet with Steve.

Before you could get far, you were met with an armful of someone else causing you to drop everything in your arms to catch the other person.

When the familiar floral scent invaded your senses, you quickly relaxed and held on tighter, relishing in the moment. The comfort that you hadn’t felt in months. “I missed you too, Wanda.” You whispered into her ear as you tucked your chin over her shoulder.

“You have no idea.” Wanda replied as you both held tightly to each other. You faintly heard Steve mumble how he would take your things inside for you, but his words barely registered as you familiarized yourself with the touch you hadn’t felt in months.

Suddenly, it felt like you were grounded again. Like you had been drifting freely and now, being back by her side you felt anchored again. Connected to the world in a way that mattered again.

Sure, you had managed to speak to Wanda briefly a handful of times over the course of your mission, but those sparse minutes were nothing compared to the sensation of actually being in her arms once again.

“It’s good to see you again.” You said leaning back slightly and taking in her every feature, every speck of color in her eyes. This was the longest you had gone without seeing her since the day you both met. “How did you know we were coming back? We wrapped up a few days early, I thought it would fly under the radar.”

Wanda smiled sheepishly back at you, and you couldn’t help the way your own lips pulled up endearingly at the sight. “I may have convinced Tony to program a new feature to FRIDAY that would let me know when you landed.”

A small chuckle of amusement slipped pat your lips. “Yeah? How did you manage that?”

“I may have pulled the Stark missile card.” Wanda answered with a small shrug.

“Didn’t know you couldn’t be so devious, Maximoff.” You teased as Wanda playfully dusted the invisible dirt off her shoulders.

That was when another voice interrupted the moment. “Really? You didn’t?” You turned your head to find the source of the interruption, though from the voice you knew exactly who it was. “I’ve known for a while now.”

Wanda pulled away from you and looked away, rubbing her own arm uncomfortably. “Nat,” You warned. “I just got back; can we not fight first thing?”

Natasha looked between you and Wanda for another moment as if she was contemplating her choices before opening her arms in silent invitation. “Fine, I’ll play nice. Sorry Maximoff.” Wanda nodded in acknowledgment. You suspected she was still terrified of the other woman.

You glanced at Wanda to be sure she was okay before walking over to your best friend and embracing her just as tightly, finding comfort in her embrace. Comfort in knowing that they were all okay while you were gone. That was all you could have wanted. You missed this. All of it.

Regardless of how chaotic it could be at times.

“I assume you didn’t manage to play nice while I was gone. No wonder I stayed away so long.” You said playfully as Natasha pinched you side. You swatted her hand and pulled away in protest. “Is this how you show how much you miss me?”

Natasha rolled her eyes, “Miss you being an idiot? Sure.” She nudged you playfully. “It’ll be nice to have you back though, the compound hasn’t felt the same without you.”

“It really hasn’t.” Wanda agreed, wincing when she saw the blank look Natasha gave her.

You shook your head, “Nothing has changed.” You lightly rested your forehead on Natasha’s, so she could focus on you, so she could hear the sincerity of your next words. “I did miss you, you know? No need to be snappy.”

Natasha finally cracked a smile. “I know, I missed you too.” She lightly nudged your nose with her own before pulling away and ruffling your hair.

You smiled back at her but couldn’t help but look over Natasha’s shoulder a moment later. If Natasha knew you were back, then it was only safe to assume that… “Is- Is Yelena in her room?”

Amusement began shining in Natasha’s eyes. “Couldn’t even go ten minutes without asking about her, could you?” Heat quickly rushed into your cheeks. “She’s on a mission with Clint, should be back later today. Just light recon about a minor disturbance a few cities over.”

“Surprised you let her go without you.” You mumbled, already anticipating the moment of Yelena's return, mentally preparing all the ways you could earn her forgiveness.

“Tony had me on a separate assignment until this morning.” Natasha explained. “Besides, she’s with Barton, they’re both in good company. Safe.”

You nodded, if Natasha wasn’t worried then you had no reason to either. “I-” You lowered your voice. “Will you let me know when she’s back? Don’t tell her I’m here until I get a chance to talk to her, please, I don’t want her to avoid me anymore. I want to apologize. To make it up to her.”

Natasha analyzed you for a moment, analyzed your pleading tone before nodding. “I’ll give you this one shot because I know you only did what you did to protect her... I would have done the same.” She looked over your shoulder before looking back at you. “Now, I think I’ll head inside. We can catch up later. Don’t do anything that will make me have to kick your ass.” She warned.

Before you could utter a reply, your best friend had disappeared into the compound. “She actually talked to me once while you were gone. It was about a mission report, but still, she’s not ignoring me anymore.” You heard Wanda say from behind you.

You chuckled slightly as you turned to face her again, gesturing for her to follow behind you. “That’s actually great news to hear. I miss being able to spend time with both of you.” You leaned against the railing of the landing pad and let the wind traveling through the air be the only sound for a moment.

Wanda mimicked your position, her arms brushing yours, your own pinky shifting slightly to be in contact with hers.

It was like Steve said, there was something magnetic about you both and it felt even stronger after the separation. You couldn’t help but feel like you wanted to be closer. Your free hand raised to fidget with the charm on the necklace nervously.

“Still wearing the necklace, I see.” Wanda noted, her eyes shining happily in the light of day.

A faint blush quickly spread over your cheeks, and you managed a weak nod, your hand once again falling from the charm. “Steve says it’s my safety blanket.”

Wanda’s smile widened. “I didn’t know if you’d even use it since you had given it back to me after we broke up.”

You shrugged halfheartedly. “We’re past that. It represents more now. It represents you.” The sound of Wanda’s breath hitching caught your attention and you couldn’t help but feel your heart hammer in your chest. You just hoped she would change the subject, the vulnerability felt all too much in that moment. "It was nice to have on the mission."

“How did the mission go? I assume well since both you and Steve are back in one piece.” Wanda eventually asked, breaking the charged silence much to your relief. She always was good at reading your wants.

You nodded faintly, eagerly responding to the change of topic. “It did. We shut down every base we set out to, which was all of them.” You could see the happy smile form on Wanda’s lips, and you continued. “We did everything we set out to do except catch Dr. Wilkerson.”

Wanda’s smile fell almost immediately. She knew Dr. Wilkerson was your greatest enemy, your greatest fear. “Are you okay?” As the last word fell from her lips, her pinky moved to rest over yours, as if she herself wanted to be closer. To comfort you.

In response you turned you hand over in silent invitation and Wanda accept the offer immediately, her fingers tangling naturally with your own. “I feel okay, Steve still thinks we can catch him. He won’t get too far… I know he wants to take me back.” Wanda’s fingers tightened against yours. “Don’t worry, without the bases, without his minions? He’s nothing. Powerless. It’s only a matter of time.”

“The day he tries to come after you will be his last.” Wanda said seriously, her eyes darkening at the mere thought. “He won’t hurt you again, Y/n.”

You squeezed her hand, you knew Wanda would never hurt anyone, but her protective nature may change that. You’d never want to put her in that position. “I know, Wands. Don’t worry, Steve and I will find him. I’ll be okay.”

Her lips turned up faintly. “I know, I’ll be here to make sure of it. I’ll protect you, Y/n.”

“And even though you're infinitely stronger than me, I will protect you.” Wanda giggled slightly and you smiled back at her.

For a moment you both just stared at one another, allowing yourselves to get lost in the moment, moving closer and closer until you could feel her breath fan across your lips. You quickly looked away. Not ready to take that step. Not ready to ruin the leaps and bounds of progress you had made with her.

“Now fill me in on what I missed while I was gone.” You said in hopes of brushing over the minor traces of awkwardness that lingered in the air.

That was how both you and Wanda spent the remainder of the day, catching up on everything that had happened in the last few months, the hours slipping away with ease. There was only one thing that could ruin a relaxing evening like that.

And it was the sight of a smaller quinjet landing a few feet away. Your heart began hammering in your chest because the only other ones out on a mission were Yelena and Clint.

The woman that had occupied your mind so deeply was now just seconds away from you.

Except when the doors to the quinjet opened and Clint was the only one to step out, looking battered and bruised. Your stomach dropped at the sight.

You ran over, Wanda following closely behind. “Clint, where is Yelena?”

It was like Clint had just seen a ghost, his eyes widening even more than they already were. “Where is Natasha?”

“Whe-”

“WHERE IS NATASHA!” He yelled, his voice reverberating in the air around you.

Bile climbed up your throat in tandem with the panic you felt squeeze at your chest as the three of you ran into the compound in search of the other woman.

A few moments later you found her lounging in the main room of the compound with a notebook in her hands. Natasha immediately looked up when she heard the sound of panicked footsteps enter the room. “Clint, what-”

Clint quickly interrupted her, his panicked expression making you sick as you anticipated his next words.

“They took her. They took Yelena.”

And just like that, the world stopped.

And that's all folks! This chapter was more of a set-up for the unraveling of the remainder of this story which I now know will be 12 parts total. Sorry for no Yelena in this part. As always, thoughts and comments are always welcome!

Previous part: "Necessary Lies"

Masterlist: "Omen"

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[godlygreta]

i never stopped loving you | j. kiszka

title | i never stopped loving you

summary | jake and y/n have known each other since grade school, they’ve been neighbors forever. a bit of romance ensues, but ends fairly quickly when complications arise while the boys are touring. a trip home from college ends in a slightly drunk confession.

warnings | some mature themes (bit of sex, but not explicitly), swearing, slight angst

word count | 2.5k+

author’s note | hi! this is the first thing i’ve written for any of the boys, so i hope you enjoy. i’ve written for other bands before, so writing isn’t new to me, but writing for greta is.

“I never stopped loving you.”

It slipped out. It didn’t mean to come out. Jake didn’t necessarily want it to come out. They say drunk words are sober thoughts, right? At the same time, who trusts the words of a drunk person? Usually it’s just brushed off as babbling, but Y/N couldn’t ignore what Jake said. Especially because she couldn’t blame it on not hearing him. There was no music playing outside the bar. The music was faint enough that anything Jake had said was heard.

High school was rough for Y/N with hormones mixed in with academics, horny teenage boys at every turn. Y/N wasn’t even interested in dating, not due to the fact that nobody was necessarily interested in her, but because she was too focused on her studies to even give a damn. School dances were a nice break from academics. There was a shift, though, when one boy in particular would start to really pay attention to her.

Jake Kiszka was charismatic in every sense of the word. Him and his twin brother, Josh, were always the two sweetest, yet most famous troublemakers in all of Frankenmuth High School. It got even worse when their younger brother, Sam, ended up in high school with them as a freshman. Jake had girls wrapped around his finger from the moment he had gotten a haircut. His hair was a lot shorter than before and barely even touched his forehead. Y/N didn’t really give a damn. To her, he was still Jake Kiszka, neighbor.

Their parents were friends and always hungout on the weekends. Y/N’s family had a cabin on the lake which they always vacationed at and occasionally would bring Jake’s family with. One particular summer, they stayed there for a week between the summer of sophomore and junior year. The summer’s were always hot, but this week in particular was hotter than the other summer’s before. “It feels like the Devil’s asshole out here.”

“I know, Mary, but that’s the exact reason we chose to come here this week. The kids can swim in the lake, it’s a lot cooler in the water than on the grass.” Y/N’s dad spoke, returning the conversation from her mother. He gave her a quick kiss on the side of the head and returned to unpacking the car. Y/N and the boys had already gone into the house and picked their rooms. The boys shared one, and Y/N got one of the spare bedrooms. 

Dinner was made as soon as everyone was settled in. Everyone sat around the dining table, laughing and eating as they did almost every weekend. “You excited for Junior year, Y/N?”

“Yeah, I’m sort of nervous about taking the SAT and ACT. I’ve been studying when I’m not working at the shop.” She picked at some asparagus on her plate as she answered Mrs. Kiszka’s  question. Jake and Josh weren’t entirely ecstatic about it, it didn’t really matter to either of them. Music was their passion and that was never going to change.

Smores after dinner was a tradition that started when they were all really little, barely old enough to eat them. The fire was lit by Mr. Kiszka and Mr. Y/L/N. Jake, Sam and Josh had always played music while the rest of them made their smores. Y/N always made extras for the boys for when they were done playing music. Whenever they had no idea what to play, Y/N always knew the answer. Running out of songs to play, though, was a rarity in itself. The Kiszka’s knew so much about their sound, nothing was in their way of playing songs that fit it. However, every once in a blue moon they would ask their friend what she would like to hear. “C’mon now. You should know I’m a sucker for The Beatles.”

Y/N could recognize the sound of Blackbird the second it started playing. She had only listened to it eight million times that summer. She hummed lightly along as they played. Everyone clapped as soon as their song was over, the boys immediately delving into their smores. Y/N had finally taken a seat next to Josh when she was finished making their smores for them. Once their parents had gone inside, though, Y/N and the twins dipped into their parents' cooler of beer.

Neither of the sets of parents cared, they knew their kids would be safe and unharmed if they drank at the cabin. Jokes were told and stories of the past school year were discussed, as well as the future. A topic so vast for high schoolers. “I still can’t decide between a lawyer and an art teacher.”

“You’ve always been great at arguing,” Josh joked, “Practically got fuckin’ Lindsey McNeil out of that suspension.”

“It wasn’t fair. All she did was stand up for herself and what she believed in, plus that teacher is fucking creepy and everyone knows it.” Everybody laughed, the beer in everyone’s hands was getting a little warmer with every minute that passed by. Everyone filtered out one by one. Sam went in first, followed by Ronnie (she was slightly upset about coming, having made other plans with friends for the hot weather), and then Josh followed, leaving behind Jake and Y/N.

“Did you want to go inside yet or stay out here for a bit longer?” The silence beforehand hadn’t been awkward for the pair. “Cause I was thinking of going swimming for a bit.”

“I’ll join you, we haven’t swam yet today.”

The sand leading into the lake was met with a bit of rocks. It was picturesque under the moonlight. The pair discarded their clothing, leaving their underwear and got into the water. The coolness of the water sent goosebumps along her skin, leaving no piece without some. Jake followed in behind her, coming up next to her before completely dipping under the water. He popped back up and shook his head.

“You know,” Y/N started, “I think you’d look really good with longer hair.”

“You think?”

“Yeah. You should grow it out.” She swiped his hair out of the way and giggled a bit. “You’ll still never be prettier than I am.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, darling.”

The rest of the summer followed with light flirting and spending lots of time together. Junior year came around and nothing changed a bit. Prom was spent with the Kiszka family, Josh driving the three of you, as well as Josh’s date. The dance was lame, the songs were overplayed pop music, which Y/N secretly had a bit of a soft spot for. She would never tell that to Jake, though.

The pair ended up back at Y/N’s house, giggling all the way up to her room. He went into the bathroom to take his suit off, using one of Y/N’s hangers to make sure it wouldn’t wrinkle. However, Y/N was still having issues. She couldn’t manage to undo the zipper by herself, waiting for Jake to come back into the room to do it for her. He came back in, saw her still in her dress. “Need my help?”

“My zipper -- I can’t reach it.”

“I can do it,” he whispered, knowing Y/N’s parents were asleep. His hands were warm against her back, undoing her zipper slowly. The moonlight coming in from the window felt like that hot summer night at the cabin. He slid the straps down her shoulders, his mouth slightly agape. How could someone look so beautiful and delicate at the same time?

She turned around, her body facing Jake’s. He stuttered, telling her he could leave and he was honestly about to. Until he felt her hand grab his wrist. “Don’t go.”

He nodded his head, helping her get the rest of the way out of her dress. She stepped closer to him and put her hands on his chest. She could feel how fast his heart was beating. She had a hard time meeting his gaze, nervous of him not feeling the same way she had been. “You looked really good tonight.”

“Me? Everybody was staring at you the whole time, Y/N,” he spoke, one hand finding their way to her waist, the other pulling on her chin to force eye contact. “You looked absolutely breathtaking.”

There was a split second where both of them second guessed themselves. But it was over when Y/N pressed her lips lightly against Jake’s. It was such a feathery light touch, it almost felt like she wasn’t even kissing him. She pulled away slowly, her eyes closed, not really knowing what to do next. She didn’t have to figure it out though, Jake’s lips returned to hers with more pressure.

His hands had found their rightful place on her back, bringing her closer to him. Hers found their way into his hair. It felt so natural - the need for each other grew stronger with each passing minute. His mouth never wanted to leave hers, it felt as though her lips were coated in fucking drugs the way they were so addicting. He couldn’t get enough. “Do you want to..?”

“Yes, please.” It came out so needy - desperate. Y/N didn’t even care about how that presented itself to Jake. She just wanted to be even closer to him than she already was. And she got to be right where she wanted to be.

Her bed was more comfy than Jake had previously remembered. Or maybe that was because they were here under different circumstances, not just studying algebra because Jake wasn’t quite getting it. All he knew was that he wasn’t ever going to forget it. He wanted this moment to replay forever and ever. Not because he was just some horny teenager, but because holy fuck, this had just been some random thought - a daydream, almost. But this was real. This was happening.

A tangled mess they were when climaxing. “I love you,” came out as barely above a whisper. It took Y/N a half of a second to register what he was really saying before it finally hit her. She didn’t feel as if she had to say it back, if anything, he should realize that she loved him too.

“I could honestly stay here forever and stare at you until the end of time.”

“So do it. We’ve got all the time in the world.”

They didn’t though. And it wasn’t that simple. Complications arose after that night. Everything got messy and trying to tie in a relationship while the band was traveling and on the road became increasingly difficult, especially when Y/N went to college.

She came home to Frankenmuth while she was off for the summer. Her mother and father missed her a great deal and the first weekend home was spent in the Kiszka’s backyard, the boys excluded. It was weird to be at their house and not see them littered around anywhere. Ronnie was full of stories though, telling Y/N about previous times the boys have come home from touring and the memories they brought back with him.

It was painful to hear, but she was so incredibly proud of everything they had accomplished and done. Every once in a while, Y/N had checked up on their band's Instagram account. When she was really nervous — having a hard time not worrying about them — she texted Josh or Danny. Neither of them were ever going to say anything to Jake or mention it to Sam.

The two families decided to get together and have dinner at a local bar. The boys were still away, they weren’t scheduled to come back to Michigan for at least another month and a half. Ronnie and Y/N spent most of their time talking about future plans for the upcoming weeks while their parents discuss their weekend plans — what to have for dinner and who’s house to have dinner at. Time had passed quickly and before they knew it, it was 10pm.

The parents had left, leaving Ronnie and Y/N at the bar by themselves. At least, that was until the boys walked in.

Ronnie smiled widely, hugging her brothers but then proceeding to punch them for surprising her and not just telling her. Josh and Danny hugged Y/N first, Sam leading after. Jake didn’t hug Y/N. It stung a bit. It made sense though. The last time they talked — it ended in an argument which was the resulting cause of their breakup.

A few drinks were downed, a couple shots thrown in there as well. Y/N figured it was time to throw the towel in. She couldn’t handle the awkward glances and forced conversation on their part. She grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and put it on as she said goodbye to everyone. “Boys, lovely to see you again. I’m sure I’ll see you this weekend.”

She wasn’t going to. She was gonna avoid them at all costs. Come up with a lie — say she had the flu or something. Her mother would believe her either way, as well as understand where she was coming from with her avoidance. Her mother was there for her while she cried her eyes out.

She didn’t notice when Jake had followed her out. She didn’t notice him calling her name. The only thing she could notice was the tears falling down her cheeks, wiping them as soon as she felt them.

“I never stopped loving you.”

It slipped out. It didn’t mean to come out. Jake didn’t necessarily want it to come out. They say drunk words are sober thoughts, right? At the same time, who trusts the words of a drunk person? Usually it’s just brushed off as babbling, but Y/N couldn’t ignore what Jake said. Especially because she couldn’t blame it on not hearing him. There was no music playing outside the bar. The music was faint enough that anything Jake had said was heard.

“When we broke up,” he started. “I was a wreck. I was immature. It could’ve worked out - it would’ve worked out if I wasn’t such a child about everything.”

“Jake —“

“No, Y/N, I need to say this now. I’m a little drunk so I actually have the balls to say everything I want to. It was stupid to break up over something as menial as distance. The things I feel for you are so intense it scares the fuck out of me. I was so afraid of being gone all the time. You deserved someone who could be there to help you study for midterms. I was always in another state and sometimes another country. I wasn’t… there to be able to help you through anything. Everything’s different now, though.”

She sighed, not entirely sure on what to do with the information that was thrown at her. She was sober enough to remember the conversation tomorrow, but not nearly drunk enough to be able to deal with it tonight. “Do you wanna just come home with me? Talk about this tomorrow morning when we’re both sober.”

“Yeah, I’d like that a lot.”

[wonlouvre]

hiii i love your writing so much! i wanted to request maybe a junhui + reader barista au >< the plot can be anything i'm just a sucker for fluff aaaa

hope you have a great day <33

you | w. jh.

pairing: barista!junhui x g.n. reader genre: fluff warnings: mentions of food (please tell me if i missed anything!) word count: 1.2k+

💌: i am currently working from home and finally managed to finish this! thank you so much for requesting anon! i hope you like it:’)

The coffee shop you frequent has a newly hired barista. You assumed that said barista is new because ever since you started taking comfort in their coffees and pastries while studying, this is the first time you’re seeing the tall and handsome man. He’s really handsome, you have to admit and emphasize that. Most especially up close, where you can fully grasp almost every detail of his sharp features; you can tell he’s out of this world. 

“Hi! I’m Junhui,” he happily greets before taking the cap off of the pen he’s holding, “What can I make for you today?”

Junhui. You remember his name and his voice. If you can fall in love with the sound of a voice, it would be his. 

You reciprocate his happiness by answering his question in great delight (pretending you don’t have two final papers due by the end of the week). You notice how Junhui’s smile grows as he gets your order down. Although he really won’t be making your drink as he takes charge of the cashier, you don’t mind. After punching in your payment, he hands you the coaster that would buzz once your order is ready. You thank him and leave a generous amount of tip. 

Not because you’re trying to impress him or give him any special treatment. You just think he deserves it. Actually, everyone in this coffee shop deserves it for how they have given you a place to study comfortably and at the same time a place to have fresh brewed coffees and baked goods. Junhui is now a new addition to the staff that you’re grateful for. 

The first meeting with Junhui was good and you thought you were off for a great start. You thought he would remember your name, your usual order or maybe even your face. But to your dismay, he doesn’t.

At all. 

It’s a little disheartening. Just a little bit. You’re pretty much torn on how you feel about him anyway. For one, you’re used to the regular baristas here greeting you every time you come in. It doesn’t matter what time or day it is. But, how come Junhui doesn’t even glance up at you unless you’re talking to him directly? 

On the other hand, you also don’t know why you have so many high expectations for him. Do you fancy him? Or are you just attracted because he’s handsome? 

Nonetheless, you ignore your disappointment and continue going to the coffee shop like how you always do. What you feel doesn’t matter anyway. What matters at the moment is you getting through the semester without any failing marks so that you can get the stress free vacation you’ve been yearning for.

You can always go to the library, but a warm cup of coffee and a decadent slice of chocolate cake is too good to turn away from. 

“Hi Junhui,” you shyly greet as you stand on the counter with your wallet at hand. 

The coffee shop is quiet right now as it is almost nine in the evening. You haven’t been going during your usual late afternoon study session due to circumstances so you haven’t seen Junhui on his regular shift. But tonight, it seems like he took the night shift. This is the first time you’re seeing him after a while. 

“Hey.” Junhui smiles, his pen ready. “I’ve been excited to see you all day.”

That last sentence makes you blink in confusion. Huh? You look behind you and the rest of your surroundings to check if he’s really talking to you. When it’s just really you that he’s talking to, you silently point a finger to your chest, confirming if it’s really really you that he’s talking to. 

Junhui only laughs. “Yes, you. Now, what can I get for you?”

You narrow your eyes at him. “What have you done to the Junhui of this place? Who are you?”

“Y/N, are you going to order or not?”

You gasp in horror (dramatically). “Did you just say my name?”

Junhui rolls his eyes. “You know what, no free cookies for you tonight.”

“No!” You hold a hand out in surrender. “Okay, okay. One cafe latte please.”

That night was both amusing and bewildering. You have no idea where the sudden turn around came over Junhui, but you will take it. 

From then on, Junhui’s smile is a little different and you can see it in his eyes. He still rarely calls your name but when he does, it’s genuine. He still asks for what you’ll be ordering, but it doesn’t bother you anymore. 

“I think scrolling through every Instagram story is not a good idea if you really want to get at least an eighty on that essay.”

In this particular study session, Junhui has kept an eagle eye on you. He’s not taking any excuses from you when he clearly ordered you to not touch your phone in exchange for a free slice of cheesecake. 

You pout when Junhui picks up your mug, pouring the refill he promised when you reached three hundred words. “Can’t I take a break now and have the cake?”

Junhui gives you a “in your wish” look while planting his other hand on his hip. “Nope. Your goal is to finish tonight so all that’s left to do is to review and revise.” 

“Since when did you become so strict,” you grumble and return your attention back to your laptop. 

“Ever since I started giving you free pastries, that’s when,” he replies and takes the chair opposite your side. 

You scowl. “I can always pay. You’re the one that’s declining.”

“I’m not complaining,” Junhui says and picks up one of your notes. 

Junhui admitted later that it was hard for him to approach you differently from how he usually addresses every customer in the coffee shop. Not because he doesn’t like you. Of course not. It was difficult because just like you, he found you cute and even cuter whenever he hears you call his name or whenever he sees your happy smile as you tell him your order (even though he already knows). 

Junhui’s guess is you make him speechless and that he gets stuck with his regular programming as a cashier slash barista catering to the caffeine needs of everyone. As much as he wants to be your Junhui, he can’t help but be blown away by you, your face, voice, presence.

You.

However, when you started to visit the cafe late and during his off, he knew he needed to change and develop your awkward encounters into something else, something intimate and affectionate in the sincerest way possible. That’s how he ended up finally and excitedly calling your name. 

That’s also the beginning of the best relationship you could ever ask for.  

“Shouldn’t you be going back to work?” You ask, confused as to why he’s lounging around. 

“Sweetheart, my shift ended thirty minutes ago.”

Your eyes widen, immediately looking at the time. It’s way past ten and you’re still here. Way past closing hours. Way past Junhui’s shift. You can’t believe you lost track of time. 

“I’m so sorry,” you apologize and quickly gather your belongings. “I didn’t notice the time.”

“Hey, hey,” Junhui calls and holds your hand to stop. “It’s okay. Calm down.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You pout and zip close your backpack. 

Junhui just gives you his signature grin and waves a hand. “I told you it’s fine.”

“Is that your excuse to keep me to yourself and stare at me all night?”

Junhui giggles. “You got me.”

[shihalyfie]

About the Adventure: reboot, the likely reason why it exists, the question of target demographic, and whether I would recommend it or not

I think this reboot has been kind of a strange outlier in terms of Digimon anime in general, in terms of...well, just about everything. I also feel like everything surrounding it has kind of been giving us mixed signals as to what the intent and purpose behind the anime is -- well, besides “cashing in on the Adventure brand”, but looking at it more closely, that might be a bit of an oversimplification.

I’m writing this post because, having seen the entire series to the end for myself and thinking very hard about it and what it was trying to do, I decided to put down my thoughts. This is not meant to be a review of what I think was good and bad, but rather, something that I hope will be helpful to those who might be on the fence about whether they want to watch it or not, or those who don’t want to watch/finish it but are curious about what happened, or those who are curious as to why this reboot even exists in the first place, or even maybe just those who did watch it but are interested in others’ thoughts about it. I'm personally convinced that -- especially in an ever-changing franchise like Digimon -- how much you like a given work is dependent on what your personal tastes are to the very end, and thus it’s helpful to understand what kind of expectations you should go in with if you want to watch something.

With all of this said and done, if you want to go in and best enjoy this series, I think it is best to consider this anime as a distinct Digimon series of its own. The relationship to Adventure is only surface-level, and by that I mean it’s very obvious it’s doing things its own thing deliberately without worrying too much about what prior series did. Of course, I think everyone will have varying feelings about using the Adventure branding for something that really isn't Adventure at all, but we are really talking about an in-name-only affair, and something that’s unabashedly doing whatever it wants. So in other words, if you’re going in expecting Adventure, or anything that really resembles Adventure, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. But if you’re able to approach it like yet another distinct Digimon series, and the other aspects of it fit your fancy, you’ll probably be able to enjoy it much better. And, conversely, I think it’s also important to remember that this series seems to have a writing philosophy with a fundamentally different goal from most Digimon series, and since it’s understandable for most long-time Digimon fans to have their tastes built on those prior series, it’s fine and completely understandable that this reboot may not be your cup of tea, for reasons that probably don’t actually have much to do with whether it’s an Adventure reboot or not.

There are no spoilers in the following post. (Although I use some emphatic language for the duration for it, these are mostly just my personal thoughts and how I see the series and the overall situation.)

On what exact relationship to Adventure this series has, and why it’s an “Adventure reboot”

If you ask why they did an Adventure reboot, the easiest answer to come up with is “Adventure milking, because it’s profitable”, but that’s kind of an oversimplification of what the issue is. This is especially when you take into account a key fact that official has been very well aware of since as early as 2006: most kids are too young to have seen Adventure, and therefore have no reason to care about it.

That’s the thing: Adventure milking only works so well on today’s children, and Toei and Bandai know this. This is also the reason that the franchise started going through a bit of a “split” starting in around 2012 (after Xros Wars finished airing), when the video game branch started making more active attempts to appeal to the adults’ fanbase with Re:Digitize and Adventure PSP. (Although they were technically still “kids’ games”, they were very obviously aimed at the adults’ audience as a primary “target”.) The generation that grew up with Adventure and other classic Digimon anime was getting older and older, and targeting that audience would require tailoring products more specifically to them -- ultimately culminating in 2015 and the solidification of “very obviously primarily for adults” media in the form of both games (Cyber Sleuth and Next Order) and anime (tri.). Note that Appmon ended up getting its own 3DS game, but since it was targeted at kids, it seems to have been developed by a completely different pipeline/branch from the aforementioned adults’ games, so even that had a split.

So if we want to talk about full-on nostalgia pandering, that’s already being done in the adults’ branch. In fact, Appmon development specifically said that they felt free to not really care about the adults’ audience because that was tri.’s job. Of course, the hardcore Digimon adults’ fanbase is still keeping an eye on the kids’ shows, and it’s good to not upset them -- and, besides, even if we’re all suffering under the hell of capitalism, people who work in kids’ shows still tend to be very passionate about the content and messages they’re showing the kids, so they still put an effort into making good content that adults can enjoy too. But, nevertheless, adults are still the “periphery demographic”, and a kids’ show is not a success if the kids (who have not seen and do not care about Adventure) are not watching it or buying the toys. Appmon ended up being extremely well-received by the adults’ fanbase, but that all meant nothing since the kids didn’t get into it.

Most kids are not super incredibly discerning about so-called writing quality (it’s not like they don’t at least unconsciously know when something is good, but they’re much less likely to be bothered by little things adults are often bothered by), so there’s a certain degree you have to get their attention if you want things to catch on with them. Critical reception does matter a lot more when we talk about the adults’ audience, but for the kids, the more important part is how much you’ve managed to engage them and how much fun they’re having (especially in regards to the toyline). Moreover, there’s the problem of “momentum”; Digimon’s sister shows of PreCure, Kamen Rider, and Super Sentai have sometimes had really poorly performing shows (critically or financially), but have managed to recover it in successive years to avoid getting cancelled. Digimon never managed to get to that point, with sales nearly dropping to half with Tamers and again with Frontier. So in essence, Savers, Xros Wars, and Appmon were all attempts at figuring out what was needed to just get that “kickstart” again -- but things just never lined up for it to work.

So if kids don’t really care about Adventure, why would they do Adventure nostalgia pandering? The answer is one that official has actually openly stated multiple times: they want to have parents watch it together with their children. Both Seki and Kinoshita said this in regards to watching the reaction to Kizuna, and it was also stated outright as a goal for the reboot, but, believe it or not, there’s reports of this having been stated back as early as Savers (followed by an admission that maybe 2006 was a little too early for people who grew up with Adventure to be old enough to have their own kids). So the little nostalgia references in Savers, Xros Wars, and Appmon aren't really meant to magically turn the series into Adventure as much as they’re supposed to be flags waved at the parents to get them to pay attention, so that they can introduce their kids to Digimon and watch it together with them, until the kids eventually take an interest on their own and they don’t need to rely on that kind of standby as much. (I say “as much” because of course PreCure, Rider, and Sentai all are still very indulgent in their anniversary references, but they’re not nearly as reliant on it to the point of life-and-death.)

This is also why Kizuna’s existence and release date two months prior to the reboot is a huge factor in this. The reason tri. wouldn’t have done it is that it never actually reached a properly “mainstream” audience. It’s a huge reason I keep emphasizing the fact that tri. and Kizuna are two separate things with completely different production and release formats, because tri. being a limited OVA screening released in six parts over three years means that, although it was a moderate financial success that did better than the franchise’s other niche products, in the end, it didn’t actually reach the “extremely casual” audience very well. We, as the “hardcore Internet fanbase”, all know people who watched all six parts, and the difference between tri. and Kizuna’s release formats doesn’t hit us as hard because of international distribution circumstances, but even on our end, if you talk to your casual friends who barely remember anything about Digimon except what they saw on TV twenty years ago, you will almost never find anyone who got past Part 1, maybe 2 at most. (That’s before we even get into the part where a good chunk of them got turned off at the character design stage for being too different.) Sticking with a full six-part series over three years is a commitment, and if you’re not someone with a certain level of loyalty to the franchise, you aren’t as likely to put aside the time for it!

Kizuna, on the other hand, was a full-on theatrical movie with full marketing campaign that was aimed at that extremely casual mainstream audience, including a lot of people who hadn’t even heard of tri. (due to it being too niche) or hadn’t bothered to commit to watching something so long, and thus managed to “hype up” a lot of adults and get them in a Digimon mood. (Critical reception issues aside, this is also presumably a huge reason Kizuna isn’t all that reliant on tri.’s plot; Adventure and 02 both averaged at around 11% of the country watching it when it first aired, but the number of people who even saw tri. much less know what happened in it is significantly lower, so while you can appeal to a lot of people if you’re just targeting the 11%, you'll lock them out if you’re overly reliant on stuff a lot of them will have never seen in the first place.) We’re talking the kind of super-casual who sees a poster for Kizuna, goes “oh I remember Digimon!”, casually buys a ticket for the movie, likes it because it has characters they remember and the story is feelsy, and then two months later an anime that looks like the Digimon they recognize is on Fuji TV, resulting in them convincing their kid to watch it together with them because they’re in a Digimon mood now, even though the actual contents of the anime are substantially different from the original.

So, looking back at the reboot:

There’s a huge, huge, huge implication that the choice to use Adventure branding was at least partially to get Fuji TV to let them have their old timeslot back. Neither Xros Wars nor Appmon were able to be on that old timeslot, presumably because Fuji TV had serious doubts about their profitability (perhaps after seeing Savers not do very well). This isn’t something that hits as hard for us outside Japan who don’t have to feel the impact of this anyway, but it’s kind of a problem if kids don’t even get the opportunity to watch the show in the first place. While there’s been a general trend of moving to video-on-demand to the point TV ratings don’t really have as much impact as they used to, I mean...it sure beats 6:30 in the morning, goodness. (Note that a big reason PreCure, Rider, and Sentai are able to enjoy the comfortable positions they’re in is that they have a very luxurious 8:30-10 AM Sunday block on TV Asahi dedicated to them.)

Since we’re talking about “the casual mainstream”, this means that this kind of ploy only works with something where a casual person passing by can see names and faces and take an interest. This is why it has to be Adventure, not 02 or Tamers or whatnot; 02 may have had roughly similar TV ratings to Adventure and fairly close sales figures back in 2000, but the actual pop culture notability disparity in this day and age is humongous (think about the difference in pop culture awareness between Butter-Fly and Target). 02, Tamers, and all can do enough to carry “adults’ fandom” products and merch sales at DigiFes, and the adults’ branch of the franchise in general, but appealing to the average adult buying toys for the kids is a huge difference, and a big reason that, even if they’re clearly starting to acknowledge more of the non-Adventure series these days, it’s still hard to believe they’re going to go as far as rebooting anything past Adventure -- or, more accurately, hard to believe they’ll be able to get the same impact using names and faces alone.

This advertising with the Adventure brand goes beyond just the anime -- we’re talking about the toyline that has the involved character faces plastered on them, plus all of the ventures surrounding them that Bandai pretty obviously carefully timed to coincide with this. One particularly big factor is the card game, which is doing really, really well right now, to the point it’s even started gaining an audience among people who weren’t originally Digimon fans. Part of it is because the game’s design is actually very good and newcomer-friendly, but also...nearly every set since the beginning came with reboot-themed Tamer Cards, which means that, yes, those cards with the Adventure names and faces were helping lure people into taking an interest in the game. Right now, the game is doing so well and has gained such a good reputation that it probably doesn’t need that crutch anymore to keep going as long as the game remains well-maintained, but I have no doubt the initial “Adventure” branding was what helped it take off, and its success is most likely a huge pillar sustaining the franchise at the current moment.

Speaking of merch and toys, if you look closely, you might notice that Bandai decided to go much, much more aggressively into the toy market with this venture than they ever did with Savers, Xros Wars, or Appmon (Appmon was probably the most aggressive attempt out of said three). They put out a lot more merch and did a lot more collaborative events to engage the parents and children, and, presumably, the reason they were able to do this was because they were able to push into those outlets with the confidence the Adventure brand would let them be accepted (much like with Fuji TV). Like with the card game, the important part was getting their “foot in the door” so that even if it stopped being Adventure after a fashion, they’d still have all of those merchandising outlets -- after all, one of the first hints we ever got of Ghost Game’s existence was a July product listing for its products replacing the reboot’s in a gachapon set, so we actually have evidence of certain product pipelines being opened by the reboot’s precedent. (The word 後番組 literally means “the TV program that comes after”, so it’s pretty obvious this was intended for Ghost Game; in other words, the reboot’s existence helped ensure there be a “reservation” for this kind of product to be made.)

I think one important thing to keep in mind is that Toei and Bandai have as much of a stake in avoiding rehashing for their kids’ franchises as we do. Even if you look at this from a purely capitalistic perspective, because of how fast the “turnover” is for the kids’ audience, sustaining a franchise for a long time off rehashing the same thing over and over is hard, and even moreso when it involves a twenty-year-old anime that said kids don’t even know or remember. Ask around about popular long-running Japanese kids’ franchises and you’ll notice they practically rely on being able to comfortably change things up every so often, like PreCure/Rider/Sentai shuffling every year, or Yu-Gi-Oh! having a rotation of different series and concepts, or the struggles that franchises that don’t do this have to deal with. And, after all, for all people are cynical about Toei continuing to milk Adventure or any of the other older series at every opportunity, as far as the kids’ branch of the franchise goes, this is only capable of lasting to a certain extent; if they tried keeping this up too long, even the adults and kids would get bored, and there is some point it’ll be easier to try and make products directly targeted at the kids’ audience instead of having to rely on the parents to ease them into it.

So it’s completely understandable that the moment they secured a proper audience with the reboot and finished up their first series with this, they decided to take the risk with Ghost Game right after. And considering all that’s happened, this is still a risk -- they’re changing up a lot (even if not as much as Appmon), and there’s a chance that the audience they’ve gathered is going to shoot down again because they’ve changed so much and they no longer have the Adventure branding as a “crutch” to use -- but they’re taking it anyway instead of going for something at least slightly more conventional.

Which means that, yes, there’s a possibility this will all explode in their face, because the Adventure branding is that huge of a card they’re about to lose. But at the very, very least, Ghost Game is coming in with the “momentum” and advantage that Savers, Xros Wars, and Appmon all didn’t have: a brand currently in the stage of recovery, all of the merchandising and collaborative pipelines the reboot and Kizuna opened up, a fairly good timeslot, and a premise somewhat more conventional than Xros Wars and Appmon (I’m saying this as someone who likes both: their marketing definitely did not do them many favors). There are still a lot of risks it’s playing here, and it’s possible it won’t be the end of more Adventure or reboot brand usage to try to keep that momentum up even as we go into Ghost Game, but it’s the first time in a long while we’ve had something to stand on.

Okay, so that’s out of the way. But the end result is that we now have 67 episodes of an Adventure “reboot” that actually doesn’t even resemble Adventure that much at all, which seems to have achieved its goal of flagging down attention so it can finally going back to trying new things. This series exists, we can’t do anything about the fact it exists, the period where its own financial performance actually mattered is coming to an end anyway, and we, as a fanbase of adults hanging out on the Internet keeping up with the franchise as a whole, have to figure out how each of us feels about this. So what of it?

About the contents of the reboot itself

One thing I feel hasn’t been brought up as a potential topic very much (or, at least, not as much as I feel like it probably should be) is that the reboot seems to be actively aimed at a younger target audience than the original Adventure. It hasn’t been stated outright, but we actually have quite a bit of evidence pointing towards this.

Let’s take a moment and discuss what it even means to have a different target audience. When you’re a kid, even one or two years’ difference is a big deal, and while things vary from kid to kid, generally speaking, it helps to have an idea of what your “overall goal” is when targeting a certain age group, since at some point you have to approximate the interests of some thousands of children. Traditionally, Digimon has been aimed at preteens (10-11 year olds); of course, many will testify to having seen the series at a younger age than that, but the "main” intended target demographic was in this arena. (Also, keep in mind that this is an average; a show aimed at 10-11 year olds could be said to be more broadly aimed at 7-13 year olds, whereas one aimed at 7-8 year olds would be more broadly aimed at something like 5-10 year olds.) Let’s talk a bit about what distinguishes children’s shows (especially Japanese kids’ shows) between this “preteen demographic” and things aimed at a much younger audience (which I’ll call “young child demographic”, something like the 7-8 year old arena):

With children who are sufficiently young, it’s much, much more difficult to ensure that a child of that age will be able to consistently watch TV at the same hour every week instead of being subject to more variable schedules, often set by their parents, meaning that it becomes much more difficult to have a series that relies on you having seen almost every episode to know what’s going on. For somewhat older kids, they’re more likely to be able to pick and pursue their own preferences (the usual “got up early every week for this show”). This means that shows targeted at a young child demographic will be more likely to be episodic, or at least not have a complex dramatic narrative that requires following the full story, whereas shows targeted at a preteen audience are more willing to have a dramatic narrative with higher complexity. This does not mean by any shake of the imagination that a narrative is incapable of having any kind of depth or nuance -- the reboot’s timeslot predecessor GeGeGe no Kitaro got glowing reviews all over the board for being an episodic story with tons of depth -- nor that characters can’t slowly develop over the course of the show. But it does raise the bar significantly, especially because it prevents you from making episodes that require you to know what happened in previous ones.

The thing is, the original Adventure and the older Digimon series in general didn’t have to worry about this, and, beyond the fact that their narratives very obviously were not episodic, we actually have concrete evidence of the disparity: Digimon has often been said to be a franchise for “the kids who graduated from (outgrew) a certain other monster series”. Obviously, they’re referring to Pokémon -- which does have the much younger target demographic. That’s why its anime is significantly more episodic and less overall plot-oriented, and Digimon wasn’t entirely meant to be a direct competitor to it; rather, it was hoping to pick up the preteens who’d enjoyed Pokémon at a younger age but were now looking for something more catered to them. This is also why, when Yo-kai Watch came into the game in 2014, that was considered such a huge direct competitor to Pokémon, because it was aiming for that exact same demographic, complete with episodic anime. When Yo-kai Watch moved to its Shadowside branch in 2017, it was specifically because they had concerns about losing audience and wanted to appeal to the kids who had been watching the original series, but since they were preteens now, they adopted a more dramatic and emotionally complex narrative that would appeal to that audience instead. So you can actually see the shift in attempted target demographic in real time.

Adventure through Frontier were aimed at 10-11 year olds, and here’s the interesting part: those series had the protagonists hover around the age of said target audience. We actually have it on record that Frontier had a direct attempt to keep most of the kids as fifth-graders for the sake of appealing to the audience, and so that it would be relatable to them. You can also see this policy of “matching the target audience’s age” in other series at the time; Digimon’s sister series Ojamajo Doremi (also produced by Seki) centered around eight-year-olds. Nor was Seki the only one to do this; stepping outside Toei for a bit, Medabots/Medarot had its protagonist Ikki be ten years old, much like Digimon protagonists, and the narrative was similarly dramatic. The thing is, that’s not how it usually works, and that’s especially not really been how it’s worked for the majority of kids’ series since the mid-2000s. In general, and especially now, it’s usually common to have the protagonists of children’s media be slightly older than the target age group. This has a lot of reasons behind it -- partially because kids are looking to have slightly older characters as a model for what to follow in their immediate future, and partially because “the things you want to teach the kids” are often more realistically reflected if the kids on screen have the right level of independence and capacity for emotional contemplation. Case in point: while everyone agrees the Adventure through Frontier characters are quite relatable, it’s a common criticism that the level of emotional insight sometimes pushes the boundary of what’s actually believable for 10-11 year olds...

...which is presumably why, with the exception of this reboot, every Digimon TV series since, as of this writing, started shifting to middle school students. That doesn’t mean they’re aiming the series at middle school kids now, especially because real-life 13-15 year olds are usually at the stage where they pretend they’ve outgrown kids’ shows (after all, that’s why there’s a whole term for “middle school second year syndrome”), but more that the narrative that they want to tell is best reflected by kids of that age, especially when we’re talking characters meant to represent children from the real world and not near-immortal youkai like Kitaro. In fact, the Appmon staff outright said that Haru was placed in middle school because the story needed that level of independence and emotional sensitivity, which is interesting to consider in light of the fact that Appmon’s emotional drama is basically on par with that of Adventure through Frontier’s. So in other words, the kind of high-level drama endemic to Adventure through Frontier is would actually normally be more on par with what you’d expect for kids of Haru’s age.

But at this point, the franchise is at a point of desperation, and you can see that, as I said earlier, Appmon was blatantly trying to be one of those “have its cake and eat it too” series by having possibly one of the franchise’s most dramatic storylines while also having some of the most unsubtle catchphrases and bright colors it has to offer. Moreover, one thing you might notice if you look closely at Appmon: most of its episodes are self-contained. Only a very small handful of episodes are actively dependent on understanding what happened in prior episodes to understand the conflict going on in the current one -- it’s just very cleverly structured in a way you don’t really notice this as easily. So as you can see, the more desperate the franchise has gotten to get its kids’ audience back, the more it has to be able to grab the younger demographic and not lock them out as much as possible -- which means that it has to do things that the original series didn’t have to worry about at all.

Having seen the reboot myself, I can say that it checks off a lot of what you might expect if you tried to repurpose something based on Adventure (and only vaguely based on it, really) into a more episodic story that doesn’t require you to follow the whole thing, and that it has to break down its story into easy-to-follow bits. In fact, there were times where I actually felt like it gave me the vibes of an educational show that would usually be expected for this demographic, such as repeated use of slogans or fun catchphrases for young kids to join in on. That alone means that even if the “base premise” is similar to the original Adventure, this already necessitates a lot of things that have to be very different, because Adventure really cannot be called episodic no matter how you slice it.

Not only that, even though the target audience consideration has yet to be outright stated, we also have interviews on hand that made it very clear, from the very beginning, what their goals with the reboot were: they wanted the kids to be able to enjoy a story of otherworldly exploration during the pandemic, they wanted cool action sequences, and they wanted to get the adults curious about what might be different from the original. Note that last part: they actively wanted this series to be different from the original, because the differences would engage parents in spotting the differences, and the third episode practically even goes out of its way to lay that message down by taking the kids to a familiar summer camp, only to have it pass without incident and go “ha, you thought, but nope!” Moreover -- this is the key part -- “surprising” people who were coming from the original series was a deliberate goal they had from the very beginning. They’ve stated this outright -- they knew older fans were watching this! They were not remotely shy about stating that they wanted to surprise returning viewers with unexpected things! They even implied that they wanted it to be a fun experience for older watchers to see what was different and what wasn’t -- basically, it’s a new show for their kids who never saw the original Adventure, while the parents are entertained by a very different take on something that seems ostensibly familiar. 

On top of that, the head writer directly cited V-Tamer as an influence -- and if you know anything about V-Tamer, it’s really not that much of a character narrative compared to what we usually know of Digimon anime, and is mostly known for its battle tactics and action sequences (but in manga form). In other words, we have a Digimon anime series that, from day one, was deliberately made to have a writing philosophy and goal that was absolutely not intended to be like Adventure -- or any Digimon TV anime up to this point -- in any way. And that’s a huge shock for us as veterans, who have developed our tastes and expectations based on up to seven series of Digimon that were absolutely not like this at all. But for all it's worth, the circumstances surrounding its production and intent don't seem to quite line up with what the most common accusations against it are:

That it’s a rehash of Adventure: It really isn’t. It’s also blatantly apparent it has no intention of being so. The points that are in common: the character names and rough character designs, some very minimal profile details for said characters, Devimon having any particular foil position to Angemon, the use of Crests to represent personal growth, the premise of being in the Digital World and...that’s it! Once those points are aside, it’s really hard to say that the series resembles Adventure any more than Frontier or Xros Wars resembles Adventure (which are also “trapped in another world” narratives) -- actually, there are times the series resembles those two more than the original Adventure, which many have been quick to point out. The majority of things you can make any kind of comparison to basically drop off by the end of the first quarter or so, and trying to force a correlation is basically just that: you’d have to try forcing the comparison. The plot, writing style, and even the lineup of enemies shown just go in a completely different direction after that. So in the end, the base similarities can be said to be a marketing thing; if I want to criticize this series, I don’t think “lack of creativity” would actually be something I would criticize it for. (Of course, you’re still welcome to not be a huge fan of how they’re still guilty of using Adventure’s name value to market something that is not actually Adventure. We’re all gonna have mixed feelings on that one.)

That they don’t understand or remember Adventure’s appeal: Unlikely. All of the main staff has worked on character-based narratives before, which have been very well-praised while we’re at it. The producer, Sakurada Hiroyuki, was an assistant producer on the original series, and I would like to believe he probably remembers at least a thing or two about what they were doing with the original series...but, also, he’s the producer of Xros Wars, which definitely had its own individuality and style, and, moreover, was more of a character narrative that people generally tend to expect from Digimon anime. (Still a bit unconventional, and it has its own questions of personal taste, but a lot of people have also pointed out that this reboot has a lot in common with Xros Wars in terms of its writing tone and its emphasis on developing Digital World resident Digimon moreso than the human characters.) All signs point to the idea they could make a character narrative like Adventure if they really wanted to. It’s just, they don’t want to do that with this reboot, so they didn’t.

That they misinterpreted or misremembered the Adventure characters: There’s been accusations of said characters being written in a way that implies misinterpretation or lack of understanding of the original characters, but the thing is, while I definitely agree they have nowhere near the depth of the original ones, there are points that seem to be deliberate changes. (At some points, they’re actually opposites of the original, and certain things that operate as some very obscure references -- for instance, Sora complaining about having to sit in seiza -- seem to also be deliberate statements of going in a different direction.) The lack of human character depth or backstory doesn’t seem to be out of negligence, but rather that this story doesn’t want to be a character narrative to begin with -- after all, we’re used to seven series of Digimon that are, but there are many, many kids’ anime, or even stories in general, where the story is more about plot or action than it is completely unpacking all of its characters’ heads. In this case, this reboot does seem to have characters that are taking cues from or are “inspired by” the original, but, after all, it’s an alternate universe and has no obligation to adhere to the original characters’ backgrounds, so it stands to reason that it’d take liberties whenever it wanted. (Again, the head writer outright stated that he based the reboot’s Taichi more on V-Tamer Taichi than the original Adventure anime Taichi. He knows there’s a difference!) Even more intriguingly, the series actually avoids certain things that are common misconceptions or pigeonholes that would normally be done by the mainstream -- for instance, the Crest of Light (infamously one of the more abstract ones in the narrative) is fully consistent with Adventure’s definition of it as “the power of life”, and, if I dare say so myself, Koushirou’s characterization (emphasizing his relationship with “knowledge” and his natural shyness) arguably resembles the original far more than most common fan reductions of his character that overemphasize his computer skills over his personal aptitude. In other words, I think the staff does know what happened in the original Adventure -- they just actively don’t want to do what Adventure did, even if it’s ostensibly a reboot.

That it’s soulless or that there’s no passion in its creation: Well, this is subjective, and in the end I’m not a member of the staff to tell you anything for sure, but there are definitely a lot of things in this anime that don’t seem like they’d be the byproduct of uninspired creation or lack of passion. It’s just that those things are all not the kinds of things that we, as Digimon veterans, have come to develop a taste for and appreciate in Digimon anime. That is to say, there is an incredible amount of thought and detail put into representing Digimon null canon (i.e. representing special attacks and mechanics), the action sequences are shockingly well-animated in ways that put most prior Digimon anime to shame, and the series has practically been making an obvious attempt to show off as many Digimon (creatures) that haven’t traditionally gotten good franchise representation as they can. Or sometimes really obscure “meta fanservice” references that only make sense to the really, really, really, really hardcore longtime Digimon fan (for instance, having an episode centered around Takeru and Opossummon, because Takeru’s voice actress Han Megumi voiced Airu in Xros Wars). If you follow any of the animators on Twitter, they seem to be really actively proud of their work on it, and franchise creators Volcano Ota and Watanabe Kenji seem to be enjoying themselves every week...so basically, we definitely have creators passionate about having fun with this, it’s just that all of it is being channeled here, not the character writing.

So in the end, you can basically see that this series is basically the epitome of desperately pulling out all of the stops to make sure this series lands with the actual target demographic of children, dammit, and gets them into appreciating how cool these fighting monsters are and how cool it would be if they stuck with them even into a series that’s not Adventure. The Adventure branding and names to lure in the parents, the straightforward and easy-to-understand action-oriented narrative so that kids will think everything is awesome and that they’ll like it even when the story changes, and the merchandise and collab events booked everywhere so that they can all be reused for the next series too...because, remember, they failed with that during Savers, Xros Wars, and Appmon (I mean, goodness, you kind of have to admire their persistence, because a ton of other kids’ franchises failing this many times would have given up by now), so it’s a bit unsurprising that they went all the way to get the kids’ attention at the expense of a lot of things that would attract veterans, especially since the veterans already have a well-developed adults’ pipeline to cater to them. This does also mean that this series is more likely to come off as a 67-episode toy commercial than any previous Digimon series, but it’s not even really the toys as much as they’re trying to sell the entire franchise and the actual monsters in the hopes that they’ll stick with it even when the narrative changes.

Nevertheless, here we are. The series is over. Ghost Game -- which, as of this writing, is looking to be much more of a conventional Digimon narrative, complete with older cast, obviously more dramatic atmosphere, and pretty much everything surrounding its PR -- is on its way, presumably thanks to the success of this endeavor. It’s hard to gauge it; we have it on record that they also intend it to be episodic, but remember that this doesn’t necessarily prevent it from having an overall dramatic plot or nuanced drama (especially since the abovementioned Appmon and Kitaro were perfectly capable of pulling off this balance). Nevertheless, it seems to be a lot more of the conventional kind of Digimon narrative we usually expect, so, as for us, adult long-time fans of the Digimon franchise (many of whom don’t have kids anyway), what exactly should we make of this? Well, as far as “supporting the franchise” goes, you’ll get much more progress supporting Ghost Game than the reboot; I highly doubt view counts and merch sales relative to an already-finished series will do nearly as much for the franchise’s health as much as the currently airing series, and, besides, it’d probably do us all a favor to support the endeavor that’s actually new and fresh. So when it comes to a “past” series like this, it’s all just going to come down to a question of personal preference and taste: is this a series you, personally, want to watch, and would you find it entertaining?

For some of you, it’s possible that it just won’t be your cup of tea at all -- and since, like I said, the majority of us here have based our expectations and preferences on up to seven series of Digimon that were not like this, that’s also perfectly fine, and in that case I don’t actually recommend you watch this. Of course, I’ve never thought that it was ever fair to expect a Digimon fan to have seen all of the series released to date; the more series we get, the more inhumane of a demand that’ll become, and I think this franchise becoming successful enough to have so many series that most people won’t have seen it all is a good thing. (It’s actually kind of alarming that the percentage of people who have seen it all is so high, because it means the franchise has failed to get much of an audience beyond comparatively hardcore people who committed to it all the way.) But I think, especially in this case, with a series for which adult fans like us were probably lowest on the priority list due to the sheer amount of desperation going on here, it’s fine to skip it, and if you’re someone who lives by a need for character depth or emotionally riveting narrative, the fact this series is (very unabashedly and unashamedly) mostly comprised of episodic stories and action sequences means you won’t have missed much and probably won’t feel too left out of any conversations going forward. That’s before we even get into the part where it’s still completely understandable to potentially have mixed feelings or resentment about the overuse of the Adventure brand for something like this, especially if Adventure is a particularly important series to you.

But for some of you out there, it might still be something you can enjoy on its own merits. I’ve seen people who were disappointed by the limited degree of Digimon action sequences in the past or the fact that the series has gotten overly fixated on humans, and had an absolute ball with the reboot because it finally got to represent parts of the franchise they felt hadn’t been shown off as well. “Fun” is a perfectly valid reason to enjoy something. It’s also perfectly possible to be someone who can enjoy character narratives like the prior Digimon series but also enjoy something that’s more for being outlandish and fun and has cool Digital World concepts and visuals -- and, like I said, it does not let up on that latter aspect at all, so there’s actually potential for a huge feast in that regard. I think as long as you don’t expect it to be a character narrative like Adventure -- which will only set you up for disappointment, because it’s not (and made very clear since even the earliest episodes and interviews that it had no intention of being one) -- it’s very possible to enjoy it for what it is, and for what it does uniquely.

[favefandomimagines]

Enigma (b.b.)

Summary: you’re Bucky’s enigma. and he finally finds out why

AN: i love bucky barnes ALSO who says i can’t write about the multiverse?? there are no rules anymore! 

i’m also thinking about making this a little ongoing ‘series’ kind of like the tom holland one i’m doing. same characters, same characters plots, just different plots for each part, if that makes sense. 

taglist: @amourtentiaa

You and James Buchanan Barnes had a complex relationship. And that was putting it lightly. Ever since you joined the team, Bucky had some sort of hesitation towards you. You didn’t know why, you were always nice to him but he just shrugged you off. 

You tried not to take it personally but it was hard when he seemed to be the only person who didn’t like you. The reason he was so standoffish was because you were an enigma to him. You were something he hadn’t really seen before. 

Mainly due to the fact that you weren’t given your powers in an unfortunate circumstance. No one really knew how you got them, it was like you were just born with the power to control the cosmos or anything with cosmic energy. Which was something unheard of. He didn’t understand how someone could just be born with powers. And what he didn’t understand, he was scared of. 

But his constant distaste towards you began to deter you. You were beginning to want nothing to do with him and he could sense that. You would stop greeting him in the kitchen every morning. You’d stop offering to go on jogs with him and you barely spared him a second glance. 

Add that to the list of the things Bucky didn’t understand about you. 

__

You woke up one morning feeling off. Something seemed wrong but you couldn't quite figure out what it was. Pins and needles were creeping up your spine and into your neck and your fingers kept twitching. 

You've been able to safely control your powers for some time now so you didn’t know why you felt as if you couldn’t. 

Exiting your bedroom, you were too busy shaking your hands out to rid yourself of the tingling feeling, you weren’t watching where you were going. 

You ran right into someone and looked up slightly, seeing Bucky  standing before you. “Oh, sorry.” You said quietly, moving around him. “Hey, are you okay?” He asked, grabbing your elbow gently. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” You lied. 

Bucky knew something was off. Your usual sunny disposition was replaced with a solemn attitude. Which was very rare for you. But you weren't going to tell him what was wrong and he didn’t blame you for that. 

He watched you walk away, walking like you were at a constant level of pain or discomfort. He walked down the hall towards Steve’s room, seeing that the door was open and invited himself in. 

“Hey, something’s going on with Y/N.” Bucky announced. “What do you mean?” Steve asked. “I ran into her in the hall and all she did was say sorry. No conversation, no attempt at telling me a joke.” Bucky explained. “Well, she did say she was going to give up on making you like her. Maybe that’s it.” Steve replied. “This was different. She looked in pain.” Bucky rebutted. 

“I’m sure she’s fine, Buck.” Steve said. The rest of your day seemed to go on like normal, minus the dull ache in your body. You did some reading, helped Bruce in the lab like you always did. Until Steve scheduled you for training. 

The thing about Steve, was that he wanted  everyone to be in fighting shape. So, he’d schedule everyone for training sessions designed to focus on their strengths. On any other day, you wouldn’t complain, but today was not your day. 

You reluctantly walked into the training room, finding both Steve and Bucky present. “Alright, Y/N, you ready?” Steve asked. “Want the truth or just what you want to hear?” You questioned. “I know these aren’t everyone’s favorite thing to do but they’ll make you stronger which makes us stronger as a team.” Steve explained. 

“Now, your powers are very multipurpose. So, I just want to start on the cosmic defense, okay?” He added. “Is that why Barnes is here with a gun?” You asked. “He’s just here to help.” Steve said. “Yeah right.” You muttered. 

The training session began and everything was going okay. You harnessed the right amount of cosmic energy to block Bucky’s bullets and Steve’s shield. 

But soon, it became too much too fast. You could practically hear your heart beating in your ears and the pins and needles sensation became a million times worse. You couldn’t focus due to the pounding in your head. 

You stopped defending yourself as you gripped your head out of pain. You could feel the meteor showers, the solar flares, everything the pain was causing. You were reducing the objects in the training room down to the atom. 

“Y/N, are you okay?” Steve asked, him and Bucky approaching you. “It hurts. It hurts so bad.” you cried. “I told you there was something wrong.” Bucky told his friend. 

He moved to pick you up and rush to get you help wherever he could find it. 

“Banner, can you help her?” Bucky questioned, entering the lab. You had curled yourself into Bucky, trying to relieve some of your pain. 

“What happened to her?” Bruce asked. “I don’t know. We were just training and her powers went out of control. But something was wrong this morning.” Bucky explained, setting you down on the table. “That explains the cosmic phenomenon no one can explain. Meteor showers, solar flares. NASA reported three cosmic storms in the past five minutes.” Bruce explained. “I need to sedate her before it gets worse.” He added. Bruce stuck a needle in your arm and you soon visibly relaxed. 

“Do any of us really know anything about her powers?” He questioned. “You don’t, but I do.” Tony announced, standing in the doorway. 

“There was no crazy experimentation, no cosmic event that gave them to her. She was simply born with them, because her father had powers too,” Tony started. “It’s called the X gene. A genetic mutation that gives the person different and unique abilities. They were all wiped out years ago by the US government. She’s the last one and her father came to me to keep her safe.” He added. “She’s a mutant?” Bruce asked.

“Yes, she is. And no one knew until now. The thing about the X gene, is that it makes it harder to learn control. The more the body changes the more the mutation changes. I thought she had a handle on her powers but I guess not.” Tony explained. “Will she be okay?” Bucky asked. “She just needs to sleep it off.” Tony said. “Who was her father?” Bruce asked. “His name was Erik. That’s all you need to know.” Tony answered before leaving the room. 

You were unconscious for hours. The much needed sleep completely calming your powers down. When you awoke, you were back in your bed and it was already dark outside. You looked over and saw that Bucky was asleep in the blue chair you had sat in the corner. 

“Bucky,” You spoke gently. The man stirred slightly before coming to. Bucky noticed you were awake and moved to sit on the edge of your bed. “Are you okay?” He asked. “Wasn’t sure you cared.” You answered, sitting up straighter. 

“Believe it or not, I do care. I’ve been this way towards you  because how you make me feel scares the hell out of me. I call you an enigma. Because you’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. And that’s before I knew you were a mutant.” Bucky said. 

You looked up at him at the sound of the ‘M’ word, not remembering having told him of your mutation. 

“Did Tony tell you?” You asked. “Yeah. Told me and Banner.” He said. “Now you know. The crazy genetic mutation that made me the  last of the mutants. What made me feel alone once again.” You laugh bitterly. 

“You’re not alone, Y/N. As long as you’re here, you’ll never be alone.” Bucky told you. “How can you promise me that?” You asked. “Because I’m going to try like hell to make sure you never feel that way again.” He answered. 

You gave Bucky a look of disbelief at his words. “You really do care don’t you?” You asked quietly. “It’s been really hard not too, doll.” He told you. 

You gave him a warm smile, one that Bucky had never seen you use towards him. “Who was your father? Do you know?” He questioned. “All I know is the name they gave him. Magneto.” You answered.

“But he’s gone now. I don’t know what happened to him or the rest of the mutants, but I’ve never met him.” You added. “I’m sure he’d be proud of you.” Bucky said. 

You didn’t believe him though. You don’t think your father would be proud. How could he be proud of the daughter he left behind? 

“I know I’m proud of you.” Bucky added. That’s all you needed. You didn’t need your absentee father’s approval. If you had Bucky, that was enough.

[plus-size-reader]

Company

Huck Finnigan x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 2340 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Huck developing feelings for the reader, a patient who is equally as unsure of herself as he is

—————————————————————————————————

You woke up today as you did every day, in your room at the Lucia State Psychiatric Hospital, the light blaring in through the sliver separating the curtains.

It wasn’t a remarkable life.

If anything, it was boring and routine but at the very least, it kept you from hurting yourself. Besides, living in a facility like this wasn’t always bad. The food wasn’t too bad and you were allowed to bathe yourself, as long as you behaved.

For someone like you, it was an easy life. You had been hospitalised there due to a general diagnosis of melancholy, which made your family fear for your safety. Though, you always thought they just wanted to find somewhere to send you off to.

A young woman like you, unmarried and without prospects, was little more than a burden.

Some may have been upset about being sent off to stay in an institute like this one, taken away from everything they knew and left to die, but you didn’t see too much wrong with it. For someone like you, it wasn’t awful.

You were well taken care of, and even you had to admit that you were happier within these walls than you had been out there.

Not that all that change came from staying here alone.

In all the time that you had been staying in this place, you had found quite the interesting friend in a young orderly by the name of Huck Finnegan. He was interesting to you, as he was the sort of man who took care of other people even when it was difficult.

You knew that you didn’t have that much patience in your little finger, but he didn’t seem to have a problem with it.  In fact, Huck seemed to get a special kind of joy from taking care of other people, including you.

He really seemed to like coming to see you.

He was constantly coming to visit you during the day, checking on you and making sure that you had everything you needed, which might not have seemed so strange. After all, it was his job to make sure that the patients here were taken care of.

However, while you thought that he was just doing his job at first, taking his turn to do the rounds, eventually, it was hard to believe.  

It just didn’t seem plausible.

You knew for a fact that no one else ever took his place and when his visits came so frequently, it was becoming harder and hard to dismiss it as anything other than what it was.

Huck was sweet on you.

You didn’t really understand it, of course, and you weren’t entirely sure but there didn’t seem to be too many more reasons to be so attentive to another person. You certainly had never paid such close attention to someone else, unless you cared about them.

...And while it was possible you were way off base, it was a thought you couldn’t shake.

As far as you were concerned, someone like Huck would never be interested in you.  

It didn’t make any sense to you, because you didn’t have anything to offer him.  He was selfless and kind, thinking about others at all times and if the rumors were to be believed, he always had been.

Compared to all the things he’d done and all the people he’d saved, you looked like little more than a petulant child.

All things considered, you couldn’t have imagined him finding anything about you to love but in the months that you’d been here, something had certainly developed between you.  While you weren’t sure what it was, it didn’t really matter.

You didn’t mind the company.

As far as the folks in this place went, you could have done a lot worse than a handsome war veteran.

If nothing else, he was a good person and talking to him was going to be much better for your mental state than the other patients.

Then, as if thinking about him had somehow encouraged the man’s entrance, there was a knock at your door.

“Good afternoon,  can I come in?”

His words came as similarly as they did every day, meeting your ears in tandem with his knocking on the door. Technically, he didn’t have to do you the courtesy of knocking on the door or asking for entrance at all, but it was kind of him to do so.

It was a very human gesture, one that none of the other orderlies or nurses offered you.

Still, just as you did every day, you called out in affirmation, glad to see that Huck was one again coming to check on you. Of all the staff in the Lucia State Psychiatric Hospital, he was by far your favorite.

He was just so nice and polite.

...And it certainly didn’t hurt that he was more handsome than any man you’d ever seen.

Huck’s attractiveness went much deeper than his skin, which wasn’t altogether unattractive to begin with. It was just that the person he was, the person that lived within the skin was far too darling to ever let go of.

You really weren’t sure if you’d ever met a more wonderful person in your life.

“How are you today?” he asked, stepping into the room as casually as he could and closing the door behind him. You knew that this was one of those friendly visits, because you’d already had all your checkups and medicine that you would for the day.

He didn’t have any real reason to be here, but you were just as glad to see him anyway.

“I’m as good as I could be '' you shrugged, caught somewhere between being happy to see him and wishing that you could have met under different circumstances. When you really thought about it, you must have been crazier than any of them to think he could actually like you.

You were a patient of his.

You were out of your mind.

A man like Huck would never be interested in a chubby sad sack with nothing more to live for than walking around the hospital and doodling on your arm in pen. He was a hero, a beautiful soul, and someone you couldn’t have hoped to entice.

He was too good for you.

“Yeah? You’re doing alright? No distasteful thoughts or negativity this morning?” he hummed, doing the same thing he did every day, starting at the door with his arms folded behind his back. These visits always started off as clinical and professional as possible.

Though, before long, you knew well enough to know that Huck would be cracking jokes and smiling as if the two of you were little more than lifelong friends, catching up.

It was just the way this whole thing went.

“Nope, all good here” you teased, putting on your best cheesy grin as if that would somehow convince him. You did seem to be in good spirits today, compared to when you had a bad day, but that didn’t mean you were completely out of the woods.

If it was that easy to convince him, you wouldn’t have been here in the first place.

“Really, cause you kinda have that far off look in your eye again today” he prodded, relaxing a little further, just enough to let himself sit down on the far end of your bed.

It was a more intimate stance than he would ever take with another patient, not that he was going to tell you that. There was just something about you, and he felt really comfortable when he was with you.

Naturally, that kind of comforting energy made him much more calm and casual than he may have been otherwise.

Damn it.

You really didn’t want to tell him about the dreary realization you had just made but you knew well enough to know that Huck wasn’t going anywhere until you opened up and told him what was up.

By this point in your residence here, he knew you well enough to know when you had something on your mind.

“It’s no big deal. I just thought something was happening that wasn’t” you tried, keeping it as vague as you could while still telling him enough to satisfy him.  Considering what you were here for, it was much better to just talk to him than it would be to talk to everyone else.

Nurse Ratched tried her best to be understanding of your condition, much more than Bucket ever had, but they didn’t come close to the bond you shared with Huck.

You knew that he wouldn’t judge you, for even your most embarrassing secrets, and thoughts.

He was a real friend in that way.

“Tell me” he prompted, using the guiss of his profession to get you to talk to him, though you both knew that this was more of a personal suggestion than a professional one. He wanted to bond with you, to help you be better in a real way, but it wasn’t really that easy.

Getting you to open up to him in that way would require him giving away all of his own secrets.

You sighed again, of course.

The two of you had a lot of history between you in all the time you’d been living here but in regards to the feelings you shared for one another, you just didn’t talk about it. It was much easier to just dance around them, avoiding speaking it into life at all costs.

Both of you were too terrified of rejection to put yourselves out there.

“Why do you come here to see me every day? I mean, you don’t bring anything or need to take the time out? What is it about me?” you asked, trying your best to keep your wits about you, desperately avoiding making a fool out of yourself.

From where you were sitting, it seemed like Huck could leave at any time and never come back. It just seemed like you were reading too much into this and you were scared that you were going to ruin the whole relationship you had going.

You were friends.

If you made some kind of suggestion here that offended him, there was a good chance you would hardly see him around here at all.

Huck seemed taken aback by your question at first, partially because he hadn’t been expecting it, and mostly because he wasn’t sure how to answer. After all, he knew exactly what it was about you and why he was sitting here right now, but putting it into words was hardly easy.

He hadn’t been expecting to get into this today.

“I guess I like your company” he decided, figuring that would be the best way to say it without offending you somehow.  Huck wasn’t blind to the reality of what he was, or what he looked like, and he was terrified to suggest what he was thinking.

After all, a woman like you had no real reason to ever give a man like him the time of day.

He had seen himself in the mirror. Huck was well aware of what he looked like, and he was hardly a male model. At this point in his life, he considered himself lucky to be alive, and didn’t think too much about what he looked like, until now.

Where you were concerned, he was painfully aware of his outward appearance.

The two of you had that in common, because you couldn’t imagine any man, let alone a wonderful man like Huck ever falling for someone like you. It seemed as if, at this point, the only thing you two could agree on was the fact that you couldn’t admit how you felt.

It was hardly ideal.

“Well, I enjoy your company too” you smiled, content to leave it at that. However, Huck wasn’t quite ready to just call it there.

As terrified as he was to do what he was about to do, it seemed like if there was ever going to be a time to do it, it was now.

The two of you had been doing this whole thing, dancing around your feelings for each other for months, and he didn’t want to do it anymore.

He had to know if you felt the same, and your admission just now seemed like the push he’d been waiting for.

“This might be a little forward, and forgive me if it is, but would you like to join me for dinner tonight?” Huck tried, fidgeting light with his fingers as he did his best to get the words out.

This feeling was new for him.

He was used to being uncertain sometimes and uncomfortable with certain situations but this was something else entirely.

It actually felt like his heart may burst out of his chest, it was beating so fast.

...and you weren’t much better.

The idea of what he was asking you was insane. It wasn’t like you didn’t want to, of course, dinner with Huck sounded amazing.

There was just one problem.

You couldn’t exactly hit the town whenever you felt like it.

“I would love to, but you know as well as I do that I can’t just waltz out the door” you reminded, once again put in your place.

Huck could go out and get anyone he wanted. It just didn’t make sense that he wanted to wait around here with you. You could hardly imagine how something like that would even work.

Thankfully, Huck was already way ahead of you.

He already spent more time here than he did anywhere else, and making a few adjustments to his plans on your account wasn’t going to kill him.

If it meant that the two of you could be together, he would do whatever he had to.

“You let me worry about that” he hummed, not even bothering to hide the huge grin on his face. After all this time, he’d finally done it.

Huck got the date.

[kz-i-co]

Bad Temper

» Request: "Ok, so I was thinking of a One-shot about Reader and Wonho. The reader is part of their make-up team and she and Wonho have confessed to each other that they have mutual feelings, but that they cannot be together due to the circumstances of ruining their professional connections. And they decide to act like nothing happens and hope things just go back to normal. But one day Wonho snaps, because he thinks she is too flirty with Minhyuk and too close to Shownu, and confronts her about it. She gets angry and agues that she feels like Minhyuk is her smaller, Ray of sunshine brother and Shownu is just a very chill shoulder she can count on. That is where Wonho starts feeling bad about what he said and mentally slaps himself. He just destroyed anything he could possibly have with her and doesn't know how to fix it." - BlueOzzyD

» Pairing: Wonho x Reader

» Genre: angst x fluff

» Words: 2.1k

» A/N: PROOF OF HOW BACKED UP I AM WITH MY REQUEST (so embarrassed).......I got this request back when Wonho was still apart of monsta x. I know I'm sorry :( I only have a few left and I promise I'm still working on them. I haven't forgotten anyone.

» m.list | MX masterlist

-

"Okay take 5." The director spoke as the boys stepped off set.

You and the rest of the makeup artist began to wipe off any excess sweat from their face as the boys started to drink water. Wonho eyed you as you wiped off sweat from Minhyuk.

"Great dancing." You winked.

"Thanks (Y/N)." He smiled still trying to catch his breath.

You pulled out another wipe, patting down Minhyuk's sweaty face. He always had to make your job difficult by moving around.

"Great now you messed me up." You pouted going for another wipe not realizing there was no more. "I need to get more. Be right back."

You went to the storage room quickly and jumped from the sound of the door shutting behind you.

"I need to talk to you." Wonho spoke causing you to stress.

"Can't this wait until later? You guys have to be back on set in 3 minutes."

"Can we go out tonight? I'm off for the night."

You looked at him annoyed taking a deep breath, pulling your mask down. "You know we can't."

"Come on, I promise somewhere private." He begged.

"No I told you we can't. I already got a warning for "wandering off". If they find out, you and I would be screwed."

"I can't get you out of my mind." He leaned in closer.

"Try harder." You grabbed the pack and left him alone.

You hated seeing him so hurt but there was nothing you could do. You both signed a contract of no dating when you started this job. Wonho was at a successful level when it came to his career and you couldn't be the cause of it ending.

-

You were cleaning your brushes while you had some time before the boys came in. Nothing better then your favorite tunes playing in your ears while you had some alone time.

But your alone time didn't last long as you felt strong arms wrap around you, lift you up as you were spun in circles. You felt shaken as the sudden attack had you frightened from being unaware.

Once you were put down you looked up at your victims laughing only causing you to punch him weakly. "You ever do that again Shownu, I will end you."

You looked passed him as the other boys were watching and you couldn't help but notice Wonho's annoyed expression.

"I thought you were taking off today?"

"Change of plans." You shrugged. "Besides I don't want to miss the rest of your shooting."

"Thank god, and if I'm being honest..." Shownu leaned down closer. "I think you're the best artist here."

.....

"Okay last but not least, sit in my chair buff bunny." You said causing the other guys to laugh except the bunny himself.

"Guys you need to get into costume." The manager came in.

"I just need to finish Wonho's makeup real quick." You spoke as the rest of the guys already got up.

"Okay. No problem."

As soon as you two were alone, you were expecting Wonho to hit on you again but nothing. Nothing but silence.

"What's wrong with you?" You asked as he was blank from you doing his makeup.

He shrugged his shoulders silently.

"You're gonna make me pry."

"I just see how you are with the guys and then you ignore me. It makes me feel like I'm a jerk."

"I ignore you because I'm afraid of what might come out of my mouth." You shrugged. "We're both struggling here."

He grabbed you so you were leaning into him. "Please just give this a chance."

"I can't." You whispered as he came closer about to brush his lips against yours.

Before you could pull away, he desperately collided with you. Ever since the first time you hooked up, you felt like you were suffocating from hiding away your feelings.

He grabbed your thighs, pulling you up into his lap as the kiss deepened by the second. His hands comfortably cradled your bottom, locking you in place.

He pulled away quickly and made his way down your neck, already pampering your skin.

"Wonho?" You heard Jooheon at the door.

"Fuck." You jumped off his lap and quickly started to panic. You pulled up your mask turning away from Wonho as Jooheon opened the door.

"We're going on."

"Be right there." You didn't turn towards them as you lowered your head in shame. "(Y/N)-"

"Stop. This can't happen again." You wiped your single tear. You couldn't lose this job, you couldn't.

-

The boys were lounging in the back and Minhyuk grabbed you forcing you to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around you as he thanked the staff for making the shoot close to perfect. "Can you come to my house and do my makeup every day."

"Or I can just teach you how to do it yourself." You looked at him amused.

"(Y/N)....I need to talk to you now." Wonho got up annoyed and you immediately turned your head. "Please."

"What's the matter?" Shownu asked alarmed from the situation.

"It's fine Shownu. I just know how the buff bunny gets if I forget to replace his shakes."

"You make her do that?" Shownu asked.

"Don't worry, it's my job to serve for you guys." You got up following Wonho into the back.

"You can't act like that in front of everyone. They'll know what's up." You said as soon as you were alone.

"What is up with you and Minhyuk?" He asked.

"You're kidding me right?"

"No, I've seen the way you act with him....the way you two flirt together-"

"That's bullshit-"

"The way you two cuddle."

"You're so freaking-"

"And don't think I haven't notice Shownu. What happened the other night when I wanted to spend time with you and you didn't feel good - but then I found out from Shownu you were with him."

"I thought maybe it was nothing but how am I suppose to feel when you're hugging him after each take."

"You are seriously so stupid." You said upset.

"Is this what you do (Y/N), you lead guys on and just use them."

"You are such a jerk." You cried and walked out of the room.

You didn't know where this was coming from. Why was he acting this way? He was twisting everything.

-

The next few days you stayed away from the company until they granted you a transfer.

"Have you seen (Y/N)?" Shownu asked their manager. "We haven't seen her all week."

"She decided to leave the company."

"What?" Shownu said alarmed as Wonho stood up in shock.

He was quick to leave the room and make his way out of the building, taking the first taxi to your apartment, not even caring to let anyone know. He knocked on your door but it was clear you weren't home. He sat on your steps as he pulled his phone out trying to reach you but it went straight to voicemail.

He couldn't help but run his fingers through his hair frustrated. This was all his fault, he felt. He pushed you away when he was jealous and ignorant.

You sighed as you tugged your heavy purse along, crossing out your last number of the day. Your eyes glanced to your steps seeing Wonho look up suddenly alarmed and confused.

"What are you doing here?" You asked confused.

"Why haven't you been answering your phone?" He asked first.

"Because I blocked your number."

"Oh." He looked down. "I'm sorry for what I said."

"Thanks." You said sarcastically as you walked passed him unlocking your door.

"Let me help you." He reached for your book that had addresses crossed out as you struggled holding your keys. "You didn't have to leave the company." He noticed that you were job searching.

"Well I was transferred to cube and their management sucks so....-"

"No I mean.....please come back. I was wrong and stupid."

"You know what. Not only was I risking my job for you but to think I was hooking up with Minhyuk AND Shownu. That's pretty pathetic."

"I know and I'm sorry. I just snapped from how you were so open with them and I was jealous."

"You were jealous for nothing. They're like my brothers Wonho. It's obvious I liked you and I was afraid of getting caught."

"Liked?" He said his voice dropping.

"Well.....you hurt me."

"Please forgive me."

You sighed again as you finally got your door open, inviting him inside. "I'm not going back to starship, so don't bother begging me."

"Then let me at least help you find something else, I'll help you with money."

"I don't need your dumb idol reputation to help me find a job. No one's hiring at the moment, that's all."

He followed you to your kitchen. "You haven't touched your wine since that night?" He glanced over to your counter with a tall red wine bottle a quarter full.

Your eyes drifted to where he was referring to. "I don't usually drink so I have no interest in finishing it."

"What about now?" He asked stepping closer to you and you were quick to stop him. "Please."

"What part of no, do you not understand?" You shook your head.

"I understand that if you're not part of the company, what else is standing in our way."

"You don't get to come into my apartme-" He closed your lips with his.

It only took you a second to pull away and push him as far away from you as you could. "You're a jerk."

He looked at you as he was making you feel guilty but yet sensual. He placed his hand where you pushed him and tugged on the button that was already coming undone. You stared frustrated as he knew what he was doing to you. You wanted him and that was clear.

"I know." He whispered close to you as he came closer. "I'm sorry."

"Please go." You whispered.

"Would it help to say I'm im love with you?" He asked only a centimeter away from filling the space.

"You're not."

"I am."

"No because-" He pulled you into him once again not breaking the kiss as sudden.

You hummed to break away but he was quick to shut you down. The kiss grew more desperate the more you let him take control. You were defeated by this point. You loved him too, you always had but the circumstances were far from acceptable but now that you were out of the job, maybe your fantasy could become a reality.

"Please take me back." He broke away from the kiss as you finally could catch your breath.

"I'll support you....support us." He practically begged.

"I can't just not work."

"Then I'll find you something....just give me some time."

"But if you're caught dating at all, you'll-"

"I know. But you're more important." He gently brushed his lips against yours.

"I can't let you do that."

"Then we'll keep it a secret." He was clearly not letting you go.

"Ok." You softly smiled confirming, sending him kissing you once again but with more passion. He lifted you up, gently sitting you on the counter as the kiss grew deeper by the second.

"Please let me take care of you." He kissed down your neck and you nodded in acceptance. He lifted you up once again carrying you to your bedroom.

"I promise.....I'll make you happy." Was the last thing he said before closing your bedroom door and giving you a night to remember.

Sure, you had regrets....but you loved him and he loved you. It was just the risk you had to play with. Is love really worth it?

[thenovelartist]

A Blanc Slate, Chapter 4

<Previous Next >

10. Cooking Together

Things with Adrien had been…oddly tense.

He felt even more closed off than normal. Marinette wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that it was just because the police and detectives had been showing up more frequently lately. After all, Gabriel’s death had been determined to be by trauma to the back of his head and not due to the burns or smoke inhalation, and therefore Adrien’s injuries became suspicious.

Adrien had confessed that his father and he did get into a physical altercation, but it had been in self-defense. Apparently, Adrien had had to face his father that day when he was finishing dragging the last of his belongings out of the house, and it had ended with them fighting in the main hall. Considering Gabriel had been found in his office, that already eased suspicion.

Secondly, Adrien swore hadn’t caused the injury to Gabriel’s skull. Adrien’s fist had apparently been broken when he threw a punch that landed on his father’s jaw, which had knocked Gabriel down so Adrien could run from the house.

His story should have left Adrien in the clear, but of course the investigation had to continue until everyone was convinced it could be closed.

While Marinette was certain this put an enormous amount of stress on Adrien, she knew the collapsing of his father’s company also had to play a part in his exhaustion. After all, Adrien was the one who had to deal with it, and she’d watched him work himself to the point of crashing out on his couch.

Maybe he had a good excuse after all for not calling Nino or Alya. He barely had time for himself.

Marinette, on the other hand, realized she’d grown too comfortable forcing herself into Adrien’s life. When she started this routine of hers, she’d initially tried to coax answers out of him or convince him to rely on his friends more. But after her last meeting with Chat over a week ago now…

She stayed quiet.

It wasn’t like Marinette believed that she was the only one at fault in that situation, but she also knew she couldn’t change Chat. The only thing she could change was herself, and when Chat had pointed out her micro-managing habits derived from her need to fix things, she couldn’t deny his words. Fixing things was what she did. It was a hard habit to break, but she would have to out of respect for the people she cared for.

So, she stopped trying to pry information out of Adrien, but she realized that not prying didn’t mean she had to stop reaching out for him. Which was why she’d started cooking for him and helping him clean his apartment while he dealt with things on the phone or emails or one of the plethora of other things that was on his plate.

She tried not to force conversation too frequently, and when they did chat, she let it flow naturally while trying not to purposefully pry. She was here to help, not to fix.

As hard as that was.

“Smells good.”

Marinette glanced up, only to see Adrien was now at her side. She gave him a smile. “You mentioned you liked this meal the last time you had it, so I thought I’d make it again.”

Absently, he nodded, staring down at the food in the pan. After a moment, he turned back to her. “Why are you doing this?”

Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I know you have to have better things to do than come play housewife for me.”

The heat that sprawled across her cheeks reminded her that her crush on this man still raged on. If her thirteen-year-old self could see her now, not turning into a complete and total bumbling spaz at the mere mention of the word ‘housewife’, she might die of shock. Even her current self was impressed that the most reaction he elicited from her was a blush.

But that might have to do with the fact her romantic heart had grown increasingly torn between him and another blonde man in her life.

She shrugged. “Because you’re my friend, and I care about your well-being.”

“Yeah, but… why? I’ve basically been shutting you out the last two weeks.”

“You’re stressed.”

“I know what I’m doing,” he grumbled, voice quiet as though chastising himself.

She could feel the guilt radiating off Adrien. They both knew this cold nature wasn’t his true character. Marinette was already willing to let it slide due to his circumstances, but the fact even he was willing to admit—albeit in a roundabout way—that his actions were wrong made Marinette all the more willing to forgive him. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll let it slide.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“You’re under stress. It’s not like you don’t have a reason.”

“No, it’s an excuse that still didn’t excuse the behavior you shouldn’t have to put up with.”

“Are you trying to say I shouldn’t bother with you?”

“Basically.”

The bluntness of his words surprised her. She stopped stirring the contents of the pan, turning her attention back to Adrien. “Why? Do you want me to stop?”

He paused, hesitating. “Yeah. You should.”

The words hurt, but there was something in his tone that prompted her to question, “Are you saying that because I’m bothering you? Or because you think you’re bothering me?”

He didn’t answer, the silence hanging in the air answering in his stead.

“You’re not bothering me,” she assured. “And unless you really want to be alone, please, stop pushing me away. I’m your friend, and I’m more than happy to do this.”

She went back to cooking, turning down the heat on the stove before she burned anything.

“What if I’m not as great as you think I am?”

Marinette turned her attention back to him, her brow furrowed in confusion. “What?”

When she met Adrien’s gaze, those green eyes of his were somewhat softer than they had been. More open and raw, allowing her to see the extent of the pain he was in. It broke her heart that her immediate thought was his pain seemed to rival Chat’s. “What if I’m not the guy you thought you knew over the last few years?”

Marinette bit her lip, mulling over his words and how to respond to them. “Well… I can’t get to know you again if you keep pushing me away.”

The surprise in his eyes hurt, like he didn’t expect her to be so willing with a second chance. “What if you won’t like what you see?”

“That’s for me to decide, not you to decide for me.”

Again, a stretch of silence settled between them.

“Hey,” Marinette began again. “I know I shouldn’t pry, and if I am then tell me, but are you pushing us away for some reason? Maybe because you don’t think you’re worthy to be our friend?”

Adrien blinked, then turned away, seemingly unable to look at her.

Carefully, she reached out and lightly touched his shoulder, just as a reminder she was there. “We’re not going to abandon you, Adrien. Good people don’t just abandon their friends in the middle of trouble. And so, no matter what happened with your dad, we’re not going to leave you behind.”

“But why do you want to take on my shit?”

“Because that’s what friends do,” Marinette said. “Because humans are weird and decide that they enjoy the presence of certain people in their life enough that sticking around through the shit is worth it to keep that person around.”

“Even if that person isn’t the same person you once knew?”

“Yeah,” she easily said. “Besides, I know you’ll change and grow up, but I’ll bet that at heart, you’re still the same person we love.”

Adrien was silent for a long while, long enough for Marinette to finish cooking dinner. When she pulled out plates, Adrien took them from her.

“I’ll serve you tonight,” he said. “You can go have a seat. Thank you.”

With a smile, Marinette let him take the dishes. “You’re welcome.”

11. Take a Break

Marinette was sketching in her room when she heard a knock on her trap door.

At first, she thought she was imagining things, but when she heard the knock again, she was up like a shot. She flung open the trap door with a bang, shocked but thrilled to see Chat there, crouched before her so as to be on her level.

“Hey stranger,” she said with a wide grin she couldn’t tamp down.

He gave her a hint of a grin. “I’m not staying long. I’m just taking a little break from work and thought I’d come by to apologize for the last time I was here.”

Marinette frowned. “I’d like to apologize, too. You were right; I was being overly nosy. I do like fixing things, but I don’t have the ability to ‘fix’ you or force my help on you. Sorry.”

Chat shook his head. “I know you meant well,” he said. “I was being pretty nasty to you. A friend kinda made me rethink my behavior recently, so I’m sorry, too.”

With a smile, Marinette extended her hand. “Truce?”

When Chat glanced at her hand, Marinette felt a blush come to her cheeks. “Oh, um, I won’t try to drag you in or anything. But… uh… how about a fist bump?”

The smile that crossed Chat’s lips was small and sad. The first thing that came to Marinette’s mind was that she’d just reminded him of, well, her. Just her in spots. The “her” he was avoiding. And while it still killed her a little on the inside to not understand why, she knew she really couldn’t push it out of respect for him. Maybe he’d come to her, Ladybug her, when he was ready. She could hope, at least.

After a moment’s hesitation, he gently tapped her knuckles with his. Marinette had to bite back the ‘pound it’ that formed automatically on the tip of her tongue.

“Can I interest you in a cookie or two?” she asked instead. “I promise I won’t pry or anything.”

He shook his head and stood. “No, not today. I just wanted to swing by and apologize.”

Disappointing as it was, Marinette couldn’t complain considering that he took the time to come back again at all. “Do you think you’ll come back?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably not.”

“I’d be happy if you did.”

He turned to her, that tiny smile still on his lips. “Thought you said you weren’t going to try to ‘fix’ me.”

“I’m not ‘fixing’ you. I’m just offering you a happy place to hang out that serves cookies.”

He huffed, smile flashing brighter for a second. He still wasn’t back to the kitty she knew, but this was much better than before. “Noted. Thanks.”

12. Cuddles

It wasn’t that day that he swung by. Or the next. Or the day after that. But four days later, Chat did drop in on her balcony.

And Marinette was more than happy to see him. “Hey, look what the cat dragged in.”

“Terrible joke,” he brushed off, leaning back against her balcony railing.

She shifted in her chair so she could face him better. “I know. You’re the punny one of the two of us.”

He just shrugged.

“Well, since you’re here,” Marinette began, “want a treat?”

“Isn’t the saying ‘feed a cat, and it will keep coming back’?”

“Something along those lines,” Marinette said with a grin, standing from her balcony chair. “Anything you want in particular?”

“Something sweet that will make the ringing in my ears go away,” he said, his eyes closing and ears dropping with exhaustion. “I’ve been getting yelled over the phone at all day.”

With a sad nod, Marinette headed down the stairs to collect a chocolate pastry and bottle of water before slipping back up to the balcony to deliver it to Chat.

When he lit up at the sight of the pastry, Marinette could feel relief bubble up within her. This was her Chat, the one who loved food unlike anyone she’d ever met. Snacks and sweets had always been met with excited grins and sparkling eyes that could rival a cartoon character. Today’s reaction might not have been that extreme, but it was still there. Marinette would count it as a win.

“So, work’s hard?” she asked, plopping down on her chair again.

“Hellish like you would not believe,” he muttered, ripping off a bit of the pastry and popping it in his mouth.

“Sorry.”

He shrugged. “Honestly, I expected this. Sucks but whatcha gonna do?”

“Well, cuddles are out of the question, so I guess just feed you sweet things?”

Chat huffed a laugh, his smile the brightest it had been since turning into Chat Blanc. Marinette couldn’t help but grin wider at the sight. “I guess if you promise to feed me, I’ll come around again,” he said.

“I’d like that.”

He nodded before popping the last bite into his mouth. “Would you mind if I hung around here a bit? I just want to escape my phone and computer at the moment.”

“Stay as long as you’d like, Chat.”

He slid down to sit on the ground. “Appreciate that, Princess.”

[alia-turin]

It has been a very very long week and I was writing and writing this chapter and it did not seem to end. Honestly I would have made that the final chapter but then it just became endless so I will probably write jus another one sort of as an epilogue. 

I hope you enjoy y’all. 

PLEASE NOTE: This  chapter is 80% NSFW and there is a warming for blindfolding, some lighe dom/sub undertones and ice play.  Fic Title: Somewhere in Time:  Chapter 8 Previous Chapters:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Rating: Explicit Fandom: The Witcher Relationship: Caranthir Ar-Feiniel/Original Female Character(s)

Aine pulled the furs to her chin. She wasn’t cold, the fire was burning as hot as possible and the bedroom was small, but she couldn’t sleep. She pressed a finger against her lips, still feeling his touch there. The way her heart was beating when she felt him close to her, when he pressed himself against her...that was what kept her awake. That and how much she misunderstood him prior to the events this morning. She had no idea if she had done something or he did it on purpose, showing her things in his mind that shocked her. If it was her, it was not on purpose and probably she even owed him an apology even if she had no idea what to apologize for, if it was him...why?

She thought about what she saw for the rest of the day and now half of the night her mind was still going through the images. Aine didn’t fully understand all of them, those were his memories, that much she knew, but it all looked like paintings and she had to figure out what exactly the painting meant. She saw the terror, the pain he had inflicted. But there was more. She saw the confused boy, the young man who had lost someone he loved and that loss turning into anger. He was violence, but he never hurt her despite her worst fears.

She rolled to her side.

What if she had allowed him to do what he wanted today...she wanted him, why wouldn’t she? He was handsome, he saved her life, even if it was under the strangest circumstances and now she could even understand him. All she had to do today was just to allow him what he started. She didn’t want to be hurt. Not again. She wanted  him, but not for one night, that was pointless.

She rolled to her other side.

Two different men. The same way he said that the red haired woman from his memories was different from her, so was…

Accidentally or on purpose she knew some of his most intimate moments, there was no denying that and despite everything she understood. They were very different from each other, but somehow the same. Having a family, but not really. Not having the worst possible life, but never the life they actually wanted...

She got out of the bed, didn’t even bother to get dressed, just wrapped the furs around herself.

Caranthir was reading a book, or more like looking at a book. He had been starting every sentence multiple times because the words just did not reach his brain. All he could think was how stupid he was today. Aine was too inexperienced and that was too powerful magic for her. He didn’t have an explanation of what exactly went wrong, beside the fact he should have known. No, that wasn’t what bothered him, her stopping him. He was glad she did, he wasn’t sure he could treat her gently, the way he wanted to treat her. Was he even capable of that? Did he even know what it meant to be with someone not just mindlessly chasing his pleasure and some physical relief.    

“Can we talk?” he lifted his head, Aine standing by the stairs, her body wrapped with a blanket. She stepped closer to him, stopping on the opposite side of his desk. “I...know why you act the way you act. I’m not sure I understand it, but I saw your memories.”

“You were not supposed to see that.” he interrupted her. He didn’t want to talk with her about how he killed and worse. He knew very well none of his memories were pleasant, they were not pleasant to him, they couldn’t possibly be pleasant to someone else.

“I wasn’t, but I did.” She pulled the blanket closer to her as if she was cold. “I...pushed you because I told you that you cannot be nice to me and then shut down. I was scared.” he didn’t say anything, only watched and listened, who wouldn’t be scared honestly? And he understood very well what she meant about him being warm one moment and then cold the next. If he had social skills he would be one or the other. “I like you.”

He tilted his head. It wasn’t the first time someone said that to him, but in his opinion women liked the idea of him more than they liked him. He was a navigator, a red rider, all of these attractive in everyone’s mind. He knew she didn’t care about any of that. He knew she saw him for exactly who he was, physically and otherwise and that was relief and a big problem at the same time.

“I saw your life. I owe you something in return, probably an explanation.” he didn’t answer, still not sure what to say. He did not feel as if she owed him something, but he was not going to stop her. If anything he owed her an explanation, maybe an apology for being rash and irresponsible, pushing her to do something because he found it fun without thinking of the consequences “There was an elf. Years ago, when I still lived in my father's house. He was nice to me.” she stopped, he wanted and didn’t want to know what nice meant in that sentence. “He thought that by being close to me, he would win favour, but he did not understand that my father saw me as a bit more than a servant. He figured it out.”

“I have little use of you.” he finally said immediately realizing how bad that sounded. “What I meant is that I have no interest in using you.”

“I know. I...saw as much.” there it was. She said it. Took that off her shoulders. “This is why I pushed you away today. Not because of what I saw but because I started feeling for you and you being the way you were well...I don’t want to be one night entertainment.” she looked at him, she couldn’t live all her life in fear of what happened before and the same was true for him.

She let the blanket drop around her feet, leaving her naked in front of him.

Caranthir felt his jaw drop. That he did not expect. He watched her naked shape, the candles and the fire from the room dancing over her skin and hair. That was what he wanted, wasn’t it? For weeks now, but why couldn’t he move or say something?

“This is embarrassing, I thought…'' She started talking, her arms trying now to cover her nakedness and also reaching down for the furs, but Caranthir moved faster, getting himself in front of her and grabbing her arms before she could do it.

“You don’t need to do that for my benefit.” he moved her arms out of the way, his eyes tracing the shape of her collarbones, her breasts, her hips. If she were to stop him now, at the very least he wanted to memorize that view.

“I want you.” she answered as she stepped on her tip toes and kissed him. He responded, opening his mouth but taking over the kiss, trying to steal the breath from her but he suddenly pulled out.

“What…” she looked at him puzzled.

“Nothing…” he stepped back his eyes on her body again. He didn’t want to cause himself to her. She was too...pure for him. “You need to know something. I’m not gentle, I’m not sure I know how to be...nice.”

“I saw that.” she responded, her eyes not leaving his. He didn’t think she saw any of it, but maybe he had been too focused on stopping her that she had seen more than he expected. “I have seen…” he placed his finger on her lips.

“And you are not like them to me, but I don’t think I know any other way.” he pressed himself against the desk and pulled her closer, her belly rubbing against his growing erection. He wrapped his arms around her, letting his hands rest on her lower back. “Do you trust me?” he pulled her even closer to himself, frustrated at all the clothes he was wearing. She hesitated for a second but nodded. That was all he needed.

Aine felt his hand slide down to her ass, but he didn’t stop, he leaned forward and grabbed her hips, lifting her up and turning both of them around, letting her sit on the desk. She wanted to kiss him, she needed the closeness. He took a small step back, and then pulled his shirt off, almost as if he was getting changed, there was nothing seductive in his action, just a task he had to do. Aine couldn’t help herself but stare at his body, she knew he was well built, she could see that much even under the clothes, but now seeing the hardness of his chest, the defined lines around his abs...and the tattoos. She had seen the tattoos that started at his neck and those on his fingers and hands, but didn’t think they covered his whole torso, arms and parts of his legs. There were also the scars, less visible on his skin due to the tattoos but they were still there, the same scars as the ones on his face.

She couldn’t control herself and reached for his chest, her finger tracing a few black lines of the unknown pattern on his skin.

“What does it mean?” she asked as her finger continued.

“This one is a spell.” he grabbed her hand and guided her through his skin. “This stops other mages from putting tracking spells on me, like the one I put on you.” he moved her finger just below his chest. “This one protects from certain curses.” he continued pushing her finger down over his abs until he stopped where his belt was.  She tried to reach for his belt but he held her hand away.

“Patience.” He didn't say that to her, mostly to himself. He had never taken so much time, if it were someone else he would be half way through now. But he wanted to feel her, every single part of her and wanted her to feel him. He wasn’t worried about her seeing him, she already did and he liked what he saw in her eyes. He might be making that up of course but she accepted him, she didn’t stare at his scars as if he was a freak, when her fingers touched them she didn’t even pull away...she just accepted him and that was a bigger turn on for him than almost anything else.

He pushed her on the desk and turned her so her length was on the length of the desk. He didn’t follow her, just walked around and reached for the drawer on the opposite side.

“What are you…” Aine lifted herself looking at him puzzled.

“Trust me.” he pulled the black fabric from the drawer and walked all the way behind her. “Just relaxed.”

He placed the fabric over her eyes and tired it at the back. He had blindfolded women before, it was his way to deal with them not seeing him, not looking at him. This was different. It wasn’t about her seeing him, they were past that, he just liked seeing her trust him, allowing him…

Aine hoped that was not a mistake and she wouldn’t wake up tomorrow regretting everything, or even worse, alone in the bed with him just gone somewhere, forgetting about her. She couldn’t see anything, but her hearing felt somewhat sharper, probably just an illusion from the senula deprivation. She could hear the wood in the fire burning, even the wind howling outside, but nothing from Caranthir until she felt his hands around her ankles, pulling her so her ass was almost at the edge of the desk and her feet hanging  low. Then she felt his hands on her inner thigh spreading her open, redness creeping through her skin realizing he was standing right in front of her with her legs wide spread. What felt even more embarrassing was that she had no idea where his eyes were, for all she knew he could be staring at the bookshelves behind her.

“Caranthir?'' All she needed was a sound from him, just to know exactly where he was, but no response followed. However, she did feel his lips kissing just below her bellybutton, her stomach curling in a ball by the surprised sensation. Second kiss didn’t follow, but that was enough to make the heat between her legs almost intolerable. She tried to push her legs together but he placed his hands on her knees and stopped her. Not a word followed, she couldn’t decide what was more tortuous, not knowing where his eyes were looking, or the absolute silence from him.

Next thing she felt was his hands cupping her breasts, unlike the kiss that was not soft and gentle, that felt more like what she expected from him, rough, but still pleasant. He moved one hand away, just to replace it with his mouth on her nipple, his tongue licking it as her body arched looking for some sort of friction in the empty air. She moaned, enjoying the sensation, but also needing more, the cool air she can feel between her legs just reminding her about the emptiness there.

He moved his other hand away, his mouth replacing it as well, his tongue flicking at teasing, but not giving her any release just building even more need, until he moved away again, Aine moaning this time in frustration, as even his teasing was better than nothing at all. She felt something familiar, a tingling on her skin - magic and that was not coming from here.

“Caranthir, what…” she couldn’t finish. He placed his finger on her lips, again not even a sound from him. He placed a soft kiss just below her jawbone, another one further down, so tender, and gentle, unlike the next one, where he kissed but then sank his teeth in the middle of her neck and the next one over her collarbones where he bit the sensitive skin again. Next thing she felt was something cold against her neck, just where he was kissing, it felt like ice or snow. She could feel the wet trail it left as he moved it down, to where his teeth had sunk a moment ago, leaving her skin cold and burning at the same time. Aine moaned and this time she could hear him smirk, she could almost imagine the satisfaction on his face.

Caranthir watched her body react to the ice in his hand. He placed the cold cube above her breasts, sliding it slowly to her cleavage and further down. He moved the ice away, casting more of the spell to compensate for what had been lost by the warmth of her skin, but used his tongue to lick the wet trail the ice had left. She moaned, her body arching toward him desperately looking for a contact and he was doing his best not to allow her any contact but what he was giving her now.

He pulled away just for a second but then moved back to her right nipple taking it in his mouth and sucking as he slid the ice down her cleavage again, but continued down slowly leaving the ice on top of her belly button to melt.

“Caranthir…” this time it wasn’t a question it was a moan and he could feel it straight between his legs. He wanted to hear that again and again, but when he was in her. He stopped for a second, no, he was determined to take his time, this was different.

He stepped back watching her chest rise and fall, breathing heavily from, the ice on her belly almost melted, cold water glistering over her skin. His gaze stopped between her legs, he could see the wetness, his tongue running over his own lips, not wanting to take any longer. This game was almost as tortuous to him as it probably was to her. He needed to feel her, the same way he had felt her skin against his when he was teaching her, but less innocent, more primal.  

Aine’s body was hot and cold at the same time, she could feel the freezing water running down her belly. Suddenly she felt his finger between her legs, the coldness of his skin surprised her and by insitic she tried to pull her legs together but he stopped her with his other hand. He didn’t push his finger in her, which was frustrating, just ran it around her entrance, his touch almost gentle, pleasant, but was not helping her in any way, on purpose stopping just before he could provide any sort of actual release.

That ended as well, more silence followed, seconds but the anticipation made it feels like minutes. She thought she could hear clothes, maybe leather, but the sound was so faint that she could not decide if at that point her mind was playing tricks on her, maybe it was her wanting to hear that and then feel him on top of her, the warmth of his skin pressed against hers. Again there were the goosebumps on her skin from magic, her brain just going in complete overload, what now? She felt Caranthir hands on her hips, slowly sliding up to her waist, smearing the now warm water under his touch, until his hands reached to her ribs and he slid his grip under her, pulling her into sitting position. Next thing she knew he dragged her even further to the edge of his desk, she was expecting to step on the ground any moment, but that never happened, there was nothing under her feet, just that tingling magic sensation, the feeling of falling and a low surprised scream escaped her mouth.

Suddenly she was sitting on something again, however it felt different. It wasn’t the hard, uncomfortable desk, her knees felt something soft, but what she was different, warm, she lost her balance and leaned forward, by instinct her hands reached forward to soften the fall but all she felt under her palms was hot skin and hard muscle.

Caranthir watched her confusion, as he was lying on the bed, she was sitting on top of him, her legs on either side of his. He removed the fabric from her eyes, unable to hold his own need to look at her. Aine measured the room in surprise, he could see confusion at first but it was quickly replaced with recognition, it was his bedroom, or hers as she had been sleeping there since he rescued her. He was lying on the soft furs covering the bed, the room was dark, but the moonlight reflection on the snow provided more than enough light for him to see her as clear as he did downstairs with all the candles and fires lit. He reached for her face, caressing the perfect skin in the exact same spot where his was damaged. His finger hooked a long strand of hair that was falling over her chest and moved it way, he needed to look at her, enjoy every inch of her.

Her small hands were on his abs, but one slowly moved down, reaching to his hardness and wrapping her thin fingers around him. He didn’t want to make a sound, but a low grunt escaped his throat as he felt her skin around his length. She moved her hand slowly, tortuous, but he did not care, at least not yet. Despite the pleasure her hand was providing, he just couldn’t get enough of her touch, her perfect shape on top of him, her eyes looking in his with the same lust he was feeling. He wanted to do hundreds of things right now and nothing at the same time. Wanted to be in her, on top of her, have her on her knees between his legs, taste her..the list went on and on. At the same time that was perfect as well. He had never experienced that before, all his sex encounters have been about satisfying a need, rather than...that whatever the right word for that was. It had been about chasing his own pleasure, some release and there was that. But now he just wanted to look at her, enjoy the way her eyes were pinned on him, accepting him. Her small hand was still stoking him slowly, but he could feel himself moving him closer to an edge.

Caranthir wrapped his hands under her ass and lifted her up, her knees still touching the soft furs under them. Her hand let go of him and reached back on his abs trying to find balance even if his arms were supporting her. He positioned her slowly on top of his length, his eyes not leaving hers as he let her slide down slowly. He was supporting her, controlling the pace she moved down on him. He could feel the heat between her legs, then the wetness and eventually her tightness around him. She moaned as his tip pushed in, biting her lower lip. He gave her a moment to get used to him, but then continued to help her slide down on him, inch by inch, as slowly as he could until he was all the way in and stopped. She tried to move up, but he dug his fingers in her thighs keeping her in place.

He needed a moment, he pulled himself into a half sitting position, his right hand on the bed to support him, but his left hand still on her hip. He leaned forward and kissed her as he moved his hand under her and urged her to move, slowly, it was tortuous for him, but he knew it was the same for her. They both needed more than that. She started moving on his length, her arms now using his shoulders for support, his hips moving to meet her. He watched her as she found the best angle, the moans from her mouth low but so intoxicating for his mind. He slid his hand away, moving it slowly across her leg until his thumb was positioned on her clit, gently drawing a circle but that was enough to distract her from the pace she had picked.

“Don’t stop or I will as well.” he whispered in her ear, realizing that was the first thing he had said all night.

She started moving again, her eyes pleading with him and he just smiled, his thumb resuming the lazy circles it was drawing.

“Good girl.” he whispered in her ear again and then bit it gently, moving his lips down her neck, placing soft kisses as his finger increased the pressure and speed. Her pace became more rigid and he moved his hand away, back to her hip, but with a smooth move he rolled her over, this time she was lying on the furs and he was on top of her.

Aine quickly wrapped her legs around him urging him to push in her but he didn’t move. Yet again her pleasure and everything associated was at his mercy. It was exciting, but what made the thrill stronger was that just a week ago she would never imagine herself doing that with him. Somehow seeing him for who he truly was did something for her, enough to know he wouldn’t hurt her, and enough to find attraction toward him. A week ago, she wouldn’t have thought about allowing him to cover her eyes, even if it was for a second and they were completely dressed. Right now it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Caranthir placed his hand on her throat, his thumb and index finger holding her jaw and forcing her to look at him, not that she had any other intention. She wanted to look at his face, even though he had been good about keeping his emotions under control, there were signs of pleasure, his pupils almost completely hiding the blue of his eyes, his jaw clenching when he was suppressing a groan.

Despite his best effort Caranthir could not hold any longer, or go slow. He moved his hips slowly but then his whole body just refused to listen and he found himself in a harsh pace, Aine’s body arching below him in pleasure with every thrust he did. The grip around her throat increased in strength, he could feel against his palm as she swallowed, the bones raising against him, the way her skin vibrated as she moaned. Her eyes fixed on him, barely focused, but she was looking at him. He wanted to know what she was feeling, what she was thinking, seeing him on top of her. He could. Without giving it a second thought he pressed his forehead against her and cast the spell, something that should be forbidden, but he wasn’t thinking. He immediately felt what she was feeling, he could feel the pressure against his throat even nothing was holding him, but the amount of pleasure she was feeling, he was feeling it now too, combined with his own, pushing him so close to the edge that he could not control anything on his body anymore, his speed, the way he was holding her…

Aine smiled as she felt his forehead press against her and then almost screamed from what followed. Everything she was feeling until now, suddenly became more intensified and different. It felt so strange, she knew physically nothing changed, his moves became less controlled, harsher, but her mind was experiencing that on a completely different level. She dug her nails in his back and somehow sensed it on her own skin, even if there was nothing there. One of his hands was still on her throat, the other between her legs, how could she feel nails digging in her own back? Her orgasm came almost immediately, her body arching under him, feeling the warmth of skin, she had no idea if she screamed or made any other sound, her whole mind was trying to process something that she had never felt before.

Moments passed, neither of them moved his chest pressing against hers as both of them were trying to catch their breaths. She was physically tired, but her mind was also exhausted in a way she had not felt before, even with all the work she had been doing as he was teaching her how to use magic.

Eventually Caranthir rolled over, he seemed exhausted as well, his moves slow and forced as he pulled the furs under the two of them and used them as a blanket and then pulled her on his chest, his arms wrapped around her body.

Aine started tracing lazily the black lines over his skin entwined with scars. Her fingers touched gently the complex patterns and runes, gently brushing around the damaged skin.

Neither of them spoke, she had no idea what to say. Whatever happened tonight...first she had never imagined herself going to someone offering herself the way she did with him, but somehow it felt right, he felt close and...in a twisted way that made sense. She also never imagined herself being blindfolded to someone’s desk, that sounded terrifying and against all logic, he was the last person she should entrust with that, but here they were, she was more than fine and in one piece.

“What was that?” she finally asked.

“Mhm?” was the only response he gave, as he started playing with her hair. “You  need to be more specific.”

“After you touched my forehead.” she slid her fingers lower to his abs, more runes and markings covering the skin there.

“A spell.” he answered. A forbidden one or at least one that was frowned upon in certain circumstances. Accessing someone’s mind was dangerous and invasive, the way she did it with him, he allowed that. No one allowed him now. “It allowed me to feel what you were feeling and it allowed you to feel what I was feeling.” It usually was hard to cast it on someone who was unwilling or unaware, but she had completely given up to him. It felt so easy as both of them had completely given themselves to each other, but he had also been selfish. He needed the reassurance that she really wanted him, the way he wanted her.

Caranthir continued playing with her hair, his mind going through everything that happened tonight. Not just the physical part, that was great, but there was more. He had never been so intimate with another person. Never had the need to touch someone or be touched, even if it was just that, holding her, feeling her warmth next to him.  

“Are you okay?” she pushed herself up a bit, he had to fight the instinct to pin her back down. She wasn’t going anywhere, she just lifted her head and shoulders a bit to look at him, but even that loss of friction was frustrating. He felt like a child who had just discovered how good chocolate tasted. “Caranthir?”

“Yes.” he pushed her hair away from her shoulder gently, running his finger over the skin where he had left marks. He has not done that before. He had been rough in the past, but never felt the need to leave a mark, it usually happened by accident, spur of the moment situation, but that was different. “Does it hurt?” she shook her head, she probably didn’t even know how red her skin was.

“How did you do the thing with the ice?” she relaxed again on his chest.

He reached for her hand and took it in his, made her open her palm.

“Focus and think about ice.” he could see her concentrating, sensing magic slowly building and an ice ball no bigger than his thumb appeared in her hand. “There you go.”

She rolled the piece of ice in her hand and then placed it on his chest, Caranthir groaned, the little ball slid down his chest to the side of abs and fell on the bed.

“How long did it take you to get all these?” she asked after a moment of silence, her small finger tracing again the tattoos on his body.

“Months.” It felt strange talking about himself. He had asked her questions about her and he knew a lot, but she never asked him questions before and then...well he gave her the crash course of who he was. It was still foreign for him to talk about himself. “I did my first one when I wasn’t even an adult yet.”

“You did it?” she pushed herself up again, looking him in the eyes with surprise. “Even on your neck and back?”

“You can use magic to move objects. It is not that complicated to move a needle and some ink.” he traced her spine with his fingers. He should probably get some protective runes on her to make sure no harm would come, but he also loved looking at her undamaged skin, so much unlike his covered in scars. “My teacher taught me the principle and told me that one day he would help me get my first runes. I couldn’t wait, so I did it myself despite his instructions. He wasn’t happy, but I also did it right from the first time.”

Aine listened to him, it felt good. She already knew a lot, not because she asked, but now it felt better. Having him volunteer that information, for the first time talking with full sentences, not half words with hidden meaning.

“Your teacher...he was the one who raised you, right?” she was careful with her questions, she wanted to hear him talk, but she also didn’t want to push too far and make him close himself again.

“He did. He was like a father to me, not a good one, but he was the only family I had growing up. The only parent, the only friend…” a sad smile appeared on his lips. “I used to worship him, now I feel like he is my biggest enemy.”

Aine didn’t know what to say at that, she wasn’t one to speak about fatherly love and even if she did not consider her family as her enemy she did not want to be near them either, or at least what was left of them. A brother who rarely acknowledged her, a father who used her as a trinket when there was a need for it and ignored her the rest of the time.

“I want you to stay with…” Caranthir finally started what was on his mind but stopped suddenly feeling the energy in the room building. He looked at her but her eyes were as puzzled looking at him for an answer.  “Seriously?” Caranthir said more to himself, pushing himself up as he saw the portal opening. There was only one person who could open a portal and knew to find him in this place.

[lotusthekat]

They spun a web for me

Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Rating: G

Relationships: Adora & Kyle

Characters: Adora, Kyle; other characters are only mentioned.

Summary: With everything falling apart, Adora shares a moment with yet another person they ended up rescuing from the Horde.

Takes place after No Princess Left Behind (s01e09), but Kyle joins the Rebellion.

Word count: 1.447

AO3 / Fanfiction

A/N: so this is my first SPOP fic! Though I admit it’s a little vent fic as well... please be aware of the trigger warnings and disclaimers below. I hope you enjoy it!

TRIGGER WARNINGS - abuse/bullying mention and trauma

*NOT CATRA/C*TRADORA, LONNIE AND ROGELIO FRIENDLY!

--

Once again, she feels like a complete screw-up.

Adora’s mask falls as soon as the door of Glimmer’s room closes behind her. Her friend insisted she would be fine, and that she and Bow had things to catch up. After that, Glimmer would recharge so she heals.

Which, due to Adora’s experience with Shadow Weaver, doesn’t convince her in the slightest.

Adora stares at the sword, the one given to her by the very person who’d stolen it. Just like the first time she wielded the weapon, Adora is… perturbed. Not that she dislikes being She-Ra, but everyone still gets in trouble because of her. Glimmer and Bow did. Entrapta did. It’s the way it’s always been, right?

But she can fix things, she will… Adora will heal Glimmer with her sword. She’s She-Ra, after all.

Even though Adora has absolutely no idea how, but she should figure it out in no time.

When she gets inside her room to train, she does jolt at the unknown presence sitting on her bed – and as an instinct, Adora lifts her sword to attack.

“W-Wait! It’s me!” They yell.

Adora drops her stance and feels stupid for completely forgetting about Kyle.

“Oh, Kyle! Sorry,” Adora sighs. “I have a lot in my mind…”

Kyle ignores the scene, instead asking, “A-Are your friends okay?”

Adora blinks and her expression falls deeper in her despair. “Bow is, but Glimmer…” She shuts her eyes for a moment and continues, “I don’t know what Shadow Weaver did to her. And I don’t know if I can…”

Adora falls quiet because she shouldn’t question it, she should focus on getting the answer to help Glimmer. But Adora is so lost, about her being helpful at all, her role as She-Ra, as a friend���

Her silence is deafening, yet Kyle speaks up.

“Adora… I’m sorry,” he says, “if it weren’t for us, she would’ve been fine. Y-You wouldn't have lost Princess Entrapta, either. We shouldn’t…” Kyle gulps, “I shouldn’t have helped kidnap them. I should’ve done something.”

The blond girl gazes back at him quietly. Adora doesn’t know what to say.

“Listen, you… you don’t have to trust me. I understand,” Kyle argues. “I hurt your friends, I helped hurt so many people…”

Adora doesn’t blame him. Not much.

“I… I trust you, Kyle,” she says. “It’s not like I’m the best example here,” Adora smirks sadly.

Kyle can’t help the smile either. It fades quickly. “Still, it doesn’t erase everything I’ve done…”

“Yeah, I know… But I’m glad you got out,” Adora tells him.

Kyle looks surprised and flustered at her position. Following that, he sighs exasperatedly, “Man, me too.”

Adora finally sits on the bed, that feels like home but at the same time, she knows it isn’t the same. Kyle hesitates but joins her, except he stays far from her; maybe afraid to approach her. While Adora doesn’t actually hold anything against him, she doesn’t think she deserves the comfort, either.

It’s strange, really. Adora and Kyle have never been this close. Sure, they’d been together for as long as they remember in the Horde, but they never had moments of closure, of reflection. Not while Adora had Catra, both under Shadow Weaver’s stalking presence. Adora couldn’t actually get close to anyone else.

Now is odd but… it’s not bad, either. Adora doesn’t actually want to be alone with her guilt swallowing her alive. It helps having some company.

The girl looks down at her sword, her reflection sad, regretful, exhausted, confused. Adora thought the sword would help her figure things out, but she only feels as lost – if not more than before.

Kyle must be feeling the same (under different circumstances, obviously). Especially as he breaks the somewhat comforting and understanding silence between them.

“Actually, I… I don’t know what I’m going to do now. The Horde was my entire life, you know?” Kyle opens up. “I never thought I’d get to leave it, even if part of me wanted to.”

Adora nods simply.

“When you left… I remember everyone got mad. Lonnie would say you ‘betrayed’ us. Catra didn’t really say anything, but… I knew she was upset, too,” Kyle continues. “But I guess no one really understood why you left. I didn’t, until I met Bow. He was… really understanding with me. He really cared about Princess Glimmer. All of your friends went there to rescue her, and you sacrificed yourself to save her…” Kyle looks at Adora with admiration. “I never met people like you. We were always told the Princesses were awful, horrible people… but you guys really care.”

Adora thinks about Glimmer and Bow, and the rest of the Princesses. How they went lengths to save their friends, and how… how devastated they are after losing Entrapta. Maybe they haven’t been to the Alliance in years – and now they’ve left again… but Kyle is right. They care a lot.

“Then it finally came to me. The Horde… they don’t care about friendships. They don’t care about anything or anyone else. They only care about winning and conquering things, until there’s nothing left. You have to be useful, you have to fight and kill people, even who you grew up with, to get what you want,” Kyle says somberly. Adora doesn’t think he’s ever sounded this certain before. “A-And don’t get me wrong, I… I love Rogelio and Lonnie, and- and even Catra, I really do, but they don’t get it. In the end, that’s all what they think, too: that I’m a traitor. That we are the traitors.”

Adora is shocked at everything he’s just said, because she doesn’t think anyone has ever worded everything out so perfectly. Putting these feelings into words is… helpful. Obviously for Kyle, but for Adora as well.

Sometimes Adora wonders if she made the right choice at all. Sure, Madam Razz told her to follow what she thinks – but even so, Adora sometimes questions whether her thoughts are right or not. And considering she has messed up a lot, sometimes Adora doesn’t think she should have become She-Ra at all. She wonders if she should have stayed in the Horde with everyone else. With Catra.

But what Kyle said is so true. The Horde seeks to conquer everything and eliminate everyone that gets in their way. Adora… felt that in her skin. Shadows that surrounded her. Claws that sliced her back and her face. Words, endless words that wanted to entice her, that would try to draw her back to a place she was never free, and a place she was trained to hurt others, too.

Regardless, the fact the same claws gave her the sword and didn’t stop her…

Adora shakes her head. They’ve hurt her. They would keep hurting her to get what they want. She wouldn’t stand by it and let everyone else suffer. Adora chose to be She-Ra for this reason.

She will fix this.

“I… I miss them,” Kyle sighs, “I don’t think I’ll ever forget them… but I couldn’t stand being thrown away like that anymore. Nobody valued me. Nobody… valued anything else. I won’t be helping them anymore.” Kyle looks at Adora again. “If- If you want, I can help you guys. I also know about some of their plans. If they haven’t changed them. B-But it’s up to you, of course.”

Adora smiles proudly for the first time today. “We’ll fight them together.”

Kyle grins at her gratefully.

She admits she was surprised at first to have Kyle come along with the princesses… but right now, she figures out that it makes sense. Kyle is loyal, but not really to the Horde itself, she realizes. No matter how awful it was for him, Kyle would always stick with his friends. The friends that… weren’t really his friends.

Adora scoots a little closer to him and, with a few seconds of consideration, she places a hand on his shoulder. She’s not really good at this.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Kyle,” Adora apologizes. “I really wasn’t a good friend to you. I used you as a punching bag for all these years…”

“Oh.” Kyle lowers his gaze for a while. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not. You- You deserve better much better friends. And…" Adora pauses. "I hope I can be one for you now, if you want.”

She's a little startled by the boy's sparkling, tearful eyes. Before Adora can think, she’s already wrapped in the tightest hug she’s been in.

“Thank you so much,” Kyle tells her. “I’m really glad I’m here with you, Adora.”

Adora can’t help the flustered warmth in her chest. She relaxes her shoulders and hugs him back. “Yeah, me too.”

[bchanslvr]

𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞

      pairing - Draco X Harry, and Draco/Astoria will be mentioned

      summary - Just some after the war Drarry with some angst and fluff.

      warnings - none :)

      words - 2, 568

      side-note - The beginning might seem a bit boring but I swear the further you read the more interesting it gets :>

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was yet another boring day at work in the ministry. Harry was the head Auror along with his assistant Jade. She was helpful and helped Harry a lot. Even outside of work. So much so that most people thought they were dating. But they always responded with ' He's like a brother to me ' or ' She has a boyfriend ' whenever they asked them about it.

On the other side of him was Draco Malfoy. The head of the bank ministry. After the war, he had married Astoria and found himself a decent job to support them. Harry had dated Ginny for a while after the war till they broke up because they knew that the chemistry they had before wasn't working.

Harry and Draco would see each other almost every Fridays or Saturdays. Fridays were for work and or meetings. As Saturdays were for catching up or getting tea. And in the weekdays (excluding Friday) a quick nod or a smile, or a simple 'Good Morning' was always visible between the two.

The Golden Trio and the Bronze Trio had made up after the war and were good friends now.  But only Hermione and Ron knew about Harry's silly crush on Malfoy. And they’d tease him about it all the time.

He was devastated when he found out that Draco had married Astoria and planned on starting a family with her soon.

Many people thought that Harry would marry Ginny and have children with her but due to certain circumstances that didn’t work out.  

Harry tried so hard to move on but he was helpless. He tried dating others to keep his mind away from Malfoy but he couldn’t. Because every time he was reminded of soft blonde hair, crystal grey eyes, expensive cologne, and snarky comments. And it was especially difficult to keep these emotions when they met up almost every day.

Speaking of meeting up, today was a Saturday which means he'd get to hang out with Draco.

Harry was in his room in Grimmauld place getting ready for a nice evening at a nearby cafe with Draco.

It was the middle of summer meaning it was very hot in London. Harry was wearing a white button-up t-shirt underneath a plain dark navy blue jumper with beige pants, white socks, and checkered Vans shoes. After he left his house and was halfway there, he realized it was actually quite windy today despite the scorching sun blazing down on the streets. ‘Maybe I should have brought a jacket’ he thought as he crossed the street to the cafe,

The thought immediately disappearing once he found Draco sitting there in one of the corners drinking coffee. He made his way over to Draco and sat on the opposite of him.

Draco was wearing a dark blue shirt, tucked into some black jeans with black dress shoes, and he looked extremely hot just sitting there and sipping his coffee looking around like he had no care in the world. Harry tried his best to not blush when he saw Draco starting him discreetly as if he was trying to see what’s underneath-

Clearing his throat Harry said “Good Evening Draco”

“Good evening to you too Harry“ Draco replied as he looked out the window as if he was embarrassed.

‘Why is today so awkward?‘ Harry asked himself.

‘Is maybe today the day I should ask him?..., Who am I kidding he’s married... and I think even if he’s wasn’t he wouldn't like me that way, plus I think he doesn’t even like guys and-‘

He was shook away from his thoughts as a waitress pulled up next to him to ask his order. Harry ordered a medium hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, to reduce the amount of coffee he usually drinks at work.

After she left, Harry took another minute to stare at the man in front of him only to realize he was already being stared at.

A light tint of pink almost barely visible was spreading on Draco’s cheeks as he was caught in the act. A light blush also appearing on Harry’s cheeks as he realized that Draco was staring at him.

Not wanting to accept speechlessness or defeat Draco asked "So... um, How are you, Harry?"

‘Wow Draco, so smooth‘ He told himself as he waited for Harry’s answer.

"Ummm, ya I’m good, h-how is everything going on with you?" Harry strutted as he blushed more.

"Pretty good. My team is working on a somewhat difficult project but they’re doing a good job and Astoria's job is also going great"

"Oh..." said Harry sipping his chocolate trying not to sound as if his heart didn’t break from the inside.

"Are you okay Harry?” Draco asked, concerned slightly at how Harry suddenly became quiet.

"Yeah I'm fine...," Harry lied.

Another minute of silence passed as both took sips out of their drinks and occasionally stopped to look at each other for a brief second without letting the other know.

It was too awkward for Draco to handle so as a distraction from the silence Draco asked “So, umm, h-have you found a boyfriend or a girlfriend yet?”

"No, not yet..." replied Harry.

Harry was openly bi seeing nothing wrong with hiding it. And let’s just say Draco and Cedric might have been his bi awakening in his school years.

Almost everyone he knew were dating. Ron and Hermione, Pansy and Blaise, Ginny and Luna, Dean and Seamus, Jade and Zach, and lastly Draco and Astoria...

He was the only single one(seeming to never be consistent with keeping a partner because they always reminded him of Draco).

Everyone would always ask Harry if he had anyone in mind because they hated seeing Harry being lonely while everyone had a significant other. But he’d always reply with a no. But the truth is, he did have someone in mind but they already had someone.

"You should find someone Harry...," said Draco feeling sympathy for the man in front of him.

"Yes, I know..."

There was a long silence once more but it wasn’t like earlier when it was awkward. It was sort of comforting, yet kind of lonely.

"I think I should leave...," called Harry as he began to rise from his seat

"No don't!"

Draco held out his hand to Harry, to keep him there. They both blushed at the sudden contact.

"Okay... So, how is everything going on with umm... Astoria?" asked Harry trying to change the subject.

"Great. She's very kind and understanding."

"Oh...," Harry tried to hold back a tear as he thought about how Draco was already happy with someone else.

‘You know what. Fuck it.‘ thought Harry.

‘If now isn’t the time to ask him then there is no other‘

"D-Draco c-could you come with me somewhere?" Harry asked keeping his head down in case he got rejected.

"Okay," Draco replied as curiosity got the best of him.

It seemed like the right thing to say because Harry’s face lit up with a small smile.

Harry practically almost begged(not really) the waitress to come collect their drinks and for them to pay so they could get out of the shop sooner.

Once sorting out that mess, Harry dragged Draco out of the shop.

“So, where are we going?”

“Well, that’s a surprise. Follow me!“ said Harry and he started running without a warning making Draco follow him to wherever he was taking him.

Draco followed Harry through alleys, shops, doors, tunnels, almost all the way to the other side of the village.

‘How in Merlin is he still so energetic and fast,‘ Draco wondered as he ran and ran, following behind Harry.

Draco was getting tired, and so was Harry as he started slowing down near the end of their run.

Draco closed his eyes for a second to catch his breathing and when he opened them back up, Harry was standing there, right in front of him.

“Well?“

Harry simply just smiled before taking Draco’s hands with his own and intertwining them.

Draco inhaled sharply, Harry’s hands were so soft and warm. They were like a warm blanket that could protect you from all the horrors of the world as long as you're with them.

Harry was swinging their hands slightly as he walked them both through a small opening near a wall.

“We’re almost there,“ said Harry. Draco jumped slightly at Harry’s voice. He had been so caught up with holding Harry’s hands, that he nearly forgot they were going somewhere.

They stepped through the opening and-

Draco gasped loudly, shock written on his entire face.

A huge green meadow was flowing through his feet, it filled with all kinds of flowers, and fireflies dancing about. The sky now dark with ink, shining brightly of crystals, the moon electing an ethereal glow down onto the lands. A small tree-house was visible among the distance of the hundreds of trees littering the area as a barrier. This place looked like an area from a fantasy book. So mesmerizing, yet so unreal.

"It’s a really pretty place isn't it Draco?" asked Harry as he started up at the sky watching the stars flicker.

"Yes, it really is," Draco said in awe.

“How did you find this place?,“ questioned Draco as he continued to look around.

Harry laughed a small bitter laugh before saying something that broke Draco’s heart, “Sirius, my godfather, he showed this place, before you know...”

“He said this was a place that he used to hangout lot with my father and Remus, and Peter...,“ Harry’s eyes were now glazed, looking at the sky as if his parents and godfather would just magically appear before his eyes and tell him that everything was not real and that they were actually there.

Draco saw as Harry deep breath before closing his eyes and opening them back again to look at him with a look of pure love and admiration making Draco heart ache.

He squeezed Harry’s hands softly before asking him, "Why did you bring me here? Not that I’m complaining,” Draco chuckled “I feel honored to be here”

"Umm... Well... I wanted to tell y-you something...," strutted Harry, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Well what is it?," Draco asked.

He turned around to face Harry who's face was red and looking at the ground as if he was a small child, cowering in fear. Concerned he lifted Harry's chin so he was looking at him. Draco couldn't help but stare at those gorgeous green eyes he’s dreamed about, the green in his eyes looking like little galaxies. Harry stared right back at the sparkling grey ones, the grey eyes he’s seen so many times. They didn't know how but their faces were mere inches away from each other when they snapped back into reality.

Harry took a deep breath before building up some courage to say, "Draco... I-I like you..."

"Y-you like me?..." asked Draco, shock once more written on his face. He questioned internally if he was hearing this correctly or if this was his imagination.

"Yes, you. I’ve liked you a lot ever since third year. I can't keep my feelings for you hidden anymore Draco. It killed me when I found out you married Astoria. I tried to keep my mind away from you by dating others but I couldn't because they could never be like you. I’ll understand if you don’t like me or don’t want to be my friend anymore. I have to express my feelings for you now, or it’s never."

"Oh, Harry... I-I like you too, ever since we met,” now it was Harry’s turn to be shocked. ‘Draco’s joking, right? He doesn’t really love me right? right?,’ Harry questioned.

“I'm really sorry Harry, I never meant to hurt you. I’ve liked you a lot Harry, so much! And I know I never really expressed any of it during the war or school you know... I’m really sorry Harry! I really am and I never even wanted to marry Astoria! Yes, she’s really amazing and all a pure-blood man could ask for but... I want you. The only reason I married her was because my father forced me to so we can continue the bloodline. We only pretend to like each other Harry, and we’ve never even touched each other other than the kiss at the wedding at some kisses here and there for paparazzi. "

"Your lying! I know you are! You’d never like me!”

“S-she's prettier than me, and she’s so much more kinder and nicer than me, and s-she’s... I’m nothing like her and-

"Shut up Harry! You have no idea how fucking gorgeous you are! Your eyes look like emeralds, so fucking beautiful and mesmerizing. You're so kind and nice to everyone. You've saved so many people! Hell, you sacrificed yourself for the whole wizarding world! YOU defeated the dark lord Harry! You... You even gave me a second chance..."

Harry blushed at the compliment given by Draco. They were still staring at each other their faces almost pressing. Draco was looking down. Harry couldn't stand Draco like this.

One of his favorite things about Draco is how he can take care of himself without needing other people’s help. He knew that if he was Draco’s boyfriend, he didn’t have to take care of anything. He was tired of taking care of others, he wanted others to take care of him. And here he was Draco, who would do that for him. Take care of him, love him, and treat him like an equal human being instead of Harry Potter. He knew that Draco liked him because of his personality and not for who he was. That’s why he loved him so much.

He lifted up Draco’s chin and kissed him, full on the lips. Draco was shocked but kissed him back. He’s been waiting for this moment for so long, he wasn’t going to end it here. Not ever.

His hands traveled down Harry's back down to his waist holding him there not letting him go anywhere for the last time. Harry's hands were on Draco's neck and his hair holding him. Draco was his and his only from now on.

It was nothing like the kisses they had with Ginny or Astoria. It could never compare. This wasn’t just any kiss, it was the kiss.

There wasn’t any sympathy or pity or pain, no. It was filled with pure love, adoration, and passion for one another. He didn’t want to change any of this, and it wasn’t ever going to.

They pulled apart for air, their foreheads resting on one another, eyes closed in bliss and contentment. They looked into each others eyes and smiled. A true smile, no sneers, no smirks, a true genuine smile.

Tears were running down Harry's face. He had finally gotten the Happy Ending he wanted.

They shared a brief kiss before they sat down on the grass, Harry's head on Draco's lap staring at the now fully sparkling, crystal sky. Draco stroked Harry's hair grinning from ear to ear. He was finally happy.

“Harry?“

“Yes?“

“Will you be my boyfriend?“ Draco asked as he looked down at those green eyes that had made him fall in love.

“Of course,“ Harry replied staring at his grey eyes that haunted him wherever he went.

"I love you Draco"

"I love you too Harry"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Hello everyone! I hope your having a wonderful day or if your going to sleep then have a wonderful night! I was in the mood to write and I cooked this baby up and I don’t know how to feel about this. I haven’t written in a while so sorry if this is a little all over the place, and a little crappy. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this! 

And now I’m going to tag two of my favorite people so they can criticize this:

@choke-me-pansy and @dearhogwarts

[pinkhairedlily]

[Open Your Mouth] Chapter 3 - O

See previous chapters here: AO3 | Tumblr

Summary: She downs her mimosa in one long drink and snaps her fingers. The television shuts blank, and she sashays her way to a room. It looks just like any other wall partition but it opens to an expansive study. It has a day bed on the side, a long table, and her most comfortable swivel chair. Metallic chairs are folded on the side for her clients.Taking up the rest of the space are shelves filled with her favorite books. In the middle, sandwiched by volumes of Crime and Punishment and Les Miserables are jars of teeth submerged in liquid, white, sparkly, well-maintained. On the other end of the wall is a chest box which also functions like a wide ottoman. Except that it isn’t. It’s a freezer for the meat she has yet to eat.

-xxxxxxx-

March 7, 2021, 12:03 PM

“Open your mouth please.” Her bright emerald irises pop out from her mask as she probes the inside of his mouth. Sasuke feels the metal tool scrape against his tooth on the lower left. His tongue is on the edge of making a clucking sound, but he winces from a sharp pain when she moves his tooth from front to back.

“It’s loose,” she confirms for him. He recognizes notes of jasmine in her proximity. “I can extract it for you now. You’ll just have to spend the rest of the day under pain killers.”

He dropped by her clinic during his lunch break, intending to take up her offer in the off chance that she accepts walk-ins.

Of course, it was situated on the 25th floor of one of Senju’s high rise buildings which houses their offshoot businesses in the medical field; one floor for every niche – a chiropractor on the tenth, a hair transplant on the 17th, herbal practitioners on the 20th.

Of course, the brunette receptionist with a very sharp eyeliner sent him away, and looked at him pointedly with visible annoyance when he brought up that the dentist offered the appointment herself. People often tell him he’s handsome, and he gets to use this pretty privilege during the conduct of cases sometimes. But people here are immune to his so-called stoic charm.

Of course, it’s probably because there are far richer, far more aristocratic clients than him that would have naturally made a beeline towards the beautiful dentist.

He clucks nonetheless, his tongue grazing against the cold metal. “Can you do it under thirty?”

“Rushing for an appointment?” She gets the syringe from her assistant and taps it on her delicate wrist.

“Vying if I could get ten more minutes for an ice cream.” Her hands are light and quick to inject the anesthesia in the surrounding gums. He hears her soft chuckle against her mask.

“Not the first time that someone did that move.” She hands him his cone with one scoop of mint chocolate.

“I’m not a fan of sweets if you should know,” he says. “Is strong arm strength needed for a dentist?” Two big bites from the top.

Sakura blushes with an intensity, he notes, and in contrast her actions – she shies away her gaze from his stare with her fingers devoid of any jewelry. “You’re as direct as everyone in your lot goes, huh?”

“Is the topic too morbid for you, Dr. Haruno?”

“I’m keeping tabs with the news but I forego the specifics.” She fiddles with her two scoops of double dutch in a small cup. “But to answer your question, you only need to have the right leverage, an accurate position, and a good angle to ease out the naughtiest of teeth. However, it’s really an advantage to have great arm strength. It can get tiring after the twelve noon patient.”

Sasuke finishes his ice cream in the next three bites, feeling nothing in his mouth, the anesthesia still kicking, but he can taste the blood mingle with the freshness of mint, a tinge of rust in the sweetness on his tongue. “You’re not as bothersome as everyone in your lot.”

She raises both of her eyebrows, not sure if she understands his underlying implications.

“Dr. Tsunade Senju and Dan Haruno, top billing general surgeons of the medical world.”

Her mouth opens to form a small and soundless oh. “Ah I’m sure you already snuffed most information about me – it goes that way, right? Ah? Not at all? – So the thing is….I’m not their legitimate daughter. I’m adopted.”

He didn’t have to snuff, these are all open information in the playground of the rich. “A stroke of luck to land on a high end and well managed orphanage.” Her immense wealth does not translate to jewelry, face jobs, and fancy lash lifts. On her breast pocket are three pilot coletos, an apple watch on her wrist, mid-budget choice of clothes, and comfortable white Nike sneakers to be later replaced with a good fit of block heels. When summed up, they barely make a dent out of her daily worth. The rest of the money must have been channeled to her clinic’s state of the art facilities.

“You could say that I struck gold with my circumstances since then.” She spoons out a big chunk of her ice cream.

“But not prior.” The sugar brown cone also disappears in his mouth, all the chewing done by only one side.

“Amnesia. I reportedly had a traumatic head injury when they found me.” Her pink locks drift to the side, her head tilted in expectation of his further prodding.

Sasuke twists the line to another direction, and he captures the quick change of her microexpression from subtle guarding to surprise. “Would it be possible to inject one strong dose of anesthesia to the full mouth and extract all teeth?”

“Enough to knock them unconscious,” she confirms.

And kill them without sound, Sasuke surmises. He stands up and taps his wristwatch. “My ten minutes with you is up. I take it my extraction procedure is free?”

“I’m sure you’ll afford the next one.” She continues to fiddle with her cup as she watches him go.

Sasuke halts in his exiting steps and looks back at Sakura like it’s an afterthought. “If you’d like a payment, a dinner wouldn’t be so bad.” He turns on his heels and doesn’t stop, he can hear a faint laughter behind his back.

-x-

March 10, 2021, 7:16 PM

“Did I keep you waiting?” He slides on the seat across her and takes in her body language as well as their milieu.

They agreed to meet at seven sharp but Kakashi had asked for another briefing from him so he was held back. Her soft expression, in all its exuding naivety, gives nothing away. “This place doesn’t have no reservations, Detective.”

“Just Sasuke,” he remarks. He clucks his tongue in appreciation. “A hole in the wall noodle place. You frequent this area?”

“A reminder that you gave me the green light to choose.” She’s dressed today in an olive sweatshirt tucked into a neat pair of trousers and velvet loafers – a right mix of classy and casual. “It’s my assistant’s go-to. He would always bring me the best-selling set after a grueling work day so I asked for an address.”

“Thanks for the consideration, Dr. Haruno,” he says. Their order arrives minutes after, and she flashes an apologetic smile. For ordering beforehand Frankly speaking, he expected her to bring him into a Michelin restaurant – one to boost her reputation and second to blanket her in safety of familiar breeds. Or maybe safety is much better in company of anonymity.

“Just Sakura.”

They finish two plates of dimsum and almost empty out the small bottle of chili oil, garlic, sesame, and soy sauce concoction. Sipping a glass of soy milk after a bounty feast, Sasuke reviews the facts again in his mind.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Sakura asks, finished with her drink.

“Give me a hundred bucks then.”

“How many coffee orders would those be worth?”

Sasuke smirks in spite of himself. He changes topics again, on to the mundane life of a Senju-Haruno heir.

“How is the case progressing by the way?”

He glances up and notes the curiosity and fear in her eyes. “Classified information.”

She leans, plates with crumbles and half-empty glasses in between, and tilts her head, her rose locks spilling from her back. “Will they come for me?”

An alarm ticks off somewhere in his mind. “What makes you think so?” They’ve only had one body so far with no other indication of a succeeding death.

He sees that she bites the inside of her mouth, and she fiddles again with the cutlery in front of her. “Maybe I’m just overthinking.”

About ten minutes later, he ushers her outside the rather dingy restaurant but when no car arrives to escort her back to her place, he encourages her to place an uber. He could ask her to ride with him but the mere implications are layered, and he’s not ready for that quite yet. She gives him a look when he opens the door to her uber, an unspoken question she is yet to articulate. When he gets nothing within seconds, he waves goodbye.

“Give me a text when you’re home,” he says although he shouldn’t have.

“It has been an interesting night,” she replies. “Detective.”

The car finally drives away, and he remains with the remnants of her jasmine scent.

-x-

March 13, 2021, 5:49 PM, The second body

“You are not going to release that profile,” the wife of Haru Kagoshi says. She also stands as the chief overseas director of Haru Light, Inc. “Are you insinuating that my husband fucked a gay man?”

“Fuck is a callous word. Watch your tone,” the CEO of Mingwa Industries warn. “Are you sure you’re on the right track?”

“With all due respect, Captain Yamato is the best we have in the country in the field of criminal profiling. He knows what he’s doing,” Asuma assures everyone.

“And are your detectives doing the proper work? Are you covering all fields?” the Mingwa COO pointedly looks at Sasuke. “Because as far as performance goes, you’re allowing that killer to cripple our economy by snuffing out the next best minds.”

Kakashi’s eyes roll in sync with Sasuke’s at the cripple our economy.

Yamato stands up and offers a cup of coffee at the recently widowed which she explicitly ignores. “We will not be identifying the gender of the killer, but we need to narrow it down to males. Of course, it’s up to the public how they will presume it is connected to the genital mutilation.”

“Fuck you,” the widow says. “You know we can cut off your institutional funding, right?”

Kakashi has started massaging his forehead, a sign that he is nearing his bullshit tolerance level. “Yes you can, but we have an annual appropriation from the government. And cutting off our resources won’t solve this case any faster.”

“-with your due respect,” Asuma adds, hoping to de-escalate the situation.

The grandfather CEO of Mingwa Industries scoffs. “We’ll just have to launch our individual investigation then. In case you might be intentionally sabotaging the progress of this case, isn’t that right, Uchiha Sasuke?”

The disdain in his voice when Uchiha rolls off his tongue is jarring and pointed. Sasuke smirks in defiance, willing to push these elites further to the edge of self-destruction. Years in a gray cubicle and thousands of meters walked in company to a reviewing mind, he found that money could get you somewhere – just not the finish line. “You’d better keep an eye out on me then.”

“What the fuck was that about?” Asuma sneers at the detective department after the white collars scampered off. “They are strong lobbyists backing powerful politicians. We shouldn’t be picking a fight with them.”

“He started it,” Sasuke points to Kakashi who shrugs.

“Anyway, Yamato and I will prepare to announce the profile to the media, just a vague description, and then we’ll work on a composite sketch based on these assumptions,” Kakashi pats Asuma’s shoulders. “Ease up. I’m sure Sasuke and his team are doing their best.”

“I’m not doubting an Uchiha, but I’m doubting the way your petty behaviors get in the process of investigation. Now get out and do your jobs.” The Chief Police retrieves a half-emptied pack of cigarettes and lights up a stick. “This job is giving me cancer.”

11:13 PM

She sips her third glass of mimosa as her eyes drift to the sound of her television. A big banner of breaking news is placed below with the caption authorities release a profile: a serial killer at hand?

She chuckles, almost spilling the cocktail on her fingers. She drifts closer to the screen and her nails stick on the necks of the silver-haired man and the man who she assumes is the criminal profiler.

“Authorities confirm that Armando Mingwa and Haru Kagoshi have been killed by the same person. Renowned profiler Captain Yamato reveals the breakdown of the suspect – male with a minimum height of 5’7, age from late 20s to early 30s, and frequents the high-end districts. When asked if we have a serial killer at large, the chief detective and the profiler neither confirmed nor deny.”

She downs her mimosa in one long drink and snaps her fingers. The television shuts blank, and she sashays her way to a room. It looks just like any other wall partition but it opens to an expansive study. It has a day bed on the side, a long table, and her most comfortable swivel chair. Metallic chairs are folded on the side for her clients.Taking up the rest of the space are shelves filled with her favorite books. In the middle, sandwiched by volumes of Crime and Punsihment and Les Miserables are jars of teeth submerged in liquid, white, sparkly, well-maintained.

On the other end of the wall is a chest box which also functions like a wide ottoman. Except that it isn’t. It’s a freezer for the meat she has yet to eat.

March 24, 2021, 1:10 PM

“So what was the dentist’s alibi?” Neji asks the sullen detective.

“He had a meditation class for each date – January 29 and February 27 – which runs for five hours. They time it with the moon cycles. I also called his teacher – she prefers to be called witch ­– and confirmed his attendance.” Sasuke clucks his tongue. “However, they are a class of 100. He can easily slip out when everyone else is closing their eyes and saying humbda dumda.”

He glances at the map on the wall, pins already on the dumpsites, and he zeroes in on the address smack in the middle. “And he can dump the body with his nondescript car and go back in again. Did you know he has three cars – a Tesla, Mercedes, and a black pick-up?”

Tenten carries a fresh pot of coffee to the table and stares at their evidence board. “I’m guessing it’s the same truck with the garbage ones – those going through the suburbs?”

Sasuke nods. “He says it’s for farming. He has a land on the rural side of the district.”

Jugo raises a brow. “That ends my snooping in with the golden spoons.”

“Not quite Jugo.” Neji fills himself a cup. “These people socialize in the same circles you know.”

Someone knocks on the open door of the room and raises a box of cake. “Delivery for you, Detective Uchiha.” The staff attempts to enter but Jugo raises a finger to stop her.

“Who’s it from?” Jugo asks. “It might be the killer.”

The staff scratches the back of her head. “I don’t think the killer is a beautiful pink-haired lady with green eyes.”

All heads turn curiously to Sasuke who gets the cake from the staff. “It’s my punishment.”

Tenten’s eyes narrow at the name on the card. Haruno Sakura. “How is it a punishment? She brought you – us – sweets.”

“She knows I hate sweets. Help yourself though.”

“So you’re dating?” Neji says it with disbelief. “How? You’re barely in the office and – oh my god, you’re skipping hours aren’t you!”

Jugo repeats the name over and over. “Fuck. You’re seeing the Haruno Sakura? She’s as recluse as the oddball heirs go, but I’ve only heard good things from her. I heard she’s very skilled with her hands. Experienced it yet, Uchiha?”

Sasuke kicks him in the shin as soon as he’s done talking. “Firsthand. A tooth on the lower left. Now shut up and get back to work.”

-x-

April 12, 2021, 6:17 AM, The third body

The team congregates in the morgue. Another body. Only this time, it was found on a ravine, some parts already devoured by wild animals.

“It’s Fugashi Imamu, current overseas director of Imamu Holdings,” the medical examiner tells them. “Same methods done but there’s more clotting on the crotch area, indicating his genital was mutilated while he was still alive.”

Jugo and Neji both groan inwardly.

“He has an eight-year old.” Tenten crosses her arms in front of her. “A math wizard.”

Sasuke closes his eyes, fending off the initial signs of a migraine. The cases kept piling, and they were nowhere close to a lead. “Can you estimate the date of death?”

“I wouldn’t know just yet with all the rigor mortis and animal attacks. But if we pattern this with the recent killings, and the body was dumped within the last two weeks, the killing must have taken place on the last week of March.”

11:13 AM

March 29, Sasuke thinks about the ME’s latest message. There must be a pattern for the dates of killings. And if there was, they are up against an intelligent killer, a methodical one. He must have a list of targets with a step by step process on how to approach and kill each one. He plans weeks ahead with several contingencies.

“Captain Yamato confirms the ME’s assumption. There really is a pattern,” Tenten tells the team. “Unfortunately, the information already reached the golden spoon team.”

Neji comes in with stacks of folders and notebooks. “Got all his stuff from his secretary. Seems like the bastard slept around or may have been just a bad boss, said she couldn’t be more than happy to live in a world rid of such filthy lolita creep – her words, not mine.”

They go through each page, jotting down relevant information. Sasuke, on the other hand, flips through a small wallet-sized planner. Jotted down on March 26 is veneers with Dr. Akugawa. He seems like the go-to dentist of the big shots. He goes further up the dates and there on March 6 is a name he doesn’t expect. Haruno Sakura.

“It’s true. His daughter had an appointment with me,” Sakura confirms over the phone. “But he also dropped by last year for a tooth extraction dislodged by a punch from his grandfather. Old money can be quite controlling.”

“Ah. Doesn’t he have a family dentist?” He taps his pen on his desk, tens of gears running through his mind.

“Told me his dentist was unavailable for an emergency procedure so he dropped by the one nearest his office.”

Sasuke looks at the time on his watch. “Did you have lunch yet?”

“I have an 11:30. But I can see you in 12.���

He gets there fifteen minutes before, and he flashes his badge to Laura who has grown accustomed to his lunch break visits. Nonetheless, her countenance makes apparent her dislike.

“Your cctv records please,” Sasuke tells her. It isn’t a request, Laura knows, so she leads him to the administrative room on the floor and instructs the staff to show the dates he mentions.

Kiyoko Imamu went there on March 6 with her mother and a helper. They backtrack until they find the date when Fugashi had an appointment. A 30-minute visit and he was quickly out.

“Does Dr. Haruno have other clinics? A private location for a niche clientele?” Sasuke asks.

Laura shakes her head. “Only this one, and she doesn’t accept house calls. She likes to concentrate her work in one place.”

He tells the staff to rewind the records on January 29, February 27, and March 29. Nothing was peculiar about Sakura’s body language, Sasuke notes. He commits all records in his memory and allows himself to be ushered out by Laura. They arrive to Sakura waiting at the receptionist’s desk.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” She asks him with a tilt in her head.

“Just right about now.” He offers an open arm to her which she links with hers. Her face immediately blooms in shades of red.

“We have mussel soup today and grilled mackerel. On the other hand, we also serve bolognese. Or do you have any other location in mind?”

“Your cafeteria’s menu sounds nice.”

They’re interrupted by Sasuke’s phone.

“Where are you?” Kakashi’s voice borders on the edge of frustration.

“Lunch,” Sasuke replies.

“Come back asap. The families had Jugo come in and take Akugawa for questioning.”

[btsslowburnfic]

The Arrangement Chapter 5

Series Summary: Desperately in need of money, you answered the questionable ad. AKA-Arranged marriage AU featuring Y/N and Yoongi.

Chapter Summary: You go to BigHit for your second interview and are surprised to learn the client is a familiar face. 

Author’s Note: TY everyone for reading <3 I am here for the awkward flirtation in this chapter XD

Previous chapter here ---------

You returned to your jobs for the next few days without hearing anything. On Tuesday you received an email **Google Calendar invitation: Audition/Final interview. Very Personal Assistant. BTS Corporate Accept/Decline**

You found yourself strangely nervous as you prepared for the interview. You didn’t actually think you would get this far. You picked out a basic black dress and some cute flats for the day before you left the house. Personal assistant/girlfriend/wife wasn’t exactly a job you had interviewed for before. You found it difficult to focus at your desk all morning; your stomach doing flip-flops. Would you be meeting with Dimples...er...Namjoon again or would you be meeting the client? You had said you didn’t care what the guy looked like, and that was true, but you would like to meet a person and speak to them before making such a big commitment. Before you knew it, the time had come. You hopped onto the subway and headed for the middle of the city.

You entered the BigHit Building with sweaty hands and were waived over to the front desk where a Security guard verified your information. Your throat was so dry you had difficulty answering basic questions. Great. You headed over to the elevator. As you were waiting for it to come down you noticed a tall man wearing a baseball cap stride confidently into the building and right past security. He walked over to the elevators and stood next to you. You glanced up at him. Holy shit that was the famous model, V.  You quickly looked back at the elevator door. You had totally forgotten that models worked here. I guess If I end up working here stuff like that is just normal, you thought to yourself.  The two of you entered the elevator.

“What floor?” He asked, his voice deeper than you would have guessed. You had only seen him in print ads, although you knew he had done some commercials as well.

“22nd please.” You willed your voice to stay calm. How dare a super gorgeous model invade your space and make you nervous when you were already nervous.

“Me too,” he flashed a smile. A very cute smile that made him almost look like a little kid.  He turned back to face the doors saving you from making any awkward small talk.

The ride lasted about a minute, with a few other people entering and exiting. By the time you arrived at the 22nd floor it was just the two of you again. V was a gentleman and gestured for you to exit before him. You did, but then you had to pause and decide which way to go. You looked for a directory. 

“Namjoon’s office is on the right, Jin’s is on the left. And since Jin is out of the country, I’m guessing you’re on your way to Namjoon’s.” V said as he strolled off the elevator and to the right.

“Thanks.” You follow him. “I am meeting with Mr. Kim today. I appreciate the directions.”

“Any time. Hey Jimin.” he said as the two of you entered a wide open area with couches, window views, and a large reception desk. A man who also looked like he could be a model was sitting there, his blonde hair styled absolutely perfectly. “Hey V.” He responded without looking up.

V looked over at you with a grin, pointing to Jimin, then shrugged his shoulders . He found this situation funny. You walked over to the desk. “Umm Excuse me. "

Jimin jumped back in his chair, very surprised. “Shit. where did you come from?”

“I’m so sorry,” you said, covering your mouth with your hands.  V laughed in the background. “We got off the elevator at the same time. You must not have seen or heard me.”

“V. You did that on purpose!” Jimin shouted around you, pointing his finger. V cackled and had a seat on one of the sofas.  

You were beginning to apologize again when you heard the office door open. You all froze.

 “What the hell is going on out here?” Namjoon asked, one hand still on the door. “[Y/N] I should have known.” Jimin turned around surprised that his boss was speaking to you so rudely and casually. “Get in here,” he gestured to the door opening. Jimin opened his mouth to try and explain the commotion, but you were already on your way to the door.

“Oh my God I’m here for an interview, not to get called into the principal’s office.” You responded as you passed Namjoon and into his office.

Jimin and V both stared at each other, determined not to laugh. 

Namjoon stood there with an irritated expression. “Always. Always with the mouth.” He said as you walked through the door. He looked back, “Jimin, hold my calls until I tell you.”

Jimin nods. The minute the door shut he and V started to wheeze while trying to laugh quietly.

V walked over to the desk . “Who is that?” 

“They’re interviewing assistants for Yoongi. The other girl left half an hour ago.” Jimin pauses for a second, “I can’t believe I yelled "shit" at her.”

V laughed again. “She doesn’t seem like the type to be easily offended. So she’s probably a perfect assistant for Yoongi.”

“That’s true.” Jimin agreed. 

On the other side of the door you were still congratulating yourself on your quip against Namjoon when you were surprised to see a familiar face. It was the guy who left his headphones behind last week. Today he was dressed nicer, wearing jeans and a shirt with a vest. His hair was longer than you would have guessed, now that it was free from the black baseball cap. You felt your heart begin to speed up even more.

You had gotten so caught up in accidentally scaring the poor receptionist and messing with Namjoon you had forgotten you were nervous. A fact that you were very much aware of at this exact moment. Your hands were wet and sweaty again and your throat became dry.

“[Y/N] this is music producer Min Yoongi. Aka Suga. Aka the client.” Namjoon gestured to the shorter man and then walked around to the other side of his room, taking a seat at his desk.

You stand there for a few seconds, taking it all in, and then remember that you are being interviewed. You force something out, "Hey there stranger." 

He smirked, “Hey. Welcome to round 2 of the interview I guess.” He sounded almost shy. Which didn’t match his facial expression. 

“Thanks. Are you our chaperone? " You called over to Namjoon who was sitting there barely paying attention to the meeting and scrolling through his phone

" Something like that. Pretend I’m not even here.”

"OK. Well it's nice to officially meet you, Min Yoongi. I'm Y/N. I'd shake your hand but mine are so very sweaty. " You said before you were able to censor yourself. 

You heard Namjoon sigh as your lack of decorum. Yoongi just continued on as though everything was normal. 

"You as well.” He put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet slightly. “First of all, do you have any questions for me?" 

You weren't expecting the interview to begin like that. But there definitely were some questions you had about all of this. 

"Ooo I get to interview you? This is unexpected.” You paused for several seconds, pursing your lips together in thought, “Ok. I got it! First question: You're good looking. You seem nice enough. I’m guessing you have a pretty good job if you’re working here, so….what's wrong with you? 

Yoongi stood there for a minute with his mouth open. To your surprise, he responded in a whiny voice," Why would you ask me something like that?" He sounded much younger and more casual than he had before and started to rub the back of his neck.

He turned back to Namjoon, “You weren’t kidding.”

Namjoon just raised his eyebrows, still scrolling.

You scoffed," You told me to ask you questions. An arranged marriage was your first choice? Really?" 

Yoongi tried to play it cool. He had come up with his BigHit-sanctioned backstory. "Namjoon, where did you find this girl again?” You couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"I picked her up in a bar. I warned you. You pulled her resume," he said almost bored. "Although it is refreshing to have her go after someone else for a change." 

You rolled your eyes. "Why tell me to ask you questions if you didn't want to answer them?" 

Yoongi shrugged, ready to sell the lie. "It makes sense. I gave a list of what I liked and the agency picked you. I'm busy. I'm not interested in dating, but due to circumstances beyond my control I am in need of a long term companion. Someone to attend events with me, travel with me, etcetera etcetera. You read the job description. "

"You want someone to act like your girlfriend?" You asked. Yoongi pulled at his shirt sleeves and hesitated for a moment.

He didn't actually want any of this bullshit, but for the sake of his career and with Namjoon sitting right there, he didn't have a lot of options. He took a deep breath. "Yes. That. I mean a wife would be ideal so we could just skip over all that courtship nonsense."

A dry laugh escaped your lips, "A true romantic. I'm touched, really." You realized the two of you were both still standing. This was by far the strangest interview you had ever been on. "I'm curious as to what your desired qualifications were outside of liking music and a proficiency in Microsoft Word." 

Yoongi paused for a minute, feeling his cheeks blush a little. Surely a little honesty wouldn't hurt. "Ahhh well you see, I can't reveal all of that to you. But you definitely stood out in the interview process.”

You smirked. "Really? What stands out about an average-looking girl that curses too much and drinks waaaay too much shitty coffee?" 

"Shitty coffee wasn't on the list but surely you met most of my criteria or you wouldn't be here." He cleared his throat. "Now it's my turn to ask some questions. Let's start where you did: tell me, what's wrong with you?"

You fidgeted slightly. You sure as hell weren’t going to go into the whole situation with Suho. "My parents are gone and left me and my younger siblings with no money. We're living in a cramped apartment with my aunt and niece. I want to send my sister and brother to school and I want my brother to not have to sleep on the floor or couch every night.” Your honest answers flooded out of you, “I didn't think this offer was real. I figured it would be some weird sex pervert thing or something illegal but I figured it couldn't hurt to go to the interview since it was at a Cafe."

To your absolute shock he responds, "Who says I'm not some weird sex pervert?" He swipes his lips with a tongue.

He had seemed almost shy until about two seconds ago. You kept the same expression you had been wearing. Two could play that game. Your years of bartending made you fluent in flirting. You shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly, "Guess we'll find out on the wedding night. I need to get back to work soon. Do you have any more questions for me?"

Yoongi was still slightly shocked by the last exchange the two of you had had and he just shook his head.

Namjoon got up from his desk. " Good, I can’t take much more of you two lovebirds discussing your future sex life. Well if that's all, you're free to go. We'll be in touch." 

You picked up your bag and looked over at Yoongi who was looking down and blushing (?!). "I'd say it was nice to meet you but honestly it's just been really fucking weird." 

He laughed and you noticed he has a very unique smile, full of small straight teeth and the tiniest bit of his gums. Cute. He looked back up, his cheeks still a little pink. "I guess if it works out I'll have my people call your people." 

You smiled back, "Yeah, yeah something like that. See you later. Or never again. Bye" 

“You’re not supposed to say the word “fucking” in a job interview Tokki, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Yoongi heard Namjoon scold you on the way out the door as he closed it behind him.

You pouted your lips, “Whatever. I think Mr. Min liked it. And are we back to nicknames again Asshole?I thought we were trying to keep it professional here.”

He rolls his eyes but you can tell he’s trying not to smile. “Oh my God just leave. I’ll email you more information soon.” 

You looked around and found the reception area empty with a little "out of office" sign on the desk. You had wanted to apologize for the interruption earlier. Oh well. You realized that Namjoon had told you he would be emailing you. And you had definitely got a good vibe from the interview, as weird as it had been. You got onto the elevator. You decided you would need to at least tell your Aunt soon about the job you might get so she wouldn’t be totally blind-sided if you moved out. 

-----------------------

"So…" Namjoon asked as he re-entered his office, "Were either of those ladies tolerable? I mean… I know the second one isn't really tolerable on a good day but it seemed like it went well.”

"Yeah. Hire her. Thanks." Yoongi responded, trying to ensure his voice remained emotionless. "When is her start date?"

Namjoon was pleasantly surprised at how easy this part of the process is going. "If she accepts she could begin Monday, but she would probably want to give her other jobs two weeks notice, and she has to move. So realistically, two to three weeks" 

"OK…" Yoongi said, coming to terms that this was actually happening.

"I'll draw up the paperwork and send it to her tomorrow and let you know." Namjoon replied. He realized this was the longest he and Yoongi had ever had a conversation without arguing about something. 

"Yeah OK," Yoongi headed towards the door. "Later." 

Yoongi passed through the empty reception area and down to his studio. He put his head in his hands and sighed. So this was happening. Fine. [Y/N] seemed nice enough. Her heart was in the right place. She hadn't even mentioned herself when the reason she wanted the job came up. He could deal with this. He sat down at his computer to try and get some actual work done today. NEXT CHAPTER

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