#BUT. having to buy accessories separately sucks ass

[devotedlystrangewizard]

getting a higher midrange phone after having a budget phone for 2 years is kinda crazy wdym i got a complete charger, a screen protector, a case, AND a fucking headphone jack with the 216 euro phone but not even a fucking charger with the (on sale) 480 euro phone

[hamsterboos]

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly

🎄Day 9 of 12 Days of PJO Christmas🎄

“So, Ms. I-Plan-Everything, tell me, how are we tackling the absolutely important job of decorating our apartment for Christmas?”

"The plan is simple and involves one thing: buying cute things that’ll look good. We also need a tree that’ll fit in our tiny apartment"

“Annabeth, those are two things.”

“Technicalities.”

PSA: These drabbles are canon-compliant till HoO and just acknowledge the existence of Estelle. Also technology use is a thing.

Read on AO3

~~~~~

“So, Ms. I-Plan-Everything, tell me, how are we tackling the absolutely important job of decorating our apartment for Christmas?” Percy asked his girlfriend as they walked into the store. Annabeth walked over to the area where they stored the carts and grabbed one before taking Percy’s hand.

“The plan is simple and involves one thing: buying cute things that’ll look good. We also need a tree that’ll fit in our tiny ass apartment,” Annabeth responded. Percy watched as she easily navigated them to the décor section of the store, holding the cart with one hand and his in the other. 

“Annabeth, those are two things.”

“Technicalities.”

Percy snorted. “Hopefully we’ll find some good stuff on sale. We should stock up on more stuff around New Year’s when they’re clearing all this stuff out.”

“Honestly? At the bare minimum I just want stuff that’ll match, but we absolutely need a tree.” 

Once in the appropriate aisle, they were surrounded by Christmas decor, and they stood in front of the wreaths first, and as much as it sucked that they had to check the price eight times, they were on a budget.

Living in New York City right after graduation was absolutely so expensive, especially simply six months out of university, and Percy was so utterly thankful for Annabeth’s dad who had gifted her the apartment they lived in as a graduation present (and probably a gift to apologize for ignoring her all those years) , but they still had to pay bills. Not to mention the fact that Percy went back to school for a master’s degree in education while Annabeth was working her way from the bottom in an architecture firm nearby. 

It was safe to say that their budget wasn’t very high.

Annabeth reached out for a small wreath that had a big red ribbon in the center on the top with small gold, green, and red bells along with pine cones dispersed through the rest of the wreath. It was small enough that it would fit in their kitchen window, and it was connected with another bigger wreath as well. The bigger wreath had a similar design except the ribbon was on the bottom of the wreath, and there were more bells and pine cones.

“This is great for the window and the front door, no?” she asked, turning to look at him. Percy took it from her hand and put it into the cart.

“I approve.” Annabeth beamed at him, and he laughed quickly. Going out to shop for Christmas decorations had made him feel like he was a ten year old going out to get a few new ornaments for Christmas with his mom, and it was clear that Annabeth felt the same way. 

She wandered off, leaving the cart to Percy, and he trailed behind her, looking at all the things she stopped to show him, only to realize that they didn’t really fit in their apartment or they were too expensive. Eventually, she came across a rotating stand with Christmas accessories. He watched as she quickly grabbed a reindeer headband with jingling bells and grabbed him to put it on her.

“Oh my god, Annabeth please stop manhandling me,” he whined as she tugged on his collar to pull his head farther down. 

“You’re just a big baby,” she retorted, setting the headband on his head. She let him go and stepped back slightly, a big smile gracing her face as she bit her lip. “You look adorable.”

Percy shook his head slightly and flinched when the loud tinkling of the bells reached his ears. 

“God I’m going to be so obnoxious if I just roam around with this on my head.”

“More so than you already are?

“Can you not.”

“I can’t not.” Percy squinted at her as he took the headband out of his head and threw it in the cart. Annabeth watched him with a curious look on her face, silently asking him why he put it in the cart.

“You can’t expect me not to put it in the cart when you were so excited to put it on me, Annabeth,” he responded in a matter-of-fact tone, and he relished in the fact that he had succeeded in making her smile. “Come on,” he laughed, “we still have a lot of stuff to get.”

He pushed the cart around the aisles, picking up small packs of white and blue ornaments under his insistence. Growing up, everything was blue, and he had to carry the tradition on in his own apartment.

Annabeth had argued that it wasn’t just his apartment anymore, but he knew that she was more than willing to get white and blue ornaments, so he just grinned and put the pack into the cart. They had even managed to find a really pretty garland that came with red and gold ornaments, and despite the fact that the ornaments for the tree didn’t match the garland, Percy found himself not caring. If anything, their apartment would look amazing with the different colors while keeping the color scheme individualized between the tree and garland.

Plus, after asking around for a bit, they found a four foot Christmas tree that came with multi-colored lights strung already through it, so it saved them money having to buy the lights separately. 

“Oh, Percy, look!” Annabeth exclaimed, pointing at a pack of two throw pillows, one white and one red. The red one had white snowflakes patterned onto it on both sides, and the blue one had a gold reindeer outline on one side, the other being completely solid white. “These are just what we need to tie together the colors.” Percy happily watched as she picked up the pack and looked at the price tag, only for her face to fall slightly.

“What?” he asked.

“It’s $25, Perce,” she responded in a dejected tone. Percy bit his lip and quickly did the mental calculation. He had gotten in extra hours teaching swimming at the local gym this past week, so he did have a bit of extra cash at hand that he was going to use for spending on food, but this seemed more important.

“Get it,” he spoke up. She turned to look at him like he was crazy.

“It’s too much for throw pillows,” she responded, shaking her head and beginning to walk away.

“Annabeth,” he stressed, catching her wrist. He moved his hand down to lace his fingers through hers. “We saved some money on the tree, and I have some extra money from working this week.”

“But we don’t need this.”

“We don’t need any of this, but if it’ll make you happy, it’s worth it.”

She looked at him carefully, pursing her lips and furrowing her eyebrows. Her gray eyes searched his face, and he made sure that he left his expression completely open for her to read. She could read him easily, but he needed her to understand that he wanted to get this for her. Because it would make her happy.

They were decorating their home, and if she was happy, that was more than enough for him.

“Are you sure?” she whispered. He nodded, and he cupped her jaw with his free hand, rubbing his thumb across her cheek. “Okay. Thanks,” Annabeth answered, a beautiful smile gracing her face. He grinned and threw the pack of throw pillows in the cart. Annabeth took over driving the car as they walked out of the aisle.

“Okay, let’s go roommate. It’s time we decorated the apartment,” Percy announced, pointing towards the registers. 

“Oh wow I got demoted from girlfriend to roommate real fast.”

“Eh, it happens,” he shrugged, laughing as he wrapped an arm around Annabeth’s shoulders.

~*~

“Percy! The gold and red ornaments are with the garland.”

“Oh Jesus, woman, why are they with the tree, then?!”

“I don’t know? You put them there!”

“Annabeth, you took the stuff out of the bags while I made lunch.”

Annabeth scowled at him as she responded, “You moved everything off the couch so we could watch a movie while eating.”

“You pushed it all to the side while dragging me to the bedroom, Annabeth,” he responded, mocking her tone.

“The whole reason we even got the blue ornaments for the tree was because of you, asshole,” she answered, smacking him in the bicep as he got down from the chair to put down the box of ornaments and switch it with the red and gold ones.

“First of all, ow. Second of all, you could help me instead of staring at me.”

“Staring at the help is the best part of decorating, though,” Annabeth answered, smirking slightly as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Well then, how about you do the decorating so I can do the staring?” he responded, holding out the box of decorations towards her. He beamed at her, hoping that he could break her, and he watched as she glanced between him and the box.

In the end, she sighed and took the box from him, climbing up the chair. 

“You know, that’s really not fair,” she spoke up as she took an ornament out of the box before setting it down on the chair by her feet. She reached up to hook it through the garland, a bit of skin showing as her shirt rode up with the stretch of her arms.

“What?” he asked, his eyes transfixed on the small bit of skin without him even meaning to look there.

“The fact that you can just look at me and get me to do things.” That broke him out of his stupor as he barked a laugh. She shuffled around on the chair, turning to look at him with her hands on her waist. He walked over to her and grabbed her hand, tugging her down the chair. Confused, she moved down. Percy gave the box of ornaments to his girlfriend and stood up on the chair, holding a hand out.

She still just stared at him, completely lost, and he made grabbing motions towards the ornaments.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, handing him one. He hooked it into the garland before speaking.;

“You have the same effect on me so we’re even.”

Thirty minutes later, the wreaths were hanging on the window and door, the tree was assembled and twinkling under the dimmed lights of the living room, and the garland was hanging from the doorway between the kitchen and living room. The throw pillows were set on either side of their sofa, and Percy felt intense happiness for the life he had finally managed to get for himself.

~~~~~

Day 1 || Day 2 || Day 3 || Day 4 || Day 5 || Day 6 || Day 7 || Day 8

[comphersjost]

sugar daddy ➸ morgan rielly hcs!

listen this is all i’ve been thinking about all day okay i need this in my life i just want a sugar daddy mo in my life please

find my masterlist here

okay so listen

you’re probably like a photographer or something in media for the leafs

running around making sure the boys get places on time

interviews, shoots, the fucking plane, everything

and you’re really young, yk, you’re maybe 20 or so

and accelerating your education seemed like a good idea

but now you’ve got a ton of debt

so you get a job at the starbucks near your shitty apartment

you have to make ends meet right?

and its so exhausting, running around and often working 8 or more hours at each job

but you have to put on a smile for the boys and for the customers and for your bosses at both jobs

but it’s definitely taking its toll because you’re just so tired all the time

but it’s a good thing you work at a coffee shop isnt it?

morgan likes to walk around random parts of the city when he’s stressed

and hes totally been trying to work up the courage for a while to just talk to you and to get to know you fr

he’s just so fucking attracted to this young, smart, funny, and kind photographer that’s somehow responsible for team of actual children

it’s after a game and a tough loss that he comes in

it’s like 1:53 am when he walks into this starbucks on the opposite side of toronto from where his giant ass condo is

and he sees you

no, not like, oh hey you happen to be here at the same time as me,

but he sees you as in you’re coming from the back room, re-tying your apron behind you

and just like that you’re back to running around and doing too many things at once, just like how you are at the arena

somehow even at almost 2 am, your store is pretty busy

so when the next person in line steps up and you make eye contact with him you almost choke

and mo’s eyes widen and he opens and closes his mouth a few times

“hi what can i get you?” you squeak before he can say anything stupid

he def is hesitant giving you his order but does it anyways and is kind of shocked when you ask for his name for the order

you dont make eye contact while you make the drink, making sure to just call out his name when it’s ready and go back to running around

and he’s about to ask to talk to you when you suddenly straighten up and tell your shift “i’m gonna go restock the back” and you’re gone again

you probably avoid morgan for a few days, maybe a couple weeks even, after that

he ends up cornering you in your office when you’re editing pictures or something after practice

“why? why didn’t you tell me?”

you sigh, having expected this conversation since you saw him

“because it’s not relevant to any conversation we’ve had.”

“relevant? of course it’s relevant!” he throws his hands up, “we’re a team, a family, and you shouldn’t have to work 2 jobs!”

“well some of us don’t make millions of dollars a year morgan!” you finally snap at him “some of us have to work 16 hours a day to make ends meet! and even then we’re still barely living paycheck to paycheck!”

he recoils at your words, because he never though about the fact that the leafs organization might not be paying you enough to get you through your debts and bills

“let me help”

you almost choke when he says that

“no. absolutely not. i’m not a child nor am i a charity case okay? i’ve been on my own for a long time.”

he doesnt give up, and continues to press you until you kick him out of your office

after that things with morgan get a little...flirtier you could say

his touch is lingering

he’s making eye contact with you across the room and not looking away

but he’s also very publicly inviting you out with the team, watching your squirm while you have to come up with a lie every time as to why you couldn’t

and not to mention game days

holy shit he comes in wearing his game day suit and maintains eye contact with you the whole time

walk walk fashion baby

it’s only a matter of time before you cave, he thinks

and he’s right

it’s about a month later that you’re at some gala for the team

and thank god the leafs organization payed for your shit because this dress and these heels would’ve used up two entire paychecks

and morgan’s shamelessly flirting with you that night, touching you along your back and your arms and letting his hand rest on your thigh when you’re seated

it isn’t long before he has you bent over the hood of his expensive ass sports car

and for a second you’re worried because holy shit this car is worth more than your fucking life

the thought flies out the window though pretty soon

cause mo is pounding into you from behind yk, pressing you against the cool metal of the sleek black sports car

you’re choking out moans and squeals of his name and when he wraps a hand around your neck you cry out

“daddy!”

and he freezes for a second before going at you even harder

he squeezes your throat

“yeah, honey, gonna come for daddy? huh? gonna let daddy take care of you?”

and you know theres a double meaning behind his words but you just cry out

“yesyesyes, daddy, you take such good care of me, fuuuuck”

and then you’re coming while he rails you into a car that’s worth more than your existence and when he comes he forces you into another orgasm

and with all the work and running around you havent been able to get laid in a long long time

and he’s so good that you just feel so weak and drained afterwards

and then he whispers gently “you’re calling off working tomorrow, you need sleep, and i’m gonna cover everything for you for at least the next two months”

as much as you want to argue, you’ve slept maybe 10 hours in the past 2  weeks and you dont have it in you

and yeah it would be nice to be taken care of for a little bit

mo is so soft and sweet with you when he takes you home

as if he didnt just fuck the life out of you

and when you wake up in his bed, you’re a little disoriented for a second

he’s already awake, facing you with his arm wrapped around your waist

he’s pressing kisses into your neck and shoulder and you jump at the sudden realization of

“fuck! i have to get to work!” and mo pulls you back down and reminds you that everyone has a day off today

which you’d forgotten due to lack of sleep and the fact that you’d lost track of what day it even was anymore

he pulls you into his chest and buries his nose in your hair

“please, just let me take care of you,” he murmurs

you’re about to argue, now having the energy to, when he speaks again

“fuck, you work so fucking hard, and you’re amazing at what you do, and you’re so young, you don’t deserve all of this i’m not asking you to quit either job or move in with me if you dont want to or anything, i’m just asking you to let me help you. i dont want or expect anything in return okay?”

“mo, i-“

“please just think about it okay? i wanna lighten the load a little bit. and make sure you get enough sleep. i just wanna help you.”

it takes you a few days to think it over and get back to him

but you say yes, smiling shyly up at him, thanking him over and over

and he insists that you dont need to thank him

and you also are kind of embarrassed, but you ask him if the offer still stands for you to move in with him.

cause your apartment kinda sucks and the electricity is shitty and the water shuts off sometimes

and you try and promise to pitch in for rent or utilities

but he doesnt even let you breathe in the direction of the bills

which is kind good cause holy shit he lives in a swanky part of town so of course they’re expensive

i feel like he’d try not to push your boundaries, but after that first time you fucked, you just want more

and you initiate things and fuck he wants you so bad

and he tells you that he really really likes you, not just physically

and asks you out on a proper date

but you’re really not there yet, so you definitely sleep in separate rooms

but he pampers you yk

its started off as just covering your basic needs, and then to buying you clothes

and accessories

and a new laptop

and then getting your phone fixed

and then comes the lingerie

and the jewelry

and holy fuck does mo spoil you

he makes good on his promise tho

you keep your job with the leafs and your job as a barista

but being a barista becomes more of an occasional thing yk

because its fun not because you have to pay your student loans

he’s everything you’ve ever wanted

he’s attentive and caring and so fucking good to you

and loves to spoil his girl

and no one on the team is really surprised when he shows up at a bar after a win with his arm wrapped around you

they just chirp him and expose him to you about how he’s liked you forever

you just smile up at him and kiss his cheek

and you’re really glad that he found out your little secret

[hoseokmylovesworld]

Picture of Love | 11 (M)

Pairing: Photographer!Hoseok x OC x Producer!Yoongi

Genre/Warnings: Hoseok AU/Yoongi AU/Includes strong language, smut, dirty talk, praise kink

Words: 6,056

Summary: Charlotte Galloway is the leader of the up and coming girl band, “She-Bang”, with a side hustle as a photographer for anyone who will hire her.  She meets a fellow professional photographer named Jung Hoseok who helps “She-Bang” realize their dreams and Charlotte to make a love connection along the way.

"I didn't know we were going shopping." I turn to J-Hope once I finally get myself together from my insane fit of laughter.

Even standing here now with my eyes travelling over all the sexual gadgets on every wall, I couldn't bring myself to believe Jay brought me to a sex shop. The place was way bigger than I could have guessed. Rows of dildos and vibrators, vibrating dildos and anal stimulators went on forever it seemed. There were even walls stocked with weapons, accessories and rope for bondage along with every leather creation known to man. On the opposite wall of the store were imaginative costumes for roleplay. The classic doctor and nurse duo caught my eye and my mind took off with a bed room scenario including Jay in a snazzy lab coat and scrubs and me in a tight, red and white nurse's ensemble. Mmm.

Being pulled out of his shocked stare, he turns to me, flustered.  

"Yeah? Neither did I." He remarks, turning back to his surroundings with his hand with his hand on his hip, finding the humor in the situation, finally. "...Unless you wanted to...I could... you know... " he gestures to the toys to communicate that if I were interested, he would buy me something.

I'll keep that in mind.

"No, thank you. I'm quite satisfied with the collection I have now... Thanks though." I say, looking back at him to gauge his reaction, but taking a few more steps into the business.

Jay makes a slightly caught off guard face and his cheeks slowly, but surely accumulate a pink hue.

"Don't act surprised, you saw that coming. Probably." I brush off.

"Yes, I suppose I did." He laughs. "Well, I'm sorry I brought you all the way here for nothing. Makes for a good story though, ha... I'm gonna kick Suho's ass for this." He curses under his breath.

"Oh? Or did you do this on purpose to tell me something?" I move closer to him and rest my hands on his chest, making suggestive eyes at him, planning to make my move.

He takes hold of my waist in turn, but his next words contradict his actions. "Charlotte, if I wanted to tell you I wanted to sleep with you, I would." He utters smiling, as if it were nothing.

Ooh, bold and rude are we?

"So...why haven't you? Do you not want...?" I don't finish my sentence out of pure embarrassment and offense. I begin to back away and release myself from his grip in fear of making a fool of myself any further.

"No! I mean yeah, I do!" He stammers, attempting to bring my body back to himself. "I just...I thought you wanted to take things slow." He makes a very confused, yet hopeful face. My shoulders drop and I can't help, but let out a giggle.

Of course the reason he hasn't questioned me about sex is because he's concerned. How am I even able to be associated with this man?

"Yes, I do... but I'm thinking this can be the exception." I move closer and lean up to whisper in his ear and press my hand to his crotch, evoking a groan from J-Hope. "'Cuz I really like you. Also because I really wanna suck your dick." He laughs nervously, briefly ducking his head into my neck.

"That sounds... amazing, but I probably should get some food in you first." He looks down into my eyes, caressing my face once again.

"Or you could put something else in me." I persist, biting my lip for effect and keeping eye contact.

J-Hope just laughs freely, all nervousness gone. "That sounds even better, believe me, but I'm serious. You should really eat something and I'm actually pretty hungry myself." He says more sternly, but still has yet to remove my hand. That's the second hard-on I gave him today and he's not jumping my bones.

Is this a joke?

"Wow, what a gentlemen... fine, I'll play by your rules." I relent, accepting that I've lost the battle.

"Good... because soon there won't be any." he whispers in my ear and then  took my hand that was on his crotch and kissed the back of it all while looking at me with those bedroom eyes.

Mission complete. Message received.

I then take the hand that's holding mine and kiss that as well, earning a pleasantly surprised face from Jay. "Good. Let's get outta here."

I drag him out of the building, not sparing the silly blonde another glance on the way out. The car is charged with sexual tension and comfortable yet static silence.

J-Hope pulls up to a large, stone building and parks directly in front of it. "This is where we're having dinner?" I inquire as he helps me out of the car.

"Yeah." He shrugs. "Hope you don't mind." He sends me a smirk and doesn't wait for a reply, leading me towards the building that reads Nob Hill Apartments on at the top. Oh.

I take a good look around the lobby on our way to the elevator. It was filled with huge leather chairs and mahogany furniture and marble walls, altogether a very expensive looking place. Before I can comprehend what's happening, my view is disrupted by the closing of the elevator doors. Coming back to myself, I assess the situation aloud.

"So, what are we going to do about dinner at your apartment?" I'm genuinely confused as to why he didn't just go to the drive through or something. The elevator dings once we reach the fifteenth floor and we step out to approach a lone door at the end of a short corridor. "I'm gonna cook for you, of course." J-Hope takes his keys out and unlocks the door. Oh this just keeps getting better and better.

"You're... gonna cook... for me?" I stand, dumbfounded in the hall. Jay just turns to me and flags me over with a tilt of his head and a flick of his wrist. "Yes, now come in." He laughs. I cross over the threshold into Jay's apartment that happens to be huge as fuck. Before I have a good look around, he requests that I take my heels off and he removes my coat and put them all in the coat closet. A fucking coat closet in an apartment.

"Alright, would you like the grand tour?"

"Yes, please."

"Ha ha, okay."

The closest was the full bathroom, which was surprisingly, very clean, next was the fully equipped laundry room. After that, was Jay's bed room, which had a beige upholstered, king sized bed with a mac laptop resting carelessly on the bed spread, a walk in closet, another full bath, a metal computer desk with a neat desktop setup, for editing I assume, and a stack of books on top of it. The walls were a cool grey and the space was very tidy, but the room still gave off a comfortable, "lived-in" feeling.

"Next is the living room." Along with the initial door that lead us to the bedroom from the hall, there was a sliding, white door that took up most of the wall that lead to the living room. 

Well shit.

The first thing I notice about the living room was the magnificent view of the city from its abundant windows. The Golden Gate and Bay bridges along with the rest of the San Francisco were lit up against the night sky. I let out a content sigh. J-Hope comes to stand beside me as I stare at the beautiful view. "That view is part of the reason why I took the place. My roommate loves that view too." I immediately turn my head in his direction at this.

"Roommate?" I ask, slightly concerned.

"Oh, yeah, well, not really my roommate, my friend is just staying for a while. He won't be back tonight though, don't worry." He rubs my arms, comfortingly, while shooting me a flirtatious glance and I decide to study the living room further so as to not jump his bones right here. 

He'd better not.

It had dark, hardwood floors with a large grey rug covering most of it and a coffee table sat on top of it. A hefty three seat, leather couch accompanies the coffee table and is flanked by two more leather armchairs in front of the full entertainment system and massive flat screen.

"Nice." I say to myself, but he responds "Thanks. That's my guest/roommate's room over there." He points to the closed, sliding door on the right of the living room, directly across from his.

"And this is where all the magic happens. The kitchen." I am then lead into the kitchen that does not belong inside an apartment, but a two story suburban home. There's every kitchen appliance ever to exist and all the cabinet space you could ever wish for. There's even a granite island with three stools in front of it. I take a seat in one as J-Hope gets to work pulling out utensils and ingredients. I watch as he pulls the sleeves of his white dress shirt up to his forearms and washes his hands.

"You have such a nice place here." I say continuing to ogle my surroundings.

"Thanks. Yeah, I worked really hard for it." He doesn't bother taking his attention off of what he's doing.

"I see that. What does your roommate do?" I ask, simply trying to make conversation. I could give a shit what his roommate does for a living.

"Uh, he's a music producer." He shares absentmindedly, very focused on his task.

"Oh, that's cool." I nod. "What are we eating anyway?" I try to peak over his shoulder.

"Chicken parmesan and some spaghetti." I audibly gasp behind him, my eyes popping out of my head.

"That's my favorite food." I announced excitedly.

He turns slightly to me with a pleased smirk. "I know." He almost purrs or at least that's what it sounded like to me. "Oooh, he listens." I cooed proudly. "Of course he does." He shot back satisfied with himself causing me to giggle.

This along with the thought that he probably prepared for this night under different circumstances on a separate occasion really warmed my heart completely.

"Hey, you want some wine to hold you over? This might take a while." He points to the chicken he was in the middle of seasoning.

"Oh, yes please." I accept without a second thought. J-Hope pulls a bottle of Dom Pérignon Rose from the fridge and pours two glasses. I take a sip and savor the taste and watch Jay as impressed as I've ever been. Man, he's got money, a nice car, a nice place and he can cook! 

From what I can smell anyway. God, please don't let me fuck this up anytime soon.

We make small talk for a little while longer before I begin to get bored just sitting and watching his back, so I make my way to the counter, near the stove, where he's working to get a closer look. I glance at the browning chicken in the pan and then up at J-Hope through my lashes and we lock eyes before he chuckles and looks away, I notice, he even starts to blush. How fucking cute is that?!

"You want a sneak peak?" He says, preparing a spoon full of the homemade spaghetti sauce for me to sample. Yeah, a sneak peak of that dick.

"Yeah sure!" I answer, just happy to have his attention again.

He happily escorts the spoon to my lips and my eyes widen once the sauce hits my taste buds.

"Jay," I grab his arm quickly as if I have pressing information to tell him. He looks back at me intently, awaiting my message. "I don't know if you know this, but...this is actually good." I say in a shocked voice. I drop the act and let out a chuckle when his shoulders drop from their tense pose and he narrows his eyes at me.

"That's very funny, but I'm not surprised." He replies, suddenly reaching out to touch my face. He swipes his thumb across the corner of my mouth and comes back with a red sauce that he immediately sucks into his mouth all while making eye contact with those bedroom eyes of his. "Tease." I whisper under my breath, making my way back to the island to sip on my wine. Jay chuckles at my actions and continues cooking, forcing me to do nothing, but look at his impressive back muscles. Taunting me without even trying now.

Get it together Char.

More small talk ensues until I peak to see Jay plating the food. He brings two plates and the bottle of wine over to the island and sits beside me. "Whew! Finally, I'm starving." I dig in without a second thought or reply from Jay. Once again I'm speechless at how delicious this dish is that I've been eating all my life.

"OH, J-Hope!" I mumble frantically through all the food in my mouth. He all-but jumps in his chair and looks me over for any injuries. "What? What is it!? Is it the food? What's wrong?" He asks wildly, trying to find solutions.

I nod hurriedly and swallowed everything in order to speak. "J-Hope, this is so fucking good!" I announce the reason why I was making a fuss and his expression completely changes from one of concern to betrayal. He goes back to eating his meal, fighting off a desperate need to laugh, while I for one took to laughing at his expense openly.

"Awww, Jay. Don't be mad." I teased through laughter as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." He replied, emotionless. "Awww, I'm sorry. It was just so delicious. I couldn't help myself." I say peppering kisses along the exposed right side of his body. I continue to do this as a moment of silence comes over us until Jay speaks up.

"That's twice I fell for that joke." he whispers. "I know! I'm amazing aren't I?" I let go to reward myself with a fork full of chicken parm.

"I can't argue with you there. Just not again, please." He looks up feebly, only half joking. "Yes, Jay, you got it. Thanks so much for cooking me this amazing meal by the way. It's lovely." A genuine smiles adorns his perfect face and I mentally pat myself on the back for putting it there.

"Of course, I've actually been wanting to do this for a while, but haven't found the right time. Ha, maybe I should be thanking Suho for telling me to go to that place."

I knew it! He had been planning to make me dinner after all. I don't know how to respond once my suspicions are proven true, as I'm filled with so much pleasure to hear that he would plan all this for me. It shows that he really put a lot of thought into this night to cook my favorite food, save an expensive wine bottle for the occasion and entertain my foolishness all the while. I place my hand on his forearm that rested on the table without thinking.

"You don't have to, you know?" I said in a low voice.

"Don't have to what?" he inquired genuinely lost at my vague sentence.

"To...Impress me, I guess." J-Hope was clearly not expecting this answer, as his eyes got the slightest bit wider and his mouth moved into a small frown. He was obviously lost. "I mean...What I mean to say is, you've taken me to the most expensive restaurants and nothing less, used your resources and connects to get wonderful photos and videos for my band and here you've worked really hard to make me this amazing meal and...I really appreciate it. No one has ever done this much for me... But I would be satisfied with like a burger and fries or something too." We both can't help, but laugh at that last part.

"I know Charlotte. That's the main reason why I like you so much." I give a toothy grin at the compliment that made me feel warm inside and make a side note to ask him about the other reasons later. We each go back to eating in comfortable silence before he decided he had more to say on the topic.

"I want to, though." Were his next words, leaving me the one to look at him in confusion. "Impress you, I mean... I mean it's not like you don't deserve it and it's no secret, I think you're... incredible and honestly, probably the most stunning girl I've ever met." I look down at the commendation out of habit. Jay gets up out of his chair to close the distance between us and lift my chin up to look at him with his thumb and index finger. "So forgive me for wanting to go the extra mile for someone as utterly brilliant as you are."

My stomach struggled to withhold the slew of butterflies running rampant inside it at the amount of praise coming from Hoseok. I honestly didn't know how to take it all, I definitely wasn't used to this and I could swear I felt tears flaring up behind my eyes at the sentiment. But there was no time to process it anyways seeing as Jay's lips were headed straight for mine and I welcomed them, gladly.

He took my face in both hands and bent down to plant on a kiss on my waiting lips. Instinctively, I wrap my hands around his middle, feeling everything I can and let my legs spread wider to give him better access so that I was on the edge of my seat and there is no space left between us. Jay's tongue easily enters my mouth as the kiss turns rough and I let out a soft moan, loving where this is going.

He runs his hands down my sides, not missing a single curve on his way to my thighs. I feel his hands caress the backs of my thighs and suddenly I'm being lifted into the air onto the island in the same exact position without breaking the kiss. An excited and impressed squeal escapes as I land, causing Hoseok to chuckle into my mouth. His mouth travels down my jaw to my neck, spending time on my sweet spot before he explores my collar bones and repeating the whole process with a hunger, like his life depended on it.

He dragged my body to the edge of the counter, one hand on each of my ass cheeks, causing my skirt to ride all the way up. With this, he properly grinded into my center, which was right where I needed him.

"Nnngh... You gonna give me what I want now?" I ask breathlessly in Hoseok's ear, in as sultry a voice as I can muster. "Yes, Charlotte." He pants in between his attacks on my neck. "Anything... You want... It's yours."

Arousal seemed to rush between my legs at the assertion and the delicious assault he was delivering to my jugular.

"Mmm." I hummed in approval, gripping the silky black hair at the crown of his head and pulling it back so that I could look him in those beautiful brown eyes. He wasn't expecting the rough action, moaning at the loss of exposed skin to gnaw on. He looked absolutely ravenous. His eyelids hooded with lust, chest heaving with excitement, ready to pounce again at any moment. I doubted I looked any different. 

It was an odd experience, seeing Hoseok so wild and untamed like his usual gentlemanly self, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to enjoy every minute of it.

"Take me to you room." I say before connecting our lips again. Jay wastes no time in picking me up and getting us to his room. He makes a b-line directly for the bed and carefully places me down on it before going to climb on top of me.  He gives me a passionate kiss that sends warmth through my chest and continues his onslaught on my neck. 

"God, I love your collar bones." He explains giving them a pleasant nip. I moan in delight at the statement. He starts to make his way down my body and I stop him because I have plans of my own.

"Ah-ah." I interrupt him. Jay looks up at me in bewilderment. "Take off your pants and get on your back." I instruct earnestly. A smug smirk appears on J-Hope's face, I don't return it seeing as he is unmoving between my legs. "You calling the shots now baby?" I try not to get distracted by the titillating chill that runs up my spine at the pet name or the memory of our almost first kiss with the phrase before it.

"Don't play dumb, you know what I want." I press, not even trying to hide the carnal desire building up inside of me for this man. Jay seems taken aback and pleased with my answer all at once. He moves off the bed to properly remove his offensive clothing, getting completely naked. "Fuck." I let slip while ogling his body, seeing that he has six pack abs and a very large penis.

"Soon, just be patient." He replies in a smug voice, getting back on the bed. I take advantage of his position and grab hold of his shoulders, pinning him to the bed so that I'm on top. "Smartass." I say as I go to flick his nipple with my tongue.

"Sss! Ahh, uh, that's new." He swallows hard, not knowing what to do with his hands at the sign of something new. "Just sit back and relax, baby." I drawled, pleased that the pet name had the same effect on him as it did on me.

I watch him visibly release the tension from his body and went back to tracing the expanses of his body with my tongue. Jay was mostly silent unless it had to do with his nipples or the area around his privates. I teased him by leaving hickeys on his hips and v-lines and blowing on the sensitive skin, even going as far as biting his thighs a couple of times. 

I would make my way back and forth across his pubic bone and kitten-lick his cockhead each time, but never putting it in my mouth, causing him to whimper. I was having the time of my life just worshipping this man's body, enjoying his moans of pleasure with no rush for him to return the favor... Now that's new.

In my fun-filled daze, I hear Jay's voice in between the pants and whines. "Charlotte," He mewls. "Please..."

Oh? "Hm?" I look up to find his face screwed up in anguish, his left hand fisted in the sheets and the other half covering his face. "What was that?" I question, nipping at his abdominal muscles once more.

"Please-ss! Please stop teasing..." He looks down at me, pleadingly, which I return with a smug smile of my own. I've never been the one to earn pleas from a partner during sex, let alone wish to hear someone beg, but with Hoseok, it was one of the most magnificent sounds to ever grace my ears. It's all I've ever wanted.

"Is that what I'm doing?" I ask coyly. "Yes, Charlotte that is what you're doi-haugh!" His fretting was cut short as I finally took his erection in my hand, offering some kind of friction. "There's no need to raise your voice." I all, but whisper, letting the heat of my breath fall onto the tip of his cock.

"Hoo, ha ha, Charlotte," He begins, losing his patience.

"Say it again." I let my tongue slide up the side of his length briefly.

"Ahh, say what?" Jay asked cluelessly, surely losing his mind. "You know what." Is all I offer him with a sinister gaze. I felt a surge of power rush over me and I loved it. Being in control for once.

"Huhh... Please?" He takes a crack at it, but I wanted more. "Is that all you got?" I inquire while running my fingers along the underside of his balls.

"Mmm! Please, Charlotte will you put my dick in your mouth?" He spat out all at once, chest heaving.

"Mm, better... What will you give me?" I give his cock one long stroke and watch his body shudder. My mouth fell open at the sight and I couldn't resist the urge to touch myself. I hiked my skirt all the way up and stuck my hand inside my underwear to find an insane, but not surprising, amount of arousal already there. Collecting some, I teasingly swirled my fingers around my clit waiting for Hoseok's reply.

Hoseok looks down to see what all the movement is and his head falls back on the bed defeatedly in response. "Ugh, anything! I'll give you anything." He repeats his words from earlier and it's almost enough. I just need one more thing.

"Who's cock is this?" His dick twitches in my hand at the query.

"Oh, it's yours. It's all yours Charlotte, all of it." He panted out wholeheartedly, making my clit throb underneath my fingers and my stomach fill with butterflies simultaneously. With this, I finally took him into my mouth, hollowing out my cheeks and jerking him off with my hand. 

Jay tremors with the contact and immediately fists the sheets, this time with both hands. I take the hand in my panties and drag his fist to my head, signalling that he should grab onto  that instead. He takes the hint and takes a fist full of my hair in his hand and tugs, causing my hand to quickly find its way to my clit again.

"You like when I pull on your hair, huh, baby?" I nod as I bob my head up and down on his dick and let out a moan of approval, sending vibrations through him, causing him to pull on my hair again and the cycle continued as such until Hoseok announces, "I'm gonna cum, Charlotte." I made no move to get off of him, I only nod in understanding. This exchange gives Hoseok the approval he needs to hold my head down on his cock as he hits the back of my throat. 

Tears well up in my eyes at the pressure, but I fight through it as this is all I wanted and this is definitely not my first rodeo. He groans and comes down my throat in hot spurts, waves of pleasure visibly running through his body as he does. He promptly sinks into the bed, satiated and happy while I clean up the mess, still sucking on and sometimes licking up and down his cock because I can. 

Hoseok comes back to life at some point and doesn't stop me, he only caresses my face and massages my scalp and I feel him start to get hard again in my mouth. 

"God, you are amazing." He looks down at me with nothing, but adoration and I give the same gaze back.

"Come here." He orders with his finger. I'm powerless against his strong, heated gaze as I climb my way back up his body. He meets me halfway and I'm sat in his lap, kissing his soft, swollen lips. He works my shirt up over my head and gets rid of my bra in record time. This most definitely is not his first rodeo either. 

He forces me straight back and pins me to the bed now. He eyes my bruised neck and chest with pink and red hickeys covering my brown skin, proudly before diving in to gift me more. I giggle and moan at the gesture. He must really have a thing for collar bones, it's kind of cute.

He travels down to my breasts and gets a kick out of my squirming as he greedily, stroked my nipples with his tongue. Migrating further south, he licked and sucked skillfully down the plains of my body with his sinful mouth. I whined at the loss of contact, as he carelessly removed my skirt and underwear at once. He looks me over once again in awe, it seems. I almost start to fidget under his gaze, but I fight it. The show I put on earlier reminds me of how confident I truly am and I find the power to gaze right back at him with lust filled eyes, silently begging him to take me.

"You're so beautiful, Charlotte." The pure adoration in the way he utters my name sends a delicious chill down my spine. I smile in thanks, not knowing what else to say and frankly struggling to find the words. He doesn't give it a second thought, instead, he backs up and pushes my legs back so that they're touching my stomach and takes my clit into his mouth without warning. 

I intuitively, buck my hips into his mouth, Jay puts a stop to that by grabbing my thighs and forcing them down. The force he exerts will definitely leave bruising, but I find I am more than okay with that when I think about how I want Jay to leave his mark on me. The thought alone causes me to moan out and I grab Jay's head for leverage, twisting my fingers into that thick black hair that I love so much. He hums in approval into my pussy and I let out a tiny shriek.

"Ohhh, yes! Don't. Fucking. Stop." I pull his face closer to my cunt with both hands and my body arches off the bed when he sucks my clit into his mouth and repeatedly flicks his tongue against it full force.

"Shit! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, hah!" I felt myself getting close when he Jay inserted two fingers and started fingering me at an intense speed, catapulting me directly into my orgasm. My body froze in place and everything around me stood still. I let out a silent cry and my eyes rolled back into my head as Jay continued to finger me tirelessly for what felt like forever. He continued until I begged him to stop and I couldn't get mad at him for it because I loved every second.

I laid there in a drunken daze, chest rising and falling frantically, slightly convulsing without being touched. I felt Hoseok's body cover mine without putting much weight on me and I turned to face to him. He put both his hands on my face and kept calling my name even though I was right in front of him. With my vision slightly clouded with white spots and my drunken nature, I could see why he might be alarmed.

"Hey, Charlotte? You okay, babe?" The pleasant nickname brought some awareness to me and my senses and I was finally able to make Hoseok out with no spots or anything blocking my vision. The only thing I could think to do when I saw his beautiful face was to kiss him deeply. And the only thing I could think to say afterward was "Thank you."

He just laughs and caresses my face. "Anytime Charlotte." He lays his head on my chest and we just lay there for a while, enjoying the other's company.

"I mean what are you aquaman?" I jokingly ask, causing the both of us nearly cry with laughter. "No, but I try." He lifts his head up slowly and sends me a timid gaze. "You think you got one more in you?" He asks through hopeful, squinted eyes.

As if on cue, his cock twitches against my thigh, fully hard and I can feel arousal swell deep in my gut once more. 

"If what happens next is anything like what I just experienced, I got whatever you want." I said seriously, looking deep into his eyes. He smiled, getting up to put on a condom and bouncing back to the bed like an excited puppy. He gazed at me longingly from above before pouncing on my lips. He kissed me fervently all the while reaching to down to make sure I was still wet enough for the main event. Of course I was.

"You ready?" He asks. "I been ready for a long time." I reply truthfully. I've waited for this moment for what seems like forever and now that it's finally here, I'm trying to revel in it for as long as possible.

Suddenly, he thrust his cock inside me while staring deep into my eyes and I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. My jaw goes slack and I still his hips to get used to his massive size, but I don't look away. Eye contact during sex isn't a foreign concept to me, but I haven't done it with anyone since my ex. I didn't expect to want to capture the feeling it brings with Hoseok, but it feels more right now than it ever did before.

I girate my hips toward him, letting him know it's okay to move and he pulls almost all the way out and then delves back into me deeply. He hits my g-spot with most of his thrusts, causing my jaw to drop and my eyes to roll back into my head briefly before I refocus on him again and again.

"God, you look so fuckin' hot when you do that. Nnngh, so good baby, you're so good." I smile lazily and hum happily at the praise given to me. Jay takes notice of this.

"You like when I tell you how good you are?" He demands, his thrusts getting more powerful. "Ah! Yes!" My back completely arches off the bed and Hoseok follows my hips up into a new angle where he's on his knees, taking the weight of my hips and my shoulders and arms are the only part of me on the bed.

I let out a shout at the new angle that is bringing me closer and closer to my climax. "Right there! Oh my God, yes!" I scream as Hoseok takes complete control, guiding my body where it needs to go with his body as well as with his words.

"Oh, yes. You're so good Charlotte. Just taking my cock like that. Just take it, it's yours. All yours baby. Ooh--squeeze it like that again... Oh fuck."

Hoseok's intoxicating words and his rapid thrusts left me floating in a sea of nothingness. Euphoria spread from the tips of my toes to the every pore in my body. I was once again frozen in time and space, just a non-responsive pile of gummy limbs left throbbing around this cock for him to use as he pleased. And use it, he did and I welcomed every second of it. He came into the condom a while after me because he has the labido of a horse on steroids and collapsed on top of me. It was not a completely unwelcomed experience. I eventually wrapped my arms around him and vice versa, I was completely content.

A few minutes later, he got up to throw the condom away and made his way back to bed for a bit of cuddling. I haven't been a cuddler for years, but like most things when it came to Hoseok, I made an exception.

"That was absolutely amazing." He uttered into my chest, that was now cluddered with hickeys and fingerprints. "You can say that again. You're a fucking animal Jay, who knew?" We both laughed.

"I could say the same about you. Oh and Charlotte?"

"Yeah?" I peer down at him to get a better look.

"If we're gonna keep doing this, maybe you should learn how to pronounce my real name so I can hear you scream it next time." He smiles at me only half-joking.

I don't hesitate to take the pillow under him and slam it down on his face.

But he's not wrong, I would love to.

[nellapaulina]

eBay cosplay mini-review + a few tips for the cosplay virgins

If you are new to cosplay and have wondered if you should buy it or make it, here's the post that you need.

Let's start with a little bit of background.

I've cosplayed a few times, and I always made the costume by myself (and with a LOT of help from my mom and my grandma, bless their hearts) but recently I bought my Star Guardian Lux cosplay from eBay because:

1) College (or University in my case) sucks all your free time, so I barely have time to study. I didn't have time to start a cosplay from 0!

2) I've always wanted to try to buy a cosplay online as a base and add the details and everything else by my own

So when I saw the opportunity I bought my cosplay from eBay (I'll try to leave the link if you are interested in it) because I didn't have the time and I had not cosplayed in a while so it looked like a good solution

Notice that I love buying stuff from the internet so I already knew that it might not fit me because I'm thick af and I'm pretty tall (70 kilos, 1,70 meters)

Now that we know that, let's start with the review:

(I wish I had taken a better pic of the full costume before sending it to my tailor :c)

• first thing I noticed was that the skirt was way too short, straight out of a porno short, but that was expected so I immediately send it to a tailor to add a fake second layer to the skirt (I'll upload pics of the before and after later in the week) It didn’t even cover my ass, so be careful my thicc friends.

     Tip: measure yourself before buying it, because many costumes are One size fits all, and we all know that's a BIG FAT lie. Also if you are tall and/or thick you need to know that's there will be some serious tailoring and adjustment you will have to do.

     If you are a plus size person it's better to costume-make your cosplay since your body has its own unique way to hold your weight so your body shape can be completely different from someone else that has your same weight and size.

• moving on, the shirt was ok, I'll adjust it a little bit because I don't like how tight it is and I'll change the zipper cause I want it to be more secure.

     Tip: for the people with them boobs, measure yourself with the bra you want to use (the most comfortable one you have or the one that will not show up when you are wearing the costume)

     Tip: change the zipper if you notice that the fabric can be easily torn, and/or you don’t feel that it is secure enough, I promise no one will notice and you will feel a LOT more comfortable.

• Let's talk about details: the fabric is really nice and for the price, I was expecting a lower quality, so I'm impressed.

There are pieces that I absolutely adore of this cosplay, the bows and the stars are amazing and really well done. So are the golden pieces for the legs.

The rest of the pieces are just as good it's just that they are SO small.

A human arm can't wear this the way they are supposed to wear them. Same with the ankle accessories.

Good thing that the little starts can easily be separated without leaving marks or damaging the fabric.

I will reuse the arm and ankle thingies for my dog and take her to cosplay with me

PRO super mega awesome tip: take your pet with you (if you know it will not be too hot/cold for them, and if the event you are going allows you to do it) they are great moral support if you are going to a masquerade or if you are going to perform, or if it is just your first time. Plus, guys and gals with pets always win the competitions for some reason. AND pet cosplay is not as hard as you may think.

   • The headpiece was ok I was already planning on making it by myself, but I'll use the one that came with the cosplay as my base since it is pretty and the right measure for my head.

and the necklace is so cute and comfortable that I don’t want to take it out.

   Tip: Make sure you can steam iron your cosplay, it’s so much easier and faster, but a normal iron will do just fine (unless you want to travel with your cosplay, then investing on a steam iron is a great idea)

• Overall, I think that with my experience and creativity I can make out of this cosplay a masterpiece.

Conclusion:

Tho a cosplay made by you/made for you, by your own hands and with all your hard work will never be beaten by a bought online cosplay, I think this is a good start for the cosplay virgins, the casual cosplayer, and the cosplayers without all the time in the world, like me.

I rate this eBay costume a 7/10, basically because any cosplayer taller or bigger than me would never be able to wear this and I don't like that it is a one size fits all; But the shipping was incredibly fast, plus the quality is really good for the price. Btw, the seller was really nice, and answer every question I had politely and in a way that made me feel safe enough to buy something from eBay, which is not normal for me.

Anyway, hope this helps you out in any way, thanks for reading!~  ❤︎

(soon I´ll be reviewing Lux’s Wand that I bought on Wish, and I’ll let you know how that goes)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/112147904151 Star Guardian Lux, eBay, 22,50 USD.

[daniedoodles]

Danie’s Dilemmas Ep. 23: Kinda Sus

Let me just fucking TELL YOU about yesterday. But before I move forward, it’d probably be best if I gave the people involved an alias: apart from me, there were three other people: my friend, Travis (her guy), Bruno (the other guy). 

To make any sense of what the hell went down, I’m going to start from the beginning. On Monday, my friend played it off as if she and I were heading downtown on Thursday, and that if Travis was around the area around the time that we would be there, he should come and join us and bring Bruno along with him. We thought that this was a good idea initially because (1) my friend and I live on completely opposite ends of the city from Travis and Bruno, (2) the thought of finally meeting these two guys who have single handedly swooned us was riveting in itself. When Travis finally responded, agreeing to the meet up, we got all excited and shit, as you would expect from two teenage girls, but we were more so wanting to puke or shit or do both at once without knowing which way to direct our inner forces. I got so nervous that I lived Tuesday, the following day, as if it were Wednesday and I was panicking about what the hell the plan was because I thought that it was Thursday the next day. That was badly worded, but I hope whoever’s reading this still gets what I mean. 

Come Wednesday night (the actual Wednesday), you shouldn’t be surprised to know that I had a fucking panic attack lmao. My mantra of “don’t set expectations” was not helping by any means, instead it just let it sink further in that “holy shit, we’re meeting these guys tomorrow what the fuck”. My friend was having her own version of a panic attack. To cut it short, we were rendered into an anxious mess. And so the plan was decided: I’d go to her place at 11am, take the bus to the station together (we chilled at Tim’s for a bit because it was too early to head directly downtown), then set out at 12:30 to meet them. We really debated just cancelling THAT last minute, but somehow we still managed to suck it tf up and get our asses on that train. Not easy. We felt queasy. A bitch (me) couldn’t breathe, and my friend was just about ready to puke her entire stomach out. The train ride felt like an eternity, until finally it was our stop. We waited anxiously for their train to arrive. It was my friend that spotted them the second they got off. The panic fell as quickly as it rose in that moment. We managed to wave, meet in the middle, and greet each other in haste. I supposed all our minds went haywire that second - the air felt still until my friend broke the silence with a “now what?” to which Bruno quickly suggested that we walk this one specific street. Friendly, I thought. We split off into what I guess you could call “couples”: myself and Bruno leading the way, while my friend and Travis brought up the rear. I can’t talk much on part of my friend’s silent conversations with her guy, but I can tell you that my conversation with Bruno was oddly focused on the weather. The small talk was.. average, I would say. It didn’t last very long, neither did this whole boy-girl grouping. When we were walking in the middle of the street and Bruno and I were ahead, my friend told me to walk faster, but instead I moved to walk right next to her and Bruno went to walk right next to Travis. We looked as if we were in a band. All wearing black. All wearing doc martens (with the exception of one Travis with shoes that were one size too small). Chains. Green. The idea was badass. I whisper over to my friend every once in while going “feel better?” and she’d answer with “yeah, much”. It was calm, but very much separated. Perhaps it was because our comforts were too close within grasp (friends), or maybe none of us wanted to face, much less acknowledge, the tension amongst us... for whichever reason, a majority of our conversations were limited to whispers and the occasional outburst of laughter between my friend and I... and Travis and Bruno. The high was brief, that much I can say. 

My friend, although we established earlier that should stray away from milk tea, given the risks, she was eager to put a stop to the separation and called out that she wanted to go to the milk tea place in Chinatown. We turn around and head back to Chinatown, where this long line of people waited their turn to get their order. I didn’t want one myself so I took on the responsibility of saving us a seat, not that I even had to really. Most of the people that bought something just went ahead and left. I did anyway, because I told my friend that maybe it would be a good opportunity to buy us some time to think of what the hell to do afterwards. I waited for what felt like an entire hour for them to finally get what they asked for and accompany me at the table. In the time I had in between getting there and finding seats, I had enough time to write an episode on my phone (I won’t be posting it because it was basically me just swearing and going over my fucking head), and apparently I looked bored as hell. Not wrong. The conversations were as slow and unreliable as going on a video call in the absence of good service. It was unreliable in the sense that once one question was asked and an answer was given, there wasn’t an immediate follow up, much less an enthusiasm to pursue the topic present any further. Too many awkward silences. Lots of piercing stares that I could not for the life of me maintain. I was seated facing Bruno, while my friend and Travis were facing each other around the square table. The most I could do was give Bruno a brief glance because there was something about his stare that was not in the least welcoming, rather uninviting or... could I go as far as to say that it looked mischievous?? My personality and my voice were actually not there. As far as I’m concerned, I wasn’t really there. Seriously. Have you ever seen me not talking someone’s ear off?? Have you ever heard of “Danie was so quiet”? bitch tf. Whoever that was, it ain’t me. Sure, I’d ask questions here and there about them and their sport, but the extent of my conversation skills ended there and were definitely not up to par. My friend, for the second time, who would marry a milk tea if she could, didn’t finish her milk tea again. Bad omen. We set out again, for the mall this time, just to keep things moving or whatever. 

We get to the store that we usually enter to get into the main part of the mall until Travis stays behind, and all we hear is Bruno calling saying “yo hold up”. My friend and I get back out, when Travis goes: “you guys go ahead, I just gotta do something (or was it meet someone?)” kinda sus. We head in without him anyway, pretending to browse through the clothes that were well beyond our spending capabilities, until eventually we drift into the aisles of accessories where my friend whispers a question to me: “you should really talk to Bruno” and I said: “you don’t think I’ve been trying? I’ve been wracking my brain this entire day for things to ask of even say but I’m coming up short every time because all of it has been done through text”. After twenty minutes of fruitless browsing, Bruno finally comes up to us and goes “are you guys gonna buy anything”

my friend and I: I thought we were waiting for Travis?

Bruno: oh, he’s been waiting outside for a couple of minutes. 

... well shit. 

So we’re finally out, heading over to Pandora for my friend’s mom. When we left, we realized that Bruno was nowhere to be found (turns out he went to the washroom). We kept walking anyway, and this time, to H&M. Travis insisted on waiting outside just in case Bruno came looking for us. While we were in the store, we couldn’t help discussing how badly it was already going and how much we wanted to just leave, right then and there. But my friend brought me back to my senses by saying that it would have been a pretty shitty move on our part to leave without a word. Fair enough. I was briefly blinded by the desire to escape the awkwardness. At this point we rated the day a 4/10 and a 3/10, respectively, with mine being the latter. Never have a been in a situation that I so desperately wanted to flee from. As soon as we got back outside to join them, we saw that they were just about to take a seat, but they stood back up and started walking with us to the gardens. It wasn’t long before we reached the restrooms, where my friend and I, once again, resumed our discussions on the suspicious atmosphere. We couldn’t find them at first on our way out and we were sort of upset saying all kinds of shit (hopefully quietly) like “guess we better find them.. see them anywhere..?”. We didn’t stop walking or anything. Then I sensed that there were people that were walking really close behind us, I turn around and tell my friend “oh wait, they’re right behind us”. She jumped. My mind immediately went to “oh fuck, what if they heard us talking about them??” 

The walk to the gardens was slow. That’s another thing. They were both taller than us, yet they walked so much slower like shit.. they really be taking their sweet as time. It was so hard to resist the need to walk briskly but it was more awkward to walk faster and have them fall behind, so we endured the snail’s pace. We sat next to this group of people that were rehearsing a dance, to which Travis made the comment of “at least it ain’t some gay shit like fuckn badminton”

... 

Low blow, but honestly I was expecting the comment to come sooner in the day. I think we were all just desperate to laugh about something so I joined them. I didn’t really mind that they were shitting on my sport, considering it’s nothing new and it is (to an extent) funny. We were on and off with the discussions on differences between the north and south high schools that we attended, how the north was dominated by southeast Asians, while the south had its healthy mix of all races, to say the least. This was when I sort of noticed how Bruno, who was supposedly my “guy”, kept directing questions towards my friend. I wasn’t really bothered (yet). Travis mentioned that he had to meet someone at the train station because he had a client whom he was selling his shirt to and he gave us the option of either accompanying him or just waiting for him because he said it would be brief. My friend tried making it my responsibility to decide on where we stand with this but all I said back was “up to you”. I forgot she couldn’t say no lmao. So it was settled that we would all head to the station together to meet with this buyer. When we got there, Bruno turned back to my friend and I, standing really close, chuckling to himself. My natural instinct told me to back up (so I did). The chuckles continued and he said “what’s good? you guys been quiet”. I don’t even think I said anything. And if I did, I was thankfully cut off by Travis who announced that the deal was done and that we should go to the library, which is where we spent a majority of our time. We sat there, in a table by the window with a clear view of the train station.. the mockery. My desire to leave was unwavering. I figured we’d have a game to play or something to keep our minds busy while we thought of conversation starters, but apparently someone stole the UNO cards and that was the only game worth playing. Again, silence. My body language wasn’t exactly helpful. Halfway through the night I noticed how I always had my arms crossed. Closed off. I suppose in the back of my head, that’s what I felt like I should have been doing, but on the surface, I was only doing that because I was cold as shit. I also had a bad habit of turning my phone on and off, pretending to text, or sometimes texting my friend who was sitting right next to me, or texting my own mother about how terribly the day was going. I was aware, but that didn’t stop me lmao. Bruno kept asking my friend questions, complimenting her and so on. I vividly remember my thought process in that very moment. It went something like:

- wtf why isn’t he asking me anything

- it’s cause he always insists on talking everyday, what’s left there to even discuss?

- is it even worth getting worked up about this if you weren’t interested to begin with? 

- okay, it kinds bothers me... lol nah, nvm. I’m too lazy to pursue pettiness. 

So I laughed to myself, thinking, “how pathetic am I”. I didn’t really want to go down that road so I distracted myself by purposely zoning out by staring out the window, counting how many trains we’ve let pass without us in it, on the way back home. Bruno’s glances were all mostly directed towards my friend. At that point I didn’t even care. Just thought it was worth mentioning. Then LOW AND BEHOLD Travis asks me if I remembered this one girl that we both knew from our past. Although it didn’t last long, I was pretty accustomed to how brief one topic started and concluded. I tried asking more about what happened between the two of them because apparently there was something there, but he closed it off. I respect it, I guess. I tried asking them about another girl that Travis, Bruno, and I all mutually knew but again, short-lived. I found out some shocking stuff, but not the kind worth telling here. A couple more questions passed by like “are your guys’ parents strict?”, “do you have a curfew?”, “do you guys like hard liquor? - what’s your favourite drink?”, etc. etc. etc. 

The funniest part of being in the library is hands down when Bruno took the guitar that was free for anyone to play. When he returned to the table with the instrument, it wasn’t long before we all saw that one string was severed. Also, keep in mind that Bruno is a lefty. The guitar is made for right-handed people. Needless to say, the chords were obviously reversed, the guitar wasn’t tuned properly and it took every nerve in my body to not burst out into my ugliest cackle. 

Bruno: *strums guitar*

Travis: ... dude, just no. stop

my friend and I: *shaking and about to break out into laughter*

Travis and Bruno were jokingly discussing how much money they could get out of the guitar if they sold it:

Travis: this could probably be like $100

Bruno: I see this as a solid $80

Also Bruno: *puts down guitar* *hits it on something hard*

Travis: nah bro, that shit’s $50 now

lol what. 

6:00pm could not come sooner. Thank goodness my friend saw the time and pretended as if my mom wanted us both home immediately, otherwise I wouldn’t have known how else to get out of the situation without it being even more uncomfortable. Slowly we make our way back to the station. My friend was determined to get a photo with them for her streaks, so we all huddled over her phone and she quickly took the photo, only to have her hair cover my face. Whatever. I was no longer phased. Their train came before ours. The goodbyes were as haste as the greetings: 

Travis: “it was nice meeting you guys - bye” 

There was a quick exchange of glances with Bruno (again, I broke it off) 

Bruno (hesitantly): bye

Me (hesitantly): bye

And their train was off. The moment it left, my friend and I could do nothing but stare at each other and go “that was painful”. 

The hunger was settling between the two of us, sat our asses down at Wendy’s and scarfed down both of our burgers. Well, more like inhale. On the bus to my place I somehow managed to make my friend cry because I got her to visualize Travis as her grad date, in her ideal e-boy attire: a suit, but never without the chain. It’ll never cease to amaze me, the sorts of things that trigger the waterworks in her. 

We ended the night at my place where I read her cards and was immediately disheartened that they hadn’t changed. It didn’t help at all that she continued to sob at how beautiful her man looked in the one photo she saw of him on Instagram, and that it was followed by another spam post with the caption that just ready “This day was-”. 

I got a text from Bruno at 2am, saying his usual “goodnight”, only that this time, it was also accompanied by his vague thoughts on what happened that day, which he described as “unorganized” but that he was “glad that we all experienced it together”. I chose not to respond because too soon because (1) I was already on a call with someone, recollecting the series of events that unfolded and (2) I was just not in the mood after how badly the hang out went in my opinion. I didn’t get to respond until this morning. Oddly enough, I don’t feel all that bad about it. 

Since this episode is long enough, let me sum up my thoughts in jot notes:

- I felt a lot like an afterthought. By this I mean that Bruno would ask my friend something, then ask me “what about you”, which to me gave off the impression that he thought “oh shit, right, her. I almost forgot she was here.”

- I have been asked by a couple of my friends if I actually like Bruno, but to be honest... I think for a majority of the time, I was somehow forcing myself to like him for no reason. That’s done now though. I think after I realized how varied and separate our lifestyles were, I cut the shit. It’s even difficult picturing ever seeing him again in person after all that just happened. If anything, he’s a friend. But definitely nothing more. 

- my personality FAILED me that entire day. I’m still shocked by how I kept to myself a majority of the night. I’m blaming it on the fear of embarrassing both my friend and I. Had I not done that, it would’ve probably went a little better in my eyes. 

- double dates are NOT a good idea, unless everyone knows everyone equally. Or rather, everyone is just as much as stranger to the other. That way the ball keeps rolling, the questions keep coming. But really, if I were you, don’t be deceived by the thought of how great of an idea it would be to bring your friends along to a hang out that you could just as easily call a “date”. You get too attached to your friend and it completely eliminates your opportunity to get to know the other person because like I said, your friend in this scenario is like your security blanket. And as long as you don’t let that go, you can’t actually fully embrace what’s new and right in front of you. 

- I have no intention of repeating this hang out, unless they ask us and not the other way around. Even then, I’ll probably have my doubts still. 

- PS there was also that part in the very beginning when Bruno tried saying my name and he somehow came up with “DaYknee” and “Dahknee” (second one is correct btw) and Travis just goes: oh.. my god, while my friend says: no one even calls her that

- I was about to say that people call me Danielle mostly but some of the people in my (I hesitate to say IB classes) classes call me Danie as well. That was another funny thing. 

All in all, by the end of the day, I’d say it was a 5/10. 

The highlight of yesterday was probably my call with a friend, who now doesn’t even recall this whole story after I told him about it during the call. 

If there’s anything about Thursday that I can say... here it is:

bro, das craaazy.

And a couple of months from now and I reminisce with my friend, we’d say:

remember dat?

keep up, will ya. ;)