#Couldn't share these last night cause I was having technical issues

[cadrenebula]

Vierapril Day 20

Aryn with Ellen and Leeja Lockwood

Nebula with Chieftain Ladonia of Clan Carina

[coreene]

The 5e Guide to Sex

I have been made aware of an unofficial guide for sex in dnd universe by my lovely friends over at the Zhentil Keep. And I would like to share some interesting stuff I found in said book with my dear followes.

Technical details before the fun part: book is called The 5e Guide to Sex. I couldn't find a writer. I couldn't find a publisher. When you search the name Google throws the pdf your way in case anyone of you would like to check it out yourselves. If you know more about the book, please let me know and I'll update/throw a link for credits. I am adding these to my que and in pieces so they will be dropping at the same time for the next couple of days/nights.

The Dirty Deed

Transcript is under the cut

You can have sex for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution score minus 5. Since most humans have a Constitution of 10, this means that on average they last 5 minutes in bed. This refers only to the act of sex itself, not to any foreplay (see below).

At the end of sex, you make a satisfaction check by rolling a d20 and adding the number of minutes that the sex lasted for above 5 minutes (+1 for six minutes, +2 for seven minutes, and so on). If the result is equal to or greater than your partner’s Constitution score, then your partner was satisfied. If not, then your partner was dissatisfied and may desire to continue having sex until brought to satisfaction.

If having sex with more than one NPC, you make a separate satisfaction check for each one.

Satisfied or Dissatisfied. An NPC who has been satisfied with sex is likely to be friendly to you in the future, though there is no mechanical benefit. Likewise, a partner who you fail to satisfy might be unfriendly, but again there is no mechanical distinction drawn.

Very Dissatisfied. If you fail a Satisfaction check by 5 or more, then the NPC was very dissatisfied. Their sexual partner has disadvantage on all Persuasion checks made against them for the next 1d4+1 days.

Very Satisfied. If you pass a Satisfaction check by 5 or more, then the NPC was very satisfied. Their sexual partner has advantage on all Persuasion checks against them for the next 1d4+1 days.

Marathon. At the end of an act of sex, you can choose to forgo making a satisfaction check. If you do, you have sex for another length of time equal to your Constitution score minus 5. You may repeat this any number of times. Once you decide to stop forgoing the satisfaction check, you add the total amount of minutes above 5 minutes for each act of sex and add that result to your d20 roll.

Keeping going like this is exhausting, however. Each character having sex must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw for each act of sex in an hour after the first; on a failure, the character gains a level of exhaustion.

Size Issues. If your sexual partner is two or more size categories larger or smaller than you, you have disadvantage on checks to satisfy them. Further, it is impossible for a male creature to physically penetrate a creature that is two size categories or more smaller than him without also causing great damage (1d4 bludgeoning damage per round of sex for each step of size category difference), and even creatures one size category smaller than them are at risk – for each minute of penetrative sex a larger male has with a smaller creature, that creature must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or gain 1 level of exhaustion.

Technical Details

The following applies to any creature while he or she is having sex:

You are grappled while having sex. Depending on how you are having sex, you may additionally be prone, restrained, or both. You can escape sex like you would any other grapple; your partner(s) can choose to not contest your escape attempt if they also wish to stop having sex.

You can’t concentrate on spells while having sex, unless the spell is being used directly for sex (such as the sexual application of Evard’s black tentacles, as described later in this document)

source: The 5e Guide to Sex (unofficial)

[ravendruid]

hey love! can i get Catching fireflys together for vaxleth please? thank you!

Hi!!! I'm sorry this took so long. I hope you like it! This drabble is set before the streams and is both in-canon and canon-divergent because I couldn't be bothered to fact check with the comics (and I'd rather have creative liberty). Catching fireflies together

Growing up, Keyleth had always had issues falling asleep: she would either toss and turn in bed for hours and hours or, on the rare occasions where she would be able to fall asleep at a decent time, she would wake up with nightmares several times during the night, making her feel utterly exhausted in the morning. In addition to her inherent insomnia, lately, she had found that being away from home, and without any prospects of a return, was an added source of stress on her shoulders that didn’t help with getting rest.

Although Keyleth wasn’t far from home—far from it, Stilben was just at the bottom of the mountain range that heard her first cries—it sure felt like she was on the other side of the world. She could technically turn back, trek her way up the Silvercut Roadway and climb the Summit Peaks to return home with her tail between her legs. Admit defeat, throw the towel, and refuse to do this. She was never supposed to take on the role. It had been imposed on her, after all. Keyleth wasn’t ready for it, even if the Aramenté was supposed to help her prepare for the leadership position she would have to take one day.  

But here she was nonetheless, sitting with her back against a gnarly tree in the swampland, surrounded by people she had barely just met and who had decided to work together for some reason. It wasn’t precisely the fancy inn rooms she was expecting or the warm meals she took for granted during the first days of her travel, but it would do. At least she wasn’t alone.

“Hey.”

Keyleth jumped, holding her staff tightly in her lap as a shadow descended next to her on the damp ground. Brown eyes stared at her in amusement and curiosity, and a flashy smile shined against the last rays of sunshine that peeked through the trees. Vax’ildan was one half of a set of twins and one of the first people she met in the group. He had been injured when she found him and his sister, Vex’ahlia, in the woods. She could have turned her back on them, leaving them to fend for themselves, but something inside her pulled her to them—to him—and she had no other choice but to help. 

“Hey, you,” Her voice wavered as she played with a strand of her hair. Why was she so nervous? Why did he make her feel like that?

“You alright? You’ve been quiet all night.”

“Just thinking…”

Vax released a huff as he sat on the ground by her side. One of his hands drifted inside his worn and patched-up cloak and drew out a dagger and a whetstone. He started sharpening the blade in silence, his eyes following the movement that had undoubtedly become so natural to him as growing plants was to Keyleth.

“Wanna share?” He asked after a while, turning his mesmerizing gaze to hers.

“I was just thinking about home. I miss it.”

“Hmm.”

Silence fell again. Vax thoroughly examined the sharpness of the blade, swiftly cutting pieces of grass right in front of his feet. Keyleth observed him curiously. Sometimes he was a man of few words. Sulking and brooding were more his style, but his silence never felt uncomfortable. 

“Do you like fireflies?”

“Y—yeah.”

Suddenly Keyleth felt like time had stopped and that nothing and no one else existed but her and Vax. His face turned into a multitude of different feelings: a boyish, mischievous smile that caused her anxiety (what was he up to now?), a crinkle in the corner of his eyes that were full of kindness and something else Keyleth couldn’t discern, and a teasing bite of his lower lip that had her head spinning like a tornado.

“W—why?”

“Come with me.”

Vax stood up in a blur, holding his hand to her. Keyleth looked at him with anxiety bubbling up in her chest. It wasn’t the fact that she wanted to take his hand and let him guide her that caused such nervousness, but the feeling inside her that she would let him drag her to the end of the world without a second thought. 

When she took Vax’s hand, slightly unsure yet trusting him implicitly, electricity rushed from his calloused fingers down her arm and straight to her spine. Vax faltered at her shocked gasp, but when Keyleth nodded at him with a reassuring smile, he turned and pulled her behind him, still grasping her hand tightly. 

He didn’t drag her far from camp. If she turned her head back above her shoulder, Keyleth could still see the shimmering light of the campfire and hear the low voices of her party talking. Vax took them to a small clearing where the smallest gap in the canopy allowed Keyleth to look up and see the first signs of stars in the darkening sky. It was beautiful, even if not enough. 

“Look,” Vax squeezed her hand and pointed with the other one to an area ahead of them. Keyleth gasped, covering her mouth with her free hand to muffle the sound and not scare the objects of their attention.

A group of fireflies danced around a pond between a cluster of trees, their twinkling lights sparkling in the twilight that wouldn’t have been possible if not for the break in the leaves above them. Keyleth’s smile was bright and big as she followed their dance with her gaze, and her breathing paused so she could hear the wind rustling the leaves around them. It was beautiful. As if she was looking at a painting.

“Wanna catch one?” Keyleth only noticed Vax was talking to her and had dropped her hand because she suddenly felt her hand empty and cold. She gave him an unsure look. She loved nature in all its forms, and hurting the little insects was not something Keyleth wanted to do, even if their beauty brought her joy.

“I’ll be gentle. I promise won’t hurt them,” Vax sounded honest, and for some reason, Keyleth felt she could trust him with this.

“Okay. But just one.”

Vax nodded, his smile copying hers, and he was gone before she could blink. Keyleth had learned three things about Vax’ildan from the short time they had known each other: he was a trained assassin; he could blend with the shadows and drop down on his enemies without them noticing until they had a knife to their throat; and he was probably the most gentle and kindest person she had ever met. Well, four, if Keyleth counted knowing about Vax’s dexterity: a skill that allowed him to throw daggers from over 30 feet away, successfully hitting their target, and seemingly catch a firefly with no harm.

“Look,” He was by her side again in no time, hands clasped together and a prideful smile on his lips. When he opened his hands just enough for Keyleth to peek inside, she saw the flickering light of a single firefly fluttering inside his hands.

“Vax—” Keyleth couldn’t find words to describe what she felt. Vax had caught her a firefly. He had made her a promise and had kept to his word. “Thank you.”

That night, once dinner was warmly tucked away in their stomachs and the only audible sounds were the crackling of the firewood and the occasional bird or critter, the Super High-Intensity Team, as they liked to call themselves—which Keyleth wasn’t very fond of—spread their sleeping bags around the fire. Keyleth noticed that Vax, having lost a game of boulder, parchment, shears with his sister on who was to take first watch, was sitting with his back against a tree not far from where Keyleth placed her bedroll.

“Hey, Vax,” Keyleth whispered so only he could hear her. From where she lay with her back against the cold, hard ground, she saw his face turn to her in curiosity, so she greeted him with a smile. “Watch this.”

Keyleth raised her arms high above her chest, closing her eyes in concentration. She thought about the little flying bugs Vax had shown her earlier and focused on the warm, tingling sensation on her fingertips. She could tell from the Rogue’s gasp that when she opened her eyes, she would have been successful in her spell. A dozen twinkling lights flickered above Keyleth and Vax, dancing in a small circle as they both observed them, completely mesmerized. 

“That’s amazing, Keyleth,” Vax whispered back.

Keyleth allowed herself to be lulled to sleep by the fireflies, following their dance until her eyelids became heavy, and the last thing on her mind was Vax’s prideful smile when he showed her the firefly he caught for her. Keyleth was unsure why, but she felt safe with this trained assassin who could effortlessly kill her in her sleep. Something inside her trusted him implicitly with her life, and with Vax standing watch so close to her, Keyleth enjoyed the most restful sleep since she had left home.

[hexpea]

Ch. 11 - Preparations

Upon returning to your chamber, you clutched the letter Geto had written for you to your chest. You were completely smitten with the words he had for you. Your were glad he was letting you keep it.  It felt as if you were losing control of yourself, in the best way possible.

You unraveled the note and stared at his handwriting that was barely legible. You thought about each careful stroke of the pen and what could've been going through his mind as he scribbled each word. You were definitely about to keep that piece of paper forever.

Your entire body was fatigued from the adrenaline of the moment. You hadn't realized just how much emotion affected your physical body.  After carefully placing the note in your nightstand, you cleaned up and got ready for bed - conking out just as soon as your cheek hit the pillow.

Unfortunately for you, your late night proved to cause issue with waking up. Your attendant had arrived bright and early as scheduled, but had to see herself in considering you didn't answer any of her knocks. 

"Y/N," her voice was careful and angelic to bring you out of your slumber. "Lady Y/N," she hummed, "it's time. It's your big day!"

"Five more minutes," you grumbled and turned away from her expectant expression.

"Unfortunately, you've already slept in five minutes too long," she chuckled, walking over to your window to peel back the curtains. "We're on a tight schedule and your sleeping in has already thrown it a bit off."

With that knowledge you shot up at full attention, even with your crazy bedhead. "Sorry!" 

"No worries," she chuckled again and came to your side, "it's your day after all. What's wrong with spoiling yourself?"

You gave her a funny look. Technically, if you had a choice, this wouldn't be your day at all. But you had obligations. And, at the end of it at this point, it wasn't the worst thing ever...

The day surely sped by. Your day started with one last dance rehearsal, with the instructor, of course. Unfortunately, you weren't that graceful and at the end of practice the instructor guided you to "follow King Suguru's lead." You couldn't blame him for making such a remark, you stepped on his toes with each step. 

The next on your agenda was, of all things, a mani-pedi. You'd never heard of such a thing before, with nail care being something too expensive for anyone in your town to enjoy. You watched with great wonder as your attendant perfectly filed your jagged nails and painted them  a pale shade of pink. 

At that point, after enjoying a refreshing breakfast that you could hardly keep down, the afternoon began to draw near. That only meant that the finishing touches had to be made.

You found yourself propped up on a small alteration platform as your attendant worked her way down the lace ties of your dress.  Since moving into the castle, you'd worn your share of fancy dresses. But this one was on a whole other level. 

Your shoulders were exposed, the sleeves starting at your upper arm instead. As the tight sleeves draped toward your forearms they transitioned into the most delicate lace you had ever seen. The lace your attendant was working on had small, pastel pink stitching and was the only thing keeping your waist tight instead of the usual corset. As the skirt formed at your waist, layer upon layer of white fabric with the same pattern as the lace fluttered together. 

"Well, well, well," you heard a familiar voice at your doorway, body turning with shock to see who it was. 

Your attendant also halted her movements with an exasperated look on her face, at least until she saw who it was. She quickly came to her feet and gave a curtsy. Satoru was grinning at her blushed face as he held his hands on his hips. 

"What do you want?" You grumbled, having no time for the neighboring prince's antics. You hadn't exchanged many words in the time that you knew each other, but you could just tell already that he was a piece of work.

"I came to see how things are going, of course!" He exclaimed, walking over to you to observe the intricacies of your dress. "Oh yeah...he'll like that." You blushed at his comment, balling your fists to refrain from slapping him. 

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" You sighed, releasing your fists as soon as you were able to level yourself. 

"Hmm..." He pretended to think for a moment. "Nope! Suguru kicked me out so..."

"Kicked you out?" You snorted with a bit of laughter. You swore you could hear your attendant also snicker as she continued with the final alterations.

"Yeah, he's been acting funny all day. He just wants to be alone," Satoru shrugged. "So, I figured I'd come bother the princess."

"I'm not a princess," you corrected, rolling your eyes in the process. 

"Pardon me," he gave a light bow, causing your face to flush, "I meant queen consort."

You were steaming with irritation at this point, completely sick of his dumb games and sarcasm. "Get out," you grumbled.

"Oh not you, too!" He whined and dramatically placed the back of his hand to his forehead. He then quickly returned to normal with a flat expression. "Guess it's time for me to go raid the kitchens!"

"As long as it's not here," you pinched the bridge of your nose as he began to see himself out.

With it just you and your attendant once more, your mind began to wander. Why would Suguru want to be alone? Does he hate what happened the night before? Is he just nervous?

It eventually got to a point where you just wanted to get him out of your mind entirely, at least for the time being. But, considering the context of the situation, that was nearly impossible.

"That's it!" Your attendant smiled up at you as she released the final tie to your dress. "You look beautiful," she charmed.

"Thank you," you blushed, keeping your voice relatively quiet. You felt completely out of your element wearing such a dress, but it had to be done. "How much time do I have?" You turned down to look at her.

She looked toward the grandfather clock in the room and then back at you. "About five minutes," she cautiously charmed.

"Five minutes?!" You thought you had more time than that.

"Well..." she trailed off, "you had quite the amount of beauty sleep." 

"Right..." you grumbled. "Where do I need to go?" 

With your question, instead of a verbal answer, your attendant rose and began leading you out of the room and down the hall.  As you followed, you felt your palms growing sweatier and sweatier with each step. You had no reason to really be nervous. It wasn't like you were actually in love or anything... You chalked up any nerves to the fact that every important human in the kingdom would have their eyes on you.

Your attendant lead you all the way to the throne room where the ceremony would be held. Right outside the double doors, your parents stood waiting for you and wearing their best. The two of them had a few tears in their eyes upon seeing you ready for your wedding.

"Look at you!" Your mother tearfully charmed. "You look beautiful!" You rolled your eyes toward her compliment. Oh, the things you'd do for them...including marrying some king so they could live a comfortable life in a castle.

"My girl..." your father charmed along with her as the two of you captured you in a tight hug. Your attendant stood aside and let it happen. 

"Nice to see you, too," you nodded, "let's...get this over with." You sighed, linking your arms with theirs in preparation to head down the aisle. 

You took in a deep breath as the organ began to play and the double doors steadily opened up before you. Closing your eyes, you took at least a second to meditate - preparing to seal your fate as a royal.

[doberbutts]

Do you think you're gonna confront your mom about the whole risking both of your lives because of her religion thing? I totally get not thinking it'd be worth it or just not wanting to or whatever and it's SO not my business if you don't wanna share, but I've had a whole mess of issues with my own mother and I don't think that'd be something I could just not bring up.

I did, once, confront her about this problem when I was much younger. When she chose to ignore and wait and make excuses for why I didn't need to see the doctor. This is, unfortunately, not an uncommon thing for her nor is it really new behavior. I at one point picked the fight that we'd been circling around, when I first got my glasses. I'd been complaining to her for a few years, yes years, that I couldn't see the chalkboard and since my last name is near the end of the alphabet and my teachers all used alphabetized assigned seating, it meant I was almost always put at the back. And they wouldn't move me to the front without parental guidance, which she wouldn't give me because she swore up and down that I could see just fine and that I was just goofing off in class and that's why my grades were steadily failing.

At some point she made an eye doctor appointment for me but not before threatening that I would be in serious trouble if I made her waste the time and money at the eye doctor for me to have 20/20 vision like she swore I had. The doctor at some point made an offhand comment about how my prescription was relatively mild but technically I'd probably needed glasses for at least a year or two and it was also likely the cause of my awful headaches I was having from squinting to see 24/7. I was roughly on the cusp of "legally needs glasses to drive"- could probably pass an eye test without it but....... not without struggling. Of course nowadays I definitely can't.

I chose to confront her after the appointment because I felt both vindicated and also furious that she'd let me walk around in pain and unable to see just because she refused to listen to me when I told her I couldn't see in class.

The end result was with us screaming at each other on the drive home so much that she had to pull into a parking lot and cool off walking around a shop. Her parting words were "if you don't like the way I parent you, then you can go". I waited for her to disappear into the store and then got out of the car, turned off my cell phone, removed the battery, and started walking. I knew where I was and could have walked the rest of the way home. I chose instead to start walking towards a friend's house, a friend whose parents adored me and who I knew would take me in even just for a night while I sorted my shit out with my folks. After an hour or so of venting under my breath as I walked I decided I'd cooled off enough to be safe calling my friend, so I turned my phone back on.

She'd left dozens of text messages and voicemails, starting with her being angry at finding me gone, and ending with her whispering "I'm sorry. Please call me."

I called her and told her where I was. She picked me up and we went home in silence. We haven't spoken about it since. This was just one of many times that I enforced a hard boundary with her and stood my ground when I was about that age. We went through this song and dance with church and religion and Christianity. We did it when I came out. We did it when I told her I refused to go back to my ultra-religious high school. We did it over countless friends of mine that she felt were leading me onto a Godless path. We did it regarding my father's temper. We did it regarding my sister's treatment of me. And we've done it again a few more times since I left, though far fewer and less explosively because she is very aware of why I refuse to live with or near her and she's sad about it and wants to mend the gap.

It may seem strange to an outsider. I do love my mom. I have a lot of problems with the way she ran her household. I am angry at her for some things. But she loves me. She never once abandoned me. She may have done things for stupid and misguided reasons, but never to be malicious. She helped me buy my house, she helped me move in, she helped make the necessary repairs, she paid for a lot of the furniture and other things I needed, hell the last time she visited she filled my entire freezer up with enough meat to last the entire winter. She does try. She wants to be a better parent than hers were, and to her credit she is a better parent than hers were, because her parents were an angry drunk that beat the shit out of the kids and a wife too submissive and scared to stop him.

I don't think confronting her would do anything particularly positive. It's frustrating. She knows I disapprove. I know she disapproves. I doubt we'll ever see eye-to-eye on this issue. But also, she's my mom, you know?

[asterjennifer]

Bright

Fandom: Mystic Messenger

Pairing: SE Saeran x Reader

Category: Angst (Fluff)

Warnings: Arguments

Word count: 5405

Author's Note: Ice under the Sunlight au~

Summary: The RFA party is going great, the guests are very friendly and funny.

With your attention on other people, you later notice Saeran left the hall.

When looking for him, you didn't expect to find him so worked up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The preparation had been worth the stress, everything tunred out perfectly. With the hall sparkling so bright, people chatting over each other to enjoy their night as the event passed by and all members of the RFA presence, nothing seemed to be missing. Although you're quite sad that V's not there anymore to celebrate alongside his group, doing it in his honour's the best way to assure he's still living in the hearts of everyone that attended the fundraising organization's party. And this time your chest couldn't help but glow with pride, seeing so many different people pushing aside stereotypes and coming together for good cause's such a powerful feeling as you're also responsible for it to happen. I'm so happy!! You giggled to yourself.

Saeyoung and Yoosung appeared to share the same wamrth, they both waved over to you from the other side of the room. You've been stuck in conversations the moment the doors opened, considering you're the person that the guests mailed with. They all knew about you, some even looked forward meeting you for a nice smalltalk, although you're not a fan of surface conversations, things felt better that way. Jaehee still stood on the entrance to greet the last couple guests that entered, Jumin's already preoccupied because of the press that's always finding a place on the parties. Watching Zen getting faltered by many woman at once's also worth a giggle. Poor actor.. The man talking to you offered a glass, which you took with a polite smile.

At first you talked to a speaking Teddy Bear, that certainly had been an experience. But what's there to do when the RFA member prefered inviting very unique individuals. It's not like that's a bad thing, the Teddy's funny and good for jokes. Probably the reason Saeyoung spoke to him next. One of the directors Zen worked for used extravagant charm to captivate you, the talk you had with that older man's pretty interesting. He explained the difference stages of an actor and how they access emotions inside, although it sounded easy, you're aware it's the opposite. So many cool people, I really love these parties! You're relieved things went smoothly, now that this party had been another success.

"Cheers to your talents, Miss (N)."

"Thank you, cheers to everyone who showed up!"

The young bank manager you invited by Jumin's requested smiled wide, he beamed with positivity. That's such a beautiful sight, you couldn't help but return the smile. Perhaps the bad feeling at the beginning of the party had been false anxiety. I can feel it.. this night will be great! He started to tell you about export of money, which's everything but an easy topic to follow. Apparently you need to have constant monitoring and once the cameras didn't work, the entire structure's forced to come to an hold in order to fix the technical issue. However, as fascinating as it seemed, the bad feeling in the back of your head didn't let you enjoy anything in peace. What's going on..? You're unsure how to interpret that nervous thumping inside your chest, it's like something's stressing you out.

Not wanting to come off as rude, you nodded while the man in front of you continued to talk. You looked around for a short moment, there's nothing out of ordinary though. A frown rushed over your face, no way that inner nervousness rose into your throat for nothing. Why do I feel like this..? Seeking the RFA members, you found them all on different parts of the hall. All members, except one. Saeran-? The man called you by name, asking if there's something wrong. You stared back as panic began to suffocate your chest. I can't just leave.. Therefore you hummed, letting him speak as he wished. You made it look like you're paying attention, in reality, however, you wondered where the younger Choi twin went. Does Saeyoung know?

To your bad luck the man's a waterfall when it came to words. He didn't stop pursuing this and that topic, jumping so quickly it didn't give you the chance to excuse yourself. Maybe the crowd's too much for him.. Your index finger tapped against the glass in your hand, Saeran never had been a man for parties or big events. He didn't like to be surrounded by many people, especially if he's unfamiliar with them. It's possible that he left to go back home, but you're doubting that somehow. Saeyoung didn't seem to know and he didn't tell you anything regarding going home either. He might be outside? Saeran could've left the main hall, the bulding's pretty big as there's not only the party room. He could take a walk.

Not able to contain your worry any further, you quickly excused yourself when saying you needed to use the bathroom. The banker nodded, letting you leave right away. The garden attached to the back of the building could be a place where he'd gone.. After placing down the empty glass, you quietly left through the backdoor of the stage and entered the empty halls in the back. Your high heels made your presence knowledgeable to the nothingness around, it's a bit unsettling. The part of the building's only for employees and the staff, explaining why no other soul was to find. Regardless if it's allowed or not, your gut spun the longer Saeran's out of your sight. Something's wrong. You could feel it. Where did you go? Chewing on your lower lip won't help finding him, you couldn't help yourself though.

Now that you thought about it, he'd been acting strange ever since arriving. He greeted you briefly, not starting a conversation nor did he ask you to stay close to his side like it's usually the case. Not once he made a comment on your dress, nor trying to mess with your mind as he did most of the time. Nothing. He'd been rather silent, crossing his arms when standing next to his brother and after the party offcial started, you haven't seen him ever since. How did I not notice!! Being angry with yourself's rare, considering you're always careful to make surroundings comfortable for everyone. How didn't you realize Saeran, from all people, was missing. The sound of the thick metal door being pushed filled your ears, it's oddly warm for the sun being gone.

The stars shone bright tonight, the moon almost filled with the particular, mysterious light that it offered whenever the daylight disappeared. No wind, everything's calm and peaceful. Saeran where are you? You looked around, sadly there's no other person to find than yourself. Defeated you took the phone from the pocket your dress had, searching for his number to call him instead. Did he go home after all? Another step to get into the garden, yet the silence remained. Your phone rang once, twice and a third time before the mailbox answered. You didn't like that, in fact, that's making the panic even worse. Why wasn't he picking up his phone? Saeyoung preached him countless times to keep it loud in case something happened. How's he not within reach when calling?

Worried to the bone you began to walk around the big place, the garden went all the way around. Maybe he sat down somewhere far away to make sure nobody could catch him by accident. You pressed the phone to your ear a second time, yet the outcome's the same. Only the mailbox. Damnit Saeran-! Should you call Saeyoung, perhaps? He would be able to track Saeran if things turned out to be bad. With your heartbeat stuck in your throat, you took quick albeit low steps around the windows of the building. Just why did he leave? And more importantly, why didn't he let anyone know he's leaving? He never did that before. The sudden sound of music caught you by surprise. Not very loud, nor good to understand.

There weren't words, it's a violin playing a song with a slow touch. What..? Confused you made sure your high heels couldn't give away your presence, it's just around the corner of the wall. Careful to not disturb whatever's going on, you peeked around, only to have your breath caught in your lunges. It's Saeran. Oh.. He sat against the wall, one knee lifted up with his arm laying over it. The phone in that particular hand while it played the song he'd chosen. Both eyes closed, wrinkle free facial expression. It's almost like he's doing meditation. Aside all that, somehow there's a sad vibe coming from him. If you wouldn't have known better, you'd say he's a statue by how stiff he sat. Not even his chaotic hair's moving, everything's silent. Your heartbeat picked up speed.

"Saeran-..?"

A slight hint of blush crept over your cheeks by the embarrassment your voice caused, how broken it came out. Revealing the fear of the unknown. He moved then, head finally tilted back when meeting your stare from the corner of his eyes. Unable to bring your legs into motion, both of you just stayed that way for a moment that took way too long. What's going on..? You've never been more confused before, there's clearly something wrong. The young man with red hair looked back afterwards, closing his eyes once again.

"Go back and party."

Your frown grew until it became uncomfortable. What the hell? Saeran's words felt more than just detached, not to mention that he didn't address you with any of his silly nicknames. I wonder.. Unsure what's the best thing to do, you shook your head. He couldn't see it, yet words were difficult to find.

"But.. You're gone for quite a while. Did something happen?"

"You noticed that?"

He countered immediately with another question, setting you in a very unusual position. What does that mean? You noticed that he's gone, of course you did. Although it happened pretty late in comparison, no way you wouldn't have overlooked the fact he left at some point. He's important to you, he should be acquainted with that fact by now. You walked around the corner, coming closer into his space. He didn't complain, therefore you stopped only when standing beside him. After a moment of consideration, you sat down as well. It's cold, the dress didn't make it any better. At least you're able to see the little details on his face. Still no wrinkle to find, yet the slight shadow over his face's speaking walls.

"Of course. I started to get worry.. So I called and went looking for you."

It's unsatisfying as he didn't react, instead the violin played in order to drown out the silence. What happened? You've never seen him like that before, normally he opened up about a lot when the two of you were alone. His sent rose into your nose, reminding you he also didn't pull you closer like you're used to. There's so much wrong about this situation, you couldn't go back inside and act like everything's perfect. It obviously wasn't. Saeran still refused to respond after you hooked your arm underneath his. Body temperature always so hot, the suit he wore giving you a taste of the muscles covered by it. Saeran might be tender, but he's still defined. With both your hands holding onto his arm, you also decided to lean your head against his shoulder.

"If something's wrong then you can tell me. I'm always here for you.."

Voice nothing more than a whisper, you nuzzled a bit into his shoulder. Are you sad about something? Or angry? Saeran had some anger issues, you've seen occasions in the past. However, they casued him to snap or lash out when really losing it. This was different. There must've been something bothering him that didn't take place before. Otherwise you couldn't explain this emptiness he used at the moment. The sudden shift pulled you out of thoughts, he shut off the music to put his phone away. Now it's really quiet.

"Why do you come for me. You were having fun with the guest."

The bitter touch in his tone's having your spit stay away. What does the guests have to do with anything? Still uncertain what's going on, you shook your head. Sure, you're having fun inside. But how could something be fun without Saeran on your side? Didn't he understand that yet? Where is the playful and confident man that loved to tease you so much? It let you feel slightly frustrated.

"But I was worried, you just.. disappeared."

"I'm not a fucking child. I can manage myself."

Your eyes widened, taking your head back up to see his face again. Sadly he turned away completely to make that attempt end in vain. What!? That's new, he never bit back at you before. Especially not when trying to help or understand him. His arm tensed up, the way his body began to shake lightly under your touch's alarming. With each passing second you're more and more confused. Are you hurt Saeran? He's not being rude because of your care, you're knowing Saeran too well for that. There's a secret you're unaware of that got him hissing like that. You carefully placed your hand onto his cheek, trying to pull him back for eye contact.

"Hey. I don't know what's wrong but.. You know that whatever's going on, it's okay."

Since you're ignorant about the situation, it made comforting him harder than it already was. Saeran gritted his teeth, you're able to feel his jaw clench alongside his muscles against your fingertips. Dear God.. No time to think about what else to say, all the air's pressed out of your lunges the moment your back hit the cold ground. The sudden push caught you off guard, it had your vision spinning as you tried to look back up. But Saeran just leaned over for a kiss. What–? You avoided to choke on air, that's not even remotely what you expected him to do. His lips chapped as always, pressing down against yours almost aggressively. A weak gasp escaped your lips by how fast things moved, your brain couldn't catch up.

But the wamrth of his hand on your thigh's enough to have you fall out of dizziness, his fingernails scratched over your skin to let your legs shudder. What's happening!? Normally you're okay with his kiss attacks or little touches, yet this wasn't the usual game of his. The way he's pinning you down, the strength he kept under control most of the time now left marks on your leg and neck after breaking the kiss, that's not Saeran's style. Your attempt to form words got interrupted with another kiss, his tongue pushed into your mouth after lowering your chin with the other hand. It's messy, that's all. Not even the passion of his to feel, it's just messy and if you dared to think, possessive. This isn't.. You pulled away, catching your air.

"Saeran.. What are you d-doing!? You're– You're not acting like yourself!"

It surprised you both, the tremble inside your voice. I sound.. way too scared– Saeran didn't meet your eyes, he stopped all his movements though. But he's still hovering above you, close enough for the tips of his red hair to tickle your cheek. What's gotten into you..? It's no use, you couldn't deny your body's shaking slightly from both the night and his action. At least the hot blush covering your entire face's keeping you warm. You could see Saeran's fingers try to dig into the concrete floor, it must've hurt when the tips turned paper white.

"Sorry.. I'm stupid."

That's all he offered before standing up, giving you no time to find yourself before he decided to turn around and leave. As quick as your dress allowed it, you stood up yourself to go after him. I can't believe it-! Stupid, he called himself stupid. Although you didn't understand why he'd done that, you knew it wasn't due to bad intensions. He would never ever hurt you, that's the one thing you're more confident about than anything else. It's not easy to run in high heels, luckily he didn't walk that fast. You're able to catch up after a minute or two.

"Saeran– Saeran! What's going on!? I don't get it, can't you tell me at least? I'm confused."

You brought him to an hold by pulling on the dark suit, the counterpart to his twin's suit in bright white and red. He tore away from your grip, making eye contact for the first time since you've found him out here. I... You didn't like it. He looked pained, hurt even. There's something frustrated shimmering in his bright, minty eyes. You've never seen that kind of look on his face before, it's leaving you helpless as to what to do. Saeran broke the intimacy as quickly again, speaking through his teeth as if he's trying to keep composure.

"Can't you just– Why the fuck are you even putting up with me!?"

He asked, or spat. You had no words left for that, you had to repeat the meaning a couple of times to make sure you understood correctly. Why is he saying that..? Why you put up with him? Shouldn't it be the other way around? You're not fitting for the tempo, you didn't feel brave enough for the things he wanted to share with you. Often enough you pushed him away due to the embarrassment taking over your system. Yet he's always close to you, you're the only one he approached that way. Therefore you're unable to comprehend any of this. You shook your head in confusion, feeling more lost than ever before.

"What-? But Saeran, I care about you! Why else would we.. you know.. we're c-close."

"Yeah, we're physically close because I literally can't give anything else."

Physical? We're more than that.. You swallowed the bitter taste that spread on your tongue. What was he saying? Not able to give anything else..? At this point you're just praying for him to calm down and explain what the problem was. Nothing in particular happened that could've triggered him like this, it's obviously about you both. What are you thinking? You lifted your hand, hanging uselessly in the air as you're unsure where to put it. Give something else? He gives you literally everything of him, he shares and shows so much of himself. You're certain you knew him in a way no other person on the planet did. He ruffled through his hair, a long sigh filling the air as he leaned back against the wall. Looking even more tortured.

"Have you ever thought that maybe someone normal would give you way more than I do?"

He asked, looking back at you with both anger and fear twisted in his face. You pressed your hands into each other, incapable to say anything. You're too shocked about the thoughts he revealed that probably plagued him even before tonight. Saeran stared back down to the ground, seemed like eye contact's too much for him.

"Physical contact's not special, (N). Flirting isn't special."

"Saeran..?"

"The people you talk to would– They're funny."

He suddenly let his shoulders fall, looking the most defeated. As if you just beat him black and blue. Saeran rubbed his forehead, the tension suffocating the air's hard to breath at all. You wanted to say something, that what he's referring to wasn't the entire picture. He should know that's not all to your relationship. Is he insecure? Funny? Why was he talking about other people now? But then there's a tiny click in the back of your head, a detail that explained all this behavior and his frustration in the first place. It made all sense, hitting your chest heavily. Jealously..

"They're kind and open. They have charisma, okay? I don't have any of this. I'm weird and I fucking know that."

He stopped himself, breathing through his nose while he corssed his arms. You watched his nails dig into his upper arm, at the spot where the suit covered his tattoo. It must've reminded him. Weird, he thought he is to other people. What he saw himself as. Didn't calling himself stupid's bad enough? Your own frustration began to turn into anger. Saeran shrugged his shoulders.

"What I show is easily replaceable. Literally everyone could make you feel the way I do, probably even better. You just– You can't know that!"

You opened your mouth to that, yet no sound escaped. Saeran saw it out of the conrers of his eyes, instead of giving you time to find the right words, he just clicked his tongue behind his teeth. Becoming more and more worked up with the second by the way his hands cramped deeper into the fabric of his suit. It couldn't be healthy.

"You think I'm good at this because you don't have any comparison."

Why do you think so low of yourself..You knew Saeran's dealing with inner voices and demons due to his past. Saeyoung told you lots of stories Saeran didn't share yet, you understood where he's coming from and why it's difficult for him. But God, this wasn't his fault. You didn't want any comparison, you didn't need such a thing. Because he already claimed the space in your heart as his. You always suspected he's aware, that's what made him so bold. But it seemed you've mistaken. For how long did he bear these insecurities to now spill over by just talking to some of the guests? I never even considered.. You're always so busy keeping your own anxiety and shame under control you never thought about him maybe dealing with similar fears.

"It's not fucking special and.. and I hate myself that it's all I can show. Because I know one day you just-"

"Saeran..!"

"You end up leaving me like everyone else."

Hate yourself!? Your head shot back up, eyes wide in shock of him just thinking about such impossibility. How much of him was filled with doubt to face such nonsense. Abandonment issues... Saeyoung's voice whispered into your subconscious. He's scared of being abandoned. Given his past, you couldn't be mad for him to question you like this either. It's neither your nor his fault, but there he stood. Acting like he's to blame for all the things that went wrong or didn't go the way he hoped. Even with you, never once you figured he's scared when it came to you. Have I been so wrong..? I always thought.. he's confident in his actions. Saeran pushed himself from the wall.

"I can't keep you beside me just because I touch you right, I know that's not.. that isn't how things work. Just leave me alone."

He sighed louder this time, moving his feet again to get away completely. The panic crawling into your system paired with the shock of the secrets he'd been dealing with almost knocked you over. Are you really thinking like this!? For how long did he live with the belief that one day you're fed up with his touch and look for someone else? When did the idea popped into his head that it's all just temporarily? And above all, how is he suddenly the one worrying this relationship's just physical? That had been one of your biggest fears ever since the incident at the beach. You couldn't take that he's dealing with the exact same toxicity coming from that thought. He cares like you do, therefore you shared the same pain.

Everything regarding his intension's somehow messed over, now that you're knowing the truth, your heart's hammering like crazy behind your ribcage. No way.. You couldn't let this escalate any further, it's bad enough you didn't find your voice until now. Being torn to shreds from the inside, you quickly grabbed him by the suit to pull his body back against yours. Since he hadn't been prepared, both of you almost lost balance. Luckily you caught yourself to take him into a tight embrace, both arms around him to be as close as possible. No no.. Hot tears pricked at the corners of your eyes. Don't leave! Unable to stop the sob that filled the air, you pressed your face into his back.

"B-But.. But you're not weird. You're n-not replaceable!! I like you, S-Saeran– I don't care about other people..!"

You tried to not let the sobs and hiccups take over your voice, this was important. He's so important to you and you never questioned that he's not aware of that. You would never judge him just because he showed his affection and care differently than other people, you learned over all these months and years that he's able to give everything someone else could give. His way of showing, it's just in other language. He's not good with words. That's why him spilling so much had you worked up to the core. Saeran.. Saeran Saeran.. You didn't know what you're begging for inside your head, but you're definitely in need of saying something.

"I-I like you for more reasons! You– You're smart a-and nice to be around.. I like that you're straightforward. Even.. Even if I'm often flustered b-because of that."

That's quite brave for you to open up about because you would think he's going to hold that against you in these games of his. But since you're enlightened now, it's certain he wouldn't. Man.. You sniffed away the tears that ran down your cheeks, not letting loose from him. You couldn't risk him running away without knowing how you're feeling, after he told you his guts, it's only fair to return that gesture. His sent helped you find calm in the situation, giving you the opportunity to breath through and collect your words. He managed that every time, it's no news he's the source of both your nervousness and calmness.

"You're more to me than just.. attraction. I always thought– I thought you knew that."

"How? I never give you anything else–"

"Not true! You g-give me affection, attention and.. and y-you show me.. other sides of you too. It makes me feel special."

The blush reached into your ears. Please don't go.. You couldn't stop repeat the prayers like a broken record. Please don't leave now.. He needed to accept he's more than just what he's capable of showing openly. The small details or little moments gave away how much he truly cared about you, even if it's not present all the time. It didn't imply for him to not feel anything, it's just that it's more difficult for him than other people without such a dark past. You understood it all, there's nothing about Saeran you're not willing to consider. By the deeper stuff you both showed the other, it's safe to assume you knew how to read and respond to him, just as these rules worked for him. Saeran breathed out, you could feel it.

"You'll get sick of me, (N). I won't be able to change this anytime soon."

His words felt like knifes stabbing through your chest, the more he spoke the harder it became to not scream into his face that you're in love with him. Another time. This wasn't the moment, but there were other ways to show it. You let go of him to step in front of his body, successfully blocking his escape route. Still not brave enough to look into your eyes, you cupped his cheeks instead. They're warm under your fingertips, a lovely shade of pink. Only now you noticed he's also fighting hot water before it won and ran over his face. Saeran.. You're not used to experience his low phases like this. It's about time, I guess. You cleared your throat, keeping your voice as soft as possible.

"I would never ever.. get sick of you. You don't have to change either, I get it. I know how to read between the lines. You give me enough, Saeran.. I promise."

You wiggled his face slightly, from the left to the right and back. He followed without resistance, looking down in front of the ground. You silly.. The tears seemed to have become too hard to hold as they began to roll over his cheeks, shimmering bright underneath the moonlight. Although the tension's still hanging in the air, at least he gave himself premission to let it out. It's not often he's open to show such a valuable state to another person. You're grateful he's willing to let you see it. I love you.. Words you're not yet having enough courage to speak, instead whispered them in your mind before leaning up on your tiptoes for a kiss. Saeran didn't return it right away, he let you move your lips against his slowly, taking in their shape and his taste. 

You smiled against him when feeling both his hands come up to hold you by the waist, going around your body until they're laying flat on your back. That felt safe, comfortable. Something he'd given you since day one, a feeling you cherished more than anything else in the world. Silly.. You pulled away just enough to repeat the kiss, nothing other than a silent promise, you hoped he got the message. Silly boy. Finally he opened his eyes when holding your gaze, the mint now a cool blue due to the night. They're lighter, brighter after telling him your heart. It's a beautiful look for him, hopefully he would never lose that inner flame that's burning inside him, it never failed to have you captivated. He's only a bit older than you, yet he managed to remind you of a young child at times.

Not a noise, instead he looked down to his hands that ran back to your hips, there were words laying on his tongue, it's obvious. Don't push yourself.. You stroked your thumb over his heated cheek, all of his wamrth against your body's so lovely. Saeran nodded, more to himself than you before leaning down to give you another kiss. Just as sweet, a bit more shy, even. How cute, that's a rare side of Saeran you don't get to experience every day. After he pulled away, your forehead was pushed against his by his big hand on the back of your head, his hair still ticklish.

"I'm sorry. For earlier, for blowing up.. I'm sorry for everything."

The smile on your face widened, of course he was. When wasn't he sorry for the tiniest mistake or emotional explosions, he's always stuck in regret. One day he should leave that guilt behind, however, you appreciated his apology regardless. You nodded, leaving a lingering kiss on his left cheek. There's nothing I wouldn't forgive you! He raised an eyebrow by your little giggle, but it's the truth. You pulled away from him, taking both his hands along the way. Letting him go's not an option, he'd been gone too long.

"Can we go back inside? Let's enjoy the rest of the party together!"

You offered, voice being back to your usual self. He must've picked up on that, bringing another sweet smile onto his lips. Saeran hummed this time, letting you take the lead inside the bulding to go back to the RFA and the party that's taking place. With his hand firm in yours, the bad intuition from earlier let go completely. Now you're ready to celebrate the way it's meant to be, with Saeran beside you and the other members, there's nothing you wanted more. He'd been quiet when walking back, yet you didn't miss how his eyes stayed stuck on your hands. It shoot the blush up to the tip of your ears. At the end of the corridor he came to an hold, pulling you back slightly. Before you're able to ask, his words came out mumbled.

"Thank you, angel. I'm very glad I have you.."

Again, there's more weight in the back of his throat, waiting to be unleashed. But you're both certain he's not able to speak any of it, therefore you smiled back, squeezing his hand. Yeah I get it.. You placed your free hand against the door to get back inside, the music and people already audible. Saeran's own blush increased on color as you snickered softly.

"I'm just as happy to have you with me, Saeran."

[mooniefics]

— in the grand scheme of things [ 1 ]

pairings : zeke jaeger / reader, referenced eren jaeger / reader

word count : 8.4k

tags : unhealthy relationships, relationship discussions, implied cheating, drinking, break ups, eventual smut, praise kink, mutual infidelity, dubious morality, love triangles

warnings : contains nsfw, sexual coercion, intoxicated reader, rlly toxic behavior

summary : you and eren hadn't been doing the best these past few months, and no one that you knew seemed to have any answers for you, or pointers in the right direction. who better to offer you some sound, insightful relationship advice than his older brother. or so you thought.

note : i apologize if the text convoformatting is a little yucky, i pinky promise it looked wayy better on ao3 (//▽//)

— originally posted 1 / 20 / 21 on ao3 —

you would reluctantly admit that you and eren had been experiencing a few issues as of recently.

it was the run-of-the-mill turbulence: ignored texts and phone calls, unexplained hostility, hanging around with your shared group of friends—more his than yours—without you. you'd been able to ignore it around midterms, being so busy with studying and getting all your family affairs in order for the end of the year that you didn't have much time to worry about how he hadn't bothered to respond to your "happy new year, baby!!!" message you'd sent days ago.

but winter break came and went with no reply from him, you spent christmas and new years in the company of your parents, who couldn't seem to keep quiet about asking about "that jaeger boy". you couldn't really blame them for their questions, you'd been friends for nearly four years now, in a relationship since the night of senior prom, even followed each other to the same university with a few other high school friends just to stay close. the summer that preceded your first year of college was so full of love and life, celebrating your newfound freedom that you had always thought would come with adulthood. but you supposed that it was just the hopeless romantic in you talking, it was called the honeymoon phase for a reason.

consulting his best friends about his sudden detachedness yielded nothing—mikasa had never held much besides poorly hidden disdain for you, and all armin had to offer was nervous glances over to the uninterested girl as he assured you that he was probably stressed about his classes, or had another disagreement with his mother about his choice of major, just excuse after excuse for his friend's behavior. you were feeling desperate. you had little desire to break things off, to throw away nine months of commitment despite how your relationship had soured. you were in love with him, and he hadn't explicitly expressed that he wanted to end things, just left you out of the loop for a bit, nothing that couldn't be fixed with a nice long conversation over dinner, right?

but how could you reach him if he wouldn't answer your calls, if his friends only seemed to want to placate you rather than actively help, you felt like there was nobody to turn to—except him.

zeke, the ever-elusive older brother. you'd met him upon one of your first visits to eren's house, a brief, somewhat awkward exchange when you'd ventured into the kitchen by yourself to grab a few things for your friends in the living room. he'd startled you when you turned out of the pantry to find him standing by the fridge, eyeing you and your armful of chip bags curiously, only wearing a pair of thin-framed glasses and grey sweatpants, revealing the sculpted expanse of his muscular arms and torso, an unopened can of beer in his hand.

"you one of eren's friends?" he'd asked, cracking open the tab and taking a generous gulp.

you replied with a quick nod, adding a sheepish "yup..! everyone else is in the living room, i'm on snack duty" with a shaky smile.

he chuckled, shaking his head and running a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. "typical eren. 'm zeke, good to meet you."

he didn't bother to ask your name before he disappeared into the adjacent hallway, the distant sound of a shutting door finally letting you release the breath you didn't know you'd been holding. that was how a majority of your exchanges went over the last few years, the longest conversations you'd had was when he'd offered to help you on your physics homework more than a couple times, his number was only in your phone because of the one time you'd worn the teeshirt of a band he happened to like and he wanted to send you a playlist. there were plenty of things you didn't know about him, but he was eren's older brother—half-brother, if you wanted to get technical—and after seeing the deflective nature of his closest friends, zeke seemed to be your next best option.

so now you were here, nervously standing at the door to his new apartment, dressed nicely so you didn't risk making a bad impression after not having seen him all these months. he seemed sympathetic over the phone when you'd called him last night, not minding how you'd contacted him out of the blue or that it was only for the sake of asking something of him, inviting you to discuss things more thoroughly over dinner. you didn't know whether he'd extended a helping hand for his brother's sake or your own, but you would be grateful no matter what if he gave some sound advice and a few words of reassurance.

you were startled out of your thoughts by the sound of the lock unlatching, the door swinging open to reveal zeke, smartly dressed in a pair of dark jeans and dress shirt, the top few buttons left undone. "sorry if i kept you waiting," he said, stepping aside to allow you in, "dinner's just about ready."

"no worries." you replied quickly as you slipped off your heels, hoping the heat warming your face wasn't flushing visibly on your cheeks.

he had always been a good-looking guy, an effortless sort of attractiveness that was only magnified by the relaxed yet perceptive air he carried. but he'd changed since that day you first met—his shaggy hair had been trimmed back into a shorter, more manageable style, the usual scruff of facial hair had grown out into a well-maintained beard, frames that similarly complimented his handsome features perched on the bridge of his nose. flashing a polite smile, you stepped into the apartment, trying not to let your anxiety get the better of you as the door was shut and locked behind you.

"nice place." you mused, peering about at the spacious, well-decorated interior as you followed beside him.

"thanks, honestly i'm glad i could find someone that was willing to split the rent," you felt nerves stir in the pit of your stomach, the thought of having to meet the other tenant leaving you feeling a bit uneasy. he turned down to glance at you, grey eyes glinting as he offered you an easy grin, "you don't have to worry about my roommate, i kicked him out for the night so you didn't feel uncomfortable."

you were sure the blush on your face was evident now, biting at the inside of your cheek as you both entered into the kitchen. "oh.. thank you. sorry if i caused any trouble, i know this was kind of last minute."

"no worries." he echoed your earlier sentiment, motioning you to the table just beside the kitchen before he returned to the skillet on the stove. the warm scent of coriander and turmeric filled the air as he lifted the lid and set it aside on the counter, stirring the simmering contents within. "hope you like curry," he said over his shoulder, turning down the gas on the stove and opening up the cabinet beside him to pull out the plates, "i didn't make it too spicy, just in case."

"i don't really eat it too often, but it smells amazing."

you felt yourself starting to relax into the chair, shedding your jacket and hanging your purse on the side of the chair as you watched him scoop a generous portion of white rice onto each plate. it was just you two here, he was willing to help, and you were incredibly grateful for his hospitality.

you pulled your phone out of your pocket to fiddle with while he was still plating the food, aimlessly tapping through your apps to kill some time. your text to eren from a few days ago still read "delivered", and you felt a slight twinge prick in your chest as you closed out of your messages, opting to scroll through your feed on one of the few social medias your friends had convinced you to download. it was relatively safe to look there, seeing as eren didn't post all that often, if at all, but seeing everyone your age, people that you knew from your classes posing with their boyfriends and girlfriends and going out on excursions with their peers made you feel jealous. you couldn't have imagined what you had done to deserve such a shitty situation.

your thoughts were interrupted by the dull clink of the plate being set before you, the clatter of silverware following as he rounded over to the opposite side of the table to place his things down. you switched your phone on silent just in case, tucking it back into your purse and sitting up a bit straighter in your chair. but instead of sitting down, he wandered back over to the kitchen, reaching up into a different cabinet to fetch two glasses.

"i'm assuming talking about your relationship troubles isn't the easiest, so pick your poison. i've got gin, tequila, beer—" he listed off the myriad of drinks he had at his disposal, pausing to throw you a glance. "but i honestly pegged you as a vodka kind of girl."

you felt a nervous giggle bubble up in your chest, fingers twisting in your lap, feeling more than juvenile as you replied. "i'm still under twenty-one, so i'm not really much of a drinker.."

"come on, you're in college now," he said, pulling a bottle of vodka from one of the lower cabinets and stepping over to the fridge, "most of the people hosting parties don't give much of a shit whether you're of legal drinking age or not, and i've got a feeling that you really don't either. i know i got shit-faced plenty of times during my freshman year."

you mentally debated the principles of accepting, he was right in saying that you had attended plenty of parties where you drank with your friends, suppressing a grimace at the memories of you throwing up in a stranger's bathroom while an equally drunk historia or sasha held your hair back. but those times you'd been looking to get wasted, drinking in this context would just be for the sake of loosening up, easing the sting of ripping off the metaphorical bandaid that was the thought of your relationship slowly crumbling right before your eyes.

"you're right," you relented, much to his delight, "and, yes, i guess i am a vodka kind of girl."

you didn't appreciate how charming the grin your words garnered was, fixing your eyes on the steaming plate of chicken curry in front of you before you could embarrass yourself. you were here to figure out how to smooth things over with your boyfriend, not oogle at his unnecessarily attractive older brother.

"here, something simple to start you off." he set down the glass on your place mat, finally taking his seat across the table, "there's plenty of ginger beer and limes in the fridge, and plenty of vodka still left."

you stole a glance at his drink. "whiskey, on the rocks.. how refined."

he gave a low chuckle at your sarcasm, taking a slow sip. "it's an acquired taste, i wouldn't expect someone your age to appreciate it." that was right, he was older than you, significantly older than you. just because you were legally an adult didn't mean your life experience could crop up to zeke's.

"old man." you murmured, a small smile perking up at both of your lips as you spooned some of the curry and rice into your mouth, "wow, thi' i' really gu'!" you managed to speak around the mouthful of food, grey eyes watching you intently with an obvious bemusement from across the table.

"i'm glad you like it. guess those years working at a couple restaurants around town weren't a complete waste." he said, tasting his own bite of the food, "cumin's a little off, hope you can forgive me for that."

"are you kidding me? this exceeds restaurant quality. i can barely put eggs in a pan without burning the kitchen down."

you were nearly a quarter through your plate already, setting your utensil down to take a sip of the drink he'd made for you. it was simple, bubbly, a nice mix of ginger, vodka, and lime to cool off your tongue. you could barely taste the alcohol, which somewhat eased your worries of becoming a drunken mess that required him to babysit you for the rest of the night.

you were both silent for a moment, the air occupied with the scrape of spoons and quiet sips from your respective glasses, and you were beginning to dread ruining such an easy mood with the topic of your emotional turmoil. but zeke beat you to the punch, clearing his throat as he settled his gaze onto you.

"so, you and my brother. you wanted to talk about that, right?"

you allowed yourself to frown a bit, taking a generous sip of your drink before you answered. "yeah. i don't really know where to start.."

"when did you first start noticing problems?"

you felt somewhat eased by his calm tone, bright grey eyes that were entirely focused on you, wordlessly reassuring you that you could trust him with this. you'd come this far, there was no point in trying to back out now.

"well, i guess it was around november." you began, scraping all of the food left onto one side of your plate to keep your hands occupied, "we'd all met up for halloween, me and eren and mikasa and armin—" you prattled off the other names of your friends, even some that you weren't sure he knew from your high school days, but he nodded along all the same. "and we all had an amazing time. got all dressed up, wandered around campus and crashed in on the frat parties, drank ourselves stupid, like you said. and at one point i just completely lost track of eren, and i didn't see him or anyone else besides sasha, connie, and mina for the rest of the night. after that, he kind of dropped off the face of the earth, wouldn't pick up my calls or answer my texts, always told me he was busy when we ran into each other on campus, and he wasn't at his dorm most of the time i came to try and check on him."

by the end, you'd finished off your drink, zeke wordlessly getting up to grab everything to pour you a new one without you asking. you were more flustered at his attentiveness, forcing yourself to chalk it up to him being an excellent host as he returned with a freshly opened can of ginger beer, pouring it over the ice in your glass and adding at least two shots of vodka, finishing it off with half a lime before returning to his seat. had he put that much alcohol the last time?

the thought slipped your mind as he swallowed a few spoonfuls of curry and spoke. "hmm.. so everything was going just fine, and then all of a sudden radio silence?"

you nodded, working on your remainder of rice, watching his face take on a pensive expression.

"if i'm being honest, eren has always been a little shithead." you suppressed a giggle at that. "he's rude, he's immature, and most of all, he's a terrible liar."

"mhm, the ears are a dead giveaway." you added, earning a grin over the rim of his glass.

"exactly. my stepmom— his mom always called him on his shit with that." you shared a moment of laughter at that, the memory of how defensive he would get over in when you'd first pointed it out making you feel a distant nostalgia creeping in the back of your mind.

you remembered how easy the days where all you had to worry about was catching up on all your late work and forcing yourself to learn about nintendo games for the sake of impressing your crush. now on top of school, you had bills and parties and shitty professors and an even shittier situation with your first long-term relationship that had started off so well yet devolved into feeling like you were a million miles away despite living on the same campus.

"so, eren is a shithead. and a terrible liar. go on." you took a long sip of your drink, unable to distinguish the warmth of the alcohol from the warmth of the curry in your stomach.

"well, he's just— how do i say this..." zeke murmured the last bit more to himself than you, pushing up his glasses on his nose and scratching the back of his neck, "he doesn't know a good thing when he sees it." you felt your heart skip at that. "like that mikasa girl, her and eren have been friends since grade school, and never once in all those years has eren ever acknowledged the way she's fuckin' head over heels for him." the mention of mikasa made you feel a sharp pang echo through your chest, suddenly feeling much more disheartened than before, especially at the mention of her perpetual affinity for him.

"but, i do have to give the kid some props," he continued, taking a sip of his whiskey, "at least he had enough of a brain to realize that you're a real catch. if i'm being honest, you're out of his league, and when you first started dating, he knew that."

you couldn't tell if your face was feeling hot because of his words or the fact that you'd just finished off your second drink in one long gulp, already reaching for the unopened ginger beer and vodka. blinking away the glassiness starting to settle over your vision, you met his gaze, suddenly feeling much smaller before him. he waited until you'd finished refilling your drink before he began again, not saying anything about how you'd accidentally poured much more vodka than you meant to.

"i think eren's problem is that he's getting too cocky," your appetite was starting to disappear as you focused on his words, still trying to finish what was left on the plate, "doesn't know his ass from his elbow, but he still thinks he's got everything figured out. you know what i mean, right?"

you nodded with an affirmative hum, a series of incidents that made you want to rip the boy's head off flashing through your mind only added credence to his claim. your tongue was starting heavy in your mouth, movements sluggish as you washed away what was left of dinner with more of your drink. you hadn't been truly drunk in months, not since that halloween party, only indulging in the occasional mimosa over breakfast with your family and your celebratory champagne for new years.

you hoped the heaviness weighing at your lids didn't show on your face, or that your words didn't string together when you replied. "i know exactly what you mean, can't imagine how hard that was to deal with for the last nineteen years."

he chuckled, finishing off his whiskey. "i've saved that kid's ass more time than i could ever care to count. being the older brother is a thankless fuckin' job if i've ever seen one. you done with dinner?"

"yeah. thank you again, it was amazing."

he grinned at your praise, rising from his seat as he spoke. "here, table's kind of crowded, we can move to the couch. i'll take care of dishes later. you want a refill?"

"sure." you responded before you could really think about your answer, trying to subtly steady yourself on the table as you got to your feet, head already starting to spin.

blinking away the blurriness fuzzing at the edges of your vision, you wandered past him through the kitchen and into the adjacent living room, falling into the cushions of the couch before you could trip up over your own feet. you felt embarrassed by your lack of tolerance, but felt some of that tension ebb away when he made his way over to sit next to you, fresh glass of ginger beer and vodka in hand. you didn't expect to feel the warmth of his thigh pressing into yours when he settled down, placing your drink on the coffee table before he turned down to speak to you.

"alright, i haven't said much in the way of advice, so here's what i think."

you grimaced internally, reaching over with an unsteady hand to grab your glass and take a long sip to brace yourself for his thoughts. you weren't expecting that it would be an easy pill to swallow, he'd probably be realistic about things and tell you to just suck it up and break things off while you could still maintain a shred of dignity.

"i know this is probably not what you want to hear, but i really think you should break up with him."

your lips pressed into a thin line, partly from his assertion but mostly because of the burn of alcohol sliding down your throat. there was definitely much more vodka in this than there should be, but you didn't want to seem weak before him, trying not to shudder as you continued to take small, fast sips.

you nearly spat it up on yourself when his hand settled on the skin of your thigh exposed by your skirt, wide eyes raising to meet his intent gaze. "don't tell me you think a guy that ditches you for just about three months now is worth your time, even without everything else considered."

"everythin' else?" your words were starting to slur together, but you still tried to drown out the dread tangling in your gut with the bubbling contents of the glass.

"you haven't figured it out yet, have you.." he faltered, a slight frown drawing across his lips when you gave a hesitant shake of your head, sighing as he pulled his glasses off of his nose and folded them neatly to place on the coffee table. "think about it; he disappears on you while he was drunk at a party, most likely with hanging around alone with the female friend that's clung onto him for a majority of his life, and then after that night he just completely gives you the cold shoulder, avoids you every time you try and come talk to him, like he's running away from you." he paused, adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "like he's hiding something."

you felt your heart sink, biting firmly down on your bottom lip, a thick lump forming in your throat, eyes stinging. "s-so, you're saying th-that—"

you couldn't blink away the first tears as they dribbled down your cheeks, choking back a small sob. he carefully took the nearly empty glass from your hands and replaced it on the coffee table, you could make out the expression of pity drawn across his handsome features through your watery gaze. you didn't protest when the arm closest to you moved to wrap around your waist, the other curling around your shoulder and drawing you against him. restrained sniffles gave way to hiccuped sobs, your own hands linking around his neck and squeezing him tighter against you as you wept out into the empty air behind him.

normally you would've put on a brave face, maybe excused yourself to the bathroom to let out a few silent tears before you returned to thank him and stammer out some excuse to leave and spend the rest of the night wallowing on your own. but the alcohol had melted away any barriers you would've put up against zeke's compassion, made you crave the security his warmth provided as he pressed his face into your shoulder, a large, gentle hand rising to stroke over the crown of your head. he let you cry on your own for a while, not minding how your fingers clutched tightly at his shirt or how your snot and tears wet the pale fabric, petting your hair and rubbing soothingly over your shuddering back.

your adjacent thighs were nearly overlapping each other, but all you could think of was how your hammering heart felt like it was one beat away from bursting at the seams, the dim glow of the lamp in the corner that blurred into a shapeless ball of light, his steady breath fanning across the skin of your neck.

"that asshole doesn't deserve you." he murmured, voice low as his lips ghosted over your shoulder, strong arms fastening their hold around you.

you couldn't help but shudder at the feeling as you sniffed, swallowing down the tension balling in your throat before you managed a shaky reply. "h-he's your brother, i thought you'd b-be on his side.."

"what makes you think i'd be on his side after hearing how he treated you?" his fingers worked their way deeper into your hair, palm cradling the back of your head. you forced yourself not to squirm when his face nestled further into the crook of your neck. "you deserve someone mature, someone who can treat you right.. someone who can make you feel good..."

you let out an alarmed breath at the feeling of a soft kiss over your skin, then another, posture stiffening as your grasp around his neck slackened. "wait, i c-can't," you started, the sudden sensation of his fingers sinking into your waist and drawing you closer against him making you lose your words for a moment, "i haven' officially broken up with eren, just because he might've ch-cheated on me doesn't mean-"

"there's no use trying to deny what he did.. what's done is done, you need to do what's best for you—right here, right now." his voice lowered even further, barely a whisper as he implored, "what do you want to do?"

you bit back a weak sound when his tongue drew a slow lick over the sensitive skin, the involuntary heat stirring between your legs making your thighs clench. this was wrong, you shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be letting this happen, an endless stream of muddled thoughts flashed through your mind as you desperately searched for some sort of excuse to buy yourself a few more moments to think. a distant memory popped into your head, the blurry mental image of zeke with his arm draped around a dark-haired woman when you'd dropped by to visit eren just before you'd both moved in on campus.

"g-girlfriend!! don't you have a girlfriend?!" you blurted desperately, a small whimper slipping out of you as he gave a brief suck over your pulse.

"girlfriend?" he paused his motions, chuckling lowly and giving a small shake of his head when he realized who you were thinking of, "oh, pieck? i'd hardly call her a girlfriend, just an old buddy. honestly, it's no wonder you got stuck in this sort of situation, you manage to find an excuse for everything."

you couldn't ruminate on his patronizing tone for longer than a moment before he returned to kissing at the sensitive skin of your neck, testing the waters of your resilience. you were afraid of your responsiveness to his touch, your body's unabashed honesty, afraid of how your protests had devolved into uncertain whimpers and shifts in your seat.

"good girl," he murmured, sending a jolt of heat racing up your spine, "see how easy that was? this is what you want, isn't it?"

you allowed the fingers in your hair to gently tug your head back, exposing more skin to his eager mouth as he teased a bite just under your jaw, drawing a soft whine and an even deeper flush of heat over your cheeks from you. your movements were sluggish, limbs leadened with inebriation falling down easily when he urged you down onto your back. in one slow blink he'd settled on top of you, warm lips melded easily against your own as his fingers began to work at unbuttoning your blouse.

maybe he was right, maybe you just needed to accept that you and eren's time had come to pass and indulge in what you really wanted—and now that he'd made it an option, what you really wanted right now was to feel the warmth of his bare flesh on yours, taste more of the whiskey on his breath as his tongue slid between your teeth, replace every hint of eren that still resided on your skin with his scent of expensive cologne. you could already feel the ache of a forming bruise at the base of your neck, fingers messily tangling in his hair and back arching up to his hands when they began to smooth across your chest, snaking under your body to undo the clasp of your bra.

"you never told me what exactly you wanted, baby.." he murmured over your lips, low-lidded eyes meeting yours, "do you want us to just kiss, or do you want me to touch you?"

"touch me, please.." you mumbled restlessly, quickly becoming impatient with the fact that his hands had halted after slipping the straps of your bra free from your arms and tossing it somewhere behind him to be forgotten.

but even after you answered, he didn't continue, a smug smirk tugging at his lips as he gazed down at you. "and then what after that? do you want me to touch you here? his fingers ghosted over the swell of your breasts. "or here?" one hand trailed down the length of your abdomen, forefinger just barely hooking onto the waistline of your skirt and giving it a teasing tug.

"zeke." you whined in frustration, mind foggy with lust and alcohol, uncoordinated hands wrestling with his shirt despite not having undone the buttons first, "you're being mean.."

"sorry," he said without a hint of remorse in his voice, only pride as he returned his hands to your chest, "you're just too easy to tease, so responsive, i'd never get bored of playing with you."

you took it as a compliment, as praise, rather than what it really was. it was easier to think of it like flattery in the moment, to push the obvious reminder that his brother had gotten bored of you out of your mind. despite the implication of such a statement, you couldn't help the odd sense of safety you found in such an equivocal intimacy, hazy, not sound of mind, not entirely yourself as you offered him your body, his to kiss and grab and bruise if only for the night.

you hummed with approval when his lips trailed down to the valley of your chest, fingers sinking into the soft flesh of your breasts, but making a point to avoid your nipples, only further denying you the stimulation that you thought he'd finally assured you with that last arrogant taunt. you could feel his smile on your skin, nearly huffing at the realization that you couldn't squeeze your thighs together to give yourself some friction with him positioned between them like he was, buzzing with warmth yet entirely unfulfilled.

"patience is a virtue.." he murmured sagely, unfazed by your second sound of annoyance.

"what about trying to fuck your brother's girlfriend is virtuous." you bit back, momentary anger leaving you in a surprised pant as he gave a gentle tug to one of your nipples.

"ex-girlfriend." he corrected after a quiet chuckle at your forthrightness, mouth closing around the pert bud not being rolled between his slender fingers.

you moaned out a soft curse, hand threading back into his thick hair and pressing him further against you. the fog that had been momentarily sobered clouding your senses once more, hips rutting up into nothing as he worshipped your skin with his lips, teeth, and tongue. you felt the spark fully reignite when one hand moved back down your stomach to wrestle with the button of your skirt, the zipper sliding down easily after it was undone, fingers delving under the loosened waistline to palm at you through your underwear. he pulled away from your nipple with one last gentle bite over the tender skin, low voice at a husky mutter.

"have you ever had sex before?"

you quickly nodded down at him, seeing your own dazed stare reflected in his darkened eyes, pupils almost entirely overtaking the cool grey.

"was it with him?"

you swallowed thickly, suddenly finding yourself unable to meet his gaze, turning away to focus on your long finished drink on the coffee table, ice already half melted in the sweating glass. "yes." you barely whispered.

"was it good?"

you bit the inside of your cheek, blinking fast, trying to dispel the blanket of unease that was quickly settling over you, suffocating you. you only answered with a non-committal shrug, feeling your face burn with a humiliation that he couldn't have thought such a line of questioning would have not inspired.

he maintained a steady gaze with you for a moment longer, lowering his head back to rest at your shoulder without another word and picking a place on your neck to bite and lick at, fingers rubbing slow circles over the drenched fabric beneath them. a small moan bubbled up in your chest, squirming at just the easy attention over your clit, lids falling shut as your head sank back into the cushioned arm of the sofa.

you sighed out a small whimper of relief when he finally tugged your underwear to the side, fingers instantly slicking with your arousal when they met your bare skin, sliding in with little resistance. he'd started out with just two, but the incessant desire to be filled was quelled for the moment with them, drawing a pathetic mewl out of you when they curled just right within you.

"are you always this excited?"

another question you didn't know the honest answer to, but you shook your head anyways, accompanying it with a weak "n-no" to stroke his ego like you knew he wanted you to. you went stiff with a sudden tension when felt a third finger prodding at your pussy, eyes flying back open as you made a disconcerted sound of protest.

"relax.." he murmured into your shoulder, biting softly over one of the fresher marks, "if you can't handle this, how can you take me?"

you took a shaky breath, taking your bottom lip between your teeth as you let your thighs fall open a bit more, doing your best to not clench your muscles. and you could feel how he let out a low groan over your skin when he finally slipped in all three, burying them knuckle-deep, rewarding you with a smattering of open-mouthed kisses across your bruised flesh.

"good girl. good girl." he nipped at your jaw, adjusting the speed of his wrist to match how your hips rolled up to meet his hand, the pad of his thumb rolling firmly over your clit.

you could feel that warm knot in your stomach tangling further, the tantalizing thought of release ebbing every bit of trepidation out of you as you allowed your moans and whines to spill out into the open air, heels digging into the felt of the couch around him. but just moments before you could find your high, his touch gone, and he was rising off of you to sit back on his calves, absentmindedly wiping the wetness from his fingers away on his pants, making quick work of his shirt, standing briefly to kick off his pants and help you out of your displaced bottoms before he settled back over you.

your skin was hot with need against his own, arm linking around his sturdy back and pressing his lips back over yours, letting him guide one leg up against his side as he lined himself up with you. you squeaked when you felt the tip of his cock press into you, hands bracing themselves on his shoulders, wide, unfocused eyes gazing up at him for some sort of reassurance. and that sense of security filled your heaving chest, that knowing look he focused solely on you, only made for you in this moment, forehead pressed to yours, breath fanning over your lips.

a strained, shuddering whine broke from your throat as he eased himself inside of you, inch by inch, barely able to hold your eyes open enough to maintain his fixed stare, mouth falling open in a feeble attempt to gasp back in all the air he'd pushed out of you.

"fuck." he growled lowly, fingers sinking almost painfully into the thigh in his grasp, trying to fit his body as close as it could possibly be to your own.

another sound rumbled out of him from deep in his chest when your nails dug into the firm muscle beneath them, hungry, greedy lips capturing yours. his pace was mercifully slow, given that he was probably just as eager for his own release as you were for yours, but the overwhelming fullness that you felt each time his hips met yours drove whatever tiny breath you'd been able to catch between his kisses.

you spread your legs as far as the narrow space of the couch allowed it, whimpering, feeling how you were already making a dripping mess of your thighs and the fabric beneath you. your heart was practically beating out of your chest, so loud in your ears that you wouldn't be surprised if he could hear it too, his mouth catching every pant and moan he drew from you, the steady pace of his movements falling away into an ardent, frenzied rhythm. his mouth strayed back to your neck, grunting and biting into the abused flesh, and without the barrier to muffle your sounds you were whining out into the open space of the apartment, gasping in the air humid with your shared arousal, nails scratching down his back without care for whether they'd leave a mark, only dragging them back across his hot skin over and over again just to hear him groan out your name once more.

you could feel yourself climbing back up towards that delightful precipice, legs wrapping around his body and forcing him deeper into you so he could reach that spot that made white stars burst across the darkness of your close-lidded eyes. you tried to force your mouth to form coherent words, to warn him about how dangerously close you were, but all that spilled from your lips was more breathless sounds, body arching up to press against his as heat scalded over every inch of your bare skin, limbs shuddering and clinging desperately to him as he continued to roughly thrust into you.

tears were pricking at your eyes by the time he moaned a jumbled string of curses into your neck, arms nearly giving out beneath him as he spilled himself inside of you, your chests heaving in an unmatched, ragged unity against each other. he stayed there for a few moments, still inside you, struggling to catch his breath but still pressing the occasional kiss over your neck and shoulders. your fingers released their grasp on him, not realizing how hard you'd been clenching your hands until you felt the stiff ache resonating through your joints.

you tried to murmur something to him, but all that escaped was a weak whimper, legs slipping back down to lay on the couch, arms resting heavy on his back. you hadn't meant to fall asleep so fast, but your head had already been spinning from warm shocks still echoing through every fiber of your body, let alone the alcohol and the sheer physical exertion. you let your eyes fall shut, lids far too heavy to keep open, and slipped away easily into a dreamless slumber.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

zeke blindly reached about for the towel he'd set aside near the sink, finally grabbing it and pressing it to his dripping face, patting his skin and beard dry before tossing it into the hamper by the door. replacing his glasses onto his face, he blinked away the grogginess in his eyes, running his fingers through his hair to flatten it into a somewhat presentable style. he turned to the open door, catching a glimpse of you nestled under the comforter of his bed, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

he'd carried you to his room last night, but didn't get the chance to clean you up until this morning. by then, the bruises that had been an angry shade of red over your neck and chest had settled into your skin and darkened significantly, some bordered by deeper teethmarks that still had yet to fade. you hadn't stirred when he'd pulled the covers away from you for just a few moments, peeling off your underwear that he'd haphazardly replaced on your body to keep the mess to a minimum and gently wiping his cum away from your skin with a wet washcloth. he'd really tired you out, and something about seeing you so exhausted after just one night with him made a flicker of pride swell in his chest.

flicking off the light in the bathroom, he didn't bother to add a shirt over his relaxed attire of just a pair of sweatpants as he left his bedroom, making sure to quietly shut the door behind him.

"rise and shine." his back was still to the kitchen when he heard reiner's voice, turning to face his roommate who was looking at him with a mix of disapproval and curiosity, most likely having gotten a good look at the scratches you left down his skin last night.

"how was your time at bertholdt's?" zeke asked, ignoring reiner's frown as he glossed over his intrigue, wandering over to the fridge to grab some water for himself.

"not great." he grunted, reaching into the cabinet below the stove and fetching a pan, "he decided to invite annie over when he heard i was coming. you can imagine how boring it was to watch those two make eyes at each other the entire night."

zeke chuckled at that, cracking the top off of the cool bottle in his hands and taking a refreshing gulp, glancing at the table and noticing its lack of plates and the leftovers of night-old curry. "oh, you did the dishes. thanks."

"yeah, yeah, just glad you had your fun last night without me having to hear it." he stepped aside to let reiner put a carton of eggs and the butter out of the fridge. "but seriously man? the couch? you're gonna have to get that dry-cleaned or something, and i'm not helping you pay for it either."

"don't worry about it, i'll take care of it." he replied with a lazy smile, quickly adding on to his smooth response, "and be nice, alright? it's someone we know."

"who?" he asked, not at all looking it but obviously interested in his answer, flicking on the gas under the pan and dumping a spoonful of butter into it.

"one of eren's friends." reiner's eyes shot briefly over to him at that, prompting him to give a brief description of you, "remember? you saw her that time we all met up to watch that horror marathon while i still lived with my parents."

"wait.. you told me about her. isn't she dating your brother??"

"was dating my brother." he corrected, rolling his eyes at the disgruntled bewilderment etched across his friends face, "what? i had to show her that this generation of jaegers wasn't a complete disappointment.."

"whatever, man. your business." he finished off his water bottle in silence, watching reiner crack a few eggs in a bowl and whisk them together with a fork, finally breaking the silence with a generous offer. "you want me to make something for her?"

a slight grin broke out across zeke's face, dumping the empty plastic into the recycling bin, slapping reiner's back affectionately. "thought you'd never ask. thanks again, man."

"at your service." was his grumbled, monotone reply, the shadows weighing under his eyes clearly showing how late he'd arrived home last night and how little sleep he'd gotten. zeke was sure that once he'd got some coffee in him he'd cheer up a bit.

he was sure reiner wouldn't be done for another few minutes, so he wandered back into his room, wondering if you'd woken up yet so he could direct you to the shower if you wanted one. in the time that he'd been in the kitchen, you shifted around in bed, having rolled onto your back and knocked the covers away to reveal your bruised chest, hair covering half of your face but still identifiable. perfect.

zeke fished his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants, unlocking it and tapping into the camera app, taking a few steps closer to the bed and zooming in a bit before he snapped a picture of you.

                  10:39 am  you you sent an image to eren

eren  10:40 am uhhh did you send that to the wrong person

eren  10:41 am wait hold on who is that zeke who the fuck is that

eren  10:42 am is that my fuckingngirlfrined

you missed a call from eren

eren  10:43 am why the fuck aren't you fuckign picking up

you missed a call from eren (2)

eren  10:45 am holy shit what the fuck this can't be fucking happening zeke what the fuck is wrong wjth you you piece of fucking shit

zeke tapped out of his messages with his brother, sliding over his notifications setting to "do not disturb" before dropping his phone back into his pocket. he couldn't help the low chuckle he let out at his frantic replies. maybe if he'd held the same enthusiasm with you then he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. moving over to your side of the bed, he took a seat on the mattress beside you, perking up at the sound of your small groan, eyes sleepily fluttering open to gaze up at him.

"g'morning." you murmured, letting out a quiet yawn as you sat up in bed, holding the sheets up to cover your bare chest despite him having already seen you naked.

"how'd you sleep?"

"like a fucking rock." he laughed softly at your bluntness. "my head kinda hurts.. sorry i fell asleep on you last night."

you looked positively adorable right now, and he was glad you weren't panicking or having any second thoughts about him, that you had fully digested the reality of your situation and come to peace with it. well, at least the situation before he'd sent that picture to eren.

"don't worry about it," he assured you, keeping the thought of his brother probably blowing up his phone and leaving the usual voicemails of him screaming at him when he was angry in his inbox, "i'll get you some breakfast soon. need any ibuprofen?"

"yes please." you smiled gratefully up at him, his heart twinged. "and could you grab me my purse? i left it in the kitchen, my roommates probably wondering why i didn't come back last night."

he began to say yes, but thought of how you were probably receiving a similar slew of alarmed messages by this point made him stop. "how about a shower first? you'd probably feel a lot better after that."

you hummed thoughtfully for a few moments, rubbing the sleep from your eyes with the back of your hand. "a shower sounds nice.. if you don't mind."

"wouldn't have offered if i did, babe." he grinned at the way your cheeks flushed, waving a hand over to his bathroom door, "shower's in there, plenty of towels on the rack by the tub."

he stood, turning to begin making his way to the door to give you some privacy, but felt your fingers gingerly wrapped around your wrist. "zeke.. thank you. for everything. i've been in a really tough spot for the last few months, and now everything seems... it all seems a lot clearer to me, like i just took the hardest step and it'll be a breeze after this."

your smile was genuinely, infectious, eyes full of gratitude, and had it not been for the heavy news that you would most likely be finding out about within the hour, he probably would've responded with one of equal radiance. but he managed to perk up the corners of his lips for you, tracing back to press a quick kiss over the top of your head.

"at your service."

he was pleased to see that his copied, more charmingly delivered words garnered such a positive response from you. and so he made his way back out into the kitchen, pulling out his phone to briefly check the amount of notifications that had racked up on his lock screen. thirty-six messages and sixteen missed phone calls. damn was that little brat persistent.

despite having essentially thrown you under the bus, he didn't feel any semblance of guilt for the action of having sent that incriminating photograph. the only remorse he felt was for leaving you as the sole recipient to his brother's rage, and the fact that he was starting to feel a strange sort of affinity for you, something lighter and more innocuous than the lust that he had shown you the previous evening. so he slipped over to the dinner table, acknowledging reiner's announcement that your eggs were ready with a short hum, finding your purse exactly where you said it had been.

he could hear the sound of the shower being turned on, and he felt safe unzipping the small bag and rummaging around to fish your phone out from beneath your other belongings. as he'd expected, there were a few missed calls from a "sasha", who he assumed to be your roommate, the messages from "eren <3" quickly beginning to pile up on your home screen. and as the "incoming call" text showed on the screen and the phone began to vibrate, zeke held down on the power button, completely shutting it off before he pocketed the device.

he just had to keep you busy, get you to focus on anything besides your desire to get to your purse and check your phone, or figure out a polite way to quickly shoo you out of the door and get home before you realized that you didn't have it in your bag. he hadn't really planned for this outcome, he usually didn't have this sort of compassion for others when he set his mind to getting something done, but he had a feeling that the extra work would be worth it in the grand scheme of things.

⥼ next chapter

[farfromsugafanfic]

Sutures - Chapter 12: Cardioplegia

Genre: Soulmates AU, Idiots to Lovers, slight Enemies to Lovers

Pairing: Yoongi/Named Reader

Warnings (chapter specific): mentions of family member death, medical procedures, ANGST, hospitalization, references to memory loss

Synopsis: “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” –Jean de la Fontaine

There was only one thing you and Min Yoongi had in common that night. You were both brokenhearted. You only intended to be together for one night, but when you both end up in the hospital the next day you discover that you are soulmates. It could kill you to be apart. As you and Yoongi attempt to sever the bond between you, will another be formed?

Note: Before y’all demand my head on a stick for this ending, please note that there is an epilogue and bonus part still to come.

Previous | Series Masterlist | Next

"Min Yoongi? Jang Sumi?" the doctor asked, carrying a clipboard in his hand. "So, I hear you have some concerns you need to discuss with me?" 

You recognized the doctor from when you'd ended up in the hospital after the night you met Yoongi. He seemed to be the only soulmate bonding specialist in the whole city and your stomach turned. You wanted your needles.

"Yes," Yoongi said. "You see, an urgent family matter has come up for Sumi and she has to fly to the US as soon as possible." The doctor nodded. "The issue is that due to my schedule, I can't go with her. I know you said there were exemptions for work, do you think this would cover that?" 

"It's hard to know," the doctor said. "It's possible you would have no problems as the conflict involves your work. But, for Sumi, there's nothing obligating her beyond the love for her family. I fear it would be risky. We wouldn't know until Sumi is on the plane and if you both have a reaction, it's likely Sumi wouldn't be able to get to a hospital in time." 

"Then, no," Yoongi said. "What are the other options?"

"Wait," you said, touching Yoongi's bicep lightly. "What are the chances I have a reaction on the plane?" 

"I'd say a 70% chance you react, 30% you don't. If it'd been over a year since you'd met, it would probably be 50/50. As the years go by, reactions become less likely. At least in the limited experience and research, we have from soulmate couples. Every couple is different."

"I'm willing to take the chance. Maybe we could hire a doctor to fly with me--" 

Yoongi's hand shot to grip your thigh cutting off your words as your jeans rubbed against your skin where his fingertips touched. Even with the fabric between his skin and yours, it still felt like sitting too close to a fire. The sparks flying just over your head. 

The doctor arched his eyebrow. "There aren't a ton of options. We are researching drugs right now to help curb reactions in situations like this, but since the reactions are individualized in some ways, it makes it hard to develop one drug that will work for all."

"I can come with you," Yoongi said, "It's the only option." You saw in the way his lips were in a slight frown that his thoughts were racing. His voice quieted. "And you'll need me."

"Yoongi, I-I don't know how long I'm going stay. You can't stay forever and I might."

Yoongi's eyebrows rose as his lips fell into a frown. "You want to stay?" 

You felt the atmosphere lose color. The vibrant scene slowly turning black and white. Yoongi's hand still rested on your leg like it belonged there. 

"I could teach Korean. Do translation work. I don't know. But, I miss my family and knowing things can happen so quickly and I could lose them, I just..." Unlike all the other times, there were no tears. You couldn't cry over this. You wanted to cry, grab the closest objects and fling them at the wall until they dented it, or at least chipped the paint. You wanted to grab Yoongi and kiss him, tear off his shirt, pull on his hair. But you couldn't. The only thing you could do was sit and listen to the doctor say you had to choose.

"Can we talk about this privately?"

"Before you make any decisions," the doctor said. "I should inform you that we have been working on an experimental cure. We haven't tested it on any human subjects yet, but we could use you if you consent. We can't guarantee it will work, but if it does, it would solve your problems. We don't know what side effects would be, but we would keep you for 24 hours for monitoring." 

"Is it safe?"

"We believe it is. We've done animal trials and while they don't have soulmate connections like you do, they have not shown any side effects that we're concerned about." The doctor stood up to leave. "I'll give you some time. I know this isn't an easy decision, so take your time." 

Once the door closed, you and Yoongi turned towards each other, your knees knocking together. His hands found yours, but you felt his gaze on your face which was angled downward, your eyes focusing on the way his thumb moved slowly over your knuckles.

"Yoongi, I don't know what to do. I need to see my grandma. I wish this wasn't so complicated and I'm scared cause what if the cure doesn't work or it gives us weird side effects. I mean, technically we could die. Yoongi, what do I do? I'm gonna lose my grandma. I-I don't want to lose you too."

"Hey, hey," he said, letting go of your heads and pulling you into his chest. You heard his heart beating against your ear and how his fingers shook slightly as he ran them over your hair. "It's going to be okay. Let's just think about this." 

He was silent for a few moments. You didn't even hear the doctors and nurses rushing past the room or the beat of your hearts. 

"We were working to sever this anyway. We won't lose each other. I'll still be here for you. You can still call or visit. I'm just concerned if something bad happens with the cure. Are you willing to risk everything for your grandmother?" 

"Yes, of course." 

“Then, we'll try it. I want you to be happy, Sumi. I want you to be able to see your grandmother, okay?" 

You nodded. "Are you sure this is what you want?" 

"If it's what you want, then I'm sure." 

"Yoongi, I'm sorry. I know you--" 

"Shh," he said, smoothing down your hair and bunching it up and curling it around his fingers. "Let's just enjoy this last moment, yeah?" 

You burrowed into Yoongi's chest. You would truly miss his warmth, the way his heart beat in time with yours, how he noticed when you were anxious, and handed you your needles. You weren't sure someone like him would ever walk into your life again. And here you were, allowing him to walk out.

---

"Thanks for coming," the doctor said, nodding towards Namjoon and Eunji who stood off to the side, sharing furrowed brows and concerned glances between you and Yoongi. "Since we don't exactly know what state they'll be in after this we want to make sure they have someone to look after them after."

While the doctor continued explaining worrisome symptoms and aftercare protocol, Yoongi turned towards you and grabbed your hand, slipping a folded piece of paper into it. You flashed him an odd look before pulling your hand away and unfolding the paper, finding a plane ticket to Los Angeles. 

"I've made the arrangements. If you miss that flight, I'll get you on the next."

"Yoongi, you didn't--" 

"Yeah, I did. Now, you don't have to worry, okay?

The doctor finished talking to Namjoon and Eunji and turned towards you. "Are you ready? We need to induce a reaction for this to work, so I've made arrangements for one of you to receive the treatment at another hospital nearby. Which one--" 

"I'll go." Yoongi got off the bed and met your eyes. You'd already said goodbye, but it didn't feel like enough. There was a chance one or both of you could die. That it wouldn't work at all. There was an even greater chance that it would work and all the things you felt for the man in front of you would dissipate like fog in the afternoon. 

You'd miss the way you longed to run your hands through his hair. How your stomach flipped when he smiled at you or the way you felt his touch linger long after he pulled away. The way he could calm you with just a look or how he allowed you to fiddle with his fingers when you didn't have your needles. 

"Bye, Sumi. Call me whenever you need to, okay?"

You nodded and clasped your hands together tightly. He leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to your forehead and left the room before he could look back. 

Namjoon met your eyes and offered a sad smile. "Take care, Sumi." 

"You too, Namjoon." 

Namjoon followed after Yoongi and it was just you, Eunji, and the doctor. "Once her symptoms begin, we'll administer the cure. We'll then just monitor her for any reaction and go from there." 

Ten minutes later, it started. You felt the tightness in your chest, sweat pricking at your hairline, and your legs were restless, wanting to move wherever Yoongi was. 

"Eunji, hold her hands, help keep her still." 

Eunji was hesitant, but she walked over and held your arms flat against the bed. "It's gonna be okay, Sumi. Just breathe, okay? Just keep breathing." 

You flinched as you felt the needle in your arm and fluid spilling into your bloodstream. It was hot--not hot enough to burn--but almost. Your heart slowed, but your breathing didn't catch up. 

"Sumi, how are you feeling? Are you okay?" the doctor asked. You could vaguely make out the two figures hovering over you. Your vision went black around the edges and your legs went numb. You felt yourself falling and the two figures became smaller and smaller.

---

You woke up. White sheets surrounded you and the room was dark except for the light peeking in from the hallway outside. You heard Eunji in the hallway. It sounded like she was talking on the phone as you didn't hear another voice. 

"What do you mean, Namjoon?" Her voice sounded distressed. Worried. 

You glanced down at the IV in your arm. Your head hurt and you couldn't remember why you were here or how you got there. How long had you been here?

"He-he's okay, though? I mean, other than--"

Eunji's voice was now hushed. You strained to hear, but the machines connected to you began to beep. Eunji rushed back into the room, flipping on the light.

"Sumi!" Before you could blink she had her head pressed to your chest and was hugging you the best she could without disturbing all the needles and cords attached to your body. "When you passed out I thought you were going to die and I didn't know what was going to do without my best friend."

"Eunji--what--what happened? Who's Namjoon?" 

Eunji's face fell. "Oh, uh, that's not important. Let me get the doctor."

---

The doctor examined you. His eyes caught yours, a sad look crossing over them momentarily before he pulled away. 

“You seem perfectly healthy," he said. "I'm going to discharge you, but if you start having odd symptoms of any kind get to an emergency room. Okay?"

You nodded, not fully understanding. "Wait, how long has it been? How long have I been here?"

"It's only been a few hours, why?" 

"My grandma," you said. "I need to get to the airport and get a ticket and--"

Eunji reached into her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. "You have a ticket. The flight's in a few hours. If you hurry you can make it. I'll send your stuff along later." 

"You didn't buy this, did you?" 

"No, Yoo--you really don't remember?" 

"Eunji, what aren't you telling me?"

Your friend glanced over at the doctor who mouthed something you couldn't make out. 

"It's not important right now," Eunji said. "Come on, you need to get to the airport if you want to get to the airport on time."

---

"I'll miss you," you said, pulling Eunji in for a hug. "I'll call you when I can."

"Take it easy, okay? You just got out of the hospital." 

"I still don't remember what happened, Eunji. Why can't just tell me? Was it an accident? I must've hit my head." 

"The doctor thinks it'd be too stressful on you right now. Maybe I'll tell you someday, okay? Just go be with your grandma." 

You nodded, even though you overflowed with questions, something made you feel at peace as you stepped onto the plane and into your window seat. Normally, this is when you'd begin feeling sick. You settled into your seat and pulled your flannel closer around you. You didn't remember owning a flannel with the sleeves cut off. It must be one of Minki's old ones that you'd stolen, but for some reason, it kept you calm as the plane rocketed off the runway and into the air.

THE END 

[hot-wiings]

The One Where It's The Dead Of Winter And Your Boyfriend Keeps Giving You His Cold Side.

Edited: 12-20-2020

You shivered as you moved and rustled in your bed. It was positively freezing, your feet and arms were frozen. Despite your husband, Shouto Todoroki, having a warm and useful quirk, you ended up cold. Despite going to bed with his left side leaning into you and clinging onto half of your body, you were cold. This happened to be a nightly occurrence. Somehow, every night this week, his body flipped around, his cold right side ended up on top of you, smothering you, suffocating you.

You hadn't even noticed that your left foot was hanging off of the bed, all you knew was that your blanket was no longer on your body, and Shouto's right side was suffocating your head. You rolled over, hoping to get him off of you, and with a heavy thud you landed on the floor. Momentarily Shoutos light snores stopped before resuming. With a scowl, you pulled yourself up to your feet and looked at the bed. He hadn't moved, if anything, once your body hit the floor he rolled further onto your side of the bed.

"I've had enough of this."

The past entire week, Shouto had woken you up doing this. Usually, you didn't mind Shouto's bad bed mannerisms. Sure, he might steal the blankets, and sometimes he hogged the bed, but you enjoyed cuddling with him. That was when the weather was more suitable. When it was warmer, Shouto stayed on his side of the bed, but now that the weather spiked cold recently as it got further into winter, he had seemed to reach out for your body craving warmth. While you felt slightly bad, he was just looking for a source of warmth, it was ridiculous. He practically pushed you out of the bed, and he could naturally create his own heat source.

The reasons you assumed he was reaching out for you and the reality were completely different.

On other nights, not wanting to disturb his sleep knowing he had to get up early for work in the morning, not wanting to cause an issue, you would've gone to the couch and slept out there before waking up and returning to bed before Shouto got up to get ready for work. Tonight was not like other nights. You grabbed a hold of the blanket and pulled the quilt out of your husband's tight, sleepy grasps. You dropped the blanket on the floor and used your hands to push Shouto's body back over to his side of the bed, but not without trial and error. After huffing and puffing, you successfully moved him. He was heavier than you thought, although you had noticed he was spending more hours training and at the gym.

"Better."

You threw the blanket back on the bed and smoothed it out so you both had blanket coverage, but leaving more length on your side of the bed. You slid back on the mattress and tucked the blankets under your body so he couldn't steal them as easily. Warmth once again hit your body as sleep started to envelop you again, however you were awoken back up by your husband making the bed dip as he shifted on his side of the mattress.

"Sweetheart? Are you awake?"

Usually, you were gone by the time he woke up in the middle of the night. Usually, he'd walk out to find you huddled asleep on the couch. To embarrassed and ashamed to bring you back to bed, he'd leave you there and let you sneak back in when the sun rose. You felt Shouto's hands on your arm, his cold hand rubbing up and down as you tried your best not to groan out and scream. Had he no idea what he was asking you? Of course you were awake, he had pushed you off the bed, who falls asleep after that. You were going to switch your sides of the bed tomorrow, maybe then his warm side would reach out to you instead.

"God, you're so cold. I hate this, I hate what I'm doing to you. I'm such a coward."

You felt Shouto wrap his arms around you and his chest shook as he tightly grasped your body against his own. You could feel his left side heating up, trying to give you the warmth you silently begged for and craved, but you couldn't focus on that, not as you felt his tears leak out and wet the back of your neck. All the angry, cold feelings left your body as you tried pulling out of your husband's grasp to turn your body around and look at him properly.

"Shou, baby, what's wrong?"

"Nothing princess, go back to sleep."

"You're crying, you liar."

Your hands reached up and cupped his cheeks, fingers slowly skimming over his scar delicately as you pushed the tears out of his eyes and let them linger there to provide some comfort over whatever was bothering him.

"Tell me what's wrong... Is it because I pushed you to your side of the bed? My actions are justified because you pushed me out of the bed first!"

"I pushed you out of the bed? Did I hurt you, are you okay?"

Shouto's tears came out faster and harder, upset at the prospect of pushing and hurting you in his sleep. Guilt flooded your chest and you placed a quick reassuring peck against his lips, trying to show him you were okay.

"It's fine, technically I rolled myself off, you just pushed me to the edge. I'm fine. It's fine."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I pushed you, I'm sorry I've been making you cold and making you isolate yourself to the couch."

You bit down on your lip your cheeks flushed. He had noticed? You didn't want him to know you were spending your nights on the couch. You didn't want to stress him or worry him, most of all, you didn't want to make a big deal out of nothing. It was so much more than nothing, you just didn't know it yet.

"You noticed that?"

"I wake up every night you leave, and I feel guilty for pushing you away due to smothering you."

"Baby, it's fine. You're just a bit of a bed hog, that's fine."

Shouto closed his eyes as he debated on telling you the truth as to why he'd been cold at night. The truth of the nightmares that chased his sleep, the nightmares that plagued his mind as he slept, causing him to reach out for you in fear, in need, and making him feel alone and cold.

"You're my life, I don't want to scare you away, but you're also my wife, and I want to be honest with you."

Shouto's hands came up and covered your hands that held his cheeks, enveloping you in even more new warmth—at least partially.

"It's my body's reaction to fear. I've been having nightmares. You die, you're taken away by a faceless villain and I'm too late to stop it. I'm scared it's gonna happen, and it's been making me chilly at night."

"Oh, Shouto. You're never gonna scare me away. I'm not gonna divorce you over a few silly nightmares and a cold room. Although I will say, my case of cold feet at the wedding was nothing compared to my, literal, cold feet now."

"I'm serious. I make a lot of enemies as a hero and the media is always in my business. It's so easy for them to do a quick google search and find my wife's name and address."

You pulled Shouto's face down into the crook of your neck as you pulled him deep into your grasp. You pulled the blanket up and around your body, locking in the little heat you had.

"I know no matter what, you'll always do what it takes to save me. Besides that, I might be a support item inventor, but you still trained me to defend myself. I'm not going anywhere, no villain is going to take me away from you, if you still feel different, than change it. Train me more, take me to the gym with you, put me on some extreme diet–wait, not that last one, that's going to far."

He chuckled and you could feel more heat radiating from his body.

"You're right. I did train you, and I'll be here to save you. You're not going anywhere. Still... I'm sorry for pushing you out of bed."

"It's okay, now I know why you were being cold and clingy. Now I know it's your body's response to fear. I'm not gonna let you go through that alone."

Shouto placed a deep, wanton kiss against your cheek as he hummed, his body turning warmer, feeling better, more secure, and content about your safety.

"We're in this marriage together, that means we share our fear and nightmares too. I don't deal with a grump, whiny, bigoted father-in-law only for a nightmare to tears us apart."

"Together. We're in this together."

[leelee10898]

A miss match Christmas: matched for disaster.

Hello everyone! Hope you all are having fun reading and writing these awesome Christmas fics! This is my submission for our 12 days of fictmas: 2020 edition, hosted by myself and @emichelle . This comes from the VIP book miss match.. granted the book is not over but, im my head Jack x MC (Callie) have both become CEO of two's company and are married.. this jumps a few years into the future.

The sound of heels could be heard on the slick marbled floor from down the hall. He kept his head forward, eyes trained on the laptop in front of him. As the clicking grew closer, his lips curled up into a smile. "I thought you were heading home?" He could hear the laugh in her voice, he finally looked up to meet her eyes. Those eyes, that intoxicating smile, it was what drew him in the first time they met. It was 4 years ago on valentines day, in her fathers crowded bar. "I could say the same for you." He chuckled. 

She walked over to the desk, standing behind him leaning down to see what he was working on. Her long brown hair brushed against his cheek.   "Last minute additions to the Christmas party, Jack?" She eyed him, he casually shrugged his shoulders. "And how many clients will be in attendance now?" Her fingers hovered over the mouse, clicking the guest list, her eyes widened in shock.  "He is coming?" Jack gave her a knowing look as she stood up striaght.  "Now Callie, I know what you're thinking but, wasn't it you who said, and I quote 'everyone deserves to find love, no matter what' ?" He gave her a smug smile. 

"Yes," Callie spoke through gritted teeth. "But this guy is accident prone. We will have to tie the decorations down with steel ropes, not to mention no open flames. The wait staff will need helmets.." she began to ramble. Jack chuckled as he stood to calm his pacing partner. "It will be ok,Callie. Just relax." 

Two weeks later… 

Callie stood toeards the back of the room, her eyes constantly scanning for the one person she would have to be on constant look out for. The worry leaving a crease between her eyes. "Have you moved from this spot at all?" She heard his smooth baritone come up beside her. 

"No." She casually spoke, not taking her eyes off the door. Jack shook his head, a small chuckle escaping him as he handed her a champagne flute. "You're cute when you're flustered,Cal. Just Relax." 

Just as he spoke a tall man came into view, callie sucked in a panicked breath and sat her glass on the table. Jack placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and turned her face towards his with his free hand. "We will approach him together, he is here to find a match just like everyone else is." Callie nodded and the two crossed the room.  

"Thomas Haught, it's good to see you again. You remember my partner,Callie?" Jack spoke, extending his hand. Thomas reached out to shake it, missing completely and knocking the glass out of Jack's other hand. 

"Jack." Callie groaned under her breath. 

"I am so, so sorry Jack." Thomas apologized. "I am such a klutz, maybe I shouldn't have come." 

"It's ok Tom,You are perfectly fine. Try to relax, everyone is here for the same reason. Why dont you grab a bite to eat and we will meet up in a few." Jack smiled politely. 

Thomas nodded and headed towards the elaborate buffet table,Callie began to panick "Jack, you just sent him to get food, alone. There are flames under those trays, what if he," callies eyes widened in horror as she watched Thomas's sleeve catch fire.  It was quickly put out by a server. "You see!" She shrieked. 

"Ok, so maybe Toms a little bit accident prone. Which is why we need to find someone who is a great care giver for him." He chuckled, Callie rolled her eyes and walked away. 

As the night went on Callie tailed Thomas. In his wake he managed to trip a waiter carrying a full tray of cranberry and brie with crackers. Knocked over the ice sculpture and elbowed a match maker in the face, blackening his eye.  Tom sat at a table alone, Callie was able to relax a little as she watched him slump his shoulders in defeat. If he was sitting, he couldn't be that much of a threat. 

Thomas was a handsome man, he was tall and had a thin build. He was in his early thirties and a client of the company's for several years. He was thought to be an 'un matchable' but that didn't stop Jack from trying. She recalled his file in her head. The man volunteered with underprivileged children, he owned his own company and was a volunteer fire fighter.  How he managed to not cause more damage with that last part was beyond her. 

As she stood there staring at him, she began to feel that familar feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had spent so much time preparing for disaster that she could not let herself willingly try to match this man. That's when the match maker spark came to life.  "I know that look, you found your fire." Jacks strong arms wrapped around her waist. "I told you to stop fighting yourself, you were going to lose." He chuckled as his lips found the base of her neck. 

"Why is it that the man can rush into burning buildings without falling through the steps, or the place falling in on him. But he can't walk an open room without tripping on a loose thread in the carpet?" She softly hummed. 

"It's probably the adrenaline, that and a mix of confidence." Jack answered.  "When is this party over again?" His lips exploring her exposed skin. 

"That's it!" She quickly spun around in his arms. "You're a genius,Jack! And that's why I married you." She quickly kissed him. "You're a genius." She murder against his lips before turning and walking away. 

"What did I do? No clue?" He spoke to himself, shaking his head and following her across the room. 

"Having a good time, Thomas?" The sound of  Callies voice made Thomas jump up. His knees hit the table and knocked over several drinks and his chair. "I'm so sorry, why am I such a spaz?" Thomas groaned as he lifted a glass off the table. "It's ok Tom, just leave it. The staff will clean it up." By this time Jack had joined the two, giving Callie a confused look. 

"Walk with us, will you?"  Callie motioned to Thomas. Thomas wrung his hands nervously, tripping over his own feet. "This is hopeless, maybe I should just go home.  I can't even walk without tripping over my own feet, how am I supposed to find love? I would probably accidentally harm them somehow." 

Callie held up her hand, motioning around the room at the various people. Some couples that had just connected, others just mingling trying to find a spark. "Do you think any one of these people are perfect? That they don't all have some kind of quirk? Some personal issues? Because I will tell you, nobody is perfect. Tell me Thomas do you have any mishaps when you're running into a burning building?" 

Tomas searched his mind. "Ah, no. No I can't say that I have." 

"And why do you think that is?" She pressed.  

"Adrenaline? I don't have time to think I just do it." He shrugged, a smile spread across her face as Thomas began to connect the dots. 

"I think you have the potential to be a great someone to somebody, you just need to stop over thinking it and be yourself." Callie patted him on the shoulder. Thomas looked to Jack who nodded his head in agreement.  "She's right you know. She's always right." 

As the three stood there, Jack with his arms around Callie and Thomas scanning the room with a new found sense of pride, he noticed a couple getting a little too hot and heavy by the enormous 10 foot Christmas tree. He watched in horror as it began to sway just as a pretty petite dark haired woman stood right in the path of destruction.  Thomas set off in a sprint across the room, he grabbed the woman by the waist yanking her out of the way just in time as the tree crashed to the ground. The pair tumbled on the floor, Thomas landing practically on top of the woman. 

Callie and Jack ran over to the pair as Thomas perched up to look down on the raven haired beauty, shock written all over her face.

"I'm sorry for the crash landing miss but, I couldn't let such a gorgeous creature be crushed to death by a massive tree." He gave her a cheesy grin as he helped her up. 

"Oh my god, Maggie are you ok?" Callie wrapped her assistant in her arms. 

"I'm perfect, thanks to my Hero over here. " Maggie blushed as she motioned towards Thomas. 

" oh im no hero miss." He gave her a bashful smile. 

"Anyone who risks being impaled by a rogue tree is definitely a hero in my book. I owe you one." Maggie flirted.  

"All in a day's work, mam." Thomas blushed awkwardly.  He looked to callie and Jack, callie giving him an encouraging nod. 

"Would you ah, would you like to grab a drink?" 

Maggie looked to Callie and Jack, twos companys no dating clients or co-workers policy used to be iron clad, until Jack and Callie showed Veronica just how stupid the rule could be. Technically it wasn't encouraged to date clients but, Maggie wasn't a match maker and Thomas was actually perfect for her. 

"You two have fun." Callie winked as she grabbed Jack by the arm leading him away as the banquet halls staff began cleaning up the tree fiasco. They walked out onto the balcony, the cold New York air causing immediate goosebumps on callies skin. Jack noticed, shrugging off his jacket and draping it Over her shoulders. "You know if you asked me 4 years ago if I would be here, like this in this moment I would have told you, you were crazy." He spoke softly, his gaze fixed on his wife. " of course I always knew I would be CEO." He gave a cocky chuckle. 

"And now?" She challenged. 

"Now I cant begin to believe my life. I never thought I would share everything with someone I am truly head over heels in love with. I love you Callie Munroe, you never stop amazing me with everything you do. And just when I think you couldn't possibly amaze me more, you go and give us a family." 

Callies eyes widened, she hadn't told him yet. She found out they were expecting a week ago and planned on telling him Christmas morning. "How did you know?" 

"I know everything about you, Callie. I can not wait to be a dad, this will be our greatest chapter yet. Merry Christmas." He leaned in placing a soft kiss to her forehead.  

"Merry Christmas, Jack." 

******☆☆☆☆☆******

Tag list : Writers : @texaskitten30 @Leelee10898 @emichelle @zaffrenotes @alj4890 @burnsoslow @kat-tia801 @darley1101 @msjr0119 @annekebbphotography @god-save-the-keen @plumeriavibes @ofpixelsandscribbles @camillemontespan @ao719 @cocomaxley @cordoniansgonewild @twinkleallnight @the-soot-sprite @cordoniantrash @axwalker @innerpostmentality @lucy-268 @janezillow @katedrakeohd  

Readers : @mom2000aggie @sfb123 @bbrandy2002 @debramcg1106 @desireepow-1986 @speedyoperarascalparty @hopefulmoonobject  

[shall-we-imagine]

The odd one out. (Goldstein Brothers)

No, this isn't a foursome. Sorry to disappoint?

Requested: 32. "You didn't get in trouble for lying. You got in trouble for lying badly." + 52. "You're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters, animal abusers, and people who talk at the theatre." From the prompt list.

Genre: comedy mostly? I swear I wasn't high when I wrote this just read till the end before you come at me 😂

(Third Person Point of View)

"He's actually got a big heart; you just don't realize until you really know him." The eldest Goldstein chuckles.

"I don't know. For now, he just seems really loud." The youngest shakes his head.

The two had been walking around aimlessly, just enjoying each other's company. The topic had somehow switched to a discussion of a certain night class prefect. Anything they could talk about was good enough for them, though.

"Aye, my favourite bros!" A familiar voice beams, unnecessarily extending the first and last words. The intruder inserts himself between the two brothers, putting an arm on each one's shoulder.

"We're..you're only bros." Elias stares at the taller blond in the middle. Why Klaus was acting this way, Elias wasn't sure, but he didn't feel the need to point it out. Yet.

Klaus rolls his eyes, "Well, metaphorically, I have a lot of bros."

"Since when do you even use the word bros?" Alfonse questions with a raised brow.

Klaus groans, "Why are all Goldsteins so uptight?"

The eldest and youngest share a confused look. "Excuse me?" Elias raises an eyebrow.

"You're forgiven!" The older man cheers. "Now let's go have a guys' night out; we don't have much time to waste here!" Klaus ignores the but it's daytime?s and why do we not have time?s his brothers were throwing at him and proceeds to drag them into town with no explanation whatsoever.

"Klaus, where are we going?" Alfonse prays for a single, meaningful answer.

Klaus pauses to look around the stores, "I'm sure it was somewhere around here.." he mumbles to himself, paying no mind to his older brother.

"What is?" Elias didn't enjoy being dragged around, unaware of where they're headed to; he was slowly losing his patience.

"Chill; it's a nice place, I've heard." Klaus dismisses the question again and proceeds forward.

#####

"A strip club?!" Elias shrieks in horror at their destination.

"Dude, you're gonna get us kicked out before we even get inside." Klaus brings his index finger to his lips, motioning for Elias to keep quiet.

"Klaus, what are you thinking?! Are you feeling okay?" Alfonse eyes his younger brother.

Klaus sighs. "Okay, yes, it's weird to go to a strip club in broad daylight, but this place offers a 24-hour service! And you don't even have to worry about Elias being a little younger than the age required to enter; if we're smooth enough, he'll be fine!"

"Out of all these explanations, nothing was even related to our actual issue!" Elias flings his arms upwards in a mixture of disbelief and frustration.

"You're a Goldstein; that's how you're planning to spend your evening?!" The eldest begins scolding Klaus.

Klaus raises his hands in defence. "I've never been here before; I just thought we could try it out together. Come on." It didn't seem like he was taking his brothers seriously for their outbursts, which in turn pissed them off even more.

"I'm not stepping foot into this place!" Elias crosses his arms, looking away in disgust.

"Is it because you're scared your boyfriend will figure it out?" Klaus wiggles his eyebrow at his younger brother.

Elias's cheeks heat up at the unexpected question. "What boyfriend?! You know I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Oh, come on!" Klaus whines, in a not-so-Klaus-like-manner. "I know you're in love with Luca; it's so obvious in the way you stare at him! You don't need to hide anything from me!" He places his arms around Elias and hugs him tightly. (Actually, scratch that. He suffocates him.)

"You know you can tell me anything!" He squeezes Elias even more, if that was even possible. "I'm your owder bwother that woves you!" Klaus uses what could best be described as the voice you use when talking to a baby; he even begins to make kissy faces at Elias, in an attempt to kiss his cheek.

By now, Elias didn't know if he was more embarrassed or scared. He felt awfully mortified, but he also knew that this was not the usual Klaus. At all. Maybe his brother had been possessed, replaced by a clone, or under a spell, but there was no way this was the normal Klaus he knew. And one glance at an (almost) equally horrified Alfonse assured Elias he wasn't crazy for thinking that.

Elias pushes his older brother away. "I'm not in love with Luca, and I certainly don't need you to baby me!" Out of habit, the blond spoke the name with disgust, like he'd just seen the troublemaker cause a mess in the classroom.

"Well, why else would you not agree to join me and Alfonse?" Klaus raises an eyebrow.

"I actually never said I was-"

"Alfonse! You can't just interrupt Elias because he's the youngest!"

"He wasn't even-"

"You're doing it again, Alfonse!" Overshadowed by confusion, the eldest Goldstein stopped protesting, as Klaus interrogates their younger brother. "So? Elias? We're still waiting for an answer, you know."

"It has nothing to do with Luca!"

"Prove it, then." Eyes glinting with mischief, Klaus smirks at his younger sibling.

"What do you mean?" Elias wasn't a coward. However, when your older brother who's normally so stern and composed just took you to a strip club and started babying you, yeah, you might get a bit nervous about having to do what he suggests next.

"I just want you to enter the place on your own, spend 10 minutes inside, then come out, and we'll do whatever you want for the rest of the day." Klaus shrugs, "Bonus points if you get one of the dancers' number."

"Klaus, what in the world-" Was it interrupt Alfonse day? Cuz he sure felt like it was.

"It's okay, Al. I'll do it; at least then we'll be able to put an end to this strange trip." Elias states with determination.

"Ah, yeah, that look in your eyes! Love it!" Klaus rewards him with an applause, as if he'd just watched a scene out of a play.

Elias gives him a look but stays silent. He'd given up on understanding what was up with his brother; he just wanted to go back to his dorm and rest.

An excited Klaus and a worried Alfonse stood out of sight while Elias approaches the buff man guarding the entrance.

It couldn't have been longer than 2 minutes when they saw Elias come back to them sheepishly.

"Hey, the deal was 10 minutes." Klaus states.

"I didn't even get in! When I lied about my age, he asked where I worked. I panicked and blurted out the name of the academy.." Elias drifts off.

"So?" Klaus raises an eyebrow.

"Turns out he's friends with Vincent, and he knows the teaching staff there.." Elias hides his face in embarrassment.

"You got him in trouble for lying, and it's your fault!" Alfonse points an accusing finger at Klaus, who was trying not to burst into laughter.

"Well, technically, you didn't get in trouble for lying. You got in trouble for lying badly." Shrugging, Klaus blames Elias for the incident, and in turn, earning more looks of disbelief from his siblings.

"Okay, I'm done. I'm just gonna go back to the dorms." Elias shakes his head, unable to keep up with Klaus's madness. That was enough for today; the humiliation and irritation were eating him alive.

However, before any of them could say anything, an angry Luca ran up to them, which was a rare, terrifying view. Elias was sure nobody had seen Luca so angry. Or seen Luca angry at all for that matter. Yet there he was, pissed.

"I've been searching all over for you!" He yells at Klaus.

Elias waited for Klaus to scare the crap out of Luca and everyone within a 5 mile radius of this scene, but instead, Klaus just laughed. Ironically, that scared Elias more than anything Klaus could've done.

"Come on, Emperor; it wasn't so bad!" Klaus teases.

Wait, why was Klaus calling Luca that?

Alfonse's head was spinning in circles; he wasn't sure what was happening or when it happened, but he assumed magic was involved.

"The only thing that wouldn't make this so bad is if murder was legal!" Luca grabs Klaus's collar.

They seemed to both zone out for a few seconds before Klaus pushes Luca's hand away in anger. Klaus's previously calm expression was replaced with a furious one while Luca was back to his playful, carefree self.

"Um..what is happening?" Elias finally asked. He certainly wasn't in the mood for solving riddles today, especially not after everything that happened.

"This is what happened." Klaus reaches into Luca's pocket, pulling out a small, green orb.

Elias thought it looked strangely familiar. Then, it hit him. Alfonse took the words right out of his mouth, though.

"You switched bodies." He whispered.

Elias remembered learning about that green orb, yet it hadn't occurred to him that this could be the case here. He felt slightly dumb for it, but he threw the blame on Luca, considering it was his fault to begin with.

"You're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters, animal abusers, and people who talk at the theatre." Elias glares at the green-haired male.

"Elias snapped." Klaus chuckles, as if the fact that Elias was trying to be intimidating was enough to amuse him and make him forget about Luca's actions. As if.

"Well, it was fun hanging out with you guys! Now, I gotta go!" Luca attempts to escape, but Klaus knew better.

"Not so fast." The prefect grabs Luca by the back of his collar. "You're not going anywhere. You're coming with me." Klaus drags Luca along with him as he walks towards the academy, leaving both Elias and Alfonse fairly overwhelmed.

"That was...weird." Alfonse heaves a sigh.

"I mean, at least Klaus hadn't decided to suddenly change and become this weird person, I guess?"

"True." Alfonse agrees, letting out a little laugh.

It's worth mentioning that only later that day that Elias realized Luca was the one to hug him and baby him, not Klaus, and he wasn't sure which was worse. It made him wish there was some other type of orb that could make them all forget that specific moment ever happened.

Alas, for now, all he could do is bury his red face into his pillow, as Yukiya wonders what's wrong with him.

[awkward-uwu]

A Royal Journey pt.4

Previous//Next

Genre: Fluff, Fantasy

Pairings: Female Reader x Felix || WooChan (Woojin x Chan)

Word count: 4,186

Warnings: Blood and Violence

Summary: Finally getting somwhere.

The next morning you wake up with a blinding headache and you can't remember much from last night. You use lesser restoration on yourself which takes away your headache pretty fast and you also start remembering more of last night. You remember dancing with Felix, you remember the way he smiled at you, and you can't help but to smile to yourself while you get ready for the day. Once you're almost fully dressed you hear a knock on your door, “Y/n, Jeongin is still out.”

“Aw, ok, I'll be in there in a minute, I'm still getting dressed.” You quickly finish up and make your way a door down to the boy's room and knock on the door. It opens and you see Jeongin lying on one of the two beds in the most uncomfortable position you've ever seen and you just laugh, Felix is sitting on the edge of the other bed putting his armor on, when he sees you come in he smiles brightly. You start tapping on his shoulder, “Jeongin… hello?” You cast the same spell as you did earlier on him and he starts waking up, he blinks his eyes and looks up at you, “An angel…?” You laugh, “No Jeongin, just me,”

He sits up, “Eh, close enough.”

“Sure,” you laugh.

“Whoa, I feel way better!”

“Well yeah, I used a pretty good spell on you.” Chan laughs, “Ok Jeongin, now that you're up hurry and get ready, we're leaving right when Changbin gets here.”

“Ok ok I'm moving, but I can't get dressed when she's in here,” Jeongin points at you.

“Oh! Right! I'll go over to the pub and order breakfast. Should I bring it back here?”

“Nah, we'll be there in a little bit,” Chan says holding the door. You nod and leave. When you enter the pub you see Han and Minho at the bar eating, you sit down next to them and order your food. “Oh Y/n!” Han smiles brightly.

“Hi guys” you smile.

“You and Felix did great at the dance last night! You're such a cute couple!”

“Oh, uh, we're, not a couple…”

“Uh huh… so that means you're available?” Han smirks. “I, uh, well technically I guess…” Minho flicks him in the back of the head again, “Ow! I said stop hitting me!”

“Then stop making her uncomfortable!” At this point the other three walk in as the bartender brings you your food, you all go sit down at a table. After eating for about ten minutes Changbin walks in, he sets two scrolls on the table in front of Jeongin, “What are these?”

“Spell scrolls we found in the bosses stuff, figured you could use them” Jeongin's face lights up, “No way!! I'll definitely use these! Thank you!” He then spends the rest of the time you're in the pub reading over the spells and copying them to his spellbook. You spend another twenty minutes eating and then all four of you leave the pub, but as you're leaving you hear someone shout behind you, “Wait!!” Han and Minho run up to you, “Can we come with? It doesn't matter where you're going, we're just wandering around anyways, having people other than Han to talk to would be great…”

“Rude.”

You look at the rest of them and they just shrug. “Sure why not, as long as you're aware there's possible fighting, and you might get hurt,” you say with a somewhat serious face. The two of them look at each other and then look back, “I think we can handle it” Han smirks. You all then leave the town together and head back to Ironwind. You actually get there in one day this time due to no issues popping up, but it's beginning to get pretty late at this point. The guards stop you at the gate until they see Felix, “Ah your highness, you've returned much sooner than expected.” The guards bow. “Yes, but I'm not staying long, I just need to speak to my mother, and it's important, may we borrow some horses?”

“Of course your highness, but we only have five, so a few of you will have to share,”

“That's fine, thank you.” Five horses get brought out to you, Han and Minho share one and you get on with Felix. At first you don't hold on very tight because you've never been that close to him and you're a little nervous, “Y/n, hold on, I don't want you falling off.”

“Uh, ok…” you wrap your arms around his waist, as he kicks and the horses take off. They go much faster than you were expecting and you let out a small squeak and shut your eyes tightly as you wrap your arms around him tighter trying not to fall off. Felix on the other hand is a smiling blushing mess, which he's very happy no one can see. After a moment you open your eyes and watch the houses speed past you and you're hands slowly start slipping from his waist. Once he notices he reaches down with one hand and pulls you up to hold on better, “You ok?” He glances back at you. “Yeah, I'm fine,” you readjust yourself and tighten your grip on his waist as he moves his hand from yours. After you get used to the speed you realize just just how close to him you are, you heart rate begins to speed up and you start grinning to yourself.

You make it to the castle far sooner than you would have liked. Felix jumps off before you and then reaches up with both hands to help you down, you hop into his arms and he lowers you to the ground. You're faces are very close at this point and Felix takes a quick step back, “I'm going in with Chan and Changbin, you four stay here,” You nod and sit down on the benches by the doors as they go in. They walk into the throne room but the queen isn't there, Felix sees two guards, “Excuse me, where's my mother?”

“Oh your highness, she's in her study.”

“Thank you!” He grabs Chan and Changbin’s hands and runs off. They stop in front of a large door on the second floor and Felix knocks. “Yes?”

“Mother? It's me.”

“Felix?” There's some shuffling behind the door before it opens. “What are you doing back so soon…?”

“I have something important to talk to you about.”

“Oh… alright, come in.” The three of them walk in and the queen sits down in a chair in front of a desk, “Now, what is it dear?”

“Have you ever heard the name Tema?” Felix asks as he sits down in a chair next to the door. The queens eye go wide, “Where did you hear that name?!”

“I- um, from Changbin…”

“Who's that?”

“Oh right! This is Changbin, we met him in the forest, he used to be a bandit, but now he's not, we helped him beat up his old boss.”

“I see, it's a pleasure to meet you,” she smiles and nods towards Changbin as he bows. “Now Changbin, where did you learn that name? No one should know it, that name, and it's owner have been dead for years...”

“Well, your majesty, with all due respect, you're wrong, for the name at least. Because my group was working under her, she was having us spy on the city, and she doesn't like you or your family at all…”

“But that's impossible, she died, he killed her… She's gone! You must be mistaken!” She stands up and walks over to the window on the left side of the desk. “Mom…” Felix stands up, “Who is- or was she…?”

“She was a good friend, an ally… but, she changed, her mind got twisted, she started messing with things she didn't understand, she put the kingdom in danger… she put you in danger… and she shouldn't be alive! You father sacrificed himself to kill her… he trapped her in her lab, he caused it to explode with both of them in it… she shouldn't be alive…” They stand in silence for a moment, “Mom… why have you never told me this?? Isn't this a little important??”

“I was going to! I just never found the right time… I'm sorry.” Felix thinks for a moment, “We need to kill her. If she really is still alive we need to kill her.”

“Felix no, she's too dangerous, I can't lose you too…”

“Mom, I'll have friends with me, we'll practice, please, let me do this for father…” Felix has an extremely determined look on his face. “You're majesty, take it from me, we can handle this, we even have two more people with us willing to help.” Changbin speaks up. “I just- I don't know…”

“Mother. Please.” She sits there thinking silently for a while, “Alright… but if you don't come back I won't forgive you.” Felix runs up and hugs her, “Don't worry, I'll be back, I promise.”

They smile at each other, “I love you Felix, and I'll never stop.”

“I love you too mom,” Felix smiles brightly and the three of them leave. The queen sits down at her desk and puts her head in her hands. They make it back out to the rest of you and explain everything. “Wait, so we're gonna fight some possibly super strong crazy woman who killed your Dad?” Jeongin asks. “Essentially, yes.” Felix responds.

“Awesome!”

“Jeongin, you sound way too excited to possibly die,” you laugh.

“Well when you put it that way it sounds worse…” the rest of you laugh. “Ok, since we'll be leaving in the morning why don't you three come stay at the temple? We have extra rooms.” You say looking at Han, Minho and Changbin. “That's a good idea, Felix, why don't you go with them, I'm gonna go talk to the guard about getting a cart so we don't have to walk.” Chan says as he mounts his horse and leaves. The rest of you nod and mount your horses as well and head to the temple. You show the three of them around and explain to the other clerics what's going on. They get them settled in and you and Felix take Jeongin to his place by the garden, after he goes inside you speak up, “Hey Felix?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you take me with? Couldn't you have dropped Jeongin off by yourself?”

“Well, yeah… but I wanted to show you something.”

“Oh, alright,” you smile as Felix gets off the horse and starts leading it with you on it. “Close your eyes.”

“Ok…?” You say with a small smile. You walk for a small while before you stop, “Ok, open your eyes.” As you open your eyes gasp, you see the pond in the middle of the garden and you see a full moon and all the stars due to the clear night. “Felix… this is beautiful…” you sit in awe. “I knew you'd like it, this is my favorite place to come when I need to think.” He smiles softly. He helps you down again and he walks you down a bridge leading to the small island in the middle of the pond. You sit down on the small bench and stare at the stars and moon, “This is just so beautiful… I-” you turn to look at Felix who is smiling at you. “I-... Um…” you look away down to the other side.

“Y/n?”

“Hm?” You look back up.

“I've known you for years now,” You look down at your hands in your lap. “and ever since that first day you helped me the temple, I've always thought you were the most beautiful girl I've ever met...” At this point your heart is beating so fast it feels like it might pop out of your chest, you want to say something but your mouth won't move.

Felix continues, “I've known from that moment that I've liked you, I just haven't had the guts to tell you… I understand if you don't like me back, I just needed you to kno-” before he can say anything else you're grabbing the sides of his face and are crashing your lips into his. He freezes for a second before he moves his hands to your waist and kisses you back. It's like fireworks are going off in your head, the world almost seems to spin as he slowly moves his lips with yours.

You slowly pull apart and just stare into each other's eyes almost in a dase, “Hey Felix?”

“Yeah?”

“I definitely like you back,” He chuckles before kissing you again pulling you closer as you slowly run your hands through his hair.

You two lie down in the grass and watch the stars together holding hands, you point out constellations you've learned and how the stars look like his freckles. You stay like this for about half an hour before he stands up, “Come on, we should really get going, we've got a lot to prepare for.” He gives you his hand and helps you up, once you're up he laces his fingers with yours and walks you back to the horse. He takes you back to the temple and walks you up to the door before he softly caresses your cheek with his thumb and leans in to kiss you one last time, which you you gladly return smiling.

“I'll see you tomorrow,” he smiles as he gets back on the horse and leaves for the castle. You go inside grinning like an idiot and lean your back up against the door as you shut it. “Fun night?” You just about jump out of your skin as you see Han, Minho and Changbin all sitting on the couches in front room of the temple.

“I- uh-” They all just laugh, “Calm down, you don't have to tell us anything,”

You sigh, “You guys scared the crap out of me, why are you still up??”

“We were waiting for you.” Changbin says still laughing a bit.

“Why…?” They all just shrug and you roll your eyes, “Nevermind, it doesn't matter, but we do need to go to bed, we have a lot to get ready for.” They all whine and get up and go to the guest rooms near the back and you go to your room. As you lay in your bed you just stare up at the ceiling, “Did that really… just happen…?” You touch your lips and smile. As you fall asleep the only thing on your mind is Felix's face.

The next morning you wake up just before sunrise and before the boys wake up to make breakfast. Which the smell of food wakes them up pretty quickly. After eating for a few minutes there's a knock at the door, you go and open it to find Chan, Felix and Jeongin with a cart drawn by two horses. When you see Felix you can't help but smile and blush a little remembering last night, and Chan definitely notices. You run off and finish getting ready as the boys finish up eating and do the same. Once you're all ready you pile into the cart and Chan gets in the front to drive and Changbin sits up there with him. The cart is definitely faster than walking, but not by much, it's definitely easier than walking.

You make it to and through most of the forest in about half a day, once you make it to the crossroads again Changbin speaks up, “We should go to Silvermire, that's the way Tema’s goons go every time they report back to her,” Chan nods and you go left this time.

You make it to Silvermire in about an hour, at this point it's a few hours after middy. The town is on the very edge of the forest and is in much better condition and much larger than Deepwood. It once again has a wall around it but it's much taller, and it has an actual gate, but it is open. It's a very busy bustling town with people selling things from carts and people getting off work going home or to the local pubs.

You make your way through the town and make it to a larger inn with a pub in the downstairs. You all go in and it's just starting to get active. Chan goes up to the bar and buys three rooms, “Hey is there a place we can keep our horses?” He asks. “Oh yes, we have a public stable near the gardens. Just go follow the main road for a while and you'll see it.” She smiles as she hands Chan the keys for the room. Chan smiles, “Thank you,” he turns to leave and stops, “Oh wait! One more thing, do you know anything about a lady named Tema?” She thinks for a moment, “Hmm it sounds familiar… you know who might know? The druid who helps with the gardens, lots of people like to hang out there so he knows almost everyone, he's very friendly.” Chan smiles and thanks her again before giving everyone their keys, one to you, one to Han, Minho and Changbin, and the last one stays with Chan because he's sharing with Felix and Jeongin. “We gotta get more girls in this group, bunking by myself is sorta lonely…” you whine as the rest of them laugh.

“I'm gonna go find a place to leave the horses, and also possibly learn some about Tema. Who wants to join me?”

“I will!” You all say almost in unison. You all start laughing. “Well ok then, I guess this'll be a group thing.” Chan chuckles as you all start making your way to the gardens. Due to how large the town is it takes about ten minutes to get there. It's a very large garden, maybe about half the size of the castle’s, which is saying a lot, the castle garden is very large. You easily find the stables and Chan pulls up to it, a young man comes out and helps tie the horses up and parks the cart behind the building, Chan pays him a few gold. You all make your way to the garden, which is beautiful, it has all sorts of different plants and trees, there are bright flowers everywhere, and multiple pathways throughout it with a small house in the center. The house has a stone path leading up to it, and on one side of the house is a small koi pond, and a chicken coop on the other. As you walk up to the door and Chan knocks you ask, “Hey Chan? Who is this person anyway?”

“Some druid, apparently he might know about Tema, he's probably some old man-" An attractive younger man, not much older than Chan opens the door. He's wearing loose dark brown and green clothes and has a small silver circlet with little flowers on it on his head. “Can I help you?” He asks softly. “I- um- uh-” Chan stumbles over his words as Felix pushes him out of the way, “We're looking for someone, we were told you might know something.”

“Oh alright, why don't you you come in? I just made tea,” the man smiles softly gestures inside. “Alright, thank you.” Felix smiles and goes inside with the man and the rest of the boys, except Chan who's still standing in the same place as before, staring where the man was in the doorway. “Chan? Chaaan,” you wave your hands in his face, “Chan!” You snap your fingers at him. “Ah! What? Huh?” You laugh, “Great first impression,”

“Y/n…” he grabs your shoulders, “This guy is way too pretty, what do I do??” He whispers in a panic. You start laughing harder than before, “Oh my gosh Chan, calm down, just be normal ok? Try not to freak out.” You state calmly. “Ok ok…” Chan takes a deep breath.

“You ready?”

“Nope, but I'm going in anyway.” He says as he goes inside. You simply chuckle and follow him in. The inside is full of plants and vines climbing up the walls, there's an orange tabby cat in the window and a hot kettle of tea on the table, it's a very warm comfortable house. You and Chan sit down at the table with the rest of the boys. “I'm happy you came, I haven't had many visitors recently,” he starts pouring everyone tea, “My name's Woojin, I take care of this garden.” He smiles softly as he sits down. “It's a pleasure to meet you,” Felix smiles, “I'm Felix, and this is Y/n, Chan, Jeongin, Changbin, Han and Minho.” You all nod and smile as he says your names. Woojin and Chan make eye contact for a split second and Woojin smiles a little brighter, and Chan can swear his heart explodes. “Wonderful,” Woojin smiles, “Now, you said you were looking for someone right?”

“Yes, we're looking for a woman named Tema, do you know anything?” Felix asks.

“Hm, Tema… that sounds familiar…” Woojin thinks for a moment, “Oh! I do know that name! She came by about a month ago looking for some very poisonous plants, which I obviously don't have, she got very mad that I didn't and burnt down some of my plants and killed a few of my chickens… it was horrid…”

“That sounds about right… do you know where she might have gone..?” Felix asks.

“I think she mentioned something about Everbell… it's a town in the mountains, it's very far, and very dangerous…” You all sit there thinking for a moment, “I guess we're going there next,” you shrug. “Wait, you guys can't go there by yourselves, there are some crazy elementals, giants and harpies up there, you'll never make back alive if you don't have someone who knows how to navigate the mountains with you.”

“Well where would we find someone who can do that?” Felix sighs. “I mean, I used to live up there…” Woojin states. “Oh! So would you be able to come with?”

“Well… I could, I do have someone who could watch the gardens for me…” he sits there for a moment thinking it over, “Sure! Why not? I haven't been out of this town in a while.”

“Great! Would tomorrow be ok for you?”

“Sure! I'll be ready in the morning!” He smiles brightly.

You all stand up and make your way out of his house, at this point it's beginning to get dark and you see people lighting the lanterns throughout town, you all walk back to the inn, and om the way there you almost go over to hold Felix's hand but stop yourself since no one else knows yet.The pub in the bottom of the inn is bustling and lot's of people are talking and laughing, the boys want to stay in the pub and hangout, but you're exhausted and are ready to sleep, so you head up to your room as the guys order a round. After they all finish their first beer Felix speaks up, “Ya know, I'm actually pretty tired also, I'm gonna go up to the room, can I have the key?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, here,” Chan hands Felix the key and he heads upstairs, but he doesn't go to his room. He instead knocks on your door, which you answer pretty quickly since you weren't asleep yet, as you open the door you smile. “Hey,” Felix grins and you let him in. Almost immediately he has his hands on your hips and turns you around and up against the door as he presses his lips to yours. You slowly move your hands up is body and to his hair as he tilts his head into the kiss. You part and he sighs as he presses his forehead to yours, “I've waited all day for that…”

“Why can't we just tell the guys so we don't have to hide this?” You move your hands to his back.

“Because, they'll tease us.” You pout, “But I wanna hold your hand and stuff in front of them… and I don't wanna have to wait to kiss you…” He sighs, “I know… me too… I'll tell them in the morning, ok?”

You smile and peck him on the lips, he then pulls you into a deeper kiss and you giggle into the kiss which makes him smile and you two end up just laughing with each other. As he pulls away he takes your cheeks in his hands and squishes your face, “Wow… how are you so cute?” He kisses the tip of your nose and you blush and hide your face in your hands. He chuckles and lets go of you, “I should go before Chan comes looking for me…” he kisses you one last time before he quickly leaves. You sit there grinning at the door for a minute before you lay down and go to sleep.

Previous//Next

[korean-tsundere]

26 Things About Me

A- Age:

625

B- Biggest fear:

Abandonment, being left behind by the ones I love most

C- Current Location:

Richmond-upon-Thames, London, England

D- Drink you last had:

Whiskey at Marcel's

E- Everyday need:

Sleep and quality time with my family

F- Favorite song:

I'm a music producer, I have many.

G- Ghosts, are they real?:

I've met enough warlocks with the ability to commune with spirits to know they are real. Besides if all other supernatural beings exist, why can't ghosts?

H- Hometown:

Daegu, South Korea

I- In love with:

My amazing soulmates Skylar Leif and Daniel Park

J- Jealous of:

Jealousy is a wasted emotion. Why be envious of others when you may just have someone envious of you. I'd rather spend my life making the most of it than waste time being jealous of others.

K- Killed someone?:

Unfortunately, yes. While I am remorseful for causing their family pain by taking his life, he nearly killed my little brother and did kill my unborn niece or nephew before threatening my soulmates and then unborn children. I wanted to make sure he couldn't hurt anyone else I love. To his family, I am truly sorry for your loss but I had to protect my family.

L- Last time you cried?:

The day my children were born.

M- Middle name:

I don't have one.

N- Number of siblings:

Alot!

Technically 3 adopted siblings through David and Magnus (Atti, Ezra, and Raphael) and 2 in laws including their significant others (Kwan and Liam).

I have 1 platonic soulmate I consider a brother (David).

I share soulmates with 3 and consider them family (Joel, Alec, Ava), as well as their significant others (Gryffin who is married to Joel)

O- One wish:

For my family to always be happy, healthy, safe and have everything they want in this life.

P- Person whom you last called:

Liam and Isaac since they were watching the kids so that Skylar, Danny, Joel, Gryffin and I could have a night out.

Q- Question you’re always asked:

The most common: Soulmates, plural? Fiancées, plural?

Honorable mentions: What's it like being the adoptive son of Magnus Bane? Is it weird your platonic soulmate is marrying the man you consider your father figure?

R- Reason to smile:

My entire reason for living: Skylar, Danny, Hagen and Aera.

S- Song last sung:

I sang an old Korean lullaby to Hagen and Aera the other night to help them sleep but before that I was asked to rap on tracks I was producing for the singers Max, Halsey and IU. Occasionally I lend harmony vocals on tracks for artists I produce for.

T- Time you woke up:

This morning? 3 am because Hagen and Aera were hungry so Danny and I got up to change them and give them bottles so Skylar could get some sleep.

U- Underwear color:

Not that it's anyone's business but Danny and Skylar's but they are black. What kind of question is this?

V- Vacation destination:

I've visited nearly every corner of the world over the past 600 or so years but I have places I like going back to more than others. Brazil, Spain, Japan, Australia, Islands in the Caribbean.

W- Worst habit:

I have several. The worst would probably be trying to hide it when I am having issues with my anxiety and depression and forgetting to eat when I'm in producer mode. But I can never hide either from Skylar and Daniel or David.

I bite my nails when I'm nervous (though not as much anymore), I tend to scratch myself subconsciously when I'm anxious, I rub behind my ears and neck when I'm shy, I bite my bottom lip when I'm thinking about something, Danny says I tend to "purr" when I'm talking and stop to think about what I'm going to say next and do this little hissing inhale alot when I talk but I never noticed either.

X- X-Rays you’ve had:

Only a couple and that was because I went to the hospital so the mundanes who saw me hurt on the street when I was living on the streets in Daegu wouldn't know I was supernatural. Usually I just scan and heal myself or go to Magnus if I'm injured, the perks of being a warlock.

Y- Your favorite food:

Kimchi Stew and literally all meat

Z- Zodiac sign:

Pisces