#HAVE A NICE AT HOME PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!! EAT SOME GOOD FOOD!!!!!!!! ENJOY BEING DOTED ON BY TWO OF HYPMICS PRETTIEST MEN (FOR ONCE PLS) LMAO

[akkivee]

HEY HEY HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ITS DOPPO DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[astaroth1357]

Demigod MC Series: Demeter

Have I been using this series to vicariously punish Belphie for the events of Season 1? I cannot confirm nor deny that statement.

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter

Lucifer

Didn't think too much of the "human" when they popped out of the portal. Sure they had a straw hat and a huge basket full of produce but it wasn’t like they were… Wait… No… Were they…?

Oh no. Oh nonononono, this is not good…!!

Demeter is notoriously doting and protective of her children (see her freakout and breakdown after Hades abducted of Persephone as proof) and they've pretty much done the EXACT. SAME. THING. here!!

It was a mad scramble by him and Diavolo to contact and appease their godly Mother Bear before she came roaring down to Devildom herself to turn them all into barley. Thankfully, Zeus must have intervened at some point because though she was indeed PISSED, she didn't threaten to barge in… yet.

She made one thing very clear. Bend so much as a single hair on her precious child's head and there would be WAR…

The MC received a 24 hour security detail after that. Just Mammon wasn't going to cut it, he needed NO chances. It was a full rotation of Mammon, him and Beel for the entirety of their stay (Asmo and Levi both threw hissy fits at the prospect of babysitting, Satan couldn’t be trusted not to kill them just to irritate him, and Belphie was out for… obvious reasons).

In some ways, it wasn’t so bad. The MC was a very mild sort of person, rather even tempered. He’d dare say they were pleasant, mostly content to just tend to their gardens and be out in the moonlight…

But the problem was, he just could not convince them to stay OUT of nature. Including the forests, which were full of hellish beasts fully intent on gnawing their flesh from their bones… and their specialty was plants, not animals, sooo…

Their habit of sneaking out to wander the woods got so bad that he very nearly considered pulling a Belphie 2 and locking them in the basement for their own good. But Devil knows what damage their mother would do if she found out…

At least they make for pleasant company… And Diavolo seems to like them quite a bit himself so the mortal gets a pass from him. Now if they’d only consider their own safety for a change…

Mammon

They make him a KILLING.

Like, no seriously. Their produce is insane!! He’s never tasted food so good, especially stuff that’s come fresh from the ground! It only took a few berries for Mammon to throw on a straw hat himself and start harvesting! He’s a farmer now, baby!!

Weeellll not quite. He’s still absolutely only in it for the money, but anything he brings to a farmer’s market goes so fast that he can hardly care about the labor! He’s never made this much Grimm in his life!! And it’s totally legit for a change!

He bought himself another car, paid off half of his debt, and even got Levi back that 2 or 3 grand he leant him centuries ago. Really, Mammon’s living his best life and it’s all thanks to MC!

It’s a good thing his blatant grifting doesn’t hurt his relationship with them at all, in fact they seem to enjoy having his help regardless. They bring him drinks on hot days or invite him on picnics and stuff, it’s… it’s really sweet. They’re very nice to him and he appreciates it…

But… COULD YA JUST STAY PUT ALREADY???

It drives him INSANE that they won’t stay out of dangerous places!! After he started caring about them for more than just a meal ticket it only got even worse!!

He’s not usually one for monitoring someone’s every move (that kind of control freak behavior is more a Lucifer thing) but he eventually had to set up familiars around the House just to keep them from sneaking out at night...

What was so interesting out there anyway?? There wasn’t any kind of plant that he could bring them himself! They didn’t have any need to be out there!! 

They’d keep telling him they’d be fine but it’s not like he’s going to actually buy that. They were too… nice to be dangerous or anything so why would he believe them?

No more running off, MC! Please, he’s beggin’ ya!!

Leviathan 

Wait, gardening? Like, being outdoors and stuff? Ew. No thanks, he’ll pass.

That was more or less his first reaction when they showed up and it never really got much better than that…

He admits that they’re friendly and it’s not like he dislikes them or anything, but their thing so far from his thing that they just don’t have a lot in common… you know?

For starters, they get So. Antsy. when they’re inside for too long! He tried to invite them to a marathon once, but they could hardly keep still and kept looking around like they were searching for a window… He said, “to jump out of.” They insisted just for some fresh air, but he didn’t buy it...

They’re nice enough to listen to his rants, but they’re barely ever inside for him to do so and like HELL is he going to leave his room and stand around out there for that long. Ranting is at least a one to two hour engagement! What if he gets hot out there? And have you SEEN Devildom bees?? Hell no!!

He has, however, asked them on multiple occasions to reproduce flowers he’s seen in different anime, especially ones that have a very unique look and they’ve done some real wonders with that!

He can now claim to be the only person to ever own a Ruby-Jade Vine plant, straight from the pages of TSL when it was used to brew tea for the Lord of Lechery during his brief illness and-is anyone even still listening anymore?

The point is, it’s a flower so rare it was imaginary but now HE has it!... or had it for about a week until his utter incompetence of all things plant killed it…

He begged the MC for another but they were out of the plants they needed to make it and would have to go back to the human world to find more… He’s still mourning his loss… Poor Henry 4.0…

Satan

Well… He’s called this MC “salt of the Earth” and he does truly mean it. Take of that what you will.

He doesn’t get much in the way of intellectual conversation out of this mortal UNLESS he’s talking about plants, farming, or botany… Interesting topics and complex in their own right to be sure, but that’s pretty much their wheelhouse and they like it there.

That being said, the feats that they can perform are genuinely mind-blowing! They are the ONLY person he has ever met who can cultivate the Devildom’s own ultra-rare Phantom Orchid, a plant only blooms when it reaches a perfect state of undeath (i.e. both taken care of and neglected just enough so that it's only barely alive. The balance is so tricky to master that one hasn’t bloomed down there for centuries!)

There’s also something just genuinely relaxing about watching them work or helping them in the gardens… More so than he’d ever expected from such a simple activity.

He admits that he’s taken quite a few strolls through the flower-filled courtyard of the Demon Lord’s Castle just to admire its beauty... But anything that they can grow just blows all of that out of the water!

They even taught him several magic botanical techniques so now he can grow some pretty mad plants himself. Lucifer never expected to find that giant Venus Flytrap in his closet, but one was there regardless. 😏

Just… out of curiosity one day, he asked the MC if they could make him a new kind of catnip. Not for any nefarious reason! You know… just for research purposes…

The nip they made was so effective that the House grounds were FILLED with nipped-up cats for a whole month! He was in Heaven!! (and Lucifer practically wiped those plants from existence so he couldn’t get any more… asshole...)

That must have inspired them because they apparently made a demons-only version that they told him about WELL after the fact. Had he known, he probably would have burned the stuff on principle... Do you know how dangerous demon-nip could be to them? Experiment responsibly, MC!

Asmodeus 

Ehhhh, gardening SOUNDS like one of those things that should be super Devilgram-able, but then you realize how sweaty and dirty you get in the process and it’s a huge turn off… Sorry MC.

When they first came down to the Devildom, he thought two things: 1) Such a sweet little flower child, as adorable as they were, would never survive; and 2) even if they could, he would never ever see eye-to-eye with them on the “wonders” of getting all up in the dirt.

Well, he was right about 2, but certainly not 1. Personally, he thinks his brothers worry about them too much, they ARE still a demigod.

At one point he saw a pack of hellhounds almost trample one of their vegetable gardens and they lost it. Word to the wise, never try to take on a child of Demeter in their own garden. Those hounds were wrapped up in rose vines before they could even yelp...

Yeah, the MC would be fine.

That being said, while everybody else clamors over their produce, he thinks that their flowers are really where it’s at!

Taking just five minutes in one of their gardens is something else... He’s never seen blossoms as healthy and immaculate in all the Devildom before! Their beauty could (almost) rivals his own! What they do isn’t just a hobby, it’s an art.

He’s taken multiple pictures with their blossoms and they go viral every time. It’s so rare to actually see gorgeous, petal-filled flowers in the Devildom, most of the native plants are of the man-eating variety.

His only complaint about this MC is that they seem to feel much more at home in work clothes and dirt than they do in any sort of party-look he tries to give them… Cute as they are, they can afford to gussy up sometimes can’t they? Mud and grass stains don’t make for a good look, sorry.

Beelzebub 

Beel gardens and the MC gardens as well. Add on that they seem to be able to grow all manner of fruits and veggies and he likes this one. A lot.

They had just finished apple-picking when the portal nabbed them so they had a massive basket of apples at the time. Naturally, Beel more or less stole the thing on sight, but the apples inside were so juicy and good that he almost shook them down for more on the spot!

Imagine his surprise when they, half pleadingly, explained to him that if he got them some seeds they could just grow more… and it wouldn’t even take that long.

To be clear, the formula he saw was this: Get seeds > bring seeds to mortal > mortal grows seeds > mortal makes endless supply of food….

Congratulations MC, you’ve now earned the sixthborn’s eternal loyalty after a grand total of… two minutes. He didn’t even know their name, but he was willing to take a bullet for them (provided he got more of those apples).

The next several months were spent with Beel attached to them to the hip in some way, but honestly? It was just so wholesome anyway…

If he’s helping in the garden, he never complains. He does most of the heavy lifting and actually likes being out there with them (unlike others...)

Many afternoons were spent sitting under fruit trees and talking. Sometimes, they go to the trouble of preparing a picnic or something but it would always inevitably end with Beel plucking the whole tree clean of whatever ripe (or unripe) fruit he can get his hands on with a smile. 

The MC never minded though. That’s just another excuse to grow more, right?

His only problem was when the MC would sneak out to the forest… especially when they get too antsy and just go alone. 

He HATES it when they do that! How is he supposed to keep them safe if they just wander off?? He knows that they have a special connection to nature and all, but it isn’t safe…

He’s flown in and scooped them back up to the House on numerous occasions and his “talking tos” get sterner after every rescue... Please stay put, MC! He’d have so many reasons to be sad if you were eaten… 😔

Belphegor 

Okay, he was looking for a capable, if not gullible, human. Not a shoeless flower hippy!

He honestly wasn't expecting much out of this one... Damn their little heart because they did genuinely believed his lies, it’s just that they weren't… well… They were really good at gardening.

… And it grew kind of hard to keep hating them whenever they'd show up just to give him fresh berries or a bouquet to see him smile… He may claim that his heart is made of nightmares and orphan tears, but who doesn’t enjoy being given a batch of flowers? 

Damn their sweetness too… Right to here.

When it came time to kill them he had a heavier heart than he thought he would, but kind of saw it like putting down the sacrificial lamb. Gotta be done to reach better goals... Stiff upper lip and all that.

Unfortunately for him, they had taken to carrying packets of demon-nip with them as a self-defense measure…

He wasn’t exactly sure what he expected when they shouted “Get nipped!” at him mid-attack, but it wasn’t a face full of some smelly herb! Like, really smelly…! Actually, that smelt kind of good… Hold on.

Turns out murderous rage really doesn’t last long after you get what is effectively ultra-strong catnip thrown in your face. They ended up having to go and tell Lucifer what happened themselves because Belphie was way too blissed out on the floor to do anything... They were legitimately worried they might have fried his brain...

He’s told the effects of the demon-nip lasted three days. He doesn’t know, because he hardly remembers any of it... They described him as like he was high on “weed” and “ecstasy” at the same time but he doesn’t know what either of those are either so it wasn’t helpful…

Truthfully, they were so nice to him while he was recovering that he couldn’t even be mad afterwards so all's well that ends well? Either way, he’s sleeping under their orchard trees from now on. It’s peaceful out there...

They burnt all that nip though. It’s some strong stuff...

[arcadejohn127-9]

Ahhh I love your writing sm!! Could I request how the brothers would react to an MC that's super doting and overly loving from the get-go?. Always insists on helping w cooking duty, brings the brothers coffee if they look busy, etc? pls & ty!

Tbh I don't really have a love language over than verbal but this speaks to me

In game I make my MC very much like this, overly positive and always wanting to help. Not because I have to, I could easily pick more honest or teasing options but when it comes to it. My first instinct/Response is those options because I like the idea of being helpful to people

It's only when people start using that for their advantage or make me help them out even though I'm busy or just don't want to do it. That's when there's an issue.

Lucifer:

"oh~ Luci! You still working?"

You peered over at him at his desk, peaking from the space between the wall and the stair railing

He looked up at you with a tired expression, frowning

"I am, what do you need?"

you trotted down the rest of the steps, walking over to him with a bright smile

A tray in hand with coffee and biscuits and apple slices

"I made these for you, I know it isn't much but you're always working so hard... perhaps I can help?"

Lucifer wasn't too surprised, you were always offering your help whenever you could but it still surprised him you were so quick to offer

He didn't know how you had all that energy to face the day and then do more for others but he always enjoyed your company

"be my guest."

You grabbed a mini stool and sat beside him, you'd read over papers with him, massaging his hand whenever you noticed it cramped

He shared the snacks you got him and even revealed the mini snack draw he had in his desk

He put a finger to his lips with a smile

"don't tell my brother's, this will be just between you and me."

He showed you what he had and you picked whatever caught your fancy, happily eating as you looked over the papers

Mammon:

He wasn't use to Someone being nice to him so when you came along and offered acts of service - he was blown away!

Even over time he wasn't really use to it

Speaking of you and your acts or service; you were whistling a happy tune

A thick wallet in your pocket, you headed straight to mammons room

It was as if he could smell the money, he rushed to your side and started eyeing the wallet

"Stop peeking - it's a gift."

He looked at you confused but was grinning

"oh? The great Mammon can't refuse a gift!"

You placed the wallet in his hand, he let out a yelp at the weight of it

It was completely loaded!!! It was stuffed with money!

He couldn't believe it - it had to be a trick! There was no way you were giving him this much money!

"Are ya playing with me? Ha ha human."

"no tricks, you've been struggling with your debt to the witch's so I thought I'd help, I heard you've been getting in trouble with Lucifer more because of it so I wanted to help!"

He didn't even realize he teared up, he jumped towards you and hugged you close

Nuzzling your faces together as he hugged you tight

"You-! YOU DAMN HUMAN- NO YOU ANGEL! YOU'RE THE BEST THING THAT'S HAPPENED TO ME!"

You patted his arm, laughing and it wasn't long before he was planning to spend a big splurge on you despite his issues with money already

Levithan:

He was shuffling into his room, headphones on and just starting to calm down

Today was hectic so he was happy to finally be back home

"Evening! Don't worry, I still used the secret password."

"HUH-?! THAT'S NOT- WHY ARE YOU IN MY ROOM?!"

He threw his headphones off, face bright red

He should of known you were up to something, you kept humming whenever you entered his room

Talking about cleaning up after himself but he kept forgetting due to getting distracted

"I noticed it's gotten really messy so I decided to clean it for you but before you say anything, I know you hate when it's cleaned because you don't know where anything so I've labelled where everything has been stored if it's changed places."

He was still upset, he REALLY hated it when things are changed without him knowing first

But he looked around the room and sure enough, things were still in the cupboards and places he stacked them in and the labels were correct

Everything was completely organized! All the piled up ramen was even gone!

He exhaled a long breathe calming himself down, he was happy - really really happy

"Thanks.... just - can we arrange something next time? But I do like what you did! It looks nice - it's much better now!"

"of course, I'll ask next time - also~ I got you some special ruri-chan themed chips in hopes to make you feel better."

He moves before he knows it, hugging you tight

"STAY WITH ME FOREVER!!!!"

He's definitely embarassed afterwards and gets you out of his room before he makes himself look more like a love sick fool

But don't worry, he texts you wanting to hang out later

Satan:

Satan has been locked in his room after having a big outburst earlier that day

He got overwhelmed from all the noises and threw a book at mammon

You waited awhile before going after him, wanting him to calm down and looked after mammons sore head

You grabbed the book he threw, making a nice calming tea and even made some Apple pie

When you knocked his door he freezed

"Who is it-?! Lucifer, I'm not in the mood for your scolding-"

"it's just me, I got you something!"

He opened the door for you, letting you inside

His room looked clean for once - you didn't doubt he continued his rage into his room and cleaned up to calm down

You offered him a smile, placing the tray on his bed

"I hope you like it, I made it myself."

He looked at the fresh apple pie, his stomach rumbling at the mere sight of it

"you did this...for me? Didn't I scare you?"

You hummed, sitting close to him

"yeah a little but everyone has their bad days, you having one doesn't change anything - though you do need to apologize to mammon."

He sat down by his bed, placing the tray on his lap

"you're right I do, thank you for not just seeing me as some angry creature....I didn't intend to blow up like that."

You patted his arm, still smiling

You two sat together, you read his book for him whilst he ate and drank

He was very bashful at how supportive you are but that was you, you've always been so quick to offer help or do things for people ever since you've arrived

You were good to him, he'll always appreciate that

Asmodeus:

His love language is affection and words

Yours is acts of service

It's perfect!

Though, when it was established you were quick to help and offer your service - prepare for MANY innuendos

He'll come skipping to you, draping himself off the nearest object and asking if you want to help him de-stress

Most of the time you just have spa days or lay around doing nothing

You decided to treat him today seeing as exams were stressing him out

"Asmo! Won't you help me? I have this lovely new-"

He's skidding as he appears in the doorway, ready to do whatever you want

But you just grinned, knowing your plan worked

You grabbed him and shoved him into a chair

Before he knew it; his hair was tied up and his jacket and scarf has disappeared

"oh? What's all this about? Does my love want some special care?"

"nope, I just want to look after you today~ you've been stressing over exams so much, I wanted to treat you like a prince."

He had the biggest grin on his face after that

And treated like a prince he was

You did his skin routine, brushed his hair and curled it

If he even mentioned being thirsty you were straight to getting him a nice refreshing drink

If you're able to - please carry him bridal style - he will love every second of it

"you treat me so well, I know I'm already a blessing to this demonic world but you're just pure light."

He's so love sick, an absolute fool in love

"nonsense, I'm just helping you like usual."

Which is true, you were always being helpful to him

Thats why he loved doing whatever he could for you

"Never leave the Devildom, I couldn't bare not seeing your beautiful face everyday."

You just laughed, massaging his face and gave him a quick kiss

Beezlebub:

Another person who does acts of service as a love language

Though, do forgive him if he forgets due to hunger - he'll immediately make it up to you

At this point he's become a subconscious challenge/game of service - always trying to one up each other

Currently, he was really anxious about his up coming game

It was the biggest one that R.A.D was having and was against a smaller school in the Devildom

The brothers all agreed to come watch him play and even made banners and levi brought glowsticks

You were no were to be seen

The weeks running up to the game you were always busy and whilst you still do some things for him here or there - you were mostly out of the house

But it was but a long lasting plan

You planned on supporting him the best way you could!

When he finally rolled onto the field he felt dread when he didn't spot you in the crowd

He couldn't stop frowning until he saw you, shaking pom poms and running with the cheersquad

That's right, you joined the cheer team to show your support for the lovely demon

"I WANT TO DEDICATE A CHEER TO OUR STAR PLAYER - BEEZLEBUB!!!"

He's so flustered and absolutely shining with joy under his helmet

As soon as he could he came running towards you and hugged you tight

"I was so worried I did something that made you drift away....you did this for me?"

"of course! I'm sorry I made you worried, I wanted to surprise you."

He had to take off his helmet after trying to nuzzle your face, you yelped when it bonked you

"This is the best thing anyone has done for me, thank you (Y/N)."

"you're welcome, now go win that game! Prove those losers that R.A.D is the best school around!"

It was no surprised that R.A.D won

The players all cheered and partied, inviting the band and cheerleaders to celebrate with them

But you decided to have a sleepover with Beelzebub, feeding him plenty of tasty foods as your own type of celebration

"Open wide."

You almost choked on the cake basically shoved in your mouth, laughing as frosting covered your nose and cheeks

You got your revenge but he happily licked what he could

This is the best celebration he could ever get

All because of you!

Belphegor:

Even if your love language wasn't acts or service, you definitely got in the habit of doing it with this guy

He was spoilt from always being carried and pampered by his twin

He could get away with sleeping anywhere as long as he got things done and good grades

But you were always the helpful human, giving him snacks or fluffing his pillows

He's joked about getting a bell so he could call you whenever he needed you

That never happened

"Belphie!! You awake? I got something for you."

He immediately popped his head up and waved to get your attention

You showed him the cup of hot mocha you've recently made; sweet and delicious and has an extra kick to help with keeping awake

"Smells delicious, you made this?"

"yep! Now drink up, we got plans today."

He happily drunk it, feeling more awake with every gulp

By the end of the Cup he was absolutely overjoyed from the taste

Though you almost groaned in frustration when he yawned, so happy that he got sleepy

"you have anymore~? I could drink loads of these- make me more, you know how to make them, I'm too sleepy - it's your fault I'm sleepy."

You flicked his head

Reminding him to not act like a brat

But you did make him more and throughout the day you'd give him a large cup

You needed to do studies and make sure belphegor kept his grades up - Lucifer's orders

But he was already a star pupil regardless so you weren't sure why you had to

But spending time with your favourite demon was never an issue, regardless of his attitude

"We need to do this more, I love it when you look after me."

"I know, now write your answer, I need proof you're working so I don't get strung up."

[im-in-vin-ci-ble]

Heyy could I possibly request f!OC x Mark, in which the OC is Red Rush’s daughter who also inherited his powers. Set before the events of episode one maybe at a Guardian’s work party or smth. Mark and OC are hitting it off in a ‘Idk what’s going on my dad just works here’ solidarity during the party; while her doting and protective father Josef is keeping an eye on them, unsure about how he feels about his favorite sidekick growing up on him. Maybe Olga and Debbie try to be matchmakers too lol

A/N: okay well this is CUTE AF, I love this sm thank u for requesting <3 also josef and olga are married here, no one dies (yet) and everyone is happy!!!

Pairing: Mark Grayson x Fem!OC

Rating: T

Warnings: mild swearing

The annual Guardians of the Globe Founder's Day party was never really Zasha's scene. It mainly consisted of the Guardians and the Global Defense Agency's families, and more often than not, she was the only one in her age group. Her true purpose there was to really just pay her respects to the people — including her father, who people knew as Red Rush — who protected the planet.

This year's Founder's Day event was different, however, as Omni-Man finally accepted the party invitations he'd been ignoring for years. Although there were jokes that he had accidentally RSVP'd to the party, or that his wife had accepted the invite behind his back, everyone seemed happy, and still pleasantly surprised, when he and his family walked in.

Sitting down with a non-alcoholic beverage in her hand, she watched as everyone shook hands with the powerful Nolan Grayson and his loving family. Zasha's mom, Olga, walked over to say hello and immediately dragged the three to where Zasha and Josef were. The two male superheroes first exchanged pleasantries, followed by Olga forcing her daughter to get up so she can properly be introduced to the teenage boy standing across from her.

"Zasha, hi," Debbie said with a wide smile as she gave you a warm hug. "This is my son, Mark. I don't think you two have properly met yet."

He extended his arm, "Oh, hi, uh, I'm Mark," he replied with a sheepish smile.

"Hi, I'm Z," she said as Olga gave her a soft push to move her forward. The young girl's eyes threw daggers at her mom before politely shaking his hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Are you all hungry? They've got a lot of food," Olga told the Graysons, leading them and Josef, who squinted his eyes at Zasha and Mark, over to the buffet table.

Zasha and Mark looked at each other awkwardly and exchanged nervous smiles. He began to rock back and forth on his feet, shoving his hands into his pockets as he attempted to think of what to say.

"So uh, how's... superhero training?" he asked.

"Uh, good," Zasha answered, nodding her head. "We managed to take down Titan yesterday so that was pretty cool."

"Oh yeah? That's great," Mark exclaimed. "How about, um..." he scratched the back of his head, "Is the, i-is the drink... good?"

She looked down at her cup and clicked her tongue, "You know for a party that's sponsored by the government, you'd think they'd have better catering."

He chuckled, "If I knew this was going to be a boring party with adults and toddlers and no good food, I would have at least brought a snack and some comic books."

Zasha sat back down and looked up at him with a smile, "Well you better take a seat, buddy, because the next few hours are going to make you wish you were being hurled at buildings instead."

She gently patted the seat next to her and Mark accepted the offer. "Do you go to these things a lot?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Zasha replied. "You are so damn lucky your dad never wants to come to a Guardians event."

Mark laughed, "You know what, I used to be really jealous of all the families who got together during these events but right now, I'd do anything to just go home." He looked around and sighed, "I don't even know most of these people."

"Me too, and I've seen their faces at least thrice a year ever since I could remember," she agreed. "Actually, I think this is the first solid conversation I've had with someone at these things."

"Really?" he asked in shock.

"Really," she answered, taking a sip of the bland orange juice that now mostly tastes like water. "Most of the guys who are my age that have attended aren't really cute, nor are they interesting, so meh."

Mark's head snapped up at that remark and he felt the warmth rush up to his cheeks. "The other guys aren’t... cute and not... interesting?"

"Hell no," Zasha laughed. "Have you ever tried connecting with a person who has no special abilities but know you're a superhero? It feels like talking to a wall."

He crossed his brows, "What do you mean?"

She sighed and leaned forward, "They usually ask me what being a superhero is like, but when I tell them that I managed to take down a man with rock for skin, it's like I'm a freak."

"You're not a freak, Zasha," he replied. "And any guy who feels that way about a girl who's trying to save others sounds like a shitty person."

"And they're not even cute!" she added.

"And they're not even cute," he repeated after her with a laugh.

Zasha sighed again and sat back up. She looked over at him and briefly examined his face, "Well it's a good thing you are."

Josef turned around and watched as the 17-year-old boy chatted up his daughter, as well as literally take his seat at the table.

He held on to Olga's arm and leaned in, "I don't like what I'm seeing over there."

Olga turned to look then laughed at her overbearing husband. "They're just talking, Josef," she said. "It's not Zasha's fault she can enjoy a pleasant conversation and you can't."

"Mm..." Josef groaned, "I don't like it."

"Don't like what?" Debbie asked from behind.

Olga walked over to her and excitingly yet subtly pointed at Zasha and Mark, who were now facing each other now laughing. "Josef's worried that Zasha won't have time to be his daughter anymore if she ever started dating boys," she explained to Debbie. "You know he scares off every single boy Zasha introduces to us? I'm worried she'll never have a boyfriend!"

"She doesn't need a boyfriend, Olga," Josef chimed in grumpily, crossing his arms as he watched the two like a hawk. "No one will be good enough for Zasha anyway. She can literally outrun all the boys she dates."

"So are you saying that my Mark isn't good enough for Zasha?" Debbie asked with half a smile, momentarily shutting Josef up before he nervously tried to form a sentence. "I'm just teasing, Josef," she followed, winking at him and almost warning him not to underestimate her son.

Olga chuckled, "It's good for them to bond. They're both teenagers and superheroes, if they ever date at least they won't have to worry about keeping secrets."

"Whoa, wait," Josef exclaimed. "They just met, who said anything about dating?"

His wife rolled her eyes at his remark. "We should, what's the term... hook them up," Olga said. "Debbie, ask Mark what's going on and I'll ask Zasha."

Debbie agreed to the plan and walked over to Mark and Zasha while Josef huffed in annoyance but stayed in his position; there was no way in hell he was going to keep his eyes off of them.

Debbie offered Mark some food from her plate but he kindly declined. "Good choice," she said. "For a party paid for by the government, you'd think they'd have better food."

Mark laughed and nodded in agreement, "That's what Z said!"

"Oh really?" Debbie replied with a playful smirk.

Mark and Zasha looked at each other as if they were sharing an inside joke before Olga called her daughter over.

"Sorry, mama is calling me," she told the Graysons as she excused herself.

"So..." Debbie trailed off, raising her eyebrow at her son whose cheeks were rosy red.

"Mom, please don't make it weird," Mark begged.

"You and Zasha seem to be hitting it off."

"I begged you not to make it weird," he groaned, covering his face.

"I was just asking!" Debbie said with a giggle. "Why are you being so offensive?"

"I'm not, mom, I'm just... ugh," he groaned again. "Please don't say anything to Josef and Olga. Don't make it weird."

"I won't, I won't," Debbie reassured him. "Are you gonna ask her out though?"

"Mom!"

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving," she said with a hearty laugh, nodding at Zasha who was walking back to her seat.

"Sorry about that, my mom was being strange," Zasha said. "Everything okay?" she asked Mark, who now looked like he'd been slapped over and over again.

"Yeah, yeah! Great! Everything's great!"

She smiled at him but Mark leaned over and kept his head down. Another moment of awkward silence fell upon the two; Zasha looked around while tapping her toes and Mark's sight was glued to the floor. From the corner of his eye, he could see his mom and Olga delicately signalling at him to make his move. He covered the sides of his face and continuously mouthed "No," but the two were unrelenting. He took a deep breath and finally sat back up, and looked over at Zasha who was still pretending to casually look around.

"Hey, uh, Z?"

She quickly looked over at him with wide eyes, "Yes?"

Mark looked behind her head and watched as Olga and Debbie were giggling and whispering to each other, like a bunch of high school girls who just saw their best friend talking to their crush.

"Uh, I'm hungry."

The smile on Zasha's face was quickly replaced with a look of confusion. "Okay... and?"

"Oh! Um," he cleared his throat, "do you... like burgers?"

Zasha giggled and nodded, "I do like burgers."

Controlling his urge to fist pump, Mark cheekily bit his lower lip and moved a little closer, "You wanna head out and grab a bite?"

"Uh..." she turned around and watched as Olga and Debbie quickly nodded their heads, her mom giving her a sign of approval to leave the party. "Sure, I'm starving."

Josef looked on as the two of them stood up and began to make their way to the exit. Sighing in defeat and sadness, he called them over to the place where he's been stationed at since the Graysons arrived.

"Papa, we're just gonna get something to eat," she informed him nervously, knowing his scare tactics when it came to the guys she introduced him to.

Josef's eyes softened as the sight of his little girl, who he knew and finally accepted was growing up. She was making her way into the world and as much as he wanted to always protect her, he knew that she was just as smart and as capable to start doing it herself.

He took his daughter's hand and held it tight, "Okay, call me if you need a ride home."

"I will," Zasha said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Love you, papa."

"I love you too," he replied with a smile that was immediately erased when he focused his attention to Mark. "Bring her home by 11:30, and no sneaking into her room by the window," he ordered the teenage boy sternly.

Caught by surprise by the sudden formality, Mark straightened his back and nodded. "Uh yes, y-yes sir, Red Rush, sir."

"Papa!" she exclaimed. "No more scare tactics."

"I'm sorry," he chuckled, "that was the last one, I promise."

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

Ateez: Getting Walked In On By Another Member (Rated)

Contains NSFW material, read at your own discretion.

Kim Hongjoong:

It was another day spent inside the studio with Hongjoong. Except recently he seemed to be struggling producing new songs. You could see how he stressed himself out, pushing himself to come up with something, only to later delete it cause it wasn't right.

"Maybe you should take a break." You suggested to him.

Sighing, Hongjoong leaned back on his chair.

"Maybe you're right....maybe I need to relax"

An idea suddenly popped in your head. Your boyfriend needed to relax, so why not help him? Slowly, you made your way over to him. Standing behind him, you began to gently rub his shoulders, hoping to release some of the tension he had built up. It was working as Hongjoong's head fell back, his eyes closing, enjoying the feeling of your hands on him.

Leaning down, you whispered in his ear.

"Baby, why don't you let me help you relax?"

When he opened his eyes, he could see you smirking at him and right away he knew what you were implying. And he was definitely not going to say no to that.

Soon enough, he was sitting on the couch, his pants and boxers pulled down to his ankles. His head was thrown back, tiny sighs and moans escaping his mouth as his fingers were tangled around your hair. The sight of you taking him so well, sucking on his entire length, it was enough to push him closer to his edge.

"Fuck-- baby, I'm going to-" but before he could get out the last part, you two were startled by a piercing scream.

"OH MY FUCKING- MY EYES!!"

Looking over, you saw poor Jongho covering his eyes. Hongjoong quickly sat up and started pulling his clothes back up.

"Jongho! What are you?!- Why are you-?!" Hongjoong couldn't even speak.

"I was bringing you food Seonghwa Hyung made, said it'd help you relax, but clearly, you already got that covered!"

Jongho simply set the food down on the floor, hands still over his eyes before bolting out of there as fast as he could.

"I'm never looking at you the same way again!!"

Park Seonghwa:

If there was anything Seonghwa liked when it came to your relationship, it was privacy. Privacy from the public, and especially privacy when it came to the sexual aspect of it. That's why you guys usually did it in your apartment, or he'd bribe the boys to go out for a long time if it was at the dorms.

And that was the current situation at the moment. He made them go somewhere else so he could take his sweet time with you. And boy was he making good use of it. You were currently on his bed, fully naked, while he was still fully clothed, in between your legs, eating you out like a starved animal.

"S-Seonghwa..." you breathed out, hands reaching for his hair.

He only replied with a moan against your lips, sending shivers up your body.

"Please Seonghwa....I need you" you were begging him to just fuck you senseless against the bed.

"Patience sweetheart, be a good girl and wait a little, I'm not finished yet."

He went back to continue sucking on your sensitive bud, his tongue working his magic on you. Slowly, his fingers began to poke at your entrance, teasing you mercilessly as you wished for nothing more than to just feel them inside you. Seonghwa was so addicted to your taste, your scent, so bewitched that he didn't hear the sound of the door opening. And he most definitely didn't hear the footsteps that stopped by his room.

"Daaang! Who knew the old man had moves?"

Both of you whipped your heads towards the door, seeing a giggling Wooyoung standing there. You were so mortified, you couldn't even move. Seonghwa, on the other hand, was furious that someone else had seen you in a way only he was allowed to. Swiftly, he pulled the blanket over you, covering you up before getting up and walking over menacingly to the younger boy.

"You have 5 seconds to run before I kick your ass." Was his only warning.

Jeong Yunho:

Having the dorm to yourselves cause most of the members were out visiting family or friends, Yunho and you decided to take advantage the moment and spend time together. At first, everything started off soft. You two were tangled in his bed, watching a movie while cuddling each other like koalas.

Things soon ended up taking a different tone though. It had been a while since you two were intimate and you couldn't handle it anymore. Clothes were soon thrown across the floor, marks were being plastered all over your body and it was getting more heated by the minute.

You had already came twice by Yunho's tongue and now he was trying to push you even further past your limit. His long fingers were currently deep inside you, hitting against that spot that was sending you to cloud nine.

"Y-Yunho-" You whimpered, gripping the sheets as you felt something completely different in the pit of your stomach.

Yunho smirked, knowing full well what was happening to you.

"I know baby, I know. Be a good girl for me and let it all out."

You couldn't hold back anymore. With curled toes, you came violently, squirting all over Yunho's fingers and arm. He used his free hand to press down on your stomach, holding you in place as his fingers never slowed down inside you, overstimulating you. You were a quivering mess by the time he finally pulled them out of you.

You were left panting and when your eyes were finally focused, you let out a sharp gasp when you saw Mingi standing in the doorway, mouth wide open. Yunho looked back and immediately got embarrassed now that he knew his best friend just saw what happened. For a while, nobody could say anything, too stunned by the situation, until Mingi asked.

"Can you show me how to do that?"

To which Yunho could only laugh and cover his face, but wasn't planning on saying no.

Kang Yeosang:

It was supposed to be nothing more than a fun party. Yeosang and you were definitely having a good time. The other boys were definitely having the time of their lives, San and Wooyoung already drunk, Yunho and Mingi dancing wildly, while Seonghwa and Hongjoong were making sure they didn't break anything or keeping Jongho from following in their footsteps.

You and Yeosang were currently on the dance floor. What started off as innocent dancing though, turned into heaving grinding and slight gropings. One look was all it took and soon you both ended up inside a closet. Shutting the door behind you, Yeosang was already attacking your neck, sucking and biting down, leaving red marks all over. His hands were roaming all over your body, until they rested on your ass. He started kneading at your cheeks and started grinding his erection against your ever growing wet core.

You weren't going to let him have his fun only. Reaching down, you started palming him through his jeans, causing him to growl against your ear. You smirked, knowing full well how to get him to submit to you. Making a quick work of his zipper, you pulled them down along with his boxers, just enough to be able to cup his length in your hand.

"Ahhh-ahh." Yeosang hissed at the feeling of your hand around him.

You peppered kisses across his jaw as you slowly began to stroke him, making sure to spread his precum along his tip.

"Such a good boy for me." You chuckled as you bit down on his lower lip, causing a moan to escape from him.

The moment was ruined by a loud San, who almost stumbled inside. He gasped when he saw you two in such a compromising position, before a smile was plastered on his face.

"I knew it! I fucking knew you two were going to hump each other! Guys!! Guess what?! Yeosang and Y/N-"

You didn't hear the rest as he was already gone, running no doubt to tell the others. Yeosang was beyond mortified, face a crimson red, and he was almost shaking.

"Please let's just go home." He desperately asked.

Choi San:

To say San was shameless was an understatement. Truth be told, he loved the risk of getting caught. Whether it'd be when he was out on a normal date with you, or if it meant getting caught with you doing something very sinful. The latter never had happened before, but that a changed one day.

Not only did San had the audacity to get naughty with you in the dorm, but he didn't even bother taking you to his room. He decided he needed you and the couch was going to be perfect for now. Clothes were gone in the blink of an eye, hot and steamy kisses were placed all over your body and San was practically insatiable.

Turning you on all fours, he pumped himself a few times before slipping inside your wet core, stretching you out and filling you up so nicely. His thrusts were deep and rough, the grip he had on your hips were sure to leave bruises on you, but you didn't care. The only things leaving your mouth were moans and pants.

"You like that baby girl? Yeah? You like being fucked like the little slut you are?" San groaned.

You let out a whimper when you felt his hand come down and slap one of your ass cheeks, quickly soothing it before repeating the same thing he did before.

"Go ahead, scream my name. Let everyone know who's making you feel good. Let them know who your Daddy is Princess."

"Oh my! San!!!"

Both of you were startled by a traumatized Yeosang standing in the hallway, face covered as he slowly sank to the floor.

"Couldn't you at least give a warning?!" Yeosang cried out, not wanting to uncover his eyes.

Although you were feeling sorry for the poor boy and wanted to go hug him or something, San's grip on you tightened and with one look he warned you not to move.

"Well since you're here Yeosangie....why not join us?" San smirked at his friend.

Yeosang peeked out a little.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Song Mingi:

Although Mingi was your tall and athletic boyfriend that seemed to dote on you extremely, no one knew that behind closed doors, in the 4 walls of your room, you were actually the one in charge and he was always at your mercy.

Mingi couldn't help it. He just loved you topping him, loved it when you were putting him in his place, and most of all, he loved being a good boy for you cause he knew it meant you'd make him feel so good. And that's exactly what you were doing at the moment. You were currently on top of him, grinding your slick folds along his length. Underneath you, Mingi was already a mess, sweat dripping down his face, hair stuck on his forehead. It was such an erotic visual.

Finally, his obedience paid off when you sank down on his long length, taking a moment to adjust cause boy was he big. Mingi didn't hold back his noises when you started moving on top of him. He couldn't even take his eyes off you, he loved the way your breasts bounced, he loved seeing his cock disappear inside you and then reappear, and god did he love hearing how good you felt.

"Ba-baby....I- I wanna c-cum..." Mingi could feel himself becoming undone.

"My baby wants to cum does he? Do you remember the magic words?" You smirked down at his disheveled appearance.

"Can I please cum? Pretty please?" He got out the words so fast due to his desperation.

He never got his question answered cause you were interrupted by Yunho's loud laugh in the doorway. Both of you looked like deer caught in headlights.

"Oh my god! Song Mingi is a freaking Sub?! Who would have thought?!" Yunho actually doubled over and slapped his knee at that.

Mingi was so embarrassed but so annoyed by his friend.

"Yah! Haven't you heard of knocking first?!" He screamed as he chucked a pillow at him.

Jung Wooyoung:

Wooyoung had a tendency to want to do things together with you. If you were going to dye your hair, he went with you and dyed his hair. If you were going shopping, he tagged along. Some called him clingy, but really, being an idol took up most of his time, so any spare time he had he loved spending it with you.

Right now he was enjoying the break they finally got after promotions ended, and there was nothing he loved than going out with you. You had a day full of activities and both were exhausted when you got back. You were also feeling dirty and Wooyoung suggested both of you take a shower together and you instantly agreed.

What started out as blowing bubbles at each other, ended up with you being pressed against the shower wall, Wooyoung trapping you with his body. His tongue was busy exploring every inch of your mouth as his hands gripped your ass and pulled you closer to him. His hands went to the back of your thighs and he lifted you up, wrapping your legs around his waist, easily slipping his cock inside you.

He gave you no time to adjust as he pounded harshly into you, hitting your g-spot every time he pushed himself back into you. With your heavy panting and the shower head on, neither of you heard the knock on the door nor when it opened and Seonghwa came in, eyes widening at the scene.

"What are you doing?!" His voiced boomed inside the bathroom.

Both of you were so surprise that Wooyoung almost dropped you, but luckily he didn't.

"Hyung! I can-"

But Seonghwa raised his hand.

"Don't say anything. This never happened, I never saw this. But please, lock the door next time."

Seonghwa then proceeded to walk away from there, but not before saying:

"And don't take too long! No wonder our water bill was so expensive last month!"

Choi Jongho:

Jongho wasn't a very big fan of PDA, especially not in front of his Hyungs. They already teased him too much. They teased him when they found out his crush on you, they teased him when you started dating, they teased him the first time he got jealous, it was seriously annoying. That's why you kept the affection very low so they wouldn't bother him.

So of course they never suspected that you and Jongho were actually very much active in the sexual aspect. But their fears came true one day when Jongho couldn't help himself and just threw you over his shoulder and took you to his bedroom to have his way with you.

"Oh my god! Jongho!"

You cried out as he pounded into you fiercely. With the angle he was hitting and the strength he used, it was all it took to send you over the edge, cumming all over his thick cock.

Feeling your walls clench around him, Jongho sped up, chasing his own orgasm.

"Baby, I wanna cum inside you. Let me fill up your pretty pussy with my cum?"

You nodded eagerly and that was all it took for him to spill himself inside you, pumping every last bit of cum in you. When he pulled out, he groaned at the sight of some of his cum pouring out of you.

"Fuck, you take my cum so well baby."

"Excuse me?!"

Both of you turned to the door, seeing Hongjoong's horrified expression as he took in the scene. You and Jongho scrambled to cover yourselves.

"Hyung! I swear it's not-"

"Don't deny it! I know what I saw! And you didn't even use a condom! Oh my God!"

Hongjoong covered his face before getting out his phone, dialing a number quickly.

"Seonghwa! Get your ass over here! We got a code red with Jongho, family intervention asap!"

Jongho sighed softly. "And this is exactly how I die."

Gifs not mine, credit goes to their respective owners.

[lady-griffin]

My Next Life as A Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom OP

I personally love the OP for this anime and have watched it multiple times already. Since I saw the first episode before I read the manga, I thought it was just a fun, cute, and creative opening.

Now after reading the Manga, I am very impressed with all they’ve managed to pack in, so I thought I would break it down bit by bit.

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW

Part 1

The OP opens with chains of roses appearing and disappearing and Mandela-like designs on the side. This appears to be the overall aesthetic of the otome game Fortune Lover. The world Katarina lives in now is the world of Fortune Lover.

Next, we see the Start Menu screen for Fortune Lover. With “New Game” highlighted in a different color than the other two options. 

A player is picking a new game for Fortune Lover – which is adept as we could argue that this is Katarina’s completely new start of “playing the game.”

Then the Start Menu is disrupted by bright colors in static waves – indicating that there had been a “glitch” or something has changed within the game world.

It’s safe to say that Katarina gaining her past life memories is said ‘glitch’, but if there was any doubt, we get a quick image of the villainess Katarina Claes – or how she appears in the game.

The story we are about to embark on is not the same as the one in Fortune Lover, the original villainess character has now become front and center, influencing the characters of the world and changing the original timeline, so to speak.

Part 2

We are then introduced to the main cast characters in quick flashes and in the order that Katarina officially meets them. In these quick introductions, we get a slight hint of their different personalities.

I included the quick shot of Game Katarina with her villainous face, showing the contrast in how Game Katarina appears vs. how the non-game versions of all her friends appear.

Geordo Stuart – Confident 

Keith Claes – Nervous and panicked

Mary Hunt – Friendly and endearing

Alan Stuart – A tsundere

Sophia Ascart – Shy

Nicol Ascart – Reserve

Maria Campbell – Sweet and kind

Now we know that we are being shown the real characters and not the game versions, because of Keith. As Game Keith was a confident, playboy and the Keith we see is not that at all (and thank goodness).

Part 3

We see Yong Katarina walking confidently with two different and separate backgrounds rotating behind her.

In the first walk, Young Katarina is outside and wearing her work clothes and carrying a hoe, likely her favorite one as we get a separate close-up shot of it.

In the background there are lettuce heads, carrots, bushes and trees rotating behind Katarina.

This little walk shows that Katarina not only works in a field/garden, but enjoys the work as well as being outside in general. Another aspect of Katarina is her love and skill of climbing trees and the trees in the background are a hint at this.

In the second walk, Young Katarina is inside her family home wearing her day-to-day blue dress. She is carrying around the fake snakes that she has made in order to scare Geordo. The snakes are Katarina’s diversion plan in case Geordo attacks her, which he does do in the game’s bad ending of his route. 

Rotating behind her are candelabras and battle axes.

I’m not sure if the candelabras represent anything specific – I don’t recall there being significance to them. Overall, I think they just represent the wealth and aristocracy of the main characters.

The battle axes on the other hand represent when Katarina took an axe to Keith’s door and broke it down when she was child, saving him from the loneliness that was swallowing him whole. 

That is one of the major changes she does to the game’s original timeline as she completely reroutes Keith’s path to a happier one.

Part 4

Young Katarina grips one of the fake snakes she was holding and it makes a funny face that transitions into Katarina’s own scared and funny face as she is confronted with her angry mother.

On her mother’s sides we see Katarina’s father trying to calm her mother down and Anne being exasperated with Katarina’s antics.

These are the three most important adult and authority figures in Katarina’s life.

Her father is a doting and loving man. While he is aware of his daughter’s eccentricities, he is pretty okay with them, especially when compared to his wife. He has little hearts next to him, representing his overall loving nature to both his wife and daughter.

Katarina’s mother is less adoring. In the scene, she goes from a calm angry expression to berserk as she berates her daughter for her unladylike behavior and interests.

Given this quick shot of Katarina’s mother, we see how Katarina’s own ‘villainess’ face while just a mechanic in the game, in the actual world it is clearly inherited from her mother. 

Next, we have Katarina climbing up a tree. This is one of Katarina’s favorite hobbies and a skill she is very proud of and one that she inherited from her former past life.

It’s also a nice detail that the battle axe, fake snakes and Katarina’s tree climbing come before and after Katarina’s mother goes berserk. As all three of these items are directly related to a time Katarina got in trouble with her mother.

Part 5

We get a still image of some delicious looking Macaroons and then we see a Young Katarina having a great time stuffing her face with said Macaroons, as she stands behind a table with other delicious looking treats in front of her.

She eats so much that she upsets her stomach/has to immediately go to the bathroom – a common problem for Katarina in her youth.

Katarina has a big love for food, sweets in particular. It’s often a way the other characters have endear themselves to her and her gluttony is also seen as one of her unladylike qualities.

Part 6

Katarina and Maria are sitting opposite of one another in a large spinning tea cup, surrounded by other tea cups and rose petals. 

This seems to show their relationship as ‘opposites.’ 

In addition, how important Maria is to Katarina’s life and her overall fate – since Maria is the heroine of Fortune Lover and her choice of romance in the game, leads Katarina to different degrees of doom in the game. 

The two spinning in a tea cup could also represent the spinning of their roles. 

Katarina is the heroine of My Next Life as a Villainess and while not the villain by any means, Maria for Katarina does represent a potential danger, especially in Katarina’s mind.

I also think that the tea cups represent Sirius Dieke, as tea is an important aspect to his overall character and he is a threat to both Maria and Katarina.

The fact that Maria and Katarina are sitting together in a tea cup could represent how in both their stories (particularly in the game) they are the heroine and villain.

Again, for the actual story that’s not the case. Maria is far from a villain, but Katarina does view Maria and her actions as potential threats to her well-being.

However, their hero/villain dynamic as romantic rivals, is completely dwarfed by the very real danger of the much worse threat that is Sirius.

Part 7

We get a glimpse into Katarina’s head and the council of her different sides.

From Left to Right we have

Studious Katarina Timid Katarina Chairmen Katarina Brave Katarina Happy Katarina

We see them every now and again, particularly when it comes to Katarina deciding what she should do to avoid doom flags (her being killed) or how to make the best of doom flags (her being exiled).

They are all as ridiculous and oblivious as the real Katarina. 

While their contingency plans for how to deal with the endings/doom flags aren’t bad, Katarina becomes so focus on them that she misses the obvious fact that she doesn’t actually need contingency plans. 

Part 8

Next, we have what is my personal favorite part, the sequence of Katarina and her friends from children to teenagers, which shows Katarina’s relationships with each of them.  

Geordo and Katarina - Engaged 

Both Geordo and Katarina appear in their childhood and present day-to-day outfits. They also appear to be on a stage, with the curtains revealing them to the audience and the wood panels and strung up stars behind them.

They bow and curtesy to one other before they start to dance, but instead of dancing Young Katarina wildly spins Geordo around. Representing, how Katarina kept throwing Geordo off and surprising him in their younger days.

As Geordo spins around to the front of the camera, the two become teenagers and are dancing properly. Geordo leans in for a kiss and Katarina looks surprised by this, before she is pulled away.

The transition of them from children to teenagers, exemplifies Geordo’s feelings for Katarina and how they’ve developed over the years and of course her own obliviousness to them.

Katarina is not even aware of the possibility that Geordo could be in love with her (let alone that he is), mostly because Game Geordo did not care for Game Katarina and Game Katarina only really cared about her status as his fiancée. 

This dancing scene likely comes from Katarina’s 15th birthday party, where the two danced together and Geordo kisses Katarina on the neck, as he wanted to get it through to Katarina that he’s not breaking off their engagement for the very simple reason that he loves her.

Keith and Katarina - Siblings

Keith is wearing his childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina is wearing her work uniform.

Before Geordo can even kiss Katarina she is pulled away by Keith.

This is not necessarily a specific scene from the Manga, but it definitely shows the dynamic between the three. 

Geordo flirting with Katarina and Keith desperately trying to separate the two, while Katarina remains oblivious to what is actually going on. While Keith states he does this because he wants to protect his big sister, everyone except Katarina knows that’s not the case and it’s just simple jealousy.

Young Keith spins Katarina around and she jumps on him and they soon run off together with him being carried on her back.  

Young Keith is surprised by this, showing his hesitation in the beginning with being close to someone out of fear that he might hurt them, but nonetheless Katarina both in the story and OP bulldozes through that hesitation with gusto and enthusiasm.

This also just shows Katarina’s genuine excitement in having a younger brother.

As they run off screen the two transition into teenagers and Katarina is now on Keith’s back.

Keith is happier than he was as a kid, showing how much Katarina has changed his life for better. As they run, Keith appears to trip and the two of them fall down.

Possibly indicating how Katarina’s wilder and less than ladylike antics (being carried on her brother’s back and running around the house) can often bring Keith down with her.

Though Keith is the more responsible one of the two and often emulates their mother in disapproving of Katarina’s choices and actions – he does, for the most part, go along with her antics. 

Keith is definitely frazzled as they fall down, and in the story, he is very much frazzled by Katarina both in her eccentricities and his romantic feelings for her.

Alan and Katarina - Friends/Future Bother & Sister-In-Law

Alan is wearing his childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina is wearing her tree-climbing outfit and an unknown dress (I couldn’t place it from the Manga).

A Young Katarina falls from above and lands on a tree branch next to Alan. As Alan begins to yell at her, Katarina just continues jumping down and Alan looks on in surprise (and perhaps a bit in fear).

Alan and Katarina’s friendship, begins with Alan having a hostile attitude towards her as he thought she was seducing his fiancée (technically he wasn’t wrong) and also due to his competitive nature and need to prove himself, in general. 

They had multiple tree-climbing contests as children, which Katarina always won without much effort.

Katarina jumping off the branch away from Alan, seemingly not caring as he yells at her, is possibly a representation of Katarina’s confidence in her skill as a tree-climber.

As Young Katarina drops to the ground, a teenage Katarina lands in Alan’s arms and while she looks sheepishly at him, she seems overall happy that he caught her.  

Alan slightly blushes and turns his head away from Katarina, as he is the tsundere of the romantic options. 

In addition, Alan can often be flabbergasted and flustered by Katarina’s less than ladylike manners and overall frankness – best example comes from her 15th Birthday party.

Alan’s blush and him looking away from Katarina, could also reflect how Alan is not aware of his own romantic feelings for Katarina until later in the story.

Mary and Katarina - Best Friends 

Mary is wearing her childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina is wearing the dress she wore when she first met Mary and her 15th Birthday party dress.

The scene of Katarina in Alan’s arms and them both slightly blushing transitions to a Young Mary upset by this scene and she runs off to be comforted by Katarina and or to tell her that she would absolutely catch her if she fell from a tree too.

Mary can be quite jealous of others, especially when they are the focus of Katarina’s attention and or vying for her attention and Alan is no exception, despite being Mary’s own fiancée.

For example, in the manga it’s revealed Mary has been keeping Alan in the dark about his own feelings for Katarina, so she wouldn’t have any more rivals.

It’s also significant that they appear in Katarina’s field, as their love for gardening/farming is what brought them together as friends in the first place.

As Mary runs to Katarina, the two become teenagers and dance together and Katarina gives the audience a friendly wink and Mary is blushing slightly as she dances with Katarina, showing that this is more than just a platonic dance for Mary. 

Mary and Katarina’s dance, like Geordo and Katarina’s dance, is also from Katarina’s 15th birthday party. The two danced together on the balcony away from the rest of the party as Mary wanted to dance with Katarina, but couldn’t as it was against high society rules. 

This scene is just a quick show of Katarina and Mary’s friendship and Mary’s feelings for Katarina. 

Nicol and Katarina - Friends

Nicol is wearing his childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina seems to be wearing two different dresses that I can’t place from the Manga.

As teenage Katarina and Mary pull away from the camera, it is now Young Katarina and Nicol who are holding hands. 

The camera spins around the two and they become teenagers. Nicol smiles at Katarina, unlocking his full charm on her and Katarina is left dazed and dizzy.

Their relationship is not as well developed as some of the others in the story.

Katarina likes Nicol and enjoys his company as a friend and of course Nicol has fallen for Katarina due to her overall kindness, compassion, and friendship with his sister Sophia.

Because of Nicol’s more reserved nature though and the fact that Katarina is engaged to Geordo, he doesn’t act on his feelings in the same way Geordo and Keith do.

When he does though, he is very direct and Katarina is usually left dazed and a bit flustered. However, because she’s so dazed by him, Katarina doesn’t realize what Nicol has just said to her - meaning she’s still oblivious about his feelings. 

Sophia and Katarina - Best Friends 

Sophia is wearing his childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina is wearing her pajamas.   

A dazed Katarina becomes a young and dizzy Katarina who falls on a couch next to Sophia in what is likely the Ascart Library. 

Sophia moves closer to Katarina so they can read a book together. As the book pushes forward, we see an extremely quick glace of the cover – showing the Devilishly Charming Earl character from one of their favorite romance books.

As the book is pulled to the bottom, Katarina and Sophia have transitioned into teenagers and are still eagerly reading the book together. Showing the basis of their friendship - their mutual love of love stories and reading in general - is still going strong. 

This is the most friendship-based sequence.

Even though Sophia also wants to be able to be with Katarina forever (like the others), her feelings seem to be less romantically inclined than the others.

Sophia treasures their friendship a great deal, but she often leaves Nicol and Katarina alone together, as she tries to give her brother a proper shot at confessing his feelings to Katarina.

Part 9

Next, we see Maria presenting a strawberry cake to Katarina and Katarina eagerly turning to Maria in excitement. Maria looks a bit confused and embarassed(?) most likely because Katarina is lavishing her with praise and attention. 

Maria does not have a past to present transition scene with Katarina as they meet when they are teenagers.

This scene’s setting is most likely Maria’s home kitchen, as Katarina is wearing her merchant’s daughter disguise – which she wears in the Manga when she ends up visiting Maria at her home during their summer vacation.

The strawberries on the cake are cut into hearts, this is possibly just a cute design or possibly an indication that Maria also falls for Katarina. 

On top of the cake is a flag, flags are important to Katarina’s story as she is actively trying to destroy the Destruction Flags that lead to her doom.

The flag being just a small decorative piece could be nothing, but it might signify that while Maria is technically tied to Katarina’s doomed endings, that’s not really a factor anymore.

Do to the fact that Katarina’s actions for the past seven years, before Maria even enters the story, have been successfully destroying her doomed flags – by having good and loving relationships with the other characters (mainly Geordo and Keith - whose routes were once guarantede destruction for Katarina).

Now Katarina is not aware of that and still sees doom befalling her especially (in her mind) when it comes to whom Maria will choose to confess her feelings to. But nonetheless that doesn’t stop Katarina from befriending Maria and the two becoming genuine friends.

This scene once more shows that Katarina is always happy to receive sweets. Furthermore, Maria and Katarina’s friendship grows out of Maria baking her homemade sweets for Katarina (among other things).

Part 10

We are next introduced to A-Chan, Katarina’s best friend from her previous life. 

A-Chan is reading from a strategy book for Fortune Lover. A-Chan would often spoil the game for Katarina which she didn’t appreciate at the time, but now she is very thankful for the extra information she has about the world she now inhabits.

Next, we see a large image of a pixelated game flag.

We can easily presume this is a Destruction Flag, which are essentially bad checkpoints (for Katarina) that lead to a specific path in the game for the player.

Basically, they are choices (or scenes/characters) throughout the game that decide whether or not the player receives the good or bad ending. And since the majority of the endings of the actual game are bad to awful for Katarina, all the check points or flags are destructive to her and her life. 

The one big flag transitions into multiple smaller, pixelated flags. Which could represent all the different flags Katarina is trying to avoid or destroy.

It’s a nice detail that the flags are pixelated as they are a simple mechanic from the game itself. That detail could also indicate that while the flags have great importance in the game, in Katarina’s actual life, the majority of them aren’t a factor in deciding her future due to her own choices and the choices of the other characters.

But Katarina has yet to learn that.

Part 11

We are introduced to the final character, Sirius Dieke, the President of the Student Council. He appears to be in the Student Council chambers, in front of his own desk, with piles of paper on it.

Sirius is the 5th and secret love-interest in the game Fortune Lover and he has the darkest story of the romantic game-targets and just in general.

It’s very telling that he also appears in multiple small squares like the Destruction Flags did in the scene right before he appears.

As he really is the only true Destruction Flag and path for Katarina.

Part 12

Next, we see two school-girls standing together on a beach watching either a sunset or a sunrise. 

This is Katarina from her previous life and her best friend A-chan. While the sunset/sunrise could just be there to be a pretty image, one could take away a deeper meaning, particularly with the idea that it’s both a sunset and a sunrise.  

As their lives have ended in their previous lives (sunset) they get to live new lives in their reincarnated forms of Katarina Claes and Sophia Ascart (sunrise). 

This idea is potentially reflected in the waves crashing onto the shore, then returning back to the ocean, only to crash again on the shore (similar to the idea of reincarnation).

We get a close up of their hands as A-Chan grips Katarina’s hand and she returns to the gesture. Their friendship is an extremely important element of the story. As A-Chan comes to Katarina’s aid in her time of need, showing that their friendship transcends time and worlds.

And this is a very compelling idea, because while romance is certainly a major element in the story, friendship is even bigger. 

Katarina has changed every one of her friends’ lives not because they fell in love with her (like the game’s setup) but because Katarina was kind and befriended them with sincerity and true kindness (causing everyone to fall for her).

Part 13

Finally, we are at the end. 

The OP ends with the main cast bowing to the audience on a stage, possibly the same stage Katarina and Geordo danced on, but with the curtains now closed.

Sophia and Mary do more traditional lady courtesies and Mary does a bow like a commoner.

While the guys and Katarina do a slightly exaggerated bow.

This possibly shows Katarina’w significant ties to the guys as she has inadvertently become the main love interest. This could also indicate that Katarina has also technically become one of them – in the fact that Maria, the original main character, who was supposed to fall in love with one of the guys, actually falls for and adores Katarina.

In a similar sense, the two other rival female characters of Mary and Sophia don’t fall for Alan and Nicol, but instead fall for Katarina.

Or it could also just be a sign that Katarina is more of a tomboy than the other girls.

Either way the main cast bows to the audience, signally the end of their show/performance that they just put on for us.

Quick Summary

My Next Life as a Villainess Opening is packed with so much detail, symbolism and deeper meanings and that it is just astounding in itself. 

Not only does it do all of that, but the OP still remains a fun, creative and enjoyable introduction to each episode with a catchy song. 

A slight nitpick from me, is that I wish some of the scene transitions were smoother. For many of them it looks quite smooth and flows very nicely, for other it just cuts to a new scene very quickly. Again, this just a nitpick.

Overall, this opening is just amazing in my humble opinion and seems to have almost everything one could ask for in an Anime Opening.

I apologize for any spelling and grammar mistakes that might remain here. 

[thronesofshadows]

Salt Bridges (pt. 1) || Nicole & Evelyn

TIMING: A couple weeks before Christmas LOCATION: Al’s Diner PARTIES: @nicsalazar​ and @thronesofshadows SUMMARY: Nicole and Evelyn go out for dinner and find out they might have a little more in common than they previously realized.

Seated in the most secluded spot she could find, Nicole’s fingers picked at the extra hair tie on her wrist, looking up every time the door opened and the wrong person walked inside the diner. She was never early to any kind of appointments. Being early meant second guessing everything she thought she  knew. Questioning whether she had made it to the right place, on the right day or at the right time. Worrying about plans getting cancelled and not getting the corresponding text. Going back to recheck the information multiple times, though she had done it a hundred times before. She was always five minutes late to everything, perfectly calculated, to avoid that. She had to be early for this one, however. Against her better judgement she had invited Evelyn to a diner. A very loud one, it seemed. She couldn’t shake the feeling that food had been a bad idea. The worst kind of activity to do with someone she had only met once. The pauses, awkward silences, the sounds, the mess. Terrible, just terrible. She breathed out, forcing herself to not go there. Pointless to dwell on it when she was already sitting there, fifteen minutes earlier than they had agreed on, going over the menu for the tenth time. Besides, Evelyn had to be the nicest person she had met so far, she probably wouldn’t care. She wanted to spend time with her, right? No? She had never been to Al’s diner before, but she quickly understood the popularity. The smell was driving her insane. When Evelyn walked through the door, her frown finally relaxed. She sighed and offered a shy smile, keeping her gaze on the woman until she spotted her. She averted her eyes down to the menu as she approached.  

Nicole was unlike anyone Evelyn had ever met. She didn’t usually eat, and Al’s was certainly not her usual sort of place, but if that was where Nicole felt most at home, she would agree. Though it seemed a bit contrary to what she knew about Nicole. She hardly minded. She could easily get a salad here and pick at it, let Nicole talk about whatever she needed to - or wanted to. She’d arrived a couple minutes early. The buzzing of the diner would have been overwhelming if she concentrated too much on it, and she was more than a bit puzzled about why Nicole had chosen such a place. Perhaps she had a certain craving for a burger. Regardless, Evelyn adjusted the skirt of her dress and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her head before she pushed the door open. Nicole was already there, she realized, gaze focusing in on the other woman. She made her way over to the booth, one in a far back corner that wasn’t right in the middle of everything. Okay, that made more sense given what she knew about Nicole. “Apologies for keeping you waiting.” Evelyn raised an eyebrow, nodding at the menu. “What looks good?”

She shook her head dismissively, eyes darting to the clock behind the register when Evelyn apologized. “Hey...uh, think you’re right on time, I just— ” she trailed off, unsure where she was going with that sentence. She just needed some extra preparation. Her fingers drummed on the menu, waiting for Evelyn to get comfortable in her seat. Fortunately for Nicole, the table provided enough space between them. She would’ve hated having to worry over the woman stepping into her personal space for the entire evening. Her biggest concern was the eye contact, almost impossible to avoid when Evelyn was sitting in front of her. Out in a diner, really? Bad idea. Terrible idea. Should’ve asked her for a walk instead. She cleared her throat to keep those thoughts at bay, giving the other woman a strained smile. “What looks...good?”, the repetition only served to buy herself more time to think. She lifted her eyebrows, seemingly forgetting everything she had read a minute ago. “I’ve...never been here before—first time” she couldn't recall who had recommended the diner to her, but they had clearly made a lasting impression for her to come up with it on the spot. By the smell of it, the burgers definitely won. And the fries. The chicken too. She couldn’t hate the waffles either, despite the milk. “Gonna take a wild guess here...but I think the burgers are kinda their thing” she let out a chuckle and pointed at a particular picture hanging on the wall, displaying a monstrous looking burger. “Would you eat that one?”

“I am often early, but it pleases me to see that you are, too.” Evelyn couldn’t help but smile again. There was something about being around Nicole that made her feel calm and at peace with herself. Evelyn often considered herself a fairly calm person, but there were people, whether she wished to admit it or not, who brought about a feeling of even greater calm, and Nicole already seemed to be one of those people. Even if she was human, she was a delightful partner in conversation, even if Evelyn could tell that this didn’t always come so easily for her. Furthermore, despite the fact that it had taken a good amount of persuasion, she was willing to let Evelyn dote on her and purchase things for her, which was always a plus in Evelyn’s book. “I cannot say that I am an expert on any of this,” she flipped through the menu, glossy painted nails tapping against the plastic. “Well, it is a popular place in town, or so the rumors say - it is often filled up from what I can tell.” She crossed her legs. “Well, I do think that is how diners go. I - well, no, not unless it is vegetarian, but I fully endorse you trying it. After all, is there not the cliché of when in Rome - and I am well-aware that we are not in Rome, and that I explain my jokes too much but I say go for it. I think I may get a salad.”

“About that…” her laugh was strained and nervous, but felt the need to explain. “I just— had to make sure I got a booth I wouldn’t...” pick up too many things. “Get overwhelmed by—  Sorry to disappoint but, I’m not— I’m not usually...this punctual” it felt strange being honest about it, and though her eyes darted everywhere in the room to avoid looking at Evelyn, she preferred it. Nicole was sure the other woman didn’t need the explanation, but seemed to be the way things were meant to flow between them. She glanced down at the menu again, but her brain was fixed on Evelyn’s tapping, distracting her. Most of the time she was capable of tuning out things like that, anxious thoughts occupying her brain enough to ignore sensory stimuli. Being so out of her comfort zone appeared to be affecting her in different ways. She tried her best not to pay close attention to Evelyn. Felt like intruding. The words pulled her back to focus. She assumed vegetarian options existed, but Al’s wouldn’t be the place to get them. “No, it’s...salad might be the better option”. Could she eat that burger? Yes, she was certainly capable of finishing that. Wouldn’t be pretty at all, however. She had a healthy appetite, and blamed it on being part-animal. “The…” she glanced at her with narrowed eyes, repeating some words under her breath. Cliché of Rome? What was she talking about? Sounded familiar, but she couldn’t recall what the saying meant. “I— I don’t…” Her smile was sheepish, but she was saved by the waiter approaching to take their order. She nodded to Evelyn. “I think she’s...her mind’s made up.”

“Of course. Do not worry, even if you are only punctual this time, that is still more than enough.” Evelyn grinned. “Remember, this is all about whatever works best as a distraction for you, and if this is working, then I shall certainly not fault you for that.” Had she been a more tactile person, and had she assumed Nicole was, too, Evelyn might have reached out to offer a hand to the other woman, but things being what they were, she instead held back. Not yet, and maybe not ever, but she enjoyed Nicole’s company regardless of anything else, and for now, that was what mattered most of all. “Salads are usually nice, and even if it is not of the highest quality, I did not come here for the food, solely.” Especially because I do not actually need human food in order to survive, though it was not as though she could tell that to Nicole. Not now, at least - perhaps, if they continued to get along as well as they had thus far, she would be able to be more open, but not yet. “Sorry, it is a cliché. When you are somewhere, you might as well do what is customary. Or something to that degree.” She shrugged, glancing up at the waiter. “I have. I would love a Greek salad and just water to drink.” She flipped her menu shut and let Nicole order, watching as the waiter walked away before focusing back on the other woman. “So, how is this for a distraction so far?”

“Right, yeah—“ Nicole let out a nervous breath, a thankful half-smile reached her lips. It was slightly overwhelming that Evelyn always knew the right thing to say. Almost too understanding. She wondered if that had come with all the training she experienced as a kid. A fleeting, less logical thought followed. Could she—? Maybe she was capable of reading minds. Crazy, sure. She had seen weirder things in her life, though. Shaking her head, she frowned at the absurdity. People just happened to be good sometimes, she reminded herself. “Yeah—- wouldn’t pay for a restaurant salad, really…” Maybe being an ex model had something to do with her concern for healthy eating, but if Evelyn wanted salad, then she’d pay for it. “Good thing you aren’t though… cause this one’s on me, okay?” quirking an eyebrow, she raised a finger at her. She had to remind her, just in case. Yes, she had invited Evelyn for more than food. It was strange. When they talked online, she knew exactly why she had needed her company. But now, everything seemed incredibly hazy. Something about...bones and pens? Why would she need to talk to Evelyn about that? She watched in silence as the woman placed her order, her pulse racing at the thought of going next. She asked for a beer first. That would put her into a chattier mood. Then she tripped over her words to order a chicken sandwich, after she was assured it came with a portion of fries. Would she eat that? She wasn’t sure, but at least the hard part was done. “I— uh...never been more distracted in my life” it was the truth, at least. Whether it was a good thing or not it remained to be seen. How long could the food take to be ready, 15-20 minutes? That was a lot of time to fill with conversation. She could get through it. “Thank you, by the way—for coming,” she lifted her eyebrows as she met the other woman’s gaze, surprised by her own voice. “Gonna owe you...a couple guitar shows.”    

Everything with Nicole felt strange and new, even if the overall pattern of their conversation was hardly anything abnormal. Evelyn shrugged. “Some are good, maybe this will be one of those cases.” Not that she entirely minded either way. Human food was human food in the end, and though she certainly preferred that which tasted better, it never served to nourish her in the way that nightmares did. “Okay. Only because you did permit me to purchase that guitar for you and because I find myself rather fond of your company.” Evelyn raised an eyebrow. She enjoyed the time she had spent with Nicole so far as well as the conversations that they had, and so she saw no reason to do anything other than agree to spend more time with the other woman. “It is okay. Sometimes we find ourselves more keen to be distracted than others, and this is no fault of yours. There was a time a bit ago when I found myself unable to sleep for a long while and I know my focus was less than ideal.” She offered a shrug at the other woman’s remark. “Of course. I find your company enjoyable, and I have been looking forward to spending more time with you ever since we have met.”

Nicole nodded, despite being suspicious of the diner’s ability to deliver a decent salad. Though if Evelyn wanted to order something else after, she wouldn’t have a problem with that. “Good” her hand tapped the table with finality, as if her words settled their agreement. Her eyes stayed fixed on the table, struggling to shake the awkwardness off. She didn’t understand why Evelyn liked her company. A woman like her was likely to know people far more interesting than her. Better conversationalists too. But she was trying not to second guess herself too much. Unable to find the right words, she moved onto the next topic. “Was that— were you under stress or…?” She understood the connection between lack of sleep and lack of focus, but it was often triggered by something. “Never been too good at sleeping” her gaze lifted slightly at the admission, focusing on Evelyn’s shoulder. Her leg bounced under the table. For the longest time, she was haunted by the thought of going to bed and not waking up again, her body transforming in her sleep. “Guess... I was bound to end up with issues” it would’ve been easier to see a specialist, she reminded herself, though that would imply she was willing to get better. Her nerves caused her to laugh again, as Evelyn repeated she was good company. She was genuinely puzzled as to why. What had she offered that one time that seemed to go over well with Evelyn? Maybe she could keep doing that, with other people. Did people give each other feedback like that? Deep down she knew there was no magic formula. Maybe Evelyn was just trying to be nice. Embarrassed, heat rose to her cheek. “That’s...yeah— I think I...I do good with...bossy people. Not that— you’re...” she noticed the waiter approach, and she breathed out in relief “it’s not...not a bad thing”.

Evelyn sighed for a small moment, though it was evident that it was not out of frustration but merely out of relief in the comfort and ease that Nicole’s company provided. “Of course.” She watched Nicole’s fingers drumming against the table. “In a manner of speaking.” She didn’t wish to go into it with too much detail; didn’t want to risk explaining seeing giant eyes - Nicole didn’t deserve having to deal with that. “Luckily I was able to work through it, and that is all behind me.” Other things weren’t, other odd sleep behaviors weighed heavily on her mind - because she wasn’t supposed to have faults with her sleep, if anything she was supposed to be the one in control, particularly the negative ones that had seemingly overrun the town. “Oh? That is the case with a number of people. Even when you were a child?” She looked over to Nicole, though there was not a speck of judgement present on her face.  “Well, I do not think this guarantees issues. Sleep is incredibly complex, you should not fault yourself for anything.” She bit her lip to hold back a laugh at Nicole’s next comment. “You can call my bossy. I am well-aware I can be, though I think that the tutors I had as a child preferred strong-willed.” She fought away the urge to roll her eyes. Evelyn watched the waiter come back over, dropping off their drinks and a few tabletop condiments - including salt. Evelyn grabbed her drink quickly. Salt wasn’t even a proper condiment, though she supposed many people liked to have it on top of their dishes. “Well, so far so good, I think.” She nodded. “How are you finding it?”

“I’m glad it’s in the past,” she nodded. The fact that Evelyn had managed to work through her sleeping issues gave Nicole some sort of comfort. Maybe it would pass, maybe she just had to be patient. “Light sleeper” she raised her hand, as if she was taking the blame on something. “Noises and...I’m—sensitive to it,” she shrugged, debating whether to continue or not. “It got worse after…” no, she should’ve stopped. Being a light sleeper was one thing, nightmares were something entirely different. “Bad stuff happened” the tight smile she gave after her words felt odd, but she didn’t Evelyn to feel uncomfortable. She was used to bad sleep anyway. Wasn’t so bad. “Strong-willed, huh?” she repeated, her eyebrows rising as she broke into a smile. “Yeah, you terrorized those tutors, I bet” she pressed her lips together, trying to suppress her grin. Although she felt for the adults in charge, she found the thought of a spoiled little girl bossing tutors around very entertaining. Why did a kid need so much tutoring anyway? She should’ve been playing free outside. Regardless, bossy was good in her mind. She needed bossy in her life. She was never inclined to take the lead on anything.  Someone willing to push a little was a change she welcomed. She leaned back in her seat, letting the waiter place the condiments and the drinks. She shook her head when he offered to pour it in a glass. The bottle was fine. Without even realizing, her hand ghosted over the table before reaching for the salt shaker. Instinctively, she slid it to the end of the table, towards Evelyn. Then she rearranged the rest of the containers. She often had salt in her meals, she even favored that type of food, but she didn’t want to risk the chance of an accident in public. Her distraction meant she had lost track of their conversation. She looked up at the question, eyes widening. “How am I— finding what? oh...” she glanced down at the beer in her hand. She lifted it, sending Evelyn a questioning look.

“I am as well, as the case may be.” Evelyn looked over at Nicole with a kind expression. She didn’t wish to lie to someone who may well have been human, but explaining that her sleep expertise went beyond just being a childhood (and still) bookworm with too much time on her hands. Anything beyond that was too much, she knew that - even though she also knew that keeping the truth of what she was hidden away could only serve to cause trouble. She chose not to focus on that right now, and instead focused onto the woman across from her. She found that Nicole was someone incredibly grounding to be around, and she didn’t know why. Instead of getting all done up about it, she’d decided to ignore that and focus on how pleasant it felt. Even though the idea of having friends was still a relatively foreign and odd concept to Evelyn, she didn’t think to question it with a select few people - not Nicole, and certainly not Miriam - to a degree. Others too - Deirdre for one, even Lydia, before everything (and she chose to not think about all the what ifs) - things she never would have expected years ago when she’d been shut into her home, accompanied only by her nannies, tutors, and housekeepers. “You are permitted to be sensitive to noises - not that, well, obviously I am unable to control that - not that I would, if I could, I think people controlling whatever it is someone is dealing with is unjust, but I am sorry that you have that. It is no bad thing, we are all different.” Her gaze softened again. “Bad things? You do not have to expand, but should you wish to, I am able to listen. I am even quite alright at it, most times.” She sucked on her lip for a moment. “I think they used that in lieu of any number of other words they might have preferred to use were my father not their main source of income.” She scrunched up her face. She watched Nicole play with - rearrange - the salt and felt her shoulders tense up just slightly as she pushed it over towards her. Evelyn took it, careful not to touch any of it too much, and pushed it with the tip of one nail away from them, back to where the waiter had first placed it down. “Yes, that.” She nodded. “Though it may not be the quality that you could have if you came to my bar, I hope it suffices.”

Nicole’s eyebrows rose again, surprised to see the woman string a sentence with less eloquence than usual. Rambling didn’t seem to be her thing, but she had definitely over explained something that seemed obvious. Her eyes narrowed, finally looking at her face. “I know,” she said simply with a subtle smile, her voice small but calm. Had she been braver, she would’ve asked if she had issues with control. But she didn’t want to risk upsetting her if that was the case. Her eyes darted outside, a break she needed from the current conversation. When Evelyn offered an ear, she almost smiled. Her kindness wasn’t surprising. Or the way Nicole’s eyes began to tear up. She got rid of them, blinking quickly. God that was embarrassing. For once, the idea of sharing part of her story wasn’t terrifying. Time. It was the one thing she needed. The one thing stopping her from speaking to her. It seemed unquestionable that with time, Evelyn would be able to coax the truth out of her.

“I know” even smaller the second time. Nicole shook her head. “We all got baggage, no?” she said instead. She doubted anyone living in a town like White Crest was completely normal. The way she spoke about her tutoring sounded a lot less amusing than what she had pictured first. She frowned. “Was that… did you rebel against them? Or just— you being a kid”. With an apprehensive look, she noticed the way Evelyn moved the salt again. Maybe she was very particular about condiment placement? It was a little too close to the edge for her liking, though. If anyone were to run and— No. She was too paranoid, what were the chances of that even happening? She let the saltshaker where it was. They would be fine. Moving it again would look odd. “I’ve had a lot worse, trust me” the taste had never mattered much to her. Not when it used to be about getting drunk above everything. Tilting the bottle, she took a gulp. Yes, not great, she confirmed with a grimace. “I think I’d like some of that quality alcohol, though” She’d have to save for that. “How’s your...water? Sure it’s fancier at your place too”.

Nicole’s response remained simple - which was to be expected, it was how she was, Evelyn had learned. Though not for any sort of negative reason, nor any lessening respect. She did respect and care for Nicole a great deal, regardless of whether or not that was something typical of her. “I know - and yes, I suppose that we do. Though it is all different, and I sometimes do not see any point in focusing on such things.” She figured that she could leave things be for now, but if they talked again, she might poke a bit more - as she was rather curious but she knew that Nicole was someone who seemed to be a bit shy, at least when compared to Evelyn. She liked her too, and so she didn’t want to stress her out, at least not more than she already did. It was one thing to persuade Nicole to permit her to purchase a guitar, but this was something else entirely. “No, not especially, I simply did my own thing sometimes and so I think mostly being a child, but I also do not know quite what is typical for children, given that I grew up mostly on my own.” She took another sip of her water. She watched Nicole eye the salt and for a moment she wanted to ask her if she, too, was a mara. She didn’t, because maybe she wasn’t and was just curious about Evelyn’s constant movements. “Well that is good. You should come by sometime, and perhaps I will find nice beer and we can enjoy that.” She grinned. “I can make exceptions for those whose company I enjoy. Especially if it is at my place and not my bar, though I do not feel bad about giving you a more reasonable price than I do for most of my clients.” She grinned. “It is fancier, but I have always loved the fancier things in life.”

A half grin reached Nicole’s lips. She had to admire Evelyn’s uncomplicated mindset. She would’ve achieved a lot more had she moved on from all her traumas, she mused. “Not much of a dweller?” She wanted to make sure she was understanding her words right. She took another swig of her beer. “What’s your secret? Cause I’ve...I’ve tried telling myself— shit’s in the past and all that...” she frowned, unsure whether she wanted to go down that road or not. “Can’t get it through my skull, though” she shook her head, her fingers tracing the bottle before drinking again. She probably should’ve waited until the food had arrived, but the anxiety wanted her to keep her hands busy. Her expression turned serious as Evelyn expanded more on her childhood. “Typical children stuff, like...just— not behaving the way adults want cause...cause— they’re not wired that way yet. That’s pretty typical, I think” there was a lot of wrong in the way kids were treated, but she wasn’t sure how to put her thought into words. “As an older sister— I’m allowed to say, kids are really annoying, though” she quipped to lighten the mood, but didn’t feel right. Joking rarely did. “Don’t think there was anything wrong with you, trust me” she added calmly, offering a sympathetic smile. She entertained herself holding the beer by its neck and swinging it idly, an inch over the table. “Now that I’m...officially invited, yes. Booze is one way to lure me in” tasting actual decent alcohol did sound like something she’d enjoy. “Uh, isn’t— the bar your place?” She let out a chuckle, eyebrows furrowed. “C’mon, all water’s the same!” she knew it wasn’t true, but she was curious about what counted as fancy water. Looking past Evelyn’s shoulder, the waiter came into view. She wondered if the plates he was carrying belonged to them.  

“Not if it is something I wish to not dwell upon, yes.” Evelyn paused for a moment. “I mean - yes, you are correct. If something is unsavory, I do not wish to put my focus into it. I see little reason to.” Which she knew made her seem overly detached sometimes, but that was better than letting emotions overwhelm her completely. “Years of practice?” She shrugged. “I do not know, I think being alone much of my childhood allowed me to be alone with my thoughts, and I have never thought that getting too done up does anyone any good.” She took another sip of her water - she didn’t know why she kept telling Nicole so many things, but she also found that she didn’t always mind. “I guess so. It may be typical, but I have no proper experience with children outside of reading about them - I can imagine you might find them annoying.” She pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “I do trust you, though I do not know. That remains to be seen, for some.” She gave an off-handed shrug. “Yes, please come, and I have found that alcohol is the way to get many people interested. I can promise my selection is some of the best you’ll find here.” She giggled, the sound causing her to blink a few times extra. Perhaps there was something particularly special about Nicole. “You may say that, but there is a difference, sometimes.” She turned to see what Nicole was looking at, the waiter making their way over with the plates of food, and Evelyn watched as they placed them on the table, though as they turned to go, their elbow knocked against the salt, causing it to fall onto the ground and break, salt spreading out in front of their booth. Shoot. The waiter hadn’t noticed and before Evelyn could call out they’d disappeared back into the kitchen. Evelyn eyed the salt warily, scooting further away from it. “What a mess, right?” She bit her lip. “I - I have - I am unsure if I am able to clean this up.”

Nicole managed to conceal her disappointment when Evelyn mentioned the years of practice. If it were up to her, she’d want to be done dwelling right in that moment. It was up to her, she reminded herself. Getting out of her head seemed to be a theme in her life lately. Like Evelyn, she had been alone with her own thoughts for too long, but it had the opposite effect. She let out a tired sigh at that, but didn’t say anything. From the first time they had met, it was obvious there was more to Evelyn than what she presented. The things she said always left her more curious. Confused too. She was about to ask what remained to be seen according to her, but it was all interrupted by the waiter bringing their plates. She was surprised at how quick the food had come. The conversation hadn’t been torture at all. At her alcohol comment, she raised an eyebrow. “Alright, I’m sure that’s not biased at all”. She smiled, eyeing her salad with amusement.Before she could say a word, things went awry.

She tried to reach for the saltshaker, fingertips barely missing the container. Despite her quick reflexes, it slipped from her fingers all the same, shattering on the floor. Nicole winced at the sound, her heart rate jumping immediately. She could sense the heads turning in their direction. “Fu—Shit!” shit, shit, shit. That’s why she had moved it in the first place. Shifting slightly, she checked under the table if the salt had extended to their shoes. Despite the initial scare, there was a minor relief when she saw her boots were clean. Had it fallen differently, she would’ve had to give Evelyn an extremely awkward explanation as to why she couldn’t move or get up. If only her chest could get the message that there was no imminent danger, though. “It’s— it’s fine. I’m...I’m sure we can get the—” she trailed off, eyes fixed on the salt. She tried to think for a moment, but everything around her was distracting her. Was it her own scared heart racing in her ears, or— she glanced at Evelyn then, noticing her shying away. She frowned. Was she worried about the mess? It was bad sure, but they’d get someone to clean, no? Her own worries slipped to the back of her mind, concerned eyes focusing on the woman. Maybe, like her, noises freaked Evelyn out too. “What’s… are you— did the sound freak you out?” It’s okay, it’s just—” she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. It wasn’t just salt. Not to her, at least. But why would Evelyn share the same worries? “You’re unsure if...what?”

Evelyn couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Nicole’s comment, finding herself glad that Nicole was smiling - whether or not it was entirely due to her remark or something else she wasn’t entirely sure, but she did know that she liked when Nicole was happy - which was odd, given that they hardly knew one another but it was also an unavoidable fact. Before they could say anything more, the salt had broken and she looked curiously at Nicole, regarding her reaction with a certain level of confusion. Maybe she was just very into things being clean and orderly, which this was distinctly… not. Nicole was panicking though - although Evelyn couldn’t directly sense it, she knew enough about how people behaved when they panicked that she could understand what was going on. “A bit?” Evelyn pursed her lips. “I mean, I like music for ballet to be loud sometimes, but suddenly…” her voice trailed off. “A bit startling. I suppose.” Nicole was still asking her things and she knew that she needed to come up with a further explanation, and soon. “If I can clean this up.” She repeated. “I mean, I am plenty able to clean just … not this. I have sensitive skin and it sometimes acts up.” Even she knew that that sounded ridiculous. “Could you walk over and get the waiter, maybe?”

Nicole was hardly an expert on human emotions, but for a second their eyes met she believed her own fear was mirrored in Evelyn’s eyes. It made everything much more confusing. What were the odds of— no, she put that thought to rest when the woman confirmed she had been scared by the sound, that made sense. Glass breaking was never nice to hear. “It’s fine...it’s okay” she repeated, shaking her head. Evelyn didn’t look like something who did extreme emotions. Even startled, she seemed to try and keep it together. On the edge of the table, her hand opened and closed a few times while she hesitated over reaching out to comfort her or not. “Yeah, yes— it was kinda loud but…” her fingers dug into her palm as her hand clenched into a fist. The moment had passed. Her eyes landed on the food they had both clearly forgotten about. Didn’t matter, she wasn’t hungry anymore. “What, you’re allergic to... salt?” eyes narrowed, tilting her head. Her chest stirred again. There was a sensation inside her, heavy and uncomfortable in the pit of her stomach. And when her eyes met Evelyn's again, something in her told her she couldn’t trust her. She leaned back, attempting to put some distance between them. She clenched her jaw. Whatever she was feeling, it didn’t belong to her. She liked Evelyn, she was nice. She had to forget about that cold distrust building within her because she heard a question. “Can I— ” she licked her lips nervously, eyes back on the salt. She could, technically. But Evelyn would find it incredibly odd if she circled around the pile instead of just skipping through it like any normal person unaffected by salt would. “But you— you’re closer to the… you’re closer to the kitchen” she reasoned.

She’d never run into this sort of problem in public before. Of course, there had been the time - when she was little - when one of her cooks (sillyannoyingridiculousawful she remembered thinking, after the fact) had spilled some while making some sort of dish for a party. Evelyn had been sat up on a stool, eyes wide, hair spilling over her shoulders when it had happened and she’d hopped off, eager to find a way to help the cook clean up, finding herself unable to move. She hadn’t truly understood what was going on, except that she’d started screaming at such a high pitch that one of her nannies had come running - and her father too, eventually. He’d brushed away the salt and all of a sudden she’d been able to move again. She’d grown up a great deal since then, a great deal that meant she didn’t react in such an extreme way any more but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t feel her body tense up, at least slightly - at least as much as she’d found herself able to. “I - yes.” She blinked rapidly -- too much for what was normal, but all of this was a reminder of how very much not normal she was and she took in a breath, because Nicole was good and there was no way she was a hunter (though she’d been so very wrong about that before, hadn’t she?). She looked over to Nicole for a moment, watching the other woman push herself away. She didn’t know what she was planning and she could feel her own throat growing dry. “I - no. I cannot. It - you spend time outdoors,” she began, knowing that that excuse was certainly unimpressive. “I -” she began again, pulling her lower lip in. “I cannot go past it.” She finally settled on, not daring to look at Nicole. “I will not be able to move.” If she was out to hurt her, then she would already have figured it out. “It - I have been this way for as long as I can remember.” If Nicole was completely normal, then she might think Evelyn was losing her mind, but some small part of her hoped that Nicole would just understand it all without any undesirable consequences. If not - well, the small amount of time that they had known one another had been lovely.

“What?” Nicole had to laugh at the excuse Evelyn gave. It was nervous and out of place, but in any other moment she would’ve found the humor in it. Her laugh died in her throat only a moment later. The woman’s next words didn’t sound real. Her expression morphed from nervous to puzzled in a beat, before registering the meaning. She had never been too bright, but there was no other way to interpret what Evelyn was saying, right? Ghost, spirits, they couldn’t move through salt, she recalled an exorcist’s words a few months back. But Evelyn didn’t look like a ghost. Her heart was drumming so loudly in her ears it was hard to form coherent thoughts. There was so much she didn’t know. There was another explanation, right? Something she was missing. Instead, she was jumping to conclusions. Because— It couldn’t be. Was that the reason they had connected so quickly? Her chest heaved, eyebrows furrowed so tightly, she believed the lines would stay there forever. Just briefly, she allowed herself to consider— After years by herself, had she finally found someone like her? No. She was grasping at straws. There was nothing else to draw that conclusion from, except for the salt. That could mean anything. It seemed a waiter had walked past the table and spotted the mess, muttering something about cleaning it in a second, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the woman. The salt was forgotten. She didn’t care about it anymore. It was nothing. Just a catalyst for something much bigger. She leaned forward, eyes studying her intensely. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, a clue, a tell, anything from the woman to would give away that they were more alike than she had initially thought.

“Evelyn,” Nicole called gently, despite how uncomfortable she felt using people’s names. Too personal. There was so much she wanted to ask, so many thoughts jumbled together. She was on the brink of possibly finding someone like her. The first one since— really? Was she gonna cry already? She let out a shaky breath. “I’m— what do you mean you can’t cross salt. Look— look at me,” she kept her voice as even as possible, but the words rushed out of her mouth, pushing and demanding. She didn’t want to sound angry — far from it, she only needed confirmation— but she doubted she had the nuance in her tone to not startle Evelyn. “You’re not...are you— are... are you—” she clenched her fist, frustrated. And when she thought she wouldn’t let it out, it came a whisper. Hopeful, curious, charged. “Are you not... human?”

Nicole was laughing and it didn’t seem to be right at Evelyn, at least not as far as she could tell. Except she wasn’t reacting to what Evelyn had said - at least not entirely, and she took a sip of water -- too much, filling up her mouth so much so that she could just focus on that and not whatever was going on with Nicole. Don’tbeahunterdon’tbea - she forced those thoughts out of her mind, because if she were one, Evelyn would have to find a way to deal with that but she didn’t believe that Nicole was. Her disposition was far too gentle, too nervous, too kind to be one. “What?” Evelyn’s eyes grew wide, jolted entirely out of her thoughts, though she found that she didn’t mind Nicole actually using her name - was this was it was like to have would-be friends? - she shook her head. “I - I -” Look at me. She did. Looked over to Nicole, avoiding direct eye contact but taking in her kind eyes, the way that her hair flowed over her shoulders. “I - no. Not human.” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she tried to process everything. Her tone had changed and Evelyn could feel her own expression shift to one that was far more calm than it had been just moments ago -- the waiter not returning the furthest thing from her mind right now. “Are - are you not, either?” Was she a mara? That could have explained while Evelyn found herself drawn to her - she knew that Nicole wasn’t a ghost - Evelyn knew that she couldn't see ghosts, no matter how much she might have wished to (but then again, with what Nadia and Deirdre had told her she wasn’t quite as sold on those any longer). That didn’t mean there wasn’t another species out there that had some of the same difficulties as Evelyn did. “I - can - I  - I am a mara.” She bit her lip, sighed gently. “I hope that is okay.” Her voice got quieter then, nails tapping on the side of her water glass.

Silence hung over them as Nicole took everything in. For once, she couldn’t tell whether it was uncomfortable or not. It was just silence, she had too much to process to care about social cues. She had rehearsed for the evening dozens of times in her mind. Prepared as much as one could. Went over every scenario she could create, from decent, to bad, to terrible to disaster. Evelyn revealing she was not human due to a broken salt shaker hadn’t been in the cards. It was a struggle to figure out how to take the revelation. They should’ve learned about one another with time, when they had trusted each other enough to say the words without fear. Not in a loud dinner because of a preventable accident. She wasn’t human, Evelyn’s words confirmed. Her heart skipped a beat. Excitement? Was she like her, then? She didn't get the chance to ask. “I— am I? Uh...I—” she held her breath at the question. That was new, had she been too obvious? It had always been easy to conceal her otherness from the world, pass for human, stifle the animal so it was nothing but a dull ache in her chest. She had never told anyone before. Then again, no one had asked so plainly either. She didn’t fancy her chances lying, not when she never had a good poker face. It all showed in her eyes, she had been told. And Evelyn didn't deserve lies anyway, not after her unprompted honesty. Maybe she’d read her mind, somehow. Maybe she wouldn’t have to say it.

The woman continued talking, and the pressure in Nicole’s chest was too heavy to ignore. Was it disappointment? A Mara. She didn’t know that word. They weren't the same, then. She was something else entirely. A different creature? She had new questions. “I don’t—I’m not sure what...what’s that”. Evelyn’s last words made her throat tighten. She swallowed hard against the knot, blinking away the tears she knew had to be gathering in her eyes already. Was it okay? How many times had the woman asked that and gotten a negative response? How many times would Nicole have to do that if she ever felt brave enough to be honest? Unsure on what to say, she settled for what she would’ve liked to hear instead. “That’s— that’s okay. Of course, why wouldn’t—” she mumbled, lingering on the hand tapping against the glass before her eyes flicked back up, bright and understanding. She wanted to reach out and offer some comfort, but her limbs didn’t receive the message. “You’re good, please don’t think— I’m not scared, or anything”.

She let the moment hang between them, quiet and though Evelyn liked to consider herself someone who knew how to use her words well, she felt at a loss for them - for just now, she hoped, though she was not entirely sure. She certainly knew that she hadn’t gone into this evening expecting for her friend - for whatever Nicole was - to find out that she wasn’t human. This was supposed to have just been a nice outing. Something normal for Nicole, something that made her feel comfortable. She couldn’t help but feel her mind flash back to the night with Alain, when something else entirely normal and supposedly benign had outed her as not-human. Thankfully, Nicole hadn’t left her yet and Evelyn breathed a small sigh of relief.

She was stammering though and Evelyn pressed her hands against her thighs for a moment, willing any calm energy to concentrate then and now - to focus and not freak out about whatever Nicole’s eventual response would be once she was able form complete sentences. She’d give her time though - that much she more than deserved, having something like this just suddenly dropped on her.  “I - it is okay. I do not expect you to know.” She pressed her thighs against one another, taking in another deep breath. “I - I feed on fear.” Her voice was so quiet now, she wondered if Nicole could hear. “I - I promise I do not feed on fr - those I - people I like. Trust. You. I have not and shall not ever do that. I am a living nightmare, I suppose. That is likely the best manner of phrasing.” She shook her head. “You do not have to be scared of me. I - I am not bad.” She didn’t know why she felt such a desperate need to insist upon this, rather than to just leave things as they were - to state it more assuredly. “Thank you. Not everyone responds well, is all.”

If Nicole thought further explanation would clear things out, she was wrong. Evelyn’s words didn't make sense. “What is—” What exactly did she mean by feeding? How could anyone feed on fear? Impossible. She eyed the untouched salad then, swallowing all the questions she wanted to ask. “What...” referring to herself as a living nightmare didn’t help either. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to understand, she focused instead on how the woman acted. Someone who was trying her best to stay calm, whose words weren’t exactly the most coherent. Too familiar. Despite learning she was a creature who fed on fear —whatever that meant—, Evelyn had never looked more human to her. Her breath grew shallow as her throat tightened. How could she judge her for something she didn’t ask for? It wasn’t right. They lived in a cruel world, scared, persecuted, ashamed —in her case— of what they were. None of it was right. It hurt to hear Evelyn defend her nature to her. She looked down to hide her face, tears were threatening to spill. Great, had she upgraded to crying for others too? Worst of all, she didn’t know the right thing to say. Evelyn was baring secrets and she didn’t have the emotional capacity to deal with it. There were more barriers between them than just the table.

“I’m not scared of you” Nicole repeated, voice low but firm. “I don’t understand…I don’t get anything of what you’re saying, but listen—” she licked her lips as her mind went blank. Where was she going with that? She was about to find out. “You’re—” she looked at Evelyn again, heat rising to her cheeks as it often did when she was ashamed of being honest. “For some reason, the first person I thought of when I needed to talk... was you,” the reason they were at the diner, the catalyst for all the events that led Evelyn to reveal she wasn't human. New information could change opinions, sure, but she was talking to the woman who bought a guitar for her the first hour they met. There was hardly anything that could change her mind about the kind of person she was. “And you came. You said yes! To meet a— You don’t think I already know you’re not bad?”. She swallowed, getting her thoughts together. She had a lot of questions. Some that could wait until Evelyn felt safe enough with her, but there was one she couldn’t keep inside. “What did you mean by...how can anyone feed on fear? that’s not—it’s...it’s not— you can’t eat that”.

Nicole was doing a number of false starts and reformulations and Evelyn wished, if for only just a moment, to take back everything that she’d said. It was too much, maybe. Even if Nicole wasn’t getting up and leaving it could just as easily be all too much to expect her to understand. As much as it frustrated Evelyn when people didn’t seem to understand, she also couldn’t expect them to - though she figured that was more her father’s words getting to her - they often stayed away but seemed to have a tendency to reappear in moments of doubt - they had, shortly after she’d broken up with Alain and she found that they were reappearing now, much to what would have been her dismay if she’d let it.

Instead, she refocused on Nicole, who seemed to have found her own voice again and Evelyn let out her breath. “Good.” She replied. “You needn’t be scared.” Since when am I supposed to sound like my tutors from when I was a child? She mused for a moment. Nicole’s next words made her bite her lip softly, gaze growing soft, and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of the stirring of emotions that ran through her body, then. She imagined for a moment that this must have been what it would have been like to have had a friend (that word was alright to use, she figured, because that was the only way she could describe Nicole) as a child, having someone who wanted to come and talk to her and not because of her money. At least, she figured as much, given how much Nicole seemed to actively push away her offers of aid for any number of things. “I know, but I just - some see those who are not human - and they push away, they think that this changes things, even though it was not. I know of plenty of proper humans who have done more harm than anyone who is not human has ever done.” Her hands found her glass of water again and she took in another sip, Nicole’s next question not a surprise. “It - well, it is the way my body processes things. Truly, there are times when I do not understand it myself, but I just know that I - well, I can touch someone and create nightmares and that provides sustenance. Perhaps it is like how plants can take in sunlight and change it to nutrients?” She shrugged. “I am able to eat normal food too, I just need to feed on nightmares in order to survive.” Another sip of water - “I can explain further, best as I can, if you would like.”

Nicole considered the woman’s words for a second. She didn’t agree with it, but it made sense. She understood Evelyn because she wasn’t human either. She could relate. But had she been human, with no knowledge of the strange creatures that walked among them, she would have reacted differently to the revelation. She would’ve thought the woman was crazy. “That’s pretty dumb of them” to push away someone because they were different. Though, if she was being understanding with Evelyn, who could be dangerous to others, why couldn’t ignorant humans receive the same treatment? Maybe with more knowledge, their minds could be changed. The moral dilemma gave her a headache. “But I guess— guess we can’t be too hard on—on...people ” she shot a quick glance at the woman, catching herself before she could say humans.

Nicole’s eyes narrowed at the way Evelyn explained feeding, the plant analogy helping to better visualize it. It sounded terrifying and fascinating at the same time. To have the ability to unleash that sort of terror at her fingertips. It brought on more questions, but it was hard to articulate any. More than anything, it helped her understand why Evelyn had tried to reassure her she wasn’t bad. How scary were those nightmares? Could people die because of the distress? After what felt like eternity for Nicole, the waiter rushed to their side, endless apologies spilling out of his mouth. She didn’t care, she understood. The diner was full and busy, the staff not big enough to cover it. She eyed him briefly as he swept the remains of glass and salt. Only then, the pressure in her chest eased, her heart slowing down. It had to be a relief for Evelyn as well. “Yes, please—” a shy smile pulled at the side of her face. She glanced down to Evelyn’s hands, following every unintentional move. “So just… you touch someone and— does it depend on…” she paused, grabbing her beer again. She toyed with it instead of drinking.“The worse the nightmare is, the— your meal is it….meatier? or—” she cringed at her wording. She had to sound stupid.  

“It may be dumb, but it also cannot be helped, sometimes.” She knew that was why, despite everything, she still felt some level of sympathy toward her father. He should have acted better with everything, but in the end he was just scared. Evelyn knew his position and title meant nearly everything to him. So much so that he stayed married to her mother even when he knew what she was. So much so that he kept aspects of his life - so many aspects - secret. Made Evelyn play human - because being anything other than perfectly normal was frowned upon. Nicole’s words were a breath of fresh air and it made things feel at least a little bit okay. She shrugged. “I guess not.” Try living with this for years, try finding out what you are and having answers and being shut down. Try being so alone in the middle of a party thrown just for you. Though she knew that there was no way that Nicole meant any of what she’d say in any sort of negative way, Evelyn couldn’t help the desperate and uncomfortable feelings that rolled throughout her whole body.

The waiter arrived finally and had Evelyn been younger, more prone to her snobbery (though she knew that she certainly held a good bit of that now, still), she would have scoffed, asked why they had taken so long. She didn’t, now. She offered them a small smile, as if to say It does not matter. As if to entirely avoid that something so simple could so easily render her helpless. Turn her into a child again, too-long hair and bright eyes, melting down in the house’s kitchen. At least this hadn’t turned into that. At least she was safe. “I have to concentrate.” She murmured, fingers brushing along the tabletop. “I - well, they are fulfilling on different levels. I am unsure entirely, but I do find a certain satisfaction in ones that are worse, I suppose. It creates more fear which is - well, that is the essence of what I need.” Thankfully nobody else was paying them any attention. “How about we get out of here? My bar is open whenever I please, and I can tell you more there.”

“That is…” Nicole should’ve been scared, right? A person was telling her she was capable of causing people nightmares at will in order to survive. That was unlike anything she had seen in town. She should’ve been scared, because she generally had common sense. But each new bit of information she learned, only made her more curious. Only made her wonder what else was out there, hiding in plain sight. “That’s kinda cool. Shit— I mean I wouldn’t like to be the...but—” she had believed Evelyn when she said she wasn’t bad, but that sort of power in different hands—it had to be dangerous. “Oh” she was surprised by Evelyn’s suggestion to leave. Neither of them had even touched the food yet, but she couldn’t blame the woman for wanting to get as far away as possible from the diner. She looked down at her plate as she pondered. They weren’t exactly in the right place to have that sort of personal conversation, she figured. As loud as the diner was, she had to assume there were others like her among them, with keen ears. Who might not take Evelyn’s revelation as well as she had. For their safety, it was probably the best idea to follow the woman’s suggestion.

Nicole found that she didn’t mind going either.  She was drained already from being surrounded by so many people. Trying to tune out noises and smells was a struggle. She still couldn’t figure out why she had chosen Al’s to meet in the first place. Bad idea from beginning to end. She glanced at the now clean floor. They were allowed to leave now, so why not? She tried to push down the guilt over the disastrous evening. She couldn’t have known. It wasn’t her fault. “Uh— sure. Yeah, that sounds— why not?” it took everything in her to fight the urge to call it a day, and just go home, avoiding more social interaction. Deep down is what she wanted, but what she wanted wasn’t always what she needed. “Let me just...” she bit the inside of her cheek, awkwardly waiting to be noticed by the waiter to ask for the check. “I could really use a drink— a real one, after all...this. So, let’s— let’s  go”.

[neocity-sarai]

Tattoos Together

❈ main concept: childhood best friends to lovers!

❈ pairing: mark lee x reader

❈ alerts: fluff, angsty angst, language, parties, mentions of drinking/smoking, mentions of the dreamies/other idols

❈ song reference: “tattoos together” by lauv

Vancouver has always been home. Since you were a child, Vancouver has been the place to be. Years of dinners in the city, biking around Granville island, and field trips to the Victoria gardens were the norm, just little secret spots you go to when you want a getaway- an escape from school, work, whatever it is you’re doing. At age 15, the Lees moved into the light blue house next to yours, the one with overgrown weeds in the yard. The one with the crooked, leaning mailbox in front of it- daisies painted on the rusty metal. A young girl, an artist, used to live there until she moved to Paris for her next exhibit- leaving the lonely, periwinkle house behind. That day the Lees moved in, your parents baked more muffins than usual (on purpose) so they could welcome our new neighbors by enticing them with food. The saying goes that a way to a person’s heart is through their stomach right? When dad is done packaging them up into a neat little box, he shoves it into your hands, “Y/N. I hear the Lees have a son about your age, go introduce yourself.”

Glaring at your father, you set the box that was tied with a small yellow ribbon on the table before saying, “I’m sure they can manage just fine without the muffins. Why do we have to go greet them now? they’re probably tired from moving.”

Mom gives you a stern look, her jaw tightening, “Don’t be silly, it’s a nice gesture. Come back before dinner is ready.”

Before you can even protest, your parents are shoving you out the door, still careful not to crush the perfectly wrapped box. Stepping over the stairs, you finally manage to make it to the door. Here goes nothing? The cherry red door swings open lightly after you linger my finger-tip on their doorbell, opening up to a pretty woman- her facial features defined of asian descent. Her dark hair is tied into a loose braid, her pink sweater tucked into the waistband of her culotte pants. The woman smiles at you, the corner of her lips upturned, “Ah- you must be Y/N. I just got a call from your mother.”

You try to hide the shaking of my hands, handing her the box of warmed muffins, “Uh-hi Mrs. Lee. My parents made some muffins to welcome you to the uh- neighborhood.”

The woman’s eyes crinkle until her eyes stretch thinly, “That’s so nice of you! Thank you, I’m sure Mark will enjoy these!”

You question,“Um- Mark?”

Her laugh is light and airy, “My son-Mark! Wait here, I’ll get him.”

You wave my hands at her, motioning my refusal, “No worries, I-I have to get going for dinner..”

She doesn’t wait to listen to my words before turning away from the door to scream Mark’s name. A few minutes later, a boy wearing a dress shirt over his black t-shirt comes stumbling down the stairs, a pair of black headphones hanging off his neck. His glasses rest on the bridge of his nose as his jet-black hair sits as a messy pile on his head. It looks like he hasn’t combed it in days. Mark shouts, “What? What did you need mom?”

Mark’s mother clutches him by the arm, shoving him into my view, “Meet y/n. She’s the daughter of the family next door.”

At first, no words come out of Mark’s mouth, his doe, boyish eyes as wide as saucers. Mark’s mother hits him in the back, causing him to cough abruptly, “Uh-yeah-my name’s Mark. W-what’s your name?”

Mark’s mother laughs again, leaning down to whisper into his ear, “I already said her name is y/n!”

Redness creeps up to Mark’s cheeks, his nose tinted a slight shade of rose as his dark irises bounce everywhere but at me.

You smile anyway, “It’s y/n.”

He gives me a small smile and a nod, eyes set on the ground. His mother speaks up again, “I’m really sorry y/n, my boy’s really shy around pretty girls…”

Mark lightly hits his mom in the shoulder, “Mom! Don’t say that! You’re embarrassing me!”

His face is as red as a tomato, glasses sliding farther down his nose only for him to push them up with the tip of his index finger. I laugh at their cute relationship, holding out a hand to Mark, “It’s nice to meet you. I hope we can be friends?”

Mark stutters once more, his eyes wild with energy, “I-i’d like that very much-h, yeah.”

After you tell Mrs. Lee goodbye, you give Mark a nod before turning back on to their driveway. The both of them stand in the doorway, Mark’s voice reprimanding his mom in the house behind me. Maybe it wasn’t so bad meeting the Lees after all. That night, you go to bed, replaying the vision of Mark’s embarrassed smile in your mind.

Age 18  (senior year)

The next several years breeze by. Ever since Mark Lee enrolled into Everlane high, he wasn’t as shy of a freshman compared to the day you met him all those summers ago. Over the years, he grew a lot taller, his face a lot mature, yet still adorably awkward at the same time. He became a smart student, one favored by many of the science teachers- causing his friends (Jeno and Jaemin) to roll their eyes playfully whenever Mrs. Scofski would praise Mark for solving a chemical equation on the white-board. Mark was a basketball captain along with his best friend Hyuck, the two always tag-teaming during the school’s games. Due to Renjun’s forcing, Mark joined the student body as a reputable member. He became a biology tutor for kids who had found science class difficult or just fooled around without paying attention (Jisung and Chenle being two of those kids). Quickly, Mark was showered as Everlane’s golden boy, your neighborhood’s ideal son. He was doted as smart, popular, and mr. perfect to all the girls in the area- no matter how much he always denied it when you told him so. After your first meeting, your parents would frequently eat together, alternating households. The Lees also force Mark to walk you home from school, in fears that you would be kidnapped by a random stranger. At least he was good for one of many things- telling you that he’d swing his basketball at any person who would come even close to you.

Most days after your homework sessions, you’d plan new adventures with each other. your week went like this: on Mondays, you went walking along the water, skipping rocks on the bay until the sun went down and could see the glitters of the city sky-line. In the spring, the sky would melt from a tangerine orange color into a musty silver. On Tuesdays, you’d get clam chowder at Phil’s on 2nd avenue, Mark always ruined his shirt ( you would forbid him to wear white on Tuesdays) and then you’d sit on this abandoned rooftop above an old department store. Up there, the air always felt cold so that you would have to blow your warm breaths into your hands, lean your heads on each other’s shoulders as Mark let out his high-pitched laughs. On Wednesdays, it was maple waffles before school in Gas town, the steaming clock chiming delicate music by the hour. Thursdays were meant for taking stupid photos, listening to dusty mixtapes, and hanging out with the rest of your friends. Last Thursday, you would all go to the Capilano suspension bridge and sit on a treehouse’s edge- causing Hyuck to scream from the heights. Jaemin always quieted him down with a bone-crushing hug or a playful kiss, earning a look of disgust from Renjun. You always wanted gelato after that. On Fridays, all of you would stay in for a movie night at either Mark’s house or yours- Jeno punching Chenle to stop him from making fun of the ghosts in the horror movies you’ve been watching. It never works. Saturdays were like Mark’s public appearances at Everlane high’s party scene, one call and you all would be at someone’s house party. You’d never really enjoyed them though: too many people, too much dirty dancing, and the burning stench of vodka stung your nose. The only reason  you would stay is for Mark and the boys. Sundays, your family and Mark’s get together for either dinner or lunch- switching off every week. Your parents would even play a betting game to choose who gets to wash dishes, Mark groaning every time his family loses rock-paper-scissors. Spending time with the people you loved made the days go by faster as you never particularly had bad days in the extreme. Piles of homework and grumpy teachers didn’t hold a candle to what you’d get to do every day- if it meant spending time with Mark. When you go to bed each night, you would feel content- happy, even.

Monday

You still think back to the moment when the boys were eating lunch in the cafeteria, like you did everyday. Chenle was talking about how he’d earn himself detention because he was messing around with chlorine in chemistry in order to make Jisung laugh.

“You’re such an idiot, Chenle. That’s going on your record, you know?” Jaemin scoffs.

Holding his sandwich in one hand, Jeno sweeps his coffee-colored bangs out of his eyes, “What do you expect? it’s Chenle- it’s like he’s powered on candy all the time.”

Chenle slurps up his gummy worms in an exaggerated motion, “I’ve already been through 6 packs of these since this morning. I feel so sick.”

Narrowing his eyes, Hyuck rests his chin on the palm of his hand as he pouts his lips, “Poor baby, eat more and you’ll be blowing up the toilet in no time!”

Chenle squints his eyes at the blond-haired boy, tossing a gummy worm at him, “Hyuck! Stop it!”

Hyuck continues to laugh as he clutches his stomach, Jisung stealing the candy from Chenle’s fingers before stuffing it into his mouth. I pull Hyuck up from his side, “Hyuck, you’re going to fall, sit up!”

Due to his lack of breath, Hyuck stares into my eyes, his golden irises gleaming, “You’re here to catch me though.”

You push him back down, palming my hand onto his face, “Stop reading cheesy rom-com lines. It’s so not cute, cringey at that.” Before Hyuck can finish whining, we’re interrupted by Mark plopping his food tray on the table. Jaemin says, “Someone’s late. Where were you?”

Mark looks like he’s out of breath, heaving and panting as he cards his fingers through the crest of his raven hair. “You guys aren’t going to believe this but, I think Cassandra likes me.”

Jaemin raises a skeptical eyebrow, “You mean Cassandra as the cheerleader who got kicked off the team for drinking last year?”

Suddenly, you stop paying attention to the conversation anymore. All you feel is the weight of your heart sink, my limbs feeling heavier at your side. Hyuck looks at you, noticing your fallen expression before clutching your hand under the table, giving it a comforting squeeze. It seems like Jeno sees it too because he glances from you to Mark as Mark excitedly explains his story. “Yeah, I was just finishing up some tutoring with Roberto from last period and Cassandra gave me her number after that! Isn’t that sweet?”

Jaemin nods disinterestedly, “Yeah, sweet I guess.”

Among the group, you have only ever admitted your feelings for Mark to Hyuck because he cornered you about it one day. Yet, it seems like Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun have caught on from their pitied faces. Mark drones on about how “totally cool” and how athletic he thinks Cassandra is. The difference is you don’t play any sports and you don’t slap coats of makeup on your face every-day before school,  nothing like Cassandra. You shake your head at the ping in your heart- a small glimmer of hope that Mark would ever feel the same about you. By the time lunch is over, classes feel longer than usual. They drag on, your teachers’ words in one ear and out the other. You text Mark that you have to stay over for school so he can walk home without you- a blatant, utter lie. Instead, you opt to put my headphones in and take the long route home. Plopping on to the surface of my comforter, you hear the familiar ring of Mark’s text tone.

[2:55 P.M.] (Marcus Lee <3) Y/n? Did you get home okay?

[2:55] Yeah, I did. Thanks Mark.

[2:56] (Marcus Lee <3) Hey, are you okay? You seemed a bit down today? Like you know you can tell me anything right?

[2:56] Yeah. I know. I’m just a bit more tired than usual. Stayed up last night writing Mr. Gillion’s paper..

[2:57] (Marcus Lee <3) hahahah ewww. That doesn’t sound fun… Do you want to go into town and get churros later?

[2:58] I think I’ll pass today, I got some homework to finish. I hope you have a good day though :)

[3:00] (Marcus Lee <3] hahaha okay. I guess I’ll have to take my mom on a churro date then hahah. See you tomorrow! ;)

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to hang out with Mark. Still, you couldn’t forget about the way Mark’s eyes sparkled when he talked about Cassandra, the way his voice cracked from the excitement of talking about it. How can you expect him to know? To reciprocate? It’s not like you were dating, you have no right to be jealous of Cassandra- a pretty girl, someone who had football players falling at her feet. Even if you had told Mark the truth, what if he didn’t feel the same? It would make these awkward, not to mention with your friend group. You shouldn't.

Tuesday

In all honesty, you had forgotten about yesterday’s lunch conversation. That was until the reminder hits you like a slap to the face when you see Cassandra’s arms wrapped around Mark’s neck as he laughs into her shoulder. Renjun and you had been walking to art class, the crack in your heart widening by the second. They fit so well, the way Mark’s basketball jacket matches Cassandra’s cheerleading uniform, the way his teammates and her friends hang out together in a pack. Renjun whispers to you, “Are you okay?”

You nod at him, trying to conceal your emotions, “Just fine, let’s head to class.”

When you pass Cassandra and Mark along with their cluster of friends, Cassandra’s voice comes out in a squeaky tone, “Hey, y/n.” When you turn to look at the pair, you see Cassandra’s hand daintily resting on Mark’s stomach, his eyes wide as saucers when he realizes you and Renjun are in front of him. You hear Renjun mutter an ‘ugh’ after curtly waving to them. Mark leaves Cassandra’s grasp, motioning towards you both, “You guys going to art? I’ll walk with you-”

Before you can answer, Cassandra wraps her thin arms around Mark’s waist, “We have to go help Felix with the party stuff remember?”

Mark scratches the back of his neck before glancing back at her and you with Renjun, his mind in a state of conflict. To make it easier for him, you smile at him, “You go, looks like you’re busy.”

Walking faster, Renjun drags you by the arm as we breeze past the crowd of athletes and cheerleaders. Renjun rolls his eyes again, “I don’t get why he likes her so much, they haven’t even been friends for that long and you’re right-”

You cover a hand to his mouth, “Renjun, it’s okay. I’ve accepted it by now.” You try to convince yourself at the very least.

After art class is done, lunch time seems to come in a hurry. Everyone takes their usual seats, Hyuck on your right with Renjun on your left. Jeno, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung sit around you three in a circular formation. Jaemin speaks first, “So, what, are Mark and Cassandra dating now?”

Jeno shrugs his shoulders before stuffing a quarter of a cookie into his mouth, “Don’t know and don’t care.”

You say, “Looks like it, they were pretty intimate in the hallway this morning.”

Renjun and Hyuck make disapproving faces, Renjun quips, “I don’t know. I feel like this is happening so fast and he told me that he really-”

“Shut up!” Hyuck screams at Renjun, throwing a limp french fry at him.

“Ew, what the hell was that for?” Renjun’s eyebrows are furrowed with disgust, patting the fabric of his white denim jacket from any salt crumbs.

Hyuck’s eyes go wide  as he makes a zipping motion on his lips, his blond hair gleaming under the dim lights, “Don’t say it- she needs to hear it from him!”

Renjun shoots back, “But it’s so obvious, what difference does it make?”

“What are we talking about?” Chenle’s face contorts with confusion, Jisung looking at him for any hints.

Jaemin glares at the pair, “Shh, let’s just all move on.”

You say, “I’m with Chenle, what are we talking about?”

Hyuck places a firm hand on my shoulder, his honey blond hair casting shadows on his forehead, “Nothing, it’s not important.”

As you eat, you spot Mark walking over to all of you, his black backpack slinged over one shoulder before setting his food down. “Hey, guys. We can squeeze in two right?”

Hyuck looks at Mark, his eyes furrowing with bewilderment, “Two?”

“Hey guys!” Cassandra’s preppy figure pops out from behind Mark. She looks more done up than before: red lipstick, long platinum-streaked hair in a slicked pony-tail, and the tightest cheer-leading uniform she could fit herself into. She plops herself down in between Mark and Hyuck, taking off the container of her salad before looking around our table. I sense Renjun and Hyuck give me a look while the other boys continue to eat in silence.

“So what did you guys do today?” Mark asks. Jaemin gives him a short response while Jisung explains how the class pet mouse made it’s escape during second hour, earning a chuckle from Mark. You get an odd feeling in your stomach when Cassandra looks at Mark so lovingly at your lunch table. The boys’ dynamic seems almost disrupted every time Cassandra butts in to say that she doesn’t think Jeno’s jokes are funny. As lunch finishes up, the school bell reverberates through the cafeteria walls- a signal for the next class period.

The next class is statistics with Mr. Midas. Out of the group, Mark and Jaemin are the only ones in the same class as you  but it doesn’t help that they’re seated as farway as possible. On the bright side, you’re seated next to Chan, one of Mark’s basketball teammates. Over the course of the year, Chan has always been a kind deskmate by helping you when you’re confused with a problem or sharing his study guide with you. Sometimes you notice he scoots closer to explain a formula and asks you if you’re uncomfortable with his sudden closeness, to which to his relief, you always reply no. Chan is just as handsome as Mark, someone well regarded in the school. No one could resist his flirty charm, the way his chestnut hair curls to one side of his forehead and the way his hoodie falls past his waist a bit. You discover how Chan is really passionate about producing music and running your high school’s channel as a radio dj. When Chan smiles, it makes you happy to see how his eyes crinkle into crescent moons, and how his teeth gleam white when he smiles about the flower you drew him at the corner of his notes.

“Are you doing okay, y/n?”

You give a reassuring nod, “I’m doing okay Chan. Thanks for asking.”

He quirks up his brow, a scar slashing it at the end, “You don’t look okay though. Listen, if you don’t want talk about it, you’re all good, I just-”

Pausing him with the hold of your hand,  you continue, “if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about it.”

He gives you affirmation, you say, “Have you ever felt unrequited love?”

Chan shakes his head no, leaning back in his chair, “Maybe when I was younger but not now? I’m truly sorry y/n. Whoever it is, anyone who doesn’t see how funny and beautiful you are doesn’t deserve you period.”

You hold your tongue for a bit due to the fact of Chan’s comment catching you off guard. Freezing, he realizes the bluntness of his words, “Oh man, you just said unrequited love and I biffed it right? I didn’t mean it that way-no, wait. You are funny and very pretty so, uh-yeah.”

Bursting into laughter, you put a hand to your mouth causing Cassandra and Mark to look at you from across the room. Soon enough, you tear your eyes away from the students staring at you to focus your attention on Chan. He’s laughing too, his voice full of brightness and mirth. You respond, a light cloud of pink floating your cheeks, the room feeling a bit warmer, “I really appreciate that Chan. Thank you for making me smile today.”

A smirk graces Chan’s face as he says, “Happy to do it, whenever you want really.”

Statistics goes by extremely quickly when you’re sitting next to Chan- it’s like he’s telling you a couple of jokes and then it’s over. As the bell rings, Chan nudges you with his elbow as he packs up his bag, “So, I uh-this friday, we’re having our championship game and this party after? I was wondering if you want to come?”

You hesitate, thinking you might have plans with Mark, yet you decide he would probably hang out with his girlfriend over you anyway.

“I’d love to come. On one condition.”

Chan raises his eyebrows, “And what’s that?”

“You have to win the game.”

Chan throws up his hands almost hitting you in the process, “Well, duh! I’m not going to let you down, I promise.”

Friday

For the past couple days, you haven't heard from Mark. No texts, no calls, and no plans out in the city. You were hurt that the boy you’d call your best friend would ignore you just because he got a new girlfriend, your years of friendship overlooked just like that. When Friday rolls around, you attend the Everlane versus Brisbane championship basketball game. You decide that you’re there to cheer on Chan, the boy who’s taller than the rest, his purple jersey hanging against his muscular frame. You spot Cassandra giving Mark a kiss on his cheek on the court, you have to look away at the sight. By the next hour or so, you’re surprised at how long Chenle, Jisung, and Jaemin have been screaming. Each of them held a poster for each Hyuck, Jeno, and Mark- their jersey numbers adorned with dollar store glitter and messy handwriting. When Mark makes a slam dunk in the basket, the crowd goes ear-deafeningly wild, cheering out Mark’s name like a repeated mantra. Shortly after, Hyuck makes an attempt to pass the basketball to Mark; the ball missing Mark’s hands before Chan dribbles it to their opponent’s basket. The cheerleaders dance to the thrum of the crowd screaming Chan’s name over Mark’s, causing Mark to grit his teeth with irritation. For a while, the back and forth of swaying bodies goes on until the Everlane team makes the last shot before the final countdown. When Jeno makes the last point, you’re certain you’ve lost your hearing by then. The cheers ring in the gym, causing the alarm to blare with victory. After everyone exits the gym, you see Mark, Chan, and Jeno being tossed into the air in a sea of fellow players and short-skirted girls as pompoms explode upwards. You decide to wait with Chenle, Jisung, and Jaemin in the empty parking lot, waiting for Renjun to pull his car around. Jeno and Hyuck jog to you all first, their basketball duffels hanging from their hands, bodies are drenched with sweat. Chenle says, “That’s some fine work out there gentleman if I do say so myself.” Hyuck does his signature handshake with Chenle, a reckless grin smeared across his face, “I knew we’d win. Brisbane can’t take down the undefeated.”

Jeno gives him a firm nod, slinging his arm around a pleased Jaemin. You smile at the boys, “Congratulations guys, you all killed it on the court.”

Hyuck and Jeno smash you in a sweaty hug, “Aw, thanks y/n. You did well cheering for us.”

You laugh, “Get off, you guys are sweaty!”

Before Hyuck can smear his sweat onto your shoulder playfully, a voice stops you in your tracks.

“Y/n!”

It’s Chan. A damp towel hangs off his neck, his nike headband wrapping his forehead under his bangs. “You ready to go?”

You shout, “Just give me a second!”

Hyuck and Jeno give you a knowing look, “Where are you going with Chan?”

You reply, “Oh, we’re just carpooling to the party at Felix’s house.”

Renjun asks, “Also, where’s Mark?”

Hyuck shakes his head in contempt, “He’s heading to the party with Cassandra.”

Jaemin mutters, “Of course he is.”

Of course he would. Mark is one of the captains on the team, why would he be excluded from the after-party? The ache in your heart pings again, you feel sick from the thought of Mark making out with Cassnadra at some gross party. You wouldn’t be able to handle the tears.  Though, Chan had invited you, not Mark- who he didn’t even mention it to you, the least you could do is be courteous. What kind of person gets invited to something and cancels so last minute?

You say, “You guys get to the party and I’ll meet you there, okay?”

Renjun’s eyes crease his concern, “You do know that Mark and Cassandra will be there though right?”

You nod, “Yes. But we won’t mind them, let’s just go have fun tonight.”

After parting, you jog over to Chan who’s tossing his duffel into the trunk of his silver Lexus, his hair damp from the game. He turns to you, grinning, “you ready?”

You smile at him, telling him yes before launching yourself into the passenger seat. Chan turns the ignition, his car interior smelling like cherries from the air freshener that hangs above his head. As Chan drives, the street lamps glow on the side of the road as the moon peeks between the rainy clouds. He rolls your window down, your skin shivering at the cold chill of the night. “So, there was something I wanted to ask you?”

Turning to him, you face the chestnut-haired boy, “You remember stats class a few days ago?”

You reply, “I do?”

“Mark was looking at you the whole time. When you guys hadn’t texted in several days, he asked me if you and I were a thing during practice.”

You quirk your brows up in surprise, “And what did you say?”

Chan smiles to himself, letting out a breathy chuckle, “I said no. But, I was definitely interested.”

You allow yourself to feel nice, to feel like Chan likes you for who you are around him. Chuckling at him, you flip your hair in a sassy manner, “Well, I’ll definitely keep that noted.”

When you arrive at the party, the small two-story house looks like a sight straight out of one of those coming of age movies. The small house is jam packed with people, some hanging out on the lawn as they sip their drinks as music shakes the walls. You spot Renjun’s car from the side of your eye, meaning that your friends had gotten there before you and Chan. Upon entering the house, it’s like a warzone within it. Some people are peacefully talking by the lounge area as they feast on snacks. Some are in the kitchen mixing a plethora of colorful drinks together while also playing a form of beer pong. Girls run up and down the stairs with their friends, some with boys trailing behind them with a trance in their eyes. Some are grinding on each other on the dance floor, sensual music thrumming at the source of the boombox.

The first thing you see are your friends sitting in the corner by the backyard door, Mark on the loveseat with Cassandra practically on his lap. You instinctively grab Chan’s hand so you don’t break down right there. He gives you a surprised glance, “y/n? What’s wrong?”

Instantly, you let go of his hand as you cast your eyes down towards the floor. When you don’t answer, he sees a view of your friends laughing along with Mark and Cassandra. You feel a large hand cover yours which causes you to look up at Chan, “It’s okay y/n. Just stick with me.”

You nod, leading him to the drink table in the kitchen. When he leans down to sniff a large bowl full of sour juices and cubes of fruit, his nose scrunches in disgust, “ugh, jungle juice.”

Out of random courage, you swipe an empty cup from the tower as you shove the metal ladle of jungle juice into it. Downing it despite Chan’s protest, you feel a surge of electricity light your lungs on fire as the beat of your heart quickens from the liquid courage. He laughs, keeping his hand on the small of your back, “You surely make reckless decisions when you’re bothered by something.”

You giggle back at him, “You drink something too, you’re a winner tonight after all.” Chan reaches from a glittery purple bowl that pops with bubbles, “a toast to that, y/n. A toast to that.”

before he downs the liquid in one go. You feel his body jolt from the energy too, a smirk plastered on his face, “Wanna go play a game with some of the boys? Only if you want to, we can talk upstairs too.”

Shaking your head in refusal, you hang on to Chan’s shoulder, “Let’s go have fun.”

Chan grabs your hand, his metal chain bracelet cool on your wrist as he leads you past your friends, Mark, and Cassandra before opening the backyard door. Mark moves Cassandra off his lap, her eyes as cold as ice before she angrily gets up to get another drink. The rest of your friends sit in their circle in awe, glancing down at Chan’s hand enclosed on top of yours. Coolly waving to them, you say, “I’m outside if you need me.” before you meet eyes with Mark- his lips pressed into a frown, his irises shot with hurt. You ignore the ache that grows on the wall of your heart. You tell yourself, Mark’s ignored you all this time because he doesn’t feel the same way and never will. After being outside on the patio for a while, you meet some of Chan’s radio-club friends as all of you play a game of sorry. For a moment, Mark and the others aren’t on your mind, just the fact that Chan is pulling you into an enthusiastic hug after winning a round. You turn to Chan, “Hey, I’ll be right back. I have to use the bathroom.”

Chan smiles at you before he presses a lingering kiss to the crown of his head, “Sure thing. I’ll be here.”

You’re not even surprised that Chan kisses you, whether or not it’s the alcohol, you don’t mind it. When you head back into the house, you feel an arm grab your wrist and spin you around. Your friends are still sitting where they had when you passed them except Mark is the one boring his eyes into yours as he grabs your shoulders, “We need to talk now.”

Before you can say no, he pulls you to the quieter part of the kitchen, you say with bitterness, “What do you want Mark? I have someone waiting for me.”

Left without any patience, Mark lets out a huff, “Are you and Chan together?”

You sigh, casting your glance at him, “Seriously? It’s none of your business. Second, it’s not like you told me that you were with Cassandra.”

Mark uses his hand to comb back his black hair, making it even more messy, “Y/n. That’s because we’re not together, it’s just complicated and I haven’t had the time to tell you why or how we-”

“Stop right there. You ignored me for days Mark! You never texted or called! What was I supposed to do? Pine after you when you’re chasing Cassandra around?”

Mark’s doe eyes flash with pain, his hand tightening around the sides of your arms, “No! That’s not it! I didn’t mean it that way, I’m just trying to figure out what to do..” You shove Mark off you, his hands sliding off your arms, “Well save it. I’m done with you playing around with my feelings!”

Mark calls after you, tears streaming down your face as you try to make your way to the bathroom without being stared at. It takes all three minutes of some Chris Brown song for you to stop heaving. You feel sick to your stomach, so much for a fun night. You text Chan to meet you outside in front of the house, avoiding the corner your friends were comforting Mark at. Chan finds you leaning against his car, “Oh my god, are you okay?”

Giving him the only smile you can muster, you explain, “Listen, I’m so sorry. You invited me to this party and I just-I’m here being a cry-baby and everything. I’m just going to walk home now. I’m sorry.”

Chan shakes his head in definite refusal, “Nonsense. I’m driving you home. I’m about done anyway.”

You ask hesitantly, “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

The night drive back to your neighborhood gives you peace of mind. Chan rolls all the windows down as soft music plays from his radio, slowing the bounce of your heartbeat. He’s got one hand on the wheel and one hand rested on yours by your knee, you feel comfortable with Chan. It’s the same feeling that flutters in your stomach when you’re close to Mark and right now, you hate the thought of the black-haired boy that consumes so many of your thoughts. Before Chan’s tires screech to a stop in front of your porch, he turns to you with concerned eyes, lips pressed into a pout. “Come here, y/n.”

You waste no time collapsing into the space on his wide chest, his hands stroking your hair down. Resting his chin on your head, you close your eyes to the rhythmic beat of Chan’s heart as the soft patter of the rain is enough to drift you to sleep. You pull away from his chest, looking up at the shadows in Chan’s eyes, his hair falling near his eye-lids while he glances at your lips before looking down to his lap. He says apologetically, “I’m so sorry. I’m not trying to take advantage of your feelings right now. I’m really not-”

You cut him off with your hand pressed to the curve of his cheek, “Can I kiss you?”

He doesn’t waste time to grip the back of your neck, kissing you harshly as he bites the bottom of your lip. You sigh into him, fisting the fabric of his jacket when he moves in even closer to twist a hair behind your ear. When you detach from him, you can’t control the burst of tears that shakes your body. The alcohol blurs the vision of Mark and Chan together as your mind throbs from the effect, leaving you dizzy. You apologize to Chan over and over again, wiping the tears that fall from your eyes. Instead, he kisses his lips to the side of your temple as he urges you to get some sleep. Like the gentleman he is, he walks you to the front door, draping his basketball jacket over your shoulders. Your home is dark- due to the fact that your parents are out of town on a business trip in Toronto so you just flop onto your bed in defeat. Mark’s ringtones shoot off from your phone, notifications of several apology texts and missed calls. Not wanting to check any of them, you toss your cell phone into the grey trash bin that sits by your desk. Going to sleep feels especially difficult when alcohol still surges through your veins and you can’t control the sobs that erupt from your throat. You hear Mark’s car pull up on his driveway, not wanting to see him whatsoever. On your bed, you almost feel him looking up at your window to check if you’re awake- for once, you’re glad it’s curtains are securely shut.

The next few weeks are pretty miserable besides the fact that you’re getting closer to Chan. You don’t acknowledge Mark’s presence anymore. By Hyuck and Jaemin, you’re told he comes by to the lunch table to check if you’re there. You still hang out with your friends separately rather than in your usual group- the web that connects you slowly falling apart. It’s difficult when you have art with Hyuck and Renjun, stats with Jaemin, and ceramics with Jisung, Chenle, and Jeno- as you try to take paths opposite of Mark at the same time. Later on, you explain everything that’s been going on between you and Mark to Chan. He takes it surprisingly well by comforting you and listening to your anger, how he’s willing to let you heal before you two start anything. How could Chan be so patient with you? He says it’s because he really likes you and would rather be there for you as a friend first. When you get home, your parents give you a lecture about starting things with Mark, how they want to have dinner with his family but can’t. Of course, they feel sorry once you explain to them what really happened.

Now, the weather outside seems a lot sunnier, yellow pollen from the peonies float in the air as you make your way out of the double doors. The time is nearing for spring break- a well needed barrier from Mark, from everything. Before you walk your way home, you’re stopped by Hyuck and Renjun. Renjun holds an envelope in his hands before giving it to Hyuck, both of them trapping you, “Y/n. We’ve been looking all over for you.”

You say, “I’m going home now, can we talk tomorrow?”

Hyuck narrows his eyes at me with contempt, “No, of course not. Just hear us out.”

Renjun speaks up too, “Do you have plans for spring break? I’m assuming you don’t because you mentioned a few weeks ago that you didn’t. We’ve got 8 tickets to Victoria island.”

You reply, “And.. your point is?”

Hyuck crosses his arms, rolling his eyes, “The point is to make up. Our group is in shambles because of all this lovesick drama. A trip is a perfect opportunity to mend things.”

Laughing, you cackle at his suggestion, “If you expect me to go then that’s hilarious. I’m not going.”

Hyuck throws up his hands in frustration. “How can you kick it if you don’t even know what will happen?”

Raising your eyebrows defiantly, “Do you remember what happened when Mark and I were in the same room? Hyuck, it’s not happening.”

Renjun grumbles, flicking the envelope in my face, “Fine! We won’t invite Mark then! We just want you to come with us and then we’ll see what happens from there okay?”

Hyuck socks Renjun in the shoulder with a fist before shouting, “How can we not ask Mark?”

In response, Renjun shoots a frigid glare at Hyuck as if he’s threatening him with his eyes,  “We’re just not going to ask him! Y/n, will you come?”

You pause for a moment as you stare back at the pair. You raise your voice to make yourself crystal clear, “I will only go if Mark doesn’t. Simple as that.”

Renjun bobs his head in agreement, “Deal. No Mark.”

When you walk away, you still hear Hyuck berating Renjun for his decision only to be shut up by some snarky comment that comes through Renjun’s lips. The sound of their voices falling away.

First day of spring break

By the time spring break begins, you find yourself standing in front of Renjun’s van with your suitcase packed full of your things. You’re greeted by Renjun, Hyuck, Jaemin, and Jeno first. Of course, Jisung and Chenle are seen scampering across the school parking lot with their duffel bags messily unzipped, some shirts hanging out of the top.

“Didn’t I tell you to pack the night before?” Renjun scoffs at the pair.

Chenle pokes his tongue at the older boy, wrapping his arm around Jisung’s broad shoulders. Jeno holds his hands up in the air before bellowing, “shot-gun!” straight into Hyuck’s ear- causing Hyuck to throw a whiny fit. Once our suitcases are in the back of Renjun’s car, he leans on the side of his van as if he’s waiting for something. Jaemin says, “Okay, isn’t that all? Why aren’t you closing it?”

Renjun has a wicked grin plastered all over his face, “Not everything and not certainly everyone.”

You all turn to face Mark, circles under his eyes, his hair unruly as if he hasn’t gotten sleep in 3 whole weeks. Shoot a menacing face at Renjun, you whisper at him, “You told me Mark wasn’t coming.”

Renjun gives you  an evil, sinister smile, “I crossed my fingers behind my back.”

Having the extreme urge to strangle Renjun on the spot, you ponder about Renjun’s extreme lengths to reach his goal of making up. Before you can walk away from the car, Hyuck drags your hand back to the door of the van, “Ah-ah- y/n. You’re not going anywhere.”

The whole car ride to the ferry is awkwardly silent due to the fact you’re mercilessly squished between Hyuck and Mark. Personal boundaries don’t exist in the car, your legs are practically on top of each other as Mark steals side glances at you from the corner. Getting to the dock port seemed less stressful than you’d imagine it to be. Renjun had parked his van at the base garage of the ferry before unloading everyone's belongings.

Just as easy as it was to get on to the boat, it was easy getting off too. You’d make your way down to Renjun’s car,  Renjun driving it down a ramp and into the pathway that opened into Victoria island. You have to admit to yourself, Victoria island looked even more gorgeous than you had remembered last time you came with your family. During springtime, all the beautiful flowers in Butchart gardens would bloom pinks and purples, the greenery would turn a lush, healthy evergreen, and the city would stay lit for the tourists. It was the perfect place to have a vacation, one with friends at that. Jaemin and Renjun booked a small cottage house for everyone to stay in, one straight out of a fairy tale storybook. The cottage ceiling looked like it was made with hay and lime-green vines, beams of cedar-wood reinforced the walls of the structure. It had a white picket fence that surrounded a small rose garden near the entrance; white lilies floating in an old, peeling fountain. Finally entering the house, you were amazed by the impeccable interior:various paintings of Victoria island, a kitchen that was big enough to seat 10, and bedrooms slacked with ivory/gold wallpaper. Like ants scattering into their units, the boys jumped on their beds that they ‘claimed’ while you and Mark stood in the middle of the hallway. Watching all of them make a clamorous reaction over who got the best room was like watching families seize their buttons during family feud. By observing them, you’ve come to realize that there were only 7 rooms instead of 8. Realizing this, you glance over at Mark who was in turn staring back at you before racing towards the end of the hall- flying to the surface of the bed. Both of you landed on it at the exact same time, faces extremely close together. Hastily, you sit up in an attempt to push Mark off the bed that you claimed first, “Mark Lee, get off my bed now!”

He incredulously stares back at you, “Your bed? This is mine!”

You exclaim, “You’re trying to take my bed now? I clearly jumped on it first!”

“No, you didn’t!”

Bickering back at forth, you and Mark don’t even realize the rest of the boys practically flailing in the doorway, Hyuck saying in a sing-songy voice, “Or.. you could shareee!”

In unison, you and Mark shout, “Hell no!”

You get up first, shoving a pillow at Mark, “Fine, you have it! I’ll room with Hyuck.”

Hyuck clicks his tongue, “Oh no you’re not, y/n. Nada. No bueno.”

Before you can argue with Hyuck or chase him out of the room for that matter, you hear Mark speak up from behind. His voice is shy and quiet, his face a shade of beet red, “You just take the bed. I’ll take the floor.”

You turn to face him as you’re about to reprimand him for such a stupid idea until you realize that it’s probably the best decision to make at the moment.

After dinner that night, everyone had settled into their respective rooms. You had changed into a hoodie and sweatpants after you had showered. You sat on your bed, texting Chan goodnight before shutting it off to charge on your nightstand. Mark had stumbled into your shared room with one pillow and a thin fabric cover-(hardly a blanket) before setting it down on the carpet. Seeing Mark in this state, it reminds you of the old days. The way that his headphones sat comfortably on his ears, his black hair matted with drops of water, and his toned frame covered with black pants and a black tee. The hollows of his cheeks make his face more prominent, his lips the color of a strawberry slice. In one swift motion, he wraps the thin cover around his body before turning on his side, “Good night, y/n.”

Unable to say anything, you shut off the lamp- casting darkness all around you. “Good night, Mark.”

You almost forget that Mark’s there in the room with you until you hear the tick of his teeth chattering and the breathy huffs from how cold it is. You sit up to take a look at his shaking figure, the thin material doing no justice as a blanket. You believe that the air bnb manager hadn’t put extra blankets or control instructions for the ac system as you had all looked for them earlier. Deciding to wrap one of the thicker blankets that’s draped over your legs, you almost trip towards Mark’s shuddering body before patting it against him. Before you turn to go back to your bed, you feel a hand curl around your fingers, Mark slightly opening his half-lidded eyes at you. “y/n?”

Pausing, you touch your hand to Mark’s cheek, “Mark, you’re freezing. You should have told me, this blanket cover isn’t any better than a piece of paper.”

Mark shifts his body closer to face you now, his hands still wrapped around yours, “i-i didn’t know.”

“Do you want more of my blankets? I’m kind of used to the cold.”

Mark says, “No, if I take them, you’ll catch a cold.”

“Mark, I’m fine, really.” You insist on letting you help him, the boy shivering from the icy temperature.

His eyes become stern, his muscles stiffening, “y/n, I said no!”

Pausing, retract your hand from Mark’s as the warmth slowly is replaced with cold air. You give him a gentle nod this time, “I-okay.” Mark sits up from his place, fingers running through his messy hair, an earbud still plugged into his left ear, “What I mean is, I don’t want you to get sick. It’d be my fault.”

Instead, you walk back to your spot on your bed, “Look, don’t take this the wrong way but, you can come warm up for a little. Just before you go back to sleep, I promise- I won’t touch you.”

In the dark, Mark’s eyes glint like swirling, black orbs as he nods at you, getting up to take a spot next to you on the bed. He leans back into the pillow by your head, the coolness of it feeling like a cold cloud. Sighing with content, he submerges his body under the warmth of the comforter, careful not to over step his boundaries with you. When Mark lies next to you, you can seem to shut your eyes. Instead, your heart beats out of your chest when you hear Mark whisper. “y/n?”

“Yes, Mark?”

He says with a heavy heart, “I miss us.”

Propping my elbow on your pillow, you turn to face him, “I miss you.”

You choke on your words, your head throbbing with dizziness when you realize what you had just admitted to Mark. You seem visibly gulp, his eyes tracing the crease where the flowery wallpaper meets the ceiling. His voice comes out shaky, “y/n..I-I like you.”

Mark’s earbud sings the words of a beautiful, familiar tune:

Said I never fall, i’d never fall and then I fell for you mhm

Back against the wall, against the wall, and against the wall, that’s how it felt with you mhm

When those words fall from Mark’s lips, all the oxygen from your lungs makes an exit and threatens to not come back in- you’re left stunned. Mark turns his face to you to see your reaction and you stare back at him, eyes widened. Before you have the chance to say anything, Mark presses his lips to yours, rising from the pillow as his nose knocks against yours lightly. You find yourself kissing him back, harder than when you kissed Chan the night of the party. The kiss is full of yearning, almost full of struggling sadness to trap the right feelings- Mark’s hand snakes a hand around your jaw in order to stabilize you. He keeps kissing you aggressively, his eyes squeezed shut in pleasure as his tongue swipes your bottom lip. You pull away first, fire thrumming in your lungs as you place your hand on his chest, “Mark, you have a girlfriend. We can’t.”

Mark shakes his head slightly, “I’m not dating Cassandra.”

You make a face at him, “What do you mean? Because if I’m a rebound, I don’t want to be.”

Mark chuckles, a smirk snaking on his swollen lips, “Trust me, you’re not a rebound. And, I meant what I said about liking you.”

“Mark, you can’t just tell me you like me and then kiss me like nothing’s happened. I saw you and Cassandra with my own eyes.”

Mark sighs before gazing back at you with his obsidian-colored eyes, his skin glowing from the moon that shines slightly through the window curtains, “I’ve liked you since the day you brought those muffins to my house. I thought you would never see me as more as a friend and I tried to use Cassandra to get over you. I never wanted to burden you if you didn't feel the same. Clearly, it didn’t work. Not even partially. I’m sorry.”

You press your forehead against Mark’s, pressing a lingering kiss to the shape of his lips as you use one hand to pull the hairs on Mark’s nape- causing him to groan before reciprocating.

You whisper to him, a beautiful sound to his ears, “Why are we so difficult? We’re such idiots.”

Placing your head on Mark’s chest, both of you collapse on to the bed, sleep washing over your minds. You hear Mark giggle before putting his right ear bud into your ear, the sound of a man’s voice humming:

One weekend in Portland, you weren’t even my girlfriend

We were walkin’ and talkin’

Then somebody said.. let's get tattoos together, something to remember

If it’s way too soon, fuck it, whatever

Give me shapes and letters

If it’s not forever, then at least we’ll have tattoos together

Mmm, ‘cause I love you

Mmm, ‘cause I love you

When you wake up the next morning, you and Mark are greeted by Jaemin and Renjun cooking breakfast in the kitchen as Jeno, Hyuck, and Chenle play mario kart on the old television in the living room. Jisung is setting the table with eating utensils while also stopping to look at his Nintendo switch every few seconds. Aside from reddened faces and teasing, the boys had already suspected of your making-up based on the blush that coats both of your faces. That afternoon, you call Chan on the phone through facetime, letting him know that you and Mark had made up. Chan tells him how happy he is to hear it, telling you that he’s always known how much Mark had liked you and that he didn’t hold a candle to how Mark would talk about you to the basketball team. You apologize out of worry that you’ve hurt Chan but like the gentleman he is, he tells you that you’ll always be good friends especially when he’s good friends with Mark.

The next few days are like dreams. Together, you, Mark, and the boys go gallivanting across Victoria island through the sea towns made of floating boathouses and seafood restaurants. You bring your polaroid camera with you, capturing memories of Hyuck dropping his ice cream, selfies with Jeno and Jaemin, and seagulls chasing Renjun- all in a few frames. Even one morning, all of you had the spontaneous but rather, stupid decision to get matching commemorative tattoos, each of them a different flower on your wrists to commemorate your friendship. Each afternoon meant picnics at the Goldmere Provincial Park or whale watching tours out on the cobalt waters that were foaming with white. Other days you’d all visit the aviation museum or opt to sample the best chocolate fudge at Roger’s after a small hike.

On the last night of your trip, Mark had made sure that he wanted to take you down Tiffany avenue before meeting up with the boys for dinner. He’d told you to dress nicely in which you all did, leading you by the hand down the shopping street as your tulle skirt wavered behind you. When the both of you came to a balcony that overlooked the water,  the ocean looked so vast like it could swallow you into the great swirls of turquoise and aquamarine as white ocean spray crashed on the sharp rocks. The sky turned a lavender shade that bloomed into a twilight pink, the sun barely touching the tips of the mountains. Mark had placed an item in your hand from his pocket, a pair of cherry earrings he had bought in a souvenir shop when you weren’t looking. It reminded you of the song on Mark’s playlist from several nights before:

Yeah, your cherry earrings are my favorite

It looks so good I had to save it

I’ve been hopin’, prayin’ we last forever

‘Cause there’s nothing better than you and I

A week ago, you told Renjun that in any circumstance, you would never go anywhere if it reminded you of your feelings for Mark, of your friends, of everything that had happened. Now, you’re glad to be able to let go, you’re able to feel the cold wind on the cliffs- Mark right by your side. Being wrapped up in the tight security of your boyfriend’s arms, (yes, Mark had asked for real this time) along with your best friends, you’re careful to not let go of them now. There’s no place that you’d rather be.

[nocturnal-jeon]

𝚋𝚝𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗➛ 𝚜/𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 (𝚑𝚢𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎)

damn, angst is my thing i guess lol

and i split this up cause i made these whole ass stories so 

Kim Namjoon

It was comeback season (HAVE YALL LISTENED TO THE NEW ALBUM I-) and while he was always the best boyfriend at making sure he spent a good amount of time with you during the week, his main focus needed to be on work due to several deadlines and the lingering pressures in his mind to impress the fans. 

It was also exam season for you, and typically, your studying habits wouldn’t ruin your time with Namjoon simply because he would help you study and give you kisses or food if you got an answer right on the little mini quizzes he would make. Namjoon would spend hours working and even sleep in the studio, leaving you in your shared bed at home by yourself surrounded by papers and packets. 

Namjoon had staff that would force him to take care of himself. He also had six other members who were all in the same boat and knew the pressures of comeback season, so not only did they understand, but they were struggling with taking care of themselves, too. The staff would leave food in his studio and the members would force him to sleep for a few hours, but you didn’t have that. 

You didn’t have multiple people doing things for you to ensure that you were giving enough attention to your health. So, when you miss multiple meals and fall asleep at 3 in the morning only to wake up three hours later for an early study session, not even Namjoon was there to help you take care of yourself. But you were far too tired to even think about anything that had nothing to do with your studies. 

As busy as his schedule was, Namjoon made sure to come to your presentation. Rather than a paper, you simply had to give a presentation on a topic to the class and whoever felt inclined to watch. You stood near the computer off to the side as you skimmed the slide shows, looking for any grammatical errors or inconsistencies in text size. 

You didn’t even notice that Namjoon had entered the room and sat down, but when his eyes were the first pair that you met when you began, your anxiety spiked. Namjoon had such a busy schedule and you didn’t want him to waste his precious time on a horrible presentation. So, with the clearing of your voice, you began. 

And things were fine. Namjoon watched in awe as you spoke clearly and make eye contact with almost everyone in the room. But he grew confused when your words began to slur a bit and you began to stumble in your sentences. As you looked up at the board for reference, the words began to double and the mellow blue tone muddled together and fogged up your sight. And before Namjoon knew it, your body hit the cold floor with a thud as gasps filled the room. 

Using his long legs, he bolted towards the front of the classroom and winced when he saw a thin trail of blood from the back of your head where it had hit the floor. With shaky hands, he put two fingers up to your neck, later pulling back with a sigh of content as he felt it as strong as ever. You were always a fighter. As the police were being called, Namjoon picked up your body and sat it on his lap as he rubbed your back, hoping you would come to quickly. And as he held your body, he realized how frail it was and how light you had become. Your thighs seemed slimmer, your stomach no longer had the cute little rolls he loved, and your cheeks were beginning to sink in. And underneath the makeup, he could see the deep and dark bags under your eyes. 

Guilt hit Namjoon like a truck as he realized that he didn’t know how stressed and how poorly you were taking care of yourself. He watched with sad eyes filled with tears as you got lifted onto the gurney. Namjoon made a mental note to take better care of you. As you recovered, he would email all of your teachers and get extensions, and once you were able to come home, he would bring his work home and only touch it when you were asleep. When you were awake, however, Namjoon was feeding you, holding you, and watching movies with you. Anything, just so you wouldn’t doubt his love for you but also so that your health was being taken care of. 

He got nervous when you began to start working on your schoolwork again, but you constantly reassured him that you were going to be fine. He would make study schedules for you and have Jin stock the refrigerator with food and he would grow worried if a container of food hadn’t been eaten, and if you hadn’t, he would sit there in front of you as you ate and watch with eyes filled with fear. 

Once the comeback was over and you had passed your exams with flying colors, Namjoon took you on a vacation so you could both de-stress and reclaim your love for each other. 

Kim Seokjin

You were the type to constantly get sick, so when you came down with what seemed like another cold, Jin was waiting at your bedside with hot soup, tea, tissues, and snacks. It was food, after all, that brought you and Jin together, so there was always a smile on your face when you saw your doting boyfriend with food in his arms. 

Your symptoms were never consistent, but Jin, doubling as your mother, claimed he could see a cold a mile away, so he always gave you the same medicines, healthy snacks, and soup when you would begin to feel ill. 

Jin was always there to nurse you back to health, and even if he was busy, he would leave the food labeled on his side of the bed so you didn’t have to get up. You often felt sick and nauseous, but you didn’t always want to be babied and treated like a patient in a hospital, so a lot of the time you kept it to yourself. 

One day, in particular, you were feeling ill and Jin could sense it, but he had to work that day, so he made you a day’s worth of food, left you multiple post-it note reminders to drink water and rest, and kissed every inch of your face before he left early in the morning for practice. 

You felt so nauseous, though, that you couldn’t even eat a tiny bit of the beautifully prepared food. You felt bad, but you knew Jin wouldn’t enjoy cleaning up vomit on the bed, so you settled with watching various movies and tv shows, drinking water every five minutes like Jin instructed. But, after a little while, you ran out of water, so very weakly, you got out of bed and slowly walked down the stairs, glass in hand, to get more. But without getting the slightest warning, your body fell down the remaining three stairs, the glass shattering besides your fallen figure. 

Jin arrived home an hour and a half later, carrying your favorite takeout in his arms with a smile on his face. He figured you deserved a treat since you’ve been such a fighter. But the food dropped on the ground when his eyes came across your unconscious body. Rushing towards you shouting your name, he laid you down flat on the ground and examined your body for injuries as he blindly searched through his pockets for his phone. There was a massive bump and bruise on your head, but you were still breathing. 

Screaming and crying into the phone, he urged an ambulance come at once. He placed the phone on the floor as he stroked your face, chanting your name and hoping you would hear him and wake up. 

As you laid resting in the hospital bed, Jin sat by your side, your weak and limp hand in his as he tried to go through the events of the past few days in his head and see what was different this time about you feeling sick. But he couldn’t figure it out. 

The doctor entered the room, a clipboard in hand. Jin’s head shot up. “Well, it’s good you got there when you did. We ran multiple tests and we discovered that she’s hypoglycemic. It means she has low blood sugar,” the doctor explained, causing Jin to only grow more confused. But, with the doctor explaining more, Jin began to understand. He also, however, began to blame himself for excusing your symptoms as that of a cold. He took extra care of you, even taking a few days off to make sure you knew how to better care for yourself but also so he could learn how to better care for you. Using his cooking skills, Jin always made you food that would help rise your blood sugar and he always lightly scolded you when you didn’t eat the foods that aided it. 

Min Yoongi

Like Namjoon, Yoongi often spent hours on end in the studio perfecting his craft and making deadlines, but he wasn’t as good at Namjoon when it came to making time for you. Yoongi would often lose track of the days of the week when he was so deep in a zone. You always respected that because when you two first started dating, he wanted to make it very clear that he would be busy a lot, but you loved him enough and you always made sure you were here for him.

Though he never advised you to wait up for him, you couldn’t help it. Yoongi’s secure arms around your sleepy body were the equivalent of lullabies, and you needed Yoongi in order to sleep. He knew this, and he would try to get home once he was done, but he would often fall asleep in his chair. Other nights though, rarely, he would slide into bed and pull your back against him, his face settling in the crook of your neck as he placed a quick kiss before falling asleep.

You lost count of how many sleepless nights you spent on the couch waiting for Yoongi to come home. But, as you began to realize, he never really did. You worked a normal 9-5, so you weren’t at home for most of the day and that way, you could fill your empty mind with thoughts about work. 

The boys were having a listening party at Bighit with all the staff to see how they all react to the new album before it’s released. Yoongi felt this would be a great chance for you to spend some time together along with the boys. He said he would meet you there. And so, yawning as you did, you put on some jeans and a nice shirt, not really knowing what to wear. You brushed your hair for a minute, not having any energy whatsoever to curl it as you usually did. 

You made your way to BigHit and entered the large banquet room and searched with tired eyes for Yoongi. He sat in the corner with Jimin and you slowly and sluggishly walked over to them. Yoongi’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw you approach. “Hey, baby,” he said with a smile as he stood up and pulled you into a hug. You hadn’t seen each other for a few days as he was so busy, but being in his arms was like heaven, so you secretly hoped the hug would last forever, but he pulled away. Yoongi wasn’t a big fan of PDA when he was at work and around staff. 

“Hey, y/n, how are you?” Jimin asked with a smile. You mustered up the last of your energy to smile and say, “I’m doing great, how are you, Jimin?” “I can see the glare Yoongi is giving me, so I’ll leave you to alone,” Jimin said with a laugh before turning around and walking away. Yoongi’s arm lazily slinked around your waist. “I missed you,” he hummed into your ear, sending shockwaves throughout your aching body. “I guess I missed you, too,” you joked, causing a breathy laugh to emit from his lips you so badly wanted to kiss. But you were in public and you didn’t want Yoongi to get angry. 

“Everyone, we’re going to start, so if you could all settle down and get quiet!” Some important looking person shouted as the crowd of people quickly got quiet. The first song began to play and you saw as Taehyung and Jungkook began jumping around like idiots when the rap line went in. You smiled and looked at Yoongi. He stared back at you, wanting to gauge your reaction. Bringing your lips close to his ear, you whispered, “it’s amazing, baby. Absolutely amazing.” He smiled and placed the quickest kiss on your cheek. The songs played and played, but you began to get a bit parched. 

“I’m gonna go get a drink of water. I’ll be back.” 

But you never made it to the table in the back with refreshments. After taking a few steps, your body lost all of its power and you collapsed on the carpeted floor. At first, people didn’t really notice as all of the focus was on BTS, but when Yoongi heard “Hyung!”, his head snapped towards the back of the room. There Hoseok was next to your unconscious body as he lightly slapped your cheeks. Yoongi wasn’t the athletic type, but he ran faster than the speed of light to you, worry evident all over his face. 

“What happened?” he demanded, looking around at his fellow members, a tiny bit angry for no real reason. “I saw her and she just fell,” Hoseok explained. “Y/n, babe, wake up,” Yoongi said as he shook your body. Slowly, your eyes fluttered open and your cheeks burned red when you saw several pairs of eyes on you. Groggy, you mumbled incoherent sounds. While Yoongi was relieved you were awake, he could see what had been going on. You haven’t been sleeping. 

“You need to sleep, Y/n! Damnit, do you realize how detrimental this could be to your health?” he scolded. You felt embarrassed more than anything as your boyfriend scolded you as if you were a child in a room filled with people. “Yoongi, back off a little. Just take her home,” Namjoon said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. Nodding, Yoongi helped you up and held you securely in his arms as he carried you out of the building and drove you home. 

He didn’t say anything on the way home, too angry to say anything, too caring to not yell at you like he wanted to. He carried you to your shared bed and tucked you in, but he left the room and left you confused. But you were far too tired to piece it together. “At least a few days. I need to be here.” You overheard a bit of his conversation outside of the bedroom as your eyes fluttered shut. And so, Yoongi crawled into bed and wrapped his arms around you, bringing your back against his chest and he placed multiple kisses along your shoulder. 

“We’ll talk in the morning. But get sleep, y/n. I love you,” he whispered. 

Jung Hoseok

You and Hoseok had a relationship that seemed more like that of a best friendship. You both had loud, expressive laughs, shared the same sense of clothing style and shared some of the same skills. Though both of your busy idol schedules led to not a lot of time being spent together, whenever you did, you made the most of it and always did something fun. 

With you being a singer and Hoseok being a rapper, you produced some of the best songs Korea has ever heard together and Hoseok couldn’t have dreamed of a better person to collaborate with. While Friday nights were filled with pizza and movies for some couples, you and Hoseok would spend those nights in the dance studio being complete idiots together. 

Most of the practices you both shared together were fun, but your comeback was coming soon, so Hoseok played the dance teacher and helped you perfect moves if they were executed incorrectly, but because you were as talented as Hoseok when it came to dance, there weren’t very many corrections to be made. On this particular Friday, you just couldn’t get this one part right. You watched as Hoseok did it perfectly, and for no reason at all, you felt yourself getting angry because he could do it but you couldn’t. It was hard being in a relationship with someone who you viewed as the best dancer in the world. 

“Y/n, just take it slow and do it step by step,” he instructed as he watched from the corner as you stood in the center of the room in sweatpants and a sports bra. Your body glistened from the sweat and your muscles ached from overuse, but you had to get this right. “I am!” you snapped, pushing the stray hairs back in frustration. You looked up to see the hurt expression on Hoseok’s face in the reflection of the mirror. “I’m sorry, baby. I just..I need to get this right and my window of time for mistakes is closing,” you explained in a more mellow voice as you walked over to him. 

“You’re just overthinking this. You’ve done this part a million times by now, so I know you know it,” he said as he reached over and rubbed your tense shoulders, resulting in a long, drawn-out sight to escape your lips. “I wanna do it again,” you said. He eyed you. “You’re going to overwork yourself. I think you’ve done enough for tonight, babe,” he said. You shook your head and went back to the center of the room, getting into your starting position. “Just play the music, Hoseok,” you said in all seriousness. Reluctantly, he replayed the music and watched as you danced with such aggression and passion. 

During a part in which you had no choreography, you stood and waited for your cue, but Hoseok watched confused as your body began to sway. As soon as your body aimed straight for the floor, he sprinted and caught you before you fell. “Y/n, wake up. Come on, wake up, baby,” he said as he held your head gently. Though you were only out for two minutes or so, you had definitely spooked Hoseok and he was over the moon concerned. “You’re done for tonight, okay? We’re going home,” he said as he gently helped you up. You opened your mouth to object, but he shook his head. “I shouldn’t have even let you do it another time. That’s my fault. But we’re going home, y/n. You need a break,” he instructed, and all you could do is nod as you slumped against his body. 

He supported your body as you both went home. He ran a bath and washed your body and your hair, not missing the chance to make a beard out of the bubbles in the soap and lightening the mood. He then helped you get dressed, spoon fed you some ice cream and cuddled you in bed until you fell asleep. Never again would he let you push yourself to the edge like that. 

[anistarrose]

If The Sky Comes Falling Down (GF One-Shot)

Summary: Stan’s (and Ford’s) birthdays throughout the years.

Word Count: ~2300

Warnings: none

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19226707

Happy June 15th! (Title is from Hey Brother by Avicii!)

***

Stan and Ford are ten years old, and every one of their birthdays has been shared.

Every year, from the second the final school bell rings and onwards, the twins’ number one priority is planning the best birthday ever — what type of cake they want, which comic issues each of them should beg their parents for in order to maximize their combined yield, how they want to spend the day in order to make it the best day of the whole year.

Other kids at school seem to feel sorry for them, like having to share your birthday ruins all the fun of it, but to Stan and Ford, sharing has always been the whole point. With a twin, you’ve always got someone just as dedicated as you are to making your birthday perfect.

They’d never want it any other way.

Stan and Ford are seventeen years old, ready for their final year of high school, and as always they spend their birthday together. Today, they’re using the morning to work on the boat.

Freedom is tantalizingly close — just one more year of school, one more year of putting up with Dad. It feels just barely out of reach, just barely over the horizon.

If they time this thing right, and put in enough work, they might be able to complete the repairs just in time to sail out of town on the very day they turn eighteen. It’ll be a poetic and dramatic exit, as they journey onwards to clearer waters and grander adventures.

Just the two of them, going wherever they want to go. Stan can’t wait.

Stan (and Ford) are eighteen years old, and they aren’t spending their birthday together this year.

Ford is probably with his family — or maybe he’s already headed out to college and made new friends replacements there, for all Stan knows…

No, don’t waste time thinking about that, it won’t end well. The only thing Stan knows is that for the first time in his life, he’s spending his birthday alone, and he doesn’t have any idea what to do. Birthdays without Ford are a foreign concept to him, like an entirely new holiday that he’s never celebrated before, and he just feels empty.

Eventually, he settles on going to the nearest comic store and blowing his dwindling supplies of cash on the installments he’s missed over the past few months. He ends up not even having enough money to both get fully caught up and eat tomorrow, so he only buys a few issues — but it’s still enough to put a smile on his face that evening, even if that smile is only brought about by indulging in denial, by pretending he’s back home and everything with Ford is just as it’s always been.

Stan (and Ford) are twenty, twenty-five, thirty years old, and Stan still treats himself for his birthday however he can most years — if not the fifteenth, then the eighteenth, or even the twenty-eighth if it takes him that long to get ahold of a few spare dollars. And many years, he enjoys himself, but on others it just isn’t worth the painful memories that always tend to surface.

He’s realizing that sharing your date of birth with someone isn’t so fun after all, if you’re not sharing the celebration too.

Stan is thirty-one years old, and he doesn’t know if Ford is too because he doesn’t know if Ford’s even alive.

Summer is peak tourist season, so he has plenty of cash to spare, but he doesn’t do anything to celebrate when his birthday rolls around. He briefly has the notion that he should buy a cake and bring it downstairs to the portal room, but he discards the idea just as quickly. It just hurts to much to acknowledge.

Stan is fifty-two years old, and has been for nearly a month now as he gives Soos a reassuring pat on the back. The kid’s tears slow down a little, but not enough.

“Hey now, what’s the matter? Do you need to go home, ‘cause… well, it pains me to say this, but you haven’t missed a day of work since I’ve hired you, and I guess I could give you one day off with full pay…”

Soos shakes his head. “Nuh-uh. I — I don’t wanna be at home today.”

“Uh…” That surprises Stan, because as far as he knows Soos has a pretty idyllic home life with a grandmother who does nothing but dote on him — but if Stan has to curse out an old lady for reducing Soos to a bawling wreck, then he’ll do it, damn it. He’s cursed out stranger characters before.

There’s a sharp rap on the door — specifically the door to the private side of the Mystery Shack, not the side that’s open to tourists.

“Shoot, I gotta get this. Be right back,” Stan tells Soos, tossing him a box of tissues on the way out. Soos makes no effort to catch them, and the box bounces off his shoulder with a thwack as Stan cringes internally and hurries to the back porch.

And speak of the devil, it’s Soos’s Abuelita who’s waiting for him there, anxiously fidgeting with the straps of her apron.

“Has Soos come into work today?” she asks. “He said he would take the day off for his birthday party this afternoon, but he is not at home!”

Oh. So it’s a birthday thing.

“Yeah, I think I saw him swing by today,” Stan answers slowly. “I’ll go find him for you.”

“Thank you! I was so worried…”

Stan heads back inside, and sits down on the ground next to Soos even though his back protests against him with a burst of pain.

“Hey, kid. Your Abuelita’s looking for you.”

Soos buries his head in his hands, and mumbles something incomprehensible.

“Not a fan of birthday parties, huh? It’s okay… I’m not either.”

Soos looks up. “Really?”

Stan looks away. “Yeah, they’re just… not my thing.”

“My dad always promises he’d come visit on my birthday,” Soos mumbles. “But then he never does…”

“Oh, kid. I’m so sorry about that.” Stan pauses, and then throws an arm over Soos’s shoulder.

“I get it,” he whispers. “When it’s supposed to be the greatest day of the year for you, but then the people you care about — or the people you want to care about you — aren’t there, year after year, then it… it really wears you down.”

“Does your family never visit you on your birthday, Mr. Pines?”

“Uh… yeah. Yeah, something like that.”

Soos wraps his arms around Stan’s chest, trapping him in a surprisingly tight hug.

“I thought I was the only one who hated my birthday,” he whispers. “I’m sorry your family’s like that, Mr. Pines, but… I’m glad I’m not the only one.”

Stan is sixty-one years old, and he’s perfected the art of doing nice things for himself in early June and then lying to himself about it.

The party’s just a moneymaking scheme, nothing more. Getting to dance all night and eat marshmallows and other junk food? Those are just bonuses, and the timing? Falling exactly on the fifteenth of June? Well, that’s definitely just a coincidence.

Mabel is a whirlwind of energy and excitement on the dance floor, having apparently made some new friends, and Dipper is who-knows-where, probably off shirking his responsibilities and making trouble. They’re both good kids — their weirdness and stubbornness and just general twin-ness is a comforting kind of familiar on some days, and a worrying kind of familiar on others, but that’s not their fault. They don’t know.

Something about the presence of the younger twins tells Stan that it’s this summer that everything will finally change, though. That this is the last birthday that he’ll spend alone, unable to share.

Stan and Ford are both sixty-one, and all of those years have only led up to this. To the sky being ripped apart, and a demon burning the town to the ground.

“We used to be like Dipper and Mabel,” Ford says. “The world's about to end and they still work together. How do they do it?”

“Easy, they’re kids,” Stan tells him. “They don’t know any better.”

Ford stands up, a determined but wistful look in his eyes.

“Whoa, where you going?”

“I'm going to play the only card we have left — let Bill into my mind,” Ford explains. “He'll be able to take over the galaxy, and maybe even worse… but at least he might let the kids free.”

“What? Are you kidding me?! Are you honestly telling me there's nothing else we can do?!”

“Bill's only weak in the mindspace. If I didn't have this darn plate in my head —” Ford makes a fist and hits the side of his skull for emphasis, producing a metallic clang. “— we could just erase him with the memory gun when he steps inside my mind.”

“What if he goes into my mind? My brain isn’t good for anything.”

Ford chuckles sadly. “There's nothing in your mind he wants. It has to be me. We need to take his deal, it's the only way he'll agree to save you and the kids.”

“Do you really think he’s gonna make good on that deal?”

Ford sighs. “What other choice do we have?”

“You could… holy shit, Ford, quick! Put on my clothes!”

“Excuse me?!”

Stan takes off his fez and slaps it on Ford’s head. “If we switch places, Bill can go in my mind and then you can erase him! If it fooled all our teachers, why can’t it fool a demon?”

Ford throws the fez to the ground and grabs him by the shoulders, and Stan braces himself for a reply of you idiot, that’ll never work, don’t you think I would have thought of that myself if it would? — but he’s left completely unprepared for the words that actually come out of Ford’s mouth, quiet and slow and afraid in a way Stan hasn’t heard in decades:

“Stanley, that won’t just erase Bill. It’ll erase you.”

“But will it work?” Stan doesn’t even need to ask — Ford has a certain gleam in his eyes, a certain look of awe upon his face that only appears when he’s truly blown away by a revelation that never occurred to him, but makes all the sense in the world. It’s a look that’s partially obscured behind an expression of fear, of guilt, of desperation — but it’s definitely there.

“It will work,” Ford whispers, “but I don’t want to lose you.”

“It’s either erasing one idiot’s memories or letting a lot of people die, Ford! We’re — we’re running out of time, damn it!”

Ford stares at the ground as he begins to pull off his trenchcoat. “I’m so sorry, Stan.”

“I am too, Ford.”

A man wakes up in a clearing and remembers nothing, least of all his age.

Strangers approach him, cry over him, call him a hero and hug him uncomfortably tight, and he doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know what to say.

Ford, the older man, tells him that his name is Stanley, and that the two of them are brothers, that they’re twins, but something about the realization rings hollow. Any connection Stan might’ve once had with this man has since been severed, leaving them to share a face, a birthday, and nothing more.

…Or at least, that’s what one would think, because surely a disoriented and confused shell of a man with ill-fitting clothes and no memories can’t be a brother to anyone, not in any of the ways that truly matter — but when Stan looks at Ford and sees him staring off into the distance with a defeated frown on his face, looks at any of these strangers and sees them in anguish… his heart feels like it’s about to be torn in two. So maybe, just maybe, some fragment of a connection has persisted.

He tries to lighten the mood, to no avail, and tries to remember the scenes in the scrapbook the girl shows him — and when words start spilling out of his mouth on instinct, he’s relieved not for himself, but for the others. (For his family.)

He’s relieved when he sees them start to smile, to hope, and finally thinks Yeah, these faces look familiar.

Stan and Ford are sixty-two years old, and they blow out the candles on their birthday cake together as Dipper takes pictures and Mabel showers both of them in confetti.

“Mabel, sweetie, that’s kind of a fire hazard,” Stan warns her. “You know, with the candles and all —”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Ford cuts in. “We all know where the fire extinguisher is, don’t we?”

“Yeah, because you’ve already come seconds away from blowing us into the stratosphere twice this summer!”

They laugh, and then Stan and Ford argue over who gets to cut the cake, but there’s no malice behind the words. It’s just the usual sibling banter — one of the many little things that Stan and Ford have found themselves appreciating more than ever this past year, after having gone so long without it.

Everyone is stuffed except for Stan, who’s cleaning out the last few spoonfuls from a tub of ice cream, when Ford pours one last glass of milk and raises it towards Stan like one would for a toast.

“Here’s to more birthdays together,” he says, and Stan hastily picks up his own cups to clink it against Ford’s. It’s not a very satisfying clink, since both cups are plastic, but it’s good enough. It’s the sentiment that really makes the toast, after all.

“To more birthdays together,” Stan echoes.

***

Endnotes:

Thanks for reading, feedback and reblogs are appreciated as always! I realize Stan acted in Blendin’s Game like he didn’t know what caused Soos to hate his birthday, but I feel like it’s plausible he wouldn’t have wanted to share something so personal with the others if Soos clearly didn’t want to talk about it (and also I wrote that scene before realizing this potential continuity issue and just really wanted to keep that dialogue).

Anyways, I could go on and on about how much these two stubborn old men mean to me, but to keep it brief, thinking and writing about them has helped me through a bunch of rough patches, so I felt like it was about time to write something for their birthday (which I’d hoped to do last year, but writer’s block was a bitch). I’m so proud of this whole dumb fictional family, and I had the biggest smile imaginable on my face while I was writing that scene of pure fluff at the end :’)

[shin-so-sleepy]

Relationship headcanons for Mina, Momo and Uraraka?

9:56 pm - i’m sorryyyyyyyyy for the wait!! mina is literally such a queen, she’s my fave female character by far. also i feel like momo and uraraka are ooc so i apologize if they seem that way to you as well (also, these are written in a semi-different style than my previous ones, it depends on my mood ig?)

Mina Ashido

— P D A P D A P D A P D A P D A (yeah, you get the hint)

— huge cuddlebug? both a giver and reciever; she nuzzles into the crook of your neck any chance she gets, and absolutely m e l t s in your arms when you recepricate the affection

— she’d initiate the games at parties when the hype starts to die down a bit, and these games include truth or dare and rigged 7 minutes in heaven (rigged in her favor, to coincidentally pair up with you)

— she probably tells you she loves you quite early on in the relationship, though i don’t think she’d confess with an ily off the bat

— by that i mean, ashido likes casually romantic relationships, if that makes sense? sure she’s down for skinship any time of day, but she still likes to take her relationships as they come, and not rush too fast on the l-word. don’t worry though, daily cheek smooches are a common occurance, as well as bear hugs! (she’s the type to - ahem - glomp you)

— but after the first time she says it and means it with all her heart, be prepared to hear it very often! whether it’s a greeting, a farewell, or just blurted out of the blue, she’ll be peppering you in verbal affection 24/7

— “y/nnn”

“what”

“y/nnnnnnnn”

“what??”

“Y/N”

“WHAT?!”

“ᴵ ᴸᴼᵛᴱ ᵞᴼᵁ “

“…cool thanks”

— anyways, mina loves the carnival! the idea of spending a whole day winning giant stuffed animals for her s/o, eating tons of funnel cake and cotton candy, and ending the night riding the ferris wheel seem just the right amount of romantic to her! plus it’d be some nice competition to see who can outdo each other with the biggest prize, and mina plays to win

— i mean, she won the lottery with you, after all

Momo Yaoyorozu

— flustered af when you confessed to her bc she totally wasn’t expecting for her feelings to be reciprocated

— very new to the whole romance thing, so make sure to take things slow with her! momo is quite easy to fluster as it is, but being in a romantic relationship really brings that side out even more

— despite that, she’s still open to receiving pda! mostly hand-holding and cheek kisses though, and you’ll most likely be the one to initiate it

— yaomomo is a sucker for domestic things like raising a houseplant together and cooking meals for each other! she’s had family cooks to make meals for her for most of her life, so her skill level isn’t too high, but she’s a quick learner who is determined to make a delicious meal for you!

— momo would enjoy casual dates, like walks in the park, picnics, or just ice cream! coming from a wealthy family has deprived her of some of the simple things in life, so she has a certain appreciation for them

— speaking of that houseplant, it’s actually multiple houseplants, ranging from tiny cacti to larger leafy plants. they all have names. momo talks to them and calls them her children

— momo would definitely be very supportive if you did sports, clubs, etc. you can count on her to go to all your games a/o events to cheer you on! but not with a cheer leading outfit, most definitely not

— acts like a doting mother sometimes tbh, but it;s sweet and endearing! she’ll worry for your health if she sees you staying up more often, and be sure to coax you to bed with her to make sure you get your well-deserved rest

Uraraka Ochako

— precious beeeaaannnn!! she’s the sweetest, kindest girlfriend you could ask for don’t @ me

— she loves giving you little gifts when she can, to show her appreciation and love for you. this is a little difficult because of her financial state, but she still makes the effort to get you thoughtful gifts

— you probably have to remind her that she doesn’t need to spend her money to prove to you that she cares, yet she’ll insist anyways. this may lead to some slight complications down the road that eventually get resolved with her spending less money on gifts and instead just more quality time with you

— she’s kinda oblivious to things, so you might have to be more forward and direct in your actions if you want smth. innuendos and suggestive comments just go over ochako’s head more often than not

— likes casual food dates; breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, you name it! i hc that uraraka really likes burger places and seafood restaurants (home girl has expensive taste lol)

— ochako melts when you hug her!! she just finds your presence so comforting and warm and loves to show that through physical affection, so it’ll be a common occurrence for her to hold your hand in the hallways

— you definitely have to get along with izuku and tenya, no doubt about it. ochako just really loves her friends and cherishes their opinions, and it would probably crush her if you guys didn’t get along because of how much she cares for you all

— you also have to be on good terms with her family, no doubt. ochako is also very family-oriented, and having them approve of you just makes her heart swell up with joy

[wri0thesley]

Surprise (Bruno)

Bruno Buccellati has done a lot for Passione, and this year on his birthday, you just all want to thank him. [SFW, neutral reader]

this is late its 2am here and further past that in Italy but HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZIPPER MAN I DIDN’T WRITE ANYTHING NAUGHTY THIS YEAR! this piece can be considered a sequel to this VERY NSFW piece, but it’s not needed to understand what’s going on here or anything!

Bruno doesn’t like a fuss. The first year you’d been together, Giorno had had to tell you it was his birthday so that you’d make the man take some time off of his work and relax; and you had had a very relaxing time together indeed (your face flushes at the memory). He’s not the kind who thinks of himself at all; it’s not even that he puts other people in front of him, but that his own being doesn’t cross his mind to begin with.

This year, though, Giorno intends things to be very different. Apparently he’d expected Bruno to resist your attempts to get him to stay at home and unwind with you; and now that he’d discovered that Bruno could indulge himself if the proper incentives were offered, Giorno intends to make sure that everybody in Passione who owes Bruno a debt of gratitude gets a chance to say thank you to him. On his birthday.

You’d be a little perturbed this time was being taken from you if the Don hadn’t looked so earnest about enlisting your help to plan a surprise party.

Giorno Giovanna isn’t the kind of man who comes to mind when you think of surprise parties. He’s rather more sophisticated than that; if a cardboard tube of a party hat has ever adorned those golden curls, you’d be surprised; if he’s ever had a hideously sugary fondant sandwich cake and taken home a party bag filled with tat. He’s the kind who looks like he came out of the womb sipping wine and demanding Versace; there are whispers among Passione, of who exactly he came from, but you do not pay mind to rumours.

Rumours say some very nasty things about you and sleeping your way to the top and your position at Buccellati’s side, none of which are true. Whether Giorno Giovanna’s father was a vampire, or a cult leader, or whether he was abandoned by those he needed and gave his mother a million Euros to never contact him again - those are unimportant. Giorno Giovanna’s family is the inner circle of Passione that he surrounds himself with, and you and Buccellati are both counted among that number. So you have learnt to deflect, with smiles and kind words, and make a note of who it is whispering about Bruno’s lover so that Bruno knows exactly what kind of person he’d be promoting if the chance came up.

If Giorno came from nothing, it doesn’t matter. If he came from everything, it doesn’t matter.

“I just want to show Buccellati how much we appreciate him,” Giorno says, and his voice is sincere; everything Giorno says seems terribly well thought out, but you have never heard him sound so imploring. “Fugo says he never let them celebrate his birthday even when they were running burn jobs and had all the time in the world and much less of the pressure. Bruno’s been a member of Passione since before he was a teenager--”

“Alright,” you’d said, smiling, secretly thrilled that the Don was relying on you for something - and, honestly, thrilled at the idea of being able to surprise Bruno. Bruno does things for you with regularity; he brings back sweet things he know you’ll like from the local bakery, picks up knickknacks and trinkets and anything he thinks you’ll like, buys tickets to operas and movies because you’ve mentioned them in passing, remembers everything he’s told you despite how much pressure he puts on his own shoulders. You want to pay him back as much as they do.

“Wonderful,” Giorno says, beaming.

You did not know what you were signing up for, really.

Giorno runs the idea of Bruno Buccellati’s surprise party as a military operation; it’s hardly surprising, when you consider what his line of work in, but it’s startling to see the man you’re used to taking orders on who to murder pop up with intensity in his eyes as he asks you if you know what Bruno’s favourite flavour of cake is. It takes you a minute, wide-eyed and fumbling, and you feel more than a little silly telling him that Bruno likes vanilla best; he’s not a man of excess in any way, really.

Eventually, all roles are meted out. Narancia is in charge of getting food, with Abbacchio beside him to make sure that he doesn’t eat it all before it gets back (Bruno is in charge of so much of Passione’s paperwork, he’d notice the orders for his favourite bakeries and he really is very clever; Giorno had thought it best). Fugo, whose (despite his terrible fashion sense) aesthetics are a little more refined than some of the other options, is in charge of decorating. Giorno has bought lavish gift upon lavish gift. Mista has been beside Giorno the whole time, distrustful as event halls are booked out and musicians are spoken to and invitations have been extended (in the end, it’s become rather a private gathering - the upper echelons of Passione, and one more). Polnareff has been fabricating fake emails, sending Bruno on various goose chases of response because they share the consigliere’s responsibilities, but one of them is much more capable of running about and solving problems and it is not the one confined to a turtle. Trish is flying in to be there, has organized getting a copy of her new album well before the release date to play (Bruno might not like her music’s style very much, but he is very much a proud and doting older brother of her success and will love hearing it all the same).

And you have been left with the most important job of all. Making sure Bruno gets to the party.

*

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” you say, voice soft, hands gentle as you shake your boyfriend’s shoulder. His blue eyes blink open slowly; even in sleep, he’s handsome enough for your breath to stop. His lips are full and lush, eyes still dark from his dreams, hair mussed around a lovely face with perfect cheekbones - pyjama shirt (polka dotted, naturally) half unbuttoned to reveal a lean chest in a way that makes you wish you could spend all day in bed with him. “We’ve got work to do today.”

“Amore?” He says, voice lazy. “Do we?”

“Lots,” you affirm, pretending you don’t see the brief flash of hurt that goes across those eyes. This is only your second birthday of his with Buccellati, and he hasn’t mentioned it in the lead up beyond a vague statement that he’d cancelled the meeting he had on the twenty seventh followed by a lazy smile as he looked at you. You’d already been well in the swing of party planning, then, and you couldn’t let him know - so you’d nodded, and changed the subject.

If he has to think that you’ve forgotten his birthday so that Giorno’s plan works--

Well. The hurt in his gaze is painful to bear, but you hope it will be worth it. You lean over and kiss his forehead, hair still a mess, and a smile splits his mouth despite itself. He won’t hold it against you, thinking you’ve forgotten - but you can hardly bear it, when Bruno deserves the entire world handed to him on a silver platter.

“What’s first on the agenda, then?” He asks. He thinks he is a good actor, and he is when it counts (in missions, when the two of you are playing up to the enemy) - but he is not so talented with his emotions. There’s the lightest wobble to his voice and your heart seizes and you almost give up the plan then and there; the only thing that stops you is the reminder that Giorno has been working so hard, and it is not a wise idea to cross the boss of the Naples mafia. Or, indeed, your boss; it is not a good idea to get yourself on his wrong side when this whole idea of giving Bruno what he deserves has been such a passion project.

You and Polnareff have discussed this; your alibi for Bruno’s surprise party. A fancy mission that you’re supposed to be running (an excuse to get all dolled up without arousing too much suspicion) to be taking place at an expensive hotel (the owners owe Giorno enough favours to ensure Passione has the run of the entire place). Mista is supposed to be there to scout out for you both; Bruno will call him later, and he’ll pretend that everything is fine, but the target you’re trailing got here a little bit too early and perhaps you two should similarly accelerate your entrance.

It’s not a high profile target. Nobody had wanted to use a fake with too much riding on their defeat; so it’s a petty little mission, really, if it were true, and you almost feel guilty that Bruno is ‘missing’ his birthday for it. As you remind Bruno of the particulars, he nods, his face lovely and serious, and then he smiles a little sadly.

“Wear the black outfit with the white lace, won’t you? That one’s my favourite.”

You look like polar opposites next to each other in that one, and Bruno knows it; he loves you matching without really matching, and he has an eye for fashion despite humble beginnings. So you blow him a kiss as you go to change and to do all of the other things you need to (you want to look perfect for Bruno), and as you head into the bathroom you grab your phone and make a few last minute calls.

Narancia has so far been stopped from eating any of the cake, but Abbacchio thinks he’s going to run for it any minute. Giorno and Mista had to make two journeys to the hotel with all of the presents that Buccellati has been bought. Fugo has gone through Narancia’s tracklist, too, and removed lots of rap music with copious references to drugs because although Narancia does not understand all of the words, Bruno definitely will.

It’s all the usual chaos you’d expected; bits and pieces falling into place and bickering in the background. Trish is laughing on the phone to you; you’re still a touch intimidated by her, but she sees it as you being Buccellati’s partner makes you part of her family too, and you can’t help but enjoy it. It’s nice, to be liked.

You gingerly touch your own present for Bruno, where it’s nestling in a gift box in the little clutch bag you’re taking tonight. It’s not much; certainly, even on a gangster’s salary, you can’t afford the same things that Giorno can - but it had reminded you of him, and you hope that he likes the little golden clips - so similar to the ones he already wears, but dotted with tiny black and white stones. You don’t think they’re diamonds - for that price, they’d have been a steal - but you hope he likes them all the same.

You emerge out, later on, ready to go - present securely in your bag, outfit adjusted. Party horn tucked in the one pocket you currently have.

“You look beautiful,” Bruno says, voice sincere, and you can’t help the flush that comes on your cheeks - next to him, you’re nothing, but he always knows how to get you feeling embarrassed and pleased all at once. “I wish we didn’t have to go out today. I wish we could stay in and do something more fun--”

His tone is meaningful, and it’s almost painful to ignore it as you blink at him innocently.

“Bruno Buccellati?” You ask him. “Wanting to skive off his work? What have you done with the real Bruno?”

His smile is sad as he offers you his arm and you begin the walk out of your shared home; you hope by the end of the night, the smile on his face will be somewhat more cheerful.

~

Bruno doesn’t often show much emotion beyond intense concentration and slight smiles, but the look on his face as he opens the door, intending to find a fancy gathering of the rich and slink towards the wine table, is clear shock. It’s almost comical, the way his mouth falls open - and then, he turns to you, tone almost accusing, and says;

“I thought you’d forgotten! I was all set to be broken-hearted, amore!”

“I’d never have forgotten!” You tell him, moving towards him and placing a hand on his arm. He looks around the beautifully decorated room (Fugo did do a good job, after all), eyes skimming the pile of presents, the cake, his friends and his ragtag found family all surrounding him with shouts of ‘buon compleanno!’, hands touching his arms and smiling. He looks beautifully, radiantly happy.

“I’’ve never had a birthday party,” he confesses, and Giorno - charming, finally getting to take over his duties as host, steps forward.

“You deserve one,” he says, simply. “I’m glad we could give you what you deserved. Come. See what we’ve been working on.”

You don’t mind that Bruno is being monopolised; at the end of the night, you’ll get home and curl into bed beside him with your head on his chest. Giorno worked so hard during all of this; buying presents, bullying people into helping, securing places to stay and making sure everyone moved like a well-oiled machine--

If he wasn’t already in the organised crime business, he’d do a racket as a party planner.

Bruno allows himself to be lead around. He allows Narancia the first slice of cake, Abbacchio to finally remove the ridiculous party hat (his is the most garish and ugly of all, complete with resplendent pompom; you think Giorno had something to do with it), gushes to Trish about her new album as it plays behind them. He throws out compliments, all of which feel earned and well-deserved (Buccellati does not speak praise lightly).

He opens all of the presents, marvelling over them, gushing - some of them you know he’ll hate and never use, but he’ll have on display in the house anyway because Narancia said it made the younger boy think of his Capo.

You do feel a little worried by the time that Bruno is back at your side, flagging a little, eyes tired. You cannot compare with the Versace and the Gucci and the expensive wines with names you can’t pronounce. But as you pull him into a private alcove to give him your gift, Bruno’s eyes and mouth soften as he looks down at the box.

“I’m glad you didn’t forget,” he admits. “Having you remember last year was . . . nice. I forgot how nice it could be.”

“You have me every moment of every day,” you tell him, watching his long, clever fingers make quick work of the ribbon. As he nudges the box open and his eyes sweep over the new clips, his smile widens.

“I love them,” he breathes, and you feel a worry you hadn’t realized you were dwelling on fade away from you. “I’ll think of you every time I wear them, amore.”

You reach up a hand, cupping his cheek, and his smile does not falter a watt as he looks at you. Being looked at like this by Bruno always makes you feel like the sun has decided to shine on only you; he has that effect. You want to please him. You want him to love you as much as you love him. You want to spend the rest of your life with him.

“Happy birthday, Bruno,” you say, soft. “I hope we’ll have many more together.”

[georgipopovich-voiceblog]

The First One Home: Part V

First one home.

First one really finally home.

In his own bed, in his own house, in his own clothes, able to enjoy the actual silence of his house, save for the creak of the floorboards and the bumps of the house settling. He never thought he’d be able to miss the sound of traffic outside his neighborhood that lulled him to sleep at night, and the smells of dirt out in his garden buried beneath the layer of snow outside. 

Georgi would have been able to enjoy it more if he wasn’t struggling to put on his socks or if he was able to pick up things he dropped. Instead, he has to sit down and splay his leg off to the side to pick up anything he ends up dropping. It was especially hard sweeping his favorite mug that had shattered to pieces and filled with hot tea. But the independence was all he needed.

Of course, right now, he was at his kitchen table, enjoying all the efforts of a home cooked meal that took an hour longer than he wanted to on his crutch. Out of breath, he looks down to the food that was slightly burned and lukewarm, so it wasn’t going to be the best... but he was doing it finally. Living by himself.

Until he heard a thud against his door, and a voice. “GEORGI GUESS WHAT.” GOd dammit.

Georgi perked up and looked over to the doorway, noticing Oskar was in the window, glaring straight at him. “Fucking hell...”

“GEORGI, OPEN UP QUICK. IT’S FUCKING COLD.” 

How on earth did he find out where Georgi lived? With a groan, he carefully stands up and uses his crutch to hobble slowly down the hallway to him. Usually he’d leave him out there, but it’s -18 Celsius today on the depths of winter here in Russia. Last thing the man needs is to stay outside. Opening up the door, he watches the dusty snow blow in. “Get in here, you’re going to make my house frozen inside.”

The man rushes in, holding onto bags and bags in his arms, shivering as he laughs. “Not my intention, asshole.” Georgi glares at Oskar, “It smells like shit in here, what were you doing?”

“I just cooked dinner.”

“Nice, what are we having?”

Oskar just makes a rush for the kitchen, whistling as he passes Georgi, having kicked off his boots like he lives there. “The fuck-.... Oskar! How did you find out where I live?”

Hobbling after him, he watches as the hockey player hovers over the pan, grimacing. “Fucking hell, thank god Yakov told me to check on you. Are you trying to kill yourself with this mess?”

“It’s stir fry, and I made it.”

“God, that’s stir fry? What’d you put in it, rat poisoning?” He picks up the pan, walking over to the trash can at the end of the counter. “You’re not eating this. Give me this.”

“WAIT.” Georgi hobbles after him, dropping the food in the pan into the trash, and going to the sink to scrub it. “Oskar! It took me two hours to make that!”

Turning, he pulls some food out of the grocery bags, including cheese and eggs and spices. “I’m cooking for you, go sit down in the living room. I’ll reuse the pans you used. And I’m cleaning them up for you. And then we’re going to sit down and watch a movie!” 

Georgi was astounded that someone was still ordering him around in his own house, watching how he’s taken all the hard work that took him sweating over a pan balancing on one leg being thrown out. Yet it looks like he’s already gotten to work. “What are you allergic to? I didn’t get to see it at the hospital.” 

“.....Seafood.” Georgi sighs, rubbing his eyes. “That’s it....” 

“Good, I’m making you some pasta. It’s not super healthy, but everyone really likes when I make this for parties. Do you need some help laying down?”  Georgi shakes his head as he carefully turns around, the turn part was hard to do. Oskar must have noticed, as the next thing he knows, there’s an arm around him. “Yes, yes you do.” Georgi grunts. “Don’t bitch at me, I’ve been the most well behaved asshole you know.”

He was led to the couch, knowing very well he should be grateful for the help he’s receiving, but he can’t help but be stubborn in his situation. “Bah..... Oskar, I can lay down by myself.”

“Aw, no cuddle session? I always figured you for a cuddler.”

Rolling his eyes, he turns to go lay down when his leg gets a shooting pain, the wrong angle for him to turn as he lets gravity take control of his balance, and he starts going down. “NOPE. NOPE.” Oskar quickly grabs onto him, holding him and sliding down to the floor with him. Luckily he’d kept him from really crashing. “You okay? Are you hurt? Did you bump anything?” 

How odd, he sounds so frantic, and Georgi takes a deep breath, clinging onto him for support. “No... No... I’m alright, I just... I got a pain in my leg...”

“It’s alright, it’s not your fault, let me get you pulled up here...” Oskar brings his arm around Georgi’s back, gripping onto his side and carefully bringing him up to the couch and carefully setting him down. He pulls his legs up to set them onto the couch cushions. “Maybe we should order pizza, I don’t want to leave you alone if you’re hurt...”

That sounded so considerate, Georgi hadn’t heard his voice go that soft before, in fact. And.... He was worried about him? “Er..... I can pull some up on my phone and have it delivered.... My treat.”

“Okay, good, good, let me get some blankets for you. I’ll make sure your leg is alri-”

“It’s alright.” Georgi interrupts. “I just..... I just turned the wrong way. I’m alright. I’m just jumpstarted is all.”

Oskar looks down to his leg again and takes a deep relieved breath, looking over to the fireplace where the wood crackled. “I’ll put some more wood in the fire.” He stands and puts a log in, poking at it with the pointy prodder, looking back over. “Seriously, do you need anything? Tea? I know you hated the hospital tea, but I assume by your kettle in the kitchen you like it.”

“Er.... I have some in the cabinet on the right of the sink.”

“Are you going to be okay if I go brew some tea for you?” He asked, looking concerned as can be, worried that he himself had caused the twist to his leg to happen. “Or do you want me to pick you up and bring you with me?”

“Oskar... Oskar, I’ll be fine....”

He was quiet, looking a bit less worried, then takes a deep breath as he stands up. “I’ll be right back.” Georgi smiles and nods.

Wow, perhaps he was less of a dick than he thought, maybe it was just his humor. Georgi nods, watching him go into the kitchen.

The worry that was lingering in his voice and his gaze was almost endearing, and watching the hockey player take on this caretaker role that he didn’t expect to ever see him in. He could see the head of the man pop in and out of the doorway to make sure Georgi was still laying down, and within a few minutes, he was back with two mugs, the two snowmen cups he had in his cabinet. He chose the only cups that came in a pair. That’s absolutely adorable.

“I hope you like the plum.” Oskar mumbles, passing it over. “I mean, of course you like plum, it’s in your cabinet and is half empty, you obviously like the plum.” 

“I do, thank you...” Georgi scoots over gently. “Would you like to sit? Relax a little bit? You look cold still from outside.”

Oskar nods, standing and shifting over beside the man. “Don’t worry about leaning on me either, I don’t mind it. You’re injured after all...”

“My, my, my.... Oskar, you look like you’re doting on me.” Georgi smirks, leaning back against him to relax. Why was he doing this? He knew he wasn’t going to enjoy the way he was going to get taunted about it, but... he was comfortable. 

“Bah...” Oskar waves a hand to him. “Someone has to take care of you, you’re obviously not going to do it.”

“Right, right.....”