#I definitely did not only just realize the sun was up because my friend texted me

[ccasey0]

what's this? refs for mikey and leo in the spirit au? no way!

tada! drew these in church lol.

mikey lore first!

Mikey had always been splinter's golden boy. he was the best student and always got everything right on the first try. He had the best connections with the spirits, he always meditated perfectly, and he would constantly go up into the mountains to hang up charms. His brothers didn’t think of him as a teachers pet though. Quite the opposite. They loved him. They weren’t jealous. Well, maybe a little bit. But not to the point where they didn’t like him. Although, when Mikey decided to spend the night up in the mountain one day, all his brothers opposed the thought. They all had heard the legends of the tax collectors. They dark beings who roamed the woods, collecting souls of those who don’t belong or have ill intentions. Even though Mikey was practically the purest heart out there, his brothers didn’t think the risk was worth it. Mikey didn’t care, of course, and he went anyway. Which made the boys freak out when he didn’t return for the next three days. Turns out Mikey had somehow fallen asleep in a cave-like part of the brush, and the spirits transported him to the base of the spirit tree. When he woke up, the night spirit was there. He was sitting atop the small altar with a charm in his hand. Mikey instantly got on his knees and tried to find a suitable offering, but was stopped by the night spirit. They talked for a while and Mikey was amazed at how many things his village had gotten wrong, including The spirits name: Casey. Eventually, Casey brought Mikey home. When they reached the village, Casey stopped at the tree line while Mikey kept walking. When Mike looked back, the spirit was gone. In his place, stood a wooden staff with beautiful wood burned engravings all up it. And at the very top, hung a small decorative charm. It had and eclipse embroidered on it. Mikey gad never seen anything like it. He walked towards the staff, which was somehow standing upright by itself, and took it. When his hand made contact with the wood, the moon symbol appeared on the back of his hand. A gift. From the Spirit of the Night.

woo!! That was fun :D Leo’s turn!!

Leo had always been the funny one. The irresponsible one. They one who never listened and always joked around. He always talked and talked and talked. But today was different. Leo didn’t know how to react when Mikey came back from the woods with a staff and a smile on his face. Of course he rushed up to hug his little brother. Of course he asked millions of questions regarding to his safety and well-being. But when Mikey told his brothers that he met the night spirit and that the spirit gave him the staff, Leo was left speechless. Which was very abnormal for him. When he finally opened his mouth to say something though, Splinter had already entered the room. When their master saw the staff in Mikey’s hands, his eyes went wide. He ordered the other boys to exit the room and they obeyed. It was early in the morning, so the cool air made all of them shiver as they exited the hut. they could hear splinter speaking with mikey inside the building, and instantly leaned against the door to try and get a better listen at what they were saying. leo couldn't really tell what all the fuss was about. it was just a fancy stick. mikey probably just found it in the woods and made up an elaborate story about it. but one thing was for sure, ever since mikey got back, the air felt different. he couldn't explain it, but leo was sure the atmosphere was different. the air was cooler and the plants seemed greener. it was just.......strange. as he looked around at his surroundings, he could have sworn he saw four glowing yellow eyes watching him from the trees. but he blinked and they were gone. maybe there was more going on then he thought.

oke, that took a bit longer to think up than expected. sorry for not getting this finished sooner, It's holy week and things have been busy for my school and my family. anyways, i hope you enjoyed! i know this one was probably a bit all over the place, but i hope it made a little sense lol

@allyheart707 hope you like it :)

[lovelettersfromluna]

Compass

Summary: I’ve got something to confess, I keep you in my pocket to use. You’re my only compass, I might get lost with you.

an: let’s ignore the fact that I’ve been gone for a long time, yeah? Hehe. this most definitely is not the fic that I’ve been working on literally the entire time I’ve been gone (that’s coming don’t worry), but I got this idea at 2 in the morning and I had to jump on it IMMEDIATELY. Hope you all like it mwah mwah love you.

Warnings: SMUT!! Minors please for the love of everything that is good, do not interact, modern day vampire!Ellie, semi graphic descriptions of blood and wounds, shy!reader, Ellie bites you a lot, Ellie feeds on you and honestly it’s borderline soft core porn, fingering Ellie!receiving, grinding, mentions of bruises, Ellie is extremely fucking strong, Ellie watches you in your sleep/can get into your apartment without a key, let me know if I’ve missed anything!!

You aren’t really sure how you and Ellie became friends.

Well, you are, maybe a better question would be why you two became friends. You were both so different, you were convinced the first time you met that she hated you. The night filled with quick glances as she damn near avoided speaking to you like you were the fucking plague. It took you a bit to not take it too personally, reminding yourself that you weren’t for everyone, and that was okay! So what if the mutual friend didn’t like you…it wasn’t the end of the world.

So, it came to a surprise to you when a few nights after meeting Ellie passed, you had not one, not two, but three of your friends texting you and asking you if it was okay if they gave her your number…

Because she’d asked for it.

And suddenly you’re texting each other every day, and well into the wee hours of the night. You know, like one of those friendships. The ones that makes you smile every time you see their name pop up on your phone, or the ones where you send each other stupid videos on TikTok all day just to talk about them on a different messaging platform, because of course you’re interacting with each other every where that you have a presence.

Ellie becomes your best friend before you even realize it, and it makes you realize that maybe she didn’t dislike you as much as you thought before.

It always did confuse you a bit in the beginning how you two got along so well. You were both so different from one another. Ellie was a party animal, you were a home body. Ellie was up late at night, you were up early in the morning. If Ellie was the moon, then you were the sun. Polar opposites coming together to find a home in one another, the most unusual pairing stuck by the hip from that point on.

You of course, kept all each other’s secrets. You’d learned very early on that no one really knew much about Ellie, which you simply chalked up to her being a private person. However, she seemed eager to tell you any and everything about her. Like her dad, she’d talk about him all the time, you figured on early on that she really loved him. Or whenever she had a a new fling going, you’d be the first to know of course. She’d even told you about the time she threw away her dad’s playboy magazine after stealing it from him, which she swore she’d never told a soul.

She wanted to know all about you too! Your favorite color, favorite animal, childhood crush, family relationships. Truthfully? If you weren’t so oblivious, you would’ve seen a long time ago that Ellie was the slightest bit obsessed with you.

But you loved her, and you trusted her with your life, so you told her everything! Because you didn’t keep things from each other.

So, on a night out with everyone else, Ellie disappears, and of course you try to look for her, asking around only to be told that everyone saw her leave. Going outside to make sure she’s okay is the only logical thing to do, right? You have to make sure she’s okay.

What you don’t expect though, is when you look down a dark alleyway a few buildings down from the club you’re at, and spot the tall figure of your friend tucked into the brick wall of the dark corner, shielding way whatever it is that’s behind her. You call out for her, and when she turns around you gasp.

Because her eyes were red, and not red like you haven’t gotten any sleep, or you’ve been crying, the green of her eyes are now red, bloodshot red, and she’s holding a lifeless body in her tattooed arms…and there’s blood covering her pink lips, dripping down her chin.

Yeah, Ellie was a vampire.

You let out a gentle yawn as your hand went down to grab the remote control to your tv, your other hand coming up to rub your eyes a bit, a sorry attempt at trying to wake yourself up enough to get from the couch to go to your bed.

You pouted softly, lazily bringing your phone up to check the time before you sighed, finally finding the strength in you to push yourself up off the couch to leave your living room.

Work had been absolutely plowing you into the ground, your publicist constantly hounding you to keep working on the most recent installment of your book series. It was just so fucking hard, everytime you sat down in front of your computer, it was like writing your own book was the last thing you wanted to do.

It was draining you, and it felt like every time you finished a set of chapters, your brain was complete mush.

The upside though, was that it tired you out enough to completely knock out once you were in bed.

A gentle sigh left your lips once your head hit your soft pillow, plush blankets wrapping around your body, sliding down your bare legs and making you feel absolutely blissful. You couldn’t even stop yourself from the soft smile on your lips as your eyes grey heavy, the low lighting in your room making you feel all the more cozy, all the more warm.

You were out in seconds, soft snores leaving your sleeping body as you entered a world of dreams, escaping reality for a few measly hours before you were bombarded with the real world around you in the morning.

Ellie was on the other side of town, or at least, leaving the other side of town. It was late, and while she did love to be a creature of the night, there was something that sounded much more inviting than a glass of whiskey and a cigarette.

You, of course.

You were Ellie’s kryptonite, the single thing in this entire fucked up world that convinced her there was something worth living for, in her case, existing for. You were so fucking good, so sweet, so forgiving of literally everything. There were too many times that Ellie recalled where she wasn’t even sure you were real, perhaps another mythical creature much like herself, sent to this world to lure others into a trap that was just as filthy and terrible as the rest of the world.

But you weren’t…there were never any cons or secrets that you held, and if you did hold any secrets, you were more than willing to let Ellie in on them. No…no you were different.

God were you different.

Ellie recalls the night she first laid eyes on you like it was yesterday, her cold, dead heart jolting back to life for only a second when she saw you, at least that’s what it felt like. Your smile radiant in the dim, multicolored lights of the club, cheeks shining, eyes twinkling, like an angel sent from above. Ellie almost felt like a being as evil, and sour as she wasn’t worthy of being in the same room as you.

And god…your fucking smell.

Ellie could go on about it for hours. Sure, you were remarkable without it, but it was just the icing on the cake, the twisting of the knife in her chest.

She has mastered the art of walking into a room filled with warm bodies pumped full of blood and while ago, her throat burning with the urge to sink her teeth into her next poor victim. It was easy, annoying, but easy, and she couldn’t really remember the last time she struggled being around anyone, especially friends, or even friends of a friend.

But the second she saw you, your sweet, dulcet smell wafting against her nose, she was transported back in time. Back to a time where she was but a young vampire, clueless of the world around her, of her new life, adapting to something she didn’t even know existed before all of this, without a single guide or a fucking pamphlet for gods sakes.

It made her eyes widen, and she stopped breathing instantly to try and dull the scent of you sneaking into her nostrils and down into her eager throat. She noticed the way you pouted and sighed whenever she’d ignore you, or give her nothing but a brief response whenever you tried to get to know her. She could tell this wasn’t your thing, the night life, partying, you were here because someone asked it of you, and you being the good friend you are would never let anyone you cared about down.

Despite Ellie being a total dick to you because she simply couldn’t control herself around you, you sucked it up, carried on and stayed until everyone else decided to leave.

Watching you leave that night, made Ellie realize you weren’t something she could pass up.

Asking for your number was probably the best thing Ellie had ever done in her immortal life. Speaking to you was far better than thinking about you constantly, and after she’d convinced herself she wouldn’t do anything stupid with you, she was finally ready to introduce herself to you, the right way.

It’s how she constantly found herself like this, searching for your warm embrace around her cold, dead body every time she found the opportunity. She’d come to you when she was done working, she’d come to you when the girls at the bar were boring her, she’d even come to you when she simply knew you were home and she had nothing to do.

Ellie hummed softly as she looked up at your apartment building, the warm summer breeze wafting against her skin as she stared up at your window, the white curtains blowing out with the wind. She sighs to herself.

“Told you to stop leaving your window open…” she mumbles softly to herself.

The human eye wouldn’t ever be able to catch the way Ellie climbs up the side of your building, her arms and legs scaling it like a pro, making it look as simple as walking, or even breathing. It’s too fast, and in the blink of an eye, she’s at your balcony, long fingers pulling back your curtains to get a look at your sleeping figure.

She watches as your chest rises and falls, your blanket covering your sleeping frame, bare legs kicked out from under them, shining under the moonlight. She isn’t sure how long she stays there at your window staring at you, watching in awe as you do something as simple as sleep.

It isn’t until you shift slightly in your sleep, a dreamy sigh leaving your lips, that Ellie finally pushes her long legs over your window to step into your room, sneaker clad feet pressing onto the wooden floor of your bedroom.

She looks around for a moment, taking a deep inhale as she lets your scent wash over her for a moment, eyes fluttering shut as she simply lets you consume her, fill her up and make her feel whole again.

Make her feel alive again.

You never really understood it, why Ellie lingered when she hugged you, face pressed at the nape of your neck, swaying you slowly as she clung to you longer than normal. Well…you did know, at least you’d find out later on when Ellie finally explained everything to you…what she was, how it happened.

Although, it was only half what you thought. Sure, the smell of your blood made Ellie’s mouth water, her nostrils flare and her throat burn, but it was so much more than that. You made her feel whole, and even if it were a few seconds, she was going to make the most of it every time she got the chance.

And that’s what she felt when she was in your little room. The cool breeze filling up the space, the dim lights casting a warm glow over you because you couldn’t sleep in the dark. You used the excuse of creating an ambiance for yourself when you slept, but Ellie knew you far better than that. It was like you’d perfected the feeling of comfort, bottled it up and sprayed it around your room every other day.

The wind blowing your curtains a bit harder caught Ellie’s attention, and she sighed softly as she walked over to it and shut it. She had told you time and time again to quit it, warning you about the weirdos that would love to take advantage of a pretty girl with her window open while in the most vulnerable state.

Even though the only weirdo that ever snuck into your room through said window, was Ellie. If anything, your little habit only fueled Ellie’s addiction for you further.

The sound of your window closing makes you groan softly in your sleep, and at that sound, Ellie knows she’s done it.

While she wanted nothing more than for you to be awake when she came over, she hated waking you. You looked so fucking serene when you slept, and Ellie felt like the devil himself whenever she accidentally ripped you away from that, even if the only thing she wanted was for you to be awake and talking to her.

Your body twists and turns a bit, slowly finding its way out of the drowsy state of sleep you were in. You let out a gentle yawn before one of your hands come up to rub your eyes, moments before you turn to your side to face her, hand resting between your cheek and your pillow as your eyes open and focus on the tall frame standing in front of your bed.

Ellie is convinced nothing scares you, because for as long as she’d been doing this, sneaking into your bedroom and watching you sleep, on the rare occasion that you wake up and catch her, you never seem scared. You don’t gasp or scream, you don’t even flinch when you see the dark, looming presence stood there in front of you. Ellie was sure the first time you caught her there, that you’d scream in horror before calling the police on her.

But you never did. You always stared at her with a sleepy smile, eyes puffy with sleep, lips a bit swollen, looking at her as if she were your favorite person in the entire world.

And like all those nights before, you do the same. A gentle yawn falls from your lips as you rub your eyes once more before tugging your blanket further up your shoulder.

“Ellie…” you sigh out softly, and you sound so fucking dreamy, so beautiful does her name sound falling from her lips. It makes Ellie weak in the knees.

She walks over to you slowly, smiling softly down at you as she grows closer and closer to your bed until she’s standing over you, one of her hands coming down and running around your blanket clad shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Wanted to come visit…sorry I woke you” she hums soft, her hand traveling up until it reaches your face, one of her fingers caressing your cheek ever so slightly. Your eyes flutter shut at this, and she can see that the gesture alone is nearly enough to lull you back to sleep.

“S’okay…I wake up in the middle of the night all the time…you know that” you assure her, words falling with yet another yawn before you open your sleepy eyes up again to stare up at her.

Before she can even speak though, your content expression is replaced with one of worry as you finally get the chance to focus on her face, your eyebrows furrowing as you prop yourself up on your elbow, your other hand reaching up to touch her cheek as you become more and more alert with each passing moment.

“Are you okay Ellie? You look…why are your eyes so…” you mumble, now on your knees to reach her better, your face in front of hers as your eyes search hers.

She looked pale, paler than usual. Her lips were chapped, eyes dull and sunken in, she looked like she hadn’t slept in centuries, like all the life had been sucked out of her. And while that technically was the case, Ellie often looked vibrant for her dead state, eyes sharp and alert, green eyes almost fluorescent with color when you looked into them.

Immediately, you know what was wrong.

“When’s the last time you…had something to eat?” You ask sternly, eyebrows furrowed and a firm frown on your pouty lips.

That was another thing…Ellie hadn’t properly fed in about two weeks, going on three now.

She let out a gentle sigh, her hands resting on your hips as your own rested on her cheeks, cupping her face and forcing her to look into your eyes even though she avoided eye contact.

She hated when you saw her this way, so weak, so small. She liked it when she was the best version of herself, the version that was well fed, agile and strong. Not like this, not like when she was turning into a shell of the woman she once was.

“I…it’s just been a few nights, angel…it’s no big deal” she tries, giving your hips a firm squeeze as she attempts to convince you that she was fine. However her appearance and her voice is a dead giveaway that she’s lying, the sound hoarse and scratchy, sounding as if she’d been clawing at her throat for days to ease the pain she felt.

“You can’t lie to me, Ellie. You look horrible” you scold the girl.

She lets out a sigh, and she almost feels ashamed of herself. Sure, there were times where a meal was a bit harder to come by, people becoming a bit more aware of the danger that lingered when she was near, but god, Ellie couldn’t remember a time where it was this bad. It was like every single time she got someone in her arms, trapped in her little scheme, something cock blocked her entirely from finishing the deed.

And the more times that happened, the weaker she got.

“I’ve just been really unlucky…okay? Most of us do this in packs or with a fucking partner at least…it gets tricky when you’re on your own” she finally admitted, a gentle sigh falling from her lips as she leaned down to rest her head against your shoulder, pressing her weight against you in the process, as it was slowly becoming unbearable to hold it up herself at this point.

“M’just going through a thing right now, baby…don’t worry about it” she mumbled against you, lips ghosting over your soft skin as she again tried to assure you she’d been fine.

Ellie had always made it a point to never get as low as this, and if she did, she made it a point to never let you see her. What would her sweet best friend think of her if the monster she truly was had the chance to shine through? How would you ever allow her in your presence again once you finally realized how disgusting she truly was?

What Ellie didn’t know, is that you didn’t think any of those things. You could never find her to be a monster or disgusting, you adored her far too much to ever see her that way. No, what you did think when you saw her that way, were any of the things you could do to help her. That was the only thing you wanted, to help her.

You don’t even think twice before you say it, giving yourself a moment to mull over the idea and weigh out the pros and cons before it’s escaping the confides of your mind and making its debut out into your bedroom.

“Feed on me” you blurt out, so quickly you aren’t even sure Ellie fully catches it properly.

But she does, Ellie hears every word, every syllable, she can even hear the way your heart beat quickens after you’ve said it.

She’s slowly lifting her head from your shoulder, eyebrows furrowed and lips frowning as she stares down at you, your eyes wide and hopeful, hopeful that she’ll take the offer, that she’ll allow you to give yourself to her for the sake of her wellbeing.

“No.” She deadpans without a second thought. She doesn’t even give herself a second to indulge in the idea of it, knowing how badly it could end, how terrible it could be with one wrong move, or one gulp too much. Ellie knows that this is nothing to toy with, especially with you.

You’re quickly shaking your head once she rejects your offer, your hands falling from her face to rest down on her shoulders, leaning in a bit to press your body closer to hers.

“Ellie…look at yourself. How were you even able to climb up here?” You plead with the girl, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze before you inhale deeply.

“I’m giving you permission…I want you to do this” your words almost come out like a beg, wanting nothing more than to simply help the girl, to help a friend in need that clearly needed it.

And you knew deep down, that no matter what, Ellie would never hurt you.

Ellie knew it too. She knew that she wouldn’t go too far to take your life away from you. She had been around long enough to have the self control to stop whenever she knew you’d had too much.

However, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be hard.

She inhaled deeply, giving your hips a gentle squeeze before she finally brought her own eyes up to look into yours. Her pink tongue darted out to run along her lips, wetting the chapped skin before she let out a gentle sigh.

“You’ll tell me when it becomes too much…right?” She asks, desperate for confirmation from you that you won’t let her go too far, even if she wanted to.

You give her a bright smile, a gentle giggle leaving your lips as you nod. “I will…now go on…sooner you do this, the sooner I can sleep” you tease her playfully, which makes her groan softly with a pout.

She sighed softly, reaching forward and pushing your hair to the side to expose the soft, supple skin of your neck. Her eyes zeroed in on it, and she could practically see your pulse from beneath your skin, making her shudder at the thought of it. She leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to your throat, which earns a gentle sigh from you.

“This’ll hurt…” she mumbles against you, peppering your skin with gentle kisses. You simply tilt your head further to the side, resting your temple against her shoulder as your arms hang loosely around her neck, your body pressed against hers.

“Mm…I’ll be okay” you mumble out sleepily, your fingers coming up to toy with the hair at the nape of her neck.

Ellie can feel the way your pulse slows under her lips, and she has to stop herself from groaning due to how fucking strong your smell was right now with your body pressed against hers. She knew that the longer the stood her, mouthing away at your neck instead of actually feeding, she’d just keep you from getting back to the rest that she had interrupted in the first place.

It was now or never.

She sighed softly, swallowing thickly before she opened her mouth a bit wider, fangs protruding out from her gums and taking their rightful place. She let them graze your skin, the sharp teeth sure to leave scratches from something as small as a graze, before she finally latched her lips to your throat, and sunk her teeth into your flesh.

Now…Ellie had her fair share of tasty meals within her immortal life time. There were maybe a handful of people that left a faint memory in her head, better than most of the others she’d fed on in her past, so she was no stranger to a warm body with a nice taste.

But you? God….there was nothing in this world that could’ve prepared Ellie for how fucking…divine you taste. It was like liquid gold on her tongue, the smell that had plagued her mind from the moment she met you a mere tease to the real deal. It made Ellie moan against you, her eyes fluttering shut as her tattooed hands clawed at your waist, gripping the skin so tightly she was sure to leave bruises, pressing you flush against her body.

She could practically feel the essence of your life filling her up and bringing all of her strength back, replacing the once empty, dull feeling in her body with one that could only be described as rejuvenation. The taste you gave her flowing into her mouth and making her feel like she’d died and gone to heaven.

The noises you made only aided Ellie in her blissful state, tiny moans and huffs leaving your lips as you continued massaging her scalp with gentle fingers, allowing her to take whatever she needed from you.

Ellie knew she could’ve drained you, taken every last drop of your life and left you dry. She could do it ten times over if it were an option, however it wasn’t, and she knew at the back of her head she could only take what she needed, and nothing more. So she knew once your grip around her neck loosened a bit, that she needed to stop.

She unlatched from your neck breathlessly, your crimson blood painting her plush lips, red eyes blown out wide as she eyed the damage she’d done to your poor neck, the punctures filling Ellie’s chest with a sense of pride as some of your blood and her saliva dripped down the base of your throat. She leaned in, licking you clean before pressing a gentle kiss to the wound, groaning softly as when she heard you hum softly.

“All…finished?” You mumbled out with a dreamy smile on your lips, eyes half lidded as you stared up at the girl who had just nearly sucked you dry.

Ellie stared down at you with a look of disbelief, the back of her hand coming up and wiping her lips. “You said you’d tell me to stop…” she groaned softly as she gently set you down to lay back on your bed.

You let out a soft yawn, nodding as you tugged your blanket up with a weak hand to drape over your body. “I was…you stopped sooner than anticipated” you giggled out sleepily before you eyed the girl from your bed, already feeling the drowsy affects of sleep taking over.

“You look better already, El…” your compliment made her dead heart swell. She could feel it too, your life coursing through her veins and bringing back all of the good aspects of being immortal, the strength, the radiance, all of it brought back because of you.

She chuckled softly at your words, walking over to your closet and grabbing your first aid kit, fishing a little band aid out before walking back towards you. She sat at the edge of the bed, her pointer and middle finger pushing your jaw up slightly to get a look at the wound she’d given you.

“Here…so you don’t get blood on your pillow” she explains as she pressed the bandaid to your neck. You simply hum in response, and Ellie knows you’re probably already asleep. Between being tired before all of this, and losing blood, she expected for you to be out like a light long before she bid you a goodnight.

She stays a bit longer after you’ve fallen asleep, her long limbs crawling over your body to lay in bed with you, marveling at the way the color returned to your body, the way your chest rose and fell slowly, the way your lips would part with a gentle sigh ever so often. She’d let her hands caress your skin, watching as goosebumps appeared to trail after them. She simply appreciated how human you were, how warm and responsive you were even during sleep.

She leaves once the sun begins to peak above the horizon, knowing you’d want your privacy when you woke up in a few hours. She makes sure to close your window after she’s left too, scaling down the building much quicker than she did when she first arrived.

And while she walks home, the sun slowly casting a warm glow onto the city she lived in, she knew that she’d made a mistake by feeding on you.

Because now? She was completely and utterly ruined for anyone else that she’d feed on after you.

Bloodlust

The word had entirely different meaning for those like Ellie, creatures of the night that fed on the essence of life, the scarlet, metallic liquid that flowed and pumped throughout the bodies of the living.

She had heard of it happening to other vampires, in an instance of finding the human being that acted as a drug to them, making it hard to function without their taste on their tongues. It was an occasion that only ever happened when there was a mutual agreement between a vampire and a human, a hunter/prey proposition that acted in a more…ethical way.

It consumed the one feeding, making it hard to function without the person near, almost creating an inseparable bond between the two, paired with a constant line of food with it as well. It took over nearly everything, mind, body, soul, all of it belonging to the person they fed on, the human often times having more control over the vampire.

Ellie never really believed in it, instead viewing blood as something that was of and in itself, the same all the time. Sure, there were some people that tasted better than others, but blood was blood, no matter who the person was, they were more or less all the same at the end of the day. A meal was a meal, and that was that.

So if that was true, why were you the only thing on Ellie’s mind every waking second after the night she fed on you?

You were always on Ellie’s mind before it all, lingering at the back, making her smile when she thought of something silly you’d said to her earlier in the week, face beaming whenever you’d send a text her way, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary that you were on her mind.

She thought of it constantly, the way you were so…so fucking eager for her, a sense of intimacy lingering in the air of an act so selfless. Your pouty lips parted as you moaned and sighed her name, her lips attached to your neck as you gave her everything. Feeding was always something that felt the slightest bit romantic, the closeness of it all.

But you…doing it with you was different than anything she’d ever experienced.

She knew it meant nothing to you, she knew that it was simply you being a good friend, which meant it was borderline wrong for her to take it any way other than what it was, but she couldn’t help herself. She could still taste you on her tongue when she got home, plopping down into her bed and staring up at the ceiling in her dark room as she felt her core tighten and flutter as she referenced back to the memory.

Ellie couldn’t help herself when she unbuttoned her jeans, slipped her hands down to cup her pussy, and caught her aching clit against her calloused fingers to give it some much needed attention.

And she moaned your name as if it were the only word in her vocabulary, blubbering and crying out for you as she angrily fucked her aching pussy, eyebrows furrowed to the point where she almost looked upset.

“F-fuck….that’s my fucking girl…that’s it…gonna cum all over your pretty fuckin’ face” she groaned out, picturing you settled between her legs, eagerly lapping at her weeping core, grinding down onto your face and giving you everything she had, much like you did when you allowed her to feed on you.

She’d cum with your name falling from her lips, back arching as her hips rolled against her palm, sopping wet cunt painting her slick all over her hand, making it hard to even keep it where she needed it with how wet she was, how fucking riled up you had her.

And she’d do it again, lying in her bed and thinking of the memory over and over again, hanging on to the sound of your voice sighing out her name, moaning for her as she licked her lips, searching for the taste of your blood still soaked on them. All while you were sound asleep in your apartment where she left you.

If Ellie thought she was drawn to you before, she was sorely mistaken. Because now? All she could do was crave you. It interrupted her day to day, made her brain foggy when she wasn’t with you or talking to you.

And soon? It became a habit.

Ellie was at your door every other night, long fingers searching for your hips to pull you closer as she pressed her face into your neck, tongue slipping out of her mouth to run along the now permanent marks on your neck, whispering in your ear about how badly she needed you.

It had become a bit of a routine, Ellie would come over, you’d let her feed on you until she saw fit, she’d go home and fuck herself, and then she would live in her own personal hell for the next few days that she wasn’t able to see you.

It’s how she found herself dragging her body down the hallway to your apartment, a heavy hand coming up to the door and giving it a firm knock.

When you answer, Ellie thinks you look like a dream. Your body is leaned up against the door, head resting against it as you give her a dreamy smile, oversized t-shirt hanging off of one of your shoulders, sleep shorts barely visible beneath the end of the shirt, hugging your ass so perfectly, your white socks bunched up at your ankles.

She has to bite back the moan that threatens to escape when she lays eyes on you.

“Mm…hi Ellie” your voice sounds like the sweetest melody, and she’s smiling sheepishly as she walks towards you, bending her knees a bit as she wraps her arms around your waist, pulling you flush against her tall frame, nearly light you up off the ground completely.

“There she is…” she sighed against you, and it sounds like Ellie can finally breath, like the weight holding her back from breathing in the air she so desperately needed has finally been granted to her, it makes you giggle softly.

You wrap your arms around her neck, humming softly as your fingers come up to tangle in her hair, simultaneously pulling her into your apartment. She kicks the door closed behind her, arms still wrapping you up and keeping you close.

She keeps you close, her head coming up to take a look at the set up you have going in that she’s walked in to. She can tell you’ve been working on your book, your laptop set on your couch paired with your favorite blanket, and a mug set on your coffee table that was still steaming.

“Working on the book?” She asked softly, you nod as you turn around in your arms, and excited smile on your face as you walk over to your spot, clicking the keypad a few times before you shut it.

“Yup. I’m getting pretty far….was wrapping it up right before you came over” you practically beamed.

Ellie always found it so endearing how dedicated you were to your work, and rightfully so, Ellie reminded you time and time again that she’d lived through many eras of famous writers, but you always topped them ten times over and then some. She’d never let you forget the talent you had was rare.

You plopped down on your couch after sliding your laptop into its little compartment under your coffee table, your legs coming up to cross over each other as you pat the spot next to you eagerly, to which she easily obliged of course.

Her old denim jacket rustled a bit as she sat down, resting her back against your couch as she slouched down a bit, legs spread as she stares up at you through the dim, cozy lighting of your living room.

You giggle softly, resting your cheek against your palm as you look down at her. “What are you staring at? You’re looking at me like I’m something to eat…” your words trail off, eyes narrowing at the girl playfully before you sit up, crossing your arms.

“Did you come all the way here to get a free meal out of me, Williams?” Your tone is accusing, but playful, and it makes Ellie chuckle as she bring her tattooed hands up to rub up and down her face before she groans.

“When you say it like that it sounds bad….I see it as seeing my favorite person with something extra added into it…” she defends herself before chuckling, looking back at you as she tugs her bottom lip into her mouth, sucking gently on the plump skin, letting her mind linger to imagine it was your lips she was sucking on instead as her eyes slowly zeroed in on them, similar to if she were under a spell.

“You know you don’t have to if you don’t want to…” she mumbled out softly, voice gentle and truthful.

It was true, Ellie would cut all of this out the second you made even the slightest signal that you were tired of it, or if your body simply couldn’t handle it anymore. She knew that she’d never use you as her personal blood bag. The minute you wanted out, you got it, no questions asked.

You give her a gentle smile though, shaking your head as you shifted your body a bit so that it was now laying down on the end of the couch opposite of Ellie, your head resting against one of the plush pillows you had next to you while you were writing. You spread your legs a bit, making space for Ellie to crawl into before you stretched your arms out for her, a silent call for the girl to come closer.

“I’ll always give it to you, El…you know that. Come…” you call her again with a slight flick of your wrist.

Your words make Ellie’s head swirl, all of it sounding, and feeling, much too similar to something else, something more than just a friend helping another friend out. It sounds like you’re giving something else to her, something she’d dreamt of taking from you from the moment she laid eyes on you.

But she can’t indulge in that, not now, not when you’re being so kind.

She chokes back a groan, the girl slowly crawling over your body, similar to a predator creeping over its prey. Her body consuming yours as she pressed either one of her palms into the plush couch near your head, staring into your eyes as she settled between your warm thighs, the plush skin pressing against a sliver of her hips that was exposed at the top of her jeans. The feeling of her body pressed against your warm cunt, the only thing separating the two of you being the think material of your shorts, drove Ellie to the brink of insanity.

She hummed softly, her eyes trailing down your every feature, taking you in, eating you up for a moment before she grabbed your chin, tilting your head up and away to give her better access to the little area of your throat that had now become hers and only hers.

Soon, she’s leaning down, her body pressed against yours as she peppers kisses along your jaw until she reaches your throat, licking at the two little wounds that were in the shape of her fangs before she sighed against your skin, finally giving in and letting her protruding fangs sink into your skin.

You’d always been comfortable around Ellie, never shying away from her touch whenever she’d grab you whenever you were out together, or letting her easily pull you into her lap whenever you watched movies or played video games together, intimate touches never being out of the ordinary in your relationship.

But now, ever since you and her had started…whatever it was that you’d been doing, you had seemed to cross a boundary that was once put up. What was once little sighs and huffs, turned into full on moans whenever Ellie would press her body against yours and take what she wanted. You’d grip her hair, keeping her close as you moaned and whined out her name, breathless begs for her to keep going.

“Fuck…Ellie…” you moaned out for her, your eyes fluttering shut as your fingers laced into her brown hair, keeping her close as her hands moved from either sides of your head to instead grip your body. Your hips were her favorite, holding onto the plush skin and keeping you close, massaging and kneading you as she pleased, a small piece of her wanting to bruise you up, just so she knew she was able to leave marks on you other than your neck.

It egged her on further, your calls for her making her swipe her tongue over the wound before she continued sucking your sweet essence from your body. Ellie wasn’t sure if you were fond of it at first, but now? With how you reacted? She was sure you enjoyed it, if even a little bit.

She became so drunk off of you, her mind clouded with the intense flavor of your blood, nearly choking on it with how quickly she drank sometimes. One of her hands left your hips, sliding down until she gripped your thigh, pulling it up and closer to wrap around her body, massaging the soft skin as she let one of her legs slip over your other one, so that her thigh was slotted against your cunt, and yours against hers.

Ellie didn’t even realize it at first, but she slowly began to grind into you, letting her thigh rub against your barely clothed pussy as she drank from you, her senses completely overwhelmed with just how fucking good you tasted, how good you felt. She felt her mind and body buzz with electricity when she pressed her chest against yours, and she could feel your nipples hardening through the thin material of your shirt, pressing against her own chest.

“Mm…h-hah…Ellie..I….Ellie please…” you begged, and Ellie was able to hear the way your voice was slowly going, growing more and more hoarse with every moan, every pant.

She was taking too much, and she wasn’t sure if she was begging for you to stop, or to keep going.

Ellie groaned loudly against you, prying her lips away from your dulcet neck, panting loudly as she pulled away further to look down at you, letting herself get a good look at the mess she’d made of you.

Your lips were swollen, eyes growing heavy, skin getting dull. Your hair was messy, and your shirt was pulled down further, revealing more of your shoulder and collar bones, while the bottom was pushed up to show more of your stomach.

It was like a dream and a nightmare all at once.

You blinked a few times as you tried catching your breath, staring up at Ellie as one of your hands came up to cup her cheek gently.

“A-all better?” You stuttered out, giving her that notorious dreamy smile of yours, the one that made Ellie feel like she was the only person in the world that got to see it.

She’s drained you, and yet you were asking if she felt better.

Ellie held back a groan, her large hand wrapping around your wrist before she brought your hand down to press a kiss to your palm, giving you a gentle nod before she inhaled deeply to control the emotions that threatened to escape while she saw you this way.

“Always when I’m with you baby” she chuckled out sadly.

The smile you give Ellie nearly has her in tears, because you look so genuinely happy, so content with the fact that you’ve helped her, that you’ve made Ellie feel better, even if it’s at the expensive of your own comfort.

At the expensive of your own life.

“I’m glad…” you hummed out softly before you yawned, clearly tired out from what Ellie had done to you. It makes Ellie frown, and she’s quickly pushing herself off of you before she scoops you up into her arms to carry you off to your bedroom.

Soon, she has you tucked into bed, your eyes closing almost as soon as your head hits the pillow, and Ellie has your blankets pulled up over your arms. It’s almost mind blowing how quickly you fall asleep, it makes Ellie feel a bit jealous, because she can’t remember a time where she was that comfortable in a bed to fall asleep so fast.

She watches you, of course. Sticking around for a few hours after you’ve slept, keeping an eye on you to make sure your chest continues to rise and fall slowly. She knows it would never go that far, but she always gets nervous after feeding.

Tonight was also different, and it was eating away at her because she knew there wasn’t really a right or wrong way to go about cleaning about it, or comforting you about how wrong this was, and how much Ellie had been draining you. Even the fact that you expected it of her when she came over left a bitter taste in her mouth, one that replaced the sweet one that usually lingered on her tongue after she had a taste of you.

And as she watched you sleep, so peaceful and so serene, Ellie began to think of any way this would blossom into something more. How would this carry on? She would continue sucking from you until you died one day? She’d come to you like a thief in the knight well after you had a family? Children to look after? Your life moving on while she stayed in an immortal purgatory? One where she continued the cycle of coming to you for a quick bite to eat? Paired with a warm body to lay on top of for the time being?

There was no way it could surpass this. You being her friend, helping her in a way not many could. Ellie knew, that deep down, the life she wanted with you was not one that was easy to come by, something that she wouldn’t dare ask of you. From the moment she saw you, she wanted more. Because that’s what she did, she took, and took, and took until there was nothing left to take, and it was slowly happening with you.

But Ellie loved you too fucking much to take until you were nothing but a shriveled up peace of what you used to be.

So, she took one long last look at you and she left your window. Because that night, she promised herself that she was finished. The life she wanted with you unfortunately wasn’t written in the stars for her, and she knew that from the moment she saw you.

Ellie was letting you go, because she knew it she didn’t.

She’d just end up killing you.

[satorisoup]

⌗ 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐁𝐎 ! ⁝ ( ᰔ )

— timeskip! koutaro bokuto

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ﾉ fluff. one mention of pregnancy (facepalm). bokuto seems to be a bit forgetful.

𝐖𝐂 ﾉ 833

the blinking bedside lamp reads 7:00am, september 20th. it’s your husbands birthday today, and you’re sure he’d love to sleep in after all of the training he’s been doing. you snuggle closer into the radiant heat beside you, enjoying the morning silence before the events of today, until you’re not.

you’re abruptly interrupted by none other than your husbands loud, rather obnoxious alarm. it dings and shouts, and bokuto moves to slide out of bed with a groan.

perhaps he’s just going to the bathroom.

you wait patiently for his return, until about 15 minutes go by and your hair is swept away from your forehead, a pair of lips replacing it.

“… kou ? ”

bokuto seems almost upset with himself that he had woken you. unbeknownst to him, you had already been awake, lying down in confusion.

“ crap— i’m sorry baby. im off to practice, kay ? ”

your eyes shoot open at that, only for your worries to be answered, bokuto was indeed dressed in his practice uniform, gym bag swung over his shoulder.

“ what ? kou— you don’t have practice. they canceled it for today, didn’t you know ? ”

he reels back, almost distraught with the pout that adorns his face.

“ huh ? why would they cancel practice ?! i was supposed to help shoyo learn my cross-shots ! ”

“ because it’s an important day ! why wouldn’t they do that ? you want to practice today ? ”

“ what’s more important than that ! did i forget an anniversary ?! ”

it hits you at the same time the morning sun rises, your lawfully wedded has forgotten his own birthday. you mentally want to facepalm at bokuto for his forgetfulness, so incredibly eager to practice, but you’re dawned with the humorous fact that this is just so him.

and maybe it wouldn’t hurt to play along for now.

you’re now at the grocery store to buy food and some treats, beer and cake, for the birthday party you had planned at your house tonight. bokuto, the birthday boy in question, strolls beside you absolutely oblivious. maybe by now he’d of caught on.

“ what do we need a cake for ? ”

or maybe not.

you’d already sent a text to everyone invited tonight telling them of your current situation, and all agreed to act completely casual until your husband would eventually come to his senses.

you’re now preparing food, cutting up slices of prosciutto as atsumu pops a grape into his mouth.

“ you married n’ airhead, y’know ”

and yes, you do know, you’re sure of it. bokuto suspected absolutely nothing from the friendly visit of his teammate, and nothing by the arrival of 10 more of his closest friends.

perhaps akaashi’s arrival would make him suspect this is definitely more than just a regular get together, considering akaashi is usually never able to take a break from work for these kinds of things.

there’s a loud slap heard from a hand colliding with akaashi’s back, and bokuto’s bright smile is in view.

“ man, did all of you miss me or what ? ”

or perhaps not.

there’s a gift pile that grows with the more people that show up, and bokuto doesn’t even realize it until it’s practically overloading the table.

“ what’s with all the gifts ? ”

he stands next to you, glancing at it once, twice, before his entire face pales and drops into one of pure shock.

this is it. you’ve got him.

“ oh my god— is this a baby shower ? babe— are you pregnant ?! put that beer down ! ”

after you reveal that you are in fact not pregnant, you can tell that bokuto’s visibly becoming more confused and skeptical. his brow is quirked up into a questioning arch, and his arms are crossed over his puffed chest.

not one single person has cracked into spilling the so called “ secret ”, and you decide that your husband truly doesn’t understand what is going on.

kuroo then sits bokuto down into a chair, holding his shoulder as all of his friends gather around. he’s unable to see you in his linesight, only viewing the many cameras that are now pointing to him.

“ is there something on my face ? ”

and it’s not until you round the corner, holding tightly to a cake with candles and setting it down in front of him, that you let it slip.

“ happy birthday, bo. ”

the cheers that erupt from his friends and the kiss on his cheek from you is all bokuto needs for his face to form into a wide smile, blowing out his candles in a final realization as he bellows in a loud laughter.

“ whoops ! happy birthday to me ! ”

no, you didn’t even have to plan a surprise party, because being married to bokuto koutaro is a surprise in it of itself.

[lunajay33]

Taste for Older Men

•⚰️🍂🍑•

Summary: Growing up with you never had much interest in boys your age but when your dads best friends stuck around more everything changed

Pairing: Cowboy Negan x f!reader

Warnings: age gap, evil boyfriend

•Masterlist•

Song Recommendation: White Mustang-Lana Del Rey

Growing up I never understood all my friends having crushes on guys in our class, I mean they were so immature and not even cute so I never had a reason to try things out and explore like so many people my age, because I knew what I liked……and that is older men, I never realized until my dads best friend moved to town and started coming over more and more, I never acted on it because obviously it’s inappropriate but god did I want to

I graduated school and went to college online so I could work on my dads farm to help out and save up some money, it just made everything easier, then I graduate college and Negan lost his farm hand so dad got me to help him out and get my sister to work on our family farm instead

I’ve only been working with Negan for a month and it’s been killing me, every glance, everytime he’d wrap his arms around me to show me the “proper” way to do something, had me wanting more than just a farm hand, I want to feel loved, I tried to get over Negan with a guy from town, he was sweet when we first started dating, the flowers before dates and opening doors and the good mornings texts but in all honesty it always felt like he was just a friend a really close guy friend but I guess this I how it’s suppose to feel right?

But now he’s mean, always calls drunk and when we’re out at gatherings he treats me like a toy to parade around but I don’t know how to leave him and god do I want to so badly

That leads to today Negan was coming over to our house for a barbecue so it’s a perfect chance to doll myself up compared to farming clothes, I finished off my makeup and pulled on a a ivory sundress, I made my way downstairs seeing my mom finishing off some salads as dad was out setting up everything

“Well don’t you look like a fresh flower in spring! Are you all dolled up for Mark?” My heart dropped

“What……what do you mean I’m staying here for supper!”

“Well dad said he ran into Mark today at the garage and invited him over, Negans never met him so why not introduce them it’ll be fun!” I tried to keep a chipper expression but I felt like screaming inside, the door bell rang alerting someone was here

“Could you get that dear I’m still finishing up here”

I walked over to the door relieved to see Negan standing there instead of Mark, I let out a breathe he obviously noticed

“You alright darling?”

“What? Oh yeah I’m finally just…..never mind please come in” I said nervously stepping to the side to clear the door way

“Old man said you’re boyfriends coming around tonight” he said with a hint of displease

“Does that man talk to everyone god” I groan

“What don’t want me meeting the guy who’s got my girl all worried” my heart did a flip at the words ‘my girl’ but I couldn’t think on it too long when a knock came from the door and my mood plummeted

With a shaky hand I open the door and there stood my walking nightmare that fake smile plastered on his smug face

“Hey babe thanks for the invite, had to hear from you old man” he says as he pulled me close by my hip a hint of anger in his voice

“I’m sorry it……it just slipped my mind” my voice wavered as he squeezed my hip, Negan cleared his throat

“Oh mark this is Negan, Negan this is Mark”

“So this is the Negan that always takes up all your time on that damn farm”

“Mark you know it’s my job and I love working there…….please you just got here” I whisper the last part, looking at Negan who had a shocked look on his face, definitely not expecting this to be my boyfriend

We all were sitting out on the back porch with the lowering sun basking us in golden light, a slight breeze in the air making a chill running down my spine, as dad laid the food on the table for everyone

“Here take my plaid you gotta be freezing” Negan said draping his brown and green longsleeve plaid over my shoulders, his cologne surrounding my senses

“I’m right here man” Mark barked from my other side

“Mark he was just being nice it’s fine”

“That’s what you always say”

“And what’s that suppose to mean?”

“Always going on and on about him and brushing me off like I’m some psycho boyfriend when I’m sick of hearing about him”

“Mark……” my dad groans as a warning

Everything seemed to come crashing down and I couldn’t keep it all in anymore

“You’re the one that comes home late stinking of booze and cheap perfume thinking I don’t see the lipstick stains on your shirt collar, or when you make me feel like a piece of meat infront of all you friends I’m sick of it Mark” at my words he shot up in his chair clearly enraged as he towered over me

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to” the chair behind me screeched back Negan now towering over me too with the angriest look I’ve never seen before

“Get the hell outta here before you regret it” mark was angry but he was also a hell of a coward, especially faced with a big strong man like Negan

He huffed as he stomped down the porch, hearing his truck start up and rush off down the dirt road, I slumped down in my chair completely embarrassed but also that relief that I’ll never have to deal with that ass again

“Please excuse me” I sigh as I get up from the table and head up to my room for a moment of peace, I sat down on my reading ledge by my window going through all the times he mistreated me and how much he ruined my first…..well my first everything

“Hey darlin mind if I sit with ya?” Negan asks from my doorway, I simply nodded hearing him cross my room and sit next to me, I look up at him and feel my lip tremble

“He ruined everything” I finally break down when he holds me close to his chest

“He took my first kiss, felt like nothing, took my virginity even though I didn’t feel anything like that for him, he took my happiness”

“Baby look at me” he says as he leans me back tilting my head up to wipe my tears away

“If I could I’d take all your pain away, replace all those firsts with happy memories but I know one thing……”

“What?”

“You’ll be happy again, even if I gotta kill him to see you smile again I’ll do it because it kills me to see you like this”

“It’s not like I’m sad he’s gone, I’m relieved really but he’s never what I wanted” I say placing my hand ontop of his that was still against my cheek

“And what is it you want darlin?”

“I’ve always wanted you, I know I shouldn’t you’re my dads best friend but all my secrets are coming out today” I pity laugh

“I want you too, when you started working on my farm, you working around the farm and treating my animals like your own, making me feel like I wasn’t some old man out there alone, I want you by my side more than you know”

My world in one day went from hell back to heaven all because of the man I craved the most in this world

Part 2

[saikira999]

~ Dear Photography

Annotation: Yuu dragged him to be photographed with daisies :)

Tags: Friendship, a little bit of love, tsundere.

Attention! English is not my native language, and if you find errors in the text, please write about it in the comments.

+ In My native language, the words "Dear" and "Expensive" are considered the same word and look the same (Dorogoi). In the original language, this plays into the plus of fan fiction, but in the English translation, the meaning breaks down a lot.

Just remember:

Dear = Expensive

(Below I will also provide a version in the original language)

~

Pouting his lips displeasedly, Azul shrank a little incredulously, quietly wrapping his tentacles under the water around a small island with daisies overgrown on it, as if for safety. Having unsuccessfully tried to blow away a silver strand of wet hair that had fallen right into his eye, from his face He squinted slightly. Aschengrotto was definitely too used to life on land...

Yuu, who was standing nearby, barefoot, with her pants slightly pulled up to her knees, was fiddling with her bag as if trying to find something. Watching Her from the side, the octomer was silent for a while, looking at Her search either with boredom or with slight irritation.

- Prefect, let me ask... - As if out of habit, turning on His “Aschengrotto” style of a businesslike, insinuating conversation to the point of gritting his teeth, He began, straightening his lock of hair. “First, you barbarously pulled Me out of the office, tearing me away from business, then dragged me to the shore. ... - Azul slouched slightly, and his black shoulders, shining in the sun, noticeably tensed, while long thin fingers with black nails anxiously twirled and kneaded one winding curl near his sharp left cheek - Forced me to take... This form... - Shrinking, the tentacles tightened around and squeezed the stone-looking sides of the island, as if thinking of crushing it - And I’m afraid to ask what you will demand from Me now...

- Flower.

- .....What?

Raising an eyebrow, Azul straightened up a little and looked at Yuu, who was unsuccessfully shaking out the contents of the bag onto the green, slightly crumpled grass, trying to find something inside. Pens, pencils, chewing gum, candy bars and who knows how the Grim fur got there (Again this damn cat sleeps on the first thing that came)... - Take the flower. - Yuu repeats in a casual tone.

- For what? - Now, Azul raises both eyebrows, and a pair of large black and purple tentacles peer out of the water with curiosity, as if wanting to understand the essence of the demand.

- Take the flower and don’t freak out, senpai... - Grumbles in a friendly manner, Yuu freezes for a moment and slaps his palm on his forehead.

Throwing the bag aside, She unzips her light jacket a little and takes hold of the angular old camera hanging on Her chest.

Realizing what was happening, Azul only became more embarrassed, and reluctantly suppressing the desire to hide from Yuu under water, he crossed his arms on his damp chest, tapping his finger on his forearm.

- I hope you know what you are doing... And that it will not cost you free....

- I know. Now, take a flower. - Yuu just shrugs, removing the cap from the camera and preparing it for work.

- If speak openly, it will cost you very dearly.

- Since when does a photographer pay?

- This is your idea, My dear prefect. - Sighing a little in disappointment, Azul leaned his elbow on the island, which was a little prickly because of the sand and grass, resting his sharp chin in his palm - I know about your interest in photographs, but I don’t think that this octopus is suitable for your collection... And it will also be expensive .... Did I talk about this...?

-You don’t like being photographed that much, senpai? - Raising a curious glance at her friend’s dissatisfied pale muzzle for a second, Yuu continued tinkering with the camera

- It’s not that I don’t like... - He turned away, slowly, as if lazily crawling his gaze over the white tops of daisies - You yourself know the reasons... And also, you know that this will be an expensive photograph.

- But she will be My favorite.

Octomer was silent.... He frowned in disbelief again...

- "Favorite"...?

- The most favorite.

- And expensive.

- And expensive... In every sense.

- I talked about the price. You and your pesky furrball won't eat for a week!

- Are you trying to intimidate Me with the price tag, senpai? Hehe, I think we'll come to an agreement.

- There’s no point in even negotiating here, my dear prefect. I can leave You right now!

- And miss the opportunity to get money so easily and quickly? You're losing your grip, senpai. - Yuu grinned, coming closer, stepping on the soft grass and warm sand.

- Do you REALLY want to have a photo of Me as a merfolk? - Azul hissed, ashamed and anxious - Why?

- Because You are very handsome in Your true form, of course! - With difficulty holding back a giggle, Yuu grinned softly - And I decided to take photographs of all the people dear to Me before the headmage returns Me back to My world... - Turning away and frowning slightly, Yuu wrinkled her nose and quietly grumbled - If this beak-nosed dork even remembers My existence....

It was as if Azul had received a blow to the head from Floyd (comparable to being hit with a sledgehammer)... Did she just call his octomer shape beautiful? Is he a dear person to Her??? His eternally spinning somewhere nearby, constantly getting into trouble, but still damn it, will his DEAR colleague one day leave Him and return to his native world??????

....Oh, the great seven, He forgot about it....

While Azul, who had funnyly raised his tentacles, was recovering from silent shock, mixed at the same time with embarrassment and anxiety slowly growing in his soul, Yuu herself picked a flower and handed it to Azul, grinning widely.

- Take it!

Focusing his gaze again and batting his white eyelashes in surprise, the slightly red Azul paused, but still slowly took the flower from her hands and its tentacles again slowly fell into the water.

- Ahem... - He cleared his throat, slowly returning (at least trying) to a relatively calm appearance. He again propped his cheek with his hand with a flower clutched in It, somehow incomprehensibly looking into the lens, again slightly pouting his lips...

He should definitely send Yuu an invoice for this photo...

~

This art was drawn by Me relatively recently. I wrote this fanfiction for that :)

Please, if you like My work, feel free to ask Me questions and requests! Also, I will be very glad to receive your reblogs :)

~

The original:

~ Дорогая фотография.

Недовольно надув губы, Азул немного недоверчиво съежился, незаметно обхватывая щупальцами под водой небольшой островок, с поросшими на нём ромашками, точно для надёжности. Безрезультатно попробовав сдуть с лица упавшую прямо на глаз серебристую, точно бок жемчужины прядь мокрых волос, Он чуть прищурился. Асшенгротто определённо слишком уж привык к жизни на суше... Стоявшая неподалёку Йуу, босая, в немного задранных по колено штанах, возилась в сумке, точно пытаясь что-то найти. Наблюдая за Ней со стороны, октомер немного помолчал, глядя на Её поиски ни то со скукой, ни то с лёгким раздражением.

- Префект, позвольте спросить... - Точно по привычке включив Свой "Асшенгроттовский" стиль делового, до скрипа зубов вкрадчивого, разговора, начал Он, поправляя прядь - Сперва Вы варварски вытащили Меня из кабинета, оторвав от дел, затем потащили на берег.... - Азул чуть ссутулился, и чёрные, блестящие на солнце плечи заметно напряглись, пока длинные тонкие пальцы с чёрными ногтями тревожно накручивали и мяли один извилистый локон у левой острой щеки - Заставили принять... Эту форму... - Сжавшись, щупальца крепче обвили и сжали каменные глядкие бока островка, словно думая раздавить его - И мне страшно спросить, что Вы потребуете от Меня теперь...

- Цветочек.

- .....Что?

Вскинув бровь, Азул чуть выпрямился и посмотрел на Йуу, безрезультатно вытряхивающую содержимое сумки на зелёную, чуть мятую травку, пытаясь найти что-то внутри. Ручки, карандаши, жвачки, батончики и неизвестно каким образом попавшая туда шерсть Гримма (Опять этот проклятый кот дрых на первом, на чём пришлость)...

- Возьми цветочек. - Повторяет Йуу обыденым тоном.

- Зачем? - Теперь, Азул вскидывает уже обе брови, и пару крупных чёрно-фиолетовых щупалец с любопытством выглядывают из воды, точно желая понять суть требования.

- Возьмите цветочек, и не выёживайтесь, сенпай.... - Дружелюбно хмыкнув, Йуу на миг замирает и хлопает Себя ладонью по лбу.

Откинув сумку в сторону, Она немного расстёгивает лёгую куртёжку и берётся за висящий у Неё на груди угловатый старый фотик.

Смекнув что к чему, Азул смутился только сильнее, и нехотя подавив желание скрыться от Йуу под водой, скрестил руки на влажной груди, настукивая пальцем по предплечью.

- Я надеюсь, Вы знаете, что Вы делаете... И что это не обойдётся Вам бесплатно....

- Знаю. А теперь, возьмите цветочек. - Йуу только пожимает плечами, снимая с фотоаппарата крышечку и подготавливая его к работе.

- Если говорить открыто, это обойдётся Вам очень дорого.

- С каких пор платит фотограф?

- Это Ваша идея, Мой дорогой префект. - Немного разочарованно вздохнув, Азул опёрся локтём о немного колючий из-за пес��а и травы островок, подпирая ладонью острый подбородок - Я знаю о Вашем интересе к фотографиям, но не думаю, что Вашей коллекции подойдёт этот осьминог... И ещё это будет дорого.... Я говорил об этом...?

- Вы так не любите фотографироваться, сенпай? - На секунду подняв на недовольную бледную морду друга любопытствующий взгляд, Йу продолжила ковыряться с камерой

- Не то чтобы не люблю... - Он отвернулся, медленно, точно лениво переползая взглядом по белым макушкам ромашек - Вы сами знаете причины... А ещё, Вы знаете, что это будет дорогостоящая фотография.

- Но она будет Моей любимой.

Октомер помолчал.... Снова недоверчиво нахмурился...

- "Любимой"...?

- Самой любимой.

- И дорогой.

- И дорогой... Во всех смыслах.

- Я говорил о цене. Вы и Ваш надоедливый комок шерсти не будете есть неделю!

- Пытаетесь запугать Меня ценником, сенпай? Хе-хе, думаю, Мы договоримся.

- Здесь даже нет смысла договариваться, Мой дорогой префект. Я могу покинуть Тебя прямо сейчас!

- И упустить возможность так легко и быстро получить деньги? Теряете хватку, сенпай. - Ййу усмехнулась, подходя ближе, ступая по мягкой траве и тёплому песку.

- Вам ДЕЙСТВИТЕЛЬНО так хочется иметь у Меня Мою фотографию в виде мерфолка? - Зашипел Азул, ни то со смущением, ни то с тревогой - Почему?

- Потому что Ты очень красивый в Своём истинном облике, конечно! - С трудом сдержав хихиканье, Йуу мягко ухмыльнулась - И Я решила сделать фотографии всех дорогих Мне людей перед тем, как Верховный Маг вернёт Меня обратно в Мой мир... - Отвернувшись и чуть нахмурившись, Йуу сморщила нос и тихо проворчала - Если этот клювоносый дурак вообще помнит о Моём существовании....

Азула как Флойд по башке стукнул (Сравнимо с ударом кувалдой)... Она только что назвала его форму октомера красивой? Он дорогой Ей человек??? Его вечно крутящийся где-то под боком, постоянно влипающий в истории, но всё ещё чёрт её дери ДОРОГОЙ коллега однажды покинет Его и вернётся в родной мир??????

....Ох, великая семёрка, Он и забыл об этом....

Пока Смешно взвивший щупальца, Азул отходил от немого шока, смешанного одновременно со смущением и медленно нарастающим в душе беспокойством, Йуу, сама сорвала цветочек и протянула Азулу, широко ухмыльнувшись.

- Возьми!

Вновь сфокусировав взгляд и удивлённо похлопав белыми ресницами, немного красный Азул помолчал, но всё-таки медленно взял цветок из её рук и его зупальцах вновь медленно опали в воду.

- Кхм... - Он откашлялся, медленно возвращая (По крайней мере, пытаясь) себе относительно спокойный вид Он вновь подпёр щеку рукой с зажатым в Ней цветком, как-то непонятливо глядя в объектив снова чуть надувая губы...

Он определённо должен выслать Йуу счёт за это фото...

[eitaababe]

EVEN IF IT'S A LIE !

chapter four. games.

a/n — i swear i planned for this to be cute at first-

series masterlist. | previous / next

you wake up to the sun in your face, groaning tiredly. you roll over, tangling yourself deeper into the dark blue sheets when you realize—

you don't own blue sheets.

you scramble, trying to untangle yourself but making it worse, causing a bit of havoc. you look underneath the blanket, sighing in relief and laying back down tiredly when you see you're clothed.

the peace doesn't last for long, though.

as the door opens you recognize the boy behind it, with his ocean eyes and messy curls.

"you took me home?" the questions comes out more like a demand, and ao'nung chuckles at your tone.

"not like that, if that's what you're thinking," he starts, handing you some advil and a glass of water. "for the headache," he adds, quietly.

"i was gonna call an uber for you but you were so adamant on being a broke college girl and how you didn't wanna blow fifty bucks on a mile drive, and then you started going on about how you could sleep on the couch and there was no way in hell i was leaving you with the team—"

"oh my eywa," you groan, all your memories from the night before still foggy. "did i do anything embarrassing?"

"you're an amusing drunk, that's for sure," he laughs, recalling the few memories he remembers. "i let you change into a pair of sweats and my shirt. and then lo'ak called, he picked up tsireya and i let him know i was with you."

"oh, that's good," you nod, downing the glass of water. "remind me to never go drinking with you ever again."

"i'm a good drinking partner! i got you home safe, didn't i?"

"sorry, does this look like my apartment to you?"

"you get the point," he scoffs teasingly, about to head back out of his room. "i made breakfast, bring your lazy bum out whenever you feel like it."

"mkay." you smile at him before he leaves and shuts the door, leaving you to observe his room.

it's plain, for the most part, definitely a minimalistic style and exactly what you expected (not that you were thinking of being in his room). the walls were a comforting color grey, and his sheets felt as soft as ever. there was a simple closet with a desk next to it, and you smile as the peaceful quiet of the room, and how the window is slightly open, noises from outside heard and sunlight pouring in through the cracks of the curtains.

after looking around you grab your phone that was laying atop the table, texting your friends to ensure that you were alright. you walk down the hall, following the smell of food and locating the kitchen, finally realizing ao'nung's appearance.

he's near the stove, cooking tool in hand and flipping over some pancakes. it's not that what grabs your attention, however, because your eyes quickly drop to his toned torso, uncovered and tan. you almost gape at realizing how fit he is, counting one, two, three, four, five six—

"take a picture, it'll last longer."

you turn red, eyes widening apologetically. "i didn't mean- i mean i meant- fuck what i-"

"i'm messing with you," he laughs, the sound booming throughout the room and it's so contagious, you chuckle yourself. "i'm cooking some more pancakes, i put your plate on the table. and i hope you like orange juice, that's the only thing i had in the fridge."

"it's more than enough, thank you, really." you're more than grateful and unsure of how to demonstrate it, with him just meeting you and yet letting you sleep in his own bed, in his own clothes, eating his food, in his kitchen.

"tsireya would kick my ass if she knew i left a girl alone at a party like that. especially in your state and you being her friend." ao'nung picks up on what you're feeling, and you're somewhat surprised at how well he's able to read you.

it almost makes you feel special, that you were the girl he took home last night, when you go quiet and shove a bite of the pancake into your mouth and start to wonder if you aren't the only girl he's done this with.

"what're you thinking about?" his voice snaps you out of your thoughts, slightly muffled behind his hand as he covers his mouth full of food. he leans back in his chair, giving you quite the show, and you blush again at the sight.

"nothing." you shake your head with a soft voice, smiling politely and taking another bite.

"c'mon, it's not nice to lie to someone who gave up their bed for you." he smiles, and you melt just a tad at the pearly whites he flashes.

"just wondering how many girls you do this with, that's all." you finally admit, trying to play it off casually, but the pink that dusts your cheek most likely gives you away.

"don't think i've had a girl in here for breakfast who wasn't tsireya in the past few months except you, sweetheart." the nickname falls so naturally off his tongue, and he falters, realizing you aren't part of some fantasy he can't let go of.

he recovers though, before you can even realize.

you're too flustered to notice the cracks in his armor, or to notice he's putting up any defenses at all. you can't tell what he's playing at, or what he's working towards. part of you wants to suspect that he's playing at some game, maybe, but you're unsure of just what.

what you don't realize, however, is that the game is you.

FUN FACTS !

— y/n used to have a crush on neteyam when they were younger

— kiri's a little skeptical of y/n going home with ao'nung but she hasn't said anything about it

— ao'nung was telling the truth about girls in his apartment, the last time someone was in there was when ivy came in there for the rainy night

[🏷️ ; taglist. / open ] @loaksbitch @8resa @n7ytiri @yukichan67 @dearstell @netemoon @halibanana @aonungmyaddiction @teyums @lightskinloak @ipoopedmypants47 @aonungmybf @wenvierismycomfort @il0veheartz @syulangg @chittakii @jjkclub

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Code Words | Set-up

Read on Ao3 Masterlist

Warnings: none

Pairings: none

Word Count: 5109

Someone knocks on Roman's door.

Someone knocks on Janus's door.

Someone knocks on Roman's door.

He frowns, getting up slowly and edging over. Logan didn't text and say he was going to stop by, he can't imagine Janus coming over without giving him a heads-up, and no one else would likely be willing to come near him right now. It's not like he's been giving his so-called 'friends' opportunities to see him, not since he—well. Not since.

So, it's with a healthy amount of trepidation that he approaches the door, something that's only rewarded when he peers through the peephole to see who, in fact, just knocked on his door.

His eyes widen.

Slowly, with every intention of making up something as soon as he finishes, he turns the doorknob and hesitantly cracks it just wide enough to peer out at the most high-ranking agent he's ever seen in real life.

"Roman," Director fucking Virgil says, smiling at him, "would you take a walk with me?"

"Um—sure. Yeah, uh—can I have a second?"

"Take your time."

"Thanks."

In a daze, Roman shuts the door. Nope, that definitely did just happen. He was just asked to go somewhere with the fucking Director. Okay. This is fine. He can deal with this. This definitely isn't going to end badly in any way, shape, or form. He's going to go for this walk and it's going to be fine and then he's going to come back here and scream into a pillow. Yeah.

That's it.

Belatedly, he realizes he's keeping the Director waiting and scrambles to shove his phone, his ID card, and his wallet into his pockets before stuffing his feet into his boots and opening the door again.

"Sorry."

The Director waves him off, still smiling. He gestures down the hall and Roman nods, shutting his door with a click behind him as he follows. The Director slows down so Roman can walk next to him and this really isn't helping his whole 'not going outside to avoid literally everyone staring' thing, but when the Director asks you to go on a walk, you take the fucking walk.

They don't go to another one of the conference rooms or even up the elevator to one of the fancy-schmancy offices that Roman's afraid to look at wrong. Instead, they arrive at one of the atriums and walk down the main stairs to the front door. He scurries over to hold the door as they walk outside, wincing a moment later at the glare of the sunlight. The weather has just started to turn warm again, the breeze still blowing like it wants to rip his jacket off but the sun at least is a little warmer.

The Director leads them over to a small bench in the corner of one of the less-traveled courtyards, sitting down and stretching out as though they're friends who sit on benches and talk to each other. When Roman hovers nervously for a few more seconds, he looks up and huffs, patting the bench. Roman sits down hastily.

"You're not in trouble," the Director says quietly, "I'm not here to scold you or reprimand you. You can relax, kid."

Yeah, uh-huh. Let me just go ahead and do that.

Judging by his chuckle, he may as well have said that out loud for the Director to hear. "Seriously. I don't bite, I swear."

"Only on Wednesdays, right?"

Before he can bite his tongue for being mouthy at the Director, said Director is laughing again. A proper laugh. He lightly taps Roman's shoulder in the adult get-a-load-of-this-kid-but-positive way, at least that's what Roman's going to interpret it as. "No, kid. Patton's made sure I'm thoroughly de-fanged."

Patton. Patton went to the Director. Patton went to the fucking Director, is the Director here about me?

Yeah, no shit, dumbass, why do you think you're out here?

"Sorry," he mumbles a moment later, "I didn't mean to…space out."

"Space as much as you want." He stretches out a bit further, tipping his head back. "I dragged you out here because apparently, the big ass windows in my office don't give me enough sunlight."

Roman sneaks a glance over his shoulder. Sure enough, the Director looks like—well, he looks like every other recruit after too long of sitting in the training rooms rediscovering the wonders of being outside. A laugh bubbles up in his throat before he can stop it. The Director cracks an eye open and smiles back at him. After another moment, he sits up with a grunt and mirrors Roman's position: elbows on knees, hands folded.

"What would you like to see happen?"

Roman blinks. "Huh?"

"With everything going on," the Director asks, still in that same really casual tone, "what would you like to see happen? What's your ideal outcome for this?"

Wow, no fucking pressure or anything. Real light question to start us off with, why don't you?

"I, um—"

"It doesn't have to be extensive," the Director says when he splutters, "or it can be as ridiculous as you want. You could say you want to shoot them into space or have the cafeteria exclusively serve Arby's curly fries."

"Does anyone even go to Arby's anymore?"

"We can't fix bad taste."

Roman snorts. He fiddles with the callus on his thumb. "Can I—sorry, can I think about it for a second?"

"Take your time." The Director leans back on the bench. "I'll be here enjoying the sun."

He worries his bottom lip between his teeth. What does he want to happen? Well, really, he wants all of this never to have happened in the first place. But he doesn't exactly have a time machine, and unless the Agency is really lying about what the fuck they can do, he doesn't think the Director has access to one either.

He wants the person who did this to him, to Janus, to never have the power to do so again. But he doesn't want them killed—or does he?

They'd definitely never hurt anyone ever again. They'd be out of the Agency. Out of his life. Out of Janus's life too. And they almost killed both of them with their negligence—something like that is punishable by normal standards, not just Agency standards. Let them know what it's like to be powerless, what it's like to be so, so fucking afraid for their existence, let them know what it's like to—to—

"Hey."

There's a hand on his arm and he realizes he's shaking. He clenches his jaw and forces himself to stop, glancing over to see the Director looking at him with concern. "Sorry."

The Director shakes his head, sitting up and still looking at him like that. "You wanna talk about it?"

Do I want to admit I was just fantasizing about killing someone? No, not really. "Um…I was—well, I thought that I really want all of this not to have happened in the first place, but we don't really have a time machine, so…"

He narrows his eyes.

"Do we have a time machine?"

"Believe me, it would make things simpler and infinitely more complicated, so no, we don't."

"Then I was thinking that—" No. No, he can't say this to the fucking Director, can he?

"You can say it, Roman," the Director reassures, "nothing leaves us right now. I'm not gonna hold anything you say here against you."

"I was thinking if they were dead," he whispers.

Immediately, he expects the Director to pull away. To say something like well, that's one way of looking at it, or we don't kill our own, which has he been fucking paying attention, does he know how much danger Roman's been in?

"And what if they were?"

His head jerks up. The Director still looks at him the same way he did before. The hand hasn't left his arm.

"What if they were dead," he asks again, "what then?"

"They—they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone ever again. They'd be gone. I wouldn't have to worry about them coming back, or hurting someone again, or—or—they would just be gone."

The Director nods. He still isn't pulling away. Even though Roman's admitting he wants to kill someone just for hurting him.

"But—"

"But?" comes the gentle prompt a moment later.

Roman takes a deep breath. "But I don't want—that's not—I don't—I don't want to live in a place governed by my worst impulses, you know?"

"That's a very brave thing to say."

He can't help it, he scoffs. "I'm not brave."

"No? Why not?"

"I'm scared all the time," he hisses, glancing around, "I'm—I can't leave my room. I can't talk to anyone without making sure they're exactly who they say they are. I can't sleep. I can't—I can't do anything. I can't even say I want something bad to happen to the person who hurt me. How the fuck am I brave?"

The Director hums, the hand on his shoulder making small circles. Before the shame at his outburst can really sink in, the Director sighs.

"Roman, you're brave because you're scared and you're doing all of this anyway."

"Courage isn't the absence of fear but doing things despite it," he drones automatically, only for the hand on his shoulder to squeeze.

"I'm serious. Do you know how many agents we lose every year to PTSD and other factors? Every month? Every week?" He looks up to see the Director staring at him. "It's not an insignificant amount, Roman. This job is hard. It fucks us all up. You're not a coward for being afraid and you definitely aren't one for what's happened to you."

"O-oh."

"You sitting here telling me you don't know what to do is brave. You being out here with me is brave. You sitting in that meeting telling them what happened to you is brave," the Director says, looking at him with a stunning amount of determination. "And telling me you don't want to live somewhere governed by your worst impulses is brave too."

A lump forms in Roman's throat. That's rude. He's not trying to cry in front of the Director.

"Believe me," he continues, his voice lowering the slightest bit, "I don't blame you for wanting whoever did this to you dead. I really don't. I also don't blame you for not wanting them dead. This isn't a test, Roman. I'm not fishing for the right answer. I'm asking you, because it seems like no one's done that for you in a long time. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. Yes, yes, I—I get it."

"Alright."

"Can I—sorry, I just—"

"Take your time," the Director says again, still full of some bottomless patience, rubbing Roman's shoulder as he stifles a few sobs. "You're alright, kid. You're gonna be alright."

"I know." He sniffles one last time and sits up a bit straighter. "I don't want them to die. I just want to make sure they can't hurt anyone like this ever again."

"That sounds like a very reasonable thing to want."

"And there needs—there needs to be a check of some sort. Someone else needs to make sure anyone sent out into the field knows everything. Code phrases, safety points, if there are any other agents there to support them. It doesn't have to be everything, but it has to be something."

The Director nods. God, Roman is telling the Director how to run a fucking mission and the Director is listening.

"A-and we can't—" he swallows heavily— "we can't let Security have tazers anymore."

He raises an eyebrow. "No? Why no tazers?"

"Because they really hurt and they don't actually do enough to stop someone if they really want something."

It surprises a laugh out of him at any rate. He nods a few times, mulling the words over. "Alright. No tazers, then."

"Why are you here?" Roman pulls back a little bit. "Is this really big enough for you to be here?"

"Officially, yes. One of the most in-depth undercover operations was almost ruined because someone wasn't briefed properly, resulting in the traumatization and risk of two of my agents, and it happened on my watch. Unofficially—" and here he leans a bit closer again— "a good friend of mine burst into my office and told me to get my ass in gear."

"Good friend—wait, Patton?"

"That's the one."

"Patton," Roman repeats, "the guy who had a baby blue notebook and those big glasses, the guy who took notes with a pink and white striped pen, that guy."

"Yeah. That guy."

"I don't—I don't wanna think about that too much."

"I don't blame you," he chuckles, "he's—well. He's something."

"Uh-huh. Logan knows him too—wait, does that mean he's yelled at Logan to get his ass in gear?"

"Probably."

"That's…oddly comforting."

The Director pats his shoulder again. "I can't promise you anything. But this will be dealt with, that I can assure you. We'll do our best to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."

"I need to talk to Janus," he blurts out.

"Janus?"

"Yeah. We—I promised. He needs to know too. It happened to him too."

"And if he thinks something different should happen?"

Roman shrugs. "Then we talk about it."

The Director stands up, adjusting his coat. He smiles at Roman again and—the Director just ruffled his hair. This is fine. This is totally fine. "You've got a good head on your shoulders."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and one more thing," he says as he turns to go, looking back over his shoulder, "and you can tell Janus this too: if anyone gives you a hard time about what happened, you send them straight to my office, you hear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Enjoy the sunshine, kid."

Roman tips his head back and lets the warmth brush across his face.

***

    Janus opens the door and blinks. "Director Virgil. Can I help you?"

"I've been reliably informed that there's no one else who can help me put this away," Director Virgil says, holding up a small bottle of Janus's favorite liquor—so Patton did raid his locker, good to know— "interested?"

"I've been instructed not to mix alcohol and painkillers."

"I won't tell if you won't."

Janus allows himself a small smile and lets him in, gesturing to the small round table and quickly fixing them both two glasses of water and grabbing two empty glasses. He sets them on the table as Director Virgil takes off his jacket. Two fingers in each glass and one's slid over to him as he sits down.

"What should we drink to, Director?"

"Oh, I don't know." The Director swirls the drink around the glass. "How about…the fact that we're both still alive?"

Janus holds up his glass, they toast, and takes a small sip. The burn is familiar and he just manages to stifle a wince.

"Rough night?"

He allows himself a self-deprecating chuckle. "Remus still hits hard if I'm not paying attention. He apologized with another bottle of that stuff."

"So it's not from the mission."

Out of sight, his hand twitches. "No, Director. I didn't sustain any major injuries and I've been cleared by Psych."

"That's what Patton said too."

Ah. "Is that all Patton said?"

Director Virgil hisses lightly as he sets down the glass. "He said there was an urgent matter that required my attention, and that I should get my ass in gear about it."

"Verbatim?"

"In spirit."

Janus sets his glass down and sits up a little more. "Are you expecting a recounting from me as well?"

"No. I'm here to ask you what you'd like to see happen as this investigation moves forward."

"You should be asking Roman."

"Why? Weren't you affected by this just as much, if not more, than he was? You were entrenched deeply into the gang's structure well before he was even brought on, surely I don't have to tell you what they do with traitors."

Under the table, he makes a fist. "I'm not the one who was tortured by someone who was supposed to be on his side. I'm not the one who has trouble sleeping because he can't trust the walls around him. I'm not the one whose first big mission was set up to fail from the start."

"From the start…" He tilts his head. "You think it was done on purpose?"

"Roman's mission was as my safety. I've run safeties before. I was briefed so thoroughly I could probably tell you what those code phrases were. And he didn't know a single one—he didn't even know he was a safety. That means either the person who briefed him didn't tell him, or whoever briefed them omitted it. Regardless, someone knew that he was supposed to be a safety and that information never got to him."

Director Virgil drums his fingers on the table. "Could it have been a mistake? They assumed he knew?"

"First mission. First safety. Gross incompetence is the worser of the two offenses, somehow."

"Mm." He takes another sip of the drink. "You've still not explained why you shouldn't have a say in all of this."

Janus doesn't say anything. He takes another drink.

"Could it be the same reason you're hissing through painkillers right now?"

Janus's head whips around, mouth already opening to spit a retort of some kind back, but the Director holds up his hand to forestall it.

"I've already made enough mistakes by letting this get as far as it has," he says, softly but with an undertone of steel, "I'm not gonna let another agent get hurt on my watch."

His jaw works. He looks away. He looks down at his hand, trembling slightly under the table. He reaches for the glass of water and takes a long drink. "It's my fault. It happened on my watch."

"As I'm sure Remus has told you, you didn't exactly have many options."

"I know how nerve-wracking safety missions are."

"And you know how precarious undercover missions are."

"He's a good kid," Janus whispers, his voice thick, "he's such a good kid."

"Yes, he is. He's a good kid who made sure I knew he wanted to come talk to you before I did anything else."

Janus looks over. Director Virgil offers him a rueful smile and shrugs, taking another drink from the liquor glass. "He did what?"

"That surprises you?"

"No, not really, I just…"

"You said you'd give him time to be alright with you, is that right?" Janus nods. "I think the thing is, Janus, he's perfectly alright with you, the agent who also got fucked over in all this bullshit."

"But I'm also the one that hurt him."

"You think he's smart enough to know the difference between the person who fucked up his briefing and you, the agent trying to do his job?" Director Virgil spreads his hands. "He told Patton he didn't think you should be punished, didn't he?"

"Yeah, well, he's a good kid."

He chuckles. "You sound like you resent him for that."

"Good kids don't last here, you know that. They get fucked up or killed or—" he slugs back the rest of the liquor— "or they turn into us."

"Mm, fates worse than death indeed." He sits forward, folding his hands on the table. "I thought about that. But really, you know what's happened to Roman right now?"

"I was there for most of it, yeah, I know."

"That's just about the worst thing I can think of happening to a new agent, especially on their first safety mission, and yet after that, he's still doing things like vouching for you and trying to be a kind person."

"So?"

"So, I think he's made of stronger stuff than anyone's given him credit for."

Janus toys with the empty glass. "He always has been."

"So maybe he's gonna be alright for right now," Director Virgil continues, his voice softening the slightest bit, "and maybe he's got someone else to look after him for a moment."

"Yeah."

"And maybe you can swallow your pride and acknowledge that this fucked you up too."

Janus snorts. He sets the empty glass on the table and Director Virgil pours him another two fingers. "You really want to know what I want to happen next?"

"Mhm."

"Strip whoever it was of their Agency protection and let them go. Turn them over to the State if you have to. Get them out of here, get them away from the Agency. Lock them in a cell, throw the key in a hole, and throw away the hole."

He doesn't look phased. "But don't kill them?"

"Why, is that what you expected me to say?"

"No, but Roman brought it up." When Janus's glass hits the table with a thunk, Director Virgil chuckles. "Not a fan of that?"

"I mean, I can't say I blame him, but…"

"But?"

Janus lets out a long breath. "I don't think he's ever had to kill anyone before. I don't…I know I can't protect him, but I don't—that's not—"

He takes another deep breath and lets it out slowly. Maybe he should've taken it easier with that first glass.

"I don't think he should have to deal with taking a life on top of everything else right now."

Director Virgil hums again. "He said he didn't want to live somewhere governed by his worst impulses."

"Shit, why is this kid here? He could be—fuck, he could be anywhere else, doing anything else and doing a great job of it."

"And yet he is here. Scared and worried, yeah, but he's here."

"He's better than most of them," Janus mutters into the glass of water, "he didn't deserve any of this."

"No, he didn't and neither did you." The Director leans across the table, taking the liquor glass away and replacing it with a file. Janus glances up at him before opening it, reading through the pages of Patton's transcribed notes. "Those just got finished, Roman hasn't seen them yet. My guess is he'll be by later, though, so you can show them to him then."

"You should send a copy his way so he knows beforehand."

"I should trust our messaging system to send something like this?"

Janus winces. "Okay, fair point."

"Logan's probably with him by now, he'll pass it along. Patton reached out to him and Remus to keep an eye on the both of you while this whole mess gets sorted out. You'll probably hear from him in the next few days or so, in case he needs anything else for the dossier."

"Dossier?"

Director Virgil gives him a look. "You didn't think something was being put together after all this happened?"

"Does Roman know about it?"

"I didn't tell him, if that's what you're asking, but he knows a case of evidence is being assembled. He also knows nothing's going to happen until the both of you agree on what it should be, which is why he's going to be here later today."

Janus flips the file shut and pushes it across the table, still nursing the glass of water. "You must have an opinion about all of this."

"I do."

"What is it?"

"Someone has sabotaged one of the riskiest undercover missions we've attempted in a long time, deliberately or otherwise. Two agents have been severely affected by it and the ramifications are Agency-wide," Director Virgil says drily, "what do you think my opinion is?"

"Do you want them dead?"

He smile darkens. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

He stands to leave, the bottle of liquor still on the table.

"When you and Roman have come to a consensus, come to my office. Sarah will know to expect you, she'll let you in."

"Yes, sir."

"And Janus?"

"Yeah?"

"If you think of any holes deep enough for your liking, send their locations my way too."

***

    Roman knocks on Janus's door. A moment later, it opens and he stands a little taller. "Hi."

"Hey, sweetie. Would you like to come in?"

"If you don't mind?"

"Not at all." Janus opens the door a little wider and Roman slips inside, glancing around at the much-larger quarters that actually has a small kitchen, a separate bedroom and bathroom—damn. "Make yourself comfortable."

"Your rooms are really nice."

Janus huffs a laugh. "Well, they are when Remus isn't destroying them."

"Have you guys been friends for a long time?"

"Friends, not necessarily, but he's been a pain in my ass since our first year of training." Janus sits down at the small dining table with a grunt. "Friendship came after we realized we'd become the world's greatest enemies if we didn't learn how to get along."

Roman snorts. "Yeah, I get that."

He glances over to see Janus sliding a file across the table to him, holding one hand to his ribs. "Patton's notes, freshly transcribed. They weren't ready this morning, so—"

"So the Director came to see you too?"

"Yeah, he did."

"Did he also ask you what you want to happen next?" Janus nods and Roman sighs, sitting down and pulling the file towards him. "Did he also hit you really hard or something?"

"This? No, that was Remus and I discovering I can't quite spar with the recklessness I used to."

"Logan tells me that too."

"Aren't you a little young to be getting the you're-not-as-young-as-you-used-to-be speeches?"

"I'm too old for the 'you're not invulnerable' speeches, apparently." Roman flips a page. "Though I think I figured that out for myself, thank you very much."

He reads in silence for a moment, just taking in Patton's notes. They're—well, they're not great, but they're true, so that's gotta count for something. He's seen more in this one eval than he has in literally all his time spent training, though, so that's fun too.

"What did you say?"

"Hm?"

"When the Director asked you, what did you say?"

"I said they should be stripped of their Agency rights and turned loose or locked away."

"That's kinda what I said too."

"What did you say," he says, "if you don't mind me asking?"

"Basically I was like 'I want to make sure this never happens again.' I asked for, like, a check or something by someone else who isn't the main briefing agent. To confirm that the agent being sent out knows the important stuff, knows the code words, or something. A safety for the safety."

Janus nods. "That's—I didn't think of that."

Of course you fucking didn't, but he bites his tongue. "And I said I want that person to go away."

"On that," Janus grunts, sitting up a little straighter, "we can agree in earnest."

"And no tazers."

It startles a laugh out of him, one he immediately tries to apologize for and cover-up. "Sorry, sorry. That's…um, can I ask why?"

"Because they hurt, for one, and two, they don't really stop someone." At Janus's obvious disbelief, he shrugs. "I stopped mainly because I was confused. If I wanted to, I could've pushed through it."

"Those aren't light weapons, Roman, they're designed to do some damage."

"Yeah, well, I've gotten pretty good at working with damage."

Janus winces and Roman feels a pang of regret. "I am sorry, sweetie."

"I know. I'm—I don't mean to keep throwing it back in your face."

"Throw all you want," he says, waving a hand, "it's your right to."

"But that's not fair to you, you're supposed to be healing from this as well. And how can you start doing that if I'm still making a point of how fucked up I am?" Roman glares at the table like it'll have all the answers. "I don't—if me being upset is making you have a harder time dealing with it, then—"

"Sweetie, stop." Janus leans across the table, one hand outstretched. "You need to worry about yourself and yourself alone. I—as much as I hate to say it, I do know how to deal with myself when I'm like this. You don't have to deal with my problems and yours."

"Your problems are my problems. Partners, remember?"

He stares Janus down until the other agent cracks a small smile. "Partners, right."

There's quiet for a moment. Roman toys with the piece of paper on the table. Patton's notes about residual trust issues and PTSD start to blur as he stares at the words long enough for them to resemble meaningless squiggles rather than letters.

"Do you think it was deliberate?"

Janus looks over from where he was looking out of the window. "Do I what?"

"Them fucking up my briefing. Fucking up your safety. Do you think it was deliberate?"

He leans back with a sigh, rubbing his fingers together. "I think it would explain a lot, yeah. I mean—I'm not thrilled at the idea of deliberate sabotage, but honestly, I think it's better than the alternative."

Roman frowns. "How is that better than the alternative?"

"If it was deliberate sabotage, that means someone knew that you were supposed to be my safety, they knew this was going to be a joint mission, and they knew you were supposed to be given code phrases. That means they made a choice, a specific choice, not to tell you."

Roman nods, unsure of where exactly Janus is going with this.

"If this isn't deliberate, that means either someone forgot to tell the person who was briefing you, or someone forgot to tell them, and so on and so on until we get all the way back to the people who assigned my mission and planned it in the first place. That's a lot more people to worry about and a lot more information that fell out of the pipeline somewhere between my handlers and yours. Which would you rather deal with: one bad actor who chose to risk both of us, or a handful of people who couldn't check and verify?"

Roman winces. "Yeah, you're right. The first one. 'Cause then you know once you get rid of them, everything else is fine."

"Of course, that does present the problem of how such a bad actor got into a position like that in the first place, which presents its own list of problems, but…"

"But we know how to deal with those." Roman looks at him. "Because that's what we do."

Janus looks at him and smiles. "That's right, sweetie. That's what we do."

"I think I know how I want to proceed. Do you?"

"I've got a few ideas."

***

    They walk up to Virgil's office together. Sarah gives them a smile and buzzes them in. Virgil looks up from behind his desk.

"Hello agents," he greets as they sit down, "so. What have you got for me?"

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[animeniacss]

Seoksoo - imperfect Pt 1 - Chapter 8 - Girl Math

Synopsis: Lee Seokmin likes a lot of things: karaoke, stuffed animals, his friends, his family (when they're not at each other's throats), and when things go according to plan. It's perfect that way. That is...until Joshua Hong, the Education Department TA, stumbles into his view one day and suddenly Seokmin has to start facing the fact that maybe not everything in life will be perfect...but with Joshua, that might just be ok.

Tags: College!AU, ActingMajor!Seokmin, Teacher!Joshua, Romance, Angst, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Side GyuCheol, Side JunHao, Side Verkwan, Other Idol appearances, Anxiety/Panic Attacks, Domestic Violence (not between the main couple), Joshua is a dork 90% of the time, (More Tags will be Added as needed)

Length: approx. 6.8k words

Chapter 8 - Girl Math

Seokmin didn’t expect their ‘second date’ to be within the same week, much less within 24 hours of one another, but when he woke up early that Sunday morning to a text from Joshua, his heart got lodged in his throat.

[Joshua] (10min ago]: Hey! I’m finishing up my run this morning and I’m passing your apartment! Want to meet up and get a coffee?

Seokmin immediately bolted out of bed and made a beeline for his closet. He pulled open his closet and scanned it for something resembling activewear. After a second of scanning with no luck, Seokmin realized something. He turned to the phone, sitting face up with the messages to Joshua still open.

“I never replied…” he muttered to himself. Seokmin quickly picked up his phone and wrote a reply.

[Seokmin] (now): Sounds great! Text me when you’re outside and I’ll meet you!!!

Seokmin deleted the extra exclamation points before sending it and returning to his closet to find something else to wear. With midterms being over, the four-day weekend meant classes didn’t start until the following day, a much-needed breather for students. Most of them, Seungkwan included, took the extra Monday to sleep in, but not Seokmin. He was throwing on a tee shirt and a pair of basketball shorts that he thinks are Mingyu’s with how loose they are hanging around his waist. He immediately tugged at the strings and made a mental note to wash and return them before the week was over.

Seokmin took an apple from the pantry, biting into it as he waited in the kitchen. He leaned against the counter, staring down at his phone. A few minutes passed since Joshua texted back with a thumbs-up emoji, most likely because he was still running towards the apartments now.

Seokmin was not as athletic as Seungkwan or as much of a gym rat as Mingyu or Seungcheol, but he knew it was important to work out. He, however, preferred walks through the neighborhood rather than being cramped in a sweaty gym. His mother says that’s because he gets self-conscious and thinks other people are looking at him while he works out, but he’s not really sure.

When his phone finally does buzz, his eyes are immediately pulled to it. Joshua’s text says he’ll be outside within 2 minutes, and Seokmin is out the door. Seungkwan’s room is still, and knowing him will probably remain that way until he’s back from the walk. Carefully, he closed the door behind him so as to not disturb his roommate, and headed down the elevator to meet Joshua outside.

When he headed outside, Joshua was already there. Seokmin chuckled when he saw him running in place still, a dopey grin on his face. The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, about 7 a.m. by now.

“Morning~.” Joshua hummed. He did a once over of Seokmin, and his grin only widened. “You definitely look ready for a run.”

Seokmin’s smile dropped almost immediately. “Do I look stupid?”

“No, no.” Joshua shook his head. “Just…” he motioned to his pants. “You might want to sue whoever sold you those pants. They’re big on you.”

“Oh.” Seokmin fixed them at the waist, rolling them up a bit to fit on his hips better. “They’re Kim Mingyu’s. He left them here a while back and I guess I forgot to return them.” Joshua smiled.

“Hm.” He nodded. His running slowed to a small jog, motioning down the street. “Shall we? The café I wanted to get coffee from is probably going to open just as we get there.”

“Okay.” The duo headed off down the street.

“Were you awake when I texted you?” Joshua didn’t look at him as he asked.

“Just about,” Seokmin said. “I was just lying in bed.” While that was technically true, ‘I’ve been awake since 5 because I woke up to pee then couldn’t stop thinking about the one time, I waved to someone in the street that wasn’t waving back at me but the person behind me, and then it made me think of when I said ‘you too’ to our waiter and it took every fiber of my being not to gouge my eyes out so you texting me was actually a fucking god sent!’ didn’t roll off the tongue as nicely. “What about you? Do you always go for runs?”

“I try to go a few times a week while it’s warm.” He admitted. “Especially when I have the extra time.” He stretched his arms over his head, a groan escaping his lips as he opened up his chest. “I ran like 3 miles.” Seokmin whistled, and it made Joshua grin wider. “You should join me sometime.”

Seokmin had to stop himself from blurting out a love-sick agreement because he knew he’d regret it. Seungkwan was a runner, and once got him up for two weeks straight to train for a half marathon with him, and Seokmin felt too bad to say no and not look like a supportive friend. He couldn’t move his legs properly for weeks. “Maybe not an entire three miles.” He laughed shyly.

“One then,” Joshua said. “Maybe two.” He held up two fingers, and Seokmin nodded in agreement. “Cool.” He grinned. The duo walked in silence for a little bit, enjoying the cool morning air of October as it tickled their skin. Seokmin saw others out with the same idea, jogging through the streets or into the local park while the weather still felt appropriate to do so without falling over from exhaustion. Seokmin rubbed his arms, looking over at Joshua. He was in a loose tee shirt and pair of basketball shorts, similar to him but his clothes actually fit him and most likely weren’t grabbed from his best friend’s closet. Seokmin had to swat away the idea that Joshua is put off by Seokmin wearing another man’s shorts, even if that man is his best friend and someone who is in a committed relationship with someone else.

The thought that followed it though, about how good Joshua looked in his running outfit, made Seokmin’s cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “What are your plans for the rest of the long weekend?” Joshua finally asked. “I know you said you weren’t going all the way to your parents.”

Seokmin shrugged. “I have a shift at my job today, but I think I’m mostly going to stay home and rest.” He said. “If I do get a callback, I’ll be busy a lot more when school starts and I won’t get that time.” Joshua nodded in understanding. A second of silence before Seokmin coughed: “Uhm, what about you?”

Hearing the nervous tone in Seokmin’s voice made him chuckle, “Well, I didn’t do much work yesterday. I was on a pretty hot date.” Seokmin chuckled, scratching the back of his neck as he rolled his eyes.

“Oh?” he eyed Joshua. He nodded.

“Yeah. He’s pretty cute.” Seokmin sucked his lips in between his teeth to hold back his smile, which threatened to overtake his entire face. Joshua looked him over briefly. “I gave him a teddy bear bead from my own personal collection. It’s pretty serious.”

The confident bug finally woke up in Seokmin’s brain, and he said: “Jeez, I should watch out then, hm?” Seokmin asked, and Joshua now was the one to laugh. Seokmin liked hearing Joshua’s laugh. He liked how easy Joshua made him feel, even in moments when he felt like he was going to implode within himself.

“Mhm.” Joshua nodded. The café was coming up around the corner, and Seokmin saw a young woman sweeping the pathways for the patrons. Her hair was tugged up into a curly, black ponytail. As the duo got closer, Seokmin heard her humming to herself. Seokmin immediately noticed how pretty she was, dainty and delicate in her movements, even ones as simple as sweeping. The sound of their footsteps made her look up, and she smiled with her eyes and her mouth.

“Oppa, good morning!” She cheered. Seokmin saw her name on her name tag, which was an off-white with a little drawing of a cherry blossom on it: Miyeon.

“Morning, Miyeon!” Joshua grinned. “Are you guys open yet?”

“Ah.” She peered inside, smiling. “Soyeon is just finishing setting everything up, but I’m sure she’ll open the doors early for you.” Miyeon turned to the glass window, leaning forward and knocking on it. Seokmin peered inside to see two other girls behind the counter. One was wiping down the counter while the other was making sure all of the pastries in the displays were prepared. It took a second of Miyeon to knock on the glass, but when one of the girls who Seokmin could only guess was Soyeon glanced up, she immediately smiled. Joshua waved to them through the glass. Soyeon turned her head, motioning to the other girl to open the door. The girl with long brown hair tucked up in a bun hurried over, opening the door and grinning.

“Oppa!” She cheered happily, eyes sparkling. “You came to see little old me this morning~?”

Joshua laughed in amusement, and Seokmin was unable to hold back a smile. “Of course, I did, Shuhua.” He assured hints of playfulness in his voice.

“Then come on in, come on in. I just started warming up the coffee.” She reached forward and took him by the hand, leading him inside. Seokmin glanced at Miyeon, who simply went back to sweeping the front of the café, before following Joshua inside.

“Morning~.” Soyeon grinned from behind the counter, her black bob swaying as she leaned forward on the counter. “Who’s your friend? He’s cute.”

“Oh uh.” Seokmin glanced at Joshua, who was grinning ear to ear. He was already staring up at the menu. “I’m Seokmin.”

“Aaaah.” Soyeon nodded. “Are you running buddies?”

“…Sure.” Seokmin offered a half-smile, which Soyeon responded to with a full one that showed a set of perfect teeth, and accentuated the birthmark under her right eye.

“The usual?” Soyeon asked, and Joshua nodded.

“Extra whipped cream?”

“It’ll cost ya~.” Shuhua piped up, and again, Joshua laughed. Shuhua and Soyeon were making small talk with Joshua while Seokmin eyed the menu. He had yet to visit his café despite passing it a few times on his walks through the area, and without knowing which café they were going to, Seokmin was unable to pre-scan the menu. So, he had to think fast. What did he want to order this morning? His eyes lasered in on each option listed, cross-referencing it with others he has tried from other cafes. Finally, his eyes landed on something simple.

A medium chai latte with caramel and no whipped cream.

Seokmin watched as Shuhua began preparing Joshua’s drink, continuing to repeat the phrase over and over in his head so he wouldn’t forget. A medium chai latte with caramel and no whipped cream. A medium chai latte with caramel and no whipped cream.

Wow, Joshua looks really good right now. Sweaty or not, he’s beautiful.

A medium chai latte with caramel and no whipped cream. A medium chai latte with caramel and no whipped cream.

Why is Shuhua flirting with Joshua? Is this a common thing? Joshua doesn’t seem to mind, but…

A medium chai latte with caramel and no whipped cream.

“What would you like?” Soyeon’s voice ripped through his thoughts, eyes snapping back to her as she rested her elbows on the counter. Seokmin’s mouth opened up, and in that moment no words came out.

He could only mutter a shaky: “Uh….” Before falling silent. “A medium….” Fuuuck. His eyes shot back up to the menu for attempt two. “A medium chai latte with caramel and no whipped cream.” Soyeon leaned forward, eyebrow cocked in curiosity.

“What? I’m sorry.” Seokmin’s face heated up almost immediately. Abort mission, abort! Please for the love of God abort the mission!

“A medium chai latte with caramel….and no whipped cream?” He sounded almost confused despite saying it so many times in his head. Soyeon nodded, turning to punch the order into the machine. When Seokmin looked at Joshua, a taut line sat where his smile once was, and it only worked to fluster Seokmin more.

Soyeon turned around quickly. “Shuhua, can you make a medium chai latte with caramel and whip?” She asked

Seokmin opened his mouth to speak one more time, but again, no words came out. Did he actually omit the ‘no’ in ‘no whip cream?’ He couldn’t remember, and the last thing he wanted was to come across as a difficult customer. If he did, what if Shuha spit in his cup or something because how could the first customer of the day be so rude? He would definitely put the girls in a terrible mood for the rest of their shift, and the world would explode, and-.

His lips closed immediately, and he only nodded as Soyeon read the total out to them. Joshua simply fished for his wallet, thumbing through it to grab his credit card. As he handed it to Soyeon with a grin, he said: “I think Seokmin asked for no whipped cream.” He turned to Seokmin for clarification. “Right?”

“Yeah…” Seokmin said. “Sorry.”

“My bad, totally misheard,” Soyeon said with a casual wave of her hand. “Heard that, Shuhua? No whip.”

“Roger, Unnie!” She called without turning her head back, her brunette locks swaying as she moved between the coffee machines.

And just like that, the world kept on turning. No explosion to speak of.

⚔🦌⚔🦌⚔🦌⚔🦌⚔(im)perfect🦌⚔🦌⚔🦌⚔🦌⚔🦌

“Come see us soon.” Shuhua cooed, leaning against the front door. “Byee~.”

“Bye.” Joshua waved.

Seokmin sipped his own drink, waving to the girls as the duo made their way down the street. Seokmin glanced at Joshua, studying the drink in his hand. “Hyung.” He said.

“Hm?”

“Thanks for the coffee.”

“Oh, sure.” Joshua smiled. “I offered, after all.”

“What’s your usual?” Seokmin asked.

“I only get this there because I like the way they make it, but it’s a caramel macchiato with whipped cream and chocolate sauce on it.” Seokmin hummed.

“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the run you just did?” he asked. When Joshua glanced at him, Seokmin bit his lip. “Not that it’s any of my business.”

“No, you have a point.” He laughed in amusement. With another sip, Joshua began to explain. “Jeonghan’s girlfriend told me once that since I’m walking while I drink the coffee, the calories basically cancel themselves out.” He smirked and put the straw to his lips again.

“…I don’t think that’s correct.” Seokmin cocked an eyebrow.

“She called it something.” Joshua sipped the drink. “Girl math?”

“Girl math?” Seokmin made a mental note to ask his sister about that concept, as he was not a girl, nor good at math. Joshua laughed again, and Seokmin chuckled. When he put the drink to his lips, he looked up to the morning sky. The sun was settling into the sky, its orange and yellow morning hues fading away as the blue sky took its place.

“It’s really nice out for an October morning.” Seokmin nodded at Joshua’s comment. “But I know I’ll need a jacket soon. I don’t even know where my puffer is.” He sighed, putting his hand in the pocket of his shorts. Seokmin took another sip of his drink, the duo fell into silence. It was okay for a few minutes, but the longer it lasted, Seokmin felt a bit nervous. Should he start the next topic of conversation? Is that what Joshua was waiting for by going silent again? Seokmin glanced at him, trying to gauge the expressions of the other, but he just kept walking and drinking his coffee, unphased.

“So.” Seokmin finally uttered, and Joshua looked over. “You never told me what you were doing the rest of the long weekend.”

“I didn’t?” Seokmin shook his head.

“Only that your hot date made you not get work done.” Joshua grinned against the straw of his drink.

“It’s nothing interesting, but if you really want to know, I’m leading a discussion for all of Professor Moon’s classes next week and I need to have stuff prepared. He won’t even give me his projections or notes.”

“I heard he was tough from Seungkwan,” Seokmin said, and Joshua nodded in agreement. It was the first time Seokmin had seen Joshua borderline angry, other than his run-in with Jeonghan, but somehow he thought that was more annoyance than anger.

“I have a million things to research because the things I talk about have to eventually align with the final. Y’know?” Seokmin didn’t, but he nodded anyway. “The professor wants to see my teaching ability, and if I can lead a successful discussion.”

“You’ll do great,” Seokmin said quickly, and it seemed to flash a smile on Joshua’s lips again.

“Thanks.” He said. “But I still have my own classes to work on, so I don’t know when I’ll have time to get it all done.” Seokmin watched as Joshua seemingly began to do the time calculations in his head. The idea of Study Week had his own stomach doing flips. Not the best topic of conversation, it seemed. He sipped his drink and stopped talking, thinking it’d be better for the both of them. Hoping to distract himself from the silence, Seokmin pulled out his phone and pulled up Snapchat. He saw a few stories left by his sister from the night before, in the woods behind their house with friends as they cackled and swore the night away, happy to simply be alive. Seokmin smiled to himself, finally pulling up his own camera. He spun it around, slowing his pace so the lens wouldn’t shake. He stuck his drink out in front of him. It had a few sips taken out of it, but the cup was a nice plastic, reflecting off some of the fading morning sunlight. Seokmin angled his phone down, tongue poking out of his lips as he snapped a few pictures of his drink.

When he went for a few more, another drink popped up into the frame. Seokmin jumped, his focus lasered in on his phone’s camera for a good shot. When he looked up, Joshua was grinning. “Can I be in one?” he asked curiously.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, that was rude.” Seokmin angled his camera to get both drinks in the frame. Joshua scooted closer to Seokmin, grinning as he craned his neck to look down at the photo as Seokmin angled it.

“Pretty,” Joshua commented in English. Seokmin couldn’t understand it, but he nodded in agreement, finally snapping a few more pictures. “Can we take one?” He asked. Seokmin tilted his head, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at his question. “A picture, Seokmin. Can we take a picture?” he held up his own phone. Seokmin blinked, feeling his cheeks heat up at the suggestion. Joshua pulled up his phone’s camera, eyes studying the camera as it came into focus.

“Yeah.” Seokmin finally managed to say, eyes sparkling at the idea. Seokmin loved pictures. Joshua grinned, scooting closer to Seokmin. They had moved out of the main road so they were not in anyone’s way, but their backs were to the road to get the nice scenery behind them. Joshua lifted up his phone, and Seokmin immediately put his fingers in a peace sign that he pressed against his eye. Joshua tilted his head, eyes squinting just a bit as a little smile formed on his face. Seokmin couldn’t help but offer a toothy grin at about 80 percent in size, one that made Joshua turn to him almost immediately. “…What?” Seokmin’s smile dropped.

“Nothing.” Joshua grinned. “You just have a nice smile.”

Seokmin’s cheeks burned as Joshua turned back around, muttering a quick. “Ready?” Seokmin nodded, flashing the same toothy grin, this time at a mere sixty percent, the corners of his mouth still turned up, and Joshua snapped the picture. Seokmin watched it shrink into Joshua’s photos, only to be enlarged when Joshua clicked it. Seokmin looked at it for a moment.

It wasn’t terrible, but Seokmin has taken better photos. He pursed his lips together. Joshua looked stunning in it, so it was okay to keep. He made the photo worth it. “You look adorable.” Joshua glanced up at him.

“Ah, no.” Seokmin laughed shyly. Joshua nudged him, the duo finally continued to walk.

“Oh! What’s your Instagram?” he asked. “I’m not on mine too much, but can I have yours?”

“Sure.” Seokmin took Joshua’s phone, where Instagram was already pulled up, and he typed in his username. Joshua took the phone back, grinning down at the pictures that were immediately shown to him.

“Cute.” He turned the phone around, where a photo of him and Eunkyung was up. It was a birthday post he had made for her for her 18th birthday, a collection of photos from childhood until now. “Is this your sister?”

“Oh, yeah.” Seokmin swiped away from the photo of eight-year-old Seokmin feeding cake to a very eager four-year-old Eunkyung, past the photo of the duo at the beach when they were twelve and eight, and past the silly-faced selfie of them from fifteen and eleven, both of their faces caked in make-up that they had snuck from their mother. The last photo was the both of them at Eunkyung’s high school graduation, both of them grinning the same toothy grin as their mother snapped the photo. “That’s her.”

“Stop, you both look exactly alike!” Joshua’s eyes widened. Seokmin laughed, knowing Eunkyung would beg to differ. My face isn’t as long or My eyes are rounder are usually her go-to responses when someone says how alike they look. Joshua smiled, sticking the phone back into his pocket as they duo continued walking.

Seokmin looked down at his coffee, almost empty now since he only really took it out of his mouth to take the photo and talk. He looked down at his phone, seeing that it was almost 8 o’clock. Seungkwan might – the operative word – be awake by now, padding through the apartment wondering where he was. His message app was dry, though, so maybe not.

“I’m probably going to head back to the apartment.” Joshua finally said. He tossed his empty drink into a nearby garbage, both hands slipping into his pockets. “Gotta shower and get to work on my discussions.”

“Good luck.” Seokmin smiled. “I wish I could see you during your discussions.” Joshua glanced over.

“Me too. I think I’d be a little more comfortable.”

“I doubt that…” Seokmin said, but Joshua shook his head.

“I don’t.” He said simply. Tilting his neck side to side, seemingly to stretch his muscles, Joshua let out a confident huff. “I’m glad you were able to join me this morning~.”

“Me too.” Seokmin agreed. It was true. He wished all of his mornings started this way. It’d make those hours he spent staring at his ceiling a bit more tolerable.

“You should join me again next time,” Joshua said. “I think you gave me the motivation I needed not only to finish my work today but to run back to my apartment.”

Seokmin chuckled. “You give me way too much credit, Hyung.”

“I don’t think so,” Joshua said. He stopped walking for a second, and Seokmin’s neck turned to follow him. Joshua took a deep breath, nodding his head. “Alright, I’m ready to run.”

“Oh my God.” Seokmin chuckled. “Don’t twist your ankle or anything, okay?” Joshua grinned.

“I won’t,” he said. “Text me when you’re back at the apartment, okay?” Seokmin nodded his head, watching as Joshua fixed his shirt and shorts. When Joshua started jogging, Seokmin couldn’t help but stifle back a laugh. “Hey, don’t laugh!” Joshua called from over his shoulder. “How the hell am I supposed to start running?!” Seokmin only shrugged, watching as Joshua turned back around. He was still running just backwards, and Seokmin’s eyes widened.

“Careful!” He warned. “Turn back around or you’ll run into something!”

“I know, I know!” he waved. As he jogged a bit further, he waved to Seokmin. “See you soon, Seokmin!”

“Bye.” He waved back, his hand lingering in the air as Joshua turned back around, his pace quickening as he finally broke out into a regular run, heading further and further down the street to his apartment. Seokmin stood there for a few extra moments, hands in the pockets of his big shorts. He bit his lip, feeling himself break into an amused smile. “Unreal…” he muttered to himself.

As he walked back to his own apartment alone, he thought back to the picture of them that was currently sitting on Joshua’s phone. He thought back to his awkward smile, the peace sign that kind of looked bent at the fingertip. Not to mention his too-big shorts and a random tee shirt that didn’t match. Compared to someone as effortlessly stunning as Joshua, he felt like a little troll goblin, popping out from his little bridge to spread havoc on others in the form of awkward conversation and brain fog.

In the midst of all of his brain rot, his Joshua-sized hole filling to the brim with more events than he could manage, a few specks of Joshua popped into his brain, smiling sweetly at him and taking pictures of him.

I think Seokmin asked for no whipped cream.

His request was so gentle, yet firm then. Seokmin had to stop walking for a moment, leaning his head against the first lamppost he saw and letting out a deep sigh.

He was down so bad, and it was so embarrassing.

Seokmin thought about it the entire way home, where Seungkwan staggered out of bed just as the clock ticked to 8:15. His hair was matted, his eyes still glazed over with sleep and his feet dragging along the floor. He barely managed to utter a ‘Where did you go?’ as he staggered to the coffee machine to start himself a cup. Seokmin went to the pantry, digging for something to make them breakfast.

“I went on a walk…” he said. Seungkwan’s little disinterested hum made Seokmin’s stomach bubble. “…With Joshua-Hyung.”

Seokmin had never seen Seungkwan wake up that fast in his life.

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That afternoon plopped Seokmin in the middle of his per diem job; a cash register at a small, family-owned convenience store on the other side of their neighborhood. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Lee, opened the shop after years of competitive dancing and traveling the world. Finally ready to settle down with their family, they inherited the store from relatives as new parents. It’s a story Mr. Lee loves to share, especially with Seokmin because he loves to hear it. One of his favorite romance stories was available for free, at his request. Not only was this job easy and flexible, but it provided him with spending money. This, plus his summer job as a camp counselor, and Seokmin was set.

“Hyung!” Seokmin looked over when he was called, seeing a shorter male with a black undercut and black varsity jacket peek out from the aisle. He had a huge box at his side. “Dad asked if you could help me restock.”

“Sure, Chan.” Lee Chan, the elder of the two Lee brothers, was already stocking shelves with chips and cookies, leaving Seokmin to gather drinks and place them in the drink fridges. He turned to the younger, watching as he immediately opened a bag of chips and popped one into his mouth. Chan seemed to catch his gaze and offer the open bag over.

“Want one?”

“Heh, I’m okay.” he assured. “Are you done with midterms?”

“Mhm. I had to show a solo dance to pre-selected music, and my Professor said it was the best one in the class.” Chan beamed. ���The rest of my exams were okay, but knowing I did well on that one was all I needed. You know?”

“I do.” Seokmin continued to place lukewarm drinks into the fridges, he was glad he wore a long sleeve to keep out the extra chill. The front door opened and Seokmin watched Chan head to the front, immediately grinning as he welcomed in an older woman. With the drinks stocked, he moved to shelve the rest of Chan’s snacks for him until he came back from helping the woman. “I’m almost done.” Seokmin said before the younger could even protest.

“Oh. Thanks, Hyung.” He smiled in appreciation, kneeling down to help with the last few snacks in the inventory. Seokmin enjoyed the moment of silence as the duo finished stocking the snacks and went around the store to finish some other upkeep. Seokmin was sweeping by the front door when another boy came in, immediately shouting:

“Chan-hyung!”

“What, Geon?!” Was heard from the counter, Chan’s head shooting up from his phone.

“Look!” The younger hurried to the counter, a quick: “Hi, Seokmin-hyung!” in passing. He pulled out his phone and passed it to his brother. “Guess who finally has a girlfriend~.” He beamed the confident smile of a 16-year-old who felt on top of the world.

“About time.” Chan snorted. “She’s way too pretty for you, though.”

“Hey!” Geon pouted. With Chan laughing, he hurried over to Seokmin next. “You don’t think she’s ugly, do you? Wouldn’t you date her?”

“He’s not into girls like that, idiot,” Chan called.

“That doesn’t mean I’m blind, Chan.” Seokmin pointed out, seeing Chan’s face break into a grin. He peered down at the photo of Geon and another student outside their high school, posing by the entrance. “No, she’s so pretty. You two look cute, together.”

“See?!” Geon glared at his older brother, who finally relented. “Thank you, Hyung. I can always count on you.”

Seokmin smiled as the younger brother disappeared into the back entrance, looking for his parents before finally going back to sweeping. As the front of the store fell back into silence, Seokmin could feel the giddiness of Geon announcing his news rubbing off on him, making him smile to himself. He loved romance - loved love -so much that seeing other people experience it just felt like enough for him.

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“Oppa!” Eunkyung gasped. “Guess what? I think I got above an 85 on all of my midterms!”

“That’s awesome, Kyungie!” Seokmin gasped, his sister squealing in excitement. He was lying on his stomach in bed, the phone his sister and mother Facetiming through propped up against his footboard.

“I’m just waiting on my Literature one, but that was the easiest one.”

“That’s great!”

“When do you get yours?” His mother asked, and Eunkyung angled the phone to show her mother, who was sipping a coffee as she stared at her son from behind the rim of her glasses.

“Probably this week, when classes pick up again. Callbacks, too.”

“You’ll have to tell us if you get callbacks!” Eunkyung called out of frame, only to be shushed by her mother for being loud. Seokmin smiled a bit. He wasn’t in the room, but based on what he could see on his tiny phone screen, the atmosphere seemed much calmer than it did the last time they spoke, whatever the duo was bickering about seemed to be long gone.

“What else is going on?” His mother asked, and Seokmin began talking about the lives of everyone else since his was reduced to thinking about Joshua all day, and who would want to hear about that? He told about Mingyu and Seungcheol’s relationship, Seungkwan’s successful volleyball tryouts and current love interest, and the mystery that was Wen Junhui and Xu Minghao. Eunkyung coughed, turning the phone back to her own face. Her ponytail was swaying behind her, a smirk on her face.

“Oppaaaa, speaking of boyfriends~.” Seokmin’s heart stopped beating for a second, eyes widening.

“You didn’t start dating, did you? Aish, Eunkyung.” His sister laughed.

“Oh no, no. I’m talking about you. What’s the latest in your love life? There have to be so many parties, and you must be getting boys hitting on your left and right!”

“Do you know who you’re talking to?” His mother asked.

“Thanks, Mom.” Seokmin frowned, and the girls on the other end laughed, his mother assuring him that she was only kidding. Seokmin smiled, biting his lip as he tried to think of how to reply to his sister’s interrogation. His face seemed to be enough because Eunkyung gasped. “OPPA! There’s someone?! Who?!”

“No, no. There’s not.” Seokmin said.

“I swear, I’ll call Mingyu-Oppa right now and ask him. He won’t lie to me.” That’s true. Mingyu had a little sister of his own, and being that he was one of the sweetest people ever set on this planet, he was never able to say no to Eunkyung, regardless of if she deserved it or not. “Who is it?”

“Well….” Seokmin sighed. “There’s this TA in Seungkwan and Mingyu’s class.”

“A TA?!” His mother gasped. “Older man, hm? Is he cute?”

“Aahh.” Seokmin covered his face with his other hand, feeling his cheeks heat up. “Very.”

“You have to send us a picture like right now.” Eunkyung gasped. “We need to see him.”

“No, it’s not that serious,” Seokmin said quickly. “We’ve only hung out a few times. We’re just friends, I don’t want to make it a bigger deal than it has to be.”

“But you said he was cute. He must think you’re cute, too.” Eunkyung encouraged. “What’s his name?”

“Ah, Joshua Hong.”

“Oh, he’s foreign?” His mother chimed.

“American.” He grinned when his mother and sister let out a collective ‘oooooooo’ on the other end of the call. “He’s nice, but he’s busy. I don’t think things will go anywhere.”

“You never know, Seokmin.” His mother reassured him. He heard her take a long sip of her tea, just as a notification popped up on his phone.

joshu_acoustic tagged you in a post.

“Wha- Oh shit.” Seokmin scrambled into a sitting position, eyes wide as he tapped the notification to open up Instagram. It took a second for the photo to load. His sister and mom asked what was wrong, several times when they got no response. “Hold on, hold on.” Seokmin said. He felt his heart beating in his chest as the little circle on the screen teased him for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, the picture popped up, and Seokmin immediately recognized his little awkward smile and bent fingertip. He scrolled to the next photo and saw one of Joshua alone, seemingly a selfie of him on his walk to Seokmin’s house. He looked down at the caption left by Joshua.

joshu_acoustic: Beautiful day for a walk!

When Seokmin saw that there was a song attached to it titled Sunday Morning – Maroon 5, Seokmin pressed the little ‘unmute button’ and was immediately hit with lyrics in English.

~ Come and rest your bones with me.Driving slow on a Sunday morningAnd I never want to leave. ~

Seokmin grinned a bit, covering his mouth with his free hand as he pulled his sister and mother’s Facetime up once again. Eunkyung was hogging the frame, leaning in with wide eyes and a concerned look that made her actually look like her older brother. He chuckled.

“Why are you grinning?” Eunkyung gasped. “What happened? Is it Joshua Hong?”

“Uh, yeah…” his grin only widened when Eunkyung squealed. “Alright, alright. I’ll send you the post he made.”

“He posted you on his socials!?” Eunkyung screamed, again being told to stop yelling by their mother. Seokmin quickly sent the post over to Eunkyung through her own Instagram account, and he waited with bated breath as she tapped off the Facetime to pull up the picture. “Let’s see, let’s see…” she hummed, tapping away. Suddenly, she squealed and Seokmin had to cover his mouth, hanging his head as his grin only widened across his face to the point where his cheeks hurt. “Oppaaaaaaaaaa. He's stunning!”

“Very handsome, nice work, hon.” His mother laughed.

“Stop, it’s not nice work,” Seokmin begged. He felt like he was floating. “It’s not like that.”

“He posted you on his socials, I beg to differ!” Eunkyung gasped. “Oh my God, stop, you two look so cuuuute! Does he have a brother?”

“No, he’s an only child.” Seokmin made sure to clarify. Eunkyung gasped again. While she was gushing to their mother on the other end, Seokmin pulled up his messages, Joshua’s in particular.

[Seokmin] (now): What’s Sunday Morning? Never heard of it.

“Oppa, this is amazing!” Eunkyung gasped. “You have to keep me updated, okay?”

“Heh, okay, okay,” Seokmin said. After a second, he blinked. “Oh! Kyungie, I need to ask you something.” His sister hummed. “What’s ‘Girl Math?”

Silence on the other end, and Seokmin wondered if she even knew what it was in the first place. Then, a high-pitched snort erupted from her lips, Eunkyung throwing her head back to laugh. “What?” he asked. “What is it? Joshua told me he heard about it from his friend’s girlfriend.”

“What did she say?”

“That if you walk while drinking a sugary coffee then the calories cancel out, so you’re basically drinking a zero-calorie drink. Something like that.” Again, Eunkyung laughed, and when their mother piped up it only made Seokmin join in.

“Who the hell told her that?!” Seokmin laughed a bit as his mother took a minute to stand on her soap box and rant. “That’s the stupidest shit I think I’ve heard all day!”

“Stop, it’s so true, though!” Eunkyung said quickly.

“No, it’s not!” Her mother gasped, and again Eunkyung began laughing. Seokmin chuckled, watching as Eunkyung continued playfully pestering her mother about ‘Girl Math’ while her mother continued not to understand the concept. “These kids and their ridiculous ideas.”

Another message popped up on his phone a few minutes after his laughter subsided, Joshua’s name sending shockwaves into his chest.

[Joshua] (now): You’re KIDDING!!!!! :O I’ll have to show it to you when I see you next! It’s my favorite song!

Seokmin smiled a bit, letting out one final chuckle. “Alright, well I’m going to go get ready for dinner.” He said. “Seungkwan will be clawing at my door in a matter of minutes otherwise.”

“Tell him I said hi.” Eunkyung said.

“Me too.” His mom agreed. “And keep us updated on your little boyfriend.”

“Mom, please.” He groaned, but she snickered when she saw him grinning. “Bye.” He said, waving to his sister before clicking the red ‘End Call’ button. He took a deep breath, watching as the Instagram photos popped up once again. He was quick to double-tap them, watching the red heart pop up and fade away just as quickly. He flung himself back on the bed, staring up at the pictures. When he scrolled to Joshua’s selfie, he chuckled. He really was handsome, head tilted to the side with a boxy smile paired with those crescent moon eyes Seokmin had grown to love.

His sister and mother had made peace, even if temporary, Joshua has just texted him with another invitation to hang out, and he didn’t have class tomorrow. Maybe Seokmin really was lucky, for the first time in a while.

As he scrolled again, to the final picture in the set of three, Seokmin’s eyes widened, the phone falling from his hands and directly onto his face. “OW!” Seokmin shouted, rubbing his nose as the phone bounced to his side. He had no time to think about the throbbing pain, however, scrambling for the phone and picking it up once again, pulling up Joshua’s post one final time and scrolling to the last picture.

The picture was of Seokmin, neck craned to the sky with his half-finished coffee in his mouth. His head was tilted slightly, eyes seeming to squint to avoid too much sun hitting them. The picture showed his – well Mingyu’s – shorts that were a bit too large on him, his free hand buried into his pocket. He must have been completely oblivious, because he didn’t even see Joshua pull out his phone to snap the picture prior to Seokmin’s attempt to take his own coffee photos.

Seokmin needed Seungkwan to reaffirm that he was in fact, lucky, if for no other reason that to stop the crazy and off-rhythm way his heart was beating. Seungkwan said he was, in fact, very lucky, before beginning to press Seokmin for more details about the walk. Seokmin had to pry him off his arm like a leech, scurrying into the kitchen to avoid the conversation altogether.

He looked back down at the picture. The picture Joshua took, on Joshua’s phone, and the picture he posted on Joshua’s social media.

The picture of him.

What ‘Girl Math’ equation would help him figure out how to go about handling this?

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[thegoodsinblog]

Brooklyn's Journey [3]

Summary: This story centers around a woman, Brooklyn, in her mid-20s who enjoys the company of others and lives her life as she sees fit. One day, she decides to explore her sexuality after having several not-so-satisfying experiences.

In this chapter, Brooklyn and Charity discuss their roommate and her not-so-great behavior.

Word Count: 1,040

Reading Time: ~4m

Warning: None

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Chapter 3: Clingy Much?

Charity took a deep breath before she began her story. “Well, as you know, Sarah was in town for a few days, so naturally, I wanted to spend time with her. It’s rare that I ever get to see her, you know.”

 I nodded.

“So, we made plans to go to that pub you like on 17th. I told her it was the Brooklyn hotspot,” she giggled. “Anywho, Sharon asked me the other day if I wanted to go bowling with her the same day I planned with Sarah. I told her I couldn’t because I already had plans to spend time with a very dear friend of mine. 

“When I tell you she was visibly upset ….” Charity shook her head. Without interrupting her and wanting to hear more, she continued, “Then she was like, ‘She can come too if she’d like.’ And I was like, 'No, we’ve already made plans to go out. We’re actually going to a pub.’ Then she said she’d tag along.”

“But you didn’t invite her,” I stated. 

“Right,” Charity answered.

“And she thought she could just invite herself and third wheel? So typical.”

Charity nodded. “I told her I just wanted it to be the two of us because it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, and I really wanted to bond with her and make the most of this visit. Brooklyn, she was so mad. Like, so upset.”

“Girl,” I began, “don’t pay her ass any mind. You just do you. I don’t know why she is always up your ass. Maybe she likes you.” I laughed.

“Honestly, I think she does. Why else would she act that way? It’s becoming too stressful and unmanageable at this point. Like, being around her is just taxing now, and I’ve noticed that I try to avoid her when I can.”

Oh, this was getting bad. At first, I thought Sharon and Charity were close. They always took walks and hung out together. Then, a couple weeks ago, Charity said something about Sharon always wanting to be in her space even when she needed alone time. She and I were the same regarding our alone time, so I understood how important it was to her. So, I knew Sharon was clingy and loved being around Charity all the time, but I did not realize the severity of it. I gave the universe a quick thanks that I did not have to go through this.

“Have you said anything to her? You know, sit her down and tell her that you need space?”

Charity exhaled. “I’ve tried, but she gets so defensive. I just try to ignore her. It’s the only thing I can think of since being an adult about this isn’t working.”

“I mean,” I started, “she’s definitely not the most mature person, so I figured she’d be upset when you mentioned it, but I thought she would at least respect your boundaries. Oh boy!”

We were silent for a moment as we continued to eat our breakfast. The faint sound of Sharon and her boyfriend of the week climaxing made its way to our ears. I looked out the window and saw the neighbor’s cat, Stinker, sitting on the porch looking at us. Then I noticed the sun shining brightly outside and the birds chirping. It was such a beautiful day.

“Do you work today?” I finally broke the silence.

“I don’t, actually!” Charity said cheerily.

An idea came to me. “Would you like to get away for the day? Maybe just chill out somewhere. You know, just a little escape from …” I trailed off as I looked toward the stairs.

Charity caught my drift and nodded.

“Cool! Maybe we could go to Monique’s and see what she’s up to,” I suggested.

“If I’m not mistaken, I believe she is off. I could be wrong, but that’s the vibe I got from her post this morning,” Charity said. “I’ll text her.”

Charity:

Hey Monique! You workin' today????

Monique:

Naw gurl! I’m chillin' today. What you up to, boo?

Charity:

Brooklyn and I wanna get away from our crazy roommate for the day. We may want to see your face, too. Whadya say? 😉

Monique:

I’m down

Charity:

Cool! We’ll see you in 30. Your place.

Monique:

Bet

“Monique is off. I told her we’d be there in thirty minutes.”

“Fabulous!” I was excited to see our friend. “I’ll throw on something comfortable yet presenting, and then we can head out.”

“And I will put the dishes in the dishwasher and change as well,” Charity said. 

We had to make haste since it was only a matter of time before Sharon would notice we were gone. Usually, if her company spent the night, she’d like to get one more romp in before they left. I rushed, assuming it was their last romp before his departure. I put on my Maryland University sweatsuit, grabbed my pink mini-cat backpack and keys, and ran to the stairs. As I descended the stairs, I could hear Sharon’s bathroom door open and the sounds of kissing. 

I went to Charity's room and gave the door a quick knock before I walked in. I didn’t bother to wait for a response. We were friends, after all. 

“They just exited the bathroom,” I spoke into my wrist like a secret agent. “We maybe have ten minutes before the temp boo thang leaves. Then, the ambush. 10-4!”

Charity giggled at me as she tossed a shirt over her head and slung her arms through the sleeves. Then she spoke into her wrist. “Uh oh! My slow ass! I think I can make it, though. 10-4!”

“Copy that! Over and out!” I said.

“Over and out!” said Charity.

We laughed at each other as Charity searched her room for her bag and keys. 

“Alright! I’ve got everything. We taking my car or yours?” Charity asked.

“Let’s take mine,” I said. “I feel like I ever use it to go to work and back.”

Charity and I made haste to the back door, and as we closed the door behind us, we could hear footsteps descend the stairs. 

“Looks like we missed them by a hair,” I said with a grin.

💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋

Author's Note: No smut this time around! Maybe next time. 😉 Thank you for taking the time to read this, and as always, comments, likes, and reblogs are welcome.

[hangmanstigerlily]

The Sky, The Shore, and The Sea (Part 2)

I am a new writer here on Tumblr. I used to write and never post my writings....and here we are. Please let me know what you guys think!

Pairing: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x Named OC (Callsign is TigerLily)

Warnings: Angst, mentions of death, blood

Jake has a serious thing for Bianca, an old friend of Rooster and Maverick. But what will he do about it? Bianca is definitely hiding her past from everyone except Rooster who knows why. Rooster tries to help get them together and of course, may lead to messing up his friendship in the process.

Here is a link to Part One

Bianca was curious about Bradley's text. A surprise for me? She agreed and went to bed, her alarm cutting through her dream with a shrill sound. She shot up, groaning slightly at the early hour, getting dressed in her swimsuit, she used her waterproof makeup to cover the jagged scar running up her left arm and peppered scars on her chest and stomach. Most days she didn't have to cover up the scars because of her shirts, only on beach days. A honk broke her from her thoughts as she grabbed her beach bag and ran outside, hopping in Bradley's bronco. "Hey Bee, good morning" he smiled, wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt over cutoff jeans and a white shirt combo "morning Bradley, looking like it's a vacation all the time as usual" she laughed and got in. "You know it" they drove and sang to the radio, first stopping at her restaurant as she picked up some of Jake's favorite pastries. 

"I…uh promised I would get some for him last week" she blushed as Bradley smirked at her. "Uh huh, sure TigerLily" he stopped, realizing what he had said, glancing at Bianca. She froze, but the moment passed over her face. "So you had a surprise for me?" She changed the topic, pretending that the use of her callsign didn't bug her. She cranked the radio up as Elvis Presley came on, singing loudly to it. "You really love that song" Bradley laughed as "Can't Help Falling In Love"  ended. "What can I say, Bradshaw, I'm a hopeless romantic" she laughed as they pulled up to what looked like an abandoned hangar "uh…well this isn't creepy and far away from civilization. You're not a serial killer are you?" She looked at him. "No no. Come on, we gotta be fast or else we will be late getting back to the Hard Deck" he hopped out and she followed, jogging to the slightly open door.

Wait, wasn't that Mav's motorcycle? Well one of them at least. She stopped dead as the sun glinted on silver and chrome. The Tempest. Written in cursive across the side of the plane. My F-18…but how. "I found her one day, Maverick said it was a surprise for your birthday." Bradley didn't want to see her expression, hearing her sandals calmly hit the ground and echo as he heard her sniffle. Bianca had walked closer, a mix of emotions filling her as she laid a hand on the cool metal. She took a steadying breath as flashbacks moved through her head. "Why…did you…" her voice was only a whisper as she moved her hand away "I thought you would be happy it wasn't lost" he finally looked at her, she was distant and pale. "It happened today…3 years ago today" she teared up and made her way back to the hangar door. Bradley's eyes widened, he had forgotten and really screwed things up. Of course, how could he forget? "Hey wait Bee, I didn't…" he trailed off as she wiped her eyes and glanced back at him "Just…take me to the Hard Deck" she wouldn't look at him or speak to him the whole trip back to the bar. 

"Please Bianca, talk to me" Hangman heard Rooster and two car doors slam as he saw Bianca turn and glare at Rooster, he was holding her arm as they made their way into the bar, she pulled her arm away from him, something about her body language and the look on her face made Hangman want to punch Rooster "Absolutely not, what was the point of showing me that? To hurt me? Especially today. So listen asshole, and I cannot stress this enough, go to hell Rooster" she turned and stormed across the bar, walking up to Hangman, dropping everything on one of the nearby tables and wrapping her arms around him, catching everyone off guard including Hangman, who dropped his cue stick on the pool table and wrapped his arms around her. What was that whole conversation that he had witnessed about? What was today? It clearly had made her very upset. He rested his head on hers. "Hey…." she mumbled into his chest.  “Hey yourself….you okay there darlin’?” He whispered in her ear, his breath making her shiver slightly, she still was thinking, her body felt rigid to Hangman almost clinging to him. “I got you, don’t worry.” He said quietly so only she could hear, her body relaxing and snapping her from her own thoughts. She hummed and breathed in again. There was that dumb cologne again. The smell was  mixed with the smell of salt, suntan lotion and sweat. Jake held her as long as she needed. Breaking the hug first she realized that everyone and she meant everyone was staring at them. "Sorry guys, am I holding up the game? I brought your favorite pastries.…" She said quietly, Hangman had never seen her like this, like her light had been diminished. "Ah no, we are all waiting on Mav to get here" Coyote cleared his throat, answering her question.

Phoenix came over and punched Rooster in the shoulder. “What the hell did you do?” He rubbed his arm, “Doesn’t matter what the hell I did. It pushed her to Hangman, didn’t it? What more did I need to do?” He looked at her and shrugged, trying to not seem like the day hadn’t gone way wrong. Phoenix shook her head and walked off, Bob, Payback, and Fanboy following her. Maverick walked into the bar with Penny and stopped, the room seemed tense. “Okayyyy so what happened in here? Who died?” He tried to crack a joke but went quiet as he looked at Bianca, holding onto Hangman’s arm, anger and sadness flashed across her face as she met his gaze. So that’s new. Rooster looked like he had lost something important  “Well time for dogfight football” He clapped his hands together and walked out onto the beach, the Dagger squad following him.

Hangman started walking out to play, but Bianca stopped him on the deck. “Aren’t you playing sweetheart?” He quirked an eyebrow, she shook her head no, the distant look coming back to her eyes. “Here” he pulled off his black shirt and handed it to her, “You can hold onto that, I know it has my cologne smell on it. I wear it ‘cause I know it’s your favorite smell. Will that keep your pretty blue eyes from being so haunted?” He had tilted her head to look at him, she blinked a couple times and nodded. “Y-yes, Jake…I. It means a lot to me” She stammered out, meeting his gaze. “I’d do anything for you, my tiger.” Her eyes widened slightly at him using the same nickname for her when they first met in such an affectionate tone “anything for me?” she echoed his words as he backed up, giving her a wink and smile, running to meet with the guys. 

Bianca sat in one of the beach chairs, Hangman's shirt was laying across her lap as she messed with the fabric, so far she had remained grounded, not tossed back into the events of three years ago. She waved back at Jake ever so often when he waved at her, smiling her way. Does he actually feel about me how I feel about him? Does he know that I was head over heels for him? She had just relaxed in her beach chair and closed her eyes when she heard someone flop in the chair next to her "Hey Bee, you okay?" It was Maverick, she knew just from hearing his voice. She looked at him, searching for any sign that he knew what Rooster had done. "You almost lost me three years ago Mav." She said quietly. He looked at her, his jaw clenched. "Bee…I.." she held up her hand to stop him.

"Bradley showed me the plane" Maverick took his shades off "he did what?" He looked mad, glancing at Rooster, who was playing. " That's why I was clinging to Hangman when you came in, I feel I'm stuck there sometimes Mav. When you asked if someone had died, I feel like it was part of me on that day, left in the ocean like the others. I was doing well today. I thought I would make it through without being sucked back into the past but Bradley made sure I was still there, anchored to ghosts." She looked towards the game, watching Hangman for a bit. "Bee, I had no idea he would ever do that to you. I was going to give you the plane for your birthday, I worked so hard to restore it for you. But I'm so sorry that you saw it today of all days. I never meant for the plane to cause you so much pain." Maverick said quietly. She looked at him after a few moments, resting her hand on his arm. "It's okay Pete, I know you wouldn't do that intentionally." She leaned over and hugged him tightly. "You think I'll ever be able to fly again?" She whispered quietly after breaking the hug. "I fully believe you can do anything you want Captain" Maverick said quietly, a smile being shared between the two. 

Hangman glanced over at Bianca and Maverick, seeing her smile made his heart leap in his chest. "Hey look out!" Payback yelled too late as Hangman got hit hard by Rooster, the football landing a short distance away. The wind was knocked out of Hangman, he groaned, his arm stinging slightly as he shoved Rooster off, glaring at him. "What's your problem, Bagman?" Rooster asked, putting his hands on his hips. Hangman got up slowly, dusting the sand off his arms "I should punch you in the face, Bradshaw!" He pointed at Rooster "What's the matter? Finally realizing your feelings for someone?" He sneered back. "Watch your mouth, whatever you did to Bianca was uncalled for" Rooster scoffed slightly "like you care about someone other than yourself"

That sent Hangman over the edge, he charged at Rooster. Bianca and Maverick looked up in time to see Hangman charging Rooster. "Hey! Hey! Stop that!" She jumped up and raced over to them, gripping Hangman's arm to stop him before he punched Rooster "Just because you don't give a damn about anything around you Bradshaw doesn't mean you get to hurt someone I care about!" Bianca managed to pull him away. He was going to fight Bradley about me. "Hey, hey. Jake! Look at me" his eyes softened as he looked down at Bianca. "Come on, your arm is bleeding, let me take care of it" she took his hand and led him back into the bar. 

"Go on, sit down" she pushed him onto one of the barstools gently. He finally looked her over, she had his shirt on and boy did that only make him fall more. She watched him for a moment, pulling out a first aid kit and smiling slightly “see something you like there Seresin?” she raised an eyebrow as she applied some antiseptic to the slice, noting the slight jolt in his arm. “Yeah, I would ask for my shirt back, but I like it so much more on you” He hummed, winking at her. She laughed and covered the cut. “Well maybe I want to wear your clothes more often” she winked back and felt her cheeks grow warm from her sudden boldness. He was speechless for a moment, studying her. “Can I…” He asked quietly, looking at her. She stepped closer, between his legs, and put her arms around his neck, his hands wrapping around her waist.

The moment felt more than the usual hugs, it was something more. She leaned back, her breath hitched as his hand ran under his shirt and against her skin, leaving a trail of fire. She had her swimsuit on still, but she felt his hand near the scars marking her stomach and side. “J-jake…” She looked at him as he stopped and dropped his hand “Sorry darlin’, I don’t want you to think badly of me” She shook her head “No it’s not that…I want nothing more than you to touch me” She stopped talking abruptly, looking at him. He flickered a smile, but not the same wolfy grin he would with other women. “Maybe one day…you can tell me about that haunted look you get in your eyes sometimes” His hand brushed her cheek, and she looked at him and nodded. 

A throat-clearing noise broke the moment as they both looked at the door. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything” I heard Penny chuckle softly as she made her way behind the bar. “Hangman here almost started a fight with Rooster in my honor and got cut up by the seashells on the beach” Bianca laughed and nudged Jake. “Well, that’s very white knight of you” Hangman shrugged and smiled brightly “What can I say, ma’am, I hate seeing those I care about being hurt by others” Bianca smiled and looked at Penny, “So where did you go off to?” Penny paused and looked at Bianca “Oh, Maverick asked me to take flowers out to…” she stopped and glanced at Hangman.

He felt Bianca tense up and wrapped his arms around her waist again. She relaxed. “Flowers to their graves” she finished her thought “it’s okay. Jake should know some of why I freeze up all the time and keep my distance from others” Hangman looked quizzically between the two. “Graves? Bianca?” she looked at him “my friends…they died about 3 years ago. They were pilots…Penny and Maverick have been putting flowers on their graves because I can’t bring myself to go visit them.” she looked down and rubbed her eyes, feeling the tears prickle at the edges of her eyes. Jake glanced at Penny, worry, and sadness crossing her face. He pulled Bianca tighter to him, his hand gently resting on the back of her head, he felt the tears on his shoulder.

“Shh, shhh. I've got you tiger” Penny raised an eyebrow this time. Like her callsign. She pulled back after a few minutes and sniffled, wiping her face with the edge of his shirt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you before.” She shook her head, looking at him for any sign of rejection and all she saw was adoration and care, maybe even worry. “I’ll always be here. I care about you. Whenever you are ready to share anything, I’m ready darlin’” He smiled and rubbed her back. “I think I’ll go back home….” she stopped mid-thought and sighed “Bradley brought me here in his Bronco, said he had a surprise for me out at Mav’s old hangar” She trailed off and sighed again “I’ll give you a ride home” Jake spoke up “Really? You don’t have to. I can ask Phoenix or Bob” She motioned to the beach. “You make it hard to sweep you off your feet” He chuckled and grabbed her stuff and his off the table. Penny smiled as she saw Bianca take his outstretched hand and walk out of the bar. 

So there is part 2 of this storyline. Let me know what you guys think!

Tag List (I hope it's cool): @topguncortez @notroosterbradshaw @roosterforme

[rhyske]

oh my god, Belphie is such a sweetheart! I love the little black spot on his nose and it looks like he has eyeliner and that is too cute! oh so when i called him escape artist i wasn't too far of huh? haha

I have 3 cats and one was an accident. My mom wanted a ragdoll so we got Tex, and we also got Slinky (a black house cat) so she would have a friend. Then I found a grey stray in my village and I took him in and named him Totmes, my baby. the girls don't like him very much (eww boys!🤢). Totmes and Slinky love the balcony but especially Totmes, he'll be there all day in the sun and I worry the sun will melt his brain or something.

So far Mass Effect is all right but I think I've come to the conclusion that I like fantasy more than sci-fi but maybe I am wrong and I'll be obsessed with it in a minute. The romance options for ME1 are... not great but I am planning to romance Liara in the first one at least and see how it turns out and then I might pursue someone else when the options open up in the second game. My brother played femshep and romanced Garrus so I want to do something different than that even tho he's so cool. For roleplay purposes I'll have Garrus as more of a best friend character to my femshep.

that's how I approached it in dragon age too. Varric was Hawke's bestie and Fenris was OBVIOUSLY the romance option cause he's just that good imo. In inquisition, Dorian was Lavellan's best friend and Solas was her romance option because of the DramaTM.

I try to play my characters as separate from me so sometimes I choose the mean option and I'm just like I'M SORRY I DIDNT MEAN TO BE MEAN BUT SHE WOULD SAY THAT AAAA. Lavellan was pretty grumpy at the end... well the beginning too because she never wanted to be the inquisitor.

ANYWAY mass effect has been difficult because the full dialogue isn't really what i expect from the little text option. sometimes it feels like the choices doesn't matter? idk but i'll figure it out!

this is the first time I've properly played D&D so it's a bit of a learning experience for me! what did you use to play as? ^^ 💜

He's precious 🥰 Haha, yeah, no, literally half an hour after I responded to you I found the front door open and him nowhere to be found. He's safe, he realized we found out and came running back 😂

Does Totmes have a lot of brain cells? Could be they are actually melting. I joke that Belphie killed his last brain cell when, the first day we got him, he forgot cars have windows and tried jumping out, only to smack his head into the window. I love when cats kinda choose you as their owner and not the other way around 😆 Your cats sound so precious 💕

I definitely think ME1 is the weakest of all the games. I wasn't super invested in it my first time around (and it's still a bit more of a chore to get through whenever I replay), so I don't blame you there. Just hold out until ME2, it's the game that made me fall in love with the series. Yeah the romances...are very lacking in 1. They branch out so much in 2 and 3.

GASP YOU ARENT GONNA ROMANCE GARRUS??? As someone who is a rabid Shakarian fan and can't romance anyone but the dumb turian boy, I am obligated to say you are making a mistake 😂 But if Garrus didn't exist, I'd probably romance Liara so 😆 Thane is also a good contender, you'll meet him in 2 😏

Dorian was my Lavellan's BFF too! I always imagine one going to the other like "GIRL GUESS WHAT." Tali/Liara always end up being my Shep's BFF. I imagine them having girl nights and gossiping a lot 😆

I didn't like how Inquisition just....ignored your origin. Like, when you play as a Lavellan, you don't follow the Maker. You might not even know how most shemlan cities operate! And you want me to be your religious idol??? No thanks! But nothing is ever done about it and it's frustrating.

I always tend to play as if I was in the MC's shoes. And it's helped me learn a lot about myself, tbh. But I can't be mean to most characters cause it makes me feel bad 😭 Unless they deserve it.

Choices do matter (: You'll see your choices echo through the games, in what ways you can approach missions (Paragon vs Renegade) and how people remember you (if you were rude or polite). How much attention you put into your teammates is a big mechanic in 2, for example. It's hard to see how your choices change things until 2, since y'know, first game and all. Keep at it!

I played as an elf rogue my first, and only time, playing DnD. That was my first ever exposure to DnD, so I knew nothing. Now that I know a lot more, I wanna play again and really lean into the roleplay and the shenanigans. Who are you playing as? :D

[rc--chan]

Dexholders Clothes Stealing Headcanons

Kanto: 

Green just doesn't own clothes anymore. Blue, Yellow and Red just steal all of them. Yellow actually brings them back, because she's nice unlike the other 2 heathens. His purple shirt? Nope that's Red's now. His black aviator jacket? Yellow was cold so she borrowed it for the winter. His lab coat? Blue need it for a scam and she ain't bringing it back. Sweatpants, black t-shirt? His purple cargo pants? Gone! Because he's the tallest and his clothes are just too damn comfy.

Johto:

All three of them just share clothes at this point. Gold will search for his favourite hoodie only to remember Crystal took it. Silver would meet with Blue and she would compliment his white jacket, except it's not his, it's Crystal's. Crystal would just do laundry and find like, Gold's shorts and Silver's jacket. They also have a schedule for who gets Gold's hoodie because the damn thing is just so soft.

Hoenn:

I don't think they share any clothes. They have widely different styles that wouldn't work on the others. Maybe Emerald would occasionally steal like, Ruby's ribbons that he uses in contests to tie his hair or something. But mostly no clothes thieves here.

Sinnoh:

Platina steals all of the sweaters and jackets, definitely. She would go meet with Cynthia or Prof. Rowan and she's wearing Dia's jacket. One time she went to one of Dia and Pearl's gigs, and after the show when she went to see them backstage, she's wearing Pearl's sweater and Pearl goes ”Wait that's mine!” They don't mind of course. Also Dia steals all of her fancy hats so they're even.

Unova:

White steals everyone's clothes, but she does it without even realizing which is way funnier. She just goes to visit Whi-two and N and when she's back home she realizes she's wearing Whi-two's shoes and N's hat. And she's like. How did that happen? She's meeting with Elesa in Virbank and she's wearing like, Black's jacket and pants, looking like she's in cosplay, and Elesa would point it out and White looks at herself and goes ”Huh. I guess I am wearing Black's clothes again...” Lack-two would just randomly text her ”I am putting you under arrest.” And White would freak out and ask why, what did she do? And Lack-two just texts her ”I couldn't find my favourite shorts again and you appeared in an interview wearing them yesterday.” Poor girl has no idea how this keeps happening.

Kalos:

X steals everything. Like legit no clothes are safe from this man. If someone were to look through his wardrobe they'd find like Y's sweaters, Tierno's t-shirts, Shauna's shirts and Trevor's pants. He has like, multiple clothes he stole from his friends. And he's not even trying to hide it. Y would somehow convince him to leave the house and he shows up in Tierno's black Vanillite t-shirt, one of Shauna's jackets, Trevor's sweatpants, Y's fluffy socks and Green's boots that he somehow got a hold of.

Alola:

They trade hats and shirts. Nothing else just hats and shirts. And it's a mutual agreement too. Moon goes to Sun like ”I'll trade you my red hat for your blue tank top.” and Sun goes ”I'll throw in my blue and white t-shirt too if you give me your yellow floral shirt.” ”Deal.” People point it out all the time but they just say ”I got it in a fair trade, therefore it is mine now.”

Galar:

Their system is like a combination between the Alola duo and the Johtrio. Because they share clothes, but sometimes Sou would refuse to give Schilly her sweater back so she has to bargain. ”I'll give you one of my sweatshirts if you give me my sweater back.” ”Not soft enough.” ”How about my fuzzy parka? That's soft.” ”Yeah but its too hot for that.” Schilly has to bet like half her wardrobe to get that 1 sweater back. Marvin also steals their socks.

[erwinsvow]

𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

summary: you and eren, your boyfriend armin’s best friend, have always had a strange relationship. things take a turn when armin goes home for the weekend, leaving the two of you alone on friday night.

warnings: smut, oral sex (f receiving), guilty reader feels bad, implied infidelity, masturbation, slight dumbification, dacryphilia, daddy kink

word count: 6.8k

author’s note: i once said i would never write for eren, so i guess that was a fat lie! enjoy!

You’re not sure about exactly when you became so comfortable with having Eren around. It was kind of like a two-for-one deal with your boyfriend, Armin, since he was so rarely seen without his best friend at his side. Their majors were so different that they hardly ever had classes together, and so the pair of them made up for lost time by spending all their other time together. 

It wasn’t totally out of the blue if Eren would crash on the couch next to you, while you were curled up beside Armin, hands interlaced and head resting softly on his chest. You’d jolt at the impact of Eren—a huge guy compared to anyone’s standards—jumping beside you and disrupting the peaceful intimacy you were sharing with your boyfriend. Armin didn’t seem to be annoyed or frustrated, and so you wouldn’t prove to be, either. You and him would welcome Eren with a laugh, directing him to the leftovers from your take-out and enjoying the company of a man who wasn’t your boyfriend far too much. 

It was easy to fall into the trap of it. Maybe Armin was always missing the way Eren’s eyes raked over your figure whenever you’d walk into the room. Maybe he was too enraptured by his marine biology textbook to notice how Eren stared at the supple skin of your exposed thighs when you took a seat next to them, dress hiking up a little or skirt much too short for a study-date with two boys. You were never much of a tease because it was so easy when you and Armin started seeing each other, so natural and comfortable that you didn’t have to try any unusual flirting methods on the golden-haired boy. As a result, he didn’t really know what bubbled under the surface of your skin and all the different thoughts that plagued your mind. 

So you think that’s why it was so easy to fall into the trap of it all, making eyes at Eren while your boyfriend sat right next to you. Choosing outfits that had previously been stuffed into the depths of your closet, because you didn’t think Armin would approve. You kept up the facade in front of your lovely boyfriend, though, because at the end of the day, you loved him and no one else. You didn’t want to break his heart by cheating on him with his closest friend, even though the electricity between you and Eren made all the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and made goosebumps appear on every inch of the soft skin of your legs that Eren loved to leer at so much. No, because at the end of the day, it was plainly wrong to even think about another man when you had Armin in your life. 

That’s what you told yourself when you stopped exchanging glances with Eren, started wearing blue again instead of green, and asked Armin if you two could have more time alone. You thought Armin looked confused, and he was, but for entirely different reasons. While you had been concerned with Eren’s gaze and intentions, Armin had been silently paying attention to his best friend and girlfriend. You thought he was innocent, sure, but he wasn’t stupid. And there wasn’t a thought in Eren’s head that Armin couldn’t figure out well in advance. If you wanted to fuck Eren, all you had to do was ask, but he quickly realized you were trying to be a good little girlfriend again, rather than the devilish slut you had been recently. Well, if you weren’t going to do anything, he was going to have to take matters into his own hands. 

Eren had always wondered why you spent so much time with Armin, and by virtue of association, with him. Any other little girlfriend would at least take some time alone to study, but you practically spent every minute at Armin’s side or in their shared apartment. Armin’s explanation of how you didn’t get along with your roommates made so much sense, especially now that you were going to be sleeping in Armin’s room for the weekend while he went back home for a ‘family emergency’. 

You had asked Armin if Eren would be going back with him in a certain voice, one that he couldn’t exactly pinpoint as he eavesdropped from his own bedroom. A mixture of uncertainty, nervousness, and excitement? Was that excitement he noted? He wishes he could look into your eyes to tell, but all he can do is listen to Armin tell you that Eren would be staying in the apartment. 

Eren can almost hear your heartbeat speed up, eyes blinking quickly and heat rushing to your face. Of course Armin trusted his best friend to stay with his girlfriend for a weekend. The two people he loved the most would never betray him, and so he had nothing to fear. 

Back to being the devoted girlfriend you are, you help Armin pack his bags late Thursday night. You folded clothes on his bed and tucked them into the duffel bag neatly, while Armin looked around for his books. He would be leaving right after his classes Friday morning, and so you knew by the time you returned after your classes, he would be long gone, leaving just you and Eren to fend for yourselves Friday night. 

In the morning, you’re greeted by Armin pressing a kiss to your forehead as he heads to his eight-am lecture. Through the daze of sleep and heavy-lidded eyes, you grasp his hand softly in a failed attempt to keep him with you a little longer, but you hear him murmur something that distinctly sounds like “Don't worry, baby, Eren will take care of you” before he leaves.

You fall back asleep after, missing the way Armin and Eren talk briefly before he departs. You wake up in Armin’s bed alone, to the sound of your alarm. Usually, Fridays are your favorite day of the week because you have a light schedule and you get to spend most of the day with Armin. His classes end right when yours start, so you’d get to grab coffee with him and meet for lunch after, before either heading to the library to get work done or to his apartment because you knew Eren wouldn’t be around and therefore you could be as loud as you want.

But not today. You had to get breakfast alone, before going off to class and sitting in the library alone. You didn’t realize how quickly the day had passed by, in between studying and texting Armin to make sure he got home safely, and avoiding the pit in your stomach that kept reminding you that you’d be going home to Eren soon. You looked outside the library window from your seat, and saw the sun was setting, meaning the library was closing soon and that you had to face reality. You’re thinking about how to put going back to the apartment for even longer, maybe stopping somewhere to eat dinner, when your phone buzzes with a text notification. 

You pick it up quickly, hoping it’s from Armin, but your stomach drops again when you see the screen lit up with Eren’s name. A singular message from him reads: Did you eat yet? 

Bastard. How does he know your thoughts before you even think them? 

You’re faced with two choices. Lie to him, then go get dinner by yourself, and then finally go back to your own home and put up with your terrible roommates for another night… or go to the apartment, order dinner with Eren, and avoid his lecherous looks long enough to get yourself safely inside Armin’s room with the door locked. 

You feel your heart pounding inside your chest at the thought of having dinner with Eren alone. He never did anything too forward or telling with you, but you suspect it was only because Armin was always right beside you. There’s no telling what he would do if he got you alone. Your heart’s pounding, but another feeling altogether is creeping into your stomach and up to your chest, one that’s making you feel hot all over despite how chilly the air in the library is. 

You’re nearly lost in your thoughts until your phone buzzing again brings you back to reality. You let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in as you read his text, this time longer; We can order dinner when you get here. Promise I don’t bite.

You feel like hurling your phone across the empty library, because every sane thought in your mind is telling you not to go over there, but every bone in your body feels like it’s being pulled towards Eren. Suddenly you think back to all those times you had teased him intentionally, and how strange you feel right now, like two different versions of yourself are fighting with each other. A third buzz makes your decision for you. 

Am I really so much worse than those roommates of yours?

Eren was many things, but that was one thing he was not. You quickly remember just how often you had shown up at Armin’s doorstep in tears, or so angry you had steam blowing out of your ears, because of how much you hated them. You only had to deal with them for a few more months, so it was easy enough to avoid them and only stop by to get clothes and the occasional shower. To make matters worse, it was Friday night and they would definitely be having some kind of a party or get-together, which meant there was no way you’d be getting any sleep there. 

I’m on my way, can we get pizza? 

… 

It’s only seven-thirty when you and Eren are sitting on the couch, some movie playing on the television that you aren’t paying attention to. Your nerves only let you eat a slice of pizza, while Eren scarfed down nearly half the box. You knew you were fucked when Eren opened the door, clad only in grey sweatpants and the slick sheen of sweat apparent on his entire body, from his muscular arms to his abs.

Bastard, bastard, bastard. He opened the door like that on purpose, just to see you react with a splutter and blush red.

“I’m just gonna jump into the shower, can you order the pizza?” he shouted to you while walking back to his bedroom. He came out with a towel, and you had barely processed the words because the only thing you could think about were his arms. You knew Eren was fit, anyone could tell just by looking at him, but you had no idea he was built like that. If you were a lesser woman, you would have tried to sneak glances at Eren getting into or out of the shower during all those opportunities you had, but you never did, because it felt wrong to look away from Armin’s blue eyes to focus on Eren.

But now, with no one else there to stop or distract you, your eyes were glued to his muscular figure. It wasn’t too hard to think about how easily he could pin you somewhere—up against a wall, or a door maybe, or across the dinner table. It wouldn’t even take him both hands to keep your head shoved down or keep both your arms pinned back as he—

“Hey, you okay? Did you hear me?” Eren asks again, standing right in front of you. He’s trying his hardest to sound sincere, but there’s a smirk on his face as he observes your behavior. If it wasn’t obvious before, it’s clear as day now.

“I-I’m fine. What kind of pizza do you want?”

“Whatever kind you want, just get extra cheese. Menus on the table,” he says, before turning back around and walking to the bathroom. You’re almost jaw-dropped as you watch him walk away, and hear the water turn on. You take several deep breaths, reminding yourself to stay calm. After dinner, you could go into Armin’s room and be completely fine. 

You order the pizza and go into Armin’s room to sort your stuff out, looking through your bag and searching for clothes to sleep in. You knew you had packed them, but you suddenly couldn’t find them anywhere. Your shorts and t-shirt were missing, and you quickly realized you left them on your bed while you had gone to grab your toothbrush. Damn it. 

Armin has a collection of perfectly soft and comfortable shirts to sleep in, so you open one of his drawers and pull out a dark green one, with some design on it. There’s no shorts that would fit you among Armin’s clothes, so you’ll have to do without them tonight. It’s fine though, considering the door will be locked and you’ll be safe and sound once you and Eren go to bed. Or so you thought.

Now you’re sitting on the couch, still dressed in your day clothes and feeling hot again. You knew Armin liked to keep the apartment on the warmer side, but you had never felt quite this warm before.

Eren glances at you with a quizzical look, and you realize your shiftiness and breathy pants are more noticeable than you thought. 

“Are you okay? You look like you’re about to pass out and you barely ate a thing,” he comments, keeping his eyes on you which somehow makes you feel even worse. His gaze is piercing, and though you never really cared that Eren always looks like he’s undressing you with his eyes, it’s bothering you now more than ever.

“I-I’m okay,” you get out, before suddenly standing up and taking off the cardigan you had worn all day. “I think I just need to shower, good night Eren,” you say, before walking away much too quickly. Eren’s eyes don’t leave you until you’re inside Armin’s room once more, wondering why you’re so hot and bothered at a simple stare from him. Him, who is not your boyfriend, and barely qualifies as your friend and for some reason has you wet from looking into those green eyes for too long.

Enough. 

Armin was kind and sweet enough to let you sleep at his place when he’s not even there, and you wanted to repay that kindness by having dirty thoughts about his best friend? No, it wasn’t right, in fact, it was inherently wrong. You take a few more moments in Armin’s room, inhaling the familiar scent of his fabric softener and all the old books on his shelves, before taking your towel and going to the bathroom. Eren is still in the living room, eating and watching the movie, you presume, and you wish to God he would leave you alone and go out to party or fuck some other girl, but he’s not. He’s spending a quiet Friday night at home with you.

The hot water and clean soap distract you from your thoughts, but the tension and heat growing in your body is only exacerbated when you run your hands across your body. There’s something very wrong about touching yourself in the shower when Eren is a dozen feet away and could hear you easily—but that’s a risk you’re willing to take if it meant it would get illicit thoughts of him out of your brain for the rest of the night. 

One hand goes to play with your hardened nipple, as the other tenderly begins to rub circles on your clit. Your hands try to imitate Armin’s, and he’s always gentle with you, but as you let out a muffled moan, you realize it’s not Armin’s careful touch you want right now. It’s Eren’s rough fingers, fingers that would move in and out of your wetness harshly, not waiting for you to adjust to their size. Eren wouldn’t start with one, like Armin, he would go for three and keep his thumb on your clit, rubbing so fast and in just the right way, while his mouth would be on your tits—tongue doing the talking for him on your sensitive nipples. He wouldn’t care to stop if it was getting to be too much, and he wouldn’t let you come down from your high before starting again, he would just keep going. Eren would know when you’ve had enough, and just once didn’t meet his requirements for enough. 

If anyone could see you right now, you could die from embarrassment, furiously fucking your fingers and completely unaware of how loud you were being as you tried to imitate what Eren would do to you. But imitating wasn’t quite enough, You were so close, you could almost feel that tight knot in your stomach unwind, just a little more—-

Knock. 

“Hey, you’ve been in there a while. Everything okay?” Eren’s voice is muffled from outside the door, and the waterfall coming from the shower suddenly felt like it was pounding beside you. 

Your hand covers your mouth as you let out a frustrated, stifled sob. 

“Y-yeah! I’m almost done!” you call back out, fingers still inside you. You remove them with a gasp, shaking and face burning at the idea that Eren might have overheard you. You get out of the shower on wobbly legs, wrapping the towel securely around you and heading to Armin’s bedroom to change and put an end to this strange day. You don’t notice that Eren’s door is cracked open a little.

As strange as it sounds, you feel much better once you’re in Armin’s shirt and just a pair of panties, ready for bed. A nagging voice in the back of your head wants you to finish what you started in the shower, nipples hard again as the air seems cooler than earlier, but you push the thoughts aside. Another day.

You grab your water bottle to take your birth-control pill, eight forty-five on the dot, but realize its contents are empty as a result of your earlier hot flash. You tiptoe into the kitchen, extra careful because you don’t want Eren to hear and come out, but as you fill up a glass, your roommate for the night is suddenly leaning against the counter. 

It should be illegal the way he says your name. Sultry and deep and rolling off his tongue without even trying. Eren doesn’t have to change a thing about him to be the very definition of the word erotic, which is coincidentally the only word you can use to describe this encounter. 

He’s forgone the shirt he had on earlier, when you were eating together, and you knew he had put it on just to make sure you didn’t choke on your pizza. Just in those sweatpants again, you could see everything you had tried too hard to avert your gaze from, on display right in front of you. 

“E-Eren,” you stutter out, skin burning again even though it was cold now. “I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s okay. What are you taking, there?” You flushed again at the idea of having to tell Eren it was your birth control, because it felt as if he already knew somehow. He watches you with that damn smirk and a raised eyebrow, waiting for your answer.

“It’s ibuprofen.”

“Oh.. ibuprofen, huh? That’s weird, because every time I asked you if you were okay, you said you were fine. Were you lying to me?” His tone is dangerous, somewhere between amused and angry.

You didn’t even realize he had gotten so close to you, until you tried to take another step backwards to put some distance between you two, but you were met by resistance from a cupboard, signifying the end of the wall.

“I-I wasn’t lying, I just forgot-” You hear him click his tongue. He’s dangerously close to you now, you can feel the heat coming off of his body and one more step from him would make you feel the cold breath of his exhales.

“Forgot what, baby? It seems to me that I just caught you in a lie.” Another click of his tongue. “Now, Armin always says you’re a good girl, but I don’t think a good girl would lie to me like you’ve been doing all night, right?”

Armin. The very mention of his name makes something recoil inside your chest, makes you remember how you don’t want to hurt him like this, and how much pain he would be in if he found out about this little interaction between you and Eren.

You try to push back, but Eren extends his arms up, trapping you between them and the cabinet, leaving no way for you to escape. 

“Don’t you wanna be a good girl for me?” 

The simple sentence is enough to send your brain, skin, heart on fire, as you let out a breath and find your head nodding up and down. Your body seems to have a mind of its own, wetness seeping from between your folds and no doubt creating a darkened patch on your panties.

“Good girl,” he mewls, dragging out each syllable as he speaks. “I thought I might have to punish you if you kept lying to me, but I don’t think that’ll be an issue anymore. Am I right?” He watches you dumbly nod again, eyes very much blank and just focused on one thing: him. He nods too, mocking your movements and smirking again. “Should we play a game? How about I ask a question, and you have to tell the truth? Sound good?”

Everything’s on fire, and you can’t hear anything besides the thumping of your heart in your chest. Long gone are your inhibitions and desperate hope of a quiet night in with your boyfriend’s roommate.

“First question…” Eren trails off quickly, looking down your body slowly. He takes one hand down from its position of blockading you and brings it to the hem of your—Armin’s—shirt. He plays with it there before continuing his sentence. “What were you thinking about in the shower earlier?”

You feel your breath catch in your throat and a quick flame erupts in your chest at the humiliation you feel—so he had heard you after all. And he interrupted you on purpose.

“You-you were listening? I-” Eren laughs, a low rumble from his chest meeting your ears as you begin to quiver from your position against him. 

“I wasn’t listening so much as you were being loud. It seems to me that you wanted me to hear you, isn’t that right? Or else what kind of a filthy slut would be so loud?” 

You tremble at the name he calls you, not used to sort of degradation Eren is putting you through. A small voice in the back of your head tells you that he’s not wrong, and your behavior is akin to some kind of whore. Maybe you’ve been like this all along, and you just needed the right person to bring it out of you. Your head feels utterly empty and devoid of any more thoughts, and you blank at what to say to Eren next. 

“I-I’m s-sorry,” you splutter out, feeling incredibly small near Eren, who towers over you. There’s something sadistic in Eren’s gaze, but you notice him soften up at your apology.

“What are you apologizing for?” he questions, quieter than before. He knows the two of you are alone, but he can’t bring himself to raise his voice at you.

You, the bane of his existence, and a blessing all at once. Since the day Armin introduced you to him, there’s been nothing he’s wanted more than for you to meet his gaze and look at him the way you looked at his best friend, with love and adoration. He got a few lucky weeks where you didn’t immediately shy away from his eyes, when he felt like you were challenging him to do something, anything. But it went as soon as it came, and suddenly he was seeing less and less of you. Until this opportunity from Armin’s departure, that is.

“I… I was being a slut,” you whisper back to him, tears lining up at the waterline of your pretty eyes as he moves a hand to your jaw and forces you to look right at him while you speak. You shudder at the touch of his skin on yours, but you don’t want him to stop all the same. 

“That’s okay, baby,” he says in an incredibly reassuring tone that has you wondering what he’ll do next. “I like my girls a little slutty, but just for me, right?” You nod again, quickly. “Besides, I have to make it up to you, you know. I stopped you right when you were getting real close, didn’t I? I could just tell from those pretty noises you were making.” 

The next few moments pass by in a blur, Eren’s arms move and suddenly you’re over his shoulder, ass up and out as the shirt you’re wearing rides up. He delivers a quick slap, making you cry out, as he brings you into the room and lays you on the bed. He’s standing between your legs, a hand on each thigh keeping you spread open for him as he observes closely the impact of his actions on you. 

“You’re just soaking through your panties, aren’t you? Are you really that eager for me?”

You let out a whine, not wanting to answer his question because your face is burning again at the idea of Eren staring so closely at your clothed pussy—and you let out an even higher-pitched squeal when he uses a finger to push your panties aside, and look at your wetness completely. 

“So wet, and so pretty, all for me, huh?”

“Y-yes. All for you,” you let out with a moan, eager for Eren to do something. Anything at all would set you over the edge, with how you’ve been feeling these last few hours. But you think he knows that, because his actions are all teasing you and leaving you wanting more, blindly clenching around nothing at all as his fingers barely graze your clit. He lets out a laugh at your desperate antics, and you’re about to come from the slightest touch, and suddenly you feel the bed moving as Eren wraps his lips around your clit and pushes his tongue against you.

You didn’t even know you could make the noise that you let out, a scream and a cry and carnal moan all wrapped in one. You know Eren thinks the same because he looks up at you from his position between your legs, laughing against your core. The vibration from his laugh makes your legs shake even harder, as you feel Eren’s tongue attacking your clit at an even faster pace. You’re seeing stars and completely unaware of everything else, like how Eren’s nimble hands slid your panties down and tossed them to the side somewhere, landing near the bookshelf, so close to the edge when you feel his fingers teasing at your opening and plunge in without any warning. 

You were completely right about your earlier predictions, feeling Eren quickly add a third finger inside you as you clasp a hand over your mouth to stop the obscene noises from leaving your mouth. You do have neighbors, after all, despite how much empty your head feels of every thought besides one; Eren. 

He pulls his mouth away from your sensitive nerves for just a second, just to chastise you before continuing his actions.

“Don’t do that,” he says the words against your lips, “I want to hear you.” 

You weren’t sure it was possible to feel even more pleasure than you were now, but Eren’s words made you feel feral as you let out another loud moan, this time not muffled. You think he calls you a good girl, but you’re not sure if it’s your imagination. You whine when you feel Eren pull his fingers out of you, suddenly so empty when you had been so full moments ago. You’re trying to collect the words to tell him to keep going, and how this is the second time he’s ruined your finishing, but you just can’t. The only thing that comes out is a mumble of ‘please’ and ‘Eren’ 

“Don’t worry, baby, I’m not stopping,” he says, pulling himself up and hovering over you. One of his strong arms is by your head, holding himself up as the other hand, the one that had been inside of you, finds its way to your mouth. “Open.”

You do as you’re told, dropping your jaw quickly for him as he shoves the fingers into your hot mouth.

“Suck.” Another command that has you reeling, doing exactly as he wants and swirling your tongue around Eren’s long fingers. They’re coated with your heady wetness, and the taste is unlike anything you’ve experienced before, but you don’t stop. It feels entirely too dirty and filthy, but you’re willing to do anything to get Eren’s approval now. His words are clear now.

“Good girl. Since you’ve been so good, I think you can cum now.”

His fingers leave your mouth quickly, and he’s fiddling with your hands now, that were previously gripping the sheets so tightly you were scared they might tear. He pulls up your shirt even more, exposing your tits to the cold air of the room, and puts your fingers on your hardened nipples. He doesn’t give a command, but you know it instinctively, that he wants you to play with your nipples while he makes you come. You’re not sure how long you’ll be able to follow his orders, but you go ahead anyways. You’re teasing yourself in front of his hungry, wolf-like gaze, as you clench on nothing every time you run your fingers over your sensitive nipples.

Satisfied, he returns back to his position between your legs. You’re crying out before his fingers even reach your wetness, and choke on your moan when he inserts three at once again. You know there’s no way you’ll be able to hold out now, and if he stops again you feel like you might explode into a million pieces. His tongue is rough against your clit, moving in the perfect motion, and one more thrust of his perfect fingers against that spot inside you will have you cumming so hard— Eren speaks against your pussy, a singular word.

“Cum.”

You feel the knot snap in your stomach and your orgasm shakes through you like a bolt of lightning. You hear yourself release a scream before you can stop it, fingers leaving your breasts and grasping onto Eren’s dark strands for dear life, because he hasn’t let up on his actions yet. He keeps going, riding you through it, tongue and mouth continuing on and fingers pumping in and out so quickly that the bedroom is filled with a crude, squelching noise. You’re not sure exactly how loud you were, but your throat is dry and scratchy, and you’re swallowing just to feel some relief. You feel Eren slowly retract his fingers, breathing heavy against the soft skin of your thigh, as you find your way back to reality. You don’t look down at Eren, but you hear him licking his fingers, tasting your wetness in such a sinful manner, you know you can’t look at him do it.

Reality sets in, and you look around your surroundings. Every single one of your senses had been preoccupied with Eren minutes ago, but now that they were free again, you take in the comfortable scent of the sheets and the lingering scent of your slick leaves your thoughts as you take in the familiar scent of old books. Your heartbeat was just returning to normal, when you look around and realize you’re in Armin’s room, on Armin’s bed, as Armin’s best friend gave you the most powerful orgasm of your life. 

You sit up quickly, breathing rapidly as your shirt falls to cover yourself, and you meet Eren’s eyes again.

“Lay back, baby, we’re not done yet.” There’s a haze over your thoughts, and his words, because you want to fight him, and yell and scream at him for bringing you into Armin’s room when you already felt so horrible about what you’ve done, but you can’t summon anything. The only thing you can think about is Eren’s dick, and how it would feel inside you, and how your sensitive walls would take him. So you follow Eren’s orders, and lay back down. Eren hovers over you again, pulling at your shirt, up and over your head, and it lands with a soft thud on the carpet. 

He’s looking at you now, up and down slowly, but different than all the other times. He doesn’t have to rush to take it all in this time, because you’re on display just for him now. So he takes his time, and starts with a soft kiss to the skin right above your heart, wondering if he can hear the hard thuds or if that’s just his imagination. You look at him while he continues his ministrations, wondering why he’s being so slow and careful, because you hadn’t expected this.

His lips work their way up, to your collarbone and then your neck, taking his time to suck on the skin and pepper it with kisses once he hears you hiss in pain. He murmurs an apology against your jaw, before his teeth take your bottom lip between them. He lets go soon after, too eager to feel your lips against his. He’s scared you might pull away, but you don’t. You know you’ve done something terrible, but it’s too late to take it back now. 

He kisses you deeply, tongues finding each other and exchanging that heady taste of yourself. You moan into the kiss, your hands finding the side of Eren’s face and trying to push him onto yourself even harder. You’re not sure if you ever want to pull away from Eren’s lips, but he finally does, trying to catch his breath. You look into his green eyes for a moment, and find your own eyes watering. 

“Don’t cry, baby. I’ll give you what you want.” Eren’s words send you scrambling again, too eager for the fullness you know is inevitable when he finally fucks you.

You feel yourself grabbing for the waistband of his sweats, but Eren’s faster than you. His one hand pins both of yours against your chest, as he clicks his tongue in that obnoxious way again.

“Patience. Only patient girls get daddy’s cock.” You want to scream at him about how patient you’ve been, all this time and all of tonight, but you bite your tongue. You don’t need Eren’s punishment on top of the torture he’s put you through already. 

You let go of your resistance and watch with wide eyes as he removes the only thing that was in your way. His erect dick snaps up against his stomach once it’s freed, and you swallow without thinking, looking at the sheer size of him. He’s just as big as you had imagined, the tip a pretty, dark pink with white beads of pre-cum gathered at the top, and every vein causing you to descend further and further into a wanton state. It’s his thickness that you weren’t prepared for. If three of his fingers were such a tight stretch, you can only imagine what this would do to you. But at the same time, you think you might die if Eren doesn’t fuck you right now. 

He watches with that damn smirk as you stare at his dick with more eagerness than he’s ever seen before. He holds his length in his hand, directing himself to your entrance but not pushing in. He holds himself there, running his dick over your folds and almost succumbing to the inviting wetness of your cunt, but he stops himself. 

“Do you want my cock, baby?” Another surge of heat rushes through your body, feeling almost light-headed at how difficult he’s making this. But you weren’t about to start misbehaving now.

“Y-yes, yes, Eren, please-” You hiccup out, feeling yourself lose the battle against your watery eyes, as the tears roll down your face. “Please, I want it so badly, please, please, please—Oh!” 

Eren pushes in without any warning, watery eyes being his own breaking point. He could have finished on the spot seeing you cry begging for his dick, and he was determined to make you cum again before then. The noises you’re making are incredibly obscene, and he knows you’re being loud enough to notify the entire floor, but he’s not going to stop you. He’s only about half way in, but he wants to be nice and let you adjust to him.

“P-please, Eren, please-” You’re not entirely sure what you’re begging Eren for. A part of you doesn’t think it’s possible to feel more full, and another part of you wants Eren to fuck you so hard you forget everything and everyone. 

He’s about to chastise you again to be patient, and let you know that he’s doing this for you, not him, but he realizes his actions are louder than his words. With another thrust, he pushes his entire length in you. You moan again, this time with a breathy gasp, and he can’t help the smile on his face. You look so pretty crying, trying to take his entire dick and struggling immensely.

He thrusts slowly, wanting to make it last and make you feel every last vein of dick deep inside you, but the way your tight cunt grips him has him speeding up before he can help it. The noises filling Armin’s room are beyond lecherous, as the only sounds are of his tightening balls smacking against your skin with every deep thrust, and the lewd noise of your wetness taking him. 

He’s got you on your back, sitting up between your thighs and one leg hoisted on his shoulder, and thrusting so hard you can feel his hip-bone bruising your skin. There’s only one thought left in your head, and that’s how good Eren feels inside you. The aching burn of his initial assault is long gone, leaving just the feeling of Eren filling you up. Your hands remember his earlier order and find their way to your hardened nipples again, pinching and teasing, putting on a show for Eren as he moans loudly. Every noise he makes goes straight to your core, making you clench around him harder than before.

His lithe fingers find your clit again, and you throw your head back and moan even louder at the feeling. You were so, so sensitive already and this was the last straw. One more of Eren’s thrusts, hitting that special spot inside you, and one more touch of his fingers on your clit sent you screaming to your second orgasm. You were clenching tightly, as Eren worked you through it again and kept his thrusts going. You were seeing black, screaming his name and God knows what else, as you came and waves of pleasure washed over you and heat radiated from your head to your toes.

Eren’s continued thrusts kept going, even after your pussy tightened around him. You were out of breath and sweaty, and you felt Eren’s hips stutter as he leaned forwards and found your hot mouth again. You were kissing again, his lips on yours as you swallowed his moans and grabbed his arms to steady yourself. With another rapid succession of thrusts, Eren moved his lips to your neck and groaned loudly as he came inside you. You felt the hot ropes of his cum deep inside your pussy, as he kept going and going, eventually pulling out of you with a heady moan. You could feel his cum leaking out of you and onto Armin’s sheets, as you laid incredibly still beside Eren, both of you trying to catch your breath. You were ashamed to look Eren in the eyes, avoiding his gaze still as you felt your heart rate return somewhat back to normal. 

“Hey,” was all he said, breathlessly, and with a deep look in his eyes that you had never seen before. “Are you okay?” 

He straightened himself up, leaning against the bed frame and opening his arms in an inviting manner. You wanted nothing more than to avoid his touch, but you felt the exhaustion in your limbs and you convinced yourself there was nothing wrong with being held by him for a few minutes. You leaned against his chest, his strong arms wrapping around you and pulling up the covers to shield you both from the cold air. You were content to fall asleep right here, every sense of yours taken up by Eren, but you couldn’t just yet. 

“What are we going to tell Armin?” you breathed out dejectedly. It was the one thought that was plaguing your mind, the one thought stopping you from being happy and peaceful beside Eren tonight. 

“Oh, baby. You’re acting like this entire thing this wasn’t his idea.”

...

thanks for reading! part two with armin, anyone?

[islesnucks]

5 signs you’re more than friends and should do something about it - Mathew Barzal x Reader (4+1 fic)

Word Count: 7.4 k

Warnings: a little angst and a couple swear words

Summary: after your friend Anthony sends you the link to a magazine article titled “5 signs you’re more than friends and should do something about it”, you realize maybe the article isn’t so wrong.

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A/N: I can't belive i actually wrote this, lke i had this idea for so long and i sat down and wrote dear god the power hahahha im kidding, anyway hope you like it and all feedback is appreciated and encourage actually please say nice things hahahah

You roll your eyes as you read the text Anthony has just sent you. ‘Thought you might need this’, followed by a link to an article by some lame magazine titled “5 signs you’re more than friends and should do something about it”.

This is definitely not the first time he brings up the topic and probably won’t be the last. For some reason he's fixed on it and won't let it go no matter how many times you tell him Mat and you are just friends, there’s nothing more and won’t ever be.

Sure you love Mat, he’s one of your closest friends. He’s the one you go to when you’re in trouble, the one that always knows how to cheer you up, the first one you call when you have good news, the one you could talk to for hours and never get bored, that one person you know you can count on no matter what. Mat is your person. But that’s it, there aren’t any hidden feelings, secret crushes or unrequited love drama, and you’ll keep repeating that to Tito … and to yourself.

You reply with a simple ‘fuck off’, and go back to mindlessly scrolling through instagram. But you can’t even make it to the second post before curiosity sneaks into your mind. There's this small part of you that for some reason wants to read it. So against your better judgment you go back to your messages, telling yourself it’s just some lame article that won’t probe anything, and finally click on the link.

1. You start to spend more time together ... alone

The sun was bright, not a cloud on sight, and there was a slight breeze that would come from time to time making it the perfect day to go to the park. So that’s what you decided to do. You also decided to check if Mat was free to join since you hadn't seen him in almost two weeks because he had a roadie. Luckily he had the day off and in a matter of minutes was at your door with a blanket on his right arm and the brightest grin, ready for an afternoon sitting under the trees.

“Someone’s in a good mood.” he commented as you walked through the park looking for a nice spot. You had a certain spring in your step that Mat could only hope was because of him.

“I have plenty of reasons to be in a good mood. It’s a beautiful day, I’m finally seeing my best friend after weeks and … he’s gonna buy me an ice cream.” you replied remembering the ice cream truck you had seen when you arrived.

“Who said anything about ice cream?” he bit back jokingly, setting down the blanket on your chosen spot.

You took a seat and expected him to do the same but he didn’t. Instead, he turned around without saying a single word and started walking away. It took you a second to understand what was going on and the moment it did your lips curved into the fondest smile.

A smile that stayed in your face and only grew bigger when you watched him walk back your way a couple minutes later with a cone on each hand, one with bubblegum flavored ice cream in it and the other your favorite flavor. And Mat couldn’t hid the one that appeared in his face as he watched yours. You had that effect on him, an effect he couldn’t explain yet because he hadn’t allowed himself to even consider why your simplest gestures sparked such joy in him.

You, on the other hand, couldn’t help but notice the way his t-shirt tightened around his toned arms, how the warm daylight lightened his features making him look even prettier than usual, how his dimples would appear whenever he gave you that half smirk he seemed to reserve just for you. However you quickly pushed those thoughts away, like you always did.

“Here.” he said, placing one ice cream in your hand as he finally took a seat next to you.

“I was just joking, you didn’t have to.” you assured him, but the way you looked at it proved you wrong.

“Oh please. I saw the way your face lit up when we walked by it.” You laughed and looked away, trying to hide the blush that creeped to your cheeks as Mat showed once again how much he knew you.

“How was the roadie anyway? I know you won most of the games.”

“It was good, but I missed home. You know my place, my bed, my friends” He didn’t miss his friends in general and he knew it, he missed you, he always did.

“Well your friends missed you a little too. And by your friends I mean me. And by a little I mean a whole lot.” That was music to his ears and he would’ve loved to hear more about how much you missed him but the second you heard yourself your walls went back up and you changed the topic. “Too bad Beau couldn’t come.” you added and Mat instantly tensed up beside you.

When you had called him you mentioned you planned on calling Anthony next to invite him too, since you also hadn’t seen him for weeks. He told you not to bother, he’d do it, and when he showed up alone at your place you just assumed he was busy.

“Yeah he had some important meeting or something.” Mat was quick to reply and took another bite of his ice cream, which seemed to be a mechanism to avoid talking, but you chose not to think too much into it.

You enjoyed your treats in comfortable silence. That’s one of the reasons why you liked hanging out with him so much, there was no need for small talk, no need to fill awkward silences because there weren’t any in the first place. You just enjoyed each other's presence and that was enough, that’s all you needed.

Those tender thoughts suddenly flooded your brain and you looked up at Mat. For your luck the scene you found was enough to replace said thoughts as you saw his nose covered in ice cream.

“You have some-” You signaled your own nose but he just looked at you confused. Laughing you stretch your hand to clean the ice cream off his nose but stop yourself before you could.

“Wait, you look too cute.” you said already getting your phone out to take a picture, too distracted to note the light blush that took over his cheeks because of your comment.

“This is going to ruin my reputation.” he protested, pretending to be annoyed. However the way he posed for the photo with a silly grin holding the cone close to his face showed the opposite.

“What reputation?” you teased, earning an over exaggerated eye roll from him.

Later that day when you got home you decided to upload the photo to your stories and within seconds got a reply from Tito saying: ‘you could have invited me ...’ Making it clear there was no important meeting whatsoevere.

2. You get jealous for apparently no reason

“Wait, you aren’t coming to the game tonight? Why? You were there the last couple times we won, you have to be there.” Anthony said as he walked into Mat’s living room.

“Already told her that.” Mat added with an annoyed tone that made you sigh. Today wasn’t his day. No, actually, today was a good day until you told him you wouldn’t be able to make it to his game. But that’s not what bothered him, he could get it, you had your own life. What bothered him beyond his comprehension was the reason you couldn’t go.

“Why can’t you go?” Anthony asked and you opened your mouth to answer but Mat was quicker.

“She’s got a date.” The tone in which he said it, with so much anger and even a little disgust, set you off.

“Yes, Mat I have a date. I’m sorry that’s such an inconvenience for you. I already apologize about missing tonight’s game but it’s the only night he was free, what did you want me to do?” You really didn’t get it. You had missed games before, it was a normal thing, but he had never reacted like this before and part of you knew it had nothing to do with superstitions.

“You’ve been on what? Four dates? And you’re already putting him before us, your friends.” He knew he was wrong, but all reasoning was overshadowed by his anger. He also knew it wasn’t exactly anger, it was something more complex, something deeper, something that implied more was going on, but he wasn’t ready to realize that.

“God you’re being so fucking childish!” you let out followed by an exasperated breath. All eyes fell on you. The two boys looked taken aback. “You know what? That 's it. I’m leaving.”

Mat and Tito watched you grab your purse and storm out the door before either of them could even stop you, your plans of having lunch together long forgotten.

The sound of the door closing behind you was the last thing heard before the apartment fell into complete silence. A silence he was sure his friend would break in any second to inform him he wasn’t right,

“You do know you’re overreacting, right? I get superstitions and everything, but we’re not gonna lose just because she’s not there.” Anthony finally said, taking a seat next to Mat on the couch.

“I know, I know. I don’t know what got into me.” Mat leaned in, resting his arms on his legs as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Jealousy got into you.”

“Don’t start.” he warned, but there was no point in even trying.

“Come on man. If she was missing the game for any other reason rather than being with another dude you wouldn’t be mad. That plus that little stunt you pulled the other day?”

“I really thought you had a meeting.” he kept trying to convince Anthony, even himself too.

“Barzy we both know I had no meeting. You wanted to spend time alone with her because you like-” That’s when Mat was literally saved by the bell.

You planned on leaving, you really did, but you only made it to your car before guilt kicked in. So you got off the car, made your way back to his apartment and now you waited for him to answer, repeating to yourself how you could be the mature one and push all anger aside just this time. For Mat.

He unlocked the door, unable to hide his surprised when he saw you on his doorstep. He opened up his mouth but nothing came out, he didn’t know what to say.

“I’m really angry at you. Really. But I’d hate myself if you lost because this whole thing got into your head. And don't even try and tell me it won’t because I know you and-”

Words died in your mouth when you felt his arms wrapped around you, holding you tightly against his chest. You didn’t hesitate a second to hug him back.

“I’m sorry.” he mumbled against your hair.

“I’m sorry too.” you said back and felt his body relax under your touch. “You better win tonight so I don’t feel guilty.”

“I promise we will.” He pulled away to look down at you before adding: “For you.”

Maybe there was something in the tone he used, maybe it was the tender look in his eyes as he said them or maybe it was the words themselves. Something in the way he finished his sentence made your heart skip a beat. It felt different from other times, there was something different and you couldn’t put your finger on it. Something had changed.

Deciding not to think much about it, you stood on your tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek before turning around and heading out of the building once again.

Mat hoped you couldn’t notice how he watched you walk away, awestruck look on his face, almost hypnotized. Or how his hand went up to touch where you had kissed him seconds ago. He felt like the biggest cliché in history, his skin still tingling even though your lips were long gone.

You didn’t notice, but Anthony who watched from the couch as the whole scene unfold did. He seemed to be the only one out of the three of you to notice and all he could do was hope you’d eventually realize what he had known for a long time.

3. You are always available for each other + 4. You lose interest on everyone else

You were trying so hard to pay attention to what he was saying. One would think it can’t be that hard to pay attention to someone speaking directly at you, but right now everything seemed ten times more interesting than anything he could say.

It wasn’t his fault, he was doing everything right. He was nice, funny, smart, polite and on top of that handsome. But it just didn’t work, it didn’t click. The first couple dates were nice and you could overlook the fact something seemed to be missing, you thought maybe after getting to know each other it would feel right. Yet almost six dates later you still didn’t feel it and it was getting harder and harder to believe you eventually would.

“Y/N? Are you there?” you were brought back to reality.

“Y-yeah sorry. You were saying something about work, right?”

“Yes, but I think someone is calling you.” He pointed down at your phone placed on the table. You had been so lost in your thoughts you didn’t even notice.

“Oh, yeah. I’m going to take this, it’ll be a second.”

He nodded and you excused yourself again as you quickly got up with your phone in hand and walked away from the table. Then you answered without even checking who was calling.

“I have an emergency.” You instantly recognized his voice.

“Mat.” you let out, almost like a relieved sigh.

“Yeah, me, Mat. Don’t you have caller ID?” His smartass tone made you roll your eyes but you couldn’t hide the smile on your face.

“I do, I just- What’s the emergency?”

“Remember all that furniture you helped me buy for my guestroom?” How could you forget? You spent hours going from store to store to buy the perfect furniture for Mat’s unused guestroom, which now sat in said room, still in boxes because he was too lazy to build it.

“The one I’ve been telling you you should build for months?”

“Yeah, that. So the thing is my sister is coming tomorrow morning and I completely forgot so I need a kind generous soul to help me build everything before she arrives.”

Looking back at your table you saw your date there waiting for you and felt that guilt in the pit of your stomach because even if it was wrong and you shouldn’t do it you knew what your next step was going to be. There was no point in even pretending you were considering your options, the moment you heard Mat’s voice you knew you’d end up leaving your date early for him.

You tried hard not to think why you were doing this. Why you were leaving behind a really nice guy to help your friend. Why couldn't you feel something for this seemingly perfect guy. Why the moment you heard Mat’s voice you smiled with relief. But luckily for you before you could even begin to connect the dots you arrived at Mat’s place.

Mat opened the door and was a little taken aback by how you looked, he forgot how to breathe for a second. Friends don’t get like that when they see their other friends, he had other friends that were girls and when he saw them dressed up the world didn’t stop like it had just happened with you. He suddenly became a 14 year old boy who didn’t know how to behave around pretty girls and he did what a stupid kid trying to seem cool would do: tease you.

“Well you sure like to dress up for furniture building.” He regretted it the moment he heard himself and as you rolled your eyes in annoyance Mat wanted to punch himself. Hard.

“I’ll explain later. Can I borrow some comfy clothes?” you asked as you walked into his apartment.

“Sure, you know where everything is.” Mat locked the door behind him and watched you walk down the hall to his bedroom.

You reappeared a couple minutes later with one of his sweatpants and old isles shirts on, to him it was the cutest sight ever. You had put your hair up in a bum and taken some of your makeup off. In his eyes you looked even more beautiful than before and he had to remind himself that’s not the kind of thoughts someone has about their friends.

“I was on a date when you called and came straight from there, that’s why I was dressed like that.” you finally explained.

“Shit, sorry. I really didn’t know.” If he was being honest he wasn’t sorry at all, he didn’t know about the date so he obviously didn’t do it on purpose but there was this small part of him that loved the fact you left another guy for him. He mentally high-fived himself.

“Oh don’t worry. You kinda saved me.” Mat had to fight the smile that threatened to appear at your words.

“Not a good date?” There it was again, that little joyous feeling he couldn't explain.

“I mean it was a good date. He’s a good guy and he genuinely seems to like me. The reasonable side of me says I should like him but …”

“But you don’t feel it.” he finished your sentence. You let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t.” You looked up at him and that was enough for him to know what to do. In a second Mat was stepping closer and wrapping you in his arms, right arm drawing soothing circles in your back.

“It’s okay, you shouldn’t have to force it.” He tried to make you feel better but there was no reply. “You don’t wanna talk about it, do you?” You shook your head still resting against his chest. He felt a pang of guilt hit him for being so happy at your failed romance when you were clearly in distress because of it. “We can watch a movie if you want instead of preparing the guest room. Liana can sleep in my room and I’ll sleep in the couch.” Your heart warmed at how considerate he was being, but then again it was Mat, what else were you expecting?

“No, don’t worry, building some swedish furniture will help me clear my mind.” You took a step back, freeing yourself from his embrace. Something you didn’t exactly want but knew if the hug prolonged your mind would go back to that one place you were avoiding tonight.

“Okay if we’re doing this at least let’s have some fun.” he said with his signature playful smirk grabbing his phone. “You order us something to eat, anything you want. I’ll get the beers from the fridge, we can put some good music on and actually enjoy building furniture.” he spoke as he walked to the kitchen.

“Good music as in old Justin Bieber songs?” He stopped for a second as he opened the fridge and couldn’t help the way his smile grew hearing you tease him, glad you weren’t feeling so down after all.

“Yes, good music as in Justin Bieber. Now order something smartass, I’m starving.” he shouted back from the kitchen. You giggled at his response. Music to Mat’s ears.

The rest of the afternoon was spent between cardboard boxes in Mat’s guestroom, eating the pizza you ended up ordering, drinking beer and building furniture between laughs.

At one point you found yourself realizing how easy it all was with Mat. No need to force anything, things just flowed naturally with him. The thought that maybe that connection you sought somewhere else was right there in front of you terrified you, so you pushed it away, letting Mat’s horrible attempt to reach Bieber’s high notes distract you.

5. Your friendship is different than others you have

Movie nights were a tradition between you and Mat. Almost weekly the two of you would end up on his couch watching whatever new movie caught your eye on Netflix. He would never admit it but he loved romcoms, he always pretended to suddenly find them even though sometimes you could see they were already on his list. So like many other nights you ended up watching a romcom, the only difference was this time it wasn’t only you and him.

Like Mat had said his sister was coming to visit for a couple days and staying with him, because of that you assumed movie night wouldn't happen. It was fine, you didn’t have to do movie night every week, sometimes he was on the road or you were too busy. Mat knew it wasn’t an obligation but after seeing you so down the other day he wanted to do anything that could help you distract. When he explained everything to Liana she didn’t mind, she could just stay in the guestroom, but her brother insisted she watched the movie with them because he knew you and knew you’d feel guilty if it seemed like you were interrupting their time together as siblings. So after a lot of begging from him she gave in, only to later regret it so much.

It was painful to watch the two of you being so oblivious as to what the other was feeling. The way he’d look at you in the middle of a romantic scene, Liana swore he probably was recreating it with you in his head. You, however, were a lot better at hiding it, but the movie was incredibly boring and watching the two of you secretly pin for each other was like a car crush, Liana couldn’t look away no matter how painful it was. She just inevitably noticed the way you’d sneak a peek at mat from time to time, how you started sitting closer and closer as the movie went on, how Mat wouldn’t laugh at a lame joke until you did.

She had never seen two friends act like this, she had never seen his brother act like this around other friends. This simply wasn’t a friendship anymore and she wanted to scream at the two of you for being too blind, but her breaking point came when the movie ended.

“What’s with the long face?” Mat asked after seeing the gloomy look you had, eyes fixed on the screen but mind clearly far away.

“Lately it just seems like I’ll never get that.” you let out as you watched the end credits roll on the screen. Like all the romcoms Mat always chose it ended up with the couple together and ready to live their happily ever after.

“What do you mean? All because things didn’t work out with that guy?” Mat paused the movie, not wanting the background music of the credits to bother.

“Not only that. It’s just everyone I meet it doesn’t work out, like there’s always this one thing that I don’t know what it is missing.” Maybe seeing the couple in the movie moved something inside of you, maybe there was a deeper reason behind it you weren’t ready to recognize yet; all of a sudden you were spilling out your love problems. “And I’m just tired, you know? I don’t wanna go through the whole process of meeting someone and getting to know them. I wanna jump straight ahead to us being comfortable around each other and happily together, cuddling and joking around and kissing.”

Liana had to literally bite her tongue to not tell you you already had that right in front of you. Instead she opted for calling it a night, making a mental note to talk about it to her brother tomorrow morning, when he was still asleep enough to actually listen to her instead of shutting everything down the second she came up with the topic, like he always would.

“I think I’m gonna head to bed now.” she added after a loud yawn that was clearly fake.

“Sorry about this again, I didn’t want to interrupt you guys but Barzy insisted.” you apologized once again making her roll her eyes in the sweetest way possible.

“Don’t worry. I really enjoyed the movie.”

“No you didn’t, your brother’s taste in movies sucks.”

“Hey!” Mat threw a cushion your way.

“It really does.” you said throwing the cushion back at him. Mat caught it easily with a cocky smile on his face and was ready to start a fight when Liana interrupted you.

“Goodnight guys.” she said, already turning around to head to the guest room.

“Night.” you and Mat responded at the same time.

Liana disappeared down the hall and you got up with the bowl that used to be full of popcorn on one hand and your empty beer bottle on the other, and headed to the kitchen. Soon enough Mat joined you in the kitchen and you started throwing away the empty box of takeout as he put the dishes on the dishwasher.

It felt weirdly domestic how you’d clean around the kitchen together in comfortable silence, almost like a routine. Mat would never admit it but he loved how at home you seemed in his place, after spending so much time there it did start to feel like a second home, and once again he could not imagine having these little domestic moments with anyone else.

“You know I feel the same most times.” he said so out of the blue that it took you a moment to understand what he was talking about.

“You do?” you asked turning around with furrowed brows and confused grin, but he was too busy putting away the empty bottles to see.

“Why is it that hard to believe?”

“You're a hot multimillionaire elite athlete Mathew. You could have any girl, you won’t end up alone.”

“You say it like it’s a good thing.” he let out accompanied by a chuckle that showed everything but joy. You couldn’t see him because he had his back turned to you but his tone said it all.

“It isn’t?”

“It sucks Y/N. Every time I meet a girl there’s this constant thought in my head ‘she just wants your money’, ‘she just wants to use you as a platform’.” He finally turned around and the sorrowful look on his face showed how serious he was being, which made you feel horrible for throwing such a shallow comment seconds ago.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know you felt like that." You walked up to him, wrapping your arms around his torso as he leaned against the counter. His hands that previously rested on each side of the marble surface instantly moved to hold you close. “You never said anything.'' you mumbled against him, cheek glued to his chest.

“It’s okay. I don’t talk about this stuff with anyone.” he tried to make you feel better, hand drawing soothing circles in your back. You thought he was done speaking but after a small pause, almost as if he was debating with himself whether to say it or not, he added: “Just with you I guess.”

“Really?” You poked up your head, chin now laying against him as you looked up at him genuinely surprised. Mat had many other friends, he was a sociable guy. Sure he wasn’t as close as he was with you with every one of them, but still you were sure he had some other pretty close friends apart from you.

“Mhm.” he hummed with a tight lipped smile and then looked down at you. “It’s easier to talk with you, I feel like you get me and you’d never judge me. Like don’t get me wrong I have friends I love, Beau for example, but with you it’s just different. I don’t mind opening up or showing you my insecurities.”

His words shouldn’t have moved you the way they did, but you were feeling every emotion at once. You’d deny it but part of you relished the thought of you taking a special place in his life, a unique one somehow. The other part of you was terrified of what it meant to enjoy the fact he had no other like you.

“I feel the same.” was all you were able to say because it was true, there was no other like Mat in your life. You were sure you could eventually get in and out of relationships, in and out of friendships, but you knew Mat was always going to be there.

You were looking straight into his green eyes, there was a certain spark that you couldn’t figure out what meant and as Mat looked back at you he could see that same spark in yours. There was a silent conversation, an unspoken agreement as you gazed deeply into each other.

“Shit. Sorry.” Liana’s voice suddenly brought you back to reality, a reality in which you and Mat were two best friends standing way too close and looking at each other in a way best friends don’t. She wasn’t sure what she had walked into and she could tell not even the two of you were sure what was going on by the way you quickly took a step back getting away from Mat’s embrace and how he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck avoiding eye contact.

-> 'If you identify with any of the above we’re sorry to tell you: you’re definitely more than friends. But don’t worry! It’s proven that some of the best relationships start as friendships. Go and tell them! They probably feel the same.'

It has been around two weeks since you read that stupid article Tito had sent you and it won’t leave your mind, it’s like the words are engraved in your brain. It’s messing your head to the point you started replaying every moment you and Mat had together, every night spent on his couch watching movies, every big hug after a game, every late night call when either of you was feeling bad, every inside joke you shared. Everything seems to have a new meaning behind it and the worst part is it’s starting to affect your relationship with Mat.

You started taking extra hours of work, spending more time on your hobbies, hanging out with your other group of friends. In the process of keeping yourself busy so your mind won’t wander back to that damn article you stopped seeing or talking to Mar as often as you used to. Even if you aren’t actively trying to ignore him, that’s what ended up happening without you even noticing.

But Mat did notice. It felt like a part of him was missing, like you were slowly slipping away from him and he didn’t know why or what to do. Your absence only made him more painfully aware of how much you meant to him. In those days when he didn’t even get a text from you he realized that new feelings had developed, that he could spend days without talking to other friends and it wouldn’t affect him this much. Once he was brave enough to admit to himself that he indeed had fallen for his best friend everything started making sense, but your absence only started to hurt more.

That’s why Mat decides to show up at your place unannounced. He has no plan whatsoever, he doesn't know what he’s going to say, he just knows he needs things to go back to how they were, even if it means having to push down his feelings. He’d rather endure the daily pain of pretending there’s nothing more than friendship than there actually being nothing at all.

You aren’t expecting anyone so you’re surprised when you hear a knock on your door and even more surprised when you look through the peephole of your door only to find Mat nervously looking at the floor on the other side of your door.

“Mat? What are you doing here?” you ask as you open the door. Distressed is clear in his eyes as he lifts his head to look at you.

“We need to talk.” he states with such a stern tone that’s completely unlike him, denoting how serious he’s about this.

“Ok? Sure come in.” You move to the side to let him walk into your apartment and then lock the door behind you. “What do you wanna talk about?”

“Us.” he replies and your heart stops. Anxiety starts building up inside you. That’s the one topic you have been avoiding.

“What about us?” You pretend to be oblivious as to what is going on, like this isn’t the first time you had seen him in days when you’d normally hang out daily.

“Come on Y/N. There’s something going on here.” Mat says but not even himself knows if he is referring to his newly discovered feelings or the fact you have distanced yourself.

You stay silent, painfully aware of what he’s talking about and how much it has affected him, yet still not brave enough to face it. A heavy silence falls upon the room, something you don't think you’ve ever experienced with Mat. Even when you had just started hanging out there never was one of those uncomfortable moments you so desperately wanted to end, everything just worked out so effortlessly with him; but not now, not anymore.

“Did I do something?” he asks and the pure look of sorrow in his face makes your heart break. “I-I don’t know if I did something or said something, but whatever it is I’m so sorry Y/N. If it’s something I said I didn’t mean it I swear and if it’s something I did I probably just wasn’t thinking, you know i do stupid stuff sometimes. I’d never do anything to hurt you on purpose-” he starts pacing up and down the living room, words leaving his mind before he can even think if he is making any sense.

“Mat wait.” you interrupt him, walking up to him and placing your hands on his shoulders to stop him. He looks down at you with glassy eyes and if there’s a piece of your heart that hasn’t broken yet now it does. “You didn’t do anything I promised. If anything I should be the one apologizing. I’m sorry I’ve been a little off lately, it’s just that- I don’t know how to explain it. There’s this one thing that kinda got in my head and I don’t know I haven’t been myself lately, at least not with you. But I promise you didn’t do anything Mat.”

He doesn’t respond, instead without a second of hesitation he leans down and puts his arms around you, pulling you against his chest in a tight hug. You feel him let out a deep breath and every bit of tension leaves his body, showing how much all of this has affected him.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” he asks as one of his hands goes to gently stroke your hair.

“It’s not a big deal, don't worry.” you mumble, face still glued to his chest.

It is a big deal, it’s a huge deal because as he hugs you all you can feel is yourself falling deeper and deeper for the amazing guy that is supposed to be just your friend. But how could you not? He was right there begging you to forgive him for something he didn’t even do, just wanting to be there for you. How could you not fall for Mat when in your eyes he is the best man you have ever known?

“I’m here, you know? For anything you need, I’m here.” you hear his whisper against your hair before placing a sweet kiss there. That gesture moves something inside of you and words leave your mouth before you can even process them.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” he simply replies, clearly not noticing the new meaning behind your words.

It takes you less than a second to decide your next move. You could pretend everything is normal and those three words have no added meaning beyond platonic love behind them, or you could once and for all confess what you have been keeping inside for too long now and not even dared to confess to yourself. Once again there really isn’t a choice to be made, your heart has already decided for you long ago, all you have to do is finally follow it.

“No, Mat. I love you. I love love you.” You pull away to look at him, needing him to see how much you mean it. He looks at you confused as you gather every bit of courage you have left to say those 5 words you’ve been trying so hard to push down. “I’m in love with you.”

You can see the wheels turning in his head as he processes what you have said. In a second his eyes go wide and he looks down at you in shock. Mat cannot believe what he’s hearing.

“You love me?!” is all he can say, almost as if he needs confirmation he heard it right, he isn’t dreaming it.

“I do.” you reply in a regretful tone, feeling almost as if you should apologize for it. “Tito sent me this lame article about friends that are more than friends and I should’ve ignored it but I got curious and I read it and I regret it so much. That’s why I’ve been so distante, because that stupid article made me realize I have feeling for you.” You try to explain yourself, trying to justify these feelings even though you know it doesn’t work like that, you can’t blame the article for making you aware of something that was already there.

There’s no answer from Mat and, unlike you normally could, now you can’t read him. You just confessed your feelings to your best friend and there’s no sign whatsoever of what he could be feeling. That’s when that anxious feeling in the middle of your chest starts building, you can feel your heartbeat racing, mouth gets dry. You have to fix it, somehow you have to fix it because the only thing worse than having to love your best friend in secret is losing him and you can’t lose him.

The mere thought of him not being there brings tears to your eyes and Mat is trying so hard to tell you he feels the same, he loves you, but words aren’t coming out and all he can do is look at you speechless as you break down in front of him.

“It’s okay if you don’t love love me, I really don’t want to ruin our friendship. We can pretend this never happened. You know I’m probably just confused, I’m sure these feelings can go away, I’ll make them go away-”

“I love you too.” he cuts you off.

Now you’re the one looking shocked. You aren’t sure what you expected would happen when you confessed your feelings. Part of you obviously hoped those feelings were reciprocated, but you didn’t know how Mat would feel and somehow him telling you he loves you back baffles you even though it’s the best outcome you could’ve imagined.

“You do?” you ask with doe eyes full of hope that warm him to the core.

“I do.” You can’t help but smile at the way he’s feverishly nodding his head as he says it, or maybe is the fact the man you love loves you too and you don’t have to hide it anymore. Either way the brightest smile appears in your face and warms Mat to the core. He cups your face in his hands bringing you closer, needing you closer. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” you repeat but it ends up sounding like a whisper, all your breath is taken away by the way you’re getting closer and closer. Your gaze drifts from his eyes to his mouth, back to his eyes just in time to catch him doing the exact same.

He starts leaning down slowly and trying to be gentle, to take his time after waiting so long for this moment, however you can’t wait. You raise yourself on your tip toes and finally connect your lips to his; you accidentally bump his nose with yours and nearly miss his lips since you closed your eyes before going for it, but nevertheless you finally kiss him. He’s surprised at first but then you can feel him smile, a small chuckle leaving his lips and dying in yours. It makes you giggle, turning the kiss into something far from the straight out of a movie first kiss you imagined but not making it any less perfect.

You both dreamed about this moment too many times but it’s better than anything else you could have dreamed of. He can taste that strawberry chapstick you always use like he knew he would if he ever had the privilege of finding out what your lips felt like against his, and now that he knows he’s sure it’s his new favorite flavor.

You title your head slightly, your lips now fitting perfectly with his, like it's meant to be. One of his hands moves to your lower back, pulling you impossibly closer as yours meet in the back of his neck. The kiss becomes deeper, it’s no longer clumsy and shy like in the beginning. You’re past that. You’re feeling a thousand different emotions at once and trying to express them wordlessly with your lips.

It could’ve lasted forever, neither of you would’ve complained, but eventually it ends. He pulls back sheepishly and playfully rubs the tip of his nose against yours, then kisses it. You open your eyes to see his shining bright. He’s beaming down at you and heat rushes to your cheeks but for the first time you don’t feel the need to hide it or deny what he provokes in you, this time you embrace it as your lips curl up in a smile just as big as his.

“That was long overdue.” he says, arms still wrapped around each other, not wanting the moment to end.

“We have to thank Beau’s article for that.” you joke, but is it really a joke? If you think about it, reading that lame article weeks ago triggered the whole domino effect that ended up with the two of you right now standing in your living room, bodies glued together, lovestruck looks written all over your faces.

“Oh no we’re never telling him it was because of his article, he’d never shut up about it.” Mat dramatically rolls his eyes making you laugh but you have to agree, Anthony doesn’t need to know the key role he unknowingly played in getting his two friends together.

“Deal.”

“Wanna seal the deal with another kiss?” He wiggled his eyebrow with a playful grin on his face.

“I’d love to.” you reply, smile matching his as you start leaning closer.

aaaaand the end! hope you liked it! like and reblogs and any type of feedback is obviously appreciated, thank you for reading!!

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[astrojoy]

Astrovations #12

Asteroid Mentions

Icarus - 1566

Nessus - 7066

🔮 Planets in the 12th, would you guys rather talk or text??

🔮 Libra rising/venus in the 1st were most definitely people pleasers when young. Honestly maybe they still are but it's most common when they're young because they didn't learn to build boundaries yet

🔮 Asteroid Icarus (1566) conjunct Chiron can indicate you creating or inducing chironic tendencies. An example is chiron conjunct the DC but Icarus conjunct chiron. You could be causing the chiron effect in that relationship but might not realize it

🔮 If you have different zodiac signs for your 4th house, or planets than your sibling(s), then they still would probably make sense for you as well. (EX - Me -> Aquarius, Uranus, Mars, Neptune + My older brother -> Capricorn, Neptune + My little brother-> Aquarius, Neptune = the capricorn in my older brothers house could mean strict or responsibilites and we actually did have this, however it was moreover the manners that my dad was very strict on. Neptune is a running theme in our houses and my mom smoked a lot and also wasn't around for emotional support since she was so busy dealing with work and my dad)

🔮 A scorpio rising effects will be lessened if it holds a venus. Oh also if it's not at a critical degree. If it's at a critical degree then scorpio can make an effort to show more, and venus will be felt either in the looks or only when people sometimes approach you

�� Lilith in the 7th are really sweet people from what I've noticed. This could tie in with the fact that they attract people with darker qualities to them. It's like seeing a black vs a white koi fish, balance

🔮 Asteroid Icarus (1566) conjunct Jupiter can make the asteroid expand it's effects and have a greater/bigger outcome since Jupiter expands wherever it is placed

🔮 Jupiter in the 3rd/Gemini/Virgo/conjunct Mercury/12th can represent learning a foreigne language in life at some point

🔮 Eros in synastry can show what the person loves about you or longs for in the connection (Ex - Eros in the 5th would really love the house persons creativity and hobbies. They would want to be able to spend time on those subjects with you!!)

🔮 Nessus/Moon harsh aspects show oneself neglect or unknowingly reject their emotions. In a way this can also make for pessimistic emotions and not treating oneself they way they deserve to be treated

🔮 Nessus/Moon positive aspects can show an understanding of their more pessimistic side and trying to work with it once they grow up. The pains they have been through might fuel a passion to seek healing of the mind and emotions

🔮 Venus in the 11th I'd think would have very charming friends. This can range from how they speak, or their actual physical features

🔮 Eros/Juno aspects = Really passionate relationship with marriage partner. Like erotic moments may be common and sentimental in a way 😳

🔮 Jupiter in 11th attract artsy people

🔮 Jupiter in 11th = blessed in friend groups/networks of people unless harsh aspects are prominent or harsh planrts hit

🔮 Having a planet in the 6th of the navamsa D9 chart can show a significant placement for having a pet after marriage

🔮 I've actually noticed mars in Aries people attract enemies sometimes

🔮 I've seen how people with only air + fire in the big 3 take quick showers "well I just need to get clean than go" and water + fire tends to have either quick or short showers (inconsistent), air + water longer showers. I don't have much experience with earth big 3 people however, haven't been around when they needed to go take a shower or anything 🤷‍♀️

🔮 I've seen so many Taurus suns with beautiful eyes oml- just make me all flustered why don't you- 😳 no but seriously idk if it's because my 7th/north node/lilith/8th is in Taurus or what but dayum pLZ (personally love Taurus people so much oml sidbqihsiqhwhwu) (consider this a compliment/I just needed to remind you guys of your beauty 😌)

🔮 Sagittarius placement people are so cool to be around, the people I can actually be so chaotic with and not even be ashamed like I love you guys ✨

🔮 Mars in the 4th I've seen cause a smaller chest. Maybe because it's an active fire sign in a feminine water house? Idk 💀 noticed this in 2 other people besides myself

🔮 Saturn square ascendant can create a person looking younger than their actual age

🔮 Juno persona chart + Natal//marriage I saw a man have his venus in the 1st house, and a woman had venus conjunct her ascendant in her Juno persona chart. She was actually married to the guy 🥺

🔮 Vertex conjunct Moon makes the person destined to have a really close relationship/bond with the mother figure or the exact opposite

🔮 Jupiter in the 11th I've realized enjoy giving to others. Generosity is especially present when they are around friends

🔮 Capricorn in the 11th can show having more older friends. If not then they could be more mature for their age

🔮 Uranus in the 12th can cause unknown enemies to pop up out of nowhere. Like when your driving and a deer suddenly runs across the road? Some stuff like that

[terichii]

Stalking | Haitani

Warnings: clumsy english text, typos

Can I just write something before I see these beautiful boys in the new episode?

Ran

You knew for sure that you had already seen this guy. By a stupid accident, one day he helped you collect your things that were scattered all over the street. Since then, he surprisingly often began to catch your eye. You noticed him on the way to and from work when you went to the store or just walked around the city. Sometimes he was passing by you and smile, which was confusing, but sometimes you noticed how he was watching from afar. In the end, it was like being paranoid. It seemed that you were about to see these two braids that callused your eyes, sitting on the sofa in your living room.

And you've come to terms with it. Almost. Until something happened.

"You've been finishing up pretty late lately."

"Eh?...",- the familiar voice sent shivers down your spine. You froze, unable to move. But you didn't want to turn your head because you probably knew it was him. Now it was just like a terrible dream that did not want to let you go.

"Do you need a ride?"

Swallowing, you turned around. Yes, it was him. That creepy guy with those stupid braids that you hated. Leaning on the steering wheel of the bike and propping his chin on his hand, he looked at you with a narrowed eye and a grin.

"Uh...n-no, thank you, I'm not far here...", - but you're lying and it seems that he understands this. The time was really late, and you live far away. But right now you were thinking about how to escape from him. You walked further along the street, periodically glancing at him and speeding up your pace. If you had the opportunity, you would have run with all your might now, but you knew that this opportunity was not there. You definitely can't overtake a bike.

The guy caught up with you, looking right into your face, the grin became even wider when he realized what was going on, it seemed that he felt you too well, - "Are you afraid of me?"

"What?? Of course not", - the words, full of indignation, literally burst out of you. No, you weren't afraid of him, you were already sick of seeing him. Isn't that right? Right? ...

From your harsh words, he looked thoughtfully somewhere up into the night sky, before turning back to you, - "That's how...but…"

But you're already gone.

Pausing in mid-sentence, Ran began to look around, peering into the depths of the dark streets. He pursed his lips when he realized where you went – to a remote alley. The place is not the safest.

Your rapid footsteps echoed hollowly from the concrete walls of the narrow alleys. Hoping to take a shortcut and get out of here as soon as possible, you wound through unfamiliar courtyards until you once again came to a dead end.

"Damn",- your thoughts began to get confused again, a tight lump rose somewhere in your throat, you felt panic. If you go back, he will be there. But you're tired of looking for a way out.

"Hey, baby, are you lost?"

Lost in your thoughts, you did not notice how three criminal-looking guys turned out to be nearby. One of them came up to you with an imposing gait, unceremoniously grabbing you by the waist, the disgusting type pulled you closer to him.

"Why are you so tense, relax, we can help you with this, right, guys?", - the guy looked at his friends and laughed, they also took up his initiative.

Unpleasant laughter causes a headache, for a second you thought that you could just give up, that this is not happening to you and it has gone too far.

"Take your hands off!!", - pushing him away from you with a sharp jerk, you jumped back a couple of steps.

The guy staggered, but stood on his feet, although an unpleasant aching pain spread over his chest, which caused his cheerful mood to instantly evaporate, giving way to anger, - "Catch this bitch."

After these words, you immediately slipped back into the narrow alley along which you came, when the others ran after you. Out of the corner of your ear, you heard threats flying after you. You ran, running out of strength until you found an even narrower alley with containers behind which you could hide.

Footsteps and voices echoed past your shelter, sweat broke out on your face, and your legs were buzzing because of the heavy load, but you were still sitting stiffly on the cold, dirty asphalt, unable to move and breathe calmly.

But the panic again covered you when the steps were approaching in your direction, and the shadow fell on the wall of the building opposite. But you breathed a sigh of relief when you saw the tall figure of a guy you already know. It seems that for the first time you were happy to see him.

"Are you okay?", - an excited expression appeared on his face as he looked you up and down and held out his hand to help you up.

"Yes, I was just a little scared...", - you accepted the help and got up on your numb legs, brushing off your clothes from the dirt, - "Thank you for...oh...you have blood on your cheek", - you didn't understand why you were worried about him, seeing only a small scratch on his face, but...from this angle, you noted that your pursuer was very cute, which made your cheeks turn pink.

"Hmm?", - passing his hand over his cheek, he looked at his fingers, which really had smeared blood on them, but..- "It's not mine", - the guy smiled gently, which caused you confusion, but you were calm.

"Do you see how many problems there are just because you didn't agree to my offer?", - a light chuckle eased the tension between the two of you as he held out his hand to you again, - "So can I give you a ride?"

Confused, even more, you looked uncertainly into his eyes and, not seeing the danger, carefully put your hand in his, - "I think...yes."

Rindou

"I think it's starting to rain...", - a familiar voice drawled thoughtfully to your's right, while you were standing at the intersection and was waiting for the green light.

From surprise, you turned around and shuddered – in the crowd of people waiting for the signal, there was him - a guy with blond hair and a very ordinary sharp face. The purple eyes shine a little, brazenly looking at your's face. Without turning around, he opens his umbrella right at the moment when the first thunderclap sounds somewhere in the distance.

"Aren't you afraid of getting wet?", - It became obvious that this guy was talking to you, taking a light step past those standing around.

"No", - you whisper, taking a step back.

Suddenly, a beep is heard behind him. The cars on the road freeze, and the flow of people rushes forward, carrying you away. Your thoughts were confused as your legs desperately carried you somewhere ahead. You had already passed the crossing, but something made you turn around. Your heart stopped for a moment, then began to pound wildly – you saw him among the huge mass of heads. His blond, disheveled hair shone like the sun from under a black umbrella. It seems that he also noticed you – a friendly smile appeared on his face. Lifting his umbrella, he waved vigorously at you with his free hand.

This innocent gesture caused a wave of icy goosebumps to run down your back, and you hurried to escape from a crowded place to some courtyards.

You ran for a long time, ragged breath coming out of your mouth until the strength left you, and you stopped. You needed to catch your breath. The rain was beating harder and harder on your head. Your hair and clothes were soaked through

"You'll catch a cold if you keep running like this," - he suddenly heard very close to your ear.

You jumped on the spot and turned around. It's him again! And how does he manage to catch up with you, while maintaining an absolutely calm appearance?..

The guy came closer, taking advantage of your confusion. He held out his hand. Cold…

His angular hand slid onto your forearm and, moving up, pulled uncomfortably on your wet sleeve.

"What do you want from me?...", - you whispered very softly. Your voice was hoarse, frightened. You were shaking all over.

A real hurricane of thoughts was spinning in your head. The first meeting was on a clear evening, a sweet, promising conversation. When did everything go wrong? Now he was following your constantly. At first, he seemed unobtrusive and courteous – he met you, accompany you through dangerous streets to the house. But...after one of the meetings, everything changed. Or not?

"I just want to walk you home", - as always, he smiled warmly with his simple smile, as if he did not understand how creepy he looks now, in their "accidental" meeting. - "Yes, and this rain is so not at the right time. And I see you don't take an umbrella…"

"Fuck off already!", - you screamed and started running again, leaving the frightening interlocutor in slight confusion.

The rain was falling harder and harder, blurring the view with a solid wall. Where did you run to? You didn't care anymore. A straight section, a turn, another turn, a wide street that you run diagonally, ignoring the indignant shouts in the back. The lights of the signs and windows dance around you. Everything merges into a strange nightmare, where bright colors are just decorations. Your heart continues to pound wildly, the noise of blood in your ears is deafening.

That's when you bump into someone's thick carcass. An elastic blow throws you to the wet asphalt. Your hands are burning with pain, and you finally come to your senses.

You were now sitting in some dark alley, where neither lonely windows nor the black doors of various eateries do not go out.

A moment of confusion.

"S-sorry", - you rise, leaning on a skinned palm. It stings. – "I just…"

"Are you lost, beautiful?" - A high-pitched adult voice was heard.

You lookup. In front of you is a heavy man significantly exceeding you in height. He chuckles slightly as he looks at you. And now he was reaching out to you

"Let me examine your hands...", - a hard grip shackles your right wrist, pulls forward.

You are overwhelmed by panic, you can't resist it, are absolutely tired. From despair and pain, you began to howl softly.

"Well, well", - the man encouraged you, smiling maliciously, continuing to pull you to him. – "There's nothing terrible here, dear, now I'll help you get rid of the pain…"

The other hand was also close to your body. It seemed that something irreparable was about to happen.

"Don't...please let me go!", - you whimpered and squeezed your eyes shut in a fit of hopelessness.

And then something happened.

You opened one eye, unable to restrain a strange curiosity. The man let go of your hand, and all his attention was now focused on the guy standing almost between them. With one hand he continued to squeeze the umbrella, the water from which was just trickling down the rough man's neck, and with the other, he was squeezing his fat wrist.

"I think they told you to let go," - he said seriously, looking straight into the small, surprising beady eyes.

"What?", - that's all the boar said, after which he tried to crush the stranger with his mass, stepping forward.

What happened next, you remembered vaguely. More precisely, you just didn't have time to remember exactly what happened. The guy only smiled rapaciously at the fat man's movement, after which he made several blows so fast that you simply did not catch them all. Just sharp shadows under the light of a lone lantern suddenly crashed into a thick carcass. The pig didn't even say anything, just fell back, collapsing on the garbage bags against the wall.

Realizing that it was all over, you turned her gaze to your pursuer and were amazed. He stood there, absolutely calm, smiling affably and holding out his hand to her.

"It's dangerous to go home alone. Can I walk you out?"

A lump rose in your throat, but you immediately overcame herself and took the stranger by the hand. - "Yes, I think I should agree"

You smiled sweetly back at him, then obediently stood under a wide umbrella, and together you moved to the exit of the alley.