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leebrontide · 1 year

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Secondhand Origin Stories, Chapter 12

Here's this week's chapter! Reblogs welcome!

For those of you just joining us, I'm posting a chapter a week of my free near future scifi/low neon cyberpunk YA/NA novel, Secondhand Origin Stories, which has been described as

"-a character driven, compelling story full of family, queerness, corruption, brain altering nanites, secretly teen parenting AIs, and taking aspects of the superhero genre to their very human and rarely-explored natural conclusions."

For an index of already uploaded chapters that hopefully I will remember to update, content warnings and more, check here:You can follow along by following #SHOSweekly

Chapter 12

The next morning, Jamie was pleasantly surprised that she could get Aldis to let her help out around the office. She didn’t ask to go with the trucks, since obviously she’d ruin the “super-movers” image, but at least she could carry flat boxes to and from the ground floor garages for the pack-and-move client they had later that day. Then she inventoried boxes and tape, and headed back to the office. Being productive kept her out of her head and away from her phone. She just wasn’t ready yet.

She was a little surprised to find Aldis at the office desk when she went back upstairs.

“Morning. I--”

Issac poked his head in the office. “I’m headed out to lunch.” He looked at Jamie. “How do I look?”

Jamie regarded him for a second. The suit was fine. Issac, on the other hand... “Kind of sick.” Maybe he shouldn't have joined Yael in eating leftover birthday cake for breakfast.

He fiddled with the cuffs of his sleeves, tugging them down. “I didn’t end up sleeping a lot last night.” He held up his wrist, the translation bracelet glimmering inside his sleeve. “Software tweaks. Got a restaurant business meeting. It’s gonna be way worse than the grocery store.”

“Hope you plan to share those tweaks,” Aldis suggested cheerfully.

Issac shrugged. “Sure, why not. There must be a forum or something.”

“Hold on,” Jamie ordered, and ran back down the hall to the VIP suite. Her assisting Aldis had coincidentally kept her out of the apartment long enough for Opal to shower and get dressed.

Jamie found her bags and started rummaging. “I just need to find--” When she looked up, Yael was staring sullenly at the window, still laying on the “bed” they’d made by shoving the couches end to end. Xe was wearing a t-shirt declaring that “every pizza is a personal pizza if you try hard and believe in yourself.”

“Yael, shouldn’t you have left already? Is that really what you’re wearing?” She realized after she’d said it how much she sounded like her mom. She found what she was looking for in her bag.

Opal leaned over the back of the couch. “You should probably take this kind of seriously. If I had an interview with the head of the APB, I would be trying to look as superheroic as possible. Especially if my brother was skating by on nepotism and a sketchy job to avoid getting arrested.”

Yael looked up at Opal, then sighed. “Fine. For Issac, then.”

Opal rolled her eyes just slightly at Yael’s grudging acceptance, then glanced at Jamie, expecting to find sympathy.

Jamie smiled back, wishing Opal’s smile looked less sad.

“Hey.” Yael lifted xyr phone, tilting xyr head back to look up at Opal. “Ambiguously-superheroic-teen selfie? I won’t post it anywhere.”

Yael was on some kind of kick. Xe’d insisted on taking pictures of Issac with his cake last night, too. Opal raised an eyebrow, but crouched down at the couch and gave Yael’s camera a dubious smile.

Jamie headed back down the hall, where she found Issac standing, talking to Aldis. “Here, Issac, sit down a sec.”

He sat down in an old brown office chair, watching her curiously. She revealed the bottle of concealer she’d brought, just in case. “You’re not usually as pale as me, but today, this might actually work.”

“I look that bad?”

Aldis leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “ ’Fraid so.”

Issac bit his lip. “OK, but only if you’re sure he won’t notice.”

“How old is he?”

“Like, 60ish?”

“Then he won’t notice,” Jamie assured. “Besides, it’ll be lower restaurant lighting.”

She helped him get the concealer on. He was almost as gun-shy about anyone touching the bags under his eyes as he was about the contacts. She hid the bruises lack of sleep had left on him, and brushed the color back onto his face. “There. You don’t look like you’ve been doing anything you’ve actually been doing.”

“You never even wear makeup,” Issac commented, checking his reflection in the mirror of his phone screen.

“Putting on fake health is the only part I know how to do.”

Issac adjusted his tie another dozen times, then headed out towards the stairs in time to run into Yael, who was still in xyr pizza T-shirt. Jamie watched the two of them descend. Opal waved at them through the glass in the door as she followed them. She looked so miserable.

Jamie looked around the office for a marker. Aldis went back to typing, then looked up at her. “I know I’ve said it like ten times, but you really don’t have to do this. I appreciate it and all, but it feels kinda like unpaid child labor.”

Jamie found a Sharpie, but it was purple. Was that OK? “I need something to do. And I’m sixteen.”

“Don’t you have, like, studying to do?”

Jamie shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t have to do it every day, and I’m still on track to finish everything I need way before I’m eighteen. Mom won’t let us go to college offline any younger than that.”

He nodded slowly, taking more from that than Jamie would have thought it contained. “Well, don’t overdo it.”

“You’re not going with the truck?”

He shook his head, settling back into his work. “Today is invoices and email. You’d be amazed how much of my time is that.”

Jamie smirked, trying to believe he was staying for work, not to babysit Jamie. “No I wouldn’t. Mom says she spends half her life emailing. And she’s always talking about company finances.”

“Hah. Guess your mom is an entrepreneur, isn’t she.”

“Yep. Her and Jenna started the company right after graduation. Jenna went to college really young. Mom says that’s why she won’t let us go early. Jenna got picked on a lot.”

“Jenna-- Bion?” he asked.

Jamie nodded. “Is it OK if I use purple Sharpie to relabel the box cubbies? They need it.”

“Sure. Long as it’s readable, I don’t care.”

Jamie nodded, heading back towards the stock room, but stopped at the door. Would it be rude to ask? Aldis seemed nice, laid-back, but it wasn’t like she knew him well. And she really didn’t know if this was a sensitive subject or not.

But he was tall, and given the hauling everyone around here could do, he was strong. Curiosity got the better of her. “Hey, uhm. Can I ask you something a little personal?” His raised eyebrow and chair swivel suggested she may have crossed a line. “I won’t complain if you say no.”

“Well, now I’m curious. Tell you what. You can ask, and then we’ll see if I want to answer.”

Jamie nodded. That was more than fair. “I was just-- you’re taller than Drew, and maybe stronger, since you’re younger. And you help people, so I can tell you care, so-- why aren’t you a superhero? Or any of the rest of your employees? Why move furniture?”

She expected him to tell her about the racial prejudice in the APB, or about the difficulties with networking if you didn’t know someone. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, and gave her an opaque look. “Why do you think I’d want to be a superhero?”

The question was so bizarre she just stared at him for a long moment. “Why wouldn’t you?”

He scratched behind his ear, tilting his head as if he was as confused by her as she was by him. “They get shot a lot. Also electrocuted, burnt, dismembered…”

“But they get to help people!” Somehow, she couldn’t picture Aldis as a coward. He seemed so self-assured and put together. He was an entrepreneur, like Mom. That involved risk and leadership.

“So do we. And, since I got the choice, I’d rather help people without having to hurt anybody else.” Jamie bristled, and he saw it. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we’ve got superheroes. But if I can run the rest of my life without violence, I’m going to.”

“But what about ‘with great power--’”

He laughed, but it wasn’t mean, just surprised. “A superhero can defend the world from supervillains, but somebody’s still got to haul around furniture, create decent jobs, and look out for people in a bad situation trying to start over. There’re more problems superheroes can’t handle than ones they can.”

“Aren’t you proud of Opal, though?”

“Yeah, I’m proud of her! We all are. She’s got a fire in her, and she’s working for it. But her life is hers, and mine is mine. Honestly, though, I’ve got as much respect for her second-guessing it now. She refuses to be part of the problem. That’s character. I hope it works out for her, but I’m glad she’s gonna do it on her terms. And I can’t pretend we wouldn’t all sleep a little easier at night if she took a safer job.”

Jamie’s heart sank. “She’s really thinking of quitting, just because of my dad?”

“Personally, I think there’s more she’s not telling me.” Sure, like Jenna’s arms and legs and absence, maybe. She didn’t know what exactly Opal had told him. Like Opal, he probably filled in the gaps with whatever made sense to him. “But taking a kill order from someone you can’t trust isn’t a little thing.” He looked at her, carefully. “Do you think she should trust him?”

The question caught her off-guard. She had to think about it. She didn’t like her own conclusion. “No,” she quietly answered, finally. “I’m not scared of him. He didn’t hurt me, and I still don’t think he would’ve. But he loves me, and he doesn’t love Opal, and there’s something…wrong with him. Right now. He’s not himself.”

“Probably shouldn’t be a superhero, then.”

The idea of Dad not being a superhero didn’t fit into her head. He was ageless. He’d been a superhero long before Jamie, and it’d always seemed like he’d just keep on being a superhero even after Jamie was gone. She’d realized years ago that someday he’d look like her son, not her father. He was the constant the rest of life changed around.

Except that he had changed.

She looked at Aldis blankly for so long, he started to look at her funny. “I should go label the cubbyholes,” Jamie said.

He nodded, seeing through her, but letting it go. He interrupted her retreat. “Hey. You’ve got pretty impressive power, too.” Jamie turned around, baffled. “You can talk to any superhero you want, I bet.”

Jamie nodded, not sure where this was going. “Any of the US ones, anyway.”

“Plus, your mom. Who seems like a heavyweight in politics and bioengineering.”

“I hope I can talk to her.”

He gave her a sympathetic look. “I’ve been there. Opal was light on details, but I hope it works out for you.”

“It’s. I don’t think it’s as bad as it looks.”

“You’re still here, though.”

She shrugged. “Issac needed me to be.”

The VIP suite was different when she was by herself. Bigger, more echoing. It smelled like sausage, frosting, cardboard, dust, and what had to be some shower product of Opal’s. Jamie was sure neither Yael or Issac owned fake-strawberry-scented body wash. Home never had this many smells going on in one space; the air was too aggressively filtered.

She meandered over to the threadbare couches. This might be the most alone she’d ever been. Aldis was down the hall, but there wasn’t any SI-- no system with cameras, here. No family around. She leaned over the back of the couch, looking around for something to do. Yael had washed the dishes. Jamie wasn’t sure she could even get into her school files. There was only one thing in the world she was supposed to be doing, and she still didn’t feel ready to call home.

The need to accomplish something started to itch in the back of her mind. She dug her guitar out from where she’d subtly stashed it. Issac hadn’t commented on her bringing it. She started tuning it.

Too many thoughts went spinning through her mind. Nobody here would tell her what to do or not do. She finally had freedom to act, but had no idea what to do with it.

What had she wanted more freedom for?

The windows here were low to the ground, and not as clear as the ones at home. But there was some sky visible. No cityscape, though. She was in the city now, not above it. What had she wanted to do, out here?

Out of the blue, she remembered her carnival narwhal, left on the floor at home. Of Dad flying her up to “save” it. The feeling of flying, of helping.

“Martin, can you hear me?”

No answer. They’d meant it, about the privacy, then. She picked up her phone. Their number had been added to her contacts, and she called it. Martin picked up before it even rang. “Jamie! Hello! May I use the video function? Did you get my email this morning?”

Jamie smiled awkwardly, and arranged her phone so Martin could see her, sitting on the concrete floor. “Sure. And no, I haven’t checked my email yet.” She went back to tuning. “You email?”

“I email a lot, actually. I’m on a lot of forums, too.”

Jamie wasn’t allowed on forums outside of schoolwork. Security issues. Nobody to stop her, now. “What did you email about?”

“It’s very long…sort of everything I’ve collected that I wanted to show you for about the last three years. Nothing important.”

Her tuning stopped. Martin had waited all this time, wanting to talk to Jamie. They hadn’t trusted Jamie enough to actually talk to her, though. Just like how Jamie was struggling to trust the generation above her. “Well, I don’t have much to do today. I’ll read it.”

She started to let her fingers run through tunes aimlessly. “How is everybody?”

“My privacy protocols are still in place. I can’t tell you about the others.”

Jamie slouched against the side of the bed. “Right.” She stared out the window again. “I’m going to call home. I’ll figure out some way to make sure you stay safe.” She was sure of that much. She just didn’t have any idea how.

Really, she knew what she’d wanted freedom for. She knew what she’d wanted to do, out in the real world. She wanted to protect her city. Her home, and her family, and all the strangers who went about their lives around her every day.

She rested her forehead on the headstock of her guitar, growling in frustration. She could do whatever she wanted, out here. The only one who could stop her was her own body. It wasn’t even that bad of a body. It worked the majority of the time. But it wasn’t super. It wasn’t ever going to let her to anything extraordinary. “I’m lying. I can’t make you safe.”

“I don’t feel especially unsafe right now.”

“Me either,” she answered. “But it’s possible we’re both in denial.”

* * *

Physical labor didn’t require very much of Opal’s mind. Usually, that was a good thing. Her body could be hauling a couch, while her mind was working away at her future plans and dreams.

Today, not so much. She’d never give up just because someone told her “no,” but she’d never, in all her years of planning, studying and preparing, considered that she might not be able to trust the Sentinels enough to work with them. She’d always focused on the changes she wanted to carry out with the APB. She’d never considered that the Sentinels were really, at their base, just an APB branch. Why would they be any more trustworthy?

“Hey!” Miguel's shout shook her back into the present. She’d almost run him over with an armchair.

“Sorry!”

“You’re at work. Wake up.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Hey, give her a break. She might have to fight LodeStar tomorrow or something,” Jayvon put in.

“Not funny, Jayvon,” Opal grumbled.

“I’m not kidding. You wont give us details, but his kids are suddenly living in the suite? Something bad went down. And if he’s not here helping, it doesn’t look good.”

“You better not have told anyone that they’re here.”

They both gave her unimpressed looks. “We’ve worked here longer than you. We’d never tell about somebody in the VIP suite.”

And it really didn’t seem like they had. Otherwise, the office would be inundated with news vans, or at least camera drones, and so far, she hadn’t seen anything. Jayvon gently took the armchair from her. “Go take a break. Get your head clear, and come back.”

Miguel nodded. “We’re ahead of schedule, anyways. Just don’t take forever with it.”

Opal slunk out of the fancy manor house, thankful and feeling guilty for it. She ducked behind the van, hoping the home’s owners wouldn’t come out to chastise her for slacking. She leaned her head back against it, enjoying the sun on her face for a long couple minutes. But the world wasn’t going to stop for her crisis of conscience. Last night was as close as she was going to get.

She’d said she was giving up. Quitting this and finding a new dream just made sense. No matter what cute old baby photos Jamie came up with, Opal had to deal with the present.

But the very idea of it felt like cutting off part of herself and throwing it in the trash. She wasn’t sure how to make herself do it.

And even if she wasn’t a superhero, she was still herself. Even if she didn’t want APB endorsement, she still wanted to help. To protect. And those three weirdos were under her hospitality, now. Maybe Jayvon was right-- maybe she should be worried about how Mr. Voss would react to her helping his kids practically run away from home. She might be running low on hope, but there was still work for her to do.

She thought of Capricorn’s hand on Mr. Voss’s arm in the clinic, of his watchful eyes. Of the way he rooted for Opal and said she had grit. If anyone could get her more information, it’d be him.

She glanced around the van, but nobody was paying attention to her.

Opal texted Martin quickly. Is there any reason I shouldn’t talk to Capricorn about what happened yesterday?

The answer was instant. MARTIN: None whatsoever, as far as I can tell.

She answered Guess I will then. Then yelped, as Martin took that as an instruction and put the call through. She put the phone to her ear, not wanting a visual call when she felt so shaken.

Capricorn sounded surprised, but pleased to hear from her. “Hi!”

“Hi,” Opal answered.

“Everything OK?”

No. Not at all. “Nobody’s hurt or anything.”

She heard a sigh of relief on the other end. “Then what can I help you with?”

Words tried to burst out of her, but she bit them back and tried to arrange them into tidy, polite lines. No matter how nice Capricorn had been to her so far, she couldn’t afford to offend him, now. Her voice shook, but only a little bit, and she honestly couldn’t tell if it was nerves or anger. “I want-- I need to know what’s wrong with Mr. Voss. Jamie says he didn’t used to be like this. But there is something wrong with him, and he’s freaking me out, and he scared Yael. Every time I see him, he looks about two seconds away from killing somebody.” Opal didn’t want to be that somebody, and she didn’t think she could stop him if he chose somebody else.

Silence on the other end of the line. She worried for a second that he might try and deny it. That would be worse, wouldn’t it? If the Neil Voss Jamie remembered and Opal had idolized had never existed in the first place? Opal heard a very quietly muttered “Shit.” Another pause. “This really isn’t my place--”

“I need to know. I’m sorry, sir, but they’re living with me now and I don’t even know what the situation exactly is. I need to know if he’s something I need to worry about.”

“No. God, no. He’s not--” A pause so long, she checked to see he hadn’t hung up.

“OK.” He was quiet when he spoke. “That’s fair. You deserve to know. You’re right that he’s…struggling. The thing with this job is, it takes a toll on you.” He sounded tired. Sad. “And me, Neil, and Solomon, we can survive it. And we can heal. We heal fast, even. So can you. But fast isn’t always good. Neil’s been fighting since 2002, continuously. He’s broken and healed every bone so many times, his x-rays look like a city map. Seams everywhere. Soft tissue scarring-- if we heal before we get medical attention, things haven’t always been stitched or set back into place. Neil should’ve been retired years ago. He’s in constant, 24/7 pain. And he’s no lightweight about pain, believe me. I’ve seen what he can take, but for him, it never lets up. Some days, it’s more than he can take. But if he leaves, we’re a team of two, and they send a stranger into the house to live with us. To live with his kids. Or, he and the kids have to leave. He’s been trying to hold on long enough to train in Yael. He knows he’s a mess. He just can’t fix it.”

“But, that doesn’t…”

“The other part-- the reason you probably think he’s a drunk-- is that when you hurt all the time, eventually you have to do something about it. And it’s not like he can take an asprin and call it a day. Even if he wasn’t altered, that wouldn’t even touch what he’s dealing with. So…the thing is, he’s pretty dosed up. All the time, now. And since he caught Issac mid-fall, that was kind of the last straw for like seven of his joints. So he’s even more of a wreck, and on an even higher dose, than he has been. I don’t even know how he’s staying up.”

Opal could only connect the dots because she’d heard her mom talk about work. Chronic, severe pain. “Are you telling me that LodeStar has been high on narcotics for literally years?” There was a long, very not-comforting pause. “But then he shouldn’t be--”

“I know.”

“That’s completely--”

“Yeah.”

“And everybody’s just going along with this?”

“I tried to get him to retire. Melissa’s tried. Even Solomon’s tried. But we just-- none of us have it in us to make him. He’s my best friend. He has been for a long damn time. And he’s going to, just...he needs a little while longer.”

“So you all take orders from him like that?”

“No. Look, he’s messed up, but he knows he’s messed up. We haven’t taken orders from him in years. And I swear to you-- my hand to God-- in the field, he listens to me.” Opal thought back to the rumors that Capricorn was crushing on LodeStar. To the way he always had his eyes on him in interviews. It wasn’t a crush. He was keeping an eye on LodeStar because he knew he was compromised.

Opal leaned her head against the van. This was so messed up. This was not comforting at all. “But still though--”

“I know.” He sighed again, his voice even quieter. “I know. I know I’m on the wrong side in this. But this is the only family I have. I just can’t get myself to force it on him. I didn’t realize until yesterday how bad he’d gotten. But you might notice, we haven’t exactly been in the field since this went down. I can tell you that’s not an accident.”

Opal closed her eyes, trying not to groan out loud.

“Look, I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you. How are the kids?”

“They’re fine, I guess?”

“Think they’d be up for visitors?”

“As far as I know, nobody’s mad at you. But I’m gonna tell them what you told me.”

“If you want. I was hoping Neil would get his act together enough to own it in front of them, but he’s down for the count with that broken collar bone.”

“Right,” she agreed miserably.

“I warned you it was a shit job,” he added, sounding sorry.

“Yeah, you did.” She straightened. “So I guess I’d better get back to my day job, then.”

“Tell the kids I said ‘hi,’ OK?”

“Sure.”

They hung up.

Well, she’d known better than to expect Capricorn to pull some magic answer out of a hat and make everything OK again. At least he’d respected her enough to give her a clear answer. That was the only reason she was willing to trust everything else he claimed.

Opal wanted to punch something. It wasn’t an urge she got a lot, but she felt it often enough to be used to shoving it down. What was she gonna punch-- the van? Denting Aldis’s van wasn’t gonna help anything.

Her phone sighed, and she jumped. The screen said she was connected to Martin. “I’m so glad this is finally out in the open. It’s not as if not saying anything takes willpower-- I can’t break privacy protocols even when I want to-- but watching the fallout of people not talking has been very painful for me. I’m glad you’re going to tell the others.”

Opal leaned against the van. Martin’s sad little voice took some of the fight out of her. “Your family is a mess, pen pal.”

“Oh, I know,” Martin said. “Believe me, I know.” And Martin didn’t have an out like Opal did.

“I’d fix it if I could,” she told them.

“I still have hope. I think things could still turn out all right.” Hope. That was what Opal missed. Hope had given her strength. “Opal, if you go back to Detroit and decide not to be a superhero, will you still be my pen pal?”

Poor kid. “Sure. I’d like that.”

“I like being able to really talk to people directly, like this. This is so much easier.”

“Does that mean you’re going to tell the rest of your family about you?”

“I…maybe I’ll see how all of this ends up going, first.” Even the sweet robot kid didn’t trust these guys. “But since I can suggest things directly now, can I suggest you call someone to make you feel better? I don’t know you well enough to know who that would be, but you sound upset, and I think that would make you feel better. It makes me feel better!”

“Heh. That’s a really good idea. Thanks, Martin.”

“Happy to help!”

She pulled up her mom’s number. She had to get back inside soon-- if this was her only job, she’d better pay attention to it-- but a little Mom time might help clear her head. Plus, she had some questions to ask a nurse.

* * *

Issac peered into the window of the darkened restaurant, tucking his translation bracelet up into his sleeve. It was so ludicrously sensitive, a couple layers of fabric wouldn’t pose any problem at all. Lasansky knew it was there, obviously, since he’d been the one to put it on Issac. But the point of these damn things was to be discreet. He checked his reflection…though if his concealer was showing, he wouldn’t be able to make it out in a window reflection.

He was a brilliant engineer, years ahead of his time, with cool android eyes. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Lasansky probably wouldn’t be able to see the text on his eyes, anyway. He wondered if other people could. He should have checked the bathroom mirror last night.

God, his eyes itched.

He braced himself, and walked in, chin up, shoulders back. Looking nervous or unsure in a place like this would only draw more attention. Virtually everyone here was in a suit or some other business attire. He already stuck out by being young and bruised. He approached the maître d’, realizing with a little smile that his tweaks were working. He got a bit of errant text across his eyes, but he’d set it to a 1.5m radius of the bracelet, with additional alerts for a few key words, like his name. The maître d’ looked at him expectantly, and Issac choked for a second. Would he have to give his name? There were people right behind him. They’d hear. He leaned in a little, trying to be quiet. “I’m meeting Mr Lasansky.”

Martin said that nobody had reported on yesterday’s little exodus from the Plaza yet, but eventually, someone would notice that the kids of the Sentinels were out and comparatively unprotected. Issac was not going to rush that.

Looked like Lasansky hadn’t wanted to give out Issac’s name, either. The maître d’ showed Issac to a private room. That would have been the only thing even partially saving Issac, if Issac hadn’t gotten through those tweaks last night. Lasansky was sitting, leaned back comfortably in his chair, thumb moving over his phone screen. He didn’t look up until Issac sat across from him. Then he gave him that big, bleached-to-hell smile of his. Here’s the latest member of the Lasansky Securities family! Welcome to your first day at the new job.

Issac forced a smile. Family. Sure. He’d just functionally lost his parents, and he didn’t know this guy or anyone else who worked for him, but OK. If Lasansky wanted to call Issac family, Issac could bite his tongue and put up with it. At least in this “family” the criteria he’d be judged on would be concrete, knowable, and accompanied by paperwork he could see ahead of time. And he was deaf before he joined, before he’d been accepted.

Issac couldn’t deny that the circumstances were weird and, OK, a little suspicious. OK, maybe more than a little. But Lasansky just really wanted Issac’s tech. Issac's skills. He valued what Issac had to offer. Better than back home.

Lasansky sat back, and seemed to study Issac himself for the first time. He smiled, shaking his head ruefully. Y’know, I feel for you. I really do.

Noooo. Issac just wanted to talk about work. “Uhm…? I’m OK.”

He waved Issac’s baffled reassurance off. Oh, of course. Of course. I just keep thinking about that family of yours. That can’t have been easy to grow up with. Them having so little faith in you.

Was that what had happened? Definitely not with Jamie and Yael. They’d believed in him. They’d been wrong, but they had believed.

“It wasn’t really like that. Mom got me all the tech I needed and everything--”

Ah. Lasansky answered with a sad, knowing expression. So it was only after-- He tapped his own ear.

Stay neutral. Don’t flinch. Don’t look down. Tight smile. “Something like that.”

Lasansky nodded. Drummed his fingers on the table, creating unnecessary text noise. Y’know, it really is amazing how quickly people can turn on you, as soon as you show weakness. Right when you need them the most.

Issac looked away. What the hell was this? Issac couldn’t imagine Lasansky wanted Issac to have an emotional breakdown at a business lunch, so what the hell was with all this prodding? “You never did tell me why you were interested in me? I mean, in my work? You own prisons. Why get into medicine, now?”

Sterling nodded, gravely. Glad you’re paying attention. The fact is, Mr. Tillman, your technology could revolutionize the criminal justice industry. Eighty-three percent of our inmates report at least one event likely to result in brain injury. Think about that. I know you’ve seen the effects of a brain injury firsthand. Impulsivity, sudden nonsensical rages, paranoia, inability to think through their actions-- every one of these is likely to lead to dangerous criminal behavior. And as it stands, we can’t, in good conscience, let these people back out into the community. Imagine the kind of rehabilitation we could provide if we could treat these sorts of injuries. It’s this kind of forward-thinking, cutting-edge work that keeps us the APB’s only licensed prison provider.

A knot undid itself in Issac's spine, and he grinned. “That completely makes sense. That would be huge.”

OK, so Opal and Jamie didn’t like Lasansky. Opal missed her dad. Issac couldn’t fault her for that. And Jamie said they were over-incarcerating people, but that was the APB’s fault, really. And here was Lasansky, trying to help people in prison and reduce the prison population at the same time. That was hardly supervillainy. This was exactly the kind of work Issac wanted for his nanites. To help people be who they were supposed to be. Now he could prevent crime at the same time! Ha! He might even end up stopping more altered-specific crime than the team, over the course of decades.

How many altereds became violent because an injury had robbed them of their self-control? How many of them weren’t who they were supposed to be? Issac knew not every brain injury was as severe or caused as huge of an effect as Jenna's, but he had no reason to think she was the only altered who’d been through that.

Lasansky seemed genuinely pleased by Issac's agreement. Exactly. You’re a big-picture guy, I can tell. Just the person we need to complete this team.

“Team?”

Sure! You didn’t think we’d make you do this all alone, did you? We’ve been tinkering with similar projects for quite a while now, and when your essay went out into the world, I thought, “Boy, what a shame he’s going to be busy for God knows how long with school, when he could be learning on the job!” But it looks like everything’s worked out, huh?

It actually did look like that. Issac smiled, much more genuinely. He wasn’t hearing, but maybe he was bouncing back, after all. Not being on Mount Olympus didn’t mean he couldn’t have a decent life. And if Lasansky could reach out to help people be better versions of themselves, so could Issac.

We’re just going to need the data from your original trial. We couldn’t have dreamed someone would be so bold that they’d test this on themselves. That took real stones. That’s gonna move this project up by years. Do you know how hard it is to get a permit to test on human subjects? Ha! Of course you do. But now, since you paved that golden road for us, it’ll be worlds easier. It’s already been shown to be nonfatal, even under a malfunction!

Wait, what?

Lasansky reached across the table, put a hand on Issac's shoulder, and looked him in the eye. For once, he was completely earnest. I know you must hate walking around with such an obvious weakness, but the failure of that trial has helped get your work into the hands of people with the resources to make your dream real. And that failure, that’s only going to make it faster.

Issac felt exposed. Obvious.

But vindicated. Nothing he’d been through would matter, if he could just get these nanites working and to the people that needed them.

* * *

Yael plopped down on the designated park bench, stretching xyr arms along the back of it, xyr legs out in front of xyr. God above, xe did not want to be here. Xe wasn’t even a little ready to deal with Nodiah’s ability to throw xyr off balance. Everything in xyr life was already such a mess. Xe didn’t know what xe might end up saying to him-- or asking him. Papa’d said they’d talk about it. Xe didn’t need to hear it from Nodiah.

The park was nice, at least, aside from being searingly hot. Xe fiddled with xyr phone, reading an almost endless email Martin had sent overnight. Its tone was chipper, but nervous. Completely endearing. Martin’s memory was way better than Yael's.

Yael's smile died on xyr lips. A secret artificial-- no, now Issac’s insistence on the term “synthetic intelligence” made sense, of course he wouldn’t want Martin to be called artificial-- a secret synthetic intelligence, then, in the plaza itself, watching an unsuspecting superhero team, and befriending an alienated bioengineer. Xe groaned, leaning further back on the bench.

Yael couldn’t picture a good ending to this story.

To most teens, the concept of supervillainy probably seemed abstract. Cackling evil madmen twirling their mustaches and building death rays. Papa hardly ever talked about the family he came from, but xe was pretty sure none of them had done much cackling or mustache-twirling.

Martin had sent Yael health statistics on xyr hamsters and, like, 12 apologies that they hadn’t found Skittles for xyr. Martin was sweet. They were trying. They were family.

Nodiah was prompt, of course, and too soon, xe could make out the imposing shape of xyr uncle walking from the parking lot towards the bench. Did he even own any jeans? Or anything other than suit pants? It was Saturday. Even Melissa didn’t wear suits on Saturdays.

Did he think of Papa as his brother? Did he even see Yael as family?

Xe wondered for the millionth time what sort of family Miriam and Ezekiel had been to Papa. Not for the first time, xe wondered if Ezekiel and Miriam had ever even seen the others as family. They’d had Yael. That didn’t suggest a sibling-type relationship. Maybe it was just Papa who saw his line as a family.

Yael hated how the membership on Yael’s mental list of who was “family” kept shifting around. Family was supposed to be forever, not change from day to day.

Xe couldn’t imagine Nodiah affectionately hoarding hamster videos for anybody. Or even leaving little piles of hamster bait around.

From a distance, surrounded by regular people, he seemed huge.

When he stopped a few feet from the bench, looking down at xyr with pinched lips and a considering gaze, xe met his eyes. He didn’t say anything, so Yael didn’t say anything. Xe watched him with open suspicion that matched his frank assessment. He sat next to xyr without a word, gazing over the park. Gradually, Yael let xyrself relax. The air felt like the whole city was submerged in stale bathwater, but xe was dressed for it, and watching the people was nice.

Nodiah’s voice was as sober as his suit. “This is what I protect. This is the mission of your father, and every other superhero team in this country.”

Yael couldn’t object to that. The whole human life cycle was stretched out in front of them. There was a couple having a picnic on the grass, with their baby crawling around next to them. Over there, some little kids playing tag. Some other kids about Yael's age were playing basketball. A little ways away, two old women laughed loudly on another bench.

Yael nodded. Wanting to protect a scene like this should be easy for anyone.

“For you,” he continued, “It’ll be harder. You’ll need to be be on your guard at all times to establish your character, to prove yourself trustworthy to the American people.”

“You came all this way to tell me that? I thought you’d be back in DC by now.”

“I came here to cover a duty your father’s obviously ignored.” Maybe he really was just looking for someone to talk to. “I’ve followed you, Yael. For as long as I have been able, I have watched you from a distance. Medical records, school reports, even the construction contracts from when you used to destroy walls in a tantrum. The records from when you broke Dr. Tillman's leg.”

“I never--” Yael objected.

“You were two years old. I’m not surprised they hid it from you.” Was that possible? Could Yael have hurt xyr family that long ago?

“How did you get it all?”

He looked at xyr out of the corner of his eye. “From Solomon, mainly. When it was outside my technical jurisdiction. That was his gift to me, and I accepted it.”

“But if you were so worried about me, then why haven’t we ever met?”

He pursed his lips. Yael studied him. His face wasn’t any more like Yael’s than Papa’s was. In his less-familiar face, it was more obvious that they looked almost the same age. Or they would have, if it weren’t for his suit. “Because I couldn’t afford to know you publicly. Your very existence is a threat to the safety of every altered in the US. To accept a family connection to you would be to fail to reject Ezekiel and Miriam, which the Secretary of the Altered Persons Bureau can not afford.”

One question answered, then. He’d already decided that they weren’t family. “Go, then.”

“Don’t be brash, Yael. You’re too big for it. Solomon gave me a gift, so I am repaying it by giving a gift to you. I’ve come to give you the warning that Solomon, your parents, and I never got, and that Solomon’s failed to give you. I know you’ve been raised on a steady diet of superhero and science fiction tripe. Cartoons and comic books and all that colorful propaganda. I’ve subsidized enough of the garbage, I know exactly what goes into those things. But I hope in all that, you were exposed to the older works-- novels, especially.”

Where was this going? “I mean, I read, if that’s what you mean.”

“But what have you read? We are the science fiction of former decades. They wrote about us long before we existed. When I came into the outside world, I knew enough to find out how they saw us. Dating back before our founders were born, I could find us in stories. Always the same. Gods, or monstrosities. We are Superman, or we are Frankenstein’s monster. And half the time, even if we would be Superman, we end up monsters anyway.”

“I’m not--”

“Of course you’re not,” he spat. “No one is. The wretched truth is that there are no angels or demons on this Earth. Just billions upon billions of humans. I have my own thoughts about what comes after this world, but I’ve seen too much of humanity to think anything but human instinct and the primal forces of nature rule here.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He turned, facing xyr fully. “Yael, I fought for my job for one reason and one reason only. To fend off peasants with pitchforks. This world doesn’t need us. We are made useful only because we are already here, and some of us need to be fought. The public tolerates superheroes because it knows there are supervillains. But those are the only two roles available. Who you are doesn’t matter, compared to who they judge you to be. No matter how strong we are, people will rise up and fight if they see a monster. And eventually, they will win. The presence of a scant few of us in colorful costumes convinces them we can handle it amongst ourselves. That military force isn’t needed. Your parents, Solomon, and I were built to conquer the world. And if we had, you would have been murdered in your cradle.”

The truth was too familiar to resist. Two roles. The one xe’d striven for all xyr life, and the one that stole xyr birth parents’ names out of Papa’s vocabulary.

“I told you the truth in that basement. I won’t tell you anything but the truth. If you can’t make yourself into someone the public can trust, then I can’t condone any act of violence you perpetrate. No matter how just I may think it is.”

“What do you expect me to do? Change my hair? My face?”

Nodiah shook his head. “I can’t go on covering for you. Hopkins was bad enough. The other morning, on the lawn. And now this, with Voss. Don’t think for a moment we don’t know whose hands took LodeStar down. Your bloodline will be known, eventually. If you try to hide it, you’ll be a traitor, no matter how we try to spin it.”

“Then this is you telling me to give up.”

“This is me warning you to scrub yourself of anything that will taint your image further. No more disregarding the natural order by flip-flopping genders whenever you please. It is ridiculous and offensive. The ‘bisexuality’ is more than bad enough, but there is at least some precedence. No living in illegal tenements owned by shady ‘entrepreneurs’--”

“Aldis isn’t shady, he’s--”

“He flaunts his powers to make a buck. He keeps his nose clean in public, or I’d’ve had him locked up by now. But so far, at least, he keeps his goons in order, so I’ve let him be.”

“He helps--”

“Go home, Yael. Go back where you belong. Solomon’s done well atoning for his early mistakes. And Neil Voss may be a walking disaster with a very limited future, but his reputation is good. Capricorn can’t be helped, but at least he interviews well. His scandals are all decades old, now. He stays quiet. Keeps his head down between missions.

"Most importantly, Yael. You have to deal with the Tillman-Voss boy. I know you see him as a brother. He is on the wrong side of an oncoming fight, which is exactly where he flung himself. Put him on the right side, before it’s too late.”

“I don’t control him.”

“Try. Protect your family, Yael. Keep your own house clean. Solomon and I can barely stand to see each other for our shared shame. He can’t even bear to admit to you that he only has you because we failed your parents. They died, taking hundreds with them, because we fled instead of confronting them directly. Do not make the last generation’s mistakes. Stop him before it is too late. I am investigating Lasansky now. Once that is done, I will come for him. Make sure your brother is at a safe distance when that happens. This is your warning, Yael. Given only because you are who you are. You want to be a hero? Then prevent this altering technology from ending up in Lasansky’s hands. Be the person you need to be for the public to accept you in the role you want.”

“Investigating him for what? What do you want me to do?”

“Is Mr. Tillman-Voss a decent person?”

“Yes!”

“Then consider what a good person would give to make sure that technology that can reprogram the mind doesn’t get into the hands of a traitor. That is your yardstick.”

“Traitor?”

He stood, his voice gentling. “I believe in you, Yael. No matter how many walls you’ve wrecked, I think you’re more angel than devil, but you have to show them that. Be a hero. This is your chance, an opportunity to make yourself known for the right reasons. A chance to do what your father and I couldn’t do-- save your brother. If the Tillman-Voss boy is who you think he is, then protect him. By making sure he doesn’t get more blood on his hands than he can ever make up for. If he’s a good person, he would give his life rather than let that happen.”

Nodiah was 100% as upsetting as Yael expected. His life? Issac’s life? Who was Nodiah to demand or even hint at a sacrifice like that?

Yael could never let Issac die. No matter what he did. Xe could never watch him fall again.

Xe was just like Papa after all.

Xe searched Nodiah’s face, fighting down xyr silver. “This is a test.”

He shocked xyr by taking xyr hand. He held it tight-- xe thought he meant it supportively. “This is a chance. I pray it’s the only one you need, because it’s the only one I can give you. Do the right thing.”

Xe watched, dumbstruck, as he let go of xyr, turned, and walked back to his car without a backwards glance.

Xe sat there a long moment. Yael pulled out xyr phone. To call Papa, or…Jamie, maybe.

No Signal.

Yael blinked at the phone. Even in the sub-basement bunker, xe had a signal. Why on Earth would it fail xyr now? Xe looked up, just in time to see Nodiah getting back into an expensive but not ostentatious black car. Papa might say it was a sign that xe should take some time for contemplation. Reflection.

The phone beeped. Xe looked down. Xyr service was back.

Xe needed to get back to the others.

#SHOSweekly

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ginjithewanderer · 3 years

Text

[Juza Hyodo] Brilliance of Blooming SR — Backstage — MANKAI Livestream! ~LIVE: Juza~ — Part 1

Part 1 - Part 2

Translation under the cut

Izumi: Kazunari-kun will be joining us for today's leader meeting, too.

Kazunari: Yoropiko~!

Banri: You think of something new again?

Kazunari: Exactly, Setzer! There's something I kinda wanted to do.

Kazunari: Basically... I tried putting up a questionnaire to see what kinda things fans want us to do~!

Sakuya: A questionnaire?

Izumi: Yup. At Kazunari-kun's suggestion, we held one for all our fans.

Kazunari: Right now, thankfully, MANKAI Company's popularity has gone up by a ton!

Tenma: Right, so we have a lot of new fans.

Kazunari: Some of our long-time fans say we feel more distant lately, though, and that that makes them feel lonely.

Kazunari: But no matter how popular we get, we wanna keep that familiar feeling there for all our fans, right?

Banri: I get it. So that's what the questionnaire was for.

Tsumugi: What did you get out of it?

Kazunari: The most common answer was that people wanna see more Inste livestreams and selfies from all of us!

Tenma: Some of us do hold livestreams less often than others.

Tsumugi: The same goes for selfies. We basically just leave posting them to whoever's good with social media.

Kazunari: Yup, yup! So, I suggest we start a special project featuring 24 days of consecutive solo livestreams and selfie parties!

Banri: Selfie parties?

Kazunari: We'll take selfies live on stream, and then upload them to Inste right after! That'll get everyone even more hyped!

Izumi: I asked Sakyo-san about it, too, and he said it's okay to do it as long as I watch over things to make sure no trouble comes up.

Kazunari: So with that said, it comes down to whether you're all okay with it... What do you think?

Sakuya: I wanna do it! As long as everyone's okay with it, of course, but...

Sakuya: Personally, I'm really glad I'll have the chance to talk to our fans from behind the screen!

Tsumugi: I want to do it, too. It'll also help me understand how streams work better.

Tenma: We can't just spend the whole time chatting, though, right?

Kazunari: That's right, which is why I thought it'd be nice if each of us had another survey for our streams asking what fans want to see from us.

Banri: It'd be easier to know what to do that way.

Izumi: It'll be interesting to see how different each livestream turns out that way.

Kazunari: It's decided, then! Leave the form-making and data-gathering to me!

Sakuya: Thank you so much, Kazunari-san!

Izumi: Okay, leaders, please tell the rest of your troupe members about the livestream and selfie project plans.

Leaders: Got it!

Juza: ...

Taichi: Juza-san, we're over here~!

Juza: ...!

Tenma: So you got today's special, too.

Taichi: The crab cream croquette looks great!

Tsuzuru: Oh yeah, Juza, did you get the survey results for your solo livestream from Miyoshi-san?

Juza: I did.

Tenma: What kind of stuff is there?

Juza: How do I say this... There's a whole lotta different stuff.

Taichi: Yup, yup! I saw the results, too.

Taichi: Some people said they just wanna see Juza-san eating sweet stuff, and others wanna see him doing action scenes--

Taichi: There's a whole lot of answers, from things that made me go "Me too~!" to things that were like, "Why would you want this from Juza-san?"

Tsuzuru: That much action in a livestream would be something.

Tenma: And a solo stream at that.

Tsuzuru: So, have you decided what you're gonna do?

Juza: I'm still thinkin' about it.

Taichi: It must be tough choosing from so many different requests, huh~?

Juza: Yeah... Plus, honestly, I still don't even know what to talk about on stream.

Tenma: Yeah, you're not really the type who can easily hype an audience up with chatter.

Juza: Since I'll be streaming alone, I just wanna make the stream something all my viewers will enjoy...

Taichi: That's okay! Since it's a stream from someone who doesn't seem too used to doing it, all your fans are gonna love it!

Tsuzuru: You should just pick the requests that you think will be the easiest for you to do.

Tenma: Isn't there anything there that you really wanna do?

Juza: ... Wax.

Tsuzuru: Hm?

Juza: There was something about wanting me to show them the hair wax I use.

Taichi: Oh, yeah! There were some people saying they wanna know how Juza does his hair.

Tsuzuru: Those are some hardcore fans.

Tenma: How you do your hair, huh? That sounds fun.

Juza: It's something I do regularly, so I probably won't have trouble streaming it on my own.

Tsuzuru: That might actually be a good idea, since there are a lot of fans who want to see a side of Juza they don't usually get to.

Juza: That so?

Taichi: That's the stan mindset!

Tenma: Even so, doing your hair live is definitely new.

Tsuzuru: If they wanna know how Juza does his hair, could the requests be from male fans who want to do their hair the same way?

Taichi: Juza-san probably has a bunch of fans so dedicated they wanna be just like him!

Tenma: It's something the audience will enjoy, and even more importantly, that Juza thinks he can handle. That works out, doesn't it?

Juza: ...

Part 2

#a3!#juza hyodo #a3! translation #an's translation

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feelingofcontent · 3 years

Text

DNP Rewatch: The Top Dan Memes of 2016

Date video was published: 01/14/2017 (X)

DNP Main Channel Rewatch: 332

Dan’s first video of 2017 and the second of his “top memes” videos. It follows the same format as his first one from the year before. He asked for suggestions on Twitter and then promoed it on Instagram once it was posted too.

0:08 - yes, accurate description, yikes

0:36 - “2016 can fuck off” sounds about right

0:44 - wow the 2015 memes video really did get a lot of views

1:08 - he says “obtained” which makes me wonder if he didn’t pay for it but got sent it or something. I actually don’t hate it that much

1:21 - he did wear it in his first not-memes video of 2016...okay it does look a bit like a potato sack

1:44 - he did spend a ton of time traveling and filming for that. (I have never actually watched the full documentary.)

2:04 - poor Dan; he tried to tell them...and he was right

2:47 - okay these made me laugh 😂

3:07 - and there it is. honestly their joke craft videos are some of my favorite content

3:19 - part of these not dying is their own fault...still

3:25 - DNP also constantly use “protip” in videos after that

3:42 - that wasn’t exactly untrue that some other YouTube/internet people thought DNP’s fanbase was annoying...I think we’re better now

3:51 - just glossing over the whole TATINOF thing

4:08 - the ironic smile as he does another one, lol

4:30 - yeah I’m gonna go with disturbing

4:50 - I do feel this. I also have no idea how to pose in photos and I would hate to have to take that many all the time. He had posted some other peace-sign vs. sad outtakes on Instagram as well

5:32 - the picture he chose for “whitest” ...yep

5:41 - okay this is hilarious 😂 poor DNP

5:57 - of course they were too awkward to ask, haha

6:16 - “let’s just not talk about Phil” ...Dan looks so dead behind the eyes in this clip and Phil looks so proud of himself 😂

6:32 - the annotations here kill me...he’s right though those do not look like weed leaves at all

7:09 - there are a couple pictures of the bowl method in DAPGO.

7:24 - this art is great actually

7:58 - this is hysterical...his dramatic reading and facial expressions are great. and here’s that Instagram selfie...where a ton of comments are just “disappointed, janice” ahahaha

8:32 - “well shit Janice, I have been told” is a line that runs through my head at random points

8:47 - getting hairspray in your eye accidentally is the worst

9:39 - clip from the TATINOF documentary...Phil is trying so hard

10:17 - “remixes...kind of” 😂

10:38 - this was at the DAPGOOSE thing in London that Dan had uploaded to his channel

11:10 - “sometimes I don’t upload videos for a few week” ...understatement of ever?

11:15 - ah, Dan’s diss track

11:32 - “way too real” yep, I have vague memories of the reaction to that video dropping and it was a lot

11:58 - ahahaha, wow. he had tweeted some about that when it happened too

12:18 - the amount of times he is saying “joke” and you can hear the quotes in his voice...and the clip from Louise’s video where she looks shocked and Phil is just nodding 👀

12:48 - how do you even get into those “various situations”...I feel like this one is on him

13:09 - this compilation is too much

13:23 - it’s so hard to tell with Dan sometimes but it would make sense for him to choose that to joke about if that’s true

13:30 - “exposing Phil” alrighty then

13:48 - he is so happy about this...and that photo set is absolutely fantastic

14:06 - aww the cute koala pictures again...and then not so cute, hahaha

14:39 - this was from ISG 8...he had to know what was going to happen; he can’t just throw a hashtag out there

15:06 - he talked about the horror of teen magazines in the last memes video too

15:18 - these are horrific 😨

15:35 - wtf

16:00 - I can’t deal with BONCAs talk

16:16 - I low-key love the sparkly suit jacket 🤐

16:40 - this is not quite as bad as the missing eyebrow one I don’t think. the memes for this one made me giggle

17:06 - I love that this is his favorite

17:30 - time for very dramatic Dan

18:16 - this story is great

18:28 - that must have been such a surreal experience for Dan

18:43 - “me and Phil”

18:56 - that tweet especially with the icon he had at the time 😂

19:07 - that is so horrifyingly creative and really does sound like something Dan might tweet. I love Phil so much

19:31 - the dramatic conclusion

19:57 - that goes way to well with the previous tweet...definitely more disturbing

20:22 - ah, shittywatercolour!

20:57 - the starter pack ones are pretty good

21:14 - cannot deal with hello internet

22:09 - “you will never be able to escape your mistakes” too true

22:30 - he was excited about the new year, and then...

22:56 - Dan’s 2017 live shows are all still public on his side channel

The meme videos aren’t my top favorites, and I still think I like the 2015 one better, but this one is funny too! I think I care less about the meme bits and more about just hearing Dan talking about different moments from the year. Dan felt the need to clarify in the comments that he’s not actually upset in the comments because some people were worried about him, whoops.

#dan and phil #dnp #dnpRewatch #daniel howell #danisnotonfire #dan howell #daniel howell videos #The Top Dan Memes of 2016

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 3 years

Note

Happybirth, Vil-kun! The LMC has arrived to put on a beautiful show for you! You’ve got a classy vibe, so we threw together something orchestral instead of letting Lilia-chan shine with screamo (sorry to him lol). Hope you like it! - ♦️

“Before we get this performance started, why don’t we take a group selfie?” Cater suggested, his phone already out.

“You aren’t giving me much of a choice there,” Vil chided him.

Cater only laughed and playfully winked in response. “You gotta take the chance to snag a pic with the ultra famous #nofillters Vil-kun when you can, right? Meeting your idol and keeping a reminder of it is the dream of every stan.”

“You see me practically every day.”

“Yeah, but your birthday only comes once a year—so we gotta commemorate it!”

Vil sighed. “Honestly...”

“Ooh, we’re gonna take a group picture? I wanna join!! Can I, can I?” Kalim asked, popping up from behind Cater.

“Don’t forget me as well~” Lilia added, following Kalim. “Let’s make this a show to remember, shall we?”

All three of the Light Music Club members turned to Vil, their eyes wide and watery. Eager gazes of puppy dogs. Vil stared back warily—and at last, he chortled.

“... If you are this eager, then I suppose I cannot refuse.”

“Alright...!! Everyone squeeze together now, so we can all fit in the frame!” Cater instructed, gesturing to his band mates with his hands.

Kalim squished against Vil’s left, and Lilia on Vil’s right—and Cater planted himself closer to the lens, and waved to it. When Vil was fixing his hair, Lilia stood on his tip toes and flashed a peace sign behind the birthday boy’s head, which granted Vil “bunny ears”. Kalim caught it out of the corner of his eye and grinned.

“Aww, that looks really good on ya!”

“What? What looks good on...”

CLICK!

The photo was taken, the “bunny eared” Vil forever captured on Cater’s phone and uploaded to Magicam.

At Vil-kun’s bday bash~ Isn’t he looking ultra handsome on his special day? (Thnx Lilia-chan for the sneak attack!) Let’s hope he still has a smile on his face after he hears our performance for him!

#nrc #rae’s attic #vil kun bday #let the show begin #bunbun vil kun

And with that out of the way, the music started—gentle strings, percussian, and wind filling the venue.

#Vil birthday takeover

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pterodactylterrace · 3 years

Text

Guys Like You Chapter 19

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter: 19

Chapter Summary: Just a bunch of random fluff for the time being.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, and so much tooth rotting fluff.

{Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5} {Chapter 6} {Chapter 7} {Chapter 8} {Chapter 9} {Chapter 10} {Chapter 11} {Chapter 12} {Chapter 13} {Chapter 14} {Chapter 15} {Chapter 16} {Chapter 17} {Chapter 18}

“Faye?” Henry called out, wandering into the living room where she was lounging on the couch with Kal.

“Yes?” Faye asked slowly, lifting her head from the fluffy canine’s side.

“Would you mind looking this over? Tell me if you’re ok with it?” Henry requested, handing her his phone to look over his newest Instagram post in the making, several pictures lined up and awaiting her approval.

First, was one of his signature boomer selfies, his face and chest covered in pony and princess stickers, glitter shimmering on the planes of his face, almost shining as bright as his smile. Second was a snapshot of his feet, nail polish globbed on the ends of his toes, Briar’s tiny hands in the frame adding more onto the top of his foot. Next was another selfie, his curls now tugged up into random tufts, secured with bright glittery hair ties, another amused smile on his face. Last was a small video clip of Briar painting makeup on his face, chatting away about the differences between unicorns and pegasus’, Henry asking at the very end if he was pretty yet, only for Briar to very definitively tell him ‘no’ and continue brushing over his face with more eyeshadow.

The post was captioned as:

“Girl Dad

#girldad

#glitterbomb

#amIprettynow?”

“That… that’s adorable.” Faye gushed, throwing her arms around his neck, his nervousness fading away. He had yet to introduce his fanbase to Briar. They had seen Faye a few times, different paparazzi photos surfacing of the two of them out together along with her accompanying him to the Witcher premiere. Neither of them minded Faye being photographed. She knew what she was signing up for, and Henry was always careful to only show her the good comments and headlines. The last thing he wanted was for her to be driven away thinking she wasn’t good enough again.

They had yet to reveal Briar’s presence, however. He had a Zoom interview later on in the week, and they had agreed that he could mention her if he was asked about family life. This was just him wanting to reveal his daughter on his own terms before people began trying to invade the child’s privacy. He could already see the feisty toddler chasing after someone with a camera, smacking them with her stuffed rabbit, Kal dutifully chasing after her.

Though, in retrospect, Kal may actually not chase after Briar to back her up. In the last couple of weeks, he had been by Faye’s side almost constantly. Not that he was jealous or anything, but he wasn’t exactly happy about now being Kal’s third favorite human. He’d raised that dog since he was ten weeks old, then Briar comes into his life and suddenly she’s the best thing ever. Now that Faye was pregnant, he split his time between curling up next to Faye and playing with Briar. The only time Henry spent with him was when he fed him, literally drug him out for a walk and at nighttime when he would lay on Faye’s legs all night. The poor dog was going to go crazy after the baby was born trying to split his time between everyone.

“So, is it ok to post?” Henry asked, shooing Kal from the couch so he could be closer to his fiancé. The dog was less than pleased to be uprooted form his spot, but relented and laid at her feet instead, huffing in annoyance as he laid his giant head on her tattooed foot.

“Well, nothing is showing her face, and I can tell you’re about to explode if you don’t tell the world about her soon.” Faye teased, gently kissing his stubbly cheek.

“I’m going to disable comments on it.” Henry explained, taking his phone back to finish the post and upload it to Instagram.

“Might be a good idea.” Faye agreed, peering over his shoulder as the images uploaded, hugging his thick arm to her chest. “I love you so much.”

“Aww. The baby’s making you all mushy.” Henry teased, dropping his phone onto the couch and wrapping his arms around her, kissing the crown of her head.

“Shut up.” Faye whined, leaning further into him, her face drawing into a pout.

“Please don’t cry, I was just teasing.” Henry requested softly.

“Sorry. Hormones are making me crazy.” Faye apologized, hiding her face in his chest.

“There’s no need to apologize.” Henry assured, squeezing her a little tighter.

“We’re going to have to tell Briar eventually.”

“We can’t just wait until the baby gets here and just be all ‘surprise! You’re a big sister!’?”

“No. She’s going to wonder why I’m getting so fat long before then. There will be questions. They might make me cry. Are you still going to love me when I’m huge?” Faye asked suspiciously.

“When you’re rounded out carrying my baby, tits full and just begging to be sucked on? I’m probably going to have a hard time keeping my hands off of you.”

“You can’t keep your hands to yourself now.” Faye teased, turning her head to look up at him.

“You aren’t wrong. I love feeling your skin on mine. In any way I can get it. Kissing you.” He whispered, gently kissing her neck. “Holding your hand.” He continued, tangling their fingers together as he nipped at her neck. “But best of all, I love being buried balls deep in that sweet little pussy of yours.”

“Bedroom. Now.” Faye hissed, Henry popping up with her in his arms, all to eager to carry her back to their bedroom, closing and locking the door before Kal had the chance to squeeze his way in.

~*~

“Just pull it off like a band aid, right?”

“Quick and easy and it’ll be over with.” Henry agreed, wrapping one large paw around her hip and pulling her closer.

“Briar, can you come here for a minute?” Faye called, resting a hand on his knee.

“Hi Mommy!” Briar greeted enthusiastically, practically tacking her mother as she launched herself into her lap, stuffed bunny still in tow.

“Hi.” Faye giggled, situating her daughter in her lap. “Briar, Mommy and Papa have something to tell you.” Faye started, Briar turning her wide innocent gaze up to her mother expectantly. “Henry?” Faye delegated, looking up at him.

“Princess, you’re a big sister. Mummy and Papa are having another baby.” Henry explained, Briar staring blankly up at him for what felt like an eternity, processing what he just said.

“Where?” She finally asked, Henry stifling a laugh at her innocent question.

“The baby is in Mommy’s tummy.” Faye told her, taking her daughter’s tiny hand and resting it on her stomach.

“You ate baby?!” Briar gasped, her eyes going wide as she frantically pulled up her mother’s shirt. “I get you out baby!” She yelled, poking at her mother’s navel, Henry unable to contain his laughter this time.

“The baby needs to stay in Mommy’s tummy until they’re ready to be born. They’re still too little.”

“How baby get there?” Briar asked, continuing to poke at her mother’s stomach curiously.

“Papa put the baby there so they can grow big and strong.”

“Big and strong like Papa!” Briar giggled.

“Yes, like Papa.” Faye laughed. “So, Mommy’s tummy is going to get bigger and bigger as the baby grows, just like when you were in my tummy.”

“I was in you belly?” Briar whispered in amazement. “Papa tummy get big too?”

“Yes, you were and no, I don’t see Papa getting a big tummy anytime soon.” Faye laughed.

“Nope, no tummy.” Briar confirmed after pulling up Henry’s t-shirt and taking in his still firm, furry abdomen.

“Thank you.” Henry chuckled, pushing his shirt back down and kissing the top of her head. “So, is that ok with you, princess? Would you like to be a big sister?”

“Yeah! I help with baby!” Briar squealed excitedly, hugging her stuffed bunny close to her chest and bouncing on her mother’s lap.

“Will you show Papa how to take care of a baby?” Henry asked, Briar nodding her head excitedly.

“Yeah! I show you!” She agreed.

“Ok, how do you hold the baby?” Henry asked, leaning down to look her in the eye.

“Like this!” Briar explained, cradling her stuffed rabbit in her arms.

“Ok, I think I can do that. How do you burp the baby?” Briar flipped the bunny up onto her shoulder, smacking it on the back and looking up at Henry to make sure he was paying attention. “Alright. What about feeding, how do you feed a baby?”

Without missing a beat, Briar pulled up her shirt and pressed the bunny’s face to her chest, Henry bursting out laughing along with Faye. “Very good, sweetheart.” Faye praised around a laugh, kissing the top of her daughter’s head. “Now why don’t you go play with Kal for a little bit?”

“Kal!” Briar called, hopping off her mother’s lap and running off to her room, the canine hot on her heels.

“I still don’t think I’m going to be very good at breastfeeding.” Henry lamented, Faye snickering and shaking her head.

“Yours are still bigger than mine.” Faye pointed out, playfully grabbing at his chest.

“I’m not so sure about that anymore.” Henry teased, resting one hand on the side of his chest she wasn’t groping and the other on Faye’s swollen breasts, pretending to contemplate as he shamelessly squeezed at her chest.

“You may have a point. The only bras that fit anymore are sports bras. I’m gonna need to buy more. Sports bras and swollen tits are not a fun combination right now.”

“You have my attention.” Henry purred, perking up at her declaration.

“Henry, I’m going to be getting ugly nursing bras, not sexy lingerie.”

“Why not both?”

“Really?”

“What? You’ve been pouncing me at least twice a day for the last week. How is me wanting to see my gorgeous pregnancy fiancé in something sexy out of line?”

“Ok, first of all, I haven’t been pouncing on you twice a day.” Faye started, Henry raising an amused eyebrow at her declaration. “I may have suggested we get closer a few more times than usual, but it’s not like I’m barging in while you’re busy to try and get some. I’m not some sex crazed maniac.”

“You barged in on me showering twice.”

“You do that to me all the time!”

“And I haven’t been able to complete a workout without you demanding I finish with a round of couples cardio.”

“Have you seen what you look like all sweaty with your muscles all pumped up? It’s not my fault you’re irresistible.”

“I also seem to remember you surprising me in the gaming room and riding me while I was on coms playing world of warcraft.”

“Ok, so like one slutty instance.” Faye scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“There was also that time last week when we went out for dinner. You had your hand shoved down my trousers before the driver even finished putting up the partition.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was bothering you so much.” Faye grouched, crossing her arms and scooting away from him.

“You’re not bothering me at all.” Henry laughed, grabbing her hips and pulling her closer. “I’m just making a point. You can’t keep your hands off of me, and I’m loving every minute of it.”

“Wouldn’t mind your hands on me a little more.” Faye lamented, turning sideways on the couch and tossing her legs over his, leaning back to rest her head on the armrest.

“Are you hinting at something?” Henry asked, his fingers just barely skimming above the waistband of her leggings, a shiver following in their wake.

“Probably not what you’re thinking. My calves have been really tight lately. It would be great if my loving fiancé were to rub them down for me.”

“Are you sure that’s all you’re wanting?” Henry teased, his hands sliding down her legs to gently knead at her tense muscles.

“We’ll see.” Faye half yawned, already settling down for her usual mid-afternoon nap.

~*~

“Faye.” Henry started out sternly, crossing his arms and raising a brow at his fiancé as she attempted to look innocently over her shoulder.

“Yes, my love?”

“What do you have there?”

“Nothing.”

“So, it’s not another cup of coffee that I’m smelling?” Henry challenged, crossing the room as Faye sat the cup down on the counter, spinning around to face him.

“But… the baby…”

“The baby is the exact reason you asked me to make sure you’re not drinking as much caffeine. Remember what the doctor suggested? Only one a day.” Henry scolded, gripping her hips to pull her closer.

“The baby wants coffee.” Faye whimpered, giving him her best puppy dog face.

“Then the baby will have to settle for decaf.”

“It’s not the same! Why are you being so mean?”

“I’m not. You told me not to let you drink more caffeine than you should, so I am.”

“Can’t you just leave me alone for two minutes? One extra every now and then is fine!” Faye growled.

“Of course I can leave you alone. I’m doing what you asked me to, so don’t yell at me.” Henry stated calmly, reaching past her to grab the pot from the coffee maker, dumping it out and taking it with him to his office, wincing at her irritated ranting. She had been very clear and adamant about him monitoring, and limiting her caffeine intake, especially coffee. Unfortunately, her most recent craving had been exactly what he had been told to keep her from. Why couldn’t she just crave normal things, like pickles and ice cream? No, she had to be obsessed with something she couldn’t have, and now she was extremely upset with him for doing exactly what she had asked him to do. He could almost feel more gray streaking through his hair.

He was just finishing up a phone call with a contractor when he could hear her again, this time strangled sobs and quiet sniffles meeting his ears rather than her ranting. He was up and out the door in a second, almost running into her when he found her loitering just outside the door.

“Darling, what’s wrong?” Henry asked, holding her shoulders gently and leaning down to look at her more closely.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” Faye apologized, looking up at him with red rimmed eyes.

“Faye, please don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry, I just feel really bad. You’re just doing what I asked, and I started screaming at you!”

“Faye, darling, please calm down.” Henry soothed, pulling her closer and letting her cry into his chest. “I’m not mad, I know you didn’t mean it.”

“I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

“Faye, I’m not mad.” Henry insisted, kissing the top of her head. “There’s nothing to forgive. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Faye sniffled, wrapping her arms around his thick waist and squeezing him tight. “I’m sorry I was acting so crazy.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” Henry repeated, rubbing her back softly. “The builders are going to be starting later on this week.”

“Really?” Faye sniffed, looking back up at him, Henry cupping her face and wiping her tears away with his thumbs.

“Yes. I told you we would get it done in time. It does mean we’ll have to watch Kal when he’s outside now, make sure he’s not getting into anything.”

“This doesn’t even feel real. I’m engaged to an amazing man, pregnant with his baby, living in a house with more than two rooms in it, and now we’re building a guest house out back.” Faye half laughed, reaching up to rest her hands on his wrists.

“Well, originally I wanted to move back to Jersey before we started expanding out family, but well… that didn’t happen. I don’t think moving out of a house we just moved into while you’re pregnant is a good idea, and we don’t have any family that lives close. Next best thing is building a guest house so family can stay without everyone being under each other’s feet.”

“Are you still wanting to move back to Jersey?”

“It would be wonderful if we could, but only if that’s also what you want. I just wanted us to be closer to family.”

“Maybe after I recover would be a good time. Kinda sucks that we’re building just to sell the house not long after.”

“We don’t have to sell it. Unless you’re not wanting to come back here at all.”

“Hen, you have to remember, I’m not the kind of person that owns multiple houses. I’m used to renting questioningly inhabitable apartments.”

“Never again.” Henry stated firmly. “Only the best for you from now on.”

~*~

Five minutes. They made it five minutes before being interrupted. Four minutes longer than he thought it would take. He gave Briar specific instructions not to come into his office until the door was open again. He never should have said anything. She normally never went into his office, finding the room ‘boring’ even after she put stickers all over the back of the door and window clings to the window. Now that he had told her not to come in, she was looking for reasons to do just that.

The interviewer had just asked him a question, and he opened his mouth to answer when he saw the door opening out of the corner of his eye.

“Yes, Princess?” Henry sighed, smiling and turning his head to see her standing perfectly still in the doorway.

“Hi.” She whispered, quickly running over to him and throwing her arms around his leg. “I love you!”

“I love you too, Princess.” Henry replied quietly, gently removing her from his leg and shooing her off towards the door, “Papa’s busy right now, so you need to wait outside, ok?”

“Ok.” Briar agreed, sitting down in the open doorway and staring at him again.

“Can you close the door, please?”

“But I wanna see you.” Briar pouted, her face falling at his stern look, standing herself up and closing the door again. He could faintly hear her crying her way down the hall, his heart shattering at the sound.

“Sorry.” Henry apologized, shifting uncomfortably. He wanted nothing more than to go and apologize for pushing her away like that, but the interview wasn’t quite over yet.

“Was that your daughter?”

“Yes, it was.” Henry responded, unable to keep the smile from his face.

“When are we going to get a peek at your family? There have been rumors of you settling down.”

“Yes, I am settling down.” Henry agreed, “I have found the most wonderful, amazing woman. We don’t want the children to be drawn into everything, though. That’s a pretty big boundary for us.”

“Children? As in, more than one?”

“We do see more children in our future.” Henry skittered around the question. Faye had been adamant about waiting until they knew what they were having before announcing it to the world.

“Papa, I brought you something.” Briar’s small voice cut in, peeking her head around the cracked open door, holding up a sticker she had already peeled from its backing.

“Thank you, princess. Papa’s trying to work now.” Henry chastised softly, leaning down when she crossed the room to let her place the pony sticker on his cheek.

“Almost done?” Briar asked hopefully, batting her lashes at him.

“Almost. Why don’t you go get Kal’s leash on him? We’ll take him for a walk just as soon as I finish up here.”

“Ok, Papa!” Briar gasped excitedly, rushing out the open door again.

“That should give us about two minutes.” Henry laughed, turning his attention back to the screen. “I’m terribly sorry about all the interruptions. I would have come in person, but my fiancé isn’t feeling quite well, and I didn’t want to leave her.”

“It’s alright, I understand.” The interviewer assured, flipping through their notes again. “Last question, do you have any future projects in the works?”

“I have one movie that is in post right now, but I haven’t lined anything up right now for afterwards. I’m focusing more on family at the moment.”

“You’ve stated before that having a family was your dream. What’s it feel like to have it actually happening right now?”

“I’m happier now than I’ve ever been.”

Tags: @weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient @summersong69 @mis-lil-red @lharrietg @amberangel112 @mansaaay @packerfan43

#guys like you #guys like you fic #henry cavill #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill rpf #henry cavill fanfic #rpf

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ichinisankaku · 3 years

Text

Backstage Translation - Mankai Livestream! ~LIVE: Homare~ (Part 1)

*The first part of each story is the same, so feel free to skip until the scene change (next image) if you've already read this first bit elsewhere~

Izumi: Kazunari-kun will be joining in on today's leader meeting.

Kazunari: Glad to be here~!

Banri: Have you come up with somethin' again?

Kazunari: Right you are, Setzer! There's something I've been wanting to do.

Actually... I got our fans to fill out a questionnaire on what they want us to do~!

Sakuya: A questionnaire?

Izumi: Yes. We implemented one for the fans, at Kazunari-kun's suggestion.

Kazunari: Right now, Mankai Company's name recognition is shooting up!

Tenma: Yeah, and the number of new fans is increasing a lot, too.

Kazunari: However, the people who've been supporting us beforehand say they're kinda lonely cuz they feel like we're growing distant from them.

No matter how famous we get, don't we wanna be a theatre company that's close to its fans?

Banri: I getcha. So that's where the questionnaire comes in?

Tsumugi: What were the results?

Kazunari: The most common answer was that they wanna see more Inste Lives and selfies from everyone!

Tenma: The frequency of Inste Lives is different depending on the person, huh.

Tsumugi: Same with selfies. It's basically all left to the members who are good with SNS.

Kazunari: Right! So as a special project, I propose we hold a 24-Day Solo Stream and Selfie Spectacular!

Banri: Selfie Spectacular?

Kazunari: In the middle of each stream, we'll take a selfie and upload it to Inste later to get people hype!

Izumi: When we consulted Sakyo-san, he said it'd be fine as long as I watch over each stream to make sure no trouble happens in the middle of it.

Kazunari: With that said, it's all up to how everyone else feels about it... What do you think?

Sakuya: I want to do it! I want to make the fans happy, of course, but also...

The chance to talk with our fans over the screen makes me happy, too!

Tsumugi: I'd also like to give it a go. I feel like I'm coming to understand things like "Inste Lives" a bit more.

Tenma: But we can't just chat, right?

Kazunari: For that, I thought it'd be good to send out another questionnaire asking what they want each member to do.

Banri: Yeah, that'd make it easier.

Izumi: It might be interesting for each Inste Live to be different.

Kazunari: It's decided, then! Leave the form creation and compiling to me!

Sakuya: Thank you very much, Kazunari-san!

Izumi: Now then, I'd like for all of you to go and inform the members of each troupe about the Inste Live and selfie project.

Leaders: On it!

Izumi: Homare-san, the results for your part of the questionnaire have been compiled. Here you go.

Homare: Ooh, thank you. I shall have to thank Kazunari-kun for sorting them all later.

Well then, let's look over these right away. What do they...

Izumi: Since it's you, there's a lot of requests about poetry.

Homare: Commentary on poems, impromptu poetry making... Hmm, I'm going to get lost with all these good suggestions.

Alright, this must be the time for me to hold a poetry recital...!

Izumi: P-please wait! It was decided that the length of each Inste Live would be the same for all members...!

It can't be too long, so I think it'd be a waste to do a recital!

Homare: Hmm, that is true.

Oh? So then, it's fine so long as I stay within the given time frame?

Izumi: That's... well, yes.

Homare: Alright, leave it to me, then.

Tsuzuru: Okay then, we're off... huh?

Juza: "Wise Words Compilation"...?

Kazunari: That box seems like it's for Aririn's Inste Live.

It says "Everyone, please submit the 'Wise Words of Arisugawa Homare' that remain in your heart."

Tenma: In Alice-san's case, isn't there going to be more nonsense than "wise words"...

Banri: Well, anything'll be fine, so let's just put in the first thing we think of.

Tsuzuru: Even if you say that-

Kazunari: Oh no no! Setzer, we're gonna miss first period if we don't hurry!

Banri: Coming.

Juza: Us too.

Tsuzuru: Whoops. Let's go, Juza.

Part 2

#a3!#a3! translation #act! addict! actors!#homare arisugawa

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lunnanunna · 3 years

Text

Skittles

STRAY KIDS Extra Member AU

Summary: Ollie shows the boys her new look.

Warnings: none

Taglist: @hyunmijung @galacticstxrdust @boss-baby-jongho @kimonmars @mythicalamphitrite @poutypoutybin @sunflower-0180

Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from a taglist.

A/N: Another feel good post, cuz I’ve been missing skittle Ollie.

Requests are closed. Please like, leave a comment, or send in an ask. Doing any of these things is one more reason for me to keep writing.

Chan, Minho, and Seungmin all sat around the living room when Ollie burst into the dorm. She ran in, completely passing them and going to her room. The boys would have been nervous if it weren’t for the shouts coming from her room.

“Yah, Noona! Watch where you’re going!” Jisung shouted.

“Shut up. I’m in a rush,” Ollie shouted back. A few seconds later Ollie could be heard running down the hall.

Chan winced at the possibility of an injury. “Ollie, please be careful,” he called out.

Just then Ollie slid into the living room, dressed in a rainbow cropped top and yellow (And when Chan said yellow, he meant yellow!) overalls, a red beanie, and her unicorn socks. He smiled at the human skittle of the group.

“Guys!” Ollie grinned as she skid to a stop. She almost lost her balance, but caught herself in time and then “skated” over to the three.

“What’s up, Noona?” Chan asked, chuckling.

“Your hair!” Minho pointed out.

Ollie grinned. “That’s one of two things,” she took her hat off and flipped her hair. Ollie had been growing out her mullet for the last few months. Luckily for her, her hair grows fast, now reaching a few inches above her shoulders.

She turned so her back faced the boys then lifted the top half of her hair which was black. The bottom layers were dyed in the colors of the rainbow. It had been almost a year since Ollie had fun colored hair. She was so excited.

“Noona it looks really good!” Chan said, smiling.

Ollie spun back around and grinned wide, doing a little dance. “I’m so happy!” she squealed.

“It’s like a blast from the past,” Minho shook his head, smiling.

“Our skittle Noona is back,” Seungmin snorted, going back to his book.

“I’m back and I’m better than ever!” Ollie cheered, hands on her hips.

Minho gave her a look, raising a brow.

“Okay. Almost better than ever. But I’m working on it. Definitely better than before,” Ollie glared at him.

“Yes. Yes you are, Noona,” Chan smiled, “And you’re only going to get better.”

Ollie smiled at him, then nodded.

“What’s the second thing?” Seungmin asked without looking up.

“Right. This.” Ollie grinned as she pulled down the straps on the left side of her overalls and raised her shirt up to just underneath her breast.

Chan’s eyes widened, then relaxed while Minho whistled. “That looks hot Noona,” the dancer smirked.

Ollie had gotten three butterflies tattooed on her rib cage, each one the size of a coin. She had been wanting a new tattoo for a while and finally decided on the butterflies. One butterfly for each of her brothers. She imagined their cringe when she’d tell them that.

“You just really went for a whole makeover, huh?’ Seungmin asked, quirking a brow.

Ollie shrugged. “I’ve been wanting to dye my hair again for months and the same with getting a tattoo. So I told myself that I’d finally get them when I successfully finish a month of therapy,” she said, gently tapping the butterflies.

“That’s a good idea, but how about we change the reward to something like snacks?” Chan asked.

“Yeah, ‘cause at this rate, you’ll be a walking billboard going bald again,” Minho snorted.

“I was never going bald!” Ollie protested.

“That’s right. That was Hyung,” Minho nodded.

“Yah!” Chan looked at the younger, glaring.

“You two have an unhealthy relationship with bleach,” Seungmin said.

“I’ve been good! I haven’t bleached my hair,” Chan whined.

“And I only did half! And it can be hidden too!” Ollie said, stomping her foot.

“You still bleached it though,” Seungmin tilted his head with a knowing look.

“Whatever,” Ollie huffed, walking over to sit next to Minho who had gone back on his phone. He raised his arm up so Ollie could slide into his side, and comfortably watch whatever video he was watching.

“Has Felix seen you yet? He was the one that probably missed the skittle the most,” Chan chuckled.

“Not yet. He’s out with some friends, but I can’t wait to see his reaction,” Ollie beamed.

“Stays are gonna be really happy too. I mean you became the group’s mascot,” Seungmin said.

Ollie rolled her eyes. “I’ve already taken selfies. I just want to show everyone first then upload the pics,” she said, stifling a yawn.

“Then show everyone who’s here,” Minho suggested.

“Not now. Too tired. It took hours to do my hair and then the tattoo. I need a nap first,” she said, snuggling into Minho’s side.

“No promises on keeping the kids away once they walk in and see your hair,” Chan smiled.

Minho sat up a bit and grabbed Ollie’s beanie. He then placed it on her head, making sure to hide the rainbow strands. “There. Problem solved.”

Ollie grinned. “Thanks, Minmin,” she said.

Ollie’s Masterlist

#stray kids #stray kids au #stray kids 9th member #stray kids extra member #stray kids fanfic #stray kids scenarios #stray kids reactions #kpop scenarios #kpop reactions #kpop oneshots #female kpop additions #bang chan #lee minho #seo changbin #hwang hyunjin #han jisung #lee felix #kim seungmin #yang jeongin

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arhvste · 4 years

Note

Okay bear with me but may I request scenarios where kuroo, bokuto, and atsumu are doing the “He got all the drugs and I got all the guns” tik tok trend with their s/o (separately) and like they are wearing the whole shebang heels, dresses, crop tops, makeup, wigs ,etc that’s only if you want to of course n e ways have an awesome day🤩

OMG ARE U A MIND READER I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS AND SPECIFICALLY THESE BOYS DOING THIS TREND FOR WEEKS 🤯

just in case you didn’t know i’m referencing this trend 😼

KUROO, BOKUTO AND ATSUMU DOING THE FAMOUS (I’M THE ONE) TIKTOK TREND WITH THEIR S/O

KUROO

when you first show him the trend on tiktok he just laughs

then you suggest the two of you doing it and he goes quiet

he’s really thinking about it

he secretly is more than happy to do it with you

but he’ll find out how far he can tease you first

“and what do i get out of doing this?”

“spending quality time with the love of your life duh”

“it’s gonna take a bigger reward than that for the expense of me making a fool of myself online princess”

“PS5?”

then he’s like 👀

he wasn't expecting an actual good reward but if that’s what you’re willing to do for it

he won’t actually make you buy one for him don't worry

he’s just amused that you’re that adamant about doing it

he will absolutely let you pick out what clothes of his you want to wear

you’ll pick out what he wears from your wardrobe though because he is not about to stretch your cute clothes with his big body

you end up giving him an elasticated crop top and some loose baggy sweatpants

he will 100% let you do his make up and hold accessories

he is stunning with a natural make up look

a pretty highlight to his cheekbones, bridge and tip of his nose, inner corners of the eye and brow bone

light pink blush on his cheeks and nose

slim eyeliner and a light pink natural lip colour

he actually suggested wearing super obnoxious fake eyelashes

“i am NOT having you look like a tacky abg kuroo”

“but then we can say you’re a kevin nguyen, it fits”

‘nO!!”

to finish the look he’s holding a white clutch bag of yours

he almost looks seductive 👁👅👁

he actually looks so good in your outfit

“i think i pull this off better than you”

you’re wearing some training shorts, one of his favourite t shirts and a black nike cap

so you set your phone up and the music starts to play

immediately you two are in fits of giggles though

it takes you two approximately 8 attempts to finally get it right

and when you watch it back you’re in for a shock

kuroo can throw it BACK

he doesn’t even have a particularly noticeable ass

like he has one but it’s nothing like bokuto’s

but when he throws it back his ass is thicccccc

even he’s surprised at how well he pulls it off

he pulls the whole routine off

from the way his hips seductively sway, the pure sass in his walk as he struts into the camera frame and the way he rolls his body

honestly you think he makes a better girl than you

“good aren’t i? god i could almost date myself”

“yeah if you’re into 6″2 hairy girls with a hyena laugh”

he’s looking down at his very manly and unshaven legs

“let me shave it and i’d date myself”

you guys upload it and you’re a hit

“let’s move to LA right now tell the hype house they’ve got two new members joining”

“kuroo, i am NOT joining the hype house and neither are you. 😐”

overall i really think you guys would have fun with this trend and kuroo makes sure to send the video to both of your families who enjoy watching it as much as you guys enjoyed making it

“the roles have reversed i’m your pretty girl now y/n~”

BOKUTO

he’s the one who brings it up to you

“babe look at this we HAVE to try it please please please!”

you laugh at him and agree to it

he is so excited he already knows what choreography he is doing

you guys go to get changed and he lets you pick whatever you want out of his wardrobe

this boy is pure muscle he is huge

anything of his you wear will be like a dress on you

regardless you still take your time deciding what you want to wear

PLEASE pick his volleyball jersey and shorts he will literally cry from happiness

it would make his whole year

so you do just that

he is literally melting at the sight of you in his volleyball uniform

“BABY YOU HAVE TO WEAR THAT TO ALL MY MATCHES”

“-but you’ll be wearing it... at your matches... when you play 👁👄👁”

so bokuto will not be fitting into your tight fitting clothes that's for sure

but he will happen to fit into one of your cute flirty sundresses where the top half is made to be able to adjust the size

he is twirling around and flicking the skirt about once you manage to wrangle him in it

he’s like a giddy school girl

again, he will definitely be up for you to apply make up on him

nothing too heavy but just enough so you can tell he’s wearing some

pretty light yellow eyeshadow, highlighted features and faded eyeliner

you pull his hair into two tight little buns

he’s really feeling the part now

so you guys go to film the tiktok and he is jumping around like an excited kid

you manage to film your parts pretty well first try but he isnt too happy with his performance

“i don't know i just feel like i could’ve thrown it back a bit more”

so you refilm until he is content with his part

which by the way is after 14 tries so thank the lords you are patient when it comes to him

it is so worth it though

the practices paid tf off because bokuto is throwing his cake about like nobodies business

he be serving a piece for everyone fr

immediately after you film it he wants to show akaashi

to which akaashi isn't surprised when he watches it

he does snicker at his phone when he does watch it though

neither you or bokuto really care about views etc

this was all just for fun after all but you upload it anyway not giving it much thought

and just like that the two of you are an overnight sensation

comments are flooding the notifications

“his ass routine? drop it noW!!”

“what's his work out routine i need cake like his 😩😩”

“my boyfriend said he has a fatter ass than me so im currently crying 😔🤚🏽”

the nekoma, fukurodani and karasuno boys are BUGGIN tf out

they're all calling you and sending you the video for confirmation that it is actually you two

it’s not like bokuto is hard to tell apart but they still want your confirmation

“REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU’RE FAMOUS BOKUTO-SAN!!”

“OF COURSE HINATA WHEN WE’RE RICH WE’LL ADOPT YOU CAN LET YOU MOVE INTO OUR TIKTOK MANSION!”

he is SUCH a child but he’s the man child you fell in love with

needless to say this video will be played at the wedding and anniversaries to come

ATSUMU

atsumu is constantly irritating you to be one of those tiktok couples with him

he’s convinced the two of you were made for the tiktok lifestyle

everytime you roll your eyes and decline

but you decide to give him the opportunity when a certain trend catches your eye

“baby, when i said i wanted to be tiktok famous i meant like the dances n cute videos where people compliment us n call us hot. this aint it chief”

“fine then, guess i’ll ask samu”

he doesn't even give u the chance to get up after you say that

“no nO I”LL DO IT 😠”

he is reluctant at first

ideally he wanted to make the tiktoks where you’re the one throwing it back on him not vice versa

anything to make you happy though i guess

he will pick out both of your outfits

if he’s going to do this tiktok, the least he’s going to make sure of is that you both fit his aesthetic

so you’re wearing typical clothes he’d wear to the gym

his gym clothes are actually stylish though

you will NOT catch atsumu wearing anything ugly that includes gym clothes

unlike a certain other setter who thought wearing plaid shorts was acceptable cough cough oikawa

he chooses to wear a tight dress

it’s stretchy though so don’t worry he isn't stretching out and ruining your clothes

“why are you wearing that? you can see a little too much there ratsumu”

“uh so people can see you have a boyfriend that's obviously packin heat 🙄”

“i hate you 😀”

he is hesitant about wearing make up

but you explain to him since you’re doing it you might aswell go all out so he finally gives in

you won’t put a lot on him though just to compromise with him slightly

light highlight, blended out eyeliner, natural lip colour

he’s surprisingly impressed and pulls out his phone to take a few selfies before getting ready to film the ‘stupid’ video with you

he insists he doesn't need to practice

“im good at everythin’ i do and everyone is gonna see that when we film this shit”

surprisingly it does only take you guys one attempt to get it right

atsumu is good at body rolls periodt

he can throw it back

but his body rolls chileee

he looks flexible asf

he is serving absolute attitude

you also did take notice of him using one hand to slyly cover his private area out of modesty though

because he found you were in fact right about how that dress really did show everything

he incorporates it well into his choreography though nobody would be able to tell he was trying to cover himself

“baby we look so fuckin hot. im talkin more bout me but you’re still sexy too”

he adds so many hashtags to the caption

#couple #hot #imhotter #fyp #foryoupage #tiktokcouple #couplegoals #hotboy #sexyboy #hotathlete #attractivemale #eboy #trending #makeusfamous

you just roll your eyes and let him get on with it

im so sorry but you guys don’t get many views

atsumu is pissed

“we put so much effort in why’s it not gettin attention?!”

“calm down babe we only posted it 2 minutes ago”

give it a few days and you guys do blow up though

im talking 867K likes

and to atsumu’s delight the comments are mostly complimenting you both

“told ya this was a good idea”

“it was my idea?? 😐”

requests are open!!

#kuroo tetsurou #kuroo x reader #kuroo x you #kuroo hcs #kuroo scenario #bokuto koutaro #bokuto x reader #bokuto x you #bokuto hcs #bokuto scenario #miya atsumu #atsumu x reafer #atsumu x you #atsumu hcs #atsumu scenarios #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu hcs

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frenchbread-writes · 5 years

Text

Unexpected Reunion| {Enji Todoroki/Endeavor}

@unfaithfulmemories: Hi, I see that you are taking requests. Could I ask for an Endeavor x male reader Pro-hero that started dating Enji during their UA years but then Enji ghosted the reader and after a few years the reader decides to go on a dating app and reconnects with Enji without knowing it's him and it ends with a passionate night? Maybe a time skip where they are married and the reader adopts the Todoroki kids under his name

I MOVED ACCOUNTS

I’m so happy that you asked me to write about endeavor since he’s literally one of my favs

The story’s ending might be a bit eh but I’m proud of the overall story so I hope you still like it😊😊

Pairing: Endeavor x Male!Reader

Words: 3.6k

Warnings: mentions of abuse, implied NSFW

Requests: Closed

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

When Hawks suggested that he should consider meeting someone after being single for an admittedly long amount of time, Enji promptly shut the smaller man down. Between trying to maintain his duties as the #1 Hero and fixing the rift he caused within his family, he had no time to even think of trying to enter the dating scene.

The #2 Hero still tried to convince him until He said how Endeavor was a quote: “Lonely old man who needed to get some.”

After that, the larger man snapped, glaring at the winged hero. Flames growing larger in anger as he growled out how “his love life was none of Hawks’ business” and then stomped out of the room.

But now there he was The Endeavor, sitting in his bedroom after his shift, on his phone staring at the dating app sign up screen, blushing. Cursing himself for acting so childish he finally started filling out his information into the required boxes.

It started off easy enough just the usual information:

Name: Enji Todoroki

Username: Endeavor#1

Gender, email, number, and password.

Though it was the last question that made him pause.

Sexual preference

It should be obvious, he liked women, but even having said that his finger still hovered over the screen. It didn’t feel right. He thought of his previous relationships, which was admittedly a small amount to remember, and.. Nothing.

He had felt no attraction to the people he had been with previously, even thinking of a woman’s body did nothing for him if anything, he felt the opposite of how he thought he should. But there was that one time in UA where he experimented, he dated another man it was only for a little while, about 2 months. He couldn’t remember his name but he could clearly remember those (e/c) eyes and how they made him feel. He felt heat prickle the top of his ears and spread down to the back of his neck.

He swallowed thickly and idled there for a few more moments staring at the screen before he took a deep breath and pressed the male option and pressed sign up before he could change his mind.

Now all that’s left is setting up his profile.

Description, he thought for a moment before typing:

“Looking for a romantic relationship with someone who can be independent and not a pushover.”

Now for photos.. how do you take decent photos?

He went through other profiles to see what kind of photos he should take.

The most common ones were selfies and.. shirtless mirror pictures. It’s ridiculous and he should delete the damn app and curse Hawks for giving him the idea in the first place.

But here he was, standing in his bathroom in front of the large mirror with his hero costume on flexing for the camera, the next few photos were of him with his flames turned off and without a shirt, and the last pictures were of him in a suit that hugged his body in all of the right places and showed off his muscles through the stretched fabric around his arms, chest, and thighs.

He stared at the photos he took and deleted the worst ones, being left with about 4 photos.

“Good enough.” He muttered as he uploaded them to his profile

now all that's left is to explore potential candidates worthy of being in a relationship with him.

Over the next few days not one person on the app piqued his interest in the slightest, and the ones who were brave enough to message him first were disregarded, they weren’t of any interest or not worthy of being spared even a second of his time.

He sighed as he shut off his phone and flopped onto his bed, dissatisfied and disappointed by his lack of success. He drifted off to sleep hoping to have more success.

He did not have more success. The men he met up with were either easily intimidated and had no backbone or were able to stand their ground and look him in the eye but immediately made their sleazy intentions clear, which is not what he was looking for and it clearly states in his description what the type of relationship he is interested in.

It wasn’t until a few more days passed he got a notification from the app as he walked out of his agency saying he was matched with another person, he grumbled and prepared to swipe it away but the name caught his eye, it seemed familiar but where had he seen it before?

He didn’t get a chance to think about it when he received a message.

“OMG Enji it’s actually you!!”

Such casual use of his first name threw him off, and another ping alerted a new message.

“It’s me (Y/N) we dated in back in high school!!”

That’s why the name sounded so familiar, it was you the male he dated in high school.

He stared at his phone for a moment, all he had to do was respond with something kind.

“Yes I remember you being a thorn in my side”

‘Why am I like this?’ he thought

“Is that why you were an asshole and radio silent on me?”

He blushed, oh right, he was so obsessed with becoming number one that he cut all ties with anyone he deemed useless at helping him achieve his place at the top.

Thinking about it, that wasn’t one of his best choices.

“I apologize for my actions in the past I hope you can forgive my childish behavior, you have every right to be angry with me”

“I was kidding you dummy but if you really want to make it up to me you could look up from your phone screen.”

His brow arched in confusion at the message, look up why would he- oh.

He didn’t know what to do, you were standing there smirking, the sight making heat spread across his cheeks, you were stunning.

You had changed a lot since he had seen you at UA, your muscles are larger and more defined, scars littered your arms ranging from small light scars to large dark ones, gained from years of working with machines and different kinds of equipment no doubt.

You raised a brow “So are you just gonna stand there checking me out or are you going to take me out on a date?”

He jolted and cleared his throat, “I apologize, you surprised me, I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.”

You sighed “You’re still as stiff as you were back in high school, we need to do something about that.”

What did you mean by that? He wouldn’t have to wait long to find out, as you fished a pen out of your pocket, grabbed his hand and scribbled something on the palm of his hand.

“Here’s my number call me later.” You winked before walking off.

He was stunned, you were just a normal guy who asked him to call you, so why was his heart pounding in his chest, palms sweaty, and an extreme heat covering his face that had nothing to do with his quirk?

After he composed himself Enji took his phone out and added your contact, now he had to wait until later that day to contact you.

------------------

After the encounter, the few hours that remained in his shift that day seemed to drag on forever. He was antsy to end the day, only a few more minutes, all he had to do was finish his reports then he could change and go home. That was easier said than done but he managed.

------------------

When he made it to his room he immediately whipped out his phone fumbling with it before opening a conversation with you.

“Hello, it’s Enji”

Not even a minute later you replied

“Hey! You ready to take me out?”

You were so direct and straight to the point, it was amazing.

“Yes, where shall I meet you?”

You sent him the location and time.

“8:30 Don’t be late ;)”

It was 6:00 so he had time to prepare, but as he sat there staring at his messages he couldn’t help a smile from creeping onto his face.

“So who were you talking to that’s making you smile at your phone?” The soft voice of his daughter made him jolt, smile immediately slipping from his features.

“N-nothing!” He yelled

She chuckled and prepared to leave the room, but before she could leave the doorway, Enji called out for her.

He blushed “W-wait! Actually, I-I need your.. help with something”

She turned to see a flushed Endeavor staring at his feet.

“I need your help looking for something to wear for a d-date”

She was taken aback, him going on a date, it was.. unexpected to say the least, but she couldn’t help the warm smile from tugging at her lips. He’s finally doing something positive and trying to move past the negativity.

Fuyumi sighed “Ok I’ll help”

He looked up to her grateful and gave a silent thanks, now he had to get ready to meet you near the train station and start the date.

------------------

Which is where he found himself wearing one of his casual button-down shirts and form-fitting jeans. ‘I hope this is good enough’ he thought, glancing at his appearance as he waited for you to show up.

It was now around 30 minutes after you were supposed to be there, Enji now tapping his foot in impatience, nervousness now replaced with annoyance. Grumbling “How dare he make me wait this long” under his breath.

He whipped his phone out about to send you a message when he heard. “Hey! Sorry, I’m late!” Your voice sounding sheepish. He huffed “You better have a good explanation as for why you kept me waiting” he stared at you expectantly.

You chuckled and said, “Well I simply lost track of time”

“Now let’s get going we’re wasting daylight” taking his wrist you started dragging him off to your destination.

------------------

The two of you walked for about 10 minutes before you stopped. “This place is amazing, I come here in the morning to get my coffee”

You gestured to a small cafe before walking in. “A lot of heroes usually come by here, it’s very lowkey and they give heroes a discount!”

he glanced around the interior taking note of the small number of people present.

After the two of you ordered you found a booth to sit and began to talk, well, you did most of the talking. You didn’t chat about anything in particular just catching up about what happened after high school. This went on for about an hour after that Enji slowly started to open up, talking more and eventually, he began smiling and laughing with you.

But sadly the date had to end eventually, that left you with Enji walking you home. You couldn’t help but notice from the corner of your eye that Enji was glancing at your hand more than usual, so you took initiative and took his hand in yours. In response, he stiffened up his face flushing, and grip a bit too tight you couldn’t help but tease him.

You looked up at him, winked, and brought his hand up to your lips and left a gentle peck on the back of his hand. Enji’s face burned as the two of you walked the rest of your way to your apartment, hands still Intertwined.

------------------

Walking up to your apartment you and Enji look at each other.

You sigh “So I guess this is my stop”

Enji offered a small nod in response and awkwardly opened his arms for a hug.

Chuckling you accepted his embrace, soaking up his body heat hug lasting longer than usual. After about a minute you pull away from the hug your arms still around his torso, look at Enji and smile, a real smile and not one of your cocky ones “This was the best date I’ve had in a while, thanks”

Enji blushed “I had a great time as well and I hope we can do this again soon”

But as he said that he couldn’t stop staring at your lips you were so close and they looked so enticing, so he took a deep breath, steeled his nerves and took a chance and leaned in connecting your lips with a gentle kiss.

You weren’t expecting Enji to kiss you, so you froze for just a moment before kissing back, his lips were a bit chapped and it was obvious that he hasn’t done this in a while but to you it was great.

The kiss was innocent enough but as the kiss kept going it began to escalate. You felt something soft and warm press against your bottom lip you parted your lips and welcomed his tongue that entered your mouth. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him closer, pressing up against his solid chest he responded by grabbing your waist and doing the same.

He had you pressed against the door panting when you heard it, the laughter you looked around him to see your nosey neighbor's kid was messing around at the park that was direct across from your apartment. You didn’t want your neighbor budding into your love life because her kid saw you kissing a stranger so you pulled away from Enji and pulled out your key to unlock the door.

The two of you barely closed the door before Enji was attacking your lips again. Not wasting a moment the two of you stumbled to your bedroom, a mix of heated moans, clumsy footsteps, and groping hands, the two of you discarding articles of clothing until the two of you were in just underwear.

Enji picked you up and pressed you down onto the mattress kissing down your jaw down to your neck and chest leaving red marks a he went.

He was prepared to be the dominant one until you somehow instantly flipped the two of you around making it where you were on top smirking at him and holding a condom in between your teeth.

You may be the one on his receiving end but Enji knew that you were far from being submissive for him, as you tore open the wrapper with your teeth and looked at him like he was your prey.

He was in for a long night.

------------------

Waking up the next morning the first thing Enji did was to sit up and stretch until he felt the familiar pop of his joints, he looked around his surroundings and noticed that you weren’t in the room with him. Your clothes were missing from the floor and a pair of clothes were neatly folded on the foot of the bed for him.

Quietly he got dressed and went to open the door to exit the room, immediately he was hit by the smell of eggs and bacon.

Walking into the kitchen he blushed as he caught sight of you standing in front of the stove, wearing nothing but a T-shirt tucked into short shorts. They did nothing to hide all of the marks that covered your neck and thighs left behind from the night before.

He couldn’t help but admire your beauty and the way your hips swayed as you quietly hummed a tune under your breath.

“It’s rude to stare you know,” you say over your shoulder

He jumped “S-sorry I didn’t mean to”

You smiled at him and playfully rolled your eyes “It’s fine and stop being so stiff around me you’ve seen me naked and I don’t let just anyone do that ya know”

You turn off the stove and spin around with two plates of bacon and eggs in your hands “now sit, I made breakfast”

Enji sat at the spot at your small dining table that you prepared for him and began eating.

You rubbed the back of your neck “I know it’s not the best but it’s the only thing I know how to make without needing adult supervision”

“It tastes perfectly fine, thank you for making it” Enji defended

You opened your mouth to deny it but his sincere expression made the words dry up and all you could do was let out a sigh and smile back at him.

Enji wanted to see that smile every day.

------------------

After breakfast was finished and everything was put in the sink you and Enji sat on your couch, drank tea, and talked. Mostly just chatting until the conversation about being in a relationship came up.

“(Y/N) there is something I need to talk to you about before any of this continues” Enji looked directly into your eyes.

The two of you held eye contact until he looked down and sighed.

He began telling you of his past, of his goal the reason he left you before, the stuff he’s done to his son and the emotional and physical abuse he’s put the entirety of his family through. Not once did you interrupt him, you let him speak and reveal everything he had done.

After he was finished speaking he couldn’t face you, you must’ve been disgusted with him not that he would blame you. He expected you to reject him, tell him to leave not wanting anything to do with a monster like him.

But that’s not what happened, instead, you reached forwards and cupped his face in your hands and placed a delicate kiss to his lips.

You pulled away “Thank you for telling me, what you did was terrible and you deserve any punishment that you receive.” You paused “But I can see you are trying to change and become a better person.”

You looked him directly in the eyes “And that’s all that matters is that you’re trying and as long as you’re trying I will stand by your side.”

After your speech, Enji only noticed the tears falling from his eyes when you started wiping them away, he latched his arms around your torso pressing his face into your chest, shaking, and sobbing out a chorus of “thank you’s.”

You simply smiled and held him as he cried, you didn’t care that he was staining your shirt with his tears instead, you rubbed circles on his back, placed soft kisses on the crown of his head, and whispered that everything was gonna be okay.

------------------

Ever since that day you and Enji have been on several more dates taking it slow and getting to know each other.

It was about a year later when he invited you over to his home, that was odd considering he hasn't invited you over before because he hasn’t told his kids about you, his daughter Fuyumi being the exception.

Walking up to Enji’s door, your heart was beating a mile a minute it was the first time you were going to meet his children and you were nervous as hell.

Taking a deep breath you lifted a hand and knocked firmly on the door. Not even a minute later the door opened with Enji greeting you with a quick kiss, a thank you for coming before he pulled you inside.

“So I have informed them of someone I wanted them to meet but I haven't told them who exactly they’re meeting” he whispered

As soon as you walked into the living room 3 pairs of eyes were on you, it was an intense staring contest between the four of you.

Enji cleared his throat and gestured to the smaller man “So everyone this is (Y/N) my boyfriend, I hope all of you can get along.”

You took that as your cue to speak “Hey guys nice to finally meet you!” You gave them one of your signature smiles and slap Enji’s back “This loser can’t stop talking about you.”

Enji glared at you “H-hey!” His kids snorted

You ignored him opting to sit next to the boy with half red and half white hair “You must be Shouto” you pinch his cheek lightly “You’re just as adorable as the time I saw you at the sports festival!” He simply blushed and let out a small “thank you.”

Next, you looked to the taller boy with white hair and raised your hand for a high-five “You’re Natsuo!” The boy gave your hand a gentle slap “I love your shirt by the way” you gestured to his shirt that said “FRONT” on it. He gave you a smile “Thanks, finally someone who appreciates my sense of fashion, unlike somebody.” He glanced over to Fuyumi.

You gave her a gentle smile and held out your hand for her to shake “It’s very nice to meet you Fuyumi, I hope I’ve made a good impression on you so far?”

She chucked “Yes you have (Y/N)”

After that you had pleasant conversations with the siblings, getting along with them even Shouto seemed to perk up when you spoke to him.

Enji watched as you effortlessly seemed to make them warm up to you, fitting in so easily it went much better than he thought it would.

He couldn’t help but stare at the empty space on your finger on your left hand and feel the shape of the small velvet box that was at the bottom of his pocket.

Soon his children will have another father, the Todoroki family will have a new member and everyone can take a step forward.

He’ll have to wait until the time is right but for now, he is content with watching his family bond with his boyfriend and future husband.

#endeavor #bnha enji #enji todoroki #endeavor x reader #endeavor x male reader #bnha x male reader #x male reader #male reader #enji todoroki x male reader #endeavor x male #frenchbread's writing

939 notes · View notes

rikumorimachisgirl · 4 years

Note

Iris, pls write what you think of Kasumi as a husband? As a dad?

Hello, Anon! Thank you for sending your ask my way. I can't say I know a lot about Kasumi, but let me take a stab at it. I really hope you like it. 💕

As a husband...

Assuming you're both Cardiologists at the Seimei University Hospital, you can expect him to do the right thing and move you out of EICU so that you won't be reporting to him because he cares a lot about your career. He won't allow office politics to get in the way of your talent.

Despite moving you to the Cardiology department, he'll still manage to steal you away at work - whether it's attending your prep or post-op meetings, observing you do your rounds, or calling you in his office for a "consult". This man has ways to lure you into his trap.

When you don't have the same rest day, he'll call you to say he just happened to be around the area and ask if you'd like to have lunch. (Note: Your new apartment is on the other side of town) he'll also say he has business to attend to someplace nearby, and will casually tell you that he'll pick you up when you clock out. (You can't say no to this because you know he won't budge).

Dates are a must on days when you have the same rest day. If you want to go to an aquarium, he'll have purchased tickets to every event and show in the place in advance so you don't have to stand in line. If you want to wear matching shirts, he's all for it, and will suggest you wear matching sneakers, too.

He's the type of guy who'll take lots of pictures. He won't mind taking selfies of the two of you - whether it's smiling brightly while standing right by the penguins, or making funny faces while waiting for the dolphin show to start - but he loves taking pictures of you best, especially when you're not looking.

The doctors at the EICU would have the time of their lives teasing him about the pictures of your latest outing you've uploaded on social media. They'll say there must've been a glitch in the matrix as they stare at the picture of you and him with your tongues out and your eyes crossed, looking like dorks. But it'll only take one sharp glance from him to silence them and he'll retreat to his office and view your profile himself.

As he looks at the pictures you've uploaded, he'll remember how amazed you were at everything you saw yesterday and smile. Running a finger along your smiling face on his phone, he'll start to imagine how great it must be if the two of you could have a little you to bring along at the aquarium the next time you visit.

As a dad...

This guy is the ultimate hands-on dad (and husband to you!) You had a difficult labor and had to get a C-section at the last minute, so he wanted to make sure you have enough time to recover.

From the time your son was born, Kasumi hardly left the little one's side. He doesn't mind taking care of him - burping him after you feed him, lulling him to sleep, and changing his diapers.

You've lost count of the number of times you caught him singing softly to your son while he watches him sleep, and the times he fell asleep by the little one's crib because he had to check on him in the middle of the night.

He'll pretend to be uninterested but has memorized all the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Disney songs and has a playlist of nursery rhymes, which he plays in the car when you're going to the doctor or on an outing.

He'll feign nonchalance, but is actually over the moon when the hospital staff fawn over the little one, saying he looks like a mini version of him.

He'll gladly accept the "Future Heart Fixer", " Future Heart Breaker", "Future Heart Doctor" onesies from his Uncles Munechika, Tetsuya and Sentaro would send over, but wouldn't dare impose anything on his son. He'll gladly support whatever the little one wants to be when he grows up.

On nights when he has to come home late and finds you asleep with your son in your arms, he'll snap a picture, press a kiss on your forehead, and gently stroke your son's head. He'll stare fondly at your sleeping forms, and thank his lucky stars because from now on, he's never gonna be alone again.

The end.

#anon asks #answered #iris writes #kasumi toshiki #toshiki kasumi #dr kasumi #kasumi x reader #kasumi hc

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kingkatsuki · 4 years

Note

I’m not gonna lie,, I’m thirsting HARD over dom-daddy kiri rn. It’s 2am and I can’t stop thinking about him and how fricken hot everything about him is. Like I can just see him looking at his phone and seeing the you’re active on insta and he asks u what ur doing up, (you’re thirsting over his half naked hero costume pics) and you simply respond with.. “nothing...👀” and he KNOWS wtf is up.. like mmMMM this got me feelin some type of way 🤪🥵🥵

Just the fact that you’re online at these hours, it must mean you’re up to no good. I mean 2am is peak horny hours, right? When he see’s the little symbol beside your name to say you’re active he can’t help but slide into your DMs.

Sending you a quick message before going straight to your profile and looking over your pictures. They don’t even have to be that suggestive for Kirishima to get a flurry of dirty thoughts in his mind. Immediately thinking about how your pouty lips would look wrapped around his cock. Palming himself through his sweats as he waits for your reply.

It doesn’t take long, it never does with you. Always so eager and ready to please, especially if the suggestive messages you were constantly leaving on his profile were anything to go by. Such a big mouth for such an innocent looking girl-

Want to explain to me what you’re doing awake at 2 in the morning then, Princess?

Kirishima’s eyes already watching you type a response as he cups his hand around his cock, letting his fingers brush against his meaty balls.

Nothing...👀

Just by the emoji alone, Kirishima knows you’re up to no good. He saw you leaving a more than suggestive comment on the story he’d uploaded just before he got into bed.

Prove it.

He felt his cock throb against its confines as he noted the image attachment in the next message you’d sent. A selfie of you laying back in your bed, wearing an official Red Riot shirt which had ridden up your body just enough for him to make out the curves of your hips that led down to pretty red lacy panties. You were such a fucking tease.

I bet you’re doing something, Red Riot.

Kirishima smirked at this, he knew it. You were always sliding into his direct messages with the suggestive comments and pictures. The innocent persona on your main account most definitely a ruse~ some of the comments that you’d left on his public Hero Instagram was enough to make anyone blush.

You’re going to have to show me more if you want something from me, babe.

Another picture comes through and he has to stop himself from cumming on sight. His Hero shirt is now bunched up over your breasts, the hem of it between your teeth as your breasts are on full display for him, your nipples pebbled and perfect as though you were teasing them before sending the picture to him. The outline of your lacy underwear still visible.

Didn’t I tell you before what happens when you tease me, Princess?

His thumbs already in the hem of his boxers, tugging them down to free his aching cock. His fist already wrapping around his girth to give himself a rough tug.

I’ll do whatever you say, Daddy~

#thirst posts #red daddy riot #kirishima

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onewfantaesy · 4 years

Note

suggestion: an evil producer or something decides to out taemin's relationship while filming something/doing something live, and onew and minho come to the rescue (and since the fans already knew and didn't care, I bet they'd give the producer reasons to live in fear lol)

It was supposed to just be a documentary on various SM artists, and on the way the company runs in general. It was some sort of special anniversary thing, Taemin didn’t really know exactly. All he knew was that he had a small interview about his debut and his growth in the company and film a couple scenes learning some new choreography and recording songs and blah blah blah. Standard shit. Taemin wasn’t fazed.

Until months later when it was released and he was sitting at the premiere with so many labelmates and general employees and the press and even the damn CEO and there, on the big screen, is Kibum kissing his neck and tugging him close and Taemin himself giggling and trying to tug himself away, only to sneak a kiss on Kibum’s lips just moments later.

Apparently, secret relationships were a big part of this documentary. An unplanned addition. An unannounced plan that the director had as a way of exposing idol dating culture. Something that got no approval from those in charge of running this entire project, so pretty much everyone was shocked and confused and angry.

There were several other relationships outed as well, but Taemin felt frozen in his seat after his was finished playing out. So many people were looking at him, staring at him, whispering about him, and Kibum wasn’t even there that night and Taemin felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Let’s go,” Jinki, his manager, whispers to him. And he pulls Taemin up and ushers him out of the theater, out of the building, and into a van all while shielding Taemin as best he can from various flashing cameras and nosy reporters who want to know why he (and several other idols) are leaving so soon.

Taemin is 24. He’s 24 and he’s been an idol for ten years and he’s been dating Kibum for five years but he has no idea what to do. This is his entire life that’s just been potentially ruined by a single director with an agenda of outing idol relationships. His whole life is about to be turned upside down, he could lose his job, his fans, everything because of one person.

“It will be okay,” Jinki tells him. “They’re already no doubt figuring out how to damage control. No one else will ever see that movie. Everything will be okay.”

“No it won’t,” he chokes, staring straight out the window and not moving. “Everyone’s gonna hate me.”

“No they won’t.”

“Yes they will!” Taemin screams, his head snapping abruptly to turn to Jinki. “I have to be perfect! And not being single makes me not perfect! Dating a dude makes me not perfect!”

“Life is not about obtaining perfection,” Jinki tells, his voice firm. “You work your body to the point of pure exhaustion, mentally and physically, trying to achieve something that’s impossible. Your fans love you because you’re you. Because they like your music and your personality and your dancing. Real fans won’t give a shit who you’re dating so long as they make you happy.”

Taemin doesn’t say anything for a while, instead going back to staring straight ahead. Jinki ends up walking Taemin up to his house, making even helping him over to the couch. Taemin is completely dazed, and it’s really worrying.

“I’ve worked so hard,” Taemin eventually says in a strangled voice. “For practically my whole life, I’ve worked so, so hard to be good at this. And it’s all ruined.”

He’s panicking and tears are spilling from his eyes and Jinki just sits next to him and holds him close. He’s been Taemin’s manager since he debuted, he knew exactly when Taemin started Kibum, he’s been there for everything Taemin’s ever had to go through. But this is by far hitting Taemin the hardest.

But of course it is. It’s a blatant invasion of privacy, and it really does have the potential to ruin Taemin’s career. Jinki won’t let it, of course, but that doesn’t mean the possibility can’t scare Taemin.

Jinki rarely sees Taemin cry, and this is by far the most he’s ever seen Taemin cry so desperately. Jinki sits with him for hours, consoling him, comforting him.

When Kibum comes home later that night from teaching a dance workshop, he freaks out over seeing a crying, distraught Taemin being held by his manager.

“What happened?” Kibum asks, rushing over. “Did someone get hurt? Are you hurt? What happened?”

Jinki has to tell him, because Taemin can’t quite form a coherent sentence.

Kibum is pissed. He’s angry and pissed off and he wants to do something about it, but he decides the best thing to do right now is just help Taemin calm down.

“I’m gonna go,” Jinki says after Taemin finally starts breathing normally again. “I’ll text you any updates on the situation. Just try to lay low for now.”

For the next three days, Taemin barely leaves the bed. He doesn’t answer calls, he doesn’t go online, he barely even looks at his phone. He just stays in bed either staring out the window, sleeping, or watching old kids movies.

Kibum stays with him as much as he can, tries to help him feel some sort of comfort. But they don’t really talk much. He’s never seen Taemin retreat into himself as much or as drastically as this.

“I’m gonna go get us something to eat,” Kibum says gently after a couple days. “Do you want anything specific.”

“Not hungry.”

He’s barely eaten anything if Kibum hasn’t practically forced him.

“I’ll be back in a little bit,” Kibum says. “Maybe try showering before I get back?”

“Kay.”

He probably won’t. Kibum knows he probably won’t.

While the incident has been in a few gossip columns, it’s been effectively buried by the company. It could have potentially ruined several of their most popular artists, it wasn’t something they were going to let get out there. Really, they said the documentary was highly fabricated by the director, that it was entirely unreliable and fictional, and that’s enough to appease the general public and fans alike.

Although many fans know the dating rumors are true. Most of them don’t care. Taemin’s fans in particular have known about Taemin and Kibum for years, but they’ve never been bothered by it. So long as Taemin is happy, that’s all they care about.

But Taemin is clearly unhappy during this time. The photos and videos of him leaving the original viewing very clearly show him upset and panicked. He’s been MIA for over a week since then, and even Kibum’s Instagram and online presence has severely declined in activity. He posted from the dance workshop that was held the same night, but nothing since then. It’s very worrying, especially since Kibum usually posts at least once a day, if not more.

It’s not until Minho, an actor and frequent variety show guest, finally speaks up about it that Taemin realizes maybe it won’t be the end of the world.

“We might be in the public eye, but we’re still people,” Minho says. “And to put these relationships on blast and just out all these relationships as what? A power move? Is just so reprehensible. It doesn’t matter if they’re true or not, you’re actively trying to ruin someone’s career because you think idols dating should be talked about more. But that just opens us up to more potential for hate by non-fans. And seeing so much hate does a lot more damage to a person’s health than you think it would.”

Minho, although not technically an idol, is an actor under SM. And his relationship with a stylist within the company was shown as well.

But seeing that Minho is okay, that he’s still out there doing his job and his life isn’t crumbling around him - that helps Taemin realize his career isn’t over because of one potential scandal.

Taemin is back to his usual self after a couple weeks. He’s still nervous and afraid of backlash, but he tries his best to just be happy in the moment. Plus, it helps that Kibum is so supportive.

After almost two weeks of complete silence from both of them, a fun video of Taemin learning new choreography is uploaded to Kibum’s Instagram. They’re in a company practice room, and Taemin comes out of a spin giggling, a little dizzy, and falling over to make funny faces at Kibum. Five minutes later, Taemin posts a mirror selfie in the same room with Kibum standing right next to him, an arm wrapped around his waist.

They’re so obviously together. They’ve never been super subtle about it. But they should be allowed to make the decision of when to officially announce it. And right now, neither of them are comfortable doing that. And that’s okay.

#taemin #shinee #key #onew #minho #taekey #little things au #hello anon #I hope this is okay!!!#I was still trying to figure out what roles they should play in this au #it I think manager and actor/friend work well for onho!!!

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calpalirwin · 5 years

Text

Photographs and Tattoos

Summary: Maxine “Max” Green was never the girl to pass up a challenge, and she may have just met her match in the form of sullen drummer boy, Ashton Irwin.

A/N: Slow burn relationships are utter perfection and I am too soft of a writer to have the patience to write them. But, I tried. And I had fun doing it.

Content: Bad hairstyle jokes. Cussing (as per usual). Mentions of drinking.

Word count: Who counts words? The same like 6 of you are gonna read this whether it’s 1 word or a million, so who cares? Then why are you adding this Bri? I don’t know, trying to be professional?

And away, and away we go!

~~~

“Max, these are the guys. Guys, this is Max. She’s your photographer,” Steve Lewis introduced.

The teenage boys eyed the girl up and down. Maxine “Max” Green stood a good foot shorter than the tallest boy, her black brown hair held back in a ponytail, brown eyes hidden behind black glasses. She was dressed simply, much like they were, in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. Her fingers unwrapped from the camera she had dangling around her neck as she extended her hand to the boys. “Pleasure,” she said, shaking each of their hands in turn.

“Lil young to be a photographer aren’t you?” one of the blonde haired boys asked her, a hand going up to push his fringe out of his hazel eyes.

“Lil young to be a rock band, eh?” she shot back, hands going to her hips.

“Watch yourself,” Steve told them both. “Max, curb the attitude. Ash, she’s older than even you, and if you disrespect her, I’ll let her lay you out.”

The hazel-eyed boy deemed Ash smiled wickedly at Max. “Oh, yeah?”

“Stop flirting with her, and let’s do this!” the dark-haired boy said, putting his hand on Ash’s shoulder.

Ash let out a boyish giggle as his cheeks flushed.

~~~

“So, you guys are from Australia?” Max asked as she scrolled through the photos she uploaded to her computer.

“Yup. We even went to school together. Well, all but Ash,” one of the blonde boys who wasn’t Ash, spoke up. Max glanced over at the voice, noticing the green eyes. Mike. Mike was the blonde with green eyes. Mike also had a wild streak a mile wide. Max liked Mike.

“So, how did Ash get in the band? And is Ash short for something?”

“Is Max short for something?” Ash retorted.

“It’s short for shut the fuck up,” Max smiled sarcastically at him. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the oldest band member. One second he was happy and giggly like the rest of them and the next he was grumpy and sullen.

“Hey, don’t swear!” he scolded her.

“It’s short for Ashton, as in Ashton, stop being an asshole,” the other blonde haired boy explained. Luke, the baby in the band, Max remembered. She also liked him and his bubbly personality. She was sure the smile on his face was permanent.

“Stop swearing!” Ash said, throwing his hands in the air in a huff.

Max and the other three boys laughed. Then, “It’s short for Maxine. But I’ve always gone by Max. And ease up with the not-swearing bit. You’re a punk band.”

“You really think we’re punk?” Mike asked, his green eyes lighting up.

“I mean, you guys don’t dance ,and you actually play your instruments, so you’re not a boy band…”

Mike let out a squeal of excitement before giving her a rib-crushing hug. “She thinks we’re punk rock!”

“You’re not punk rock,” the dark-haired boy, Calum, by process of elimination, spoke up finally. “You’re hugging her.”

Max liked Calum too. He was quiet but when he did talk, he was downright funny.

“Hugs are totally punk rock,” Max and Mike said. Then, just Max, “Now ,let me go, so I can get back to work.”

“Are any of them good?” Ash asked, peering over her shoulder.

“Are we done being grumpy?”

“I’m not grumpy,” he told her, crossing his arms over his chest.

Max rolled her eyes and pulled her bag towards her. “Here,” she said, tossing a granola bar at each boy. “I’ll tell Professor Lewis to get us some real food.”

~~~

“Max!” Steve’s voice called out as Max headed for the door of the classroom.

“Yeah?” she asked, stopping and turning back to look her professor.

“I have an opportunity for you, if you’re up to the challenge.”

She absent-mindedly rolled up the sleeves of her sweater. “Always,” she said, feeling the grin spread across her face. Professor Lewis believed in her skills in a way no one ever had. He had let her take total control over the photoshoot of the punk rock band a few weeks ago, letting her and the boys decide which ones to use. And now he was ready to trust her with something bigger, she could tell.

“Alright. 5 Seconds of Summer is touring and they need a photographer. I can’t go because I have classes to teach. Would you be willing to go in my place?”

“5 Seconds of Summer?” she asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

“The band you helped me with a few weeks ago.”

Her eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh, yeah! Alright, cool. Wait, did you say tour photographer?”

“I did. Keep up, Max.”

“Professor… I… I’m in school…”

“I already talked to the department. Send me every shot you take so I can put it in a portfolio and we’ll make it count for as many classes as we can. Be sure to experiment with different ideas.”

“Do I get paid?”

Steve chuckled. “Max, it’s an all expenses paid tour. This is a free ticket to travel the world with a camera. But yes, when you get home, my company will cut you a check for your work.”

“And you trust me?”

“Of course I do.”

“What if I mess this up?”

“Retake the shot,” he winked. “Don’t worry so much. Trust your gut. There will be a whole crew along for the ride, and I’m just a phone call away. So, can you do it?”

Max weighed through the options in her head. This was the chance of a lifetime. Her teacher believed she could do this. She was going to prove that his trust in her was well-placed. “Hell yeah!”

~~~

“Max!” Mike said, happily, doing a little run to hug the girl.

“Mikey,” she grinned, reaching up to ruffle her hands through his hair which was now bright red. “I like your hair!”

“Mum said I looked like a Skittle. I showed her!”

Max laughed, “You’re such a brat. Looks good, kid.”

“He thinks it makes him look more punk rock,” Calum said. Then, with a loud whisper, “It doesn’t!”

Max cupped her hands to her mouth and stretched up to whisper in the brown boy’s ear just as loudly, “Yes, it does!” before shooting a grin at Mike who grinned back.

“Steve sent you?” Ash’s voice said from behind her.

“Is that a problem?” she asked, turning, hands going to her hips.

“No,” the tall boy shrugged, a hand pushing his blonde fringe out of his eyes.

“You should really try a new hairstyle,” Max suggested. “The emo fringe is a little 2007.”

“I like the fringe,” the boy pouted.

“It’s not bad,” she admitted. “But, it’s gonna be a problem if you keep having to push it out of your face.”

~~~

Ashton looked over at Max. Her glasses were hanging off her shirt, her head leaning against the window of the plane. She had her earbuds in and her lips parted a little with every breath she took as she dozed. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the 3-months older girl who he thought was too young to be trusted to be their tour photographer. But, he couldn’t deny the talent she had. Not that he knew much about photography, but all the pictures they used from their photoshoot a few weeks ago had been from her camera.

Still, he was hesitant towards her and he couldn’t figure out why. He wondered how much was his own nerves around the admittedly pretty girl, and how much was jealousy of how friendly she was with the other 3- especially Mike- and so cold towards him. Had he said something to upset her, and she was still feeding off of that? Was he really just a grumpy, moody teenage boy and she was a grumpy, moody teenage girl?

He shrugged the thoughts away as her head rolled from the window to his shoulder. He smiled and pulled out his phone, taking a quiet and quick selfie of him and the girl asleep on his shoulder. He bet that the girl spent so much time behind the camera that she didn’t spend a lot of time in front of it. He was going to do what he could to remedy that, and that mission started here and now.

~~~

Max sighed and paced around the room. “I can’t keep doing this back and forth with you, Owen. This is my job. I can’t just come home because you miss me.”

The 4 boys frowned as the girl continued to pace, sharing confused glances at each other. None of them had any idea who this Owen was. At a year and a half of knowing the girl, all they knew about Max was that she was good at photography and had dropped her college education to be with them full time. That and that they liked her. She, much like each other, was a constant in their ever-changing, chaotic lives. She was their much needed-stability and they were her much-craved adventure. She was their girl, and they were her boys.

“No, Owen, you’re not listening to me! I got to live my life. It would be nice if we could work out. No- I know! I know you’re fighting for us, and that’s nice. But, I’m done fighting. I’m over this. No! I’m not saying that to hurt you! Look, we lost control of this long ago. We just need to let go, okay?”

“What are you doing?” Calum asked, as Ashton pulled out his phone to record Max.

“Shh, her words. Listen!” Ashton hushed. He knew he could turn those words into a song, but he needed to be able to remember them. And in order to do that, Calum needed to shut up.

Max sighed again, her glasses sliding up her face as she rubbed at her face. “I’m not cheating on you, you insecure little bitch boy! God! See, this is why we’re breaking up! I can’t live my life if I have to constantly reassure you of our relationship! I’m claiming my independence. Goodbye.” She hung up the phone and let out a small disgruntled scream.

“You okay?” Mike asked.

“Hmm?” Max said, taking notice of the four boys. “Oh, yeah, I’m good.”

Luke frowned. “Sounds like you just broke up with your boyfriend. Didn’t even know you had one.”

She came over to mess up the blue-eyed boy’s hair. “Boyfriends are overrated,” she smiled at him.

“I think we have ice cream,” Calum said, getting up. “Mali always eats ice cream after a breakup.”

Max laughed, “Honestly guys, I’m fine.”

“Are you turning down ice cream?” Luke asked.

Mike clutched a hand to his chest in mock-shock. “How dare you!”

Max laughed and pushed the wild boy, knocking him off balance. “Better bring the whole carton, Cal. And 5 spoons,” she said, expectantly, looking at Ashton who was staring at his phone. “Ash?” Max asked, poking the boy’s shoulder.

His head glanced up. “Hmm?”

“Ice cream?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“You good?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Are you?” he challenged. The emotions in his head and heart swirled dangerously inside him like a storm. A year and a half later and he still wasn’t sure of his feelings towards the girl. He liked her. They were friends. But there still remained the level of coldness that neither of them had been able to crack through.

She narrowed her eyes at the boy, who’s fringe had been replaced by soft brown curls. Black frames covered his hazel eyes, much in the same way black frames covered her brown ones. His apparent coldness still stung as it seemed to be more in full-effect when he conversed with her, but she had come to learn that’s just how the boy was. A tough facade to hide the soft boy he was inside. He was the oldest in the band, he had to act the part. Still, she wasn’t sure why he had to be so hard around her. But, she was still clueless to just how soft the boy actually was towards her, photos of her taking up most of the space on his phone, but he refused to delete a single one.

~~~

“That looks like it hurts,” Mike winced, watching Ashton sit in the tattoo chair.

The needle buzzing had already sent Luke running from the shop. Calum and Max were leaning against the counter with Mike, watching the needle work itself into Ashton’s wrist. The hazel eyes went wide, “What?! I thought we were all doing this together! Cal!”

Calum shrugged. “Sorry, mate. You’re on your own.”

“Mike!” Ashton continued to beg, stunned amusement in his eyes as he realized there was no going back for him and that his bandmates had bailed.

“Maybe next time, sorry Ash. I’m gonna go check on Luke.” The boy with wild hair colors Max couldn’t keep track off left the shop.

“Max?” Ashton asked, a final plea to not be alone in what was supposed to be a bonding tattoo experience.

“I’m not in the band,” she said simply, holding up her camera and snapping a picture of Ashton for proof. “Just the photographer.”

“Aw, c’mon, you’re as much as part of this band as the guys are,” Ashton said, continuing his plea.

“I am?” Max asked, her brown eyes going wide. Ashton had remained his rather cold self to the girl in their now 2 year long friendship. While it was an unspoken aspect that she was the honorary 5th member, hearing Ashton admit it made her insides twist in the most pleasant of ways. Unless he was just saying it to get her to get a tattoo with him. Either way, it was quite the line.

“Course you are.”

“Oddly suspicious coming from you while you sit in a tattoo chair, begging not to be alone.”

“How is the truth suspicious?”

Max snorted. “Oh, c’mon, Ash! We all know you just tolerate me.”

Ashton ducked his head. “Have I really been that mean to you?” he asked, his voice small.

“No,” Max told him, reaching for his hand that wasn’t being tattooed on. “You haven’t been mean. You’ve been a grump the entire time I’ve known you. But, I know it’s not because you’re mean.”

“I’m a jerk, huh?”

She held her thumb and index finger together. “Just a smidge. But, I’ve been a jerk back, so I guess we’re even.”

“So friends?”

She snorted again, this time a happier sound. “We already were, dumbass.”

“Stop swearing,” he giggled.

“Alright, who’s next?” the tattoo artist said, wrapping Ashton’s tattoo. “Keep an eye on that. You bled a lot, kid.”

Ashton’s face blushed as he hurriedly pulled down his sleeves to hide the scars on his wrists. “Thanks,” he mumbled, pulling out his wallet to pay.

“My treat,” Max spoke up, her hand reaching out to stop Ashton.

“Max, it’s fine,” Ashton protested.

“Consider it your birthday present,” she said.

“My birthday’s not for another 2 months,” he continued to protest.

“Fine. Pay for mine, I’ll pay for yours.”

“You’re gonna get one?” he asked, his hazel eyes lighting up.

“We’re a band, right?” she asked. She reached down to roll up her jeans. “Can you do the same thing right here?” she asked the tattoo artist, pointing at the soft flesh on her ankle.

“Have a seat,” he said.

Ashton scrambled up from the chair and moved to stand next to Calum while Max moved to take a seat in the chair. “Here goes nothing,” she winked at the boys. “Cal, go tell the others we’re gonna be a minute.”

~~~

“Moment of truth?” Ashton asked, hands ready to peel off the bandage on his wrist.

“Moment of truth,” Max grinned, her hands on her own bandage. They had waited until the other boys had gone to sleep, keeping the bandages on longer than necessary, wanting to save this moment for when it was just the two of them.

“Cool,” they both marveled their own tattoo, the simple tally mark etched upon their skin, before their eyes moved to admire the other’s. Max’s fingers grazed around the tattoo on Ashton’s wrist, feeling the scars underneath. “What happened?” she asked, her voice barely higher than a whisper.

Ashton jerked away, his sleeves moving to cover his hands. “It’s nothing,” he muttered, his hazel eyes growing dark.

“No, it’s not,” Max said, keeping her voice soft. “Don’t push me away, Ash. I’m not judging you.”

“Everybody else does,” the boy said sadly.

She sighed. “What is it with you and these walls? Those are more than your band mates over there. Those are your brothers. Me and you? We have matching tattoos, now. C’mon. Lower your defenses.”

“Says you. You didn’t even tell us you had a boyfriend.”

Max sighed again. “Are you tired?”

“No. Why?”

“Stay up with me. Tell me your life story, and I’ll tell you mine. Let’s get real. No secrets. Everything out in the open.”

Ashton gulped. He wasn’t sure he liked this plan. There were some secrets meant to be kept. Like his growing feelings towards her he still couldn’t figure out, and the pictures he had of her on his phone. But, he met her brown-eyed gaze that was as steady as it ever was and nodded. “Alright, who starts?”

“I’ll start,” Max decided.

~~~

“Lemme tell ya how it went down,” Calum told the camera and Max had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.

A small party had formed in Ashton’s home as the men grew progressively drunker and talked about their new album. Max, clung to her cup, sipping slowly. Not being a big drinker herself, she had taken the role of designated driver many a time for her boys. But, having the party at Ashton’s meant she was free to drink a little herself. Just enough to get a small buzz going. Not nearly as plastered as her friends were becoming.

“Need more?” Ashton’s voice asked her, a blue bandana still stuck to his head.

She shook her head, reaching her hands up to tug the bandana off his head. “Remember when you used to wear these all the time?” she asked.

“Why did you let me do that? You told me the fringe was a bad idea, but you let me wear this every day for a year? Monster,” he giggled. He was pacing himself with his drinks, but Max knew her friend well enough he was walking a fine line from strong buzz to straight up drunk.

“You had worse hairstyles,” she assured him, patting his chest affectionately, trying not to take too much pleasure in the way his heartbeat drummed against her fingertips.

He winced at the memory of his long shaggy hair. “Ooo, yeah, that was bad,” he admitted with a hiccuped giggle.

She smiled as she reached up to comb through his short brown hair. “Your hair’s fine now, don’t worry. And slow down with the drinks.”

“But, I’m having fun,” he winked, his hands resting on her waist.

Her hands moved again to hold his chin. “Slow down,” she said again, her voice firm.

“You’re drinking,” he pointed out, his fingers dancing across her skin.

“Ash,” she said, pulling out of his grasp, her skin on fire. “Sober up. C’mon, I think I saw KayKay in the kitchen.”

“How come you don’t date?” he asked at the mention of his girlfriend’s name. “You’ve watched all of us date. We’ve never seen you date.”

“I date,” Max assured him, tugging him towards the kitchen.

“I’ve never seen you date,” he said, following after her.

“Drink this,” she said, pressing a water bottle in his hands. “Your buzz will keep you feeling good for a while. But you need to start drinking water.”

“You take such good care of us, Max. All of us. We wouldn’t survive without you,” he said, a finger tapping her nose affectionately.

Max let out a low chuckle. “You’re my boys. You’re my band. Of course I’m gonna take care of you.”

“Okay. I’m gonna tell you something,” he said, taking a sip of water. “Damn, that’s good,” he said, taking another sip. “Okay, the thing. And, you can’t hold this against me. I’m kinda drunk right now.”

Max chuckled again, “It’s me, Ash. You can tell me anything, you know this.”

He grinned, “No, I really can’t. Because I bet if you knew I have pictures of you on my phone- not bad pictures, I’m not a perv…- but pictures. Of you. On my phone. I’m betting you’d be mad. But, that’s okay. Because I’m pretty sure I love you. But, we can’t let Max know. This,” he said, waving a finger between the two of them. “This is a secret. So, we can’t tell Max. And we definitely can’t tell Kay. Alright.”

Max had stopped breathing at his drunken confessions, unsure of what the truth really was, and scared to find out. “Okay, Ash. We won’t tell Kay or Max. This is just between you and me.”

“Promise me,” he said, his hazel eyes dark with their seriousness.

“Cross my heart,” she told him.

“Alright, good. Now, I gotta go get Cal off that stool cuz I think he broke it.”

Max watched as he staggered off, crouching under the stool, Calum was trying to twist back into place. “Twist it, mate,” Ashton’s voice said.

“I’m twisting, bro!” Calum answered back angrily.

Max chuckled to herself, leaning against the kitchen counter, her head reeling. 5 and a half years of friendship and he finally admitted he liked her. He had admitted a whole lot more too. But it didn’t matter what his confession meant, even if it was true. He had a girlfriend. And Max had ignored her feelings for Ashton for far too long to be certain of what feelings classified as friendship and which ones crossed the line in something more.

~~~

“Hey,” Max grinned at him as he stumbled down the stairs the next morning.

“Shh,” he said, one hand waving her off, the other rubbing at his head. “Lower your voice. What are you doing here?”

“I drank, so I just crashed in the spare bedroom. Figured it was okay.”

“And you’re not hungover?”

She shook her head. “I only had like 2 drinks.”

“Mmm,” he nodded. “How’s the footage. Is any of it usable?” he asked.

It was her turn to nod. “Yeah, it’s all usable for the most part. I think the drunker you guys got, the better the videos got.”

“God, that was so stupid. Why’d you let me drink so much?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I told you to slow down.”

“Are you the one who gave me water?”

“Mhm,” she said. And the one you confessed your attraction to. And the one who put your drunk ass to bed. And the one you tried to kiss when I put your drunk ass to bed, her thoughts concluded.

“Did I do anything stupid?”

“No stupider than usual, Ash,” she assured her friend.

“Good. Cuz I thought…” He rubbed at the back of his neck, and Max leaned forward slightly in her seat, eager to hear if his sober confession matched his drunken one from last night. “Nevermind,” he finished with a sigh. “I’m gonna go do some yoga. Wanna come?”

“Sure,” she said, getting up. Damn, another time, I guess, she thought, wrapping her arm around the man’s shoulders.

~~~

“You good?” Max asked her friend. Ashton had seemed down for days, his social media accounts eerily quiet despite all the tour buzz.

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m good. Why?”

“Nothing, you just seem… I dunno, quiet I guess.”

He shrugged. “I mean, I dunno. Maybe I’m a little sad. I was with Kay for like 2 years.”

Max nodded, biting into her lip. The drummer and his girlfriend had called things off right before he left for tour, reasons unknown to everyone. “Wanna talk about it?”

Ashton shook his head, “Nah, I’m good.”

“Alright then,” she said, pulling up her camera. “Say cheese.”

~~~

“Whoa, mate…” Calum said, looking through the pictures. “Does Max know about this?”

Ashton shook his head. “At least, I don’t think she does. I might have mentioned it when we did those videos for Youngblood, but I can’t remember. She never brought it up, and I’ve been too scared to ask.”

“Mate…” Calum said again, running his hands through his blue hair. “And you’re gonna give this to her as a Christmas gift?”

Ashton nodded.

“How long?” Calum asked the obvious question.

“Honestly? Probably the whole fuckin time.”

“Doesn’t she like Mike?”

“That’s what I thought. But, then… we got these right?” he said, showing Calum the tally tattoo, and then the story of the night he had stayed up all night with Max was rolling from his lips. “And I think that’s when I actually fell for her. Just… she feels like home.”

~~~

Merry Christmas, Max! Check your email for your gift! the text from Ashton read.

Merry Christmas, Ash! she texted back, even though it was still Christmas Eve back home. Her email app pinged as she switched over.

The girl who notices the world through a camera lens, never noticing the focus was always on her. the email read, with an attached file.

Max clicked on the attachment and had to scramble to catch her phone as it slipped through her fingers. 8 years of pictures filtered through her senses. Some had simple captions like “Max having her first gelato in Italy”. Some were funnier like “Girl snores like a freight train.” But it was the first and last picture that held the words that pulled forth the tears welling in her eyes. The first picture was of her head resting gently on Ashton’s shoulder, his blonde fringe forever cemented in time with the caption “I think I love this girl.” The last photo was only a week old, and- much like the first picture- featured Ashton. He was sitting down on the couch and she was standing up behind him, marveling his black hair. In a moment of softness, she had pressed a kiss to his hair, never noticing Calum taking the shot in the corner. The caption for this picture was nearly identical to the first photo’s caption: “I know I love this woman.”

Max clutched the phone to her chest tenderly. Ever since his confession, she had gone back and forth with her own feelings. She had realized what she had always known to be true, that she was in love with the man she had watched grow up in front of her camera. She was in love with his wild streak that was larger than life and left her head pounding for days. She was in love with the gentle boy who wore both his heart and scars on his sleeve. She was in love with every version of him he had ever been, and with every version he would ever be. And here was the proof that his drunken confession had been real, solidifying both of their feelings.

But, and there was the nagging thought. But, she had seen the photo of him with KayKay at the Christmas events when they got done touring. Maybe the love Ashton was saying he felt towards her was platonic. She wasn’t sure what she wanted the answer to be.

~~~

“Hey,” he smiled at her.

“Hey,” she said, returning the smile and taking a seat next to him on the couch. “Listen,” Max started, needing to speak before she lost her nerve.

“I-” Ashton started at the same time she did, also needing to get his feelings out in the open before he lost his nerve. “I lied. Before.”

“What?” Max asked, looking at him in confusion.

“The day we got the tattoos. We stayed up all night talking. I didn’t tell you everything.”

“You didn’t?”

He shook his head. “I left out the liking you part. I thought… I was scared. I still am scared. You’ve been this… constant steadiness in my life that I didn’t know I needed, and that I would be completely lost without. I can’t even begin to tell you how many songs I helped write because I needed a way to process what I felt towards you. And… I…” His hands were running wildly through his hair, searching for the words he had never been able to say to her face.

“I know,” she interrupted, grabbing his hands and pulling them down between them. “You told me this already.”

“I did?”

She nodded. “Youngblood album. You were drunk, so I wasn’t sure how much of it was true or not.”

“I thought that was a dream…”

“Nope, it was real.”

“Shit…”

“Ashton,” she said, getting him to look at her. His hazel eyes held a look she had never quite seen. She had seen those eyes dance wildly in his happiest moments, the cold hardness when he was angry, the dangerous flashing when he got intimidating, the soft sorrow of reflection. Every mood she had seen in his eyes. But this? This wasn’t sad. It was… she wanted to say scared, but in all her days she had never known the man sitting next to her to be scared. Scary, yes, but not scared himself. Ashton Irwin was many things, but scared was not one of them. Yet, here he was, scared absolutely shitless as 8 years of feelings lay between them. “I lied, too.”

“What about?” he asked, swallowing his fears, but not allowing himself to be hopeful either.

“Ashton, you’re my best friend. And I struggled for a long time trying to break down your walls without knowing why. And then, you finally let me in. And… God, it was like a switch flicked on. At the time, well, maybe always, I thought that our friendship meant more to me than the possibility of what we could be. But, then you kept being you. And then you told me how you felt. And I didn’t want to believe it, because I wasn’t sure if I wanted it to be true or not. And then you sent me the pictures and I knew it was. And, I value our friendship, I really do. But, I’m also really wishing you’re gonna ask me for more than a friendship, so I can say yes.”

“You are?” His voice was a low whisper, like he was afraid that talking too loudly would shatter whatever this moment was.

Max nodded. “I just have one question. Kaykay?”

“Just friends,” he answered.

“So, are we,” she countered.

“You and I were never just friends,” Ashton said, and then his lips were on hers. “You are my best friend. And so much more.”

“Shut up, and kiss me,” she said, grinning.

#photographs and tattoos #ashton irwin #ashton fic #galcal irwin #i need a minute...

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zankivich · 5 years

Text

Neighbors: Shawn x Plus Size Reader Chapter 12.5

a/n: I just wanted to pause and revel in Shawn and y/b getting to be in London and in love for a little bit. I wasn’t ready to let that go, so that’s pretty much all that this is. I hope you like it. Let me know if you do? K bye.

Warnings: smut. fluff. love. We real cute over here.

*Shawn’s pov*

“What in the hell are you wearing?” his girlfriend gasped him.

He looked up from tucking his shirt into his jeans as she stared at him in horror.

“What’s wrong? I really like this outfit.”

“I’ve never seen you in blue jeans before. Oh my god, Shawn. They’re so...tight.”

His worry quickly turned to a little bit of a self-satisfied grin. He could always count on his girlfriend to give his ego a little boost.

“What? You think I’m sexy, aye?”

She rolled her eyes. “No! But turn around and grab my purse would you?”

He did as she asked, immediately recognizing her ulterior motives when he turned around and she was staring about three feet too low for his eyes.

“Subtle, babe.”

“We must get out of here.”

He snorted and wrapped his arms around her from behind as they made their way to the door.

“You’re so dramatic. If you want to ravish me at any point just let me know.”

“Shut up with your face.” She muttered.

They all go out to explore the city together. And he gets to hold her hand and take pictures of her in front of pretty buildings where she smiles at him and the wind blows in her hair and he’s never been so in love in his whole entire life. There are fans about and people stop them for pictures, but nothing can burst this bubble. He can’t stop reaching out for her, can’t stop checking around him to make sure she’s pressed against his side. It’s needy and annoying to everyone around, and he just really doesn’t give a fuck.

Josiah suggests they go up to the roof of the building where rehearsals were hosted, to take pictures. It’s a rare day of sunshine and so it’s kind of the perfect moment. The second they get to the edge of stepping onto the roof though, y/n stops and refuses to move.

“Hey babe, what’s up?” He asked tugging slightly on her arm.

“I’m not going up there. I’ve seen this movie, the fat woman falls through the roof!”

He rolled his eyes. “Honey, you’re not going to fall through the roof. It’s metal. How heavy do you think you are?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t give a damn. I’m not taking my fat ass up there, Shawn. And that’s final.” She said sternly, hands perched on her hips.

*five minutes later*

“Try not to look so miserable, we’re trying to capture our love here.” He murmured as Josiah lined up the shot with his camera.

She pouted at him and he couldn't help but take her adorable cheeks in his hands. Wow, she was perfect.

“If I die up here, it’s all your fault. And, I expect you to pay for my funeral.”

He smiled. “Whatever you want. You can have everything.”

“K. Good.” She whispered. “You can kiss me now.”

“K.”

She wore a baby blue dress that day and a denim jacket that matched his jeans by coincidence. He fists his fingers in the fabric and kisses her softly. It’s gentle and nurturing and he can’t even remember ever being mad her. And when she giggles and tries to pull away from him, he kisses her cheeks instead. His heart feels endlessly full. Just like that. Just that instantaneously.

“You’re so pretty.” He sighed.

“You’re so pretty.”

“This is actually disgusting to watch!” Brian called from off to the side.

And that’s how Josiah gets a picture of him flipping Brian off while she kisses him.

They all huddle up around the camera to look at the shots and he’s just a bit of obsessed. There’s this one picture where she’s smiling down at the ground and the sun is hitting her cheekbones, and he’s smiling down at her like he loves her as much as he knows in his soul that he does. He kind of wants to get it framed.

“Babe, can I post this one?”

Her eyes widened slightly. “What like...like on insta?”

“Yea? I just think you’re beautiful. But, if you don’t want that, I won’t do it.”

Despite attending the grammys and the out and about of LA, their relationship was still kept pretty underwraps for the most part mostly due to her and what she wanted. If it was up to him, he’d be shouting his praises for her from the rooftops with a megaphone. In hindsight perhaps there was a reason his girlfriend kept a lid on him.

“Well like...would this be the only thing you post, or like would you post the other pictures too?” She asked nervously.

He peered around at everyone else wondering if anyone else was absolutely overcome with how damn cute she was. No one? Really?

“I’ll post whatever you want me to post.”

She peered down at the picture again before peering up at him nervously. When she nods it’s like they can both breathe a little easier. And so along with the pictures of him in the sun with the tea, which is all well and wonderful, he uploads the picture of them together, as a separate post entirely. There’s no caption besides his signature heart, he just sort of leaves it there to exist and to share with the world. And it feels important to him to share. So, when they head back down to the rehearsal space he tugs her a little farther behind everyone for just a moment to thank her.

“Hey. You sure you’re okay with the photo?” He murmured swinging their intertwined fingers back and forth in the space between them.

She nodded softly. “I--I think so. I mean it’s not like people don’t know right? And I don’t want you to ever think that I’m not like...proud to be with you or something.”

“I wouldn’t ever think that. I just want you to be comfortable, and I want you to know that you can count on me you know? About anything.”

“I do know.” She smiled. “I know.”

“Do you wanna go to dinner tonight? Just the two of us? I had Andrew pull my schedule through May. I figured we could get wine drunk and pick mini vacations.”

“Only if when we get back to the cottage you spank my ass a little more.”

His eyes widened. “That really did it for you huh?”

“More than your testosterone filled body could ever, ever understand.” She giggled.

Their sex life was wonderful as it was. She brought him pleasure unlike anyone he’d ever been with. She was attentive and passionate and...bendy. And he liked to think that he gave it as good as he got if those beautiful moments post orgasm when her eyes just fluttered and her lips couldn’t form words were anything to go by. But, he knew he'd give her everything, would be anything if it meant making her feel good. If she wanted to be spanked, a spanking is exactly what she would get.

“Maybe when we get back to the cottage I could bend you over and spank your ass so raw, you’ll think twice about asking me to spank it again.”

He may have heard her mumble something about god under her breath as he walked back down to rehearsals, but who was keeping track?

***

There are some fans outside the cafe. They hadn’t managed to find his hotel yet, and he thought that might have something to do with him staying at a different place than his crew. May he needed to get away with his girlfriend more often. Jake gets them in the line and he starts taking the selfies. Connor, Brian, and Josiah walk on ahead, but y/n stays behind off to the side because for some reason she loves him more than he could ever begin to deserve. And he can’t help but notice the interaction that occurs while he’s taking pictures.

Usually Jake helps navigate the crowd so that people are moving on after they’ve gotten their photo. This time he must have been at the end of the line making sure people weren’t pushing, because a group of girls got their photo with him and then subsequently moved on to his girlfriend.

“Hi! Uh, we were wondering if we could maybe take a picture with you?”

He looked over his shoulder to see her stare blankly at them in confusion.

“Me? Why me?”

“We just think you’re wicked! And all of us want to go to uni and like be successful in our lives, and knowing you did, well that’s just brilliant isn’t it?! Girls like us never get to see women be successful who aren't celebrities or instagram models.”

He certainly should have kept going with the pictures, but he couldn’t help but stop and watch. She looked every single one of them in the eye, the shock still clear on her face. He would have given anything to know what she was thinking in that very moment. She was scared of them, she was scared that at any moment someone might point out all of these parts of her that they thought were flaws, even if she didn’t. After everything there should have been zero expectation there that she would do anything she wasn’t comfortable with, and the fans were a large part of that. So, when she nodded softly and let them all pile in for a selfie, he’s a little shocked and lot filled with warmth as the thought. It was the kind of interaction he’d always expected with fans, and it was maybe a little nice to know that he wasn’t completely dead ass wrong.

“We’re gonna keep moving guys, but thank you so much for coming out. Have a wonderful day!” He smiled when he’d made it to the end of the crowd.

There was a chorus of byes and smiles and he couldn’t help but notice when someone said goodbye to y/n as well. It was wild, every part of it.

She’s quiet for a while as they walk together. And he can tell she’s in her head, but he wants to give her time to process. So they walk around and explore the city with the rest of the crew and she holds his hand, but it sort of feels like he’s simply holding the string to her balloon. If he wasn't holding on she’d surely float away. Every now and again, he couldn’t help but look over in her direction in the thought that maybe she’d done it anyway.

It isn’t until they’re at lunch and everyone else is absorbed in their own conversations that he can get her all to himself. She’s staring off at the sky through the window of the cafe and he reaches to tuck a curly strand of hair behind her ear. It gets her attention and makes her smile. Win, win.

“Hi.”

She smiled softly at him. “Hi.”

“Do you wanna float back down from the clouds for a little bit?”

She bit her lip and peered at the rest of the table to make sure they weren’t listening.

“How’d you know?”

“I know you.” He shrugged. “Is it good stuff, or bad stuff?”

“Mostly good, I think.”

“Well I’d love to hear some of it, if you’re willing to share.”

Her mind always felt simultaneously like his greatest challenge, but also the greatest beauty he’d ever seen. She struggled immensely with letting people into her head. And he’s figured out that unless he pushed her sometimes, he was going to miss really important pieces of who she was. Their friendship had started out on a constant balancing act between him wanting her to know everything because he trusted her and wanted to confide in her, and her not reciprocating in the way that he maybe wanted her too. When they were just friends--if they’d ever just been friends--he had struggled so hard with that, and struggled to feel like she cared for him the way that he did her. He was a little less naive now. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, it was more so that she had just never done it before. Sharing intimate pieces of yourself with someone is hard. So, he had learned to simply give her those moments to internalize before he could hopefully pull a little bit of what was going on in her head out into the open, for just the two of them.

“I guess those girls today just shook me up a little bit.” She admitted hesitantly.

She leaned on her folded arms on the table and he matched her stance so that their faces were closer together.

“In what way?”

“I wasn’t ready for them to be so...nice. And no one has ever really looked at me and said good job before. I mean obviously I work really hard, and I’m super kickass at what I do, but I didn’t get to where I am by someone putting a gold sticker on my homework at the end of the work day. It just felt nice to know that there’s something valuable in what I am.”

He frowned at her thumb coming out from the fold in his arms to push her chin a little higher in the air.

“There’s so much value you in everything that you are, sweetheart. You’re absolutely incredible.” He whispered.

She smiled. “No, I know. I didn’t mean it in a self-deprecating way. I just meant...it’s important to know yourself and your worth and to validate that for you and nobody else. But, that doesn’t mean that validation from others can’t feel really good. I guess I thought I knew that, but I wasn’t ready for how good it might feel to be a little more accepted by your world.”

“Well, I’m really glad and happy that you care enough to want to be accepted. And I’m sorry that you didn’t get that feeling sooner.”

“It’s okay. We’re okay, that’s what matters.”

“K. C’mere.” He sighed having gone way too long without kissing her.

She did that thing where she gripped his chin and completely dominated his mouth and he’d never felt so submissive and so in love and so on the cusp of a semi in public before. He was entirely fucked for her, always.

“You know one day your lips are gonna get stuck like that!” Brian yelled from the other end of the table completely ruining this absolutely wonderful moment for him.

“Do you think if we get him a blow up doll, he’ll stop cock blocking us so much?”

His girlfriend rolled his eyes. “Why is it always cockblock, anyway? What, is my vagina unblockable? Your language is so not inclusive.”

“I’m sorry. Your vagina is absolutely blockable, babe. I’d block it. I’d build a whole wall for your vagina.”

“You were doing so well until you got all Donald Trump-y on me.” She sighed.

“Well at least your expectations for me are achievable. I’m definitely not being set up to fail here or anything.”

They grinned at each other and laughed at their own hilariousness because that’s just the kind of couple they were. Brian was gonna have to work a little harder to ruin their vibe.

***

“Alright guys let’s take five, and then we’ll run it again!” He smiled stepping away from the mic.

The band all high fives each other before going to get water or grab snacks from the catering table. Y/n is curled up on the couch where she had the perfect view of the mini stage they’d set up, and he quickly made his way over to plop down on top of her with all of his weight.

“You are actually suffocating me you giant!” She snorted.

He rearranged his limbs slightly just to give her a little more space, but still wrapped himself around her quickly.

“What do you think of the show so far, babe? It’s gonna be a hundred times better with the lights and the explosions and everything.”

“You sound incredible. When you do the high notes in particular taste I’m pretty sure I immediately got wet. I can only imagine the pheromones that will be in the air at these shows.”

“Funny. Very funny.”

“Actually I was waiting for you to take a break...I was gonna head back to the cottage a little early if that’s okay with you?”

He frowned. “What’s wrong. Are you not feeling well?”

He immediately placed his palm over forehead to check for fever.

“I’m not sick. I’m just a little tired. And I know this is you working but...this is kind of my vacation. I figured I could go back and sleep and then by the time you got back we could go out to dinner or something.”

He couldn’t help the deflated feeling in his chest at the moment. He’d been waiting all week to play these songs for her. He wanted her to know that so many of them, whether they’d been originally written about her or not, felt so completely different now that they were together. He wanted to tell her that he couldn’t sing Fallin’ without thinking of their first night together as more than friends. Couldn’t sing Particular Taste without thinking of her naked at least once. And Why...well why just broke his fucking heart every time he thought about them not being able to communicate, and tell each other how they felt. So, he tried not to be hurt by his girlfriend simply wanting to go lay down at their hotel, but that was a tad bit easier said than done.

“O--Oh. Oh, okay. Yea. Just let me go ask Jake if he’ll ride with you.”

She shook her head at him. “I don’t need a bodyguard, honey. I think I’ll be okay. I wanna stop at a store anyway, don’t need to waste Jake’s time.”

“Okay. Well we’ll still go to dinner though, yea? Just the two of us?” He asked trying to keep the slight whine out of his voice that was threatening to bust through.

She gave him that look that said he’d been busted and he froze as she got off of the couch to step between his legs. For a while she just hugged him, and so he wrapped his arms around her hips and leaned his head on her chest as she ran her fingers through his hair. It was so soothing that for a second he was able to pretend that she wasn’t going to leave him.

“We can do absolutely anything you want tonight. I’m here for two more days, yea? Don’t get sad on me just yet.” She whispered.

Totally busted.

He nuzzled deeper into her skin and sighed until she hugged a little tighter. He sort of liked that she was willing to take care of him, just as much as he was her. It made him feel wanted, made him feel like she could see him for everything that he was.

“Okay. I’ll do my best. Can’t make any promises though.” He chuckled. “Kiss?”

She pecked softly at his lips hands holding sweetly at his cheeks as she slid her tongue along his. It just might tide him over.

“Love you.” She grinned.

“I love you too. Get out of here.”

He swatted playfully at her ass only for her to turn those eyes that could turn his insides upside down right on him.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Mendes.”

“Baby, I assure you I can always finish.”

She pushed playfully on his forehead and told him to get away from her before she made him finish right there in the middle of the rehearsal space. He just barely lets her leave.

Rehearsals goes for another two hours as they work through transitions, jam out alongside each other, and work to create the show in the manner that he envisioned it. It all felt right. And he could only imagine how the fans would react. He always wanted to give the best thing that he could to them, and he loved every aspect of performing. He’s sitting on the floor with the band and Connor and Brian just dicking around when Andrew comes in to check on them. He starts going over the expectations for the next day when Shawn’s phone starts to buzz. He’s hopeful that is y/n asking about dinner, because Andrew's updates tend to bore the fuck out of him.

y/n: I think you should hurry back to the cottage.

Shawn: I will honey. We’re finishing up now. Did you think about what you want for dinner?

y/n: I was kind of hoping you might decide what you want to eat.

He was just about to tell her that he’d ask one of the guys for a suggestion when a photo popped up in their message stream

His whole body froze as he was suddenly faced with his girlfriend dipped in very thin, very sheer lace. Her nipples were hard and taunt against the fabric, and she was biting her bottom lip like actual sin. And suddenly it was time to go.

“Welp! I simply must go now. Jake can you ask them to pull the car up to the back please?”

Brian and Connor looked at him like he was crazy.

“Who lit a fire under your ass?” Brian asked.

Andrew nodded. “I was still sort of going over the plan for tomorrow.”

“I will happily read the email you send of these meetings every single time once I’m in the car. I do have to go though.”

Shawn: I’m on my way. Don’t move.

“Shawn? Two minutes, huh? Can you spare me two minutes?”

He peered down at his phone and leaned his weight from foot to foot impatiently.

“Fine.” He sighed.

Fifteen excruciatingly long minutes later he’s climbing into the car to head back to the cottage and there’s another text from his girlfriend. This time she’s lying back and her hand is simply resting underneath the thinnest band of underwear he’s ever seen. Jesus.

Y/n: got you a present only for you to not come and open it.

Shawn: I’m coming. Jesus, I promise I’m coming.

y/n: every minute you make me wait, I make you wait when you get here.

“Fuck...Sir, can this car move any faster by chance?”

The driver peers at him through mirror and glances back at the road.

“I’m kind of driving as fast the speed limit allows, sir.”

His girlfriend was surely turning him into an idiot.

“Of course. Yea. Sorry about that.”

By the time he burst through the door to their room he was out of breath and sweaty without even having had, nor given an orgasm. It was a hard life to say the least.

And there his girlfriend was, lying in the middle of their bed fingers poised inside her and those thighs so tense and ready for worship. God he was obsessed with her.

He made a step towards her and her eyes fluttered open, still hooded and sultry in every way. When he goes to take another step she shakes her head at him and it causes him to freeze.

“Mmmm… You’re still gonna wait.”

There’s a whine that’s in the pit of his chest that he’s convinced is unlike any sound that he’s ever made before, but when she hears it her hand moves to rest against her pubic bone as she plunged deeper inside herself.

She moaned softly. “Take your clothes off. I think I deserve to see your Calvins too.”

“Jesus, you can see whatever you want.” He muttered practically tripping out of his jeans.

There had never been such a test on his patience than watching his girlfriend get off without him. He liked to think he was a giver, and honestly her pleasure in bed was seventy-five percent of what got him to reach his own climax. To not be allowed to touch. To be punished with the visual of her fingers working to an orgasm that he couldn’t, was perhaps the worst kind.

He stood by the bed fingers tracing her ankle as her hips bucked lewdly against her hand. He grabbed at himself through the underwear and practically melted when she moaned a sa result.

“Do you want me?” She asked.

“Yes. God, yes. Can I--Please let me touch you, baby.”

“I like watching you beg.” She giggled.

Jesus.

“If you want to touch me, then touch me. But make it good.”

He reaches for her thighs, first slowly and methodically mapping out her flesh. Everything about her is soft and when he squeezes at the inner part of her thighs, her back arches and he’s completely gone.

“Can I finger you?” He whispered, fingers edging toward her heat.

She bit her lip and nodded taking one of his hands in her own to lead him right where she needs it most.

“You’re so wet...warm.” He sighed as he stretched her lightly with two fingers. “It’s like this pussy was made for me.”

Her eyes closed and she smiled and hummed and oh my god I am so fucked for her.

He didn’t want to waste any time lest she decide to not let him touch anymore, so he quickly curved his fingers up in search for that spot that makes her cry out for him every time. It’s his favorite sound that she makes because it’s completely involuntarily. She can bite those full ass lips of hers all day long and try to muffle it in the pillow, but he always ends up hearing her eventually. And this time is no different.

“Uhh! Fuck, how do you do that?” She whimpered thrusting back against his fingers.

He keeps searching, keeps rubbing and curving until her voice goes up an octave and he knows that he’s where will get her there fastest.

“Just wanna please you baby. Only wanna make you feel good.”

He’s on his knees in front of her one hand on her knee for leverage while the other plunges deep within her being. Her hips leave the bed the faster he moves and she starts chanting for him to keep going, to push inside of her with all his might. He likes looming over her this way because he can see the way his necklace bumps against his neck and the way that her flops with every movement of her body. It makes him feel so connected to her in this most intimate of moments where everything is about connection. And when she starts to fall in on herself, when her pleasure is mounting to something incredible, he feels like they’re floating. Together.

“W--Wait, wait, wait. You can’t. You can’t make me squirt right now.”

“Why not?” He whined fingers not stopping.

“Oh my--fuck! The sheets, Shawn. The sheets!”

“I don’t care about the fucking sheets, I wanna see this pretty pussy squirt.” He grunted. “I’ll buy a whole new bed if you squirt for me.”

“Jesus Christ that’s hot!”

When she releases it’s the most beautiful thing in the world. The sounds that she makes. The tears in her eyes. The tremble in her thighs. Every part of it gets him going in ways he never thought possible. She’s absolutely stunning in pleasure, even more so than usual. For a moment he just stares at her in wonderment and overwhelming arousal. The visual is tantalizing, but he’s also so full of warmth for her too. The happiness that comes with making her feel good, even sexually, is insurmountable.

“See. Now was that so bad?” He huffed.

“Can’t. Move. Give me five minutes.” She gasped. “...Ten. Give me ten minutes. My fat ass was not made for this.”

*two hours later*

“If there’s an olympic medal for orgasms in an hour, I think you just won it.” She mumbled still out of breath.

“Well I think there actually is one for gymnastics and if they saw the way you were bending you’d surely win gold.”

“Yes compliments on our sex game. Go us.” She snorted raising her hand.

He quickly clapped his hand against hers before they collapsed back in bed together. Go them.

She laid her head on his chest and snuggled close to him and it was everything that he’d been missing and then some. His fingers trailed up and down her back trying to draw shapes of flowers and hearts that would tickle and make her laugh because the sound was so beautiful to him.

“Can I ask you something?” She hummed her own fingers playing with his chest hair.

“Anything.”

“Were you scared to put your calvin covered crotch out there to the world?”

He snorted softly and reached to play with her hair. “I mean..Of course. I was so fucking nervous about putting it all out there. I guess I just, I wanted to do something new and I wanted to feel confident in myself. I thought it might be the kind of thing that people would think I’d never do.”

“I most certainly never saw it coming. How come you didn’t tell me? Didn’t want me to see you in your calvin’s?”

“I always want you to see me in my Calvin’s. I was gonna tell you. I guess I didn’t know if you might think it was douchey? I’m gonna be honest, sitting on the edge of a bed with someone rubbing oil all over you while someone asks you to smolder more? Made me feel a little douchey.”

She leans up on her arms so that she’s hovering a bit above her and her eyes are so soft and warm that he just falls into them. He feels vulnerable and open and yet he knows that she’s not gonna let him fall, that she’d never let him fall.

“There is nothing douchey about you feeling confident in your body and in yourself. You looked so damn good babe. You’re so incredibly beautiful, do you know that? I mean, shit Shawn. You’re gorgeous. There’s no rule that says you’re not allowed to feel that just because you’re a man or just because you’re a rock star. You should let yourself feel that.” She murmured feverently.

He smiled up at her completely at a loss for words. All he could think of was to kiss her, and hope that it could somehow let her know just how good she made him feel.

“I love you.” He whispered.

She smiled. “I love you too. My fucking pretty ass man.”

“Stop it.”

“No. You’re so damn pretty. Come let me show how pretty you are.”

“Baaaaabe,” He whined. “We have to get ready for dinner soon.”

She had already begun her descent beneath the sheets. There was no stopping her. And he really didn’t want to. He just wanted to be her pretty man for a little while longer. Dinner be damned.

***

Their time together in the cottage tells him something he wasn’t sure he knew before. He knew that he loved her. Hell, he even knew that he loved her more than any other woman he’d ever been with. But, something about waking up to her in a different continent. Something about holding her hand on his way to rehearsals, about making breakfast together in nothing but robes, made him feel even softer somehow. He was envisioning a future with her. Long winters in toronto visiting his parents, and hell maybe even her brothers. Vacations to the ocean where they could get sunburned together and drink wine and make love. So much love. He was struggling to see a point where his life ended and hers began. They had become so deeply intertwined at that point. And after their fight, after their ability to be kind and rational and work through things together, he couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what the future actually held for them. God he hoped so.

When it’s time for her to leave he feels hesitantly optimistic. It had nothing to do with it getting easier. In fact, he had a feeling it was gonna kill him to watch her leave. Instead it was the interconnectedness of them as people that had him feeling as though it didn’t matter how hard it was. He couldn’t leave her even if he tried.

“Three weeks. And then we’ll have Amsterdam and then...I--I’m gonna stop in Toronto before New York so you don’t have to keep flying back to me, okay?”

It was airport time. Maybe the worst moments that he could come across now adays. When all you had left was the moments between when the flight was called and when fans had figured out that he was there. And you could hope that maybe they’d line up, but you never fucking knew. Jake was on standby just incase as they shared their last moments together.

“We’ll figure it out.” She murmured squeezing at his hands. “It’ll be okay.”

“Do you believe that? Really?” He mumbled.

“‘Course I do. It’s you and me against the world, isn’t it?”

“Yea. Yea. I love you. C’mere.”

He kisses her there with zero care in the world of who might see, of who might be lingering about to get the photo. He just wanted to show her that he loved her, that he was a hundred percent in this with her. They were gonna be together somehow with him on the other side of the world, and somehow it was all gonna be okay. He had to believe that or he might go mad. But when she leaves his arms and she goes off towards the gate, he already misses her touch. And he has to let Jake lead him back to the car instead of buying a ticket back to toronto. It’s much harder than it should be. He just hopes that maybe it's hard for her to leave too.

Hiya. I’m hoping if you read this far that you like the content that you got? I made a ko-fi. It’s just a way for y’all to support if you’re able and willing. I love writing, it makes me happy, but the kid is broke. Help me out if ya like here!

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