#SNS Month Day 1

[naruhinaluvrx]

Sasunaru Month Day 1-Modern AU/Soulmates

A bookworm and his punk crush rival

[hopelessbromantic3652]

I’ll find you in every universe…

snsmonth day 1: soulmates & au

[pocket-mobster]

Happy Birthday tomorrow🪴👨🏻🥖

thanks ^w^

[heaven4lostgirls]

promises and dreams (part 2)

pairing: finnick odair x reader

warning: angst, mentions of finnick being trafficked, president sn*w

summary: finnick odair is your best friend, but somehow you cant find it within yourself to be aanything more. Now that the 75th Hunger Games calls for Victors to be reaped you make it your plan to bring Finnick back home to Annie or you will die trying

word count: 2.1k

a/n: thank you for the love on this fic! i'm not sure when part 3 will be out but hopefully soon! let me know if you want to be part of a tag list for this fic!

part 1, part 2, part 3

Finnick’s hard gaze follows you as you take your place on the train, his eyebrows furrows as he watches you pick at your skin as you watch the scenery pass through the windows. Before long he can’t help but voice his thoughts, “Why would you do that?” he blurts out and watches as you look up at him surprised, “do what?” you question and watch as he drags his hand over his jawline in frustration.

“Why would you volunteer for Annie?” he pushes and watches as you look back at him in surprise before you collect yourself and answer him. “To keep her safe” you answer truthfully, you know you can’t tell him you also did it to keep safe, if you did you know full well, he would place himself in front of you and any possible life-threatening situations. 

“I would  have kept her safe” he urges and a part of your heart clenches as you watch how fervently he seems to be pushing the subject. Even though  Annie seemed to have survived the reaping, she will always be the first thing on his mind even if you could quite likely be living the last few days of your life.

While you’re thinking about how Finnick  seems not to care about your impending death  his mind is filled with that exact thought. He can’t understand why you would volunteer in place of Annie; he would have been able to help Annie and keep her safe, but you were a loose rocket, he knew he couldn’t contain you and there was next to no way he would be able to protect you with your stubbornness.

He continues thinking of ways to help you throughout  the games and although he promises himself to help you get home, he realises that in doing so, he’ll have to die too, and he can’t really think too hard about that because he has spent his entirety of his life after being crowned a victor telling and teaching tributes after him to fight.

You can only watch as his expression turns from frustrated to sad and fighting the urge to give him space you find yourself speaking to comfort him instead, “its going to be okay” you mention hopefully, truthfully not only to Finnick but to yourself as well. You’ve made your peace with what must happen and although Finnick  is unaware you hope that with your words you can bring him some form of comfort.

“What’re you talking about?” he asks confused, and you just look at him as you repeat your previous sentiment, his confusion only pains you to know that your closest confidant may not understand the gravity of the situation you are both about to face.

Time passes on the train to the Capitol and although Finnick and you try and keep each other’s emotions high, you both can’t help but feel pressure within yourselves and revisit past trauma as you reach the city. You know that for Finnick the months and even years after his games were not easy for him, not because he had won, well partly, but more because Snow had auctioned Finnick off like a pig to slaughter.

You watched as he fought to clench and unclench his jaw, the slight shake in his hands. As you both arrived at the Capitol you were greeted by excited faces of the wealthiest citizens in Panem, you fought the urge to scream and cry at how excited they looked to see the both of you being shipped off your deaths.

“Smile.” Finnick urges you as he looks out of the glass to all the people, he slips perfectly back into his ‘Prince of Panem’ demeanour  and you can only watch with unease as the fakest of smiles grace his face as he lifts his right arm into the air to wave to the onlookers.

You can only attempt to do the same whilst assuring yourself that this is all part of the bigger picture, to survive this act has to be perfect.

As Finnick and you are escorted off the train to the innermost buildings within the Capitol. The strained smile never leaves either of your faces and away from camera’s, your hands stay interlocked. You continue to try and calm yourselves down as you both meet with your stylists to prepare for the parade.

Your stylists lean into the fishing component of district four as you are dressed in a dark blue bikini top and mini skirt that flows and sticks to your body, complimenting your skin tone. Your makeup is filled with glittery blues and whites. Finnick’s look is a lot more subdued in comparison to your own however he does look handsome in his dark blue kilt and spear.

Your eyes follow the expanse of his chest, and you have to fight the urge to run up to him just so you could feel the ridges of his muscles as your fingertips dance over his uncovered skin, although as you spend the time saying hello to the horses, Finnick detaches from you to walk backwards in the line of carriages.

You follow his figure as he reaches the woman of the hour, Katniss Everdeen. You watch his flirt with her shamelessly and your chest hurts, not only for you but for Annie as well but you realise that if Finnick has one advantage, it’s his good looks so knowing he’s trying to find an alliance you let him carry on without interference.

Although humour takes on a human form in Peeta Mellark, Katniss’ teammate, he looks like he’s about to punch Finnick in the throat although a part of you wonders if he’d be able to reach that high. You stifle a giggle at the thought and look back at Katniss and Finnick’s conversation in time for you to see him shove a sugar cube in his mouth.

Ew. You think and although he walks back looking cool you watch as he grimaces as he reaches your carriage. At that point the only thing you can do is wheeze in laughter as he looks at you annoyed trying to get the sugar granules out of his teeth.

“That was sex appeal-“ he starts before you bark out another short laugh as you wheeze, tears come to your eyes before you slap his bicep as he rolls his eyes, “sex appeal!” you repeat as though it’s the funniest thing you’ve heard in years and maybe it might be.

You calm down and see Finnick looking at you with a raised eyebrow, “it was not that funny” he says, and you smirk in his direction, “It was when you resembled the horses when chewing that sugar cube, Mr sex appeal” you smile, and he only nudges you playfully as they announce the first district.

Your heart beats fast and loud within your chest s district four is called alongside your names, you and Finnick both smile politely and wave towards the roaring crowds before you take your place in front of President Snow’s podium.

You watch as all the districts parade out but as soon as you hear the applause and cheers go louder, you look back to see Katniss and Peeta’s outfits on fire. How fitting, you think and smile as you watch them.

They, alongside everyone else, may not be happy to be there but you can tell by looking at them, how in love with each other the both of them are.

The transfer from the parade to the interview is a blur, the only way you can describe yourself is numb. The cheers, Snow, the other tributes, they all become one jumbled mess inside your mid as your sole purpose is to do what you understand every other tribute has to do, act.

You are interviewed after Finnick and as you watch his interview, as it comes to an end Flickerman opens his mouth to speak again, “Finnick, I understand that you have a message for somebody out there, a special somebody, can we hear it?” he laughs as he pushes the microphone to Finnick to answer.

You look on in confusion, what could he possibly be doing? Finnick’s mask slips a bit, and you watch in all seriousness as he speaks, “My love, you have my heart for all eternity and uh, if I die in that arena, my last thought will be of your lips” he says into the camera and a shuddering breath passes through you. You blink back tears as you realise Finnick was speaking to Annie and as he takes his place back next to you, you send him a wobbly but hopefully reassuring smile.

You promise yourself that you will do whatever it takes for Finnick to get back to Annie.

You interview is next as Caesar looks at you with an indulgent smile, “Y/N, we’ve heard from your teammate that he’s hopeful to make it back to his special someone, is there any special someone you’re hoping to make it back to?” he asks with an indulgent smile.

You smile back fakely as you answer, “Unfortunately not Caesar!” you reply as the crowd ‘awes’ in faux sympathy. “Well then I’m sure your family must be rooting for you!”  he says as he tries another angle, but you just shake you head, “No actually, I volunteered for my friend Annie Cresta because I knew she needed me to, so really I’m just here for her” you say with a smile as you look at the Tv. Caesar nods and ends the interview as he welcomes Johanna Mason from district 7 to the stage.

You join Finnick on the podium  where all the tributes stand and he pulls himself down to whisper in your ears, “what the fuck was that?” he asks sternly and you look at him confused, “don’t play dumb, ‘I’m just here for her’ what the fuck did that mean Y/N” he hisses, and you shake him off. “Exactly what I meant Finnick, now shut up” you say and shake his hand off you as a small tear runs down your face.

You both stand silent next to one another as you watch the different tributes get interviewed in front of you before Katniss walks out in one of the most beautiful wedding gowns you’ve ever seen, you gasp softly at how elegant she looks as you somewhat remember the announcement of her and Peeta getting engaged before the reaping.

Her interview goes very smoothly as Caesar prods at her about how she was unable to have her wedding, however as she turns to show off her gown, it erupts in flames as it turns into a beautiful blue and black  colour with wings around the back. “A Mockingjay” you and Katniss both say in sync as you look at the dress in disbelief.

Peeta’s interview comes next and although he looks completely assured and confidence you can see the slight shake in his fingers and Caesar questions him, “But Peeta, the wedding, a marriage never to be?” he asks softly and Peter doesn’t waste any time before answering, “Actually we got married, in secret” he confesses and you watch Katniss as she tries to keep her composure and you realise then and there that Peeta is lying.

Interesting. You think, why would be Peeta be lying to Flickerman of all people? Although Caesar takes the news very well as he continues to ask Peeta more questions, “A secret wedding? Do tell” he prods.

“We want our love to be eternal” he states and your heart clenches at the thought, he could be very good at tricking Caesar, but you knew right away any romantic feelings he held towards Katniss was completely truthful. Maybe you and him weren’t  so different after all. “You know Katniss and I have been luckier than most, I wouldn’t have any regrets at all i-if it weren’t-“ he stutters, and you look at him in worry.

“If it weren’t for what?” Caesar prods, “if it weren’t for the baby” he says finally, and you and Finnick turn to each other in shock before composing yourselves as the crowd becomes rowdy. People begin booing and voicing their concerns as Peeta takes his place next to Katniss. You watch as victors begin joining hands and you realise why Peeta announced what he did.

You join hands with Finnick in solidarity alongside another victor from district 5, If the Capitol wanted to go back on their words, they needed to realise that it had consequences, you all lift your hands in sync as the curtains shut around you. Peeta Mellark may just be more interesting than he seems.

[pencilhattopy]

ITS SNS MONTH!!!!! @snsmonth23

Day 1: Modern day AU (they both are college students )

[cloveroctobers]

FEBRUARY FLUFF — CARMY BERZATTO.

A/N: so carmy won this time around!!! Thanks to all those that voted and ultimately made this decision for me lol. Hope you guys enjoy this and have a safe, healthy, and happy love season 🩷 + yes this is a mixture of fluff and angst...i mean come on! I wouldn't be me if i didn't include that in here somewhere!

PROMPTS ARE FROM HERE + HERE & I’m using: 1. “…Okay, so the only way for us to enjoy that huge discount is to act like we’re dating.” “What, so you’d fake date me for discounted food but you wouldn’t real date me even though I could take you out to the best restaurants out there in town every fucking night if you wanted me to?”  + always giving the other the first bite of their food < or the last.

WARNINGS/SN: I wrote with a black or brown reader in mind although reader isn't physically described + they’re given a name only when mentioned, language is a thing here duh!, this is LENGTHY, lots of timelines: reader + nat became friendly before season 1 during the summer prior to 7 fishes which is estimated to be five years before season 2, reader knows of carmy due to past work, I feel like she can be just a few year(s) older than carmy but younger than nat—there’s a age gap for the Berzatto’s anyways, sexual relations are mentioned, this piece takes place months after the grand opening, & finally there’s a possible chance for a poly relationship or maybe just multiple crushes going on? Take that how you will.

𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡

it was a Sunday.

The kind of Sunday you woke up embarrassed about but knew you had to swallow your pride and just send out that text. You knew you wouldn’t be judged regardless reaching out to Fak because he’s built to deal with things like this and never made you feel like shit about anything.

You usually had to squeeze it out of him to get him to lay out any cons about a situation but appreciated most times when he didn’t. Your minds been going haywire with a recent assignment as a food journalist and it really slipped your mind, although you were usually a quick thinker, you’ve been stressed over this recent restaurant. Thankfully it clicked for you after throwing a tantrum to simply reach out to Fak to come help you out.

The stupid lever in your bathroom decided to stop flushing on you and of course you panicked. Who wouldn’t panic in a situation like that? You no longer had a roommate and strongly debated if you even wanted to search for another; after the shady actions of the previous one, so you really didn’t have to worry about them giving you shit either. (Let’s see if your rent feels the same next month!)

It was just you in the end and perhaps you were learning to be okay with that.

Yet that didn’t stop you from FaceTiming Sydney about it. “Hey Siddy, how’s your day going?”

“Pretty good, yours?” She politely asked as she moved down the hallway of her shared apartment to prop her phone on the pedestal sink, moving around her functioning bathroom to grab some oil to grease her scalp.

Smacking your lips you glare, “it fucking sucks.”

“Oh?” Sydney questioned, appearing back in frame, “what happened? Did someone egg and scratch up your car again after a review you gave them? Noo wait, don’t tell me there’s a bullet hole?!”

That was light work compared to New York (it really wasn’t a competition of which state had its worst moments but your home state left you kinda triggered, not gonna lie!) where you were just starting off and those that were in tune with the culinary world didn’t take your words with a grain of salt. Most nights you still woke up gasping for air, reaching for your throat due to some trauma of a break in from a well-known nepo-baby chef. Don’t get that twisted, your mom didn’t raise no punk but that didn’t mean those events didn’t mess with your mental and you acknowledged that every time you had a nightmare. They only served three years and five months compared to the original five year sentence.

Ah the system…got to love how that works out for the privileged!

You shrugged, “no…the threats have been pretty tame lately so I can give myself a pat on the back for that. However! I still am in a crisis.”

Sydney begins to move her braids around to expose her scalp, “Elaborate for me.”

“My toilet won’t flush!” You whine, laying flat on your messy bed. You tended to not make your bed on Saturdays and didn’t get around to making it today—although it was after 3pm.

Sydney asks, “Like the waste won’t go down…?”

“Exactly!” You confirm throwing your arm over your eyes dramatically, “The lever thing is moving like my old dislocated shoulder.”

Sydney gags, “don’t fucking remind me of that day. That was spooky to witness but I am glad you healed from that.”

“Thanks girl, means a lot, truly.”

Sydney gives a small smile, “don’t mention it…have you considered YouTubing it? That’s what I do when I don’t want to ask anyone for help and figure it out by myself.”

You hummed knowing this was true. In a sense you could be like that too, especially when it came to the working field, since writers can tend to be some nasty bitches and always in rivalry with each other. You made a name for yourself in Chicago as well, coming from New York where you worked just as hard-maybe even harder than the rest to mean and write exactly how you felt about cuisine, regardless if anyone agreed or not. It wasn’t about if people liked you, the relationship with food would always be more significant and hold value in your life, just like the rest of these chef’s you encountered and you got that, people were allowed to be sensitive about their work. You’ve come toe to toe with many chef’s around the world who didn’t like your take on their craft but that didn’t mean you didn’t understand them. They hardly took the time to really dive into your ratings and automatically took it as you shit talking or not having any idea what you were saying since you “weren’t really a chef,” but you knew your worth most days.

Yes you could be straight forward but that didn’t mean you lacked compassion like some chef’s liked to think according to your reviews. You often wrote in a way that was puzzling to some, almost philosophical or riddle like with your own twist. Some just didn’t get it and that was okay but you wouldn’t back down from any confrontation. The second they didn’t want to really listen, that’s when you removed yourself from the escalating problem. It didn’t have to get violent like some wanted to inflict.

“Why didn’t I think of that?!” You exasperated, slapping the palm of your hand to your forehead.

Sydney snorted, “maybe because you’re under a lot of pressure lately and the most simplest of things don’t come as easily as they should.”

“You would think I have high blood pressure with the way these past two weeks have been.”

Sydney says, “give it time.”

“Gee, thanks! That’s exactly the kind of shit I want to hear from you.” You roll your eyes at the blurt of words that commonly escaped the braided girl’s mouth.

Sydney breathes out a laugh, “I’m just joking!”

“Yeah, yeah! Maybe I should text fak back and tell him not to come by!”

“You asked fak instead of the apartment manager?” Sydney is in amazement.

“Fuck that noise, he’s so full of shit that he should see a doctor about it. He’ll show up to analyze the problem, then acts like he’s going to fit you into the schedule and then when you catch him in the lobby he pretends that he has amnesia.” You commented with a scowl.

You get ready to minimize the call to text fak but some obnoxious knocks at the door made you pop up from your bed. “That was fast!”

Hopping up from the bed and padding out of the last bedroom in the apartment, you made the journey through the foyer to the awaiting black front door. Peeking through the peephole you spot Fak grinning widely up into it, almost making you jump back.

“He’s made it Siddy! I’ll call you back!”

“K. Good luck!” Sydney calls out before you end the call to pull the door wide open.

“Neil!” You scream, quickly latching onto his tatted wrist ready to yank him in until you notice someone else is with him, “…why is he here?” You point.

Fak quickly glances over at a brimmed Carmy who raised a brow at him in a silent told you so manner, “I mean we were having a boy’s day when you called and I didn’t want my buddy to be left out. Plus, it’s always great to have some assistance.”

“…i find it hard to believe that Carmen wants to fix my toilet.” You cross your arms, poking out your hip as you stare at him.

Carmen shrugs his shoulders, “I wanted to wait in the car if it makes you feel any better.”

“Hmm…it doesn’t.”

Carmy rolls his eyes, pinching at the bridge of his nose briefly in agitation, “you know what, fak you’ve got this right? I know you do so—

“Nope!” Fak quickly interrupts, “this maybe a two person job so aspie if you just let us do what we came to do—

Shooting an arm out to block the doorway you peer into Fak’s dark teal eyes to show you mean business, “didn’t I say I dislike that nickname, Neil?”

He nods.

“Also i find it offensive that you brought an uninvited guest to my place.”

“Just be glad it wasn’t Richie because that was also a possibility before he ran off to pick up the kid.” Carmy snaps making you roll your eyes.

If Richie was here you been would have slammed the door in both Fak and his face. Sure you had some sort of tension with Carmy and beef with .......his cousin but at least Carmy only gave it back to you when he had the energy to—meaning if he was already on one. The issue was simple, you wrote a not so nice review once before when the eldest berzatto, Michael was alive and running the joint. Richie couldn’t forget that and actually kept the clipping, yes the clipping of the review way back when. He had the receipts to show Carmy and Carmy actually brushed it off then, not seeming to really care or doubt some of the words that were said.

He came to revamp the place because Mikey left it for him, to fix the mess his big brother left behind, to create what they’ve always dreamed of. Sure he got shit for it in the beginning and part of him felt like maybe that was your case too? He could relate to you on that, yet the weight was slightly different on his part and he even spoke with you not long after he found those tomato cans.

That gave him a certain push he couldn’t really explain. He may have done a brief dive on you, wondering why you felt acquainted to him—completely forgetting about seeing you once around Noma—choosing to start with reading previous reviews by you on other restaurants here in Chicago and a few interviews you’ve done over the world. You weren’t just some nobody, you held your titles well and it reflected in your work.

You weren’t clueless.

He just didn’t really know what he was dealing with until a short time ago.

What he didn’t expect was for you to show up again on opening night with a certain head chef, also from New York. That made carmy more anxious than anything, seeing you sitting beside that four eyed fuck ready to set off a tornado in the heart of the bear. Was that your motive all along? With carmy attempting to build a bridge, not for you to kiss his ass with praise but there was a odd need to have a simple conversation with you. It was weird but it seemed like Sydney, Fak, and Nat liked you?

The jury was still out with the rest—except Richie but you were a mystery to Carmy. However carmy wasn’t the best at putting a read on people or their emotions in the first place, he was good at fucking that up unless you’re screaming it into his face. That’s just how he operated.

“You two can come in—only because I don’t have the patience with the manager here and Neil’s the best I’m gonna get.” You state while fak slaps a hand on his chest.

“That was really sweet, Aspen.” Fak cooed ready to pull you into a bone crushing hug but you hold up a finger.

“Save the hugs until after you fix my problem.”

“You got it boss,” Fak salutes before diving under your arm to travel through your apartment, ooo-ing and ah-ing before finding the bathroom around the corner from the living room.

Sighing you drop your arm and wave carmy through, who keeps his view straight while traveling through the hallway. You call out to him, “you can have a seat on the couch.”

“What? Did you drop a load or something and is that the real reason why you don’t want me to help Fak?” Carmy comes right out with it, nose twitching in amusement after whipping around to face you in the center of the living room.

See…only when he’s frustrated or overly focused will he just let it out. Some may look at this as Carmy attempting to make a joke but you took that somewhat personally. The only thing you were thinking after he said this was: What an ego on this one huh?

You stop on your heels and tilt your head to the side, “are you telling me that you think women or fem pronoun users don’t take shits? Do you know what it feels like to have period shits?”

Carmy blinks at you and shouts with his hands out, “I...don't even know what the fuck you're getting at? I wasn't even trying to be sexist to you just then! I asked you a honest question—

“About you being in my business,” you pointed out, “contrary to your beliefs I have a heart and decided to be nice to you and let you stay in my place to keep warm. You’re welcome!”

“Oh bullshit, don’t act like you’re doin’ me any favors.” Carmy scowls, “you don’t even want me here.”

You shrug, “yet you’re here in my apartment, yelling.”

Carmy exhaled while you smirked at him sweetly before turning to lean against the wall that leads to the bathroom.

“Everything okay in there, Neil?”

“Oh yeah!” He says, “I think I figured out the problem. Easy peasy!”

“Great!” You exclaim, pulling your phone out from your sweats to read a very important email.

The weight of stress seemed to lift a good chunk as you quickly responded to a email that you’ve been waiting for. You’ve been invited out (squeezed in) to a taste test at this restaurant for this evening that you’ve been trying to get into for a month before you brought it up to your employer. The deadline was approaching for the end of this week to have a review ready and they just responded to you five days before that deadline! Reading over it twice, the squeal in you slipped through your smile until you read the exceptions.

If you were to go over the amount of food purchased, which you would put on the company card anyways, you can get a discount if you brought a plus one and some reimbursement if the review was satisfactory to the owners—which the last part wasn’t unfamiliar to you.

You usually didn’t bring a plus one to any of the places you did reviews for, you got comfortable doing outings all on your own but this was different. Sure you were somewhat known in the culinary world but that didn’t mean you were a millionaire and this restaurant was apparently upscale. There was a waiting list regardless of your status—even for the celebrities that went there so this was a big deal and they gave you a short notice. Usually Sundays were known for a reset for the week but what better way to start it?

You don’t go forward with reaching out to anybody else that you work with. This was your battle and you were aware that two of your other co-workers also reached out to this restaurant. You just hoped you were the only one they picked and wouldn’t miss out on the great opportunity just because you weren’t sure about your guest.

A few hours before show time and you had to find somebody to attend with you. Your best friend was away in Cabo for a honeymoon, the other (who recently planned on moving to ATL) was dealing with the flu and had their no good ex boyfriend taking care of them, Sydney was suddenly MIA, and you even considered inviting Natalie Berzatto to piss carmy off just a bit.

“Hey, Nat!” You greet into the phone as you walk into the kitchen, witnessing Carmy perk up from the couch.

It’s small talk at first: you asking about how her day is going as a mom to be, if she’s going to be at the bear tomorrow, did she watch the Emmy’s the other night, tell her husband you said hello, and then finally if she had plans for tonight.

“…are you asking me to hang out?”

“We had fun at that club way back when no?”

“Yeah! But that was how long ago?”

You knew it’s been awhile. You were always friendly with Natalie, meeting her first—well second out of the siblings down at the small mart one summer you helped out at that your great-uncle owned. She was huffing about something her boyfriend at the time, Pete forgot to bring her and some groceries she was picking up for her mom. You were cool enough to become Facebook friends, exchange numbers, go out for coffee and go to the club together. This wasn’t unusual to call each other randomly but you knew she commonly got shit from Michael and Richard about her talking and hanging out with you.

The thing about Natalie Berzatto is that she always tried to give people the benefit of the doubt. Yes she saw your review yet she kinda laughed about it initially but it was all fuck you’s from the other two loud mouth’s. Of course she was going to listen to her brother but she still had a mind of her own. she didn’t care to listen to Richie go off but she understood how Michael felt, although she was the only other Berzatto that heard you out.

Except you didn’t owe anybody an explanation even if some felt you were more cutthroat in your younger years.

“...Before you and Pete even thought about marriage?”

You were younger than them but you imagined how it would always work out for Nat and Pete, which included growing old together.

“Wow! Yeah that sounds right.”

“So…?”

“Can’t do it.”

“You didn’t even hear all the details!”

“I know, I know and it sounds like it’ll be a real fucking blast but if this kid wasn’t sitting on my sciatic nerve constantly and if my feet weren’t the size of two honeydews…I totally would! But I’ll have to decline this time around—so please don’t hate me!”

“I could never!”

“You know you could always ask carmy-

“Why on earth would I do that?” Your reply was instant.

Natalie sighed over the phone, “aspen…the potential of friendship and love is a beautiful thing.”

You scrunched up your face at the phone before placing it back to your ear.

“Do you want me to hang up on you?”

“I’d call you a rude bitch if you did but then get over it.”

“I can live with that because I know it’s real love between you and I.”

“…whatever that means.”

“Right.”

You both laugh, knowing just how weird the subject of love can be. Although you didn’t talk all the time it was always okay for one of the other to drop a venting text or call each other’s way and know the other would get around to responding. The both of you may not be the best of friends but you did consider each other friends regardless. There were conversations between the both of you that no one knew about and would be a constant reminder of what kind of friends the both of you would remain.

Natalie wished things could have been resolved between you and Michael but she reassured that the dislike wasn’t as deep as it seemed. There was no secret that you felt awful about how his life ended and being there for nat during that time also meant a lot. She told you that one of the last conversations she had with Michael was about you and it felt as if he was learning to let go of your review, slowly taking in Nat’s words of you not having a cruel bone in your body especially with all that you’ve done for her.

Anybody that showed his sister true friendship couldn’t be complete garbage. As much as he tolerated Pete, Michael was always aware that he was good enough for his sister. They were all cut from different cloths and the Berzatto’s were just from the same but opposite corner’s.

Natalie telling you this was not to erase any worries you had since that is always brought to the surface when someone you’ve been face to face with before decides to end it all. It was to show you that nobody ever truly knows what anyone is thinking whether there is love there or not.

You can feel Natalie smiling through the phone, “Think about it…all that tension could be smoothed out if you extend the olive branch…now it’s your turn.”

“It’s not my fault he switched up on me after your opening night.” You didn’t lower your voice or make it louder but you were definitely staring at carmy now who was side eyeing you, looking like phineas from phineas and ferb.

“That’s something you need to talk to him about, don’t you think?” Her tone was always so gentle that it made you sick sometimes because she could be right.

“I’m not here to do think pieces.”

“…aren’t you a writer?”

“Have a good night, nat.”

“Ta-Ta!” Natalie sing-songs, “be sure to send me the deets later because carmy never tells me anything! Bye! Chat later!”

Hanging up the phone, you slide it onto the counter and tap your nails against the island. To the right of you, you pick up on some clinking in the bathroom—which sounds somewhat normal and zone in on carmy who’s also holding onto his phone but staring at the blank tv in thought.

“Hey, Carmen.” You call his name.

His bright blues turn to you as if he hasn’t been eavesdropping on your conversation here and there between his texts with Marcus.

“You. Me. The Saffron Simmer. 7pm.”

The air is frigid as the both of you hunch your shoulders shoving through Chicago’s winter. Shockingly the streets are filled with cars tonight so you had to park on the next street over before walking up and around to The Saffron Simmer. Carmy offered to drive, which was a debate—no shock there—since there was no way he was leaving the bear stock van behind for no license having fak to play around in.

Fak definitely found that offensive and said he didn’t mind hanging out at your place, being done with your toilet but with the look you sent him he said he’s find an Uber or fak2 can pick him up. It’s not like you didn’t trust fak in your place…it’s just that the possibilities of what he can get into are endless.

You also didn’t want to ride in the bear’s van not because of shallow reasons, you just wanted to annoy carmy just a bit more for fun. Walking mostly everywhere was the way to go growing up in New York and Carmy working there so doing so here in Chicago wasnt foreign either. However with the type of cold here in this city is enough to give the bravest of hearts hypothermia. So obviously driving was the best option, it’s just the petty back and forth between you two of who will drive had to be spewed.

Eventually you gave in and sat in the passenger side of the van, being on DJ duty for the twenty-five minute drive—something carmy didn’t care to argue over. The both of you made it on time, throwing the door back for carmy to catch then bouncing on your toes while he blew into his gloveless hands waiting on the greeter to find your reservation.

The pictures didn’t do The saffron simmer any justice. There was so much to look at with its modernized speakeasy décor and the high ceilings did a superb job of making the both of you feel small in the spacious space. Thankfully the dress code was business casual so you didn’t have to go all out but you still put in the effort of looking your best in simple attire. You’re shrugging out of your scarf, earmuffs, and puffer coat while Carmy is already seated; with only the removal of his cap across from you in a chair.

He’s watching you as you place everything neatly to the right of you before you're taking a seat in the leather oversized chair, then digging through your tote to pull out your notepad, Sony camera, phone, and bolt pen. You quickly scribble something on the first line and circle it before dropping your pen.

Rolling the sleeves of your long sleeves back underneath your blazer, you roll your shoulders with a close of your eyes before opening them with a look of determination.

“Wow, that was something.” Carmy tells you, making you set your eyes back on him, forgetting just that quick that he was your plus one.

Clasping your hands together you quirk up a brow, “What?”

“Watching you prep.”

You dip your head, “should have seen me before I got dressed…much worse.”

A smirk appears on the corner of Carmy’s lips, “oh yeah?”

“Well yes, I can contain myself in public, Carmen. Your home is supposed to be your safe space so that’s the best place to go a little crazy sometimes.” You inform, yet still not giving too much away.

“Why are you in your head about this place anyway?” Carmy peers around the slightly filled dining area before meeting your eyes once more.

You lift your shoulders, “have you seen the way they market this place? Giving not too much away although it’s top ten restaurants here and I can either contribute to its success or its downfall. They picked me for a reason so my review matters at the end of this year.”

“But you uh-get a thrill out of this shit don’t you? It’s what you signed up for, right?” Carmy is actually relaxed against the chair across from you.

Which is a sight to see.

You state, “it’s part of the job, if that’s what you mean.”

Carmy blinks and seems to get it, “and so you stay.”

“So I stay.” You echo while holding his stare, which is broken by a piece of the stone table lifting and showcasing the menu illuminated by sepia lighting in the dark of the restaurant.

Carmy’s bright eyes are wide as he stares at the menu that appears right in front of your faces. There’s a grin on your face as you rest your fingertips around its rough edges, almost as if you were expecting this while carmy blows out a breath.

“The hell is this place?”

You peek over at him, “some next level shit, berzatto.”

“Yeah…I think I’m starting to catch on.”

You turn your attention back to the menu, swiping your fingertips along the touch screen although you’ve heard things about the menu, which they kept offline since apparently it renews monthly.

“What looks good?”

“Uh…these pages aren’t even labeled." Carmy exhales through his nose, eyes searching all over the tablet, "I have no clue. You?”

The words come at ease for you, "One of almost everything maybe?”

“Sounds good...I guess?”

“On me by the way,” you state with a wink as you flash your company card.

“I’ll get the tip then.” Carmy pats his jeans, the left containing his carton of cigarettes, the right holding his keys, lifting his hips he checks for his wallet although he’s been sitting on his behind for about ten minutes now.

You don’t argue with that, eyes in awe at the selection of items as you start ordering, “don’t forget to order your drink.”

“Water should be fine,” Carmy mutters to himself, eyes scanning over the first strange title of water that is described as flower and ginger infused purified water and decides to go with that.

You finally express after rapidly letting your fingers go over the screen and taking a picture with your phone, “…Okay, so the only way for us to enjoy that huge discount is to act like we’re dating.”

It sounded so easy to you as you quickly shifted to pick up your pen and start writing notes.

“What was that?” Carmy pressed his elbows into the edge of the table, making sure he heard you right since he’s not even sure if he can trust his inner thoughts lately.

You’re still scribbling but also turning your face towards the messy haired chef, “you heard me. We have to act like we’re in a relationship because I’ve definitely went over the budget on the card.”

“That’s not really my problem?”

“Yes it is,” you demand, “you agreed to be my plus one so that’s that. Plus this menu further confirmed my suspicions from the email.”

Carmy scratches at his brow confused, “what are you talking about, aspen?”

“Here,” you swipe across your screen towards Carmy’s device, which brings up another screen instantly to carmy who’s in awe but scans over the details.

You didn’t share the email with him but he’s heard about how high tech this restaurant is but didn’t have the time to do his own research.

*Significant others in attendance are subject to applicable discounts.*

Carmy feels his stomach cramp at the fine print and it so small that he was sure anyone could have missed that.

Not you.

“…how exactly are we supposed to prove that, hm?” He's gripping at his greasy hair now, feeling himself getting a bit worked up about this.

You fanned your hand along, “just do what couples do and follow my lead...Depending on our witnesses,” you whisper as you look around, “they could always assume that’s what we are anyways.”

Part of carmy didn’t like how that came off.

“What, so you’d fake date me for discounted food but you wouldn’t real date me even though I could take you out to the best restaurants out there in town every fucking night if you wanted me to?” Flies out of Carmy’s mouth before he can even process what he’s saying.

That stoops you too, making you press your back against the chair in thought. That wouldn’t be going down in the notes, as you stare at the pen in between your fingers for a moment. Which brings you back to Carmy’s tatted fingers first that touched you in ways that romance novelist craved to write about.

So you may have left that out, how a shared conversation about the “heartless” review of then Chicagoland turned the bear melted into hot and heavy actions in the front seat of your Mazda. It hits you in those same flashes you take of dishes: the unsure sloppy kisses, you taking the lead to get Carmy to just touch you, shaky hands that trace the tattoo from your rib cage down to your hip before soon holding steady and angled just right beneath your red tapered trousers.

“Where did that come from?” You question just as a server greets you, delivering drinks and announcing the small plates should be out in the next five minutes with a timer appearing on both of the stone tablets.

Carmy says, “you—you didn’t just think I forget right?”

“Well I was hoping.” You were honest, “neither of us are ready for relationships—especially hearing about you and Claire.”

Carmy felt his eye twitch, “and how do you know about that?”

Sydney.

You wouldn’t throw her under the bus like that although you could tell carmy already knew.

“I have my resources but don’t think I’ve been asking around about you or anything like that.” You sipped at the raspberry mint cocktail, it could be stronger.

His thumbs are shaking first on the table top but his icy stare made your chest pulsate in a way you didn't particularly like, “…would that be so bad?”

You and carmy didn’t exactly know each other well enough besides a conversation once had and with his hand down your pants! and you trying to get him to crash, clothes still on right in the center of his lap—It was a spur of the moment hookup and you could tell it was not something that happened often for carmy. He never had time for it or bothered to get attached but there was something about you that had him thinking otherwise. What was supposed to be a one time thing that you swept to the back of your mind was being brought up again.

The annoyance overtook what that feeling brought in the front seat of your ride. You weren’t ignoring carmy after that but the both of you had a lot on your plate with him renovating a restaurant and you diving back into your own work. Both fields of work seemed to matter more and not once did you think he ever thought about you in that way.

Communication was important people!

And here you thought he wanted nothing to do with you, especially with you showing up to the grand opening of The Bear. Now here you were months later, basically at your benefit, face to face hearing only pieces of what Carmen Berzatto was thinking.

“Hey, guys!” A familiar voice gathers your attention and you both turn to see Sydney smiling at you two.

Carmy widens his eyes, “Syd, what’re you doing here?”

Sydney snorted, “doing the same thing you’re doing? Having dinner.”

“Right.” He lightly shakes his head.

“Oh my god…am I interrupting this um? Date?” Sydney quickly connected the dots eyeing the both of you back and forth while you’re choking on your drink, “you okay?”

She pats your back for you while you gasp and Carmy slides over his water your way although you have your own glass near by. Gaining some air, you swallow some water and breathe through your nose. Normally you would have a response for Sydney’s joke but given what carmy just said to you had your mind running along with some burning tears you wiped away.

“So this is where you’ve been instead of answering me back?” You decide to switch the subject-you were great at that-wheezing a bit while Carmy scoffs and looks away.

Sydney frowns, “huh? When did you call me besides the FaceTime call…” she starts and pulls out her phone, “oh shit sorry. I placed it on do not disturb like thirty minutes after you didn’t call me back. I got wrapped into some entail about the menu from one of the chef’s that works here and is also a friend.”

Carmy speaks, “Didn’t know you had a connect with anybody here, Syd.”

“Can’t reveal all my moves, Carm.” She winks and lightly elbows him while Carmy sends her a small smile and a shake of his head.

Carmy asks, “scooping out our competition?”

“Only a little," She pinches her fingers before continuing, "and my dad thought it would be a place I wanted to try.” Sydney admits, “and if you two weren’t on a date I’d say let’s make this a group thing! so I’ll be going! I see my dad coming back from the bathroom…he’s got like a bladder problem and I don’t know why I’m sharing that with you two. But bye! Enjoy and just know I’ll be keeping my eye on you two.”

“Fuck,” carmy exhaled feeling his nerves rising, “don’t do that.”

Sydney chuckles to herself and sends a wave to you two before walking back to her table by the window.

“Siddy kicked me to the curb for her dad,” you sigh resting your cheek into your knuckles for a moment, “can’t be mad at that.”

“But you can be mad at me for what exactly?”

“You wanna do this with me right now?”

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“I thought we could move past what happened—

“You can say it you know? Me with my fingers inside—

“Excuse me!” You hiss, “I don’t need you to repeat action by action thank you. I was there too. We both know what happened, we’d agreed we can coexist around this big ass city. I show up to support—

“Did you though?” Carmy pressed, “support me? Or am I waiting for something else to be thrown at me with your upcoming review?”

“What?!” You bite, “is that what your stank ass attitude is about?”

Carmy tightened his jaw just as the first serving was handed over. You let him sulk in that for some time as you study the plating of the four appetizers, making note of each before taking more pictures with your sony.

“I wasn’t there to write a review.” You reply.

“I saw you—

“Let me finish. I understand pressure so I get it but you have to learn to channel your anger and this grief, elsewhere and deal with it better without projecting it onto any and everybody. I’ll tell you that right now that won’t get you anywhere and especially with me, Carmen.” You affirm.

You’ve been in Carmy’s position before so you can speak with experience. He seemed to always be waiting for the worse to continue filling up his plate but it takes time to accept the good in life. He was giving you something but you weren’t sure it was the best option for the both of you and you weren’t afraid to say that.

“Alright…I didn’t come here to talk about feelings either you know? That’s what those meetings are for.” Carmy spills just a tad.

You stare at the vibrant but delicate plating but his tone and the soft upbeat tempo above your heads don’t go unnoticed. “What did you come here for then?”

Carmy blinks and snatches up a spoon, almost weighing it in his hands before he dives the utensil into the dish. He stares as the stretch of cheese, twisting the spoon to break it apart before holding the Macaroni and Brie with Crab out for you to take the first bite.

He doesn’t answer for awhile and so you do the honors of taking a bite and savoring it's texture and taste.

“…that’s not my favorite.” You announce and notice that Carmy waited for your view.

He raises his brows, “tell me about it?”

“They need different plating.” You deeply sigh, “I know that type of plating works best for a dessert and that’s not it. There’s more breadcrumbs than meat, which seems to not be fully removed from its shell so be careful with that. It’s also lacking flavor even with the brie, which is my least favorite kind of cheese in Mac, although many swear by it.”

Carmy flicks his attention to your disappointment to you scribbling into your notepad with a shake of your head. If he was making you a dish, he’d try his hardest to make sure it was everything you ever wanted.

He quickly has his share and thinks to himself.

Carmy can agree, this was lacking flavor and the breadcrumbs didn’t even have a crunch to them. You can’t just depend on the cheese to give you flavor in Mac and cheese.

“What’s your favorite dish? I—I don’t think I ever asked you that. We just went straight into talking about the beef.”

And doing dirty things in the front seat but who needs to relive that?!

You look up from your notes and lift your chin, “you’re looking at it. It’s childish I know...but that’s exactly what it reminds me of: my childhood. Mac and cheese! then as I got into my adulthood…crab kinda took over. Which is funny because I hated on it for so long growing up. My papa—my grandad, he helped my mom raise me, he's from Ocean City so you can only imagine the amount of seafood on our table.”

You’re smiling to yourself and Carmy can’t help but to feel his small laughter lines appear by his lips as you’re locked into some memory only you can remember vividly. This was the most Carmy was learning about you, sure it may not look like much but he didn’t feel the need to dissociate even if at times he really couldn’t help it.

You were the question mark that he wanted to figure out and get all the answers to. Maybe it was his gut and he shouldn’t have blabbed to sugar about you because now Carmy was thinking this was Michael’s doing.

If you believe in that shit.

So the both of you take your time trying the small dishes before getting the main courses. It seems the longer you sit across from each other—the tension was definitely still there especially with Sydney’s eyes burning into the two of you across the room and attempting to not get caught—although she had once or twice but gradually it lifted as you and carmy shared this time together.

He watched you work while you asked for his input before you told your own. He also provided a few things he would do to tweak it if he agreed with what you didn’t enjoy. Which was eye-opening for you, yes you went to school for journalism and sat in on some cooking classes once that also tied into your passion for learning. After completing your first degree you decided culinary may take you to different heights and enrolled into culinary school. You didn’t find the need to continue going through with being a chef after Copenhagen, finding writing to be your stronger suit but you still understood food and the relationship with it when it came to chef’s.

So you took carmy’s input into consideration.

With the last serving being a Asian dessert called, “Jjan Hae,” which consisted of: coconut rice pudding served with fresh citrus (orange, grapefruit, kumquat) and coffee ice cream, topped with crispy pop rice & a shot of Korean rice wine, it was a strange concept but the both of you came to terms with the dessert working well.

Carmy even took a video to show Marcus tomorrow at the bear and sent a photo to an old colleague, Luca, that you were also familiar with considering Noma was a thing that you didn’t bother speaking much on…but it was your turn to give carmy the last serving.

He hesitated since he had his own bowl, which he finished way before you did but it was clear you wanted him to have the last bite so he also took it while saying something with his eyes.

Breaking the stare, the both of you felt your phone buzz with a text. Carmy didn’t jump to answer it right away…he was the worst texter according to Nat and Sydney but you can answer for the both of you as it was a group text from Sydney who was long gone with her dad.

Siddy + (773) XXX-XXXX: Carmy, invite aspen to breakfast in the morning?? See you guys then! 👍🏾😉

“You guys do breakfast at the bear now?” You say lifting your eyes from your screen.

You heard Sydney made a mean omelette but you haven’t been back since earlier this year and you weren’t in the mood for that that night.

Carmy frowns and closes his eyes with a shake of his head, “uh yeah it’s a new thing that Syd came up with but we agreed to do that with everyone once a month…later this month. Why?”

“She wants me to have breakfast with you guys…knowing I’m not a morning person.”

“It’s not happening tomorrow anyway, so what is she talking about?” Carmy digs into his jacket, where he carelessly shoved his phone into after sending the photo off to Luca.

Another text rings out: at carmy’s place. just us three???

Not Sydney making plans and then placing it all at Carmy’s apartment.

He’s taking a breath, almost as a silent reminder for him to do so before his thumbs move over his screen: i don’t even eat breakfast, Syd.

Syd: well youre gonna.

~ Syd has notifications silenced 🌙 ~

“Well, looks like your work wife told your ass.” You laugh, which you translated into her message but didn’t comment further than that.

Carmy harshly exhales through his nostrils in disbelief, “my work wife huh?”

He didn’t hate how that sounded but he also never thought about marriage or relationships in awhile.

“Yeah…the proof is in the pudding, no matter what anyone says.”

Carmy pinched at his bottom lip as he attempts to dryly joke, “I thought it was rice? and what about outside work…”

“That’s something you have to figure out yourself.” You shrug, getting ready to pack up your notes and cameras.

You turn your attention to the table, which knows just when to lift as you tap on the screen to signal that you’re ready to pay while holding out your company card, “are you paying cash for the tip or card?”

“Uh, cash.” Carmy answers, “…what if I’m starting to think about what come’s next?”

“With Syd?” You question, your now sage and mint scented hands flying over the screen as you select the correct paying method before tapping your company card against the screen.

Carmy starts bouncing his leg underneath the table, “with everything.”

“Well…when you’re ready you’ll make moves to make it happen won’t you?”

Carmy dips his head, “you bet.”

And here comes the intense eye contact that you can’t help but to huff out some laughter.

“What’s funny?”

“It’s just people with light eyes always do this thing where they’re just staring into your soul you know? Like damn, relax!”

Carmy’s confused as he holds his wallet open, “uh sorry for having eyes?”

“Shut up, glacier eyes.” You tell while Carmy just snorts at you.

The both of you don’t waste any time rushing back to his car as the clock is approaching 10pm. The wind’s definitely picked up and the temperature dropped, making it easier not to get caught up in the night time city lights which you often liked to do. Back in the van, carmy doesn’t wait to crank up the heat and you don’t bother to mess with the radio this time.

“So?” Carmy asks as he waits for the car to warm up some.

You keep your attention outside the window shield, “yes?”

“What’s the rating?”

“What makes you think I’m going to tell you that, Carmen?” You continue holding yourself.

He sniffs, “I mean—I was sitting across from you the entire night while you told me some of your thoughts.”

“So you thought you should also get the final score? I don’t even know what I’m going to say yet.”

“Ah, I think you’ve got some idea.” Carmy lolls his head over to peek at you.

Laughter bubbles past your lips, “I do. I’ve absolutely had better because—what the fuck was that?”

Carmen feels a crooked smirk appear on his own face, “I don’t want to completely bash other chef’s work but fuck, I thought it was just me? You said it got a 4.3 out of 5? The ambience and service was spot on but…the flavor for most of the dishes?”

“I knew you knew something about seasoning,” you continued laughing while carmy rolled his eyes, “should spend less on the tech and interior and more on some fresh herbs.”

“Isn’t it called simmer saffron?”

That made you laugh even harder as you gripped your stomach, “You’ve got that so backwards!”

And carmy couldn’t help but to scan your features as you laughed and he felt his chest getting somewhat lighter? Just listening to the sound of you and being beside you. What kind of feeling was this? He’s felt it before looking at someone else but that feeling was more of a tug with that light while this one slowly poured in from the black.

“Don’t be too hard on ‘em though? There’s always room for improvement.”

“Sure, but we both know the bear is better and you guys don’t have a waist list months in advance.”

“We also don’t have any celebrities showing up either.”

“Yet.”

Carmy taps his fingers against the steering wheel, appreciating that, “right, yet…I’m sorry about March. I was too in my head about so much shit and you’re right, I took it out on everyone and I’m still trying to make up for it.”

“Effort doesn’t ever go unnoticed if people look and feel it hard enough.”

Carmy chews on his lips at that, “if you believe that…then why do you feel what I said about dating—uh us—about us dating is out of the blue?”

“I said that?”

“Your eyes did. It’s the most expressive thing about you which is funny to me when you talk so much shit about mine when you hide the rest of it away on your face. It’s fucking confusing but I think I gathered that from our dinner tonight.”

Carmy was just as detail oriented as you. It was in his language with food and maybe even in his tattoos that you tried to understand starting with his fingers first. The way he spoke about what he would do with the dishes that were lackluster, except for the dessert—that was pretty good. Carmy wasn’t much of a talker because he wasn’t sure how to express himself, always been that way since you knew of him at Noma…but he told just enough in his dishes and you told just enough between the lines you wrote.

Someone just had to look hard enough.

“…I ever tell you I was engaged? Of course I didn’t, we’re still…I don’t know what the hell we’re doing here Carmen but I’m starting to sense that we could be special if we both want this badly.”

“What do you want?”

“Does anyone ever really know?” You laughed, “ I guess someone to look past the circumstanial and I had that once but then he died. So that was the end of that.”

“You swore off love.”

“Love is many things but maybe I closed off the long lasting part.”

Carmy could relate to that as least with family. He never had much interest in romance even growing up because he lacked that confidence in anything being permanent besides the chaos he’s used to, then he found some of it once he proved what he fucking set out to do yet cooking was all Carmen really opened himself up to. While Luca and others encouraged him to have a night out in the town, he always left early or if there was one person that caught his interest, they get to talking and both get bored of each other since Carmy hardly made the move to take them back to his. Before Noma?

Maybe.

Back in Paris there was one that could have been permanent but Carmy had to break her heart since Noma was calling. Culinary was his true love and he honestly couldn’t tell you what she even looked like now if you asked him. Things that should have mattered tended to get buried in the blue of his mind unfortunately.

He didn’t have the time to be attached and you didn’t want to have your heart ripped out again.

“How’d—

“He was a firefighter.” Was all you said and just those words alone told carmy it was anything but peaceful.

It took a lot for carmy to scream at himself how Michael went out and he imagined it might have been the same for you. So he wouldn’t dare ask for further morbid details because what did that help?

So maybe you weren’t wrong about the both of you not being ready to take that step on going on dates but change was everlasting.

“Uh—what about breakfast then after that not so great meal?” Carmy asks as he pulls off from the curb now.

You think about it. Really think about it that carmy starts to assume you may have dozed off.

“Depends on the time honestly? And who am I to turn down a free meal?” You beamed at Carmy who lifts his shoulders with a chuckle.

Carmy explains, “Syd and I usually start our days early, sometimes even earlier for me if I don’t get enough hours in. but thanks to the reno those on the early shift can get prep ready and I heard…you’re not a morning person?”

You’re just as sarcastic but there’s no lies, “I don’t even know my name or birthdate when I first wake up…what do you think?”

Carmy snickered at that, “okay? So how does 10am sound?”

“That’s pushing it but…I think I can be there so that’ll give me the rest of the day to work from home.”

Carmy nods, “can’t wait to read it. Shake on it?”

“On what? My review or showing up?”

“Both.”

“I’m not sending you a sneak peek, maybe syd or even nat but not you.”

“Ouch.” Carmy mocks, still waiting for your hand to touch his.

And when you do there’s a spark, that makes you yank your hand back and you feel like you’re in one of those cheesy teen movies.

You’re aware carmy’s felt that too but he just clears his throat and placed his hand back on the steering wheel. Leaving you to lightly massage the palm of your hand, now glancing at the profile of carmy’s face.

Life takes time to live but once you start to just let it be, the green starts to stand out more and can be equally as joyous…once you get through the rain and mud that is.

And once the ice blue sets back on you, the both of you can’t exactly see the future but there’s always warmth waiting for the cold to give them a try.

𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡

February fluff anthology series continues here.

[slotheyes]

SNS Month 22, Day 1: Cuddling or Rivalry

[viridian-sky]

I've decided to take some emergency commissions due to some unexpected bills (TL;DR my roof fell on me during a storm+flood so I had to replace it with a makeshift roof, only for it to fall again... that's why I'm thinking of renovating it for real). Kind of desperate right now so I'm increasing the price a little bit from my previous commissions and take less commissions (for the time being I'm only open for 3 slots). I haven't had the time to put together a nice commission detail post so you'll have to bear with me word-vomitting the details below.

Base Prices (ranges depending on complexity of the design and/or pose):

Waist up:  35-40 USD

Full body: 40-55 USD

Extras:

Additional character: +80% of the base price (max. 3 characters on 1 canvas). Special for simple mon design (Digimon/Pokemon): + 20%~50% of the base price depending on the complexity.

Commissions come with no/plain BG, with simple BG (see sample below to see what extent): +0~20 USD depending on the complexity of the BG.

Above are examples of simple BG, though I might charge a small additional price for example in the first (USD 2~5 if I have to draw patterns by hand). My current style is best represented by pic 1 and 3. To give you a general gist about my art style (color choices etc), please go through my blog.

Terms of Service

OK:

OCs/fanart (fictional characters)

het/BL/GL

PG-13

Not OK:

detailed BGs

mecha

furry (kemonomimi OK!)

gore

NSFW

?? (ask, though do note that there might be additional charges for this):

real people

animals/mons (Digimon/Pokemon)

overly complicated armor/weapon

middle-aged/elderly characters

muscular body types

R-15 (suggestive content)

just ask anyway if you’re unsure!

I have the rights to decline or cancel an order if:

I don’t think I can complete the order to a satisfactory standard, or

I am not comfortable doing the order due to ill-intentions or behavior.

*If in any case I am unable to complete your request, I will refund.

Payment

Payments are done through Paypal only (accepted currency: USD).

Payments are paid upfront (full amount).

No refunds if commission is cancelled by the commissioner. As stated before, refunds will be provided if the cancellation is done by me.

Process

Normal working duration (estimation): 1 week ~ 1 month (4 weeks), as I do have a day job at the office from 9 am to 6 pm every weekday, so I can only work at night when I’m home (I usually get home by 7~9 pm) or during the weekends. For that reason please bear with me. I'll try to be as transparent and accountable to the best that I can though.

Max. time limit of completion is 3 months.

I will send you the invoice after we have reached a deal.

I will only start on the commission request after the payment is done.

I will be showing the sketch and coloring processes to you through the provided contact information. 

Max. 3 revisions: sketch, base color, final revision (only minor adjustment can be made during final revision stage).

If you have not heard back from me within one week, please feel free to remind me through e-mail or DM.

Final Product

I will provide the high-res PNG file(s) (with and without background/transparent for commissions with plain background) without the watermark. The resolutions will be min. 1000 px x 1000 px, max. 3000 px x 3000 px (@ 300 dpi). For the record, I usually work with a B5 canvas.

If you want the drawing to be on a larger canvas, please specify beforehand (max. 4000 px x 4000 px). Please be advised that there might be additional charge for this.

Usage

Commissioners may only use commissioned artwork for personal use. You may use it for SNS (profile image, headers/banners, etc.) and can be printed out as long as it’s not for commercial purpose.

Do not claim the commissioned artwork as your own.

I reserve the right to use the commissioned artwork for sales and/or self-promotion on my SNS/online portfolio unless agreed otherwise.

Don’t use for AI/NFT!

If you’re interested, please DM me!

Others

If you’ve got any question before you want to place an order, please feel free to reach out to me via DM.

Sharing is very appreciated. Thank you!

[bluwavez]

˗ ˋ 🌊    TAX WRITEOFF    ﹕   THE FIFTH FULL ALBUM    !

TAX WRITE OFF is the FIFTH full album by the fictional South Korean boy group DeepDive. The album was released on March 29th, 2024. Before the album's release, the group would release a pre-release single, "MY EGO," which would get a two-week promotional period before Tax Write Off's release. With a total of ten tracks, DeepDive would promote VENOM, EAZY, and CALL 2229 for a total of three months. Due to the success of the b-side "Smarter" they would add on another month of promotions for the song.

"We kept a lot of the producing and writing in-house," DeepDive's leader, Hwang Jisung, would explain at their release showcase. With an impressive ten-song track list, every track is primarily produced and written by the members of DeepDive with the help of notable friends and colleagues of theirs.

With the typical features of SNS members on the credits, Mika and Yuki worked on the songs Venom, Kick It With You, and Locked In. "It's always great to work with them, especially Mika. She knows our sound very well. She's like the eighth member of DeepDive at this point." Noah would joke. SNS and DeepDive have worked extensively with each other over the years, typically being seen together in person and on the credits of their albums.

A new face would be seen on the album's credits. Oliver Song of Plastic Flowers and Starzie would help write and produce the song "This Feeling" alongside Finn, which came as no shock to fans. The pair first met on the survival show "Shooting Stars" and have been inseparable since their debut in the subsequent group Starzie. "Oliver is very fun to work with. It didn't feel like we were working. We were just messing around." Finn explained through laughs. It's noted that This Feeling was the second to last song to be finished, and the pair barely made the cutoff date due to the pair taking so long to finish the lyrics.

Another new face but not new to Mydol's catalog was the feature of Closure, AKA Zion of Arm Candy, on the final and fan-favorite track, Broken Trials. When asked how working with Closure went, Finn just shrugged, saying: "It was cool. He was cool. Very talented." leaving fans questioning what went down in the studio that day.

A shock to many was the featuring of VENUS members on the tracklist. Chloe Lee, Jacob's little sister, and Klara Blix would be seen several times on the album as writers and producers, only fueling rumors that Mydol is in the works of reacquiring the girl group's contract, though the boys did not comment on that matter. "If we release an album, we're going to work with a Venus member. That's just tradition at this point." Jacob would go on to say when questions about the girl's involvement in the album.

The most shocking producing credit would go to Son Jinhwa, controversial CEO of Mydol and father of member Noah. Call 2229 would mark the first song the father-son duo would work on together. "He came up to me and said: "We're going to work on a song together. It's been long enough." and we went in the studio and made 2229. It was really fun to work with him like that and I hope we can do it again soon."

WRITERS & PRODUCERS CREDITED ... @snspice + @plasticflwrs + @venusvity + @pinkscaped + @r0mcoms

TRACK OO1. MY EGO

TRACK OO2. VENOM

TRACK OO3. EAZY

TRACK OO4. CALL 2229

TRACK OO5. THIS FEELING

TRACK OO6. 1, 2, 3

TRACK OO7. KICK IT WITH YOU

TRACK OO8. LOCKED IN

TRACK OO9. SMARTER

TRACK O10. BROKEN TRIALS

VENOM PERFORMANCE OUTFITS !

EAZY PERFORMANCE OUTFITS !

CALL 2229 PERFORMANCE OUTFITS !

TAX WRITE-OFF sold 2,050,106 copies on Hanteo on its first day, setting an insane first-day record for the first release under Mydol. Within the first week of its release, Tax Write-Off sold 3,004,823 copies. Within a month of its release, it sold 3,653,291 copies, resulting in total sales in South Korea of 3,813,271 copies, according to Circle.

TAX WRITE-OFF received positive reviews from music critics. According to Metacritic, the album has an average score of 80 out of 100, based on 58 reviews. This score indicates that the album received "generally favorable reviews" from the critics.

VENOM would win SEVEN music show awards, EAZY would win EIGHT music show awards, and CALL 2229 would win FOURTEEN music show awards. SMARTER would also win THREE music show awards despite not being a part of the original promotional schedule.

[astrogre]

House Transit Money Observations:

Sun in 2H transit is at the same time every year and tends to be minor pay raises, a month of spending a lot of money, in that season your bank account either spends more or less

Full moon transits for money houses (2H, 8H, 11H) maybe mean new clients, payday, good money, generally brings good money.

Mars in 8H transit triggers 8h theme of need to put bigger deposit on something or purchase an investment (moving house, expanding business using funds)

Mars in 2h transit can make you have impulsive spending, motivation to put out projects and work for yourself

Jupiter 2H ups your spending, you get more work like more clients, more salary, more inspiration to start your business, eclipses especially are when people may decide to freelance

Transits of Jupiter, Saturn, NN, SN are important to see bigger and lasting changes to your finances.

Jupiter 8H transit can be a big bonus at the end of the year, or an influx of money at once as it’s not a result of your day to day efforts but a thing you get all at once as a “here you go, well done!”

11th house transits is usually when you receive an elevation in the financial quality of your life, like being able to buy from a more premium store for food, having enough income to pay for better clothes etc.

Moon in 2nd house transit, purchasing things for emotional fulfilment, you’re in your retail therapy phase and that’s okay… just don’t overdo it 😅

Saturn 2H transits usually are kind of stressful, being restricted financially, to give a wake up call to the native like “I need to get my finances up”. A 3 year long period when you are getting better financial structures, learning how to manage your money but only after you have a better understanding of 1. how you make money, 2. how you want to structure business, 3. what makes you most money is this lesson mastered. Each Saturn transit picks up from last time teaching you more about how to manage, expand or distribute your finances.

Saturn 8H same as 2H but also having to pay other people, outsourcing, bringing on other people, having to share your finances more.

If any of your money houses in your natal chart are empty (2H, 5H, 8H, 11H) and there’s a planet transit in that house it will activate the the house giving it energy to manifest in your life and make it a contributing theme in your life you are working with

E.g a native has empty 5H under the sign Pisces. The sun hits transits for this house for a month and during that time period the native may suddenly find themselves being noticed and working really well in their creative endeavours and having a ball in risky investments or gambling for their own personal enjoyment

North Node, South Node transits (as they’re opposite) if one is in 2H or 8H so will the other. This transit brings constant themes at the same time for a year and a half to 2 years of how you save, invest, what’s worth your money, what your skills are worth. How you can plan for your financial future.

[sarahalainn]

MAY this be an eventful May! 

5月に入り1st of Mayだけで盛り沢山の発表があって埋もれそうですが〜

是非色々チェックしてenjoy!

🟢 【サガ エメラルド ビヨンド】

サントラが発売！

早速ゲームチャート🥇１位に！👏

sqex.to/5NMsy

SaGa: Emerald Beyond OST - OUT NOW!

1st in the VGM charts!

🟢サガエメから「Crazy for Who? 」

歌唱、作詞、ラップしてるサラなるスタイル🎤

カッコ良いいMusic Videoも是非チェック！

SaGa: Emerald Beyond

I’m singing Diva No.5’s hit track! Check out her dance moves in her funky music video!

‘Crazy for Who?’

Sarah Àlainn (lyrics, rap, vocals)

Kenji Ito (composer)

Koji Yamaoka (arranger)

Hidenori Iwasaki (music director)

🟢 「Crazy for Who? 」踊ってみた⁈💃🏻

歌と踊りが得意なメカです🤖

あなたもサラッと踊ってみて！SNSにアップして！

jp.square-enix.com/saga_eb/dance/

Now you can dance to ‘Crazy for Who?’!

Show us your dance moves!

🟢ロマサガRS今夜生配信

冒頭でサラっと出てます😉

sqex.to/aeRmy

Appeared at the beginning of this LIVE stream. Talking about SaGa: Emerald Beyond and Diva No.5 (Japanese)

🟢サラ・オレイン カルテット

Sarah Àlainn Quartet

〜MAY there be jazz & harmony〜

いよいよ5月で日本で当分最後のソロ活動!!!!!🥹

新曲ももちろん、初披露🎤💃🏻

🟩Billboard LIVE - Tokyo / Osaka / Yokohama

今年のサラ・オレイン　オリジナルカクテルは、エメラルドにちなんだいっぱい💚🍸

※5月のサライブのメンバーは異なりますw

#サラバンド

🟩Nagoya

My last show in Japan this year! 

Will be jazzing up the new tracks from my recent game music too!

My billboard signature cocktail this year will be.. Emerald based💚🍸

🟢5月生まれのMay Babies🌿

1/f ファンクラブでサラカル動画チェックしてね

Emerald is the colour of the month - and birthstone!

Join the official fanclub for exclusive content! 

I edit all my vids. This one was a first so not perfect..but learning!

🟢サラジオ復活！待っててくれてありがとう 📻🥹

緑とエメラルドで音楽の森林浴🌳♪

緑は私達にとってのPeace of Mind

植物にとってのPeace of Mindは？

大切なもの、

守って行きたいものに触れられますように

エメラルド繋がりで #サガエメ 

からディーヴァの新曲もお届け！💎🎤🤖

#PeaceofMind土曜の朝のサラ・オレイン

After a hiatus, I am back to my SaRadio!

4th May - may the force be with you - is also “Green/Emerald Day” in Japan.

Played Diva No. 5’s forbidden song and hit track too. 

Peace of Mind for us, Peace of Mind for the plants, Peace of Mind for the world🌳

[4shl3ygw4y]

Day 1 - Modern AU

I decided to make kind of fanart in way I imagine them doing their photo. I still have so much to improve, and I will after the sns month. This snsmonth will be a bit messy bc of my lack of time, so every art is so much different depending on my mood, time and the technique or even colors I wanted to use. So let sns month begin!

[vivigaming]

Tibetan Yak - 30 Day Welfare Task Event

This is the newest 30-day welfare event in CN, the Tibetan Yak "Wind Flag Chanting Wishes". This is the second 30-day welfare event after the "Orchid Lotus Splendor". It's similar to the lifetime task suits, except it's 30-days instead of 3 months and you get a bunch of free stuff (diamonds, gold, stamina, star coins, association coins, crystal shoes, express passes, site tickets, heart tickets) on the tic-tac-toe board. Best of all it is FREE and leaves a lot of room for error. XD

Here are the requirements:

Tab 1: Daily Tasks. You get 5 of these tasks randomly each day. It resets daily so try your best to do all of them everyday.

Like 1x in the SC

Decompose 1 item

Clear any stage 1x

Recolor 1x

Evolve 1x

Craft 1x

Purchase 1 item

Do World Tour 1x

Complete 5x Commissions

Complete 5x Arenas

View player's house 1x

Decompose 1 furniture

Like in the competition

Like in Moments 3x (we don't have this yet in LN, but in SN, it's the Moments, basically like an in-game Facebook)

more? My bad if I forgot any.

Tab 2: 10 Day Task

Complete 2 Co-Ops (I never do this, still got it free)

Complete 10 Life Bits

Do 1 Group Buy (I never do this, still got it free)

Complete 25 Dreamweaver

Spend 150k gold

Spend 150 Star Coins

Spend 210 Guild Coins

Complete 1 ATW Bg (this is the hardest esp if you pick a 360 cost background lol, BUT you get a ton of free express passes during the event)

Tab 3: Try your best to do all of them! You can start collecting the Starlet, Mela, Kimi, and Orlando items now!!

Starlet: Collect "Cunning Imp" + Recolor

Mela: Craft "Rivers Beyond"

Debby: Craft Vol 3 Ch1 suit + Recolor

Kimi: Craft "Childlike Journey"

BJJ: Collect 10 new clothing

Orlando: Use Stringless Guqin Spirit in battle

Ace: Publish housing commissions 5x

Bobo: Publish 5 Inspiration Space SC (lol how do we still not have Inspo Space in LN)

Gonna make a video on the Vivi Gaming YouTube Channel soon about the detailed gameplay, but just thought I'd jot down my show notes here on Tumblr first :)

[keitea]

haikyuu guys as kpop stans

[note: thought about this at like 1/2am?? today and i got excited LOL today has been a really good day for me :) hope yall had a good day too so far !! if not, i hope this cheers you up <3 IM SORRY IF THIS IS OOC I GOT TOO EXCITED]

— tsukishima: exo & rv!

i'm gonna hc that he's liked them since debut (hq timeline started in 2012 !!)

he probably found out about them because he's a sm stan (got into shinee first!)

he really likes their discography and may have collected a few albums :) he listens to them everyday on repeat as he should

would probs have a twt acc but mainly retweets exo content

as for rv, he found out about them the same way he found exo

loves! irene! so! much! <33 and the other members ofc

screamed at home when monster and 28 reasons came out, and preordered the albums

HAS gone to a rv concert and his next goal is to attend smtown

i think he would be lowkey about liking both groups, but will talk about how he's a fan if someone brought it up

will stare you down if he senses you judging him

posts him listening to exo and rv on his official sns and everyone went crazy

fave tracks: monster, 28 reasons, bye bye (we all know why), love me right, peter pan, the eve

— yamaguchi: nct dream!

was influenced by tsukki and listened to a lot of exo's discography before nct dream debuted

he stumbled upon their songs by accident but instantly fell in love

their songs are really nice to listen to

plays glitch mode to hype himself up in the morning during the work commute as a way to not show up looking half-dead :)

has liked them since debut as well and still tears up from how well jisung has grown up

also cried when mark graduated, cried again when he rejoined the dreamies and the unit was made permanent

currently watching nct universe !! i love the new smrookies they're all so cute pls watch

got dragged by tsukki to a rv concert

fave tracks: fireflies (I LOVE THIS), glitch mode, go

— sugawara: seventeen!

i mean... does this not fit????

anywho, he listened to don't wanna cry when it blew up in 2017 (good times good times) AND LOVED IT

he couldn't stop playing it for months

has most of their albums, collects a few photocards and may have attended a fansign

stares at his signed albums before leaving for work, it gives him that push to get through the day

he's that one svt stan on twt who's super sweet to everyone

has a mini fanclub because he's a pretty popular svt stan ><

HAS tried learning their choreos and failed, mainly because of how tiring and detailed they are

posted himself dancing to pretty u and twt was blessed with how adorable he was

will audibly sigh when people ask him why they're called svt when they only have 13 members awh shit here we go again

fave tracks: holiday, good to me, trauma

— oikawa: (g)i-dle & twice!

baller. he balls for pcs.

doesn't dare to go for fansigns because he thinks he'll short-circuit seeing jihyo in person

works out to my bag and i can't stop me

went to cons for both groups and got recognised by fans HAHAHAH peacefully died when he trended on twt and jihyo mentioned him in a vlive

raves to people about soyeon being a god producer and writes the best tracks

has ranted to iwa about how he will one day burn down cube

fanboys with other onces and neverlands

gets so excited when a twice/gidle song plays during a match, will dance abit if they were on break

blasts tomboy through his car speakers and forces hinata to listen to his playlist

fave tracks: tomboy, hwaa, oh my god, fancy, alcohol-free, cry for me

[leryayart]

day 1 for sns month

modern au/soulmates 🥀✨🕰️

[yoonjinsgirl]

Heyaaaa guys!!! I'm here with Chapter-6 to my series.

checkout series previous chapters: 1 💌 2💌 3💌 4💌 5💌 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoongi x fem!Reader

Summary: you wake up one day only to realize it's 2026 already & to your biggest shock you are not in your bedroom, not in your house! You try to wake yourself up from the dream! But is it really a dream or the truth of your life?

Genre: idol au, mirror world au, angst.

Taglist: Open

Updates: after every 4/5 days.

Warnings: An au concept, not something that could make sense irl, it could be dangerously delulu. please note all my writings are fictional and has nothing irl to do with any idol/person.

A/N: This chapter in particular has yoongi's pov.

Request are open & also highly welcomed and appreciated! Check my work until now: Masterlist💌 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡^·ᴗ·^♡~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've imagined this all night and every day!💕

Chapter - 6

As days keep passing you keep feeling more and more weird and uncomfortable with your situation. Because no matter how much you try to shrug it off it doesn't helps at the end of the day you still think what is going on with you! it's common for you to daydream or think of your bias but why the heck are you able to visualize the literal impossible scenarios and even though you've been army for years now you don't dream about them alot so why do you daily keep dreaming about yoongi? And most importantly from where did the ring appeared? You even shared it with your bestfriend but she is certain that you are only overthinking and that you are overwhelmed about yoongi's enlistment, again which is true for-sure but still you've a unsettling feeling which no matter how hard you try to shrug it just won't go away.

On the other hand yoongi won't appear anywhere! Like not on any of his sns accounts nor he could be spotted on any event or whatsoever! It made you want to run away somewhere and get lost somewhere, where these feelings won't affect you so much! His absence just made things worse for you! Dreams would keep coming, somedays you would find yourself waking up to your face stained with dried tears marks. This behavior of yours freaked you out because you never were like this, surely you loved him but you surely knew your limits! You knew you had to keep your delusional mind aware of your limits, and that no matter how much you want your imaginations to come true but your love for him was forbidden.

After having a long day at work as you settle down to rest, it's already been a month and yoongi is still not seen nowhere, so you just randomly think to message him on his sns account, although you know it's worth nothing as you are just one of those millions who would be messaging him, but that was an old habit of yours to always share your inner turmoil with him, he was definitely your safe place, so you message him thinking even if no one really takes your concerns seriously and judges you, atleast he would never! Ofcourse he would never know about your messages but also he if ever had seen he still would never judge you! Yoongi was never the person who would judge people you knew that.

After messaging him youu fall asleep thinking maybe now that you had already shared your thoughts with yoongi you would be able to get over this thing of yours.

While you are asleep you have no idea the messages you have been sending off randomly, you've no idea what's actually going on with yoongi? Or what actually had happened to you leading to you getting various and frequent flashbacks.

33days ago...

Yoongi was genuinely resting at his home when he sees a shadow coming close to him, he was about to throw his hands but he freezes on spot when he sees his own reflection infront of him "WHAT THE FUCK! I guess I'm too tired from all the performing!! And whiskey is acting up"

Saying this he slightly pats his cheeks to get in his right mind, but to his shock his reflection stood right infront of him unbothered and judging him giving him side eyes! His eyes widens as he notices it moving,

"YAHHHHHH YAHHH WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?", he almost shouts as he grabs his pillow to throw.

"Jeez you are way too over dramatic Min Yoongi it's not like I'm a ghost or anything", whatever thing that he was seeing said to him.

"Even ghost are far better than what I'm seeing rightnow! What the fuck are you? A mirror reflection who is here to eat me up or something like caging me into mirror and stealing my identity!" Yoongi spoke assuming all the possible scenarios that could take place.

"Are you like seriously crazy dude? You need to stop watching too much of non fictional movies or shows or whatever shit you read to assume things like that!"

"Then what in the world are you??? Are you even there or is my whiskey acting up?"

"Nope I'm for real!"

"So are you here to harm me? Because I will call security so don't even thinking of doing anything, I'm warning you, also i can punch you down! Do not underestimate me!" Yoongi said defensively.

"Nope I'm not here to harm you! Sit down already will you? talk while having a seat I'm already tired answering your illogical questions by standing here?" saying that his dup takes a sit. Meanwhile yoongi is still, standing trying to process whatever is happening.

Finally after few minutes as yoongi sits down on his bed still staring at his dup and back looking at himself, trying to figure what the heck is this thing! Few minutes go's by and there's awkward silence.

"So are you by any chance from my future or something? Or wait don't tell me you are my son or grandson NO WAYS!", again yoongi says assuming too much.

"YAHH AISHHHH! NOO EWW! STOPPP! okay no! I told you before itself you watch a little too much of series and movies to assume all these sh!t!. So before you assume anymore shit let me introduce you to myself, I'm Min Yoongi aka Suga aka Agustd! Yes I'm you but like in a different realm from a different world! You can suppose that i belong from a world which is exactly same as you with some exceptions, like it's 2023 and in my world its 2026, and I'm here to get help from you, you need to take my place for few days while i come here and i complete my research on how people live here so basica.."

"WHAT NO! Just get out! I'm doing nothing get that inside your head! Also how do i believe whatever shit you are saying is true? You told me to not speak nonsense but atleast my assumptions had some logic! I don't find even a drop of logic from whatever theory you just said! Also even if you are speaking truth how do i trust you?" Yoongi said cutting off his dup in middle way as he made his own point.

"Heyyyy no wait! Listen to me I'm not lying believe me! Just like you I'm also an Idol! I too have my armys in my mirror world! But what my fans and members don't know is, that I'm also work in a secret research as their team head for my world! To be honest i guessed that you will be similar to me so i came by to explain you the process. And to be honest even if you don't agree I'll have to interchange our positions for few days, you won't even know when you would get teleported to my world so just calm down and just cooperate and trust me i guarantee your safety and that i won't spoil your image here!", yoongi's dup said trying to explain his situation.

"How do i trust you?", yoongi asked his dup.

"Well we can go right now and i can show you around! No one knows my identity as a head researcher, so if we go we will have to be careful as literally no one knows about me not even my research team, as we only contact through mails. So the only thing we need is to hide my identity and be careful".

"No but wait what if your people they recognize it's not me?"

"That unfortunately is not possible since we are alike! Besides once you will get teleported into my world you'll possess a power that will help you to survive and that will mask your real identi.."

Before yoongis dup could continue yoongi cutoff his sentence in between as he curiously asks, "What Power? Am i supposed to be some kind of supernatural human??? I'm fucking just a normal human being who has some good musical sense and my fans ofcourse"

"why don't you hear me out without cutting me off dude! So basically this is a thing in the mirror world if anyone from another world teleports there, the world will enter into a different realm and for sure in your world it might not be a power but in the mirror world everyone who doesn't belongs from there are 10000× more powerful. So your power will be depending on your inner energy, so that inner energy or power makes some changes into our world, mostly for the survival. And according to my study your energy must be the 'Everlasting Memories', which will make sure you don't forget a single moment or thing, also you'll be able to know the memories of people around you so no one would be able to catch you off guard while you take my place!", the dup explained him

"But what if there's someone just like me stuck in your world they know who i am?"

"Well it's s not possible since i haven't got any report from my team mates about it and not everyone knows how to balance the laws for a person to actually meet their other significant in another world without one of them getting teleported, so i don't think even if they do anything, it would be same as you. As the person teleported there wouldn't even know what happened to them so relax!" Yoongi's dup cleared his doubts and spoke further, "But even if there's someone nevermind you still will have the memory that will always help you to know what the truth is to you! There only 10%chances of someone to overpower your inner energy and even if it happens you still will be able to remember their truth so you are safe in all ways!!".

"Ahhhh i see", yoongi said while slightly nodding as he tries to understand and process everything, meanwhile the dup continues, "See i told you about everything now so please cooperate, according to my research i believe you've right now for few days have no schedules or such! You can be there and rest! Besides turning your life upside down without any notice, it's better if you know and understand the situation and we exchange places".

"Okay then i guess let's do it, not like i have any choice so yeah!" Yoongi agrees a little hesitantly.

"Really???"

"Ye"

"I never thought you had accept this!! Well thank you then"

"By the one more thing are you some kind of dr.strange from multiverse kinda thing???", yoongi again asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"Dude would you stop asking weird questions???"

"Hey! C'mon it's so much similar how could you decline it?", yoongi retorts back thinking it's almost similar with it.

"Well okay maybe it is!", the dup finally agreed to yoongi's point.

"Daymmn i knew it! Afterall things like that actually exist"

"I can't with you! see we will get teleport at night so bye now and be ready". Saying that the dup of yoongi from the mirror world disappeared from there leaving back a curious and amused yoongi behind.

After The Incident...

Yoongi was stunned when he woke up the next day. He was so stunned to see the world to be exact same, his members were same, his workplace was same, even his house was same! He was stunned to discover to that there existed a world apart from where he lived.

Everything was going smooth until one day suddenly he feels something weird and the next thing he knows he finds you sleeping on his bed! Although he knows he has no girlfriend in real life so why are you here? Didn't his dup told him that they both were alike? But afterall maybe his dup has he thought, also it was just the overpowering effect of your inner energy, no matter what he had do, he wasn't able to keep himself off you, loving and cuddling you, everytime he would see you his heart won't co-operate with his mind! He would feel like you were there since the beginning, but deep down he knew something is not right, but the more he stayed with you the more his feelings started to grow up on his mind, to understand what was happening with him.

It was like there were literal dailouges ringing in his mind and he would just blurt out those! He was irritated but everytime he would look at you or would have any kind eye or body contact he would lose his mind and he almost hated himself for stealing someone's else girlfriend because having same face doesn't gives any right to play with someone else's feelings and betray someone he thought! But no matter how hard he would try he would always find himself getting pulled towards you and he hated how he enjoyed himself with you.

All these years he somewhere always yearned to have someone beside him and now when he got you, deep down in his heart he was so happy to have you until one day, just like you had arrived without any notice, you disappeared in thin air. Half of his mind convinced that it was his dream while half of his mind telling him that no it was all true. But then if you were a true person and not just imagination then how could you disappear just like that? And how could no one tell that you did existed once? No one knew about you! Everyone just told him that at this point he should start looking at some dating options or maybe it was armys delusional mind working inside him, and everything they said made him think that it was partially right as you did mentioned him to be army afterall.

His thoughts contemplating until the day of his own departure came and his dup appeared again thanking him for helping him and co-operating, but yoongi on the other side felt like he was the bad guy here, so hesitating he asked him if he, his dup by any chance had girlfriend! And to his surprise he had none! So then who were you? A possible ghost! His beautiful dream! Or was really his mind playing games with him? Or did someone actually got teleported like him?, before he could go insane. He instead decided to tell everything to his dup and he told him the answer that yoongi most probably wanted to hear.

"Well during my time out there, i came to know someone had actually teleported here! And she whom you saw was indeed from your world my subordinates informed me. And why would you even doubt your memory dude? when i clearly had told you always trust your memories because they won't lie!", the dup told him clarifying the truth.

As yoongi spoke further about his situation, "That's not the only matter here! I just told you that i behaved with her like she was my love, my girlfriend when she clearly wasn't! I knew yet i had no control over my emotions and just like a magnet i kept getting drawn towards her, and i ended up developing feelings for her!"

"Did you just said that you knew the reality and still you did things you didn't wanted to?"

"Yes! But as i said after few days i actually started having feelings for her"

"Ahhhhh that means her inner energy was Law Of Attraction, so that is why whatever she might have wished for you did it!"

"I just told you, that is not entirely true, i ended up having feelings so she wasn't the only one to blame for whatever i did"

"Get a chill lol why are getting so defensive?"

"No I'm not! Why would i? I don't even know her and not like i will meet her again" although he clearly declined his feelings his crimson cheeks said a different story. All his dup could do was only chuckle at him.

"Okay then see you never again, tomorrow morning you'll wake up in your world! Thank you for everything"

"hmnn okay thank you for keeping your words"

"And yeah also good luck in finding your girl" yoongi's dup said with a playfull smirk, "yahhhh aishhh how many times do i tell you I'm not going do anything like that", yoongi replied denying having any feelings now.

"Well okay if you say so", his dup says while shrugging off.

"Also it's impossible because didn't you told me before that people always tend to forget things once they're teleported back into their world, and i would be able to remember because of that energy thing, so it makes so sense on looking for her?" Yoongi asked absent-minded.

"Even though you just told me you had no business knowing about your so called girl you are still asking me! Well still I will answer your question so don't worry!" He said teasing him further and continued, "as i said she has stronger side for law of attraction so there are chances that maybe she remembers it all and suppose even if she doesn't remember all of it right now, there are very high chances for her to regain those memories, if you somehow find her and try to remind her of your times that you had spend with her or any moment that you had shared with her, anything like that would be able to recover all her memories!".

"Are you sure this could work??", yoongi asked.

"Woahh woahhh woahhh!!! I'm offended! What do you mean by I'm sure? Ofcourse I'm damn sure! Infact guessing on you getting into a situation where you both ended up being lovers, which means she actually wishes to have you in her life, maybe she's someone who loves you, which also means she could be one of your fan! So maybe after all it won't be so hard to find her! Good luck on finding her". He replies while giving yoongi a small smile.

"Don't make your own assumptions, i only asked you for security reasons that's it!! Nothing more than that"

"Well ofcourse after all how could you fall for a fan! So..."

"So.."

"So i guess you should go and get rest and sleep because you will get teleported only while you are asleep, tomorrow morning you'll be in your world safe and sound! So bye i guess" the dup finally said biding him a bye.

"Hmnn bye good night, take care" yoongi says as he gives a quick side hug and turns away towards the bedroom, after all yoongi was indeed the sweet and soft person.

As yoongi laid down on the bed to fall asleep he was happy and content knowing there are still chances that he could meet you once again! He certainly wouldn't try to contact or find you immediately but he knew he would, once he is sure he can! For now he was relaxed knowing that there were still chances of you and him getting back! There were still chances of you both crossing eachother's path! The thought itself made him feel good. As he fell asleep with the last night in this mirror world which he certainly would never forget because he met someone like you here! But he was also excited to go back to his world and meet his actual members, his friends, his 6 brothers, his world..back.

Before he knew he was back in his world, more than happy to be back and meet his family and his friends. And glad that he still remembered and had you perfectly glued in his memories as he smiled thinking he's one more step closer to you as you are now under same sky as him.

Little did yoongi knew you were absolutely clueless about your time spend with him and how you were unknowingly trying to get rid of those little memory flashes that your mind tried to remind you.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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I hope guys enjoyed reading this one! I hope you all will look forward to upcoming parts! So stay tuned!♡

I know it takes me little too long to post but trust me my laptop is in repair and i haven't got it back and making corrections in my written draft takes my most of time, and i actually write my chapters in real time so it takes a little long especially writting them on my phone takes even more long, so i hope you can bear with me. Like it's almost 1.30am while I'm uploading this lol!🥲

Thank you so much for always being patient with me y'all!. Ily all! Also my big big thanks to those who are just reading, also to those who are reading and liking my posts too and also to those who literally always reblog them, I'm so so grateful to you guys!❤️‍🩹

Also last time i had said about naming chapters for this series! So i have already updated those on masterlist!!!♡

As I always say, REQUEST ARE OPEN!!!💌

Categories I write for are: imagines/reaction, scenarios, thoughts, text post, drabbles and timestamps.♡

So if you've requests please go on and submit it! I'll be happy to write one. Also your feedbacks are highly welcomed and appreciated.💜