#Shreddy for More Asks

[sugarpasteltmnt]

I finally got around to reading the first chapter of your newest fic and OMG?!! IT LEFT OFF ON SUCH A CLIFFHANGER I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!

My question for you is, will this fic have a happy ending as well? (If that's in the fic's tags already I am so sorry ^^")

I hope this ask finds you well!!!

omg yes!! there will be a happy ending!!

trust me when i say i'm a huge baby. i CANNOT handle sad endings. i am a registered Disney-movie-level-weenie. anyone who's ever met me knows for a fact that i cannot handle scary things or sad things. don't worry-- no matter how sketchy of a scenario I put characters in, there will be a happy ending lol

(I do need to go through and update the tags because there's a lot of stuff i missed whoops and there will kinda be some heavy themes involved)

[cuteandhughesy]

When The Seasons Change | Luke Hughes

summary: each season comes and with each one, you're falling deeper in love with your best friend. 4 + 1

[word count] 11.0k

warnings: SFW! friends to lovers | slow burn | flirting | fluff | suggestive themes | kissing | read at your own discretion

🎵 forever&more by role model, mind over matter by young the giant, lover by taylor swift, sundress by asap rocky, autumn leaves by ed sheeran, thriller by michael jackson, santa doesn't know you like i do by sabrina carpenter, + dial drunk by noah kahan & post malone

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september 9th, 2015

dear diary <3

it's y/n again and today i'm feeling a bit...funny. the day started absolutely amazing! it was my best friends luke 11th birthday party! I can't believe he's 11 and in two more months i'll also be 11.

anyways :) his party was a girl boy party and we all went to the arcade that luke and I have always wanted to go to together but we couldn't because of jack and quinn's hockey.

it was a really fun day and luke loved the sidney crosby shirt I picked for him. but the reason i'm feeling funny is because of lacey patterson. lacey is in our class and was invited to the arcade as well. I thought she had a crush on matthew but the whole time she wouldn't leave luke alone. she was always around like an annoying little fly. lacey kept taking all of luke's attention away from me.

i'm feeling jealous, diary. because luke is....special. his soft curly hair and his bright eyes and when he smiles I get ladybugs in my stomach. I love my best friend and now that lacey likes him I can't help but feel angry.

how and I suppose to grow up and marry luke if lacey is in the way???!!!

one: valentine's day

"it was a disaster," you sigh loudly, pushing your way into luke's apartment as he pulls open the threshold of the door. you toss your small pink bag on his counter top and slump into a bar stool, "I mean a breakfast date? I'm not even sure why I agreed to do that with him in the first place- I barely know the guy and breakfast certainly isn't the place to get to know him."

luke slowly makes his way over to you, still rubbing the sleep out of his eye with the palm of his hand. "I shouldn't say I told you so, but," he says sleepily, pausing to grab a bowl out of the kitchen cupboard, "I told you so."

you groan, dropping your head into your hands. "I really need to listen to you more," you admit, eyes flicking upwards as you watch luke pour himself a healthy sized amount of shreddies. you hate the cereal, you think it taste like dry wheat. luke has always loved shreddies though, so you always have some at the ready. plus, it's the only cereal luke's professional athlete diet allows.

he shrugs with a cheeky smirk.

"not only did he only talk about himself and refer to me as a 'female'," you air quote the condescending title and luke shudders between spoonfuls of cereal. you continue, "but he asked me how much money I make and spilt his orange juice on me - on valentine's day of all days. I swear i'm never spending valentine's day with a man again."

luke wipes the drip of milk off his mouth with the back of his hand, sending you a questioning look, "not even me?"

"you don't count, obviously, or I wouldn't be here." you raise your brows in his direction, as if if to say duh.

luke smirks again but shoves more cereal in his mouth to try and mask it. "right, okay, guys an asshole - so you ended the awkward valentines breakfast to head here at..." he trails off, eyes finding the digital clock on his and jack's shared stove for the first time that morning. "8:56 in the morning - jesus is this guy 80?"

"I wish," you huff, "an eighty year old would probably of kept his nose out of my bank account."

luke snickers, dropping his dirty bowl in the sink.

"do something with me today?" you plead, leaning across the counter top so you can poke his muscular side. "don't let my valentines makeup go to waste."

luke tiredly glances over to you, taking note of how there's a little pink glitter sprinkled across your eyelids and how your usual lip colour was replaced with a more pink toned shade. your smile all cheesy at him and it has luke breaking out of his thoughts - blinking hard.

"how does lunch and the movies sound?" he asks after a moment of pondering. "i'm sure there's some sappy romantic movie playing."

you scoff at his tone, "hey! I love those sappy romantic movies."

"I know," he hums, leaning against the counter infront of you. "that's why I suggested it."

you place your head in your palm, looking up at your best friend fondly as he practically leans over you. "you're the best lukey," you say after a moment, a gentle smile on your face.

he shrugs and the action has his sleep shirt lifting to reveal his toned v-line and happy trail. you don't let your eyes linger, quickly darting your vision away before you turn red.

luke's expression changes briefly, and it looks like he may say something but the sound of jacks bedroom door clicking open has him stopping - eyes darting to the hallway just as his brother shuffles out.

jacks eyes find yours as you sit comfortably in his bar stool. he admits a big yawn and wide stretch before mumbling - "I should've known it was you making all this noise."

he rounds into the kitchen, flicking on the kettle to boil himself some water for his beloved morning coffee.

"ha ha," you say sarcastically.

"why the fuck does it smell like orange juice in here." jack mumbles.

"oh god," you cry out, grabbing your bag and sliding off the stool. now that luke's eyes are properly open and he's aware of his conscious, he sees how your white jeans have an orange liquid stain on the leg. luke smiles fondly as your cheeks tinge pink, brushing past him and his brother and towards the front door, "i'm going home and changing!"

luke laughs gently, following behind you. "i'll text you when i'm leaving here."

"sounds great," you breath out, a smile making its way onto your face. "wear pink," you tease him, shimming your shoulder in his direction.

"happy valentine's day," jack calls out from the kitchen. you catch sight of him shuffling his way past the door and back down the hall, a steaming mug in his hands.

you meet luke's eyes again and hes still looking at you, leaning against the door in his morning glory - plaid pyjama pants hanging low and his arms crossed to make all his muscles stretch deliciously. "happy valentine's day," luke mimics his brother in a fond whisper.

"happy valentine's day," you repeat. "i'll see you later."

"you will." luke says.

when you get back to your apartment complex, marianne, the front desk receptionist, flags you over before you can reach the elevator - her bright red lipstick and heart bobble head band instantly making you smile.

"you have a delivery," she says, pushing a massive vase full of red roses in your direction.

you're momentarily in a state of shock, staring at the bouquet of flowers dumbfounded. "are you sure they're for me?" you splutter after a moment.

marianne nods joyfully, a finger running over one of the delicate pedals. "oh yes, honey! delivery man dropped them off real early this morning."

you pluck the crisp white card from its slot, quickly opening the small envelope with slightly shaky fingers - anxiously wanting to reveal the mystery behind the roses.

just incase your breakfast date doesn't get you flowers. I hope you get all the ladybugs in your stomach today, y/n/n. happy valentine's day.

love, lukey.

two: easter

"you two seriously need to quit this," quinn's voice is a mix of bordem and amusement, eyeing you and luke. "it's every year." quinn concludes, jack nodding in silent agreement as he bites into a chocolate egg.

"quit and willingly loose to luke?" you thumb over your shoulder to the tallest hughes brother - who is standing diagonally behind you with his arms crossed. "absolutely not."

jack tries to hit you with a chocolate egg, but it misses your body - you send him an accusing glare before quinn starts again.

"guys, seriously it's just an egg hunt." he deadpans, eyes dancing between his brother and you.

"it's not just an egg hunt," luke says matter of factly. his arms fall to his sides and he steps closer to you, the fabric of his flannel brushing your exposed shoulder. "it's one of the only times I get to prove to everyone I am the superior egg finder."

competitively, you roll your eyes. luke has been using that line since one of the very first easters you had spent together.

when you were 5 years old, your family moved to your now home city and into the two story house neighbouring the hughes' home. it was almost instantly that you and luke become close - after he got over how'd you'd aimlessly follow him around and want to be near him (you liked the leafs just like him so he liked you soon after).

your parents become very close with ellen and jim and it become a tradition to spend easter together - enjoying the festive meal and activities. even now with quinn in a different country and you, jack and luke all in jersey, you would all find yourself making it home for the easter dinner and egg hunt.

which leads you into your second ever holiday spent with the hughes family - the first egg hunt you had won. luke claimed to his family after they had teased him that he let you win and was, in fact, the superior egg hunter. obviously, you couldn't let that slide and you're still battling luke in your early twenties for the title of egg hunt champion.

"you wish," you tease luke, "a superior egg hunter would of brought proper footwear to ensure they could get down and dirty." slowly, your eyes flicker to luke's feet, eyeing the crisp white air forces that were bound to get filthy.

luke scoffs, taking a step towards you. "oh trust me - i'm ready to get dirty."

"is this how kids flirt now?" jacks voice is like a nail to your eardrum and you quickly take a step away from luke, making your way to the island and grabbing your bunny shaped bucket.

"it's called smack talk," luke answers his brother sharply, also grabbing his egg basket - a bright yellow whicker bin with fuzzy chicks hot glued to the handle: he's been using it forever. "this is a competition."

"it's really not," quinn mutters, hands shoved in his jean pockets as he leans into the kitchen island.

just before you or luke could scold the eldest hughes, ellen makes her way through the back door, her pink floral maxi skirt swaying around her ankles. "you guys coming out?" she questions you all, her brows raised expectantly. "all the young kids are ready."

"oh," luke snickers, "i'm ready."

"we are all ready," you correct, eyeing your best friend briefly.

she smiles fondly, her small hands clasping together - ellen hughes would never get tired of seeing you and all her boys together on the holidays. "the eggs are all hidden - don't forget the winner gets the chocolate bunny!" she sing songs, guiding you all to the large backyard decorated in pastels and flowers.

"see," luke hums, jamming his elbow into his oldest brothers side, "told you it was a competition."

"oh my god."

after a brief speech from ellen, you were informed the oldest kids (you, luke, jack and quinn) would be searching for the blue coloured eggs and the younger kids (consisting mostly of hughes' cousins) would be searching for yellow eggs. the yellow eggs were hidden in easier spots but jim and your dad had ensured the blue eggs were in more difficult places.

10 minutes into the hunt, you've secured 6 of the possible 17 blue easter eggs. you wander further down the large property, eyes frantically searching for more to add to your collection. it isn't long before you catch a glimpse of bright blue - the small egg nestled between a few branches up in one of the trees. you're suprised you could even see it through the leaves, but the sun catches the egg once more and you're positive you're not imagining it.

with a determined head, you place your bucket on the ground near the stump of the tree before grabbing ahold of the lowest branch. you use all your strength to start hauling yourself up the tree, climbing upwards through the leaves and branches.

finally, you reach the height of the easter egg, and you smile victoriously, reaching out to grab it. at your sudden movement, the branch you had been standing on with your one foot gives out, cracking loudly until it snaps downwards. you gasp, hands reaching out to wrap around the thick trunk, watching horrified as your previous spot swings in the air.

you scan the surrounding branches, looking for the most secure one for your full weight - one that wouldn't break off under your feet. there's one behind you that looks promising, so you shift against the trunk, carefully stepping across the gap in the branches until you can fully place your feet on the new one.

you sigh once you feel secure, taking a deep breath to try and let the erratic heart beating in your chest come back to normal. miraculously through your almost plummet back to the ground, you managed to keep ahold of your egg and your gripping that damn blue thing hard, ensuring after all that trouble it wasn't going anywhere.

once your adrenaline levels return to a much more manageable level and the thumping heartbeat in your eardrums subsides, you decide you're ready to start making your journey to the ground - as safe as possible.

you let your one foot steps off, pressing down on a different branch to test its sturdiness. it seems stable enough, and you push off the trunk behind you to help push yourself onto the other branch.

your dress tugs, not allowing you to move over. you frown in confusion, trying to pull away harder. it's no luck, and your eyes close in disbelief. you try and uncomfortably stretch around yourself to catch sight of what the hell was going on and you catch a glimpse of of a sharp broken twig, completely hooked through your dress.

and of course you've left your phone behind on the kitchen island when you decided you'd have to use for it during the egg hunt. you course yourself, making another attempt at wiggling yourself off the ridged twig. it proves to be unsuccessful when you try and move onto the other branch once again and find yourself still being pulled back towards the trunk.

just as you begin to feel waves on panic bubble up your body and tears well up in your eyes, the sound of shuffling below halts your meltdown. you listen more intently, and the melodies of an all too familiar hushed whistle adding to the noise.

luke is wandering around aimlessly, whistling the megan moroney song you had showed him the week prior - clearly he has taken a liking to it as well. he's got his easter basket in his hand, swinging it slightly so his collected eggs roll around.

he is practically right under the tree you're in, and you take the opportunity before it leaves. "luke!" you call your friends name, your voice a mixture between a whisper and a yell - not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to your very uncomfortable and embarrassing position, luke would surely tease you enough to make up for everyone.

luke's whistling comes to a halt, his body coming to a stand still near the large roots of the tree that were protruding from the soil. he spins around a couple times, looking for you.

a beat passes.

"where are you?" luke questions quietly, doing another 360 of the area. he knows you can't be too far because you sounded close, but not directly beside him. his brows furrow when he can't see anything.

"in the tree - i'm stuck." you huff, eyes closing as the rush of embarrassment comes after admitting your predicament out loud. luke still looks confused and unsure, so you sigh, rustling one of the nearby branches to show him that you were in fact in a tree and not hiding in a nearby bush - planning to ambush him for his eggs.

finally luke catches on, looking up towards the thick branches wide eyed and confused. once he catches sight of you, his previous expression morphes into one of mischief and his lips tug upwards in a gooey smile. "oh! don't you look all cute up there."

you ignore his teasing with a dismissive eye roll, "come up here and help me untangle myself from this damn branch."

luke's eyes wander towards the trunk of the tree, landing on your easter basket that you'd previously abandoned in favour of climbing - your blue eggs starting at him in all their glory. luke hums, slowly looking back towards you - his eyes shimmering with a misbehaved twinkle you're all too familiar with. "nah, I think i'll just take some of these eggs and be on my way."

"lukeeeeee," you whine his name, eyes closing in annoyance- luke could really push your buttons when he wanted to.

your hands are starting to hurt from the bark under you palm, and your ridged posture from being caught by the tree is becoming uncomfortable. "come help meeeee," you whine again, "is this how you're going to treat your best friend?"

when you began to speak, luke has already put down his own easter basket, nestling it beside yours wiped his hands free of any sweat and made his way towards the tree, large fingers wrapping around the first branch as he pulls himself up. "relax, i'm coming."

you watch as he quickly climbs up the tree, resembling a spider monkey as his long limbs wrap around branches and you smile to yourself at the thought of luke as a monkey.

suddenly, you begin to feel embarrassed about your situation. you feel even sillier for getting yourself stuck on a branch, something taht could've been avoidable if you weren't so damn stubborn about a stupid egg hunt. your previous smile of relief turns sour, eyes downcast as luke finally gets to your level.

your face has luke mimicking your frown, brows drawn together as he addresses you. he reaches out for you, running a large hand over your curled hair. "hey, don't worry - you're okay."

you muster one nod in acknowledgment, taking a shaky breath.

"let's see," luke mutters between you, leaning into your personal space to attempt in getting a proper look at the damage - one of his arms wrapping around your body for stability as he peeks over your shoulder. "easy peasy," luke adjusts his body slightly, his chest brushing your bare shoulder as he fiddles with the material of your dress.

you fight off a pleasant shiver, controlling your breathing as his long fingers brush against your soft skin, tickling you in the best way. finally, you feel your dress become loose and fall back into its proper position.

you breathe in relief, your smile returning.

"ta da," luke pulls back, his own smile lighting up his face as he hovers over you. now that you're less stressed, you notice how intimate your and luke's position is. his feet's are slotted between yours in the thick branch, his one arm still around your body while his other one moves to wrap around the trunk, holding you both there - his breath fanning over your face.

"you're welcome." he teases you, snapping you out of your own head.

"thank you." you hum nonchalantly, one of your hands coming up and fixing your hair and be ridding of any stray leaves or baby twigs that may of found their way in there.

"what's my reward?" luke questions gently, head tilted as his tongues slowly darts out, licking his bottom lip.

the air turns thick with a sticky tension, making your spot in the tree feel like it suddenly was located on the sun. quickly, your eyes widen, watching the way luke begins to smirk at your flustered face.

you clear your throat, choosing to not read into any underlying meaning. "one of my easter eggs." you answer firmly, a gentle nod of confidence following suit.

he tongues his cheek. "just one?"

you nod once again, a noise of conformation falling from your lips.

luke hums, eyes not leaving yours as he says - "guess i'll just take more."

because you know your best friend all too well,before he can even attempt to descend back towards the ground, you push of the branch, quickly moving around him and scaling down the trunk. you're suprised at how quick you get to the ground and even more suprised you don't hurt yourself in the process.

just as you grab ahold the fuzzy purple bunny easter basket off the ground, you hear luke thump back onto the grass, a gentle laugh of disbelief falling from his mouth.

you turn on your heels to face him, your basket gripped in your hand as you swing it teasingly out towards him - a victorious and teasing smile on your face.

he kisses his teeth and his eyes dart towards the ground to mask his amused grin. he grabs his own easter basket before making the short distance to you.

"like promised," you say, plucking one of the shiny blue eggs from your basket. "your reward." delicately, you place the egg into luke's basket, adding to his collection of five.

almost immediately, luke grabs the egg you just gave him, placing it back into your basket. "no it's okay," he says quickly, hand raised defensively when you begin to furrow your brows. luke continues, "after all, when I win, I want it to be fair and square."

"my god," you roll your eyes fondly, the corners of your lips tugging up in a smile. "whatever helps you sleep lukey."

"I see another one!" jack yells somewhere on the property - quinn's voice following suit as he threatens to fight jack over an easter egg.

simultaneously, your and luke's eyes widen at what you're hearing.

"what's over there?" luke questions, brows furrowed as he points behind you.

you frown in confusion, spinning around to try and spots the object of luke's gaze.

he takes off, calling out some stupid insult about you being a sloth as he does. your scoff of disbelief turns into a laugh, and you begin to run.

you don't remember finding the last egg that was sitting in your basket when ellen counted all of them out - but seeing as you had the most blue eggs out of everyone, you weren't going to complain, taking your chocolate bunny prize happily.

luke watches you light up with joy when you are declared the winner for another year in a row. he finds himself smiling along, happy that when he handed you the egg back you had given him as a reward, he managed to slip one of his own back in with it- just like he does every year.

three: 4th of july

you knew that having another vodka water, adding to your borderline drunk state, wasn't the smartest idea - but you cracked open the can regardless, the sound echoing over the michigan lake.

you take a hearty sip to mask the scowl on your face. lacey laughs loudly, and your annoyance grows because yes it was the same lacey from luke's birthday party all those years ago and yes, unfortunately she was close to some of your other friends so yes she'd often hang out with the group.

this 4th of july weekend was no exception as you watch lacey continue to hang around luke and jack - your jealousy meter maxing out anytime she would lean into luke or touch his arm.

you take another sip, some of the liquid dribbling down you lip after quinn drives over one of the waves, sending trevor zegras into the air as he wakeboards behind you. quickly and rather aggressively, you wipe the spilled alcohol off your chin, eyes still pointedly glaring towards your best friend, his brother and lacey.

as if he can sense your staring, luke turns his head in your direction, quickly finding you on the bench seat. you're sitting with your back turned to wards the water and jacob truscott - who's job is attentively watching trevor as he wakeboards.

luke's initial smile with seeing you is wiped away once he sees that you're annoyed, your clear sour face making him frown. quickly, you turn your head in the opposite direction.

and because drunk you has no self control, you quickly look back in luke's direction, not lasting 5 seconds. luke is still watching you, his brows pulled together in question. just when it looks like he is going to make his way over to you, lacey grabs his wrist, lighting up as she animatedly begins to tell a story that 'he just had to hear!'

you start to become angry. not only were you feeling frustrated because lacey was not your cup of tea and jack invited her to your 4th of july celebration regardless of your feelings, but you were even more upset by the fact that luke was allowing himself to be so easily entertained by her. luke had always treated lacey normally, even though you often expressed how you weren't her biggest fan - which was okay, of course. you didn't want luke to treat her differently just because you didn't like her, but still - it had you feeling jealous.

you take a huffy breath, getting up from your seated position as careful and as stable as you could while being drunk on a moving boat. obviously, it wasn't your best or most successful idea, quinn jerking the boat for trevor's boarding quickly and it has you stumbling - right into the back of jacob.

he turns around quickly, his eyes blown wide as he takes you in. "hey, y/n, you okay?"

and just like that your brain comes up with a plan. one that though you may regret in the morning when you're sober, in your drunkenness sounds perfect - you've never thought of a better idea in your life. you smile at jacob, fluttering your lashes at him. "can I sit and watch with you?"

jacob watches as you bite you lip in question while you await his answer, eyeing him with a hazy look over your bright eyes.

he chuckles slightly, "course you can."

you smile cheerfully and you quickly start to make the small step up onto the seat platform, your small hand gripping jacob's strong shoulder to help balance yourself until you gracefully plop down beside him. as flirtatious as you can manage while being intoxicated, you run your hand from his shoulder down his arm, trying to tickle him.

jacob eyes you suspiciously, a small amused smile beginning to tug his lips upwards. you smile back, bringing your hand into your lap. "what are you up to?" jacob questions after a moment. he doesn't wait for an answer before he turns his head to look over his shoulder - right at luke.

"nothing!" you hum, laying your palm flat on his cheek and bringing his gaze back towards you.

jacob gives you a look, brows raised knowingly. he has to tongue his cheek to not laugh, your plan of trying to make luke jealous obvious. clearly you're not as inconspicuous as you thought.

you shrug once, leaning in even closer to jacob. "just wanted to sit with you is all."

he just nods, shrugging nonchalantly "whatever you say." jacob's eyes leave yours, attention back on trevor on the wakeboard. clearly jacob doesn't mind helping you out, he even lets his hand slide behind you, resting flat on the seat right near your ass - he doesn't even seem flustered at the how if he stretched his pinky out he'd be touching your butt - that kind of makes you feel at ease.

after flirting and laughing with jacob for 10 minutes, trevor's time on the wake board comes to an end, quinn slowing down the boat. in that 10 minutes you'd only managed to get in a glance towards luke three times (jacob kept you pretty entertained oddly enough), and everytime luke was wearing a neutral expression - his arms crossed and listening to lacey.

trevor removes himself from to board, breathless as he climbs onto the swim platform."did you guys see me hit that last wave?" he smiles, unzipping the life jacket wrapped around his torso.

"it was sick," ethan edwards comes up beside you, leaning on his elbows right beside your thighs to talk to trevor - drunk you honestly forget he was here. "fuck man way cooler than any waves I got - quinn must have his favourites." ethan continues, playfully side eyeing the oldest hughes brother as he makes his way over to the back of the boat.

"ha ha," quinn says sarcastically, grabbing onto the rope of the wake board paddle and pulling it towards the boat. "if I actually had favourites, trevor wouldn't be one of them."

trevor cries out and grabs his peck like quinn's words had actually reached out and stabbed him, "ouch."

quinn ignores trevor, rolling his eyes dismissively - although his lips move upwards in a small smile. "alright," he breaths, finally getting the wakeboard onto the swim platform, " who wants to go next."

looking back over your shoulder once more, you see that luke still isn't bothered enough in coming over to you - listening to some story lacey was blabbing on about to jack and dylan duke.

you hum, shooting up off the bench. you wobble slightly, ethan grabbing your ankle reflexively to try and steady you. you smile triumphantly, "i'll go." you make your way over to quinn, taking the protective life jacket from trevor's outstretched hand.

quinn looks you up and down, eyes hesitant. "you sure?"

you nod without looking at him, stepping into the boots of the board. if flirting with luke's friend wasn't working in getting his attention, hanging off the back of the boat as you zip through the water surely had to.

you clip the buckles down, the sound snapping against the boots. quinn bends down in attempt to help you get secure, but you dismiss him, dropping off of the swimming platform and into the water.

"y/n..." quinn starts, his eyes filled with doubt.

"i'm good." you take the ropes right out of quinn's hands, wrapping them once around your wrist. "let's do it."

he sighs but doesn't protest any further, leaving you alone. quinn walks off the platform, making his way back to the driver's seat.

the engine starts a few moments later, the roar making you smile slightly - adjusting the slippy rope handles as you prepare to start.

"fuck yeah, y/n!" jack calls, hands bracketed around his mouth as he cheers for you, his voice echoing over the lake.

after getting your thumbs up, quinn starts to drive, the movement of the motor vehicle slowly dragging your body towards the surface, gaining speed until the wakeboard comes to the top. jacob slaps the bench seat a few times in a cheer, him and ethan both praising and cheering you on back on the boat. your smile widens at the boys and luke's brows furrow.

the boat is going the proper speed now, and quinn starts to do circles around himself to create the desired waves - you swallow nervously as you see the first one approaching. you can feel your hands loosen on the rope again , and naturally your fingers unhook themselves in order for them to readjust. the wave hits sooner than anticipated, and you first jolt forwards quickly before being flung backwards, your feet coming out of the boots as you get launched into the water.

you push up to the surface with your shaky arms, a gasping breath leaving your lips as you take in the air.

the boat has been stopped, and there's a group of worried faces staring at you from about 10 feet away. you definitely shouldn't of dismissed quinn when he wanted to check over your buckles, and you definitely shouldn't of let your guard down when trying to re-grip the rope.

you start to leisurely swim back towards the boat, feeling much more calm now that you’re not being panicked underwater. “i’m good!” you laugh it off, approaching the platform.

jack is waiting for you, his hand outstretched in your direction. you grip it, your wet palm slapping against his calloused one as he pulls you out of the water. he says your name through a smile, “that was badass."

then you notice how luke’s there as well, looking much more stressed than his brother - eyes frantically searching you for any visible injuries. "are you okay?" he breaths.

"yes," you sigh firmly. jack finally lets you go, allowing you to stand yourself up on your own feet. as you place your left foot down fat, your ankle screams in protest and gives out on you - making you topple forwards with a yelp. "fuck."

instantly, luke is there, rushing towards you and grabbing a hold of your arms. he keeps you upright, leaning down so he can look into your eyes. “what hurts?”

"my ankle," you whine quietly, eyes moving down in embarrassment. not only were you drunk, but you were now hurt and in enough pain for your intoxication to not even be able to mask it. "it really hurts lukey." you whisper, your throat becoming thick with emotion.

"okay, okay," luke wraps an arm around your waist, putting all of your weight onto him as he helps you off of the swimming platform and onto the carpeted area of the boat. you wince quietly in the short time it takes to get to the front of the boat - away from prying eyes that would only have you feeling even more embarrassed.

"sit down." luke tells you sternly, helping in lowering you to the seat. tears are desperately wanting to escape, the entire day of events weighing heavy on your chest.

luke turns away from you, reaching into the blue drink cooler - digging through the ice and cans of seltzers until he finds a plastic water bottle. he grabs it, walking back towards you with an unreadable expression, sitting across from you.

"i'm cold." you say as soon as luke sits down. you can’t decide if you’re cold because your wet and the sun is starting to set or if it’s because luke’s knees keep brushing yours, igniting goosebumps.

your emotions come to a head, and a tear finally falls, trailing down the round of your sunkissed cheek.

"let's take off the lifejacket, okay?" he reaches towards you, unzipping the wet jacket. your boobs definitely spill out of your bikini top in a way that is probably unflattering, no longer pushed against you by the life jacket. “give it back incase somebody else wants a turn.” luke grabs dylan dukes abandoned towel, wrapping the fluffy cover around your shoulders.

his teasing gives right over your head.

"okay," luke sighs quietly, tapping his two fingers against your thigh."let me see your ankle, put it on my leg."

you do as he says, bringing your leg up and over so you can comfortably have your knee bent and foot laying flat on luke's muscular thigh - his leg hairs tickling your painted toes.

softly, luke uses the water bottle he'd earlier grabbed as a temporary ice pack, pressing it to your ankle bone. the coolness feels nice, and it already is helping the pain.

your mood turns even more unpleasant when you her lacey's high pitched laugh echo around you - assaulting your water logged ear drums. you keep your eyes downcast, fingers wordlessly fiddling with a loose strand on the beach towel.

you sniffle, "wouldn't you rather be with lacey?" your jealously is definitely showing, but you're too irritated with the days events to be civil. lacey, combined with hurting your ankle and having luke practically ignoring you all day has your filter disappearing.

one of luke's long fingers slowly starts running along the back of your calf. "nah." he says gently. you can feel his eyes on you, but you're still not sure if you can handle looking into his eyes in the state your in.

your brows raise in suprise, and your disbelief is still prevalent in your tone. "really? she sure gives you a lot of attention."

luke shrugs once. "you're hurt. you take priority."

his answer has you scoffing slightly, and you tug harder on the loose towel thread. "only because i'm hurt?" finally, you look back towards him, eyes pinched with irritation at his answer.

in all seriousness, luke looks at you. his lips almost tug down in a frown, and his eyes begin to soften at your red cheeks and glazed eyes. "no. you always are my priority."

now you feel embarrassed. although lacey is more outgoing and flirty than you are, you are luke's best friend - not her. quickly, your hand comes up to wipe away any fallen tears, "sorry." you mumble.

luke dismisses your apology, tapping your heel twice around the cold water bottle he was still pressing against you. he eyes your somber expression again, and kisses his teeth.

your eye him as he scoots closer towards you. "can I tell you something?"

you nod, naturally finding yourself leaning in as well.

luke's lips begin to turn upwards. "watching you flirt and spend time with jacob today...It made me feel kind of jealous."

you feel your heart come to a hard stop and then speed up again - beating frantically at luke's confession. you're sure your mouth is opening and closing like a fish, but you're too baffled to say anything.

he continues quietly, "because, you know, he was taking my best friends attention away from me."

you deflate.

luke shrugs, "and I know that's hypocritical because I was kind of being a dick today but still...jacob doesn't deserve your attention - neither do I honestly but-"

you shake your head, bumping the leg that wasn't resting on his thigh against luke's knee, stopping his rambling. he's still your luke, no matter what. he's awkward and sweet and....yours.

"you're the only one I really want to give my attention to, lukey."

he smiles gently, "really?"

"yeah - i'm drunk," you remind him, "I can't lie even if I want to." you both laugh at your half slurred confession, leaning into each other as you do so.

as quinn pulls the boat back towards the dock of the hughes summer house, you can't even remember why you'd been annoyed with luke in the first place - too focused on him nursing your ankle and his soft smile.

four: fall festivities

"jello shot?" you ask through an exhale, a bright smile on your face. you gesture the small serving tray full of colourful desert towards the two girls in front of you. thankfully, they smile back, happily taking the alcohol from you.

you nod in parting before picking up your pace once more, gripping the tray harder as you practically jog around your condo - determined to serve everybody.

when luke had mentioned jack offered to host the annual new jersey devils halloween party, he told you that him and his brother were worried about the limited space in their apartment and were unsure of how they were going to make it work. seeing your best friend in a predicament had you immediately offering your place to throw it.

not only was your space bigger, but your only neighbour was a wealthy businessman who was never home, so there would be no noise complaints and no issues with fitting the devils roster in for a halloween themed party. obviously your offer had nothing to do with being totally into your best friend and going to any extreme to see him happy - obviously.

there was a few more people attending than you were initially expecting to show up - which mostly consist of the wives and girlfriends of the team, but still, you hadn't factored that in. the added people had your hosting skills dialled up to an 11, and you can't remember the last time you had sat down or properly mingled with anybody - too busy making sure everything was stocked.

you squeeze through a group of laughing girls you don't recognize, and you whisper your apologies as you move through them. "jell-o shot?" you question, approaching dougie, dawson and john near the fireplace.

"oh hey," john greets you, dressed like a minion. "you look like you're having a great time." john laughs and they all reach out to take a halloween coloured shot cup off your tray.

"I am if you are," you smile politely, his teasing remark flying over your head - you're too tired and stressed to digest his words properly.

you're definitely not having a great time. your hand is cramping around the orange and purple striped serving tray, your fake eyelashes are stabbing you, your legs are killing you, and don't even start on how your faux fur coat has you sweating profusely.

"cruella, right?" dawson is the one to question you, gesturing to your halloween costume - a simple black dress paired with a spotted coat, red gloves, pearls and the wig of course.

you nod, "in the flesh."

"y/n!" you hear jack call your name loudly from the opposite end of your condo, his hands clasped around his mouth as he shouts for you. "we need more punch."

you sigh gently, throwing your hand in the air blindly to give the middle hughes a thumbs up - a conformation that you heard him and you'd make another bowl.

"sorry, would you guys excuse me - duty calls." you manage to give a laugh towards the three devil players, all dressed in contradicting costumes, spinning on your heels and speed walking away.

you push through the swinging door that leads to your kitchen, half empty tray of jell-o shots and the glass punch bowl you grabbed on the way balanced in your hands. thankfully nobody was in your kitchen, and the sight of emptiness has you breathing in relief.

you loved having everyone at your place and you especially loved how everyone felt comfortable in dressing up and allowing you, jack and luke to host - but you couldn't wait for the night to be over. you always underestimated the hassle of hosting, and this night is proving that.

you fan your warm face with a gloved hand, trying to cool yourself off. your free hand is pouring some koolaid mix into the empty punch bowl, the powered crystals becoming liquid as they touch the orange juice and sprite concoction.

the door creaks, alerting you as somebody enters your once quiet kitchen. your shoulders deflate naturally, and your already preparing for another task or hosting duty that you'd have to attend to.

you look over your shoulder and are met with the comforting gaze of your best friend. luke smiles softly at you, which makes him look extra cute in his dalmatian outfit. "hey," luke starts, making his way over you, "I haven't seen you all night. you okay?"

the relief floods through your body, but a different wave of emotion quickly replaces any prior ones. you feel yourself wanting to cry, because no, you're not doing okay. "i'm stressed, lukey, i'm sorry. I love hosting but my costume is so hot that i feel permanently wet from how much i've been sweating. my body hurts and i'm tired and I feel like the list of things I need to do is endless and-" you exhale, dropping the wooden mixing spoon to the counter. "respectfully I can't wait for it to end."

luke frowns, reaching you in two long strides. "don't apologize for feeling overwhelmed." he shrugs, glancing over his shoulder quickly, "it's definitely more people than I expected."

you sniffle, laughing gently as you nod in agreement. "definitely."

he smiles softly, and like he's done a million times before, luke gently reaches out, his thumb swiping under your eye to brush any fallen tears. "let's head up to the roof for a bit," he hums, a slight frown tugging his lips, "get some air."

you exhale shakily. "jack needs the punch though."

"fuck him and fuck the punch," luke tells you sternly, "they can survive without it for a little bit, okay?"

"okay," you whisper in agreement.

you live on the top floor of your condo, so the journey to the buildings rooftop wasn't long. luke leads you up the small flight of stairs and out onto the decorated deck like he's done many times, guiding you over to your and his claimed spot.

immediately, you fall back dramatically into the lounger, eyes meeting the starry night sky above. you can feel like you can breath properly, and the only noise you can hear is the city below.

luke smiles at your now closed eyes and starfish pose, making his way over to his favourite green lounger beside you, mimicking your laying down position. he tucks his arm behind his head, using his own forearm as a pillow as he looks at the stars.

a beat passes.

"i'm sorry you're stressed." luke tells you quietly.

you open your eyes, turning your head towards him. luke is already watching you, eyes guilty and frown present.

you shake your head at him, dismissing his apology. after all, he didn't do anything wrong. "it's fine, luke, really."

"I just don't like seeing you struggling," he admits.

"if anything," you start sincerely, "you've made my night 100 times better in like the 5 minutes i've spent with you - which by the way, is crazy, how is this the first time since you got here that we've hung out."

"I know," luke smiles, "i've missed you."

you eye him teasingly, a pout forming on your face. "did my little dalmatian miss his master?" you question in an animated baby voice, one of your hands reaching out to poke his ribs.

luke jolts away from your jab, pulling a disgusted face in favour of your baby voice. regardless of his expression, he was laughing at your question. "you're a weirdo."

"yeah but i'm your favourite weirdo," you say matter of factly, turning your entire body towards him on top of your blue coloured lounger.

luke smirks, "you're definitely top 10."

"top 10?" you screech with a laugh, "not even top 5....I really gotta up my game. who's my competition?"

luke kisses his teeth, in a deep faux thought as he hums. "well, obviously borat is up there."

"obviously," you repeat.

"and my friend y/n is up there too - she's the weirdest one of all." luke sends you another teasing glance, "instead of being normal and saying 'butterflies in my stomach', she calls them ladybirds like a grandma and she eats ranch with almost everything."

you smile, "she sounds hot."

luke tongues his cheek, eyes finding the stars again. another beat passes, the two of you enjoying each others company in silence of city nightlife.

the crinkling of a bag has your brows furrowing, glancing back at luke just as he pulls out a half empty bag of cheeto's. "hungry?" he asks you, holding out the open bag in your direction.

you grab a handful of cheesy sticks, "I didn't even know your onesie had pockets." you tell him with a snicker, plopping two cheetos into your mouth.

"this dalmatian is full of surprises," luke says between chews of the monster handful of chips he'd previously shoved in his mouth.

you snort, grabbing another handful. "of course he is." you're thankful that luke had miraculously snuck cheetos from the party out to the roof, because you think the last time you ate was breakfast. your stomach rumbles at the thought. you swear, your best friend knows you better than you know yourself. "I should've known you'd bring snacks."

luke eyes you with faux suspicion, sucking his thumb clean of cheese dust. "are you calling me fat?"

"luke," you laugh, head lolling away from him and his teasing comments. "you're insufferable."

a heavy drop of water hits your face, starling you. another one follows quickly after, hitting the round of your cheek before sliding down to your ear.

"what the hell," luke mumbles. you eye him quickly, watching as he wipes the few drops of rain off his face. "is that rain?"

you roll your eyes gently, "yes, luke, it's rain."

at your words, the water seems to unleash from the gray night clouds, a thick downfall of rain pouring over you and luke. you sit up quickly, squinting towards the sky. your faux fur coat is quickly becoming drenched, sticking to your skin uncomfortably. "let's go before my lashes fall off." you sigh gently - the thought of heading back into the hectic environment of your condo sounded anything but desirable.

as if luke can sense your hesitation, he gets to his feet quickly, stepping into your line of sight. the dog ears on his onesie are dripping with water, flopping pathetically as he looks at you. he wipes his face of rain, "not yet - let's just stay."

you sigh his name, "it's raining."

"so?" he shrugs, costume sagging down his body, heavy with rain.

"so," you breathe an amused laugh, "we will get wet."

"nothing wrong with a little bit of water," you can see luke smirk through the heavy rain, and you can't help your own lips from tugging upwards at the sight.

you exhale gently, "I don't know."

luke dismisses your hesitation, grabbing a hold of your soaked gloved hands and pulling you towards him, bringing you both farther out the roof deck. "just one dance before we go back to the party - I haven't gotten to dance with you allllll night."

you let him drag you wordlessly, giving him a deadpanned looked.

"plus you deserve a dance - my hard working host." luke adds cheekily. his one hand slides around your waist, pulling you against his front - swaying you to imaginary music gently.

"kiss ass," you mumble, voice just notable over the sound of rain pelting the concrete rooftop. you can feel luke's chest rumble with laughter, his fingers flexing around your hand. "you always dance without music hughes?"

he licks his teeth, looking down at you. your skin looks so soft and dewy from the rain, your eyes dilated from the dark atmosphere. you are blinking up at him gently, your eyelashes wet in a way that makes you look even more beautiful. luke clears his throat, spinning you around dramatically - just barley stopping himself from slipping on the slick ground in the process. "only with you."

luke pulls away from you quickly, but you don't have time to question him before his grip on your hand tightens and he's twirling you back into him. you screech gently, the movement taking you by surprise.

"so you only dance with me or you dance with others but they get the privilege of dancing with music?" you ask him teasingly - this time it's you who is twirling luke around, and the sight of your 6ft2 best friend spinning in a soaked dalmatian onesie was unbeatable.

luke comes back towards you, taking his original position with his strong forearm around your torso, interlocking your fingers together in a waltz like stance. "I only dance with you," he whispers through the rain, "and you're the only one i'll ever dance with - especially in the cold rain without music." he tries to tease you, but his words fall on deaf ears.

you're looking at him with a swirl of emotion in your eyes and your heart beating heavily against your rib cage.

luke seems to stop as well, looking down at you with just as much admiration and tenderness that you're surely showing him. he visibly swallows, his adam's apple bobbing against his throat.

you watch luke's eyes fall to your lips, swiping over them before finding your eyes once again. at first you think you imagine it, but then quickly his eyes dart back to your red lips and the ladybirds start going frantic in your stomach.

was luke about to kiss you?

your blinks start to slow naturally, preparing to shut fully as luke begins to inch in closer to your face, leaning over you in a way that most definitely was uncomfortably straining the muscles in his back.

the door to the rooftop swings open with a squeak before bagging against the wall loudly - echoing all around. startled, you and luke jump away from one another, breathing heavily as your adrenaline comes to a spike.

your body feels freezing without luke's pressed against it, and you shiver uncomfortably, wrapping your soaked fur coat around yourself further.

jack is eyeing you both through the october rain, "hey," he starts, adjusting the plastic firefighter helmet onto his outgrown head of hair. "i've been looking for you guys! y/n we're out of chip dip."

you start walking towards the middle hughes sibling. "sorry, i'll get the other one out the fridge." you sigh, brushing past him and back into the dry hallway of your building.

luke closes his eyes, exhaling loudly.

"you good?" jack asks once luke makes his way over, eyeing his brother suspiciously. "what where you two even doing out here - it's raining."

luke sends his brother a glare, "I know that," he walks back into the building,wiping his face clean of all lingering rain water. "you're so annoying." he quickly walks away from his older brother, leaving him by the door.

jack throws his hands up, "what did I do?"

+ one: christmas

sabrina carpenter's heavenly voice slinks through the warm home, nestling in your ears comfortably. just over the music, you hear ellen hughes laugh happily at something your mom says - both of them in the kitchen, chatting and finishing off a bottle of wine while they clean up the dinner dishes.

jim and your father have been watching hockey tapes in the den, both quiet and content by themselves - them too indulging in a festive spiced wine.

it was christmas eve, after all.

you laugh warmly as quinn dips you low to the ground before pulling you back upwards quickly, sending a quick dizzy wave over you - which is probably the alcohols fault, not quinn's.

jack applauds quinn's elaborate dance moves, smiling with flushed cheeks as he watches you both from his spot sprawled on the worn brown love seat. "where'd you learn to dance like that huggy?" the middle hughes brother questions after a sip of beer, brows raised inquisitively.

quinn doesn't answer and he only spins you on the spot. you hum, "you jealous jack?" your body faces quinn once more, and your momentum has you stumbling slightly, tripping over your own feet and bumping into your dance partner.

"i'm not jealous of anything," jack snickers to himself like he's in on some crazy secret you aren't aware of - but you don't have the mental capacity to unfold that, still laughing and dancing on your family homes shaggy rug.

"yeah yeah whatever," quinn dismisses his brother teasing, rolling his eyes so only you catch it. you giggle at the sight, head falling onto his shoulder as you do.

the stairs creek under somebodies weight, and a moment later luke walks back into the family room empty handed, meeting your eyes. "I can't find it." he tells you.

you leave quinn, which was expected, turning your body and attention towards the youngest brother. "well where did you look?"

after your christmas dinner, ellen and your mom had started going on about childhood memories in their typical sappy mom fashion - laughing and crying while you and the boys eyed them with amusement. your mom was the one who brought up the scrapbook you and luke made together after your shared trip to the zoo on your 11th birthday, which was something even you had forgotten about.

jack had immediately starting pestering and teasing the two of you for being quote on quote cheesy (even though you were kids so obviously you were cheesy - but you digress.) jack begged for you to get the scrapbook so he could see it, and then once he started, quinn claimed he had never seen it and also wanted to look.

"i mean," you had started gently, eyeing luke with a hesitant smile, "it would be nice for us all to look at."

one look at your flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes, luke was sighing, pushing off the couch. "where is it?"

luke thumbs over his shoulder, "the hallway closet."

"really?" you hum, deep in thought as you think about where else your beloved shared scrapbook could possibly be hiding. "I mean, we could check my old bedroom closet? sometimes mom keeps stuff in there."

jack groans dramatically from the couch, head lulling back. "hurry up and go find it! I need to see that picture of the giraffe licking y/n's face."

quinn and jack crack up just at the thought of the picture you'd told them about - the image captured you shrieking as the giraffes purple tongue slides up your cheek.

"you whiny baby - we're going!" you huff, walking towards the stairs with luke in tow, both of you making the journey up the creaky staircase.

your room is located at the end of the hall, still painted the sage green you had chosen when you and your family first moved in. you dodge your suitcase that you left in the middle of the room, all of your clothes sprawled across the cream carpet from when you were frantically searching for your christmas sweater this morning.

"holy shit," luke says from behind you, eyes wide as he looks around your childhood room, "I haven't been in this room since like....highschool."

you open your closet doors with a small laugh, amused at your best friends amusement. you start rifling through the millions of photo albums and frames that your mom did fill your closet with - like you expected.

"oh my god, we were so little." luke smiles, picking up your lady bug decorated picture frame that was sitting on your tall dresser - right beside you original speak now CD and jewelry box. you turn to glance at him over your shoulder, smiling automatically at the sight of him looking at the picture. "god where are my front teeth?" he laughs, placing the frame back down.

it's a picture of you and luke when you were both 10, smiling happily poolside in your bathing suits - luke's akward grin made perfect by his lack of front teeth. you giggle with him, the memory of that picture just as fresh now as the day it was taken.

you rifled through a few more old photo albums until your fingers land on the tiger striped spine of your and luke's scrapbook. you gasp, "I found it!" you pull it out of the closet quickly, standing from your previously crouched position to once again face luke. you start flipping through the pages, giggling at the pictures as you do so. "this is amazing."

"dear diary," luke says with a laugh. you look up inquisitively, a quirk to your brow. he's got your fuzzy purple notebook clutched in his hand, flipped open to a random page. "it's y/n again and today i'm feeling a bit...funny." he reads your entry out loud, an amused smile on his face.

"oh god," you laugh, a hand covering your face in embarrassment- already cringing at your younger self.

luke's eyes light up as he reads the next line, laughing as he does so. "the day started absolutely amazing! it was my best friend luke's 11th birthday party! I can't believe he's 11 and in two more months i'll also be 11." he quotes you, "you were such an optimistic happy kid." he laughs.

your heart stops and you can feel your face fall. memories of the day you had wrote that specific diary entry come flooding back to you. you pale and your stomach plummets unpleasantly - you half a bottle of wine taunting you. "luke - give me the diary."

he's still laughing to himself, book propped open with a thumb and middle finger. he continues reading, "we all went to the arcade that luke and I have always wanted to go to together." he quotes you. he pauses, thinking back to that huge indoor party, "it was a sick arcade." luke hums.

you step towards him, "luke seriously lets go...jack and quinn are waiting." you're suprised at how fast your brain came up with an excuse to leave your room and the diary behind - your anxiety through the roof.

he couldn't fishing reading it.

he skims farther down the page, laughing loudly, quoting your writing more. "she was always around like an annoying little fly. lacey kept taking all of luke's attention away from me - you still sound like this by the way."

you try and lunge towards him and grab the diary, but luke is quicker than you (he always has been) and pulls the book farther out of reach. "i'm feeling jealous, diary. because luke is....special - you're too kind to me," he teases you.

"luke," you huff, hands trying to reach around him to grab the book once again, but he spins away, affectively dodging you once more. "please put that away"

luke continues to read the diary entry, your stomach plummeting deeper. "his soft curly hair and his bright eyes-"

"give that to me now." you panic, voice shaky as you beg. you make another attempt at getting your diary out of luke's hands, but he rushes towards the other side of the room, giggling at the writing of child you complimenting him.

luke starts again, "and when he smiles I get ladybugs in my stomach. I love -" he stops reading, face falling. you watch intently as luke's eyes dance over the rest of the lines on the page, reading your 11 year old self's love confession.

you're already thinking of excuses for the entry - you were just a kid and didn't know what love meant or what marriage meant. but you weren't 5 when you wrote it, you were almost a pre-teen who definitely knew what marriage was. that won't work.

you'd could say that lacey was just having you feeling weird and angry - like she always has, but that excuse doesn't seem plausible.

you watch luke anxiously and silently, knawing on your lip as a way to channel your nerves. you were already preparing for your friendship to plummet. now that luke has read your deepest darkest secret - the life long crush you've had on him - you were ready for him to not want to be your friend anymore.

logically, you know you should say something and at least try and convince him that it was nothing - after all it was almost a decade ago and you could play it off as a joke. but words don't come out, and you're stuck in a plummeting hole.

"wow," luke eventually mutters, closing your diary gently.

"luke," you whisper waterly, eyes following him as he walks your diary back over to your dresser, tucking it between taylor swift and framed pictures. you think you might start praying, desperate for luke to want to stay your friend or at least stay in your life - you can't imagine living without him.

"be honest with me," luke starts, "was this just a silly little crush or do you still...love me?"

you mumble his name again, eyes watering with a million emotions that you definitely weren't expecting to experience on christmas eve.

"y/n....tell me."

you meet his eyes, and all you can mutter is a quiet 'I still do', a tear falling down your face and dipping towards your collarbone.

a beat passes.

"well this is pretty embarrassing, right?" he says with a gentle laugh, running a hand over his head of curls in disbelief.

"what?" you mumble.

"I mean over a decade of loving each other in secret, neither of us ballsy enough to say anything- I wonder how many people knew." he laughs to himself, visibly thinking.

you shake your head, "wait what?"

luke steps towards you, closing the space between your bodies in favour of holding the side of your face, his thumb wiping away the trail of water from your tear, resting against your cheekbone affectionately. "I love you."

"you do?"

he nods, "of course I do, wanna read my endless texts from quinn and jack telling me to man up and confess my lifelong crush on you to prove it?" he challenges you teasingly, a playful tone accompanied by a tinge of nerves.

finally, you smile, lips tugging upwards as you reach out for him, your small hand gripping his wrist to keep him close to you. you shake your head, "no, I believe you."

luke laughs breathily, forehead touching yours as he brings your faces closer together. "thank god because those texts are embarrassing." his words are like a million tiny kisses, tickling your face in a way that has your nose scrunching.

"and you reading my diary wasn't?" you question with laughter.

"god no," luke dismisses, "it was cute."

"kiss ass," you smile, running the tip of your nose down the bridge of luke's, nudging your faces closer together. your other hand reaches for his waist, keeping him close.

"yeah." he agrees, free hand moving up to hold the other side of your face. luke smirks one more time before leaning in, finally kissing you.

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

[our-happygirl500-fan]

Something that I have kind of noticed is that Leo often sometimes seems to be the one trying to keep his family on track with whatever task they are trying to accomplish.

Leo: So where’s the dog thingy?

Something that I kind of noticed was that as early as the first episode of Rise 'Mystic Mayhem', Leo has sort of been the one that seems to try to keep his family on task, with Leo asking about Mayhem when April & the Turtles first discovered the Hidden City as helping Mayhem was one of the reasons for the Hamato Clan's first adventure in Rise.

Leo: Yeah, yeah. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. We got a video game to play. So vamos hermanos.

It also kind of seems that Leo seems to try to keep his family on track even in the Turtles more 'day to day' adventures as during the episode 'Hot Soup: The Game', when Mikey & Raph are clashing over Raph's over protective nature & Mikey's need for independence, Leo interrupts their argument by pointing out that they originally all just wanted to play a video game in the first place.

Leo: Hey, so Gram Gram, it is Gram gram right? We thought we were getting a weapon from the Twilight realm and not a... you?

Something that I kind of wonder about is if Leo's tendency to try & keep his family on track might possibly be a kind of form of compartmentalisation as during the episode 'Shreddy or Not' even when Leo is reacting to Karai's sudden appearance in the lair with the rest of the Hamato Clan & asking if Karai being their ancestor makes Karai their 'Gram Gram', Leo also seems to be the one to remind the family that they had originally been trying to find a way to defeat the Shredder before Karai appeared.

Leo: Hey April, cool if you don't, but do you still have that orb with all the people of New York in it?

Something that I have also kind of been wondering about is that Leo sometimes being the one that seems to keep his family on track of whatever task they are trying to accomplish might possibly have something to do with Leo's ability to keep track of multiple different things happening around him at once, that we usually see when Leo uses his portals in battle, as during the episode 'Anatawa Hitorijanai' even though the Hamato Clan had to deal with the fact that both Draxum & Splinter had been captured & also had to deal with trying to figure out how to defeat the Shredder, Leo also took the time to ask if the people of New York were still okay as well.

[l0sercat]

I HEARD YOUR CALL 2012 shreddy X JESTER (clown mutant maybe) READER (maybe gender neutral)

ALSO YES I AM OBSESSED WITH 2012 SHREDDER

TYYYY and Bro literally same, I'm about to make a cardboard cutout of him. Cause I'm literally obsessed and have been <3 Also need whoever makes gifs to make more gifs of Shredder lol there is not that many 😭🙏🏻 I hope I did this ask justice 😞

Shredder x Reader

You were minding your business, walking down the streets of New York, you were trying to get home after a long hard day of work

When suddenly you were pulled into the alleyway and while you struggled you were eventually knocked out, the next thing you knew you woke back up in the same alley

Although now the sun is beginning to rise, your head is fuzzy and vision is blurry but soon clears

You got up making sure to check to see if you still had your belongings, you did and you checked your body, no signs of any assault so what the fuck happened

You heard a sound of jingles that tiny bells would create, you were confused and didn't know what was creating that sound

You did take notice that your clothes were now different, they were similar to that of a jesters, bells adorned on the cuffs that were shackled on your wrists

You brought your hand to your head and felt a hat with tiny bells, you got up slowly and made your way to your apartment, when you got inside you immediately made your way to the bathroom

You let out a terrified scream, now you know why people looked at you weird while walking down the street, you thought they were just being judgemental fuckers

But now you now see what they were staring at, tears pricked the corners of your eyes, your eyes were now a unnatural color and your skin was now pure white

Your Ears were unnaturally long and pointy and your fingernails were sharp, long, and painted

Your face was painted like you were some kind of clown or jester, you grab a towel and tried to wipe it off, but nothing it was like it was permanent

Tears now flowed freely from your ears and you gripped the counter. What was going on?! Your outfit's bells jingled with every move you made, you gritted your teeth

You didn't know what to do so you packed your bags and ran, leading you to fall into the Shredders hands, it was a coincidence honestly

You sprinted down the alleys mind a mess and emotions running wild, when you ran into him, you don't know what he was doing there

He turned to face you, he looked you up and down and then made his way over to you

He interrogated you and it seemed like luck was on your side for once because he didn't decide to kill you, no once he learned you were mutated he decided to make you join his side

And you figured why not, where else did you have to go? (Shredder is really trying to collect mutants like pokemon lol)

So now you were in training to be one of his foot soldiers. You were also there to be personal entertainment, when you were mutated you also seemed to have jester like behavior

You always had a bounce to your step and always told jokes, your flexibility also improved making you able to do a lot of tricks

He always kept you by his side in his throne room, when Xever was first mutated you would stand by the glass and tell him jokes, Xever seemed to enjoy the friendly company

Shredder didn't mind, but after a while the jokes irritated him, he wanted silence so he would just raise his hand making you quiet down

You would then bounce and cartwheel around the room, your bells jingling and echoing in the room, that also gets old quick with shredder so he then forces you to kneel by his side and to stay like that

Now whe he sends you out he will only send you on missions that stealth isn't needed because your bells are loud, so most of the time your a decoy, bring the enemies to you so that way, when they draw near the others waiting in the shadows will get the jump on them

He will send you to steal stuff for him, that is your specialty and he loves you for it, you always steal anything he wants and you never fail, your flexibility comes in handy so many times

Over time he developed a sense of fondness for you, he could feel his cold heart start to warm when he was with you

Honestly his feelings didn't go unnoticed, it was a little obvious when you were requested to go on almost every mission with him, Karai was happy her father finally found someone, maybe you could keep him happy and maybe he won't be so obsessed about those damn turtles

When Xever and Chris caught on they would tease you until you were flustered, you knew by now that Shredder had to feel something for you

When he eventually asked you out on a date, it was very cute and romantic setup, he asked you to be his partner and he was low-key a little nervous you would say no

But was absolutely over the moon(although you can't tell) he smiled softly and he would hold your hand in his the rest of the night

You guys are like the golden retriever partner and the black cat boyfriend duo, you are always happy to see him and are all to bring a smile to his, while he is more quiet and just rather enjoy your company and let you ramble while he listens

Bro is so exhausted all the time that at night when your rambling and telling jokes, he just falls asleep with his head in your lap and his arms clinging onto you

[clubdionysus]

[BAD DECISION #33] Boundaries (Or Lack Thereof)

warnings: miscommunication, kim seokjin!!!!, things are getting messy for our starluvrs, kissing, half a handjob, chess, even more miscommunication!!, fingering, titty sucking, star talk, 69, oral (m&f), ass eating (f), squirting, slight overstimulation, unprotected sex, creampie

wc: 12k

bd total wc: 540k (ongoing)

AO3 | MASTERLIST | MINORS DNI

"Wait, wait, wait. Slow down," Hoseok mumbles through a mouthful of shreddies, the hand that isn't holding his cereal bowl waving around in the air. He swallows harshly, then clears his throat. Looks at you. Throws you an expression of disgust, almost as if you've just divulged your deepest darkest secret- although, in a way, you sort of have. "You went to a what with who ?!"

Rolling your eyes, you sink further into your state of despair, curled up in the confines of an armchair in the art cafe. Phone in your lap, you're ignoring the messages Seojoon sent through this morning to ask if you're free this week. Aren't sure you're in the right headspace to be dating.

On your break, today's shift is quiet. No one is in, and no one is booked in, either. It'll be quiet for the whole day. Just one of those rare occasions you cherish. Easy money.

That being said, Hoseok's insistence on being a nosey fucker is making it a hell of a lot more difficult.

It's not like you had planned on telling Hoseok about everything you'd done while away in Busan - but the photobooth pictures were still in your bag. You'd forgotten about them when you'd asked him to go and grab your charging cable for you. Had entirely slipped your mind that Jeongguk was kissing you like he was trying to win the MTV award for 'best kiss' in a fair few of them.

And you were also blissfully ignorant to the fact the branded love motel receipt was in your bag as well. Had just thrown that in there, too.

After all, it's your bag. You'd never intended on anyone seeing either of those. It's been a week since you returned home. Have barely thought about the contents of your bag since.

But as soon as Hoseok had shrieked, you knew his eyes had been violated - and your right to privacy had well and truly been ruptured.

"Since when have you two-"

"Please don't."

"- been fucking ?"

"Oh, god," you groan again, hand covering your eyes. Pulling the pillow out from behind your back, you press your face into it. Scream. Thankfully, it's muffled. Hoseok doesn't quite understand the pandemonium.

"Why are you so dramatic," he laughs, tugging on the corner of the pillow to steal it from you - but your grip is firm. You need the pillow, because you need somewhere to bury shame.

It's an odd thing, sex. It's the most human thing we can do. So natural and yet so weighted. It should be casual. It should be without consequence. It's human nature, after all. What we're 'supposed' to do.

And yet, you know the consequence of sex is huge . You know that sex isn't just about pleasure. You know there is more to it. Know that it's all primal, and that it goes back to being cavemen, or whatever, and building networks for survival - but you're pretty sure they fucked around without consequence, too. There are, like, nearly eight billion people to prove that assumption correct.

Okay, so maybe their offspring was the consequence of the inconsequential lays, but, like, you're on birth control. Should you have let him finish inside you? No, probably not. Is it the worst thing that could have happened? No, definitely not. Has it made you suddenly overly aware of exactly what you've been doing with Jeongguk for god-knows how long? Yeah. Just a little bit.

It's all you can think about.

Wake up; think about the weight of his body on top of yours.

Brush your teeth; think about him behind you in the bathroom mirror.

Go to work; think about that stupid canvas up in his living room.

Go home; think about what it'd be like if he showed up out of the blue with an incessant need to fuck you.

Shower; think about, well... showers. Just ones with him instead.

Go to bed; think about him, and his hair, and that stupid lip ring, and the way he giggles, and the way he gets all moany and - fuck .

You are corrupted . Like a computer malfunctioning, Jeongguk has ravaged your servers. You'd let him do it again, though. Without question.

And now you're thinking about it again. Squeeze your thighs together, 'cause you're remembering the way he kissed you in the elevator. Lips soft, tongue gentle. Oh God . He's your friend . Pull yourself together!

"It's not a big deal-"

"Remember that one time he lied to you?" Hoseok interrupts, perching his ass on one of the cafe tables just across from you, crossing his arms. You raise your head. Glare a little. He's dressed in white cargo pants and some obscure indie brand t-shirt, so perfectly him, but so awful for a job involving paint. You're in all black. Of course you are. "Remember how mad you were? Swear there was steam coming from your nose."

You're not sure where he's going with this, so you narrow your eyes. "No there wasn't. But what of it?"

Hoseok shrugs. Doesn't laugh, but he is smiling like an absolute fool. "I'll get moody with you, if you don't stop lying."

Your jaw drops. Voice rises in pitch. "I'm not lying!"

"Bullshit."

"Honest-"

"You wouldn't be reacting like this if it was no big deal!"

With a purse of your lips, you pause. Consider that maybe he has a point - but it doesn't matter. You don't want it to be a big deal.

So you'll fake it till you make it.

"Look, I'm just processing things! Like, okay, yeah we did fuck." Oh, what a glorious thing to admit. You fucked Jeon Jeongguk. He fucked you . Oh, what a mess. "But we're both very much in agreement that our friendship is too good to lose-"

"You don't fuck your friends," Hoseok interrupts, all very stoically. "At least, you've never fucked me, and no offence, but the idea of it makes my skin crawl."

"Yeah, but you're like my brother," you reply, not offended in the slightest. Would rather set yourself on fire than shag Hoseok. It's not that he's not attractive - he's got a smile that could end wars and a personality that you'd happily grow old with. You're just not attracted to one another like that. Simple as that.

Jeongguk... yeah. Something about him just really gets you going. Always has done. That first night is a little sketchy - but you never forgot the barman with the smile and little shots of purple magic. As handsome as he is kind, you sort of think every human attracted to men would feel this sort of way about Jeongguk.

"Well, what do you think?" You ask Hoseok. "About Jeongguk?"

"What about him?" Hoseok asks right back.

You adjust in your chair. Focus your attention fully on him. Your friendship flourished with discussions of your relationship issues, and his dating history isn't too dissimilar from yours. He doesn't label himself when it comes to his preferences. Just says he goes for 'vibes.' Shame, really, that the 'vibe' he goes tends to be that of 'toxic prick'.

"Well... I -" you struggle to form a coherent sentence. Pause. Think. Rephrase. "He's hot, right? Like, the kinda guy you'd expect to see on a billboard? Right, Hobes? He is hot?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Hoseok laughs, catching the pillow with ease as you toss it at him. "Yeah, he's hot. Probably in your top three lays."

You groan. Didn't need to be reminded. Also know that he thinks Seokjin is, like, the walking dictionary definition of 'gorgeous'. You wonder who he prefers, when it comes to looks. Decide that you're better off not knowing.

Even if Hoseok does think Seokjin is in that top three, he also knows how horribly he treated you and would never actually think nicely of him.

"Look," he sighs. "Jeongguk's a nice guy. I remember how things were this time last year. You and me... shit. We were both going through it. It was a really fuckin' sucky time."

You nod. Are thankful you had Hoseok while you were dealing with the demise of your relationship with Seokjin. He's just as thankful for you, in regard to his.

"Thing is, I don't know about you, but I can pinpoint the day it felt like we finally had you back. Took fuckin' ages. Was really hard to see you go through all that," he admits. There's a weight in your heart. Your era of self-destruction had been yours and yours alone. Not once did you consider that maybe it would be a heavy burden for those who loved you, too.

It was never a burden. Not in Hoseok's eyes, nor Danbi's. Just a cycle of life we all go through.

"I'm sorry," you say quietly, a little ashamed, aware of how many nights were wasted crying over a man who simply wasn't willing or able to love you. Not like he said he did.

Hoseok shakes his head. "Don't apologise. It was both of us. I know I wasn't easy, either."

"You were fine," you reassure him. "Totally fine. Honestly."

He rolls his eyes. Knows that he was partying way too hard.

"It doesn't matter. What I'm saying is that there was you before Jeongguk, and you after Jeongguk," he says kindly. Smiles; lips pursed together, eyes soft. "You after Jeongguk? Yeah. Feels like you before Seokjin."

With Hoseok's words comes a sucker punch; a blow to your heart that makes it feel like your stomach has been stolen. You've known for a while that progress has been made. Are fully aware of Jeongguk's impact on that - but thought it was a little secret just for you. Like a safety pin in an ill-fitting dress, or glitter sprinkled into your moisturiser. Thought that nobody could see just how important he was for your progress.

But Hoseok's known for a while now. Has known far longer than even he realises. Just started equating your happiness to Jeongguk. The shifts you worked following time spent with him were always full of far more laughter. The shifts you worked knowing you'd see him afterwards were always a lot more optimistic. When he actually thinks about it, there are few times you've been genuinely miserable at work in the last few months, and those occasions nearly always align with Jeongguk and a little girl drama that you moan to Hoseok about.

"Do I think Jeongguk is entirely responsible for that?" Hoseok continues when you go quiet. "No. You're the one who's done the hard work - and trust me. I know it's hard. I had sleepovers with the she-devil -" You laugh quietly at the newly coined nickname for his ex. "- way more times than I admitted to you and Danbi after the breakup. But Jeongguk... Yeah. I'm not sure if it's correlation or causation. I just know it's not a coincidence."

You shrug your shoulders a little. Aren't really sure if he's right or not. Just know that there's no denying Jeongguk played a vital role in dragging you out of your Seokjin-shaped pit of despair.

"I asked him," you begin quietly. It's a little embarrassing. You've not even told Danbi, yet. You know she'll go to bat for you whatever the weather, and worry about souring their friendship. But you need to tell someone . Someone needs to know you tried . "I asked him what was going on between us... and he made it pretty clear he views me as a friend. So, like, it doesn't really matter."

Friends, he had said, but then he kissed you like he meant it.

Fucked you a third time. Lazily. Slowly. Languidly. Confusingly. Intimately. Had laughed with you after your incredibly early climax, pressing a kiss to your cheek, his beating heart thumping against your chest.

Had looked down at you while you were lying between his legs, tongue trailing up his cock, pretty smile on his lips and reached for your hand. Held it. Whispered some bullshit about how lucky he is. Finished in your mouth, then kissed you afterwards to say thank you.

But when the caricature lady down on the boardwalk had asked if you were a couple later that evening, Jeongguk had quickly corrected her. " Friends ." The hearts that would have been drawn between you were instead replaced with stars. It was fitting. As it should be.

Stars, not hearts.

Friends, not lovers.

"I'm not really sure fucking in a motel is a friendly thing to do," Hoseok simply states - but is cut off by the ding of the art cafe door swinging open. It's a couple not much younger than yourself. Uni students, you imagine. Matching branded shirts and dark slacks.

Hoseok walks over to greet and set them up for their session. It's two girls, and the taller of the pair watches her partner with absolute fondness as she organises the canvas sizes they want, and the drinks they'll order. Her eyes shine like the reflection of the moon in Gwangalli harbour, and it makes your heart hurt a little.

It's been so long since you felt someone look at you like that. Nearly a year on since your last relationship ended, the prospect of falling in love isn't as scary as it once was. Not really.

A smile tickles at your lips. Isn't as scary as it once was. Your fingers toy with the dainty bird on the chain around your neck. Its purpose, it would appear, has been served.

And perhaps that's it; perhaps you're just ready, now.

If you are, then of course, it would be natural for you to confuse your feelings for Jeongguk. It had always been a non-option before. A 'what the fuck' not a 'what if'. Yet your heart is quietly calm when you think about what it could be like to pursue someone romantically. It thump, thump, thumps; adrenaline in your chest. Maybe you can do this.

This is what you've been working for. This is it.

Oh the realisation is freeing. Welcome. Wondrous.

And so as Hoseok rings up the bill for the girls by the counter before they start their date, you slip into the staff room. Take your phone off charge, and call through to the only person you ever ring these days.

It takes a few dial tones, but he picks up.

He always does.

"Hey," Jeongguk says through the phone, a little breathless. "Sorry, just with Joon. Playing tennis. You good, Byeol?"

"Yeah," you say quickly, with a sense of urgency in your tone. "Sorry, is now a bad ti-"

"No," he interrupts, as if he hasn't just got a bollocking from Namjoon for dipping mid-rally to take your call. "Not at all. What's up?"

"I won't keep you," you hurriedly reply. Really, you don't want to take up any more of his time - it's just that you want to be sure. Want confirmation that you're doing the right thing. "I've been asked on a date. Seojoon, again. What do you think?"

There's a second of silence. A skipped heartbeat. A missed signal.

"Uh, yeah? Sure? I mean, sounds great." There's uncertainty in his voice, but he masks it well. "That's what you want, right?"

"I don't know," you admit, as you lean against the wall, a little defeated. There's a vulnerability to your honesty. One that makes you nervous. Unsure of yourself. Start to ramble, because it's much easier than getting straight to the point. "It's just... you and me. We've done so much together recently, and like... it's always really nice. And fun. And like, I don't wanna ruin our friendship or anything like that. It's just things don't scare me in the same way they used to and I thought that maybe-"

"I gotta get back to the match, B," Jeongguk's voice crackles through the phone. Smiles, 'cause he thinks it will make him sound happy. It doesn't. "Joon's moaning. Sorry. Look, you do what you need to do. He seems nice. We'll talk later, alright?"

"But I-"

The line goes dead before you can express what you really want to get across. Your lips rest ajar; unspoken syllables fading into nothingness.

Jeongguk is gone, and with him goes any hope you had foolishly put into thinking maybe things could continue as they are.

But your agreement was contingent on your fears, not your hopes.

What a silly little fool you are.

And what a silly thing for Jeongguk to have done; phone in his hand, frown on his face.

Sitting on the rigid steel bench beside the court, Namjoon is nowhere to be seen. He's gone to the bathroom. Jeongguk never had to hang up.

He just didn't want to say things he couldn't take back. Didn't want to discourage you from doing the one thing that you've worked so fucking hard for: a normal relationship.

It's the least you deserve - and what kind of asshole would he be if he were to help you prepare for one only to sabotage you as soon as it seems as if one is on the horizon.

Running a hand through his hair, Jeongguk shakes it back down into position. The sun is glaring down despite the cold winds that whistle through the trees, and a little fleck of glitter catches in it. His skin is dappled in a dozen reminders of you, even if the hickies have faded, now.

In a park downtown, he's been with Namjoon all morning. Tennis isn't their sport of choice, usually, but it's with purpose.

"C'mon. One match," Namjoon had begged Jeongguk the night before. "I need to catch this guy outside of the office. Get him when his guard is down."

Working on a story about insider trading, Namjoon has been trying to talk with someone at one of the big firms up in the financial district. No one huge. Just a middleman. An investor. Sort of like the investment analyst he met at one of Taehyung's art shows. One of the ones that Seokjin had forwarded the invite along to.

The same one that Namjoon had schmoozed. The same one Namjoon had lied to, when he said 'oh, you play tennis? Whereabouts? I'm looking for a new club."

And so now Jeongguk is two matches in, regretting all of his life choices while Namjoon makes small talk with men wearing watches that cost more than Jeongguk's entire net worth.

So preoccupied with thoughts of you, teeth nibbling down on his bottom lip, Jeongguk almost doesn't realise Namjoon hurry back over to the court.

"Play it cool, play it cool," he whispers, his dark hair cropped short, white tennis polo pristine on his broad shoulders. He really does look the part. Jeongguk is a gym rat through and through, but he's tried today. Is in shorts. Isn't wearing a polo 'cause fuck that, but has coordinated a seamless all-Nike look. "The guy I'm after is here. He's booked in for the court beside us-"

"How do you-"

"The reservation system is easy as fuck to bypass, just needed a plugin," Namjoon dismisses Jeongguk's questioning, as if it's a totally normal thing to do. Perhaps in his field of work, Jeongguk considers, it is. "Anyway, not important. Park Sungkyu is his name. Analyst at Shilla Finances. Probably won't know shit, but will know people who do. I just need to touch base. Get connected."

Jeongguk rolls his eyes, but stands up nonetheless. Pats himself down, and tosses his phone back into his rucksack, which is slouched against the leg of the bench. "You owe me."

"I'll buy you all the meat you want," Namjoon grins, heading over to the other side of the net.

"We're going straight to a samgyeopsal place after this," Jeongguk assures him. Is almost positive his stomach rumbles as soon as he says it. "Fuckin' starving."

"You're always starving," Namjoon laughs - but he doesn't mind. They've already been at the club for far longer than anticipated. If anything, he feels a little bad. "Let's rally."

Bouncing a luminous yellow ball against the gritty surface, Namjoon gets a feel for the weight. Jeongguk leans forward a little, knees bent. Twists the racket he rented from the club shop between his palms. For someone who has no interest in the sport, he sure does look good playing it.

Both of them ignore the looming presence coming their way. Men. Two of them. Tall. Broad. Similar silhouettes, but entirely different auras. One is far more imposing. Makes Jeongguk wanna look in their direction - but he doesn't. Just focuses on Namjoon as he begins to swing through a smooth serve.

A little uncoordinated, what Namjoon may lack in grace, he makes up for in gritty determination. He's fun to play against, 'cause Jeongguk never knows what's coming next.

"Well, I never," a charming, brooding voice echoes from afar. "Kim Namjoon."

He concedes the point immediately. Lets the ball bounce off into the empty space behind him as he turns to face the approaching men.

"Park Sungkyu," Namjoon grins back, bowing ever so slightly to greet him. Jeongguk follows suit. "Fancy seeing you here."

Short sides, long top, Sungkyu's dark hair is held in place by a white sweatband. Like Namjoon, he's in crisp white tennis attire. Lips thin, nose a little crooked, Jeongguk wonders just how many rackets he's taken to the face. Definitely has the sleazy persona to warrant it.

Maybe Jeongguk's back is just up. Maybe he's just aware that Sungkyu is an acquaintance of your ex. A friend .

Any friend of your shithead ex is, as far as Jeongguk is concerned, also a shithead.

Which means the other guy most likely is, too.

He's tall. Rivals Namjoon. Shoulders broad, gaze icy, there's something about him that just irks Jeongguk. Perhaps it's the arrogant smirk, or perhaps it's the designer garments on his well-built frame. Perhaps it's jealousy - this guy looks like he's got his shit together, which is something Jeongguk could only dream of.

But he also seems older. It's unfair to compare.

Jeongguk might not care for the formalities, but he was raised well. Will greet his elders with respect.

After all, it's irrational for him to have such a bee in his bonnet.

Maybe it's you. Maybe he's just so frustrated with the situation at hand that he's letting it impact his other interactions - and so he shakes his head softly and realigns it with a warm smile. Will let the other men initiate a greeting.

Naturally, they do. It's the taller one. Holds out his hand for Jeongguk to shake.

Jeongguk follows suit. Nods politely. Thinks he might die, when the gentleman in front of him says, "Kim Seokjin. Nice to meet you. A friend of Namjoon's, I assume?"

Hand still in Seokjin's grasp, Jeongguk wants to strengthen it. Use it against him. Flip him onto his back and tackle him to the fucking ground. Wants to do shit that he knows would grant Seokjin a restraining order against him.

But instead, he smiles. "Correct. Jeon Jeongguk."

His name means fuck all to Seokjin. Sparks nothing inside of him.

But something that does catch his attention?

The glitter on Jeongguk's tattooed arm, glimmering in the low winter sun.

Seokjin smirks. Lips plump, jaw well-defined, Jeongguk understands why you didn't like kissing anyone after him. Fuck . How the fuck could he ever compete with lips like those?

"Assuming that's not yours?" he nods towards the pretty sparkles as he lets go of Jeongguk's hand.

Shaking his head, Jeongguk is coy. "Correct. Not mine."

Oh, but it is, babe.

"I feel for you," Seokjin laughs, entirely unaware of whom may have stained Jeongguk in the evidence of their affection. Seokjin's skin is pristine. Not a speck in sight. It comforts Jeongguk. "Really, I do. That shit's a bitch to get off, isn't it?"

"I used to date a guy," your voice had lingered. "And he was so cool, yanno? So smart, and mature, and he was just... you know people who have shit figured out? He's like that. He's older. Wiser. Anyways, glitter annoys him. Gets on his clothes and then apparently it's a bitch to get out but I'm so used to it that I never notice it-"

"It's not a bitch to get out."

"And like, he's just, mature, yanno?"

"Yeah, you said that."

"So," you had shrugged your shoulders into Jeongguk's mattress. "He doesn't like glitter."

"It's not a bitch to get off," Jeongguk simply smiles. Shrugs a little sheepishly. Is about to say something he really shouldn't, but knows better. "And anyways, I like the reminders."

Oh, how Jeongguk wants to be vulgar .

Wants to say shit about the way he always ends your sessions covered in it. Want to tell Seokjin how well he handles your body; how he knows you didn't cum the last time you were in bed with him, and how Jeongguk always makes you cum.

But the reason Jeongguk has glitter on his skin today is because he slept on your side of the bed last night. Missed you. Wished you were there.

And so he won't speak of you in such a way. Not that he ever would, regardless.

"Credit where it's due," Seokjin nods, raising his brows, deliberately a little cheeky because he's assessing what kind of character Jeongguk has. "Girls who wear glitter, man..."

He's not even finished the sentence and Jeongguk already wants to rip Seokjin's enviable eyebrows straight off his face.

"... they sure know how to have a good time."

Oh , Jeongguk thinks. It's far less vulgar than he was anticipating from Seokjin.

Until he adds, "used to screw a girl who was always covered in it. Annoying as fuck. Good fucking lay, though."

Jeongguk is trying his hardest not to pick a fight, but Seokjin's face looks just as appealing as the figurine display units that Jeongguk so often shatters, right now.

Calm the fuck down. She'll kill you if you hit him. Calm. Idiot.

'Used to screw', he scoffs internally. You fucking dated her for, like, a year, you prick. Longer than that, maybe. I don't even know. But you're a fucking prick. And you didn't make her cum. Prick.

"Thought this was a club for gentlemen?" Jeongguk teases playfully, not wanting it to seem as if he's being critical. Has an act to play, after all. Will behave himself, but only 'cause Namjoon needs him to. "Surely that's no way to talk about women?"

Seokjin shrugs. "Boys will be boys."

"I don't know about you, Seokjin, but I stopped being a boy many years ago," Jeongguk laughs as he edges closer to Namjoon.

He wants this conversation to be over as soon as it can be. Wants to fucking leave. Wants to sprint to your place and fucking worship your glitter-covered skin. Wants to rid you of how awful loving Seokjin must have been.

It's been a matter of minutes, and Jeongguk already feels horrible on your behalf - and you had to endure this?! Loved the man who spoke about you like this?

Oh, it makes Jeongguk feel all sorts of sick.

Also makes him feel petty. Vengeful.

She came to me. That night you fucked her, and left her all fucked up? I'm the one she came to. I'm the one she trusts.

"Actually, now I come to think about it," Seokjin muses. "You must have met her - I assume you were at the Gallery? The Ryu? For what's-his-face?"

"Kim Taehyung," Jeongguk reminds him. Think's Seokjin would do well to remember to put respect on his name.

"That's it! My ex curated it. Asked me to come, but I had a prior engagement so I sent along Sungkyu instead."

Interesting, how Seokjin calls you his ex, now. Calls you his ex when you're doing shit he likes. Things he could be proud of.

Calls you nothing but a girl he used to screw when he's talking about glitter.

"Yeah, I know her fairly well," Jeongguk shrugs, seemingly indifferent. Seokjin doesn't deserve to know anything that's going on with your life as far as Jeongguk is concerned, and that includes the fact that he knows you're a 'good lay'. Instead, Jeongguk smiles. "It's a shame you guys didn't work out. Not the kinda girl you'd wanna lose."

Seokjin glances down at Jeongguk's frame, then back up. Scopes him out. Assesses what he could mean by that. Decides the kid probably has a crush on you. Cute.

Also a little true, but what does it really matter? Let Seokjin think you're desired. Let him know what a colossal error he made in letting you go. Let him rue the day you decided you were deserving of more.

"What did you say you do again?" Seokjin asks. "For work?"

The change in topic is direct. Pointed. Asserts Seokjin's place in the hierarchy. Knows Jeongguk is younger, and knows he ain't working no corporate job with his ink-scrawled skin and metal in his face. Knows he's beneath him.

"Just finished school," Jeongguk says, not missing a beat. Doesn't lose his posture, despite the fact he wants to sink his back down a wall and scream at the world for how cruel it can be.

He doesn't admit that he serves drinks to keep a roof above his head - a roof that he can only afford because Jimin is generous with the rent split.

"And then?" Seokjin presses. Wants to know who this kid is. Wants to know why the fuck his arms look like they've been held by you, and if the ever-so-faint mark left on his neck is from the scuff of a tennis ball or the pressure of your lips.

"The world is my oyster," Jeongguk shrugs, with a grin.

See, Jeongguk might not have financial security, or property of his own, or a business card that would bring his parents any pride, but he has one thing Seokjin doesn't; the freedom of youth.

He's not tied down to anything. Has no real obligations. Can do whatever he wants. Could drop everything and travel the world. Could retrain. Could really make something of himself.

And yet if Jeongguk were to find himself half the world away, lost down La Rambla, he knows it's you he'd wanna find once he finally reached Park Guell. Should he retrain, he'd hope for you to be his study partner; someone to keep him focused and yet entirely distracted in the university library. If he became a star, it'd be you he'd glance over to at the side of the stage during the song that made him his fortune - one about stars, and how he's got one of his very own.

"Youth," Seokjin muses, then calls over to his friend. "Ain't that a beautiful thing, huh, Sungkyu?"

"Hmm?" He hums in response, as the separate conversations merge together.

Seokjin nods down towards Jeongguk. "Kid's just finished school."

With a laugh, Sungkyu shakes his head. "Those were the days. Make the most of it while it lasts."

"Trust me," Jeongguk smiles. "I will. Now that you mention it, actually -" he taps Namjoons shoulder. "- I gotta get going."

"Oh?" Sungkyu asks, not that it makes much difference at all. "Not want a quick doubles rally? Put that youth to good use?"

With a shake of his head, Jeongguk shrugs. "Got plans with my girl that I can't miss. Something about youth, and putting it to good use, if you catch my drift."

The insinuation is clear, but what isn't?

Who the fuck Jeongguk's 'girl' is.

Namjoon sure as hell has no fuckin' clue, but Seokjin's looking at Jeongguk with stern, questioning eyes. There's glitter all over his skin. Acknowledgement that Jeongguk thinks you hold a certain value.

It's only confirmed when he says, "Sorry boys. Next time, maybe. Can't bail on her though." Repeats his earlier declaration as he walks away. "Not the kinda girl you'd wanna lose."

He'll apologise to Namjoon later. Explain himself. Is sure he'll understand his desire to leave.

Grabbing his bag as he heads past the bench, Jeongguk reaches in for his phone before slinging it over his shoulder.

Opens up his call list, and clicks your name.

Waits for the call to connect, and as it does, he doesn't wait for a 'hello'.

"Did you say 'yes' ?" Jeongguk immediately asks down the line. Furrows his brows when there's hesitation to your reply.

It's not like you need clarification. There's only one thing he could be asking about.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I did. Both are a bit busy this week, so it's next Monday."

He's the one who hesitates, now. Wants to stop walking and gather his thoughts, but fears Seokjin will be watching on.

"Okay," he says, tone hard to distinguish. "Will you come over tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Yeah," he nods, not that you can see him. The entire conversation feels painfully awkward, both of you tiptoeing around the fragments of your broken relationship.

"What for?"

"Haven't really hung out since Busan," he says. Smiles. Tries a little humour. "And very soon you're gonna be ditching me for another man-"

"Oh, shut up."

"-so I wanna get as much time with my bestie as I can before that happens."

"I'm not gonna ditch you, idiot."

"So you're gonna come over tonight?"

You pause. Jeongguk nervously bites his lips as he waits for a response.

"I've got pole with Danbi."

"Come round after."

"I'll be tired."

"I don't care."

"I'll need a shower."

"I've got a shower. And really nice towels. And Jimin's out tonight, so you can use as much of his expensive conditioner as you like."

"And you'll order us food?"

"What do you fancy?"

"Meat?"

"This is why we're friends," Jeongguk grins down the phone. "Grab a taxi to mine after pole. Let me know when you're on your way, and I'll order food, okay?"

An agreement is made. He sort of knows what time to expect you at his - and yet he waits until you text to say you're on your way. Only then does he jump in the shower. Is quick. Wants to be ready for your arrival. Always thinks he looks a little sexier fresh out of the shower.

Forgets all about that food he's supposed to be ordering. Will just figure it out when you get here. His head is all over the place, to be fair to him. Easy mistake.

As a knock sounds at his apartment door, Jeongguk swallows down the trepidation that's burning in his chest, towel wrapped around his hips, upper body on full display. Tiny droplets of water drip from his hair and run down his chest, but he doesn't care to properly dry himself off.

If anything, he's kinda hoping he'll end up beneath the shower once more before the night is over.

Unlocking the automatic bolts, Jeongguk looks entirely unashamed as he greets you.

"Hey, B."

Lips parting a little, you look at him as if he's crazy, before waltzing on past him. Shoes off, bag down beside them, you laugh. "What if it wasn't me at the door? And you were just there all naked and stuff?"

"Not naked," he insists. "Got a towel on - and like, I'm in my house. I can wear what I like."

And as watches you shake off the thick black padded coat you were wearing, he is all too aware that nakedness doesn't always equate to sexiness. You're fully clothed - but fuck . He can feel the blood draining from his face and heading straight for his cock instead.

"What?" You tease when you notice the look on his face. "I'm not naked."

You're quite far from it, actually. 

Normally you're a lot more demure for pole. Sports bra, workout shorts that barely cover your ass to allow for maximum skin-to-pole friction. Shit like that.

This month, though, your pole instructor is on an empowerment hype. She's gearing everyone up for the singles holiday that comes every April. "Drowning your sorrows in jjajangmyeon and cheap alcohol is not enough. We don't need to be sexy for anyone - but we should be sexy for ourselves."

And so while you've got a pair of dark - and incredibly flattering - flared yoga pants on your bottom half, it's your top half that you know is really doing numbers on him. Your white tee is thin. Sheer, almost. Wide and oversized, the neckline lazily hangs off one of your shoulders, revealing the lace detailing of the lingerie you're wearing. It's black, and sparkles ever so slightly.

Or perhaps that's just you.

Glitter taints your skin like it always does, and Jeongguk finds himself in a subtle but certain trance.

Turning to toss your coat on the sofa, Jeongguk gets a glimpse of your ass. Yep . Still an ass guy. Hair up in a claw clip, he's reminded of how much he fucking likes your hair like this. Simplicity looks so good on a girl so complex.

You glance down at his body. Pretend like you don't feel the way that the slight tenting of his towel suggests how he feels.

You've a date next week.

Would be wrong to get on your knees for your friend.

Leaning your head back, you groan. Laugh. "I hate you."

It's a damn lie and you both know it.

"Hate you, too," Jeongguk laughs, just as frustrated as you are. Looks at you with such fondness it's a wonder he's able to fuck you in the way that he does.

"We shouldn't," you say. There's no need to elaborate. You both know what you mean. The hunger in his eyes and the way you wet your lips with the tip of your tongue says it all.

He nods. Agrees. "Absolutely not."

And yet you both remain fixed in position.

Jeongguk doesn't move, and nor do you, almost as if a magnetic pull is keeping your feet firmly in place.

You're a little subdued when you say, "I said yes to another date."

Again, he nods. He already knows. He told you to.

Gaze dark, Jeongguk's jaw is a little tense. He closes his eyes, soul hidden away from you. Tilts his head down, strands of damp hair falling in front of his face.

"So what does this mean for us?" You ask quietly.

Resuming his previous position, Jeongguk looks at you again. Walks your way. Stops only when he's a few inches in front of you. Curls his index finger and rests it beneath your chin. Tilts your face. Gets your eyes on his. Studies your face. Tips his head to the side and smiles.

Your glitter is pretty today, he thinks. Well, no, actually he thinks it's always pretty - but there's something about it today that he really loves.

"You're so sparkly, Byeol," he simply says. "So sparkly."

You roll your eyes. Smile in such a way that Jeongguk wants to kiss you immediately. Wants to feel the curve of your lips against his.

Instead, he licks his lips. Flicks against his piercing, then chews down on his plump bottom lip.

Eventually, he says, "I met him today."

"Hmmm?" you question, not really paying much attention. Too busy watching his lip ring do the thing.

"Seokjin."

Your eyes shoot up to Jeongguk's. He drops the soft support of his finger from your chin. Doesn't touch you, 'cause he wants space to be an option if you need it. There's a panic to the way your eyes dart across his face, almost as if you think he's joking, or something like that.

"Sorry?"

"Forgiven - hey!" He exclaims when you immediately flick his nipple.

You would apologise, but he thinks he deserves it.

"How did you-"

"Was at the tennis club. Joon has a mutual friend, or something like that," Jeongguk simplifies. There's no need to go into the intricacies of it all. Not now, at least.

"Did you..." you begin to question, but have no idea what you really want to ask.

Jeongguk auto-fills for you. "Talk? Yeah."

"How did that go?"

"Well," Jeongguk takes a deep inhale. Exhales. "I think I owe you an apology."

You narrow your eyes. Let your hands rest on his slim waist, keeping him close. You don't want space. You want security. Want Jeongguk around, 'cause the feeling that comes with thinking of Seokjin is always one of loss.

And so he edges forward. Leaves such little space between you that it may as well not exist at all. Drapes his arms over your shoulders. Forehead to yours. Nose against nose.

"What for?" you ask, as if this is normal. As if anyone in their right mind thinks that this is the kind of casual encounter you have with a friend. As if he isn't wearing just a towel, and as if his damp hair isn't melting into yours; tangling together to keep you connected.

His nose nudges against yours softly. A silent whisper of penance; comfort only found with you. More fool him for ever thinking he'd ever find it elsewhere.

"I get it now," he whispers. "Shit with Hayun. I get why you didn't give her the time of day, 'cause the second I realised who he was B... Shit. Thought I'd end up with a fuckin restraining order."

You pull back every so slightly. Get his eyes on yours. Tell him, "I'd be furious if you started a fight."

"I know. S'why I didn't."

The gap is closed once more. Your nose softly finds its home next to his. The grip you have on his waist tightens. He's drawn closer. And then your lips delicately press a 'thank you' against his.

"I'd be furious for your sake," you say, as if you didn't kiss him, not a single beat missed. Just like not a beat is missed when he kisses you , now. Gently. Just once. A punctuation mark between your sentences. "He's not worth it."

It's unclear who kisses who next; all that's certain is that it's happening. Neither of you wish to be accountable. You aren't making cognitive choices. Just following the will of your bodies. Aren't thinking all too hard.

But the kisses are hard. Firm. Words dying to be screamed that remain silent. Muffled breaths against each other's cheeks; hands on jawlines, fingers in hair. The intrusion of a tongue, and the welcome of one another. Dignity evades you both.

The friction of the way your bodies move in tandem has his towel loosening, and Jeongguk doesn't care to fix it. He's pressed against you, which stops it from slipping, and your hand is on his ass keeping him exactly where you want him. Ain't no way it's falling.

Not unless you want it to.

"Thought you said we shouldn't," he mumbles as his hands run all over your body, squeezing at your softest parts.

You hum a little noise of satisfaction into his mouth. Pant, as you say, "we aren't."

But then your hands come to the front of his towel. They loosen it fully. Make no attempt to stop it from falling as he manages to pull just a faction away from you. It pools around his feet, leaving him entirely exposed for you - and who are you to decline such an offer?

Hands wrapping around his thick length, you smile as he whines into your lips.

"We are."

"Yeah," you admit. "We are now. Want me to stop?"

He shakes his head, lips still on yours as you wank his shaft for him, slowly. Deeply. "Don't stop. Fuck. Feels so good."

Your grip is weak; dainty little strokes to match his pretty dulcet whines. The apartment is silent, save for the sound of you and Jeongguk, and the illicit encounter of which you're having in his living room.

Curtains wide open, the city could spy, if it cared to - but there's an anonymity that comes with a highrise, and an obscurity that comes with the way your bodies meld into one.

It shouldn't be like this.

Shouldn't be so easy when your heads make it so fucking difficult.

You wish you had restraint. Wish you had more willpower. Wish you were a better friend to a person who's been nothing but good to you - but it's how good Jeongguk is to you that makes you so inclined to thank him in such a way.

There's an aching in his chest that only eases when his brows furrow into kisses you give him; a pained desperation that he's so desperately trying to remedy.

But you've a date next Monday.

The potential for something to grow where there once was nothing but dry dirt. Jeongguk spent months cultivating the right conditions. Preening. Pruning. Making sure your soil was fed the correct nutrients. Watering you.

You're ready now.

And so he pulls away. Shakes his head. "Chess."

Your hands are off him immediately - but there's confusion all over your face. Didn't he say 'don't stop' ? Is this not what he wanted?

"I'm sorry," you blurt out, because this feels so foreign to you. So many times he's reminded you that 'chess is always an option' - but he's the one using it. He's the one who wants to stop. He's the one who doesn't want this. Want you.

Just like he didn't want you when you asked, 'what is this?' in Busan. Just like he didn't want you when you called earlier to ask him if you should say 'yes' to Seojoon.

Strike three. You're out.

"I'm sorry," you say again, a little slower as Jeongguk reaches down for the towel. Doesn't wrap it around his waist. Bundles it over his exposed area, instead. "I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't," he says quickly. Isn't 100% certain what you're about to say, but wants you to know this is a 'him' problem. "I just... B, you've got this date and like - okay, say it continues and goes well. How's he gonna react a few years down the line when he finds out we were still fucking about in the early days?"

I don't care, you think. Selfishly, cruelly, you don't care.

'Cause at the end of the day, you'll never care about Seojoon in the same way you care about Jeongguk. If you were ever made to choose, you wouldn't think twice.

It's shameful, how shameless you are.

Dropping your gaze, you nod. Understand. The way you've been thinking about Jeongguk is clearly not how he's been thinking about you.

It's not like you're in love with him or anything stupid like that - it's just that you think it wouldn't be a horrible fate to endure. In fact, it'd be quite nice to be loved by someone as gentle as Jeongguk. It'd be nice to love them, too.

"Right," you say - because he is right. "Sorry. I... Yeah. Shit. Sorry."

"I should get dressed-"

"Right, yeah. Yeah. Sorry," you say again, because you just can't seem to help yourself.

"Stop," he says. Offers you a smile. Really doesn't want you to fret about it. Just doesn't want you to make bad decisions because of him. "Don't say sorry. Just go get a shower alright? I'll grab you your towel."

All you can do is nod, and do as he says because you're fearful of doing the wrong thing. Scared he'll like you less than he does now; which you already think is less than you like him.

When Jeongguk goes to retrieve the towel, he finds it hard to breathe. His heart heaves and his breathing gets a little stagnated. Tears don't fall, but his lungs tremor as if it wouldn't be an unfathomable consequence.

The ache is back in his chest, and you're not there to remedy it. You're shutting the bathroom door. He hears it. Doesn't hear the lock, but he knows he has a towel to deliver.

Grabbing a pair of boxers, 'cause they're the closest thing to him, Jeongguk covers himself up a little. Just like his chest, his cock is aching. Just like his chest, it'll only feel better if he's with you - but that's simply not an option.

Looking across to his mirror, he slaps his cheek gently. "Get a grip, man."

By the time he makes it to the bathroom, you're already in it. Figure he'll knock, or just leave it by the door.

Small bubbles are scattered all over your body, your desire to rid yourself of skin touched by him overwhelming. The shame doesn't scrub away like you half think it will.

"B?" He calls through. "Can I come in?"

The shower shuts off.

"Yeah."

He's not sure what he's expecting as he presses down on the bathroom door handle. Sort of thinks you'll be shying away. Is right to assume such a thing. You're holding the hand towel over your body, not that it covers much.

Quietly, he's disappointed.

"Here," he smiles, lips pressed tightly together. Holds the bundled-up towel in the air.

"Legend," you smile back. "Thanks."

Job done, there's no need for Jeongguk to linger. He can leave, now. He should leave, now.

"Byeol-"

"Gguk-"

"Enjoy your shower," he says, coming to his senses and leaving immediately. Silently mouths curse words into his living room, 'cause what the fuck is wrong with him?! Why does he not know how to talk to you anymore? Oh it's all so fucked .

In the shower, you decide you have two options on how you deal with Jeongguk.

The first is the expected route; awkwardness, and a little uncertainty. Awful avoidance of communication due to fear of miscommunication.

The second is the opposite; to act right as rain, as if nothing is bothering you.

And given how much you hate the awkwardness, you decide that the second option is it. It has to be it. You spend the rest of your shower thinking it through. Hype yourself up. Rinse and repeat.

And surprisingly, it seems to work.

"Hey," you smile as you eventually enter his room, wrapped in the fluffy towel. Your smile is soft. Airy. Light. If you act like it's no big deal, then it doesn't have to be. "Got a shirt?"

He's just in sweats now. No boxers. Incredibly convenient. Outrageously sexy.

"Yeah," he nods. Sits up and leans over to the shirt discarded on his bedroom floor. It's been worn once. Not enough to be considered dirty, but enough to hold his scent. He tosses it over to you. Keeps his eyes on you as you shake the fabric out.

"Gonna watch me get dressed, you perv?" You tease.

Self-preservation 101. Joke about the things you desire the most.

And he knows he shouldn't, but he shrugs. "Do you want me to?"

And you know you shouldn't, but you say, "Yeah. I do."

"I-" he begins, but stops himself. Sits up a little. Leans forward. Edges further down the bed and reaches for the shirt you're holding. You don't object as he pulls it from your hands. "Don't. Don't put it on."

"No?"

He shakes his head.

"So what? You just wanna look at me?" You smirk, utterly confused by him - though his indecision would suggest that he's equally as confused. 

His perplexion doesn't ease when you drop the towel. If anything, it gets even worse.

Cupping your tits, you hold them up a little. Can feel how hard your nipples are; subtle indicators of how badly you wish Jeongguk would just do something.

This time, he nods. "C'mere."

You tilt your head. "Oh? You want me now?"

"Shut up." He rolls his eyes. "Always want you."

"You didn't earlier."

"B," Jeongguk deadpans. Holds his hand out for you - and you take it. Let him pull you up onto the bed. Straddle his lap, like the good girl you so often are for him. He knows he shouldn't be doing this, but fuck it. Wants it - you - too badly to resist. Lets his hands stroke up your bare skin. "I was trying to be good."

You shrug, and Jeongguk marvels at the slight wobble of your chest. Doesn't even bother to hide his obsession. Just wraps his lips around one of your hard nipples and begins to suck.

"But this is good," you tell him, raking your finger through his delicately waved hair. Moan when he gets a little teethy. You like it so much. Can feel your pussy throb - and it's only exacerbated when his fingers slip between your folds. "So good."

He hums in agreement, quickly latching onto your other nipple as he pushes two fingers into you. It's so impossibly easy with you. He sucks your tit further into his mouth. Enjoys it so much more than he ever thought he would. Swears he could cum just by sucking on them for hours.

It's believed that when two stars orbit one another too closely, they begin to spiral. They spin and spin and spin, like a pair of ballerinas. Or Beyblades. Whichever takes your preference.

Jeongguk isn't so sure he's a star.

But he knows you are.

And his head is fucking spinning.

It goes around in circles. Chasing you; running from his feelings. Either, or. Both all at once, possibly.

Your hips rock into the rhythm of his fingers, the build of pleasure coming quickly. Even quicker, when his thumb begins to flick up against your clit.

"Oh, fuck," you whimper.

His spare hand massages at your chest, pinching your nipple between his thumb and forefinger. You're stimulated in such a way that you know Jeongguk could make you a weepy, moany mess within minutes. It's a skill he's mastered.

He sucks on your nipple for a moment longer, dulcet moans vibrating around you. Pulling away, he presses a dainty kiss to your hardened bud, then toys with it using his tongue. Swipes once, twice. Needs you in his mouth again. Fucking loves tits.

There's a gravitational pull between you both. Spinning and spinning and spinning. Closer and closer and closer.

Hands bunching in his hair, you stop him all rather suddenly. Pull his head back. Look at him with eyes that are full of stars. Warn, "you're gonna make me cum."

"Good," he smirks.

"Bad," you laugh, and holy shit, Jeongguk thinks he might die.

When two orbiting stars finally collide there are two possible outcomes.

One: an even bigger, greater star forming from their merged bodies.

Or two: the weight of their gravity being too strong to sustain anything but nothingness. Better known as a black hole. A void. Something of which Jeongguk fears.

There's a third, less spoken of, possible outcome of two stars merging: the creation of a magnetic field over a trillion times stronger than that of the earth. Short gamma-ray bursts would occur. The most energetic and luminous event known to space and time since the big bang itself.

You've been spiralling with Jeongguk ever since you met him.

It's only natural that when you finally collide, the world will change. Life will be distorted forevermore.

Neutron star collision, or black hole.

Only one thing is for certain: it's inevitable, now.

It will happen.

Naive to any of this, you lean down, damp hair waving around his face. Cup his cheeks. Whisper with a smile against his lips. "So bad, baby."

"Fuck," he whimpers into your kiss. You're not even getting him off, and it feels like he's gonna cum in his fucking sweats. "Oh, fuck, baby."

When he's all pretty and pliant like he is now, you find yourself wanting to fulfil all of his wishes. Remember the little stroppy moans in his brother's bedroom. Decide now is as good a time as any. It really could be the last time you get Jeongguk like this.

And so you'll give him anything he asks for; and then you'll give him more. Give him everything . Let him indulge in what it really could feel like to merge with a star.

Pressing wet kisses up his throat, teeth grazing on his earlobe, you love the way he gets a little giggly. Ticklish. It's cute.

Almost as cute as the way he chokes on his own spit when you say, "let me sit on your face."

He does not need to be asked twice. Lowers himself down the bed to make his face more accessible for you. God, he wants to drown in you. Wants to be covered. Soaked. Wants your excitement dripping down the corners of his mouth and trailing onto his neck. Won't be satisfied until you're screaming. Or creaming. Either or. 'Both' is preferable.

And yet you surprise him. Smirk. Turn. Straddle his waist for a moment, facing towards the end of his bed. Palm his excruciatingly hard cock through his sweats. Giggle as it jerks a little, needing more of your touch.

"Hips up," you say, and he complies. Lets you push his sweats down to his mid-thighs, eyes trained on his cock as it springs free from its restraints. Oh, god, you love it. Never has cock ever looked nicer than his. There's nothing you don't love, especially when it's all engorged and needy like it is now; precum weeping from the pretty, perfect slit on his tip.

Holding him by the base, your other hand gently strokes his balls.

"Fuck," he exhales.

Smiling to yourself, you're pleased. Regret all the time wasted on you over the past few months. Wish you had spent just as long on him. Are aware he probably likes eating ass so much 'cause he likes getting his eaten - and it's all you wanna do, now. Want him whining and whimpering all because of your tongue and a little spit.

For now though, you put your spit to use elsewhere. Let it slowly drip onto the head of his cock. Spread it with your thumb. Wank it down his shaft. Watch the way his legs tense a little, and find great amusement in how his body reacts to you.

"Yeah?" you hum. "You like that?"

Jeongguk just whines. Taps your hip. Tries to encourage you back. "Just sit on my face."

"Ask nicely."

"Please."

You look over your shoulder and raise a brow. "Less attitude. Ask me like you'll never get the chance to ask me again."

Funny, really, how you both feel like it really will be the last time.

And so Jeongguk concedes. Softly rubs his thumb against the pad of your hip. Has fucking stars in his eyes again. "Sit on my face for me, B. C'mon. Let me make you feel good. You know I will. Think I might die if-"

He's cut off by your laughing. Smiles, too.

"See, you don't wanna hear this shit," he says fondly. "Now get on my face you little gremlin."

"Such a romantic."

"I'm not here to romance you," he reminds you both, no matter how much he'd like to. "I'm here to make you cum. So let me."

The grace in which you've been trying to carry yourself with is abandoned. You're laughing, the change in positioning a little awkward. Clambering, would likely be the best way to describe it, but Jeongguk doesn't give a fuck. As soon as your knees are by his ears, his arms are hooked under your thighs, pulling you down onto his mouth.

His tongue immediately laps against you, there's no way to articulate the sensation that runs over your entire body. The stunted, muffled groan of pleasure that vibrates against your cunt is enough to send anyone into orbit. The moans he elicits from your pretty face are unlike anything he's ever heard; as if he hasn't made you come undone more times than he can even remember.

Sinking down, you're pleased to find how well your bodies align. Granted, Jeongguk's got his hips a little raised. Is helping you out - but as soon as your wet tongue circles around his thick head, all sensibility evades him.

"Oh my God," he husks against your pussy, sucking on your clit then switching to rapid flicks of his tongue. Pauses only to say, "suck me off."

It'd be too easy to just give in.

So instead, you gather a little spit in your mouth, slowly stroking his shaft with your palm. He's so big that you can't fully wrap around him, and the visual just makes your pussy throb even more.

His nose is nested against your entrance, nudging ever so gently as his tongue swirls over your clit. He's unaware of the way you're marvelling at him - until he's greeted with a sensation he'd fucking die for.

Spitting on his cock, you coat him in a slick wetness that makes him so much easier to play with. Working your hand up and down his shaft, you're so fucking pleased when he stops eating you out - not because you don't want it. Not at all. Just because you know it means he's struggling to use his fucking brain. It feels too good.

But then he spits, too.

"Fuck."

His tongue delves back between your folds. Sinks into your entrance. Pulls out. Sloppily trails up to your ass. Presses against the tight muscle you know he's been dying to play with.

"Do it, baby," you whisper, kissing up his cock before taking it in your mouth.

You're not sure if it's the permission, or the fact you called him baby, but Jeongguk seems to lose all ability to hold back. He spits, again. Gets you nice and wet. Licks against you. Kisses. Pushes his tongue a little harder against your rim.

The soft dulcet nature of your moan is obscured by the way his hips begin to pulse upwards. Any sense of control you had in this situation is lost. Eradicated. Handed over to him on silver platter as he fucks his cock into your mouth and his tongue into your ass.

Thing is, Jeon Jeongguk is an overachiever. Will make you feel better than anyone ever could. Will fuck you so well that you'll never think of Kim fucking Seokjin ever again. Secure in his position between your cheeks, nuzzling against you like a starved man, Jeongguk moves his hands. One tenderly strokes up your back, while the other comes to rub against your clit.

There's no accuracy, and quite honestly he's a bit overwhelmed. His hips are on autopilot, the sound of him hitting the back of your throat enough to get that spinning head of his absolutely sent into orbit.

And yet it's still fucking perfect. You pull away from his cock, strings of spit keeping you connected, hand wrapped around his base as he continues to fuck into your grip.

"Gguk, I'm gonna cum."

He shakes his head. It feels fucking incredible.

"I am. I'm gonna - fuck. Gguk," you whimper, forehead resting by his hip, totally and utterly succumbing to him. "Don't stop. Please. That's it."

But he shakes his head again. Pulls his hand away from your clit as a small tremor pulses through it. Hands gripping your ass, he pushes you away from himself ever so slightly. Watches as your seeping hole pulses around nothing. It's not an orgasm. Not fully. But it could have been.

The sensation is catastrophic. You wanna curse him out. Tell him he's a prick.

But your eyes are all teary and your body is all weak and feeble, and all you want is Jeongguk to kiss you for hours upon hours. Your soft whimpers have him smiling, his thick cock in desperate need of release, too.

Pulling himself from beneath, Jeongguk comes to lay beside you; head at the end of his bed, feet by the pillows. Your eyes are closed, mascara smudged, glitter sparkling. He laughs when he notices your pathetic little pout. Strokes a little loose hair behind your ear. Smiles even wider when you crack an eye open.

"So fucking mean," you mewl. He nods, and you notice just how soaked his face is. Chin, nose, cheeks. He's covered in you. And you like it. A lot. Kiss him, because you can. Then pout, again. "So you didn't drown?"

Shaking his head, Jeongguk apologises. "I'll make it up to you."

"How so?"

He shrugs. Shuffles down a little. Latches his lips around your nipple all over again. Smears the evidence of your pleasure from his chin to your tits. Sucks harder.

"So good," you mumble, stroking his hair. He really does love this. Loves how much you love it. Loves how nice it always makes him feel. Loves the way you've drawn him out of his comfort zone, only to prove that comfort can be found anywhere with the right person.

And so he makes sure to say, "love your tits so fuckin' much."

Oh, how this satisfies you.

"Still love your ass, too, though," he makes sure to say. "Don't get it twisted. Ass guy."

As his fingers dip to your cunt, his rock-hard cock rests against your thigh, languidly humping up against you. He doesn't even mean to do it. Is just his body. He has no real control.

He sinks a finger into your cunt. Just one. Strokes up against your inner walls. Finds that little section that always makes you whine just a little louder. Rubs it tenderly.

"Right there," you tell him, and immediately regret it.

Yet this time, he doesn't stop.

In fact, his touching gets more intentional.

He sits up. Positions himself between your legs. Continue to fuck just his middle finger in your soaked pussy. And then his other hand is on your clit. Fast. Unrelenting. The complete opposite of what he's doing inside you.

"Fuck."

"Let go," he tells you. "It's okay. Let go. I've got you."

And yet you can't, because you don't trust him not to be an asshole again.

The hand rubbing your clit pulls away. Is replaced by his lips pressing a pretty kiss against it instead.

"C'mon, B," he whispers, lips grazing against your sensitive bud. "Cum for me."

His lips kiss your clit again. Deeper, now. Ends with a flick of his tongue; and then a short, sharp suck.

Before you know it, his fingers are spanking against it.

"Yeah?" he grits as you begin to writhe beneath him. He alternates. Gentle spanks and fast rubs. Sinks a second finger into you. The sound is lewd. Wet. Needy. "You like that, huh?"

The feeling builds from the tip of your toes and top of your head, meeting at a divine union right where his fingers are fucking themselves into you. Jeongguk watches your face briefly, just to make sure you're as pleased as you sound - and fuck it, he knows. Knows that no one else will ever get you like this.

No one else will ever get you like this, because no one else will compare to his magnetic pull. He'll be the one orbiting you. He'll be the one you collide with; the one you merge with. Doesn't give a fuck if you do make a black hole instead of a neutron star, because at least you'll have experienced euphoria together.

After all, what are soulmates if not two halves of the same star?

Your whines are stunted. Caught in your throat as you bite down on your own wrist out of fear of being too loud.

"I got you," Jeongguk grits. Needs this. Needs to know that New Years wasn't a one-off. Needs to know that he knows your body better than anyone. "C'mon gorgeous. Give me what I want."

And it's as if all sense of restraint evades you; chest heaving, hips wriggling, toes pointing. The sensation is too great. Too strong. He's got you. He's got you, he's got you, he's got you. Got you whimpering. Got you cumming. Got your pussy squirting for him.

"Oh, shit. That's it," he almost laughs, but cuts himself off as he replaces his hand with his lips, suctioning around your clit. Just for a moment. For a second. Gets his chin and cheek covered in you as he pulls away. Rubs at your clit again. Spreads the reach of the wetness seeping from you. Soaks his sheets. Dips his head, 'cause fuck , he wants to taste you.

"Gguk," you whimper, the sensation getting almost unbearable.

"More," he just says. "Give me more, baby. Please ."

The sensation is a complex fusion of torture and unadulterated pleasure. He works your pussy until you're spent - and then licks up your folds. Body trembling, you really can't take any more.

Reaching down for him, you encourage him back up. He complies. Lets you nuzzle into his chest as he presses kisses into your hair. You'll have to rewash it, but fuck it. Right now? Couldn't care less.

"You're insane," he praises softly. "So fuckin' perfect. Fuck. Fuck." He laughs. "Shit. Swear you're not actually real sometimes. Just a figment of my imagination."

You laugh now, too. "Life sure would be easier if that were the case."

He supposes you're right - and yet wouldn't have it any other way. "Shower?"

Sleepily, you nod against his chest - and so as he gets up, he simply hoists you over his shoulder. The scream you let out is far from sleepy - and also far from the scream that muffled into his pillows. Spanking your ass just cause he can, he leads you both into the bathroom and sets you down on the counter. Knocks the shower into 'start' mode, and goes to retrieve the towels. Is pleased to find you smiling when he returns.

"Yes?" He questions, but you just shrug.

"Nothing." You hold your hand out - not for his, but for his cock. It's still hard. He hasn't finished - but he does walk straight to your palm. Grunts a little as you squeeze around it.

Your intention had been to just give him a quick hand job. Know that it won't take much to get him there.

For some reason, though, your legs part. You line him up. Nod when he asks, "sure?"

And even though you're tender, and it hurts a little, there's nothing you want more than for Jeongguk to finish inside you.

It really doesn't take much. You're not counting - too busy kissing him through his orgasm - but you're pretty sure it's barely even two minutes. In fact, he might spend even longer just warming himself inside you afterwards.

Doesn't stop kissing you. Not while he's keeping you plugged with his sperm, not when he withdraws, not when he cups your pussy to make sure you don't fucking drip onto his bathroom floor as he leads you both to the shower.

Kisses you while your bodies get wet, and kisses you while you let the conditioner soak into your hair. Kisses you through the rinse, and kisses you even after the water is shut off.

Just kisses and kisses and kisses. Because he can. Because he wants to. Because if he doesn't, he might blurt out something stupid, like "don't go on that date," or even more stupid, like, "I think I'm in love with you."

There'll be no talk of this night in the following morning. No discussion of what the fuck is happening between you - 'cause you've already tried, and Jeongguk is paralysed by his fears more than ever.

Or at least you assume there won't be.

When you're woken to the sound of Jeongguk cursing, still snuggled into his warmth, you shoot up. Look around - then realise exactly what he's making a fuss about.

By his feet, pristine and perfectly folded is an origami bird.

One of his.

You reach over. Unfold it. Read it. Hide the pang of discomfort in your diaphragm as you read it aloud.

" Go speed dating. "

AO3 | MASTERLIST | MINORS DNI

[phregnancy]

favorite moments in ditl manchester, london, and festive (essentially me describing the entirety of each video)

i would’ve added pictures but tumblr won’t allow more than 30 to be added

ditl manchester

0:30 - phil asking dan if he can come into his bedroom, dan saying no, phil asking if that means yes and entering.

0:58 - dan doesn’t wear pajamas to sleep but he wears them around the house before getting on his clothes for the day.

1:05 - phil thinking they’re out of cereal, dan pulls his own box out and tells phil he hides cereal from him because he’s always eating it.

1:16 - dan carrying 10+ bags of groceries alone and phil waiting for dan to return. delicate princess fr.

1:39 - dan’s response to phil buying a kilo of cereal. ‘we’re not a family of ten, phil’

2:13 - phil calling his frosted wheats and shreddies combination ‘frosted shreddies’ and dan pointing out that frosted shreddies are already a thing.

2:30 - phil making fun of dan’s incredibly loud sneeze and dan deadpanning.

4:42 - phil telling dan he wanted a fancy chocolate egg for easter, dan points out how expensive it is, phil says please in a soft voice.

6:53 - phil showing the ecco the dolphin game, both of them laughing and talking about how bad the game was.

7:42 - phil showing a bunch of mannequin legs that are displaying socks/tights and dan joking about the holes in the mannequin legs being for leg-hole perverts, making phil laugh.

7:48 - dan saying that they need to get dollars to put into stripper’s underwear, and phil loudly shushing him and telling him not to talk about that.

8:12 - the most insane case of love eyes lester, looking right behind the camera pointed at him.

8:39 - the backpack phil was carrying is now being carried by dan :)

8:57 - playing video games during their milkshake date.

9:26 - phil running on a wet ledge and dan saying ‘and phil is in his own little world again’ before telling phil not to trip.

9:36 - dan telling phil to dance in the lift and phil dances too enthusiastically, shaking the elevator, and phil pouting.

10:15 - dan says that dollars are the perfect consistency for putting in strippers, phil corrects him and says not in strippers, in their waistbands.

10:42 - phil going to the shop to buy soy sauce but they were out so he bought a candy instead because he doesn’t like going into stores and not buying anything, dan telling him he needs to stop doing that from the other room, and phil jumps and quickly puts the camera down. like he didn’t mean for dan to hear that and he got caught, like they’ve had this conversation multiple times.

11:45 - phil whining about dan opening phil’s twinkie with his teeth, putting his mouth on phil’s food. like they weren’t planning on sharing that twinkie, like they haven’t put their mouths on each other before.

12:54 - they’re sharing a kinder egg and phil excitedly goes ‘i wanna get the toy, i wanna get the toy’ and takes it out of the egg that’s in dan’s hand. and dan just lets him no fuss.

13:38 - phil editing the video in dan’s bedroom.

13:57 - dan telling phil to play his keyboard and phil playing the bubble bobble theme.

ditl london

0:47 - phil asking dan if he wants cereal, offering to make him a bowl, dan asking what cereal they have, phil explaining the options, and dan smiling at phil fondly as he picks lucky charms.

1:28 - ‘me and phil get up in the morning to watch baking programs’, the habit of them getting up together and having a designated morning show.

1:38 - phil poking fun at what’s happening in the show they’re watching, basically just describing what happened, and dan laughing because he thinks everything phil says is hilarious.

1:50 - phil wanting to put a kitten sticker on dan’s macbook, dan not letting him, and phil putting the sticker on dan’s arm instead.

2:35 - dan realizing that phil put a kitten sticker on his piano, trying to sound frustrated when confronting phil about it but still sounding incredibly fond, phil laughing and justifying his action.

4:01 - dan realizing their light was broken, asking phil about it assuming phil already knew, phil talking about it like he did know and didn’t tell dan.

5:14 - dan filming phil trying to zip up his pants, phil getting embarrassed and telling him to stop filming when he realizes, dan starting to walk away, and phil saying ‘i’ve done it, i’ve done it’ in the background.

6:30 - dan suggesting phil get a schoolgirl outfit, phil saying yes and that he thinks it would suit him, dan saying it would So suit him and that they can act out tentacle fanfiction.

6:49 - phil squealing because of a wasp and dan asking him what happened.

7:14 - phil’s excitement over stumbling upon the cafe they were going to while aimlessly walking.

7:24 - dan filming phil entertaining himself and spinning in his chair, asking if he’s okay, phil laughing and saying ‘yep!’ with a big smile. :) just checking in <3

7:36 - dan puncturing phil’s drink and putting his straw in for him, without having to be asked, before handing it over to phil.

7:50 - phil saying a man just poked him in the spine. why do weird things always happen to him when he goes outside

8:55 - dan saying phil got shouted at for climbing and sitting on a lion statue, dan making a(n offensive) joke in phil’s defense.

9:22 - dan not noticing that phil is filming him at first and laughing and smiling when he does.

9:42 - phil asking dan if he looks cool in the space bomber, dan telling him that he Does actually look really cool and that most people couldn’t pull it off but phil can.

10:16 - phil asking chris if his bedroom is where the magic happens, chris motioning towards his bed and saying that’s where he practices magic, and all of them laughing.

10:25 - dan making fun of them being out at a traditional english pub, because they’re not traditionally manly men, and poking fun at phil ordering a not so manly raspberry beer, and saying that’s So phil.

10:40 - dan and phil realizing that the sticker phil put on dan’s arm that morning was still there and laughing at him having walked around with it all day.

10:58 - chris and phil hug <3

11:08 - dan starts singing a song about their dark hallway and phil joins in.

11:59 - phil sitting on the counter when telling dan what food he’s in the mood for.

12:15 - dan cutting up peppers with a meat cleaver?

12:26 - dan trying to keep a straight face but phil snorts which causes him to laugh.

12:35 - dan adding seasoning from a packet into the pan while phil is stirring with a spatula. phil’s other hand is free, he could’ve done both, but no dan needed to help they needed to do it together.

13:08 - they were discussing what their favorite word arts used to be.

13:32 - they’re play fighting and dan is making light movements to tap and poke phil and phil is cowering away and squealing at every light jab, meanwhile is unsuccessfully closed fist trying to punch dan and dan is just brushing phil’s hands off.

14:00 - phil interrupting dan while he was playing piano and telling him to continue playing, which dan does while phil’s watches.

ditl festive

1:08 - dan has the camera pointed toward himself but he isn’t speaking to it, he is looking at phil and talking directly to phil when telling him how on their agenda for the day, they will be putting up their christmas tree.

1:16 - phil’s so hungry and he asks dan if he’s had breakfast yet, dan says ‘no, not yet’. then dan smiles as he explains that they’ve been waiting for each other to wake up to have breakfast, so they can have breakfast together and watch anime.

1:38 - dan sings the circle of life as phil talks about his cereal rotation, phil joins in but instead of singing whatever the proper words are he adds his own cereal themed spin on the lyrics. dan is attempting to look over it, done with him, but instead he looks incredibly fond.

1:51 - dan asks what phil’s doing sitting next to the fireplace, phil’s warming himself up and they have a laugh about it. then dan in a softer voice warns phil not to lean back too far, as not to get burned.

2:31 - dan telling phil that he got a package with new shoes and proceeds to put them on the table, phil has a genuine mini freak out because of the superstition that putting shoes on a table will bring serious misfortune, dan doesn’t let phil’s anxiety rise for even a second before telling phil it’s actually a coat.

3:01 - leaning into each other and posing while showing off their christmas jumpers.

3:24 - dan asks phil if he’s blown out the candle he lit earlier and goes on to explain that he asked because phil constantly leaves lit candles unattended, phil is a little embarrassed and tells dan that he doesn’t and that he’s editing that out of the video (which he doesn’t)

3:40 - both of them checking themselves out in the mirror and fixing their hair.

3:49 - dan asks phil if there’s a spider on his head and phil tries to prank (their version of a ‘prank’) dan by telling him there is a spider, and poking his hair, dan can tell phil’s not being serious and gives him that fond i’m so done look and phil makes himself giggle at his own joke.

4:31 - dan offers phil £100 to lick his hand that’s touching the rail on the train, phil goes to do it before laughing and stopping. they do that to each other all the time, make little dares to do silly stupid things that they don’t actually expect the other to do.

4:57 - they’re walking to their intended destination and they come across a starbucks, phil wants to go inside and try their christmas drinks, dan questions this, but ultimately they make a spontaneous pitstop so phil can try the drinks. what phil wants, phil gets.

5:11 - another little dare, this time from phil, daring dan to lick the window.

5:15 - phil tells dan his christmas tree drawing on the window is festive in a singsongy voice, dan lets out a breathy laugh as he smiles the biggest smile while looking directly at phil.

5:32 - dan calls phil out, without any bitterness or frustration in his voice, for abandoning conversation during their lunch (at the place phil wanted to stop at) to play phone games. knowing that phil is a phone game fiend, this is probably a recurring issue.

6:00 - dan gets phil’s attention and points out a bus that says penguins, then they both say penguins to each other in a silly voice. pointing things out to each other and being silly :) probably something they do all day long :)

6:23 - phil shows a comic called terrible lizard and says that in a silly voice, dan lets out a quiet laugh from behind the camera and when phil turns the camera to him, he makes a dinosaur face, which makes phil laugh. the silly voices and doing things to make each other laugh :)) <3

7:35 - dan asks phil to tell him what just happened, phil says a man came up to him and woofed in his ear, which dan laughed at and then turned the camera around to say that he thinks phil dramatizes his weird experiences and mimicked phil dramatizing an experience.

8:11 - they poke fun at astrology and come up with very generic horoscopes, phil tells dan that he’s going to have dreams, dan tells phil that he’s going to have sex. and dan would know.

8:28 - dan shares that he wants to take up running as they pass a running shop and they both laugh about it, seems as if phil didn’t want to go into the running shop and waits for dan outside.

9:18 - phil makes dan stop and points out the moomin shop, dan’s curious and phil tells dan that they’re going in there and starts walking without waiting. he won’t go into a running shop with dan, but he will Tell dan to go into a shop with him, and dan Will follow. simp.

9:28 - phil points out a vendor selling mulled wine and says that he wants it and wants to feel more festive, dan asks phil if they should ask for some, and phil jokes that they’re not going to just steal it. dan simping again, if phil wants something then he will have it.

10:13 - they pass kings cross and phil asks dan if he wants to go to hogwarts, dan says that they’d hit the wall, phil tells dan that he doesn’t believe in the magic, and dan lets out a breathy laugh and smiles widely. not even a funny joke, not even really a joke, but everything about phil makes dan laugh and smile.

10:42 - dan carrying the tree into the lounge. obviously. because phil doesn’t like heavy things.

11:10 - the tiniest mini spat over phil sitting where the tree needs to go, trying to defend his seating placement, and dan gesturing wildly as he’s suggesting phil move.

12:01 - phil carrying something heavy, something he Can lift on his own (as he did lift it from their storage cupboard to the living room) but asking dan for help as soon as he’s close, and dan immediately going to help him set the container of christmas decorations down. phil gets what he wants always.

12:06 - dan suggesting phil does a christmas face and phil makes a weird face, causing dan to let out a hearty laugh. phil suggests dan do the same, dan makes a weird face, and phil laughs. they are so fond of each other.

14:02 - dan singing pizza when phil retrieves the pizza, which scares phil because phil wasn’t expecting dan to be there, dan continuing his pizza song, and phil joining in.

14:35 - phil singing the spiderman theme instrumental as he pulls the blinds tassel with a spiderman on it down, and giving dan the biggest smile ever.

14:47 - dan looking at phil as he retells the story of them having a little argument over disagreeing on wrapping paper etiquette.

15:18 - phil showing that he got his mother a cookbook and dan whining because ‘i thought that was for us’.

15:37 - dan filming phil’s ass as phil’s bent over and saying ‘butt’, then continuing on in conversation like that was a totally normal thing to do.

16:11 - dan raising his eyebrows as phil starts explaining how to wrap presents, and as we know, he does not like how phil wraps presents.

16:14 - phil biting the tape to rip it and then sticking it on his nose, and dan laughing loudly when the tape falls off.

16:35 - phil showing dan the present he wrapped, and dan’s exasperated ‘phil!’ when he sees the paper is folded in odd places and there are flaps hanging out.

17:06 - them randomly doing impressions of their favorite vines. just making each other laugh.

17:24 - dan singing ‘under the tree’ to the tune of under the sea, pointing to phil to finish the lyric, and phil doing little crab hands.

17:34 - dan explaining that they were going to work on something for the gaming channel and then showing phil sitting in bed reading a book.

18:50 - phil sharing that after gaming videos he gets stupidly hungry and looking around in the cupboards for food, when they had already looked for food before ordering dinner, knowing they have no food, which is what led them to order pizza.

this took four hours lol

[livltmntl]

I was so upset when Out of the Shadows released and I saw Shredder's design was completely changed.

He went from a bald japanese man with scars that looked intimidating as fuck, to a guy with a facelift.

Like, he entered prison BALD and came out with hair implants, botox, lip filler and with all his scars removed. And don't even ask me how i came up with the idea that he got botox. Throughout the whole movie he's not able to put on a single facial expression, he's just like: Ō _ Ō

Just look at him. If i were to live in that universe and bumped into this man on the streets i wouldn't be scared.

Idk, i'd think he's just a really hot Asian man who might own a bike or something. This guy isn't intimidating, i'd even ask him for his skin care routine Because look at how good his skin looks, radiant, clean, soft... I can see this man getting up in the morning and doing a 10-step skincare routine.

Hell, even his armor got nerfed as fuck. In the first movie we had a cool ass Samurai armor with huge fucking knifes and weapons all over It.

In the second movie this man just decided to put on a leather biker suit and a Darth Vader helmet and called It a day. Like, who came up with his outfit? Cause i can tell you Eric Sacks fucking didn't, at least he knew what he was doing.

LOOK AT IT, LOOK AT THIS ABOMINATION OF A HELMET. IT LOOKS LIKE ITS MADE OUT OF PLASTIC. He never should've trusted Baxter Stinkman cause look at what he did. LOOK AT IT. EMBARRASSING.

He went from evil leader of a criminal gang to a hot man in tight leather jeans.

I MEAN- LOOK AT HOW BALD HE IS IN THE FIRST MOVIE! LOOK AT HIS SCARS!! 😭😭 I want more scary grandpa Shreddy.

But oh well 😔 they took his baldness away and we can't do anything about It.

Please take Dona for comfort.

(sorry for spelling errors i'm dyslexic and also english is not my first language, i try though 🕴🏻) (⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠³⁠˘⁠)⁠~♥

[deviltownresident]

for the ask game: ALL OF THEM >:3 (or at least as many as you're comfortable with)

ask and ye shall receive... oh boy

1. fuck off (i get weird about my middle name)

2. you know this already

3. 6th August

4. Leo

5. green

6. 42

7. 2 cats, sisters, named debbie and gillie

8. England

9. idk like 5'6

10. idk like 5-6 depending on shoe. and my feet are slightly different sizes

11. oh god. 6 i THINK

12. i was acting out all of hamlet with all the words joined together straightup chanting it

13. imposter syndrome go brrrrrr but my lovely girlfriend would say my art, my writing, playing clarinet, and having nice arms

14. uh probably not but i Did have a witch phase

15. Canary in a Coal Mine by The Crane Wives

16. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. it's just sooooo silly

17. you

18. i'm not giving birth. i don't really see myself with kids, but who knows

19. nope

20. it's complicated

21. for others? yes. for myself? no

22. nope. there was that one time in France with my parents but like... that was their fault

23. i've met Lizzy Yarnold (Olympic bobsleigh medalist)

24. generally speaking, showers. easier

25. N/A

26. no

27. also no

28. i tend to choose music based on lyrics rather than genre. but i listen to a lot of what i would call folk rock

29. nah

30. one

31. on front, one arm bent up holding something (either the duvet or my toy duck) near my face

32. three bedrooms, but mine is very small. one bathroom. two living rooms, a utility room, and a kitchen extension

33. shreddies and milk

34. no

35. yes, multiple times, and i'm horrendously bad at it

36. rhythm. no vowels, all vibes

37. gotta love a good fuck

38. not long. certainly not 24hrs. more like 17 i reckon, at a push

39. yes. i have several on my wrists, two on my left hand from my ex scratching me, one on my shin from my ex kicking me, one on my knee from when i fell on a sharp stone when i was 10, some on my face from picking my skin, and one on my forehead from having chickenpox at age 5

40. not that i know of

41. yes, when i have to be

42! depends. i can be very judgemental but not always in a good way

43. no. don't make me try.

44. uhhhh not really? i'm from Kent but i just sound vaguely southern

45. idk. i do like how my Irish english teacher speaks though, so maybe that

46. HRNK (i think ive said before that i always get different answers every time i do the mbti)

47. probably my doc martens

48. depends what you mean but yeah i think so?

49. a what or a what now?!

50. right

51. nope. the problem is not having a spider in your house, the problem is when the spider disappears

52. my girlfriend

53. idk crepes or smth probably

54. im pretty clean? i think?

55. i KNOW about the SNOW

56. probably smth like "the" or "and" or "he" idk

57. i can be out the door in ten minutes if i have to

58. idrk... i hope not. but i guess sometimes i can, particularly if i feel vulnerable

59. no. i don't eat them.

60. on occasion. usually when i'm working or concentrating very hard

61. i sing far too much

62. man idk ask someone who's heard me sing

63. The Vast. that's the biggest one isn't it?

64. yeah i love gossip but i don't make a big thing out of it

65. big fan of Alien

66. depends what you mean by long or short. for me or for others?

67. not a chance

68. Classics, currently, but i like all my subjects rn

69. introvert

70. nope

71. people

72. the dark doesn't frighten me i chose to close my eyes

73. if it's appropriate and i won't be criticised, yes

74. yeah

75. nothing that wasn't true

76. no

77. yes

78. no

79. *shrug* idk romance is weird

80. zero

81. unfortunately not

82. fairly fast, i think

83. it's been ages since i've ran so idk, probably not very fast. i could if i was really trying though

84. ginger

85. i have like... multiple colours in my eyes. let's just say hazel

86. as far as i'm aware, nothing

87. i TRY

88. my dad is a retired professor and my mum has a small business in teaching pilates

89. i've never had a fun time being any age, but this could be worse, i suppose

90. politicians

91. i hope so, i chose it myself

92. no i have not

93. see above question on children, 18

94. see above question on talents, 13

95. archery. for lack of better ideas

96. chop a few letters off the deadname

97. this is a joke, right? no

98. IVE DONE THIS BEFORE ISTG. um see 39

99. currently it's white with a purple pattern

100. my walls are lilac

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #120

I did so much stuff today!!!!

…Okay, well actually I did only like 3 things today. But these things were very BIG things! I will talk about two of them, and then touch vaguely upon the third!

I will start with this morning! Because J and I went up in the sky in the little airplane today! We went to an airport that had a diner! I got an EPIC BREAKFAST!!! There was steak and eggs and cheddar grits, and I also got a coffee, because I don't get coffee very often, so why not! I took some pictures for you…

This is what J got! It's some kind of breakfast bowl with salsa, avocados, beans, and scrambled eggs! There's also potatoes and bacon under the eggs! I wonder if you'd enjoy something like this. He let me have a few bites; it was really good!

Here is the coffee I got! And, of course I snapped the picture of it while the cream was still swirling around; it's more interesting that way:

Here are some cheddar grits:

Here's the steak and eggs I got; it came with caramelized onions, cornbread and butter, eggs with runny yolks, and a bit of hollandaise sauce! It also came with ketchup for some reason. But I only like it on burgers, so I didn't use it.

I asked for the steak to be as rare as allowed, and I was SUPER THRILLED about the fact that they prepared it in basically the same way I do at home - brown the outside, and leave the inside mostly raw:

It was so good!!! Oh my goodness!

While at the place, I also happened upon a little space with dandelions! I'm not really sure why, but people in my world seem to really hate dandelions. It makes absolutely no sense to me, because in addition to being extremely beneficial to nearby soil for a variety of reasons, every part of the plant is edible and nutritious. One of my favorite things to do, when I can find a safe source of them, is to turn the blooms into a sweet syrup that you can use on pancakes, on ice cream, or in tea! Maybe I'll get to do that this year. For now, I'll just show you the picture I took:

Isn't it pretty? I like them!

I also took a bunch of photos along the way from the airplane window! I'll show you the best ones!

…Hey, Sephiroth? I know you can fly and stuff, and that's pretty cool. But while you're up in the sky, dancing in the clouds, do you make it a point to notice and appreciate all the lovely scenery? If you don't, then maybe you can try it next time; practicing gratitude and appreciation is one of the best ways to exercise your hippocampus until it becomes strong!

On the way home, I saw 9 great big huge birds-of-prey; I think these ones were turkey vultures. I managed to actually catch a picture of one in flight for you! Here, it's not very big in the photo, but check out the back speck in the sky:

Oh!!! Also!!! I finally got around to making the stuffed cabbage casserole today! This recipe was given to me by an awesome person called @freelanceexorcist (thanks be to ye, fren!! 💖)! I ended up modifying it a bit, just to suit the needs of those in my house; Br cannot have gluten, so I used tomato puree in place of tomato soup, and J does not like big cabbage leaves, so I cut it into little slices, and bite-sized bits are easier for M to handle than meatballs, so I kinda just... shredded everything and mixed it all together. But I used mostly the same ingredients, even if the preparation differed just a little! I'll show you what I did…

You start with cabbage!

Here's how it looks on the inside when you cut it in half!! It's pretty cool!

...It's like Brussels sprouts, but WAY bigger!

The recipe calls for whole leaves, but I cut it into shreddy bits, like this:

The cabbage was sauteed in my bacon fat confit garlic:

I poured in a can of tomato puree from there, and I let it simmer on low heat for a couple of hours:

While that was happening, I cut up 2 pounds of kielbasa, and 2 onions:

Once the cabbage was done and set aside, I caramelized the onions in more bacon fat:

I added the onions to the cabbage, and then I put a big can of diced tomatoes, a pound of Bavarian sauerkraut, and the ground meat I cooked the other day into the wok, along with a cup of rice and a can full of some beef bone broth:

I let this sit on very low heat until the rice was done cooking. I used short grain rice; it looks like this:

...In between the long bits of cooking when there was nothing else I could do, I worked on something else that I'm absolutely not going to tell anyone about! It was good!

Once the cabbage and the rice were all done, I combined the two sets of things; this took some doing simply because there was SO MUCH FOOD, oh my goodness!! But this was the result!

So... it's cabbage, caramelized onions, sauerkraut, canned tomatoes, tomato puree, beef bone broth, rice, garlic, kielbasa, ground pork, and ground beef, all cooked up nicely and mixed together in a great big awesome dish!! And it is indeed awesome!! It was said that the leftovers are even better, because the flavors are given a chance to mingle; I can't wait to find out tomorrow!

...I wish you could have been here for all of this. I wish you could be here, generally. My house does occasionally have its challenges, for sure, but still, it is happy, wholesome, and safe. There's lots of fun and interesting stuff to do. My house is a good house. You could find healing and belonging here. You could find growth and change here. And you'd fit right in. You'd fit right in with my social circle, generally; ain't a single one of us fit the definition of "normal".

Sephiroth, c'mon. The darkness doesn't suit you. It never did. And it never will. So step away from people who wanna use and abuse you, and instead step towards the people who wanna help you to feel as though you're enough exactly as you are, without needing to do something useful or amazing first.

I'll be here waiting, so... as impossible as it is, pop by for a visit soon, okay? We'll make you good snacks - all the pasta you could want, or whatever else suits your fancy - whatever you like; if I don't know how to cook it, I can figure it out, easy peasy.

I'm gonna go do other things now, and I'm going to wish you were here as I do them. I love you, and I'll write again tomorrow. Please stay safe.

Your friend, Lumine

[formulafixated]

The 2010 Season: The Greatest Ride

(This is an old blog post from July 19th 2023)

AKA: Niamh yaps about a random F1 advert from 2011. Here's a bit of a curveball.

My original plan for my second blog post (a deep dive of sorts into the mythic nature of being a Ferrari driver) has been momentarily put on hold to make way for whatever this will be. And I have yet to know what this will be or how it will turn out but stick with me, okay!

Some context first. Picture me at 11pm eating some Shreddies as a before-bed snack and finding things to watch on Youtube while I do (because eating without having a video to watch is a fate worse than death), when I come across a video titled "BBC F1 2011 INTRO". I'm instantly like "oh awesome, love me a bit of The Chain", thinking this would be similar to other F1 intros of the 2010s era.

(Try and tell me you can listen to that song without thinking of Formula One.)

I was wrong.

What I was witnessed to instead was enough to make me stop eating altogether. I put the spoon down. My Shreddies were left to drown in the milk but I didn't care, I was physically unable to move as a result of this video. It was a montage of various moments from the previous 2010 season (a beloved season to me), set amongst Hans Zimmer's iconic 'Time' from Inception and over the top was a poem narrated by Eddie Jordan.

"But Niamh, that sounds way more boring and normal than you made it out to be. Shreddies drowned for this?" I hear you say. You underestimate how much a bit of film soundtrack and spoken poetry can impact a girl. I was so impacted, in fact, that I was suddenly fully prepared to pause my planned blog post (which in all honestly I still have yet to find the inspiration for, so maybe this is a good thing!) and write this one instead. I have got to talk about some of these quotes and what they refer to. Think of this as a sort of 2010 season mini recap, but only the most dramatic moments.

Here is the video, by the way. I urge you to check it out.

https://youtu.be/k_hFOC42Qcw

Let's begin!

(A warning: this is all just going to be meaningless drivel from my brain. But you probably already knew that)

“It had charging snorting bulls in the ring tamed only by those two who rode them. Unable sometimes to tame themselves, unable to control their own beast within”

Who doesn't love a metaphor? Obviously this refers to Sebastian and Mark at Red Bull and their tumultuous relationship that had started to develop by the second year of their partnership. Most people think mainly about 2013's Multi 21 incident when talking about the pair's most tense moment, but 2010 had its fair share of these too. Firstly, the wildly entertaining Turkish Grand Prix saw them collide after Seb attempts to overtake Mark on the inside. Due to the angle of Seb's car they made contact and he is sent spinning off into the gravel, with Mark managing to escape being stuck and continuing the race. This moment is so iconic, I think, because of Seb's reaction to it (watch it on Youtube if you haven't already, it's great) and the fact it was the catalyst for the downfall of their relationship. Not helped by the fact that three races later at Silverstone, an incident with Seb's front wing in final practice meant that the team replaced it with Mark's newly upgraded one. Seb then went on to take pole position in qualifying. As a result, talk about favouritism within the team arose. But that's a blog post for another day. Anyway, I love this quote and I think it sums them up perfectly; sometimes they really were unable to tame the beasts within. The way the shot moves from Seb laughing with Britta to Mark in the background looking all solemn and serious? Art.

“It had intrigue and inviting. It had a prancing horse and a rider asked to take a fall”

It's quite easy to wax poetic when it comes to Ferrari, but I think this line is just so good. I love it when Ferrari is referred to as the 'prancing horse', there's something so elegant about it. The lineup for 2010 included newcomer Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, who had already been part of the team for a few seasons. The season before Felipe had undergone surgery due to an accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and understandably he had a slow return back to his usual form once the 2010 season began. As a result, by the German Grand Prix, Massa was 31 points behind Alonso and therefore not a championship contender. It was during the last few laps of this race that Massa was ahead of his teammate for a 1st place finish when he received a message from his race engineer Rob Smedley informing him that Alonso was faster. He quite literally said, ‘Fernando is faster than you, can you confirm that you understood the message?’. Felipe let his teammate through to take the 1st place trophy. Ferrari, despite claiming that the incident didn't involve illegal team orders, were fined $100,000 for the controversy. It didn't help that Smedley literally apologised to Massa after the original message... whoops. How many riders of the prancing horse have been asked to take the fall?

"It had those who would not lie down and told that they were not the chosen one."

The term "chosen one" has so much weight to it, right? Obviously this line relates to Mark during his time opposite Seb at Red Bull. Mark frequently vocalised his feelings surrounding the apparent favouritism within the team despite their adamance that there was no such notion. The initial tension caused by the swapping of front wings at the British Grand Prix was soon diminished once Seb took a trip off track and received a puncture, meaning Mark was able to storm ahead and take the win. During his cool down lap he announced over the radio, "not too bad for a number two driver", referring to the idea that Sebastian was Red Bull's favourite. This wouldn't be the first time Mark brought the subject up in a public manner, so it's definitely true that he refused to lie down and accept what was happening. No matter how much they tried to deny it, Sebastian was always Red Bull's 'chosen one'. The chosen one hand picked personally to bring the team to the top after years of disappointing results. And that he did. But God, did Mark try his best!

"It had new and old; new faces, new machines, new blood. And an echo of the past, a name, a memory."

One of the moments that genuinely gave me chills. The 2010 season brought with it five rookies, including Nico Hulkenberg and Karun Chandhok, as well as new teams. There were also new regulations regarding a ban on refuelling, a ban on double diffusers and a collective agreement not to use KERS. But despite the fresh faces and rule changes this season indeed brought several echos to the past. The 2010 season saw the return of a familiar name in Team Lotus, which hadn't taken part in F1 since the 1990s. Their livery even referenced the classic green and yellow colours of the original Lotus cars of the 60s. One of the rookies introduced this year was Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton Senna (who even raced for Lotus during his career). I remember while I was watching the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, Bruno's engine overheated and there was a shot of his eyes through his visor. Martin Brundle reacted to the shot by saying, "that scares me, that looks like Ayrton through the crash helmet when the visor is open... it stops me in my tracks." Despite his unremarkable rookie season, I'm sure he brought back a lot of memories for F1 personnel and fans alike. In a similar vain, 2010 was the year that 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher returned to the grid to drive for the also returning Mercedes GP team after retiring in 2006. 2010 was the year of throwbacks and nostalgia.

"It had the spectre at the feast; a falling god now reigning against his own mortality and risking that of others."

Used to talk about Michael, this line was SO interesting to me. Firstly, the description of him as the 'spectre at the feast'. This phrase can be linked to a scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth where the ghost of murdered Banquo appears at a feast, and is used to refer to someone or something that brings misery or sadness to a happy or celebratory occasion. So why was this used in reference to Schumacher? Of course, the legend's return to the sport brought with it a lot of hope and anticipation that he would return to his former glory once he raced again. Nevertheless, Michael struggled to get good results in his first stint back. A new generation of cars and regulations, and a team which struggled to improve upon its previous success (Mercedes GP replaced 2009 constructor's champion Brawn GP), can't have made it easy for him. Thus commenced a season of misery and disappointment for those once hopeful fans. A so called "spectre at the feast". "A falling god reigning against his own mortality"; a god of the sport attempting to reestablish his former glory but unfortunate timing and circumstances meant he had to accept he was no longer untouchable. The last part of the line refers to Michael's sometimes aggressive driving style, specifically the incident at Hungary where he squeezed former teammate Rubens Barrichello against the wall of the pit lane while defending. The dangerous move was punished with a 10-place grid penalty the next race. People often claimed that while Michael never lost his ruthlessness, he had lost other aspects once apparent in his original F1 stint. Whoever came up with that line deserves a Nobel Peace Prize in literature.

And there we go. The 2010 season recapped in the words of whichever brilliant mastermind at the BBC F1 team came up with that poem, and a bit of my knowledge sprinkled in as its one of my favourite seasons. There's just something about art when it's combined with Formula One because the effects it has on a simple girl like me is groundbreaking. I eat it up every time! It turns simple car racing to something much more dramatic and emotional and interesting and I value every person who creates art dedicated to F1.

Please never stop.

Anyway. That was really long and probably quite boring, but I had so much fun writing it. I love talking about old seasons and I'll probably do it again in other posts. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!

[sugarpasteltmnt]

Um yes hello I am here to excited scream at you about "shreddy for more" because I can't do it with my family in the room but OH MY GOD THE TWISTS AND TURNS ALREADY I AM GOING TO LOSE MY MIND IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY

>:3

[idkfandoms-b8o]

have any y'all had a midnight snack in bed? It's probably one of the best small expriences in my life. I'm just chillin' with ma bowl of shreddies, what more can I ask for?

[girlboy-frankensteins-monster]

11, 15, 39 and 47 for the ask game :3

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?

i am super basic so two weetabix and some shreddies with milk every single day lmao. sometimes i have avocado toast but only if my sister did because she leaves me half of the avocado if she has it

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

this one is really hard because i can't remember any that i studied before secondary school. probably purple hibiscus by chimamanda ngozi adichie off the top of my head. i think i liked whale rider but i don't actually remember any of it any more

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

i don't really like lemon flavoured stuff. i guess i prefer lemon meringue pie just because i love the texture of meringue so much i am usually willing to eat it just for that

47. favorite type of cheese?

always used to be red leicester but honestly i think i prefer brie now. mozzarella is amazing i like it in salads especially

ask game

[kiku91]

Leo could have asked Donnie to construct them. Maybe Raph and him came up with the idea together, since Raph also knew how they worked. I’m thinking about the episode “Shreddy or Not” as a motivation. The pods could have been a way to make sure everyone could escape a situation without no one needing to stay back to delay the enemy.

which makes it so ironic, and much more impacting to Leo that Raph was left behind.

However now I’m wondering…why would there be a deactivation switch like that on the emblem?

maybe for false alarms?

I wonder if Leo knew about the escape pods. He knew how to deactivate it.

[our-happygirl500-fan]

Something that I’ve been wondering about is whether or not the Krang know what Yokai are

Krang Prime: You’re not human. What are you?

When the Krang capture Raph something that was kind of interesting was the Krang wondering what Raph was since they recognised that he wasn’t human but something I was wondering about was why they didn’t assume that Raph was a Yokai instead.

Draxum: My plan is coming to fruition. My bugs are hard at work turning humans into Yokai

It’s been shown in Rise that there isn’t really much difference between mutants & Yokai and the Rise team have said that mutants are basically more or less, enhanced Yokai so if there isn’t much difference between mutants & Yokai, part of me wonders why the Krang didn’t ask Raph if he was a Yokai.

Big Mama: We Yokai have existed for thousands of eons

Krang Prime: Forgive my sister. She’s got a bit of a temper and being in prison for a thousand years hasn’t done her any favours

In the episode Bug Busters, Big Mama says that the Yokai have existed for ‘thousands of eons’ & considering that the Krang say that they were sealed for only a thousand years, unless time moves considerably slower in the Prison Dimension, Big Mama was most likely exaggerating or otherwise the Krang should recognise what Yokai are.

Something that might be possible is the idea that the Krang themselves created the Yokai as during the final episode of Rise we found out that Empyrean originally came from the Krang & the Rise team have said that Empyrean is the source of the Yokai’s mystic powers

Draxum: So nice of you to return my vile 

Considering that the vile that Draxum took from Mayhem in the first episode to finish his ooze is said to be Empyrean it’s possible that Empyrean was the original Mutagen in the Rise universe & was what created the Yokai in the first place when the Krang first invaded meaning that the Yokai that we know of in Rise are descendants of the first mutants.

There are a few similarities between Rise & the 2012 cartoon due to a lot of the same people who worked on the 2012 cartoon also working on Rise so it is possible that another similarity between the 2012 cartoon & Rise is that mutants or Yokai are just as much a product of the Krang in Rise as they are in the 2012 Cartoon.

But I don’t think that the Yokai were created by the Krang that got sealed away in the Prison Dimension, I kind of think that the Yokai were created by the Krang that got left behind.

Karai: Oroku Saki made a deal with a powerful oni, this demon offered him a suit of dark armour

It is possible that not all the Krang were sealed away & that there was at least one Krang left on earth when the Krang were sealed away the first time as in the episode Shreddy or Not it’s revealed that the Dark Armour was originally created by the Krang (which would explain why the Foot Clan is said to worship the Krang in the first place).

Though we don’t know when exactly the Krang made a deal with Oroku Saki we do know that Karai & the Shredder were sealed away for 500 years.

Casey: Master Shredder you have returned to us, after five hundred years the Foot Clan can finally fulfil our mission and do your dark bidding!

Karai: Please I have just endured five hundred years of misery 

Considering that the Krang were said to have been sealed away for 1000 years they should have been sealed away 500 years before Karai & Shredder were meaning that either time moves faster in the prison dimension making the Krang experience being imprisoned for 1000 years when really it was only around 500 or not all the Krang were sealed away.

If at least one Krang had been left behind on earth after the Krang were originally sealed away that would possibly be kind of an interesting parallel to how there is at least one Krang left on Earth after the Hamato Clan seals Krang Prime away at the end of the movie.

If there was at least one Krang left behind on Earth then it is possible that the Krang that got left behind could have possibly created the Yokai & if the Yokai were created after most of the Krang were sealed away then it is possible that the Krang that we see in the movie might not really have any idea what Yokai or mutants are.

[silversmoke-20]

Hello, can I request headcanons for team rwby (or just blake and yang if that's too much) with an s/o that loves to cook and is pretty good at it? Sorry if this was not detailed enough.

Oh it's alright! I don't mind if it's detailed or not, just as long as it's simple for me to understand, Oh and I added in a special guest!

Team Rwby with a reader who loves to cooks

Ruby Rose

Ruby loves it when you cook, and the best part is that you bake cookies that she likes!

Ruby would try to steal and taste test, only for you to slap her hand away as she runs away with a few giggles trailing behind her.

You tell her that you can only make one jar of cookies for the week and if she eats it all in a day, then you won't make more until next week.

Ruby would definitely save as much of your baked sweets as she can to enjoy as long as she can.

Whenever you finish baking cookies, you her the ladel and the cookie dough bowel for her to eat.

Ruby would definitely Would try to bake your favourite sweets as a thank you.

Ruby shares her cookies and you should feel honoured cause Ruby never shares her cookies with anyone! That includes her family.

Ruby would hug you and watch you cook from behind you.

Ruby is basically your hype girl whenever you're cooking.

Weiss Schnee

Weiss enjoys your love for cooking and would oftentimes ask if she could help you cook.

Weiss obviously would hire you to be her personal cook.

She would basically buy you the finest ingredients on remnant.

She would challenge you to cook harder meals and you would gladly take those challenges.

She would no doubt say, "you are the best cook in remnant."

You once made a cake shaped like her emblem, and she loves it.

You ask Weiss if she likes to taste test and she would do it without a second thought.

Whenever she gets sick, it's hands on deck cause you are going to make her the most delicious soup she ever has.

Weiss would hire bodyguards to guard you when your cooking at her mansion cause she believes someone would assassinate you.

Weiss is basically the Type of girl who loves to watch you cook.

Blake Belladonna

She's banned from the kitchen.

She would try to help you whenever she can so she can steal a couple pieces of fish.

By couple I'm talking about the entire salmon fish and you can't with her shenanigans when trying to steal the fish.

You love cooking seafood dishes and Blake loves eating that.

So when she wanted you to meet her parents, she was happy they accepted you.

So when you ask Kali if you could help cook she happily obliges.

Only to be surprised as she points at her husband and daughter and say, "You two are still banned from the kitchen."

You have never laugh in your life as you told Kali that Blake is banned from the kitchen back home.

Blake's parents loved your cooking and wouldn't mind having you visit whenever you get the chance.

Blake is the type to steal food so be on guard.

Yang Xiao Long

This girl banned from the kitchen not because of her jokes.

You would bonk her head with teaspoon, ladel, and wooden spoon with a deadpan expression.

She would immediately run off if she notices you grab a jar of honey or anything that is sticky.

And Brothers her jokes are so annoying and yet they somehow made you laugh.

When you let Yang cooked well.....

Let's just say that kitchen was quarantine and gave you nightmares.

How can she set a glass of water on fire?! Cause a simple butter on bread to explode.

Yang is basically a terrible cook, but her terrible jokes makes you laugh.

Qrow Branwen

He is scared of his bad luck ruining your cooking.

Quite the opposite as his semblance somehow helps you cook much more effectively.

So when telling him this, he is so going to help you cook.

And you love it whenever he gets confused when you ask him to get the ingredient you need.

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

Y/n: "pass me the cheddar."

Qrow: "the what?"

Y/n: "The shredded cheese."

Qrow: "the what now?"

Y/n: "y'know the Shreddie cheedie."

Qrow: "oh that! Here you go."

Y/n: "Thanks bird brain~"

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

Whenever Qrow wakes up, he would walk up behind you and hug you and rest his head on your shoulder.

Qrow is basically the man who gets confused with food and comes up nicknames for it.