#Yeah I sell fluff and fluff accessories

[thisisallthehattersfault]

I rant a lot about Wei Sect! AUs and The Wens Live! AUs and any other similar vibe AUs because I love the idea of Lan Wangji tripping and falling ass over teakettle into this loving and tight-knit community who have all just sort of adopted him and didn’t bother to tell him and then inevitably one of the Lan elders tries to get on his ass about the amount of time he’s spending there but LWJ only stopped by Cloud Recesses to pick up a book that he thinks Second Cousin would like and to check to see if the Lan physicians have had time to try out the extraction method Fourth Uncle invented to increase the potency of most medicines and he already has one foot out the door because if he isn’t back for his turn to watch a-Yuan Wen Qing will yell at him so the elders are left staring in affront at the empty space where Lan Wangji was a minute ago And that’s great and I love it but you know who I don’t give enough love in these AUs? Lan Xichen.  This man would thrive and delight among the Wen settlement. Are you kidding me? It takes him a little while to get over Wen Ning’s whole Being Dead thing but once he does his entire brain goes “it’s free didi.” He drinks Fourth Uncle under the table every night for a week straight before Wei Wuxian rats him out for his burn-the-alcohol-with-his-golden-core trick, and Fourth Uncle is so thrilled about being had so thoroughly he immediately starts plotting a counter-prank. Wen Popo refuses to answer to anything other than Wen Popo and she calls Xichen Huan-er and the first time it happens he has to go lie down about it and Lan Wangji finds his brother and pets his head and says “Yes, they do things like that, it’s quite alarming at first but really quite nice once you get used to it. Xiongzhang? Are you crying?” and Lan Xichen doesn’t say no because lying is forbidden but he does drag his brother into a hug the way he hasn’t dared since they were children and Lan Wangji just cuddles up and lets him the way he hasn’t since they were children and while they’re lying there having emotions all over each other a-Yuan toddles in looking for his Rich-gege and his Fancy-gege and he wastes no time in joining the cuddle puddle. 

[asunflowerana]

lotus love

summary: who knew a festival miles away from home would help Miya confess his feelings.

with: Osamu Miya

warnings: friends to lovers, oblivious reader, tatoos, dear osamu is so patient i can't 😅 fluff fluff fluff

Another road sign appears in your field of vision, a red ‘60’ stamped on the painted wood making Osamu slow down while driving, a gentle wind now coming through the open window and running your skin. It’s been almost three hours since you guys started the road trip to Kanagawa, and even though you enjoy watching the beautiful landscape sideways, your stomach is making a riot inside for food.

Being the copilot, you check out your current location on your phone’s map, letting out a relieved sigh as you notice a small festival going on a few miles away.

This is it.

You hear him chuckling, having no idea that he actually heard that sigh along with your now pleased expression. “Did ya find our next stop?”

“Lotus Festival, five kilometers away.” You answer him, scrolling through the event’s pictures. “Oooh, I found a yakitori stall there! Okay, we need to stop in this place.” Just imagining the seasoned grilled chicken skewered in a kushi makes your mouth drool faster than the car’s wheels.

“You got it.” Osamu smiles, also liking the idea of filling his tummy to the brim with food. “But, why Lotus?”

You search for the meaning on the web. “It says that this festival happens in the blooming season, which represents the 'rejuvenation of love’, in a few cultures. It’s most visited for old couples to rekindle their relationship, and singles searching for love. It’s really sweet…” You add, looking at some old married folks hugging each other. “But it’s kinda weird? Like, imagine someone traveling there just to find love? What if they find nothing and return home with a broken heart and less than twenty bucks?” You ponder out loud.

“Yeah, that sucks,” He mumbles, suddenly getting more interested in this festival. He turns to look at you, still paying attention to the empty road. “But it’s not the end of the world. The love of your life might be right beside ya, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.” You’re too worried about the hypothetical heartbroken person to notice Osamu’s eyes lingering on you a tad longer before his shoulders slumped in defeat and his brown eyes return ahead.

Ten minutes later, and the “Welcome to Lotus Festival ” banner appears, its spring colors matching the flowery environment. It’s so beautiful, the greenish square full of lotus with different colors, bringing such a delicious aroma that it attracted several little birds on the way, drinking their nectar like they’re in a feast.

Osamu parks his blue jeep alongside a truck, and together you both walk to the festival, leaving your bags behind and carrying only the essentials inside your purse — wallet, phones, some painkillers, and your small polaroid camera.

There’re a lot of stalls selling bouquets, natural lotions, hair accessories and floral jewelry, clothes, as well as food and beverage stalls. In the middle of the square, a white bandstand decorated with fairy lights and leaves, with mistletoe hanging in the center.

There’s so much to see, that you might be staying there for more than an hour's break.

But first things first, you carry the grey-haired man by hand through the festival, ignoring his confused questions until you finally found your target.

The smell of yakitori invades your nostrils and takes all of your self-control to not steal a bit from a kid who just got their steaming portion. You both look at each other for a second, hungry gaze in your eyes before you two run to the booth, money in hands and mouth begging for food.

“Four yakitoris for the couple.” The seller says evenly, handing you the warm skewers. Osamu forgets his food desire and gazes surprised at you, but you’re already devouring your grilled chicken like a starved lion.

“…Thanks.” Hesitant, he doesn’t correct the seller, handing him the money and moving away in your direction.

Did you really not hear what that guy said?

“Mmmmm… this is heaven.” You hum in delight, savoring the good taste as you finish your first skewer in record time. You look at him more pleased than before. “Thanks for the treat, ‘Samu. Choose whatever you want next, I’m buying.”

He nods in agreement and decides to forget the matter, taking a bite of his yakitori.

He doesn’t stop until it���s all gone.

You guys keep strolling, you buy some sweets for him while he treats you with a warm drink for the chilling weather, walking on the grass until a different booth catches your eye. On the sign, it shows that it’s a henna tattoo booth, choose one of the holiday models and you get a discount.

You get excited, having a new tattoo sounds super fun and it adds to the memories of this trip. And by the way Osamu is grinning down at you, he agrees with the idea as well.

Approaching the booth, you both look through the catalog, each model more beautiful than the other, making you undecided about the best.

“We could do matching tattoos.” Osamu proposes, pointing at the matching models on the second catalog page.

You nod, looking through the sketches. “They’re all so beautiful… I’ll let you decide.” You don’t usually trust him with those stylish things, but if you were to choose, you’d stay 30 minutes just gazing at them.

He hums for a moment, before pointing out at a beautiful Lotus sketch. “How about this one?”

“Rejuvenation of love. It’s a great choice, lots of couples order this one.” The woman owner of the booth says, a small smirk plastered on her face; Your brows raise, and Osamu is nervous, expecting a possible rejection, but you surprise him with your reaction. 

“That’s so genius ‘Samu! That way, we won’t even forget about this festival!”

Both of them deadpan.

“Good luck buddy.” The artist mumbles close to him, patting his shoulder before guiding you both to your seats. Another missed shot.

As it was on the sign, about thirty minutes passed before the tattoos were finally done, a lotus flower now decorating the inside of your forearms. The woman even did a thin stalk in both, which when the two forearms joined, would connect the flowers into a single branch.

This is so meaningful, but Osamu isn’t sure if it has the same meaning for you as it has for him. He thought his feelings would be clear as the sun's rays by now, but you’re still oblivious to them, he doesn’t know what to do anymore. The hints aren’t landing, and the wonder of whether you like him back or not is eating his brain alive, for a long time.

He can keep this trip friendly as planned, visiting Kanagawa for the day before returning to Shibuya as best friends. But there’s a growing chance that someone else might get the shot that he wants so badly with you, and if he doesn’t take this moment now, he might not have another one.

So after paying for the tattoos, he leads you to the white bandstand, wanting to “take some pictures” there. He waits for the right moment when no one is there, and takes you by the hand to the middle.

He doesn’t let go of you.

“Is everything okay?” You notice the way he’s nibbling his lower lip with his canine, something he usually does to calm down. He takes a deep breath, gazing at your eyes with determination.

“I like you.”

Osamu never liked to stall, so it’s best to just rip off the bandage. He keeps a firm grip on your hand as your brows finally raise in realization. “I like you. I don’t know when it started, and I don’t really care, I just know that it will never stop. I can’t stop wanting you. And I don’t know if I didn’t hit it right, or your pretty head is too oblivious to notice — Okay, sorry but you know it’s probably the second.” He chuckles, letting out the adrenaline from his pounding heart. “…I’m in love with you, _____.”

He recites as if they are the most important words to him, moving closer to you as he stares with passion at your shining, surprised orbs. He takes your face in his free hand, and his heart skips as you accept the caress, interlacing his fingers with yours while still speechless.

He doesn’t need an answer to see that you feel the same.

He looks above to the ceiling for a moment, your eyes following and noticing that you both are right under the mistletoe. He grins down at you, one of his cheeky smiles that makes your heart throb in adoration.

“Not that I need one of those to kiss you, but since this is our first—” He nuzzles his nose with yours, his skin gently grazing and soothing you. He whispers close, not taking his eyes off yours.

“Can I kiss you?”

Enchanted by his spell, you give him a small nod, granting him the freedom to lock his sultry lips with yours, making you forget everything else and focus only on the magical feeling of his passionate kiss, legs weakening and body resting inside his warm embrace.

You can’t hear some people applauding you from afar, nor feel the present flower scent around the place. But the lingering thought of your tattoos brushing against each other doesn’t leave your head anymore.

Rejuvenation of love. Lotus Festival is true to its word.

a/n: i confess, i love when boys are the one pining around.

© asunflowerana 2024 — all rights reserved.

[kykyonthemoon]

Fuzzy Antlers

After getting the Fuzzy Antlers accessories from the 30th stage of Deepspace Trial, you are so eager to try them on him.

🌻 Rafayel/ Xavier/ Zayne x F!Reader Tags: fluffs, soft, all things sweet. This fic was based on LI's reactions when they use the antlers in game. (See the end of this post for those reactions.)

Masterlist

Request a fic

𝑹𝒂𝒇𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒍

“What are you doing?”

Rafayel abruptly grabbed your wrist when you sneaked up to him from behind, holding a pair of antler-shaped hairpins - the reward that came after you successfully conquered the thirtieth floor of Deepspace Trial. You figured that after more than an hour of him looking at a blank canvas, he would appreciate a small break.

"What is this?" Rafayel enquired. He removed a clip from your grasp.

“Deer antlers.” You plopped down on the floor next to him and answered. After giving him the second one, you said, "For you."

“I know you've always had a thing for animals.” Rafayel's expression brightened to a smile. He pinned two deer antlers on his head, then turned to ask you: "How are they?" Do I look stunning?

You pulled a very serious expression. "Hmmm. They look very… Erm…”

Rafayel's expression changed from excitement to a pout. “Say no more. Judging from the look on your face, I already know how I look like.”

He stroked the two antlers on his head with his palms, got up, and strode over to the big mirror in the room's corner. Rafayel spent the next five minutes studying himself in the mirror, adjusting his hair and positioning his antlers more precisely.

"Come here."

He turned towards you, holding out a hand, signaling that he wanted you to come closer. You idly stood up and held his hand.

“Even when I'm a fish,” he said. “I must admit that I would make a magnificent deer. Don't you think so?”

You studied Rafayel's antlers carefully, then grabbed his chin to pull his face closer to you.

Rafayel opened his eyes wide in surprise, then grimaced. He also made a deer noise. “You use so much force. Are you aware that the deer you are holding is quite delicate?”

"I'm sorry. This deer is indeed fragile.”

Rafayel put his arms around your waist and positioned you between him and the mirror as you laughed. With his cheek resting on your head, he asked:

“Do you have another pair? I want us to wear them together. We're going to be the world's deerest couple!”

"Yes." You took out another pair of accessories from your pocket. Rafayel laid them delicately above your head. He stared at you two for a long time before pulling his phone out of his pocket to snap a picture of you two.

“If this goes up on your timeline, the stores that sell it will sell out!” You exclaimed.

"Obviously. I am really a trendsetter, as they put it." Rayafel smiled smugly in response. "Oh, now I see what I will sketch next. Thank you."

That being said, Rafayel lightly kissed your hair in the space between the antlers.

𝑿𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓

“Xavier, will you come here for a moment? I have something to tell you.”

Xavier's face appeared right behind the door when you called out to him. You signaled him to come closer and he then leaned down really close.

"What's the matter?"

Standing on tiptoe and holding two prepared antler-shaped hairpins in each hand, you clipped them directly onto Xavier's head while suppressing your laughter. With a scowl, he reached out to touch them.

"What are these things?"

Instead of responding immediately away, you drew him over to the room's mirror. Confused, Xavier enquired, "Are we going to some festival?"

"Yeah, we are." You laughed at the look on Xavier's face. His head covered in deer antlers made him appear really cute.

"Are costumes required for this festival?"

You gave a nod. There was, in fact, no event at all. You had to beat the thirtieth level of the Deeepspace Trial to obtain them, and then all of a sudden you imagined Xavier's expression when he wore them.

“Hmmm. Dressing up as an animal?…”

Xavier whispered to himself while still looking in the mirror. You could not help but raise a hand to touch the two antlers on his head, then he pulled your hand away.

“Are you going to… touch my antlers?”

"May I?"

“That's not very respectful to the deer.”

Xavier put on a stern face. You laughed. If you knew he liked role-playing so much, you would have bought you a few more items.

“So, Mister Deer,” You played along. “Are you fluent in deer language?”

Xavier frowned. “I know what you're going to do. Don't even think about it. I won't make deer noises."

“What a pity!” You deliberately let out a deep sigh. “There will be an animal noise contest at the upcoming festival. The prize is that expensive toaster we have planned to buy.”

Even though Xavier's eyes brightened up a little, he persisted in trying. After a while, when you messed with him enough, you decided to leave for lunch. But as soon as you turned away, you heard a very faint gurgling sound accompanied by a snort. Almost like a deer.

You looked back at where Xavier was sitting. His face was buried in his hands, but you could see the scarlet flush on his cheeks from the reflection in the mirror. You smiled triumphantly. You grinned victoriously. But before you had a chance to enjoy it too much, you were pulled back.

Xavier's face had gone from crimson to a terrifying mask of menace, as if he were about to hunt down a poor Wanderer. Still, his eyes gazing at you were gentle.

“It's your turn to be the deer. Do you think you can get away just like that?"

𝒁𝒂𝒚𝒏𝒆

“Please, Zayneee? Pretty pleaseeeee?”

Despite your insistence, Zayne just ignored you and continued typing on his keyboard.

“Let's do it for the kids, will you?”

You held two small deer antlers and approached him. Zayne frowned. He turned his chair around to face you.

"No."

He gave a chilly response. You had not given up yet. "Please! The festival is something that the pediatric patients are excited about. All the doctors and hospital staff are wearing costumes too. Nobody will make fun of you.”

"No." Zayne said it once more.

"You previously informed me that attending to a patient's mental health needs is equally as important as attending to their medical needs."

You were running out of reasons to make Zayne wear these antlers. After giving it some thinking, he inquired: 

"You want me to wear this just for the kids to see?"

At first you did not really understand what he meant, but when you did, your face became red.

“O-Of course it's not just that… I… I also want to see Dr. Zayne try cute things…”

Zayne sighed, but you swore you caught a smile across his face.

"Alright. But this is the last time I'll let you put absurd things on me.”

Hearing that, you smiled triumphantly. This definitely would not be the last time, as he also mentioned that the last time you had him wear a set of glowing devil horns. You quickly bent down to place two deer antlers in Zayne's hair. While they did not completely melt away his icy demeanor, they at least made him a little more approachable.

"Alright. You should have a quick look in the mirror."

"No need." Zayne replied. “I trust you to be responsible to keep an eye and correct them in any case, as long as they are on my head.”

You blinked in surprise. Zayne stood up, held your hand and walked out. The festival for pediatric patients at Akso hospital began in the warm spring weather. You also had a pair of deer antlers on your head. Wherever you went with Zayne, the kids followed, referring to you as Mommy Deer and Zayne as Daddy Deer. He did not respond much to that, but when no one was looking, he grinned to himself. And you were thrilled.

By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted but extremely happy. You followed Zayne into his office. As soon as the door closed, he drew you into his arms, resting his head on your shoulder. The antler on his head curled into your hair.

“Zayne? Is there something wrong?"

"You've spent the entire day today concentrating on the kids." His voice was so soft it made your heart skip a beat. “Could you spare a little with your deer now?”

Their reactions:

[forestofdragons]

Two main characters and one so forgettable his name was used twice!

Attempting to get more stylized now. Mostly via ✨accessories✨ and changing neck spines/spikes.

Now for the proper Design Ramblings!

Winter

He turned out so welllllll! I wanted him nice and spiky. Made it tricky to decide on spikes or fluff so I did my best to combine them and it turned out great!

Gave him nice big lashes because that’s basically a requirement

Love his jewelry, they came out especially good after coloring the lines.

Willow

Somehow I got convinced she had glasses in canon. But it’s fine they turned out cute, just pretend this is a post-book design lol

Finally got my idea for the leaf mane to work! Tried with Zelkova, but it worked better with willow leaves. They’re kinda like a horse mane it folds over one side of the neck.

Love how her horn grove things turned out!

Whitespeck

Decided to put him in greyscale. I thought how the wiki displayed dragons that don’t have mentioned designs was how they were colored. I didn’t have any particular ideas for him so yeah.

Also I totally didn’t put spikes on purpose. Didn’t forget and then was too lazy to add them. Nope. Intentional design element.

…..

And in general i’m experimenting with only some lines being colored. I prefer using mostly black lines as it’s easier but colored lines look very nice.

They really help making certain areas, like the underbelly, softer and help sell jewelry parts being metal and stuff like that.

And eyelashes were definitely want my eye design needed. I don’t think i’ll add it to everyone but for most.

[capybira]

First req? Carlos with someone who likes flowers and makes all sorts of stuff with flowers. etc flower crowns, bookmarks. Uh not sure if you do he/him reader but yeah. Give the boy a flower crown 😔

your lie in april

—————————————————————————

happy april fools >:)

masterlist

carlos madrigal x he/him reader

summary: reader is someone who owns a flower shop with his dad, his mom passed away some time ago. carlos madrigal always makes fun of him for selling flowers when isabela is here.

genre: angst + fluff?

NOT BETA READ

WARNINGS: mentioning the death of a parent, bullying

—————————————————————————

“Thanks for coming! Looking forward to seeing you next time.”

Ever since your mom passed away, you and your dad have been in charge of your family’s flower shop. Business has been doing well for the family until Isabela Madrigal was born, but some (like less than 10) people still come and buy flowers from you guys.

“Y/N’s making flower crowns again…”

“He’s just like his mom.”

“What’s the point? No one’s buying flowers from his little shop anyway. Who needs that when you’ve got Isabela?”

You always hear your name whispered amongst town folks, they think you don’t know. You do.

To be honest, you didn’t think of being a flower enthusiast as a big deal, but apparently Isabela Madrigal was, so you and your father became her so-called rival, as townsfolk would say. Of course, Isabela was nice to you and your dad, and you were too although you secretly disliked her for making the family business crumble.

And then there came the annoying Carlos Madrigal, who was even worse than Isabela. Carlos didn’t even bother trying to be nice to you, and he’s always the first one to point and laugh at you whenever you had a flower stand up at town square, selling hand-made accessories like earrings and flower bracelets.

“Why do you even sell them anyway? My prima can make all these in a second, no one’s going to buy trash, Y/N.”

You never understood why he was so rude when you’ve done nothing to him. Perhaps you’ve wronged him in your past life in some way, now all he does is give you misery. For some reason you don’t hate him, on the contrary you were determined to find out the reason why he disliked you so much.

In a way, you were interested in him. Sure he was mean to you, called you rude names, made fun of your family business, but deep down you believed it had something to do with his own troubles which he’d never reveal to people. However, your mixed feelings about Carlos quickly faded when an incident happened at school.

In memory of your mom, you always wore a flower bracelet she made for you when you were younger.

“Peonies represent good luck, mijo. They’re my favourite flowers too, I want you to have this.”

You’ve never taken it off ever since.

Minding your own business at school like any other day, you were walking to class when you accidentally bumped into a familiar, not-so-friendly looking boy in maroon clothing.

“Watch where you’re- oh? I see Y/N has decided to grace me with his presence today.” He sneered.

His friends beside him laughed, and your eyes remained fixated on the books you were holding, merely annoyed that you couldn’t live one peaceful day without Carlos Madrigal getting on your nerves.

You brushed it off, about to ignore what just happened and go to class as per usual, when you felt something get snatched off your wrist.

Oh no that bitch did not-

Pulling off your peony bracelet off your wrist swiftly, Carlos snatched it from your lingering wrist and waved it high up in the air.

“Why do you always wear this stupid bracelet anyway? Isn’t it about time you moved on?” He jeered. Carlos smirked and looked at his friends for approval, but to his surprise they were as shocked as you were.

That being so sudden, you didn’t know how to react. You stood in front of Carlos, staring at his hand in horror as he waved your bracelet in the air, out of your reach. You knew Carlos had his wicked schemes, but that was way too far.

“What? Cat got your tongue?” Carlos continued. Now more people are gathering around you two and his friends to see what the two of you were on about. A whirlwind of emotions rushed through your mind, and flashbacks of him making fun of you selling flowers, being rude for no reason, all built up a sudden rage inside of you. Who does he think he is?

Without thinking, you whacked your arm and punched Carlos straight in the face, your bracelet dropping from his hand and you snatching it right on time. Your bold action earned a few cheers and ‘ooo’s from the crowd, and you saw teachers rushing over but you quickly rushed away.

You just punched THE Carlos Madrigal in the face. You’re in big trouble.

To your surprise, Carlos didn’t come for you after the incident. On the contrary, he even stopped bullying you for some reason. You’d be at your stall at town square, hoping someone would come and take a look at your handmade flower crowns and bracelets, and catch Carlos staring from the corner of your eye. Stalker.

A week has passed since the incident, you and Carlos haven’t interacted. You were happy that he stopped bothering you, and you hated him for what he did. One day after school, you went to your usual spot under a big oak tree near your house. It was the place your mother taught you how to make flower related items and bouquets, and you always sat there weaving threads of vines and strings together, forming beautiful flower crowns.

You were busy weaving flowers together when you heard grass rustling, and to your surprise, Carlos stood a few feet away from you, staring. You were still furious about the incident and everything he did, so you ignored him.

The Madrigal walked closer to you and plopped down next to you, as if the two of you were friends. The rage inside of you burnt up again, and you were about to give him a good slap then leave, when you heard him mumble something.

“….”

You shifted your gaze and glared at Carlos. His eyes were looking at everything but you, as if he didn’t dare to.

“….Sorry.”

What? Did Carlos just apologise to you? This was too good to be true.

“Excuse me? Speak louder I couldn’t hear you over your messy ass hair.” you said, expression remaining unchanged as his eyebrows furrowed.

“…..I said I’m s-“

“Can’t hear you.”

“I said-

“Louder-“

“I SAID I’M SORRY! Jeez.”

Carlos finally looked up, frowning and crossing his arms, then leaning against the tree the two of you were sitting under.

“Don’t give me an attitude, Madrigal. I’m never going to forgive you.” you said sternly, going back to whatever you were working on.

Carlos turned his focus onto your hands, watching you as you carefully wire each flower stem onto the base. You were too focused to notice that he was staring, filling in empty spaces on the wire with flowers.

You finally stopped what you were doing for a second, relaxing your hands and shoulders from the hunched position you were in. You leaned against the tree like Carlos, and looked up at the sky.

“Why do you hate me?” you sighed.

Carlos frowned, picking his fingers as he pondered how to answer question. Truth is, he doesn’t hate you. He never did. He was annoyed that you kept making flowers when Isabela clearly dominated the flower making industry in Encanto, he hated how you never gave up on flowers even after your mom passed away, and he hated that he liked your passion so much. The reason why he kept making fun of you was because he was trying to get over thoughts of trying to get to know you better.

Guess no one’s ever told Carlos that being mean to his crush is not the way to get noticed.

“I don’t hate you. I just- don’t understand why you keep making flowery shit when no one buys anything from your store.” Carlos rolled his eyes. “Full offence,” he added, regaining his cocky personality.

“I like making them, and so did my mom. I don’t see why that’s a big problem to you.” you stated, turning your head and looking at him.

Your eyes met his emerald ones, the two of you making direct eye contact which isn’t because of arguing for the first time. The awkward tension between you two quickly faded when the two of you looked away after a few seconds. You felt something that you shouldn’t have felt. Feelings? No way. Not for the boy who’s been bullying you for as long as you could remember.

“I know. My point is, I’m sorry. Genuinely. I’ve already apologised so whatever happens now is your problem.” Carlos said, getting up from the grass.

“Before you leave, take this.”

You handed him an aconite, holding in your laughter as he stared at the flower you were holding towards him in confusion.

“What’s this?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“It’s an aconite! It’s poisonous and it represents hatred.” you smiled innocently. Watching him quickly throwing the flower onto the ground and stomping on it, horrified.

“You fucker-“

Miraculously, that’s how the friendship between you and Carlos blossomed. Over an aconite.

You and Carlos started making small talk at school, even sitting together at lunch a couple times. You have no idea how that happened but you weren’t opposed to it. For some reason Carlos started becoming interested in flowers, asking you what flowers mean and giving you the ones that mean weird things to prank you. You’ve grown to his presence and secretly forgave him for everything.

“Since when did you become friends with flower boy, Madrigal? Thought you hated him.”

One of the boys you recognise as Peter was talking to Carlos in the hallway. You knew him because him and Carlos used to be close. To your surprise, Carlos shrugged and replied with “He’s tolerable.”, put his hands in his pockets and walked away.

Oh? You smiled to yourself. The fact that he doesn’t hate you made you happy for some reason. Maybe Carlos wasn’t such a bad person after all.

On Carlos’ birthday, he asked you to hang out, and you agreed since he was being nice for the first time. The two of you met underneath the same tree where the two of you became friends.

“Unhappy birthday, tonto.” you teased, waving at Carlos as he arrived.

“Fuck you Y/N…” Carlos rolled his eyes, unable to hide a smile curving from his lips.

The two of you sat down under the tree, talking about the most random things you could think of. Carlos asked you about flowers, and you had a mini kit that you carry with you everywhere, just so you could make something anytime.

Carlos was amazed that you knew so much about flowers and their meanings. Even Isa wouldn’t know this shit. He kept staring at you dumbfounded as you blabbered on about flowers. For some reason it was interesting to him. He liked the way you get excited whenever you went on about flower meanings and your next flower crafting ideas. Your hangouts together was basically an endless guide to flowers 101, while he sat and listened. Something about your passion made him like you. A lot.

“Oh I almost forgot, this is for you.”

Carlos was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw you reaching for your bag, fumbling around with the inside. You took out a beautiful flower crown made with lilies and roses. Each flower was wrapped around in a golden wire with detail, and connecting the two ends was a bow tied with translucent, maroon fabric that matched his usual attire.

Carlos looked down at the flower crown, not saying a single word. Fuck. He doesn’t like it. You nervously bit the insides of his cheek, waiting for a response. Carlos finally broke the silence, looking up at you. He carefully took the flower crown from your hands and grazed the petals on it. Whew. He doesn’t hate it, thank god. You mentally kicked yourself since you thought it wasn’t good enough. Given his reaction, it probably wasn’t the best birthday gift ever. Not to mention he already makes fun of you for making flower crowns.

“Um, want me to help you put it on?” you offered, anxiously tapping the tip your finger on your other hand. Carlos nodded, face flushed as he avoided eye contact with you. Carlos Madrigal blushing wasn’t something you’d expect to see, not in front of you at least. He looked adorable, the redness on his cheeks nearly blending in with his freckles.

You took the flower crown from his hand, then stretched your arms and placed it on his head. You were focused on his hair, pushing away locks that kept getting in the way as you tried to secure the flower crown onto his head. Your chin was basically touching Carlos’ face as your head was looking upwards. The two of you were closer to each other than ever.

“Carlos, your hair keeps getting in the way-” you groaned, struggling to make the flower crown fit perfectly on his head since the boy has so much hair. It was fluffy and curly, you were trying so hard to resist ruffling it.

“It fits, just stop messing with my hair.” Carlos said. His cheeks were red. Thank god you weren’t looking at him, otherwise the poor boy would be exposed.

“I know it fits, I just want it to fit perfectly yanno?”

You were about to fix another strand of his hair when you felt a pair of cold hands on your cheek, gently pulling you downwards as you let go of his flower crown due to the sudden interruption.

Carlos moved your head downwards abruptly, cupped your cheeks and pressed his chapped lips against yours. It happened so sudden that you didn’t know how to react, but you kissed back as if you’ve longed for this moment since forever. And secretly, you did.

Carlos pulled away after a few seconds, looking at your dazed expression. You darted your eyes, flustered and refusing to believe what just happened. Why did he do that? What the fuck? The amount of questions you had in your mind stopped your mouth from functioning.

It took a few seconds for Carlos to register what he just did. Staring at the ground, mouth agape, his heart was beating faster than ever.

“Shit. shit shit shit oh my GOD.” Carlos slapped his hands onto his head, running them down his face as he groaned loudly. “I didn’t- I’m sorry I don’t know why I did that.” Trying to cover his reddening face. You can’t help but laugh at the way he was panicking.

“Oh so this is funny to you? Okay Y/N.” Carlos mumbled, nervousness turning into embarrassment as you giggled.

“I take that you like your gift? And me as well?” you teased, smirking at him.

“Obviously, tonto.” He smiled sheepishly, rolling his eyes and touching the petals on his head once more. This was the best birthday he’s ever had, all because of you. Carlos leaned in and kissed you once more, and you kissed him back, smiling.

~

Months have passed since you and Carlos finally stopped hiding your feelings for each other. Your feelings for each other grew since then, but so did your illness.

Your mother died because of some illness which had no cure, and your family didn’t know it was an inherited disease. Death took you away when everyone least expected it.

A familiar silhouette walked up to your grave, which was now filled with different types of flowers.

“RIP Y/N, may you continue to blossom in the afterlife.”

Kneeling down, Carlos placed a flower crown in front of your grave. You taught him how to make those, and he’s never stopped trying to make you a perfect one ever since. This one was made out of roses and peonies. Two of the flowers you loved the most.

Sometimes he wondered what would happen if the two of you had more time. Maybe if he didn’t bully you in the first place, the two of you could’ve had more time. Carlos Madrigal has had many regrets in his life, and treating you the way he did was one of his biggest ones. Loving you wasn’t.

“I miss you, Y/N. I love you.”

—————————————————————————

A/N: i am so sorry for this-i loved this request so much that i had to add a painful ending, and sorry anon for taking so much time writing this🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️ my search history has been ‘flower meanings’ for the past week😭 anyway i hope you enjoyed reading this!:)

[eli-elien]

My favorite lil glorbo from my brain-or uh oc lmao

He's still in the concept stage but what do yall think wanted to give him robbin hood/snufkin vibes but pinker (bc pink is one of my fave colors and Eli here is semi based off of myself...)

I'll spout some lil facts abt him!

• He has "bad luck" ever since he was a kid but like the breaking his bones alot and once again getting struck by lightning. 

• He's very creative with coming up new lil things to create, maybe he learns how to blacksmith or maybe how to make accessories from Naofumi either way he make his lil things and sells em

• They are insane, mentally deranged just what is going on in that head of yours? Either it's just as empty as his eyes or so full of stuff he HAS to blabber on abt. He is the type to say something unhinged while still smiling, also fact that he definitely already has enough issues ha ha

• he is just as a mess when it comes to romance as much as Naofumi so...them just being dumbasses and thinking "yeah this is just a guy that I think is pretty and I'd risk my life for to save yep just bros." 

• his favorite animals are cats, foxes and crows ( renard means fox in french )

• a lil fact abt his character design! His hat looks like fox ears and his hair kinda looks like a foxes cheek fluffs along with over sharp facial features making him kinda foxy, he also has feathers lined on his cape and a crow buckle on his belt

• the white in his hair was from the lightening but grew more due to stress from his world the new one

( thoughts @shieldherostuffs on my boy 👉👈)

[ijustwant2write]

Different Worlds-Fred Weasley x Muggle! Reader

(GIF credit to @avocadosalad2​)

Masterlist

Prompts List

Requested by anonymous: 'Could you do a Fred Weasley after the war imagine (where he doesn’t die) and he falls in love with a muggle'

Summary: (Y/N) may be a muggle, but she was introduced to the hidden magical world once she realised her best friend was a witch. Years later, after they have both graduated, she finds herself drawn towards the magic, as well as a particular person.

Characters: Fred Weasley x Reader, George Weasley x Reader (platonic)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Lots and lots of fluff

(A/N: Beatrice is a made up character)

                                        *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As I stirred the milk into the mug of tea, I continued listening to Beatrice babble on about the rude man on the train, who had insisted that she was sat in his seat, when she had clearly reserved it. I smiled, picking up the mugs and heading back into the living room, handing one to her. She blew on it, testing how hot it was before taking a tiny sip.

“But anyway, enough about twats in London.” Bea waved her hand.“I’ve got some exciting news!”

“Yeah? What is it?” I put down my own mug, ready to squeal and jump about with her.

“You know that shop I had my eye on?”

“The one in um...oh what’s it called? Diagonal street?”

She laughed.“Diagon Alley.”

“Ah, right.”

“Anyway, I went for another viewing the other week, and I got a letter through this morning to say that it is now mine!”

I grabbed her hands, squeezing them.“That’s fantastic! Oh my god, you’ve been wanting your own shop since we were kids!”

“I know! I’ve already had new flooring put down, it’s just been painted too. Now all that’s left is to organise how I want the furniture and to put stock out on display.”

Bea had always loved her fashion when she was younger. She would always complain about how basic her uniform was (even pointing out how boring muggle uniform was as well), and always added different accessories or made her own clothes. This hobby carried on, she became a great seamstress (the magic probably helped), knowing that this was something she wanted to do. Now she was opening a clothes shop that would also sell things like accessories, notebooks, pens etc. 

“I’m so happy for you.” I hugged her.

“You know, I am going to need help moving in...”

“Wait, you want me to come with you?”

Bea nodded.

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“No, don’t be silly! You’re with me, and you’re only visiting. Plus you’ve known about all of this since we were twelve. I haven’t used the Obliviate spell on you, and I’m still not in trouble.”

“Sorry, you haven’t what?”

“Don’t worry about it. So, you want to accompany me to little old Diagon Alley?”

A couple of days later, Beatrice visited me again, leading me out of my little flat and onto the tube. We practically had to go to the other side of London, making me feel bad when she visited me all those times. When we finally got off, and after walking for another ten minutes, we stood in front of an abandoned building stuck between a record and book shop. Glancing at Bea, who was staring at the uninviting building, I wondered what I had got myself into.

“Uh, Bea, we’re not going in there are we?” I asked as she dragged me towards it.

“Just trust me.”

She pushed open the door, which made a worrying creaking noise, and I was scared that if we shut it too hard, the whole place would collapse. However, instead of a dusty room with broken floor boards and bending beams, we seemed to be in a pub. There were a few people already in here, sat at various tables with their drinks. A worker walked past, waving their hand which made some scattered chairs tuck underneath the table. My eyes widened as I watched, realising that I had stepped into a different world. Beatrice laughing at me brought me back into reality as she held onto my hand again. 

“Alright Tom?” She called out to the bartender.

“Ah, here once again Beatrice? Oh, this the muggle you were on about?” he replied as he leaned against the bar.

“Yep, this is she. I’m taking her to the shop, which I now own!”

“Ah, congratulations! Head on back then.”

They said their goodbyes and I was being steered away again, this time outside. There was a wall blocking us, and to anyone else it would be a dead end, but I knew something was about to happen. Bea revealed her wand, tapping it around a part of the wall where bricks were missing. Stepping back, my eyes widened as the bricks started moving, separating to reveal a busy street. 

“Oh, this is just too precious. Wish I had captured the moment.” Bea said.

I must have stuck out like a sore thumb; I couldn’t shut my mouth, checking out everything around me, eyebrows furrowing as my mind tried to comprehend how this was possible. Men and women passed me in long robes, some sporting the stereotypical witches hats. There were broomsticks, animals such as owls and cats, things floating by me. My brain was well and truly frazzled. 

As we came to Bea’s new shop, I was still in awe, my eyes landing on a bright orange shop, with an animatronic of a man who was putting on a top hat. I could see lots of younger children in there. Explosions of light appeared, objects were flying around, I could hear the laughter across the street.   

“Kind of hard to miss right?” Bea giggled as she unlocked the shop. 

“Yeah. Looks amazing in there.”

“That’s Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. I went to school with the guys who own it. Onto more important matters, after you.”

I walked into the shop, grinning as I looked around. It wasn't huge, but it had a vintage look to it; the floor was a dark wood, and the walls were painted a lighter cream colour to contrast it. Currently it was empty, in one corner were mannequins, display tables and railings to hang the clothes on.

"I've got everything mapped out, I just need to move bits around." Bea said.

"It's going to look great when it's finished. I bet you're so excited to open."

"Are you OK by the way? I just realised how much this must all be."

"I love it here! I'm surrounded by magic, what more could I want?"

We spent the next few hours moving the furniture around, trying out new things to see what worked, where it would be best to display the stock. People passed by the window in large groups, but now there were less, the sun was going down, and shop owners were starting to close up. We followed suit, putting everything back in the corner before leaving the shop.

"Hello neighbour." a man called out across the street.

We turned around, seeing a tall man in a suit outside of the shop I noticed upon arrival.

"Oh, I forgot I would be seeing you every day." Bea groaned, obviously joking.

"You don't have to lie to me, we're one of the reasons you bought the place."

Bea began walking towards him, I followed behind."Fred, this is (Y/N). She's a friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you." he smiled.

"You too." I replied, wishing I didn't sound so quiet.

"Already got your staff sorted then?"

"(Y/N)'s an old friend of mine. I had to show her the shop. And Diagon Alley."

Fred caught on, realising that I wasn't a witch."Oh, right. Welcome to the other side."

"Thanks. It's been amazing so far."

“Well, it couldn’t have been that good, I didn’t see you in our shop today.”

“He’s so humble, isn’t he?” Bea rolled her eyes.“Well, that’s just another reason for her to come tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“I look forward to seeing you then.” Fred casually winked before saying goodbye to us both, realising his name was being called from the shop. 

“OK, what just happened?” I gasped, feeling extremely flushed.

“Those Weasley boys are natural flirts. But that was very interesting.”

“There’s more of them?!”

Bea just shook her head, looping her arms through mine as she lead me away from the shop, telling (not asking) me to return with her again tomorrow. I didn’t hesitate to say yes. 

With Bea unaware, I had immediately gone to choose an outfit for the next day as soon as I made it home. I just wanted to look a little more presentable, it definitely wasn’t because I wanted to present myself well in front of anyone. Once I had decided on a casual outfit, though something that still showed I had put some effort in, I settled down for the night, lying on the sofa with my dinner. Even with the TV on in the background, I couldn’t concentrate on the programme. It felt strange to be back in my world, not surrounded by magic. I was half expecting objects in my flat to start moving by themselves. 

Bea had told me about her being a witch when she received her letter to Hogwarts. I wasn’t supposed to know, especially at a young age, but Beatrice had been so scared to lose our friendship. Her parents were muggles, so where the magic came from was a mystery. I missed her extremely, hating that Hogwarts was a boarding school. But once Bea was old enough to use magic outside of school, she graced me with all the spells she learnt, it was so enchanting to watch. Bea had returned to the muggle world for a few years once she finished her education, but now that her dream of owning a shop was coming true, she wouldn’t be living near me anymore; that’s what was really weighed on my mind.

Bea and I returned to her shop the next morning. I didn’t mention anything of my thoughts from the night before, not wanting to ruin the day. Seeing the other shop owners setting up for the day set a different atmosphere, some who were outside greeted us along the way. Bea got out her keys, but hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly worried.

“Nothing. I just think we should pay my fellow businessmen a visit.” she said, a wide smile on her face.

“No, cause you’ll just embarrass me!” I whined.

“No I won’t. Honestly, you need to see their shop, it’s bizarre.”

I knew she had a scheme planned, but part of me wanted to go along with it. As we approached, I glanced at my reflection in the window, tucking away any strands of hair that had fallen out of my up-do. Before we could knock on the door, Fred appeared, swinging it wide open.

“Ah, our most loyal customers are here.” He grinned letting us in.

“Good morning George.” Bea waltzed in.

Oh, this was his twin. 

“Fred has told me all about you, (Y/N), right?” George extended his hand.

I shook it as I nodded.“Yes, Sorry, I forgot you there were two of you for a moment.”

“Double trouble is what they are.” Bea mumbled.

“Welcome to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes!” he exclaimed, presenting grandly with his arm. 

Cautiously walking around, I ducked out of the way as a Frisbee flew past me, smiling at what looked like mini fireworks before scrunching my nose up at a box labelled ‘Puking Pastels’. I explored everywhere, going upstairs to search further. The amount of jokes and prank items they had seemed endless. Looking over the railing, I saw Bea chatting away to George. It made me wonder where Fred was, but that question was soon answered.

“Do you come here often?” Fred slid up to me, leaning beside me on the railing.

I chuckled.“Funnily enough, this is my first time here. And did you really just use that line on me?”

“Works every time.” he winked, causing me to look away as I blushed. 

“This shop is amazing Fred.” I sighed in content.“Are those really Love Potions down there?”

“Ah, caught your eye?”

“I mean, how could it not? Doesn’t everyone want a love potion to make their lives so much easier?”

“It’s not permanent. Besides, falling in love is the fun part.”

I didn’t question if he had been in love. It was too soon to be asking things such as that. 

Fred continued.“Can’t believe Bea waited so long to bring you here. She talks about you all the time.”

“She does?”

“Yep. I probably know more about you than you think.”

My eyes widened jokingly.“I don’t know if that’s good or not.”

“It’s very good, trust me.”

“I don’t think I would ever want to leave now. Couldn’t stop smiling when I was home.”

Fred opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Bea calling up to us.“Come on you two, it’s my turn now.”

Not knowing what she meant, we headed downstairs, realising that Bea wanted to show the twins her shop. Making our way across the road, Fred and I walked behind the others as they continued talking, even as Bea unlocked the shop. 

“I mean, you’ve still got quite a bit of work to do Bea.” George joked as they walked around the empty space.

“I know that. But that’s why I have (Y/N) here to help me.” She smiled at me.

“It’s a good space. You got everything planned?” Fred asked.

“Yeah, we moved the furniture around a few times yesterday, so I’ve got options. And of course I had my wonderful assistant to help.”

“She didn’t even buy me a drink after.” I said.

“I can pay you.”

“What? Don’t be silly.”

“No, I’m serious. Because I need to know if I have to put you on the payroll.”

“Bea, what are you saying?”

She grinned but I could see she was nervous.“How would you like to work here with me?”

My mouth dropped wide open, eyes bulging out of my head. I was shocked, speechless even. Out of the corner of my eye I saw George nudge his brother, smirking at him as Fred looked annoyed.

“Oh, this is making me anxious.” Bea whispered, gripping her hands together despite her happy expression.

“You really want me to work here? But where would I live?”

“With me obviously!”

“Is that allowed?”

“Yes, I checked. Oh (Y/N) please, you always say you’re not happy with your job and that you want to live somewhere nicer.”

“I’ve never said that.”

“OK, but I can tell you’re not entirely happy.”

I took a deep breath as I smiled.“Bea, I would love to work here.” She squealed, running towards me and throwing out her arms, embracing me tightly. I squeezed her back, feeling very emotional. Bea wanted me here. She trusted me to live in this world of hers, she wanted to share her dream with me.

“Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.” George said as Bea and I ended the hug.

“Looks like.” I wiped my eyes, hoping I didn’t look like a sap for crying.

“Right,” Bea put her hands on her hips,“well, we best get on with the day. Catch you boys later?” 

They nodded, already making their way out. Bea smiled at me one last time, disappearing into the backroom. As I looked around the space, I noticed Fred still by the door, hesitating to walk out.

“You alright there Fred?” I asked, approaching him.

“Yeah...um,” he closed the door, coming inside again,“so,now that you’re living here, once you’re settled that is....do you fancy going out sometime?”

I was taken back, flustered which caused me to stutter.“Uh, y-yeah, I-I would love to!”

He nodded, pleased with the answer.“Good, it’s a date then.”

I awkwardly waved as he left, watching him enter his own shop. He turned around, seeing me still looking, sending yet another wink my way. He already knew how to embarrass me. Feeling my heart flutter, I slowly turned around, only to see Bea standing there.

“Oh, I am so good at playing Cupid.”

[tiniestjellifish]

Fresh (2022) | hulu

Okay, so this is a film I would recommend to anyone trying to have a deep dive into Sebastian Stan’s filmography outside of his work on Marvel films or any of his involvement in the MCU. I think in all honesty this might’ve been the first film of his I watched or acting in general that wasn’t his portrayal as Bucky Barnes.

And it was excellent. He has such an addicting trait about the performance he puts on. And I will be honest in saying that carried a lot of the film. 

The movie follows Noa, who from the jump is experiencing dating problems. She’s on the dating apps and having a horrid time. I think this set up was a little force fed but i can also see it as them getting straight to the point. I just feel like there could’ve been maybe 2 mins of fluff and then you’re like ‘okay what’s wrong with her life?’ for you to then find out that it’s about her lack of a love life.

regardless, this is true, and you see her lose hope in said apps. she then meets “Steve” (Sebastian Stan), seemingly organically at the grocery store. and he seems like the perfect guy on paper.  so they go on a few dates, and honestly not more than what I would believe to be 2 weeks into the timeline of the movie, he invites her on a getaway weekend. as you can imagine, this does not go well for her and she ends up being abducted by “Steve”. 

And you find out, the reason for him abducting her isn’t something like sex trafficking but he’s selling body parts of women to the 1% as gourmet meals and also has hints of it being a fetish thing. 

at this point of the film, I will say that it becomes a bit much for a person to watch if you have a problem with gore. because I know I do, and while the exterior “body parts” looked more on the fake side, they did use real meat for chopping scenes and just about anything else that would need to pertain to pretending to sell body parts of women. 

And another kicker, is these women aren’t killed the second they get there. they are kept alive, and eventually sold off piece by piece. so they can be “fresh”,,, hah ha,, thats so funny? yeah, idk a little stupid but whatever. they do name drop the title in that corny way, which I always feels takes a bit of credibility away from a film. 

anyhow, there are definitely some things I didn’t care for in the movie. aside from the gore, which is personal, they fell into a nasty trope/cliche. they have a black female eccentric and loud outspoken bestfriend come save the day. and honestly, they doubled down on the brownie points by having her be queer. and for what this film is trying to do, I find it a little bothersome.

While I haven't seen the movie Men, from the understanding I have of it, its a film that fell flat while trying to get across the point of feminism and just overall almost satirical approach to the idea that men alone, are horrifying. 

I think this movie could rival it and do a much better job, its never the center focus of the movie, but in little ways they allude to the roles women often take on in relationships. whether it be out of societal expectation, influence or assigned place. 

they show this incredibly well with “Steve” (Brendan, you find out this is his real name)’s wife, Ann. She was a previous victim of his that he took a liking to, which you figure out by her leg being amputated as well as a note she presumably wrote in a magazine Steve allows Noa to read. And the note insinuates, if he's letting you read the magazine, he’s fond of you. and to use it to your advantage. but even having been in the same place as Noa. She has a false sense of security, she’s in on the whole scheme. she’d rather be an accessory to the downfall of these other women because she was “picked” than to do something about it. she has kids with this man. and towards the end of the film (SPOILER) Brendan is murdered by Noa, her bestfriend, and a girl she befriended while being held captive. and after this event, Ann still fully intends to run this business that is built off the suffering of women, and actually tries to kill Noa, because she's so in deep that she’s blinded to the fact that she’s been lost in the fog of the whole business.

This film doesn’t accomplish anything grand, but it’s different. very different. it doesn’t follow very many tropes in comparison to other thriller movies. while I think it lacks rewatch value, it was a spectacle to watch the first time around. I think its starting to scratch the surface of what new ideas can be brought to thrillers/horror. something based a little more in reality but still dystopian, sort of like Jordan Peele films.

Rating: 6.8/10

[hanibalistic]

#4148F1 | HWANG HYUNJIN.

genre | fluff, friends au

word count | 1089

warning | none

note | hello! i finally got around to this one! the fluff is rather mild, i have to say, but i did incorporate someone reading something to someone else (not explicitly, but it is in there). anyway, i hope you like this, anonie <3

request | from anon 

you could hear soft piano notes playing at the back whenever you see hyunjin.

you were never sure why. this less-than-intriguing phenomenon did not happen overnight either. the musical notes did not start playing the second you met him—it took a while, a long while after you two became closer friends and it seemed that you both have seamlessly opened yourself up to each other.

that was when the piano started to gradually flow; you were unable to hear them at first, but it has been getting more audible lately.

opening the door to the school rooftop, you quickly basked in the sight of the night sky as you closed the heavy door behind you—how early the sun falls during winter, it was only five-thirty. after the faint acknowledgment, your eyes immediately returned from the sky and you searched for the figure you have been waiting to meet—hyunjin.

jisung sent you up here to get him so they could rehearse one last time for the performance this weekend. you were unsure what happened, but you reckoned there might have been a short head-butting about the choreography that made hyunjin leave the practice room and cool down upstairs.

the rooftop. you learned that it was one of his many favorite places because nobody bothered him here.

"penny for your thoughts, friend?"

hyunjin slowly turned toward the sound of your voice. his train of thoughts was forced to a halt, so was his solace of admiring the faint traces of stars in the night sky, but his usual routine of getting annoyed that somebody had come to interrupt his alone time strangely packed its suitcases and left him when his gaze landed on you.

being alone certainly brought him calmness, but being with you, he had come to the realization a time ago, also gifted him a certain joy he couldn't fathom when being with other people.

it was different, everything was. the kind of happiness your presence alone brings is carefully crafted by his growing affection for you, woven together with your great mind and soul, deliberately attached like a pin to his heart.

he realized he does like being around you.

"a penny won't be enough to purchase my thoughts," hyunjin replied with a lazy grin, turning away to look back at the sky again. "i'll sell them for a dollar."

"a dollar..." you huffed out, leaning against the fence like he was. "alright, i'll give you a dollar, but tell me what happened down in the music room instead."

he stayed silent for a moment, flashes of recollection flooding into his mind before he heaved a heavy sigh and shrugged. "it just... i was nothing. i was just feeling under the weather because my song isn't working out the way i want it to."

you hummed then, a curious hum that showed your surprise. turning to look at him, your eyes were wide when you asked, "a song? i didn't know you compose!"

"yeah, jisung usually handles that, i know," hyunjin said, waving his hand dismissively. "but i wanted to try my hand at it too, so i stuck myself at the piano and tried to write something."

"and?"

"i'm not very sure i like my lyrics," he said, pursing his lips together.

you nodded in acknowledgment, your brows furrowing faintly in sympathy. it wasn't something you could help him with, you weren't exactly an expert in the producing department. you have always been more of a designer for this impromptu high school idol group—the outfits, accessories, everything was made by you.

but the music? oh, no, not the music.

"what do you have right now?" you asked.

he seemed frozen in place immediately, his muscles tensing up at the possibility of showcasing his creation. but then he relaxed, realizing that if he was ever going to get approval, he would have to show it to someone, and he'd rather you be the first person rather than anybody else.

(it was mostly because of your lack of knowledge in music, but it was also because he liked you better.)

"i can read it to you if you want." he tested the waters as he pulled out a folded sheet of paper from his pants pocket.

you gestured for him to continue, leaning your weight against the fence and waiting for him to speak. half of you wanted him to sing the song, but you supposed just having his willingness to show you his first song was good enough and you shouldn't push your luck too far.

his voice was soft as the hallucinations of piano playing at the back. you could hear it again, vividly but gently this time. the two sounds danced around each other to create such a song you wondered if it could be his, you wondered if you have been coincidentally hallucinating a song that he has created in secret simply because you two were friends made to act just like soulmates.

"i think it sounds good," you commented hastily after he finished, looking at him with a smile. "of course, that is to say, if your melody suits the lyrics too."

"are you saying i might destroy my own song?" he asked, giving you a playful glare.

"no, i'm sure you will be fine," you laughed. "but you need to trust yourself more, hyunjin. you are good at this. people won't like you if you're not."

his insides warmed like a custom-made fireplace he could just lay down and sleep near. the way you always knew what to say, but you never took that skill for granted and manipulate others; the way you knew what to say and only say it when you mean it was just admirable to him. and he knew that was one of the reasons why he was so fond of you.

you are honest, and fun to be around, and in exchange for his beloved solidarity, he found you the only best replacement.

he was right. you have always been different.

"thank you," he whispered.

you smiled at him, then you frowned.

"oh, but you won't be, though, if you don't go back to the music room soon. i think seungmin is about to explode if practice gets dragged on for one more minute."

"noted, i will... tell them i will come down soon," hyunjin muttered under his breath as he turned back to the stars. "i need another moment to think."

he didn't tell you, but he was hoping you would join him.

[mangomochi-yn]

[pretty setters tie your hair]

all of haikyuu’s pretty setters x reader

g. v self indulgent fluff wc. 9-12 bullets/ea

contains. sugawara k., kageyama t., atsumu m., oikawa t., semi e., akaashi k., shirabu k., kenma k.

sugawara

starting with this sweetheart ✨

will use pink or baby blue elastics!!

yknow that one mom that does rad hairstyles but you can literally see the child’s scalp?

yeah thats him

he’ll do like a two half ponies that meet into one big pony

but then you feel like your hairs gonna rip off 💀 (yeah this for sure won’t come off throughout the day)

you don’t have the heart to tell him cause he looks so satisfied and happy with tho so 😔

but bear with it and he’ll give you a sweet smile and kiss to your (now very clean) forehead!!

all in all 8/10 and a hug where you nuzzle his neck (hard enough to loosen some strands hopefully) 😁

kageyama

😬 awkward baby!

very very hesitant when you ask and is for sure like nah no thank u

but a few pouts and puppy eyes and he’ll give 😉

and boy suprise suprise!!

he’s actually decent

pretty good actually 👌

(maybe cause he has a big sis that he might’ve seen tie her hair a few times)

so he would’ve been perfect even but alas... the boy’s awkwardness degrades it a bit

this boy he literally avoids touching your neck for some reason

and ur like wat

so 7/10 dont forget to give him thank you kisses 😘

atsumu

ugh love this man but bitch right of the bat 2/10 and maybe a punch to the face 👊

this boi is the devil i tell ya

“eh? ya can’t even tie yer own hair? lol what a scrub”

“fuc u tsumu it’s supposed to be cute” 😠

so. many. loose. ends.

and you don’t even get how cause hes so harsh??

he accidentally tugs your ear and laughs as he “apologizes”

clowns you so much too sayin your hair strands look fat 😪 (like not thick but fat)

literally you look like a clown in the end

and you didn’t even know you could look that sloppy

oikawa

then we have pretty boi... 🙃

could’ve been a solid 7.5 but bitch

does the u g l i e s t hairstyles

(you should’ve known when he agreed so easily and excitedly)

like boy you really do your own hair so nice but no justice for me?? where is the love..

says he’s “experimenting” 🤦‍♀️

and uses 15 different colored elastics and makes you look like a sprinkler (little did you know he was going for an alien look)

like his ties were actually nice and neat but cause of the ugly hairstyle they end up messy and youre just agshdhshshd

laughs manically the whole time 😑

6/10 and a harsh pinch to the waist (boi even had the auDaciTy to complain when u re-tie it)

semi

this babe 💔

he’s... not very good

but does his best!!

gets a bit frustrated too cause like when a strand falls and he goes to pick it up another that was already in his hand falls and hes like 😠 ??? (that one pout he makes)

(so maybe dont ask him again cause poor thing)

(he ties with his fingers wide open like he tryna toss your head or sumn)

compliments a lot tho so you’re like 🥺 ily

“your hair’s really soft babe” “your shampoo smells good too” ughh big phat uwu busted 💕

takes his time choosing the cutest accessory to make up for how its.. not looking too nice

so 6/10 and his fave tuna rolls cause baby deserves it!!

akaashi

ah. here he is

the perfect one™

basically suga but so much more gentle

no hesitation when you ask him too (mama im in love 🥰)

styles aren’t too intricate unlike suga so theres that

theyre v simple but like he still makes them so nice

and the way he softly threads his fingers as he brushes your hair to untangle them before starting?? 😭

idek what else to say man is perfect just 💍

smiles softly when you turn around to face him

so yes 10/10 and my whole heart forever thanks 🙏

shirabu

ma big brains boy 💜

tough part is to get him to do it

he’ll literally sneer and youre like 🙂 bitch

so bug him some more and he’ll give (or if you pretend to ask someone else lol)

then youre ready for the tugs and pain but actually you’re met with... pure gentleness?

👁👄👁 “r u starting already?”

“uhm yeah duh”

soft touches here and there and you literally melt

(sometimes u think he’s being a lazy tease but nah he just doesn’t wanna hurt u)

sadly though this makes it a bit sloppy but like the experience by itself was just👌

try to ask him to redo it and he’ll just roll his eyes

so 8/10 do not ever try to redo it yourself cause if you do he will never do it again after

kenma

ashdhfjskkl lastly our bby boi!! 🥰

lemme tell u 9/10!!!

baby boi has long hair himself so he will be good!

has perfected the messy but cute and effortless look

(cause that is literally him— effortlessly cute)

only tough part is finding an opportunity to ask him

like he won’t say no but whenever hes gaming (aka 24/7) hes just so 🥺 how do you interrupt that

so ya gotta wait till hes walking back from the bathroom or something!!

and he’ll be like oh okay sure

very nimble and soft movements

though it ends too quick cause boy knows what hes doin already 😔

overall, anytime you get him to do it is a blessing in itself. a literal slice of heaven. so never take it off

a/n. all these boys are all the dream boys just saying and i would gladly sell my soul to have hair my tied by any one of them thanks

[lonelyyinchicago]

giving sirius the childhood he deserves part 5

there was a loud bang from the kitchen and remus jumped up from the sofa and burst into the kitchen.

“you can’t drink champagne - it’s half nine in the morning.”

sirius shrugged, his lips already around the bottle.

“sorry, do you want some?”

“i-”

remus had obviously never liked his

mother-in-law, but watching his husband celebrate her death was something else. he felt a weight leave both of their shoulders.

“i’ll throw this away then” remus said, gesturing with the letter.

sirius stumbled towards him with his hand outstretched, half the bottle already gone.

he shook his head: “i’m going to frame it.”

“maybe you should phone regulus. see how he is?”

before remus could turn back around to hand over the phone, sirius had apparated. he arrived in the potter’s apartment and promptly threw up on the rug.

he looked over his shoulder sheepishly before heading into the kitchen to find the cleaning cupboard. interrupting the domestic bliss of his younger brother, who was stood with his back to him at the sink, sirius cleared his throat.

regulus turned around in surprise. sirius didn’t say anything as he skirted around the edge of the room toward the cleaning cupboard. regulus’ eyebrows drew together as sirius gathered the bleach and ran out of the room before anyone saw the mess he’d made.

regulus followed him out into the lounge watching as sirius fell to his knees, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

“what?”

“haven’t you heard? reg-” sirius paused, trying to find softer words with which to deliver the news. “reg, mum’s dead.”

“oh.”

regulus sat down in the middle of the sofa, feeling it’s emptiness on either side.

“she was ill anyway” he said quietly after a minute.

“i’m sorry.” the words didn’t come easily to sirius, but he made an effort for his brother. “where’s james?”

“out - on a run” regulus added, as sirius opened his mouth.

“do you want me to do anything?” sirius asked tentatively.

regulus replied with his own question.

“what do we do with the house?”

“well i don’t want it.”

“we should go see it though, right? see if there’s anything there we want.”

“and then we sell it?”

“i’ll sell it, yeah. i-you’re not in the will anymore but of course i’ll still split it with you.”

“oh i-umm okay. should we meet there later?”

“half one good? give you time to shower” regulus joked.

“okay shut up. see you later then.”

regulus nodded as his brother disappeared from next to him.

“remus?”

sirius followed the sound of water and knocked on the bathroom door. entering slowly, sirius joined remus under the water.

“i’m meeting regulus at number twelve later” he said as remus massaged shampoo into his hair.

remus let his hands fall around sirius’ waist. sirius turned to face him, sensing his uncertainty.

“i won’t be there long; i’m not even in the will so really it’s reg’s decision.”

“is james going? do you want me to come?”

“i think we’re doing this just the two of us.”

remus nodded as he turned off the water.

“do you want to get lunch before you go?”

wrapping a single towel around the both of them, sirius led the way into the bedroom. picking out what had been his mother’s least favourite pair of jeans, sirius drew a small smile from his husband.

“no, i’m just going to go over there now but i’ll see you later.”

leaving a small kiss on remus’ cheek sirius left the room, the smell of his aftershave still in the air.

“hey! look at this.”

sirius looked up at his brother who had ripped a dusty sheet of the old piano.

“can you still play?”

sirius coughed, choking on the cloudy air but sat down at the instrument. gently tracing the ivory keys sirius began what would have been ‘fleur de lis’.

“that sounds horrible.”

“just a bit out of tune, yeah” sirius agreed.

sirius felt the tears burn his eyes as he entered his old room. opening the split in the headboard of his old bed, he fished out the secret picture of remus that had been stuffed down there since third year.

regulus appeared at the door holding a small soft lion.

“why do you have that? it was mine.”

“i know; i’m returning it to you. after you left, the only time i came into your room was to get him.”

“chuck it here then.”

as regulus threw the toy, it’s head flew off, the rest of the body landing softly on the bed next to sirius.

despite both of them laughing, both felt a change that was signified by the death of the teddy.

“let’s go” regulus said suddenly. “there’s a pub less than five minutes away.”

sirius’ eyes narrowed suspiciously: “how do you know that?”

“i’ve been to a pub before. sirius i’m not twelve.”

“just short.”

“that’s it. you’re buying.”

—

“throwing up on our carpet too?” remus asked as sirius appeared in the bedroom.

pulling himself back up from over the edge of the mattress, sirius showed remus a slender middle finger before heading for the bathroom.

returning somewhat pale, sirius pulled the soft toy out from behind his back.

“awww.”

“shut up.”

“well what did you want me to say? why has it got no head?”

“regulus threw it earlier and it came off. can we fix it?”

“i don’t know about fixing it, but we can remake it at the mall tomorrow - if you want.”

sirius’ eyes widened. remus pulled his husband closer as he watched the smile spread. placing the small lion above them, sirius pushed into remus’ body and closed his eyes.

remus woke up when the small lion fell onto his pillow. picking it up gently he smiled at the headless creature who faded red and gold colouring brought him a warm joy. he remembered the first time he’d ever seen this lion, falling out of first-year sirius’ trunk. the blush on the his cheeks almost matched the mane of the toy.

sirius rolled awake and remus smiled, quickly putting the toy back.

“right, i believe you told me we were going to the mall today” sirius said, moving closer so he was sharing the pillow with remus.

“yes and good morning to you too.”

sirius grinned as he pulled remus into the kitchen after him.

“oh my god! it’s literally called build-a-bear! wait - can i still make a lion?”

“yeah. i think my first one was actually a pig.”

sirius snorted before his attention was drawn to the fluff machine.

“can i have one of those?”

“absolutely not.”

sirius huffed as he followed the arrows, picking out a brand new red mane and golden claws.

“would you like any additional accessories?” the cashier asked? “hats or anything?”

sirius looked up at remus raising his eyebrows questioningly.

“up to you, love.”

sirius shook his head.

“okay, well here you go!”

the lady behind the counter handed over large lion.

“did it need to be so big?” remus asked as they tried to arrange themselves on the motorcycle.

“yes” sirius replied simply.

“but it’s a metre tall.”

sirius turned around to grin at his husband but his view was obscured by the plush figure.

“okay well maybe it’s a little big.”

[catm3imi]

Bangle

Genre : Romance, Fluff, Family Pairing : 707 X MC 

(Warning : Post-Ending, filled with spoiler so read it with your own risk)

You always wear that bangle.

Saeyoung tilt his head away from computer screen when he hear your desperate voice calling his name, asking again if he had seen your particular bangle.

“I didn’t see it, kitten… are you sure you don’t leave in another room?” he sighed.

“I’m sure I still have it when we went to bed, maybe I look again in bathroom or closet” Saeyoung can tell that you trying to keep your composure but your eyes and voice showing how frustrated you are. It hurt him to see you like that.

“Okay, okay, defender of justice 707 ready to help the damsel in distress” your giggle a bit with his attempt to joke. He sure know how to lighten your mood.

“Fine, can you check the bedroom once more? Saeran said he checked at kitchen and living room just in case” Saeyoung brow lift up, shocked that his brother already offer his help before him. He know Saeran warmed up around you but he can’t stop feeling competitive and tad bit jealous.

“Then I can’t afford to lose” he muttered with low voice

“What? You said something?” you didn’t hear that clearly but Saeyoung already walk out from computer room. You take a mental note to ask him later but now your top priority is to find your missing bangle.

Saeyoung pick some clothes from floor then searching in tiny space between every furniture in your shared bedroom. He know how your bangle look because it always at your arm from the first time you ‘accidently’ enter Rika’s apartment and joined RFA. He notice you wore it for a long time when he saw your pictures from background check but he never questioned why you treasure it until now, when you searching desperately and almost crying in panic.

“Saeran, did you find it?” your voice ringing in the hallway along with Saeran nonchalant voice, Saeyoung throw out cover from bed to move it a bit when he heard metallic sound on floor. He leap to the sound and find plain thin silver bangle under the cover.

“Babe, I found it” you practically run when hear Saeyoung voice in bedroom, he stand in the middle of bedroom with your bangle in his hand, smirking victoriously. You hinted slight of mischief in his smile when he not handing you the bangle right away.

“Not so fast, darling, you have to give me a reward first” he raise his hand, take the bangle out of your reach.

“What? Saeyoung!” you pouted, jumping in front him. Saeran let out grumble in front door, ready to leave but Saeyoung question stop his track.

“Why it’s so important to you?” you stop moving, surprise with his question but you can tell that he sincerely want to know, even you notice a hint of jealousy in his voice.

“It’s from your former lover? Or your crush? Or…” He trailed off, imagining the worst from his anxiety. You snort a laughter.

“No, it’s not like that. Well… the story is bit long” you smile nostalgically, you not intend to keep it as secret but you not see the point to tell until now. You can feel Saeran also curious, he might act nonchalantly but attentive enough to see how you treasured the bangle.

“You both already meet my parents and seen my family house, so you know how… ordinary and reserve they are even not the most conservative one” Saeyoung visit your family not long after propose you in front RFA member, dragging Saeran in the process because your family request to meet your spouse’s family member.

“Well, we never rich in the first place but after my father business failed, we struggled to put food in our plate and paying education tuition. I was in middle school, as the oldest of my three siblings, I must ready to quit if I had to and find a job. There’s a time that I had to begging at pawn shop for extra money from anything valuable” Saeyoung reach for your face as you laugh bitterly, brush several strand of your hair at your ear but not saying anything. You leaned at his hand.

“Long story short, as a child, sometimes I wish to have more but I can’t act spoiled until one day we go out for shopping. There’s a little store that sell many accessory and jewelry, I always admire them but never said anything to my parents. On that particular day I let my eyes wander to that store again but suddenly my mother ask me which one I like. I was so surprise then pick those bangle and my father already pay for it before I put those on. Since then, I always wearing it to remind me how much I be loved by my parents, especially when things getting hard” you continue with smile in your lips then startled when Saeyoung pulling your body into his, embrace you tightly while Saeran pat your head beside his brother, copying when you pat his head to comfort him.

“I- Sorry… I have no idea” Saeyoung feel horrible asking you but at the same time he finally understood why you always strong and kind, you nuzzle your cheek to his shoulder

“It’s not like I want to keep it a secret but thank you both of you” you flash a smile to Saeran to tell that you appreciated his kindness then pressing your lips lightly at Saeyoung cheek. You can see a tinge of red in Saeran cheek.

“uh, yeah, no problem, now I’m out here” he stammer a bit before walk out in haste, hiding his shyness. Saeyoung watch his brother go from the corner of his eyes without release his arm around you, his left hand rest on your waist while the other hand slip the bangle to your arm.  

“MC, I promise you that I bring you happiness, loving you with all my heart and soul. Treasure you as much as your parents do, no, even more…” he kiss your hand with sweet and longing kiss, you can’t help to giggle

“No need to because I already love you most silly”

“That’s debatable” you pouted, Saeyoung laugh a bit before land a passionate but sloppy kiss to you lips

“I love you, MC, You’re my world” Saeyoung whisper to you between kisses, he want to say more and mean every word of it. His eyes look you with wonder, adoration and loves which you accept with all your being. A/N: I wrote this long time ago but never posted it... those bangle story is inspired on my own experience but with little twist ;) I hope you enjoy it and forgive any grammatical error on my side. 

[jaehotbuns]

do you love me

rating: pg

word count: 4864

characters: you x renjun

genre: waiter!renjun, pure fluff (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

song recommendation: do you love me - stephanie poetri

summary: you pick petals off of a flower to try and figure out if the cute waiter at the sushi restaurant next door feels the same way that you feel about him. you stop when he comes to see you on break at the boba shop, answering the question for you.

“What is that?” Your coworker Taeil asked while washing the dishes that piled up from the afternoon rush that you two just cleared. What better refresher was there than a sugary cup of iced bubble tea on a hot midsummer day? He was referring to the daisy in your hand. It had a large green stem until you cut it close to the bud so that you could sit and pick off its petals.

“Trying to answer a question,” you said, plucking off another spongy white petal and letting it dramatically fall down onto the glass table that was in front of the tea bar. Every petal that you picked, you would say in your head like a middle schooler, “he loves me… He loves me not.”

Taeil laughed as he continued to thoroughly wash the measuring cups and drink shakers like the responsible employee that he was. His eyes occasionally looked up from rinsing the dish bubbles off the utensils to see you sigh every now and then as the number of petals decreased. “Are you trying to figure out if Renjun likes you?”

Your head shot up from your lethargy and mopping, which was half attributed to your mind being dominated with thoughts of the waiter that worked at the sushi bar next to your bubble tea shop and half because you kept messing up drinks during the rush because you could only think about him. Your neck twisted in the direction of Taeil, and you scowled at the smug expression on his face. You knew that expression all too well, it screamed “see, I know I’m right.” To rub it in your face he actually said it although your lack of response already gave him the answer, “I know you too well huh?”

You dropped the flower onto the table and collapsed dramatically against the bright orange sofa that you were sitting on. “There’s approximately 30 to 54 petals on a daisy but I didn’t bother counting the one that I picked,” you sighed. “Do you think there’s a chance that he likes me?”

Without looking at him as your head was rested on the top of the sofa and you were staring straight at the hanging lights which was intended to resemble tapioca pearls but actually ended up looking like fish eggs since they were orange to match the store’s signature colour, you knew he was finished washing the dishes when you heard the squeak of the faucet turning. You could already tell he was drying his hands to walk over from behind the bar to sit next to you.

The store was empty after the rush, leaving only you and Taeil. The bright orange and teal decor, bright lights, and repetitive top 100 pop hits were a deterrent to most customers which made your workplace a takeout shop essentially so you didn’t understand why Huang Renjun always stayed here for an hour with only his phone and a jasmine green tea, 50% sugar, and grass jelly. He recently started to order the roasted hojicha blended iced latte because you recommended it but that’s besides the point, why would he come to this dump?

“Of course he likes you,” Taeil said in a reassuring voice as he plopped down on the sofa next to you. He groaned as his leg got caught in the hanging wire decoration that kids always liked to play in and tangle that you’d always have to ask them nicely not to because their parents didn’t bother. “I wouldn’t even drink the tea here, so why would he?”

“Bad taste buds?” You replied to his rhetorical question which was met by him rolling his eyes.

“No,” Taeil said while pointing his index finger at you once you sat up from your odd position to match his posture. “He usually comes in when you’re working anyways,” he stretched his back and his limbs until he looked like a starfish. “I don’t really see him whenever you’re not around.”

You leaned onto the glass table in front of you two to begin questioning Taeil to clear your doubts. “But I’m the newest employee and he was already a regular before I started here.” He must’ve come for the tea and he was already well-liked by the other employees at the boba shop for being bubbly and polite, and ridiculously cute.

Taeil placed his hands onto the back of his head and curled his back into the fold of the two sofa cushions. “Yeah but he always came in like once a week and would drink while scrolling through his phone,” he nodded and was satisfied with his reasoning. “Now he orders some for his coworkers because he wants another reason to talk to you, cash girl.”

You were still not convinced, but little did you know that Taeil was right.

Another petal was plucked from the daisy as you started the ritual again while reminiscing the first time you met him. “He loves me…”

To commemorate a new employee aboard the “boba crew” your manager called it, which made you cringe although you kept it to yourself because you wanted to keep your job, the owners decided to treat all of the employees to a nice company dinner. And by a nice company dinner they meant eating with the owner, manager, and eight old employees at the next door cheap all you can eat sushi place. You’ve been there before and it was good sushi, but they were definitely making it more grandiose than it actually was.

They said to meet in front of the shop at 5pm, which was too early for dinner but the 5-6 window was cheaper than 6pm onwards because that was usually when people came for dinner. As you were the first person there despite being the purpose of the dinner, they asked you through the group chat to get a nice table by the window even though 5pm was when they opened for dinner and no customer was there yet.

You already knew how bad, unprofessional, and disorganized the management was but you sucked it up because your friend Jeno referred you after he quit to go abroad and you were already mutual friends with some of the staff. So you sucked it up and decided to get a table and sit in the empty sushi restaurant until the other employees came.

As soon as you opened the door to the familiar Japanese restaurant with green and blue decor, you were greeted with shouting from a young boy that was hurriedly setting out dishes on freshly wiped wooden tables. “Chenle, you were supposed to be here ten minutes ago. How long does it take to buy us two chocolate croissants!” He must’ve been anticipating another employee as he was shouting at you with his back turned.

Of course Renjun didn’t expect you to be there, looking pretty with a plain black turtleneck, a light beige houndstooth print blazer, black jeans, and simple accessories and light makeup. No one ever came right at the opening and the restaurant’s seats only started to fill up at the 5:30 minute mark.

Having worked there ever since he was 15 as it was his family’s business, Renjun knew when the French bakery across the street started putting their pastries on sale so they didn’t waste it before closing. So he sent Chenle to fetch their favourite, chocolate nutella croissants, before they opened so they could enjoy it on their break. He usually ate sushi at the back of the kitchen while watching whatever Chinese soap opera Chenle played but he’d occasionally grab a drink at the bubble tea shop next door for a lighter meal.

You tried to suppress your laughter and stood there awkwardly as he still didn’t turn around to acknowledge you, “sorry are you not open yet?”

Renjun froze midway from placing the last pair of chopsticks on the table he had to set as he heard your sweet voice. He didn’t know how he could face a customer after yelling at them for taking too long to buy chocolate croissants. When he turned around, face and ears flushed red with embarrassment, he was saved by Chenle who came in with a white paper bag which was overflowing with French pastries. “Oh welcome, why don’t you have a seat. Wherever’s fine,” Chenle said after setting down the pastries on a nearby table and giving you a set of menus after you told him your reservation.

Although Renjun was cursing at Chenle in his head for being late and making him yell at you, he was also thanking him because he would’ve been a bumbling mess when he saw the pretty customer smiling at his dumb mistake. Once Chenle went to the back to put away the snacks and you were scanning the menu, Renjun rushed to the back and slapped Chenle’s shoulder which caused the poor boy to jump. “Hey! What was that for?” Chenle pouted while rubbing the spot where Renjun smacked him. “I got us some macarons too because the lady said they didn’t sell much today,” he grinned.

On a normal day Renjun would be high-fiving him and saying, “nice!” But today, he was horrified and too shy to talk to you although he really wanted to serve you. He could’ve let Chenle serve your table but he was curious about you. “I just yelled at her because I thought she was you!”

As Chenle tied a knot behind his back to secure his apron he tilted his head to the side, “what did you say to her?”

Renjun paraphrased quickly as too many thoughts were rushing through his head, “something like ‘why are you taking so long with my chocolate croissants Chenle?!” He was gesticulating wildly.

Unbeknownst to you as you texted your coworkers on how long they were going to take to arrive, you heard the sharp noise of high pitched laughter behind the curtain that separated the sushi bar and serving area. You suppress a laugh with your hand as Chenle’s laugh was contagious and very loud.

Knowing how loud and identifiable Chenle’s laugh was, Renjun placed his index finger on his lips and shushed him aggressively. “You want me to take care of her table then?” Chenle asked, as both of them were now ready to serve as the sushi chefs and hostess began to take their positions.

“No!” Renjun whisper-shouted.

Chenle giggled and elbowed Renjun’s side to further make fun of him, “why? Is it because she’s pretty?” Renjun’s face scrunched up, refusing to admit it and not wanting to deny it either because he knew Chenle was tease back saying, “oh so you’re saying she’s not pretty,” if he did.

“I’m taking her drink order,” Renjun huffed as he grabbed a pen and a notepad from a nearby desk and stomped out from behind the curtain. When he walked out into the dining area, satisfaction spread as he saw who you were sitting with. Everyone at the boba shop had arrived and was also looking at the menu, deciding how much sushi they wanted to order just in case they ordered too much and had to hide it in their bags to avoid paying the leftovers fee. If you were a worker, he could see you often and you weren’t just another customer who comes and goes.

Taking a deep breath to prepare him mentally to not mess up and stammer in front of you, he walked over to the only table that was full in the restaurant and held his pen and paper in position. “Hello, my name is Renjun and I’ll be your server today. Can I get you started with some drinks?” His breath caught in his throat when your eyes looked directly into his and smiled. He averted his eyes, pretending to listen to Taeil order drinks and writing down what he wanted to avoid your gaze.

Everyone was ordering cocktails until your manager suggested that they get you a bottle of sake to share as a new employee. Really they were just being nice to reel you in considering how many bad employee reviews there were and how many people quit on them. “Sure,” you nodded and Renjun instantly took it down. When the manager said your name he smiled, another thing I know about her he thought.

Once Renjun went to the back to prepare the drinks, you smiled to yourself as your other employees were talking about how to increase their bad sales compared to the bubble tea chain directly across the street. You liked the way he held his head down and silently moved his lips to himself as he walked to the back, the way he looked up in surprise and froze when he first looked at you, and when his adam’s apple moved slightly when you made eye contact with him.

When all of the employees finished eating their fill to the point of popping the buttons and zippers on their pants because they wanted to take advantage of the all you can eat system and stuff themselves with sashimi, you called Renjun over to get the bill. The manager drunkenly took it out of Renjun’s hands and handed it to the owner to pay. You looked around all of your coworkers and realized they drank more than you did although it was to welcome the new employee. They all had at least 3 shots of sake and 3 cocktails while you had a shot and one very fruity and light cocktail.

Renjun came over one last time to give back the customer’s receipt and little complementary guava candies before waiting to apologize to you. While the other employees stumbled out of the restaurant, which Renjun tried to ignore although he found it odd that they were already shit-faced at barely 7pm, you were the last one to get out of your seat to leave.

“Hey,” he said softly which caused you to turn around before you could make it out. “I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier, I thought you were someone else,” he apologized while scratching the back of his neck with one hand and another fiddling with the apron’s knot at his back.

You shook your head gently and waved both of your hands in front of you to reassure him, “no it’s okay.” Before you left you jokingly told him one last thing, “if you still feel bad about it how about a chocolate croissant? I work next door at Bobabee.”

Renjun was overjoyed because now he has an excuse to come and see you without being creepy. He also liked the fact that you were unaware that he was already a regular. Throughout his shift that night, he was excited for your blooming relationship.

“He loves me not,” you sighed again for who knows how many times before plucking off another couple of petals. There was only a quarter of petals left now that Taeil was back behind the bar and making drinks as it was time for your break and you were to cover him after your 30 minutes was up. You hoped that the customers weren’t weirded out by an employee ruining a perfectly beautiful white daisy but if their poor quality and cheap drinks didn’t deter them then nothing would.

In your heart, you had a feeling that Renjun liked you. Taeil did list the reasons that you also thought to yourself that he liked you; he always came in on your shifts, he talked to you the most even if it was simple small talk and getting to know each other, and whenever you came to eat at the sushi place he served your table. But for all that you knew he could’ve been looking for a platonic friend around his age.

Much to your surprise, there he was. When you looked up you saw Renjun still in his employee uniform, a black shirt with a blue short-sleeved kimono on top, black sweats, but missing his apron. He looked hesitant to join the line that was forming once he saw Taeil taking orders and making drinks but his face lit up when he saw you scrambling to shove something into your jean pocket. He walked over to you while you tried to be nonchalant despite thinking about him throughout the duration of your break.

“Hey!” He smiled brightly as he took a seat on the sofa next to you. “On break?” He asked, jutting his head towards Taeil who was calming checking out each customer.

“Yeah,” you said, still flustered at his unprecedented visit. “You are too?” You glanced at your phone’s time and saw that it was 4:45pm and silently cursed at yourself because the restaurant was closed to prepare for dinner service so he didn’t even go on shift yet.

Renjun shook his head, “just thought I should grab a drink before work.” He never did that, you thought. He always came on his break or to bring a drink home after work but you shook it off. In actuality, he wanted to ask you out before work on a date so that during his shift he would be too busy to be excited about your acceptance or sad from your rejection.

You placed your hand on your cheek and used your elbow to support your head as it pressed against the smooth glass surface of the table. “I could go for some sushi right now,” you sighed as you had to close by yourself tonight as another coworker called in sick.

“Why don’t you go after your shift?” Renjun asked. You told him that you would only go to the restaurant occasionally whenever you were finished shopping with your friends or family since it was located downtown but once you two were more acquainted with each other, you both went to your workplaces more often. Your more frequent visits gave him hope that you also had feelings for him. “I sneak you some free tempura, I know that’s your favourite,” he nudged you lightly to try and convince you to come.

You pouted at how you had to reject such a cute proposal from Renjun and on top of that free food too, “I have to close by myself tonight.” Your bubble tea shop closed at 11, which was way too late in your opinion because who in their right mind wants boba at 11, and his sushi shop closed at the same time. Both of you would also have to spend at least 30 minutes washing dishes and cleaning the tables and floors.

Renjun’s shoulders sank slightly. You were his favourite customer because you always came with your friends and both of your exchanges were always overly polite like too many thank you’s and no problem’s and when he turned around your friends would tease you about it. He also liked the ego boost when your friends would try and whisper their acknowledgement of your taste in men by saying, “oh you’re right he is cute.” But his favourite comment that he heard from your table was, “hey you’d make a good couple.”

He still remembers the first time you came to the restaurant with your friends.

“There’s a cute regular that works here,” you told your friends before entering the door and waiting for the hostess to finish with the guests in front of you.

“Is that why you wanted to go here?” Sooyoung asked while smiling up to her cheeks and elbowing the side of your arm as she was excited to see her friend’s love life bloom after being dead for who knows how long.

There were at least 3 all you can eat sushi restaurants that you could think of that were suggested in your group chat of where to go before you went shopping but you turned those done with excuses like, “let’s go to the cheapest.” Your friends all agreed with no idea of your intentions to see Renjun until you told them at the door. For all you knew he could’ve come in for the night shift or was taking a break today.

When you were seated by the hostess, you all sat down with you closest to the inside of the booth. The first waiter that took your drink order was aloof and walked quickly away to get your waters. “Is that him?” Yeji asked after he left.

You shook your head after he came back and set the clear cups of water onto your table. When it came time to order the food, there he was. Huang Renjun with his typical posture when taking orders, pen already in one hand pressed to the notepad in the other. When he looked up to see who was talking his face instantly brightened up at seeing your appearance.

You were dressed more casual compared to the dinner and you obviously looked more like yourself out of your uniform, although the black t-shirt with the mascot patch on your arm also made you look cute. “Oh, it’s you,” he smiled and gave a little wave before continuing to take your friend’s orders.

He turned around to send the ticket to the sushi bar while trying to suppress the large smile on his face. “Ohhh, she’s got herself a cute,” your friends teased as you leaned against the booth embarrassed yet happy that he acknowledged you. “He’s not bad,” Yuna laughed, all of you were excited to watch the cute waiter bring out your food with a unchanging smile on his face.

“Thank you,” you were the only one to say it whenever he came around to serve your food.

“No problem,” he’d reply back, look into your eyes, and then return to the back.

“Oh you too are flirting!” Yeji exclaimed while squeezing her hands into fists at how cute she found the two of you.

“We’re just being polite!” You tried to defend yourself although it was heart fluttering that he only replied to you.

To your disappointment, another waiter brought out the bill when you all finished eating. When you all finished paying and were about to head on with your day, he made sure to catch you before you left as he was checking himself out in the washroom’s mirror to make sure he didn’t look bad from running around the restaurant all morning. He barely caught you out the door but luckily you were sitting inside the booth and had to drag your bag out of the corner. “Are you working today?” He asked which made you turn around like the first time you met.

“No, I have a day off,” you smiled at how he made sure to say one last thing to you before you left. He was disappointed, that meant he couldn’t see you on your break.

“Oh, have fun on your day off!” He waved so that you could catch up to your friends who were already at the door but watching you as you weren’t with them but with the cute regular.

“Have fun at work,” you laughed and he laughed back. That was what he said to you when you first served him.

After you left, even without hearing it, Renjun could see that your friends were squealing at your interaction and he smiled to himself. He must’ve known that you felt the same way too.

“Should I order a drink though?” Renjun asked as despite Taeil being a pro at working by himself at a steady pace, he didn’t want to add to the orders he had.

You knew he was referring to the line of three customers in front of the till while Taeil was mixing drinks for those who already ordered. “You could wait until I’m off break,” you said as it would take that amount of time for Taeil to clear the line and for the customers to die down.

Renjun nodded at your proposal as now he could talk to you even longer as he could order and have a conversation while you made his drink. “You always make the best drinks,” he said. He didn’t say that just because he liked you, for some reason your drinks had the right amount of sweetness despite everyone using the same recipe.

“Is that the only reason why you keep coming on my shifts?” You asked to tease him but also to find out if he came to see you or if you really just made drinks to his preference. Everyone makes the drinks according to the same recipe but when you asked for your usual order of matcha with 50% sugar, tapioca, grass jelly, light ice, on your day off Taeil made it taste completely different than how you did.

Renjun suppressed the blush as if he could control the blood rush to his cheeks, but he tried to shrug it off. “No, to see my favourite employee too.” He looked at your reaction and was satisfied when your lips curled into a small smile.

Both of you reminisce about the time when he first came in after the chocolate croissant fiasco.

“Hello!” You greeted the customer when the door opened to see the cute boy from the sushi restaurant that yelled at you because he mistook you for his coworker who came in with a big bag of pastries. “Oh you actually came!” You were happy to see him. At that time you simply thought he was attractive and cute because of his mistake, so you didn’t know that one day you’d fall in love with him.

He was in a simple dark grey t-shirt which he tucked into his light beige capri pants that was secured by a sleek black belt with gold detailing. He must’ve been going to work for the night shift again as it was nearing 5pm. “Here for an apology,” he said as he handed you a single box. You checked the contents and saw a dainty strawberry cake. You visited the French bakery before and this cake was 3x the price of the infamous chocolate croissant.

“I can’t take this!” You said, trying to give it back to him but he shook his head and moved his hands to behind his back so you couldn’t shove it in his hands.

“How about a discount?” He joked. You agreed which was against company policy but the cake was worth it. You could only give the discount to yourself, immediate family members, or significant others which is funny because you both didn’t know that you were going to be that one day.

“Your name for the order?” You asked after taking his order and payment.

“Renjun,” he said. You smiled, now both of you knew each other's names.

When your break was over, Taeil plopped onto the coach you were on and began reading the daily news on his phone like the quarter aged grandpa that he was. Luckily, the customers took their drinks for takeout and no one else came in. “Are you going to order watermelon or hojicha this time?” You asked once you were behind the bar and at the till with Renjun facing you.

“I don’t know...  How about a special drink?” He asked, mustering the courage to ask you on a date now that Taeil had his earphones in and the store was empty.

“Oh! I made a drink a while ago that kinda tasted like the tofu desserts you find in a packet at the grocery store. Do you like those?” He nodded and smiled at your excitement over your very own secret drink creation. Once you asked for the size, toppings, and his payments, you were excited to make the drink while Renjun was shaking in his clothes.

“Hey I was closing tonight too,” he began and you nodded while putting milk and tea into a shaker. “So did you want to grab dinner after work?”

You nearly dropped the shaker while you were mixing the liquids together at the sudden request. You stopped what you were doing and looked up at him with wide eyes. “Like a…” You didn’t have the courage to say date.

“A date… Will you go on a date with me?” He asked, looking into your eyes sincerely. He couldn’t take you to a fancy restaurant since he was working for his family and saving up for tuition. He didn’t have enough time to take you for a long date either because he was either studying or working but he wanted to be more than friends with you and this was the only way he could do that. To take you out to a 24 hour diner down the street.

“Sure,” you smiled and looked down out of embarrassment.

You both didn’t care that you weren’t dressed nicely or prepared beforehand. You were just happy that your feelings were reciprocated.

“I’ll wait in front of the store when you’re done,” he said.

You remembered the daisy scrunched up in your pocket. You picked it up on the way before work and felt apologetic for plucking it when you didn’t have to.

You didn’t need to pluck the last petal to know that; he loves me.

[miss-noo-na]

Protected (Wonho fluff/smut)

Title: Protected

Featuring: Wonho (Monsta x) x Reader

Rating: Mature

Summary: You’ve acquired a stoic bodyguard who is cramping your style, but you may be able to get him to open up.

Note: I’m sorry this took longer than expected! Between the flu and the global pandemic I’ve been a little stressed, to say the least. This was a commission, and you can get your own commission from me if you’d like! Check my sidebar for more info under “requests”

You sat at the vanity putting the final touches to your lips, eyes concentrating on the rogue you applied with a brush but drifting now and then to the space behind you. In the mirror you could see Wonho by the door, diligent as ever.

When your father had first proposed the idea of giving you a personal bodyguard you laughed, convinced he was joking, but his stern tone said otherwise. Your father was an important business man, whose money funneled directly into politics, and thus made him a saint of some and an enemy of others. You were often regarded as nothing more than a socialite, an heiress to his fortune. You weren’t the typical fundie kid, though, you preferred your privacy.

It didn’t keep you from being a target of scrutiny, but you hardly thought that warranted your own secret service. It was an election year and your father was rubbing elbows with the elites, which he said was the perfect time to “acquire” someone for you.

You had expected someone from the movies, a big bald guy in sunglasses with a sneer, not the babyfaced boy who showed up. You almost laughed when you saw him, until he stood up and you took in his stature and the apparent strength hidden under his suit.

He was quiet, for the most part, concentrating on his task. You had tried to talk to him, it was a nervous habit of yours to speak out loud to whoever was in the room, but he never said much back. It had been months now and you had barely learned a thing about him, but he apparently knew enough about you.

“You can relax, Brutus,” You joked as you waited for him to look at you, and he did. He peered over at you through the glass and you smiled, but he simply turned back to looking ahead.

You were in NYC for the duration of the summer, attending events with your father. You could have stayed home or gone somewhere else, you were an adult of course, but he insisted you come along because it “looked good” to have a family in toe at these things. You hated it, it meant being cooped up in hotel rooms and only going to places he designated.

You dropped your brush and stood up, smoothing your hands down your skirt to flatten any wrinkles.”How do I look?” You asked, turning toward him. He only glanced at you.

“Fine.”

“Gee, you sure know how to compliment a girl.”

You snatched up your purse, indicating you were ready to go, and Wonho led you out into the hall and down into the lobby for your ride. You were having brunch with your father before his afternoon meetings.

He accompanied you to the restaurant in the back of the limo, and when you entered the building he remained near the front. You went ahead without him, meeting your father on the patio and ordering a mimosa as you sat.

“Don’t you think it’s a little early, dear.” Your father said without looking up from his menu.

“This drink is the only fun I’m going to be having here.”

“That’s nonsense, the gala is coming up.”

You sighed, because he didn’t get it. You wanted to go galavanting, to explore, to hang out in the village or walk the Brooklyn bridge, something other than the boring events you had been dragged to your entire life.

“Where is Mr. Lee?” He asked then, and it took a moment to register.

“Oh, by the door I think. Hey, you couldn’t hire someone less uptight?” You asked, sipping from your flute.

“Uptight? He’s a bodyguard, not your friend.” Your father responded with an annoyed look. He never cared much for your free-wheeling attitude and had tried in vain for many years to set you on the straight and narrow.

“I’m just saying, if he has to be around me all the time, he could at least be a little more talkative.”

Your father sighed. “Just pretend he isn’t there.”

The rest of brunch went about as expected, your father going on and on about campaigns and business jargon you didn’t care about, and you pretending to be interested. Every now and then he’d make a fussy remark about where you were going in life and you would say something sarcastic and he would move on. You loved your father, but you didn’t love being under his thumb all the time.

“I want you to go straight back to the hotel.” He insisted as he pulled out his credit card to pay once you were finished.

“What was the point of bringing me here if I wasn’t going to have any fun?”

“I told you, you’ll have fun a-”

“At the gala, got it.” You huffed as you both stood, giving him a peck on the cheek before you made your way back into the restaurant. You could see Wonho just outside the front of the entrance and paused in your steps, glancing back at where your father was and to the front once more. A devious thought came over you as you eyed the exit near the bar, and changed the trajectory of your steps without seeming suspicious.

You exited out onto the sidewalk and smiled triumphantly, thwarting both your father and your bodyguard. You walked down the sidewalk with a hop in your step, wondering where you would spend the rest of the afternoon, pulling out your phone to see what was around. As you walked toward a main street, you were engulfed at the list of shops on your device and didn’t see the hand reaching up from behind you.

You gasped as someone grasped you by the arm, making you drop your phone, and you swung yourself around ready to fight a would-be mugger, only to see it was Wonho, who did not look happy.

You forcibly removed your arm from his grasp and glared at him. “Thanks, asshole.” You said as you knelt down to pick up your phone, wiping it of debris and relieved it wasn’t cracked.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked in a loud, firm tone that reminded you way too much of your father.

“Wherever the hell I want to.”

“Not according to your father and my direct orders.”

You sighed and let your eyes roll toward the sky. “You do know I’m an adult, right?”

“Do you think I want to chase after you? I’m just doing my job.”

You could feel frustration welling up inside you, pressing to the brim of what you had been dealing with lately under the stress of the year. Wonho’s face relaxed as he looked at you, noticing that you were tearing up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

You waved a hand and tried to look away. “It’s not you. I’m sorry I’m being a handful, I just-” You let out a heaved breath as you tried to catch a stray tear with your fingertips.

Wonho hung there awkwardly, glancing around to make sure there were no on-lookers. He glanced down the street and spotted a coffee shop on the corner.

“Come on,” He nudged your elbow gently and gestured with his head to follow him.

A few minutes later you sat by the window staring into a cappuccino with a swirly design in the foam. He drank something black and iced, sitting opposite you in a strangely comforting silence, save for the busy sounds of the cafe.

“He doesn’t seem to get that I’m a fully formed person, he just sees me as this weird accessory he can take around to parties.”

Wonho nodded sagely, watching you in a way that made it feel like he was really listening, something you weren’t accustomed to.

“I used to have a little more freedom, but the more his life changes the more he tries to change mine and I hate it.”

“I can’t say I understand,” He paused to sip his drink. “But I can see how it would be frustrating. Have you tried talking to him?”

You sighed and let out a humorless chuckle. “Doesn’t matter, it’s all in one ear and out the other with him, unless it's about money.”

“I feel a bit weird giving you advice on this since he’s the one that hired me to do what you don’t want me to do.” Wonho laughed and you were surprised at how different his face looked when he smiled. For someone so intimidating on the outside, there was a softness in the way he spoke.

“I don’t blame you, I get that it's your job. Also, I’ve never heard you speak this much.”

“I try to keep some distance from clients.”

“You’re not doing a very good job.” You smiled at him and he laughed back, eyes creasing as they locked with yours and you felt a twitch in your chest.

“We should go back to the hotel,” You said solemnly. And Wonho was quiet for a moment.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt if you wanted to look around for a little bit.” He said, faintly almost as if to himself.

“What? Really?” You asked, eyes widening.

“Yeah I mean, I’ll be with you, so you’ll be perfectly safe.” He shrugged.

It was risky, but you were going to do it anyway, so what better time than with him accompanying you? You finished your drinks and made your way toward the shops you had spotted before. Though he still kept his distance, he walked a little closer than before, taking in the surroundings of each store and trailing you as you browsed around. Every now and then you spoke to him, showing him something silly you found or making comments, and to your surprise he actually answered this time, and you were delighted at being able to draw a chuckle out of him now and again. The longer you explored, the closer he got and the more you chatted, until it felt like you were just two friends on a lunch date.

“I’m not much for earrings,” You told the sales woman at a shop, leaning over the jewelry counter as she tried to hard-sell you on some items.

“Ah, but these would look precious on you, just ask your boyfriend,” the woman smiled and gestured to Wonho, who hadn’t been paying attention and looked up at the mention of “boyfriend”.

“Oh, I’m not-” He started to say, but you interrupted him.

“What, you wouldn’t like me in these, sweetie?” You asked him, holding the earrings up to your ears and smiling innocently. You saw a blush creep across his cheeks.

“They’re...fine.” He said as he swallowed. You were surprised at how easy it was to work him up, but now that you knew you decided to have fun with it.

You placed the earnings down before reaching out and locking your arm around his, pulling him over to the counter and hugging into his side. “What do you like?”

He looked down at you trying to convey his serious business face, but he looked embarrassed instead.

“Silver is nice.” He offered with a shrug.

You peered down into the case and scanned the trinkets until you laid eyes on a silver locket.

“That one.”

The woman produced the locket from the case, a heavy heart with intricate details that you quite liked. You lifted the locket in your hands and turned to Wonho.

“Help me put it on,” You smiled, handing it over to him and pushing your hair up as you turned around. You could tell he was fumbling, but eventually he got it around your neck and closed the clasp. You did a twirl back in his direction.

“How does it look?” You asked, looking down at how it fell perfectly on your chest. When you looked up, Wonho was staring at it intently, cheeks still warm.

“It's really nice.” He said with a nod, and you noted the sincerity in his voice which made a funny tingle sweep up your neck and ears hearing it.

“Great,” You said, turning back toward the woman, “I’ll take it.”

You paid and wore the necklace out of the store, and noticed Wonho dragging behind. You stopped and reached out to playfully poke his arm.

“I didn’t make you too uncomfortable, did I?”

“Only a little.” He half-smiled. “I’m just worried about someone seeing us.”

“Who could possibly see us?” You said.

“You never know, I can only imagine how your father would react.”

“Well he’s not here, and let's keep it that way.” You said, trying to keep the annoyance out of your tone just by the mention of him. Wonho seemed to notice and the subject was dropped as you carried on for the rest of the afternoon, staying out later than either of you intended, but you were actually having fun for the first time in ages and you didn’t want it to end.

“It’s almost dinner time.” You mentioned, glancing at the time on your phone.

“Are you meeting with your father?” Wonho asked, gauging what to do next.

“Was supposed to, thinking of just telling him I’m staying in.” You grumbled, not in the mood to eat with his boring lawyer friends and get condescended to.

“Hey, why don’t we just grab some food and you come up to my room and watch a movie with me.” You said then, knowing it was a bit of a bold statement, but you were tired of being alone all the time, and if he had to be around you, you might as well make it fun.

“I’m not supposed to be in your room after 6pm.” Wonho said with a surprised look on his face, and you wanted to laugh.

“Who is gonna know? We’re not doing anything wrong, I just want someone to hang out with and you’re surprisingly fun when you’re not being the terminator.”

“Gee, thanks,” He responded, but was humored by it, and took a moment to consider your offer.

“One movie, that’s it.”

You happily texted your father to let him know you were tired and you’d be ordering room service tonight, and he let it go without a thought, assuring you Wonho would be nearby if you needed anything. He just didn’t know exactly how close by he really was.

You acquired your take out and a few snacks for the road and headed upstairs. The suite had a living room set up which made it perfect for having company. Wonho made sure he stayed as far to one side of the couch as possible, commenting that it would be unseemly if he got too close. You admired his diligence to his job and his dedication to being a gentleman.

Once the action flick you selected had started and you were consumed in your feast, he seemed to ease up, relaxing and becoming more talkative. You found you shared a similar sense of humor and you liked making him laugh, it was pleasant to your ears, and you couldn’t fight the warm feeling in your chest that stirred up from your stomach the more he opened up.

“You’re actually pretty funny, I’m surprised.” You teased him after the movie had ended, and he feigned offense.

“Even if it doesn’t seem like it, I do have a life and a personality outside of this job.” He assured you.

“Oh? Wife and kids? boyfriend? Cat?” You asked, placing your chin on your fist.

“None of the above,”

“Not even a friend with benefits?”

Wonho turned red in response. “My work doesn’t really allow for th- I mean I can’t really-” He fumbled over his words.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me, I get it.”  You nodded, “Sounds lonely, though.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’d know about that.” He said faintly, then his eyes went wide. “I didn’t mean that to come off rude, I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re right. I’ve been locked inside a lot of ivory towers in my day.”

“You’re an adult, why don’t you just leave?” He asked honestly.

“He would find a way to make my life hell, in the name of it being “for my own good,” You did air-quotes. “Truthfully, I want to start college next year, and I can’t afford it without him, so I’m playing as nice as I can now so I can book it out of here as soon as possible.”

“I don’t fault you for that.”

“Thanks, sometimes I feel like a spoiled brat and tell myself to just shut up and stop complaining, but it doesn’t help the way I feel.”

“No one wants to be lonely.”

There was silence and you both stared at nothing, letting it sink in. You were more alike than you had thought.

“I should be going,” He stood then, and you saw him to the door.

“Thanks for putting up with me today.” You said, referring to the entire time you’d had from brunch til now. “You’re not getting paid to hang out with me, but I’m glad you did anyway.”

“Believe it or not, I had fun, too.” He smiled before he pulled the door open, telling you goodnight before making sure the coast was clear and leaving for his room.

Once he was gone and you were left to the empty suite, you felt a strange mix of emotions. Elated at having had such a wonderful time with him, but a little sad he was gone and maybe a little silly for feeling that way, too. You couldn’t deny there was something developing, some nagging little feelings in the pit of your stomach, but it wouldn’t be wise to let them grow.

You figured it might go back to business as usual after that, and for the most part around others it did, but when you were alone you could chat like good friends, joke around, and overall make the situation better for the both of you. You didn’t feel as stifled around him now, and he was more lenient when the timing called for it, allowing you to stop for coffee or check out a nearby store between meetings and luncheons with your father.

It was also to your surprise that he didn’t stop coming to your room to watch TV and hang out, sometimes you would get to talking and the next thing you knew it was 3AM, and he would have to be careful lest someone notice him and think something unsavory was going on. It never was, though. He was always kind and friendly and though many men could have taken advantage of the situation, he didn’t, even though sometimes you wished he would.

There was no denying your full-blown crush on him now, and sometimes you wondered if it was because he was the only man around your age you got to be in contact with. But when you saw that smile and learned more and more about him, you realized you were doomed either way.

The night of the gala came and though you liked getting dressed up, you knew you were in for a snoozefest. Wonho would be there, but he would be delegated to the sidelines to do his job. You wished you were back in the hotel, watching a movie together and hearing him laugh.

“Dear, this is Steven.” Your father interrupted your thoughts to introduce you to yet another partner’s son. They were all the same, recently graduated, “working their way up”, and interested in getting to know you. You couldn’t care less.

But you smiled and shook his hand like all the others and when your father left the two of you alone, you silently prayed he would get bored quickly and leave.

“Your father is a great man.”

They always thought kissing up to you about your dad was a great strategy, but truly it wasn’t. You could spot an ass-kissing from a mile away.

“I suppose so.”

“I’m headed over to the bar, do you need anything?”

“A gin and tonic.” You said, as you might as well get something out of this exchange.

You turned and made eye contact with Wonho across the room and mimic’d hanging yourself, which made him laugh but he quickly pulled his lips together to try and suppress it, shaking his head at you.

Steven returned with your drink and you thanked him, and then he started to talk. This was always the spiel portion of the exchange, where he rambled on about his dad’s company or place in politics and thought it would impress you.

“I never knew he had a daughter.” He said, coming back to the subject of your father.

“Papa doesn’t let me out of the attic often.” You nodded as you sipped your drink. Steven stared at you and seemed to fight to find his words.

“I’m kidding.”

“Oh, of course. Funny, too, the whole package.”

The way he smiled at you made your skin crawl and you were getting some decidedly “off” vibes from this dude, and it didn’t seem he would be leaving anytime soon. He started to follow you around the gala, chatting incessantly, and you tried your best to give little in response, without being rude. As uncomfortable as this was, you would never hear the end of it from your father if you blew this guy off.

“I need to make a trip to the facilities.” You interrupted him, downing the rest of your drink before hurrying away to the bathroom. You mostly stood in front of the mirror, re-applying lipstick and checking your phone, trying to give it enough time for Steven to give up and find someone else to bother. When you exited, you hadn’t expected him to be there in the hall.

“Just making sure you made it back okay.” He grinned.

“Yep, I’m fine.” You said attempting to move past him, but you were surprised when he positioned himself to stop you.

“Hey, I know these parties are a drag, trust me my dad insists I come to them all the time. We could always go somewhere else?”

You didn’t like the way he leaned into you, his breath hot and heavy with alcohol.

“I should probably stay.” You said, trying to slowly wedge yourself on his side to slip away. He was more bold this time as he closed the gap, his body almost against yours.

“Aw c’mon, there are definitely some more exciting places we could go.” He drawled, one hand raising so he could caress your bare arm from the shoulder down. A cringe went through you to the bone and you stepped back, scowling, ready to tear him a new one, but before you could even open your mouth there was a voice from down the hall.

“Everything okay over here?”

You looked over Steven’s shoulder and saw Wonho, and instantly felt relief. Steven glanced over his shoulder but he was still blocking your path.

“We’re fine, buddy.” He called out to the unknown source, but when he got closer Steven could see how much bigger he was than him and straightened up. This gave you the opportunity to slide past him and over to Wonho.

“Are you okay?” Wonho leaned in and said quietly, and you gently shook your head. Wonho looked up and glared at Steven, just as he circled your waist and laid a protective hand on your lower back, steering you away.

“Listen, we were just fine until-”

“Until what?” Wonho asked, inviting him to dare come up with an excuse as to why he was stalking a girl into a dark hallway. This wasn’t an invitation for him to continue, but a warning from Wonho to keep quiet.

“Nothing, man.” Steven mumbled and shambled past the both of you, saying something under his breath as he scurried off.

“Thank God, that dude was giving me the creeps.” You shuddered.

“Did he touch you?” Wonho asked, looking down at you, and only then did you really realize he was still holding you, but you felt warm and safe so you didn’t move out of it.

“He got a creepy little feel on my arm, but you could tell he wanted to do more than that.”

You were surprised at the look on his face with your words. Of course he would be concerned, it was his job, but it almost seemed like he was taking it personally.

Just then, he too realized where his hand was and quickly dropped it away, taking a step back. “Would you like to go back to the party?”

“Actually I’m going to tell my father I’m headed back to the hotel, I’ve had enough for one night.”

Wonho nodded, following you out of the hall and waiting as you said goodbye, turning down invitations to stay longer. Back at the hotel, you wondered if it was too late to have a night in.

“You wanna watch a movie?”

Wonho looked at his watch, “It’s a little late.”

“And everyone is at the gala, but if you’re too tired…”

“No, I’m fine, let me go change.”

You felt an excited flip in your stomach, agreeing to see him in a few minutes and going to remove your dress and makeup to change into something more comfortable. You really felt at ease around Wonho, no matter how you looked or what you were doing.

He returned dressed down as well, and you popped a bag of popcorn in the microwave as he perused the movie channels, settling on a recent comedy.

Once the two of you were settled in, and halfway through the mostly boring flick, you wanted to mention something to him.

“Thanks for earlier, I really appreciated it.”

“Just doing my job” He shrugged, “I noticed you were gone after talking to that guy. I didn’t want to assume anything, but you didn’t seem like you were having the greatest time talking to him.”

“Your instinct would be correct, I don’t enjoy talking to any of the guys at those events.” You explained.

“Not your type, I guess?”

You laughed, “Not at all. You really think I would want to date some stuffy politician or daddys boy? I could never.”

“Yeah, I can’t see you going after that, either.” He chuckled at the mere thought. “Who do you usually go for?”

You were taken aback by the question, not expecting him to really care. The way he waited for your response made you nervous in an excited way, maybe he asked because he was interested?

“Smart, strong, kind.” You listed, not at all unaware that these were the exact words you would use to describe him.

“I can’t imagine it's easy to date with how things are.”

“I could say the same for you.”

He had always been hushhush about those things. Even on your late night talks, he had talked about everything from his childhood to his work, but he never mentioned anything about current, past, or potential partners.

“I bet you’d be a real protective boyfriend,” You smiled. “That’s why you take these kinds of jobs, it's not just work, you really care about your clients. I mean, at least that's what it seems like.”

“No, you’re right.” He nodded, and the sincerity in his voice struck you. “I have to admit when I first got assigned to you, I thought you were just some pain in the ass rich girl.”

“Thanks,” You laughed.

“I don’t mean that now! You definitely proved me wrong.”

You looked at each other for a moment too long and had to turn away when the heat building up in your face was too much.

“I’m glad we’ve gotten to know each other, but I kind of regret it, too.” He said honestly.

“Why is that?”

“Ah, I shouldn’t say.”

He avoided eye contact now, too. You could almost say he looked bashful. “I already said too much.”

You found yourself scooting across the couch closer to him. “Tell me.”

He glanced up at you and his smile fell away from his face as he swallowed, taking a second to really consider whether or not he should say it.

“I’ve just gotten a little more protective over you, that’s all. Maybe more than I would over just a client I’m getting paid to watch over.”

You weren’t sure what he was saying, but you had an idea. The prospect excited you, but you didn’t want to think too much into it, so you waited for him to say more.

“I care about you.”

He said it so quiet it was almost a whisper, and his eyes darted around the room again.

“Like, as a friend?” You asked, silently begging for clarification before you made a fool of yourself.

“As a friend and also more than a friend.”

Now all your insides were up in knots, anticipating this moment but also unsure of what to do next.

“I kind of thought you were just a big dumb jock when you came here, but I was also wrong.” You offered, before continuing, “And I care about you a lot, too.”

Wonho looked relieved at your response, his body relaxing as he let out a breath. Yet, there was silence now, as your confessions hung in the air not knowing where to go with it.

You thought you were going to have to be the brave one, but Wonho beat you to it, reaching out to stroke the side of your face. You leaned into it, rubbing your cheek into his palm, comparing it for a moment to how it felt to be touched earlier in the night by Steven and how it contrasted with Wonho now. In fact, it had been a long time since you’d been touched affectionately at all, always alone in your hotel rooms, and you felt the warmth from his skin expand throughout your body, inside and out.

He pulled you toward him, gentle and firm at the same time, bringing his mouth down on yours. Your eyes drifted shut and you came closer to him, your body pressing into his as you surrendered to the feeling.

A need started to build up, you both felt it, all the unspoken tension of being in this room together, so close and so far apart. You wondered for how long he felt this way, if he’d been pining for you like you had for him. The way he deepened your kiss and became hungry for your skin, you believed it had been awhile now.

You were bold when you slinked your way into his lap, and he welcomed you there, one hand on your hip as the other found its way from your face to your hair, gently gripping it and kissing you harder. You held onto his shoulders and loved the way you could wrap yourself around him, unyielding underneath you yet still soft somehow.

He was breathless when he finally came away from your mouth, his eyes alight as he peered up into your face. He kissed you a few more times before they traveled away, down your neck and into the crook of your shoulder. You wrapped your arms around his head and cradled him into you, pressing your chest against his.

When his hands started to roam around, pulling and pushing at fabric, you realized things were going fast, but you didn’t want to stop and neither did he. You questioned only for a brief moment if this was too much too soon, but when you felt his hand glide under your shirt against your stomach, you forcefully silenced the nagging voice, knowing you wanted nothing else in the world.

You pressed your hips down on him, feeling him grow hard against you and smiling against his skin when he let out a little groan. You slowly rocked your hips into him as he ravaged your neck in nips and pecks, pausing briefly at your ear.

“Tell me now if you want me to stop, because I don’t want to stop.” He said through a ragged breath.

“Don’t stop,” You cooed, kissing his jawline.

He let out a satisfied hum as his hands went back to work, this time stripping the clothing, getting them off faster than you had ever even gotten them off yourself, and you giggled at his insistence. He kissed the center of your chest once it was bare to him, and you let out a surprised yelp when he leaned forward and stood up, hoisting you with him as he brought you to the bed.

You plopped down ungracefully, your laughter getting lost when he kissed you again, hovering over you. He paused only to strip his shirt off so you matched, and you took in the sight of him. You could tell a lot through clothing, but apparently not everything. You couldn’t help but caress your fingertips down the curves of his arms, shoulders, and finally to his chest. While you took your time admiring and feeling him, he made work of tugging your sweats down.

“You’re really okay with this?” He asked, and you laughed.

“I’m more than okay, obviously.”

“I just want to be sure, because you n-”

You silenced him with a kiss, one hand trailing from his stomach to the hem of his pants. You fidgeted with the waistband before sliding your hand past both layers to circle his length and he let out a strained sound against your mouth. It may have seemed like you were always locked away from the world, but truthfully you had had your fair share of trysts and not much more.

It was different with Wonho, though. This wasn’t a boy at boarding school you were sneaking away with to an empty classroom, or a rich man’s son you had spent the weekend with in Rome only to never see him again. This was someone you had gotten to know, laughed with, shared feelings with, and when he touched you it was more than physical, and a small part of that scared you.

But you tried to abandon the worry and focus on the here and now, particularly enjoying the effect you were having on him, His eyes had fallen shut and he bowed forward into your touch.You let him go so that you could use both hands to push away the last of the barriers between you.

He took a moment to admire you in your underwear, his hands feeling down your thighs before coming back up to bring the silky garment down with it. You thought he might get to it, but instead his fingers moved deftly between your legs, finding your center and caressing through your folds. You mewled when he found the perfect spot and stroked you there, working you up until he was able to slide a finger inside you, curling it up and working you from inside. Your eyes were threatening to drift shut and you couldn’t help the sounds you made, all the while Wonho staring down at you with want, but also making sure you were an absolute mess before he gave in.

When he got you where he wanted you, gripping the sheets and head falling back, he removed his hand to replace it with his cock, pressing your legs open and taking his time sliding inside. You fell flat on the bed before you arched up from your spine just as he settled himself to the hilt, and rested there to get you used to the girth.

Your hands came to his arms for something to hold onto as he drew out and pressed back in, slow and steady, gradually building up into a rhythm. Soon, his thrusts struck the back of your thighs and you almost couldn’t take it, feeling so full and dazed, all the wanting and wondering about him peaking in this moment.

“Don’t stop,” You reiterated,, not wanting him to do anything other than this, not wanting this feeling to end, almost disappointed that you were already almost there. Your nails dug into his biceps and you yelped when one hand found your center again, his thumb pressing into you in the right way to aid in your release.

“Dont-ah. Don’t stop, please.” You begged, clawing his skin.

“I’m not stopping until you come for me.” He growled, pounding into you just a little bit harder to drive the point home. Before you knew it, you were tumbling over your orgasm and it radiated from the top of your head to your toes, arching back and up against his hand, the force almost driving him out of you.  Wonho was prepared, and he bared down on you, pressing himself deep and letting you ride the waves of pleasure against him.

You had barely recovered when he started to move again, now both his hands gripping your hips as he pulled you against him, sweat beading on the side of his brow as he watched your body writhe under his control.

“Please, please, give it to me.” You whined, holding his forearms and meeting his thrusts with your hips. He let out an elated “ah” before he fell forward, pulsing his release inside you, panting and moaning against your neck.

You waited a long while for your heart rates to decline before he peeled himself off you and fell slack next to you, but were surprised when he pulled you into his chest. You were so used to things ending abruptly and being sent on your way, you had never laid in your post-poitus like this, not caring that he was sweaty as he held you tight and kissed your temple.

You found yourself strangely emotional, wanting to bury yourself in his skin somehow. You nuzzled him with your nose and he hummed happily.

“I’ve never done this before.” You said before you clarified, “the cuddling part.”

“Do you want me to stop?” He asked as he started to draw away, and you hugged him back.

“No, I like it.”

“Good, so do I.”

You laid in a comfortable silence together, held tight in his arms as he occasionally kissed parts of your face, from between your eyes to your nose and finally your lips.

“What do we do now?” You asked, not wanting to open your eyes just yet.

“For now? I’m going to keep looking after you.” He said with a squeeze, and you were content with that.

[moncherifaerie]

living younger - c.jh

pairing: choi jongho x reader / famous!reader

fluff, slight angst

warnings: swearing

a/n: part two of the jongho “fever” mini series! enjoy!

12:24PM.

“how do these look on me?”

you turned around to face jongho with the ugliest pair of sunglasses he’s ever seen but somehow you made them look like they were fresh off the runway.

“those look like shit, but you make them work.”

the gasp you let out as you smacked his arm and playfully lectured him about how someone in this universe worked hard on designing those sunglasses caused jongho to laugh, but wrap an arm around you and give you a side hug.

both of you discovered a small shop as you were talking a walk after getting breakfast at a local bakery. it was the type of shop to sell any and everything you could think of. although you didn’t have intentions to purchase anything, it didn’t hurt to just look around and somehow make this impromptu shopping trip an exciting memory for you two.

“hey lovely, do you like these?” you asked jongho as you tugged on his sleeve lightly over to where you were standing.

he looked at the assortment of handmade beaded bracelets you were looking at and saw you were holding two gray ones, one with a key and the other with a heart.

as much as jongho didn’t like the typical cheesy couple things that you sometimes pulled both of you into, he couldn’t help but love the idea of having just a small part of your relationship with him at all times. these bracelets were simple enough to be layered with the other accessories the stylists choose for the members to wear so he could even have a small reminder of you on stage with him too.

“yeah, we should get them.” he blurted out.

you looked at him with bewilderment in your eyes and immediately held the back of your hand against his forehead.

“should we get you back to the hotel? maybe we’ve been out on our adventure longer than we should be because you’re suggesting we get couple bracelets.” you stated.

jongho flattened his lips into a straight line as he blushed and took the bracelets from your hand, walking towards the counter to pay for them. you were hot on his tail as you let out a small laugh and wrapped your arms around his waist from behind.

“it’s okay, applehead, i know you love me so much.”

5:21PM.

you and jongho were driving around mindlessly at this point with no intentions of actually going to one specific place. you stopped at a fast food drive thru to get food for the road then have been on the road for a while now.

you opened your mouth for him to feed you some of your food, only to have him shove a handful of fries in.

“fungho, whuff tha fuck!” you managed to muffle-yell through the abundance of fries that were gracefully hanging out.

he laughed at how you still managed to semi-audibly curse him out even with a bunch of food shoved into your mouth, but he still reached over to pull some fries out and feed them to you properly.

“and you were the one calling me a brat, damn.” you said with a huff and dramatic eye roll.

“um excuse me babe, but you were the one about to drive off without me! you were planning on leaving me in the dust!” jongho playfully argued back.

“okay, but even if i was to drive off without you, i would’ve turned around in five seconds to get you because i’d never leave you behind, bub!”

the playful banter between the two of you continued as you drove passed the mass of open fields and trees, following path of the sunset.

once the food you two ordered was finished, all the trash was squished into the takeout bag that came with the food and abandoned in the backseat. comfortable silence settled between the two of you as you listened to jongho softly hum along to the music playing through the car stereo.

“so do you know what’s next after this?” you asked out of the blue.

jongho chuckled and turned to face you, “aren’t you the one that’s supposed to know that since you’re the one that’s driving?”

you rolled your eyes as a small pained smile made its way onto your lips.

“i’m not talking about the drive, jongho.”

he sighed and shrugged his shoulders. he knew exactly what you were talking about but he didn’t want to talk about it yet. not now at least. not when the two of you were enjoying your time together and living life like a normal couple despite your lives being anything but normal.

“we’re making it work, baby. don’t worry. we’ll be able to be together again when we go back home and have nothing on our schedules.” he made an attempt to reassure you.

the slightly strained chuckle that left you caused him to fully divert his attention towards you and watch as your eyes grew slightly glossy.

“you know i’m going to be here for another two months while you and the members head to europe for the next month. then you’ll be back in seoul for a while and i’ll probably be back in seoul too but about a week for a few tapings before i’m on the road again and headed to australia.” you said to him.

the once comfortable silence shifted to just silence. jongho let out a breath before wiping at the one tear that slipped out from the corner of your eye.

“don’t worry about it. i know dating while we’re both busy with our own schedules is complicated, but at least we have times where we’re able to cross paths and be together. it’s what helps strengthen our relationship, love.”

as much as it hurt your heart that in a few hours you’ll be dropping jongho back off at his hotel only for him to get on another flight to another city miles away from you, you just had to accept that once again, the two of you will have to leave each other with another bittersweet goodbye until next time.

“i guess you’re right. we’ll just have to continue to make the most of our time together now before it’s too late.” you vowed.

“isn’t that what’s been happening this entire time or was it just me?” jongho faked offense.

you rolled your eyes and softly smacked his arm. the two of you laughed as this was just how your relationship worked. even though your schedules constantly clashed with one another, whenever you had time to spend together, you were able to witness a side that was put aside for the two of you to see only.

[hufflepuffsthunderdome]

Loud, Proud and Losing Neville in the Crowd

Pairing: Silver Trio x Gender Neutral Reader (platonic) Warnings: LGBTQ+ themes, but fun fluff Words: 1,200 Summary: Luna, Ginny and Y/N take Neville to pride for the first time, and manage to loose him in the crowds. 

A/N: I’ve made Y/N a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but have left their sexuality ambiguous so you can interpret it however you like. For the point of this story, Luna is Lesbian, Ginny is Bi and they are dating (which I just choose to blindly accept as cannon), and Neville is Ace. 

“I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this,” Neville sighs as I paint the last purple stripe on his cheek, “I’m so nervous it’s insane.”

“Don’t be nervous Neville,” an airy voice calls from down the hallway, the blonde girl it belongs to emerging, continuing to add the pink, white, orange and red accessories into her messy space buns, “it’s gonna be a blast.”

Ginny comes through from the kitchen, holding two cups of coffee and a cup of tea, setting all three down in front of me and Neville and sitting in the seat opposite us. She’s wearing her usual getup, a crop top, shorts and her combat boots, swapping her usual bomber jacket for one we got from the charity shop down the road, still wet and patchy from when we painted it pink, purple and blue last night, “what is there to be nervous about Nev?”

“I don’t know,” he lowers his head shuffling his feet around, “I just don’t want to stand out.”

I place a hand comfortingly on his shoulder, “you won’t stand out Nev, there’s gonna be loads of people there to take the attention off us,” he chuckles, remembering all the videos I’ve shown him of pride before, “besides, you’ve never been before, and you have just as much of a right to have a good time as anyone, we promise to make that happen, right girls?”

“Right,” the girls parroted back before Ginny gets up, “but don’t you wanna stand out a bit Neville?” She puts her cup down and walks towards our shitty little coffee table, climbing up onto it despite its groan of protests. “We get a few times a year to stand out,” she takes off her jacket in a purposefully poor attempt at a striptease, flinging it over our heads and into the kitchen, “I plan to make the most of it.”

“Luna, come in here and control your girlfriend,” I joke, having moved on from Neville and now streaking my hair with rainbow accessories. I wouldn’t say it out loud, but I was also just as nervous as Neville was, it’s intimidating, Pride, sometimes, whether it's your first or your 23rd. I know that the girls and I have to make sure Neville has a good time for his first Pride being out and proud, so that’s what I plan to do.

Luna laughs as she walks back into the living room, “you should know better than anyone Y/N, that not even I can control my girlfriend.” Ginny gasps dramatically, crossing her hands over her chest, and turning away from us.

“Aww,” I coo, going up to Ginny to pat her face lightly, “did someone upset the poor baby?” she humphs, even more dramatically, turning sharply to face away from where I now stand, and in the process the table she stood on snapping underneath her, sending her hurtling towards the ground. Luckily Luna is close by, and as soon as she notices Ginny begining to fall, she’s right there under the girl, ready to catch her. They just look at each other as Luna shakes her head, Ginny putting on an overdramatic smile and mumbling a sorry.

“Well that’s that table gone,” I say, lacing up my shoes and standing up, “we ready to go lads?”

Ginny whoops loudly, someone now getting a piggyback off Luna without us even noticing she moved, “mush!”

Luna dashes off towards the door, barking like a dog as Ginny giggles from above her. I reach my hand out for Neville to take, patting him on the back as we make our way out the door, following our two insane friends, “it’s gonna be fun Nev, I promise.”

“I can’t believe we lost Neville,” I giggle slightly, “of course he’s the one out of us to get lost.” I jump, trying to see over the large crowd of people, to no avail. “Any sign of him from up there?” Luna is on Ginny’s shoulders, using a pair of binoculars she of course brought with her, scanning the crowds for Neville, mumbling a small nope in defeat.

I walk up to a stallholder selling handmade flags for charity, noting I will have to come back and buy one later, before going up and asking him if he had seen Neville.

“Oh yeah, he came here looking at Ace flags I’m pretty sure,” the gruff looking man said kindly, “pretty sure he went down there a sec ago but I don't remember,” he turns to hang up more flags, wishing me luck finding him as I thank him for his help.

I drag Ginny and Luna down through the crowds, down the cobbled steps and towards a second street where more stalls are set up. Ginny wobbles slightly as she carries herself and her giggling girlfriend down the stairs, still perched on her shoulders.

“Neville,” Luna calls out, Ginny bringing her down off her shoulders as she reaches the bottom of the stairs and Luna dashes off towards a stall as soon as her feet touch the ground. Ginny and I follow after her, and Luna is hanging off Neville hugging the tall boy, as he puts things he bought into a bag.

“We thought we lost you,” I say, “gave us a heart attack on that one.” Luna lets go of Neville and grab me and Ginny’s hands, pulling us into a group hug with the confused boy.

“I was just buying some pins.”

“Fucking hell my feet are killing me,” I groan, kicking them off and nestling further into the couch, Neville on one side of me, Luna on the other and Ginny in her lap, laid over the three of us.

“Tell me about it,” Ginny groans stretching, almost hitting Neville in the chin as she moves her legs, “my eyes are screaming at me to take these lashes off.”

Luna sits up straighter when Ginny says that, clapping her hands and nodding her head excitedly, “can I please take them off for you.” Ginny agrees, kissing Luna lightly as she laughs and positioning her face closer to Luna’s so she can pull the pieces of plastic off.

I laugh at the girls' antics, turning back to Neville and asking him if he had a good day. He agrees excitedly, ranting and raving about how much fun he had, “I mean anywhere I can get a shirt that says ‘acetronaut’ from is a win in my books.” We all laugh as he pulls at the hem of his new shirt.

“The party’s not over yet lads,” Ginny walks back in from where she had left to the kitchen, holding some cups and shot glasses in one hand, and bottles of vodka and mixes in the other, “I’d say it’s just getting started.”