#also lowkey if you ever need someone to bounce ideas off of...i promise i am better at social media in theory than in practice lmao

[apocalypticbadass]

Sapphic Vampire Lovers (Smut)

A/N: Hey guysss it’s Alice smut time. Haven't been able to get the woman out of my head recently so here are my musings. You live with the Cullens and Alice is your girlfriend, but no one at school knows. You’re basically an adopted sibling so I might refer to the kiddos as your brother/sister. Also I’m not saying Alice can't see the future in this but like...lowkey...it’s hard as hell to write for her when she already knows everything lol.

Warnings: Smut, cursing, I think that’s it.

----

You sighed loudly as Mike Newton continued to prattle on about unimportant matters by your side. The bell signaled the beginning of class, and you feigned an apologetic look, which Mike believed wholeheartedly as he scurried to his seat. Poor boy. You turned to Emmett, your “brother” who sat next to you in Chem.

“He doesn’t give up, does he?” Emmett snickered.

You shook your head and sighed. “Oh shut it, Em.”

“You should just turn him away at this point. It’s going too far. Alice is starting to really notice.”

“Wait actually? She can’t possibly think I would ever pick Mike Newton over her.” You replied, getting quite nervous that Alice might be upset with you.

“I’m just sayin’. He’s always flirting with you, the last thing you want is for Alice to get the wrong idea.” “Yeah, you're right. Thanks Em.”

He smiled at you and ruffled your hair before you both turned towards the front to pay some attention to your teacher. You couldn’t sit still for the entirety of class, Emmett kept having to pull your hands out of your mouth to stop you from biting your nails or rest his hand on your knee to keep your leg from bouncing. The bell rang after a painfully long class, and all you wanted was to get out of there. It was the last period of the day, so you and Emmett grabbed your things and booked it out of class, he understood your desire to leave. What the both of you had missed while you were too busy worrying about your anxiety, was that Mike Newton had left class 10 minutes early with Eric Yorkie and Tyler Crowley. How Emmett’s incredible hearing and sight had missed that, you’ll never know. Or maybe he just thought it was unimportant. The rest of your family caught up with you, and Alice linked her arm in yours.

“Hi baby.” She said with a smile.

“Hi Ali.” You answered, nuzzling into her shoulder as you walked.

As you all got closer to the parking lot, Emmett gasped. “Oh my fucking God...”

“Oh Jesus, here we go.” Rosalie sighed.

Draped across the side of Mike’s minivan, made of canvas and paint, was a sign that read “(Y/N), will you go to prom with me?”

You stopped dead in your tracks.

This could not be happening.

No way was this happening.

You turned, horrified, to look at Alice’s face. She was staring straight ahead, jaw set, eyes unreadable. You softly disconnected your arms and rushed over to Mike, tears threatening to spill from your eyes.

He beamed as he saw your urgency. “So, what do you think?”

“Mike, take it down right now.” You pleaded. “I’m sorry but I won’t go to prom with you.”

His face fell as Eric and Tyler moved to take the sign down and save Mike a little bit of embarrassment.

“I’m sorry Mike, I have to go.”

“Yeah, no, it’s cool.” He said, rubbing the back of his head.

Your family was on your left and they were already getting into the car. Alice was at the back, and you grabbed her wrist while begging her to turn around and talk to you. “Alice, please, can we talk?”

“What is there to talk about?” She spat, venom in her voice. “Clearly you gave him a reason to think he should ask you. You’re very friendly, and I love that about you, but I think flirting with someone when you have a girlfriend is way too far.” “Alice you know I would never do that. You know how loyal I am to you, Mike could never hold a candle to you. I swear I’ve never flirted with him in my life, he’s just obsessed or something.” Your eyes shone with tears. “Please, baby. Trust me, not him. I swear on my life I only love you.”

You could see the slightest softening of her defensive exterior as your (y/e/c) eyes bore into her deep amber ones.

She stepped closer to you and sighed. “You’re right, I’m overreacting, I suppose. You haven’t given me any reason to believe that you’d flirt with him.” Alice placed her lips below your ear. “Unfortunately for you, you’ll have to pay for poor Mike’s mistake. I’ll have to remind you who you belong to, just incase you needed a refresher.”

Your breath caught in your throat, a blush creeping onto your cheeks since you knew that your family could hear you quite clearly from inside the car.

“I’ll meet you at home.” She said before turning on her heel to walk home, she’d be back before the rest of you.

You got in the car behind the passenger seat, head in your hands as Emmett laughed from the other side of the car. “What did I tell you?”

“Drop it, McCarty.” You glared at him.

“She’ll come around.” Jasper said, hand on your knee. “She’s not actually mad, just jealous that he can be so carefree with his feelings while you both have to hide yours.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Just sucks.” “At least you’ll get good sex out of it.” Rosalie said nonchalantly, looking at her nails, which she had painted last night.

“Get some!” Emmett cheered, which made you bust out laughing.

The car ride home was comfortably quiet, everyone else’s mind wandering to other things, Rosalie and Edward speaking to one another in a nearly inaudible tone.

Butterflies fluttered in your stomach when you pulled up to the Cullen house, met by Alice leaning against her Porsche, arms folded neatly across her chest. Jasper squeezed your shoulder in encouragement, feeling your nerves flow, and eased your anxiety as best as he could, one last time. Alice got in the car before you could get over to her, and just before she shut the door, she gave you a “come hither” motion. You opened the passenger door and sat carefully inside of the car, careful not to track in any mud.

“Hi.” You said softly as she began to drive.

“Hello.”

You fell into silence, zoning out while looking out the window, wondering where the hell you were going. You tried very hard not to let her know how nervous you were, but the attempt was futile because she could hear your erratic heartbeat.

“Where exactly are we going?” You managed to say, in a calmer voice than you thought you could muster.

“You’ll see. It’ll be fun.” She said lightly, tossing you a wink.

20 minutes later, Alice pulled into a hotel parking lot, probably the fanciest building you had ever seen. You knew you were in Seattle, but had never been to this secluded area with these fancy buildings. You felt severely underdressed, the both of you casual, but her level of fashion much higher than yours, her walk far more graceful. She gave the keys to the valet as they pulled luggage out of the trunk. Alice took one bag for herself and handed one to you. She kept her hand on the small of your back and led you through the massive glass doors, which were opened for you of course. The gorgeous decor of the lobby kept your gaze until Alice had signed you both in.

“Come on now, love.” Her voice was like melted honey.

Your gaze flipped to her and you followed her to the elevator, where she pushed the button for the top floor. Your eyes went wide as you remembered peering up to the peak of the building and how high it was. As you stepped out, there was one single door in front of you. Alice swiftly unlocked it and ushered you inside, bolting the lock shut immediately. As you walked around in awe, you felt yourself being whisked away, vision blurring as Alice ran you both into the bedroom, where she tossed you onto the silk duvet. Her dainty, but incredibly strong hands pushed your shoulders back onto the bed. 

“What to do with you?” She pretended to think before pulling a pair of cuffs from behind her back. 

You bit your lip as you felt butterflies down below. Your wrists were in one of her hands in a second, cuffed to the headboard before you could even blink. “Are you going to be good for me, darling?”

“Yes baby, I will.”

“Good.” She muttered into your ear, tearing your shirt off to suck on the exposed skin of your breasts. All you wanted to do was tangle your fingers into her short hair as she marked your body. Your wrists audibly struggled against your confines and you groaned. Alice laughed. She tore your bra off in a fluid motion, gently worrying one of your nipples between her teeth.

You sucked in a breath. “Ali, please. Wanna touch you.”

She swiftly flipped you onto your stomach. “No ma’am. Not allowed.”

She then pulled your pants and underwear off in one go, leaving you completely exposed. Alice slid a finger towards your clit, circling it slowly. You whined and squirmed, so she ripped all contact away from you. You felt her cool breath at your ear and her disapproving tsk. “I thought you said you were going to be good for me.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll be good. I promise.”

“You better.” She replied, swiftly inserting one finger into your vagina. You took a sharp breath through your nose, trying to keep still. She curled her finger into your g-spot at an incredible pace, causing you to take a mouthful of the bedsheets to keep yourself quiet. She was pleasantly surprised at how good you were being, so she added another finger, scissoring you open. It took absolutely everything in you to just stay still and quiet.

Once you felt stretched enough, she placed a kiss at the base of your spine and retracted all contact, flashing across the room to grab a bag. You were unable to see this, but her clothes were off in an instant, and she had fastened one of her many straps around her hips. She’d chosen your favorite attachment, a hot pink dildo that measured around 7.5 inches. She leaned down to whisper in your ear while allowing the toy to nestle into the cleft of your butt.

“You’re not even gonna remember Mike Newton’s name after this.”

With that comment, she slid the tip of the toy into your entrance, slowly pushing into you, stretching you all the way out. “You can make noise now, love.” She purred.

Immediately, a string of profanities left your mouth. “Holy fuck, baby, you feel so fucking good inside me.”

After a few moments, you felt her icy hips hit your butt, felt her lips sucking marks onto your shoulder blades. “Move please, baby.” You whined, trying not to struggle against her. She pulled out of you slowly, and entered you once more. Taking her time, Alice picked up a pace that made your toes curl, she hit your g-spot every single time.

“Jesus fuck, Ali, God you’re so good. Feels so good, so fucking good, babygirl.” You babbled on as she drilled you into the bed at an inhuman pace, hands tangled into your hair.

“You just needed a little reminder, didn’t you, doll? Just needed to remember who you belong to. Mike Newton could never fuck you this good.” She growled, nipping at your earlobe. You wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but your words couldn't get past the way Alice was making you feel. Your clit gained some friction as each thrust pushed your body into the mattress a little further.

“Alice I’m so fucking close babes, please don’t fucking stop.” You cried out, the inferno in your stomach threatening release.

“Come for me, love.”

With her words, you came hard, squirting all over the duvet, leaving it soaked. Alice pushed all the way into you and stilled for a moment, relishing. “You were so good for me, babygirl. So beautiful.” She praised, pulling out of you and flipping you over.

“Wanna taste you.” You whined. “Sit on my face.”

Alice smirked at you and quickly unfastened the strap before positioning her dripping pussy over your mouth, settling softly with a moan. She had remained untouched until now, so the contact was quite welcome. “Christ, babe. Your mouth feels so good.”

Your tongue explored her walls, licking every surface, nose bumping her clit every so often. She leaned back and placed her hands on your thighs, squeezing them softly to get a grip. You moved to her clit, lips wrapping around it and drawing it into your mouth, eliciting a sharp gasp from your lover. You fervently continued, fully putting your mouth to work.

“Please, gonna come.” She rasped out, just before coating your face with her slick. “Oh my God, (y/n), so incredible.” Alice moaned while you continued to suck on her, drawing out her orgasm. You gazed at her with doe eyes from between her legs before she got off of you, reaching for the key to unlock your cuffs. She rubbed your wrists to soothe them before nuzzling into your neck and tangling her legs into yours.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over the way you taste.” You said after a few moments of silence.

Alice giggled. “I can absolutely say the same for you. That was amazing.”

“Totally. I love you. Sorry Mike asked me to prom.”

She let out a belly laugh, pulling you on top of her. “No need to apologize. I’m sorry for overreacting, quite dumb of me to be honest.”

“It upsets you that we can’t express our emotions for each other as freely as Mike can express his emotions for me.” “I just wish people could understand our love, understand that our gender is totally irrelevant.” She sighed, stroking your hips as she spoke. “I just love you so much and I wish I was able to show it in public without fear of something happening to you. God forbid anyone got violent.” “I know, baby, it’s really scary sometimes.” You cupped her face, stroking her cheekbone with one hand, combing through her hair with the other.

“I don’t want to say it, but you know what I’m thinking.” Alice whispered, expression growing serious.

“I’ve been thinking about it recently as well, I think we have to do it. Sometime soon, I want to be with you forever. We’ll set a date.”

Alice gave you a lopsided grin. “Can’t wait to be sapphic vampire lovers until the end of time.” 

You laughed, leaning down to kiss her. “Oh hell yeah.”

[starmakerdotcom]

summary : it took a whole month for milo to realize that maybe dating a fan you meet out in public isn’t the best idea he’s ever had.

characters : zhao honghui , jung yeonwoo , lee hayoon , some of solar ensemble are mentioned

genre : fluffy at the start but it gets more angsty near the end

warnings : swearing , talk of sex , they do fuck but i ended up not including the smut , lowkey manipulation if you squint , overall this is what not to do if you have an idol bf

words : 3.9k

[ february 20th, 2020, smk building cafe ]

“so... remember when we were at the airport last week when our flight was delayed?”

“yeah, what about it?”

honghui fiddled with the straw in his drink, watching the liquid swirl around as he tried to properly string his words together, “uh- basically i- i kinda met a girl?”

yeonwoo nearly choked on her drink.

“pfft- how on earth did you meet a girl at the airport for the hour we were separated?”

“did you not see the vlog from that day?”

“who are you kidding? i don’t watch our vlogs.”

“i-“ honghui chuckled, “it sounds so weird. so when i took minjae and jihoon with me to get a snack-“

“and you brought me back a cold coffee.”

“yeah. anyways, this girl- hayoon- was working at the counter, and she recognized me. she said something like, ‘are you milo from solar?’ i said, ‘yep, i am!’ and she started talking about how big of a fan she was, which was cool because we don’t meet many fans out and about like that.”

yeonwoo hummed, running her thumb down the side of her glass, leaving a dry stripe down the center of the condensation build. “so...? don’t stop there, tell me more!”

honghui nodded hastily, “yeah, we actually talked for a few minutes while my drinks and stuff were getting made, and we got along really well. she ended up slipping me her phone number with the order. we haven’t texted much but i have her instagram.”

“you’ve gotta talk to her!” yeonwoo exclaimed, slamming her hand on the table with each syllable for emphasis, “she seems sweet, shoot your shot dude.”

“shoot my-? nevermind. maybe i’ll find time to talk to her when promotions end, i’m a little busy right now,” honghui said, “i mean, we’re all a little busy.”

“you’d better.”

“i will!” honghui exclaimed, slightly taken aback by yeonwoo’s pushiness.

[ april 1st, 2020, solar dorms ]

the only light in the room was coming from honghui’s phone screen, the brightness fully down but somehow still too bright. it may have been the middle of the night, but promotions had just ended and he was texting with hayoon. well, more specifically he sent hayoon a text fifteen minutes prior and was nervously anticipating her reply. which had yet to come.

[ honghui : hey hayoon! just thought i’d say hi because promotions are over now and i have a bit of a break to talk :) ]

sent at 12:03 am

honghui sighed dramatically, then paused hearing minjae stir on the top bunk of the other bed. he forgot it was the middle of the night and people were actually sleeping.

he was so caught off guard by minjae that he didn’t even realize for a few seconds that his phone had buzzed.

[ new message from : lee hayoon ]

[ lee hayoon : hi milo! what’s up? ]

he swore the room got a few degrees warmer.

honghui quickly typed a message back, subconsciously bouncing his foot under the cover out of what was most likely nervousness, excitement, anticipation, who knows.

[ honghui : just wondering what you’re up to ]

[ lee hayoon : well, right now i’m getting ready for bed because it’s late. why aren’t you asleep? ]

[ honghui : i don’t know, if you want to go to sleep though i’ll let you ]

[ lee hayoon : it’s fine! i don’t mind talking for a while ]

[ honghui : are you sure? i don’t want to keep you up too late, i’ve got nothing going on tomorrow but i don’t know about you ]

[ lee hayoon : you’re so cute. it’s fine, i’m serious! ]

honghui felt his chest swell, as well as a strong urge to squeal into his pillow. but he didn’t, because that’s weird, and there were people sleeping a few feet away from him. a cute girl called him cute, and that absolutely made his heart melt.

he kinda lost track of time texting her. before he knew it, it was suddenly 2am and they had plans to hang out that friday. he could barely keep his eyes open.

[ honghui : i’m about to pass out. want to continue talking tomorrow? ]

[ lee hayoon : of course! goodnight :) ]

after reading her final message, honghui shut his phone off and turned over, smiling to himself. he’d consider that to be a pretty good night.

[ april 3rd, 2020, a random street corner ]

honghui stared at his phone eagerly, waiting for hayoon to say she was around the corner. they had decided to meet up and walk to the park nearby, where a couple of her friends might join her later that day. he was hesitant to this idea at first, but hayoon assured him everything would be fine. he was in such a good mood though that he didn’t let it bother him, not even the loud incessant honking of vehicles going down the street or the rather smelly dumpster in an alley behind him would dare taint his good mood.

suddenly his phone dinged, and he looked down to see a text from hayoon.

[ lee hayoon : i’m right around the corner! are you here yet? ]

honghui smiled excitedly before typing a message back.

[ honghui : yep! i’m wearing a long coat and a bucket hat lol ]

just then, a girl in a cute sporty jacket and chunky white sneakers walked around the corner and looked at him. it was hayoon, obviously, with her hands in her pockets and a big smile on her face.

“hi milo!” she said, waving excitedly at him. one of the first things he noticed about her was how short she was, not that that was a turn off or anything, but he had a good eight inches on her with her shoes on, he suspected she’d be about yongmi’s height without them, maybe shorter. it was cute.

“hi!” he said back, “you don’t need to call me milo by the way, my real name is fine.”

hayoon giggled nervously, “i totally would, i’m just really bad at pronouncing chinese words and names.”

“would calling me hyunsu make it easier? it’s my korean name, i don’t mind.”

hayoon nodded, smiling, “that works a lot better, i’ll remember that.”

as they walked to the park, they struck up friendly conversation with each other, hayoon told honghui about her new job at a cafe her aunt owns, and how she quit her job at the airport cafe because the transportation was too much of a hassle. honghui answered some questions she had about what being an idol is really like, and how their living situation is and all that. he was really starting to like her, she was cute, sweet, and fun to talk to.

eventually they got to the park, there wasn’t a lot there, but it was peaceful. it had a sort of serene vibe, an oasis within the concrete walls of the city.

they found a bench to sit down on which they stayed on for a while, continuing their conversations from the way over there. honghui never thought he’d learn so much about someone in a few hours, but by the time they were done, he knew the exact ages of her parents and siblings, he knew she had a tank of five fish each named after one of her favourite foods, he knew that she counted the stars through her window every night to help her fall asleep.

eventually, hayoon ran into a few of her friends while they walked around the park, and she introduced him as “her celebrity friend”. he thought that was... odd, but he didn’t say anything. they were nice enough, they asked him lots of questions about what it’s like being an idol, and he answered what he was allowed to. but before he knew it, the air was chillier and the sun was sinking down lower in the sky, giving him a signal that he probably should’ve gone back already.

as the candy floss clouds bled into the sunset, honghui bid his temporary goodbyes to hayoon and her friends, promising that they’d meet up again that weekend.

“so, i’ll see you again this weekend, right?” hayoon asked.

“definitely,” honghui replied, smiling softly with pink cheeks.

[ april 11th, 2020, hayoon’s living room ]

it didn’t feel like it had only been a week since the first time honghui and hayoon actually started hanging out.

this was officially their fifth “date”, and they had been texting 24/7, or at least it felt like they were. things were moving really fast. the first two times, they were out in public, but then their time time hanging out, hayoon took honghui to her apartment after he had come to visit her while she was working. she still lived with her mother, she was only 20 after all, and she was gonna start school soon and couldn’t afford to live on her own. her mother was out late working most nights though, so honghui never saw her.

this time, they were at her apartment, sitting in her living room watching a show. the heat wasn’t up far enough and both of them didn’t wanna get up to turn it off so hayoon resorted to cuddling up close next to honghui under their blanket, which made his heart race faster than he’d like to admit.

he really liked her, he’d already admitted that to himself, he’d also admitted it to yeonwoo right before he left that day. he could hear her voice ringing in her ears, saying, “tell her! you’ve got nothing to lose! she’s clearly interested in you.” maybe she was right.

“uh- hayoon?” he blurted out suddenly.

she looked over at him, “what’s up hyunie?” right. she had a nickname for him. maybe yeonwoo was right.

“i- uh-“ he started, trying to properly string his words together, but not getting far.

she smiled, chuckling slightly, “you what? spit it out! what do you-“

“i really like you.”

hayoon stared silently at honghui, which didn’t make him feel any better.

“oh god, sorry, that was sudden,” honghui replied quickly, his cheeks reddening, “it’s only been a week, i know, if you don’t feel the same i underst-“

hayoon cut off honghui’s rambling by sealing the gap between their lips, pressing hers against his. honghui didn’t know how to react at first, but soon sighed and relaxed into the kiss. the kiss was timid from honghui’s end, while hayoon smiled into the kiss before slowly pulling away.

honghui stared at her, dumbfounded, “so... is that a yes?”

hayoon laughed, “you’re so cute. and now i can tell people i kissed a celebrity.” honghui laughed along with that, but the laugh wasn’t as genuine as he thought it’d be.

[ april 13th, 2020, solar dorms ]

“you did WHAT?!”

“it all happened so fast! i- we just-“ honghui stumbled through his words, trying to make sense of everything that happened the previous night.

yeonwoo, who sat at the other end of the couch he was on, sighed, “that was a bit of an overreaction. i just can’t believe you lost your virginity before- literally anyone in this group who hasn’t lost their virginity yet!”

“i- don’t say it like that!” honghui’s cheeks burned as yeonwoo laughed, “it just happened, one thing led to another, you know, isn’t that how it usually goes?”

he couldn’t believe he lost his virginity to hayoon. the night after they first kissed, he visited her again, they watched their show again, and somewhere in there they kissed again. somehow that led to them making out, and then somehow that led to hayoon taking her shirt off, and somehow that led to them fucking. like he said, it all went by really fast.

“i can’t believe this.” yeonwoo groaned, “it’s been just over a week!”

“me neither,” she raised her eyebrows at honghui, “i didn’t expect us to go that far in the first place. but we did. and now i’ve lost my virginity to a fan i met at a damn airport.”

yeonwoo knitted her eyebrows together, “so... does this mean you two are a thing now?”

“i-“ he paused. were they a thing? he had no idea, they hadn’t had a serious conversation about it- at all.

“i don’t know,” honghui said finally, “we haven’t put a label on it, i guess.”

“are you going to?”

he shrugged, “maybe, we’ll see where it goes.”

yeonwoo sighed, looking at the ground, “how did you lose your virginity before me?” she laughed, lightly kicking honghui in the shin, to which he just shrugged in response, his cheeks burning a bright shade of vermillion.

[ april 19th, 2020, hayoon’s work ]

honghui officially had a girlfriend, and her name was lee hayoon.

they made it official the day after honghui had that talk with yeonwoo. he met up with hayoon and they talked about what they were, and since then, they’ve officially been boyfriend and girlfriend. so far, hayoon had been nothing but good to honghui, aside from all the “i’m dating a celebrity” jokes, which honghui found slightly obnoxious, but he chose to ignore it, because he liked her.

the cafe was relatively empty that time of day, so he found himself a table near the front door to sit down at and to wait for hayoon to finish her shift. he couldn’t see out the window well due to the building condensation, but it was overcast, and it had been raining most of the day. but today, instead of the gloomy weather reflecting his mood, honghui was feeling pretty good that day, he’d had a good three weeks, and he couldn’t see anything changing that.

when he saw hayoon emerge from the employee’s room, he stood up to greet her, but as he was about to walk over to her, the door opened. he looked over to see a small group of girls walking in, who hayoon obviously recognized, because she waved to them excitedly when they walked in.

more of her friends.

honghui sighed softly, he liked it better when they spent time together alone, but hayoon always had her friends around her. he knew her as a very social person, so he never thought much of it, but she didn’t seem to be with her friends a whole lot outside of when they hung out. it felt like almost every date now there was at least one of her friends present in some way.

he wasn’t one to protest though, so he kept silent on the issue.

“hi guys!” hayoon exclaimed as she walked over to the area where they all stood, reaching up to placing a hand on his shoulder. “hi hyunie,” she whispered, standing on the tips of her toes to try and kiss his cheek. he was so much taller than her that he had to lean down so she could reach his cheek.

“hi,” he whispered through gritted teeth.

[ april 24th, 2020, hayoon’s work ]

honghui opened the door to the cafe very slowly, seeing hayoon behind the counter with her back turned to him. with a small bouquet of flowers in his hand and a grin on his face, he snuck up to the counter to surprise her. before he came to visit her, he visited a nearby flower shop and picked up a small bouquet for her, no occasion in particular, he just felt like giving her something.

he paused when he realized she was talking on the phone to someone. now, he was never a nosy person, but he couldn’t help but eavesdrop a little on the conversation she was having.

“no, not today... yeah, he keeps saying he wants to be alone with me... god no not like that! he doesn’t like when i bring a lot of friends along...”

honghui’s face fell as she continued.

“it’s not possessive, he’s a celebrity after all... i’m not just dating him because he’s a celebrity! i mean, that may be part of it... no, but-“

hayoon froze when she turned around to see honghui there. he quickly hid the bouquet behind his back.

“hi, hyunie! you’re early, give me a second-“ she spoke quickly before she went back to her phone, quietly explaining that she was gonna hang up. once she did, she turned back to the boy at the counter with a smile, “how long have you been here? hopefully not long so you didn’t have to hear me talking on the phone for so long. me and my friends talk a lot.”

he shook his head quickly, forcing a smile on his face, “nope. just got here,” he lied through his teeth.

“that’s good,” hayoon said, walking around the counter to meet him on the other side, “did you get me flowers?” she gasped, seeing the bouquet in his hand. he nodded quickly and held them out for her to take.

“i love them!” she exclaimed, kissing his hand because she couldn’t reach his cheek. he softened seeing her reaction to the flowers, a genuine smile creeping across his lips.

[ april 27th, 2020, hayoon’s apartment ]

when honghui walked in, hayoon was laying on the couch, watching tv like usual. he didn’t even say hi to her, he didn’t need to, he just walked over to the couch and climbed on top of her, his head resting on her chest. she eventually fell asleep, and honghui tried to, but he didn’t feel like sleeping and he wouldn’t be able to even if he wanted to. whether it was the late afternoon sunlight pouring in through the thin curtains or the tv blaring, something was keeping him up.

he perked up when he heard hayoon’s phone buzz from on the floor beside the couch, also waking hayoon up. she didn’t check her phone, however, instead she tried to get up. she didn’t get very far though, because honghui wrapped his arms around her waist.

“don’t get up, you’re warm.”

hayoon tried to wriggle her way out of his grasp, “i’m just going to the bathroom, i’ll be right back.” he made a little sound of disapproval, but let go of her, flopping back down onto the couch as she stood up and left the room.

he groaned when her phone started dinging constantly. once again, he was never much of a nosy person, but curiosity got the better of him. he peered over the side of the couch to see what was so important that they had to sent six messages in a row.

[ message from : bestie 👯‍♀️ ]

that wasn’t really much of an indicator.

[ bestie : hayoooooon ]

[ bestie : are you there?? ]

[ bestie : or are you with your celebrity boyfriend again lol ]

[ bestie : come on he literally takes up so much of your time talk to meee ]

[ bestie : i mean i get it he’s your boyfriend but you keep saying he’s clingy ]

[ bestie : he’s gonna get in the way of our friendship lol ]

he suddenly wished he didn’t read those texts.

he was already an over thinker, but that might made it ten times worse. did hayoon think he was clingy? he didn’t think he was that clingy, but how clingy was too clingy for hayoon? he rolled on his back, sighing loudly, maybe it was just a misunderstanding, that was his solution to everything, just a misunderstanding.

that was when hayoon came back from the bathroom, walking over to the front of the couch. “you okay?” she asked, seeing him sprawled out staring up at the ceiling in thought.

he turned his head towards her hearing her voice, sitting himself up on the couch, “yeah. i think i’m gonna head back though, i don’t feel great.”

“that’s fine, is everything okay though?” she asked.

“yeah, it’s fine, i’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, standing up to give her a peck on the lips before grabbing his shoes and walking out the door.

he stayed up thinking a lot that night.

[ april 29th, 2020, solar dorms ]

this was the last straw.

over the last week there had been a lot of little occurrences that have almost set honghui off, but for some reason, this was the one that made him snap.

honghui and hayoon were in the middle of texting, and she accidentally sent him a text that was very obviously meant for someone else. normally this wouldn’t have been a big deal, but the message had something to do with how she wouldn’t like him as much if he wasn’t an idol.

[ hayoon : no he’s a sweetheart but not the type of person i’d date it he weren’t a celebrity ]

she deleted it quickly and apologized, but he’d already seen enough. he called her immediately, asking for an explanation.

“it’s not what it seems like, i swear, we were just joking around-“

“seems like a pretty weird thing to joke about, don’t you think?” honghui replied flatly.

“our humour is just like that. hyunie, listen-“

“don’t call me hyunie right now.” his voice dripped with venom. he’d only ever spoken with hayoon in the sweetest, warmest sounding voice, it didn’t sound like him at all. it scared hayoon a little quite frankly. “joke or not, it’s degrading. i just want you to be honest with me.”

hayoon sighed, “hyunsu, i’m sorry-“

“i want honesty, that’s all i want,” honghui replied, his voice softening a little. “i wouldn’t be making a big deal out of this if it wasn’t for everything that’s happened this week. the call, the texts-“

“so you did hear that phone call?”

“that’s not my point. so unless you have an explanation for all of this, i’m gonna hang up. be honest with me, if you don’t want to date me, say it to my face.”

“hyunsu, i...” her voice broke slightly, and honghui softened again. he still really likes her, so the fact that he had to do this fucking sucked. it felt like it was tearing his heart in half.

“you what, hayoon? spit it out.”

“i like you, i really do. but the reason i started dating you was because you were a celebrity, i got excited at the idea of dating a celebrity. and yeah, maybe if you weren’t famous i wouldn’t have been so quick to start dating you, but that doesn’t mean-“

honghui sighed, “i think i’ve heard enough.”

“wait! i’ll explain myself, i really do like you-“

“i like you too. but this fucking hurts, hayoon. would you like it if someone started dating you for your public status?”

hayoon sniffled so quietly it was almost inaudible, and her voice wavered slightly, “hyunsu-“

“i’ve heard enough. i don’t want to deal with this anymore.” honghui said bitterly. “goodbye, hayoon. find some other boy’s heart to break.”

and with that, he hung up.

they were over. a small part of honghui hoped that entire conversation would turn out to be a misunderstanding. they’d make up, and things would go back to normal. but sometimes, life doesn’t work out in your favour. sometimes it treated you like a little kid would a daisy they found in the grass- plucking you clean. which sounded like an exaggeration, but to honghui, a hopeless romantic who thought he and hayoon really had something, it wasn’t.

that was it. they were over. honghui hated it but he tried to remind himself that it was better this way.

that didn’t make it any easier.

[apprenticebard]

How can I make more money like you?

An important question!!

So to start with, I am not a person who has Figured Things Out. I got lucky last year - my friend recommended me for a job in a very high-wage area (specifically, San Francisco’s tech industry) that I happened to be a really good fit for, and that happened to be willing to hire people on a trial basis if they were promising, even if they didn’t have college degrees (’cause I still don’t have one). And that was really good for a while, until some stuff happened and I kinda got eaten. Now I’m unemployed and looking for another job; I think I’ll find something comparatively good again, but I dunno how long it’ll be, and right now I’m looking at both moderately high-paying content-writing jobs and jobs that pay around minimum wage (which is a lot here; nothing pays less than $15 because the bay is lowkey insane), in case getting another really good job takes longer than I’d like it to.

But anyway! Obviously there isn’t a super easy way to make lots of money that’s going to apply to every anon who could possibly have shown up in my inbox, but here are some general pointers:

1) Even if things are going really well for you, you’re gonna tend to make less than most people while you’re early in your career. This is difficult but how it is. It doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, and you might be on track for a great career in a few more years, once you gain more experience. If this is where you’re at, I think the best way to make more money is to work on leveling up at your current job, or looking for a different job of the same kind that either pays better now or will probably allow you to level up faster. It’s good to take on extra responsibilities when you have the time and energy to do so, especially if they use a lot of skills you do have, but also a few skills that you’ll need to figure out as you go along. 

Note that I do think that this advice is less actionable outside of the bay (which is full of startups that are growing rapidly and trying new things). I do think there’s still something to it. If you gain skills and responsibilities as well as you can, I think that even if your current job doesn’t recognize that and reward it, you’ll be building up skills that’ll make you more desirable the next time you change jobs.

2) Say you think you’re in a really good industry, and you know that other people in your industry make decent money, but for some reason, you’re not. Or, alternatively, say that you have a lot of skills and some work experience in a decent industry, but you can’t get anyone to call you back, and you’re beginning to wonder if maybe you’re secretly terrible and have zero Good Employee Qualities.

Getting a new job is hard, and leaving an old job is scary. I know; I just left my old job, and I spend lots of time being scared that nobody’s gonna hire me and I’m gonna have to go back to working at Kroger again, where I only made it through cashiering shifts by imagining that my characters were being tortured and that I could only save them by making it to the end of the next hour. 

But it really does pay to look at what else is out there. You can get some ideas by very casually looking at job sites like Glassdoor or Indeed; there might be nothing, or a bunch of job postings that you don’t understand, but I’ve found that it’s often good to get the lay of the land and figure out what recruiters are looking for in your industry. If you want better odds, and you have some successful friends, it can pay to ask them whether their companies are hiring for a position you can fill, and whether any of them might like to recommend you for it.

If you don’t have an easy way to get your foot in the door, you’re gonna be filling out a lot of applications. This sucks, but it doesn’t mean that you suck. If you really feel like you’re qualified for the sort of job you want, get someone to help you put together a good resume that shows off your skills, put together a portfolio or similar if you’re in the relevant industries, and resign yourself to applying to dozens or maybe hundreds of things. Recruiters are super arbitrary and will totally disqualify you based on things that have nothing to do with your ability to do the job. (This isn’t even because they’re bad people, it’s because they have a stack of resumes on their desk and have only the faintest idea how to tell which of the associated candidates are gonna be good at things.) It’s a numbers game. If you’re not doing something really ridiculous, like applying to every job with a resume that only lists completely unrelated kinds of work experience, then someone’ll probably talk to you eventually. It’ll just probably take way more applications than you’d think.

(Oh, also, all of the requirements in job postings tend to be pretty silly; as long as you think you’re genuinely capable of doing the work, I think you should apply to jobs where you meet maybe 75% of the stated requirements if the job sounds OK, and maybe 50% if it’s something you’d be really excited to get to do.)

3) If you’re not in a career sort of job at all - if you’re stuck behind the counter at Wendy’s right now, in which case my heart goes out to you, anon friend - or you’ve found yourself in a career that pays very badly or makes you unhappy, and you don’t think your skills will translate to anything you like doing, then you might want to look at changing careers entirely. Most people will tell you to go to college, if you haven’t already. I’m gonna tell you that college is a great thing for lots of people, but not always a good idea financially, and not always the best way forward, especially if you’re not very academically inclined. 

Think about what you’re good at, and think about what your dealbreakers are. You’re approaching this from thinking about money, not about passion, but you still don’t want to end up in a job that you’re a terrible fit for; you’ll get fired or be miserable all the time, and that’s no good for anyone. 

As a first line, if you feel that you’re reasonably flexible and talented, here are some very different jobs that make good money; you might want to consider whether you’re a good fit for any of these, and do more research as appropriate. (This is largely an exercise to get you thinking, not to say that these specific jobs are the ones you should definitely be looking at.)- Nursing. There’s a perpetual shortage of nurses, they have to exist everywhere in the country, and they make at least decent pay no matter where they live. For an RN, you’re looking at an average of about $55k per year in the cheapest states, and about $90k per year in the most expensive ones (although remember that this isn’t what you’ll make at the beginning of your career). I don’t recommend it if you really dislike people, long hours, college classes, heavy lifting, or bodily fluids, but I do think it’s a career that a lot more people should be willing to consider. If you think you can hack the education part, but not so much the heavy lifting, the bodily fluids, or the being around people who might be dying, dental hygienists make about the same amount, and their patients hardly ever need to be carried anywhere while possibly dying. I think.

- Software engineering. The pay rate here is kind of insane; if you have the interest and aptitude, then doing a coding bootcamp and getting a programming job in either NYC or San Francisco is a relatively attainable way of making a genuinely six-figure salary within a few years of starting, even if you don’t have a college degree. It’s not for everyone - I’ve tried to learn, a little, but I’ve bounced off pretty hard so far - but it’s a great opportunity for people who can hack it, so to speak. Like nursing, there’s a shortage here, mostly because software is a rapidly expanding industry that has only existed for, like, forty years tops.

- The skilled trades. We’re talking about electricians, mechanics, plumbers, carpenters, and other people in this space. It’s hard in different ways than an office job, but there are a lot of people who these are a good fit for. While they’re not as highly paid as nurses or engineers, people in the skilled trades do OK; reaching $50k per year is totally feasible, and people who are both skilled and lucky can break $80k. These jobs tend to go by apprenticeship systems, so if you don’t have a family member or friend to vouch for you, it’s a good idea to look at trade schools in your area to get you started, and then expect to spend several years in a junior position until you know what’s what.

- Flight Attendants. Not all flight attendants are particularly well-paid, but many are, and things like waitressing can be counted as relevant experience. The first flight attendant job I found on Indeed just now is $18 an hour and doesn’t require any experience or a degree, though the requirements do have a lot to say about your appearance, height (gotta be able to get luggage out of the overhead compartments, after all), and willingness to work really weird hours. The BLS reports that the median flight attendant ultimately makes about $56k per year. 

- Police officers. Obviously there are a ton of very legit reasons not to want to be a police officer, but I am of the opinion that someone’s gotta do it, and it’s better if the people involved wanna do it right, right? (I guess I don’t know if you want to do it right. Please don’t become a police officer purely for the money and then shoot someone, anon.) The median police officer makes about $60k, and it doesn’t require a college education, which is honestly a pretty good deal even if you’re not as passionate as Judy Hopps. I don’t recommend it as a job unless you’re not scared of people, even the creepy ones, ‘cause scared people make mistakes, and when police officers make mistakes, sometimes people end up dead.

If you read that list and were like, “Bard, there’s a reason I’m at Wendy’s, can you lower your expectations here a little,” you might want to look into stuff like warehousing, groundskeeping, janitorial work, sales, garbage collection, or construction work. Job sites are your friends; it’s useful to browse them and see what sorts of jobs pay the kinds of salaries you’re looking for. I also think you might be well-served by considering whether you can move in with friends or family in a part of the country where wages are higher. The big cost of living difference in other places is rent, so if you have a housing situation figured out or can split that cost with a friend, you can make a lot more money just by doing the same thing somewhere else. For example, before I got super lucky and became a Real Content Writer, my plan was to hang out on my friend’s couch for six months rent-free, work at some supermarket in SF, and then take my wages back home to Indiana to pay for the rest of my degree. And honestly, if I hadn’t fallen in love with this ridiculous place and hadn’t immediately gotten a much better job, I think it very well might have worked.

There’s a lot more that I could say here, but this is already pretty long. The main things are to think about where you’re headed, to look around at all of the different possible lucrative directions to head in if you don’t like where you are, and to figure out what steps you’d have to take to get there. You’re welcome to come to my inbox with more questions about this - my last job was all about helping people find jobs themselves, so I guess I should know something about it by now - but you might need to be a little more specific if I didn’t hit on the thing you’re stuck on in this post.

[mikauzoran]

Marichat Drabble: Women

Dammit.

Damn.

It.

Chat Noir, also known as Adrien Agreste, had only ever been in love with one woman in his entire life.

Not two, like he had believed for the past year or so, but one.

He’d fallen in love with one woman twice.

He’d been out as Chat Noir doing a lowkey patrol of the neighborhood simply because he had some extra energy and didn’t feel like being at home.

He spotted Ladybug over by the park by Marinette’s house and had been about to go say hi when she landed on Marinette’s balcony; took a quick, cautious, suspicious look around; completely missed him in the shadow of one of the surrounding chimneys; and detransformed as she’d dropped down the skylight.

This left him with the inconvenient truth that Marinette Dupain-Cheng, current love of his life, was also Ladybug, previous love of his life.

Ladybug, who had spent almost three years rejecting his advances. Ladybug, who, likely, still wasn’t interested in him.

Adrien thumped his head repeatedly into his pillow, swearing softly under his breath.

“Kid, this is not a meaningful use of your time,” Plagg sighed. He had ceased to be helpful and supportive two hours prior after the true period of crisis.

“This is exactly what I want to be doing right now because I am destined to die alone,” Adrien replied cheerfully.

“Okay. Good. Glad we’re making progress,” Plagg sighed, phasing through the minifridge to get more cheese for himself. When he came back, Adrien was still banging his head against the pillow. “Would now be a bad time to inform you that there are other human females on the planet besides the one you’re agonizing over?”

“I’m not capable of loving anyone else,” Adrien returned, again in that hyper-gleeful tone of voice that was bordering on hysterical once more. “When I tried to get over Ladybug by finding someone else, I only ended up falling in love with her again. Ergo, it’s Marinette or nothing. Clearly the universe intends for me to die of unrequited love. My life has no purpose but suffering.”

Plagg groaned loudly, wishing, not for the first time, that the universe had given him a less dramatic kitten. “Kid…cut the theatrics.”

Adrien put his pillow onslaught on pause for a minute to pout at his kwami. “Plagg, I am serious. This is soul-crushing for me. I had hope with Marinette. Yeah, I was getting a lot of mixed signals, but I had hope. It wasn’t enough to risk confessing my feelings to her, but it was enough to keep me going, keep me fighting for her, keep me thinking that one day she’d love me too and that we’d be happy…that I’d be happy and all this pain would be worth it because she’d look at me and really see me and want me and…”

Adrien gritted his teeth, dropping his face into the pillow. He stayed like that, unmoving for a minute, as he tried to calm down so as not to give his father—his freaking father!—any ideas about akumatizing him.

Because that was the day he was having. The last thing he needed was Adrien getting akumatized and Marinette finding out he was Chat Noir because of it…or Adrien getting akumatized and Chat Noir not showing up and Chat having to explain that the next time he saw Ladybug…who was Marinette too.

Shoot. He was going to have to act like a normal human being around both Ladybug and Marinette after this so that they wouldn’t know that he knew. He had the feeling they would not like him knowing, and it would just make things more awkward for him who had been extremely vocal and persistent about his obnoxious, embarrassing crush on Ladybug for three whole years.

“Kid?” Plagg called softly, dragging Adrien out of his mental spiral.

Adrien turned his head to the side to look pitifully at his kwami.

“…Plagg…Ladybug has actually rejected me. Marinette has rejected me. Every time it was Ladybug, it was Marinette, and now I have to go back and, every time, see Marinette scoff at my attempts to flirt, turn down my advances, tell me no. Marinette has already said no a dozen times. What point is there in keeping all this up? Her answer isn’t going to change,” Adrien muttered, the fight gone out of him.

“You can’t know that,” Plagg sighed, summoning up the strength to make an effort for his kitten once more. “It’s been over a year since the last time you confessed to Ladybug, and you and Marinette have gotten a lot closer since then. You’ve gotten a lot closer as both Adrien and Chat Noir. Maybe she has changed her mind about you. You can’t rule the option out until you try it.”

Plagg crossed his fingers that he was right. He knew that, at one point in time, Marinette had had a crush on Adrien, but four years had passed since then, and her behavior towards his charge had shifted in that time. Plagg was aware of other suitors in the girl’s life to whom Marinette had shown favor, so he wasn’t sure how exactly she felt about Adrien and Chat Noir now, but he knew that she had at least had feelings for Adrien at one point, so couldn’t those feelings be rekindled?

Plagg prayed that he wasn’t giving his kitten false hope and steering him towards heartbreak…. Plagg had a bad track record with destroying things.

“You think I still have a chance?” Adrien immediately latched onto the hope.

“Yeah. Why not?” Plagg prayed really, really hard. “I mean, she’s not indifferent to you, Kid.”

Adrien hummed thoughtfully as he rolled over onto his back. “You think so?”

“Sure.”

“You’re not just saying that to get me to calm down so you can go to sleep?” Adrien cast his kwami a suspicious glance.

“No,” Plagg confirmed.

He was just saying that to get his kitten to calm down so he wouldn’t be in such horrific anguish. Plagg felt completely out of his depth with the whole feelings thing, and it was hard for him to watch his kid struggle like that, alone in his head. Anything he could do to make it better…he just hoped it didn’t backfire later.

“Okay,” Adrien sighed, letting his eyes drift closed. “I’ll just…not lose all hope yet then.”

“Good plan,” Plagg whispered, crawling from his own pillow over to Adrien’s to give his charge a reassuring nuzzle.

 “Adrien! What a surprise,” Sabine greeted, eying the two cups of coffee in the boy’s hands. “Marinette isn’t in right now, I’m afraid.”

“I know,” Adrien informed sheepishly. “She, Nino, and Alya are at Alya’s house hanging out.”

Sabine frowned. “Actually, I thought you’d be with them.”

“I was supposed to be, but I begged off, saying something came up,” Adrien explained.

Sabine waited, brow furrowed, for further explanation that would hopefully clear up what he was doing on her front doorstep with two coffees from her favourite café instead of spending time with her daughter and their friends.

When Adrien only shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, Sabine took it upon herself to ask, “What came up?”

“Something that I was hoping I’d be able to talk to you about?” His smile was clearly a cry for help. “May I come in? I brought coffee.”

“Oh, Honey,” Sabine chuckled, putting a hand at the small of his back and ushering him inside. “You don’t have to bribe me into talking with you. It’s appreciated, Adrien, but not necessary. I’m here for you whenever you need me.”

“Thanks, Sabine,” Adrien whispered, an immense relief settling upon him.

“So,” Sabine began when they were seated at the table in the kitchen. “Is this about your father?”

“Not this time.” Adrien nervously swirled the straw in his drink, mixing the whipped cream with the rest of his frappuccino.

The fact alone that he was drinking a frappuccino told Sabine it was a bad day. Adrien typically drank a cortado or cappuccino when they met for coffee. His father would have an aneurism if he saw Adrien drinking the sugar/calorie bomb that was a frappuccino, and yet, there Adrien was, foregoing the caffeine and risking his father’s wrath for the sugar hit.

Sabine took a sip of her banana-espresso latte and waited patiently, letting Adrien take his time and get his thoughts together.

“I’m not sure if you can help me…. I’m not exactly sure what I need help with, actually.” He winced. “I’m probably bungling this, but…I need someone to kind of bounce my thoughts off of, and Plagg…Plagg is great, but—”

“—I’m no good with feelings,” Plagg freely admitted, floating up to sit on the counter next to Adrien’s elbow. “I got him through last night somehow, but I really need you to tag-team with me on this one, Sabine.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Sabine provisionally agreed. “What’s going on, Adrien?”

He bit his lip. “I don’t know how to bring this up. I mean…if you know, great. If you don’t…and I accidentally tell you…you’re not going to be happy, and she is going to kill me, and—”

“—Adrien?” Sabine called gently, reaching out and placing a hand on top of his to ground him. “It’s okay. Take a deep breath.”

Adrien did so. “…Okay. Here goes.” He looked up and studied Sabine’s face intently, ready to read any change in her micro-expressions. “Do you…know…?”

Sabine frowned. “About?”

Adrien bit his lip, obviously discouraged. “About…Ladybug?”

Sabine blinked and then her eyes narrowed. “What about Ladybug?” Her tone was cautious, suspicious, guarded.

That was good, Adrien decided. That was promising.

“About how…” Adrien wet his lips nervously. “You know.”

Sabine thought she did, but if she was wrong…she would not be the one to tell Adrien—Chat Noir—that her daughter was Ladybug. That was not happening.

“I think I do, Adrien, but you’re going to have to be a little more specific than that so that I know we’re talking about the same thing,” Sabine granted judiciously.

He frowned, gaze dropping to his drink.

His fingers tapped on the table in frustration as he strategized.

Suddenly, his face lit up, and the answer was obvious.

“Sabine, I know who Ladybug is. I accidentally saw her detransform last night,” he explained. “Do you know who Ladybug is?”

Sabine breathed a sigh of relief, letting the tension melt. She nodded. “Yes. Yes, I do. Goodness. She let you see her? She’s getting careless.”

Adrien shook his head. “She couldn’t have seen me, and I doubt anyone else could have seen her, but…so…now I know, and now I have a problem.”

Sabine nodded for him to continue.

“I thought I was over Ladybug. I thought I had moved on, and I thought maybe now I had a chance to find love with someone who could return my feelings,” Adrien sighed. “I mean, this past year, Marinette hasn’t exactly said she was interested in me—either of me—but sometimes I got the impression that…maybe she’d say yes or a least consider it if I ever got up the courage to ask her out…but now…”

Adrien shook his head and took a long pull from his straw. “Sabine, Ladybug consistently turned me down for three years, and now here I am putting all my hopes in her again in the form of Marinette when I’m probably just going to get told the same thing if I confess to her again: I’m a dear friend, but there’s someone else…. And I’m just so lost, Sabine. I’m confused, and I’m frustrated, and I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”

“What can I do to help you, Adrien?” Sabine prompted.

Adrien bashfully averted his gaze. “I know I’m kind of asking you to break mother-daughter confidentiality here, but please. I need to know if I stand any kind of chance with her or if I need to give back my ring and move to London for a few years to get away from her and maybe get her out of my system.”

“It’s really so bad that you’d consider giving up your ring and Plagg and Chat Noir?” Sabine gasped, stunned.

Adrien shifted uncomfortably, nodding gravely. “I hope you have no idea how painful it is dedicating four years of your life to one person, letting them determine whether you feel like you’re on top of the world or lower than dirt. It was one thing to let Ladybug have that much power over me for three years, and it was one thing to let Marinette do the same for a year when I thought things with her would go differently than things with Ladybug, but if they’re the same…”

Adrien shook his head, burying his face in his hands. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Sabine rested a hand on his arm in sympathy. “Oh, Adrien. I’m so sorry.”

Adrien went still, his body tensing as he dropped his hands and looked at her, a stricken expression on his face. “W-What? What do you mean you’re sorry? You mean you don’t think she—”

“—No!” Sabine quickly corrected. “No, Honey. No, that’s not what I meant. I just…am sorry you’ve gone through so much.”

“Oh,” Adrien whispered, looking suddenly exhausted. “Then…does she…? Do you think…” He shook his head and spit it out: “Sabine, do I need to move to London, or do you think your daughter could ever love me? I know you and Tom joke about me being your future son-in-law, but, be straight with me. Is that a realistic possibility?”

Sabine bit her lip and tried not to fidget under Adrien’s intense, pleading gaze. She took a deep breath. “All right. What I’m about to tell you, you didn’t hear from me. I’m telling you this in confidence, and I’m only confiding in you because you’re a mess, and someone has to help you. I think all of Paris and Ladybug both owe it to you to give you a hand.”

Adrien tipped his head to the side, holding his breath as he waited.

Sabine shook her head. “I don’t know, Adrien. That’s the honest answer. Marinette doesn’t talk to me about those kinds of things often. I do know that she did like you as Adrien in the past.”

“When was this?” he cut in eagerly.

“Shortly after you first met. I don’t know if she really liked you, Adrien, or just the idea of you, but, for about two years, Marinette had one of those huge, embarrassing crushes on you,” Sabine chuckled fondly at the memory.

“How do you know it ended?” Adrien pressed, trying to get as many details as possible.

Sabine shook her head again. “I don’t. That’s just when she stopped acting so silly around you. I’m not sure if her crush petered out as she got to know you better or if she started liking someone else or if maybe her feelings changed and she started to care for you more deeply in place of the more superficial crush she had on you before. I honestly don’t know how she feels about you right now.”

Adrien nodded, shifting gears. “And what about Chat Noir? Has she ever…said anything? I know there was that one weekend where Marinette suddenly told Chat Noir she loved him, but that kind of felt like it came out of nowhere and went back to nowhere just as fast. Did she ever mention Chat in a romantic capacity after that?”

Sabine grimaced. “I’m sorry, Honey. She talks more to Tikki and Alya about these kinds of things than she talks to me, but she never went through a phase where she hung Chat Noir posters all over her walls.”

“Okay,” Adrien sighed, swirling his straw once more. “All right. That’s fair. If that’s all you know, that’s… Okay….”

“Adrien? To be fair, as a mother, I see things. I pay attention. That’s how I figured out Ladybug’s identity, and that’s how I know that that girl adores you—both of you. I don’t know if it’s the kind of love you want, but it is some form of love. I can’t tell you if it’s enough to keep you from going to London to try to purge your feelings for her, but…you are precious to her. It might be worth talking to her about your identity and your feelings and seeing what she has to say.”

She was silent a moment, letting her words sink in. “…Do you think that helps?”

Plagg looked up questioningly at his kitten, praying that Sabine’s words had given him some direction.

Adrien smiled—soft, tired, but grateful—and gave a small nod. “Yeah. Yeah, I think that helps. I don’t know that I’ll be able to confess to her any time soon, but…I think it might be worth it to try to ride things out. If Marinette actually says no once all the cards are on the table, I’ll go exile myself then, but…it might be a good idea to stick it out.”

A small, relieved grin bloomed on Sabine’s lips, and she took a sip of her banana-espresso latte. “Good. I’m glad I was able to help out in some small way…. Now. You know where to come the next time you need to talk something out, don’t you? Before you resign as a superhero and flee to London?”

Adrien chuckled sheepishly, pushing away his frappuccino. “Straight to you, Mama Sabine.”

“That’s right.” Sabine gave his hand an approving pat. “Do you need anything else while you’re here, Sweetheart?”

Adrien gave a quick shake of his head. “No. That was the major issue. I do have a few questions, though. Does Marinette know that you know about Ladybug?”

Sabine let out a boisterous bark of laughter at that. “Goodness, no! Tikki and I talked about it and decide it would be best not to tell her. If she knows that I know, she’ll worry about making me worry, and it could affect her performance in battle. She’s better off not knowing.”

“What about Tom? Does he know?”

Sabine laughed again. “No, Dear. Tom wouldn’t sleep nights if he knew what his precious baby girl was up to. Sometimes you have to keep things from your loved ones in order to keep them smiling. I believe you’re familiar with the concept.”

“Mm,” Adrien grunted melancholically.

Sabine’s serene smile slowly faded into a quizzical frown. “I have a question for you.”

“Shoot,” Adrien encouraged.

“Aren’t you angry at her?”

Confusion flooded Adrien’s face. “Why would I be angry?”

“She’s been keeping this from you all this time,” Sabine explained.

“No,” Adrien corrected. “Not by choice. Plagg explained the way Tikki is to me. Marinette is just doing what Tikki tells her is best. She trusts Tikki the way I trust Plagg.”

“You trust me?” Plagg snorted from his seat on the table.

Adrien cast him a wry glance. “About the important things. When you’re being serious.”

He turned back to Sabine. “Besides, Ladybug has almost told me before. She’s wanted to, but something has always held her back. Now that I think about it, there have even been times when I was Chat and it seemed like Marinette was trying to get up the courage to tell me something…but then she always had second thoughts or something in the room would unexpectedly break or fall over as if poltergeists were trying to keep her from saying anything. That was probably Tikki. So, no, I’m not mad at her.”

“Does her being Ladybug change the way you feel about her at all?” Sabine wondered. “Not that you’ve really had enough time to consider it, but…I’m sure some things must be different now that you know.”

Adrien blushed, giving a little shrug. “I think the only thing that’s changed so far is that I am possibly even more in love with her now. I mean, I always thought Ladybug was stellar, but then I got to realize how phenomenal Marinette is and fell in love with her. Now, they’re the same person, and how can one girl be so perfect?” Adrien groaned in painful ecstasy. “I am dooooomed.”

Sabine tried not to laugh at him too hard. “Perfect, is she? Adrien, dear, I know my daughter is wonderful, but I also know that she is a flawed human being. Be careful putting her on a pedestal; she’s a bit of a klutz. She might fall off.”

Adrien rolled his eyes, waving her comments away dismissively. “Sabine, even Marinette’s flaws are perfect. Trust me.”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?” Sabine snorted.

“No,” Adrien insisted. “Your daughter is objectively a divine being.”

“That ‘divine being’ is no angel,” Sabine muttered. “I should know. I gave birth to her. If she doesn’t marry you, I’ve raised a fool.”

Adrien opened his mouth to reply, but just then the door to the living area flew open and Marinette stomped in, proclaiming, “Maman, my friends all suck.”

Everyone froze as they took stock of the scene before them.

Plagg phased straight through the table and zipped into Adrien’s messenger bag, hoping Marinette had been too stunned by the sight of her mother and Adrien Agreste having coffee at her dining room table to notice the kwami.

Sabine was the first to recover. “Hello to you too, Honey. If you’ll notice, we have a guest.”

“Adrien.” Marinette blinked at him stupidly.

He raised a hand in greeting, not trusting his voice because Marinette was Ladybug, and it was so beautiful the way she was gaping at him like a fish. He could watch her stare at him all day long.

“What are you doing here? I thought you said something came up?” Marinette’s voice sounded halfway between confused and hurt, and Adrien realized that she thought she had caught him lying to her.

He mentally kicked himself. “It did. This is the thing. I mean, this is the thing that came up. I had to come here. To talk to your mom,” he concluded eloquently, trying to sell it with one of his signature smiles.

Marinette wasn’t buying it. She came over to lean against the couch, crossing her arms as she gave him a scrutinizing look. “You had to talk to my mom. What about?”

Pick something plausible.

“I needed to ask her for your hand in marriage.”

No. Just no, Agreste. Not that.

Despite the fact that she was standing still, Marinette tripped. “Wh-What?!”

“Sorry!” Adrien backpedaled. “Joking! That was a joke. Sorry. Clearly that was a bad joke. I apologize. Honestly, it was just something personal that I needed a mom’s perspective on, and since I don’t have one of my own, I thought I’d borrow yours—if that’s okay. Sorry. I mean, I know I have Nathalie, but she’s not always—Sorry. This must be really weird for you.”

“No!” Marinette waved her hands almost violently, guilt clearly written on her face. “No, it’s fine. You can borrow her whenever you need. I’m sorry. I didn’t even—and I’m probably interrupting, aren’t I? I’m just…gonna go up to my room now. Sorry, Adrien.”

She had only gotten a few steps before he was up off his stool, catching her by the wrist.

“Wait,” he softly entreated. “Um…We were pretty much done, so you don’t have to go.” It occurred to him that he should probably let go of her wrist. “…Did you want the rest of this frappuccino? It’s vanilla bean?”

“You don’t want it?” Marinette tipped her head curiously as she approached the beverage.

Adrien shook his head, retaking his seat and pushing the drink towards her. “No. I’ve just decided that today isn’t as bad as I thought.”

“Good to hear?” Marinette chuckled, claiming the stool on the end and taking a long pull from the frappuccino straw.

The straw that his own mouth had just been on.

The Japanese had a word for this: indirect kiss.

Adrien tried to keep his blush under control as he suavely inquired, “So I hear that all of your friends suck? What’s that about?”

“You abandoned me, and Nino and Alya were canoodling in my presence again,” Marinette announced saucily as she reached out to tussle Adrien’s hair. “Therefore, you all suck.”

Sabine tried not to laugh as she smiled into her banana-espresso latte.