#and I especially can’t stand wimps who act all anxious but don’t care when they srsly actually inconvenience or disrespect u

[diamond-seventeen]

Forever [Hoshi]

words: 1.6k genre: angst/fluff

summary: your best friend had always felt the need to change in front of his friends, but this time he took a prank too far

“forever (fəˈrɛvə/) adverb. for all future time; for always.”

Forever. It’s such a strange concept, especially when we live in a world which teaches the youth that everything comes to an end. Forever. A word so casually thrown around in day to day life when behind the simple seven letters was the deepest commitment someone could make. Forever, forever, forever. Although it seems so out of reach, as though it was to be found in another distant galaxy trillions and quadrillions of miles away from our own, it was what you longed for most.

A firm tap on the head brought you to your senses, causing you to look upwards at the culprit with an irritated look on your face. “Hey!”

Grinning down mischievously at you was the one and only Soonyoung, your childhood friend and long-time partner in crime. It wasn’t that the boy was a delinquent, but rather he wasn’t a fan of the education system and would rather spend his time playing pranks on those too gullible to see through his pestiferous but infantile schemes. Despite wishing you could say you weren’t one of these people, it happened that if there were an award for falling for the largest number of his tricks, you’d have won it for over a decade consecutively.

“What do you want, Soonyoung?” you asked, rolling your eyes.

“I’m happy to see you too.” he barked, rolling his eyes so hard you were surprised that they didn’t fall out of his head.

“So, what do you need from me?” you pressed, peering over the tall boy’s shoulder to see his large group of friends walking up behind him. Despite his annoying tendencies and defective attitude, Soonyoung was one of the most popular boys in your school.

“Ah…” he stuttered, peering over his shoulder to see five of his best friends coming up behind him. He scratched his ear nervously, before saying, “See! You distracted me and now I forgot what I was going to say!”

This caused an eruption of ‘aww’s and ‘oohs’ from the rowdy boys as they crowded around your cramped desk, making you feel as small as a mouse as you blushed profusely. The boys seemed to find it ‘cute’ when the two of you had your small disagreements, pushing him to go further with you even if you were sat right there in front of them. It wasn’t that your friend was unlikable when around his friends – often, he got so anxious about what they’d think of you two that he’d act kind of cute – but he did change. He didn’t want them to think lowly of him.

“What does our Soonyoung want from ___ this time, hmm?~” Mingyu sang, laughing as he sat on a desk nearby yours.

“Ah, looks like we caught them in the middle of flirting again!” Wonwoo added, smirking at you when he noticed the look of disapproval you’d shot at him.

After peering at his classmates for a few seconds as though he was a lost baby bird, he cleared his throat and stood up confidently before you. You’d never seen him like that before, his nerve bulletproof and impenetrable. Your stomach did a flip as the words left his perfectly plump lips; “Meet me by the school field after school.” With that, he left, his awestruck friends behind him.

Dazed. Nothing got through to you for the entirety of the school day, whether that be a displeased teacher asking you a question which you most definitely didn’t know the answer to or your own friends trying to discuss the latest episode of a drama which aired last night. It was as though everything had a strange, misty hue about it and there was only question you wanted to mull over in your mind. What was it that Soonyoung was going to ask you? Although you’ve been friends since you could understand the concept of the word, you’d never seen that confident, determined glow about him. It was unique, interesting, captivating. For once, he seemed serious. Whether that made your heart race or the nerves build up inside you, you couldn’t decide.

From somewhere deep within your daydream, you heard the echo of the school bell ringing. It’s the end of the day. It’s time. Slowly, you slung your backpack over your shoulders and began to walk to the school field, almost as though you were in a trance.

Before you knew it, there he was with his back facing you and earphones plugged into his ears. Subconsciously, you moved your hair from your face and took a deep breath, before timidly tapping Soonyoung on the shoulder and whispering his name. “Um, you asked me to come here?”

Hurriedly taking the earphones from his ears, he gushed, “Ah, yeah! Hey! Well, um, I basically called you here to tell you something which I feel is pretty important.”

“What is it?” you asked, your eyebrows furrowing as your mind went through every ‘important’ thing he could be talking about. “Are you ill?!”

“No, that’s not it!” he assured you while absentmindedly moving a piece of hair that was blown into your face by the wind. “I basically wanted to tell you that, after being the best of friends for all these years, that I like y-”

Soonyoung had begun saying the words which you had gone over again and again in your head. Why was it that just as your heart had begun to swell, he had stopped so abruptly? Looking up at his face, you saw him looking as shocked as a dear in the headlights. As you turned to see what had happened, you saw all his friends standing there with their mouths agape.

Glimpsing back at Soonyoung, his whole demeanour had changed. He’d become rigid, frozen in time. “Soonyoung?” you breathed, worriedly touching his arm.

“Just kidding!” he cried out suddenly, pointing finger guns at you. “I totally got you that time, right? I was convincing, wasn’t I?” he blurted out, giving off an overexaggerated laugh. All the while, your heart sank so far that you could have sworn you felt it in the pit of your stomach. Seeing the boy’s smiling face looking towards his friends, you loathed him. Despite all the anger building up inside you and threatening to boil over, you began to cry. One tear, then another, and another. When Soonyoung finally looked back at you, his snickering face faltered. “___...” he muttered. However, you had already begun to walk away.

His eyes were wide as he helplessly watched you walking away, your head staring down at the floor. He could only assume that was to hide the tears from any other passer-by’s. With this same expression, he turned to look at the group of friends who, for the first time, were not laughing at one of his ‘pranks’.

“Soonyoung, bro, that wasn’t cool.” Seungcheol put simply, shaking his head at him disappointedly. “You can’t play with someone’s feelings like that.

Soonyoung was taken aback. “She doesn’t have feelings for me, though!”

“I’d think otherwise, considering that reaction,” Joshua muttered. “Anyway, you don’t do that to anyone, especially your best friend.”

Minghao, who had been deep in contemplation until this moment, finally had his input into the conversation. “Plus, it seemed like a genuine confession until we got here, Soonyoung. Are you sure you didn’t just do that because we turned up?”

To this, he had no reply. “I have to go,” he muttered and quickly picked up his bag, running towards the exit of the school.

His breath was running short. He gasped for air as he finally caught sight of you, not far from the intersection where you both parted ways when walking home together. “___!” he called, sprinting the last couple of metres until he could grasp your wrist in his hand.

“Let go of me.” you simply stated, yanking your slender arm from his grip.

“No, please!” he begged, taking your arm again and pulling you to face him. Glancing up your tear stained face, Soonyoung squeezed his eyes tight and gently tugged you into his embrace. The action surprised you, but you hadn’t the energy to fight back at this point.

“Why would you do that to me?” you whimpered, hiding your face in his chest. “Why would the most wonderful, caring person in my life do that?”

His mouth opened as he tried to find the right words to say. But he couldn’t.

“Soonyoung, you must know by now that I like you!” you yelled, pulling away from him to stare at his face. “Even your friends have worked it out! To play a trick like that on someone… it’s just not you. Why do you have to lose all trace of sincerity when you’re around them? All I want is for the old Soonyoung to come back! All I dreamt of was our forever!”

Taking a deep breath, Soonyoung looked you in the eyes and you saw the tears brimming his eyes catch the light of the setting sun. “I’m a wimp, ___, I’m such a wimp. The reason I didn’t realise you liked me is because I could never have dreamed that someone like you would have any sort of feelings for someone like me! I couldn’t even bare to see my friends confess to the girl I like.”

Your sunken heart suddenly listened up, slowly beginning to beat again. “It was true?” you questioned, your voice quiet and vulnerable.

“Of course,” he smiled, using his thumb to tenderly dry your stained face. “Ah, look what I caused.” he muttered to himself, sighing as he did so.

A small grin crept its way onto your face as you pulled him into a hug again. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

Soonyoung said, “Then I’m going to do my best to give you that forever.”

[thecousinsdangereux]

a pretty good bad idea (1/?)

pairing: Trini/Kimberly (Power Rangers) 

words: 2097

summary: With great power comes unexpected and awkward side effects. Also: kissing lessons. (Isn’t that how the saying goes?)

a/n: Guess who saw Power Rangers and is predictable trash? Guess who loves all that trope-y cheesiness? Guess who doesn’t remember how to write, but is doing it anyways? Me me me. Anyways, I tried to bring the cheese, my friends, but I’m just not capable of writing poetry like ‘Are we Power Rangers or are we friends?’. Alas.

AO3 Link here!

WARNING for @smallandsundry : there is KISSING in this fic. (Also, no bear rangers.) Please avert your eyes.

---

She’s dreaming right before she’s awoken, so that might explain the terror she feels when her eyes first open. Or maybe it has something to do with the figure pulling themselves through her window. 

Kimberly acts before her eyes have a chance to adjust, rolling off of the bed and into a fighting stance before she takes in the untied sneakers, grey sweatpants, and yellow tank top.

“Trini?” Kim asks in disbelief. “What -- what time is it?”

It's a real sign that something is wrong when Trini doesn't respond - not with a flat remark about the alarm clock with neon pink numbers that Kim definitely see (despite the question) or the admittedly somewhat ridiculous sight of Kim in an oversized USA Gymnastics t-shirt and fuzzy socks. 

“Trini?” she asks again, quieter now, as she steps forward towards the window where Trini stands, gaze focused on the ground.

“I don't know why I came here,” she mutters. “I'm gonna--”

“Don't!” She doesn't use an excuse this time, simply reaches out to rest a (tentative) hand on Trini’s arm; once she makes contact, she realizes that Trini is shaking - only just. “You don't always have to run. What happened?”

Nothing to do with Ranger business, Kim is willing to bet. Not when Trini had texted all of them before with seeming ease, even after Rita had invaded her home and left deep scratches that - now that Kim looks closer - have faded away a bit too well.  

“I hurt someone,” Trini says shortly, then sucks in a shuddered breath. “I didn't mean to,” she adds, with a level of emotion that Kim hasn't heard since the bonfire (the one that she had wimped out on - the one where she had listened and not shared - the one she had realized that out of all the Rangers, she deserved to be there less than anyone).

“Of course you didn’t,” Kim says softly, taking a half step closer.

“I was -- it was just…” Trini folds her arms. Then unfolds and refolds them.  “We were kissing. It got… whatever -- intense, I guess.”

Kim actually feels herself flush. Like some kind of... inexperienced freshman.

“Oh, that’s… good.”

That, at least, gets a reaction; Trini’s head snaps back up as she levels Kim with an almost reassuring sneer.

“Good? Kim, I basically put her through a wall! I think I bruised her!” She loses steam quickly though, and her gaze finds the ground once again. “And then I jumped out of her window.” She scoffs. “So stupid. Guess that’s done with.”

“Maybe if you just…”

“Explained?” Trini finishes dryly. “Yeah, that’d go over well. ‘Hey, sorry I dented your wall with your body, but I’m a superhero and lost control over my super-strength because kissing you felt nice. Wanna do it again?’”

“I mean, yeah?” Kim begins, but hurries onward when Trini stares at her in disbelief. “Not exactly that, but you probably just need to, like, practice?”

Trini scoffs again, and finally moves away from the window (and Kim), and into the middle of the room, where she slumps against the foot of the bed. Kim takes it as a good sign, especially when Trini’s small scowl turns into a smirk, upon taking in the whole of her bedroom.

“So pink was a thing for you before you were a Ranger, huh?”

“I never really got around to redecorating,” Kim shrugs, sitting on the floor next to Trini (so that their shoulders just brush). “The whole pink ballerina theme worked when I was eight, and… until recently, messing up the careful equilibrium of my life wasn’t really something I was super into. Anyways, I guess it fits again.”

“I bought a yellow flannel the other day,” Trini admits. “I wasn’t even thinking about it. And look!” She tugs at her (yellow) tank with a soft little groan. “So stupid.”

“It’s all a lot for us to get used to. Including... you know,” Kim prompts, and Trini rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, well, you and Jason can put each other through walls all you want. It’s not like you’ll hurt each other. Or give away the big secret. Lucky you.”

Kim blushes again. (It’s not great. And she’s not sure she understands why it’s happening so much now.) “Jason and I aren’t…”

“Yeah, right,” Trini laughs.

“We’re not,” she says again, more firmly this time. “I mean… we haven’t.”

“Yet.”

She falls silent, unsure how to respond. (Unsure about a lot.) Still, there’s no beating Trini in a game of silence, so it stretches on past the point of comfort for Kimberly. Even the sounds outside are muted (Angel Grove has little in the way of nightlife), limited to the occasional chirp of an insect.

“I’m just saying,” she says, giving in after not much longer than a minute. “We’re all here for you, alright? If you need help. With... whatever.”

“With avoiding kissing a pretty girl to the point of injury?” Trini drawls. “Yeah, all I need is one of Jason’s pep talks for that, then I’m all fixed.”

Kimberly frowns. “Practice, I meant. You could practice… kissing?”

Her confident tone fades pretty quickly with that one, and Trini shoots her a sideways glance at the half-hearted attempt. “Really? You’re sticking to that?”

“It could help! We all had to learn how to morph. And to not accidentally jump over buildings or tear doors off their handles. So why shouldn’t you be able to practice this too? It just takes a little concentration, right? You could practice with… someone! Keeping your cool. In those situations.”

“Yeah, well, problem is, I wouldn’t have a problem ‘keeping my cool’ with anyone who might be willing to volunteer.” At Kimberly’s puzzled look, Trini rolls her eyes again. “Dudes, Kim. I’m not into dudes.”

“Oh, so… not at all. Um. Okay.” The flush on the back of her neck is back, and Kimberly especially hates it now. “So… me, then. You could practice with me.”

Trini’s lips twist in an expression of vague annoyance or maybe displeasure; Kim doesn't really like either option.

“What, so just because I like girls I have to be into you?”

“Of course not,” Kimberly shoots back, clearly peeved, despite herself. “Look, I'm just trying to help and if you don't think I'm pretty or whatever--”

“Give me a break!” Trini snorts, shifting away from Kim, and onto her feet, but Kim just follows her up. “You're fishing for compliments now? Really?”

“Well, fine, if it's not that, what is it? What's not good enough for you?”

“Oh, I don't know,” Trini drawls, voice coated in sarcasm. “Maybe the whole you being straight thing, Kimberly.”

“I thought you didn't like labels.”

The look Trini gives her is once again hard for Kim to read (disbelief? hurt? anger?), but she knows she's gone too far -- pushed too much -- and immediately drops her gaze.

“Sorry,” she murmurs. “The whole… me being a bitch thing is kind of a hard habit to break, I guess.”

Trini sighs, but she also sits back down, this time on top of Kim's bed, right at the foot, where all her sheets (pink and green floral) had bunched up in her earlier dash out of bed.

“You're not a bitch,” Trini says, shrugging her shoulders a bit. “Just sometimes… bitchy.”

That's probably kinder than Kim deserves, and weirdly close to what Jason had said. It makes her feel almost warm. With gratitude and…friendship, maybe. Affection? Whatever it is, it must show on her face, because Trini gives her a strange look.

“That doesn't mean this isn't a stupid idea, though. The practicing thing.”

That shakes Kim out of it, at least partially, and she once again sits alongside Trini, a bit closer than before. “Do you have a better one?”

“No,” Trini admits, eyes narrowing slightly as she stares at Kim, unwavering. Kim just stares back, lifting her chin, just a little.

(She has the unnerving thought that if she looks away, Trini will call the whole thing off. And maybe never talk to her again. At least not about anything like this. Her subsequent thought it that… maybe that would be for the best. That there's something here that maybe Kim doesn't see, but should nevertheless avoid.)

“We’re friends,” Kim says, and even with everything that's going on, it's easy to find conviction for these words, at least. “So whatever it is you need, I'm here. Maybe some… yoga?” Kim makes a face at her own suggestion. “Hiking helps me. Swimming too. We just have to find the right thing that makes you feel…” Safe, Kim thinks, but it sounds too stupid to voice aloud.

“Let’s do it.” Trini is all grim determination, her face set. “Let’s try your dumb idea.”

Kimberly blinks. “What?”

“Practice,” Trini clarifies blandly, and Kim can't read her expression at all now. “It's the best bad idea we’ve got. Let's try it.”

“Now?” She's actually pretty proud of herself for not squeaking the word out -- for making it sound calm and totally chill -- even if it shouldn't be an accomplishment at all. This dumb idea had been all hers, after all, hadn't it?

“What would we wait for?”

Kim shrugs and tosses her hair (it doesn't have quite the same effect it used to, but she's constantly forgetting that). “Just want to make sure you're comfortable. You weren't, like, five seconds ago.”

“I guess I change my mind fast,” Trini drawls, but it sounds kind of like bravado, and Kim feels herself calm -- just slightly -- at the idea that maybe she isn’t the only one feeling weirdly anxious. “So let’s do this.”

Trini’s turned to look at her fully now, and there’s enough light from the moon for Kim to see the challenge offered up in her expression; that arch of her brow and the forced little smirk and from this close the lighter brown highlights in her eyes kind of flicker and… that’s all totally relevant. Definitely.

“Alright.” She leans towards Trini, one hand balancing on her own knee to steady herself as she twists (and puts on the most neutral expression she can muster). “Then kiss me.”

More silence. And staring. And Kimberly trying very hard to remain vaguely indifferent to the whole situation.

Just when she’s about to give up, Trini kisses her.

Lightly.

Just a soft press of her lips to Kim’s with hardly any pressure at all.

Kim considers: shifting closer, pulling away, deepening the kiss, starting to laugh, putting her hand on Trini’s cheek, opening her eyes (which had closed, reflexively), putting her hand on Trini’s hip, and pretending to fall off the bed, all in quick succession before she realizes she’s blushing and maybe a little lightheaded and also that Trini smells really nice, like she’d just taken a shower before she climbed through Kim’s window, and -- oh -- that makes the blush deepen a lot more and…

Then Trini sucks in a small breath of air and it makes her mouth open just a little and Kim’s hand curls, taking in a fistful of sheets, and…

Trini pulls away. Kim nearly pitches forward.

“Nope. That didn’t work.” Trini’s voice is gruff and… coming from far away?

It takes an extended moment (of opening her eyes and blinking repeatedly) for Kim to realize that Trini is already back at the window, practically halfway through to the outdoors.

“Wait. Trini. What?”

(Smooth. Super smooth.)

“Didn’t work,” Trini says again, turning her head only the slightest bit towards her before facing away once again; Kim stares at her back as though she’ll be able to find some kind of meaning in the moving lines of her shoulder. (She comes up entirely empty.) “Thanks for trying, though. See you tomorrow.”

Trini steps out on the (third floor) roof ledge and drops out of view; Kim barely hears the thud of Trini’s feet hitting the ground, and definitely doesn’t hear anything else after. Except maybe her own breathing, which sounds weirdly heavy to her own ears. She can also hear her heartbeat. Which sounds fast. Way too fast.

She takes in a deep breath. And then another. And then another, except that this time she licks her lips and -- damn it -- was that lip gloss? There had been no lip gloss involved in her pre-bedtime routine, especially not raspberry lip gloss. So that was definitely all Trini, and that thought makes her stomach pitch and... back to deep breaths. 

It’s only then -- after seven whole steadying breaths -- that she notices she’s still clutching her sheets. Or, part of her sheets, at least. And as she stares down at the ripped portion of her bedding (torn away, it seemed, by the force of her nails digging through them), she realizes that Trini had been right.

That hadn’t worked at all.