#and almost a foot taller oops

[shadow0-1]

heehee height diff

[neoraso]

survive the night | ksw

summary: you've had a crush on sunwoo for years, but what happens when he blurs the lines of your friendship? content: ftl, slightest angst but it's over in 4 seconds, happy ending, female reader. nonidol!sunwoo nonidol! reader wc: 5.3k an: this took me a bit to finish and it’s my first full length, i hope you enjoy!! let’s talk about it too~ do not repost or rework/copy any of my posts here or on other sites

The wind bit your cheeks as you hurried your steps towards the apartment complex ahead of you. It was nearing 9 p.m. but Sunwoo had called you an hour earlier asking if you could come through for some drinks and games with a few of the guys. In that very short time you had retouched your makeup and gone through four outfits before deciding on a hoodie and sweatpants Sunwoo had given to you because they were “too small” for him. Maybe it was poor taste to wear his old clothes to his house but honestly, they were comfortable and- you might have been completely head over heels for your friend, no big deal.

Lost in thought, you were almost surprised when you looked up and realized you had already reached the sleek, silver door and raised your hand to knock. Sunwoo had given you the passcode months ago when he was too busy gaming to get up and let you in, but you hadn’t used it since because it felt like you were overstepping some kind of boundary. Of course, that never stopped him from breaking and entering your home on various occasions, always scaring the hell out of you but you could never stay mad at him long.

Before long, Younghoon opened the door for you with a bright smile.

“Oh hey, we thought you were the food delivery”

“No,” you replied, matching his smile. “Sorry to be a disappointment. Who all ended up coming? Sunwoo said he invited everyone.”

“Chanhee and Changmin are home, Juyeon and Jacob and Kevin came. No one is really drinking yet. Maybe they’re waiting for you.” He said with a laugh.

You left your shoes at the door and walked down the hall with Younghoon trailing behind you into a very raucous living room. Everyone was so wrapped up in their own conversations and you were such a familiar face, your presence almost went unnoticed. Of course, Sunwoo was the first face you saw (well actually the first back-of-a-head), but before you could greet him you tripped on Kevin’s outstretched foot.

“Oops, sorry Y/N, is the food here?”

“No Kev, that was me at the door.” You said with a playful roll of your eyes.

At the sound of your voice, Sunwoo perked up and walked over to you with his arms wide open.

“Oh look everyone, it’s my mini me!!”

The sudden attention on you made your cheeks burn and it only got worse when Sunwoo’s taller, lithe frame wrapped around yours. You lagged a bit but snapped to and gently patted his back. He pulled away but stopped when his face was near your ear.

“Are you wearing perfume? It smells nice. Come sit with me, we’re gonna play a game soon.”

Suddenly feeling faint, you were glad to follow him to the couch and sit down. This was going to be a long night.

Later into the night after your bellies were full of food and too much alcohol, you thought you might have entered into some hellish realm. Sunwoo had been glued to you all night, keeping his arm on the couch behind you and hitting your shoulder or your leg when he laughed a little too hard. To make things exponentially worse, he kept leaning down to whisper side comments to you, his hot breath hitting your cheek a detriment to your sanity. While physical affection between you and any of your friends wasn’t uncommon, something seemed different tonight that you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

The only natural course of action was to keep drinking.

After another hour you were definitely more than tipsy thanks to two rounds of ‘Never Have I Ever’ and an even a special game of ‘Truth or Truth’ (thank you Kevin!). There was some respite when Changmin asked you to get him some water from the kitchen. You enjoyed being with your friends of course but Sunwoo’s proximity tonight was becoming unbearable. You knew he didn’t mean anything by it other than friendly affection, and yet, you could help fantasizing about a day where he made an actual move on you.

The cup of water you were filling spilled over your hand just as Changmin and Chanhee called your name-sounding a bit more like geese than tipsy boys. Taking a deep breath, you decided you couldn’t hide in the kitchen forever. You dragged your feet back to the living room and carefully handed Changmin his water.

“Did I look extra thirsty or something? Why the hell is it so full?”

“Be grateful.” You grumbled.

He ignored your attitude and sipped it anyways.

You plopped onto the couch and instantly an unnaturally warm pair of arms were around you.

It was Sunwoo, hugging you for no good reason that you could come up with. He squeezed you once then pulled away and grinned at you, making your face heat up more than the KGBs he had provided for the occasion. It was almost enraging that no one seemed to notice that you were about to become undone, this was practically abuse. Finding your voice, and sounding more coherent than you felt, you asked him,

 “What was that for??”

“You were just so cute! I couldn’t help it.” He let go of you, putting his arm back behind you leaving your mind in shambles.

He couldn’t help it?  What the hell was that supposed to mean? He had bragged earlier that his alcohol tolerance had gone up, but that seemed to be a lie because why else would he have been so careless?

You spent the next couple of hours trying not to fall asleep which was relatively easy considering how loud the boys still were at such a time of night. Eventually Sunwoo took note of your state and patted your leg.

“Are you tired?”

You nodded and rubbed your eyes. “Yeah, I better start walking home.”

Horrified was the only way to describe the look on his face. “Walk home?! It’s way too late and I can’t come with you, too cold. Just go sleep in my room I’ll come soon, I doubt the guys will stay much longer.”

You debated this. It would not be the first time you had spent the night together, but usually he slept on the floor or the couch. Now he was implying joining you and that was just ridiculous.

“Oh, it’s ok, I don’t have any of my products with me…”

Chanhee, who had apparently been eavesdropping, chimed in from the floor with his eyes closed. “You can borrow my makeup remover and skincare.”

Sunwoo beamed at this. “See? You already have a toothbrush here, just go lay down please, you look pitiful.”

You hesitated. This would most likely create 1000 more problems for you and your feelings for Sunwoo. The worst part of it was, you couldn’t tell where he was coming from. Was he being a kind friend or did he have some sort of hidden agenda? You knew him well enough to know he wasn’t a player, so it didn’t make sense for him to be doing anything unkind to you, and yet…Whatever. It was too late to care anymore.

After bidding everyone a good night (with many whines in return), you stumbled down the hall to the bathroom to get ready for bed. You examined your drunken reflection, sighing as you swiped away your smudged mascara. What did you get yourself into?

After cleansing and moisturizing, you found your way to Sunwoo’s room. There was practically only room for a bed- a small one at that- and you found yourself wondering if you even wanted him to sleep with you or not. While it would be everything you imagined before sleeping pretty much every night, it would haunt you forever if he meant nothing by it.

You were tired, but as you laid there in his bed with his scent permeating everything, anticipating him coming in to do… whatever it was he planned to do, you found yourself tossing and turning. Honestly, you wanted to cry. Maybe it was the alcohol, but you were suddenly overwhelmed by your emotions and anxiety that had built up over the night. Going home wasn’t an option, so you sighed, accepting your fate and tried to sleep.

After what seemed like ten hours, Sunwoo finally cracked open the door, probably thinking you were asleep. He shuffled his way to his dresser and you peeked your eyes open then tried to avert them away from him taking his hoodie off. Before he turned around, you quickly shut your eyes and turned over. You heard him sigh behind you and felt the bed slowly dip with his weight. He adjusted the blanket over you and dragged his hand across your side before bringing his arm back to his chest. The distance between you (or lack thereof) was killing you. Regardless, you tried to control your breathing so as not to give away that you were still very much awake. The spot he had touched felt as though he had electrocuted you. It was heartache.

After a bit, you heard his breath even out and could tell he was asleep. You gathered the courage to turn around and face him.

You’d always thought he looked a little goofy when he slept, mouth slightly open, bangs messy. But tonight, you felt the weight of your heart.

His hair’s grown out you thought absentmindedly, reaching up to move a strand out of his eyes. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed and his full lips were pursed against the pillow. Before you could help it, tears sprang to your eyes. There was not much longer you could go without confessing, or distancing yourself. This was just too much to bear. However, the thought of confessing brought on another wave of anxiety thinking about your friendship ending if he didn’t feel the same.

 He had been with you since high school, had stuck by you in all your hard times as well as the good ones, consoled you after breakups; you were intertwined. You had always heard men and women can’t be friends and thought you two were the sole exception. That was, until your freshman year of college.

You remembered that time not too fondly. Keeping up with classes and assignments was stressful, but you had Sunwoo who thankfully got accepted to your same university. He was busy on the school’s soccer team but had always made time for you, bringing you coffee on your study dates, cheering you up on your rough days, it meant everything to you. Around winter break, while you two studied for finals (which usually meant him watching YouTube while you studied alone), he confessed he had a crush on a girl in one of his classes and asked you for advice on how to ask for her number. You both had had crushes in high school and it never bothered you when he would talk to other girls, but this time had been different. What had changed in you?

 You thought it would be a small fling but they ended up dating for a year. It was agonizing watching him put his everything into someone else. She never liked you, complaining you and Sunwoo were too close. He tried to keep in touch with you but you saw much less of him than you had in the four years of knowing him.

Eventually she cheated on him. You remembered the dark circles under his eyes when he had knocked on your door the day they broke up. He didn’t say anything, just hugged you and sobbed into your shoulder. In all the time you had known him he had never cried in front of you, it infuriated you to think he had given his heart to someone so careless and vile. You never forgot the way he looked at you when he retold his last conversation with his ex.

“She told me it didn’t matter that she cheated, because my heart was with someone else the whole time. I think she meant you.”

You knew it wasn’t his intention to blame you, but you carried the guilt for months. Not guilty of her parting words and their implication, but guilt in the satisfaction you had for being so important to him. So much so that you were a threat to other women interested in him. It was a sick “If I can’t have him, no one can” mentality and you knew it wasn’t fair to him so for the next few years you resigned yourself to the loyal best friend role.

When you tried to branch out and pursue other guys, Sunwoo was always supportive. When things didn’t work out with other prospects- often because you wouldn’t cut off Sunwoo when they asked- he always ruffled your hair and sighed.

“At least we have each other, right?”

Shaking yourself out of your thoughts, you rolled to stare at the ceiling.

You didn’t remember falling asleep but you woke up abruptly and in an odd position.

Then you realized you were being held tightly against Sunwoo. Somehow in the night he had moved his arm under your pillow and had his other arm tucked against your waist, his forehead pressed against the back of your neck.

What the absolute hell?

This was too far for you, still it felt so nice- and natural, as if you were meant to fit together like this forever. This was everything you had dreamed of for years (albeit under different circumstances). Clearly, he did this in his sleep, so you decided to get up before he woke up too and got embarrassed.

You carefully lifted his arm off you and crawled to the end of the bed. He looked so adorable like this, you almost wanted to take a picture before realizing you never wanted to remember this day again.

Tiptoeing your way down the hall, you hoped everyone was still asleep like Kevin who was snoring on the couch. Just as you were about to walk past Chanhee’s room, he opened the door, making you jump

“You scared me Chanhee!” you sharply whispered. “You scared ME. Why are you up so early?”

You checked the time on your phone: 8:12 a.m.

“I’m starting to get a headache. I need some hangover soup. And coffee. ASAP.” You groggily replied, voice still hoarse from just waking up.

“I thought we could order it and eat together? Why are you in such a rush?” He questioned you. “Um, I have some errands to run. Sorry, I’ll text you!” To be fair, you did have errands and the first one was to get away from this house.

“Did something happen?” Chanhee was always good at reading you, but now it was starting to feel like an interrogation.

“Nope!” you lied, “I’ll text you!”

Before he could say anything else, you brushed past him and quickly put your shoes on, feeling like you couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

The following days were not fun to say the least. The afternoon after you left, Sunwoo and Chanhee texted you multiple times throughout the day to ask if you were alright (Chanhee was a bit excessive). You insisted to them that you were just busy – which was true, you were busy avoiding Sunwoo, rotting in bed, suffering from mental anguish, etc. etc.

The next day, Sunwoo asked if you wanted to go to lunch with him and Hyunjae. While any other day you would’ve gone without hesitation, just the thought of Sunwoo was torturous, and so you politely declined with another excuse. Maybe it would’ve been better if he stopped trying, and you might’ve wished for it. But you knew that if he did, you would be the first person to cry themselves to death. It was a pretty wretched situation that you had put yourself in. This could easily be resolved if you just talked to him, but the idea was simply too terrifying. You had never been good at expressing your emotions out of fear of causing conflict, but this was different.

You realized you were in love with him. There was no going back and you were terrified.

After a week you were invited out with the group- and you decided you’d had enough crying and worrying. Sunwoo’s texts had dwindled to radio silence once he got sick of your dry replies. You didn’t know how you could show your face, but either way you just had to suck it up, meet your friends and put your feelings aside for Sunwoo’s sake.

This was easier said than done as you contemplated cancelling at least six times in the hour it took you to get ready. It was just barbecue and drinks, it was supposed to be fun. Maybe it would be but you didn’t know what to expect from Sunwoo. Would he be mad? Or act like nothing was wrong when it clearly was?  You supposed there was only one way to find out.

When you got to the restaurant you spotted Chanhee first with an empty seat beside him.

“Is anyone sitting here?” You asked timidly.

“Oh hi, no I saved the seat for you.”

Something about his tone seemed off and made the sinking feeling in your gut feel ten times heavier. You looked around the table, greeting everyone and it didn’t take long for you to notice the absence in the group.

“Is Sunwoo in the bathroom or something?” you whispered to Chanhee.

“No, I don’t think he’s coming, he thinks you hate him.” His response was rather curt and made you feel like the walls were closing in around you.

“Oh…” was all you could muster.

“Do you? Hate him I mean. It seemed like whatever happened when you stayed the night completely made you stay away from him- and all of us.”

Awesome. So not only had you burnt the bridge between you and the only man you’ve ever loved, but you had also pushed away all of your closest friends too.

Hyunjae abruptly interrupted your thoughts.  “Where’s Sunwoo? I thought he’d be anywhere you would be.” He looked at you so innocently, which relieved you. At least no one else knew something was up.

“Oh I … I’m not sure… I-“

“Hey what did I miss?” the familiar voice startled you at first, then sent an instinctual calmness through you.

You turned and looked at Sunwoo, trying to express your pain, your guilt. He didn’t even glance at you.

It stung and it took everything in you not to get up and walk out. But you stayed in your seat so you didn’t make a scene.

You spent the evening in silence, only speaking when spoken to and, to your dismay, Sunwoo seemed to be doing the same. After a while, you finally made eye contact for a split second and felt your eyes prick with tears. Excusing yourself to the bathroom, you could barely make it there without breaking down. This was not the time or the place to be having a meltdown. Seeing him in front of you brought all the feelings you had tried to repress to the surface and it was too much.

After calming down a bit and erasing your tear tracks as best as you could, you returned to the table. Leaning down, you whispered in Chanhee’s ear that you weren’t feeling well and were going home. Younghoon had lost rock paper scissors and was paying, so there was no reason you couldn’t leave.

You hurried out of the building and paused outside, breathing in the crisp air. Hailing a taxi, you finally let everything spill over, probably making the driver extremely uncomfortable but you couldn’t really be bothered to care.

What were you going to do?

You reached home exhausted beyond belief. At least you’d gotten a meal, you thought dejectedly. Unfortunately, there was no plan for what you’d do when you got home. Any more crying seemed like a one-way ticket to Drowningville, but your mind still ran rampant. You could call one of your girlfriends, Mia knew about your crush and had consoled you through the last couple of years. But just as you picked up your phone, someone knocked on your door.

This was unusual. But then, it could be someone from your building management.

You weren’t stupid, you stood on the balls of your feet to look through the peephole and the sight in front of you made your breath catch.

It was him.

He reached up to knock again so you quickly unlocked and opened the door without thinking any further.

Both of you were breathing heavily, your eyes rimmed red and his stare intense.

He spoke first.

“Can I come in?”

You opened the door wordlessly, not really by choice, you were completely caught off guard.

Feeling the tears pooling again, you cursed yourself for being so weak and looked down at your feet. Suddenly, he cupped your cheeks in his hands, forcing you to look at him.

“What is wrong? What did I do? Everything was fine and then it wasn’t. I want my Y/N back.”

His whole expression was pleading and you felt so selfish for running away from your problems again.

“Do you want the whole truth, or the nice version?” You knew he wouldn’t, but you hoped he’d choose the latter option so you could white lie your way out of this situation. He let go of your face to tug your hair lightly and rested his hands on your shoulders.

“What do you think?”

“Ok fine.” You huffed. “I got freaked out the other night when I slept in your room. It just felt… like we were crossing lines and I know I’m being dramatic because it was just cuddling but it’s different for me. I shouldn’t have run away and I feel really bad about blowing off the rest of the guys, but you especially. You know you’re my closest …friend and I didn’t want to lose you but I didn’t know what to do because like I said-“

You suddenly stopped because he dropped his hands from your shoulders and looked away. Honestly, he looked pissed.

Nice, you thought I’ve ruined everything and I haven’t even told him I liked him yet. How much worse could this night get?

“Y/N.”

“Y-yes?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to confuse you.” “I know, we’re friends”

“We’re friends… but when you say it’s different for you, what exactly do you mean?”

Now you were starting to sweat, noticing the way he held back a smile. Was he going to make you spell it out like some kind of sadist?

“I mean…It means more to me than just that kind of skinship. Especially when I…”

“When you what?” Now he was smirking and it was starting to anger you.

“Sunwoo…”

“We’ll leave it for tonight. As long as I know you’re not mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you I just-“

He pulled you into his arms, his hoodie had faint remnants of his cologne and you wrapped your arms around his waist as he rested his chin on top of your head. His chest rose with a deep inhale and then just as quickly as he grabbed you, he let you go. Out of the corner of your eye you noticed him clenching his fist, he turned to you with a lopsided smile.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” “What if I was busy?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Y/N.”

Waking up feeling more rested than you had in a while, your mind wandered to last night. After Sunwoo’s unceremonious appearance (and exit), you had showered in a daze and immediately knocked out into a dreamless sleep.

Now all you had to fear was his threat of seeing you today.

There was no warning or even a text to let you know when this man was ever deciding on showing up. It was only 10 a.m., Sunwoo usually got up after 11 so it could be any time really. Thankfully, you had some time off work for the holidays, so you relished in your leisurely time putting your face and clothes on. You went about your day as normal: eating, watching YouTube, online shopping. All lame distractions from what you were anticipating. It wasn’t until 5:30 when he texted you.

.sunwoo🦝 : if you’re not already ready - get to it, I’ll be over in 30

So pushy, you could only laugh to yourself. It was odd, you thought, how the trauma of the last week was erased by a simple conversation and a hug from Sunwoo. You supposed it had always been like this, pain followed by a soothing only he could provide. He was your confidant, your rock, your safety. Whatever happened tonight was ok with you as long as you could keep him in your life.

Soon enough you heard your door open from your bedroom so you went to greet him. He met you with a rather awkward smile and hands politely behind his back which threw you off- you had never been uncomfortable around each other. Your smile quickly dropped,

“What’s wrong?” you prodded.

“Nothing!” he tried to assuage you with a laugh that sounded a little shaky.

You narrowed your eyes before looking back at his arms hiding something behind his back.

“What are you holding? You’re starting to freak me out…” You might have to forward your medical bill to him the way he constantly had your blood pressure rising. You needed him to get on with whatever he made you wait all day for.

“Well, it’s… well.” He stopped talking and brought his hands forward holding out a bouquet of sunflowers, chamomile and dahlias. You stood there for a couple seconds not understanding what was going on. “These are for you. As an apology for upsetting you, and, well I had something to say…” He trailed off, “Are you just going to stand there like a statue all night? Don’t you have a vase or something to put these in? I don’t want them to die, you know I can’t take care of plants.”

Reaching forward, your fingers brushed his as you took the flowers and felt like you were buzzing. The sweet gesture completely left you dazed, still convinced something was up.

“These are… for me?” you asked a bit dumbly. Before he could reply, you turned to walk to the kitchen.

“Yes, I thought it would be- well I didn’t want to show up empty handed.” His eyes followed your figure to you opening a cabinet to grab a vase that was just out of your reach. Quickly making his way over to you, he stood behind you to grasp it from the shelf. Your breath caught and your heart thumped a little too loudly when you felt his hand lightly rest on your waist as he took the vase and set it on the counter. Thankfully, he moved out of the way for you to fill it with water and put in the flowers trying to regain control of your breathing. The arrangement brightened up the space and reminded you of him- bright and sweet and lovely. You couldn’t imagine him going into a flower shop and picking these out, much less picking them out for you. The thought was a little funny but not funny enough…

Bringing you out of your reverie he softly made his way to you again and leaned against the counter. “You’re so silent I don’t like it.”

“Sorry I just don’t understand…” “I know,” he cut you off, “I just – I don’t know what I was thinking the other night. I’d blame it on the alcohol but really I was just being selfish. Things changed for me a while ago but I didn’t know to approach you. I always loved you but at some point, I started to realize just how much you mean to me. You’ve always taken care of me, cheered me on, been there for me. And then…when you went ghost on me, I panicked, I knew then I couldn’t live without you. I needed you to be mine, not as a best friend but as something more- I mean I feel so much more for you. I hoped you felt the same but I just couldn’t tell with the way you ran away from me. But then last night I felt like I was pressuring you to confess so I wanted to say it first. I like you, please give me a chance to take care of you. I want to be with you as long as you’ll let me.”

Throughout his monologue, you could barely hear him over your blood pumping in your ears and you felt a bit faint. This was everything you’ve wanted for over four years and it was finally coming true- you couldn’t believe this was real life. Your mind kept replaying him saying I’ve always loved you…

“Can you please say something.” He looked a little stern, but moved his hand gently to cup your cheek, stroking the skin there.

“Sunwoo…” He dropped his hand, looking at you with pleading eyes like he was anticipating your rejection. Grabbing his hand, you continued, “You must know how I feel, I’ve wanted you for so long. Please don’t tell me this is a joke.”

“I would never joke about this, you know I treasure your heart. I’ve always protected you. Even when you dated all those losers-“

“You dated losers too.”

“I know that. I couldn’t figure out why I was never satisfied, but I would always compare them to you and I chose our friendship every time.”

You could feel his sincerity and grabbed the fabric of his shirt at his thin waist.

“So… you really want to be with me?”

“More than anything.” He grabbed your face in his hands, just to look at you. It was so tender you wanted to cry. Again. Maybe there was something wrong with your tear ducts… Softly, he spoke up again.

“Can I kiss you? I’ve wanted to for so long.” All you could do was slowly nod and he stepped towards you, leaning down to kiss your forehead, then your temple, your cheek and finally pressed his lips against yours. You moved your hands to his shoulders, sliding them up to grab the hair at his nape, pressing him tighter against you. He kissed you twice more then moved to kiss your cheek again, squishing your face to purse your lips and kiss you again. You felt like you could black out as he ran his lips across your jawline, kissing just under your ear as he whispered an apology, finally pulling away.

Breathless, you replied “No need to apologize.” You moved your hands back to his shoulders, and tried not to look at his mouth, glossy from your lip balm and plump from his affections. As he ran his tongue over his lips and slightly smirked you thought,

He will be the death of me.

“Well…” trying to disperse the intense energy in the air you turned to look at the flowers again. “These are really pretty, thank you.”

“Well the lady at the shop helped a lot. Honestly I wanted to get you more gifts but I thought if you rejected me I would have to jump out of your window to escape the humiliation.”

Sighing, you faced him again.

“Honestly Sunwoo, how could you think I would ever reject you??”

“I don’t know!! Damn, I don’t know why it took me so long to admit my feelings. I always hated your boyfriends-“

“All two of them.” You reminded him with an eye roll.

“Ok well still. I hated all two of them.” “How do you think I felt watching you dote on other girls? Being so affectionate, writing songs for them…”

“You were always my inspiration. It was easier to write about someone I had a deeper connection with and that was always you.” “Well now I’m angry.” You pulled away and crossed your arms.

A look of panic washed over his face. “Angry with me already? We can’t start like this. Y/N, even though I didn’t see it quickly enough, we have so much time ahead of us.”

Looking at love itself, you pulled him in for another kiss.

You could never stay mad at him long.

[ink-n-shadowfiction]

Request - a headcanon or fic for Ian and Mickey realising their lease is up on the West Side apartment and they have to decide whether or not to stay. Or… their first official date night on the West Side. 💖

Eviction | Gallavich

pairing: Ian Gallagher x Mickey Milkovich

genre: slight angst/eventual fluff (shitty ending but i'm too tired to fix it)

word count: 1118ish

note: i kinda took this into a little bit of an angsty direction so i might rewrite this later but anyway－ (also apologies for going MIA again oops)

The red 'EVICTION NOTICE' stamp was the first thing Ian had noticed after Mickey carelessly tossed their mail on the kitchen counter.

"Hold up－" Ian pulled the envelope in question from the pile and held it close to his face, almost as if it was written in code. "Mick, I thought we paid our rent for the month."

Mickey sidled up to Ian's side, arm coming to loop comfortably around the taller man's midsection. "Thought I did－I took the check to that fucking office lady downstairs and everything."

There was a pause while Ian hurriedly ripped open the envelope and rifled through its contents, eyes scanning over the words quicker than Mickey could keep up with. He was barely past the 'Dear tenants...' part of the letter whenever Ian tossed it back onto the counter in defeat, knuckles immediately digging into his eyes anxiously.

Mickey forced Ian's back against the edge of the kitchen counter as his hands encompassed his husband's, uncovering the now watery green eyes staring back at him and soothingly petting at his cheek. "Hey, chill out, Gallagher. No need to get all anxious and shit, 'ight? I'll just go downstairs and talk to－"

"No! Mick, that's the fucking problem. The check bounced. If the check bounced, that means we don't have enough money in the account－which means we can't afford rent this month." Ian's chest was rising and falling in anxious, panicked breaths as he yanked his hands from Mickey's grip and started combing through his ginger hair. "I－I thought you said that that job was fucking legit!"

"It was! I..." Mickey turned on the ball of his foot as his eyes began scanning his surroundings, the gears of his brain spinning a mile a minute. "I thought it was." Maybe he had gotten the hourly rate wrong－it wouldn't be the first time Mickey struggled with math. But this was the first time that that lack of skill had him worried.

Ian had put his heart and soul into this West Side apartment, and it was finally starting to look like a real home. A photo of him and Mickey from their wedding reception hung delicately in the front hallway, beneath it a shoe rack full of old sneakers and a vanilla-scented candle Mickey swiped from a Marshall's. They even had scrounged up enough money to furnish the living and dining rooms, which simply consisted of some bare-bone table and chairs alongside a foldout sofa Ian was able to find on Facebook Marketplace. It wasn't a lot－especially not for a West Side apartment－but it was at least theirs. Ian couldn't begin to imagine having to pack it all up and move back in with Debbie and Lip. He couldn't imagine having to be back in that house again.

The sound of feet shuffling drew Ian out of his anxious spiral, his vision coming back into focus to see Mickey tousling his hair in the front hallway mirror. He had put on a white muscle tank with a pair of black sweatpants slung low across his hips. If the circumstances had been different, maybe Ian would be reacting differently.

"Mick－c'mon, might as well just start packing now." Ian stretched his hand out, frowning when his husband moved past him quickly without any acknowledgment. His anxiety morphed into annoyance. "Where the fuck're you going?"

"I'm just gonna go talk to the office lady. Shouldn't take me too long," Mickey muttered as he patted down his pants pockets, pressing a absentminded kiss onto the redhead's cheek before his head swiveled around the kitchen. "Have you seen my fucking keys?"

.................................................

Ian was halfway through writing a sappy text message to both Debbie and Lip, trying to explain the situation as best as he could without completely throwing his husband under the bus. He was about to hit send when the door busted open, Mickey padding inside with a soft smile and an armful of some takeout containers. “Mick—we had leftovers here. Why’d you—”

“Shut up. I got your favorite, so don’t give me that fuckin’ lip, ‘lright?” Mickey’s words seemed harsh, but the way his lips wore a soft smile made it known that it was all teasing.

Mickey made his way over to where Ian was sprawled out on the couch, setting the takeout containers onto the coffee table and pushing it closer so the redhead could reach it.

As he watched Ian wearily tear into the plastic bag, Mickey moved to set his keys onto the kitchen counter. “Got the rent stuff figured out too.” He said absentmindedly, as though it was no big deal. Mickey knew that Ian wasn’t going to react to it that way though.

“What did you do, Mick?” Ian asked slowly, eyes meeting his husband’s as he stopped opening the styrofoam container. “God, please tell me you didn’t tear that poor lady’s office down.”

Mickey groaned as he joined Ian on the couch, taking one of the styrofoam contains into his lap before kicking his boots up onto the coffee table. "Oh Jesus Christ—my husband has no faith in me. No, I didn't tear that woman's office apart. So relax and enjoy your food, 'kay Red?"

It was calm and quiet for a moment, the two of them eating their dinner in comfortable silence and listening to the storm outside as it began to pour. Mickey let out a soft sigh, knowing by the way Ian's eyebrows were knit together that his husband was still thinking about it.

"I just explained the situation to her, told her I'd get the rest of the money to her tomorrow. She said don't let it happen again. Happy?" Mickey explained as he reached over, stealing a french fry from Ian's container before leaning back against the leather of the couch.

Ian didn't object, instead leaning back with Mickey and chewing his food thoughtfully. "So what—that's it? How're you gonna come up with the rest of the money so quick?"

Mickey set the takeout container onto the coffee table as he swung his legs back down to the floor, fingers moving to untie the laces before toeing off his boots. "I called Frank. He's gonna let me work a quick shift at the Alibi tomorrow—should be enough to cover the difference."

Once his boots were off and on the floor, Mickey shifted in his spot on the couch to face Ian, laying one arm across the back of the couch and letting the other lay in his lap. "Now c'mon, stop being so worried and pissy at me. Please? I bought your favorite food and everything."

As much as Ian wanted to fight it, he couldn't help the soft smile that stretched across his lips as he took another bite of food. "Alright—fine. You're outta the doghouse f'now. But next time? Let me handle the money, alright?"

[fishandships]

i got busy on other projects and almost forgot to upload this oops - a revamp of Rosario's Hunter switch, The Druid! unfortunately their old design involved stilts and then Ithaqua was released less than a month after so. back to the drawing board! this outfit was heavily inspired by a design from one of the recent Laura Croft games (i don't go there i just think she's neat).

The Druid is not really any taller than any of the Survivors when on foot, but during Games they utilize vines to transport them in a spider-like motion, making them appear much taller and more fearsome. when outside of Games, they wipe off the makeup and ditch the bones and furs so as to be less encumbered while continuing their natural history studies.

[fountainpenguin]

"It lives in a world where feelings cannot be defined by words. Oh, set me free from my jealousy..."

---

New Factor It In chapter today!

Chapter 2 - “Tree Diagram”

Read on FFN || Read on AO3

---

It's WordGirl and Huggy vs. the mind-controlled Kid Math and an army of Tobey's robots downtown... Meanwhile, Victor and Victoria watch from a safe distance. Wow. Being a superhero sure seems like it would be the best...

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

Tree Diagram

.:: January 3rd - Saturday ::.

"All that is possible can be made probable once plans have been prepared."

(Ancient Hexagon proverb)

➕ ➖ ✖️ ➗

Psst! Look for the words civilian and resilient

--

Where we left off, WordGirl and Captain Huggyface were in the midst of a grueling fight against Tobey's robots and a mind-controlled Kid Math, courtesy of Mr. Big…

Even gentle snowflakes can feel like spikes of hail when you hurtle through them at Mach 4. They lash her cheeks and bite her eyelids. WordGirl plows through them anyway, one hand up to block at least one of her cheeks. It helps. A little. She's resilient either way.

She veers up from her comet-like charge and floats like a sparking star in the empty space. She plants herself in front of both Mr. Big and Tobey. Her whiplash arrival makes the former flail his arms in shock and the latter cry her name. WordGirl shakes her head, ignoring both, and floats a little closer to the man on the taller building.

"All right, Mr. Big! We can either do this the 'cheap and easy' way, or the 'hard and insurance paperwork' way. Now, stop mind controlling my friend and leave this city alone!"

Mr. Big takes one look at her and jabs a finger at the remote in his hand. Behind him, a bespectacled superhero kid bursts skyward with the husk of a giant robot lifted above his head. He's wearing cyan blue. White gloves. White boots. A yellow belt wraps around his waist, fastening with a hexagon buckle at his stomach. A single green light on that buckle blinks on and off.

The robot groans, flailing its limbs. One foot narrowly misses Tobey on the bakery's three-tiered roof. Its smacking hand almost whacks Mr. Big clean off the ambiguous building. Huggy shrieks, squeezing her neck. WordGirl chokes on a gasp, then steadies her balance in the air. There he is. And even from here, super-hearing or no super-hearing, she can hear Kid Math mutter the same mantra over and over under his breath: "Destroy competition. Construct new billboards. Destroy competition. Construct new billboards…"

"MY ROBOT!" Tobey wails, drawing his hands down his cheeks. "Number 14!"

"All right… Huggy, make a note: add Mr. Big to the list of villains we should never again leave Kid Math to handle alone. At… least not if we're across town instead of enjoying a conveniently placed picnic nearby with our binoculars in hand."

He squeals agreement, wrapping his arms and legs around her torso. Right. Back to business. WordGirl punches her hand into her open palm, thinning her eyes to slits.

"Okay, Kid Math! This chaos is way out of line. Your fractured reality is about to get simplified."

Does that even make sense? Math puns aren't her thing. She can define every word with the gossamer touch of a fairy princess, but that doesn't mean she understands the full complexities of equations and numbers the way he does. Her mind blurs after about 12. Kid Math stares back at her, all glaze-eyed and ghostly.

Then he arches his back and hurls the massive robot directly at her. "WHOA!" she yelps, and twists her flight pattern like a snake. Huggy squeezes with both arms and both legs. The robot (or what's left of it) cannonballs right past them. It plows through an empty parking lot outside a squid-themed restaurant- the one that doesn't serve seafood at all. WordGirl winces. Oops. Probably should have caught that… Tobey screams distress from the roof of the three-tiered bakery, clawing his fingers down his cheeks. Something about a partnership betrayed, and Mr. Big all but confirms this when he yells back from the neighboring rooftop, "My mistake, Theodore! I can't choose what he wants to throw!"

"Number 14…"

Kid Math twitches in the sky, his hands empty but his body still tense and looking for a fight. WordGirl keeps her eyes locked on his face. They can both fly at lightning-fast speed (well… thunder-fast), and dodging him will be a lot easier if he signals a move before he makes it. Thus far, she'd chased her wayward understudy - not that she'd ever tell him he was sort of like her understudy - from the bank to the park to the steakhouse and around through the loop again. Right from the start, it was obvious something was going on with him. His paths were too direct for him to pass as the real Kid Math, because this mind-controlled puppet version of her friend charged straight from Point A to Point B without taking thermal updrafts and wind resistance into the equation. Absolutely ineffective. Totally unlike him.

And of course, the Kid Math she'd come to know over the past four months wouldn't just be flying around destroying billboards and things either.

Or, uh… At least he isn't that destructive MOST of the time. WordGirl winces at the memory of a furious, flush-cheeked Kid Math punching a street sign hard enough to send it crashing through a window. He didn't mean to do that. He just didn't know his own strength yet.

Well, okay. As much as she hates admitting it, maybe she is being a little quick to grant him that benefit of the doubt… Even yesterday, Kid Math (in the guise of 8-year-old Rex Pemdas: the innocent, newly-enrolled 3rd-grade student of Woodview Elementary) had rambled to her on the way to the jewelry store that he had a plan to help the city "go green" before Earth Day rolled around in spring. His plan had involved "relocating" more than a handful of skyscrapers, and he'd been stubbornly reluctant to take "No" for an answer.

"Destroy competition. Construct new billboards. Destroy competition…"

Why she'd even escorted him to the jewelry store was another story altogether, and one that involved Invisi-Bill tackling his first solo crime since WordGirl had met him. The thin excuse to her brother TJ and tagalong Johnson had been "Rex wanted to check out the shiny doorknobs at the library and we need to run really fast to make sure we get there before it rains," to which TJ had rolled his eyes and snarked that Becky probably just wanted to get Rex hooked on Princess Triana novels. He and Johnson had wished their new friend good luck. They sprinted off, and Invisi-Bill had actually made it pretty far down the street before Kid Math had zeroed in on his whistling and-

A dot of green blinks in the center of her vision, snapping her focus back to the battle at hand. Aha! Something they can use. WordGirl blasts forward, arms extended, with her eyes locked on that little flashing dot. Now we're getting somewhere…

[Cnt'd on FFN / AO3 - Links at top]

[mushroom-for-art]

Hey @blues-sues, they consume me enjoy.

In the rain

Hidden under a rough covering of leaves, two Mewtwo sheltered themselves from the rain with the little dip huddling close for warmth as the rain splattered heavily around them. The red hued one kept his arms wrapped around his companion holding them close protectively, eyes constantly scanning his surroundings trying to pinpoint any abnormal movement or sounds from around the rain, his eyes darting to leaves that bounced under fat water droplets or branches that swayed in a gust.

He jolted flinching as a droplet that had rolled across the leaves fell on his back, water still getting them within their makeshift shelter. Feeling her shiver he held her tighter pulling her closer as rain thumped around them. He tilted and moved his head desperate to hear over the rain or anything past the rain as another droplet hit his arm then his tail. He couldn't help the growl that started to grumble and grow within the back of his throat and as it to insult him a drop plonked onto his head causing him to jolt and shift his body weight. His companion made a soft noise as she felt him moving.

He moved into a crouch, his arms still wrapped around his friend, his tail thumping into the sopping wet ground causing mud to fly around, his eyes frantic as the rain continued to pour indiscriminately around them.

He felt his companion lightly jump in his arms as rain hit her on the cheek, despite her quietly giggling at the sensation and surprise he felt aggressive. He shifted on his toes feeling quills starting to form under his body, his body beginning to stretch and morph. He felt his fingers and toes extending elongating outwards, his digits sinking into the dirt as he growled, feeling surrounded by thousands of unseen enemies and untraceable threats. He shoved himself upwards from his crouch standing and storming out into the rain even as his limbs screamed at him to not move. He bellowed snarling furious at the rain turning in circles as he was lashed with water in feral deranged hysteria.

Throwing his thick quills from his wrists, they sank into the mud into tree trunks as he paced in a circle overwhelmed with pain and sounds. The rain was horrid and wet and cold on his body and wracked him full of chill even as his limbs and body burned in searing agony. His wrists and fingers quivered in uncontrollable subtle shaking between freezing anxiety and overwhelming pain, his foot sank into the mud whimpering with the pain shooting up his leg as his tail thrashed. Everything was just too much as he growled over his pain at the sky daring the weather to come and fight him personally, it was an unstoppable entity, an enemy that needed to be subdued even as rain hit his face and into his eyes.

Shivering from the sudden loneliness his companion of pinks moved carefully from where she was huddled making a soft oop as her horns touched the leaves above her head and splattered her head. She moved her hands to feel around to carefully shimmy out from the little shelter. Unable to see anything but the aura of others she managed to step into the open. She had seen other aura traces but right now all she could make out were the waves of bright red energy rolling off of her companion. His aura flared outwards in powerful waves that almost sent her stumbling backwards, but she could read him and she could feel his pain and terror. Even as his aura blinded her vision further with red and the outline of his taller form she approached, with practiced caution.

Her hand reached out and she managed to brush against his tail as it swayed past her hand thankfully going over his quills in a way that flattened them and left her unharmed. She heard his startled breath and the splat of mud as he turned quickly to confront her with a snarl before quietening into a whimper. Despite being blind to turned her head up to meet where his gaze should be and raised her hands upwards towards him. She couldn't actually reach but she didn't need to, she felt his hands quickly cupping the back of hers and his face burying quickly into her palms as he mumbled apologies into her hold. She rubbed her thumbs carefully against his cheeks as he buried into her hands feeling his tail curl around her and pull her closer as he moved into a crouch still using his hands to keep hers on his face. Slowly he moved his hands moving them instead to wrap around her body pulling her in closer to himself as he pressed his face into her neck as her hands moved one holding his face the other gently holding his neck. His aura waves were calming from erratic spikes and waves to small rolls of energy but she could still sense he was in pain even if he didn't express it.

She tilted her head to the side gently bonking against him and lightly rubbing her cheek against the side of his head near his horns offering a soft comforting purr. The rain pattered above them as a psychic barrier was made like an umbrella, she squeezed him just softly closer to her purring a bit deeper, "there you go," she comforted, "that's better yea?" She felt him nod into her neck.

Her hand moved from his neck to rub down his upper back carefully, his quills already flattened, she could feel his body starting to change once more, his aura signature shrinking as his body reduced in stature and size back to his regular form, though he still huddled into her. Even though he was quiet she knew he was still in pain, the mega evolution took a great physical toll on his body it was something he really shouldn't have done but she could understand why. Had he ever really heard or felt the rain before? She'd heard it a few times from her own room but she figured to him this was already so much especially with how anxious and protective he'd become. She gently squeezed him closer to her and he made a soft mrrp.

"Come on, let's head back to the shelter, wait for this rain to stop." He nodded into her neck once more his hold on her tightening as she moved, "Rig, you gotta let go so we can move," she giggled softly as he made a bit of a stubborn grumble moving to pick her up as she squealed and very much told him off and to put her down for his own sake before he hurt himself further.

"I know you're already going to be aching from that evolution. You stop being silly and put me down no lifting anything, oh my Arceus Rigger!!" He ignored her protests carrying her back to the shelter and ducking under inside keeping the protect barrier above them to offer more security and ease his overwhelmed senses. He put her down but didn't release.

"That was very foolish and you know it I can feel the pain in your aura," he buried himself into her neck wrapping his legs and tail around her to hold her close to him as she tutted thumping her tail a little to express her mild frustration at his lack of self care before sighing leaning into his warm hold. "You better take it easy from now on though Rig, you're still recovering if you continue to push yourself too far you could be seriously hurt." Her voice was soft but he could hear the clear worry in her tone as she cuddled herself into him.

"Sorry Mel…" His voice a mumble, "I'll, try..promise.." She sighed softly, the sincerity was clear in his aura despite him struggling for words. She leant into him comfortable in his hold and warm as she felt him mutually lean and press into her, closing her eyes she just listened to the rain with him.

[puyopopdanmaku]

Chapter 1-1

A new world, and this...weird girl.

word count: 1483

And so, our story begins with... what would be an ordinary situation to our dear magician-in-training, Marisa.

"MAAAAAARIIIIIISSAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Yep, fairly normal.

"Oh, heya, Reimu. Lovely weather we're having, aren't we?" Marisa, the magician in question, smiled jovially, attempting to shift her weight on her broom to hide a small bag overflowing with money.

"Don't 'oh, lovely weather we've having, aren't we' me!" Reimu huffed, "What did you do with my donations?!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you've never thought of installing security!" Marisa huffed in response, smile not leaving her eyes, "It was way, wayyy too easy for me to steal from you this time around. Advice from a friend: maybe mix it up a little next time!"

"You're forgetting one thing when stealing from me; I'll never let my belongings go without a fight." Reimu said, the intimidation factor of this slightly soiled due to her still-puffed cheeks.

"Is that so..?" Marisa smirked, "Well, just like so many times before, I'm sure I'll defeat yo-"

"...hey, wait, what's that noise?"

And our story would then cut to another world. A world where magic... has been around for quite awhile.

"Get really real! Those exist?!"

"Yes. And if you don't get out of my way... maybe some youkai will curse you."

In the town of Primp, a young magician-in-training and one of her best friends were having a chance encounter with the town's most notorious creepy little girl.

"I'm certain that Feli is simply joking..." Klug said, "There's no such thing as Youkai, certainly not in our forests especially."

"Don't ⦿ fool ⦿ yourself," Feli said, "You know what you saw when you followed me, foolish fool - it was a true youkai, and now it'll haunt you forever..."

On the outside, Klug didn't look super convinced, but Amitie was close enough that she could see he was shaking.

"Uh, hey, Klug, you don't look so good-" Amitie began, then looked up at the sky, "wait, what's that in the sky? Are Puyos falling again?!

"It appears to be... someone on a broom?" Klug said, thankful for the distraction.

"Is it Witch?- W-WAIT, SHE'S COMING RIGHT THIS-"

"INCOMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg!!!!!!!!"

And, with a massive crash, the mysterious broom rider crashed into the street next to the small group.

"...ow..."

Marisa sat up, rubbing her head. The ride through that weird portal thing was pretty bumpy, to say the absolute least, not to mention the horrible crash-landing...

The children around her, however, barely noticed, more focused on their perception that...

"She's..."

"A-a-a DOPPELGANGER?!"

Klug and Amitie both began screaming their heads off, the role of 'voice of reason' temporarily being placed upon Feli.

"They... are not a doppelganger." Feli said, her mysterious aura almost slipping, "They wear black, and not the blue-white-red of-"

"That's hardly proof!" Klug retorted, "Every single Doppelganger we've met, without fail, has worn different colors from the original!"

"But they rarely differ from the original's clothes.." Feli said, "Be realistic. Witch wouldn't wear so many bows."

"B-BUH-BUT- H-how could it nOT be a-"

The second Marisa stood up, they immediately stopped bickering.

She was at least a full foot taller than Witch...

"Oh, dear..."

"A-ah, oops..."

"WE'RE SORRY!"

The combined forces of the apology from the two friends nearly knocked Marisa right back down again.

"Sheeeeesh- It's fine, seriously! I've never been called a doppelganger before, but at least it's something new," Marisa shrugged, wondering what exactly she did to deserve this.

"Oh, that's good, I think..? I'm glad we didn't offend you..." Amitie said, infinitely naive, "Anyway... W-wait, didn't you just fall from the sky, are you okay-?"

"Where precisely did you come from, anyway?" Klug said, interrupting Amitie to interrogate this stranger.

"Where else, aside from the town of 'GUYAAAAAH!' - ehehehe - Gensokyo?" Marisa grinned, "And don't worry, I've had worse concussions."

"Gen...sock-ey-oats? Where's that?" Amitie asked, head tilted a bit.

"...I'm not in Gensokyo anymore, am I?" Marisa sighed.

"Nope! You're in Primp Town now, one of the biggest centers of magic...at least, that's what Ms. Accord told me when I asked."

"Center for magic, huh...? You could say Gensokyo was like that, too," Marisa nodded slowly, "Way bigger than here, though."

"If it was bigger than here, does that mean... the magic schools were bigger, too?"

Marisa had no idea what the hell Amitie was talking about. A magic school? You don't just learn magic at a place. You can learn from books, sure, but usually you just figure it out yourself. No such thing as magic schools, at least none she was aware of.

But, this did give Marisa an opportunity...

"Oh yeah, way bigger, and it had loads of 'em," Marisa said, a smug smile crossing her face as she continued, "And, not to brag, but I graduated from all of them."

"Get real! You did?!"

"Yup! It was a piece of cake, too!" She grinned, "I bet I'm the number one magician in all of Gensokyo at this point. I've studied more than anyone else there, at least!"

Well, that wasn't exactly a lie...

"WICKED!!! I haven't even graduated ONE school!" Amitie shouted excitedly.

Looking at her more, Marisa could definitely tell. She didn't know what a magic school was, but the only school you'd graduate at what she assumed Amitie's age was - 15 at most, and just barely there at that - would be a middle school for tiny tots.

Feli, having her suspicions about Marisa and long having forgotten to take the chance and run away, approached the magician.

"How much of the occult do you know about?" Feli said, "Surely someone who graduated every ⦿ single ⦿ school ⦿ would know much about it..."

"A magician never reveals her secrets!" Marisa said, "A good one, at least."

"Of course..." Klug said, about as convinced as Feli, "May we request knowledge as to how you ended up in our little town, at least?"

"I dunno. I was dealing with a friend, heard a weird noise... then I found myself in the sky, just like that." Marisa said, "I lost control of my broom, too."

"Broom... Oh, you mean that one over there?" Amitie said, pointing to a seriously bent broom, bags full of jewels punctured by the bush it fell into.

"MY BROOOOM-"

Marisa rushed over to it, followed solely by Amitie.

"Oh jeez, it's gonna be so hard to fix by m'self, and who knows if there's any broom menders in this tiny town?!" Marisa grumbled, "I don't think there's a guy as handy as Rinnosuke over here.."

Once Amitie got a bit closer to Marisa, she immediately went silent, putting on a barely convincing smile and hiding her broom, still bleeding gems, behind her back.

"Wow, you're... pretty quiet when you want to be, huh?" Marisa said, desperately trying to think of something to focus on other than her busted broom, "You mentioned that 'Witch' earlier... is that just her name?"

"Oh, uhm-" Amitie said, not expecting to be the one asked questions here, "until she graduates, yeah!"

"A-alright, Marisa! But, Marisa, how do you wear out a name, anyway?" Amitie said, genuinely concerned.

"...Learn something new every day."

"Oh yeah- My name's Amitie, by the way!" Amitie said, smiling cheerfully "What's yours?"

"Marisa Kirisame. Don't wear it out!" Marisa grinned.

"Uh..." Marisa sighed again, "Don't worry about it."

It was at that moment that Amitie realized she had abandoned her two other friends.

She quickly turned around, just to find they were both still there, playing a fast-paced but oddly calming game of Puyo Puyo.

"Huh...?" Marisa said, appearing so suddenly behind Amitie that she couldn't help but jump, "What're those two doing, exactly?"

"Mm? Oh, right, your world must not have Puyos either, just like Ringo's!" Amitie said, further confusing Marisa.

"Those blobs... They...." Marisa began, not sure where exactly she thought she was going.

"Yep, those're Puyos!"

"Right." Marisa said, slowly beginning to understand the more she watched those two rivals battle, "And you settle disputes by destroying them instead of with card battles."

"Usually, yeah! Not aaaallllll the time, though-"

"Right, right," Marisa interrupted, "it's like how Reimu sometimes opts to just kick people instead of playing cards."

It was Amitie's turned to be incredibly confused, having no idea who Reimu was or why she'd rather kick people instead of just playing a card game. However, she just said "right!" in response, fake confidence glowing.

"So..." Marisa said, pulling out a large grimoire from who-knows-where and hastily scribbling something in it, "when you play with these 'Puyos,' you can gather up magical energy by 'popping' them, and then cast spells to damage your opponent."

"...When playing Puyo Pop, do you HAVE to shout your spells, or can you just play silently?"

"I mean, you can just stay silent, but I heard it makes your magic weaker!" Amitie said, glad for a question she could answer properly, "...And it's kinda seen as rude."

"Huh. Alrighty, then," Marisa began, "show me the power of yelling while Puyo Popping!"

"O-okay!" Amitie responded, "here we go, let's -"

"Puyo Puyo!!"

[silverhallow]

So I see you have a little Bridgerton Next Gen world going, and I was just wondering… what do you think Vivi Bridgerton soulmate would be like?

Oh my darling vivi…

I did go into some detail about this but deep and it was ages ago and I can’t remember what I tagged it under so…

In any AU… Violets future husband is called Edward Becket… and he’s almost a foot taller than her. (Like her mother and father)

And he’s either brothers or best friends with Charlotte’s husband…

In regency era

Edward Becker is the only son and heir to the Dukedom of Somerset…

He has two older sisters and is two years older than Violet.. having been to school with William.

He fences better than anyone else in their class and has a fondness of animals but he’s a bit stupid at times…

When he first meets Violet she’s 14 and running after the family and is covered in paint as she ploughs straight into him and covers in in paint water and it’s nothing but an Oops and a giggle as she runs back after the dog… and doesn’t think much about the boy she once nearly ploughed into.

The moment however, lives with him.

4 years later Violet makes her bow in society and is an instant hit but Edward has had to tend to his sick mother so missed Violet’s season and wishes for the entire season no one swoops in and steals her, writing to William asking how the season is going…

And is relieved to hear that Violet had had a torrid time because of Charlie and Alex being over protective… and laughs when he reads that Violet poured her punch over Alex when he was being an arse in front of a suitor…

It’s not until the following season when along with his cousin Thomas. The future Earl of Devon, he makes his way into London for the season… with one purpose only…

Violet Bridgerton.

And when he sees the young woman she’s grown into the very image of her mother, with grace and beauty but able to hold her own…

He knows that no other woman will do for him… and Violet almost once again ploughs into him, Stepping on his toes as she’s walking with Lottie giggling at Lottie having been asked by Thomas to dance does Violet feel her world shift at the handsome man in front of her…

But only when she hears William shouting at him in jubulation does Vivi’s face fall… because she vowed she would never get involved with any of her brothers friends because Of Alex’s so called friend the year before…

It takes an injured dog and a chat with her mother before Violet lets herself feel and fall in love with the man that would one day be her husband..

[yourneighborhoodneighbor]

black cat and his kittens ch9

(masterpost to my fics while ao3 is down) AO3

fic under the cut

previous chapter

Still half asleep himself, Shouta woke his youngest children up, had them eat breakfast, brush their teeth, change, and wash their faces before pulling them out the door, each of them in different levels of consciousness.

Today they would go and spend time with the UA kids again. Shouta would almost rather go out with his older children to talk to their underground contacts and look for any available information on All for Fuck’s still living followers (and their followers, what a nightmare). As it was, he didn’t really want to get out of this playdate. It was good for his kits. And the herolings, he guessed.

Walking down the street, the dad ignored the stares he knew he and his gaggle of children were getting, knowing a grown man with four teenagers basically on kiddie leashes was a bit of an unusual sight. But come on, one of them didn’t even have his eyes open, relying on the sibling’s hand he was holding to guide him, while another was bouncing all over the place, unashamedly pointing at cool quirks he saw. He couldn't not keep them on leashes.

Soon enough they got to UA and then the 1A dorms, where they let themselves in, and Shouta finally released his children. Shouto immediately faceplanted on the couch and went back to sleep, while Izuku made a point of retieing himself to Shouta before going to sit next to Katsuki and Hitoshi on another couch. Well, at least he wasn’t clinging today, which was more of a sign he was willing to at least give the hero trainees a chance than he had given the day before.

He was broken out of his musings by a startled yelp, followed by the person, who Shouta recognised as the cafe regular Katsuki had a crush on, fumbling to catch his plate. Looks like they’d forgotten to announce their presence after coming in. Oops.

“Kirishima, I advise you be quieter, some of our classmates are still sleeping at this hour!“ the younger Iida said behind the redhead. Katsuki snorted, likely due to the fact that the admonishment had been louder than the yelp itself. The red haired boy didn’t give any indication of noticing  or caring though.

“Sorry, prez. I just didn’t expect our new friends to be in the common room yet!”

At this, the taller boy straightend his back and proceeded to give a 90 degree bow. Shouta raised an eyebrow, not that it could be seen from under his mask.

“My apologies, sir and fellow... My apologies, I did not see you there. Good morning, how are you?” He said. A glance at his children showed they hadn’t missed the blue haired boy’s hesitation. Shouta stayed quiet, giving his children a chance to answer themselves.

The heroes-to-be were rewarded by a shy wave from Izuku (progress!), grunts from Katsuki and a grudgingly awake but still valiantly trying to sleep Shouto, and a little “Sup” from Hitoshi.

Eijirou beamed at that (causing Katsuki to cross his arms and sink lower into the couch, Shouta noted) and sat himself on the same couch as the other three. Izuku immediately stood up and moved next to Shouto, inardvertently kickstarting conversation.

“It’s nothing personal, he’s just not comfortable in this new place” Katsuki quietly told his crush. The other swallowed the food in his mouth and smiled again.

“It’s okay bro! Respecting boundaries is super manly, I should’ve asked before sitting down with you, thats on me” he turned to Izuku, the other not fully looking at him. “Sorry I made you move, I hope we can be friends! No rush or pressure, though.” and with that he continued eating, taking his attention off of the nervous teen.

Shouta noticed his youngest relaxing at that, while Katsuki and Hitoshi (mostly the former) started light conversation with the sharp toothed boy and the youngest Iida, who had come back with his own breakfast.

Yeah, this would be good for his children.

_________________________________________________

Shouto was woken up by by his foot being taken into someone’s arms. He opened one eye to see Izuku on the other end of the couch, his kidnapped foot held tightly in his arms. The reason   appeared to be the now full common room. Humming a little as he stretched, Shouto reclaimed his foot and replaced it instead with his arm, earning himself a small smile.

“What’s going on?” he asked the younger teen. A discussion seemed to be underway, though not an aggressive one.

“They’re waiting to guess our quirks. They are in the middle of breakfast” Izu signed back. ‘Not talking yet in front of the strangers, understood’ Shouto mentally noted.

“Hm. I wonder what they came up with.”

“You’re awake!” someone yelled. It was the tall energetic one. Wind quirk, if Shouto remembered right. No idea what his name was.

Greetings flew his way as the rest of the class noticed his consciousness. He returned them with a small wave and a deadpan “Hi”.

Shouto noticed a lanky blond leaning forward with an excited smirk on his face.

“Great, then, can we start already?”

That earned him some fond chuckles. Shouto didn’t know why, he guessed it was because they were friends. Shouto wouldn’t know, since his amount of friends outside of his family was pretty limited (one). He shrugged. He didn’t particularly care, he had good people in his life, but he supposed that was exactly the reason why dad wanted them to hang out with 1A.

Hitoshi answered. “Sure, go ahead.” To anyone else he would have sounded as disinterested as ever, but Shouto could hear the amusement in his voice. Couldn’t say he didn’t share the sentiment. A loud clap had him focusing back on the situation at hand and Izuku jumping in his seat. Shouto wasn’t the only one who glared. Calling his family out for being overprotective cats would make Shouto a hypocrite, so he refrained. 

The lanky blond from before did a little dance before pointing at Katsuki.

“Cannon! Obviously something to do with explosions. Maybe you can make things explode at will? Or turn things into bombs, was the other popular theory. Something’s going BOOM! at any rate. Am I right?” he said excitedly. Shouto was reminded a bit of Himiko when she got talkings about new blades she found. Maybe this boy liked quirkes? Or possibly even guessing games. He’d have to ask.

Katsuki snorted, grinning wildly, making some of the teenagers lean back a little.

“Oh, something’s going boom for sure, but it’s not my quirk.” he said leaning forward. It wasn’t really surprising, Shouto thought. He hadn’t really expected the hero-to-be’s to actually manage to guess their quirks. Their names were kind of misleading on purpose.

The class just looked on disbelieving.

“What?! No way your quirk has nothing to do with explosions! Why would your name be Cannon, then?!” the pink girl complained. Acid-O? Acida? Shouto focused more on Hitoshi, who was actually, loudly, howling with laughter. Izuku was silently shaking.

“Ever heard of explosives? Nitroglycerin? TNT?” Katsuki asked while taking one of his many lighters and out to fiddle with it. Shouto let out a chuckle at the classes’ scandalised (and some amused, how interesting) faces. The morning was shaping out to maybe not be completely terrible.

The younger Iida cut spoke up.

“I must ask that you refrain from such activities while in the dorms, or the school in general, as it could prove to be dangerous and harmful to everyone here, as well as the property!” he exclaimed.

Katsuki started at him for a moment, taking the other in. He closed the lighter and put t back in his pocket, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

“Can do, Engine Boy. I can respect safety procedures and your investment in them” the blonde said calmly. Iida for his part looked a bit miffed, as if he had not expected the vigilante to agree. Shouto hid a small smile at that. He wondered how long it would take the class to figure out that, while loud and intense, Katsuki was actually very much a protector first, and an insanely clever teen and explosives enthusiast second.

_________________________________________________

After Katsuki’s turn, it was decided that the class guess all quirks first before learning whether they had been right or wrong. Hitoshi had to admit the guesses weren’t bad considering the limited information they had, and some ideas were even a bit wild, but that only added to the fun.

Among the guesses for Katsusome highlights were that he could throw entire cannonballs directly out of his palms damn, and the invisible girl thought that he could shoot people with a mental attack that showed them their deepest fear (creative, though he had to wonder whether she was scared of his brother after yesterday’s training, which, fair, in all honestly).

For Shouto the general consensus seemed to bee time manipulation of some kind, whether it be stopping time, traveling back in time, or having visions of the future (Hitoshi wondered if the knew about the hero who could actually do that).

For himself, most guesses were mental, be it memory manipulation or erasure, though the electricity boy suggested teleportation, for some reason.

For Izuku guesses were a bit more varied, ranging from being able to make objects dissapear, invisibility, and even the crazy theory (courtesy of the dark shadow guy, who’s aesthetic slapped) that Izuku was actually the only real person out of the Clowder and the rest of them were only products of his quirk, though he didn’t specify what quirk that would be, exactly.

They all got a surprise when they even tried to guess dad’s quirk.

From night vision to shadow manipulation, they all let out a snort (and received a glare) when the guy with the tail suggested he could turn into a cat (dad wished).

In the end they were all, of course, wrong, but that was to be expected.

“So did we get any right?!” the blond boy with the excited smile exclaimed. The rest of the class looked on with eager eyes. What a bunch of puppies, it was doing things to Hitoshi’s chest. The looks turned into frown a second later though.

“No.” was the dry response, and oh, alright, dad was in teacher mode then. This whole thing had not been just for fun. Huh.

“Whaaaat?! Not even one?” asked a dismayed invisible girl.

“No. But that was to be expected. Lesson number one, specially for those who want to go into underground heroics: don’t make your hero name an obvious link to your quirk. Anyone you may go up against will take advantage of any knowledge they get on you. Quirks are not all there is to heroics, but they are a useful extra tool you have. As they say, keep your cards close to your chest, don’t go flaunting things like that in the open if you can help it” he said to a now gaping class.

“That’s so manly! I’d never thought of that! Thanks!” and of course the silence was broken by their sunshine of a friend. Hitoshi swore that he had a secondary “incredible happiness and niceness” quirk, and that is a hill he would die on, thank you very much. The

rest of the class followed with chorus of “Yeah, thanks”s.

“But what are actually your quirks then?” the thin blond actually pouted.

Hitoshi looked around at his brothers to see who would start (checking in with dad one last time that this was still a good idea, answer seemed ro be yes). Order of age won out in the end.

“My quirk is called IcyHot. I can make ice with my right side and fire with my left” Shouto demonstrated by making his hands do the thing. “My name is Tempo because its a mix of the the ‘temp’ part of temperature and the ‘o’ that is the only vowel in both the words ‘hot’ and ‘cold’.”

There a few understanding nods at this.

“I have a healing quirk” Katsuki’s admission made jaws hit the floor, Hitoshi couldn’t stop himself from laughing. A look at his brothers showed them to be in the same predicament. Katski continued.

“Shut the fuck up, it’s the truth. It’s called Life Force. My name is Cannon because I like explosions, and thats that on that, the end.”

The class was about to riot, so Hitoshi quickly cut in with his own quirk.

“Mine’s called Do as I Say. I can control a person if they respond to me. My name’s Blank because I’ve been told by people who’ve been under my control that it feels like your mind goes completely blank.”

The class calmed down, and Hitoshi was very pleased ro see only acceptance and curiosity among the class. No judgement, no sneers, no mocking, no disgust. Very pleased indeed. Maybe dad’s idea of making friends with these people wasn’t too bad after all.

He turned to Izuku to see if he would speak up or if he would sign his answer. He seemed to be breathing slowly, staring at his hands in his lap. Making a decision.

He managed two whispered words.

“I’m quirkless.” The words were quiet, but strong, and, while not actually making eye contact, Izuku’s gaze was up. Not ashamed of his lack of a quirk, but simply uneasy still around the new people.

Said people did riot this time though, causing the green eyed boy to dive straight into dad’s chest. But some progress was still progress, and Izu was safest with dad, so Hitoshi kept his attention on the hero hopefuls.

“What?!”

“No way!”

“And you’re a vigilante? Dude, that’s so manly!”

“That’s dangerous though.”

“Hey! You don’t need a quirk to do things!”

“This is most unexpected. How obscure”

“Stop screaming!”

“You’re screaming!”

“Everyone, settle down, please!”

“SHUT UP!”

Katsuki, as always, could easily control an excitable crowd.

“Calm the fuck down, idiots. It’s not a big deal, and he’s more than capable of doing shit, and that includes vigilantism. If you have concerns or whatever, either keep them to yourselves or talk them out civilly. And don’t be fucking quirkist with your comments, got it?” he told the class.

Mouths clicked closed and, funnily, hands rose.

The morning wasn’t over yet, it seemed. But Hitoshi found he was content with that.

next chapter

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook: Hunt Me Down (1)

Humans are confusing creatures.

Tags/warnings: Alien!Jungkook, Human!Reader, deal with it, it's not Alcoria and not Prey oops, size difference because deal with it part 2, kook has a split tongue oops, also sharp teeth be careful cause he bites

Chapter Length: short/mid sized

Additional Chapter Warnings: kook's got a knife watch out oops, mild Angst, attempted robbery, not by kook though, jungkook has no filter whatsoever

Next ->

You're on one of Cepheid's markets, streets bustling while you try not to get sunburned- staying under the shade of the stalls as best as you can. It's hot, awfully so- but it's to be expected on this planet, deserts spreading over most of the land, compared to Earths rather small percentage.

Somewhere close, Jungkook strolls around the market, weather rather mild for him, as he spots someone leaning over a very short person. It's when the man's hand reaches for your bag that he interferes, knife held out as he presses it against the man's neck. "Put it back." Jungkook warns with a neutral expression, making you turn a little in fear of what's going on. When the man doesn't react, he lifts the knife up a little, splitting the skin only slightly to draw a drop of blood. "I said-" he threatens lowly, eyes sharpening just a little. "-put it back."

You gain back your almost stolen purse, the man escaping with a huff, before you turn towards the very tall man in front of you. "Thanks- I didn't notice at all." You explain, and Jungkook looks down on you for a moment.

You're definitely human, wearing very light clothing that accentuates your figure, and he must admit you're visually very pleasing to him. Your voice is soft, a nice sound, and you seem to be educated in at least the very basics of culinary arts. He likes human cuisine.

"My name is Jeon Jungkook." He introduces himself with a still rather neutral expression; though his eyes seem to sparkle a little as he stands a bit more proudly almost, before he speaks again. "Are you in a partnership?" He asks, and you blink once, twice, before you clear your throat.

"Uh.. no? I'm not." You answer, unsure what he's going after, but he nods simply, not averting his gaze.

"Very fortunate. I'd like to court you, if that's possible." He asks, and you practically hear the record scratch in the background, mind going blank for a second.

"Oh, hey!" Your sister waves from behind Jungkook, though his attention is not drawn away from you yet while he seems to wait for an answer.

"Huh? Oh, Jungkook." Her husband, Taehyung asks. He's a lot taller as welk- typical standard for Raei, the dominant species on the planet.

"Taehyung." Jungkook greets, finally turning away from you a little, giving you some room to breathe.

"I wasn't aware you knew each other." The taller man wonders, and Jungkook shakes his head.

"I've introduced myself but she hasn't given her name in exchange yet, so I have to say we don't, yet." He explains, and Taehyung nods. Your sister laughs at the for you awkwardly stale conversation, while you're unsure what's really going on. "I've offered to court this human."

Taehyung nods. "I see." He hums. "Has she responded yet?" The fellow Alien asks- though after living with your sister and visiting earth regularly, he's a lot more expressive in his facial expressions. Currently, he seems very amused by your confusion over the whole situation.

Typically, you go unnoticed, no matter the planet.

"No, and I'm not sure how to proceed." Jungkook mumbles, a slight pout on his pierced lip as he speaks. "How did you court your human?" He wonders, and yourself have to think back to the time your sister had told you about that guy she'd met- who turned out to be a nine-foot-tall-and-stoic Alien from Cepheid. But while you'd been hesitant at first, you actually became fairly comfortable with Taehyung over the course of time.

"You have to take her out on a date first, silly!" You sister jokes, and he just nods, eagerly drinking up the information, before he deflates. You on the other hand widen your eyes. You've never been on a proper date before- what is she doing?!

"Then I'll do that!" Jungkook however simply proposes to you, a determined glimmer in his eyes the most expression you get. It's not too unnerving though- in the three years of knowing Taehyung, you've come to read the subtle hints very well. Just like the way his shoulders slump just a breath, body no longer very proudly held. "Who or what is a date?" He wonders, looking back at Taehyung and your laughing sister.

"Courting a human is a lengthy process. They like to affirm proper emotional compatibility by 'getting to knock someone first' as they say." Taehyung explains.

"Okay, that seems very reasonable. " jungkook nods, nodding into the thoughtful hand held in front of his lips for a second, before he turns towards you again, properly. He bows a little, and its honestly.. kind of cute?

You can't deny that he's a pretty handsome guy, after all.

He's a little shorter than Taehyung (which really is still very tall- but that's just how evolution worked on this planet for them..), with dark hair that seems a bit wavy. His face is soft but masculine, clothes he wears typical for his kind- protecting his skin below from the searing heat of the planet's deserts. You've caught a glimpse of his tongue; split in the middle, something humans had already artificially created for themselves for years, while Raei had that feature from the start, given by default. And his eyes were probably the most expressive thing about him.

"I'd like to propose the option of a date with me, then." He says, a slight eagerness to his tone, as if he's rushing the words out just by a breath. It's subtle- but it's there, and it shows that although he's rather forward just like his kind is in general, he's still nervous deep down.

It's cute, and he's trying, to be fair.

"..OK." you say, and his eyes widen ever so slightly, pupils moving around as if tobscan your body for any trace of a lie in your words.

"Great! Thank you, this makes me very happy." He tells you, and while it's a bit odd of him to say that despite his body showing no trace of that mentioned happiness, you can see the genuine sparkle in his eyes, and the excitement in the way his fingers move and play with the fabric of his clothes every now and then to occupy himself. "I'm.. not sure what to do now though. I will have to do further research on Dates first." He mumbles.

"Ah, Jungkook, do you like human cooking?" You sister asks, and its the first time he reacts very openly, with his mouth open in a slight 'o' shape, eyes wide open as he snaps his head towards her, nodding eagerly.

"I really do." He breathes out as if fascinated. "I like human cuisine a lot."

"Great! My sister will be cooking on my birthday tomorrow. How about you come join us for dinner?" She asks, and Jungkook whips his head around, piercings and jewelry moving erratically from the sudden motion.

"I'd really enjoy that." He nods, a slight smile forming on his lips, before he excuses himself to 'do his research' as he'd said.

"He's a very good person." Taehyung reassures you, as you look after him. "I'm aware the way our kind.. interacts must be rather confusing. I hope it did not induce fear in you." Taehyung worries a little, but you shake your head.

"Its.. certainly not what I'm used to." You chuckle. "But.. he seems nice? I mean he did help me not get my money stolen, so.." you shrug.

"Ah, that's because he's in the crime prevention forces. It's his occupation, basically." He tells you. It does make sense that he's carrying a weapon now. "He takes a lot of pride in his work. It took him a lot of effort to gain his position."

"I can imagine." You smile.

"Oh my, you got yourself a cop!" Your sister winks, before she leans into Taehyung, pulling on his arm a little. "Come on, let's all get out of the heat. I'm getting a little dizzy out here." She jokes- but Taehyung instantly looks down with concerned eyes, instantly checking her over before he rushes you all to hurry your grocery shopping.

Ita cute to see them both like that. Maybe this could lead to something for you.

Maybe your lonely days were finally over.

[seungly]

Dancing in the Rain

pairing: husband! Hwang Hyunjin x reader

genre: fluff, angst if you squint

wc: 2.7k 

warning/s: cursing, implied social anxiety, use of she/her pronouns.

✎: belated happy birthday to stay’s prince! 

: ̗̀➛ ©seungly 2022

not proofread

-

Hwang Hyunjin, everyone told you to stay away from him due to his reputation, but he has been the best thing that ever happened to you. Being with him was intoxicating, exciting, thrilling; it was always unexpected. 

He is poison as one might say, yet a deadly substance you’re willing to consume over and over again. You love him, and you will for as long as your heart beats. 

“Reservation is in 30 minu- wow...” you jumped at your lover's sudden appearance, causing you to drop the eyeliner, “Oops~” you turn to frown at him as he makes his way to you.

“My make-up is ruined.” your frown turns into a pout which made Hyunjin laugh, “Not funny, Hwang.” you turn back to the mirror, grabbing a make-up wipe to fix the crooked line.

“In my defense, you’re also a Hwang and you’re still absolutely gorgeous!” he grinned. 

You roll your eyes at the taller man behind you. You couldn’t help but smile, feeling his arms slither around your waist. You drop the wipes in the bin beside the dresser before turning around to face him again, “I’m only forgiving you because it’s your birthday.” your hands are flat against his chest.

“Great! can I have a kiss?” he leans closer just enough for the tip of your noses to meet, “I’m gonna kiss you now.” you let out a chuckle before closing the gap between you.

Your hands travel from his chest to his nape, arms wrapped around his neck as he pulls you closer. One of his hands made its way to the back of your head to deepen the kiss while yours intertwine in his hair, tugging it slightly just to feel him groan against your lips. Your lips tug into a smile as you pull away, “You wanna be late?”

“For you? absolutely!” he laughs, “I’d rather we stay here now.” a smile on his face while he admires your incomplete make-up, gently tucking the loose hair behind your ear.

You’d love to stay at home as well, laying down in the arms of your love while watching a sappy rom-com. Although the offer is quite tempting, you rid of it to the back of your head knowing you’ve been waiting for this day. You had the night planned and no kiss will take those efforts away, not even his. 

“We have to leave in a few minutes, wait for me downstairs to avoid further...distractions.” You plant a last kiss on his lips before fixing his shirt and sending him out the door. 

You shake away the longing feel of his lips against yours to finally finish your make-up. You take one more look at yourself, nervously running your hands on the silky fabric of your red dress then fixing your slightly disheveled hair. It felt like prom all over again—except he married you.

With one last glance at the mirror, you let out a sigh in an attempt to lessen the nervousness then made your way downstairs. “My offer to stay home still stands?” he chuckled, meeting you at the foot of the stairs. Hyunjin couldn’t help but bite his lip when he saw you walking down the stairs, he was almost—almost lost for words.

“You’re completely hopeless.” you roll your eyes playfully, grabbing ahold of his arm, “We can still make it!”

You were sure Hyunjin was a gift from the gods. You couldn’t help but adore him when his one hand gripped the steering wheel while the other holds your thigh, gently caressing the smooth skin to help lessen the anxiousness you were distressed to hide. 

You wondered how he always knew whenever you were getting anxious, but then he does know how anxious you get whenever you’re in public. Hyunjin has taken note of how you always seem to be overthinking whatever people may notice about you; how self-conscious you were in social situations. He knows he’s not able to take that away from you so he’d always do his best to lessen it. 

“Your legs, baby.” he snaps you out of your thoughts with a motion of his head, you had been bouncing your legs again along with scratching your arm. You let out an almost inaudible thanks. Hyunjin’s hand held yours, lightly squeezing it, “You look beautiful, I promise.” he smiles to himself feeling lucky.

“am I showing too much skin?” you give him a crooked smile.

“Stop worrying so much. You’re perfect, okay?” he glances at you for a moment, “We’re almost there. It’s gonna be fine.” 

“I have the night planned for us, I hope it goes well,” you whisper to yourself but enough for Hyunjin to hear.

“I’ll love whatever you have planned for us. Plus, I already have an amazing wife and nothing else can top that.” he glances at your hands, quick enough to intertwine your fingers. The difference between your hands made him laugh.

You pay no mind and continue to watch the city lights. The moon was beautiful and so were the stars. You were occupied with watching the tiny dots in the sky twinkle that you didn’t realize you’ve arrived. You only noticed when the car stopped moving.

It was fancier than you expected. A large chandelier hung in the middle of the room as people sit with their friends, family, significant others. Hyunjin’s arm was wrapped around your waist until you were shown to your table where Hyunjin holds out the chair for you. You smile at him, fixing your hair. 

The waiter holds out a menu for the both of you which you gladly take. You couldn’t take your eyes off of the fancy decors around the room, especially the chandelier that had caught your attention from the moment you walked in. It was beautiful. 

“Should I call the waiter?” you hear Hyunjin chuckle. You gave him a smile as you nod. Soon the waiter walked to your table and wrote down your order.

“How are you feeling?” you worry the place would be too much or not enough for his taste.

“I reassure you, everything is great so far.” he holds out his hand for you to take, “So don’t worry so much.” he brings your hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss on it.

“Okay.” you let out a sigh, “but if anything is bothering you-”

“I’ll be sure to tell you, alright? so calm your pretty head.” he lets out a short laugh.

“Your fault for marrying such a nervous wreck.” you watch as his eyes crinkle into crescents, letting out yet another laugh.

“You know I wouldn’t want anyone else.” he eyes the ring on your finger. It fitted you perfectly, whenever he looks at you he sees the same girl he fell in love with in high school. Though your appearance improved, you were still the same girl he loved back then and he means that in the best way possible. 

“Why are you looking at me like that, Jinnie?” you worry, “oh no is it the make-up?” you quickly reach for your purse,

“No no no! not at all. Your make-up is perfect.” he laughs, “I was just thinking about, well...about you.”

“W-what about me?” you smile nervously, fidgeting with your fingers.

“How you’re still the 8th-grade Y/N I nervously gave those daisies to.” you smile at the memory, encouraging him to tell more, “I remember getting pushed to you by Seungmin because—and I quote: It’s not that hard to give flowers to a girl, you coward.” you both burst into a fit of laughter at the recalled memory but mostly because Seungmin was never to confess how he felt for someone.

“How brave of you then.” you giggle, “at least you didn’t trip on your own foot while giving a letter.” 

“You were adorable.” he recalls the memory, “I remember it so vividly. That must be a core memory.”

“One of your core memories is your 8th-grade crush tripping to give you a letter?” you puzzle, scrunching your nose.

“Yes, cause I got to hold her after.” you scoff, “It’s true! after you tripped, I held your hand for the first time and I’ll never forget how cute you looked embarrassed.” 

“Well now you get to see me embarrassed all the time.” you pout, crossing your arms. Hyunjin only send you a wink which made you blush furiously, “Hyunjin!” 

“Oh I’m sorry there must’ve been something in my eye.” he winks again this time to annoy you. You roll your eyes at him, but the smile on your face tells him otherwise.

Not long after the banter, the waiter arrived with your food. You would exchange memories you’d recall from your high school days, laughing at them. The immature fights you’d have when you started dating in the early months of 10th grade. 

You started dating Hyunjin in 10th grade but had to break up with him in the first year of college since your relationship was affecting your studies. Then ever since you broke up, Hyunjin was supposedly known as the biggest casanova around the halls, but it turned out untrue. Hyunjin is undoubtedly a charming man so when people found out you broke up, the ladies swarmed him like bees, but a particular one he turned down was Ga-ram. Let’s just say she didn’t take the rejection quite lightly so she started a rumor that was fast to go around.

You believed them for a while before Hyunjin ran after you, rebuffing those rumors. You then promised each other that when everything gets better, you’d get back together again. 

and you did.

Although you can stay in the restaurant for as long as until it closes, you had other things planned so as soon as you finished dinner, you paid the bill and left. 

The moment your skin meets the cold wind outside, Hyunjin hurriedly took his blazer off to drape it over you “Alright, where are we off to next??” he grins, hands in his pants pockets.

“I was thinking we should go overlooking.” you clutch the blazer, pulling it to hug your frame, “I can’t believe you didn’t remind me to bring my jacket.”

“So I can give you my blazer.” he gives you a sly smile, “So where are we going?”

“Ah, it’s a walking distance so let’s just go back for the car later.” you hold out your hand, ”and I also happen to know you’re a sucker for clichés.”

“No I’m not!” he denies yet smiles as he slips his hand in yours, “So where do we go?” 

You tug on his arm, leading him to your destination. You take a moment to watch his eyes turn to crescents as he follows you, hand in hand. You notice the pinkish hues that painted his cheeks and nose along with it his disheveled hair, and despite the sweat on his forehead, he still appeared god-like. 

Your walk came to a halt when Hyunjin stopped in his tracks, “It’s raining.”

You scoff, “No it’s not.” you were completely wrong. The droplets of rain started pouring faster and heavier, “W-we’re till quite far!” you shout over the noise of the rain.

“The car is far from here already!” he laughed, “There’s no place for cover, what do we do?” he questions, searching the surroundings for any cover you could squeeze in.

You stood helpless under the pouring rain, eyes already watering as you eye your lover from beside you. He was completely drenched, you couldn’t hold back your tears anymore. You sob in your hands, feeling at fault for his ‘ruined’ birthday.

Hyunjin was fast enough to notice your sobbing figure, “Why are you crying?” lets out a low chuckle, pulling your drenched figure to his. The rain wasn’t strong enough to be a storm but it was heavy enough to drench every surface it laid on. 

“I ruined your birthday.” you sob in his chest, wrapping your arms around his torso, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You can’t control the weather, Y/N.” he smiles, drawing circles on your back, “We can be like the Notebook!” he chuckles.

“but that’s sad.” you scoff, lifting your head to face him.

“no, it was beautiful.” his hands gently cup your face, enveloping it in the warmth of his palms while he softly runs his thumb along your cheek, “I don’t need to go overlooking to see the best view.” 

“You’re such a sucker for sappy clichés.” you give him a weak smile, “What do you suggest we do now?” you poke your bottom lip out, staring worriedly into his eyes.

“Dance with me?” he smiles, pressing a kiss to your lips before pulling away to hold out his hand.

You giggle at his antics but wasted no time slipping your hand in his. Hyunjin intertwines your fingers with his; his other hand taking a hold of your free hand to place it on his shoulder then holding your waist. 

He sways the both of you one step at a time, following the beat of his heart. The noise of the rain though some may say is just plain noise, creates a beautiful composition. 

You let out a light-hearted laugh that made Hyunjin’s heart swell. He had only seen these in movies how the lovers would dance under the pouring rain. He thought of it as silly, but not when it’s with you. “Twirl me.” you giggle.

Hyunjin nodded, twirling you until his arms wrap around you. He pulls you close to him, head resting on your shoulder as he lets go of your hand to place his on your waist. You continue to sway to the pitter-patter of the raindrops, enjoying the unexpected comfort of the empty street and pouring rain. 

You turn around to face him, a sly smile on your face as you run your hands on his clothed chest. Your eyes that were once mirroring his, slowly travel their gaze to his soft, smooth lips. You lean forward to meet his lips, only for his to meet you halfway. 

Hyunjin grips on your waist, steadying you on your toes. The kiss sends sparks into your body, your hand snakes its way to the back of his neck to deepen the kiss, deep enough to make you dizzy in his arms. He pulls away slightly from you, “I’m so glad I married you...” he let out a breathy chuckle, panting from the heat of the kiss.

“I can’t believe you did.” you mirror his breathless state, mind spiraling as you try to recover from the kiss.

“I’d do it all over again.” he pulls you in for another dizzying kiss. 

The rain doesn’t stop pouring, but your drenched frames are no obstacle to finding each other’s lips. Hyunjin’s hold was protective, yet careful as if you’d break. He pulls away to catch his breath only to steal one last kiss from you. He lets go of you gently, watching your eyes flutter open. 

He adores the way you look post-kiss. Your cheeks flushed red and he couldn’t catch your gaze, “I- we should go back... back to the car!.” you laugh nervously, still avoiding his gaze.

Hyunjin tilts his head in amusement at your behavior, “We’ve been married for 5 years, and you still get shy.” he giggles at your adorableness.

“S-So? I’m just... taken aback that’s all.” you finally meet his gaze.

“You’re so cute.” he smiles.

“I’m sorry your birthday is a huge bust.” you pout, pulling his arm in the direction of your car, “Weatherman said no rain today.”

“I don’t mind. I got to make-out with my insanely beautiful wife in the rain.” he pulls you into an embrace, “Just kidding. That was just a bonus. We could just sit on the sidewalk and eat burgers if you wanted to and it’d still be my best birthday.” he laughs.

“You don’t mind that we’re completely drenched? and so will your car be in a few minutes?” you tilt your head.

“No, cause my amazing wife will help me dry it when we get home.” he grins, “ but really, thank you for another amazing birthday.” he continues to hold your hand as you walk.

“You’re welcome, Jinnie.” you pause for a moment, walking a little faster to catch up with him, “I love you.” you hug his arm, leaning your head against his shoulder as you continue to walk through the rain.

“I love you so much!” he playfully bonks your head with his, “Would you marry me again if I asked you?” he waits quietly for your answer.

“Over and over again, Hwang.” 

-

[mercy-burning]

Good Little Helper

Pairing: Season 5! Spencer Reid x fem!Reader Summary: Reader gets assigned to be Spencer’s personal assistant of sorts after he gets shot in the knee. Category: SMUT(18+) Content Warnings: fingering (female receiving), blowjob, praise kink, dirty talk, blink and you’ll miss it cumplay Word Count: 4.7k

MASTERLIST

NOTE: So, remember yesterday when I posted about how I wished new ideas would stop distracting me from everything I’m currently working on? Yeah. This wouldn’t leave me alone, and I couldn’t work on anything until I got it out of my head, so here! Have a fic! (It was supposed to be a blurb, but I got a little long-winded so now it’s too long to be a blurb oops 😙✌) Also, I apologize for any editing mistakes, I just wrote this out in one go, so hopefully it’s alright!

***

Being assigned to assist Dr. Reid with practically his every need after he was shot in the knee wasn't exactly how I expected to spend the past few months.

And that's, like... a huge understatement.

In fact, when Agent Hotchner came up to me in the break room and said he'd like me to do the job, I dropped my coffee and shattered a mug. I could tell he was a little impatient with me, even through his kind reassurances that it was quite all right as he helped me clean it up and waited for an answer.

In the end I'd said yes to the job, though the more I thought about it the more I wondered how much lust and naivete had clouded my judgement when I did.

Because there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to survive weeks, possibly months, as Spencer Reid's assistant. Not only because he was intimidatingly intelligent and there was almost nothing I could offer him in decent conversation, but also—and more prominently—the fact that I was pretty sure I was in love with him.

Maybe that was a stretch. I definitely had a stupid major crush on him that felt more like we were in middle school, but I could barely look at him without going warm all over. In fact, I think we had only ever made eye contact once and I averted my gaze immediately, afraid I'd give myself away. If I'd have held it any longer, I was positive I'd have burst into flames.

He'd tried talking to me once, a few months after I started working at the Bureau, and it was only to ask if I'd send some files over to their tech analyst, Penelope Garcia, but when I tried answering, I stumbled over my words and ended up only getting out a squeaked, "Uh huh," before taking the files from him and scurrying off.

I almost cried that day.

Basically every time I was in his presence, I was a total wreck. Even more so than I was on any other given day.

Being his assistant did get fairly easy pretty early on, though. I mostly just stayed out of his way while he worked, and if he need anything that he could've gotten himself if not for the injury, it was my job to get it for him. I worked on my own paperwork most of the time, and he was always busy working on geographical profiles and whatever else, we only ever really had to talk when he asked for something. And that only required a, "Sure," on my end, so I could just get up, get what he needed, and then go back to work.

Still, it didn't help that sometimes I'd get distracted.

He was very distracting.

I usually waited until I was sure he was so busy in work that I wouldn't get caught. And that's when I'd peek over my computer or hide behind a book and stare at him. I know that sounds creepier than it is, but if you had to spend almost every hour of the day with him, you'd have done the same. Even though for months he was put on rest from the field, he always showed up looking more like a college professor than an FBI agent. Which, I suppose suited him more anyway. Regardless, it was a damn fine look. His hair was decently long and extremely pretty, and when he got the cane?

I was a goner.

It was at that point, though, when I started to realize that he probably wouldn't need my help anymore. He'd been allowed back into the filed by then, and even when I went with them on cases it still felt like I was more out of place than usual. Sure, I'd picked up on some minor skills that aided in profiling and otherwise, but at the end of the day I was still only a desk clerk. Sooner or later, I knew there would be a time where Agent Hotchner would inevitably tell me that I'd done a good job and could return to my menial day job.

So, even though Dr. Reid and I had gotten into a pretty regular, non-awkward rhythm, I was being a little more squirrely than usual.

And of course, he noticed.

"Y/N, are you doing alright?" he asked, looking up from his stack of paperwork. That was another thing we'd ended up doing— late into the night after everyone had gone home, we stayed late in the conference room and quietly filled out paperwork.

I barely looked him in the eye when I answered. "O—Oh, mhm. I'm fine."

"Oh... You just seem... a little different today."

On any other day I would have freaked out on the inside like a teenager, excited that he'd noticed me at all enough to notice a difference in my behavior. But that was his job after all.

"Actually, you seem rather... sad."

I did look up at him this time, and the soft glow of the table lamp lit up his features— features that looked me over with concern. I could feel my face grow warmer with every second I looked at him, until I quickly looked back down at my paper and shook my head.

"N—No, I'm okay. Promise. Just a little tired, that's all."

Usually he would have left it at that, given we didn't ever really have longer conversations than that that didn't pertain to whatever case the BAU was working on. But he pushed further, and I swallowed.

"Are you sure? Because... You can tell me if there's something wrong. I'm a good listener..."

Did I dare tell him what was really plaguing me? That I was scared I wasn't going to be able to spend time with him every day, thus most likely giving away my crush? That is, if he hadn't already figured it out by this point... Truthfully it wouldn't have surprised me.

The thought made me go warm again, and still, I kept my head down.

"I'm sure..."

And then I did something I probably shouldn't have. I looked back up at him, just a quick glance, but under his intense gaze I crumbled, flitting my eyes back down and playing with my hands.

"Is it... because of me?"

Afraid suddenly that I'd made him feel bad, I straightened a little. "No! No, not at all I... Um... I—I guess I'm just... A little sad that I'm probably... not going to be of any help to you anymore. You know, now that you're healing up."

A small smile flashed over his face, and I inwardly melted.

"Oh... In that case I... I guess I'm sad, too."

"Really?" I asked softly, my heart jumping.

"Mhm," he answered back in earnest. His features were softer than they'd ever been, eyes wide and kind, smile inviting... "You've been a great help. And you're fun to be around."

I couldn't help but smile shyly at his confession, completely bewildered that he'd think of me as someone he'd enjoyed being around, though I'd offered just about nothing interesting to any conversation we'd had. "Y—You don't mean that..."

"I do."

"C'mon, really? I... I—mean... coming from you that's... that's too generous."

He laughed a little. "How do you mean?"

"I... Well, y—you're you... I mean, you're... smart, and nice, and cu— uh,... n—nice..." I stumbled hard on that last one, squeezing my eyes shut at the thought of almost calling him cute to his face... And then I realized I'd called him nice two times... in a row.

I hadn't even realized he'd gotten up and walked over to me until I felt his cane gently tap my leg. I jumped, looking up at him and almost crumbled again right then and there. He stood over me, tall and clearly amused, and I wanted to just curl up and hide where no one would ever find me.

I also didn't want to be craning my neck so far up to see him, so I stood up, sending my chair rolling back a foot or two. The added height was better, but he was still fiarly taller than me, and with the way were standing so close to each other?

Maybe I'd made a mistake...

"I—I'm sorry," I stammered.

Still amused, Spencer tilted his head a small amount. "What for?"

"I... I don't know, m—making this awkward?"

"It's not awkward."

"It... It's not?"

He shook his head, quiet for a few beats before he nearly whispered. "What were you going to say?"

I paused. "I... What?"

"Before... You said I was smart. And nice... And... What else?"

It sounded like he was trying to get me to confess something, and quite honestly I couldn't tell if it was for humiliation or amusement or clarification purposes. I mean, it was probably safe to assume he wouldn't go out of his way to humiliate me, but... it still made me nervous.

"I—I didn't... I..."

"Y/N... Tell me?"

I'd been cornered. Quite literally, too, as my lower back hit the edge of the table. My hands shook anxiously at my sides as I contemplated what to say. The truth? Embarrassing for me. A lie? I was no good at telling lies, and I'd still end up embarrassed, because he'd be able to tell.

So, after a very long silence in which he waited on me to answer, I blurted out, as quietly as possible, "Cute."

The word sounded juvenile coming from my mouth. Right now, standing under Dr. Reid's intense scrutiny, it didn't even feel like the right word to describe him. Not that it wasn't true... But it just wasn't an elegant enough descriptor for him.

And that alone probably proved just how different we were. How out of my league he was...

"That's what I thought you were going to say," he mused, slightly breaking me out of my self-deprecation.

I would have asked him something then, anything to keep myself from looking like even more of a fool with a childish schoolgirl crush, but all words escaped me entirely. All I could do was look up at him, slowly growing warm under the intensity of his eyes and praying he wouldn't think of me as silly.

Though, it wouldn't have mattered, because he kept talking anyway, his body taking up even more space around me as his arms came around to well and truly trap me against the table.

"You're right, you know... I'm almost completely healed, and pretty soon I think I won't need an assistant anymore."

I was scared that maybe I was wrong before, and he'd actually humiliate me now, though the look in his eyes suggested otherwise. I wasn't sure what to make of all of it. SO I just stood there, trying to breath steadily as Spencer studied my face.

"And I meant it... That makes me sad. You know why?"

I shook my head, afraid to make a sound.

His head dipped lower, close enough that I could feel his breath on my mouth as he spoke. "I probably won't get to see you every day."

"Y—you want to see me?" I couldn't help but ask.

He scanned my eyes, amusement and something else lingering there as he did. "Yes."

And then he kissed me.

It was a short distance, but it felt like we went far. And I hadn't even registered that I whimpered into his mouth until he returned it with a low groan that boiled my insides and absolutely melted me. I was helpless against him as he pressed himself further against me and used his hands to keep my back steady.

The whole time my mind was swimming with dizziness. It felt like my body was covered in butterflies from head to toe, particularly strong where his hands pressed into me and his cane rested firmly along the inside of my thigh.

I leaned forward when he pulled away, because I was afraid that he was saying goodbye. But one of his hands came up to my face and my eyes fluttered open, immediately taking notice of how messy his hair was now that I'd had my fingers in it.

I must have looked scared, because suddenly his eyes changed, and he removed his hands away from me altogether, putting distance in between us. "I—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you without asking..."

The relief that rushed through my body must have gotten to my head, because I breathed out a demand I'd never have had the courage to get out before.

"Do it again."

One second I was staring at him, admittedly afraid that he'd regretted all of it, and the next I was seeing stars as he came forward and kissed me again. His hands cradled my face as he did so, coming on to me with gentle care while still maintaining that hunger that surprised and excited me.

I hadn't realized how much I missed his touch until he'd given it back to me, my body once again melting into him and allowing him to do whatever it is that pleased him.

Apparently that was lifting my leg off the ground and making me sit on the table.

My body went along with it easily, and I was glad for it because my brain was nothing but mush, unable to process fully how he'd decided that I was worth kissing. All I really knew was that I wanted him. Anything he wanted from me, I was willing to give. And that must have come across very clearly, because when he pulled away and spoke to me, I whimpered at his words.

"Y/N... You've been such a good girl, helping me with whatever I needed these past few months..." Meanwhile his hand danced along the hem of my skirt, the tiny brushes of his skin against mine sending me into a mess of shivers.

"I think it's about time I've thanked you for all your help, don't you think?"

The implications in his tone made me whine again, and I pressed my forehead into his, our noses brushing as I answered. "Please."

I was so taken by the way he groaned as his lips connected with mine once more that I almost didn't realize that his hand was now fully up my skirt, his fingers drawing gentle lines over my panties and practically making me melt again. His hungry kisses contradicted the softness he took to my clothed cunt, a fact that warmed me to my core and made me want him more than ever.

When he slipped the fabric aside and ran the pad of his finger through me, I whined hard against his mouth, something that must have excited him— He nipped at my bottom lip and took a deep breath.

"How long have you wanted this, Princess?"

If not for the kissing and the finger slowly sliding up through my arousal, the nickname would have done me in. By now I was an utter wreck, but I somehow still managed to answer, even through a little stammering. "F—Forever."

It was the best I could come up with.

He breathed a laugh as his finger circled my clit. "That's a long time..."

"Uh huh," was all I could manage in response. My body and my brain were too focused on the things his finger was doing to my body, involuntarily rolling my hips forward for more. I needed more.

Thankfully he picked up on my urgency and reciprocated with slipping his middle finger inside me, one knuckle, then two...

I cried out as my head lurched forward, connecting our mouths once again. My hands clutched around his neck and my fingers tugged at his hair to keep myself from falling, because the slow, searing pace at which he fingered me made me wonder how I'd still been able to breathe.

He added another finger soon enough, picking up the pace and rendering me practically useless in his embrace. Meanwhile I registered the sound of his own little whines, still deeper than mine but little enough to tip me off that he was enjoying this just as much as I was, and that alone helped get me further along in pleasure.

I pulled my mouth from his reluctantly, squeezing my eyes shut as I allowed my forehead to rest against his. "D—Doctor, I'm c... I'm so close."

"His honorific falling breathlessly from my mouth seemed to do something sinister to him, because his fingers sped up and his breathing got heavier.

"Yeah? You gonna come for me, Princess?"

My stomach tightened and I nodded as best as I could, relishing in the sounds coming from below us, wet and downright filthy.

"Go ahead...Be a good girl and come for me... You deserve it..."

Each little sentence was punctuated with a slightly faster pace, each one bringing me closer and closer until I squeaked into his mouth and shook violently around his fingers, my vision going white. My legs had been open wide since he'd started teasing under my skirt, but now they threatened to clamp shut from the intensity. But I wanted nothing more than to be good for him, to make this as easy as possible, so I held out and kept them open as wide as I could stand as my orgasm rocked through me.

Spencer whispered praises into my skin as his hand slowed and his mouth trailed down to my neck. And even though it was more than nice feeling him lick and bite over my skin, I felt rather sad when he removed his fingers from me.

That sadness didn't last long though, not when he pulled back and studied me for a moment, eyes lust-blown and purely ravenous before he brought his glistening fingers up to my mouth.

I didn't even have to think. I brought my tongue out and let him slip his fingers over it, closing my mouth around them and sighing as I sucked them clean. This only seemed to excite him more, his features displaying all sorts of desperation until he couldn't take it anymore.

He kissed me again, bringing both his hands to rest at my waist. And with his hands so low I wondered if maybe he'd take to ridding himself of his own pants, but it never happened. Rather, he pulled away after minutes of more kissing, and sighed quite sadly as his upper body pressed firmly into mine.

Something else pressed firmly against me as well—right along the inside of my thigh—and I gasped, mind running wild through all the possible outcomes of the night.

But Spencer only stood there, occasionally nudging his nose against mine while his hands gently kneaded my sides.

"D—Do you want to stop?" I asked softly, afraid he'd regret what we did.

He proved me wrong. "God, no... It's... It's just that I'm still not cleared enough for any... strenuous activity on my leg, and I don't..."

I didn't want to push him, obviously, but I thought I could make the mood a little lighter. "O—Oh, well on the bright side... I could stay your assistant for a while longer."

The laugh that rumbled in his throat made me smile, though from the way he stood there, I knew he wouldn't risk it.

"Um... Raincheck?" he whispered.

On the one hand, that meant he definitely wanted to see me again, and I was more than happy with that. But also, that meant our fun for the night was done...

Yet... Maybe not...

"Sure," I answered, pecking his lips once more. Then I brought my hand to his chest and slid it down until I reached his belt, and I leaned back to look him in the eye, a boldness I never imagined coming from me in a million years.

"But I can still help you..."

I watched the desperation and disappointment in his features slowly dissolve into a newfound hunger—and an amusement—that grew my confidence tenfold.

"Oh?" Spencer mused. "How do you suppose you can help me this time?"

He wanted me to say it. So, without second guessing myself anymore, I grazed my finger over his erection. "I'm very good with my mouth, Dr. Reid."

He grabbed me by the hand then, dragging me along to the chair I'd kicked back before and sat himself down, one of his hands still gripping the cane. Matched with the desire in his eyes and the swollenness of his lips and the tousled strands of his hair, the sight was truly something to behold. It was something that only ever existed in my dreams, nd now it was real.

Not wanting to waste any time, I sunk to my knees and nestled myself in between his legs. He reached out and caressed my cheek before lifting my chin with his middle finger.

"You like being my good little helper?" he drawled.

I tried to nod, but he clicked his tongue and held my chin in place. "Words, Princess."

"Yes. I—I'd do anything you asked. Anything you want, it's yours..."

He hummed then, removing his hand from my face and moving to undo his belt swiftly with only one hand. The action, the sound, everything... it was enough to make me wet again, and I subtly ground down onto the heel of my foot as I watched him pull himself free from the confines of his pants.

I didn't have time to marvel at him before I was drawn forward like a magnet, my hands crawling up his legs and my eyes batting up at him, ready and eager to please him however he wanted.

"Eager, are we?" he mused once more, gently stroking himself with his hand.

"Yes, Doctor," I breathed, inching closer and kissing the outside of his hand.

His movement stopped then, and it didn't take longer than a second for him to decide to let me work on my own.

"Then have at it, Princess..."

I started by kissing my way up the length of him, taking my time to gauge his reactions as I did so, occasionally darting my tongue out to taste him. Once I reached the tip, I sucked on it gently, using my tongue to swirl around it until I could taste the saltiness of his precum.

And then I started taking him slowly into my mouth, watching above me as Spencer's eyes started to shut, obviously debating whether or not to lay back and enjoy this or watch me intently.

Either way, I was more than happy to keep it up, finally getting him to the back of my throat. I flexed my tongue and held him there as long as I could, promptly gagging over him and blinking tears from my eyes as he let out a loudest sound I'd heard from him yet. His head flew back and his tongue quivered along his bottom lip as he cursed my name.

The act made me proud, so I retreated for air, sucked at his tip again for a few seconds, and then repeated it, taking him down my throat again and watching through teary eyes as he visibly swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Fuck, Y/N, you're so... Such a good fucking girl..."

The praise caused my insides to burn hot, and I ground down onto my heel again, lifting my mouth to start bobbing up and down.

His eyes opened then, and he looked down at me, using his hand to brush stray hair from my face and the other to grip onto his cane for dear life. I looked up at him the whole time, making sure to convey through not only my actions but also my eyes that I loved this. I thrived off of his praise, I enjoyed the feel of his dick gliding over my tongue and hitting the back of my throat, and I longed to feel him coat the inside of my mouth with his release.

I was so entirely into him in every capacity, it wasn't even funny.

I was so glad he could tell, a smile grazing his features as his hand gently gripped some of my hair. "So eager to please, Princess... And so fucking good at delivering..."

I whined onto his dick as he held me down, rendering me immobile. The only thing I could do was look up at him and choke, and of course, I was more than happy to do it. In turn, I was met with a deep groan and a tug of the hair.

"Hold it, hold it... Atta girl..."

My cunt throbbed at his words, and my throat continued to burn, tears falling down my face at ten-speed until finally, he let up and pulled me off of him.

I coughed a little and blinked away tears as I caught my breath, Spencer's fingers combing hair from my face as he smiled proudly.

He didn't even need to say anything then. I wanted to give him more. So I leaned down again and took him in my mouth, quickly making work of his tip while my hand came up and stroked the rest of him.

"Fuck, Princess, just like that... Make me come just like that..."

Rather than just continuing, I offered him a high whine and a wide gaze, hoping to exceed expectations.

I guess it worked, because he came right then, his dick pulsing over my tongue and in my hand as his warm release shot down my throat and over my tongue. I hummed around him, fluttering my eyes closed at the taste and the feeling, probably enjoying the fact that I'd done this to him more than I should have.

It was worth it to see the look on his face, though, after he'd given me all he had and I purposely spit some of it out onto the tip of his dick so I could lick it up and give him just a little more stimulation after the fact. His mouth hung open, eyes heavy and unwilling to leave me, even as I finished and sat back to wipe the tears and saliva from my face with a satisfied smile.

Though, the longer he looked at me, the more shy I became. Funny when I'd just had his dick down my throat, but I'd never been good with people staring at me for long periods of time.

"Was that... Was that okay?" I asked, suddenly worried I hadn't done something to his standards. "I know I don't do this a lot, so I'm sorry if it wasn't that g—"

"Y/N..."

I blinked up at him, still on my knees and unwilling to move. Not that I wanted to, but I couldn't even if I had.

"That was fucking perfect... I meant it, you're... so good."

I knew he was capable of better words, but after having the life sucked out of you, I could imagine 'better words' were hard to come by. Still, I laughed a little, playing with the hem of my skirt. "Good. I'm... glad I could help."

He smiled at me, readjusting his pants and then moving to help me off the ground.

"Hey, uh... Even when you go back to your regular job after I get better, I... I hope you know you're always welcome to come visit me if we're not busy."

The words warmed me in a different way, my heart swelling as well. "You... You mean that?"

Spencer nodded, grabbing my hand and dragging his thumb over my wrist. "Of course. I mean, you're more than just a good helper, you know. You're also kind, and smart, and cute..."

I laughed at his emphasis on cute, heat warming my face. "Ha-ha..."

"I really mean it, though," he said softly, removing his hand from mind and bringing it up to lift my chin, so I'd meet his eyes. They were swimming with sincerity, the epitome of warmth and comfort and kindness— the kind that always drew me to him in the first place. "And... If you'd want to maybe ditch the paperwork one day and grab a coffee or something, maybe—"

"Yes," I interrupted without thinking. My heartbeat picked up upon seeing the look in his eyes when I agreed, a mixture of amusement and relief. "Y—Yes, I'd love to."

"Good. Then it's a date?"

"Definitely."

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[ozarkthedog]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 | Nomad!Steve Rogers

summary: You disobeyed Steve and now you must make it up to him.

warnings: SMUT. 18+ only. Nomad!Steve Rogers. Dom/Sub Relationship. Daddy Kink. “Little One” Nickname. Crying. Angst? Bondage. Degradation. Overstimulation. Forced Orgasms. Asphyxiation. Anal Play. Hitachi Belt. Spreader Bar. Aftercare.

word count: 3,057

author’s note: I started writing this last year and totally forgot about it. oops! 💙

📖 Master List

This work has Adult Content. By clicking “Keep Reading” you have agreed that you are over the age of 18 and are willing to view such content. My work is not to be copied or translated onto any other platform. 

“You didn’t do as you were told, so shut it.” Steve snarled with a harsh grip on your jaw.

He shoved himself away from you just as you began to weep. You let the tears fall freely, hating that you upset him so much.

Steve was seething as he stood in front of the fireplace, hands bracing on the mantle as his thoughts raced. Teeth clenched together in fury at the memory of finding you with your legs spread wide with fingers pumping away furiously in your cunt. He had to clear his throat twice in order for you to realize he was standing in front of you.

He was feeling savage. He wanted to teach you a lesson you’d never forget. He needed you to abide by his rules completely. You were his and he was yours. He’d never had someone he cared so much about and he intended on making this relationship work. No matter how difficult it was at times.

You stood nervously waiting for him to acknowledge you again. Fingers twisted together as you sniffed the remaining tears away. The thin white dress Steve insisted you wear at all times while home made you feel so exposed. The fabric could tear so easily just like the relationship you built with him.

But you were determined to not let that happen.

With Steve still looking away, you knelt down on the dark flooring. The wood solid beneath your trembling knees, “Daddy.” Barely a whisper but it made Steve cock his head to the side, listening.

You cleared your throat wanting to speak clearly, “Daddy. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disrespect you but sometimes I just can’t control myself.” The admission made you cast your eyes to the floor out of embarrassment. How could he love you?

Sniffling you carried on, “I will take any punishment you deem fit. I won’t talk back. I will take what you give me.” Your fingers dig into your thighs waiting with bated breath for his response.

Steve sighed watching the flames dance in the fireplace. The warmth from the flames mixed with his lust driven heat as he spied you kneeling on the floor. You looked so delicate. So easy to manipulate and dig his teeth into.

He bit his lip at the image of you writhing around in that pretty white dress he bought you. His blood began to boil.

Turning on his heel he stalks towards you, smirking as the perfect punishment comes to mind. “Little One…” Your head whips up quickly at his voice as he nears you, coming to a stop over your kneeling form.

“Follow me.” He commands and he turns towards the stairs making his way to your shared bedroom. You follow behind running slightly to keep up with his large gait. Steve holds open the bedroom door as you wait in front of him, trepidation flooding your system.

“Once you step over the threshold, I’m in control, completely. No crying, no whining, nothing will get you out of your punishment.” His stare holds yours. His authority washes over, drowning you in him.

Once again you repeat your words, “I will take what you give me, Daddy.” Your voice breaks as you call him Daddy, forever always wanting to call him that.

Steve grazes your cheek with the back of his finger lightly before letting his hand fall to your shoulder, pushing you into the bedroom. The sound of the lock clicking sparks excitement in your core as you wait at the foot of the bed for him.

Steve comes up behind you, wrapping his arms around you, “Sit on the bed and watch as I set things up.”

Steve only made you watch as he set out the implements he intended using on you when he was truly mad. You watched as he disappeared into the closet before reappearing with a set of high heels.

Your brow furrowed in wonder as he set the heels down at your feet before going back to the closet. You peered down at the extravagant pumps, red in color with an extremely high, stiletto heel.

You remembered he bought them for you a while back but they were so uncomfortable you could never wear them out. Your attention was disrupted when Steve set a leather belt of sorts with an extra loop on the bed along with an Hitachi wand.

He walked over to the “play wall” and attached 2 separate wrist restraints to the rings in the wall. Your heart rate picked up as his intentions were revealed.

He means to make you suffer.

His dark eyes lingered on yours for a moment before speaking. “I’m allowing the safe word, but only, and I mean only if you truly can’t go on.” You bit your lip as he spoke out the next commands.

“Take off your dress and put those heels on.” He nods down to the red stilettos waiting to be put to use. You stood on shaky feet, slowly unbuttoning the white fabric before slipping it off your shoulders leaving you bare to him.

Steve watched as you bent over, sliding your feet into the heels before standing tall and gathering your footing. The heels easily made you 4” taller as you stood waiting for his next command.

Already your ankles were starting to hurt. The awkward angle of the heels forced all your body weight onto your toes making them scream. Steve let you stand there a few minutes, enjoying your discomfort before continuing.

“Walk over to the wall and place your hands in the cuffs.” You sneak a glance at him before slowly making your way over. The heels made you so unsteady, you raise your arms out to the sides to balance as you walk at a snail’s speed.

“If you don’t pick up the pace, I’m going to drag you over there and I won’t be nice about it.” Steve grits with annoyance watching as you jolt mid step and almost topple over. Somehow you caught yourself and made your way to the wall as fast as you could.

You turn around facing Steve as you slipped your wrists into the restraints high above your head and waited patiently. “Good Girl.” Steve smirks walking over to you and then gathers the cuffs before pulling them tight against your wrists and locking you up.

“Now the real fun can begin. Are ready?” He turns to pick up the leather belt coming back with a grimace on his face, his tone laced with displeasure at having to repeat himself, “I asked are you ready, Little One?”

You gasp a reply once you realized he wanted you to speak, “Yes, Daddy.”

Steve huffed and shook his head, “You’re going to have to start paying attention better. This won’t be good for you if you’re already starting to slip.” He bends down helping you step through the leather belt and buckles it over your waist.

He steps back and gazes over your tied-up form. He always did enjoy tying you down and making you squirm. He palms at his growing hard on before stepping up to you, caging you against the wall with his massive body causing you to let out a breathy squeal.

He tips your head to look up at him. “You want to make this up to me? Then you’re going to work for it. I’m going to make you wish you never disobeyed me, Little One.” He lets his threat hang in the air as he walks back to the bed retrieving the Hitachi.

He attaches it to the leather belt and secures it against your already slick pussy. He scoffs, “Being in this predicament turns you on? God, what a slut.”

Your cheek heat with embarrassment as he nestles the wand head flush against your throbbing mound. Grunting aloud when he forces it over your clit harshly.

As he works on making it stay in place he speaks, “You’re allowed to scream, thrash about, cry, whatever. But you’re not allowed to ask me to take you out of these binds. You’re staying like this until I say otherwise.” You nod your head in compliance even though you were scared of the outcome. Granted, you knew he would listen if you safe worded but this wasn’t about that.

Steve needed to know he could trust you, he needed to know you’d listen to his every word and abide by it. So, you swallowed down your fear and raised your head, ready for whatever he chose to do to you. “Yes, Daddy.”

Steve smoothed his hands over your hips as he stood to his full height. The way your breasts jutted out from your arms being raised over your head called out to be fondled but Steve kept his lust hidden. This wasn’t about him right now.

He leaned down and turned the wand on, clicking it until it sped up to the 3rd highest setting. Your body instantly spasmed. The strong vibrations were unyielding and forced you to feel the pleasure.

Instinctively, your legs closed together trying to keep the powerful vibrations at bay. The wand swayed in the air but never left your core. The movement causes you to see stars as it jostles against your folds.

“What do you think you’re doing? Trying to thwart your punishment already?” His tone was deadly. “Don’t worry, I have the perfect thing.”

Steve wanders away leaving you in a withering mess as you teeter in the heels. Your breathing quickens as you feel your orgasm coming on quickly. You pull at the wrist restraints frantically, “Daddy! Please! I’m close!” You call out desperately for him, not sure if he’s allowing you to cum or not.

Steve shouts his reply from deep inside the closet, “Go ahead and cum, Little One!”

He murmurs to himself as he spies what he came looking for, “It’ll the first of many.”

You cum with a wail as the vibe makes you convulse against the bondage wall. Your pussy twitches around nothing as your thighs shake trying to dislodged the horrid wand from your sensitive core.

“Here you go.” Steve says with amusement as he kneels down wrapping a cuff around your left ankle.

You look down in shock as Steve lines up the other cuff to your right ankle before strapping it to the spreader bar. “Now there’s no possible way for you to ease your punishment.” The biggest smirk is planted on his face as another wave of forced arousal courses through you sending you up another blissful peak.

“Awe, is my little Slut already feeling sensitive? That was only one orgasm. If you think I’m letting you out after 3, you’re in for a world of hurt.” His voice was cold sending you careening towards another orgasm.

Your eyes slammed shut as the tingling sensation lit up your nerves and sent you crashing down with another hard orgasm.

You tried catching your breath as the vibe forces more pleasure from you. The restraints hold your arms up so well you couldn’t even move them around all they could do was quake against the wall.

Heavy, pained mewls fill the room as you pant wildly taking every vibration as best as you can.

“Look at you. You love this.” He laughs at your pitiful attempts of trying to not cum. He palms at your tense face, pinched with determination. “Oh, it must hurt. The over stimulation must be torture.”

Distress paints your features as he degrades you further, “But that little pussy of yours got you in trouble. Such a greedy, little hole.” He enunciates the curse word with a pop to your cheek before taking your jaw back in his grip.

You gasp at the painful sensation heating the side of your face as it mingles with your swollen, sensitive mound. “Daddy! I-” Your orgasm starts up again fueled by the assaults on your body.

His fingers dig into the sides of your cheeks as you topple off the cliff with a shout. His hand keeps your face still, pushing back on the wall behind you.

“That was 3, Little One. I want to tear 7 out of that cunt tonight.” His breath hot on your neck as he forces his body over you.

Your body shakes at his command. A ragged sigh escapes you feeling worn out already from the onslaught of torture.

Steve cants his hips up and into your body, pushing the Hitachi harder against your mound. “No! Oh! Da- ” You shake your head as you feel another orgasm slithering its way through your system.

Teeth gnaw at your neck, biting up and down the crook of the soft skin. His muffled moans fill your ears as he thrusts his growing hardon into the toy, in return causing you to tumble down another peak.

The forced orgasm makes your body lock up, tight and ridged as your knees start to buckle and you sag in the restraints. Steve feels you slide down, hanging by your wrists letting the pain and torturous pleasure take over.

“Hey, now. None of that.” He grasps the hair at the base of your neck and pulls until your steady on 2 feet. “Don’t give up on me yet. You still have 3 more to go.”

You stare at him with hazy eyes. Your mind foggy and filled with nothing but determination even though your body wants to give up.

Steve swipes his thumb over your lips before he leans in for a soft kiss. The feeling of his lips as they slide over yours sends a fresh heightened wave of bliss up your spine. You moan lewdly into his mouth as he laps at your tongue.

He enjoys watching your tired body respond to the new sensations. He pulls away as you whine from the loss. “Hush.” He says, sternly with a harsh smack to your breasts causing you to spasm and scream in your bonds as another orgasm is ripped from you.

Your muscle fibers feel aflame as you come down from your 5th orgasm that night. Your head whips from side to side, unconsciously wanting to put an end to this punishment. You’re a quivering mess, tugging at your binds out of necessity.

“Stop it. You can do this. Show me you can do as I say.” Steve says with a firm voice, encouraging you. “Make it worth all the pain.”

You sniffle and close your eyes as Steve blots at some fallen tears rolling down your cheek. You open your eyes just as his lips close around his salty digits with a husky, satisfied groan.

Gnawing at your bottom lip your try to distract yourself from the overwhelming pain burning through your core and dragging you over hot coals. Steve’s hands wrap around your body, forming over the fleshy globes of your ass and grinds his straining girth against your heated body.

“If only you were good, it would’ve been my cock dragging all these orgasms from you.” His teeth clash onto your clavicle, drawing blood to the surface with a sneer, “Instead, I’m just going to have rut against you as your cunt drools all over the floor.”

His fingers slide their way between your cheeks, rubbing tenderly over your puckered rim causing your eyes to roll back, hard. Breath hitches in your throat as you propel steadily towards another raw crest.

“Maybe I should take pity on you and open this hole up. You did always cum so easily with my fingers up your ass.” He gloats, tapping the tight right of muscle in quick succession eliciting a frantic wail from your lips as you tip over the tumultuous edge.

Your head lolled forward resting against his powerful chest as exhaustion takes over. Your will power was dying and you let the tears flow. “Daddy, I can’t.”

Steve shook his head, “Not when we made it this far. You’re not giving up.”  

A calloused hand locks tightly around your neck cutting off your carotid artery. In an instant your mind spins, brain desperate for blood flow as your vision becomes blurred.

You tug uselessly at your bindings. Body shaking, ready to implode and cave in on yourself. Your ankles give way and the heels fall from your feet making Steve crush you harder into the wall.

His lips brush against your swollen ones, his beard tickling your dewy skin. “So close, you’re so close. Give me what I want. Show me you how sorry you are.”

Darkness sweeps in as your mouth opens and closes like a fish desperate for water. Your body feels light as a feather, no longer could you feel the vibrations rustling your sopping core and your sore muscles ceased their tension as you give into the murky depths.

 A warm hand cups your cheek as a deep, soothing voice tempts you back from the sleepy haze. “Wake up, Little One.”

Your eyes flutter open and you find yourself in the comfort of Steve’s arms. A wet washcloth runs between your legs making you wince. Even the softest fibers felt like sandpaper as he cleans your swollen folds. “I’m sorry but just a little more and I’ll be done.”

You curl into his chest, unsure how to feel. Had you made him happy? You couldn’t remember orgasming the final time. The last image you had was Steve wrapping his hand around your throat.

You timidly swallow, feeling slight bruises pepper your jugular. Your throat raw from crying and screaming for the last hour. Steve set the rag down with a sigh and dropped his chin to look at you.

“Did I do good?” You bottom lip trembling with hope.

Steve runs a hand over tear-stained cheek and breathes out a soft chuckle, “You did. So good you passed out as you came all over me.” Steve tilts his head towards the pile of clothes currently stained with your arousal. “Made such a mess and showed me how good you are.”

Soft lips kiss your hairline and ease the stress you’d been holding ever since he found you touching yourself without his permission.

“I’m proud of you for being so strong. You made Daddy very happy.”  

Your eyes sleepily shut and you melt into the safety of his hold knowing everything would be ok.

[mossygardenstone]

Hi !

How are you doing ? ^^

Can I request something angsty but maybe (if possible) with an happy ending for whoever you want ?

My idea was that their crush has hanahaki (because they think they don't love them)

I'm sorry, I don't really know how to explain the idea clearly ^^"

I hope you will have a nice day ! :3

I can totally do that for you! :3 I'll write for Red because that's my boy =w= But if you want someone else, feel free to request again! Hope I did it right! ;w;/ I may have gone overboard ;; Reader x Redd - with Hanahaki TW: Medical stuff, illness things, hospitals, angst, no proof reading oops, and swearing You plucked away a last petal from your shoulder, as you returned your gaze to the mirror, looking yourself over for a moment. Of all the people for you to fall for, it had to be him. When the monsters started to come from the underground, you never thought you'd be friends with them, let alone had fallen so head over heels for one of them. But something about this bone boy really got to you. Despite the rough and tough personality he put up, you could see who he was truly. But that's why you knew they wouldn't be interested in you. How could a monster be in love with a human? You looked your face over for a moment more in the mirror, your hands gripping the sink tightly. Once you felt that you had gathered yourself enough to be around others, you sighed and pushed off the sink, giving the mirror a last glance on your way out the bathroom door. Once you entered the living room, a pair of sockets shifted to look at you, as Red's constant smile seemed to grow more at your sight. "Was starting to worry ya fell in the toilet." He teased, his sockets shifting back to the video game he was play, that you had brought over to play with him. You simply forced a smile, that you wore well to block out any prying questions about how you had been, despite the fact your features has slowly worsen over time. Your body finally giving way to display how sickly you had been feeling as of late. You gave the other a soft chuckle and shifted to sit back in your spot next to him in the floor. "Where's your brother?" You asked, peeking over your shoulder, where the taller skeleton monster had been when you left. But it simply earned a shrug from Red, not even looking up from his game. "Didn't ask, he just said he had ta go." He gave a chuckle and shifted a socket to you again. "You know how he gets." You returned a chuckle, the smile you forced felt as constant as the skeletons smile. But you think your cheek muscles were making you have less of an advantage in that department. Your face hurt from smiling. Your body hurt from breath. And being around him just made it worse, you could feel your body react the second you're around him. It felt like you were dying slowly next to him, but that was okay. At least it would be next to him. Lost in your thought, your vision blurred, not even hearing Red as he starts to talk about the game. Your frame wobbled softly in it's spot as the room danced around you, just to swirl into a never ending blackness. You felt your lungs failing yourself, but now you could hear him, because he was much closer now. Your eyes weakly trailed up, to see his bone fingers gripping your shoulder tightly, but you couldn't feel his touch. Your eyes continued up to meet the sockets of the other, his yelling seemed muffled by the fog in your head, he look frustrated, his sockets narrowed at you, his eyelights reduced to pin pricks. But that expression changed once your eyes finally met his, you could see his frustration leave like a flash, the second he locked eyes with your dull ones. He was sweating now, his eyelights gone, leaving his deep sockets staring blankly at you. His worry was quickly amped as your eyes finally fluttered shut and you toppled over in the floor beside him. He gasped now, scrambling to your side and stroking a boney hand across your face, calling out your name, but getting no answer. You awake later, to the sounds of beeps, and the uncomfortable feeling of a cold, sterile room closing in around you. You blink groggily as you try to sit up, but your body refused to let you do more than softly shift around. But you soon stopped your movement, hearing a familiar voice in the next room. It was Alphys, and another more loud voice you also recognized as Sans. You stopped shifting so

you could listen to them in the other room, they seemed upset. But you thought you'd pass out again when you heard Alphys mention a word far too familiar for you. Hanahaki Disease. You knew you had it, you knew that's what was happening to you, it's an easy search. But no one else did, not them, not your friends, not a soul but you knew this. You could feel tears prick your eyes, as you heard Alphys explain it to Sans, your body shaking hoping he wouldn't catch on. But another voice rang out, this time from the room you were in. It was Papyrus, you hadn't even noticed he had been sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, arms folded over his uniform. "Alphys, Sans, they're awake." He barked almost as a command, and they funneled into the room as though it was one, locking eyes with you. Alphys went to spoke, but before she could even attempt to speak, Red's hulking frame was stomping toward you. "Why didn't ya tell me? D... Did ya not know? That's it right?" His tone sounded pleading, like he wanted more than anything for you to not known you were dying, than to not have told him, to hide something like this. You shifted your teary eyes away from him, you knew the longer you stared at him, the more they would fall. "I knew." You finally spoke after a while, making him stare in stunned silence, before his sockets screwed up in anger again. "Why the hell didn't ya tell us? Or at least me?" He sputtered out, his hands waving as he spoke. But when you didn't answer he simply let out a grumble and moved closer to your bed side. "Then tell me at least..." He started, causing you to look at him out of the side of your eye. He hung his head for a moment, thinking over everything he had learned today, before raising his head with a snap "Who the fuck is it then? Who are ya so in love with that it's doing this to ya?" He was shaking at this point, and he didn't know if it was anger, or fear. "And why the hell don't they love ya back?" His voice cracked at those words, and hearing it sent you over the edge as well, tears rolling down your face now, your body trembling to keep from letting out shaky sobs. "Because.." You started for a moment, bringing your hand up to wipe your eyes, the IV in your arm feeling weird as it moved. "I haven't told them." This caused Red to stare blankly, and finally shut up for a moment. Giving Alphys the perfect moment to finally speak. "But Y/N, you will die if you don't tell them soon. Or get the surgery." You winced and tried to choke back another sob. "I don't want the surgery. I know what comes with it... I rather be like this than lose my feelings for them." You said blankly, Alphys looking from you to Sans again. Who was now angered again, hands balled into a fist. "Then tell them! I'm sure they're going to love ya back. They have'ta!" he spat, shaking his skull. You couldn't reply at first, you just softly sobbed to yourself, before taking a deep breath and collecting yourself. "It wont matter if I tell them. They wont feel the same." You weak mutters just fueling his anger more, as he finally had enough, he closed the rest of the space between you both, gripping the bed rails. Alphys reached out to stop him, but simply let him get it out, noticing Papyrus keeping a close eye on him. "Why the hell wouldn't they? Ya great! I should know, I spend almost every day with you!" Alphys blinked and looked at him for a moment. "Sans.. You've been around them a lot lately right?" Sans snapped his head to look at her. "It's what I just said, innit?" Alphys shifted her gaze to you again. "When you met them.... Did they look this sick?" You winced, you knew she had figured it out. Red was staring at you now, you could feel it, his sockets scanned you, before turning back to Alphys. "N...No, I don't think they did.. They had a lot more colla to them." Alphis nodded and looked to again, Red's gaze trailing back to you, his boney fingers still wrapped around the bars of your bed. "Is it a monster? Is that why ya don't think they will like ya? Y/N, monsters fall for humans all the time, you

really-" Sans was cut off by the bellowing of his older brother, causing all three of them to jump and instantly give him their attention. "Sans, you absolute moron." Sans gulped nervously, loosing his grip on the bed, as his brother continued. "It's you they like, how can you be so dense? I saw this ages ago" His eyelights rolled in his skull, as though he had just made another pun. Sans just stared at him, jaw slack, his large frame rumbled from the laughter he let out. "Come on Boss, it's a good joke, but this is serious." He shifted his skull back to look at you. "There's no way someone like them-" He stopped, your eyes were wide, and you face was flushed, and he realized just how pale you've gotten from this sickness. He blinked softly for a moment before letting out a panicked grunt, leaning over the bars, a foot from your face. "Yer fucking joking? T..." His skull flushed a bright cherry candy red, his eyelight finally appearing again for the first time since you passed out, they seemed to vibrate softly, flickering as they scanned you. You couldn't stand to look at him anymore, you felt destroyed, you were going to get rejected in front of everyone and slowly rot away. But instead you were surprised when you felt him clambering over the rails, into the bed with you, spooking both you and Alphys "S.Sans! Careful with them-" She blubbered as he managed to nestle his large frame, mostly sitting on the railing. His grin was larger than you've ever seen, his eyelights looked almost like they had turned heart shaped, and he was giggling like a dork. You scanned him, as you scooted in your bed to make space for the large skeleton monster. "Yer as big of a moron as me I guess, because I liked ya for a while too." He finally, said with another giggle. Your eyes went wide, and you suddenly felt dizzy, actually too dizzy, the room spun as you put a hand to your forehead, leaning back with a huff. Sans jumped again, trying to back away to give you space. "Fuck! Sorry uh.." Sans muttered, and Alphys simply snickered and walked over to the free side of the bed that didn't have a bone boy perched on it. Softly fanning you with her clipboard. "It's okay Sans, it's the blood flow coming back to them. They shouldn't be showing anymore signs of the illness in the next 24 hours." Sans beamed at you, watching the color come back to your face slowly. "Guess I'm ya new medication hun. Take as needed." He snicked and slumped into the bed beside you, pulling you to his lap. You sunk into his large frame like a bean bag. You had no idea how it happened, but you were fine with the out come. "Dork.." You muttered as you snuggled into his chest.

[frombeyondtheblackhole]

Hermit DSMP Swap AU: Part 9

Foolish flinched. Qackity’s shouting stopped abruptly. It was warmer (Las Nevadas was surprisingly cold). Foolish slowly opened his eyes. An open grave stood at his feet. His heart jumped into his throat and he stumbled backwards, falling on his back. He stared dumbfounded as a bee flew out from the grave and landed on his knee for a moment before flying away. Quackity was nowhere to be seen. 

His breathing slowed and he looked around. He was in a graveyard next to a church. Was he dead? Was this limbo? What had happened? He wasn’t supposed to die… but he had died before. But if he had died just now he still should have had his third life, he should have respawned… maybe he had. Maybe he was still alive… That made more sense. No, wait, he still had all of his stuff, if he had died his inventory should have been empty… Foolish held his head in his hands and stared at the ground.

“You ok there, friend?” 

Foolish’s head snapped up. A man with neon green hair stood on the other side of the stone wall surrounding the graveyard. Foolish quickly picked himself up and brushed himself off. “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine… um- this may seem like an odd question, but, am I dead?”

The man laughed, “I don’t know, are you? I mean, I assume you're not dead, cause I’m not dead, unless you’re un-dead, if you know what I mean.” 

Foolish let out a deep breath he didn’t know he had been holding. “Alright, I’m alive, i'm not dead,” He muttered, staring at the sky.

“You sure you’re fine?” The man asked again, putting air quotes around the ‘fine’. “Cause, you don’t seem fine…” 

Foolish shook his head “No, really, don’t worry about me, I was just a bit disoriented, that’s all.”

The man pursed his lips and raised a brow “You asked me if you were dead… not if you had died. Which means you knew there was a chance you might get stuck in a respawn glitch. Have you been messing with server magic?” 

“You make that sound like a bad thing.” Foolish scowled and crossed his arms looking down at the man. He wasn’t in his twenty-three foot form but even in this form he stood almost a foot taller than the other man.  

The man shook his head “It’s not necessarily a bad thing, just dangerous. I mean, I would be a bit of a hypocrite if I condemned people for messing with server magic.”

Foolish didn’t look impressed. “It’s only dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.” 

“I mean, I guess.” The man said rubbing the back of his neck as he contemplated Foolish’s words “But no one is stupid enough to mess around long enough to get the practice...” He trailed off as he looked up to see Foolish looking at him with an incredulous look, “Oh.” 

Foolish finally relented and his expression softened, “Maybe you're right, I mean, my name is Foolish after all,”

The man chuckled, “Maybe we're both a bit crazy. I’m Joe, Joe Hills. Nice to meet you,” He said, climbing over the low stone wall and reaching out his hand. Foolish smiled and shook it. Joe had a firm grip.

“So you said you have experience with server magic, what can you do?” Foolish asked as the two of them walked out of the graveyard and over to the church. This church was much nicer than church prime. As a builder Foolish could appreciate the detail put into the architecture.   

Joe shrugged as he sat down on the steps and leaned back on his elbows looking up at the sky, “I can see better in the dark If I want to. Honestly, I don’t really mess with it much anymore.” 

“Why not?” Foolish asked, leaning against the wall. 

Joe shrugged but Foolish noticed his grip tighten into a ball. “It wasn’t worth it. A friend of mine got hurt and almost didn’t respawn. Actually, she should be around here somewhere, I wonder where she went?” 

---

Cleo stood on a concrete road getting yelled at by an angry man with a scar through his left eye and a blue beanie.

 “Who the fuck are you? What the fuck did you do to Foolish? Where is Foolish.” 

“Aaa, Foolish is a Zombie!” another man wearing glasses and green suspenders yelled. 

Cleo staggered backwards and summoned a sword from her inventory, “Who am I, what about who are you?”   

“You better tell me, right fucking now, what the hell you did to Foolish or I’ll-”

“You’ll do what? Don’t try me, I’ll put this sword through your skull I will,” Cleo bluffed. 

The man with the scar summoned an axe.  “Charlie, go get Purpled, tell him we have an intruder in Las Nevadas.” 

The man in green, presumably Charlie, looked at him perplexed “But, Quackity from Las Nevadas, why are we attacking Zombie Foolish?” 

“Damn it Charlie, Just get Purpl-” 

Cleo didn’t let him finish. A yell ripped from her lungs as she charged him, sword swinging. Quackity startled and blocked with the shaft of his axe. He shoved her off and she staggered back. Cleo dug her heels in swinging the sword like a club. There was a burst of pain, or more like cold (Pain felt different ever since the undeath) as his axe cut into her shoulder. But he was bleeding too. His axe returned to his inventory as he clutched his arm and staggered back. Cleo gripped her sword tighter, breathing hard, her eyes locked on him. 

She felt the impact and another burst of cold as an arrow hit her in the chest. Her head snapped up, there was a kid in purple firing arrows from a crossbow as he ran towards them. He was wearing full netheriet.

Cleo turned and ran.

“Stop her, she fucking did something to Foolish!” Quackity shouted. She didn’t stop running as arrows landed about her feet. Down the road through a tunnel and past a stone fortress. Cleo scrambled off the road, over a hill. She could hear them still behind her. Dodging through the hills she was able to shake them by looping back around behind them as they continued on. 

Once they were gone she slowed down. She touched a hand to her shoulder. It was throbbing with a dull ache and it felt cold, a deep cold like ice in her veins. She looked down. The arrow was still in her chest. She needed to do something about that. 

She was back at the fortress. Cleo slid down the hill, climbing behind the wall and slumped against the stone. She gritted her teeth and pulled the arrow from her chest with a grunt, dropping it in the grass. A golden apple appeared in her hand and she took a bite, the juice tingling in her mouth as the regen and absorption began to take effect. 

The throbbing eased a little and the wounds began to close. She looked up and froze. An enderman stared back at her with mismatched eyes. No wait, not an enderman, at least not quite. Half of his face was white. 

“Hey Tubbo, I think I found out what Quackity was shouting about.” The half-enderman kid called over his shoulder. 

Cleo staggered to her feet, her sword out. “I won't hesitate to-” 

The half-enderman backed up and raised his empty hands “Oh no, we're not with Quackity,” He explained. 

Cleo scowled but lowered her sword. “Well isn’t that lovely, someone who doesn’t want to stab me.”  

He looked alarmed, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that- I mean, I definitely don’t want to do that.” Now that she got a better look at him he looked kind of young, he was tall but in the lanky teenager kind of way. He looked to be 18 or 19, maybe 17. His suit probably made him look older.  

“Oh hey, so what was Big Q so mad about?” Another kid said as he came around the building. He stopped short when he saw Cleo. “Oh…” He was much shorter than the ender-kid. Two horns curled up out of his brown hair and almost every inch of exposed skin was covered in burn scars. Cleo let her sword return to her inventory. 

“Big man, why is there a funny looking zombie in our base?” the goat kid said 

Cleo bristled, “I’m still a person, thank you.”

The goat kid looked back at Cleo  “Ooooh- oops.”

“Now look what you’ve done, you’ve gone and insulted her.”

“I didn’t meeean to, how was I supposed to know?” The goat kid wined. 

The two bickered like a married couple. Cleo coughed “Um- would either of you two be able to explain what is going on,”

“Haven’t got a fucking clue,” The goat kid chirped, a little to cheerfully. 

Cleo pursed her lips, “Well, could you at least tell me where I am?” 

“Um… The road between Las Nevadas and Spawn. Or do you mean here-here. This is our cookie shop.”  The ender-kid explained.

Cleo blinked.

“I think she means the server big man,” The goat kid said, “This is the Dream SMP.”

Cleo blinked again. So not Hermitcraft. Shit. 

---

The goat kid introduced himself as Tubbo and the ender-kid as Ranboo. Cleo explained what had happened, which made Tubbo laugh. It turned out that the cookie outpost and Las Nevadas were in conflict and Tubbo liked the idea of doing something that would, in his words “Piss off Big Q.” 

Cleo tried to return to Hermitcraft but was met with an error message. Tubbo and Ranboo offered to let her stay in Snowchester till she figured things out. They had no idea how she got there but they didn’t seem too concerned about it.

Snowchester was surprisingly far away from what the kids were calling a cookie shop. To Cleo it looked suspiciously like a military outpost but who was she to judge? 

Snowchester was a quaint little walled in town, overlooked by a massive mansion worthy of any Hermitcraft base. There was a tower, docs, and a little wheat field mixed in with little log and stone houses.  The air was crisp and cold, light snow fell around them landing on her hair and bare arms. Untouched snow coated the steps to most of the houses and closely shuttered windows looked back at her. The ocean lapped against the shore and the sound of a boat bumping against the pier carried up through the town. A single seagull landed on a stone wall. It looked at Cleo and cawed.  

Ranboo and Tubbo lead Cleo around a strangely industrial building on a hill in the middle of the town with “Danger, keep out” signs on the doors. 

“So what’s in there,” Cleo asked, nodding towards the industrial building. 

Ranboo raised his brows and looked at Tubbo. Tubbo pursed his lips “Oh nothing much, that’s just where we do equipment testing. You’re not allowed in there,” he added. There was finality to his tone. Cleo wondered what he was hiding and if it was worth snooping around to find out, but there was a dark conviction in the way that the kid with too many scars said it. The way the ender-kid hovered at his side anxiously watching everything. Maybe she should be careful not to make more enemies.  

They lead her to a little house behind the industrial building. “This used to be Foolish’s but he moved out so you can stay here for now,” Tubbo explained opening the door and letting them inside. 

“Foolish… the guy who Quackity thinks I kidnaped? You’re giving me his house?” Cleo scoffed looking around. A square table and chairs stood off to one side, a counter with a furnace and cabinets lined the back wall and a cactus in a pot sat by the front door.    

“Well, it’s not really his house anymore, he hasn’t lived here for months,” Tubbo shrugged. 

Cleo sighed, “So long as he won’t mind. Goodness this whole situation is a mess.” 

Ranboo gave her a sympathetic smile.  

“Welp,” Tubbo clapped his hands. “We’ll let you get settled in. Just don’t go snooping around in people’s homes, we are pretty private people here.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Cleo said absently, still looking around the room.

Tubbo and Ranboo left, closing the door behind them. 

There was a silence and then Cleo jumped at the sound of someone drinking milk. She spun around summoning her sword, freezing as the invisibility melted away to reveal Etho standing in the corner. 

“Finally, I thought they were never going to leave,” Etho muttered.

“Etho! What are you doing here?” Cleo bristled. 

Etho looked sheepishly off to the side as he rubbed the back of his head. “We’ll, I might have been following you. If you mean here on this server, we don’t really know. Oh yeah, TFC’s here too. We’ve been stuck on this server for about two weeks now. Least, I’ve been, TFC showed up about a week ago.”

“So wait, You're telling me you have been stuck on this server for two weeks?”

Etho nodded “Yup. Come on let's get out of here before they come back. We can talk at my secret base.” 

Cleo pulled away “Wait, wait. Why? Why were you sneaking around? Why are we avoiding those kids? I would like a good reason before I turn down their hospitality.”

“This server isn’t what it seems to be. It’s seriously glitched out. Haven’t you noticed how many scars everyone has here, how many hybrids there are.” 

Now that Cleo thought about it, even the ender-kid, Ranboo, had scars that looked like tears running down his face. Scars only happened when there was a glitch during respawn so they were pretty rare, the fact that three of the five people she had seen so far had obvious scars was concerning, especially with how bad the scars on that Tubbo kid were. On top of that, Quackity looked like he might be some kind of bird hybrid, with small golden wings, while Tubbo was a goat and Cleo had no idea what Ranboo really was. Hybrids were the result of pretty strong server glitches, and from what Etho was saying those guys weren’t the only ones. 

“So the server is glitchy, that doesn't make them bad people,”  

“There are places on this server that have been blown up all the way down to bedrock. Those kids who seemed so nice, they have nukes in that building right outside. There is a prison that everyone here is terrified of, seemingly for good reason. The Warden that guards it almost killed me while chasing me and TFC away, and said something about hunting us down and killing us till we were completely dead.”  

Cleo blanched “Completely dead… like, they have a way of reliably preventing respawning here.” She remembered what it felt like being stuck in the void unable to respawn. For Joe it had only been a couple of minutes, for her it had felt like hours.

“I don’t know,” Etho shrugged. “I just think it would be best if we all kept a low profile till we can find a way out of here.” 

“I… I trust you, Etho. But I don’t want to leave without letting those kids know that I won’t be staying here. They seem like nice kids, I’d rather not just disappear on them.” 

Etho hesitated, then nodded “Alright, Just be careful, and take this,” He said handing her two invis pots. “You can find me in the sewers under their shopping district, there is a community center in the middle of a lake, the entrance to the tunnels is underneath it.”

Cleo took the potions and smiled reassuringly, “Don’t worry, I got this. I’ll be fiiine.”

“Ok,” Etho nodded and pulled his facemask down. He drank an invis potion before leaving the building.

Cleo sighed. Perma-death hum, would that even work on her? Seeing as she already kinda died before. She didn’t want to have to find out.

[rekrappeter]

looking at the moon, but seeing you

pairing: draco malfoy x fem!reader

summary: you find yourself drawn to draco malfoy, an october evening welcoming something you never expected

warnings: mention of feeling numb, swearing, typos

notes: please let me know what you think of this, feedback would be amazing thank you - if there’s an inaccuracy of the wizarding world in this, please don’t let me know, I’m not interested <333

I had originally started writing this for @bricksatanakinswindow​ ‘s wc and had a prompt in mind, but then I went on a tangent and finished it forgetting to use the prompt oops but anyways, I hope y’all enjoy it either way <3

It was your favorite time of the year. Orange and brown leaves scattered the grass, the sound of them crunching when students trampled over them to get to class, and it was always dark before the final class ended. The ghosts seemed to be more present during mealtimes and the flickering of the crimson fires above the four tables created shadows around the dining hall. There was an eerie, yet wholesome atmosphere that Hogwarts welcomed during the month of October. But the thing you loved most about October in Hogwarts was the Annual Halloween Feast. 

You were staring wide-eyed at the mounts of food that appeared in front of you, your mouth watering at the sight of the freshly trimmed turkey and the pumpkin pies that were making your stomach grumble with hunger. It took everything in your power to not reach out for your first servings, knowing that everyone was waiting for Professor Dumbledore to finish up his annual Halloween speech. The moment he gave you permission to start eating, your hands reached out for the first bowl of vegetables closest to you. 

“Calm down there,” Ron chuckled, his red hair brushing across his forehead, “It won’t disappear right away.” 

“You’re one to talk,” you snapped back, a playful smirk tugging on your lips as you eyed his plate already half-filled with chicken wings and mash potatoes. 

Ron scoffed, his cheeks turning red, “Quidditch practice makes me hungry.” You rolled your eyes as the boy rambled on, trying to plead his case but as you looked over his shoulder towards the Slytherin table, his voice was just a mere whisper amongst the eyes staring back at you. Cold, dull blue eyes were on your figure from across the room, his porcelain face rested in the palm of his hands and his pink lips were a spark contrast from his snow-white hair. 

“Is Draco Malfoy staring at me?” you whispered softly to Hermione, ignoring the confused glances from the red head boy that thought he was having a conversation with you. Hermione peaked over Ron’s shoulder strategically, pretending to scratch her nose in the process. The creasing of her fluffy brows confirmed your suspicions and you both stare at Draco, it wasn’t until the taller boy beside him, Blaise, nudged his shoulder with his that Draco was pulled out of what seemed to be a daydream. His eyes widened for a second, his tongue darting from his mouth to wet his lips as he raised a brow in your direction. 

‘What?’ you mouthed to him, and he shot you an annoyed, almost hateful, glare your way before tearing his gaze from you. A scoff passed your lips, it was so typical of Draco to make it seem like it was your fault that he was staring at you. “That was weird,” you murmured, shrugging your shoulders and the grumble of your stomach remembered that you had forgot to feed it all day. 

When the Feast had come to an end, the magically thundering and lightening lit up the Great Hall causing students to erupt into discussions of thrill and excitement. The tables disappeared from underneath you, as the room transforming into it’s annual Halloween afterparty. Pumpkins that Hagrid grew himself were huddled in the corners, big enough to fit three full adult males in them, and orange and black streamers were dangling from the ceiling. The table that the teachers occupied was gone and replaced with a stage, instruments scattered around on top and you could spot a skeleton tuning a guitar. 

A grin was unfaltering on your face, the excitement bubbling inside you. You glanced at Hermione, seeing her face in complete awe at the sight in front of her and you hated the fact that your eyes found themselves travelling across the room to the platinum blonde. Despite his foul demeanor throughout the entirety of the feast, an amused smile was rested on his lips as he watched the band of skeletons take the stage. As the music started, people began shuffling onto the makeshift dancefloor, still draped in their house robes. Your stare constantly kept finding it’s way to Draco, and no matter how much you scolded yourself, you couldn’t get him out of your mind. 

This started towards the end of last year, these growing unwanted feelings that you held for the Slytherin Prince. The summer break couldn’t have come quick enough, Hogwarts was a big place but you kept finding yourself bumping into him or walking in the same empty corridors as he did. Throughout the summer, you hadn’t thought about him once - you labeled it as a stupid crush, the inevitability of falling for the ‘bad boy’ of your year. Of course, he had ladies falling all over him, but you’d never seen him with anyone other than Pansy Parkinson and even at that, you weren’t sure if they were exclusive. You tried not to dwell on it much, the thought of the two doing things together in the dungeons brought a wave of nausea each time. You thought the feelings that developed were gone, but the moment he walked onto the platform at Kings Cross, time stopped and it was just him there amongst the bustle of people bidding goodbye to their families. You scolded yourself the whole train ride, feeling yourself falling into daydreams and fantasies of what could be. But you were a Gryffindor, and he was a Slytherin. It wouldn’t work. 

“You’re staring this time,” Hermione smirked, an amused glint in her eyes. She twirled you around so that your back was to Draco, and you silently thanked her. You had confided in Hermione about your little crush on Draco, hoping she’d be able to smack some sense into you and help you remember all the cruel things he’s said to you in the past but the thing was… you remembered all those things, you repeated them in your head but it still wasn’t enough to stop you from wondering where he was and letting your eyes linger after him. 

The night was drawing to an end, a night filled with endless laughter and dancing. You were on your way to the common room, arm linked with Harry as he swayed with you, drunk on happiness. Passing the courtyards, somehow your eyes spied a figure making it’s way to the black lake, and if it wasn’t for the hair that gleamed under the moonlight, you wouldn’t have given it a second thought. But you detangled yourself from Harry, him giving you a puzzled look. “I-I think I forgot my bookbag by the lake earlier.” 

“Do you want me to go down and look for it with you?” Harry asked, his hair tousled and sweat beading on his forehead from the amount of dancing he was forced to do. 

“No, I’ll only be a second,” you said, stepping backwards onto the grass, “I’ll follow you up.” Harry was hesitant to leave you behind, Ron calling his name from inside the castle but he nodded reluctantly. Hogwarts was after all the safest place you could be. You scurried down towards the bed of water, your eyes adjusting to the darkness until you spotted his figure sitting underneath a tree that was naked of leaves. 

“Following me, y/l/n?” you could hear the ennui in his voice, and it made you halt your steps. Maybe it was the glee from the October evening that led you to follow him, or maybe it was the dissatisfaction of not knowing how it felt to feel his lips on yours that made you come down here. Pursing your own lips, you took a step back hearing the crinkle of leaves under your foot as you twirled to march back up the hill you practically ran down. Draco sighed, “you can stay.” 

You were thankful that it was dark outside, the grin on your face practically glistening at his words. You sat crossed legged in front of him, feeling the October chill kiss your cheeks as his eyes gazed at the stars above you. While his eyes were lost in the nature that surrounded you, your eyes were on his face, taking in every fraction of it up close. How the eleven year old boy with an innocent smirk you met a number of years ago had morphed into the exhausted looking seventeen year man sitting in front of you. His pale face was separated with dark circles hoovering beneath his eyes, his pink lips were chapped and the speck of blood on his bottom lip indicated that he must have been nibbling on them recently. 

When the oddly comfortable silence became too much for you, your fingers digging into the grass underneath you, you breathed out a sigh gaining his attention. It was as if he forgot you were there. “Did you have fun tonight?” you asked. 

Draco scoffed, his eyes rolling, “I hate Halloween.” 

“How can you hate Halloween?” you questioned, your jaw dropping, “It’s practically a holiday dedicated to us!” 

“It’s a holiday dedicated to pretending to be someone you’re not, how incredible,” Draco drowned sarcastically. 

“Have you never wanted to be someone that wasn’t you?” Draco was stunned at your question, and he so eagerly wanted to scoff and question why would he want to be anyone else, but when he caught sight of your curious eyes, he became speechless. He stared at you like he did in the Great Hall previously, but instead of the lifeless stare that you were accustomed to at this point, his eyes were filled with sorrow and sadness. Of course he wanted to be someone else, the more he thought about it, he’d began to accept the fact that he wanted to be anyone but him. At the mere age of seventeen, he had so much responsibility resting on his shoulders, missions and tasks that he wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone about. He felt as if he was drowning. 

“Draco..” you breathed out, your breath fogging underneath the moonlight. Draco barely heard your face, he only came back to reality when he felt your soft, warm hand rest on his cheek and he jumped back in fright. “Hey, it’s just me..” you whispered, wiping the stray tears that were leaking from his eyes without him realising. 

Draco scrambled away from you on the grass, and you let your hand drop from his face. The spot you touched tingled as he stood up from the ground, fixing his robe that was draping off his shoulders. “W-why are you here?” he spat at you, his eyes twitching. 

You remained on the grass, looking up at his worried expression. You wanted to have an explanation as to why you were suddenly drawn to him, but you didn’t even know. “I-I don’t know, Draco.” 

Draco. Draco. Draco. His name that barely passed his ears lately felt like butterflies and fireworks falling from your lips. All he heard these days were Malfoy, no one addressed him as Draco anymore and he didn’t realise how much he needed to hear it, it grounded him. “Say my name again,” he mumbled, barely audible but from the raise of your brow, he knew you heard him. 

You stood up from the grass, taking a hesitant step towards him and you waited for him to jump away from you but he didn’t. You closed the gap between your bodies, his breathing racing as he watched every move you made. Lifting your hand to his face again, he let himself relax underneath your touch and his eyes fluttered closed. “Draco,” you said softly, the twitching of the corner of his lips motivating your next move. His stature was slightly taller than you, making you put all your weight on your toes as your lips touched his cheek, “Draco,” you repeated, your lips moving down to his jaw, “Draco..” 

You gasped as his hand suddenly gripped the wrist of your hand resting on his cheek. He opened his eyes, a confused look swirling beneath the blue but you never got the chance to see beyond the confusion before his lips crashed against yours in a breathtaking kiss. You stumbled back at the impact, but he wrapped his arms around your waist to steady you. Your lips moved in sync, the kiss rapid and intrusive. He pushed your body up against the large tree trunk, your head hitting the bark and your breath hitching in your throat. “D-Draco,” you stuttered against his lips, trying to push him off you to catch your breath, “What are you doing?” 

“I… I just wanted to feel something,” Draco mumbled, almost feeling guilty for kissing you and his eyes casted downwards. He tried to step away from you but you clasped your fingers around his wrist and stopped him. He glanced up at you, the swollen lips a reminder of seconds before. 

“How did it feel?” you asked, a smile twitching at the corner of your lips. 

The overly confident and obnoxious man that you once knew was nowhere to be found, seemingly lost in the October breeze. When Draco resulted in silence as his answer, you closed the gap again and connected your lips in the second kiss of the evening. This one was more delicate and you could tell he wasn’t expecting it, it took him a moment to kiss you back. Your hands slipped into his, your fingers intertwining as you lost yourself in his touch. He broke the kiss, his head nuzzling into the crook of your neck as he breathed in your scent, “It feels like a new life,” he finally answered, his heart hammering against his chest, “but please answer this, will you forget about it in the morning?” 

“Never.”