#and it is a huge and awful bit of somebody else’s business

[occasionallynotwatchingroger]

I have absolutely no idea what to do with my feelings

I don’t even know what feelings I am having

I’m not sure what’s real

And I can’t rely on myself… for anything really

I don’t know what to do with any of this except to ask myself what would a mentally well person do and then do that but with lots of breaks for being gentle to myself

[rinstars]

「 CRY FOR ME 」 ♡ ACT III : BLUR.

PAIRING : Suna Rintarō x Reader. Sakusa Kiyoomi x Reader.

GENRE : Angst.

TAGS/WARNINGS : NSFW. Fake Dating. Unrequited Love. Profanity. Enemies (not really) to Lovers. Not very canon compliant.

SYNOPSIS : You have been in love with your best friend Sakusa Kiyoomi for as long as you can remember. The problem? He is in love with somebody else. And for you to snag even the tiniest bit of his affections, it seems like you would willingly go through drastic measures.. Even if it means teaming up with his lifelong rival, Suna Rintarō

NOTE : 6.1k words in this one! Wrote this in literally 3 days cause I was just so busy but whatever im really glad its out by the end if the week hehe. Enjoy! Likes & RBs appreciated <3

TAGLIST : CLOSED

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Silence engulfs the room for a few more seconds—Suna and Atsumu staring at each other with specific expressions on their faces. The former smirks in amusement, the latter in both shock and awe as the people close by continue to stare in confusion. Mouth hung open with nothing left to say, another of the twins gets closer to three of you, a familiar man with orange hair trailing behind him with a huge beam in his face. 

The first one to break the temporary silence in the room is Osamu, nudging his twin to snap him back to reality as he nods at you in recognition. You went to the same university as the twins and Suna, so it's just normal that you're acquaintances and know each other to a certain degree. 

You're thankful for his much-needed presence, smiling back at him as Suna's fingers mindlessly run over your sides. Osamu invites you over to their table–the rest of the National team seated and chatting amongst themselves. As soon as Osamu clears his throat to announce your presence, everyone's eyes were suddenly on both of you—making Suna tug you closer to him as your nerves build up once again. 

The first one to register the scene in front of him is Bokuto—eyes widening and unwidening as he tries to fully take in the weight of the situation. Face lighting up in realization, he furrows his brow at both of you, "YN-chan? With Suna-kun?" He questioned, chin resting on his knuckles while his free hand points at you. "Then what about Saku–" 

Akaashi Keiji, who is seated beside him, quickly nudged his friend—hissing under his breath before turning to you with an apologetic smile. 

"Ignore Bokuto. He's had a lot to drink." 

You brush it off, telling him it’s fine and that you didn’t mind. Because truthfully, you really don’t. Nobody else’s opinion matters to you right now except Kiyoomi's. You don’t care what your friends and colleagues have to say about your choice of men and you seriously doubt they care that much either. The reactions right now are more from shock than anything else. 

Honestly, nobody seems to have a problem with Suna except Kiyoomi. He got along with everyone and is in enough social circles. He was a regular in the frat parties of your college and people flock to him naturally as a result of his inborn charisma. Even to your other friends, the choice to date Suna isn't a bad one. The only problem you're left with is Kiyoomi who seems to be the one exception in the list of people who are, at the very least, on good terms with Suna. 

It’s a completely different situation with him. Sakusa Kiyoomi's your best friend, after all, and he has always been involved with everything going on in your life, much like the way you are with his own. Disappointing him gives a much worse ring in your head than it does with all of your friends combined. Yet desperate times require desperate means, after all, so there’s really not that much opinion for you to choose from.

“He’s not here. Not yet, at least,” Suna snaps you out of your thoughts with a warm whisper, eyes scanning the room and you take note of the way that his arms are now back to his sides, leaving you a cold and foreign feeling of emptiness while he rests it on the linen cloth of the tables.

You fiddle with the glass on your fingers, tilting it sideways to see the pale liquid dancing along, "I noticed," You mutter. “But there’s no way he’s late. He left so early,” you frown unconsciously. He’s probably already with his beautiful girlfriend," You sigh, putting an emphasis on the adjective. She’s probably going to show up with the necklace he gave her, petite body adorned in white and hair set in all the right places—perfect like how she has always been in the eyes of so many people.

“Why do you like to downplay yourself so much?" Suna asks, shaking his head at you slightly and taking a sip from his own glass. "Do you think he’s not attracted to you?”  

“I don’t think he’s not, Suna. I know he’s not," you tell him, a twinge of sadness in your tone—something you didn't think Suna noticed, but he did. It's the truth, no matter how it hurts you and there is no sugarcoating the fact. You’re well aware he has never seen you like that. No matter how daring and seductive you try to dress and act, especially in his presence, it's like he’s never seen you as a proper woman. “His type is the pure, innocent, sweet-looking ones—exactly how she is. Not a hot mess like me." 

He looks at you for a second. A beat or two passing as he hesitates on what to say, “Your beauty is the kind that men would cry for,” he eventually says—strained and quiet like he didn’t want anybody to hear of the thoughts he spoke aloud. 

“Then maybe I should start warning you to not cry for me,” you playfully tease him with a laugh in return—an attempt to lighten the mood as even you had no idea what to make of his earlier statement. Perhaps Suna Rintarō is much more of a gentleman that you made him out to be and he couldn’t stand the ridiculous self-doubt Sakusa Kiyoomi’s sudden relationship has put you through. You’re pretty sure it’s not a problem on his part. He’s attractive—one of the most perfect faces your eyes have ever laid on so it’s impossible for him to not be anybody’s type. Not to mention the fact that he gives off the same aura as Kiyoomi.

He rolls his eyes at you before leaning back, elbow resting on the table beside him with body turned over to you. Much like Kiyoomi, he’s exactly just like him in the sense that he’s also not romantically attracted to you—no matter how beautiful he deems you to be. 

“The goal is to have Sakusa cry for you, begging you to take him back when he sees you’re with me. Not the other way around,” he interrupts your reverie with a snicker, clearing up the goal of the mission with you all over again. Not that he needed to, anyway. Never in a million years would you imagine yourself sitting in a party with Suna Rintarō if it wasn’t for the sake of trying to sweep Kiyoomi off his feet.

Distracting yourself from the nerves slowly catching up to you once again, you continue trying to eat the steak served in front of you—even as your stomach feels like it’s getting twisted with every passing second. Suna gifted you with silence as you both wait. He doesn’t touch his food, engaging with small talks to Atsumu Miya who is more than curious to find out how you ended up coming with him. Alone with your thoughts like this, you can’t help but wonder if this plan of yours would work after all—if you’re capable of seducing Sakusa to your side by relying on the cheap shock factor of suddenly showing up to a party with the addition of a new man in your life—the said man being the one he despises the most. You nag yourself with questions such as if he would end up finding you more beautiful than his girlfriend. If he’s going to sacrifice the fantasy-like life he had now if it meant bringing you back to his side. Or if he would end up brushing you off and leaving you be—putting an end to the years of friendship you shared with each other. 

Loving someone for years and hoping—no, believing, your whole life that at the right time, someday, when you reach a certain age, it will be reciprocated only to find out one day that he’s dating someone who hasn’t been present for even a year in his life and watch him give her all the world he could give—you’re left to wonder if the universe hated you and wanted to see you suffer. Having you endure the fact that you have to see him give her his full attention, shower her with the kisses and affections you have never, and possibly will never get from him even in the distant future. 

Everyday you would wake up wishing that today was different from the other. That you loved him less than before and you are healing. Maybe you are starting to accept your fate and reality and actually feeling genuine happiness at the relationship he seems to treasure a lot. In your head, you are not just endlessly running without a destination anymore. But every day proves you wrong as you feel your heartbreak even more than the last when you see them together. When his eyes light up at the mention of her name, his hands immediately finding hers the moment she enters the room, you feel like you could die.

Further proof that you haven’t at all gotten over him is the way you’re sitting at a table with a man you’d call your boyfriend in front of people in hopes to snatch him back for yourself and maybe ignite something he didn’t know existed. You teamed up with possibly the worst person around, the enemy he has continuously felt nothing but disdain with and tried to surpass in the court over and over again. You watched him break when he lost his last match against Inarizaki when he failed to receive one of Suna’s spikes in his third year and yet you’re next to that very same person. You held his hand, let him kiss your neck, and take you as a date. 

How nice of you.

“—here,” Suna’s voice registers to you late—him calling your name three times before you eventually ended up turning your head to his in question.

“YN, they’re here,” he mumbles, nodding a few tables away to Sakusa and Yura’s direction. Yura wears a beautiful royal blue, the complete opposite of the silky red you’re wearing, and she looks beautiful in it. No matter how uncomfortable she makes you feel, you can’t help but stare at her in awe—the air around her seemingly brighter and gentler, creating a halo around her. She smiles with so much charm, eyes glistening in wonder in front of everyone who gathered around her to tell her how mesmerizing she looks.

Looking at your side, you notice Suna’s intense stare on her too. His face is hard to read as it maintains the same passive expression he always wears and if it wasn’t for the way his eyes flashed with an emotion that only ever seems to come to the surface every time he sees or talks about her, you probably would have started thinking he didn’t care. The longer you stare at him the more you understand how important she really must have been to him.

“Yura.. She’s beautiful,” you sigh with a heavy breath.

“Yeah,” he agrees easily at the beauty in front of him and pauses for a while, “A very different kind of beautiful than you.” 

“I don’t think I want to be the kind of beautiful I am," you humorlessly chuckle. "I want to be the kind that Sakusa likes, the kind he wants to be his girlfriend.” 

Suna glanced at you, eyes moving up and down your body as if taking in your appearance. 

“If.. If this plan doesn’t end up working," he hesitates, looking away before meeting your eyes in a mellow stare. "Promise me this would be the last time you’ll ever attempt trying to get with him,” He says it so nonchalantly like it's nothing—fingers reaching out to take a lock of your hair and twirling it around his fingers fascinatingly.

He says words like this almost without a speck of emotion or anything that would tell you about the underlying meaning he has behind his cryptic words. You could probably probe his mind for days on end without feeling bored—that is the kind of man Suna Rintarō is to a lot of people. Now that you are a first-hand witness to the things he has to offer, you could see a bit clearer why his friends stay his friends.

You look up at him in wonder, eyes blinking slowly as you wait for him to continue in the middle of playing with your hair. The action is comforting—calming even, goosebumps rising on your skin as his knuckles accidentally brush your cheekbones. His touch lingers in that spot for a moment, making you unintentionally lean in as you hold eye contact.

"Sakusa isn't the only man in the world, and there’s a reason he isn’t," he whispers, turning his hand around so your cheeks rest on his palms. "One day, another man will find his way to you and love you in the way that you desire. Love you much more than what you imagined he could give," A deep breath escapes him as you unconsciously bite your lips. "It would make all the men who let you slip jealous and yet you wouldn’t care about any of them. Not anymore."

You could tell. The words he's telling you are the same ones he wants to hear himself. He, too, wants to believe the empty words he's been feeding you as a way to tell himself that everything would be fine—even if this whole thing with the both of you doesn't work out. He wants to hold on to the fact that even if he fails now, he would find someone better in the future. However, as much as you both tried to make it easy, it never is.

As quick as everything escalated, he removed his hand from your skin immediately. Flinching like he’s regretting the impulsive stuff he ends up doing when he's all vulnerable the way he was a few seconds ago.

“That’s assuming this won’t work," he takes his eyes away from you, head tilting back up to look at their table—almost at the same time as you do. And as if by fate, you lock eyes with Yura, her eyes widening in recognition before turning to Sakusa and tapping his shoulder.

The moment Sakusa's eyes landed on you, a look passed his face—one of recognition then confusion then another one you didn't want to see on him. His eyes bore into yours intensely. Unmoving and cold. Just as his palms start pressing flat to the table, preparing to push himself up from the seat and walk over to where you and Suna are, Yura's grip on his arm pulls him back. Her manicured fingers rest on his chest, nude lips by his ear as she takes an attempt in calming him down.

"Suna," you begin, voice hoarse and trembling as fear seeps into your bones at the way your best friend looked at you earlier—full of disappointment and anger. 

Immediately, Suna's hands are around yours—fingers finding their way around to interlock with yours and rubbing small, soothing circles on the back of your hands. Standing up, he gently taps your knuckles—a small warning as he takes you with him.

"Dance with me," he simply says, not uttering a single word with how tight you're gripping his hands. Truthfully, he just wants to get them out of his sight as soon as possible and looking at the way you were reacting, he knew he should take you with him as well. 

Standing in the middle of the huge ballroom, he gives you a moment to recollect yourself— fox eyes as if in a glare as it observes your reactions. You continue nibbling on your lower lip, the crimson paint fading away with your relentless assault on the skin. The grip around him only gets tighter and when you don't utter a word for a few more seconds, he confirms you’re out of it.

“Hey, calm down,” he bends down, whispering into your ears and pulling you into him by putting one of his free hands on the small of your back and pressing your chest to his. “We don’t have to meet them face to face yet. Calm down.” 

The harshness and stupidity of your situation came crashing down on you all at once when you were finally face to face with the man of target. The coldness that spreads all around you at the look in his face never seems to go away no matter how you think your way around it. It scares you to even imagine where this will take your relationship with him. Maybe, you shouldn’t have gone along with this since the beginning. Perhaps it'd be better to stop now—back out and apologize for dragging Suna in.

But then as your eyes mistakenly drift over to them, catching a sight of Sakusa brushing his lips with Yura from across the room with eyes lovingly holding her despite the fact that you were certain everyone else's was on yours, you were given your answer.

Even like this, you didn't matter to him.

You loosened your grip on Suna's hands, muttering a quick apology before positioning yourself for a dance. He must have sensed your sulking, seeing as he immediately told you to keep your eyes on him for the whole dance. Teasing you a little about how he wouldn't appreciate you looking at anybody else. You internally smile at his attentiveness.

Honestly, Suna has always been like this. Very stoic but deep down couldn't really stand seeing someone in a tight position. You remember during Nationals when he subtly pushed a water bottle your way when he noticed you fanning yourself excessively at the heat. Or when he not-so-subtly told you where the bathroom is by calling over to the twins washing their hands and therefore making you follow him to where it is.

You never really thought much about these interactions with Suna. But now you're glad it's someone like him you ended up creating this whole plan with. You doubt anyone would care about your well-being if it was anybody else. Maybe Suna understands you better than most, being in the exact same spot as you are.

“Talk to me,” he instructs, hands resting on the curve of your waist and tapping in an attempt to distract you further. 

You snort at him, a ghost of a smile on your lips, “I have nothing to talk about.”

“No?”

“No," you frown, looking up at him in confusion until an idea makes its way into your mind. "Unless," you drag out your words with a smile, running your fingers from its position on his shoulder down to his chest before continuing, "Maybe you want to talk about what kind of underwear I'm wearing right now."

He was silent at that for a moment, a beat or two passing before he clears his throat. "Are you telling me to guess?" He raised a brow at you, hold on you tightening. "You're pretty easy to read—the type of woman you are when it comes to things like this."

"Oh?" you pull back in astonishment. Is he actually playing the game with you this time? Wrapping your fingers around his tie in amusement, you pull him closer to you—whispering right by his ear. "Do you imagine me in my underwear?"

"You suck at trying to flirt," he looks at you indifferently, swaying and gliding you slowly to the beat of the song. "To answer your question though, I don't imagine women in their underwear."

As soon as he said that, it felt like all the alarms telling you this is a game you would lose yet again started ringing in your head. Your suspicions are confirmed when Suna moves to the exposed skin on your back, cold fingers making contact with your warmth as he inches closer and closer to you.

"I prefer seeing it in person," he breathes in your face, nose almost touching yours that if you lurched up even a little, you were certain your lips would connect.

Your breath hitches in your throat, the urge to connect your lips with the frustratingly attractive man right in front of you overwhelming and strong. He pulls away from you immediately, mischievousness clear in his golden-green eyes.

With a frown, you slightly push at his chest, "Weren’t you just telling me you're gonna make me work for it? What are you being so touchy for?"

Not that you were complaining. You just didn’t know what else to say.

He smirks at you, "That's exactly how it’s gonna work," fingers find their way to the sides of your face—gently brushing the hairs. "'m gonna get you craving for more."

"They say I can make even the strongest bend."

Humor flashed in his eyes, a challenge in him rising at the same time as yours. "How exactly do you plan on doing that?" A sly smile tugs his lips, giving a bad feeling for whatever it is he has to say next. With a chuckle, he continues, "By showing me the black lace pair you’re wearing?"

You gasp, lightly shoving him away from you in disbelief. Countless thoughts run into your head with wide eyes. Did he see you dressing up by the window? Did you end up leaving it open? Did he catch you shopping a few days ago

"Did you—"

"No," he looks at you incredulously. "I told you. You're easy to read."

Rolling your eyes, you find frustration creeping around you as he laughs at the expression painted on your face. 

"I'll tell you, though," you smile at him. "I look pretty hot in it," you opt for seduction— seeing as that seems to be the only thing you're good at, at this point.

Except maybe it did kind of work this time. Paying attention to the way his expression shifted, you take notice of the heavy breath that slips its way out of lips, the dryness in his throat which he tries to hide by clearing it with a cough. 

"Hmm, did you just imagine me in it?" You tease him with a nudge. "What can you say?"

He leans back, not a glitch in his swaying as if to show he's unaffected. "Yeah, maybe you do," he nods, eyes boring into you as he continues. "But I'd recommend white, the color of purity."

“Why’s that?” 

The mask on his face doesn't slip once—expression controlled and eyes sharp as it holds fluent eye contact with you. "So you can repent on the thoughts you’re giving me."

Heat rises up your cheeks, lashes fluttering as he simply brushes off what he just said like it was nothing. The song ends before you could respond while another round would be too hard on you as the heels slowly start their job of killing your feet. Noticing your wobbly stance, Suna's hands travel to your fingers—tugging you away from the center and snatching a glass of water from one of the waiters going around. Accepting it, you take the time to freshen up—moistening the dryness of your throat at the previous conversation held with the man beside you.

Not long after, another waiter walks over to your shared table with Suna—the corner of his lips tugging up at the very slightest before nodding along to the staff.

"It seems the lovely couple is inviting us over."

Quickly looking over to Sakusa's table, you catch sight of the others who also made their way over to them—the twins, Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kageyama. A sigh of relief escaped you at the fact that at the very least, Akaashi and Osamu would be around. If they're close by, surely nothing too serious is going to happen right?

A hand appeared in front of you, one you recognized as Suna's as he escorts you over to the table. You gripped his hands with so much tension—tight and firm that he had to look over to make sure you are alright. Nodding slightly, you assure him it’s fine, making him continue leading you to the table.

You felt Sakusa’s eyes on you as soon as you near their table and if looks could kill, you were almost completely certain that both you and Suna would be at the floor by now. No one spoke when you settled down at the table, not even Atsumu or Bokuto giving you a greeting. They probably sensed the high tension floating around—either that or Osamu and Akaashi are keeping them quiet to prevent them from saying unnecessary things.

Yura was the first to break the silence, smiling at both of you even as her nerves slowly tries to break through the facade. "So, you and Suna Rintarō?"

Suna just eyes her, tongue darting out to wet his lips as he slowly nods at her. Yura talks about him like he’s a stranger, the smile she gives him distant and foreign. You wonder how Suna's taking it—the woman he wants denying her connection with him in the face of her boyfriend. But then again, Suna is a master at this. He is unfazed, or so that's what it seems.

“What a choice," Kiyoomi suddenly blurts out, crossing his arms on his chest. Your eyes turn to him in shock, body tensing as you try to hide the pout that's trying to push its way to your lips. You could tell from the way he looks at you—he wouldn't be nice about all of this. “How did this even happen? Since when did you become so easy?” 

His words send a punch to your gut, the air getting knocked out of you as you choke in your own breath. You can hear Yura scolding him for being rude in the background even as your head swims in confusion and the beat of your heart rings loudly in your ear. And because you didn’t want Sakusa to be any more peeved than he already is, you were about to tell Yura it's fine. That you didn't mind even when you really do.

However, just as you were about to open your mouth, another voice beats you to it.

"Her choice in men bothers you?" Suna laughs humorlessly, throwing his head back before meeting Kiyoomi's in a stare. "If I were to say so myself, I think she chose very well." He shrugs at the raven-haired man in front of him, fingers reaching for a glass of wine.

Kiyoomi stays mute for a while, jaw clenching as he glares back at Suna. "I just think it's laughable how there has no mention of your name in every single one of our conversations and yet the next time I see her, here you are posing as her boyfriend," he clicks his tongue, ignoring Yura's tightening grip on his forearm and continuing. "Knowing the kind of person you are, it makes me worry you’re just stringing her along, Suna."

If it was any other than Suna, the conversation probably would have ended there—the authority and fierceness in Kiyoomi's tone making everyone at the table look away.

"That's rich coming from you, Sakusa," Suna taunts him back, raising an eyebrow. "Especially when you’re about to celebrate your first anniversary since courting your girlfriend despite only making it public two months ago."

You notice Sakusa's eye twitch, fists clenching on top of the table until Osamu Miya clears his throat, asking everyone to calm down before the situation gets out of control. Everyone then eyes you carefully, a silent question to see if you're alright which you grateful returned with a small smile.

Your mood, however, quickly dampens as you watch Yura reach up to cup Sakusa's face—muttering little words to him as he listens intently. The shattering of your heart deafens you even more when you notice Sakusa's face slowly relaxing and melting to her touch, head reaching down to connect his lips to her. Despite how hard you try, you couldn't look away—the situation being an eye-opener at the chances you have with your best friend who holds another woman way too close to his heart.

God, he really does love her. With the way he’s kissing her right in front of you when he was supposed to be mad and green with envy upon seeing you and Suna, you can’t help the tears that sting your eyes—quickly turning your head to hide the moisture that doesn't seem to stop collecting. 

Kiyoomi must have noticed—not your tears but your discomfort. Because suddenly, you felt a pair of eyes burning holes to the side of your head and studying your expression. Soon after, he drops the topic with Yura—muttering a quick whatever before continuing to converse with the other players seated on the table with you. 

Refusing to move or speak, you opt to remain silent—scared you'll lose the composure you’re trying so hard to maintain. You're grateful for the fact that Suna lets you be, not asking you to do any more than what you just did together because he knows you’re at your limit. It almost makes you feel bad—how you're the one who confidently dragged him into this and yet he’s the one handling things much better than you.

When you do lift your head up, you see Atsumu in a conversation with Suna. Your sudden gaze on them takes Atsumu’s attention from the conversation—making him turn to you and meet your gaze. With a blink, he licks his lips before smiling, “Well, I haven’t had the chance to properly look at you the whole night but you sure as hell look fire.” 

With a light shove on his arm, you smile at him and thank him and soon enough, you found yourself nodding along to the twins' funny stories and cracking a few smiles at Akaashi's scolding on Bokuto. It was fun while it lasted but still, it couldn't take away the pain of being in the same room, the same table, as the source of your despair. The party stopped being fun for you since the moment you arrived–bad memories of the past along with your encounters this time around doing nothing but fill you with dread.

With the classic excuse of going to the restroom, you stood up and walked to the exit. You decide against calling Suna to join you, seeing as he's busy chatting with the other players and you didn’t want to ruin his night all because you weren't feeling well.

You just couldn’t stand to see Sakusa mutter I love you’s in his girlfriend’s hair any longer. Or watch him give little squeezes on her hand as they both laugh at something he said. Every single time it’s like fate is playing a sick joke on you, engraving these images into your memory and reminding you time and time again that you have no one. 

You’re alone. 

“You should know it’s dangerous to walk alone at night," a voice catches you off guard, a presence you didn't expect walking alongside you. "Especially for someone who looks like you.” 

Your head whipped to the side, greeted by the image of Suna who somehow managed to catch up beside you, car keys dangling from his fingers as he spins it around. He doesn't spare you a glance, heading straight to the parking lot where his car is. 

“I’ll be fine,” you roll your eyes. Perhaps he could also feel the suffocating feeling inside that room, sitting on that table with the lovely couple in front of him. Maybe he also couldn’t stand hearing his heart tear at the sight of them. “I've never been fond of parties like this.”

"Why not?"

"I never seem to have.." you search for the words, "good memories whenever I attend them.

The memory sends a chill to your spine. The mystery behind what happened that night still leaves a bad feeling in your gut. However, your night is bad enough, the passing thought of what happened a long time ago would only spoil it even more.

Therefore it would have to be a story for next time—if you ever find the courage to tell it again, that is. 

Sensing your discomfort, Suna doesn't press on the topic—instead pressing a button on his car to unlock it. "Why did you even follow me, anyway?" You ask him.

“You’re my girlfriend," He simply says, wrapping his fingers around your wrist to tug you in the direction of his car. “It’s what a good boyfriend would do.” 

“You’re good at this roleplaying thing," you snicker at him. "I would bet you're good at it in bed too. Wanna test my theory, Suna?" You stop him from walking, innocent smile on your face as you wait for his reaction. Thing is, you're not even trying to actually seduce him this time—maybe you just found it fun playing this game with him.

Turning over to you, he looks at you with furrowed brows—humor dancing in his eyes despite the groan he gives you.  “Does everything always have to be about sex with you?” 

“Do you hate it?” 

“No. I think you look cute trying so hard to seduce me.” 

You raised your eyebrows at that. Where is this honesty coming from? “So cute that you want to kiss me?” 

He shakes his head at you with a laugh, not missing the way his eyes traveled down to your lips before he continued speaking, “That’s what you’re gonna have to find out, don’t you think?”

“Is this you indirectly telling me to continue seducing you? Cause it’s working.” 

He simply shrugs at that, taking a sharp turn to the right as he leads both of you to his obnoxiously expensive car. Looking down at your intertwined hands, you trace a finger over the assortment of rings on his fingers—one with a black lining along the edges standing out in its simplicity from the others. 

"I like this one," you mutter without much thought.

Hearing your voice, Suna follows your line of vision to look at what you’re referring to. Body tensing as he noticed which ring it is, "It's from her."

Her? "Yura?"

"Yeah," he swallows thickly. "She has the exact same one. Fuck knows if she still has it, though."

The more you talk about Yura with Suna, the more you find out, the more your curiosity eats at you. He seemed to share something really special with her—the fact that someone holds a place in Suna's heart as close as hers almost making you jealous. Yura seems to have a talent in making her way into the hearts of the men who couldn't give a single fuck about you.

You don't push the topic with Suna—knowing that he hates it when people do. Lost in your own thoughts, you don't notice the opened car door in front of you—the scent of the leather seats filling your senses as he invites you in from the driver's seat.

“You didn’t have to take me home,” you pout at him after climbing up, feeling bad that he left the party for you when he's already done so much.

“Boyfriends usually leave when their girlfriends do. They’re gonna start thinking I’m an ass if they realized I let you go home by yourself,” He reaches over to grab the seatbelt on your side, his fingers lightly grazing your collarbones as he drags it down to clasp in the middle. 

Position himself with his elbows on the center console, he looks over to you, brushing your hair away from your neck.

“Everyone knows you’re an ass.” 

“Yeah well I fucking hate it there," he simply states.

You stare back at him, fingers slipping with his to try and give comfort. After all, he’s just like you. No matter how he tries to hide it, seeing her with another man does make him uncomfortable and he admittedly doesn’t want to see it. 

Dragged along by the heat of the moment, you felt cold fingers touch your jaw, angling it so it’s tipping just right in the direction of his lip. You barely notice a single movement until you feel the soft strands of his hair—your own fingers unconsciously running through it as you pull him closer. 

Time seemingly stopped that moment. The whimper that leaves your throat your only reminder that everything happening is real. Your heavy breathing echoes around the space, making your cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

Well, it’s not like you had any control over it. 

Not when soft lips were suddenly brushing your own—tugging, licking, and sucking. The hunger and lust blown in both of your eyes not even a 10-minute drive to his house could contain. Sounds of both your desperation fill the emptiness of his home.

And as you fall back on the sheets that smell too strongly of him, you allow yourself to get lost in Suna Rintarō. The image of the raven-haired man nothing but a blur in the corners of your mind.

🏷 (1): @nozomiasl @lilith412426 @coconois @effmigentlywithachainsaw @savantsoulfinder @my-reality-is-in-my-head @shawkneecaps @satorinnie @fail-big @cuddlesslut @stffychn @sugusshi @rintarovibes @jiminslajibolala @rinsangel @atzuums @sunarinsbubs @iwaprotector @exologys @g0thbunnyy @oikawa-bubs @starylust @call-me-lulu @ouraniaastraea @milkteeboba @criesinpisces @tendo-sxtori @plusultra2dwhore @witcherydotcom @yoitsseulgi @trshex @heizenka @maitenight @victoriasee @whoisalexa @asaitashi @evilox

[bunny-carrothunter]

Remnant

Show: Wordgirl Characters: Becky, Violet (mentions of Scoops and Tobey) Rating: G Prompt: Violet discovers another secret about her best friend, this time relating to her significant other.

♡ ♡ ♡ 

Violet hadn’t planned on going to school feeling uneasy that morning, but there was something creeping on the back of her mind for some time that didn’t let her sit well. It only made her feel worse. Her best friend noticed her shift in behavior on the very first period of the day, but try as she did to ask her why, her only response was that she would tell her later.

Becky of course, loved her best friend, and if that was what she wanted, she was willing to comply to her wishes. After all, they had a strong bond between each other and trusted one another, now that she didn’t have to hide her identity to her.

After school, they agreed to meet up again outside.

“So, what was it that you wanted to ask me?”

Violet took a moment before speaking.

“Becky... we’re best friends, right?”

Becky smiled, immediately responding as if it was the obvious. “Of course, Violet!”

“And best friends tell each other everything... right?”

“Yes..” Becky was beginning to worry. She already knew her biggest secret. Was there something else she didn’t know she was hiding? “Violet, is something wrong?”

Her blonde friend blushes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

“Becky… did you used to have a crush on Scoops?”

Becky jolted slightly back in surprise, not at all what she was expecting. She hadn’t expected Violet to even think about that. Because in truth, even she hadn’t thought of that in a while.

She did have a huge crush on him at the beginning of their friendship. The days she would try to spend time with him and get him to notice her, pinning after his otherwise oblivious self. She did like him. His spunk, determination as a reporter, his humor, sense of justice that matched her own, and friendliness to everyone around him. What wasn’t to like?

She was almost about to express her crush to him. On a fateful Valentine’s Day, of all days. Well, what day would Valentine’s Day be without heart break?

Becky, in her alter ego, discovered her crush did already like somebody... her own best friend.

“Um...” Becky stumbled on an answer, only making it harder staring back at her friend’s sad tensed expression.

“Did you?” Violet whimpered, a little louder than her previous question.

Becky resigned, her arms going limp. “Yeah.. I did.”

“Becky!” Violet cried, as much as she could in her soft voice. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What was I suppose to say, Violet?” Her hand rubbed against her arm. “I didn’t tell anyone. And after what happened during Valentine’s Day...”

“Ohhh,” Violet whimpered as small tears started to gather in her eyes, her hands covering her face ashamed. “Becky.. That’s what that card you were making was for, wasn’t it? Ohh… you must have felt so awful.”

“Nooo, Violet, don’t,” said friend put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her and stop the tears. “It wasn’t your fault, you didn’t know.”

“But you could have told me!” her soft voice cried. “Maybe- I would of...” She trailed off, looking down.

“...Would of what?”

“...Maybe.. said no.”

Becky’s heart fluttered for a moment. The fact her friend was willing to let a bit of her happiness go for her, and the lingering train of thoughts on how things would have been if she had rejected him.

But that was then. And this is now.

“No, Violet, don’t say that.” She gently held her shoulder to make her blonde friend turn to her. “I was upset when his valentine was meant for you instead of me.. but I wasn’t mad at you.”

Violet sniffed. “You weren’t?”

“Of course not! You didn’t know.. and I never really told you, either.” Becky offered a small smile. “I was still a bit sad seeing you two together.. but then I realized how happy you two were, and I didn’t want to be mad or upset at my two best friends in the world. Besides, I was much too busy already, you know, fighting crime and all.”

Violet smiled a little and wiped her tear away. “Oh, Becky. Thank you for telling me..”

“No, thank you, Violet. I guess I had been carrying that around for a while. I needed that.” Violet smiled at her. “Besides, you two make such a cute couple together. And I get to call dibs on being the bride’s maid AND best man at the wedding.”

At the joke, Violet turned and covered her face with her hands again, this time embarrassed and blushing. “Becky!!”

The superhero in citizen disguise laughed, lightening the mood for her friend.

“Well.. then I guess I’ll be your’s for your’s!”

“Ha! I’ll have to find someone first, and that’s even if I can find the time.”

“Oh, really?” Violet’s voice turned more sly in tone at the notion.

“Huh?”

“I don’t knooow.. you and Tobey have been spending a lot of time together.~”

At this, Becky blushed. “What? No! No, we’re just friends. Or at least I’m trying to be. You know it’s all part of my plan to try and redeem him to give up doing crime, remember?”

“Becky, we’ve all seen the way you two look at each other. Haven’t you noticed how much nicer he is when you’re around? And how you go out of your way to make sure he’s included in our activities?”

Her blush got brighter. “I think I’d rather go back to the chaos of Valentine’s Day.”

She turned to her blonde friend and returned her smile, sharing a brief laugh between them, a fresh air of relieve and understanding waving over them.

Their bond was something both of them would treasure forever. And no remnant of the past, or future, would ever break that apart.

[damn-stark]

Lightning

Thor Odinson x Odinsdottir!reader, Loki Laufeyson x Odinsdottir!reader (platonic)

Summary: After the death of your brother Loki, and Frigga, things in Asgard change drastically, just like your father. Where he was once cold and distant before, now he’s caring and attentive. And you didn’t mind his change, in fact you loved that he had this new time for you, yet when you find out the truth behind his actions, how will you react?

Warning- Fluff, slight angst

———-

“This is stupid.” You groan as you kick the mirror back and fall back in your seat.

“What did that poor mirror do to you?”

At the sound of your fathers voice you throw your head up and turn to see him standing by your doorway. It was a surprise for sure, but you knew how to react by his sudden appearance.

You stand up and straighten out your shoulders, offering him a small smile. “Father.”

Said man walks into your room and picks up your mirror, standing beside it and keeping his attention on you. “What’s wrong?”

“I,” you blink, keeping your gaze on him for a brief second and silently questioning his behavior before sitting back down and refocusing on your appearance. “I can’t do my braid, it’s hard,” you sigh, feeling your smile fall, “without mother here I can’t seem to do it. I also don’t like when the handmaidens touch my hair, and Thor isn’t here to help, and Loki...is gone too. So I can’t do my braid.”

“I can help you.” Your father suddenly offers.

“Are you sure?” You ask unsurely, watching as he made his way behind you. “Aren’t you busy?”

“I can make some time,” he says as he begins to braid your hair, peeking your curiosity even more.

You don’t question it, you find it odd that he’s been so attentive lately, so involved with your days, but again, you don’t want to question it. You actually like receiving his attention. It was a good change.

“Father, do you know when Thor will be returning?”

Through his reflection from the mirror in front of you, you see him shrug and briefly lift his gaze to look at you before focusing back on your hair. “No, it seems after the dark elves attacked he hardly tells me anything. Why bored of me already?”

You narrow your gaze on his reflection, but you dont think to get too deep into what was going on. “No, it’s just I find myself bored most of the day after school, and well after mother and Loki died he always tried to make time to do something with me.”

“Do you miss Loki?”

“Yes,” you answer without hesitation.

“Even after all he did? All the terrible things he’s caused?”

You sigh and look down at your hands and create sparks of lightning between your fingers. “Loki was always nice to me, he never did the things to me that he did to, Thor. Plus, mother always said never to think of him badly,” you pause and close your fist, feeling your eyes sting with tears whilst going unaware of your “fathers” stunned pause after your comment. “So, yes I miss my brother.”

Your father clears his throat and goes back to finishing your braid in silence, patting your shoulder to signal you that he was done. When you stand up and lift your gaze to examine the braid, you gasp and feel those salty tears you withheld roll down your cheeks.

“What? Did it come out wrong?” Your father queries.

You reach for your braid and gently run your fingers down it, responding in an almost breathless manner. “It’s how Loki would braid my hair.” You turn around to face your father and you offer him a short, sweet smile. “Thank you, father.” You move to your desk and grab your things to go to class, stopping at your doorway and looking over your shoulder. “I’m going to go to class now, I’ll see you at dinner.”

Just as you turn to leave, he stops you. “Wait. Do you want to skip class today and do something else?”

“Uh,” you part your lips, spinning on your heels to face him still in your room. “But you always say learning is the fundamental of being a good princess.” You tilt your head and narrow your gaze on his face, searching it for any sign of trick.

“Well,” he shrugs as he slowly makes his way to you. “Learning magic is the fundamental of becoming a good princess too and then even better when you become queen.”

You scoff and manage an amused grin. “Queen?”

“Why yes, after I die who will rule Asgard?”

“Thor,” you respond.

Your father clasps his hands on his back and falls beside you, shaking his head as he’s quick to correct your answer. “What if I don’t want it to be, Thor? You my sweet si—daughter, will make a perfect fit to be queen, with your powers and knowledge. That’s why learning magic is beneficial.” He puts his hand on your shoulder and turns you around to walk off with you at his side. “What do you know about magic?”

“Not so much,” you shrug, “just a bit of what Loki and Frigga taught me.”

“Don’t you want to learn more?” Your father presses as he guides you out of the golden castle. “Just imagine with your powers and magic combined, you’d be powerful.”

Perhaps you should question his behavior deeper, really just think about what he was proposing—learning magic from your father?

But that part of you that felt your fathers negligence in the past loved the attention he was recently giving you. You desired to be loved by him like he loved Thor. So that’s why you didn’t want to question this strange new behavior.

You smile widely and finally come to an easy agreement. “Okay I want to learn more magic.”

“Good,” your father pats your shoulder, guiding you to the green gardens outside. “First let’s see your power, what’s your highest running record now?”

“Forty-five seconds.”

“Hmm,” your father hums as he parts away and stops you both in your tracks, stepping to the side to stand before you. “Have you tried incorporating your lightning when you run? It'd be like when you travel with your lightning from one place to another; it’s instantaneous and happens in a blink of an eye, right?”

“Right,” you nod whilst you place your books down. “How come I’ve never tried that before?”

“Try it,” your father insists.

With a newborn eagerness to impress your father before you, you summon lightning and do a quick outfit change, feeling a new surge of happiness within you at this moment. Albeit a small hint of doubt sparked in your brain. You began to stretch and didn’t fail to question what irked you. “Father, are you not busy? I just mean, lately all you’ve done is been with...me.”

Your father walks back to stay at a safe distance from you when you run, crossing his arms over his chest and shrugging, “well is it a crime spending time with my only daughter.” He finishes with an almost nervous chuckle. “Anyways stop thinking too much about it and break that record so we can get to teaching you magic.”

You stand up straight and nod apprehensively, getting into a running stance and then looking at him one last time to see him point his head in the way you were going to run. That single gesture sets you off to super speed your way through your usual running coarse, but this time unlike the other using lightning like your father suggested and finding that it gave you an incredible boast. Even the way you saw your surroundings was different, before you would only see the same greenery, the great blue water and beautiful green lush forest; now you saw lightning, it was like traveling through the Bifrost.

And regarding your personal running record, it did wonders to it.

Once you returned to your previous spot you saw your father smiling at you for what seemed to be the first time in ages. “Good job, y/n. You got twenty-five seconds off your previous record!”

At first you’re confused on how to take his positive feedback, his appreciation that you just stare at him dumb-struck and in slight awe. It isn’t until much later do you find your right reaction; you beam at him and utter, “thank you, father.”

——

“Oh, brother. This is it. I take my leave.”

“You fool, you didn’t listen!”

Tears fill your eyes and you wipe away the tears that had already rolled down your cheeks.

“I’m sorry.”

“Lady Sif, get help!”

“Somebody help!”

Yeah, you didn’t really agree with that slight part, Lady Sif was a spectacular warrior and deserved more than that part in the play. But nonetheless it was just play.

“I’m sorry for all I’ve done.”

“Shh. It’s all right. Hold on.”

“I’m sorry I tried to rule earth.”

“They’d be lucky to have you.”

“I’m sorry about that thing with the Tesseract. I just couldn’t help myself. I'm a trickster.”

“Yes. So mischievous.”

“I’m sorry about that time I turned you into a frog.”

You yawn and lean back in your seat, grabbing a piece of fruit and throwing it in your mouth as you continue to watch the play, crying one last time when fake Thor cries out, after that you grew bored and watched as the play ended. Once it was you jumped to your feet to attempt to leave, but then at your side you saw the real Thor.

When he noticed that you saw him, he smiled and waved and you followed by speeding towards him, instantly getting welcomed by a hug. “Hello, sister.”

“Thor! You’re finally back!” You beamed up at him.

“Yes, for a more permanent stay this time.” He informed you as you parted away, drifting his gaze to your father now. “Father.”

“Uh, my son, Thor, has returned!” Your father announced, “greetings my boy.”

The crowd around clapped and Thor seemed to be unamused by this whole ordeal. “This is an interesting play, what's it called?”

“The tragedy of Loki of Asgard. The people wanted to commemorate him.”

That’s very doubtful, considering what he did.

“Ah, indeed they should. I like the statue. A lot better looking then he was when he was alive, though. A little less weaselly, less greasy, maybe.” Thor continued making your father laugh nervously and made you just look at him amused and confused. “Do you know what this is?” Thor asked as he lifted the huge Skull in his hand.

“The skull of Surtur. That’s a formidable weapon!”

Thor proceeds to hand the skull to a guard, “do me a favor. Lock this away in a vault so it doesn’t turn into a giant monster and destroy the whole planet.” Thor walks forward and gestures you to follow him.

“Thank you, dear. Um, so it’s back to Midgard for you, is it?” Your father questioned Thor, gaining your full unwavered attention even if he had answered that to you already.

“Nope.” Thor answered as he threw his hammer up and then caught it with ease. “You know I’ve been having this reoccurring dream lately. Every night, I see Asgard fall into ruins.”

“That’s just a silly dream,” your father turned Thor down, “signs of an overactive imagination.”

“Possibly.” Thor quipped, “but then I decided to go out there and investigate. And what do I find, but the nine Realms completely in chaos.” Thor repeats his previous action with his hammer and gets closer to your father. “Enemies of Asgard assembling, plotting our demise all while you, Odin, the protector of those Nine Realms are sitting here in your bathrobe, eating grapes.”

When you look at your father you notice that he appears quite nervous, it was strange, very strange, but considersing that Thor wasn’t amused and appeared threatening, you stayed silent.

“Yes, it is best to respect our neighbors’ freedom.”

“Yes, of course the freedom to be massacred.” Thor throws his hammer forward, frightening the crowd and puzzling you even more.

“Yes,” your father tries to excuse himself and his negligence, “besides I’ve been rather busy myself.”

“Watching theater.” Thor remarks.

“Well, raising a teenage daughter, board meetings and security council meetings.”

“You’re really going to make me do it?” Thor quips, receiving just a simple question from your father before Thor throws his hammer far and walks behind your father, to threaten him. “You know nothing will stop Mjolnir, as it returns to my hand. Not even your face.”

“Thor!” You call frighteningly, receiving a quick smug answer.

“Watch this, sister.”

“You’ve gone quite mad. Y/N, stop him. You’ll be executed for this.”

“Then I’ll see you on the other side, brother.”

Your eyes widen and you freeze in your spot, keeping your gaze stuck on the pair beside you and gasping as your father transforms into Loki.

“But,” you try to question through your confusion, “but…” you pause and Loki turns to you, trying to approach you as you stay frozen and in disbelief with tears filling your eyes. “You...lied.”

“Y/N, I can explain.”

[marshmallowprotection]

Hello lovely, firstly I am obsessed with your beautiful writing. Whenever you have the time, please could I request a romantic match-up for little me? 🥲 Tysm.

I'm 5"2, INFP and in my early 30s. I live in Europe.

I'm quite introverted around loud or brash people, but I do tend to open up quite willingly with anyone I deem "safe". Usually that's people who are quiet but clearly have a lot to say deep down. I think introverts spot others like themselves fairly easily. Around someone more introverted than me, I tend to try and make them feel comfortable.

Once I am friends with someone I am fiercely loyal and protective. I honestly have very few real friends, however.

I've been told I'm a people pleaser to a fault. I will drop everything to help someone, even if I barely know them. A lot of people have abused that side of me in the past, but I find it difficult not to help. My love language is most certainly acts of service.

I have a bunch of hobbies and passions that I jump around to and from, including writing, gaming, photography, hiking and learning new languages. I also love animals, but right now I just have my cat, Lilleth (one day I hope to adopt more pets when I have the space and time for them).

Oh and I like to keep busy because I have a bad case of the anxious thoughts™ if I don't.

I'm an only child and come from a bit of a crappy family. I have my fair share of unfortunate childhood trauma but I'm pretty happy-go-lucky and try my best to have a positive outlook on life. For all the hardships growing up I like to be grateful for what I have now.

My career is one where I have to be very professional (emergency services) and sometimes it can be a really difficult role, mainly emotionally. In order to unwind and relax I love a long bath and a huge, indulgent glass of wine. I love nature too and will often take my camera out for a hike in the countryside.

Other random facts include:

I studied psychology, Horror is my fav genre of film (although I'm an awful snob about it), my favourite colour is yellow and my go-to food is sushi.

Anyway that's me I guess! Thank you so much 💓

I match you with...

Jumin!

You’re the kind of person that has struggled to get to where you are today. It's not always been easy and sometimes it feels like it would be easier to rip your hair out than it would be to do anything else. You've always done everything for everybody else around you instead of taking care of yourself. That has a lot to do with the fact that it's easier to take care of somebody than to think about yourself. That's why it's so easy for you to find kinship in somebody like Jumin Han. He is always doing for the people that he cares about and he doesn't think about what might help his emotional needs. All he thinks about is what he can do to benefit the lives of those around him. It's a shame because he deserves to put himself first, too.

When you're with him, you're put in a position where you have to face the things about yourself that you avoid. He has to face them as well. He's always avoiding letting somebody else take care of him, so the two of you were going to balance off each other in a healthy way. It's a back-and-forth where you're putting the other person first. You can't avoid self-care when you have a partner that wants to remind you to do it when it has to be done. What’s cuter is that the two of you spend self-care nights watching horror movies and debating the story choices as well as the art itself.

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Return Her pt.8

The dreams persist and continue to get worse, but they can't know about these supposedly prophetic night terrors... especially after what you've just seen.

It seems that your promise of a kiss really did motivate Bofur, because not even 10 minutes later are you all reaching the other side of the lake. 

As soon as it's put to shore and you all file out, Bofur looks to you expectantly and taps the side of his face. 

You, being as you promise, waste no time and leaning down and pecking his cheek gently, giggling at the way his cheeks reddens slightly and a huge smile breaks out on his face. It's pretty cute, you have to admit. 

"There you go, now no more complaining about not getting a kiss, okay? From now on there will be no negotiations." You tell them decisively, adding afterwards, "I will distribute them when I see fit." 

Bofur nods happily and goes back to the boat to grab some of the supplies, meanwhile Kili looks at you with a frown, "But what about me?" 

"I told you already, you got one." 

"Yes, but I can't remember it! Surely that isn't fair." He complains, glancing over at his brother and Bofur who are taking things out of the boat. 

"It's not my fault you can't remember it." You shoot back, stepping around him to take your backpack out of the boat. 

Kili stares at you for a few moments with the same displeased expression on his face before grumbling out, "It's not fair." 

You glance back at him again while you put on your bag, sighing internally before stepping back and pecking his cheek very quickly. "There! Now no more complaining or I'll go right back to Bard-" 

They don't even let you finish your sentence before they're all yelling, "No!"

It seems you've gotten your point across.

---

The journey to the mountain is long and horribly arduous, and you can tell that it's taking a toll on Kili since he's begun to sweat and his breath is coming out in shallow pants. 

When you notice this you skip over to Fili and jump in front of him, successfully making him, and everyone else, halt their trekking. 

"Y/N? What are you doing?" Fili asks, looking up at you with furrowed eyebrows. 

"Fili, dear, your brother is struggling an awful lot over there. I think we should take a break so he doesn't, like, pass out or anything." 

Normally, they would argue with you and tell you you're being too sensitive and worrisome, but with all the things you've been right about recently, Fili concedes and nods his head in agreement, "Alright." 

A huge smile breaks out on your face when the first answer isn't 'no' for once, and right away you clap your hands together excitedly and pat his shoulder, "Excellent." 

"We can rest beneath those trees for shade, and Oin will change his bandages." Fili states decisively, looking up at you with a small smile on his face since your joy is rather contagious. 

You drop your hand from his arm and bound over to the trees he pointed out with a new vigor fueled by the desire to take a freaking break. 

Right away you settle onto the ground and take off your backpack, patting the spot next to you when Kili limps over with Fili and Bofur on either side of him (incase he collapses or something). Oin walks over much slower and with less enthusiasm, though he does appear to be pretty pleased about having a break too.

Kili sits down next to you without hesitation and stretches his legs out in front of him, looking over at Oin wearily since he doesn't much want anyone to touch his still healing (and very tender) wound. 

"I'm going to need you to lay down, lad." Oin tells him once he takes a seat, pulling out some things from his bag (supplied to him by Bard and Tauriel) like more stuff to wrap his leg and some cleaning stuff. 

The brown-haired dwarf sighs shakily a and slowly begins to lay back, fully intending to stretch out on the hard, dirty ground. 

"Ah, wait." You tell him quickly, scooting closer and offering your lap up as a pillow. 

He, of course, doesn't pass up the offer and settles himself down with his head resting on your thighs and a way too pleased expression on his face. 

Oin chuckles lightly before going business mode and carefully removing the wrapping Tauriel applied to his leg, careful not to hurt the young dwarf as he does so. 

You reach up and card your fingers through his hair gently, looking over at Oin's calculated and gentle movements with a slight frown on your face. On the bright side, at least it's not horribly infected anymore. 

Kili hums appreciatively when your nails scratch lightly at his scalp, the noise bringing your attention back to his face. 

You smile half-heartedly and ask, "Does it hurt at all?" 

"Only a little." He replies easily, folding his arms to rest on his stomach while he waits for Oin to finish up. "Don't worry, I will be fine." He assures, practically reading your worry ridden mind. 

"I-I know, but..." You trail off as you glance over at the scabbing and hideous hole in his leg, biting your lip lightly while you think over your words, "You were so sick..." 

"Careful there, Y/N, or I might begin to think you're worried for me." There is obvious humor in his voice, and from the smile on his face and the way Fili and Bofur laugh they all think it's funny; but you only look at him sourly. 

You reach down and pinch his nose none to gently, replying cooly, "Oh don't even joke about that! Obviously I was worried. We all were!" 

"Yes, but we didn't all cry." Bofur teases, leaning back against the tree with his hat covering his eyes. 

You glare over at him quickly and stick your tongue out, feeling your cheek heat up despite your attempt to remain cross and nonchalant. 

"You cried?" Kili asks quickly with wide eyes, forgetting all about the uncomfortable sensation of having Oin cleaning his arrow wound. 

"No!" You deny it with no small amount of embarrassment and indignation, pointedly avoiding looking at Kili since it's not the most dignifying thing. "I did not. Why would I even cry anyways? You were only writhing on the ground... screaming and practically sobbing any time any of us even got close to you..." It's not a memory that you want to hold onto for long, but what really gets you about it is how vividly you can remember his pained screams and agonized yells. 

 "Y/N..." Kili mumbles quietly, glancing over at his brother and Bofur who are looking at you with sympathetic expressions on their faces. 

"Oh, shut up! This isn't even about me, so worry about yourself." You huff, pulling on the ends of his hair lightly before saying hurriedly, "Look! Oin's all done! I'm going to take a nap, now." And with that, you push his head off your lap and immediately lay down with your head on your bag, covering your face with your hood and wrapping your arms around yourself. 

Kili sits up after you shove him off of you and looks at your curled up form with slight annoyance, speaking with a bit of humor to hopefully ease your tension, "Oh sure, go and push me off, thank you for that." 

"You're welcome, dearie." You reply without hesitation, feeling a smile tug at the corners of your lips in spite of the slight sadness creeping into you mere seconds before. "Hush now, I'm sleeping." 

He snickers at that but doesn't bother you anymore, so Fili speaks up and tells everyone, "30 minutes should be enough time for a break." 

Nice. 

---

There is only black when you first open your eyes. 

You cannot see anything, though you can hear the crazed yells of a man. 

He yells of the Arkenstone. 

Of treachery. 

Of distrust and wanting to keep something safe.

You feel a weight on your wrists suddenly, and when you look down you see transparent chains binding you to a throne, and more clearly this time you hear, "My key. My charm of good fortunes." 

And then that voice turns angry and you hear a vicious yell, "Throw him from the ramparts!" 

The black makes way for a blinding light, and when you look up everything around you shifts. 

The light dies upon you and you feel an emptiness spread from your chest throughout the rest of your body. 

Now, everything is gray.

The sky, the stone all around you, the blue-tinted ice beneath your feet, everything. 

Very slowly you turn, eyes meeting that all too familiar sight of a raging battle below and a grand castle settled upon the Lonely Mountain.

The screams from the awe-inspiring town meet your ears once more and are very faint until suddenly it all stops. 

Now all you hear is silence. A horrible, deafening silence that stretches out all around you. 

And then, oh so softly, comes the broken, "No..." Of a man witnessing something truly dreadful. Something that, still, you cannot see. 

Your body moves upon it's own accord, turning with a careful and painstakingly slow rotation, and once more you're met with the sight of Thorin, Bilbo, and Dwalin all staring ahead with matching hopeless and devastated countenances. 

There is no other sound even when you see their mouths opening as they scream and cry, for the only thing you can hear is the painfully loud roaring of complete, deathly, silence. 

You try, oh you try so hard, to look toward the source of their anguish, but like the night before your head refuses to abide by your wishes, and it's not until your vision zooms in automatically on that white hand and the chest of whoever this person holds that you can move. 

You turn your head up to catch a glimpse, just a quick peek, at the face belonging to whoever this person is, but the sun blinds you mostly still and all you see is messy, braided, blond hair. 

You know that hair.

Then you're back on the ground, looking down at the limp, bloodied body of somebody else, a gaping hole in their chest and a blur of brown hair and a short beard in your peripherals. 

You know that figure. 

In contrast of your dream from before, this time you get more than a quick look at someone getting stabbed in the chest, for you see a broken figure of someone laying lonely on ice until the soft sound of someone running towards you both reaches your ears. 

You want to see who it is, and you try very hard to clear the haze and see their face, you  and kind of get what you were wishing for.

His eyes are all you can see but still you know who it is.

You know .

Then your eyes fall upon Bilbo. 

"Why are you just standing there?" He yells, walking up to you, seeming so much bigger than he actually is as he grabs your shoulders in a bruising grip. "Why didn't you do anything? How could you just watch them die?" 

You shake your head and try to defend yourself, but when you open your mouth to reply, you find that you can't speak, and your cheeks begin to feel hot as tears run down them with record breaking speed. 

"You could have stopped this!" 

Once more you shake your head no and try to push his hands from your shoulders, but the hold stays and his yells grow louder. 

"Wake up." 

What?

"Y/N, you need to wake up! It's only a dream!"

You jolt awake and your eyes snap open quickly, your gaze flickering around above for a moment as you try to make sense of what's around you. 

The first thing you see is the confused and very worried faces of Fili and Bofur, and the first thing you feel is the hotness of your face and the dampness of your cheeks. 

Then, you see Kili and Oin just behind them, and your throat feels hoarse as your heart throbs painfully as the dream replays behind your eyes and the the hints that littered throughout your terror come back to you. 

The realization you come to makes you sick to your stomach, but you push down the bile and sit up slowly, entangling your hands into your hair and putting your head between your knees as you try to force away the unpleasant nightmare. 

Vaguely you feel a heavy hand pressing against your back and rubbing slow, soothing circles between your shoulder blades as you try to calm your breathing and rub away the tears staining your cheeks. 

You stay in that position for a small while, until all the crying is done and over with and you can form a proper thought once more. 

When you slowly sit up normally once again, you meet the worried stares of four others and immediately feel quite a bit worse.

"I'm fine." 

The words leave you before you can even think of any explanation for what just happened, but truthfully after what you just saw you're not so sure you wanna share that with anyone else. 

"Clearly you aren't." Fili challenges without hesitation, his eyebrows furrowed as he observes you carefully, "Your dream was distressing enough to make you scream and cry in your sleep, which isn't something that happens very often, especially not for any normal night terror." 

You look away sharply and weakly shrug your shoulders, avoiding all eye contact. Not even wanting to see them after what you'd just witnessed in your unrestful state. 

"Y/N..." Bofur mumbles your name sadly, reaching out to place his hand on your shoulder gently. "What has you so sad?" 

"I-It was just a stupid dream." You insist once more, shying away from his gentle touch. "It's nothing..." 

"It's not nothing! Why won't you tell us?" Kili asks sadly, adding after, "You've always told us before."

You shake your head slowly and say much softer this time, "Please... I don't wanna talk about it. Let's just go, okay?" 

None of them seem to much like the idea of dropping it and heading out, but the clock is ticking and you all really need to get going before nightfall. 

"Alright, alright. We will not force you to discuss it if you do not wish to." Fili tells you softly, wrapping his arm around your shoulders despite your hesitance to touch any of them. "We'll get going, and hopefully the hike will help your head to clear." 

A relieved sigh leaves you and you nod your head quickly, "Yes, thank you." 

---

Your spirits lifted after a little while of walking, and you actually found that you no longer feel so upset anymore.

I mean, only two thing from your odd dreams has actually happened, and those are things you already vaguely knew would occur anyways. You decide that it's nothing and you should just forget about it, especially since they're right in front of you now.

Some small talk with Kili and Bofur made helped you to forget, and Fili gave you a couple of encouraging and sweet words too that Oin backed up with a big smile and a confirmation of his own. 

Suffice to say once you all arrived at Erebor, you were feeling much better. 

And your happiness only multiplies when you find everyone still alive and kicking inside of that mountain. 

Kinda. 

Bilbo approaches you all before anyone else, and the first thing that comes out of his mouth is, "Stop! Stop! Stop! You need to leave. We all need to leave." 

You look at him weirdly and reply in confusion, "What are you talking about? Bro, we literally just got here?" 

The hobbit shakes his head and shoots back, "I tried talking to him, but he won’t listen."

This time Oin speaks, and he's just as freaked out and confused as you all, "Wh-what do you mean, laddie?"

"Thorin! Thorin. Thorin, he’s been down there for days." He takes a breath, still walking backwards while you all push forward, before continuing, "He doesn’t sleep, he barely eats. He’s not been himself, not at all. It’s this…it’s this place. I think a sickness lies upon it.

Your eyebrows furrow and you scratch the back of your head lightly, "That doesn't sound right..."

Fili looks distracted suddenly, and you follow him with your eyes as Kili asks, "A sickness? What kind of sickness?"

As soon as the younger dwarf says this, his brother rushes down the stairs while Bilbo calls after him, "Fili? Fili!"

You all rush after the blond dwarf, he's acting so strange all of a sudden, and that's when you see it. 

A sea of shinning and shimmering gold before you, huge jewels and golden goblets, a room of beauty beyond belief, and a single dwarf standing amongst it all with a cape of fur and a shiny crown to match. 

"Gold. Gold beyond measure, beyond sorrow and grieve."

Oh, yikes, that's kinda...

He notices you all looking, which makes you even more concerned that he's speaking to himself like that, and then bellows in a welcoming voice, "Behold, the great treasure hoard of Thrór." After he says this, he throws a piece of gold or something and Fili catches it, then he continues, "Welcome, my sister’s sons, to the Kingdom of Erebor."

Now, you're no mathematician, but something here ain't addin' up. 

"Right... well this is all cool and fun and stuff, but where is everyone else?" You ask loudly, successfully gathering everyones attention onto you. 

Thorin, not very surprisingly, seems to not know where they are, so Bilbo pipes up, "Follow me." 

You all do except for Fili who stays behind with his uncle. 

Please, god, don't let this get out of hand... 

[dawninlatin]

Queen of Peace, chapter 13

A manorian high school AU

Words: 2563

AO3 Link

Masterlist

Summary: Manon Blackbeak is flawless, untouchable. From the outside at least. Her grandmother pushes her to achieve greatness, and she doesn’t let anyone get too close in fear of being hurt. How can anyone love her when not even her parents could?

Dorian Havilliard has always felt safe and confident around his friends. He might not have the greatest of families, but with Aelin and Chaol by his side, nothing can go wrong. That is until he tries keeping his greatest secret from them.

What will happen when Dorian and Manon gets to know one another? Can two lost souls find their way back together?

Oh, the queen of peace

Always does her best to please

But is it any use?

Somebody’s gotta lose

-Florence + The Machine, Queen of Peace

The music roared out of the speakers, and Manon moved her body to the rhythm, letting herself get lost in the upbeat tones. She had done this a dozen times by now, memorized this choreography weeks ago. 

But then she turned to the right, and it wasn’t Asterin dancing beside her - as it had always been - it was Sorrel. 

It startled her enough that she halted and messed up a few steps. Manon caught up with the others, but she was unable to pour her heart into it like she usually did. Her mind was too busy thinking about Asterin, worrying whether she was okay or not after their grandmother had kicked her out.

Manon had seen her at school a few times in the following weeks, but they hadn’t talked, and she doubted they would. Asterin probably hated her now, after all the horrible things Manon had said to her. 

Getting kicked out is the least you deserve after getting yourself knocked up by a boy who will leave at the first sign of some real responsibility. Don’t come crawling to me when you find yourself homeless and heartbroken. You’re off the dance team, by the way.

Manon hadn’t meant what she said, not really, but maybe this was for the better…

Her grandmother had made it very clear that she was not to talk with Asterin anymore, and Asterin avoiding her, hating her, made everything much easier.

Yet, if it made things easier, why did it also make her so sad? The house had been awfully quiet these weeks, so quiet it was near-stifling. Manon hadn’t realized how different, how empty, home would be without Asterin there.

Stop moping around you sad, pathetic fool!

Manon mentally scolded herself, forcing her attention back to the dancing. She couldn’t keep letting this distract her. Asterin was simply an obstacle who no longer stood in the way of her future.

Finishing the rest of the choreography, she ignored the desperate, disappointed voice inside her head that whispered; you’re beginning to sound like her.

When the music faded into nothing and her body stopped moving, Manon put on her usual mask of cold, calculating boredom and turned towards her team. She immediately knew something was up, as they were all looking at her as if they had something to say, but didn’t dare say it.

«What,» Manon said, more an order than a question. If they had all decided to gang up against her, she only wanted to get it over with. 

The girls exchanged wary glances, before Sorrel took a step forward and said, «We need Asterin on this choreo.» Manon was surprised when Vesta, who leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, stayed silent for once.

With a sigh, Manon answered Sorrel, «And why the hell do we need Asterin?» 

Yet again did they all look at each other, as if this was something they’d discussed behind her back. The icy feeling of betrayal snaked its way up Manon’s spine.

«Because it’s always been the thirteen of us. We’re off-balance without Asterin.» It was Ghislaine who spoke this time.

«You’ve said it yourself,» Briar shot in from the back of the room. «If just one of us is missing, the entire team falls apart!»

It was when Vesta finally opened her mouth that she snapped. «And you slipped up today, Manon. Several times!» 

«I have no idea what you’re talking about,» Manon hissed, clenching her fists so hard it hurt. «You have been distracted today, hell, you’ve been distracted, lazy and off-beat all week!»

«Because Asterin-» Vesta begun, but Manon didn’t let her finish.

«I don’t wanna hear another word about Asterin! It was her own stupidity that got her kicked off the team, and if you, all of you, don’t start working a bit harder, I won’t hesitate to replace you with someone else!»

The room was unbearably quiet when she was done talking, and Manon could hear her own heart thundering inside her chest. She had to stay calm, couldn’t let them see her fall apart, even if that was what she felt like doing right now. She was losing control, she was-

«I can talk to Asterin today if-»

«GET OUT!» 

Manon’s blood was boiling at the audacity of Vesta. Why couldn’t they understand that Asterin, with her carelessness, was jeopardizing everything they had worked towards? 

Her grandmother had been clear in her orders: everything had to be perfect, so they had to win nationals, which they couldn’t do when one of the teammates first of all didn’t bother showing up to half of the rehearsals, and second of all, would be heavily pregnant come spring.

When everyone had left, and Manon was alone once more, she didn’t let herself brood over the fight they’d just had, didn’t let herself recognize how awful this made her feel. She simply turned the music back on, and forgot.

She forgot everything she’d promised her grandmother, forgot the math test she’d butchered earlier today, forgot the fact that her whole dance team had probably just quit, forgot that she had no control over anything in her life anymore.

Yet as she kept moving her exhausted body, one thought remained. One of piercing blue eyes and soft lips.

And when she remembered that she had an actual date with him the next day, Manon smiled, despite everything.

-

«Why are you looking at me like that?»

How am I supposed to not look at you? Dorian wondered. Manon was radiant where she sat with her body leaned back, eyes closed, face tipped towards the sky. She was smiling softly, the autumn sun making her white-blonde hair glow.

Instead of telling her that, Dorian went with: «I’m just wondering what you’re thinking. You went quiet all of a sudden.»

She had. They’d been sitting here for hours now, under the huge oak tree in the park, eating and laughing and talking, but now she was silent, a calm, contemplating aura around her. 

Manon hummed in answer, before opening her eyes and twisting towards him. «I’m just…savoring the moment, I guess.» Her mouth quirked to the side, the movement making her nose scrunch, and Dorian had to let out a chuckle.

«Now who’s the cliché?» 

She’d been playfully mocking him for his picnic this whole time, even asking him if he was aware that they weren’t in every high school movie ever made. Dorian had begged to differ, telling her that the only reason it was a cliché, was because it worked.

And it did. After a while, Manon had reluctantly agreed that yes, maybe it was a little romantic. The admission had been accompanied by an eye-roll, of course, but what else could you expect?

«What time is it?» Manon asked after a moment. 

Dorian scrambled for his phone, finding it half-lodged under the picnic basket. «It’s almost 3pm,» he said, marveling over how much time had passed. He could spend all day like this, just talking about all and nothing with Manon. No matter what they discussed, she surprised him with her answers, whether it be a funny joke or an unusually deep thought, offering a new perspective on things. 

«I should head home soon,» she sighed, but Manon made no sign of getting up. Instead she laid down, Dorian joining her. «My grandmother will start to ask questions if I’m late.»

From what he’d gathered, Manon’s grandmother was very strict, especially when it came to boys, and Manon had told her she was studying at the library today. She rarely talked about her family, and whenever they touched on the subject, she quickly started talking about something else. Dorian knew not to ask questions, though. She would open up when and if she was ready, and those moments often came at the most unexpected times. 

«I had a lot of fun today, you know. Even if I still think you just googled date ideas and went with the first hit.» Dorian laughed at that, his stomach filling with what could only be described as butterflies. 

«Does that mean you would want to do it again?» They were lying on their backs, face to face, and all Dorian could think about was how badly he wanted to kiss her.

It had been weeks since their kiss in the library, but they hadn’t been able to do it again. All they’d gotten was stolen moments in between classes and late-night texts, their busy schedules making sure of that. Until now, that was.

«I would love to,» Manon offered, answering his question. «But next time I decide what we’re doing.»

«Deal,» Dorian grinned, his eyes staying fixed on her lips as she spoke.

Moments passed, the tension between them tangible, and then Manon whispered, «Is it weird that I really wanna kiss you right now?»

That was all it took for Dorian to crash his lips into hers. 

The kiss was exploring at first, her lips so soft and so perfect. He’d thought about their moment in the library constantly in the past weeks, but his memory could never do it justice, he knew now. This was the real thing, the real Manon, and she was bewitching. No other word could describe the experience that was kissing her.

Dorian pulled her closer, and Manon placed her hands in his hair. He had to continuously remind himself that they were outside, in the middle of a park, and anyone could walk by at any moment.

Yet he couldn’t stop either. Their mouths had gone from searching to ravenous, both of them trying to get closer to the other. Manon nudged him with her tongue, and he opened up for her, the taste of her exquisite.

His blood heated, skin becoming incredibly tight all of a sudden. He could keep doing this forever.

But they had to pull apart at some point to simply just breathe. And they did.

Manon let her forehead rest against his as they both panted slightly, Dorian reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of her face. «I really should go now,» she murmured against his lips, leaning in to kiss him once more. 

It was Dorian who pulled away this time, stroking her cheek. «I’ll see you later then.»

«Yeah,» she sighed, standing up in one smooth movement. The air around Dorian suddenly became unbearably cold. 

After Manon had picked up her jacket, ready to leave, she halted for a moment, and said, «I meant it when I said today was fun.» 

Then she leaned down to place a swift kiss on his cheek, stood back up and walked away, leaving him alone, all flustered. 

Dorian had to wait a moment before he could get up himself, because his pants had just become very tight. His face was burning at the fact, but he forced himself to think of dead puppies and his parents fighting and his gym teacher in those tiny shorts he insisted on wearing.

That last image was particularly horrifying, but it seemed to do the trick. Then, Dorian picked up his phone, only to find fifty new messages from Aelin in their group chat.

Sighing, he began to skim through the thread.

Aelin: Do you guys have plans for today?

Aelin: Rowan is busy

Aelin: And I’m bored

Aelin: Hellooooo

Chaol: I’m guessing I have plans now…

Aelin: I can actually hear how hard you’re sighing right now Chaol

Aelin: We’re seeing a movie today

Chaol: When?

Then there was a lot of planning back and forth, and both Chaol and Aelin trying to reach Dorian. The last message he got was a selfie of his best friends glaring at him, the text reading: Come hang out with us loser.

So Dorian stood, feeling lighter than ever, and began calling Aelin to hear where they were.

-

Stepping into the narrow hallway of her home, Manon carefully closed the door behind her, trying to stay as quiet as possible in case her grandmother was working. 

She hung her coat on the rack and turned her phone on silent. She rarely got any notifications, but that was before Dorian. Now they sent messages back and forth at all hours, most of it silly nonsense.

«Manon, is that you?» her grandmother called from the kitchen. Letting out a shaky breath, Manon made her facial expression that of someone who had studied in a library for hours and definitely hadn’t just made out with a hot boy.

Listen to yourself, you sound like some lovesick girl from those movies you hate so much, Manon mentally yelled, rolling her eyes at how annoying her internal monologue was becoming.

«Yeah, I’m back.» She stopped by the doorway to the kitchen on the way to her room, where her grandmother was sitting by the table, laptop open in front of her.

The woman glanced up at the clock on the wall, before looking back at Manon, her eyes searching. «You stayed at the library for a long time.»

Manon had to fight to stay fully still, to not flinch at her grandmothers words. She couldn’t know, could she? Putting on a fake smile, Manon said, «I just got into a really good workflow, didn’t wanna quit.»

Her breaths were getting faster, and she could feel the panic sneaking up on her.

Just keep it together until you’re alone! She always asks questions like these.

«I’m almost done with the history assignment,» she added to make sure her grandmother bought it. Even if it was all a lie. She hadn’t even started on the history paper.

«Good. I already made dinner, but there are some leftovers in the fridge if you’re hungry.» Her grandmother’s tone was pleasant, almost happy. She had to be in a good mood today, then. The whole thing felt deeply unsettling.

At least she was safe, for now.

«Thanks, but I’m not hungry. I’ll be in my room,» Manon said before turning and hurrying down the hall. Once she’d closed the door, she finally let out the breath of relief she’d benne holding, throwing away all pretense.

She couldn’t keep lying to her grandmother like this…

Not only did it make her feel awful, but the consequences would also be too great. She was putting her whole future at risk when she was acting like this, sneaking around and prioritizing boys over her schoolwork. 

Frustrated, she threw herself down on her bed, startling Abraxos who was sleeping on her pillow. Dorian made everything so much more complicated. Agreeing to go out with him had been a mistake. A huge, huge mistake.

Yet she’d felt better today, happier, than she’d had in a long time. She’d even managed to forget the catastrophe that was her dance team, if only for a few hours. And with this light, fluttery feeling, everything seemed more manageable. 

For now, she could do this, wanted to do this. The thought of not being with Dorian anymore… It didn’t feel right, and she was actually looking forward to Monday, when she would see him again.

She knew this, they, would have to end one way or another, but she couldn’t let go just yet.

A/N: That break really got longer than I anticipated...

It's been nearly a year now, since I first got the idea for this fic and started writing it, and here I was, believing I could be done with it by summer 2020. In all honesty, it feels like I posted chapter 12, blinked, and then 4 months had passed. But here it is, at least:) We have reached the halfway point, and a little progress is better than none. I'm still not making any promises regarding this fic, other than I will finish it, someday, whether that be in 2 months or 2 years. And to all of you who still read, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU SO MUCH<3<3 I could not have done it without you!

All the love, Aurora<3

Taglist: @fireheartdreamerstarborn @bookishwitchling @hellasblessed @kit-12 @onfma @ireallyshouldsleeprn @sayosdreams @rowaelinismyotp

I keep a separate taglist for each ship, so let me know if you want to be on any of them!

[alphadaddyderek]

Not all math puns are awful, just sum (sterek fic, high school au)

ao3 link: click if you dare

summary: ’what is the probability that anyone will pass this fucking class? I’m thinking 1 in 100’

Stiles shakes his head because that was such a bad math joke that it was actually kinda funny. And, based on the expressions on people’s faces during class, also very true.

'i think there is statistical data to back up your theory’

AU where Stiles and Derek have to share a textbook and they write terrible math puns back and forth to each other.

Stiles sincerely, genuinely, regrets taking AP classes.

Well, kinda.

They would look great on his resume. Colleges wouldn’t even second guess accepting him and he would receive so many scholarships which would help his dad big time.

AP classes will also raise his GPA crazy high which, again, looks great to colleges.

Sometimes they just suck.

His AP Statistics class is definitely #1 on the ‘classes that suck straight ass list’.

It’s boring and it can be kinda hard. Plus it’s math so it’s automatically gross.

Stiles is good at math, but it’s not his forte, that’s more Lydia Martin’s thing.

Anyway, Beacon Hills High had to have some budget cuts this year, like, serious budget cuts. The sports teams are lucky that people care about people throwing balls all over the place, otherwise they would’ve gotten cut too.

Since the school has had budget cuts, the students don’t get individual textbooks anymore. Meaning, that they can only use it during class and then they have to leave it in the classroom for the next class to use.

So, yeah.

It’s the third week of junior year, AP Stat is as boring as always. He has Lydia to talk to sometimes but she has other friends in the same class, so he's not always entertained.

The teacher didn’t really care about whether or not students did the work, he just played chess on his computer the whole class anyway. He gave the page number that we were supposed to work on and that was that.

Stiles prefers that to lectures, but still. When he’s done the work there’s nothing left for him to do. He could go on his phone, but even that gets boring eventually.

What he’s trying to say is that he’s bored, okay?

Turning to the page that the teacher assigned, Stiles is shocked and wildly amused, to already see writing on the margins of the page. He figured it would take at least half the school year before people started vandalizing the textbooks. Although, it’s written in pencil so it’s easily erasable.

When Stiles actually reads what was written he snorts. Luckily, it’s loud in the class so the most attention he gets is when Lydia shoots him a weird look which he ignores.

'what is the probability that anyone will pass this fucking class? I’m thinking 1 in 100'

Stiles shakes his head because that was such a bad math joke that it was actually kinda funny. And, based on the expressions on people’s faces during class, also very true.

Should he write something back? Stiles doesn’t know if the person who wrote this is hoping for a response, or if they wrote in the book because they’re just as bored as Stiles is.

Eh, fuck it. Why not?

'i think there is statistical data to back up your theory’

Stiles snickers at his equally bad math joke before finally deciding to focus on the actual work. He didn’t want to be one of the ones who didn’t pass the class, because that would suck. So he does the work and for the remainder of the class he lets out a giggle or two every once in a while because even though he’s 16 years old, he apparently still has the sense of humor of a child.

π π π

It’s the next class and honestly, Stiles kind of forgot about the writing in the textbook. After he left that class he went to AP Geography where there was immediately a test, which he nailed by the way. Plus, with all his other classes, he just didn’t think it was important to remember a bad, but still funny, math joke in a textbook.

The teacher assigns them another page number full of questions to work on. And, just like last time, there’s writing in the margins.

‘i’m sorry, that was pretty mean of me to say’

That one has Stiles laughing out loud. Not too loud though, because he doesn’t have that much of a death wish. He just laughs loud enough to make Lydia send him another weird look, except this time Lydia questions him about it.

“What is so funny?” she asks, twirling her hair with her pencil.

Stiles shakes his head. “Nothing really. Just somebody writing lame math jokes on the book pages.”

“Well, you’re laughing at them. So doesn’t that make you lame as well?”

Stiles dramatically gasps.

“Wow, Lydia, that was pretty mean of you to say,” Stiles replies before bursting into more laughter.

At this point, Lydia is looking at him like he has brain damage but he really can’t bring himself to care. It’s hilarious and if she doesn’t think so then oh well. Her loss.

Well, she doesn’t know that that was the joke inside the textbook, but still, whatever.

It’s funny.

π π π

By this point, it’s kind of like Stiles and this unknown jokester are pen pals.

It’s been a week filled with terrible math jokes and Lydia probably losing more and more respect for him as the days pass.

He’s told Scott about his little pen pal and of course, Scott doesn’t really get it, but he’s supportive nonetheless.

It’s a Friday night and Scott is at Stiles’ house. They’re playing video games and eating so much pizza that Stiles will be bloated for an entire week.

Thankfully, his dad is on the night shift, otherwise, he would be heavily judgmental of Stiles’ life choices.

After several rounds of Mario Kart, they take a break to eat said pizza and talk a bit.

“So,” Scott takes a huge bite of his slice. “how are you and your math buddy doing?”

Stiles takes a bite of his own slice. “Why are you asking? Jealous?”

Scott laughs. “Oh yeah, I’m so jealous. Please, Stiles, make terrible math jokes with me.”

Stiles flips Scott off. “You only mock because you really are jealous.”

Scott rolls his eyes and then the topic is dropped.

At least for the next hour or so. Then after that, it gets brought back up.

“Do you think it’s weird to have a crush on someone you’ve never met?” Stiles asks, playing with a loose thread on his jeans.

Scott looks at Stiles, and Stiles does not want to see the weird look Scott has on his face so he continues looking down.

“You have a crush on this person?”

Stiles shrugs. “I don’t know. They’re funny, and obviously, they’re smart if they’re in AP Stat. I would like to meet this person though, maybe. I don’t know.”

Stiles feels his cheeks heating up.

Scott nudges Stiles with his elbow. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s not weird at all. It’s kinda like online dating, but like medieval style.”

Stiles can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of his throat. “What?”

It’s like medieval style! ‘Cause, it’s in a book. Instead of online.”

Scott is always able to make Stiles feel better, no matter the situation. His goofiness especially lightens his mood.

“Okay, Scott. Are we going to go jousting next?”

“I don’t know. What you guys do on your first date is none of my business,” Scott says with a sly smile.

Stiles snorts and grabs a pillow off the couch behind them and smacks Scott in the face with it, resulting in a pillow fight ensuing.

And if anybody asks, Scott did not win. He didn’t!

π π π

2 weeks after he and Scott had that talk, Stiles continues talking with his pen pal. Although, maybe Stiles is looking too deep into this, but it kind of seems like flirting now?

Hear him out.

In the margins, the person started adding smiley faces and winky faces after every message.

Ooh and they actually put their initials! D.H.

Stiles doesn’t think he knows anyone in school with those initials. Granted, Stiles isn’t exactly a social butterfly so he’s not doubting their existence at all.

AP Stat only has 5 minutes left in the class. Stiles has already embarrassed himself in front of Lydia more times than he can count, so he decides to ask Lydia if she knows someone with those initials.

She purses her lips. “Why do you ask?”

Stiles sighs inwardly before answering. “Uh, well. I was just...wondering. Ya know. Trying to expand my friend circle.”

Lydia raises an eyebrow. And Stiles sighs outwardly this time.

“Fine. You know the jokes that were in the book?”

“You mean from like a month ago?”

“Well...we’ve kinda been continuing to exchange jokes and notes and stuff. And then recently they put their initials. Or, at least I think it’s their initials. I don’t know what else it would be. So, yeah.”

Lydia looks at him for a moment before her lips curl up into a smile. “You mean you’ve finally found someone who has a worse sense of humor than you?”

Stiles returns the smile. “I’ll have you know, my sense of humor is advanced. Way too advanced even for you.”

“Uh-huh. Anyway, the only name that comes to mind is Derek Hale.”

Stiles chokes on his own spit. “Derek Hale? You mean the star of the basketball team? The guy with eyes that are like fifty different colors and bunny teeth that would look ridiculous on anyone else but he somehow looks gorgeous with them? That Derek Hale?”

“Yes. Other than that, I don’t know anyone else with those initials.”

“Does he take AP Stat?”

Lydia shrugs. Stiles takes that as a no.

There’s no way that Derek Hale is the one writing these notes. No way in hell. Stiles isn’t that lucky.

Plus, even if Derek is the one writing these, hypothetically speaking, Derek wouldn’t be interested in him. Don’t get Stiles wrong, he knows he’s a pretty attractive guy. But nobody in this school is as attractive as Derek Hale. Let's be real here.

Okay, maybe Danny. Danny is kinda gorgeous.

But besides Danny, nobody is even on the same level as Derek.

Well, Lydia is too.

Okay, dammit. People are on the same level as Derek Hale. The point is that Stiles isn’t.

Stiles sighs for what seems like the eighth time in. “Okay. Thanks.”

Lydia gives him a scrutinizing look before nodding and getting on her phone.

Stiles sits there and ponders why his life is like this before deciding that he must've done something to piss off fate in a past life. Pleased with his conclusion, Stiles shoves his notebook and pencils into his backpack just in time for the bell to ring.

π π π

Okay, so, Stiles must be going crazy.

When he saw that his pen pal had written his initials he figured, ‘hey, I might as well do the same. It’s only decent right?’ so he had, and ever since then Derek Hale has been shooting him looks in the hallway.

Maybe he’s hallucinating, because Derek Hale is, well, Derek Hale. Out of everyone in the hallway, why would he be looking at Stiles?

Also, Stiles can’t be the only person in the school with the initials S.S. although, he probably is the only S.S. that’s taking AP Stat so there’s that.

Stiles doesn’t know what to do, should he wave? Shoot him a smile?

Actually no, he should do neither of those things because if he does, and Derek actually wasn’t looking at him, that would be so unbelievably embarrassing. So embarrassing that Stiles would have to transfer schools immediately.

Stiles shakes his head and opens up his locker to gather his things for his next class. When he closes the locker Derek is standing right there like they’re in a horror movie and Stiles jumps so hard that he drops his notebook.

“Shit. Sorry,” Derek says and bends down to swipe Stiles’ notebook off the floor.

“No, it’s okay. You’re awfully quiet for an athlete.”

Stiles holds his hand out for his notebook but Derek doesn’t seem all that interested in returning it to him just yet. Derek looks at the front of his notebook.

“Hmm. AP Stat. Interesting.”

Stiles bites his lip and nods. “Yep,” he says popping the ‘p’. “it is interesting. Well, actually it’s not. AP Stat is yuck sometimes and it can get boring but it’ll look great on my resume so.”

Derek nods. He looks at Stiles for a few more seconds before he opens his mouth, and the second he does, Stiles’ stomach fills with butterflies.

“What is the probability that anyone will pass that fucking class? I’m thinking 1 in 100.”

Stiles bites his lip to stifle his smile. He doesn’t want to cheese like an idiot in front of Derek Hale but he thinks that ship has already sailed cause Derek’s lips stretch into a big smile.

Stiles clears his throat. “I think there is statistical data to back up your theory.”

“Oh, is there?” Derek asks, smile turning into a smirk.

Stiles nods then looks at his notebook that is still in Derek’s hand. “Can I have my notebook now? I’m not sure what exactly you’re plotting but I don’t like it.”

Derek scrunches his face up. “Wow, that was bad.”

Stiles’ mouth gapes. “Like yours were any better.”

Derek shrugs, smile returning to his face. “I thought my mean joke was pretty hilarious.”

“Yeah, hilariously bad. I didn’t laugh at all, not one bit.”

Derek looks like he doesn’t believe a word Stiles just said, which is fair, he shouldn’t.

“So,” Derek begins, eyes boring into Stiles’— seriously, what is up with Derek’s eyes? — “what is the probability that you will give me your number?”

Stiles pretends to think about it for a second. “I'm thinking 100 in 100.”

[athena-is-a-chaotic-lil-shit]

Of Ice and Blood

Part 2

Hello there! I present to you, part 2 of my orc x fem!human series!

I still don't know what to name this fic of mine

I should've thought about the title in the first place lmao

Anyways! I'll try updating constantly if I can. Enjoy reading!

Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Pairing: Tai'chi Kashharzol (Orc) x Pearl Blackbell (Human OC/Reader)

Warnings: Cursing, lots of cursing. Mild violence and mentions of injury.

UD 01/10/21 : CLEANED AND PROOFREAD PROPERLY (hey I did my best)

(reference to the mask she's currently wearing //her hair is still braided// )

*

Even with the tedious introduction the professor was on about, I couldn’t help but pick up the whispers of my human classmates, and the unmistakable nasty odor they were giving off.

“Hey. Look at that orc over there.”

“Tsk. Beast. Why is it even here—”

“I bet it’s gonna get suspended from breaking someone’s arm.”

“It looks like he’s gonna kill somebody soon.”

Snickers and clicks of disgust went around the group.

The professor shushed them, not quite knowing what they were talking about before he moved on.

I cursed, feeling my blood boil from their words. The orc wasn’t even doing anything! And they slander him like that? I would love to break their fucking ne—

No, damn it! No violence! Mama will go crazy if she finds out I broke someone’s spine. Behave and endure. Remember your training.

...but seriously though, I'm going to fucking snap their legs. Nah, perhaps use pepper spray on their eyes until they go blind, even though the mixture inside my spray bottle wasn’t made to have permanent effects on someone, but it would still cause great discomfort.

I hugged my backpack, the thought of my dusters inside somehow comforting.

I didn’t notice Tai'chi was taking glances at me out of concern while I was imagining how I’d smash those jerks’ faces.

************************************

My mind wandered around the interaction by the gates earlier, and how... contradicting... it was when I entered the building.

Everything passed like a blur as I continued daydreaming about other things, hardly paying attention to what everyone else was saying. Plus it takes a lot of concentration to survive their pungent scents.

A bell rang, bringing me back down to Earth. It was lunchtime already.

Everyone seemed relieved as they started filing out of the area and headed towards the cafeteria. [a/n: Ooh that rhymed] I failed to see the lingering glances of barely masked distaste in our direction.

I glanced at the or— Tai'chi, whom I found out was looking at me already, stunning me at how he stared for a moment before I broke eye contact and stood up, which he also did. I almost fell back down my chair when I scented him.

Wha—

How the fuck did I not smell him before?!

I must’ve focused too much on the awful odor surrounding me that it didn’t register this—

This, oh my God.

To describe it, it was simply so— manly (or is it Orcish?). Like the scent of fresh earth and the warmth of a fireplace in the midst of a cold night. Embers crackling and sending sparks up into the sky.

He doesn’t smell one trace of a beast at all! In fact, I’ve never smelled someone so clean, so pleasant, all the while exuding masculinity, and was that a tad hint of vanilla?

For the first time in a while, I couldn’t place what the feeling was exactly. He simply smells so— good. Which is a positive sign?

I looked up to his eyes once more before I blurted out, probably a little too high-pitched;

“Lunch?”

Seriously? That’s what comes out of your damn mouth?

“I mean, do you want to go grab some lunch? At the cafeteria?” I clarified to sound normal and unaffected, (even when I clearly am).

Was the last part necessary? You’ve broken noses, dealt painful blows like a skilled warrior, but you’re embarrassing yourself.

I was busy reprimanding myself that I nearly missed what he said.

"Sure.”

He straightened up, and I was then faced with the reality of how damn tall he is. Or is it because I’m short? I barely reached over 5 feet, and he is standing there, almost three heads taller than me. Was he hunching for my sake earlier?

Wowie…

I scented a hint of pride, and was that a small quirk of his lips for a second there?

Huh. My mask is a lifesaver, or else he would've seen my jaw dropping.

I followed him out and headed straight for the campus’ cafeteria, all the while trying to converse here and there.

****************************

'Trying’ was not the right word.

Definitely not.

It was surprising, how easy and nice it was to talk to him. I could scent his apprehensiveness when I talked to him at first, but he relaxed not long after I introduced myself properly.

It felt... natural.

I learned that he came from the Northside of the country and moved to the city last year to pursue his dreams and to find a better future for his clan. I also told him about my family and home, along with my reasons for being here, leaving out the… violent part.

“My family and my entire clan wanted the best for me and my brothers. Up in the North, education is… very limited. Although ever since we were young, we were taught everything from our clan’s history, how to hunt for food, what herbs and plants were poisonous, what were medicinal and edible, how to stay alive, survive and so on.”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“But we were cut off from the modern world. Times are changing, fast. Global warming being a major problem, leaving a huge impact on our living. So, when my clan heard about a school in the city, open to all races, they turned to us, the youth, and we took this chance.”

I looked down and thought about how disconnected the others were, only given the freedom to modern society eight years ago. Eight years is a long time, but I guess it’ll take more than that for everyone to get used to the change. That doesn’t mean they should treat them poorly!

As I realized I’ve been quiet for a while, I shot up and apologized for not replying.

“No, it’s okay. You looked like you were in deep thought. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Y-yeah… I was—”

“Thinking about how the majority of the human race still see us as beasts?”

There was a bit of spite in his voice, although barely noticeable. Or was it because I caught a whiff of it? No one was paying much attention to us while we were walking. But I noticed many of them hastily stepping aside and felt their glares at my back.

“How did you know?” I asked, curious.

“I could tell from your- I could tell, from the way you frowned earlier when one of those humans said something.”

Oh. He was looking at me that time?

“Frowned? But my mask—”

“It’s easy to tell if you are frowning when your eyebrows scrunch up like that. Believe me, my father does that a lot.”

“Ah. Well. It was just very rude of them. To talk shit about you and your kind like that, as if they were any better. You weren’t even doing anything, and they judge you based on your race. Orcs are civilized and intelligent just like any other, and I don’t understand why there’s still so much prejudice after eight damn years—”

I stopped and restrained the urge to go wild and curse every single human who smelled so foul every time we pass by.

“Sorry. I was...rambling.”

Was I this talkative? Maybe it's because I never had anyone to talk to.

He didn’t reply, which I found strange, so I glanced over at him and saw his eyes wide open and brows shooting up in surprise. It was almost comical.

“Uh, Tai'chi?”

Before he could even utter a word, we arrived at a huge hall where students were chatting and enjoying their lunch. Still, I noticed some humans were giving unkind looks to a gathering of goblins eating at the far left side corner of the cafeteria.

And of course, I didn’t fail to smell that wretched odor coming from a group of girls on my right when we walked in. I also recognized the one who pushed me, (No doubt it was intentional). I had to pinch my nose over my mask just but I could only block out half of it.

Ah shit, this mask doesn’t have proper air filtration.

I groaned as I tried to cut off the noise and thickened scents. For real, I wasn’t expecting it to be this harsh! I could literally smell discrimination and hate in the air!

Fuck. I should’ve worn my other mask. I swear I’m gonna burst if I stay and inhale more of that any longer—

“Pearl, are you okay?”

I groaned again and didn’t reply, busy controlling my sense of smell to even open my mouth. We were standing there like a pair of street posts, blocking a small part of the main entrance. That is if there was a 5ft- tall post. I’m more like that foldable caution sign.

“Pearl—”

“Hey, you there! Freaks! Move out of the way.”

Great. Another awful fucking odor. And what a coincidence! It was the one I smelled this morning!

“Are you deaf? I said—”

He shouldn’t have grabbed my shoulder, shouldn’t have tried to shove me aside, for the second I felt his hand reaching for me, and before Tai'chi could pull me away, my reflexes kicked in.

What did I do exactly? Oh, I simply grabbed that damned arm of his, threw him over my shoulder, and slammed him down on the tiled floor in front of me, finishing a one-arm shoulder throw.

The people in the area halted what they were doing and a short-lived silence came over, broken by whispers.

So much for keeping a low profile.

The guy I just performed basic self-defense on was spitting curse words at me. He was still on the floor, trying not to voice the pain in his back.

“Freak! You’re a monster, aren’t you?! How dare you do this to me. Don't you know who I am?!" he yelled.

Did he mean me or? Either way, what he said was not true.

I tried to calm my anger down and gave him a forced smile, under my mask, and mustered up the voice and tone I always used when I’m annoyed.

But right now, I am pissed.

“Now, dear, fellow, human, what you said was clearly untrue. I am entirely human and this person beside me is an orc. Or were you blinded by your overgrown ego and disgusting attitude to see the obvious in front of you? Surely that must be it. The entrance to the cafeteria is wide enough for two people to not serve as a hindrance to the ones coming in, but still, you chose to try and shove me aside yourself. Well, I won’t apologize but I’ve had enough pushing for one day. And lastly, no, I do not know you and I don’t care.”

I gritted my teeth, my face hurting from smiling forcefully. The cafeteria was quite silent enough all the while and no doubt they heard every word I said.

Fuck.

I twisted around and bolted out of the building.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck! I blew it! Fucking blew my chance to have a normal college life! Now everyone will think I’m some crazy person and would, without a doubt, avoid me forever.

I was too busy cursing and walking away, planning to hide in a hole for all eternity that I didn’t feel the presence of someone following me.

Without thinking much of where I was heading, my feet led me to a secluded part of the uni. Tall trees lining up before and around me looking like an entrance to a forest, and so I tried hiding behind one. Hoping that the guards wouldn’t notice and detain me or something.

I sat down between the great roots of an oak tree and rested my head on top of my knees as I took deep breaths and listened.

Nature always had a place in my heart. How could it not? When you can hear the chirps of little birds, the soothing sound of leaves rustled by the wind. And the peace that comes with it all.

Not to mention it smells so relaxing.

“Hello there.”

************************************

Haha! What will Pearl do next I wonder, and who is this person who followed her??

Had to cut it off at that part because my dearest self just loves cliff hangers—

And because I wanted to post something as soon as possible.

Hope you enjoyed! I will be working on the third part asap.

Tags: @kokokatsworld @crackinanutshell

[bobohunn]

The 56th Street

Title : 56th Street

Pair : baekhyun x reader, baekhyun x you

Genre : angst, fluff, one shot

Warnings : language, and mentions of stalking, divorce and non consensual taking of pictures (not between pair)

Word count : 3k

Note : Italicized words are character/reader’s thoughts; indented (blockquote) and italicized paragraphs are flashbacks.

xx

“Are you busy right now?” a husky voice found its way to your ear from the other side of the line.

“No. Thank god,” you mumbled before letting a deep sigh leave your lips.

After ages, you finally heard your favorite sound on earth again.

It was the sound that went a little too high while singing along to Queen and Michael Jackson songs that played on the radio in your room while you did homework at 3 pm. The one that rang loud throughout the whole house while you danced to random and silly steps on the stage that is your bed at 3 am.

It was the same sound that went two octaves lower when you teased him too much about the little crush he seemed to harbor for the girl who sat beside him in 11th grade or when you asked him for one of his friend’s number. One that carried sweet nothings with it to your blushing ears the first time you got drunk on your birthday.

It was the very same sound that was once your refuge and salvation. The very same that calmed the erratic beating of your heart when you were nervous. One that chased your tears to crawl back up and hide in the corners of your round eyes when life enveloped you into darkness.

The voice you’ve been longing for more frequently these days.  

Your best friend’s voice.

He chuckled, his low register ringing through your eardrums. “Are you at home?” 

“No, but I’m walking home,” you say almost too softly, trying not to sound too excited.

There was a long period of silence. If you didn’t know Baekhyun enough, you would have already ended the call at the lack of response. However, you knew him way too well to see (hear) that he was still thinking about what he would say. So you just continued walking on your path slowly, occasionally looking over your shoulders in case you were blocking somebody’s way.

“You’re walking on that street again, aren’t you?” He hummed before asking in a very knowing tone. It took you a moment to process his question, so when you were about to defend yourself, Baekhyun had already started his nagging, “I told you not to take that street when I’m not with you!”

You smiled a bit at the realization that although you didn’t even answer yet, he already knew the truth. And your smile grew more prominent at the thought that he still knows you better than anyone.

The only person you wanted to remember you still knows you like you were the back of his hand. And you‘re not anywhere near remarkable for anyone— or even just for him at least, to remember you. Isn’t that an achievement for you?

Snorting out a laugh, you said, “Sorry, Baek. It’s the fastest way home.”

No. Actually, it’s the street that reminds me of you most.

It was the quietest street in your town, 56th street, both your favorite route to take. It was the street that held a huge part of your memories together with him and had all the little moments that piled up into ones you’ll treasure forever. The road that witnessed both of you grow from the innocent little boy and girl you once were to the lovely man and woman you both are today.

It’s the street that reminded you of when you first heard him laugh,

“Since we’re neighbors, and I’m new here, can’t you show me around the town?” the little boy said as he lifted his hands to his neck to scratch at the skin right below his jaw, making you stare at them in awe.

You snapped yourself out of your short trance and said blankly, “The only places I know are my house and the school.”

As cliché as it may sound, everything around you moved in slow motion as the side of the boy’s lips rose to his tinted cheeks. His eyes turned upside down, and his eyebrows raised. He laughed lightly before asking, “Then, should we see where this street ends?”

Of when you first saw him pout,

“Baekhyun, no. We have to go home,” you said as you continued on your track without looking back at him. He went silent, and a smirk crept up your face.

However, it grew too suspiciously silent. So you stopped walking and turned your head back, only to find a sulking Baekhyun. His hands were in his pockets, eyebrows knit together, cheeks puffed out, and his lower lip pouty. He slowly looked back up at you with his puppy eyes that always won you over.

“Oh my god, don’t give me that look. You’re making my head hurt.”

He moved closer to you and grabbed one of your hands, “I’ll stay over at yours for dinner so your mom won’t scold you for too long. Just please come with me to the supermarket. I’m really craving ice cream,” he said with his eyes quivering from left to right.

He’s onto something. “What do you have up in your sleeve, Mr. Byun? Tell me, or I’m not going with you,” you said as you narrowed your eyes at him.

He looked away from you and landed his gaze towards the ground again, “Y-you, I heard y-you crying in your room last night. I just want to buy you ice cream to cheer you up because I won’t be able to sleep knowing I hadn’t done anything for you before this day ended.”

When you first heard him curse and get mad,

“Excuse me, Dude. But what are those photos for?” you heard a familiar voice from behind you. Recognizing it as Baekhyun, you quickly looked over your shoulder to greet your friend.

“A-ah i-it’s just for documentation purposes for our group study,” stuttered the other guy whose back was turned to you.

You called out Baekhyun’s name, confused about the current situation laid in front of you. Your friend only raised his head to you and motioned for you to come to him, “do you know this guy?”

You approach the two men, curious as to who the other person is. When you caught a glimpse of the unfamiliar face, you slowly shook your head no. “I don’t think so. Do I have to?”

Baekhyun clicked his tongue and clenched his jaw. He sneered a little and turned his head to the side, making you more confused.

“The next time you make a fucking excuse, make sure it’s not as stupid as you look. Stop being a fucking pervert, you fucking stalking asshole.”

And of when you first heard him cry.

“Oh my god, Baekhyun, what happened?” you said as you brought the taller man’s head to your shoulder. You tried to rub his back and smooth out the creases of his school uniform, but he just started wailing more.

He was leaning into you, and you couldn’t take his weight anymore, so you guided him to sit down on the sidewalk. You tried to pull away from him, but he planted his face deeper into your neck, so you just hugged him tighter and drew unnamed patterns on his arms.

When his sobbing finally toned down, you tugged at his chin and made him look up at you. The redness of his nose, along with the tears in and around his eyes, made your heart hurt. Who on earth would try to make this man cry?

“You’re not telling me what happened?” you whispered as you wiped the tears that continued to drop down his cheeks.

“My mom wants to divorce my dad.”

You heard a small huff from his end, making you chuckle loud enough for him to hear.

You tilted your head to your side and pictured how he would have looked if he were actually walking with you today. Would he have had his hair down or gelled back? Would he have worn the oversized hoodies you told him were your favorite on him? Would he have walked in all his glory on the sidewalk in his new Js? Would he have looked at you with loving eyes, like he did back then?

“Still! Didn’t I tell you that I’d be mad and not call you if you walked there alone? That street is so quiet and far from people. It’s too dangerous!” he whined again.

A bitter taste started to spread in your mouth. You took a deep breath of the crisp air, “Yeah. I know it’s dangerous.”

Dangerously silent and lonely without you.

“Do you remember? That time when I told you to go home without me because I had fun playing football with my classmates?” he paused for you to answer, but he knows that you remember it anyway.

Yeah, when I almost cried, thinking you didn’t want to hang out with me anymore?

He laughed, “I think I hit my head somewhere that time, and I realized that I wanted to walk home with you. So I ran to catch up with you, but then I saw a guy taking pictures of you from the back.” You chuckled a little at how fast his tone changed from happy to angered towards the end.

You added in, “And you cursed him with all your heart, and I had to drag your boiling ass home or else you would have had a swollen hand.”

And when I thought my heart would explode, seeing you all worked up and protective of me.

You stopped walking and recalled how it exactly happened, where you exactly were, and what you exactly felt. While reminiscing, you could almost see the image of your younger self pulling the younger Baekhyun, who couldn’t take his eyes off the stranger who stalked you, pass by in front of your eyes.

“Yup. I decided to walk home with you every day since then. But now that I can’t, I made you promise not to walk 56th street, didn’t I?” Baekhyun said in a sing-song tone.

“Sorry,”

“I’ll let it go this time. But next time I really won’t call you for three months! Or even six months!” He taunted.

Even if I kept my promise and never walked on the same street again, when the time comes, you’d probably stop calling me.

“How are you?”

“I’m okay here. Training is getting hard, though. But I bet you five tubs of ice cream that I’m gonna be on national TV in 3 months!”

I need not bet because I know you’ll make it. It’s your lifelong dream, after all.

“[Y/N]! [Y/N]!” Baekhyun beamed from your porch as he took off his shoes. You watched him with confused eyes from the couch of your father’s living room.

“What?”

He quickly approached you and pulled you up from your seat, “it’s time for us to take a walk. Long since we’ve done it, no?”

You and Baekhyun took your precious time to walk. One whole step before the other, as if scared that the sidewalk would run out if you walk faster.

You didn’t really say anything to each other, but the sound of the spring birds singing and your soles rubbing against the bricks on the sidewalk made you both feel entertained.

With longer legs and bigger feet, Baekhyun was walking slightly ahead of you. Having to catch up with his steps, you walked faster, eager to walk side by side with him. But he noticed that you were trying so hard to keep up with him, so he tried to make his steps smaller. Then, he moved closer to you until your hips touched each other.

It was always like this with Baekhyun. You’d take a walk together on 56th street without saying anything, and you’d still enjoy it. He would always end up walking ahead of you, and you would ever walk behind him. Then, when he notices that he’s walking too fast for you, he would start taking smaller steps so you could keep up with him. And when he thinks he’s walking slow enough to match your pace, he would close the gap between your bodies by putting an arm around your shoulders or waist or just by feeling your sides against his.

“I li-“

“I’m leaving,” Baekhyun started, cutting off what you wanted to say.

“What?” Your voice came out shaky, unsure of what you heard.

Baekhyun stopped walking, “I said I’m leaving. I’m leaving for the city.”

You blinked your eyes twice. Stiff as you were, you tried to open your mouth to say something which you couldn’t seem to remember anymore. Baekhyun giggled at how you looked.

“I’m gonna be an idol, [y/n]. I’m going to be a singer.” he said as his eyes twinkled with joy.

How? Where? When? Why? You wanted to ask him, but you really couldn’t bring yourself to move even a muscle except for your eyes.

“A company scouted me at graduation. They said I had the potential to be a singer. I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure, but now I am.” He said while looking up at the cloudless sky.

You didn’t know how it happened, but you only managed to speak out the words, “I’m happy for you, Baekhyun.”

You didn’t see Baekhyun the week after that walk because he was busy packing, and you were busy denying to yourself that he was leaving. So when you saw him from your window pushing boxes unto the trunk of his parents’ SUV with his hair white as snow, you couldn’t help but jump out from where you were standing.

You accidentally pushed your windowpane in an attempt to save your face from kissing the wooden floor, and it made a noise loud enough for Baekhyun to look up at your room. He waved up at you and motioned for you to meet him outside.

“Are you leaving today?”

“Yeah. Sorry, I wasn’t able to tell you,” Baekhyun said as he scratched the skin under his ear. He always did this when he was in an awkward situation.

You stared at him without speaking. You took in how he looked for the last time. But you realized that it was too much for you. He was too much for you. So you focused on his now white hair that rested against his scalp, seemingly tired from the process of bleaching.

Baekhyun only smiled at you like a child that was offered candies and delight. You moved closer to him, eyes exploring his face and stopping at his lips for a few seconds before losing confidence again.

His name softly left your lips, to which he only hummed in response.

“I,” you paused for a moment, maybe two? or three. You don’t know.

Baekhyun’s eyebrows almost hit his hairline.

“I like your hair.” you said with a smile.

“Don’t I look like a real celebrity now?” he said as he let his fingers run through his locks.

“You do,” he always did.

You let yet another chuckle escape your mouth, although the last thing you wanted to do was laugh. “I’m still your best friend, right?” you questioned, though you were scared he’d say no.

However, you heard a different voice from his end of the call shout, “Baekhyun! 10-minute break is over!” and your friend responded with something you couldn’t catch. All that you knew was that he was laughing with someone, their voices slowly fading as if they were walking away from the phone.

He’s happier now. Even happier than when he was with me.

You used to associate his laugh with flowers, candies, love, and everything sweet. But now you can’t help but feel bitterness crawl up your spine, like a vine climbing its way up the walls and lampposts.

The cold and long blow of the wind made you feel nostalgic (if you weren’t yet), and you wanted as much to let it take you to wherever your heart is, where Baekhyun is.

“I have to go [y/n]! I’ll call you again soon!” he quickly said before a long beep was heard, announcing the end of the call.

Months passed, and you are still waiting for when his name flashes as the caller ID on the screen of your phone. Maybe he’s busy? Or he lost my number? Perhaps he changed his phone?

You wanted to ask his parents for his new number or even just how their son was doing. But you were surprised to find out that they already moved out of the house next to yours, when you returned from your grandparents’ house for a 3-week vacation. You wanted to ask your parents if they had his parents’ number, but then you decided that seeing him on TV and your phone screen was enough for you.

He’s clearly doing well.

He has got to be doing well. How could he not when he has been flashing the cameras the widest and prettiest smiles? The kind of smiles you never witnessed when he was with you.

He’s clearly happier than ever.

Although you kept saying that you were happy for him too, you just can’t deny that you do feel jealous of how far he had come. It was just like the long and silent walks you took with him throughout 56th street before: he was always steps ahead of you, and you were burning in jealousy behind him because of the advances his relatively longer legs brought him. Except that he was miles and dreams ahead of you now, and he couldn’t slow down his pace to match yours and stay by your side anymore.

He’s way too far ahead to turn and run back to me.

He’s probably living a better life.

He probably has funnier (best) friends to laugh with.

He probably has prettier eyes to stare at, softer hands to hold, and more comfortable shoulders to lean on.

He probably has a new favorite street to walk with somebody new. Somebody who’s better, somebody who’s not you.

And you started to accept that little by little.

You had started to move on.

You started to forget.

You finally let go.

But you kept the promise you made him.

You never walked 56th street again,

because he’s not there with you anymore.

—

[commentaryvorg]

Digimon Data Squad Dub Comparison Episode 5 - Digital World, Here We Come!

This is a companion to my commentary on the original Japanese Digimon Savers! Reading my commentary on the original version of this episode (which you can find here) is recommended before reading this dub comparison.

Original name ~ Dubbed name

Masaru Daimon ~ Marcus Damon

Yoshino Fujieda ~ Yoshino “Yoshi” Fujieda

Tohma H. Norstein ~ Thomas H. Norstein

Captain Rentarou Satsuma ~ Commander Richard Sampson

[Since several characters share the same name between the original and the dub, quotes from the dub will always be in italics, while quotes from the original will not, in order to distinguish them.]

A fun thing the dub does with recaps is that the narration is done by one of the characters, commenting on the events of the episode in-character. This time, it’s Thomas. (It’s actually usually Thomas, far more often than it really ought to be, but it makes sense for this one.)

Recap Thomas: “Marcus couldn’t take orders if he were a waiter in a restaurant.”

The in-character-ness of these recap lines helps add a little more flavour to the recaps than the original has, which I appreciate.

Recap Thomas:  “So in order to clean up Marcus’s mess, I took it upon myself to disobey orders…”

Thomas definitely did not do this out of believing this was solely Marcus’s mess and he was simply being gracious enough to clean that up for everyone. But, it does make a lot of sense that he might frame it that way when describing the situation to somebody else rather than admit that he felt like he’d failed, so I don’t mind this at all.

Agumon: “Quiet as a sleeping mime!”

Agumon how do you know what a mime is

Yoshino:  “What are you doing.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “What are you doing?!”

Alas, Yoshi’s delivery of this line is very much loud and frustrated, rather than delightfully deadpan at their terrible stealth skills.

Masaru:  “Tohma did a Digital Dive? Damn it, he got away before us!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Thomas did a Digital Dive?! I’ll teach him to be sneakier than me!”

He was definitely sneakier than you, Marcus.

Yoshino:  “Before?”

Agumon:  “Nothing, he’s just talking to himself.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Huh?”

Agumon: “Aw, don’t be jealous.”

Though I enjoy the “sneakier” line, as a result we do lose the fun bit where Masaru accidentally pretty much told Yoshino his intent to follow Tohma, and Agumon awkwardly tried to cover for him (and Yoshino didn’t really notice anyway because she was too busy worrying about Tohma).

Yoshino:  “Doing a Dive when the equipment hasn’t even been tested on humans…”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “What was Thomas thinking, going into a Digital Dive when it hasn’t even been tested on humans yet?”

Yoshi isn’t mentioning this specific equipment and appears to be saying that any Digital Dive has never been done with humans before. …But then again, she probably doesn’t know any better.

Masaru:  “I’m just going there to settle my fight!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “I’m not gonna let Thomas finish the fight that I started!”

Marcus brings up the notion that this is partly about not wanting Thomas to steal away his fight a little bit earlier than Masaru does. (Even though this can’t have always been about that, because he didn’t even know Thomas had gone over there too until Yoshi told him.)

Yoshino:  “You’re just going to make things worse!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “You’re just gonna make things worse for me and everyone else at DATS!”

The dub apparently had some extra lip-flap for this line and filled it with Yoshi making a pretty relevant point about who’s going to have to clean up their mess.

Agumon: “I’ll help you break it ‘til it’s fixed too, Boss!”

Here’s some fun oblivious dub-Agumon snark-that-isn’t-snark.

Yoshino:  “Return to where you first entered by 0500. That’s where I’ll bring you both back.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Make sure both of you are back to your port of entry by 0500. Otherwise I won’t be able to bring you back.”

In the dub, apparently the time limit is for Yoshi being able to bring him back at all, rather than the implication I took from the original that this is mostly about her not wanting Satsuma to learn that this ever happened. I guess it could be reasonable to think that the return-transfer without any actual equipment on the Digital World side has to happen within a certain time window after the initial Dive or the signal’s too weak?

Masaru:  “Bah, it’s like having a curfew.”

~~~~~

Marcus:  “Oh boy, it’s like havin’ a curfew again.”

Heh, that added “again” makes it even clearer that Marcus has definitely had curfews before.

Agumon:  “Aniki, I’m kinda nervous…”

Masaru:  “Don’t get scared now, idiot.”

~~~~~

Agumon: “I’m getting’ kinda scared, Boss…”

Marcus: “N’agh, don’t be a big baby.”

Bah, the dub loses the interesting nuance of Masaru calling him an idiot for getting nervous and instead turns this into a very simplistic and derogatory “being scared is for babies”.

Agumon:  “You sure this is okay?”

Masaru:  “You think I know?”

~~~~~

Agumon: “You sure this is safe?”

Marcus: “Let’s find out.”

I am also sad at the loss of Masaru letting slip a tiny hint that he isn’t sure about this at all. Marcus’s line does have a non-enthusiastic, very firm “shut up and stop trying to make me freak out” tone to it, which is better than it could be, but still.

Agumon:  “Aniki… You’re the one who’s upside-down.”

Masaru:  “I knew that.”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Boss, you’re the one who’s upside-down.”

Marcus:  “I see.”

The dub goes with the “I see” translation of what Masaru said in Japanese rather than how the subs interpreted it, and I approve.

Masaru:  “So this is the Digital World…”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Wow… My first time in the Digital World!”

You… you talk like you’re planning on making coming here a regular thing, Marcus. (I mean, he will be, but he shouldn’t have any reason to believe that right now.)

Agumon:  “It’s my first time seeing it too.”

~~~~~

Agumon: “It’s mine, too.”

…Though I guess this was just so Agumon could say the same thing about it being his first time here despite having less lip-flap to say it with.

The BGM cue is weirdly sinister leading up to Agumon telling Marcus to come over and see something… because it’s about to go to a commercial break. Cut back from the commercial break and Agumon’s just pointing out some perfectly non-threatening Digital World weirdness. The troubles of having to fit in more commercial breaks than a show was originally written to have.

Agumon:  “Look, Aniki! They’re here, too!” [some Airdramon fly past in the sky]

Masaru:  “They’re flying!”

Agumon:  “And them!” [some Tsunomon bounce past nearby]

Masaru:  “They’re bouncing!”

Agumon:  “And them!” [some Pyokomon walk by]

Masaru:  “They’re walking!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Look, a flock of flying dragons!” [some Airdramon fly past in the sky]

Marcus: “You don’t see that every day.”

Agumon:  “Or them, either.” [some Tsunomon bounce past nearby]

Marcus: “Wow, they’re cool!”

Agumon: “What are they?” [some Yokomon walk by]

Marcus: “Walking plants!”

The original bit here always struck me as weird, the way Masaru was just excitedly exclaiming “they’re verbing!” at each Digimon. Possibly it sounds more natural in Japanese somehow? But either way, the dub did well to change this to remarks that are a lot more sensible for Marcus to make.

Yoshi: “‘Forget him. Let him figure out how to get back on his own.’ I mean, what’s stopping him from just saying that?”

Yoshi actually tries to do an imitation of Marcus’s voice for this bit. And she gives it quite the moody tone, because she is understandably rather frustrated at the thought that Marcus might really just ignore finding Thomas. It’s pretty great.

Lalamon:  “You’re over-thinking it.”

~~~~~

Lalamon: “Marcus would *never* say that!”

Lalamon in the dub is somehow way more sure of this and sounds like she’s trying to defend Marcus, which doesn’t really seem right.

(Marcus does in fact then deliver the line with a bit more pointed emphasis than Masaru, who was just being unbothered and nonchalant, so I guess Yoshi was somewhat right to imitate him saying it like that.)

The BGM while Marcus and Agumon explore the Digital World is not remotely equivalent to the original’s Main Theme that evoked the sense of discovery and exploration. Instead this BGM just seems to want us to feel like this is ominous and alien (even though the Digital World really isn’t that alien at all).

Agumon:  “I feel like I’m having déjà vu, Boss.”

Marcus: “How would you know what that means?”

Exactly, Marcus! Agumon knows way too many terms that he shouldn’t know; apparently the dub finally felt like lampshading it for once. (Though honestly, déjà vu is more reasonable than most, because it’s not an inherently human concept.) This isn’t going to stop them having Agumon continue to do this, of course.

Sampson: “What are you doing?”

Yoshi: “Just helping the hopeless. Why does this stuff always happen to me?”

I approve of Yoshi complaining even more about always having to be the one to clean up after those idiots.

Kudamon:  “Looks like you are searching for something, but just what are you searching for?”

Yoshino:  “Um… A rich bachelor! …Just kidding… La… Lalamon…”

Lalamon:  [slowly backing away] “I think I’ll stay out of this…”

~~~~~

Kudamon:  “It looks like you’re searching for something. What exactly?”

Yoshi: “It’s, umm… mm… An earring! That’s… it…! Right… Lalamon…?”

Lalamon: [slowly backing away] “I think I left my bathtub running…”

I approve of the dub changing this joke to not be about Yoshino apparently looking for romance (although, since she was joking, that doesn’t necessarily mean that she actually cares about finding a rich bachelor just because she’s a woman). Lalamon’s bathtub comment doesn’t make any sense, of course, but it doesn’t need to since this is just a comedic excuse.

Masaru:  “Doesn’t matter where this is! Let’s go, Agumon!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Now’s our chance! Let’s go!”

Lost that line in which Masaru is either still straightforwardly ignoring the terrain, or only trying to tell himself to ignore the terrain and the fact that Drimogemon is at a huge advantage here.

Agumon:  “Aniki!”

Masaru:  “Idiot, don’t get scared over something like this!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “We’re done for!”

Marcus: “Don’t get all melodramatic on me now, Agumon!”

The dub takes away the fun nuance of Masaru’s opinion about getting scared again… but at least this dub line is still perfectly reasonable in its own right.

Agumon:  “At least we had these soft rocks to break our fall.”

This sounds like another obliviously-not-snarky Agumon line… but surely he has to know that the rocks aren’t actually soft? (Maybe this is just the dub writers taking a shot at the fact that they somehow didn’t get badly hurt from that fall, which is fair.)

Masaru:  “What’s this? Does that mean the same thing happened to you?” [he and Agumon burst out laughing] “I see, you’re just like us!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Hold it. So basically, you were outsmarted by a giant gopher.” [he and Agumon burst out laughing] “Get a load of the ‘genius’!”

Ugh, nope, I don’t like this version. Masaru’s line made a really clear point of him realising that Tohma is just the same as him. He’s not shying away from the fact that he fell into Drimogemon’s trap as well, and he’s not looking down on Tohma; he just suddenly finally feels on the same level. But Marcus completely avoids mentioning that he and Agumon met the same fate, and instead this is all a mocking “ha ha, look at the genius being an idiot”, trying to drag Thomas down and feel above him.

In the original, Tohma’s leg injury was visibly bleeding, but the dub edited the blood out because I guess even a small patch of blood was too much for the dub’s censors. It’s still reasonable that Thomas could have some kind of non-bleeding injury like a sprain, but it does mean that the shot focusing on his perfectly unhurt-looking leg as Marcus realises he’s injured looks kind of silly.

Tohma:  “Stop that. I don’t need you to help—”

Masaru:  “When you’re a man… When you’re a man, there are some things you just have to *do* despite yourself.”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Let go. Whatever help you have to offer, I don’t need—”

Marcus: “Yes you do. Wake up. Put aside your stubbornness for once and let us help you.”

Don’t really like this either. If the dub had removed the manliness mention like it insists on doing and otherwise kept Masaru’s general sentiment intact – he’s putting aside his stubbornness because this is the right thing to do – I’d have been basically okay with this. But instead, this is putting the focus entirely on Thomas needing to put aside his stubbornness. It comes across like it was easy for Marcus to help Thomas without any kind of hesitation, almost like he didn’t even have any stubbornness of his own to put aside in the first place.

(And this is despite the fact that Marcus was being more of a dick to Thomas than Masaru was just a moment ago.)

The change in sentiment also doesn’t quite fit Masaru’s expression, which is one of firmly declaring his manly principles. When he’s making a point of offering help like this, I’d have expected Marcus’s expression to be something a little softer.

Agumon: “You’re making me cry, Boss!”

Agumon’s moved response to this – exactly the same as in the original – also doesn’t fit quite as well here when it’s not in response to any kind of manly principles and making compromises to do the right thing on Marcus’s part.

Masaru:  “Let’s get outta here first. Then we can think about other things.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “First we need to get out of here. After that, we can start arguing again.”

Marcus bringing up the arguing is fine, I guess, since that is definitely what he’s thinking, but I did really like how Masaru didn’t even outright bring it up while they were in this truce situation of needing to work together.

Masaru:  “It’s that way.”

Tohma:  “No, it’s this way.”

Masaru:  “Why?”

Tohma:  “I’m not like you. If we move around randomly, we’ll never get out of here.”

Masaru:  “But why?”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Let’s go this way.”

Thomas: “No, that way.”

Marcus: “How come?!”

Thomas: “Don’t argue with me. If we go with your no-plan method, we’ll never get out of here.”

Marcus: “Just say how come!”

In the original, Masaru was genuinely just wondering why, but in the dub, Marcus’s tone is notably angry and argumentative. Thomas’s “don’t argue with me” is also harsher, but then it’s kind of called for with Marcus’s tone.

Masaru:  “Hey, you’re pretty smart!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Hey, maybe you are a genius!”

This is still Marcus acknowledging Thomas’s intelligence for the first time, but I like it less because he mentions the genius thing. For one, it really doesn’t take a literal genius to think to mark their path with something, and this is just making Marcus seem stupider for him to think it does. But mostly, I really liked how Masaru acknowledged Tohma’s smarts on a regular down-to-earth level that he himself could understand and relate to, which doesn’t work when Marcus still makes it about him being a genius.

Tohma:  “As I said, I’m not like you.”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Compared to you? Believe me, it doesn’t take much.”

This and the earlier part of the argument loses the bit with Tohma still trying to make the point that he’s not like Masaru despite Masaru having started to see them as similar earlier, because the dub messed up that part earlier. Instead, Thomas is still just implicitly calling Marcus stupid.

Agumon:  “Aniki… When are we gonna get outta here?!”

Masaru:  “Don’t worry! Keep up your spirits and we’ll use it to work this out somehow!”

Tohma:  “Spirit has nothing to do with it, but we *are* heading up.”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Boss… When are we gonna get outta here already?!”

Marcus: “Stop complaining and think positive! We’ll get outta here soon!”

Thomas: “Being positive has nothing to do with it. However, we *are* heading towards the surface.”

This is almost exactly the same – “spirit” and “positivity” mean basically the same thing in this context. But I did like Masaru saying that keeping their spirits up will help them to escape in and of itself, which Marcus didn’t say. Masaru’s not wrong to say that! If they didn’t believe it was possible to get out, it’d be a lot harder for them to do so.

Masaru:  “You’re really unbearable.”

Tohma:  “You too.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “You know, you really are a downer sometimes.”

Thomas: “You too.”

The original made sense as both of them agreeing that the other’s opposite attitude can be frustrating for them personally. But Thomas agreeing that Marcus is also a downer kind of completely contradicts the part where Marcus was literally just encouraging them to stay positive.

Satsuma:  “Hurry!”

~~~~~

Sampson:  “No excuses, just do it! Hurry!”

This is as Miki and Megumi are trying to find Marcus and Thomas’s Digivice signals but are struggling because there’s too much static. Which isn’t an excuse; it’s a legitimate reason why this is taking so long. There’s no way they’re deliberately slacking off and making excuses to do so, so Sampson comes across as a lot more unreasonably harsh here. It’s still easy to read it as him only being harsh because he’s worried, but still. Chill, Sampson, they’re doing their best.

Masaru:  “Hey, are you okay?”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Hey, what’s the matter *now*?!”

As Tohma tries to walk back from the opening to the big cavern without Masaru but stumbles due to his leg injury, Masaru is just checking if he’s okay – but Marcus is being a jerk and acting like Thomas has been constantly making up reasons to complain. As if Thomas wouldn’t have been stoic and refusing to complain about the pain the whole time, and as if Marcus wasn’t just willingly helping him with this exact problem. Geez. Dub, stop making Marcus more of a jerk, especially when it doesn’t even make any sense among the rest of his actions here.

Thomas: “Earth to Marcus! Didn’t you hear me when I said the caves are unstable?”

I do enjoy this English-specific way for Thomas to get across his frustration at Marcus ignoring how it’s dangerous to fight in here. (And implying that he lives on a different and very fighty planet to everyone else is fun too.)

Masaru:  “I’m not gonna run or hide! A man takes his fights head-on!”

~~~~~

Marcus:  “A real champion doesn’t run and hide! Let’s meet the enemy head-on!”

Since the dub insists on removing the manliness, changing it to “champion” and keeping the rest of the sentiment intact is just about the most adequate thing they can do here. But it still loses that delightful connection this kind of thing has to all of Masaru’s other manly principles (such as helping out people who need it even if you don’t really like them!), and it makes it seem like his fighting thing is just about winning rather than that it’s connected to this concept of being a good person in his head.

Gaomon:  “Master!”

~~~~~

Gaomon: “Thomas!”

Sometimes Gaomon yells “Master!” on its own with no other dialogue, and since that’s two lip-flaps, the dub can’t replace it with “Sir!” – so instead they have to have Gaomon use Thomas’s actual name in these instances, which gives a bit of a different feel.

Masaru:  “Yo.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “…Hi there.”

Marcus’s line as he reaches the Drimogemon’s head is a lot more nervous in delivery, which is less fun than Masaru’s audaciously bold “Yo.”

Thomas has a comment specifying that the colosseum is made of ice. Its composition is never actually stated in the original and I assumed it was crystals, but I guess ice works, too? …Maybe not, though, because you’d expect GeoGreymon’s attacks to melt it, and they aren’t shown doing so. And digging through ice would probably be a lot easier than crystals and maybe still possible for Drimogemon.

…Oh dear, they cut out the brief moment of impact when Marcus punches Drimogemon. Apparently that’s too violent or something, a guy punching a huge cartoon mole. While I think this is the first time this has been done so far (unless I wasn’t paying attention in the earlier episodes), this will be happening a lot. It’s really quite bewildering to me why the dubbers have been required to cut the punching out of this anime which is a lot about its main character punching things. If the execs don’t want punching in their anime, why the hell are they licensing this anime for their channel?

Unlike in the original, the dub’s evolution music does play while they evolve their partners. Rather than being used to highlight triumphant moments, it feels like just an obligatory fanfare of evolution. It even essentially plays twice, starting in the exact same way as each of them begins their DNA Charge – though in fairness, the second loop of it has some extra elements and layers added to the music so that it isn’t completely repetitive.

Thomas: “Wait!”

Marcus: “What now?”

Marcus’s delivery of the “what now?” is amusingly deadpan and sounds so Done with Thomas constantly coming up with new reasons why he can’t just fight the thing, and damn it, it made me chuckle.

Thomas: “Marcus! Do you remember the last battle?”

Marcus: “The last *what*?!”

Marcus’s response here is weird. Why would the mention of a battle be the part that he’s questioning? Since that doesn’t make any sense, the only way to read this is that he’s being pointlessly argumentative again.

To make up for the dub’s unyielding insistence on only using the evolution music for literal evolutions rather than triumphant moments, at least they use Probably Marcus’s Theme for the actual victory moment, which has a similarly triumphant sort of mood. However, it does kick in a bit later, only when they begin to attack, rather than as soon as Tohma decides to try the Masaru-like strategy, which is a bit of a shame.

Tohma:  “Their combined powers enhanced each other and became amplified to more than before!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “With their powers combined, I wonder how much the strength of their attacks increased by?”

Since Thomas phrases his line as a question, it reads a lot less like a metaphor of him and Marcus working together. I… don’t know if the dub writers actually realised this was a metaphor in order to keep the line sounding like that.

Masaru:  “Did you see that?!” [he starts laughing]

~~~~~

Marcus: “He’s an egg!” [he starts laughing]

Masaru is laughing out of exhilarated excitement at their win, but Marcus meanwhile just sounds like somehow the fact that Digmon is now an egg is the most hilarious thing ever. Uhhhh? You’ve seen Digimon turn into eggs when they’re defeated before?

This also has a bit of a different tone in the dub because the triumphant music has ended and there’s no BGM here, while Believer is still wrapping up at this point in the original.

Speaking of BGM, the heartwarming acoustic guitar version of Probably Marcus’s Theme plays during this scene where he and Thomas officially become friends, and it’s cute.

Masaru:  “Nah, that was just spirit!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Nah! That was absolutely pure luck!”

It wasn’t pure luck, though! There was deliberate strategy involved of directing Drimogemon towards the surface and then towards the colosseum – he even mentioned that he was looking for a suitable battleground. It wasn’t something he had planned from the very beginning when he jumped down and was instead improvised as he went along, but calling it luck is completely wrong. Masaru’s a lot more appropriate to call it “spirit” – he used his spirit to make those in-the-moment decisions!

Marcus’s laugh here again sounds like he finds something weirdly hilarious, rather than that he’s just being an excited dork.

Thomas: (How do you make the illogical logical?)

Come on, Thomas, the illogical is logical! All you gotta do is make it so! Obviously Marcus doesn’t even worry about how, that’s completely the opposite of the point there.

Agumon:  “Aniki’s got himself another follower!”

Gaomon:  “Master is no follower!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Looks like the Boss has got himself another employee!”

Thomas: “Let’s not push our luck.”

I am sad that they took this sentiment away from Gaomon. Let him be a good dog who can’t see his Master ever not being a master!

Satsuma:  “As members of this organisation, you must uphold the rules!”

[pause; everyone looks ashamed; Satsuma turns his back to them]

Satsuma:  “You four… Well done in returning.”

~~~~~

Sampson:  “As members of this organisation, you must follow the rules! I have only one more thing to say to you two!”

[pause; everyone mumbles in nervous anticipation; Sampson turns his back to them]

Sampson: “…Well done. It’s good to have you safely back home.”

I like the presentation of this moment better in the dub! The added angry-sounding “I have one more thing to say,” like he’s about to reprimand them even more and then subverting their expectations works well to make the sudden praise and concern for them hit harder.

Overall differences

This one’s very similar! A lot of the stuff I pointed out here is really quite minor stuff, and some of those minor changes – not all, but a higher proportion than usual, I think – were lines I actually kind of liked a little more in the dub. Wow. (Though there are of course still some minor things I like less, such as the usual Marcus being more of a jerk.)

The only real significant differences I want to note are the changes to Masaru’s “You’re just like us!” and “When you’re a man, there’s some things you just have to do despite yourself” lines. Those are some of the most important lines in this episode in showing why Masaru begins to bridge the gap between him and Tohma, and the dub watered down that interesting nuance quite a bit.

[chelsie-carson]

Clownton Abbey as star enlists cast to help dementia patients and their carers laugh again at Christmas

Downton star Phyllis Logan is threatening to take her family on a busman’s holiday on Christmas Day after warning a version of Cluedo inspired by the period drama might feature.

She said: “We’re doing a secret Santa with the family. Perhaps I’ll get them the Downton version of Cluedo. I’m a character in that!

“There’s no murderer in that version – there’s been a theft and you have to work out who the culprit is. It’s very Downton.”

The actress, who plays housekeeper Mrs Hughes in the ITV drama, has been busy enlisting her colleagues for a charity drive in aid of charity Hearts & Minds, the clown doctors raising spirits in hospitals and care homes – virtually during the pandemic – “one smile at a time”, as their slogan puts it.

And Downton Abbey’s cast are preparing to deliver a Christmas message to big-hearted Scots who donate to the appeal, with Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Imelda Staunton, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael and Lesley Nicol all signed up. All those donating to the Edinburgh-based charity’s appeal will be entered into a raffle to for a chance to receive a message from the Downton stars. Phyllis thanked her castmates for answering her call for help.

“Hearts & Minds came to me and asked would I be happy to give a message to the winner of the draw and I said yes, of course. Then they said, perhaps you may know of somebody else who might get involved?

“There are a bunch of people with whom I’m still very much in touch – the Downton people. And so I just put a little bugle call, and they all came rallying.

“I was delighted, touched and moved by their great support and immediate yes to the whole thing.”

Phyllis singled out Hugh Bonneville, who plays Lord Grantham in Downton, for coming to her aid. Hugh’s been great, he’s been on Twitter and Instagram announcing it and promoting it,” she said. “He’s helped out Hearts & Minds with some things to help them promote it. He’s been marvellous. Hugh’s a very good man, he’s lovely.”

Hearts & Minds cheer up young and old patients and their Christmas appeal is specifically to help fund their Elderflowers, who work to bring laughter to dementia patients and carers. It’s a cause close to Phyllis’s heart after her mum and mother-in-law were affected by dementia.

“My mum hadn’t had a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s, but my mother-in-law did,” she explained. “She had quite severe Alzheimer’s and died in 2009. My mother was a wee bit ill and was showing signs of mental impairment. I’m sure had she lived beyond 90, when she died, she probably would have displayed more pronounced aspects of dementia.

“She was certainly probably heading in that direction and I just thought it’s such a cruel way of losing a parent.

“My husband used to said that his mum was just the husk of the woman she was. She was housing herself in her body but it wasn’t his mum any more. It’s just a desperately and terribly sad way to see your parents diminish.”

Phyllis is currently working on the second series of BBC Scotland’s comedy thriller series Guilt, where she’s getting used to working on a socially-distanced set.

“I’ve just done my costumes. It all feels very safe. We get tested twice a week and we have to have our temperature checked before we go on set. When you’re not filming you have to wear a mask.

“I’m lucky as the crew have to wear masks all day, at least I get the chance to take mine off. It’s all going according to plan so far.”

Over the past few months Phyllis, 64, has been adapting to life during the pandemic, although the second lockdown, she admitted, had been a struggle.

“I remember everybody saying this would be awful if it had been happening in the winter, and here we are, back to square one again,” she said. “I’m just over it by now.”

Asked what she has been filling her time with during lockdown, she said: “I have been watching The Crown but I’m not a huge box-set person. I wish I was. I’ve been doing crosswords and reading books. I haven’t become a champion knitter or seamstress like some people.

“Apart from becoming a bit of a couch potato, not much! The first lockdown was OK in a sense because it was unusual. You just adapted to it and did jigsaws and played board games. And you were cooped up eating nice dinners and drinking cocktails, putting on weight.”

Movie industry insiders believe a sequel to last year’s Downton Abbey movie is imminent, although Phyllis is staying tight-lipped.

“There could possibly be,” she laughed. “With the pandemic we’ve had to think about whether it’s possible. But it’s not been discounted by any stretch of the imagination. So we can only keep our fingers crossed. I’m being very cagey, I’m not sure what one is allowed to say about these things. Let’s just say, ‘watch this space…’”

To support Hearts & Minds Elderflowers Christmas Appeal people should visit the Hearts & Minds Christmas Appeal page: HERE!

[angeltannis]

Mechrogunner: A Headcanon Masterpost

@fudgeroach and I have been cookin’ this ship up for a bit now, and we’ve come up with a bunch of ideas for it that I’m finally ready to post!

Background for context: We both headcanon Moze as a he/him transmasc, so that’s how Moze will be referred to in this post.

So, Gaige and Moze.

How do they meet?

-Pretty simple – at the Wainlock wedding. Moze hasn’t been out just relaxing and having a good time in so long that he stays later than pretty much everyone else. When he’s finally ready to call it a night, he goes up to Hammerlock to let him know. Hammerlock casts a glance over at the bar, where Gaige is practically passed out on the counter by that point, and asks if Moze would be willing to check on her for him. Moze is like “Uhhh...okay...”, not really getting why Hammerlock himself couldn’t just check on her.

Hammerlock, of course, has an agenda, trying to set Gaige up with a friend her own age. He didn’t plan on it going much, much further than that, lol.

Moze sits awkwardly down beside her and is all business, just asking her bluntly if she’s all right. Gaige, flirty drunk that she is, immediately latches on to him, telling him he’s great and that she loves him. Moze internally is like 😳 but acknowledges it’s because she’s drunk. He stays with her for a while, keeping it light, talking about their respective robot BFFs and telling her a couple funny old army stories to keep her awake and with it until she sobers up a little.

Both of them are so lonely that by the end of the night they are definitely both nursing lil crushes, but Moze has thick walls around his heart after what happened to his squad mates, and he’s too traumatized to let anyone in at the moment. When they finally part ways that night, he assumes he’ll never see Gaige again.

Then he gets a text from an unfamiliar number. Turns out Gaige got his number from Hammerlock, and has ““questions about Iron Bear””. (She actually does have questions about Iron Bear because she’s a fucking nerd, but make no mistake, she is definitely interested in both mech AND pilot)

Moze hasn’t been in this kind of position in, well, ever, really. He’s not sure what to do. He really likes talking to Gaige, though – she's stunningly smart, wild and funny as hell. He’s never met a woman like her before. He may not have a clue what she’s talking about half the time, but he sure does love hearing her say it all.

Gaige, on the other hand, is immediately and blatantly smitten with Moze. She tends to develop crushes on pretty much anyone who pays her attention, but Moze was so sweet and gentle with her while she was embarrassingly drunk that Gaige finds herself thinking about him long after they part ways.

The dating stage:

Moze is terrified of opening back up to anybody, so he keeps Gaige at arm’s length even as their texting goes from occasional, to frequent, to most of the day every day. The other Raiders encourage Moze to ask Gaige on a date, but he’s nowhere near ready for that kind of commitment.

When Gaige asks him to bring Iron Bear to her lab-slash-hideout so she can “check him out”, he tells himself and everyone else that it’s just a friend thing.

It’s totally not a friend thing oh God

He’s hanging out in her garage (I imagine Gaige hides out in some craphole abandoned building somewhere and that her garage is also her lab, kitchen, bedroom, etc.), watching her eyes light up as she examines Iron Bear when he realizes he’s in too deep to get out. She pulls a whole-ass little measuring tape out of her hair at one point and he’s like Oh god, you’re adorable and has to bite his tongue to refrain from saying it out loud.

Deathtrap is just watching them, aware that something is up, but he doesn’t know enough about humans to know exactly what it is

The first time Moze feels comfortable enough to show up in something other than his freaking Ursa Corps uniform, he’s a little shy because he’s been chopping at his own hair and feels like a doofus. To his surprise, Gaige lights up and immediately starts complimenting his “punk” hairstyle. She lets her own hair out of the pigtails with a grin, showing that she hacks at her own hair as well. It’s all split ends and uneven layers, and Moze’s heart flutters just a bit as those bright green eyes are suddenly framed by a mess of bouncy orange hair.

While he’s hanging out with Gaige, Moze eventually comes out of his shell enough to start cracking little jokes and feeling a bit more at ease. He hasn’t felt this way since the last night he spent with his squad before Darzaran Bay. Gaige is just so easy to talk to, and she laughs at his jokes and doesn’t pry about his past. He doesn’t pry about hers, either, though he can glean from her current situation that something has clearly gone horribly wrong in her young life.

Gaige is afraid to let anyone into her life, either, since every person who knows her whereabouts is another potential source of danger to her (and to them). She finds herself wondering why this soldier is all alone without a squadron or a battalion or whatever terms the army uses. The faraway look Moze sometimes gets tells her there’s a long and painful story behind it.

It takes a loooooong time, probably close to a year or more, before either of them are ready to admit they’re not just visiting each other as friends multiple times a week. 

They’re sitting outside one evening watching the sunset when Gaige grows uncharacteristically serious. Moze assumes she’s going to confess to some awful crime or something, and his first reaction is “Okay I don’t know what you did but I forgive you and I’ll help you hide the body”. Gaige is like ??? Ok well I did kill somebody in the past but I was actually going to ask if I could kiss you?

Neither of them have ever really had a proper kiss before. They basically end up bonking their faces together like a couple of clueless dorks. It goes on to become a favorite inside joke between them, with the two of them frequently headbutting each other and then having a good, confusing-to-everyone-else laugh about it.

The relationship:

-Moze is self conscious about his height, but it turns out Gaige actually prefers it because then she doesn’t feel like such a shrimp herself. Short couple rights

-Still though, Moze likes to wear his chunkiest combat boots when they’re together together so they’re at least equal size. Eventually Gaige starts wearing her own old combat boots, though, so poor Moze can’t win lol

-They’re not real sappy out in public, but they’re always either holding hands or Moze has an arm loosely around Gaige’s waist (or vice versa which makes Moze go “NOO I’m supposed to be the one doing that!!” And Gaige is like “Muahaha, Feminism Babey >:D”)

-Gaige found out Moze has a corporate tattoo and since then his life has never known peace (she teases him about it relentlessly)

-Moze sends lovey-dovey memes and texts...exclusively in Russian. Forcing Gaige to put them through a translator helps put a little bit of distance between the words and his feelings, so he doesn’t feel quite so vulnerable...

…But then Gaige struggles to learn some basic Russian in secret, and the next time Moze says something corny she can actually understand it and responds in kind. Moze is floored

-Gaige is a ball of repressed horny nerdiness. Moze was never very sexual to begin with, and his trauma has basically turned him completely asexual. While at first Gaige was (inwardly) a bit disappointed, as time goes on she realizes she cares way more about Moze than she cares about getting laid.

She’s still a slut for cuddles, though – and luckily Moze is willing to provide. At first he insists on being the “big spoon” (more like the backpack), but it’s tough to resist being held by a pretty girl who covers you in kisses and takes the time to change into her non-spiked metal arm after that one time she forgot and almost got you in the eye with a spike

-Gaige sleeps in a bed that’s FULL of pillows and blankets and stuffed animals and anything soft and Moze, who is used to sleeping on a barren military cot if not just on the floor, is like “Oh God, I’m drowning”

All you see is his hand reaching desperately out of a pillow pile before it, too, is absorbed and he disappears completely

-Semi-related to the last bit: Gaige sleeps completely sprawled out in her bed while Moze curls up tight, taking up as little space as possible. Occasionally he gets grabbed like a stuffed animal and smushed up against Gaige’s chest in her sleep. He finds he actually likes being held while he sleeps. It helps keep away some of the nightmares.

-When eventually Gaige finds out what happened to Moze, she starts ranting about the military-industrial complex and corporate corruption and Moze is kinda 😥 because he was basically bottle-fed army propaganda since he was born, but it all makes sense, and the military did fuck him over, and maybe there’s so much more to this than he even realized…

-Finding out Gaige’s backstory, Moze is like “Psh, Marcie Halloway sounds like a cunt. I would’ve killed her ass, too.”

-Moze never allows anyone else to even look inside Iron Bear’s pilot seat because of all his private belongings (ie the photos and mementos he keeps of his old squad mates). Gaige never outright asks because she knows it’s personal, but one day Moze asks if she'd like to have a look inside and see if there’s any cool stuff she would want to build into Bear. Gaige realizes that’s a huge step in their relationship because of how much trust it requires on Moze’s part, and she is like !!! “Yes of COURSE”

-[Gaige voice] So when am I gonna get to be Mrs. Gaige Hayussinian Yan-Lun Al-Amir Andreyevna?

-Both of them will eat anything, so romantic dinners can consist of anything from actual gourmet food to “Want a bite of my fried ratch?” “Um, obviously?? Gimme-“

-Perks of dating someone your own size: You can easily wear each other’s clothes. Cue Moze showing up to Sanctuary in a spiked leather jacket with patches shittily ironed on all over it, and Gaige keeping warm in an Ursa Corps bomber jacket (that she covers with patches and stickers to hide the Vladof advertising)

-Gaige operating Moze’s Dakka Bear turret, wildly spraying bullets and screaming catch phrases while Moze is in the pilot seat like 🥰 You’re wasting all my ammo but god I love you

-Moze jumping into combat: All right, let’s do this shit *puts on his helmet with pink skulls and hearts and PROPERTY OF GAIGE 💜 spray painted all over it*

-Gaige is still worried about being caught by the cops, which can make dates a little difficult, but she’s admittedly a little more at ease now that she travels with a fifteen-ton mech and his dashing pilot.

[kaitycole]

Lie to Me

Summary: Terushima didn’t have a reason not to trust you, until you gave him one.

Pairing: Terushima x gn!Reader

Word Count: 1966

Warnings: Angst. Mentions of cheating. 

A/N: This is part of the @babythotshq Angstvember collab! Hope you enjoy!

Song: Lie to Me by Tate McRae ft. Ali Gatie

You don't understand/ I'm not ever like this I can hold my breath/ Say I'll be alright But kinda hard to think/ When I can't feel a thing

Terushima didn’t have a reason to not trust you, until you gave him one. Until he went to your favorite café in hopes to surprise you while you studied for an upcoming exam, only to find you on what looked more like a date than a study session. Textbooks and notebooks closed, no pens or highlighters on the table; instead he just saw some other guy had brushed a piece of hair from your face before you tried to hide your face in the coffee mug you brought up to your lips.

Tell me to my face/ Already heard it last week Driving me insane/ It's hitting real badly Tell me what's her name, yeah

He didn’t know how to bring it up, how to casually ask why his partner had been on a date with someone else? Did he just say it, between sips of drink at dinner: “My day was great, saw you on a date a few days ago what’s that about, how were classes?” It wasn’t like he didn’t already know who it was, his face was burnt into Teru’s memory and after scrolling through your social media he found him. He was just some guy in one of your classes, he thought maybe you had mentioned him before, but he couldn’t recall. He tried to convince himself that you had told him this guy would be there with you, he didn’t want to think the love of his life could do this to him, but he knew he wasn’t fooling himself.

Said you'd never, why'd you ever Lie to me baby, lie, lie to me Lie to me baby, lie, lie to me

When he finally did bring it up, you didn’t take the accusation well at all and he couldn’t help but think that you were trying a little too hard to convince him you hadn’t, that maybe you were just trying to convince yourself. The two of you spent days arguing, arguments just bleeding into the next day, like a chess game that had been adjourned. He hated it, the feeling of everything shattering, just waiting for the other shoe to drop at any moment, he didn’t want to fight, he just wanted to know how to fix it.

After everything we've been through you come crying to me/ You said you'd never lie, so why you lying to me? I gave you my trust my heart and everything inside of me/ Tell me how'd you pay me back? You made a fool out of me

Your arguments had started out telling him that you had been alone, that he simply must have been looking at the wrong table; that you’d have texted him if the plans changed. Half way through the argument you changed your tune, saying that he was a friend that joined you to study, that you were struggling with the subject and simply accepted his offer to help when he just happened to show up at the café. Teru just stood there wondering when exactly you thought he became stupid, that he couldn’t see the holes you left in each variation of the story you tried to feed to him. It seemed the longer you both fought, the more your story changed, the more aggressive you got and you began making low blows. You began to attack his appearance, claiming dating a ‘fuckboy’ was a lot for you to try to handle and claiming you’d dealt with hearing tons of rumors that he was off flirting with someone else.

He felt hurt that you’d even bring that up, you’d known each other since you were children, grew up together, had been dating for three years now since you started dating your third year of high school. The way he looked was never an issue before, you said you liked it. As for the rumors, he couldn’t help what people made up and you knew as well as he did they were baseless. He would never do anything to jeopardize your relationship and for the last three years he believed that you knew that.

Can't you see what you're doing? Left me, broken in pieces Got me feeling so stupid, guess I needed a reason To let go/ I don't wanna hear lies anymore

“You’re just gonna leave then?” You crossed your arms, irritation written on your face as Teru grabbed the bag by his feet.

It had been a week of one continuous argument, of talking in circles, of getting no where, no closer to a solution than they were when he first brought it up. He told you that if his looks were really such a hassle, if dating him was so awful then maybe you should just break up, hoping you’d say he was being dramatic. You didn’t, you simply said ‘maybe we should.’ That was last night and this morning he made a few calls, packed his bags and was getting ready to leave.

“If dating me is so stressful that you need to go on dates with other guys, there’s nothing left for us here.”

“I told you it wasn’t a date, Yuuji!” You repeated for the millionth time that week, even though the more you said it, the less you were convinced you had been telling the truth. You knew you weren’t telling the truth, but you weren’t sure how things would work out with the other guy and didn’t wanna risk things with Terushima ending for nothing. What good that did.

“Y/N, please, aren’t you tired of lying?” He didn’t wait for you to answer, for you to once again tell him something he clearly knew was false, he slung the backpack on his shoulder and turned to walk out the door.

You tried to come up with a rebuttal, a string of broken words leaving you as you fumbled over what to say before he stopped, halfway out the door and turned to you. When his eyes met yours, you knew the broken façade you had been trying to keep up had finally given in and shattered and you knew that he knew. He gave you a straight lipped smile along with a short nod before he left, shutting the door on you and your relationship.

6 months later

I've been tryna collect all my thoughts It's all said and done Just don't feel the same

You were sitting in the new coffee shop that had opened on campus, textbook opened but your thoughts were everywhere but on your assignment. It was a bit louder than your favorite café in town, but you knew Terushima was avoiding that one and changes were he’d eventually come in to this one. Three months into your new relationship, the flames fizzled out, realizing that there wasn’t really anything deeper than a physical connection with him.

You had used the last three months to really think things out, finally seeing that Terushima was the best thing to ever enter your life since you were eight. When you went home for a weekend visit, you managed to find your childhood photo album, it was mostly filled with pictures of you and Teru, the last picture being of high school graduation. Seeing all those memories made you realize that you wanted him back, needed him back, that your life wasn’t as bright with the blonde-haired boy in your life.

You felt luck was on your side when the sight of spiky blonde hair captured your attention and your head jerked around just in time to see Terushima himself walk into the café. You looked up at the ceiling, mouthing a ‘thank you’ to fate itself before standing up, quickly packing your backpack just before he walked out the door.

Don't try to tell me that I was wrong You was the one lying all along I think you just want somebody else to take the blame

Terushima wasn’t a huge coffee person, but the late-night cram session the night before left him more tired than usual. He rocked on the ball of his feet, trying to stay awake as he stood in line, hoping this coffee would do the trick and wake him up.

He was already a few steps down the sidewalk when he heard his name, but not just his name, his given name and there was only one person on campus that called him that. Teru knew when he turned around that it would be you, he was just really hoping one of sisters was in for a surprise visit. He bit the inside of his cheek when he saw you standing there, looking a little lost.

“Y/N.”

“How have you been?”

He cleared his throat, he didn’t want to do this, while you might’ve moved on he was still hurting. “Fine, just been really busy. Speaking of, I really should go.”

You reached out, grabbing his arm when he started to walk off. “Wait, Yuuji. Can we--?”

You’re interrupted when some girl runs up and threw her arms around him, smiling at him with the same doe-eyed look you looked at him with.

Terushima draped his arm over the girl’s shoulder, it was Takara the volleyball manager and someone who Terushima was close to in a very platonic way. But judging by the look on your face, he didn’t think you saw it that way. A knot developed in his stomach, almost the same way it did when he saw you with that other guy, but this was different. You two weren’t dating, he wasn’t cheating, he wasn’t hiding it, but it still felt wrong because the look on your face was breaking his heart.

He wanted to tell you that it wasn’t what you thought, that she was just a friend, that she had a girlfriend on the girls’ volleyball team which was what got her into being the boys’ team manager, but he couldn’t. Takara spoke up before he could.

“We really need to get going, Teru!”

He nodded, looking back to you, asking you what you were going to say but you just shook your head, waving him off, telling him it was nothing important. He watched you as you quickly turned around, tripping over the sidewalk as you rushed away from him and Takara. He let out a deep sigh, shaking his own head as he started walking towards the gym.

“You know, she probably thinks we’re dating.” Takara said, looping her arm with his.

When the two of you had broken up, Takara was the one who let him crash with her while he worked out housing, she’d make an extra bento for him even when he moved out, but most importantly she had been a shoulder to cry on when he couldn’t sleep. Takara had often joked that he was the brother she never had which he quickly told her two sisters were enough for him.

He shrugged, telling her that yeah you probably did which she simply asked if that was something he was okay with since he didn’t try to say anything to contradict it. He wasn’t completely sure how he felt about it, he was the one who walked out that night, and that pain was still fresh for him, he didn’t have replacement lined up like you did.

“I thought you were the team manager, not the team psychologist.” He joked, the both of them walking into the gym for practice.

She rolled her eyes, “But honestly, are you okay with that?”

“What’s one more lie?”

Lie to me baby, lie, lie to me, yeah Why you gotta lie to me

Tag List: @momoinot @ariasnight @celamoon @vicassa @ashhhh26 @luckypartyranchmug @koushisun @chaelysian @ynjimenez @2o-done @hohochaan @thatnikkixx @solarskiesdream @mattsuns-prettybaby @moonlightaangel @madusas-girlfriend @d-angerboys @lulu-102 @anejuuuuoy @tsume @killmeplz-uwu @serihandfn @atsumubabe @chibioomi @onlyshinji @rowley-with-ackerman​ @seijohigh 

[princessrainbows]

Genuine Laughter

Title: Genuine Laughter

Warnings: Mentions of; Depression, Suicidal thoughts/attempts(maybe?) Alcohol intake. (The reader is the depressed one out of the paring!!) Mention of the reader’s Quirk being Teleportation. Ends with fluff

Words: 2k+

A/N: I’ve been wanting to write something for a while now. Seeing so many of the Keigo x reader blogs that I currently follow rn, has hugely inspired me to write up a small drabble!

Paring(s): Keigo Takami | Hawks x Fem! Reader

--------------------------------------------

             Depression is like battling a 200 foot Dragon every day. It’s not something so easy to overcome. Many people don’t even know when  somebody they know have depression whenever it’s brought up in a conversation.

They’ll think that everything is fine and dandy, and that the person who mentioned the mental illness is trying to find attention when, in reality...They just want to be loved, cared for, and helped. They don’t want their thoughts to be true, they want to be saved from them.

So, when you, ever so casually, mentioned that you felt like dying one day to Keigo, it caught him off guard. It really bothered him that somebody  so smart and so powerful just...Wanted to give it all up. “Hey hey, what’s the matter dove? Something bothering you” He asked, noticing that you where....Off, and have been for a long while now that he thought about it.

       That night stuck with you. The fact that he picked up on your casual self-loathing habits of talking about death so casually like that, surprised you to say the least. Most of the time, people around you would either scoff or just ignore you, or Meme your mental illness, thinking that’s what you wanted to do since, that’s what you’d always do to hide the pain you felt all the time.

Being a hero isn’t that easy. Especially with a quirk as powerful as your own, your in constant demand all the time. Always teleporting everywhere to save people and give back-up to pro-hero’s who need it. And now that you where sought out by The Commission people who raised Hawks, you’ve become his body guard so to speak. Sure, he might be fast, but, you can match up in speed thanks to your quirk.

So, not only are you in high demand, you never get to catch a break! Hell, you didn’t even want the spotlight! So, this made you start becoming depressed. You where so busy all the time. You barely got any real decent rest, you hardly have time to yourself for a nice bubble bath, or read a cool book.

You did your best to hide everything from everybody. You’d play it off and fake-laugh with people that would question whether or not you where really okay or mentally sane at the time of the conversation/interaction.

         But, you didn’t take into account for Hawks noticing it. He noticed everything. He noticed your facial expression visibly changing with every minute of the day depending on your mood. He’d notice the way you’d get snippy at different people if you’d woken up to a particularly bad mental day for you. He EVEN noticed that one day when you locked yourself up in your bedroom at his place around 8:30pm at night. He heard your weak sobs underneath the blanket.

The man was like a Dog with his hearing. he heard and saw everything. But, he knew that if he asked, you’d joke it off and turn down his help.

It wasn’t until when things got REALLY bad for you was when he stepped in and demanded that you explained everything to him. You had three drinks that night after poppin’ in quite a lot of Tylenol pills for your severe Migraine you where having that same day. You just wanted it to stop so you could be Okay for once.

After some prying, you finally told him what’s been happening. You told him that you’ve been battling with Depression and your Suicidal thoughts for the past several months. You even mentioned that your PTSD was starting to act up again, which just made things worse for you in the end.

He didn’t show any emotion. he just...Stared at you, in pure shock. You’ve been battling this battle by yourself this entire time that the two of you have been seeing each other, you’ve kept EVERYTHING to yourself until you blew up and tried ending it all.

It terrified him. He didn’t do anything out of worry that he might make it worse for you, but also, he felt like he should have done something, ANYTHING to have helped! “...Oh god........I’m so sorry” was all that he could really say before you passed out from being so damn tired, drunk, and dizzy from the Tylenol pills you took that day. Falling right into his lap, all he did was let you stay there and fall asleep.

------------------------------------------

             That happened two months ago. You never really FULLY changed but, you noticed that you weren’t as bad as you where back then. Actually, you made a little chart marking down the Really Bad Days, from the Good/Okay days, and you’ve never had a single Really Bad Day since then. You’re days from two months ago to now have just been Meh/Okay and sometimes, even Good!

Today was different for you. When you woke up, it was around 11am, you felt...Light. Like as if you where floating in the air. But, it wasn’t a bad feeling by any means! Which lifted your spirits up quite a bit.

You reach to your cell phone and check your stuff, ignoring the majority of it except for Keigo’s messages (and selfies) and your Boss’ message, which woke you right out of bed! You blinked at it with your glasses on and notice a message from him: [”You’ve been invited to a Pro-Hero exclusive Gathering. Along with Hawks, Endervour, and many others. Dress nicely, and behave.”] Blinking several times, you groaned, falling back on the bed with an arm over your eyes, pouting in annoyance, “I hate fancy parties...” you sighed out loud.

Today was a really good day for you and your mental state. You weren’t smiling by any means but, you weren’t frowning either. You did your usual routine before heading out to work, since you’re with the Commission now and not some Hero agency, you’ve been given permission to have your own schedule (with the help from Hawks so that way he could keep an eye on you of course.)

“---And since I’m in a good mood today....I’ll give you a minute of a head start to try and run.” You say before grinning as you watched the group of bad guys try and flee with the stolen loot from the local store you where shopping at for a Brunch. “Too Slow..” You commented, teleporting right in front of them, grabbing the enemies uniforms and rolling your eyes as they tried running.

The police where called, and you where thanked for your efforts, “Wow! You look happy today y/n! Something happened?” The officer noticed your mood and commented on it, you shrugged, giving a slight chuckle, “Nothing in particular! I just feel good today that’s all~” you cheered before waving them off, seemingly having left them dumbfounded by your response.

           You had a really good day of just, doing whatever you wanted! Holding your drink in your hand with a small snack in the bag in your other hand, you walked by a clothing store with several outfits in the window. You noticed a very nice looking dress with a paired Tuxedo beside it, shrugging you walked into the store, you DID need a dress for tonight’s Por-Hero exclusive Gathering after all! Even if they weren’t your favorite thing to wear.

“Hi there miss! Welcome to our store! is there anything that I can do for you?” You where greeted by a worker who wore a very nice business suit, you took a pause from your drinking and looked at her outfit, “Actually...Yeah. Can I ask where you got that outfit? See, I’m heading to a fancy ball and stuff...But, I’m not that much of a Fancy Dress type of person.” You replied, gesturing your jaw at her outfit, as to not point since that would’ve been rude.

“Oh sure! We actually just recently added these types of outfits to out store so, we’d be happy to have a pro-hero wear one!....You are Pro-Hero Y/N correct?” You nodded in response, sipping on your drink. You followed the business woman to the stores selection and looked around...The shop was nice despite how cold it was.

It didn’t take you that long to find what you wanted. Coming out of the change room in front of the business woman, you stood there with a blows, a nice pair of black work pants, fancy black shoes, and a nice jacket to cover yourself with. Once you changed out of it and went to the cash, you purchased the outfit and thanked the woman for the help.

           You returned home with your now, not so hot Brunch and outfit in tow, getting ready for the fancy ball party for tonight while eating at the same time. You weren’t positive that you were going to have a good night but hey, you where invited! You couldn’t say no! Especially since you where in a good mood, you figured ‘eh, why not? Keigo’s gonna be there anyways so~’ and went with it.

A few hours had past, and it was time for the gathering. You rode in a somewhat fancy vehicle to the location of the party. Getting out of the car, you could already tell that eyes where on you. You ignored them, and thanked the driver and went into the building.

Using the elevator, you went up to the highest floor, which was a party room dedicated to pro-hero’s and their parties. You were slightly nervous since your mental state was still...Not exactly the best but, a lot better than a couple months ago. Putting those thoughts aside, you walked into the entrance area. You saw two doors both opened with two guards there, one stopped you and looked down, “Ma’am, this is a Pro-Hero party. Please show proof that you’ve been invited or we’ll have to remove you from the premise.” You sighed in annoyance, knowing that the guy was just doing his job. You pulled out your Hero License and showed it to him. He nodded and allowed you in.

Walking into the main area, you stood in awe, ‘They really went all out huh?’ You thought to yourself, staring up at the fancy decorations that seemed to blend in well with everything else in the room. You took in the atmosphere, not used to the Party life At All, staring off into the area as you listened to the soft music playing on the small stage area. “Wow! I didn’t think you’d show up of all people!” You hear a familiar voice from a loud woman behind you. Her grin was wide and she was excited to see more people coming to the party, “Yeah....The Commission had invited me over. I’m assuming it’s to keep an eye on hawks since he’s been invited as well...” You automatically noticed the wingless man near the farthest end, standing beside Endervour, laughing it up with the small group that gathered there for the night.

“...You know y/n. Most of the public knows your not a party person. Just imagine the press when they get a hold of this! ‘Y/N seen at a fancy Galla ball with Pro-Hero Hawks by her side!’ haha, they’ll get a good scoop for that one~” She chuckled, patting you on the back shoulders gently before walking towards the crowd giving them a wave. You groaned...You really hate the media being in your face all the time. So, something like this would DEFINITELY, be a pain in the ass to deal with.

----------------------------------------------------

                 The party continued on for the night, you talked and hung out with everybody at the party. You also did your job and reported to your boss at what was happening with Hawks, telling them that he was behaving well and having a blast. Once you sent in the report, you decided to spend the rest of the night with Keigo, walking up to the small group of pro-hero’s that he was telling a story too. “---And even tho I was trying to make the poor woman laugh, safe it to say, that didn’t help my situation at all. it just made the other’s more angry--” The group chuckled with him, and you just rolled your eyes.

The party went on like this for hours. By the time you where ready to go back home, it was around 12am. You and Keigo spent the last hour going home. He was just a tad bit drunk and a little bit silly as well, trying to handle him when he’s a bit drunk was hard but, you somehow managed.

“Hey.....Hey y/n....” He mumbled, trying his best to keep what little composure that he had left. “Yes Kei?” You asked, grunting while you placed him on your couch, grinning, he pulled you down into a cuddle, you didn’t mind it at all. Since you were quite tired from the party, having been out for a long time on your feet for the most part.

Keigo wasn’t really talking per say. He was mumbling random words in between some cute sweet nothings to you as he held you close to him. “Hey...y/n?.....” He whispered in your ear, first telling you how much he loved you...And then, telling you a silly joke that was, actually pretty funny! You couldn’t help but snicker then laugh in his chest, burying your face in it, you snorted off and on until you could breathe from the laughing again.

Keigo blinked in surprise. he managed to make you laugh.....Like, genuinely laugh at one of his jokes. He didn’t put any thought into it at all, he just went with it, and that made you laugh until you snort-laughed in his chest.

           This made your night. Just that one time with Keigo on the couch, making you laugh. You felt at ease, happy, even safe. You don’t want to forget this night, you want to cherish it for the rest of your life.

With Keigo being your partner, your depression and suicidal thoughts where a little bit easier to handle. Because you were no longer by yourself dealing with them anymore. You had Keigo to help. And you knew that this man would do anything to make your life, a little less painful to deal with.

[wwitbeyondmeasure]

Summer at the Burrow / r.w. fan fiction

Previous Chapters

Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match / Chapter 7: Girl Talk / Chapter 8: Aphrodite’s Push / Chapter 9: Mistakes and Love Potions / Chapter 10: You Would Be Fine

Chapter 11: Spell It Out

It was the night of Percy's birthday party and you had successfully avoided Ron the entire day. It wasn't difficult to do, considering the fact that everyone was so hectic and busy running around to complete Percy's demanding orders. He was usually uptight, but the stress of his work friends and boss attending his party had him so wound up you were afraid he was going to snap in two.

Not ready to face Ron after your screaming match last night, you stuck by Hermione and Ginny's side the entire day as everyone prepared for the party. You also avoided Bill too, just in case Ron was still jealous enough to make a scene. You didn't want any more emotional outbursts for a while. You were a little worn out from those this summer.

Now you stood next to the large oak tree, you had come to call it your tree ever since you snuck out at night to sit by it, and observed the party. Wizards in capes and tunics milled about, mingling with one another while sipping the punch Mrs Weasley had made. A laugh bubbled out of you as you remembered the verbal whipping she had given Fred and George when the twins tried to spike the punch with their newest prank concoction.

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" A velvet voice asked you. Turning around, you were met with the smiling eyes of Penelope Clearwater, Percy's girlfriend. You had seen her around school before she graduated, and she was really smart. She was top of her class in Ravenclaw, and her straight black hair framed her delicate features nicely. She was really pretty and you were surprised she was with someone as irritating as Percy.

"It's wonderful," you replied, turning back to admire the decorations of the night. Your muggle Christmas lights were a huge hit, and you watched as Ministry officials stepped closer to the bulbs to inspect them further. Everyone looked in awe of them. The night was perfect summer weather. It was warm enough that people could wear dresses but not too hot that those in long capes got too overheated.

You toyed with the hem of your dress absentmindedly. Since you hadn't brought any fancy clothes with you from home, Ginny had lent you one of her dresses. Ginny hated wearing dresses, "How can I play Quidditch in a dress?" she used to complain to her mom, but Mrs Weasley still made or bought a couple of them for her. You were glad she did, because the white dress you were wearing right now was stunning. Although you were a little taller than Ginny, the dress fit like a glove. It had a delicate lace neckline with matching short sleeves and came down to right above your kneecaps. When you had walked out of Ginny's closet to show her your outfit, she had grinned and said, "Ron doesn't know what he's missing."

Sighing as your brain yet again wandered to the redheaded boy, you turned to Penelope to take your mind off of him. You chatted with her for a few minutes about her work, and she was surprisingly a lot more interesting than Percy made her out to be. She was intelligent and passionate about her work, and pretty soon you and her began talking like old friends.

"It was really nice of you to help Percy plan for this party," she said, giving you a warm smile that almost made you forget all of your current boy troubles. "He appreciates it, even if he can't find the words to tell you. I know he can be a bit uptight sometimes, but he's really a good guy. I'm so thankful for him."

When Penelope talked about Percy, her eyes lit up and her elegant smile grew.

"You must really love him, huh?" You asked her. Your heart ached because you knew what it was like to care for someone that much. At least Percy loved her back.

She nodded. "I wasn't really expecting to. At first we were kind of in competition with one another, to see who would be the best Prefect. But then feelings developed, and everything changed." She laughed to herself and said, "sometimes, love happens unexpectedly."

"That's what Mrs Weasley told me," you commented, remembering your conversation in the kitchen.

Penelope raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at you. "You get love advice often from your boyfriend's mother?" she asked jokingly.

Not even bothering to hide your blush, you replied, "He's not my boyfriend." But oh Merlin, you wished he was.

"Really?" she asked, the moonlight illuminating her perfect features. "Huh, from the way you two acted back at Hogwarts, I would have thought you'd been in love for years."

Only one of us, you thought.

After chatting with Penelope a little bit more, you both made your way back to the party when dessert was served. Ice cream, tarts, and chocolate cake greeted you when you walked up to the dessert table. Your brain was so distracted by all of the delicious food that you barely noticed Bill walking up next to you.

"Hi y/n," he said as you spooned some ice cream into a bowl. You smiled politely at him as he made a bowl for himself.

"Hello," you said, topping your dessert off with sprinkles and chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Mrs Weasley really made the best food of all time. You were going to miss her cooking when the summer was over. Thinking about the end of summer sent a pang of sadness throughout your body. Although the summer had been fun, it was winding to an end and your last year of Hogwarts would be soon. You were going to miss your friends and the Weasley family.

Bill followed you to an empty table and you both sat down, immediately digging into your ice cream. Neither of you spoke as the next few minutes were reserved for devouring the delicious food. After you had both finished, Bill looked up at you and chuckled.

"What?" you asked defensively. It seemed like he was laughing at you.

"You got a little something right there," he said, motioning towards the corner of your mouth.

Embarrassed, you swiped at your mouth, but Bill kept chuckling.

"Here, I got it," he said, reaching across the table to wipe the extra ice cream off your mouth with his napkin. He was so close you could smell that pine-needle scent on him. His eyes met yours and you tried to steady your breathing. This felt wrong, you thought. I want this to be somebody else.

"Thanks," you replied, leaning back in your chair to put some space between you.

Bill nodded, folding the napkin casually before dropping it in his lap.

"You're really over me, aren't you?" He asked. At the same time the words left his lips, your eyes caught on the sight of a lanky ginger boy stealing ice cream from Harry's bowl when his head was turned. Your stomach flipped at just the sight of Ron.

"Yeah, I am," you responded, still not looking away from the boy you loved.

You heard Bill standing before you saw him getting up from the table.

"You should tell Ron," he said.

"Tell him what?" you asked, forgetting how clever Bill was. He gave you a knowing smile before speaking again.

"If someone loved me as fiercely as you two love each other, I would sure as hell fight for it."

And just like that, Bill walked away, towards a blonde girl you recognized as Fleur Delacour from the Triwizard tournament. You had no idea why she was attending Percy Weasley's birthday party, but Bill introduced himself to her anyway.

With Bill gone, you were alone with your thoughts. Bill had said "as you two love each other," implying that Ron felt the same way. Although you were almost certain Ron didn't love you back, Bill's words gave you a new sense of hope. A fire ignited in your heart as you looked back at Ron, who was joking and goofing around with Harry. That boy, however flawed and imperfect he was, was the one you loved. You couldn't just give him up because you had one disagreement.

"I would sure as hell fight for it."

Maybe that's all you and Ron needed, just one of you to build the courage to fight for the other. It was there, standing under the stars and twinkling lights of the summer night, that you decided that person was going to be you. You weren't going to sit around, crying for a boy to want you. Instead, you stood up and made your way over to Ron. You had held your love for him in your heart for so long, it was time to finally let it free and tell him.

As you walked across the grass yard towards him, Harry and Hermione saw you approaching and left. Bless them for being such good friends. Now Ron was alone and he looked up at you from across the sea of moving bodies and lights. His eyes met yours with a smile, and your heart threatened to beat out of your chest. He was looking at you differently, you realized. Maybe it was the dress that fit you so well, maybe it was the moonlight shining on your skin, or maybe it was just years of longing and desire building up to this very moment. Because as you walked towards him, Ron thought, "There's my love."

You weren't aware of what Ron was thinking but you knew he was in a significantly different mood from the last time you spoke. By now, you were almost at Ron's table, and he stood up quickly to greet you, knocking a couple spoons off the table in his haste.

"Hi," you said shyly, tucking your hair behind your ear when you were a couple feet from him.

His eyes glanced up and down your figure and he before he could think, he blurted out, "You look beautiful."

You couldn't tell whose cheeks turned redder, yours or his. But in that moment you didn't really care, all you cared about was coming over here to tell him the truth of how you felt.

"I have something to tell you," you started. "I-"

An explosive BOOM ricocheted into the night sky, cutting off your words. Everyone looked around them in surprise, and a second later another BOOM echoed, followed by a loud CRACK as fireworks were released into the sky.

"Welcome to Fred and George's Magical Firework Extravaganza! Please enjoy the show!" you heard the twins voices magically project throughout the garden. At their words, more fireworks erupted in the sky, vibrant colors of blue and red painting the dark backdrop. They were so loud that you knew your chance to tell Ron that you loved him would have to wait until later, when it was quieter. In the meantime, you were going to enjoy the show.

Scooting next to Ron, you both leaned against the table together, your faces angled up to watch the sky. Firework after firework was released, each more intense than the last. Before you could even wonder what made their fireworks different from muggle fireworks, you received your answer.

One firework spiraled up into the air and exploded into a large green dragon. It swam through the stars before opening it's mouth to breath fire. But instead of fire coming out, orange and red sparkly figures danced out of the beast's mouth. At first you thought they were leprechauns, similar to the ones at the Quidditch World Cup show. But upon closer inspection, you started to recognize the figures.

"That's us! That's our family!" Ron said, his voice giddy with childlike excitement.

Leading the pack of orange figures made up of the firework trails and sparks was Fred and George, clad in the silly three piece suit that they had teased Percy about so relentlessly. Next came sparks in the shape of Mr and Mrs Weasley, walking hand and hand with one another. The rest of the family followed in age order; Bill, Charlie, Percy (who was wearing a large IT'S MY BIRTHDAY button), Ron, and then Ginny. After them followed Hermione, Harry, you, and Penelope. You laughed up at the firework version of yourself, beyond amazed at the magic it must have taken to make this special show.

Suddenly, you felt a pang of fear. The memory of Fred and George saying, "the fireworks are nonrefundable, we have to use them," and "we thought you would have told Ron how you felt by the time of Percy's party." Oh no, you realized. You were too late. You closed your eyes and cringed as you thought about what was about to happen next.

As soon as you opened your eyes, you saw all the firework figures doing a line dance and kicking in time with one another. Everyone in the garden was laughing, clapping, and cheering for the show.

Then, pink firework hearts exploded into the sky. Here it comes, you thought.

In a giant red heart, the figures of Penelope and Percy emerged, holding hands and walking together. Laughter filled the garden as everyone enjoyed the cheesy display. Looking over at Percy, you were expecting him to be embarrassed by Fred and George's show. Instead, he smiled wide, simply wrapping his arm around Penelope and planting a kiss on her cheek.

Next, Mr and Mrs Weasley emerged from the heart, waltzing with one another through the sky. People cheered and awed at their dance. You looked over at the real Mr and Mrs Weasley and your heart warmed as you saw Mr Weasley sweep up his wife in a goofy manner, beginning to waltz her through the garden just like in the sky.

Following them in the sky came Harry and Ginny. Everyone laughed when Ginny's figure scooped Harry up bridal style and kissed him on the lips. Fake smoke erupted from Harry's firework ears as he kissed her back. So I guess you and Ron weren't the only ones the twins would tease about their love life. You glanced over at the real Ginny and Harry, laughing as you saw Ginny slapping her knees from laughing so hard. Harry stood next to her, his face as red as the fireworks.

After their figures left the sky, you knew what was coming.

"You don't think they're gonna..." Ron started, his voice sounding shocked.

"Yes, I think they are," you responded, equally as stunned at Fred and George's antics.

And then there you were. Yours and Ron's firework figures were running through the heart together, your hair whipping behind you in a beautiful display of orange and red sparks. Your heart stopped when you saw Firework Ron turning to Firework y/n, dipping her low into a stereotypically cheesy pose, and kissing her. The garden erupted into even louder cheers and laughter. Fred and George were smiling and giving you double thumbs up from across the garden.

You couldn't help it, you laughed along with them. It was so ridiculous, that everyone knew how you and Ron felt about each other all these years, everyone except the two of you. It took Fred and George literally having to spell it out in the summer night sky for you to realize that maybe Ron did feel the same way.

You turned from watching the sky to Ron, still laughing, and noticed he wasn't looking at the fireworks. He was looking at you. He was looking at you like you were the most important thing in the summer night, nevermind the fact that there was a grand firework special going on behind him.

Before you knew what was happening, Ron had grabbed your hand and was dragging you towards the oak tree on the side of the house. Since everyone had gathered in the garden to watch the fireworks, the tree was well away from the others and it was significantly quieter. Your heart was beating so loud you were sure it was just as loud as the booms of the fireworks. The show continued in the sky as Ron led you to the tree, not releasing your hands until your back was pressed against the hard bark of the oak.

"Y/n," he whispered, leaning closer and closer to you. His hands slipped out of yours as he reached up to cup the sides of your face.

"I have something to tell you," he breathed, his eyes glancing from your lips to your eyes.

You held your breath, heart hammering against your ribcage, as you waited for the words you had been dying to hear for years.