#and it was only halfway!!!! that barely counts! i want to do it w someone i enjoy!!! IN THE DORMS.

[minglana]

god you can so desperately tell that spring is here..... kill me now

[lovelyhan]

— ode to you ⟢

if there's one thing you've learned from all the lives you've spent together, it's that jeonghan isn't always someone you'll end up wanting. he can be crass. he can be secretive. he can be nothing short of vexing. but in the end, he's everything you need him to be.

or: 25 lives in which you find and don't find jeonghan.

★ FEATURING; jeonghan x gn!reader

★ WORD COUNT; 6.9k words

★ TAGS; reincarnation, multiple lives, pining, angst, suggestive scenes but no smut, sooo many tropes

★ WARNINGS; mentions of blackmail, implied murder, implied depression, mentions of puking/vomiting, mentions of car accidents major character death

★ NOTES; i was supposed to work on my collab fics but i feel like i've gotten a little rusty w my prose so i wrote this as a little writing exercise of sorts :D i've written for other fandoms in this format before and i thought it was high time i did the same for seventeen with my ult of all ults <3 i hope you enjoy!

this is inspired by tongari's 25 lives

★ PERMANENT TAGLIST; @cheolhub - @pretty-trustme - @just-here-to-read-01 - @Idkmelkro - @dejavernon - @venusrae - @jyiiscool - @jiniesclub - @junhui-recs - @bldelaine - @featmia - @fruitzcup - @hoeforhao - @candidupped - @billboard-singer - @caratochan - @novalpha - @dahliatopia - @0717luv - @shiveringgaze - @toruro - @mixling-blog - @minnie-mouser22 - @homerunhansol - @mirtaspace - @ti–red - @zzucculent - @woozarts - @rubyreduji - @mozellerra - @lllucere - @cheolzip - @jjjzzzz - @lissiesykes - @jeonride - @meowmeowminnie - @colored-confetti - @partiallyinfluencial - @speaknowlwt - @flwrshwa - @lilylikesthat - @aurorahongg - @whippedforjihoon

★ JEONGHAN TAGLIST; @yoonzinoooo - @scandal-in-bohemia - @bias-recs - @lunaryoongie

01. the very first time i remember you, you are blonde and you don’t love me back.

One strict rule that you make sure to uphold with all of your clients is that business comes first before all else.

You're a well-known freelancer that lands gigs left and right from high-end fashion brands and magazines alike. The only way your career managed to survive in such a cut-throat industry is because of the strict professionalism you never failed to maintain.

That's until you meet Jeonghan for the first time.

Fluffy blonde hair framing his face, curling just along the edges. Slanted eyes that crinkle just a bit whenever he smiles. And a lazy grin that betrays just how nonchalant he is about the entire thing. Like he knows he's gorgeous he is and how everyone else in the vicinity is aware of the fact, too.

You've worked with a handful of people with breathtaking features in in the past, but there doesn't seem to be any word in any language that could encapsulate just how mesmerizing Jeonghan is.

For the first time in your career, you find yourself wanting to reach for the subject being captured by the lens of your camera. Just to make sure he was an actual person and not some doll crafted from fine silk and porcelain. The fact that he's modeling with a bouquet of lush flowers does little to your peace of mind.

But your innate professionalism overrules whatever nonsensical desires your sleep-deprived brain could conjure in that moment.

Once you're satisfied with the material you've come up with, you're quick to dismiss Jeonghan and the rest of the team, and call it a day. You have another shoot to oversee in less than two hours and you'd like to avoid the rush hour traffic if you can.

Yet, despite your urgency, you stop halfway to the door to the studio—casting a sidelong glance at the person who's supposed to be one of your temporary colleagues and none else.

"Jeonghan," you call out, his name tasting bittersweet on your tongue. "It was nice working with you today."

He barely glances up at you from the soft glow of his phone screen, not even a smile spared your way.

"Yeah, sure."

02. the next time, you are brunette, and you do.

Yoon Jeonghan is the biggest menace you've met in your life.

Not only does he keep stealing your parking space in the office basement and plucks off the last brownie in the pantry during break time, but he's after the promotion you've been vying after for months, too.

Needless to say, he's public enemy number one in your eyes, and all your colleagues are well aware of the scorching rivalry you two constantly waged in the workspace.

But on the night before you're set to present the proposal that you swear up and down would make your superiors choose you over that sniveling prick, the Devil himself swoops into your cubicle with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Do you really not see it?"

You frown at him as you shove your laptop into your bag with an air of irritation. "See what? That they're going to select you for the promotion? I don't, actually. That's why I'm—"

The words promptly melt on your tongue when Jeonghan forces a hand on divider separating your space with the others—trapping you with a sleazy look on his face. His dark brown tresses fall across his piercing eyes but you force yourself to hold your ground.

In the midst of it all, a moment's worth of familiarity crosses your mind.

Blonde hair styled to perfection. A bouquet of flowers just as beautiful as the man that models for them.

How long has it been since then?

"Can't you see that I'm only doing all this to get your attention?" he chuckles. "I've always known you're a bit slow on the uptake, but you might need an extra push in the right direction."

You gulp nervously. "W-What's that supposed to mean?"

Jeonghan shakes his head, amusement dancing across his features in a way that makes you want to smack him, if not for the laws imposed on the land.

"Have dinner with me tonight and I'll withdraw from the competition" he propositions. "How's that sound?"

...Isn't this blackmail? It definitely sounds like blackmail.

But despite knowing that you should just bring your knee up to smash into his family jewels, your face heats up with the implications of his offer instead.

An offer that you begrudgingly accept.

03. after a while i give up trying to guess if the color of your hair means anything.

"Really?"

Jeonghan grins when he steps into your apartment sporting his newest dye job. You're perfectly aware that idols these days get the most outrageous hair colors, but you didn't think his stylist would be daring enough to pull off long purple hair for Jeonghan just a few months after his group's debut.

Over the years, Jeonghan cycles through a lot more colors than you'd ever thought he'd be willing to try. Blonde, pink, red, brown, silver—all of them, he pulls off with grace.

Even when his idol days are over, he still gets bouts of wanting to march into the nearest salon for another makeover, and you rectify this by just buying the cheapest bleaching kits online despite his whines in protest.

"Our stylist noonas would've been alright with a house call." He pouts just a little as you force him to sit still. "It might come out all patchy."

"Do you have so little faith in your partner's bleaching skills?" you huff, dipping the brush you have in one hand into the bowl of sharp-smelling bleaching mix in the other. "Your stylists noonas charge a fortune, too. We're better off doing it ourselves."

Jeonghan laughs. "You act like we can't afford it."

Turns out, you fucked up the portions of your little bleach concoction and your harmless session resulted into googling first aid for bleaching burns and soaking Jeonghan's scalp with coconut oil for the rest of the day.

"Sorry," you mumble as you help rinse out the oil the next morning. "Do you want to contact your stylist or head to a salon instead?"

Despite your wary disposition, Jeonghan merely breathes out a chuckle, taking your hand in his as he meets your eyes in the bathroom mirror.

There, two rings glimmer in the morning light—the one he shares with his twelve brothers and the one you slid onto his index on the day of your wedding.

"I've been through worse, love. This is nothing," he insists before pressing a soft kiss across your knuckles. "Let's just let my scalp rest for a few days before we dye it, okay?"

You shake your head with a laugh. Really, what are you supposed to do with this man?

"If you insist."

04. because even when you don’t exist, i'm still in love with you.

"You got my name wrong again."

In the middle of packing a takeout bag for the food delivery guy waiting in the corner of the café, you look up to some familiar college kid standing in front of the counter with a furrow on his brow. A regular, maybe.

"Sorry?" you ask, brain a little too frazzled to make sense of what he was trying to say.

Said college kid shows you the underside of his cup—the name Jeonghan scribbled hastily onto the material.

"My name's Jeongin," he sighs. "I've been coming here everyday and I swear, you always get it wrong."

"Well, I'm so sorry, Jeongin, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again," you manage to wrench out before calling out to the delivery guy, saying the order was ready for pick-up.

Funnily enough, you end up living together with Jeongin by some twist of fate. Your shoes are lined up with his outside the apartment, toothbrushes lying in the same cup in the bathroom, and you even steal his hoodies every now and again.

But what you don't tell your boyfriend of five years is how you still dream of the man whose name brought you together in the first place.

A man who you don't get the pleasure to meet in this life, much like a dozen others that came before.

05. i remember most fondly those lifetimes where we get to grow up together

In the past (though its definition is a little...unique in your case), you were convinced that just because Jeonghan is the sole singularity to which your existence is anchored to, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll get to have him and him alone in each life.

Yet in this one, you're fully convinced that he's the only person who'll ever have your heart.

It's on a cold, winter afternoon when you realize that you're in love with the boy that showed you how to cross the monkey bars in elementary school. The boy who gives you his packed lunch whenever you forget yours at home. The boy who taught you how to pick locks so you could sneak into his father's liquor shop and get drunk behind the counter.

Jeonghan has always been a fascinating person in whatever life you meet him. But now that you've got a taste of what it feels to grow up alongside him—witnessing him transition from a snotty kid to a troublesome adult—you can't picture yourself wanting anyone else.

He's rightfully startled when you confess your feelings merely minutes after having realized them. You've lived through this endless cycle of meeting and parting ways enough times to know that there's no room for uncertainty.

And each time he accepts you with open arms, the relief that washes over you feels like the first time all over again.

06. when i share my secrets and sorrows and hiding places with you.

There are times when you're the one who doesn't remember the lives you've lived in the seemingly endless cycle.

When you meet Jeonghan in this life, it's with shoulders carrying the weight of emotional baggage and dreams that have been crushed right before your eyes. It's an understatement to say that you're inexplicably drawn to him as if he's a beacon in the dark. But even if you're yet to remember, Jeonghan has always been easy to trust. Easy to fall into.

One night is particularly heavier than the rest. Your meds aren't kicking in the way they're supposed to and it's raining much too harshly to pay your comfort person a late night visit.

Yet when you call your boyfriend as you choke on your own tears, he's at your door in half an hour—paper bags full of all your favorite snacks in hand with a smile that feels like a ray of sunlight amidst a raging storm.

But he's quick to drop all of it and pull you into a hug when he sees the mess you are in the living room.

"I'm a bad person," you sob into his chest, clinging to the fabric of his jacket as he placates you in his tender embrace. "I'm s-selfish and always just think about myself. I've done so many terrible things, Hannie... How could you even love someone like me?"

Jeonghan doesn't answer right away. He calms you down for the better part of an hour before rising to get you a glass of water in the kitchen. Your boyfriend watches with quiet attentiveness until the look on your face tells him that you're ready to talk again.

"So what if you're a bad person, love?" he murmurs before planting a kiss on your forehead. "Tell me every terrible thing you did and let me love you anyway."

Despite yourself, you let out a soft laugh. "Which cheesy pocketbook did you pull that one out of?"

"Hey, I drove for thirty minutes in the rain and this is how you thank me?" He huffs before reaching for a bag of chips he haphazardly strewn across the coffee table, tearing it open and offering you a piece. "I read that on Pinterest, by the way."

07. i love how you play along with my bad ideas

In many, many lives, Jeonghan is not yours to love.

And that's okay. There isn't a fine print stating that because you're blessed (cursed?) to meet him in each lifetime, you're meant to be together against all odds.

Fate is fickle like that—so unpredictable that you never really know how to act whenever you do cross paths with Jeonghan eventually.

Still, even if you're not destined to be lovers, you can still love him in other ways.

Like helping him sneak out of his third period lecture so he can come watch local street performers hold a fundraising show in some underground bar. You do all this because he once told you that he wanted to support them in any way he could.

If only Jeonghan could see the grin on his face that gets wider with each dancer that takes the stage, he wouldn't have a hard time wondering why it was so easy to fall in love with him.

"So when's the next time you'll help me sneak out of a lecture?" Jeonghan asks as the two of you head back to campus at a mellow pace even if Jeonghan's next classes starts in ten minutes.

You hum as if genuinely contemplating. "Maybe after you do me a huge favor in return for this one."

Your shoulders bump together as he lets out an easygoing laugh. As the late afternoon sunlight filters through a canopy of trees and onto your best friend's face, you feel a tug at your heartstrings that urges you to pull him in for a kiss.

But you don't.

08. before you grow up and realize that they’re bad ideas.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

Jeonghan's voice sounds considerably spooked when the amusement park staff locks in the over-the-shoulder restraints. The buzz of excitement from other visitors rings in your ears and he seems to be the only person that isn't looking forward to being on a rollercoaster.

"You act like this is the first time you've been on one." You roll your eyes. "Just relax and feel the wind on your face, yeah? If it gets too much just hold my hand or whatever."

You should not have offered in the first place because by the time the you've made two trips around the wildly looped tracks, you're convinced Jeonghan has already cut any and all circulation to your fingers with how tightly he's gripping your hand.

But still...you can't deny that it feels a little nice to be needed by him.

09. (and in our lives together i have many, many bad ideas.)

“Do I know you?” 

Jeonghan makes the mistake of blurting out those very strange words when he catches you sitting right next to him at the bar. You startle when he breaks the ice, fully convinced you're the one who had to initiate when you deliberately slid into the stool to his right.

Amused, you study him without much of a real expression before the tension in your posture melts into gentle laughter.

“No,” you say with a tone that suggests you're making fun of him. “But we could get out of here so we can get to know each other better. What’s your name?”

A dozen expressions flit across Jeonghan's face in mere seconds and you would've laughed again if you didn't know the reason behind the perplexity of his reactions.

“It’s Jeonghan. But you can call me…”

Before he can get the rest of the pick-up line out, he promptly throws up all over your outfit.

10. when we meet as adults, you're always much more discerning. I don't blame you.

"Again."

Your sweat beads across your forehead and drips onto the floor as you catch your breath. Palms braced across your knees, you look up to your mentor with a resentful glare.

In this life, Jeonghan—who was considered part of the 'anemic line' in his group eternities ago—is now one of the most well-known choreographers in the industry and would probably put Soonyoung to shame with how much of a perfectionist he is when it comes to your routines.

"Can't I get a five-minute water break?" you plead.

"You can get one when you think you deserve it," he says flatly before crossing his legs. "Do you?"

Much to your chagrin, you're just as much of a perfectionist as he is in this life. You shake your head with a guttural sigh, forcing yourself back into position despite your muscles aching for a break.

You don't miss the way Jeonghan smiles at your display of determination, but you don't let yourself think much of it either.

11. yet, always, you forgive me.

Jeonghan is upset with you.

He has all the right to be, really. You promised that you'll leave enough candy bars from your Trick or Treat haul to last both of you for a week, but you ended up overeating while binging your afternoon cartoons and now there's only one stick of chocolate left in the hollow, pumpkin-shaped bucket.

"I'm sorry," you murmur. "Do you want to go to the candy store to buy some more? I can break my piggy bank if—"

"No, you're saving up for that new game on your Nintendo DS, right?"

The fact that he actually remembers that makes you gape at him. "Um, yeah, but it's no big deal. A candy bar is only worth a few—"

Not giving you any leeway to speak any further, Jeonghan grabs the last candy bar inside the bucket—tearing the packaging open with his teeth before breaking the chocolate in half in the middle. Despite his annoyance, he hands you the other half with a small pout.

"Then just keep saving up so we can play it together," he grumbles and even when he's barely eight years old, it comes so natural for him to show you how much he cares about you.

12. as if you understand what’s going on

"Do you go here often?"

You flash the stranger who's speaking to you a befuddled look—not expecting to hear a line typically used on you in bars at your father's yacht club, of all places. He's wearing tattered jeans and an atrocious pink flannel over an equally tattered shirt. You wonder if he's just going for an odd aesthetic or if he's in dire need of a closet makeover.

"No. I'm just waiting for my father," you tell the man honestly before glancing at the boats docked by the pier. "He bought another yacht that I'm sure he won't even think of after bragging about it to his friends."

The stranger laughs. "I know how you feel. My old man's just as materialistic as yours sounds."

Oh. Maybe he is just going for an odd aesthetic with his fit after all.

"Wouldn't have thought you were a nepo baby, too," you snort before kicking a lone pebble into the water—watching it sink into the depths until it's out of sight. "I thought you were one of the boys that maintain these things while their owners completely forget about them."

"Hmm, I can be anything you want me to be," he chuckles and even if you've only met this guy five minutes ago, something about his laughter sounds so oddly familiar.

"The name's Jeonghan, by the way." The not-so stranger smiles and the feeling that you know him from somewhere intensifies tenfold.

"What's yours?"

13. and you're making up for all the lifetimes in which one of us doesn't exist

You like to think of yourself as an independent person.

You've crossed literal lifetimes in the strangest rendition of immortality that you've never once read in all the books you've deigned to pick up in this never-ending eternity. It's only natural for you to be self-sufficient.

But when it comes to Jeonghan, you always get to refamiliarize yourself with what it feels like to be lonely.

There are things about him that you consider irreplaceable: the curve of his easygoing smile, the warmth of his slender fingers, and the touch you yearn for constantly.

You're perfectly aware that you don't need Jeonghan for all these lives to gain some semblance of meaning. In fact, it's in the lives where you don't meet him that you get to learn a thing or two about yourself.

But when he is there, when he's the reason you get out of bed everyday, you simply think that a second of being with Jeonghan in the flesh is worth more than a lifetime in his absence.

14. and the ones where we just, barely, never meet.

Your phone is pressed into your ear in the middle of the grocery store because your good friend Joshua thought it was the perfect time to rant about his insufferable boss.

Being the lovely person that you are, you let him talk your ear off as you parse through the cabbages on display—wondering which one you should bring home for salad night.

"He's such a fucking prick, you know?" Joshua groans out the same sentence for the third time since you picked up his call. "No wonder his wife is having an affair behind his back. That's karmic retribution if I've seen it.''

"Shua, have you ever considered just resigning instead of making me your therapist?"

"I have, it's just that finding a new job is way more of a hassle than dealing with my asshole boss everyday," he grumbles. "But about the therapist thing—thanks for always listening to me. I know I can be annoying at times but you always put up with it any..."

Joshua's voice fades into the backdrop of your mind when you spot a flash of pink in the corner of your eyes. You instinctively turn your head in the direction of a stranger running towards the exit of the supermarket—wearing an atrocious pink flannel that you would recognize anywhere in any lifetime.

You briefly apologize to Joshua before ending the call, shoving your phone into the pocket of your jeans before leaving your push cart to chase after the figure receding from your line of sight.

You just barely catch him hopping onto a bus when your instincts lead you to further outside. You would have sprinted for a ride, had it not been for the children that obstruct your path with a little game of tag.

By the time you finally shake them off, the bus has already driven past the intersection—snuffing out the candle, leaving you in the dark.

15. i hate those. i prefer the ones in which you kill me.

You've watched a dozen serial killer documentaries in your lifetime—well, lifetimes. They always start the same way: a psychopath with a way with words charming his next unsuspecting victim into their utter demise.

While you absolutely did not know that this life's Jeonghan will turn out to be a crazed lunatic that gets off on seeing another human being's blood on his hands, it doesn't really change the fact that your heart is still tethered to him despite.

He still smiles as sweetly as you can remember as the tip of his knife glides along the column of your throat. His voice is just as comforting in those lives where he'd never forget to kiss you good night right before going to sleep.

"You're such a pretty little thing, aren't you?" Jeonghan murmurs. "But you'd be so much prettier if you just lay still."

The last thing you remember seeing is the angelic look on his face as if he's the one who'll personally escort you to the next life.

You don't particularly mind.

16. but when all's said and done, i'd rather surrender to you in other ways.

It's only amidst the post-orgasmic clarity that you realize how much of a fool you are.

These quick trysts you share with Jeonghan are brief. He invites you over under the guise of something that isn't sex for the sake of propriety, only to pull you into his apartment and kiss you until stars danced behind your eyelids.

He's flicks the cigarette he's having on the ashtray as he complains about a coworker he's been trying to get with for the past month. She likes playing hard-to-get, but I like her so much that I don't really mind? Is that weird? Oh, do you want a smoke, too? Sure, let me light you a quick one in a sec—

You're a fool because you've spent dozens, if not hundreds of lives chasing after him—whether you yourself are aware of it or not.

To Jeonghan, this is a life he probably won't remember in the next. To you, it's another inescapable death sentence.

"Maybe you should drop the nice guy act," you suggest before taking a drag of your own—not caring how the ashes stain Jeonghan's crisp white sheets despite his protests. "Showing your true colors is what got you to land me, you know."

"And we all know how much of a catch you are." He winks before killing his cigarette on the ashtray.

You're about to respond with an eyeroll until he plucks the cancer stick off your hands as well, disposing of it the same way he did with his own. When Jeonghan maneuvers himself on top of you again, you let out a withering sigh.

"Maybe I should just date you instead," he giggles before leaning down to nip at your ear, slender arms coiling around your waist. "What do you think?"

"You already told me before that I wasn't your ideal partner, asshole," you remind him with a huff.

Jeonghan hums, a noncommittal sound that seems like there's something else layered underneath. "But what if I told you that already changed?"

It's enticing—the possibility of getting to have him again when you couldn't really call him yours right now. But you know better than to take things that aren't meant for you.

At least, not in this life.

"Stop saying silly things and just fuck me already," you grumble, already tugging off his boxers. "Then you'll delete my number right after so you can finally get with the woman of your dreams. Got that?"

17. even though each time, i know i'll see you again, i always wonder

You've always looked forward to summer.

No more grueling classes. No more deadlines to catch up on. Summer means you get to go back to your hometown for a few weeks, unwinding in ways that your usual schedules don't quite permit you to.

Summer also means you'll get to visit Jeonghan again.

Your mother already has food and flowers prepared in advance—saying Mrs. Yoon kicked up a huge fuss when she found out you were going back home this weekend. You receive the news with fond laughter, noting how the flowers Jeonghan's mother picked out are reminiscent of the ones he held in the very first life you met him.

"I'm graduating next year," is the first thing you tell Jeonghan when you arrive, popping open two ice cold sodas before settling yourself on the grass in front of him. "Can you believe it? Four years of college, just gone in a flash. If you actually went through with your performing arts scholarship, you'd know how I feel."

"I'm thinking of getting a job here instead of the city. You know, so you won't feel too lonely without me," you chuckle, the moisture of your drink beading across your fingers. "Although, your sister keeps insisting that they give you plenty of company already and that I should chase after my own dreams first. She's starting to sound a lot like you, you know that?"

Jeonghan doesn't respond. Of course he doesn't. But you can almost hear his stilted laughter in the warm breeze anyway.

You place the flowers and the cola in front of his gravestone with a bittersweet pang in your chest. But before the tears can get the chance to escape, you turn on your heel and leave the cemetery altogether.

You didn't always look forward to summer after the accident that took the love of your life away. But knowing that your best friend—your soulmate—would simply be waiting for you in the next life, things became much, much easier.

18. is this the last time?

"Don't go..."

Jeonghan murmurs the words between drunken hiccups as he nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck. You chuckle, smoothing your hand across his sweater-clad back as he clings to you like a koala.

"Hannie, what do you mean?" you whisper as you glance at the mess of empty bottles you'll have to clean up from the coffee table once you put your boyfriend to bed. "I'm not going anywhere."

He pulls away from you briefly, puffy eyes glistening with tears as he lets out a shuddering sigh.

"I had a dream that you left me for some guy named...Jeongin, or whatever," he mumbles. "I promise I'll treat you better than anyone else. Just don't...leave me."

In some way, he remembers. Not everything because even you don't completely recall all the lives you've lived. There's too many of them now, most of which are too painful to think about all over again.

But this is the first actual instance where Jeonghan unknowingly hints that his past lives stay with him even beyond death, and it makes you wonder if he'll start to remember the others in time as well.

"I won't, Hannie," you whisper, weaving the words into a promise that you'll be sure to keep in the next life, and the hundreds of lives that will inevitably follow.

"I won't."

19. is that really you? 

There are lifetimes where you try, but it just doesn't work out.

Sometimes, fate carves both you and Jeonghan into mismatched pieces of two different puzzles, and he doesn't even try to convince you to stay as you quietly pack away your belongings in dull brown boxes. The tension in your movements tells him that you knows he's watching.

"I'm not getting back together with you, if that's what you're wondering," you rasp. "If you love your job more than me, then I'll be the one to see myself out." 

Jeonghan manages a sad smile that you completely miss—having been so caught up with your frustration with him to look. You thought that in each life he ends up becoming a world-famous idol, it meant that he'd also live all of his days with you by his side.

But things aren't always that simple, and Jeonghan merely stands in resignation as you shut the door to both his house and your heart. 

20. and what if you're already perfectly happy without me?

When you took up a job as an events coordinator, never in your wildest dreams did you expect to be planning Jeonghan's wedding, of all things.

He doesn't seem to remember you and you don't really fault him for not recognizing someone he's met literal lifetimes ago. Not when he's obviously so enamored with his current fiancé.

"We were interested in the deluxe package on your website," Seungcheol, his intended, breaks the ice after the formal introductions, showing you a screenshot on his phone. "Is this inclusive of a lights and sound system or will we have to outsource those somewhere else?"

You nearly miss what Seungcheol was asking you—too caught up in how beautiful Jeonghan looks today. He's grown out his hair longer than he usually does and it's half pinned behind his head.

When it takes you a while to respond, both his and Seungcheol's gazes flicker with confusion before your heart sinks with how in tune they are with each other.

"Y-Yes, lights and sounds are already included in the package." You compose yourself with a warm smile. "But you might be interested in the royalty package. This would give you access to..."

21. ah, but i don’t blame you.

"Baby, I'm sorry."

Jeonghan looks like a kicked puppy sitting at the side of the hospital bed with how apologetic he is. You want to tell him that it really is no big deal but with the lower half of your body temporarily paralyzed, you can't really say that's the case.

"I shouldn't have insisted that you come to the music show when it was raining," he groans. "It's a miracle you managed to swerve out of the truck's way."

You wonder if he remembers the life where you lost him to an accident not so different from the one you narrowly escaped last night. The absolute fear in his eyes the moment he saw you covered in casts and bandages is reminiscent of the time you received the phone call informing you of your boyfriend's passing.

But you don't make it a habit to ponder too long about lives that have long come to an end. What's important is now, where you're still living and breathing and able to remain by his side.

"It's not your fault, Hannie," you murmur as you reach out to pet his head with some difficulty. "I shouldn't have gone past the speed limit in the first place."

"Well, you wouldn't have to do that if I wasn't being so pushy about you showing up," he sighs in defeat. "Tell you what, I'll pull out of all our comeback schedules until you can walk by yourself again."

You frown at him. "What? No! Your managers are going to kill you."

"They will, but knowing you'll be all alone while you recover will kill me inside too."

Jeonghan isn't usually this cheeky with you, so you keep this memory tucked away in your consciousness for as long as you can. Knowing there's no talking him out of it once he's got his mind set, you shake your head with a defeated sigh.

"You better take care of me like they do in those five star nursing homes then."

22. i’ll never burn as brilliantly as you. 

Your favorite lives, you think, are the ones where he lights up the stage and the entire world as an idol.

He's happiest in these kinds of lives. The bond he shares with the rest of his bandmates transcends even the love you've harbored for him through lifetimes, and if there are people you'll gladly surrender Jeonghan to, it's those twelve boys that will always be his brothers no matter what.

"How was that?"

You're in the middle of giving out stage directions for the next round of performers when Jeonghan walks up to you with his signature, lazy smile. He's sweat-stricken with a stutter to each breath he takes, but he makes himself appear just as composed as he wants you to think.

"Breathtaking as always, Jeonghan," you decide to humor him—knowing that the sooner you give him a compliment, the sooner he'll leave you alone. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to—"

"Will you be busy after the show? I wanted to cook dinner for us at home."

A panicked look seizes your face when you gesture for him to keep it down. Your eyes dart around the vicinity—idols and their stylists running around backstage in preparation for the next segment of the show. None of them seemed to have picked up on Jeonghan's little slip of the tongue.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" you whisper sharply over the sound of another fellow stage director paging you in the south entrance. "Anyways, I have to go, Hannie. And please don't go blabbing about our relationship where you shouldn't."

When that idiotically handsome smile doesn't fade from his lips, you know things won't exactly go your way as usual.

23. it's only fair that i should be the one

At some point, you stop counting altogether.

The lives you live with and without Jeonghan blend seamlessly into each other the longer the cycle repeats itself. It doesn't hurt as much when you don't find him, but your heart still gushes with relief when you do.

And yet there are instances where you try to spit in the face of fate itself. Instances where you decide that you don't want to be chained to Jeonghan anymore. That the lives you live belong to you and that you won't let some otherworldly force dictate the course of it any longer.

One day in the summer, in some petty attempt to cheat your way out of fate, you decide to date your next door neighbor.

Sujin has the same eyes as Jeonghan—it’s something you can’t really look past. Maybe that’s what makes it so easy for her to wear down your defenses without breaking a sweat.

But the moment the thought crosses your mind, you wipe out every similarity until you can’t see them anymore. They almost look the same apart from gender, but Sujin is so different from Jeonghan, that for a while, you forget about the burden you've been carrying all this time.

One day in the fall, Sujin talks about meeting her brother for dinner, and you don't really ponder about it—agreeing without a hitch.

But that’s only the first of your many mistakes because the man who walks into the restaurant is Jeonghan. Sujin’s brother, the person who’s kissing your girlfriend on the cheek, is Jeonghan. 

“Did you know that Sujin never shut up about you when you brought her the housewarming gift?” Jeonghan snorts before ordering a glass of wine. “Hmm, you look kind of familiar, though… Have we met before?”

“No,” you respond almost instantly.

It doesn’t work. Your master plan of waging war with destiny is rendered utterly useless when Jeonghan bruises his way back into your life. Where Sujin managed to ease herself past the walls you've put up after a few weeks, Jeonghan tears them down in half the time his sister took to pick you apart. 

One day in the winter, Sujin breaks up with you, and in spite of the coil of emotions twisting in your chest, you watch her pack her things and move back into the apartment across the hall. 

One day in the spring, there’s a knock on your front door that you're in no hurry to answer. You stare at Jeonghan with equal parts irritation and relief when you see him there. His grin reminds you of flowers unfurling as he stares back with a challenge in his eyes.

A challenge you loathe, but one you can never refuse.

24. to chase you across ten, twenty-five, a hundred lifetimes

“Don’t you ever get tired?”

Your head is resting on Jeonghan's lap when he poses the question, and you think the fact that your eyes are closed is already an answer on its own.

You used to think you were cursed. Maybe you've incurred enough bad karma in your very first life to provide you with a steady stream of misfortune in the next few million lives you're destined to live.

That could be the reason why you have to live all these lives, meet all these people—rinse and repeat. Is this how the gods are punishing you? Is there anyway to atone for sins you can't even remember committing anymore?

Though…when you open your eyes and see Jeonghan staring out into the distance, you have a hard time thinking of him as a punishment. 

You sit upright and stretch out your limbs. There’s a kink in the back of your neck that might be resolved by a good night’s sleep, but you offer Jeonghan a hand before you can think about it any more.

“No,” you answer as you twines your fingers together, pulling him back to his feet as he spares you a loving smile.

“Not really.”

25. until i find the one where you'll return to me.

"That bouquet's really pretty."

Jeonghan glances behind him with a confused look—frustration clear on his face from trying to get the new stove he had installed in your kitchen last week to start. When his eyes land on the beautiful spill of flowers bundled up in a vase on the dining table, his features soften with fondness.

"Those are the flowers I had when you met me the first time, right?" he chuckles before taking a seat next to you. "The one where I was a 'prick of a model who wouldn't even bat you an eyelash'?"

Your chest bubbles with laughter at his description. You've grown more and more comfortable with telling Jeonghan about the lives you've shared in eternities that have long unspooled, and just when you feared he'd treat you like someone who escaped an asylum, he instead took all your words to heart.

He doesn't quite remember them all on his own, but when you bring up little pieces from old memories you do manage to dredge up, he's able to complete the pieces of the story to form a coherent picture.

Maybe that's what Jeonghan is to you—someone that isn't exactly necessary to have in your life, but someone who makes it infinitesimally better.

If there's one thing you've learned from all the lives you've spent together, it's that Jeonghan isn't always someone you'll end up wanting. He can be crass. He can be secretive. He can be nothing short of vexing.

But he can also be kind, considerate, and present in times when you need him the most.

In the end, he's everything you need him to be.

And you couldn't ask for anything more.

⟢ end notes: me: this is a writing exercise, the word count: pushing 7k :') ok so this wasn't proofread even in the slightest so if you spot any mistakes and errors, no you didn't <3 thank you for joining me in this very self indulgent train of delusion!

[flowersandbigteeth]

Hi hope you've had a lovely weekend.

How about a female human who suffers depression and anxiety, is visited by a vampire who initially meant to just drink her blood but ends up showing her that she has worth. he finds as they get very intimate that she's his mate

I like this idea! I have bipolar 1, so I get depressed a lot. The description in this is just how I experience depression, personally.

Vampire (Serge) x female reader with depression

Word Count: 4k

W: kidnapping, some talk of unaliving oneself, non sexual bath, sfw fluff

You splashed a handful of cold water on your face and gazed into the mirror. Your hair was a wreck and you had deep circles under your eyes. Objectively, you looked like shit. Sighing, you stared at your toothbrush. You should be brushing your teeth, getting ready for work, but you felt like complete trash and all you wanted to do was curl back up in bed. 

You picked up your phone and dialed your job. 

“Hey, Susan,” you said to your boss, “I think I’m coming down with something. I won’t be able to come in today.” 

Susan snarled on the other end of the line. 

“If you’re going to call out, you need to find someone else to cover your shift,” she snapped. 

You groaned, rubbing your eyes. 

“Yeah, whatever,” you said, then hung up the phone. 

Scrolling through your contact list a few times, wondering who to call, you eventually just gave up. Fuck it. Who cares if I get fired? I hate that job anyway. It wasn’t likely anyone was going to take your shift. They all hated their job as much as you. Fast food jobs were a dime a dozen, if you lost this one, you’d get hired across the street by someone else. You trudged back to your bed and curled up under the covers. In a few minutes you were fast asleep. 

You woke with a start. Glancing out the window you could see it was dark outside. You’d slept all day. You checked your phone and there were ten calls from Susan and a string of angry text messages. Not bothering to read them, you tossed your phone on your pillow and dragged your feet to the kitchen. Opening the fridge you found some leftover chinese food one of your roommates had left. You knew he would be pissed you ate his food, but you couldn’t be bothered to care and grabbed the styrofoam box. Having not bought any of your own food for over a week, you had nothing else to eat. 

Closing the refrigerator you screamed, tossing the Chinese food in the air and it exploded all over the floor, chicken landing on your bare foot.

“Who the fuck are you?” you gasped at the man standing in front of you. 

He wasn’t anyone you recognized, incredibly tall with broad shoulders. His long hair was bone white and his eyes seemed to glow ice blue in the dark kitchen. You took in his beautiful face with utter confusion. You’d never seen someone so beautiful. Was he one of your roommates' friends? You’d thought you were alone in the house. Maybe he was a hookup making an exit, but he was far more handsome than any of your roommates usual partners.  

He smiled at you, revealing straight, white teeth framed by pointy fangs, and a hand reached out running two fingers along your jaw. 

“Aren’t you a pretty little trinket?” he murmured, his eyes raking over your body. His voice was lilting and deep, his words touched by a slight accent. 

Your brow drew and you pulled away from him. 

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” you snapped, then, “what’s up with your eyes…and your teeth? Are you a cosplayer?” 

It was bizarre that a cosplayer would be in your kitchen at 11 o’clock at night, but you couldn’t come up with any other explanation. He was wearing a long black trench coat, with a loose white shirt underneath. It was only buttoned halfway up his chest, revealing the hard planes of his muscles and a gold necklace. He stared at you for a second before bursting into a roll of laughter. 

“I don’t dress up and play pretend,” he said, still chuckling a little and putting a hand in the pocket of his trim slacks. 

He leaned casually against the fridge, looking down. 

“I’m sorry I spoiled your dinner,” he said, “but it’s only fair, you spoiled mine.” 

You frowned at him. 

“Was the Chinese food yours?” you asked. 

He grinned, his fangs glinting in the low light. Again, he reached out to touch you, this time stroking your cheek. 

“No, I had something else in mind,” he purred, his glowing eyes brightening. 

“Oh…well sorry,” you grumbled, pulling away. “I guess no dinner for both of us. Make sure you lock the door on your way out.” 

You turned on your heels and marched back to your room, intending to text your roommate and ask him to get his hookups to leave when he did. You didn’t like random weirdos lurking around in the dark. You opened the door to your room and screamed again, jumping a foot in the air. 

The man stood in front of you, as if he’d materialized like magic. 

“How…?” you gasped, your heart pounding, “how did you do that…you were just…” 

You stammered, your mind blown. That was impossible. He couldn’t have gotten to your room that fast. 

He laughed again, tipping his head to the side to look at you. You blinked your eyes rapidly, wondering if this was some kind depression induced hallucination. Your parents had told you to go to the doctor to get a prescription to help with your mental illness and you’d brushed their recommendations away. Everytime you’d try to pick up the phone and make an appointment, you’d be overcome with anxiety and never manage to make the call. Now you wondered if that had been a big mistake. You were obviously losing it. 

You carefully stepped forward, placing your hand on his chest, checking that he was real. He seemed solid enough. You patted his shoulders and then his sharp jaw. 

“You’re real,” you murmured, pulling your hands away, “what the fuck?” 

You squealed as he grabbed you by the arm, pulling you further into the room and shut the door behind you. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” you screamed. “Let me go!” 

He sat elegantly on your bed, putting you in his lap. 

“I let you touch me. It’s only fair I can touch you,” he informed you. 

You tried to scramble out of his lap, but he was inhumanly strong, holding you still while he studied your face. 

“What are you?” you hissed. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked. “I’m a vampire.” 

Your eyes widened at him. He was clearly a nut job. You thought you were crazy, but this home intruder thought he was a vampire! Sure he mysteriously appeared in front of you, but a vampire? You just couldn’t believe it. 

“Look if you’re going to murder me to fulfill your weird fantasy, just be quick about it,” you sighed, slumping in his arms. “And delete my browser history before the police come. My password is Pandabear.” 

He laughed, before his chuckles died and he frowned at you. 

“You’re serious…” he murmured. 

You shrugged. 

“I don’t have much else going on…” you admitted. “Being killed by a cosplaying psycho will at least be a good story. Maybe I’ll make the news. That’s about all I’ve got to contribute to society.” 

His eyebrows lifted and he looked at you thoughtfully. 

“How did this happen?” he said softly. “I’ve never met a victim more willing to die.” 

Since he all but confirmed he planned on killing you, you squeezed your eyes shut and took a deep breath. 

“Okay…I’m ready…do it,” you said, feeling a little relieved. 

Finally this miserable life you had would end. 

You held your eyes shut for what felt like forever, but when nothing happened you popped one eye open and looked at him. He was smirking, his eerie eyes moving over your face. 

“What are you waiting on?” you pouted. “Did you forget your knife or something? We’ve got some in the kitchen.” 

His brow drew and he looked at you like you were the crazy person. 

“I assure you, trinket, if I wanted to kill you I wouldn’t need a knife,” he said, “but that’s no longer my intention. You’re much too precious to be food.” 

Wilting, you sighed. You were so useless a psycho killer didn’t even want to do his thing with you. How pathetic was that? 

“Well what do you intend to do with me, then?” you snapped a little offended you weren’t even good enough to murder, though you knew it was to be expected, “and what’s your name anyway?” 

He looked at you, running his thumb over your cheek, thinking. 

“My name is Serge. First, I’m going to get a snack, then I’m going to get you cleaned up,” he decided. “You haven’t been taking proper care of yourself. We’re going to fix that. No pet of mine will look so…unkempt.” 

“Pet?” you repeated, but you didn’t have much time to think about it because suddenly you weren’t and then you were. 

In a blink of an eye, you were standing in an alley, somewhere in the city. You lifted one bare foot, wrinkling your nose that your skin was touching god knows what on the ground. 

“What the-” you started to say, but the vampire shushed you. 

“Quiet, trinket,” he murmured. “You’ll scare off my prey.” 

People passed down the larger street and when the vampire found one he liked, you watched him prowl towards the man. He’d dropped something and was bending down to pick it up. When his head rose, he looked at Serge, confused. 

“Can I help you?” he asked. 

Serge put his arm over his shoulder, pulling his face so their gazes aligned. 

“Come with me, handsome,” he purred and the man followed him like a lamb to slaughter into the dark alley. 

He pushed him against the cold brick, his nose just barely grazing the man’s neck as if they were lovers. At first you drew your brow thinking you were simply going to watch Serge make out with some random guy, but that misguided thought was quickly corrected. 

His mouth opened and the fangs that already looked sharp and pointy to you, got longer and pointier before they sank into his neck. You squeaked, covering your mouth with your hands so you didn’t cry out. He drank and drank, until the man went completely limp and flopped to the ground like a rag doll. Your eyes had to be as wide as dinner plates as you stared at Serge. 

“You’re…you’re…a,” you gasped. “You ate him!” 

Serge sauntered back to you, licking the red stain from his lips. 

“I drank his blood,” he corrected, wrinkling his elegant nose. “Vampires do not eat flesh like filthy wolves.” 

He let out a satisfied sigh. 

“Now that I’m feeling full,” he said, looking down at you. “It’s time to get you clean.” 

You turned to run, instinctively, but it was no use. Serge scooped you up in his arms and disappeared you again. 

When you blinked this time, you were in a pretty bathroom. It was all white with a large claw foot tub in the middle of the room. The cabinets and sinks had a vintage look to them and fresh flowers were arranged on a couple of side tables. You’d never been in a room so expensive looking, even at a hotel. 

Serge set you on a plush chair and pulled off his heavy coat, before rolling up his sleeves and setting to work on filling the bathtub. You couldn’t help glancing at his perfect ass as he bent over to add soap and some kind of fragrant salt to the water. It was impossible not to tremble in his presence. He filled up so much space with his broad body and confident personality, but of course he was confident, he was a predator and you were just prey. 

When he seemed satisfied he turned to you, looking you up and down. 

“Strip,” he ordered and your cheeks burned. 

“Can you give me some privacy?” you asked and he let out a little bark of a laugh, approaching you with determined, even steps. 

“I don’t ask for anything twice,” he informed you, jerking your shirt over your head. “It’s best you learn that now.”  

You scrambled to hold onto your pajama pants, but you were laughably weak compared to his strong, ivory fingers. He snatched them off of you easily, along with the panties you were wearing. Your heart stuttered in your chest as he looked you over, though he didn’t leer. His look was pure appreciation, as though you were some pretty piece of art. 

He picked you up and deposited you gently in the warm bath water. 

“Under my roof you will bathe every day,” he said, applying soap to a soft loofah and picking your arm up out of the water and scrubbing it clean.  

“I can do it myself,” you hissed, trying to steal the loofah from him, but he held it above his head so you couldn’t reach. 

“You haven’t been,” he challenged. “If you could do it yourself, you would have. I will do it for you since it seems you can’t.” 

You had to admit he was right. Gathering the energy to take care of yourself felt like an impossible task. He continued scrubbing you, your arms first and then your legs. 

“I’m just depressed,” you mumbled as he focused on his task. He examined each part of you like he was memorizing every freckle and scar. 

“Sometimes it’s hard to get the energy to do anything.” 

His blue eyes flicked up to yours and a small smile played on his lips. 

“Then I’ll have plenty of opportunities to clean you,” he said, then his lips twisted in thought. “We’ll have to do something about your depression. I take very good care of my possessions. Whenever you have a problem we will address it promptly, do you understand?” 

You narrowed your eyes at him. 

“Why are you doing all this if you aren’t going to eat me?” you asked. 

It made no sense. You were just normal, boring you. Most days you couldn't even  get out of bed and when you did manage to rally and get dressed you hardly even brushed your teeth. Why would a beautiful vampire want anything from you? Why would he lower himself to bother to meticulously clean you by hand? 

“Because you’re mine,” he answered without looking up. 

When he’d managed to clean your front and back, he grabbed a small pouch filled with nail tools from one of the cabinets and set to cleaning your nails. He diligently trimmed and shaped each one, humming to himself a tune that sounded ancient. You’d never been so pampered in your life. By the time he got to washing and detangling your hair, you were practically melting into his hands. Happy with his work he scooped you out of the bath and wrapped you in a fluffy towel, scooting you towards the sink and unwrapping a fresh toothbrush he pulled from the cabinet drawer. 

“Do I have to do this part for you?” he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. 

Your ears burning, you grabbed the toothbrush from his hand and got to work under his careful supervision. You knew it was silly to have someone watching you brush your teeth, but there was also a bit of relief there. Most days it was so hard to build yourself up to do anything. Though you were apprehensive, Serge’s careful coaxing made it a little easier. 

When he was happy you were as clean and neat as you could possibly be you were shuffled into a large bedroom. You jumped, finding another person standing there. He was very handsome, though not quite as striking as Serge, with silver, almost blue hair and dark eyes. 

“Good evening, Master,” he said, then looked at you. “Miss.” 

Serg let out an audible growl. 

“Do not raise your eyes to her,” he snapped and his servant immediately looked down. 

“This is Jules,” he said, waving generally in the man’s direction. “If you need anything you can ask him, but I’d rather you ask me.” 

You looked up at Serge and drew your brow. 

“I’m confused as to what is happening here,” you said. “You say I’m yours, but…I don’t know what that means. You kidnapped me from my home…You have someone waiting on me…I don’t understand.” 

He gave you a patient smile, tipping his head to the side and running his fingertip over your collarbone, making you shudder. 

“You,” he said, poking your nose, “are to be my little mate, trinket.” 

You blinked at him, still confused. 

“Like…pals?” you asked and he erupted into laughter. 

“You’ll understand soon enough,” he said between chuckles, but did not elaborate. 

Instead his eyes grew sharp and he looked at Jules. 

“Bring my mate clothes befitting her station,” he said and Jules gave a curt nod before disappearing. 

You let out a little gasp that he disappeared so abruptly. 

“He’s a vampire, too?” you asked. 

Serge nodded. 

“Everyone here is a vampire,” he said, placing you on the bed and placing a chaste kiss on your forehead, “but there’s no reason to be frightened. I’m their sire. They cannot harm you.” 

He rolled up his sleeve and to your horror bit his own wrist until his blood flowed, holding it out to you. 

“Drink,” he said as it dripped slowly onto the towel you were wrapped in. 

You looked up at him in horror. 

“But…I can’t-” 

You never finished your sentence, because he pressed his wrist to your lips and rubbed your throat like he was force feeding a stray puppy it’s medicine so you would swallow. It wasn’t that it tasted bad. It was a coppery and a bit sweet, but it was blood! 

When he pulled away, he licked the spot on his wrist and the wound closed. Then he licked the bit of blood that was dribbling down your cheek. Your skin heated at the intimate contact and your breath felt short in your lungs. 

“Wh-why?” you stammered. 

He carried you to the little vanity in the room, seating you at the chair. 

“My blood is good for you,” he said and looking at yourself, you let out a little peep. 

Your cheeks, which had been hollow from being too tired to eat, were suddenly plump and glowing with a dewy radiance. The dark rings under your eyes were gone and replaced with supple skin. Even your hair appeared thicker and shinier. Still you were frightened. 

“Am- Am I going to become a vampire?” you asked. 

He shook his head, twirling a bit of your hair around his finger. 

“No, not yet,” he said. “But my blood has restorative properties. It will also help even out your brain chemicals until we can have you seen by a proper human doctor.” 

Your eyebrows flew up. Vampire blood helped with depression? And what did he mean by not yet? Despite your misgivings, you did feel a bit energized, though whether it was because of his blood or adrenaline you couldn’t tell. 

He stood behind you, his hands resting on your shoulders. 

“Look at yourself,” he said, his voice reverent. “Look how beautiful you are.” 

You squinted at yourself. Yes, Serge’s blood had given you a nice facial treatment, but you wouldn’t consider yourself beautiful. 

“I’m…not though,” you whispered, your eyes getting a bit misty. 

He frowned at you, suddenly at your side, jerking your face to look at him with a strong hand. 

“Repeat after me,” he snarled. “I am beautiful.”

You paused for a moment, having a difficult time getting the words out. 

“Since we’ve only just met, I’ll grant you some leniency, but remember if I have to ask twice you will not like your punishment. I’ll count to three,” he hissed, his icy blue eyes boring into you. 

“One.” 

You licked your lips, trying to will the words to come. 

“Two.” 

Your top teeth snagged your bottom lip, preventing you from speaking. 

“Thre-”

“I’m beautiful!” you blurted out. 

He smiled at you, his face pure predator. 

“A wise choice, trinket,” he said. “You’ll tell me how beautiful you are before bed, every day until you believe it.” 

His fingers on your cheek loosened and he cupped the curve of your face, leaning forward to breathe in the scent of soap on your skin. 

“Of all the many treasures I have, you are the most precious,” he murmured into your neck. 

Lightning bolts shot down your spine, making the ends of your nerves sparkle like the fourth of July. 

“But…but…you don’t know me,” you stammered. “You don’t even know my name.” 

He chuckled against your neck, placing a kiss on the place where it joined your shoulder. 

“I’ve lived a very long life,” he said. “I know a good thing when I see it. We will have lots of time to get to know one another. For now just know that you are my little mate and you are safe under my wing. You’ll have all the luxuries you deserve. I’m going to teach you to be spoiled and insufferably self-assured.” 

You were frozen under his touch, not sure if he was playing some kind of game with you. On what planet did a fatally handsome vampire make you his…mate? What did that even mean?

He suddenly scooped you up in his arms, making you squeak. 

“You don’t believe me, stubborn little trinket,” he said. “Come, tell me what your mother christened you.” 

“(Y/N),” you said quietly. 

He looked down at you like a hungry cat. 

“A perfect name for a perfect creature,” he mused, then looked up, marching out of the room. “Let’s start the spoiling with a proper meal. What’s your favorite restaurant? I’ll wake up the owner and the chef so they can cook you something special.” 

“That’s ludicrous, Serge,” you gasped, but he only glared at you. 

You remembered that he didn’t like to have to ask twice, so you hurriedly came up with an answer. 

“Well…there’s this place I always wanted to go, but never had the money,” you admitted. 

His face softened as he carried you down a sweeping, curved staircase. 

“Come on…out with it,” he urged you. 

“It’s called Say Cheese, it’s a grilled cheese bar,” you said. “They make twenty different kinds of grilled cheeses.” 

He raised an eyebrow at you, before bursting into laughter. 

“If my sweet trinket wants grilled cheese, that’s what you will get,” he said. 

Your cheeks heated but you diffidently laid your head against his chest, surrendering to your fate.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

I LOVE "AYAKA IS IN LOVE WITH HIROKO" AND THINK EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH IT

I would just like to take a moment to praise Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko. I am only three episodes in to this show, but it has been so funny, so chaotic, and so undoubtedly queer. With so few GL offerings in the absolute tidal wave of BL that we get each year, we rarely get an opportunity to see what feels like more authentically queer sapphic experiences. Or at least I have. There are moments for sure, there are lovely little shows like Sleep With Me and She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat but if I am honest 23.5 and Chaser Game W were disasters, GAP while consistently fun did drop in quality in the back half, and the majority of other GLs I’ve heard about that have aired recently are genuinely problematic. 

We are almost halfway through this show right now, and I am having the time of my life. This show has had me legitimately cackling in every episode and truly embodies the gay panic of a good ol’ fashion lesbian desperately trying not to misconstrue her colleague’s rather obvious advances.

That said, there are three things that this show has done that have made me fall desperately in love with it:

Hiroko spends so much of her time at the lesbian bar.

Hiroko and Ayaka are horny on main

THEY PUT AN HONEST TO GOD BUTCH IN EPISODE 3

Legitimately, it makes me so so happy that we are getting a story out of Japan where the main character is incredibly aware of and comfortable with her sexuality. This is not a queer discovery show, this is a gays getting on the same page about their feelings show. Learning in, like, Episode 1 that the second Hiroko turned 18 she marched her gay little ass straight to the lesbian bar and has made that Her Spot for (I think) more than a decade. 

She’s an established regular with a bunch of other established regular lesbians friends and that makes me *so* happy. 

Both Hiroko and Ayaka are horny on main in ways that are also so refreshing to me, and the way they play with Hiroko’s own history as a Woman Who Fucks is so fun because it is made so blatantly obvious that she is the pursuer in the majority of the sexual encounters she’s engaged in (and those counts are in the triple digits) so it is really fun seeing her brain absolutely short circuit and any and all suaveness we got to see in the little flashbacks of her times picking up women in the bar just absolutely imploding under the stress of trying to convince herself that this incredibly hot woman that works for her is actually straight and has no idea what she is doing. 

And on the flip side, Ayaka has clearly not had a ton of sexual intimacy with women in the past because we see her being incredibly impersonable and isolated in the flashbacks we get. But now that she is actively pursuing her feelings for Hiroko and desperately trying to make herself known she is clearly very horny and would be DTF at the drop of a hat. It is just so much fun watching her get progressively more annoyed at the fact that she is making it blatantly obvious that she wants to fuck Hiroko and Hiroko is at this point willfully ignoring it because she, and I quote, “doesn’t know how to act without an ulterior motive,” and is trying to make sure she isn’t misunderstanding Ayaka. 

And finally, and this is just a small thing, but in the most recent episode, Hiroko and Ayaka take a business trip together, and Ayaka ends up helping this elder that is having difficulty with some heavy boxes of supplies for their store. AND THE PERSON SHE HELPS IS THE BUTCHEST WOMAN I HAVE SEEN OUT OF ALL THE ASIAN QLS I’VE WATCHED FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS. Like we have had mascs, but I am talking the casual inclusion of an elder butch woman, which I have not seen. Hell, I have barely seen older butch lesbians in any media I’ve watched (shout out to Cloudburst) so to see someone just vibing in this show, even if her role is small, is of such monumental importance and makes me feel like this show is made with a queer audience in mind, which is not the case for most of the GLs I’ve watched (at least in my own perception/opinion). 

Anyway, if you are not watching this show you should! It’s readily available on GagaOoLala, the episodes are only 23 minutes long, and there will be a whopping 8 episodes.

[oh-stars]

Escape Plan

Party

a Stobin Month 2024 prompt | 611 words | CW: drug dealing, party | Rating: T

--

“You didn’t have to come with,” Eddie says as he counts the money some kid just handed him.

Steve shrugs and sips at the beer he snagged. “It’s not too bad.” 

“Remind you of your glory days?” Eddie smirks and looks up at Steve from beneath long lashes and the thick curtain of his bangs. 

“Hardly,” Steve says with a snort. They’re at one of the last parties of summer, before the graduates head off to college or wherever they’re fucking off to that isn’t Hawkins. Not that Steve would know. He’s not bitter about Robin going to college in less than a week while he’s still here trying to figure out what he and Eddie want to do. Not at all.

Eddie laughs softly. “Oh, right, right, this too tame for good ol’ King Steve?” 

“Will you fuck off?” Steve says, bumping Eddie’s shoulder and laughing along with him. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve sees someone walk out of the sliding glass door and onto the back patio. Robin! He turns toward her like a reflex, eyes locking on to where she’s bouncing on her heels, her thumbs tracing the grooves of her palms over and over again where her hands are clasped in front of her. 

Time to go.

“How much longer do you need to stay?” Steve asks, setting down his beer. He won’t be picking it back up. He’s barely drunk it, only just hitting the halfway point. Not that it matters, Eddie’s the one driving home tonight.

Eddie shrugs. “Weed’s gone, I have a little more coke I could probably sell, but otherwise, the rest of this is a gamble anyway.” 

“So… we can leave?” 

“You just said it wasn’t too bad!” 

Steve hops off the table they were sitting on and motions toward the door. “Not for me.” 

Eddie’s eyes follow his movement, then soften in understanding. “Meet you at the van?” 

“Deal.” 

Steve takes off, slipping between the drunk and dancing party-goers to find Robin. 

She’s clinging to the wall, stuck in conversation with Matty W, a guy who's been obsessed with Robin since middle school. She’s giving him a too tight smile and nodding her head frequently, another clear sign that she’s at her limit. 

“Rob, hey,” Steve says, throwing an arm over her, “we have to go. Hop’s on his way.” 

As Robin’s eyes gleam with understanding and something warm, Matty W backs away to spread the word that Chief Hopper’s on his way. She keeps his arm around her until they make it to the front yard, slipping out from under him quickly to dart to the van. 

Steve follows after and catapults himself into the passenger seat in time for Eddie to pull off. In the rearview mirror, Steve can see a number of kids fleeing the house.

“Isn’t Hopper with the Byers on vacation?” Robin asks, leaning forward to poke her head between the seats. 

“Yup.” 

“So you just busted a party on his behalf for no reason?” 

Steve shakes his head. “Eddie was done dealing and you were ready to get out of there. That’s reason enough.” 

Eddie rolls his eyes, but he’s laughing. He reaches over and pats Steve’s thigh, hand lingering. “You’re something else, sweetheart.” 

Robin lays her head on Steve’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you’d break up a party for me. How the mighty have fallen.” 

“Both of you can fuck off,” Steve says, even though his smile is giving him away. 

“Shut up, dingus, you love us,” Robin coos. Steve flips her the bird and turns up the stereo, blasting his playlist much to Eddie’s chagrin. They can deal with it.

--

Thank you @lady-lostmind for beta reading!

Ao3 Link

[craziechwiv]

The Paladin and their Succubus Frenemy - 4.5

During the night, Jaune was sound asleep in his dorm room as he slept soundly. His window was open, letting some cold air get in while he tucked halfway under his blankets. As Jaune slept to the soothing feel of the chilly air mixed with the comforts of his bed and covers, he felt something touch his leg. Thinking it was only a bug, he jolted his leg and kicked it off, only to hear someone say 'Ow!' in return.

That got him wide awake. He opened his eyes wide and looked down at his waist, only to see a sizeable lump moving under his covers. He slid himself to his bed's wooden board and sat up, uncovering himself to see none other than Ruby, in her fully succubus form and...in some seductive bra and panties.

Succubus!Ruby: Hello, my dear Paladin~.

Jaune: R-Ruby?! What are you doing- do you have any idea how screwed you'll be if someone sees you like this?!

Succubus!Ruby: I know, I know what you're gonna say; "You can't be so reckless!" or, "Like heck I'd let you do this." By please hear me out. I have an actual reason for being here!

Jaune, sensing some kind of trap was hesitant to answer, but he gazed right into Ruby's ever silver eyes and his guard fell down.

Jaune: Fine...what is it?

Succubus!Ruby: We need to talk about a problem I have, and I need to warn you about it too.

Jaune: What is it?

Succubus!Ruby: Well...

Ruby flew behind Jaune, wrapping her arms around him, feeling his manly physic while her wings kept him covered. Jaune got flustered by her approach of this, and was sent overboard by one of her hands reaching down to his lower half, touching a lump under his underwear.

Succubus!Ruby: It's my sister. She visited me a couple days ago. And if I know her more than anyone else here, she's out for something.

Jaune: W-What do you mean?

Succubus!Ruby: I'm saying be on your guard, you blonde mess~.

Ruby teased the lump more, wrapping her hand around it as it started to leak.

Jaune: A-Ah...stop~..

Succubus!Ruby: Shh, I'm not done yet. I just...really needed this. And even if I'm merely here to have some fun with you, I truly need to feed off something to keep me going. Or else my energy will out, and I'll be exposed. You wouldn't want that, would you~?

Jaune could barely speak at what she was saying to him, but she continued to tease him more and more. He just wanted it all to be over with, even if...it felt good. But he wouldn't admit that to his enemy to be.

Succubus!Ruby: So, I need you to do me a favor, and count to 3. Okay?

Jaune: O-Okay~...

Succubus!Ruby: Good boy~.

Jaune braced for it, closing his eyes as he heard her count.

Succubus!Ruby: 1, 2...

3.

Jaune: Ngh~....ah-...ahow?

Jaune opened his eyes, hoping to see a demoness between his legs cleaning his uh...lil jaune off. But between his legs were vacant as he felt something strange against his neck until it was gone and Ruby was in his view once again. She licked her lips and exhaled her breath in satisfaction, looking at her meal with loving eyes.

Succubus!Ruby: I thank you for that, It's been so long since I've had such a tasty meal~. You truly are like hi- uhm. Are very helpful! Yes...that.

Jaune: D-Did you just drink my-

Succubus!Ruby: Blood? Of course, silly. I mean, what else would I need to sustain my energy? Unless...you wanted something more~?

Jaune: U-Uhm...

Ruby got closer to his ear, nibbling it abit as she spoke.

Succubus!Ruby: Just say it, and I'll take care of it for you. Our little secret~.

Jaune: ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaune's will was strong...

"Mph, mph~"

Jaune wouldn't falter towards anything that'd deter his way of completing his goal.

"S-Slow down, ah~"

And most importantly,

"I'm close Ruby...w-wait~!

Jaune would never, fall down the path of adultery as simple as that.

"Mmmmph, cmm~!

Jaune held onto Ruby's hair as he released his 'energy' into her throat, filling her up as she got her mouth off his length. She licked her lips, getting every last drop before smiling at him.

While she felt like a whole new her, Jaune felt...like he had betrayed his faith.

Jaune: I-I'm so screwed. What am I going to do now?!

Ruby didn't care much for his feelings at the moment, she was on cloud 9 after all. But, she did hate seeing her newfound favorite person in such a state. So, she got up, lifted his face up to hers and gave him a passionate kiss before cutting it off.

Succubus!Ruby: Listen, you just did me a huge favor. I don't really know what counts as a sin here, nor do I care. But here's the thing. You really did save me. And I appreciate it.

Ruby then got up, wiping away some of the mess left over and opened the door to his room slowly.

Succubus!Ruby: By the way, remember what I said about...'her'. There's no telling when she'll show up, but be ready when she does. Got it?

Jaune just slowly nodded his head as he was busy recounting what just happened.

Succubus!Ruby: Good. I'll see you in the morning, leader~.

With that being said, the demoness left his room. All that was left was Jaune, his schlong hanging from his underwear, and a white sticky puddle from their session together. If Jaune knew anything, he'd have to be prepared for what she said, and what she might do in the future now.

Next Chapter >

[ryanguzmanscowlick]

WIP Wednesday - You ever meet someone and you just … click?

Aka, a head injury leaves Buck with memory issues and Eddie decides to write Buck the love story he deserves in the void where the truth used to be.

“W-we …” Buck squints at the exhausted, beautiful man sitting next to his bed - Eddie - that just squeezed Buck’s hand and told him, I love you. Told him, we love each other. “We’re together?”

Buck barely remembers his own name, his sister’s name. The last thing he remembers with crystal clear clarity is dropping out of the Seals because they weren’t as interested in helping people as he’d thought. He knows without knowing how he knows that he walked out of the Seals a long time ago, though. He knows without knowing that there’s a gap.

If only he knew what to fill it with.

Eddie swallows and stares down at their hands instead of in Buck’s eyes. “Yeah. For a while. About, uh- about four years.”

How’s he gonna explain this to Christopher?

Hell, how’s he gonna explain this to anyone once word spreads that Buck is awake? How long can he keeps this charade up?

Four years. That’s … that’s serious. It makes sense, in a way, because when Buck looks at Eddie something big and heavy and fragile at the edges balloons in his chest. It feels like love. “How old am I?”

“You turned thirty-two a few weeks ago. Nineteen days ago.” He’s glad Buck is asking the easy questions, so Eddie can have an internal breakdown about the deep shit he just got himself into.

Still, he catches the moment the number hits Buck and really sinks in, the terror that floods his eyes like Eddie hasn’t seen since the last seconds he remembers of the day he got shot.

At least Buck won’t remember that either.

“I-I was-it’s …” The last age he remembers is twenty-six. Twenty-six. He knew something was wrong. He knew he was missing pieces but-

In a blink, Buck goes from frozen to hyperventilating and Eddie swears under his breath. “Okay, okay, Buck, it’s okay. I got you. Breathe. C’mon, Buck, you gotta breathe.” Eddie reaches for him and Buck flinches.

Eddie’s hands hover in mid-air, shaking and conflicted and all his medic training has fallen out of his head. “Baby, please. Let me- let me help. Let me hold you.”

His skin is buzzing and his mind is racing and everything is so fucked but under it all he feels a yearning for Eddie. His body remembers that Eddie feels like home even if his brain doesn’t even remember who the fuck Eddie even is.

His chest is starting to burn and the beeping around him is starting to pick up. He really doesn’t want more people in here. This hospital room is too small and overwhelming as it is. “Eddie …” he croaks, reaching to catch his hand again.

Eddie folds over the bed railing to pull Buck’s head to his chest and knot their fingers together. He presses their joined hands into Buck’s chest, Buck’s ear over his heart. “Breathe with me, okay? Just like me.”

He takes a deep breath in, holds it in, lets it out. Another breath in, holds it, lets it out. He repeats until he loses count and then starts over again until their breaths perfectly sync. Until they both stop shaking.

Until Buck sniffles into his shirt. “I don’t remember.”

Eddie hates that he knows exactly what Buck’s voice sounds like when he’s seconds away from a sob. He presses his mouth to Buck’s temple and murmurs there, “It’s gonna be okay, Buck. It’s gonna- we’re gonna help. We’re gonna make sure you know everything you need to.”

The hospital room door opens. “Evan?!”

Eddie closes his eyes and silently rips the Holy Spirit a new one.

“M-Maddie?” Buck claws at Eddie’s shirt to pull himself up. “What are you doing in LA?”

Maddie stops short halfway through rushing to Buck, like snagged cassette tape. Her eyes dart back and forth between Buck and Eddie wrapped around him, his lips centimeters from where they’d been when she walked in. Confusion in her eyes looks a lot like it does in her brother’s. “What? What do you mean? Where else would I be?”

Buck’s eyes shine with tears. “I-I don’t know.”

[call-me-eds]

Friendsgiving

A/N: A treat for the rest of the girlies who are wildly hungover and need to eat a meal with their families today.

Masterlist

Steve x Reader 18+

You and Steve try to get through a dinner after crossing a line.

There was chaos all around. Screaming children, flying food, and you’re pretty sure you saw a few tears being shed. Friendsgiving was not for the faint of heart.

The jury was out on whether or not you could actually call it Friendsgiving, because it was the weekend after the holiday with barely any cooking involved; just a collection of leftovers from the family celebrations that occurred. Throughout Hawkins stores had hung jingle bells on their doors and the Christmas tree in the middle of town had turned on its lights, but you had stuffing on your plate and were watching Nancy carve half of a turkey. 

The holiday that you were able to celebrate in a timely manner was the infamous Blackout Thursday. It was also the reason you couldn’t meet Steve’s eyes and only risked a glance when the rest of your face was hidden by your wine glass. 

____________________________________________________________

“I don’t want to see everyone from high school,” Robin complained as you took a sweater from her closet.

“Neither do I, but Eddie is playing, it’ll be fun,” you said.

“Right, so you, Steve, and Nancy will be reliving the glory days while Jonathan and I are hiding in the corner trying to avoid everyone in the room,” she sighed.

She wasn’t entirely wrong. You three certainly had more acquaintances than her, Jonathan, and Eddie, but that didn’t mean you were going to leave them to fend for themselves for the night. You did have a feeling that once Eddie got off stage, though, he’d have his hands full with people who suddenly interested in making friends. Jonathan had Nancy as a buffer, and Robin had you and Steve. What none of you counted on, though, was her abandoning you.

“Where the hell did she get those people skills from?” Steve asked. You were both leaning against the wall, watching Robin chat with someone that you were pretty sure she had never spoken to before tonight. You snorted which sent him into a fit of laughter of his own. Drinks were happy-hour priced for the whole evening, and each of your friends had taken turns buying a round of drinks, and then Eddie came off stage for a break and you got another round for free.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” you yelled entirely too loudly for how close you were to Steve.

“Want me to come with you?” he asked. You shook your head and patted his chest a little roughly before walking off, having to take hold of the wall halfway on your journey. There was a gaggle of girls you had eaten lunch with a few times when you were in high school. You had enough alcohol in you to skip formalities and get right into gossip.

“You’re friends with Eddie Munson, is he seeing anyone? He looks good tonight,” Cindy asked you. She was always nice enough, but you knew she had never given Eddie the time of day.

“Not that I know of,” you shrugged. “I thought you and Adam were back on, though?”

“Oh, so over,” she shook her head. “And how are you and Steve?” You cocked your head to the side, not quite understanding what she meant. “You’re together, right?”

“Oh God, no,” you shook your head, sending her into apologies and the other girls into whispers.

____________________________________________________________

Sure, there were plenty of times that you and Steve got a little cuddly or you thought you caught him staring at you, but you never crossed the line that would change every aspect of your friendship.

At Steve’s dinner table, you were snapped back to attention when an alarm from the kitchen went off.

“I forgot about the biscuits,” you gasped, hopping up and rushing through the swinging door where the noise was coming from. The counter was still a warzone, and it took you entirely too long to find a dish towel in lieu of an oven mitt. By the time you were able to get the tray out of the oven, it was still beeping.

“Everything okay in here, or should I call the fire department?” Steve came through and you instantly stiffened up, trying not to drop the tray. 

“All good,” you said, hoping he’d take you at your word and leave you alone in the kitchen. No such luck. He padded towards you to click on the vent over the oven, hoping to avoid the smoke detector from going off next. He brushed up against your side and you shuddered, causing you to miss the basket that you were filling, and sending a biscuit to the floor.

“Here, let me help,” Steve said, going for the biscuit currently in your hand, as if you couldn’t do it yourself.

“It’s okay, Steve,” you moved the batch away from him and turned so he was looking at your back.

“Are you serious?” he sighed. “I thought we were better friends that we wouldn’t let something like this ruin everything.” You heard the frustration coming through his words, but it was nothing in comparison to yours.

“Steve, you don’t understand,” you shook your head.

“Oh, sure I do. We hook up, a few days go by, you regret it all, and then you can’t even look at me because you don’t want to tell me we can’t be friends anymore in front of the kids,” he rambled. You spun around and almost slammed the tray down on the counter. The other room went silent for a moment before the chatter slowly started to flow through the wall again. You and Steve stood staring at each other, hands on hips.

“Oh, you really don’t understand.”

____________________________________________________________

You were eager to get back out into the bar and get another drink. And you really should be checking on Robin, knowing that she could have ended her conversation and be wandering out there by herself if she couldn’t locate anyone.

“I’ll catch up with you guys later, okay?” you smiled, not bothering to dry your hands before walking out.

The bar was full of faces you had only seen in passing over the past few years, and never this many at once. It wasn’t so long ago that you had been just as stuffed with them in the hallway, so your friends faces didn’t jump out at you like they would when you were surrounded by strangers. Well, figuratively jump out. Because they were known to suddenly appear with a scare. 

While you looked around for them, you found yourself back up at the bar, getting another drink sweet enough to hide the alcohol, but simple enough that the overwhelmed bartender couldn’t mess it up.

“Tequila pineapple!” you shouted over the other patrons yelling out orders.

“And a Corona!” You must have leapt at least a foot in the air when a hand clapped onto your shoulder. 

“Jesus, I didn’t think it would be possible to sneak up on anyone in a place as crowded as this,” you said, heart rate calming once you saw Jonathan.

“I’m very talented,” he grinned, taking the drinks while you handed over cash. You followed him over to the small area where your lot had congregated.

“No drink for me?” Steve asked, noticing the fresh glass in your hand.

“You all abandoned me, I didn’t know if I would ever see you again,” you said, waving your hands and causing the drink to dribble down your skin. So when Steve took it from you, you assumed it was to allow you to clean yourself up, not gulp half of it down.

“Hey!”

“Oh, you’ve had enough anyway,” he shrugged. You took the drink back and finished it off, if anything to prove a point. 

“I have definitely had enough,” Nancy said, holding on to Robin’s elbow to steady herself. “Can we go home?” she asked no one in particular. Immediately, Jonathan handed his beer off to Steve and reached a hand out to her. Robin transferred her over but the empty spot next to her was promptly filled by Eddie.

“Leaving already? I just got here,” he frowned. He was still shiny with sweat after being on stage, and his energy was far higher than all of yours after a night of drinking.

“Eddie! Great job,” you smiled, throwing an arm around him. “Cindy Baker totally wants to hook up with you, she asked me if you were single,” you slurred.

“Right, get home safe,” he nodded to Nancy and Jonathan, taking the half-empty beer from Steve and wandering off again. Steve went with Jonathan and Nancy, helping his friend maneuver his very drunk girlfriend through the crowd.

“I have to go to the bathroom again,” you announced.

“You broke the seal? Rookie move,” Robin shook her head. “Want me to come?” Again, your friends not trusting you enough struck a nerve. 

“No, I can do it,” you shook your head and went off to the bathroom alone for the second time that night. Despite not running into anyone this time, your trip was much longer. Somehow your jeans zipper got more complicated in the last few hours.

The door swung open, and the last thing you expected to see was Steve walking through with his hands covering his eyes.

“What are you doing?” you laughed, unable to control the giggles bubbling up. He reached an arm out and was swinging it back and forth. “I’m the only one in here.” Only then did he open his eyes, a smile joining immediately once he saw you.

“Robin got a lift home from Eddie after he struck out with Cindy. I didn’t want to leave you all alone, and you’ve been in here a while,” he shrugged.

“My hero,” you fawned. He held up a hand, craning his neck to try and focus on the song that came on in the bar. “Steve, no,” you frowned.

“Yes,” he nodded, all shyness previously in his body far gone from when he first entered the bathroom. “It’s our song.” 

With the end of the night nearing the bar turned to only hits from the past few years, ‘Call Me’ by Blondie rang out. Steve wouldn’t let you forget how much you made him listen to the song and the choreography you made him perfect. Not even now, when you were both drunk in a bathroom in a dive bar. He grabbed your hand and forced you to spin. The dance was almost muscle memory at this point, the two of you performing it at every barbecue and party you attended in the last six years.

It wasn’t romantic, twirling around next to a couple of toilets, but there hadn’t been a moment in your friendship where a look from Steve didn’t make you feel special. 

“Stop, stop,” you begged, trying to push him away. He let you rest, but kept his arms wrapped around your waist. 

“You don’t want to dance with me?” he asked, feigning hurt. You shook your head and reached up to brush his hair off of his forehead. “What?” he asked, not breaking your stare. His fingers were dancing across your hip, unable to stay still. 

“I’m really drunk,” you whispered. He nodded and licked his lips, waiting for you to go on.

You used the booties on your feet to your advantage, originally put on to stay warm, to meet Steve’s lips with your own. There had been endless rumors you had to confront your entire life. Was Steve really as good of a kisser as everyone says? Did you two really lose your virginities to each other in the 9th grade? Was he really as big as everyone said?

You had never been able to answer them. Well, except for that middle one. That was always met with a resounding ‘No. Are you crazy?’ You had to find out for yourself.

“Sorry, we can forget about this,” you said, pulling away. “I should have asked.” His eyes were blank for a moment, just a torturous moment, before he brought his lips to yours again with a groan. There was such a force behind the kiss that, mixed with the drinks you had, you stumbled backwards until you were pressed against the wall. If you were any more sober, you’d have been disgusted, wondering about what kind of germs you were encountering. But right now all you were thinking about was Steve. 

Your best friend who had his tongue in your mouth and his leg slotted between yours. His slender fingers scratching against your scalp, pulling your hair to tilt your head back. His lips finding their way to your jaw, behind your ear as if he already knew that was a sensitive spot for you, and down your neck. His pants growing tighter and tighter with each passing minute.

“Steve, please,” you groaned, pushing your hips towards his to try and get contact against him below the waist.

“Hmm?” he asked, not letting up on his determination to force you to cover up a hickey the following day. You grabbed his wrist, forcing his hand away from where it was groping your bra over your shirt, to guide his fingers to the button on your pants. He didn’t take long to catch on, and undid what just took you ten minutes to do up. You expected his skin to be cold, to give you goosebumps from temperature and first touch, but they were practically burning. The pads of his finger pads slid underneath the band of your underwear, hardly a pair you would have worn if you knew you’d end up in this position.

He was teasing you, either that or he lost his coordination with his last drink, and was touching everywhere except where you wanted him to. For not the first time in your relationship, you took charge, and met his hand. He laughed blissfully when you slipped his finger inside of you up to his second knuckle. Now with the permission he didn’t need, you began to get a first account of why he hadn’t gone more than a month without a date since you both hit puberty.

“Oh, God,” you whined, pulling away from him and resting your head against his shoulder. You needed to distract yourself, to make him feel just as good. Another answer to a question you had been dodging your entire adolescence: Steve was big.

“Someone’s going to come in eventually,” he panted, but didn’t stop grinding into your hand. “Should I lock the door?” You weren’t ready to stop, and could almost hear the relief coming off of your skin when he tried to find a way to continue.

“Yes.”

____________________________________________________________

“Then explain it to me,” he said, bringing his voice low and challenging you to find any explanation.

“I can’t look at you without wanting to jump on you,” you admitted, anger in your voice not quite matching the words coming out of your mouth. He took two long strides to penetrate your personal bubble, grab your face, and kiss you.

Like you were in some sort of disgusting romantic comedy, your foot lifted off of the ground in a pop and you rested your hands against his chest. You allowed yourself to scratch his pecs and grip his shirt for a moment before pulling away.

“Steve,” you sighed. He nodded and peeled his hands away from you.

“I know,” he nodded, letting out a shaky breath.

“No, I just, I don’t want to be away from everyone for too long. They can’t know yet,” you said. There wasn’t shame behind anything that you and Steve did. But it was sacred for now, only for you. 

“Know what?” he asked, once again forcing you to take charge and give a label, a stamp. And if he wanted you to be the one to do it, you wouldn’t let him get it without some grief.

“That when we’re done, everyone is going to try to help clean up. You’ll tell them that bringing food was enough, and the biggest favor would be driving the kids home. I’ll stay to help, and we’ll get about halfway through before we go upstairs.” You were whispering now, slipping your hand between the two of you and into his front jeans pocket. Steve had a smile that he reserved for girls he bought dinner for.

“You think I’d let you lift a plate before taking you to my room?” he whispered, sending a shiver down your spine. 

“Oh, you want to call the shots now?” you asked, painfully stopping yourself from teasing him about how he was begging you to touch him and pleading with you to let him finish the other night. 

He nodded and slithered his own hand into your back pocket.

“If you’ll let me,” he raised his eyebrows, leaning in to press his lips to yours gently.

“Do I need to get the fire extinguisher?” You ripped away from Steve and covered your mouth with your hand, heart racing from the closeness of Steve and the giddy face of Eddie.

“Thanks for your help,” you grabbed the basket of rolls and went back into the dining room, leaving Steve to deal with Eddie. By the time they returned to the table, your coloring had come back from its red tinge. 

For the rest of the meal, it was lingering glances and stolen touches when passing dishes. The secret between you, and now Eddie, was the only thing on your mind, and the painfully slow night was drawn on by the insistence of board games.

“Down, girl, I can feel the heat coming off of you,” Eddie leaned over to whisper in your ear. You pushed him away and Steve cocked his head slightly, asking if you were alright. 

“Get everyone out of here and I’ll buy you that new record you’ve been wanting,” you said to Eddie.

“And I don’t get to join in on any of the fun?” he asked, and you wondered if he would actually sit here and deny your plea for help. He stood up and clapped his hands, and the kids immediately started to complain.

“We barely just finished dessert, come on,” Lucas whined.

“Some things are sweeter than dessert, Buddy, let’s go,” he picked him up by the collar and insisted the others grab their coats if they didn’t want to walk home with full stomachs.

Just like you knew she would, Nancy offered herself and Jonathan to help clean up, but Steve told them to get on home. 

After painfully long goodbyes, and a few more snide comments from Eddie, you were finally alone with Steve again. 

“So, I guess we should start cleaning up?” you asked, smirk matching his. Despite his earlier claim, you stacked a few dishes in silence and carried them to the kitchen. When you turned to go back and continue clearing, Steve trapped you in a cage of his arms.

“I think we’ve done enough. Let’s take a break,” he smiled, letting his eyes flutter shut and his lips crash onto yours. You weren’t sure if you’d ever get used to this, kissing your best friend, but for now you were taking too much pleasure in it to let your thoughts sabotage it.

Steve put his hands underneath your thighs and lifted you up, placing you on the counter. He stepped between your legs and you let your mind go back to the bathroom on Wednesday night.

____________________________________________________________

“I never thought this would happen,” he grunted, bare hips to yours as you sat on the sink. Steve was holding you against him so you weren’t putting the entirety of your weights against the unstable porcelain.

“Thought about us in this position before, huh?” you asked, breathing heavily against him. Your index finger moved your panties further to the side, Steve didn’t bother to take them off, and you messily began to rub your clit.

“How could I not?” he groaned. You understood. It was everything about Steve that was bringing you closer and closer to the edge right now. His grumbling voice, the shine of sweat over his toned body, and the way he was looking at you.

“I’m close, Steve,” you warned, feeling him falter a bit in his movements. Trying to delay his own orgasm wasn’t going as well as he would have hoped, so you focused on his noises and the feel of his dragging in and out of you to get you there.

“Come on, Baby,” he begged. “Get me there. Cum all over me so I can ruin you, please,” he gasped, and in the end it was his words that did the trick. Your nails dug into his shoulders as you screamed, not bothering to control your volume for the sake of the other people in the bar. It was just you and Steve, nothing else.

Before you could fully relax he ripped away from you and ripped off the condom he managed to put on earlier. His hand, while bare, couldn’t compare to how you felt around him, but it was enough to send ropes of himself onto your stomach.

“My bra, Steve!” you gasped, wiping at the stray drop with your thumb. He was barely done, hands around you against the sink and breathing heavily.

“I’ll throw it in the wash,” he promised, still just the boy who knew you had another bra just like it in your drawer, but would do your laundry for you anyway.

____________________________________________________________

“Think I can have a softer surface this time?” you asked when he gave your lips a rest and moved his assault to your collarbones. “I still have the imprint of the faucet on my back like a tramp stamp.”

“Yeah, I can arrange that,” he nodded. “But you’ve got to be on top for a bit, I’m exhausted.”

“Keeping your boner hidden for one meal too much work for you?” you teased, squeezing the bulge in his pants with light pressure.

“Yes, and it’s all your fault.”

[bi-bard]

The Feather of an Angel - Dream of the Endless Imagine (The Sandman)

Title: The Feather of an Angel

Pairing: Dream of the Endless X Angel!Reader

Word Count: 1,127 words

Warning(s): imprisonment, mention of torture

Summary: In his hopes of capturing Death, Roderick Burgess holds onto an angel. He managed to capture the one angel with a personal connection to one of the Endless.

Author's Note: I rewatched the first episode and was given inspiration.

---------------------------

Roderick Burgess was the closest thing that I had ever encountered to a monster.

I was an angel. I had seen all sorts of creatures. I had even met demons. None of them made me as sick to my stomach as he did.

I had been reckless. Foolish.

That's how I found myself hidden away in some backroom. The floor had a symbol carved into it. I was trapped.

The only hope I had was Morpheus.

Heaven didn't tend to keep track of low-ranking angels like me, but Morpheus... he was important. The two of us had been together for a long time. He loved me. I wasn't some small angel to him. I didn't have to be useful to be loved. He just allowed me to be happy.

He was the only one that I trusted. The only one that I was certain would come for me.

That's what got me through it all. When Roderick would scream at me, when he tortured me to collect some of my feathers, and when I curled in the corner of the cold room. Morpheus was the image I could see.

But he never came. And I never knew why.

Until I sensed a new arrival in the house.

After so long together, Morpheus and I were linked. He could sense me in the dream realm. I could sense him in the waking realm.

He was in the house. Trapped in the house.

Roderick was the one to give me all the answers that I expected.

"Your feathers have gone to good use," he smirked at me. "I wonder what else you could do if you stopped being such a pest."

I didn't look up.

I had hidden my wings after he tortured me. I kept silent and terrified. He didn't deserve any more of my power.

It wasn't until he walked away that I spoke up.

"You don't think I know who you have down in your basement," I asked. "He and I have become linked. I can sense him."

"Give me what I want and I can let you see him."

I chuckled.

"What," he asked. "What is it?"

"If I know he's here, then he knows I'm here," I replied, finally looking at him. "What do you think happens when you capture someone that one of the Endless loves?"

His jaw clenched.

"I would personally be more worried about me," I shrugged. "Because if you're still alive when I get free, I will remind you why an angel is the one ruling hell, not a demon."

Roderick didn't say anything else before slamming the door shut. I chuckled to myself. What a foolish old man.

I spent over a century in that small room.

When Roderick stopped visiting me, his son started. He wanted me to keep Morpheus from harming him in exchange for freedom. I had to be honest with him. Morpheus was more powerful than me. If he punished Alex, I could not stop him.

Alex gave up on me.

I had given up hope of escaping.

Until the door of my small room burst off its hinges and a bright light shot in. I yelled, pressing my back against the far wall. My trap limited my power. I couldn't do anything.

“My angel…”

I covered my eyes from the bright light, barely making out a shape against the light.

“My love,” I said softly, a grin starting to form.

“It is time we are both freed,” he held out his hand.

I reached out for him. The chains holding me close to the wall dissolved like they were nothing.

The next thing I knew, I was rolling to a stop on the sand of the dream realm. I took a deep breath before starting to push myself off the ground.

“(Y/n)!”

I looked up as Morpheus ran over to me.

“Morpheus,” I yelled, running to meet him halfway.

I had never clung to someone so tightly. My nails tried to dig into his back, scared that he would vanish from my sight if I didn’t ground myself to him. I felt him doing the same thing as he took a deep breath.

He stepped back, hands falling to my waist.

“Let your wings be free,” he said. “Nothing will harm them here.”

I let my eyes flutter shut as my wings worked their way out of my back. I hissed at the sting. It had been so long since I felt safe enough to be my full self. Morpheus kissed my forehead, mumbling comforting words against my skin.

I had to separate his kiss as I tilted my head back. My wings stretched out, wind moving between each feather.

“Beautiful.”

As I tilted my head back down, Morpheus stepped around me. He pressed a kiss to each wing.

I stopped him after the second wing before pulling him into a kiss.

His lips were sweeter than before. Maybe that was the effect of being separated for so long, but I didn’t care. My kiss was turning frantic as buried my fingers in his hair. I only craved this. Being this close to him again. I never thought I could miss one person as much as I missed him. His tight grip on my sides was enough for me to know that he missed me just as much.

He pulled away first, much to my disappointment.

“I love you,” he mumbled.

“I love you too,” I replied, smiling at him. I glanced to the side. "Lucienne!"

I ran over and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, I've missed you."

"I missed you too," she said as I stepped back. "I thought Heaven had finally intervened. I was terrified."

"So was I," I forced a chuckle.

"(Y/n)."

I turned to look at Morpheus when he spoke up.

"Shall we make our way home," he held out his hand.

I walked over and held his hand. "Certainly, my love."

"My lord," we both paused, looking toward Lucienne. "I need to warn you. The realm... the palace... they are not as you left them."

The gates rumbled open. She was right. It was crumbling. Every part of it. Crumbling or dying. All of this from Morpheus's absence.

"My love," I whispered, looking back at him. His face had fallen. "I'm so sorry."

I turned toward him, pressing my lips to his cheek softly. I heard a heavy breath fall from his lips as he leaned toward me. My nose brushed his cheek.

"We'll find a way to fix this, my love," I muttered to him. "I will be here with you the entire time. That's my promise to you."

"Thank you, my angel."

I slowly stepped back, looking out at the decaying kingdom again.

"We need to get started."

---------------------------

Navigation Guide

What I Write For

Some Original Characters

[wooahaes]

under the sun [day 2.]

pairing: non-idol!svt x gn!reader

prompt: darl+ing inspired fic.

word count: 8.2k~

warnings: food mentions. skinship (straight up cuddling + hand holding + seungcheol gives u a lil (completely platonic) kiss on the head). mentions of hunting animals for food. fire mention (campfire). some italicized lyrics from jihoon singing.

daisy’s notes: ahem. men! also sorry for every fic where i push strawberries into. maybe they shouldn’t be the best fruit if they didn’t want me to project my love of them into my writing.

summary:  It all starts when you wake up in a field without a name or any memories  to define yourself with. When thirteen men take you in as one of their  own, and slowly you begin to wonder what exactly is going on within this  world... and between you and one of them? 

< day 1 || masterlist || day 3 >

When Seungcheol told you that he had places he wanted for you to see, you realized shortly after that he didn’t know how far Chan had gone with his own tour. But he’d asked Joshua to show you around outside of the church, and the guy seemed happy enough to take you under his wing that you decided against voicing the fact aloud. Besides... It did mean less work for you while you were still getting adjusted to everything, including the memory loss.

The moment Joshua took your hand, though, you realized just how touchy everyone there is. His hand was warm, calloused fingers (that of a guitarist, you thought to yourself) pressing into your skin as he guided you out of the church and off toward the east.

He’d already started talking about the river nearby and how it wasn’t too deep in certain parts, but they could still fish in it. Fishing was easier than trying to grab a fish with your bare hands. Trust him, he’d watched someone try it out of frustration. It’s only funny the first few times before it became sad. He pointed other things out for you, though, on that walk down the hill: trees where he knew birds nested (to be left alone--he liked to listen to the birds sing and didn’t want anyone to scare them off). Where he knew he’d seen rabbits a few times in the past, and he told you that if you stayed slow and quiet enough that you’d maybe see them for yourself. There was something beautiful about nature that he almost hated the fact they’d hunt for meat sometimes. It was a necessity, sure, but sometimes he wanted to just sit and watch the world pass by for a while.

“I’m sure Chan mentioned the lake that’s down there,” Joshua pointed off towards it. “Cheol wants me to take you there just so you know where it is.”

You, honestly, had no idea how true it was. If it was just a straight shot down, then wouldn’t that be enough guidance? But you didn’t question Joshua, walking close to him by the riverside. He said nothing, letting a comfortable silence fall between you as the two of you listened to the river and the birds and the breeze. It was nice. You didn’t feel a pressure to talk about things you couldn’t remember about yourself, or to prod him for details.

True to Chan’s words, the lake really was beautiful. With no pollution to cloud it, you could see far down inside it and the life it held. Joshua stood behind you on the dock there, looking around casually enough. Almost as though he expected something else to be there--but if he did, he didn’t tell you and you weren’t going to pry. After a few minutes rest, Joshua told you to come along--that the hour’s walk back would be tiring enough and the two of you could rest by the river.

“Do you like it here so far?” He asked at one point, maybe around the halfway point when you really thought about it. “I’m sure you know you don’t have to stay if you don’t want, but if there’s anything we can do, just let us know.”

“Why do some of you talk like I’ve already decided to stay?”

Joshua continued a step ahead of you, not looking back. “I think they’re really hoping you will.”

“It’s not annoying to have another person?”

He shook his head. “The company’s genuinely nice to have. I think we all want you to stay, but... Cheol wouldn’t force you. But if you do decide you want to leave... Just know you’ll always have a place here if you need it.”

That was... nice, to be honest. It was good to know that if you decided you didn’t want to stay that they wouldn’t turn you away again in the future. Truthfully, you didn’t know what you wanted yet. It was nice being there with them, sure, but what about the rest of the world? What if there were other people somewhere out there, farther than they’d checked? The thought stayed with you for the rest of the walk back, until you could see the walls surrounding the church. Joshua as he guided you over to where some shady trees overlooked the river.

“So that was the lake,” he said. “It’s really nice in summer, you know. If you like swimming, you should come with us next time we go.”

He let go of you in favor of sitting right at the edge where the shadows ended, enough that he could see the sky without being blinded by the sun. Joshua looked up at you, gently patting the spot next to him for you to join him. When you did, he finally leaned back, looking up at the clear blue sky overhead.

After a moment, you decided to join him, slowly lying back next to him.

“I think Chan’s glad you’re here,” he mused aloud. “Hansol, too. But especially Chan. I don’t think he hated being new, but I think he’s glad it’s not him anymore.”

You shut your eyes with a hum of acknowledgement, and just listened to the sound of running water. The slow, steady sounds of Joshua breathing next to you.

His fingers grazed against yours for just a moment, enough to let you know he was still right there. “I hope you don’t take it personally the way some people are treating you,” he said, and you had to wonder if Jeonghan had told him. “Just give them some time to warm up to you.”

“Joshua?” You said after a moment, opening your eyes. “Do you really not remember anything but your name?”

He was quiet for a while. “Is that really what they told you?” He said. “That we don’t remember anything at all?”

“Yes?”

“Then... I think they were trying to spare your feelings,” he said. “I mean. A lot of us have been here for over a year. We remembered little things. I mean, not a lot, but... Sometimes I think I dream about my parents. I can’t remember their faces,” his voice wavered there, “but I’ll remember them. The sound of my mom’s voice.” His fingers brushed against your hand again, and you ended up taking his hand in your own. “But I remember going on bike rides by the river where I lived. And...” He pulled his hand away, resting it on his stomach. “That’s it. Just little things like that, I think.”

You turned your head to face him, watching the distant way he continued to gaze up at the sky. “You think?”

Joshua let out a quiet mmh in response, staring up a few moments longer. Eventually he turned, those pretty doe eyes meeting your gaze as he smiled at you. “What about you?” He said. “I’m sure there’s something in that pretty head,” he turned onto his side. “Anything come up yet?”

Had you? Remembering was... weird. In theory, it should be easy to remember going out for ice cream with someone and the taste even if the details became fuzzy like the color spoon you used. Yet when you tried to remember your hometown, the house you grew up in, the classroom you spent too many exhausted hours in learning math.. all of it was just a blur. A concept that you knew had to have existed in your life at some point, but blank and white like a primed canvas without a single pencil line to guide you. Yet when you thought back to the day before, there had been familiarity in Jeonghan bringing you fruit.

“I remember...” You wracked your brain, almost as if you could reel in a memory if you just reached far enough for it. The sweetness of a strawberry lingered on your tongue in memory, the sound of a plate being set down next to you onto a hard surface--a desk, maybe--enough to tug on that line. “Strawberries.”

Joshua perked up a little. “Strawberries?”

“Yeah,” you said. You could practically feel something coming back to you, just barely underneath your fingertips and at the tip of your tongue. “I remember having strawberries. I think... someone used to cut them up for me when I was a kid. Strawberries... and peaches, I think. And apples, too.”

“Like your parents?” Joshua asked quietly. “Or a sibling?”

That little hope in your chest seemed to dwindle down. “I don’t remember.”

“That’s okay,” he said. “Most people remember their name before they remember anything about their lives.” Joshua reached for your hand, wrapping both of his around it. “This is a step, okay? It’s a bigger one than any of us expected this soon. Sometimes it helps to remember little things like that.” He paused for a moment, running his thumb along your knuckles. “Seungkwan always seemed drawn to oranges before he remembered his name. He thinks that his home had them now, even if he can’t fully remember.”

That was reassuring, to be honest. It felt weird remembering something so small before your name. Joshua slowly unwrapped his hands from yours and laid back into the grass. He said nothing else, waiting to see what you would do first. When you laid back next to him, he just smiled and went back to marveling at the few wispy clouds in the sky. You decided to say nothing as well. The two of you just laid there underneath the shade, watching the world pass by for a while. The bubbling brook, the sound of wind shaking the leaves, the distant call of someone to another that was too far to make out clearly. Loud enough you could hear them, though, voices lost to the wind.

The sound of the ground crunching underneath someone--multiple someones--was enough to bring you back to reality and out of that tiny little moment of just existing beside another person. You looked up to see Jun with Mingyu and Minghao, carrying a basket between them and makeshift fishing rods.

Minghao looked to Joshua. “Stop slacking off with them,” he chided gently with a pout. Joshua chuckled from beside you, and you realized how it didn’t feel malicious--more like playful banter between friends.

“We were just resting,” Joshua said as he got up. He extended a hand to you, helping you to your feet. “Is this what we’re having for dinner?”

Mingyu smiled. “Part of it,” he said. “Cheol has plans.”

“Sounds like fun,” Joshua chuckled. He then took your hand, “C’mon. There’s another place Chan actually said he didn’t get to show you.”

Joshua pointed out a few more things to you on the walk back up. There were a few paths carved out of the fields that merely lead to more clearings, some that were actually made by them and the others just being spaces where the grass didn’t seem to grow nearly as high. He told you vaguely of the city far off, saying that maybe Seungcheol would take you with him for a trip one day if they needed you there. Weird things happened, and the city was purely their backup. Some miracles had to be chased, after all. But he guided you back into the church in the end, and you noticed how much cleaner it’d become over the past day--not just from the small party’s effort the day before, but it looked as though someone had come in and tidied up the rest of the room better. The curtains were drawn back to let in the natural light, some of the chairs had been actually stacked away properly with the stuffed toys sitting along the wall in a neat little line. You had to wonder who was on cleaning duty that day if they took so much care in a little thing like that. Joshua pushed back one of the curtains, letting you walk through before he continued to guide you back to that ladder Chan hadn’t guided you up the day before. He led the way up, telling you to not look down after a quip that he hoped you were good with heights. He crouched at the entrance, waiting for you to come up, a hand at your back to support you in case you happened to lose your balance.

The room itself was bathed in shades of yellow, purely because of that stained glass sun. There was a bed in front of it, thick curtains hung from the ceiling that would probably extinguish every yellow ray if they were drawn. There was a guitar in one corner that was clean save for a few smudges of paint on it. Inside an open-faced cupboard with its own few stains of bright paint that stood out against the shined, dark brown wood were an assortment of games and cards and other silly childish things that anyone could find entertainment with. A soccer ball had been abandoned somewhere, likely brought up as a way of keeping it somewhere out of the way until people wanted to play.

“If you ever can’t find someone, they’ll probably be up here,” Joshua said as he made his way over to that bed. He sat down, watching you with an amused glimmer in his eyes. “It’s kind of where we all hang out sometimes when we wanna do something fun.” He nodded over toward the assortment of games. “Sometimes they can get a little old, but we make do.”

You walked over to crouch down, reading off the names quietly to yourself. You could hear a squeak of the bed, and you looked back to see that Joshua had flopped back onto it.

“It’s also a really good place to take a nap,” he called out to you after a moment. “Everyone will vouch for that.”

“Really?”

“Mmhm,” he chuckled a second later. “Which means I’m going to take advantage of a day off.” He propped himself up by his elbows just to look back at you. “If you want to join me, you can. I’ve been told I’m a very good cuddle partner.”

You snorted in response. “I think I’m fine,” you said. “Thanks, Joshua,” you started back toward the ladder. “I think I’m gonna learn my way around.”

He gave you a thumbs up and a request to stay out of trouble before he fell back against the mattress, slowly shifting to get more comfortable as you started to leave. You descended the ladder while making a conscious effort to not stare directly down unless you wanted your heart to leap back into your throat, and you made your way back into the main living space. Walking that path alone felt weird, but you pushed past it. You only had guides because you were new, and you needed to learn if you were going to stay. The main room was fine, but there were the other rooms that Chan had merely told you about with a passing glance to identify them. The storage room, a few side rooms where other people’s personal spaces were...

But you slowed to a stop when you heard the sound of a voice carrying down a hallway, prettier than anything you thought you’d heard before. You followed the sound instead, coming to a space where Jihoon had been sitting across the room. His notebook was open and another guitar sat in his lap, this one covered in stickers and paint. He seemed lost in what he was doing, Seungkwan sitting criss-cross on the floor nearby as he listened and nodded along. You just stood there, lingering in the doorway as you listened to him sing.

“I can smile because we’re together... I can cry because it’s you...”

A hand landed at your back, gentle enough to alert you to someone’s presence. When you looked up, Hansol stood there for just a moment before he started past you. Then he slowed to a stop as he turned back to face you, nodding to come on with him.

“They won’t bite,” he told you, despite the way Jihoon had stopped singing when he noticed you’d been watching. “It’s okay, Mouse.”

Seungkwan had looked up, and waved for you to come over to sit with him. Yet you noticed the way Jihoon had hesitated, going to close his notebook and to potentially leave, a quiet apology on his lips about something--being too loud, you thought, but you didn’t catch it.

Seungkwan looked up with a pout. “You shouldn’t stop because they’re here,” he said. “How do you think that makes them feel?”

Jihoon stopped what he was doing as the words sank in, and then he looked back to you. With a small apology and a bow, he opened his notebook back up while Hansol took his seat next to Seungkwan--leaving the perfect amount of space for you to come and sit between them. Just to add a little more pressure for you to join, Seungkwan patted the spot excitedly, which was enough for you to make your way over and sink down between the two.

“Jihoon’s really talented,” Seungkwan whispered to you while Jihoon flipped through a few pages.

“Legit one of the most talented dudes here,” Hansol said, despite the way Jihoon’s face had started to turn bright red in stark contrast to his paler skin tone. “I don’t think he’s written a bad song.”

Jihoon stopped on a page, reading it over. “This is a work in progress,” he said as he looked back to the three of you, “But--”

“Please play it,” Seungkwan said. “We’ll love it.”

Jihoon’s gaze landed on you again, and you almost offered to leave if it made him more comfortable. But Hansol curled an arm around you, leaving you to only give Jihoon what you hoped was a reassuring smile. Jihoon nodded to himself, strumming a few strings before looking back down at the makeshift sheet music he’d drawn for himself.

When Jihoon began to sing--just vocalizing in a series of pretty notes--you felt this sense of clarity hit you. His voice was pretty, sure, but when he started to sing, the lyrics felt like their own piece of art. He stumbled at one point, flipping a page and skipping onward to something that felt more polished. Like he’d spent more time refining it until it was perfect, even if he couldn’t come up with the lyrics leading into it. You barely noticed the way Seungkwan laid his head on your shoulder, or the way Hansol’s arm curled a little more securely around you as the three of you grew cozy together.

“It’s okay, your world is fine. You are who you are. It’s precious and precious--stay here with me....”

Jihoon seemed closer to you in that moment than he did the day before, even though the fact that he made you tea to help with the headaches was an outright sign that he cared at least a little for your well-being. His voice seemed to put all of you at ease as you grew a little more comfortable with each other, a little more at home. Hansol was warm next to you, and Seungkwan slid a little closer to wrap his arms around one of yours. Just to be close to you in this intimate moment of Jihoon baring his soul through music. The next hour (maybe a little more, maybe a little less--you hadn’t looked for a clock) had been filled with songs, all unfinished by Jihoon, that still felt like masterpieces in their own right.

You’d heard footsteps, though, and turned to see Mingyu waving at you. “Mouse,” he called out, enough to stop the music for a moment. “Can you come help?”

He didn’t say what, but you agreed easily enough. Untangling yourself from Seungkwan and Hansol was easy enough, even if Seungkwan had kept his hand in yours for a moment longer--whining that Mingyu could find someone else because they were all listening to Jihoon sing. You apologized to them before thanking Jihoon for letting you listen, and turned to quickly head to Mingyu. He walked ahead of you, asking idly if you liked Jihoon’s voice.

“He’s beautiful,” you said without thinking. “His voice, I mean. And the lyrics--”

“No, you’re right,” he chuckled. “Jihoon’s beautiful. You should tell him that sometime. He’ll probably turn red, but he’ll appreciate it.”

Jun had been chopping vegetables at one of the countertops, humming to himself one of the half-finished songs from Jihoon. There was plenty covering those countertops--freshly cleaned fish, other fruit and vegetables that’d been already cleaned of dirt--and Mingyu nudged for you to continue toward Jun.

“Just help Jun,” he had told you, and you agreed easily enough. You felt a little bad for slacking off with Joshua earlier and then getting lured into Jihoon’s voice like a sailor to their death.

(Although, truthfully, if Jihoon was a siren, you’d gladly drown to hear such a pretty sound again.)

Jun reached down to a basket of sweet potatoes that’d been resting near his feet, and set it down next to the sink. He told you to start washing them completely, just to get them completely scrubbed clean and ready to be roasted. Seungcheol was outside with Wonwoo starting a fire, and they’d bring everything out later when they were ready to cook.

“Have you ever cooked before?” Jun asked as you turned on the water.

The process felt... familiar. You couldn’t remember cooking, sure, but it felt natural to you. “I think so,” you said.

“Good,” Mingyu said. “It’s always good to have another person who can cook, especially when we’re feeding fourteen.”

You could only imagine how annoying it could be, but the fact he already counted you as one of them didn’t go unnoticed by you. “Is it really good that I’m here?”

Neither answered you, and you noticed the concerned glance that they gave one another. There was a certain implication to your words, and you scrambled to explain yourself, “I just--Did you guys... y’know, want another person around?”

“It doesn’t matter what any of us wanted,” was what Jun said after a moment. “You’re here now. And you’re one of us... if you choose to stay, that is.”

Mingyu nodded happily. “Right! Cheol told you we’d take care of you. It’s okay if you feel out of place,” he turned back to the fish in front of him. “I felt weird when I first came here, too.”

So did everyone, apparently. “Was it bad?”

“They were accepting,” he said. “But... I’m clumsy sometimes,” he admitted sheepishly. “I accidentally broke a lot of things at first. There’s a reason most breakable things are pushed out of the way.”

“He broke a lot of things,” Jun reiterates to you, still chopping away. “You’ll learn.”

Mingyu’s smile was enough to tell you all you needed to know what Jun meant by that. He casually changed the topic, telling you that a fork was in one of the drawers near you and that Jun could grab the aluminum foil off one of the taller shelves for you since his hands were cleaner. True enough, Jun set it down next to you after a moment, making small talk with you as best as they could. For the most part, it was just them telling you about life there--about things that happened when both of them first came. You just listened to them for the next few hours as you continued to carefully scrub potatoes completely clean of dirt before poking holes into them and wrapping them up snug. No one had been in any kind of a hurry, thankfully, since dinner was still hours away.

Mingyu looked over to check on your progress, noticing you’d almost finished off the basket. “Can you go ahead and  take those up? I’ll be right there.”

With the final sweet potato carefully wrapped just as snug as the rest, you nodded and picked up the heavy basket. You knew that one of them would probably have carried it easier than you did, but you were happy to help where you could and made your way through the hallway, careful not to push your limits. It was easy enough to set the basket up when you reached the opening, climbing up before picking it back up and continuing back inside. You find Seungcheol and Wonwoo easily enough around a fire that’d just been started, wood stacked up with enough room for the potatoes inside. Both greeted you casually enough as you brought the basket over, Seungcheol turning his attention back to prodding things as best as he could without getting burnt while Wonwoo stayed crouched beside him.

“Mouse,” Wonwoo called out, voice low and soft, “can you remember if you’ve ever been camping?”

“I can’t,” you said after a moment. You went to sit next to Wonwoo, only for him to ward you back from getting too close.

The basket sat in front of you, and Seungcheol reached out a hand. Wonwoo caught on before you did and he started to hand the potatoes over to him, Seungcheol placing them near enough that they wouldn’t be directly in the fire--but close enough that they’d likely spend the next full hour cooking all the way through.

“Joshua told me that you remembered something about fruit?” Seungcheol looked back. “It’s okay. Most of us don’t remember that much about our lives.”

“What do you remember, then?” You draped your arms over your knees.

He went quiet for a moment, pensively thinking back on it. He looked over to Wonwoo, calling his name to prompt him to answer. It was probably his way of buying time for himself.

Wonwoo nodded, though, musing on the question himself. “My little brother,” he said. “I can’t remember his name or his face, but... I remember him existing.” He paused. “And... I can remember crying at movies. And cats.” He looked back toward the fire for a moment, the light reflecting in his glasses. “I remember feeding stray cats.”

Seungcheol sat there for a moment, sinking down to where he was sitting properly on the ground. “I think I used to do martial arts.” He licked his lips, mulling over it for a moment longer. “And I remember going for trips with my family over the summer. And...” Another moment, just to think. “Cherry ice cream.”

It was little things, ultimately. Even if they couldn’t put a name to a face, they remembered people. Things they used to do in whatever life came before this one.

“Mouse?” Seungcheol said, and you looked up from where you’d gotten lost in thought while watching them make sure the fire was properly lit. “Can you go tell everyone we’re ready? Dinner won’t be ready for awhile, but it’s nice to have time together.”

You agreed to it without hesitating. You stood up, dusting yourself off, and then took off to go find people--starting with the people inside the main living space. You didn’t get far before you found Minghao looking around the storage area--in the area where the blankets and spare clothing were.

“Come here,” he called out when he saw you, digging through a basket. When you grew closer, he pulled the sweater draped over his shoulder off of it and held it up to you. It was blue and pink and orange and honestly looked like it’d fit you perfectly. He let out a sigh of relief. “No one else looked for something for you, so I did.”

You felt your face grow warmer at that, and Minghao pushed the sweater into your arms before turning his attention back to his search. More clothing ended up in your arms--pale greens and oranges and blues--as Minghao put things aside. A few pairs of soft pants to sleep in, of white pants and shades of pale brown, end up atop them. He told you to try them on later when you had the chance, but he had a good feeling that they’d fit perfectly.

“It’s not fair to leave you in those clothes,” he said. “Showing you around is important, but...” He took the pile from your arms. “If you’re going to stay, you deserve to feel at home, too.”

You blinked a few times at the thoughtfulness in that. “I thought you didn’t...”

“Like you?” Was it that obvious? Minghao shook his head. “It’s just... hard getting used to another new person. We thought Chan was going to be the last.” He paused, “It was just a feeling we had.” He paused, “You’re here now. You’re one of us if you stay. I’m sorry that I made you feel unwanted.”

“You didn’t--”

“I did, and I’m sorry.” He waved you off as he started to move past you, saying something about how he’d put the clothes with your things.

You called out his name, earning a hum of acknowledgement as he looked back at you. “Cheol said everything’s ready outside.”

He nodded. “I’ll be out in a bit. You should wash up and get changed into something clean sometime.”

Minghao left you standing there, and you returned to your mission at hand. You found Jihoon wandering alone, and when you told him, he merely gave you an “okay” and a thanks for telling him. You passed Seungcheol’s message onto Jeonghan and Joshua, who you’d found sitting together talking about something they shut up about when you came in. Your job was easier when you found Hansol, Seungkwan, and Chan together.

Seungkwan called out to you as you started to leave. “Soonyoung and Seokmin said they were going to play cards,” he pointed up, “Just so you know.”

You thanked him and took off running to go find them. You scaled the ladder, finding Seokmin and Soonyoung sitting across from one another on the bed in front of the sun-window. They heard the sound of someone coming up, and Soonyoung’s eyes glimmered the moment he saw it was you.

“Mouse!” He said, and he motioned you over. “We were about to start a new game.” He started to shift over, making space for you. “Come play with us.”

“Cheol said--”

He giggled, “We have time for a quick game.”

So you relented, climbing into the space. While you were missing a lot, things like card games felt... a little closer to a memory you did have. Seokmin walked you through the rules casually enough, and they felt familiar. Like when you were cooking earlier: the motions were there, the knowledge hidden in the crevices in your mind, just struggling to be retrieved of then when and where and how you learned all of it.

“You seem like you’ve been busy,” Seokmin commented while Soonyoung was studying his cards. “Are you more comfortable with us?”

Admittedly, you were. “A little.”

“Good,” he smiled. “It’s good to have other people--” He was cut off by Soonyoung slapping down a card. “Soonyoung--”

He just giggled in response. “Should have dealt them better.”

You looked between the two of them. “How long have the two of you been here?”

Soonyoung mentally began to do that math in his head, lowering his cards into his lap as he mulled over the question. “Almost two years,” he said after a moment.

Seokmin merely nodded along. “A little over a year.”

You took in the information. If Soonyoung had been here for almost two years, and Seungcheol had been here longer than that....

... You weren’t going to remember anything anytime soon, were you? Maybe you’d at least get lucky with remembering your name soon enough.

Soonyoung ended up winning that game--again, considering the way he was gloating about his winning streak. Seokmin had already begun gathering the cards to put them away. You went ahead and left the attic first, waiting at the bottom of the ladder to head out with them once they joined you. Everyone else had already gathered by the time you three joined, talking amongst themself. Mingyu happily greeted Seokmin, despite being busy with cooking, and that caused him to part from your side. Soonyoung practically pounced on Jihoon when he saw him, who went wide-eyed for a moment but grew accustomed to it after a moment--even if he was shoving him off while suppressing a smile. You could see smudges of pink paint against his cheek, and you soon realized that was Jeonghan’s doing. He’d been sitting criss-cross on the ground, painting shapes onto Chan’s face. Minghao sat close by, amused by whatever encouragement Hansol had been giving (when you came closer, you realized he was quietly chanting draw a dick, draw a dick while Chan was trying to not crack up). Jeonghan lightly scolded him, smearing yellow across Hansol’s cheek before he went back to finish the little painting of a sun on Chan’s cheek.

Although you tried to slip past unnoticed, you completely failed because Jeonghan cried out a “Mouse!” the moment he saw you. He beckoned you over, and you sank down into the empty space next to Chan. Jeonghan slid his materials over, turning to face you as he gestured for you to lean in.

He rinsed and dried his brushes, dipping his paint into the paint. You tried to stay steady as the brush tickled your skin, Jeonghan starting close to your eye--right in that space between your eye and your temple. Chan leaned forward, watching as Jeonghan worked slower, more patiently to make sure that it looked pretty.

Chan glanced up at Hansol. “Why don’t you tell him to paint a dick on them?”

“It’s funnier when it’s you,” he chuckled. “Also, it’s their second day. They can get dicks drawn on them later.”

The casual way he said it made you nearly snort in laughter. “Remind me to avoid Hansol if he has paint,” you hummed, stilling yourself again as Jeonghan continued to paint your face.

Minghao commented at one point that it looked good, leaving you to wonder what Jeonghan was doing. You caught a glimpse of yellow paint at one point--bright golden, to be exact. Soon enough, he reached over into his box and pulled out a shard of a mirror and held it up. You could see a small sunflower painted near your eye with little green leaves with it, a smudge of bright blue from where his thumb had been pressing into your skin to keep your face steady. You didn’t let him wipe it off--it added to it, in your opinion.

He let you leave then, letting you go socialize with the others. Joshua was sitting on a log with the guitar from the attic in his lap, lightly strumming it as he tuned it. Seungcheol sat with him, Seungkwan sitting in front of his legs while Wonwoo sitting on the ground on the other side of Joshua, a cup in his hand housing something you couldn’t quite see.

“Hello, darling,” Joshua’s pretty cadence made you feel at home. He stood long enough to make room for you to sit between him and Seungcheol. Seungkwan scooted forward enough to let you between him and the log, and you settled in next to Seungcheol. “I see Jeonghan got to you.”

You felt a little sheepish at the way he seemed to admire the flower there. “Is it pretty?”

He smiled. “It is,” he brushed his hair back from his eyes. “Was Hansol trying to convince him to draw a dick on Chan again?”

“From what I heard,” you said. “Does it happen often?”

“He’s not the only one who does it,” Joshua said, testing the strings again. “I swear it’s just a joke. I promise no one’s going to draw a dick on you.”

“Yet,” Wonwoo muttered.

Seungkwan puffed up in your defense. “No one’s going to draw a dick on them at all!” He rolled his eyes. “Aish... You’re all so immature. What’s so funny about drawing a dick on someone?”

Seungcheol reached out to ruffle his hair, laughing softly at the way Seungkwan ducked away after a moment. “Stop talking about dicks,” he said to the entire group, looking to you. “You seem more comfortable, Mouse.”

Seokmin had said it before, and now you were wondering just how different you looked in comparison to yesterday. How terrified had you looked among them? Even after Chan showed you around? You didn’t want to dwell on it too much. It’s not like anyone could blame you for being scared anyway.

“I am,” you told him, finding a little more happiness in the fact. While you didn’t know exactly where you stood with someone like Jihoon, it helped to see how accepting everyone was of you. Although... Jihoon did keep playing earlier. That had to mean something, right?

Joshua asked if anyone had any requests. Despite not remembering everything about his life, he remembered bits and pieces of songs--and he’d learned a few of Jihoon’s too. Songs that Jihoon had told him fit his voice better, apparently. Maybe some of the things Joshua knew were from a life long past, heard online or on the radio at some point. Why did all of that feel so distant? You could remember technology existing, sure, but you’d yet to see a single thing since you woke up here--save for the things essential to cooking comfortably and storing food. You felt unplugged, yet there was no weird sense of withdrawal from it all. No need to remember the people you went to school with, or to find a way to call your family. They were all just blurry faces in the distant past. You assumed that sort of thing would come with old age, but...

There was something feeling about that now. You didn’t have to worry about how you measured up to your peers, to your coworkers. About that wedding someone was having to someone you swore they had just met. About the person already having a second kid despite being barely into their twenties. Maybe it made you judgmental, but you couldn’t understand how people were so put together to get married before twenty-five and to already have two or three kids. Weren’t they lost? Struggling to figure out their place in the world? Why would you make such big decisions so early in life?

Maybe it was just you who was lost. But that didn’t matter now. All of that was in the past.

You leaned into Seungcheol, who wrapped an arm around you as you all listened to Joshua sing. Could everyone there sing? You had to wonder if maybe they were singers in a past life. Jihoon certainly had the talent for it, and so did Joshua. It was soothing to listen to him, his voice sweet like honey and warmer than the sun. Seungcheol ran his thumb up and down your arm in a soothing motion.

It was nice. The day seemed to fly by, to be honest. Mingyu called out soon enough that the food was done and it was time to eat. You listened in silence to the stories they exchanged, either reminiscing or trying to embarrass one another in front of you. It made you feel at home, even when you watched Seungkwan lunge at Jeonghan for playfully recounting an embarrassing moment during his initial days, courtesy of Soonyoung scaring him. It took both Mingyu and Hansol to pull him fully back into his seat near you. Seokmin had handed him a small foil-wrapped bundle of sliced apples topped with cinnamon and sugar and butter to make him fully quiet down, and you just sidled up closer to him to keep him a little more distracted. The way Jun reached for another sweet potato in glee made you giggle, and you almost didn’t notice the way Seungkwan had been looking at you, a slice hanging off of his fork that he offered to you once you met his gaze. You reached for it, only for him to gently push his fork a little closer for you to just pull it off with your teeth--no need to get your fingers sticky.

He smiled, though, and you have to fight back a giggle at how cute he could be when he wasn’t ready to fight someone. Mingyu brought you your own bundle of apples a moment later, ruffling your hair before he settled back into his spot next to Wonwoo.

“It’s weird,” Joshua mused aloud, his guitar back in his lap after the last hour of dinner. “It almost feels like Mouse has been here longer.”

Everyone seemed to agree with that. Even you.

“We’re having a proper meal together,” Seungcheol said. “That brings people together.“

“Mmhm,” Hansol sounded off. “And they’re actually talking to us today.”

Your face heated up at the fact. You had been chattier than you were the day before, hadn’t you? Maybe you just needed a proper sleep to feel right.

The fire crackled as the conversation seemed to slowly die down, Joshua idly strumming his guitar. You half-listened to the quiet talk around you, more preoccupied with enjoying your little bit of dessert while observing your surroundings a little more. There was a pipe sticking out of the ground closer to the walls where you assume the nearby bucket of water had been filled earlier. Maybe that was why they chose to have their little campfire and grilling setup there. The river could have been an option, sure, but the ground was much more flat there. The sun set soon enough, painting everyone in a pretty orange glow before it started to fully disappear beyond the horizon. Seungcheol had been the one to break up the night, telling everyone that they should get some sleep soon after they finished cleaning up. You did your part to help before Mingyu waved you off that he and Wonwoo had everything else handled.

So you stayed behind with Seungcheol, watching him carry the bucket of water. You waved Chan off when he lagged for a moment to wait for you, and he frowned before getting pulled along by Hansol. Seungcheol looked up when you approached him.

“I can do this, Mouse,” he said, reaching up to ruffle your hair. “Don’t worry.”

You nodded, staying crouched nearby. “Cheol...” You watched as he poured water over the fire, reaching for a nearby stick. He prodded through the ashes, looking for any embers that were still glowing. “Is it really okay that I’m here?”

Seungcheol merely nodded once, not looking up from his current job. “I wouldn’t have brought you if I wasn’t sure.” He scraped off pieces of wood, still searching, and he reached for the bucket again when he uncovered those little glowing orange spots. They hissed quietly when he doused them again, finally dying down for good. “Do you want to leave? You seemed happier today.”

“I was.” You paused. “I am.” The ashes had turned black, and Seungcheol reached out to hover his hand over them to ensure that the fire had gone out completely. You waited until he had pulled his hand back, no warmth to be found and his job completed. “I just wanted to make sure.”

He stood up, as did you, and you watched him glance down to his hands to ensure they had no ash on them before he rested a hand on your shoulder. “You’re welcome here as long as you want to be here.” Seungcheol gently tugged you toward him, one arm around you as he began to walk forward. “If you want to leave... You can. But... I really think we’re all that’s left.”

“The world’s big,” you mused aloud.

“It is. But how far can we go on our own?” Seungcheol stopped right at that space between the walls, the church within sight. “Mouse,” he said, voice lower and more serious than his softer tone before. “Do you want to stay?”

Did you? Either you could take a bag and disappear out into the world and possibly never find your way back... or you could stay with people who wanted you there, even if some struggled to show it. People who could keep you warm and fed as long as you did your share of the work. People who cared.

“I do.”

“Then stay,” he said, and Seungcheol leaned forward to press a kiss to the crown of your head. A comforting action that felt safe in itself: gauged carefully by the slow way he did it. “Go get some sleep.”

He didn’t need to tell you twice. The fatigue had already started to set in as you drifted away from Seungcheol, who you could only assume had a few more things he needed to take care of before his work was fully done for the night. As much as you didn’t want to wash the paint from your skin, all of Jeonghan’s work disappearing far too soon, you were slick with sweat and grime and needed that shower. You gathered some of the softer clothing that Minghao had laid out for you, folding your dirty clothes into a pile and setting them aside. The others had started to get ready for bed, and you bid them goodnight as you started to make it back to your own little nook there.

“Mouse?” Jeonghan said, watching you head up. “Are you sure you want to sleep alone?” He just stood there, voice quiet. “You don’t have to join us, but... it helps sometimes.”

They’d given you your space. You still had it, knowing that they wouldn’t take it from you. You could have told Jeonghan no, but...

“Yeah,” you said. “Let me grab something, okay?”

“If you change your mind, it’s okay,” he told you.

You didn’t. You returned to your little area, leaving your dirty clothes in a separate spot from the rest of it, and took your little mouse from where it’d been tucked under the blankets like a child. Chan had practically lit up when he saw that you came to join them, reaching out for you already.

“You already hog their attention,” Soonyoung said from beside him. “Mouse should come sleep with us,” he giggled, sliding a little closer to Chan. Seungkwan had been on the other side of him, rolling his eyes (yet still smiling) at the whiny tone Soonyoung had taken on. Soonyoung continued to do grabby hands toward you. “Don’t you wanna cuddle with us? Please?”

In everything they ask of you, there was always an implied notion to only do it if you wanted to. It was sweet to know that no one was going to hold anything against you. Despite the way Chan had pouted at you when you made your way to Soonyoung, settling in between him and Seungkwan, you noticed he smiled when you let Soonyoung cuddle close to you. You reached an arm past him, though, inviting Chan to reach up and intertwine his fingers with yours. He squeezed. I’m here, too, was what the action said. We’re here. You’re not alone.

Seungkwan turned onto his side, noticing your little plush mouse. “Cute,” he murmured, nuzzling a little closer to you. Not enough to squish your tiny plush companion, but enough that he could press his forehead against your shoulder if he leaned just a little closer.

The lights were dimmed soon enough, and you heard the way Joshua commented that you’d already been brought into their cuddle pile. Faster than some of them, sure, but you could hear Jeonghan say that some of them had joined in from day one to have that physical comfort of knowing they weren’t alone. When you fell asleep between Soonyoung and Seungkwan, you felt safe and secure with the scene of vanilla wafting around you.

Seungcheol stopped when he came into the room after his own shower, realizing one more body than he expected. But he smiled to himself, happy to see the way you nuzzled a little closer to Seungkwan in your sleep with that pretty, happy smile that he’d loved seeing on you all day. He noticed the little mouse tucked between the two of you, button eyes staring back at him. He glanced over to where Joshua and Jeonghan were curled up with Jun in between them for once. Wonwoo had been on the other side of Seungkwan, and Seungcheol looked to see that Mingyu had left enough space for him, with Minghao back to back with him on his other side, if he wanted it. Jihoon had been nestled between Hansol and Seokmin (and Seungcheol noticed that Seokmin had cuddled close to him, apparently taking full advantage of being one of the few people who could initiate skinship with him.

Seungcheol curled up in that empty space beside Mingyu, gently telling him to go back to sleep when he stirred and glanced up at the slight disturbance. He watched the younger settle back into his spot, content that Seungcheol had finally joined them, and then he looked back up to the cave ceiling. They’d painted little white stars among the blue backdrop a while back, shortly after Soonyoung arrived. He said the color of the cave made it harder to sleep when he looked up at it at night. Had you noticed before you went to sleep? Seungcheol looked back to where you were peacefully sleeping. Maybe you did. Maybe one night all of them could go sleep under the stars for once. It’d been a while since he’d done that, after all.

Even though they all barely knew you, Seungcheol could tell that they were already beginning to accept and love you as one of their own. He did, too.

taglist: @shiningstar-byulxx @twogyuu  @maijunejuly  @strawberri-uyu @junhui-recs  @bbmyungho @thedeeppoet @min-tata @silvsie @heeseung-lover686 @lilactangerine @jeonncafe  @bfwonu

[specialbrewbutterbeer]

Lost and Found (Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell x Reader)

Word Count: 1746

TW: Death, grief, swearing

AN: Okay, so this was just a quick indulgent piece I had laying about. I've finally figured out where to take RECALL so part II of that should be out tonight? And I'm slowly getting through the requests, I just wanna get them right and I've been distracted with other stuff recently but I hope you enjoy!

Feedback is invaluable and very welcome so please feel free to let me know what you thought of any of my posts <3

REQUESTS (OPEN)

MASTERLIST

She froze up. She'd never felt the phrase 'like a deer in headlights' so viscerally before.

She looked, scared. Her stance like she was halfways through stepping away and making her escape, her eyes wide and lips turned into more of a grimace than a frown.

The only movement in her, was her jaw, as she tensed it and ground her teeth. She had nothing to say, but no means of getting out of this.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Pete asked, trying to sound angry but it was plain to see he was just hurt as he stood there, unable to look her in the eye.

She didn't mind that, she thought she was going to cry, and whilst he couldn't see the sickly lump forming in her throat, he'd be able to see the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Pete-" She whimpered, the sound barely escaping her lips before she choked up and could continue. She couldn't see him like this.

Her heart was broken, and she didn't know what to do about it.

"You blame me? Don't you?" He spoke more than asked, with every muscle in him tensed and his eyes fixated on the sidewalk at her feet.

She was horrified. She didn't blame him. She couldn't have- she never wanted him to think it either.

She'd not seen him since Goose had died.

Her, Goose and Maverick had known eachother for years. She'd known Pete first, as teenagers, met in highschool and bonded over both being military brats. Her father was till serving of course, unlike his.

When he went into the academy, she visited him on her breaks from college, and then she'd known Goose too.

Soon Goose met Carole, and then three became four, and eventually four became five. It didn't matter that everyone assumed she and Pete were dating, it wasn't true but she could see how it looked when they were all together. It was the natural division of things.

They were all, a little family. She and Pete had been part of the wedding party when Nick and Carole married, she was Bradley's godmother.

They were so excited when the boys had gotten sent to Top Gun.

And this wasn't supposed to be how the story ended.

She had been walking back from the beach, to the motel where she was staying for this particular visit, her towel over her arm, when the receptionist stopped her.

"Miss- Someone's been trying to call you for the past hour?" The young girl had told her and pushed a receiver into her hands.

"Hello, (Y/n) (L/n). Speaking?" She spoke nervously into the phone, bringing it to her ear as she leant on the counter so as not to pull the wire so far.

"Goose is dead." She heard a monotone voice on the other end, crackling through the old phone system. She recognised the voice, though it's tone was uncharacteristic and unusual.

She felt her heart drop.

"W-what?" She questioned, stumbling quietly on her words, letting her towel fall from her arm as she put her other hand on the receiver, pressing it to her ear to make sure she heard it right.

"I'm sorry." She heard, and then knew she heard right. She could say nothing as the line buzzed with static through the silence for a moment. "I'm sorry." Was repeated, the voice cracking and fading as it spoke. Pete repeated the phrase down the phone over and over.

Gently, (y/n) whispered down the phone.

"Pete..." Was all she could think to say, her voice almost wispy then, far away and she wasn't sure she was breathing.

A few more moments of silence ensued, as the pair both just listened to eachother down the phone, there was a hollow comfort in hearing the other's shaky breath down the line, but it didn't last long.

(Y/n) let the phone drift from her face, it just lay in her hands which rested on the counter, one in the other in front of her, whilst she just stared out into the small motel office. She slowly lifted her hand, but even that seemed a Herculean effort considering the shake in it and how faint she suddenly felt.

She hung the receiver back on it's hook and breathed out.

"Bad news?" The receptionist asked, a little meekly.

(Y/n) took a moment to look at her but eventually turned her head, and nodded slowly and absently.

"I think I'll be staying a few extra days." She spoke quietly before turning around and going back to her room in a daze.

She'd locked herself in and didn't come out till about 4am, when light began seeping in through the gap under the door and between the curtians.

She didn't know what to do. She'd gone outside and sat on the curb for a while before going back in. By then someone had gotten a message to her to say what happened.

At a reasonable hour of the morning she managed to drag herself up and put on some clean clothes.

She walked the couple of miles to where Carole and Bradley were staying whilst they were here. She stopped on the way and bought some sweet treats from some convenience store she passed.

She walked slowly, and mulled everything over.

She'd been thinking all night. She'd cried a lot. But she didn't know what to feel.

She'd grown up around people who did this every day, she'd known people who'd lost people. But she never had. Not like this either.

She knocked on the door to the little apartment and eventually Carole opened it.

(Y/n) just put her arms around the woman. She mumbled how sorry she was into her shoulder and they just stood there, rocking eachother back and forth.

(Y/n) stayed with them, supported her friend, for the next few days. She refused, though Carole tried to convince her to, to visit Pete in the hospital.

But she was too scared, to unsure of herself. She didn't know what to say to him. Facing him was aknowledging what had happened and she didn't want to.

And now they were here, he'd been cleared of any wrongdoing, Carole had taken Bradley home, seen Pete and collected all of her husband's things.

Finally she'd gone down to the base.

"I don't need you to blame me. I blame myself enough without you-" The young pilot continued on, gradually louder and louder.

"Pete- No." She spoke, putting her hands to her face like a scared child.

He stopped mid sentence and looked at her, saw how scared she was by his raising his voice. He'd never done that before. But he'd never lost Goose before.

"I don't." She sighed and told him, pulling her hands from her face and knitting her fingers anxiously together, holding them in close to her body. "I just- don't know what to say to you." She shivered in the sunshine as she spoke quietly. "I've known you all these years and I've never felt that. But I've been terrified of seeing you because I don't know what to say. And I'm sorry."

Pete just looked at her, and she couldn't meet his eye.

"I don't know what to say." She spoke again, choking on her words.

"You're right- we've known eachother all these years, and now is the time you don't talk. After everything? Cos' maybe I didn't need you to say anything! Maybe I just needed you to be there!" He started off speaking quietly and quickly it crescendoed into an awful, hurting shout.

His nostrils flared and his eyes were twinkling now with tears.

Once again, silence. She finally pulled her eyes to meet his, but couldn't hold it. She looked away and held steadfast.

"I don't want it to happen to you." She spoke, very quietly.

"What?" He asked, his tone still angry and yet this was softer than what had come before.

"Seeing you- Talking about what's happened. It's not just admitting that Goose is gone, it's admitting that, any day, any moment, I could get a call saying the same thing happened to you." She choked out the words. "I don't want to lose you too, Pete."

He lauched foward and wrapped his arms tightly around her, she buried her head in his neck and both of them let tears fall.

"That'd be the worst thing. To lose you would kill me Pete. It'd be..." She sobbed as she wrapped her own arms around him. "I'm sorry. I know you needed me. I know you did. But I had to be selfish because losing you, even if it were only in my head, and losing Goose all at once was going to kill me. And nothing is ever going to be the same again without him. Nothing." Pete could only nod. He had no words to speak because he felt the same way. Without her in the aftermath, was like he'd lost her too. It was a parallel experience that had lead to this moment of grieving catharsis.

Breifly they had lost eachother, but now they had stumbled through the darkness and found eachother again.

Their little family was broken, and would remain so, for many years, they expected. They'd learn to live without Goose, even if they didn't want to, and they'd learn how to talk to Bradley about his Dad and answer his questions. Carole would learn that life hadn't much changed, without Goose- not everyday life. Just there was no X marked on the calendar, no giddy anticipation for the day when her husband would come home. It was just like he was permanently at work. Sometimes she would catch herself thinking of having to do something to prepare for him to come home, reset his alarm clock on his bedside table, stock the refrigerator in the garage with the sodas only he drank, before realising she didn't need to. Sometimes she did it anyway, just to make herself feel better- or sometimes to justify to herself why she felt like she was going insane.

The thing was, as (Y/n) and Pete stood on the sidewalk outside of the base, the evening sunshine shining down on them, they knew all that was to come. All the really hard parts were on their way. But it didn't matter in that moment, because suddenly it felt like they might just about manage to do it. They might manage to keep their little family nearly whole.

But, God, did they know they'd have to do it together.

TAGLIST ------------------

@thespeeder @fangirlinc @inglourious-imagines @gh0strr @idfkwhyimhere4357 @dempy @luckyladycreator2

[primofate]

Breaking up Part 2 Albedo x gn!reader

Sorry it took so long! Haha. Yeah tumblr effed over for me. But here it is! :D

Scenario: Breaking up and getting back together again

Characters: gn! reader x Albedo

Warnings: angst, break ups, regrets, did I say angst? NOT PROOFREAD

Categories: angst in Part 1, comfort in Part 2 (It was getting too long so split it into two parts)

Read:  (Part 1) (Part 3 - Final)

“Sucrose... Do you know where Y/N went?”

5 days 3 hours and 12 minutes. He’d been counting. He’d been counting since you left. It was only today that he had the courage to ask Sucrose about it. 

Sucrose jumps at the sudden call of her name. 

Albedo had not been the same. The frequent mistakes in the lab proved it. The constant slips of the hand and test tubes shattering on the floor told Sucrose that perhaps that was how his heart looked like too.

“...No, I don’t,” Sucrose simply says, then lets the silence of the lab fill the air. Only the bubbles from their experiments hanging. It was still for a moment, Sucrose going back to her calculations and research. Albedo sat in front of his alchemy set, blankly staring at it.

He doesn’t even understand what being “tired” feels like anymore. He hasn’t had a decent sleep. Every small movement in the house, every whisper of the wind he would bolt up in bed, thinking it was you coming in from the front door. Sometimes he would hear someone shuffling, he would stop and listen for you, but then realizes that the sound was the sound of his legs under the covers, trying to keep warm without you around. 

Sucrose glances up at her mentor. He’s buried his face in his hands, his hair in slight disarray. She knew what was going to happen next. He was going to stand up and just walk away from the lab, and Sucrose was not going to see him until tomorrow again. 

Tomorrow, the cycle would repeat. 

Albedo couldn’t function. It was pathetic. He really thought that he must be such a sight right now, eyes heavy with exhaustion, hair down and clothes a little unruly. He ran away from the lab again. He abandoned his “important” experiment and went back home, retreating in his room, falling on his knees and slumping on the bed in front of him.

He buried his face into his arms and tried to piece his heart back together.

“Albedo, will you ever get tired of me?”

There was a soft hint of a frown on your face. Silly you, Albedo thought. Always worried about being apart from him. He only smiles and cups your chin in his hand, leans in close to press his forehead against yours to whisper, “Never,” 

His fists clutch at the bedsheets, the fabric scrunching up under his hands. Every.damn.time. he tried to take a break, he would be reminded of you. Every thing reminded him of you. Breathing reminded him of you. It was as if you were right beside him and yet you weren’t. 

It was him. He was supposed to be the one asking “Y/N, will you ever get tired of me?” He was supposed to be the one worried. But he hadn’t been because he had taken you for granted. He thought that you’d always just be there, waiting for him patiently as you always had but now that he was alone, he realized just how lonely this silence could be.

“You must have been lonely...waiting here for me in this silence...”

His voice was muffled by the sheets, and he didn’t know who he was talking to. He did that a lot these days. Saying things that he wished you could still hear. 

The next day, just as Sucrose predicted. It was the same. Halfway through his experiment Albedo stopped, and stared at nothing in particular. She wondered if, whenever he did that, he remembered the things he said to you that day. 

But, just as Sucrose thinks today would end up the same...

it didn’t.

“Big brother Albedo!” Klee stormed into the lab, the door slamming open really loud. “Oh...I’m sorry, I didn’t check the sign... I...” Klee stepped out to look at the door sign and found “KEEP OUT” still there. “Oh no...! I did a mistake! Sorry big brother,” the little girl fumbled with her fingers and swung from side to side to show her apology. 

A hint of a smile appears on Albedo’s face and Sucrose was thunderstruck. There had been no expression on the Kreideprinz’s face for the longest time that the smile had felt so foreign. “It’s alright, Klee. Do you need help with something?” and his voice wasn’t hoarse. If there was anything that could cheer him up, it would be Klee.

He was done prioritizing his research over the people that really mattered. 

“Look what I got! I’ve never seen such a pretty flower in Mondstadt before,” Klee showed off the blue flower to Albedo, eyes shining and wide. Albedo touched the petals as Klee held it up for him. “Ah, yes, Glaze Lilies. You can only find them in Liyue, Klee,” Albedo explains. Klee bounces excitedly.

“Ohhhh! That’s amazing! Y/N must have travelled there recently!” 

The silence in the lab was deafening. Albedo’s hand drops from the flower as he looks at Klee, confused. Sucrose had stopped what she was doing, wide-eyed, staring at the young bomber. “...What do you mean, Klee?” Albedo whispered out. 

Hearing your name said by someone else made it all the more real that you weren’t here with him anymore. 

“Oh! See, Klee was in Windrise and... I was looking at the fishes...” Klee gasped a little, “Please don’t tell Master Jean!” she whispered pointedly but continued. “I saw Y/N there, and Y/N gave me a really big hug and gave me this Guh lays Lily,” the young girl got the name wrong, but Albedo hadn’t been listening anymore. He stood up and crouched down to eye level with Klee, hands on her shoulders.  “W-When, Klee?” he clears his throat and tries again, “When did this happen?” Sucrose had also been listening and watching in bated breath.  Klee gave one of her biggest, most innocent smiles, not knowing how crucial this information had been to Albedo. “Just now! I just came back from Windrise!” 

Albedo didn’t feel the slightest sorry that he bolted out of the lab without explaining to Klee. She would understand and Surcrose was there. He sprinted towards the gates of Mondstadt like his life depended on it. In some senses, it really did.

I can make it.

He was panting hard. His footsteps thundering in his ears. His breath coming in quick ins and outs. His heart is about to fly off its cage.

I can make it. It’s just outside of Mondstadt. 

Wind rushes past him, the pigeons on the bridge outside of Mondstadt, disturbed, flying away in a frenzy. Timmie shouting after him. 

Please be there. Please.

It takes him longer than he wanted. He wanted to be faster, wanted to be there already but he was still running. Still chasing after that hope. The adrenaline he feels pumps in his veins and yet he is so out of breath that he needs to stop. His hands resting on his knees as he closes his eyes and tries to get his breathing even. 

I have to keep going.

His legs were killing him. They were strained by the sudden rush of exercise and yet he still drags both towards Windrise. He could see the large tree at the horizon, but he was too far away to see if you were there. He continues to pant, steadying his breath, preparing for another burst of energy to run towards where he so desperately hoped you were.  What if you weren’t there anymore?

What if he was too late?

What if he never saw you again?

“What if it doesn’t work...?” Albedo asks, pondering over the research and discussing it with you over dinner. He loved to talk about his experiments with you because you gave valuable insights on it, and really listened to him. You smile and give him the confidence that he needs, “Then you can try again, Bedo. You always find a way!”

He’s still panting by the time he reaches the steps leading up to the large tree. His eyes dart around. He circles around in place, wondering if you were around the area. He continues forward, stepping up to the big roots and yet again looked around, trying to spot your familiar tuft of hair/colour. 

At the corner of his eye he spots something, behind the big tree. A Crystalfly. It was flying away and his eyes automatically follow it. There was a hand trying to reach out for it, but it barely grazed the Crystalfly’s wings. You stepped out from behind the tree, a little annoyed that you couldn’t catch the Crystalfly. 

Albedo feels like he’s frozen in time. He stands there and watches the wind caress your hair. Watches as you tuck your hair back behind your ear. Watches as you turn around and start walking away. He snaps back to reality and moves forward, roots and sticks cracking under his feet as he struggles through the root laden path just to get near you. 

You, hearing the disturbance from behind, turn around and was met face to face with the lover you left a few days ago. Something shatters inside you. You weren’t ready for this. You were far from ready to see him again. Why was he out here in the middle of the day? You stood still just as he did in front of you. 

You notice how his hair is sticking to his face with sweat. The fast rise and fall of his chest. The pained look in his eyes. The closed up fists on his side. “Y/N--” his voice cracks and tears start to pool in your eyes. 

You aren’t strong enough for this and you start to turn away.

Albedo rushes forward to trap you in a hug. His arms so desperately wrapped around you as his head rests on your shoulder. “Don’t,” he pleads. “Please don’t go. Come back with me, please,” there’s a different type of hopelessness in his voice. A moment later tears are streaming down your face. 

“I-I can’t Albedo. I--” can’t put myself through that again. I can’t and don’t want to be alone at home all the time. 

His body shakes and you realize it’s a sob that wracks his body. Your shoulder is slightly wet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. Please.” You’ve never seen him cry. Not like this. Not as he clings to you and admits defeat. “I...I couldn’t take care of you--It’s my fault. I know, but--”

“I like Windrise. It’s very relaxing.” You say as the two of you walk around the tree, collecting materials. “Is it?” Albedo responds, stopping momentarily to look up at the tree. “You don’t think so?” you curiously ask your lover. He ponders for a moment before smiling, “I think coming home to you is a lot more relaxing,” at the early stages of your relationship hearing something like that from him would cause you to blush.

You pry his arms away and look up at him. His head is dipped low and you can’t see his face clearly, concealed by his hair. You brush his hair away and lift his head up, and you see how streaks of tears run down his cheeks. You see the sleepless nights in his eyes. The hurt that creases on his forehead. You see what your absence has done to him, and all in one moment, you think that perhaps you were too harsh on him. That you should’ve talked it out instead of leaving so abruptly but you-- “I was hurt...” your lips tremble as you try to explain. 

“I try, really hard, to make things easier for you. To care about you. I have never asked for anything grand.” You’re surprised at how level your voice is, despite feeling like you might break down just as he does. 

“I’m aware,” Albedo wipes at his face, frustrated at himself. His tears have stopped. You were talking. That must be a good sign. “I don’t--Don’t deserve you,” but he steels himself and places his hands on your cheeks. God how long had it been since he touched you like this? and wipes away the tears that were silently falling from your eyes. “But I’ll take care of you. I’ll prove your worth. I... won’t make the same mistake again,” 

And when Albedo said or promised something he was one of the few people that you believed in the most. He was trustworthy all the way, and was true to most of what he said. “You have my word... and if I do make the same error again then... Then you can leave. But right now I--” he moves to rest his forehead against yours, taking in the warmth and love that he had missed. “I’m asking for another chance,” he gulps. “Please,”

You stay quiet for a moment. Assessing the situation. But your eyes close at the closeness the two of you are in right now. There was no doubt that you still loved him. A few days would not change anything. A few days would not ruin the years that you spent together. But you were scared and guarded. You weren’t sure what would happen and if it was worth it. You were scared of being with him and being lonely. “...We... should talk and think a little bit more about this...” you conclude and give your answer, stepping away from him.

Albedo’s face grimaces in distraught, but turns into confusion when you take his hand and tugs on it slightly. “...At home, we can talk about this at home...Is that okay? Let’s go back first,” you would figure it out with him from there.

His head drops and he tries hard not to let tears escape again. He really didn’t deserve you. He didn’t deserve this kindness but he sure as hell would take it. He would take it and make it right again. He picks his head up and squeezes your hand, voice slightly soft and trembling, and smiles.

“Thank you. That’s perfect,” 

and with his hand tight on yours, because he wasn’t letting you go again, the two of you make your way back.

Should I make a part 3 with fluff and write about the aftermath and how Albedo made it up to you? Let me know :D Message me :D Love me <3

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[hxney-lemcn]

No One Like You — Hunter x gn! reader

Summery: The gang tries to get Belos to end the draining spell, someone comes in last minute to save them...?

tw: Spoilers for season 2 episode 21. Panic attack, abuse, mentions of death.

a/n: Okay...I'm not gonna lie...I changed the ending so I could finish the fic now and it's not the best. Kinda seems rushed but tbf I made this fic nonstop writing for 5 days straight so give me some slack. I just wanted everyone with a happy ending :(

wc: 2.3k

Chapter Fifteen

Master List | Chapter One

I sat next to the palismen as they shivered. Willow held King, Gus was fidgeting with the mirror artifact, Amity was pacing, and Mr. Blight was driving the ship, with Hunter on his side. I held the palismen close to me, trying not to let our impending doom fill my mind. 

“I know how to fly a ship,” Mr. Blight said annoyed as Hunter kept messing with levers.

“Then fly faster,” Amity sniped back. “We’re barely halfway there! Luz could be in trouble.”

“Maybe if I took the wheel…” Hunter trailed off.

“Very eager to return to Belos, eh, Golden Guard?” Mr. Blight stabbed.

“At least I never built him an army!” Hunter retaliated. 

“Watch your tone with me young man,” Mr. Blight scolded, letting go of the steering wheel to point at him. Which led the ship to rock and the palismen scuttled closer into me. I felt my stomach lurch with the ship, I already wasn’t a fan of heights and that did not help. 

“Hey, here’s a bright idea,” Gus said, angrily standing up. “Don’t distract the pilot!”

They all started arguing and I shut my eyes trying to block out the sound. My breathing started to accelerate as their shouting overlapped and they raised their voices. I held my hands over my ears, I thought I was over this, I thought this didn’t affect me anymore. I guess I was wrong. 

Before my moms got together, it was just mom and I. Mom…had a tendency of picking pretty awful people as her partner. I didn’t blame her, she even told me that she just wanted to give me a normal family. But everyone she chose turned out to be abusive. It was never aimed towards me. The arguing always happened late at night when they thought I was asleep. I was young, and I felt helpless as I tried not to cry at the shouting. I read books to distract myself, but that didn’t do much as I heard the punch. 

I felt myself start to hyperventilate at the returning memories. Tears threatened to fall as I grabbed my hair in fistfulls to try and ground myself. I felt so embarrassed that I was reacting this way, but I couldn’t help it. 

The feeling of an arm wrapping around me brought me back slightly. I looked up with teary eyes, only to see Hunter’s concerned face. I was still hyperventilating and seeing him made a few tears fall. Holding his hand up, he started to breathe in and count to four. I tried to follow him, but it took me a few tries before I was able to steady my breathing. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Hunter asked, a worried frown plastered on his face. 

“I’ll tell you later,” I mumbled. If there is a later, my mind pessimistically added. 

Hunter nodded and handed me a small loaf of bread and I took it gratefully. Looking around I saw that everyone else has calmed down. I nuzzled further into Hunter’s embrace, eating the bread in small bites. He was so warm and I felt myself calm down further. Mr. Blight came over and tapped Hunter on the shoulder, motioning to the wheel of the ship. Hunter looked at him in shock before looking back at me for permission. Smiling at him softly, I leaned up, pecked his cheek, and nodded.

He got up and went to steer the ship. I looked up to the sky, even if I wasn’t in danger of the draining spell, Hunter was. My parents were. People I care about are about to die if we don’t make it in time. I felt anxiety claw at my mind, the thought of watching Hunter die was a huge possibility and the thought clawed at the back of my brain. I brought my gaze to Hunter who stood proudly at the front of the ship. I know this is a pessimistic thought, but if these were going to be my last moments with him…I want to make them count.

I walked over to Hunter’s side, leaning on the panel in a way I wasn’t pressing anything. He looked at me and sent me a bittersweet smile. I sent one back.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked quietly. “You know…we’ll have to face Belos…”

“No one’s going to be okay if the spell goes through,”  Hunter countered. “I’m gonna have to be okay.”

I clenched my fist tightly, “You don’t have to be okay. I mean yes, even if you aren’t okay we’re still facing Belos, but you don’t have to hide your emotions because of that.”

Hunter glanced down, but looked back up at our path, “...fine. I’m…scared. I…some part of me still wants Belos’ recognition and…”

“I may not understand to the full extent,” I started, not wanting to overstep boundaries. “But I know that Belos raised you, he’s like a paternal figure. It makes me so angry knowing that he’s used that to his advantage and hurt you without care. Just…you have us now, and whatever he tries, we’ll always be here for you.”

“Thank you,” He replied. “That means a lot.”

Mr. Blight came over and took over steering the ship to give Hunter a break. We stayed near the front, resting our backs against the edge of the ship. I felt Hunter's hand brush mine lightly. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and slowly held his hand in my own. He intertwined our fingers and I rested my head on his shoulder. It just sucks that kids have to be the ones to save the world. Isn’t it supposed to be adults? That’s how it is in the books. 

Hunter lifted his hand, breaking our hold to look at his wrist. I followed his gaze to see the coven sigil on his wrist glowing. I felt my stomach drop. We were close to the head when we were interrupted.

“Your ship has been reported stolen,” A scout shouted with a ship full of abomitons. “Land immediately!” 

“Mom,” Amity grumbled. 

Gus then made an illusion to make it look like we turned into a murder of crows. Hunter and I flew towards the other ship to try and stop the ship. Hunter wrapped the scout in their own cloak, but got slapped out of the air by one of the abomitons. I quickly flew down after him and caught him in my arms. He looked at me with a blush, but got distracted as Flapjack came back. He got back onto his staff and Amity stopped the abomitons with her dad's remote. 

“Why did I make those things so powerful?” Mr. Blight questioned as the ship appeared back. “Stupid Alador. Stupid!”

We all landed back onto the ship, only for it to be hit. Two more scout ships appeared on each side. The ship plummeted at lightning speed as the scouts fully popped the ship's balloon. Hunter held me close to himself, trying to brace for impact. I held him back, hoping to offer some sort of protection back. Hitting the ground, we flew off the ship and hit the ground hard. Hunter was under me as I stood up slowly, stupid Hunter taking the brunt of the fall. It should’ve been switched. I helped Hunter up as Mr. Blight started to take down abomitons. Amity tried to get him to come with us but Willow grabbed her as we started to run to the head of the Titan. 

Entering the ceremony was terrifying. Witches of all kinds littered the ground, their lives slowly draining from them. I kept my head up as I followed the others up onto the stage that held the head coven witches. Hunter rushed towards Darius, if I recall correctly, trying to shake him awake. But my eyes landed on Eda, her curse seeming to consume her. Amity, Willow, and I all rushed to her, holding her up as she was limp.

“She’s not waking up,” I exclaimed as Willow and I rested her to lay on the ground. 

“We have to get to the head,” Amity said sternly, pointing in the direction. “Luz could be in trouble.” 

Nodding in agreement, we stood up and I got Gus and Hunter’s attention, “We’re going to the head, let’s go.”

We flew as fast as we could into the head. My eyes kept drifting to Hunter’s arm as the draining spell crawled further up. We landed on a bridge high up and sprinted. We got to a corridor with a horrifying monster with Luz behind it. Willow held it down with vines as we stood in defense. 

“We’re here to help!” Willow exclaimed. 

“Did you really think we wouldn’t follow you?” Amity asked with a smile.

“Yeah girl,” Gus agreed. “Get with it.”

“You guys are literally the coolest!” Luz exclaimed in relief. The monster rose up and Luz explained, “We have to get him to stop the draining spell but he’s all berserk mad!” Wait so that thing is Belos?

Willow tried to get him down again with more vines, but he ended up snapping them, shaking the area around us. Amity protected Luz from some falling rocks and Hunter stood in front of me protectively. Amity and Luz tried to hold Belos down with abomination goo and ice but he broke through it. I noticed that Hunter let his branded arm go limp, the draining spell taking its toll. We ran backwards to give us some space. Gus tried to calm Belos down with memories of his past, but Belos went to attack Gus. Hunter and I quickly got him out of the way. I crouched next to Gus and Belos was suddenly in front of Hunter. His face morphed back to seemingly normal.

“Hunter, why are you hurting me?” Belos asked, I felt myself tense, crouching behind Hunter. “I only wanted to help you!”

“You’re…” Hunter trailed off, fear clear on his face. My eyes trailed to see glowing yellow like veins reaching his face and I felt like there was a hole in my stomach. “You’re lying!”

“Kill him,” Belos spoke in a demonic voice, his face morphing back to the monsters, and I pushed Hunter behind me. 

Belos stood up and roared, the blue eyes littering his body glowing. I morphed to give myself wings and claws, and flew up to him, only for one of his arms to swat me out of the air at light speed. I rolled to the side as Willow tried to grab him with her vines once more. We kept fighting and fighting, but nothing seemed to work. Belos finally managed to corner us and I wrapped my arm around Hunter. I felt tears well in my eyes as I couldn’t ignore the yellow cracks that reached the top of his head. The feeling of dread as Belos loomed above us, ready to deal the final blow. We were all going to die here. I clung to Hunter, closing my eyes tightly as I saw Belos raise his hand he morphed into a scythe. 

I waited a second, the only sounds being our heavy breathing. Why aren’t we dead? I opened my eyes only to see…a child? They held the tip of the scythe and stared at us. They wore what seemed to be pajamas that were night themed. Their face seemed to be half a sun and half moon colored, with glowing red and yellow eyes. 

“Whatcha playing?” They asked, head tilted to the side. We stared in confusion as Belos backed up.

“Collector?” Belos asked, and…did he sound scared? The Collector turned around with a frown. “You're free. Just as promised.”

“As promised?” The collector replied incredulously. “I remember someone throwing me off a bridge. I’m not angry though. Say, you wanna play tag?” They brought Belos close so they were face to face, “I’m it.” With a touch, Belos was launched as he splattered into the wall like he was a bug. If I was terrified before? I am horrified now. I glanced at Hunter to see him holding a hand over his mouth. 

“Too slow,” The Collector laughed. Turning to us, they continued, “You guys look slow too. Do you need a head start?” They walked towards us, finger held out, and I brought Hunter closer to me. 

“Whoah whoah,” King spoke up, coming out of seemingly nowhere. “Collector! Buddy, pal.”

“King!” The Collector exclaimed like they were greeting an old friend. 

“Remember what we talked about?” King asked, like he was talking to a kid. “You gotta help all my friends outside, or, uh, we won’t get to play Owl House.”

“Uh, Owl House,” Luz said stammering. “Uh, gosh. I love that game.”

“The memories last a lifetime,” Amity agreed. 

“I play it everyday!” I exclaimed with a nervous laugh. 

“I play it every hour,” Gus one upped me. Hunter just squeaked in fear. 

“I’ll explain the rules later,” King continued. “But remember, we need lots of players.”

The Collector walked towards us and we rushed out of their way. They stared out at the draining spell that was currently taking place, “Hmmm. Okay!” They then moved their finger…and the moon followed, stopping the spell. “Boop!” I smiled in relief as the yellow vanished from Hunter’s skin. 

“Hmmm,” The Collector hummed, and we inched backwards. “If we’re gonna play Owl House, we’re gonna need an Owl House!”

The Collector floated into the air and King floated towards him. 

“King!” Luz exclaimed, reaching a hand out, only for Amity to hold her back. 

Out of nowhere, King took out a disk and the Collector disappeared into it, “No! You can’t do this! You promised!”

“I’m sorry,” King apologized. “But this is for the better.”

“You liar!” The Collector shouted. “You pinky swore!” King looked away in guilt.

“I-I’m sure there’s a way we can make this better,” I said weakly. “Right?”

We all looked at each other and nodded.

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[shoichee]

Paradox

[Kise x f!Reader]

Chapter 1-2 can be found here!

Chapters 3-4

Word Count:

Part 3: 3740 | Part 4: 2913

soulmate!au, enemies to lovers!au, manga!kise, cursing!kise to bits, LONG SERIES FIC

Hana is the name I decided to give to the brunette who flirted with Haizaki in s3

Synopsis: Kise despises people like you more than anyone else, the type of people who are shallow, coquettish, and so high-strung on acquiring a soulmate more than anyone else. Nothing good ever comes out of someone who hangs out with the brunette girl along with Haizaki.

You despise two-faced people like him... that's what you like to tell yourself. After all, you're only honest about what you want with people, and if it can help you get a soulmate faster... Where's the crime in that? High-and-mighty people like Kise who didn't believe in soulmates were pretentious, and he was no exception. And you'll do whatever it takes to get what you want, even if it means throwing away your heart in the process, because happiness will come to you once you're with your soulmate... you just know it.

current 🏷: @nadav-ii @carinacassiopeiae @kendrex13 @roppongiperfume @thesongstressayre @kimigiri09 @takatul @evierena @one-one-one-one @seijurosempress @inum4k1

Chapter 3, Kise’s POV

———

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What?!” Kasamatsu sputters, with the brightest crimson on his cheeks. You only give a lopsided smile at his reaction, but your eyes show that you weren’t joking in the slightest. “Wh-What the hell?!”

Moriyama only bemoans the development, arm slung over his face in such a dramatic way that Kise completely ignores him to focus on the back of your head.

Is she fucking serious? There’s no way…

“Yet another cute girl escapes from me—my soulmate is still out there waiting for me to rescue her…!” Moriyama cries out, though still, no one bothered to heed his words at all. “Surely, you must have mistaken our captain for me? I sense a connection between us!”

You merely turn to Moriyama before you smile that uncanny grin. “Sorry, sorry! I think Kasamatsu-senpai is the one, though!”

Ouch. Kise looks to see Moriyama absolutely heartbroken from your words. She definitely pulls some punches of her own.

Kasamatsu, frozen this entire time, barely recovers with a cough. “... H-Have we met before?”

You laugh, mirth seeping into the sound as Kasamatsu turns redder, clearly affected by your reaction to his dumbfounded question. “Well, it’s fine if you don’t remember me, but last week, we briefly talked… And, I accidentally bumped into you when I tried leaving in a rush!” You stop dramatically, holding your finger up for effect. Clearly, Hayakawa was buying your theatrics. Kise rolls his eyes. “Then you made the effort to run all the way to me, tapped my shoulder, then shyly gave back my notes. And like, that’s totally unlike the you from your matches! And I thought… ‘oh my gosh, I think he might fulfill my requirements from my soulmate letter!’ So the next week came, and here we are! I was hoping to find you guys at practice… lucky me!”

Kise stops listening to you halfway to pick up a ball across the court. Everyone else remains stuck in their spot, as if you had somehow forced them under a spell to listen to you ramble.

“Uh… yeah…” Kasamatsu clears his throat, before he whips his head around to shout at everyone around you two. “Well, what are you guys waiting around for?! Unless you really want me to kick your ass, then get moving!” Instantly, everyone scrambles to do something and to look busy, but every now and then, they steal a few glances while the captain’s attention is on you.

“Look…” he turns back to face you, voice instantly turning into more of a mumble once more. “W-What’s your name…?”

You beam at him. Kasamatsu bursts into a flurry of nervous coughs again at the sight.

“I’m (l/n) (y/n), ehe!~ ♪ It’s nice to meet you!”

Shut the hell up already, Kise groans in his mind. He dribbles faster to block your presence out, racing down the court to deliver a punishing dunk and letting the rim go with a rattle. How much can one person talk this much anyways? Kasamatsu-senpai, you’d kick me in the face right now if I did the exact same thing… you go way too easy on girls. He stops to look up in thought after the ball bounces unceremoniously away. Then again, I guess I go too easy on them too.

“R-Right.” Kasamatsu clears his throat. “So…” He averts his gaze, thick brows furrowed. “C-Could you… just… Could you wait here until we’re… done, so—”

“Sure thing!” You lean forward to catch his gaze, but Kasamatsu shrinks even further at your forward gesture. You even make the effort to pout at him, reducing Kasamatsu to nothing but a puddle. Kise turns to look at his captain, before he sighs.

Kasamatsu-senpai might need a bit of help here…

“Hey,” Kise briskly jogs over to the two of you, putting on a friendly smile to ease any tension. “Sorry about him. He’s not really used to this type of thing. Can you ease up on him?”

“You—!” Kasamatsu does a 180, ready to whoop Kise into oblivion, but you speak up before he grabs for him.

“Oops! Sorry, sorry! I’ll sit right over here… Don’t mind me! I won’t disturb any of you guys.” And you do exactly that, sitting on the raised platform of the stage overseeing the gym, dangling your legs and crossing them primly with your hands on your lap. You still had the same huge closed-mouth grin on you, though.

Her smile is… so weird.

Kise merely raises a brow, trying to get a good read on you. Something about you irritates him, and he knows plenty of reasons why. But before he can list them out in his head, Kasamatsu interrupts his thought process as he kicks him to get back on the court.

“O-O-Ow!! Kasamatsu-senpai?!”

“If you have time to ogle at someone, then you sure as hell have more than enough time to do eight laps around this perimeter!”

Kise glares at his captain. “I wasn’t ogling!!—erk—okay, okay! I got it, I’m running…!”

———

You sit there patiently, watching everyone nearly barf their lungs out from the drills and practice one-on-ones, but your expression hasn't changed for the most part. Kise can’t help but glance at you every so often. He can’t help it—not when you’re eyeing every single person on the court with scrutiny that doesn’t really suit your facial features. Worst part is, you keep your body near immobile, and you don’t blink much either. It’s off-putting—especially when only your pupils trail after Kasamatsu for extended periods at a time… It’s that unsettling and invasive, the way your gaze has that knowing, expecting glint to it. He looks around to see everyone doing the same thing he was, and hopefully, thinking the same sentiments.

So it’s not just me that feels off about her.

Still, he can tell that everyone’s trying to be polite and disregard you as much as they can, trying to ignore the fact that you’re a distraction. It’s probably because the Kaijo team has never had a girl like this up close to them.

But finally, grueling practice thankfully ends with no real casualties from Kasamatsu’s discipline, and everyone wearily begins to move to refresh, change, and pack up.

Of course, Kasamatsu immediately goes to check up on you even despite his obvious embarrassment. Even through great reluctance, his pride of having great responsibility overrides that hesitancy. While Kasamatsu stumbles over his words, Kise continues to stare at you suspiciously.

… What’s her plan here?

You were clearly friends with that girl from Teiko and somehow even on friendly terms with Haizaki. This can’t be good, not with you showing up out of nowhere and declaring such a bold statement to someone like Kasamatsu… and Kise had plenty of experience with girls who've done that to him… like that girl—Hana, was it?… who just happened to be past friends with you. Which makes a full circle. Who knows what you want from his captain?

It’s troublesome to go out of his way and interfere, but seeing Kasamatsu tripping over by being just in your presence… there’s no other answer than to figure you out and warn his captain of your true intentions. As he sorts out his next plan of action, he watches you give a coy smile and then even giggle when you see Kasamatsu’s reaction. His gaze sharpens.

The captain says something to you despite his shy stupor, and you reply something cheekily. Kise squints his eyes and strains his ears to try to eavesdrop in some way, but he sighs after a few seconds, deeming the effort fruitless. So he opts to wait outside the gym, leaning against the wall next to the door. While he waits, he ignores his teammates exiting the gym, too busy wracking his mind in trying to recall anything he knows of you back in Teiko. Luckily for him, it’s dark enough outside for him to be hidden in plain sight from unsuspecting people. Unfortunately, Kise was never someone into gossip or rumors (rightfully so), so any information in his brain about you is nearly nonexistent. He groans into his hands at the realization.

“Well, well! Look what we have here!” Your bright voice cuts through the still of the night, even louder than the incessant cicadas. He jolts, his face suddenly rising from his hands to stare at you. Has he been mulling over this for that long? How did you manage to spot him? Though, granted… he was standing near the door. He looks behind you to see that you’re the only one left; it looks like even Kasamatsu went home on his own.

You shoot him what he assumes a concerned look and walk to him, but he only gives you a raised brow, still debating whether or not to put on a cheerful front to dissuade you. But before he can stand up completely straight to face you, you suddenly jump to his side and sling your arm over his neck to further bring him down to your height.

“Ehhhh? Now what seems to trouble you?” you muse, giving a little laugh. “Kise-kun, right? I remember you. Quite a reputation you’ve got for yourself all these years, huh?” He immediately glares at your face—unbelievably close to his, by the way—and roughly shakes himself from your grasp to step away from you. He gives you a pointed look, that arrogant aura he’s so acquainted with using for people he knows doesn’t deserve his respect.

“What’s your deal?”

You only blink at his question and tilt your head, crossing your arms to mull over his words. He doesn’t know if you’re doing this to mock him or if you’re that slow.

“My deal?” you inquire. “Eh… well, I guess I like communicating with people so openly. Oh—oops, that’s a scary look on you! My bad, my bad! I won’t throw an arm over you anymore—”

He gives a frustrated quick huff, deciding to get to the point. “What are you planning to do with Kasamatsu-senpai? You think just ‘cause you’re a girl, you can push people around like this? You don’t just go up to anyone and declare that they’re your soulmate or whatever.”

“Ohhhh. You’re concerned about your captain, aren’t you?” You smile at him, but Kise doesn’t like the implications of your “epiphany.” Did you just completely ignore what he said?

Yeah, I’m more concerned about the shit YOU might pull on him, rather than Kasamatsu-senpai himself. But he keeps that thought to himself. Saying that to you may cause you to get the further wrong idea. Besides, he supposes there’s some merit to your words… he does care for his captain, even if what Kasamatsu does is his own business.

“Whatever you’re doing…” Kise says, trailing off to watch your face. “You better not plan anything fucked up, or I’ll be there to pay it back tenfold before you know it. Better watch yourself.”

“My gosh!” you gape comically at him. “Are you really threatening a girl? Honestly, you’re such a brute! I haven’t done a single thing, and you’re getting on my case…” Even despite your words, your facial expressions remain quite placid, though Kise can see a slight furrow of your brows to show that his warning actually does hold some water.

Kise only rolls his eyes as he decides to walk past you. “Look, whatever Kasamatsu-senpai does is none of my concern, but you…” He turns around to briefly face you. “People like you who like to take advantage of the idea of soulmates to manipulate others like that—I don’t like your kind. You might’ve fooled the entire team, but I know who you really are.”

You finally give a real reaction, jumping at the spot and staring at him with genuine widened eyes of surprise. There it is, he thinks. But he puts his guard back up when he sees your next move. You give a crooked grin and that irritating titter that sounds unbelievably ingenuine.

“The ‘idea of soulmates,’ you say…” you repeat what he said, sounding almost offended somehow. “You say that as if it’s not a real thing in our lives. Like it’s just some concept.”

“Don’t twist my words,” he says evenly. “You know what I mean.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you reply. “You’re, like, so weird, Kise-kun. I just want to look for my soulmate… that’s not malicious in intent at all, is it?”

“You don’t need a soulmate to do what you want,” he coolly counters. “Ever thought about that?”

You give him an unreadable look before morphing your features into an exasperated smile. “Haha! Sounds like someone’s a miserable man! Cheer up, Kise-kun! Surely, someone as well-loved as you can find anyone with your preferences to take as your soulmate~ The rest of us normal folks actually have to try to look for ours. Woe is me, especially!”

Kise hardens his glare at you, clearly having a nerve touched by your words. You’re the umpteenth person out there constantly telling it to his face how his search for a soulmate is as easy as he breathes air. Easy? Yeah fucking right. You think you have me all figured out, don’t you?

“I’ll have you know that I don’t care for the soulmate shit. Don’t impose your values on me.”

“Well, then…” You lean forward with your arms crossed, giving him a wink. He scowls. “Don’t ‘impose your values’ onto me either. You’re just as suffocating as the people you look down on, you know.”

You then turn around, back to him but your face is still turned to the side to face Kise to stick out your tongue almost provocatively, as if to piss him off on purpose. And it’s working. “How about you keep your nose out of this? Honestly, people like you who act like they’re better and more righteous than everyone else are the worst.” You finally turn around completely to depart in the opposite direction of Kise, as if you had the final say.

He stands there to watch your back (oh, he’s boring holes into your back) as you skip away, not in the least reassured that you’d refrain from trying anything starting tomorrow. Especially from how you responded to him.

You’re even worse than that Hana chick.

———

“Kasamatsu-senpai…” Kise calls out, looking over to see Kasamatsu in deep thought. Another day, another practice, he would have thought, but immediately walking into the gym today, Kasamatsu isn’t at his usual spot of critically eyeing his teammates before practice. In fact… he’s distracted by a creased piece of paper. “... Don’t tell me that’s…”

“Huh? Oh, it’s just you.” The Kaijo captain flits his eyes from the paper to look at the 1st year before he goes back to concentrating on whatever’s written on the sheet. His thick brows knit together as he goes over the same line over and over, judging by how his pupils were moving back and forth. Kise cautiously walks to his side to try to get a peek… and every other team starter coincidentally has the same idea.

Kasamatsu doesn’t even bother to kick them off to practice, and everyone looks at each other with immense concern and confusion before Kobori is the one to call out his oddities. “Captain, is there something wrong? You’ve been a bit too quiet. You’re unnerving the team a little.”

“Yeah…” was all he absentmindedly said, and Kise shared a knowing look with his upperclassmen. Is it that bad…? Kise flanks on Kasamatsu’s right while Moriyama settles himself on the left, both peering over his shoulders to read the letter as fast as they humanly can:

Addressed to Kasamatsu Yukio:

Your soulmate has been to places you’ve never been before, yet you two will meet for the second time in a place they’d never normally wouldn’t be in. You will ironically meet them the first time in an ordinary commonplace where people utilize to travel about. The place is never a means to the end of a destination and is always bustling with eager activity of all kinds. You will accidentally encounter someone that is completely unlike you among a particularly busy crowd. The floors will be cold and gray, and the walls will be modern. It is long vertically but does not have much depth widthwise. Many doors are located in these types of places as a must. Your fated location, in particular, has many windows and plenty of sunlight shining in with ample ventilation. You do not—should not—think much of this location, like anyone else normally does not. Do not try hard to look for them, or you will certainly miss your first encounter with them. This location is not at the ground floor.

Kise only gets through half a page before Kasamatsu breaks through his stupor, doing an insanely quick prep before he lands a shoe on his cheek.

“K-K-Kasamatsu-senpai?!”

“Idiot! Who said you can snoop around?!”

“What?!” Kise rubs his cheek sullenly before he points an accusatory finger at the other team starters. “They were looking too!! How’s that fair?!”

But when Kasamatsu menacingly spares a glance at where Kise was pointing, the rest of the players already had the keen idea of feigning warming up, putting themselves a fair distance from the captain to avoid retributions. Kise merely balks at the turn of events.

You guys… You guys are so mean…!!

———

After many hours of kicks and spartan orders, Kise somehow finds himself trapped between Hayakawa and Moriyama when he starts heading for home. How do these things always happen to me? He inwardly groans, but truthfully, it’s not so bad with them… you just… need to get used to their quirks. VERY strange quirks. And Kise thinks he’s somewhat grown used to them. Somewhat.

“What was up with that ®ette(l)!?” Hayakawa exclaims, damn near shouting into his own eardrums even if he wasn’t trying. He never needs to try anyways. Kise winces at the sudden volume, putting his fingers into his ear holes to help alleviate the burst of pain. “The captain… he was acting ve(l)y st(l)ange, wasn’t he?!”

“Hayakawa-senpai… you’re a bit… too loud.”

Always too loud.

Moriyama answers the question as if Kise never spoke up to begin with. “Our captain was merely experiencing the awakening of the ultimate blessing… unforgettable romance!! Oh when will it be my turn…!”

And here, Kise thought he was the dramatic one. He merely gives an awkward, polite smile at the woe of his senior. “Though, Moriyama-senpai, the content of the letter was very simple and to the point… It’s not something to freak out over, anyways.” He shrugs with a heavy sigh. “Is it really that bad for Kasamatsu-senpai?”

“... We shou(r)d encou(l)age him to do his best!”

Unsurprisingly, both Kise and Moriyama squint at the offensive rebounder to decipher his words. There’s a moment of uncomfortable silence while the trio walks down the smooth concrete, dappled by the sunset rays filtered through the trees in the neighborhood. As if on cue, gentle wind tousles through their hair strands to emphasize the unnatural… silence? Lack of response? Kise opens his mouth.

“... Anyways. We should mind our own business. It’s his to deal with, you know?”

“I agree!” Moriyama nods aggressively, holding his chin with his forefingers in a “thoughtful” way. “This is the only way Kasamatsu can truly become a man and lead the rest of us! Then, we can utilize his newfound experience to help us all get a cute date… yes, yes… It’s truly a win-win situation!”

“... Right, Moriyama-senpai. Exactly what I said…”

———

Kise knows that he said to mind his own business… regarding Kasamatu and life in general. Definitely more of the latter than anything else.

But what the hell is going on?

Another day, another lifetime of mental toil arrives as he deftly avoids mobs of heads bobbing around him, his mind blurring voices of nauseating adoration as a form of his psyche’s first line of defense to protect the remnants of his sanity. He yawns, faintly registering more shrieks of devotion at the mundane action as he steps past Kaijo’s gates to face another army thrown at him—who, no doubt, were all at his beck and call if Kise truly wanted to take advantage of their blind loyalties. He could’ve been a great general of some sorts, using the crowds to fulfill the desires and whims he sometimes cooked up in his mind, but that idea itself—to use them how he pleased—is also equally revolting. They are always his enemies, so naturally, he never wanted anything to do with them. These are things he’s accepted long ago (actually recently, but that’s besides the point), but what he witnesses at this moment is something he definitely can’t bring himself to ignore and “mind his own business.”

Somehow, your giggle manages to pierce through the disorienting fog of all the censored murmurs and coos of everyone around him—grating and coquettish. He could’ve ignored it all the same—you weren’t the first (and certainly not the last) person to act in such an unashamedly way. But the sight of Kasamatsu with you completely forces Kise to focus his attention on you.

What the fuck is she doing?

Your arms are wrapped around his left arm, pushing yourself up to his side as your lips form a pout with a practiced innocence that Kise recognizes all too well. He’s pissed—no, terrified for his captain, but most of all, he feels sick. But Kise isn’t Kasamatsu’s caretaker or father—hell, he’s not even an upperclassman. He’s more than capable of shrugging her off if she goes too far, he reasons, even if he knew that line of logic is a pile of shit. And if he really needs help, the other senpais can help him out of there. He will mind his own business. For now, he finishes his thoughts with finality. With that note, he briskly walks to his first class of the day, relieved when you and Kasamatsu are gone from his field of vision. His shoulders relax and he releases a steady stream of air, closing his eyes for a momentary recovery. There are too many things to worry about right now, but for now, he’d rather focus on his upcoming English quiz than the what-if’s of your motives with someone like his captain.

You’re just like everyone else, after all.

Chapter 4, Reader’s POV

———

They say that when your soulmate is close within your proximity, your mood begins to lighten up substantially as a sign. It’s just a dumb rumor people spread around, you knew, and yet…

You want to believe in it so badly.

What’s the truth? What’s the lie? All you know is that your soulmate letter is the truth, and all the kisses you shared with countless people ended up being lies on top of lies. You want to believe that your emotions are telling you the truth for once, and that he isn’t like the others. Why would Kasamatsu look so genuinely surprised? Genuinely flustered? Genuinely trying to be nice to you? Why else has your heart begun to beat so fast around him—the first time it’s ever happened to you?

Turning to your side, you curl up your body, clutching your blanket closest to you in the hopes that you can force your body to fall asleep. Ever since you got that momentous letter, sitting daintily on top of the table two years ago, things haven’t been the same. But that should be a good thing, right?

Your fingers automatically move to touch your own lips, tingling at the memories of other countless lips it had already firmly locked with. Your heart just keeps sinking further down the more you run through every single moment.

I have to keep going, you insist, tossing to your other side to dispel those memories away into the backburner of your mind. I have to find my soulmate, I have to…

Otherwise, I…

“You don’t need a soulmate to do what you want…” You subconsciously conjure up an image of Kise back at the gym, eyes cold and brows harsh with a ferocious frown. At the intrusive thought, you form your own fierce frown. “Ever thought about that?”

That stupid ass motherfucker—you curse at him as if he was really there in person—I’ll show you…! When I get my happy ending, I’m gonna rub it in that ugly smug face of yours.

I’ll prove them all wrong, I’ll prove them all wrong, I’ll prove them all…

Somehow, through the cacophony of mantras to yourself, you fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

———

[Your soulmate is of similar age.]

You sigh to yourself as you recall the contents of your letters again, mind so distant from the current reality of your situation. But you’ll never sigh outwardly; instead, you give a placating smile to the people around you as you walk down the hallway, then up a floor to continue down another corridor. Because people always like girls who are friendly, sweet, and outgoing… Those girls are what draw in people the fastest. It’s quite a huge generalization, and you’re aware of that fact, but you also consider that it does hold some truth to it. Your face twitches with a familiar discomfort, but you refuse to let your smile fall, letting your eyes crinkle in an inviting, sweet manner that no person would ever have the heart to deny you a friendly greeting. The brightest flowers always attract the bees, so to speak. Naturally, you have to do your best to attract as many people as possible to you. How else would you find your soulmate?

[You will finally meet them when there is a fresh start—a new chapter—in your life.]

It’s midway through October, approximately six months since you became a 1st year at Kaijo. There must be something wrong… shouldn’t your “first chapter” happen when you first graduated out of Teiko? Or maybe around the time of Kaijo’s opening ceremony? The demoralizing realization almost makes you drop the grin, and to compensate, you grin even wider. Just in case.

“Ah, (l/n)-san!” a classmate called out, catching up to your skipping stride with hurried steps. “You’re so cheery today! Woke up on the right side of the bed today?”

“Awwww, Saori-chan!~” you chime without missing a beat. “Aren’t I always cheery? You’re teasing me, aren’t you!”

“I’d never!” She gave a mock gasp, but her slight giggle after the last syllable immediately gave her away. “I’m just pointing out the truth! It’s really refreshing whenever I see you happy… I think I can speak for most of us when we’re near you… I must be sounding super strange, huh?”

The truth… you wonder about that often.

“Honestly, it really does sound all weird, ehe! Buuuuut…!” you pause dramatically, pleased to see her leaning in out of anticipation. “Hearing that from you makes me happier, of course~” You playfully pinch her cheek with a wink, and you skip away when she immediately blooms a cherry red. You debated whether to blow her a kiss too, but if you were going to win over Kasamatsu’s heart, then you needed to remain steadfast. Of course, it’s a nice change of pace that you don’t have to do anything drastic for once to get someone’s heart beating. For once… you feel a great weight lifting from your shoulders at the realization. No more of any of that anymore—the kisses, cuddles, the games you force yourself to play to find the one. After all—

“W-whoa—!”

“E-eek?!”

Of course, you get distracted when you think too hard about these types of things. Saving a mental berating for yourself during class starting in half an hour, you immediately focus your attention on the poor person you accidentally manage to assail. But your eyes widen when you register a stuttering, comically red captain.

“… Kasamatsu-senpai?”

… After all, he is someone who can have blood rushing into his cheeks from just a simple gesture like a wink and a smile. He is an anomaly—a one-of-a-kind person who you’ve never seen anyone like before. Isn’t he also around your age?

[You will meet them once again when they are most unlike themselves…]

“S-S-Sorry…” He’s already stuttering before he can even face you, and you figure it’s because he recognizes a female-sounding voice coming from you. You quietly watch him pick up the stray papers that manage to flutter out of his binder from the untimely collision, and after he straightens himself, he cranes a neck, rubbing the back of it with his free hand. On second thought… you note. It may actually be harder to win over his affection if he can’t even look at me. And to think he was able to talk to me with such authority in the gym a couple days ago. Oh, what will I do with him…

“H-Huh…? Y-You…?” Kasamatsu finally brings up all of his nerves to at least hold proper eye contact for a solid four seconds before he darts his gaze back to the gray floor. There is no way for him to properly lead the conversation, from the looks of him cowering in your presence, so you decide to speak instead.

“Ah, sorry, sorry!” you say, hoping to break the ice with him. If you are more “normal” with him, as opposed to being your usual outgoing self, maybe he’d see you in a better light? “I wasn’t completely paying attention to my surroundings, and I really messed up, huh? Totally my bad!”

“I-It’s…” Kasamatsu dares to sneak a glance at your face before he turns away again. “... f-fine.” You open your mouth to perhaps talk about the weather or perhaps his class schedule for you to memorize later, but you falter when you see him glancing at you again before averting his eyes. Was there something on your face? You owlishly blink before a flirtatious grin finds its way onto your face again, and immediately, his cheeks predictably lights up a bright pink again.

“Wahhh…!” You lean forward up to his face, hands held together in a gesture of being in love. “You’re really adorable, did anyone tell you that before?~ I’m definitely the first, aren’t I? Right—right?”

“I—!” He’s balking at the shameless assumption, mouth half-opening… half-closing… his mind is in a state of limbo, and he’s being sent into overdrive. “I-I’m… I… mm… nn…” Instinctively, he stumbles a couple steps back, clutching the fabric in the front of his shirt in an attempt to calm himself.

“And wow!” you continue. “Didn’t we also have the same type of run-in the first time we met? I don’t think this is just a coincidence…” You stick your tongue out playfully, fully rendering him speechless and robbing him of any chance to recover his voice.

“N-nn…”

What are his habits? What are his likes? Dislikes? What are his passions and hopes and dreams? You wonder about the countless things you can elicit out of him. Any tidbit about him would be a good start in getting to know him—you tilt your head at him cutely while you continue to assess your options—but how do I ask for it when he’s constantly stuttering or avoiding girls in general? After all, you tried to charm him the other morning, but it was apparently too much for Kasamatsu to even think of any coherent response.

“There you are.” A flash of yellow catches your eye as swoons of mainly women follow close by. “Kasamatsu-senpai! Kobori-senpai has been looking all over for you… you’re going to be late at this point if you don’t hurry up, you know!” Almost as if his voice is a trigger, Kasamatsu whirls around to hurl the usual serving of insults.

“Hah?! Since when were you so confident to tell an upperclassman what to do again? You really want to have your ass kicked again, huh?!”

“Like I said—! They wanted me to go look for you! Not like I had a choice!”

Damn, way to ruin an opportunity like that. You give a quiet sigh as Kasamatsu waves at you shyly before he storms off to find his other teammates to berate them, though you know it was more out of politeness than care from his end. Interestingly, the ace of Kaijo remains behind, watching his senior disappear before he seemingly remembers that you are also here. Flashing a breezy smile at you, you resist your instinctive reaction to twitch an eye as screams fill up the hall in response. But of course, you deliver your own captivating curl of those lips, and suddenly, you sense an aura of hostility spiking towards your end. Ah… so it appears that they view me as a rival, hm?

“Ah… (l/n)-san, right?” Kise laughs, fiddling with a few strands as he tucks them behind his ear, revealing his piercing. “Are you alright? You look like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” Try as he might, but his cheeriness wasn’t able to hide his voice from slipping into a steely tone. … Is he taunting you?

This guy!—you give an airy laugh in response—He’s the fakest asshole I’ve ever seen! Who the fuck is buying this discounted act of his?! When you dare to look around casually though, everyone is hanging onto his every word.

“I guess it’s been getting chilly lately!” you reply. “Maybe I should see the infirmary later for a check up… Thanks for the concern though, Kise-kun!~ But um… shouldn’t you also head to class, too? The warning bell’s gonna ring soon, right?” Even with the friendly tone, you place your hands on your hips while raising a suspicious brow, making sure to jut out your dominant hipbone to emphasize your figure. There’s only so much patience you have in trying to be diplomatic with someone like him. You see no benefit in doing so either, but then again, maybe being on good terms with Kise would allow you to get closer with his captain. Still, Kasamatsu doesn’t hesitate to dropkick him and knock down his ego a notch at all… maybe it wouldn’t matter as much if you just openly hate him. Options, options… Perhaps for now, you’ll see what Kise’s up to.

Ah… You slowly blink. What if he was actually trying to get Kasamatsu away from me just a moment ago? Wouldn’t his upperclassmen classmates come get their captain themselves instead of sending a 1st year to him? Either possibility can happen, but logically… the first option would’ve been more convenient and probable to happen. You scowl at the realization, but just as quickly, you form a tight-lipped smile in an attempt to recover. I warned his ass to stay out of my business too! And to think he’d try to butt in…

“You’re definitely right!” Kise interrupts your train of thought with a bright affirmation. “So I’ll be going on my way to class. You should go too, before you end up late!” You don’t miss the way his eyes go flat on you before he turns to walk away, back to you, immediately pulling away the entire crowd along with him.

“Kise-kun!! Who was that?!”

“Please look at me!”

“No, me!!”

“She’s nothing special at all!”

While it doesn’t hurt to think about his motives, there’s only so much speculation can do within a situation like this. Being openly hostile in front of everyone would serve no one good, and your reputation would tank. And if you lose your reputation, finding soulmates would end up being more difficult than necessary. Besides, if Kise wants to keep playing this farce of roleplay game of “shining knight,” why not join him as another player of “femme fatale sorceress”? Two can play this game.

Don’t worry, you muse to the mobs ahead. That imposter’s all yours.

———

Obviously, anyone can see just how passionate Kasamatsu is about basketball… more than anyone else. Probably even more than the Generation of Miracle guy, Kise. You giggle to yourself, ecstatic to have some type of progress in getting closer. If I learn about basketball, you reason, then maybe he’d have an easier time talking with me? You knew what the “Generation of Miracles” were all about; you’d have to live under a rock to not hear a single thing about them. They’re on the local news, the latest mags, and on the biggest media trends. Many people constantly speculate about their potential soulmates and what they’d be like, even going so far as to associating their known ideal types as holy decrees. But you don’t have a single inkling about what basketball truly entails, and that’s where you’ve been going wrong this entire time.

Nowadays, you find your eyes constantly scanning out in the crowd for a certain individual with cropped black hair, thick brows, and impossibly striking blue eyes. He probably doesn’t even realize just how charming he is. But maybe that obliviousness is also part of his overall charm. But before you can even hit on him, you really need to overcome the obstacle of his stuttering; after all, that was the main aspect that prevented every other girl from being able to talk to him in the first place. You take out a beginner’s guide to basketball rules and guidelines from your bag and lay it out on your desk, not caring about the teacher droning on about the necessity of Japanese literature. You turn to page one and settle yourself into a comfortable position, careful to hide the booklet from the prying eyes, yet you swear you feel a prickling chill down your spine from a piercing stare two seats behind you to your left.

It’s Kise, isn’t it? You can’t help but let out an inaudible chuckle, hand pressed over your lips as you continue to voraciously take in all the information in the book. Weeeell, he can look for all I care. I’m gonna get the last laugh when I play my cards juuuust right…

You manage to reach the last page before the bell rings for the next period, slightly jolting you out of your concentration, and after closing it and placing it back into your bag, you finally decide to turn and spare a look to the model student behind you. He’s putting most of his body weight on the desk, propping the side of his head up with a hand, elbow on the table. Although his body is facing forward to the blackboard, his eyes are honing in on you.

“What?” You stick your tongue out at him. “Can’t resist me after all? You’ve been staring at me all period—gosh, why didn’t you just tell me? You know I’m not someone who’d judge others at all~”

Unlike you.

Your own beam begins to grow at the sight of him gripping his pen so hard that it almost seems like it’s going to snap in half. You knew he couldn’t snap back—not when there were twenty pairs of eyes on him. Imagine your surprise when he barely manages to conceal his revulsion at you… whether he’s disgusted by your words, the way you provocatively stick out your tongue, your delighted smile, or all of the above… you don’t know and you don’t care enough to find out.

“What can I say?” He starts, lips twitching up to force a friendly smile. “I’ve never met anyone like you.” Everyone but you appears to buy his shoddy act, turning to face the front when the next teacher enters the classroom for the next lecture. You shoot one last wide grin at him to signify your triumph, but Kise unapologetically returns a freezing stare… the staredown only lasts for a few seconds before the teacher claps her hands to begin the session, both of you simultaneously breaking eye contact.

[gaysimpsstuff]

HI IM THE DOM DEKU ANON (I’ll go by ✨ for now? If that’s okay?) first of all that was SO good holy SHIT. I would LOVE more if you want to write it!!! I loved every single second of it, thank you thank you thank you!!! -✨

AHHHHHHH I LOVE YOU TOOOO!!!

You’re awesome, Sparkle Anon! Take this as a token of my appreciation!

Part One Here

Dominate Deku PT.2; My Hero

Deku x GN! Reader

Genre: smutty smut

Word Count: 2.3K

Warnings: cursing, semi-public sex, praise, blowjobs, dirty talk, praise, dom deku, breath play, masturbation

Summary: After being saved by Pro Hero Deku, you (his biggest fan), decide to thank him the best way you know how.

Other: I decided to make this one a oneshot because I’m better at those than headcannons. 

NSFW Taglist: @smolchildfangirl @combat-wombatus @mandalorian-baby-bird @waffleareniceandfluffy (lemme know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist)

Before requesting, please check if requests are open. This was made while requests were still open.

A normal day. That’s what it was supposed to be. You were not supposed to be stuck in the middle of a villain fight. You were not supposed to meet your hero. You were definitely not supposed to do that with him. And you were not supposed to get his number.

But that’s what happened.

Your day started out boring as hell, wake up to your loud-ass alarm, get dressed in a boring ass outfit, eat a boring breakfast, grab a coffee or something to wake you up, and go to work. 

You already knew what was supposed to happen today, and this was not it. You were supposed to stay behind the counter of the coffee shop and take orders. If you were lucky someone would put something funny for their name. Instead, you got an explosion down the street. Immediately, the costumer’s raced out of the building, you and your co-workers following suit.

You located three pro heroes.

Dynamight

Red Riot

Deku

You also noticed a few villains. You realized Dynamight must have been the cause of the explosion. But oh my god- you’re favorite hero, the current number one hero.

Deku.

He was here.

Outside your coffee shop.

Fighting villains.

Best.

Day.

Ever.

On TV, he looked different. Nothing could fully capture that beautiful neon glow around him, or the way his green curls would float upwards and bounce around. And Damn did his undercut look fucking awesome. He looked huge, like he could carry you with his pinky finger. He probably could- no. He definitely could.

Just as you were thinking this, one of the villains grabbed you and yanked you in front of her. You glanced at the other villain, who’d pulled a random civilian in front of him too.

Fuck.

Maybe today wasn’t the best day ever after all.

“Come on heroes! Fight us! Or are you afraid we’ll hurt these innocent people? Back off and we might just let them live!” The villain holding you shouted at the heroes.

There was a moment’s hesitation.

Silence.

Then something wrapped around you and the other civilian, and you were yanked forward, barreling towards the heroes.

Deku.

Did he really move that fast?

Deku stopped himself behind the other two heroes, who immediately ran towards the villains, but you barely even noticed.

Deku had his arm wrapped around you, holding you close. He grinned at both you and the other civilian, a glint in his emerald eyes.

“Don’t you guys worry, we’re here and we’ll keep you safe!” Your heart fluttered at the sound of his catchphrase.

You’re hero is so cool!

He sets the two of you down, but his hand lingers on your waist for a moment, his eyes meeting yours.

You felt your whole body heat up as his hand slipped down, brushing against your backside before he quickly stuffed it into his pocket.

“Dynamight! Red Riot! You guys finished?”

“If you’d been paying attention, Deku, then you would have seen that we’ve already restrained the villains.” Deku’s face flushed a little, and he scratched behind his neck with a chuckle.

“Sorry guys!”

The police arrived a minute later, and the crowd dispersed pretty quickly. You got in the line for an autograph from Deku. You silently hoped that he wouldn’t leave to soon.

You were the last person in line thanks to your earlier flustered behavior. If only you’d gotten over your embarrassment quicker.

Finally, you approached your hero.

“Um- hi Deku,” you stuttered, mentally kicking yourself for acting so shy. “Thank you so much for saving me, I was sure I was gonna get hurt back there!” He grinned down at you (how was he so fucking tall?) and your heart skipped a beat.

“It’s no problem, really. My job is to help people like you.” His smile was so sweet, but for some reason he seemed uncomfortable. Shifting from one foot to the next, glancing at you and away from you as if you were the cause. Were you weirding him out?

“Ah- I’m sorry if I cause you any trouble-“ you started, only to get intuition by the green-haired hero.

“No no no, you didn’t cause me any trouble.” You narrowed your eyes at him, trying to decipher his behavior. Then you saw it.

Shit.

This is awkward.

W-why was he hard?

Did- did you do that?

An idea popped into your head, a stupid, horny idea. One that probably wouldn’t work. But god did you hope it would work.

“I-if there’s anything I can do to repay you, I want to do it.” He glanced down at you, a look of understanding in his eyes. He seemed to hesitate before shaking his head.

“It’s alright- I can handle myself. I should really be apologizing-“ now it was your turn to interrupt.

“No, no it’s okay. I’d like to help.” He looked down at you, lifting an eyebrow to double check how sure you were. You have him a nod in response and he relaxed, smiling at you.

“Alright then. Dynamight! Red Riot! You two can go ahead without me, I’ve got some business to attend to.”

Dynamight shouted something at him, flipping him off, Red Riot stood in front of him and smiled nervously, waving at Deku.

“Don’t worry about it, man! We’ll finish off the patrol on our own!” The two of them turned the corner. Leaving you. With Deku. Alone. The her turned to look at you, gently placing his hand on your upper arm before taking you with him into an alley, ducking around the corner with you. 

“What’s your name?” he asked, cheeks flushed.

“Y-Y/n L/n.” you responded nervously.

“Y/n...” he murmured your name and you could feel your soul leaving your body. “Y/n are you sure you want to help me with this? You don’t have to and I’m not going to do this if you don’t want to. I could always just take care of it myself and-”

“I really want to help!” you exclaimed. “I’ve been a fan of yours for years and well... I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find you attractive.” You felt his hand on your shoulder before you were spun around and pressed up against the wall. You let out a squeak as he pushed on your body lightly, putting you on your knees quickly in front of the hero. 

“Tell me if you want to stop.” his voice had changed, usually it was lighter and carried a sort-of happy-go-lucky tone to it, but now... His voice was deeper, almost a growl, and the look in his eyes made you shudder. You nodded at him quickly, before he undid a small clip near his crotch. It was probably there to help him pee without needing to take off his whole costume, but well... this was a great alternate use.

He pulled out his dick, and you choked. It wasn’t even anywhere near your mouth and you already couldn’t breath. He had to have been eight or nine inches, curving upwards and to the left. There was a long vein on the underside, and a couple smaller veins on the top. It was a shade darker than the rest of his skin, and the tip was very pink. It’d be cute if it wasn’t so goddamn big. Deku must have noticed your reaction, because he let out a soft chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s the face most people make.” he joked. “Gonna give up on me now?” you shook your head, clenching your legs together. You reached up, slowly wrapping your fingers around his length.

He smirked down at you, reaching down and brushing your hair out of your face. You slowly started to jerk him off, feeling him harden even more in your hand. A droplet of pre slipped out of the slit, dripping off of him. You moved to catch the drop in your mouth. It didn’t have much of a taste, reminded you a bit of cottage cheese maybe? Except not cold.

“Damn~ that was hot,” you looked up at the hero, who was leaning half against the wall. His eyes seemed to have darkened, and he had a smug look on his face that made your stomach flip. “You like it? Hmm? Like this hero’s cock?” you whimpered, nodding. “Why don’t you take on more of it, hm? How’s that sound baby~” 

His voice went straight to your crotch, and you dipped your hands into your pants to touch yourself. You pressed your lips against the tip of his cock, kissing it. You slowly kissed down the underside, all the way to the base. You heard him hiss as you licked a stripe all the way up to his tip, flattening your tongue against him.

His hands wove into your hair, tugging on it lightly. You shudder, opening your mouth and slowly taking the tip in to your waiting cavern. You watch the hero’s expression carefully, how his eyebrows quirk up, how he hisses, how his pearly teeth dig into the soft flesh of his lower lip, how his eyes are half-closed.

“That’s it, you’re doing so good for me.” he murmurs. “Taking my cock so well, gonna try an get me to cum? Is that what you want? Want your hero to cum all over you?” you hummed, slowly taking in more of him.

He was so big, you could barely get down halfway, reaching up to stroke the three and a half inches you couldn’t fit in your mouth. You watched as his smug look only grew, his cock twitching in your mouth as you started to bob your head, tongue running along the underside.

His breath hitched, and he tightened his grip on your hair, slowly starting to guide you along his length. You moved your hand away from his dick, putting your arm around the back of his waist, using it to push yourself all the way down on him. Tears bubbled up in your eyes, and you were just barely getting enough air.

God it was so perfect.

You sped up your other hand, masturbating as you sucked off the Number One Hero in an alleyway. 

Your nose was buried in a thick mass of dark green hair, and you could feel the vibrations of his voice from the support of his lower stomach. 

“Fuck, Y/n! Who knew you were so fucking good at this? This is certainly not gonna be a one-time thing~” 

Oh god yes. 

You choked and gagged on his dick as he pulled his hips away from you before snapping them against your face. His balls slapped against your chin with every thrust into your mouth. The tears escaped, tumbling down your heated cheeks, but you made no effort to pull away. 

You could feel your climax approaching, and you looked up at Deku with wide, innocent, eyes, willing him to cum in your mouth. He let out a soft moan at your expression, understanding.

“Get ready, baby, you’re gonna taste me soon~” he growled with need. You relaxed your throat as best you could, closing your eyes and preparing for him. Soon, his hips started to stutter against your face, and you felt something hot and sticky fill your mouth.

You pulled off his dick with a gasp, a few shots of stray cum landing on your face. You coughed a little, swallowing as much as you could and wiping your tears. You barely noticed him crouching down and handing you a tissue to clean your face with. 

“Baby~ you haven’t cum yet have you~” he asked softly. You shook your head.

“S’fine, just wanted to make you feel good.” you told him, and he frowned, slamming his hand against the wall behind you, leaning in close.

“I’m not leaving until you cum.” there it was again, the dominance, his demanding tone, his true wolf-like nature pushing through. You whimpered, pulling your pants down enough for him to see you. He sucked in a breath, leaning close to you and moving his hand towards you.

You put your hands over your mouth when he started to touch you. Fast yet calculated movements, he knew exactly what to do to you to make you come undone. You quickly latched onto him, hips jerking upwards as you came hard on his hand.

You felt his lips against your neck, pressing soft kisses until he reached all the way up to yours. His lips were soft, and tasted like watermelon. You lifted your head feebly to kiss him back, but he was already pulling away. He sucked his fingers and hand clean, keeping eye-contact with you the whole time.

You could feel yourself growing weak under his powerful gaze. When he finished, he wiped his hand off on his pants, tucking his softening dick back into his pants and clipping them shut. He pressed something into your hand, smiling at you.

“You can take care of yourself from here, right? Or do I need to save you again~” he teased. You nodded, muttering that you’d be fine. His smirk softened into a sweet grin, and he stood up. “Call me, I’d like to see you again.” he said over his shoulder, turning the corner and leaving the alley. You lifted your hand to see what he gave you, a crumpled piece of paper with a phone number and the words ‘Izuku Midoriya’ printed next to it.

His phone number. 

Not only had you just sucked his dick, you got his number. You sighed, resting your head against the wall and closing your eyes for a moment. Suddenly, you remembered you still had work, and you stood up, rushing to pull your pants and underwear back on.

So what if today was supposed to be a normal day? 

It didn’t end up being one, and you were so glad for it.

[teklarn]

𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓶𝔂 𝓫𝓸𝔂𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭 - 𝓴. 𝓫𝓪𝓴𝓾𝓰𝓸𝓾 (𝓹𝓽. 2)

 character(s): katsuki bakugou x gn!reader 

a/n: ok so i just started writing on tumblr and honestly in my opinion for my first time posting smth on this the first part did really well thank u for all the likes :) (told from second pov; e.g you, your) reblogs are greatly appreciated :))

summary: bakugou x gn!reader. they have feelings for one another but have no idea how to express them, however y/n has someone pining for their attention. 

genre: a lil bit angsty 

warnings: cursing, jealousy, mutual pining, slow burn romance, aged-up to third year, love triangle (square?), physical injuries, kirishima gets a little toxic, also shirtless bakugou (awooga), a crap ton of time skips bc i can’t write action scenes for shit, bakugou is a flirt (lowkey but yeah), mentions of blood��

word count: 2112

pt 1 , pt 3

- - - 

kirishima had broken the skin on his lower lip with how hard he was biting it. he stood in the bathroom, rinsing his mouth, ignoring the slight sting the water brought. 

y/n was currently being blasted by bakugou, and they were fighting back. 

jealousy panged in his chest. 

bakugou had never let him know about how he felt about you, however kirishima was sure he felt something for them. you and bakugou were both a jumble of prideful and longing stares towards each other from across every room. the tension was thick enough to slice through. and while kirishima would never make a move in fear of ruining the friendship between him and bakugou, as well as him and y/n, gosh it didn’t stop him from wanting to. 

he’d stood on the side, cheering you on to no end. the sports festival last year, the year before that, training exercises, he was always there. kirishima was always there. 

whenever you needed him, whenever you wanted his company. so what did bakugou have over him? sure, the blond was strong and had bigger goals than kirishima, but why should that matter? 

what did bakugou have? why would you want him more when he was never near you? never made an effort to see you to be there when you asked for help. 

it was popular belief that bakugou was a noisy idiot, but he was actually quite a quiet boy. he didn’t bother to raise his hand in class, however he always knew the answer. he spoke rarely and only made conversation with those he was close with if they were the ones to make the effort to converse with him first. 

jealousy, jealousy, jealousy. kirishima despised it. 

whenever did he begin wanting to beat bakugou at something? 

the cloud of guilt welling up in his chest was going to become unbearable, and soon everything he ever wanted to say was going to come up like word vomit at the worst possible time. 

- 

you swiped at your cheek, brushing off the crumbling dirt. your timing had been off, and their flip backwards had landed you in an awkward position. a vulnerable one. 

honestly, though, it wasn’t like it really mattered. bakugou was a bit transparent himself. he wore a smug look like a golden medal, and held back his power just enough to keep you on your feet. 

his cocky attitude was irritating and it drew you in like a moth drawn to a lamp. 

sweat was beading down your temple. the day was exceptionally hot, the sun beaming down on your back like a proud child. 

you and bakugou had been at it for a while. with anyone else, you would have quit by now. it’s not that you gave up easily. no, not ever. but fights could get boring, especially if you were just smashing away at them with your quirk and they were acting like they could take it. 

perhaps you were being cocky. 

this fight, though. this was interesting. not only because it was bakugou; also because you knew so little about him. 

it was likely he never shared anything important to anyone. he was quite introverted. 

it was interesting for another reason. 

it was hot, bakugou sweats a lot. gosh, he looked delicious without a shirt on. he had a built figure accompanied by strong arms and a broad chest. 

he’d filled out quite nicely the past few years. you hadn’t noticed until now how much he’d grown. 

“don’t get distracted.” 

your eyes snapped up from his chest to his eyes. bakugou became a blur, shooting himself off the ground and flipping once in the air before propelling himself back down. 

before you could do anything, bakugou had you pinned, one leg pinning yours, both his hands wrapped around your wrists. he’d ditched his gauntlets, leaving the metal assistants in the sweltering heat, claiming he wanted to give you an equal fight. 

he panted atop you, hands tightening. 

tokage didn’t bother to leave her dorm today, thank goodness. it had just been the three of you. you, bakugou, and kirishima. 

the red head had suspiciously vanished halfway through the fight, though.

bakugou’s crimson eyes bored into yours. neither of you blinked for a moment. perhaps just a small eternity each of you silently reveled in. 

his erratic breaths slowed, and so did yours, although you stayed the same. unmoving, faces neutral but eyes giving away long-held secrets. 

your ears flushed, and butterflies came rising up uncontrollably. you should have pushed him off. instead you gave him a wicked grin, which earned a look from him and you couldn’t tell if he was confused or annoyed. 

“your big ass forehead is blocking the bright-as-hell sun. stay like this,” you mocked, wrenching your wrists from his grasp and snaking your arms around his neck. 

his cheeks burned red. “w-what?” 

“you heard me.” 

he scoffed, tugging you off his neck and standing. “shut up, shitface. we aren’t even done yet.” he readied himself in a fighting stance once more. 

“i thought you said you wanted to stop when you won?” you brushed yourself off as you stood. 

“i know what i said. you probably weren’t even giving it your all.” 

“’course i was.” you cocked your head. “why wouldn’t i?” 

“you’re strong, damn idiot.” 

you feigned surprise, pressed a hand to your fluttering chest. “the bakugou, dynamight himself, complimenting a humble soul like me? oh, i really must be good, then.” 

“not as good as me.” his face dropped from a smile. bakugou never got enough training no matter how early or late he stayed up, or how many hours on the weekends were spent kicking a bag or sparring with friends. hard workers did all of the work there was a still wondered if they were doing enough. the number one spot wasn’t empty, but it was still reserved for dynamight. 

- 

y/n had collapsed on their bed. kirishima was itching to tell them how he felt, however he was stuck at the doorway. 

they weren’t even dressed for bed, nor were they showered. 

he settled with leaving his friend alone, and shut the door softly to find bakugou standing right behind him. 

kirishima jumped back, closing his eyes in relief. “bakugou. what the heck man?” 

“you’re creepy as shit.” 

“i- what? you were the one staring at me while i-” 

“while you peeped in on y/n?” 

“i wasn’t peeping. i walked them back after the fight and they just collapsed. you were off doing something else and you worked them too hard.” 

it wasn’t a shock that bakugou was still riled up from the duel. this boy had the energy of a mad man. 

when bakugou didn’t say anything, kirishima said once again, “you overworked them.” 

bakugou swat away the comment. “only because they’re not working hard enough.” 

kirishima raised an eyebrow. “they work hard. they’re perfectly fine.” 

“fine?” 

“they’re amazing.”

“i know that, shitty hair. you think i’m blind?” 

“everyone can make improvements at their own pace.” kirishima’s voice dropped. 

“you train with me.” 

“it’s an hour before curfew.” 

bakugou jut a thumb in the direction of the door. “so? maybe you need some more practice, too,” he joked. 

“you’re an ass, bakugou,” kirishima released a breathy chuckle. 

the two wandered off to one of the training grounds. it was open, a wide court where they’d both kicked someone else’s ass. 

the sun was just setting, a new cool breeze coming to fill the spot of the violent sun rays. 

it was routine to fight each other out of nowhere. kirishima was usually quite playful, spewing jokes once in a while and taunting his friend. 

this fight was different. his face was stone-cold. kirishima often took the defensive role, as his quirk didn’t allow him to project any direct attacks to bakugou.

it wasn’t like kirishima was angry at bakugou, but as soon as they started charging towards one another, he couldn’t hold back. his chest tightened, arms hardening and joints becoming strong and stiff. 

with one clean sweep of his arm, bakugou was backing away from kirishima, propelling himself to the edge of the arena with a small blast. he’d always been up for a challenge. kirishima was willing to give him one. 

his sudden competitive demeanor seemed to be egging on bakugou’s. the blond tongued the inside of his cheek, grunting as he shot forth, hair flying wildly. 

swiftly, kirishima dodged, just barely missing a blast. his torso wasn’t hardened, so if he’d dodged any later, his stomach would have been scorched. 

bakugou always took their fights seriously. he knew better than to underestimate the boy who had put together his very own rescue mission. 

kirishima’s opponent stumbled from the momentum. he took his chance and brought a hardened elbow down on bakugou’s back, hearing a satisfying crack. 

bakugou was crushed to the ground with the hit. his face smashed into the sandy ground. he coughed, turning over and spitting dirt to the side. 

it took a moment for him to register what he did, but kirishima was at bakugou’s side within seconds. the sun was nearly gone, a pale blue sky flickering with the first sights of stars. 

it was hard to make it out at first, but not impossible. kirishima saw the blood dripping and smeared just above bakugou’s lip. he groaned, cupping his face in both hands as he sat upright. 

“argh” bakugou gasped. “shit, kirishima. what the hell?” 

“i...i’m sorry dude, i didn’t mean to.” i wanted to, but i didn’t mean to. 

bakugou raised an eyebrow and let a smile seep through his pain. “you’re improving, though.” 

“are you alright?” kirishima traced the small cut on his lip from earlier with the tip of his tongue. 

“i’m fine, i’m fine.” bakugou swatted his hand away. he struggled to get up, refusing kirishima’s help. 

“we should head back before this gets any worse.” 

bakugou kept his large hands hovering under his chin to catch the dripping and occasional chunks of blood.  

although he wanted the duel to continue (it was finally interesting) bakugou wasn’t stubborn enough to keep going. so he nodded, once again denying kirishima’s efforts to help him out. 

- 

you were in the common area, fiddling with a rubik’s cube. it was just you, as everyone else was spending the night among each other. ashido had invited you to her dorm a while ago, but you’d denied, wanting to spend a few more giddy moments to yourself. 

the door rattled, and in came your two friends, one with furrowed brows and the other with blood drenching the front of his shirt. 

bakugou’s head was tilted up in an attempt to stop the blood from flowing down. his adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the blood trailing down the back of his throat. 

“oh my gosh,” you gasped out, racing to the bathroom. you came back with sanitary wipes in one hand and tissue in the other. “what happened?” 

“we were training,” kirishima started, taking a few tissues from the box and handing them to his friend, “and i accidentally hit him too hard.” 

“you didn’t hit me that hard. you barely did any damage!” bakugou objected. you approached him, and through his fingers, bakugou peered down at you. 

you asked him with your eyes, and he gave you silent permission to pry his arms away from his face. “are you okay?” 

“i’m just dandy,” he scoffed. 

“dude, i’m really sorry—” 

“shut the hell up kirishima. i don’t want your pity. i swear this is the only time i’ll surrender to you, you asswipe.”

you didn’t laugh, not even a chuckle. “bakugou, you need to see recovery girl.” 

“what the hell? no way. all she’s gonna do is give me one of those shitty slobbery kisses and scold me for being careless.” 

“your nose is broken,” you said gently. 

“so? can’t you fix it?” 

you raised a questioning brow. “you want me to help you?” 

“can you or can you not?” 

“i can try to set it but you’re better off going to recovery girl instead of settling with―” 

“all i need is possible. i don’t want to deal with that old lady’s shit right now.” using the tissues kirishima had stuffed into his hand, he caught the remaining blood dripping down his nose. “let’s go.” 

you were more than unsure. he would end up with a crooked nose if you made any small mistake, but he didn’t think twice as he grabbed your shoulder and led you in the direction of your dorm. 

- 

kirishima wished he hadn’t broken bakugou’s nose. not because he felt bad, though.