#and now he and conni are linked for life

[chryzure]

sitting here, twiddling my thumbs. azure might be some form of aplatonic as well.

[klipkillakai]

|pt3|

you laugh when your bestie mia tells you about her vacation in florida, she’s currently telling you about her sneaky links and showing you pictures as you do her nails, you’ve been doing your own nails for years and you’ve extended to doing your friends too.. you softly tap the acrylic onto her nail shaping it neatly—

“ugh i wanna go on a vacation” you say as you start filing her nails.. “you could’ve went with me i asked” she says in a sing song voice slightly teasing you, you roll your eyes “you know how my parents are stop playing” she laughs and nods..

your phone vibrates and you hear a ding cutting your music off for a second and you look down at your phone and see it’s a text from connie, you immediately feel warmth all over your body and try your hardest to fight back a smile..

“unt unt girl you gotta tell me about him now” laughing you say “it’s not much to tell yet, we’re just hanging out you know?” mia gives you a knowing look “mhm” and goes back to humming to the sza song playing through your room

a while later your taking pictures of her nails, “girl hold your hand straight” you laugh.. “i’m trying shit, i drank too much coffee” you giggle and finally get pictures to your satisfaction and sigh leaning back in your chair.. then you start to clean up

“so there’s this house party tonight down the block you trynna go?” you look up “i don’t know, you know ion really go to parties like that” mia groans “please y/n i don’t wanna go by myself and we don’t have to stay long” you think about it… “ugh fine” you say and she yells “period!” you start thinking about what your gonna wear and how your gonna do your hair “so imma leave, the party starts at 6 and i’m gonna go get ready and imma pick you up then okay?” you wipe down the table “okay bet” she comes over and gives you a quick hug before leaving—

“life is better on saturn” you sing while you put highlighter on the tip of your nose while looking in the mirror, you hear a ding and mia texts you she’s outside so you quickly get up looking at your outfit, mid rise jeans and a cropped white halter top, something slight something comfortable, you slip on black kitten heels you thrifted and you put on all your jewelry, rings, necklaces, bracelets, and switching out some of the earrings on your stack..

you drench your body in perfume because that’s the only way to do it and you grab your purse, quickly grabbing your lip gloss and liner before running out the door—

connie looks down at his phone for the 100th time today, waiting for you to text him back, he takes another hit from his blunt, and ignores when his friends try to talk to him about something cause now.. you stressin him out a little bit.. you haven’t gotten to the point in your relationship where your sharing locations so he has no idea where you are or what your doing.. he sends you another text

“wya mama?”

he waits 10 mins and still no response, he sits up a bit and rubs a hand down his face “this fucking girl man” he whispers and gets up, mumbling to his friends he has to go..

you unknowingly forgot to text him back and your in your own little world as your at the party, you dance with mia grinding against each other and singing tipsily towards each other giggling, it’s hot and sweaty and it truly feels like a movie, the beatbox your drinking is running through your veins and pumping false confidence and sensuality, it hinders your common sense a bit so you allow that one guy to touch up on you a little bit, you let him hold your waist as he moves behind you—

you and mia slip away from the dancing a bit going to find more drinks, you lean in the counter giggling with mia watching her pour a bunch of different liquors in two cups for you both and you feel your phone buzz and realize your getting a call, not only that but you’ve gotten several texts, you pick up

“h-hello?” you stutter a bit and giggle

“y/n? where you been i’ve been texting you all day”

you realize it’s connie and you slightly sober up

“im sorry ive been out all d-day, i didn’t see the texts”

connie slightly clenches his jaw as he sits in his car and tries to calm himself down, “where you at now?”

“im at a party with mia” you giggle softly

“who tf is-” connie starts his car and speeds down the road.. “where’s the party at”

“ummmm” you hum trying to think about it but your drunk mind won’t let you, “i’m gonna just send you my location” you do so and connie looks at it realizing it one of his buddies house and makes a turn and heads there.. “i’m on my wa- he’s about to say but is cut off when you abruptly hang up” he almost throws his phone but calms himself down—

you accidentally hang up as you get handed another drink and you go back to the dance floor, they start playing vybez kartel and you get it lit asf, you and mia start whining and twerking on each other.. mia records you as you unbutton your pants allowing the ass to move a bit more and you twerk on her “baby, baby mi a plead” you sing in unison and you both are laughing and having a good ass time..

the guy from before comes over and you let him hold you waist as you whine—

connie walks into the party hearing “one man” loudly playing one the speakers, he sees a sea of people dancing, laughing, chatting, drinking and smoking, he daps up a few people as we walks through the crowd looking for you..

he walks throughout the house and he finally sees you, and when he does he looses his fucking mind, he sees some random guy behind you holding your waist, as you whine on him, he sees that pretty ass smile on your face, your eyes slightly glossy and low how they usually are when you smoke together and not a care in the world..

he almost blacks out and quickly walks to you, yanking the guy off and pulling out a gun, and pressing it to the guys head and he says quietly “back the fuck up” you look at the gun and you slightly gasp in shock

“connie?” you ask, softly tugging him back.. connie looks back at you and gives you a look you never want to see from him again “imma deal with you in a second” he says low enough for only you two to hear and goes back to the guy currently trying to act hard infront of the crowd of people, connie cocks the gun and presses it harder against his head “do sumn i dare you..”

he threatens and the guy starts backing off..

connie stares him down until he walks away and he slowly turns back at you and you sober up a bit

“im sor- connie cuts you off and grabs your hand and drags you outside, you try to talk but connie doesn’t respond, he gets to his car and opens the door for you letting you get inside and slamming your door..

you start feeling a nervous flutter in your lower belly and watch as he rounds the car and gets in, starting the car and pulling off without saying a word

“connie” you say softly trying to get his attention but his hand just grips the wheel and he speeds up, you softly try to touch his chin and he grabs your hand and pulls it down..

“talk to me” you whisper, looking up at him and rubbing his arm.. still no response.. you sigh and sit back down looking out the window slightly biting your lip, as you sit there you get an idea.. definitely influenced by the alcohol and weed running through your veins..

you look over at him and you softly start to rub his chest, you lean a bit closer and press small kisses to his shoulder, “talk to me” you whisper again, you start to drag your hand down his chest to his lap and you rub his thigh.. biting your lip you slide you hand over to his bulge and start to palm it and you lean towards his ear “please talk to me papa” you say in the sweetest voice you can muster.. you watch as his eyes quickly flicker over to yours and you slightly smile knowing you almost got him..

you take off your seatbelt, trusting he won’t crash and you undo his belt and unbutton his jeans, you reach down and pull his dick out, he’s so hard and the tip is a painful red and you watch as a singular bead of precum rolls down his tip, you look up at him and he’s watching you with a dazed lustful look, but you also see anger behind them at that makes you feel a multitude of things..

you look back down and press a small kiss to the tip, and you hear a slow release of air come from his mouth, almost like a slow hiss, relying on books you’ve read and videos you watched you do the best you can, softly spitting on his dick and wrapping your mouth around his tip, using your hand with your freshly done acrylics to handle the rest..

connie feels like he’s going insane, he’s angry with you you, but at the same time he needs you so desperately, he quickly pulls into a parking lot so he can focus on what you doing, connie parks and slightly puts his seat back allowing you to have more room, he pushes your braids always from your eyes so he can see them while he looks down at you—

you hollow your cheeks and start to bob your head connie’s eyes nearly roll back and he holds your har up guiding you.. you move faster, taking it deeper while looking up at him for reassurance..

“ugh fuck” connie groans “just like that”

“don’t think i forgot about what you was doing mama, had me stressed all day.. ignoring me nd shi”

you feel connie tug your braids lifting your head up and you look at him, he stares downs at you and grabs your face with his hand and he licks and bites his lip as if he’s holding himself back from something, you watch as he slowly grabs his gun from the armrest and picks it up looking at if before slowly rubbing it on your lips and then slowly raising it to the side of your temple…

this sends a slice of terror down your back, you freeze and look up at connie, your eyes getting teary and blurry.. but.. deep down.. you feel that slow wave of heat pooling in your belly, the slow trickle of your slick filling your panties, and that soft throb.. and that’s what scares you the most.. you like this..

“i don’t ever wanna see you on another guy like that you hear me?”

“i swear to god y/n i will kill that motherfucker and then imma be on yo ass after”

he leans down closer to you “nod if you understand”

you slowly nod, a tear rolls down your cheek and your drunk mind struggles to process the influx of emotions your feelings right now..

he puts the gun down and leans back softly grabbing the base of his dick and squeezing it, jerking it softly before tapping it against your lips.. “open” he whispers and you do… you take his dick in your mouth, sitting up a bit and going as deep as you can, you gag softly and connie groans quietly “there you go” he whispers and you start to bob your head up and down..

you start to drool and let it get sloppy and nasty, you use both of your hands to jerk the base as you bob your head and connie’s eyes roll back and he holds a hand over his face “fuuuuck” he whispers and you respond with soft gags and soft little moans..

you slide your mouth off with a “pop!” and you start to kiss his balls heavy with cum as you look up at him.. “who taught you this” he almost whimpers and looks slightly jealous.. “m-my first time” you say as you drag your lips up and down his length..

“stop fucking playing” he groans absolutely not believing you.. “m’not lying papa” and you take him back in your mouth gagging softly and taking it as deep you can go.. at this point your mascara is rolling down your cheeks and your eyes are teary and red, but connie thinks this is the prettiest he’s ever seen you and he knows that makes him a sick bastard but he doesn’t care..

“your gonna make me-” he quickly pulls your head away as he felt he was about to cum, “shit baby hollon we going back to my place”… you softly whine and he nods “i know baby i know” you sit up and get back in your seat and connie tucks himself back in before quickly pulling out the parking lot and speeding back home..

he pulls into the parking garage and he hops out and so do you, you softly slip of your heels and you walk on your tippy toes to the elevator, connie notices and quickly picks you up bridal style and you let out a sharp gasp and immediately you feel a bit insecure..

“put me down m’too heavy” you try to slip out of his hold..

connie looks down at you and softly smacks his teeth, “stop moving ma, i gotchu” you feel flustered and look away and you nervously chew on your lip and you quietly ride the elevator with him, it dings and he carries you to the door and taps his fob on the door and walks inside, he carrie’s you down the hall and too his room and he drops you on his bed..

he stands at the foot of his bed and stares down at you and you stare back, the tension in the room getting denser and denser, he smiles softly and pulls his phone out and soon after you hear music playing, through speaks all throughout his apartment.. he reaches behind him and pulls off his shirt, your soon met with all his tattoos you love and his gold chain dangling from his neck, you lie on your back slightly sitting up on your elbows and you watch him..

he grabs your legs and pulls you towards him and leans down and traps you between his arms, and softly drags his nose down your neck and presses soft kisses down the path “you want this?” he whispers, and you slowly wrap your legs around his waist “it’s my first time” you whisper back, realizing how intimate the situation has gotten “do you want me to be your first?” he asks looking at you hoping you’ll say yes..

you stare up at him nodding softly.. “words mama” he whispers tenderly as his lips hover over yours, “yes..i would love for you to be my first” and connie smiles the brightest smile you’ve seen from him and that makes your heart palpate.. you both are heading towards dangerous territory and you both don’t give one fuck..

he captures your lips in a deep.. passionate kiss, you both letting out the pent up emotions you’ve both been holding in, his rage and passion.. and his care and worry.. your fear and obsession.. and your love and care..

he pulls away from your lips and slowly moves down, he’s looking up at you.. head between your plush thighs and he softly kisses them.. you get flustered and shy feeling insecure about the slight discoloration on the inside.. but connie absolutely could not care less, he kisses and bites your thighs likes his last meal on earth, he presses a soft kiss to your waist and drags he knuckles softly down the slit of your panties where he can see your slick pooling, you twitch and let out soft whimpers and that’s music to his ears..

he presses a kiss to your clothed clit before pulling your panties down, watching a string of your wetness still attached to it and his dick throbs against his belt and he lets out and audible groan..

he spreads your thighs and spreads your lips with his fingers before dragging his tongue down your slit then up to your clit, you mouth drops and you let out a moan, you quickly reach down and grab his hair feeling your toes curl, your heart beats a bit faster and he grips your thighs and holds them down before he sucks and flicks he tongue over your clit, completely ravishing you.. he tongues moves quickly and with purpose he sucks, bites, spits in tandem, knowing exactly how to get you where he wants you, he watches your tight hole clench and leak out clear slick and it drives him crazy..

he slaps your pussy and you look at him and moan “you like that?” “hm?” he slaps it again and you let out a quiet sob.. loving the stinging pain “again please” you whine, and he does it again.. over and over until your sobbing.. he goes back to licking and sucking.. until your loose enough for him to slide one finger inside..your back arches and your eyes roll back “im gonna cum” you whimper out and you do.. you toes curl and your ears ring and a flash of white blurs your vison for a second..

connie watches the whole thing and nearly cums in his pants, the face you make the feeling of your clenching around his fingers drives him insane, you slowly come down from your high and connie sits up pressing a soft kiss to your forehead and stands up walking across the room and opening a drawer grabbing a box of condoms and walking back..

you look up at him “i want to feel you” you whisper and his eye snap towards you “you don’t want me to wear one?” “no” you say.. almost sounding like a plead.. “you comfortable taking plan b?” he asks wanting to do what you think is best..

“i don’t mind.. i just wanna feel you” that sends a ping in his heart and he nods and smiles softly, he climbs back on the bed and hovers between your legs, he leans forward kissing you and rubbing your cheek with his thumb.. “tell me if you need me to stop.. slow down.. anything aii?” “want you to enjoy this too” you smile and nod “i will” you whisper..

he leans back grabbing your legs and pulling them next to his waist, he grabs the base of his dick and softly rubs it up and down your slit and back and forth over your clit, you feel pangs of pleasure blooming all over you body, everywhere starting to become super sensitive and hot, and when he starts to push his dick inside, you bite back a scream.. your eyes water and connie keeps looking up at you.. his heart slightly breaking knowing your in pain but he keeps pushing inside.. he knows he’s big and he knows he gonna have to pace himself with you..

“you doing so good for me mama” he coos as he rubs your thigh, pushing the rest of himself inside and letting out a sigh.. “your gonna fucking kill me” he whispers to himself and leans forwards and starts slow and deep thrusts.. rolling his hips into you..

your mouth slightly agape, you feel dazed and you feel like the deepest itch has been scratched, connie feels your pussy throb and pulsate around his dick and he tucks his face in your neck letting out small whimpers.. a whispering all sorts of colorful language.

he starts picking up his pace, now pounding into you, the rhythmic sound of skin slapping together fills the room almost drowning out the music, “that feel good?” he coos “yea?” and you nod “so so good” you stutter out the best you can.. he can tell your almost fucked out and he’s barely started yet, poor thing he thinks to himself.. he pushes your thighs back so far that they reach your ears and slightly burn, and he pounds into you, at an abnormal pace,

“fuck fuck fuck” he spits out as he pounds into.. his body covered in sweat and his brows furrowed.. all you can do is moan and take it, it’s a complete sensory overload and you don’t know what to do, you reach for him and he leans down and whispers all sorts of nasty shit in your ear..

“fucking gonna take all this nut yea?”

“want me to fill you up? nasty bitch”

“taking this dick so good for me”

“all you needed was some dick mama, cs now your being the good girl i know you are”

every sentence makes your clench and tighten around him and you both get closer and closer to cumming..

all of sudden connie pulls out and flips you over, quickly slapping your ass “arch yo back f’me” he says and you do your best, raising your ass and curing your back and laying your pretty head on the bed softly reaching down and rubbing your clit to alleviate the pain coming from your sore hole..

connie slide himself back into you, holding your waist and pounding into you, your mouth drops and connie moans and kneads your ass, he pounds into you from behind, bullying his thick dick into you from behind as he looses his mind, muttering all sorts of incoherent shit, just trying to express in his equally fucked out mind how fucking good it feels..

you just a babbling mess “that feels so g-good”…

“pa i cant- shit~ you whimper out not knowing what to do or say, it feels so wet and full and good, you feel connie kissing your back and grabbing your ass and all you know is that you don’t want it to stop, you feel you belly feel full and warm and you know your about to cum soon and so is he, he picks up the pace and he bites his lip so hard he tastes blood and he feels you tighten so much around his dick he cums..

“FUCK” he spits out, while you whimper a soft “shit” and you cum together, juices and fluids mixing together making it even more sloppy that it already is, he’s still slowly pounding into you and you put your hand against his belly “s’to sensitive” you whimper out, and he twitches and slowly stops.. he pulls out off you and you shiver, your thighs shaking and you plop down on the bed, immediately feeling exhaustion taking over you..

connie kisses down your back and uses all his strength to get up and grab a towel for you, he softly wipes between your thighs and uses the same to wipe his dick, he pull off the crop top you both didn’t bother to take off and grabs one of his shirts and pulls it over you, he slips his boxers back on and plops on the bed next to you, he pulls you on his chest and softly rubs your back..

he softly rubs your cheek and he feels such a strong emotion take over him that he barely recognizes anymore, and he doesn’t want to admit to himself what it is, so he softly kisses your forehead and closes his eyes, falling asleep with you..

|a/n|

y’all writing smut is absolutely NOT for the weak, that’s why this release took so long cause i have to spend so long visualizing what i want them to actually be doing 😭 but i hope y’all like it fr.. and thanks girl for lil gun idea you ate fr 🩷

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lmk if i forgot anyone and i’ll tag you 🩷

[seeingivy]

my love, mine all mine

actor!eren x f!reader

**part of my method acting series

content: HEAVVVYYYYY ANGST. does contain one part where a man is being icky/hitting on a girl in a gross way. viewer discretion advised. protect your peace.

an: ok yall. chapter is named after a mitski song we know it's not good. don't hang me at the stake now.

songs mentioned: my love, mine all mine by mitski

previous part linked here

--

“This is disgusting.” you mutter, as Armin leans over and takes a picture from what might literally be the worst angle ever. 

Connie Springer, human menace, has been sleeping on your shoulder for a majority of the flight to Seattle. And drooling on your hair in the process. You make a mental note to kick his ass when he wakes up for being responsible for the globbed up hair you'll have when you see Eren again. 

“He’s been sleeping for almost the entire flight. And he slept all day before the engagement too.” Armin murmurs, flicking the picture in between his fingers as he waits for it to develop. 

“Typical.” you respond, readjusting so his head falls on your shoulder more comfortably. 

You lean your head against his as he continues to snore against your shoulder, the desperation, the anticipation of what you’re going to do sitting heavy in your head. You’ve run through it a hundred times, the words stringing together in your head. 

You’re staying with Eren for the weekend. His birthday falls at the end, but he’s too busy to see you guys, so you’ll take him out the day after. 

After making ten very aggressive phone calls to the Seattle Aquarium and throwing a nice amount of money their way, they agreed to close off the aquarium for the weekend, so that you and Eren could have it all to yourself. 

So that you could drag him there after he was finished on set and lie down flat on the cold floors to just watch the fish swim above you. So no one else is there when you tell Eren that you still love him, so you’re both surrounded in your own little fishbowl. So that he understands you never did stop loving him. That you won’t ever. 

You pause. The guilt sits deep in your stomach, eats at the smallest parts of your conscience and corrupts it. The desperation, the anticipation - it sits heavy in your mind. But the doubt, the guilt, and the anxiety does too. 

You either get to have Eren forever or you lose him for good. Because Eren is dating another girl and it comes down to something really simple. 

If he likes her more or you. 

“You okay?” 

You look over at Armin and his perceptive blue eyes are peering into yours, his forehead scrunched up near his hairline. 

“I-I have a dilemma, Armin.” 

“Do tell.” he responds, propping his elbow against the armrest and leaning his cheek on his hand. 

“I….I want to do something. But it could hurt someone.” 

He frowns, squinting his eyes at you in confusion. 

“I feel a certain type of way. And I want to tell someone. But being honest means I could hurt someone else. Sh-should I still do it?” you ask, cracking your knuckles between your fingers. 

“Will it hurt you if you won’t say it?” Armin asks. 

Yes. 

It’ll hurt you if Eren goes on thinking that you don’t love him the way you do. That walking away from him wasn’t the biggest mistake of your life. That him pulling away kills you, because all you want to do is keep him close. 

You can’t keep it all in, regardless of what the outcome will be. And for all it’s worth, you have the feeling that when you’ll see him, it’ll get the better of you, that it’ll be a matter of when you tell him, not if. 

“Yes. I-I don’t think I can keep it in Armin. I’ve been sitting on it for a while.” 

He brings his hand down on yours and squeezes. And then his blue eyes are shimmering, in the pale fluorescents of the plane lights, and you can’t help but smile back. It’s surging through you - the want, the need, the love you hold for him. 

And there’s only three more hours till you’re there. 

“I can’t believe you’re finally telling Eren you still love him.” he asks, so nonchalantly as he slides the picture of you and Connie, fully developed, into his wallet as he turns back to you.

“Am-am I that obvious?” 

“I mean. You feel a type of certain way? We’re going to see Eren? It wasn’t that hard to piece together.” 

“No. You’re just perceptive.” 

Armin brings his hand down on yours again, squeezing hard, as he smiles at you - so bright and cheery that it makes you excited. 

“God, ‘Min. Why are you so excited? You’re kind of supporting me being a homewrecker right now.” 

“I-I don’t know. Hyla, I’m sure she’s great and all, but I just don’t think she fares up well to what Eren needs. Not like you do.” 

You can feel your cheeks burning at his admission, the compliment and the implication solidifying in your mind. That Armin, Eren’s best friend, thinks it should be you. That you’re good for him. He’s quiet for a few minutes, sliding through the pictures of Jean and Mikasa - the one’s she posted of Jean and her hugging on the ground, minutes after he proposed. Equipped with a caption, that brings you to tears. 

the one place i’ll always find myself returning. jeanboy, it’s you and me always. 

“What do you think love is, Y/N?” 

“That’s such a loaded question to ask me on a dingy ass flight to Seattle, Armin.” you deadpan. 

“No, no. Just think. What is it?” 

You rack your brain, long and hard. And they all come to mind - your parents, Falco and Colt, Eren, Jean and Mikasa, Levi and Hange. 

Levi and Hange. The love letters Levi wrote to Hange, that he gave you when you wrote invisible string for the vow renewal. Maybe the first time you figured out what love might mean. That it was sharing every little part of yourself and every feeling you’ve had - ecstatic, overwhelmed, happy, sad, bored, and soft. 

“Knowing each other. Love is knowing each other, Armin. And-he’s pulling away. I-I don’t want him to leave because there’s still so much more of him I-I don’t know yet. I could have a lifetime and it still wouldn’t be enough.” you murmur. 

He smiles, leaning his head against yours, as he talks again, his soft voice murmuring into your hair. 

“Eren’s known one thing since he met you. And it’s that he wants you around, wants to know more of you, that you’re the best person he’s met. He picked you to be his co-star, called you almost everyday he wasn’t with you, ran into my room and talked to me what it was like to kiss you after you guys wrote New Year’s day, you’re just it for-” 

“Wait, what? He did what?” 

“Huh? What part?” 

“The New Year’s Day thing. You-you knew that we kissed?” 

“Yeah. He told me and Marco, like fully woke us up. Said that you guys were practicing the kiss after you wrote the song and that we both needed to kiss someone immediately so we could understand how he felt.” 

You snort. 

“I don’t remember it being that way. I like totally froze up when he kissed me the first time. We-we had to do it a few times to get it right.” 

“Well, it’s always been you for Eren. I bet you could aim wrong and he’d still come and talk about how kissing you is divine.” 

“Divine?” 

He freezes up, eyes wide, as he realizes his choice of words. 

“Armin. Did Eren say kissing me was divine?” 

“No. No- we don’t talk about that stuff. It’s- long story, you-you don’t want to know.” 

“No. No, now you have to tell me. We’ve known each other forever, it’s-it’s not weird. Quit being all shy.” 

“Y/N.” 

“Armin! Please. We-I want to know. Please, I won’t tell him and I won’t think much of it.” 

“Okay, well. When I started dating Annie, you and Eren had already been together for like a year. And I wanted…to know how to…” 

“To?” 

“Have sex.” he murmurs. 

You bite down on your lip to avoid laughing and he turns his face, cheeks glowing pink, as he whispers profanities at you. 

“You’re so rude. I’m not talking about this.” 

“No, no! Armin, you’re just so cute.” 

“Quit calling me cute.” 

“Sorry! It’s just. You and Eren are so sweet, you’re like brothers. Giggling like little high schoolers about sex.” 

“We were highschoolers. And you’re acting like you and Mikasa are any different.” 

“Yeah! But you guys know we do that, I just never thought you and Eren talked about this stuff. So what did he say?” 

“No. This is breaking bro code. I’m not telling you.” 

“Armin! Please! You brought it up now it’s going to bother me forever. And-and you and me. We’re cool like that. We can talk about sex because we’re two grown adults.” 

“Y/N.” he responds, in a warning tone. 

“Pretty please! I’ve always wondered what Eren thinks about me because he-he’s so reserved and-and it’ll help me. When I tell him, to-to know how he felt about me. Help me not back out.” 

“You’re annoying. You-you can’t just use that against me to get me to tell you.” 

“Fine. You’re right. I’m sorry.” 

He groans, leaning his head against the chair, and clenches his jaw. And then Armin’s turning his head, voice all quiet as he whispers. 

“You tell another soul and I will kill you.” 

“Okay, okay. I promise ‘Min.” 

“I-I asked him about it. Because Annie and I were going to….I wanted to make it special. And-and I’m not the type to really, really take initiative when Annie does it first but I-I wanted to.” 

“Uh huh.” 

“And then I asked him, like. What it’s supposed to feel like. Having sex for the first time. Because, I mean. Isn’t it awkward? And I had heard it hurts for the girl so-” 

“I’m trying not to like bite down on my own hand right now. You’re like a little angel.” you coo. 

“Shut up. Anyways, Eren said that the first time he-he felt bad. Because it did hurt you and that he just held you after till you felt better. But the second time, he said it was like nothing he ever felt before. That he understood why people do a bunch of stupid shit when they’re in love because it feels divine.” 

You swallow hard. 

“Armin. He-” 

“You’re it for him. I hope I got that through your head. Now just go tell him. And quit making me tell you secrets, you’re breaking every sacred code I have as a man right now.” 

“Okay, okay. Sorry, I didn’t mean to mess with your divine brotherhood.” 

He flicks the top of your head as you link your arm with his and squeeze hard. And flutter your eyes shut, with him on your mind. 

--

“Connie.” 

You reach forward and shake his shoulder, as aggressively as you can, in the back of the car. 

“Connie.” 

He’s slumped over against the window, fast asleep, despite the fact that he slept nearly the entire way here. 

“CONNIE.” 

“Huh?” 

His eyes flutter open, deeply filled with sleep as he registers where he is, holding his hand out to grab you. 

“Con. We’re here. And why the fuck are you so tired?” 

“Shhh.” he responds, pressing his finger to your lips as he tumbles out of the car, leaning the majority of his body weight on you as you both walk towards the house. 

Not Eren’s house, the one you stayed at when Ricky locked you out, but the townhouse on set since Connie needed to be back as soon as possible. You switch positions with Armin, him taking the responsibility of lugging Connie, as you both walk up to the door. 

You nervously reach up to brush the tangles out of your hair and rub the tiredness out of your eyes as you knock on the door, putting on your best smile. 

Eren. 

Or not. The door swings open and a short girl answers, a bored look on her face and a martini glass secured in her hand. Despite the cold weather, she’s dressed up in a mini skirt and her hair is all clipped up in rollers - clearly from a makeup team by the way they’re placed. 

“Can I help you?” 

“Um. I’m Y/N.” 

“Okay?”

“I mean. We’re here to bring Connie back. He-he’s supposed to start filming again today. And we’re visiting for Eren’s birthday.” 

“Oh. Okay fine.” 

She swings the door open as you and Armin hold Connie upright, loose greetings falling out of his mouth as he waves at the twenty people that are in the room, their names falling out of his mouth. They’re all lounging around on the sofas and in the kitchen, heads pushed together in their own conversations or on their phones. 

“Connie. We-where are you supposed to go?” 

“Uh. Right. We-we can just go to my room.” 

He drags you and Armin up the stairs, even more people crowding the area, as you shuffle past and make your way up. Connie shoves you both into his room, the two of you falling on his sofa, as you watch him shut himself in the bathroom immediately. 

“Should we try to find Eren maybe? I think Connie’s like sick or something.” you whisper. 

“Yeah. But it might take a while, there’s like sixty people in here.” 

“I don’t understand how anyone lives here. Lana and Eren staying in a house off set makes way more sense now.” you respond, as Armin pulls you up and you drag yourself through the halls. 

You both amble down, observing the mess all around, as you read the names on the doors. You’re both holding hands, hard, so you don’t lose each other in the bustle of people and the sweat hanging in the air. And nearly six paces down, you find the door with Eren’s name scribbled across the door. Armin lightly knocks as you both peek your heads in, to find Hyla - fast asleep in his bed.

You swallow hard, pushing hard on Armin’s hand, as you both quietly shut the door behind you and walk back down the hallway. 

She’s sleeping in his bed. 

“Let’s just see if anyone knows where he is, yeah?” 

You nod and both push down the hallway again to the crowded room you entered in, nervously watching the swarm of people in front of you and nitpicking on which one to ask. Despite the chill in the Seattle air outside, the inside here is sweltering - the mix of people certainly being a fire hazard and responsible for the itching warmth in the room. 

One of the girls, lazily leaning over the counter, beckons for the two of you to join her, which you awkwardly accept. 

“Who are you guys?” 

“I’m Armin. And this is Y/N. We’re friends of Eren’s, we were looking for him. Is he around?” 

“Ah. Eren and Lana are probably busy with the Bear.” she says, turning her shoulder and snickering with the people around them. 

The bear?

“Well. We’re going to his birthday dinner tonight. You guys can see him then, the bus leaves at like six.” she mutters, shuffling off to the other side of the house and walking away. 

“Okay. Thanks.” you respond, awkwardly rubbing your hands against your arms and turning to Armin. 

Right on cue, loud music starts blaring overhead and you and Armin instinctively reach to cover your ears, Armin signaling that the two of you should just go outside. You both leave the sticky, hot room and walk out, kicking the rocks as the music blares on inside. 

“God. Levi would have an aneurysm if we ever did something like that to the townhouse.” you mutter. 

“I think I had an aneurysm standing in there.” 

“What should we do?” 

“It’s only four thirty. Let’s just…walk and get coffee. It’ll be six by the time that we’re back and we can meet him at dinner.” 

“Okay. Sure.” 

--

Two hours later and you’re seated at the most awkward table, in the history of awkward tables. Maybe even more awkward than the thought of the Thirteenth Disciple of Jesus, Ryomen Sukuna, being at the Last Supper. 

You and Armin are across from the two empty seats - because Lana and Eren are late. Armin’s stuck next to a weirdly rowdy crowd of people, with Connie at the center, who suddenly has a random burst of energy and has been screaming for a better part of the last hour. And on your left, you’re stuck next to Hyla and Myka, who are way too inquisitive for your liking. 

“So like. Can I ask you a question?” Myka asks, leaning into your space. 

You shake the glass of water in your hands, perspiration leaking down your elbow, as you give her a nod. You nervously twiddle with the straw in your mouth, biting it into oblivion as she starts talking. 

“So. I listened to dorothea. And then I listened to lacy. And I was just wondering what happened between you and Historia? Because your song was really sweet but she makes you look like a bitch.” 

You swallow hard. 

“Ah. I don’t know, we used to be really close when we were younger and filming Attack on Titan together and stuff. I think we just grew apart. And-you know. Songs are more about their meanings, I-I don’t think lacy is about me and dorothea isn’t necessarily about her.” 

“Okay but like. What actually happened? Don’t like beat around the bush.” Hyla states, her tone biting as she swirls her own straw through her glass. 

It’s the first time you’ve ever heard her talk, with your own ears. Seen her with your own eyes and interacted with her in the flesh. 

She’s scary. Freakishly high cheekbones, slicked back hair, and siren like eyes that pull back to her hairline. A pointed nose, a sharp jaw - and unlike Lana, there are no soft features, no soft expressions to offset the harshness on her face. 

“She obviously doesn’t like you. And honestly, it’s fucked that she projects onto you so hard. If she wants to be successful, she should just work harder.” Myka states. 

“Historia’s busy, Myka. Got other things on her mind.” she states, making a snipping motion with her fingers. 

“Sorry, what?” you ask. 

“Oh, you know. Scissoring. Because she’s gay.” Hyla states, the ice in her glass clinking against the straw. 

You freeze. And swallow hard to think hard on what to say next. 

A topic that you don’t personally broach, and never have, but one people can’t seem to stop talking about. 

Maybe you’ve had your suspicions. And you push them down and let Historia be. The longing glances at Ymir when she was putting on her harnesses, the way they were attached at the hip - entirely different than the way you and Mikasa were and more like how you and Eren were. 

People suspected. It was a hot topic of conversation, especially after Lacy dropped and the people thought the lyrics were…homoerotic. People were stuck trying to figure out if Historia wanted to be you or date you. 

You don’t comment on that. She’s entitled to whatever she is and trying to figure it out for her does her no service. 

“So what are you going to order?” Myka asks, leaning over to look at the menu. 

“Probably the spicy brisket ramen?” 

“Ugh. Ramen has so much sodium. That’s how you get fat arms.” she mutters, flipping her eyes through her own menu. 

You swallow hard as you shove your face into your own menu this time, probably drawing blood on Armin’s ankle by the way you’re jamming your leg on his foot. He lifts his own menu as well, the two of you whispering behind them. 

“This is what my worst nightmares look like.” you whisper. 

“If he doesn’t show up in five minutes, we’re leaving.” Armin responds, giving you a nod. 

You both drop your menus to find Hyla staring at you two weird, which you two return with less than peachy smiles and lift your glasses to drink together. And right on cue, Eren and Lana are speed walking to the table from the entrance of the restaurant, absorbed in their own conversation. 

Lana takes the seat across from Armin and Eren takes the one across from yours - Lana’s eyes bulging out of her head when she sees the two of you while Eren’s too absorbed in the conversation he’s having with Hyla. 

“Ok, I’m here. Quit whining.” he says, leaning his hand against the back of Hyla’s chair. 

“Only you would be late to your birthday dinner, Eren.” she responds, giving him a smile as she leans forward to kiss his cheek. 

“My birthday is tomorrow, so technically, I’m early.” he responds. 

Lana elbows Eren in the side, which he rolls his eyes at before turning his head back to Hyla, who's pointing at the menu. 

“Eren.” Lana repeats.

“Huh? What?” 

He lifts Lana’s drink on instinct and takes a sip, putting it down as he glares at her. 

“It’s non-alcoholic. Calm down, Lana.” 

“No. Eren.” she responds, grating her teeth as she gestures her eyes over to you. 

And then Eren looks over, his eyes bulging out of his head this time when he sees you. Except his shock goes farther than Lana’s because when he moves his hand off Hyla’s shoulder, he accidentally knocks his glass across the table, the cold liquid drenching the front of your shirt and your skirt. 

“Jesus, Eren. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Myka asks, snickering as she looks down at you. 

Armin’s quick to respond, yanking his jacket off and placing it on your lap, drying the wetness on your legs as Eren stares at the two of you and then immediately turns to look at Lana. 

“Y/N. Armin. What are you guys doing here?” he asks, jaw clenched against his skull. 

“They’re surprising you for your birthday. Such sweet childhood friends you have.” Hyla says, giving the two of you a sickly sweet smile. 

“Um. I-I’m going to go to the bathroom, my clothes are really wet.” you mutter, beckoning Armin to stay as you quickly speed walk to the bathroom with his jacket wrapped around you. 

The second you make it into the bathroom, you shut the closest stall shut and lock the door, hanging Armin’s mostly dry jacket on the ring as you survey the damage. Eren’s drink - bright blue in color - has left a big mark on the front of your white shirt, but is virtually invisible on the black pleats of your skirt. 

You instinctively grab for the tissues and wipe down the front of your shirt, which only makes the stain worse. And you don’t know why - why this entire thing is so humiliating, but you can feel tears burning in your eyes and your throat itching with insurmountable heat - as the stain doesn’t lessen, the blue splotch staying. 

The door swings open and you hear an immediate knock on your door, shiny black shoes visible from underneath the stall. 

“Hey Tinky-Winky. You okay?” Lana whispers, her voice soft as she leans her head against the door. 

“Y-yeah. Just, um. Trying to get the stain out, that’s all. I’ll just wear Armin’s jacket.” 

“Okay. I-I’m waiting for you out here when you’re done, okay?” 

You lift your head to the ceiling, hoping that it’ll push the flaming tears back into your eye sockets as you try to quiet your sniffles and shove Armin’s black denim jacket over your clothes. You open the door to find Lana, sweet Lana, leaning against the door with a smile on her face. 

She looks different. Her cheeks are fuller and rosy pink, her short hair growing out to her shoulders. And you don’t miss the soft bags around her eyes, the tiredness sitting in her frame. She opens up her arms, which you quickly sink into, her hands in your hair. 

“I missed you.” 

“Yeah. I missed you too, La-La.” 

She pulls back, her arms resting against your elbows as she talks. 

“What are you guys doing here?” 

“Surprising Eren for his birthday. We-we missed him.” 

She brings her hand to your cheek, cupping your face. 

“He misses you too. Lots.” she says, giving you a smile. 

You give her a smile back as you wrap your arms around her neck, breathing in her sweet flowery smell, as the door swings open again, only for Eren to be leaning against the door frame. You pull back and look at him - brown hair, green eyes, and no smile - staring back at you. 

“Y/N. You-you’re okay?” he asks, shutting the door behind him. 

“Yeah. Hi Eren. H-happy birthday.”

He breaks a smile - the first one you’ve seen today - and opens up his arms, wrapping them around your frame as he leans down, lips close to your ear. His right hand is firm on your back and the second one is cradling the back of your head, firm around your locks of hair. 

“It’s tomorrow.” 

“I know that, Eren.” 

“Okay, sweetheart. No need to show off.” 

At the sound of your nickname, you’re only wrapping your arms around his neck harder, standing on the tips of your toes, in any attempt to be closer to him. His smooth, laundry smell, his skin soft to the touch, and his hair perfectly tousled against your hands. 

“Y/N?” 

“Hm, Eren?” 

“As much as I like holding you, I am technically trespassing in a women’s restroom right now. I just wanted to see if you were okay.” 

You pull back, nervously reaching up to tuck your hair behind your ears as you nod, giving the two of them a look. 

“Okay so. I’ll go first. Lana, come out like five minutes after. Eren, give it like seven. Not ten, because the timing would be suspiciously perfect.” 

Eren squints his hand at you, his forearms clutched across his chest, as he glares. 

“Or we could all go back together.” 

“No. No, no. That’s weird. Just wait. I-I’ll see you two out there okay.” you respond, giving the two of them a smile and a thumbs up as you push out of the door. 

You nervously duck back to the table, buttoning Armin’s jacket up as you slide in next to him, squeezing his hand under the table when he gives you a questioning look. You shake your head as he gives you a nod, the two of you clear and focusing back on the dinner at hand. 

“Y/N. Are you hooking up with Sukuna? He’s hot.” Myka asks, leaning into your space. 

You spit your water back into your glass as you start choking on the parts that went down, Armin’s hand comforting on your back. 

“Um. No, never in a million years. We’re just friends.” you respond, giving them a smile. 

“The Promiscuous video was really hot. You’ve never looked better.” 

You turn your head to find the guy seated between Connie and Armin leaning over, holding his hand out to you as he talks. He has short black hair and cold, steely eyes. 

“Vinh.” 

You place your hand in his, thrown off by the clamminess, as he smiles continuing. 

“I mean. Some part of it has to be real right? That whole bit where Sukuna’s like on the floor crawling after you walk away, when he pretends to pass out when you blow him a kiss, and when you throw the water on him just to take his shirt off after...you can only fake chemistry like that to some extent.” 

“Ah. I’m an actress. That’s my entire job. And the song is called Promiscuous. We-we obviously leaned into a little bit. It doesn’t mean anything.” 

“That’s music to my ears then.” he says, smiling. 

You know that smile. It reminds you of Ricky. 

“Vinh, stop it. And Connie, you’ve had enough to fucking drink.” Eren says, glaring bullets at the two of them. 

“Eren. Shut the fuck up.” Connie responds, clearly irritated with Eren. The two of them hold their eye contact, for too long, as you look at Armin. 

“Connie. I will beat it out of you again if I have to.” Eren responds, which makes Connie drop his gaze. The group laughs as Eren scoffs, his knuckles white against his glass.

You’re thrown off by the sudden hostility, Eren’s demeanor entirely different from what he was in the bathroom. Granted, he was still a bit off-putting in there, but the fact that he’s…purposely picking a fight with Connie is entirely unlike him at all. 

Connie gets so irritated that he storms off, leaving the table all together, as everyone murmurs what a buzzkill he is.

Connie’s always been the life of the party. Even insinuating he’s a buzzkill is downright ironic. 

“So. How is filming for the movie going? Which one is this again?” 

“Don’t Worry Darling.” Hyla responds, swirling her fork around her plate. 

“I’m really excited to see it, you guys. I’m sure it’ll be great.” 

Hyla twists her straw in between her fingers as she looks in between Lana and then you. 

“Lana Banana.” 

Lana curls up her nose at the term, tilting her head over to look at her. 

“You’ve just been so busy lately. You’re not really looking fit for your part anymore. I think Y/N should take it. Don’t you think, Eren?” 

Eren swallows hard as he looks at you, eyes flitting between you and Lana, as he stays silent. And the beat goes on for too long and no one talks, so you bite the bullet and do it for them. 

“I uh. Don’t have time for that actually. Danny and Sareen lined up a four day only show in New York City for me the week of the Institute Awards. I’m supposed to close for that award show, so I-I’ll have a lot of rehearsals leading up to it.” you respond, dissolving the loaded question so Eren didn’t have to. 

“Well our next movie. You should definitely join, everyone here loves you. Vinh especially.” she says, smiling. 

“Oh! I-I’ll see about that.” 

“Don’t you think Y/N and Vinh would be cute together, Eren? She’s clearly into that whole bad boy thing since she liked Sukuna.” 

“Oh, I don’t-” 

And then Eren’s leaning into her space, lips a few feet away from hers, as he smiles and tucks her hair behind her ear. And then he presses a kiss to the top of her forehead, her cheeks turning bright pink. 

“Do you want to get out of here? Just you and me?” 

She gives him a giddy smile as she nods, putting her hand in his, as he drags her out, arm secured around her waist. He gives Lana a look over his shoulder as he leaves, which Lana ignores as she gives you and Armin bright smiles. 

--

You settle into the bed, Lana at your side, as you reach for your phone. 

you: everything good? 

armin: yeah. connie isn’t even here he like never came back. also his room smells like pop rocks LOL

you: so THIS is why he’s sleeping all the time. 

armin: everything good with you? 

you: yes. i’m sleeping with lana. 

armin: okay. sweet dreams. don’t think about stuff too hard. 

you: speaking of stuff, i don’t think i’m going to do it anymore, armin. 

you: i thought that eren and hyla would be more like…me and ricky. but he actually likes her i think. 

armin: yeah. i think so too, i’m sorry y/n. 

you: our time just passed i guess. better to keep him around as my friend than not at all, right? 

armin: it’ll pass, y/n. it-it goes away. talk to ymir. about hisu. she can help you better. 

You turn on your sheets to find Lana next to you, already sprawled over the majority of the bed, and dead asleep. Her expression looks so tired, her deep breaths indicating that she’s already fully out, despite it only being five minutes since you’ve been here. 

And she looks soft. Her jaw isn’t as sharp anymore, a little bit of fullness in her cheeks, but the same pointy nose. 

It’s pretty. She’s pretty. 

You bury your head into your own pillow as you flutter your eyes shut, trying to will away the image at dinner. Except you can feel it in your space, the thought of them together, like you’re being poked. 

“Y/N.” 

Poke. 

“Y/N. Wake up, sleepyhead.” 

You flutter your eyes open to find Eren, big green eyes staring at you, with his jacket pulled over his head as the source of the aforementioned poking. On instinct, you reach forward and make contact with his nose, which has him falling against the wall and groaning. The sound is so loud that you both look over at Lana, who is unbothered by the sound and still dead asleep. 

You jump up and cup Eren’s hands in your face, fingers soft and feeling for his nose in the dark. 

“Eren. What-what the fuck was that?” 

“You’re asking me that? You’re the one who just punched me in the nose!” he whispers. 

“Are you stupid? I’ve had like three different run-ins with people stalking my house. I-I learned self defense.” you whisper back. 

His face softens and he brings his hands up to where yours are - still resting on his face - as he removes them and drags you towards the door. There’s a jacket on the desk, which he’s holding open for you and gesturing for you to put on. 

“What are we doing?” 

“I-Armin told me you want to take me to the aquarium the day after my birthday. But. I-I can’t. I’m busy but I still want to spend time with you so, let’s go.” 

“Where? It-It’s like almost eleven. Aren’t you filming tomorrow?” 

“Please? It-it’s my birthday? One hour to my birthday?” 

You roll your eyes and nod which has Eren pulling the hood over your hair and carefully zipping the jacket up as he gives you a smile. The two of you tiptoeing through the townhouse as you sneak out. His hand is locked in yours, pulling you hard, as he pockets the keys to one of the cars and drives you out. 

He’s driving along the roads, nearly empty, as the moon shines light on the puddles in the road. The car comes to an abrupt stop at a small house and when you get out, the breeze and the smell of salty air envelopes your nose as you march up together. 

“You have a beach house?” 

“Not mine. It’s a friend’s.” 

You nod as the rocks crunch underneath your feet and Eren pockets his keys, shoving the brass into the door and dragging you in. The lights are open and there��s a decent amount of giggling getting louder as he pushes you through the house, a confused look on his face. 

“Why are you guys still awake?” 

You turn your head to find two people - a guy who can’t be much older than you holding a little boy - frosting cookies over a granite countertop. 

“Eren!” the kid says, shaking his arms and leg in his hold until he’s dropped.

The boy runs over to Eren, wrapping his arms around his legs as he excitedly laughs, the sound so loud it pierces your ears. In a good way. 

“Teddy. Why aren’t you sleeping, little man?” Eren asks, crouching down to pinch at his cheeks. 

The other man, from before, takes your side as he responds to him, giving Eren a knowing look. 

“Nightmare, Eren. I’m Landon, it’s nice to meet you.” 

“Y/N.” 

“Ah. The infamous Y/N. It’s very nice to meet you.” he responds, smiling as he holds his hand out for you. 

“Are you here to play with me, Eren?” Teddy asks, jumping up and down against Eren’s legs. 

“Not exactly. But I do have a friend I want you to meet.” 

Eren looks up, a smile on his face, as he gestures for you to crouch down next to him, Teddy standing in front of the two of you. 

“Teddy. This is my pretty friend, Y/N. Can you say hi?” he says, emphasizing each word slowly. 

Teddy gets embarrassed when you smile at him and immediately buries his face into Eren’s shirt, the back of his neck entirely red as he nervously shakes his head against Eren. 

“Teddy. Just say hi, she’s really nice.” his voice soft, coaxing Teddy to say hi again. 

You smile as he turns his head, brown eyes peering into yours, as he awkwardly shuffles in Eren’s arms, his hands knotted together behind his back.

“Hi! I’m Y/N. It’s very nice to meet you.” you say, flickering your eyes quickly up to Eren who's beaming at you as he waits for Teddy’s response. 

“I’m Theodore.” he responds. 

“Theodore? Since when do you go by Theodore, little man? Trying to impress someone?” Eren asks, reaching forward to pinch his pink cheeks and lift him in the air, which has him giggling like no other. 

You laugh as the two of them keep laughing together, leaning against the countertop where Landon’s leaning, the half frosted cookies in his hands. 

“So how do you know Eren?” you ask. 

“We have a mutual friend. And he keeps coming around, to play with the kid. Uninvited, mind you.” 

“We’re sorry to intrude. Though, he dragged me here and I had no idea. So it’s his fault.” 

“Sounds like him.” he says, dusting off his hands as he walks over to Eren, scooping Teddy out of his arms. 

“Okay, Teddy. Say bye to Eren and Y/N now. It’s bedtime.” 

You walk up to Eren, who’s hunching down so your faces are close to each other as you both wave bye, the silence filling up the room as you step back and away from Eren. He gives you a soft smile as he places his hands flat on your back and pushes you through the open door, the sand and ocean glimmering under the light of the full moon. 

Eren swipes a guitar case and a blanket off the patio as you both discard your shoes and pad into the sand, a few feet away from where the waves are crashing. Eren hands you the case as he places the blanket flat onto the sand and lies down on it, tapping the spot next to him and beckoning you to join him. 

You cross your legs and sit instead of lying down, his head a few feet away from your knees. His green eyes focused on the moon, shining above, bathing you in the pale light. You open up the case, a beautiful acoustic guitar lying in the case and start strumming aimlessly against the strings, not missing the way Eren smiles at the tune and closes his eyes. 

“Can you sing me something?” he asks. 

“What do you want to hear, almost birthday boy?” 

“Invisible string.” he responds. 

You smile as you switch the chords, fingers strumming against the strings as you quietly sing, watching Eren’s closed eyes and his soft smile. His dimples on display, the freckles underneath his eyes, his soft, soft hair. 

It’s only then that it stings. That you hold all this love, all this big, real love for Eren. That at one point, you felt it together at the same time but that he’s moved long past that. 

As you finish, Eren’s shooting up, swinging the strap of the guitar off of your neck and slipping it around his own. He’s tapping the ground in front of him, beckoning for you to lie down in front of him now, his fingers soft on the guitar. 

“What song is it?” you ask, head turned to the side away from him and focused on the crashing of the waves, how they roll perfectly, rise and fall to crash against the sand. 

“New one.” 

“Hm. What’s it about?” 

“Marco. He-he gave me this Maya Angelou poetry book on my birthday a few years ago, the birthday where you gifted me the vinyl. There was a quote in it that just made me think.” 

“What was the quote?” 

“Just like the moons and the suns, with the certainty of the tides, just like hope springing high, still I’ll rise.” 

The wave rises. And it crashes. Again and again. 

“Sing, Eren. I want to hear it.” 

Moon, tell me if I could Send up my heart to you? So, when I die, which I must do Could it shine down here with you? 'Cause my love is mine, all mine I love, my, my, mine Nothing in the world belongs to me But my love, mine, all mine, all mine 

You shuffle away from the tides to look at him, his eyes focused on the strings and his fingers plucking so softly. Eyes focused on his lips. The lips, that could end you here and now. 

“The moon is blushing up there, Eren. You’re writing love songs about it.” 

“The moon is my muse. I can only write songs about her.” he whispers, his hands making their way to your hair, to tuck your flyaways behind your ear. 

You feel your cheeks burning, the image of Eren - seventeen and whispering in your ear about how you’re his moon, how you have a pull on him - on the forefront of your brain. 

“Y/N. You-you don’t remember what it means?” 

“Huh? What are you talking about?” 

“This.” he responds, his fingers switching to the other side and tucking your stray hairs behind your ears. 

You feel your ears burning, when you remember. The secret signals that you and Eren came up with. And the tucking the hair behind the ears, it’s- it means he wants to kiss you. You shoot up and Eren swings the guitar off, knees hiked to his chest as his green eyes look at you, expectantly. 

“You-you can’t, Eren.” you whisper, the thought of dinner still in your mind. 

“Why not? Do you not want to?” he asks, whispering back. 

“That’s not fair to her. You can’t.” 

“You-you heard me right? Nothing in the world belongs to me, except my love. And-and you're the only thing that's really mine. You-you still do, right? Belong to me?” he asks, his voice wavering. 

“Eren.” 

“Please. Please, I don’t want to beg. Don't make me. Do you still belong to me?” 

He brings his hand up to your face, warm against your cheek, which is ice cold from the biting wind, and you lean into it. The warmth, in his hand, his eyes, his honey sweet voice. 

“Yes. Yes, I do.” you whisper. 

“Y/N. You- don’t get confused. You know what this means right? Us?” 

You give him your best smile and nod, your fingers tingling. It means he still loves you too. 

He leans forward, eyes closed as he kisses you, warm and soft. The sensation tingles all the way down to your stomach, makes your cheeks burn, and your brain prickle. And you relax, the familiarity of this, so delicate, so unchanged from the time he kissed you last that you can’t help but smile into his lips. 

You lean against his shoulder and look up, at the moon above you two, his arms wrapped around you. 

“Moon looks pretty tonight, doesn’t it?” you ask. 

“Always has.” he responds, his lips soft in your hair as the warm tears fill your eyes. 

“Happy birthday, Eren.” you whisper, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. 

“Thank you, my moon.” he responds. 

And you stay there, to watch the sun rise. On the two of you, together, for the last time. 

--

Eren tucks you back into bed with Lana as the sun peaks up, though it’s a battle in itself. Because Lana’s all starfish on the bed, her limbs tangled over every open space on the bed. But Eren’s rude and he’s just flopping her around, until he makes space, pressing a kiss to your forehead before leaving. 

And hours later, the sun is sinking down, with Lana nowhere to be found and Armin reading at the couch to the side.  

“Hey.” 

“Jesus. It’s almost sunset, you’ve been sleeping all day. Whatever Connie has is rubbing off on you.” he mutters, reaching over to hand you a water bottle.

“Sorry. I slept late because-” 

Because of Eren. 

You jump up and take the seat next to Armin, excitedly telling him everything that happened last night. And he’s smiling so bright, blue eyes glimmering that you’re both excitedly hugging each other and squeezing hard. 

“Well. He’s been out all day, but he should be back tonight. Let’s go to dinner before we leave,  yeah?” 

You nod, jumping up to the bathroom to get ready, the smile on your face aching your cheeks as you reach for the toothpaste. You peek your head out the door at Armin. 

“‘Min.” 

“Hm?” 

“Do you have toothpaste? 

“There’s some in Connie’s room. Just go grab it.” 

You take your toothbrush and bustle through the hallway, past the crowds of people walking through. You’re lucky you never have to mourn the frat house experience. You’re fairly certain you’re living it right now.

You swing into his room, the smell of candy overwhelming, as you push forward and open the door. Only to find Connie, leaned over the counter, fixing up three lines of white powder with a credit card. 

“Connie. What are you doing?” you ask, your throat burning in your neck. 

He turns his head and his eyes nearly boggle out of his head as he quickly swipes the powder into the sink and the excess on his hands against his pants. He’s smiling, too big, too synthetic as he grabs your hands. 

“Y/N! Nothing! You- it was a joke. It’s not what it looks like, I swear.” 

You swallow hard as he presses you into a hug and the dots connect, your eyes burning. 

Connie’s doing drugs. It’s-it’s why he sleeps all the time and then suddenly has intense energy out of nowhere, why his nose is red, why Eren told him to stop drinking. 

Eren’s words from dinner ring in your head, of how he said he beat it out of Connie, and sit in a bad way. 

Eren beat Connie up for doing this?

You pull back and press your hands to Connie’s face, to take him in. His skin is burning hot to the touch and there are beads of sweat matting his forehead, his entire demeanor so anxious, so jittery and nervous that it sets you off. And all you can think of is sweet Connie, so excited and energetic doing this in his free time that it makes you eyes burn. 

“Connie. Are-are you okay? Why are you doing this?” 

He freezes. And at your words, his entire demeanor changes and suddenly he’s on the floor softly crying, his head in his hands. You join him on the floor and put your hand on his shoulder. 

“Connie. What’s wrong?” 

“I-I just wanted to be the best, Y/N. I wanted to be the lead for once, I-” 

“Connie. You, you’re-” 

“Do you know how fucking tired I am of all of this? I-I can’t do this anymore. You- I’m done. I have to quit, I have to-” he says, shaking in your arms as you wrap your arms around him, tears streaming down your eyes. 

“He couldn’t even let me have this one thing, Y/N. Eren just had to be the best.” he spits out, his chest heaving up and down as he mutters out more words, a long list of profanities directed towards Eren. 

“Connie. You- we can go. Armin and I are leaving in a few hours, you-you should come with us. We-we want to help you.” 

“You don’t get it, Y/N. Wherever I go, this thing follows me. That people know my fucking name when I walk down the street, when I go to the beach, when I’m at the doctor. We’re never getting fucking out of this. This is our life now.” he responds, cheeks straight on your face. 

You reach for your phone on the counter as it buzzes, Armin’s name flashing across the screen. Connie’s still lying down flat on the floor, his tears falling straight onto the floor. 

“Y/N.” 

“Armin.” 

“Are you crying? I-I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding, let’s just go-” 

“It’s Connie. Can you come here? It’s- he’s not okay.” 

“Okay, okay. I’m running.” 

And a few seconds later, Armin’s pushing into the bathroom and his eyes are boggling at the sight of the two of you and his face falls when you explain. And then your phone starts buzzing on the counter, the notifications constant. You lift it and scroll, eyes flitting through the letters. 

mikasa: don’t panic. we’ll figure out a response, okay? 

jean: call us as soon as possible okay? ill kill him next time i see him

nobara: i’ll fly out to see you. are you still in new york?

levi: Call me when you get a chance. Hope you’re okay. Hange is going to talk to him. 

sukuna: On your side. Whatever you do. 

“Y/N. You- there’s something you have to see.” Armin says, dragging you out and handing you his phone. He rushes back into the bathroom to Connie, as you scroll through the tab on his phone. 

It’s a video of Eren and Lana, with chunky headsets and microphones in front of their faces. You recognize the backdrop immediately - one of the WBS’s most popular podcasts, called Life in Love. 

You press the clip and tilt the phone, eyes focused on Eren and Lana as they start talking. 

“The person that you’re most associated with, Eren, is your co-star, Y/N L/N, from Attack on Titan. Can you comment on that, on what it’s like to have your first love be something so public?” the interviewer asks. 

“First love is a funny way to describe it. I-I know that a lot of people like to assume things and we’ve never really said it publicly, but we never did actually date. It was a whole thing we did together, while we were filming Attack on Titan. Method acting.” 

“Can you elaborate?” the interviewer asks. 

“It’s like that thing with Ricky James. I mean, we’re all actors, we’re all part of the entertainment industry. And we do things, pretend a little, to make our art feel more authentic. The reason Y/N and I act so well in Attack on Titan, and win awards from it, is because we do it outside of it too. It’s like we’re acting all the time. You can turn it on and off.” 

“So are you just friends, then? I mean, Y/N has an interesting track record with her own friends, like Historia and Jean and Mikasa that many people have pointed out before. Is that something that you can corroborate? That she’s a good friend?” 

“She’s a good friend of mine, we-we laugh about it sometimes. And as for the stuff about her other friends, you know. You’re in competition and if you have something you really want, you-you’ll do anything to get it. That’s something I can admire. There’s only one person who ends up on a pedestal and if you have to kick people off to get there, that’s what it is.” 

You jump off the bed and rush back into the background, where Armin is crouched next to Connie, his hand on his head. 

“Connie.” 

“Y/N. Hey, you ok-” 

“What were you saying about Eren?” 

“Huh?” Connie asks, eyes deeply lidded and his breaths becoming more labored. 

You put your hands on his shoulders and shake, as aggressively as you can, as the tears stream out of your eyes. 

“What did you mean? What did Eren do?” 

“What he always does. Put himself first. Even if I’m the thing at stake.” Connie mutters, his hands shaking in your hold. 

Armin gives you a pained look as your tears flow harder, your hands still on Connie’s shaking frame. 

“Y/N. Get ready. We-we should leave.” Armin says, hands on his phone as he calls the car. 

“Okay. I-I need a few minutes. And we’re taking Connie with us. I-I don’t care if he gets fired or whatever, he-he’s not staying here, Armin.” 

Armin presses his hands on your shoulder, squeezing hard. 

“I was going to say the same thing. C-calm down, Y/N. Okay? I’ll be back in a few.” 

--

You wait in the kitchen as Armin lugs Connie’s bag down, swirling the glass of water in your hands. Your eyes are focused on everyone in the room, a smaller group, ambling around the room. 

“Hey.” 

“Oh. Hi Vance.” 

“It’s Vinh.” he responds, giving you a smirk. 

“Sorry.” 

He scoots closer to you, his hand firm on your shoulder, as he leans down, a smile spread on his face. 

“So, would you ever think about doing it with me?” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Faking it. Except, we can do all the real things too.” he says, securing his hand around your face and leaning closer to your lips. 

You push his hand off as you put space between you two. 

“Why would I ever do that?” 

“Don’t act like you’re above it. Eren, Ricky James. I don’t see how I’m any different. Or if you have any dignity to preserve.” 

You feel your throat dry, at the impact of Eren’s words solidifying in your mind. That him saying that your relationship wasn’t real only furthers all that hate you received after you told everyone the truth about Ricky. 

That you were fake. And it meant now that people were going to start doing it again - start nitpicking every little thing, your relationship with Mikasa and Jean, with Eren and use every mistake you’ve made against you. 

And for guys like this, it’ll just make them think this is okay. That you’re easy, that they’re entitled to what you’ve done for others because you’ve done it before. 

“It-it’s really different.” you respond, running out of the kitchen. 

You quickly duck out of the room as you see Armin dragging Connie down the stairs and make your way over to help him, the itchy, dirty feeling of the interaction you just had being pushed to the back of your mind. 

You and Armin lug Connie to the back seat of the car, letting him lie down flat against the seats, as Armin reaches for the last of the stuff to put into the car. Connie’s still twitching in the seat, eyes pressed shut and sweating. 

You place your hands on both sides of his cheeks, the tears filling your eyes again. 

“Connie. I-I think we should take you to rehab or something, you-you’re not okay.” you whisper. 

He’s quiet, still shaking in your frame as he opens his eyes and looks at you. And the tiredness, the red and the pain mixed together has your heart flinching in your chest, cutting deep. 

“I hate myself for it. I didn’t want to be like this. That asshole who is high when his best friends are getting engaged.” 

“They won’t be mad at you, Connie. We-we understand.” 

“But I don’t understand. I wanted to remember it, Jean and Mika, they-they’re special. I-I wanted to remember it.” he says, his voice cracking as the tears start spilling down his face. 

“Con.” 

“I hate myself for it. I really, really do.” he says, so definitively, so sure of himself that all you can do is squeeze his cheeks in your hands as he falls asleep. 

You brush your fingers through his buzzed hair one last time as you step out of the car, only to see Armin and Eren arguing near the bags by the door. You walk up, which stops them all together, as they both focus their eyes on you. 

“Eren. Can I talk to you?” 

He tilts his head towards Armin, who's still standing there, fists clenched. You give him a nod as he walks away, rolling the rest of Connie’s bags towards the car. 

“Did you want something?” he asks, eyes squinting into yours. 

“Yeah. I-I want to know what happened. You and I- we.” 

“Y/N.” 

You reach for his arm, for his fish tattoo right above his elbow and squeeze. 

“Eren. It-it’s not true, right? There’s an explanation for this? Because we-we can help you. We’re taking Connie and leaving and you should come.” 

“That’s not a good idea.” 

“Eren. Whatever it is, we can figure it out. Just come with me. Or if you need me to stay, I’ll do that too. We can figure out how to tell the truth about it all. I won’t leave.” 

He rolls his eyes, green eyes glaring into yours as he responds. 

“Y/N. What part of what I said was a lie?” 

You swallow hard, the acidic feeling in your mouth burning. 

“Like almost all of it? You and I were real. We loved each other. And we still do.” 

He places his hands on your shoulders and squeezes, as he drawls his voice out, each word stinging more. 

“Do we?” he asks, his look so harsh it stings and the tears rise to your eyes. 

Yes. You do. 

“Yeah. What-what about yesterday? On the beach?” 

He sighs, pushing his hand through his hair as he falls out of your hold, putting space between you two. 

“I asked you if you knew what it meant when I kissed you. You clearly didn’t understand what I was trying to say.” 

“And what did it mean, Eren?” 

“That was a one time thing. For-for fun. It didn’t mean anything like that, I-I was just thanking you for coming down all the way for my birthday.” 

You pale. 

“You and I spent hours talking on the beach. About-about it all and-” 

“We did other things too.” he responds, his voice biting. 

You feel your cheeks burn with embarrassment, the understanding registering. That you spent hours on the beach talking, but amongst that there were other things you did too. The pale purple on his neck is proof of that. 

“But-but you said all that stuff before. Sang that song, called me the moon and-” 

“You’ve always been into that fluff shit. We always say corny shit like that before we do stuff.” 

You pale, every memory of Eren whispering soft words against your skin as he kissed you souring in your mind. Because of the insinuation that none of it was real. That he just did it because he knew you liked to hear it, not because he meant any of it. 

“Excuse me?” 

“You know. The whole “we’re fish together thing” and the songs and all that.” 

You stare at him, at his forehead crushed up in frustration and his green eyes, cold and soulless as they stare at you. You look down at his fish tattoo, and cross your arms to cover your own, glaring back at him. 

“You’re a fucking liar, Eren. You-” 

“Y/N. I’m a fucking actor. My entire job is to pretend like I like you, do you really think I am so incapable of keeping the act up when the cameras turn off?” 

“It doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason for you to do that.” 

“There is. I want to win Best Actor in a TV Series.” 

“And what does that have to do with us?” 

“Levi said that this role, if I did it right, could make me the fucking best. And you-you had no experience. I had to make sure that you actually liked me so that I didn’t have to carry you in every fucking scene. So that your acting wouldn’t bring me down.” 

"Eren."

"Why did I win an award for the Thank You scene? Because you actually fucking liked me, because you were able to cry and act in the scene. You're a good actor, but you were never that good."

“But what about after? You-we were together when we weren’t filming.” 

“You went on your tour. Got distant. Did I ever once make any effort to talk to you when you stopped? No, I didn’t. You broke up with me on that balcony because your team wanted you to date Ricky James instead of me. Did I stop you? No. You know why? Because who you date doesn’t fucking bother me, not in the slightest.” 

“You knew. We-we understood each other. That’s why we broke up, because it’s fishbowl and-” 

“Who the fuck would be okay with that? Seriously, if it was all in earnest, you think I’d just let you do that?"

“Then why the fuck are you writing depressing ass songs at the Met Gala and then taking care of me after the whole thing went down?” 

“Y/N. You’re so fucking naive. That’s what you have to do. I act on the screen and I make people interested in me after the fact. I write songs about you, make it seem like you’re the one who broke up with me, so that people stream the songs. So that people talk about them. So that they’re popular. And then I save you after the fact, because at the end of the day, you and I still have a show to fucking finish and I can’t exactly leave you out there in the rain, can I?” 

“Eren.” 

“Think about it. After you were good and fine with Ricky, did we keep talking? Did it stay the same? No. I had no interest in putting effort in after that, because I was dating another girl. And I still am by the way.” 

“Eren.” 

“Get it through your head. You- I had to help you. In whatever way I did. Your parents weren’t famous and you had no ins. I have to do something to offset that if you’re my co-star.” 

"No part of real to you? Not even one?"

"It-it's fun to pretend sometimes. But that's all it is, Y/N. Pretending. Faking it."

You feel a hand on your shoulder, squeezing hard, and turn to find Armin, his jaw clenched against his head. 

“Are you serious, Eren? How can you even say that to her?” 

“It’s the truth. She should try it sometime.” 

You choke back a sob, your chest heaving up and down, as Armin lets go and pushes Eren, the irritation sitting in his chest. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you doing this to Connie? To Y/N?” 

“Armin. We filmed one show together when we were kids. Don’t get mad when I don’t have the same loyalty that you all feel for each other. It was fun, but I still have a career outside of it.” 

“Eren. You loved Attack on Titan. And us, you-you wanted to go back to it so many times after we stopped filming and went on hiatus.” 

“Yeah. Because I was in a show that was actually good. Not shitty movies that were flopping. That-that had nothing to do with you guys.” 

“Eren.” 

“You guys should leave. I’ve had enough.” 

Eren reaches for the last bag, grabbing Armin’s polaroid camera on top before pushing the last bag into Armin’s hands. And when he extends his hand to hand Armin the camera, he pulls back at the last second and lets it fall to the ground, with a resounding crack. 

All you see is red.

“Eren. What did you just do?” you ask. 

“My bad. I broke it.” he spits out.

Armin swallows hard as he looks at it, the camera that’s documented every portion of your childhood, every up and down and in between for the past seven years, now broken in his hands. Levi and Hange's vow renewal, every birthday, everyone messing around in between takes and- he just broke it.

You crouch down and put a hand on Armin’s shoulder, his tears falling straight onto the floor, over the camera. And pick up the pieces with him, the jagged edges hard in your hands, as you carry them over to the car. 

You look back one last time, to see Eren with his hands in his pockets, illuminated by the moonlight, you take one last look and sit in the car. And then get in the car and let your tears flow freely. You lift Connie’s head and place it in your lap as Armin puts in the directions. And on your right, your phone buzzes and you pick up. 

“Hello?” 

“Hi! This is the Seattle Aquarium! We just wanted to know what time you would be coming by for your friends birthday tomorrow so we can set up?” 

You swallow hard and hang up, cursing the stupid aquarium and the stupid fish that got you caught up in this in the first place. 

You slide to Eren's contact - the picture of you two staring back at you - and block the number. And make a mental note to get your tattoo removed. 

--

“Hello.” 

“You’ve sat idle for three months now. And I’m not letting you sit around any longer. It’s-you have to defend yourself. This-you’re better than this. They’re making a mess of you.” 

“Let them. Is there really anything I could say to stop them? No and-”  

“Watch the link I sent you. Quit talking back with your shit excuses and remember why you even did any of this in the first place. And then call me back when you’re thinking straight.” 

The line goes flat as the notification comes, the link in your messages. You open it up, a clip of Hange’s getting their triple threat commendation. Their speech, the one that got you involved in all this shit in the first place, ringing in your ears. The only reason you wanted to be a triple threat in the first place. 

To anyone watching at home, in their living room in their rundown pajamas, this is a sign to never ever give up on your dreams. Because that used to be me, and it can be you too. Never let anyone stop you from becoming the triple threat you are meant to be. To let that fire run wild and true and let people see the real you.  

The media made a shit show out of you, in the three months that followed. So much so, that you don’t even show your face in public. Because it snowballs so fast, the entire drama around Don’t Worry Darling, around you and Eren and Hyla becomes the only thing people talk about. 

And the narrative is simple. You're quickly written off into something you’re not. That you faked your relationship with Ricky James and Eren Jaeger for publicity, that you leached off of their fame to be famous yourself. That it’s all you care about. 

Hyla goes on the record and brings up the night you and Eren shared on the beach. And quickly gives you your reputation as a home wrecker, as a people pleasing attention seeker who likes people who puff up her ego. 

People like Jean and Mikasa, like Connie and Sasha - who are still famous and good for your image, but not famous enough to over shine yoU. Not like Historia, who you so quickly discarded and then opened a full on competition with when you released your records. 

That at the end of the day, all you are is a small town girl from Canada, with a sick need to be at the top of the pedestal. To have people clamoring around you, praising you, because of your inferiority complex. That you're easy, that you have no feelings, that you're not even a real person.

The words churn in your mind, the thought angrily swirling with every other feeling. And the push, the support in a moment like this solidifies your plan in your mind. To let that fire run wild and true and let people see the real you.  

The real you. 

you’re right. i’m in. 

on my first flight out. we’re going to bury this asshole in the ground. 

And in the most perfect way, you’ve got the best person at your side helping you. Always known for upstanding honesty, truth, and for digging people into holes when they deserve it. For burying them with art, with carefully chosen words and songs.

It’s what makes her the perfect right hand to your revenge. Historia's always had a flair for the dramatics.

--

next part linked here

an, again: sukuna reputation era? sorry. girls do it better. (im just kidding, he'll be part of the reputation era but our best baby girl historia will be too). there is just something so insane about them ALL using historia as a piece of evidence against y/n and then her being right at her side. also no one hang me at the stake please.

taglist:

@k0z3me @kayleegomez @yihona-san06 @bsenpai @sweetenertea @mykyoon @violetmatcha  @rebeccawinters @cutiejg @bokutosthings @bookwrmm @mblrrr @wheredidmycrowngo @somethinginyoureyes7 @chilichopsticks @okaystopwhore @you-always-made-me-blush @itzmeme @firelordazulaaaa @whoami-72 @g-ghostly @intimacywithceline @erensmoodygf @cocomellxn @princess-ackerman @jaegerfiles @cacapeepee @squirrelspoetry @rui-0836 @moonmalice @invisible-mori @sofiasber @bbybeeb @timetobegone @tee4str @ttokki2 @leave-rae-alone @ec3lipsy @officialsimpp @gojojang @yookayyo @lordbugs @multiplefandomthings @iobeyfandoms @camilo-uwu @justanotherkpopstanlol @mel-star636

[jupipedia]

tia tia tiaaaaa, I have a request <333

okay so, how would the jjk men react to their fav sneaky link cutting them off ? like all of a sudden the reader ghosted them after their recent hookup ? preferably with gojo, choso, toji, and geto ? if you wanna change it it’s fine

giving the vibe of homiesexual by daniel cesar, idk if you heard it but yeah. listen if you haven’t, it’s a banger 🫵🏽

sneaky link privileges revoked ! — multi.         ↳ how these men would react to being ghosted or dropped by their sneaky link.           ↳ content warnings : nsfw ( minors do not interact ), mentions of cunnilingus + p in v.         ↳ message from tia : hey twin, hope you don't mind that i just turned this is to a multi animanga headcanon! this isn't out right smut but it does have nsfw mentions that i would consider further than just suggestive. might add more character or something later but yeah hope you enjoy!

he’s losing his fucking mind when he realized that his text messages are now green. he’s gonna find every means to contact your ass. you think he’s gonna let his favorite throat goat up and leave without a fight? he’s not going for that. he’s gonna call whoever he has to in order to speak to you. your friends, roommates, siblings, boss, co-workers, neighbors, even your mailman if that’s what it takes to get through to you. he just had you teary-eyed with no voice as he fucked the life out of you last night and all of a sudden he’s blocked? he’s lowkey crazy too because his ass is showing up wherever he knows you will be. he is at your job, sitting at your desk as he waits for you to come in. in that moment, he's never been more grateful for your private office as he has you bent over your desk, fucking you on all your important paperwork. he's even at the bars you and your friends go to for a night out and gets you alone in the bathroom, tongue deep in your pussy as you grip his hard and press yourself against the wall of the stall. good luck getting rid of him.

             — GOJO, connie, rengoku, sanji, SANZU, bokuto, sanemi, rindou, EREN, hawks, mikey, atsumu, etc.

he laughed when you told him to lose your number because he thought it was a joke. he knew it was in fact a joke because he was gonna be right back at your place, breaking your back and eating your pussy like it’s his last meal. you are not going anywhere like it’s funny that you even thought you could. he doesn’t care if you’re not ( officially ) his girl, you’re not leaving him. and every time you bring it up, he nods and chuckles before fucking sense in and out of you. after the third time of trying to end your arrangement with him, you gave up, knowing that with one move, you’d be falling back into his arms and onto his dick. he doesn't even blame you for wanting to end thing because he knows he's not shit, but that doesn't mean it's gonna happen. not when your sweet cunt wraps around his cock like a dream. not when the sound of your moans and his name rolling off of your tongue is newfound favorite melody.

             — TOJI, kid, JEAN, aizawa, geto, draken, wakasa, kuroo, osamu, zoro, shanks, benimaru, zeke, etc.

after you told him that you didn’t want to keep being friends with benefits, he respected it outwardly. however, when you pulled the whole “we can still be friends” bit on him, he completely used it to his advantage. he would “conveniently” appear whenever another guy was trying to get at you. he shows up to all of your events, suddenly becoming your biggest supporter. he’s always been around but suddenly it’s like he’s everywhere that you are. he’s so involved with you that it’s almost as if you two never ended anything. and then suddenly you’re back in his bed, legs pulled to your chest as he presses against your cervix. sex with him was already great, but it's like he stepped his game to prove that only he could pleasure you. he's completely focused on you and your pleasure, fucking you in every position possible until the sun rises and you decided to let him back into you sex life.

            — choso, NANAMI, reiner, armin, daichi, onyankopon, law, aran, mitsuya, tengen, gyomei, etc.

© jupipedia. do not repost, plagiarized, or falsely claim my work. likes, comments, and reblogs are welcome!

[theragethatisdesire]

꧁ rage's library ꧂

hello there, this is the best attempt at a masterlist i have been able to keep even halfway updated. there are lots of little ramblings and musings on my blog otherwise, but all the big chunks of writing are catalogued here. thanks for stopping by<3

DISCLAIMER: all of my writing contains MATURE CONTENT that is intended only for those over 18. if you are a minor or ageless blog, please kindly leave my page.

Eren Jaeger

ti penso ogni giorno (a collection)

a collection of one-shots set in a modern au that spans nearly 10 years of your relationship with the cute boy you met at a party in college.

much ado about nothing (ongoing series)

plug!eren enters the life of our stressed out, literature student reader just when she least expects him. in true shakespearean fashion, chaos ensues. strangers to fwb to idiots in love.

scary dog privilege (one-shot)

you enlist eren as your fake boyfriend for connie’s birthday party, unable to face your ex, jean, without the help of your best friend. you forgot one crucial thing, though: where jean’s all bark, eren’s all bite.

quick bright things (two-parter)

part 1 - spending your summer sweltering in the uppermost regions of italy with your wealthy friends, you stumble across a man who seems straight out of a shakespeare play, and who seems to be completely fascinated with you.

Jean Kirchstein

pretty girl (one-shot)

your new boyfriend jean is pretty much perfect, except when it comes to your incredibly vanilla sex life. you make the mistake of underestimating him.

Reiner Braun

a girl is a gun (canon-divergent series, ao3 only for now)

after years of bloodshed and distance, evin finley reconnects with her childhood friend, reiner braun. they’ve both changed over the years, but the string that ties them together seems to have survived the wars they’ve faced. when secrets about evin’s past start to come to light after eren jaeger’s raid on liberio, reiner finds out whether or not love truly is the death of duty.

Multi-Character

aot faves as dads (headcanons)

just my favorite boys with their precious little ones in another, happier life.

three’s a… (poly!erejean uni)

you and eren have been getting more adventurous in the bedroom and roping jean into your adventures. jean’s way too in his head about the whole thing.

show off (poly!erejean uni)

eren notices that you and jean have a bit of a crush on one another. he helps you act out your fantasy.

cabin in the woods (poly!erejean uni)

you and the boys head up to jean's mountain cabin to celebrate the one-year anniversary adding jean into your relationship with eren

drabble masterlist

sometimes i literally just never shut up and sometimes i play ask games so find the result of both of those things linked here.

[taomyou]

The Paradis Marriage Pact

Author: taomyou Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Reader Summary: Do you believe in soulmates? No. Do you believe that Jean's coding project can introduce you to someone special? Not really, but your mind can be changed. Word Count: 6.1k Tags: modern au, university au, strangers to lovers, fluff, meet-cute, matchmaking, one-shot

The Paradis Marriage Pact

"Hey, do you think Levi believes in soulmates?" Hange asks, looking up from their laptop at Erwin. The two friends are in a study lounge reviewing for midterms, but it seems that Hange's taking a break since they're asking weird questions.

"I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"

To that, Hange angles their screen towards Erwin so he can see what they're looking at. The website they're on looks simple enough: it seems just like any other standard testing site. "This second-year in my biotech lecture sent out the link to everyone! It's a matchmaking form for students here!"

Looking closer at the screen, he sees "PARADIS MARRIAGE PACT" in big, bold letters at the top of the page. What's this got to do with whether or not Levi believes in soulmates?

"You didn't answer my question, Hange. What are you planning?"

Hange dramatically leans back into the sofa, arms crossed and a sinister grin on their face. "I'm filling this out on our dear friend's behalf!"

"And does our dear friend know about this?"

"Of course not!" Hange laughs, "he'd skin me alive if he knew!"

"Well, you're right about that," says Erwin.

Hange nods at him before moving back to their earlier position closer to the table in front of them. "Wanna help me fill it out?"

With a laugh, Erwin shakes his head but starts putting away his own laptop and books. Once his bag is zipped, he scoots over to sit closer to Hange. "Sure, why not?"

"Really? I'll text Levi and ask about the whole soulmates thing, but we can just skip that for now!"

♡

"I don't wanna take it!"

"You can't not take it! The rest of us just did it!"

"Yeah, Connie's right," Sasha says, poking at your shoulder.

You groan and swat her hand away.

You and your friends have spent the last several hours in one of the library study rooms. Connie organized it as a "group study session," but you're sure you and Jean are the only ones actually being productive. You're not sure about Connie since you can't see his screen from where you're sitting, but Sasha's spent this entire time playing Overcooked! 2 in multiplayer mode with who you assume is him. Then, about 30 minutes ago, Connie started complaining about his engineering midterm, which prompted Sasha to complain about her physics midterm, which then prompted Jean to talk about his semester-long coding project.

"Could you guys fill this out? I need at least a thousand participants by the end of next week to get an A on this, and I already sent it to everyone I could," Jean asked, forwarding the link to the group chat.

You click on it and are brought to the website.

PARADIS MARRIAGE PACT: Fall in love today!

Leave it to Jean to choose to make a matchmaking website for his final project. Sasha and Connie found the premise to be quite fun, whereas you rolled your eyes at the page.

"Love calculators already exist," you criticized, exiting out of the tab immediately. Jean flipped you off from across the table, not appreciating your comment.

Which brings you to now, where Connie, Sasha, and Jean have been trying to pressure you into filling out the Paradis Marriage Pact. You don't really get why they want you specifically to do it, since you know Jean's popular and he could probably get enough responses, but it's probably more about annoying you than it is them actually wanting you to find the love of your life.

"If you need responses so bad, I can use my extra emails to spam random answers," you offer.

Jean shakes his head, tutting loudly. "You have to input your school email. Besides, if those answers paired you with someone who made the Pact honestly, they'd be heartbroken."

"So? Serves them right for taking some random sophomore's mandatory coding project seriously."

Connie and Sasha burst into laughter, which earns them a glare from Jean. You sigh dramatically and rest your head on your hand.

"Don't be mean! I put a lot of effort into this project!"

You never doubted that he did, him being a CS major, but it was still entertaining to poke fun at him.

"I have an idea! Why don't we fill it out for her?" Sasha suggests, and you see her open the link to start typing in your name. You immediately perk up and try to get her to stop, but she hurriedly picks up her laptop and rushes over to the other side of the table where Jean and Connie huddle closer to her. "Do either of you know her school email?"

"She forwarded me something a while ago, I can check," Connie says, opening his own laptop to find your information.

It's then that you know that you can either do it yourself or let these fools try to guess how you'd answer, and one of those possibilities is infinitely worse than the other.

"Okay, fine! I'll do it!"

All of them smile and immediately get up to crowd you, the sound of their rolling chairs filling the room as they push them to your side of the table. Sasha offers her laptop to you, and you place it on top of one of your textbooks. You type in your school email and some other information, and then you're brought to your first prompt.

It's okay that my partner drinks.

□ Agree □ Disagree

You check off the box for 'agree' and move on. The next couple of questions are easy enough, just asking what activities you're okay with, but your friends are still watching you intensely, and it unnerves you slightly.

After confirming that you are, in fact, not okay with your partner doing hard drugs, you're faced with the next question.

Do you believe in soulmates?

□ Yes □ No

You click on 'no,' but before you're able to tap the button to move on, Jean speaks up.

"What do you mean, 'no?'"

You turn to face him, completely deadpan and unamused. "You made this quiz, why would you even ask if you're gonna get butthurt about people not agreeing with you?"

"It's not about that! You just seem like you'd be into that sort of thing."

You hum, looking back at your screen. "Nah, I think soulmates are kinda stupid."

♡

Midterms came and went, but that "end of next week" deadline came even quicker for Jean. He managed to get the thousand answers he needed for the chance at an A, but he was stressed as all hell up until the very last day when he finally got enough participants. Unfortunately, it didn't get easier for him since he's been stressing about the next part of the assignment, so you, Sasha, and Connie decided to invite him out to dinner to try and help him destress. It's probably not working if all he's doing is complaining about his professor.

"Seriously, what kind of professor requires a thousand participants in that amount of time? This is a lower-division coding class, for fuck's sake, not Advanced Media Advertising!" He complains, taking a long sip of his soda.

"He sounds terrible, but, hey, at least you got enough answers," says Connie.

You and Sasha nod along while Jean takes another sip before speaking again.

"You guys don't get it! He's the actual devil! You guys are so lucky you'll never have to take his class!"

"What's left for you to do, anyway?" You ask.

"There's a report I have to write. I have to prove my project was successful, too, so I gotta find a couple that the program matched."

"And how exactly are you going to do that?"

"The program should've sent everyone an email with their match's name and contact information by now. I just need a couple to reply to it and agree to get interviewed."

"Man, good luck with that, nobody checks their email," Connie winces.

Jean buries his face in his hands, groaning in agony. "I know! That's why I'm still so worried!"

"Couldn't you just lie?" Sasha inquires.

Jean shakes his head. "The professor wants the audio from the interview and a picture of the couple together. It's so fucking stupid, what do either of those things even have to do with the class?" Suddenly, his face brightens, and now he's looking between you, Sasha, and Connie. "Can't one of you guys just go out with your match? Oh, I'm a fucking genius!"

The three of you awkwardly make eye contact with one another, mostly to avoid looking at Jean himself.

"Uh, dude, I don't really think any of us are up for that," Connie says.

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, the questionnaire was fun to do as, like, a personality quiz, but I'm not down," Sasha adds.

Jean's face falls, and he turns to look at you.

By now, his hands are in a prayer position.

The likelihood of anyone getting back to the email Jean sent is slim-to-none, nevermind the likelihood of a couple replying.

You know how hard he works—the two of you study together practically every other day in the library—and despite his popularity, he's not one to go out often, instead staying in to work on projects or research. He really is adamant about doing well on this project and you know he could somehow make it out with a decent grade, but maybe you could do this tiny favor to help him out. It's not like it'd be all that hard, right? Meeting with your match and getting interviewed doesn't sound like too much of a hassle, especially since you're already close with Jean.

You can't really believe that you're choosing to help him, considering how much of a fight you put up when you were asked to take the Pact in the first place, but whatever. You smile at Jean and give him a thumbs-up.

"Sure, I got you."

Jean practically jumps out of his seat to give you a hug, laughing and smiling brightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

You give him a firm pat on the back before prying him away from you so he can go back to his seat. "Really, thank you so much! This makes everything so much easier!"

You blush in embarrassment, not really used to affection from Jean, but hey. He looks like a weight's been lifted off his chest, and that's why you're all out tonight anyway. "Yeah, yeah, let me check my email for a name, though."

Jean eagerly nods, a smile still on his face. Sasha and Connie don't look like they have anything to say, but they pay attention to you, probably also excited to know who your match is.

You don't have any sort of hopes for who it could be, not having your eye on anyone anyway, but you just hope they're understanding enough to agree to an interview. You open your mail app and tap on the "Search mail" prompt to type in "Paradis Marriage Pact." There's only one email related to your search, so you click on it to find your match's name in big, dark letters.

"Any of you guys know somebody named Levi Ackerman?"

♡

Somewhere in an empty lecture hall across campus, Hange, Levi, and Erwin are all lazing around after their last class. Levi's laptop is connected to the projector, and he's just scrolling through different streaming sites.

"Why the fuck are we even in here? We can just watch something at home."

"Because, Levi, tuition's too expensive to not make use of the grand halls at our disposal!"

"Imagine not being a scholarship student."

Erwin and Hange laugh, and the latter gets up from their seat to go over to Levi to help him choose something to watch. He refuses them at first, but they just shove him around enough to get him to give up and go sit where they just were. In the middle of some more aimless scrolling, they notice that there's a tab opened to Levi's email.

Hange did overhear someone last week telling that second-year that they got their results back from the Paradis Marriage Pact, so they get the stupid genius idea to try and look through Levi's email for his match. Switching tabs, they type in "Paradis Marriage Pact" into the "Search mail" prompt.

"Oi! What the fuck are you doing?" Levi exclaims.

Hange waves him off, not looking up from the screen. Erwin just has to sit back and watch it all unfold in front of him, the projector magnifying everything that Hange's doing. Finding the unopened email, they click on it and see a name printed in the same font as the initial title for the questionnaire page. Next to the name is a phone number.

Levi still doesn't really understand what Hange's doing, but whatever it is can't be good. He gets up again and rushes for his laptop, disconnecting it from the projector and closing it before Hange can try anything else.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing!" Hange nervously laughs and looks past Levi's shoulder at Erwin for back up.

Levi follows their eyes over to the man as well. Erwin gets up from his seat, joining the other two at the front of the hall.

"Just forget it, Hange. It was already wrong of us to submit answers for Levi."

"Again, what the fuck are you guys talking about? And what the fuck is the 'Paradis Marriage Pact?' Did you sign me up for a mail-order bride or something?"

Hange extends out both their arms, frantically waving off the accusations and shaking their head. "No, no! This kid in my biotech programed some matchmaking site, so I thought it'd be neat to submit something for you," Hange explains.

Levi exhales deeply, pinching his nose between his fingers. "So you think I need help from a fucking website to find a girlfriend? Just how pathetic do you think I am?"

"You literally have not dated since, like, high school!"

"And? That's a problem how?"

Erwin puts a hand on Levi's shoulder, though it gets swatted away just as quickly. "It isn't, we just thought it'd be fun. We're sorry," Erwin says.

It's certainly frustrating that Hange acts this way, interfering with his personal life, but he knows they mean well (emphasis on "mean.")

Erwin does too, so as much as he hates this, he'll let this one slide. It's a Friday, and the week has been exhausting enough. Erwin and Hange look at one another while Levi reaches into his back pocket to take out his phone. He felt a buzz, so he probably got a text from someone. When he turns on his phone, however, he sees that the notification is a text from a number he doesn't have saved.

Unknown Number - 6:27 PM

is this levi ackerman? this is your match from the paradis marriage pact

He frowns at the text but doesn't say anything. He'll deal with it later.

"Just don't do this again, so help me, God."

Hange's eyes bug out of their head. "You're not mad at us?"

Levi scoffs. "I'm mad, but I'm too tired of your shit to beat you into the ground right now."

"Let's go back home now, yeah?" Erwin suggests, his body facing the door.

After Levi wordlessly puts his laptop in his backpack, the three head back to their shared apartment. Erwin occasionally greets people that recognize him on the walk over, but other than that, they travel in complete silence to avoid pissing off Levi any further.

Once Levi's in his room, he shrugs off his backpack to put near his door and takes out his phone, walking over to the chair he has at his desk. He sits down, turns on his phone, and stares at the message he got.

In the first place, he has no idea what the fuck this Paradis Marriage Pact shit is.

Yeah, sure, Hange described it as a matchmaking program, but it's not like that's much to go off of. He switches over to his mail app to find the email sent from the site.

There still isn't much information—just the match's name, phone number, and a message at the bottom: Please reply to this email if your match is successful and you'd like to be interviewed! He rolls his eyes—the email looks formal enough, but there's no way anyone's going to actually reply to it. He also compares the number that texted him earlier and the number listed on the email.

They match, so he replies to the text.

Levi - 7:33 PM

Yes, this is Levi

Unknown Number - 7:39 PM

sorry if this is weird but i need a favor

Levi - 7:40 PM

Sorry, not interested in dating

Unknown Number - 7:40 PM

me neither

...Doesn't make much sense to text a match from something called a "marriage pact" if you're not interested, but alright. Levi isn't going to question it; he's doing the same thing replying to this person.

Unknown Number - 7:41 PM

could we meet up?

Levi - 7:42 PM

I said I'm not interested You literally just agreed with me

Unknown Number - 7:42 PM

no its not like that!!

Levi - 7:43 PM

Ok, then what's the favor?

Unknown Number - 7:43 PM

my friend is the guy who made the paradis marriage pact program and he needs help getting data from a successful match

Levi - 7:45 PM

And you want me to help because the email asking for it was so pathetic that he needed to get help from someone he knows personally?

Unknown Number - 7:46 PM

exactly! so are you up for it?

Levi - 7:46 PM

No

Unknown Number - 7:47 PM

we'd just have to answer some interview questions together

Levi - 7:47 PM

I said no already

Unknown Number - 7:48 PM

i already told my friend that i'd help him :( please?? i can buy you a drink

Levi - 7:50 PM

Why not just make up the data?

Unknown Number - 7:50 PM

... they need a recorded audio file of the couple talking and a picture

Levi - 7:51 PM

That's an awful lot for just a project

Unknown Number - 7:51 PM

if it means anything, he has dr pixis

Levi frowns.

He had Pixis for Intro to Python in his first year, and it's the only class he's gotten a B in since enrolling at Paradis University. Pixis is notorious for being a harsh grader, but there's only one other professor that offers lower-division technology course requirements for CS majors, so everyone has to take him at some point. It makes sense now that whoever made the Paradis Marriage Pact is scrambling for data. It's stupid that whoever made this decided to reach out for information over email, nevermind over school email, but Levi knows it's too late in the semester to try something else.

Unknown Number - 7:55 PM

ik its asking a lot and i have no idea who you are but if we matched then maybe it wont be so bad

Levi - 7:56 PM

I didn't take it My roommates did it for me and they probably answered it differently than I would've

Unknown Number - 7:57 PM

even better!! we already know we arent a match so theres no expectations

God, she isn't going to stop asking, is she? Levi can't judge their dedication to the cause, though; it's admirable that she's willing to reach out to a complete stranger just to help her friend.

Levi - 7:57 PM

If we aren't a real match, doesn't that make your friend's project a failure?

Unknown Number - 7:58 PM

technically, that isn't his fault

Levi - 8:00 PM

You're not giving up, are you?

Unknown Number - 8:01 PM

i will if you say no again

Great, she's a good friend, and she's respectful.

Levi himself can't believe that he's seriously about to go along with this.

For all he knows, this girl could be a fucking axe-murderer, but, at the same time, he knows how fucking miserable it is to have Pixis for any class ever. She can't be that bad if she hasn't prodded him for any actual information, and she sincerely seems to not be interested in getting to know him.

Just an interview, some pictures, and he'd never have to cross paths with her again?

Yeah, he can do that.

Levi - 8:03 PM

Okay, but you're still buying me a drink

Unknown Number - 8:04 PM

deal!! thank you so much!! let me ask my friend when we can do the interview

♡

"What do you mean you can't come? You're literally supposed to interview us in," you pull your phone away from your ear to check the time, 1:55 PM, "5 minutes!"

"I'm so sorry! I forgot I had a midterm today, and I can't get to you guys and make it back in time!" Jean says.

You groan and change the hand your phone is in. "What the fuck, man, midterm season was over, like, a month ago."

"I know! But Shadis kept pushing it back because people kept asking for more time to study!"

"So what do you want me to do? He already didn't want to do this, and I don't want to inconvenience him even more by changing the date this late."

"I can text you the questions, and you can go through them together."

"What about the audio file?"

"Just record it on your phone, and I'll edit in my voice so it sounds like I'm actually there."

You roll your eyes. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I don't really have a choice."

"Well, you're right about that. Let's just hope this Levi guy is okay with this."

"Okay with what, exactly?"

Looking towards the voice, you see a raven-haired guy around your age dressed in a neat black shirt and dark jeans. Before this, you texted each other the details of your outfits so you could find each other in the café Jean picked out for the three of you to meet, so you know that it's Levi. He seems to have a frown on his face, but you just hope that it's not directed towards you.

Despite that, though, he's.. really attractive.

You try not to dwell on that as you motion him to sit in the booth with you. He does so wordlessly and takes out his own phone to busy himself.

"I'll owe you forever, okay?"

You sigh, putting your elbow on the table. "Damn right you will. I get it, though. I'll try to make it work." You can hear him sigh in relief on the other end of the line.

"Thank you! I gotta go now, but send me the audio after! Don't forget the picture too!"

"It's no problem, Jean. Good luck on your midterm, you got this," you say, then bringing your phone away from your ear to end the call.

Levi clears his throat from across you to get your attention. "Is your friend on the way?" he asks.

You nervously laugh. "Yeah.. so about him, he can't make it."

"Is he who you were just on the phone with?"

You nod, looking away from him. "He called me and said he has a midterm today," you say.

He nods in what you want to interpret as understanding, but he's probably just confused. "Bit late for midterms, no?"

You nod, anxiously laughing again. "I told him the same thing, but he said his professor pushed it back."

"Pushing back a test that far sounds like a fucking terrible idea, but okay."

You hear a buzz come from your phone, so you pick it up to see a text from Jean. Opening it, you see that it's the questions Jean's supposed to be asking you and Levi. You put your phone back on the table and slide it over to Levi to look at.

"He sent me the questions, if you wanted to look at them."

"Just send them to me," he says, ignoring your device. You nod and take your phone back, quickly copying the text and forwarding it to Levi. "I assume we're still going to do this without him?"

You smile sheepishly at him, bringing your hands together in front of your face. "If it's okay with you. I understand if it isn't, but let me at least pay for you to get a drink before you leave. I've bothered you enough asking you to come here in the first place."

He looks up at you for a second before looking back at his phone to skim the questions.

"I don't care."

Tough crowd, huh.

Before you start, a waitress comes to your table asking what you and Levi would like to drink. You tell her you'll have a grapefruit green tea while Levi orders a cup of black tea.

"I'm gonna record the audio on my phone, and then we'll take turns answering, yeah? Jean said he'd edit in his own voice." He hums in understanding, and so you go to open your voice-recorder app and tap the "record" icon before placing your phone between the two of you. "I can answer first, since you have the questions."

He sighs.

"'What's your name?'"

You answer, and he does the same. Easy enough to start.

"'What's your major?'"

"I'm a public health major. You?"

"I'm in CS," he replies. "'How did you find out about the Paradis Marriage Pact?'"

"You forced me to take it," you say, voice wavering as you're unsure if you're supposed to pretend Jean is there or not. Levi looks up at you, his frown now replaced with a neutral expression.

"Are we going to pretend your friend is here?" He asks.

You groan and put your head down. "You're right, it's probably stupid."

He shakes his head. "No, it isn't. It'll help trick Pixis into thinking he's actually here."

You bring your head up and nod slowly, bobbing your head.

For someone who said he didn't care, he sure is nice. Well, as nice as you can be to a complete stranger.

The waitress comes back with your drinks, and you both thank her. 

Levi glances back down at his phone. "'Did you know each other before the Paradis Marriage Pact?'"

"You didn't answer the last question."

Levi rolls his eyes. "I mentioned it to you before. My roommates took it for me, so I didn't even know what this thing was until one of them brought it up to me."

After reaching for your cup to take a sip, you speak up.

"Well, we gotta make something up. You could say they showed it to you, and you decided to take it," you reason. He sighs.

"Okay, then. My roommate showed it to me, and I thought it was worth taking," he says, taking a sip of his own drink. "This is good."

Having never been at this café before, you can't agree or disagree, so you just smile. You notice that he's holding his cup by the rim, which is a bit odd, but it feels fitting for him.

"And no, we didn't know each other before this. It's kind of late now, but it's nice to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to come."

"It's nice to meet you, too."

The two of you continue like this: answering questions, slowly making your way down the list. They're all pretty general—just asking about things like what careers you're aiming for and what hobbies you have. You find out that he's interested in tea tasting, and he finds out that you're interested in gardening. Quite a bit of time passes, and soon enough, it feels like you're just having a conversation with a friend and not recording an interview.

You notice that he hasn't taken a drink in a while, so you speak up to ask him about it.

"Are you out of tea?" You ask.

He nods, scrolling down to the next question. Looking around for the waitress, you call her over to your table.

"What can I help you with?" She asks.

"Could we get two more cups of black tea, please?" At the mention of the drink, Levi looks up at you and the waitress.

"Of course! Let me get that for you," and with that, she's headed off for the drink bar.

"You didn't have to get more, you know." Levi says. "Why'd you get two cups?"

You smile, bringing your cup back up to finish the last of your grapefruit tea. "If you like it, it's probably worth trying. You said you try teas a lot, so I trust that it's good." He rolls his eyes, but you can see the corner of his mouth twitch upwards into a sort of half smile. "Anyway, next question?"

"'Are you happy with your match?'"

"Well, since Jean's supposed to be interviewing a successful match, I'll go along with that. You've been good company too, so yes, I'm happy with my match."

"I feel the same, then." You're glad he goes along with your answer, so you smile over at him. "'Why do you think you were paired together?'" He reads.

"Could you answer this one first? I don't really know how we could lie about this one."

He hums, looking up at you again. "I don't know what kind of questions were on the Pact, but from our conversation so far, you seem like a good person."

You're taken off guard, so you avoid his gaze, looking down at your empty teacup. "You think so?" You can feel your ears start to get red, so you feign fixing your hair to try and cover them. You didn't expect any answer like that from him even with all the talking you've been doing, so you're flustered.

"You didn't know who I was, and you went this far to help your friend with his project. Even after I told you I'm not actually your match, you still wanted to get the data for him. I think most people in your situation would've let him figure it out on his own." 

You laugh good-naturedly, putting your hands in your lap. You look up to see him still focused on you, and the blush on your face feels a little hotter.

You want to thank him and try to answer Jean's question, but before you can say anything, the waitress comes back with two new cups of black tea and takes away yours and Levi's empty cups. The two of you reach for the cups set in front of you, and you take a sip together.

"You're right, this is good," you say. He nods in agreement, and the two of you put your cups down.

"Alright, this is the last question. 'Both of you selected 'no' when asked if you believed in soulmates. Why do you believe that?'" Levi recites from Jean's questions. He pauses, a new frown forming on his face. "One of my roommates texted me to ask this a while ago. No wonder."

You laugh at that, covering your smile with your hand. "At least we don't have to come up with another lie."

He nods. "Yeah."

"Well, there's not really much to say. I think the idea that there's only one person destined to love you is pretty limiting, and then the chances of meeting them would be slim-to-none," you answer. You see Levi nod from the corner of your eye, so you continue. "Falling in love with them would be even harder. It's not really worth believing in soulmates, in my opinion."

"I feel the same way, more or less," he adds. "The idea is there, though."

"Yeah, it'd be nice if there was a way to know someone's perfect for you. Ever heard of the Paradis Marriage Pact? I've heard it's worked wonders," you joke.

He looks pretty unamused, though.

"Yeah, sure. It's so successful that the person who made it has to ask his friend to pretend they've found the love of their life," Levi says.

You laugh, nearly spitting out your tea. "Well, at least we agree that soulmates aren't real! Besides, anyone can fall in love if you spend enough time together."

"I suppose you're right."

Levi did say that the question about soulmates was the last one, so you get your phone from the middle of the table and tap the "stop recording" icon. The two of you don't initiate any further conversation, so you both sit in silence and finish your teas.

The quiet isn't awkward. It's... nice.

You flag the waitress over when you're finished, and after you pay for everything, she asks if you need anything else.

"Actually, could you take our picture for us?" You ask.

She nods, taking your phone from you to snap a quick picture. You smile, and you thank her as she hands the device back to you.

"You guys are so cute!" She coos, waving goodbye to you both. You and Levi both make eye contact, but neither of you say anything.

You check the time on your phone: 3:45 PM. You have a class at 4, so you get up from your seat to start heading over. You look down at Levi who's still sitting and wave goodbye to him.

"It really was nice meeting you, Levi. Really, thank you for agreeing to get interviewed, even if my friend couldn't make it. I hope it wasn't awkward for you."

"It wasn't."

You smile at him, tucking a piece of hair behind your still-red ear.

"Well, that's a relief," you say. You turn to leave the café, but before you can take any steps, you hear Levi clear his throat. You look at him, but he doesn't meet your gaze.

"Did you mean it when you said you were happy we matched, or did you only say that because of your friend?" He asks, looking down at his cup. You see a bit of red at the tops of his ears, so you giggle. "What's so funny?"

Even though he can't see it, you smile at him before answering, ignoring the latter question.

"I think I meant it."

You walk away before you can see his face, but you feel a buzz from your phone as soon as you're out the door. When you look at it, your smile gets even bigger.

Levi - 3:50 PM

I think I meant it too

♡

Jean yawns, stretching his arms above his head. He's finally back home for winter break, the semester having ended a week or so ago.

Despite that, though, Pixis hasn't released his grade yet, and he's getting worried.

Did Pixis somehow figure out that he messed with the audio file? Jean swears he did everything else perfectly, so it's gotta be that if he hasn't gotten his score back. As far as he knew, everyone else in the class got theirs back already. He's been sweating it all winter break.

For the hundredth time that night, Jean goes to refresh his school email. In addition to an email from the university's gradebook, however, there's an email from Dr. Pixis himself.

"Dear lord, please let this be good." He takes a deep breath before opening it. Realizing what it says, he screams out in joy. "Holy shit!"

"Jean-boy, what's the matter?" His mom asks, opening his door to see what all the noise is about. He excitedly motions her over to his desk, a big, bright smile on his face.

"Mom, look!"

Hello Jean, I am very pleased with your project. What an inventive idea—a program to match up students. Easy A. Thank you for not turning in the same boring project as everyone else. This may be a bit out of the blue, but I would also like to extend you a position as one of my TAs for next year's fall semester. You have proven yourself to be highly proficient in the course material. Attached to this email is the paperwork to formally accept. I hope you consider it. Also, good job finding a couple to interview. I seriously doubted that you could when you sent in your first round of data. Actually, I saw them the other day at the ice skating rink downtown holding hands. They look cute together, makes me believe in love again. Consider launching a similar program for professors, will you? I look forward to hearing from you. Best, Professor Dot Pixis.

[ellafushiguro]

“Not bad…” Chapter 1

(Links to: Prologue & Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5)

Your morning routine consists of waking up at 4:00am, laying in bed just staring at the wall for 30 minutes trying to wake up, contemplating your life and all the choices you’ve ever made that led you to here and now, then finally getting up to take a shower and getting yourself ready for work. By 6:00am, you finish zipping the back of your skirt up, giving yourself one last look in the mirror making sure your ponytail is perfectly slicked back and checking for any wrinkles you might’ve missed on your white blouse, before grabbing your Scouts jacket and brown leather work satchel as you walk out the door of your room.

You reach the hallway to the mess hall after going down a few flights of stairs, only to bump into Section Commander Hange. “Oh! Goodmorning Y/N! You’re looking lovely this morning as always! Are you off to have breakfast?” Hange chirps. You often wonder how she can be in such a cheerful mood every single morning. It’s been about 3 months now since you transferred to the Survey Corps, and you haven’t seen her in any other mood. Most of the Scouts are surprisingly alot friendlier than any of the MP’s you’ve ever worked with. This is gonna take a while to get used to, you thought to yourself. “Goodmorning Hange, yes I am. Would you care to join me?” You ask. “Great minds think alike! I heard they’re serving something called pancakes? It’s new. Apparently they’re kinda sweet!” She says as she hooks her right arm into your left one, practically dragging your short legs to your destination. You two have gotten quite close in the 3 months you’ve been here. As extroverted as she is, you don’t mind her company at all.

You and Hange find open seats next to a group of young familiar faces:

Armin: the smart blonde.

Eren: the kid who always throws rage fits, and is apparently a titan.

Mikasa: the chill, but can still kick your ass, girl.

Connie: nice kid but a little random sometimes.

Jean: you don’t see why everyone calls him “horse-face”, he’s actually quite handsome.

Bertoldt: the shy tall guy.

Reiner: the group's big brother. He reminds you of a giant teddy bear.

Krista: the group's sweet little sister.

Ymir: kinda like Mikasa, except the only difference is Mikasa actually has a filter.

And lastly, Sasha: Girl eats like it’s her last day on earth… which you don’t blame her for… being in this job field and all.

“Goodmorning Section Commander, Lt (Lieutenant)!” The whole table greets you both with sleepy smiles & a salute. You both nod & everyone sits back down.

“Hey Lt! You never updated us on what happened when you served Captain Levi tea on your first day!” Eren says. “Ohh righttt, totally forgot you pulled that.. a little daredevil aren’t ya Lt hah!” Reiner says with a smirk, nudging you with his elbow. They all look at you with wide eyes, waiting for your response. “Right, sorry! You guys have been so busy lately, I didn’t want to bother you all. I completely forgot about it. But umm.. it wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought you guys said he was an asshole? You guys made it seem like he was gonna throw a tea cup at me or something.” The group looks at each other confused. “So… he didn’t?…” Jean asks with one eyebrow raised. “…No?” You responded, raising an eyebrow back at him. “Well what did he say?!” Sasha exclaims, mouth full of pancake. “W-well at first nothing. He drank the tea and went on with his work. The next day, I brought his lunch to his office, and he offered me some tea that HE brewed. It was pretty good but I prefer my tea with a little bit of honey and- “ You were cut off by Krista, “HE WHAAAAAT!?” Jolting from her seat and slamming her hands on the table, excitement in her eyes. You jump a little in surprise, and a bit in confusion. “Maybe it’s cuz of your uniform. You got the whole sexy secretary look to ya.” Hange chimes in, wiggling her eyebrows. “M-my skirt?” You look down at your outfit. “Yes ma’am. And your shirt seems kinda tight. Or maybe you just have some nice melons on ya? The buttons look like they’re going to pop off any second. Must be nice.” Ymir winks, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. You look around the table, all the boys had deep red cheeks, trying not to make eye contact with you. Awkward. You pull your Scouts jacket a little tighter around your front, “O-oh well I- “ Again getting cut off by Krista, “You guys! He made her a cup of HIS tea. HIS tea!!!” They all burst into debate, trying to top the other about why the Captain didn’t react the way they thought he normally would, completely ignoring Krista. “I guess this is our queue to leave now, once you get these kids goin it’ll never end.” Hange whispers. It’s almost 7:00am anyway, time to bring Captain his morning tea.

“You finally decided to show up, eh.” Levi says while scribbling on a document. His voice as emotionless as ever, so you can’t really tell whether he’s being sarcastic or if he’s actually serious. You continue walking towards his desk, holding a tray with his favorite tea set. So much confusion this morning. This is the usual time you would come in, you thought. Now that you think about it, maybe the reason he hasn’t said anything mean to you so far is because you don’t question him or talk back? You do every thing he asks. You do it all perfectly and in a timely, organized matter. You don’t give him any problems, instead you take his problems off his shoulders. I mean you ARE his assistant after all, you’re just doing your job. You decide to test the waters, “what ever do you mean, this is the usual time I always come in, sir” you say sarcastically with a tiny hint of attitude, not wanting to take it too far… yet. You look at him with a smirk. Already regretting it. Setting down the tray on his desk in front of him, handing him a cup. You pour tea in it, waiting for his response. He’s quiet for a minute, just two steel gray eyes glaring into your soul. Ah crap here it comes. You’re face-palming yourself over and over in your head. You turn your back to him, moving the tea tray to the mid-sized coffee table that’s placed in the middle of his office, squeezing your eyes shut. He sighs, “guess I lost track of the time again.” You open your eyes, again confused. You turn to look at him, “sir?” He rubs his temples, “I haven’t slept” he admits. You see it now, the dark circles around his eyes. You hear it in his voice. “Would you like to take a nap sir? I can handle the paperwork” you offer, feeling slightly guilty for trying to challenge his tired self a few seconds ago. “No I’ll be fi-“ he starts, but you cut him off, “it’s really not a problem sir, I’m happy to do it for you! As long as you get some rest, I’m happy to take the load. That’s what you have me for.” He looks at you with his usual stoic expression but to your surprise, he doesn’t put up a fight, “fine.” He accepts defeat. “Make sure these all get to Erwin’s office by noon. I’m counting on you.” He says as he makes his way to his connected bedroom. “Yes sir of course.” You say, taking a seat in his chair. Your morning mission has begun.

A couple hours later, you’ve finished all the paperwork that Captain Levi left to you and had already sent them all to Commander Erwin’s office. Your stomach grumbles just in time for lunch. As you start walking towards the door to leave Levi’s office, you were stopped dead in your tracks. Bumping into a hard surface, you look up to see a rested, but still not rested enough, Captain Levi coming out of his room. “Sorry Captain, I wasn't expecting you to be up just yet. Did the few hours of sleep help?” You ask, slight concern in your voice. “I’m fine. Did you finish?” He asks, looking over at his now empty desk. “Yes sir, I actually just got back from dropping them off. I’m about to go get some lunch now. Do you want me to bring you anything?” You offer. “It’s fine. I’ll go with you. Maybe you can show me how you prepare our tea.” He says, following behind you out of his office. Our tea?

You both walk into the mess hall and go to stand in line. Levi puts one hand on your lower back and sticks out his other hand, gesturing ‘ladies first’. Yeah, I definitely don’t understand what those kids were talking about. Him? Cold? He seems perfectly normal to me. A bit stern and serious, but that’s with all military officers… except for Hange. “Did you see that?” You hear from somewhere in the crowd of faces. Instead of turning around to face them, you look up at Levi who’s already looking at you. You wonder if he heard the same thing. “Something the matter Y/N?” He asks. You shudder, no one but Hange has called you by your first name in years. Caught off guard, you avert your gaze somewhere straight ahead, “no sir”. You can feel your cheeks getting hot. You can still feel his eyes on you. You didn’t think he even knew your name, or even cared to remember it for that matter. It’s not like you were out on the field risking your life, you were in the safety of his office. And so you thought, because of that, he always just called you Lt. So why are you blushing? All he said was your damn name!

You both make your way to an unoccupied table, Levi still following close behind you. “Here, I got you one of those Snickerdoodle cookies or whatever. They’re your favorite right.” He says, more of a statement than a question. He sits down across from you, placing the cookie on your plate. You were so distracted that you walked right past the dessert table. “Oh thank you Captain! But you didn’t have to- “ He cuts you off, people seem to do that to you alot, “you can drop the formalities while we’re not working. And it’s nothing, I just figured they’d run out of them quickly and you wouldn’t get to have any, is all.” He says. You smile as you both dig into your lunch. Wait, how does he know those are your favorite?

Levi wasn’t too thrilled the day he found out Commander Erwin had assigned him a new assistant/Lieutenant without his knowledge. Just another idiot to worry about. But the second you walked into his office that morning, bringing him the most delicious cup of tea he’s ever had with such an innocent smile on your face, something in him shifted right then and there. Two things he loved: a perfectly brewed cup of tea… and sunshine. The day he came up from the Underground and felt the warmth of the sun on his skin for the very first time.. oh man, he felt like he was living it all over again. “..not bad, brat..” complimenting the tea… and secretly Erwin. Is this what they call “love at first sight” ?

“You can add some honey or lemon for extra sweetness and flavor. It also helps when you’re sick as well!” You say excitedly, getting carried away with your tea tutorial, bouncing all over the kitchen. You finished all the paperwork this morning, so after lunch you and Levi went to the now empty Officers lounge to use the mini kitchen. He has you all to himself. You haven’t looked up at him once since you’ve started, it’s the perfect chance for him to finally get to examine you, memorize your features, watch how you move, see your different facial expressions, listen to your voice, hear your laugh, learn your body language… if she could just jump up one more time… maybe the buttons on her shirt will actually pop off… he dozes off. “Captain?” You snap him back to reality. What the hell is wrong with me?! He thought to himself. “I’ve lost you haven’t I?” You ask, while actually face-palming yourself for real this time. “I’m listening brat, go on.” He urges, waving his hand. You roll your eyes as you continue your lecture. Normally if anyone else did that, he’d be making them run laps around the Scouts compound until sundown. But it kind of… looked good coming from you. The corner of his mouth slightly twitched. When he snaps back to his senses, he realizes you’ve stopped talking a long time ago and is now replicating the way he has his chin resting in the palm of his hand, staring back at him. Shit, her face is so close. “Your tea is gonna get cold Levi” you warn him, looking down at the cup you placed in front of him, then moving your eyes slowly back up looking into his gray orbs once again. Damnit! Now he’s the one mentally face-palming himself. “I-I know, I’m just waiting for it to cool down a bit more. Quit nagging me.” He says, lying through his teeth, but you didn’t need to know that. Finally he takes a sip, “you added some lemon innit this time you say?” You watch as he licks his bottom lip. Sighhh, those beautiful lips…

“Not bad, Y/N.”

[novantinuum]

Fandom: Steven Universe Rating: Teen Audiences Words: 1.4K~ Summary: Steven surprises Connie with a handmade gift. Written for Glow Week 2024, for the prompt "Casual or Surprise."

@glowweek

This one took a while, but woo! Got a prompt done! It encompasses both prompts for the day in some way.

Enjoy! <3

__

“So, uh… I made you a little something,” Steven begins, a nervous little waver rising in the tenor of his voice.

“Oh?” Connie hums, glancing up from her book to match eyes with her friend, recently turned boyfriend. His cheeks are flushed, and he stands at the foot of the stairs as if rearing to rush up to the next level at any moment. What’s all this about?

He taps his fingertips together, his gaze floating off as he proceeds to babble away, bless him.

“Now, as context, I know it’s like, nowhere near your birthday or anything, and you’ve always been more of an ‘acts of service’ and ‘quality time’ kind of person than the sort who goes for gifts, but… well, I’ll just show you! Stay right there!”

He careens up those steps with an altogether giddy smile lighting up his face, his eager footfalls echoing throughout the whole beach house. And while she’s of course piqued with curiosity on what this mysterious little gift could be, what stands out to her most about this moment is the heartwarming realization that this is the biggest smile she’s seen from him in a very long time. It’s no understatement to say these past few months have been the most challenging months of his entire life. No, it’s not an understatement at all. And sure, many may question how she— a mere teenager with miles of her own crap still left to work through— can ever bear it, willfully spending so many hours of her life with someone in such a state of distress. Willfully asking said person to be her boyfriend while he’s trudging through the most treacherous thickets of therapy. Her parents, pragmatic as they are, even went to the extent of warning her when she voiced this intention to them… asking if she was emotionally prepared to shoulder both the natural and uncommon hardships that were sure to come with dating a boy who— just months prior— loathed his own existence so much that he literally corrupted himself into a monster.

The answer, however, is and always shall be an emphatic yes.

Because she loves him.

Because he makes her world feel like magic.

Because the things they’ve experienced together have eternally linked them at the hip.

Because she can’t imagine a worthwhile future without him anymore.

Because the lighter, casual moments like these— just hanging out together in the house, reading a book, watching her boyfriend all flushed and happy and bashful around her— make every single day of potential hardship in between worth it.

And when he dashes down the stairs clutching a huge but slender, messily wrapped parcel in both hands, tied up with curling ribbon at its ends, she discovers yet another reason why she adores him so much.

“A little something?” she says with a playful gasp, setting her book down on the coffee table as she stands to her feet. “Steven, that’s like three feet long! What on Earth did you—”

“Just open it,” he beams, passing the parcel to her.

And open it she does.

Connie is normally very deliberate in the way she pulls gift wrap apart— working from the edges so she can avoid tearing or wrinkling the paper and has scraps to re-wrap other presents in— but the second she’s revealed even the smallest swath of Steven’s handmade gift her heart skips a beat, and she feels compelled to rip the rest away in mere seconds, impatient in her desire to admire the full item.

It’s a scabbard.

More specifically, it’s a leather skinned scabbard, artfully detailed with the same repeating glyph motif that forms the borders on the maps featured within her Spirit Morph Saga books. Said detailing is a little messy, every last line clearly tooled by hand, but exudes so much love and care. There are also golden fittings affixed to the end and throat of this scabbard, as well as two sturdy buckles she could use to fasten it to her baldric.

“It’s not perfect,” her boyfriend comments, carding his fingers through the curls at the nape of his neck, “and the fittings didn’t really come out as smooth as I wanted, but I remember you always saying your current scabbard was too heavy, so… I thought I’d make a new one.”

“Wow, I—” she breathes in disbelief, running her hand across the tanned leather with reverence. “This is incredible! How did you even—?”

“Bismuth helped with a lot of it,” he says with a bit of a laugh, moving to sit on the couch again. (She follows suit, gently laying his handiwork on the table before them.) “She let me use some of her tools, and even found the original mold for your sword for me to take measurements from. Those fittings?” he points towards the metal in question, a little dented and uneven in shape, but undeniably sturdy. “Took five attempts to get right. I kept cooling them too fast.”

“Is this real leather?” she marvels, continuing to admire the nearly smooth, flat grain texture.

“Actually, yes,” he nods. “I wouldn’t usually spring for the real stuff, but… well, my uncle had a bunch of old hides he wasn’t using that he inherited from his grandfather. And then, fun fact, the core of this doesn’t even come from Earth at all! It’s sourced from some fallen trees on one of the restored Kyanite Cluster colonies. Supposed to be some of the lightest yet durable wood out there.”

Her eyes outright glisten under the intensity of all the effervescent emotions coursing through her veins. “So you’re saying you made me a scabbard from complete scratch with heirloom leather and space wood?”

“Do you… like it?” he says, rocking back and forth in his seat, no doubt probing every last facet of her expression to try and decipher her truest sentiments on his gift.

She throws out her arms in want of an embrace. “Are you kidding? I fucking love it!”

Pure, undiluted adoration surges straight through her very heart as she outright throws herself at her boyfriend, clutching upon the thick woolen folds of his jacket as she nuzzles her chin at the crook of his neck, her slow exhale radiating warmth against his skin.

She’s no stranger to an unexpected lavish gift— she remembers with fondness that day her parents surprised her with a violin, or the delicately embroidered sari her mother got her for her twelfth birthday.

But this gift… this gift was made especially for her, and the sheer sentimentality of that realization has her falling in love with this boy all over again.

“All this tooling,” she asks a few moments later, once they’ve ended their embrace. “Steven, how long did this even take you?”

A small laugh— perhaps in disbelief at the vast scope of his own handiwork— bubbles through the beginning of his reply. “Many, many weeks. I just followed some TubeTube tutorials for the bulk of it. It was nice, though— a surprisingly stress relieving outlet.”

She nods. “Yeah, I bet.”

At that point, Steven glances aside, giving (in the context of this otherwise joyous little moment) an uncharacteristically heavy exhale. Her lips curve into a frown as she studies him, his expression growing all pensive and line-y like it does whenever he’s reflecting on more personal matters. Hmm. What’s he noodlin’ about this time?

Thankfully, for once she doesn’t have to ask.

“Connie, I— you’ve been such a source of strength for me these past months,” he begins, endlessly wringing his fingers together in his lap, “and… I guess I just wanted to make you something to say that— well, that I see you. And I thank you. And that I’m so, so eternally indebted to you.”

“You’re not indebted to me, silly,” she says in the softest tone she can manage, capturing both his hands within hers, calming their nervous fidgeting. “This gift is really thoughtful and sweet and I adore every inch of it, but please— in the future, please don’t feel like you have to ‘make up’ for anything. I’m choosing to stand by your side through all this, remember? And you know why?”

The barest hint of a smile blooms across his face, the tips of his ears turning beet red.

“Because you love me very, very dearly and I need to stop listening to my jerk ass brain—?” he echoes her own line sheepishly, voice cracking at the edges like it hasn’t since he finally got his growth spurt.

“You said it yourself, mister. Now come ‘ere, you—“

With a soft giggle, she pulls him forward by the lapels of his jacket and plants a chaste kiss against his lips.

She can tell he’s not quite at a stage of recovery where he’s emotionally capable of understanding why, but one thing’s for damn sure:

She’d say yes to this boy for a thousand eternities.

[lostcauses-noregrets]

SnK Final Episode thoughts

A few thoughts about the final episode of SnK now the dust has started to settle.  Although it was the anime that first got me into the series, I’m really a manga first kinda fan, I enjoy the anime, but it’s always been a nice addition for me.  Also, while I was very ambivalent about the ending of the manga and had a LOT of things to say about it at the time, I’ve more or less made my peace with it.  All of which is to say that I went into the final episode without any particular expectations. I was excited to see the series draw to a close, hoped they wouldn’t mess up Levi’s ending, and was curious to see the much touted changes. 

I have to say, I really enjoyed it. The action sequences around the Attack Titan were breathtaking and the rumbling was genuinely horrifying. The pacing was good and it felt a lot shorter than the 90 minute running time. The voice acting was fabulous; Yuki Kaji, Yui Ishikawa, Marina Inoue and Hiroshi Kamiya really knocked it out of the park. 

Jean and Connie were really touching.  I loved the way that they kept harking back to what it meant to be a Scout.  Reiner was fabulous too. I had a lot more sympathy for him by the end of the episode than I’ve had throughout the series.  The expression on his face when Jean said they were all Scouts was really moving. Pieck is my best girl, as always, but I’m afraid I still haven’t warmed to Annie, I guess I never will.  Gabi seemed to be a lot less prominent than I remembered from the manga, but her scenes with Falco and Levi were great.  It’s no secret that I’ve never been fond of Armin, however I thought he came across really well in the episode.  His conversation with Zeke in paths made a lot more sense and was actually really touching,  Kudos to Marina Inoue for her amazing voice acting. 

Levi was perfect in every single frame.  You really got the impression that he was fighting with every last fibre of his being, despite his catastrophic injuries, and of course he never forgot his vow to Erwin.  The moment when he finally killed Zeke was *chef’s kiss*.

Levi’s final salute was absolutely devastating. I completely choked up watching the subbed episode on CR, even though I’d already seen the raw and had been capping the scene all day.  The final image of Erwin and the Wings of Freedom fading into the mist had me in pieces.  The choice of theDOGS as the soundtrack for this scene just added to the pathos as Erwin’s character song, Hope of Mankind, is an arrangement of this track.  

The change to Levi’s ending was very unexpected, but I really liked it.  I’d always wondered how that city at the end of the manga survived unscathed.  It seemed more realistic to see Levi, Onyankopon, Gabi and Falco in the refugee encampment.  It’s also fully in keeping with Levi’s compassionate character for him to be contributing to the reconstruction efforts, and of course it all ties in with what we’ve seen of Bad Boy. (It’s also pretty much exactly how I imagined Levi’s post war life in The Permanence of the Young Men.)  Seeing Levi handing out sweets to children who bear such a close resemblance to Ramzi and Halil was really touching.  I’ve seen some people complaining that the lollipop scene was a jarring note of humour that seemed out of place, but I didn’t see it like that.  I interpreted it as Levi remembering children like Ramzi, and perhaps even recalling the trauma of his own childhood.  I’ve seen some interesting discussion on twitter linking Levi’s reaction to the clown in Marley to the few sketchy panels of Bad Boy and suggesting that rather than being pissed at being mistaken for a child, Levi was triggered by something traumatic that happened in his own childhood. Isayama rarely draws anything unintentionally, so we’ll have to wait and see. 

Having said all that...much as I enjoyed the episode, it didn’t change my opinion of the ending (which you can read here if you’re a real glutton for punishment).  I really appreciated the change to Armin’s dialogue when he confronted Eren in Paths.  The scene in the manga where he thanks Eren for becoming a mass murderer for their sakes still leaves a bad taste, so that change was greatly appreciated. I also liked the fact that Armin said they wouldn’t be the heroes Eren wanted them to be, though in actual fact this is the role they take on. The fact that Armin and the others were so quick to forgive Eren still really sticks in my craw, if anything, it was even more jarring in the anime after seeing how hard they had fought to stop him.  The same goes for Armin telling Mikasa to find a good place for Eren to rest quietly.  I’m sorry, but I’m not sure Eren deserves to rest in peace. 

Eren himself was pathetic in every sense of the word, just as he is in the manga, but I think he explains his fucked up rationale a bit more clearly in the anime.  I have seen some criticism that Eren is a poor villain because he lacks any coherent ideology, other than some vague nonsensical notion of “freedom”, but that’s the whole point. Eren isn’t a tragic villain or an evil genius with a masterplan, he really is just a kid who had too much power and didn’t know what to do with it.  

There’s nothing I can really say about Mikasa, she was as dignified and tragic as she is in the manga.  However I thought the connection between the Founder Ymir and Mikasa was, if anything, even more obscure in the anime.  I can’t help wondering what anime only fans make of it. I’m also not sure I liked the way the anime handled the extra scenes at the end. It was quite clever to include them as the credits rolled, but it did rather lessen their impact. I think I’d have preferred to see them full screen. 

I know there’s been a lot of criticism with the way MAPPA animated the characters, particularly in comparison to JJK, but tbh I have little patience with that.  With the notable exception of Levi, SnK has never been a pretty boy anime so the comparison to JJK seems misplaced.  Although I will always prefer WIT’s style, I think MAPPA did a good job of incorporating some of Isayama’s art style in the animation, particularly the exaggerated facial expressions he sometimes draws. 

And finally on to that scene with Erwin.  The level of outrage at the way Erwin was drawn in the scene where Levi recalls his vow was quite something.  I have several Anons in my inbox claiming that MAPPA have a deliberate anti-Erwin bias, which is nonsense.  Admittedly MAPPA’s Erwin does suffer in comparison with WIT’s season 3 Erwin who was magnificent, however even WIT didn’t manage to draw Erwin consistently.  I think some fans have been quick to forget just how wonky Erwin sometimes looked in earlier seasons of the anime.  Also as I said in this post, it’s important to remember that Levi is in the depths of despair when he remembers Erwin at this point, as he has convinced himself that he has failed him.  Erwin always looks beautiful and serene when Levi remembers him; this is the one exception. The bleak expression on Erwin’s face is a reflection of Levi’s state of mind, not some hidden agenda on MAPPA’s part.  If we’d had soft shoujo Erwin in this scene, it wouldn’t really have conveyed Levi’s despair. The fact that we did get a close-up of the most beautiful soft shoujo Erwin at the end is hopefully enough to appease the critics. 

So thems my thoughts. If you’ve had the patience to read to the end of this ramble, thank you.  However you look at it, it's been a wild ride and I'm very grateful to have been along for the trip. One last word for people who are concerned the fandom will die now the season has ended. Don't worry, it won't. It will change, but change is inevitable in fandoms. However the characters and story that Isayama has created are easily compelling enough to capture fans for years to come.

[clouds-of-wings]

Ugh, Missy has to "take over" and "step up" and "play the mommy role" and everyone's acting like it's cute when she's actually getting parentified to hell and back. I already wrote last season about how Missy bears the brunt of all the dysfunction in the family, but now it's reaching an entirely different level. Why does a 13 year old have to play the mommy? Dad can't do it? Grandma can't do it? Even Mandy, who's 30, can't do it? No, the youngest non-baby in the house has to shoulder all the responsibility so everyone else can keep being immature and childish. And don't tell me they're all just broken up about the tornado. First of all, Missy is probably just as stressed by it as everyone else except for Connie, and secondly - they knew well in advance Mary was going away. Did they not make plans for who was going to do the work of the woman who single-handedly kept the house tidy, kept everyone fed, decided all disputes and made everyone do their chores?

I'm (obviously) not saying she should not be expected to help out in the household and pick up some of her mother's chores (as should everyone else), but the way she has to basically do everything, coordinate everything and force everyone else to help her isn't good. Also, the whole thing would be a lot less bad if all the emotional tension in the family weren't an element in the plot. A teen girl doing more in the household than normal for a few months isn't that bad. A teen girl who already keeps apologizing for having emotions, who is already struggling with the family situation, having to coordinate the household of the people who refuse to give her any care is bad. At the very least they should have distributed the tasks in advance, when Mary was still there.

The thing is, just like Missy's arc last season, this is a very realistic way for things to progress in a family that's falling apart - all the emotional and organizational burden is being shouldered by the only daughter. Mary is well-established as caring mostly about Sheldon, George is well-established as the stereotypical sitcom dad who has a good heart when it's easy but tries to get out of household work whenever he can, to have as few responsibilities as possible, only being forced to cosplay an adult by his boss and his wife. Missy, as I said in my other post, is established to be perceptive, sensitive and socially attuned and it makes total sense that she would slip naturally into the mommy role when no one else picks up the slack. What bothers me is how this is portrayed as cute or natural. Missy is 13 and has enough problems already. Life forcing her to take care of people who don't seem to give a shit about her - and just to point this out once more, everyone except for the baby is WAY older than she is - will make things even worse for her.

Narrator Sheldon said last season that Missy kept sneaking out at night that summer despite promising not to, that she secretly got a piercing - her life is very taxing for her, no one shows her any care or understanding and having to take over all household duties on top of that is breaking her emotional back.

Really, I will link the parentification thing once more just so that maybe 1% instead of 0.5% of people click it.

[daisynik7]

Title: Trying

Pairing: Mike Zacharias x f!reader

Rating: Explicit

cw: breeding kink, daddy kink, slight spit play, overall Mike being a lovely, doting husband. Modern setting au. Mikasa/Jean, Erwin/Levi, Ymir/Christa as minor side pairings because I adore them

Summary: You and your husband get ready for the next big step in your relationship.

Notes: I wrote this on a whim because I’m obsessed with this man. Consider this a small love letter to him and all the Mike fans (especially the ones who are reading my Eren series “Rush”, sorry y’all 🫣) 

ao3 link

----------

Today, you and your husband Mike are attending your best friend’s baby shower. Mikasa is due in about a month, looking like a glowing goddess carrying her round belly and wearing a permanent grin on her face. Jean, her spouse and father-to-be, is equally as excited, maybe even more. He constantly posts updates on social media about how his “gorgeous queen and little bun in the oven” are doing. 

Arriving to the party, your own husband, Mike, displays his odd quirk by sniffing your best friend as soon as you greet the soon to be parents. “It’s a girl. I can smell it.”

You roll your eyes at him, embarrassed as usual, but always amused. “Honey, that’s creepy.”

Mikasa and Jean laugh. “We’re just hoping for a healthy baby. The gender doesn’t matter.”

“Then, in that case, they smell perfectly healthy,” he says, smiling. “Congratulations.”

In your friend group, Mikasa is not the first to have children. Christa and Ymir already have twins, currently glued to the TV in the living room watching Sesame Street. Erwin and Levi recently adopted a little baby boy, who is being cradled by Eren and cooed at by Armin in the kitchen. And Hange has her adorable daughter, conceived via sperm donor, helping Sasha and Connie bake cookies in the kitchen.

You can’t help but be afflicted with a small case of baby fever. It’s inevitable, seeing all these adorable children running around the house. You’ve been married to Mike for two years now, still enjoying marital life with just the two of you. But you’d be lying to yourself if you said you haven’t been thinking about it recently. 

It’s not that Mike isn’t ready. It’s you. He’s waiting for you to be ready. He’s mentioned it a few times, asking if you’re still on birth control, patiently anticipating the day you finally answer no. Nowadays, he doesn’t ask, allowing you to the be the one to bring it up first. If anything, Mike wants to start trying. You finally realize you want to start too. 

Later, when the party is over and you’re back home, you hide your birth control pills in one of your cluttered drawers. The one where all knickknacks that are destined to be forgotten are collected. You delete the alarm on your phone, reminding you to “TAKE BC!!” every night at 9:00 PM. You’re not sure if you’re ready to tell Mike just yet, wanting to use at least one good night’s rest to plan it all out.  

However, he doesn’t give you a choice. Mike, being an astute, attentive, and sometimes annoyingly observant husband, makes a comment as soon as it reaches 9:01 PM. You’re both sitting on the couch, watching an episode of one of your favorite shows while eating ice cream.

“Your alarm didn’t ring. Don’t forget to take your birth control.”

You don’t respond right away, pretending not to hear him. Of course, he doesn’t give in. Just as persistent as ever.

“Sweetie? Did you hear me? Your birth control?”

Biting your lip, attempting to hide an obvious smile, you lick your spoonful of ice cream before revealing, “I’m going to stop taking it, starting tonight.” 

He blinks, surprised and almost doubtful about what you just said. “What?”

“I think I’m ready, honey.” You set down your mug on the coffee table to wrap your arms around his neck. “Let’s try. I want to start making babies with you.”

He leans in closer to you, voice soft and tender as he asks, “You’re 100% positive that you’re ready, right? You’re not feeling pressured or anything? Because we can wait. We’ll wait until you’re ready.”

Your smile widens as you nod your head. “I’m 1000% certain I’m ready.”

The grin on his face is so goofy and adorable, it gives you the same swell in your chest you used to get when you first fell in love with him. That you still get whenever you’re with him. You kiss each other slowly, passionately. Wanting to relish the emotions surrounding this profound moment in your relationship. 

You feel him smile against your lips, absolutely giddy over the news. One hand slides around your waist, the other caresses your belly. “I can’t wait to see you pregnant with our kids.”

It sounds like an innocent, pure statement. But knowing your husband and being familiar with the sultry tone he currently exudes, you know what he wants to do with you in this moment. 

Wrapping your legs around him, you tease him with a smirk. “I just stopped the pill today, so it’ll take a few months or even longer before I’m able to get pregnant.”

“We’ll see,” he challenges. “Besides, it doesn’t hurt to try right away, right?”

“I guess not,” you respond, fingers pulling at the hem of his shirt. He gets the hint and strips instantly, leaning over you to kiss you more, tongue slipping inside your mouth sloppily. His body is heavy on top of you, surrounding you with warmth and protection that he so often provides. With his lips grazing your ear, he whispers, “You want my babies inside you? Is that what you want?”

You swallow hard, feeling your arousal leak onto your panties, horny and desperate for him. “Yes, Mike. Give it to me. Make me pregnant.”

It’s impossible for you to get pregnant tonight, or even probably for the next few months. You’re fully aware of that. But this still doesn’t deter you from having nasty, unprotected sex with your husband and, hopefully, soon-to-be baby daddy. And talking dirty like this is a huge turn on for you both, so you’ll be damned if you don’t take full advantage of it. 

Soon, all your clothes are tossed to the floor, abandoned ice cream melting away on the coffee table. Mike has your legs hoisted up towards your shoulders in a mating press, pounding away at your wet pussy. Drool leaks down the sides of your mouth as you let your moans echo into the empty space of your living room. 

“Mike!” you whimper, dizzy from ecstasy as he hits your sweet spot over and over again.

“No. Not Mike. Use my other name, honey,” he grunts out, grip tight on your thighs as he thrusts his cock in and out of you. 

“Daddy,” you whine, feeling your climax approaching. 

“That’s it. Take my fucking cock, take my fucking cock.”

“Fuck,” you breathe out, coming all over him. He doesn’t stop. Instead, he picks up his pace, riled up from your orgasm, needy for his own. 

“You want to become a mommy, don’t you? Have my sperm swimming around in this precious little cunt?” He gazes down at your arousal, letting his spit trickle over your clit. “Touch yourself while I fuck you. I want it nice and juicy while I fill you up.”

“Oh my god, Mike. Fuck me. Fuck me, daddy,” you moan, taking it like an obedient slut, fingers reaching down to flick your already puffy clit. 

“I’m going to breed you. Get you fucking pregnant with my babies. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, honey?” he growls, eyes wild with lust as he rails you deeper and deeper. 

“Yes, daddy. I’d love that. I love you.”

He lets out an exasperated laugh. “I love you so much, princess. Can’t wait to see this belly big and round. I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time. Been fantasizing about it.” 

You can’t speak, words not enough to express the affection you have for your husband. It’s been two years of marital bliss and every day still feels like paradise together. 

“I’m going to come, honey. Going to fill you up, okay?”

You wrap yourself around him tighter, waiting for his cock to spurt his warm load into your pussy. The sensation of being stuffed with him always pushes you over the edge. You come once more, his softening cock still nestled inside you. 

His smirks as he lowers your legs, pulling his dick out slowly. Any cum that drips out of you is promptly fingered back in, Mike determined to get you pregnant tonight. Again, it’s impossible, but you appreciate his effort and tenacity.

A few months later, after countless nights of trying, you surprise him with a positive pregnancy test. The overjoyed smile on his face as he squeezes your now pregnant body in his loving embrace is something you’ll have stored in your memory forever.  

----------

End Notes: I love him, I love him, I love him.

[seeingivy]

better than revenge

actor!eren x f!reader

**part of my method acting fic

previous part linked here

an: this is 11k and tweets on tweets. buckle in. if you find the typo in the tweets shut up

songs mentioned: see you again by tyler the creator ft. kali uchis, end game by taylor swift, and vampire by olivia rodrigo

--

The following morning, the buzzing energy in the townhouse is almost palpable. Not only because you’ve finally completed the set and the last four people have arrived – Erwin, Bertholdt, Ymir, and Historia – but it seems that your intense energy from the night prior seemed to have transferred over to everyone else. 

You’re almost too embarrassed to walk downstairs to the frantic chatter – that coupled with the fact that you’ve heard Connie name drop you almost four times – and it seems that Eren seems to be feeling the same when you walk out into the hallway to find him awkwardly lingering by his  door. 

“Hey.” 

Eren looks up, thrown out of his spiral of thoughts, as he gives you a smile and then looks down at your lip. It’s a little sore, the tiniest bit swollen from the tattoos that you got yesterday, and you can see that his is the same. 

“Hi princess. How’s your lip?” Eren asks. 

“Good. I guess I should be thankful that your name is only four letters and not nine letters like Bertholdt or something.” 

Eren smiles. 

“Let’s see it then.” Eren responds. 

You oblige his request, pulling down to show him the inner of your lip and watch as he smiles at the little ink. He follows suit after, making a rather dramatic display of crouching down to your height before pulling his own lip and showing you his. 

“You know, life really does imitate art. Because now, my name really will be forever on your lips.” you respond. 

“I sure hope not. You’d be slashing my head off sometime in the near future if that were true.” 

You smile. 

“You know, that doesn’t sound that bad to me.” 

“But you have to kiss me after. You know, if it were up to me, I think life should imitate art. Like at least ten times, for scientific purposes.” Eren responds, shrugging as he gestures for you to follow him. 

You shake your head, inexplicably unable to respond to the harmless flirting this time around, as you gesture for him to join you downstairs. The two of you walk in tandem down the steps, sparing each other one last smile, before you get hounded by the likes of Connie and Jean. 

And surely enough, the second you make it down to the kitchen and the dining table at the side, you’re met with the sight of Connie air-playing fan edits on the TV screen for everyone to watch. 

You and Eren take the spot behind Connie on the couch, and Eren smacks him on the backside of his head, before you two watch the edit. It’s of Eren singing Glimpse of Us in the background, except the video’s edited to be showing videos of him and Hyla, before juxtaposing them with videos of him and you. 

“Speak of the fucking devils. Don’t tell me you actually got matching lip tattoos? I’m half convinced you assholes are just lying to piss me off at this point.” Connie asks. 

The two of you look over and grin at each other. 

“Why are you watching fancams of us on the TV?” you ask. 

“Edit accounts are a form of art. Look at this one.” Connie responds, sliding to the next video on his phone. 

This one is in a similar vein, videos of you and Eren from the red carpet to the backdrop of you singing Style. You’re not sure what it is, but the video fills you with an insurmountable amount of joy, especially when Connie scrolls up the comments – most of them being about how people can’t stand how Eren seems to look at you. 

“Connie. Why have you watched this entire YouTube video?” Eren asks, pointing to the little thumbnail at the side. 

You follow the line of vision to where he’s pointing to an hour long video, entitled “eren and y/n creating love for an hour straight.” 

“There’s no way you watched that entire thing.” you respond. 

“Watched it? Bitch, I recorded half of those videos for Y/N-Jaegers back in the day. Please put some respect on my name.” Connie sneers, as he leans forward to put the video on. 

You turn to Eren, as the gears start turning in your head. You can tell that he’s following your lead – in fact, thinking the same exact thing as you – as you discuss it over. 

“I mean, kind of makes sense. S’how we did it the first time.” Eren responds. 

“I’d argue that it’s almost poetic to do it the same way. Plus, the resurgence of Y/N-Jaegers would be crazy, just for PR sake.” 

“I agree.” 

Eren reaches forward, yanking on Connie’s ear to catch his attention. He leans back, before swatting Eren off, and standing to face the two of you. 

“Do you have your phone, Connie?” Eren asks. 

“Yeah.” Connie responds. 

“Then, use it.” Eren responds. 

You give him a grin, waiting for Connie – who albeit, in his confusion lifts his phone – before you both pull down your lips and show off your new tattoos. You watch as Connie’s eyes nearly boggle out of head as he moves closer to the two of you, his excited voice filling the entire room as the group of them all start huddling around you. 

Mai and Mikasa look positively appalled, quietly whispering about how painful that must have been, while Reiner and Sasha break out into their own side tangent about how oppressive lip tattoos must be since they limit your food options so greatly. 

You and Eren laugh as you shuffle back into the kitchen, leaving the group of them to their devices as Connie uploads the video, and the two of you reach for the yogurt in the fridge. The piping hot, spicy ramen seemed like it was just going to burn your entire lip off, so you decided against that for today. 

You lean forward to read the little schedule on the fridge, though the filming is considerably light for the week. Considering the fact that almost everyone was here now, or arriving within the next hour, you were going into serious rehearsals for the ensemble showcase that you had planned. Though you were really only in it for one verse. 

Wednesday, March 27th, 10:00 

Eren and Y/N - REDACTED #1 

You frown. 

“What the hell is redacted number one?” 

Eren spins to the side, crouching down so his chin is just hovering over your shoulder. And the fact that he lowers his voice, to the gravelly octave, makes the hair on your arms stand up on its ends. 

“Levi not talk to you about this yet?” 

“No. We’re too busy talking about award show stuff. You know how he loves to lecture.” 

Eren looks over at you, his eyes borderline smoldering, as you can’t help but look away. It was getting harder and harder to look at Eren after your godforsaken realization last night.  

“From what I hear, what they’re lecturing you about is actually very valid.” Eren responds. 

You scoff. 

“You know, they’re so annoying. I’d appreciate it if they kept my conversations with them as private as they keep their conversations with you.” you respond. 

“Well, they were actually trying to get me to convince you to not use your triple threat performance on me. Not when you’re already performing twice that day, with me at the centerpoint.” Eren responds. 

When you had first pitched your idea for the awards show to them – and humbly begged them to give their ensemble showcase moment up to include the Jujutsu Kaisen cast – you had let them know that your intentions were from the get go. 

And when Eren had created the perfect segway for them with the song requests, Hange had slipped theirs in a week prior with maybe the most difficult request that you had been given yet. 

write a song about danny and sareen 

And even more than just writing it, Hange had made it very clear that they were expecting you to sing it at the award’s show at the end when you finally got to do your triple threat performance. That you couldn’t sing another song about Eren, when winning that award, was always going to be about them. 

Hange’s more theatrical than Levi. Because Levi just gave you the cue card that they have read off of that night, that had your name on it. But Hange had gone the full ten miles and given you the little trophy that you never even got to hold, with the note that came attached from the Institute. 

You can still see it now in the dull, gold looping. 

Dear Y/N, Danny, and Sareen,  Congratulations on your accomplishment! Included in the box is the trophy and a golden glass case to display it in. Please call the offices on Glass Avenue to discuss timings for interviews and your performance at one of our four award shows next year.  Best,  The Institute 

And annoyingly enough – despite the fact that it was your name on the trophy, their names were inscribed on the box. 

It was enough to irritate you into writing the song that Hange wanted you to sing. And at this point, you were itching to give them a run for their money too. 

“They didn’t need you to convince me. I gave in eventually.” you respond. 

Eren shrugs, before dipping his own spoon into your yogurt. Eren had instinctively given up the last strawberry one because it’s your favorite, but clearly, wasn’t very attached to his decision.  

“I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to make it about Danny and Sareen in the first place.” Eren responds. 

You shrug, leaning against the back of the fridge. The metal is cold on your back, as you let the freezing cold yogurt soothe the burning in your mouth. 

“Well, I only came back here for Marco. Because he won’t ever get to act again. Then when I started to do this, I was only doing it for you – because you did it for me first.” you respond. 

“And now?” 

“I thought back to what Historia had said to me, when she finally dragged me out of that house the first time. She had brought up Hange’s speech, the one way back when that made me even interested in acting in the first place. About showing the real you and all that.” you respond. 

“And?” Eren asks. 

“Well, Hange brought that up to me, when I originally said I wanted the third song to be about you. Not that you’re not important to me, but…being a triple threat was what I always wanted. And really at the core of it, I just wanted to be as unapologetic as  Hange was. I guess when they put it that way, it was almost stupid not to make the song about them when they’re the one who got to take the sanctity of that award away from me.” 

Eren smiles. And before he can respond, you’re tackled by two pairs of arms nearly strangling you around your neck, your line of vision telling you that Eren’s experiencing the same bombardment. Ymir and Bertholdt are shaking his entire frame and jumping at his side – and your ears don’t deceive you when you hear Historia and Erwin bellowing in your ear. 

You pull back, wrapping your hands around Historia’s face. 

“You crazy bitch. Don’t tell me you actually got a fucking tattoo again?” Historia asks. 

You grin, pulling down your lip to show the group of them. 

“Well, I’d be a fucking liar if I said that.” you respond. 

Erwin, in his theatrics, places a hand over his chest and the other one on the top of your head. 

“That’s my girl. Always had such a sound moral compass.” Erwin responds. 

You can’t help but wrap your arms around him as Erwin lifts his hand and gestures for Eren to join him at the other side. He still smells the same – the lingering scent of Old Spice deodorant and a very husky perfume. And when he pulls back, you can’t help but feel your heart squelch when he puts a hand on both of your cheeks and beams down at you two. 

“You’ve always been our little trail blazers, you two. I’m so proud of you two.” 

You turn to Eren and smile, before looking back at Erwin. 

“We’re proud of you too, Erwin!” Eren responds. 

You turn your head to the side, giving Eren a confused look. 

“Don’t flatter me, Eren. I’m not above crying in front of you children.” Erwin responds. 

“I’m offended you would even think that, Erwin. Don’t you know who I am?” Eren responds. 

You shake your head as you turn towards Ymir and Bertholdt at your side and leave Eren and Erwin to hype each other up for what was probably going to be the next thirty minutes at your side. You had already given up trying to understand Eren and Erwin’s relationship years prior. 

“Hey, kid.” Ymir says. 

“I’m older than you.” you respond. 

“Yeah, yeah whatever. I have someone I want you to meet.” Ymir responds. 

You follow her line of vision to the opening of the kitchen, to find someone lingering against the frame of the door. There’s a girl standing there, with tan skin and a short pixie cut – nervously knitting her fingers together. She’s smiling at you, rather brightly, and you can't help but feel like you’ve met her before. 

“Y/N. This is Sofia, my fiance. Sofia, this is Y/N.” Ymir states, gesturing for the two of you to shake hands. 

You oblige, her hand warm and the shake firm, as you try to hide the shock in your face. With the rush of everything that was going on, the information that Mikasa had shared with you days prior had been floating around in the back of your mind but you were never able to ask Eren to put it to rest. 

And now there was another lingering question mark hanging. 

That Ymir had proposed to Historia, but that she said no. That she begged her and Historia couldn’t bring herself to do it. But even despite that, they were still sleeping on the same mattress when you came back for the first time, for Marco’s funeral. 

And now she’s engaged to someone else. 

“Hi Sofia. My name is Y/N. It’s really nice to meet you.” 

Her eyes light up as she squeezes your hand, which you now realize is still locked in with hers, as you look back up at her and smile. 

“It’s really nice to meet you too.” she responds. 

“You know, you look really familiar, but I can’t exactly place why.” you murmur. 

You look to your side to find Ymir grinning at Sofia, as Sofia can’t help but groan in response. 

“I told you she would remember you.” Ymir states. 

“That doesn’t count as remembering me! A lot of people can look familiar to people!” Sofia responds. 

You smile, rubbing your palms together, as you look at the two of them. The thought of Historia a few feet away talking to Jean and Mikasa has you sweating, nervously passing your eyes over just to make sure that she wasn’t watching the entire interaction go down. 

“Have I met you before?” you ask. 

Sofia sighs, the slightest pink tint in the apples of her cheeks. 

“This is so embarrassing. I met you and Eren a couple years back, at one of those conventions with the panels and stuff and –” 

The recognition is instant. 

“Oh my god! You were wearing a shirt with my face on it! With your sister, right?” you respond. 

“I fucking told you she would remember! She has really good memory.” Ymir responds, this time goading her on. 

You shake your head at Ymir, before placing your hands on both of her biceps and squeezing. 

“Sofia, wait. I really remember that because it actually meant the world to me at the time. I’m sure you…know about Scott Clarkson and all that mess and –” 

“I want that man dead and I’m so serious.” Sofia deadpans. 

You laugh. 

“You and me, both. But yeah, that day was actually the first time that Eren and I had ever met him in person. And the entire event in general was just so uncomfortable and left a weird taste in my mouth and you…you really made me feel like I was doing something important and I actually thought about it for a really long time.” you respond. 

Sofia smiles, before she reaches forward and wraps her arms around you. The embrace is overwhelmingly warm, as you eye Ymir behind her back, who's just shaking her head at her demeanor, almost insinuating that this was what she did all the time. 

“I’m really glad. I really meant what I said back then and I’ve always been a big supporter all this time. You’re really brave and courageous and –” Sofia stars. 

“Okay, Sof. Enough. You’re going to make poor Y/N’s head bigger than it already is.” Ymir groans, as you turn back to your side. 

“That’s really sweet of you. How is your sister?” you ask. 

You’re not sure what it is, but it’s almost like you’ve thrown ice on the little warmth that was pooling in the conversation. Because her face slightly droops and Ymir’s quick to put a hand on her shoulder in comfort. 

“Ah. She passed away a few years ago.” Sofia mumbles. 

“Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up and –” 

She smiles, enough to give you the faintest glimpse of her dimples. They remind you of Eren. 

“That’s okay. That’s actually where I met Ymir. At the grief group.” she responds. 

“You went to a grief group?” you ask. 

“Well, not originally. I was there with a friend, a while before Marco died. Met her there. We were already dating when Marco passed away, but…we just figured it wasn’t the best idea for Sofia to come to the funeral with…you know. Historia.” Ymir responds. 

So why did she sleep with Historia on the mattress? 

“I’m glad you’re here with us now. It’s really nice to meet you. And I love weddings, if Ymir can humble herself enough to invite me to hers.” you respond. 

“Shut up, bitch. You’re so annoying.” Ymir responds. 

That’s what she says. But it sounds more like are you crazy? Of course, you’re invited. 

“Anyways, I hope you come to set later. Eren and I are going to be filming something if you want to watch.” 

“For sure. I’d love to see it.” Sofia responds. 

You look over your shoulder to find Levi, Hange, and Eren waiting near the edge of the kitchen island, gesturing for you to come over now that you’ve caught their attention. And as the four of you embark out towards the set, Levi explains what redacted scenes are to you. 

You spare Historia one last glance as you walk off the set and can’t help but feel a bitter taste in your mouth at the longing look she’s giving Ymir. 

--

--

“You know, this sounds an awful lot like method acting to me.” you murmur, spotting the sly grin on Levi’s face. 

“Eren told me not to call it that. He said you might strangle me. Or him. Or both of us combined.” 

“He would be right about that.” you respond. 

He’s leaning against the edge of the vanity, as the makeup team tasks themself with drying and prepping your hair to perfection, while Levi coaches you through what you now understand are the two redacted scenes that Levi has asked you and Eren to film. 

You just think it’s lazy script writing. Levi thinks you’re annoying for calling it that. 

With your combined permission of course, Levi has decided to let you method act through the two scenes that he originally had planned out. While he was allegedly entirely faithful in your ability to deliver lines, he wanted to see if what the two of you could produce out of real shock, in the moment as your characters, was something better than what he could write. 

Hence, the vague scene that you and Eren were going to be filming. To your understanding, the pair of them were each going to give you and Eren a set of prompts and you were just supposed to act your way through the scene based on what they told you to do. 

“Can I know my prompt then?” you ask. 

“You understand, right?” Levi clarifies. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m just supposed to go based on what you tell me.” 

Levi hops off of the counter, this time leaning closer so that you can actually make eye contact with him in your line of vision. 

“But really. I don’t care how badly you want to say something else. You…you have to go based on the direction that I tell you.” Levi responds. 

It’s almost annoying, the way he’s coddling you through the entire thing. 

“Okay, I get it. This is my entire job, you know?” you respond. 

Levi scoffs. 

“Fine. Eren’s going to ask you something. I want you to shoot him down.” Levi states. 

You lean your head to the side, much to the annoyance of the makeup artist, who moves your neck back into place. You shoot her an apologetic smile, before thinking back to Levi. 

“You want me to shoot him down?” you ask. 

“He’s going to ask you something. Or insinuate it – and no matter how badly you want to do whatever it is, you have to tell him no.” 

Levi gives you a curt nod before he walks back out to the set to put things in place, as you put the outfit resting on the hangar on. You reach up to mess with the little fringe of your bangs, pulling down the undershirt and the jacket as you prepare yourself for the scene. 

When you walk out on set, the group of them are all sitting on the sidelines, giving you excited smiles. You give Sofia a little wave at the front of the sidelines, returning the little finger hearts that Gabi and Falco point towards you as you reach for your cue. 

And when Levi calls action, the lights on the entire set dimming and the chatter breaking down to silence, you can feel your heart pounding in your chest as you see Eren at the top of the little landing, his back facing towards you. 

“Eren! Everyone has been looking everywhere for you!” 

At the sound of your voice, Eren lifts his hand to his face and sniffles, almost like he’s wiping away tears, before you stand at his side. He refuses to meet your eyes and now that you’re standing at his side, you’re not sure how you missed this before. 

They cut Eren’s hair. 

A small part of it – because it’s out of the usual man bun that he’s been sporting since you came back to set and instead loosely frames the sides of his face. 

It might be your favorite look yet. And all you can do is stare. 

He still refuses to meet your eye, withholding it from you. You follow his gaze to the bottom of the landing, to see the kid that Levi had introduced you to a week prior, who was going to play Ramzi in the script. You had yet to film the scene – since you’re almost positive that Levi was going out of order at this point to save time and note it. 

“The boy from the market? What happened?” you ask. 

“Nothing yet.” Eren responds. 

Eren’s voice has that same gravel, almost hollow, like he did the day that you filmed the table scene. It’s almost haunting when his voice sounds like that – so devoid of motion and strained that it makes your chest pang. 

You wonder if that’s what he sounded like in the years that you didn’t talk. 

“What do you mean? Wh-what is this place?” you ask. 

“After the war left them with no home, they all gathered here to live. They’re just like us.” 

Eren’s throat bobs at your side and you can feel his eyes clenching in your peripheral vision. 

“One day, their regular lives ended and everything was taken away from them. They were deprived of all of their freedoms.” Eren states. 

And almost in a split second, Eren finally averted his gaze from looking down and meets your eyes for the first time. You’re not sure what it is – surely something from the makeup team that’s making his eyes look fuller, rounder – but the eye contact is almost excruciating this time. Your first instinct is to turn away. 

“Y/N. Why do you care so much about me?” 

You can feel your cheeks burning. That was the last thing you were expecting him to say. 

“Huh?” you repeat. 

“Is it because I saved you when we were little? Or is it because I’m your family?” 

You swallow hard, the block in your throat stifling. It’s almost like you can’t even push air out of it, like you’re opening your mouth to try and nothing can make it past – enough to fill you with a panic like you won’t ever speak again. Because you have the faintest inkling of what’s going to come next…why Levi was so adamant on asking if you would be able to follow his instructions. 

“I-” 

“What am I to you?” Eren asks. 

Everything. 

It’s the first word that comes to mind when he asks. 

“Ev–” 

You pause, as you feel the sweat accumulating on the edge of your hairline, fighting the urge to reach up to wipe it off. Levi’s voice is excruciating in your head. 

He’s going to ask you something. Or insinuate it – and no matter how badly you want to do whatever it is, you have to tell him no.

It’s almost painful. Having to say it when it isn’t true. When in reality, you know that you’re acting and Eren knows that you’re acting too – that this is just part of your job. But to even strike him down in the fake way, after weeks of building it back together, seems cruel. 

You sigh, shutting your eyes and taking a deep breath, before you look back up at his eyes. The deep green is enough to accumulate the thinnest film of tears in your eyes. 

“You’re family, Eren.” 

And after you mutter it, it’s visceral…an almost physical reaction from Eren. Because you can see the way his breath hitches, the way he hesitantly steps back – quite literally physically recoiling. And the regret sits heavy in your chest and you have to drop your eyes – because you can’t even bear to look at him. 

“Cut!” Levi calls. 

It’s enough to snap you out of the heaviness, as you shake your head at the resounding amount of chatter that follows. You can still feel your heart racing as the makeup team is quick to rush to your side – quickly powdering the sweat that had accumulated on your cheek as they do the same with Eren – and you can hear Connie and Reiner mumbling about how brutal that was to watch on the side. 

You look back up at Eren, whose hollow look hasn’t left his eyes and you give him a halfhearted smile – which he doesn’t return. Instead, he turns back to Levi and Hange, who are murmuring over the shot in the viewfinder. 

“Did we get it?” Eren nearly shouts.

“We got it. You killed it guys.” Levi responds, still fixated on the shot. 

“Do you still need me or can I go?” Eren asks. 

“Eren–” 

“You’re good, Eren.” Hange responds. 

Eren’s almost too quick with it, the way he yanks the little mic pack off the little sleeve in his jacket and hands it to the crew. And with his long bean stalk legs, he’s disappeared from your side before you can barely even process that he was standing there in the first place. 

--

You can’t bring yourself to talk to Eren until two days later, on the eve of his birthday and two days before the award show. Not because you’re actively avoiding him, but it seems that he gets so wrapped up in quite literally everything else he has to attend to. Though really, it feels like that the slight air of comfort that you had was completely shattered by filming the scene together. 

There’s a quiet knock on Eren’s door. He’s preemptively pissed off…and the quiet irritation that had been festering in his chest for the last few days was about to come to a head on Connie and Lana, who refused to take a hint. 

He had made it infinitely clear that he wanted to spend the early hours of his birthday alone. That he would be fine and dandy to celebrate with everyone the day after, but he needed the time to process some things alone. 

The tension diffuses when he realizes that it’s you at the door. There’s an almost timid look on your face, as you balance a little white box in your hands, and peek your head past the closet. 

“Am I disturbing you?” 

“No, of course not. Come in.” Eren responds, patting flat on the comforter for you to join him at his side. 

You give him a smile as you set the little box down, crossing your legs over each other to sit at his side. You lock your hands into the pits of your knees as you turn over towards him, taking a second chance to admire that his hair is the slightest bit shorter. 

“I really love your hair, Eren.” you respond. 

There’s an immediate flush in the apples of his cheeks. He reaches up to it, nervously pushing a hand through the strands before he drops it all together. 

“Thank you. The length was starting to get really fucking annoying.” Eren responds. 

“I liked the man-bun but I think this type of thing really suits you.” you respond. 

Eren looks over at you and gives you a halfhearted smile. And that quiet ease returns, maybe faster than Eren would have liked. The quiet moment of hurt that he was holding on to was absolved the second you smiled at him. 

Eren can hear Connie’s voice in his head – calling him down horrendous. 

“What can I do you for?” Eren asks. 

“It’s almost your birthday.” you state. 

“Congratulations, Y/N. You know how to read a calendar!” 

You scoff, before lightly shoving him in his side. 

“Shut up. I wanted to do something for you.” you respond, before lightly pushing the box in front of him. 

Eren gives you a weary look, before he opens up the little box. It’s a frosted green and white cake – with four candles in it. It’s a strange arrangement since they’re all numbered candles, making the number 2,345. 

“I guess I stand corrected. You really don’t know how to read a calendar.” Eren responds. 

Eren turns to the side, with the most annoying look on his face, as he turns to you and grins. 

“Okay, Y/N. Repeat after me. The year is 2024.” 

“Shut up, asshole. I was trying to be sweet.” you grumble, as you hike your knees to your chest. 

Eren rolls his eyes. 

“What’s so sweet about getting the age wrong on my cake?” Eren asks. 

“It’s actually to make up for every birthday of yours that I missed, dumbass.” you respond. 

Eren can feel his heart pounding in his chest. 

“What?” Eren asks. 

You shrug, before reaching down to adjust the candles from pushing into each other. 

“The last birthday I got to spend with you was your twenty-second birthday. I can imagine that the years’ that followed weren't exactly pleasant…that…that they might have been a reminder of what happened on the beach.” you start. 

That was the understatement of the year. 

“And it’s my fault that I missed your birthday. So, I thought that…we could make them up now. Hence the candles for three and four, for your twenty-third and twenty-fourth birthday. And today’s your twenty-fifth…it’s the least that I could do.” you respond. 

Eren thinks it’s rather unfair that he always seems to be at a loss of words when he’s with you.  Instead of being able to spill out what was really racketing through his brain – that it was getting infinitely harder to swallow down his feelings, that this was almost melting the resolve that he had made with himself to let you make the first move – he opens up his arms instead. 

You oblige, leaning forward and resting your chin against his shoulder, as you feel Eren scoop his arms around your waist. It’s almost like he’s resting his entire body weight on you, because you can feel his face digging into the softness of your neck, as you absentmindedly reach up for his hair, feeling the edges that were just freshly cut. The faint scent of the hairdressing spray still lingers. 

He’s quiet for sometime, but it’s only fitting that when he does break the silence, it’s with something annoying. 

“A cake with no plates is crazy, Y/N.” Eren mumbles. 

You laugh, as you reach inside the box for the two forks you tucked inside the box. You hand him one, as he tucks the ends of his hair behind his ears, and looks up at you. 

“Game plan. You eat all the frosting and I’ll eat all the cake.” Eren states. 

“Huh?” 

“Okay, that’s a little selfish. But it’s my birthday. And I just really hate frosting.” 

The thought that comes to your mind is enough to startle you, just in the slightest. 

Eren really is your soulmate. 

It’s stupid. A stupid comparison to make when the person that you’re comparing him to is Ricky James of all people. But you can’t help but think about that stupid memory, from before the Met Gala. Ricky had bought you that stupid cupcake – and very irritatingly swiped the frosting off of your finger. 

And the two of you bickered because you both preferred the frosting as opposed to the actual cake. And naturally, Ricky was never going to be the type to give up his frosting for you. 

It was sweet that way, with Eren. And you’re sure that the thought of invisible strings and single threads of gold tying you to Eren are really only on your mind because that’s what you sang to him the last time you got to spend his birthday with him, but it almost seems too perfect. 

That Eren likes the cake, but you like the frosting. That you’d always finish the cake if you were eating it together. 

Unbeknownst to you of course, Eren is fully aware of the fact that you are overly fond of the frosting on the cake. And that you have no idea that he really hates eating the spongy cake part and prefers the frosting too. 

But he doesn’t like the frosting nearly enough to not even think twice before offering it to you. 

--

--

You only grace the red carpet for five minutes. You and Eren are above that at this point. But from what you were able to discern from Twitter backstage, after practicing your first set with Eren, it was eventful enough without you there. 

Sukuna splashed a glass of wine in Ricky’s already swollen eye from last week. Hyla tripped and fell when she got out of the limo. You and Eren spend a good amount of time reading through the stuff on your feed – and the perfectly timed blind items that you had submitted to every paparazzi company but the WBS were coming out just as you planned them. 

And surely enough, every single one of them was getting caught off guard when they were asked on the carpet – and couldn’t scramble a perfect PR response out. 

There were three blind items that were yours and the rest were strays. And you were fully intent on making sure that everyone, Danny and Sareen, knew that it was you who submitted them by the end of the night. 

First, that Ricky James had thrown an insanely murderous bitch fit at the front of the Institute Offices in New York when he found out that he had been replaced as the opening act, by Eren of all people. 

Which, according to your sources, was true. 

Second, that the producer for the critically acclaimed Ribbons album, Sareen Clarkson, had been cheating on her husband with industry plant John Stasny, who is twenty years her junior and had previously been linked to several famous actresses, like Historia Reiss. 

Which was also true. It had only been a few hours since it had been leaked, but the shit train that followed wasn't pretty.

If you were going to call her a fame fucker, you were going to make sure that everyone was going to understand the reference. 

And the third was that stupid magazine cover that Scott had mailed you and Eren. 

This was seemingly the last pillar that had to fall in taking down Scott Clarkson and his empire – or at least putting the tiniest bit of a dent in it. 

The only reason that the WBS was successful in the first place was the same reason that his label and movie company thrived the way they did – they were big enough to eliminate all the competition. 

But when it came to something like a tabloid, that centered around reporting on drama, it was almost natural to take them down in this way. If they were the only ones that lacked the information, then they’d be the only ones who would drop the ball on reporting it – and therefore, people would have to divert their attention away to someone else to get the information. 

The foundation seemed a bit bare, but you were already too far in to oppose it at this point. 

You feel a little tap on your shoulder and you turn around to find the two people who were going to be accompanying you for your first performance. 

The dopplegangers of you and Eren – from the Girlfriend and Because I Liked a Boy Performance. 

“Hi guys!” 

You reach forward and wrap your arms around both of them as they return the gesture and warmly hug back. Thankfully, they were more than happy to oblige with your second request – third for Penelope if you counted Girlfriend – to pretend to be you and Eren. 

You almost felt bad for marking this as their legacy so many times, but they were more than happy to oblige – citing the free food and the hefty paychecks as more than enough compensation. 

“Right, well. Eren, this is Penelope.” you state. 

“Yeah. Yeah, we’ve met before. Hi.” Eren responds, the look on his face so painstakingly awkward that you almost feel bad for the prank that you’re about to play on him. 

“And this is Scott.” you respond. 

It’s insanely bad timing, since you accidentally mention it while Eren’s taking a swig of his water bottle. And due to the shock, he consequently spits the entire contents back into the bottle and gives the three of you wide eyes. 

“Your name is fucking Scott?” 

“No, it’s Jason. Y/N paid me three bucks to say that.” he states. 

Eren looks at you, giving you a downright murderous glare, as he puts the water bottle down. 

“You bitch.” Eren grumbles

“It’s funny!” you respond. 

You shake him off as you turn back to Jason and Penelope and eye the little wardrobe rack on the side. 

“Okay. Hair and makeup is ready for you two whenever you are. And just remember, that if anyone asks you about the outfits –” 

“Mine is based on Selene, goddess of the moon.” Penelope states. 

“And mine is Poseidon, god of the sea.” Jason adds. 

You grin. The two of them give you a passing wave before they walk off to the other side of the stage and Eren makes a dramatic display of shuddering. 

“What?” 

“Don’t they like…freak you out?” Eren asks. 

“Why would they freak me out?” 

“They literally look like us! And they’re literally dating too which makes it even weirder!” 

You give him a weird look. 

“They aren’t dating.” you respond. 

Eren wraps his arm around your shoulder, before twisting you to the side of where their dressing rooms are – where the two of them are standing, kissing. 

“That looks really friendly to me.” Eren states, tone dripping with sarcasm. 

“What the hell?” 

“It’s weird!” Eren whispers. 

You shiver. 

“Ew. I don’t like that.” you respond. 

“Levi should hire them to do the kiss next week instead of us. Sure, they’ll enjoy it more than we will.” 

You can feel your cheeks burning. You know that it’s not what he meant – surely, that it couldn’t have been what he meant in the slightest but the sting still hits all the same. 

“Jesus. Didn’t realize you were so opposed to kissing me.” you mumble. 

Eren’s eyes go wide.

“I’m not opposed to kissing you!” 

“You just suggested that Levi and Hange should literally offer a salary to two people who kind of look like us just so you wouldn’t have to kiss me.” you deadpan. 

“No! I didn’t mean it like that!” 

“Well…don’t be weird about it! You don’t have to…want to kiss me. I know we’re just working and that it’s all like method acting or whatever. I’m not going to get offended if you don’t want to it’s just–”  

Eren looks agitated. If Sukuna was standing here, you know that he would have no self control and probably piss him off more by asking him if he needed to take a shit. 

“Y/N, just listen. I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable because I wrote a kiss into the script and told Levi and Hange that they can’t write it out this time.” Eren responds. 

And just as fast as his eyes go wide, his cheeks are bright pink this time as he suddenly busies himself with worrying about his costume to change the subject. 

It’s a hopeful thought and you’re clearly speaking faster than you’re thinking. Because it’s probably against your better judgment to assume that he wrote the kiss in just because he wanted to kiss you. 

You say it anyway. 

“You wrote the kiss into the script?” you ask, giving him a grin. 

“My costume seems like it’s going to be tight, right? It looks a little short at the legs? We should see if we can get this fixed in the next twenty minutes before we go on, so I don’t look like an idiot, you know?” 

You place a hand on his shoulder, to stop him from bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, and keep him standing on the ground. 

“You can relax. I was just messing with you. And your outfit looks fine, I think we should change now so we can make sure I don’t go swinging into the audience with the equipment.” 

Eren waits for you to finish changing before you walk over to the little makeshift hang-glider that you guys requested. He chooses to ignore commenting about how much he loves it when you wear red for the time being and focuses on making sure you don’t plummet to your imminent death from the moon you’re going to be hanging off of. 

Eren watches as you shuffle on the little seat, before he reaches around you and secures the little belt around your waist. You watch as he tightens it not only twice, but three times, before he reaches for your hand and secures the microphone around it next. 

“You know, I understand securing me to the moon but I think the microphone is a little much. I’m not going to go dropping it.” 

“I’m sorry for being overcautious. I’m not a big fan of…stints that include hanging in the air for so long.” Eren responds, as tightens the strap around your hand again. 

You pale. Of course he hates these type of things.

“No. No…I’m sorry. I totally forgot about that…I-I didn’t even realize that this might be really nerve wracking for you. We can take this part out if–” 

“No, no. I like the set design. How about you just promise to come back to me in one piece?” Eren asks. 

You sigh. 

“Of course.” 

And Eren gives you a gleaming, two dimpled smile in response, before he taps your side and walks over to his cue. As they send your little glider into the air, you can actually see the entire audience from the little break in the curtains at the top – and can spot a very annoyed Ricky James sitting front and center. 

With pink wine stains on his shirt. 

You look down at Eren, who looks up from his spot, and spares you one last thumbs up before the music stats. 

You have to give your props to Eren’s team for working out the set exactly as he wanted it. With the ocean on the left, you in the moon on the right, and Jason and Penelope doing their little slow dance on the beach in the middle. 

Eren:  You live in my dream state Relocate my fantasy I stay in reality You live in my dream state Any time I count sheep That's the only time we make up, make up You exist behind my eyelids, my eyelids Now I don't wanna wake up

Eren:  20-20, 20-20 vision Cupid hit me, cupid hit me with precision I wonder if you look both ways When you cross my mind (Yeah), I said, I said I'm sick of, sick of, sick of, sick of chasing You're the one that's always running through my daydream, I I can only see your face when I close my eyes

And surely enough, they lower you from your little vantage point behind the curtains to the bright flashing lights and the resounding cheers of the crowd – that are barely muffled out by your ear pieces – as you sing your part. 

Y/N:  Can I get a kiss? And can you make it last forever? I said I'm 'bout to go to war And I don't know if I'ma see you again

As Eren sings his second verse, they’re quick to lift the moon back up and off the stage in time for you to climb off – and for you and Eren to replace Jason and Penelope on the beach in the center. 

You and Eren hadn’t really practiced this part, though in hindsight it was simple enough. You just had to keep leaning in until they dimmed the lights – to make it look like you and Eren were going to kiss each other. 

Y/N:  Can I get a kiss? (Can I get a kiss?) And can you make it last forever? (Oh, forever) I said I'm 'bout to go to war (Go to war) I don't know if I'ma see you again (See you again) Can I get a kiss? (Can I) And can you make it last forever? (Can you) I said I'm 'bout to go to war ('Bout to) And I don't know if I'ma see you again

It’s excruciating to do it. To pretend – and in that second, you decide you’re going to kiss him anyways. Because he wraps his hand too perfectly around your neck to pull you closer and instinctively closes his eyes. 

And then it’s overwhelmingly embarrassing. Because the exact second you time moving forward is when Eren leans back, because they’ve pulled the curtains. And runs off to the side curtains, as you awkwardly stalk back. 

You try to swallow down that pit of shame in your throat as he turns back towards you, handing you an ice cold water bottle. 

“That was great! But was it really hot up there? Your face is all pink.” Eren asks. 

“Uh, yeah. I kind of had a panic up there.” 

Eren twists the cap off and instructs you to drink, biting cold enough to taper that burning heat in your cheeks, as he instinctively shakes his head. 

“I said come back in one piece.” 

“I am in one piece.” you grumble back, getting ready to go stalk off to your dressing room until you had to face him again four performances later. 

Eren doesn’t follow when you make it all the way to the little room, as you lean back in the chair and resort to massaging your temples. 

Too close. That was way too close. 

“Hey?” Eren asks. 

You can see Eren poking his head into your dressing room, bright green eyes curious as he looks down at you. 

“What?” you ask. 

“The answer is yes.” Eren responds. 

You glare, in irritation. 

“To what?” 

Eren bends down, pressing a kiss right into the thrumming pulse of your temple. 

“You asked me if you could get a kiss. Well really, you asked me seven times if you could get a kiss, but I’ll spare you the entire show.” Eren responds, tapping the frame of the door and giving you a bright smile before he steps back out. 

You sigh. The quiet moment of hurt that you were holding on to was absolved the second he smiled at you. And multiplied into the biggest, searing feeling in your chest when he kissed you. 

--

--

There’s seven people in your dressing room after the fact. And one of them is Satoru Gojo, who counted as an additional ten people, which is when you take the sign that it’s probably time to duck out of there. 

You had three options – Connie and Eren who were having way too much fun with your special props, a group that had both Historia and Ymir in it, or Sukuna – who was standing by himself in the corner. 

There was a very obvious choice. 

He gives you a noncommittal nod as you walk up to his side and link your arm in with his. He’s nursing a tiny glass in his hand, which he offers to you. You know him well enough by now to know that it’s going to be some taste buds descreating drink, but decide to drink anyway. 

And surely enough, it burns all the way down to your esophagus, making you physically recoil as you hand the glass back to him. 

“Jesus. I feel bad for your liver.” you respond. 

“I actually don’t drink that much anymore. My liver is just fine.” Sukuna responds. 

“There’s no way. That just destroyed like…a quarter of your lobule.” 

“What the fuck is a lobule?” 

“The functional unit of the liver!” you respond. 

If looks could kill, Sukuna would have murdered you then and there. It’s at that moment that Eren and Connie run up to you, Eren quickly placing his hands on your cheeks to angle your face up towards him and place the little crown on your head. 

“Très magnifique!” Eren murmurs. 

“Wow. Who taught you French, Ratatouille?” 

“Does that count as a self-diss? You taught me French, ma lune.” 

You lightly shove him in the side, as everyone reaches for their cues on the stage and you crawl to the revolving stage underneath with Eren and Sukuna. And surely enough, Levi and Gojo delivered well on their promise with their prop guy. 

He perfectly replicated that god forsaken throne Scott was sitting on in that stupid magazine cover. You snag the little crown Eren placed on your head off to admire the work on it – the gold handiwork. You place your hands in the middle and test the fragileness, noting that it takes little to crack the pieces – before you place it back on your head. 

“So, who was on the right? Eren or Lana?” you ask. 

“I was on the right.” Eren responds. 

The group of you flinch as the music starts blaring above and take it as a sign to stick your earpieces in. And right on timing with the chorus, you can hear the screaming get louder – which you’re positive is people just overreacting to the fact that Gojo’s the first person in the ensemble showcase when he shouldn’t even be in it in the first place – and tap your hands nervously on the handles. 

I wanna be your endgame I wanna be your first string I wanna be your A-Team (whoa-whoa, whoa) I wanna be your endgame, endgame

“Sukuna. There’s pins right there, there’s no way she’s not going to jostle the crown off before she hands it to Lana.” 

“Got it.” Sukuna responds, shuffling away as you look back up to Eren. 

He looks down at you, tucking your hair behind your ear, which has your heart pounding in your throat. 

“Pretty dress.” Eren whispers. 

You give him a shrug, before laying down the fringe at your sides. 

“Nice suit.” you respond. 

“Eh. It’s kind of digging into my neck.” Eren responds. 

You stand up, rocking back on your heels, as you turn to face him. You reach forward, reaching for the top buttons of his dress shirt and task yourself with unbuttoning them. 

“You know, you could at least take me on a date first.” Eren grumbles. 

You hum in response, giving him a smile, as you stop at the third button and reach forward to readjust the layers of his necklaces. His skin is soft and warm underneath your fingertips and it gives you an insanely inappropriate thought. 

“What are you thinking?” Eren murmurs. 

“Nothing.” 

“You’re thinking something naughty.” 

“Ew. You have such a disgusting choice of words, Eren.” you whine. 

“What was it?” 

“Nothing, Eren. I was thinking about how pale you are.” you respond, letting go of the chains and reaching back to sit in your little chair. 

Eren reaches forward, grabbing you by the wrist and pulling you back. He’s quick with his other hand, securing it around your waist and holding you steady against him. His lips hover right by your ear, the gravel of his whispering makes you nearly squirm. 

“What were you thinking?” Eren asks. 

“Nothing, Eren. Really.” 

“I’m not an idiot. I’ve seen that look in your eyes before…and I know what it means. What were you thinking?” Eren asks. 

You groan, squirming out of his embrace. 

Where the hell did Sukuna get lost? 

“I just thought about something that people would notice, that's all. But we don’t–” 

“What was it?” 

You groan, before tucking your hair behind your ears. 

“I’m wearing red lipstick. And that’s a fairly…exposed patch of skin. People would notice if I–” 

“If you kissed me. Alright, go ahead and do it then.” Eren responds, angling his neck closer to you.” 

“Eren.” 

“C’mon. It’s almost our turn. You have to be quick with it.” Eren responds, gesturing frantically with your hands. 

You awkwardly step forward, placing your hands on the sides before you pinch your eyes shut and press a lingering kiss to his neck. You can feel Eren lightly tilt his head back and inhale sharply the second you make contact – but you chose to ignore it. 

You pull back and examine the mark, though it’s rather faint. Eren clocks it fast enough, as he gestures with his hands again. 

“Another one won’t hurt. C’mon.” Eren whispers. 

“Okay, yeah.” you respond. 

You press your lips to his neck again, this time earning you Eren’s hand squeezing into your side – where it was resting at your waist – as you pull back and admire the mark. You look back up at him, feeling an itching sensation all over as you give him an awkward smile. 

“You guys are fucking insane, you know that?” Sukuna mutters. 

“Sukuna! Where the fuck did you go?” you respond, angrily snatching the little pins from his hands and securing them into your hair. 

You sit back down on the throne, as you hear the little countdown ringing in your ear, and prepare yourself to sing the last portion of the song. You can feel both of their hands on your shoulders – squeezing hard – as you lift the microphone to your lips. 

Big reputation, big reputation Ooh, you and me, we got big reputations, ah And you heard about me, oh I got some big enemies (hey) Big reputation, big reputation (yeah) Ooh, you and me, we'd be a big conversation, ah And I heard about you, ooh You like the bad ones too

You rustle the crown off of your head and hand it to Sukuna, who walks over to the edge of the stage and tosses it right to Lana in the front row. Who takes it in her hands and breaks it in half before throwing it behind her back. 

I hit you like, "Bang" We tried to forget it, but we just couldn't And I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em Reputation precedes me, they told you I'm crazy I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me And I can't let you go, your handprint's on my soul It's like your eyes are liquor, it's like your body is gold You've been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks So here's the truth from my red lips  

I wanna be your endgame (endgame) I wanna be your first string (me and you) (first string) I wanna be your A-Team (be your A-Team now) I wanna be your endgame, endgame I wanna be your endgame (oh, I do) I wanna be your first string (first string) I wanna be your A-Team (A-Team) I wanna be your endgame, endgame

--

--

The last part is the most nerve wracking. You had to abandon your sweet post of sitting in between Eren and Mikasa at your table for your last performance of the night – which was going to be announced by Danny and Sareen. 

It’s like sitting on pins and needles, getting your hair done and slipping into the sparkly but scratchy dress. And surely enough, when you wait on the edges of the curtain and watch them stage your set – of a grand piano and little star decals – they join you at your side. You can feel your hands shake, nearly dropping the trophy in your hands, as you spare them a glance. 

They’re shorter than you remember and frankly, less intimidating too. That coupled with the fact that Danny has a bright pink eye and the slightest bit of dried blood around his nose.

“What happened to your face?” you sneer. 

Danny rolls his eyes. 

“Ask your boy-toy.” he responds. 

You fight the urge to smile, and make a mental note that Eren deserves every bit of your praise when you see him next, as you turn your head back to the stage, where the announcer is presenting the highlights of your career on the back screen. And surely enough, the two of them awkwardly jostle their arms in with yours as the three of you walk out together. 

You stare blankly out in the audience. And refuse to smile. 

You can see Eren sitting front and center as he gives you the smallest thumbs up in support.

“One of our crowning achievements is getting to work with this lovely young lady right here, on some of our most famous albums, like The Lucky One. Please give a well deserved round of applause for the unstoppable Y/N L/N, who will finally be gracing us with her triple threat performance.” Sareen states. 

You note the drag in her voice when she says the word finally. And you fight the acidic feeling that accumulates in your mouth as you’re suddenly acutely aware of the fact that you’re standing next to the two people you hate the most – who continue to take credit for the one thing that’s yours. 

“Out of the three, Y/N has chosen to mimic the signing performance that awarded her this coveted prize. She will be playing her brand new song, vampire, on the piano. A true testament to all the work that the three of us put together as a team, in molding her into a skilled pianist.” Danny states, sticking his hand out to Sareen as the two of them walk off and take a seat right at the front. 

You can feel your skin steaming as you place the award on the top of the piano and sit down at the keys. You’re able to catch Sukuna’s striking pink hair moving on your left – to the seats behind Danny and Sareen – as you take that as your cue to start performing. 

Hate to give the satisfaction, asking how you're doing now How's the castle built off people you pretend to care about? Just what you wanted Look at you, cool guy, you got it I see the parties and the diamonds sometimes when I close my eyes Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise I loved you truly Gotta laugh at the stupidity

“Eren. You okay? You’re shaking the entire table.” Lana asks, leaning over to whisper in his ear. 

Eren absentmindedly looks down and notices the nervous shaking in his leg, as he turns to his side and spares her a glance. He can note that Lana's concerned because this is starkly similar to the last time the two of them were here together.

When you were singing your isolating, heart-shattering piano ballad about him, while he was hanging his head in between his legs. After you had slapped him, after you had yelled at him after everything that had happened.

That was far from it. It was the way your hands were shaking on the piano keys that was stressing him out. He needed you to make it through the entire thing. Desperately.

“I’m nervous. I think she’s going to cry.” Eren whispers back. 

'Cause I've made some real big mistakes But you make the worst one look fine I should've known it was strange You only come out at night I used to think I was smart But you made me look so naive The way you sold me for parts As you sunk your teeth into me, oh Bloodsucker, famefucker Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire 

You’re crying. 

Because all you can think about is how the two of them were just standing there, arms linked in with yours, in a moment that was supposed to be yours. That every moment that was supposed to be yours was theirs – and that even at the end of all of that, their still the one standing their proud with their careers when you had to suffer at the hands of it. 

That taking your career was one thing, but taking advantage of the fact that you knew nothing was another. Because you were a teenager, who was so attached to her dream that she'd do anything to get it, especially when people at the top – were promising it to her.

All at the expense of Eren and his feelings. At the expense of your relationship.

You can feel your hands shaking, your vision entirely blurred as you feel the tears start to pour out of your eyes – your singing voice coming out entirely strained as you continue to push your keys on the piano. And you’re able to strain enough until you get right to the bridge and pause. 

They had a responsibility to look out for you as an adult. And did the exaxt opposite.

You reach back to the slicked back bun and snag the pink ribbon that was secured into the little hair tie. The same pink ribbon that was dangling from your hair the day you were stranded in that godawful rain. And yank it straight out of your hair and wrap a little bow around the bottom of the award. 

You wipe the wetness on your cheek, coming back with the slightest smudge on the back of your hand, before you press your hands into the keys and continue singing. The continuation has people rising out of their seats – and you don’t fail to notice that Eren’s the first one to do it – as you finish the song. 

You said it was true love, but wouldn't that be hard? You can't love anyone, 'cause that would mean you had a heart I tried you help you out, now I know that I can't 'Cause how you think's the kind of thing I'll never understand

I've made some real big mistakes But you make the worst one look fine I should've known it was strange You only come out at night I used to think I was smart But you made me look so naive The way you sold me for parts As you sunk your teeth into me, oh Bloodsucker, famefucker Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire

You take the award and stand up from the bench of the piano to walk straight off the stage, directly to where Sareen and Danny are sitting in the front. Sukuna’s taken the hint to leave the open chair he was sitting in between them and retreats back to his original, as you place the award in between the two of them. 

“Congratulations. I hope it was everything you ever wanted, assholes.” you seethe. 

You slam the award down onto the open space between them, enough for them both to jump up in their seats and spill a glass of wine down the length of Sareen’s dress, as you angrily march back to your seat. And surely enough, Eren and Mikasa are waiting there with open arms, ready to wipe your glittery tears away. 

And as the cameras drop and they cut to commercials for four minutes, you lean your head against Eren’s shoulder as Mikasa pours you a glass of water. 

“So fucking good. So fucking amazing, Y/N you–” Eren whispers.

"Eren even punched him in the face earlier, Y/N! It looked like it really hurt." Mikasa murmurs.

You look up at Eren, and he's grinning so hard, that you can't even fight the urge to not smile back.

"Why'd you punch him?" you ask.

"You slapped Scott Clarkson for me. Why am I not allowed to punch Danny for you?" Eren asks.

You feel a tap on your shoulder and look to your left to find Hange and Levi standing at your side, which really only brings on a more powerful stream of tears. Levi instinctively opens up his arms as you lean against his shoulder instead, Eren standing closeby with Sukuna at his side now.

“Was that everything you wanted Hange?” you groan. 

Hange smiles. 

“And more, kid. I, uh. Actually have something for you.” Hange responds. 

“What’s that?” you ask. 

Hange gestures to Connie at the side, as he produces a small, golden trophy in Hange’s hands. 

“I really don’t give a shit about this anymore. S’kind of how it goes with this type of thing. But, I know this award, this one in my hands specifically meant the world to you back in the day, so I want you to have it.” Hange murmurs. 

You frown. 

“Hange. You can’t just give that to me.” you respond. 

“You gave yours away because it gave you more pain than it was worth. Mine did the same for me at the time too. But, it gives me joy to give it back to you, because really, you deserved it. Back then, but even now too.” 

You take the little golden trophy in your hands, noting that it’s much smaller and really not even as shiny as the one that they had just handed you, and press it close to your chest. 

“Hange, thank you so much. You have no idea what this even means to me.” you whisper, as you wrap your arms around their neck. 

Hange spares Eren a glance over the shoulder and gives him a big thumbs up, coupled with Levi’s approving smile. 

It’s the rare times that Eren’s overthinking habit comes in handy. When he’s able to think ahead and fix things before they happen. 

“I have an idea, kid.” Hange responds. 

--

--

Levi and Hange give you a three day break when you get back to set. You’re not sure what exactly it was that came out of you when you did your last performance, but it was almost like it drained the life out of you. Eren nearly had to drag you back onto that plane and consequently, to your room, when you made it back to the set. 

He thinks that you’ve finally let go of what you’ve been holding on to. And that you can finally move forward now. 

You told him that Marco must have been haunting him overtime for the past few days, which earned you a hearty laugh from him. 

And surely enough, on the fourth day, you’re able to muster your legs down to the kitchen – to a group of well meaning cheers from the group of them – as you read the little slots on the schedule pasted on the fridge. And surely enough, Levi was going to throw you right back into the thick of it. 

Wednesday, April 6th, 8:00 AM 

Eren Head Decapitation 

It’s a stupid caption. If you didn’t know what it meant, you would even laugh at it. 

But you had read ahead already – and knew that it meant that it was finally time for you and Eren to get that kiss scene out of the way.

--

next part linked here

taglist: @k0z3me @kayleegomez @yihona-san06  @bsenpai @sweetenertea @mykyoon @violetmatcha  @rebeccawinters @cutiejg @bokutosthings @bookwrmm @mblrrr @wheredidmycrowngo @somethinginyoureyes7 @chilichopsticks @okaystopwhore @you-always-made-me-blush @itzmeme @firelordazulaaa @whoami-72 @g-ghostly @intimacywithceline @erensmoodygf @cocomellxn @princess-ackerman @jaegerfiles @cacapeepee @rui-0836 @moonmalice @invisible-mori @sofiasber @bbybeeb @timetobegone @tee4str @ttokki2 @leave-rae-alone @ec3lipsy @officialsimp @gojojang @yookayyo @lordbugs @multiplefandomthings @iobeyfandoms @camilo-uwu @justanotherkpopstanloll @mel-star636 @fvckingeetar @ttalgi @najaemism @ilovekimchi123 @youraggedybitch @xoyumiqls @leafguitar @spiidergirlsworld @luvs4kim @levin4nami @florichun @hoonmyluv

[neverchecking]

The Chain as AOT (And ASOT) People

As decided by me. And @lilac-and-daydreams and @angry-trashcan.

・❥・So, this all started because they were making fun of my taste in men and the pattern of it (Link, Vash, Knives, Armin, Hawks, Gordon Ramsey-)

・❥・Just let me set that straight.

・❥・ Ganon is Zeke.

・❥・Legend is Levi. Short, short tempered, good at everything. It just seemed to fit.

・❥・Time, is this might seem controversial, is Erwin. The man in charge, at first, and has bad eyebrows, knows things he won't tell the others. Plus, c'mon. They're practically the same person.

・❥・Hange is four. Both are wicked smart and a little unhinged. Maybe not like season 1/2 hange but DEFINATELY commander Hange.

・❥・And then we had two directions. Option A) Was Wild was Eren and Mikasa was Cal (Quiet, calculative, good at fighting bc lore accurate AOC Link is CRAZY) or Option B) was Wild was still Eren and Twilight was Mikasa (Protective, follows like a dog).

・❥・It will surprise no one that we threw out the idea that Wild was Eren. BUT Twilight was decided to be Mikasa. Again, super protective, dangerous, good on their own.

・❥・Anyway-

・❥・Wild is Connie.

・❥・Thats where we threw him. And I KNOW someone will be like? What about Sasha? He could be Sasha? IM GETTING THERE-

・❥・Bc Wild's personality is more than food, just like Sasha's and his personality is closer to Connie's than Sasha's. >:(

・❥・Plus Wild never knew his mom so I could make the "His mom is a titan" Joke.

・❥・Sage we thought at first would be Armin. He's Armin coded in the least. Manipulative, gaslighty, you know, the finer things in life.

・❥・But in the end Bailey was like "What if he was Eren?" And yk what? They were so right for that.

・❥・The lost in translation, blurred between good and bad, because, like Bailey said, Sage is the perfect Antihero/antivillain. Because he's self-driven. He's looking out for himself. He knows what he wants and how he wants it done.

・❥・And SPOILERS

・❥・ To be taken out by the only person who tried to help him? Divine.

・❥・END SPOILERS BTW

・❥・Now, you guys are probably like What about Armin? Who's Armin if it's not Sage?

・❥・It's Sky.

・❥・Sky, whom looks so sweet and innocent and will cry to get what he wants. Sky, who knows what words are need to make what things happen. Sky who's willing to step on those under him all the way to the top.

・❥・Sky is Armin.

・❥・We joked that Wars would be Jean for a while, but then we scrapped that idea and decided that Hyrule would be better funnier as Jean. The vibes man. The VIBES.

・❥・@fanfic-fairy-fountain said Cal could also be Armin. Which I also agree with.

・❥・As Lilac said it's the underlying manic pixie girl energy.

・❥・We knew Wars was gonna be a Yeagerist-- which Ironic we know bc he hates traitors, but also it just fit too well otherwise.

・❥・ BUT THEN-

・❥・Wars as Reiner, and then WIND as either Birth control or Annie. Because Wind follows Wars and when he...disappears, it'll destroy Wars.

・❥・Plus Wind as Bertllala and then getting along with Hyrule/Jean only to then get sniped? MMM.

・❥・Cal is Sasha. Both eat questionable things. 'nough said.

・❥・FIERCE. He's the OG titan. Iykyk you know?

・❥・Wild is a slap on titan Armin thank you. But just for this-

"Who's that babe you're with?"

"Wild? And their not a girl."

"Hey there Wildmina, you wanna take a bath later?"

"....Can I bring an industrial strength lightning rod?"

・❥・I love it sm <3

・❥・Anyway those were our thoughts. Tell us what you think or don't. I can't control what you do /lh

・❥・ I WAS DOING TAGS AND OMG

・❥・SAGE IS A SLAP ON TITAN LEVI

・❥・"Don't cry Natura...You're so ugly when you cry."

・❥・Natura would be petra in a slap on titan

・❥・I AM CRACKING MYSELF UP WITH THIS SHIT-

Sage: Kid, what the fuck was I to you? Batman?

Wild: YES.

Sage: Huauubh?!

Wild: NO.

・❥・

Sage: And wild child, just so you know-

Wild: Yeah?

Sage: I'm Batman.

Wild: OH MY GOD I HATE THAT MAN.

・❥・

Wild: Admiral Casual? Your nickname is Admiral Casual?

Sage: Look, Wild, I'm just going by reality.

Sage: That's why your nickname is baby dick.

・❥・

Sage: Listen, buttercup, Ima need you to tone it down several notches. You're at an eleven right now, I need you at about a four.

Sage: You have no idea the hangover I'm fighting right now.

・❥・

Time: Here's the truth.

Time: Most of you are going to die.

Time, pointing to each villager: Dead, dead, you are DEFINITELY Dead, you're cute so maybe you'll live, dead, dead. By the golden three I don't even wanna know whats gonna happen to you.

Time: Who knows how you'll pass? *Proceeds to describe several very graphic ways of dying*

Time: Literally all we do is die.

・❥・

Time: I used to have a job crushing cans.

Time: It was Soda-pressing.

・❥・

Hyrule: A black flare? We never went over this? Either everyone's dead or-

Hyrule: ...Or Voldemort's returned.

・❥・

Hyrule: This is why Wild always told you to mix it right or the hallucinations start kicking in!

・❥・

Titan: You again? Really?

Hyrule: Yes.

Hyrule: Come to me. My Waifu.

・❥・

Sage: Look, Wild, sometimes you gotta run. I've been running from people all my life.

Sage: The military police, debt collectors,

Sage: Some bitch I know named Hylia.

Wild: Do you even have a plan?!

Sage: Of course I have a plan! I always have a plan for everything.

Natura: OH MY GOD HE'S BLUFFING- HE'S BLUFFING, thats what he says when he doesn't have a plan!

Sage: HEY- HORSEFACE-

・❥・

Natura: Im sleeping with WILD.

Sage: WILDCHILD? That swagless BEAST?

・❥・

Wild: So this is what you do?

Wild: Drop tail and run away? Like a little BITCH?!

Sage: Wild, you're only saying that because I can't reach back there and pimp slap the shit out of you.

・❥・

Sage: I DO NOT care. What I do care about is that basement.

Sage: Through heaven and hell, fire or rain, we are getting to that basement.

Sage: And I am wearing your dead mother's panties ON MY HEAD.

Literally all of Episode 18 is SO THEM.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Hello!! I'm really sorry, but could you do a summary of the Krone and Isabella light novels? I can't find anywhere to read them. thank you so much!!

No need to apologize, happy to help!

I've talked about the contents of the first light novel here. Almost all of it is available either translated in text or via sound dramas with English subtitles. The exception is the "NER in Bird Cages" story, which is only available in English as a summary.

I've provided a general overview of the second light novel here, as well a link to the masterlist of TPN content for the English-speaking fandom. The first half is dedicated to Isabella, and the second half to Krone, though if you've read chapter 181.2, you'll already be familiar with most of it.

If one of the stories is part of the content of a post, I'll usually tag it as light novels, the title of the light novel in question, and the title of the specific story. (e.g., TPN Light Novels + Moms' Song of Remembrance + The Starry Sky and Leslie's List)

Here's all the light novels laid out with their story tags (with the exception of the fourth one because I've only read the half that's translated):

Light Novel 1: A Letter from Norman

• "The Ghost Incidents at Grace Field House" - Norman reminiscences about his earliest memory with Emma and Ray, when they were about three or four, trying to solve the mystery of the spooky occurrences around the house. • "The Day Emma Cried" - Norman recalls an incident when he was about seven and became terribly ill retrieving Emma’s handkerchief during a rainstorm. Thinking he’s on death’s doorstep, with Isabella’s permission (to both appease Emma and test Ray’s loyalty), Emma and Ray go out to find the miracle cure, a white flower that only blooms at night. • "NER in Bird Cages" - Norman muses how he's never seen Ray cry before he remembers the incident where they rescued an injured bird sometime after Emma's ninth birthday. Ray deals with the grief of not being able to save his beloved older sister, Susan, if he wants to save Emma's and Norman's lives. • "A Gift from the 39th Girl" - The Grace Field kids secretly work on putting together a gift for Norman’s eleventh birthday.

Light Novel 2: Moms' Song of Remembrance

• "The Starry Sky and Leslie's List" - Isabella's story where she remembers helping Leslie with a list of goals he set out to accomplish over the course of two days before he's shipped out. She also reflects on her relationships with Ray and Sarah. • "Searching for the Skies of Freedom" - Krone's story; chapter 181.2 is a retelling of this.

Light Novel 3: Records of Comrades

• "Two Paths" - The story of how Lucas and Yuugo's group acquired the tea set we see Yuugo with in the bunker, interspersed with scenes of Lucas interacting with Emma and Yuugo interacting with Ray during the present timeline. • "Two Wills" - Gillian and Nigel's story of their earlier days at Goldy Pond when they both lost their sisters, Lala and Emilia. • "Two Destinies" - The story of how Mujika and Sonju met and how Leuvis inadvertently ended the farm system and thousand-year promise because he was bored.

Light Novel 4: Films of Memories

• "The Days to Celebrate" • "Operation Stormy Night" - The Grace Field children reminiscence about the night their older siblings helped them feel safe during a particularly bad storm. • "Ray and Conny" - The Grace Field kids are telling Emma about their life at Grace Field house when Conny comes up. Ray recalls to himself how he helped three-year-old Conny adjust to sleeping in the larger shared bedrooms with some indirect help from Susan. It's a story only he and Norman know now. • "The Chess Proverb" - Ray teaches Norman how to play chess, and Emma and Norman join in a match with Ray against Isabella. Serves as a metaphor for how each of them approaches a problem and how they balance each other out when they work together. • "Don and Gilda" • "The Guiding Star" - The story that explains how the trio got on the roof for the chapter 119 cover art and the comfort they each draw from the stars.

Finally, here's my general tag navigation page that's hopefully accessible on mobile as well as desktop.

[archivehub]

Title: Pillow Talk

Summary: Steven and Connie discuss whether or not their future will involve children.

A new short story/one-shot! I've been meaning to write this one for years now lmao. It's the second-longest short in my Jam Buds and So On collection.

If you hate external links, the short can also be found below the cut:

On the second floor of a bed and breakfast, in a near pitch-black room, two young adults laid motionless, disheveled on a too-small, full-size bed. Not a sound could be heard but the faint snoring of their large, pink-furred friend, who had, much to the pair’s apprehension, insisted upon sleeping in the same room as them.

“Would you ever want kids?” a hoarse, male voice abruptly cut through the silence.

His girlfriend, wide-eyed, glanced his way; she could barely make out his features amidst the darkness. “Where’s this coming from?” she spoke softly, nonjudgmentally, hands clasped over her own, bare chest.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “I guess it just seemed kinda, uh…”—he pursed his lips—“relevant…”

“Huh? What do you …?” she trailed off, eyebrows knitting. “Oh… ohhhh…” She slapped a sweaty palm to her forehead. ”Duh.”

He snickered, playfully brushing a foot against hers beneath the covers. “So… have you ever thought about it, Connie?”

“M-maybe… I, uh …” She searched every crevice of her mind for a clear answer; time and time again, she came up completely empty. Truthfully, she had not been expecting the conversation for another few years at least. She should’ve been more prepared, she should’ve expected this. It’s Steven, after all. “Have, uh, you ever thought about it?” Of course he has!

“Y-yes… a lot, actually,” he murmured with a slight titter. Setting his eyes upon the ceiling, he elaborated, “I have almost every day for the last few years…”

“Hm…” Connie hummed. She felt her cheeks, her everything, redden; how could she not have seen this coming? “Why’s that, biscuit?”

He paused briefly, concentrating on the vague shape of the steadily spinning ceiling fan. “Well, it’s just… being on the road, I guess,” he shrugged. “It’s given me a lot of time to think about this stuff, about my future…”—he rolled over and desperately, intimately met her eyes—“about our future.”

“Y-yeah?” Connie acknowledged shakily, anxiously… excitedly? She bit her lip with anticipation.

“And, well…” he continued, “it feels like everywhere I go, I see nothing but families. Happy families. Normal families…” he stressed, “two parents ‘n’ all. It makes me think about all the stuff I missed out on as a kid… Like, what kinda person would I be today if I’d just had a normal, human family? If my mom hadn’t secretly been alien royalty?” he tearfully chuckled. “Sure, I wouldn’t be myself, but… well, that doesn’t stop me from thinking about it, y’know?”

“Oh, Steven…” she cooed as she placed a warm, tender hand upon his bare shoulder.

He placed a mellow hand atop hers. “But, uh, anyway, I guess all that is just my long way of saying… some day, Connie, I… I want to start a family with you. I-I’ve never been so sure about something in my entire life." He began running his free hand through her greasy, tangled hair. “Me and you— er, you and I,” he corrected himself, “we could be such amazing parents. Y-you could teach our kids all sorts of interesting stuff, a-and I could heal their wounds if they ever got hurt!” He felt his cheeks flush as a broad grin made its way to his lips. “A-and—best part—they wouldn’t have any magical destinies!” he chuckled. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. “They could live completely normal lives. They’d go to school, have friends their age, a-and at least one of us would always be there to cook meals for them!”

Connie felt her mouth fall ever-so-slightly agape as her pupils dilated. She had no idea how she was meant to feel; this was all so new to her. The way her boyfriend described it, the prospect of parenthood sounded so exciting. But… it also sounded like endless responsibility, something which became harder and ever-so-harder to think about as her upcoming exams slipped into her thoughts.

She supposed she had always been open to the idea of having children; she never would’ve even considered dating Steven had she not been. The very idea, though, of bringing new life into the world, of being wholly responsible for said life, had always seemed like a major commitment to her, one which she could never consider lightly.

“And, if you wanted, we could even adopt!” Steven energetically added. “I know a whole lot of people hate the idea of pregnancy; I would never put you through it if you didn’t want me to—well, if I’d even be able to put you through it, biologically ‘n’ all.” His forehead puckered, despite his best efforts to hide his restlessness. “I-I could get that tested, though: I’ve researched it! I’d just have to mail a few samples to a lab and …” he trailed off before shaking away his train of thought. “I, uh, think you get it,” he chuckled breathily, sweatily. He then pulled away from his girlfriend, maintaining eye contact as best as he possibly could. “So, uhm… w-what do you say, Connie? B-be honest with me, please.”

‘Wait for that special someone before you have kids,’ her mom would always tell her, coincidentally starting around the same time she met Steven. She had come around to him over the years, though, even going so far as to make him an ‘honorary member' of the Maheswaran family.

What her mom, what anybody else, thought, though, simply didn’t matter right now. She had to make this decision for herself, and she already knew what her heart of hearts wanted her to say…

As his girlfriend’s silence crept upon two minutes long, Steven felt the last remnants of his smile fall. “Y-you know what,” he muttered, eyebrows lowered, “j-just forget about it. We can talk about it some other time.” It took every ounce of his will to prevent his skin from glowing. “I-I’m really sorr—”

“After I get my bachelor’s at Jayhawk,” Connie abruptly interrupted, “a stable job, a house… and maybe with some help from your dad and my parents…” she diligently laid out, “then… well…” she giggled through a dimpled smile, “there should be some room in the agenda.”

Steven felt his entire body suddenly light up with emotion. His breathing hastened tenfold as he felt himself start bouncing up and down on the mattress. Grabbing his girlfriend’s shoulders, tears pricking at his eyes, he near-shouted “C-Connie, is that a 'yes'!?”

[chidoroki]

For the queen who killed her father, it's in one of her flash back

but you were right, it wasn't the king who was with Julius, but it's not clear of "when" it happened.

I thougth that it was just after the promise because she doesn't seems to be the kind of demon who make compromises (even her brother Leuvis is more easy to talk with and it's already a lot)

I'm actually surprised that she waited 1000 years to try to take a genious kid from The One. I don't think that Norman was the only one genious in 1000 years \_(:/)_/ I know that genious are kinda rares but in 1000 years, there had s had a lot of children, some must have been very smart. maybe because now they were more equiped to detect kids like Norman?

Also for Ray's watch, i think i read it in a interview where people asked if Isabella had given gifts to the other children, like she did for Conny, and the answer were yes and that Ray had had a pocket watch and Emma a music box. But sorry i can't find again the link of the interview =(

Ah, you're completely right. Looking back, that's from ch152 and something I clearly had no memory of until now.. oops. It's that flashback of Julius from ch142 that threw me off since he mentions making the deal with the queen, so I thought the demon he faced in those panels was just a younger version of Legravalima, not her father.

Pfftt, Legravalima is definitely the most selfish out of that entire family. Emma was brave enough to try and reason with Leuvis back at Goldy Pond, can you imagine if she had the chance to talk-no-jutsu the queen? It would be the shortest conversation ever. Leuvis entertained Emma's ideas because she brought back some excitement into his life and wanted a thrilling hunt; the queen would straight up just eat her with no questions asked.

It is kinda hard to believe that during all those 1,000 years that no other child managed to reach the level of intelligence that Norman had. I would think that maybe the royals weren't aware of such premium quality meat since they're always offered up to the demon god instead, but there are so many children born each year in order to keep up with the hungry demands of the demon society and Norman is the highest grade ever? Crazy. (Isabella raised him well.)

Ohh, I vaguely remember hearing about Emma getting a music box too.. kinda bummed we never saw it in the manga/anime. It's alright that you can't find the interview! Isabella giving gifts to her children is believable enough.