#and now i’m just so tired and i feel like i have no momentum or motivation to actually do stuff

[snowballseal]

Insecurities - Rafayel

Summary: Here is the portion of Rafayel reacting to your insecurities. And you best know this man goes big to prove a point. Much fluff.

Here is the original with the other LADS boys

Word Count: 1831

Notes: Reader has insecurities about they way they look, so just keep in mind. It ends fluffy and happy though.

---

“Rafayel, do I look okay?”

The artist immediately drops whatever he was doing, twisting around to peer over the back of the couch as you step into the studio.

His iridescent eyes scan over your figure, his voice lilting with teasing affection, “I’m not sure I even want to go if this is what you’re wearing. I think everyone would think you’re the art and ignore my hard work.”

You wrinkle your nose. Partially because he’s being ridiculous. Partially because you don’t really believe him. The dress is gorgeous of course, he did a great job of helping you pick one out, but it doesn’t change the way you’ve been feeling for the past few days.

Before you met Rafayel, you never paid much attention to how you looked. Not in a bad way, you kept yourself neat and dressed up whenever you went out for special occasions, but it was never on your mind much. But now…You don’t know. It’s not Rafayel’s fault, the man has never been shy in complimenting you, but you can’t help but notice the type of women that like to approach him. All gorgeous enough to be models, with the confidence to match - seeing as they always have to gall to flirt with him even when you’re holding hands.

And you wish it didn’t get to you. It shouldn’t. Rafayel doesn’t even bat an eyelash at them, always focusing on you or making more obvious shows of affection to chase them away. Still, the more it happens, the more you find yourself caring about how you look, or not liking the way you look. 

And wearing a lovely dress only seems to highlight your self-perceived flaws.

“Do you really think it looks okay?” You ask again, fiddling with the satin self-consciously. 

Rafayel’s brow furrows a little. He tilts his head, looking almost like a confused puppy, “What is it? Do you not like the dress? Do you not want to go anymore? Please don’t make me go alone. These galleries are sooo boring without you, I hate them.”

“They’re your galleries,” you point out, shaking your head with a small smile, “How can you hate them so much? It’s your work, they deserve to be celebrated.”

“Why go stare at my own work when I can spend the night staring at you?”

Heat creeps up your cheeks. Usually you’d have a witty comeback to his flirting, but you can’t find anything tonight, not with how you’re feeling. So you just ruffle his hair fondly, avoiding the intense affection in his gaze.

“Come on, Thomas will be mad if we don’t show up. We need to go.”

Rafayel’s eyes narrow. Before you can pull away, he grabs your wrist, keeping you anchored to where you are. Your heart jumps to your throat at the serious expression he suddenly gives you.

“What’s wrong? You’re acting strange.” 

Being an artist, Rafayel knows you, your face, your body, better than anyone. He’s always looking at you, holding on to every new detail he finds. Like the way your eyes crinkle when you laugh. How the tip of your nose turns rosy when you’re even a little cold. Or how your lips twitch before you lie. Like they are now.

“I’m fine, Raffie, just…tired,” you sigh, tugging against his hold, still trying to avoid him, “Now come on, we should go.”

“Hmmmmm…no.”

You squeak as Rafayel unexpectedly gives your wrist a sharp pull. The momentum sends you tumbling over the back of the couch, right into his lap, and before you can escape, he has you wrapped in his arms. Stuck.

“Rafayel-! Let go of me,” you growl, squirming around hopelessly. The man is surprisingly strong, and with your feet still tossed over the back of the couch, you can’t get enough leverage to escape.

“Nope, not until you tell me what’s wrong,” he hums, arms tightening around your waist.

You huff and give him a solid glare, “This isn’t funny, Rafayel.”

“And neither is hiding something that’s obviously bothering you,” he snips back softly, “You’re a horrible liar, miss bodyguard.”

“I just…” You cross your arms, face feeling warmer and warmer the longer he stares at you. Why does he have to be so stubborn at times like this? “I haven’t been feeling good about myself lately, okay? That’s it, now can we go?”

“Nope.” You resist the urge to groan.

“Thomas is going to throw a fit-”

“He can handle it tonight, I’ll give him a bonus. What’s more important is fixing this.” Rafayel props his chin on your shoulder, a contemplative frown pulling at his lips. “It’ll have to be something creative, which I’m great at, of course. But what?”

“Rafayel, this really isn’t necessary,” you grumble, “I don’t think it’s something you can fix.”

The artist shakes his head, pressing a faint kiss to your shoulder, “I think you underestimate me, cutie. But that’s okay, I think I know exactly what to do.”

Lifting you up, Rafayel sets you back on the couch gingerly and darts off after giving you instructions to not move. A heavy sigh passes your lips as you fix your dress, though it seems a bit pointless now. It doesn’t sound like you’ll be going to the gallery.

A part of you is secretly relieved at that. You love looking at Rafayel’s work, but since it’s his gallery, all the attention would be on him, and, consequently, you as well. It’s a bit suffocating. Still, you’re a little wary of whatever plan he has concocted. Rafayel is as unpredictable as he is talented.

Time seems to tick by slowly as you sit on the couch. You eye the clock, noting each minute as it passes by. Your nerves only continue to rise the longer you’re alone. What on earth is he doing?

On the tenth minute, Rafayel reappears, a mischievous spark in his eyes. He offers you a hand.

“The gallery is ready for you to attend, cutie.”

This time, your eyes narrow, though you still take his hand, allowing him to help you up. “I thought you said we weren’t going?”

“Oh, this is a different kind of gallery,” he hums, looking quite proud of himself, “I think you’ll enjoy this one a lot more. And I’ll be your personal tour guide.”

“How kind,” you muse, fighting your own smile. You might as well humor him, even if it doesn’t help. As long as Rafayel is happy, you can count the night as some kind of success.

Rafayel leads you to one of the spare rooms of the studios. You vaguely remember him telling you at some point that it’s a room he likes to keep his sketchbooks and unfinished projects in. You cast him a curious glance, but his eyes are set ahead as he touches the door, that smile still painted across his lips.

“These works are some of the most important that I’ve ever done, and you’ll be the first to see them. My heart rests in your hands tonight, so be careful, otherwise you might mortally wound me and I’ll never have the courage to paint again.”

You roll your eyes at his antics, about to make a sassy remark, but the words get lost when he presses the door open. Your eyes go wide at the sight before you.

The room is lit by candles, flickering with the flames of his evol. Their light dances across countless artworks spread across the room, hanging on every surface, each one depicting the same subject.

You.

Most of them are sketches, their strokes simple and spontaneous but laden with care, like he had wanted to capture a precious moment for himself. There’s one of you dozing off on the couch, another of you dancing in the kitchen. There’s even one of you holding a stuffy, from one of your many trips to the arcade.

The further you walk into the room, the more detailed the pieces become. 

A charcoal drawing of you in your uniform, gun drawn on something off page. The lines of your body are like water, fluid and graceful, the look in your eyes somehow burning with a fierce determination.

An oil painting of the night you spent at the market. Your image is looking at a sparkler, the light reflected in your eyes like stars, your cheeks painted a soft rosy color that seems to glow. It’s impossibly delicate, each stroke placed with such intention, it’s almost like you’re there again.

The final painting you come to make your face go warm again. It’s of you, curled up under a familiar set of sheets, mostly focused on your face. Your hair pools against the pillow, messy yet somehow charming in its unruliness. The morning sunlight dapples across your skin, highlighting the soft color of your lips and the gentle curve of your smile. But it’s your eyes that really make your breath catch. You can practically see the sleepy fog in them, like you had just woken, but also the undeniable warmth. The love.

It’s…beautiful. They’re all beautiful. And they’re all you.

“This is…” You swallow around the lump in your throat, suddenly feeling off-kilter. “I can’t believe you did all of these.”

Rafayel, who had been following behind you silently, hums softly and curls his arms around your waist. You lean back into his touch, letting it ground you and your swirling emotions.

“It’s been difficult even focusing on my work for the gallery. Everything else seems to pale in comparison when I have such a beautiful muse in front of me all the time,” he murmurs the words against your temple, voice quiet to match the atmosphere of the room. “I could devote lifetimes to painting you and never grow tired of it.”

You bite back a bashful smile, unable to resist the urge to tease him a little, “I didn’t realize I was so distracting.”

“Just ask Thomas. I think this is the most he’s ever had to remind me to finish my work,” Rafayel chuckles, giving your waist a squeeze. “But it was worth the missed deadlines. Afterall, isn’t it my responsibility as your employer and lover to make sure you understand how much I cherish you?”

Your heart flutters wildly as the brazen affection in his tone. It seems to melt away your doubts, replacing them with an overwhelming feeling of fondness for your artist. Only Rafayel would do something like this for you, how could you deny it?

Turning around in his hold, you lean up on your tiptoes and press a kiss to his cheek, which you notice is an absolutely rosy shade of red. It makes you feel even more fond. You really really love this man.

“Thank you, my pretty fish. I feel much better now.”

That dazzling smile lights up his face again, and he leans down to scatter kisses all over your face, whispering between your bouts of giggles, “Anything for you, my queen.”

---

All the smooches. I love this man. I will die on the hill of using the nickname "fish" or "fishie" with him, I think it's soooo cute.

[abowlofpetuniasandawhale]

i wish i could just handle someone being a little thoughtless and rude without it getting under my skin and poking at my wounds so much like. it’s so frustrating that the most inconsequential things just have me spiraling dramatically

[inkdrinkerworld]

a spider!reader who gives off “sweet girl next door” vibes? she tries to bring miguel cookies with he’s working on something and he scares her, coming off more angry than intended, and ends up dropping them on the floor. (collect groan lmao)

contains minor spoilers to across the spider-verse pt 2

you’d been thinking all day after the whole fiasco of recruiting gwen that miguel needed cheering up.

margo warned you not to, said, ‘he’s a grump. let him grump.’

but you hadn’t been able to take that answer. there was something about miguel that didn’t just scream grump. something seemed tired about him.

so, you tried your hand at baking him something. you’d debated for a long time of chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal cookies were more his style.

you decided on chocolate chip.

you spent two days on them, using a recipe which required brown butter, overnight chilling and a lot of dark chocolate.

you got a lot of flour on you as you baked them, watching them rise and then spread out on the floor of the kitchen.

when they were done you packed them up in a cute purple box you snagged from the cafeteria.

your heart leapt to your throat as you turned down the corner to HQ, hoping that you wouldn’t catch miguel at a bad time.

that hope is decimated when you walk in and find him grumbling to his computer.

“um, miguel?” you’re bouncing on the balls of your feet as you stand in the archway.

“what? what do you need?” he huffs and you feel some of your momentum dry up.

“i brought something for you, but if you’re busy-“ it appears that was the wrong thing to say.

“of course i’m busy! i’m always busy trying to keep the stupid multi-verse from collapsing. maybe some other time we can chit chat.”

you’d never actually been on the receiving end of miguel’s upset, and maybe this wasn’t exactly for you but his tone and the way his arms are flailing around his body makes you feel small in a way that hasn’t happened for a long time.

“right,” you whisper, managing not to cry as you jolt and the box of cookies fall. “i’m sorry for bothering you.”

miguel watches as you don’t even bend to pick up the box. he watches you turn like you’re being remote controlled and he catches sight of your hands wiping at your eyes.

“great, you’ve made her cry casanova.” lyla appears suddenly, foot tapping in air as her arms cross over her chest.

“so now i’m the bad guy?” he asks, but it’s rhetorical. he feels like the bad guy. guilt and shame burn his throat and belly like he’s downed two tequila shots with no lime or salt.

lyla flits to the box, “she made you cookies.”

miguel sighs, hands scrubbing at his face as he steps off the platform to pick up the box. in your neat cursive he notices you’ve written, ‘a pick me from having to do all the hard stuff.’

he wants to smash something. of course he’d blow up at possibly the nicest spider-woman variant. of course he’d be the asshole to make you cry too.

“where is she?” he asks lyla as he sets the box on the desk and opens it to find the cookies all broken. they smell delicious - something close to that bakery you liked when you’d visited earth-2067 with him on a scouting mission.

you and miguel always make a great team on missions and he hates to admit it but he’s very fond of you and he knows you're fond of him too.

it’s why his chest is aching and he needs to find you. “lyla, where is she?”

“in her room, blasting music and cleaning. give the girl a moment alone before you barge in there and make it worse.”

[cyborg-franky]

Thank you @tenzeniths for the support and I hope you enjoy this <3<3 Marco, Ace, Thatch, Izou [POLYAM] x GN Reader with chronic fatigue SFW WC: 1,500

You hated how you felt all the time, your body betraying you at every chance it got You felt tired, exhausted daily. Before you’d taken to the sea it hadn’t been so bad, more of a mild inconvenience but now you were part of one of the strongest and most notorious crews in the world. You really, really noticed it and you knew everyone else could tell you struggled.

Could see how you’d be okay one moment, your normal cheerful self and helping around the place. Either in Marco’s office helping with paperwork or with patients. Helping Thatch in the kitchen with dishes or cooking. You’d go on a mission with Ace, sitting alongside him on his Striker as you checked out a nearby island. Or when you helped Izou teach his division skills on the battlefield. 

But after a few hours, sometimes not even that, you’d feel all your energy drained, your ability to keep up, pay attention, or even stand just depleted, and you’d curse yourself and your body for being so useless and weak. You knew you couldn’t help it but that still didn’t make you feel any better. You didn’t feel like an equal to any of your wonderful partners.

Marco

He understood it better than the others. After all he was a doctor. Whenever Marco saw you flagging, the tell-tail signs you were struggling. If you weren’t working with him at the time, and he saw you starting to lose all momentum, he’d ask for your help.

Anything to get you in the office and sat down. He didn’t want you to get hurt where you couldn’t concentrate.

If you were already working with him when you started to feel the fatigue hit, chances were Marco knew before you even felt it fully hit.

“Come sit on the couch,” he’d say with his hands on your shoulders, rubbing soft circles with his thumbs as you sighed, the sound heavy as you looked up at his lop-sided smile and kind eyes. “I’m fine Marco,” you’d fight him on it, not wanting to feel you couldn’t even do something as simple as sitting at a desk and reading.  “It’s just paperwork,” 

He clicked his tongue and gave you a tsk knowing he was going into doctor mode any second. “It’s still mentally taxing. There is no shame in needing a break yoi.” He said, voice firm as he gently rocked you, urging you to leave the chair and go do as you were told.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” You mumbled and rubbed your forehead, feeling the agitation at yourself growing as you stood. “Don’t be sorry, it’s a medical condition and as much as I appreciate you trying your best, I don’t want you pushing yourself baby bird,” He said and kissed your forehead, leading you to the sofa sitting you down.

“I feel useless,” you added as he fussed over you, getting a blanket to drape over you. “Not useless, never useless yoi.” Marco brushed a strand of hair behind your ear. “You keeping me company, that’s all I need.”

“Really?” “Yes, I promise.”

Marco had a way of calming you down. You soon settled and felt yourself drift off into a well-needed nap.

---

Thatch

Less chill about things than Marco.

Will 100% be on your ass about have you eaten today? Do you need a snack? What about water? Are you staying hydrated?

Thatch is the actual mother hen of the four.

If he wasn’t satisfied with the answer, he’d give you this look, tapping his foot but you knew he meant well.

You’d been helping out around the deck that afternoon, trying to at the very least. You sighed and slumped against the mast as you closed your eyes and tried to stop the lightheaded feeling rushing through you as you gripped the handle of the mop tighter, something to ground yourself as you tried to shut the world out. 

You could feel it, the way your energy just drained. You’d felt so good this morning that you’d fooled yourself into thinking you could do everything. But now you were paying for such a bold claim as mopping the deck, which had well and truly sapped all you had moments ago.

“Hey pumpkin.” You opened your eyes to see Thatch, and he had a worried expression on his face as he folded his arms over his chest and examined you. “How ya feelin’?” He asked as you shrugged your shoulders. “I’m fine,”

He tsked and gave you a scrutinizing gaze as you practically wobbled in front of him. 

“Come get something to eat,” 

“I’m fine,” you were stubborn, a trait many of the Whitebeard pirates shared. Thatch sighed and dropped his arms by his sides before he lifted you up effortlessly, slinging you over his shoulder and ignoring your protests.

Soon you were sat in the kitchen as Thatch made you a sandwich, making sure there were veggies and protein to help you perk up. 

“You didn’t have to,” you mumbled, feeling bad as he’d obviously spent most of the afternoon prepping for dinner tonight. “I know, but I wanted to.” he gave one of his classic broad grins and handed you the plate, kissing your forehead. “I gotta look after you. The others would kick my ass if I didn’t right?” he said, chuckling and ruffling your hair as he looked at you with such adoration.

After that you were given a chair and helped him do some lowkey little effort chores so you felt useful but it wasn’t too much.

--

Ace

People assumed Ace wouldn’t understand what you were going through. They thought that he was young and so full of energy that he couldn’t possibly relate.

Except, he could.

The times he’d wear himself out [granted, it took way more than it did for you] he would be overwhelmed with the need to sleep and just pass out in random places.

A type of exhaustion-based narcolepsy Marco had explained.

You both could see the signs in one another and as much as you wouldn’t wish anything bad on people, let alone someone you loved, it was comforting to have someone in a similar camp as yourself.

You could feel your feet dragging, feeling the aches in your body and were aware your mood was starting to dip lower and lower as your ability to cope with the day whittled away. 

Ace walked over and saw you looking frazzled.

You could tell Ace wasn’t much better. He didn’t have his mischievous glimmer in his eyes, his dark circles prominent and the smile on his face was a shadow of a smirk. His posture was slouched and lazy as he nodded to you.

“Do I look as tired as I feel?” you asked with a sigh and collapsed against his chest, feeling arms around you as he used you to prop himself up as much as you needed him. “Worse,” he laughed and kissed your head.

“Maybe we need to get you to bed,” Ace hummed, running a hand down your back. “Ace.” you looked up at him, giving him a look. 

Ace scoffed and rolled his eyes, pulling away enough to see the frown on your face. “Not for anythin’ like that. Although…” he trailed off until you jabbed him in the side. “I’m kiddin’!”

“A nap, just a little power nap to get us through till tonight, huh?”

Now, that did sound nice…

“Oh Portgas, you tease…” You sighed and let him pull you away to his room, where you both promptly fell onto his bed, embraced by the soft pillows and tangled messy sheets.

Neither of you had even managed to take off your shoes as you cuddled together to recharge.

--

Izou

Izou was much more ‘tough love’ than your other partners.

But even so, he tried his best to understand and learn about your illness. Knowing you couldn’t help it any more than someone with a broken leg could.

He was more of a fan of ‘preventative’ measures. Seeing you exhausted and fighting to stand up was hard for him, unsure how to deal with it in a positive way without feeling he was being condescending or coddling you.

So you’d have these little tea sessions and pamper evenings with him. 

“This one is said to relax your body and mind, makes rest all the more revitalizing,” he said and poured you a tea as you sat across from him with a facemask on, feet in a tub of warm water with all sorts of oils and herbs.

You weren’t sure how much of these things would really work but it was nice to be so cared for and doted on. This was Izou’s way of doing his best to show he cared and wanted to help.

“Tastes… bitter?” you said, slapping your lips together. “All the best remedies taste bad,” Izou countered as he sat down and sipped his own, making a happy sound as he closed his eyes. 

The room was nice. His room always smelt like incense and flowers, and the colours he’d chosen to decorate his space with were also calming. You felt good here, felt good with him.

“How do you feel?” he asked as he watched you, taking in all your little movements and reactions as you basked in comfort.

“I feel good, I feel like I’m recharging.” you watched the smile grace his face as he nodded. “Good,”

[urhoneycombwitch]

im gonna be at work for high night 🙄 so save my self-indulgent idea for later lu

reader who keeps hitting the snooze button on their alarm and groans knowing they need to get up for work but they just really cannot find the motivation to. The bed is warm and they're so comfortable and what's the harm of calling out....

Eddie who notices they're still laying down, eyes closed and in that fighting off being awake state and he knows there's only so many snoozes they can hit before they're definitely going to be running late so he sneaks under the covers....

and he doesn't come back up again until reader is awake, a tired, but satisfied smile on their face as they blink up at the ceiling. He presses some kisses to their lips/cheek/neck, slick and smelling like them, going "Hi, pretty. Ready to get up now?"

nauuurrr anon 😞 we will miss you but hope u see this after ur shift 💖 eeeheeeeheeeheee I’m literally kicking my feet behind my back sleepover-style giggling at this. that ellipses is so sinister I gotta help it out

+18 mdni

cw: R receives oral + fingering while sleeping (has been previously discussed as a 👍), somno, Eddie’s a soft!dom

___

Eddie’s always so attentive to your needs and state of being- he’s naturally super empathetic. by no means a morning person himself, he learns quickly that the rhythm of your day is usually set by how you wake up.

he’s dealt with the consequences of you having been off to a bad start, before- it takes a huge amount of cajoling or kisses or swinging by the diner for waffles to shake you out of a grumpy funk. and based on the way you’ve been tossing and turning this morning, you’re about to have the most miserable work shift ever.

what he doesn’t have this morning, though, is a lot of time- waffles will have to be for another day. he’s got an even better idea for a sweet wakeup.

he moves slow, weight in his hands on either side of your sleeping frame, kissing as he moves down your body. first to your bare shoulder. then to the side of that pretty nightie’s strap. one for your pebble nipple, peaking through the silk.

Eddie trails his kisses down- one on your stomach, one for the bump of your cunt- pulling the sheets away as he goes.

with fingers nimble and dextrous, he feels for the band of your underwear while keeping his eyes on your face, careful to pause if your expression changes. the goal is to keep you pliant, for this next part…

he gets his head under the edge of your nightdress, pussy fully exposed to the eager lappings of his mouth. with one hand on your stomach to keep your center grounded, Eddie slips the middle two fingers of his other hand into your slippery cunt.

a soft shift of your hips, a whimper, and Eddie moves his hands with your pelvis, using the momentum to dip and catch your clit in his mouth.

he follows with his head as your hips sink back down into the mattress, sucking hard on your beating clit as he goes.

you must’ve been having a dirty dream, ‘cuz you’re already so tight around his fingers, slick pooling in his palm. he laps noisily into your cunt, wet squelch of his fingers bringing you to bleary consciousness.

“whuh- uh- oh fuck, Eddie-”

your legs jerk close on impulse, trapping his head between your thighs, and Eddie thinks he might’ve died and gone to heaven. fully clothed, about to cream his jeans from eating his girl out. sure, he’s down to meet god, but can it wait a second?

“was dreamin’ you- ah, yeah, there- dreamin’ of you doing this to me. fuck…” your voice ends in a hoarse rasp, your hands shooting into Eddie’s hair, tugging at the roots.

he ruts into the mattress, cock leaking steadily into the fabric of his briefs, humming with pleasure against your clit.

your back arches off the mattress, he hears that tell-tale, breathy little gasp, and you’re gone- clenching around his fingers like a vice, flooding against his pistoning fingers.

he’s gone just as soon as you, coming in hot spurts with each upstroke against the quilt below, moaning into your pussy.

he kisses a sticky trail back up your body, sliding your nightie strap into place, loving and firm- “morning, princess. go take a shower, and no complaining. as a thank you for the wake up gift- ‘kay?”

you wouldn’t dream of complaining, nodding easily to his command, sleepy and sated smile on your face. your arms reach to encircle his shoulders, and Eddie leans in for a kiss- he tastes like you.

[messyhairedhazeleyeddude]

╔═════ •┈• “I Hear You.” •┈• ═════╗

A Toge Inumaki x Fem!Deaf!Reader || Fluff + SMUT || ˚. ୭ ˚◦˚.

Contents ; Mind reading (reader has cursed hearing), Toge has PTSD, soft touches, hesitant fingering, face-riding, mind control (Toge uses his speech curse), squirting, soft dom Toge, public sex, cock-warming, and a cumshot in reader’s panties.

A/N ; Hi, so I just wanted to explain a little bit of background on this since reader’s curse might be hard to understand for some right away. But, basically, reader is partially deaf from a horrible accident involving a curse that had consumed one of Sukuna’s fingers. It left her with a cursed ability to where she can listen into someone’s thoughts for a limited amount of time at random. However, it has its drawbacks which you will see in the story. Now, that’s all! Hopefully that clarifies some confusion if there is any.

Dynamic ; Best Friends to Lovers

Sexual Dynamic ; Soft Dom!Toge | Bottom!Fem!Reader

P.O.V ; First

Age range ; 18+

Music Suggestion ;

{Y/N’s P.O.V :}

I sat on an oak polished bench with a heavy sigh, facing toward the buildings of Jujutsu High, hundreds of Ginkgo trees shrouding certain parts of their rooftops in a pretty spiral. The same ones lining the path that I walked on to get to our usual hang-out spot.

Their orange leaves danced around my head and landed at my black Mary Jane’s, my glossy lips quirking up into a smile at the perfect shape of the leaf before lifting my Canon camera to take a picture. As soon as my finger hovered over the snap button, it flew away.

Wind being the culprit. A shudder ran down my spine when the gust blew through my {H/C} hair and ruined another shot, making me huff in frustration.

I’ve been dealing with this annoying weather all day. Finally, the day I’m off of studying and training. Left alone to fulfill any hobbies I want for as long as I want with no one calling me on a mission to exorcise curses. And it just had to be windy.

However, I couldn’t complain. Being able to get dressed for the day, something I hadn’t been able to do in a long time— was more than exciting. There was even time for myself to do my makeup and having hours like that as a Jujutsu student would be considered lucky.

Reminding myself of him, I smiled. The memories of his horrible attempts at being on time flashed in my mind and brought a small giggle out of me. Oh, that’s right. How could I forget the example himself? For the boy I was waiting on, getting out of work was non-existent.

The feeling of a warm hand placing itself on my shoulder made me jump out of my seat, twisting around to stand in a fighting position with a little scream. When I saw the recognizable white parted hair and tired, doe eyes of Toge, I clasped both of my hands together and puckered my lips out of embarrassment.

He was quick to be apologetic, repeating the same weird ingredients he usually said over and over again, “Sujiko… Takana..?” But, by now, I somewhat understood what he meant. Takana was used as a form of asking if I was okay. Sujiko… That, I could only guess meant an expression like, ‘Oh gosh.’ Or I liked to imagine it was.

Hanging out with the cursed speech user outside of missions had benefits when it came to understanding his way of talking. Although, that was funny to mention because the way we had come about to regularly seeing each other was far from willing. Or maybe it wasn’t on my end. But, if I could take those doubts back, I would.

Thinking of that dredged up a flashback of how it all started.

•···· ‘ First Meeting Him . . . ’ ····•

My feet slipped while trying to hop onto the next stone in the middle of a river I was crossing, almost taking a tumble into the cold water before I saved myself by stretching out my arms. I regained my balance and breathed heavily, cursing underneath a couple of them.

Then I went for the fifth one, regaining momentum and skipping across each of them until I landed on my toes into the bed of pebbles near the water. Surprisingly, I had yet to cut them on a sharp object sticking through the dirt.

I turned my head from staring down at my legs and white skirt to looking at my reflection in the clear stream.

{E/C} eyes peered back at me, filled with happiness from the moment of quiet, and appreciation for the fact I didn’t have to stress my attention span on anyone. Or that’s what I thought.

Before I could get further with that thought, a headache began to form on the right side of my temple and I placed a hand up to it; worry rising as I knew what was happening when I heard ringing after the throbbing. My curse. It was coming.

I couldn’t understand how it was. A person had to be beside me in order for me to connect to their inner consciousness and they’d have to be in an extremely weak mindset which would take hours for me to perfect in battle.

So, what this was and what this meant was far beyond anything I’ve experienced with my curse. Right up until this very point.

Crouching down to my knees, I started to hold both sides of my head now. The pain and ringing worsening by the minute. I rocked back and forth to try to ease myself. Why was it so hard to connect to them? It was like they were poisoning my brain the more I tried to.

Whoever it was took me forever to process before I could hear the faint sound of mumbling, such a soft and sweet voice.

“What do I do? What do I do? I can’t have her knowing that I stopped to watch her… Even worse, she could think I followed,” I managed to make out what they were saying, the masculine tone rambling on and on, as if the boy had some form of hyperactivity disorder.

Thankfully, the migraine stopped once I was successful in linking. So I was able to stand up straight again. Looking around for the responsible one of my misery.

I figured I’d tell them I knew they were here to lure them out of their hiding, shouting with a lag on any words I couldn’t hear I was pronouncing right, “Who’s out there?! You can show yourself! I won’t be upset with you!” Hope I said that correctly.

The voice paused and no longer spoke a word, a silence enveloping the atmosphere and leaving me to barely confirm that they were still present by checking if my cursed energy was still being used. When I did, I called out a second time, “I promise! I won’t think anything bad of you! I can hear your thoughts! My curse is working with you as of now!”

My attempts at getting them to come out seemed futile and I was about to give up before I heard rustling in the bushes to my left. I turned my head to see who it was and to my surprise, it was that cursed first grade sorcerer. What was his name? Inumaki?

His chin was lowered but his eyes were wide and fixated on mine, like he was in shock. He was nervous from what I could tell in his body language: hesitant in his footsteps, jagged breathing, and small pupils. I could see a shake in how he walked too. Whatever it was that was scaring him about me, it was definitely due to underlying trauma.

And once I heard what he started to think about, I pieced together why, “Okaka, okaka, okaka, okaka.” He continuously repeated the Japanese word for ‘Fish Flakes’ in a panicked tone, his hand moving up to his forehead to press against it. Toge was forcing himself to not think anything because he was worried his curse would affect me.

The poor boy proceeded to break down in front of me, landing onto his knees in the grass while pulling at his hair as slips of actual words were coming into his sentences, “Okaka, I can’t, no! Stop thinking, Ikura, just Ikura! No, no, no, OKAKA!”

I could feel his torment. Having access to someone’s mind wasn’t a gift like people assume it is, this was why. You get to see what they see, feel how they feel, and physically align yourself to the point where it could be labeled as scientifically combining one’s spirit with another. That means I can see all of his past and present. I can understand every single thing Inumaki was trying to do for me in that moment. And it was to save. Save me from him. Only save me from him. That was what he was really trying to say.

There wasn’t enough time left of my ability for me to convince him to calm down and see that nothing was wrong. I was cut off before I could say a word of affirmation and from the look of dull surprise on Toge’s face, he sensed that it was over.

I don’t think I’ll be able to forget that look of sadness in his purple eyes when he came to the realization that everything was fine. That none of his words had hurt or done the things he had saw in his head. It’s what led me to tug his sleeve as he tried to leave.

Inumaki didn’t look at me, but he stopped. Like he was waiting for me to say what I had to say. So, I hurriedly proposed an idea I wouldn’t have blurted out had I not felt rushed, “Can I see you again?”

Admitting this now, I adored seeing that smile curving up his cheeks, as melancholy as it was. It’s what made me start to crush on the boy. He nodded his head and gave me a thumbs up, his eyes squinting into crescent-shaped moons while he remarked, “Shake.”

That was the beginning of our unspoken friendship.

•···· ‘ End of Flashback. . . ’ ····•

I blinked rapidly when coming back from the small memory trip, realizing that I had been staring at Toge the entire time I was lost in it. A blush creeped onto my face, I could feel the warmth scattering my cheeks and I lifted my hands to cover it; leaving my eyes open to keep eye contact with him.

That wasn’t a smart idea. He was bound to know that I was flustered. Inumaki had such an odd increased sense of observation because of his inability to have conversations. I could see it from how he looked at me. It always felt like he was reading into my soul, gently peeping behind the curtains of my brain, and looking at the scripture of my bones whenever he held his gaze on me like he was currently.

A hum left me and I laughed it off, brushing the sleeves of my brown cardigan on my cheeks, stepping toward him, “Pardon that, it’s so cold… Do you think we could go somewhere warmer?”

Toge lingered the stare for a minute before he gave me a break and answered, “Tsuna Tsuna.” I distinctly recall that to mean, ‘Look’ in his vocabulary. Confirming it when he grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me closer, bringing me into a hug.

At first, I thought he was trying to warm me up with his own body temperature but then I felt him taking off his jacket and that made me pull away. The stupid blush on my face wouldn’t ever go if he kept this up. I apologized and waved a hand at the action, “No, no! Thank you for the kindness.. But, you need that too.”

He continued to take it off and walked back to where he was in front of me, throwing the jacket over my shoulders and holding it there with the arm holes wide open.

I stared up at him, his face closer than before, and the details in it enough to make my face burn brighter; like a tomato. Then I slowly slid my arms through the warm piece of clothing, letting it mold into my body, giving him a small smile of comfort and gratitude.

Toge looked me up and down, holding two thumbs up with an exclamation of the word he uses for praise, “Mentaiko!” His eyes smiling at me once again.

Why did he have to be so sweet? I was lost in thought about my crush on the boy for what felt like the millionth time. Tired of stressing my feelings on it but I wasn’t able to say a word about it to him. I didn’t want to ruin a friendship that seemed so fragile by acting on something that’d be so selfish. He wasn’t looking for a girlfriend, he was looking for a friend. Someone he could finally have a connection with outside of his stressors. Not another load to bear.

Shunning myself from having anymore thoughts on the matter, I went to sitting on the bench from earlier again, Inumaki following behind and plopping down next to me.

We sat in silence and watched the scenery like I had been before, helping me calm myself so no more unnecessary romance made me avoid the white-haired boy. I closed my eyes and burrowed most of myself into the jacket to keep some heat maintained, the smell of rice and red mungbean paste wafting from it.

Glancing at Toge, I noticed that he was leaned and fixated on scribbling something on a paper resting in his lap. Seemingly to have got it from the backpack he carried here.

I watched as he jotted down the last of what he needed to write. He shoved the pencil back into one of the pockets of his bag and folded the paper up into a square; handing it to me the moment he was finished. My expression changed into a surprised stare, digging my fingers into the corners of it until I undid the folds one by one.

There was no way I would expect to see what I read on that paper, but I did. Stumbling over the words he wrote with shock.

‘Please, try to connect to me again?’

Looking over at him, my wide eyes met with his purple, calm orbs. Like he was trying to tell me it was okay. Inumaki outstretched his hand and placed it facing up on my thigh for me to hold it, peacefully smirking at me as if he was letting me know that he was ready to talk.

My breathing increased and my eyelashes fluttered, trying to process everything without getting too overjoyed, but that was really hard. He wanted to speak to me. Would I be the first person he’s talked to? Would I be the first to experience a conversation with a cursed speech user?

None of this mattered. The only thing that mattered was getting to experience the connection again and after having so much time to regain control over this cursed energy I had, I was more than prepared to pull it together.

My eyelids shut and I focused every single bit of my attention on Toge’s presence, pinpointing the exact spots of his soul and reaching out a hand to place it on his forehead. Sweeping hair out of the way for my palm.

A buzz of power vibrated through my entire arm and I could hear the sounds of almost thousands of student’s thoughts for a fraction of a second, my head spinning until a snap was heard. And then quiet. I could picture a thin white line in my head, the sound of soft, running water making me giggle. His soul was so gentle and pretty. It was exactly what I thought it would be like.

I opened my eyes to look at his handsome face once more, giving him a nod to let him know that I succeeded in the connection. My heart picking up pace and thumping against my chest as I waited to hear that voice of his.

Quiet but kind, he murmured to me, “Can you… hear this?” I eagerly nodded, a wide grin accidentally peeping from my lips as I said, “Yes! Yes, I can!” His eyebrows raised and he appeared starstruck, choking out in his mind, “You can… And nothing is happening to you? You can talk to me?”

Tears formed in the corners of his ducts out of being overwhelmed, threatening to spill while I continued to shake my head up and down, confirming the one thing he had been wanting almost his whole life.

He scoffed, thinking out loud with more confidence, “I didn’t think something like this was possible for me…” I had never heard him speak so clearly before. Last time he was so hard to hear that I had to listen to each syllable for a clue on what he was saying. Now, he spoke directly into his head.

But, pushing everything to the side, I was curious about his reasoning. Why was he suddenly okay with this? So, I asked him, “What made you want to connect?”

Toge bit his lip at the question and a random look of nervousness crossed his face, his directness failing him as he gave himself away instantly, “I was trying to ask if you would be willing to cross the boundaries of friends and into something more…?” My jaw dropped at what he just said, looking at him like he was insane before coughing a reply, “Wow! I wouldn’t have thought this was what you were going to say! Um…!”

Tilting my head to the ground, I tucked my knees together and sheepishly took the hand that he kept there from earlier. Interlocking my fingers with his and squeaking out, “I think I would really enjoy that…”

This was happening. He was confessing feelings for me I believed didn’t exist a moment ago and telling me he wanted me to be his girlfriend. Holy, shit. Mind my language, but seriously! HOLY, SHIT!

Inumaki squeezed my hand and reached over to grab my chin with his other one, turning me to face him so he could get closer. Observing how I was responding to the situation with a tiny smirk. Was he being cocky? The Toge Inumaki?

He touched noses with me, asking as he barely hovered his lips on mine, “I don’t know why… but I really want to…Is it okay if I kiss you, {Y/N}?” My breath caught in my throat and I froze, responding through my own thought, “Yes.”

There was no hesitation after, our lips locking in a tight hold as he brushed his hand to the back of my neck, tugging me into him to where we were smushed against one other. A small bit of desperation in the pull, causing the both of us to stay in the kiss until we needed a break for oxygen.

I panted once apart, Toge moving his arm from holding my hand to pushing his fingers to my lower stomach, hesitating right around there. He murmured, “Can I go all the way?” Struggling from holding back by the way he was dragging down. I dug my teeth into my tongue and contemplated over the ask, secretly accepting it as soon as he mentioned it. Fuck, I felt like such a bad influence.

“Do it,” I quickly whispered into his ear, nuzzling down into the crook of his neck to hide there afterward. What were we doing? What if someone saw?

Me and Toge were exchanging kisses on an outside bench. We were cuddled up until the white-haired boy laid me down on the wooden planks, his lips dipping for my neck and sucking on parts that were exposed. I gasped, wrapping my arms around him to plant my nails deep into his back. I didn’t mean to hurt him, I was just overstimulated by the rushes of dopamine from every single touch he gave.

It was so soft. Even as he pushed his fingers underneath my skirt and in between my thighs, it tickled me from how delicate he was. This was weird. Who knew I would like someone touching me like this?

Inumaki hovered above my underwear once he got around to them, swallowing nervously while he confirmed with me for a second time, “I can go ahead? You want this?” He was so adorable in the way he quirked his head like a puppy as he asked, his messy hair making me want to squeal. But I refrained.

I decided to vocally express it now, “Yes, I want you to.” Hopefully that would get it through to him. His face almost innocent for that brief moment he asked right until he got the message. A darkness shading over his face before he hooked his fingers on the fabric that covered me. Pushing them to the side and making me hold my breath.

He was doing this to me. He was really going to do this with me. Out in public. My head turned to stare out at the falling leaves with a churning anxiety in my stomach now. Letting the boy above me feel the wetness between my legs with his fingertips, pushing down to my entrance and slowly sliding one third of it in.

If my grip was bad then, I couldn’t imagine how it was once he started. It felt like he was trying to tease me for the first half of it, constantly taking his fingers out, pushing an entire digit inside, then half of another, and proceed to completely abandon the whole thing. Like he was experimenting with me and figuring out which made me feel the best. Eventually, I had to plead, “Toge, Toge…! Can you please… just keep them in?” That was awfully embarrassing.

The purple-eyed boy raised his brows, gushing out an apology and pulling completely away instead, “Oh..! Sorry… You feel really.. nice. I hope this is okay…” Before he went to kiss from my neck down to my chest, all the way to my hips. Looking up at me through those white eyelashes of his as he went for it, wrapping his mouth on my sensitive bud and dipping his tongue to my entrance.

He lapped in and out of me, my legs tensing and squeezing around him on accident while he dragged me into sitting on top of his face. Peering at his eyes that stared straight up at me, the other half of him covered by my thighs and lower half. I humped a tiny bit from how good I was feeling. Unable to stop myself from getting out of hand because he was driving me nuts with his pace.

I couldn’t keep it in for longer if he kept pressing the tip of his tongue on those sweet spots inside. Or if he kept sucking on the right places. Anything. I would unwind. And I didn’t want to make a mess on him.

Without me saying a word about it, it was like he knew I was close because of how fast he got all of a sudden. Thrusting his tongue until my legs were shaking. I cried out, reaching for and tugging on his hair. Toge groaned on me, sounding like he was annoyed, “Cum already.”

Those were real. He actually said that. And I couldn’t respond to it because my first instant reaction was to scream, collapsing forward onto the arm of the bench to hold tight as I rocked my hips.

All of my juices fell out of me and anything that couldn’t be caught by him dripped down the sides of his cheeks onto the floor. I twitched and lifted myself off, my shoes thudding on the concrete as I tried to regain my balance. Jesus, fuck, I can’t believe he did that. I can’t believe WE did that. I was so dizzy from it, I didn’t know how I was awake. My hand reached up to rub my forehead.

Although, I had no idea that Inumaki had different plans. The sound of another command from him frightening me to my core, “Take them off.” I didn’t even know what he was telling me to take off but I went for his pants anyway, guessing that he could mean something and I would still do it despite not knowing. His ability was something else. And to say that I’m not freaked out about what he was telling me to do was an understatement.

Toge was making me hook up with him. Not like I wasn’t going to in the first place, I’m only confirming this because he was going down this route and I shamefully liked it. Well, loved it…

After taking his cargo pants off of him and resting them at his knees, he helped take off his boxers next, making me cover my eyes out of sheer inexperience. I’ve never seen one in real life. And here I was about to see Toge’s. This was my first time. He seemed to get how I was feeling because he patted my head for reassurance, cooing at me in thought, “Take your time… Sorry that I’m so eager. I hope you aren’t minding, {Y/N}..”

Oh no, I was far from minding. I snickered at myself and dropped my hands from my face, excusing my behavior, “Crap…! I don’t mean to act like a kid! I haven’t done this and it’s so nerve-wracking!” Red was covering my cheeks once again as I glanced over to see his exposed erection, becoming a flustered heaping pile of mush.

Toge huffed, “That’s why I was saying uh… those commands.. If I keep doing it, will that help?” Sounding so sexually frustrated that I was starting to feel bad for holding out. But, he was suggesting an actual solution that had been working. It made sense.

So, I agreed, “Yeah… actually.” And he cleared his throat with a squint to his eyes, quickly adjusting himself. It was crazy seeing the words really leaving his mouth, “Ride me.” That could go for what he was telling me to do as well.

Feeling my body go on autopilot, both of my legs straddled the sides of Inumaki’s hips, and I began lowering myself until his tip was prodding around my inner thigh. My hand grabbed the base once I struggled for a minute, aligning it against my entrance to ease his shaft into me.

A gasp escaped my lungs, moans cascading afterward while I shakily grabbed onto both of his shoulders, his arms wrapping around my waist to hold and guide me on him. Fucking into me as I bounced lightly. I could feel how small I was for him from his dick refusing to slide out at some points. Like my body was trying to keep him inside.

We groaned in unison, syncing with each other’s movements, my voice pitching when he brushed into a spot that he abused earlier. He memorized where it was and aimed directly for it, his eyebrows knitting together as sweat dripped down from his forehead. It was so good. He felt so good. And he had a look to his face that I would never forget.

After fifteen minutes of doing it out in the open, someone was finally about to walk past and I sensed them barely seconds before they could see us. Pretending to have fell asleep on Toge once the person arrived. His jacket placed over our lower halves.

“What’s up Inumaki? Aaaaannnnd… {Y/N}…” the sound of Maki’s voice made me internally cringe as she seemed like she was getting closer. Making me pray that she wouldn’t get any ideas about what was going on. If she found out, we wouldn’t hear the end of it.

He gave his usual greeting, “Konbu..” Playing it off surprisingly well with the tone of his speech, no stutters whatsoever. Even though I could feel his dick throbbing inside of me and that was not helping my case in fighting against the demand he gave.

I tried to steady my breathing into the soft breaths like I do when I’m about to fall asleep, panicking in my mind, forgetting that Toge can hear, “I want to so badly.! I need to! I need to!” In my defense, I really couldn’t help it. He told me to do it in cursed speech. Every part of my body was screaming at me to, pain coursing through my skin when I denied the action.

Maki’s voice lowered, sounding like she was getting suspicious which terrified me, “What is she doing lying on you like that, Inumaki?” But, I couldn’t think of anything from the burn of the speech curse and it seemed like he knew that. Because even as she was right there and asking him, he began to subtly roll his hips into me, helping relieve it.

The way he said the ingredients in response were getting a bit butchered, “Nntsuna m-mayo..” And his swear word kept slipping when he pushed himself deeper into me, “Ikura…” I held my breath as I tried not to make a single noise. Too hard. Way too hard. This was such a dangerous game to play. But, why did I love it so much?

It seemed like Maki knew something was up from the way she responded, although she didn’t know what, “Ooookay… Well, I’m not going to get any information out of you any time soon.” Keeping it at that, I could make out her energy walking away from us to the other side. A huge wave of relief washed over me as I arched back into a sitting position on him, spreading my legs so he could move more freely. We were right back into it with our lust at an all time high.

Toge did most of the work when it came to it, but he didn’t seem to care. His dedication in making me feel amazing nothing short. Fingers slipping down to play with my bud after I became labored in my moans, edging me closer and closer into cumming again. My walls tightened around him before more of my liquids rushed out onto his lap, becoming a huge mess.

I wanted to apologize for ruining the bottom half of his shirt, but I couldn’t. He wouldn’t let me, continuously ramming into me until he was approaching his own end. There were several actual curses from him inside of his head as he neared it, no longer those innocent food items he loved, “Fuck.. How does it feel so.. tight? Fuck, that feels too good..! Y/N}… I think I’m going to… I need to..!”

Then he pulled out at the very last moment to cum around my lower back, most of it landing on my underwear and sabotaging them like I had with his clothing.

I was exhausted, both of us panting and taking a break by resting on the bench. Pulling up my panties as dirty as that was. I liked to think it was like a finishing touch. I gave him a small peck on the cheek, muttering weakly, “I like you… Toge…” Too shy to say the word ‘Love’ despite what we did just now.

Using the last of my strength, I kept up the connection of our brains to hear him reply back, not hearing a hesitation to his voice in the slightest, “I love you, {Y/N}.” Then I passed out on him quickly after, ironically fulfilling what we feigned earlier.

[hunieday]

Iori, Yuki, Touma 2024 Shuffle talk RabbiTV Episode 1

Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3

Please note that I am not a professional translator and I'm only doing this to share the side materials to those who cannot access them, if you notice any mistakes please let me know nicely. Enjoy!

*Door opens*

Izumi Iori: Good morning...Uh. What are you doing, Yuki-san?

Izumi Iori: Wrapping your hands around Inumaru-san's biceps…

Inumaru Touma: Good morning! Izumi!

Yuki: Good morning, Iori-kun. Touma-kun said he’s been really into muscle training lately, so I was just checking him.

Izumi Iori: C-Checking him...?

Yuki: If you're aiming to be like Ryuunosuke-kun, maybe you still have ways to go.

Inumaru Touma: That’s right...! I'll work even harder!

Yuki: Yeah, keep it up.

Izumi Iori: What kind of conversation is this... I thought I walked into the wrong room for a second…

Yuki: This is the planning room for the "Monthly World Travel".

Izumi Iori: I am aware.

Inumaru Touma: Oh man, I'm looking forward to Taipei! It’s interesting that we’re going sightseeing and challenging ourselves on a mission at the same time.

Inumaru Touma: We decided the members for this project by drawing lots, but the combination of the three of us seems a bit unusual, doesn't it?

Izumi Iori: Yes, it does. We’re different types of people...

Izumi Iori: ...I'm starting to feel anxious.

Yuki: What's making you anxious?

Izumi Iori: Just, overall.

Inumaru Touma: Huh? And here I thought that a trip with the dependable Izumi and Yuki-san would be good…!

Yuki: I’m dependable?

Izumi Iori: Please don't ask me that question.

Inumaru Touma: You really are dependable! I’ve been recording and watching "NEXT Re:vale" a whole lot!

Inumaru Touma: Also, I saw the way you looked at us when we were on the show together. You were looking as if you were watching over us, and it made me straighten my back!

Yuki: Is that so. Thank you.

Yuki: Maybe because Momo was there.

Inumaru Touma: Momo-san?

Yuki: Yeah. Momo isn't with us this time so I'll have to make sure I don't space out.

Izumi Iori: ...Inumaru-san.

Inumaru Touma: Huh?

Izumi Iori: Let's do our best. We should cooperate.

Inumaru Touma: Y-Yeah...?

Yuki: We’ll have the power of a hundred people with IDOLiSH7’s brainiac Iori-kun and ŹOOĻ’s leader Touma-kun in here. (1)

Inumaru Touma: Hehe, thank you very much...! I hope I’ll be able to communicate with the locals in English at least? That's the only thing I'm a bit worried about.

Izumi Iori: I think you'll be fine. Do you have confidence in English, Inumaru-san?

Yuki: Your rap is usually so cool after all.

Izumi Iori: We have members who are fluent when they sing but completely terrible at speaking, though...

Inumaru Touma: Well, my English is just about average, but I can manage somehow! It's all about the flow and momentum!

Izumi Iori: It's really strange, but it seems like it...

Yuki: That's hilarious. Our group shouldn’t have trouble communicating with the locals then.

Inumaru Touma: Yeah! Since everyone here can speak English, I'll learn a lot of things!

Izumi Iori: ...Looking at Inumaru-san’s positive attitude is making me believe everything will work out fine.

Yuki: I'm counting on you, children. (2)

Yuki: Now let's hope it's not too hot.

[Cut to Taipei]

Izumi Iori: As expected… Taipei is bustling with tourists.

Yuki: That's right. 

Inumaru Touma: I was a little worried about the weather since the rainy season is right around the corner, but I’m glad it’s sunny!

Yuki: That’s right.

Izumi Iori: ...Are you okay, Yuki-san?

Yuki: I might not be right…

Inumaru Touma: Are you tired, Yuki-san? Want me to give you a piggyback ride?

Yuki: ...ŹOOĻ’s Inumaru Touma giving me a piggyback ride doesn’t sound too bad.

Izumi Iori: You don’t have to do that. This isn't "NEXT Re:vale" after all...

Yuki: You're right. But I'll suggest a segment where we carry someone and run to the finish line next time.

Inumaru Touma: Sounds fun! I think Tora would be the only one in ŹOOĻ who could carry me…!

Accompanying staff: Once again, thank you for joining us today! Here is the card containing the missions with hints written on it. We'll also give you a map of Taipei to explore around!

Inumaru Touma: Thank you very much! ...Uhh, the mission is... 

Inumaru Touma: "Make your way to the flower carpet!", or so the card says!

Izumi Iori: A carpet... in a flower field, perhaps. We should be able to narrow it down quite a bit this time of the year...

Yuki: The hint says "popular tourist spot," but the map we got doesn't seem to have anything that hints at it.

Inumaru Touma: Yeah... Then how about we go somewhere we can ask the locals?

Yuki: Good idea. Sounds like a task that fits Touma-kun's high communication skills.

Inumaru Touma: Thanks! How about Yongkang…jie? It says there are many restaurants to enjoy and walk around, there might even be some shopkeepers who know something!

Izumi Iori: ...I see, it’s Yǒngkāng jiē (Yongkang Street). I've heard that there are many stores here where Japanese is spoken because of the amount of Japanese tourists who visit, so we might be on the right track.

Yuki: Amazing, Iori-kun's extensive knowledge is coming into play now.

Yuki: Momo, our children are growing up splendidly.

Izumi Iori: What are you mumbling to the camera?

Inumaru Touma: Well then, let's go there for now! Yuki-san, you feeling better now?

Yuki: I'm fine. Let's just take it slow. It's hot.

Inumaru Touma: Yeah! Slow but steady wins the race or something. Izumi, if you’re in trouble, let me know right away! You look like the type who doesn't show that kinda thing on your face.

Izumi Iori: Oh, thank you...You truly are the one who keeps ŹOOĻ together, aren't you...

Yuki: Fufu. I'm glad we have this group after all.

End of Episode 1.

This is a pun on Momo’s name (Hundred), as he has a combination of Iori’s wits and Touma’s communication skills and leader status. 

Yuki says “kouhai-kun-tachi”, which sounds like a more endearing way to refer to his juniors with the addition of the “kun” honorifics commonly used for younger people, so I chose to translate it as children. You can still interpret it as “little juniors” if you wish!

[reds-writings]

can you write Cooper Howard with a gn reader i’ll take anything in desperate 🙏🙏🙏

(pairing: the ghoul/cooper howard x gn!reader)

a/n: thank you for the request anon! i used this opportunity to get a feel for writing his character as a practice run so i hope this is to your liking! feedback is greatly appreciated!

warnings: cursing, petnames(?), violence, cooper is a meanie as per usual, etc

word count: roughly 1.1k

“I told your ass he’s mine!” You grunted as a result of harshly landing on your ass for cover in the middle of a truly unnecessary shootout smackdab in Filly.

“You snooze you lose, sweetheart.” Came the lazy drawl of the irradiated cowboy, also known as the absolute bane of your existence, somewhere afar behind his own cover amidst this gunfight. Bounty hunting was already a tough business as is but with the infamous Ghoul who somehow always managed to sniff out where you were to swipe nearly every potential bounty from under your feet, things had started to get fucking ridiculous. 

You were low enough on caps and supplies to where you couldn’t let this tired routine repeat itself once more. Safe to say, you were pissed. 

“Who said anything about snoozin’ or losin’, you fuckin’ radioactive WORM-” You shot at another one of your bounty’s backups before popping out to switch cover.

Bullets riddled the dirt far too close to your feet for your liking before you slid behind an old rundown wagon. All you needed was the damned fella’s head to bring in should you get to him first. How was it any fair that you put in all the work to track these shitheads down and all the Ghoul had to do was follow you right to the goods? Never even lifting a wrinkly finger? No matter how much you tried to throw him off your scent between jobs it was just no use. 

“You best give up now fore’ I put a bullet between those lovely eyes of yours.” Rang his voice again and you wanted to gag like a petulant child. 

“You can take that weird flirtin’ of yours and shove it up your shriveled ass!”

“You think too highly of yourself, sweetheart,” His gun fired off a few loud rounds, “Give up or I’m fuckin’ shootin’ the shit outta you both. Maybe then I'll finally know peace.” More shots zipped by and it appeared his feigned sense of patience was running thin. This cat-and-mouse game seemed to bore him quicker than usual today. 

“Go fuck yourself, cowpoke. You should be able to manage just fine without this one given you’ve nabbed all the others, lazy bastard-” Wood splintered next to your head in that instant. His patience had definitely boiled over but, like a fool, it didn’t deter you in the slightest. You managed to catch a glimpse of the bounty scurrying closer toward an empty saloon to escape. It was now or never.

Grabbing a grenade from one of the corpses nearby you pulled the pin and hauled it with a quick prayer to whoever was listening in the general direction of the Ghoul. You heard a sharp curse and couldn’t help but smile to yourself as you bolted towards the escapee. The resulting explosion of your last ditch effort almost threw you off your feet but you regained momentum quickly with whatever adrenaline-driven desperation you had left. 

It wasn't long before the thwip! of a rope and a violent tug around your ankles dashed all of your hope and short-lived triumph. As well as all the air from your lungs as soon as your tired body slammed to the ground. 

Jagged rock and debris from the Filly dirt bit at your skin as your competitor pulled you towards him like you were a helpless calf caught for slaughter. The anger rolling from him in waves caused by petty inconvenience could’ve had smoke billowing from his ears. If you had any sense you’d start being terrified right about now.

Though, you figured you wouldn’t have to worry about caps anymore if he just finished you off.

“I’ve had just about enough of you. Always gettin’ in my fuckin’ way.” He yanked you close enough to straddle you with a rusted knife to your throat. He wanted to make this personal now. 

“Can’t blame me for tryin’ to survive-” You wheezed as he landed an unforgiving blow to your stomach. He could be a real mean bastard when he wanted to. 

“Quit yappin’.” The ghoul snarled with yellowing teeth and a burning hatred that would have just about anyone else withering away. Up close he wasn’t all that bad looking for what most would dub a monster. Maybe you’d hit the ground too hard.  

“Circlin’ back to pretty eyes…you sure got some yourself for a ghoul n’ all-” Another blow had a flash of stars bursting across your vision. That fucker broke your nose! Seems like snarky jibes from him were fine all day long but sue you for getting one in yourself. 

Before he could decide to jam that knife of his in your throat, a series of hacking coughs erupted from his chest causing his hold on you to momentarily weaken. Looks like his desperation for this bounty came from a lack of Radaway to keep his sorry ass alive.

That was too fucking bad. 

Taking the interruption as your chance, you spit a generous glob of red-hot blood into those pretty eyes and swung a hefty rock at his scarred head. He fell to the ground with a bark of surprise but that didn’t stop you from hitting him again until you made sure he was out cold. 

With your chest heaving, you wiped your forearm beneath your dripping nose and winced. You'd have to reset it later.

Why did everything always have to be so difficult? Fighting this hard for anything these days was hard to be justified for a life like this but the cycle would go on. Pathetic as it was. Looking down at your reddened and dusty clothes you groaned knowing that a bargain for anything decent would be a pain in the ass. 

Your ears perked up at a scuffle nearby. The bounty was still trying to make a run for it. Of course. Taking the rifle from the knocked-out cowboy you aimed from a distance before blowing the runaway to bits and pieces. Job mostly well done. Now you needed to get the hell out of dodge before sleeping beauty came to. 

Rummaging through your bag you found a spare vial of Radaway. If you left it for him he’d probably forgo the more than generous gesture and just be hellbent on eliminating you like he’d originally intended. But, what fun would it be if the only consistent figure in your day-to-day died in the most underwhelming way possible? You needed a reason to fight. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Rolling your eyes with a huff you flicked the vial at his unconscious form, not really caring where it landed before making your way to retrieve the pesky bounty's noggin and head on to the next town. You’d need to make quick work without any stops tonight lest you wanted to tango with Grumpy again but you'd manage.

He’d find you one way or another, that was a given. But you’d sure as hell be ready. 

[liminalpebble]

If you’re up for something fluffy and/or lighthearted fun - like a month ago I gave another writer I’m following this idea but she‘s been gone since then and I would still love it 🥺

I was in the mood for a Lokitty Fic because it’s been a while and for whatever reason I’min the mood:D If it’s gonna be more fluffy, funny or even angsty is up to you 🫶

Basic idea was Loki disguised as a cat 🐈‍⬛ has been hiding from something/someone in our home. Without him realizing until he’s already in too deep, he starts to fall for us and the way we care for him. Not part of his plan. He hadn’t intended to reveal his identity and surely couldn’t do it now after basically misleading us the whole time.

But what’s been escaping him since as well - we absolutely know. 🤭

A/N: Hey friend! Thanks for this very sweet and fluffy prompt. I accidentally seemed to have made it a multiparter and I have no idea where this is going except definitely to fluff town, and the comfort district. I guess stay tuned? WTF am I even doing??

Much love,

Peb

--

Stray: Part 1

Masterlist link

The rain was tumbling down in heavy sheets as you made your way from the train to your apartment. By now you'd just about memorized how many steps were left from the soaked platform to your door.

The thought depressed you a little, realizing how long you've felt stuck in this life; just another shop girl in the city, a uniform and an apron with a tired person behind it. As the cold water continued to hit you, you were glad to realize the number of steps to the lobby door was finally reaching single digits and picked up your pace in one last jolt of momentum.

Then you heard it; an almost imperceptible mewling under the incessant drumming of the storm. You turned, following the faint noise until you reached the alley and the giant dumpsters housed there. The stench was awful. You held your soaked apron over your nose as you peaked into the crevice. Two of the biggest, most beautiful, aquamarine eyes stared back at you from a void of soaked black fur. It was a cat, and it was absolutely screaming now, realizing it had someone's attention.

It's not like you'd never seen an alley cat before. There were swarms of them around, but there was just something about this one, something so desperately in need of love. The little guy seemed almost confused to be in this position whereas the other strays seemed to resign themselves to their shitty fate.

You braced yourself; tried to talk yourself out of what you knew you were about to do and had never ever done before. It would be incredibly stupid. You weren't even allowed to have pets. You didn't even know if he was sick and you would never have the money to take him to the vet. Regardless, you sighed and scooped the pathetic little creature up, swaddling him in your apron, as you hurried toward the front door. Huffing, you warned him, “Okay buddy, but I swear to god, you better not have rabies.”

-----

Loki was glad to finally be out of the rain and stench, even if it was in a less than ideal form. Several hours earlier he had landed with a crash, cushioned by the heaps of debris. He scoffed realizing his neat black suit and tie and the crisp white shirt were now utterly ruined. His sunglasses were nowhere to be found. The money; all that money that came with him as he dove out of the plane was now safely magicked away, at least.

He groaned pitifully. A fall like that coupled with a mid-air tussle with Thor was enough to floor the younger god, though he hated to admit it. And who was Thor to come after him anyway? This whole D.B. Cooper heist was his fault...all because of that idiotic bet. Loki probably would have laid there feeling very sorry for himself a good deal longer, but he heard the lonely patter of someone running toward him through the downpour. He had to admit he needed help, and it was time for some quick scheming to get it. Good thing this was always his forte.

He had barely accustomed himself to his new feline form and begun mewling loudly when he heard your footfalls slow and watched your shadow move down the alley.

Come on. He thought, imbuing it with the hint of an enchantment. Come find me, mortal.

Loki was incredibly pleased with himself and, frankly, a bit surprised that his ploy worked so easily. Such dull creatures, mortals...such soft hearts., he mused as he dozed in your arms. He was already barely conscious when he heard you quip, “Okay buddy, but I swear to god, you better not have rabies.”

Hey! Rude, he thought, attempting to give a menacing, insulted glare, but it only came out as a grimacing twitch of his whiskers and whining, grumpy, growl.

The human smiled a reluctant little grin and tussled his fur saying, “It's a good thing you're adorable.”

I'm not adorable! I am a god, you dull creature! , he screamed in his mind, but it only left his mouth as another pathetically cute whine.

---

In your bathroom you clipped your wet hair up one-handed and kept the little creature bundled against your chest. Once your hand was free you tested temperature of the bath with a wiggle of your fingers.

Satisfied, you said, “Alright friend,” holding the cat under his armpits and meeting his eyes, as if you could appeal to his sense of logic. “You stink. I have to give you a bath. You can either except your fate with dignity or you can be a little shit and claw my eyes out. I beg you to accept your fate.”

He thought to himself, Why wouldn't I want a bath? I love baths, you idiot. Now clean me, mortal. I tire of....

“Mrewwoooow!” he screamed as soon as his paw hit the warm water. He surprised you and himself as you both flinched violently. Apparently Loki was unable to resist his new feline aversion to water. Okay...okay...this is new. He mused.

“Okay....Christ! Listen here, you little shit! You can either deal with this while I scrub you down with some Herbal Essences, or you can smell like dumpster juice.”

“Meow”

“Yeah. I know...I know it's not the right thing for cats. I know I should take you to the vet first. I know this is not fucking ideal. I'm...I'm doing my best,” you said, with an unexpected hitch in your throat and slightly-welling eyes, as suddenly you both realized you weren't just talking about the bath anymore.

Loki felt an emotion he couldn't quite categorize; one he seldom felt, one others might call sympathy. So he fought his instinct with all his might and remained quiet and while you carefully washed and rinsed his fur. You smiled as your careful hands cleaned every last patch. “Thank you,” you said softly.

My pleasure, he thought, and meant it. It actually did feel very nice to be clean, and if felt even better when you dried him, and wrapped him in a warm towel in front of the space heater, with one bowl of water, and one of tuna. By the time you had showered and settled next to him on the floor in your pajamas, he already had a full belly and was drifting off again in the pleasant warmth. You sipped your tea and stroked his now very glossy and soft black fur.

“See! You're such a handsome boy now that you don't look and smell like wet trash bag. That wasn't so bad, was it?”

From where his head rested on his delicately crossed paws he lazily opened one stunning eye to glare at you menacingly, but it only made you chuckle.

As you laughed and smiled down at him, stroking his fur, he felt something else he couldn't quite name; gratitude, certainly, but also something else...something like wanting desperately to see you smile as much as possible...something like hoping that sorrow he saw a glimpse of before wouldn't eat you alive...something like just wanting you to be okay regardless of the benefit to himself.

The next time he half-awoke in the night, you were gone and the lights were out, though you had left the space-heater on for him. With his now-amplified hearing, he listened for you, anxious to know you were still there. Only once he heard the gentle undulation of your sleeping breath could he relax into dreams again and wonder what tomorrow would bring.

@mischief2sarawr @ladyofthestayingpower @acidcasualties @unlucky-number-13 @goblingirlsarah @gigglingtiggerv2 @lokihiddleston @lokischambermaid @lokisgoodgirl @marcotheflychair @smolvenger @alexakeyloveloki @littlespaceyelf @loopsisloops @joyful-enchantress @eleniblue @loz-3 @the-haven-of-fiction @sweetsigyn @muddyorbs @icytrickster17 @holdmytesseract @thenerdyoldersister @thedistractedagglomeration @sailorholly @peachyjinx @coldnique @sarahscribbles @peaches1958 @infinitystoner @mischiefmaker615 @coldnique @jennyggggrrr @tripleyeeet @itsybitchylittlewitchy @mochie85

[pedrostylez]

Mi Vida

pairing: Javier Peña x fem!reader

summary: reader and Javier are coworkers that typically hate each other, but find each other helpful in relieving that stress

rating: 18+ (no minors please)

word count:3.6k

warnings etc: smut, dirty talk, unprotected p in v sex, pet names, oral, female recieving, established relationship. NO USE OF Y/N.

A/N: I finished Narcos last week :( and I know that Murphy isn’t in the last season but I have him here because I feel like it. Loosely based on some of the events in Season 3, but barely. Anyways! This is the final part of the Mi Luz fic. Thank you for sticking around for my first one. Writing will hopefully improve as time goes on :)

3 months after Mi Cielo 

Seeing him at work was different from his apartment. Both were stressed out Javier, but one was colder to you and one was loving, inviting, and warm. Sometimes you thought he was angry with you, even though it had been clarified on more than one occasion he was trying to separate the two of you at work so as to “not embarrass you.” Had you really asked for that so often that he repeated it back?

Maybe at first you were embarrassed-you didn’t want anyone to know about your relationship with him because you thought it would backfire. But now you wished for a little more attention. It had almost been a year since you two started your weekly get-together, and Susan and Amy had let you know that after that night in the bar, they could see how he cared for you. 

You brought a file up to Murphy after he called you while heading back from his most recent trip out, now staring at the back of Javier’s head while Murphy flipped through the file. If Murphy was asking you a question you missed it, the back of Javier’s neck was too interesting to not focus on. He looked tense, head buried in the paperwork in front of him and going through files you had given him days before that he never returned. 

You used to get on him about not giving back files, but you knew this was important. He had mentioned at his place over the weekend that he was trying to track one of the connections' wives down from the Cali cartel, and you encouraged him to keep the papers until he figured it out. He had momentum and you weren’t going to break it. 

“Thanks for this, but I don’t think it is what I need.” Murphy’s voice took you out of your trance, eyeing you and glancing at Peña. He had never said, but you were positive that he knew about your relationship with Peña too. They were friends and sometimes your weekends were cut short so that Javier could go to Steve’s like he used to.  

You smiled, bringing your eyes back to Murphy. “Okay, do you want me to look in one of the older files? This was the most recent intel from a few months ago.”

Murphy shook his head and sighed. “No, I’ll come down and take a look in a few hours. Gotta update the boss first.” He stood up, glancing one more time between you and Javier, smiling in a way that said “he’s upset right now, best to leave him alone”.

You nodded, holding the file tight to your chest as you walked back to the hallway that led to your archives room. He would tell you if he needed you. 

A few hours later, sitting at your desk and taking notes, you glanced up to find Javier standing in the doorway watching you. He looked tired but smirked and stepped into the room. “I’ve been here for a few minutes and you didn’t notice.”

“Sorry, I was taking down some information that was left by one of the girls. Do you need something?” You felt breathless, hoping he would close the door and ask something personal like he would in your bed. He had been so careful the past few months that there really was a separation that you had asked for initially. 

“I’m here in place of Murphy. He asked me to grab the files you two talked about earlier?” He looked around the room, not avoiding you but not intent on keeping your focus. He was distracted, thinking about how the rest of his weekend would go. 

“Oh, right. Let me just see here.” You stood, tapping the table lightly with your fingers as you thought about where the older files were. You moved your ladder over, taking a step up and reaching for a smaller box. 

The door shut behind Peña and he lowered his voice. “I’m uh-I have to take care of work tonight. I have to bring that asshole's wife back to Miami so he will talk to us and I am going to be gone for a few days.” He was nervous, shoving his hands in his pants pockets and glancing up at you. “I’m sorry I am telling you here but I didn’t want to just go and not tell you and I don’t think I will have time to see you before.”

You looked at him, stepping down from the ladder and smiling. “That’s okay Javi, I understand.”

He felt the breath leave him quickly, and he reached out to your desk for support. Did you call him Javi? At work? He had been so careful, keeping his distance from your archives and keeping the door open when he had to see you. He wanted to see you more but knew you didn’t want to jeopardize anything. “Maybe you can go out with Susan and Amy or something and I’ll give you the key to my place?” He whispered, feeling like the offer was the right move. Have fun with your friends but come back to me even if I am not there.

You chuckled, shuffling through the file box.” I don’t think so, you know what happened last time.” You hadn’t gone out since that night, explaining as vaguely as possible to Susan and Amy what happened. They never asked you again, rather having a girl’s night in or gossip session at your place. 

Pena smirked, hiding his irritation at never finding Roberto (he was a DEA agent for Christ’s sake and he couldn’t track down one asshole?) “The sex after you scared me half to death was worth it.”

You laughed, glancing behind him to the doorway that was currently closed. “I might go out, but just to be with the girls, not to drink. I know where you keep your key, maybe I’ll do a load of dishes for you.” You felt yourself heat up as you spoke, embarrassed that you were willing to do domestic things for him while he wasn’t there. 

A full smile plastered on his face, and a light chuckle breathed out. “That is very nice of you mi luz,” He said, looking at the shoes you were wearing today and back up to your face. You were likely going to be walking today. “I’ll be back on Saturday, hopefully before lunch. Will I find you in my bed or should I go to yours?”

It was like he was purring, and it made you squirm. “If you want me to stay at yours to watch your apartment, then I can.”

“That’s not why I want you there, but if that is what will get you there then I’ll take it.” He laughed, grabbing the handle to the door and swinging it open. “I’ll call you.” He winked, glancing out into the hallway and seeing it was clear before running back into the room and grabbing your face. You seemed more relaxed recently, and was willing to risk your fury for a kiss. “Just a quick one, cielo.”

He pecked your lips twice, then kissed you for a little longer on the last one before running away, file in hand for Murphy and chuckling at how your eyes were the size of saucers. You cleared your throat, feeling blood rush to your face as you busied yourself at your desk. Once he was clear of the hallway, footsteps no longer heard, you reached into your second drawer and pulled out the “Spanish to English” translation book that Javier got you as a joke a couple months ago, thumbing through to the dog-eared pages to find the words. 

Mi luz: My light

Mi cielo: My heaven

Instead of going out, you headed straight for Peña’s place, knowing he had a couple movies you could watch while doing some dishes that you had left at his place a couple nights ago. There was no way he had cleaned it up since he was so busy with this most recent issue. 

It didn’t take long for you to do dishes, and you figured that his couch was more comfortable than yours so you sat down to finish the movie you had put in when you first got there. Just as you sat down his home phone rang, making you glance at its spot on the kitchen wall. Was it smart to answer his phone? What if it was his family and a girl was answering and he didn’t want them to know? He did say he would call…

You were caught in your thoughts for so long that the ringing stopped, and you thought you were in the clear until it rang again. Sighing, you stood up and hesitantly picked it up. “Hello?”

“Cariño-it 's me.” Javi sounded out of breath, struggling even, on the other end of the line. 

“What’s wrong?” You wrapped your fingers around the cord, nervously looking up toward the door.

“I-well. I need to hear your voice. I wasn’t sure if you would be there yet but you didn’t answer your phone after the fourth ring…I'm going to be home later tonight.” He still sounded out of breath, trying to act normal.

“What happened?” you pushed. “Javi you sound like you just ran a mile, why aren’t you on a plane?”

“I fucked up baby, and now I don’t need to go to Miami. Are you staying at my place? Will you be there when I get there?” 

You nodded your head, reaching out to the counter to support yourself. “Yes, Javi, I'll be here. Do you want me to stay awake? Can I do anything right now?”

He was trying to not panic through the phone, but the relief he felt that you were on the other end of the line calmed him enough to quiet his voice in the airport bathroom. “Just-fuck. I fucking lo– I’ll be back before you’re asleep I think. I’ll bring food-”

“No, honey I’ll have food ready for you. Is everything okay? Really I need you to answer me.” You were scared. He had never done this before and the way he was talking through the phone made your concern increase. There had been plenty of weekends where he had to travel to find a cartel in a jungle or to fly to the States, but he always returned and would call you to visit him on Sunday night, wanting just a minute with you. You overlooked how you called him honey.

He didn’t miss it, and it made him take another breath. “Everything is okay, I just don’t know how much longer I can do this.” He felt small admitting this on the phone to you. “I’m heading your way soon. There’s cash in the drawer next to the silverware to order takeout if you want hermosa. I’ll see you soon.”

You had changed out of your clothes, running home and grabbing a bag and running back, convinced you would miss him and that he would worry. You both ended up living very close together, but if you walked at your leisure it would have taken 30 minutes one way. Breathless, you started cooking something easy so that there would be leftovers for him but so that you could eat something while you waited for his return. You were still jittery, nervous about what he meant by not knowing how much longer he could do this. 

You were halfway through putting cheese on some bread to pop in the oven when you heard him slide his keys into the lock of his front door. You looked around the corner of the wall from the island, seeing his shoulders come into view as he threw his keys on the coffee table, locking the door behind him. He turned around, coming face to face with you and you saw it-the worry in between his eyebrows, the tilt of his eyes. “What happened, Javi?”

He deflated, ripping his jacket off and into you, wrapping his arms around your waist, and setting you on the counter. His head was hidden in your shoulder as he breathed deeply, working up the courage to tell you of his failure. “I was supposed to bring her to Miami to see her husband, but he’s dead. He was killed as we were getting on the plane.”

You paused, bringing your hands up to the nape of his neck and doing your best to soothe him. He pushed further into you, his breath catching. “That isn’t your fault.”

He let out a gust of air, tears coming to his eyes as he gripped your hips tighter. “Everything goes wrong all the time and I don’t think I can keep doing this.” He clutched to you, willing you to understand. How could he keep being at the root of all this chaos? 

You pet the back of his head, rubbing in between his shoulders and quietly cooing at him as he continued to cry. “It’s okay Javi, we can just relax tonight. I have food–”

“It isn’t okay!” He exclaimed, bringing his eyes to yours and grabbing at your face to make you look at him. “I’ve hurt so many people in the process of catching these assholes in a country that doesn’t even give a shit–”

“Listen to me.” You grabbed his arms, stopping him in his tracks. His eyes were already swollen and red-rimmed with tears. “You can do what you want about leaving, but don’t think for a second that this is your fault. One way or another people were going to get hurt, whether or not you were in the position you are in now. You have done what you can to do what needs to be done and if you need to remove yourself from all of this then you’re allowed to do that.”

He watched you speak, waited for you to finish, and sighed, leaning his forehead against yours. He couldn’t believe that you were here for him right now, soothing him, cooking for him. He saw your bag that was in the hallway when he first arrived and he hoped you weren’t planning on leaving-he couldn’t be alone. “Okay.” I love you. “You’re right, we should just relax. Why didn’t you order takeout?” Thank you for cooking for me. “I told you where the money was.” Don’t leave me. 

You smiled, patting his shoulder. “I thought pasta would be easier.” 

He leaned back, glancing down at your lips and giving you a quick peck. “Will it be okay to leave it unattended for a minute?” He asked, fingers dancing along your hips and pushing the shirt you were wearing up. “I have an appetizer in mind.”

You let out a giggle, spreading your legs more and leaning back on your hands. “Let me set the timer for the bread and see if we can beat it?” You knew this was a distraction, and all you wanted was to make him happy.

He smiled, pulling at his tie and kicking off his shoes. “Better hurry cariño, I’ll start without you.” He disappeared into his bedroom, taking off his shirt first and hearing you laughing as you reached for his timer. Hearing your laugh made him smile, his hands coming to the button of his jeans as you walked into the room. He grabbed at you, growling playfully to hear you giggle again and falling onto the bed with you in a heated kiss. 

His movements were frantic, reaching into your shorts and finding you already wet for him. “Mi luz you’re already drenched. All for me?” 

His breath was heavy on your neck, your hands finding purchase in his hair and messing up his gelled waves. You flipped back to the same page in that translation book in your head and smiled. “For you, always.”

He groaned, ready to sob at the thought that you were only his. He could always admit to you his feelings when he was buried inside you, but were you able to do the same? His hands retreated, grabbing at the waistband and helping you shimmy out of the shorts and underwear, spreading your legs and inhaling deeply. 

Your legs tingled as he grabbed at them, spreading you apart and making eye contact with you as he leaned down with the tip of his tongue, connecting with your clit. With barely any pressure, he circled it, keeping your attention as he squeezed your inner thighs. 

He groaned, closing his eyes as his tongue dipped down to your entrance and in, reaching inside you and back out, spreading your wetness. He did this over and over again, silently listening to you whimper and feeling you squirm as his beard and mustache got wet. He turned his head and kissed each thigh, letting you feel how wet you were, his facial hair dragging on your skin. Your legs shook with need, reaching down and grabbing at the top of his head making him smirk. “Does it feel good?”

“Yes-please keep going.” You were quick to respond, pulling his head closer to you and watching his tongue reach back out to your clit. You didn’t notice his hand slide up your thigh as he moved two fingers around where you made a mess, sinking them into you and holding you open for him. 

“Have a timer we have to beat don’t we?” He mumbled, suddenly sucking your bud into his mouth and smirking at how you jumped. 

“Maybe 15 minutes left on the clock.” You whispered, leaning your head back and sighing deeply. 

“Plenty of time, baby.” He groaned into you, pulling you closer to him as you started to squirm away, fingers rhythmically pushing into you, looking up to see your throat exposed, blush creeping up slowly as your breathing increased. “I think we will even have time to spare won’t we?”

“Y-yes.” You looked back down at him, brown eyes already on you and tilting up in a smile and you felt a rush of confidence. “You look amazing like this, mi vida.”

Javier felt his world stop, watching the smirk grow on your face into a smile and then into a whimper, biting your bottom lip as you grew anxious with the continued pumping of his fingers. He pulled away, face messy with your wetness, and paused his fingers still inside you. “What did you say?”

You hesitated, wanting to laugh at how shocked he was but also suddenly nervous. Did you say it wrong? “Uh, mi vida? Is that the right-”

“I’m your soul?” He choked, feeling tears come to his eyes again. When did he become such a crybaby? “Do you mean that?”

Your eyes softened, looking down at his hand still inside you, and pushed your hips down further onto them. “I don’t say things I don’t mean, Javi. Do you say things you mean?” 

He couldn’t speak, just staring at you as you unintentionally bucked your hips and whined, watching your eyes race between his own and his hand. “I mean every word I say to you.” He groaned, pulling his fingers out of you even though you sighed in protest, leaning up to be at eye level with you. “You’ve been reading that book, haven’t you?”

You laughed, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and widening your legs for him to slot between them. “I have pages marked so I can refresh my memory when you say something.”

He leaned forward to kiss you, pausing as you let him explore your mouth, cradling your face in his hand. He hiked your legs up around his waist, pulling back to watch your face as he sunk into you. “So you know then-” he groaned, holding your hip still as he started a slow rhythm. “You know that you’re the light in my life?” He pushed hard into you, wanting to hear your breath catch for a moment. “That you’re my everything?”

You smiled,  loving the feeling of him inside you. You felt your throat catch when you went to respond, instead moaning and reaching up and grabbing what hair you could at the nape of his neck. 

“Answer me.” He demanded, picking up speed at the pull of your fingers in his hair, wanting to feel you pull harder. 

“Yes.” Absolutely breathless. “You’re my everything too, Javi.” 

He closed his eyes, feeling like he was losing his mind. He continued to pump into you, leaning himself back to watch as he disappeared into you again and again. “You look absolutely filthy like this baby. You take me so well, such a good girl. Mine, aren’t you?”

You preened, nodding at his question and grabbing onto his arms for support as you felt your release begin. You couldn’t control yourself around him anymore, always enjoying your time with him and then losing yourself before you even had a chance to pull in the reins. He enjoyed watching you lose control, vaguely hearing the timer in the kitchen as you cried out. He was close too, falling over the edge after watching you in bliss, stuttering his thrusts inside of you. 

When you both caught your breath, he stood on wobbly legs, laughing and running to the kitchen to turn off the oven and stovetop. When he returned, half soft and hair a mess, he watched as you sat up, eyes glazed over in relaxation. You smiled at him, reaching out your hand for him to join you. 

He sat next to you, leaning into your neck to kiss you lightly. “I can’t stay with the DEA but I want to stay with you.” He swallowed roughly, feeling that he needed to explain more but wanted you to already know.

You looked at him, tilting your head and sighing. “Then leave the DEA. You’ll still have me-I’ll be here.” You knew. He was at the end of his rope with this job, and you would be there to support him.

He chuckled, reaching for his shirt on the floor. “Well mi luz, then you’re stuck with me.”

[honeyjars-sims]

3.18 Forward Momentum

Chantal had invited Johnny to go to the gym with her, which both of them were starting to regret. She’d dragged him to every machine in the building and he had a complaint about all of them.

The treadmill gave him motion sickness. The stationary bike “makes me feel like I’m cycling towards nothing.” Now he was sitting on the workout machine scrolling on his phone.

“If you’re not going to work out, then get off the machine,” Chantal complained.

“Great idea!” Johnny stood up and started walking off.

“Wait!” Chantal shouted. “I thought you were trying to be more active?”

“I am, but the gym is boring. I can’t just stay in one spot. I need movement!”

“You don’t seem to mind being still when you’re looking at your phone.”

“That’s different. Anyway, there are other ways to be active other than the gym, you know.”

“I was just trying to help.”

“I know, and I appreciate it," Johnny said apologetically. "It’s just not for me.”

“That’s fair. Thanks for giving it a try. How are things at home?”

Johnny sighed. Things were better, he supposed. His dads seemed pleased with how well he was performing at his job. He’d been too tired to go out to the club, and the idea didn’t seem particularly appealing these days anyway.

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. No one was arguing anymore, but were they actually happy?

“It’s ok,” he told her. “I got Taco a laser pointer and she’s obsessed. She tries so hard to catch it. It's so cute."

“You and that cat!” Chantal grinned. “I’m glad you have her. I hope you’re making actual human friends, though.”

“I am,” Johnny assured her. “Everyone at work is really nice.”

“I’m sure they are, but you should hang out with people outside of work hours, too. Even if it’s your coworkers. It’ll be good for you, I think.”

“Probably. I’ll think about it,” he promised. “There are a lot of cute girls there."

Chantal groaned. "Trust me, you don't want to get involved with someone you work with! Are you even ready to date right now?"

Johnny shrugged. "I didn't say anything about dating, I was just making an observation. But if I make some new friends and it ends up leading to something more, I'm cool with that. Anyway, what's up with you? Are you still hanging out with Kayla?”

“Yeah. Not as much since school started back, though.”

“Is school going okay?”

“I guess so. Do you regret dropping out? I mean, you found a pretty good job without it.”

Johnny felt a bit of a pang at the question. Maybe he didn't need university to be successful, but the memory of the people he’d met there and how he quit so abruptly still pained him. “Sometimes. But I wasn’t really in a good frame of mind when I did it.”

“I guess that’s right. I just keep wondering if I really need a degree to achieve my dreams.”

“Sounds like you and Cece are in the same boat. Imagine our dads reactions if all three of their kids drop out of school!”

“Maybe we’ll all get rich and we can pay them back.”

“I think the endorphins are getting to your head.”

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

Author's note: The next post will be written in first person from Johnny's perspective! Something I'm trying out.

[sunnynwanda]

Done

Part 2

Hero takes several steps back to gain momentum before throwing themselves down from the rooftop and into the back alley.

“You know what?” Villain comes to an abrupt halt, not really waiting for an answer. Out of everything they could have said at that moment - the words that followed were least expected. “I’m done.”

They remain still for several seconds, staring at each other in silence that is becoming increasingly deafening. “Come again?” Hero is flabbergasted as they take a step forward, half-expecting a wordplay or trick to be thrown their way.

“I’m done.” Villain repeats. Hero is not dense, okay? But they are going to need some elaborating on that one.  

“With what exactly?” They question, wary of whatever Villain has planned. Their peripheral vision scans their surroundings but fails to notice anything suspicious.

“With this,” Villain points between them, nodding their head for further confirmation. The explanation that follows leaves much to be desired. “With fighting. This city. Everything.”  

“Fucking pardon?” Hero did not want to sound so affected. Their pitch jumped much higher than they had anticipated. Villain seems oblivious to this, and Hero is thankful for that. “We’re in the middle of a battle.”

“Yeah, so?” They ask, weariness colouring their delicate features.

Hero takes another step towards their opponent, their decision to be careful long forgotten. They loathe the way their voice scratches their throat. “You can’t just walk out on me.”

“Watch me,” a forced smirk is all Villain can muster for their nemesis before their expression sets back into stolid apathy. They drop their weapon and leap the fence, deserting their weekly battle. Hero feels equal parts confused and abandoned. What on Earth was that?

“Hey, wait!” They catch up to Villain on a suburban rooftop when the sun is setting, painting the sky into a rainbow of colours. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” they don’t stop even when Hero reaches them, instead quickening their steps. “I’m just done.”

“But how can you...” they reach for Villain’s shoulder, only for them to whirl around, impatient to get away and tired of communicating with their foe.  

“Listen, I’m tired, okay?” They exclaim, catching Hero off guard with the emotional outburst. Still, it’s an explanation. If that’s the way to get it, Hero doesn’t mind. “We’re doing the same old thing over and over again, and it’s gone stale.”

Hero nods, prompting them to keep going. Villain runs a palm over their face, brushing a strand of hair back before continuing. “I feel no rush for our battles anymore. It’s not fun; there are no stakes.” They sigh, deflating back into the lethargic state of indifference. “We both know I’m not going to ruin the city for real, and you won't end me.”

“Are you serious right now?” Hero is puzzled, to say the least. Is this idiot gone completely bonkers? “How is that an issue?”

“There’s no thrill anymore!” Villain screams out in exasperation. Their hands fly up as they attempt to convey what they feel. Or rather, what they don’t feel. “No adrenaline! Do you not understand?”

“I think I’m starting to.” Hero is silent for several moments, allowing their words to sink in. “And I’m offended.” They conclude, much to Villain’s surprise.

“Excuse me?” Villain asks, amusement evident in their features. Well, that’s something. We can work with that.

“I thought this was supposed to be the best time of your week,” Hero reminds and a part of Villain feels guilty for letting them down.  

“And it was,” they agree, before shaking their head, “but it’s not doing it for me anymore.”

Hero’s lips purse. “So what are you gonna do? Find a different city and...” They trail off without finishing the thought.

“And what?” Villain inquires, but Hero remains silent, their gaze fixed on the sunset. They look upset and lonely, and Villain doesn’t like that.

When they finally speak up, Villain feels like the air got knocked out of their lungs. “And a new hero to bother?”

“Hero, please, that’s not what I meant..” they start, but Hero doesn’t seem to listen. “And no, no other heroes for me. It’s not you, okay? It’s me.” Villain even goes so far as to take their hand in theirs.  

“That’s what they always say,” Hero’s voice is quiet and almost too small for their usual bubbly personality. They look like a puppy left out in the rain, and Villain knows whose fault it is.  

“Damn it, Hero, I am not breaking up with you!” They attempt to reason. Hopefully, enough arguments will put Hero’s heart at rest. “And it’s not like we’re dating, we’re enemies.”

Except, Hero’s eyes glint dangerously the moment they finish their thought. They release their hand from Villain’s and take a step forward. Villain backs away, not quite able to decipher the eerie vibe that’s taken hold of their nemesis. “What?”

“So you miss the thrill?” Hero looks intimidating in the evening shadows; their eyes are dark as they bore into Villain’s.

“Y-yes,” they squeak out, taking another step back. “Why are you...”

Hero interrupts, ignoring the question they were trying to pose. “And if we add a different type of thrill?”

“What are you implying, and why am I sensing something dangerous?” Instead of taking one more step back, Villain stops, determining to face whatever Hero is about to throw their way. They might have been bored but never shied away from a fight. They are not a coward.

“Oh, cause it is,” Hero confirms, an ominous grin stretching their lips. They take one final step forward and press Villain up against the wall behind their back. Villain is too stunned to speak, so they glare at Hero in shock.

“I think there are ways I can give you an adrenaline rush...” Hero claims, pushing Villain’s chin up with a finger before wrapping their fingers around their neck and finishing the thought. “Other than fighting.”

Their fingers slide behind Villain’s neck, tilting their head back for better access as they kiss their way down from Villain’s chin. They bite the sensitive skin right below Villain’s ear, then lick it, earning a soft gasp from their nemesis.

“Does this seem boring to you too?” Hero asks, trailing kisses along their jawline, then back to their neck, leaving a bite on the opposite side of the first before sucking the reddened skin.

“N-no... fuck, Hero, do that again,” Villain is fumbling with their words, unable to process the situation yet.

“As you wish.” Hero’s smile is all teeth, but they don’t oblige yet, pressing themselves flush against Villain’s body. Their breathing pattern is wild, heart hammering inside their chest. They can feel Villain’s pulse under their lips, which isn't helping their case.

“I think we should... ah, shit... should move this somewhere more private,” Villain is positively surprised their brain is still functioning, let alone coming up with such bright ideas.

Hero chuckles, smiling with a teasing glint in their eyes. “Weren’t you the one asking for stakes? For fun? Risk?”

Villain looks scandalized. “Not that much!”

Hero laughs out loud, throwing their head back. They drag their lips over Villain’s jaw to their lips, covering them in an impatient kiss. Their fingertips ghost over Villain’s inner thigh, teasing a panic in their eyes before they plant another kiss on their lips and step back, leaving Villain breathless and exhilarated for what’s next.

“Follow me.”

Part 2

Masterlist

[vodika-vibes]

Missed You

Summary: Its the summer festival, and you're not in a very festive mood, since your boyfriend, Echo, has been away for a month. Lucky for you, he's just come back.

Pairing: TBB Echo x Reader

Word Count: 927

Warnings: None

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @kiss-anon

A/N: I have decided that my Echo has started to heal, so his hair is growing back and he's just healthy.

You tilt your head back, enjoying the cool evening air against your skin. It had been hot, miserably hot, today, and you’re grateful for the cool breeze that arrived only half an hour ago.

In the distance, you can still hear the music and the raised voices of the people enjoying the summer festival, and you know that you should still be there. Your friends had been so excited for the festival, so excited to spend the evening together and watching the fireworks together.

But watching your friends being all lovey with their partners, just left you feeling like a seventh wheel, so to speak. In fact, you’re fairly certain that they hadn’t even noticed that you left.

You allow your head to fall forward again, and you open your eyes to look out across the lake, enjoying the peace and quiet, and the fact that there isn’t anyone there telling you that you need to cheer up.

Echo would never tell you that you need to cheer up.

But then, if Echo was here, you would have spent the whole festival with him rather than with your friends. 

You miss him. He’s been gone for well over a month now, and you know what your friends are thinking. They think that Echo ghosted you. That he just up and left you and you’re just not accepting the reality of the situation.

It’s not true, of course. You talk to Echo for hours every evening, he’s just not on Pabu right now. But he promised that he was going to be back soon. And you’ve never known Echo to break a promise.

You lay back against the boulder you’re sitting on, the same boulder where you first met Echo and the same boulder where he brought you on your first date, and you look up at the stars. You should have brought your flute, at least then you would have something to do to pass the time while you wait for the fireworks.

You turn your head to the side when you hear heavy footsteps, “You know,” A familiar voice has you shooting up into a sitting position, a wide grin crossing your face, “I’m fairly certain that the festival is on the beach, cyare. Not all the way back here.”

Echo steps into the clearing, a teasing smile on his face. He’s already wearing casual clothing, which means he stopped off at his house first, before coming to find you.

“Echo!” You slide off the boulder and throw yourself into his arms, forcing him to catch you. He spins you, to work off some of the momentum, and then settles you back on your feet, and folds his arms around you, “You’re back!”

“I’m back.” He brings his hand up and lightly caresses your cheek, “Did you get all peopled out, cyare?”

“They’re exhausting,” You reply as you place your hands over his and lean into his touch. “But I stayed for several hours. Until I got tired of the heavy handed hints that you ghosted me.”

Echo scoffs, “They have such faith in me.”

“I don’t know why they don’t like you, you’re amazing.” You say with an adoring smile.

“You’re biased, beautiful.” Echo replies with a warm smile as he slides his thumb across your lower lip. “I missed you.”

“I missed you more.” You mumble as you kiss his thumb. “You’re my favorite personal heater after all.”

“Ah hah! So you just want me for my body.” There’s laughter in his voice, and you beam at him. There was a time, not so long ago, when he wouldn’t have been able to make jokes like that. 

“I’m afraid I want the whole package.” You counter as you lean against him, “Mind, body, and soul.”

“Greedy little thing, aren’t you?” His arms hold you securely against him, and he bumps his forehead against yours.

You giggle and trail one hand up the back of his neck, lightly ghost your fingers around his implants, and brush through the short hair on the top of his head, “You didn’t cut it?” You ask and he tenses slightly against you.

“I thought I’d try growing it out a little. What do you think?” He asks, some nervousness in his voice.

“I think I love you with or without hair,” You reply immediately.

The tension drains from him at your words, “What did I do to get so lucky to be with someone so amazing?”

“You called me more beautiful than the stars in the sky on a day when I felt absolutely awful, and then you sat with me and told me jokes until I was laughing.” You say with a fond smile.

“That was clever of me, wasn’t it?”

“The most clever.”

“Well,” He ducks his head and brushes his lips against yours in a chaste kiss, “How about this? On all of the planets I’ve been on, across all of the systems I’ve visited, you’re still the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen.” Echo murmurs.

You release a shy giggle, and avert your gaze, able to feel your face heating.

Echo’s fingers brush against your cheek, and then a slow, mischievous, smile crosses his face. “Can I come home with you?”

A broad smile crosses your face and you tilt your head to kiss him, “Always.”

“Mm, I’m going to show you how much I love you, cyare. I hope you have lots of energy.” He promises, his voice a pleasing rumble in your ears. And he chuckles when you shiver and press against him.

[wooahaeruby]

Chapter 14: Disrespectful

Chapter Word Count: 4,646

Anything in Bold Italics are Korean/Another language.

Master List | Prev | Next

The flight from Jakarta was long and grueling. Everyone was tired, staff included, and Jihoon’s exhaustion was bleeding over from the last two days. You were home for just over a week before everyone would fly out to Thailand. You had work, the group had practice, and it was weighing a little on your mental health. 

While you had traveled here and there for work once and a while, it wasn’t to the taxing extent of traveling with Seventeen. There were many rules everyone needed to follow – luckily, that wasn’t the problem –, you had to be careful with fans so you hovered around security personnel on the ground, but the most taxing was always being on the go. Though New York was a fast paced place, the momentum in which Seventeen and their staff moved was mind boggling. 

They were always busy. Between makeup and hair, they were vlogging, signing things, recording Tik Toks, and already working on or discussing what was coming next. You had heard a few murmurs of Caratland ideas, a new album, even whispers of Vernon working on his solo release. There was so much going on that you didn’t know how to mentally handle it all when Jihoon was telling you things, Seokmin and Mingyu were excited, and Seungkwan was trying to help you understand (thank god). 

Jamie and Kazuki were there for you but it was getting harder to talk with them on the phone with the time zone change. Mimi and Papa always called you at the perfect times since they were up early, however they didn’t really understand the degree in which stuff was bothering you.

It was only the second day back in Seoul when Jihoon shuffled into your apartment mid-afternoon (you gave him the code over text because you were too comfortably curled up in the corner of the couch). He had been feeling uneasy all morning. When you tried to text him if he was okay, all he replied back was that he’d be over in a couple hours and you could talk about it. 

“Hi.” You peaked out from your bundle of blankets, only doom scrolling on your phone since you finished your work for the day. 

“Hey.” He said in English, near tossing himself down on the couch, head resting against some of the blankets at your feet. 

“ You okay?” 

Jihoon sighed, pulling the hat he wore over his face and groaning. “ You are gonna hate it.” 

“What- What am I going to hate?” 

“My parents are coming into town tomorrow to meet you.” 

Yeah…yeah you were going to hate that. 

Jihoon removed his hat to look up at you, watching the once relaxed look on your face turn into something closer to stressed out. Quickly he sat up and scrunched his nose up in distaste as he faced you, sighing heavily. “ I’m sorry. My mom called me this morning and said they already have a hotel booked not that far from here and wanted to meet you, more specifically her.” 

You swallowed down the lump in your throat, hiding your slightly trembling hands in the blanket around you. The uneasiness Jihoon had been feeling since earlier was still there but now he was worried and a little irritated. By the look on his face, he was able to feel the stress and dread that was growing in the pit of your stomach. 

“ Ruby-ah, it will be okay.” He reached out, placing his hand on your cheek and letting his thumb run over your skin, the buzzing of the bond trying to calm you. “ They just want to meet you.” 

“I’m meeting you parents, ‘Hoon-ah, they aren’t just normal people.” You frowned, unwrapping the cocoon you created to let him in, bundling the two of you back up. He shifted to better hold you now, bringing your head towards his shoulder and letting his arms wrap around you. Gently he placed his chin on the top of your head. 

“ I know, but I’m sure they will like you. If it helps, I’m terrified to meet your grandparents.” The small rumble of laughter he tried to push out had his shoulders shaking. “ And they are the ones that will have jet lag.” 

“ Do we have to meet them…?” 

He snorted, “ Mom would be knocking on everyone’s door and trying to contact my manager if we try to hide.” 

“Mama Bear.” 

That had both of you laughing quietly. You leaned further into Jihoon’s embrace, listening to the calm, rhythmic beating of his heart. 

“ I’m sure they will like you, Ruby-ah.” 

Jihoon was out of your apartment early the next morning, saying he wanted to hit the gym and shower before you were to meet up with his parents at noon. You could feel he was nervous but there was an unspoken agreement that it was nerve wracking for the both of you. He was still calm under the jittery feeling, working out probably was a good idea if it helped diminish his worries. 

For yourself, you did what you did best. You cleaned your apartment up despite them not even coming to your place, reviewed any paperwork needing to be handled for work, and took a shower to get yourself ready. Best impressions were in order so you put on a nice pair of slacks and a not too oversized t-shirt. You styled your hair to look more presentable and shuffled about the apartment to gather anything you need. 

When you sit down for the first time in a couple hours, you don’t know what to do. Everything was clean, you were ready to head out, nothing needed to be done. Your leg started to bounce with jittery energy, drumming your fingers against the top of your thighs. A check of the time on your phone had you still an hour away until you were to meet at a restaurant his mother wanted to visit. 

The buzz under your skin of Jihoon getting close had you springing up and hurrying to the door. Before he got a chance to tap in the keycode, you were already opening the door for him. His eyes were wide as his hand hovering where the keypad was and he looked at you with confusion. Then his expression shifted into sympathy, stepping in and closing the door. 

“ Ruby-ah, everything will be okay.” He placed both hands on your arms, “ Everything will be fine, nothing to worry about.” 

His reassurance was needed but it didn’t reach every nervous crevice of your mind. There were so many worst case scenarios racing through your head. 

“But what if they hate me?” You groaned, turning and stomping towards the couch and face planted, words coming out muffled now. “ They are going to hate me.” 

“Now you are being dramatic.” You could hear his footsteps getting closer before he sat beside your head, patting your back. “ They aren’t going to hate you.” 

That’s how you found yourself sitting beside Jihoon, waiting for his parents, at a popular Korean restaurant. Even with you holding Jihoon’s hand under the table, your heart was beating out of your chest. At his suggestion, you both went and arrived early to secure a more secluded table but the silence that followed after only heightened the uneasiness passing back and forth between the bond. You were glad you weren’t the only one feeling tense. 

Jihoon flinched and released your hand, moving to stand. Quickly you followed, straightening your shirt, following his line of sight to come face to face with his parents. To say he looked like his parents was an understatement. His father greeted you both with a smile, pulling his son close for a hug, patting him on the back. Her mother seemed much more subdued, her smile small, not fully reaching her eyes as she hugged Jihoon. 

When they turned to you, you gave a proper, deeper bow, greeting them formally in Korean, stating your name and taking a few moments pause before standing straight. His father was smiling at you but his mother…she was analyzing you. The smile was gone from her face and her eyes roamed your person, taking in everything and anything she could about you. 

“ It’s very nice to meet you, Y/N-ah.” Mr. Lee reached out and you shook his hand with both of your own. 

Mrs. Lee…she was still quiet and it was unsettling. 

“ It’s an honor to meet the both of you. I apologize that we couldn’t get together sooner between the tour schedule.” You gave them another bow, still deep but not like the previous one. With a small motion of your hand, you gestured towards the empty seats for them. “ Please sit, I’m sure the trip here was long.” 

You and Jihoon stayed standing until both of his parents sat down. When you did sit, you tried your hardest not to let your leg bounce or fidget with anything. Jihoon, thankfully, told them to order whatever they’d like, and a period of quiet fell over the table. Both his mother and father didn’t hesitate to get different dishes once the waitress arrived. 

“ How has the tour been, Jihoon-ah?” 

Jihoon cleared his throat at his father’s question, puffing his cheeks and tilted his head as he thought. “ It’s going well. It’s just tiring with all the traveling and little rest, but it’s overall satisfactory. ” 

“ Has it been hard on you, Y/N-ah?” 

You blinked at him but shook your head slightly. “ Aside from all the traveling, it hasn’t been too rough on me, but I do try my best between the schedules to help Jihoon-ah the best I can.” You wanted to say more but you didn’t know how much you probably should talk… 

His father nodded along. “I’m sure he doesn’t make it easy, knowing my son.” 

Jihoon bulked at that a bit, huffing. “ What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You are difficult.” His father shot back, still smiling, which had you covering your mouth to laugh. 

“ No- Jihoon-ah has been fine, I mainly make sure he is eating and sleeping enough. Despite my efforts to stop him, he has been helping me a lot.” You glanced beside you and Jihoon was trying to suppress a smirk, sitting back in his chair. Looking back at his parents, you smile. “ You’ve both raised a very caring man.” 

“ What do you do for work?” His mother spoke up, her hands folded neatly on the table, raising a brow at you. 

“Oh- I do translation and international communication between my head company in America and Korea, however I also work with Japan and, occasionally, Spain.” The explanation was a little forced under her watchful eyes. “ When I was back in America, I would go into the office, but I work remotely so I can travel with Jihoon and the group.”

“Did you go to college?” 

“Yes, Ma’am. I acquired my Masters in Business Administration and International Relations. I’m hoping to move up the managerial chain of the office we have here in Seoul the longer I work here.” 

She didn’t look impressed, not that you were trying to impress her, but you were hoping she’d like that you weren’t just using Jihoon for money or anything. That was the last time you wanted from this…relationship thing you have going on. 

The waitress had returned in time to give the table a breather, placing down dish after dish with another member of staff until the table was full. Thanking them once they were finished, you and Jihoon waited until his parents took food before grabbing any for yourself. In relative silence, the four of you ate, not knowing what to ask, what to say, nothing like that. You felt completely out of your element. 

“ I’m curious, Y/N-ah,” Mrs. Lee didn’t look up from the food in front of her. “ What can you contribute to my son’s life that makes you believe you can be something outside of a soulmate?” 

Jihoon stilled and you stopped chewing. 

“ Mom-” 

“Dear-” 

“What can you contribute to my son’s life?” She repeated and lifted her head, meeting your trembling eyes. 

“ I- ” You didn’t break the gaze between you, taking in a deep breath to calm your anxiety. “ I’d like to believe that the relationship Jihoon-ah and I have can be meaningful.” 

“I didn’t ask if your relationship can be meaningful,” Mrs. Lee placed her chopsticks down and once more folded her hands neatly. “ To be frank, you don’t seem fit to help him succeed.” 

“Fit to-” You were thrown off, furrowing your brow in confusion. Your heart was in your throat and you wanted to escape but knew you couldn’t.  

“ You seem…immature. I can’t see you contributing more to Jihoon’s life than providing the necessary things for a soulmate to live.” 

There was anger starting to rise within you. The confusion you wore easier flattened into a stony expression. Jihoon whipped his head to look at you then towards his mom. 

“ That’s enough.” Jihoon spoke up but his mother was staring you down. 

“ Lee-nim,” You kept your anger at bay, keeping your tone even. “ I don’t appreciate you assuming things about who I am based on this first meeting.”

The air surrounding you was so thick you could cut through it with a knife. Both Jihoon and his father were stunned silent, neither sure of what to do at the moment. The staring contest between you and his mother was deadly. 

“ I wonder what type of people raised you seeing as your parents didn’t raise you with any respect for your elders.” 

Your heart stopped. All the anger that once built up within was heightened. Around you, things moved in slow motion. Jihoon raised his voice but everything was muffled as if cotton was shoved in your ears. 

“Whether you like it or not, I’m Jihoon’s soulmate. I’ve worked my ass off to get to where I am by myself and I won’t let you determine the type of person I am or how I can help him succeed in life when he has already done so much for himself. You speak about respect for elders but my grandparents taught me to only respect those who show me respect and currently I see none.” You stood from your seat, three sets of eyes staring at you in shock. “ Now if you will excuse me, I will not let myself be disrespected by someone who doesn’t even know me, nor seem willing to get to know me. Enjoy your time with Jihoon. I’m no longer hungry. I’m done.” 

You took your card out of your wallet and handed it to Jihoon before giving a curt bow to his mother and father. 

“ Ruby-ah-” Jihoon looked panicked and you felt the alarm flow between you. 

“It’s fine. Enjoy the food.” 

And with slow, heavy steps, you left the building and walked aimlessly through the busy city streets. 

He was…He didn’t even know how he felt. 

Watching as they left the restaurant, the outrage they felt, it was surreal. 

Never had he imagined that his mother would treat someone so harshly, let alone with such little respect. She was usually composed and kind but now she was down right nasty. 

“ What is wrong with you?” He bulked in disbelief, furrowing his brow. “ What the hell is wrong with you?” 

His mother scoffed and frowned at him. “ What is wrong with me? What is wrong with them!? Disrespectful and immature are an understatement of what they are!” 

“The only person here that is disrespectful is you! You just met them and you are telling them that they can’t be more than my soulmate? Someone that is keeping me alive?” Now he was getting angry. 

“ They aren’t. They will hold you back every step of the way.” Her words were frigid. 

“Hold me back- Mom, you don’t know them!” 

“Clearly I don’t have to, Jihoon-ah.” 

“ Enough. Both of you.” His father placed his hand firmly on the table, causing both his mother and him to shut their mouths. He turned his direction to his wife, “ I’m disappointed in you. You didn’t give them a single chance. You judged them based on whatever you read online from horrible fans.” 

His mother scoffed once more. “ Unlike you, I’m trying to watch out for our son and make sure his future will hold success.” 

Jihoon let out a groan of frustration. “ I’m not a child anymore! I’m twenty-six this year! I don’t need you vetting my soulmate when fate has already picked them!”

“Just because they are your soulmate, doesn’t mean they are perfect for you, Jihoon-ah-” 

“They are perfect.” Jihoon stood, exasperated and annoyed. He couldn’t believe that he was hearing. “ Ruby-ah is perfect to me and that’s all that matters.” 

He held his mother’s gaze, eyes narrowed in a pointed glare. She raised her chin higher, probably thinking she was right. He hated when she let her pride get the better of her. 

“ Think what you want, Jihoon-ah. I’m disappointed fate picked an ill-fit person to be tied to you for the rest of your life.” 

“ The only disappointment here is you for being a judgemental and hateful person. You raised me better than that.” 

She gasped, he didn’t know what brought him to even think those words, let alone say them, but in that moment, he meant it. 

“ Jihoon-ah.” His father started sternly but Jihoon shook his head. 

“ No, dad. The disrespect she showed Ruby-ah was too far. Neither of you raised me like that.” He pulled his wallet from his pocket and pulled out a handful of bills, placing them on the table in front of his father. “ This should cover everything. Only call me when mom is ready to apologize.” 

Jihoon grabbed his jacket and walked out the door, looking either way down the street, trying to figure out which way they went. Ruby didn’t know the city well and he didn’t know if they were heading home- 

Pulling his phone out, he quickly called them, walking down the sidewalk in the direction of the dorms. The blaring ringing went on once, twice, and he continued down the street, picking up his pace. 

“Come on-” He muttered in English when the call went to voicemail after a few moments. He hung up and sent a text message, hoping to get any sort of response. 

Waiting at a crosswalk, Jihoon bounced on his feet, still feeling their anger, but it was calmer than what they felt earlier. To his current displeasure, there were a few people – who he assumed were fans – taking pictures of him on their phones. He pulled a mask from his jacket pocket and slid it on, keeping his head down. While Carats were part of his love for his career, right now he wasn’t in the mood to be gawked at. 

When the street was clear to cross, a text came in and he was bolting down the street in the opposite direction. Ruby had sent a message of their location in the other direction along the Han River. Though he didn’t get out much, he at least knew the basis from all the years of living in the city. 

As he neared the approximate location, the hum that coursed under his skin was comforting. The subconscious pull led him directly to where they sat under a tree, staring out on the still green grass and the flowing water of the river. 

“I blew it.” They said, not looking up as he slid to a squat beside them. “ I’m sorry.” 

“ Why are you sorry? My mom was rude and judgemental.” He shifted to sit, letting his legs splat out on the grass and leaned back on his hands. “ It was uncalled for.” 

It was music to his ears hearing Ruby snort and try to cover up their laugh. “ She is still your mom, Jihoon-ah.” 

“And moms can be overbearing and unaccepting of their kids growing up. I’m sure your grandmother can relate to that.” 

“Yeah. I guess she can…” Ruby sighed, running a hand through their hair before laughing under their breath. “ When I was in my first semester of college, Mimi drove all the way from upstate New York to the city to see me every month. She kept saying that she needed someone to take care of outside of Papa. It took her a while to realize that I was an adult after that.” 

“I’m sorry about what she said about your parents.” 

“ You don’t need to apologize for her, she can do that for herself if she throws her pride aside.” Their voice was laced with a hint of anger, that same feeling was still in the bond. 

“ Say what’s on your mind before I have to deal with you sulking for hours on end.” Jihoon rolled his eyes. 

Ruby huffed, criss-crossing their legs and crossing their arms. “ I know she is your mom and all, but who does she think she is judging me!? I’m not here for your money, I’m not here to use you in any way, and I’m definitely better than some of the people in this world for who your soulmate could have been.” 

He snorted but said nothing, letting them continue. “And learning a shit ton of languages is hard! It came earlier to me than math. Let alone getting my Masters in a double major. And asking me what I contribute to your life? Are we still in the fifties? No offense but you don’t know how to really cook! She should be happy I’m feeding you whenever you come over! And I make you sleep at a reasonable time!” 

That had him bursting out in laughter, face scrunching up and shoulders shaking. They weren’t wrong. Even in just a month, Ruby has been helpful in the caring for himself aspect of everything. And…And Ruby can cook pretty well so he wasn’t going to complain. 

“ I’m serious! She doesn’t know me, she assumes that because I’m ' disrespectful' and 'immature' that I’m not a responsible person. I pay bills, I work a full time job, and I have to deal with you and all of Seventeen! Especially ‘97 line, maybe minus Minghao-ah because they are up my ass!” 

“They will never leave you alone. You’ve signed the figurative contract and now Mingyu-ah and Seokminie will forever be your problem.” He gasped for air, watching them throw their arms up in defeat. 

Ruby pouted, rolling their head back and to the side to look at him. Jihoon easily looked back, but saw their eyes looking over his shoulder. 

“ Are they recording us?” He asked and they nodded. He wasn’t surprised fans followed him or noticed him in general. “ Come on.” 

Lazily he stood, holding his hand out to help them up and patted off their back. Jihoon slid his hand properly into Ruby’s, pulling out his phone to order a taxi. Ruby stepped close, seemingly hiding him the best they could. The fans did keep their distance, but the chorus of loud whispers and phones being held up to videos or pictures were making Ruby uncomfortable, he could feel it. He turned his back to the fans that looked upon them, facing his soulmate and waited for the notification that the car he ordered arrived. 

“ Are we going home?” They whispered, keeping their head down. 

“ Yeah, I’m gonna get us home.” 

“ ...I’m never going to get used to that.” 

“Do you see why I’m a homebody?” He followed their hushed voice, pouting his lips as he looked down at his phone. “ Sleep, exercise, work, sleep, that is my life.” 

Ruby snorted and a small smile spread on their face, “Don’t remind me, loser.” He only rolled his eyes, running his thumb over their knuckles as a small distraction.

Without too long of a wait, the taxi came and Jihoon pulled Ruby along towards the road, matching the car’s plate to the app, and opened the door for them to get in. The ride back to the doors wasn’t long and Jihoon was already receiving messages from Seungcheol asking ‘ why Carats are posting about him and Ruby on twitter when they were supposed to be at lunch with his parents?’ 

“ Wah, he really does work fast.” Ruby leaned against his side, looking down at his phone to better see Cheol’s texts. “ It’s kinda terrifying.”

“ Well, your name has been added to his roster of ‘people I can look up on twitter now when I’m bored’. Congratulations.” 

“I will never know peace between knowing all of you.” 

“Welcome to my life.” 

“No no!” Mingyu whined, throwing himself helplessly to the floor across from you. “ Tell us what happened!” 

“Yeah!” Seokmin tossed a crumpled up napkin at you which you dodged. “ We’ve met Jihoon-hyung’s mom, she wasn’t mean to us.” 

“You aren’t his soulmate.” Minghao pointed out, taking another bite of his takeout. “Ruby-ah isn’t a normal person in the eyes of a mother.” 

“ For example, Jihoonie’s mom loves me.” Soonyoung spoke up and everyone told him to shut up which caused him to pout. “ Mean…”  

“ I’ve never heard her so critical before.” Jihoon spoke up, pushing his food around with his chopsticks. “ She wasn’t even this bad when I told her I was going to be a trainee.” 

“Ruby-ah~ Tell us~” Seokmin said in a sing-song tone, using one of his chopsticks as if it was a wand, pointing it at you and twirling it happily. 

“She like-” You puffed out air, fidgeting side to side as you thought. “ She first asked about my education and my job so I explained all that. Then she asked me something about how I can 'contribute more to his life than just being his soulmate'. Then she called me disrespectful and immature and this mother f-” 

You stopped yourself, getting angry, similar to how you were earlier. “ Sorry, didn’t mean for that to slip…Then she brought up my parents not teaching me respect.” 

The air surrounding the group of you tensed and you sighed. They all knew vaguely (except for Jihoon who got to hear the whole story) of your family with how much time you’ve spent with them. You shrugged, shoveling some food into your mouth, not wanting to get too heated as of now.

“ Sorry Jihoonie, but your mom was a bitch.” Soonyoung said it so casually that you nearly choked on your food. 

“Thank god someone said it.” You threw your head back in laughter, falling over onto Jihoon who was trying not to laugh at it while Soonyoung smirked to himself. The rest of 97 line was in different extents of laughter, Mingyu on the floor and Minghao giggling with shaking shoulders. “I was going to say…Mother fucker but that would have been mean.” 

That made them roar up again and Jihoon followed by throwing his head back, face scrunched up in a wide smile. Seokmin and Mingyu were laying on their backs on the floor, Soonyoung was keeled over on the couch, holding his stomach as he gasped for air. Minghao sat beside you with his back to the couch, shoulders raised and curling in on himself as he laughed. 

You were glad you became friends with Seventeen. They were just the company you needed to deal with this. It was nice to have them as friends when Jamie and Kazuki were halfway around the world.

[brbzonedout]

You and Miles playing basketball

“Boooo”

The orange and black basketball hit the rim of the net and bounced away toward the gate on the right of the court.

“You know my shots are trash when people watch me asshole!” you shouted running after the ball.

“Excuses…” Miles laughed holding his hands out signaling you throw the ball to him.

As soon as you grabbed the ball you turned around tossing it directly into his hands.

“Excuses nothing, you were burning holes into my head with your eye.”

He checks the ball to you.

“Not my fault, you just have no aim. Matter of fact let me get my glasses maybe you’re just blind.” said as he pointed over to his gym bag.

An overwhelming sense of annoyance took over your body that caused you to roll your eyes at him.

“Very funny…kiss for good luck?” You smiled bashfully eying the boy as he stood a few feet away.

Miles placed his hands on his hip and shook his head, His long twists (eek!!) swung about as he did so.

Immediately you threw your head back, the momentum making you stumble a few steps backwards. The boy's hand brushed back his hair as he spoke.

“Get this next one and maybe I'll consider it..”

You hummed and nodded as you dribbled the ball getting ready for the shot. The cool current blew your shirt to the side as you lifted your hands to shoot and missed.

“Know what? I’m a better handler anyways fuck it-”, you muttered deciding to let the ball roll away instead opting for a drink.

Miles ran after the ball as you walked over to his bag, your shared bag for some cold water.

After a few seconds, he met you at the bleachers where the bag was located.

“Give up?” he gave a cocky smirk that made you want to kick and kiss him all at once.

“Maybe… I'm tired,” said as you lay down across the cool metal.

A tinge of sympathy showed up as he spoke.

“You tryna leave?”

“Mm- do you still wanna play?”

“A little bit, Practice my three-pointer.”

“We can stay I'll just watch you…” you said looking up at him shielding your eyes from the sun.

The boy smiled shyly before he turned away to hide it. But, you didn't notice it completely still practically being blinded by the sun.

“How ‘bout I lay here with you..” he set the ball under the bleachers and laid down on the one next to you.

“I thought you wanted to practice?” You sat up with a confused expression looking at him.

“This is better…”

You giggled.

“You’re corny man..”

After a beat of silence, the boy sat up and gently grasped your chin gently turning your face towards him. Without hesitation, he leaned down pressing his lips to yours for a moment.

Once he pulled away you felt heat rise all the way from your feet to your face.

“I'm cool with that”.

Miles with any hairstyle is my weakness. Also, I feel like I need to expand more on the actions in between dialogue but it's so hard! Anyways thank you for reading. Requests are open now so don't be shy!

[chirpingfromthebox]

My favorite bits from the Boston post-game press interviews after PWHL Finals Game 4

You can find the entire interview here! Be sure to give them some views/likes/nice comments/etc.

At the table were Aerin Frankel, Alina Müller, and coach Courtney Kessel.

Since we're so close to the end now, I just went ahead and did the full transcription so as to be sure y'all didn't miss anything. I'll still put dividers between the questions though, just to aid in readability.

All that and a handful of my closing thoughts after the break.

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REPORTER: For all of you, did you think that game was over before it was actually over?

COURTNEY KESSEL: I didn’t think it was over, I thought it was goalie interference. But you never know, right? So you challenge and kinda wait. So, no.

AERIN FRANKEL: Obviously being in the net, I didn’t really know what happened other than the fact that I was pushed. But I didn’t know who pushed me into the net. It kinda just all happened really fast. But then after seeing the replay I was confident they would maybe overturn it. Obviously it’s tough being in their rink, and second overtime, and stuff. But I’m glad that they made the right call.

ALINA MÜLLER: Yeah, same. I had no doubt that it was goaltender interference. And I knew- I mean, that’s tough when you get a goal overturned. The momentum is for the other team, for sure. For us.

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REPORTER: Maybe to follow up on that, Alina, or for anyone who wants to take it, how did you guys kind of keep the emotions of that in check? Or did it really feel like you knew that the momentum was going to be in your favor?

ALINA MÜLLER: Yeah, just really saw the play and knew that this could be a good challenge for us, so just try to stay in the game. As I said, I think once it got overturned we had more power, more speed, more legs. So, yeah, it was on our side.

R: Aerin, do you have a thought on that? Like how do you lock-in as the goalie, knowing that the game is either over or you have to go back in?

AERIN FRANKEL: You just gotta force yourself to. You don’t have the option. We made it that far into the 5th overtime, so at that point you’re playing for everyone in our locker room. It’s just a family, so it doesn’t matter how tired you are, but everyone just competes until the job is finished.

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REPORTER: And for Courtney, Aerin has played 7 overtime periods now and hasn’t been scored on yet. What can you say about the way that she’s been able to rise to the occasion in the most important parts of a hockey game?

COURTNEY KESSEL: I think we’ve seen that she’s the Green Monster. Tremendous. I think from the moment we came back from World’s we’ve come back with a different group and the resiliency has been tremendous. They’re gonna kill me, but I think it starts with our goaltending and it starts with Franks. Just her ability to stay calm through all these ups and downs. And her ability to keep us in games and win games for us. And that’s what you want heading into the championship. If you have a hot goalie you can win.

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REPORTER: Aerin, when you first heard of “The Green Monster,” what was your reaction to it?

AERIN FRANKEL: Coach actually sent it to me and I was laughing. I thought it was funny. My teammates have started saying it as a joke. Yeah, I think it’s cool, because Boston’s one of the greatest sports cities and obviously that’s a big part of the history at Fenway Park. So, I think it’s cool. Kudos to whoever thought of that. It’s pretty awesome.

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REPORTER: Alina, congrats on the game winner. Can you take us through what you saw in the play?

ALINA MÜLLER: Uh, yeah. I just tried to put my body against the wall, against the other player, trying to break the puck out and then somehow try to get inside positioning and the puck bounced to me. I think it was a good forecheck and I tried to get it off as quick as I can and as high as I can. I didn’t really see much.

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REPORTER: For either of the players, so when the goal gets taken off you mentioned the word momentum. What is that like to now realize you have this new opportunity? Do you feel like you have the advantage in that moment? Is it a mental thing? Take us in your minds right there.

AERIN FRANKEL: Yeah, I think so. It’s obviously deflating when you’re playing a game this long and you think you score a goal and then you’re celebrating on the ice and it gets called back. I think right away we just kinda hit the reset. We’ve been in overtime so much already this year and we just stuck to the systems that have been working for us this year.

ALINA MÜLLER: Yeah, same. I think the advantage was on our side just from a mental side. It reminded me of the World’s Final, I think it was Finland against the U.S., where the same thing kind of happened. It’s pretty tough if you’re on the other side.

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REPORTER: For Courtney, wondering if you can speak to what you’ve seen from Jessica Digirolamo tonight and through these playoffs?

COURTNEY KESSEL: Yeah, Jess is- it’s funny, I coached her since she was like 13 years old, so it’s pretty special to be standing behind the bench now she's a grown adult. I think her physicality, you know, her physique, her build, is built for this game, this style of hockey. And she’s raised the bar since we’ve been back from World’s. And I’m not surprised at all. I really do think she has all the skills to be on the national team one day if she continues to develop and work hard.

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REPORTER: Do you [Courtney Kessel] have a thought on Alina’s game winner?

COURTNEY KESSEL: I’m not surprised. I’m not sure who I spoke to, yesterday or two days ago, but they asked me who we should be watching out for and I said Müller. She’s just a tremendous 200-foot hockey player that can put the puck in the back of the net. We’ve been waiting for it all year and I know it’s there and I’ve been telling her that it’s there. Just so happy to see that happen and just watch her grow this year, in the first year with this league.

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REPORTER: Alina, your coach talked about your goalie, can you describe just being on the ice with Aerin and what the- if you’re often amazed, do you see all the stuff- you know, just what it’s like and speak to just how much she kept you in the game for the chance at the game winner?

[It might not looks that way, but for the record: this was a beast of a question to transcribe. The reporter was really fumbling on their words here and I had to rewind it a ton to try and get it down right.]

ALINA MÜLLER: Yeah, I mean, she’s the best goalie in this league, in the world. I got the chance to get to know her really well through Nordeastern already. We’re really good friends. I trust her so much. She makes it so much fun in practice too, trying to shoot on her. Just the competitiveness. The fitness, just everything is elite. She deserves all the success there is.

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You know, I said I was hoping Boston would battle back in true Boston-style and sure enough: they did! This game felt very different from the other games this series to me. Reminded me more of how a lot of other playoff games seemed to go...except with a lot more Boston-style physicality.

If anything it has shown once again that you never want to get into a defensive war of attrition with Boston.

And now the shoe's on the other foot. Boston seemed a little defeated after last game and now it's Minnesota's turn. The difference is that Minnesota either refused to do a post-game press session or I just can't find it. So I can't really say how they compare. While I can understand not wanting to talk to the press after something like that, I can't say that it bodes well for their mental state.

[they did do one! It just got posted wicked late for some reason? I dunno. I haven't got a chance to watch it yet, but it exists!]

As the players here noted, it's hard to mentally come back from what Minnesota had to deal with there. It certainly had an effect tonight.

But we'll have to wait until Wednesday to see if they wind up letting it weigh them down or fuel them forward.

We already know you never want to put Boston into a corner. And if Minnesota comes out for blood in Game 5? Should be a spicy end to the finals.

(and hopefully that end is a more decisive, less "what is even happening right now?"-styled one)