#and she remembered my name without even having to look @ my nametag

[doodlboy]

I FORGOT 2 SAY

I MADE A FRIEND @ WORK 2DAY!!

[petalsthefish]

Genius

Summary:

After Lily breaks her iPhone, she finds herself at the Genius Bar on Valentines Day, and an old flame is there to help her in all things technology and romance.

read on A03

Marlene McKitten: babes you're missing out on blackberry margs!!

Lily Evans: I’m sorry! It was the only time I could schedule a time for my phone to get fixed!

Marlene McKitten: you just hate me, its okay, you can say it

Lily Evans: you’re a drama queen, Marlene McKinnon 

Marlene McKitten: you love me anyways…find me a hot date at the apple store so I can get discounts!!

Lily Evans: if I find a hot guy he’s mine for the night

Marlene McKitten: further proof that you hate me 

Lily Evans: I’m here. … Pray this doesn’t take five hours and I can come meet you for drinks. 

Marlene McKitten: how hard will it be to replace a screen? … I bet I could do it myself with youtube and a little superglue

Lily did not reply back to her friend, she didn’t have the heart to tell Marlene that superglue and youtube weren’t the answer for everything. Even if superglue had proven effective at keeping Lily’s favorite mug together after it broke in the dishwasher. 

Lily just couldn’t believe she was spending her free time at the Apple Store because she'd somehow cracked her phone screen. In all her years of owning a phone, of course it would be the most expensive phone she’d ever had that broke. Even her flimsy flip phone had been more sturdy than her iphone. 

“Hi, are you here for an appointment?” A scrawny kid about her age asked, holding the iPad too close to his face as he approached her near the front doors.

Lily nodded quickly. “Yeah, Lily Evans, for a screen repair.”

“Gotcha.” The kid's nametag read ‘Peter,’ and he barely looked up at her as he typed away on his screen. “I checked you in; just go wait at the Genius Bar.”

“Thanks.”

Lily maneuvered around the cramped store, sighing all the while as she made her way to the Genius Bar. It was rather depressing to be alone on Valentine's Day, but it was almost extra disappointing that she’d had to skip lunch with her girlfriends to come here. Lily couldn’t believe she was missing out on the tacos at Casa Grande, a tradition that went all the way back to Uni. She nervously picked at the crack on her screen, most annoyed that she’d somehow forgotten to add the screen protector when she got her new case two months ago. Another sigh escaped her lips before she finally took a look at her surroundings.

There were three boys at the counter, each of them so different from the other. The first, on Lily’s left, was a bloke with a leather jacket, emitting a touch of emo metal head from his persona. The one on the right definitely looked like he belonged at the Genius Bar in the Apple Store, thanks to his perfectly pressed sweater vest and nicely combed hair. The man leaning against the table opposite Lily, typing into his iPad, was a sporty-looking bloke wearing slacks with a rumpled button-down shirt.

She thought to herself, Actually, no, that sporty bloke looks really familiar… Oh. 

It hit her like a freight train. 

She couldn’t remember his name for the life of her, but he’d somehow gotten hotter in the year since they graduated from college. It’d been almost that much time since they’d danced at a party, stumbled up the stairs to his bedroom, and he’d fucked her on his bed. Not even a quick go. No, she had woken up in his bed to find his arms around her, her clothes all over the room, and her phone dead from going all night without a charger. 

He’d been such a gentleman when he woke up. He had practically stumbled over his words when he realized she was there, in his bed, naked with him. They had both been drunk, so even he admitted it had probably been a bad idea. They’d parted ways an hour later, Lily promising that she’d be okay to walk back to her dorm, and he had let her go so she assumed he really hadn’t wanted anything more than a once go in the sheets. 

More than once, she'd thought about this bloke, wondering what happened to him. 

His black hair was in a mess of waves around his head, and he didn't look up from his iPad as she stared in shock. She didn’t know what she’d say to him if they did make eye contact. The last thing she’d said to him was ‘thanks for the sex’ which somehow grew more and more embarrassing the longer she sat here and recalled it. She kept picturing his naked body in that bed in the morning. What would she say if he looked up right now and she was there remembering the contours of his body? 

Hi, I almost didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.  

She’d save that gem for later. 

Probably never. 

Lily felt disappointed as he walked away without looking up, disappearing through a door that likely led to the back. Her heart slowed in her chest, just slightly, but she felt like her throat was drier than the desert. She cleared it twice, earning a look from the guy in the sweater-vest, but he just went back to his task at hand.

Since the other two men at the Genius Bar were preoccupied, she took that to mean she was going to have to wait for help. She checked her Tumblr, finding nothing of consequence, just some idiots in her ask box telling her to eat dirt and choke on it. A usual occurrence on her blog thanks to internet trolls with nothing better to do than hate strong women like Taylor Swift and Captain Marvel. Lily was fully convinced people just liked to find something to complain about. She tried really hard not to complain or take anything a bunch of internet ghosts said to heart. She scrolled through her favorite Taylor Swift blog and saw there had been a new song mashup released. She wished she had brought her headphones so she could at least listen to the music while she waited.

London Boy crossed with This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things would be absolutely disastrous and she was here for it. She reblogged it for later, then exited out of the app, settling for people watching instead. 

Around her, couples were looking over new computers, AirPods, and various other electronics. All the girls wore really pretty dresses, and all the partners kept one firm arm around each other's waists. Lily’s dress was pretty too, and she played with the edges of the corset cut as she stared at the door through which the fit bloke had disappeared.

Had he spotted her and run? Did he remember her? Did he forget her? She wasn’t sure what would hurt her more, if he walked away because he saw her and remembered her, or if he walked away because he forgot about her.

Lily wasn’t a bragger, but she knew for a fact he had fun with her a year ago. She remembered enough of that night to know that he’d been really, really enjoying it. Not many men would get between her legs for her, and very few actually made her scream. No, he’d been one of two, and he’d been the best of all. 

Lily crossed her legs, trying to ignore the heat gathering on her face (and in other places) as she recounted that night. Sadly, her body wasn’t listening to her imploring thoughts. She felt like a damn animal in heat, the way her entire body was strung up, waiting for his reappearance. 

Beside her, the emo guy helping the old Lady change her voicemail sent her a sidelong glance randomly, and Lily felt a blush raise on her cheeks when his eyes grazed up and down her body as if he were checking her out. She didn’t drop his gaze, and instead offered him a smile. His gray eyes snapped back to the old lady and spoke to her in a smooth tone that didn’t seem the least bit flustered. 

She looked down at her candy-colored nails, the pink already chipping from scrubbing her hands too much at work. The phone on the table in front of her buzzed with a text from her girls' chat. Marlene sent a photo of a plate of tacos in the shape of a heart. Lily smiled and opened her phone, hearting the photo. As she did so, the grandmother finished her session and walked away, leaving the emo kid free. Lily looked up from her phone quickly, expecting him to turn to her, but instead, he had his back turned to her as he talked into his headset.

“No, I won’t stall for you—Prongs! Don’t argue with me.” He sounded stressed, as if whoever was on the other end was ruining his life. “Then get out here, you idiot.”

Whoever was on the other end was clearly addressing the whole store through that headset, as Lily witnessed the sweater vest-wearing, scrawny boy, and the long-haired brunette nearby all turning to send looks in Emo’s direction with raised brows. Lily couldn’t help but feel as if they were all looking at her too, despite her not being privy to the conversation happening.

“Hi,” someone touched Lily’s shoulder from behind, making her turn in surprise.

A baby-faced woman with bubblegum-pink hair smiled kindly. “Have you been checked in?”

“Oh,” Lily blinked owlishly, feeling stupid for thinking everyone was looking at her. “Uhm, yes, Lily Evans? Screen repair?”

“Our screen repair guy is stuck on the phone with a customer in the back,” she said cheerily, “but he should be out soon.”

“Oh, there’s a guy?” Lily said in surprise. “I thought screen replacements were kinda a universal genius bar thing.”

“Oh, we can all do it,” The girl’s name tag told Lily her name was Tonks, “but someone called dibs already.”

“Dibs?” Lily didn’t miss that Emo kid was cackling as he typed something into his iPad.

“Did I say dibs?” Tonks put a finger on her lips. “I meant he was assigned to you by the boss.”

“Who’s the boss?”

“He is.”

Suddenly, the door behind them slammed open, and a body stumbled out quite dramatically. Lily perked up at the sight of the familiar form. Sporty boy was back! His black hair was even more wild around his head, as if he’d been running his fingers through it non-stop since he’d disappeared. His glasses were skewed too, but it only made him so much more attractive, to see how flustered he was.

Tonks peered around Lily’s shoulder, her pink hair falling into her eyes. “Smooth entrance, Potter.”

“Thanks for holding down the fort, Nymphadora,” Potter said. “I can take her from here.”

Lily’s eyes traced his tall form, realizing it had been a long time since she’d been able to admire it. When her gaze returned to his face, her eyes met brown orbs that looked delighted to know she’d been openly checking him out. Lily’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. She brushed nervously at her red curls, biting her lip as James waltzed over to her at the bar, leaning against it so he was only a foot or so away from her.

“Hi,” his voice was smooth, like an ASMR streamer. “I’m James Potter.”

“Hi,” she almost choked on her own spit. “Hi.” 

James’ fingers trailed along the edge of the bar, casual yet deliberate, as he said, “I heard you rang for a genius?”

Lily’s mouth quivered when she heard Tonks sigh loudly. The emo guy slammed his palm against his head, as if James had embarrassed them all. Sweater vest physically gagged. James just kept smiling at her though, as if he could tell she was attracted to him regardless of his cheesy pickup lines. And it was true, she was. 

“I heard you are the only one in this store who can help me,” Lily flirted, watching his eyes light up at the challenge. “I had no idea you were so important.”

“Me either, to be honest.” He placed his chin on his hand, supported by his elbow against the bar. “What was your name again?”

Lily tucked her hair behind her ear. “Lily Evans? We met about a year ago at a party.”

His eyes seemed to sparkle as he replied smoothly, “Oh, I remember how we met, it was just your name that escaped me last year.”

The blush was uncontrollable now as she reached out a hand for him to shake. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You have no idea how nice it is to see you again.” James’ grin grew wider. “And on Valentine's Day, no less.”

"I know how to make an entrance." She managed weakly. 

James' eyes were molten gold mixed with green flecks, "you sure do, especially in that dress." 

“Get a room,” the guy in the sweater vest muttered.

“How about yours, Remus?” James shot back, a bite in his tone.

Remus pretended to be interested in his customer's macbook in response. When Lily looked back at James, she felt a punch to the gut as she saw nothing but pure lust in his eyes. She could practically pinpoint where his mind had dropped, thanks to his eyes staring at her breasts, which were practically popping out of the corset cut top of her dress. 

“Like what you see?” She asked boldly. 

"Yes." He cleared his throat, and her eyes dropped to his mouth when he licked his lip and then curled the edges up to smile confidently.

Hazel eyes.

His eyes were hazel, and she’d forgotten that, so now all her memories were being replayed with coy hazel eyes that undressed her without even trying. He wasn't even trying to hide it, especially not right now. 

“Well, what can I help you with today?” James asked, breaking her concentration on his eyes. 

Dinner. She thought desperately. A quick go in the back of the storage room. Instead she offered, “I think I cracked my phone screen.”

James looked down at the phone in question. Lily picked it up, popping off the blue protective case in one fluid motion, before handing it to him. She fiddled with the case as he turned the phone over in his hands once. 

“And you’re sure it’s not just the screen protector?”

Lily shook her head no, “I tried to pull it off, twice, but couldn't get it, so I’m pretty sure I forgot to put the protection screen thing on when I got my new case.”

“Oh Lily,” James clucked his tongue, “always use protection.”

Oh, that was the wrong thing to say. 

Her brain immediately fluttered into the pit of her stomach with ideas of all the things they could do with protection. God, she hadn’t been so turned on since the last time he’d gotten her into bed with him…only this time it was daylight and she hadn’t had a single thing to drink. 

Pure thoughts, Lily Evans. She thought. He’s just a guy. A hot, cool, incredibly charming guy. Fuck it, I’m screwed.   

James casually picked at her phone screen, seemingly ignoring the desire flickering in her eyes as he remarked, “The glass shouldn’t stick up like that; I think it’s just a screen protector.”

“I really don’t think–”

Watching in mortification, Lily winced as he used his thumbnail to pry at the glass. Suddenly, a sound of unsticking reached her ears as he removed a screen case from her phone's actual glass. Redness flooded her face for an entirely different reason. She’d been a total, utter, helpless idiot for bringing her phone here.

It hadn’t been broken at all. 

“Oh my god,” she whispered, “Oh, no, no, no, no!! I am such an idiot.”

“No!” He quickly reassured her, “You’re not an idiot!”

Lily felt herself spiraling with embarrassment, realizing she just hadn’t pulled hard enough to separate the sticky tape from the glass. “I swear—I tried so hard—I thought it was the screen.”

His thumb brushed the side of her wrist in comfort, but instead of soothing her, it sent a wave of shame coursing through her stomach. “It’s an honest mistake; it was securely fastened.”

“Yeah,” she squeaked, noticing he had leaned closer over the counter, now mere inches from her face.

“Seriously,” he seemed so amused, and that only humiliated her further, “it’s fine, I won't even charge you.” 

She didn’t know if she’d ever felt more stupid, and in front of the hottest guy she knew, too. “I’m really sorry for wasting your time.” He searched her face as if seeking something within it. Lily withdrew her hand from his shyly and then grabbed her phone. “I’ll just go, thank you, um, bye.”

Trying to escape the awkward situation, she hurried out, acutely aware of the stares from those around them who had witnessed the embarrassing exchange. She slipped her unprotected phone under the strap of her dress and brushed her hair behind her ears as she rushed to her car in the parking lot.

“Dumb, stupid, idiot.” she muttered over and over to herself, repeating the whole scene in her head. “How did you graduate college with a science degree, but you can’t even pull a fucking phone condom off.” 

She reached her car in record time, the lingering sense of humiliation mingling with a cocktail of other emotions churning in her gut. Her plan now was simple: she would rendezvous with her friends at the taco place and immerse herself in a flight of margaritas. Maybe if she got intoxicated enough, she could erase this entire fiasco from her memory. As she finished flinging her bag onto the console of the passenger seat, she heard footsteps approaching from behind.

Turning abruptly, she was startled to find James from the Genius Bar standing there, a friendly smile gracing his features. “Hey, Lily.” 

“Hi,” she managed, her voice high-pitched from her embarrassment. 

HIs eyes dropped to the phone, precariously held between her pale skin and tiny spaghetti thick dress strap. “Why do girls stuff everything right there?”

Lily looked down at her phone and then back up to him, feigning tucking her hands into the folds of her dress skirt, “most girls clothes don’t have pockets–so we improvise.” 

“Interesting.” He then asked promptly, “Did you know that I worked here?”

“No,” she swore, as the wind made her skirts gather around her legs, “I swear, I had no idea.”

A light flickered in his eyes, “that’s a shame.”

“Why a shame?”

“I was hoping you made up that entire thing about the glass cracking just to talk to me.” He grinned. “But you genuinely thought it was broken, didn’t you?”

“You were hoping I was lying?” Lily blinked owlishly at him, “really?”

He lifted a lunchbox in his hand, smiling awkwardly. “I only have an hour for lunch; why don’t we catch up, and we can talk about what I was hoping for.”

“What?” Lily asked, not comprehending anything because her hormones were cheering excitedly.

“Sorry,” he tucked the lunchbox behind his back again, “did you not want to eat with me? I think I may have gotten mixed signals from you back in the store…”

“Eat with you?” she repeated. “ With you?”

“I know it’s been a while,” he was rambling, “I know we aren’t even like–friends–but you showed up and I–I nearly had a heart attack seeing you again. A heart attack in the good way–not a bad way. You are definitely good. All good. So good.”

Lily still had one hand on her car door, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to find the words. “I–I’m an idiot who can’t tell the difference between a screen cover and a phone screen…and you want to have lunch with me?”

James shrugged, “despite working at the genius bar–” Lily offered him a snort of amusement, “--I prefer idiots, don’t you?”

“You're not an idiot,” Lily said, motioning to all of him, “you’re–you’re that .”

“Eloquent,” his smile was so wide, his eyes crinkled at the edges. “But I’m 100% just as much an idiot as you.”

“How so?”

“I was an idiot for ever letting you go without a number to text you at.” 

She felt her stomach erupt with pleasant butterflies. “What?”

James looked down at her body, then back up at her eyes with a coy wink. “Truthfully, I've been wondering where you disappeared to for a year now and would really like to catch up. I’d also really love your number, for your working phone, just in case you ever need a genius to fix it again. Is that okay?”

Lily felt like she might be dreaming. She pinched her arm. It hurt. Thank god. “This isn’t a joke, right?”

“No,” James walked forward, almost flush with her person now. “I do love a good joke, though.”

“Really?” He was so close, she could count the tiny freckles dotting his tan nose. 

James' hand brushed her arm, sending shivers racing up it. “What’s the best book to read while eating breakfast?”

Lily felt a smile replacing her confused expression as she leaned up on her tiptoes, allowing his free hand to cup her chin. “What book?”

“Much Ado About Muffin.”

"You're right, you are an idiot." She rolled her eyes, but her tone was flirtatious, "a really, really cute idiot."

"They'll hire just about anyone to work the Genius Bar these days." 

Lily didn’t wait anymore; she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him down, letting her lips muffle his laughter.

She could still feel his smile through the kiss though, even when he opened his mouth to taste her with an eager fever she had forgotten about. She kissed him back harder, especially when she heard his lunch bag fall to the ground near their feet, and both his hands grabbed hold of her long hair to keep her firmly attached. He tasted like mint gum, like he'd just been chewing it before coming to find her. Like he'd planned for this exact scenario to happen. 

She almost swooned at the thought. 

Finally, what felt like only a second later, he broke off the kiss. When her eyes opened, she saw nothing but him, and that only made her smile grow wider. His hands remained in her hair, but he tugged them forward to cup her cheeks, bringing the red strands with him. 

“So,” he said somewhat breathlessly, “lunch date?”

"What'd you have in mind?"

"Calling out of work, taking you home, and ordering pizza for a long movie we won't watch." 

Lily stepped forward, about to kiss him again for suggesting it, but then she felt her chunky heel step on something, and a resounding crack filled the air. Lily thought it might be the lunch bag he’d dropped, and for just a second she hoped, but whatever was under her foot was smaller. She looked down, face white, and all she saw were broken bits of glass under her heel. Her heart plummeted from its high as she stared down at her broken phone. 

“I broke my phone,” she realized, lifting her foot to show a screen in tiny bits and pieces. “Oh my god, I really broke it this time.”

James untangled himself from her and leaned down, picking it up carefully, and they watched as it disintegrated into multiple pieces in his hand. His eyes lifted from the phone to her. She stared back at him. Lily fell against her car, pressing her hands into her hair as she processed her disbelief. James' mouth was partially open, like she'd just stunned him to silence. 

“I can’t believe this!” she half laugh, half cried, while wiping her eyes. "I can't fucking believe this!"

Then, James doubled over with laughter, weeping from the irony of it all. Lily crossed one leg over the other as she laughed too, her head rolling back against her car. Passerby in the parking lot shared attempts like they were lunatics for laughing so hard. It only made them laugh harder.

"What am I going to do?" Lily cried, her side in stitches. "Oh god, I haven't even paid that phone off yet!"

"I can't believe you broke it!" James wiped the tears from his eyes, "oh my god, your luck!"

"Oh fuck," Lily pressed a hand to her forehead, "I don't know why I'm laughing, this is actually so bad, I need my phone for work."

James walked forward to plant a firm kiss on her mouth before reminding her, “Don’t worry, you know a genius who can fix it.”

~~~

+44 7123 456789: Lily??? Are you Alive??? Your bedroom doors been shut since yesterday?? have you even been home???

Lily Evans: holy shit I am so sorry, who is this? I have a new phone and forgot to switch my contacts over from the cloud

+44 7123 456789: ....Marlene....HOW BROKEN WAS YOUR PHONE??? It was a scratch the last time I saw it??

Lily Evans: funny story...

Marlene McKitten: where are you?!

Lily Evans: do you remember that one time I got super drunk at a party and woke up in a hot guys bed?

Marlene McKitten: ya...why?

Lily Evans: I'm currently in his bed right now 

Marlene McKitten: ??? get home right now or so help me god I'm tracking your phone and coming to you 

Lily Evans: save yourself a drive and meet us at the Genius Bar, he's taking me over there to fix my old computer I thought was broken. 

Marlene McKitten: ?????????????

[simon-cctv]

The human's been wading through the swamp for hours now in search of his new cat. The thing ran off after Simon was surrounded by zombies. Herobrine leans against the same tree he did three hours ago, watching in cold amusement as the human continues to frantically search.

Herobrine glances over to the black kitten sleeping peacefully on the ground beside him, then back to the human. How many hours until Simon notices the cat's been on this hill the whole time?

He's waiting for the man to abandon his lost pet like he's seen all the others do. The travelers. He'll go and tame another, forgetting he ever had this cat. She doesn't even have a nametag yet, that alone is a promise of abandonment.

"I'll take you in." He mumbles to the poor thing. "You can join the others."

Simon's leg snags on something, and he falls face first into the water.

Even if he believes this one won't last, at least this human's entertaining to watch. This is where he gives up, he thinks. It's pitch black out, the man's stomach can be heard from a mile away, and he's now freezing cold and drenched.

And yet...

He continues searching for hours more. He searches until he collapses of exhaustion in the water.

The entity laughs out loud, the plants around him roaring to life along with him. He's never seen someone be so stubborn while being so pathetic going about it. If it were possible for his kind, Herobrine would have thought Simon were harmless. After all, he's yet to see him kill anything at all yet. It's only been 14 days. It may be longer than the other human's lasted before proving their cruelness but it doesn't mean it's not coming. He's like all the others, and he'll show it one of these days.

For now, though.

Bubbles dance across the surface of the water. The air is escaping Simon, he'll probably drown at this rate.

Herobrine glances at the young cat again. The splash must've awoken her. It watches the body of her owner being tugged by the current. She meows, distraught.

For the cat. He thinks, frowning as his hands finally find Simon in the muddy water.

A long lost emotion jabs at Herobrine when he pulls the man out of the water easier than a weed from the ground. It's natural to be concerned. Normal to be.

Simon hasn't taken from the village he lives beside. He doesn't kill the animals. His crops are too small to sustain himself. He knows nothing of farming. It's an insult to Herobrine's profession, honestly. This man is going to starve before his crops even grow.

Simon's chest feels like it's caving in when he snaps back to consciousness, lungs heaving to take in air.

He doesn't remember how he got home. Oh my god, I left without Pluto. What a monster he is.

A meow echos in the cave he's attempting to make a home and relief washes over him. Relief, then chills.

She has a nametag with her name on it and a blanket to lay on that Simon's never seen in his life.

Beside Pluto sits a small box.

Someone brought us home. Somebody... helped me? Simon's confused. He was near no village. Why would somebody help an outsider like him? A part of him hopes it means they're recognizing his efforts. He'd like to think the village helped him.

The box contains a hearty serving of potato stew over rice. Simon looks over it carefully.

Whoever did it knows he doesn't eat meat.

The gesture should make his blood run cold more than it warms his heart.

[lej222]

What do you think Jisu's intentions are in all these? Reading chapter 136 last night i first thought he was helping Miae by making Cheol jealous but when academy kids and songi came miae gave a big smile looking at cheol and jisu was actually annoyed seeing that! What is his motive actually?? He is acting manipulative? What will he gain from thiss he's a sly fox😬

Really good question which is really hard to answer! 😃

So keep in mind these are just my thoughts, I can always be wrong.

So far, we know very little about Jisu, but clues about his character have been given to us since the first chapter, and so most theories about him have become true. I think we should look at his character in a chronological timeline.

Right off the bat, I'm writing this with the assumption that Jisu is likely autistic (seems to be a general observation in the fandom, I also made a post about it). From very early on in childhood, Jisu seemed to be slower than the kids of his age (like touching his head way after he was hit) and had a sort of expressionless face even in elementary school.

At one point in time, Jisu becomes Miae's classmate in elementary school, around the time Miae met Cheol. They used to live in the same neighbourhood for a short while, because as we know, Jisu also kept moving around like Cheol (all the Jisu and Cheol parallels!?). Jisu was likely bullied by the other kids for his 'unique' personality, which, in the 90s meant that he was simply different but no one would have known why around that time (it was a different world for sure, autistic kids were told they were stupid for being slower and they were likely targets for bullying, even more than now). We see a short memory of young Miae telling Jisu she can make his bullies pay. This is the only fragment of memory we get until Jisu leaving school. We have no idea what happened in the meantime, but when Jisu is forced to write a goodbye letter, he mentions how he liked Miae the most for which Miae starts crying while Jisu is just standing there awkwardly. End of their childhood interactions.

-> now, first of all, I believe memories are super important in the story and they are tied to the concept of fate. As Miae and Cheol's relationship progresses, we can suddenly see memories Miae was not even aware of having. Jisu's memories are still hidden because Miae doesn't remember him. This is a very important point because it is the reason we will definitely keep seeing him in the story.

My speculation is that Jisu had a fondness for Miae as a kid, but it was not necessarily romantic love (and he likely did not understand why he had that fondness). We know Miae treated him like a normal person when he was bullied. Without knowing their interactions, Jisu likely found her interesting (btw, autistic individuals can have fixations on people as well, Jisu is now fixated on their coincidental encounters).

Years later, Jisu transfers in the spring semester in 1998, right before Cheol transfers in the fall semester (coincidence that much??? More like fate lol) We can see he remembers every name and face, making categories as to which school they attended together (reinforcing the idea that Jisu might be what we would call a 'genius' which is not uncommon among people on the spectrum, in fact, most geniuses have ASD). Jisu sees Miae and notes that her hair is weird (now we know why lol) and then moves on. A year later, when they end up in the same class he's surprised, but doesn't really care. As coincidences seem to pile up, like Cheol kicking Miae's pencil at his chair(he gives it back btw, while Miae thinks it was Cheol), they are sent out to the corridor together, they become folk dance partners, Jisu finds Miae's name tag and uses it to avoid punishment, they are both called to the teachers' office for doing bad on their tests, Jisu wants to give back the nametag but doesn't have it on him (!!!!! important!!!) And he still doesn't seem to care that much, it's Miae who tries to talk to him.

It's not until their detention week that Jisu becomes more talkative with Miae. And it's likely around that time he acknowledges the coincidences and decides it's fun. That's when the funny fate in the story takes action and makes Jisu meet Miae in the most random scenarios. As soon as Jisu acknowledged its existence, fate tried to help him. Mind you, Cheol and Miae haven't acknowledged their relationship as of now (interesting right?). So Jisu thinks it's a fun situation and keeps talking to Miae, even the teacher notes how he never really shows this behaviour around anybody else. After that, Miae starts showing sides of her Jisu likely hadn't seen since they were kids, like she smiles at him. I think, and take this with a grain of salt, from these interactions Jisu has likely started developing feelings for her, and he's probably not aware of it.

Jisu wants to help Miae, because he likely wants her to be happy. But he might have started liking her along the way as well. I don't think he always met Miae intentionally, it would have been practically impossible, but he has the ability to plan what to do (the cigarette incident). He knows how to push Cheol's buttons -->> important note here!!->> once Jisu said something like he knows what guys like Cheol are like. I've seen a theory in the Korean fandom that Jisu naturally seems to dislike people with an authoritative presence, like the teacher who hit him (and Jisu's silent defiance was obvious). From what he can see, Cheol likely falls into that category (we readers know it's not true) and Jisu is bothered when Cheol chases Miae around as if he's acting against Miae's wishes. Which obviously raises the possibility that Jisu had a kind of person in his life who was acting the same (a strict father? abusive teacher? the bullies?) which would explain why he was always rude to Cheol. Again, it's just a theory. At the very least, Jisu wants to be Miae's friend and likely felt left out in that situation. He might like her, he might not, but he will definitely be important in the story if you ask me.

Sorry for the long answer😃

[boysplanetrecaps]

Produce 48 Recaps: Auditions Begin (episode 1)

When we left off in my probably-unnecessary-but-still-necessary Rewatch Recap of Produce 48, the 96 girls had made their entrance into the huge studio, and the judges were just about to reveal themselves. Let's get to it!

The judges come out!

First, it’s Lee Hong Ki, a powerful vocalist, here to teach them to sing. He’s from FT Island, and amazingly, was in the *second* K-drama I ever watched, You’re Beautiful, which was fun at the time, but which I cannot actually recommend. I will say that Hong-ki is the best part of it despite his, let’s say, broad acting choices. 

The character he played on You’re Beautiful was named Jeremy, and I can’t help but think of him as Jeremy. So just understand that I will be calling him Jeremy for the duration of these recaps. Thank you. 

Here he is as Jeremy. He’s ACTING! 

Next, it’s Soyou, from Sistar. She was overshadowed by Hyolyn but is an excellent vocalist in her own right. She’s here to be the other vocal trainer. 

It wouldn’t be an MNET show without this asshole:

I don’t want to learn his name but he’s that choreographer/dance teacher/ sociopath who always makes sure that all of the trainees’ mental health is hanging on by the merest of threads. I’m going to call him Psychopath. Seriously, fuck this guy. I’ll note that he comes across as sweet and loveable in this episode but I can’t forgive him for the shit he pulled during Boys Planet. Nope. Never. He has earned my undying hatred. To be clear, I do not support sending him hate messages or harming him in any way. I will just quietly, and personally, hate him on my Tumblr which gets maybe 5 or 10 readers. 

And then there’s her:

Bae Yoon Jung! She’s also pretty intense, and I know she’s mean to them on the first day, but she has the capacity for normal human empathy, as I recall. I’m going to call her Dance Bae. That doesn’t mean that I co-sign on her casual cruelty. It’s just that it’s literally her name and it’s easy to remember.

I don’t remember this lady:

Her name is May J Lee and she’s also a dance trainer. She’s cute. Here’s to hoping she understands that the trainees are human beings!

It’s Cheetah, here to be the rap trainer! God, I love her song Villain so damn much. The video is great, too, but trigger warning for violence. “I could fix you, but I won’t.” HECK yeah. 

And special one-day trainer, Kahi, who was the dance trainer for PD101 Season 2.

Kahi was in After School, then “graduated” in June 2012, right around the same time that Gaeun joined. They undoubtedly have spent time together, so it’ll be interesting to see if they interact much in this episode. (Maybe Gaeun being on the show this season meant that Kahi couldn’t really be the judge for the whole time?) 

The judges glare holes into the trainees while explaining that they’ll be sorting them into groups -- A, B, C, D, and F -- based on skill level, with the ultimate goal of bringing them all up to A-grade. And now it’s time for these would-be performers to perform, and of course, they don’t want to actually perform. 

41:50 The Auditions Begin

The girls are nervous. Yoon Hae Sol (윤해솔), 20, former member of Aqua, lets out a gusty breath. And this girl is nervous too, whoever the heck she is. 

Kim Chaewon, it says on her nametag. Well, she’s cute. Meanwhile I’m fascinated by the shoe behind her. WHOSE SHOE IS THAT? WHAT IS THIS SHOE? 

The AKB-48 girls are even more nervous. Oda Erina, 21, in a stylish bob and a blue, yellow and white jacket is intimidated by the Korean girls. Mogi Shinobu, also 21, a living meme with blue furry sleeves, is so nervous she looks like she might cry. We love you, Shinobu.

Time for the first audition! Or at least, the audition that the editors have moved to the beginning of the episode, even though it was probably not the first one to happen in real time! Because they wanted to front-load excellent Korean auditions to emphasize the skill gap between the Korean and Japanese contestants! 

Audition 1: Yuehua

Kim Si Hyeon (김시현), age 18, in the long sleeved shirt, now a member of Everglow. 

Choi Ye Na (최예나), age 18, with her hair in a ponytail.

Wang Yi Ren (왕이런), age 17, pink shirt with black edges. She’s Chinese and is now a member of Everglow. 

We see a clip of the Yuehua girls back stage, where Choi Yena accidentally draws on the camera with red marker and then apologizes profusely. AND SHE NEVER WORKED IN KPOP AGAIN!!

Then we get a flashback of Gross Guy personally watching the auditions of all 96 girls prior to the filming of the first episode. He’s so gross. Ugh. He makes JYP seem like a sweet, safe guy. Anyway we find out that after Choi Yena performed her song, she asked to do an extra performance. She begins speaking in what sounds like decent Japanese and does a little miming routine with sound effects. She’s pretty charming, actually. 

Cut back to audition day. The Woolim girls are backstage waiting for their turn when they recognize Sihyeon from her time on PD101, Season 1. Sihyeon interviews that she’s embarrassed when she looks back at herself on PD101 and that she’s gotten a lot better since then. In fact, as we find out later, she got an F in that season. 

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Move by Little Mix 

My Thoughts: They do great, in my opinion. Siyheon has a great clear, strong voice and her English pronunciation is mostly pretty good. Yena and Yiren don’t sing as clearly, but their dancing is great and they have a lot of presence. God, Yiren sparkles so much! I feel like she’s getting bad advice from whoever is around her now, because in more recent Everglow performances she always seems so muted. Seeing this, I can see she’s capable of great stage presence -- I hope she finds her way back to this. I dig Everglow and just want them to keep living up to their potential. I would have given Siyheon an A and the other two Bs, I think, though it’s hard without seeing the other trainees to compare. 

The MNET Edit: The editing emphasizes Yiren and Yena more, but overall the editing is kind to all three. We see some of the Japanese girls saying “why is everyone so good”, almost as if this ISN’T the first team to go up. (Also, we see that other girls are already wearing their grade name tag, though they’re blurred out.) The judges give Yena an A and the other two get Bs, which I guess reminds us that as long as you *kind* of sing while you also dance a lot and are very charming, then…. you get an A. Anyway, A and B are fine.

The editors really want us to know that the Japanese girls are very worried about their auditions. It is true that they generally don’t have the training the Korean girls have -- I’m not commenting on their inherent worthiness, just their preparation. But the show really, really focuses on that. I’m sure at least some of the Korean girls were nervous too, but we don’t seem to be seeing clips of that on the show.

Auditions 2 and 3: Woolim and WM Entertainment

Next, the MNET editors decided to further confuse anyone who has previously confused WM Entertainment with Woolim Entertainment by overlapping these two agency’s auditions, same as they did when the girls entered the auditorium. Thanks, MNET editors! Thmeditors. We learn that Woolim manages Lovelyz, while WM manages Oh My Girl (their rivals), though now in 2023 I think we all know that Oh My Girl kind of won that particular fight. Apparently the girls view each other as rivals? ...? But do they, though?

Woolim is up first. They take a moment finding their places, and we learn that Eunbi is their leader/mom who brought them medicine and Japanese phrase books. What a good unnie! 

Left to right: Suyun, Eunbi, Sohee, Chaewon

Kim Chae Won (김채원), age 17   now: Le Sserafim   wearing a short sleeved white top, tie Kim So Hee (김소희), age 14  now: Rocket Punch  wearing pigtails Kim Su Yun (김수윤), age 17  now: Rocket Punch   wearing short sleeved black top Kwon Eun Bi (권은비), age 22   now: soloist wearing a tie, cardigan

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Ah-Choo by Lovelyz / Bad by Infinite

My thoughts: It’s always awkward when you have one member who’s 14 (and looks 12) and one who is 22 (and looks 25) -- they’re always going to sort of make one another look bad. But overall, this is actually a really good audition.  I watched it multiple times and didn’t pick up on any mistakes or bad moments. All four of them had kpop acceptable vocals that didn’t stand out as fantastic or terrible. Chaewon’s a tiny bit shaky on the high notes, but they are really high notes. Little Sohee’s dancing was less powerful than the others’, even during Ah-Choo, but that’s fine considering she’s so much younger. I did think they looked a tiny bit silly doing that super powerful choreography to Bad while still dressed to perform Ah-Choo, but the goal was to display different skills and they did that. Knowing how deep the hole can go, I think I would have given all these girls As or Bs, maybe a C for little Sohee. It’s hard to know for sure since it’s not always clear what is live singing and what’s the backup track. 

The MNET Edit is fair. The rest of the trainees appreciate their performance. 

Backstage, Lee Chaeyeon says Eun Bi caught her eye the most. I actually noticed Suyun a lot too, but her time will come later. 

The judges compliment their synchronization and ask to see them perform something else. They launch into a second performance, which seems equally well rehearsed. I don’t recognize the song off hand (if any of you do, feel free to let me know!) but they do a great job with it. Dance Bae says, in an almost irritated way, “why haven’t you debuted yet? You seem ready to me.” I think she’s speaking mainly to Eunbi, who smiles wide at the compliment. We won’t hear their grades until later, but I’ll tell you their grades now, because I just love subverting the MNET editing monkeys. Kwon Eun Bi gets an A, ChaeWon gets a B, and the other two get Cs. Maybe I’m just biased toward Suyun from knowing her now? It’s hard to say. But I still think a B would have been fairer for her. 

Next, WM Entertainment. The girls come out on stage and the judges immediately tell Chaeyeon she looks familiar. She acknowledges having been on Sixteen with Somi (2015) and on Kpop Star 3 (2013). She says that this time she really wants to show us what she’s got. The other girls are excited to see her dance.

Trainees: 

Lee Seung Hyeon (이승현), 17 now known as Riina in H1-Key, in the black shirt Lee Chae Yeon (이채연), 18, currently a soloist, in the pink shirt  Cho Yeong In (조영인), 16, in the white Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Shower, originally by Becky G

My thoughts: All three of them do well dancing wise. It’s not surprise that Chaeyeon would dance well, and she certainly outshines the other two, but Seunghyeon holds her own and Yeongin doesn’t look bad. I think vocally, Seunghyeon does the best job, but Chae’s belted note sounded good. Yeongin’s vocals were noticeably shaky compared to the other two’s. I think I would have given Yeongin a B or C, Chae would get an A, and Seunghyeon an A or a B depending on what the dance teachers said. Overall though it was a good audition. 

The MNET edit is again pretty kind. Everyone focuses on Chaeyeon, of course. When they’re done, the judges ask her to freestyle to Instruction by Jax Jones featuring Demi Lovato, and she dances in a style that’s really appropriate to the song. Everyone’s impressed. The judges announces the grades. Chaeyeon gets an A, which seems completely correct. The other two get Bs, which is ok. 

The editing is setting Kwon Eun Bi and Lee Chaeyeon up to be rivals. Surely, they must hate each other, if they’re both good dancers and their agencies are on the same street in Seoul! 

In the audience, Kojima Mako says to her friend, “It’s so amazing that I’m not even nervous anymore. Our friend Juri says to Shinozaki Ayana,  “I feel like I’m just watching a TV show.” Me too, Juri! We stan a relatable queen. But yeah, it’s more of the whole “the terrible, silly, weak Japanese girls are in awe of the mighty, powerful Korean girls” narrative that MNET’s editing monkeys keep pushing. 

Auditions 4 and 5: The Very Pretty Girls

Next, we have the introduction of two Very Pretty Girls:  Kim Min Ju (김민주), age 17 from Urban Works, in her colorful striped shirt, and Kang Hye Won (강혜원), age 18,  from 8D Creative in a blue mini dress with a big pink and white collar. The other trainees think that these two girls look like actresses, so maybe it’s no surprise that now (2023), they are in fact both actresses. I renew my complaint from earlier that I don’t understand why certain girls are considered prettier than the others, and remind you that this isn’t an insult to them, as they are certainly very pretty, but more of a compliment to the others, who I view as equally pretty. Isn’t Kwon Eun Bi just as pretty? Is she not? I don’t understand. I will be saying that a lot in these recaps so I guess I’ll just call it my Particularly Pretty Problem (PPP) and leave it at that. 

Agency:  8D Creative

Trainee: Kang Hye Won

In a pre-show interview, they ask her such questions as “were you always pretty?” and she says that yes, she is. This is the part of kpop I like least. She says that the position she wants is 청정 or purity. I guess I understand that -- there is usually a sexy member of a given group (see: Kai in Exo, Hyunjin in SKZ, Joy in Red Velvet, Soojin in G-Idle) and there’s usually a funny or approachable one (see: Chanyeol, Changbin, Wendy, Yuqi), so I could see there being a sort of pure or extra cute one. It’s not as crazy as it might sound.

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: You and I by IU (2011)

My Thoughts: Well, that was pretty terrible. There’s room at the bottom, but she barely dances and she only kind of sings. The singing is breathy, faint, and pitchy. The dancing is half hearted and my grandma could have done this choreo even after her stroke. She has negative stage presence. Also, to me, she always looks confused. There’s something about either her facial features or her expression that make her look bewildered. I’m sorry if she’s your favorite. She may have charming personality traits that I don’t know about yet. She’s just not particularly skilled in either singing or dancing. She should get an F. 

If you can’t handle me saying that about this audition, then I really suggest that you just not read any more of my recaps because I’m going to say stuff like this about bad auditions. I don’t care if she’s “pretty”. I don’t care if she has gone on to be successful. Other people -- Eun Bi, for example -- are pretty and they can also sing and dance. I believe that if you make your living as a singer and/or dancer, you should be able to sing and/or dance. 

The MNET edit:They don’t do her any favors, zooming in on her non-dancing and focusing on the judges’ reactions to her shaky high notes and nearly stationary body. When she’s done, she stands there with this look on her face, which is the way I always remember this girl looking and how I recognize her in her more recent endeavors. 

Dance Bae says, “Purity is all you have. F.”  Done and done. 

Agency:  Urban Works

Trainee:  Kim Min Ju 

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song:  No Matter What by BoA

My Thoughts: This was so much better than Hyewon’s audition. For one thing, she actually danced. She showed a variety of different actual dance steps, including legs, body, arms, head, face. She danced! The singing was extremely faint and I think a lot of it was the backing track, but this was leagues ahead. Without being able to clearly discern her singing, it’s so hard to tell, but I think I’d put her in C territory. 

The MNET edit:They show the judges adjusting their ear buds and looking bored or put off, and focused on a part where she dropped into a squat and looked a little awkward. But that was just the dance move! This was originally done as a partner dance and it was adapted for a single person (I think? Unless it was just made new, whole cloth?), so maybe they should have just cut that squatting part out -- it’s not her fault. They also show a girl in the audience looking bored (maybe cut in from a totally different performance). It’s not kind. Minju, you deserved better. 

They give her a D. I don’t know. Seems like they’re punishing her for being pretty. But maybe the singing was worse than I thought. 

I’m not going to comment on it every single time it happens, but just assume that after every performance there will be a reaction/voice over from a Japanese girl saying, “If that didn’t get an A, I’m going to get an F for sure” or “the Korean girls are so much better than me” or something like that. It’s constant. 

Auditions 6 and 7: The Punching Bags

These next two auditions are shown mainly to mock these trainees. Neither of them do a stellar job, but both deserved a little better than what they got.

We see a scrap of  the audition from Shin Su Hyun (신수현), a 22 year old represented by FAVE Entertainment. 

She’s performing Playing with Fire by Blackpink. I watched her full audition, but we only see a little bit of it in the actual show. She started off with rapping, which the edit doesn’t show; I think she’s going for a rap position, not a singing one, which helps excuse why her singing was weak. The dancing wasn’t great -- she was a beat or two ahead of the choreography (something I only noticed because I know the song so well). But I thought she at least had charisma. I think a C wouldn’t have been out of line, but I don’t know the rubric. The edit replays a part where she sort of does a chicken-dance wiggle during the chorus when that’s not quite what the choreo is like, but I had to go back and rewatch the original to see that the original choreo is different. The PWF choreography is kind of weird -- I’ve always thought so. What’s with the dogpaddling in the chorus, or that weird “drawing a line with your finger” at the end? Anyway, my point is that the edit makes her look even worse than she actually did. 

They intersperse her audition with the audition of Cube’s Han Cho Won -- she’s only 15 here, but you may now know her as one of the most popular members of Cube’s youngest girl group,  Lightsum. The edit here make her look like a complete idiot. If you watch her full audition, you’ll see that, yeah, it’s not great, but there are some extenuating circumstances.

The biggest problem is that the song was a poor choice. Red by Hyuna is a HYUNA song. Like a third of the lyrics are “red is Hyuna”, and there’s a whole 10 second segment where Hyuna just sits on the ground and flirts with the camera. It’s all about being sexy and having a nice body, specifically a nice butt, and the choreography is very core/waist/butt centered. It seems that Chowon just can’t quite move her body that way, and at 15, maybe just isn’t up the task of embodying the universal sex symbol that is a full-grown Hyuna. I don’t know who is! 

Anyway, I think Chowon should have done Pepe by CLC, assuming she was going to stick to a song by a Cube artist. The song has a fun retro feel and it would have been more appropriate for a 15 year old who doesn’t know how to twerk yet. Or maybe Pretty Pretty by Pentagon -- I bet Hui would have helped her remix something for the show if the agency had asked him to -- he's a good sunbae -- and the song has quirky, funny choreography that might have made the judges smile. Sigh. 

Poor Chowon -- it wasn’t a great audition, but I blame whoever either told her to do this song, or allowed her to do it if it was her choice. The whole point of having management is to get smart people to help you make decisions like this, especially when you’re fifteen. But that’s asking too much from Cube, I guess. Kahi even says that she had been at Cube briefly and that they don’t teach you anything, which checks out. Cube is just the WORST. 

Both Chowon and Suhyun get a lecture on needing to learn (or review) the basics and both get a D. It’s not totally unfair -- it’s just that I know that there is so much worse to come. 

More discussion about how the Japanese girls aren’t really given any training and just learn to perform by watching their sempai/sunbae/seniors. Dance Bae says it’ll be fun to watch them grow. 

And now it’s time to see the AKB48 girls perform. We see that they’ve changed out of their entrance outfits -- those plaid monstrosities -- into different outfits, most of which are also monstrosities. 

Audition 8: Get You!

See, it's a play on words because the song is called Get You and also MNET wants to get them

Agency:  AKB48

Trainees: Oda Erina 21, and Nakano Ikumi 17

Erina, left, with the shorter hair and Ikumi, right, in the blue shorts.

The judges comment that Erina is known for her singing and Ikumi for her dancing. 

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Get You! by Morning Musume (a different J-pop idol group)

My Thoughts: Well, this wasn’t terrible. They do sort of take turns either singing or dancing, and rarely do both at the same time. The choreography they do is mostly extremely simple and not super well synced, but they do throw themselves into it. They have a lot of energy, which I know is important in J-pop. If you asked me, “which of these is the singer and which of these is the dancer?” I wouldn’t be able to tell you. But neither of them assaulted my ears. Judged by J-pop standards, this was great. By K-pop standards, not great. I’d give them a C and see how they do learning the choreography for the signal song.

The MNET edit: The edit makes it seem much worse than it really was. Honestly, it wasn’t that horrific. They were more fun to watch than Kang Hye Won for sure. 

The judges ask Ikumi to freestyle dance, which she agrees to with an English “Yes!” They play “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift. She tries to do a sort of interpretive dance thing, and I appreciate that she at least tried. She has lovely body lines and seems to understand rhythm and tone, anyway. They keep showing her trip a little on her platform sneakers. God, those things look hard to dance in. After a bit she seems to give up, pulling her hair over her face, and the judges call it. Her AKB-mates are impressed, but the judges aren’t. 

Dance Bae compliments her on her energy, but says she seems to not know what to do with it. “I’m not sure that the fact that you danced to the beat warrants you having won first place in a large competition,” Dance Bae scolds. “If you keep continuing like this, you won’t ever be able to perform on stage.” 

Ikumi gets a D, and Erina gets a C. We don’t actually see that, though -- I had to look it up. It’s not part of the narrative to see that neither of them got an F, I guess.

Next, we have a mini montage of various girls, especially Japanese girls, saying that Dance Bae is the scariest judge, known for her terrifying line: “You really want to be a singer?!?” Which I think is a fair question! So many people get into the Idol Biz because they want to be actors or tv hosts -- I wish there was a pipeline to celebrity for people like that that didn’t involve them humiliating themselves on a show like this. 

Auditions 9 and 10: What’s Your Name and Knock Knock

We cut to another audition, in progress, with a caption that seems to imply that this is just a preview (“Coming up…”) but no, this is the actual audition, as much of it as we’re going to see.

AKB: What’s Your Name?

Here’s the original song being performed by 4Minute. Things were different in 2013 -- this was before Catch Me If You Can by SNSD came out so nobody yet knew that women were actually able to do intense choreo, I guess. But even for 2013 standards, What’s Your Name has easy choreo. I mean, it barely has choreo aside from just sort of bending over and displaying your butt. Also, the lyrics are three quarters “what’s your name/ ireumi mwoyeyo?” So it’s a really good choice for a rookie group!

Here’s their audition.

Left to right: Manami, Ayana, Chiyori, Miho, Shinobu

Ichikawa Manami, 18, in the blue top, red skirt Shinozaki Ayana, 22, in the light blue skirt Nakanishi Chiyori, 23, in the pink fluffy skirt Miyazaki Miho, 24, in the sparkly top, navy skirt Mogi Shinobu, 21, in the turquoise skirt, fluffy blue sleeves

We just met Shinobu earlier, when she was talking about how scary Dance Bae is, got her name wrong, an apologized profusely. She's our living meme and we love her. We also almost met Miho; she was the one who knows how to write in Korean.

My thoughts: Oh no. There’s something so incongruous about someone in a sparkly cupcake skirt and Mary Jane shoes doing a pelvic thrust. These outfits look like… Ok maybe this is a deep cut but do you know those fashion plate toys? I had my cousin’s old one and I was obsessed. It was like stencils, but you had a head and a top part and a bottom part, and you’d choose one of each and then stencil over it to make a picture you could color.

That’s what these outfits look like. Like someone went nuts with a fashion plate and glitter glue and then just brought it to life.

Left to right: Shinobu, Chiyori, Ayana, Manami, Miho

It’s so hard to pay attention to their performance in those outfits. And the shoes! Those shoes I noticed behind Chaewon earlier are Shonbu's! And I’m obsessed with Ayana’s red-shoe-and-patterned-socks combo.

Also Miho’s and Shinobu’s… furry… peplums? And the quilted skirts? And how none of the tops seem to go with any of the bottoms, even though they appear to be dresses? Question Mark? It’s so bizarre to me. What. Is. Happening. Each dress is awful alone, they’re worse together, they're even worse with the shoes, and they’re the worst in the context of this particular song, which is meant to be sort of swaggy hiphop. 

When I try to focus on the actual singing and dancing, there isn’t much there to judge. The song itself is kind of a nothing-burger tune wise and there’s hardly any choreo to speak of. They have energy, I’ll give them that. No one strikes an obviously horrendously bad note or falls over. They manage to do what they’re doing in some reasonably high heeled shoes, and they’re singing a song that is at least mostly in Korean. It’s clearly not up to the standard expected from debuted Kpop artists. I feel like I’d have to see them in normal clothes to be able to really judge. None of them stands out as better or worse than the rest. I give them an E for effort and I’d probably give them all Ds. They were still better than Hyewon. 

Dance Bae gives Chiyori and Miho both Ds, and the rest get Fs. (We hear Dance Bae saying that they all get Ds, but the on screen caption says otherwise, and my internet sleuthing agrees with the on screen caption.) I think, watching it back, that Chiyori and Miho got Ds for just taking on a big role in the performance and trying that little bit harder. Miho seemed to be the main vocal, sort of, and Chiyori was the center. 

Ok, let’s take a peek at some of the youngest -48 girls, singing the Japanese version of Knock Knock by Twice.

Asai Yuka is 14 and from SKE48.  We met her earlier when she walked in with Jurina. Umeyama Cocona is also 14 and is from NMB48. 

Left to right: Cocona with the big bow, Yuka with the blue ribbon

My thoughts: Aww, they just little babies! They probably practiced by themselves in a hallway or something for a few hours with no help. There’s not much to judge here. They’re obviously underskilled for this show and would have to be given Fs but it’s not their fault. I’m not going to make fun of a couple of 14 year olds who signed up for an adventure, not knowing how hard it would be. I sense tears in the future. 

I wrote that, and then watched Dance Bae give them both Fs and say, at a pre-show meeting, “I think these girls will cry a lot while they’re here.” Perhaps she’d be pleased to know that poor Cocona withdrew from the show before the second evaluation even took place! There's also some potential back story here. Per reddit:

From what I’ve heard (and I’m not sure how credible it is), Jurina and Yuuka planned to perform together for the first evaluation, but the producers wanted Jurina to do a solo, so Cocona got pulled from the NMB group [that performs Funny People] and her and Yuuka did this. That may explain why they did…particularly bad, to the point where it looks like they don’t even know the song.

That does sound like something MNET would do, and it also would explain how these two girls ended up in a performance together despite being in different groups (SKE48 and NMB48), giving it the ring of truth. So I'm going to be even more sparing of my criticism of the girls. They do come across as unprepared, but I think that's just because.... well, they were, through no fault of their own.

In any case, Cocona is one of the Japanese trainees who withdraws early in the process. It's probably for the reasons we'd imagine -- flying back and forth from Japan is taxing, and she's young enough to need to go to school still. She probably just wanted to go through so much stress just to get insulted and yelled at. Can't blame her!

Since we’re not going to see much of Cocona again, let’s find out what happened to her after she withdrew from the show. She went back to NMB48 and continued performing with them for a few more years, graduating at a special concert on March 26, 2022. She did some modeling for magazines in 2020, so she might still be pursuing that. Here’s her instagram -- she has 95,000 followers and seems to post influencer-esque content with lots of hashtags.

 Ganbatte, Cocona! Happy trails and much success to you!

10 auditions down, about 30 to go! Thanks for reading so far -- feel free to do all the things: like, reblog, comment, share, blah blah blah. Tune in next time when we continue the auditions, and stay warm, my friends!

[punkpoemprose]

The Patient- A Kristanna Paramedic Oneshot

Universe: Modern AU/ Paramedic AU

Rating: T (13+)

Length: 2267 Words

Summary: Anna has to call 911 after a small fire breaks out in her condo. The hot blonde paramedic is the best and worst part of her day.

A/N: Day 10 of the 2022 Advent Calendar. I’ve managed to get behind again, of course, and I had to write this prone on my bedroom floor because I’ve fucked my back up, but you know what, I’m going to keep going anyway. Please ignore any factual errors about paramedics and medicine here, I did a little research, but otherwise I just wanted these two idiots to smooch under a new circumstance.

Today was, decidedly, not Anna’s day.

She sat, mortified, in the back of the ambulance with the most attractive man she’d ever met in her life, mutely checking her over for injuries.

“Really, I’m alright,” she said, then coughed, “I didn’t get burnt or anything when I was turning off the oven and using the fire extinguisher, I just couldn’t let the smoke out of my kitchen because the window was painted shut.”

She coughed again, not exactly proving her point that she was, in fact, fine. This was what she got for paying someone to renovate her condo without triple checking all their references and their work. Her detail obsessed sister would be so disappointed in her.

“Smoke inhalation is a very serious problem Ms. Arendelle.”

He was so serious in both tone and expression when he turned to his colleague to ask them to grab a mask and an oxygen canister.

She felt her face grow hot, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she maybe had inhaled a little too much smoke when her oven decided to catch fire for no good reason, other than perhaps spite. She’d just bought it and had it installed, and she wasn’t wholly convinced that the ghost of her last oven wasn’t possessing the new one because she’d only been preheating the empty appliance when the fire started inside it.

“Really, I’m fine.”

He was having none of it. He gave her a very unimpressed look, which both frustrated her and contributed to her blush. He was very attractive, but he also was clearly a hard-ass with lacking bedside manner.  

She glanced at the name tag attached to his shirt and read “K. Bjorgman”.

K? Kyle? Kameron? Karson?

No, none of those seemed quite right for Mr. Hard-ass.

“Here’s that tank Kristoff.”

Kristoff? What the hell kind of name was that? Must be short for Kristoffer.

“Are you refusing treatment?”

She looked from his nametag back to his face. He looked infuriatingly displeased and she thought about saying that she was just to bug him, but that probably wasn’t ideal for her health given that the other paramedic hadn’t argued with him about the need for oxygen.

“No, I just think this is a little overkill probably, it was just a small kitchen fire.”

“With no ventilation where your oven was burning… what exactly?”

“Itself,” she answered miserably, “Because of course it would.”

“Right, so potentially plastic, chemical surfactants and whatever else should or shouldn’t have been in there at the point of ignition.”

She threw her hands up, “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say Mr. expert.”

He seemed to smile, just a small quirk in the corner of his mouth, but it was something. She wasn’t sure whether he was just used to getting what he wanted and was happy because his gruff attitude and good looks combo was working out for him once again, or whether he actually found her funny.

She was mad that it made him somehow even more attractive and that it made her want to continue to comply.

***

Elsa was going to pick her up at the hospital as soon as she could get out of work, which would be… God only knew when. She was sitting crankily glaring at her cellphone screen by herself in the hospital cafeteria with her hand bandaged because she had, evidently, managed a injury… from the fire extinguisher. She didn’t remember pinching the side of her hand between the trigger mechanism and the can, she hadn’t even felt it until she was being checked out in the emergency room, where they’d discharged her for not showing any signs of serious smoke inhalation, as she’d suspected despite Mr. Kristoff “hard-ass” Bjorman Paramedic’s insistence that she be checked out.

“Glad to hear you’ve been discharged.”

The voice was unfamiliar, quiet, and warm, and she could hardly believe her eyes and ears when she turned to see who was speaking and found a somewhat muscular, smiling blonde man in a paramedic’s uniform. He was holding a cafeteria tray, looking genuinely glad to see her there. The nametag on his pocket, of course read K. Bjorgman, and she almost rubbed her eyes to confirm that she was not hallucinating the man smiling before her. It was the same man, but now he seemed not just attractive, but approachable.

God, if I feel that uniform it’ll be made of boyfriend material.

She tried to shut off the parts of her mind that were rapidly ceasing to be annoyed with him. She was still having a terrible day, and she was not about to let someone who had a role in making her day worse suddenly swoop in to make it even more upsetting by being so attractive in her vicinity that she was bound to embarrass herself.

“Yeah, they said I was fine.”

She looked back from him, down to her phone and started scrolling blindly through some social media site or another, she wasn’t paying any attention to what was passing by on her screen. She wasn’t really interested in her phone at all, she just didn’t want him to stick around and watch her make an ass of herself.

“Yeah… I’m sorry I was so pushy about encouraging you to come to the hospital by the way. It’s hard to tell how much smoke someone’s inhaled on scene and I’m always a little extra worried about it. I hope my behavior doesn’t make you pause before contacting emergency services again if you ever need it.”

She looked up from her phone and saw the genuine remorse in his expression which threw her off entirely. He really had nothing to be sorry for, he’d just been doing his job and she had honestly felt a little bit better after getting oxygen and being checked out, even if she wasn’t seriously hurt. There was peace of mind in being sure that she hadn’t accidentally scorched her airways or something.

“It’s okay… I watch too many tv dramas so I probably would have been worried that I was dying later anyway. Better to be checked out and cleared than to have my sister plan a funeral.”

“I’m glad you see it that way,” he said, looking a little less repentant and a little more appreciative, “I usually don’t get a chance to talk to people after I get them to the hospital, but you were the last call I was on for the night so I’m glad I decided on hospital food for dinner. If it’s not too awkward, maybe I could sit with you while you’re waiting for your ride?”

“Yeah, I might be here for a while, so I don’t expect you to sit with me the whole time.”

But I do want you to sit with me for some of the time, just so I can memorize the way you’re looking at me right now like you really do care.

She was so screwed.

“Your ride coming from far away?”

“No,” Anna answered honestly, shrugging her shoulders, “She’s just a workaholic, so she’ll get me when she decides to leave the office.”

He frowned then, but then quickly covered the displeasure she registered by sitting down in the empty chair across from her and smiling.

“Is it usually advisable to fraternize with a patient?”

He laughed at that, “I wouldn’t really call this fraternizing, just checking in, and you haven’t been my patient for over an hour now. If you’d like me to go though, that’s something I’d comply with, no questions asked. I don’t want to violate your right to privacy.”

She shook her head. She knew that she should tell him to go because she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, but something told her that him being around wasn’t really a bad thing.

Maybe I’m going to choke on my water and he’s supposed to be here to give me mouth to mouth or whatever.

She was a little peeved with herself that she didn’t know whether that would an improvement or worsening of her day.

“No, you can stay. I guess I could use the company.”

He smiled at that, and Anna thought that she’d never seen anyone look more genuinely happy in her life.

***

Kristoff was rather pleased with himself when he dusted his hands off on his jeans and looked around at the condo around him. The new, new oven was installed and functioning and all the windows were opening and closing as they were meant to. He’d also helped Anna to fix a cabinet that wasn’t closing properly in her bathroom and touched up some badly painted crown molding, not because it was dangerous or inconvenient, but because she’d seemed annoyed by it.

“Kristoff you’re my hero!”

He snort laughed, unable to help himself.

“Not usually the context in which I hear that, but I’ll take it.”

She swatted him playfully and he’d never felt prouder of himself than he did when she smiled at him appreciatively.

He’d been nervous when he’d approached her in the hospital cafeteria a month before. He knew that it wasn’t really protocol to follow up with a transport after arriving to the hospital unless it was through the official paperwork laden path. He’d been unable to help himself when he’d seen her alone and moping the in the hospital cafeteria, knowing that he was at least in part, the cause of her frustration.

Now he was grateful to himself for taking the leap.

They’d talked for over an hour over terrible soggy French fries and coffee, and when she hadn’t heard a word from her sister, her only support system, he’d been the one to drive her home.

After that she’d asked him for his cell number, asking him if it would be alright for her to maybe text him to get a drink sometime. He’d agreed, letting the ball be firmly in her court regarding whether they would meet up again.

He’d been thrilled when she’d asked him out for drinks the next night and had let him in a little more. He’d never really been great at making friends, but when he was with Anna it had felt natural to talk about himself and listen to her talk about her own life.

Many more nights of dinner and drinks had lead them to the sort of comfortable friendship they were enjoying now.

She’d told him about her job and how she was sometimes scared that her parents wouldn’t have been proud of her being a kindergarten teacher when their family history was all about business and law. He’d told her about how his parents dying in a fire from smoke inhalation had made him want to be a paramedic like the one who had saved him with the help of firefighters when he’d been three years old.

She’d told him about how ashamed she was about her condo because she’d been almost certainly cheated by her contractor given the shoddy workmanship evident in her home, especially when compared to how much she’d paid. As soon as she’d told him about being too embarrassed to tell her workaholic sister about the situation because of her history of thinking of Anna as “flighty” and “impulsive”, and how she didn’t want to sue the contractor or hire a new one lest her sister find out, he’d offered to help her fix the issues that made it an unsafe place to live.

Helping people stay safe was his job after all.

He hadn’t told her that the offer had nothing to do with work, that nothing with her felt like work.

“Seriously Kris,” she said warmly, wrapping her arms around his waist for a surprise hug, “I don’t know how I lucked out to get you in my life.”

“Well you had a contractor who installed a recalled stove and painted your windows shut… I don’t know how lucky you were.”

She swatted his back playfully, but then slipped her hand up his back slowly.

It felt amazing.

She pulled him in a little closer and he settled his hands on her waist, hoping that she didn’t mind the contact.

“Are you sure you won’t let me pay you for the help?”

The question was genuine, he thought, but also she didn’t seem to be thinking too much about it with her eyes portraying something a little more pleasure than business.

He shook his head and then ducked his head down, just slightly, slowly, to see how she would react.

She pressed into him, any space between them now eliminated by her insistent contact.

When she went up on her tiptoes to close the distance between their faces, he let go of his worries that he may be overstepping and let her press a kiss to his lips.

“This,” he said, resting his forehead against hers after the chaste kiss, his hand working into her wavy red hair with great care “This is more than enough… just being with you is all I’ll ever need in return for all the help in the world. Being your friend Anna… that’s enough.”

She hummed appreciatively.

“What if I want to give you more than just friendship?”

His nose rubbed against the side of hers, he could feel the warmth of her cheek against his and despite the roughness of his stubble, she didn’t move away.

“Then I’ll be the lucky one.”

She kissed him again, and even with his eyes closed, he could imagine the smile on her lips, feeling it against his.

[forevfangirlwrites]

Can you do ”Annabeth passes out on a zipline course and Zipline Staff Percy rescues her”??

“Tfis is so gwood!” Piper mumbles, shoving noodles into her mouth. Beside her, Thalia is doing the same, without expending the energy to compliment the food.

“Your choice was spot-on, Annabeth,” Piper continues, having swallowed her bite. Girl’s night had begun late due to traffic, which had left all of them starving by the time the food had arrived.

Annabeth nods, moving her takeout box closer to her. “I’ve been craving Asian food ever since that Youtube video I told you about.”

“What does your fortune say?” Thalia asks, speaking up for the first time as she breaks open the wrapping.

“We’re not there yet, Thalia,” Piper replies, shaking her head. Annabeth glances towards Thalia’s takeout box and, sure enough, it’s already empty.

“You guys need to eat faster,” she retorts, stuffing the cookie in her mouth. “You awe the dwivea of r own wife.”

“What?”

Piper takes the fortune from her hand and reads it out. “You are the driver of your own life…what does that mean?”

“I think it’s making fun of my commute,” Thalia comments, having finished chewing.

“I think you might be right,” Annabeth replies, reaching for a fortune cookie. Thalia had recently started a new job at a music store further out of the city.

“What does yours say?” Piper asks, nodding to Annabeth’s now opened fortune cookie.

“Try something new.”

“Are these even fortunes?” Thalia asks. Annabeth shrugs, still thinking about the words on her fortune. It wasn’t a bad idea to try something new…maybe she should do it.

“What new thing can I do?” she muses out loud. “I feel like I’ve done a lot of the things around here…”

“Well…” Thalia starts and Annabeth can see the gears turning in her mind as she continues, “there is a zipline adventure place near my work, pretty sure you’ve never done that before.”

“Ziplining? Annabeth? She doesn’t like heights, remember,” Piper says.

“It is true, I don’t like heights…” Annabeth trails off.

“Isn’t that the point of the fortune though? Try something new, come on!”

It’s clear Thalia is set on her point and Annabeth sighs. High risk, high reward, right? Or something like that.

“Okay…”

-.-

A few days later, Annabeth shows up to Thalia’s job right before the end of her friend’s shift. Reyna’s Records is one of those places that looks out of time in the best possible way. She’d thought so the first time she’d seen it when she’d dropped Thalia off for the interview,  and walking in now just confirms it further.

“Ready?” Thalia asks, exiting from behind the counter as soon as Annabeth steps inside.

She looks at her friend past the row of vinyls. “No.”

“Ready for what?” A woman with long braided black hair walks out of the back. Annabeth has the feeling that this must be Reyna herself.

“Zipline Adventure next door,” Thalia replies.

Reyna, Annabeth confirms by her nametag, smiles. “Ah, I’ve been meaning to check it out. It’s new, let me know how it is.”

“Will do!”

As the two exit the store and face the cold winter wind, Annabeth turns to Thalia with a grin.

“Reyna’s pretty.”

“So?”

Thalia would say it’s the cold wind, Annabeth would say it’s a blush. Annabeth smiles.

“Nothing, just thought I’d mention it,” she replies as innocently as possible, even though Thalia is narrowing her eyes at her.

Whatever Thalia would have retorted with is unsaid as the two stop in front of the doors to Zipline Adventure, an uncreative but apt name for the place.

An assortment of ropes, air bridges, and lines running across the huge room are the first things she sees through the glass panel as they step inside the entryway. She spies part of a rock wall to one side and employees in black shirts tagged with STAFF on the back are milling around.

It’s not very crowded—the upside to coming on a Wednesday afternoon, she thinks.

“Let’s go,” Thalia interrupts her thoughts by holding out two bright yellow wristbands in front of her face.

Well, that was quick. They help each other with the wristbands then step through a door to enter the zipline adventure. Too late to back out now.

Thalia walks them over to the beginning of one of the courses. “The girl at the desk said this one is good for beginners.”

Annabeth looks up at the plank bridge suspended from the ceiling, rope bridge, and zipline, and thinks that it doesn’t look very beginner friendly. She once again scans the room for the people who will be seeing her struggle.

Her gaze locks on a very attractive employee, who’s walking over to them.

KEEP READING ON AO3

A/N: Thank you for the prompt! Sorry it took so long for me to get to it but I hope you liked how it turned out! It isn’t exactly what you said but I did put a spin on it! Thanks again!

[lupikekee]

— Betting with a weirdo

Childe x gn! Reader

"Let's make a bet, if I win, I get to take you out." He started. "And if I lose, I also get to take you out." he smiled sheepishly, looking smug. Your eyes shot up with shock at his boldness — hell you didn't even think anyone would wanna be bold with you.

You knew his feelings for you for a while now, he didn't even try to hide it, just straight up blurted it one day while you were drinking tea, ultimately making you spit out your tea and choke on your own saliva. You smacked him right across the face right after that accusing him of trying to kill you!! Even after multiples times of him blurting confessions to you, you're still surprised if he ever made moves on you- not that you minded of course. Despite all the flirting, he never directly asked you to go out with him, maybe he's got cold feet about the relationship?

But today changes that. I guess I was thinking about it too hard because soon I heard fingers snapping right beside me. "(Y/N)!! you there?" he waved his palm in front of me. I shook my head, trying to remember what the hell he was saying earlier-

"I accept." it was my time to flash him a smirk. I read it in a book somewhere that if you wanna intimidate someone, u gotta have confidence!

He looked like he was expecting it and brushing it off, but I knew deep down, he's jumping with joy since i don't always say yes to his shenanigans. Of course the bet was with a duel, what else would it be?? Dude is weird as hell.

We got into our stance, eyeing eachother, trying to predict each other's move. I made the first move by slashing his side with my bamboo bat- oh, did I mention we were just fighting with bamboo sticks? He easily dodged my attack, having real experiences. he then tried to sweep me off my feet — which he succeeded which caused me to be knocked down with a "thump"! He then pinned me down on the floor to make sure i didn't escape his grip. Forcing me to accept that he was indeed, victorious! He knew you didn't stand a chance against him — even if he did go easy on you.

You huffed, chanting strings of sentences that goes something like "That's cheating" or "That's not fair" he could only giggle at the noises you made, it was adorable. That's probably why he made the bet anyways, getting to hear your noises AND asking you out. Boom! Two birds one stone. <3

You frowned at your loss, but then remembered that you now had a date with Childe! This alone made you spring back on your feet and skip your way home. "H.. Hey! Where are you going?" he shouted, trailing after me, not even having the chance to tell me where and when. Oops, got too excited!

After actually being told the date time and location, i can actually skip home without him following me. I did feel a tad embarrassed though. Upon arriving home, i picked an outfit that suited. I've always thought my own style was good- not to blow my own horn but my style was definitely more unique than the average Liyue citizen. Xinyan would be jealous!

Anyways, you headed your way over to.. an expensive restaurant?? Your wallet was quacking at the realization that you were standing in front of Liuli Pavilion. Oh boy — is he going to pay?? Am *I* going to be the one paying?? Oh dear.

You approached the lady in front and looked at her nametag. "...Licai... Is it...? My name is (Y/N) and i think i have a reservation?" you said. She raised her eyebrow and looked through the name log. "Oh! Welcome in! Mr Childe is waiting for you at table 7." she smiled. As soon as you entered you were immediately starstruck by the interior design of the restaurant. And there was the man of the hour, fitted in a red velvet suit. You both unconsciously blush at the sight of each other.

He eyed you up and down as you sat down,

"You look... really pretty..." he whispered with his palm on the side of his face, covering himself, grinning widely. I giggled at his action, "Not too bad yourself" I gave him a shy smile. Before he could run his mouth, a waiter came and took our order.

"We'll have the Stone Harbour Delicacies, Noodles with Mountain Delicacies, Cured Pork Dry Hot Pot-"

"Isn't that a lot?? And also really expensive?"

"... We'll also have the Tianshu Meat-"

He laughed as you smacked his arms, worrying that the food would go to waste if you weren't able to finish it, who else was he gonna give it to?? "It's fine, it's a special day, let me treat you." he gave you a closed eye smile, instantly making all your worries disappears without seconds.

While we were waiting for our food, of course, Childe being Childe- well he cracked a few cringey pickup lines but hey, atleast you know he's trying.

"Damn, have you sat on sugar before? because that ass looks sweeeeet!"

"....."

"yeah I got a vision, a vision of us together"

"..."

"Are you a Kamera? Because when I look at you, I smile."

".."

Everytime he sent out a line, he'd close his eyes and put his fingers on his heart while his palm shadow his head, making himself look fancy then proceeds to crack his eyes open to see if you've had blushed at any of his super duper romantic pick up lines!!

Spoilers, you didn't but it was adorable how's he's trying to get out of the awkwardness by engulfing himself into more awkwardness.

Soon after, your food arrives, they all look delicious! The meat juicy and tender, the noodles seems to be lightly seasoned, the drinks were prettily decorated too for aesthetic purpose. This looks AMAZING! you couldn't wait to dig in. You picked up your chopsticks, carefully picking up the food items, not wanting them to slip and go to waste. The first bite you took was absolutely ethereal- you felt like your body just ascended to Celestia how can food served on earth taste this good-

You didn't realize that you made lots of noises, well, who could blame you? Apparently while you were busy munching down your food, you were made an audible "om nom nom" and so on. It was heaven for both of you but for different reasons. Even tho he cringed a bit but he's always adored this antic of yours, how cute! You glanced up at him, seeing as he hasn't touched his food left you confused. Was he disturbed by your table manners?? Oh no were you chewing too loud?? You glanced over to him and the chopsticks.

"What's up with you? Why aren't you eating?" You questioned, eyes gazing at his form, "I- I simply am not hungry! He crossed his arms, trying to put on a convincing act. "Come on, you can do better than that." I smiled, seeing through his lies. "Fine. I.. I don't know how to use chopsticks." he quietly grumbled, I giggled, finding his struggle adorable. "Why didn't you say so earlier? Come on now, aaa-" you picked up some food and offer it to his lips.

Obviously very embarrassed, he looked around to make sure nobody was looking at him- he suddenly engulfed the whole end of the chopsticks, almost biting it off!! You burst out laughing. He looked like a baby fish that's just been given food. He chewed slowly, his checks reddening his face flushing red, but soon after gave a goofy smile. Your laugh was contagious so not long after, he started laughing along too.

After leaving the restaurant, you took a scroll with him throughout the harbour, relishing the atmosphere. His eyes gazed at you, adoring you as a whole, his dead navy eyes lighting up once again for the first time in a while. He crookedly smiled to himself. You turned to look at him, noticing him burning holes at your head. You smiled, turning your body to him, then lean in to give him a little kiss on the cheek. His eyebrow goes sky high and his face turns into sunsettia shade and he was about to pull out the marriage contract RIGHT THERE AND THEN.

[fridaythe13ththeseries]

Reflecting - Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

With Ryan safely at their friend Birdie’s house, Micki and Johnny rushed to the hospital. Worried about what had become of Rashid and Mrs. Dallion, and what Jack was going through back at the mansion, they drove together in silence.

Johnny was thinking about how Micki would be, once Ryan went back home with his mother. He remembered how hard it had been for her the first time Ryan went away. He wasn’t looking forward to that again, her sadness, her snapping at him. Listening to how Ryan would do this or that differently.

He glanced quickly at Micki, sitting in the passenger seat. She was biting her nails. Suddenly he felt selfish and petty. Maybe Ryan was better than him, after all. Or maybe the comparisons between them didn’t exist anywhere but in his head. After all, he had met Ryan, before he had been transformed back into a ten-year-old, and he liked him alright. He was a good guy, a regular guy. Maybe the comparisons to Ryan would stop if Johnny stopped trying to be someone else, someone other than Johnny.

He squeezed the wheel a little tighter as he drove, weaving in and out of the morning traffic.

Micki looked over at Johnny and was about to say something about slowing down, but changed her mind. She wanted to get to the hospital just as fast as he did. Had she been driving, she would have been as reckless as him.

She turned back, looking out her own window, her thoughts going to Johnny and Ryan. She knew Johnny was having a hard time dealing with Ryan’s return, even if he was just a boy now. Johnny imagined this competition between himself and the memory of Ryan. Biting her lip, she wondered now if she had helped to perpetuate it by being harsh with Johnny, especially in the first few months after Ryan left.

Johnny was a really good guy, and he had been through a lot. He also gave up plenty to help her and Jack get back the antiques, as well as run the shop itself. Whether she had meant it or not, she hadn’t been fair to him, and she resolved to change that. Once this was all over and done with.

Johnny pulled the Mercedes into a parking spot and turned the engine off. He turned slightly in the seat to look at Micki.

“Okay, so, what’s the plan here?” he asked. “We can’t just barge in, asking if some lady and an odd mystic were brought in. I mean, hopefully they are both fine. But if they aren’t, how are we going to explain it all without dragging the cops into it?”

Micki thought about that and had no answer. “We have to find out, somehow. This is Ryan’s mother we’re talking about. And Rashid, Jack’s best friend. We can’t just leave them here to fend for themselves. Especially if they’re hurt or… something.”

Johnny nodded. “Okay, well, then we should just play it by ear. Go inside, wander a bit, see what information we can uncover and go from there.”

Micki agreed and they left the car, heading for the emergency room waiting area. Once inside, they scanned the waiting room. Neither Mrs. Dallion nor Rashid was present. Micki made her way over to the reception desk. A volunteer candy striper was manning the desk. She was a young girl, either in her late teens or very early twenties.

“Excuse me, uh,” Micki looked at her nametag. “Mandy. Hi, I was wondering if you could help us.”

The girl looked up at Micki, and her face showed she was either very tired or eternally uninterested. “Yes? Help you with what? Are you hurt?” she asked Micki, already pulling out a form and attaching it to a clipboard. “You need to fill this out.”

Micki smiled. “Um, no. You see, my, um, boyfriend here doesn’t get along with his parents. We were told they were coming to the hospital and were hoping you could help us find them, or at least let us know if they are okay?”

Mandy sighed audibly and it was all Micki could do not to remind her that she was volunteering to be here, to help people. Yelling at the girl would just make things worse, so Micki just smiled politely.

“Name?” the girl asked, looking down at a sign-in sheet.

Micki tried to get her own look at the sheet, but couldn’t read any names. She said to Mandy. “Um, could you try ‘Mrs. Dallion‘, please?”

The girl scanned the sheet. “Nope, no Mrs. Dallion. Sorry.”

Before the girl zoned out completely, Micki spoke up again.

“What about the name ‘Rashid‘?” she said to the candy striper. “That’s his father’s first name. Could you try that?”

Again, Mandy sighed. But she scanned down the sheet once more. “Nope, no Rashid, either. Look, what were they brought in for? It would help to have more information, you know?”

Micki smiled, said a small thank you and walked away from the desk. Johnny was standing at a bulletin board, so Micki walked over to him. She was about to speak when Johnny raised a finger to hush her.

Two men who had been standing nearby, chatting, walked off in different directions.

“What was all that about?” Micki asked.

“Those two are janitors or something. I heard one of them say something about a van that drove up and dumped some people by the service door.” Johnny said, keeping his voice low so only Micki could hear.

“Service door? Why not the ER?” she asked, perplexed.

“No clue. But Micki,” he added, pausing to look in her eyes. “They said one of them was D.O.A.”

Micki gasped, her hand going to her mouth.

Johnny looked around and found a wall with a directory board nailed to it. He pulled Micki by the arm, and scanned the departments. Finding the one he wanted, he put his finger on the name.

“The morgue?” Micki asked, the thought making her stomach turn.

Johnny merely nodded, pulling Micki after him down a long hallway. They decided to use a staircase to go down to the morgue. A stealthy approach was better than riding the elevator and hoping no one was there when the doors opened.

Needing to descend only one flight to the morgue area, they were in a long, bright, cold corridor within a minute. Johnny motioned at a sign with an arrow, and they followed it. Before long, the morgue loomed ahead. A voice came from somewhere in front of them and was quickly drawing closer, so Micki grabbed Johnny’s arm and pulled him into the nearest room to hide.

They waited until the voice went past the room they hid in, then opened the door again. Micki looked back upon the room they had used for a hiding spot and she gasped. Johnny spun around to see what had scared her.

Before them, on a metal examining table, lay the lifeless body of Mrs. Dallion, Ryan’s mother.

“Oh no!” Micki said out load. “No!”

Johnny put his hand over Micki’s mouth. “Shhh!” he said. “Mick, you gotta be quiet, okay?”

She nodded, and he could see the tears already welling up in her big eyes. He took his hand away from her mouth, and she walked forward towards the table.

Mrs. Dallion looked broken, twisted somehow. Her face was cut in a few places. Micki touched her hair, fixing it somewhat, not sure what else she could do for the woman.

“Oh Johnny, this is going break Ryan’s heart.” she said, wiping a tear off her cheek. “They had so little time together, this just isn’t fair. Dammit, it isn’t fair!”

Johnny put his arm around Micki, pulling her close to him. “Yeah, I know, I know. She didn’t deserve this. Maybe if I had gone back, I could have….”

Micki let her head fall into Johnny as tears went down her cheeks. “No, Johnny. This isn’t your fault. It’s that man, that Casares. And Uncle Lewis. Once again, his curse has ruined more lives.“

They both stood for a moment, unsure of what to do next.

A voice from the hall brought them back to the moment. Johnny pulled Micki off to the side, away from the line of sight between the door with it’s glass pane and the table with Mrs. Dallion on it. The owner of the voice went past this room, and Johnny and Micki slipped out and back into the hallway.

Looking down at the rest of the rooms yet to search, Micki suddenly felt overwhelmed. “I don’t know if I can go in these rooms, Johnny. I don’t know if I can see Rashid like that, too.” she said, her voice quavering.

Johnny looked at her. “You stay here, stand guard in case someone shows up. Just tell them you got lost or something. I’ll check the rooms quick, okay?” he said.

Micki just nodded, her gaze going back to the room with Ryan’s mother inside.

Johnny stepped away from her and into the next nearest room. He came out shaking his head. He repeated the step three more times, then pointed at the final room. He slipped inside there, as well.

This time, it took what seemed like forever for him to reappear.

“Nope, he isn’t anywhere down here. Come on, let’s get out of here, Micki.” Johnny said, anxious to be out of this cold, dead place.

“What about her?” Micki asked, indicating the room with a nod of her head.

“There isn’t anything we can do for her. We can report her missing or something later, but for now, we need to concentrate on finding Rashid and helping Jack. Okay?” he answered, looking right at her.

She nodded, another tear falling down her cheek.

They quickly went back up the staircase and out through the ER waiting room. Across the parking lot, they got inside the car and sat down, pausing to catch their breath and process what they had just seen.

Micki was anxious to find Rashid, but dreaded the thought of reentering and searching the hospital. She looked at Johnny and said, “We haven’t found Rashid yet. He might still be in there, maybe in surgery or something.”

A voice from the backseat of the car caused Micki to scream and Johnny to jump in his seat.

“That would be the day I let some hospital doctor wield his knives over me.” Rashid said from behind them.

“Rashid!” Micki yelped, turning around completely in her seat to look at their mystic friend. “I can’t believe it! Are you alright? You don’t look alright.”

He nodded. “I will be fine once I get some herbs and medicines I have at home. Please, can you drive me there?”

Johnny, his heart still racing, nodded and turned the ignition on. He backed the car out of the spot and through the lot, making his way to the road once more.

“Rashid, what happened back there?” Johnny asked, speeding as carefully as he could through traffic.

As the mystic recounted what he knew of the events, he winced. Micki saw he was holding his side.

“You're wounded. Were you shot?” she asked.

He nodded, then said.. “As I said, all will be well once I am at my own home.”

“How did you get away from the hospital?” Micki asked.

Rashid winced again as Johnny hit a bump in the road. “Distraction. It’s all in where you want them to look.”

“And how did you know our car was here?” Johnny said, looking into the rearview mirror at the man and, seeing the pain on his face, driving a little more carefully.

“Let’s just say I had a feeling.” Rashid said, attempting a smile for Micki.

“How did Mrs. Dallion die?” Micki asked, not sure if she really wanted to know.

“I have no idea.” the man answered. “But, I did speak to Jack, briefly while we were locked in the room together. He wanted me to tell you something he had learned just before the chaos in the hallway.”

Micki and Johnny said “What?” at the same time.

“First, he said not to worry about him. He will be fine.” Rashid said, sweat on his brow.

“Yeah, right.” Johnny responded, as he swerved around a city bus. “The other thing?”

“The woman in the mirror, she told Jack her name. He wants you to find out what you can about her, maybe it will help in figuring out how to free her.” He said, adjusting himself on the back seat. It hurt to move, but he needed to stretch a little.

“Well?” Micki asked. “What’s her name?”

Rashid responded, a little breathlessly. “Catherine. The woman trapped in the cursed mirror is Catherine Chandler.”

[mmoxie]

So, the first character I want to hype up is one that's lived in my drafts for well over a year. You know how sometimes you only get to a concept through venting? This was one of those, and I just kept adding more and more layers to her by venting over and over.

y'all remember dustforce?

Here's the short version: Retail as an industry is a relationship between cheerful rich people, cheerful people with non-retail jobs, and serving as an intermediary, the most beleaguered, miserable, irate, arbitrarily punished class of people still capable of just barely affording an apartment.

This character is one of those intermediaries, and she answers a simple question- what if you were so goddamn angry at your job that you started breathing literal fire?

In I Promise You I Have Given Up, a short story that exists in the Google Notes app on my phone, we meet Dani. Dani wakes up every morning, throws on an apron with a nametag attached, and watches the building she's in try to burn itself down for ten hours. Somehow, it's always her fault. She's gone through the stages of grief about it, or so she thinks.

She's about to roll the odometer.

She doesn't notice as she slides through denial, promising herself that she's fine, she's fucking fine, alright, as her boss rearranges her schedule without warning, as she cuts her own lunch short because nobody else could cover her position for one earth hour, because someone took a jar of pickles all the way to the children's clothing section and smashed it open on the carpet and now it's her problem,

And then she's asked a simple question, while she's doing a little sweeping outside. She doesn't smoke, so she doesn't get smoke breaks, but if she takes a broom with her, she can have a little peace and quiet and while looking busy.

"Is there a reason the display at the front is full of holes?"

Not- god forbid- "Did you know we're selling a lot at the front?"

Not- could you imagine- "Hey, Dani! Your display is really moving product! You're gonna need a refill up there, great job!"

Not- what a world- "Were you able to check on the front display today? I know you keep pretty busy, but it's selling down."

None of those, but is there a reason? That it's full of holes?

Dani considers this for a long moment. Her shoulders are still smoothly rocking, sweeping a rut into the concrete. She feels a quiet peace for a moment, and then... nausea. Heartburn, even. Head for the first aid kit, it's time for a shot of pepto, she thinks.

She opens her mouth to reply to that offending question, and the only thing that comes out is a pressurized blast of eradicating fire. In an instant, there is no boss. There is no question.

For the briefest moment, she was the angriest human being on the face of the earth- and it came out of her, after months and months of suppressing it.

She was relieved at first- a great pressure actually had gone out of her- but then she was terrified. She had just literally reduced her boss to a thin cloud of loose carbon and reeking, atomized effluence. There weren't even bones left.

Was that good or bad? Could she... pretend she didn't know what happened?

Probably not. And she should probably just tender her two weeks' notice before anyone figures anything out. Move across state lines. Get a different job, maybe even change her name.

This flashpoint puts Dani in a strange position. She absolutely doesn't want to hurt people- but what does it mean? Can she be pressurized to that point again? Should she live her life avoiding it, or should she try and... get out of retail by going public and teaching seminars on how to become a dragon?

But her world, as it turns out, is full of small, cumulative injustices. The endless reminders that you aren't good enough, that you didn't do enough. That if the company could make a machine that mashed you into paste, and that paste sold for more than it cost to pay you, they'd be ushering you into the fucking machine!

There will be a follow-up post that talks about Dani in a more objective way, but this post exists so I can link back to it as a primer for her character.

[ambraambrose]

Dolores - Part 2: Ethan Hudson

Book: Open Heart

Pairing: Ethan x F!MC

Warnings: cursing and mentioning of death

Casey runs through the hospital entrance only to find Ethan alone in the waiting room.

"Dr. Ramsey? What happened? Where's Dolores?" He is quiet for a long moment before he looks at her. "Dolores had a seizure. Full eclampsia. We had no choice but deliver the baby. It's fifty-fifty he'll survive the night." "And Dolores?" "She died." A lumps forms in Casey's throat, tears dwell in her eyes. "Dr. Ramsey, I'm so..." "I'm fine." He says and stands up, walking away from her without another word or look.

Casey stands outside Dolores' room, when she sees the stuffed frog. She takes it, clutching it to her chest and heads out making her way to the neonatal ward. She steps to the incubator with the tiny newborn. Her heart clutches when she reads the nametag: Ethan Hudson. An attending appears. "Can i help you?" "The baby's mother was my patient. She got to name him?" "She told me just as she was rushed to the O.R. The poor thing. We'll know more in the morning." "Do you mind if I sit with him tonight?" "Feel free." Before she goes, Casey asks. "Can i give him this? His mother wanted him to have it. It's been sterilized." The attending smiles at her. "Go ahead."

Casey places the frog next to the baby. "Here you are, little tadpole. Mommy's still with you." She sits down on the couch next to the incubator, stroking his fingers with a gloved hand.

"What are you still doing here?" Startled she turns around to see Ethan standing at the door, his hands in his pockets. "I'm going to stay with him tonight. I hate the idea of him having to fight for his life alone." He takes a few steps. "There are plenty of doctors working overnight. If something happens, they'll be here." He wouldn't never admit it but he is concerned, the trauma of losing the first patient and the lack of rest aren’t good for her. "I know." He nods and looks at the baby, his expression gentler than she has ever seen it. "Do you mind if i joined you?" With a heartwarming smile she say: "Not at all. There‘s plenty of room here." For a while they listen to the gentle 'wooosh' of the ventilator. "You gave him the frog. Dolores would have been... She would have been pleased." Casey blinks away tears, turning her face away from Ethan so he can’t see. He notices. "The first patient I lost... was in my fourth week. I didn't make any mistakes. He had stage four metastatic melanoma. He just... fought like hell and lost. I liked him. He wasn’t much older than i am now. I knew he hadn’t long to live, but it still hit me hard." "Does it ever get easier?" Her voice is weak. "Grieving a lost patient isn’t a weakness. Good doctors should value life. For itself. I'd be more concerned if you weren’t upset." "You didn’t answer my question." You persistent little thing. "...No, I didn't. Just know... this wasn't your fault. Or mine. Or Dolores's. We all made the best decisions we could with the information we had." "But... She was my patient. She put her life in my hands." "You're right. Remember this, even when the patient is mean or stubborn. Their life is in your hands. That responsibility has to come first. Always." "Why are you so nice to me? You're usually so..." "Demanding?" Ethan stares into space, thinking... "There are doctors with unlimited patience. I'm not one of them. Energy I could use socializing, or making someone's day better, I put towards my patients. They're who I'm here for." Casey watches and listens to him, the way he talks comforts her and by his words, she remembers how different she saw him with patients, no sarcasm, no distance, a sympathetic smile on his lips. "But you're a teacher, too." "One of many, and you shouldn’t model yourself after one of us. Idolatry among physicians is absurd. We're here to teach you practical medicine. You need to find your own way of being a doctor." "But... how do I do that?" "You already are." He smiles at her.

The baby stretches. His tiny hands opening and closing. Ethan offers him a finger. He clutches it tight. "She named him after you." His eyes flash surprised as he turns to the nametag. He swallows. "I... see she did." "You must have known Dolores for a long time." "Over ten years. When I first emailed her I only meant to check in. But she was recently divorced, feeling alone, so she insisted on coffee. And then it turned into more emails and meeting once every months for Sunday roast." "She sounds like a good friend." "I didn't make friends easily when I started here, so I was always grateful to her for that." He looks at Dolores's baby, swallowing. His eyes are red. Casey looks at him and on instinct she puts her hand over his. He first flinches at the unexpected body contact, but relaxes when he looks at her small hand on top of his. He is confused cause somehow he wants to turn his hand around so he can inlays their fingers. Her touch is warm and soft and comforting. "I'm sorry this happened." He looks at her holding her gaze for a long moment. "Me too." After a few seconds he clears his throat, not trusting his feelings about her touch. "I think we need coffee." "I can get some." "No, I'll go." With fast long strides he exits the room. He wants to clear his head and put a little distance between them, not trusting himself.

The minutes tick by and at first Casey sits there in silence stroking Baby Ethan’s hand.

"Hey, little tadpole, that's it, in and out. Don’t worry, your mom will always be with you, no matter what. She loved you more than her own life and she always will. Trust me, I know, what I’m talking about. And there will be times, where you'll blame yourself for it, but nothing of this is your fault. I don’t know if we'll see each other again when you're older, but I’ll be always ready to tell you how much your mom loved you." She strokes his tiny hand while tears leave her eyes. Ethan stops a moment, not proud that he eavesdropped on her, but he also doesn't want to interrupt her bonding with the baby. Even when Baby Ethan wouldn't remember her words, this moment is important for her development as a doctor. But he also tries to get her words to put them in the picture of the mystery Casey Valentine is for him. He then enters pretending he didn't hear her words. She wipes her tears away, taking one mug from him. "Thanks", she takes a cautious sip. "That doesn’t taste like Cafeteria coffee." He smiles: "It isn’t, it’s from my private coffee machine. As soon as I got my own office, I devour to never drink this caffeinated dishwater again." Both laugh quietly. "No one knows that i have it. So--" "I won’t tell a soul."

They both settle down on the couch watching the baby and talk long into the night.

When she falls asleep he can’t help but watch her for a few moments. She looks like an angel. He smiles for a split second before he grabs a blanket to put it over her body.

"Casey... Casey, wake up." Remembering where she is, she sits up, rubbing her eyes, and looks at the incubator. Little Ethan breathes and his tiny little hands and feet move uncontrollable. "He made it!" Her smile brightens the whole room. "And he's getting stronger."

Casey looks at her phone, checking the time. "Oh crap! I have rounds in 20 minutes. I need to get a shower." He nods. "I'll sit with him a bit longer." Casey stretches and gives the baby one last stroke. "Hang in there, little one." Before she reaches the exit, he calls for her. "Casey?" She turns around, noticing how tired he looks, his hair missed and his jaw dark with stubble, but still this makes her heart flatter even more. "Thank you", he says looking into her eyes. She smiles. "No need. See you two Ethans later." With one last gorgeous smile she disappears.

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @wanderingamongthewildflowers

[dollslayer]

Sweeter Endings

Sugar Daddy!Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Still reeling from the financial realities of losing your mother you turn to a lucrative website for help and get more than you could have bargained for.

W/C: 5,325

Warnings: Smut (no minors 18+ only), light D/S dynamics, brief mentions of alcohol consumption, unprotected sex, swearing

A/N: NO MINORS, I wrote this for @donutloverxo 's Sugary 4k Challenge (Congrats!!) I love sugar daddy AUs so I was really excited to write this!! If you like it then please like/reblog/comment I'm all ears! Also maybe check out my other stuff if you want! Cheers!

Main Masterlist

____

The saying ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ was truer than you’d ever imagined and you found out the hard way. Life had hit you hard last year. You had watched your mother succumb very quickly to cancer. A cold that just wouldn’t go away turned into a doctor’s visit turned into three months left to live. Having no one else in her life, the cost of her funeral and medical bills fell to you. The bills outweighing the inheritance you had no choice but to drop out of school.

One year later you were hanging on by threads to keep yourself off the streets without turning to a loan shark or selling yourself. Stocking shelves at a bougie grocery store in Soho by day and bartending in Tribeca by night had you working six days a week. What free time you had you were too exhausted to do anything with. Something had to give or you were going to collapse from the stress, you just didn’t know what.

A couple weeks ago you had been casually venting about how broke you were with a coworker when she jokingly suggested signing up for one of those Sugar Daddy sites. You laughed along with her but it sounded better than getting a third job. You had quietly asked one of your roommates to borrow their laptop saying you needed to look at job postings only half a lie, really and locked yourself in your room.

You were just gonna check out the website, maybe sign up and poke around, it didn’t mean you were committing to anything, just looking. You remembered first looking at the website once your shitty wifi loaded it, promising ‘beautiful and successful people making mutually beneficial connections’. You balked after reading that but you couldn’t look at any profiles without making one yourself so you had set to work.

After making your profile you hadn’t gotten any hits in about a week so you shrugged it off. You couldn’t keep hogging your roommate’s computer anyways so you set off back to work. Your days at the store wore on into endless nights at the bar and you wondered what other options you really had when you had no degree and no experience in any relevant field.

___

6 o’clock on a Thursday night, the typical after work crowd begins to roll in. The bar you work in is upscale, classy. Definitely trying to lure in the businessmen that worked in the area and their wallets. It annoyed you to deal with the same type of customers you did at the store all over again but with the high end crowd came good tips so you couldn't complain too much.

It was busier than usual when a group of men in suits walked in together asking for a booth. You saw a lot of business meetings take place over whiskey sours in this place so you didn’t think much of it. You tried your best to keep tending to your regulars when a pair from the group came over.

One of the men had deep brown eyes and a sly grin that when split gave you the perfect view of the gap between his teeth. He was confident but he had a kind look to him. His friend had dirty blond hair and a beard that clung to his perfect jawline and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t snuck a second look. You turned your back and continued filling orders to distract yourself when one of them cleared their throat behind you.

As you turned to face them you found it was the blond calling after you. His face held a hint of surprise but it was quickly replaced by a look of amusement as he smirked and one brow lifted, like he knew something you didn’t. He was like any other typical customer for you, professional and handsome, probably over-confident in himself. You returned his smirk and prepared your best charming banter. Time to earn those tips.

“Something to drink for you, gentleman?” You offered.

“We’d like a round of scotch for the table over there. You don’t mind bringing it over, do you sweetheart?” the brown-eyed man asked.

“Of course not” you answered. Pricks.

“Good girl” the blond said with a wink. Creep. A hot creep but still. Before you could ask he took his card out of his wallet and put it on the counter for the tab.

____

A round had come and passed, soon they’d asked for another but this time it was just the blond that approached you. You lifted your eyebrows in anticipation of an order.

“You here often?” he asked. Ugh, not even a good pick up line.

“Am I here at my job often?” You retorted with a playful smile.

The man’s shoulders shook as he chuckled. “Sorry you just uh, you look familiar that’s all. What’s your name?”

You supplied him with it and asked him if he wanted another round of scotch. He nodded.

“Smart girl, I’m Steve by the way.” He laid down his business card which you picked up with a look of challenging curiosity. Steve Rogers, CEO of Shield inc.

Oh. You didn’t recognize the name but you definitely knew the company. It felt like a quarter of their employees stopped in for a drink throughout the week and it was prominent enough of a company that you read about it weekly. Play it cool, these types want to feel like an every-man at the bar but still wanna feel important.

You raised your eyebrows again in recognition. “Nice to meet you, Steve, I’ll have your round right out.”

“Good Girl” he winked again at you. Okay so it’s hot, but he’s a total stranger and you don’t even know him. Stay on your game.

___

10 o’clock came around and things were thinning out slightly, regulars made their way out, awkward Tinder dates and rowdy young 20-somethings made their way in. The party of businessmen was still around but they were hopefully wrapping up after the 2 more rounds they’d had. Steve approached the bar once more and you preemptively picked up the bottle of scotch.

“Whoa, easy, girl! I’m here to pick up the tab” He said, taking out his wallet.

“What’s the name on the tab?” You decided to play dumb but based off the grin on his face he knew you were playing with him.

“Steve. Rogers.” He replied, his tone was stern but his eyes told you he was in on the joke.

You cashed him out and left him to sign his receipt so you could make more drinks. You saw him move in your peripheral and turned your head to see his face.

“Have a good night, sweetheart. I’ll be seein’ ya” he promised.

“Take care!” You smiled back.

A few minutes later you circled back to collect his receipt and found three $100 bills staring back at you. You blinked dumbly in disbelief, who the hell leaves a 200% tip? Looking around to see if Steve was still here he was nowhere to be found. You had no choice but to pocket the money.

____

Another week went by and left you wondering how much energy and concentration it would take for you to just evaporate, since that seemed easier than going to work today. Sadly still in solid form, you punched in at the store and stowed your things in your locker.

Your upscale customer base was a mostly pretentious and successful group of yuppies so even though you were grateful to not be on the streets you were constantly reminded of the professional success you couldn’t help but feel that you were missing out on. Stuck instead to listen to incessant whining ‘is this organic? I won’t eat it unless it’s organic’.

The upside of this job was that the time went by quickly because you always had so much to do. Plus with how monotonous the work was it was easy enough to zone out. So much so that you hadn’t heard someone calling your name and approaching you. A hand softly touching your shoulder snapped you into the present.

You looked up, startled to find a pair of blue eyes staring back into yours. You took a step back and processed who it was. “CEO guy?” Steve?

“‘CEO guy?’ I thought I recognized you, ‘barmaid’ or should I say… ‘stock girl?’” He joked using his fingers to make quotations.

Now that you thought about it, the store isn’t that far at all from the bar, it would make sense if he’s in the area. You smiled and tapped your nametag in response.

“I just came in on my lunch to grab a few groceries” looking down at his basket it held some protein powder, some eggs, and one lonely banana. “Clearly, I’m single. But you’d know that already, wouldn’t you?”

Your brows twinged together in confusion. What is that supposed to mean?

“Excuse me?”

He edged a little closer to you and lowered his voice “SeekingConnection.com?”

Your eyes widened in shock. The fucking Sugar Daddy site! I forgot about that! Surprise was quickly replaced with humiliation. You looked down and away as you felt your cheeks heat up.

“I don’t mean to embarrass you” Steve placated, “But I gotta say, I’m pretty hurt you never responded to me. I sent that message weeks ago and let’s just say I’m not used to rejection.” He kept his tone light, letting you know he wasn’t mad.

“I-I um, I’m sorry, I don’t have a computer and they don’t have an app, I was using my roommates’ computer and I guess I forgot about it…” You admitted.

Steve nodded in acknowledgement. Please say something to salvage this conversation. Please.

“Well,” Steve rummaged in his pocket for another business card. “You got a pen on you?”

You dug around in your apron and came up with one. Handing it to him you watched as he wrote on the back of the card. He held the card and the pen out to you.

“That’s my number, I’d ask for yours but I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable, you already look like you wanna sink through the floor” Not helping, but I do. You took them from him and tucked them away in the pocket of your apron.

“You do have a phone right?” You only glared at him in response. “Well, if you check your profile, you would’ve seen I asked you out to lunch, offer still stands. Just text me when you’re free”

Should I even say yes? I mean, the winking the other night was weird but he’s good looking and at least somewhat considerate. I mean, it’s not like I had any other intention when I signed up for that site. What the hell. right?

“I… usually work mid shifts so I don’t know if lunch is doable, they only give me half an hour but, maybe we could do coffee? I’ve got tomorrow off from the bar I could meet you” you suggested.

If Steve felt pity for you he hid it well behind the wide smile he made when you offered coffee instead.

“There’s a place around the corner from here, just up a block, you know it? I’m off tomorrow at 6, why don’t you meet me there?”

“Sounds like a plan.” He winked at you again and started walking away. What the hell just happened?

____

You did end up borrowing your roommate’s computer once again when you got home to look up Steve’s DM. Sure enough, there he had been in all his internet glory. ‘Steve, 33, CEO. likes: art, conversation, whiskey. Digging around further on his profile you found that he owned several houses here and in Europe, he had a dog that was cuter than he was, and that he was ‘Seeking deeper connection’. All of these things piqued your interest.

‘Hey, Doll. Saw your profile and I had to ask, what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this? Kidding, of course. But maybe you’d care to tell me your story over lunch? Your profile says we’re both in New York. - Steve’ Sent three weeks ago. Fuck.

You had texted him earlier to confirm, which is how you found yourself walking up the sidewalk towards the shop with a mind running rampant with nervous thoughts. What if he just wants to feel big about himself in comparison to me? What would I even really have to offer the relationship? A college dropout working two dead-end jobs with no social life. You needed to snap yourself out of it. You were just meeting for coffee doesn’t mean anything.

Pushing open the door you found Steve waving at you from a quiet corner. He was still in a suit, presumably coming from work himself. Even the buttons on his shirt looked expensive. You were wearing dirty jeans and a worn pair of work boots paired with a flannel. You couldn’t have looked more different if you tried.

“I waited for you to order,” He said. You smiled up at him, only now realizing how tall he was in comparison to you. He ushered you both towards the counter where you both placed your orders. You moved to take your wallet from your purse but he had already beat you there.

“Really? As if I’d let the lady pay, and on the first date no less?” He said playfully.

“Oh, so this is a date now, is it?” You kidded.

Steve shoved his hands in his pockets and gave you that boyish grin and a shrug. The pair of you made your way back to the table and waited for your drinks to be brought over.

“How was work?” You asked, “What exactly is it that your company does?”

“We offer security and surveillance software domestically as well as international. Stadiums, airports, other government buildings. Things of that nature. And work was fine, thank you for asking” Steve said with a genuine smile. “How was your day, doll?”

“Oh, my day was fine, more of the same but y’know,” You answered half-heartedly.

“You know, you never answered me, what’s a funny, pretty gal like you doing on a site like that?”

Embarrassment hit you again, this time maybe accompanied with a hint of shame. You were saved momentarily by your drinks being delivered. He seemed truly interested and since he was paying you supposed you owed him an answer.

“I was going to Columbia and I had a pretty good internship when my mom got diagnosed with cancer. She died three months later and since it was only always just the two of us I ended up footing the bill. I was on partial scholarship but between the hospital and the funeral I can’t really afford the rest of tuition on top of working for free so here I am” you explained, “Oh my god, I’m sorry I’m totally oversharing aren’t I? You probably don’t wanna hear about a bummer like this, sorry”

You tried to laugh to ease the tension you thought you’d created. Braving a look at Steve, he looked thoughtful and only a little bit like he pitied you. You could live with that.

“I’m really sorry about your mom, mine also got really sick before she died, I know it must’ve been hard. What were you in school for?”

___

You and Steve talked for hours, trading anecdotes of childhood and talking about each other’s interests. You had a similar sense in humour so you got on swimmingly. The evening seemed to be coming to a close as the night sky sent in through the window.

Being with Steve was probably the most relaxed you’d felt since before your mom was diagnosed. It became difficult to focus on anything but your financial situation and even though that’s what brought you here in the first place you had managed to forget all about it.

“So look, us getting together wasn’t exactly the most conventional on meet-cutes but to put it bluntly,” He said, “The CEO life makes it hard to meet real people and it gets kinda lonely, I mean, you saw my grocery basket” You both laughed at that. “You need money and I need company, I feel like we could help each other out. Whad’ya say? Think you could put up with me?”

You knew what this was but hearing it put so plainly was a little surprising. At least he was to the point.

“So if I said yes what does that mean, exactly?” you inquired.

“Well,” he started, “We take care of each other. Let me cover some of your bills at the very least, make it so you’d be comfortable quitting at least one of your jobs. And you’d keep me company, we go on dates, maybe you could come over, there’s the occasional work event or charity gala I’d need you on my arm for. Thoughts?”

God I can’t even imagine what it’s like to work only one job anymore. Maybe I could even save up and go back to school. He’s cute and he seems sensible, why not?

“Could we maybe take things slow? What you describe is something I’m down for but I don’t want to make myself completely dependent on you. But I’d love to be there for you, and I have to admit, the thought of only working one full time job is pretty crazy to me” You laughed.

Steve swallowed and placed one of his large, warm hands over yours.

“I can do things the old fashioned way, if that’s what you’d feel good with. I gotta say though, with looks like that it’s not gonna be easy” he jested.

You smiled shyly and looked away. You both stood to leave and he held the door open for you.

“I’ve already got your number from when you texted me earlier but I’ll talk to my assistant about my schedule and maybe I could take you out to dinner this weekend?”

“I um, I’d really like that. It’s a date” You stated.

“Oh, so you think this is a date now?” He jested.

You lightly punched him in the arm and he took the opportunity to pull you closer to him. You looked up to find his face inches from yours. You could smell his aftershave and his deep voice gave you goosebumps when he spoke next.

“I kinda want to kiss you goodnight, would that be okay?”

You could only nod as he shut his eyes and closed in. Your lips met in one perfect, chaste kiss. You sighed and leaned into his hand as it briefly cupped your face.

You broke apart and made promises to see each other soon. You felt like you could’ve floated home as you boarded the subway, caught up in the swarm of newly forming feelings.

_____

You sat in the break room when your phone buzzed to life, ‘Saturday at 7?’

You were about to type out a yes when you forgot you worked closing at the bar. Your thumbs moved quickly to tap out the reply ‘Working, sorry :/ the pitfalls of bartending. Sunday at 7?’

You were nervous telling him no and asking to change plans. You hated not being able to make things work but you only just met the man and the weekend tips were killer, it’s not like you could turn the shift down.

‘Ah yes, almost forgot. Sunday works too, I’ll text you the details. What’s your address? I’ll pick you up’

Oh, God. Steve can’t see my building! His cufflinks probably cost more than my rent!

‘I’ll just meet you there, don’t worry about it’

‘Not a chance, doll. Just tell me where and I’ll come get you’

You let out a worried sigh but knew you had to let it go. You sent him your address and went back to work.

____

Saturday was maybe the longest day in your entire week, in fact you loathed it. Mornings at the store followed by running immediately to the bar. Last call in New York was 4am so it’s a good thing you didn’t try to make brunch plans with Steve for Sunday. But ultimately both your shifts passed without major incident and now it was Sunday and you tried to ready yourself the best you could.

The place Steve mentioned was fancy, you knew that much from a quick search. Panicking instantly upon realizing you don’t really have any nice clothes you turned to your most fashionable roommate for help. She loaned you a cocktail dress that was revealing enough to draw interest without giving everything away. You just hoped Steve would like it.

‘Downstairs, doll. Silver BMW’ you exhaled. Hoo boy, here we go.

____

Steve handed his keys to the valet and rushed around to open your door for you. You held his hand and you clambered onto the sidewalk in your heels. His warm hand on the small of your back as he steered you towards the doors was a comforting weight.

Dinner has been lovely so far, he chose a place that wasn’t completely white-glove but was upscale enough to make you feel only a little underdressed.

You joked back and forth with him over the course of the meal, talked about your lives, and even found out you both have a guilty pleasure for cheesy rom-coms. It wasn’t until dessert and your third glass of wine came that you realized how much time had passed. You frowned slightly thinking of the early morning ahead of you followed by a long night at the bar.

“What’s wrong, doll?”

“Oh, nothing I just didn’t realize how late it was, I’ve got both jobs tomorrow it’ll just be a long day that’s all” you tried to wave it off but Steve frowned in response.

“Quit the bar” he stated.

“What?”

“Quit the bar. This is your card, I’ve already loaded $3000 on there. Put me in touch with your landlord and I’ll get you taken care of.” He slid the card across the table to you. Your name printed on the front. This got real very quickly.

“Steve, that’s.” You were in shock, a loss for words almost “that’s too much, I don’t know what to say.” You felt embarrassed taking the money. You knew that was the essence of your arrangement but actually taking his money had you feeling uneasy.

“Honey, this is what I’m here for. Let me take care of you. Give up your late nights. I wanna take you out on the weekends and you’ll need to be available for events. You can stay at the store if you want but quit the bar, you don’t need it.”

You took a deep sigh. He did say he wanted you to be comfortable quitting one of your jobs; it's just making the change that scares you. But something about Steve felt safe so you nodded and looked up to him.

“I’ll put in my two weeks”

“Good girl” he patted your knee and you involuntarily clenched your thighs. He smirked at that but let it go.

____

A few months had come and gone since that night and your time with Steve had been great. Only working the one job gave you so much more free time. You'd spent a good chunk of it just trying to form a normal sleep schedule but all the time you spent with Steve made it difficult. Not that you minded especially since your allowance was monthly but he’d showered you with gifts here and there.

They started off small, perfume, chocolates and flowers, or a simple pair of white gold hoops that reminded him of you. They gradually became pricier and more elaborate. You’d felt guilty accepting it all at first but he was insistent you deserve the best. He had even mentioned you moving out maybe finding a better place but you reminded him you needed to go slow.

He’d also been nothing short of a gentleman. Out in public at least, you’d learned the hard way that he was an absolute animal in bed. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep your hands off of him.

Something you had appreciated about Steve is that he never made you feel bad or less than for being broke. Never held his money over your head like leverage. You’d felt equal to him in all aspects, understanding you had just as much say as he did.

Still, there was a small nagging voice in the back of your head that reminded you Steve is not your boyfriend. This isn't a relationship and he's looking to get something out of just like you are. But if you were being honest you were catching feelings, it was hard not to when the man was giving you the fantasy. You decided to push that voice aside whenever it came up and let yourself be swept away. Maybe that would bite you in the ass but for now you were happy.

____

You were buzzed into Steve’s building and on the elevator ride up to his penthouse your phone buzzed. ‘I have to make a quick call- I’ve got a present waiting for you in the living room.’ You couldn’t help but feel giddy.

The doors opened and Steve was nowhere in sight but as you entered the living room a bag from Chanel and the Apple Store sat on the table. Oh god, what this time? I swear this man is too much.

You opened the smaller bag from Chanel first and found a beautiful black and white evening bag. It was sleek and simple, very much to your tastes. You were nervous to open the Apple bag, Steve always went overboard. Shakily removing the paper you pulled out the slim case in disbelief. A MacBook Air and a pair of AirPod Pros. The man well and truly spoiled you.

“You said you didn’t have a computer.” His voice came from behind you and startled you.

“Steve, this is too much. You’re too much.” You swung your arms around his neck and kissed him.

“Nothin’s too much for you, doll.” He kissed the top of your head.

“Think you could take a couple days off of work? I just got off the phone and confirmed plans for my house in Nice.”

A trip? France?? Oh my god. How is this my life? You felt so overwhelmed that you grabbed Steve by the collar and brought his face down to meet you in a kiss. His tongue swiped your lips and you granted him entrance. Moaning into his mouth your hands traveled up into his hair, pulling softly and coaxing a groan out of him.

He guided you to sit on the couch and brought you down into his lap. You ground down onto him and felt his hard-on through his slacks. Your hand moved slowly to undo the buttons of his shirt as he kissed down your jaw towards your neck. You sighed softly when he found your sweet spot and started sucking.

He helped you take off his shirt while you got started on his belt and undid his pants. He lifted himself off the couch slightly to move them down to his knees, taking his briefs with them. His cock stood proud and an angry red, leaking at the tip.

“I wanna ride you, I can’t wait.” You pouted as you writhed against him in need.

Steve tutted at you “that’s no way to get what you want. Ask me nicely, baby. Beg to ride my cock,”

You ground down even harder and whined. “Please, sir, please let me ride your cock. I need to feel you, I can’t wait any longer please.”

“Good Girl” Steve's hands flipped up your skirt and found your panties, ripping them to shreds. They were La Perla and had cost a pretty penny but he didn’t care.

He lined himself up and brought you down harshly gripping your hips. You moaned loudly in surprise and satisfaction and wasted no time moving back and forth. Steve made you feel so close and connected to him whenever he fucked you but he still made you feel sordid and dirty. You couldn’t get enough of the feeling, you’d gladly chase it.

His eyes were hooded as watched you chase your own pleasure and giving him some in return. His hands kneaded your ass and smacked it just to get a gasp out of you. He grabbed the back of your head and brought you in for a searing kiss that was all teeth and tongue. He’d nip at you and lick the pain away.

His hips met yours, finding your rhythm and speeding you both up when he gripped your hips.

“Can’t wait to have me, you had to fuck me on the couch huh?” Steve panted, “my dirty girl. So fuckin’ gorgeous.”

You put your forehead against his and went harder, pushing your clit to grind against the muscles of his abs.

“Only yours, sir.” Your orgasm was building. Steve was a pretty relaxed dom but you still needed permission.

“Sir, please let me cum I can’t wait any longer” you tried your best to slow your movements a bit.

“I think you can hold it baby, I wanna enjoy you a little longer”.

You could only whine in response and tried to slow your pace but his grip on your hips and his own movements pushed you further and further towards the edge. You tried to squirm out of his grasp but his hands only tightened. It felt like forever until Steve finally gave you permission.

“Go on baby, cum for me you earned it. Fuck your self on my cock and cum all over me”

Your movements were frantic, desperate to chase your orgasm when finally the perfect angle of his cock inside you and your clit against him set you free. You cried out above him and dug your nails in deep.

Steve held you firmly in place and started slamming into you from below, finally letting himself think about cumming. All you could do was hold on for mercy. Moments later he brought you down onto him one final slam as he came inside of you with a cry.

The only sound in the room was both of you trying to catch your breath. You sighed again and collapsed against him, nuzzling your face into his neck. He kissed the side of your face and let you make yourself at home while he caressed your back.

____

One shower and two more orgasms later you were both clean and made your way to the kitchen. Steve was gathering the ingredients for dinner when you hugged him from behind. Your head resting against his back. Steve twisted around and hugged you in full. You both stayed like that for a moment until you looked up at him.

You were so content. Moments like this where you were just domestic were some of the best between you. It wasn’t about money or material, it was just the two of you making dinner and enjoying each other, no barriers.

“Are you really going to take me to France?” Your voice came out muffled against his chest.

“Of course, doll. After dinner I want you to use your new laptop to buy some outfits for the trip. I left my card in your new purse.”

You lifted onto your tiptoes and kissed his nose.

“You really do think of everything, don’t you?”

“What can I say? I’m a planner” he retorted.

You didn’t know it yet but Steve was going to ask you to become official while you were there. He wasn’t worried in the slightest. In fact he’d never been so sure about something in his life.

[mercy-burning]

Losing You Twice / 1: If I Hated You

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader Summary: It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and it turns out Y/N isn’t the only one struggling with the breakup. Category: Smut (18+), Angst Content Warnings: Language, drinking/getting drunk, penetrative/unprotected sex (If I missed anything, please let me know!) Word Count: 5,538

SERIES MASTERLIST | MASTERLIST

“My bedtime is the darkest, that’s when I’m brokenhearted. The nighttime is the hardest. It’d be easy, if I hated you.” —FLETCHER, If I Hated You

FEBRUARY 13th

It was Valentine's Day weekend, which sucked this time around. Every year for the past three years Y/N looked forward to Valentine's Day, but that was when she actually had someone to spend it with.

Well, someone she actually cared about, anyway... Whether or not Spencer actually knew it, she did really care about him. She was just stupid and didn't say it when he needed to hear it the most.

And now Valentine's Day was on Saturday and Y/N was still without him. Not alone, but still without the man who'd spent the significant holiday with her for the past three years. Memories of their dates and 'afterparties' flooded through her mind as she got ready for work like a montage, a cheesy love-song playlist she'd found on Spotify acting as the soundtrack.

Eventually she sighed and turned it off, opting for something more loud and obnoxious, and therefore not tainted by Spencer's memory. She applied what was left of her makeup and added a pair of earrings before turning the music off altogether and shoving her phone in her bag alongside her keys and other necessities.

Even though she wasn't emotionally prepared for all the cheesy Valentine's things she'd see and hear and experience throughout the weekend, it was still kind of nice to see that things in the bank never changed during the holidays— Everything in her life was so severely different at the moment, that if Marjorie had somehow decided to throw out all her elaborate decorations for each holiday, no matter how small, Y/N would have thought the world was truly ending.

Speaking of, she was met with Marjorie's brighter-than-the-sun smile almost immediately once she set her things in the breakroom.

"How's my little macaron this morning?" she chirped, Y/N chuckling slightly at the nickname— She brought macarons from the bakery down the street on her first birthday she spent at the bank, and ever since then, the older woman had adorned her with the namesake.

"She's alright, Marj... Better now that she's seen you..."

"That boy still on your mind, hon?"

Obviously Marjorie's intentions were good, but Y/N couldn't stand to think about the situation at all, least of all at work... So, setting her jacket on the rack, turned away so that her coworker wouldn't see the visible discomfort on her face, Y/N squeezed her eyes shut and cleared her throat. "So, what are your plans with Geno tomorrow night? Anything special?"

There was a brief pause before Marjorie cleared her throat as well. "Nothing short of our usual dinner plans, my dear. He's been so caught up with work at the Mill lately, I think we're just going to spend the night relaxing."

"Hm," Y/N said shortly, finally turning around and giving her the best smile she could. "Maybe I should take a page from your book and stay in..."

"You weren't going to?"

"No... Britt's been nagging me about getting out there so we're going out tomorrow night. We both haven't been single in a long time, so... Should be fun."

Marjorie didn't look convinced. Either way, she nodded with a smile and walked over to Y/N with something glittery and bright red in her hand— A cheap beaded necklace to clip her nametag onto. She draped it over Y/N's neck and patted her shoulders. "Well, I want you to have fun. And remember that you still have to come to work on Monday. Whatever shenanigans you get into should be reserved for Saturday night only so you can rest properly on Sunday, got it?"

Y/N laughed, thankful for the playful tone in Marjorie's voice. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Oh, I joke, I joke," the older woman said with a bright laugh, turning to walk out of the break room. "A little..."

The smile on Y/N's face only really lasted until after Marjorie was out of sight, then she went into her bag and clipped her nametag onto the red beaded necklace with a sigh.

Was she excited to have a good night out with Britt? Of course. Hell, had it been literally any other day of the year, she would have been practically bouncing off the walls with excitement at the idea of going out to a bar, letting men hit on her until she finally let one of them take her back to his place for the night.

But it just felt like it was too soon.

Either way, she was glad that she'd get to see Britt again, after she'd been on vacation for Christmas and New Year's to see her family and only got back a few weeks ago. She'd seen her on Facetime of course, and they met up once for coffee right after Britt got back from her trip, but a well-needed night out and quality time getting ready together was something that had been missing from their friendship for almost a year.

Y/N knew Britt would most likely spend her time trying to hook them up with end-of-the-night dates, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad...

Even still, sleeping alone the night before was probably one of the worst spells of loneliness she'd ever had. It was normal to be sad spending the first Valentine's Day in years away from a significant other, but knowing how things ended between them—bitter and stained with words left unsaid—this time was just... cold.

And that was putting it lightly.

Y/N laid in bed that night, her eyes wide open and staring at the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars that adorned the ceiling. They used to give her comfort, but now they just reminded her of all the nights she'd spend with Spencer, listening to him tell stories about the constellations. They were some of the most peaceful memories she had.

And now those, too—those stars that had grounded her pretty much all her life and reminded her of the better days—were tainted by her inability to properly communicate.

She almost thought about taking them down.

But if she was really going to get over him this time, for good, then she'd have to learn to make new memories with the stars. Even if it was painful. Even if replacing those memories and writing new ones over them absolutely tore her soul to pieces.

And, as if that pain wasn't enough, that night Y/N dreamt of him, making love to her amongst the stars in every galaxy, only to wake up the next morning cold and alone.

FEBRUARY 14th

She promptly decided that she hated his guts.

It was Valentine's Day, Y/N was respectfully buzzed, and courtesy of two beers and four shots of tequila, she'd just deleted Spencer's number from her phone.

"I'm done," she said, waving a hand at Britt and shoving her phone in her purse. "He doesn't deserve my wallowing."

"Yeah!"

Britt was significantly the more drunk of the two, resulting in a fit of giggles after gaining some stares from the people around them at her sudden outburst.

Y/N smiled, finishing off another shot and shaking her head. "We need more!"

"More shots!" Britt hurried off to grab them, leaving her friend behind with a half-drunken smile that also only felt half-genuine.

Sure, she decided she hated Spencer's guts, but her heart didn't exactly agree well with that sentiment. Even after deleting his number from her phone, after downing all that alcohol, her heart still ached.

Y/N knew deep down that getting over him was going to take some time. A lot of time... But maybe one night of distraction would help.

So the shots kept coming, and by the end of the night, Y/N was just about at her limit.

Which was near black-out drunk. And when you're that drunk you tend to make decisions you wouldn't soberly condone.

Britt got into a cab, and she begged Y/N to come with her, but she assured her friend that she had someone to come pick her up. Eventually the cab driver got tired of their inability to decide, and when Y/N told him to go, he did, leaving her alone on the side of the street at 1am.

Unfortunately, it was incredibly cold, and she didn't really have anyone to come pick her up. And that's where the bad decisions started.

Y/N pulled her phone out, a long sigh escaping her as she dialed the number by heart.

Would he even pick up? He hadn't answered any of her calls or texts before, so why would it have been any different now? Not to mention it was Valentine's Day Weekend. With her luck, he was probably in bed with someone else. Someone who wasn't her. As she listened to the dial tone repeating in her ear, images of him wrapped up with somebody else—sleeping in the bed she'd slept in many times before—clouded her drunken brain and made her more angry than anything.

Her gut twisted, and she almost hung up.

But then the low buzz of the dial tone abruptly stopped and in its place came his voice.

"Y/N?"

Her name on his lips, even through the phone, was grounding, the anger in her system melting away and revealing a coat of drunken relief.

"Spencer! You answered!"

"Yeah... Are you— Is everything okay?"

"Pff, yeah, 'm-fine. Just really fucking cold."

"You're not outside, are you?"

"Duh, I'm outside... I wouldn't be cold in-side... Besides, I didn't call t'alk bout the weather, I need you t'come pick me up."

There was a brief pause, and for a moment Y/N didn't think he was going to say anything she wanted to hear. She swayed on the sidewalk, shivering and praying that he would throw her a bone, even if she'd regret it all in the morning.

"Where are you?" he said finally, and despite herself, she smiled.

FEBRUARY 15th

Spencer couldn't believe he was picking her up at near two in the morning.

Honestly, he'd initially thought about ignoring her call again, but remembering the day it was and taking note of the time, he figured she was most likely in some type of inebriated trouble.

His instincts were right, of course, but he wished that he could have been wrong. He wished she'd only been calling to drunkenly ramble on about how she missed him or maybe how he was stupid and she never wanted to see his face ever again, because that was normal. At least then he could have hung up after she was done and never thought about it again— it was a normal step in any relationship that helped move things along. They could have gotten on with their lives and it would have all been over.

But of course it was never that simple.

Y/N was never that simple.

He pictured her on the street near some bar, alone and cold and drunk, and of course he would have been the only one she could call to rescue her. After all, he'd been pretty much the only thing she'd ever known to make her feel safe.

Still, he wished he was capable of only giving her a ride home and then leaving.

But again, it was never that simple.

It was easy getting her into the car— that wasn't what he was worried about. Rather, it was the fated moment where she'd ask him to stay after he finally got her tucked safely into bed that worried him. Because it was bad enough that it was Y/N... It was her in all her alluring glory, and he'd never been able to deny her anything no matter how badly he tried or wanted to.

Now add on the fact that she was drunk, and most likely sad on their first Valentine's Day apart, and it was a recipe for disaster.

Even if she'd broken his heart, Spencer still cared about her.

Which is why he inevitably agreed to stay, at least until she fell asleep.

He knew her well enough to know all the ways she'd try to get him under the covers with her, so it was a familiar amusement that settled in his being when he was finally able to get on top of the covers with her underneath. But as he entertained her silly little questions with the right answers until she fell asleep, Spencer noticed something else accompanying that amusement.

Guilt.

And then anger for feeling guilty about her sadness— sadness that could have been avoided had she just gotten over whatever was holding her back and either returned his "I love you" or  told him she wasn't feeling the same way just yet.

All she had to do was talk.

He had a right to feel upset about Y/N holding back when he'd been nothing but patient, spending almost every year of their relationship trying to make her see that she had nothing to be afraid of. He'd given her every chance to talk about what she was feeling, whether it was happy or not, and every time she pushed it all away in favor of sex.

That wasn't what he wanted in a relationship, so he ended it. And there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

So why was he feeling so fucking guilty?

He blamed his good nature and innate need to please people, to make them feel good and happy. But he also blamed Y/N and her adorable drunken sleeping face.

He watched as she slept, willing himself not to forget the way she hurt him. She'd completely stolen his heart and shattered it at the same time, and if he was being honest, she still held some of the pieces. But he couldn't get them back, not if he didn't want to risk shattering her own heart in the process.

It felt like they were tied together by some strong, invisible force that wouldn't break unless both of them broke right along with it.

So... maybe he could afford to leave those pieces of his heart with her. He'd have to if they were going to get out of this alive. Not unscathed, sure, but alive nonetheless.

Once he was sure she was deep in sleep, Spencer quietly and carefully got off the bed and navigated through her apartment, getting her a glass of water and leaving it on the table next to her bed. And because he couldn't help it, he cleaned up some of the clothes that were scattered around her floor, depositing them into the hamper and straightening out a few more things that were out of place.

He looked over at her sleeping figure one more time, sighed, and then left, keeping her bedroom door open just a crack.

***

Spencer knew he shouldn't have stayed longer.

Despite his better judgement, he'd plopped himself down on her couch after making sure she was sound asleep, hoping to catch his breath and sort through what he was feeling before he got behind the wheel. But of course, it was 2am and he was exhausted, and he couldn't stop himself from closing his eyes and drifting off.

And now he was sitting up, looking around the apartment through the lens of morning.

Though the curtains were sheer, they didn't provide much light, but enough of it showed him just how familiar the space was. Y/N hadn't moved anything around. The same art was on the same walls, the potted ivy plant on her mantle sat un-watered and withering, and every book and record and DVD on her shelves was in the exact same spot as they'd all been the last time he was there in December.

Meanwhile, after the breakup he'd re-arranged everything. He was so sure that they were through for good this time around that he wanted a clean slate. Not that he wanted to rid himself of her memory completely, but if he was going to move on from the hold she'd had on him, he had to do something...

And yet, he ended up at her apartment the morning after Valentine's Day all the same.

He heard the shower running faintly a couple rooms away. You didn't have to pass the couch to get there, so maybe she hadn't seen him sleeping and he could get away cleanly.

Spencer scrambled off the couch, thankful that he hadn't removed his jacket or his shoes and that he could just sprint towards the door without having to find any of his belongings.

But as luck would have it, the second he took a step, the shower turned off. He had to get out of there quickly, but if he did then she'd definitely know he'd stayed overnight. But if he went quietly, he wouldn't have enough time before she caught him.

Maybe I could hide...

He shook the thought with a roll of his eyes, settling on the clearest course of action, which was to make as quick of a getaway as he could. He'd try to be quiet as well, though the creaky door was going to be nearly impossible to get through without a sound.

His hand was on the doorknob when he heard her voice.

"You didn't think you could spend the night and then leave without saying goodbye, did 'ja?"

The pure amusement in her tone made his stomach churn, and it wasn't unpleasant in the slightest.

Spencer turned and smiled softly, avoiding looking at her completely. "Sorry. Didn't want to bother you."

"You're never a bother."

That sentiment held less amusement and more sincerity, which was what guided his eyes to meet the woman who said the words.

His stomach twisted again when he saw her, exactly like he knew she'd be— wrapped in nothing but a thin towel with near-dripping hair cascading down her back. Her legs were bare and exposed, the towel not only thin but short, which meant that her chest was also practically spilling out of it. Despite the obvious and inevitable hungover look in her eye, there was also a good splash of that mischief that'd always been there— the kind that spelled out trouble.

He needed to get out of there.

"Well, um... I'm glad I got you home safe," he said, clearing his throat. "I should... I should go."

"You sure you don't wanna stay for breakfast?"

Spencer could have sworn she was teasing him, dangling her body in front of him like a meal they both knew he wouldn't be able to resist. But then she added, "I've got everything I need for your favorite omelet," and he exhaled with a small smile, exhausted with his own mind for convincing him that she was out to pull him back in.

Still, he declined. "No, I... I shouldn't. But, uh, thank you..."

"You sure?"

This time when he looked up at her, she was closer. She was gently striding forward to meet him, and he half thought about backing up towards the door until he realized he was already there.

"I—I'm sure. Really."

"But you drove around all night just to take me home when I was drunk, the least I can do is feed you..."

"Eh, it's alright. It's... Nothing I haven't done before."

She stopped then, her eyes briefly dropping to the floor. It was like her whole demeanor changed—just for a second—from the prowess she'd always been, to what seemed to be a woman filled with sadness and regret. It didn't last long though, just enough for Spencer to notice it before she looked back up at him with that wicked gleam in her eye and a remark right at the tip of her tongue.

"Still. I feel bad, making you do all that for me... Especially now."

He wasn't sure what to make of this... It seemed like she was sincere, but she was also alluring, calling to him like a siren leading him to his ultimate demise. And while he'd come to know that as merely a part of her nature, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that she was doing it on purpose.

She was in a skimpy towel, after all, and she definitely knew how to use that to her advantage.

It didn't help that he didn't have the courage to leave. Everything inside of him right then longed to drop that towel and indulge himself once more. Putting aside all the heartache and the differences they shared, all he felt in that moment was the need to touch her— to get lost in her and never be found again.

She was his fatal flaw, and it was painfully obvious.

Spencer knew he shouldn't have stayed longer...

He was over to her in just three strides, throwing off his jacket and tossing it aside before cradling her face with his hands and bringing their lips together for the first time since Christmas Eve.

The small whine in her throat signaled that she hadn't expected it, but welcomed it all the same. The moment she lifted her arms to wrap around his neck, the towel fell to the floor, and there was no going back.

"What about breakfast?" Y/N breathed out once they pulled away for air.

Spencer contemplated, studying her face, seeing the way her eyes sparkled, and decided on the two words that sealed his fate.

"Screw breakfast."

Their lips were melded together almost as soon as the words left his mouth. And it wasn't long before every other part of their bodies were melded together as well.

Y/N helped him take the rest of his clothes off as they danced around the entryway and the living room. Everything was open, no walls separating the living room from the kitchen, so to compensate for the lack of breakfast they'd be eating, they migrated to the kitchen counter once Spencer had off everything but his boxers.

He trapped her against the cool marble of the countertop, her back hitting it solid and sending a shiver up her spine. Meanwhile his hands roamed her body, unsure of where to be other than on her at all times, whether it be her waist, her stomach, her arms, her breasts, or her ass. He wanted to feel all of her, and quite frankly she wanted the same.

She even told him so, in her own way, by bringing one of her legs up and wrapping it around his waist, pulling him closer to her as she wove her fingers through his hair and tasted his tongue with her own.

The action elicited a groan from his mouth, low and desperate. Spencer settled his hands on her waist and gripped it tight, silently telling her what to do.

So she jumped up and he helped guide her swiftly onto the counter. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist again, and he found himself grinding into her hips, urgent to feel every part of her. And thankfully she was feeling rather desperate herself, because she rolled her hips up into him in return, breaking their mouths apart just briefly to speak.

"Fuck me..."

There was so much he wanted to say to her in that moment— how badly he was feeling about keeping her entertained while he was slowly deteriorating inside from her emotional detachment and rejection, how much she frustrated him, and more prominently, how she was so goddamn impatient and that he was getting there...

But all that he could manage was a broken, desperate whisper of her name.

It was all he'd ever known.

All that frustration... All that anger, heartache, passion, and time apart combined beautifully into those few syllables that made up her name and tore him apart from the inside out.

And his hands were just as destructive.

Spencer deftly dropped his boxers to the ground and pushed forward, almost losing all sense of self the moment the head of his dick finally made contact with her cunt. He made his way inside of her and then used both of his hands to grip her waist and bring her closer, their mouths connecting harshly as they found one another once again.

His grip was bruising— not possessive in any way, but desperate, like he had to cling to her for dear life or he wouldn't live to see another day. He held himself inside her, sighing and whimpering into her mouth as she clenched around him. It was so familiar, so comfortable and exhilarating that he almost didn't even want to move. He thought about staying there, still inside her forever.

But as always, Y/N was insatiable.

She wrapped all her limbs around him and held on, rolling her hips and seeking friction in any way possible when she briefly tore her lips away from his.

"I need you, baby, please..."

Even as his heart started to rumble in his chest, well aware of the fact that she still probably didn't love him the way he loved her, Spencer gave her everything. He pulled out and snapped his hips forward again, setting a strong, steady pace that had Y/N's eyes rolling back, and the payoff of hearing her sigh out his name was more than enough to keep him going.

Her nails dug deliciously into his shoulders, the faint sting adding something reminiscent of gasoline to a fire. The flames grew taller and brighter the more he fucked her, and with each gradual increase of volume and intensity, it was a wonder the whole kitchen around them hadn't literally burst into flames.

That's how they always were.

Together like this, so lost in the high of each others' bodies, it was easy to forget the things that made their relationship so hard. It was easy to let all the negativity slip away into the throes of pent-up, well-needed sex. The high they gave each other was merely that— A high...

A distraction.

And while that's exactly what Y/N needed, what she preferred in most cases, it's what Spencer recognized as completely unhealthy, despite his coming back to it every time.

It's also why he dreaded the moment ending. Because once they came down from the high, all that's left would be sadness, regret... Guilt... Their fire burned hot, brightly and wildly, but in the aftermath would lay only a thick layer of deadly smoke between them— hard to navigate, and nearly impossible to breathe in without suffocating.

So they simply burned and burned and burned...

Spencer gripped her so tight he was sure to leave her with bruising. And in turn Y/N dragged her nails down his back and dug them into his ass, her palm laying firmly over the muscles that aided in fucking her into the marbled surface. She whined out curses and moans, and he cried out broken whispers of her name, pet names, and curses alike.

Even once she'd come, he kept going, willing himself to hold on as long as he could. She whined into his ear at the overstimulation. And rather than keeping her legs wrapped around his body, she decided to spread them wide, perching her heels up on the counter as far as she could go and anchoring her fingers through his hair.

And though she might not have had enough orgasms in her to keep up with him, she welcomed it all the same—She welcomed the burn just as much as he did.

Even still, no fire can burn forever.

All concept of time was lost by the time Spencer finally collapsed forward, completely spent and barely standing on weak legs after coming twice. Y/N held onto him tightly to keep him upwards, lightly massaging his scalp with gentle fingers and closing her eyes as she focused on his breathing— the way it fanned over the skin of her bare shoulder and how it sounded, perfectly in time with hers...

It was the most peaceful she'd been in a long time.

She felt him pull out of her, the both of them groaning at the feeling, and a little at the mess it would make.

Spencer gently peeled his body off of hers, sniffing once and avoiding her eyes. "Sorry... You just got out of the shower..."

"It's fine," Y/N breathed. She begged him silently to look her in the eye, but he remained still... Most likely thinking. She could practically see the cogs turning in his brain.

So, in an effort to lighten the mood a bit, she added with a breathy laugh, "Besides... It's nothing I haven't done before."

The callback to his words—and memories of all the times they'd found themselves in this position before—got Spencer to laugh a little, but he still wouldn't meet her eyes.

Finally, he cleared his throat. "I'll... I'll grab the wipes?"

"Oh. Sure," Y/N returned with a thankful smile. It was hopeful, too, though the moment he was out of eyesight, it turned rather sad.

She'd known that behavior before, seen that hesitation in his movements and that sound in his voice.

It was guilt.

Regret.

Probably a bit of self-hatred, too.

When he returned, a pile of her clothes in hand and the bag of wipes on top, she took them from him with a kind smile and cleaned herself up while he put his clothes back on.

The silence was more uncomfortable than anything either of them had ever experienced.

So much so, that Y/N couldn't even muster up the courage to ask him to stay for breakfast— and she always did after one of their post-break hookups.

Maybe this time really was different.

Spencer was just at the door again when she stopped him.

"Thank you," she said. Her voice was so small, he almost didn't hear it. "For bringing me home..."

But he paused, turned, and finally looked her in the eye.

He almost sunk to his knees right there...

Seeing her, arms crossed like she was trying to keep warm, as her head hung low and she looked up at him through sad, hooded eyelids...

It reminded him of the woman he fell in love with.

But in his peripheral, he saw the towel on the floor and was reminded of the woman who'd shattered his heart.

Spencer cleared his throat. Once upon a time he might have returned her thanks with, Anytime, but... Honestly he wasn't sure there could ever be another time. For his sanity, he'd have to avoid 'anytime' at all costs.

So, he settled on, "You're welcome."

He was glad to see her return his kind smile with one of her own, even if it was tainted with sadness, and a small wave goodbye.

Maybe this time it would stick.

Even still, as he closed the door behind him and made his way to the parking lot, for some reason it didn't quite feel like goodbye.

And some of that deadly smoke that settled in his lungs as he drove further and further away from her apartment was inclined to agree.

***

Neither of them could sleep that night.

While Spencer stared out the window of the jet, a little annoyed to be called out on a case so late but at least thankful for the distraction, Y/N laid in bed, staring at the stars on her ceiling.

The same constellation caught their eye.

Columba.

The Dove.

She hadn't even meant to arrange the stars like that, but one night after a date, they were laying in her bed and Spencer pointed out that the cluster of plastic stars right in the corner of the ceiling looked like Columba.

Y/N fondly remembered Spencer telling her about how it was originally named to represent Noah's dove, which searched for dry land during the great biblical flood and returned carrying an olive branch to make news of its recession— of peace at last.

The memory made her smile. It tugged at her heart and made her dreams of him even more vivid.

All the same, Spencer noticed the constellation outside the jet window and remembered that same night. The smile on her face as he told her the story, the feel of her fingers gliding softly over the bare skin of his forearm...

It was the first night since he'd met her that he thought it.

I love her...

He almost told her then, too, but he was afraid it was too soon. So he refrained.

Looking back, Spencer was starting to regret that— Maybe without that extra time together, breaking up would have been easier. But instead, he gave her more time. He gave himself more time to fall deeper in love with her, and in the end it still wasn't enough.

Now they were both looking at the same constellation, one made of plastic and the other of gas, wondering if their flood would ever recede.

And in the event that it did... Who would be the dove, and what would be their olive branch?

“You know I dream about getting back together in the future, I could focus on you. But if I leave right now, I hope that you don’t find someone that touches you the way that I do...”

***

SERIES TAGLIST:   @reidyoulikeabook​ @yourmisosoup​ @fortheloveofcriminalminds​ @bellzo17​ @altsvu​ @flipperpenguins​ @mcumorningstar​

TAGS NOT WORKING: @reid-to-me @totallyclearwitch

[quickspinner]

Honeymoon cruise sprint?👀

WIP Asks (this is the last one I had in my inbox, so if there’s something you wanted to see but haven’t, feel free to drop an ask. Anon is on and I don’t bite so don’t feel like you have to be shy)

This one was supposed to be a sprint fic, and I think the prompt was Person A getting left at the alter and then going on their honeymoon cruise by themselves, and meeting Person B there.

I think two things happened with this one; my eyes were bigger than my stomach (I wanted to write more than what would fit in three sprints) and...I got tangled up in my own hangups about hitting on/flirting with people who are a) at work b) in a situation where they can't really escape from you. Which is all very valid in real life but I'm annoyed with myself that I can't set it aside for the sake of a little fictional romance. (Rose and Juleka could lose their business license if Luka is making out with passengers! If she rejected him she'd still see him all over the ship and that would make her whole trip awkward especially with having just been left in the altar and Luka wouldn't do that to her and SHUT UP BRAIN.) None of these problems are insurmountable, just got fed up with them and put the fic in time out for...a while. 😅

This story features my pet headcanon of Luka and Juleka having all kinds of random and weird skills because Anarka just enrolled them in whatever classes/activities were available during the times she needed childcare. Also Zoe makes a cameo because she'd just been introduced and I was kind of experimenting with her.

The way Luka saw it, his job was to make people feel good, and make sure they were having a good time, and he was good at it. He liked making people happy. His compliments were sincere, he knew how to flirt without overstepping or raising expectations, he was perceptive enough about people to nudge someone in the direction of a good time, whether that was toward a lesson or an activity, or a comfortable deck chair, or occasionally, a fellow passenger.

So it wasn’t that he hated his job, it was just that Luka preferred the singles cruises. Everyone came aboard expecting a good time, looking to party and meet people and enjoy themselves, they tipped generously, they wanted his favorite kinds of music, and when drama happened, it was usually juicy and made for a good story. As long as you remembered to knock before you entered any room that could remotely be considered private, the singles cruises were a good time. 

The honeymoon cruises were just...boring. Everyone was wrapped up in their partner, and there wasn’t much for Luka to do, beyond the actual motions of his job. It was kinda cute the first few days or so, and then it just became nauseating (and you still had to remember to knock before you opened a closet). They all wanted slow dances and half the time they weren’t even listening to the music. The only people who paid any attention to him whatsoever were the ones who probably shouldn’t have gotten married, and he wasn’t touching that with a ten foot pole, even to fake flirt. 

He was minding the bar the first night on autopilot, smiling and making small talk without really paying much attention, when someone approached and he looked up to take their order, and momentarily forgot what he was going to say. The petit dark-haired beauty looking back at him blinked pretty blue eyes and her perfect lips curved in a slightly uncertain smile. 

Wow, he thought, before he caught himself and gave his professional smile. “What can I get for you?” he asked, and she relaxed a bit. His eyes flicked down just long enough to note that the nametag pinned to her dress said only Marinette. No cutesy hearts, no Mrs. Marinette So-and-so, no “So-and-so’s WIFE,” just. Marinette. 

It was a nice name. Her table number was also printed on the bottom, and he glanced back that way to see a tall, slender blond sitting there, intent on a thick booklet she was leafing through. 

“I’m not sure, actually,” Marinette said, bringing his attention back to her as she reached up to fiddle with one of the long pigtails draped forward over her shoulders. “I...don’t really like the taste of alcohol, to be honest, so could you make me something sweet? Not too strong, please. Something I can have a couple of without being sick tomorrow.” 

“No problem,” Luka said, picking up a glass without looking away from those eyes. “Do you prefer orange, pineapple, or cranberry?” 

She pressed her lips together for a moment in thought, and he barely stopped himself from licking his own. “Pineapple, I think,” she said, tilting her head slightly, and Luka was glad to turn away for a moment, just to pull himself together as he picked up the bottles he needed. She was pretty, but she was married, and he was a professional. 

“Anything for your wife?” he asked as he mixed her up a fruity cocktail with a smooth rum that should give her a pleasant buzz without knocking her on her ass. He was surprised when he glanced up and saw that she was surprised. She looked over her shoulder, back at her table, and then back at him, her mouth forming an ‘o’ like she had suddenly understood something. 

“She’s, um, not my wife, just my friend,” Marinette giggled, a pretty blush creeping into her cheeks. “I’m not actually married. Which I know is weird, why am I here if I’m not married, right? Of course you would think we’re married. I mean, I was supposed to be married—not to her, to someone else—but then I didn’t get married, because you know it kind of takes two and I was the only one standing there, so unless I did want to marry one of my friends I was kinda out of luck, and of course the cruise was supposed to leave the next day and I was...I was all packed, and it was too late to cancel, and it was a lot of money to just throw away, and maybe that didn’t matter to him because he’s stupid rich, but I’m not, so I thought, why shouldn’t I go and have a good time, just because my now-ex-fiance just...um…” She paused, and turned red. “You...probably didn’t need to hear any of that.” 

“No,” Luka smiled. “But I didn’t mind it. I like hearing people’s stories, although I’m sorry yours ended so badly. So you brought your friend with you?” 

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Why not? I had two tickets, and she can’t go anywhere without people hitting on her constantly—she’s an actress, you see, people recognize her and then they get all creepy, but this way she gets to take a vacation without anybody bothering her—well, much. She’s apparently on a few people’s...I forget what they call it, the list, you know?” 

“The freebie five?” Luka chuckled, and Marinette nodded vigorously. “Nice. Wow, can you imagine being on your honeymoon and your significant other is like ‘wait, honey, she’s on my list, you don’t mind, right?’” His chuckle turned into a laugh as he shook his head, and Marinette began to giggle too. “Some people, wow. I mean that takes guts.” 

“Yeah,” Marinette giggled, looking down as she leaned against the bar a bit and turned the glass he’d put in front of her. “This is almost too pretty to drink,” she told him, with a shy half-smile. 

Luka leaned his elbows on the counter so his face was more level with hers and gave her a wink. “I’ll make you another one any time. I hope you enjoy it, Marinette. And if you need anything else, please let me know. I have a ton of useless skills so you’ll see me all over the place doing whatever needs doing.” He grinned, and Marinette’s giggle this time gave him a happy little flutter in his chest, because he’d caused it. Yeah, this was what he missed on the honeymoon cruises. That little ego boost or whatever you wanted to call it that came with cheering someone up. 

It was definitely more fun when the person smiling at you was single and pretty, anyway, even if he didn’t intend to do anything about it. He watched Marinette’s retreating back, bare in the tropical print halter dress she was wearing. Her companion looked up as Marinette approached the table, just in time to catch Luka staring, and her smirk was clear all the way across the room. Luka fixed his gaze to the bar in front of him as he cleaned up and got set for the next customer, but the stupid grin he couldn’t quite wipe off his face was a far cry from the professional smile he’d started out with.

[sevlgi]

happy accidents

requested: yes by @moonbyul-yi​

group: blackpink

pairing: lisa x fem!reader

genre: fluff

contents: cat cafe!au, reader’s a cat person, also i’ve touched like 3 cats in my whole life

warnings: none

synopsis: There’s only one person who you haven’t met at your prospective new job, but you should always watch out for happy accidents.

a/n: y’all if this flops like all the other lisa fics i will riot

word count: 1.2k

It’s supposed to be a warm, comfortable summer day, but Lisa wouldn’t know. She’s stuck inside the overly-air-conditioned back room of the cafe she works in, and she’s starting to get fed up with it.

“Jennie!” she shouts, forgoing honorifics purely for the shock factor.

Apparently, it works, as the older girl sticks her head inside the room with an incredulous look on her face. “What?”

Lisa only offers a grin as her apology, then picks up her inventory clipboard and whines, “If I call you ‘unnie’ properly for the next month, will you swap places with me?”

“Why should I, brat?” Jennie frowns, but she’s already stepping inside. Almost half of the inventory’s done, anyway, and she has always preferred doing such simple things to chasing the kittens around the cafe. “Fine, but if I catch you slipping, you’re finishing inventory for the next week.”

The taller girl escapes without another thought, whipping her apron off and hanging it on one of the many hooks in the hallway. Chaeyoung watches her in amusement from behind the counter, still tapping a rather complicated into her tablet. “Excited to see the same cats you see every day?”

“I always am,” Lisa grins, scooping up the first stray kitten she sees. “Hello, baby, have you gotten something to eat yet?”

“Jennie tags all the ones fed, remember? Just look for the pink stamp on their butts,” Chaeyoung reminds her. And just as she says, when Lisa turns the squirming cat in her hands, there’s a dust of glittery pink near its tail.

The kitten jumps out of her hands, and Lisa pouts. “They’re so fast now. Or am I just old?”

“You’re old,” Jisoo answers for her, smacking her on the head with a spare menu. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing inventory?”

Lisa scowls and tosses an empty cat food bag at the dark-haired girl. “Yes, but Jennie’s much kinder and nicer than you are, and she let me, the real cat person out of us 4, deal with the kitties.”

“Did I hear a compliment?” Jennie piles on from behind, eliciting a squeal, and she reaches to mess with Lisa’s bangs. “I’m impressed, Manoban, this is some real character development.”

“Hey, don’t touch the bangs!”

Lisa’s thankful that neither of the other two in the cafe come to mess with her, or she’d be even more of a squealing mess, but what she isn’t thankful for is that the door hits her leg when it opens. “Ow!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

She feels another pair of hands on her shoulders, slightly colder than Jennie’s are. “It’s fine,” she gasps, still squeezing her eyes shut. 

Jennie leaves-- Lisa can hear her voice moving farther, the traitor-- but the hands stay. She manages to open her eyes, and finds a frankly very embarrassed stranger.

“I’m really sorry,” you apologize again, and take her forearms to help her up. “I didn’t think you were sitting so close to the door.”

“It’s really okay. Um, just give me a second for the greeting.” Lisa rubs her leg for a minute more before straightening up with her characteristic smile and a menu taken from her pocket. “Hi, welcome to our cat cafe, my name is Lisa. Do you have any preference for seating?”

You shake your head quietly, and she nods. “Okay, then, you can just sit right there, closest to the cats. Have you been here before, or should I explain the rules?”

“I’ve been here before,” you respond. Lisa frowns; she doesn’t think she’s seen you before, and she’d definitely remember a face like that. “Do you know if Leo is anywhere?”

The other girl brightens then. “Yeah! I can find him for you, I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere this morning.”

Lisa scurries off to find her troublesome kitten, and in the meantime, you glance up to Chaeyoung, smiling at you. “You shouldn’t have told her you’ve been here before. She gets excited to show new people around, you know.”

“Hah. Well,” you shrug, straightening up. “I’ve been here enough to apply for this job, right? Am I getting interviewed? I apologize for getting stopped at the entrance.”

Jisoo raises her hand. “Uh, no interviewing, we don’t know how to do that. All you gotta do is work the cafe for one day, and we’ll observe you.”

“Okay.” When Jennie holds an apron out to you over the counter, you accept it in one hand and loop it over your head. There’s no nametag, of course, but it’s just for one day. “Um, where should I start?”

Chaeyoung tilts her head over your shoulder, and you turn to find Leo being chased over to you by one long-limbed girl. “He doesn’t like me today,” Lisa excuses with a pout.

You scoop the cat up to your chest just as she finishes, leaving Lisa’s mouth hanging wide open. “Leo! The second traitor of the day!” she gasps, and you can only laugh in slight embarrassment. “Abandoning me for the... new hire?”

“Oh. Yeah,” you say, picking at the half-on uniform. “Um, I’m trying the job out for the day, hope you don’t mind dealing with me.”

“No problem, as long as you don’t usurp my position as the favorite,” she shrugs. “What’s your position for now?”

Jennie interrupts, “She’s a barista, so that the other Miss Kim can stop breaking our espresso machines.”

Jisoo protests loudly from the back, but Lisa grins, “That’s great! We did need someone who’s fast at making coffees.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m fast,” you say, embarrassed. “What do you do?”

Lisa’s cheeks flush at your question, and you almost regret asking. Chaeyoung answers for you from the back, though. “She’s listed as a co-founder, but Lisa considers herself to be the resident cat person, so she just wrangles the cats when needed.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault the rest of you have dogs!” Lisa complains, cheeks flaming bright red now.

You mock-gasp, “Dogs? How traitorous...”

“I know,” the other girl scowls, reaching over to ruffle Leo. “Anyways, I think you should experiment with the coffee machine? Whenever there aren’t customers, though, I cordially invite you to join me.” Lisa extends a hand with a grin, and you can only nod like it doesn’t fluster you to take it.

Jisoo puts a hand on your arm to guide you towards the espresso machines. “Okay there, Romeo, time to remember what you’re here for,” she says, but her words are joking.

Your eyes widen and you open your mouth to justify yourself, but Jisoo stops you. “Shh. I’m not stopping you, Lisa’s a great catch. She’s hot, she’s cute, and she’s actually emotionally available,” she grins, “unlike Jennie over there. I wouldn’t recommend going after my girlfriend, for more reasons than one.”

“Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” you say, and brush past Jisoo to fiddle with the espresso machine. 

But you can’t stop yourself from taking glances at Lisa as she plays with the cats. She does seem like a perfect catch, but you should probably finish your first day at the cafe first. 

[ahatintimepieces]

Fabric Hearts

Remember the first part of that build-a-bear au I wrote for @smieska-draws? It’s back! But now the au name makes sense! Imagine!

Luka, known as the Snatcher to most of the mall locals, runs the Kraft-a-Kid while his daughter, Hattie, runs around with her friends. There’s definitely nothing suspicious about Luka. The rumors that he snatches the souls of children and stuffs them into the dolls are completely unfounded. Probably. Most likely. Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it’s fine.

This is, of course, another au that Smieska and I both developed and like to swap ideas for SO send her your love and adulation because I couldn’t have written this without her ;o; <333 Here’s the link to the piece she did for first part if you haven’t seen it yet (which u should because it’s fabulous and incredible). Without further ado, here it is!

Words: 4,131

The door squeaked open as Luka recorded the number of tiny, elastic collars with bright bells in the back.

“Dimitri can’t make it today,” he warned without looking up from his clipboard. His golden gaze flickered up towards the boxes filled with cotton stuffing and he quickly counted them as footsteps approached. “If you get a sudden influx of customers, come grab me.”

“It’s me, Dad,” Hattie’s voice came from right beside him.

“Did I stutter?” He glanced down without missing a beat. She gave him a deadpan stare as he grinned. His sharp canines glinted in the unnaturally bright florescent lights. “Come on, kiddo. How about you help me with my business endeavors instead of frittering away your summer romping around the mall?”

She readjusted the brim of the top hat she made from her millinery lessons at the fabric store. Why his child fixated on hat-making out of everything she could have taken an interest in was beyond him but even he had to admit her royal purple top hat was well crafted.

“I’m going with Belle and the others to get lunch at the food court,” she said, ignoring his jesting. “Can I have money?”

“You know if you had a job you wouldn’t need to be asking me,” he lamented dramatically before wedging the clipboard between his arm and side. He reached for his wallet in the back pocket of his slacks.

“I’m not even twelve.” She blinked up at him with large blue eyes. “There are child labor laws.”

“Excellent.” He nodded, opening his wallet. “Don’t let anyone in the mall convince you otherwise. But,” he slipped out a bill and gave her a pointed look, “if you accept this, you have to do me a favor.”

“I already cleaned the bathrooms last weekend,” she whined.

His grin widened.

“Tough luck, kiddo.” He twisted the bill in the air, watching her nose scrunch as she seriously weighed her options. After a second of letting her think that she was going to have to do her least favorite chore, he extended the bill towards her. “Just bring me back a coffee and I’ll consider us even.”

Relief instantly flooded her features as she took the bill.

“I can do that! Your usual?” She headed towards the door.

“That’ll work,” he said, tucking away his wallet and grabbing the clipboard again.

“Thanks, Dad!” she chirped before moving to open the door.

Just as she reached for it, the door swung open, and she stumbled back. Luka immediately dropped the clipboard and slipped behind her with the speed of shadows dodging the light. She smacked into his legs, and he placed a steadying hand on her shoulder as Alex walked in with wide eyes.

“I’m so sorry, kid! I didn’t see you there.” Alex winced, looking from Hattie to Luka’s hard glare.

“I’m fine!” Hattie promised, giving a bright smile until she placed her hand over Luka’s fingers. She jolted and twisted around. “Dad, are you okay? You’re really warm.”

“It is hot in here.” Alex tugged at their collar, wincing.

“The thermostat dial was probably nudged,” Luka dismissed, pulling away and stooping to grab the clipboard. “I’ll take a look.”

“Should I get you water?” Hattie asked.

“I have water. Now go have fun.” He shooed her towards the door. “The sooner you leave the sooner you can run my errand.”

Hattie hesitated but when he returned to his task of recording inventory, he heard her retreating footsteps.

“Sorry,” Alex muttered as they crossed over to the table for the employees. They dropped their backpack before grabbing the light purple apron with their nametag.

“Let’s just be careful with how forcefully we open doors, hm? I don’t want to deal with any workplace liability cases. They’re a pain.” Luka shot the teen a toothy grin. Glancing back down to the clipboard, he added in a more monotone cadence, “Anyway, Dimitri can’t come today, so once Ember leaves, it’ll just be you and me for the rest of the day. If it gets too crowded on the floor and I’m not around, come find me.”

“Right.” They nodded firmly. While wiping back their bangs and smearing the beads of sweat on their brow, they hurried out. Once the door closed behind them and Luka was alone, he let out a sigh.

The flame that had flared when Hattie nearly got hit crackled noisily in his otherwise empty chest. Luka placed one of his pale hands over the flame and counted out the seconds between metered inhales and exhales. The snap and pop of embers faded and when he glanced towards the thermostat, the temperature in the room lowered back to a comfortable range.

Not that he was bothered by the heat, but he didn’t need his employees passing out.

Ember’s shift ended as he got to counting the unstuffed plush shells. As she hung her apron over the hook, she informed him that two separate groups had just entered the store. Luka nodded, finishing his current count before getting ready to help Alex on the floor.

He brushed back his long, spiky hair into a ponytail. Stray strands the color of soot fluttered against his cheek, and he tucked them behind his ear.

They reflected a warm violet when they caught the light.

With his hair as contained as he could manage, he grabbed his own amethyst apron with the Kraft-a-Kid’s signature logo; a stylized baby goat and parent goat waving a friendly greeting. After draping it over his black suit and making sure it didn’t displace his dark purple tie, he tied the apron with nimble fingers, clawed at the tips. He double-checked that the pocket had extra thread and a compact sewing kit before he clipped on his name tag and headed out into the workshop.

Alex snapped their head up from one of the stuffing stations, looking relieved when they spotted Luka rounding the counter. Alex returned their full attention to the small girl and her mother while Luka smiled at the two teens with a younger child hovering by the bins of unstuffed shells by the entrance.

While he didn’t know them personally, he recognized Brooke and her younger sister Hali, who worked (or in Hali’s case just hovered around in the back when not at daycare) at their uncle’s travel agency, and then Makoto, who worked at the jewelry store. Judging from their uniforms, the teens were probably using their breaks to accompany Hali. Since he often heard good things about their work ethic and Hali’s sweet nature from Mari, he assumed he had an easy session ahead. He waved them over.

Brooke and Makoto shared a nervous look while Hali bounded over with a bright smile.

“Why, hello there!” Luka pasted on his most vibrant customer service smile as he lowered onto the seat by the stuffing station. Cotton and soft fibers filled the glass tank decorated to look like hearty trees and branches climbed around the edges. The machine itself matched the lilac walls and brown and bronze gears that decorated them. The bins and shelves that held the merchandise throughout the store were all structured to look like spools of golden thread.

Holding an unstuffed goat with dark brown fuzz and silver horns, Hali shyly smiled up at Luka as Brooke and Makoto slowly joined.

“I see you’ve picked your new friend!” Luka held out his hands and Hali gingerly lowered the flat goat into his palms. “Before we bring them to life, how stuffed do you want them to be?”

“Um?” Hali tilted her head with a blank expression.

“Do you want them to be firm or squishy?” Luka clarified, fitting the goat around the nozzle and getting his foot ready over the pedal.

“Fiwm, pwease!” Hali declared in a cutesy voice.

“Excellent choice!” Luka set to work, pumping the pedal as he filled out the head of the goat plush. The machine roared to life, blowing air and fluff with the force of a vacuum. Though, his ears perked when he caught Brooke and Makoto in an intense discussion as they remained a couple steps back. What he couldn’t hear over the machine, he pieced together easily enough.

He knew the rumors and could guess what was on their mind when they mentioned the Snatcher and stolen souls.

Luka smirked as he pulled his foot from the pedal and the machine hushed.

“Now it’s time for my favorite part.” He beamed, pulling off the firmly stuffed goat and then reaching for a bucket full of small felt hearts. “The soul ceremony! Go ahead and pick the heart that most resonates with you.”

“If it’s just a heart, why is it called a soul ceremony?” Brooke asked, her voice quivering as she pressed closer to Makoto.

Hali, meanwhile, was completely enraptured with picking out the right fabric heart.

“Hearts, souls, same thing, really,” Luka soothed with a toothy grin, giving the teens a considering look.

Makoto’s gaze flickered down to his fangs. She lifted her chin, trying to project an air of confidence. But her furrowed brows wavered.

“Souws awe heawts?” Hali gasped, looking up with awe.

“Absolutely!” Luka kept his voice cheerful, gesturing to the bucket. “It’s what gives your new friend life! I imagine without one, they would feel pretty empty and hollow.” Keeping his chin tilted down, he lifted his eyes towards the teens and lowered his voice just a touch. “Wouldn’t you feel pretty soulless without a heart?”

The two stiffened.

“Pwobabwy!” Hali chirped, completely unaware of their increasing unease. She dug around the hearts and pursed her lips. “How do woo know which heawt is the best?”

“That’s up to you!” Luka bounced effortlessly back into an upbeat cadence. He pinched a heart with a checkerboard pattern in red and white. “The nice thing about these hearts is that they’re blank slates. They’ll be filled with whatever you put into them. But don’t put in too much!” he added with a chuckle. “Wouldn’t want your new friend to be more you than you!”

Brooke squeaked in fright and his grin stretched.

“I wiwl take this one, then!” Hali held up a solid red heart.

“Great! Hold on to it, now.” Luka placed the tub back down. “First, why don’t you rub the heart on your hair so your little buddy will always have soft fur!”

Hali beamed at that and rubbed the fabric heart on her hair. When she pulled it back down, some of the blond strands followed the heart while the strands too far away stuck up from the lingering static.

“Well done! Now, rub it against your funny bone so your friend has a sense of humor.” Luka tapped his elbow when Hali crinkled her nose for a moment. Her eyes lit up in understanding and once the heart was granted good humor, Luka added, “and why don’t you strike a superhero pose, so that your pal will hold courage.”

Hali giggled as she placed her hands on her hips and preened.

“Fantastic. Lastly, I want you to rub the heart between your palms!” Luka motioned for her to mimic him as he demonstrated. “Now, when it’s nice and warm, give it a clap to start its heartbeat!”

The clap resounded through the workshop and the teens jolted behind her.

“That should do it,” Luka praised, holding out his palm. Hali handed the heart over, and he slipped it into the goat, tucking it snuggly away in the cotton and fluff.

He then set to filling out the rest of the plush. Once it was stiff and sturdy, he handed it to her, asking if she was content with it. When he received an enthusiastic nod, he took it back and sealed the hole. He snipped the extra thread with the scissors in his apron and then passed the goat back to Hali.

“Here’s your new friend! Be sure to visit our shop in the back! We have plenty of accessories and outfits for the newest member of your family,” Luka recited the same sales pitch as always. “Once you’re ready, head over to an open kiosk so you can fill out the adoption papers. If you need any help, Alex or I will be overjoyed to assist.”

“Thank woo!” Hali hurried over to the accessories, hugging the goat to her chest.

Luka clasped his hands and turned to the teens. When his gaze flickered to the floppy hooded doll in Makoto’s arms, her embrace tightened.

“Ready?” He motioned for her to hand it over so that he could stuff it.

She looked to Brooke, who shrugged with uncertainty. Makoto stepped forward.  

Keeping his tone light, he went through the same script as always. He asked if she wanted the doll to be firm or squishy and, in an effort to loosen her up a bit, offered to add any fun sound boxes or scents to the plush. She remained on edge until he asked about the nametag on her uniform as the machine roared to life again. She explained how her boss liked to give everyone themed nicknames and she was saddled with “Makoneko.” When he asked if she appreciated the nickname, she pointedly rolled her eyes as he removed his foot from the machine pedal again. Her shoulders relaxed when he chuckled.

“Your turn to pick a heart,” Luka twittered in an overly cheerful voice as he held out the bucket.

“Do I have to do the ceremony?” Makoto hesitated, plucking the first heart she saw. Rather than scared, her bored expression mirrored that of many teens who wanted to skip the step.

Perfect.

“I wouldn’t recommend it.” He shrugged casually. “What is a heart without a heartbeat? A soul without a person behind the personality?”

“What?” She faltered, shoulders slowly stiffening again as Brooke’s eyes widened.

“I only mean it’ll be a sorry existence for this little friend.” Luka waved the stubby hands of the purple plush toy. “And you get out what you put in.” Her brows dipped in slight confusion, and he smirked. “You have to at least start its heartbeat. You don’t want to bring a ghost home, do you?”  

“Just do the ceremony!” Brooke hissed through clenched teeth.

“F-fine,” Makoto said, slowly lifting the heart to her long black locks. “So, hair for soft fur?”

“Does it look like this one has fur?” Luka gestured to the doll with the yellow spiral in its hood. He scoffed, turning up his nose. “Of course not! No. First, why don’t you rub the heart against your belly so that it’s full of laughter.”

“I thought that was the elbow.” Makoto crinkled her nose. Though she rubbed the heart against her stomach, eager to get it over with.

“There is a difference between telling good jokes and laughing at them, kiddo,” Luka offered with a smirk. “Now, how about you jump up and down a few times? I’m sure your friend would love to share some of your energy.”

“What does that mean?” She jolted.

“Just that exercise keeps the heart healthy,” Luka said placidly.

Her eyes narrowed but she eventually gave a sluggish skip.  

“Then, rub it against your ear, so it will always listen.” He smiled brightly, being sure to bare his teeth. Once she complied, he clasped his hands together. “I’m sure you know what to do now! Warm it between your palms and then clap to start the heartbeat!”

She let out the breath that she had been holding, relieved it was finally over. She gave a small clap before passing the heart back. He slipped it into the doll.

“Any names in mind for your friend?” Luka prompted as his foot tapped the pedal.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled curtly, purposefully trying to let the whirling air in the stuffing machine drown out her answer.

“How’s this feel?” he asked a few seconds later when the machine hushed again. He pulled the doll from the nozzle and passed it back to her.

“Good.” She returned it after assessing the squishiness.

“If you haven’t got any names, I always thought these particular dolls looked like minions,” he prattled, closing the seam. When she didn’t respond, he continued lightly, “so Minion might be a good name.” He glanced up to meet her gaze and lowered his tone. “You did make sure it’ll listen. It’ll be an obedient little kiddo.”

Her breath hitched.

“Obedient to who?” she challenged, maintaining a fragile glare.

“All done!” Luka snapped upright after snipping the excess thread, pretending he hadn’t heard her question. “Welcome your friend into the world!”

Makoto accepted the doll, her gaze flickering between it and Luka with uncertainty.

“Same as always,” he droned in his peppy, customer service voice. “Browse to your contentment. My daughter recommends the plush purple cherries. You want to keep your buddy happy and fed! Make sure to finalize the adoption and meet Alex or I by the counter.” He glanced over to find the other young girl with her mother already at the cash register. “Looks like it’ll be Alex!”

Makoto nodded numbly as Brooke stepped forward and looped her arm through hers, rescuing Makoto by tugging her away.

“One more thing,” Luka began, keeping his eyes on his clean-up routine. The teens’ footsteps paused as they hovered. Though his smile laced his voice, his enunciation was sharp. “I’m sure the Snatcher doesn’t have to tell you but be sure to treat your new friend as you would yourself. You put your soul into bringing them to life, after all.”

The teens gasped.

“Have a good day, kids.” Laughter laced his voice.

They rushed away as he chuckled.

While he finished cleaning up, Hattie returned with her friends. As soon as she spotted him behind the stuffing machine, she rushed across the tiles decorated to look vaguely like a forest path.

“Here’s your coffee,” she chirped, holding up the cup.

“Any plans for the rest of the day?” he asked, pushing to his feet and picking stray fluff from his apron. Once he was as clean as he was going to get, he accepted the drink. He held it towards his lips, pausing to quirk a brow at young Muriel and Timmy as they passed the stuffing machines to check out all the colorful outfits. Belle, meanwhile, joined Hattie with her azure bow bouncing in her dark coils.

“We’re going to head to the bookstore.” Hattie shrugged. “Tim’s friend is hosting a card game tournament.”

“Remember to be back by six,” he instructed. “Don’t go snacking after four or you’ll spoil your dinner.”

“I know, Dad,” she huffed dramatically.

“Also, Mom says hi, Mr. Kingsley,” Belle pipped in.

“Tell Mari I return the sentiment. Now get your friends to stop loitering.” He turned back towards Hattie and rose his voice so Timmy and Mu could hear. “They scare away customers.”

“Says the Snatcher,” Timmy whispered to Mu.

Luka covered his smirk with the coffee cup. His gaze shifted over Hattie and Belle and he watched as Makoto and Brooke fled the store at a brisk pace. Hali struggled to keep up, but she managed to meet his eyes and offered a cheerful wave.

“Fine,” Hattie sighed. “Come on, guys!”

“I need to stop by Mom’s before we head to the bookstore,” Belle mentioned as she and Hattie turned to leave. “I left my cards with my backpack.”

As the girls left, Luka turned to head back towards the counter, taking a sip of his coffee. He immediately winced.

“Ugh, tepid,” he grumbled as Timmy and Mu ran past, hurrying out to follow Hattie and Belle.

After making sure the kids all had their backs turned and Alex was busy with something on the counter, Luka summoned a gentle ember to his hand. While the flame harmlessly licked the cup, the coffee warmed inside until steam wafted from the hole in the lid. He took a tentative sip and swallowed the scalding liquid.

The flames in his chest crackled and popped, and the knots in his shoulders eased.

He snuffed out the ember in his hand as he lowered the cup. Mist trailed from the lid as the coffee maintained its heat.

“I think you scarred those two for life,” Alex muttered as Luka returned to the counter.

“Which two?” he asked, mind still on Hattie and her friends.

“Brooke and Makoto.” Alex glanced up, shaking their head with a scolding expression.

“I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary,” Luka said calmly. He leaned against the counter, sipping his coffee during his momentary break. “If those hooligans are letting their imaginations run wild, it’s not on my conscience.”

“Uh-huh.” Alex gave him an unimpressed look. “Also, I think we’re running low on the beach ball accessories.”

“I noticed,” Luka muttered, swirling his cup pensively. “Those aren’t particularly popular, and we are getting near the end of the season…”

While they discussed whether they needed to send out an order or if they would make it until the fall selection came out, Hattie rolled on the balls of her feet as she, Timmy, and Mu waited for Belle to return from her mom’s flower shop just across from Kraft-a-Kid. Hattie idly watched all the mallgoers, thoughts blank, but Timmy and Mu had their eyes locked on Kraft-a-Kid, thoughts whirling noisier than the stuffing machines.

“Okay, I’m ready!” Belle announced as she bounced out with her deck of cards.

“Hattie.” Timmy whirled around. “Your dad’s magic!”

“Timmy, he doesn’t steal souls, we’ve been over this,” Hattie whined, crossing her arms.

“If he doesn’t steal souls, then what’s with his coffee?” Mu snapped, nodding her head towards the display window where Luka could be seen leaning against the counter inside the workshop.

Hattie squinted, trying to figure out what was out of place with the steaming coffee cup. After a moment, she turned to Belle, who shrugged.

“It’s hot!” Mu gestured wildly, causing her blond mustache to bob with her movement. “Look at that steam!”

Hattie blinked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Belle supplied dryly. “Because Hattie ordered it hot.”

“But he said it was tepid!” Timmy argued. “We heard him!”

“He probably thinks it is,” Hattie said, knitting her brows together. “He likes his coffee hot enough to burn his tastebuds.”

“You aren’t getting it!” Mu huffed. “It wasn’t steaming when he said it was cold!”

“Okay, but even if he somehow heated it up, that didn’t have anything to do with stealing souls,” Belle appeased.

“That’s what we mean!” Timmy urged. “If he can use one type of magic, he can use others!”

“I regret the day I told you about those rumors,” Hattie grumbled.

It didn’t matter as much when strangers said it, but instead of laughing with Hattie when she told them that people thought her dad was some kind of heartless, soul-snatching monster, Mu and Timmy had latched onto the conspiracy and ever since refused to let go. She couldn’t talk about new product plushies or designs around them anymore because they would just start a debate about which shell would best hold the souls of children.

“Look can we just get going?” She started walking in the direction of the bookstore and Belle matched her pace. Mu hurried to catch up as Timmy trailed behind, keeping a watchful eye on Kraft-a-Kid.

“Are you sure you haven’t seen anything weird?” Mu insisted. “Heard any screams of children he caught? Seen any dolls move in the corner of your eye?”

“You know he laughs like a cartoon villain?” Timmy added.

“The store is literally called Kraft-a-Kid!” Mu continued. “Open your eyes, Hattie!”

“Kid is just another word for baby goat!” Belle argued. “It’s cute!”

“We aren’t talking about this anymore!” Hattie snapped, tugging down on the brim of her hat. She turned away from them and focused on Belle. “So, what deck are you using? The one with fairy types? Or your cat themed one?”

“Both!” She grinned mischievously as she happily helped to redirect the conversation. “I combined them because I wanted to use all my favorites. How about you?”

“Going with the forest deck.” Hattie glanced up, where her deck was safely tucked away in the hidden compartment she stitched into the top hat.

Timmy and Mu huffed, letting their argument go as they pipped in with talking about their own decks. But it was only a matter of time before they started back on their theories about her dad’s supposed magic. Trying not to deflate too much, she kept her eyes forward. She swallowed her frustration and focused on the upcoming tournament.

Besides, even if her dad did have magic and only used it for heating up coffee, it hardly seemed something a heartless monster would do.

Right?