#anyway i'm still working on requests it's just i'm very slow and haven't been having the best time lately

[esprei]

happy father's day to the best egg dad out there

[slasherscream]

I don't normally like make requests from people if it's obvious I'm sorry for my awkwardness.

Anyway you were saying how you were really into Jordan li recently so am I and I've read every single fanfiction or every rant there is about them and I crave more. I have been in a angst/fluff mood and I haven't seen anyone do this idea either. I was thinking thinking maybe Jordan and reader gets into an argument (not really picky about what) and the argument gets really heated (you know how jordan shifts into their male form to Intimidate or get their point across) Jordan shifts into their male form which scares reader (I'm thinking reader doesn't have a good past with angry men) and reader backs away from them in fear Jordan notices and tries to comfort them but reader flinched when Jordan touches them. Reader then asks them to leave so they do but Jordan spends like a week trying to make the situation better.

(I would also like to put reader isn't scared of Jordan more so the action of the blatant Intimidation tactic they tried to use against reader. Reader is angry that jordan would try to scare them even if it wasn't on purpose it still hurt)

Jordan sorta just spends a week following reader around Like a lost puppy trying to treat reader like a absolute queen even if reader won't really acknowledge them until Jordan has an breakdown while drunk coming to readers dorm begging for forgiveness.

Again if its obvious I don't know how to make requests I'm sorry this has just been on my mind for so long.

A/N: this request is absolutely perfect, and exactly to my tastes. thank you for sending it, doll!

WORD COUNT: 4k+ under cut | hurt/comfort and angst/fluff

It’s hard sometimes, knowing when to push and when to just let Jordan be. Not at all a skill you learned over night. You’d gotten good at the push and pull of bringing them out of their shell back when the two of you had just been friends. Better at it than anyone else, at least. It was a slow process, but every second was worth it.

Now on the good days you don’t have to push at all. A hand on their arm. A coaxing smile or two. Any act of connection, no matter how small, enough to make them tell you what’s on their mind. Even if they scowl the entire time they let it out. It’s the letting it out at all that counts. Progress!

Today you miscalculated. It’s been a bad week. Jordan hadn’t dropped in the rankings, but their points took a small dip. They hadn’t been very active on their socials, busy doing work as Brink’s TA. But the point gap between where Jordan sits at #2 in the rankings, and where Andre sits at #3 is still a wide open chasm. 

It’d take something truly disastrous to knock Jordan from the spot they’ve held for three years now. But the rankings are more important than anything to Jordan. No matter how gently you try to bring logic into the situation, Jordan gets irritated quickly, accusing you of not taking it seriously. You often wonder how that could be, considering you’re in the top eight yourself, but you bite your tongue and don’t bring it up.

The group had tried to go out for lunch. It was okay at first, everyone making an effort to ignore the storm cloud Jordan cast over the table as they picked at their food. Then Andre had made some type of stupid joke. Not even about the rankings, but enough to make Jordan snap at him. The situation escalated so quickly that Cate had threatened to take off her glove and make everyone shut up. You paid your portion of the bill and dragged Jordan out before anyone could start up again. 

And now you’re here, somehow also on the shit list for not being supportive enough. As if being supportive isn't everything you do. Day in and day out.

“I can’t believe you’re taking his side. You don’t honestly think it was an innocent comment, do you?” Jordan snaps, standing up from your couch to pace the length of your dorm room. 

“You know how Andre is. He gets sarcastic when he’s hungover, and he was packing a double whammy. He did coke and got drunk last night. He was just a little off. He wasn’t making a real dig at you.” You defend your friend, knowing Jordan will regret what she said at lunch once she’s calmed down. 

“Oh, so we’re all just supposed to tiptoe around his highness? If he was gonna be a dick during the entire thing he should have just skipped coming out with us.” Jordan’s eyes narrow in on your expression, the sudden pursing to your lips and looking away. “What?” She snaps.

You take a deep breath at the tone, “Well, Jordie, if you want me to be honest Andre wasn’t the only one who wasn’t on their best behavior today.” 

A beat of silence.

You look up and there goes Jordan rolling her shoulders back, eyebrows practically in her hairline and you sigh. You definitely should have brought up her attitude later. 

“You really are taking his side!” She scoffs in disbelief. 

“Nope. No, I am not, there are no sides. We’re all friends. Friends fight. I’m just trying to remind you that you actually are friends. You can’t just…” You trail off, uncertain. 

“I can’t just what?” She throws up her hands, volume raising. 

“You can’t act like this every time the rankings do something that isn’t spectacular for you. I know they mean a lot to you but you can’t take the numbers out on the people who care about you.”

“You just don’t get it-”

“But I do get it! We talk about it all the time. Your feelings are completely valid, the way you react to them isn’t. You’ve been giving Andre looks that could kill all week and he didn’t even do anything. If he was a little snappy at lunch, maybe he’s upset that his friend has been treating him like shit over something he barely cares about.” 

“Well if I’m so-” Jordan shifts, pitch of his voice deepening, on the verge of yelling, “-fucking awful why don’t you go run to Andre and cry about it together?” 

He only takes two steps towards the couch before you use your powers. It’s instinct, the way the forcefield bubbles up around you. 

Whatever Jordan was going to say next shrivels up and dies on his tongue. The only sounds in the room are the quiet hum your powers make when you use them, and the scared, panicked gasp you make from inside the forcefield you put up to protect yourself from him.

There’s a second where the two of you just stare at each other. Both in shock. 

“Baby-” Jordan tries taking another step forward, a small, barely there shuffle of his foot. His face falls when the forcefield gets a little louder, glows a little brighter. 

Jordan looks close to tears. It’s that expression that pulls you out of the animal state of fear you’d fallen into. You look away from them. Take a few heaving breaths. Do your best to not mix up faces of the past with your present and future.

Your forcefield flickers out slowly. A concentrated effort. 

“Fuck, Y/N, I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t mean to- I would never ever-'' Jordan shifts again. She rushes too fast into your space to kneel on the ground in front of you, her hands reaching for yours, desperate and clumsy.

When you flinch away, moving so you’re perched on the armrest of the couch, still trying to calm yourself down, she’s left with her hands grasping at air. “Baby, look at me. Please? Look at me, I’m sorry I yelled. I’m sorry that I… I’m sorry. I would never hurt you. I fucking swear I wasn’t-”

“I know, Jordan.” You shake your head, trying to stay calm. “Could you please….leave? I… I can’t calm down right now. I’m trying. I know you didn’t mean to… to scare me, but I need you to go.” 

“Baby, wait, fuck. Fuck, wait! I’m sorry. Let’s just talk. I can’t leave you alone like this. I’m sorry.” She’s panicking now, throat feeling like it’s closing up. 

She doesn’t try to reach for you again, but her hands feel like they’re burning from the effort it takes to keep them away from you. It’s instinct to hold you, to make it better, to pull you closer. She’s always been the place you run to when you’re scared, the shield you step behind when you need to feel safe. She doesn’t know what to do when you don’t even want to be near her.

“We’ll talk later. I’ll… I’ll have Cate come over so I’m not alone. Just.. leave.” Your voice breaks on a sob, and you’re begging her to leave, and that’s what makes Jordan head to the door, legs shaking. She’s never made you cry before. 

She’s glued to her phone the rest of the day, waiting for you to call. You don’t. 

⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊

You’ve been best friends since you were freshman. You haven’t gone longer than two days without talking in all that time since. No matter how busy you are. No matter how shitty either of you feels. Jordan doesn’t know what to do with the hours of the day that you usually fill. 

She breaks on the second day when you show up to class and move to sit by Luke on the other side of the room instead of with her. You don’t even look at her as you walk by. 

Class doesn’t start for another five minutes. The teacher isn’t even here yet, and she’s always late. Jordan moves to get up, already feeling like she’s choking on all the words she needs to say to you to fix this, but is stopped by a firm grip around her wrist. She’s about to snap when she realizes it’s Cate, taking up your usual spot in the seat that isn’t up for grabs because it’s Your Seat. 

“Don’t make the situation worse. She just wants to go to class. Don’t hound her, Jordan.”

“Hound her?” Jordan’s voice raises, incredulous. “She’s my girlfriend. I need to talk to her.” 

“You need to apologize.” Cate bites. “Dick.” 

“That’s what I was trying to do before you stopped me.” Jordan speaks through gritted teeth.

“How about you try apologizing after she’s done all her classes? That way, when you inevitably upset her, she doesn’t hole herself up in her room all day crying. And feel bad about missing class on top of it. You know… the way she spent all of yesterday?” 

“She cried all day?” Jordan’s shoulders sag, voice getting smaller. 

Cate softens, patting Jordan’s hand.  “It’s not just about you, and you know that. Triggers like this really fuck with people. And she’s also pissed that she’s triggered in the first place. Let her cool off.”

⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊

He makes it a few hours before he’s trailing after you. 

He can tell by the tension in the line of your spine that you know he’s there. But you don’t outright tell him to get lost, so Jordan can’t stop himself from following you around. Even if you don’t want him there. 

He sits across from you as you study in the library. Makes puppy dog eyes at you the entire time. He can’t be bothered to unpack his bag. It’d be useless to pretend he’ll do anything besides watching you.  

Two hours in, he gets up and leaves, hating the way your shoulders relax as he turns to go. 

He comes back twenty minutes later with your favorite foods and drink from the best local coffee shop. You don’t reach for any of it. He’s always loved how stubborn you are, how you stick to your ideas. Your principles. How steadfastly you make up your mind. Right now he’s just a little terrified of that same stubbornness. Remembers when you’d only been friends, that first year of peeling one another open, feeling each other out. 

(“I’ll never do it, Jordan.” You’d whispered vehemently, drunk and mad and beautiful. 

“Do what?” 

“Be with anyone who tries to fucking cow me into submission. It’s fucked. I won’t do it. I’ve had enough of it.” 

You’d passed the bottle you’d just had pressed to your lips and Jordan had tried not to think too hard about it, even when he tasted the remnants of your sticky, sweet lip gloss beneath the vodka.) 

He doesn’t get up to leave again until you do. 

Jordan walks you to your dorm, but trails a few steps behind you. He tried walking directly beside you at first, but your hands brushed together and the look you gave him was cold enough to freeze blood. 

So-

-behind it is. 

Jordan doesn’t get the chance to say goodnight before you slam the door in his face as loudly as possible.

⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊

Jordan doesn’t push her luck by trying to walk you to your classes the next morning. She does wake up extra early to buy you the biggest bouquet of your favorite flowers she could find. She leaves them outside your door and goes to class, hoping you’ll at least acknowledge her, the next time you see her.

During your first shared class of the day you walk in holding the bouquet of flowers. Jordan perks up in her seat, holding her breath. You do finally look at her. You make direct eye contact as you throw the flowers into the trash can at the teacher’s desk.

Jordan does not break her pen in half when Andre whispers “yikes” under his breath.

⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊

Two more days and Jordan feels like he’s going insane. He knows you feel worse. One glance at the carefully nonchalant expression you’ve worn all week tells him that. Putting on a mask is nothing for you. That look is the first thing you learned how to do in the top ten. 

You’d never hidden the way you felt around him before. Not like this. His skin keeps buzzing with the urge to corner you. Jordan needs the two of you to talk about what happened. But he’s already walking the world’s thinnest line. 

And he knows he can’t force you, if you’re not ready. 

Another thing he knows: when you’re this upset you don’t clean. Simultaneously, when your room gets messy your depression gets worse. He skips one of your mutual classes of the day and lets himself into your dorm with the key you gave him during first year. 

Jordan looks around, wincing at the chaos. You never let it get this bad. Not even during your most soul crushing finals. He starts by throwing away the trash. The tissues you wiped your tears with. The takeout containers. Pages of your notebooks you ripped out, carelessly thrown around the room. You take awful notes in class when you’re distracted. He hates that he’s distracting you.

He wipes down every surface with your favorite scented cleaner. Dusts your books. Sweeps and mops. Changes your sheets and grabs the brightest, happiest color comforter you have stashed in your closet to put on the bed. As he adjusts the pillows he thinks about how often you spend the night at each other’s dorms. Jordan wonders if you’ve been struggling to sleep like he has. 

He hesitates, but goes to his room down the hall to grab his cologne. He spritzes it lightly over the bed and hopes you still find the way he smells comforting. 

Next is your laundry. He starts up a few loads, irons and puts away the clothes that were sitting in a wrinkled heap on your couch. You’ve always hated doing your laundry. 

He’s heading back to your room, a full laundry basket of clean clothes under each arm when you run into each other.

“Are those my clothes?” You ask, forgetting that you aren’t exactly speaking to him in your moment of confusion. 

“Yeah… I’m… I was cleaning my room. Doing some stuff. Figured I’d do a few of your loads too, while I’m already at it.” He shoots for casualness, knows he fails miserably.

“You didn’t have to do that.” You say, words stiff and uncomfortable. 

“I know I just…” Jordan shrugs, relieved to be standing within a few feet of you after days of silence, and feeling pathetic over how happy something so small makes him. “Why don’t you go get something to eat with Cate while I finish up here?” 

“Finish up what?” You ask.

“I still gotta put these away.” 

You sigh, wanting the conversation to end, “You don’t have to put my clothes away, Jordan. Or wash them. I’m quite capable of doing it myself.”

Jordan takes a step back when you make a reach for one of the baskets under his arms. “I know that! Just let me do it. Doing your laundry always pisses you off. I’ve got it.” 

A battle of wills ignited. You, staring him down. Jordan, trying not to squirm. He wants to try apologizing again but doesn’t know if he’ll only make it worse.

“Please, baby? Go somewhere nice with Cate. My treat.” He puts down a laundry basket (behind him, so you can’t take it) to grab his phone from his pocket, and does something you can’t see. 

When you hear the particular chime your banking app makes when you get a Zelle deposit you roll your eyes. You don’t bother checking your phone and seeing how much he sent. You know it’s too much. But if you say anything he’ll just say you and Cate have expensive tastes (which…true.)

“Maybe you can catch a movie too? I still gotta finish up with your bathroom.” 

“Jordan.” 

“Just,” Jordan shifts, putting down the other laundry basket and slowly reaching out to grab your hand with hers. She could almost cry when you let her touch you. “I know you’re fucking pissed at me. And I know you’re still too upset to talk about it. But…. fuck, please just let me take care of you. Please. I have to do something. I can’t just sit around, after I made you feel like this. It’s driving me nuts. I’m supposed to-” 

You stop her, putting a hand on her cheek and sighing, “Okay, Jordan. I’ll go hang out with Cate while you finish.” 

“Don’t ‘hang out’, go get dinner. You haven’t eaten all day.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know you.” She says, sullen and staring up at you, playing with your fingers while you’re still letting her touch you, the first time in days. 

“I’ll head to Cate’s.” 

“Nah, head to Luke’s. They’re studying together right now.” Jordan takes a risk, stepping into your space slowly, giving you the time to move away. She leans in and kisses your cheek, gentle. When you don’t move away she can’t help herself, kisses the edge of your lips too. 

You don’t kiss her back, but you give her hand a squeeze as you pull away. You stop halfway down the hall before you turn back to look at Jordan. “Call Cate and tell her she better not be fucking Luke by the time I get to his dorm.” 

Jordan laughs. Your face is a little more relaxed as you turn away this time.

⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊

On Friday the group goes out to the club. They chose one of your favorite haunts, hoping it would entice you enough to join. You still declined the invitation. Everyone knew you would. They still wanted to try. 

You claimed you had a lot of work to catch up on. 

“She hates me. She fucking hates me.” Jordan groans into his hands, already three drinks and two shots in. 

“Well, let’s not panic.” Luke says. 

“Or be dramatic.” Andre snorts, taking a shot of his own. “You two are obsessed with each other. Relax.” 

“Relax?!” Jordan tenses, “My girl won’t fucking talk to me. How am I supposed to relax?” 

“She talked to you yesterday.” Andre drawls. 

“That wasn’t anything. We usually-”

“-Spend every free second of the day together? We know.” Luke teases. When Jordan doesn’t even smile he winces and slides him another shot. 

“She’s not even that mad. She’s more upset than anything.” Cate says, cuddling into Luke’s side. 

Jordan’s eyes follow the movement and he swallows at the distinct lack of your own weight leaning into him. You always get touchy when you’re tipsy. Climbing on top of him, clinging to him like glue. It’s his favorite part of nights out together. That and the playful booing you guys get from the group. 

Andre cuts back in, “I’m serious, dude. Relax! You guys have been together for how long now-”

“Three years.”

“-yeah, exactly. Since the fucking building of the pyramids. You two will be fine. She knows you didn’t mean anything by it. One fight won’t kill you.” 

“This wasn’t a fight, though. I fucked up! You didn’t see the look on her face. When she used her powers… I mean, fuck! You know? She was scared of me.”

“You know that’s not true, Jordan.” Luke protests. 

Jordan runs his hands through his hair, ruining the carefully slicked back style.

“Let’s just get you another drink. Come on, dude.” Andre wraps an arm around Jordan, hauling him to his feet and pulling him towards the bar. 

⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊⬈⬊

You get woken up by the sound of knocking on your door. Loud knocking. You keep your eyes closed, hoping whoever it is will go away. You don’t even want to be awake. Let alone socializing. 

The knocking gets louder. Exhausted, you drag yourself out of bed. You glance at your phone on the bedside table as you get up. It’s three in the morning. Now you’re exhausted and pissed. 

You stomp over to the door, wrenching it open, prepared to cuss someone out. You deflate when you see who it is. “Oh, hey.”

Jordan is leaning heavily on the door frame, staring at you with watery, red eyes. She looks like the walking dead. “Baby. Fuck, did I wake you up? I thought you’d still be awake. You said you were pulling an all-nighter.”

“I was tired. Just wanted to sleep.” You shrug. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Still at the club, took an uber back. Too fucked up for anything else.” She mutters.

“That’s good, Jordan.” You say. 

“You haven’t called me Jordan since freshman year. What happened to Jordie?” She sighs. 

Your face softens. “Baby…”

“No, wait, just let me…” Jordan leans her forehead against the door-frame, closing her eyes tight. “I’m sorry. I fucked up big time. I’m sorry that when I get pissed I take it out on everyone around me. I’m sorry that I don’t fucking listen when you’re just trying to make me feel better. I’m sorry I yelled… I’m sorry I shift-”

“Whoa, hey.” You cut her off, shocked. “You shifting isn’t the problem, Jordan. Fuck, come inside, honey.” You say, taking her hand and pulling her inside. 

You sit the two of you on the couch, clicking on the light so you can see each other. You move so you’re facing each other, pulling her hands into your lap. “First off let’s set one thing straight. You shifting is never the problem, okay?” 

“You got so fucking scared.” Jordan looks away, hair falling into her face.

“Not of you.. Just the fucking… optics of it! I don’t ever want you to be something you’re not. And you’ve got the incredible gift of being able to be whatever you feel like being any time you want to.” You reach out and touch her cheek, guiding her to look at you, “I don’t want you to not do that. I wouldn’t ever want you not to do that, okay?”

“Okay.” She says. There’s a moment of silence, then Jordan shifts. He looks for any sign of fear or hesitation, holding his breath. When he doesn’t see any he relaxes. “But I scared you so bad you used your powers.” 

“Yeah, that did happen.” You nod, caressing his cheek with your thumb, “Maybe it’s just a little scary when someone bigger and stronger than me starts yelling like that. Also, invulnerable. Let’s not forget that. Food for thought.” 

He closes his eyes, “I’m an idiot.” 

“For yelling at me? Yeah, just a little. Don’t yell at me like that no matter what form you’re in. That's always scary. Couples talk. They don’t yell. Most of the time. We can’t be the couple that does that.”

“I’ll never yell like that again. Either form. I promise.” Jordan says, “Can I hold you? It’s been a fucking week. I’m losing my mind.” 

You laugh, climbing into his lap and Jordan sighs, wrapping his arms around you as tightly as he can. He tucks your head into his neck. “I missed you like fucking crazy.” 

“Missed you too.” You sigh, “Stay the night?” 

“You’re not leaving my sight for the next two months.” He laughs, pulling you closer.

“Only two months? That’s fucked up, I thought you missed me.” You tease. 

“Shut up.” He scoffs, kissing the side of your head. 

You snuggle closer, letting the tension of the week drift away.

“You yell at me like that again and your only hope is being invulnerable, actually. I’ll put you through a wall.” You kiss his shoulder cheerfully. 

“I’d do it before you got the chance.”

You burst into laughter and he pulls your head away from his shoulder so he can see you the way you’re supposed to look around him. Happy. Content. He can’t stop himself from kissing you. You can’t stop yourself from kissing back. 

[transmascaraa]

hi! guess who's returned after finally graduating :)

can i request a drabble where our bsf (lyney/wanderer/gaming) goes to prom with us + slow dances with us? maybe a little confession too..

i sincerely apologize if you've already done a fic like this already! i haven't opened tumblr for a while now—

— 🧷anon (p.s. how are you :0?)

multiple characters headcannons!

prom confession.

characters: lyney, gaming, wanderer, xiao x gn!reader

author's note: added xiao js because🤷‍♂️ ANYWAYS congrats on your graduation!! mine is like the 14th of june so i still have a bit left but yeah! i've been alright these last few days i guess, nothing special going on really lol i hope you've been well too :p also the only SIMILAR thing i did was this with gaming, but it isn't exactly like what i'm gonna write now lmao so i hope you enjoy these hcs^^

☆ Lyney

-lyney, as your bsf, is like a really trustworthy and loyal one, PLUS interesting af

-and as you HAD to have a dance partner at prom, you chose him because he was the only safe option, really.

-you asked him if he wanted to dance with you and he was a bit surprised at first but agreed after a bit. SO the music started, and you started dancing together.

-y'know, that waltz dance pose.

-and it was peaceful enough for lyney to be honest with you about something.

-he didn't care about your answer anymore, he just had to get it off his chest

-no more "magician lyney", no more "fatuus lyney".

-just "lyney".

-so when there was a pause in the music, he pulled you closer and whispered in your ear:

-"want to try and be lovers?"

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

✷ Gaming

-like any time, any day.

-he was also a very good bsf, definitely always something interesting to hear from him

-AND it's entertaining to spend time with him in the first place lol

-so being that close, you decided to dance together for prom since neither of you had another choice.

-and he put one of his hands on your waist, and the other intertwined with yours, as you started dancing together.

-peaceful as well.

-adoring each others presence in the moment.

-sharing a few compliments here and there, making eachother giggle and smile and blush

-when nobody was looking, and nobody could hear either of you—

-"i love you." you both said at the same time.

-it was awkward, but it worked out just fine^^

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

✧ Wanderer

-uh kinda difficult to become friends at first lmfao

-but you definitely manage to do it after a while and even become bsfs

-and like originally he wanted to go to prom alone

-but he felt bad for you just standing in the corner while everyone else danced with others so he just kinda dragged you to dance

-no words exchanged, only his embarrassed face not wanting to look at you directly.

-his heart was racing and he was doing his best to not fuck up the dance

-not until you pulled him closer and smiled warmly at him.

-he was flustered, but still looking you in the eyes, despite wanting to seem unbothered and uninterested.

-you kissed him on the cheek while whispering:

-"do you want to be more than friends?" to which he embarrassedly nodded, not keeping any eye-contact with you after that.

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

✿ Xiao

-so uh you'd HAVE to be the one trying to become friends with him at first (but it kinda js works out even tho it's difficult since he doesn't understand mortals)

-although, with your help, he understands humans AT LEAST a BIT more than he used to.

-he went with you to prom because you had told him that you have nobody to dance with, so you decided to ask him.

-he didn't really get the concept of prom but he did it anyway.

-of course, while you were dancing with the music playing in the background, he felt a lot more open.

-so he started telling you in detail about how he felt about you. he didn't know it was love.

-he told you about how pretty/handsome/fabolous you were in his eyes, how he wished to spend all his life AND afterlife with you, how important you were to him and that he'd protect you if he had to—

-"i love you too, xiao." and he didn't know how to function properly after that.

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

yes

just yes i love it

it was really interesting to write ngl i had such beautiful scenarios in my head smh

| 🧷anon | @mariaace <3

[magics-neptunes-things]

Lucky Clover

Hi guys!

This is a new one from a request that you can find here, here and here :)

I haven't proofread it because I'm a lazy bitch, sorry if there is some mistakes.

Please enjoy ♥

When she woke up this morning, Caitlin wasn’t feeling pretty well. She had trouble to fall asleep the night before, so she just thought it was because she was lacking some hours of sleep. Katie noticed as soon as she puts her eyes on her girlfriend that something wasn’t right. She asks several times Caitlin what was going on, but the Aussie sticks with her answers that she genuinely thought was right.

She hasn’t sleep as much as she needs, and her headache was coming from here.

Katie makes her drink more water than usual and cook her specials protein pancakes for her breakfast, in addition with bacon and avocado toasts. Even if the Matilda rolls her eyes, she eats every single bite of her plate, just to erase the concern on Katie’s face.

And, because Katie knew that they will be separated during training, the Irish woman puts a lot of cereal bars and Cailtin’s favorites Gatorade in Cait’s bag. Caitlin loves to see how much her girlfriend is concern about her health, honestly. In her opinion, it was maybe a little too much anyway.

But when she said it to Katie, the Irish captain got so mad that she changes her mind. And she got extra cuddles and kisses before leaving for training, so it was worth it after all.

They are separated today because the staff wanted for the forwards and midfielder to work together, while the goalkeepers and the defenders will have their training together. In everyday life it wouldn’t worry Katie, they made themselves the promise to keep things professional, no matter what was happening at home.

Today, anyway, Katie asked Kyra and Alessia to have a special look on Caitlin. The girl is still very pale and seems to walk in slow motion. Which can’t be very good. Alessia reassure her that everything will be alright and Katie nods without really listening to her, her eyes on Caitlin during all the time they were talking.

Katie had a hard time to be focused on what was happening on the pitch to be honest. It’s only when she received Leah’s ball right on the face that she realizes how much she was distracted.

“I’m sorry mate, you alright?” Leah asks, one hand between Katie’s shoulders.

“I’m ok”

Katie passes her hand on her nose to be sure that she’s not bleeding before standing up again. She has tears in her eyes because of the strength of the shot, but other than that she’s alright.

“I’m so sorry, I should have been sure you were looking before passing it to you” Leah says again but Katie dismissed her apologizes with a sign of her hand.

“It’s ok, don’t worry.”

“Maybe you should go check in the infirmary, just to be sure?”

It wasn’t Leah talking this time, but one of Jonas’ assistants. After several seconds of hesitation, Katie finally nods. She’s not the one to whine for nothing, never has been. But she can’t help but think that maybe she will have a chance to look at her girlfriend.

She takes the direction of the infirmary, walking quickly anyway. The other group is training on the pitch that you can watch from the infirmary. After having explain to the nurse what she’s doing here, Katie looks at the pitch. She spots Caitlin almost immediately, running way slower than their teammates.

It’s only several minutes after that Caitlin suddenly stops running and put her hand on her face. Almost two seconds later she’s falling on the ground, her fall only reduced by Lia who is able to catch Caitlin at the right time.

Without really thinking, Katie starts to run in Caitlin’s direction. She takes less than one minute to join the pitch, but during this time Lia kneeled in front of Caitlin, stroking her face or her hair. Katie can’t really see it perfectly, but she knows that the sight isn’t pleasant for her. She must take all she has not to push Lia away from her girlfriend when she’s finally here.

“What happened?” she asks, positioning herself next to Lia.

Lia still has her hand on Caitlin’s cheek, who has always her eyes closed.

“She fainted” Lia starts to explain. “I tried to catch her as best as I could, but she wasn’t next to me”

“Didn’t I asked you to have a look on her?” Katie growls to Kyra.

“I tried! But she pushed me away, saying I’m the most annoying person in the world”

Katie sighs, she knows perfectly that Caitlin probably did. Plus, Kyra isn’t really someone who can lie so easily. She just has to take a look at Alessia to know that it’s the truth.

But her attention is quickly diverted from her younger teammate, Lia is talking to her girlfriend who seems to move a little bit. Meanwhile, the medical team had made her roll on her back and was checking different things on her. Katie really tries hard no to push Lia too hard, but she nevertheless steps up between the two exes, chasing curls of hair on Caitlin’s face.

“Katie?” mumbles Caitlin without opening her eyes.

“I’m here Babe” Katie whispers back. “Everything is fine, ok? They will take you to the medical center.”

She’s glad that her girlfriend is able to recognize her only with a touch on her face. It makes her feel a sense of pride and revenge against Lia. Which is probably very stupide because Lia has a girlfriend too, but she can’t help it.

She doesn’t really like the way Caitlin is dragged like a rag doll, but she follows her very closely. She then watches while they make different tests on her girlfriend, silently thinking about the different feelings she had the minutes before.

She never has been a jealous person before Caitlin. She basically lives away of her girlfriend before, who was going out with friends and everything without her. It’s not a question of trust, she trusts Caitlin with her whole life. But she just can’t stand people touching or looking at her girlfriend in a special way.

The worse is that she knows that Lia probably wasn’t showing any interest in Caitlin, unless her health maybe. They managed to stay friends after the breakup, unlike Katie and Ruesha who hardly tolerate each other during Irish camp. Lia and Katie were friends before the McFoord couple, and they still are. Lia is mature, friendly and kind, some qualities that weren’t exactly the ones usable for Ruesha.

Katie is getting out of her mind when she realizes that Caitlin’s eyes are looking for her. She approaches slowly the bed where Caitlin is lying to take her hand.

“How are you feeling?” Katie softly asks.

“Not so good” Caitlin admits shyly.

Katie rolls her eyes but doesn’t scold her. For now. She will probably do it when her girlfriend will be recovered, but not now. She’s way too anxious about Caitlin’s health to do it.

“Ok so she basically is dehydrated and has some fever. We can keep her here or you can take her home, as long as you call us if everything’s wrong.”

“You want to go home Babe?” Katie asks Caitlin.

“Please.”

Katie nods and went quickly grab their things while the medical team is administering some meds to Caitlin. She stops to the training ground to keep the team updated, skillfully ignoring Lia’s eyes, a little ashamed about her feelings. And then she finally comes back to her girlfriend who is waiting for her, sitting on the same bed.

“Ready to go?”

Caitlin nods and gets up slowly, Katie passing immediately her arm around her waist to help her walk. Caitlin passes her arm around her shoulders, and they managed to reach Katie’s car pretty quickly. After having open the door for Caitlin and secured her, she throws their bags in the back seat and start to drive them home.

She’s relieved to see that Caitlin has her eyes open during the drive home, even if she’s not really talking. She seems pretty tired but is still up when they arrived home.

“Don’t move” Katie warns Caitlin who rolls her eyes.

But she obeys, waiting for Katie to open her door again. Deciding to grab their bags later, Katie takes her girlfriend in her arms in the bride style, surprising her in the process.

“Aren’t we supposed to pass in front of the mayor before that?” Caitlin mumbles.

“Is your fever that high?” Katie smirks.

Caitlin smiles back and hides her face in her girlfriend’s neck. They talked about it before, Caitlin knows that Katie doesn’t want to get married. She got engaged with Ruesha during their relationship and things start to be weird at this point. There is no way in the world that she loses Caitlin in that way. She probably won’t heal if their relationship comes to an end.

The Australian understood Katie’s point of view, but she can’t help but thought about being married to Katie. She loves the idea of both of them in white dresses, happy in front of their family. Lull by those ideas and the comforting smell of her girlfriend, Caitlin might have pass out a little bit, because next things she knows, Katie is putting her on their couch.

“I know you probably don’t want that for now, but a shower would probably be a good idea.”

Caitlin groans before sighing. She knows that Katie is right, but she doesn’t have the energy for it.

“I’ll help you, ok?”

Caitlin nods only, looking at her girlfriend gathering some things before she hears her phone ringing on her pocket.

“It’s my mom” she mumbles.

“Answer her while I prepare the bathroom”

Looks like her mom hear thanks to social media about Caitlin’s fainting during the training and was death worried. Caitlin managed to reassure her while Katie was away, explaining to her what happened. And she adds that Katie was taking care of her, so it will be ok.

Caitlin’s mom knows that her daughter will be. She met Katie before; she knows how much the Irish woman is protective toward Caitlin. When the call is finished, Caitlin stands up to join Katie in the bathroom, who welcomes her with a frown.

“What are you doing up?”

“I wanted a hug” Caitlin shrugs.

It wasn’t exactly the truth, but she knows how to soften Katie. The frown on her girlfriend’s face effectively disappears for a soft expression. She wraps comforting arms around Caitlin’s frame and kisses softly and several times her cheek. Just where Lia happened to touch her.

After a last kiss on Caitlin’s cheek, Katie takes the hem of her shirt to help her getting undressed.

“Up” she says softly, designating her arms with a nod.

Caitlin obliges and let her girlfriend do almost what she wants with her, sighing in relief when her skin is hit by the hot water. She realizes only now how much she was freezing. She would have stayed in there for hours, but after several minutes Katie start to wash gently her body with soap, before starting to wash her hair.

“Close your eyes, Pretty” Katie whispers softly.

Caitlin can only smile in front of the girl’s softness. She never heard her talk so softly, usually Katie was the kind of girl yapping around. She knew that Katie can be sweet and caring, of course. She is daily with her. And when Katie delicately passes a towel around her body and stroke her softly, she’s overwhelmed by the amount of love she feels for her.

“Come on, let’s go to bed now.”

Caitlin doesn’t really have her word to say, but she follows Katie in their room anyway. The Irish girl managed to put an underwear and a shirt on her and Caitlin founds the comfort of their bed with relief.

“Where are you going?” she asks when she realizes that Katie was leaving the room and not coming next to her after having kissed her head.

“You need to rest” Katie frowns.

The Matilda doesn’t say anything but pout, making Katie smiles softly.

“Just let me grab my phone, something to drink and eat and I’ll be there, ok?”

Caitlin doesn’t answer anything, she just hums and closes her eyes. Katie’s promise to come to her as soon as possible is enough for now. She’s in fact asleep pretty quickly and softly snoring when her girlfriend comes in bed next to her.

When she wakes up two hours later, feeling better, Katie is still here, watching something on her phone. Caitlin rolls on her side to snuggle against her girlfriend, melting when she feels Katie’s hand softly stroking her hair.

“I love you” Caitlin mumbles against Katie’s skin.

“I love you even more.”

Katie puts her phone away before turning her head to face Caitlin. Even if she’s still a little tired, Caitlin really feels better. And for the first time since she fainted, she looks entirely at her girlfriend. Katie must have left her several minutes because she definitively took a shower and changed her clothes. But there is something in her eyes that make her frown slightly.

“What?” Katie asks, worried that Caitlin doesn’t feel good again.

“Are you ok?”

Katie’s surprised by the question, after all she isn’t the one who faint several hours before. But when she realizes that Caitlin is looking at her with inquisition, she understands very quickly what she means. Sometimes, she hates how easily the older girl can read into her.

“I’m fine, don’t worry”

Katie flinches at her answer, she knows that if she was fine, she wouldn’t add to Caitlin that she shouldn’t be worried. It’s even harder not to say anything when Caitlin caresses her cheek the way she does.

“Talk to me?”

“It’s nothing” Katie sighs softly. “It’s stupid.”

“Come on Pudding, talk to me”

She uses her best puppy eyes, the ones she knows Katie is unable to resist. She doesn’t use it to often, scared that they stop working. They do for now though.

“It’s just… I wasn’t here when you fainted and it’s Lia who took care of you. It was a strange to see, I know she’s caring obviously but she still your ex and it feel so strange to see you like that. Which is stupid because I was here when you were together, and I know that there is nothing anymore between both of you. But I don’t know. It was very strange.”

Caitlin doesn’t say anything during Katie’s ramble, letting her girl getting out what she needs. She doesn’t move either, looking attentively at her.

“I don’t remember a lot” Caitlin admits softly. “I just know that Kyra kept annoying me –“

“She was looking at you because I asked her to” Katie rolls her eyes.

Caitlin hums in answer before continuing. She had the feeling that it was the case.

“Alessia said something to me that I hadn’t understood and then everything went black. Next thing I remember is hearing Lia’s voice but I wanted you to be here. And then you stroke my hair and I knew you were.”

“I went to the infirmary and I saw you fainted” Katie explains.

“What were you doing there?”

Oh. Katie almost forgot. She even didn’t put ice on her nose like the nurse asked her to do. She decided not to tell Caitlin this part.

“I received Leah’s ball right on the face” Katie shrugs. “But I’m good.”

Caitlin hums once again and let her heavy eyes closed this time. She was looking to fall asleep again, but it wasn’t what Katie wanted.

“You need to drink something and try to eat too, Babe. Don’t sleep now.”

“But I’m tired” Caitlin groans.

“Do you want me to make you toast with vegemite?”

After some seconds of hesitation, Caitlin opens one of her eyes.

“Grilled toast?”

“If you want to” Katie laughs.

She kisses Caitlin’s cheek softly before getting up from their bed. They have always at least one pot of vegemite in the house, Caitlin eats toast almost every day with it. She doesn’t have today obviously, because Katie was the one who made her breakfast.

When Katie comes back with toasts and a big cup of tea, Caitlin was dozing off but she opens her eyes as soon as she hears Katie coming in.

She received another call from her mother and her sister while she Katie is feeding her with mountains of toasts. She will be ok, taking care by her girlfriend and a lot of vegemite.

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

I did iiiiiiiiit

This was supposed to be two chapters but idgaf, now it's just one chapter.

But there will be more chapters, of course.

From an Anon ask request, basically Reader has been isekai'd into OPLA, and it'll be Zoro X Reader X Sanji.

Only Zoro right now though, since it starts just before Baratie

Dude has no business having such a pretty smile wtf

Anyway heeeeeere we feckin goooo

Strawhat Stowaway

Ch 1

Next Chapter Link

SFW right now but maybe not later haven't decided yet

Little bit of hurt/comfort, slow burn, silly, fluffy, will be trigger warnings in later chapters but not this one

I'm already having so much fun with this I can't handle it

Wordcount: 5.3k

After an alcohol drenched Halloween party at your friends' dorm, you wake up to find yourself in a strange place. This might not be quite as alarming...if not for the fact that it's an entirely different world, enshrouded with pirates and strange magic.

♬♫ Getting Surreal - The Fratellis ♫♬

Nothin' untrue can ever be revealed

Cover my eyes, this is getting surreal

There really hadn't been a dull moment since Zoro agreed to sail with Luffy, and this was definitely no exception.

He blinked rapidly down at the unfamiliar girl stretched across the hammock in the cabin below the quarterdeck of their new ship, fast asleep and dressed in an oddly sterotypical pirate costume with what looked like a fake flintlock pistol tucked into one of her cloth belts. The small "crew" hadn't long set out from Syrup Village on the Going Merry, and already things were getting weird again.

He backed out of the cabin slowly, leaning back through the doorway to look at the others behind him—Nami going over the Grand Line chart, Usopp sitting on the railing behind her listening to her explain the Red Line; and Luffy, carefree as ever, reclined back on the ship's figurehead, still clearly thrilled that his plan to get a free ship had worked out in his favor.

Nevermind the hiccup of all of them nearly dying—again.

"Uh—hey, guys?" The other three looked up at him, Nami lifting an eyebrow at his offhand tone. "I...think we have a stowaway."

"Excuse me?" said Nami sharply, immediately rolling up the map.

"Whoa, seriously? We've got a—" Luffy slid down from the figurehead and hopped down onto the deck, excitable as ever and hurrying over with Usopp and Nami to look over Zoro's shoulder. He laughed a little. "Cool."

"Wh—this isn't cool," said Nami, shaking her head at Luffy in disbelief. "It's technically kidnapping?"

Luffy's face fell at that. "Oh—yeah, probably not cool. Uh...." He rubbed at the back of his neck, glancing between his crewmates. "So...do we turn around and take her back?"

"She's not from Syrup Village." Zoro glanced over his shoulder at Usopp, who looked easily as flummoxed as the rest of them. "I mean, it's not a big town, I know everyone there, and...." He shook his head slowly. "Never seen her before."

Of course it couldn't be that simple. Nothing was ever that simple.

"Then how did she end up on a ship that's been sitting in the shipyard there for years?" said Nami, crossing her arms as she leaned in the doorframe behind Zoro, frowning thoughtfully.

"Five hundred Berry says there was booze involved," offered Zoro, and she scoffed.

"Not taking that bet."

And that was the moment you chose to awaken.

Rubbing your eyes, slowly opening them as you stretched your arms out over your head.

Blinking just as slowly as you seemed to take in the strangers huddled in the doorway.

And then, with a yelp of alarm, you sat straight up, attempting to back yourself against the wall, and fell off of the hammock entirely instead, scooting yourself back into a corner, your eyes wide as saucers.

"Wh—who—where the hell—?"

The crew glanced between each other in growing concern and alarm, and finally, while you continued to stammer in fright in the corner looking very much like a trapped animal, Nami heaved out a sigh. "Not it."

"Not it," Usopp echoed quickly.

Luffy was utterly unfazed, shoving himself into the small confines of the doorframe as well, his shoulder pressed up against Zoro's arm. "Hi there! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, this is my first mate Zoro—" Zoro rolled his eyes toward the ceiling as Luffy clapped him on the shoulder. "So..." He pushed through and sat down in the center of the hammock and you pressed yourself further back against the wall, looking no less terrified. "How come you were asleep on our ship?"

"Sh—ship—?" you repeated breathlessly, glancing warily between him and Zoro. Your eyes landed on the three katanas at his hip and widened even further.

"Yeah! We're going to the Grand Line," Luffy said, grinning happily. "You can come with us, I'm still gathering a crew. I'm gonna be King of the Pi—ow, hey!" he added as Zoro grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"Not helping, captain," he said, dragging him out of the cabin. "Just go do—go do something else."

"I am kinda hungry," he said, frowning. Then he waved at Nami and Usopp. "Hey guys, crew meeting in the kitchen!"

Nami grumbled something about not being a crew, but despite that and rolling her eyes, both she amd Usopp followed Luffy across the deck and out of sight, roping Zoro right into dealing with...whatever the hell this was. The swordsman leaned in the doorframe for a long, silent moment, hand curled over his mouth, brow furrowed, trying to decide how to address the issue. The fact that you had no idea where you were was definitely not a huge help in the matter.

He pulled his hand down with a sigh, crossing his arms.

"Alright, so...you got a name?" he asked finally. You swallowed, eyeing his swords again as you forced out your name—and then pointed at the swords.

"A-are those—real?" Your voice practically squeaked.

"Uh...yeah," he said slowly, glancing down at the handles briefly before looking back at you again, raising his eyebrows. He glanced at the obviously fake gun in your belt, and nodded at it. "What about that?"

"N—no, why the hell would I be carrying around a *real*—" You shook your head quickly, your eyes Stull wide with disbelief. "I was at a Halloween party at my friend's dorm and—"

"Hollow-what?"

You blinked, and gave a small, nervous laugh. "What?" you forced out weakly. "Halloween? Trick-or-treating? College kids use it as an excuse to dress up in stupid costumes and get drunk?"

"Trick or—College?"

This definitely wasn't helping—you were staring at him like he had lived under a rock his whole life, he was staring at you like you were speaking another language, and you might as well have been. It was pretty clear that wherever you had come from, it hadn't been Syrup Vilage, probably hadn't been anywhere even in the East Blue.

But that didn't make any sense at all.

"Alright...." he said, shaking his head, shaking away the growing fog of confusion. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I—ah..." You grimaced a little, wrapping your arms around your knees. "I vaguely remember getting talked into doing a keg stand, one of my friends dropping me, hitting my head pretty hard." You rubbed at your left temple a moment, and frowned when you pulled your hand back. "I...I swear I was bleeding...." you mumbled to yourself, rubbing at your eyes now.

"So...you got drunk at this... 'Halloween' thing," said Zoro slowly, "hit your head, and...stumbled onto a shipyard to sleep it off?"

That didn't sound right to him—nor did it seem to sound right to you, as you lowered your hand only from your eyes to stare at him, your expression deadpan.

"Last I checked," you said, "there weren't any ships near my campus."

"...Right," he said, nodding slowly. He rubbed at the back of his neck, resting his other elbow at the hilt of one of his katanas, trying to form some grasp of the situation.

And failing spectacularly.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about," you said, your shoulders slumping.

"Nope," affirmed Zoro, shrugging a shoulder. This was by far the weirdest thing that had happened since he had started following Luffy—and considering he had just assisted in saving a minnionaire heiress from being murdered by grown adults dressed like cats, that was saying quite a lot.

"Why does everyone keep saying ship?" He raised his eyebrows at you, glancing slowly over his shoulder at the deck of the Going Merry. "That doesn't make any sense, I was over an hour from the coast, that's—that's ridiculous."

"I mean..." Scratching behind his ear, he turned to the side and nodded out toward the deck. You didn't seem particularly dangerous, so there couldn't be any harm in it. "Guess you can see for yourself, if you want."

Your eyes drifted to the doorway—and then snapped immediately back onto him, your face growing pale in an instant. You pulled yourself to your feet, swaying slightly with the motion of the ship against the waves, and started cautiously toward the door...and then stopped, eyeing his swords again.

Zoro took a few steps back, out of the door and onto the deck, giving you enough space for you to be comfortable—at least, as comfortable as you could be in your present predicament—and gestured for you to come out when your feet remained glued to the floor.

Slowly, cautiously, you took a few more steps forward, stopping in the doorway, your eyes scanning slowly around the the caravel—the barrels sitting around the deck, the ram-shaped figurehead, the sails flapping high over your head in the wind, out toward the water surrounding the vessel on all sides.

And your face went from pale to a bit greenish, before you suddenly rushed across the deck in a stumble, bent over the railing, and vomited.

It was honestly a little hard not to laugh. It shouldn't have been funny; you were obviously out of your depth, bordering on outright panic, with no idea where you were or how you had gotten there—and possibly seasick on top of that. But Zoro had learned, pretty quickly, that if he wanted to hang onto whatever sanity he had left, then it was important to find humor in the absolute chaos that seemed to follow him and the rest of the crew since he had joined Luffy.

And this was definitely no exception.

He managed to cover a chuckle by clearing his throat, not that you were really paying any attention as you slumped forward, covering your head with your hands. Zoro approached you slowly, a little cautiously, largely so as not to startle you and send you tumbling over the side of the ship in surprise, and he leaned back against the railing a few feet away from you. "Ah...you good?"

You lifted your head slowly, looking at him in disbelief.

"No, I wouldn't say that I am," you said. "I'm on a—a ship in the middle of—of—I don't even know where—"

"East Blue." You blinked several times, clearly bit processing what he was saying. "Uh...the ocean?"

"East Blue," you repeated. "So...like...the Atlantic?"

"The what?"

You gave a growl of frustration at that, turning your head and covering your face with both your hands, and Zoro found himself at a lack for words for a long moment. He was definitely no navigator, but he hadn't ever heard of any ocean or sea referred to as "The Atlantic—" nor evidently had you heard of the East Blue.

"Oh, god, what a fucking mess."

"Yeah, usually is here," Zoro said under his breath, more to himself than to you, running a hand back through his hair.

"How—how are you remotely okay with this?" you asked, looking over at him again.

That was actually a good question, one that made Zoro freeze for a long moment. In the past handful of days, he had been imprisoned, almost skewered in a circus sideshow act he wanted no part of, helped beat up a clown with removable body parts, and then there was the whole cat thing. Now he was talking to a girl who had appeared out of nowhere on their new ship, who had no further idea of where she was than he did of where she could have come from.

"Been a weird week," he answered finally, frowning. You weren't the only one a little out of your depth—the entire crew probably was.

Except for maybe Luffy. That idiot didn't seem like anything fazed him, and Zoro almost envied him for it right now.

"Well...we've got a pretty decent navigator," Zoro said, looking down at you. "We could try to figure out where you came from and get you back there."

"Princeton, New Jersey?" He lifted an eyebrow, and you sighed in defeat. "Yeah, thought so." You turned around, and sat down heavily on the deck, staring across the expanse and off toward the horizon, shaking your head. "Maybe I'm dreaming. I've had weirder dreams after blacking out. Or someone could have slipped something in one of my drinks and I'm having a really bad trip." You tilted your head back against the railing, rolling your eyes over to him. "So where exactly are we?"

"We...left Syrup Village about fifteen minutes ago," he offered. "Guess we're probably headed to Loguetown, it's supposed to be close to the Grand Line. And Luffy says he's going to be King of the Pirates, so..."

"P...pirates," you repeated weakly. You looked down at yourself, at the rather gaudy and exaggerated pirate costume you were wearing, and gave an equally weak laugh. "How...fitting." He didn't quite manage to mask his snort of laughter this time, but you laughed as well, so it was probably fine. Laughed, closing your eyes and shaking your head. "And here I was stressing out over studying for finals."

"Finals...?"

"Exams," you reiterated. "Tests. I was in college...in *school*. For psychology, at that. Now I'm the one going insane, apparently." Your laugh trailed off into a sigh as you rubbed a hand across your face, shaking your head. "What a life."

College. Halloween. Midterms. Trick-or-treating. You really might as well have been speaking a different language. It was honestly all too weird for Zoro, and while you seemed to be slowly coming to terms with things—even if you were chalking it all up as a hallucination—you were both still pretty lost. He heaved a sigh, looking down at you, trying to figure out who had given him the authority to deal with this—and then he shrugged a shoulder.

"Drink?" he suggested.

"That's the most sane suggest I've heard since I woke up," you agreed. "If you're all pirates, I'm guessing it's rum on the menu?"

"No idea," he admitted. "We just got the ship. But we were told it's fully stocked."

"In that case, whatever you have," you sighed, laying your forehead against your knees. "The stronger the better."

"Yeah," he agreed slowly, glancing around the deck. There were innumerable ways you could get yourself hurt or in trouble if you didn't have any experience on a ship—and you had made perfectly clear that you didn't. He sighed to himself, and extended a hand down to you. "Let's just...get you situated somewhere first."

You lifted your head, meeting his eyes, glancing at his hand...and then, with a sigh of your own, you took it, allowing him to help pull you to your feet. "Lead the way, I guess," you said resignedly.

Honestly, he wasn't sure where to lead you. He settled on the cabin Nami had claimed as hers, with a full bed for you to collapse back onto, where he watched you pull a pillow down over your eyes, as if trying to blot out the new reality you had found yourself embedded into.

He was still trying to wrap his head around the reality you had spoken of as he left you there to enter the kitchen, where Usopp and Luffy were in the middle of arguing over the new flag that the former had just presented.

"That's unique," he commented, glancing at the design.

"Yeah, but he's not the captain—"

"Yes I am—!"

"I'm the capt—"

"No, I'm the—they call me Captain Usopp—"

"How's our stowaway?" Nami asked over both of them, as Zoro pulled open a cabinet.

"Weird," he answered, raising his voice over the bickering between Luffy and Usopp. Both of the offending parties looked over as he pulled down a bottle of what looked like liquor of some kind. "You ever heard of New Jersey?"

"N...no," said Nami, glancing at Luffy and Usopp—both of whom shook their heads as well. "What is it?"

"I don't know," he said, pulling the cork out if the bottle and giving it a sniff. Whatever it was, it smelled string enough. "Something about college and Halloween. I have no idea."

"So what, we're getting drunk about it?" she laughed.

"You want a different approach, you deal with it." Nami leaned back in her seat, raising her hands in mock-surrender.

"It's nothing to worry about," said Luffy happily, his arm still draped across Usopp's shoulders. "From now on, it's going to be nothing but smooth sailing—"

BOOM—

Luffy and Usopp clung to each other in the shock of whatever had just hit the ship, as Nami rolled her eyes. "Had to open your mouth..." she mumbled, pulling herself upright and hurrying toward the deck.

Zoro glanced down at the bottle of liquor in his hand, his eyes widening as he realized you were by yourself on a ship under cannon fire. He swore under his breath and hurried off himself.

You were sitting up on the bed when he made it to the cabin, had your fingers stuffed into your ears and your eyes clenched shut, and you jolted in alarm when Zoro put a hand on your shoulder, staring at him in borderline terror.

"Uh—here—" he offered, pushing the bottle of liquor into your hands. "Just—stay here."

"Is this normal?" you half-shouted over the roar of the cannon fire, glancing between the bottle and him.

"Nothing on this crew is normal," he assured you.

And because that really wasn't any decent sort of reassurance, he just sort of awkwardly half-patted you on the head before hurrying back out to the deck.

He really wasn't much of a help, any more than anyone else was, when they realized they were being attacked by a Marine ship. There was an abrupt and baffling realization that Luffy recognized the vice admiral aboard the opposing ship as his grandfather. There was an utter scramble as Luffy and Usopp tried to figure out how to fire a canon.

And then, there was a pure spectacle, as Luffy used his Devil Fruit powers to inflate himself into a balloon and deflect a cannonball that Garp The Fist had thrown at the Merry—

"What the f—!?"

And you hadn't stayed put.

God dammit.

Zoro had to sprint to the quarterdeck to reach you. You, gripping the railing, white-knuckled and in clear shock at what you had just witnessed, Zoro reached you just in time to catch you before you could faint in outright shock at what you had just witnessed and hit the deck. You definitely weren't just acting, you really were completely out of your depth.

Though he supposed fainting wasn't the most abnormal reaction to the sight of Luffy turning himself into a human hot air balloon.

Nami leaned against the railing with a heavy sigh once she managed to veer the ship toward a fog bank where the Marines wouldn't have a good enough visual to continue their attack, and shook her head at Luffy and Usopp celebrating. "Looks like they only damaged the railing a little," she said. "Could have been a lot worse."

"Yeah," Zoro agreed, shifting your unconscious form to lift you onto his shoulder. "A lot worse."

"Someone should probably talk to him," she said, looking back down as Luffy took a seat on the deck and set to picking loose straws from his hat. "The whole my grandpa's a Marine Vice Admiral thing."

"Not it," Zoro said, and Nami rolled her eyes over to him.

"You're his first mate. I think this falls under your job description," she said flatly.

"I think stowaway detail does, too," he countered. Nami glanced at you, still passed out cold, and gave a small snort of laughter. "I'm busy. You can go talk to him if you think it's that important."

"Yeah. Busy." She rolled her eyes away from him at that, pushing herself away from the railing. "More like an excuse to get drunk with the hot girl that magically appeared in your hammock."

He tossed a wry glare in Nami's direction as she headed for the stairs. Maybe she wasn't completely wrong—trying to unravel the mystery behind your sudden appearance definitely sounded more appealing than confronting Luffy about his family history.

And, yeah, you were pretty hot.

"I'm just trying to help," he said, shaking his head—he knew better than to tell Nami she was even half-right. She'd just use it to find some way to blackmail him.

"Yeah, yeah." She stopped at the stairs leading down to the deck. "Did she say anything about where she came from?"

He shrugged his free shoulder, glancing at you. "Some place called Princeton-New-Jersey."

Nami raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of it." If the navigator hadn't heard of it...that definitely didn't bode well for you. Nami sighed, glancing at you once more. "Just...I don't know—try to find out more, I guess. See if there's any hints about exactly where she came from. She's got to be scared out of her mind."

"That's the plan," said Zoro, shifting your weight on his shoulder. Nami gave a short nod before heading down the stairs.

Zoro carried you back to the room he had left you in before the firefight and set you carefully on Nami's bed. You were probably going to be on the verge of a mental break when you woke back up, if you were as out of place as you seemed to be. There were plenty of people who weren't familiar with devil fruits, and you had just witnessed the power of one firsthand, in a pretty dramatic way.

Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, staring down at you for a long moment, still racking his brain for some idea of what the hell they were supposed to do with you.

He finally settled for sitting on the floor next to the bed, leaning back against the nightstand, and grabbing the bottle of whiskey. He uncorked it and took a pull from the bottle.

"Never a dull moment," he mumbled to himself, laying his head back against the nightstand with a small thunk.

Which was just enough to stir you—he nearly dropped the bottle in alarm when you sat straight up on the bed, looking around. Then you groaned, falling back again and pulling a pillow over your face. "Why am I still here?" you groaned, your voice muffled. "God, this is a nightmare..."

"Yeah," said Zoro, frowning a little—the whole situation really was a nightmare, and he felt for you on that. "But it's real."

You lifted the pillow, turning your head to look at him, looking utterly defeated. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, yeah." That was a difficult question to be absolutely positive about, but Zoro wasn't really one for waxing existential. You rolled your eyes to the ceiling, your head dropping back onto the bed again, silent for a long moment.

"How," you finally said, slowly, "did your captain inflate himself?" You shook your head. "Not a sentence I thought I'd ever say," you added under your breath, shaking your head, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling.

Zoro gave a snort of laughter and held out the bottle, which you grabbed away immediately, propping yourself up on one elbow to take a long drink. "Devil fruit. He ate it when he was a kid." You looked at him, blinking a few times. "Basically turned his body into rubber."

"U—uh‐huh."

And you took another quick gulp of whiskey before handing the bottle back and shifting onto your side.

"And that's...normal, then? Just...eat a fruit and turn into rubber?"

"It's not really common," he said, laughing a little. "Devil fruits. They're pretty rare. And they all do different things." He took a drink and set the bottle back behind him on the nightstand, stretching an arm out across his knee. "Few days ago we had to fight this asshole clown guy with removable body parts."

"Removable...body..." You gave a small, rather nervous chuckle, tucking a hand under your cheek as you stared at the wall, across the room, your eyes far away. "This is like some stupid anime plot. Hit my head on a fucking keg at a Halloween party and wake up in magic-pirate-land."

"Anime—?"

"Don't ask," you said, closing your eyes and grimacing. "Really not important." You opened your eyes, meeting his gaze with a hopeless sort of frown. "I'm really stuck here, aren't I?"

"I mean...if we could figure out how you got here, or...." He trailed off as you lifted your eyebrows, your expression turning skeptical. He sighed to himself—lying to you wasn't really going to help anything. "Yeah," he said finally, frowning himself. "I guess you are for now."

Your gazes remained locked for a long moment—maybe a moment too long, maybe a little too...intensely. Your eyes drifted for a moment, quickly, passing up and down him, before you pulled in a deep breath and sat straight up ar the edge of the bed, your hand shooting out to grab the bottle of whiskey from the nightstand and take a long pull from it.

Grimacing slightly at the bitterness of the liquor, you lowered the bottle, huffing out a sigh, your face tinged with a hint of a blush.

And Zoro cut his eyes away upon noticing it, clearing his throat a little and standing up from the floor to lean back against the nightstand, putting a little more distance between the two of you.

"Guess it could be worse." He did glanced over when you held the bottle out, and he took it as you pulled the costume tricorne hat from your head and ran a hand back through your hair. "You guys seem okay for 'pirates.'"

He gave a little laugh at that, at how you lifted a hand to mime quotes at the word. "Yeah. Pirates," he said. He took a drink and shook his head. "We're all pretty new to this, so." He shrugged a shoulder. "You're not the only one that's a little disoriented."

"Really?" you said, smirking. Your eyes darted down to his katanas for a second. "How new?"

"About a week," he said. You lifted your eyebrows at that. "I was hunting pirates before that."

You snorted, taking the bottle back, your hand brushing against his as you did—it was subtle, could have been an accident, but between the growing amusement in your tone and your eyes, he doubted it was. "So what, can't beat 'em, join 'em?"

"Not exactly," he said, grinning a little himself as you took a sip and rested the bottle on your knee. "Last time I went to turn in a bounty I got into it with this Marine captain's dumbass kid at a tavern and they took me prisoner. Luffy saw the fight and decided he wanted me on his crew, so he freed me on his way to break into the base and steal a map."

"Wait—" You shook your head, your eyes positively alight with amusement now. "Wait, wait wait—did he know you were a pirate hunter?"

"Yeah."

"So he's either brave or stupid, then?" you said, lifting the bottle again.

"Pretty unhealthy combination of both, actually," he laughed. He took the bottle back when you held it out. "But he's a good guy. Has a lot of heart. Just wants everyone he meets to be able to follow their dreams." You folded your hands over your knee, still smiling as he took a sip and set the bottle down behind him. "So what's the deal with the whole 'psychology' thing?"

"Oh that—that's what I was studying in college. School," you added quickly when he lifted an eyebrow. "Uh, sort of like...a school you go to so you can learn more about the job you want. I'm planning on...." Your smile waned a little as you leaned back on the bed, your eyes falling to your knees. "Was planning on being a therapist. Help people with their problems when they don't have anyone else to turn to." You laughed quietly, biting your lip. "Probably sounds lame compared to what you guys are doing. Fighting with Marines and—clowns with removable body parts."

"No, that sounds..." You had planned on dedicating your life to helping others. "Pretty cool, actually." He crossed his arms, watching you for a long moment as your lips curved toward a small smile. "How's that work, though? People just pay you and you give them adivce?"

"In a nutshell, yeah. It's a little more in depth than that, but..." You lifted your gaze to his, smiling and shrugging one shoulder. "I've still got a lot left to learn, but...I could probably give you a session, if you're curious. For a price."

Zoro lifted his eyebrows as you leaned forward, resting your elbows on your knees, your chin against one of your palms, your smile widening a little as your eyes scanned him up and down again, a little slower this time, more deliberately.

"I might be willing to settle for a date as compensation."

His eyes widened.

What.

That was...forward.

Maybe there had been a little flirting between the two of you, but that had thrown him right off his guard.

"I—uh—"

And you looked pretty amused that it had.

Zoro was saved from his alarmed stammering by the sound of quick footsteps approaching the room. You both turned your attention toward the open doorframe as Luffy skidded to a halt there, his eyes positively glowing with excitement.

"Guys, you gotta see what we found, come on—"

And with that, and without giving either of you a single second to respond, he grabbed you amd Zoro both by the wrist and set to dragging you both out toward the deck. You tossed a sideways glance at Zoro on the way, looking almost frightened.

"Is he always so—?"

"You get used it," said Zoro shortly.

And once on the deck, he pushed you both toward the railing, just as the Going Merry was beginning to emerge from the thick fog bank that had enshrouded the caravel, revealing another, much larger ship anchored on the calm ocean ahead, with several other ships docked around it. A glowing red neon sign hung on the side, high over a door that led into the lower part of the vessel.

"Wh...what's a 'Baratie'?" said Usopp, looking over the railing next to Zoro, squinting at the sign.

"That smell..." Nami laughed as she leaned against the railing next to you. "I think this place is a restaurant."

"Then I know what we're gonna do next," said Luffy, pushing between you and Nami to lean over the railing, grinning.

"Disguise the ship so the Marines can't find us?" suggested Nami, cutting her eyes at him.

"Sail back to Syrup Village where it's safe?" offered Usopp.

"Nah." Luffy's grin only widened as he stared at the atrange ship, and he said excitably, "let's eat!"

You stared at him in alarm as he smacked his hand against the railing and hurried off across the deck, before your eyes turned back to the Baratie, wide as saucers, your mouth fallen open a bit.

"I...it's a fish," you said, a little weakly.

Zoro glanced over at you, and sighed to himself. If this day got any weirder he was probably going to have to take you up on the offer of the whole "therapy" thing. He shook his head a little, shoving away from the railing himself.

"That fish better have a bar."

[pricemarshfield]

Writer Interview Game

thank you for the tag @wetcatspellcaster! honestly just this morning was talking about writing and inspiration and motivation so it was super cool to get to dive in-depth with this :) under the cut because uhhh i am chatty as all hell <3

tagging @reallyhatethiswebsite @goldfyshie927 @prettyaveragewhiteshark @pouralaura @atrueneutral @bravestworriers AND anyone else who'd like to! as always, no pressure :)

When did you start writing?

i genuinely have been writing so long that i don't remember when i started. i have distinct memories of being 6 and writing about my oc who was a babylonian priestess raised by alligators and living in antarctica in a compound full of animals, and despite being babylonian she was named athena. honestly a baller concept for me at 6 years old, i kinda still fuck with it (though i'd tweak some things. world-build a little more. probably rename her. read more than one encyclopedia page about mesopotamia)

i wrote a LOT of original stuff (read: knockoffs of whatever novels i'd read at the time) and a bit of fanfiction as a tween, got into a phase where i hated and deleted all of it and wrote WAY less as a teen, and then jumped back into fanfic with requests from my high school friend group and haven't stopped since. even when my posting has slowed, my writing hasn't; i just waffle between "post a chapter as soon as it's done" and "wait until the fic is finished and fully edited before i post a word of it". the former approach definitely works better for me because otherwise it languishes in my drafts forever (i'm sorry pricemarsh longfic. one day i will muster up the motivation to finish you).

i write Some original stuff, but more short stories than longform things. actually someone yell at me to post my molly drew backstory thing because it's one of the best things i've written in years AND fully original! (well. project zomboid. fanfic gray area but it's basically a stand-alone zombie thing, it doesn't pull from the game's lore because i don't know it lmao)

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

hm...i think i read a long more long genfics than i've written or attempted to write, which is funny because longer genfics are definitely some of the best things i've written and that have resulted in the Nicest comments and response i've ever gotten. (the only fic i've ever joined a server and had someone go "i've read this and i loved it" is a 30k genfic, and also is my magnus opus). also, i read MUCH more original fiction stuff than i write these days, even if i DO have a lot of oc ideas these days.

i'm not sure why! i don't think it's coming from a concern of lack of interest...compelled as i am by platonic dynamics, i think i just have more fun writing shippy stuff. also i write a lot of smut, so there's that. thinking about it, there mayyy be a level of spite in my not writing more original stuff, or at least not sharing it? my family is very annoying about the fact i write fic instead of original stuff, and that i am Not interested in being an author as my career. but that's a silly reason so maybe i'll hype myself up about my original stuff more lol

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

not that i can think of? not unless i'm writing something in a very specific genre, anyway. when i wrote my noir au martian thing i was very specifically trying to emulate works from that genre but even then not Authors so much as Works and even then more movies than books...i think there are some fantastic authors (both published and fandom!) that i'm very inspired by and learn from but none that i'd point to as a Style To Emulate. but in terms of writers, both the person who tagged me and everyone i'm tagging have writing i love enough that it makes me want to work on my own stuff. all of y'all use words SO well.

again, not a style i'm trying to emulate BUT in terms of books that got me thinking about words and world-building and writing in such a way that i was inspired to Create (a VASTLY incomplete list): mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia, exercises in style by raymond queneau, 253 by geoff ryman, the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson, this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone, the martian by andy weir, and in the dream house by carmen maria machado. ALSO READ MORE CLASSICS AND NONFICTION AND POETRY...get thinking about words in different ways even if it's not the genre you want to write because it WILL help your writing grow...this is getting so far away from the question oops

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

...the amount of fic i've written on my dinky old laptop, in bed at 2am, directly in the ao3 textbox is FAR more than the fic i've written in any other space. (no one should do this btw.) unfortunately i write most when i compelled by ideas at at a time i shouldn't be, and my laptop is convenient

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

stepping away. forcing writing puts me back in a mindset that'll burn me out Longterm, and i won't even be happy with the end result. writing and also any other creative endeavor isn't something to do on its own forever; if you're not inspired, go read something! play something! draw something if you write/write something if you draw! go on a hike! try and fail to learn to crochet!

on top of helping yourself decompress from writer's block and burnout (if you're dealing with either), i feel like the muse always comes easier when i give her space. sometimes she comes back with a vengeance and that's when i write at 2am (that's when most of talk was written, and it haunted me for MONTHS. MONTHSSS. so i guess also you can muster up the muse by being down bad for the devil)

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

all my ocs are autistic women who mask (either well or poorly) and feel fundamentally not in line with the worlds in which they're living. which could mean nothing

but also i don't really think so! i try to very consciously write different genres and themes and ideas; i think i revisit the idea of two characters who are in some way opposed realizing they're more similar than they thought, or else finding compatibility In their differences maybe?? which isn't surprising but also i think indicates more a desire to build up a relationship as part of a plot rather than saying something about Me, Specifically

wait no i lied. in dnd and dnd-related fandoms specifically i write a LOT of stuff vis a vis divinity and expectations and the dichotomy of good/evil in the setting not necessarily matching with any sort of real-world morality/philosophy and the horror inherent to godhood (on both the side of the god and the follower.) i'm not a particularly religious person nor was i raised as such, so not sure Why, but it's very interesting to me!!

What is your reason for writing?

i want to read it and no one's gonna write it exactly like i will!! but also...it's fun. i like getting into a character's head. i like figuring out how to get from scene a to scene b in a way that doesn't take away from the narrative. i LOVE getting to see the ways a story can shift outside its outline (my outlines are very bare-bones, so this happens a lot). it's something that i enjoy and that i can share with people.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

any comment that shares something about my writing that either i was actively trying to do or that i didn't notice at all. the first is a delight because it means someone gets what i'm going for!! hell yes! and then the latter is a look at my writing through someone else's eyes which is just so so nice. either one feels like Connecting with people over my writing which is! the goal! so hell yes!

really though any comment that isn't "write more" is motivating to me. someone once left a keysmash and nothing else in the comment box and it motivated me to pick up another wip for the same pairing and write another chapter

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

i am a human being and not a content machine <3 this doesn't come up a lot anymore but i used to have to deal with a lot of asks and requests that would demand more fic even as all my posts were about the immense grief i was dealing with at the time lol.

but also i want to be seen as a person who can be approached! send me asks about what i've written, dm me, tell me about zines and fanweeks and things like that! i literally live with someone i met in a fandom space, fandom works best when it's a thing you share with people rather than a thing you Consume and expect Recognition for. (not that recognition is BAD, but like...see it as connection first and content second, ykwim? i also say this knowing i'm bad about reaching out first but. yeah. i'm working on it!)

slight tangent but you've already read this far so <3 i also feel like fandom these days has moved to more private spaces rather than public appreciation...like, how many fandom events get shared primarily in discord servers that a new fan might not know to join? how many people only get hyped up by people they've already talked with? how many people gush over a fic in a server and then never mention it to the author? i want to be approachable because i want to actually Engage with people without having to join 80 discord servers for different niche things and hope i find a place i vibe with. (nothing against discord specifically--anyone can ask for mine, and i met some dear friends that i'm tagging through a fan discord server, but i hate social connection in fandom being Limited to that.) okay tangent over

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

this is so specific lol but i think i'm really good at flow and sentence structure. like...i feel like i space out my sentences and paragraphs well to keep things from getting too jarring even while being wordy as all hell in a smut oneshot. (there's a reason my first tav is a bard multiclass with the sage background, and it's because neither of us can or will shut up <3)

How do you feel about your own writing?

honestly? pretty damn good. i'll still go through what every writer does where i reread my own stuff and think it sucks sometimes, but i think i've gotten to a place in my writing where i can enjoy it as it stands even if i notice something i'd edit differently. it helps that i've started writing a lot more SELF-indulgently rather than request-indulgently (though please do still send requests if you want! <3 i just mean that i'm not ONLY writing things for other people)

[tired-of-being-nice]

67 for Milo and Coren! :3

67 on the prompt game: Playing The Melody

(this took so much longer then i expected it to, lmao)

cws: emotional whump, fucked up economic systems

"Milo!!! Milomilomilomilo! Look what I got!"

Milo lowers their book and glances up, and their eyes immediately widen in shock. "Woah. Is that–"

"It is!!" Coren says gleefully, hugging it to their chest. "An actual, real-life guitar! It's probably not tuned right and I think some of the strings are kinda busted but– so cool, right?"

"So cool," Milo agrees. "Where on earth did you get it?"

"Oh, the, um, the junk store," Coren says, with a hint of forced casualty. Milo nods in understanding. The junk store–so called because it mostly carries, well, junk–is...maybe not exactly a store. It doesn't take any company's scrip, just deals in bartering, which seems like it should be illegal, but the store is a fixture of their neighborhood and it's never been shut down that Milo's heard of, so...

"Yeah, I had to trade in a bunch of old clothes and some food—don't give me that look, Milo, I'm fine!—but I got it! And I can kinda play it! Here, look."

And without any further warning, Coren sits down on the stoop across from Milo and begins to pluck at the strings.

It's slow, and awkward, and even Milo can tell it's not very good. But as it plays, slowly, Milo begins to recognize what it's playing.

"I think I know this song!" they say.

Coren beams at them, and Milo's heart swells. "Yeah?! Good! It's an old song, a folk song, I think. I'm pretty sure I've heard it somewhere, can't remember where, but– um– yeah." It looks down at the strings and starts playing again, apparently abruptly embarrassed.

It's still not very good. Pretty bad, actually, objectively speaking. But Milo doesn't care. They think it's wonderful.

———

"Oh, Ray, I didn't know you had a piano."

"Oh! Uh, yeah. I- It was given to me by my family, um, I wouldn't actually buy something so- so frivolous, er-" Ray flails for the correct thing to say with increasing panic. By the time he'd woken up Milo and told them Coren was gone, it seemed too late to go after it, and Milo had simply said "Ah. I see." 

Ray had expected them to leave after that, but instead they'd started wandering around Ray's house like a ghost. Ray wants to ask them to leave, or remind them that they do both have to get to work soon, or tell them that she does want either her spatula back or compensation, but some instinct of politeness has been holding her back. And now-

"Do you play?" Milo says, looking at him directly for the first time this morning. Ray is startled by the focus in their gaze, which usually seems to be looking somewhere else entirely. If he didn't know better he'd say they look eager, but- no, that can't be it. He's never seen Milo look eager for anything in the whole time he's known them.

"...A little," she says. "Used to, anyway, I haven't had time to in...oh, geez, several years?" She forces an awkward laugh that, judging by Milo's stare, is not remotely convincing.

"Can you play something now?" Milo says.

Ray hesitates. "I- I'm out of practice. And you'd owe me, you know-"

"I know," Milo says easily. "We'll rebalance the book later. One song? Please."

Ray, pretending his best that he doesn't really want to (it's been so long, when will he get another chance?), says "Fine. One. Any requests?"

Milo answers so quickly Ray's a little suspicious. "I don't know the name, but it's this old folk tune. It's like- da da dada, da da dada, da da daaa dada dada..."

"...Yes. I know it." Ray shuffles through her music and sits. "Nice and short. Okay."

She plays– hesitantly at first, she is out of practice, but slowly picking up speed, though she flinches every time she hits a sour note. By the end, though, she's closer to smiling than she has been in a long time.

"That was nice," Milo says, and Ray turns to look at them. He'd nearly forgotten they were there. "Thank you, Ray. I'll see you at work."

With that, they turn and leave, abrupt and purposeful, as if nothing odd had transpired whatsoever. Ray is left standing in the doorway, staring after them and wondering why on earth they would want to hear something that made them look so terribly sad.

[magicalgirltwirl]

This is the first AMV I ever made! It was a Claymore one to "Rise" by Origa (one of the OPs for the Ghost in the Shell anime). It's bad so you shouldn't watch it, but I wanted to ramble a bit about my journey making AMVs and how I got started. (and also Claymore in the reblog)

I made this for my college anime club in 2011. The club said they were going to have an AMV contest and we could make ours over break. Then when I got back from break nobody but me had made one and I just dropped it. I didn't mind though, because I wanted to get started making AMVs anyway, I'd watched a bunch and wanted to for a while. Like a lot of people, I was always creating AMVs in my head when I listened to songs.

The summary I published this with is preserved in the metadata and it is so unintentionally funny

Done for an AMV contest at the anime club. I haven't finished either the anime or manga of Claymore yet- so no spoilers- but I am already completely in love with both. [summary stuff]

Anyone know how to get rid of the box on the sides of the picture?

As is very obvious in this video, at first I approached AMVs kind of like I was making my own summary of my favorite parts of the anime rather than really intergrating the music. I used subbed footage in this (and in a few AMVS after) because 1. I could only find subbed footage and 2. because at the time I was always confused why people didn't use subs for anime, because sometimes they matched the music or they could tell someone what the show was about! But of course this is because you can rarely make an AMV that actually works with the music with subbed footage.

You have to leave time for people to read the subs and the characters to talk and part of the fun of AMVs is conveying things nonverbally and syncing it to the lyrics of the beat, it makes for a boring viewing experience if it's just a clipshow where you might has well have just left the audio on and made an ad for the anime.

So this is slow and bad, but I have a fondness for it. You can see that I really wanted to show people Clare and Teresa's story and why I thought it was cool. I think I made three subbed AMVs after this (the second one being the "We Believe You" Sailor Jupiter one, and the next two being other Sailor Moon ones that are lost forever now) but as I got better, I ditched them. The road to improvement was slow and long, but I improved a lot.

I don't think I'll ever make AMVs again- the last time I attempted one was a Patreon request, and I realized Windows Movie Maker was way too buggy to work with and as an adult, AMVs were way too time consuming to make for only $50- now I know how to use Davinci Resolve which is way better and not buggy, but yeah, still too time consuming! Even editing my old ones like I've been doing has been more time consuming and horribly addictive than I imagined. I can waste entire days just editing an AMV, hours on just getting one bit of timing right, and now that I have all these responsibilities I can't do that anymore. But I really look back on all my AMVs fondly, even the bad ones. I'm glad I can revisit most of them on this blog now.

[kuwdora]

January 7 - What art form would you like to try that you haven't—or, alternately, what art form have you tried that you most want to work on? -killabeez

KILLA!! What a great prompt, thank you for asking me an art question!

I spent the previous few years working on acrylic pours which has been amazing and fun and messy and a joy. but I could sense that I needed to shift gears eventually…

I’m getting back into intuitive/expressionistic painting again and some mixed media. I’m also looking forward to trying to develop some figurative drawing skills. I have not had the patience or inclination to work on my drawing skills before but I think I’ve reached the point where I really want to focus on drawing so I can do figurative abstract. Currently not very good at drawing shapes and people with any kind of intent or control. I’ve got a number of tutorials queued up for the new year. Did some practice in October and November sporadically. Have plenty of sketchbooks and even tracing paper to practice with.

I just need to put it all together and begin this new art practice and stick with it for awhile. I want to draw people, trees, plants. And cats. Been working on my doodle skills. Daily practice. Slow and purposeful.

Tools-wise I also was really fond of spray painting techniques that I tried. But I never have a good place to do that outdoors and I can't do that indoors. However I do have an air compressor and have practiced with that a little bit but I want to do more with that.

I would love do various kinds of acrylic pour galaxies with airbrush planets and nebulas, using some sponging and blending techniques too for starscapes. I had this vague idea to recreate the color palette of Star Wars planets that I kind of tried to some degree a few years ago but didn’t get too far with. It’s very cool. I just need way more practice! Here's some early practice with spray paint and later a masking attempt with a purple-y acrylic pour. The tall piece was an acrylic pour and later splattered with paint in my bath tub. Finished with a circle stencil and airbrushing for the spheres. It turns out I have to focus really hard to understand light/shadow.

I cleaned my room and hauled out a bunch of old paintings to stare at while I do some fresh warm-ups this month. I feel like I had stalled out with this kind of thing, but I think there's more I can do to express myself. Most of these I don't think have enough structure to ground the eye and whatnot, but that's why I've been staring at them off and on for a week while reviewing some inspiration videos and books. Been thinking more about color blocking and linework to help create structure.

I'm feeling adrift when it comes to sharing/posting art on various social media platforms because of the spam on Insta/Twitter (I was getting dozens of spam replies/DMs and requests for NFTs/probable theft). Not sure if to create a new sideblog or new tumblr for my art. Or if I want to rename my studio name that doesn't feel quite right anymore but I'm not ready to give up yet. Thinking about crossposting on dreamwidth/bluesky and image hosting. But really I need to keep warming my brain and brushes back up.

Anyway! Have some fresh art that I've practiced this week!

Acrylic on canvas board. Love me some quinacridone magenta on the left. The right piece has modeling paste and sand for texture. Gonna do some more layering on that.

January posting meme + claim a date - prompt me. Still writing about pretty much anything.

[forthesanityofstorytellers]

Asking all the writeblrs I love to grow a vast garden, apologies if I ask the same thing twice *

Hello! I'm attempting to grow a Tumblr garden, with input from people around here to make a series of short stories about' houseplant fairies. The hope would be to have a 'community tumblr garden' full of all the wholesomeness the internet can offer.

Here's the request/seed - do you have a prior worry' or 'stumbling block'. perhaps an event or a piece of advice others told you that didn't help much or simply an' obstacle that you overcame. To be honest, I'm unsure of how to accurately describe 'the seed' but something in the realm of 'society expectations versus what actually helped- or whatever you wish? Also also, favorite plant/houseplant/ flower to write the story about.

Here's the houseplants we have so far in case this was confusing.

The Venus Flytrap from @poetsandstuff

"I've had advice about 'getting out there' and just socialising lile im not dieing on the inside every time"

The Venus Flytrap episode one - Relationships

The Rose from @briarborealisart

"i could still be true to myself while valuing what others thought."

Episode one - Thorns

The Prayer Plant from @awleeofficial

"I worry about how I am percieved by the people in my life as well as the creative works that I choose to share, and I can be rather hard on myself when it doesn't come out perfect."

Episode one - Inspiration

Thanks for participating :)

Hi!! I feel so grateful to be involved in this!

So, I hope this one isn't too much but the first thing that came to mind was anxiety and "pushing through". About ten years ago my world just about broke and I started suffering panic attacks, anxiety attacks, so badly that when they hit I literally couldn't move and often hyperventilated. I took years of trying to simply "push through" (to distill the unhelpful social response) the panic attacks - continue going to college, continue working, continue continue continue. Eventually it all fell apart and at the bottom of the barrel is when I figured out that, for me, that what I actually needed to do was to be still. To learn and accept this new version of myself and figure out what actually helped her. Taking it slow, having boundaries, different coping mechanisms for different triggers, learning and relearning that I'm not broken I'm literally just different than I used to be...and so on. It's been an uphill battle that I still fight and will probably continue to fight, but in the very least I haven't had a full-blown panic shut-down in...maybe three years? So progress! Whoo!

Anyway. I hope that's what you were looking for and I didn't overshare 😅 lol and for the plant...I know it's not a houseplant per say, but I've always loved the resilience and insane tenacity of my garden peppermint. I mean...I think it's a peppermint plant. I know it's in the mint family, lol (It kind just grew there one day and I didn't pull it out and now it's a fourth or fifth generation monstrosity right outside the door)

Best shot I have of both the flower and the leaves of the tenacious minty beastie

[gamebunny-advance]

Grab Bag Doodle Dump

Oh, what's this feeling? The feeling of wanting to explode because I haven't posted sketches in a while? Well, I better post something then~

I haven't been as productive as I'd like since work picked up, but it's starting to slow down again, so hopefully I'll be able to work on some more personal stuff. I've almost finished Kun3h0's new model, I just need a little extra tweaking and then maybe making a few extra emotions and I'll be good! We're also only 20 followers away from the next milestone here, so hopefully requests will open soon too.

Anyway, here's the usual notes under the cut:

1-2) Clay Face sketches. I gotta couple more plushies to upcycle, a monkey in a rainbow hat and a purple bunny. I'm actually gonna try to sell these, so I do hope that y'all will consider taking a look and/or spreading 'em around once they're done ^o^! The monkey is gonna be party/clown themed, and I'm gonna try to make the bunny magical girl themed, but they might turn out generic. More info at a later date~

3-4) Potential plushie upcycles. For the first bear, the pallet and theme is Yinu inspired, but I'm taking some inspo from this song too. I want to cover them in yellow roses since I got a few during a Michael's clearance sale, but I've yet to come across a yellow bear for it, so this one is gonna be on the back burner until I stumble across one. The other one is a MikuxNoid fusion to finally use that pink Kpop bunny I got forever ago. This one is just for fun since I actually already have an idea for that bunny, but I still wanted to sketch the concept.

5-6) Kun3h0 x 1010 ver 2. I like the designs I made for both, so I doodled them again. I gave 1010!Kun3h0 her rabbit ears back since they're important to her design, I just changed the shape a little to match the 1010 aesthetics, so they're sharper and don't have the globes at the top. Kun3h0!White is basically unchanged.

7) Soda Shop!Green. I will finish this collection someday. Hopefully. Maybe.

8) "Ghosts". A XIO doodle I never got around to finishing. I'm still evolving the idea, but I'm starting to think of XIO's personalities as their own separate people that just happen to occupy the same body.

9) Kindergaten AU. I dunno, I thought it was a cute idea, and I have some scenario ideas for it, but I feel very silly about it since it's just fluff. I dunno if I'll ever make anything based on it. Maybe someday when I'm less self-conscious.

10) Build-A-Goat: So I never actually set up my tent this year, and I don't think I'm gonna. I'm just too unmotivated~ That said, this was the original plan for my tent rather than the Tamagoatchis.

11) Gemu doodle. I wanna draw him and the retro gang again ;3;

[dapperappleton]

Sorry, Happy Birthday

Thanks @cutiepiebean for requesting this! I hope you have a happy birthday/new years 🥳

Pairing: Crowley x reader

Pronouns: None

Summary: Crowley has been missing lately, and today being your birthday and New Years, you're rightfully upset. Turn out he's just been planning a celebration for you.

Warnings: Angst and anxiety in the beginning, mostly fluff, mentions of food

The house felt empty. It was too quiet. Crowley hadn't been home very much in the past week or so. He's a busy demon, frequently out and about making deals and running the underworld, but I had barely seen him at all lately. I had begun to wonder if he had lost interest in me. Maybe he had found another person that he liked more. Maybe that's not true at all. Either way he had given no explanation of why he hadn't been there. Especially today.

Today is New Years, which should be of less interest to Crowley because on top of that, today is my birthday. I had been waiting for him to walk through the door all morning. I had waited, mostly impatiently, for him to walk through that door, gifts in had and an apology at the ready. But it was already afternoon, and he had yet to appear. I hated this feeling. I attempted to lounge around and relax, but all I could feel was jealousy, and bitterness, and spite.

He let me dwell in those feeling before finally appearing in front of me a little before ten o'clock that night. His usually charming smirk made my skin itch, the emotions rising to the surface. He opened his mouth, likely in an attempt to slyly and sweetly greet me. I beat him to it.

"You've been gone all week. You gave me no information, no heads up, no nothing as to why you weren't here." My breathing was purposefully slow, voice carefully articulated. "My birthday is today. New Years is today. Yet you've been missing anyway. I don't know what you've been doing, but you better be sorry."

Crowley's eyes widened quickly before he tilted his head downward. He kneeled on the ground in front of my chair, hand coming to softly grasp my chin.

"I know. I haven't been particularly good about keeping you updated on where I've been, but I didn't know what I could tell you. I am so sorry, truly," Crowley smiled gently, eyes full of tender love. "I've been planning something for your birthday, for New Years. I didn't intend to leave you by yourself so much, but this took a lot of planning. I love you, darling. I didn't mean to hurt you."

I love him too, but I was still emotional and upset at him. My face was blank, if not mildly unamused. At least I had an explanation now. His gentle smile turned into a gentle frown before lighting up again. He had an idea, apparently. His hands moved from my face down to my sides. He smirked before he began to rapidly move them, tickling me.

"Come on love, give me a smile, won't you?" He laughed at my poor attempt to sit still.

"Ok! Ok! Stop!"

His hands ceased.

"I love you, but you also hurt me. A simple apology isn't going to make everything better."

"Of course not. I want to show you what I've been working on." He stood and extended his hand towards me, an invitation for me to grab hold. "I spruced up that extra apartment I own, just for you."

The demon took me to his apartment, and when he had said "spruced up," he should have said "completely decked out." There were string lights lining the ceilings, food covering the kitchen counters, soft pillows and blankets covering the bed, and several gifts set out on the table. Any resentment still left in me settled and melted away. Crowley wasn't known to be the sentimental, caring type. He was typically cruel and sharp to most people. Yet for me, he would do anything. He tried his best to treat me well, and even though it didn't always work, I love him for trying.

"Happy birthday, darling." He gripped my hands in his. "I'm sorry I screw up so much."

"Thank you. I know you try." My smile shifted to a smirk. "I'm just glad you weren't cheating on me."

"I'd be dead if I did. Besides, I would never." He stepped further into the room. "Where should we start?"

We spent the night celebrating, eating and drinking as we bantered. Midnight neared faster than it should have.

Five

"Thank you, Crowley."

Four

"Of course, my love."

Three

"I love you."

Two

"I love you more."

One

[one-sad-human]

•Something There• Slash

Pairing: Slash x Reader

Requested? Yes! By a lovely anon

Theme: Fluff

Warnings: Some language

Word Count: 1.2k

A/N: —

     You take in a deep breath. The letter in the sweaty palms feels heavy and intimidating. It's hopefully an acceptance letter from your dream college, UCLA, but there's a chance you got declined.

     You open the envelope slowly, unfolding the letter and beginning to read. Your smile grows and you jump up from your chair, pumping a fist in the air and jumping around your kitchen.

     You race to your phone and call your parent's phone number, waiting impatiently for one of them to answer. Before a 'hello' is said, you shout out.

     "I got in! I got in UCLA!"

     It's been your dream to go since you were small. America was scary and foreign, but you've always known that you can't live in England your entire life.

     It's always rainy and cloudy, and LA seems bright and gorgeous. It's full of possibilities and excitement. And it helps that your best friend, Saul, lives there.

     You and Saul have been friends since practically birth. Yours and his parents were close friends, meaning that even after Saul and his mom moved to America, you all remained in contact.

     You're parents took you to yearly trips to America to visit the Hudson's, and he visited England once in a while, too. Over the last few years, you haven't been able to go visit him.

     You have a job and have been working hard to save up for college, so vacation was a distant memory. But nonetheless, phone calls are still pretty common between you and him.

     According to Saul, his friends call him Slash now, and he has a band. He seems to be happier with this band than his previous ones, and you wish him nothing but the best.

     You can't wait to be there, to see him on stage with florescent lights beaming on him, his fingers moving quickly along the fretboard of his guitar. You're smiling just thinking about it.

     It's finally moving day. It's bittersweet, bitter because England is all you've ever known, moving so far away is the scariest thing you've ever done. Your parents are also heartbroken your leaving, but they keep smiling faces to not make you feel guilty for leaving.

     But the sweetness is stronger. This is your dream! You'd be able to live in LA and see the ocean everyday, walk along the Sunset Strip, and go to your dream school. Saul being there definitely helps, too.

     The plane ride is nothing new. It's long and tiring, and you just want to sleep when you finally get to your destination. But the familiar heat wakes you a little when you step out of the airport.

And when you get to your very tiny dorm, you rush around to unpack so you can go and explore. The strip is obviously you're first destination. It's colorful and loud and the exact opposite from England, which may be what you love about it.

A poster stuck to a window with drawings and a date on it catches your eye. It's for a local band called Guns n Roses, and you remember that's the name of Saul's band.

So, naturally, you go to the show. The band is loud and the energy is something you've never seen before. It's electrifying.

After, you reconnect with Saul— or Slash as he likes to be called now. You meet his band and they all love you, although all of them tried to get into your pants at some point during that night.

But as time stretched on to months, you and Slash are closer than ever. His bandmates are convinced there's something going on between you, but both of you always brush it off.

"We're just best friends," is Slash's favorite quote.

Axl and Steven were the most vocal. Axl is nosy and notices everything, and Steven just loves love. You can't count the number of times they've tried to set you up with Slash on a date, it hasn't worked yet.

     But nonetheless, Steven and Axl giving up their mission seems impossible. Well, you thought, until now.

     "You set me up on a blind date?" You ask, a slight snarl on your face. "With who?"

     "What the hell do you think blind means? Go and find out! It's this Saturday," Axl says. You put your pen down, as you were finishing up some schoolwork before Axl had called you.

     "Why do you even want me to go on this date anyway? Aren't you the same guy hell-bent on getting me with Saul?"

     "Look, this guy needed a date, you're the only single woman I know that I haven't fucked."

     "You're disgusting."

     "Will you go on the date or not?" Axl asks, ignoring the insult.

     "I don't know, Ax." You sigh. "I'm busy with school and work and—

     "Exactly! A date is exactly what you need to relax!" Axl says.

     "Fine! Fine, I'll go," you agree. You know that he won't give up on asking, he would just show up at your dorm if you hung up. Besides, how much harm could one date do anyway?

     It's Saturday, the dreaded day of the week. You park your car outside of the restaurant that your date will take place at. The restaurant looks nice, it isn't fancy and expensive, but it doesn't look sketchy.

     You walk in, glancing around quickly to see if you can spot your date. Axl said he should be sitting at the first table near the window.

     You walk over, and when you spot who it is, you shake your head in disbelief. He may have his back turned to you, but his curly head of hair is still distinguishable.

     "So you're my date?" You ask, rounding the table. Saul looks up in surprise and laughs, throwing his head back.

     "Axl set us up?" He asks.

     "Apparently." Slash shakes his head but keeps his smile on his face. He gestures for you to sit down across from him.

     "Well, I'm starving and I'm not wasting the reservation. What do you want?"

Once you order and begin eating, you begin to think how nice this is. You wonder if there is something there, if maybe it was there all along and you never thought about it.

You become almost hyper aware of everything Slash does, to the way he looks down when he smiles and how he listens to you intently and hangs onto every word.

When the date ends, you’re disappointed and wish it could last longer. Slash feels the same, which is why he walks so slow exiting the restaurant.

“Can I tell you something?” He asks, walking you to your car.

“Of course, what?”

“I really had fun today.” You nod and smile.

“Yeah, me too.” You get to your car but instead of getting in, you lean against the door.

“Could we do it again sometime?” You raise your eyebrows and your lips part. Slash keeps his eyes low, nervous for your answer.

“You mean you want to hang out again?” You ask, and he quickly shakes his head.

“No, I want to go on another date. Just me and you, no Axl setting us up. A proper date,” he explains, his words fumbling.

“I’d love to,” you say with a grin. Slash looks up, a relieved smile on his lips. He reaches up his hand and caresses your face, leaning in ever so slowly. You lean against your car more, grateful for the support.

It turns out Axl and Steven were right sometimes, not that you’d ever say that to their faces.

[jishyucks]

Eight Count ‣ lmh

‣ genre: fluff, enemies-to-lovers, hogwarts!au, I think it's a slow burn

‣ wc: 10.8k

‣ summary: "There's honestly no way Minho would like me. And me of all people would know that." ; in which fate decides to be an ass and make you and Minho dance partners

‣ an: I'm sosososo sorry @ whoever requested this bc of how long it took. I didn't mean for it to be so long but it kept going and uni is to blame bc all of the work :(( but anyways enjoy !!

i.

You feel the beat of your heart quicken as you maneuver through the maze of corridors that you had begun to approach. Time was ticking. The first classes of the day had already started about half an hour ago, and here you were, racing down the stone hallways, tardy and a bit dazed.

It had only been a mere five minutes since you had woken up in the dormitories in pure panic, the realization that everyone had left and you were still cuddled up against one of the pillows in your bed driving you to act quick. You could accuse your housemates of not even bothering to check if you were alive, but you soon decided to place the blame on your body's restlessness and inability to go to sleep when you wished. You wouldn't call it insomnia, but your sleeping patterns weren't normal either.

Approaching the dance room with a quiet sigh of relief, you tug at the wooden door and peek in, hoping that you weren't barging in at such a humiliating time.

Scattered around the rather room, students were paired in twos. Each couple's bodies had been facing each other, hands sitting awkwardly in the other's while their faces were turned towards the dance instructors, Professor Shin and Professor Na. By the look on Professor Shin's face, it was evident that she was about to continue speaking, but the door swinging open had caught her attention.

"Ahh Y/N, nice of you to finally join us," she clasped her hands in genuine excitement, passion towards dance obviously bubbling up inside of her.

You grinned crudely and bowed your head, "W-what should I do, Professor?" Spotting your best friend Felix within the group of students, he tried his best to send you a look of 'we were supposed to be partners'. You shot him an apologetic expression back before turning your attention back to both professors.

After a brief pause in thought, Professor Na's face lit up, "Ah yes! Lee Minho lacks a partner as of now!" Following the eyes of your teacher, they brought your line of sight to the far corner of the room where Minho had been sitting. At the mention of his name, he raised his head to see that everyone had been gaping back at him in what seemed like total silence.

A sharp intake of air through your nose had replicated a gasp, eyes growing wide, "P-pardon?" Out of all the boys in the class, an amount you couldn't keep track of with your fingers, you had to end up with Lee Minho? The human embodiment of a wet sock?

Minho was… unbearable, to say the least. It wasn't that he had done something for you to hate him, which made you seem like a bad person, but in all honesty, your guys' personalities didn't seem to match. He was too arrogant, in your opinion. He has this energy that he carries that really didn't sit well with you, and by the looks of it, the feeling was mutual. It was as if you both ended up on the opposite bc end of everything.

It really doesn't help that you're a Hufflepuff, and he's a Slytherin. For some unknown reason, they always loved teasing the people from your house, though Hufflepuffs chose not to return their actions.

"Mr. Lee is the only student remaining with no partner."

You gulped and slowly approached him, only because your professors had motioned you over to him. If you could protest, you would, but what was holding you back was the attention given by the entire class and the teacher's who seemed too excited for their own good.

Minho pressed his tongue against his inner cheek, eyes lighting up in wrongly-fueled happiness. He hopped from the upper bench and down across from you. You blinked back at him dryly, maintaining calm yet trying to speak to him with your eyes.

Crossing his arms, he leaned forward and smirked, "Why the bitter face? You should relish in your luck for ending up with me."

"Stop talking, dead cells are coming out of your mouth… Luck my as–"

"Now! That everyone has a partner, I'd like you all to stick with these individuals until these classes are finished," Professor Shin had announced. It was quickly followed by groans and whining from many of your classmates. Though you hated your partner and wished you had arrived earlier and paired with Felix, you stood quiet, isolating the anger within your chest.

"And before we begin once again," Professor Na added, "I'd like to point out that this is still a class. We will be holding a class particularly focused on evaluation and your grade will be heavily based on participation over the length of this course." Once again, a chorus of grumbles had flooded the room.

You hear Minho curse under his breath, only because he was now two steps too far into your bubble, "This is utter bullshit."

This time it was your turn to taunt, "Why? Are you scared or something? Can't dance? Can't keep up with everyone?"

Narrowing his eyes, he scoffs, "Oh, shut your mouth, bumblebee. Just wait and see."

ii.

"Get up!" Felix tugged at your arm, voice sounding louder than it actually was. When you hadn't shifted at all in your bed, he sighed and tugged once more, "Y/N!"

"Wha– Felix you're not allowed in here!" You kicked at your blanket and sat up.

"We need to get to dance class," he clicked his tongue, "Let's go~"

"I really don't want to go," you whined, "I'd rather fail a class than hold hands with Lee Minho for an hour and a half." Felix dragged you out of your bed to see that you were already dressed in your robe, only your yellow and black tie had been carelessly tied.

"Wait, did you not change out your clothes from yesterday?" Felix jumped back in exaggeration, alarmed and slightly grossed out. His nose scrunched while he judged you through his eyes.

You glared at him and scoff, "Of course I did, you idiot. And don't act like you haven't done that." You take this as your victory as it was true, Felix had gone two days without changing, and it was a bit nasty considering all the places he's gone to in a day.

This time it was his turn to glare at you, "You shut your mouth! Now let's leave before Snape sees us roaming the halls once class starts."

Minho winced slightly, trying not to let your feet ruin the simple waltz routine that the class had finally run through, "If you step on my foot one more time, I'm shoving yours up your arse." His teeth were gritted in frustration, looking down at you with narrowed eyes.

"Then stop stepping on my feet," you muttered back, hoping that no one else, especially the professors, were hearing you two bicker.

It had only been about two lessons into the class and that amount of times that Minho had purposefully disrupted the routine… as if it were good, to begin with.

The two of you found it difficult to fall in sync with each other. It was always either going too fast or too slow, someone making an 'accidental' mistake, and Minho's favourite, holding your hand and hip with a tight and stubborn grip. It wasn't evident whether he was doing it on purpose, either, but you had pointed it out plenty of times, and he never seemed to loosen them.

"I'm not stepping on them," he pushed you back a little too early in the dance, causing you to stumble on your own feet. This caught the attention of those around you, though they carried on almost immediately after.

"Tell that to my bruised toe," you argued back.

As if you were being blessed, the music had finally come to an end. You promptly retracting your arms and to your body and taking a step back from Minho. He had done the same, going an extra mile to turn away from you and to the professors.

"Perfect! Perfect!" Professor Na's face lit up from excitement, "Now that we have learned this simple routine, next class we are moving on to one of the actual dances done in the Yule Ball as tradition. I hope you all are excited as I am!" Very few students had taken time to let out a "whoop" while everyone else, including you, chose to retrieve their books at the seats.

Felix approached you with a pitiful smile. He already knew what you were going to say, patting your back gently, "So how was it?"

Exhausted, you just shook your head and shrugged. Being partners with Minho honestly had been completely draining for you, mentally and physically, which was unusual as you could often live through such situations without feeling the need to scream.

"What else do you think?"

Felix nodded apologetically and puffed out his cheeks, "Is it as bad as the potions exam we had in fourth year?" He shuddered subtly and led you out of the classroom. Just thinking about that exam made Felix want to claw at his brain. If there was a way to take a particular memory and make it disappear from the chamber of long term memories, he would. Maybe then he'd be able to get a few more hours of sleep.

"Yes," you replied simply. The test was equally as horrible for you, but a test didn't force you to 'create chemistry' with a certain Slytherin.

"You're lying… can't be that bad," Felix laughed lightly.

"Easy for you to say," you sighed.

From behind, you feel someone bump your shoulder and pass by you, "Oops," he snickered, walking backwards to watch your reaction. The only thing he was missing was popcorn.

You turned to see Minho and rolled your eyes, "Ha-Ha, you're so funny, Lee Minho." Such a childish joke and you guys were almost leaving Hogwarts.

Though your reply had been dripping in sarcasm, Minho's wit had dodged it entirely, "Well thank you very much," he bowed, more like a manly curtsy, before he ran off, leaving Felix slightly puzzled at what just happened.

"Don't you see how much of a dingbat he is? He constantly chooses to pick on me just to get a reaction out of me," you utter, "He should be glad I was raised to be patient, if not I'd be hexing him like the world was near its end."

"I see a pattern," Felix hummed. The expression on his face looked as if he had come to an incredible epiphany.

Making a face, you click your tongue, "What do you even mean by that?" What pattern? Green, white, green, white? Minho and his constant need to be the crow to your crops?

Felix patted your head, "You're slow sometimes, you know that right?" He puffed his cheeks up and raised his brows as he looked down at you as if you were a kid.

"Can you just spit it out?" you narrowed your eyes at him before you physically pried his hand off your head.

"Minho does all of that just to get a reaction out of you," Felix presses his lips into a thin line, slowly forming a smile.

Finally arriving at the next classroom, you groaned, "You basically repeated what I said earlier…"

"If you didn't know this already, boys love getting attention from someone they are attracted to," Felix plopped into his seat. You followed right after, "I should know… I'm a boy."

You almost laugh at the tone of his voice. The confidence and the look he gave you to emphasize his statement; was all too funny, "So what you're saying is… Lee Minho has a – and god forbid– crush on me?" Felix nods like a young child, with eyes wide and a tight-lipped smile.

"Bollocks," You burst out laughing, "Felix, I love you, don't get me wrong, but you've never said anything more rubbish in the years I've known you."

"The chances are never zero," Felix put his index finger as if he were saying it in 'a matter of fact'.

You lean forward and sit your chin at your folded forearms. You eyed the teacher as she made her way into the room, "You're right there, Lix, but there's honestly no way Minho would like me. And me of all people would know that." You locked that statement in, feeling your words and emotions contradict.

Right?

iii.

"And then Y/N had the audacity to step on my foot," Minho kicked at the bench across from him, frustration released after what seemed to Seungmin was years of ranting. He didn't mind though, in years of being in the same house as him, he learned how to block him out yet still know what was going on when Minho asked for some sort of reply.

Minho tapped the end of his pencil against his textbook, eyes drifting off elsewhere in the grand hall. Students were clumped at their respective tables, studying for whatever class they had. Minho was trying to do the same, but his state of mind was not in the mood. But he was trying, he was pushing himself, that's what mattered in his opinion.

Turning his attention to Seungmin, who was seated next to him, he jumped, seeing that Seungmin's eyes were wide and directed at him, "What the hell!?"

"What?" Seungmin shifted back forward, facing his own books. In a sense, the scene was hysterical. He acted as if he hadn't done anything wrong or out of the ordinary, but Minho still tried to push an explanation out of him through looks.

"What do you mean what? Why were you looking at me like that?" Minho put his pencil down and closed his book on it.

"I was trying to see something," the boy shrugged and got back to his own work.

Again, Minho furrowed his brows at Seungmin's lack of detail in his response. What in the world was he even trying to do? "Trying to see what? If you don't answer me properly–"

"Okay! Okay!" Seungmin exclaimed a little too loudly, earning looks from other wizards in the room, "You know that saying that if you're in love, you start to glow?"

"No? What type of nonsense are you saying?" Minho scoffed, "Love? Are you sick or something?" Roughly, Minho brought the back of his hand to Seungmin's forehead, which Seungmin had thrown off almost right away.

"You've been talking about Y/N this entire period, you haven't stopped until moments ago," wiggling his eyebrows, Seungmin whispered his reply to Minho, making sure no one would be able to hear him this time.

Minho's face had contorted into one of disgust and confusion, "And?" Where was Seungmin even going with this? He was just relieving stress. It's not that deep.

"My point is that they're the only thing you've been talking about lately," Seungmin scribbles his pen at the top of his paper to get it to work, "Even if I start the conversation, it somehow just shifts to Y/N. Normally I'd be mad, but since you're in love, I'll let it pass."

"In love?" Minho's jaw dropped, a mixture of emotions swimming around inside of him, "In love!?" Trying to find words to perfectly reflect what he was saying, he fails, shoving Seungmin off the bench. Actions spoke louder than words, right?

Seungmin smirked and chuckled, unfazed, "What? Cat got your tongue?" He gets up, dusting his robe off before sitting back down, "It's because I'm right, aren't I?"

Minho gulps, "Will you quit it? You're…"

"I'm…?"

"You're confusing me. Quit it," Minho huffs, gathering all his things as he was planning to return to the dormitories. This was a different way of playing with emotions. There was a zero per cent chance that he liked you, or worse, loved you. That word was way too strong, dangerous like amortentia.

"I take that as a yes!" Seungmin stood his ground, just letting out a genuine laugh.

Minho held a finger up at Seungmin, who still laughed, unbothered. He didn't like you. And if he did, it wasn't wrong to do so. It was an ordinary mortal thing to have feelings. But that didn't matter right now because he didn't like you, not even a tiny crush.

But that slight state of unfamiliar panic in his heart says otherwise.

iv.

The muscles in your arm were aching from the horrible fact that Minho had been purposefully letting his arm go limp while he was holding your hand, which somehow led to you holding up his arm with your arm. You frowned at him, tempted to let your arm fall in the middle of the routine.

"Can you actually put in some effort?" you whispered through gritted teeth. Squeezing Minnho's hand, you directed a look of annoyance that only returned with an amused look. Underneath his robe, you could tell he had been intentionally dragging his feet, causing the both of you to slowly hold those partnerships behind you up.

"I'm not wasting energy on this," he shrugs quietly, "It's ridiculous."

"What don't you find ridiculous?" you rolled your eyes, "You Slytherins and the lack of interest in anything but yourselves. Where's the excitement in that?" No, you didn't want to generalize the entire Slytherin population, especially since you had family members from that house, but you knew exactly how to rev up Minho's engine. Just by the way his face twisted, you knew damn well you hit the right spot.

"Shut your mouth before I spin you a little too hard…" he said a little bit louder, "I don't find it ridiculous, I just find that us being partners is ridiculous… who in this entire school would want to be partners with you?" Before you could even reply, he had caught you, "That's not from your house."

"Jokes on you, I know plenty of people who would be partners with me," you scoffed, and it was true. There was Jisung who had somehow been sorted into Gryffindor, Hyunjin and their seniors, Bang Chan and Changbin. And there was Jeongin, who was a Ravenclaw. You could list a handful more, but that's beside the point.

"Silence is deadly," he stifled a laugh which had driven you to 'accidentally' stumble over your own feet. This caused him to stumble himself, only he wasn't prepared for it, "I'm blaming you for ending up being my partner. I was hoping someone else would've entered the room. But no, it had to be you."

"You're blaming me? For this?" You shake your head out of disbelief, not noticing that your voice had gone louder. You were catching the attention of those around you and the professors at the front of the room, "You could have found a partner you wanted in the first place but you probably decided to stay back and wait for someone to go up to you. No one wanted to be partners with you, which is why you ended up alone in the first place."

Minho's eyebrows furrowed, eyes almost on fire at what you had just said, "You know what?!"

Before he had been able to continue the banter, Professor Shin had cleared her throat. The glares that they both were sending your way had caused the both of you to stop with the squabbling, "Y/N, Minho, I know we've never talked to the two of you about your constant bickering, but it is simply interrupting the atmosphere of my classroom."

Taken aback, the both of you had stumbled over each other's feet, falling to the ground and causing a domino effect among the rest of the students.

Flustered, you turn to Minho, "That was all your fault, Lee Minho." You huffed and attempted to get up, failing once you noticed that Minho was practically lying on your leg.

"Oh be quiet," he rolled his eyes and dusted himself off, "That was all you! You and your two left feet." The rest of the room was silent, regardless of the incident. All ears and eyes were on the 'love birds,' not entirely sure whether or not they should blame you both on what had just happened.

Sliding out from underneath him, you scoffed, "Don't speak so highly of yourself, Minho."

Minho cackled, "Highly? Of myself?!"

"Stop this instant!" Professor Na had finally mustered up the courage to intervene, anger bubbling in his stomach, "Enough!" The two professors began helping the students up, scolding both of you as they did.

"Five points deducted from your respective houses," Professor Shin said sharply, "And you both are now in charge of polishing the floor every Friday for the following three weeks."

"But professor–"

Minho was cut off, "That, or ten points off for your houses…" And without another word, you both chose to polish the floors after all classes were done for the day.

Day one of polishing the floors was practically the most difficult. Not only did the professors restrict using magic to finish the chore, but the overall idea of doing something alongside Minho aggravated you, which was why you hated dancing with him so much. The comments he'd make, the taunting looks he'd give you, the jokes that were obviously uncalled for, they all were honestly bringing you to the point of near insanity.

At first, both of you had decided to start off on the same side, almost the same corner. But the moment you noticed Minho constantly glancing your way in the corner of your eye, you decided against it, "How about I start at that end."

"Whatever floats your boat," he mumbles, "I don't care."

The tone in his voice hadn't matched yours, which you assumed was polite enough not to spark some type of that energy in him, but it did.

"Whatever," you make your way to the other end, sliding your robe off on the way. You let it hang off one of the benches, making sure it wasn't touching the floor. You rolled up your sleeves and started polishing the further end of the room, a bit relieved that Minho wasn't hovering anywhere within your line of sight. It was better that way.

The second day, you were hoping that you could get through a period of cleaning without hearing Minho's ungodly voice. He had been moving back and forth from one corner to the other, feet squeaking seemingly endlessly against the floor. You wished that the volume of the music could be turned up louder.

"I'm doing more than you are," Minho pointed out. You turned to find that he was standing in the middle of the room, hair messy and beads of sweat lining his hairline. His collar was out of place, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows just as yours were. Did he, for some reason, look attractive, or was it the lack of light in the room? Probably the latter.

"What do you mean you're doing more than I am?" you feel your eyebrows knit together in confusion, "I'm doing the same amount of work as you." And you were, but you were working just a bit slower than he was. He had probably sped through his area with the idea that the sooner you both finished, the sooner you were able to leave.

"Just hurry up," he groaned. Minho dragged his feet over to a lone stool, pushing it against the wall before plopping into it. The music continued to play, drowning out the shuffle noises of his feet.

"No," you replied, keeping your speed consistent. It wasn't like you wanted to stay longer. It was the fact that Minho couldn't leave until you were finished that was making you act this way. Maybe if he did his job well, he wouldn't be sitting around doing nothing.

Tile by tile, you continued to carry out the chore given to you, not paying mind to the pair of eyes that were burning holes into your back. You ensured that the areas you had worked on were basically spotless, reflection or not, you assumed that shiny meant clean.

Minho had been humming along to the somewhat catchy tune, foot tapping to pass the precious time he believed you were wasting. Nonetheless, he leaned back and sighed, hoping you could finish in time, so he had time to nap before dinner.

"Why do they even need classes for dancing?" He sighed out. At first, you weren't quite sure if he was speaking to you or if he was just thinking out loud, "I feel like we'd be fine either way…" You turn to look at him, seeing that he was already staring at you down.

"I mean it's going to look nice at the Yule Ball,"

You replied.

"Yeah but not everyone's going… it's a waste of time," Minho had a point, yet you still found it somewhat amusing that the school would want to organize such things.

"I don't see why you don't just skip class if you find it a waste of time," you moved onto another spot and sighed, "No one's stopping you."

"Yeah but who'd be your partner then?"

Not knowing how to react to his question, you keep quiet. Minho decided not to follow up on the problem, thinking that he had said something out of the ordinary.

The sun had reached the horizon when you finished your portion of the room. You stood up to stretch, hearing the joints of your knees and back pop out of exhaustion. It was satisfying to see the difference between the used, scruffy floor and the clean, polished floor.

"Okay Lee Minho I'm finished," without taking a glance at the boy, you made your way over to the record player. You lifted the needle off and picked the record up, slipping it into its sleeve. It didn't occur to you that Minho hadn't shifted in the past thirty minutes, silence filling the room because you turned the music off.

"Minho?" Finally turning to him, you found him sleeping with his head sat back against the wall. His mouth was wide open, practically becoming a makeshift trap for bugs that happened to be flying around. The rest of his body was limp, legs spread out beneath him. It was surprising that he hadn't fallen off yet.

You walked up to his sleeping figure and laughed lightly, wishing you had a camera to capture this moment. It would've been great blackmail. Maybe then he'd start being nice to you. Naturally, your eyes followed the slope of his nose, then to the two front teeth that stuck out from underneath his top lip.

He had bunny-like features, and you didn't mean that in a wrong way. His face was still sculpted nonetheless. Anyone with eyes would have to admit that he was attractive.

"Done staring at me yet?"

You screamed and jumped back, pressing your hand up to your chest as if to calm you down. Looking back at Minho, you find that his eyes were still closed, yet a smirk had replaced his gaping mouth. The number of curse words that threatened to leave your mouth was countless, the embarrassment creeping up to your cheeks. He finally lifted his head to look at you, eyes still a bit droopy from his nap.

"I-I wasn't staring at you," you denied, shaking your head a bit too aggressively, "Well I was… but because I was laughing at how foolish you just looked."

An offended look surfaced Minho's face, scowling at you as he stood, "I have this feeling that you're lying, bumblebee… Anyways, this is where I leave. Finally, after years." He shook his rolled-up sleeves so that the cuffs slid back to his wrists. You let him leave without another word from the two of you, still in a bit of shock at what just happened. You knew he was never going to let you forget that.

You slumped next to Felix as dinner was being served, an expression almost as heavy as your posture. He looked down at you, debating whether or not he should interrupt the mini montage you were probably playing through your head.

"I want to ask you how the cleaning today was but I think I already know just by looking at you," he stated, sliding a piece of roasted chicken your way, "Unless you do want to speak about it. Just eat and the day's over."

You gave him a grateful smile and gestured for him to eat too, eyes lighting up slightly, "I'm actually not tired from cleaning that stupid dance room, but it's just… this thing that happened. It was beyond embarrassing."

Felix snorts and stuffs his cheeks with food. His words came out muffled as he still chose to reply with a full mouth, "What happened this time?"

You glanced towards the Slytherin table, eyes scanning it quickly to get one quick look at Minho before you whispered, "Minho fell asleep waiting for me to finish cleaning. He looked idiotic as he did so I sorta just—how do I say this— stared at him? But it wasn't like I was admiring him, it was more like I didn't want that stupid look on his face to go away. It was amusing."

"And?"

"In the middle of that he went, 'are you done staring yet?' It was like he had a sixth sense or something," you muttered, "Now I feel like he's making fun of me."

"Doesn't he always make fun of you," Felix had yet again stuffed his mouth, so his words were still muffled, "Why does it matter this time?"

"It's different. It's not some useless situation… it was genuinely embarrassing," you poke the food before taking a bite of your own, "He's going to it against me, I already know."

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure he'll forget it sooner than you will."

"Hey remember when I caught you staring at me?" Minho's voice echoed faintly throughout the room. He stood up to stretch before he crouched back down.

"I never stared at you," you sneered, "And why are you talking about that as if it happened years ago. That was literally last week."

"That's long enough in my book," he retorted, "Good times." A small reminiscing type smile appearing on his lips.

"Can you not start? I sorta want today to be stress-free and you're literally ruining it," you roll your eyes and move onto the next tile on your side. Minho had decided to choose a different record to play today, one the professors had never played in class. It had been hidden behind all the other records being used, and it took Minho a good five minutes to rake through all of them just to get to it.

The songs were more upbeat than the waltz music you were forced to listen to, which was actually much more perfect for cleaning to. It made it a bit more bearable than the last two times you had to clean.

Minho didn't reply, though you didn't see how he switched glances between you and the mechanical polisher in hand. The track had shifted into a faster song, something that was easy to dance to. From where he stood, he could see your knitted eyebrows, eyes dropping from the slight fatigue blanketing over you after a long school day.

Upon awareness that his shoulders were slumped, he straightened himself and sighed. This week had indeed been a long week, and it was evident in some way in both of you. This was the last of the week's labour before he could go and relax while mindlessly saving his homework for Sunday.

The music had been tempting to let go earlier than he should for the week, the steady beat and the catchy melody filling the room.

Putting the polisher and the rag down, he took a few steps towards you, still contemplating whether he should do what he was thinking or not. He was unsure whether it was bizarre for him to pull such a thing. But you did say you wanted a stress-free day, so he thought he should switch up a bit.

He started moving his body to the rhythm of the music, head bobbing as it took over him naturally. It was easier dancing alone than with a partner, that's for sure, but he wanted to invite you.

"Y/N!" He was freestyling, arms flailing and legs bringing him across the room with a swift movement.

You sighed, "What now?" Turning to Minho, you find him in the middle of the dance room, doing what the room was made for. He had a foreign smile on his face, not the usual smirk you'd find him sporting.

"What the–"

"Join me!"

You went through several different emotions in seconds, confusion, amusement, joy, contemplation… how were you supposed to react to a goofy Minho?

"Join me!" He repeated. This time he approached you, hands out in invitation, "C'mon it's fun!"

"Minho, we have to finish this so we can leave, remember?" You tried to keep a stern look on your face, yet you couldn't hold back the smile that had been forcing itself out. Minho suited this look; It was happier and carefree. You didn't know that his eyes would light up when he smiled a somewhat gummy smile.

"I know, but let's take a break," being the impatient boy he was, he took hold of your hands and pulled you up. He led you in a dance that probably wasn't considered a partner dance. He just pushed your arms back and forth like those scenes in the movies.

"Minho!" You finally let out a laugh, feet unable to keep up with his. He was sidestepping left, then sidestepping right, then back and forth, all unplanned. You stumbled, letting out joyful laughter that was rare around Minho. He laughed along with you, eyes disappearing the bigger his smile got.

When your legs had gotten worn out from constant movement, you tripped over one of them, sending you and your dance partner to the ground. Instead of erupting anger that would have usually washed over you, fits of laughter fell in its place, echoing throughout the room.

Before you could ask if he was okay, you hear footsteps enter the room, a confused Professor Shin staring the both of you down, "What are you two doing?! This is not polishing the floors!" The exasperation changed the normal hue of her skin into a shade of crimson.

Quickly apologizing, you get up and return to your so-called 'stations,' not being able to say another word about what had just happened to each other.

You wouldn't admit it out loud, not in front of Minho at least… but that was the most fun you've had in weeks.

Little did you know, Minho felt the same way.

v.

There was a part of you who had gotten used to Minho's horrible dancing after two weeks of dancing classes. After what happened last week, there was a tiny sliver of toleration that had surfaced from both of you. It was mutual. But obviously, neither of you were going to admit it.

Though Minho was starting to get somewhat bearable, there were still days when he'd begin to act up, smirk pinned tightly on his lips while he mischievously pranced about in the dance room. Today was one of those days.

When Professor had slipped the record onto the play, dropping the needle onto the very edge and starting it, Minho had chosen to let his body go heavy, relying on you to haul him around like a giant, weighted ragdoll. You knew he wasn't tired, just judging by the look in his eyes.

"Give it up," you tugged him roughly in one direction, then again towards another, feet hardly following the steps the class was taught the past few weeks. If Minho let his body grow just a bit limper than it already was, his head would have fallen directly onto your shoulder. If you were being honest, you didn't want any attention from anyone else in the room, "Lee Minho, I'm not in the mood for this today, okay?"

Minho's ears perked at the foreign tone that had slipped from your lips, sensing that you were being serious. You would tell him to quit it most days, but never with that tone; It was no fun if you weren't fighting back. Sighing quietly, he had picked his body up and started to follow the eight-count that Professor Shin was practically yelling out.

This minor change didn't go unnoticed by you, feeling his body grow lighter just moments after you'd ask him to quit it. Did he just…?

Other students in the room were surprised that you two were going more than thirty seconds without arguing like a married couple. Many sets of eyes didn't bother leaving the both of you, watching what would happen next in the twist of events.

Minho's feet carried his body swiftly; for the first time, he was guiding you like he was supposed to, but his eyes were glued to his feet, not wanting it to become weird if he were to make accidental eye contact with you. He didn't like how quiet it was between the both of you. The music didn't even do its purpose by filling the silence.

"Are you going to the Yule Ball?" Minho asked awkwardly. He twirled you as part of the dance. He recognized that look on your face which was basically a wordless reply, "That was probably a dumb question." Shaking his head, Minho mentally slapped himself. Never in his life did he fail with words.

"Of course I'm going," you replied rather expressionless, "Why would I not?" You were almost as confused as earlier. Minho trying to make a civilized conversation. Who the fuck was this? It wasn't Minho.

He shrugs, "I don't know… I guess you have a date…?" Minho, what the fuck. He squeezed his eyes shut as if the stone floor would swallow him wholly to take him away from this situation.

As puzzled as you were, you still decided to keep the conversation as it was, "Nope… I think I'm just going with Felix for fun." You tried to keep your tone calm when really you were freaking out. The only thing was you had no idea why you were freaking out, "Y-you?" Facepalm.

"No one."

None of you chose to speak after, not knowing where the conversation was going. The song was slowly reaching the end, which you had wished came sooner. Minho's hands were growing sweaty, and you wanted nothing more than to wipe your hand off. It was getting hot in the room too. Your collar was growing tight, throat itching for water.

Minho's heart was beating a bit too fast for his liking, but it was probably because he was growing tired from the moving. He wondered if you could feel how sweaty his hands were getting. Embarrassing.

"Final counts!" Professor Na called out before the static of the record player replaced the music. The two of the professors had clapped in adoration, overlooking all the students in the room.

Professor Shin had a broad smile on her face, "Beautiful! Gorgeous! Best one so far!" She twirled in place, "Thank you everyone! The Yule ball is in two weeks so I am very pleased with the effort you all are putting into this class! Remember we still have the final class in which you are graded, which I'm sure you all will ace."

"I couldn't care less," Minho mumbled, only so you could hear.

You turn to him, squinting your eyes and tilting your head to express your slight frustration, "You know I'm your partner right?"

"Oh no~ really?," he stuffed his hands into his pockets, "And?"

"And? I don't want to fail this class, even though I'm forced to dance with you," you stated, "So don't you fucking dare fail us both." That tone in your voice was evident once again, catching Minho off guard. The only reason that it had this effect on him was that he was so used to you choosing to fight back. It was like some sort of reminder that everyone around him was getting old, and soon all those around him were expected to be serious.

Nevertheless, Minho shrugs to annoy you, "Whatever."

Instead of answering, you eyed him once more. Your dancing just a few moments ago says otherwise.

You had practically sighed out the total capacity of your lungs as you hung onto Felix's arms on the way out the door.

"What are you sighing about?" He chuckled.

"You already know," you elbowed him.

Felix rolled his eyes and sang, "I saw you guys dancing earlier~."

You pushed him away gently, shock littering your face and posture, "What the bloody hell are you on about now, Lee?"

"You guys actually look cute together when you aren't babbling and all," he grinned innocently. Your heart had the audacity to skip a beat, startling you just as much as Felix did.

"Cute?" You scoffed, "First you said you think he liked me, now this? Are you his wingman or something? Are you trying to get me to like him?"

Felix skipped in his step, "I don't even talk to Minho, Y/N, don't be ridiculous… wait… did you basically just say you're starting to like him?" He gasped, hand slapping over his mouth, which had fallen in shock.

"No," you say flatly.

"Liar," Felix poked at your rib, "Liar. At least confess that you find him less bad."

"Sure, whatever makes you happy, Felix."

When you had fallen out of Felix's line of sight, you let the corner of your mouths turn up slightly. He said we looked cute, you think, only followed by you flicking yourself in the temple.

-

"I thought you were staying here until it closed?" you frown at Felix, who started gathering his stuff. You both had planned on cramming everything in for a test the next day, but plans didn't go as planned when Felix was eager to go back to the dormitories to sleep until the morning.

"My eyes are going to fall out of their sockets if I don't go and sleep, Y/N," he pats your head as if he were talking to a young child, "You can stay if you want. I know how much you hate studying in the common room." He double-checks his area to ensure he hadn't forgotten any of his belongings before patting your head once more. He grins and turns towards the door of the library, leaving you sitting alone at the table.

"Felix ~" You called out quietly, only for him to wave with his back facing you. You sighed and slumped back in your chair, resting your arms on the handles. Libraries were so much better when you had company.

The words in the textbook were starting to turn into blobs of ink, and for a second, you were thinking about following in Felix's footsteps. After moments of consideration, you shook your head and sat up. You'll stay, even if it was against the will of your fatigue self that had been prompting you to leave. This was all your fault anyway. Procrastination was a cruel thing.

Hunching forward, you let your eyes trace over the words, trying to process the information. You rewrote the info you wished to remember carelessly. Your notes resembled chicken scratch, but at this point, you didn't care because it was simply supplementary to your studying. The sun was close to its horizon, and the library was close to empty. It was somewhat more motivating.

Slowly the information had started to get more interesting. It was easier to run through the key terms and ideas listed in the textbook, and you could feel the exhaustion simply leaving your body. I'll finish this one last chapter and then save the rest for lunch tomorrow.

Your focus on the book had hindered your peripheral vision that the presence of another wizard floating over your shoulder went unnoticed. It was only until they had sat down next to you when you finally noticed.

You jumped in your seat, eyes growing wide. You had luckily suppressed your scream with your hand, which you had, out of defense, swung forward, slapping the person in the chest.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You don't sneak up on people like that, Minho," you rolled your eyes at the Slytherin, shifting away from him before turning your attention back towards the textbook. He scooches closer with intentions of irritating you, pushing his face towards your book, "What are you doing?"

You push him away and stick one of the thicker books between you both, "What does it look like?"

"Studying?"

"You're smarter than I thought, Lee Minho," sarcasm dripped from your voice as you glared at him. Attempting to continue with the final chapter, you miserably fail when Minho interrupts your concentration by tapping his fingers loudly against the wooden table.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" you say numbly, voice muffled by your robe, "I was literally just sitting here and you decide to do this."

Minho shrugs and uses his arms as a makeshift pillow, "I was bored, saw you, here I am, I'm here to stay."

Your eyebrows furrowed at the fact that Minho decided to 'spend time with you upon seeing you. You had no idea whether to feel flattered or irritated, but you knew you were confused. He could've just gone back to the Slytherin dungeons to sit with his housemates, but he saw you and decided to sit with you.

Staring blankly at the bookshelves across from you, you huffed out the corner of your mouth, blowing a stray strand of hair by your cheek. You did say you wanted company. You just weren't sure if it was Minho's company that you wanted. Glancing down briefly at him, and looked back up to the bookshelves.

"Fine," you say after pondering about the idea.

Minho's ears perked up, raising his brows, "Fine?"

"Just don't be loud."

Minho's head tilts in confusion, though he still complies, sitting next to you patiently. You continued to read through the final chapter, which you had underestimated in length. The chapter was a good half a centimetre in thickness. Though it didn't seem as much at first glance, the pages were practically dipped in ink, words covering it from one corner to the other.

You could feel your eyes grow heavy as you delve deeper into the chapter. Your bed was calling for you, but there was no way you were going to give. Not until this chapter was finished.

The library had been silent except for the occasional click of the pen from the librarian's desk. You had been mentally counting down the number of pages left to skim over, eager to feel that feeling of satisfaction you usually get once you finish a task. It was the same feeling as crossing or checking off a chore on a to-do list.

Minho had settled his eyes on the centre of your book, keeping them steady even as you flipped the pages. He felt the lids of eyes gradually get heavier as each page went by, and by the time you shut the book in delight, he had fallen asleep.

"Again?" You furrowed your eyebrows, remembering the last time he had fallen asleep in your presence. You darted your eyes away from his dormant figure, not making that same mistake twice, "Minho, wake up."

He stirs right away, head rising from his arms. This time he says nothing, pushing himself off of the library's chair before stumbling over his own feet as he makes his way to your side. He looked like a toddler, and it was admittedly adorable.

"Why didn't you just go straight to the dorms if you were tired," you snorted at his dumbassery. Some students still littered the halls even if curfew was nearing. Instead of parting from your side at the library's entrance, Minho stuck by your side.

"I wanted to spend time with you outside of class," he grumbles. He blinks at the long corridor in front of you two, eyes barely staying open from exhaustion.

Feeling your heart skip a beat, you tried to pick out if he was joking or not, but his tone screamed, 'I'm tired.' Any other emotion was hard to comb out, so you sighed and shook your head, pressing your lips into a smile, "Sleep that cheesiness off, Lee Minho."

Minho continued to walk next to you, silent and confused about what you just had said. It wasn't like he was drunk. He was well aware of what he just said. Nonetheless, he subtly walked you to the kitchen corridor, parting ways with you with an uttered 'goodbye.'

vi.

Sitting against the stone wall, you watched the rest of the class carry out the dance routine, formation changes and all. You ran through it with them, only mentally as your partner was nowhere to be found, and the class was halfway done.

There were barely any classes left before the final graded run through, and Minho really thought it'd be funny to skip? You would have let it pass if you guys weren't the worst duo in the room, but you guys are the worst duo in the room, which made the situation different.

"Professor Na," You asked quietly, "Has Lee Minho been excused from today's class. Is he ill?" You didn't want to jump to conclusions, keeping in mind that people did have their own reasons. Maybe he had caught a cold or was doing a missed exam that was far more important than dancing.

"No word from Minho, Y/N," the professor hummed back.

You frowned and thanked him, turning back to the main dance floor, students moving in sync. Where was he?

Just as you had finished your train of thought, the door had swung open just like it probably did on the first day of class. Minho stumbled in, hair a mess and a rather sheepish smile stamped on his lips.

"I apologize Professors," he bowed deeply, following the perimeter of the room. He bowed again as he reached the two instructors at the front of the room.

Professor Shin stopped her counting, "No need to apologize to us, apologize to your partner." She gestured towards you, already looking back. Minho nodded and approached you, though when he did reach you, he didn't apologize.

"And?"

"And what?" Minho ridiculed.

"Aren't you going to apologize like what the Professor asked?" You tried not to laugh at how Minho had been acting.

Minho let out a cackle, “No? Why should I? Can you stand up so we can start dancing or something?" His hand was itching to reach out for yours, feeling like he should pull you towards him, but he hindered himself from doing so, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Instead of pushing the apology out of him, you decided against it, not wanting to waste any of your time, "Why are you even late?"

The two of you followed the crowd, joining in at the perfect time. Minho smirked, "Worried about me or something? I know I'm in your head twenty-four seven, but I didn't expect you to be so obvious about it."

Tightening your grip around his hand, you gritted your teeth, "I wasn't worried about you, nitwit."

"Then why are you asking?"

"Because you made me sit, doing nothing for nearly forty-five minutes?" You reply as if you were pointing out the obvious, "So why are you late and coming to class looking like a mountain troll?"

"Wow, ouch," he sighed, "I slept in. Am I going to hell for doing so? Because I can recall you did the same the first day and got us into this mess."

"This is about you, not me," you applied pressure onto his hands, causing him to stumble back slightly, ruining the rhythm he had built up. He furrowed his brows at you and did the same, only you were somehow ready for it.

"Oh please," Minho rolls his eyes, "You've done the same so you shouldn't even be mad at me."

"I'm only frustrated, not mad, there's a difference," you point out, "And I'm frustrated because we have that graded dance next week. If we fail, it's going to be your fault."

"It takes two to tango," he quoted, "And you already know where I stand on that. I don't ca-"

"Shut up, the professors are looking," you warned, flashbacks to the three weeks you had to polish the floors.

Minho laughed slightly, letting air blow out of his nose. He let his eyes drift down at you, keeping them there for a little too long.

"What?"

"Nothing," he shrugged, spinning you along with the other students, "You just looked way too terrified." The next move had the two of you closer than the initial space between you.

"I don't want to be spending an extra three hours with you after classes polishing the floor," you retort sharply. Instead of holding eye contact with him, you stared at the Slytherin crest on his uniform.

"I know you liked spending time with me, don't lie," he rolled his eyes teasingly.

"I'm not lying."

"You staring at me says otherwise."

"Oh hush about that already, I literally told you that I wasn't staring at you," Inwardly cringing, you felt relief once the music had stopped. You stepped back and eyed down the boy in front of you, "Why do keep bringing that up?"

Before Minho could give reasoning, Professor Na had spoken up from across the room, reminding everyone that the next class was the graded class. Though they wouldn't be strict with grading, he still wanted to see the students' effort 'flowing'. After a chorus of groans, class ended, allowing you to avoid Minho and find your way to Felix.

-

Someone tapping your shoulder had woken you up, head jolting up as if you were frightened.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Chaeryeong gasped sheepishly. She was hovering over you slightly, eyes wide. She was changed into her nightwear.

You sat up, only now realizing you had fallen asleep in the common room, "It's alright. What time is it?" You didn't even remember how you fell asleep, but you sure did have a good sleep.

"It's almost midnight," she replied, "I needed to grab water from the kitchen, then I saw you here and figured it'd be more comfortable for you to go to sleep in your own bed rather than this tiny couch."

You grinned, "Thanks Chae… I'll probably get something from the kitchen as well."

She nods and mumbles out a quick goodnight before disappearing to the girls' dorms. You return her farewell before standing up, eyes drawn to the wrinkles your nap had made on your robe. Attempting to straighten the robe and yourself out, you stumbled towards the Hufflepuff house entrance, exiting promptly.

The fireplace had been lit, a few house elves roaming about and carrying out their own duties. They paid no mind to you, as midnight snacks weren't out of the ordinary for Hufflepuffs.

You asked for what you needed, then was given it with no delay, "Thank you." The house elf nods before turning away with a grunt.

You sit at one of the tables, zoning out as you stared at the blazing fire across from you. School was getting a bit more stressful than it usually has, which was probably the reason why you had fallen asleep without knowing. You remember coming back from a long library visit. Maybe you collapsed on the couch once you did.

You made mental notes on the work still yet to be done before the following week, spontaneously creating a headache. Standing up, you figured it was best for you to go back to sleep. Slipping the dish into the sink, you started making your way back to the dorms.

You rubbed your temples and shook your head as you closed your eyes. It probably hadn't been a good idea to be wandering with your eyes closed as you had immediately bumped into something firm.

"Y/N?"

Looking up, you came face to face with Lee Minho, who was just as shocked as you were. He had been dressed down in a knitted Slytherin sweater and pyjama pants.

"Minho? What in the world?"

He backs up after noticing how close you were to each other, "Could say the same 'bout you."

"My dorms are right there," you point just down the corridor, "While yours is in the dungeon…"

Minho blinks before he tries to move around you, eyes avoiding yours.

"What are you doing here?" you grab his wrist, eager to find out why he was roaming the halls. It wasn't unusual for students to be breaking the rules, especially Minho, who loved living up to the stereotypes of a Slytherin. He smirks at the skinship, which prompts you to let go of him, heat rising up to your cheeks without warning. You're suddenly glad it's dim around the two of you.

"I was… taking a walk," he successfully pushes past you and into the kitchen, a glass of water already there for him. He thanks the house elf, leaving the glass, before turning back to you. By the looks of it, it seems like he's been doing this before, like a routine.

Rolling your eyes, you scoffed, "Taking a walk? You're painfully awful at lying." And the pause in his speaking gave that away. You followed behind him, expecting an honest answer as if you deserved to know.

"Weren't you just leaving?"

"But my question is unanswered," you shrugged.

"I answered you, I was taking a walk," he pushed the answer. Putting the cup down, he turned to you, "I have… sleeping problems."

"You just lied again," you nonchalantly, "Just tell me the truth. No judgment. A Hufflepuff's promise." You weren't usually one to push an answer out of someone, but this situation was different.

"You say no judgment but I already know how you're going to react to the truth," he takes another sip of water.

"So you were lying!" You raised your brows, "I knew it!"

"You don't deserve the truth," he sighs. Finishing the cup of water, he starts to make his way out, not even turning to look back.

"Lee Minho!" You groaned. Maybe it was your fatigue self or the fact this felt like some sort of game, but you weren't holding yourself back, "When I said I wouldn't judge, I won't. My mind's open to whatever you're going to say."

Minho spins around to face you, stumbling backward a few more steps before he halts, "I was practicing the dance steps."

No judgment.

The flat expression on Minho's face indicated that he had no intentions of lying this time. He had his hands hiding behind his back, eyeing you just to see if you would live up to your promise. Instead of his expected reaction, he finds you smiling, something he'd only see when you were around your friends.

"Wipe that smile off of your face, bumblebee," he mutters.

"Didn't you say you didn't care about that class?" you quoted, a smirk slowly replacing your smile, "Why are you practicing the steps?"

Minho licked his lips. He was at a loss of words, nothing but the truth occupying his mind… Why the hell not?

"Because you care."

You blinked back at him, lips parting and meeting several times as you tried to find the right words to say. The silence was deafening. "What?"

"Because you care," Minho repeated. He kept his expression still, eyeing you, trying to figure out how you were taking this in.

How would he further explain it? He didn't know. All he knew was that ever since that specific moment between the both of you the other day, he took it upon himself to better his partner dancing. He didn't want anyone else knowing, not you, and especially not his housemates, which was why he chose to stay up late to do this; it was the real reason why he had shown up late to class.

You weren't sure if it was because it was quiet, but you could easily hear your heartbeat as it quickened. You try to cover up the fact that you wanted to freak out, "I don't know whether I should laugh or–"

"Yeah, whatever, shouldn't have told you in the first place," he mumbles. For some reason, he felt his heart lub-dub in a way that it shouldn't. He frowned and sighed, "Just forget it."

"Wait, Minho," you call quietly. He stopped in his tracks and turned, partially facing the wall and facing you. He stared back at you with a vacant look, waiting for you to say something. If you weren't going to be saying something nice, he didn't want to hear it after exposing himself like that.

"'Because you care?'" you frowned, "You can't just say that and leave." You already made up a possible answer to the countless questions through your mind, but it was still unclear whether or not that was it.

"What else do you want me to say?" Minho stuffs his hands into his pockets.

"I just want you to explain it," you reply quietly.

Minho glanced out the window sitting by you both before sitting down on its pane, "Remember that other day… when I told you I didn't care?" You nod and move closer to where he sat, unsure whether or not you should sit next to him or not, "I don't know… you were really serious back then… I guess I wasn't used to that. So I figured…"

There was a quick moment of silence before he huffs, almost sounding defeated.

"Did you know that I genuinely don't dislike you as much as you think I do?" He says out of the blue, throwing you off. You wanted to tell him to sleep it off again—why did moments like this always happen at night?

"I don't either," you say back, "At first I did… but I matured."

"I only ever argued with you out of amusement. You're the only person outside of Slytherin that could out-talk me and it bothered me for some reason," he laughed as if he recalled a memory.

"Me intimidating a Slytherin? Just wait til the others hear about this," you joke. He glanced towards your direction and saw a clever glint in your eye.

"Don't you dare," he holds back a smile before standing up to face you directly, "Or…"

"Or what?" You challenged, "Imagine how Seungmin would react! Donghyuck and Renjun? What about Yeosang and Wooyoung?" You start listing the other well-known Slytherins off of the top of your head, holding back a laugh as you watch Minho's face crumble into an expression that looks far too close to fear.

Minho recollects himself and shakes some sense into himself, "Or I'll make you go to the Yule Ball with me." He hadn't planned on asking you today, but the timing was perfect. It fit with the situation. If you were to react unfavourably, then he could just joke about it.

His question shut you up. Your eyes widened at him as you processed what he had used as a threat, "What if I want to go to the Yule Ball with you?"

Minho takes a step towards you, a smirk appearing on his lips. His confidence was skyrocketing, and you can tell, "Then I guess it's a date?"

Rolling your eyes, you let a smile grace softly onto your lips, nodding, "It's a date."

Bonus:

"I told you to wear something with gold," you whined jokingly as you were greeted with Minho, who had completely dodged your request. Instead of the black and gold look you were going for, he decided to wear a black suit that had traces of emerald. As much you wanted to match with your date, you had to admit that he still looked as handsome as ever in the attire. He looked like a prince.

"And look like a Hufflepuff? No thanks," he scoffed teasingly. He pulls out a corsage, one that matches the clothes he wore, tying it gently around your wrist, "You look very beautiful."

"Well, you look very handsome."

Minho laughed as he sticks out his forearm, a brow raised in your direction. Music being played by the live band had been spilling out of the ballroom; the voices of everyone attending gave the ball more life. It was exciting.

"Minho!" Seungmin had called. Felix, who had slipped from your side the moment Minho approached you, was standing by Seungmin, smiling brightly. He had been hyping you up the entire night, telling you that there should be nothing to worry about.

He was right.

"Shall we?" Minho asked. It was cheesy, but it worked.

"We shall."

Hope you enjoyed it! A like would be appreciated <3

[denkisdurag]

bakugo, midoriya, todoroki, kirishima, kaminari x black!reader

summary : they see you with braids for the first time

a/n: oh ? what's this ??

dashi actually posting what people follow them for ? wow i know

i haven't posted SHIT in forever i'm so sorry. i'm in class and im takin this test rn and i am extremely physically and emotionally and mentally ✨ drained ✨ and i'm about to pull a midari 😻 but i'm still gonna finish this because i feel bad ahaha laugh out loud

and those who have requested, i'm sorry they're taking so long !! they're in my drafts i swear i've just been kinda out of it

so take this long ass writing as my apology thank u ily

———

katsuki bakugo !

when you walk into that classroom,,

whew chile

whiplash

probably gonna say some shit like

"what's with the worms coming outta yo head"

which is actually something i've been told but anyways

best believe you gonna whip your head around and wack him with them

and if they're pulled up into a ponytail then even better

he claims that he doesn't like them

but he can't take his eyes off you in that classroom

if someone calls him out then he'll furiously deny it

"why are you staring at [name]"

"NO IM NOT"

"yes you are"

"SHUT UP"

cut the cap bakugo

you know you admiring them 😌

he refuses to be honest with himself

but let you look up at the board and your braids frame your face as the sun hits you just right

no one:

bakugo's guard: 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️

izuku midoriya !

he happened to turn his head as you were walking in

his head had sIRENS going off

"p pr e t t y yy"

he has s o m a n y q u e s t i o n s it's not even funny

how long did it take? does it hurt? did you do them yourself?

and by the way if you can do box braids on your own head, i have so much respect for you but anyways

he's just staring at you as you're taking your notes

thinking of how etheral you look right then

and he's taking his own notes

not for class but of you

he made a lil sketch on one of the pages in his notebook

and when class is over

he comes up to you

maybe in the cafeteria

and he starts asking all the questions that he wanted to

ofc you're happy to answer

he's writing everything down with a soft yet determined smile on his face

and you keep talking as he nods, noting all info you're providing

but then he hears something being hit over and over again

and he looks up

and you're just ,,,

smackin the shit outta yo head ??

miss gurl is you okay ???

but you noticed the bewildered look on his face

and explained how you can't directly itch your head because it would frizz up the braids

long story short, he's very interested in your hair and its background

shoto todoroki !

he was sO confused lmao

he was like

"how does black hair work ??????"

because you could be natural one day

and then have bantu knots the next

and don't even get me sTARTED on wigs

"is it a part of their quirk?"

he's an extremely blunt person

so he just kinda walks up to you like

"how does ur hair work"

and you're glad to tell him of course

but bro pls slow down

this is a lot to take in at once

of course he's interested and wants to learn

but his brain is only so big 😔 have mercy bro my man is not megamind

eventually he starts to grasp the idea

and he'd love you to educate him on your next hairstyle :)

eijiro kirishima !

kiri would immediately hide all straighteners from you if you were insecure or doubting your appearance but that's for another time bc we talkin about box braids rn

y'all know how i religiously believe this man is a simp

so the rESPECT HE HAS FOR YOU WHEN YOU COME THROUGH WITH THOSE BRAIDS-

WHEW CHILE

HE MIGHT BE MORE CURIOUS THAN DEKU

he wants to t o u c h

but he knows it's rude and won't do so without asking and getting your permission first

but once he gets the "ok"

hands all up in your shit

he might lightly pull on one ngl

but he'll immediately let go if you tell him to

even though that grip game strong 😤

he probably compliments you the most

so yeah

Respect ™‬

denki kaminari !

practically short circuited

like "oh"

"well this is new ,,,,,,,"

you know how he's always holding ojiro's tail

yeah so just expect him to take one of your braids and mindlessly twirl it around one of his fingers in class

he won't even realize he's doing it

you're just sitting in your seat and you'll feel your hair being played with and you turn around

and its just denki twirling it subconsciously as he talks to his friends

"bro"

he looks at you

and then you glance at the hair between his index and middle finger

and he follows your gaze

cue him dropping it and letting it fall onto your back again

"oh sorry!"

"its okay," you smile softly at him

he wants to kith u

and i don't know about u

but i would take that kith

———

i got lazy this wasn't even good smh

anyways i'll see y'all in another two months 😹😹

[xxdragonwriterxx]

hi! i'm so sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well, i also suffer from migraines and they're the worst. i was hoping to request levi and his s/o (who only recently started dating) and they're playing around, like play fighting/wrestling, and his s/o finds that he's extremely ticklish and a little embarrassed by it bc he had no idea?🥺 (but of course that's how s/o wins the fight hehe) thank you for taking the time to even just read this!

A/N: Hi anon! Thank you for the kind words, I’m feeling better now! Thankfully, my migraines don’t happen very often, but when they do, they are really bad. But I haven’t had one for a little while so that’s good! I’m sorry you suffer from them too, they really are the worst 🙄. Thank you for requesting! This was a really sweet, fluffy request and I really enjoyed writing it. Embarrassed Levi is cutest Levi. I hope this was what you were looking for! Enjoy! ❤️❤️

🐉 Song Recommendation: “A Closeness” By: Dermot Kennedy 🐉

Word Count: ~2.9k

~~~

🔥Unexpected Sensitivity🔥

“Asshole.”

(Y/N) barely managed to refrain from rolling her eyes as she tried to ignore the raven-haired man sitting on the opposite end of the couch and turned back to her book. She was able to get through another two sentences before a loud huff and a low grumble of annoyance once again drew her away from the story.

(Y/N) threw him a glare, “Levi, I told you, I am four fucking chapters away from finishing this book, can you please just entertain yourself until then? It won’t be much longer.” 

She gritted her teeth when Levi made no attempt to keep from rolling his eyes, sending a scowl right back at her, “I’m bored.”

“Well that’s too bad. Last time I checked, I was not your babysitter.”

Normally, (Y/N) enjoyed when Levi was needy for her attention. She loved how she was the only one who got to see that side of him. Their relationship was relatively new, so she had had to work hard to get him to open up around her. She was proud that she had finally managed to get him to relax around her, of how far he’d come, and it made her heart melt when he craved her affection, like a cat begging to be petted.

But recently, Levi had been begging for her attention a lot. She had no idea what had made these past few days so different, but it was starting to wear her out. Now, whenever he wasn’t working, he wanted to be at the center of her attention, no matter if she was already busy, and it was starting to grate on her nerves a little. 

Was it really too much to ask to let her finish her book? She was known to be a very quick reader, it shouldn’t have taken long, but she had barely made a dent in the last few chapters because she was constantly being distracted.

Levi frowned at her and crossed his arms. He really was acting like a petulant child, and while it was annoying as hell, a part of (Y/N) couldn’t deny that she found it a little cute. Especially since she knew his behavior was coming from a place of love. She hadn’t forgotten how lucky she was to even have him acting like this with her, but that didn’t mean she had to enjoy it every time. Especially when he was being this intense about it.

“Asshole.”

“Levi, for the love of god!” (Y/N) snapped, slamming her book shut and tossing it to the side. “How hard is it for you to just let me read four bloody chapters? I told you I would give you attention as soon as I was done! I just wanted to know the ending, you know this is a book I’ve been looking forward to finishing for days.”

Levi raised an eyebrow at her, “Is some boring old book more interesting to you than me?”

Oh my god. She was going to kill him.

(Y/N) took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm, “Of course not, Levi. But that doesn’t mean I have to be with you every second of every day. I just wanted to know what happened in the end, that’s all. Why is that such a big deal?”

“Because I want you to cuddle me, damn it,” he mumbled, his eyes averted from her face and a light tinge of pink on his cheeks.

(Y/N) immediately felt her anger wash away. She could still feel a little bit of irritation prickling in her chest but she ignored it, choosing to focus more on the warm feeling that blossomed throughout her whole body at his words. Yes, her boyfriend could be annoying as hell sometimes, but she couldn’t deny how adorable he was, wanting affection but embarrassed by the fact. She didn’t show it, but she was proud of him for even gaining the courage to say something. While they had only been dating for two months, she had never heard him directly ask for anything, it was always buried beneath a mask of sarcasm or annoyance.

Levi watched her features soften and felt the corners of his lips curl upwards as she sighed, knowing he had finally won. He knew that when she sighed like that, she was going to give in. His heart warmed at the thought that she found him difficult to resist, even when she was clearly annoyed with him.

He knew he was being shitty, but he just couldn’t help it. Not with her anyway. She was not his first girlfriend by any means, but she was the first girl he felt he had a genuine connection with. The first girl he genuinely loved. His past girlfriends had been nothing but trials, mostly set up by his friends, trying to show him that dating could be fun. He hadn’t believed them until he met (Y/N).

Now, he couldn’t get enough. He knew it was partially unfair to her, even if he knew she  secretly loved it. He knew he was being invasive and annoying but at the moment, he just didn’t care. He was aching to feel her pressed against him, her arms wrapped lovingly around his waist and her head on his shoulder. His arms itched to pull her close and relish in the way she fit perfectly against him, as if they had been made for each other. He had never felt this way with anyone else, but now that he had, he craved it. He had never realized just how touch-starved he was until (Y/N) entered his life, and now he burned to be by her side, even if she didn’t always want him there.

“Alright, fine. But you have to promise to let me finish my book later, okay?”

(Y/N)’s words snapped him out of his thoughts and he nodded too quickly for it to be as nonchalant as he wanted it to look. (Y/N) rolled her eyes affectionately and gave him a warm smile that had his heart beating a swift tattoo against his chest.

Levi moved his legs from where they had been laying lengthwise on the sofa cushions as (Y/N) approached, turning his body so he was seated normally, giving her the room to settle down beside him. He immediately felt himself relax as soon as she curled up against him, a satisfied sigh leaving his parted lips.

“Relieved are you?” (Y/N) teased.

Levi thought about teasing her back, but suddenly found himself too sleepy to engage in their usual banter, her comforting presence making him feel drowsy. “Yes.”

(Y/N)’s cheeks heated, not expecting the straightforward answer, “I’m still mad at you for being so obnoxious.”

“Mm.”

“And you’re not sorry for it at all, are you?”

“Mm, no.”

“Pain in the ass,” (Y/N) mumbled affectionately, nuzzling her face into his chest.

(Y/N) was just about to drift off, enjoying the comfort of cuddling with her boyfriend despite her earlier reluctance, when a sudden sharp jab in her side made her jolt up with a yelp.

“Ow! What the hell, Levi!?”

“You called me a pain in the ass,” Levi grumped.

“Yeah, so? You called me an asshole. Twice!” (Y/N) said, leaning over to give him a hard poke in the shoulder.

“Tch,” Levi said, giving her another poke, this time on her thigh.

(Y/N)’s retaliation quickly led to a fierce battle between the two, annoyed huffs devolving into genuine chuckles and shrieks of joy as the two fought, the war only growing more intense when (Y/N) straddled Levi’s thighs to better reach him.

“Brat, stop poking me!”

“You stop poking me, then!”

“Fine,” Levi said, the mischievous look on his face making (Y/N) nervous.

Before she could react, Levi pushed her off of him and pinned her to the couch, hovering over her. (Y/N) laughed, her eyes sparkling, “Oh, how romantic, Levi.”

Levi snorted at her as he moved lower, slinking down her body, his own eyes twinkling with barely suppressed mirth.

“Levi? What are you doing?”

“You told me to stop poking you, so I stopped. But that doesn’t mean this is over.”

“What the fuck does that mean- AH!” (Y/N) cried out in surprise as Levi’s fingers ran up the bottoms of her feet. “LEVI!”

Levi merely chuckled in response, reaching down to tickle her feet again. He smirked when she writhed and squirmed beneath his strong grip, tears of desperation spilling from the corners of her eyes as her loud laughter filled the apartment.

“Levi! Levi, stop! I can’t- I can’t breathe!”

Levi thought about letting up, but he was having too much fun. He quickly doubled down on his efforts, laughing quietly at the loud squeal she let out in response, trying to jerk her feet from his touch.

(Y/N) was getting desperate. He had her pinned by the hips to the couch with his incredible strength and he wasn’t stopping his assault on her poor feet. She tried to wrench them  from his grip to no avail, his cocky smile and bright silver hues making her want to slap that look of smugness off of his face. 

Frantically looking for a way to escape, (Y/N) suddenly remembered that her hands weren’t being held down. She had her own fingers she could use. She knew it would be no use trying to pry his fingers off, he was much too strong for that, so she did the next best thing.

She blindly latched onto him, her fingers flying over his skin as she searched for a weak point, a tender spot, anything. Levi was finally starting to slow down his attack, his fingers only lightly brushing her skin to watch her jump while she caught her breath, but she was determined to get back at him.

“(Y/N)? What are you doing?” Levi asked, finally taking his fingers away from her sensitive skin and leaning back on his haunches. His eyebrow rose when she followed him, her hands still moving all over his body.

“What do you think I’m doing, idiot?”

Levi smirked down at the woman that was now back in his lap, her brow furrowed in concentration as she poked and prodded beneath his shirt, practically feeling him up as she tried to find where he was the most sensitive.

“Nice try, brat. But unfortunately for you, I’m not tickLISH-!”

(Y/N) and Levi both froze.

Levi’s jaw dropped, his eyes wide and his hands loosened from where they had been holding onto (Y/N)’s waist. He had never, in his entire life, made a noise like that before. It sounded like the cross between a yelp of surprise and a barked out laugh. He was still uncertain if it had indeed been him that had made the noise, it sounded so unlike him, so foreign to his ears he couldn’t be sure.

(Y/N) was just as shocked. Had Levi really just squawked? That was probably the only way you could describe the noise that had just come from her boyfriend’s mouth, even though it seemed like the kind of word you would never in a million years associate with Levi Ackerman.

While she was certainly surprised, she recuperated faster than Levi, a deviant smile spreading across her face as she suddenly realized the power she held. She noticed Levi’s eyes narrow on her borderline evil expression, but his dazed state made his reaction time slower than normal. Before he knew it, he was on his back, her legs straddled over his hips, his wrists held in one of her hands while the other was snaking back beneath his shirt, aiming for the spot along his upper ribs.

He tried to squirm away, but he underestimated her strength as she pressed her full weight into him and tightened her grip on his wrists, holding him there as she brushed her fingers along the spot that he hadn’t even known would make him go crazy.

To his horror, another loud cry was ripped from his throat, quickly turning into loud, rich laughter that rang out and bounced off the walls as she tickled him. He tried to flash her a warning glare but she only smiled wider, followed by a slight shake of her head.

Fuck, she was going to show no mercy.

Tears gathered in his eyes as she continued to attack the sensitive flesh in the same way he did to her, his body losing all control. He wriggled and arched, trying to escape her torturous fingers, until he was finally able to free one of his hands. (Y/N) tried to hold on, but as soon as one of his hands was free, she was quickly shoved off of him, her own laughter joining his as she was pushed from the couch to land with a satisfying thump on the carpet below.

Levi’s laughter was quick to quiet into soft chuckles before finally fading into heavy breathing, the apartment thick with silence as the pair fought to catch their breath, unwilling to move for a while.

“Whew,” (Y/N) said, eventually breaking the silence. “Who knew the fearsome Levi Ackerman was ticklish, huh?”

(Y/N) was smiling, a hand coming up to cover her mouth to stifle the giggles that tried to filter into the room at her teasing, but when he didn’t respond, (Y/N) grew worried.

“Levi?”

(Y/N) sat up, and quickly lost all feelings of giddiness at the sight of Levi, turned away from her with his knees brought up to his chest, his hands covering his face, and his back hunched slightly, so different from how he normally was it almost made her panic.

“Levi! Are you alright?”

It took him a moment, but Levi eventually nodded once, refusing to remove his hands from his face. His response calmed (Y/N) down somewhat, but concern still coursed through her as she gently eased onto the couch beside him, her palm reaching out to rest on his back.

“Levi, what’s wrong?”

A quiet mumble reached her ears, but his hands were muffling most of the words. Even when she strained her ears she couldn’t understand what he was saying, but she did notice his face get a tinge more pink, especially on the tips of his ears.

“I’m sorry, babe, I couldn’t hear you. Can you repeat that?”

Levi huffed in annoyance, and it was enough to bring another small smile back onto (Y/N)’s face. He then shifted his hands, uncovering only enough to free his mouth.

“I said, I’m… embarrassed…” He trailed off at the end, the last word much quieter than the others, but (Y/N) heard him loud and clear. She immediately felt a wave of relief and guilt wash over her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Levi. I really didn’t mean to embarrass you like that, I thought we were just having fun. I never want you to feel uncomfortable around me, ever. I’m sorry, I never should’ve pushed your boundaries like that.”

Levi finally removed his hands from his face and turned around to look at her. His face was still red and his eyes were slightly swollen from the tears he had shed during their intense battle but his expression was soft. He reached up and brushed his fingers along her jaw, affectionately stroking her skin.

“It’s not your fault. I attacked you first,” Levi said. “I didn’t even mind it that much at first, I just didn’t expect to react… like that.”

“Levi, it’s okay! Everyone reacts like that, that’s why nobody likes to be tickled. I mean, you heard me! I didn’t sound any better.”

Levi smirked, the beginnings of a sparkle coming back into his eye, “Yeah, you sounded like a donkey with a sore throat. Or maybe a dying bird.”

“Hey!” (Y/N) said, slapping his shoulder playfully with a false pout. “That’s mean!”

“But true.”

“Oh, do we want to go back to what you sounded like?”

“Oi, watch it, brat.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Levi gave (Y/N) a light-hearted shove before standing up to stretch, his shirt riding up to show off a bit of his muscular back as he brought his arms above his head. (Y/N) followed him with a large grin on her face when he moved into the kitchen, intent on making tea and forgetting the whole experience. They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Levi heated the water and (Y/N) grabbed the tea leaves, the pair working together seamlessly despite their short time spent as a couple.

When the tea was finally finished, Levi offered a cup to (Y/N), who took it gratefully, before leaning against the counter and taking a sip. (Y/N) watched as Levi closed his eyes and hummed in pleasure at the taste, his body finally starting to unwind again. Her eyes swept over him, her heart beating a steady drum for the man beside her. She loved him so much, felt so lucky to have him, and while the tickle fight had certainly been an experience, she couldn’t wait to have many more adventures just like that with him by her side.

“Hey, Levi?”

“Yeah brat?”

“For the record, I think your laugh is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard.”