#anyway lol i need to actually finish the series before i put any more serious thought into this.

[dizaryswrites]

I have a confession to make!

I don’t know how obvious it is, but I actually haven’t read any comics 😅 I know, I know haha, it’s just I haven’t had the time! Luckily, I mostly follow blogs that I know are comic readers so I know what’s fanon and canon mostly. But since I will have free time in the summer, I was wondering if you have any recommendations on what to read and where to start?

Oh man I WISH I could be one of those blogs who snaps out the long scroll that just rolls down the hallway with a concise cross referenced list of top hits from every era and where to start with each character! But I am a book hoarder with not enough time on my hands so I haven't even read half of what I have, let alone all the back issues 😅

Here's some stuff that I really enjoyed as a new-to-comics-and-DC reader and in general (in mostly chronological order because that's how I arrange my comic books):

Batman: Dark Victory

I really enjoyed the mystery and early Batman days, plus Dick Grayson's debut! He is a delight. I didn't read Long Halloween which comes before this so I missed some context but I picked it up easy enough (also according to some reviews the mystery can be repetitive if you have read Long Halloween sooo win for me ig?)

Robin: Year One

I am determined to read this one soon. I've heard great things about it though so it's being added

Batman: Prodigal

I read this without reading a single page of Knightfall because I was getting interested in Nightwing and this was the earliest book that my library had available (I have given up on a chronological reading order since those early foolish days). I knew nothing and still really enjoyed Dick!Bats and Robin!Tim together. I need to reread this soon

Formerly Known as the Justice League

A limited run, 6 issues I think. Honestly I should just say Justice League International in general but I started with this mini for Booster Gold and Blue Beetle after seeing some funny panels online and I fell in love with that whole cast of losers (affectionate). It's not BatFam but so so fun to read (and JLI has some really poignant moments too)

Young Justice: A League of Their Own

SO FUN. Tim and friends dealing with just ridiculous scenarios LOL I'm only halfway through but it's great

Batman: Hush

I haven't read a lot of just Batman titles but I enjoyed Hush. It had some good character moments for Bruce that helped me understand the way he thinks a little more. I also hear Bruce Wayne: Murder/Fugitive is very very good but I haven't gotten around to it yet (a running theme)

Batgirl: Point Blank

Cass is a treat. This was the first volume I found of her's, haven't read the others yet, but even lacking context I really enjoyed her as the main character and her interactions with Steph, Babs, and Bruce.

Teen Titans (Geoff Johns)

This was one of the first series I started reading and it was a good intro for me, a completely new DC fan. It's Tim and his friends but more serious than YJ. I've read vol 1-2 and part of 3

Under The Red Hood

Classic for good reason. I haven't finished it yet (teehee) but the first half has been entertaining. Jason has had some um... interesting writing in his time. But I really enjoy the way he's written here. It's a good baseline imo. I've heard Lost Days is also good

Nightwing (Tomasi run)

I love Tomasi and this run was a lot of fun. Dick is funny while not losing his serious, capable edge, he interacts with people in his circles, and has some interesting introspection moments. There's a weird part of the plot about midway that definitely uses bad Asian stereotypes which is so disappointing. But after that it gets normal again 😅

Batman & Robin

This comes right after Tomasi's run and it's a mixed bag for me. It's definitely interesting seeing Dick and Damian learning to work together but I was still new to DC with little context for things and was also *so* put off by the art style that I don't remember it well. But I thought I'd add it anyway since it's an iconic moment for Dick!Bats

Batman and Robin (Tomasi)

I adore Bruce and Damian struggling together to discover what being father and son looks like for them. I adore Damian having growth. That's volumes 1-3. 4 is post Damian's death (and damn issue 1 is a well written look at grief), I haven't read 5 or beyond yet.

Nightwing (Rebirth)

The first Nightwing title I read. Looking back, the characterization is a bit weak in some areas, doesn't quite match how he's written in older runs, but it had good moments and kept me entertained. Especially!!! In vol 3 with Humphries's Judge arc

For more current runs, I'm really enjoying World's Finest. Waid's writing is good and Mora's art is just *cartoon heart eyes*. Bats, Supes, and teenage Dick Grayson are a fun trio. Amid other runs that had me tearing my hair out in disappointment or frustration, WF is a breath of fresh air.

Titans United: Bloodpact is a 6 issue limited that was also a really nice read. It's Dick's Titans but Tim is there too and I enjoyed everyone's writing.

The Human Target (Tom King) but honestly I was just losing my mind over Greg Smallwood's art and paneling the entire time. A masterpiece. I want to frame every page. I cheered when he posted inspiration threads on Twitter.

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen

It's not Batfam but hear me out!!!! This comic had some of the sweetest moments between Supes and Jimmy and I wanted to grab literally anybody by the shoulders and shake them until they looked at the Lois, Clark, & Jimmy in the helicopter panel and GOT IT!!! Also it is so delightfully wacky and funny, I was genuinely laughing out loud. Steve's Lieber's art is the perfect pairing with Matt Fraction's writing.

AND SPEAKING OF!

This isn't DC at all but it's the series that made me (and so many others) really love comics and their storytelling potential. Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run, volumes 1-4. Between his writing and David Aja's artwork and color theory (and Steve Lieber's guest issue that literally gut punched me and changed how I saw later parts of the story, it was never just a filler issue to me, Steve) you get a great story that says so much with so little (in the best way) and is a visual treat as well. Chef's kiss.

Some other non-DC comics I really enjoyed are Die (imagine Jumanji but D&D and novels and oh look the consequence of your actions has grown up), Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1 (I am not a horror girly but I really enjoyed this, in no small part because of Dell'edera's art), Eight Billion Genies (the world population hits 8 billion and now everyone gets a genie, what could go possibly wrong), and Paper Girls which I'm about 2/3 through (picture stranger things but with time travel, spaceships?, and oh shit is future me lying??)

Damn, I guess I really did have a scroll's worth. 😭 Anyway, my recommendation for where to start with this list is...what does your library have available? Don't forget about the Hoopla app too, that's where I read some of these digitally. Or the used bookstore which is where I got 90% of my comics from.

But seriously! Just pick whatever sounds the most fun or has the character(s) you're the most interested in and go from there. Skip around on the timeline or go in chronological order. Whatever floats your boat! I think that's the really unique thing about comics. Plus if you can't figure out the context of what you're missing or what is happening simultaneously (because writers & editorial used to care a little more) you can do a quick google or (and I wish I had this with Batgirl) @cephalog0d has a pinned timeline master list. Incredible.

[causticsunshine]

Heyy whatcha been getting into lately? Alternatively, what have you been enjoying being a hater of lately?

okay first hello i love how this question is phrased hajdks very on brand for me and two uhhh oh boy a lot of stuff tbh!

so to preface. over the years i’ve had many phases where i get out of some irl person based media (usually 1d or some random tv show) and back into animated series, then the inverse happens, the cycle repeats, etc.? so i’m currently back into animated stuff as well as fully leaning into kpop everywhere instead of what i was doing before, where i was trying to limit my posting in general or limiting it to twitter under the guise of trying to seem slightly Normal™️ but now i’m fully leaning into whatever makes me happy and inspired and if that makes me annoying so be it

anyway—in terms of animated shows i’ve been watching one piece for almost a year now as for some reason i couldn’t get into it when i was younger and then was deterred by the series length, but i’m really enjoying it! i’m about to start the long ring long island arc if that means anything to anyone lol. i’ve also been watching and loooving dungeon meshi, and i’m currently reading it as well! i tried reading it a few years ago and stopped a few chapters in (idr why) but now i’m hooked and am struggling to pace myself…. i might try and do some fanart soon 👀

with kpop mmmm i’ve actually been a casual fan since like 2010 (listened to some 2008-2009 but it was mostly early shinee and random kpop compilations on youtube lmao) but have gotten in and out of it several times? now though i’ve been pretty Involved consistently since 2019/2020, although the groups i follow the closest are ateez, oneus and nct (127)!

i saw oneus in seattle last month after missing them twice and had such a good time (i still haven’t finished sorting my pictures though and haven’t posted like. any oops) and i am tryyyying (like. praying on my hands and knees lighting candles talking to the moon levels level trying) to get my hands on VIP1 tickets for ateez in tacoma and tickets go live next week so wish me luck as i will definitely need it with how pricey it’s likely to be… but also i will proudly commit heinous deplorable acts for ateez barricade sooo either way i’m determined to get my way? aka: i want and need my own y/n moment ahfksksn

also to clarify i’m not a shipper or whatever when it comes to kpop! i may enjoy the odd fic or will cringe read things with my friends but it’s nothing like HL for me; it’s a very different dynamic overall and i don’t get those kinda vibes in a serious way from any groups i follow? although with ateez… i can kinda see why they attract some of those kinds of fans i’m ngl

and on the side, i’ve actually been working on original content again! the one group of ocs i tend to pick up and put down has been temporarily sidelined for a pair i dumped a few years back but am currently reworking and actually have a story for now! idk if i’ll do anything proper with said story as comics are exhausting so rn i’m mostly word-vomming into docs and trying to nail down my character designs. when i’ve got things worth sharing though i do plan to share here as well, if anyone would be interested 👉👈

alternately when it comes to my haterism… i still greatly dislike and am exhausted with miss swiftie for numerous reasons and my god my art twitter is swathed in h*zbin h*tel content?? like actually plagued?? otherwise though there are just things i wish i saw less because i’m simply just not interested right now (aka 1d stuff) or in general and don’t want to start disliking those things because i’m seeing them too much

ok def rambled more than i meant to oopsie doopsie but yeah uhh that’s kinda it! anon i hope you are well and enjoying yourself in whatever you are doing rn 💕 and feel free to share if you feel so inclined to!

[hwrryscherry]

HARRY x MODEL Y/N  facts part.1

HARRYxMODELY/N masterlist is here.

Credits: The middle manip on this edit picture (the one with Harry’s yellow suit) was made by the beautiful @/94sbells.

Author’s note: HEY GUYS! I know that I’ve been kinda gone lately, but I have reasons for that. My summer vacation ended, and I had to go back to school. We’re still studying online, but I had to take a diagnostic test this past week so they’d know how’s my scholarity level. So, because of all the studying and trying to keep up on a new school (yes, I moved from schools.), I didn’t have any time to write or finish my writings. I’ll try finishing a request today because I’m feeling super creative and nostalgic BUT to everyone who follows HARRYxMODELY/N series, like it and miss it, I just did this ‘’facts-timeline’’ in a hope to feed you guys lol. Anyway, this is like a time line of 2017 and how their relationship developed on that year. I plan on doing one for each year till 2020 and post it on the break between posting the requests. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and maybe discover things about them that you didn’t know yet. Love you all and thank you for the support and love! TPWK and remember that you’re so golden.

The first ever communication between them was on May 12th, 2017(Model Y’N’s 20th birthday) AND the realesing of HS1 album.

She sent a DM to him on instagram congratulating him by saying she loved the album and wished him all the success.

No, they didn’t know each other and she honestly thought that he’d never answer to her.

After a few hours, Harry answered to her message and she freaked out but never answered back because she didn’t want to bother him.

They officialy met on November 28th, 2017 when Harry performed on Victoria Secrets Fashion Show that occured in Shanghai, China.

It was the first time that Model Y/N ever walked for Victoria Secrets.

She walked the Goddesses segment while Harry sang ‘’Only Angel’’.

Harry literally got on his knees when she walked past him.

He likes to describe his emotion at that moment as “mesmerized”.

Even though she knew that VS models and the singers are supposed to flirt a little on stage to create a teasing sensation, she was so surprised by his actions.

After the show was done, Harry wasn’t going to attend the VS after party but decided to attend last minute because he wanted to know her.

He approached her very calmly and gentle and invited her to ‘’hang out’’ with him and his band through Shanghai as he was going to leave on the next day to complete his tour.

She asked Bella to go with her because she didn’t want to hang out with him and his bandmates alone as they didn’t know each other.

But she did felt a huge connection between them almost immidiately.

Through Shanghai, Harry was hitting on her the ENTIRE time! He was complimenting, being super nice, and flirting as well but she honestly thought he was just being nice.

Harry thought for a while that she was playing it hard to get until he realized that she wasn’t.

They spent the whole night going through Shanghai.

They went to Nanjing Road and walked around seeing the lights.

They bought those film cameras and took the funniest pictures ever. They still have those films but never digitalized it to the computer.

They went to all those mini bars and had a few drinks while eating chinese food.

Btw, Harry and Model Y/N LOVE chinese food.

They were on the same hotel.

They didn’t go back yet but plan to do so when quarantine is over.

When it was about 8am, they came back to their hotel.

They both agreed that they would come back to Shanghai one day to go to disneyland.

So Harry went back to his tour and Model Y/N went back to NYC.

On the night out in Shanghai they exchanged numbers because Bella Hadid(Model Y/N’s bff)noticed that Harry was interested on Model Y/N, so she casually told them that they should get each other’s number.

The media was crazy about them. First it was the VS move and then there was tons of paps photos of them out in Shanghai.

The media was trying to sell the story as if they were already dating before the VS, which wasn’t true.

They talked for months as friends because of the number exchange.

They talked via texts, calls and face time all the time but it wasn’t anything more than friendship to her.

Model Y/N and some friends of her was planning on traveling to Ibiza, Spain to celebrate New Year’s Eve and as she and Harry were getting really close to each other she invited him and told him that he could take whoever he wanted.

Of course she thought he was cute and had a small crush but nothing extreme.

Harry did invited her for some of his shows but she couldn’t attend any of it.

That made Harry think that she didn’t like him.

She thought he was going to take a girlfriend.

Harry took Gemma and her boyfriend to the trip with him.

Yes, their whole group of friends were there as well but midia acted like there was only them in it.

They were in Ibiza from December 28th, 2017 to January 3rd, 2018.

The group of friends that was in Ibiza with them included Bella Hadid, Fai Khadra, Imaan Hammam, Grace Elizabeth, Gemma Styles, Machine Gun Kelly, Model Y/N’s brother, etc.

And yes, there were TONS of paps in Ibiza following them because the media was selling the whole ‘’Harry Styles’s new girlfriend’s thing.“

Harry is super private about relationships and Model Y/N had ended a serious relationship early that year so they just didn’t address any rumors because they didn’t care about what the media said.

They “saw” each other as friends and that was what mattered.

It was probably the most random group of friends that she ever traveled with, but it was fun on the same way.

They had a really cool and funny vibe, and it was really easy to everyone to get along.

When fans noticed that Y/N’s friends were following Harry on social media they really thought all the rumors were real.

Their house was really close to the beach, so you could actually see it by Harry’s bedroom barricade.

They usually went to the beach or stayed by the pool during the day and went out at night.

Honestly, they used to come home from the nightlife of Ibiza at 3/4am.

They’d wake up after noon for sure.

Harry wouldn’t eat his breakfast until Model Y/N’s woken up.

He’d cook an avocado toast sandwich to her every morning and wait for her to wake up.

He’d do it because on one of their late night talks, she had told him that she loved it so much.

They’d eat at the barricade while watching the beach.

Model Y/N HAD always been obsessed with Harry’s hair and she’d tell him that he needed to moisturize his hair as they were under the sun all the time.

It was just an excuse to touch his hair.

So they’d exchange it. She’d put oil on his hair, and he’d put on hers.

If they had to go to the beach, Harry would convince her to do the craziest things like fly board flying, going on jetskis together and those things.

He was the only one to convince her to do it because she is TERRIFIED of swimming in the ocean.

They’d all go out for lunch on some restaurants and after going shopping before the sunset.

Harry would always come to her saying like “oh, this would look good in you” whenever he saw a piece of cloth that he liked.

Some fans would post pics of them on social media only making the rumors go hard.

Then one fan would post that met up with them and they said they’re just friends, which was true at that time.

Back at the house, they’d get ready to enjoy the Ibiza nightlife.

They’d dress a little better and go out to some bar or club.

Do you know those videos of Harry dancing in Anguilla? It would be the same vibe. Harry and Model Y/N would vibe so hard to the songs, and dance and shout and sing. It would be really funny.

Model Y/N used to go to his room at 4 am when they came back from the street because they usually sit by the barricade and talked for hours.

They’d talk about all the things that mattered to them, like: career, fashion, music, video, paintings, friends, family, how fame changed their lives.

They’d laugh about all the dating rumors as well, but it would be that type of laugh like “lol I wished it was true.”

They’d tell each other dad jokes and stories about their lives and experiences until the sunrise.

By the afternoon of December 31st, 2017, they were all talking about their new year’s kiss and they decided that Harry and Y/N would be one of the pairs to kiss.

Model Y/N agreed but it was more of a joke to her than a real kiss; she didn’t take it seriously.

They all got ready to celebrate NYE on the beach.

On the next day there were tons of videos of them dancing on the beach and them with fans as well.

When the New Year came, they had their first kiss and of course that changed everything.

Both of them felt sparkles and by the effect of a few drinks that both of them had on that night, they did share some other kisses here and there on that night.

For a miracle, no one captured them kissing on camera.

FACTS OF HARRY & MODEL Y/N’S RELATIONSHIP THROUGH 2018 WILL BE CONTINUED ON THE NEXT POST.

[mandelene]

✈️

I went off on this one, lol. I decided to incorporate the request an anon made a while back asking me to write about Alfred developing epilepsy in high school so here it is, and I hope it's okay!

Just Another Midday Emergency

Word Count: 1580

Arthur can count on one hand the number of times Francis has called him in the middle of one of his shifts at the hospital, and they have always been for emergency reasons, so when he feels his phone vibrating in his pocket as he’s finishing up changing a dressing for a post-surgical wound, his throat tightens and his feet go cold.

He steps out through the double doors of the unit to the waiting room, braces himself by taking a deep breath, and picks up the call. “Hello? Francis?”

“Alfred’s not well and is being taken to the hospital. He collapsed in class and had a seizure.”

The information reaches his brain, but he fails to process it for several seconds. Panic washes over him, but he quickly shakes it off. He has to stay calm and focus for Alfred’s sake. “A seizure? What kind of seizure? Was he awake and aware or confused? Did he have motor symptoms?”

“I don’t know. You know you’re asking the wrong person. The teacher described it as him having spasms, and Alfred didn’t seem to recall exactly what had happened after it was over. He also hit his head on one of the other desks in the classroom.”

“Okay, so he wasn’t aware, and he did have motor symptoms, then,” Arthur confirms, running a nervous hand through his hair. What could have triggered a sudden seizure? Alfred’s never had a seizure before… “Where is he now? The high school called an ambulance, I presume?”

“Yes, he’s in the ambulance. I asked them if they could tell the paramedics to bring him to your hospital. I didn’t even have a chance to see him, but I called him and he was very shaken over the phone. I’m leaving the house now.”

“Good. You did wonderfully, Francis, thank you. I’ll tend to him. Try to remain calm, all right?”

“You as well.”

“Be careful on your way here. See you soon.”

He hangs up, finds someone to cover for him temporarily, and heads for the emergency department. His timing is impeccable today and the universe seems to be working in his favor because Alfred is just being brought in on a stretcher when he reaches the nurses’ station. He’s about to greet Alfred and ask the EMT and paramedic tending to him about his status, but just as he reaches Alfred’s side, the boy has a staring spell, and Arthur can tell he’s no longer alert.

And then, he begins to seize again, arms and legs jerking erratically on the stretcher. Arthur rolls Alfred’s head to the side and holds it still with both hands so he doesn’t aspirate or hurt himself against the side rails of the stretcher, heart pounding.

“Do you want me to give him—?” the paramedic begins to ask, but Arthur shakes his head.

“Wait a moment,” he says, glancing at his watch to track the time.

And then, as suddenly as it started, Alfred abruptly stills once more.

“About thirty seconds,” Arthur reports, a bit relieved. At least the seizures are relatively short, and he’s not in status epilepticus. It could be worse.

He removes his hands from Alfred’s head and brushes his hair away from his eyes. “Alfred?”

“Mrghh…Dad…” Alfred mumbles, looking exhausted.

“I’m here, love. We’re going to take good care of you, all right? Can you hear me?”

Alfred groans quietly and reaches out an arm toward him, so Arthur leans over and embraces him carefully, giving him a gentle hug.

“...Dad…”

“I know, darling. You’re probably very startled,” Arthur says before he notices a nurse standing behind him and steps aside for a moment to let her properly triage him. When that’s all done, and the nurse assigned to his care arrives, Arthur helps her move him to a room. He’s pleased to find out that Dr. Gilbert Beilschmidt will be the pediatrician checking on him. Gilbert is good. He’ll do what Arthur asks him to do.

And apparently, he wastes no time in coming in to assess Alfred right away.

“Oh, kiddo. What happened to you, huh?” Gilbert says by way of greeting. He gives Arthur a nod of acknowledgment and asks, “Why is it always your kids, Kirkland? Something's always going on with them, it seems like.”

“They like to keep me on my toes,” Arthur replies, staying glued to Alfred’s bedside. He can’t imagine how frightening this must all be for him.

“The nurse gave me a rundown, but can you tell me what happened in your own words, Alfred? I wanna hear it from you.”

Alfred nods, which then triggers him to wince. He has a welt on the left side of his forehead from when he collapsed. “I was in history class and I dunno…It’s a blur. I remember hitting my head on the desk across from me and then my teacher standing over me. And then they called an ambulance.”

“And you’ve never had a seizure before, right?” Gilbert asks, examining Alfred’s forehead before pulling out a penlight and shining it into his eyes.

“No.”

“Okay, look at the light for me, kiddo…I’m gonna put a finger up and I want you to follow it with your eyes, ‘kay…? That’s it…Good. Now, I’m gonna ask you some more questions, and I need you to be a hundred percent honest with me ‘cause I won’t be able to get you the help you need if you don’t tell me the truth. You want me to kick your dad out for this part?”

Alfred seems a little panicked at the idea of Arthur having to leave his side. “No! I mean…He can stay if that’s okay.”

Gilbert gives him a knowing smile and nods. “No problem. So, have you been trying any substances at school? Maybe there’s something your friends have been taking and you wanted to experiment with it? Anything like that at all?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah. I swear.”

“How about any recent falls or injuries? Did you get in an accident somewhere and hit your head, and maybe you didn’t wanna tell your parents about it ‘cause you were afraid they’d worry?”

“No. Just today when I fell out of my desk in class.”

“Okay, kiddo...Let’s get you some bloodwork and a CT scan to make sure you didn’t seriously hurt your head and to rule out any masses. Then, we’ve gotta get neuro in here to have a look at you. They’re gonna want an electroencephalogram at the very least.”

Alfred furrows his brows. “Electroencepha—what?”

“It’s a test where they’re gonna attach little electrodes to your scalp and check your brain activity for any abnormalities. It takes like an hour or two, and it doesn’t hurt—I promise,” Gilbert explains, giving Alfred’s knee a comforting pat. “Odds are we’re not gonna be able to find out exactly what’s wrong with you or give you a clear answer. You might never have a seizure again, or you might be developing epilepsy—it can happen at any age and sometimes we don’t know why it happens suddenly, it just does. If everything checks out and we don’t find anything serious, we’ll send you home with some anticonvulsant medication to take and have you follow up with a neurologist.”

“…Okay.”

“All right, kiddo. I’ll be back to check on you later. Don’t stress. Your dad’s gonna keep an eye on you for me,” Gilbert says. Then, he turns to Arthur and adds, “I’ll let you know as soon as I know more. I’m betting on epilepsy onset though based on what he’s told me. Don’t freak out, even though I know you will anyway.”

Arthur nods, bids Gilbert farewell for now, and sits down on the edge of Alfred’s stretcher with a sigh. “It’ll be all right, love. Whatever happens, we’ll take care of it,” he assures before placing a concerned kiss on Alfred’s brow. “Also, just a word of warning, your papa is going to be here any moment and will likely be in a panicked frenzy.”

Alfred musters a laugh. “Yeah, he always does that.”

“It’s because we both love you and worry about you.”

“I know. Thanks, Dad…Is it okay to be kinda scared?”

“Of course, it is. Anyone in your situation would be. But the good news is that there’s a very strong chance you’ll feel better with some medication and that there are ways to manage this.”

And then, Francis arrives, pale and trembling. Arthur does his best to explain the situation to him and set his mind at ease, but he might as well not have bothered because Francis runs over to Alfred’s side and starts fussing over him to no end anyway. He strokes his head, tucks him in snugly with the thin hospital blanket that’s covering him, and smothers him in a series of hugs.

Gilbert’s predictions turn out to be mostly accurate. The CT scan comes back fine, and the electroencephalogram confirms a change in brain waves, suggesting epilepsy. Neurology decides to put Alfred through an MRI as well, but as suspected, they’re unable to find a concrete reason for the seizures, which is actually positive news in Arthur’s opinion. At least this means Alfred doesn’t have any tumors or cysts causing the issue and no other physiological abnormalities.

He’s still going to watch him like a hawk from now on though and make sure he stays on top of taking his new medication.

Gilbert was right. Why is it always his kids?

[makebank]

silver lining

Request: “it's a day on set and you haven't been feeling good you pass out mid filming, and it turns out to be serious”

Warnings: nothing really, but mentions of surgery and emergency rooms

Rudy Pankow x reader

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: i know i said i wouldn’t do the actor but i changed my mind bc this seemed innocent enough. not sure if i’ll do more, as i prefer the characters. but i figured i’d at least try once. if this bothers you i’m sorry. also not even a blurb lol, i can’t make them short unless they’re phrase prompts omg

You woke up this morning feeling like you had been hit by a truck. All last night you tossed and turned alternating between sweating and shivering. When your alarm sounds, you roll to the side to turn it off and are hit with a wave of nausea. Instantly, you rush out of bed and barrel towards the bathroom. You thought you were going to be sick, but thankfully nothing came up. 

You sigh taking in your disheveled and damp appearance. Lifting up your shirt, you inspect your right lower stomach expecting to find a bruise. Oddly, there was nothing there but you felt a dull ache taking over the area. You were curious about why you suddenly felt so horrible, but knew you had to get to work. Turning on your shower, you steamed up the room and stepped in. You were hopeful that a nice, scorching shower would be enough. 

In the shower you contemplate how important it is for you to be okay. You finally landed an acting role and didn’t want to mess it up. It wasn’t the largest part, but you were in the second half of the TV series season quite a bit. This spring you had auditioned for a love interest on Outer Banks and shrieked when you got it. Your character was supposed to start slowly falling in love with the character JJ Maybank, while he secluded himself off from his friends. He goes through a tragedy of dealing with John B. being gone and feels left out by his best friends dating. So, he meets you while surfing alone and they continue to meet up often. Anyways, you were among so many great actors that you felt insecure at times. And the last thing you needed was to be calling in sick and halting filming. 

Besides, you had a huge crush on the actor who played JJ. You never did anything about it though. During filming it was professional and after you would smile and joke with the lively blond. It was hard not to like him. He was full of so much life, was intelligent, kind, and could have any room rolling with laughter. He was always so sweet and respectful towards you but that was it. You two had spent hours together rehearsing and filming. You were growing closer, but it didn’t seem that he wanted it to move any further. It wasn’t like him and his co-stars who were already all friends from the first season and had a visibly strong bond.

Pulling yourself from your thoughts as your long shower grew cold, you shut off the water and start to dry off. You would just have to fake it for the day. There was no way you weren’t going.

-

Arriving at set, your stomach pain only worsened. Instead now, it was sharper rather than dull. You head into your trailer and pop a couple painkillers before splashing water on your face and making your way to hair and makeup. Walking in you see the one person you got most excited to see, Rudy. 

“Hey y/n.” he greets with his usual bright smile.

“Hi Rudy, what’s up?” you try to match his tone. “Oh, you know, just getting my flowing locks perfected” he jokes while the hairstylist sprays the hairspray to hold his flawless gold waves in place. You chuckle in response but try not to wince at the pain it causes. But to no avail, your face gives it away. 

He frowns at your obvious discomfort. “Are you okay?” You beam at his genuine concern. “Sorta. I just have this weird stomach pain. But I’m fine!” you rush to reassure. He raises his eyebrow at you like he doesn’t believe you. “If you’re sure, just take care of yourself first please.” You actually fully smile this time, “Thanks, I will” you slightly lie. 

He rises from his chair with his hair finished. “See you on set, lover” he gives you a two-finger salute as he heads to film scenes with the other cast members. You feel your neck heat up at the nickname. You knew it was only because you played his love interest, but you couldn’t help but feel flustered every time he did it. 

- 

After sitting through hair and makeup, you head to set overhearing a scene being filmed. It’s Rudy yelling at JD about something to do with his character JJ being distant and it being none of their business. You take in the sight of him now in different clothes. He’s wearing that cutoff you love that shows off every inch of his defined arms. They’re bulging even more, because he tenses with anger. His fingers covered in rings as they run through his hair. You admire Rudy’s acting and his seemingly effortless portrayal of JJ. 

Suddenly, while waiting another wave of sharp pain hits you. You curl up in your chair and whimper. No one notices because they are too entranced with the scene. Taking a couple deep breaths, you try to distract the pain away. It didn’t alleviate it at all. Shortly after, they’re done filming and Rudy is walking towards your chair next to his. Bounding with a sense of pride in his work, he innocently smiles towards you. Once he’s close enough to see your expression, his demeanor falls.

“Y/n you don’t look too good. You sure you should be filming today? We can take you to the doctor.” he offers becoming increasingly concerned. You quickly shake your head no. “I’m okay. C’mon let’s go” you try to get him to drop it. He looks unsure but ultimately follows you to the towel on the sand to start your scene.

The director starts to give you both some instructions that you can hardly pay attention to. He yells “action”. The scene starts off well, Rudy is acting perfectly as always, and you deliver a few lines without issue. 

Without warning, your stomach wrenches in agony. You start wincing and your eyes tear up. You curl your body up and start groaning. The camera men stop filming, and everyone rushes towards you. Rudy is the first to try to help. He places his hand on your arm to try to see if you’re okay.

“Y/N! What’s happening? What do you need me to do?” he’s frantic and rushing his words. You only cry in response until you muster the energy to speak. “I don’t know, it just hurts so much” you whimper. Immediately, Rudy is scooping you into his arms and hauling you to a vehicle. You hear everyone panicking in the background but can only focus on the soreness. 

Rudy rushes you to the emergency room where people surround you and start performing a series of tests. Soon you’re being sped to surgery. You’re told you have appendicitis and need emergency removal. It all happens, so fast your family isn’t able to get there before it starts. They live all the way on the west coast, so sadly they won’t make it until way after. 

- 

You wake up from being put under on anesthesia in a hospital room. You slowly blink open your eyes to find an unexpected visitor. It’s Rudy nervously biting his nails and bouncing his leg in front of your bed. When he realizes you’re awake, you can see with weight being lifted off him

“Y/N! You’re awake! I’ve been so worried about you.” he looks so stressed and miserable. “I’m sorry.” you croak. He looks taken aback, “What? You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m just glad I forced you here when I did. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit” you tease and you both erupt into giggles. He grabs your hand and rubs his thumb softly on your fingers. “I’m really glad you’re okay.” “Me too. Thank you for everything you did and for waiting for me.” He stands up and places a gentle kiss on your cheek. “Are you kidding? There’s no way I was leaving you. I’ll go get the others, they’ll want to know you’re awake. Your family is about an hour out by the way.”

You sink further into your hospital bed feeling the butterflies taking over. You’re still slightly sore from surgery, but his lips and the pain medication make you feel on cloud nine. You weren’t sure if Rudy felt this way before and the emergency brought it out or if he’s just being kind, but you were loving every second of it.

A few days later you get to return home, but on bed rest for the next two weeks. Rudy spends every minute he can in bed with you watching movies and cooking for you both. He has to continue filming, but he reassures you that in a few short weeks you’ll get to pick up and finish the last few episodes you have with him. 

You weren’t excited about having your appendix removed, but it did bring the boy you cared for full force into your life. He was your best friend. And now eagerly becoming more. 

i didn’t add my everything tag list bc i dont normally write for actors and didn’t want to tag you guys for this just in case. 

[bringingglory]

thank you so much for the tags @hanamuri @fullmetalscullyy @megthemighty @nightofnyx8 @tsaritsa !

How many works do you have on AO3? 11! some are botw, one is tdiapt, some are fma, and some are haikyuu! i mostly just write for whatever im interested in at the moment/whichever fandom inspiration strikes for

What's your total AO3 word count? 101,939

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Keep Your Friends Closer But Your Enemies Closer - T: ahhhh my miraculous ladybug fic! ive literally been working on her for FOREVER and i swear to god im going to finish it, i literally know how i want to end it and i know all the events leading up to it. hell, i even have a vague idea of what i want to happen in the middle, i just need to know what order the middle stuff happens in and also i just have to write it. It's an AU where Ladybug and Chat Noir are actually enemies but then Chat Noir accidentally befriends Marinette and then drama etc etc etc.

rain - G: first zelink fic babey! set Pre-Calamity and basically link and zelda get stuck in a cave because of the rain and there's just a lot of quiet pining, etc etc.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Oikawa - T: HAHAHA this was a crack fic inspired by my roommate but then i forgot it was supposed to be a crack fic while writing it and there are accidentally real emotions alkjdfalksdf but anyway it was very fun to write lmao. it was based off this meme and basically it's an AU where Oikawa is Spider-Man and Iwaizumi doesn't know but they still like hang out and stuff. It's a lot of fun, or at least I think it is, haha.

stolen moments - T: first royai fic!!! just a series of "stolen moments" (mic drop) where roy and riza like cant be together but yknow, they try. lots of pining. etc

a secret weapon of sorts - T: 5+1 edwin fic inspired by the Simple People OVA where instead of ed giving winry earrings to get out of trouble, he gives her kisses.

Do you reply to comments, why or why not? Yes! I try really hard to!!! Sometimes I get overwhelmed and I don't respond to comments for a while, but I absolutely do my best to when I remember because I feel like it's my way of saying "thank you" for them reading my fics in the first place, haha.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? Uhhhhh, sleepless I guess? But it's more open-ended/not explicitly positive more than anything, though even then I feel like I've got a hint of hope in there. alkjdfhalsdk idk man I just, I can't write *pure* angst, there's gotta be some light, and thus I could never end anything angstily

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? LMAO most of my fics??? I guess??? bc despite being an anxious piece of shit, I am an optimist by heart

Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've ever written? When I was younger! Idk, I guess the Rise of the Brave Frozen Tangled Dragons fandom??? if anyone remembers what that is lmao

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Not exactly? Maybe some weird comments on KYFCBYEC but even then, it wasn't that often.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? No no no no no no no no. I am telling you, I physically cannot write smut. I don't think I actually have the capacity. Absolute fucking kudos to every single smut writer out there bc it truly is an art form capturing that intimacy and emotion and etc, but I literally get flustered from writing mildly detailed kiss scenes. If I ever wrote smut, I would burst into flames on the spot.

Actually lies, I technically wrote smut once, but it was at the request of my roommates and they wanted me to write a crack smut fic of Y/N x our uni's mascot and I wrote that thing in like 3 hours with so many silly memes to keep myself sane (not like other girls, tongues battled for dominance, etc), did not edit it, and because it was so, like, not serious, I was actually able to get through it. But even then, when I wrote "thrusting" I literally had to put my laptop down for 20 minutes.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Nope!

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not yet! Someone commented on Your Friendly Neighborhood Oikawa and asked if they could translate it and I said yes! They haven't gotten around to it yet, but I would love to see it if they do!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Not yet!

What’s your all-time favourite ship? Bro it changes day to day. You can't ask me this lmao. The current ship I'm most fixated on is Iwaoi, but I wouldn't say they're my all-time favorite.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? I'm not answering this energy. On god, I'm going to finish things. I want to.

What are your writing strengths? uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh very good question lmao. I don't really like thinking about "strengths" in my writing bc who am I to say? akjdslakfjdf idk, instead, I'm just gonna say some things I like/try to do in my writing, which are: conversational prose/having a lot of voice in the narration, I try to add humor wherever I can, and recently I've gotten better and metaphors and describing things bc I picked up writing poetry a year ago!

What are your writing weaknesses? hmmm, a thing I dislike about my writing/the writing process is that I'm slow to publish things and slow to finish things because I'm such a messy first drafter and I also take forever to edit. I would like to uhhhhh get things out faster. Also I tend to repeat myself a lot bc I forget the details of things I write sometimes lmao.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? Hmmm, I dunno, I guess I don't have any strong thoughts? The only other language I know is Mandarin but even then, I suck ass at that, so I'll prolly never write dialogue in another language simply bc I like to try to portray things semi-realistically and I don't think I have a good enough grasp on any other language the same way I do in English to produce authentic enough dialogue.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Fablehaven I guess? But Idk I was in fourth grade an didn't even know what fandom was yet. Rise of the Guardians, maybe?

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

AHHHH idk??? maybe hold your hand out in the dark because i really experimented with my writing on that one and im sort of proud of the result, just like the fact that i wanted to try something new and it turned out alright. that or Sunset Wheeling which is an iwaoi fic where they just skate, and like it's prolly one of the most self-indulgent things i've ever written because it's silly and they just. skate. but aljdfalsjd idk i loved it and i churned it out in 6 days and it was a lot of fun lol

ahhh a bunch of people have been tagged already, so sorry if im tagging you again, but for now im just gonna tag @niconiconina @notkorras @thatisadamnfinecupofcoffee @firewoodfigs and anyone else who wants do it!

[infernwetrust]

It’s The Little Things [Duncan Shepherd x Jim Mason]

Summary: Just a little domestic fun between Duncan and Jim through the art of food. Guest starring you and Michael. 

Warnings: mentions of drug use, just fluff really, swearing

WC: 1.5k

A/N: This was long fucking over due as are many other things that I’m currently working on. I need to work more on my soft side lol. Part of my little Duncan x Jim series that can be found on my master list, here. Thank you for reading! -Juno

GIF by witch

"Don't you fucking do it, Michael." Jim said, gripping the Nintendo switch controller with force. But Michael was already doing it. He threw the infamous blue shell Jim's way, it quickly catching up to him in first place, Michael trailing behind in 2nd. Poor fool, however, too close to Jim, is affected by the blast too, giving you the 1st place advantage and win.

"Fucking idiots." you stated, simply.

"Bullshit." Michael said, reaching for the last bacon-wrapped jalapeño popper off the plate in front of them, but Jim had also reached for it too. It was routine. You and Michael would come over every other Sunday for dinner, usually Jim's cleaning day. And while either Duncan or Jim cooked, games were played, drinks made.

"Let it go." Jim said, challenging Michael with his eyes. "You literally just ate one."

"And you ate the more than half of the plate." he said back. "So you let go."

"I grabbed it first." Jim began to pull it towards him, not caring if his fingers were getting messy.

"Oh fuck off." Michael pulled it back towards him and now the boys were pulling with a force, but not too much, not wanting to snap it in half. Could you blame them for their childishness though? At first glance, Duncan didn't seem like the type to be the master in the kitchen, but he sure was. Wanting to give Jim a break because he's literally been cleaning all day, Duncan offered to cook. Jim's favorite was Duncan's grilled cheese. 7 different types of cheese, turkey, ham, lettuce, and a killer salsa for a fresh taste, it was basically a heart attack on bread, but Jim fucking loved it.

The two were snapped out of their intense gaze when you walked over, snatching it from between their fingers and popping it in your mouth before plopping back down on the couch adjacent to the one Michael and Jim sat on. You returned to whatever you were doing on your phone as if nothing happened, running your tongue over your top set of teeth.

"Problem solved now, yes boys?" you questioned, not pulling your eyes away from your phone. "Maybe you should see if chef Shepherd will give up some more." Michael reached for the plate, but Jim snatched it away from his hand, wanting to be the one that goes into the kitchen to bother Duncan.

In the kitchen, stood Duncan in one of Jim's t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants that hung a little bit off his waist. He scanned quickly over his cookbook, one that he put together himself to save all of his favorite recipes. Really, it was Jim who brought out the inner chef in Duncan. He cooked for Duncan nonstop. By the time Duncan had his eyes open for work at 7:00AM, his breakfast was already on the table with his morning coffee. Jim more than had the opportunity to sleep in considering he didn't have to be at work until noon, enjoyed cooking for his boyfriend anyways.

He made sure Duncan always had something to take with him to work for lunch. There was always dinner when he got home, whether Jim cooked it or ordered takeout. Duncan wanted to return the favor and slowly he began cooking too, starting with his grilled cheese. Soon enough food was something the two found themselves bonding even closer over.

*** "Hey what are you-," Duncan began. "Jim no! Those are for the office party today!"

"Huh?" Jim said, his mouth full of chocolate chip muffin. He had eaten about 2 of them and they were pretty decent in size. Duncan stayed up late the previous night to make them, waiting until Jim fell asleep for this exact reason. If he wasn't stuffing his face with one of Duncan's grilled cheeses, it was his chocolate chip muffins. Melt in your mouth, they were to DIE for.

"You knew that my office party was today. I made just enough for everyone because I didn't want to be up super late."

"So that's why I was alone in the bed until midnight. M' sorry, Dunc. Should of told me."

"Told you?! These are your favorite, would it have mattered?"

"Probably not." Jim chuckled, licking the remaining melted chocolate chip off his finger. "I'll make it up to you though."

He walked over to Duncan, using one of his hands to hold the back of his neck. He glided his thumb slowly in circles over the exposed skin, Duncan shivering in response.

"How so?" He stepped closer, pushing Jim back against the counter, but shoving his hands in his pocket to maintain his dominance.

"I'll make those cookies that you like so much. Y'know? The butter crunch ones with the-,"

"Chocolate chips and almond pieces." Duncan finished his sentence with a heavy exhale, excited to hear those words.

"And I'll make 3 batches. 2 for you and 1 for your people, yeah?"

*** "Ocean eyes we're not going to have any brownies, pot or regular if you keep sticking your finger in the batter." Duncan sighed, high out of his mind trying to move around their kitchen. Jim was pretty high too, with a bad case of the munchies, having smoked again a few hours after they had dinner. He had already finished the party sized bag of cool ranch Doritos, and now he was craving something sweet.

Jim had decided that he not only wanted to make regular brownies, but he also wanted to make edibles as well. A friend of his had invited them to a pool party and what better way to spice it up than with some special treats?

"Okay, just one more." Jim said, going in for another scoop.

"Share though." Duncan said, only now realizing just how hungry he actually was. Sure, the actual brownies would have been a lot more filling, but they were too far gone now.

"Nuh Uh. You said we have to stop." Jim turned his back to Duncan, bowl clenched against his chest. "So we're stopping."

"Jim if you don't set that damn bowl down on the counter so we can finish it together."

*** Plenty of good memories came from the kitchen. There were many days and nights of whipped and butter cream filled kisses. One too many glasses of wine or one too many shots. On the nights that the boys did bake together, they found themselves often covered in flour or sugar as one of the two had gotten too frisky, leading to an intense make out session on one of the empty counters or the kitchen island.

There were plenty of jokes told, plenty deep conversations had, and a lot of heart to hearts. If Jim wasn't making Duncan laugh until he either drooled on himself or whatever he was drinking shot out of his nose, the two were complimenting and praising each other. They were always curious to know how each other's day went. Whatever the other wanted to talk about, the other was excited to hear about it. Dinner was never dull between the two, even the times they had fought.

*** "Here try this." Duncan said, sliding his plate over to Jim who peered down at his phone. Jim, hungry, gave it no second thoughts, immediately taking a bite.

"Wow this is a fucking, nut." Jim said as the sandwich basically melted in his mouth. "You like comfort food, huh?"

"College will do that to you." Duncan replied, chuckling at Jim's response. "But I'm guessing you like it?"

"Like it? Dunc, this is genius."

"Well, you're always cooking for me and I wanted to return the favor. It isn't much but..."

"I wish you'd stop doing that. Y'know? Like you always tell me. Own it, scruffy." Duncan gave Jim a closed eye smile at the nickname, referring to his facial hair. "You made this. It was your idea and I love it. Stop always trying to down play yourself, right?"

"So you do listen when I talk?" Duncan joked.

"Mmmph." was all Jim got out, his mouth full of grilled cheese.

"Let me cook for you, then." Duncan suddenly said. "Tonight. Take the night off. Let me spoil you?"

"The more you talk, the more I get like this, raging hard on."

Duncan nearly choked on his drink, laughing at what Jim said. Jim was all like that since the very beginning and it only showed more once they finally moved in together. He was always so playful and immature, but he knew when he needed to be serious. More like, he knew when Duncan was serious. Because face it, Jim could play and make jokes all day. However, it brought Duncan peace and higher sense of humor, something that laid dormant in him while he lived in DC.

*** "Can I kiss the chef?" Jim asked as he approached Duncan from behind, gently setting the plate on the island behind him. He licked the remaining cream cheese off of his fingers from his brief struggle with Michael.

"Depends." Duncan answered, looking at Jim over his shoulder. "Are you actually here to kiss the chef or are you here for something else?"

"Both." Jim answered honestly, wrapping his arms around him.

"Well you can only have one thing and it isn't more poppers."

Taglist: @jimmason​ @angelicmichael @whatcodysaid @9layerdevilfoodcake @xavierplympton @mikhalxngdon @fernfiction @theneverendinghunger

[ghstandpucks]

Cutting Edge ~ Nathan MacKinnon Ch. 4

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well and having a nice Friday! Thank you so much for all your kind, supportive words! I’m so glad you are liking this series! Disclaimer for this chapter: I’m sorry if you like Ashley Wagner as a figure skater. To be honest she bothers me which is why I picked her for a little conflict that may or may not happen during the season lol 

Anyways, enjoy and let me know what you think! Also, let me know if you would like to be tagged in the upcoming chapters! Thanks!

Prologue  Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3

“Nope. Try again,” you said as Andre tripped over his feet and missed the net. It was Monday morning at practice and you had just shown your group the three-turn move that Nate suggested you teach them. Andre groaned and looked over at you.

           “What is the point of this?” he asked.

           “The point is to be more fluid. You guys do this already, you just need to follow through with it and not be choppy,” you responded.

           “Maybe we are choppy because we have to keep the puck with us,” Andre grumbled and tried again, still not entirely succeeding. To be fair, not many had been successful that morning.

“You guys just need to keep your momentum,” you tried to explain. They looked at you like you were crazy. You quickly skated over to the side and grabbed a stick, becoming exasperated that they seemed not to believe you that it would work. Taking one of the pucks, you quickly did the move and shot the puck straight into the net. You turned back to your group and laughed at their dumbstruck faces. Honestly, you were even shocked that you made, but you couldn’t show them that. “So that’s how you do it. Any questions?” They all shook their heads no. “Okay then, line up,” you said, deciding to keep the stick with you. Though it still seemed foreign to you, you felt more comfortable with it. As the group you had started to get it, you smiled and looked down the ice to find Nate already looking at you. He was at center ice in another group, and when you grabbed the hockey stick a few of the players and coaches stopped to see what you were doing. He didn’t bother to look away when you met his gaze, but instead nodded at you with an impressed face. You shrugged and laughed, turning your attention back to your group.  

           The groups rotated about 30 minutes later, and Nate skated right up to your side. “Look who’s becoming a hockey player,” he teased you quietly. You giggled and elbowed him.

           “I told you it wasn’t that hard,” you said, adding “and you owe me two laps.” Nate looked at you unimpressed.

           “Are you serious?” he asked.

           “Can’t have people thinking I’m a pushover, right?” you laughed. Nate rolled his eyes, but smiled at you as he took off.

~ ~ ~

           The following day you stayed after practice, seeing as the team had Wednesday off. You were in the middle of your billman spin when you caught the outline of a blurred figure every rotation you made. You finished the spin, letting go of your right leg and checking out. Glancing toward the side, you found Nate standing there. He smiled as you skated over to him, shifting his weight from one foot to another slightly. That’s when you realized he had his skates on. “Mind if I join you?” Nate asked. You shook your head and smiled up at him.

           “You aren’t mad at me for making you skate laps?” you joked. He chuckled as he stepped out onto the ice.

           “Completely. Those two laps were the worst thing I had to do yesterday,” he answered with a wink. You laughed and skated around the perimeter of the rink with him. The two of you spent about two more hours on the ice, talking and doing different things, but always ending up back next to each other. You sat next to Nate on a bench off the ice to take your skates off while continuing your conversation. “So how did you get into skating? In Canada hockey is huge. I can’t imagine it’s the same in Southern California,” Nate asked after he had told you how he started playing hockey, and you smiled.

           “So I was actually a dancer when I was younger. My parents put me in ballet when I was about 2 in a half because I was that hyper child that needed something to do,” Nate chuckled at that. “Anyways, I had an older cousin who was taking skating lessons and had her like 10th birthday party at the rink. I was 4 and one of my other older cousins offered to skate with me. And I fell in love the second I stepped onto the ice. I asked my parents after the party if I could start skating and they signed me up for classes. And you should know as of last week with Z that I am a competitive, stubborn little shit of a person so I jumped at the idea of having a coach and competing. And I never looked back. The rink is my happy place, it’s where I feel most myself, and everything that has come along with it is just a perk,” You smiled, drying off your blades and putting your soakers on them.

           “Oh yes, an Olympic gold medal is just a perk,” Nate dead panned, but you could see he had a smirk on his face.  

           “I mean I worked hard for it. But it never felt like work because I love to skate,” you replied simply. Nate smiled softly at you, and you thought you would never get used to the way it made your stomach flutter.

           “That is beautiful Coach,” he teased you, and you knocked your shoulder into his arm. He laughed as you barely even moved him, more just bounced off of him. “I’m being serious Y/N. Obviously you are an amazing skater, and we are lucky to have you.” Nate said sincerely. You looked away as you started to blush.

           “Well you aren’t so bad yourself mister,” you tried to joke back to cover up how much his words were actually affecting you. Nate chuckled and shook his head.

           “I just try my best. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like enough, but I try,” he admitted.

           “But that’s all you can do, try. And you have a whole team behind you to support you,” you said, feeling that he was just like you; extremely tough on himself. “Plus, from what I’ve seen you’re a pretty good skater,” you smiled as he met your eyes after putting his skates away.

           “Only pretty good?” he teased, and you laughed.

           “Well there’s always room for improvement,” you said, teasing him back. Nate let out a chuckle and followed you out of the rink, walking with you over to your jeep.  

           “So, we have tomorrow off…” Nate started, rubbing the back of his neck. You smiled and nodded, encouraging him to continue. Nate wanted to just ask you out, but he wasn’t positive where you stood. You were nice to him, but you were nice to everyone. He decided to go with what he had already offered before to be safe. “Do you still need to get a bookshelf?” As he asked, you couldn’t help as your smile became brighter at the thought of hanging out with him away from the rink again.

           “I do actually. I was planning on doing that tomorrow,” you hoped you weren’t blushing too much, but Nate could see it and it only gave him more confidence.

           “I can come over around noon. We could get some lunch then get your book case,” he suggested, trying to gauge your reaction. You smiled shyly, knowing your blush had to be evident at this point. Nate thought it looked adorable. Here you were, this Olympic gold medalist becoming shy when he was asking you to hang out.

           “That would be great, as long as you don’t mind helping me,” you said. Nate beamed at you.

           “Not at all.” You smiled back at him and said your goodbyes with the promise of seeing each other tomorrow. You drove home, nervous and excited for being able to hang out with him more one on one.

           The next morning you woke up and busied yourself trying to clean up a bit. Not that you were messy, but you needed to move some boxes out of the way to make space for your book shelf. Getting dressed in some simple jeans and a black tank with a long, velvet deep yellow cardigan over it, you were just putting on your converse when Nate showed up at your door. You insisted on driving, sure that you would buy more than just a bookshelf and didn’t want to cram it all into his car. Nate directed you to a cute sandwich shop downtown for lunch, and the two of you talked the whole time about everything and anything. It felt so natural to be around him; the two of got along very well. Both of you being extremely competitive athletes, you also understood each other on a different level. Getting through lunch relatively unnoticed, Nate was amused when you were the one approached for a picture and not him. He couldn’t help but smile at the way you talked to the young girl and encouraged her to keep working on a jump she said she was having a problem with. After lunch, you and Nate went to Target and picked out a simple bookshelf. You also grabbed a few more things you could not leave the store without and Nate pushed the cart along, teasing you when you couldn’t pass up buying a few new books as well. Traveling from competition to competition always provided reading time, so you figured road trips with the team would provide the same.

           Once back at your apartment Nate took over constructing the book shelf while you unloaded your boxes for it. The day carried on with playful banter and you could feel your crush growing even stronger. Nate was feeling the same. It was nice for him to be around someone who didn’t seem to care that he was a professional hockey player. He felt that he could really be himself around you. Between the laughing, lunch, shopping, and setting up, it was 7pm before you even knew it. “Do you want some pizza?” you asked him as you placed a candle on one of the shelves.  

           “Don’t tell my coaches,” he winked and you laughed.

           “Never,” you said, asking him what a good pizza place to order from would be. “I’ll order a veggie one. That will make it a healthy meal.” Nate laughed and offered to pay, but you insisted being that he spent his whole day helping you, plus bought lunch. When the pizza arrived, you made your plates and sat at the table. “Do you ever miss being home with your family?” you asked after he told you all about them.

           “I do yeah. I love them and being able to spend time with them. But I’ve made Denver my home also and this team is like family. I’m happy being here with them,” Nate answered sincerely.

           “I think it’s really great you guys all have each other. I’ve never been much of a team player so I’ve never experienced that kind of bond,” you admitted.

           “You have to have friends through skating though, right?” he asked.

           “Yes and no,” you shrugged. Nate gave you a questioning look. “Girls are mean.” Nate broke out laughing. You laughed too and continued. “Once you get to a certain level, like you support one another but if someone your competing against falls you don’t feel bad. And I know that sounds horrible, but when there are only usually 3 spots on the Olympic team every four years, and the competitive span of a female figure skater is only like six years at senior level depending on how fast you learn, it’s a super competitive atmosphere. You tend to become better friends with people you won’t compete against. So like for me, my best friend is Jeremy Abbott. He’s kind of like an older brother to me. And I’m close to a few ice dancers. But any female single skater friend either tends to have gone through the ranks before you, or you start mentoring someone younger as they hop onto the circuit and you phase out. I think I’m better friends with girls I have competed against now that none of us are competing anymore. That’s just kind of how it goes,” you tried your best not to make it sound like you were a horrible person. Nate nodded thoughtfully, then grinned at you.

           “Does this mean you have an arch enemy that we all have to look out for?” You couldn’t help but laugh at his question.

           “Unfortunately, kind of. Playing the Stars should be interesting this year.”

           “Playing the Stars is interesting every year,” Nate muttered. “Who is it?” he asked curiously.

           “Don’t say anything ok. I have a reputation to uphold. I can’t be talking bad about another skater in this program,” you pleaded. “Plus the press already thinks we don’t like each other. I don’t need to be the one to add fire to that flame.”

           “Yeah I’d rather not talk to the press so your secret is safe with me Y/N,” Nate said, leaning in closer as to convey confidence.

           “Her name is Ashley Wagner. She was annoyed that in my first competition I bet her and knocked her off the podium completely. And every competition since I had beat her,” you explained and Nate nodded along. “Also, if you meet her, don’t let her fool you. She seems nice, but she’s not that great. She purposefully tripped me during warm ups once. That’s when all the rumors started flying around.” Nate looked at you surprised.

           “You didn’t do anything back to her?”

           “No,” you laughed lightly. “That’s not what you do in my sport. I kept smiling and brushed it off best I could.”

           “Alright. So we’ll have to protect you around her. You’re too nice,” Nate grinned at you. You smiled back and cleared both of your plates as you had finished eating.

           “Shut up. She’s a coach too. It should be fine…I hope.” Nate shrugged at your reply, taking a seat on the coach and making himself comfortable.

           “I don’t know. Hockey might just bring out the worst in both of you.”

           “Gee, thanks Nate. Glad to know you’d have my back if it came to blows,” you plopped down next to him. Not too close, but close enough the you could knock your knee into his. Curling your feet up on the couch, you both smiled lazily at each other.

           “Don’t worry Coach, I’ll be your back up. Tyson will probably be your hype-man,” Nate teased, reaching to shove your shoulder slightly. When his hand came down though, it rested slightly touching yours, and neither of you moved.

           “Sounds about right,” you tried to laugh your nerves off. Nate decided to take a leap, and placed his hand over yours. He smiled when he felt you intertwine your fingers with his. The both of you sat in comfortable silence for a minute. Nate was about to speak when your phone started to ring, ruining the moment.

           “I’m sorry,” you said, looking at your phone and seeing that it was Jeremy calling. You denied the call, but your screen just lit up again. “Speak of the devil. I can call him back later. I’m sure it’s not important.”

           “It’s fine. It’s getting late, and we have practice tomorrow so I should probably go,” Nate said, letting go of your hand and standing up. You were going to kill Jeremy.

           “Well thank you for coming over and helping me,” you said as you walked Nate over to the door.    

           “Anytime,” Nate responded, stopping just outside and turning back to you. “We should do it again sometime.”

           “Put together a book shelf?” you raised your eyebrow, hoping you weren’t over analyzing the moment the two of you just had. Nate chuckled and reached out for your hand again.

           “No. Lunch, dinner, this,” he squeezed your hand for emphasis. You blushed and nodded. “A book shelf if you really need another one,” Nate added, making you giggle.

           “That would be nice,” you responded. Nate grinned at you, and with one more squeeze of your hand he dropped it.

           “See you tomorrow Y/N,” he said, backing away from you.

           “Get home safely Nate,” you said, smiling at him till he turned around and walked down the hallway. You shut the door and locked up, walking back to the couch and the now 6 missed calls from your best friend. You called him back with a sigh. You didn’t give Jeremy a second to talk when he answered. “You better be dying to have called me this many times.”

           “Calm down, I just wanted to talk to you. Why weren’t you answering?” he laughed.

           “Nate was over. I think we were having a moment and you ruined it,” you complained.

           “Shit…sorry!” Jeremy responded. There was a pause, then he spoke again with excitement. “Now tell me all about it.” You laughed and launched into the story about your day, all the meanwhile looking forward for the season to begin, and to be able to see where things were headed with Nate.  

tags: @bqstqnbruin​ @avsfans95​ @andreiaafaria​

[thisisthestoryofanotherus]

It’s Different 

Part 10 of Crash and Burn 

SERIES MASTERLIST

Summary:  You and Ashton were never on the best of terms, maybe since you guys were so similar: sarcastic, stubborn, protective and had a true love of art. After a misunderstanding and $200 on the line, you find yourself (fake) dating the campus’ most adored (and drooled after) art student… with friendships at risk and feelings emerging it was only a matter of time until the inevitable crash and burn

A/n: This can be read by itself or part of my Ashton social media au! This is nearly 2000 words but after being gone so long figured I needed to do something to bring this series back to life. And what better way to fix this series than with a long drabble hopefully tying things together? Next part will be up Wednesday! My goal is to have this finished by the end of the year so expect frequent updates! 

Also with this title couldn’t help but this of THIS SONG (and learn more about Jae lol) that I highly recommend! 

 As always lmk what you guys think and thanks for reading! -Lydia

You had never been so out of breath from one flight of stairs, unable to control your heavy breathing as you kicked Lisa’s door as your only means of knocking. One flight of stairs should be nothing (even if you could use more time at the gym, pssshhh like that was going to happen) but going up the stairs with the balancing act of snacks filling your arms made things difficult. Kicking the door one more time, your best friend finally opened her door.

“Would you not kick down my door? Gosh-OH you brought snacks!” Lisa practically screamed. She may act like a bad bitch, but it did not take very much to make her happy. Sometimes you just needed several bags of hot cheetos and some ice cream.

“Do you see any available hands? Move! My arms feel like they’re falling off from walking with all this! You just have to live on the second floor…you just thrive on my misery don’t you?”

She giggled as she held the door open, watching as you threw the various boxes and bags across her kitchen counter. Arms finally free, you collapsed onto the floor trying to catch your breath.

“Ugh I’m gonna die” you exclaimed, stretching your arms out above you.

“So overdramatic” Lisa simply rolled her eyes, organizing the snacks you so oh graciously brought. “So what are we watching?”

“Oh I’m fine with anything” you said, quickly standing and heading over to the couch, making sure to grab a handful of items with you.

                                                 ____________

You were now 6 episodes into the latest Netflix drama and before the next intro is able to start Lisa presses pause.

“WHHHAATTT ARE YOU DOING?!!” You scream. “It was just getting good!”

“We need to talk…” Lisa says, placing the remote on the coffee table and turning face you.

“About what? What is more important than finding out-“

“Y/n….we need to talk about Ashton”

You pressed your lips together and sat up, small remnants of the junk you devoured all night falling down your shirt onto the blanket in your lap. You knew this would come up eventually, just not after a cliffhanger like this. But even that shock factor wasn’t enough to distract your friend’s curiosity. Ashton, of course she wanted to know. Lately things have been…different. It has been nearly a month of your so-called relationship with Ashton. You guys had agreed on two weeks. Two weeks tops of letting the entire campus think you guys were “dating” after he kissed you at that party, saving you from the embarrassment of having your crush all over another girl while you stood there trying not to cry. You thought this might show him what he was missing out on, but the irony is you never even saw (or thought) much of Jae anymore.

Instead your time was spent almost exclusively with Ashton, not that you’d ever admit that. Both of you looking for small excuses to spend more time together. Something needed to be done with the project, studying for class, getting coffee, just wanting to see each other… All leading to hours of just enjoying the others company. The random drives to new restaurants he wanted to try, his dumb jokes, his smile, the way he would stay close, often grabbing your hand, all for show of course until his small touches became something natural… Now, it was weird if he didn’t grab onto your hand or pull you closer, even if you were sitting alone on the couch at his place watching a movie or painting. After the two-week mark, neither of you acknowledged this deadline. As you were approaching three weeks neither of you pulled away or called this off…whatever this was. Because honestly you had no idea. Any outsider believed you guys were the happy couple you pretended to be. In reality you knew this was nothing but pretend, but it felt so real. You almost wished he completely ignored you when he wasn’t forced to put on a show. Maybe then you wouldn’t be lost in this idea that maybe you guys were actually together.

The lines were becoming blurred, more obscure with every moment. Like last night. You didn’t notice the time as you both were crouched over your project, enamored in the painting to notice the sun had long gone down. Ashton refused to let you wander the campus at 4am to get to your place. Said you could just crash in his spare room. You didn’t miss how his hand lingered a little to long against your own as he handed you some clothes. How his bright eyes seemed to be screaming something as he gazed at you…saying something he refused to say aloud, before quickly saying goodnight and leaving the room. How sweet he was the next morning…waking you up with promises of pancakes and waffles from the café down the street.

With moments like this… you had no idea where you stood. How were you going to explain this to even your best friends when you didn’t know yourself?

“What’s going on between you guys y/n?” she asked you. Voice free of judgement, just concern.

“I-…..I don’t know” You sighed, lying back against the couch.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” She asked, placing her hand on you shoulder. “You know you can tell me anything. And I know there’s more going on than what you’re telling me-“

“Honestly Lisa nothing has happened! Without all of this I see him all the time between classes and our project..”

“Y/n you have known him since freshman year… meaning you have had dozens of classes together with him and you never saw him this much. I mean sure there was the whole ‘I hate you Ashton Irwin’ thing but-“

You laughed at this. If someone would have told you a month ago you would be “dating” you long term enemy you would have told them they were on crack. No one, especially you, would have expected the two people who couldn’t even be in the same room as each other without arguing would end up spending nearly every second together. Did you still find him infuriatingly annoying? Of course. BUT you also couldn’t help the feelings you had for him freshman year from slowly creeping yet again into your heart. And that was the most frustrating part of it all. Because just like back then, this was all bound to blow up in your face.

“Look Lisa you’re right. Things are different. Even more so than when he kissed me that night-and before you ask yes it was just the one time. I just don’t know how to explain it…it’s almost like it was back then when he was just there. Always. How I craved his company during the few instances he wasn’t there and just lost myself in him…but now it’s so much more complicated… I don’t know where we stand and I don’t want to know because once I do I know it’s me who’s going to be hurt.”

“Y/n that’s what I was afraid of when you said you were doing this. Last time you guys were this close it ended up with him hooking up with Chelsea and you heartbroken in bed for days. I don’t want to see you go through that again.”

You looked up at your best friend. Really you did not deserve her. Seeing the love and concern in her eyes made you feel the start of tears in your own.

“Give me some credit. I’m much more mature than I was back then…”

“Mmhmm. Says the same person who recommended this be a Disney marathon.” Lisa said, rolling her eyes.

“Hey! You are never too old for Disney movies” you laughed, hitting her shoulder.

“Just be careful ok?” She said giving you a serious look. You nodded and she picked up the remote pressing play once again.

                                              _____________

 You woke up to the sound of your phone ringing. Wondering who dare disturb you after staying up all night finishing season one of your new favorite show. About to turn the phone off, you found yourself sliding the answer button when you saw the word Ashton flash across your screen.

“Hello?” You said, voice quiet yet obviously laced with sleep as you turned to Lisa making sure she was still asleep.

“Are you still sleeping? You do realize it’s passed noon right? Even if it is Saturday” Ashton said sarcastically. You could nearly see his smirk you’d bet he had on right now.

“Shut up had a late night. What do you want?”

“You and Lisa party hard with them movies or what?” he chuckled. “Are you home? I forgot some of my brushes at your place and I need them.”

“And here I thought you missed my voice. Fine. I’m not home yet though give me a bit-“

“I have to drive over to your place anyway. I’ll pick you up. Give me like 10 minutes.”

“Well okay then…” you said to yourself as you stared at your now blank screen.

Sure enough ten minutes later you were climbing into the passenger seat of Ashton’s car.

“Good morning beautiful” Ashton teased.

“Shut up” You said, hoping your blush didn’t show just how affected you were by those words, even if he was obviously joking. I mean-your hair was a mess, clothes disheveled from sleeping in them and you barely had time to swish some mouth wash in your mouth to appear somewhat human.

Ashton simply chuckled instead of replying as he pulled the car into drive.

As you walked to your apartment you felt the familiar grasp of Ashton’s hand in your own. And when you reached your door, you couldn’t miss the small pout he had when you let go of his hand to search for your keys.

“I meant to take your brushes with me yesterday, even moved them over here…” You said, walking over to your shelf as Ashton locked your door. You crouched down, opening the bottom drawer searching for the bag you put his stuff in. “Ah! Found them!” You exclaimed as you quickly stood up, turning to show the prize in your hands.

However, you did not realize he was behind you, and just how close you turning around made you guys. Maybe it was the surprise of finding him right next to you. Maybe it was your sleep deprived state. Regardless you found yourself unable to move, breath escaping your lungs as you simply just stared up at him. His hazel eyes shining with the same question he had the last time. Your hand against his chest, his against your hip. You both slowly moving closer together, eyes moving from his deep gaze to his lips…

As quickly as it started, whatever trance you found yourself in abruptly ended with the sound of your phone ringing. You both jumped away from each other, surprise in both your expressions.

“I-um…should get that” You said, quickly grabbing your phone off the counter.

“Ya um, thanks for letting me get my things…I have this project...I’ll umm catch you later?” He said, running a hand through his hair and already walking towards the door.

“Sure” you said with a forced smile, answering the call of your best friend who no doubt was mad you left without telling her anything.

He gave you a small wave, closing the door behind him.

You released the breath you didn’t know you were holding as your friend screamed “where the fuck did you go?!”

[kikis-writing-world]

Where The Sky Touches The Sea [prologue]

A/N: This has been sitting in my drafts for over a month and I’ve been debating on posting it or not. Here goes nothing. Another series before I finish Whiskey Straight? Yep. I’m a bad person lol

Our lovey mermaid doesn’t make an appearance yet, but it sets the stage. It’s a prologue after all.

Pairing: Frankie “Catfish” Morales x Mermaid!OC (eventually)

Word Count: 1.3k

Rating/Warnings: PG - Light mentions of PTSD/dealing with the aftermath of war, talk of superstitions. 

Summary: Frankie needs a change of scenery, a change of pace - it leads him to a lovely house on a (haunted?) lake

When Frankie had seen the listing for the house, he was cautiously in love. Even from the listing he could see flaws, but that made it all the more appealing to him. He set up a viewing, anxiously awaiting the chance to see the house for himself. When the day finally came, he tried to lower his expectations. Had he worked himself up for disappointment, thinking of what seemed to be the perfect house for the past week? The entire drive out of the city, watching the buildings make way for more trees and greenery, he tried to talk himself down. It wouldn’t be as great as he thought it was.

But then it was.

The house was a small, rustic thing just under an hour’s drive from the city. Most would call it a cabin, but it was fully equipped to be a year-round home. There were other houses on the lake, but they were pretty far off from the property. The lake’s surrounding rockiness and cliffsides had left little area to build without a major demolition project. With the beauty of the area, he was lucky some millionaire hadn’t taken on that task.

It had an entire unfinished section, an addition of an extra bedroom and en-suite that had been abandoned partway through by the previous owner when a family emergency took them out of state. There were other little upgrades he could do throughout as well. So far, three big check marks were on Frankie’s dream home list:

It was quiet. He was out of the city. No more fireworks - or worse, gunshots - waking him in the middle of the night, making him think he was back in combat. No loud neighbours or block parties disrupting the peace on days where he just wanted to be alone.

Secondly, he could work on the addition. Something that would put his hands to work and keep his mind busy on days he needed to just shut down. Even better, the lack of neighbors meant he could work on the house in the middle of the night when he couldn’t sleep. Once the addition was finished, it would tick off his third item: room for his daughter during the times he got to see her.

He didn’t mind the drive to and from the city, and the hangar he flew out of for work was on the outskirts of the city anyway. It wouldn’t be a long commute.

Frankie had always liked the outdoors, camping and fishing often in his youth. The lake a short walk from the backyard - by all technicalities of where the property line was, but really the lake and surrounding forest was his backyard - would provide him the chance to reconnect with those hobbies. The expansive land would give him space to get a dog, something he’d been considering for months but couldn’t justify living in the city.

The last and maybe the most important check mark on the list - he could afford it. He’d already gone to the bank to tally up his finances and find out what kind of loans he was eligible for. His military pension, his meager savings, plus his current piloting for the charter company, he had himself a decent little nest egg. He wasn’t rich by any means, but he knew he could afford to change his lifestyle in a way that his own mental health desperately needed.

He wanted the house within the first five minutes of the viewing but he stayed quiet as the agent showed him around. She pointed out the features, talking up the selling points, glossing over the issues as a “weekend project” or “quick fix.”

He thanked the real estate agent for her time, and put in his offer. Now he had to wait.

Frankie considered himself a patient man, his years of service had instilled that in him, but he still couldn’t help but to check his old flip phone several times a day. No missed calls. There was no way for him to miss a call anyway, he rarely took the phone from his pocket and he had the ringer to full volume.

“Alright, give it up, Fish. Who is she?” Santi demanded. They were out for dinner and drinks and he had caught the pilot checking his phone for the third time in 20 minutes.

“Who is who?” Frankie answered with his own question.

“Don’t play dumb,” Santi laughed. “Who’s the girl that has you checking your phone like some teenager?”

“Oh, uh, actually… she’s a real estate agent.” Frankie admitted.

“Where’d you meet her?”

“No, it’s not- I put an offer on a house.” Frankie corrected his friend’s assumptions.

“You did? That’s big news, hermano! Why didn’t you tell me?” Santi seemed happy for him, despite it being kept from him. He knew Frankie was interested in moving - the house he was in right now was too big, too loud and too quiet at the same time. The noisy suburbs, big enough for his little family to grow. Now though, it was just a reminder of that broken family.

“I don’t know if I’ll get it.” Frankie brushed it off, “I don’t wanna get ahead of myself.”

“Where’s it at?”

“It’s out on Goldfinch Lake.”

Santi sputtered, nearly choking on his beer. “Goldfinch Lake? Isn’t that place supposed to be haunted or something?”

“You can’t tell me you believe that shit.” Frankie scoffed. “That’s campfire story bullshit.”

“I dunno man. Mi abuela always followed those superstitions-”

“It’s a house on a lake, man.” Frankie argued. “It’s nothing.”

“Yeah well, put some pennies under the carpet or something before you move in.” Santi visibly shivered.

“We’ve literally been to war together. You’re scared of a haunted lake and think pennies are gonna fix it?” He shook his head in disbelief.

“You’re right. I’m gonna call Tia Maria Carmen later and get some advice for you. She knows this kind of stuff.”

Thankfully their food arrived, stalling the conversation in favor of eating. He knew Santiago meant well, but he had to take it one step at a time. First, get the house.

---

Frankie climbed out of the moving van, looking over the- his property. He took a deep breath of the fresh air, hearing the rustle of the wind in the trees and the crunching of the gravel driveway under his feet and the tires of his friends parking beside him. It was his house, soon it would be his home.

“Nice digs, Fish.” Benny praised as he climbed out of his truck, taking in the property.

“Not bad.” Will agreed with a nod.

“Nobody go in yet!” Santi yelled as he scurried out of his car. The other three men stopped to look at him, watching as he dug through his backseat.

“Dios,” Frankie mumbled under his breath, rubbing his forehead. He fixed his hat as he called over to the man “what are you going to do to my house?!”

Santiago popped up out of the car, a coconut in one hand and a small bundle of sage in the other. Will and Benny looked to each other in confusion, turning to Frankie for a hint to what was going on.

“You’re kidding.” Frankie deadpanned.

“Tia Maria Carmen said this is the best way to bless the house,” Santi explained, ignoring the stares he was getting from his friends. “If any of those rumors of this lake being haunted are true, you’re going to need it.”

“He’s not making cocktails, is he?” Benny asked, still confused.

“I doubt it.” Will supplied.

“Unlock the door for me. You guys can start unloading the truck while I kick around the coconut.” Santi instructed. “Don’t take anything inside until I’m done, though.”

“Is he serious?” Will questioned. Frankie just sighed and unlocked the front door.

The men watched as Santi lit the sage and began kicking the coconut into the house. Benny laughed, taking out his phone to take pictures.

“I can’t believe we’ve been to war with that man.” Will muttered, pinching his nose. He sighed and turned to Frankie, who was resigned to it all. “Welcome home?”

[twixtandshout]

Tagged by @pidgeonpostal! And not tagging anyone else because I have SOILED the original template (soiled it!!) in deference to my [brushes off skirt] mostly clean public-facing appearance.

...I’ve been making a lot of Spongebob memes lately for someone who has not seen Spongebob.

How many works do you have on AO3?

71!

What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

...306,834. Jesus.

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Uh. Many! I do a lot of one-offs (and/or start long things I never finish) in many different places. My top three fandoms by fics written are RWBY (29), Undertale (25), Gravity Falls/Transcendence AU (4).

Bet you can’t tell where my hyperfixations have fallen. 

I’ve also got some Pokémon and Sonic the Hedgehog fics back on my ff.net account, or I think I still do, anyway, but let’s never go back there pls

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Sweeter Than Honey (Undertale): Taking a Completely unsurprising first place, with over 600 more kudos than the runner-up, the haphazard Underswap fic featuring a post-college self-insert I wrote just after high school! I shake my head some at how overblown and ridiculous the gap between this and all my other stuff is (c’mon, guys, I’ve written way better fics), but this is also the fic which prompted me (and at least one other person!) to start using they/them pronouns. I’ve gotten a lot of really sweet comments about how seen and appreciated it’s made people feel, so I can’t get down too far about it.

2. To Be A Hero (BNHA): I don’t count myself as part of the BNHA fandom, for a number of reasons, but for something that’s arguably the main motivation for the entire plot, Midoriya’s quirklessness is something I’ve never thought has been handled well. This fic marked the first time I (somewhat tentatively) claimed the disability label (thanks again to Sweeter Than for prompting that realization) to hold that lens over canon. It also really shot up my chart, dang! It’s the only thing here I’d consider “recent.”

3. Three-Sentence Shipping (Undertale): Self-explanatory.

4. Brothers Beyond Bonedaries (Undertale): Ah, the way-overcomplicated AU³ I got nowhere close to finishing. One of the things I really like about Undertale is the interface screw, how Toby Fox uses the medium of the video game to pull off crazy things and enhance his game, but most of the fic written for the fandom seems dedicated to explaining it away, grounding it, rather than taking it to the next step and messing with the medium of fanfiction when you keep the story going. I tried to do something cool like that here, playing with questions like narrator and authorship and breaking the fourth wall, even taking the “final boss” fight to a “totally separate” fic reached through the first by link – but, well, then I never finished it, which probably didn’t make anything less confusing for the poor folks who missed the intent.

5. Spirit and Such (Gravity Falls: Transcendence AU): A whole fic written to line out a particular image I had, which, naturally, never made it to the page. I consider it a bit of a cautionary tale for myself when it comes to writing (near-)original content; there’s a lot I look back on and cringe. I still love the characters, though – well, the important ones – and I think just stepping away from the tried-and-true Mizar formula nets it a star sticker here.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

>w>; I try, but a lot of the time I just don’t have anything to say? Like, oh, you liked it? Neat. There’s not much to respond to in comments like that, and then I’m weighing falling down on an ~obligation~ to respond to every message in my inbox vs annoying people with copy-paste fluff responses all down the page. Plus I know I make more of an effort to comment on things that didn’t get the attention I feel they deserve, so if I’m driving up my own comment count with nonsense, am I preventing myself from being in a position to receive more comments later? And then if I do comment, am I being too effusive or running people’s ears off explaining things they don’t actually need to know? Sometimes people just want to express interest or admiration and don’t necessarily want a whole peek and guided tour behind the curtain.

Can you tell I have anxiety? x3;

Anyway, I do respond when I can. And I keep most of the comments I’ve gotten to go back and reread. 

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hm, hmm. Lots of stuff in the TQ Nonsense series would probably qualify! I’m thinking of Unfixable, Wolfsong, and Ethanol. And there’s Bursting Through A Blood-Red Sky (I Can Live, I Can Breathe), of course, but that was always intended to have a fix-it epilogue. It’s just that I wrote it in a couple of hours day-of, stared at it, and decided I didn’t wanna just then. But now that’s As Long As You’re Still Burning Bright (I’m Still Awake), and that’s probably the best romance I’ve written, so that one worked out.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve ever written?

Now and then! When the urge strikes. Uhhh, I’ve got a series of Doctor Who x Undertale crossovers I actually made a whole dang verse for that never made it to print. Get a couple great comments on that every few months or so. I think the World Trigger x Undertale crossover is probably weirder, though, by virtue of WT being a very small fandom. My enthusiasm kinda sputtered out on that one.

Mostly I just daydream crossovers with whatever happens to catch my eye at any given moment. I have a lot!!!! Though odds are out on whether I manage to remember any of them once the initial thought’s passed, lol.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Gotten a couple eyebrow-raising comments, but I think mostly I’m just too small a writer to draw that kind of attention.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t? think so? Think my tastes are a little niche for most people to bother ^^;

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I had someone apologize once for any language mistakes in their comment cause they had to run it through a translator! That’s not what you asked (the answer is no), but it’s very flattering to think that someone liked my fic enough to read and comment despite the language barrier.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! :D @pidgeonpostal was gracious enough to agree to co-write Five Nights at Denny’s with me off an idea about shoes. This has fulfilled a long-held dream of mine (collabing with someone, not the shoes) and also introduced me to some lovely people.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Who has time for just one? ;3c Honestly, I care more about the characters and how the relationship – any relationship – between them changes them than I do about ~A Ship~ as a solid, bounded noun-object. I’ve got characters I like more and less and feelings about who does and doesn’t have chemistry in which directions with whom, but finding anything that agrees with those preferences is hard, harder when you take alloromanticism into account. I’ll play in any sandbox with cool toys, especially if other folks have already built sick sandcastles there.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

[kicks every single unfinished fic further under the bed] What nooo no WIPs here, everything on my account is either finished or does not exist

I’ve got a couple extra chapters of Sweeter Than floating around unposted, but 1. that fic’s a mess 2. high school Twixt and post-college Twixt are different people and trying to contort myself into three other me-shapes just cause people Like this fic is not something I’m super interested in 3. it’s headed for an emotional dip and I’d rather leave it where it is than post two chapters, stall out again, and leave folks with a bad end.

As for other fics... it’s looking more and more likely that v7 of my Yellow Brick Road AU will never actually make it out. >w>; I’ve got some really great ideas, but not enough to make me feel like I know what I’m doing, and that’s a big roadblock. Plus trying to engage with RT’s Atlas-Mantle worldbuilding in any serious capacity is... a headache. I can’t recommend the Happy Huntress Cinematic Universe enough, but it leaves some pretty big shoes to follow! And I’ve got small feet. <w<;

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue’s fun, probably as an extension of characterization. I love tearing into what makes people tick, especially against the backdrop of their environment, the story they’re in, and the people they’re up against. Voice is a double-edged sword; I’ve been told my writing is really recognizable and individual, but on the other hand, I’ve been growing frustrated with with the limits of my narrative ability. There’s a strong rhythm I keep when I write (you might notice it here, even) but that leaves me feeling predictable and stale. I’m not sure I’m great at setting as a matter of course, but I’m pretty good at describing setpieces where the need comes up; that comes from my background in poetry, as does the fun I have with sublimating and abstracting complex imagery. And I think I bring some needed nuance to the universal. For good or ill, I don’t do what “everyone else” is doing.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Well, writing, for one thing. If I don’t know how something’s going to go and don’t have the urge to write it, it isn’t getting done, which means there’s a billion things that will never see the page and a few hundred more that are never getting finished. I lose momentum easily and have a hard time getting started, and I put way too much standing on finding a foothold with other people; as critical as I am of my work, I have high expectations for the stuff that passes muster, and it never seems to measure up. I’m also really uncreative. Yeah, I can mix up elements and extrapolate events, but coming up with things wholesale is really hard, which is why I avoid it wherever possible and steal/reskin stuff from other places instead.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Something along the lines of “Hoo boy, I am Not qualified for this but hopefully it’s decent anyway.” Maria’s Spanish lines haven’t been a big deal – I’ve used it sparingly and, as a Latin language, it should be easy for English-speaking audiences to pick up on the gist – but I’ve had a harder time with Tai’s Chinese, both because I have Even Less background there and because it is, of course, an entirely different language system. If I write it out in English or Romanized italics, am I colonizing it or changing the meaning? If I write it out in the presumed-original characters (presumed because it’s Google Translate and who knows if I’m even barking in the right forest), am I confusing or alienating my presumed-majority-English-speaking audience? Where should I put the translations? Should I put the translations? And for Frisk’s sign language, thinking back, are the brackets I used instead of quotes alienating/infantilizing? I like that different characters give the text between a different feel, but I’m not an ASL speaker – and I’m pretty sure the word is “speaker,” which would only reinforce that that demographic would rather I didn’t do that. It’s important for all these characters, I think, that they use non-English language where it makes sense; it’s part of who they are. But as a white monolingual English-speaker, I don’t think I can really weigh in.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Thaaaat’d be Pokémon, followed closely with Sonic the Hedgehog. Whether those fics are still on my ff.net account or not (pretty sure I’ve purged them, but you never know) I’ve still got a couple saved to a folder on my current laptop, ostensibly so I can look back and see how far I’ve come and more practically to allow for the possibility of furthering group cohesion through public shaming.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I still like the idea behind The Man Who Is Atlas, and Burning Bright (Still Awake) gets props for being my current fic, though it’s currently in that spot where I’m excited to get new chapters posted but also quietly marking everything up in red pen. I think Harbinger gets the crown here, at least for now.

[ichika27]

TWEWY 02

Already Day 4 and it’s just episode 2! I mean, I knew they were gonna rush it but this is really rushed. Is this just 12 episodes? They should’ve doubled it cause the story... but they’re trying to finish this up before the release of NTWEWY so...

I thought last week “I’ll make the next TWEWY anime post after each game weeks.” but I need to vent so here I am! Spoilers for the game below cause I can’t just not say anything.

To anime-only watchers, please play the game or watch someone’s gameplay of it! The story is way better told in the game.

Here’s the gang hanging out together. They do talk about some stuff about themselves with Neku telling them he likes it that no one can see him in the UG. Rushed but at least it’s here. Rhyme also mentions that she has no dreams for the future and Beat’s outburst afterwards hints at what Rhyme’s entry fee was. If it’s vaguely hinted in the game, this scene makes it a bit more explicit.

No Reaper Creeper. They didn’t adapt it probably to save time. Shiki used imprinting to help Ai and Mina talk to each other so the scene went by fast. Also, the surprise for Ai instead of 2 Tin Pin Slammer tickets are 2 tickets to a performance of 777′s band. It’s also a birthday gift (that Makoto is also aware of) unlike in the game where Mina gave her the tickets to help her get close to Makoto seeing as Ai has a crush on the guy.

The tickets are a little change but I guess this may also mean they’re not adapting Tin Pin Slammer in the anime. *cries* B-but Children’s card Tin Pin game is serious business!

Joshua loves playing that game, too... (I was hoping for an OVA version of “Another Day” after the series ends but who knows?)

Instead of helping Makoto make the Red Skull Pins popular, they gave the job to the Prince, Eiji, who gives them away at his little show. The mission this time is to make everyone look up at the Q building screen since they hear some guy tell Makoto to help him make everyone watch their video (instead of the commercial for the pins) to be displayed on there at the same time stated on the text message. Neku uses imprinting to make Eiji advertise it for them.

I guess this means Makoto gets less screentime and character development (even if he does have a little arc in the game). Him being the one whose job is to sell the pins and make them trendy is what gave him a confidence boost to change for the next weeks.

I didn’t notice this before... was it shown properly in episode 1? I was out of it for the most part due to excitement so I might have not noticed.

Anyways... 777 gave Shiki a freaking keypin that’s only to be used by Reapers and players obviously can’t have them. I get it though... the sidequests were cut off from the show to save time but giving them a keypin? It’s a big deal since 777 was erased after he gave them a keypin to help them in the final week.

This appears at the time the commercial should be on and some weird light destroys the other players. What was that?! That was more than just foreshadowing to what the Red Skull Pins are!

And Joshua stops it before it could make things worse and get to Neku and Shiki.

They also foreshadowed Joshua’s abilities! Are they trying to make the anime watchers catch on to who Josh actually is before even his week starts? I mean, I like that I’m sorta seeing Josh here but still!

Neku and Shiki having a little pep talk. It’s not as great as the game’s but at least it’s still here. Even if it’s rushed and stuff.

Eri is animated! The scene where Shiki hears about Eri’s thoughts on her is emotional with both girls crying and all unlike in the game which makes sense cause Shiki had just recently passed away. Some stuff to note:

-Eri is in a school uniform. They can afford this cause they don’t have to use the same sprite as what Shiki has in the game.

-Her uniform plus the fact that it’s a random character with her and not Mina means they probably go to a different school than Ai and Mina.

-This is where the reveal happens for Neku (and the audience) that all the players are dead instead of it being revealed by Higashizawa. I’m okay with this somewhat since it’s not really weird for Shiki to be the one to reveal it especially since they already gave her the roles of giving Neku the game explanations.

Also, we’re nearing the ending of Shiki’s week but Rhyme is still okay. I’m guessing they’re gonna have her and Beat attacked next episode instead of on Day 4 like in the game.

--

Oh yeah, since the planned OP for this was scrapped, they replaced it with something else. “Twister” is now the OP! I’m okay with that! Super ok! I’m sure there are other fans of the game who probably feel the same way since they were also hoping they use Twister as the OP. Glad they did this! I still feel the planned OP went to waste though.

“Calling” is officially the battle song. I wish they would also use “Someday”.

They also revealed the ED! The song is good (”Carpe Diem” by Asca) and the accompanying video is beautiful and it showed out main cast doing the same fighting poses they had in the game but with the anime’s art style (which is close to the game with only a little difference). They did some little foreshadowing again due to how they showed Joshua (seriously... did they want the anime-only watchers to suspect things this early? Week 2 hasn’t even started yet!).

I’m happy Ani-One is able to post the episodes on Youtube (which means I’m not watching this illegaly hehe) but the subtitles they have are off. They tried subbing the songs but they don’t seem to fit the actual meaning. Like there are parts of “Twister” and “Calling” that are in English (like, full sentences) but they “translated” those parts and the meaning is different. They also refer to Makoto as “Shin” in the subs which doesn’t make any sense. They misspelled Eri’s name as “Ari”. I hope they fix it.

I still enjoy the fight scenes and Neku using his psyches.

This would’ve been better with more episodes so they could focus on the story progression but I guess this’d have to do. I kinda realized this might be the case since the adaptation for “Devil Survivor 2″ with the same “7 days or it’s the end” plot but unlike DeSu2 which takes place for like, a week only (so 13 episodes wasn’t that bad) TWEWY’s entire story is worth an entire month. 12-13 episodes won’t cut it especially if they plan on adapting the “A New Day” scenario and since they’re trying to connect this series to NTWEWY, that’s probably what they’re gonna do. Oh boy...

Anyways, I guess this’ll be a weekly thing with me venting haha. I’d probably be fangirling when Joshua finally shows up on Week 2 though. I wonder if they’re gonna put JoshNeku ship tease in there like in the game? I’d be disappointed if they don’t since it’s Joshua’s thing lol plus DeSu2 did it for YamaHibi so I’m kinda... I now have standards hahaha.

Thanks for reading!

[krenbotvt]

What The Fans Of (Almost) Every Scarecrow Design Are Like Just by Surveying Rogue Tumblr for Approx: 5 Months. (Not in any particular order. Also this is a meme.)

Year One: You probably needed a childhood to relate to/needed a justifiable reason to stan one of Gotham’s biggest criminals. (but if your childhood involves being half-eaten by crows i am VERY concerned)  BTAS: The gateway drug Scarecrow. You’re probably a gremlin, and also really like the Dork Squad(tm)  TNBA: He’s under-appreciated, and you know this very well, but you’re also thankful that you get some of the coolest artwork of your favorite spooky boy. (Also the voice. 11/10 you want him to read sleepy hollow to you.) TAOB: You are one of the only 3 living fans of Adventures Of Batman Scarecrow, but you give absolutely no shit. You love that uncanny valley, near on clown-like scarecrow, and i feel bad for you, because you’ll probably never get art of them. Super Friends: I...Wow. Y’all really do exist... Galactic Guardians: YOU GUYS ACTUALLY EXIST TOO??? BATB: JAZZY. You like his hat, and his voice. You also probably enjoy a lot of older scarecrow designs as well. You get sad because you wish there were more content.  The Batman (TV series): PFFT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (But seriously though, you poor, poor things...There, There...) Assault On Arkham: AA Scarecrow in an otherwise good movie. Basically, you’re sad he didn’t get more screen-time. At this point, just stan: Arkham Asylum: ABSOLUTE GOBLIN OF A HUMAN. One of the gateway drug Scarecrows that lead you to The Rogues fanbase in the first place. You either love the serious artwork of him, love him drawn/written as a gremlin, or are STILL offended by his lack of footwear. Either way, you adore him and will remind everyone of it. Arkham Knight: OH FUCKING BOY. This can go one of two ways. 1.You love his writing (or don’t, but still stan), his poetic dialogue and his voice, and you also love how much he hams up the fear factor. You probably adore every artwork of him you see, and you REALLY love reading any fan-written material of him. You have many headcanons, and probably have googled A LOT of stuff to make them more genuine.  Or 2. You are very, VERY horny... (But as a good friend once said, “these are not mutually exclusive.”) Nightwing And Robin: Aw, y’all are so cute! Here, have some tea with the SF AND GG Fans, I think they have Earl Grey over in the CORNER OF IRRELEVANCY. (But I feel bad for y’all too.) Unlimited: BEEF BOY. You’re either in the group of people that love Scarecrow designs that use scythes, or you like how strange, yet fun his appearance is. Most art of him is super colorful too. There aren’t very many of you, but the amount of you that I’ve seen seem like super cool people. You all probably also enjoy the next one: Batman/TMNT: You knew the movie was a wild ride from start to finish, but you love it. You probably also like birds (I know, really obvious.) There aren’t many of you, but you like the idea of a corvid-like Scarecrow, and you wish for more. Or...You may be a furry that also likes DC stuff, and that’s ok too! We too also oddly love that weird ass cobra joker anyways.  Salecrow: You love his rhyming (which is arguably the best thing about him), but are also annoyed by the fact that most content of him use the same 3 images every time. You’re probably in the same boat as all the other scarecrow fans that genuinely want a proper medieval themed version of him. If you write/draw him, you’ve googled endless nursery rhymes. Its like Dr.Seuss up in this bitch. Also, them hands. Blackest Night: Chances are you’re still amazed that your favorite bag-headed master of fear even HAS that thing. You REALLY want him to wear that damn ring again, and will probably pay an arm and a leg to see it happen in a form of animated media. You also have very interesting artwork/writings of him. And your head canons are outlandish, but in the most fun way. (Seriously though, Hatter with a ring, huh...) Injustice: You either love the concept of The ScareBeast, or you’re here for the fact that hes voice by FREAKING ROBERT ENGLUND. Admittedly, you probably aren’t all too good at fighting games, but you still insta-lock him despite that.  The Dark Knight: Cillian Murphy portrays the character rather well, but you either are unnerved by his strangely dreamboyish face, or would wish for a slightly older actor. But!!! Despite all that!!! You love him, and probably still quote “WaNnA sEe My MaSK???” (Although I see some of you get absolutely tired of that lol) I don’t see any loyal fans of him, but everyone seems to agree that he’s not too shabby (heheh... shabby...) Gotham (Tv Series): ...Hello? Where are you guys? I KNOW you exist! Show yourselves! Jokes aside, you either love him or hate him. Live action scarecrows seem to be a hit or miss for some.  Harley Quinn (Tv Series): Softies. You adore everything about him. His dialogue, his humor, his very surprising accent, and his, albeit a stretch, questionable sexuality implications. Most art of him is very wholesome and good, probably because you’re STILL not over...Well... Maybe its better if I not mention it (all fans of him are the “If I see anything happen to them I’ll kill everyone in this room and then myself” meme.). Detective Comics: Hroo Hraa, my friends. Hroo Hraa. Whether it’s his “Queer grasshopper leaps” or his strange laughter onomatopoeia, you can’t get enough of his antics. Nothing beats a classic, and the fact that there are still many of you that are fans of him makes me smile. New 52/Prime Earth: One of the few scarecrows that greatly changes his childhood, but you welcome the idea of it. He’s a very unsettling looking guy, but you’ll remind everyone that his writing makes up for it. He’s mostly treated like a semi-C tier villain in the continuity, but every time you see him you’re like “!!!!!!!”.You most likely have a list of every issue he appears in so you don’t have to suffer, and your heart still breaks when you read the scene with him and that one girl. (He said he was sorry, guys.) Batman:Hush: 2 and a half sweet and savory minutes of this guy, only for him to get kicked in the face? Nay, Nay, you say! A crime, you holler! You go to your keyboard to tell your friend about how good his character design is, and how well animated he was, but alas they say “that’s nice, bud.” Blast it all... The Lego Batman Movie/Lego in general: Our boy at his most gremlin. Sure, you know this is a 99% children’s medium, but that doesn’t stop you from smiling like a dummy every time you see him. He’s funny, he’s delightful, and he has... a weird obsession with planes? What is it with them and putting him in planes? Maybe he got a pilot’s license before he attended university? What a smart little block person!  Obviously, I left out quite a few here, but these seem to be the most popular. There are SO many comic renditions of him, so It’d take my forever. (My poor fingies already hurt!) But please enjoy this silly little thing :’] 

[aspiring-ginger]

Of All the Stars in the Sky (Jaskier x Reader)

Request:  Yay! So happy your requests are open! I love your wriring. Can you please do something with Jaskier? Maybe reader has been trained with a sword most their life and travels with Geralt and Jaskier. He could write a song about the reader (very original haha) or reader gets hurt and Jaskier worries for them. I don’t know, thank you ♡

Summary: Geralt & the gang are on their way to Vizima when some trouble brews outside of the city gates. Suspicions rise when the reader doesn’t show up to the New Narakort Inn as planned.

Warnings: Strong language, violence. Nothing unusual for the Witcher.

Word count: 5,808

Pairing(s): Jaskier x reader

A/N: Here ya go, anon! I got carried away and couldn’t choose one of the two options, so I just did both. Almost 6k haha. Reader’s gender wasn’t mentioned so I did my best to keep it gender neutral. I took some inspiration from The Witcher 1, as well as the Carnal Sins questline from The Witcher 3. Also thanks to my best friend for helping me write this (she doesn’t have a tumblr or I’d tag), thanks bb!! Some of you wanted to be added to my taglist so I’m going to do it by fandom, character, and series. Please specify which you want to be tagged in or else you’re getting everything lol. So anyone who commented on Forget-Me-Not chap 1 is going to be just for that series, unless you said otherwise. Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy this one! As always requests, comments, and feedback is always appreciated. Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Taglist: @dandelionwitcher​ @thunderdog8​

Masterlist

There was a simple comfort found on the open road. Surrounded by nature untainted by man, nothing but earth and sky around you. Everything raw and untamed just as nature intended.

It was here out in the open where you found yourself currently, head resting on your bunched up cloak propped up on a log, angled up at the sky. Geralt and Jaskier were around somewhere, each tending to his own business. Geralt had been holed up in his tent, most likely replenishing his stock of potions and elixirs after your last hunt.

Geralt had learned quickly that any and all alchemy was to be done privately in his room or tent, away from Jaskier’s prying eyes. You had only been travelling with the odd pair for a few weeks at that point, still unsure of the limits and boundaries you had with the two. You had been sitting with them close to the small campfire Geralt had set up. It was a warm night, the boys both shedding their outer layers and rolling their sleeves to get as much air as possible. You were intrigued by the witcher’s alchemy as you had never seen anything quite like it before. Sure, you’d seen your share of healers’ work but this was something else entirely. Apparently neither had Jaskier, as he was avidly asking questions and inching closer by the minute. It wasn’t long before Jaskier’s relentless inquiries turned to bickering, and whatever unfinished concoction Geralt had been making was spilled. The ground sizzled when splashed, as did the boys’ exposed skin. While you pitied them both for the chemical burns, the rest of the week had been pretty entertaining. Stock full of pouting and theatrics.

You snickered at the memory as you stared up at the night sky. Jaskier’s childish actions that week had really brought the three of you together, and solidified your part in the rag-tag team. You had come to the rescue when ambushed by bandits later in the week. Geralt was unable to defend both himself and the bard given his current injuries, and you had swooped in at the last second deflecting a blade aimed at Jaskier’s throat. After that moment you had decided to stick with the boys for good.

“What are you laughing at? Something funny in the sky?” Jaskier teased, propping himself up against the log next to you.

You hadn’t heard him approach, jumping slightly at his words. He had been washing up at the nearby creek and you weren’t expecting him to be back so soon. The fresh smell of his soap- a mixture of sandalwood, sage, and a sweet fruit, cherry maybe?, hit your nose as he nudged your shoulder with his and laughed.

“No, just remembering something funny,” You smiled.

“Oh? Would you care to share? Geralt’s ‘locked’ himself in his tent so I could use a bit of a pick me up.” He teased, stretching his arms behind his head to mimic your position.

You jokingly hummed in thought, “Remember that time with Geralt’s potions and you managed to burn right through your shirt? What, a year ago now? You demanded extra special care for your 'terrible wounds’ that whole week! I swear I thought Geralt was going to tear your head off.”

“In my defense, that had been one of my favorite shirts from home, which was absolutely flattering by the way, and they really were terrible wounds! I seem to recall you coming to my rescue- my knight in shining armor with her noble steed,” He giggled and dramatically draped a hand over his forehead.

“I’m sure Blueberry just loved carrying your spoiled arse around,” You snorted.

Jaskier scoffed, “Blueberry and I have become great friends since then. She adores me!”

You heard your mare snort as if in response, and the two of you dissolved into a fit of giggles and laughter. You wiped a stray tear from your eye and sighed. You turned your head to look at the bard

“We’re finally headed back to Vizima tomorrow. Are you excited for a real bath and a soft bed?”

“How could I not? One can only travel on the road for so long before needing a well earned refresher. Even the witcher has his limits,” You hummed in agreement. “Besides! I’ll be debuting my newest song. This one will be a hit, I’m sure of it! Even better than the last!”

“Really? Even better than Toss a Coin?” You raised a brow in mock surprise.

“Let’s just say that I have a better inspiration this time around,” He turned to face you as well, throwing a wink in your direction.

You let out a nervous laugh and prayed to Melitele that the darkness around you hid the blush that dusted your cheeks. You cleared your throat and pointed up at the sky, hoping to change the topic.

“Do you ever get lost in the beauty of the stars? We see them every night, yet each time I look up they almost take my breath away. I get dizzy just looking at them all.”

Jaskier let out a low chuckle, “Wonderfully spoken, (y/n). Mind if I use that in a song?”

You rolled your eyes “I’m being serious! I just don’t understand how something so beautiful just goes unnoticed by so many.”

You heard Jaskier hum next to you and you glanced over to see his reaction. His face and body was turned to face you, a small smile gracing his cheeks. Firelight flickered in his bright blue eyes and you were overwhelmed with the scent of him again. Seconds ticked by as you were pulled in by his gaze. You could’ve sworn you saw his eyes dart down to your lips. His face was so close to yours, you just wanted to reach out and brush his still damp hair out of his eyes, pulling his face close so you could-

You awkwardly cleared your throat, sliding yourself away from him before you could do anything foolish you would regret.

“I um, I-I’ll see you in the morning, Jaskier. Goodnight.” You scooped up your cloak and scurried over to your bedroll. Seeing as how you only had two tents between the three of you and you quite enjoyed the weather this time of year, you offered Geralt and Jaskier a tent each. You cursed yourself and you turned away in your blankets, trying to ignore the bard across the camp.

Jaskier sighed and called his goodnights out to you and Geralt as well. He glanced up at the stars with a wistful smile. It would only be one more day, maybe two, before he could finally follow through with his plan. He had connections with the New Narakort Inn where he arranged your group’s stay in the city. Hopefully by then he would have the lyrics finished and ready to perform. His previous attempts at flirting had failed to get your attention, so as a final resort he devised his whole plan to perform his new song to you, as a confession. 

He climbed into his tent, pulling out his notebook and scratching out a few words with a sigh. He made a note to mention your love for the stars, and you technically didn’t say no to his request to quote you earlier. He pulled out his lute and rehearsed the melody of the song, mumbling possible lyrics under his breath. You smiled as you rolled over, Jaskier’s calming chords lulling you to sleep.

You woke as the first rays of sunlight began to peek through the trees above. A light fog had settled in around you, refracting the light around you. It was quite pretty, actually. You sat up and stretched your arms out, then ran a hand down your face when you faltered. Looking down in confusion, you saw an extra blanket pooled in your lap. One sniff and you identified it as Jaskier’s. Since when did he wake up early? You supposed it had gotten a little chilly during the night, but it was spring after all. You wanted to enjoy your time outdoors before the heat would put you in a sour mood.

You sent a nervous glance at the two tents opposite you, pausing to listen if the occupants had woken up yet. Satisfied when you heard silence you pulled Jaskier’s blanket up to your chest and took a deep breath. You couldn’t hide your smile at his sweet gesture and a quiet giggle escaped your lips. You laid back down all giddy, burying your face into his blanket. It wasn’t long before you drifted back to sleep.

Jaskier emerged from his tent later that morning. Geralt had already started packing his things away, giving him a nod in acknowledgement. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out an apple and tossed it at the bard. Jaskier caught it, buffing it against his shirt before taking a bite. He wiped juice off his chin as he walked up to the witcher. Geralt raised an eyebrow at him with an amused smirk. 

“What, is there something on my face? Bad bedhead or something?” Jaskier tutted, placing one hand on his hip.

“Really, Jaskier?” Geralt responded not bothering to elaborate, but inclined his head in your direction.

“Wha-?” He faltered, “What are you talking about, Geralt? It’s too early to decipher your broody minimalism,” He swallowed thickly, fidgeting the apple in his hands.

“Thought your spoiled arse would be cold sleeping without a blanket.” Geralt shrugged, hiding a smirk. He left the bard sputtering to come up with an excuse.

Taking Geralt’s cue that he was done with the conversation for now Jaskier took another bite and sighed. He forgot about the witcher’s heightened senses and would have to be subtler in the future. He was pretty sure Geralt already took him for a fool, but he’d prefer not to fan the flames any more. His head shot up realizing that you could’ve heard their conversation, wincing at his carelessness. His shoulders slumped back down when he saw your still sleeping form. Seems like Geralt didn’t wake you on purpose. Ha ha, very funny.

He quietly padded up to you, careful not to make any sudden movements. You had his blanket snuggled right up against your face, a small smile gracing your features. Jaskier couldn’t help but grin as he felt his heart squeeze at the sight. He gently shook your shoulder and called out your name.

“Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty! We’ve got quite a day ahead of us. Up and at 'em!” You squinted your eyes at Jaskier for disturbing your sleep. He laughed at your pouting and strolled away to pack his things.

You stared forward for a few moments waiting for your brain to fully wake up. Your eyes shot open wide- you still had that damn blanket pulled right up to you- and you quickly shoved it off. You winced and hoped you didn’t look too silly in your sleep. You packed your belongings as well. You certainly didn’t feel like a sleeping beauty as you smoothed your rumpled hair back down.

When you had everything stuffed back into your saddlebags and pack, you went to greet Blueberry with her morning pets. It seemed Jaskier already beat you to it- he was feeding her the remnants of his apple and running his hand through her mane. He muttered praise under his breath as he untangled knots with his fingers. You swallowed and paused to gather your thoughts before coming any closer. If he kept this up any longer you just knew you wouldn’t be able to concentrate with his hands around your waist for gods know how many hours until you arrived in Vizima. 

You slung the bags around Blueberry’s back and gave her a gentle pat, giving Jaskier a curt smile. 

“I don’t feel all that great, so you can go ahead and take the reins today,” At least that way you would be able to hide your face if you were embarrassed. “And that way I’ll have better access to my sword. You know, in case monsters or bandits or something,” You justified. You didn’t know who you were trying to convince more- you or him.

You turned on your heels and briskly walked back to your spot. You felt ashamed that you let yourself get carried away with your thoughts. Stupid girlish thoughts. You sighed as you strapped on your light armor. You were a fool to hope Jaskier was anything more than a friend. You double checked your sword- inspecting the blade before sheathing it at your hip. You restrung your shortbow and slung it over your shoulder, and secured your small quiver at your hip. Bandits often patrolled the roads close to the city. Geralt would hear anyone coming way before you, but you wanted to be prepared.

The ride in was mostly uneventful, you spent most of your time dodging Jaskier’s lute case every time he whipped his head back to say something to you. You hadn’t been fast enough the first time, and he and Geralt would not let it go, relentlessly teasing you for being bested by a damn lute. At first it was funny and you laughed along with them, but after the 8th or so close call it got old fast.

You parted ways with Geralt and Jaskier at the city gates, following your usual routine. You would check the outskirts for work for either Geralt or yourself. You often took on hunting jobs or other contracts that didn’t directly involve monsters, since that was obviously Geralt’s area of expertise. Geralt would check notice boards within the city while Jaskier would secure room and board at the best inn he could find that would let him perform. He would take care of Roach and Blueberry and by the time he was done, you and Geralt would return and discuss your findings. Dividing and conquering was your best strategy to ensure you made the most coin you possibly could. 

As you slid off of Blueberry’s back, Jaskier informed you to meet at the New Narakort Inn. It was unusual for him to be so prepared, but you shrugged it off as perks of being a bard/entertainer. It didn’t take long to find a notice board in the outskirts. Most of the papers posted were generic notices to the public- “be wary of the merchant with the red hair, don’t give yer money to a witch!” Or complaints of missing livestock- completely useless. There were two promising notes, however. One claiming that Old Farmer Ned’s goats were being slaughtered by terrible beasts. You pocketed that one for Geralt. The other asked for a good amount of venison for some nearby butcher. You tore that one off for yourself.

As you perused the board in front of you, you paid no mind to the villagers milling about. You did begin to take notice as a commotion started to your left. 3 burly men dressed in matching rags and similar tattoos surrounded a young elven girl with their weapons drawn. She clutched a covered basket close to her chest and sobbed. One man held up his blade while the other gestured for the woman to hand the goods over. You couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying, but you guessed the elven woman was begging to let her go. An uneasy feeling settled in your stomach as you glanced around to see if anyone else around noticed what was happening. You frowned in disappointment. Men and women rushed past with heads down ignoring the scene, some even cheering on the men and calling out racial slurs. The first man had stepped even closer to the poor girl, his sword held against her neck as the other men jeered. You sighed and rolled your shoulders back. There was no way you could let this happen, not when you could do something about it.

In the blink of an eye your sword collided with the first man’s, pushing it away from the woman. You held an arm out to her and gestured for her to get behind you.

“You know, you shouldn’t take things that don’t belong to you. Apologize to the woman and walk away,” You threatened with a snarl. The girl ran behind you and clutched your sleeve in fear.

The other two men laughed and pointed their swords at you, the first one just rolled his eyes, “And what are you going to do about it, elf lover? You gonna stand up for this nonhuman filth? We deserve that basket. It should be ours. And once we take it, we’ll get to have our way with her. You want that too, you little shit?” He sneered.

You spat at their feet and swung your sword to disarm the man, kicking him in the groin. He crumpled to the ground as the other two stepped forward, swords swinging. You dodged one and parried the other. They circled around you into a flank position. The second man lunged at you. You stepped back and grabbed him, using his momentum to send him crashing into his buddy. The first man stood up and began to reach for his sword. You turned, smacking the butt of your hilt against the back of his head as he bent over. He collapsed back to the ground with a thud. 

The third goon shoved the second off with a grunt and came charging at you, empty handed. His fist smacked right into your chest knocking the air out of your lungs. You hunched over and gasped. The goon saw this as an opening and raised his leg to kick your face in. Your eyes trained on the ground saw his leg lift up, and you took this opportunity to sweep his legs out from under him. He fell to the ground and clawed at your leg. The other man came at you with his sword. Your blades clashed as you shook your leg in an attempt to get rid of the fool at your feet. With a strong kick of your leg, you forced your foot into the man’s face. You heard a sickening crunch and he screamed in pain. With your foot now free, you turned your attention back to the last man standing. You parried blow after blow, the man relentlessly swinging at you. He was quite sloppy, and you quickly found an opening to disarm him as well. You held your blade against his neck, drawing a bit of blood. The man trembled and raised his hands in the air in defeat. 

You spat in his face and shoved him to the ground, “You and your friends can go and fuck right off. Next time you think twice about who you’re robbing.” You drove one more kick into his stomach for good measure. 

The man scrambled to gather the other two thugs and their weapons before scampering off. They called out slurs and insults as they left but you paid them no mind. You bent over to pick up a jar that had fallen out of the woman’s basket. She had just been carrying groceries home. 

You turned around and offered the jar to her with a smile. She stared at you with wide eyes before thanking you profusely. She pulled you into a hug with a sob, choking something out about the kindness of some humans. You awkwardly patted her on the back and placed the jar back into her basket. She started to take out her coin purse insisting on payment but you just held up your hand and shook your head. There was no possible way you could ever take her coin. All you had done was step in to help a woman in need. Just doing what was right. You told the woman this and she responded with another sob. She shook your hand and hurried away with a wave.

You sheathed your sword with a sigh. The villagers avoided your gaze and went out of their way to give you a wide berth. At this point you just desperately wanted a bath, good food and drink, and some quality time spent with your friends. You went and picked up the notice you dropped by the board before you stepped in to help. All you had to do was speak to the butcher to negotiate pay and the amount of meat needed. Then you could finally head into town.

The sun was setting by the time that you made your way past the city gates into the Temple Quarter. It had taken much more time to track down and speak with the butcher, and you hoped that you had enough time for a quick soak before Jaskier’s performance. Even though you’ve heard him play countless times before, you couldn’t miss even a single performance. Seeing him lute in hand playing for so many people was simply put, a breathtaking experience. He was in his element, oozing confidence and charm as he circled the room singing his heart out. Faces in the crowd smiled and cheered along with his songs, clapping and raising their mugs in approval. Every time he would glance back at whatever table you and Geralt had chosen, your heart felt as if it was about to burst. He always looked you in the eye and winked before turning back to the crowd and each time the butterflies in your stomach went crazy. He was so happy and pure and every time without fail, he took that moment to acknowledge you. 

Even just thinking about him made your cheeks flush as you walked through the slums of the city. It was only a few more blocks until the Trade Quarter, where the New Narakort was located. You smiled as you saw the torches of guards posted at the gate over the top of the hill. You were so lost in your thoughts as you approached, that you failed to notice the shadow lurking in an alleyway nearby. It darted out as you walked by and grabbed you. A hand was clamped over your mouth before you could cry out and you were dragged back into the alley. The hand released you and you whipped your head around to identify your attacker. A strong blow to your face left you spitting up blood with a groan.

“Serves you right for helping out that disgusting nonhuman, you piece of filth!” You recognized the voice as one of the thugs from earlier.

You opened your mouth to respond, but instead a strong kick to your core knocked the words right out of you. You took blow after blow, spitting up blood when you got the chance. There were at least the same 3 men from before, but you were so disoriented you couldn’t even tell. They paused every so often to let you catch your breath and try to fight back before kicking you down to the ground again. Kick after kick after kick you struggled on the ground. There was a sharp pain in your right thigh as, what you guessed could only be, a dagger drove straight into your poor leg. You screamed out in agony and suffered another blow to the head. Each attack seemed to be growing in power as you clawed at the ground to try and escape. A sob escaped your lips as you felt the slash of another blade across your back. The men around you cheered and laughed, all taking part of the fun.

“You don’t mess with us, you elf loving whore!” The main attacker cried. With a laugh his final blow to your head had you seeing stars, and the world faded to black.

When you came to, you were alone. the moon was already high in the sky, and you couldn’t make anything out in the alley around you. You groaned in pain as you tried to sit up to assess your wounds. The dagger that was plunged deep into your thigh was still there, stopping most of the bleeding. That was good, but every time you even shifted, you cried out in pain. You had to take it out but you didn’t have any of your supplies on you, you left it all packed on Blueberry. The cut on your back scabbed up, but you probably opened it back up by moving around. Your whole face felt swollen, and you tasted blood. You were sure you looked like absolute shit.

You struggled to stand. Leaning heavily against the wall, you spat out more blood. You shuffled against the brick wall, hands clawing any groove you could grab just to pull yourself forward. You manage a couple of steps before you collapse down the ground. Fuck. You didn’t know how far you could go in the state. You let out a frustrated sob. Would Geralt and Jaskier be able to find you in time? Did they even notice you were gone? Your thoughts were racing as you heaved yourself up once more. You banged your leg against the wall and yelped- your vision going fuzzy for a moment. If you could at least drag yourself out of the alley, maybe there was a chance a guard would find you?

You heard footsteps approach and winced- were those thugs coming back for more? You looked up and saw a silhouette of a man.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help.” You heard a soothing voice call out. You groaned and shifted against the bricks. “I saw what you did earlier, outside of town. You helped one of my kind. I wish to repay this kindness.” He stepped closer and slipped an arm around you, holding you up so your weight wasn’t on your injured leg. 

“Please, save your energy and don’t speak. My name is Palmar, I’m a trained healer. I’ll take you back to my house to patch you up. Do you live here?” You shook your head, “Are you here alone?” You shook your head, “We can send word to your companions once we get you safe. Is that alright?” You nodded. You then lurched forward, Palmar holding you up.

The journey to Palmar’s small house went by in a blur, the pain in your leg too strong to focus on anything else. When you arrived, he laid you down on a cot in the main room. It was small with only a fireplace, a table, your cot, and a hallway visible. Once you were propped up with pillows, Palmar lit the fireplace and several candles throughout the room to provide light. You finally got a good look at your savior. He was tall and scrawny, dressed in a simple shirt and pants. He looked young, maybe 30 years you guessed. The top of his auburn hair was pulled into a bun while the rest hung down to his shoulder. He caught your gaze and smiled, warm brown eyes filled with warmth.

“I assure you, I have treated many wounds like this. You are in good hands. I told you my name, but I’m afraid I didn’t catch yours,” He strode around the room, gathering various vials and bandages.

“(Y/n). I travelled here with a witcher and a bard- Geralt of Rivia and Jaskier. I was supposed to meet them at the New Narakort.” Your voice was raspy and strained.

“The New Narakort? A fine establishment. I’ve heard their stew is to die for,” He smiled again, undoing the straps of your armor and weapons. “I’m afraid this is going to hurt. Like a bitch,” He chuckled “I’m going to pull the knife out on the count of three, alright? Ready? One, two-” you braced yourself for the pain, crying out as he yanked the dagger out early. Palmar quickly cleaned out the wound. With the knife gone, he helped you strip down to your smalls. He cleaned and dressed the rest of your wounds, muttering words of encouragement as he went. As the pain finally began to lessen, you felt your eyelids droop with exhaustion. Palmar let out a small chuckle.

“It’s alright, my friend. You can rest. I will go fetch your friends while you sleep.” You furrowed your brow at him, not understanding why he was being so kind.

“I don’t understand, why are you helping me?” You forced your eyes open. You didn’t want to fall asleep without knowing the answer. Palmar helped you back into your shirt and lay comfortably on the cot.

“As I said before, I saw what you did for that poor woman outside of town. You stood up to those humans. No other human would’ve stepped in like you did. I am grateful. I was walking home when I saw those awful humans leave the alley and my gut told me to check it before I continued home- and I found you.” You sighed, happy with his answer for now. You couldn’t keep your eyes open any longer so you snuggled closer to the blankets. As Palmar stood to leave he whispered, “My daughter was killed by that very same gang. The one you stood up against. This was the very least I could do to help.” You slipped into a dreamless sleep.

You felt a clammy hand grab yours, and another shake you awake. You opened your eyes to a bright blue pair looking down at you in worry. Jaskier. 

“Oh, thank the gods. Geralt, they’re awake! Oh (y/n), you have no idea how worried I was for you! We waited at the inn and when it got dark and you still hadn’t shown, well Geralt said not to worry, but I just knew something wasn’t right! You’ve never missed any of my performances. I couldn’t let you break your streak, so I waited for you. And waited, and waited. Then this lovely man showed up and- gods! I’m just glad you’re alright,” Jaskier rambled, squeezing your hand tighter and tighter with each word.

“Jaskier, I’m okay.” You squeezed his hand back with a smile. 

“Blueberry is waiting outside. We’ll take you back to the inn.” Geralt said as he gathered your things and carried them outside.

Jaskier said something to Palmar in Elder as he helped you out of bed, which he responded in kind. You made a mental note to ask Jaskier about it later. They exchanged a few more words, and soon they had you out of the door and on Blueberry’s back. Palmar shook your hand one last smile and thanks before you were on your way. Geralt lead Blueberry by the reins while Jaskier walked beside you, his hand coming up to nervously rub you calf. On your uninjured side, of course. 

Your friends slowly lead you through the streets of Vizima, right to the New Narakort. Jaskier helped you inside and to your room while Geralt took care of Blueberry. Jaskier fussed over you, helping you wash your hair and settling you into bed, fluffing every pillow in the process. He bid you goodnight with a squeeze of your hand and blew out the candles, but he hesitated at the door. 

“Jaskier? What’s wrong?” You asked, voice laced with worry.

“You could’ve died. They left you in that alley to die and I could have lost you,” Jaskier choked out.

“Julian. It’s alright. I’m alright. I’m safe now. Don’t worry.” He snapped his head up when you called out his real name.

“(Y/n), I always worry. Every time you go out with Geralt on a hunt, or when you pick up odd jobs around towns. I worry. I’m always going to worry about you, because you’re my friend. Actually- hang on a minute. I’ll be just a moment!” He rushed out the room in a flash. Your heart ached at his words. You’re my friend. Just a friend. A bittersweet smile escaped your lips. It was obvious just how much the bard cared for you, but it still wasn’t enough. You sighed, swallowing back tears and waited for him to come back.

Jaskier was true to his word- he was only gone for two minutes at most. He burst back into the room, out of breath with his lute in hand.

“(Y/n), the reason I couldn’t have you miss my performance is because of my new song. Remember? I’ve finally finished it, and I couldn’t have you miss it, because…” he faltered, hands wringing nervously, “I wrote it for you.” You looked at him in surprise as he held the lute up and began to play. The melody was beautiful. It was somewhat familiar as you had tried to eavesdrop whenever you could in camp, but you had never heard the words before. He sang about a fierce warrior with (h/c) hair shining in the sun as they defeated their foes, their bravery and kindness unmatched. The beauty of their laugh and smile was enough to turn the heads of everyone as they walked into the room. Their love of the stars in the night sky, 'each time I look at them, they take my breath away’. He was quoting you, in a song he wrote for you. No, wrote about you. He wrote this song about you. Tears sprang up in your eyes as you came to this realization. Jaskier’s fingers slipped as he saw your reaction.

“I-it’s horrible isn’t it. I figured. I should’ve waited a bit longer- practiced it more.” He groaned, running his hand down his face. “(Y/n), I’m sorry. Obviously I need to work on this one a bit more but.. you have to understand that you almost died. I wrote this song and you almost died. I had to play it for you before I would lose the chance because… because (y/n). I love you.” His piercing blue eyes were filled with hope as he looked into yours.

“Julian- I love it. It’s beautiful and I love the song and I love you too,” your words were all rushed together- you couldn’t get them out fast enough.

Jaskier launched himself at you, careful of your wounds, and embraced you tight. You breathed in his familiar scent. 

“So since you love me back, does that mean I get to kiss you?” He asked with a smirk, legs straddling your own.

“Oh come here, you,” you laughed. Your hands grasped the sides of his face and pulled him close. You could feel his hot breath against your lips as he hesitated, before he pressed his lips against yours. Your eyelids fluttered shut in content. If this is what it took to finally be with your favorite bard, you’d do it a hundred times over. Now you could finally call Jaskier your own.

[kerikaaria]

If I Never Met You: Chapter 18

(??? X Reader) Idol!AU, Manager!Reader

Genre: (PG13) Fluff

WC: 3.2k

Warnings: Slight stalker-ish behavior (It’s there but really it’s not anything super serious or dangerous)

Series Masterlist

Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19

The following days were hectic as ever. They were spent at broadcasting stations for the nightly music shows, going to other short events in between rehearsals for the shows, and the boys squeezing in practice whenever they could. It was like we barely had time to breath.

The fan reception and general reaction to BTS so far wasn’t bad at all, but unsurprisingly their lack of popularity didn’t win them any awards on the music shows. We weren’t disappointed, we had fully expected that in all honesty. Winning the shows wasn’t our goal, but rather getting them more publicity was.

After about two weeks of moving almost nonstop, we finally got a day where we could all rest. Sejin and I worked a little extra on whatever else we needed to do during the times we weren’t as needed at the boys’ schedules, in order to make sure we would be able to take this day to relax with them.

By the time I woke up, it was already 11 am. I looked in disbelief at my phone, wondering how I managed to sleep in that late – even if I was completely exhausted when I went to sleep the night before. While I was eating breakfast, I got a notification from the group chat.

Hobi: Noona~ You’re stopping by today right?

Taetae: You can’t hide in your apartment all day just because you have the day off. 😋

Jimin: Yeah, noona! We haven’t gotten to properly hang out at all since we’ve been so busy 😟

Yoongi: Sorry for them, noona. You do what you want today, don’t mind them.

Kookie: Noooooo. Noona, please? Pretty please come over? 🥺

Jimin: Why isn’t she responding?

Hobi: Noona are you okay?

Jin: She’s probably still sleeping. She was just as exhausted as we were, you know.

Joonie: Yeah guys, stop it. You’re probably going to wake her up from all the messages.

Taetae: Well, you’re texting in the chat too, hyung 😋

Joonie: Only one time.

Jimin: Well now it’s twice.

Jin: Guys, come on. Just leave it be. She’ll reply when she can.

Me: You guys live together and are probably all sitting next to each other. Why on earth are you talking to each other via text?

Taetae: Noona! You’re awake! :D

Me: Yes, I am. You guys sent the messages so fast I couldn’t keep up, haha.

Jin: Did you sleep well, darling? 🤗

Me: Yes I did, sweetie. 😘 How about you guys?

Joonie: Not having an alarm to wake up to was amazing.

Jimin: Noona~ When are you coming over~?

Yoongi: You don’t need to come over, noona. Just relax today.

Me: Oh okay, I see how it is Min Yoongi. You don’t want to see me. I understand. 😔

Yoongi: What? No. That’s not what I meant.

Taetae: HYUNG HOW COULD YOU? YOU’RE SO MEAN! 😭

Kookie: Wow, hyung.

Jimin: Yoongi hyung, why would you hurt noona like that?😟

Yoongi: -_-

Me: Don’t worry, I’m coming over lol. I’ll be there in like half an hour, okay?

Hobi: Yay! See you soon noona! 💓

I chuckled to myself. They were all such dorks and I loved them for it.

I finished breakfast and dressed in something comfy but presentable before walking across the hall and knocking on their door.

Jungkook greeted me with his soft smile as I walked into their house. I sat down in the living room next to Yoongi and Kookie sat next to me.

Suga peeled his eyes off of his phone to glance at me. “Oh, you’re here?”

“Yes, I’m here. Although I’m sure you’re not happy to see me,” I teased.

Yoongi huffed and shook his head, turning his attention back to the device in his hand.

“It’s okay, noona. I want you here,” Jungkook said as he placed his head on my shoulder.

“Thank you Kook-ah, I appreciate that.” I chuckles and placed a hand on his head.

Taehyung walked out from their bedroom. Once he noticed I was there, he rushed over yelling, “Noona!” and forced himself in between me and Yoongi.

Yoongi groaned in annoyance as he moved over so his brother wasn’t sitting on him. “Yah, can’t you sit somewhere else?”

“What?” Tae asked. “It’s not like you wanted to see noona anyway.”

“Why do you guys keep putting words in my mouth?” Yoongi asked. “I never once said that.”

“Whatever,” Tae said as he hugged me from the side.

I returned the embrace as best I could without making Jungkook move. “Why are you guys so excited to see me anyway? We’ve literally been spending entire days together for the past two weeks.”

“Yeah, but we haven’t really been able to talk or just hang out,” Hoseok said as he entered the room, sitting across from us. “Any downtime we had was basically spent catching up on sleep.”

“That is true,” I said with a chuckle.

I wasn’t used to being social before I met BTS. I would spend most of my time on my own, relaxing and just enjoying the quiet. It was a huge change for me once I started to spend most of my time with them rather than by myself, and it took some getting used to. But I had to admit that by now, I was used to the company and spending too much time alone made me actually feel lonely more than anything now.

We sat in silence for a little while, just being content with each other’s company and relaxing. Despite how much energy the boys usually had, they couldn’t run at 100% all day every day so I had a feeling today was going to be calmer than usual. They were completely exhausted but I could see how happy they were as well, being able to start living their dream even if it may not be perfect. I thought about how lucky we were to be here right now, no longer concerned about if they’d be able to debut or not.

When I was called up to Mrs. Choi’s office that day, she was fully honest with me about what had happened. They originally canceled on us because there was another group from a different company that was more promising. They ended up prioritizing them over our boys, which was also why they weren’t budging on giving us a date again at first. But the other group’s company decided to postpone their debut, so the date opened back up. That had happened just a couple days before I sent her the dance video, and with the date being so close her boss decided we would be good enough to fill the spot after all.

Although of course I told Sejin about it later, I hadn’t mentioned that to the boys, worried that it would make them feel worse. They already knew how much of underdogs they were, and I didn’t want one more thing to rub that in their faces.

“Noona,” Jungkook broke me out of me thoughts.

“Yes, Jungkook?” I asked, turning towards him.

“Is it going to be this busy every comeback?” He lifted his head off of my shoulder.

“Hmm, I can’t say for sure,” I said. “But probably. I know it sucks, but you know how busy this industry is. There’s so many other groups, we have to do what we can to help get your guys’ name out there.”

“It’s not like we didn’t know what we were getting into,” Namjoon said. He had entered the room at some point while I was lost in my thoughts.

“I wish I could make it easier on you guys,” I said. “I don’t like making you so busy. I want you to be able to rest more.”

“Don’t worry about it, noona,” Tae chimed in next to me. “Like hyung said, we already knew what we were getting into. Besides, if we work hard now, then hopefully it’ll all pay off later.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook said. “I’d rather work as hard as I can now than regret not having tried my best later.”

I ruffled both boys’ hair. “You guys never cease to amaze me.”

“We love you too, noona,” Jimin suddenly said from behind me, making me jump.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” I said as the boys laughed at my reaction.

“You’re so easy to scare,” Hoseok said, laughing.

“Says the biggest scaredy cat out of all of us,” Jin retorted from the kitchen, earning more laughter from us.

-----

I decided I wanted to cook for everyone today, partially so Seokjin could get a break from being the main chef and relax. But also because I had been practicing my Korean cooking skills over the months and wanted the boys to tell me what they thought. There weren’t too many groceries in our fridges since there hadn’t been much home cooking happening recently, so I ventured out to the grocery store. Jungkook decided to come with me so he can help me carry the bags.

Of course Jungkook had had a mask covering his face to make sure he didn’t draw any attention, but I didn’t bother with one. Face masks were just constricting and hard to breathe through (and I felt so bad for celebrities who needed to wear them all the time), and no one knew me so there really wasn’t a point.

As I was browsing through the different types of noodles to find what I was looking for, Jungkook went to the snack aisle to stock up on their dwindling stash. I found what I needed and went to look for Kook so we could finish up with the shopping and get going back to the house. When I turned into the aisle he was in, I noticed he was rather oblivious to the stares of a few girls who were watching him very closely.

As I walked past them, I heard one of them whisper, “Yeah, I’m sure that’s him. It has to be Jeon Jungkook.”

Great. This is wonderful. I was worried for a moment, but they did seem to be keeping their distance so I pushed it aside, thinking that they seemed like they wouldn’t cause any trouble. All we needed to do was get home.

“Hey,” I said as I approached Kook but made sure not to address him by name, just to be safe. “Almost ready to get going?”

He turned to me, holding a huge armful of snacks to place in my basket. “Yup! I got all the hyungs’ favorites and this should last us a while.” He noticed the girls staring, quickly turning away once he saw them. “Do you think they know me?” he asked me quietly as we walked the opposite direction down the aisle.

“Yeah, I heard them saying they thought it was you as I walked past them,” I responded just as quietly.

“That’s crazy, I’m getting recognized at the store,” he said, partially excited but mostly nervous.

“Not to be rude, but I think it’s better to not intentionally approach them,” I said.

“I know. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful,” Jungkook assured me.

We made it through the checkout and divided the bags between us to carry back to the dorm. Without making it obvious, I paid attention and listened carefully to see if the girls were going to follow us out of the store.

Unfortunately, they did. We couldn’t go home if they were following us because then they’d find out where we lived and that was the last thing we needed. They stayed probably about 10 feet behind us, and I could hear them giggling. I would feel so much more at ease if they just approached us to ask if he’s Jungkook and maybe for an autograph and just walk away. But it didn’t seem like they were going to.

I grabbed my phone to text one of the other boys to let them know we were running late so they wouldn’t worry. But in the middle of typing the message, my phone died. I cursed at myself for forgetting to charge it earlier today.

“Jungkook, can you let someone know we’re on our way home but running a bit late?” I quietly asked him.

“Okay.” He reached into his pocket, but seemed confused when he didn’t find his phone there. He felt around his other pockets, but was unsuccessful in finding it. He took a moment to think before a look of realization lit his eyes. “I forgot my phone at the dorm.”

“Darn,” I said. “Well I guess we’ll just have some explaining to do when we get back.”

I started to feel more and more nervous as we walked, not necessarily heading towards the dorm but rather just in any direction to wait until they stopped following us. I decided we should cross the street, hoping that if they stayed back far enough we could lose them after the light turned. We jogged across the street when the light was close to changing to make it hard for them to be able to follow.

I subtly glanced back to make sure the attempt to lose them was successful, and luckily they were unable to cross with us. We kept moving quickly, making sure to make a few turns before they could fully catch up to us just in case they kept trying to follow. When I felt sure there was no way they could have kept following us, I finally relaxed.

“Think we lost them, noona?” Jungkook asked.

“I’d be shocked if they were able to keep up with us,” I said. “Come on, let’s actually get home now.”

On top of the time we already spent to throw them off, it took us another extra 15 minutes to get back home. I kept looking behind us to make sure they hadn’t managed to find us again, and luckily it seemed we had shaken them off.

When Jungkook used his key to open the door, we were immediately bombarded with a worried BTS.

“What took you guys so long?” Jin asked, almost yelling. “We were worried something happened to you!” Before I could react, he pulled me into a hug. He must have been really worried because he held me really tight as if he was scared to let me go.

“Are you guys okay?” Namjoon asked as he examined Jungkook, who nodded in response while taking his mask off. “We tried calling you, but noona’s phone went right to voicemail and Jungkook you left your phone here.”

“Sorry guys,” I said. “My phone died.” Jin loosened his grip on me.

“What happened?” Jimin asked. “Grocery shopping shouldn’t take that long.”

“Some girls recognized me,” Jungkook said. “They kept following us and we had to walk around to try to lose them before heading home.”

“Did you take your mask off?” Yoongi asked.

“No, he was careful,” I said. “I have no idea how they could tell so easily.”

“Well, we’re just glad you guys are okay,” Hoseok said as he helped me take the ingredients out of the bags. “Oohhh, you got a lot of stuff, noona. What are you making?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” I teased.

“Can I help?” Tae said, shuffling over to me in the kitchen.

“No!” Jin and I said in unison.

Taehyung was a little taken back at our reaction.

“No, Taehyung,” Seokjin said. “You are not going to be making the kitchen a mess, nor are you going to sabotage the first meal noona is cooking for us.”

“Sabotage?” Tae said with a pout.

I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Taetae, there are many wonderful things about you. But cooking is not one of your strong points.” He frowned, but nodded in agreement. “Just leave it to me,” I said with a smile.

Everyone left me to my own devices while I worked on our meal, except Jin who occasionally came to see what I was doing. But he didn’t ask to help, knowing I was adamant about doing this on my own for them. While I stood at the stove waiting for the last bit of the food to finish cooking, he came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning down to rest his chin on my shoulder.

“You know, we were all super worried about you guys,” he said.

“I’m sorry, Jinnie,” I apologized sincerely. “I tried to let you know but that’s when my phone died.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “Just don’t do that again. You’re lucky it was just a few fangirls and not someone who wanted to hurt you.”

“It was irresponsible of me to not have my phone charged,” I said. “I’ll be much more careful from now on, I promise.”

“Good,” he said as he let go of me and placed a kiss on top of my head. “Looks like the food’s done. Can I help plate it?”

“Yeah, of course,” I smiled at him.

I watched everyone as they took their first bites of the meal I made for them, anxious of what they’d think.

I saw Jin’s eyes grow big after chewing a piece of meat. “Wow, this is really good, (Y/n)!” he said. “The seasoning is just right!”

“Oh my gosh,” Jimin exclaimed after finishing his bite. “Noona, you really should cook for us more often.”

“I agree!” Taehyung said. “This is up to par with Jin hyung’s cooking.”

“Well, he was my teacher for the most part,” I said while rubbing the back of my neck, shy from the compliments. Everyone seemed to agree that they enjoyed my cooking, which made me really happy. I was nervous with it being a style of food they grew up with but I was new to. “Thanks, guys. I’m glad you like it.” I smiled, watching them enjoy it.

“Noona, aren’t you hungry too?” Jungkook asked. “You haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“Oh yeah.” I was too busy watching everyone else I forgot about eating. I started to dig in, pleasantly surprised with myself for how much I liked the food as well.

By the time everyone was full, there wasn’t a single piece of food left. I didn’t know why I was surprised because despite having cooked a lot of food, there were seven of them and they also tended to have bigger appetites.

We all worked together to get everything cleaned up to make quick work of it.

“Thanks for the meal, noona. It was amazing,” Joon said.

“I’m glad you guys liked it,” I said. I looked at my (now charged) phone and saw that it was getting pretty late. “I’d better get going back home. We don’t want to stay up too late, we all have to get back to work tomorrow.”

As I got ready to leave, Jungkook came up to me, looking nervous.

“Is everything okay, Kook?” I asked. He nodded and then slowly wrapped his arms around me in a hug. “What’s this for?” I asked.

“Thank you for being smart about the situation earlier,” he said. “I would have just thought to go straight home, but that would have been bad.”

“Of course,” I said as I stroked his hair. “It’s my job to be responsible for you guys. That’s what I’m here for.”

He let go of me and smiled. “Good night noona.”

“Good night, Kookie,” I said, ruffling his hair. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

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Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19

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[purple-nana]

Barriers

Part 5 - Fluff, a bit of crack

2.3k words   ( Part of the Dorm of us Series)

Warnings: None

A/N: owemji I’m so sorry for the late upload, got a little bit busy these days. But here is part 5, hope you read it in enjoyment! <3

Tension filled the air as Jaemin and Renjun rode their way to their destination. Both of them were anxious even though they have spoken to Haechan a couple weeks back.

Jaemin tries to ease his mind. He wasn’t sure if he was actually ready for this moment, where he will finally get the answers to his endless questions. When he first met Haechan he wanted to bombard him with thousands and hundreds of questions. But the look on Haechan’s face changed his mind and he decided to let things settle in first.

And so, this was the day. He can’t lie that he was nervous but he was also in anticipation of what his long lost friend explanation would be.

Jeno decided not to join them since the three of them agreed to not say a single word about this to you. They thought that you might be startled considering that things are happening quickly.

The other boys were actually surprised that he got Haechan’s number. Why he? wouldn’t he regrets everything that he did in the past. It doesn’t look like it but Jaemin really wants to fix all the scars that it had left them since that night.

Yes, he still feels uncomfortable around him considering that they didn’t really get to talk about it until now. However, if Haechan really did love Miri then he was more than ready to step aside for his best friend.

The two of them arrived at the meeting place, a coffee shop to be exact. Haechan said to meet him there. They went in and the familiar scent of coffee calmed Jaemin’s mind.

They looked around to try and find the brown haired boy but seems to not be there. Jaemin glanced at his wrist watch, his eyes widening.

“Uhm Renjun?” Jaemin anxiously call.

“What?” Renjun replies, annoyed as he keeps turning his head in search of the boy.

“I think Haechan ditched us, look” Jaemin says showing the time to Renjun.

Renjun gasps. His eyebrows furrow at him. Jaemin knows that he was the reason why they were late. He maybe just overslept you know just a tiny itsy bit but not too much.

He chuckled nervously and showed a ‘piece sign’. “ehehhehe sorry.”

Renjun was ready to beat the shit out him, when they heard a voice calling them.

“Guys over here!”

They turned their heads to see Haechan, in a barista outfit. He works here?

Renjun immediately sprinted towards Haechan, while Jaemin follows him behind. They went ahead and sat.

“Good thing you guys arrived just in time, my shift is ending any minute now,” He turns his head towards the counter, “I’ll be back in a sec.” He stands up and went to a ‘employee only’ room.

The two boys stared at him as he disappeared into the room. As soon as he went inside, they immediately laugh their heads off.

“OMG did you see him in that outfit? HAHAHAHAHAHA” Jaemin chortled at the sight of Haechan in a barista outfit.

“Then he goes before blabla ‘I don’t like coffee it disgusts me’ lol“ renjun mimicks Haechan’s words back in high school days, showing Jaemin a disguted vomiting face.

Well, it is actually true that Haechan hated coffee. He literally was disgusted by the mere sight of it. Whenever Jaemin drinks coffee, he would immediately make his distance. A ‘line’ was somehow invented everytime someone in their group drinks coffee. It sucks for him though cause everyone drinks coffee in their group of friends.

There was a time when they forced him to drink a latte and he ended up puking in the toilet for an hour straight. The dorm was so noisy that time since everyone wanted to go number 2 but Haechan refused. He says it was a punishment for letting him drink that disgusting liquid.

The two of them continued guffawing in laughter. Until they heard someone cleared their throat. They looked up to see Haechan with a resting bitch face, he changed his clothes and is now holding a tray with three americanos. His eyes gesturing to the people in the cafe that were giving them weird menacing looks.

They immediately straightened up their postures and gave a small bow to the customers who continued to mind their own businesses.

“I know what you two are talking about.” Haechan takes a seat infront of them and crosses his arms, raising an eyebrow.

“Hey no matter how hard life must have been for you we wouldn’t expect to see you in a cafe with a fucking barista outfit!” Renjun chuckles while Haechan just rolls his eyes.

Jaemin just stares at his two friends in delight. Though he was still nervous about this meet up, it looks like everything will go smoothly. If he was honest, he is actually enjoying his time around him.

“Anyways, let’s start the serious talk now. You guys have questions or what?” Haechan asks.

“Meh, just say what you say then we’ll comment on later.” Renjun says leaning on his chair, ready for a story time.

Haechan took a deep breath and gazed at the two of them intently.

“It all started on that day back in high school...”

“And I escaped, I saved enough money now for me to at least finish the last semester of college. I think I can survive until graduation this year.”

“Ow god, you experienced hard shit bro I’m sorry. We should’ve contacted you sooner.” Renjun looks at Haechan with regretful eyes.

“It’s okay, it was my choice to cut communication with you guys. And I understand if it things will be awkward for a while.”

Renjun nods at Haechan’s remark. Then both of their gazes suddenly went to Jaemin, who was staring at Haechan with serious eyes.

“Um Jaemin?” Haechan asks in confusion.

Jaemin was taken over by his emotions, tears started to form in his eyes. He stood up without notice and went over towards Haechan, immediately giving him a tight hug.

Haechan was startled and didn’t know what he was going to do until he felt his sweatshirt getting soaked up. He slowly pats Jaemin’s head as the boy started to weep.

But then Jaemin unexpectedly lifted Haechan, carrying him in his embrace. Which made the boy startled in return.

“Haechannie I missed you so much I am so sorryy! I don’t know why I beat you up for that bitch I’m so sorryyy.” He buried his head in Haechan’s neck as he continue to shed his tears out.

Haechan’s startled face immediately softened.

“Aw I miss you too buddy and I already forgave you, but please put me down it’s embarrassing.”  Haechan whispers the last part of his sentence.

“I don’t want to.” He says in an cute tone.

Renjun frowns. “He didn’t really changed as you can see, I don’t know how that guy can save you from danger and be an embarrassing piece of shit at the same time.” He shooks his head in disbelief.

Jaemin gave him a deadly glare, still carrying Haechan. Renjun gave him an nervous smile with a matching finger heart. Jaemin returned his gaze to Haechan which unbelievably change within seconds. From a deadly glare to having hearts in his eyes.

Haechan gestured Jaemin to put him down and he finally did but he still clinged to Haechan as if he was an sloth that was clinging on to a tree for dear life.

“You’ll comeback to the dorm won’t you?” Jaemin pleads, giving him his “puppy eyes’ look. Haechan smiled awkwardly at him and turns to face Renjun, giving him a ‘should I say yes?’ look. Renjun chuckles and gave him a nod.

Haechan smiles, it was genuine this time and gave Jaemin a sign of approval. The boy smiles and tightened his arms around him not noticing Haechan was running out of oxygen from how tight his squeeze was.

Haechan pat Jaemin’s arm continuously until he finally let go of him and went back to his seat while Renjun gave him a disgusted face. Of course being the weird person he is, he didn’t bother Renjun and was smiling like he was a psychopath.

“Oh I have one question for you.” Jaemin asks as he remembered. Haechan just hums and drinks his beverage, curious of what his question might be.

“You didn’t really loved Oh Miri did you?”

Haechan almost choked on his drink. “No! Of course not who would like that kind of a person?” He shooks his head as he answers.

Renjun points to Jaemin. “This guy.”

He slapped Renjun’s hand and crossed his arms. “No I didn’t, it was puppy love. I didn’t even know why I beat this guy for that girl. You guys know that I only love-” He stopped his sentence, realizing that he haven’t told the guys well except Jeno, about that matter.

“You only love who?” Haechan teasingly asks.

“Ow are you in love with someone that we don’t know about? Care to share hmm?” Renjun added.

Jaemin abruptly stood up and glanced at his wrist watch.

“No time. Renjun you accompany Haechan to gather his stuff at his apartment.” Jaemin pointed at Renjun.

“What?!” Renjun exclaims in confusion.

“He’s moving in with us today.”

“But-”

“No buts, I’ll see you guys later I gotta go talk to someone. Haechannie can just pick up a couple of items and a few clothes, I’ll manage the rest. Bye bye!.” He explains and then made his way to the exit leaving the two boys in their seats, both bewildered.

Jaemin wanted to spend time with Haechan for the rest of the day as he still wanted to apologize properly. However since he just got things clarified, he needs to talk to the person who is the root of this misunderstanding that has been going on for years.

He dials the number on his phone as he waves his hand to call a cab. Once he got in, the person answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi”

“Oh Jaemin~.”

“Meet me at the park. You have explanations to do, Oh Miri.”

The place that Jaemin had selected for their meet up was quite silent, even though it was also a coffee shop.

The atmosphere was cozy and warm contrasting the cold air that was coming out from the air conditioner. He was reminded of the days back in high school. When you and Jaemin used to go to quiet coffee shops in order to escape the ugly arguments of Renjun and Haechan.

He chuckles to himself. He wonders if it will still be like the good old days now that Haechan has returned. There was only one more thing to resolve.

“Hey Jaemin.”

Jaemin raises his gaze. There she was, Oh Miri. The girl he loved, but why can’t feel anything? Anger? Lust? Love? There was none. His heart is supposed to be beating right now, right? But he feels, empty.

That’s why he’s here, to resolve that one misunderstanding left.

His feelings.

Miri took her seat across Jaemin and gave him a sweet smile.

“So what are going to talk about? Oh, you wanna get back together? Hahahaha I knew you would say-”

“No Miri,” Jaemin cuts her off “I’m not here to get back together with you.” He says, seriousness evident on his words.

Miri’s gleeful smile faded. Her eyebrows met each other as she gave him a confused look.

“What do you mean?” She chuckles sarcastically, “Why would you not get back together with me? I don’t understand?” Miri states in befuddledment.

“Did you even loved one of us?”

“What?”

Jaemin lean towards the table and crossed his arms. “Come on Miri, I know you you have other intentions.”

Miri became silent. Jaemin smiled at her teasingly. He got her flustered, he was right about his assumptions. He leans back to his chair.

“You have nothing to hide now.”

“Okay fine! You’re right I never loved you.”

There she said it. However, he doesn’t feel anything. Has he really lost his feelings? Or is he a robot who doesn’t have a heart now?

He raised his eyebrow. “I know about that. Trust me I know about that” He lies.

“I am curious about Haechan, why did you want decided to marry him all of a sudden? You even left me behind.”

Jaemin saw guilt in her eyes but there was also...sadness?

Miri teared up in which to Jaemin’s surprise.

“Look Jaemin. My parents were having a hard time running our company. I have to marry an heir to a successful company, we didn’t want to be bankrupt .” Tears continue to fall from her eyes.

“I used you, I need to get closer to Haechan so I used you. But that didn’t work, so things went down hill. We have to force him. It wasn’t his fault Jaemin, it was mine I know that. I have to do what my family needs and wants me to do.” That’s when she broke, she kept on sobbing.

Jaemin just stares at her.

He sighs reaching his handkerchief at the back of his pocket and handed it to her. As soon as Miri received the handkerchief, Jaemin immediately stood up. Miri grabbed his hand.

“Wait where are you going?” She asks, her eyes were swollen from her sobbing.

“I’m leaving.”

“But-”

“Nothing will happen now Miri, I understand why you did that but that caused chaos within our friendship. I promise you, if you continue to interfere with our lives, I will not be the only one that will rage war with you.”

Jaemin gave her a last glance before harshly pulling his arm from her grip, he heads out for the door.

Now he understands, everything makes sense now. He looks at the calling card his ex gave him, shredding it to pieces.

Miri was not in his heart. She never was, she was only there to confuse him. Because the person he loved never changed.

After all these years he finally realized.

He laughs at himself for being an idiot. Of course, why didn’t he knew.

You were still the one

His heart still screams for your name, Y/n.

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