#anyway no one’s gonna read this but that one slight conversation is the highlight of my day

[toastlover21]

THERE IS A 25% CHANCE MY CRUSH MISSES ME!!!

that is all

[jkstompers]

passing notes | jjk

pairing: jeon jungkook x female reader

summary: a year of crushing and jungkook’s finally asked you out on a proper date. 

genre: classmates to lovers??!, established friendship, they go on a date <3, jk is so stressed out, !fancy restaurant warning!, jk is A GENTLEMAN!! but wbk, oc is a nerd but is BOLD AF!!

warnings: mature!! (18+!!), SMUT,...they make out, LOTS of built up tension is let out tonite!, fingering, praise kink, handjob, backseat action, semi-public sex?? very strong language, jk overuses the nickname ‘baby’

word count: 9k

author’s note: pt. 3 of seatmate!jk. WE’VE GOT SOME FILTH TODAY PPL!!!!!!! this is my first time releasing a piece of writing that has smut in it so pls!! let me know what u think!!! i’m open to criticism but i cry easily so… pls pls be nice (Ｔ▽Ｔ) LMAO!! i also completely made up the program for ocean scientists that oc talks about LMAO i just needed her to ramble for a bit hahahah

additional note: also pls imagine jungkook looking like this in class and then wearing this for their date. also if ur curious, this is what i imagined oc’s dress to look like :)

okay enjoy!! thank u ( ˘ ³˘)

it was the end of the semester and of course, the only time jungkook would be running late to class was when he was finally going to ask you out on a date. so far, everything seems to be going against the idea. his alarm didn’t go off on time, the shower took way too long to warm up, and his car was low on gas. now he’s speed walking, almost running, to lecture to make sure that his seat next to you isn’t taken. 

he wants to make sure this goes perfectly. he spent the past two weeks stressing over the plans. asking for recommendations for nice restaurants in the city in almost every group chat he was in. his friend (the one with parents as ceo’s, eunwoo), helped him and got him a reservation at this one five star restaurant that jungkook’s never been to. eunwoo told him that it was the prettiest place he’s ever been to, said it would be perfect for a first date. 

jungkook specifically remembers you telling him that you’ve never gone on an actual dinner date. ice cream dates, movie theater dates, and amusement park dates were what you were used to. there was nothing wrong with that, it’s just that you’ve never experienced a candlelit dinner at a restaurant, that’s it. jungkook just wanted to be the first one to experience it with you. 

so when his morning starts off this shitty, he wonders if his plans are falling apart. he tries to keep a good, positive mindset, but he’s already so nervous and the universe seems to be telling him: don’t do it, she’ll reject you, you’re gonna look stupid in front of her. 

meanwhile, you’re early this lecture. it was the last class of the semester and you were hoping that you could get a nice conversation with jungkook in before it started. the two of you have gotten a lot closer since you last hung out. the chain of events starting with you apologizing for being so embarrassing, 

[12:44 pm] you: jungkook!!! oh my god i am so sorry for last night 😭

[12:45 pm] you: i don’t take alcohol very well 😖

[12:50 pm] jungkook: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[12:50 pm] jungkook: no need to apologize! are u feeling sick? hungover? 

[12:52 pm] you: omg no not really

[12:52 pm] you: ur a great drinking buddy, i owe u one 🥺

[12:53 pm] jungkook: it’s alright cutie

[12:54 pm] jungkook: just happy ur feeling okay :) 

[12:56 pm] you: let me make it up to u 😭 i’ll buy us lunch one of these days? 

[12:57 pm] jungkook: ah no can do cutie 

[12:57 pm] jungkook: have to buy u dinner first 

the thought of the conversation makes you smile. that one conversation starting the domino effect of the two of you talking almost everyday for the past two weeks. you couldn’t help but expect jungkook to at least be here, but if he didn’t wanna come, then he didn’t have to. 

you sat in your seat, patiently waiting for the one next to you to be filled by him. the hall was starting to fill now and class was about to start. you look around one last time to see that jungkook is still nowhere to be seen, and that a familiar brown-haired guy was beginning to walk up to you. 

“hello, ___! is this seat taken?” taehyung smiles brightly, you look down at the seat next to you. your bag saving the spot for jungkook. maybe he skipped this lecture, since it was practically for nothing anyway, you’ve already taken the final and there was no other material to learn, it was more so to wrap things up and see if anyone still needed to understand something. 

your brain comes to a conclusion. you remove your bag and say, “no, go ahead,” to taehyung with a small smile on your face, one that hides the disappointment riddling your mind. 

it’s about five minutes after the professor starts talking when jungkook finally walks in. he looks up to try and find you as he walks up the steps of the auditorium. his eyes land on you and taehyung, chatting amongst yourselves. he can’t help but feel a slight twinge of jealousy, that’s his seat. even though there were no assigned seats, the place next to you was always his, that’s just how it was, and seeing someone else sitting there, especially taehyung, makes jungkook’s green monster pop out. 

you feel a presence step behind you while you were talking to taehyung, and before you know it, jungkook is sitting in the seat next to taehyung. “oh! good morning, jungkook!” you’re smiling to him. he doesn’t grant you one of his regular vocal responses, rather he gives you a tight-lipped grin before he leans back into his chair and focuses on whatever the professor was saying. 

maybe he was jealous. witnessing you and taehyung having a wonderful conversation, one that makes you smile and laugh like he does. you didn’t even notice him when he came up the stairs, only greeting him when he sat down. no, he was definitely jealous. 

you’re stealing glances his way, pretending to be interested in whatever taehyung is talking about. he’s wearing the most boyfriend-est outfit in the world. a white long sleeve with grey sweatpants, his long hair tied up in a ponytail. you’re unconsciously biting your lip as you stare at him, he’s just so cool. he’s not even doing much other than looking straight forward. but this angle lets you see his sharp jawline and his side profile perfectly. 

you felt bad, one hundred percent. you should have told taehyung that the seat was taken, because now he was talking your ear off and you didn’t mind it, but you wanted someone else to be talking your ear off and it was the guy sitting next to him. 

when taehyung changes his focus to your professor talking about a summer he had in paris. you steal another glance at jungkook. you catch him staring at you, your eyes meet. he doesn’t keep the connection, cutting it off by moving his head and looking straight ahead. his jaw clenches, arms coming over and across his chest. he seems angry, you pick up on the energy now. an idea pops in your head to try and make him feel better. reaching into your bag to find one of your index cards, writing a message on it. 

feeling okay? 

you scoot your chair back a bit, pretending to stretch as you tap jungkook’s shoulder. he turns his head to you, eyebrows raised. you hand him the paper. he stares at first, eyes flickering between you and the paper. reluctantly, he takes it, unfolding his crossed arms to receive the note. you scoot back into your seat and lean into the table, lowering your chin onto the desk. 

jungkook tries to hide his smile as he reads your little note. how could he ever stay mad at you? it wasn’t your fault he was late. so he replies, his black ink has a stark contrast against your green highlighter. he can already feel his bad mood brightening. 

yeah, didn’t save me a seat? :( 

this time he folds the note, handing it to taehyung and telling him to pass it to you. “really? you’re passing notes? we’re in college, jeon.” taehyung snickers as he slides the paper towards you. 

you let a small laugh, reading the note. taehyung’s scolding continues as you write your response on the index card. you changed your green highlighter out with a blue pen. 

i came super early :( waited 20 mins for u </3 but i didn’t think u were coming so i let taehyung sit here 

you send it back and watch jungkook’s somewhat straight face contort into a smile. there it is, the smile that you know and love. 

jungkook on the other hand could cry. you came early. you waited for him. god, had he royally fucked this up. he makes his mind up now. 

i’m sorry :( let me make it up to u? can i take you out on a date tonight? 

check: ◯  yes ◯ no 

jungkook keeps the paper for a good minute, reading the note over and over again, thinking about how childish this way of asking is. but at the same time, jungkook knows that if he talks to you about it after class, he’ll gloss over the words and never ask you. letting the reservation and plans he made weeks ago render themselves useless. it was now or never. 

so he fully sends it, tapping your shoulder and giving it to you directly. you open the note and scan the words, sending him the sweetest look he’s ever received in his life. he thinks that would be a yes. he hopes. you write something onto the card and pass it back to him, your hand grazing his for a second. 

⚫ yes :) ♡ ◯ no 

the rest of the class passes pretty quickly. not that you were paying any attention. jungkook had emailed you a link to a game that the two of you could play, a weird version of snakes. jungkook kept cheating, you swore it, but in all honesty, you knew you couldn’t compete when it came to jungkook and his computer games. a clap from the professor breaks your attention from your screen, “alright, that was the last class of anatomy 101!” he then goes on a two minute long speech thanking the entire class for their great work this past year. he ends his ment with, “good luck and make good decisions! have a fun summer!” 

you take your time packing your things, a little too long for someone that just has a laptop to put into their bag. taehyung says goodbye to the both of you and leaves first, the seat in between you both empty. now it was just the two of you. a small blush creeps onto your cheeks. you were well past your high school crush phase, but jungkook makes you feel so shy again. 

you try to hide it by speaking first, “so, a date?” 

he sends you that award winning smile that makes you swoon. “yeah, did you change your mind?” 

you shake your head. “is it casual? fancy? want me to wear a dress again?” you tease, finally pushing your computer into your bag and standing. 

jungkook gulps. you looked so pretty that night in a dress. “fancy,” he answers, “you can wear a dress if you want, pantsuits are cool too— whatever you want.” he finishes packing as well, standing next to you as you both begin to walk down the stairs. 

“okay then,” you smile. “what time should i be ready?” 

“i’ll come and pick you up at seven, is that okay?” he replies, hand in his pockets. you both make your way out of the room and start to move towards the parking lot. 

“sounds good,” you nod, approaching your car. jungkook walks you to your door, his eyes focused on your sweet smile and your eyes. if jungkook didn’t know any better, he would have thought you were leaning closer towards him. a small laugh leaves your throat. “see you later, kookie.” 

he sends you a smile, the nickname tugging at his heartstrings. the realization hits him after you’ve already driven away and he’s sitting in the driver seat of his car. an embarrassing blush covers his face, he takes a deep breath and laughs to himself. finally. a year of crushing and he’s finally asked you on a proper date. 

jungkook is quite frankly, freaking the fuck out. he isn’t sure what to wear and his hair isn’t working with him. the long strands seemingly out to make his life a living hell when he tries to style it. one strand always looks out of place, or the way that it parts doesn’t sit right. he’s pacing his bathroom, debating if he should just shower again and take all the stupid fucking product out of his hair. 

he gives in after ten minutes of deliberation. a quick shower removing all the wax and gel from his hair. the ends of his hair dripping when he goes to check his phone, the time reading: 6:45. he was gonna be late to pick you up. now he’s full on panicking. he has no other choice then to skip the hair product all together and just let his hair dry and part on it’s own. he slides on his all black fancy outfit he had planned out just in case the first one didn’t work out. he steps out of his apartment after grabbing his car keys, wallet, and the flowers he bought earlier in the day for you. 

a friend of his works in a flower shop. jungkook remembers you saying  that you like all flowers and that you couldn’t choose if you had to. so his friend asked what you were like, trying to figure out a way to style the bouquet without knowing your favorites. jungkook said the general things; you’re sweet like an apple, probably sweeter, like candy. you’re so pretty, it’s blessing that he’s able to lay his eyes upon you. you’re smart, too smart for him to flirt stupidly like he always does, ‘cause you outsmart him and flirt with him back in a wittier way. you’re— that was enough information, his friend told him he was babbling again. jungkook only had to wait ten minutes for his friend to finish fixing up a beautiful bouquet for you. 

the bouquet is placed on the passenger seat as he starts his car, texting you when he realizes it’s almost five minutes until 7. 

[6:54 pm] jungkook: fuck 

[6:54 pm] jungkook: i’m gonna be a little late

[6:55 pm] jungkook: i swear i’m not standing u up

[6:55 pm] jungkook: ok i’m putting my phone down to drive to u now, sorry cutie!! 

[6:57 pm] you: ah okay! 

[6:57 pm] you: i was getting a little worried haha

[6:58 pm] you: see u in a bit <3

jungkook drives safely, but efficiently to your apartment. the drive only taking about five minutes because the stop lights were gracing him with green lights his entire way to you. he parks right in front, grabbing the flowers and hopping out of the car. when he knocks on your door, he starts to feel his nerves work against him. the adrenaline from rushing here gave him enough energy to hype himself up, but now as he’s standing here at your door, waiting for you to answer, his throat starts to dry and his hands start to sweat. 

the metal door slides open, revealing you. in your silk dress, draping over your body in the most flattering way. the neckline deliciously hangs down to reveal your cleavage ever so slightly and the slit on the dress, displaying your thigh teasingly. jungkook is speechless at his first glance at you. his eyebrows raise and his mouth drops open, catching himself drooling once you step out from your apartment. 

“h— hi, you look— wow,” he stumbles over his words, taking a step back to admire you once again. “you’re fucking stunning.”  

you brush your hair back behind your ear, your hand covering the blush covering your cheeks. “thank you, you look very handsome, jungkook.” you reach out and play with his black tie. he looks down when you do, remembering that he was holding a bouquet of flowers for you. 

he holds them out, “these are for you.” like a kid giving his crush a dandelion he picked from the grass. 

“these are gorgeous, jungkook! thank you.” you look up to him with your signature sweet eyes, the ones that never fail to make him melt. “just give me one sec, i’ll put these down and then we can go?” you ask, holding onto the bouquet and waiting for him to respond. a quick nod is all you need to open your door and place them in the fridge. you come out a few seconds later, locking your door and standing by jungkook again. 

“that was fast,” he comments. he holds his arm out for you to hold, which you gratefully take. 

“i just put them in the fridge, my grandma showed me the trick, it helps them live a little longer,” you explain. the two of you walking out to his parked car. he never lets your hand touch the handle, always opening the door for you. 

“when they die, i’ll just buy you new ones.” closing the door for you and making his way to the drivers seat. 

you scrunch your nose. when he comes back and joins you in the car, you voice your worry. “it’s kind of a waste, don’t you think?” 

he shakes his head, “if it’s for you, nothing’s a waste.” 

jungkook was a professional with his words. always rendering you speechless. 

with that he starts the car and begins driving into the busier part of seoul. he makes his way into the restaurants parking garage, the building looks to be about five stories. the architecture itself looks expensive, you wonder where jungkook is taking you tonight. he parks the car, turning off the engine, and moving to open the door for you. he takes your hand and you hold onto your dress, fixing it once you get out of the car. god, you’re so pretty. he was so nervous. 

“ready, my lady?” he smiles, his arm out for you to hold. 

it makes you laugh, a snort almost. “i’ve never seen you so proper, mr. jeon.” 

“only for you,” he winks. your heels click against the concrete floor as he leads the two of you into the building. the high ceilings and multiple chandeliers are what greet you first, the brightness of the place giving the sun something to rival. jungkook brings you over to the waiting area, telling you to wait for a minute as he checks you guys in. 

this was crazy to say the least. the last time you went on a date, it was to the movie theaters. you’ve never been in a place like this; a doorman greeting every guest as they walk in, checking in to eat, multi-story, etc. the more you look around, the cooler it is. “let’s go?” jungkook’s voice makes you turn your head. you stand, taking his hand. 

the two of you follow a man wearing a black and white suit, with a long tail jacket. he brings you to the elevators, holding the doors open for you both. you step in and he presses the fifth button, which was the top floor. you squeeze jungkook’s hand. he repeats the action, looking to you and silently asking if you were okay with the look in his eyes and the raise of his eyebrows. you nod, a smile on your face. 

with that the elevator doors open, the metal doors sliding apart to reveal a private terrace. only a couple tables on the entire floor. a few people sitting down and enjoying their dinners. beautiful greenery surrounding the perimeter, the night sky only making it prettier. your mouth is left agape, you’re stuck in the elevator, speechless. jungkook gently tugs you forward, following the suit man to the table. 

jungkook pulls your chair out for you. you could cry at the chivalry. you sit and he pushes the chair in, jungkook follows soon, sitting in the chair across from you. the man hands the two of you the menu and moves away from the table, standing back near to the elevator, waiting until you are both ready to order. 

“this is fucking crazy,” you whisper-shout. the terrace was lit by these bright fairy lights that were hidden in the plants and were above the tables as well. it looked like little fairies and fire flies were in the air, roaming around. 

“i know right!” jungkook looked as surprised as you were. “i asked my friends for some help and holy shit!” 

“they know you’re on a date with me right now?” you ask, raising your eyebrows. 

to this he furrows his eyebrows, “of course they do, i talk about you all the time—”but he stops himself from exposing himself any further. you can’t help but giggle. “i mean, i asked them to help me make this special, and here we are.” 

you swoon. he’s so sweet for planning all of this out and wanting to make you feel special. the two of you look through the menu, jungkook warns you not to look at the prices, telling you to get whatever you want because the price doesn’t matter. but of course, your eyes stray to the numbers, the meals costing a pretty penny for a simple spaghetti plate, the cheapest thing on there. you were craving pasta anyway, you didn’t mind. the two of you order and wait for the food to arrive. 

the city of seoul was just below you, not too high but high enough to turn people into smaller figures of themselves. the night lights look gorgeous from up here. the warm summer night only complimenting the gorgeous atmosphere. 

“the view is so pretty,” you gaze out into the city. the pretty colors from all the lights of the different stores and restaurants complementing each other so beautifully. 

jungkook was in awe, he knows that the city below you is gorgeous, but he can’t seem to get his eyes off of you. your chin resting in the palm of your hand as your eyes search through the streets. “yeah…” he agrees, “very beautiful.” he smiles, only looking at you. 

the food comes and you both dig in. the two of you enjoy some conversation with each other as you eat. the topic of growing up comes up, both of you explaining the occupations you wanted, and you said something that sparked curiosity in jungkook. “your childhood dream was to live in california?” he smiles, chewing on his steak. most of the time kids dream about going to the moon or finding atlantis, but you wanted to go to america? 

you nod, “sounds funny right? when i was a teen, i watched a lot of 90210.” 

“is that all though? you only wanted to go because of a tv show?” he asks. there’s something you’re hiding, and jungkook can see it in the way that you hide your smile. 

at first, you hesitate, but you open your mouth to speak, “well— there is— no, it’s embarrassing.” you shake your head, changing your mind and reverting your eyes down. staring at the plate of pasta in front of you. guys you talked to didn’t wanna hear about it, they thought what you were into was boring, embarrassing almost. a part of you feared that jungkook would feel the same. 

you feel his hand on your chin, tilting your head up. “i wanna hear about it.” his face telling you the truth, the sincerity in his eyes as he patiently waits for you to explain. 

“there’s this science program in california, they explore new ideas for researching the ocean, like trying to see what lurks in the deep blue, helping fix the rising oceans, everything-- oh my god, and they like go on field trips to different countries to see the coastlines and historical sites—” you cut yourself off when you realize that you’re talking at the speed of light. “i’m rambling.” you were terrified to see his reaction. 

but when your eyes finally meet jungkook’s, they’re full of light. and his smile is so big. “dude, that’s so dope!” he grins, “i didn’t know you were so into the ocean!” 

it was the bare minimum, being nice, but that was hard to find when it came to the majority of the male species. obviously, jungkook is above average, he only proves that the more time you spend with him. 

“oh, i love it! my parents would bring me to the beach and i would cry every time we would have to leave, aquariums too, and the fish section in the pet stores.” you gush, leaning into the table to tell jungkook more. he leans into his hand, resting his cheek against his fist as he listens to you spill your knowledge and love. 

he notes that the next date should be at the beach or an aquarium. it was a great time for him to learn this, especially since it was summer. the weather in favor of the cold ocean waves. jungkook swears he can listen to you talk until the end of time. your sweet voice can be the narration to his life, he’d never get sick of it. 

the food on both of your plates had been cleared, the conversation sizzling into a comfortable silence before the man came back to give you the bill. jungkook doesn’t let you see it, instead just sticking his card in the black folder thing, and giving it back to the fancy suit man. it wasn’t long before he came back, handing jungkook back his card and giving the both of you a lollipop with gold flakes encased inside. 

you gasp at the piece of candy, now that was ridiculous. you weren’t one to reject a lollipop though, gratefully taking the candy and popping it into your mouth. jungkook does the same. it tastes of blueberry. at this point he stands up, moving in front of you and holding his hand out to you. “let’s look around? i heard they have a cool museum on the second floor.” 

you take his hand, “i love museums!” the two of you make your way to the elevator, the man (he never told you his name) kept the door open for you both. he presses the second floor button when jungkook asks him for the museum. the elevator landing on the second floor, the doors slide open to show a completely empty art hall. this place shocking you every chance it gets. you didn’t think it could get better, but it did. 

when the two of you exit the elevator, the man leaves you to it, taking the elevator down and leaving you alone. your eyes scan the place, huge paintings on the walls, small paintings in collages, some sculptures on the floor, it felt like a pop-up museum. you both make your way down the enormous hallway, both sides of the room’s wall displaying works of art. you stop at one specific painting, the familiar work has you spewing random facts. “these are the lovers! i had to analyze this once,” you speak. the art displaying a couple kissing, both of their heads covered by a white sheet. “the real one is in australia, i think.” you laugh, tapping the lollipop against your lips. 

jungkook listens intently, but he doesn’t pay attention to the painting on the wall. everytime he does, his eyes always revert to you. the art doesn’t stand a chance against you in his book. you, yourself, were a piece of art, one that was rare in this world, one of a kind. 

he can’t seem to resist. taking your hand and raising it over your head, the way that they do in ballroom dancing. if a twirl was what he wanted, then so he got it. “beautiful,” he compliments, pulling you in close for a hug. the two of you swaying in the middle of the hall of this stupidly expensive restaurant. 

you look up to him, making full eye contact as the two of you lean on one foot to the other. probably looking like a lovesick couple, getting lost in the moment. which, you were. your eyes flicker from his eyes down to his lips, he seems to do the same thing. his hand moves to caress your face, the swaying ceased. now the two of you are centimeters apart, noses brushing against each other. if jungkook doesn’t kiss you now, he thinks he’ll combust. so when he feels you pushing forward, he does the same, meeting you in the middle. your lips connect. the kiss almost identical to the painting in front of you. 

jungkook swears he felt himself levitating. your lips are sweet, the blueberry flavor of the lollipop lingering on them. he’s had his fair share of kisses in his life. makeouts, pecks, cheek kisses, all types of kisses. but something about this one tells him that he’s in for it. he’ll never be able to get enough now that he’s gotten a taste. 

neither of you want to take it too far; swallowing each other's faces in a distinguished, five star restaurant’s museum didn’t seem very proper. so the two of you make your way out of the building, thanking everyone at the front desk, especially the man that helped you out today, and walking into the parking garage where jungkook’s car was. 

when you get to his car, he moves to open the passenger door for you but you stop him with a hand on his arm. you reach to open the back door handle and his eyes almost bulge out. everyone knows what happens in the backseat, and jungkook did not prepare himself for something like this. 

you look up at him with the most innocent eyes, but there’s something devious hidden in your smile when you ask, “do you wanna talk for a bit longer? in the backseat? it’s more comfortable than sitting in the front.” 

jungkook never took you for someone this bold. it’s either you didn’t know the meaning of the backseat (which was totally fine) or you knew very well, and had plans to devour jungkook (which was also totally fine).

he chickens out, his hands starting to sweat. “do you want to just go for a little walk or something?” it’s not like jungkook didn’t want anything to happen, it’s that he did. if he starts, he doesn’t know if he’ll ever recover from it. he walks a tightrope around you when it comes to his self control. one wrong move, and he’s terrified that he’ll fuck everything up. 

“oh, it’s just my feet kinda hurt from these heels.” you pout, lifting you foot up to show him the almost stiletto heel. 

his eyes widen. why didn’t he think of that? “oh— oh shit, i didn’t even— yeah, let’s sit.” he tugs on the door, letting you slide into the back seat. he follows, leaving a good amount of space between you both to make sure that there was nothing too suspicious going on. you hope your bold moves hide your nervousness, despite your confidence, jungkook’s unsure looks make you want to curl up into a ball. did he not want this? 

the air was different now. in the restaurant the two of you had been so carefree, slow dancing in the museum, and landing a sweet kiss on each other’s lips. but now, an uncomfortable silence tears at the two of you. your hesitance makes you speak, trying to see if a conversation would ease the tension in the air. “i had a lot of fun tonight, kookie, thank you.” 

it seems to comfort jungkook, he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. with a small smile on his face he replies, “me too, i was really nervous you wouldn’t like the food.” 

“oh it was good! i’ll eat anything really, it’s just—“

“you didn’t like the place? was it too much—“

“no, jungkook, oh my god— i loved it, it was just really expensive, i still feel really bad about you paying for all of it,” you look to him seriously. “let me give you at least my half?” 

he shakes his head, “i asked you out on this date, it means i pay, don’t worry about the price.” 

you roll your eyes playfully, “big spender huh?”

a pretty laugh escapes his lips. “hard worker too.” 

to this you smile, you stare at his impossibly-perfect face, noticing a stray eyelash on his cheek. you see a chance to strike and you take it immediately. you lean forward to swipe it off. jungkook almost leans into your touch. he’s so terrified that he’ll embarrass himself right now, so he’s been holding back tremendously. but the way you pick the eyelash off and place it on your thumb with a smile on your face, it eases most of the tension in his chest. 

“make a wish!” you hold your thumb up to his lips. his eyes cross to look at the piece of hair on your finger, but nevertheless he obliged. shutting his eyes tight, making a wish, and blowing the eyelash off of your thumb. 

you let out a small cheer before you ask him, “what’d you wish for?” 

“if i told you then my wish wouldn’t come true, right?” he boops your nose. suddenly, jungkook doesn’t feel so nervous. his nerves calming at the feeling of your soft hands against his face. you make him so nervous, but at the same time you make him so comfortable and make him want to be himself. it seems as though the two of you were staring at each other for a while. jungkook was thinking about how much he likes you, the same ideas run through your mind. the thoughts make you wish for something more. 

“can i kiss you again, kookie?” 

he stares at you, weighing his options. if he kisses you now, then he has to strategically only give you a few kisses, he absolutely cannot make out with you, or else, jungkook will succumb to his desires.

but he takes a little too long to respond. the both of you overthinking the fuck out of the situation. it makes you draw back. “it’s okay if you don’t want—“ 

“no, no, please, kiss me,” he brings you back, moving closer to you. licking his lips in anticipation as you slowly push forward, closing the gap between you both. the kiss is so sweet, like the one in the museum. jungkook can still taste the blueberry lingering on your lips. he doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of kissing you. 

you pull away first. your eyes scanning his face to see any expression of regret. there’s none. his hand moves to the side of your face, caressing your face and bringing you to him once again to meet your lips. he can’t get enough. “tell me what you wished for, please,” you speak against his lips. 

he smiles into the kiss. he wasn’t going to tell you, but since you were asking so nicely, he gives you a kiss on the cheek when he answers, “i wished for a second date.” 

“oh, didn’t you know?” you kiss both of his cheeks before speaking again, “i grant wishes,” with wink.

“fuck, you’re so cute,” he thinks out loud, it makes you blush. pink cheeks out for show and jungkook thinks you look even cuter. he dives in for one more kiss, telling himself this will be the last one, but when you make sweet noises against his lips, it has him wanting more. hands moving down to your waist, pulling you in and letting you climb onto his lap. he pulls away first, trying to get a hold of himself. “i uh— actually, didn’t plan for this to happen,“ he mumbles against your skin, tripping over his words. 

you look down, arms wrapped around his neck. “hm? what did you plan?” 

“we were supposed to kiss on the next date i take you on and i didn’t think— we’re just ahead of schedule, that’s all.” jungkook tries to explain that he didn’t want to rush it, god no. he wanted to take his time, make sure that you didn’t feel pressured to do anything. but now, it seems like you’re taking the wheel and jungkook doesn’t mind it one bit.

“oh so you had like a real plan? like times and everything?” the thought of it makes you laugh, and the way that jungkook flushes makes you want to pinch his cheeks. 

he pouts when you giggle, “don’t laugh, i just really, really wanted to do it right, you’re just so amazing and i didn’t wanna fuck it up.”

you smile at his concern. the fact that you have the uni heartthrob planning dates in his head down to the details and wanting to be sure he does it right makes your head spin. you hope jungkook doesn’t notice the way that your heart is beating three times the normal rate when you go to kiss him again. the only sounds in the car are labored breaths and your lips smacking together. it doesn’t take long before you’re grinding into him. his growing bulge rubbing against your soaking core. a groan leaving him when you grind particularly harder, his hands moving to your ass to grip it. you melt in his arms, small whimpers leaving your throat as jungkook drinks them up

you pull away from his lips, giving his cheeks attention then leaving a trail of kisses as you make your way to his ear. one final kiss is planted below his earlobe before you whisper, “am i ruining your plans, kookie?” 

jungkook tries his best to conceal his groan, tries his best to ignore his incredibly hard dick in his jeans, but you’re so pretty and you’re on top of him, kissing him. it feels like a dream to jungkook. it is quite literally a dream come true. 

he was already playing with fire, your body a flame in the cold, he moves closer and closer until he burns. “fuck plans,” he breathes. a hand comes back to caress your face once again. filthy thoughts flooding his brain. he wonders what being in between your legs is like, what you sound like when you cum. he wants to make you cry and beg for his cock. but he holds himself back, knowing that you’ll have time to try everything out, if you wanted of course. he leans the both of you forward, his large hands splayed on your back to secure you on his lap. your lips find each other once more. “can i touch you?” he asks so sweetly, a hidden poison weaving through that you can slightly hear through the deep rumble of his voice. 

you’ve never wanted anything more. “please,” you nod. your lips chasing his when he pulls further away. 

jungkook smiles at the action. “lay on my lap, baby.” he instructs, tapping your thigh. the nickname rolling off his tongue, his voice seemingly dropping an entire octave. you raise your leg and move it over to sit on his lap, sideways. your back against the car door and his right hand rubbing your thighs ever so gently. 

“like this?” you ask, looking to him for reassurance. he looks to you with eyes that you’ve never seen, lusted and dark. 

“mhm, perfect,” he nods. “good girl.” the praise goes straight to your belly, your panties flooding from how much you want him. his hands move slowly down your inner thighs as he goes in to kiss you again. 

you’re absentmindedly spreading your legs, making room for him. he smirks against your lips when he realizes. he knows what you want, so his fingers move to your panties, lightly putting pressure over your clothed bud. you whimper at the feeling, biting his lip in the process. he moans in response, putting a little more pressure against your bundle of nerves. 

“jungkook,” you whine, pulling away from his lips, “please.” 

“please what, baby?” he kisses your cheek, “tell me what you want.”  

“please touch me, please.” you beg, making eye contact with him. jungkook’s dick twitches at the sound of your begging. he wanted to string you along a little longer, but you’re being so good. 

“since you asked so nicely, baby,” he obliges. bunching your dress up around your waist and noticing the pretty black lace underwear you were wearing, “for me?” he asks. you nod, your teeth taking in your bottom lip. he groans at the thought, you getting ready and picking out these cute, risque panties out just for him. it’s just too bad they’re gonna be on the floor on his car. he’s gonna need to ask for a rain check on admiring you and your cute underwear later.  

you lift your hips to help him, underwear coming off to reveal your soaking pussy. “oh, fuck,” jungkook murmurs at the sight of it. “you’re so wet baby.” he almost starts drooling, he can’t wait to taste you, but he’s still hesitant, only wanting to do what you want to. next time, he can eat you out. right now, he’ll admire the delicious sight and make you cum on his fingers. 

your eyes travel to the window directly in front of you, suddenly feeling insecure. thighs closing, thinking about how someone could look in and see. “what about the windows—“ 

“they’re tinted, no one can see from the outside in, i promise.” he reassures, giving you another sweet kiss on the cheek before asking, “do you still want to do this? we can stop now.” he’s so lovely, his concern and change in demeanor only making you want it more, knowing that he wouldn’t want to push you to do something you were uncomfortable with. sweet was sexy on jungkook. you never thought there would be a day that jeon jungkook fingers you in a parking lot of a five star restaurant, but here you are. and you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

so you shake your head, taking his hand, and placing it back in between your legs. “please.” 

“anything for you.” he whispers in your ear before running his middle finger up your slit, collecting your wetness, and spreading it around your clit. he continues making tight circles on your clit, the sensation drives you crazy. you lean your head back against the window, moaning out. it was almost humiliating how reactive you were, you hadn’t indulged in this kind of intimacy in a while, almost a year to be specific. 

it wasn’t helping that jungkook was a fucking pro. the right amount of pressure and the placement of his digits against you has you dripping onto his nice, dress pants. you hoped nobody else was in the parking garage, else they would hear your cries of jungkook’s name. “more, kookie, more— fuck.” 

“more baby?” he questions, the sound of your moans going straight to his already hard dick. he thinks he could cum just to the sound of your voice. he’s one hundred percent fucked when it comes to you. he dips his middle finger into your hole, you gasp in reaction. “like that? hmm? ” 

jungkook knew was he was doing, he had you spread wide in the backseat of his car, already on the verge on an orgasm. he had a few years of experience on his belt, a ‘retired fuck boy’ he was, but he’s never wanted to please somebody more than he does right now with you. you just looked so pretty like this, so eager and begging for more. 

he adds his ring finger now, his thumb against your clit. “oh, god—“ you mutter, the feeling of his fingers and his thumb on your clit is too good. his fingers fucking you better than anyone else’s dick ever has. you found yourself bucking your hips against his fingers. “kookie, kiss me, please,” you look up to him with the eyes he can never fucking deny. so he kisses you, drinking up your moans as you fuck yourself up onto his fingers. 

“i didn’t know you were such a dirty girl,” he murmurs against your lips. your walls clenching around him, “letting me touch you like this in the backseat of my car?” his usual sweet demeanor now contorting into this cocky guy with an ego. it makes you even wetter. the squelch of your pussy every time his fingers push in is loud, the sound is music to jungkook’s ears. 

“only— only for you, jungkook,” you whimper.  you feel a familiar knot in your stomach tighten. he looked so hot like this. eager to please. his bottom lip caught in his teeth and a strand of his long hair dangling in front of his eyes. 

“good girl, all mine,” he kisses your neck. it may seem just like something you say during sex, but jungkook wanted it to be true. wanted you and only you. all to himself. he makes his way to a sweet spot, the feeling makes you tilt your head, giving him more access to kiss and suck along the sensitive skin. the discomfort of your back against the hard door was the last of your worries. your orgasm creeping closer and closer, juices leaking all overs his fingers. “so wet baby,” he growls, “i know i could just slide in, fuck you so good.” 

“p-please, i want it.” the thought of jungkook fucking you senseless, oh, you’d go crazy. begging wasn’t something you did when it came to sex, most of the time it was quiet, moans and breaths were the only things that you’d hear, no dirty words or praises. it was a good change, you never thought that you’d be so into being talked through it. 

he smiles at your eagerness, “patience baby, gotta take you on another date, yeah?” kissing your pursed lips. always so sweet and lovely. 

you feel his fingers push a little deeper, curling to find that sweet spot inside of you. your reaction does something to him, makes him hit the exact same spot, over and over again, in a slow, torturous beat just so he can draw those delicious gasps and moans out of you. jungkook feels close. he’s never felt like this before, so wound up. he ignores it, pushing it to the back of his head to focus on helping you reach your climax. 

lucky for jungkook, he didn’t have to wait very long. his fingers were longer and a thicker than yours, his efforts making you get there faster than you ever could. the consistent deep strokes of his fingers make the warning signals go off in your head. you speak a verbal warning before, “fuck, i’m gonna cum,” your voice pitches a little higher than usual. 

“gonna cum all over my fingers, baby?” he gives you one last sloppy kiss before you’re moaning out and coming onto his fingers, eyes screwed shut as your walls convulse rapidly as his fingers fuck you through your orgasm. “fuck, you’re so hot, ___.” 

you feel a smile break on your face. “you’re not so bad yourself,” you wink, still trying to catch your breath. a laugh slips from his mouth, small smirk on his mouth to match. he slips his fingers out, your body twitching at the over stimulation. 

 “i’m sorry, baby,” he apologizes. inspecting his fingers, your pale almost-white cum coating the digits. he brings them to his mouth, sucking on your sweet sap. you’ve never seen anything hotter in your life. “sweet, just like you,” he smirks. you shrink in his stare, hiding your blush. like you totally didn’t just cum on his fingers. 

you’re distracted by the feeling of something hard resting under your thigh, it’s then that you realize, “what about—“ you start but jungkook cuts you off quick. 

“no, no, it’s okay, it’ll go away soon.” he shakes his head, but you furrow your eyebrows. 

you pull on his black tie, making him lean forward and make eye contact with you “can i?” you ask, so sweetly. 

he stares at you with the most sexed eyes you’ve ever witnessed. “you’re driving me crazy.” 

“you’re always so sweet to me, jungkook,” you kiss his cheek. readjusting yourself in his lap, straddling him once more. “took me on this amazing dinner, always treating me like a princess.” your lips travel down from his cheeks to his jawline, then to his neck. he shudders at the feeling of your lips against his sensitive skin. your hands move from around his neck to travel further down, to the latch of his belt. his breath hitches. “let me return the favor, kookie.”

“i—“ he laughs, the embarrassment evident in the pink tint on his face. “i won’t last very long.” 

you didn’t mind, just assuring him with a sweet kiss on the cheek before you start removing his belt. jungkook leans his head back on the headrest, his neck exposed for you to kiss and suck. you unbutton and unzip, pulling his pants and his boxers down at the same time. his size makes your eyes bulge. he was huge. your mouth waters at the sight. 

“you’re so big, kook.” you egg him on, fueling his ego because he just looked so hot. your hand moves to hold him at the base, he lets out a shaky breath when your soft skin meets his. jungkook’s head is in the clouds, he could cum right now if he let go, but he’s holds himself back, not wanting to look like a fool in front of you. your hand moves up his dick, your thumb collecting the precum dripping from his hole, your thumb running over his slit as he groans. 

his hips buck up, “shit, baby.” he just sounds so good. you could just lick him up. you collect some saliva in your mouth, letting it drip from your mouth onto his dick to lube your hand. he groans at the sight, “you’re so filthy, baby, holy shit.” 

you smirk at the admission, the spit making it so easy for your hand to glide against his cock. the feeling makes him throw his head back again. his chest rising and falling.  the picture of him with his eyes screwed shut in pleasure and his mouth agape makes your lower belly light up once more, you clench around nothing. leaning in as you pump his cock to whisper in his ear, “wanna fuck me so bad? have me crying on your cock? you want that, don’t you, kookie?” 

jungkook twitches at your words. that’s exactly what he wants. was he that easy to read? was that what you wanted too? the thought of it makes him want to explode, “oh— god, ffuck— fuck,” he sputters. his hand coming up to hover above his head, your hand still pumping as the spurts of his cum shoot out. you smile at the action, knowing he didn’t wanna fuck up your dress. instead just making a mess of him and his hand. he takes deep breaths before speaking, “there’s a little box of tissues in the center console, could you hand it to me, baby?” 

you lean back, opening the console and reaching for the small box that sits in the center. before you give it to him, your eyes flicker to the sticky mess all over jungkook’s hand and groin. a sudden urge to lick takes you over, holding jungkook’s hand and bringing it up to your mouth. you lick the dripping cum from the palm of his hand as he watches, maintaining eye contact the entire time. 

jungkook shivers, a smile creeping on his face, “you— you’re evil.” the remark makes you laugh. 

“sorry, just wanted to help clean up.” you smile, swallowing the cum you collected on your tongue. 

“yeah, yeah, you’re not the sweet girl i thought you were,” jungkook quirks a brow. 

you roll your eyes playfully, “you don’t like it?” 

“nope, i love it, you’re perfect.” jungkook wipes off the remaining mess from his lap and his hand. you help him clean up tissues and he picks up your panties that were discarded on the floor. the two of you fix yourselves before stepping out of the back seat, jungkook opens the passenger door for you before he goes to a trashcan and throws away the soiled tissues. 

he joins you back in the car, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. you were rambling about how happy you were that no one was around and how there were no security cameras in the parking garage. jungkook blabbers too, telling you about how embarrassed he is that he barely lasted a few minutes. before the two of you knew it, his car parked in front of your apartment complex. 

he stands outside of your front door, leaning against the doorframe. all dreamy and not like he just made you cum in the backseat of his car. “text me before you sleep?” he smiles. 

you nod, “of course,” reflecting the same smile. you wave before closing your door. the date being more than you ever expected. there was no way jungkook was real. he had to be a figment of your imagination, he was the absolute dream guy. 

you lay in bed, staring at the stars on your ceiling. a blush creeping up to your cheeks once more when you think about the events that took place tonight. 

[11:02 pm] you: thank you for tonight, jungkook 

[11:02 pm] you: it was magical <3 

[11:03 pm] jungkook: no problem cutie, i had an amazing time with you

[11:04 pm] jungkook: feeling okay? 

[11:06 pm] you: i’m great!!! more than okay

[11:07 pm] jungkook: 😂

[11:07 pm] jungkook: i’m glad cutie

[11:08 pm] you: lunch on me next time? now that you’ve taken me for dinner :) 

[11:08 pm] jungkook: sure, i’m down :) 

[11:09 pm] you: i’m rlly tired kookie 

[11:10 pm] you: gonna head to sleep now 

[11:10 pm] jungkook: alright cutie 

[11:11 pm] jungkook: sweet dreams! 

｡ﾟ(ﾟ^Ｏ^ﾟ)ﾟ｡ tag list: @giadalin @ggukkieland

[hangovercurse]

Blind Date (continued)

You invite Colson in after your blind date

Request: “I loved this so much! If you get the chance and are up to it, I’d love a second part!” ”I would like to read a second part of it”

Colson X Reader

Warnings: cursing

A/N: Have I edited this? No. Did I even look back over this after I wrote it? Also no

Word Count: 1974

Your hand touched the handle before you turned around, finding Colson in the same situation at his car door, still looking at you. “Do you maybe wanna… come in?” You asked, biting your lip. His face lit up, a smirk highlighting his features.

“I would love that.”

The man’s lanky figure strutted over to your front door as you opened it, pausing as he entered to take in the smell of your house that screamed you. He let his eyes wander around the place as he stepped further in, taking off his coat and shoes at the front entryway.

You moved into the kitchen, pulling out a bottle of red wine while he made his way into the space. You found a note on the counter from your best friend and roommate.

Staying at Eric’s tonight in case you and your date need the place to yourself <3

You rolled your eyes at the note, chuckling as you tossed it in the trash. You rustled through your drawers to grab a corkscrew, fiddling with the bottle as Colson shuffled into the room, standing behind you to encase you in his arms.

He took the corkscrew from your hands and opened the bottle with ease. “I was getting there,” you whined jokingly.

He chuckled, “I could see that.” You turned around and allowed your lower back to rest against the counter, squeezed between the surface and Colson. His arms rested on the countertop on either side of you, his figure leaning to be level with you.

You couldn’t help but admire his features, his bright blue eyes and the stubble on his jaw sparking your artistic mind. “I wish I could sketch you right now,” you murmured your thoughts aloud.

He smirked, leaning closer into you, your lips almost meeting, “why don’t you?”

You smiled, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before softly speaking, “you would get bored being my model.”

He pulled away from you, fingers running across your waist until they found your hands, intertwining your fingers. “I would be honored to be your model.”

You perked an eyebrow, “seriously?”

He shrugged, “I’ve done it before for cameras, and you are much more interesting than photographers.” He pulled you away from the counter, “go get your stuff and I’ll pour wine.”

Rolling your eyes, you walked towards your art room, which was really just your bedroom, “don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

When you returned, he was wandering your small living area, a glass of wine in his hands and one on the small coffee table. His eyes danced along the picture frames you and your roommate had placed around the house when you first moved in, which you honestly hadn’t looked at since.

You stepped into the room with your sketchbook and pencils, making your presence known. His gaze drifted to you with a smile, watching you settle onto the couch, “so, is this your roommate?” He motioned towards one of the pictures.

You glanced up, smiling at the goofy picture you two had taken at graduation, “yep, that’s us.” You turned your head back to your book, flipping to the next blank page as he continued asking about your pictures.

“Who’s in this one?” He asked, pointing to a photo of your roommate and her boyfriend, Eric.

You chuckled at the image of them pulling funny faces in the front seat of a car while you sat in the background looking bored, “that’s Eric, her boyfriend. We went on this huge road trip and they swore I wouldn’t have to third wheel, but I obviously did.”

Colson let out a small laugh, taking a sip of his wine, “and who is that?”

You had honestly forgotten about the picture he was pointing to, but seeing it made your stomach fill with unease. “Oh, I forgot that was still up,” you sighed at Colson’s curious expression, “that’s me and my ex, TJ. We broke up months ago, I thought I’d gotten everything of his out of here.”

Colson could see the discomfort in your expression, sitting down on the armchair next to your couch, throwing his legs over the side and posing dramatically. “Bad ex, huh?” You nodded, not wanting to make him uncomfortable with the conversation, though you wanted nothing more than to open up to him. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

You rolled your eyes, turning so you could face him, “of all the poses, that’s what you pick?”

He smiled innocently, “yep.” A chuckle fell from your lips as you looked down at your sketchbook, pressing your pencil to the paper. “Fine, I’ll go first,” he began, “can’t really get to know each other if we don’t get at least a little bit of trauma out of the way.”

You looked up at him and giggled, “you got me there.”

He sighed, taking a sip of his wine, “Baze told me not to talk about it, but the look on your face when I asked you about him tells me you might be able to relate.” You raised an eyebrow but kept drawing, giving him a silent signal to continue. “I was dating this girl for a while, you’ve probably heard of her, Megan Fox.”

Your eyes went wide at the name, looking up at him in shock, “yeah, because that’s not an intimidating act to follow at all!”

Colson waved you off, “you’re doing great so far, don’t even worry about it.” You gave him a stern look, but he only continued with his story, “anyways, we were together for a while and she told me all the time she thought we were soulmates, and I believed her, you know?” You bit your lip, starting to feel slightly intimidated as he spoke about the woman. “But then she cheated on me after, like, 9 months. And I realized after we broke up how wrong we were for each other and how much she manipulated me.”

You frowned as he spoke, his tone getting sadder with each word. “That’s so shitty. I don’t understand why people cheat in long term relationships, especially after you’ve given them so much hope and trust. Like someone convinces you that they love you and then they go around and pull that shit. It’s evil.”

He nodded, a slight smile on his face, “I’m over it now though, in case you were worried. Came to the realization about a month or two later that I was better without her.”

You held the pencil in your hands still, trying to find the words you needed to say. “I, uh, I was dating that guy, TJ. We had been friends for a while and he asked me out and I said yes. Everything was great, you know? And then like almost a year end he starts acting all weird and possessive. Like just because we had been together for so long means he doesn’t have to treat me like his girlfriend anymore. He would make me feel like shit in front of our friends and just all around was being a shitty boyfriend.” Colson stared at you intensely with a frown on his face, eyebrows furrowed.

“A guy should never do that shit to his girl. You don’t deserve that shit, no one does.”

You nodded sadly, “yeah, well, then I found out like 4 months into all of this that he had cheated on me and gotten the girl pregnant so… I ended things real quick.” You let out a sad huff, turning your attention back to the book and continuing your sketch of the beautiful man in front of you. “I was really upset at first but now I’m just kind of angry. Dude was a dick.”

Colson let out a dry laugh as you took a long sip of wine, “sounds like it. I’m sorry you went through that shit.”

You shrugged, smiling up at him, “if I hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here.”

He chuckled, biting his lip, “guess something good came out of it.”

A blush spread across your cheeks, “oh yeah, the food was amazing.” Your words were full of sarcasm, yet the pout on his face still made you giggle, “I’m joking, loser.”

“You better be miss second-date.” You giggled but didn’t respond, turning back to draw him. It was quiet for a few moments, your pencil tracing along the paper.

He shifted, at which you glared up at him, “I told you you’d get bored.”

With a chuckle he said, “I’m not bored. I get to look at you while you draw, it’s far from boring.” You tried to look annoyed at him but failed miserably at his flattering words. “I was thinking though, since it’s my picture and all, I should get to make some executive decisions.”

You scoffed, “you chose your pose, what else would you like oh great model Colson?”

He rolled his eyes playfully, stretching his arm out to set his glass on the table. “Well, I mentioned that I have some tattoos,” he reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it up, “you should draw them.”

Once his shirt was fully removed from his body, you couldn’t help but gawk just a little. His entire chest was covered in ink, designs beautifully engraved into his skin. “I was gonna make a joke about this only being our first date but holy shit, these are beautiful.”

He blushed, looking down shyly, ”I was honestly scared you weren’t gonna like them.”

You looked at him with wide eyes, “Seriously? This is so cool. I’m an artist, you really think I’m not gonna like tattoos? Its an art form in itself.”

Colson shrugged, moving back to his pose, expecting you to continue your drawing. Instead, your eyes wandered his torso, taking in every detail of the work. “If you’re lucky,” he commented slyly, “one day I might show you all of them.”

You rolled your eyes with a scoff, moving back into drawing position, “you think you’re so cool.”

A breathy laugh fell from his lips, “I do, actually.”

The two of you continued banter-laced conversation while you drew him, his likeness coming to life on your page. At some point it turned into 3 am, and you were struggling to keep your eyes opened, but you were finished.

“Here.” You turned the book to him, letting him take in your work. He didn’t speak for a few moments, causing worry to build in you. “I mean, it’s no Mona Lisa but-“

“That is fucking amazing.” He cut you off with a wide smile, “you make me look hot.”

You rolled your eyes with a grin, “I’m not going to feed your ego by saying something super lame like “that’s just what you look like,” but I’m glad you like it.” He chuckled at your response, climbing off of the chair to stand in front of you.

“Damn, I was really hoping to get my ego fed tonight.” He grabbed the sketchbook from you and threw it onto the couch next to you before grabbing your hands and pulling you up to stand.

You smiled to yourself, chest shaking with silent laughter, “does the sketch not feed it enough?”

He shook his head, “I need the approval of a really pretty girl to satisfy its hunger.”

Rolling your eyes, you leaned up into him, “you gotta work harder than that, Rockstar.” Your words came out breathy against his lips as he wrapped his arms around your waist.

His mouth connected to yours, the kiss deep and passionate. His soft lips meshed perfectly with yours, his hands pulling you up to stand on your tiptoes. Once you pulled away you stayed close to him, breathing in his intoxicating scent. He whispered, “I never thought a blind date could turn out so well.”

[kanerallels]

Congratulicitations on your eleventy-first follower, vod'ika!!!!!!!

For the writing asks: Runo for four hundre-- whoops sorry I went Jeporady for a minute there.

Runo + Modern AU + Imagine your OTP for six hundred, plz.

My pleasure, vod!!!

Pairing: Noah St. Claire x Ruya Lewis

Word count: 1,274

Warnings/tags: Rated G (for the giant crush Noah just got)

With the benefit of hindsight, Noah thought, the whole thing had been very badly thought out.

He’d been in class, pretending to listen to his incredibly boring teacher, and doodling in his notebook. Which was for school, obviously. If anyone looked inside, that’s what they would see. School stuff. Not drawings. However, if anyone tried to look, he’d cram one of his textbooks down their throat.

Anyways, he’d been in the middle of that when a student to his left asked a question. For whatever reason, Noah had glanced over at them, and his heart had nearly jumped out of his chest. It was a girl, around his age. She had reddish brown hair, with blonde highlights along the tips, light brown skin, and a look of curiosity in her eyes that Noah liked the look of.

He wasn’t saying that she was drop dead gorgeous, but he definitely wasn’t not saying that.

As the professor kept talking, Noah surreptitiously flipped to a new page in his notebook and started drawing, keeping his gaze on the girl. She had her chin propped on one hand as she listened, the other holding a pencil that she tapped against her desk to a rhythm Noah could swear he recognized. There was something about the slight smile she wore that was totally entrancing, and Noah concentrated fiercely on getting it right, his pencil moving quickly.

Finally, he had a rough sketch of her completed on the page in front of him-- and just in time. The bell signifying the end of the class rang, and Noah got to his feet, closing his notebook and wondering how he was supposed to survive a few more hours of monotony.

He took a step forward, and crashed straight into the girl, who’d just leapt to her feet. Both of their books and notebooks went flying, and she let out a gasp. “Oh-- I’m sorry, I didn’t see you--”

“You’re good, it’s on me,” Noah assured her, quickly scrambling to pick up some of the books she’d dropped and wondering what on earth was up with him today. Usually, he’d just shoot the perpetrator a glare, pick up his stuff, and keep moving. And yet, he found himself handing the girl her a few notebooks as she shot him a quick smile.

The smile was enough to make his heart rate double, and he stood stock still as the girl shoved her books and notebooks into her bag and headed for the door. Finally, Noah shook himself out of his daze and glanced down at his notebook, which he was still holding.

Except that he wasn’t. In his hand was the spiral bound green notebook that he used for actual notes. It also looked nothing like the brown leather book he carried with him everywhere. What-- how-- Noah flashed back to a few minutes earlier, when he’d handed a few notebooks to the girl, completely unaware of his actions.

And one of them had been his. Which had a sketch of her in it.

Oh, CRAP. Indulging in a few more venomous curses, Noah bolted out of the classroom, barely stopping to scoop up his books before he raced down the hall, scanning for any sign of the girl.

To his relief, he finally spotted her heading out of the building, probably towards her next class. Which is nowhere near mine, Noah realized with a groan. Well, he was failing math anyways. May as well double down and skip class to avoid a lifetime of embarrassment. He headed after the girl, wondering how the heck he was supposed to broach this conversation.

At first, she didn’t seem to notice him behind her. This did not last long, because Noah was neither short nor remotely subtle, and he’d cultivated his “mess with me and you will regret it” vibes too long to give them up for a little bit of embarrassing subterfuge. She glanced back at him at one point, and Noah instantly pretended to be absorbed in one of his textbooks without really reading a word of the text, loitering next to the wall.

After a few seconds, he peeked over the top, and she was still there, hands on her hips, an unamused expression on her face. “Why are you following me?” she asked.

“...I’m not?”

“This isn’t the way to your class, because I’d know if I’d seen you there before,” she said. “Also, you’re reading that textbook upside down.”

“Huh?” Noah looked at it, and realized that it was, in fact, upside down. “Uh… I like to do that?”

“Not convincing. Tell me what you’re doing or I’ll call security.”

“Whoa, whoa-- please don’t do that.” Sticking the textbook under his arm, Noah braced himself, then said, “You have my sketchbook.”

The girl’s eyebrow shot up. “What?”

“When I bumped into you earlier, I accidentally handed you my notebook with your stuff,” Noah said, praying no one else was hearing this conversation.

Frowning, the girl asked, “Then why didn’t you ask for it back?”

“Um. Reasons.” He saw her skeptical expression and sighed. “There’s… maybe kinda a picture in there that I didn’t exactly want y-- anyone to see.”

The hostility in her expression faded, and the girl started digging through her bookbag, saying, “Okay. But I’m definitely looking.”

“What?” Alarm flooded through Noah. “Why?”

“I want to make sure you’re not just some creeper who’s using this as a dumb excuse,” she explained, which made sense. “And I’m also very curious.”

This could go well. “Maybe don’t--” Noah started, but she’d found his sketchbook and flipped it open to the most recent page before he could finish his sentence.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and for a moment she didn’t speak. Noah was desperately trying to figure out what to say when she said, “This is… really good.”

Hmm. Unexpected, Noah thought. “Thanks?” he said cautiously.

“I mean, it’s a little weird that you started drawing me when you don’t even know me,” she said, handing him back the notebook. “But I’m gonna choose to be complimented.”

Exhaling, Noah tucked the notebook under his arm, and shot her a quick smile. “Well, there’s one way to fix that,” he said. “I’m Noah St. Claire.”

Returning his smile, the girl said, “Ruya Lewis.”

Noah felt his heart beat a little faster at the smile, and managed to keep his expression nonchalant. “Nice to meet you, Ruya,” he said.

“You, too,” Ruya told him. “Although I have to ask-- do you meet every girl you know by stalking them after you’ve drawn them?”

“Well, you didn’t exactly give me much of a choice when it came to drawing you,” Noah said, feeling his grin turn into a smirk. “Not with that Mona Lisa smile of yours.”

Ruya’s eyes widened again, and to Noah’s delight, she turned slightly red. “Okay, charmer,” she said, grinning. “Why don’t you let me get to class, and I’ll talk to you later.”

“How do you plan on finding me?” Noah protested.

“Oh, it’ll be easy. Everyone knows about the infamous Noah St. Claire, who got suspended in the first week of college because he punched out a professor,” Ruya said, smirking.

Whoops. He’d honestly forgotten about that. “Don’t let my reputation scare you off,” Noah told her, and she laughed.

“Duly noted. Uh, you should probably get going-- aren’t you late for class?”

Noah glanced at his watch and discovered that he was, in fact, nearly late. “Worth it,” he said, flashing her a grin, and then bolted down the hallway as fast as his feet could carry him, hearing Ruya’s laugh behind him.

[shoryubug]

Standing Up. Chapter 1: Alya

Starting this off with saying, first and foremost; please take it easy on me, this is my first fic since 2004...second; I have read a LOT of Miraculous salt, and honestly I am just really tired of Alya being made into a racist caricature in all saltfics that I read, and I wanted to do something that seemed believable. This is intended to be a oneshot with an open ending, but...it has the potential to become more if people want to see a real resolution. UPDATE: This work will be continued as a 10 part story, and can now also be found on AO3!

When it came to matters of the heart, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not well versed, after all, she had just begun to learn what it was like to fall in love...and all of the intense feelings that came with it. Being new to the age of fourteen was strange in and of itself, but it had come with a lot of new hormones and feelings to process as a result of those hormones...and right now, she was feeling a lot of heartbreak...but living in a city with an emotional terrorist had given her certain limitations, and thus eradicated the ability for her to have a healthy way to get over the intensity of the heartbreak that she felt...so she turned to new, and very welcome distractions, such as throwing herself entirely into her hobby of designing, and planning out sketches for her future designs. 

It wasn’t much, but it was all that she felt comfortable with, it made her feel at ease from the pain of wondering if she had made the right choice when she confronted Hawkmoth at the end...many questions had lingered on her mind, should she have chosen Chloe over Kagami? Chloe was calling out to her...and the choice she had made...was it really pragmatic, or was she thinking with her heart instead of her head? Yes, Kagami had picked up on things rather quickly...but when she pondered it afterward, she couldn’t see anything aside from the mistake she’d made...if she had chosen Chloe, then they wouldn’t have had to face Miracle Queen...but the more she thought about it...facing Miracle Queen was the best possible outcome. She still would have forgotten to change back, due to Mayura’s distraction, and if Miracle Queen hadn’t acted like such a pompous brat, then Hawkmoth definitely would have kept all of the Miraculous for himself...and the more she thought about it like that, the more she felt that she had made the right choice...even if it was for the wrong reasons. 

A sigh played on palid pink lips before she picked her pencil up and began to absently sketch out a design that played on the newspaper trope that was seemingly both in and out of fashion. A part of her wished that she could put that kind of design into the fabrics of her choice, to give it a retro-vintage look, but another part of her was certain that anything that tied to the printing press was on it’s way out. Her mind was a blank void for the moment, before she stared at the home screen of her computer. A picture of Adrien Agreste standing there, she still had yet to change it, despite having taken down a lot of the fanfare that had previously adorned her walls. “Looks like I forgot something else…” she mumbled, before she felt a slight brush of wind, and a tap on her cheek. 

“Marinette! Don’t be so hard on yourself! Everyone can be forgetful!” Tikki’s charming voice rang out. A smile played on her lips for a brief moment before her soft gaze fluttered back to her computer screen and she began to search online for a picture that she knew existed somewhere, of Ladybug and Chat Noir sitting on a roof, gazing out at the city. She still wasn’t sure who had captured the photo, but it was one of her favorites, just a picture of her and Chat enjoying the moment. No flirting, no puns, no akumas...just patrolling the city in the pursuit of helping the citizens, and taking a pause for themselves afterward. 

“You’re right Tikki...but as you know, sometimes it can be really hard not to chastise myself.” Marinette stated, before she finally found the photo and set that as her background. “What do you think of this design by the way?” she asked, motioning down to the paper she was sketching on and tapping on a small section of the paper with the erasure of her pencil, highlighting it for her Kwami partner. 

“I think you should make it! It’d look really nice on anyone that wore it, and I know that’s important to you!” Tikki offered as Marinette’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “You really think so? I was just sketching but, if you really think I should!” her voice was full of joy. 

“Yeah! I can even help you like when you made the hat!” Tikki offered before Marinette scooped her up with both hands and placed a soft kiss to her Kwami’s forehead. 

“Thank you so much Tikki!” Marinette stated before setting the kwami back down on the desk. “Now it’s time I get to work!” she stated while giving off a joking macho pose. Reaching into her pocket she sent out a few texts to Juleka, Luka, and Rose, asking each of them if they wouldn’t mind measuring each other for sizes, so that she could work on a new project, and after about 10 minutes of waiting, all three had sent separate responses with answers to her question, and upon that, she set straight off to work. 

The process of making the jackets and shirts was a bit arduous, having to deal with puckered seams a bunch of the time, and becoming ultra friendly with a seam ripper, but after a while, she had finally perfected everything, and it had only taken one day and three afternoons, so for her it was record timing. Excitement filled the air as she sent texts off to Juleka, Rose, and Luka, asking if all three wouldn’t mind meeting her after school so that she could do a fitting for them, to perfect any issues in the clothing, and after that if they wouldn’t mind modeling the clothing out near Canal Saint Martin, so that she could play on the setting with the color tones of the clothing, offering each a box of macarons for their help, and to use the images on her new website. Rose and Juleka had answered with earnest, though Luka had yet to respond, but Marinette wasn’t too concerned, having believed he was just busy with his morning routine. 

As she had gone through school, everything was basically the same as usual, aside from the excited glances she kept shooting back at Juleka and Rose, anticipating the afternoon. 

“Girl, what’s up today, why do you keep looking back at Juleka and Rose, is something up with Kitty Section? Or is this about a certain boy in blue?” Alya teased before Marinette’s cheeks tinged pink. 

“Nothing’s up exactly...I just asked the two of them if they’d model a new outfit for me is all, and I’m really excited to get it all set up on my website!” Marinette practically sang, her heart entirely set upon her work. 

“Oh! You know what you need for that then? Adrien and Lila! They can totally help and give you some amazing tips to seem more professional!” Alya volunteered, which made Marinette sigh in irritation. 

“I’d really rather they didn’t come.” Marinette stated, which made Alya roll her eyes. 

“Look, you have to get over that he’s dating someone already, you can’t just pretend that you’re friends when you’re together but then avoid him for stuff like this that would actually help you!” Alya whisper-stated. 

“No Alya, and this isn’t even about that! Besides, I’m fine, and Adrien and I are friends, I’m not pretending anything!” Marinette hissed. 

“Then what, is it about your jealousy of Lila? She’s a model now girl, she really could help you!” Alya insisted, which made Marinette roll her eyes. The bell rang just at that moment, which was a godsend to Marinette. If she had to keep up with that conversation, she was going to scream. Scooping up her book-bag she slung it over her shoulder, reached into her pocket, and checked her texts. Finally, the message from Luka that she’d been waiting on! 

>>>Yeah sure Marinette that sounds fun, but you really don’t need to bring the macarons, your company is enough of a present. 

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she walked in a daze down the stairway, she wasn’t exactly in love with Luka, but he really did know how to make her feel light as air...but her mood was brought down the moment that she heard Alya’s loud voice in conversation with Lila and Adrien. 

“Yeah! Marinette’s doing it today, just ask her---” Alya was midway through the sentence before Marinette stomped over. 

“I already told you that I didn’t want them coming. This is private Alya, I didn’t even invite you so what makes you think that you can invite others on my behalf?!” she snapped. 

“Girl like I said you need to get over your jealousy--” 

“I’m not jealous! Why do you always have to make this about me being jealous!? What about this seems like jealousy?! I already have my models chosen, and since both Adrien and Lila are GABRIEL’S MUSES it would look bad on me to use either of them, for their help or for their modeling! I already told you I didn’t want them to come, but you came over and invited them anyway! Why won’t you just listen to me?! Do you want another Reflekdoll incident?! You didn’t even apologize to Juleka for that, you just left it all on me, and it wasn’t even my fault!” Marinette huffed, making motions with her hands the entire time, before finally turning her attention to both Adrien and Lila. “Look guys...I’m really sorry this isn’t about either of you, but I just wanted to spend some time concentrating on my own thing today and Alya really had no right to invite either of you. Everything is fitted to those three, and I’m doing final fitting checks for the new designs I made, it’s not even about you two, which Alya would have known if she’d have asked me first, or paid attention to when I said no!” her attention set back to Alya as both Lila and Adrien inched away slowly to get away from the splash zone of what they both perceived to be an obvious fight on the rise. 

“Th-that’s fine Marinette! I understand, and I’m sure Lila does too...I’m gonna go meet my bodyguard now!” Adrien stated, before practically sprinting off. 

“Marinette I don’t get it, why are you being so stubborn!? Is it really impossible to be friends with him now?” Alya begged. “I mean it’s weird enough having to plan around both of you being in the same place--” 

“Nobody asked you to do that Alya! Neither of us should be unincluded! I already said it a few times now, this wasn’t about Adrien or Lila or jealousy, this was about you stomping into my already set plans and trying to take over, like you always do! It isn’t fair! Not to me, not to the people I make these plans with, not to anyone!” 

“This really can’t be on me. I mean, there’s obviously something deeper--” 

“No! There isn’t! Now would you stop making it a habit of stomping in on my plans and taking over!? Because I really have to go and I don’t want to keep having this conversation with you!” Marinette shot before slapping a hand to her face and huffing. “Look...we should really talk about this later, but right now...I have plans that I intend to follow through on…” and with that, Marinette took leave of the school, of Alya, and away from all of the weird looks she was getting. Her mood was clearly shot, but she wasn’t going to let that ruin the designs that she had spent days pouring her heart and soul into, or the fun she still intended to have with the Rose, Juleka, and Luka.

[liliacvol6]

Gettin’ High ~ Bucky Barnes Smut

Summary: You smoke weed with Bucky, letting your new-found confidence from the herb take out, reveal some information you've been hiding and that leads to an interesting interaction with the super soldier....

Warnings: Mentions of weed, smutttttt, metal-arm kink, slight choking

Author's Note: This is my first fan-fic in about five years, please let me know if it's too slow or boring! Any feedback is much appreciated! :)

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

"Finally" you whispered once back in your room. Throwing your uniform onto the ground and stepping into a hot shower would be a great way to start a night with yourself in the Avengers Tower. Everyone out on a big mission, except you. Getting injured a few months ago, with a slow and definitely not speedy recovery meant you got to do very little when it came to missions.

~

"Steve, I hurt my arm over five months ago. I can go on this mission." You stood your ground, as tiny as it was, you being just a little over five-foot resulted in you looking like a puppy dog instead of a terror. Steve sighed and crossed his arms over his chest,

"Enough. I'm in charge of you, you're staying here. Until you can take Bucky again while sparring you won't return to the field." Your angry eyes met Bucky's head, he looked up from the file and locked eyes with you, he smirked at your anger and went back to reading. You were infuriated. Steve and the other avengers all treated you like a child because you were so much [physically younger than them. Bucky was always being a dick to you because you were powerful, able to generate and manipulate magnetic field was your mutant ability, but you couldn't take him while sparring.

The rules were for sparring were simple, no powers. You were being taught how to defend yourself in case Wanda went all "House of M" again and erased half of the mutants powers. Bucky was your training partner because Steve was too busy with other duties, forced to be paired with the strongest of the avengers was something you regretted. Sure with your powers you were unstoppable, but trying to fight against Bucky's metal arm and assassin skills was impossible.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The one thing you could control was what you did when all the other avengers were out of the tower, smoke weed. It was the highlight of the most recent months. Being able to lounge wherever you wanted, smoke a bowl and just relax without the others screaming at you was a highlight to your residency as an avenger.

"Okay, meals are in the fridge, or just get take-out. Whatever you want, I don't care. You have one of my cards." Tony called to you as they all boarded the Quinjet. You smiled and waved to them as they took off, Nat giving you her signature smirk and a little wave, Steve nodding his head at you, Thor holding up his hammer as a sign of goodbye and Bruce giving an awkward wave. Tony blew a kiss as the door closed and they flew off.

You ran to your room and removed your suit. Digging through your underwear drawer and cursing yourself for putting it in such a lame hiding place, you pulled out your little container and picked a joint to start the night off with. You didn't want to smoke in your room in case a fire alarm went off so you went up to the roof. It was dark but there was a little make-shift seating area that Nat and you had set up to play cards and drink at night.

You let out a large sigh and sat on a fold-up chair, pulled out your lighter and lit the joint. The earthy smell of the weed filled your nostrils and you inhaled the marijuana, with your eyes closed and head titled to the stars you were ready to get your high on. You expelled the smoke only to open your eyes and scream.

"Jesus fucking CHRIST Bucky. What the FUCK are you doing here?" You screamed trying to put out the joint to hide the evidence of your actions. Bucky's eyes watched you as you were frantically trying to stay calm. "What?" You aggressively asked him as you felt your face becoming crimson.

"I didn't know you smoked weed." He said leaning forward, "I don't mind, I used to smoke weed in my teenage years." He smiled at you, you smiled back. You didn't even mean to smile but this was not typical Bucky behavior. He never smiled at you, always glaring or smirking.

"I only do it when no one else is here, it helps me to calm down and I can do stuff, I don't know." You trailed off at the end, still embarrassed even though Bucky said it didn't bother him.

"Can I try some?" He asked not breaking eye contact, you shrugged and passed him the weed and lighter. "I don't know if it'll work, my body is different now." He said as he brought the weed up to his mouth and lit the joint.

You watched him as he expelled the smoke, he passed it back to you and you followed his actions.

~~~~

You and Bucky had finished off the first joint and decided to light another. You were never like this, but Bucky was being nice and you couldn't wait to tell Nat that you two had bonded.

"Why do you live here and not with your family?" You were brought back to Earth by his question

"They passed a little while ago, part of my mutation is slow-aging. I was born in the 50′s" You ran your hands through your hair, you hadn't been asked about yourself in a while. You figured everyone knew but still treated you like you were 18. Your gene was triggered on your 18th birthday when you were in a car accident with your older sister. Your abilities were triggered, you created a magnetic force-field around the both of you. The car was destroyed and you were never the same after.

Bucky sat there speechless, "I didn't realize" You just nodded your head and shrugged, you were very high and didn't really care about your past at the moment. "I wish I would've known, we have a lot in common." He said leaning back and flexing his arm, you stared at it. It was so intriguing, he rolled down the sleeve of his shirt to cover it and you rolled your eyes.

"You're so sensitive about it, why?" Being as high as you were, you didn't notice Bucky's posture tighten up.

"I've used it to kill people and that's what everyone thinks about when they see it." He looked down, obviously ashamed.

"I don't think so." You said nonchalantly as you took another hit. "Maybe when you had the red star one but with the black one, it's sleek and sexy. That's all I think about when I see it." You put your arms behind your head and crossed your legs after realizing you called him sexy your face was red once again.

"No one has ever called my arm sexy" You closed your eyes, trying to make yourself shrink out of this conversation. Thank god the weed was helping you to feel ~wild~

"Maybe not to your face, I've had conversations about it with people, like Wanda" You said trying to get the subject off of you. You took a peak over at Bucky, he was smirking to himself, looking off the roof and down to the people on the sidewalk. "They look small from here" You said staring at him, you felt awkward, being around for a long time on this Earth meant you had been with lots of men before. However, you never allowed yourself to get close to anyone because they would age and you wouldn't.

"If you think I'm sexy why do you never talk to me, or sit next to me at meetings. There's always an empty seat next to me but you never take it." He said getting defensive, looking at your with cold eyes and crossed arms. You mimicked his position and gave a small smile.

"Bucky, you never speak to me. When you came to live at the tower I came by with cookies and you told me to leave you alone. When we spar you scream at me and call me weak, why would I want to sit next to you?" You spat at the super soldier. You immediately regretted it, "I'm sorry. Look truth is, when you first got here I had a lil bit of a crush." Bucky's eyes shot towards you making you blush, "But that's to be expected yanno, you were the new guy and cute and mysterious and your arm was cool..."

"Sexy, you said." Bucky exclaimed cutting you off, you scrunched your eyes closed and continued,

"Anyways, then the cookie incident so I just said 'eh whatever, he will just be my training partner.' and I never thought about it again." You said, lying about the last part but he didnt need to know that.

"I don't think you're weak, you're incredibly strong, even when you aren't using your powers. You just don't try as hard as you should because you rely on them." You rolled your eyes,

"You always have your arm attached to you, always using it. That's your power so why can't I use mine always." You crossed your arms once again,

"This is the reason I don't talk to you, come to find out you were born in the 50′s, making you much older than I previously thought you were yet you act like a child." He stood up, getting ready to leave. You knew he was right, but he brought up a lot of emotion that you hadn't thought about for a while. You were bombarded with the times when you caught Bucky looking at you during "family" dinners or parties and you started blushing.

"I'm sorry, the weed is supposed to calm me and here I am freaking out." Bucky looked at you and sat back down.

"Don't be sorry, I know I can be a dick. However, even without my arm I could kick your ass." He said smiling widely at you, you looked at him with complete disbelief.

"Really cute Buck, thought we were gonna apologize, confess our attraction to each other and fuck or something, but now I'm not in the mood. I'm gonna hit the hay." You got up, shocking Bucky with your words. He stood up quickly and followed you.

"Hey hey, come on...... did you really mean what you said though? about the fucking, because I don't have to tell anyone." He said leaning against the elevator wall, you shook your head no.

"Look, I'm saying some things tonight, but my mind isn't working that well right now so it doesn't matter because who knows if I even mean it." You could feel your high getting the best of you, becoming all flustered, which is something you never allowed. Especially not in front of Bucky.

"Listen, you're really high right now and you're being honest and open with me. Why don't I return the favor?" He asked you, you stood just staring at him, who was this guy? Smiling at you while also raking his eyes up and down your body. "I think you're beautiful, I have since you brought the cookies to my room. I deal with a lot, bad dreams and constant dark thoughts so I made sure you didn't want to be around me." You scrunched your nose again in confusion.

"Well that's great, I spent the last year and a half thinking you hated me, so every time I thought about you I would feel ashamed." You let out feeling a weight being lifted off your shoulders with the verbal vomit you just threw at Bucky.

"When do you think of me and feel ashamed afterward?" He asked licking his lips, your eyes bulged, and your bit your lip.

"I didn't mean it like that." You started to go on another tangent about how you weren't interested in him like that but he was walking over to you, putting his metal arm up against the wall next to your head. You looked at the arm, at his eyes and then the ground. "I'm uh sorry" You said not looking up at him. "I jus-"

"Enough, you don't need to be sorry for being attracted to me. I already told you I think you're beautiful. I also think it's hot you find my arm sexy. Maybe some time I could show you how it works." You didn't need to look up to know his signature smirk was plastered on his face, your face was on fire and you felt like an innocent little girl again. His tall, muscular figure leaning over you and being dirty was trying you wild.

"I like that." Was all you said, the weed was making you feel so powerful and sexy. You looked up at Bucky, in a matter of seconds he grabbed your wrist with his flesh hand and pulled you out of the elevator and towards the closest room, the laundry room. It was dark and smelt like lavender, Wanda's signature detergent scent. Bucky closed the door and you didn't know what to expect, you yelped when Bucky pushed you against the back of the door.

"Can I kiss you, please?" he asked with an urgency that made your panties wet. You answered him by pulling on his hair, bringing his lips to yours and kissing him. You let out a moan, his lips were rough and chapped. Just like you had imaged they'd be. He wrapped his metal arm around your waist and lifted you up into the air. He put you down on a washer and kissed your neck, you let out another moan as he started kissing down your chest. You started to tug the t-shirt you were wearing over your head when you jumped because of the sudden start of the washer. You looked at Bucky and he was smirking.

"If you leave the washer on it'll send a hum to your clit and then your orgasm will be fantastic" Bucky moaned into your ear as his flesh-hand started to rub your clit. The weed mixed with the fact that Bucky was fingering you as a washing machine rumbled against your clit just right, was sending you to an orgasm.

"B-Bucky, please fuck me" You whispered into his ear, he didn't waste any time. He used his metal arm to rip off your shirt, he moaned at your already naked chest.

"No bra, now that's sexy." He said smiling, you laughed and grabbed at his shirt, once it was over his head you threw off your shirt and begged him to take off his pants. "Fuck me" Was all he said as his metal hand went to touch your breast. You moaned as he pinched one of your nipples and kissed him. You reached down and gasped into the kisses when you felt how huge his cock was.

"Jesus Christ Bucky" You said in between kisses, he smirked into the kiss and thrust his metal fingers into you. "Oh m-" you started to yell, his fingers so cool in your pussy sent you flying into another dimension. You had never felt so much pleasure in all of your years on Earth. Bucky was tired of you getting all the attention, he turned off the washer, causing you to squirm around. Bucky's flesh arm snaked around your waist.

"You don't get to cum just yet." He smiled down at you and you gave him your best angry expression. With that, Bucky jerked his cock off a little and slid it into you, you both moaned out as he started pushing in a little at a time.

"Your cock is so hard, it feels so good." Bucky moaned, this time it was loud.

"Keep talking dirty like that baby, I love it" He whispered into my ear making me moan.

It wasn't long until Bucky's cockiness took over. "Turn around" he growled at you, you rolled your eyes and started turning slowly, too slowly because Bucky grabbed you by the waist with his flesh arm and flipped you around onto your stomach. He slammed into you and took his metal arm and put it around your neck. You moaned out as the cool fingertips wrapped around your neck. You always thought his arm was sexy and having it wrapped around your neck felt incredible. You could feel your orgasm on its way just from his touch.

"You like my arm princess?" He asked squeezing a little tighter, you whimpered, "What was that? Couldn't hear you?" His cocky grin appearing on his face.

You moaned out "Yes, I love it Bucky" You heard a loud grunt and suddenly Bucky was slamming into you faster and harder than before. "Fuck, I'm gonna cum" You screamed, Bucky flipped you around so you were on your back and facing him. He slammed into you again and started using his metal fingers to rub your clit.

You couldn't hold it in anymore and you came harder than you ever had, Bucky removed his fingers from your throbbing clit and wrapped his hand around your neck. He slammed hard into you, if you were a regular human you probably would've been sore the next day.

"Fuck (Y/N)" Bucky whispered as he pulled out, jerking his big load onto your stomach. "Holy shit, sex while high is incredible" he breathed out, falling beside you.

"Yeah it is" You said pulling out another blunt and looking at him, he raised his eyebrows at you, "Wanna go again Buck?"

[moldisgoodforyou]

give a little: chapter one (jj maybank x oc)

MASTERLIST

not my gif! from @rudypankows​

pairing: jj maybank x oc

synopsis: charlotte “charlie” walker is a rising senior at the university of south carolina, an exercise science major, a kappa, and is back in the outer banks for the summer. she’s stubborn as hell, isn’t rich enough to be a kook or poor enough to be a pogue, and is used to being in the background. she and jj both go to USC, her sorority and his frat (beta) running in the same social circles but the two rarely speak at school. things change when they run into each other at the boneyard in the summer.

warnings: drinking, swearing, mentions of sex, all characters are 21+

wordcount: 1.7k

___________________________________________________

It was the first party of the summer after Charlotte Walker returned home from her junior year at the University of South Carolina. Her internship plans didn’t work out so she resorted to working at her family’s ice cream shop at home, back in the Outer Banks, and feeling a little too reminiscent of high school. At least she still had her group of friends from home. 

She was halfway to drunk, just in the mood for dancing tonight. It had been what felt like the longest week ever at work and all she wanted to do was hang out with her girls, ignoring advances from a couple Tourons. 

Just as her favorite Lizzo song came on and she started dancing around with a grin, pointing and singing with her friends at the top of her lungs, she felt a strong arm thrown around her shoulders. She was two seconds away from shrugging the arm off and telling the guy to fuck off when she looked up, confusion crossing her face. 

JJ Maybank, of all people, started singing along with her. He had a half-grimace, half-smile plastered on his face. They had both ended up at USC together, opting to get out of North Carolina and go for the SEC party scene. The two were casual acquaintances at best, their sorority and fraternity often sharing date parties, but they ran in different circles.

Charlotte’s best friend, Grace, shot her a questioning glance, the universal ‘do-you-need-help’ look among girls, but she just shrugged in response. “Maybank?” Charlotte questioned, taking his hand and trying to remove his arm.

He smiled wider at the nickname, keeping her hand in his and lifting it, twirling her. “Hi Charlotte -” 

“Charlie,” she quickly corrected. “No one calls me Charlotte but my parents.”

“Right. Charlie. Just go with it,” he whispered near her ear before kissing her cheek chastely, his eyes trained on someone in the distance. She was so surprised that she flinched, making him chuckle. 

“You’re helping me out here, Charlie, I’m not gonna hurt you.” He laughed, continuing to dance with her. Still confused, but not sober enough to question it, she just smiled and kept dancing with him, one hand still in his. She downed the rest of her beer with a slight grimace and he raised his eyebrows, impressed. 

“I didn’t think you drank anything but Beta’s jungle juice,” he teased. 

“I haven’t had that shit since freshman year,” she retorted. 

He laughed. “Oh, but that’s not what it looked like at the Bama tailgate.” 

“That was....a special circumstance.” She relented, shaking her head. 

He just laughed again. “Uh-huh. Come on, let’s get more for you to drink,” he said, keeping her hand in his and pulling her through the crowd to his friends to grab her another beer out of the cooler. 

JJ tugged on Charlotte’s hand to pull her down to sit in their circle. The Pogues nodded and smiled at her in acknowledgment before continuing their conversation, knowing JJ’s scheme. He put his arm around her shoulders again, using his free hand to play with the ends of her sunkissed brown hair. 

“Maybank, what exactly am I helping you with?” She asked, leaning into him slightly.

He glanced back and forth at the crowd of partygoers quickly before returning his attention to her. “Uh...hold on, I’ll tell you in a second.” He continued playing with her hair and she almost closed her eyes, relishing the feeling until he abruptly stopped and dropped his arm from her shoulder. He grinned finally and sighed in relief, looking out into the crowd and nodding out in that direction. 

Charlie followed his gaze and laughed when she saw a Touron huff in disappointment, storming off with her friends after his blatant rejection.

“Sorry, Charlie, I needed assistance and you were the first girl I knew.” He offered in a half-ass apology. “But you didn’t seem to mind, did you?” He grinned lazily, tugging lightly on the end of her hair.

“Shut up,” she responded, blushing and bringing her hands to her cheeks to hide it.

He caught one of her hands in his before she could cover her face. “Don’t. It’s cute.” 

Maybe it was a sudden burst of confidence, maybe it was the liquid courage (on second thought, it was definitely the alcohol). “Maybank, you’re not really going to start flirting with me after you’ve never given me a second thought before, are you?” She asked dryly, raising her eyebrows.

He raised his back, considering the question for a beat before responding. “Seems like I’ve been missing out,” he offered with a grin. 

She blushed again. “JJ -” 

“Oh, so you do know my first name!” He teased, shoving her shoulder slightly.

 She rolled her eyes. “Of course I do, we’ve gone to school together since we were five.” 

“You don’t act like it, avoiding me at all our date parties.” He countered. 

“Maybe I don’t want to associate with you.” 

A flash of hurt came over him before the smile halfway returned to his face. “You don’t mean that.” 

Her alcohol-induced haze failed to help her pick up on his hurt. “You have a reputation, Maybank, I don’t want people to think I’m just another one of your conquests.” 

“I’m not that bad!” He cried out in protest, running a hand through his hair sheepishly. He at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed. 

“You are that bad,” Charlie scoffed. “We have a list pinned up in the Kappa house of boys that’ll break your heart, and you’re on top, underlined and highlighted.” 

As the party dwindled, the rest of the Pogues had been halfway paying attention to the conversation by them, but Kiara finally spoke up at the mention of The List. She wrinkled her nose. “Oh my god, JJ, you said you weren’t that bad in college.”

“What can I say, the ladies love me,” he shrugged with a shit-eating grin, earning a groan from his friends before Charlie smacked his chest with the back of her hand, rolling her eyes.

“See? A reputation,” Charlie repeated. 

“Okay, okay, I surrender,” he joked, putting his hands up in defense.  

“Alright, well, looks like I helped you enough, so I’m gonna get back to my friends.” Charlie glanced around for them and stood, immediately stumbling, her low tolerance betraying her.

JJ laughed and stood to catch her, his arm easily wrapping around her waist.

She pulled his arm off of her, shaking her head. “I can walk! I’m like, totally sober. I don’t need help.”

He raised his eyebrows, gesturing his arm in front of him. “Go ahead, prove it.” 

Stubborn as ever, she took about five steps away from the group before tripping over a root buried in the sand. Kiara shot JJ a glare just before he made a sly remark and he stifled a laugh, going to help Charlie up. “Come on then, I’ve got you.” He took her hand and helped her up, wrapping his arm securely around her waist again and ignoring a whine from her. She pulled out her phone and saw multiple messages from her friend Grace that she hadn’t seen. 

Grace: are u coming?  

Grace: do u need rescuing? 

Grace: why are u with JJ anyway i thought you already went through ur rebound phase

Grace: ok I have to go but i’m tracking u on find my friends, call if u need me

JJ glanced down at the screen and scanned it quickly, then looked away, pretending not to have read the messages - especially the third one. Charlie sighed and looked up at JJ, putting on a serious expression. 

“Maybank?”

“Yeah, Charlie?” He held his breath, bracing for another insult.

“I don’t think I can drive.” 

His shoulders relaxed and he chuckled, fishing her car keys out from her back pocket. “Probably not. Come on, pretty girl, I’ll drive you.” 

She wrinkled her nose at the nickname, but relented, walking with him. “I’m not your girl.” 

“I didn’t say you were,” he smirked. “Was that a Freudian slip, Charlie?” He tried in an attempt to impress her, alluding to their English 101 class together freshman year.

She shook her head. “Nice try, Maybank, it’s not.” 

The two made their way to her car and he gently helped Charlie into the passenger seat, careful of his hands as he buckled her in. “Do you know how to get me home?” She asked, reaching over and tugging on his seatbelt once he got in.

“I do, I remember the party at your house for high school graduation.”

She smiled at the memory. Where she lived, she wasn’t quite a Pogue, but wasn’t quite a Kook - just in between enough to blend in. “I had my first kiss that night.”

JJ laughed in surprise. “You had your first kiss when you were 18? That late?” 

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Not all of us made it our mission to get around with the entire high school.”

He pretended to gasp, clutching his heart dramatically. “Damn, Charlie, shot after shot to the heart.” He pulled into her driveway, then ran around to help her out of the car before she could get out on her own, placing her car keys in her hand. “I got you, don’t fall,” he said, being extremely careful of his hand placement around her waist again. By that point, she had partially sobered up, but she didn’t mind his touch. 

“Oh, fuck me,” she muttered, seeing the light on in her parents’ room. 

“Charlie, that’s rather forward of you.” JJ smirked, wanting to see her blush again.

“Fuck off.” She blushed deeply and JJ grinned, poking her cheek. She flinched away but laughed anyway. “I need to go, I’m sure my parents are gonna be mad at me, I was supposed to babysit my brother tonight, not sneak out and get drunk.”

JJ nodded. “Alright, good night Charlie. I’ll see you around.” He leaned in slightly, like he was about to kiss her, then changed his mind at the last second.

She realized her eyes had almost fluttered shut in anticipation, then shook her head, taking a large step away from him. “See you around, JJ,” she replied over her shoulder before going inside.  

She shut the door behind her and leaned up against it, smiling to herself. Maybe JJ Maybank wasn’t all that bad. 

[extrasugafree]

Here || Akaashi x Reader Pt. 3

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Warnings: Toxic Relationships, Profanity, Violence (future chapters)

Author’s note: Hello! Sorry for the long wait for part 3, but this one is just a filler chapter for time time being. Due to certain events occurring the past week has taken a toll on my mental state so it was kind of hard for me to focus on my writing and revising. Hoping that the climax will happen next part so ;) Thank you for your patience! I appreciate your support <3

Comment to be added to the taglist!

Taglist: @beanst0ck @seffuchan

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4 Part 5 After Ending

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

It’s been two weeks since the falling of your relationship with Rin. In retrospect, you’ve been heartbroken ever since. But, the more time you had been able to spend with Akaashi lately, you had realized a couple of things.

Not only did you realize how much of a toxic relationship you were in, but through your rollercoaster of a relationship, Akaashi never stopped being your friend. And, having the boy by your side has helped your healing process.

You had missed spending time with Akaashi; studying in the library, going to the vending machine to buy snacks, being able to eat the bento lunches you made for the both of you. You found that your daily highlights had been seeing him in class and having a small conversation here and there about how everything was going with homework and occasionally your relationship. It was something you had to savor, something to be cautious about, before Rin would come barging into the class in search of you.

A few days after the break-up, you were both at Akaashi’s house finishing the project. In the midst of drawing some pictures for visual representation, you both reached out for the same colored pencil, accidentally caressing hands.

 A blush formed on the both of your faces as he suggested you go ahead and use it first. A feeling of some kind of tension was evident between you both. Awkwardness? Shock? Embarrassment? Love? You didn’t know... but you hoped it meant something more to him, as it did for you.

However, you weren’t sure if he felt that way for you. It’s ironic considering you’ve known him for almost all your life, yet somehow you still have trouble reading his face. 

His expression remains stoic; so it lead to reading his body language, but even that doesn’t give you enough information to how he truly felt about certain things. The only obvious emotion you can tell about him right away was when he was anxious, which was when he’d subconsciously fidget his hands. A habit that had followed him throughout the years. You’d only be lying to yourself if you thought it wasn’t cute.

One day you had a club activity after school, so you weren’t able to attend Akaashi’s volleyball practice. 

By the time you were finished, the boys should’ve been done cleaning up the gym too, so you waited for Akaashi by the front gates of school.

A few minutes had gone by, and you’re sure he would’ve been there already.

Soon, a familiar owl haired boy appeared and seemed to rambling to himself as he would if Akaashi was there, but he wasn’t. Weird.

Bokuto caught sight of you and grinned as he waved saying his famous, “hey, Hey, HEY!”

“Hey Bokuto-san! Where’s Akaashi?” You dashed over to him, asking with slight worry in your voice.

Bokuto raised his eyebrows and looked around him, realizing Akaashi is no longer walking beside him, “Huh that’s weird? I swear we were walking out together...” 

“Oh? Where’d he go?” You turn your head in every direction and you saw no sign of Akaashi.

Bokuto noticed your anxious demeanor making him wonder about Akaashi’s whereabouts. “Maybe he forgot something and went back to the gym. Come on Y/n, let’s go look” 

The confused boy turned around and you both walked towards to the gym, but the doors were locked and the lights were out. 

“Uhm.. what the-” Bokuto scratched the back of his head in frustration. 

“Where could he be?” You mumble to yourself tapping your foot on the pavement as if it would give you the answer. Oddly, it did. 

“I’m right here.” A voice said from behind, startling you. Turning around, there Akaashi was. He looked okay. It doesn’t seem like anything bad happen to him. 

A few yards behind him, you saw the silhouette of Rin and a few soccer team members walking towards the front with a smug look on all of their faces. The sight of Rin alone caused your stomach to drop and your chest felt heavy, but you pushed it aside and focused on the guy in front of you.

“Akaashi!! Where were you buddy?” Bokuto exclaimed wrapping his arm around Akaashi’s neck and ruffling his slightly sweaty hair, from their vigorous practice that evening. 

“Bokuto-san. Could you please let me go?” Akaashi asked in his usual monotone matter. 

“Ah, of course. Anything for you Akaashi! You just worried our dear Y/N.” Bokuto said obliging to the black haired boys request and let him free from his straining grip.

Akaashi rubbed his neck and fixed his hair as he turned his attention to you, “ Y/N-san, sorry to worry you. I’m fine, as you can tell.” 

You chuckle at the scene in front of you. However, you had to take a moment for yourself watching Akaashi run his hand through his wavy locks slightly pushing everything back exposing the hidden shadows of his face. You felt a unique feeling in your stomach different from the burdening one from earlier and your cheeks had gotten warmer.

“It’s okay Akaashi. I just thought it was unusual that you weren’t with Bokuto-san when I was waiting by the gate.” You give him a small smile and he nodded in return. 

“My bad, I’ll be sure to let you guys know beforehand next time. Shall we start our way home?” Akaashi suggests, and so the three of you start on route. 

There was no surprise that Bokuto started rambling on, but in the middle of his sentence talking about the upcoming game he changed the topic, catching Akaashi’s attention. “Wait- I just realized you never answered my question earlier dude. Why’d you suddenly leave my side when we were heading out from practice?” 

This stopped all three of you in your tracks and you turn your head to Akaashi who looked at the both of you. He saw the curiosity that roamed in your (e/c) eyes as well as Bokuto’s hazel eyes and sighed. 

“I guess I might as well say it now. I was going to tell you in the group chat once we were all home but seems like you both are eager to know” Akaashi fully rotated his body to face you and Bokuto, before continuing his explanation. 

“Well, I felt someone tap my shoulder as I was walking alongside Bokuto-san. Bokuto seemed preoccupied talking about our practice so I figured I’d just let him go on without me. Y/N-san, I saw you at the gate so I thought Bokuto would’ve seen you anyway.”

Bokuto interrupts, “Hey! What if I wanted to go too? he pouts but wraps an arm around you, “Huh Y/N?”

You chuckle shaking your head, “ Yes Bokuto-San. Akaashi will bring you with him next time. Who was it that tapped you on the shoulder?”

Bokuto grinned and nodded in compliance and returned his attention back to Akaashi.

Akaashi continued “It was one of Rin’s friends. He was refilling his water bottle I’m guessing, and signaled for me to follow him towards the soccer field because someone wanted to talk to me-”

Rin was on the soccer team. Before the whole split, you’d go watch him, unless you had to do something for your club. If you didn’t show up he’d get highly disappointed and call you out for it either over text or the next day you saw him at school. You didn’t even pay attention to him practicing; instead, you’d just work on your homework or read until practice was over. After all, you found soccer less amusing than the plays of a volleyball team. In fact, you always paid more attention to the volleyball practices than any soccer game of Rin’s. To make it seem like you cared, you’d give Rin artificial compliments when he asked you if you saw the goal he just made.

“Oh” you mumbled and nodded as Akaashi went on.

“Needless say, nothing bad happened. In fact, the female manager for the soccer team came up to me, quite welcoming, and invited us to go to a party she was holding. I guess the rest of the volleyball team was already invited too and she told me to invite any friends I had,” He finishes.

You raised one of your eyebrows and scoffed, “That’s it? Rin didn’t like.. threaten you or anything?” 

Akaashi shook his head, “ Rin was there, but he was just staring me down from where he stood. I personally thought he was the one who was gonna talk to me or something. He didn’t look too nice though.”

Bokuto eye’s brightened with excitement, “ Party?! Let’s go guys!” He jumped excitedly in his spot, not understanding the stress of the situation but you chuckled at the oblivious boy.

“Bokuto-san, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves and keep our volume down” Akaashi stated keeping Bokuto in check while you stood beside the neighborhood homes.

Bokuto laughed out loud once more and sighed, “Fine, fine...”

This time Akaashi had his undivided attention on you and his eyes found yours ask he asked you, and only you, “Do you want to go?” 

You swallowed a lump in your throat and thought about it for a few seconds as you bit the inside of your cheek. Akaashi didn’t turned his eyes away and waited for your answer. In the back Bokuto repeatedly muttered, “ Please, please, please” 

You took a deep inhale and sighed before replying, “I guess.” 

“Yes!!” Bokuto said throwing a fist in the air with joy knowing he gets to put all his high energy some place else besides the gym.

“You don’t have to go if Bokuto-san is pressuring you” Akaashi assured.

You shook your head with a small smile, “It’s okay. I mean it, I’ll go”

Akaashi remained his locked gaze on you until he looked forward once again and nodded. “Very well then. I will go too if you decide to go”

Again, you three continue home as Bokuto chattered about how fun the party is going to be and then switched to him asking you why you didn’t go to the practice that day, babbling about how he landed an awesome kill during a practice match between the team members. 

“I’m sure you did great Bokuto-san” You giggled and high-fived him.

“Ah well, if it weren’t for Akaashi’s setting I wouldn’t have done it” He patted Akaashi’s back with a bit of unintentional force causing Akaashi to slightly stumble forward, bringing out a laugh from you that continued to echo through the quiet street until you had reached the front gate of your home. 

“I’ll text the group chat guys! See you tomorrow” You waved as you walked into your yard. Bokuto and Akaashi waved and continued their way home not being too far from Akaashi’s place.

“So dude, I never knew you liked parties-” Bokuto starts.

“I never said I liked them Bokuto-san,” Akaashi says with some slight uneasiness. 

“Well, maybe once you go to this one, you find a whole new side of you.”

“Tsk. Who knows.”

“I have one more thing to tell you Akaashi” Bokuto and Akaashi stopped in front of Akaashi’s unlit home.

“What is it Bokuto-san?” 

“I never really liked that Rin guy. Especially, when he was with Y/N. He’s always been a jerk.” Bokuto crossed his arms.

Akaashi chuckled, “You could say that again”

“I never really liked that Rin guy-”

“I'm kidding, Bokuto-san.”

[chromemist]

Patrol Nights: 1st Instance

Series: Miraculous Ladybug

Pairing: Vipernette

Rating: straight up nsfw

Warnings: Vouyerism

Inspired by everyone on the LBSC server. I’m probably gonna make more of these. Please take head of the warnings. If you don’t like it, you are in no way obligated to read it. If you do read it, enjoy it! Likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated.

Viperion and Chat Noir both lighted on the rooftop at the same time, a soft sshink coming from Chat’s baton as he retracted it. Viperion looked over at the young cat and sighed. Chat Noir had the same pinched look on his face the entire night, and Viperion was really starting to get tired of it. He had hoped that after four years of watching the cat superhero get turned down, he’d grow up and get a clue. But even after all this time, Hawkmoth mysteriously disappearing, and Chat bragging about a girlfriend, he still wouldn’t give up. While it wasn’t as often and as annoying as it had once been, it still happened.

“Sorry this is boring you Chat. But look on the bright side. No crime!” Viperion tried for a pleasant conversation. Chat Noir only sighed, his shoulders and ears sagging.

“Yeah, it would’ve been a perfect night to talk to Ladybug. No offense Viperion. You’re a great teammate to have in a fight, but I definitely don’t want to be hanging out with you.”

Viperion rolled his eyes and walked to the edge of the building. He leaned on it, facing away from the grumpy cat and took his lyre off his back. He idly strummed it while addressing Chat Noir as calmly as he could.

“Ladybug asked us to patrol for the night. We all have our Miraculous now, and we all need to step up and do our part. It’s not just you and Ladybug anymore.” Viperion heard a rough intake of breath from behind him before Chat joined him at the ledge. “She’s been really stressed out lately. She needs a break. That’s where the rest of us come in. We can give her that moment of rest.”

Chat narrowed his eyes at him. “How can you tell she’s stressed?”

Viperion smiled wryly. “I’m the observant one, remember? It’s my job to watch.” He kept strumming calmly as Chat continued to stare at him. Viperion knew Chat was always worried he or Bunnix would discover Ladybug’s identity before Chat himself found out. Even though Bunnix had yelled at him that ’this wasn’t a competition Chat! We’re your ‘get out of death free’ card’, he still couldn’t shake old habits.

The cat just signed again and shook his head though. “Well anyway, it doesn’t look like anything’s happening. I’m calling it a night.” He said and hopped up on the ledge, preparing his baton to launch himself. He looked over his shoulder at Viperion. “You packing up for the night?”

Viperion considered going back to his apartment briefly. “I think I might stay out a bit longer. It’s a nice night.”

“Ooh? Got anywhere specific you’re going?” Chat wheedled, a smug grin on his face. Viperion snorted in response.

“It’s just nice out, and I don’t want to be inside my apartment right now. But if you’re asking if I have a girlfriend then no. Speaking of though, shouldn’t you be getting back to yours? What’s her name again? Marinette, right?” Viperion tried to keep his emotions in check, tried to keep the jealousy from leaking through. He knew Marinette wasn’t seeing anyone, but he couldn’t help being a tiny bit jealous over how much attention Chat Noir got.

Viperion was an adult. The oldest on the team. He should be past all this petty jealous teenage bull. But yet, whenever Marinette was concerned… ’Eventually I’ll learn my lesson…’ he thought.

“Marinette’s just a friend.” Chat said airley, almost automatically, like he’d said it a million times before. And hasn’t he heard that before? She’s just a friend. We’re only friends. You’re a good friend Luka… Viperion only sighed as Chat gave him his signature two fingered salute and leapt into the night.

Viperion watched him bounce away, the slight irritation ebbing away the farther the cat got. Once Chat Noir was completely gone, Viperion too leapt into the night, his lyre still in one hand. But he didn’t head home, just as he was planning to do. Instead he aimed for a certain bakery. Marinette had been so stressed this week, so stopping in to check on her would probably be welcomed. She liked all the heros well enough. And since Chat wasn’t going to visit her…

Moments later, Viperion quietly landed among all the furniture of Marinette’s balcony. He noticed the skylight above where she kept her bed was open. Thinking she was up and wanted some fresh air, he quietly made his way over, bringing his lyre up in both hands. He was about to start strumming again, to let her know he was there without spooking her, when he stopped dead in his tracks.

A noise, like shuffling sheets, came from the open skylight. ’Maybe she’s asleep already? I don’t want to wake-’ Viperion’s eyes widened behind his mask as another sound floated up from the skylight, completely freezing him in place. A low moan, in Marinette’s sweet, musical voice. ’Maybe she’s in pain?’ he thought, torn between hoping for that and hoping she wasn’t hurt. While he never wanted to wish harm on her, the alternative would be-

“Oooh yes… Right there…” Was quietly moaned and dashed all his hopes of leaving without ever hearing Marinette’s sweet moans of pleasure. In the four plus years of knowing her, he’d heard her make so many different kinds of noises. These though… These he’d always hoped, dreamed, he’d hear face to face, if she ever looked at him as Luka that way. He shouldn’t, couldn’t stay. He needed to leave, give her the privacy she thought she had, and take a very long, very cold shower.

“Luka, please…” Viperion stopped dead in his tracks once more. ’Wait, what?’ He looked down at himself and yeah, his suit was still on. And no one was popping up out of the skylight. Which meant…

’Is.. Is she imagining me?’ His brain screeched to a halt over that thought. Did not pass Go. Did not collect 200 dollars. His head turned without his permission towards the opening though when he heard more shuffling and a longer moan.

“Luka, your hands…” Her breathy voice floated up. His own responded by gripping into the sides of his lyre tightly. The low sound of skin brushing skin met his ears. “I love your rough hands on me. Please touch me?” He heard her beg him in her fantasy.

’I need to leave!’ his mind shrieked at himsekf in his head. The rest of his body was not keen on listening though, as his feet silently led him to the darkened corner where he could peer down at her. ’This is wrong and I’m horrible for staying, why am I staying?’ But his hormones and repressed feelings won out. Viperion knew he’d feel disgusted with himself and incredibly guilty later. But for now… Now he peered over the edge of the skylight, and saw one of the most beautiful sights ever. He brought his lyre up to his mouth and bit into a side to keep from making any noise. Oh, Sass was going to give him so much shit for this…

Moonlight bathed Marinette in it’s light, highlighting just how very naked she was. Her head was turned away from his position, but he could see her one visible eye was closed and her mouth was parted open on another panting moan. Her unbound hair was draped over her pillow and oh how he could write songs just from that view alone. His eyes traveled down her body, and it only got better.

One of her small hands was cupping a breast, rolling the puckered peak between two fingers. As she did, she praised Luka on how well his calloused fingers rubbed her. A jolt of pleasure shot through Viperion’s body and ’well that’s a thing I didn’t know I liked.’ He shifted quietly on his feet, the motion finally bringing attention to his rapidly hardening cock. Oh yeah, Sass was definitely going to give him shit for this.

Another low moan from Marinette brought his attention back to her. Viperion chewed on the curved tip of the lyre as his eyes followed her other hand, down her body. She splayed her fingers over her belly and slowly dragged them down, though dark curls, and gently pushed one thigh apart from the other. Viperion swallowed hard as her other thigh dropped open, baring her completely to him. She ran her hand lightly up and down her inner thigh, fingertips just barely teasing a fold. Desire coursed through him as he listened to Marinette plead with him, with Luka, to touch her.

“Please Luka, please touch me there. I can’t take much more of this!”

’Neither can I.’ He answered in his head.

Marinette moved her fingers down slowly, until finally pushing into her lips. She groaned out a yes and her back arched beautifully as she dipped her fingers into her waiting hole. Viperion almost moaned out loud when he heard the wet squelching noise coming from between her legs. Marinette pumped her fingers a few times, coating the digits liberally. She moved her now soaked fingers up to her clit, taking it between her thumb and pointer and rubbing. She tossed her head back, facing straight up. Her eyes still clenched shut thank God for that and her mouth opened wide, she panted and whined for him. She swirled her fingers around herself while her other hand gripped her breast tightly.

Viperion always imagined he’d go slow and gentle with her if he ever got the chance. He wanted to show her how much he loved and cared for her in every way possible. But if she wanted it a little rough as well, he would absolutely do that for her. One hand let go of his lyre and immediately latched onto the prominent bulge in his suit. He squeezed himself, hoping that he wouldn’t make any noise to alert her of her audience.

“Luka, I need more. Please, I need your cock in me!”

Pure lust slammed into him and he squeezed his throbbing member hard, trying to stave off the orgasm that wanted to rip through him. Never had he ever heard Marinette say anything remotely nasty or use actual cuss words. But here she was, pleading for him to ’fuck me with your hard cock.’ He was going to die of blood loss to the brain. Sass was going to have to apologize for him. He knew she had only been Multimouse a handful of times, but she knew what a kwami was. She could take his Miraculous off his dead body and give it back to Ladybug.

Viperion was brought back to the present as he watched her release her chest and, reaching back up under the pillow, brought out a very familiar shape. ’Oh shit, yes baby please.’ he encouraged in his mind as she dragged the toy down her body. She moved her fingers from her clit to spread her folds apart. He bit the lyre even harder as she first teased her wet hole. She dragged the tip from her hole, to her clit, and back, before pushing only the head inside.

Viperion inhaled sharply at the same time as Marinette, her back arching again as she lightly pumped the tip in and out. “Please don’t tease me!”

’Only if you’re good.’ came unbidden in his head, surprising himself at the thought.

“I’ll be good, I promise Luka!” She cried, startling Viperion badly, thinking he had said that out loud. But the lyre was still stuffed in his mouth, and she had said Luka’s name. A quick check confirmed her eyes were still closed, still lost in her fantasy. Viperion let out a slow breath of relief. He felt like a cold bucket of water had been dumped over him. Maybe that was a sign that it was time to go.

But before he could move away, she cried out his name loudly, followed by “ah, that’s so good!” His eyes snapped back to her. Her head was tossed to the side again, her chest heaving with labored breaths. Her hips rotated back and forth along with the dildo now buried inside her. Marinette cried out again as she pulled it halfway out, before pushing it back in.

“Faster Luka, faster!” She pleaded. Her hand obeyed, pumping the toy in and out of her at an increased rate. She took her clit between her fingers again and squeezed in time with her thrusts. Marinette cried out and moaned loudly as her hips rose off the mattress, her toes curling in the sheets. “Almost… Almost…”

Viperion once again had to squeeze himself in order to stop himself from cumming just as her orgasm hit her. Her choked off moan ended in her sighing out his name once more in reverent bliss. He could see the pleasurable shudders still wracking her body as she milked herself through the last dregs of her orgasm.

’Time to go!’ he thought as she lowered her body and her eyes began to open. Quietly and quickly as he could, Viperion made it to the edge of her balcony and inelegantly launched himself to the next rooftop. Running along the rooftops of Paris with a hard-on was not an experience he thought he’d have, and never wanted it again .

He barely made it back to his apartment, thanking his lucky stars he was able to afford a place by himself. Viperion barreled through his open balcony doors before slamming it and his blinds closed.

“Sass, scales rest!” He cried out while running down the hallway to his bathroom. As the light around him faded, Luka kept running, shucking off his clothes as he went. “Not a word Sass!” He yelled before slamming the bathroom door closed.

Sass was definitely, definitely going to give him shit for this. But only after Luka was satiated. It wasn’t until sometime later, much, much later that Luka emerged from the bathroom. He was very tempted to just go to his room and pass out after all his exertion, but the quiet apartment unnerved him just a little. Sass was a very quiet kwami, but even he made noise. So, tugging up his boxers, Luka went in search of his little snake friend.

Thankfully, Luka found him quickly, sitting in the kitchen counter and taping at Luka’s cell phone screen. The little kwami flicked his eyes up at his holder as Luka came into the room and grinned, fangs on full display.

“Not tonight Sass. I’m still punch drunk from what happened. Not a word please?” He asked.

“I would not dream of it, masssster.” Sass replied. Luka smiled in gratitude and turned to head to his bedroom. But before he could get too far, he heard the tap of a flipper against the screen and music suddenly filled the room.

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya

“SASS!”

“I did not sssay anything!”

[st-crylo]

Rebound

Part 4

A/N: Alright guys, here it is! I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Alcohol use, marijuana use, mentions of infidelity, swearing.

Word Count: 6.6K

Tagging: @haylaansmi @nankstasty @thomasscresswell

Masterlist

As promised, Phasma didn’t show up to school on Friday. As the four of you sat in the courtyard during lunchtime, soaking in the rays of the sun, you each excitedly talked about the party. Apparently it would be Alan’s first time going to one of Jordan’s parties, too. 

“Milo hasn’t ever let me go before. The only reason I get to go now is because I promised to be the DD,” he said, excitement in his voice. You could tell he was happy simply by being included. Even though you hadn’t spent much time with the group, it was clear that Alan felt like the token younger sibling. 

“Well, I’m glad we all get to relax after a successful first week of school. Now, you guys have your alibi covered, right?” Sami looked at you and Kylo with feigned suspicion.

“Yeah. We’re studying at your place tonight. My grandparents don’t expect me home, but do want messages before I go to bed, so there’s that,” Kylo responded. Even though he was doing his best to hide it, you could feel just an inkling of frustration radiating off of him.

“So does my mom. We can remind each other to send them at a reasonable time,” you said to Kylo, trying to ease some of his frustration. He nodded in agreement before taking a bite of the roll he was holding. 

Like yesterday, you and Kylo decided to walk into class holding hands again, stirring just as much attention. From behind you, you could hear Shawn talking to Dylan, but you couldn’t quite make out what it was they were saying. With a slight, barely noticeable glance back, Kylo smirked before resting his arm on the back of your chair. The action took you by surprise initially, but when you heard Shawn become silent, you leaned back into Kylo’s touch, scooting your chair a little closer to him for dramatic effect. 

When class started, you tried to take notes, but your excitement for the night to come was killing you slowly. You were so ready to go to your first party that wasn’t a slumber party, and with your new friends. 

When Physics ended, you and Kylo walked hand in hand to English, seeing Sami missing from her seat.

“That’s weird. Sami usually gets here early,” Kylo noted. Almost as soon as he said that, Sami rushed into the door, mere seconds before the late bell rang. She quickly sat down before plopping all of her things into Phasma’s empty seat.

“What’s all that about?” you asked as she struggled to catch her breath.

“Was talking to Pat about tonight, we got sidetracked,” she said, her breathing still heavy as she sank into her seat.

You remembered the name. Milo had mentioned Pat as being one of the people coming to Jordan’s tonight. You figured he was also a part of Kylo’s friend group as well.

“He’s still coming, right?” Kylo asked, pulling out his notebook and copy of Beowulf, which had numerous sticky notes inside. 

“Yeah, he was just telling me that a friend of his from Corellia is a plug, and was hooking him up for tonight. Said he’d buy enough for all of us, provided we pay him back,” Sami said, pulling out her own book and notebook. You did the same as you simply listened to their conversation. 

“I don’t need any. Can’t keep it in my grandparents house anyways,” Kylo said with a huff. 

“What about you, (y/n)?” Sami asked as she turned towards you. You were caught by surprise. You knew they were talking about weed, but you never thought that anyone would ask if you wanted to buy some.

“No, I’m good. I’ve never even had it,” you admitted, a small flush coming to your cheeks. This week was truly highlighting all the things you’d never done before, and you felt kind of lame for it. 

“It’s no problem. If you’re interested, you can try it tonight,” Sami assured you. The thought made your stomach churn, but whether it was from anxiety or excitement, you couldn’t tell. 

Soon, Mr. Skywalker had begun class, and the three of you paid attention as the class began with a discussion of the reading thus far. You made notes as best you could, but the end of the school day loomed so near that your stomach was turning in knots. First, it would be dinner with Kylo’s grandparents, and then it would be your first party. All of the hardship you faced melted away with the excitement of finally getting to live life as a teenager. 

There was both a feeling of relief and a feeling of anxiety as the final bell rang. You hurried to put your stuff away in your backpack, standing from your seat once you did so. Like usual, the three of you waited for the crowd to disperse before heading out the door. You threw your backpack over your shoulder, smiling at your old friends as they all walked past you. They all smiled back, warming your heart a little bit.

Once the crowd died down a bit, the three of you walked out of Mr. Skywalker’s room, and headed for the entrance of the school. Your heart was pounding. You only had dinner with Kylo’s family, and then the two of you would set off for the party. 

“Okay, I’ll see you guys at Jordan’s. Text me when you head that way, okay?” Sami said as the three of you walked out the front door and into the student parking lot. 

“Alright, we’ll see you there,” Kylo said before pulling his pack of cigarettes from his jacket. He pulled the last cigarette out of the box and put it between his lips before the two of you started walking towards his car, separating from Sami. When you got to his car, you climbed in and tried to calm yourself down a little. You needed to have some kind of composure for dinner, and then you could let loose. 

Kylo took a drag of his cigarette before climbing into the car. When he did, he cranked the engine before letting out a sigh.

“You excited?” He asked you, turning to you with a smile. 

“Yeah! I can’t wait to meet Jordan, she seems fun,” you said. “I am a little nervous, though. I haven’t ever been to a party before.” You blushed as you turned away to look out the window. It was probably pretty obvious that you’d never been to a party before, but it didn’t stop you from feeling lame.

“Don’t sweat it. Parties are honestly overhyped, but Jordan knows how to throw a good kickback. Besides, everyone that’s gonna be there is cool, unless that godawful pair shows up. No one’s gonna make you do anything you aren’t comfortable with,” Kylo assured you as he got in line behind all the other student drivers.

The drive home was agonizingly slow, but luckily you began to calm down. As the two of you listened to the radio, you let yourself be absorbed in the music, and forget your anxiety, even for a little while. Pretty soon, the two of you were pulling into the driveway at the Skywalker house. 

When Kylo shut off the engine, he sighed before turning to you.

“Do you want to get your stuff from home first, or come inside with me? I’m sure Gran is gonna have food ready within thirty minutes,” Kylo asked before running a hand through his black hair.

“My mom wants me to come by after dinner, so I’ll just grab my stuff then,” you told him.

“Okay. Sorry if they’re weird, they’re just...like that,” Kylo said before climbing out of the car. You could’ve sworn you saw a blush on his cheeks before he turned away from you.

Climbing out of the car, you decided to leave your backpack behind. You’d bring it with you to Jordan’s, that way no one could question that you were studying. Kylo waited at the foot of the porch steps for you, and you quickly caught up with him. When you reached him, he went up the stairs, leaving you to follow behind him into the house.

The Skywalker house was interesting to say the least. There was a mix of all sorts of decorations, clearly souvenirs from different places they’d been. There were also a lot of photos of a lake, and some family photos as well. As you followed Kylo, you couldn’t help but to examine them all, finally deciding to stop at the section of the wall with the most photos.

At the top were a lot of photos of who you assumed were Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker. In all of these photos, Mr. Skywalker had his arm around Mrs. Skywalker, and the two were grinning ear to ear. The only difference in the many photos like this were that each were in a different location, but the joy on their faces remained the same. The next level of photos were the beginning of the family photos. The oldest Skywalkers still had the same joy on their faces, but they were now accompanied by their children, each at three different ages. The photo on the bottom, and eye level to you, warmed your heart. It was a huge family portrait, the oldest Skywalkers sitting down in the center of the photo. On the right side, where Mr. Skywalker was sitting were Kylo’s parents, and Kylo himself. Kylo couldn’t have been older than fourteen, but was still freakishly tall. On the left side, the side of Mrs. Skywalker, was the younger Mr. Skywalker, and beside him a fourteen year old Rey. It was easy to forget that Rey was a part of Kylo’s family. After all, Rey never really claimed him as family, even though she’d been adopted by his uncle.

“That one’s my favorite,” said a voice from behind you. You turned around to see Mr. Skywalker looking at the photos with happiness and reminiscence in his eyes. “I’ve lived a long life, and I’ve done a lot, but I’m most thankful for my family.” You smiled at him, feeling your heart warm even more at his words. You couldn’t really explain it, but you got a very similar level of comfort from Mr. Skywalker that you did from Kylo. It almost felt as if he was your own grandfather.

“Granpa, Gran is looking for you,” came Kylo’s voice as he walked back into the foyer. Mr. Skywalker turned to his grandson, about to say something, but he was cut off.

“Anakin, come help me with the food!” came the voice of Mrs. Skywalker from a distant room. Mr. Skywalker gave you a smile before turning to go to his wife. 

For a moment, you and Kylo stood there in silence. You turned to look back at the family photo, and smiled. Kylo came up beside you, crossing his arms.

“I hate that picture. I’m so awkward in it,” he said with a huff. A small frown formed on your face as you examined Kylo in the photo. Yes, he had that early pubescent awkwardness about him, but you found the picture charming. Especially since he was smiling pretty widely.

“I think it’s cute,” you stated, turning to look at Kylo, who looked down at you with a frown. You simply smiled up at him, and eventually his frown faded a little.

“Okay, kids, dinner is ready,” came the voice of Mrs. Skywalker. Kylo indicated for you to follow him once more, and he led you into the dining room. 

The table was set with two plates on either side. Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker were already seated next to each other, leaving the other adjacent seats for you and Kylo. The two of you sat down, and you looked down at the plate, breathing in the delicious aroma of the food Mrs. Skywalker prepared. It was a pot roast, and the smells were intoxicating, making your stomach grumble as it remembered how long ago lunch was. 

“Thank you for joining us for dinner, (y/n),” Mrs. Skywalker said as all of you started to dig into your food.

“Thank you for inviting me! Your food looks delicious,” you said before taking a bite of a potato.

“My wife is the best cook in all the world,” Mr. Skywalker said with confidence. Mrs. Skywalker lightly pushed at his arm, shaking her head as she let out a chuckle.

“I’m glad you and Be-I mean Kylo are becoming friends again! You’re the kind of friend he needs,” she said before taking a bite of her food. You could almost feel Kylo roll his eyes from beside you. “So, do you have any plans for college?” Of course, a college question. The dreaded dinner table conversation of every high school senior.

“Yeah, I was hoping to go to either Coruscant Central or Hosnian State, but I’m not sure for what, yet,” you admitted, trying not to look down in order to hide the flush in your cheeks. Every adult expected you to have a plan already, and it was a source of stress for you, especially since college had been another thing you’d planned around Shawn.

“That’s okay. You have time to figure out what you want to do,” Mr. Skywalker assured you, which made you feel a little better. It filled you with a sense of relief, since you probably weren’t going to get bombarded with questions of what you enjoyed, and reasons why that should be what you majored in. “So, Kylo, how was your day?”

You could tell Kylo had enjoyed not being the center of attention because as soon as the attention was brought to him, he clenched his fist under the table. 

“It was alright. I don’t have too much homework for the weekend,” he answered before continuing to eat his food. 

“That’s good. Have you talked to your mother at all?”

A small sigh left Kylo’s lips before he replied. “No.”

There was silence after that, the kind that falls after a touchy subject is discussed. You didn’t know how to react, so you waited for someone else to speak so the air in the room would be a little less heavy.

“Well, if you get good grades on your first report card, we’ll let you invite some friends to the lake house,” Mrs. Skywalker said. Kylo’s head raised, his eyes widened by disbelief.

“Are you serious?”

“Of course I am. I think even you deserve a little bit of fun, provided you promise to be responsible,” she responded. Kylo’s mood seemed to lift a little after that. 

From then on, the small talk continued. Mrs. Skywalker seemed to want to know a lot about you, and even though you were happily enjoying the meal she made, that didn’t mean you didn’t catch the looks she was giving Mr. Skywalker. You wondered if they thought something was between you and Kylo. If so, that meant the two of you wouldn’t have to work hard on that front. 

Once dinner was finished, you helped cleaned up, despite how much Mrs. Skywalker insisted you didn’t. As you helped, you could hear Mr. Skywalker and Kylo talking in the other room, but about what, you weren’t entirely sure. As you placed some of the plates into the sink, you felt Mrs. Skywalker place her hand on your shoulder.

“Kylo might seem a little standoffish, but he’s just a little confused. I think someone like you would be good for him,” she said before going back to washing the dishes. So, your questions were now answered. If the two of you were going to “date” soon anyways, where was the harm in playing along.

“I know. I’m just hoping he can pick up on hints,” you said as you helped wash the dishes. You could see Mrs. Skywalker smile out of the corner of your eye. 

When all that was done, you and Kylo headed out the front door and down the porch steps. Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker stood at the door, Mr. Skywalker’s arm around his wife’s shoulders, making you think of the photographs.

“Make sure you message one of us before you go to bed,” called Mrs. Skywalker. Kylo simply nodded, and the two of you watched as they went inside.

“He gave me the ‘she’s a good one’ speech,” Kylo said casually as he leaned against the hood of the car.

“Funny, you’re grandmother assured me that you aren’t the emotionless brick wall that people see you as. I think she was trying to hint at something,” you joked. Kylo let out a laugh, and you couldn’t help but smile as well.

“Go get your stuff, I’ll start the car.”

You did as he said, all but sprinting to your house as the excitement began to build up in you again. You were so ready for this party, you almost couldn’t contain yourself. You opened the door, and headed up the stairs to grab the bag you’d left by your door.

Before you left, your mom gave you the whole spiel again, making sure you knew to message her when you got there, when you went to bed, and when you woke up in the morning. Repeating the same promise that you would at least ten times, she finally gave you a hug and told you to have fun. 

When you got outside, you saw Kylo sitting in the car, not paying attention to the fact that you were approaching, and instead swaying along to the music playing in the car. When you opened the car door, he turned to face you with his signature smirk, a fire in his golden eyes. He waited for you to get your seatbelt on before pulling out of the driveway, and making his way out of the neighborhood. 

It was about a twenty minute drive to Jordan’s house, in one of the nicer neighborhoods of Mos Eisley, and the whole time the excitement and anxiety started to fill your stomach, creating waves and turns that were starting to make you nauseous. You were so ready to let loose and have fun, something you’d needed desperately recently, but you were still worried about seeming stupid to anyone you hadn’t met yet. However, as Kylo pulled into the driveway that already had a couple of cars in it, you felt all the anxiety fade away, and the excitement was the only thing you could feel, causing you to be restless. 

You stared in awe at the house in front of you. You knew you shouldn’t be too surprised, as you were in such a nice neighborhood, but you couldn’t help it. You’d never laid eyes on such a huge and ornate house before. It was almost overwhelming.

“Okay, before we go in, I just want you to know that if you’re uncomfortable at any point, let me know, and I’ll hang around you, okay?” Kylo said, turning to face you.

“Alright. I will let you know if anything happens. I’ll probably stick with either you or Sami anyways,” you said. Kylo simply nodded in response before smiling at you.

“Alright, let’s pop your party cherry.”

The two of you stepped out of the car, and almost instantly, you heard your name being called. You turned to the front door and saw Sami, Phasma, and who you assumed was Jordan based on the way Phasma had her arm resting on her shoulder. Sami ran up to you, drink in hand.

“Hey, let’s go ahead and take that picture for your mom,” Sami said, her words having an extra little pep to them.

“Have you been drinking already?” Kylo asked as Phasma and Jordan approached.

“We only had a shot, but she’s been working on that rum and coke,” Phasma answered. Sami flicked them off before standing beside you, waiting for you to take your phone out. Quickly, you snapped a selfie of you and Sami and sent it to your mom, assuring her you’d made it to “Sami’s house” safe. Once you’d done that, you turned to face Phasma and Jordan.

In short, Jordan was gorgeous. She had dark brown hair that was braided back, and beautiful brown eyes to match. Her face radiated friendliness as she looked you up and down, a smile on her face. Something about her was remarkably familiar to you, but you couldn’t quite place it.

“You must be (y/n)! I’m Jordan,” she said, opening her arms to give you a hug. You hesitantly accepted it, and when you did, her hug was tight. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I’m not sure if I should be flattered,” you admitted as she let you go. You rubbed the nape of your neck as you looked between Sami, Phasma, and Kylo.

“Trust me, you should be. Anyways, come on in, make yourself at home. We’ve got a few people here already, but there’s some more people on their way,” She said as she turned around, leading all of you into her house. “Mom and Dad are away on a trip, so we have the house to ourselves!”

When you got into the house, you noticed there were more than a few people there. There had to be about twenty other people already in the house, a few of them dancing along to the music on the speaker, some sitting on the couch enjoying drinks, and a circle of people with a haze floating over them. One of the people in the circle peeked up as the five of you entered, and got up from his spot, walking over to all of you, carrying the sweet but pungent smell with him.

“Hey Kylo, I was wondering when you’d get here,” the guy said, giving Kylo a half hug, which Kylo half-heartedly returned. 

“We had dinner with my grandparents before heading over here, I thought I told you about that,” Kylo responded, frowning slightly. The guy laughed before turning his gaze to you. There was a certain kind of look in his eyes, but you really couldn’t tell what it was, as it changed when he smiled at you.

“I’m guessing you’re (y/n)? Pleasure to finally meet you, I’m Pat,” he introduced himself, holding his hand out for you to shake. You took it, and he shook your hand a little too firmly, but you decided to ignore it. Pat was definitely the stereotypical stoner, his back hunched slightly, and red, shaggy hair covering up most of his hooded green eyes. He was about as tall as Kylo, if you added the inch he lost from slouching.

“Hey Pat, we’re about to do a round, do you want a shot?” Jordan asked as she walked over to the kitchen, soon returning with a bottle of tequila and some shot glasses. 

“Hell, why not? What about you guys?” Pat asked, looking around the group for responses. Everyone nodded but you and Kylo, and you felt like a deer in the headlights as everyone seemed to look at you. You felt your heart start to pound, but you took a deep breath, quelling your anxiety before smiling.

“Hell yeah,” you said. Sami smiled widely before grabbing a shot glass from Jordan. Pat turned his gaze back to Kylo, who simply shrugged. Jordan ushered all of you into the dining room, laying all the shot glasses on the table and pouring tequila into each of them. After she filled them, she handed one to each of you. 

“Alright. Cheers, lads,” she said, raising her shot glass. You lifted yours in the air along with everyone else, clinking your shot glass against the glasses of others. You hesitated for a second, but then poured the liquid into your mouth, feeling it burn on it’s way down. You had to fight to keep from scrunching your face at the taste in the back of your throat. 

“The first one’s always awful,” Kylo said as he leaned over to whisper in your ear. “At least it isn’t vodka, that’s more like rubbing alcohol.”

“Alright, let’s get you something tasty,” Sami said before linking your arm with hers and dragging you to the kitchen. You looked back at Kylo, who was laughing at you before turning to face Pat. In the kitchen there was a stack of red cups and a sharpie. Next to the cups were more alcohol bottles than you had ever seen in your entire life. There had to be one of everything there, and it was a little overwhelming. Sami pulled a cup from the stack, and uncapped the sharpie, writing your name onto the cup.

“Trust me, some of these people have horrible ideas of what a mixed drink is. You don’t want to accidentally drink one of theirs. Especially Kylo, he’ll nurse a cup full of Fireball for hours.” Sami stuck her tongue out in disgust, and you wondered if she’d really only had two shots with her rum and coke. Sami then turned to the fridge, where she pulled out pineapple juice. She the procured Malibu from the city of bottles, pouring way too much into the cup with your name on it. When she was satisfied with the amount of liquor, she then began to fill the rest of the cup with the pineapple juice, taking a straw and stirring it before pushing it towards you.

“Drink up! You deserve it,” she said as she came around the island to stand next to you. When she got beside you, she leaned against the counter before taking a sip from her own drink. You shrugged before taking the straw between your lips and drinking the cocktail.You almost expected there to be the same fire you’d gotten with the shot, but instead all you could taste was the heavenly combination of pineapple and coconut, and without hesitation, you drank half of the cup in one go. Sami was laughing from beside you before taking another sip of her own drink.

Pretty soon, you were starting to feel what you could only describe as woozy. You felt a lot lighter than when you’d gotten there, and your thoughts started to tumble around in your brain.

“Where’s Milo and Alan?” you asked, turning to face Sami.

“Oh, Milo’s smoking with Pat and all them, Alan was dancing last I saw him. Milo prefers getting high to drinking anyways, especially since he used to blackout a lot last year,” Sami answered, lightly swaying to the music. “How was dinner?”

“Pretty good, but it’s really obvious that his grandparents want us together,” you admitted before taking another sip. You were also starting to sway with the music subconsciously, matching your swaying with Sami’s.

“Well isn’t that convenient. I didn’t think it would take much to convince them. Apparently it isn’t going to take much to convince the Mos Eisley student body either. The rumor mill is a-turnin’,” Sami said.

“How you mean?” You asked, looking at Sami with your brows raised in confusion.

“Well, one of Shawn’s friends, Jacob, is in my math class, and I overheard him talking about the two of you. Apparently Shawn thinks you were talking to Kylo before you even split up,” Sami disclosed. You felt rage boil up inside of you, and you could think of nothing better to do than take the straw from your cup and chug the rest of your drink.

“He’s one to fucking talk, considering,” you said with a huff, crossing your arms and tapping your foot along to the beat of the music. 

“I know. Cheating scumbag. I hope his balls fall off.” You laughed at Sami’s response. Just then, Phasma and Jordan both walked into the kitchen, making their way to the city of bottles for a drink.

“What are you two talking about?” Jordan asked as she grabbed a bottle of Smirnoff, pouring some into her cup.

“Alvarez?” Phasma asked. You and Sami simply nodded. “What happened now?”

Sami explained what the sender had told you and Shawn’s new claims to the two women as they listened attentively. Both of their faces shifted to ones of anger as they listened.

“What a prick. I always hated Alvarez, him and his older brother are pieces of shit,” Jordan said before taking a gulp from her cup.

“Didn’t you date his older brother, Jordan?” Sami asked. Suddenly it clicked. 

“Wait, we’ve met before!” You exclaimed, now unable to control the volume of your voice. Jordan gave you a confused look for a moment, but then she too realized.

“Shit, that’s right! That time we all went out to dinner together, what, two years ago? Wild,” Jordan said, her face lighting up as she let out a laugh. “Yeah, fuck Diego Alvarez. He’s got a small dick anyways.” All of you laughed.

“C’mon, let’s go dance,” Sami said before dragging you out of the kitchen with her. You sneaked a peek of outside, and saw that the sun was starting to set, and as you turned to the living room, you realized the amount of people in the house must have doubled since you got here. However, you decided you didn’t give a shit as you joined Sami in the crowd, swaying to the beat of the music. It was the most lighthearted you’d felt in probably your entire life, and you didn’t give a shit about anything as you danced. Somehow, between all the dancing, Sami seemed to keep filling your cup with a different drink each time, and the overall feeling of drunkenness made you feel indestructible. Time seemed like nothing to you, and you just kept dancing with reckless abandon, not caring if anyone saw you or judged you. No, this was your chance to relax, and you were going to take that chance. At least, until your stomach grumbled.

“I’m gonna grab a snack!” You yelled to Sami over the music. She nodded in response, but kept on dancing as you made your way into the kitchen. There were a handful of people in the kitchen, but they were all absorbed in their own conversations, paying you no mind. You examined the different snacks on the counter, unsure of what to eat until your eyes landed on a pan of brownies. Your mouth watered instantly, and you grabbed a pretty big piece, taking a large bite from it and savoring the rich chocolatey taste before shoving the rest in your mouth.

“Hey, I’ve been looking for you, I-” Kylo stopped dead in his tracks as he watched you chewing on the brownie, some of the icing that had been on top lingering on your fingers. “Please tell me you didn’t eat a whole one.”

You swallowed what was left of the brownie, and you looked at Kylo with innocent eyes. “Yeah, why?”

Kylo placed the palm of his hand on his forehead before running his fingers through his hair. “(y/n), this is a party with college kids attending. Did you really think they would be plain brownies?” 

His words caused realization to dawn on you as you looked to the pan of brownies, and then back at Kylo. Then, without warning, you started laughing. You were laughing so hard, you had doubled over. Of course your dumb ass would accidentally eat pot brownies. You heard Kylo lightly chuckle beside you before grabbing a bottle of water from the counter and handing it to you.

“Here, drink up,” he said. You grabbed the bottle and opened the cap.

“Is this gonna keep me from getting high?” you asked, though as the question left your mouth, you realized how stupid it was.

“No, but it’ll keep you from feeling sick tomorrow morning,” he said. After that, you gulped down the water, only then realizing how dry eating the brownie had left your mouth.

“Come with me, in about thirty minutes, you’re gonna want to sit down,” Kylo said, taking your hand and dragging you along with him. You tried your best to keep up with him, the crowd constantly bumping you around and starting to make you feel really hot. Luckily for you, the two of you were soon at the back door of the house. Once you stepped outside, you saw Jordan sitting on a lawn chair, holding a cigarette in her hand.

“You okay, (y/n)?” She asked. You smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up.

“Better than ever!” Jordan turned to Kylo with a confused look.

“She ate a whole one of Pat’s brownies, so I figured we’d go to the tree house. Are there still blankets up there?” Kylo said. You were only half paying attention, though, as the cool wind brushed across your cheeks, keeping them from getting too warm. It felt much better out here than it did inside.

“No, but I can go grab you guys some. Go ahead and head to the tree house,” Jordan said before she stood up, heading back into the house. Kylo then started leading you down a path into the backyard, which was practically a forest. You stared up at the trees as you passed by them, until you got to some wooden steps. Your eyes followed the steps to look up at a pretty fancy tree house, and your jaw gaped as you continued to stare. 

“Alright, I’m gonna let you climb up first, that way I can catch you if you fall, okay?” Kylo said. You nodded in response before walking up the staircase, taking each step slowly, as you thought more and more about the possibility of falling as you ascended. When you made it to the top, you let out a sigh of relief before opening the door to the tree house. Inside, there was a daybed with a couple of pillows next to a window. Across the room from the bed was a flatscreen TV, and a bookshelf full of DVD’s. You walked over to the bookshelf, examining the different movies. You were so caught up in doing so, you didn’t even notice Jordan coming in with blankets and snacks until she spoke.

“Alright, here’s some blankets, and here’s some snacks, cause you know she’s gonna be hungry soon. I also brought some water for cottonmouth. I’m assuming you still have that joint?” she said to Kylo.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and smoke it while I babysit her. Thanks, Jordan,” he said. 

“No problem. Also, (y/n), Sami told me to remind you to text your mom,” Jordan said, turning towards you. You looked up at her, and then pulled out your phone, checking the time. 10:27. Damn, had time passed quickly. You quickly sent a text to your mom, and then you shoved your phone back into your pocket.

“Thanks, Jordan!” you said. She waved a goodbye before she closed the door to the tree house. 

Once you and Kylo were alone, you headed over to the daybed, plopping down, laying your head on the pillows. As soon as you did, it almost felt as if your body was merging with the bed itself. Your head didn’t really feel heavy anymore from the alcohol, but almost like it had gotten ten times lighter. You felt like you couldn’t open your eyes more than halfway, and you laughed when you tried to do otherwise.

“I see that shit’s kicking in now,” Kylo said with a laugh. “Leave it to Pat to make extra strong brownies.” Kylo walked over to the bed, blankets in hand. He laid one over you before placing the snacks and water next to you at the edge of the bed on the floor. After that, he sat down next to you, pulling out what looked like a weird cigarette from his pocket. You knew instantly it was the joint Jordan had mentioned. Kylo opened the window slightly before lighting the joint, taking a small drag from it to get it burning just right. You smacked the inside of your mouth, suddenly feeling it become dry, before reaching for the water bottle beside you. Opening up the cap, you sat up, gulping down the water like you hadn’t had water in weeks. Once you closed the bottle back up, you leaned your body against Kylo’s, letting out a sigh as your body seemed to feel heavy against his. As Kylo took another hit from the joint, the smell of the weed filled your senses as he blew out. 

“Let me try,” you said, holding out your hand. Kylo let out a laugh before taking another hit.

“I think the fuck not. You already had a brownie, you don’t need a hit from a joint. Maybe another time,” he said, tapping the joint against his finger outside the window before bringing it back up to his lips. You frowned and crossed your arms dramatically.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Kylo asked as he took the bottle of water from your hand, opening it up and finishing the bottle.

“Not right now. I just kinda wanna sit here,” you said, beginning to hum an indistinct tune. There was silence for what felt like an eternity before Kylo let out a soft sigh.

“I heard you and the girls talking in the kitchen earlier,” he confessed before taking another hit of the joint, this one longer than the others. He let out a small cough as he breathed this one out.

Your heart sank a little bit as you realized what he meant. You then leaned over to grab a bag of chips, opening it up and shoving chips into your mouth, choosing not to say anything.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, leaning forward, his elbows resting against his knees. You let out your own sigh.

“Because I didn’t want you doing anything stupid,” you said. “If I told you when I found out, you would have heard me crying, and then you would have decided to take matters into your own hands. You did that a lot when we were kids, too,” you said, remembering a time you’d been bullied, and Kylo had caught you crying about it. Needless to say, the boy that bullied you had a pretty bruised face. 

“I guess that makes sense, but it would be no less than what the fucker deserves,” he said, taking another hit from the joint. You wrapped your arms around his, pressing your cheek into his bicep.

“We already have a way to deal with that, though. And trust me, it’s going to be an even worse punishment for Shawn to have to watch us date, that I can guarantee,” you said before laying back down. Kylo took a final hit from the joint before putting it out against the window sill. He then laid beside you, staring at the ceiling. 

“Then we shouldn’t keep his punishment waiting,” he said before turning to you with a smirk on his face. You laughed before turning your body to face him.

“Alright then. On Monday, we will officially present ourselves as a couple,” you declared before standing up to go look at the movie selection again. You wobbled as you made your way across the room, and Kylo had to get up in order to help you work the TV and DVD player attached to it. 

The two of you decided on a kids movie, but what exactly it was, you hadn’t paid attention to. Once the movie started, and the two of you were settled on the bed, you just started talking about anything and everything before your highness caused you to fall asleep, cuddling up next to Kylo. 

[allthingsfern]

+10 close up filter on my 55mm

Several times I have discussed my Zeiss T* FE 55mm f/1.8 prime lens, which after a year of use lives up to its hype of being a light, super sharp lens. Ken Rockwell gives it uber high praise, similar to most all the reviews I read before purchasing it. And I did a lot of thinking and research before buying it. I wanted a quality prime lens to match the quality of my camera body and I was willing (and gratefully, able) to spend a nice chunk of change on the lens. It came down to 2 choices, both Zeiss lenses, the 55mm and their newer 50mm, which got slightly better reviews (DPReview had a great comparison article that praised the 55mm but gave the 50mm a slightly better rating), but I went with the 55mm prime because it is cheaper ($500 less; the 50mm is $1500), lighter, and is still considered a superb lens.

Anyway, Rockwell’s points about the 55mm (BTW, I love his 2nd point about the sharpness--makes me laugh):

Good

Stellar optical quality.

Such high resolution at high speed that it's not legal to sell it in some countries.

Metal exterior.

Fast, silent auto and manual focus.

Bad

Not priced like your father's 50mm f/1.8.

Stronger spherochromatism and ghosts than your father's 50mm f/1.8.

After a year with it as my only prime lens, I completely agree with his Pros and Cons, plus I want to add that it produces the most buttery bokeh. The “Stronger spherochromatism” is not much of an issue for me, since I convert most of my photos to B&W and in post it can be managed in ways that enhances what my photo and I think is the best way to present the final image. Plus chromatic aberration can sometimes work well with my more abstract photos. And yes, for the photography gearheads out there, I almost always shoot wide open, so I am gonna get the “flaws” mentioned above.

Anyway, a while back, Pete (@tvoom) and I discussed his newfound love of close up filters. After our discussions and doing a little research, I wanted to get one for my 55mm prime. I went to see my camera guy to buy one from him but he talked me out of it. His standpoint was that I spent a lot of money on a high-quality, super-sharp piece of glass (I still cannot believe I use that term for a lens), so why put a filter on it that will decrease the sharpness I paid for. I thanked him for his honesty, which is a trademark of the crew at Mike’s Camera in Sacramento: they have never tried to sell me something to make a profit, but rather discuss the product with me and encourage me to make an educated decision. Gotta love that. And I do.

But I kept thinking back to My Baby, my old, used D50, with its glorious but cheap plastic lens, which produced some lovely flower photographs that even in print, still take my breath away. I tried reproducing some of my flower photos with my Sony and the results was technically perfect but there was a quality, what I think of as “a dreaminess” missing from my cuttingly sharp Sony photos. The difference highlighted by what Pete mentioned at one of our recent InConversations: you can take a photo of something or you can create a photo about something. To me, the dreaminess from My Baby and my cheap kit lens made those flower photos about the flower, whereas the Sony photos were not quite as alluringly descriptive images, since they were both of and about the flowers. Not quite the same when the image is super sharp, as Jaime WIndsor points out in his video post, When Bad Photos Are Better. 

Bottom line: A couple of weeks ago I got a HOYA +10 49mm close up filter for my 55mm lens. I did not use it for a while, since I find it tricky to use. I need to get very close to my subject and I find it hard to focus, especially since I shoot wide open and it seems any slight hand or body motion I make will throw off my focus. But today I took a walk and had fun with the +10. (Basically, I thought, “Fuck it,” and had fun.) I like some of the photos I got, but I just ordered a set of +1, +2, and +4 because I think those will be easier to handle. But the whole point is that I am shaking up how I photograph and changing my conversations with my image files during post, hopefully finding a new way of sharing what my camera sees. I will even post a couple of RAW files. 

Hey, the photos told me to do it...

Anyway, over the next few days, my posts of rose photos are from today’s (04-16-20) outing.

La aventura continúa...

[1dfangirls35]

Voir Dire- N.H

A fake dating AU about contracts, soulmates and risking it all for love.

Masterlist // Tell Me What You Think!

fifteen

Kelsey felt her heart racing. She was on edge, stuck in a loop of scanning the room every five minutes for someone that didn't belong. She knew she shouldn't be. She could be here by coincidence. In 40 Love, the bar owned by Niall's best friend, having nothing to do with the fact that it was also the location of the unofficial after party of Niall's album release event. 

Kelsey jumped as Becca set a hand on her shoulder, handing her a much needed glass of vodka cran to calm her nerves.

"You're fine," Becca said, seemingly reading Kelsey's thoughts. Kelsey nodded, trying to convince herself that it was indeed fine.

Niall and Kelsey had made the decision that, on the contrary to what Niall's label believed, they would continue dating. However, their dating nowadays consisted much of what it did when they first started seeing each other: time at Niall's house with no exposure to the outside world. It wasn't ideal, but Kelsey knew that it was the only way they could be together without facing the repercussions of Niall's management. And being with Niall was more than enough for now. Plus, with Niall's promotion of the new album and Kelsey's LSAT test date just two weeks away, there hadn't been much free time to spend together anyway.

But Kelsey had wanted to be at the album release. She had wanted to support him on this momentous occasion, and to congratulate him on the hard work he'd put in. They'd come to the decision that no one would be the wiser if she showed up at 40 Love with Becca for the afterparty. Krystal would be there with Niall, and Kelsey and Niall would have no contact. But she would be there, at least physically present, to show her support for the man that loved her.

The man who loved her. Even thinking about those words still sent butterflies through Kelsey's stomach.

It had happened one lazy night. Kelsey had her nose buried deep in her LSAT study books, her test date fast approaching. Her legs were strung on top of Niall's on the sofa, and he was absentmindedly  rubbing her feet after her long shift at the bar. She could feel that he was staring at her, and so she brought her face out of her book momentarily, shoving her yellow highlighter back into her book.

"What?" she giggled, raising an eyebrow. Niall's cheeks grew slightly redder at the being caught in the act.

"You're so cute when you've got your nose stuck in that book," he leaned over, tapping his finger on the tip of her nose.

Kelsey rolled her eyes. She looked anything but cute at the moment, with her hair in a knot at the top of her head and her face bare minus a few smudges of leftover mascara near the corner of her eyelashes.

Niall scooted over next to her on the couch, wrapping his arms around her chest and nuzzling his head into her hair. "I love you," Niall mumbled, his words barely audible.

Kelsey felt her world freeze. Kelsey wanted to say the words back. She felt them in her bones. A part of her did love Niall. But no matter how strong the feelings were in her heart, the thoughts in her brain were stronger. Every time she'd said those three words before she'd been burned. So she thought maybe this time, if she kept those words to herself, she'd get to be loved a little while longer before her heart was broken.

So instead of saying those three little words back, Kelsey turned around and brought her lips to Niall's. Because, for now, her actions would have to take the place of the words she couldn't bring herself to say. 

Kelsey caught a glimpse of Niall from across the bar, bringing her back to reality. He hadn't stopped glowing since he'd arrived nearly an hour ago. His custom-made Paul Smith navy blue suit fitting him in all the right places, a few more buttons at the top beginning to come undone to reveal some tufts of chest hair. His laugh echoed through the bar, making Kelsey's heart flutter. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen Niall as happy as he was right now. Although she wished she could be standing next to him, arms intertwined at his side, there was something about the sense of forbidden love that made it all so much more exciting. The stolen glances they shared from across the crowded bar. The way Niall's hand lingered on the small of Kelsey's back as he squeezed by her on his way to his next conversation. The tension was building, and Kelsey couldn't wait to celebrate with him when they got home later this evening.

While she was focused on Niall, Kelsey seemed to lose track of Krystal, who had been putting on quite the show this evening. Kelsey wasn't sure if it was because Krystal knew Kelsey was here or if it was simply the norm of this fake relationship, but Krystal had barely kept her hands off of Niall. Kelsey was trying her best to ignore it, reminding herself that this is what had to go on if she wanted to be with Niall. Reminding herself that in a few short months the tour would be announced and Niall and Krystal would have a dramatic, heart-wrenching break-up that would kickstart Krystal's career and leave Niall all to Kelsey. It was only a few more months, and then she wouldn't have to see that head of perfectly curled blonde hair ever again.

That head of perfectly curled blonde hair had now slid into place next to Kelsey at the bar. Raising her hand to get the bartenders attention and ordering two glasses of champagne. Kelsey could guess who the second glass was for.

Kelsey tried to keep her gaze elsewhere. She didn't want to have a conversation with Krystal, not after the way she'd been hanging all over Niall for most of the night. But it appeared Krystal had other plans.

"I'm surprised you came," Krystal said smugly, her red lips forming a sort of insincere grin.

Kelsey turned to look to face Krystal, her eyes narrowing. "The album's a big deal, I wanted to be here for him," Kelsey took a sip of her drink. She tried to turn to continue her conversation with Becca, desperate from a way out of this more than uncomfortable conversation, but Becca was nowhere to be found.

"I figured he wouldn't let you go," Krystal shrugged. "But I guess I thought maybe you had a little have sense to you. You know he could lose everything from this don't you?" Kelsey followed Krystal's eyes as they fall upon Niall, who is currently taking a selfie with Lewis Capaldi. "Can't imagine how heartbroken he would be without his music."

Kelsey's not sure what kind of point Krystal was trying to make. And something about the way that Krystal was acting like if this was all Kelsey's fault set her on her defense. "You don't know our relationship Krystal. And quite honestly it's not any of your business," Kelsey snapped.

Niall's caught the two of them speaking now, and even from a distance Kelsey can see the concern in his eyes. So she smiles, giving him a soft nod before turning her gaze back to Krystal.

"I'm not..." Krystal began, but she must have read the stern look on Kelsey's face because she stopped what she is saying. "He's just the most genuine guy in this industry. I know he'd risk everything for you Kelsey. Just be careful is all I'm saying. Now I better go deliver this champagne to the man of the hour," Krystal raised her eyebrows and headed off towards Niall.

Kelsey watched as she handed him the glass, leaning over to kiss Niall on the cheek, as if she was just taunting Kelsey. Kelsey rolled her eyes.

"What did she want?" Becca said, conveniently reappearing just now.

"To tell me off for being here," Kelsey said, her voice agitated.

Becca's jaw dropped.

"Well, not in those exact words but I think that is what she was implying. Doesn't she already know that I know how risky this is?"

"She's just trying to be difficult," Becca assured. "She feels threatened when you're here because he can't keep his eyes off of you." Becca gestured to where Niall and Krystal stood a few yards away. Sure enough, Niall's eyes met Kelsey's.

Kelsey breathed a slight sigh of relief. She had vowed that she would stop letting the details of Niall's PR relationship shake her confidence. She had to be confident in her relationship in Niall if she wanted this to work, especially with everything that they were putting on the line now. "Shall we go dance?" Kelsey suggested, gesturing to the area where the DJ was playing some of Niall's new album, along with classic party anthems. Becca nodded her head and agreement, grabbing Kelsey's hand and dragging her towards the dance floor.

Even though she was having a good time for the most part, Kelsey was thankful when the night wrapped up and she got a text from Niall telling her to meet him at his place. When she arrived, he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and whispered "You looked beautiful tonight", before leading her up to his bedroom.

"Uggh I'm exhausted," Niall groaned, unbuttoning his shirt before placing it neatly into the laundry hamper. Kelsey slipped out of her dress for the night, pulling on one of Niall's t-shirts, which had become her new favorite thing to sleep in.

She climbed into his bed, pulling the covers over her legs and burrowing down. Niall soon followed, wrapping his arms around her from behind and burying his face into her hair. He inhaled deeply.

"Just got a text from Mike, guess the albums number one in 42 countries and it hasn't even been released in America yet. Thought it was gonna flop to be honest," he said it so casually, like it was an ordinary thing for your album to top the charts within hours of its release. But even though Niall was trying to play it cool, but that didn't stop the excitement from sneaking through his voice.

Kelsey flipped over in bed, her nose now touching the tip of Niall's. "It was never going to flop," Kelsey smiled. "You deserve it Niall. The album's amazing. I'm so proud of you."

She was proud of him. More proud than words could express. He'd been through hell and back this promotion season. He'd been put in a position that he didn't agree with, and yet he'd come out stronger from it. She knew he'd had his doubts about the album, about it living up to his expectations. About it living up to his first one. But here he was.

"Thank you Kels, I'm glad you were there tonight. It wouldn't have been the same without you," Niall pushed a piece of Kelsey's hair to the side, staring into her eyes as if he was under a spell. "I love you," he said, planting a kiss on her forehead.

Niall doesn't expect a response. He knew that those words weren't something that Kelsey took lightly, especially after what she had been through recently. He'd come to terms with the fact that it may be months before he hears those words back, but that that didn't mean that Kelsey wasn't showing him how much she loved him each and every day. 

"Love you too," Kelsey replied softly, the words slipping out before she could stop them. But instead of feeling scared of letting her feelings be known, she felt utterly at peace. Maybe being in love wasn't so scary when it was with someone who loved you back unconditionally. Maybe this time, love wouldn't break her heart.

Tag List: @awomanindeniall​ @ihearthemcallingforyou @niall-is-my-dream​ @stylishmuser​ @thicksniall

[justkeeptrekkin]

The Library is Open: part 2

part two for my favourite listener @ladycakepops! love ya kween

Read part one here :)

***

The dressing room lights make her skin look too pale. The mirror highlights every flaw- the slight smudge of her eyeliner below her right eye, the cakiness of her cheap foundation. Who can afford the expensive stuff when she’s layering this shit on every night? Her fake lashes stayed on tonight, at least, and she didn’t bother covering up her tattoos this time- the dragon crawling up her neck is sickening. The lights cast bright white rings in her green eyes. 

With one last look, Hizashi takes a makeup wipe. With a slow, intentional movement, washes a streak of Present Mic away.

“You’re gonna be late, girl.” Hizashi doesn’t need to turn to look to know who’s talking to her. Miss Hawks has been in the table next to hers for just over a year now. Besides, the moment she sits down, feathers start falling off her dress and they scatter all over Hizashi’s dressing table. “Yo, you’re getting feathers all up in my shit.” “You love it.”

“I absolutely do not, I am literally two seconds away from calling animal control.”

Hawks is too cool to laugh at Mic’s jibes, usually. Now that Hizashi is de-dragging, it’s no different- all he gets is a lazy smirk. He has to admit to himself that out of drag, Hawks is hot. He looks like the kind of dude who’d model for a watch advert in a fine suit. But then, he knows just how cool he is and that is very much not Hizashi- or Mic’s- type.  

Besides, Hizashi doesn’t think he could cope with all the fucking feathers.

“You’re going to be late.”

Hawks repeats this, largely because he likes talking, but more than that, he likes being provocative. Hizashi continues to slowly remove his makeup, ignoring the building nerves and anxiety and guilt and excitement warring inside his chest. Instead, he concentrates on the purple lipstick that comes away onto the makeup wipe that makes his mouth taste like chemically flavoured cucumber.

“You can ignore me all you want, that’s fine, I don’t give a shit.”

Hizashi doesn’t reply. Hawks makes her taunt and gently removes the feathered wig from her head to reveal a messy nest of blonde hair falling out of its bun. The smokey eye is on point, even after her performance. Along the other dressing tables, the other queens tut and complain about the feathers landing in their stuff. Best Jeanist stares in silent judgement at a yellow feather that sticks onto her contouring kit.

“I just think that this guy seemed really cute. And standing him up would be a super shitty thing to do-”

“Oh my god,” Hizashi finally exclaims. He was never good at keeping quiet about his feelings anyway, why bother? “Will you shut the fuck up about it?” “You’re standing him up?” Best Jeanist asks with a cocked brow.

Hizashi twists his lips, sits up straighter in his seat and turns back to his reflection to remove the rest of the makeup. His brows are pulled together comically. He’s always had a bit of a ridiculous face, overly expressive. “I’ll message him in a minute,” he settles with, not wanting to discuss further.

“What did he do? What did he say? Was he a creep after all?” Kamui Woods is still in full woodland nymph makeup, too distracted by her conversation with Tiger to take anything off.

“You know that’s not what it was,” Jeanist says, acting like she knows it all. “Miss Mic’s just got commitment phobia.”

There’s a round of scandalised ooing. Jeanist really has no business sharing that sort of shit in here. But then, Hizashi is easy to tease. Mic’s is all bark no bite, and Hizashi isn’t any difference. He’ll throw hands, for sure, but only in defence of one of his sisters. 

Right now, Hizashi covers the feelings of embarrassment and anger with a cocky smirk and flipping the bird. He finds himself instinctively moving turning towards her and pointing an accusatory bag of makeup wipes in her direction. “Mamma, don’t be acting shady now.”

Jeanist raises her hands in a poor mimicry of apology, looking a lot like she doesn’t think she’s done anything wrong.

“Alright now, alright,” Tensei says, Ingenium outfit half removed and makeup off. Ingenium’s got that futuristic 60s sci-fi robot feel that Hizashi absolutely lives for. So chic. Tensei also happens to be Hizashi’s best friend here, aside from Nemuri. “Let’s not get personal, it’s only eight thirty.”

Hizashi casts Tensei a smile. Tensei rolls his eyes and shakes his head: just ignore them, the gesture says. 

“It’s hard to date, you know?” Kamui comments, finally unpinning flowers from herself. “Drag doesn’t make it easy for us.” Hizashi nods vigorously, dragging a makeup wipe along his neck. A shadow of facial hair already coming through. “I wouldn’t sacrifice my drag for no man,” he replies. A chorus of mmhmms.

“For real, though, queen,” Tensei says. Hizashi catches his eye in the mirror. “He seemed cute. You’re really gonna stand him up?”

For once, the dressing room goes quiet, and Hizashi feels all eyes on him as he pulls off the straps of his dress to reveal his entire torso, tattooed and blushing from the heat of the stage. The silence weighs on his shoulders and he lets out a long, infuriated groan.

“For fuck’s sake- look, it’s just, too good to be true, you feel? A cute guy gives me his number after a show? Expects me to turn up- how? In drag, in the middle of a bar in Mustafu? Out of drag, just to disappoint him because I’m not what he expected? Yo, nobody wants to find out that I’m just as noisy and annoying out of drag-”

“Ey, ey, ey. Nah,” Hawks wags her finger disapprovingly at this speech. “Nobody gets to make you feel like that. Don’t let The Man get you down.”

“Even if he is tall dark and handsome.” “Especially if he’s tall dark and handsome.”

“He was just- like, over text he’s really cute and all,” Hizashi continues, on a roll now, “But holy shit he don’t say much- and like, I’m trying so hard not to be over the top or clingy or weird or annoying or too much of a smartass-”

“He loved that you were a smartass, remember?” Kamui adds. “That’s like half the reason he gave you his number, right?” Tiger nods in silent assent of this.

“-And I try so hard to keep my drag life and real life separate ‘cause you just never know what people will think, but he seemed super chill and he does seem nice but he could be a total weirdo and the fact he’s so quiet and says so little, like, probably means he’d hate me in real life ‘cause I’m the total opposite, you know, and-”

“You won’t know that till you meet him,” Jeanist says, placing her wig on its stand.

“-And we lead such different lives, like, he’s your standard salaryman and I’m here taping my dick between my legs-”

“A salaryman.” It’s the first that Shigaraki has said all this time in the dressing room. Now out of drag, he’s using the moisturiser that Hizashi practically forced on him and is lathering the stuff all over his face. He looks around Hawks at Hizashi with a mocking smile and a wrinkled brow. “A rich wanker-banker and a club worker. Like Pretty Woman. Seriously?” “Hey, no tea, no shade,” Hawks says shaking her head. Another flurry of feathers comes tumbling down from the huge collar of her dress.

Hizashi measures their descent onto the floor. “Bitch you betta have superglue.”

“Nothing wrong with a macho boy with lots of money realising the moment he lays eyes on you he’s been queer this whole time,” Hawks continues, concentrating fiercely on removing the dress.

“Sounds like a nice daydream, too bad that shit only ever happens in your head,” Shigaraki snorts.

“I wouldn’t say no to a handsomer salaryman walking in right now and-”

“Point is,” Jeanist interrupts, throwing a denim minidress onto a hanger in her dressing gown. And yep, you guessed it, it’s denim. “You know this could go badly, of course it could, but it could go well. You could hit it off. You’ll regret it if you don’t go.”

“Don’t break that poor salaryman’s heart,” Shigaraki mutters cynically, massaging moisturiser into his face.

Hizashi stares back at his reflection and considers this. The night that Mic had read Aizawa’s colleague has cemented itself in his mind. The look on Aizawa’s face. The ridiculous chemistry and the almost bashful way he’d handed over his business card.

Brows pinched nervously, he nods, and gives himself a smack in the cheeks for good measure.

***

Tatooin station is busy, people filing out of the ticket barriers with beers in hand ready for Friday night. It’s a summer night, so the sun hasn’t quite set. At 7:30, it’ll be a while until the purple blue sky goes dark.

Hizashi leans from one leg to the other, tapping his foot and fidgeting and muttering Avril Lavigne lyrics to himself like a prayer.

It’s silly to be nervous, really. Hizashi has mad charisma skills, even if the exuberance does become borderline overwhelming. First dates usually go well for him. It’s the follow-up that never lasts; when people realise that he really is always just that hyperactive. And yes, he does wear skirts in public, and no, he doesn’t tone it down for anyone.

“Shit,” he mutters to himself, picking at his nail varnish.

Looking down at his phone, he sees a message from Aizawa. Here

And looking back up, he scans the station through 60s style circular sunglasses. There are too many people for Hizashi to spot him, and Aizawa will be blending in with the rest of the salarymen. He has no idea what to look for.

But then he appears, and he wonders how he could have forgotten how much this man stands out.

Not because he’s particularly tall, or has a loud fashion sense. Not because he does anything to intentionally make himself noticeable- nothing other than just looking like he doesn’t give a fuck. It’s the messiness of the appearance, the half tied up bundle of hair. The unmistakable scar on his cheek and the perpetual hands in pockets. It’s a look that completely contradicts the salaryman lifestyle, and he seems to reveal himself easily in the crowd of tidy, urgently power-walking businessmen in suits. 

Unsurprisingly, he spots Hizashi quickly.

On seeing Hizashi’s outfit- which he planned very carefully, with the added borrowed item from his sisters’ wardrobes- his eyebrows don’t even raise. It’s as if he isn’t at all taken aback to see a man standing in Tatooin station looking like a 60s androgynous witch. Instead, Hizashi watches in anticipation, growing nervousness, and pleasant surprise as Aizawa gives a small, lazy wave and wanders over. Not at all embarrassed to be seen with him.

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting. Trains were fucked,” he says soberly.

He gestures for the two of them to leave the station, and Hizashi is momentarily speechless by how relaxed this man is.

“Um,” Hizashi starts, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves. He hates how awkward dating makes him. Give him a microphone and he’ll rule the stage, but his love life? His confidence is in the negatives. “How was work today?”

Aizawa tilts his head from side to side in brief contemplation. Then, “I quit.”

Hizashi can tell his expression is ridiculous as he stares at Aizawa open mouthed. “Oh, fuck! That’s-? Yo, that’s pretty-”

“It’s been a long time coming,” Aizawa shrugs.

They walk down the street towards nowhere in particular. He wonders if Aizawa has anything in mind for their date, or whether they’re just aimlessly walking.

“Well, you seem super chill about it, so I guess- congrats!” Hizashi says, his words laced with laughter.

“Who wants to be a businessman, anyway,” Aizawa says, a slight grimace on his typically neutral face. He rubs at the back of his neck, tie loosened.

“Not you, huh. I guess no one dreams of sitting in front of a computer crunching numbers for hours at a time.”

“Mm. It’s not that I’m not willing to work hard at something. Just got to be actually worth the effort.”

Hizashi considers his rather tedious, if not intellectually stimulating job before he became a full time drag queen and entertainer. “Yeah, I get that feeling,” he says sincerely.

“What do you want to do,” Aizawa asks suddenly. His questions rarely sound like questions, more like  statements that expect an answer. “Tonight, that is.”

“Well- we could do whatever! I’m chill with whatever, man,” Hizashi grins. “I’m not really into formal dinners and stuff,” Aizawa says simply.

How refreshingly honest.

“That’s cool! I like them but I also like just doing jack-shit and drinking a couple of beers, too. Whatever floats your boat, my dude!” “Doing jack-shit and drinking beers sounds good,” Aizawa admits with a smile.

And what a nice smile it is. It immediately takes Hizashi back to when their eyes first met back at Club Hero. It makes his stomach squirm, in a way that’s not exactly nice but not bad either.

From there, they make their way to the nearest supermarket, finding beers and a couple of snacks, all the while Hizashi chattering about himself and sharing his entire life story. It’s one thing to be a chatterbox in normal circumstances, but when he’s nervous, it’s an entirely different ballgame. Most people find it a little amusing, always overwhelming, and sometimes annoying. Aizawa, however, mildly picks up ready-to-eat gyoza and listens with the occasional nod or ‘mm’.

It would be easy to feel judged in this sort of situation. Hizashi is used to feeling judged- more often than not, it’s water off a duck’s back. Sometimes it isn’t.

Aizawa doesn’t seem the judgemental type.

There’s a park a couple of minutes down the road, past the bars that are beginning to overflow with customers and past the traffic jams. It’s a large green with a water fountain, the type that children play in in the afternoons- running through jets of water and screeching in delight. Now, it’s fairly quiet, all except for the occasional young couple or jogger. Parks are nice and all, but Hizashi is wearing a nice outfit, elements of which he has to return to his friends after tonight, so he’s not sure how much he wants to sit on the grass and possibly stain his clothes. Especially if there are insects, which there almost certainly are around here.

This is the precise reason why Hizashi hesitates, cocking his hip and crossing his arms in front of his chest, trying to figure out how to break it to this man that he’s an absolute princess when it comes to nature.

Aizawa peers up at him. A lock of hair in front of his face and the look in his dark eyes softening in amusement.

“Do you want to sit on my jacket,” he suggests.

Hizashi whines in complaint, shuffling on the spot and sighing to himself. He wants to say yes, but he also doesn’t want to make him-

Oh, Hizashi thinks, as he sees Aizawa wordlessly shrugging off his jacket and laying it on the bleached dry summer grass.

“There. Better?” he adds drily.

Somehow, Hizashi enjoys the teasing tone.

They sit side by side on the grass (and the jacket) watching the sun set behind the buildings. The taste of beer on Hizashi’s tongue and the fizz mixing with nerves in his stomach. The sweet floral scent of mochi as he licks the sticky sugar off his fingers. And the feeling of a man sitting next to him, a man unlike any other that he’s known. A man quietly confident, quietly calming, quietly kind. A man with a sharp tongue and tired eyes and a straightforward, unashamed honesty that he’s never come across before.

When the stars come out- barely visible through the city lights and pollution, but still there- they don’t question how long they have been there. They don’t consider that this first date is going on for quite a while, a lot longer than the usual, at least. What’s the point in overthinking it?

Hizashi’s mind has never felt quieter.

“It sort of started because Nemuri runs Club Hero, and I kinda- accidentally stumbled into commentating,” Hizashi explains, looking up at the sky on his back, glasses off. He feels Aizawa’s arm stretched beside his, not quite touching, but close. Close enough that his skin tingles. “And then you started doing drag.” “Yeah. I can’t actually remember why I thought I’d give it a go, putting on the wig and the heels and stuff. It was probably given a makeover. Those bitches will jump at the chance to give someone a drag makeover.” For a moment, Aizawa considers this. “Do you like being on stage?” Hizashi laughs. “Ho yeah. I’m a bit of a slut for picking up a microphone and just. Chatting shit. The fact that people actually pay to hear me talk and being a total weirdo is- like- it’s still too good to be true.” “It must be freeing.” “Yeah. I guess it is. It’s a way of sorta… channeling a part of myself that I don’t get to show everyday. Or at least, that people don’t appreciate when I look like this.”

He sees Aizawa turn his head towards him in his peripheral. Hizashi’s too afraid to look back, in case he ruins the moment. It’s nice enough just being looked at like this.

“Not everyone’s brave enough to be themselves like that. On stage.” “Nah. I guess not.” Hizashi snorts, thinking back on the night Aizawa had shamelessly thrown his boss under the bus. “You don’t seem to hold back much, either.” “Life’s too short to care what everyone else thinks.” Hizashi finally turns to measure Aizawa. There’s a gentle look in his eye, but his brows are furrowed, as if in deep thought.

“You’d make an epic drag queen, dude,” Hizashi says seriously.

At first he seems a little taken aback. Then a huge, almost frightening grin. “I wouldn’t have thought that.”

“Yo, are you serious? Rule number one of being a queen is not caring what the haters say. Just doing you!”

“Hm,” Aizawa hums in consideration. He rolls his head back to look up at the sky, and Hizashi lets his eyes linger on the shape of his profile, the dip of his adam’s apple a little longer than he should. They both stare at the stars, in no particular rush to go anywhere else.

Hizashi brushes his pinky finger against Aizawa’s, and slowly, uncertainly, they link hands.

[voodoochili]

My Favorite Albums of 2019

As we bid adieu to a decade and a year that many of us would like to forget, let’s take the time to run through some albums that deserve to stay in our rotations at least until the onset of the imminent apocalypse. It’s a cliche, and we say it every year, but as bad as 2019 might have been in the real world, it was an excellent year for music. I listened to at least 300 albums this year and found at least 150 that I liked! Here’s the stuff that made me think, made me happy, and made me drop my jaw last year.

Some themes I found in my listening--I really like rap music from L.A. and Detroit; A few artists who I admired more than loved in the past came out with albums that I completely adored; the nebulous genre often called “afrobeats” or “afropop” has the highest hit percentage of any international scene since dub/reggae in the 1970s (the African Heat playlist on Spotify might be my actual album of the year); a lot of my favorite albums this year came from people who are clearly the product of music schools; my top four contains two excellent bedroom pop albums, and two excellent treatises on race relations in the USA.

I made a Spotify playlist with highlights from my albums list: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6S9kSm5xG3U1vPxhVyBpQc?si=0PHLV0-XQOyNY3XAVRzzAA

And in case you missed it, here’s my list of the year’s best songs: https://voodoochili.tumblr.com/post/189890284724/my-favorite-songs-of-2019

THE BEST:

10. glass beach - the first glass beach album - the first glass beach album combines chiptune synths, frayed emo vocals, jazz piano, and suite-like song structure into an exhilaratingly chaotic mishmash. Mix it with a strong dose of theater-kid earnestness and the result is the most ambitious debut album of the year and possibly of the decade, providing a peek into an alternate dimension where Los Campesinos! wrote the La La Land soundtrack. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, and it wouldn’t if glass beach didn’t buttress their boundless invention with well-crafted songs, like “classic j dies and goes to hell part 1,” the suitably bonkers intro, the prog-pop opus “bedroom community,” and “cold weather,” which shifts from ska-punk to math rock and back in 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

9. Jenny Lewis - On The Line - Long one of indie’s pre-eminent songsmiths, Jenny Lewis’s On The Line is her most personal album yet, digging deep into her childhood trauma and emerging out the other side with pearls of cheeky wisdom. Jenny’s lived more lives than most, enduring an entire career as an in-demand child star before ever even picking up a guitar; when she reached her teenage years, she learned most of her earnings fed directly into her mother’s heroin habit. Some songs like “Wasted Youth” and “Little White Dove” confront it directly (“Wasted Youth” takes the form of a conversaqtion between Lewis and her sister about their late mother), while other songs like “On The Line” and “Rabbit Hole” are testaments to the strength Lewis gained after fending for herself for so long. Appropriately for an album so focused on the past, Lewis enlists the help of rock legends like Ringo Starr, Don Was, and Benmont Tench, whose organ lends a lush poignancy throughout the album, and transforms opener “Heads Gonna Roll” from a pretty ballad to a genuine tearjerker.

8. Burna Boy - African Giant - West African music continued its quest for global hegemony in 2019, flooding the airwaves with passionate, uptempo party music. Though it was a massive year for artists like Mr Eazi, Zlatan, and do-everything superstar Wizkid, the year belonged to Burna Boy of Nigeria, his sonorous deep voice lending authority to each extravagant boast. Following up last year’s promising Outside, African Giant unleashes Burna’s full potential, drawing a through-line between Africa’s past and present--his use of multilingual lyrics, outspoken politics, and supernatural sense of rhythm updates the famous formula of Afrobeat founding father Fela Kuti for the new era. Aided by frequent collaborator and unheralded genius Kel-P, whose lush and genre-bending beats perfectly complement Burna’s melodic strengths, African Giant was 2019’s most reliable mood booster, presenting standout singles like the irresistible “Anybody,” the ambitious and easygoing “Dangote,” and the romantic club anthem “Secret,” before taking time to explain the history of colonialism in Nigeria on “Another Story.”

7. The Comet Is Coming - Trust In The Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery/The Afterlife - With a long list of collaborators and an even longer list of influences, London-born saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings’ musical ambitions can’t be confined to a single form or style. While his work with Sons of Kemet emphasizes percussion-heavy Caribbean influences and radical spoken word poetry, Hutchings aims squarely for the stratosphere with his The Comet Is Coming project, which continued its progressive jazz odyssey with two worthy albums in 2019. Elevated by the interplay between Hutchings (calling himself King Shabaka), synth wizard Danalogue, and drummer Betamax, Trust In The Lifeforce of Deep Mystery is a mesmerizing cycle of songs. Boasting titles like “The Universe Wakes Up” and “Super Zodiac,” each song searches for (and finds) a trance-like groove, transporting listeners to the far-flung locales of the song titles before reaching an emotional conclusion. A more contemplative, but still ceaselessly propulsive follow-up, The Afterlife is music for the “stargate” sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey, providing a more optimistic counterpoint to Trust while refining the trio’s unique group dynamic. Together, the two works make an immensely satisfying head trip, offering a thrilling soundtrack for the end of the universe and whatever comes next.

6. Moodymann - Sinner - “I don’t even know what you need, but I’ll provide,” grunts Moodymann on Sinner’s simmering opener “I’ll Provide,” “Cause I got something for all your dirty nasty needs.” Possibly the most singular and beloved figure in a Detroit electronic scene overflowing with singular and beloved figures, Moodymann is known for sublimely tasteful DJ sets and sprawling solo works that fuse house music with elements of R&B, gospel, blues, and funk. By his standards, Sinner is slight, spanning only 7 tracks and 44 minutes, but it benefits from a tight focus, showcasing Moodymann’s effortless creativity. Throughout the project, the artist born Kenny Dixon approaches familiar elements from odd angles: jazzy changes and burbling Fender Rhodes invade an intoxicating two-chord vamp on “Downtown”; fellow Detroiter Amp Fiddler adds soulful auto-tune to the blissful “Got Me Coming Back Right Now.” He even manages to find a fresh way to incorporate Camille Yarbrough’s “Take Yo’ Praise,” most famously sampled by Fatboy Slim, into one of the album’s hardest-charging tracks.

5. Polo G - Die A Legend - Way back in 2011, long before he became rap’s first Pulitzer Prize winner, Kendrick Lamar took a moment to explain his ethos on the outro to his breakthrough Section.80 tape: “I'm not on the outside looking in/I'm not on the inside looking out/I'm in the dead fucking center, looking around.” It was a bold statement, but one that Kendrick’s managed to live up to, and finally we’ve found another artist with the ability to achieve all-seeing perspective on record: Chicago 20-year-old Polo G.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been blown away by a new rapper like I was by Polo G in 2019. He possesses a rare combination of melodic mastery and writerly observation, painting a vivid (if bleak) picture of his life on the South Side. His debut project Die A Legend is packed with unflinching observations about the reality of his situation, he touches on his former pill addiction on “Battle Cry” and he reminisces about talking to his younger sister through a prison phone on “Through Da Storm.” As dark as the subject matter can get, Polo never crumbles under the pressures of poverty or fame, staying afloat with crisp melodies that mix the emotional honesty of Lil Durk with the radio-ready slickness of Wiz Khalifa. He’s already mastered the art of the rap ballad, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

4. Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile - This Is How You Smile overflows with warmth, inspiring a feeling I don’t often get from music. Listening to it feels like a long-awaited return to a physical place of comfort--a childhood bedroom, perhaps, or a reading nook in a favorite library. Our tour guide is Roberto Carlos Lange, an expert sound designer whose plainspoken, pleasantly nasal voice might be the friendliest sound in music today. The album is comforting, yet unpredictable, with songs that range from synth folk to bedroom pop to ambient field recordings, and feature lyrics that vacillate between English and Spanish. Highlights include the bouncy “Seen My Aura,” calling to mind a collaboration between The Brothers Johnson and Ariel Pink, the sweeping and mesmerizing “Running,” combining trap drums and Budd/Eno piano, and my favorite, the devastating acoustic ballad “Todo lo que me falta.”

3. Jamila Woods - LEGACY, LEGACY! - Jamila Woods has a gift for expressing complex intellectual and musical ideas in deceptively simple ways. Her melodies are like nursery rhymes, her lyrics are cutting and conversational, and with LEGACY, LEGACY! she delivers a fiery blend of artistry and activism that rivals peak Gil Scott-Heron. These songs are bold and truthful, tackling heavy subject matter with a delicate touch, commenting on cultural appropriation on “MUDDY” (“They can study my fingers/They can mirror my pose/They can talk your good ear off/On what they think they know”), sexual assault in “SONIA” (“I remember saying no to things that happened anyway/ things that happened/I remember feeling low the mirror took my face away”), and the value of protest on “OCTAVIA” (“It used to be the worst crime to write a line/Our great great greats risked their lives, learned letters fireside/Like a seat on a bus, like heel in a march/Like we holdin' a torch, it's our inheritance”). With songs named after her artistic heroes (a convention that has become a bit trendy, as Rapsody and Sons of Kemet have pulled similar tricks for their recent projects), LEGACY! LEGACY! Is Woods’ audacious attempt to establish herself as an heir to that formidable tradition--one that succeeds without reservation.

2. Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee - A force of nature with one of the most underrated back catalogs in the game (he made hits with Toni, Tony, Tone in the 80s, was a major force behind Neosoul in the 90s and 00s, and produced Solange’s A Seat At The Table in 2015), Raphael Saadiq’s latest is his most powerful effort yet, inspired by the tragic tale of his older brother Jimmy Lee, a heroin addict who died of HIV.  Jimmy Lee tries to find the universal through the personal, taking a deep look into how drug addiction can tear a family apart. Throughout the project, Saadiq approaches his brother’s illness with radical empathy, singing from his perspective on the dangerously alluring “Something Keeps Calling,” and the zonked out “I’m Feeling Love.” He uses his personal tragedy as a springboard to talk about larger issues on the twinkling, self-explanatory “This World Is Drunk,” and the seething spiritual “Rikers Island.” The album veers from style to style, connected with a sound effect that mimics a channel changing on an analog TV, encompassing Prince-like grooves, languid quiet storm, simmering funk in the late Sly Stone mold, and taking detours into hip-hop and traditional gospel. Connecting it all is Saadiq’s raw passion, echoing the pain of everyone who’s lost someone to substance abuse, and singing as if his tenor is the only weapon powerful enough to end the epidemic.

1. Yves Jarvis - The Same But By Different Means - There’s a song on The Same But By Different Means called “Constant Change,” in which Jean-Sebastian Audet layers his voice into a cacophonous symphony and repeats the title phrase for 30 seconds til he reaches an abrupt crescendo. In his first project under the name Yves Jarvis (the 22-year Montreal native used to record under the name Un Blonde), “Constant Change” is his animating philosophy, guiding each second of the most surprising masterpiece of the year. A thrilling and unpredictable effort, The Same But By Different Means overflows with sonic and melodic ideas, shifting and beguiling with unexpected shifts and sounds. The album gets its power from this fluidity--sounds burst into the mix and fade away without notice; songs mutate from one genre to another (traces of freak-folk, tropicalía, funk, and a lot more) within the span of 2 or 3 minutes. It’s a hazy, dream-like collage, at times evoking the likes of Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, and Nicolas Jaar; the least expected sound-a-like occurs on “That Don’t Make It So,” which could easily be mistaken for an outtake from D’Angelo’s Voodoo. No hour of music in 2019 was more calming, yet more invigorating than this one--an eclectic and restless monument to Audet’s creativity and an addicting, absorbing soundscape. I listened to hundreds of albums this year, but none of them hit me quite like this one.

THE REST:

11. Cate Le Bon - Reward  12. Big Thief - U.F.O.F./Two Hands  13. Vampire Weekend - Father Of The Bride 14. Jay Som - Anak Ko 15. Raveena - Lucid 16. American Football - American Football 17. Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains  18. Kelsey Lu - Blood 19. Pivot Gang - You Can’t Sit With Us 20. Gunna - Drip Or Drown 2 21. Great Grandpa - Four Of Arrows 22. G.S. Schray - First Appearance 23. Bandgang Lonnie Bands - KOD 24. Marika Hackman - Any Human Friend 25. Mavi - Let The Sun In 26. Spellling - Mazy Fly 27. SAULT - 5 / 7 28. Juan Wauters - La Onda De Juan Pablo 29. 75 Dollar Bill - I Was Real 30. Maxo Kream - Brandon Banks 31. Brittany Howard - Jaime 32. J Balvin & Bad Bunny - Oasis 33. Rio Da Yung OG - 2 Faced 34. Desperate Journalist - In Search Of The Miraculous  35. Angel Olsen - All Mirrors 36. 03 Greedo - Netflix & Deal/Still Summer In The Projects 37. Doja Cat - Hot Pink 38. Lambchop - This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You) 39. Sada Baby - Bartier Bounty 40. Rucci - Tako’s Son 41. Floating Points - Crush 42. Bat For Lashes - Lost Girls 43. Young Thug - So Much Fun 44. Samthing Soweto - Isphithiphithi 45. Kim Gordon - No Home Record 46. Sandro Perri - Soft Landing 47. Anthony Naples - Fog FM 48. Quelle Chris - Guns 49. Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won’t Hold 50. Tyler, The Creator - IGOR

Honorable Mentions:

Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Hiding Places Caroline Shaw & The Attaca Quartet - Orange Leo Svirsky - River Without Banks Martha - Love Keeps Kicking Nilüfer Yanya - Miss Universe Drego & Beno - Sorry For The Get Off The Japanese House - Good At Falling Tree & Vic Spencer - Nothing IS Something Spielbergs - This Is Not The End Fireboy DML - Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps Dee Watkins - Problem Child Daniel Norgren - Wooh Dang

TOO MANY MORE TO NAME--could’ve listed up to 80

[zydrateacademy]

Life is Strange: Before the Storm

Just some general thoughts, not a review. Gonna add a read break for spoilers.

- I liked the intro, saw most of it on pre-release. Same with the junkyard scene so I tried to play things a little differently.

- I found myself relying on guides to navigate the backtalk mechanic and that’s probably not a good thing. The fact that replies are quickly timed does not help this matter, as I only get a few seconds to ‘pick up’ the clues the game is giving me. This was especially pronounced in David’s interaction (whom I still fucking hate and I’ll elaborate shortly) because I really did not want to ‘lose’ that interaction in any way whatsoever. I don’t know what happens when the opposing party of the Backtalk ‘wins’ before I do but it probably doesn’t block out progress. Or maybe it does in a similar fashion to when you got ‘killed’ and Max had to rewind so you could fix the encounter. That, or does it make you reload?

-David can continue to go fuck himself. I’m not particularly anti-military but he outlines a big problem with the gungo-ho ooo-rah attitude. I believe firmly in that one clip of BoJack Horseman really unpacking this;

I don’t thank people in uniform for their service, I don’t know them or what they’ve done or are actively doing. Also they threw in a bit of sexism in there for extra dollops of hate sinking. His very first line is “Why do women take so long to get ready?” Fuck off. Anyway. -So I went with the “something more” option. I’m not boarding the hate-train for Max by any means, nor am I letting the fact that some of the results are foregone conclusion. I know Rachael dies here and I don’t care. I’m here for the story and I’m going to enjoy that for what this is, and in the first game Chloe clearly had some feelings that I will certainly act on here. -I am giving her a slight friendly edge, as I did with Max. Except against certain people (David) I will try to have Chloe cooperate for the most part, though the game does kind of force otherwise on occasion. I get that she becomes a broken rebel but I don’t like how my decisions mean little. RockPaperShotgun mentioned this in their “Wot I Think” review series, and pointed out a good spot. The talk with Joyce highlighted this issue, where Chloe’s tone would go back and forth and it didn’t feel like a cohesive conversation.

-Why did nobody give Joyce the money? I’m like, in a huge minority on that decision which is odd because the “Buy pot from Frank” is more at a 60/40 even split. Is everyone just holding onto it? I did consider that and might reverse that decision in a future playthrough. Like what would the next episode preview look like if I didn’t even bother stealing?

-I remember watching another preview regarding the park/junkyard scene and didn’t realize why Rachel pulled a 180 in personality and mood. I found out why later and decided to cut her some slack and keep my distance in my own playthrough, but once again the game didn’t seem to care and immediately reversed my “Give her space” decision with Chloe going “You know what, no, what the hell?” What the hell indeed, why even give me the option except to give the game 20 seconds of awkward, pointless padding? -I found the ending to be a bit tricky. I remember at the end of one of the episodes in the first game, trying to show some ‘mystery’ behind Wells that never went anywhere and I’m wondering if they’re giving us another red herring with the tattoo’d woman with the cigarette not looking even slightly bothered that she’s sitting in a park that’s actively on fire. What’s her deal? Possibly nothing at all.