#because this dog is basically at eye height when I'm sitting

[cinemaocd]

Dog sitting for elderly great dane today...he alerted me to thieves in the temple (squirrels getting into the compost) with a series of tender woofs and head nods and now, his duty performed, he is chasing a bunny in his sleep.

[coco-loco-nut]

Hii!

Can I please ask for an angsty fic with Max, where the reader defends him from Jos after not finishing his race in Melbourne...idk if you remember when Max kept his helmet for four hours after a race because he was afraid of what Jos would have done to him after not winning...and the reader basically tells Jos to get lost even if she's like 5'4 and definitely not as intimidating as them both lol.

And then maybe after the win in Suzuka, they "reconcile" but she still reminds him to act right around her boyfriend, who's now a man and not a little boy he could pressure like he once did.

Sorry if it's too long!! Thanks for taking your time and reading my request!

Guard Dog

Pairing: Max x Reader

Summary: You are sick and tired of watching Max take Jos' shit

TW: verbal abuse

A/n: thank you soooo much for the rec, I love writing these out so much <3

requests open masterlist

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"Maxie... are you okay?" you wait patiently by the door to his driver's room, careful not to barge in like Jos would, as you have for the past year since you first witnessed Jos' beratement of his son. He is sitting on the couch with his helmet between his hands. The fire causing an unpleasant start to the race, and you are just glad you got here first.

"I'm okay," his voice cracks and you step into the room, closing the door behind you. "I know it wasn't my fault, but I can't help but feel like it was my fault," Max looks in your eyes, the fire brewing behind them. You were genuinely the sweetest girl he's ever met, and to get you mad took a lot. God help you if Jos shows up, you are tired of Max feeling bad even when he podiums.

"You're right, you didn't do anything wrong, the car failed you today," you stay calm, sitting beside him and cuddling into him. Max stays quiet, enjoying your warmth, and decompressing from the start. He can understand why the fans were so happy to see him lose, in fact, if he wasn't himself, he would join them. No, the fear of his father is what has him on edge. Rightfully so, because a few seconds later the door is slammed open again.

"Max, what the hell did you-" Jos starts and you launch yourself off the couch. Jos and Max were big guys, and you were average height for a woman, 5'6 or so, but you didn't seem like it in that moment.

"Shut the hell up and leave. You have nothing useful to say and you are going to shift blame to Max who had NO fault in the DNF," you snarl, setting yourself up as a barrier between the two, Jos still in the doorway and Max on the couch.

"Girl, I don't know who you think you are, but I am Max's father, and I can-," You cut Jos off before he can continue.

"No, you aren't his father. A father doesn't talk to his son like that, you are simply a man who shares the same last name as Max. A father is someone like Carlos Sainz Sr or Lawrence Stroll. No, you are a man- sorry a boy in a man's body- who can't cope with the fact that he doesn't race anymore and wants the man who shares the same last name with him to be impossibly perfect and win every single race, even when the car breaks down." You sneer at the man. "You need to leave, before I call security and make them remove you," you don't back down, instead you step closer. Max watches in both awe and fear.

"I-"

"Leave, Jos, now. Don't make me repeat myself," you say, practically slamming the door behind him. You turn around and look at Max, seemingly calm and normal. He looks at you bewildered.

"That was the sexiest thing ever. Thank you, Schatje, you didn't have to do that," Max hugs you, a large weight off of his shoulders.

"Of course I did, who else will be your guard dog?" You smile at him, squeezing him tighter. "Now, get changed and get back to the garage," you tell Max, stepping out to the room. You let out a deep breath, surprised with how you treated Jos and stood up for Max. A couple minutes later, Max rejoins you, quickly stopping inside hospitality for a snack.

The two of you avoid Jos, going extremely low contact, not that he was trying to. Jos would never admit it, but he was embarrassed at how you spoke to him, and his retreat allowed him to ignore it. Instead, you and Max enjoyed your time together in Japan. The both of you were aware Jos was there, but chose to ignore it. After Max won, Jos warily approached the two of you.

"I wanted to congratulate you on winning. You drove well," Jos says stiffly, silently calling for a truce. You let Max take the lead on the conversation.

"Thank you," he says, feeling like a little boy again, but accepting the temporary truce.

"It was good seeing you Jos, but we need to go," you interject, sensing the still tense atmosphere. The older man, still a little scared of you despite your sweet demeanor, lets you go, not quite willing to cross you again.

"Love you, Maxie"

"Love you too, Schatje,"

[sirenologyyy]

DATING MODERN!SEJANUS PLINTH!

modern!sejanus plinth x fem!reader

✮ summary: in which I live out my truth as a Sejanus Plinth truther and write modern headcanons abt him if he was your bf!

✮ author's note: why can't God make men like him anymore istfg!!! (Guys di na nakakatuwa.)

✮ warnings: cussing cuz yeah

modern!sej who's basically just a POC Peter Parker variant, they're so alike it is sickening.

modern!sej who's had a crush on you since the start of high-school when you and him wound up in the clinic because he had a bad case of influenza and you had a stomach bug.

modern!sej who'd drag Coryo around the campus just so they'd bump into you. (you'd smile and he'd greet hello with three consecutive O's and Coryo was not pleased, often rolling his eyes at Sejanus' giddy grin when you'd be a few steps past them.)

modern!sej who listens to you ramble and talk his ear off with conspiracy theories, realizations, gossip, chiming in every now and then. (He usually tells you off for talking people behind their back but he loves it gossip as much as you do if not more.)

modern!sej who I personally feel like is into a ball sport nobody would expect him to be in to (like volleyball) and he's one of the most kick-ass players out of the entire team and whenever there'd be matches against other schools you'd be cheering the loudest yk and you'd be wearing his Jersey and all that HEDGSHSH.

modern!sej who'd sometimes switch seats with Coryo when the teacher in the class he's in does a count off for groupmates just so he'd be grouped with you.

modern!sej who loves spoiling you with his dad's money just because he can and he absolutely will.

"Sej, just because I tried all these clothes on does not mean I have the intention of buying them."

"Well you aren't buying them, I am. Plus if I'm not getting them for you now, sooner or later you'll have them all in your closet somehow."

modern!sej who loves taking you to aquarium dates to go see the jellyfish and the sharks.

modern!sej who plans out everything he'll say to you in his mind before he says them out loud so he doesn't end up embarrassing himself in front of you.

modern!sej who always gives you the bigger half when he breaks food into two parts.

modern!sej who is DEATHLY afraid of heights. (When you first started dating you joked about how everyday was practically a living hellscape for him because he was so tall.)

modern!sej who's saved the most dazzling contact photo of you while you just have a horrendously lighted 0.5 pic of him you took at 5 in the morning.

modern!sej who'd purposefully drop sordid drawings he managed to doodle in the middle of class into your backpack so during the next period you'd find them and you'd start giggling to yourself and your classmates would give you stares.

modern!sej who is definitely the big spoon (but wouldn't be opposed to being the little spoon either.)

modern!sej and you who would pass notes in the middle of class as well, even if you two were at the very back of the classroom and sitting next to eachother.

Arachne's voice is making me want to kill myself

Don't say that, that's mean

Oh come on Sejanus, even you aren't too saintly to admit her voice sound terrible

Fine, I guess it's sorta irritating

Her voice sounds like if a dog's squeaky toy crawled off to have sex with a bagpipe

(then you two would burst out into silent laughter.)

modern!sej who is SUCH a fucking nerd (he's one of the top 5 highest grading students in your year, in decathlon, the debate team, men's volleyball varsity, the school paper) sometimes when he recites in class he'll subtly glance your way to see your reaction to his answer.

modern!sej who let's you pick out as many books you want from the library he has conjoined to his room. (When he gets them back there are ALWAYS annotations scrawled out on translucent sticky notes.)

modern!sej who is anxious af and he always fidgets in his seat whenever he's stressed or worried or scared and you'd let him doodle on your hands to make him feel better (plus I think he's really good at drawing too.)

modern!sej who will absolutely drive you to McDonald's if you're hungry at 3am (chances are he's hungry too.)

modern!sej who is obsessed with old film cameras and digital cameras, most often than not you're his subject and every other photo in his camera roll is a candid picture of you.

modern!sej who can recite every riff off word by word of the Pitch Perfect trilogy without missing a beat.

modern!sej who'd bring you baked goods whenever you were upset saying they were made by ma plinth, but in truth, were made by him.

modern!sej who wonders every second of every day how you ended up with him.

modern!sej who gets jealous when you hang out with festus or felix a little too long after class. But never makes it obvious.

modern!sej who's funny unconventionally. His sense of humour dosen't make everyone laugh but it sure as hell will get a snort and a giggle out of you.

modern!sej who'd eat the things you'd pick off of your food. (olive theory HDHSHSH)

modern!sej who remembers the littlest things about you too, how you take your coffee, the certain type of pens you prefer, your favorite author, your favorite type of flower, favorite swear word.

modern!sej who'd never hesitate to help you with schoolwork if you were having a hard time understanding the topic. (He won't stop until he makes sure you have a firm grasp on the topic and you're convinced he could make an amazing teacher.)

modern!sej who looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky.

modern!sej who'd blush whenever ma plinth would bust out his old baby photos whenever you'd come over to their house.

modern!sej who'd participate in cringy couple tiktok trends if it would make you happy.

modern!sej who'd get incredibly competitive just to win you a prize at the carnival.

modern!sej who collects little trinkets that match the color of your eyes and randomly give them to you.

modern!sej who'd listen to you yap and find it adorable

modern!sej who loves photobooths and would always convince you to take photos with him. (Your go to pose is to flip the camera off.) Then you'd get the top half and Sej gets the bottom half.

modern!sej who hates coffee and loves to drink tea (he dosen't do well with caffeine.)

modern!sej who is a sore loser when it comes to card games.

modern!sej who'd write prose and poetry about you (but he wouldn't dare show it, he wouldn't want to make you cry.)

modern!sej who is a GOD at karaoke (he also may or may not be a Broadway kid)

modern!sej who'd instantly agree and laugh when you'd send him things and say "this is so us."

modern!sej who would come over to your house whenever he'd get into a fight with his dad, he'd get so angry while trying to let go of all the pent up emotions he'd start crying and you're always there to comfort him.

modern!sej whose love language is acts of service, would always without a doubt be up for anything, he'd always be there when you need help, whatever the job calls for Sej seems to be always overqualified. When you feel like the world is against you he'd remind you that it's him and you against the world, neither of you were going to be alone in this fight anymore as long as you had eachother. (Then you'd laugh and tell him how incredibly cheesy it was.)

modern!sej who loves watching films, so more often than not you two would be found at the movie theater munching on some free popcorn because the guy that works the concessionaire stand knows you guys well enough to just give you guys free food.

modern!sej who is a munch. Enough SAID.

[itwasthereaminuteago]

¦¦ Ammunition ¦¦

Frank Castle x Female Reader

Slightly smutty fairground fun spending the afternoon on Coney Island with Frank (who's scared of certain heights).

As you near a shooting game stall Frank offers to win you a prize, but you tell him he doesn't need to. He's walking on before he realises you've already veered off and are handing the vendor a bill and accepting the rifle from him.

“Hey, what're you doin, thought you weren't interested?” He asks, coming up behind you.

“Well, I didn’t say that, but I wanted to win something for you for a change. So what’ll it be, Castle?” 

He shakes his head incredulously, chuckling at how headstrong you could be.

“C’mon, it’s the dog, isn’t it?” You ask him.

He nods. “Alright, alright. Hell yeah, ‘course I want the dog.”

“Okay, I'm gonna get that dog for you baby, just wait and see.”

He flashes you a smile and watches intently as you turn back to the targets and set your legs into a comfortable stance, raising the gun up level with your shoulder and peering through the basic sight guide, readying your aim like a pro.

He feels a little swell of pride fill him. You had taken to all of his firearms teaching well, but you proved to be a natural anyway.

You pick off the eight targets one after the other like it's nothing, the rounds hitting off the flat tin with a satisfying ‘phut-dink’. Both Frank and the stall holder are more than impressed as you place the gun back down on the counter, extending your arm to point at the cuddly dog plush sitting on the middle shelf above the beaten targets. 

“Christ. Did you see that?” Frank nods at the vendor. "That's my woman!" he proudly exclaims.

“That doggy right there please!” you say to him cheerily, and Frank accepts it with a grin and a sweet kiss when you bundle it into his hands before the two of you walk away. 

“So, you've been practising?” He probes.

“Mm, a little. You told me to.” You shrug nonchalantly. “Billy's been letting me use the range at work.”

“Oh I see. With Bill, huh?” 

“You jealous?” You tease.

He hums, swinging the stuffed dog by his side. “Only because he's gettin’ to spend more time with my woman than I am these days.”

You plant another quick kiss on his cheek. “Don’t you worry. I’ve got secret intel that you're coming off the nightshift real soon.

“Hm, is that a fact?”

“Yeah, it is.” You grab his hand, intertwining your fingers with his and start tugging him towards the Wonder Wheel. “C'mon Frankie, I wanna go!”

Frank shakes his head, putting on the brakes. “Aw hell no. You ain't gettin’ me on that thing.”

“But it's so romantic!” You put on a pout and Frank can't help himself grinning.

“You know you look like a spoilt kid when you do that.” 

“Is it cute?”

“Yeah it's cute, but it still ain't workin’ on me.” He replies, still standing his ground as you keep on trying to drag him over to the wheel. 

“Pleeeease Frank, I promise it'll be fun.” You halt, tilting your head at him. “Wait, you're not scared of heights are you?”

Frank's expression suddenly betrays the truth and your mouth drops open in shock. 

“Are you serious? You're running around on rooftops all the time, you cannot be scared of heights!”

“That's… that’s different.” He grumbles, warily eyeing up the ride looming above you. 

“Well, you'll be fine with me. I'll hold you tight, you don’t have to worry at all.” You reassure as he grudgingly joins the line with you.

As your carriage reaches halfway up and judders to a halt while another set of passengers join donw below on the ground, Frank’s palm starts to feel clammy against your own hand. His eyes flit nervously around and so you give his hand a squeeze and turn him to look at you. 

“Hey, it’s fine. We’re just up here with the beautiful birds, having a nice time, hm?” You try to say soothingly, but Frank rolls his eyes. 

“I ain’t having a nice time…”

He tightens his grip even more as the wheel starts moving again and you climb a bit higher. 

“Shit.” he murmurs as the carriage swings gently back and forth. You place your hand on his thigh and give it a quick squeeze before changing the subject.

“So what do you wanna do after this, baby? Shall we grab some dinner? How about a Lombardi’s hm? I think you deserve it.”

Frank can’t think about food right now. He’s already regretting the burger and fresh doughnuts you had earlier today as his stomach roils at the fight or flight status currently warring over his body.

You decide to try a different tactic.

“Frankie, just close your eyes for a second. Please. Just trust me.” you say, smoothing your hand along his jaw getting him to look at you instead of down at the tiny people below.

“Just kiss me.” 

You press your lips softly against his at first, cupping the back of his head and pulling the hand that’s entwined with your own around your waist encouraging him to hold you there instead. You try a few light, easy smooches before you switch to licking along the seam of his lips and coaxing him to forget where he is and focus on you alone. As he closes his eyes you kiss him deeper, giving him a little moan as a reward as you feel him start to relax just a little, scritching your nails at the short, shaved hair at the nape of his neck and sliding your free hand further along his thick, denim-clad thigh. He’s getting into it now, running his tongue against your own, his hands roaming more freely over your body, feeling over your curves and cupping your ass and moaning himself as he pulls you closer to him. 

You can still feel the wheel going around but you keep him enraptured with your mouth and hands so that he won’t dwell on his fear until it’s all over. 

You playfully nip at his lower lip and he curses out a husky ‘fuck, you’re so fuckin’ sexy’ before he’s on you again, kissing you into breathlessness You can feel yourself getting wet as your fingers raise up over the firm outline of his arousal straining against his dark jeans as he grinds into your touch.

“You want me, huh?” you breathe against his ear, humming with a sense of satisfaction at your distraction as you feel his fingers sneaking up under your shirt against your bare skin.

“Yeah I want you...” he rasps out as his lips trail like fire along the soft column of your neck, his other hand reaching to pop open the button of your pants.

“Oh shit- Frank, Frank…” you gasp, gently stopping and easing him off you as you realise the wheel is coming to a stop at the disembarking platform. He looks at you, and then at his surroundings, pupils as black as the coffee he drinks with a slight pink blush to his face.

The large stuffed dog stays held in front of him as you both stand and climb down the small staircase back to earth again.

“Don’t you dare tell Russo about this.” he says as you walk towards the subway station

“That we made out and almost fucked on the Wonder Wheel, or that you were scared to go on it?”

“The heights thing.” Frank growls.

“I can’t believe he doesn’t know that about you!” 

“He does, but I ain’t giving him any fresh ammunition.”

“But I cured you, didn’t I?” you grin, grasping for the dog he’s using to cover up his crotch. He snatches it back and slaps you on the ass in response. You just laugh. “Yeah, I think I did.”

“We’re goin’ home. Now. Before you try and get me on any more dumb rides.”

“But what about dinner?!” you protest, although you’re only kidding as if you’re bothered. You couldn’t wait to get him home after the ferris wheel shenanigans for a different kind of ride... 

“Lombardi’s deliver, sweetheart.”

“Oh yeah,” you grin back at him, “so they do.”

[rockybloo]

Bitterbat suffers from big lap dog syndrome where he was so used to being shorter or equal height to Sweetheart when he was younger that he forgets he is a whole ass 6'6 ft in his default form while she is just 5'5 ft so sometimes he will sit in her lap like they are kids again and totally encase her on accident, or when she's powered down, he'll do that running tackle hug (glomping basically) he'd do when they were younger and send both their asses to the ground on accident.

Every time, he gets the saddest damn puppy eyes with tears because "AAAAH SWEETUMS 😭 I'm not your little batty anymore!!!"

[tiddiesoutwhenthetisout]

Do you have a headcanon that you like so much that you practically automatically include it when you think of the character the headcanon is about?

i will try to list a few, as i remember best when i trigger an associated memory (i think-- i'd like to think my memory still works 🤣).

tbh i held off on answering this since i can't think of a good hc from the top of my head hahaha

it's not going to be substantiated by historical texts or information since i have very limited knowledge in those areas. these are silly little hcs i inferenced from the most random places.

Patroclus:

- he has very nice names for his dogs. he thinks of each one very well as he walks back to camp after rescuing the animal from destruction. he constantly thinks about it, and of course they have meanings, but i'm unfortunately not greek so i can't dive deeper into that :') something like "child of vast plains" (one word) as in free. like his wishes for each dog. "never suffering a lack of", such and such. depending on his observations of each dog's personality.

- tired dad but also playful piece of shit uncle vibes.

- i like to think he genuinely enjoys the adrenaline of high stakes (gambling- which totally started as a joke because i saw a post saying he 'killed a boy over dice #gamblingaddiction') but doesn't participate much when the soldiers play because he has his dutiful side lol. when he decides to come out and participate, he keeps winning.

- voice smooth as honey and chocolate but he's a little tone deaf.

※ also, grey eyes patroclus truther over here. and that he probably got his medical talents from his mother, whoever it was.

Achilles:

- stays in his tent most of the time. the longer the war went on, the more he closed himself off, save for a few of his own men and his close friends (patroclus, antilochus, automedon, ajax, teucer...) he does get out for celebrations but he tends to get sick of merrymaking easier than others so he retires early. would complain to patroclus about several things in his day as they tend to their body pains and weapons/armor maintenance. this says a lot about my general impression of his personality. i don't need to spell out that i think he's dramatic lol

- has a green right eye and a deep black left iris (from thetis). i made this on accident with a sketch but i really like the idea of him being *slightly* unsettling when they see him the first time instead of a flawless blonde child. sure he still is, but i'd like in-universe characters to have more of a reason to not approach him. and well... pay thetis a little bit of tribute hahaha. i deleted other appearance hcs for him and patroclus, realizing i can just add those when i post my wip character design sheets. but here's a zoomed shot of his face as a 12 year old:

- likes theater. would have tried for it himself if he didn't have to be a warrior. has made several songs throughout his life especially in childhood but has never documented them. forgets them in the morning.

Odysseus:

- nearsighted. idk if there's anything to prove this otherwise, but i just slapped it on him. he doesn't recognize people super easily by their faces, but he goes by other things instead like height or voice, or their most prominent features. that's also how he hunts or kills. he doesn't really know this ofc, and has just been doing it his whole life. now he doesn't know his son's face very well, so i'd like to add this to the moral dilemma of throwing astyanax off the wall more than it already is.

- short king idk 5'1". 5'2" if he's wearing shoes hehe. has the same height with penelope. telemachus is 5'3" (without shoes). the genes are improving!

Menelaus:

- diomedes and odysseus second father figure. this probably has a lot of contradicting evidence, but let me sit with the funny image that it started as a joke at first then they found menelaus just has very basic dad instincts. has, on many nights, gotten drunk and cried about helen leaving him.

- has to watch his blood pressure (sorry).

Diomedes:

- values the concept of family higher than most. he doesn't spell it out in the open of course, but it's one of the things that sets him apart as well.

※ so i took a break, got curious about diomedes and looked up his future after troy. that hc does not bode well with his wife's status after his return 💀

Pyrrhus:

- has red hair (sometimes a "duh" moment for me considering his name is literally fire-haired/red-haired; I've seen blonde depictions of him).

- 5'6". slightly taller than average, but shorter than his father because his god blood is more diluted than.

- very cold and steadfast when he first showed up. i want to believe that he was not that all throughout. he learned to commune with other soldiers, although awkward and unsure. somehow, he became like another achilles; the youngest of the soldiers, the man who would spearhead the attack by proposing the idea of the trojan horse (i read somewhere it was him, and then some say odysseus, some say both). he would look quizzically at handshakes but would accept. he'd be so confused by whooping and hugging and cheering after battle, but didn't resist the warmth of it. he unfortunately didn't have time to explore that side of life before he died.

i think i'll end it there 🤣 i'm not that well-acquainted with other characters, but you yourself wrote about automedon and balius and xanthus being tamed by patroclus, so i also believe that now actually.

[blackjackkent]

Barcus, as we've established, is one of the very small number of people outside of Rakha's companion group that she actually likes. So she has been (mildly) invested in Wulbren's well-being and makes a point of seeking him out at the inn.

Wulbren, however, is brusque and dismissive when she approaches.

"Ketheric's lackeys found me already - blast it all. You need to deal with him."

(A/N: Interestingly, Hector got a different dialogue here when reuniting with Wulbren at Last Light - a more elaborate one, albeit basically the same because Wulbren was still brusque and disinterested in him. This shorter conversation is apparently dependent on the state HAV_Mood_State_Alert ("State after repelling the attack of the Flaming Fist traitor. NPCs are afraid of other possible attacks.") Given we are no longer in that state, it seems like maybe the more extended conversation is bugged out.)

Rakha's not overly pleased with this reception, but seeing he's not interested in conversation with her, she goes over to Barcus instead.

"Ah. There you are. Everyone seems to be quite a-flutter. Do you know why?"

"Haven't you heard?" She's mildly surprised no one told him; Barcus hasn't exactly been subtle about his goal of finding Wulbren. "I freed the people being held in Moonrise Towers."

Barcus's eyes light up at once. "You-- you did? But that means... Wulbren!"

Without waiting for a response, he dashes past her into the main room of the inn as fast as his short legs can carry him. Wulbren and the other rescued gnomes are sitting around a table, and Barcus halts just behind him.

"There must be another way into the city," Wulbren is saying thoughtfully.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" Barcus pipes up eagerly.

Wulbren doesn't even look up, still busily thumbing through a bag of his supplies. "I have little time for eavesdroppers," he says brusquely.

Rakha comes up next to Barcus in time to see his smile fade into sharp dismay. "I'm no eavesdropper! Wulbren, please."

Wulbren shrugs absently. "Yet I don't recall asking for a stranger's opinion. Be on your way."

"I'm no stranger!" Barcus yelps, visibly agitated now.

"Wulbren!" He waves his arms, trying to get the other man's attention.

Wulbren finally looks up - and shoots Barcus a rather bored look, quirking an eyebrow. "Ah," he says vaguely. "I'd heard you might be about. How the devil did you get stuck here, Barcus?"

Barcus shifts awkwardly from foot to foot. His wide smile is plastered back on his face but there is a hint of unease to it now. "I'm not stuck!" he says brightly. "I came to find you, of course!"

Wulbren raises his eyebrows - then lets out a dramatic sigh and rolls his eyes. "Why would you do a foolish thing like that?" he asks. "Really, Barcus..."

He has the tone Rakha has sometimes heard Astarion use to chastise Scratch, when the dog has picked a poor place to relieve himself. Rakha feels a flicker of irritation. She has barely any memory and little more social skill, and even she knows this is a cold way to greet a supposed friend.

And indeed, Barcus is really struggling to keep up the smile now. "Unfortunately for me," he says, a hint of bitterness beneath the earnest tone, "you're my friend. Rescuing you from mortal peril is my right!"

Wulbren rolls his eyes again and scoffs. "But you didn't rescue me, did you?" he says derisively. "I rescued myself." Belatedly, he registers Rakha's presence - and the several feet of height she has on him. "With the aid of this... helper..." he adds grudgingly.

Rakha's eyes narrow to slits.

"Yes, of course,"(*) Barcus adds hastily. "Thank you very much for your help finding Wulbren." His gratitude is painfully sincere, a sharp contrast to Wulbren's cool disdain.

"You don't belong here, Barcus," Wulbren snaps in irritation. "Soon as the way is clear, pack up and head to Baldur's Gate."

Barcus's eyes widen in hurt - and alarm. "But - Wulbren - the runepowder! We need to discuss what you're going to--"

"I SAID GO HOME!" Wulbren roars, with more volume than his small frame seems like it should be capable of. Several of the Harpers look over in mild concern - and some with amusement.

Rakha, however, is not laughing. Her eyes have gone cold with irritation. All the strain she was already feeling at being back at Last Light, at being able to almost smell Isobel upstairs, has come to focus on this man instead.

He has offered no gratitude for her help. He is insulting and minimizing her. He is (to judge by what Barcus said back in Grymforge) planning something very dangerous. And he is disdainful of and shouted at Barcus, one of the few people to whom she is worth something, and who is worth something to her.

A wordless, angry noise sounds in the back of her throat and for a moment her head aches fit to burst.

"Rakha," Wyll says behind her, low enough for only her ears. "Stay with me."

A long, strained pause. Her vision clears. Her fists are still clenched at her sides and she glares at Wulbren with undisguised dislike... but she does not strike.

"Prick," she mutters hoarsely.

(A/N: LOL. I love that Wyll approves of this. And I love it even more here because the way I wrote this, it reads as Wyll also approving of her keeping control of herself. c: )

Wulbren stiffens. His eyes narrow and his head drops forward into a fighting stance. "Say that again," he growls.

Rakha grins savagely. Yes. Fight me. Strike the first blow, I dare you. I will be strong enough not to open the fight - but I will finish it.

But before the moment can explode into violence, Barcus steps between them, waving his hands urgently, placating.

"Let's not be uncivilized!" he stammers. "Wulbren, perhaps we can talk more later, when you've had a moment to settle in."

Wulbren stares at Rakha, unmoving, for a few endless moments. Then he relaxes and gives a deliberately uncaring shrug, turning away. "Sure. Now, I've got business to attend to. Good day to you both," he says curtly.

-----

"Well. There we have it," Barcus says afterwards. "Wulbren is safe and sound, thanks to you. I owe you a great deal." He's still trying to smile but it has lost all of its energy. He looks like a kicked dog.

(Rakha has never seen a kicked dog, that she can remember. But she knows this. She knows it with certainty.)

"Wulbren seems like a real arsehole," Rakha says bluntly. She does not understand why Barcus came all this way for someone who acted like that towards him.

Barcus shakes his head earnestly. "Don't judge him too harshly," he says. "He's been through a lot. When he's had some rest, he'll be back to his usual self."

Rakha frowns. She doesn't understand this either. Why does Barcus not only not care but defend Wulbren?

"Your relationship seems one-sided,"(**) she says flatly.

He flinches. "Nonsense! When you've known each other as long as we have, there aren't sides. Wulbren... can be a little sharp - but so can I," he says defiantly. "You should know that better than anyone."

She considers this. It is not how she would have described him. But then - she is sharper than most. Perhaps her perspective is poor.

He speaks of returning to Baldur's Gate as Wulbren demanded. She shuts that down at once. Mostly this is for practical reasons - it is too dangerous out in the shadow curse. But also she is still angry on his behalf, though she has gotten control of herself, and she doesn't want Wulbren to have the satisfaction of driving Barcus off.

"That'll have to wait," she says firmly. "It's lethal out there."

He smiles sadly. "Oh, that's all right," he murmurs. "I'm a patient fellow. I'm sure you'll clear a path for everyone soon enough."

----

(*) Adjusted dialogue slightly here. In-game Barcus acts as if he's only just finding out we helped, even though we just told him.

(**) Removed "rather" from "rather one-sided" in this line, to better fit Rakha's blunt style.

[r0s3s26]

hello! i would like to request a MHA matchup if possible<3

name: anne

pronouns: she/her

romantic or platonic matchup: romantic!

gender preference: none, i don't mind:>

ideal first date: going for a walk and grabbing some fast food, hopefully stopping by a bookshop or a cute cafe

personality: i'm an introvert and i like my alone time a lot, my social battery dies very quickly. i can be a bit shy at first, but only at first, i usually get comfortable very easily. i joke around a lot and have a pretty dark sense of humor. i'm quite sarcastic. i'm honest and outspoken, i usually first act and think later. i get attached easily. i overthink a lot. i get emotional very quickly, it's easy to make me angry but also easy to make me cry. i always plan things in advance. i'm stressed 24/7. always worried about future and pretty insecure

likes: animals (i have two cats and a dog), books, food that's especially sweet, the color blue, cartoons, plushies, sleeping

dislikes: parties, crowded places, loud noises, snakes, darkness, people who are unnecessarily mean, heights

perfect partner: someone who is fun to be around, would respect my boundaries, someone who wouldn't mind staying in instead of going out, someone protective who would make me feel special ✨

hobbies: listening to music, writing, reading books/mangas, learning languages

appearance: green eyes, medium length brown hair which i dye a lot, round face, 6 ear piercings, arm tattoo, tall (175 cm or so)

hopefully this is okay, sorry if it's too long or wrong:( take your time and have a nice day/night!! :3

@isadollie Your Match is…Shota Aizawa

<3 This grumpy man

<3 If you guys were to be in a relationship it would mainly be you trying to get Aizawa to get out more into the sun (like please touch grass)

<3 BUT he also loves staying in, ordering take out, and cuddling up on the couch while watching a movie

<3 He works with 1-A so he has an godly amount of patience for anything, and if your his partner it has absolutely doubled

<3 He thinks your tattoo and piercings make you look badass, but he would never say that outloud

<3 And also because he is the teacher of 1-A he already is protective of everyone, so you would never have to fear of being in danger, cause he fixed the problem before you even got there

<3 If you ever made a semi dark joke to him he would look at you like this

(he looks so fine in this picture oh my lord😍😍)

<3 Yall have so many cats

<3 Eri probably really likes you, and likes having a maternal figure in her house (dadzawa needed help BAD)

<3 On a more angsty note…

<3 He is very good at telling when something isn’t right with you

<3 Very observant

<3 Like if your having a bad day and everything is just bottling up inside of you and you lash out, he would let you, and then once you have calmed down he would just pull you into a hug, kiss the top of your head and say “i'm right here, you can let it out”

<3 BAWLING

<3 Ok back to happy

<3 So basically I feel like Aizawa is funny as fuck but like secretly, only you and Hazashi know that he is super funny.

<3 Date idea: Playing soft lofi or jazz while reading together in his arms

<3 EEEKKKKKKK

<3 Just so much domestic fluff

<3 Last thing is because you both have longish hair, you absolutely do matching hairstyles, like that half up half down

<3 Ok now to drabble

You sit there with one of your many cats on the couch, your scrolling through movies to watch with as you wait for your boyfriend to get back from patrol. On the coffee table you have taken out from his favorite restaurant, it's basically a buffet at this point knowing the pro hero will be hungry. There is a knock at the door alerting you that Aizawa is back, you softly place “mittens the cat” on the couch, not to disturb his slumber. You walk to the entrance and see your boyfriend taking his shoes and pro hero gear off, “Hi Shota” you say while softly walking up to him and wrapping your arms around his front “Hi honey” he says back. For a moment you just stare at each other softly until he leans in kissing you as softly as his gaze, you kiss back slowly wrapping your arms around his neck, raking your fingers through his hair and scratching his scalp. You tug him closer by the back of his head to kiss him deeper, showing how much you have missed his body slotted next to yours. Aizawa pulls away and pecks your nose, “I missed you too anne”.

(Authors note: I'm sorry I lowkey got carried away at the end, but I hope you like it)

[mythicalmagical-monkeyman]

I just realized I can leave asks to moots and make them rant- I mean, let them answer at length if they want to

Thinking about lmk lately, got any headcanons u haven't shared yet? Or some that u really like? could we have some? Pretty please?

yes, u can do that :3 anyways I was going to post some stuff about shadowpeach at some point so anon sorry if u don't like shadowpeach (also sorry if anon is @fellow-fandom-fruitifier bc honestly a lot of these we've already talked about)

anyways here's some shadowpeach headcanons ... actually this is more like wukong & macaque (basically shadowpeach) things i don't see often at all but they still live free rent in my head

or whatever:

Because he's blind in one eye Macaque has really bad depth perception so he needs glasses and because of the trigram furnace Wukong also needs glasses but he doesn't want to admit that he does. Later however Macaque starts wearing glasses, (and Wukong's a total simp over it) so wukong finally admits he needs them too and now both monkies have glasses except a lot of the time when Macaque and Wukong try to kiss now the glasses get the way :3

Because: shapeshifting, Wukong can always be whatever height he wants to be. If he wants to be the little spoon? well now he's short. If he wants to rest his chin on top of Macaque's head? Well now he's tall. And so on and so forth.

They have those "I'm stupid/I'm with stupid" shirts that they'll often wear to crowded places to help keep track of each other.

Wukong also has a white shirt with sharpied words on it that say "Macaque come pick me up I'm scared" and it's his favorite shirt.

They love to pick each other up, both are strong enough to so honestly it's second nature to them also both are very clingy/touch starved/touchy so picking each other up helps with that. They also love piggyback rides, holding tails/hands/feet, lying/sitting on top of each other, hugs, feet rubs, biting each other, and nuzzling each other.

Another thing they love to do is tickle each other with their tails.

However due to ✨ the horrors ✨ they don't like having the other touch their face very much (or most ppl touching their face tbh)

Anyways, Wukong is utter shit at pick up lines, but they somehow work on Macaque

In turn Macaque is a horrible dancer (u can try & pry this headcanon from my cold dead hands) but Wukong loves and enjoys it when Macaque does dance

The pair have two beds in their bed room instead of just one just in case they fight / they just don't want to sleep in the bed so when they sleep together every square of space counts because the beds are smaller to fit the room

These monkies also have matching onesies and they also buy/win stuffies for each other so they have a collection

These two are also a very competitive couple, weather if it's with each other or other people

Macaque has a set number of pet names he will always use, (ex. three pet names), and whenever he doesn't use one of said three it means something is wrong/he's pissed/etc. However Wukong will usually use just the first pet name/nick name that pops into mind.

If you ever happen to watch a disney/pixar/dreamworks movie with them they'll sing the songs at the top of their lungs, especially if it's a love song

Wukong likes Macaque's drawings and thinks they're awesome, he's like "LOOK! LOOK AT MY BOYFRIEND'S BEAUTIFUL DRAWINGS! LOOK AT THEM!!"

A lot of times they send pictures to each other of monkeys or things somewhat similar to the other always captioned with "this you?" (they love teasing each other)

Wukong likes showing affection with a lot of the 72 transformations so Macaque has been tackled by dog Wukong many times, or had cat Wukong fall asleep on him, or has had hamster Wukong hide in his scarf, etc.

Wukong drools and Macaque snores when they sleep

Because of Macaque being a night owl and Wukong being an early bird (or vice versa) the two are always dragging each other to bed/lying on top of each other to try and get them to sleep while the other tries to escape

Macaque can wax poetry until the cows come home but every once and awhile Wukong says some poetic bullshit that just kills Macaque

Macaque is a baby magnet so whenever they go out in public children are always going up to him or staring at him but Macaque is horrible with/very not interested in children so it leads to funny predicaments that Wukong has to keep himself from laughing at

Many of their dates are just them going "lets see what the fuck happens" before heading out and letting the way of the universe (and their own adhd) decide what they are going to do today

They are old gay ass men that still call each other 'boyfriend' like their 17

And last but not least the monkies have a special sign language they created when they first met (and later perfected over the years) because when they first met Wukong was very bad at controlling the volume of his voice and Macaque was still perfecting his ear deafening spells for his six ears so they came up with hand signals/sign language they could use instead. They still use the hand signals but they later got so good at reading each other that they have a kind of telepathy with each other that they don't have with anyone else.

[denscani]

I think it's fair to assume Dog Teeth likely won't be updated again, which is completely understandable, but i'm curious if you're willing to share what you had planned for your c!Tommy and c!Dream prison fic, set in the 'verse?

i technically have most of it in a draft.

the basics are:

it's dream pov. (therefore was unmotivated to ever finish it at the dsmp height/popularity band it used to be in). involves lot of introspection/inner ruminations.

it goes like canon, where tommy gets stuck in the cell with dream. sam has a retractable leash system for dream that attaches to the back wall and near the food chute. length of chain controlled by a remote-like device. (real chained dog vibes, mostly because I think dt!sam is also kind of a freak like that.)

...and tw here for basics of some of dream's thought patterns ...

while stuck in the cell w/tommy, dream basically thinks about:

a) how much he fucking hates tommy for being annoying/loud/in his space/stuck with him, getting him stuck there in the prison, how everyone is suddenly on tommys side when no one even blinked when he disappeared/got exiled at first, they all found him equally a nuisance to some degree, etc, etc.

b)thinks about how everyone looked at him on the beach, how he knows they want to ask why but his only real reasoning is because he could and because he knew no one could stop him. And, to dream, it was the most effective/fast/efficient (read: entertaining) way to keep tommy in line, and quiet, and semi listening to him for once. like grabbing an insect or weird fucked lizard or something that's been underfoot for so long everyone else ignored it, but you stuck it in a jar and rattled it around hard enough it stopped annoying you. and then kept shaking the jar cause you found it funny and amusing and it was something to do when you're bored.

c) thinks about the past and tommys evolution from burning down georges place to being slowly pressed under his boot to suddenly being gone and then seeing how tommys changed from being in the arctic and with techno. physical and emotional differences, like tommy is full height and tall as or taller than him now, filled out muscle wise--> techno isn't gonna let Tommy sit around and not do chores or mine shit with/ for him ---> dream convinces himself that yeah, well, tommy should thank him then. because dream doesn't think tommy would have been taken in unless he really was crawling up to technos porch like some wounded, skittish animal. annoying and loud, obnoxious pre-exile tommy would have been kicked out day one.

---

outside of the thoughts and ideas dream is cooking up and reflecting on in his brain dome, tommy is stubborn and angry and lashes out the more buttons dream pushes from across the cell (verbally).

basically it's like two different kinds of fucked up dogs put into a small cell and the lack of civility they have for each other is like asking two food aggressive mutts to share a single steak. This includes showing lots of teeth, and using them.

--> and before tommy eventually gets out of the prison cell, he starts making some revelations about dream being pretty top shelf miserable and sort of stuck in time (and mindset), and makes the assertion to dream that he'll be "moving the fuck on with his life" (basically tommy's exact words I penned in the draft), and dream wont be there to see it, etc etc.

(and, because this happens through dream's pov and eyes, dream goes back into stewing and ruminating once tommy leaves. dream thinks about the first day he went to visit tommy in exile and while nothing happens (no armor taken, no items broken, nothing yet), he thinks about how much tommy looked up to him during the moments between the anger. joking around still, the piss sheep, setting up tRent, etc, like dream was someone tommy trusted intrinsically, despite everything. and dream couldn't stop making the comparison in his head to how a dog fed enough times looks at the hand that feeds...and trusts it--needs it-- implicitly.)

Something like that anyways...

[sirenascales]

-> double black [final part] 18+

-> Chuuya x 1stPOV!F!Reader x Dazai

-> Who knew getting fired from work could lead to this?

-> Content: SMUT, slight angst, violence, murder, swearing

Let's end this with a bang, shall we? Also, let's not cry too much, okay? [Chuuya x 1stPOV!F!Reader x Dazai]

4,004 words

warning: SMUT, double vaginal penetration, oral [M], face fucking, slight degradation, passing out, emotions in the end

note:  we're finally done! thanks to everyone who took the time to read my silly story! I truly hope this brought you some type of joy and entertainment! I would appreciate some final feedback now that we are finished. Please dont be shy 🥺❤

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Final || Masterlist

I couldn't help the deep sigh that left from behind my lips as strong hands massaged my back, my body relaxing on the comfortable massage bed. A floral, relaxing scent wafted through my nose, further relaxing me.

"Your body is so tense," a soft, feminine voice said and I hummed in response, eyes closing as the person's hands continued to massage me. "Don't worry, I'll have you all better by the end."

I just hummed again, letting my mind wander as the masseuse massaged my muscles. If she noticed the bruises and bite marks left on my skin, she didn't say anything, just massaging them a little more carefully.

The night before... just thinking back to it made me chew on my bottom lip, remembering how both Chuuya and Dazai thoroughly fucked me deep into the night. They basically turned me inside out, pulling orgasm after orgasm from my body, using me in any which way to please them until I was a fucked out, shaking mess, lying on my back staring blankly at the ceiling.

I can hear their laughter still in my head, the dirty words they whispered still fresh in my mind. Can still feel their rough fingers digging into my flesh, in my mouth, inside me, pulling me into new heights over and over again until I was basically brain dead.

Last night was the first night in days that I had actually gotten some sleep, having woken up refreshed, yet still sore just this morning. It took a bit to get up and walk around, searching for clothes only to remember that I didn't even pack a bag when Chuuya brought me to the penthouse.

"You won't need it," Chuuya told me, sitting at the bar and sipping some tea. He only wore his pants, his shirtless form making me flustered a bit.

"I can't walk around naked, you know. What if I need to leave the penthouse?" I huffed, earning a laugh from Dazai, who was still cuddled up in the blankets.

"You're not leaving, bella~"

I scoffed. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I took vacation time."

"Bullshit."

Dazai just grinned at me and I rolled my eyes. I can just hear Kunikida bursting a blood vessel at this very moment. I shook my head, feeling Chuuya come up and hug me from behind, kissing on my neck softly.

"You won't be leaving," he confirmed Dazai's statement and I shivered slightly. "The masseuse will be here in an hour, so eat breakfast. I felt just how tight and tense your body was last night."

"We need you to be nice and pliable~" Dazai sang and I scoffed, my face heating up.

"Horn dogs..." I grumbled, Chuuya letting me go. After a much needed shower and breakfast, there was a knock on the door and now here I was, the very skilled masseuse kneading out every tight knot in my body.

"Thank you," Chuuya told the masseuse after finishing the session with me. He handed her a fat wad of cash and as she headed out the penthouse, more than pleased with the large tip.

"... and you really think you don't scream 'sugar daddy'?" I asked him, earning a huff and a glare from the red head. Dazai snickered, arm wrapping around my loose body. He led me over to the bar to join Chuuya and I sat on the stool. There was a bit of a silence and I took a look at the two of them before I set my hands on the bar.

"Okay," I started. "Let's talk."

"Ohhh, exciting," Dazai hummed, grabbing the whiskey and pouring himself a glass. "Now that things have finally settled down, I guess it's finally time to have this conversation."

Chuuya was confused. "What conversation?"

"What else? This," I gestured between the three of us. "Us."

"... aren't we just what, fuck buddies? Hell, we were only supposed to have a one night stand!"

"Yet, here we are, Chuuya."

"That's what happens when you have good pussy," Dazai remarked and I gasped, completely scandalized as my face heated up.

"Dazai!"

"What, it's true!"

"Ugh, even if we are just fuck buddies, we have to set boundaries! Expectations!" I exclaimed. "We haven't used condoms, we know Dazai is a little thot-" 

"Hey!" 

"Pfft!"

"Don't laugh, Chuuya, you are way too pretty to not be gettin' some."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, you're the only one I've been sleeping with," Dazai admitted and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I don't know if I believe you."

"But it's true! Whose bed have I been in the most recently?"

"I... well, you have a point."

"And you're the first I've had in a while," Chuuya admitted himself. "I had a lot of things going on."

I nodded my head in understanding, fiddling with my thumbs a bit. "Well... I just want us to be safe. And well, you know, happy so... I don't mind... keeping things how they are now. You know, casual..." I was getting a bit flustered.

"I don't have a problem with it," Dazai said with a shrug.

"Of course you don't," Chuuya huffed. "But fine. It'll be better if feelings don't get involved anyway."

"Oh, most definitely," I agreed with a nod of my head. "And if anyone wants out, then that's okay."

"Oh bella, I don't think that's happening anytime soon," Dazai hummed, finishing his whiskey. He set the glass down, capturing my gaze with his heated eyes and I gasped softly. I then felt my hair being pushed to the side and I bit my lip as Chuuya pressed up against me, kissing on my neck.

"Wait-" I gasped, watching as Dazai stood up from his stool, already pulling off his shirt. "We need to-"

"Talking is over," Chuuya whispered, easily pulling me off the stool. We followed Dazai back towards the bed, it was made with fresh, clean sheets. My mind immediately wandered back to the night before and a chill went down my spine.

It didn't take long for things to get heated, me now sandwiched between them standing at the foot of the bed. My hands were in Chuuya's hair as we kissed, his hands going to undo the robe I was in. The soft material fell to the ground and from behind, Dazai cupped my breasts in his hands, leaving hot, open mouth kisses on my neck.

Dazai's fingers pinched and pulled at my nipples, while Chuuya pushed his hand between my legs, fingers finding my clit. I gasped when he started to rub circles on it, his free arm wrapping around my waist to keep me still.

"You're so wet already," Chuuya whispered against my lips and I whined softly.

"Are you surprised?" Dazai asked, his voice dark yet teasing. "Our dirty little girl is always ready for us to just... take her. Is that right?"

He had asked me and I whimpered softly, nodding my head as I bit my lip to keep me from moaning loudly as Chuuya pushed two fingers inside my wet pussy. Dazai tutted, Chuuya snickering a bit as Dazai grabbed me by my hair, yanking my head back. I cried out, Dazai hissing in my ear.

"I thought we taught you yesterday. Use your fucking words."

"Yes!" I cried out, Chuuya slowly fucking his fingers into me, making it harder for me to talk. I knew I had to answer, but the way that his fingers curled into me made it oh so difficult. No fair. "Yes... 'm so wet for you... I always want you..."

"And why is that?" Chuuya asked, curling his fingers again, Dazai reaching around to rub on my clit as he mouthed along my neck.

"Cause!" I squealed. "I'm- I'm a whore... your whore... your subordinate..."

The men cursed and I found myself thrown onto the bed, only getting a quick second to gather my thoughts before they were on me, Dazai now kissing me deeply while Chuuya kissed along on my chest, taking one of my nipples into his mouth. I moaned in pleasure, squeezing my thighs together, only for both men to reach and spread my legs open.

"Don't fucking hide your pussy from me," Chuuya growled and I whimpered and nodded, crying out when Dazai pushed two of his long fingers into me.

It wasn't long until I found myself on my hands and knees, Chuuya fucking me from behind while Dazai held a tight grip on my head, fucking my mouth. My moans were muffled, the two men moaning, hissing and cursing from their own pleasure.

"I don't know which I like better, your pussy or this hot fucking mouth," Dazai hissed down at me, thrusting his cock deep into my throat then going still, almost making me gag as he made my mouth cockwarm him. "That's right, savor it..."

"Definitely love this pussy, so fucking tight..." Chuuya grunted, hands digging into my hips as he continued to fuck me, the feeling of my walls convulsing around him bringing him near his orgasm. "Fuck, dollface... it's like you were made for us, made for me." He moved his hand around to start rubbing at my clit, my moans and screams muffled by Dazai's cock.

Tears were already running down my face, the vibration from my moans making Dazai tilt his head back as he groaned deeply. Chuuya only had to fuck into me a bit longer before my orgasm rushed through me, my eyes rolling back and my toes curling as I tightened impossibly hard around him. Dazai quickly pushed my head away from him, and I knew it was because I was so close to unconsciously biting him.

"Fuck!" Chuuya quickly pulled out, beginning to stroke his cock himself, when I suddenly shouted.

"Inside! Please!"

Not even thinking about it, Chuuya plunged right back inside of me, pressing me down onto the bed with his hands on my back. His thrusts were almost wild, rough with reckless abandon and I sobbed, clawing into the bed sheets until I found what felt like someone's thigh, clinging onto it.

Feeling Chuuya cum deep inside of me triggered yet another orgasm for me and my mouth was wide open in a silent scream. I barely registered Dazai's hand cupping my jaw, his other stroking his cock until he came right into my gaping mouth.

"Oh fuck, bella... c'mon, swallow it all..." Dazai cooed, closing my mouth for me, wiping my tears away as I did as he told me. I opened my mouth to show him and he smiled slightly. "That's a good girl..."

"Fuck... that was intense..." Chuuya breathed out, lying on his back as I slowly sat up on the bed, catching my breath. My body shook, my mind still hazing as I looked over the two of them. At the sight of blood on Dazai's thigh, my jaw dropped.

"Oh no, I'm sorry..." I whispered, seeing just how hard I dug my nails into his skin.

Dazai just chuckled, waving his hand dismissively as he made himself comfortable against the headboard. "Don't worry about it, bella."

"But-"

"If you're that worried, then come make it up to me. Come sit on this cock."

A chill goes down my spine, but I was already moving to crawl over to him, straddling him and sinking down right on his cock. I gasped sharply, still feeling a bit sensitive but I took it like a champ, trembling on Dazai's lap. Immediately I start to slowly ride him, hands on his shoulders. My head tilted back, eyes closed as I moaned softly.

Dazai just gazed at me, a fond look on his face. The look went away as he looked over at Chuuya, his lips curling up just a bit. "Hey Chuuya..."

"Ugh, what, you bastard?" Chuuya grunted, lifting his head up to look over at us. He watched as Dazai stopped me, squeezing on my ass before he spread my cheeks apart, exposing more of how my pussy swallowed his cock. "Why don't you join us?"

I immediately tense up in his lap, Chuuya's jaw dropping just a bit at the suggestion. He listened to Dazai coo in my ear, hands now rubbing on my back.

"Wouldn't you like two cocks stuffing that pussy, bella?" he hummed, squeezing on my ass again. "Mm, even Chuuya likes that idea, he's hard again."

Chuuya blushed. "Well, who wouldn't be after hearing that?" he scoffed, noticing me looking over my shoulder to look at him, and his cock.

I bit my lip, my mind running at forty thousand miles an hour. The thought of both Dazai and Chuuya stuffing my pussy full of their cock honestly made my heart race, my body shaking as I got so aroused. There was no other answer to be said, and I slowly nodded my head.

A tut. "Words, bella."

"Yes... Yes please. I want you both to fuck me at the same time... I want you to ruin me..."

"Fuck," Chuuya cursed. "You're gonna be the fucking death of me, I hope you know that, dollface."

Dazai laughed, watching Chuuya rummage in the bedside drawer and producing a bottle of lubricant. "Our Chuuya, always so prepared!"

"Oh, shut up, bastard!" Chuuya shouted, climbing back onto my bed and positioning himself behind me. I tensed up again and he huffed, gently kissing on my neck. "You need to relax, dollface. We'll take care of you."

"Hmm," Dazai hummed in agreement, giving me a sweet kiss as Chuuya started to coat his cock with the lubricant. "Relax, it will feel good."

I nodded again, kissing Dazai as a way to distract myself as Chuuya started to rub some extra lube on my pussy. Dazai deepened the kiss, making me moan lightly as I felt Chuuya finally press the head of his cock against my entrance. I took a deep breath, Dazai kissing down on my neck as Chuuya slowly pushed inside of me.

"Fuck..." Chuuya gasped out breathlessly, shuddering deeply as he continued to push in slowly. My head was tilted back, a far away look in my eyes as my mouth hung open. It was like nothing I've ever felt before, so full, so fucking tight and intense. Chuuya pressed his forehead against my shoulder, breathing heavily as he finally bottomed out.

Dazai was just as affected, his eyes glazed over, his bottom lip caught in his teeth as he breathed heavily. "Shit... I could die like this," he whispered. "H-how are you, bella..."

"I..." I stumbled, whimpering when Chuuya shifted just a bit, all three of us hissing as he did so. "Fuck, it feels so good..."

Chuuya was the first to move, slowly pulling himself out before pushing back in. My walls around him, his cock rubbing against Dazai's, it was all too much and Chuuya found him struggling to keep himself in check.

Dazai slowly started to thrust on his own, our breaths coming out strained and haggard as they started to figure out a rhythm to keep. Soon, our moans and grunts sounded about the room, my whines and high pitched squeals ripping from my mouth while they both fucked me so deep, their mouths on any part of my body they can reach.

The headboard thudded against the wall with each thrust, sweat dripping down our bodies. No surprise that tears start to flow down my face, their hands squeezing my body. A hand grabs my face and Chuuya turns my head to kiss me deeply, our tongues swirling around each other as another tongue laps at my nipples.

"Fuck, bella, do you know how fucking beautiful you are," Dazai gasped out against my chest. I only whined, their thrusts becoming a bit more rough, the sounds of skin slapping against skin getting louder, as well as our moans and cries.

"Please... please, it feels so good!" I cried out, tossing my head against Chuuya's head, my hands gripping Dazai's shoulders tightly. "I feel so full..."

"Full of our cocks, huh?" Chuuya groaned. "Fucking you so good... you look so fucking pretty right now, so fucking dirty..."

"Like the whore you are," Dazai continued, smirking.

"Y-your whore..." I mumbled, biting on my lip. "Oh... God... I'm gonna come..."

That only seemed to spur them on, as their thrusts became rougher, their breaths labored as they squeezed my body tight as they fucked me nice and deep. My eyes screwed shut, another cry leaving my lips as the dam finally broke, orgasm tearing through me as my whole body just went rigid, walls convulsing and tightening around them as my vision went white. I just barely registered them cumming inside me when suddenly, my vision went dark.

I was on my back when I suddenly came to and I stared up at the ceiling in confusion, trying to remember what the fuck happened.

"Hey, are you okay?" A gentle finger along my cheek made me jolt and I looked over to find Chuuya lying beside me on the bed, worried look on his face. "You passed out on us."

I was stunned. "I did? For how long?"

"Just a few minutes," Dazai answered, still naked as he walked over to the bed, handing me a bottle of water before climbing into the bed on the other side of me. "Drink that. We're gonna order room service soon."

"I..." I was still stunned, even as I downed half of the bottle of water. "That has never happened before..."

"It was just a bit too intense," Chuuya said, still keeping a gentle hand on me. "Scared the crap out of us."

I frowned. "Sorry..."

Chuuya chuckled softly, kissing my cheek. "Don't be. Somehow, I feel quite smug about this."

I snorted, Dazai just laughing as he shot Chuuya a look.

"Better to make them pass out than to put them to sleep?" he taunted and Chuuya immediately reacted, vein popping on his forehead.

"I have never put anyone to sleep! At least not in the bad way!"

"Yeah, Chuuya is no way boring in bed," you interjected and Dazai whined.

"Bella, I was just having fun!"

I stuck out my tongue at him, Chuuya grumbling in annoyance. He glared at Dazai, scoffing again before he reached over to the nightstand for the room service menu. Chuuya soon made the order for us, and we still lazed around in the bed, honestly not willing to move.

Then a thought came into my head and I groaned. "Fuck. We still have five more days." I slapped my forehead, making the two men burst out laughing.

"Don't think you passing out will stop our plans, dollface," Chuuya teased, kissing my neck and I shied away from him, only to find myself in Dazai's arms as he kissed all over my face.

"This is just a much needed break," he hummed happily, making me roll my eyes. Even if I didn't admit it, I was looking forward to what was next for us, and my poor body.

"Does this place have a hot tub?" I asked and Chuuya nodded.

"They do. And they are private." The implications in his tone made my face get hot and I coughed. They laughed and I just couldn't believe how high of a sex drive they had. Even so, I had no room to talk, considering I was probably no better. And that was okay.

"Can we break for the rest of today?" I then asked them and they shrugged.

"All you have to do is ask," Dazai replied, sending a teasing grin Chuuya's way. "Besides, now I can finally hang with my best bud."

"Oh cut the crap, Dazai," Chuuya growled in response. "As if I'll be friends with a bastard like you."

"Yeah... being friends with someone with horrible shoe taste totally isn't cool. Especially if he wears a stupid hat."

"My hat is not stupid!"

The two continued to argue, their clear dislike for each other making me sigh. I just ignored them, pulling on my robe and getting ready to receive the room service for when it arrives.

Could I survive five more days of...this?

"I'm gonna miss you so much," I whispered as I hugged my best friend tightly, feeling my eyes start to sting. The loud, busy bustle of the airport continued around us, folks from all walks of life coming and going. I pulled back from the hug, giving Keiko a wide, watery smile.

She wiped my tears away, her own tears threatening to fall. "Don't cry, honey. I'll be back before you know it."

As Keiko told me before, she was going away on an extended trip, and will be gone for six months, even longer. She needed to get out of Japan and go to a place where she could heal and find herself again, and Japan was not the place for that.

Just the thought of not having my best friend with me brought fresh tears to my eyes and I hugged her again. Keiko hugged me back just as tightly, the dam finally breaking and tears falling down her beautiful face.

"Thank you so much. For everything," she whispered, her voice trembling. "You saved my life. I will forever be indebted to you."

"No, Keiko," I pulled back again, shaking my head. "You are not. You will not be tied down to someone again, not even me."

Keiko frowned. "But-"

"Just get better," I told her firmly. "Heal. Become a better Keiko. Come back bigger and better than ever. That is how you can repay me." I smiled at her, reaching up to wipe her tears away. Her big eyes shone with tears and emotions, her lips quivering as she cupped my face.

"I'm gonna miss you so much," she said softly. "I love you."

I laughed softly, putting my hand over hers. "I love you too, Keiko. I am just a phone call away and I'll be here whenever you need me."

Keiko smiled wide, still cupping my face and I was surprised when she leaned in and pressed a soft kiss right on my lips. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as Keiko pulled away, giggling behind her hand.

"What was-"

"I'll be back in a blink of an eye," Keiko said, picking up her carry on bag. "And we're gonna have sooooo much catching up to do, so you better be ready! And please, don't get pregnant."

I gaped at her and Keiko laughed loudly. It made my heart race, that small glimpse of the old Keiko making me even more emotional. She waved at me one last time before turning and walking towards security. I watched as she went through, holding back my tears until she finally disappeared.

I took a deep breath, wiping the tears off my face before I turned to finally make my way out of the airport. I had come alone, just wanting to have this moment alone with Keiko. I didn't like the thought of being alone, but I knew that Keiko needed this more than anything, and I was proud of her for making such a huge decision. Besides, we could always facetime, so it's not like I'll be truly alone.

Getting into the taxi I had flagged down, I reached into my purse to grab my phone, gaping when my one messaging app showed over 100+ notifications. Opening it, I snorted a laugh when I realized it was because of Dazai and Chuuya fighting in the group chat I forced them to join. I sent in a short message before putting my phone away, shaking my head.

Yeah, with those two, I truly wouldn't be alone. I did worry for my sanity though, but that was something I worried about before I even moved to Japan. I took a glance into the rearview mirror of the taxi, not surprised to see in my reflection angry tears going down my face, even though my face was completely dry.

->The End

[muffinwalloper]

Let's talk about the villain - Cruella De Vil Part II

The door opens and Cruella steps into the working room. Here, the audience understands that Cruella owns a fashion company which makes sense for her character and explains her infatuation with furs. Here, the audience is shown that her company produces high class fashion that aligns with couture and is possibly only worn by models and celebrities. The whole room is held in grey colours and hard edges with cold light from above. Also, note the painting on top of the entrace: it looks like flames. Cruella is basically stepping through the gates of hell!

The camera ankle changes once more and shows Cruella from worm's-eye-view. That in combination with her whole appearance makes her look huge and intimidating. The audience still can't see her face, only her jawline and her red lipstick. Her black attire stands out perfectly against the light grey of the room and she literaly walks down the catwalk in the middle of the room while all of her employees are beneath her. Also, this scene worked as an inspiration for Meryl Streeps character Miranada Prestly in The devil wears Prada. Miranda and Cruella are both fashion icons, boss ladies and intimidate their employees with their mere presence. Even though it's more subtle here than in Devil wears Prada, Cruella's employees also act in a rushed way and do their best to look as busy as they can. Also, in contradiction to the men who have greeted her on the street, none of her employees here dares to even look her way. They know that she's here but are so afraid of her that they rush to get back to their work, so she hopefully will just pass them.

Now, Anita is introduced. Anita seems to be the only one who hasn't noticed Cruella's entrance and is actually busy with work. Cruella steps towards her from behind and in doing so, she slows her pace and moves like a predator stalking it's prey in an attempt to get a glimpse at Anita's work.

Anita only notices that someone is standing behind her when Cruella is already within arms reach. She then turns and for the first time, Cruella's face is shown to the audience. Cruella, being focused on Anita's work only looks at her then and immediately flashes her a false smile. Glenn Close absolutely nails that smile that doesn't reach her eyes. In a way, it can be viewed as a mere flashing of teeth which fits her whole appearance along with her fashion choices that indicate that she's some kind of predator (more than that in part III). So, she gives Anita that broad smile after having creeped up from behind and greets her (her first line in the movie): "Anita, darling." Not only has she never so much as looked at one of her employees before, much less greeted them but she openly smiles at Anita and steps right into her space in an almost familiar way. From all that the audience has seen so far they realise that Cruella uses people to her advantage. So, when she steps up to Anita and greets her in a friendly manner, the audience knows that she must have something that Cruella wants.

In this scene, the audience learns that Anita does indeed have something that Cruella wants - talent. Cruella tells Anita that much later in her office and is clearly struck by Anita's last work. In the original, Cruella's idea to make a coat out of puppies comes to her when she visits Anita and Roger and meets the dogs for the first time. In this version, the idea is presented to her by Anita who used her dog's (Perdita) spots as an inspiration for a design idea. As Anita explains the idea to Cruella, she steps even closer and runs her hand along Anita's sketches as well as the photos of Perdita. Here, it's established that Cruella, whenever she sees something that catches her interest, reaches out for it to grab it. She's a woman who is used to get whatever she wants because she simply takes it. That much is shown again later when she tries to buy the newborn puppies of Anita and Roger and they decline. Cruella reacts with a bone deep rage, calls Anita insane (when clearly she's the insane one) and fires her. Obviously, nobody has ever dared to say no to her before and even if someone might have hesitated to give her what she wanted, Cruella seems to always have gotten her way with money. When she fails to buy the puppies, she's put in a position that she is unfamiliar with and reacts with force (stealing them).

Now for the way, Cruella interacts with her employees. After having seen Anita's ideas she invites her into her office. They are followed by Frederick, her head of designs. Whereas she was nice to Anita she treats Frederick with the same arrogance as she did the Portier. At first she doesn't look at him and when she does, she doesn't change her position but makes him change his to look at her. Whereas she stands in a comfortable position, Frederick leans to his left side, cranes his neck and lowers his chin to be on one level with her. She makes him cower in front of her whereas she stands tall. She's managed to look down on him despite their obvious difference in height. Also, note how she keeps him pinned with her gaze while his eyes stray towards the side or the ground again and again, avoiding direct eye contact. Another point is their conversation which makes the hierarchy clear to everyone who hasn't got it yet:

C.: "Do you like spots, Frederick?"

F.: "Oh, I don't believe so, Madame. I thought we liked stripes this year."

C.: "What kind of sycophant are you?"

F.: "What kind of sycophant would you like me to be?"

I mean, he's practically asking her to step on him even more. Frederick, even though meant as a caricature sums up perfectly what kind of boss Cruella is and contrasts the way she speaks to Anita. Cruella wants Anita to share her ideas with her and does everything she can to lure her in. She invades her personal space from the beginning, acts like a friend. She speaks to her in a friendly manner with a calm voice whereas she snaps at every other employee. She invites her to her office, makes her sit down, offers her a drink and tries everything to make her comfortable while Anita is clearly uncomfortable with the way Cruella treats everyone else. However, being a rather shy nature, Anita would never voice her discomfort to her boss and tries to smile it away politely. Even when Cruella commands Alsonso around right in front of her, she doesn't say anything although she clearly feels sorry for him. In her interaction with Alonso also lies another layer of Cruella's character. To her, Alsonso is the lowest being in her orbit. She has zero patience with him and expects him to run at her very command, she's offended when he doesn't catch her meaning immediately. At that point, I'm wondering if she even paid the poor man. Cruella is portayed as a spinster and man hater in general. Be it Roger, Alonso, Skinner, Horrace or Jasper. All she does is ordering them around harshly while at the same time looking down on them.

To sum up, in my opinion THIS is how you introduce a villain in a movie! It's perfection!

[angelikook]

How to Find Your Soulmate

Pairing(s): Non-idol!Namjoon x reader

Genre: Tooth-rotting fluff, teensy bit of angst

Word Count: 10.2k

Warning(s): None

Summary: Where a journey to find his soulmate took a different turn.

A/n I wrote this as a spur in the moment thing, but it surprisingly came out really well.

The familiar sound of keys jiggling from his front door was a sure sign that he was about to lose whatever amount of peacefulness in his tiny apartment. As he braced himself for what was about to come, the door swung open and came in the person he had been waiting for.

Y/n was her name. Peculiar, wild, and random. Her hair basically could represent her entire personality. Unruly, messy, and out of control. She'd been a loner for most of her lifetime. Definitely a big believer in “I’m a strong independent woman who doesn’t need no man”.

It also came as a surprise to Namjoon when he couldn’t help but to be attached to her a long time ago when they were kids. And ever since that, he had gained a new best friend. Or more like the best friend since he didn’t have that many best friends to begin with.

“Joon, let’s go! We have things to do.” Y/n grabbed on his arm and tried to pull him up from his slouched position on his couch. The couch that became worn out so quickly for its rather frequent use whenever he was stressed.

In his defense, it wasn’t his fault that the couch was so comfy.

Failing to pull him up, Y/n groaned in frustration. “Come on! There’s a bazaar downtown that I wanna check. Can’t have me go alone at this time, right?”

“I don’t wanna get up. Let’s just watch Netflix,” he said as he turned on the TV.

Y/n snatched the remote from his hand and turned the TV back off. “Nope. Let’s go. Tomorrow is Saturday anyways, you can watch the TV all you want.”

Namjoon sighed. “What do I get for this?”

Y/n grinned and cupped her cheeks. “You get to spend time with me.”

“Ugh, I don’t want that,” he teased as he pulled himself up from the couch. “I'm tired of seeing your face.”

“You, mister.” She jabbed her finger at him. “Owe me a boba tea, remember? Now is the perfect time to redeem yourself.”

“Remind me not to wake you up again on Sunday mornings.” He shuddered at the memory of seeing bed headed Y/n screaming on top of her lungs, telling him not to wake her up from her beauty sleep or whatever.

“Are you seriously wearing that, though?” he asked as he eyed Y/n’s outfit.

She still wore the same outfit that she had worn since this morning. There was a noticeable coffee stain on her left cufflinks, indicating she probably had bumped her mug with her hand by accident. Her skirt was already crinkled especially on the bottom part. Disclaimer, he totally did not just check her out. Her heels made her feet red and look swollen. They clearly cut off her circulation, but somehow she insisted on wearing them anyways, claiming that she felt sexy and smart and beautiful in them.

“They look uncomfortable,” Namjoon had commented one day after noticing how her heels made Y/n walk weirdly. “Why don’t you just wear sneakers?”

Y/n scoffed, as if what he had said was ridiculous. “Real women don't wear sneakers to work, Joon.”

“Whatever you say, Y/n.” Namjoon had tried hard to stop the urge of rolling his eyes.

Ever since that, he didn’t even want to talk about her heels. “Let her suffer if she wanted that,” he always reminded himself.

Y/n walked to his full-length mirror inside his room and stared at herself. “What’s wrong with this?”

“Just change into more comfortable clothes,” Namjoon said from the living room. “You’d look out of place."

With that, Y/n closed the bedroom door behind her and grumbled. “This is perfectly fine. People do go out after work to a bazaar.”

She actually said more than that. Way more. But at this point, he didn’t even bother to listen to her. It wasn’t like this was his first time ignoring her blabbers. And he was pretty sure she was used to it, too.

Minutes later, Y/n came out to the living room wearing Namjoon’s hoodie and sweatpants. She even managed to find a pair of his sandals that he thought was gone. Sure her outfit now swallowed her, but at least it was more comfortable.

“Alright, let’s go!” was the last thing she said before they left his apartment.

A boba tea and a corn dog later, Namjoon and Y/n were walking aimlessly. They were just following the direction other people were taking, not really sure themselves where they would end up.

“Aren’t you glad I forced you out of that stuffy apartment?”

“Nope. I still rather be on my couch.”

Y/n frowned. “What?” She gestured to their surroundings. “This is so much better.” She saw a small bench and sat on it, gesturing to him to sit beside her. “I think you need to take a breather and just relax, my dude. Whatever problems you have at work, they don’t exist for now.”

“It’s easy for you to say that.”

Y/n slurped hard on her drink, trying to get as many bobas as possible into her mouth. “You-”. Chew. “-think too much-”. Chew. “-of things you can’t-”. Chew. “-control.”

“Okay, finish your drink first. That’s disgusting.”

Y/n laughed while trying to stop her bobas from coming out of her mouth. After succeeding to suppress her laughter, she chewed on the bobas thoroughly before swallowing them.

“You’re an overthinker who misses on great things in life just because you’re too caught up in your problems. And when you realize you missed those things, it’ll be all too late.” Y/n then continued finishing her drink in silence while he was registering what she just said.

He was so focused on his thoughts to the point he didn’t even realize when Y/n had left him to find a trash can. He was only drawn back to reality when Y/n came to him running and yelling his name in excitement.

Y/n spoke in rapid speed to the point she sounded like speaking gibberish. The only thing he heard was “fortune teller” before Y/n yanked on his hand and dragged him to a small kiosk.

The kiosk was mostly empty. No customers were surrounding it unlike other kiosks. But it wasn’t what set it apart from the others. It was the big letters in front of it that read “fortune teller” in big bold text. Inside, there was only one woman sitting, unmoving, seemingly reading something, a book maybe.

Aware of his and Y/n’s presence, the fortune teller looked up from the book and smiled at them both. Unlike what the media portrayed fortune tellers were, that they were scary and mysterious, her smile was warm and friendly.

“Is there something I can do?” The fortune teller closed the book and stood up.

“Yes!” Y/n replied. “My friend here-” She gestured to Namjoon “-wants to know his future.” After a few seconds of pause, she added, “And about his soulmate too, please.”

Before he could respond, the fortune teller beat him to it. “Very well.” The fortune teller cracked her knuckles before staring deep into his eyes. Her gaze somehow made him feel naked, vulnerable.

They hold their gaze for a while. As seconds became minutes, he felt breathless, and hot. The gaze that at first was soft but strong, became sharper and almost felt painful. But not long after, the fortune teller focused back at Y/n who stood still beside him, gawking at her. He could finally let out a breath that he didn’t realize he had been holding.

“From what I can tell, your friend is on the right track. He’s doing well, but he won’t be if he can’t appreciate the simple things in life,” the fortune teller explained. “As for his soulmate, he already knows who they are, he even knows where they are. The only thing left for him to do is just to figure it out within himself.”

The thing was, he didn’t believe in fortune tellers, astrology, and whatnot. He never even cared about things like that. But seeing Y/n’s grin and the glint in her eyes as she thanked the fortune teller and gave her a tip, he didn’t say anything against it. As much as Y/n called him boring, he wasn’t the type to burst people’s bubble of happiness.

Throughout the walk to Y/n’s apartment, she kept talking about what the fortune teller had said.

“Gosh, I can’t believe you know who your soulmate is.” Y/n lightly punched on his arm. “You never tell me anything.”

Namjoon shrugged. “What’s there to talk about? I don’t know who my soulmate is either. I apparently need to figure it out myself.”

“I know what we can do!”

This sounded like he was about to be in for a bad time. “What?”

“Let’s go do something different! Maybe you'll find your revelation or whatever.”

He really wanted to scoff. “How does that even work?”

“Don’t know. But it's worth a try. Do you want to figure out who your soulmate is or not?”

Of course he did. “Of course I do. What kind of question... ”

Y/n clapped her hands together. “Good! Tomorrow I’ll pick you up. Get ready for a week full of surprises.”

“Wait what? I never signed up for this.”

Y/n rolled her eyes. “You did sign up. You said you want to find your soulmate.”

“But not tomorrow!” he raised his voice in frustration. “We have work on Monday.”

“Just call your boss that you’ll be gone for a week.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Dude, bro, my guy, you need to live in the moment. Plus, you haven’t taken a leave in years. Years, Namjoon.”

He inhaled long and hard before exhaling it slowly. His best friend seriously was going to be the death of him.

“Please.” Y/n looked up at him. He suddenly became aware of the massive height difference they had.

It wasn't that Y/n was short. She said it herself that she was the average height although he didn’t really believe that. She just looked so tiny compared to him. But, on the other side, Namjoon was quite tall for a guy around his age.

He groaned. “Ugh, not the puppy eyes. Seriously.”

“Does that mean I win?” There was a soft gleam of hope in her eyes.

Namjoon was a strong man. At least, that was what everyone who knew him had said about him. So it was weird for the always composed and well mannered man to have a weakness. And to have that weakness took in the form of his childhood best friend was even weirder. What in his best friend that didn’t exist in literally anything that could melt his heart like no other? Puppies and kittens could never even compare. His cute bonsais, too, couldn’t even compare.

He might never find the answer to that. Heck maybe he found out about his soulmate before he could answer that. He could only shook his head in disbelief as Y/n put her bunny headband on his hair.

It was Saturday at 8 a.m, the morning after the fortune teller incident. Y/n simply invited herself into his apartment while he was still in the shower. It was one of the things he regretted after giving her the keys to his apartment. It was meant to be used during emergencies, not for her getting all cozy here and thinking this was her place.

He was walking out of the bedroom, fully dressed and ready for the day, when he heard a sizzling sound coming from the kitchen. He stepped closer to the kitchen and as it came into view, he saw Y/n cooking with her back facing him.

He thought he was being quiet, but apparently not because Y/n turned around and greeted him with a beaming smile.

"Morning! I'm making you some omelette and there's coffee on the table." She pointed at the mug on the table with smoke still puffing out of it. "Exactly two teaspoons as you like it." Then she continued cooking as if nothing had happened.

He was speechless as he looked at the mess in his kitchen. Egg shells on the floor, ketchup smeared all over the kitchen counter, and some puddles on the floor could be seen. It was as if a tornado just came.

“What is all this?” he asked when he finally found his voice.

Y/n carefully plated the omelette before proudly putting the plate beside the coffee. “This is what I call breakfast. Bet you usually only drink coffee in the morning.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. Look at the kitchen, Y/n! Who’s gonna clean up after this?”

Y/n took a look around the kitchen with a readable and all too familiar facial expression.

“I know what you’re gonna say,” Namjoon said as he took a seat. “And to that, I say, I don’t want to clean up your mess. You clean it up.”

She lifted her hands in surrender. “Fine, geez. A thank you would be nice.”

“You not making a mess would be appreciated.”

“Touché."

Usually when he had coffee in the morning, he felt that adrenaline rush. The kind that made you feel giddy, restless, and even made you tremble. This time, thanks to Y/n's cooking, he didn’t feel any of those. He was tempted to tell Y/n about this, but in the end, he just kept it to himself. He didn’t want to fuel her ego. It wasn’t a very good idea to do that so early into this “Journey to Find Namjoon’s Soulmate” or whatever Y/n had called it last night.

Even if he told him all those things, chances were she wasn’t going to listen to him as she was busy admiring her work on his hair. The bunny headband finally put on properly and held his hair away from his face.

“Have you ever put on a face mask before?” Y/n handed him a face mask.

“Umm, no.”

“Let me put it on you.” She smiled as she took back the face mask from his hand.

Within seconds, her trained hands successfully put the face mask on his face. And not long after, her face was also wearing one.

“We’re matching!” Y/n grinned at him. “Let’s take a selfie,” she said as she pulled out her phone.

He wasn’t big on selfies, he didn’t even remember the last time he took one. But seeing the huge smile on his best friend’s face was enough for him to reluctantly agree.

He forced a smile at the camera. He realized it looked awkward as Y/n shoved their photo in front of his face to show him the result. It looked even more ridiculous with the bunny headband on top of his head. However, the girl looked like she didn’t mind as she kept babbling on about how this was their first selfie in years and she wanted to upload it so bad.

“-will ask me about you. And what’s going to happen to me when you date one of them?”

A silence followed her ramblings until he realized she just asked him a question.

He cleared his throat. “First of all, just because I’m dating, doesn’t mean you can’t still be my best friend. Second of all, isn’t the purpose of this… adventure is to find my soulmate?”

Y/n eyes widened in realization. “You’re right! I’m gonna post it then.” As she was about to hit the post button on her phone, she looked at him. “Wait. What should I caption it?”

20 minutes later, when the once cold mask was no longer cold and it started to dry a bit, Y/n carefully peeled the mask from both their faces.

“What do you feel?” Y/n asked expectantly.

Namjoon didn’t even know how to answer that. Truth to be told, these skin care products never really made an impactful difference on his skin, hence the reason he didn’t have a skin care routine. The most he ever did was just wash his face with a face wash and even that was a leftover he found in his sister’s old room a few weeks after she left for uni. A side note, don’t even ask him why he was in her room, he wouldn’t answer it truthfully. His parents would probably say that he missed her, but he knew it wasn’t true… right?

The lack of response from him was enough for Y/n to catch on what he was feeling.

“You don’t feel anything, huh?”

“Wetness on my face.” His answer sounded more like a question.

“You’re unbelievable. Well, since today is just the first day, I’ll let it go. But, the correct answer to that is refreshed, Joon,” Y/n explained in exasperation as she scratched her head.

“What does that have to do with finding my soulmate?”

“You might find out your soulmate faster if you’re not stressed,” Y/n said as a matter-of-factly.

He sighed. “You know what, I don’t even bother to argue with you.”

“Cause you know I’m right.”

That night when he was about to fall asleep, when he was only half-aware of his surroundings, the memory of today’s activity played in his mind. The messy kitchen as his best friend attempted to make him breakfast. Her proud smile as she served his food. The focused look on her face when he was putting on her headband and the face mask on him. And lastly, the tired smile she offered him as she said goodbye when the day ended after they binge watched on Netflix. For the first time in years, he fell asleep with a smile plastered on his face.

The next morning on Sunday, he woke up much earlier than usual. He even woke up feeling energized. He could even feel anticipation bubbling inside of him. The last time he felt like this was when he was around 9 and his parents gave him tickets to Disneyland as a birthday gift. Simply put, he felt like a kid again, waiting for great things that were about to happen today.

As he smiled at the memories of his childhood, he couldn’t help but realize that maybe Y/n was right all along. She always nagged on him because all he did was to mope around on his old couch and get drunk when things got too hard.

“Live in the moment, dude,” she had said multiple times. “You worry too much like an old man who fears the end of the world.”

What a great metaphor, Y/n.

Just like the day before, Y/n entered his apartment without notice. But this time, instead of being in the shower, he was already dressed and waiting for her. He could feel his heart beat get faster when he heard the door being opened.

Y/n widened her eyes in surprise before she smirked. “I like the energy. Let’s just go, then!”

For the second activity in The Journey to Find Namjoon’s Soulmate, Y/n took him to an…

“Animal shelter?” Namjoon asked in disbelief.

Y/n nodded. “I want to see cute animals.”

“We can just go to the zoo.”

“It’s expensive. And they don't really care about animals."

Ever since the start of their friendship, he could never win against her wittiness. So this wasn’t really a rare occurrence where she said an argument so wrong yet so right.

“But a zoo is intended for exactly that purpose. Rather than you playing with those sheltered animals but not adopting one of them in the end,” Namjoon explained.

“Oh, shush. Stop being a party-” Y/n’s eyes suddenly caught a puppy running towards her. “Oh my God, come here, baby!” she yelled as she scooped the puppy up in her arms.

For a few minutes, it was just Y/n cooing at the puppy and he was just eyeing her in amusement. He knew that she would go mushy and all excited around animals, so he couldn’t really blame her for seemingly forgetting about him. Plus, he didn’t want to miss out on seeing Y/n using baby voices to talk to the animals.

His amusement was interrupted when Y/n abruptly shoved the puppy towards him.

“Wha-? I don’t-”

“Just take it. We’re here for you, not me.”

Namjoon sighed in defeat as he accepted the puppy into his arms. Its tail wagging so fast, going for miles per second, to the point he could feel its body shaking from the impact. Its big eyes looking up at Namjoon in… adoration? Maybe going to the shelter might be one of his favorite activities from now on.

They only went home after an entire day spent at the shelter. Namjoon was tired, he almost couldn’t keep his eyes open, but Y/n was probably more tired than him cause she kept running around to chase every puppy and kitten she saw.

He tried to stop her, knowing she would get tired, but she said, “Each one of them deserve love, okay,” before running around yet again.

Now as they sat in the bus on their way home, he saw out of the corner of his eyes Y/n’s head bobbing down every once in a while, following the motion of the bus. He snorted while he tried to hold his laugh. What he had thought would happen, really happened.

Feeling bad because he knew that would feel uncomfortable, he lightly directed Y/n’s head to rest on his shoulder. Instinctively, Y/n snuggled further into his shoulder to make herself more comfortable and when she was finally satisfied, she sighed.

This awfully looked like he was going to have a guest tonight.

The third day was on a Monday. He knew he was weird, Y/n had told him repeatedly, but he really liked Mondays. For him, it was finally the day in which he could do something about his problems at work that he just left off on Friday.

“I swear, you’re literally the personification of weird,” Y/n had commented one day.

To be honest, he didn’t really care if he was really what she had said. Can’t someone like something without being judged?

Right after they both woke up and had breakfast, Y/n went back to her apartment to get ready for the day.

Before leaving, she instructed him to find light clothes as they were going to spend time outdoors for the day. Exactly like what she said, he chose to wear an old t-shirt he had owned since he was in college and khaki shorts he found at the pit of his wardrobe.

“I hope they have mint choco flavor!” Y/n jumped up and down in excitement as they got closer to the ice cream parlor.

“Ew, why do you even like to eat cold toothpaste?” Namjoon asked rhetorically.

Y/n gasped. “What is this mint choco slander? You, mister, have never tasted life until you eat mint choco ice cream.”

“No, thanks. I bet I’d taste death eating those.”

Flabbergasted, Y/n stopped in her tracks and glared at him. “You-”

He quickly cut her off, “Let’s not continue the argument before there’s a bloodbath.”

Y/n chuckled proudly. “Because you know it’d be your blood that’ll be spilled.”

“Um, no,” he interjected. “I think you mistake your blood with mine.”

“Really? You wanna fight?” Y/n took a fighting stance in front of him in which Namjoon just grabbed her elbow and pulled her to walk again.

"Stop that! The kids will think you're one of them," he mumbled.

They were at a busy park surrounding a lake. Kids were running all around the place. Some parents tried to chase them but some went as far as scolding them. A small portion of parents even just let their kids disappear into the crowd of people. He doubted those parents even care about their kids.

He never knew such a place like this existed. During the three days he spent on this journey, he had learned and knew more things than all of his life experiences combined. Maybe he’d have to thank Y/n after they reached the end of this journey.

“I start to think this journey is just your excuse to have a holiday.”

“No way. This is totally 100% for you. Speaking of that, do you already have an idea who your soulmate might be?”

Namjoon shook his head as he opened the door to the ice parlor and gestured to her to enter first. “Just get your damn ice cream.”

There was a long line of people waiting to order, but soon enough, it was their turn.

Even before the cashier could greet them, Y/n already blurted out a question. “Do you have mint choco flavour?”

“We’re unfortunately ran out of it. Maybe you want to try mocha instead?”

Y/n pouted in disappointment as she was trying to find the next best flavor in the menu.

Though mint choco ice cream was his mortal enemy, he couldn’t help but to feel a pang of sadness upon seeing his best friend’s reaction. There was nothing worse than having your first choice unavailable.

“You know what? I changed my mind, bubblegum is now my favorite,” Y/n commented as they walked out of the parlor. A cup of bubblegum flavored ice cream in Y/n’s hand and the vanilla one in Namjoon’s. “Goodbye, mint choco.”

“See? You’re finally agreeing with me.”

“Yeah, but for different reasons. I still think it tastes good, but bubblegum is better. It’s a good thing they ran out of mint choco.”

“Your taste in ice cream is weird.”

“Why would they make these flavors then if not for me to enjoy?” she argued as she put more ice cream into her mouth. She closed her eyes and hummed in content. “I haven’t had ice cream in weeks. I miss how cold it feels.”

“I think you’re exaggerating.” There was no way, in his opinion, not even in alternate universes where she could stand not eating ice cream for weeks. She had a sweet tooth and couldn’t stand not eating ice cream in weeks, at least that was what he knew since the start of their friendship.

“Nope. These past few weeks, my boss has been giving me double the amount of work. I have to work overtime and by the time I’m off work, all ice cream places have closed. So I’m gonna savour all of this as much as I can. God knows when I can get ice cream again.”

Shortly after she said that, a kid, approximately around 9 years old, bumped into Namjoon and accidentally made him drop his ice cream. The kid, unaware of what just happened, just mindlessly bowing and saying sorry before running again to chase his friends.

“Oh no!” Y/n squatted down near the sorry sight of his ice cream.

Before he even registered what was happening, she handed him her ice cream. “Hold it for me.”

Instinctively, he held her ice cream. “Y/n, there’s no need for that. We can find the cleaning service and ask them to clean it.”

He didn’t know whether she was purposely ignoring him or she was so focused to the point she didn’t hear him. All he knew was the fact that she kept on cleaning up as best as she could. And that there was nothing he could do to stop her.

A few minutes later, Y/n jumped up from her squatting position. “All done!” She tossed the now dirty tissue in a trash can nearby.

She thanked Namjoon and took her ice cream back from him. But instead of eating it herself, she scooped some with the spoon and directed it in front of his face.

He must have looked bewildered because Y/n smiled and spoke, “We must share since you lost yours.”

He could swear when she said that, he felt warmth all around his body, originating from his chest. She just said she missed ice cream, yet when he lost his, she didn’t hesitate to share it.

“No, but thanks.”

Y/n frowned and softly touched the tip of the spoon to his lips. Reluctantly, he let her spoon-feed him.

“You said you want to savour it?” he asked after he swallowed.

Her answer, however, was something he never expected coming out from her mouth.

“What’s sweeter than eating ice cream is sharing it with your best friend.”

He swore he almost broke into tears at her words.

He knew how much she loved sweet foods. She even frequently ran to him crying when her brother ate all of her chocolate when they were kids. She broke many friendships because they didn’t want to accept her overpriced candies as presents. Heck, even a moment ago they were arguing about ice cream flavors!

This was a new side of Y/n that he just saw. A side she never showed him before, her best friend slash her only friend. He felt like he was learning more about Y/n than he was about his future soulmate.

So that was how their third day ended. Namjoon and her sitting on a bench facing the lake as they take turns to take a bite of her ice cream.

On Tuesday, the fourth day, Y/n had the genius idea of going on a road trip. It was a huge problem, because one: he couldn’t drive, and two: he wasn’t about to let Y/n drive for hours on end.

“This doesn’t sound like a very good idea,” Namjoon said for the millionth time that morning as Y/n stuffed their luggages into the tiny trunk in her tiny car. “Plus, I don’t think your car can withstand long hours on the road.”

"Shush." She forcefully closed the trunk. "You can't drive, therefore you don't deserve to have an opinion."

The car in question was a 2010 car that originally was owned by Y/n’s dad and given to her when she got a driver’s license. Please note that Y/n had told him long ago that she actually didn’t drive that much and probably wouldn’t need a car since she enjoyed taking the bus to work. Nevertheless, she refused to sell the car when she was in need of money after moving out of her parents’ house. She had said, and Namjoon still remembered it clearly, that, “I want to keep this bad boy until he’s an antique, then I want to sell him to the highest bidder, so I can be rich."

‘Okay’, Namjon had thought, ‘but antique cars are usually just sitting in the garage, not being overworked like Y/n’s.’ However, he never said anything, so Y/n automatically had thought she won again against him.

Minutes later, they were already on the road, going nowhere in particular. Namjoon was still steadfast in his stance. This wasn’t going to end well.

But what if he could persuade her to turn the car around by another means? He wasn't going to pass up this opportunity, so he tried again.

"Won't you be tired? Sleepy?" asked him.

"I'm not weak, Namjoon. Contrary to what you see me as, I'm as strong as you are, if not stronger."

"I lift three times a week." His words sounded more like a question.

"I walk up the stairs to the fifth floor multiple times a day."

Okay, this wasn't where the conversation was supposed to flow, but he wasn't going to back down.

"It's not my fault your apartment is crappy," he clapped back. “They can’t even fix their damn lift.”

"They will get it fixed soon, don't worry."

"That's what they said months ago!"

"Then what do you want me to do?" she challenged him.

"Find a new apartment!"

"They're all expensive. Plus, I’ve lived there since college, I’m kinda attached to it."

"You're a hopeless cause," he mumbled quietly, she probably didn't hear him.

After a few seconds of silence, Namjoon tried again, this time using another different approach.

"What if something terrible happens?"

"No, it won't. Relax. Chill. You're worrying too much. Why don't you just take a nap?"

"You're too chill, Y/n. We go out to nowhere without booking-"

"It's okay, really."

“How?” he asked, exasperated of how calm she was when they were about to go somewhere empty handed and with no planning whatsoever.

“How? Umm, I was on a road trip once.”

He wasn’t convinced. “When? You never tell me anything about it.”

“I don’t need to tell you everything I do! It was when I was 12. My dad and uncle took me along with them to go around the country.”

“12 years old, Y/n! You were 12. Now you’re in your 20s.” Namjoon wasn’t amused at all at this point. “Turn the car around now!”

“What? No!” Y/n exclaimed. “This is an important part of the journey. Being at a place you’re familiar with won’t help you dig deeper into yourself. You’d just be too preoccupied with your problems.” Then Y/n finished her speech off with a quiet mumble, “You’ll never find anything new by being in your comfort zone.”

Namjoon hated once again at how right her words were. He really wanted to argue with her, but she was right. Being on his couch all day, doing the same things everyday, wouldn’t change anything in his life.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Fine, okay, you win. Happy?”

Out of the corner of his eyes, Y/n grinned. “Very.”

That night they arrived at a small motel that probably only had like 10 rooms at most. It had a homey feeling, but the stench coming from the lobby, though. It was unbearable for him.

As they dragged their suitcases while they were trying to find their room amidst the numberless doors, Namjoon asked Y/n, “Why are we in this crappy motel again?”

To answer that, Y/n shrugged. “Don’t know. I just saw the signs and went straight in.”

“Didn’t you smell something at the receptionist?”

They finally arrived in front of their room. They didn’t actually know it was their room, but based on the instructions that the creepy receptionist just gave them, there was a high chance this was it.

Y/n answered as she opened the door. “Yeah. The receptionist actually whispered to me that they just finished eradicating rats. He said there was an infestation in the lobby.”

He couldn’t help but to grimace while following her into the room. She had been told about all of that and she still decided to rent a room. He would never understand her way of thinking even after years of friendship.

As if she could read his mind, she spoke, “Don’t worry. All the rats were successfully killed and all of them were in the lobby. We’re safe.”

“How do you know?”

“I asked him. I’m not stupid, Joon.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “Geez, chill. I just asked you a question.”

And that was how their fourth day concluded.

For the first time since the start of the journey, Namjoon finally initiated an activity on the fifth day.

He managed to browse on his phone for things they could do, eat breakfast with whatever food they had, and even pack lunch for the both of them before Y/n even woke up.

When she woke up, he hesitantly asked her to go hiking. Throughout the journey this far, he only followed wherever she wanted to go, so he didn’t really expect the reaction that he got from her after proposing his idea.

She widened her eyes as she digested his words and her breakfast. “Hiking? Where?”

“Behind this motel, there’s a small hill. What do you think?”

Y/n nodded a little too enthusiastically. “Let’s go. Spending a day with nature doesn’t hurt.”

Oh, how wrong she was.

The idea was for them to hike together, maybe even side by side, as they enjoyed the view. But instead, Namjoon left her a solid 50 meters.

Perhaps it was because he was taller, therefore he had longer legs and strides, or because he was excited, so he walked faster, or even both. No one really knew for sure, not even him.

“Joon!” she called once again in the span of less than 5 minutes. “Don’t walk too fast!”

Namjoon sighed as he stopped in his tracks, waiting for her to catch up with him. She was lucky she was his only best friend or he would’ve strangled her by now because of her naggings.

Quite a surprise to himself, when she finally caught up with him, he squatted down and ordered her to ride on his back. He wasn’t sure what had possessed him, but he just went with it. Maybe his unconscious thought that she would quit complaining if she was on his back. There was only one way to find out.

“Why? I can walk on my own.” She wiped the sweat on her forehead with a tissue.

He scoffed. “You look like you’re about to pass out any second. Just shut up and let me carry you.”

He didn’t know what he had expected from giving someone a piggyback ride and that someone to be Y/n, but he was sure a strangling grip around his neck wasn’t part of the deal.

“Can you-” Gasp. “-not strangle me?”

Y/n immediately let go of him. The warmth of her embrace suddenly disappeared. “Oops. Sorry.”

Once they arrived at the top, Y/n jumped off his back. “Woah, this is so cool.” She pointed at the motel that now looked small. “That’s our motel!” she exclaimed.

They found a large flat rock that they both could sit on and ate lunch together.

As she munched on her food, she asked, “Have you figured out who your soulmate is?”

“Not yet. I start to think this doesn’t work.”

“Good things take time, my dude.”

Oh, how he really wished it was true.

“Hey,” Y/n’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Do you know that I always wanted to tick off ‘hiking’ from my wishlist?”

“The wishlist you had since you’re 10?”

She nodded. “After more than a decade, I finally finished everything on my wishlist.” She suddenly broke into a fit of giggles. “I’m gonna make a new one once we’re home.”

“What’s going to be in it?” he asked curiously.

Y/n took a moment to think before answering, “Maybe… to find my soulmate.” It came out more like a question rather than an answer.

She abruptly chuckled. “Wouldn’t it be crazy if in the end we figure out our soulmates in this journey?”

A lightning fast thought struck him but disappeared just as fast as it came. Throughout the rest of the day, he was trying to recall that thought to no avail.

The next day, on Thursday, they were going home. They couldn’t handle another hour, no scratch that, they couldn’t even handle another minute at the motel. Opposite to what Y/n had initially thought, the stench of rat carcass reached far beyond the lobby to their room.

A series of “see I told you so”s later, Namjoon finally broke her.

“Yes, Namjoon. Thanks for telling me that. I know you’re right and I’m wrong. Now please put on a song, I want to sing.”

Another thing Y/n was bad at, according to him, was singing. He knew she liked to sing, she’d told him about it, but he never understood how she managed to be so confident yet so bad at it. If he were told to rank between her ability to sing and choose a good motel, he’d probably have put singing as the first place based on how bad she was at it. Call him a bad friend, but he was just being honest.

However, he still played a song just to satisfy her. An easy song that no one can screw up, but he knew she would still screw up anyways. After all, enduring her cracked singing voice was the least he could do after being driven from and to a crappy motel.

And then she sang. And sang. And sang. One song turned to three turned to five then ten and fifteen. Before she went for the sixteenth song, Namjoon stopped her.

“Aren’t you thirsty from singing?” Nice catch! The question was just an attempt to make her stop a while so he could regain his hearing.

“Don’t even have to ask.”

As she gulped down water from her flask, Namjoon eyed her warily. He prayed, and he was an atheist, that she would forget about singing.

He didn’t know which God had answered his prayers, but when Y/n put down her flask, she already babbled about something else other than singing. Looked like the world, and God, were on his side today.

She was talking about the random bird that was flying straight to her car, almost hitting the car. Also about a dog that stuck out its head from the car beside them. And about how expensive the motel was for being smelly and dirty.

Lastly, “Do you think I cut out to be a singer?”

Yeah, maybe he was pushing his luck.

Day seven fell on a Friday. They spent the day walking hand in hand leisurely on the beach. Beside him, Y/n was talking about what color she should dye her hair next.

“I think I should go with green. What do you think?” Y/n nudged his side with her elbow and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Your boss won't let you dye your hair crazy colors,” he said. “Please don’t do anything that can get you fired.”

Y/n pouted at his answer. But soon her frown vanished as her eyes fell upon a bikini in a display of a store.

Namjoon exhaled. He knew exactly what was going to happen.

True enough, Y/n pulled on his hand that was still clasped in hers towards the store and only stopped after they were in front of the display.

“What a cute bikini!” she cooed before running inside the store, leaving a bewildered Namjoon outside.

Right when he entered the store, he heard a squeal that could only belong to one person.

He turned to the source of the sound and saw Y/n laughing with a store clerk. A male and handsome store clerk.

He wasn't the type of person who gets jealous easily or possessive, but he never saw Y/n with a man other than himself. So he couldn't really help it when he felt jealousy seeped through his gritted teeth. But he soon had forgotten about it when Y/n looked up at him and grinned.

Y/n approached him while holding a bikini set.

“This is their latest design. I’m gonna try it. Wait for me!” Then she disappeared to the fitting room before he could remind her that she didn’t wear bikinis.

Throughout the time he had known her, not even once she ever said anything about bikinis, let alone wearing one and he had known her since they were in diapers. What made her suddenly want to have a bikini?

Minutes later, after a series of clanking noises and a few curses, Y/n came out of the fitting room and he couldn’t believe what he saw. Surely the fitting room was a magic box or something, because there was no way his childhood best friend, his innocent Y/n, came out looking like a model out of a magazine. Well, maybe more like a model before they got heavily photoshopped since he still could see some tiny spots, cellulite, and scars on her skin. And maybe a plus size model because her hips would be considered wide compared to those models. But he didn’t mind them, they made her look more… natural, more human.

While he was busy admiring her, a cough suddenly woke him from his daze. He turned to see the store clerk from earlier, now standing beside him.

“You look very beautiful,” he commented, not minding the killing glare coming from Namjoon.

Y/n, without heeding the store clerk’s compliment, asked, “Joon, do you think this is okay?”

Namjoon was tempted to say, “Just okay? You look like a greek goddess who just blessed me with her presence.” But he was too paralyzed to say anything.

“I think you look great,” the store clerk spoke up again. For a split second right after he said that, he looked at Y/n’s thighs before looking at her eyes again.

It happened so fast, Namjoon thought he was just imagining it. But when Y/n’s facial expression turned sour and she quickly went back to the fitting room, he was wondering whether she saw that too.

His suspicion was confirmed right after they left the store.

“I can’t believe it!” she said while stomping beside him. “He looked at my thighs, Joon! Did you see it, too?”

He just hummed.

Y/n huffed. “I’m going to file a complaint to their manager.”

“You won’t do that,” he replied knowingly.

“I’m gonna make it viral, then. Let the whole world see how horrible he is.”

Namjoon really wanted to laugh at how ridiculous that sounded. “How? You don’t have footage of him doing it.”

“Damn, you’re right,” she mumbled. “Maybe I’m just not meant to have a bikini.”

A lot of thoughts ran through his mind. He wanted to let her know how pretty she looked in that bikini. How captivating the curves in her body were. But in the end, he only suppressed all of that. In his justification, he wanted a more appropriate timing. He didn’t want to say all that to her when she was mad or she’d think he said that to make her feel better. He wanted not just to comfort her, but to actually make her realize how beautiful she was.

On Saturday, his second favorite day after Monday, Y/n arrived a bit later at his apartment compared the days before. But when she saw him ready for the day, she said, “I’m giving you a chance to wake up late, but whatever.”

As per usual, Y/n didn’t tell him where they were going, and he was surprised when they arrived in front of a large building with a sign that read “library”.

Looking at Namjoon’s puzzled face, Y/n probably could read what was in his mind. “You still have no idea who your soulmate is, right? I just think that maybe it’s because we’ve focused so much on doing physical activities instead of, like, feeding the mind.”

“Huh?”

“Maybe we can do a little bit of reading. Because, you know, reading is like eating but for the mind. Or whatever that quote is supposed to go,” she elaborated.

“I read in my free time.”

“Have you read anything during this entire journey?” she raised an eyebrow.

He rolled his eyes. “That’s because of your brilliant idea of having a journey. Had you let me sit down on my couch, I would’ve read the entire biography of the founding fathers by now.”

“Gosh, you’re so boring. No wonder you haven’t found your soulmate. And for the record, you learned a lot of things from this journey. Things that might help you find your soulmate. You know what, let’s just go.” With that, Y/n pulled on his hand and stepped into the library.

Namjoon was in the middle of reading a philosophy book when Y/n suddenly spoke to him.

“I can’t focus, Joon,” she whined. “I have too many things on my mind.”

Those words were the most terrifying words he had ever heard, especially if they came out of Y/n’s mouth. Every time he heard those words, he felt like he wasn’t being attentive enough towards his friends to the point he didn’t know that something was disturbing their peace. And that feeling was heightened when Y/n was the one in trouble. He knew her for the longest time, shouldn’t he be more caring towards her?

He breath hitched, anticipating what Y/n had to say. “Why?”

She took a deep inhale before exhaling slowly. “I know this stupid because it hasn’t ended yet, but I already miss this journey.”

Obviously he didn’t want to admit it in front of her, she would get a crazy idea otherwise, but he, too, could feel a pang in his chest that felt awfully familiar. It was the same feeling he got when he moved out of his parents’ house and when he was reminiscing the time he spent with his late dog. Also when he graduated from high school and had to leave his high school friends to pursue higher education. He wasn’t a stranger to this feeling. In fact, he knew it too well.

Y/n was right, though. It was indeed stupid to feel this way because they still had one more day together.

So he responded with, “We’re still in this journey. And even after this journey ends, we can still go on adventures together,” as a weak attempt to console her and also himself.

“It’s not the adventures that I miss. It’s the time we spend together. We’ve never spent this much time together.”

Of course he knew that. He knew he was going to miss the time they spent together, but his own pride made him unable to act vulnerable in front of her. Especially in the time when she needed him the most.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each deep within their own thoughts. That was when a crazy idea suddenly came to him. He usually wasn’t the one coming with crazy ideas, it was kinda Y/n’s thing and she probably would have copyrighted it if it was possible. But he wasn’t just going to be quiet at a time in crises like this.

“We can arrange some small one-day adventures every month. How does that sound?”

Y/n smiled although it didn’t reach her eyes. “Sounds great. Just promise me you won’t rain check on me.”

It worked! He successfully made her smile again. As he cheered inside his mind, he assured her, “I won’t. I’ll write it on my calendar.”

Namjoon dreaded the last day of The Journey to Find Namjoon’s Soulmate more than when he was called for a job interview by a big company. He even had clammy hands and was sweating bullets. His hand trembled as he waited for Y/n to announce what they were going to do on this last day.

“Holiday has to be concluded with a lazy day. So I call for breakfast in bed,” Y/n explained as she once again wrecked his kitchen.

“I’m not in my bed, though.”

“Your bed is not locked for the rest of the day once you’re out of it,” Y/n said in a matter-of-factly.

“But please don’t ruin my kitchen.”

Y/n briefly stopped cooking as she looked around the kitchen. Then she shrugged. “Well, it’s too late. You should’ve said that earlier.”

He originally had thought that Y/n would make food for him, give it to him, clean the kitchen, then left. But he was surprised when Y/n came back to his bedroom while holding a plate of her own after delivering his.

“Move,” she commanded before shimmying beside him on the bed. She grabbed the remote on the nightstand and turned on the TV.

“Now, we relax. Because we’ll be stressed out of our minds tomorrow.” She leaned back and started eating her bacon.

So that was pretty much how their ninth day went. But that wasn’t all.

Long after they had finished their food, they still watched the TV. Messy kitchen and other duties were long forgotten.

As time passed by, Namjoon found himself cuddling Y/n while she rested her head on his buff chest. And not long after, they both fell asleep in that position with the TV still playing in the background.

But all of that couldn’t last long as tomorrow they had to go to work. So after waking up from their nap, they cleaned the kitchen and Y/n went home before it got too dark.

Instantly after Y/n closed the door behind her, Namjoon felt empty. It wasn’t just his apartment that felt empty, but also his mind and soul. He was already used to her constant nagging, her constant company, and her voice. He wanted to run to her and tell her to extend their journey, but obviously, that was impossible. They had responsibilities, especially since they just neglected them for a week.

On Monday, the day that used to be his favorite but now he loathed it, he came home to a voice message from the person he’d been waiting for.

“Hey. Sorry I didn’t talk to you yesterday whether you’ve found your soulmate or not. I was anxious about work so I forgot. Umm… As soon as you receive this message, please call or text me, okay? I wanna hear what you thought.”

He couldn’t help but also notice something in her voice. Fatigue? Or was it sadness? He swore he could hear it and wasn’t just imagining it.

Wanting to check up on her, he automatically called her. First ring. Second ring. Third ring. He waited and waited, but it only went to her voicemail.

Not giving up so early to talk to his best friend, he rang her again. And waited. And waited. And kept waiting. But just like the first time, she didn’t pick up her phone.

In the end, he settled with sending her a text.

He didn’t know why he was suddenly nervous as he typed the message.

It said, “I still don’t have an idea who that might be. Maybe the journey didn’t work. But, hey, are you sad? Or maybe sick?”

He only got the reply the next day at lunch. He kinda hoped to read long messages about how he shouldn’t be so pessimistic and that he surely would find his soulmate, just like how Y/n usually talked. But instead, she just replied with, “What a bummer.”

He only sighed in disappointment.

The next few days were grim and hard for him. His boss gave him so much work despite having to catch up on his other work. Every time he rode the bus from and to work, he remembered Y/n’s slouched position beside him as they came home from the animal shelter. He could almost feel her head on his shoulder again.

Every time he played a song, he got reminded of the time when he had to endure Y/n’s off-key singing. A memory played in his mind every time he passed an ice cream parlor. Heck, he even missed the feeling of anticipation that he felt every time he woke up in the morning.

What was worst of all though was the fact that they didn’t talk at all after her last text. Not even the occasional text messages or sending each other memes just like what they used to do before the journey started.

He knew it was because they both had a lot of catch up to do after neglecting work for a week, but he really wished that they could spare a bit of time to talk together.

Oh, how silly he was when he dismissed her for missing their time together back at the library. What made him feel even more silly was him being a coward and not admitting back then that he was, too, going to miss spending time together.

One particular night, he had trouble sleeping worse than any other night he had been missing Y/n. He kept turning around, hoping to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in, but to no avail. In the end, he gave up and settled to reminiscing their time together.

As he delved into his memories, every single activity they did, every word she said, and every place they went to, his half-awake mind came upon a realization.

He missed her enthusiasm that could lift his bad mood instantly. He missed her pushiness that made him do things he didn’t want to do, only to show him that she knew what he would like. He also missed her short legs and her whines when he walked too fast. He missed her love for animals, her love for mint choco ice cream, her laugh, smile, kindness, and voice.

He missed her beauty, her body, and her sense of style. He even missed her unruly hair. He missed receiving her love and attention. He missed loving her and having her in his arms. He missed loving her. She was the soulmate he had been looking for. She was his soulmate. His. Soulmate.

At the crack of dawn, a few hours after Namjoon could finally fall asleep, he woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. He had an important thing to tell Y/n. And he had to do it now before she went to work and he lost another chance to meet her.

He checked the clock, it read 5 a.m. He quickly got up from his bed, took a shower, and grabbed a protein bar before leaving.

In the bus on his way to her apartment, he kept tapping his foot impatiently as he chewed on his protein bar. At times like this, he really wished he could drive. But for now he had to settle with the bus.

He jumped out of the bus as soon as it stopped at the bus stop closest to her apartment.

He checked the time again, 5:43 a.m. He still had a few minutes before she woke up.

He arrived in front of her apartment after five minutes of walking. He knocked on the door rapidly to the point he was sure he accidentally woke up the neighbors. However, it was the last thing on his mind.

A minute later, a sleepy Y/n with a bed head opened the door.

“Namjoon, wha-”

He instantly pushed her in and closed the door behind them both.

“Hear me out,” he demanded.

Y/n nodded while yawning.

“Let me help you cross out one activity from your wishlist.”

“Why are we talking about that at this time?”

“Because it’s important."

“I don’t see it."

He started to lose his patience. “It is! There’s one activity that’s really important right? Like, more important than the others.”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Which one? I haven’t written a lot in the list, actually.”

“What are they?"

“To eat a banana-”

For a second, Namjoon was speechless. “What? Banana? Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just miss eating bananas.”

“Okay… What’s next?”

She took a moment to think, then answered, “Ah! I want to buy a new phone. Haven’t changed mine in years.”

He sighed. “Next?”

“Be a babysitter for a day.”

That wasn’t an answer he was looking for. “It’s a job for teenagers.”

“That’s why I only want to do it for a day.”

“Then?”

“Learn skateboarding. A skatepark just opened around here.”

“Anything else?”

She pouted. “You don’t want to help me cross any of those?”

“Not that. But, you said a few days ago on our journey that there was something you wanted to put on your wishlist.”

She tilted her head in confusion. “Really? I don’t remember. What was it?”

He really wanted to strangle someone at this point. Why was she so dense? “You really don’t remember?”

“I don’t think I do. Sorry. What was it, though?”

“You wanted to find your soulmate.”

It took her a second to digest his words, but when she finally did, her eyes widened. “Oh, right. Does that mean you want to help me find my soulmate? Go on another journey? You know, you don’t have to use that as an excuse to-”

“Shut up, Y/n. Stop talking so much.”

Y/n frowned. “Sorry.”

He huffed. “I never knew doing this was going to be this hard.” He looked deep into her eyes. “I don’t want to go on another journey to find anyone’s soulmate. And especially not after I realized last night that we have found our soulmates.”

Before he could say anything else, she cut him off. “Really? Who is yours? What about mine? Do I know-”

“Yes! We know them.” He finally decided to just cut the chase and came out clean. “You’re my soulmate, Y/n. And I’m yours. I was so busy chasing love during our journey to the point I never thought about the possibility of you being my soulmate.” With a softer tone, he concluded, “The fortune teller was right. I knew who my soulmate is and where to find them, but I was too stupid to realize that.”

Y/n was stunned for a while before slowly blinking. Once. Twice. “Wow. That’s crazy.” Then she grinned. “You finally admit that you’re stupid!”

“Y/n, that’s not the point!” he groaned.

“Yes, yes, I know.” She laughed. It sounded like bells in his ears. “I’m just messing with you. So, what should we do now?”

“Y/n.” He turned serious if he wasn’t being serious before. “Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

For a few seconds, Y/n stared at his eyes expectantly, as if she was waiting for something.

“Y/n?”

“What?”

“What do you say?”

“Of course yes, you dummy. I thought it was obvious.”

“Seriously now?” He rolled his eyes.

“Wait. Is this the part where we should kiss?” she asked in wonder.

He was really holding himself hard not to roll his eyes yet again. “Duh, Y/n.”

“But I haven’t brushed my teeth!” Then she disappeared into her bathroom, leaving a bewildered Namjoon in the living room.

As he stared at her bathroom door, he whispered to himself, “What did I just sign up for?”

Masterlist | Join/Leave Taglist

[renova-writes]

Coney Island Hotdogs

Requested by: @maximeevansblog

Summary: “The reader is the daughter of bucky barnes, and the have a daddy - daugther Day, but the reader wants to sleep but her dad has other plans , and end of the Day the asks what do you wanna eat Mac donalds and the watch a movie, but the reader falls a sleep trough the movie, and he carries her to bed, but she wakes up and her dad she go back to sleep button, i am carring you to bed, and allot of fluff and cuteness and if its ready you tag me right thanks”

Words: 2,004

Warnings: Just basically a bunch of Fluff. Some mentions of bullying and death, but very light and fun

Other Works: masterlist

"Five more minutes," you whined. The clock on your bedstand read 5:39 am.

"Hey, button," you heard a voice whisper. The dark locks dangling over you told you that it was your father. "Get dressed. I have a surprise for you."

"It's too early."

"I know, but I'll make you a (your favorite caffeinated drink)" Your dad obviously wanted you to get up but was not going to force you. That was one of your favorite things about him. He never forced you to do anything you didn't want to.

"Really" Your sleepy eyes lit up at the mention of caffeine.

"Yes button, really. I promise. Just get yourself ready to go, and it will be waiting for you" he smiled and walked out of your room, "Also, bring a jacket. Just in case."

With that, your dad left. As you paused for a moment in your bedsheets, soaking up the last moments of fluffy warmth before you needed to get up, excitement crawled up your spine. It wasn't often that you and your dad did things, just the two of you. He was always busy with the Avengers, or you two were over with Sam and his family. When you did make time for special days, he usually asked you what you wanted to do beforehand.

His walking into your room at five in the morning, asking you to get up so that you two could have a bonding day, was unusual. He must have something special planned.

You forced yourself to get out of bed. That was going to be the hardest part. Half asleep, you dragged yourself over to the bathroom. You did your business and paused after washing your hands to brush your teeth and your hair. A smile crept across your face in the mirror as you tried to guess what you were going to do.

The zoo? The park? Maybe the museums?

You lived in the Avenger's tower in the heart of New York City, so there were many options. You gave up trying to guess and decided to go with whatever. It was going to be fun no matter what.

It was the beginning of spring, so it was warm during the day but cold in the mornings. You picked out a light floral dress, leggings, and a cardigan so that you could have layers. Some essential jewelry and your boots would also be a part of your outfit.

After putting on your clothes and some basic makeup, you made your way to the main room of your apartment. Just like he had promised, your dad had gotten your beverage from the Starbucks next to the lobby. He had probably gotten it before waking you up as it was sitting in the microwave/fridge.

"Hey button. Nice to see that you finally have awoken from your cavern of blankets," he joked, "You ready. I've got an amazing day planned out. Just the two of us."

"Yep. Where are we going."

"Button, that's a surprise!"

"Tell me!!" you giggled.

"Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you," he smiled. A goofy grin was on his face, with admiration pouring out of his eyes.

"Just a hint…" you begged. "I'll probably forget by the time we get there."

"No. I want it to be a complete surprise," your dad insisted, "that's why, after you drink your drink, I want you to put on a blindfold."

Oh dear, he was very insistent about this whole surprise thing.

"But first, BREAKFAST!!!" he exclaimed as he presented you with your favorite breakfast, waffles, and strawberries. The plate seemed to sparkle with deliciousness as your stomach cried out in hunger.

"Yummy!!!"

"See, I remembered your favorite" he seemed very proud of himself. You had mentioned that you liked waffles when Wanda had made them for a birthday breakfast.

"Dig in! I put some strawberry syrup into the waffles themselves so that we would have extra strawberry flavor."

He handed you a fork and a knife, and you cut into them. The heat fell off of the bite on your forked, and you braced yourself in anticipation. Your father could cook; he and Steve used to make dinners for the team. But that was with Steve, now that he was gone, your dad rarely cooked. It had been hard for him. He was slowly getting over it; you definitely helped. Having somebody to take of, his therapist agreed, was very good for him. But his food was very hit or miss. This morning, however, the waffles were amazing.

The strawberries tasted fresh and had the perfect amount of sweetness. The waffles were eggy, precisely the way you liked them.

"Dad! These are delicious!" you exclaimed.

"I know, right, they're so good," he nodded in agreement, "but can I admit something? I stole the recipe off Auntie Wanda."

It didn't matter where he got the recipe from. They were delicious. It took the two of you a total of 10 minutes to eat the entire plateful.

He pulled a blindfold out of his pocket and put it around your eyes. You had faith that he wouldn't let you bump into anything. You weren't going to have to worry about the crowded city streets. When the strangers passing by got a glimpse of his metal arm, they always made a beeline away from him.

You knew it hurt him. You could see it in his eyes. He was your dad, after all. When you were younger, you couldn't understand why they were afraid, but now that you were older, you knew. It never, even for a second, hurt your relationship with your dad. You loved him. You knew that the real James Barnes was a cinnamon roll. This was a man who wouldn't kill spiders when he found them in the kitchen. This was a man who hung out with the Parker boy and played video games.

Even though the blindfold around your eyes took away your sight, you knew that your dad was checking to see if his gun was where he needed it. After all, he was the Winter Soldier. But that was an everyday thing. When he stopped rustling with his pockets, you felt a hand on your shoulder guiding you out of the room.

------

As soon as you heard the crowd's excitement, you knew where you were. The smell of cotton candy and hot dogs confirmed it.

Your dad had taken you to Coney Island.

You hadn't been there since you were a little kid and couldn't control your excitement. The hand that had been guiding you on your shoulder disappeared and removed the blindfold.

After taking a moment to adjust to the light, your eyes took in the flashing lights and kids running around. The roller coasters and carnival games all around you captivated your attention and caused a smile to form on your face.

"How's this for a surprise Button?"

"Dad, this is amazing! Thank you!!!"

"What ride do you want to go on first?"

The morning flew by in a blur. You and your dad had decided to go on every single ride you could. He had enjoyed the bumper cars and had won you a stuffed panda bear on one of the shooting games. You got the famous coney island hot dogs for lunch and ate on a bench on the beach. The entire morning, there was one thing that you really wanted to do… Ride the Cyclone.

"Hey, dad….."

"Yes Button"

"Can we ride the Cyclone"

"Um. of course. We have to. What's the point of coming here if we don't."

You threw away your trash and got in line. A man with purple hair and tattoos strapped the two of you in and took your picture.

"Alrighty ladies and gents," the loudspeaker in the car said. "Are you ready for the Cyclone"

Everyone on the train whooped and hollered in excitement, and the car lurched forward. Slowly you crept up the first hill and felt the adrenaline follow. At the top, you saw the people on the benches below. You couldn't help but compare them to little dolls from your height.

With that, the car reached the top of the hill and falls.

"Whoa, Button, I think I'm going to be sick," Buck said once you were off. He was looking somewhat green and queasy.

It was your turn to guide him... to a trash can. It turned out he wasn't going to throw up, which you were grateful for, but the Cyclone's toll had been taken. He rested his body on a bench and called it quits.

"What time is it," he asked. You checked your watch. It was two in the afternoon. "How about we do something a little, slower."

"Sure," you agreed. You were in Brooklyn, his home borough, and he decided to take you on a tour of where he grew up.

"And this is the alleyway where your Uncle Steve decided to get in all those fights," he said you passed by. "One time, after I saved his tiny ass, he told me that he thought he had pulled a muscle, and I was all like, 'Steve, you can't pull what you don't have."

You giggled at the thought of skinny Steve. Continuing on your tour, you saw his old apartment and walked through the one he shared with Steve. It had been turned into a museum, and you laughed together for an hour as he pointed out every single detail that had been changed.

"There was no way that we could have two beds! There was no heater, so we shared one! Why would they change that! It wasn't like we had anything going on between us!" he argued. You laughed as the tour guide still could not recognize one of the old occupants of the apartment.

Once your dad seemed satisfied with his tour, the two of you walked down to the nearest subway stop. In the underground station, you passed those golden arches.

"Dad, can we get McDonald's," you asked.

"Are you sure, Button, we can get much better food back a the tower"

"Yeah, we haven't had it in forever, and I need to feed my inner Chicken nugget," you joked.

He must have been in an excellent mood because he gave in to the lure of the golden arches. He also seemed like he really wanted a burger because he got his usual order, Two big macs, a large fry, and an M&M McFlurry. The super-soldier serum had granted him the ability and need to eat loads of food. You also figured that he wanted a break from Pepper's food because she had decided that the entire team needed to become more healthy conscience. It wasn't that anyone hated her food; it was just somewhat bland. And besides, who wants couscous when you can have Micky D's.

After Bucky had wolfed down his food, and you had savored each bite of Chicken Nugget, you got on the train back home. You could feel yourself grow tired as your body finally rested from an exciting and full day. Your head drooped down and rested on your father's shoulder.

"Hey, button, let's watch a movie in the tower."

He picked out a classic, The Wizard of Oz, and made popcorn. You barely made it to the tornado before your eyes finally gave up. You were so tired that you didn't feel your dad pick you up and start carrying you to your bed.

Your eyes fluttered open as you heard 'If only I had a heart' playing from the TV.

"Hey, Button," your dad's voice whispered, "You fell asleep. I didn't want you to wake up on the sofa, so I'm taking you to your bed."

He laid you down and pulled up the blankets. With a kiss on your forehead, turned to leave.

"Dad, I love you," you called out.

"I love you too, Button" On that note, he turned out your light and closed your door

[rodeoxqueen]

AWAS

CHAPTER ONE: BE NOT AFRAID 

“Dante and Vergil return from Hell to tie up loose ends from their year-long absence. While they seek a sense of normalcy, the fates send them anything but.”

Contents: Violence, Blood and Gore, Brotherly Banter, Explicit Language, Slight Angst 

Rodeo’s Two Pieces: 

I'm very excited to show y'all what I have been working on since hell, November of 2020. Thank you kindly for sticking around.

Back to the present, where the world turned on its axis for months without the weight of the blood of Sparda upon itself, the tides had changed.

In the midnight, had the stars laid witness to the damn near impossible. A portal had opened from the underworld, and two brothers stumbled out. Clutching their swords, Dante and Vergil reunited with the human realm.

How long had it been? Of endless violence and humorous quips thrown at the other, as the years of the gnashing of teeth smoothened the rough patches of their disjointed childhoods?

“We’re back, Verg.” Dante chuckled, arm over his brother’s shoulder.

“We are.” Vergil echoed. The obnoxious weight fell off of him and landed on the ground with a thud.

Dante had got on his knees and kissed the earth that they now stood on.

“Don’t be a fool,” Vergil said, staring at the moon. After years of wanting to become one with Hell, he tilted the false king’s crown to admire the clear sky.

Dante rolled to the ground, sighing in relief.

“We’re back.” He repeated. His brother nudged him with the Yamato.

“Get up. We must find our way back.” Eyes closed and a grin across his face, Dante let the wind pass through his bloodied and matted hair.

“Now we sound like a real team.” Vergil scoffed.

After a few moments, Dante got back up. They had arrived back from Hell to a cliffside overlooking a city that was not Redgrave.

“I assume you have unfinished business in Redgrave.” Dante nodded.

“I sure do.”

The portal became a forgotten relic, the Sparda brothers nowhere to be seen, their demonic presence known to the world.

Dante was known for many things, but mainly for how much of a constant he had remained in everyone’s lives. Never changing, staying the same as he was, an unstoppable force of sarcastic expression.

And also a huge manchild.

Vergil rubbed his temples in frustration.

“Dante. When I referred to unfinished business, I was clearly referring to your shop.”

“Yeah? And I was referring to this.” Dante bit into another slice of pizza, practically moaning.

Vergil sat ramrod straight, sitting awkwardly in a pizzeria. The two were the elephants in the room, both slathered in demonic gore and toting swords. People either gawked or left the establishment.

“You are still an idiot after all this time.”

“Yeah, and I’m also still hungry.”

“Surely your business is more important than this.”

“Meh.”

The blue devil waited for him to finish an hour later, the long-held bill lengthening after months of his absence.

Of course, he had to have indulged a few pieces of his own. It was nothing like the gaminess of demon flesh he had forced himself to sustain upon. It was almost melting in his mouth, unlike the resistance of the shank of a demon. He was never one for vegetables as a child, Dante even more so. Yet the crunch of the toppings was well-received to Vergil, deprived of basic human sustenance for a few odd decades.

However, he found it unthinkable Dante would continue to indulge himself in this for as long as he did.

The door reopened and closed once more to reveal the broad daylight of the streets. Clean, pristine, the sounds of cars and people filled in the crisp air.

Vergil’s boots walked upon a paved road for the first time in ages, man-made and unassuming concrete with stubborn weeds growing from the crevices. No mouth-having crimson blooms that grew to a man’s height. Just simple creatures that fell softly to his weight on their fragile stems.

He had never been here before, where Dante claimed to be his home.

“What’s after this for you, Vergil?” Dante asked his brother, swiping a few demons out of his way.

Vergil, also in his triggered form, huffed a dismissive sigh.

“You know, you should stay with me. Devil May Cry’s always got a spare couch to crash on.”

“Why would I do that?” He slashed a horned devil in two, spewed in putrid green blood. Dante chuckled, knowing there was hesitance in his voice.

“Because I’m offering, big brother. When’s the last time you’ve had a place to call home?”

“I believe you know the answer to that question.” Vergil slid onto his knees under a crouching demon, disemboweling it from top-down. A final gunshot rang his ears, a noise he had to get used to with Dante’s reliance on firearms.

Dull thuds and a flash of red, Dante stood above his brother, offering a now-human hand.

The horde was cleared away like dust on a counter, gone with the wind. Vergil and Dante stood in silence, two children again.

The younger pulled his brother up, insistent stubbornness in his eyes.

“I didn’t hear a no to my offer, Vergil.” Vergil sighed, releasing his hold of his brother’s hand.

“You did not hear a yes either.” Dante chuckled, following his already-leaving brother.

From the past to the present, Vergil’s answer had been neither, never spoken of what he was to do after everything. Yet here he was, now the latter of the two when it came to guidance.

There were many ways the two could have made their entrance to Devil May Cry and have it be a smooth transition back from months of Hell. Dante kicking down the door with a loud “I’m back baby!” was simply not one of them.

Vergil saw that a familiar dark-haired woman was sitting on the desk, absent-mindedly waiting for Trish to return. A girl who once blamed him for her father’s corruption, now a woman with no heed to his presence.

Lady had dropped her nail file, eyes wide at the sight of the two brothers.

“Dante,” Lady whispered as if she was greeting a ghost.

“Yep, it’s me. In the flesh.”

“Dante…”

“Did you miss me? Love what you did to the place.” Dante commented at the cleaned-up shop.

Her face of still confusion warped into anger.

“Dante!”

“Oh boy.”

The next thing he knows, Vergil watches his brother get lectured like a dog. Standing up yet with the attitude of a man in a fetal position, Dante let himself become used to the sound of their tirades once more.

“You had the audacity to give the deed to Morrison. Crazy bitches?! Really!” Dante shrugged.

“I mean if I barked up your tree all day you’d be calling me a-”

“Hey, Lady.” Trish walked into the shop, icily glancing at the two brothers.

“Look at what the hellhound dragged in.” Lady pointed to Dante and Vergil.

“Oh please, I could smell them from a mile away.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Hell doesn’t have any spas. Shame we couldn’t freshen ourselves up before coming here.” Dante sassed. Trish gave a pointed look.

“As much as it was nice to do some hot girl things, we could put Dumb and Dumber to good work.”

“What are you talking about?”

Lady gave a toothy smile.

“How do you think we got this place managed? Money. Money that you now owe us.”

“Hey! I never said you had to do anything.”

“You’d be real upset if we didn’t do anything either, Dante.”

Finally, after sitting through an eternity of harsh words and steep bills, Dante had more than ever landed himself in shambles. Again. At least he was liberated to take a shower. After Vergil of course.

He was surprised to find that the water was still running, and even more elated that it was hot water. Man, maybe paying the bills was a good thing. It felt like ages of grime and gore had been swept off his skin, his hair finally a familiar stark white. In the steam of the bathroom, he breathed out relief.

When he stepped out, he was surprised to see Vergil laying on his bed completely asleep. Usually uptight and composed, Vergil curled in on himself wearing some of Dante’s clean sweatpants that caught dust from all the months they were gone.

With a smile on his face, Dante chose the couch for once and didn’t complain.

They all deserved rest, Dante taking his nap with a magazine on his face. Future Dante could deal with this.

He never expected there to be any neater ends than the frayed knots he left in his human affairs. Yet, he wasn’t alone this time. Neither of them was.

The next few days, Dante gave his nephew a call. Well, more like Nero called him and Dante finally picked up.

Vergil had gotten up after days of practical unconsciousness, foreign to the comfort of a bed, a place to stay, yet much obliged to remain where he laid.

He came down the stairs, rubbing his eyes still. Dante’s voice was muffled until he was in the same room, Dante speaking through the phone to his son.

“Hey, your old man’s here.” Vergil shook his head, having no interest to answer, yet Dante kept waving the phone in his face.

Taking the phone, Vergil heard his son take a breath.

“Hey, Vergil. Nice to see you back from Hell. Um, can’t imagine that was a fun time.” Nero said, unknowing of how to speak to his stranger of a father.

“Indeed.” Dante face-palmed, sitting with another one of his accursed magazines.

“Yeah, um. I have your book.”

“Hmm.” Nero sighed.

“Do you want it back? I’m coming over soon for business reasons.” A hint of desperation and embarrassment from Nero went over Vergil’s bedhead.

“That would suffice…”

“Alright-”

“Thank you, Nero.” Vergil blurted, seeing Dante mouth the words “say thank you.”

Nero stopped for a minute, a few moments of silence on Vergil’s side.

“No problem...Vergil. I got to go. Take care, alright?” Vergil hmmed as a response. The line went dead.

Dante’s grin immensely irritated Vergil, a man who was incapable of second-hand embarrassment.

“Stop that. Wipe that expression off your face. You wanted a conversation with me and Nero, there you have it.”

Dante propped his face up with his hand, a cat that ate the canary.

“Nah.”

Vergil growled in annoyance.

Unfortunately for Dante, and luckily for Vergil, bills had to be paid and jobs to be done. Morrison had arrived a few days later, pleased to see an old friend returned from the underworld. Walking in, he was barely surprised that the shop had returned to a pig-sty appearance.

“Morrison! Nice to see you again.” Dante welcomed, sitting at his desk. Vergil eyed the unfamiliar man, reading through a book.

“Got a new job for you boys. About time you got those girls off your backs about having your little vacation in Hell.” A familiar smell of cigar smoke traced the air, Dante leaning back on his chair, intrigued.

“So Morrison, what nasty demonic critters does this gig entail?” Dante asked, arms crossed.

“There’s a demon runnin’ around towns, causing a lot of trouble.” Morrison placed a photo down, blurred and poorly taken. Although, the grotesque purple skin and rippling eyes on its body didn’t leave much to admire.

“Huh,” Dante mumbled. Vergil examined the picture.

“I’ve never seen a demon like this before. Sure is ugly, though.” Dante noted, pointing at a flat and angular head, pallid yellow eyes that bulge out of its sockets on the sides, and needle-like teeth in multitudes.

“My sources say it’s been going North, the last town they passed was here. Just this morning. It’s making some distance, I’d get to it as soon as you can.” Morrison revealed a map, a red circle around a certain landmark.

“It’s scaring the shit out of people and causing some casualties to be contained.”

“Alright, we’ll take ‘em.” Dante stuck his hand out, expecting cash. Morrison tutted, patting Dante’s shoulder.

“You’ve been spoiled, Dante. Nah, you’re gonna bag this son of a bitch and then we can talk about payment.”

Dante groaned, taking the job. Morrison tipped his hat to Vergil. Vergil glared in return.

“It’s been nice catching up with you boys.” He called out, leaving the shop.

The door thudded as it shut, and the two were alone once more.

“Well, we just got our get-out-of-jail card. Come on, let’s get going.” Dante grunted.

“Must you complain about everything?” Vergil muttered.

Outside, it was late morning with a slight breeze. The familiar sounds of a motorcycle came to Vergil’s attention.

Dante had sat on Cavalier, expecting Vergil to get on.

“Must you rely on that garish thing?”

“It’s too bad you can’t fucking teleport somewhere you’ve never been. Get on the motorcycle.”

Dante patted the seat, Vergil obeying for once.

“Ready for your first job?”

“More than you are.”

They tore through the streets of Redgrave, going north.

The sun rose and started to fall, endless roads leading through towns and cities that paid them only a slight turn of their heads.

The map’s glaring red bullseye had become a dead-end of sorts, the two resorting to walking instead.

Redgrave had always felt muggy with the air of hell creatures around. Here, in this unmarked territory, it had felt clearer. But also more unsettling, the idea of a demon scuttling about more of an awful surprise.

They felt consumed by the empty streets, busted in windows, and vacated shops and residential places in their lonesome wandering.

Something before had wiped this location clean of humans, and now something else was lingering in its place.

“This area has been abandoned.” Vergil walked over giant cracks through the ground, leading to a deserted town.

“Not surprised,” Dante answered, thinking about a certain tree, “good thing we don’t have to deal with any more civilians.”

A buzz in his blood reminded Dante that something was certainly there. The alleys were a perfect spot for creatures to linger, waiting for prey.

As below, so above. A ringing through the air was quickly parried by steel. Dante’s sword stopped a shower of needles from stabbing him, a stray one cutting the side of his cheek. It jolted him as a creature bounded the rooftops of the buildings, a hulking mass of reptilian skin.

Vergil raced after the creature, having blocked all the assailant’s long-distance attacks. Claws dug through the tiles, running on all fours from rooftops to silently treading the paved roads.

It’s clearly after an objective.

Dante chased after the beast from the ground, firing shots at the agile demon. Vergil jumped buildings, gritting his teeth at the demon’s inherent ability to evade and attack back, dodging tail spikes.

The streets all lead to the town center, where a fountain long cleaved in two from giant roots, stood.

Dante and Vergil came across the demon, purple skin stretched over its pointed bones, facing a cloaked individual.

“Hey, pal-” Dante was shushed by Vergil, the two standing a distance away from the hunched-over beast, much taller than either of them when standing on its hind legs.

Neither of them had expected another person in this area, clearly an oddity in the shambles of civilization.

“Famulus. Servant of Raphael.” A rumbling growl echoed in the night in response.

“I’m obliged, filthy halfling.” It hissed, crouched over and leaning to leer to the monotonous voice.

“You will tell me where he is.”

“His brothers may have underestimated you, but my master has known of your presence. Sending his best, I, to exterminate you.”

The person said nothing, as all that was all that needed to be said.

“Looks like we found it’s been searching for,” Dante mentioned, alerting the attention of the formidable monster and unassuming humanoid.

Glazed-over eyes narrowed with bloodlust met the twins as they readied themselves for anything.

“I will bring Raphael the heads of Sparda, once I am done with you.”

The hooded stranger turned their head to the two. With their face void of any expression, the twins had no idea what to think of them.

A pulse went through the air, Dante and Vergil’s skin jolting at a sudden warm wave in the air. Milliseconds after, a rotating ring of golden energy rattled through the stones, passing through the spaces in the pavement that lead to Dante’s boots.

Vergil and Dante were thrown like ragdolls meters away by an unseen force, Dante hitting the ground twice and rolling to a stop as Vergil stuck a landing with the Yamato through the floor.

A golden sphere surrounded the bruise-colored demon and the humanoid, who cocked their head in a disinterested manner, glaring at the taller creature.

Dante touched the wall before them, warm and pulsing with life. Despite the magnitude, he noted how it didn’t seem to hurt him, only pushing back from his own applied pressure.

Vergil paid it no mind, conflict occurring right before their eyes.

Famulus lunged at the smaller person who dodged, hands grappling at a giant maw, throwing its body to the barrier.

Tail spikes unfurled and bristling, Famulus’ hackles rose.

On hind legs, the demon stood well-over the miscreant, who allowed the beast to come to them. No matter how fast Famulus struck, claws phased through the empty air where it expected pliant flesh. Even swipes of its giant tail between quick strikes and heavy blows had been easily dodged.

A rain shower of blade-like projectiles flew at them, their body dropping down to avoid several. Dozens stuck above where their head was, a near fatality.

A needle whistled as it was caught by a calloused hand, palm tightly wrapped around the quill aiming for their chest. Several had torn through their cloak, nearly pinning them to the ground. They let out a startled noise, moving themselves up.

Famulus ran at them, prepared to rip them apart while they were down. Surely a cowardly move than preferred, but a move nonetheless.

They whipped their head around, jaw gritted. The same clutched quill was thrown like a javelin straight into Famulus’ snout.

Pulsating pain and white-hot agony made the beast screech, purple flesh burnt and smoking.

They shook themselves free of any spikes, clad in ancient robes. Nothing a common human would wear now. Even a demon could tell something was off about this one creature in human skin.

This was no common miscreant come to place vengeance upon its master. Raphael had requested Famulus to obliterate this insect as if none of his lord’s underlings could defeat them.

You shall return them to their grave, Famulus. A low gravelly voice rang through the demon’s head, a present message. The snake-like eye in the middle of its forehead rolled back and returned when its master’s command became silent.

“Yes, I shall.”

The foe stiffened as if they had gotten the answer they had been looking for. Famulus knew that. And like the devil it was, it goaded their curiosity.

“You will never make it to my master’s domain. I will gnaw on your bones, putrid being.”

If only if Famulus knew that there was no goading a foe that was already plotting several paces ahead.

Lashing out, a meter-long arrow-like appendage was fired at them once more while the demon began to collect its true power from the air around it.

It missed the mark, sinking into the ground to have the intended target land upon the blunt end, balancing coyly. Several more jabbed at the barrier, sticking into the protective sphere as the cloaked being ducked and turned to avoid scythe-like claws and disemboweling long-distance attacks. Famulus struck a blow that surely meant death, supposedly cornering the prey, until they vanished in thin air. A hazy afterimage materialized and faded away, swiped into nothing.

Immediately, they appeared to the side of the demon, who just began to rear its head to perceive this teleportation.

Legs bent as they were parallel to the ground, they drop-kicked the reptilian brute, scaly skin rippling at the impact.

Famulus’s neck snapped the wrong way, letting out a moist creaking noise as the body stayed stubbornly rooted to the ground. Incapacitated, it could not stop the smaller fighter from leaping onto a begotten tail spike from the ceiling of the barrier, yanking it, and falling back down to its capitulum.

The hooked and jagged arrowhead bit through toughened flesh, securing them to the flat of its head, glowing hand pressing against the middle eye, the key to finding Raphael.

A once distinguished demon, Famulus lashed its head about like a common beast. The joints in its neck realigned, sickening crunches with each segment joined.

Pushing their energy into the convulsing eye, Famulus felt its connection to its lord become not of its own.

Paralyzed from the sensation of a pulling force, tugging away at flesh, and seeping their own life force into it, digging into its mind, Famulus’ muscles twitched and convulsed like an animal to be dissected.

Famulus snarled to itself.

The veins leading to the spike stuck in its head pulsed, conducting electricity straight to the open palm. A strained cry left their mouth as they relented their hold.

The final twist of its head thrashed them off to hit the ground.

Flashing images of a lair, of an iron throne, flashed through its mind.

Famulus had failed to hide his master’s location. And with that, its murderous intent grew.

Despite the finality of its fate, its tail swished with anger and boiling rage to either do the job or keel over in defeat.

The thief got up with little grace again.

Its many eyes had noticed the bloodstains within their cloaked form, old wounds from recent battles. There wasn’t much damage left for them to take.

No one could dodge the Mjölnir.

Dante felt the hairs on his arms stand at full attention. Brows crossed, the older Sparda swiped through bits of his hair that lilted up from their slicked-back position.

“Hey, do you feel that-”

A beam of dark lightning was emitted from Famulus’s tail, striking straight into the opponent’s chest, shards of pure energy slicing through the air with a symphony of cracks rattling the street. Several pebbles flitted off the earth, scorching hot.

The lightning was overpowering, the cries of the stricken muted, body curling to itself with arms stiffening at the chest.

Dante and Vergil both believed defeat was imminent, preparing to have to take out the demon themselves.

When the flashes of demonic power died down, Famulus had witnessed the impossible.

Even with the golden shroud having been faltered, the thunderstruck figure had not been smitten.

Famulus’s needle-tooth grin dropped at the turn of events, rearing back on all fours.

Black lightning danced off their skin, flickering yellow sparks onto the cobblestones.

“No one of that stature could be capable of such an atrocity, and still be human.” Vergil thought to himself.

Famulus was the strongest of the Pessulum litter, demons that nursed from the deadliest of storms to emerge the top of their species. The demon had killed bigger and stronger with less than it had exhibited today.

And now, this runt of a creature had stood against it with no fear, not even close to death? Taking its strongest attack with no problem?

A rush of fear chilled its electrified veins. Stories of the being, whispers amongst Raphael’s underlings, its master’s own grinding teeth at the news of his brothers and their sudden falling, proven true by the might of this mysterious being.

Famulus would live with no merit to his name, scorned by Raphael, seen as less by its inferiors.

“If that does not kill you then I will!” Famulus jumped, claws extended like scythes to slice flesh to ribbons.

Clumsily taking one step forward, tense arms fought back to form one hand pointing to the snout of the devil, the other to the skies.

The thunder was released from its subjugation, deafening annihilation.

A blinding beam of sheer gilden lightning shot right into the demon, many opaque eyes centering at the color of death. Through the other hand, thunderbolts went off like firecrackers into the atmosphere, exploding rapidly and chaotically.

“Holy shit,” Dante exclaimed, sparks dancing off the paved path and flittering in the air.

Vergil ground his heels to the ground, the frontward force of the explosion pushing against him.

The blow sank into purpled flesh, veins and nerves turned from putrid black to nearly white, keeping the demon trapped in the air, still positioned to pounce and disembowel. Famulus didn’t even make any noise, the renowned servant burned alive.

Seethingly hot, with the very air molecules shaking at the display, the twins watched skin and bone become ash and dust. Killed by one’s trump card.

Not even a fallen tail spike was left, the aftershocks settling the twice-over-cremated remains scattering to the wind.

The redirection of the lightning strike had taken a toll on the hooded figure, who straightened up shakily, face revealed for all to see.

A pair of eyes were two suns in the dead of night, a contrast to the light blue ones that perceived them.

Standing alone, centered by destroyed store windows and melted streetlights, they seemed impassive to their might. It was as if they weren’t just blasted with lightning, where their fabric was scorched the only evidence of the offense.

Dante and Vergil didn’t know what to do, not knowing if this person would attack them as well.

They stayed where they were, the moon right above their head, shining around their crown of messy hair.

“Be not afraid.”

Voice hoarse, their mouth moved differently than to the words they just called out.

Before the twins could think of anything to say, the figure beyond them collapsed.

Vergil was silent, still processing all of this. Who was this person? What were they looking for? Who was Raphael?

Dante rushed forward, heavy footsteps raising ashes from their resting place.

Vergil followed, the Yamato ready to be unleashed at any hesitation.

Dante turned them over, noting the strange force surrounding them had remained. As if someone larger was there.

A human face from under the worn, textile cloak greeted them, exhausted and at peace with unconsciousness.

Two lines dripped down their face from their nose. Bleeding crimson, a human above all. In-and-out, slow breaths moved their chest just enough to know they were alive.

“A half-demon?” Vergil questioned himself.

“If they killed the demon, do we have to split the cash with them?” Dante blurted. Vergil raised an eyebrow at the inquiry.

Before he could retort, Dante had lifted them, their stature dwarfed in strong arms.

“Let’s ask them when they wake up.”

“Dante, you are not bringing that thing back.”

“You’re right. I’m not. You are. Open a portal.” He said with a shit-eating grin.

Vergil reluctantly did so, the Yamato ripping open the fabric of space. He would regret this, he was sure of it.

[boys-from-santacarla]

Hi! We've literally never talked but I saw you were doing lost boys pairings with our descriptions and I can't help myself

So I'm mid-height straight female, and on paper I sound like your basic white girl. Blue eyes, blonde hair, kind of a redneck, but I'm also not. I've got dark blonde hair and it's kind of a mess but I like it. I enjoy wearing layers because it's comfy. I love denim, leather, and flannel, the works. I also love movie shirts and 80s sweaters. I don't wear much makeup because I honestly don't know where to start but I like that my eyes are both blue and green and I have freckles.

Personality wise I'm more of an introvert but kind of just because no one around me really wants to talk to me. The reason for this is a, people say I look grouchy 24/7, and b because when I do talk I infodump about my interests. People do enjoy me sometimes though because I'm hella sarcastic, but my parents hate it. So I'm not really awkward or anything I'm just way too afraid of embarrassing myself. Also I observe people cuz why not. So I honestly enjoy people who I share some interests but we can also just chill and be quiet.

Interests wise there is a lot. For one I love movies, especially 80s and 90s but of course old old movies are still cool. (But I will rant about the sexism in them for hours.) I also love to read especially classics, draw even though I don't think I can, and listen to music (also oldies.) Also just being outdoors by myself is pretty swag. Because the only other person is my dog and he won't judge me.

This is a lot I know... but of course take your time and this is so cool that you are doing this :')

Notes: I'm really sorry, I know i made you wait too long, but you know how life is. Let me tell you I enjoyed a lot writing your match-up. I hope you like it too, and remember you can give it positive or negative feedback, it helps upgrade my practice :)

After this sincere description, I am pairing you with...

David

He liked you after some nights of stalking you lol.

He saw you at the boardwalk, but unlike the other girls there, you were enjoying the time by yourself looking like someone run over your dog. That he found intriguing.

He also thought it was cute.

He observed, analyzed, then approached lmao.

How easily you talked with him about some of your favorite movies as if you've known him for years kinda shock him; he thought you were a quiet girl.

He doesn't really gets why your facial expression would repel people, he thinks you look beautiful and pretty normal, but he has gone through some individuals judging him without really getting to know him too, just because he looks rude. And he is, but he always says you shouldn't just assume.

David won't think you being sarcastic is a problem. I mean, it is when he is in the vamp-drama-queen mood and no one can be a brat but him, but generally, he finds it amusing. It is also a turn-on.

He likes your flexibility; knowing he can talk with you about trivial stuff for hours, or just enjoy a silent night together at the cave.

If you both are out and you are just sitting there watching the others, he joins you in this, of course adding some foolish observations and judging the other's outfits like a pretentious bitch. Do you know Regina George? Well, it is going to be like sitting with her.

When watching together those movies you love, he knows there's a lecture awaiting at the end of them, but enjoys listening to you express your disgust, and gets entertained by it. No doubt he is gonna make you more upset by deliberately making some nasty sexists and dark-humored jokes because he gets off with it.

David is kind of a loner too sometimes, therefore he gets you. So besides your (beautiful) doggo, David is now on that list of people that won't judge you. He is a jerk sometimes, but he will never do or say anything to hurt you purposely because he knows the most precious things in life never come twice, and when I tell you this man really loses himself when in love, I MEAN IT. He would love you more than anything or anyone, and he would tell you this someday. All the while he is gonna make you crazy with his bullshit, but nothing serious.