#but i suppose i just have to settle for stuff u can get in online stores

[sweetofsin]

for some reason recently i've been desiring... a house? like... an actual house...

and the reason why it's so strange to me is because i'm only in my 20s, and contrary to all the shit that we see online and in social media, i know that it isn't common to get a house at such a young age. so honestly, i was completely fine with the whole thing of renting apartments and such. i don't mind living with roommates, and honestly having a big ass house to myself sounds super stressful. and also just not something i need. i've never seen the super big houses on social media and was like WOW! I definitely need that for myself!

BUT. idk. recently... i've just been like thinking about things like having an actual backyard. being able to go outside in said backyard. having way more space available in my own room. somewhere i can decorate and really settle into it without having to worry about people telling me that i can't paint or ruin over said things. i guess maybe i'm just being nostalgic over living in an actual house. could also be because the last place i lived in had a cute little backyard, even if i was renting it. it was still kinda cute idk

now i do know there are some townhouses n such where u can rent it n stuff, so maybe i could look into that. but i think i'm just really over the concept of having to move around constantly from place to place and never really having a physical stable place to call home. i know people can say, "well home is within!" and like, okay, yeah, i suppose. i'm not saying that isn't important too. but it's also not irrational for someone to be like, "damn. it is tiring having to constantly switch places like every year or two, whether it's due to rising inflation or other things to the point where your physical environment is always changing." and there is a difference between willingly choosing to change apartments and such, vs. having to do so out of necessity. that isn't fun.

and it also leads to you feeling less like yourself at home? like, i've never been able to fully decorate my rooms and plaster it with interests and collect stuff etc etc, because i've always moved. and with moving, you end up downsizing each time because it gets tiring and exhausting and so much trying to bring stuff all the time. i ended up giving away and throwing out so much stuff because it just becomes tedious trying to haul so much stuff like every few years. but i'm so envious of people who lived in places for like YEARS or they live with their parents or something because then their room really grows into them. anyways, i guess that's what i'm craving more of. a place where i feel like it can feel like me. ive only lived in one house since i was a kid, and as a kid, the joy i felt at being able to explore an entire backyard, at the routine of knowing that i'm coming home to the exact same place, of growing and getting used to the smells around the house, slowly collecting so much stuff that is a fleshed reminder of you. that's so much harder to do in apartments. i don't like the really big modern ones that feel and look like a boring corporate office, and i don't really like the tiny shoebox ones where it's obvious you're just living there to survive. i wish we had more of an in between.

and easy solution also to this would be if my parents had a home, but they're both renting right now. which is... like, insane. because they're way too old to be fucking renting anything. it quite literally makes me angry.

[roakkaliha]

i think one of finlands many flaws as a country is how we dont have real letterman jackets.

[wayward-dreamer]

Life’s Lessons - Part 1

Title: Life’s Lessons - A Lesson in Settling In

Pairing: Mechanic!Dean x Female!Teacher!Reader (eventual)

Word Count: 3,362

Part Summary: Y/N settles into her new house, in a new town. Right off the bat, she meets her gorgeous neighbor, finding an instant connection with him. As she goes to work on Monday, she starts to think that she could get used to Lawrence, Kansas.

Warnings: some swearing, first day of work nerves, Dean being cute (yes, that’s a warning lol)

Music: Lookin’ Out My Back Door, I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Creedence Clearwater Revival (Setting up the house scene).

A/N: The first part is here! I’m so excited for you all to read it! Please let me know what you think, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and feedback! P.S. I have a full playlist for this series coming soon, just finalising some selections! Happy reading and I hope you guys like it! :)

Dividers by the wonderful @firefly-graphics​! Check her out for all your AU needs!!! 

Y/N leaned against her car, a content smile on her face as she looked up at the house that she was about to call her new home.

The house was clean white, with a grey tiled roof. White wood railings encased the front porch, that had a porch swing in front of one of the windows. The front yard was freshly mowed, with the flower beds on either side of the porch steps. It was a modest, two-bedroom house, with not a whole lot of backyard space, but it was the most rent she could afford with her previous salary. It didn’t matter though; you could make a house a home no matter how big or small it was. Her job as a teacher wasn’t just rewarding when the kids did well, but it was able to put a roof over her head, and that was all she could ask for.

Y/N started with her bags before she opened the large U-Haul trailer attached to her car, and started taking out the boxes. It had been a long journey from Rhinebeck, New York, stopping off overnight in Ohio and then Missouri, but she made it to Lawrence, Kansas that morning, giving her enough time to start unloading her things. Considering it was just her, she knew it was going to take some time, but she was hoping to finish by lunch time so she could explore the town a little.

Luckily for her, complicated things to move like a couch and a bed, weren’t things that she had brought with her. Those things were reminders of what she had done on them with her ex-boyfriend and the last thing she needed in her new house were memories of him. He was the reason she had searched for teaching jobs outside of New York, and luckily, she got the furthest one. She missed her family already, but she needed to get as far away from the memories of him as possible.

Moving her bags and the boxes from the trailer had been the easiest part. It was moving the furniture – dining table and chairs, armchairs, record player, coffee table and two bookshelves – that was going to be the hard task on her own. She started with what she could do on her own, moving all the dining chairs into the house. When she got back to the trailer, she sighed heavily. There were too many things to move.

Y/N stepped into the trailer and started to shift one of the armchairs but growled in frustration as it got stuck on the edge. She couldn’t get the right hold on it to get it off the edge, her legs shaking as she tried to keep it steady.

“Whoa, hey. Let me help you with that” a male voice said behind her. She didn’t turn to see him yet, but watched as he grabbed the other end of the armchair and helped her put it down on the pavement.

“Thanks” she smiled, relieved.

“No problem” he said as he turned to face her.

She almost wished he hadn’t because now her legs were shaking more than they were when she couldn’t hold the damn chair. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen, handsome but incredibly hot at the same time. The black and white plaid shirt he was wearing was tight across his arms, and she couldn’t help but get lost in his gorgeous green eyes and sinfully pouty lips.

She smiled politely, keeping the thoughts she was having suddenly, at bay. “No, really, thanks so much. I probably would’ve ended up trapped under this chair if you hadn’t stepped in.”

He laughed, laughter lines appearing near his mouth and crinkles around his eyes. “Well, I would’ve hated to see that happen.”

She smiled, not knowing what else to say to him. This was the first time she had ever been this flustered with a man. The sound of his laugh and the way those lines appeared around the creases of his eyes made her heart flutter.

“Can I help you with rest? I mean, I gotta get to work but I can be a little late” he asked, as he looked between the chair and the rest of her stuff.

She looked at the rest of the things and frowned. “You sure? I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.”

“I’m positive. Helps to be the boss, so…” he smirked, as he shrugged.

She nodded, impressed. “What do you do?”

“I’m a mechanic, I own the auto shop on Main street. Winchester’s. I’m Dean, by the way” he said, as he offered his hand.

She took his hand in hers and tried to ignore the spark she felt radiate through her when their skin touched. “Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Good to meet ya, Y/N” he smiled.

When she smiled in return, Dean was completely floored by her. She was beautiful; dressed in loose boyfriend jeans, a white t-shirt, red converse sneakers and a red bandana around her head with her hair in a messy bun. She really had the girl next door vibe going on. That was dangerous with the situation he was in, so he had to tread lightly. When he saw her from across the street, he was reluctant to help because one look at her, even from a distance and he knew he was in trouble. His mother raised him to be a gentleman though, so he couldn’t hesitate to help a person in need.

With Dean’s help, moving the furniture she did have into the house only took about 20 minutes. She was incredibly thankful for him helping and hoped that it wouldn’t have been too forward to ask if he wanted to grab dinner with her, that night. She straightened out the medium sized, round dining table and chairs with Dean, and sighed in relief once it was done. Her furniture was now in place in all the appropriate rooms. She had to unpack now, which was almost harder than this, but at least she could take her time with it.

Dean looked around her house and nodded, noticing how many boxes had “BOOKS” written on them in black marker. He had only been in this house twice, when the previous owners still lived there before they moved to be closer to their children.

“Big reader?” he gestured towards the boxes.

“Definitely, but I’m a teacher too, so it’s an abundance of books” she laughed, as she looked at them. “It’s a little ridiculous, really.”

Dean laughed quietly to himself, trying to get the teacher fantasies out of his head. She really had to be a teacher.

“Well, I should head out” he said, as he made his way to the door.

She followed behind him and leaned against the doorway. “Thanks for the chivalry.”

“You’re welcome. I guess it’s not dead, after all” he smirked.

She laughed; it felt like the millionth time in the last 20 minutes. He was carefree and had made the tedious process so much easier with his humour.

“I’ll see ya around, Y/N” Dean said, shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned away from her.

“Thanks again” she called out.

Dean walked down the porch steps and turned back. He gave her wink before he walked across the street. She sighed to herself as she watched him walk away, his dark blue jeans doing wonders for his behind, though the black and white plaid was hiding his back from the looseness. She thought against asking him for dinner just yet, at least not on her first day in town. She would give it a couple of weeks, enough time for her to settle into her new job and into the town.

Y/N closed the door and walked back into the main room. Looking at the boxes, she knew it was better to return the trailer to the Lawrence location and then explore the town a little. Get some lunch, do a little grocery shopping. She picked up her bag and keys, heading out of her new house. She would start on the boxes when she got back.

Before she got in the car, she fired off a quick message to her family, telling them she had gotten there safely. It had been text after text and call after call asking if she was okay when she left Rhineback to drive to Lawrence. She reassured her family that all was well, and then drove into town.

The next day, Y/N was thankful that it was a Saturday. It would give her some more time to set up the house but also start getting ready for the first day of school on Monday. She was nervous about meeting the staff and the students, but she was excited about the new experience. She had walked through town the day before, grabbed the essentials like bedsheets and towels, plus some grocery items for the immediate need. She was already beginning to like Lawrence.

The first thing she did was set up the record player her dad had given to her. Once everything was plugged in where it was supposed to be, she put on one of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s records. She bopped her head along to Lookin’ Out My Back Door as she started to unpack the other records, before starting on the other boxes.

About 15 minutes later, as I Heard It Through The Grapevine played, she stood on the front porch, watching her furniture delivery unload from the truck. Before she even got to Lawrence, she had bought a new bed frame and mattress, couch, office desk and chair online, and thank goodness the place had Saturday delivery. She had made a makeshift bed out her new sheets and pillows last night, and with the way her back clicked and cracked into place when she woke up that morning, she was incredibly fortunate that her new bed was here.

She followed them inside and instructed the delivery guys on where to put the items. As she was helping them, she heard a loud knock on the open door. She turned around and saw a woman, maybe her age or a few years older, standing at the door. Next to her, stood a young boy, probably about 13 years old. Y/N smiled as she walked to the door, seeing a plate of something in the woman’s hands.

“Hi, we saw you moving in and wanted to welcome you. I’m Lisa Braeden, and this is my son, Ben” she introduced themselves, with a bright smile.

Y/N shook her hand and smiled in return. “It’s great to meet you, guys. I’m Y/N Y/L/N.”

“These are for you, I hope you like chocolate chip” Lisa said, handing her the plate of cookies.

“Maybe a little too much” Y/N laughed. “Thanks.”

“Listen, if there’s anything you need, we’re right across the street” Lisa gestured behind her to the house across the street.

Y/N nodded as she looked at the place. It had darker features, but the lawn was equally maintained. “I appreciate that.”

“So, Ben. What grade are you in?” Y/N asked, wanting to engage with Ben a little, who looked quite bored.

“I’m starting 8th on Monday” he mumbled.

Y/N smiled, looking between him and Lisa. “Well, I’m starting work on Monday. Maybe I’ll have you in my English class.”

“Cool.” Ben didn’t seem to care. “Nice choice” he said, gesturing to where the music was coming from before he turned away, walking to the porch stairs and waiting for Lisa.

Lisa looked at him with a “we’ll talk later” look, before she turned to Y/N. “He shouldn’t give you too much trouble, but if he does, you know where I am.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine” Y/N shook her head.

“Anyway, we should go. Welcome to the neighborhood” Lisa said, smiling again.

“Thanks” Y/N smiled.

She watched as Lisa and Ben walked across the street, clearly waiting to be behind closed doors before she talked to him about what just happened. Hopefully she wasn’t too harsh on him; no kid would want to meet their new teacher outside of a school setting. Y/N walked inside the house and saw that the delivery guys were done. She signed off on the delivery and the guys left. She picked up one of the boxes still in her living room and walked to the second bedroom she was using as an office. She was excited to set it up and get started on some work for Monday.

Y/N sat in her car in the parking lot of the school. She had gotten there a little early, just trying to calm herself down before going in to meet the principal. She had spoken to him for her phone interview and again when she got the job, so she was familiar with him. He seemed like a nice man and she just hoped that the rest of the staff were the same way. She was more nervous about the students. Moving schools wasn’t just hard as a kid.

She checked her make-up in the mirror and then got out of the car, walking towards the entrance. She fixed her white top and smoothed down her brown skirt, thankful that she had chosen brown sandals with a small heel instead of something higher. She didn’t need anything to go wrong today. Once inside, she walked over to the administration office, as guided by the signs. At the very first desk, sat a red-headed woman, the name plate on her desk reading: Anna Milton – Receptionist.

When Y/N approached her desk, she looked up from her computer and smiled.

“Hello, how can I help you?” she asked.

“Uh, hi, I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I’m starting here today and need to meet Mr. Shurley first” Y/N replied, trying her best to keep her nerves at bay.

“Oh of course” she picked up the phone and pressed a number.

Y/N waited a minute or so before a short man with greying hair and a beard, walked out of an office at the back of the room. He saw her and smiled, extending his hand as he approached her.

“Miss Y/L/N, wonderful to meet you” he said, shaking her hand.

“You too, Mr. Shurley” she smiled, as confidently as she could.

“Alright, let me show you around before your first class” he walked ahead of her, not leaving her too far behind.

It took Chuck, as he insisted on being called by his first name when it was a one-on-one basis, a few minutes to show her around the main parts of the school; the staff room, the library, the gym and the cafeteria. After that, he took her to the classroom she’d be using, just before the students came in. They watched as they came in, sitting down at their desks. Ben walked in and she smiled at him, but just received a little twitch of his face back. They all looked scared to see the principal in the room.

“Class, I’d like you meet Miss Y/L/N. Your new English teacher. So, make her feel welcome” he said to them in a commanding voice, before he turned to her. “If any of them give you any trouble, just send them down to my office.”

“I’m sure I won’t need to” Y/N looked between him and the students.

“Alright, take it away” he smiled before he left the room.

As soon as he was gone, the class erupted into loud voices as they began chatting away. Y/N sat on the edge of her desk, her legs and arms crossed as she waited, patiently. She would give them a few seconds before she got their attention. Before she could do that however, Ben looked at her and then at the rest of his classmates.

“Guys” he called out. The noise level didn’t go down.

“Last one to be quiet has to tell their next teacher why they were late” she called out.

The noise level dropped instantly.

Y/N smiled, happy that worked. “Alright. As Mr. Shurley said, I’m Miss Y/L/N. We’re going to start off with the role. As I call out your names, you’re going to tell me what you read over the summer and a short answer about what you liked or didn’t like about it.”

For majority of the class, things went well. Most of the students were well behaved except for one group of three boys who kept talking and disrupting the others around them. They were rude and weren’t listening to her when she asked them to stop several times. She would have to keep an eye on them. To say that her first lesson had been difficult would be an understatement, but she got through it. That’s what mattered.

Y/N had a break in which prepared for her class with the 7th graders. They were a breath of fresh air and exactly what she needed after the previous class. They were much more engaged and a lot softer spoken, so while she would have to get them out of their shells a little bit, they were pretty well behaved.

At lunch, Chuck introduced her to a few more of the teachers. She shook hands with everyone and engaged in conversation. The usual chatter about where she was from and how she got into teaching. As she sat down to eat, she looked over some of her messages. She smiled as she saw one from her sister, sending off a quick reply to tell her she was doing okay.

“Mind if I join you?” a voice asked.

She looked up to see a man with brown short hair and blue eyes smiling at her. He was adorable, looking cute in his white shirt with rolled sleeves, black pants and blue tie to match his eyes.

She smiled in return and nodded. “Sure, of course.”

He sat down across from her with his lunch. “I’m Castiel Novak, history teacher. Everyone calls me Cas, though.”

He offered up his hand and she shook it. “It’s great to meet you.”

Just as he was about to say something, a red-headed woman, not Anna, walked over. “Hey, you must be the new English teacher, I’m Charlie.”

“I’m Y/N” she said, shaking her hand.

“Charlie teaches Math but she’s a computer whiz too. Helps out the I.T. guys every now and then” Cas told her as Charlie settled into the seat next to him.

Y/N smiled approvingly. “Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Thanks. They ask me because I think they secretly know I’m better at it than them. I was in the corporate line for a while, but then I moved back home to help my mom” Charlie explained, between bites of her salad.

Y/N liked her already, her nerdy vibe with colourful plaid shirt and band t-shirt suiting her chirpy personality. Cas was a little quiet, but there was a calm presence to him. Though she had no doubt he had the ability to get kids to listen to him straight away.

“Yeah, we’re all glad she came back and stuck around” Cas smiled at her.

When she smiled in return, Y/N had to ask. “So, you two…?”

They both laughed as they looked at each other and then back at Y/N.

“No, we’ve just been friends for a really long time. I have a girlfriend, Meg. She’s a nurse at Lawrence General. She’s tougher than nails and I don’t know how I got her” Cas replied, laughing slightly.

“Yeah, and I’ve just started dating a few weeks ago. Her name’s Dorothy and she’s a writer for the Kansas City Times. She’s really cool” Charlie smiled softly.

Y/N nodded, understanding. “They both sound amazing. I can’t wait to meet them some time.”

They continued talking over lunch and Y/N couldn’t have been happier to have met them. They were both incredibly kind and lovely people, and she was really starting to get along with them.

As lunch finished and they went their separate ways, Y/N smiled as she walked to her next class.

Hopefully moving to Lawrence, Kansas was going to be the best decision she’d ever made.

-x-

Tags: @flamencodiva @deanwanddamons @winchest09 @katehuntington @akshi8278 @hobby27 @michellethetvaddict @spngirl05​ @kyjey​ @halesandy​ @440mxs-wife​ @stoneyggirl​ @deanswaywardgirl​ @wonder-cole​ @that-one-gay-girl​ @redbarn1995​ @marianita195​ @babypink224221​ @deans-baby-momma​ @parinarain​ @thoughts-and-funnies​

[mcytwebweaving]

hello web! hope you're doing well :D just out of curiosity, how do you collect material for your web weaves? what's your creative process like? big fan of your work <3

Omg thank you so much!!! I'm doing okay, have been very busy with some stuff tho (so sorry for the lack of original content 😅). I will get back into it soon tho, already have some stuff in the making!

I have already answered asks about where exactly do I get all the materials I use from, so I won't elaborate on that part, but here is my normal process: (it's under Read More bc the post turned out longer that I expected haha)

• Starting point is either me getting a request, or my brain going "haha remember that quote/image you saw on tumblr 2 weeks ago? would it be fucked up or what to connect it with a character you like?" (btw in that case I almost never end up using the original quote/image that gave me inspiration for some reason)

• Then I outline some key words about the web weaving I am going to make. I usually go for very abstract and broad concepts, so I can encounter some more interesting stuff. Around that stage I also visualize what exact media I would like to use. Basically, when I go into the "search for the stuff to use" part, I already have a pretty clear understanding of what I will be going for

• And then I go through the websites, Tumblr tags and online archives looking for stuff. I start by searching for stuff relating to my key words, then based on what u find, I can change things up. Actually, about 90% of the time, my website turn out really different from how I imagined them to be at first, just because I encounter some interesting things that I like more. For example, my first knifetrick web weaving wasn't supposed to be centered around the theme of hands at all - the thing I started with was that quote about Jackie laughing like a seagull or something, and I never ended up using it. But even if I throw all of my plans in the window, I wouldn't say that visualisation and coming up with concepts is meaningless work - if you have a direction to move in, you won't be overwhelmed with options.

If I see something that I can't use for a certain theme/character, but I think may be useful for something else, I save it too, so it makes the work a bit easier in future. To avoid all those different things cluttering in my Downloads, I keep separate folders for each web I am working on/could potentially do.

This is definitely the longest part of my work process, partly because despite the 10 image limit per post Tumblr has, I usually save much more stuff to use for each web weaving.

• Compiling/formatting this all in a post and giving credit is the last thing I do. Since I have an excess of material, I have to think what I will keep. My main priorities are 1) matching the theme and 2) keeping a consistent look. With quotes/song lyrics I sometimes can copy paste them into a google doc and play around with fonts, text and background colors. Then I think of positioning it all, which is more important than you may think. In my dsmp!tommyinnit web the colors in both the text and images go from warm orange/yellow hues to grey (it's more obvious with pictures tbh), as a way to symbolize a feeling of desperation and loneliness settling in. I don't even know how many people notice stuff like that, but it's important to me, so I do it. Last thing is putting down the credits (Don't forget your credits, kids!!). Usually it's formatted like [title of the media], [authors name], and images get links to sources :].

That's pretty much it! One web takes me around 4 hours to finish, so it's a pretty long process, and I put a lot of thoughts behind it all :] Sorry it's so long, I am actually glad I had an opportunity to share a little step by step! :D

[1kook]

baecation

Jeon Jeongguk x (F) Reader

summary⥗“Lose the top, or lose the right to present yourself in any low back gown for the next three months.” He truly knew the way to your heart. tags⥗richboy!jk, -3 knowledge of how vacations work, domestic love!!!, outdoor sex, unprotected sex, fingering, jk’s white ass cheeks mention wc⥗5.9k u ever randomly get inspired for the first time in 2 months and write a whole fic in one night anyway enjoy

There were many perks to dating the heir of your city’s top conglomerate, the endless showering of gifts being one of them, but your favorite thing about your boyfriend wasn’t his overflowing pockets or his secure future, but the lovesick look in his eyes when you told him how much you loved him.

Jeongguk was an enigma.

He was born to be the stereotypical rich boy that authors of teen fiction could only dream of, his looks suitable for magazine covers and his brains destined for top-notch universities. His bloodline was carefully crafted by generations before him, every marriage carefully planned and executed with the ultimate goal to preserve their place in society as apex predators. In fact, Jeongguk’s entire life had been one big script his family had carefully pushed him along, from the fencing classes he took to the hiring of the nation’s best nannies to care for him, all subtle enough for him to not complain but demanding enough that he knew what was going on.

The only thing they hadn’t planned in Jeongguk’s life was him meeting you.

They had never planned for him to meet some middle-class girl, who was definitely not an heiress to any particular company or celebrity of any level, just some random girl he had accidentally bumped into leaving a charity event at the local community park. They hadn’t planned for his long, gangly arms to knock your phone out of your hand, or send it tumbling into the lake as you both watched on in horror. It was only after the quiet plop of water registered in both your ears that you had whirled on him, half of you in shock and the other in fury.

Jeongguk was, as previously stated, handed everything on a silver platter. His parents hardly bothered with teaching him how to do things. He barely understood how to work a washing machine, because all of that was done for him by other people. At the moment, he didn’t have to bother with taking an entrance exam to the best university this side of the country because he knew his parents would pay for the entire thing out of pocket. He especially didn’t ever have to worry about what to do when random girls scolded him in public sight, because frankly, it would never happen.

Yet here he was, completely startled as you told him to watch where he was going, and to learn how to apologize to people when you’ve done something wrong. He’d never had someone of a lower status than him treat him so aggressively before, and when you pause to catch your breath all he can stumble out is that he’ll replace your phone, he’ll even buy you the best model, what was your number so his people could reach out to you again?

The last sentence has you groaning in frustration, as you pointed furiously towards the lake, because how on earth was he supposed to contact you when your phone was 20 feet below surface level?!

After another fifteen minutes of you continuing your verbal rampage against him, the entirety of it which he’d spent fending off his security guard and his assistant (both who’d been appalled that he’d willingly let this peasant swear and curse at him) as he stared at you in awe.

When you finally calmed down and he’d offered to take you to the Starbucks across the street to figure out the details of your phone replacement, he’s surprised to find out your normal disposition is nothing like the one you’d first shown him. In fact, you’re rather sheepish and embarrassed at the coffee shop, albeit still a little upset with him for trashing your phone.

After you’ve finished nailing out the little details of your phone replacement, which included you hesitantly giving him your address, he leaves right away. He’s sad to leave so soon, having become completely enthralled with your entire being in the thirty minutes he’s come to know you, that he finds himself hopelessly staring out of the backseat of the Benz as he travels back to his upscale apartment in the heart of the city. He hopes you don’t forget him so soon.

To say you’re surprised to see a package on your doorstep the next morning is an understatement. You remember every online purchase you make, and if memory serves you right, you hadn’t made one in the past month to warrant its arrival today. After glancing down both ends of your hall, you tug the mystery package inside.

In hindsight you probably should have been more cautious of the entire situation, but part of you was extremely curious to see what brought this surprise on. After tugging the tape off and shuffling through the packing peanuts you’re met with a sleek box for the hottest and most expensive phone right now, a pink bow carefully tied around to secure a note.

One of our guard’s fished around the lake for the phone I misplaced and managed to retrieve the memory card. I hope you won’t mind the new contact I added.

Best,

Jeon Jeongguk

And thus was the start of your love story.

-

You’re wondering if Jeongguk’s sudden idea was truly a spur of the moment epiphany or another ploy for him to get out of going to the ball his father had planned at the end of this month. You’ve come to learn in the last two years that despite his perfect boy aura, he was quite the impulsive shithead. Eitherway, you know he would have invited you to wherever he was going, and if he hadn’t, his mother would have shipped you a gown from her favorite designer and asked you to drag him there.

As it stands, it’s not a fancy ball you’re preparing for this time around, but a luxurious spring break in the Bahamas, away from school and family and anything to ruin your mood for the next week. You’d just finished your midterms when he bursts into your dorm room, demanding you pack your bags, baby, we’re going to the beach! Evidently, it was not the local beach you were going to. No, the ‘beach’ Jeongguk had referred to was one he conveniently forgot to mention was an entire plane ride away. It wasn’t until he returned later that same day to usher you off to the airport that he realizes how sorely under packed you are.

So now here you were, frantically cramming a week’s worth of cute, summer-y clothes into the only suitcase you own, running back and forth from your closet to the suitcase to the desk where you kept all your beauty products and shower essentials, while your boyfriend ate one of your granola bars on your bed.

“You better not get any crumbs on the bed, you know I hate finding them later,” you scold, not even bothering to look at him as you stuff all your makeup into a small bag.

Jeongguk snorts. “You won’t even be sleeping here for a week, babe,” he says, voice calm and relaxed in the way only someone who’s already done packing can be. The only consolation to your current state was that Jeongguk had booked his family’s private jet, so you really couldn’t be late to a flight only the two of you would be on.

You turn around with a hand on your hip, giving him the same unimpressed look you always do when he’s being unreasonable. “I’m sure the mice you’re attracting will keep it warm for me.” He rolls his eyes, finishing off his snack and then making a big show of patting down your creaky mattress to rid it of any granola crumbs.

He’s settled back into the bed when he speaks again. “Take the orange crop top you bought from Forever 21 last month, it makes your boobs looks amazing.”

You tuck your socks and undergarments against the suitcase’s inner pocket. “Oh right, ‘cause that’s a priority right now.” You don’t wanna tell him it’s already folded against your other clothes because you, too, think it makes your boobs look amazing.

You hear the rustling of the bed sheets once more, before you see his long legs come to a rest around you, arms wrapping around your waist to watch you ruffle through the clothing you already have. “Not my fault my girl’s got a nice set on her.”

“Oh my god, shut up,” you beg, reaching over to your pile of haphazardly thrown shorts and skirts to fold some more into your luggage. You’re careful of not moving far enough away that his arms would dislodge from their embrace. “We could have been halfway to the Bahamas right now if someone bothered to plan things ahead of time and not last minute as a means to get out of a charity ball.”

Jeongguk groans, letting his head fall forward to rest against your back, his soft breath leaving your back warm through your t-shirt. “Can’t a guy just steal his girlfriend away to the Bahamas for a week to avoid the overwhelming stress of life, and maybe choke on some exotic shrimp while she chokes on his di—”

“Get off of me, you pervert!”

The second you step foot on the archipelago that is the gem of the resort world, it’s about seven thousand degrees hotter than it was back home, and the sweat on the back of your neck can attest to that. The jet ride here had been pretty fun, it being your first experience flying private, but also flying in general. Jeongguk had kept you entertained both on the take off and landing, lips kissing down every inch of your neck with a promise for more later.

Well, it was later now, and the need to be sated was still present, something you’re not quite sure your boyfriend was aware of. Jeongguk was like that. Forgetful as fuck. The only reason he ever got anything done was because he had that assistant of his practically glued to his hip at every moment of the day, breathing down his neck every task he needed to complete. If it was up to Jeongguk, and Jeongguk alone, things would get done at a very slow pace.

But you were nothing like your boyfriend, and you suppose it’s why you two go together so well. While he put things to the side, you needed everything to be done right away and fast. Which is why you find yourself pulling him away from the scuba diving kiosk in an effort to check into your high-end cottage away from all the tourist hub.

“Babeee,” he whines, almost forgetting his luggage for the nth time, not used to actually having to haul his things by himself. “We could have seen the reef! You know, where all the fish are at? Where Nemo lives.”

“Uh huh, that’s nice,” you say, finding the driver Jeongguk’s assistant (bless his uptight, perfectionist ass) had booked for your arrival. “But we need to check in first and make sure our rental is all good.”

He seems miffed about the fact people actually have to do that, and had it not been his status as a trust-fund baby funding this entire trip, you would have liked to sock him right in the nose. But he’s your boyfriend and you’re used to his somewhat clueless ways by now, so you let it go.

You don’t know what you expected his assistant to rent out for you guys, but it certainly wasn’t the swanky beach house your driver pulls up to. It’s carefully secluded from the other houses around it, a high hedge-turned-fence surrounding the private yard. It hides a decent sized pool, a few lawn-chairs, and a hot tub from the public beach down below. The house itself is marvelous, complete with multiple bedrooms, two baths, and the most luxurious kitchen you’ve ever seen in a beach house.

“Oh,” you say upon stepping out of the car, mouth agape as you take in the sight of your accommodation for the next few days.

A pair of hands snake around your waist before carefully coming to rest above your navel. Jeongguk presses a gentle kiss to your temple, murmuring, “all for you, princess.” The waves crashing against the beach below are miniscule compared to the sudden blossoming of warmth in your chest.

“Shut up,” you shyly whine, turning around to envelope him in your arms. Your need for him and his body fades at the breathtaking sight behind you, and you find yourself forgetting about it completely as you venture around the house.

It’s the same day when you decide to go out into the yard and tan for a bit. Jeongguk had went in for a nap, a little tired from keeping you entertained on the long flight, because he’d stayed awake even when you fell asleep just in case you woke up scared. You don’t try to discourage him, watching him snuggle into the king mattress as you shuffle around for your bikini.

You’re absentmindedly applying another layer of sunscreen to your face, sunglasses pushed onto the top of your head. You’re completely enveloped by thoughts of your boyfriend, of how he could have easily ran off to the Bahamas alone (he went to Moscow last November on a trip to ‘find himself’), but he’d elected to whisk you off with him.

You tuck your AirPods—another gift from him—into your ears before finally settling into the comfort of a lounge chair, the sun’s rays beating down on you full force. It feels wonderful being away from everything you know with the comfort of returning. You’d always dreamt of visiting such places as a teenager, the presence of a lover or not, but now you truly got to live out those fantasies with Jeongguk.

He was a dream.

It’s about thirty minutes into your session when you register the sound of the sliding door, and you crack one eye open to see your refreshed boyfriend wandering into the backyard in a pair of swimming trunks and a goofy look on his face. “Oh, pardon me, I didn’t know such women came to the public pool,” he smirks.

You roll your eyes, not that he sees through the shades protecting you. “Don’t you dare try to roleplay with me, weirdo.”

He cackles, before somersaulting into the pool, and you find yourself squealing at the splash he makes. He disappears for a second under the water, but then pops back up at the ledge closest to you. “Come on, don’t be a pussy. Play along and maybe we’ll go to the spa tomorrow morning,” he offers.

“Fine.” You decide to join him, but not because the spa.

Jeongguk laughs at your petulant tone of voice, before sprawling out to float across the surface of the pool. “Great, so here’s what I was thinking. Me, the rich middle-aged husband coming here strictly for business. And you, the shy darling relaxing by the pool with her girlfriends who are all pushing her to go talk to me.”

“Sounds perfect, except for the part where I’m actually the sly minx coming here to scam a rich college boy out of his money, luring him into the most pleasurable sex he’s ever had, before ghosting him for all eternity and leaving him forever waiting for someone like me to come into his life again,” you propose.

Jeongguk blinks. “Wow, that sounded so realistic. You’re either really good at this, or… I should be worried,” he playfully accuses, before throwing over a gesture that says im watching you. You laugh.

“Just keep swimming, rich boy.”

He does as you tell him, playing in the water as you tune back into the music drifting into your ears. You’re about done tanning the front side of your body, and flip over to make sure your backside catches the rays as well. You set your sunglasses off to the side, and when you look back for them they’re adorning Jeongguk’s silly face as he doggy paddles around the donut floaty he found.

“Untie your top, dumby. Unless you want those ugly tan lines,” Jeongguk calls out in that brash tone of his. You flip him the bird, before sitting up in a very Ariel-esque pose to glance around your private yard.

As if sensing your hesitation, Jeongguk paddles over to your side, leveling you with an unimpressed look. “These bushes are as tall as a door, and there’s no one around for the next half mile, babe. Lose the top, or lose the right to present yourself in any low back gown for the next three months.”

He truly knew the way to your heart.

You untie the knots at your back and your neck, carefully laying back down to get that perfect tan Jeongguk was talking about. Admittedly, you do feel a bit better knowing you won’t return home with noticeable tan lines, and that much is enough to have your topless self blissfully relaxing.

Your soundtrack is the playlist you had collected on the plane ride, occasionally joined by the splashing Jeongguk makes as he moves around the pool, and before you know it, your timer is ringing to let you know it’s time to flip over again. This time, you’re less hesitant about shedding your top, breasts bare to the sky as you throw the top over your eyes (guess where your sunglasses still where).

You hear a wolf whistle from the other side of the yard, and catch sight of Jeongguk sitting at the edge of the pool. His skin is glistening from the water, the sun enveloping him in its warmth. He’d been outside for a shorter time than you but somehow he’d accumulated a darker color faster. The sun loved him like no other. He’s pushing himself to his feet when he catches your gaze, mischievous smirk twisting his features as he rounds the pool.

“Didn’t know this was a nude beach,” he says, and you curse your body for the way it reacts to the sight of his messy hair and tone abdomen. Your nipples harden embarrassingly and you can’t even hide them.

“Tired already?” You muse instead, hoping he doesn’t comment on the state of your breasts. “Tired after a plane ride, tired after swimming. Didn’t know I was dating an old man.”

“Har har,” he says in a monotone voice, and you can’t help the curl of a smile at beating him at his own playful ways. He stops in front of you, and your expression is knocked clean off when the water droplets clinging to his body fall onto your warm skin.

“Jeongguk!” You whine, pushing him away with your foot in a valiant effort to save yourself from the cold water. If anything, your actions end up bringing your demise as he catches your ankle in his hand.

“Ah ah, princess,” he tuts, bending your leg upward only to place his knee where it once was. He ducks down to tower over you, your continuous squealing only bringing an evil smile to his face. “What did we say about tan lines?”

You push him away, groaning in defeat as his hair drips even more water onto your skin. “I took the top off, what now?”

He glances down, and for a moment, you’re confused as to what he sees that you don’t. You're only met with the sight of your yellow bikini bottom preserving the last of your dignity.

You scoff. “You’re kidding.”

Much to your chagrin, he’s not.

“You’re on one of the nicest islands in the world, staying in a private home with fences tall enough to stop Bigfoot from looking in, and you’re gonna tan with your bikini bottoms on? You’re ridiculous.”

You shove his shoulder, before resigning yourself to getting soaked by him as he shuffles around to squish you under his weight. “You’re ridiculous for thinking I’d be outside without any clothes on!”

He snorts against your shoulder, long arms moving around until he has one somewhat curled beneath you. “Nah. You are.”

“Don’t start with me, Jeon.”

He shifts again to look you in the eye. “Come on, ___. You’re really gonna get tan lines when you could avoid them?”

You roll yours eyes. “You couldn’t get me to go outside completely naked for a million bucks, baby.” The beginning of a grin curls around his lips. “Don’t even think about it.”

This brings a laugh out of him, before he’s laying back down to kiss your neck. “You’re silly.” All you can really hope for now is that him laying on top of you won’t give you an even worse tan line.

Just when you think he’s given up on his quest to have you completely naked outside, you feel the slightest tug on the tie holding your bikini in place, slapping your hand down on his as if he were a pesky fly. “Fine!” He huffs, rolling off you to jump back into the water. “I hope everyone sees your uneven tan.”

“No one would see a tan line on my coochie, Jeon,” you remind him, flinching when he decides to cannonball into the water right beside you, sprinkling you in another round of water pellets.

He emerges from the clear water a moment later, paddling to the ledge beside you to flick more water your way. “I will,” he retorts. “When I got you bent over tomorrow morning.”

You don’t hesitate to fling your bikini top his way, the yellow fabric smacking him across the face. “In that case, you should take those shorts off, because I certainly don’t wanna have to look at your pasty thighs.”

“You love my milky thighs,” he hums, traversing the length of the pool for his donut floaty again.

“Milky?”

Your tiny quarrel ends there, Jeongguk soon becoming too immersed in competing against himself in a breath-holding contest to bother you any longer. He’s adorable like this, cheeks puffed out like Mrs. Puff every time his head pops out of the water, that you almost forget to flip over when your timer rings again.

It’s in the midst of your repositioning that you dare take a peak beneath your bottoms. Much to your disdain, there is a growing disparity between the skin beneath your swimsuit and the skin around it. Nothing too bad, but if you were to lay out as long as you planned, it’d become embarrassingly noticeable. Your breasts had been saved from any differences thanks to Jeongguk’s early warning, and you begin wondering if shedding your bottoms would inflate his already huge ego.

No matter, you discreetly unknot the ties securing your bottoms, hoping he won’t notice from across the yard as you carefully slip them off.

You make quick work of laying on your stomach again, your ass finally catching some rays after being covered for so long. You won’t lie, there’s an unexpected wave of comfort that comes with being bare outside, your entire body wonderfully enveloped by the sun’s beaming rays. You snuggle into the lounge chair’s cushions as you nearly reach nirvana.

Your blissful state is ruined not even ten minutes later when the sound of Jeongguk’s heavy splashing comes closer and closer. It’s not until you hear the splat of his wet feet against the pavement that you realize you’re in trouble.

There’s a playful smack against your ass, and you yelp in surprise. “Jeon!” You whine, instantly sitting up on your forearms to narrow your eyes at him. He’s flashing you that playful grin of his as he plops down beside you, not even having to ask you to move over because you do so subconsciously

“Knew you’d give in eventually,” he sighs, leaning back on his palms as he tries to catch his breath. You decide to give up on your dreams of having a peaceful tanning session, turning around to face your glistening boyfriend.

“What do you want for lunch?” You ask instead, running a hand through the hair at the nape of your neck, rolling your shoulders around to get some movement back into them. He shrugs, slithering his way up the cushions to squish himself beside you. It’s a tight fit, but he makes it easier by throwing your leg over his middle.

“Probably some good food in the little village a mile from here. Could probably walk there too.” You hum in agreement, snuggling into his side. You’ve long since gotten over the coldness of his skin, cheek pressed against his chest. He’s got a hand on your lower back, partially to hold you close but also to stop you from rolling off the chair.

Right as your snoozing off, so wonderfully warm beneath the sun and comfortable in your birthday suit, you feel a pair of fingers brush against the backside of your thigh, and then ghost over your exposed pussy.

“You’re despicable,” you murmur, tweaking his nipple between your fingers. Jeongguk snickers, shifting you around so you’re mostly on top of him now, your awakened core pressed against his thigh.

“C’mon, princess,” he goads, running a pair of moist fingers along your thigh again, trying to carefully coax you into doing what he wants. Most things, you now realize, tend to go Jeongguk’s way regardless of other factors. “No one’ll hear us out here.”

“But what if someone does,” you point out, always the voice of reason when it comes to Jeongguk’s ideas. “We could get in trouble, Guk. I don’t know…”

“In trouble for what?” Is his smart rebuttal, shuffling beneath you so you can finally feel the swollen cock hiding beneath his swimming trunks. “Enjoying ourselves in our own home? Oh, the terror.” Upon seeing the uncertainty that still clings to your features, he drops the somewhat cocky attitude to press a kiss to your nose. “It’s all good, princess,” he soothes, ducking down to caress the side of your face with his cherried lips. “If anything, I’ll just bribe our way out of any trouble.”

“Ugh,” you groan, melting into him as you finally give in. “I hate when you say that.”

Jeongguk snuffles a laugh against your jaw, maneuvering the two of you around until you’re laid flat against the cushion with him hovering over you. “When I say what?” He teases. “That my wallet is as fat as my cock?”

You roll your eyes, untying the knot he’d done at the front of his shorts. “Get that fat cock of yours out before I change my mind.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he complies, setting one foot on the floor to push his shorts down, until you’re met with the sight of his stark thighs. You cackle, and his arrogant smirk is wiped off as he glances down at his two-toned legs.

“What happened to getting the perfect tan?” You sneer, tapping a finger against his muscled thighs. “Don’t tell me your ass is this white, too.”

He huffs in annoyance, before reclaiming his spot between your legs again, tugging you down until your cores are pressed together. “Shut up.” You do as he says, words catching in your throat at the feeling of his engorged cock brushing against your wet folds.

His slips a hand down to languidly toy with your folds, his fingers slightly pruny from all the time he spent in the water. It feels a little weird, but any complaints you may have had are wiped away when he nudges your bud with the tip of his pointer finger. You gasp, fingers digging into his shoulders at the sudden stimulation against your core. “Ohh,” you sigh, eyes rolling backwards.

“Feel good?” He checks, eyes trained on your expressions, lips unconsciously puckering to kiss you, even with your writhing beneath him. You let out a high-pitched mewl, much to your embarrassment, cheeks flushed warm from the sun and his ministrations. You nod belatedly.

He lets his wandering hands carry on, carefully travelling across the entirety of your folds. He knows your body like no other, so familiar with the dips and curves, that it’s impossible for him to not immediately locate your g-spot upon plunging his fingers inside you. “G-Guk!” you cry out, hands falling to grip at his biceps.

He presses a kiss to your throat. “That’s it, baby, lemme hear you,” he murmurs, and subtly presses his cock to the inside of your thigh. “Looked so delicious out here,” he sighs, and it’s as if he’s talking to himself. “Wanted to fuck your pretty little pussy from the second I stepped outside.”

Your back arches beneath him at a particular scissor of his fingers, another whine caught in your throat. “Want you so bad,” you whimper, reaching a hand up to tangle in his dark locks. You use the leverage to pull his lips towards yours, meeting in a frantic crash that has you whining against him even more.

His tongue slips past your lips, subduing yours when you try the same on him, and you almost choke on the excess saliva pooling in your mouth. Right before you can, he pulls back in favor of trapping your lower lip between his teeth. Your eyes flutter open, and you meet his own dark gaze.

“Ready?” He huffs, pulling his fingers out from within you. They’re shiny with your slick, almost as wet as they’d been when he was swimming earlier. You nod, dazed from all the pleasure he was giving you, that you can’t do more but spread your legs for him. He leans back on his knees, lining himself up with your hole.

You’d long since eliminated condoms from your relationship with Jeongguk, your trust in each other overwhelmingly so. Besides, you were still on the pill, and Plan B existed, so you never really worried about slipping up and accidentally getting yourself pregnant. Although there were times when he’d go overboard, stuffing you with his cum until you feel bloated, you’d never gotten pregnant before, so you wouldn’t begin to worry now.

Just the idea of feeling him in his entirety has you salivating, needy hands reaching out to grasp any part of him you can reach. Jeongguk snickers at your desperate ways, knotting his fingers with yours before pressing them to the cushion beneath you, the other gripping onto your thigh to keep your legs spread.

The second his tip pushes through the initial tightness, your mouth drops open, indecipherable noises escaping you. “J-Jeon,” you cry, chest heaving at the sudden intrusion.

“Relax for me, princess,” he huffs, just as out of it as you. Your body feels like it’s ascended, Jeongguk’s cock slowly pushing in further with each breath you take. It doesn’t take much longer for him to completely bottom out, the warm skin of his thighs pressing against you.

You’re like a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing as your body slowly assimilates to the feeling of being so absolutely full. It’s not until Jeongguk subtly shifts his weight onto his other leg that you give him the green light to start fucking you.

You moan, the first few thrusts hitting against every sweet spot inside you. “God, you’re so fucking big,” you heave, clenching around him just to feel the drag of his cock against your walls.

Jeongguk chuckles through his own pants, the fingers entwined with yours becoming impossibly tighter. “You’re too good for me,” he sighs, hauling your thigh further up his forearm until its resting in the crease of his elbow. The positioning allows his strokes to go deeper. You cry out, squirming beneath him with each thrust he gives.

“Oh fuck,” you cry wantonly when he plunges deeper into you, the water that decorated his skin long having been replaced by the sweat clinging to him. Your eyes flutter shut and you’re left only listening to the sounds of you, Jeongguk, and the ocean waves beneath you. “I love you,” you whimper.

Jeongguk grunts, ducking down to kiss you again, his hips not once slowing down. “Love you too, princess,” he murmurs. “Fuck, I don’t deserve you,” he groans, puncuating his statement with a brutal thrust of his cock into you. “Gonna buy you that pretty Valentino bag when we get back, I promise,” he adds, picking up his pace.

You whine, “You don’t have to, Jeon, I—”

He cuts you off, “and that silver Audi you liked at the car show last winter,” he rambles on, seemingly clueless to your protest. “A-And maybe that Louis Vuttion coat that brings out the color in your eyes—”

“I saw the same one at H&M,” you interrupt, swiveling your hips upwards to meet his thrusts. He chokes out a laugh.

“Shut up and just let me spoil you,” he groans, and then seemingly forgets what else he was planning on buying you as he focuses his complete attention on helping you reach your orgasm.

With his focus solely on that, you find the burning feeling in your lower abdomen grow tenfold, voice becoming more annoying with each moan and whine you give. “That’s it, baby,” he encourages, his thrusts sending tingles up and down your spine. He peppers kisses down your chest, each touch leaving your skin scorching.

Time seems to slow when the coil in your stomach finally snaps, an embarrassingly loud moan leaving your lips as your body spasms beneath him. “Oh, Jeongguk,” you sigh, falling limp on the lounge chair as he continues chasing his high.

He pulls out soon enough, giving his cock a few tugs before he’s spurting his come across your lower abdomen, leaning back to admire his masterpiece. He’s panting afterwards, and the backyard feels eerily quiet as you both just gaze at each other with goofy smiles on your faces.

The romantic aura is ruined when he feels the need to say, “hey, maybe now my ass won’t be so white.”

“Fuck, you look sexy,” he murmurs when the instructor finally turns around, leaving Jeongguk to gawk at your body in the tight wetsuit provided. “Gonna fuck you so good tonight.”

“Shut up,” you blush, trying to stop your eyes from violating your boyfriend’s disgustingly gorgeous body in the matching wetsuit he wears. “We’ll get kicked out of the group, Guk.”

He rolls his eyes. “I could have rented the whole place out for us, but someone thought scuba diving with the other corny tourists would be fun.”

You flick his forehead. “You don’t have to buy out every building we go to,” you remind him, memories of this morning’s completely empty breakfast bar flickering to attention. “Besides, I wouldn’t have let you fuck me tonight anyway.”

He scoffs at your claim. “Please, you would have begged me, ___.”

You hit him with the wide end of your swimming fin, then have to apologize to the instructor for your horseplay, much to Jeongguk’s amusement. You narrow your eyes at him, following the rest of the group out onto the boardwalk leading to the boat. “Find me a Nemo, and we’ll do it in the beach cabana.”

Jeongguk’s lips twists into the most devious smirk you’ve ever seen, and he smacks your ass as he runs ahead of you. You yelp, just as he turns to face you just as he nears the group. “Has anyone seen my son?”

[scandeniall]

happy birthday baby

pairing: Iwaizumi x reader: 

summary/warnings: celebrating iwaizumi’s birthday. Mimosas are mentioned 95% fluff but  NSFW for the last little bit (mention of a collar). Yall are in your 20s as usual yeah i just wanted to make something for the bday boy. i

wc: 1.4K 

You couldn’t help but huff at the hands of your swatting you away. “Baby wake up,” you whispered out peppering yet another round of kisses on your boyfriend's face. “I’m trying to sleep,” a raspy voice filled the air, this time iwaizumi turning away from you, cover pulled up to his ear. You couldn’t help but laugh before peeling it away to lean over him again. “ It's someone’s special day, and noon. So up”

“Someone wants to sleep in on his special day,” was his response as he sat up nonetheless. A soft smile crossed your face as you watched him stretch his tired muscles and rub at his eyes. “Now that you’ve woke me up, is there anything you have to say?” His voice was deep from sleep and you stuck your tongue out at the teasing words. “Happy birthday Hajime.” You ignored the kiss he leant over to give you his lips meeting for a cheek. “Get yourself out of bed and come meet me in the kitchen.” With that you left him with the mystery of what you had done. 

When Iwaizumi finally made his way out of bed he had been met with balloons filling the house. A chuckle left his mouth at the extra-ness of it all. When his eyes settled on you, you had been leaning against the counter waving a bottle of champagne at him teasingly. The table had been decorated overly nicely with flowers and breakfast. “Breakfast?” You shook your head as he crossed over to you, hands securing around your waist. “Brunch. Birthday brunch to be exact. I even went and picked up a box of pastries from that cafe you like. Happy birthday baby.” You placed a gentle kiss on his lips before turning around and fiddling with the bottle in hand. 

“What did I do to deserve you.” The heat against your back didn't disappear, only growing warmer as Iwaizumi rests his head in the crook of your neck. “If you're like this because of breakfast and mimosas, I’d hate to see how you react later.” You nearly shriek at the cold hands slipping up your shirt caressing the skin around your stomach. “As long as later involves me buried-”

You quickly turn back around slapping a palm over his mouth laughing. “Ok you need to eat and get ready. The boys are taking you out for the day while I get some things together here.” His eyebrows frown in confusion as you remove your hand replacing it with your lips. “For the record, it does.” You mumble against his lips, before pulling away and handing him one of the champagne glasses. “Let's get this day started birthday boy.” 

----

‘We’re nearly back. Have fun ;)’

‘Oh we will’ 

You laugh at the text from Oikawa. You’d gotten him and some of the other old guys from Seijoh to take him out for the day. You’d only convinced Iwaizumi it was worth it to be out with them for so long by promising him that his gift tonight would be worth it. You eye your living room handiwork the fake rose petals leading to the bedroom that had a gift bag placed on it. You’d also ordered his favorite takeout for dinner, set up your friend’s borrowed movie projector, and struggled to hang up fairy lights all over the apartment. After a text telling you Iwaizumi was on his way up, you quickly flicked off every other light, and hid on the side of the door where he wouldn’t see you. 

The second he entered you noticed the tired look fall from his face as took in the sight. A soft smile appeared on his face before you spoke up. “Happy birthday baby.” You allowed him to scoop you in a hug laughing at the way his hair tickled against your neck. “I want you to know. I almost died trying to get the lights up, so they’re staying.” 

“You’re incredible,” you only nodded, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the hallway. “Your gifts in the room babe.” You smirked in victory at the way he had been lost for words. Yes you made the apartment overly romantic and pretty, but you had another surprise up your sleeve. “Close your eyes,” the words came excitedly as you handed him the large bag. “Ok now open. There's a box in there. Open that last.”

“(Y/N)-”

“Iwa-”

“This is too much.” Your boyfriend sighed, not even making the motions to look in the bad. You only hummed in fake contemplation. “Well that's too bad. You deserve it. Now open.” Despite the apprehension in his eyes, he didn’t dare refuse after the tone in your voice. It was the same one you tended to use whenever you scolded him during an argument. The only difference is that your eyes showed nothing but pure love. 

The first thing he pulled out was a jacket you caught him looking at online. It was always sold out in his size whenever his mind wandered to it.You only took the jacket from him and motioned him to continue. The next thing he pulled out were several magazines bound together by a large rubber band. You watched in excitement as he eyes the cover of the first one. “(Y/N) is this-”

“Yup,” You laughed at how he rushed to sit the stuff down being intentionally gentle before practically tackling you to the bed.Your hands went to play in his hair as he pressed ticklish kisses all over your face. “So you like it?” As he pulled away your eyes met him and they were sparkling. “I love it and I love you.” You had gotten him a handful of original Vintage 1973 Godzilla Monster Horror Magazines. His hands trailed to your thighs, coaxing you to wrap them around his waist as his lips eyed yours. You allowed yourself a brief moment of indulgence as you pulled his lips down to meet yours. The initial kiss had been slow as you two relished in the feel of one another’s lips. The way your tongue slipped past his lips had his hand going squeezing the skin of your ass, the shorts you’d warn during the day riding up.

It was only when you felt the grind of his hips against yours that you pulled away, his forehead resting against yours. “You're ruining my plans you know.” The breathless laugh he let out caused you to smile. “I’m trying to be romantic. I got you your favorite dinner. We’re supposed to cuddle and watch a movie with the projector on. And then-”

You were cut off by another grind of his hips, the words getting caught in your throat. “And then what baby. We can eat later, but right now I want you. You gonna let me have you.” The words were accompanied by him tugging at your bottom lip as you sighed. “At least open the last gift first.” Iwaizumi smiled in victory placing a hard kiss against your lips before getting up.

The nervousness in you grew as he gently shook the wrapped box. He noticed your quietness and shot you a concerned glance. “I’m ok. Just open it.” Your heart began to beat faster as he tore off the wrapping paper and you hid your face in your hands, suddenly second guessing the item as a gift. “Fucking hell,” the words left his mouth with a groan before he called your name softly. “Baby, come here so I can put it on you.” You don’t even remember moving before you found yourself in front of him, his hands skimming up and down your front. “You like it?” 

You felt the pressure of the item around your neck, hands settling there for only a moment. “It's my favorite gift. Turn around and look.” You felt yourself being turned and in the dim light you eyed the way you looked, the pretty collar sitting nicely on your neck. Your eyes caught his through the mirror “Even has my name on it. Shows everyone who gets to take you home every night. Is that right.” The way his hands gently ran over the material sent a shiver down your spine. When you turned to meet his eyes again, the lust that had previously been there lessened as he looked at you. “Thank you. For everything.”

a/n: how obvious is it that i got lazy towards the end. I just rushed this because i really wanted something before the end of the night. Also im sure u all saw starboybokuto’s thirst post about iwa and the collar? yeah thats where that came from LMAO. i had to really. 

[thats-pucking-amazing]

Thanksgiving (Josh Anderson) *Requested*

I was inspired so I typed this up. Hopefully I’ll post another two or three over the weekend...but no promises.

Warnings: Swearing, Labor....cuteness

Requested: Yep

Requests are open

Anon request:  Hey could u do an imagine where the reader is pregnant with Josh’s baby and one day when he is out you start having contractions and your water breaks and one of his teammates has to take you to the hospital because Josh is too far away? Thanks and love your work!!

“That’s it. We’ve reached the end of my patience.” You moved to the edge of your chair and tried to hoist yourself out...not the easiest feat considering you were eight and a half months pregnant. “It’s time to put up the Christmas tree. I’m done waiting.”

Your husband of just over two years looked up at you with a frown. “First of all, you’re not supposed to be up.” You’d been having braxton-hicks contractions for almost a month now so the doctor had placed you on bedrest. “Second of all, Thanksgiving isn’t for another week. We can’t put up the tree before Thanksgiving. It’s like a sin or something.”

“First of all, Joshua,” You sassed back. “You’re Canadian. Your Thanksgiving happened like a month ago. Remember that? If I want to have a Christmas tree up before my Thanksgiving I don’t see why I can’t.”

“Y/N….” Josh trailed off and sighed. “I can’t say no to you when you look like that.”

You looked down at yourself with a furrowed brow. “I’m in leggings and a shirt of yours that barely even fits. My ankles are like the size of your thighs and I don’t think I’ve washed my hair in like a week.”

He stood up from the couch and pulled you into a hug. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You’re radiant and that’s our baby inside of you. Our little girl.”

“It’s going to be a boy.”

“No it’s not.”

“You know I read online that men with bigger peni-”

He shoved his hand over your mouth, “Please don’t say anything that’s going to make me look at all of my friends differently. I don’t want to know.” You giggled and his eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled down at you.

“Please go get the stuff from the basement? Think of it this way...the baby is supposed to come once the tree is up because the tree means it’s Christmas time. So if we put the tree up now maybe they’ll get here that much quicker.”

“That was a dirty move. But fine. You have to sit down though. You can boss me around and I’ll do the decorating.”

“I already boss you around. Not much of a trade-off.” You called to his back as he headed for the stairs. He responded back with a single finger salute while you gasped in mock outrage. “Josh Anderson!! I can’t believe you just flipped me off! When I manage to get out of this chair again I’m going to kick your butt!”

20 minutes later Josh had hauled up all of the tubs of decorations and the Christmas tree. True to his word he listened as you directed him on where to put the snowmen on the mantle, how to hang the stockings just right, and repositioned the tree skirt when it got all out of whack. 

Once the tree was assembled he graciously helped you out of the chair so you could help hang up the ornaments (after you ranted for about 10 minutes on why you should be allowed to help). He did all the lower and higher hanging ones while you were only allowed to do the middle section, but it was a good team effort.

You stepped back to look at it once all the ornaments were on and gave a huge smile. “It’s perfect. Now all it needs is the star.”

“Uh-oh.” You looked over to see Josh lifting a broken star from its box. “Looks like it got damaged in the move.”

“But we have to have the star for it to be complete!!” You looked at him pleadingly, “Will you please go get a new one?? Please? Wal-Mart is like 10 minutes away. And I’ll stay in my chair the whole time and I’ll keep my cell right beside me.”

“It’s 30 minutes away if you count construction.” Your lower lip began to tremble. The pregnancy hormones were making you overreact to absolutely everything, but you only had a few weeks left and Josh hadn’t complained yet. “But...if it’s that important, I’ll go.”

“Thank you.” You sniffled a little and dashed away the few tears that had escaped. 

Josh knelt in front of you, “Why are you crying? Are you okay?”

“You’re just such a good husband and I love you so much. And you do all these ridiculous things just to keep me happy and I’m so grateful and I just...I just love you a bunch.”

He got the little private smile that he only gave you before pressing a kiss to your lips. “I love you, too. That’s why I do all these ridiculous things.” He stood back up after kissing you again. “Please stay in your chair. You’ve already been up today more than you were supposed to be.”

“Promise.” And for 15 minutes you kept your promise...but then you noticed that one of the ornaments was dangerously close to falling so you had to fix it. And while you were up…”May as well go to the bathroom.”

You’d made it about 5 steps when a gush of liquid hit the inside of your thighs. And you hadn’t peed yourself. “Shit.”

You walked back over to where your cell was and called Josh.

“Hey! I just pulled in to Wal-Mart. You okay?”

“My water just broke. I need to go to the hospital.” You stated bluntly.

“What?! Are you okay? Do I need to call an ambulance? Have contractions started? I’m running back to the car now.” Josh rushed through his words and you could hear him rushing in the background.

“I’m fine. I’ve only had one thus far and it wasn’t that bad...just like the practice round ones. Please don’t call an ambulance.”

“How are you so calm?!?” You heard the car door slam shut. “I have the baby bag in the car; I just need to come get you.”

“I think I’m going to call Seth. He’s five minutes away. We can meet you at the hospital. That way I get there faster and you can focus on just-Ugh-” You paused for a minute as another contraction hit. “Getting to the hospital.”

“Call him now. You have 30 seconds to call back before I start heading that way.”

You quickly hung up and dialed Seth. “Seth? I need a big favor.”

“What’s up?”

“My water broke and Josh is 20 minutes away. I don’t want him to drive all the way back in a frantic mode. Can you come pick me up and take me to the hospital please. Josh will meet us there.”

“On my way.”

“Thank you, Seth.” You hung up the phone and called Josh back. “Seth is on his way. Start heading for the hospital. We’ll get there at about the same time. I promise I’m fine.”

You heard him let out a big breath, “Okay. I’ll meet you there. Please be safe. I love both of you so much.” 

“I love you.” You hung up the phone and then raced to the bathroom before Seth arrived. Your water breaking didn’t diminish the fact that your bladder was about to explode. You’d finished washing your hands when you heard the doorbell ring and the door open.

“Y/N?” Seth called. “I’m here. Do I need to grab anything?”

“Josh has the bag in the car. I’ve got the baby and myself...so I think we’re good.”

Seth rolled his eyes. “Only you would crack jokes right now.”

“I’m pretty sure lots of people crack jokes in my situation. It’s called shifting focus.” You snarked back at him.

He smiled but otherwise didn’t respond. Once you were seated in the car he pulled out and began casually driving like a bat out of Hell towards the hospital. 

“Seth. It’s really fine. You can calm down. Most labors last hours and hours. We have time.”

“Josh called. If he beats us there I won’t have hours and hours left.” You laughed out loud and Seth shot you a smile...but he didn’t slow down. “Besides, if I get pulled over I can genuinely say that I have a woman in labor in my car. How many times can I use that excuse?”

You pulled into the hospital 10 minutes later and as you walked towards the door (You’d refused to be dropped off), Josh came sprinting through the doors towards you.

“You’re okay? I got here like a minute ago. I was just so worried. Do you need a wheelchair? Should I get the nurse. Do I need to-”

You cut him off by pressing your fingers against his lips. “You need to take a deep breath. You can freak out in a few hours when it is closer to actual delivery time. Let’s go get signed in and let our parents know we’re here.”

Six hours later you were the one freaking out. You let out another scream as another contraction washed over you.

“You’re doing great, Y/N. I’m so proud of you.” Josh had mellowed out as the doctors reassured him everything was fine. Unfortunately for him, his mellow was not vibing with you at the moment.

“Don’t you start with me, Josh! This is your damn fault. And if this baby isn’t out of me in the next five minutes I’m going to chop your dick into a million tiny pieces so this never happens again!” You shouted as another contraction started.

The doctor peeked her head in, “Are we ready?” She checked your progress and put on a pair of gloves before whispering to Josh. “Usually when they start threatening physical harm is when you know it’s pushing time. You can hold her foot up or just hold her hand.”

He walked up and grabbed your hand in his and you grabbed on tight, screaming as yet another contraction hit. You were going to kill him if it was the last thing you did.

45 minutes later the dust had settled and your new baby boy was pressed against your chest. You looked up at Josh with tears in your eyes. “We did it. We have a son.”

“Yeah, baby. We do.” He brushed your hair off your still sweaty forehead and gave you a kiss. “You were right.”

“I’m always right. You should know that by now.” You brushed your finger along the smallest nose you’d ever seen before looking up at the man you loved. “I’m sorry I kept screaming at you.” You gingerly handed him his son and basically melted as you watched his hands dwarf the small bundle he now held.

“Forgiven and forgotten.” Josh looked at his son again and gave him the private smile that had previously been just for you...but you didn’t mind sharing it just this once.

Let me know if y’all see any blazin’ errors

[creativeskullcreations]

Chapter 10: A Real Guilty Feeling

Hey everybody, here's chapter 10! But, unfortunately, it'll be the last chapter you see for a while. I need to take a break from writing for a while, do something else and recharge a bit. Maybe also knock out some drawings too while I'm at it.

Current timeline is looking like this: Couple of weeks without writing, and then maybe build up a bit of a buffer of chapters for <i>Outside</i>. But first, I'll be working on episode 2 of <i>Happy Times at Handeemen HQ</i>. Y'all are starting to show an interest in that, and I wanna put something new out for it.

If you want to keep updated, or even just see what I'm drawing, you can follow my art Tumblr here. Also check out my YouTube, in case of livestreams or speedpaints!(Am I plugging my own stuff too much?)

Whenever I'm ready to start posting again, I'll make sure to leave an announcement on here.

I'll see y'all later.

When Will got home, he dumped Stacy's stuff and scout on the couch. He then pointed out his locked workroom, and told her that she was never to go in there no matter what. That done, he left her to her own devices, and went off to bed. He took off his shirt and jeans, then crawled under the sheets. The last thing he did before passing out was shoot off a message to the group chat about how DnD Night was canceled until further notice.

When he woke up, far too few hours later, it was to a light weight on his chest. He stared at Scout for a moment, then picked her up and dropped her on the floor, rolling onto his front. He grabbed his phone, squinting at the too bright screen. Several messages were in the chat, and he sighed as he opened it up and scrolled to the top.

Masonary: um, excuse me?! i asked for that day off u can't cancel!!! somebody better be dead! D:<

Blooming_Stitches: Mason, shut up. We don't know what could be going on.

drWEED420: ugh, stacy. I told you to call me.

Masonary: y would stacy need to call u sam?

Masonary: is it because she hacked ur account and changed ur name again?

 drWEED420 has changed their name to DrSamIAm

DrSamIAm: no but it is something we'll going to talk abaout.

Will_and_a_Way: Stace is in the hospital for infected surgery stitches

Blooming_Stitches: I'M SORRY WHAT

Masonry: dude i was joking about som1 being dead

DrSamIAm: goddamit stacy

 DrSamIAm has left the chat We're ALL Idiots Here

Masonry: ok first of all what happened to stacy

Masonry: second who changed the chat name again?

Blooming_Stitches: lol

Will sighed, the went into his phone and pulled up his drop box, where he'd sneaked the file into a while ago. He hesitated briefly, then sent it to the chat. Stacy could be mad at him later, but he was too tired to think up a cover story for her right now.

 Will_and_a_Way posted a file in We're ALL Idiots Here

Masonry: ?

Blooming_Stitches: !

Will_and_a_Way: read that if you guys want to know what happned.

Will_and_a_Way: I'm going back to sleep now try not to kill each other

He clicked his phone off, dropping it to his mattress and letting his head fall on his pillow. Within seconds he was back asleep, completely oblivious to Scout Jumping back on his bed and climbing onto his back. She curled around the small Kirby toy, using it as a pillow as she settled back into sleep herself.

()()()

When Will woke up again, it was to a light weight in the center of his back, right below his shoulder blades. He huffed, glaring at the wall. He took a deep breath, then heaved himself up with all his strength. As predicted, Scout was catapulted off, and he quickly got out of bed, heading to the kitchen.

He made himself some toast, checking his phone on the way. The group chat was mostly just full of the various reactions from Lisa and Mason. Sammy had come back at some point, going on a rant about what Stacy hadn't told him.

He read over the various comments as he  ate, able to tell where they were in the document. Unsurprisingly, Mason finished it first, and Lisa was intent on meeting Scout. Sammy had told her Scout was nothing special, which Will privately agreed with. He finished the back reading and, seeing as nobody was online at the moment, locked his phone again. He picked up his toast and moved into his work room for the time being, deciding to get something done.

It was easy, really, for Will to get lost in his work. Dissecting the "toys" he brought home, taking them apart and recording it in his notes. He was currently working on the body of the head he'd been looking at last night. The brown, fuzzy thing was strapped securely onto the table, the front having been sawed apart and spread open.

He shifted through the innards, making careful, detailed notes about what was in there. He would compare them to the stolen blueprints later, figure out what was supposed to be in there and what wasn't. For now, though, the intention was to make a catalogue of parts.

When his phone alarm finally went off, signalling it was lunch time, he straightened up with a sigh. He pulled off his rubber gloves and, making sure the straps on the table were tight, went out to the kitchen. He made himself a simple sandwich, eating it in the kitchen as he glanced through the group chat. Mason and Lisa were on and currently discussing things, but Sam hadn't been on again since his rant.

He lurked a bit longer after he finished his sandwich, then got up to go back to work. On the way through the living room, he paused when he saw Scout sitting on the couch. She was curled up in the corner, Kirby plush on her lap as she stared at it. Even as a Puppet, he recognized the look on her face as one Stacy had often worn in the first year after her mother had died.

'Why the hell do I feel so bad for that thing?' He sighed, rubbing at his face. Making a snap decision, he went over to his DVD shelf and pulled out The Iron Giant.  He turned on the TV and player, then loaded in the movie, skipping the previews. When he reached the main menu, he selected play and dropped the remote near Scout. He then left, heading back towards the basement and his work.

Scout watched go, staring silently after him as he once again disappeared behind the locked door. She didn't even try to follow him, instead settling in to watch the show he'd turned on. With any luck, it would be violent and/or funny enough to take her mind off of things.

()()()

'That is the saddest shit I have ever seen...' She sniffed, rubbing at her frustratingly dry eyes. 'I can't believe he let himself get blown up like that. What the fuck.' She rubbed at her eyes some more, then tried to figure out how to choose a different show. When she couldn't figure it out, she threw the remote down in frustration. 'Fuck it! Where's Will?'

She Jumped from the couch, heading over to the locked door. She peered in the crack between the door and the floor, but couldn't see anything. She could hear, however, and what she heard were power tools. The sound sent a shock through her system, dredging up unwanted memories of Riley's lab. She drew back, then jumped onto a nearby table when the noise stopped. Thinking quickly, she opened the drawer that was there and tried to pretend that she had been going through it.

Will came out of the room a minute later, wiping his hands with a dirty towel. He glared when he saw what she was "doing". "What the hell are you doing? Get out of there!" It wasn't quite yelling, but his voice was definitely louder than it needed to be. Scout suppressed her fear and scoffed.

"Fine. There wasn't anything but batteries in there anyways." She slammed the drawer closed, feeling a small, petty joy in how the contents rattled around when she did. She watched him cross to his bedroom and, when he'd closed his door, opened the drawer back up in order to snoop for real.

Batteries, keys, some weird plastic clips, and other odds and ends she didn't have words for had been organized neatly in the drawer. Working quickly, she shuffled everything around even more, then shoved a handful of what was sitting on the table into the drawer. She then closed it again and sat back as innocently as she could, tilting the shade of the lamp next to her. When Will came back out, now dressed in different clothes, he sighed and fixed the shade.

She watched as he gathered up a couple of things, then came over and grabbed up a set of keys she hadn't dumped into the drawer. There was a pause, or maybe more of a hesitation, and then he scooped her up and left the house, ignoring her protests.

"Hey! Hey lemme go! H-mmph?!" He easily covered her mouth with one hand as he locked the door. He made his way to his car, not letting her go into he'd climbed in and dumped her in the passenger seat. "What was that for?!"

"Okay, here's the deal." He told her, ignoring the question. "We're going to go see Stacy. To do that, we have to go through a whole hospital full of people. And you will be quiet and good the whole time, or you will be going out the nearest window."

"We're going to go see Stacy..." That was the one thing she had really comprehended. Her Host was alive, Scout knew she had to be. If she wasn't, then the Puppet wouldn't have long to-

It didn't matter. She didn't matter, not after what almost happened. Not after what she almost did, accidentally or not.

She was jolted out of her thoughts as Will started the car, realizing belatedly that he'd continued talking to her. She hoped he hadn't noticed she wasn't paying attention. Whatever he'd been doing behind that door, she did not want to become his next patient.

In the silence of the car ride, Scout easily lost herself in the thoughts swirling through her head. The most prominent were thoughts of guilt, knowing she was to blame for this and wondering where she had gone wrong. Maybe she hadn't tried as hard as she should've to subjugate her Host back in the Studio? Or maybe she shouldn't have stayed with her after they escaped. Maybe she should have left after making sure Stacy was okay.

'Maybe I should leave anyways.'

She missed it when Will parked, only noticing when he picked her up. She let herself stay limp, though not so much out of compliance than a desire to try and keep working on the plan that had come to mind.

Vaguely, she was aware of the clean white halls Will was taking her through, as well as a nauseating smell that reminded her of Riley. A few other unclaimed Hosts like Will, though wearing clothing that, again, reminded Scout of Riley. She watched  those ones carefully, just in case. She may not like Will, but Stacy did and she didn't want something to happen to him.

Will came up to a door, opening it and peeking inside. Scout tried to look, but could only see the very end of a weird looking bed. Whatever he saw he seemed to like, as he fully entered the room, kicking the door closed behind him and approaching the bed.

"Hey Stacy." He began quietly, and Scout felt her stuffing go cold at the sight of her Host in the bed. Her normally warm brown skin was several shades paler, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She was mostly upright, though leaning heavily against the pillows behind her. The scariest thing, though, were the several tubes connecting her to various machines by the bed.

Scout felt another cold rush of guilt when she saw how Stacy's eyes lit up when she spotted them. She waited for her to say something, anything, but the Host didn't speak, instead lifting her hands to use that weird hand language.

"She can't talk right now." Will translated. "She had to be intubated and her throat still hurts. But, for some reason, she's happy to see you." He sounded annoyed by that, and Scout couldn't help but be confused. Surely Stacy knew about what she did.

'Unless she doesn't.' The Puppet realized. 'She doesn't know shit about how it works. She had no idea what I almost did to her.' Somehow, that didn't make it any better.

Against her will, she was handed over to Stacy so Will could go set down the bags. Stacy hugged her tight, and Scout couldn't help but curl up in her hold, clutching at the weird shirt she was wearing.

She ignored the humans as they talked, or rather as Will talked and Stacy did one handed signing. Instead she stared at the tubing connected to Stacy's arm, watching the clear liquid slowly drip it's way into her body. She didn't know how long she stared for, but she must've dozed off at one point because she suddenly became aware of her hair being stroked.

It couldn't have been too long, as the room was still bright, though she couldn't hear Will anymore. Instead there was a quiet, steady beeping that matched up with Stacy's heartbeat. It was relaxing, and brought up memories of when Scout had first woken up, all those years ago. Before she'd been made to take part in Riley's "tests", or found that TV. Even before she'd met her siblings and learned who and what she really was. Those first few moments when it had just been her and Daisy, enjoying the gift of life.

She almost wished she could go back to that point. Things were so much better back then, when her world consisted of Daisy's sewing room and her siblings. When she didn't have a Host to worry about accidentally killing, or her own people coming after her.

But she wouldn't have to worry about that for long. If her plan ended up working, Stacy wouldn't be in danger ever again.

[tsuki-chibi]

Passionfruit (November) Day 2: Branch

Read the whole story on AO3: Passionfruit

————

When Adrien got up that morning, he actually wasn’t looking forward to Chloé’s party at all. Though it would be nice to have some time outside the house, and out from under Nathalie’s watchful eye, he didn’t relish the thought of spending several hours being dragged around by Chloé. It had been with a heavy heart that he got dressed in a suit and left.

Now, as he started at the petite girl in front of him, he was stuck somewhere between shock and disbelief - but he could feel bubbles of elation starting to rise up in his chest as the truth sank in. He’d noticed the black-haired, blue-eyed slip of a girl in the uniform before, but Chloé had carefully steered him in another direction.

Oh my god I’m so sorry I ruined your tie

Part of Adrien had frozen as soon as she said those words - his words - out loud. Yet he’d responded automatically, and apparently said her words. The unfamiliar, but not unwelcome, feeling at the back of his mind was proof of that. He poked at it tentatively and the girl squeaked.

“U-um,” the girl - Marinette, if Chloé could be believed - stuttered. She looked like she was going to faint.

“Let’s go out on the balcony,” Adrien said. It didn’t seem like anyone had noticed what had happened besides Chloé. He wanted to keep it that way.

“What about me?” Chloé said, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout. Adrien knew her well enough to know that pout wasn’t entirely manufactured. In spite of the fact that he and Chloé were clearly not soulmates, he thought that Chloé had always harbored a hope that a miracle might happen.

“Maybe find someone to clean up the mess?” Adrien suggested. “That would be really helpful.”

Chloé’s pout deepened but she gave a reluctant nod. Marinette seemed frozen, so Adrien dropped a hand onto her shoulder and gently steered her through the crowd and out onto one of the smaller balconies. He closed the door behind them to give them some privacy, hoping his bodyguard wouldn’t come looking.

Then he turned to Marinette and said, “Marinette - that’s your name, right?”

She nodded slowly. “And you’re Adrien Agreste.”

He winced, immediately thinking that she was one of his fangirls, but Marinette plowed on without waiting for an answer.

“I admire your father’s work so much. I can’t believe his son is my soulmate!” Marinette exclaimed to herself. “I knew you looked familiar. I’ve seen you modeling his stuff.”

Adrien cocked his head, intrigued. “You’re a fan of my father’s work?”

“I like designing clothes,” Marinette explained. “I - oh shit. Please tell me that tie wasn’t a Gabriel original.” Her face went ashen.

“Uhh...” Adrien said. His instinct was to lie and say that it wasn’t, but this was his soulmate. There couldn’t be any lies between them now. She’d be able to pluck the truth right out of his head, and that was if she couldn’t just straight-up tell as he spoke.

“Oh my god!” Marinette moaned. “This is a disaster. Your father is gonna hate me!” She covered her face with her hands. “Then I’ll never be his intern and I’ll never get a place in the fashion world and I’ll have to settle for selling my clothes online!”

Adrien blinked at her. “I can just say I dropped something on my tie,” he said politely.

Marinette spread her fingers so she could peek up at him. “I don’t wanna get you in trouble.”

“It’s okay. Really, I...” Adrien trailed off. This was unorthodox, but he had to ask. “I would prefer if we didn’t tell anyone we were soulmates.”

Her eyes widened as her hands fell, and a jolt of hurt snapped out across the bond like a branch of lightning to stab Adrien in the heart. He recoiled like he’d been slapped and frantically shook his head, realizing she’d gotten the wrong idea.

“No! It’s not because of you! It’s - I mean -” Flailing, because he lacked the words necessary to adequately explain, he gathered up everything and just sort of... thrust all those emotions and memories at the new warmth in the back of his head.

Marinette flinched a bit, her cheeks flushing as the overload hit her. Adrien instantly regretted throwing all that on her without even asking first, but it was too late now. He stood quietly by, watching as she sorted through the bits and pieces that made up his reasoning.

Number one were the fangirls. Adrien’s career as a model had taken off when he was about seven, but in the last couple of years the scope of his work had changed. His target market was now pre-teens and teenagers, and it was working a little too well if you asked him. He’d been mobbed more than once, and the amount of fan mail he got was crazy. He was genuinely afraid for Marinette’s safety if some of those people found out who she was.

Number two was his father, who was a control freak if there ever was one. Everything about Adrien’s life was strictly controlled, from what he ate to what he wore to how he acted. All in the name of protecting the Gabriel brand. Adrien did not want his soulmate having to put up with that, and that’s exactly what Gabriel would demand.

Number three was also Gabriel, but in a different way. Ever since Adrien’s mother passed away, Gabriel’s attitude towards soulmates had drastically soured. He didn’t want anything to do with the concept, and worse he openly criticized everything about it. It wouldn’t be out of character for Gabriel to decide he didn’t want Adrien to have anything to do with Marinette and ban them from seeing each other.

He might even force Adrien to go to one of those places that could build artificial shields to keep contact between soulmates from happening. They were supposed to be for children who were too young when they found their soulmates, or for people who, for whatever reason, didn’t want that mental connection. But Gabriel wouldn’t care about that. He’d pay whatever money it took to keep Adrien’s mind locked up until Adrien was of age.

His body was already a prisoner. Adrien couldn’t bear the thought of his mind being held prisoner too. Like many people, he’d always dreamed of finding his soulmate. The thought of finding the one person out there who had been made just for him, and who he had been made for, had carried him through many long, lonely nights.

“Oh,” Marinette said softly when she was through. “Your father sucks.”

Adrien chuckled. “That’s an understatement. It’s not about you, really. It’s...”

“I get it. It’s okay,” Marinette said. “I don’t want that to happen either.” She smiled slightly. “I’m okay with keeping it a secret. My parents will freak out and be really overbearing. I bet they’ll try to go talk to your dad.”

He winced at the thought, but said, “Are you sure? I don’t wanna push you into anything you don’t want.”

“I’m sure. It can be like our little secret. We can exchange phone numbers and talk or video call,” Marinette said, clearly warming to the idea. “And talk mentally too.” She grinned.

“I would love that,” Adrien said, relieved to his core. He’d been a little afraid that Marinette would want to put shields of her own up, or expect him to do that. His parents always had shields between them.

“But... oh. Chloé knows,” Marinette said reluctantly.

“Is that a problem?” Adrien asked.

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. He wasn’t sure what she was doing until suddenly a bunch of thoughts and feelings that didn’t belong to him flowed into his head. It was a weird feeling, though not necessarily a bad one.

He frowned to himself as he felt Marinette’s emotions towards Chloé. Contempt, frustration, even a bit of fear. And through Marinette’s eyes, he watched a couple of memories wherein Chloé truly acted like a spoiled brat. In one, she loudly taunted Marinette’s art project until Marinette ran away crying. In another, she picked a fight that ended up with Marinette in trouble and Chloé getting away scot-free after threatening to whine to her daddy.

“We’re not exactly best friends,” Marinette said quietly. “Chloé picks on me a lot.” She crossed her over her chest and looked away.

Adrien tried not to scowl. “Chloé was the only person my parents would let me spend time with when I was a little. Without her, I wouldn’t have had any friends. I know that she isn’t always nice to people, but I never thought... I’m sorry, Marinette.”

“It’s not your fault,” Marinette said.

“No, but I still feel awful. Unfortunately, Chloé’s known what my words were since we were kids. We compared words when we were six to see if we’d match.” They hadn’t, obviously. In retrospect, Adrien was suddenly very grateful for that.

“Oh.” Marinette was quiet for a moment, staring out over the balcony.

Their bond wasn’t developed enough for Adrien to know what she was thinking unless she directly pushed the thought at him. But he could feel that she was unsettled. Worried. Nervous. All things that he himself was feeling, so that it was magnified.

“I’ll talk to her,” he said firmly. “I’m Chloé’s friend. She knows what my dad is like. She’ll understand why we want to keep it secret.” And he would also be talking to her about the other thing. He wasn’t going stand by while someone bullied his soulmate!

“Okay,” Marinette said, not fully believing him but willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Should we exchange numbers, then?”

Adrien nodded eagerly and took out his phone. She took out hers and they swapped. He entered his information and snapped a selfie of himself; Marinette did the same before giving his phone back. She gave him a shy smile, twirling one of her pigtails.

“I should probably get back to work before my parents wonder where I am,” she said.

“Okay,” Adrien said. “So... talk later?”

Marinette giggled and thought, directly at him, ‘Of course’.

Adrien blushed and smiled sheepishly. ‘Until then,’ he thought back, and it wasn’t as hard as he’d expected. The thought just slipped easily between them.

She crinkled her fingers in a little wave and disappeared through the door. Adrien sighed and leaned against the railing, looking down at her contact information. She had saved herself as Mari, no last name. He touched the screen over her name, then traced her picture

Marinette. God he was lucky.

[izupie]

‘Cat Therapy’ - Kyoru Week Day 1 - [Stay]

(I made it! Day 1! On time!)

(Fluff, Kyo Swears A Lot, Character Study. Part 1 of 2)

@kyoruweek19

[AO3 Link]

Day 1 - Stay - ‘Cat Therapy’

The first few times Kyo heard her coughing he didn’t even really register it. She’d been cooking the evening meal for them all at the stove like always and it was just the occasional little sound that she muffled with her hand. Nothing to worry about, nothing to note. While they’d been eating, she’d covered it up so well he forgot he’d even heard her coughing at all.

The next day it got worse.

Kyo firmly told her to stay home from school the minute he saw her. She coughed even while she shook her head, but it had clearly kept her up all night, though she’d somehow masked it well enough that it hadn’t woken even him – and he was a notoriously light sleeper. (Probably a Cat thing.)

She looked at him with horror at his suggestion, but her usually bright brown eyes were glazed with the look of someone trying to mask their discomfort.

She’d had a cold recently, but it hadn’t seemed that bad because she’d still been making it to school, and she’d been straight on the cold remedies to treat the symptoms, instead of letting herself get as bad as last time. Nobody had expected her to get this kind of cough as an aftereffect. She’d probably kept so much of it inside instead of blowing her damn nose that she’d made her chest bad. As if on cue Tohru turned away to cough with a violence that shook her tiny frame and made him wince in sympathy.

Of course, Tohru had naturally tried to get dressed and go to school today, insisting she was fine, despite her weakness from all the coughing. Her cheeks looked pale and pasty from the lack of their usual pinkness and even her smile wobbled with the effort it took to put it there.

She looked like shit.

And yet… each time she broke into a coughing fit she’d turn away, like she was ashamed and embarrassed, clutching her chest with the effort of trying to repress it, and he’d feel his heart clench. His hands had balled into fists before he’d even registered it and he was yelling at her to stay at home before he could stop the words from tumbling out of his mouth.

He was powerless to help her from her own symptoms; from her pain, her discomfort, her guilt and embarrassment, and that pissed him off. Give him something to fight for her and he’d do it. Standing around and just ‘letting her get better’ was not his style.

Especially when she was so bad at looking after herself. She never seemed to give herself the consideration she gave everyone else.

When she coughed so hard for so long that she started gagging the three Sohmas had eventually persuaded her to get back into bed. Despite her loud and frantic denials. “Miss more school,” she’d said in a panic, “I-I can’t. I-I made a promise. I can- I can still go, I’m feeling better, I-”, but whatever she’d wanted to say after that got cut off by the painful sound of her coughing and wheezing.

He was glad when she’d gone back to bed and he didn’t have to look at her pathetic face anymore. Shigure had reassured them that he’d be staying at home all day writing, so he’d listen out for her in case she needed anything, and that he was going to call Hatori to see what he could do for her. It was a surprisingly emotional speech for someone who didn’t really care all that much either way. He just knew what retribution would be waiting for him from the rest of the family if he didn’t look like he was trying to help.

Kyo swore it was like she’d somehow earned the love of the whole damned messed up Zodiac.

School was a trial that day. Even more than usual. He alternated between glaring at people and glaring at the classroom clock. Neither did anything to help. His classmates were determined to know the source of his bad mood, bugging him relentlessly between classes, and that damn rat wouldn’t stop huffing at him with a feigned ignorance whenever he was asked about his ‘sour cousin’. And the clock refused to go faster.

He wasn’t sure why he was even that bothered about whether Tohru was well or not. She’d been sick before and he’d been angry about it before, but this time he was taking it even worse. He just knew while he was at school, he wasn’t at home, and that meant he had no idea how she was. Was she still trying to hide her coughs? Was she getting worse? Would she need to go to hospital? While the same knot of questions bounced endlessly around his head, he was continually denying the guilt settling in his stomach for not taking her seriously that first night. He hadn’t even really noticed. He hadn’t asked her if she was okay. That damn Yuki probably had while he’d been out of earshot – then why didn’t he do something about it then? He could have called Hatori over right away. Maybe that would have prevented how pathetic she looked this morning. The rat should have done something dammit. Isn’t that what he always did? Swooped in and saved the day?

Kyo’s mood darkened enough that his classmates finally seemed to sense that it would be best if he was left well alone.

He glared at Yuki instead. But he didn’t notice.

And then, finally, he was able to go home.

He took the long staircase back to Shigure’s house two at a time, easy with his long legs and supernatural balance – (good for sleeping in trees without falling out and for racing up ridiculously tall and narrow steps without falling over, he noted.) It was odd that he wasn’t even bothered that he hadn’t caught his breath back by the time he’d flung the door open and kicked his shoes off, so that his breathless question of, “How is she?”, came out as one word.

Shigure looked up from his newspaper and raised his eyebrows high. “Well, aren’t we the concerned one today? Did you race all the way back from school to find out how our poor Tohru is fairing?”

Kyo didn’t have time for Shigure’s shitty habit of answering questions with questions, but he gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to lose his temper – knowing that was exactly the reaction the damn dog was looking for.

Shigure laughed. “Oh, well now, that’s certainly a dark look. You’re so easy to tease Kyo, I’m always glad when you come home from school.” He wiped pretend tears from his eyes.

Kyo was one more comment away from telling him to piss off and just going up there himself, but Shigure’s expression finally became more serious as he pointed towards the ceiling.

“She’s resting. Hari gave her some medicine for her chesty cough, and it’s eased. He doesn’t think it’s a chest infection, but she needs to take the medicine twice a day to help it get better, so it doesn’t turn into one. So make sure she has it, Kyo.”

“What? Why me? I’m her friend, not her mo-” Kyo clamped his mouth shut. Bad choice of words. Bad choice of words.

Shigure said nothing but his eyebrows raised even further.

Gods what did she ever do that was bad enough for the universe to decide she deserved him as a friend?

Kyo heaved a breath, calming down after realising his shitty mood had made him say the wrong thing again, and was glad Tohru hadn’t heard him.

Shigure let the weight of Kyo’s cut off word hang in the air for a moment more, then he shook his newspaper taut in front of him, it stood straight with a satisfying snap, and let his eyes roam the pages as if he was reading – even though kyo knew he wasn’t.

“It’s a shame we don’t own a cat,” Shigure said.

“What?”

“A cat, Kyo. Don’t you know?” he went on in an innocent voice. “Cats are supposed to be good for relieving stress.” Shigure couldn’t quite stop the quirk of his mouth at the irony. “It says right here that something happens in your brain when you pet a cat. It makes you feel calm and it even helps with the healing process. If we had a cat Tohru could hold it in bed and feel much better,” he sighed, placing a palm to his cheek dramatically.

“Y’know what – I don’t have time for you today,” Kyo snapped, storming out of the room.

One quick google search later confirmed that Shigure hadn’t been lying through his teeth for once. There were different levels of evidence and success in the studies he looked at online, but it looked like there might actually be some science behind it. Kyo threw his phone onto the bed and dragged a hand over his face. He looked over at the door to his bedroom but stubbornly snapped his head away from it. No.

No. No. No.

No way.

But Yuki wasn’t home yet, so maybe he was stuck doing council stuff after school, and Shigure was reading downstairs…

Kyo shook his head, hating the burning sensation in his cheeks.

No. Way.

There was nothing he could do about the cat thing, he decided. But it wouldn’t hurt to check on her anyway.

When he knocked on her door softly, she answered straight away with a cheerful, “Come in!”.

Kyo entered to see Tohru in her pajamas, sat up under the covers of her bed with her hands folded in her lap. Her cheeks were much pinker than they’d been before school and she’d tied her hair into pigtails to keep it out of her face. The smile she flashed him made something warm spread through his chest.

“Kyo, welcome home! How was school?” Tohru chirped.

“U-Uh yeah. It was fine.”

Kyo was stood tense and rigid by her doorway, his arms folded, and her smile faltered a little in the face of his awkwardness. He hated that he was making her feel uncomfortable, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about what Shigure said.

He tried to cast it out of his mind as he approached her bedside slowly. “But how are you feeling now anyway?”

“Much better, thank you. Hatori gave me some medicine.” She enthusiastically gestured towards a clear bottle of green liquid on the side table next to her.

“And you have to drink that stuff?” Kyo scoffed, peering down at the gross looking liquid. “Looks nasty.”

Tohru giggled in response, the sound tingled straight down his spine, but the effort made her fall back into a small coughing fit. It didn’t have the intensity of what she’d been doing that morning though, so he was reassured that the nasty medicine was at least working.

He placed a soft hand on her shoulder, surprising himself by the way he was always seeking to use touch as a comfort for her, and she bent over low as she tried to suppress the coughing. Kyo’s hand slid to her back and rubbed in slow circles as her small body shook. “If you need to cough, do it as loud and as long as you want, ‘kay? Don’t hold it in, you’ll only make it worse.”

Tohru heaved in a breath and nodded, though she didn’t make any effort to sit back up, and Kyo didn’t stop his hand from circling over her back.

Finally, his hand stilled. “Tohru,” he said softly, unable to stop the soft question from tumbling from his mouth, though he could feel the tips of his ears beginning to burn, “c-can I… hug you?”

“E-Eh?” Tohru squeaked, sitting back up so quickly her pigtails whipped around her.

“I- uh- I heard that cats… make people feel better or something dumb like that. Agh, pretend I didn’t ask. That was a stupid thing to ask-”

“Y-Yes.”

“What?”

“Y-Yes. You c-can.”

Neither of them could seem to look the other in the eyes. Kyo sucked in a breath. He suddenly became unsure of how to actually, do the hugging. Should he just lean down? Put his arms around her? He felt like an idiot.

“S-Sorry,” Tohru suddenly whispered, hiding her face in her hands, “I-I shouldn’t have said yes. Please don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine, I don’t want to cause you any trouble, you should just go and I’ll be okay I-”

His arms went straight around her middle. She gasped as his chin briefly, oh-so briefly, rested on her shoulder and his body touched hers, but then the transformation tugged at that strange place in his stomach and his whole body went numb – always the worst part even though it lasted barely longer than a second. A cloud of orange sparkles cleared from his vision as he looked up at Tohru’s red face from among his clothes from his new position on the bed. 

“I’ll stay,” Kyo said with a flick of his tail.

[chimcharstar]

ALL THE COLOURS

HERE WE GO BOYS

zinc white; how are you really feeling today? no one-word answers please!

I’m feeling tired because I’m supposed to be in bed. But happy because I did the work and I can get away with sleeping in and things are just chill right now. I have devised a way of sneaking waste food at work. If you put it in these little metal containers and hide them under the fridge, nobody notices them and throws them away. This eve I dined on garlic bread and prawns.

cadmium yellow; when you think of the word “happy” what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Walking with coffee and tunes. I’m trying to appreciate things in my life I will feel nostalgic about later in the moment, so I don’t regret anything. This is one of those things. Although I might not have the tunes part for long because I fucking broke my headphones and they may or may not start playing my music out loud for all the world to hear. I hope people like disco!

lemon; what’s your comfort food?

Food from my old workplace. I have trouble finishing food usually but not this stuff. I will probably scream while eating it. You know this and you love me

hansa yellow; what’s your guilty pleasure song?

“I Will Survive”. People were singing it in the Office and I guess it’s so famous and ironic and cringey now or something. But then I remember that one fucker

yellow ochre; name an artist/band whom you just discovered & can’t get enough of!

Herbie Hancock. I don’t know if I’ll listen to every single thing from him but I was just listening to some funk as you do and his like solos? I was vibing. We were having brain to brain communication. It was an experience. It was so so good. It was good fucking music. Listen to this shit. Herbie Hancock - I Thought It Was You This stuff makes me want to wiggle on public transit. 

naples yellow; where do you feel most at home?

Bonsais and my quiet neat fucking room. Or not giving a fuck in other people’s mess.

raw sienna; with whom do you feel most at home?

YOU HO

golden ochre; describe the relationship you have with your closest friend.

We reblog asks and send each other all the asks. ADHD disaster energy finding balance. The worst posts I’ve ever seen followed by revenge. Two gay best friends who are best friends. No seriously I am so grateful for your unconditional love and your warmth

golden deep; what’s your favorite season?

Autumn. When the leaves were falling and the sun was shining all bittersweetly I was running around taking so many pictures because there’s like this golden time and then it’s gone.

cadmium orange; what do you like to do on your days off?

I like to buy too many plants and pretty rocks that are just vibing. I just like to wander around with coffee without a schedule. Listening to funk and disco. Seriously I’m the coolest person ever

orange lake; do you have anyone you can turn to when you’re sad?

U HO. And some online mutuals of course :) I feel like I don’t turn to people when it’s real sad hours though. I just give my ocs more PTSD.

titans; do you prefer slow mornings or relaxing evenings?

Relaxed evenings. Fuck mornings. All my mornings are slow buddy. 

shakhnazaryan red; are you currently binge-watching anything?

No, because I had to go and cancel my Netflix as all my favourite things got more episodes. 

red ochre; are you more right-brained (creative) or left-brained (analytical)?

Oh right brained bitch.

burnt sienna; is there a painting that brings you peace when you look at it?

No, paintings are stressful. It’s always like “Holy shit, that must have been so much work! I don’t enjoy painting myself! This person is better at painting than me!” I have much love in the heart for Van Gogh.

english red; what animal do you relate to most?

I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work. I could say a cat, because I want to lie down in a patch of sun, knock things over, and complain loudly. I would say a dog because I think people are way better than they really are, am tenaciously loyal to them, and get excited about going for a walk.

vermilion; what’s your favorite accent?

Whatever this one hot guy at work has.

cadmium red; do you have a “type” when it comes to a significant other?

FOR FUCKS SAKE okay I’m going to google what my type is

You got: Mr./ Mrs Perfect

You like someone that truly has is all. You need someone who is well rounded in all aspects of life. When it comes to looks and personality, only perfection receives your affection.

Wow, what does that mean at all

scarlet; describe your current crush/es.

Ok, one of them gave me cheesecake, one of them offered me pizza, another one is the guy whose Facebook you stalked for me and we still couldn’t find his birthday but I laugh about one adorable photo still (the car one), and one of them I spent half an hour trying to find where I put the birth chart of and we’re actually really compatible. I’m sorry, if you want more information I’ll have to ramble about it in your messages.

ruby; what does your ideal first date look like?

OH I JUST WANT TO WALK DOWN A STREET HOLDING HANDS AND GO TO A RESTAURANT WEVE NEVER BEEN TO BEFORE AND TRY SOME FOOD AND LAUGH A LOT, AND THEN MAYBE GO ENJOY THE VIEW OF THE OCEAN AT NIGHT. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK? IS IT?

carmine; what does your ideal second date look like?

I don’t know, fuck it let’s go to the aquarium!

madder lake red; would you ever kiss someone (or accept a kiss) on a first date?

I dunno man. I feel like I wouldn’t if it wasn’t socially acceptable but I’m also wild and crazy.

rose; what’s something really positive going on in your life right now?

I REALLY ACTUALLY LIKE MY WORKPLACE. And my living situation is pretty okay. It’s not great I guess but I’ve been coming a long way.

quinacridone rose; what’s something you’re really looking forward to?

Literally what are these colours. Okay, I’m looking forward to putting wires around crystals to make them into jewellery. Then, I want to give the jewellery to my friends. 

violet rose; what does your dream house look like?

An old as fuck, old fashioned as fuck haunted-looking mansion I can give some love.

violet; is there any place in particular you’d like to settle down?

I need the outdoors bro. I need those trees. I gotta live in the countryside again someday.

blue lake; what would you like to do/accomplish before you settle down?

Write some books! Run rampant in the city…

cobalt blue spectral; what is the most beautiful place you have ever been to?

I think it would have to be the hills where I grew up. It was bursting with biodiversity, there was a rustic sheep farm, everyone shut the fuck up, there would be frogs, the smell of the fresh air in any season, some days would just be heart-stoppingly beautiful and I ache for it sometimes. Birdsong? I heard some birdsong today and I wanted to cry. I remember our hedges would be deafening with the birds in it.

ultramarine; when was the last time you were in a good mood? do you know/remember what sparked it?

Today, it finding something I maybe could sit around and read and then finding it in me to actually get out of bed lol.

blue; what’s the most recent dream you remember?

The one I just had. A lot of it is blurry, which is frustrating because I got some strong almost-memories of it throughout the day, but it sticks out to me because I was bawling my eyes out a lot in the dream, and I also hurt myself the way I used to and I had to check that I hadn’t done it in my sleep. But I think it was a very expressive dream and those are my natural emotions.

bright blue; what does your dream family look like? any kids or pets? 

I like the idea of a husband and some dogs, cats and chickens. Kids maybe.

how many of each?

A lot of chickens, but not too many please.

blue cobalt; do you like your name? would you give yourself a different name if you could?

I do like my name, and I did give myself a different name. Even if I knew how annoying everyone would be about pop culture Gordons, and I did. I still would choose this name.

prussian azure; what’s your favorite scent?

I’m running out of things to say as my favourite scent. OK, Nomad from Old Spice. I don’t know why, I think it must suit me or something. Maybe it’s the citrus… stuff going on there.

azure blue; what’s your favorite type of tea, if any?

Red Rose, my mom made it for me as a kid and she drank it all the time while teaching me piano or reading books.

turquoise blue; if you could start a garden, what would you plant?

Flowers, to show off to everyone, and then I don’t know, maybe some fucking pumpkins and easy things like corn and peas.

cerulean blue; if you were guaranteed to have a viewership, would you start a youtube vlog?

I think I’d be happier to have one if I knew no one was watching my antics LMAO

glauconite; describe your body without using any negative adjectives.

Best of both worlds

yellow green; picture yourself walking in a field. what do you see & hear in this scenario?

I’m still thinking of where I grew up. I see the sun through the branches of very old maple trees, and hear the wind in the long grass.

green light; are you in a comfortable place in life? if not, what do you think might make it better?

Yes, but I could make it better by moving in with cleaner roommates and getting a cat. And maybe work at something I’m actually interested in, or go to school or something.

green; name three countries you want to visit; do you have any actual plans in place to visit any of them?

I don’t have plans, but I’d like to visit Mexico, France, or Japan.

emerald green; do you speak any languages besides english? are there any additional languages you want to learn?

Kinda French. I want to learn Spanish… now Portuguese because everyone at work speaks it… literally, any very popular language. I want to learn so many languages

oxide of chromium; what’s your favorite book?

BRO WHAT IS A BOOK

olive green; are you currently reading anything? how do you like it so far?

Yeah, I’m reading a personal account of a Satanic cult. I had to stop reading it because I wasn’t ready for the graphic details.

mars brown; what’s a movie that always puts a smile on your face/makes you laugh?

Megamind/Thor Ragnarok

burnt umber; what’s something you plan to do before the day is over to take care of yourself?

Wow I feel really called out right now. I was going to eat some chicken because I’m hungry. Because that’s what I should be doing at 3AM.

umber; have you drank enough water today?

Yes, but probably not. I’ve been trying really hard today though.

voronezhskaya black; what or who is your go-to outlet for when you need to vent?

Probably you again, welcome to the salt mines!

sepia; name five things that always make you happy.

Buying a plant, rolling around on my fuzzy blanket, videos of cats being idiots, little unexpected thoughtful gifts, people sharing food.

indigo; what’s the best/sweetest compliment you have ever received?

A Treasured Mutual once spontaneously said I was a really good person because I was chill and they felt free to be themselves, to be vague.

payne’s gray; describe your aesthetic?

Looking around my room, it would seem to be whatever those studying people organizing notes with the window open on a sunny day have. I don’t know if this is me, but my room looks… vaguely feminine and organized in that way.

black; post a selfie because you are so beautiful!

I’m in my PYJAMA CLOTHES. I only want to take a selfie with GOOD NATURAL LIGHTING and the DAYTIME DARK CIRCLES around my eyes not the NIGHTTIME DARK CIRCLES. Maybe I have one hanging around

[maximilliandelirium]

somebody out there hates you

a/n: hhhh i wrote this in a pre-nanowrimo mania. wanted to post to ao3 but it’s acting weird so i thought i’d throw it up on the blog for now. notice me senpai fills me with joy, so i was inspired to make *~art~* the setting is anime japan so nothing is accurate and the points don’t matter (pssst! support me on ko-fi!)

Summary: Suzuki joins an anti-cafe out of curiosity and begins to re-evaluate his relationship with Yamato. Suzuki/Yamato (Idol Senpai/Rocker Senpai)

              Suzuki didn’t go online that evening intending to join an anti-Suzuki fan café. He usually didn’t dwell on his haters at all. But tonight, curiosity got the better of him. He’d been trawling the net after a long practice when he stumbled across a link to the anti-site. (Suzuki liked to Google himself; so what?) When he followed it, he realized he couldn’t read any of the message boards without an account.

               That’s a good thing, I guess, he thought. He didn’t really want to see what people were saying about him. He decided to forget about it and do his homework instead.

               At least, that was what he tried to do. He kept thinking about it as he struggled over his assigned reading. What did they talk about? Did they make fun of his hair? His personality? Maybe they picked apart his lyrics. The longer he thought about it, the more he wanted to know.

               Suzuki tossed his book aside and re-opened his laptop. He hadn’t closed the browser window. The link was still there. Yamato was always telling him to consider his weaknesses so he could improve. This could be beneficial. If Suzuki tried understanding where these people were coming from, he might be able to win them over, or at least get better at what he did.

               It didn’t take much to make an account. He had to create a new email—he didn’t want his regular one linked to the site. After that, he spent half an hour trying to come up with a screen name. It was imperative that no one know who he really was. His usual handle—“SuzuStar”—would give him away like a shot. Suzuki was also disappointed to discover that “YamatoFan#1” was taken. Eventually, he settled on “notafan1234.”

               Never having been on an anti-site before, Suzuki wasn’t sure what to expect. He was surprised by how plain it was. The header image was just the name of the page in bright red letters, along with a picture of his face with a “no” sign superimposed on it. He scrolled through the list of threads.

               Break Suzuki’s new MV!

               New Anti-Suzuki Memes

               Worst Lyrics Poll (CLOSED)

               Suzuki kept scrolling, horrified and fascinated. He found a thread titled “Important question for Yamato fans—should he be friends w/ Suzuki?” He clicked on it. He jumped when he saw the selfie he and Yamato had taken at the school festival. The original poster had written a caption beneath it.

               Ugh. I don’t get why Yamato wastes his time with this guy. They don’t have anything in common.

               A user named MerryPip added, Lol same. Yamato actually has talent.

               Suzuki frowned.

               They probably just hang out because they go to the same school, someone else said. Yamato doesn’t want to be mean.

               Tbh, SuzuYama shippers make me sick.

               Yamato shouldn’t keep feeding them by hanging out with him.

               They only do it for fanservice. I bet it’s in their contracts.

               Suzuki hadn’t been planning on responding to anyone, but the last comment had sent him over the edge. They had no right to question his friendship with Yamato. They didn’t know anything about him. He typed, Maybe Yamato and Suzuki are friends because they get along and like to hang out.

               A response appeared in no time. As if, Lonelygrrl said. Suzuki is too much of a ditz to get along with Yamato. He totally cramps his style. Yamato is just humoring him because the fans like it.

               Blood rushed to Yamato’s face. His fingers flew to the keys. That’s not true! How do you know Yamato is just pretending? You don’t have any proof. You’re just making stuff up!

               The backlash was swift and immediate. A gallery of photos flooded the thread with red outlines drawn around Yamato’s eyes and mouth, along with whole paragraphs explaining why his smile was faked, or how he couldn’t stand to actually touch Suzuki.

               His hand is just hovering here, Lonelygrrl wrote. All their selfies are faked. Their managers get together and tell them where to go. Like playdates.

               Suzuki slammed the laptop closed. He sat back, fuming. When his head cooled, Suzuki reached for his phone. He wanted to ask Yamato about this. (Yamato was saved in his contacts as “Yama heart eyes emoji, guitar emoji.”)

               Did u know there’s a whole website that hates me? Suzuki texted.

               Yamato answered quickly: No, but I’m not surprised. There’s always haters. You find one?

               Yeah. I made an account.

               WTF why?

               I wanted to see what they were saying.

               Delete it. That’s a waste of time.

               A waste of time. That’s what the anti-fans had said Yamato was doing by being Suzuki’s friend. He wanted to tell Yamato about it. But it had made him nervous. What if they were right? What if Yamato was only pretending to be friends with him? They’d become closer through school performances. Was that the only reason Yamato continued to hang out with him?

               Suzuki texted back: Ur right. They’re just mean.

               Don’t let it get to you. Some people have to be negative for no reason.

               Suzuki put the phone aside. He wouldn’t go back on the site. He’d just forget about it. Yamato was his friend and that was that. It wouldn’t do him any good to second guess it. Suzuki opened the laptop one last time to close the browser. There were a few more replies.

               Jesus, when will trolls learn not to come in here? MerryPip complained. Do. Not. Feed. The. Trolls.

               I’m not a troll, Suzuki thought, closing the window. He would delete the account tomorrow. Right now, he needed to get back to work.

               The next morning was rough. Suzuki hadn’t realized how much time had passed last night while he’d been reading the message boards, and by the time he completed his homework, it was 2AM. He shuffled into class, yawning.

               “Late night?” Reiji asked as Suzuki walked past.

               “It took me two hours to finish the reading.”

               “Me, too!” Takeru said. “And when I finished, it felt like I didn’t understand it at all.” He looked over at Ren. “What did you think?”

               Ren lifted his head slightly. “Huh? I didn’t finish. I fell asleep halfway through.”

               “You’re kidding. We have a quiz on it today.”

               “I can probably get a good enough grade with what I know.”

               Suzuki spotted Yamato sitting on the windowsill. He had his guitar balanced in his lap and he was strumming it idly. The things Suzuki had read last night started to seep into his mind. He pushed them away. I’m not going to think about it.

               “Yama-kun!” Suzuki called.

               Yamato glanced up and smiled. It looked real. Relief washed over Suzuki as he walked over. Yamato continued plucking on the strings.

               “Hey,” he said. “You look beat. What’s up?”

               “I got distracted by the internet last night and did all my homework late.” Suzuki blushed. Yamato liked to tease him for being irresponsible sometimes. “But I did get it done!”

               “Oh yeah. That site you texted me about. I hope you didn’t talk to anyone.”

               Suzuki laughed nervously. “No. Why would I?”

               “They’re trying to get a rise out of people. Starting an argument is just what they want.”

               He laughed again, this time more forced.

               Yamato tilted his head to the side. “You okay?”

               “Yeah. It’s all good.” Suzuki waved a hand. “Let’s stop talking about it. Do you still want to go shopping today after class?”

               “Sure. Just remember to change before we go out. I don’t want to get chased by your crazy fans again.”

               “I wouldn’t forget,” Suzuki said. He winked and stuck his tongue out. “Are you sure you don’t like the exercise?”

               “I’m sure.”

               Yamato met him in front of the school after classes let out. No matter how many times they went out in public together, Yamato never stopped staring at Suzuki’s outfit. Suzuki didn’t understand why he rolled his eyes every time he saw it.

               “What’s the matter? This is what I always wear,” he said.

               “I know. That’s the problem. We’re getting you some new civilian clothes today.” Yamato grabbed the hem of Suzuki’s t-shirt and gave it a tug. “How many of these do you own?��

               “A few.”

               “You’re supposed to be in disguise. Why would you wear a shirt with your own face on it?”

               “Because,” Suzuki said, lifting his index finger, “no one would ever suspect I’d wear my own merchandise. This face distracts them from looking at mine.”

               “If you say so.” Yamato let go.

               They walked into town, then took the train to the best shopping district. Though Yamato and Suzuki bought their clothes at different stores, they agreed that this part of the city had the best shops. The only problem was that it was crowded. Just getting off the train was a nightmare. Suzuki almost lost his hat.

               “Is it just me or are there more people here today than usual?” he asked, squashing it back on his head.

               “I think you’re right. There must be a promotion going on.” Yamato stretched to see over the crowd. “That one you like isn’t as busy. Let’s go to that one first.”

               They pressed through the crowd. Suzuki bumped into a woman carrying a dozen bags and made her drop all of them. He spent a few minutes helping her pick them up while bowing and apologizing. She gave him a dirty look. He wondered if she would’ve been as mad if she knew who he was.

               Or could she be one of the anti-fans?

               Suzuki hadn’t thought about it before, but those names online had real people behind them. They could’ve been from his own school. It was scary to think about. There might be some in this crowd. Suzuki readjusted his mask and sunglasses, making sure his face was completely hidden.

               “Suzu—!” Yamato cut himself off as he came jogging over. They’d gotten separated. “I turned around and you weren’t behind me.”

               “Sorry. It’s hard to stick together in all this.”

               Yamato sighed and looked around. Then he grabbed Suzuki’s hand. “Come on,” he said. “We need to get you a new shirt.”

               The changing room was cold. Suzuki quickly pulled on one of the shirts he’d brought in. It was a purple galaxy print. There were three mirrors placed in the corner of the stall, giving him a rounded view. He was pretty satisfied with his appearance. Suzuki had often been told he had a good face. And his rigorous dance practices kept him in good shape. Yet…

               Earlier, while Yamato was going through leather jackets, Suzuki had pulled up the anti-café on his phone. He needed to know if they knew where he was. His fans tended to track his movements. His haters might do the same thing.

               Though there wasn’t anything about where he physically was, but there was a new thread: “Is Suzuki actually handsome? Yes/No?” He knew he shouldn’t read it. It didn’t matter what a handful of bitter people on the internet thought. But the urge was too strong.

               It’s supposed to be his major selling point, but I’m a girl and I think he’s kind of lame.

               His hair color looks so fake and not in a good way.

               Didn’t he gain weight recently? No one’s gonna stick around if he keeps putting on the pounds XD

               Imo he’s kind of short.

               I’m 178 centimeters! That’s above average! Suzuki was shorter than Yamato, but that didn’t mean he was tiny. He remembered what Yamato had said about not engaging them. He wanted to set them straight.

               The school festival selfie had reappeared. Suzuki had been proud of it at the time. His and Yamato’s costumes were perfectly coordinated, they’d posed in front of the best decorations in the classroom, and they’d gotten a perfect angle. This site didn’t seem to agree.

               Look at this lame-ass Star Sailor costume.

               I stg Suzuki drags Yamato into his weird interests all the time.

               is it supposed to be funny? Who are they trying to appeal to?

               It had taken every ounce of Suzuki’s self-control not to go off on them. Star Sailor was one of his great loves. It was one of Yamato’s as well. That was the whole reason they had coordinated their cosplays.

               Unable to stomach any more, he had turned off the screen, gathered a few shirts and gone into the dressing room. He examined himself in the mirror. He still looked fine. Suzuki plucked a strand of hair. Was it too yellow?

               He took off the galaxy shirt and pinched his stomach. Suzuki wasn’t as muscular as boys like Makoto or Katsuo, but he had a lithe figure. Nothing seemed to have changed. Sometimes Suzuki’s manager warned him not to indulge his sweet tooth too much. Maybe he should start taking that message more to heart. He felt a pang of loss just considering skipping the cakes at the school’s café.

               Suzuki shook his head. He was letting the anti-site get to him.

               When he emerged from the dressing room, he spotted Yamato coming over, his arms weighed down with jackets and black jeans. He eyed Suzuki’s pile.

               “Did you find anything good?” he asked.

               “I like this one.” Suzuki pointed at the galaxy shirt. “What do you think?”

               Yamato shrugged. “You look good in everything.”

               “Aw, Yama-kun, you’re so sweet!” Suzuki said in an over-the-top cutesy voice. He shimmied his shoulders for extra effect.

               Yamato rolled his eyes and gave Suzuki a light smack on the arm. He disappeared behind the curtain. Suzuki put away the clothes he didn’t want while he waited. He wondered if Yamato had hate sites, too. It didn’t seem possible. Yamato was so handsome and talented; it was hard to imagine a bunch of people getting together just to make fun of him.

               Suzuki pulled out his phone again. He went through his pictures until he found another selfie he’d taken with Yamato. It was from the last time Yamato had hung out at his house. Suzuki hadn’t made it public. He didn’t know why. It was a good picture. There wasn’t anything scandalous or illegal in it.

               He supposed he hadn’t wanted to share it because it felt more personal than the others. They were both in sweatshirts and pajama pants, their faces lit up by the blue light from Suzuki’s TV. Suzuki was leaning heavily on Yamato, who was grinning at the camera. Suzuki was smiling fondly up at Yamato.

               If those jerks online could see this picture, they’d realize Yamato wasn’t faking his feelings of friendship. Suzuki couldn’t post it, though. This picture was just for him and Yamato, no one else. He sighed and closed the photo gallery.

               Yamato came out of the dressing room. “I’m ready if you are,” he said.

               “Are you buying anything?” Suzuki asked as he headed for the counter.

               Yamato shook his head. “I’m going to shop around a bit more. Do you want to get some bubble tea after the next stop?”

               “Only if we go to that one place next to the arcade.”

               “Okay, but you’re not dragging me into another DDR competition.”

               Suzuki put his arm around Yamato’s shoulders. “Come on, you’re not that bad. You almost beat me last time.”

               Yamato shook his head. He copied Suzuki’s gesture, linking them closer together. He gave Suzuki’s back a pat. “I’ll leave the dancing to the trained idol. Some other time. Now go, it’s your turn.” He nudged Suzuki forward.

               Suzuki reluctantly let go of Yamato. He brought his shirts to the girl working the cash register. She smiled at him.

               “You and your friend are cute,” she said as she rung him up.

               “Thanks! I try.”

               She giggled. “Have a nice day.”

               “Did you flirt your way to a discount?” Yamato asked.

               Suzuki’s eyes widened behind his sunglasses. “You can do that?”

               “No, idiot.” Yamato took Suzuki’s hand again. “Maybe you could, but I wouldn’t. I hope she didn’t recognize you.”

               “She didn’t. If she had, she would’ve asked for an autograph.”

               They could never get a seat by the windows, otherwise their combined fans would fill the restaurant. Suzuki was half thankful for the privacy it afforded them, but they had to sit in a dim corner where there wasn’t much space. One of Yamato’s legs rested against one of his own.

               “What kind did you get?” Suzuki asked.

               Yamato glanced up from his phone. “Honeydew. You wanna try it?”

               “Sure.” Suzuki took a sip from Yamato’s bubble tea. They had never worried about germs. The tea was perfectly sweet and mellow. He passed it back, a smile on his lips.

               “You know, that’s the first time you smiled this afternoon,” Yamato said. “It feels like you’ve been gloomy ever since we left school.”

               “Really?” He hadn’t noticed. “I guess I’m just tired. We’re already talking about the next comeback.”

               “They should let you have a break. I’ve been talking to my agency about a vacation.” Yamato lowered his phone and met Suzuki’s eyes. “We could go somewhere. Hawai’i maybe. I’ve always wanted to do a shark tour.”

               Suzuki shuddered. “That’s scary!”

               “They put you in a cage. It’s not dangerous.”

               “You can do that. I want to get a tan.”

               Yamato knocked his leg against Suzuki’s. “But you’d want to go? With me?”

               “Of course.”

               Yamato’s eyes lit up. He smiled. “Awesome. We can get it cleared with your manager. There’s a little while before our next break. We could go then if your team says it’s okay.”

               Hawai’I with Yamato. Suzuki imagined what it might be like. Sun, sand, and the ocean. Swimsuits. Sleeping in. Hawai’ian food. He sighed wistfully. Ever since he had first seen travel programs for it on TV, he’d always wanted to go. The best part might be going with Yamato. They could run around together as much as they wanted. They’d have their own hotel room.

               “Will you ask your manager about it?” Yamato said, pressing Suzuki’s leg again. He was chewing on the corner of his lip.

               “I will. I’ll text her now.” Suzuki fished his phone from his jacket pocket. He braced his leg against Yamato’s. He took comfort in the pressure. Yamato was strong. It felt good to lean on him.

               Some of the other guys invited them to karaoke after school that weekend. It was Hajime’s idea apparently, which meant he’d roped in Soujiro, who was bringing the twins, and so on and so on. Things usually turned out this way. If someone mentioned a party, everyone ended up unofficially invited. Ikemen wasn’t a small school, but word spread quickly, and the upperclassmen were all connected by a web of association.

               Suzuki didn’t remember who specifically asked him and Yamato if they wanted to tag along. It might’ve been Ai. Anyway, they showed up at the karaoke place after everyone else had already arrived thanks to an unexpected fangirl sighting.

               “You guys are late,” Tokiya said.

               “We just got chased halfway across the city,” Yamato said, tossing his jacket onto one of the couches. “Give us a break.”

               Suzuki removed his mask, sunglasses, and hat. He took stock of the group. Ai had brought Tokiya and Ryuu, but Kurou was nowhere to be seen, meaning there’d be a fight later. (Ryuu and Tokiya always fought.) Soujiro and the twins were there, wearing casual clothes for once. Yuu and Baa had shown up as well. Suzuki would never get over the goat head. Takeru was there, probably having heard about the outing through word of mouth.

               “Sorry, we ordered food without you,” he said.

               “It’s fine. We can get something later.”

               Suzuki settled in beside Yamato. He had asked his manager about the vacation. She hadn’t gotten back to him yet. He was starting to get nervous. Running from their fans earlier had only made Suzuki want it more. After this comeback. If the single does well, then I earned it. She can’t say no.

               The other third-years had already lined up a decent list of songs. They must have been feeling nostalgic, since most of the music was from the 80s and 90s. Takeru, being Takeru, shared some of his food with Yamato and Suzuki while Hajime launched into a heart-felt ballad at the top of his lungs.

               It was times like these that made Suzuki wish he wasn’t an idol. Being a senior in high school wasn’t easy, but there was so much more freedom. You definitely didn’t get hate comments. You could hang out with whoever you wanted. You didn’t get chased when you went outside. He could never just quit though. He loved music. He loved performing. But it was nice to just be with friends and not on a stage.

               Yamato nudged him with his elbow. “Are you going to sing?”

               “Obviously!” Suzuki hopped up. “I wonder if they have one of your songs on the machine.”

               “Ooh, do it!” Ai said.

               Yamato looked embarrassed. “Come on…”

               “What?” Suzuki scrolled through the song list. “Are you scared I’m gonna ruin it? I’ll let you cover one of mine?”

               “You should do a duet,” Hajime said. “Give us the collab everyone’s been waiting for!”

               Takeru nodded in agreement and Ai applauded. “Yeah!” he said. “Do that!”

               Yamato got up and walked over to the screen, picking up a microphone for himself. “Pick something we both know. One that’s in my range.”

               Suzuki kept scrolling. They had a couple of his songs, as well as a few of Yama’s, but none of them were duets. Then he spotted something. He let out a cry of excitement.

               “Yama! The Star Sailor duet! From the musical.” He grabbed Yamato’s upper arm and squeezed it insistently. “Remember? The part where Selena hears Damian join her from offstage, and then he comes down from the ceiling?” He shook Yamato’s arm for emphasis. “Let’s do this one. Please?”

               “Wait, you’ve seen the Star Sailor musical?” Ryuu asked with a smirk.

               Yamato blushed. “It’s good,” he muttered. To Suzuki, he said, “You really want to do this one? It’s kind of…”

               “I know all the words,” Suzuki said proudly. “I could sing it without looking at the screen.”

               Yamato still looked hesitant. An upsetting thought reared its ugly head. Suzuki remembered the discussion in the anti-café, about their Star Sailor cosplay. I stg Suzuki drags Yamato into his weird interests all the time. Suzuki’s heart sank. What if Yama really was only going along with it to humor him? Liking a sparkly and romantic mahou shojo wasn’t Yamato’s style. And he probably hadn’t wanted to broadcast any interest in it.

               “Um, we don’t have to,” Suzuki said. He reached out to scroll down the list again. “There’s probably another song we can both sing in here.”

               “No,” Yamato blurted, color still high in his cheeks. “I want to do this one.”

               “Are you sure?”

               Yamato nodded. “You can have Selena’s part. The notes are too high for me.”

               Relief washed over Suzuki. He might be humoring you again, a mean voice whispered in the back of his head. He tried to ignore it. As long as he got to sing with Yamato, he didn’t really care. He pressed play.

               They might have been in a random karaoke room, surrounded by classmates, but Suzuki poured his heart into the performance. He loved the Star Sailor musical. He thought it was hopelessly romantic. Especially the part where Damian appeared. Suzuki started the duet and Yamato jumped in after a few bars. His voice was perfect for the song. It was like he really was Damian.

               If Yamato had seemed uncomfortable before, he had shaken it off. He sang with confidence, turning to face Suzuki and holding out his hand. A thrill went through Suzuki as he took it. Yamato even twirled him under his arm. They could have been onstage. Suzuki had no trouble imagining Yamato in the top hat and mask (seeing as he’d worn the costume before). He also had no trouble seeing why Yamato’s fans left strings of hearts in the comments on his selfie posts.

               Suzuki was starting to feel lightheaded. It might’ve been because the room was hot, or all his breath was going into the duet, but at the same time, he knew that wasn’t the real reason. Yamato drew him in a step closer. They were reaching the end of the song.

               In the musical, Selena and Damian ended their duet by putting their foreheads together, eyes closed. Then, just before the stage lights dimmed, they would kiss. It was cheated, covered by strategic hand placement, but Suzuki squealed every time. Now, as his head came to rest against Yamato’s, he had a crazy idea.

               What if Yamato kissed him?

               Suzuki’s heart started to pound. Yamato’s face was so close to his. It would take just a tiny movement for their lips to touch. Even though the actors usually closed their eyes, Yamato was looking straight at him, and Suzuki couldn’t tear his gaze away. He’d forgotten everyone in the room. They might as well have been alone.

               Then, the last note of the song faded. Yamato stepped back. Suzuki released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Yamato’s hand was still in his. Suzuki was shaking. All around them, the other third-years applauded. Someone whistled.

               Suzuki came back to himself just in time. He raised his and Yama’s hands between them and swept into a low bow. “Thank you, thank you,” he said. “We’ll be here all week.”

               “You guys were great!” Tokiya said. “It was just like seeing the actual musical. Right, Ryuu?”

               Ryuu shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’ve never watched Star Sailor live.”

               “Oh really? Then what was that about telling Kurou how much you liked the actress that played Queen Pyrite?”

               Ryuu’s mouth opened and shut indignantly. He turned away to hide the blush that had spread across his face. “Shut up, Tokiya.”

               Yamato insisted on walking Suzuki home. None of their fans appeared, so it was an uneventful journey, but Suzuki’s heart hadn’t stopped racing. Yamato was at his side, keeping pace and chatting about his plans for a new song. Suzuki only half-registered the words he was saying. The rest of his mind was occupied with the ups and downs of his voice, his smile, the way the streetlights made his hair glow.

               Suzuki remembered how Yamato had held his hand earlier and while they were shopping and wished Yamato would do it again. It had felt nice. He was tempted to bridge the distance between them, to reach out and mesh their fingers. Suzuki put his hands in his pockets instead.

               Could friends hold hands whenever? He didn’t think there was anything weird about it, but most of the people he saw holding hands were couples. He could ask Yamato, but that seemed awkward. Why was he even getting the urge to hold hands in the first place?

               “Suzuki?” Yamato had somehow ended up behind him. His brow was furrowed in concern. “Isn’t this your place?”

               Suzuki looked back. He’d kept walking past his house. “Oh,” he said, grinning sheepishly. “Sorry, I was distracted. Thinking about stuff.” He jogged back.

               “You’re such an airhead,” Yamato said warmly. He ground his knuckles against the sides of Suzuki’s head, not hard enough to hurt. “What would you do without me?”

               Suzuki laughed, swatting Yamato’s hands away. “Mean! That’s it, we’re rivals now.”

               Yamato smirked. “I couldn’t be your rival. I’d crush you, and I don’t have the heart to do that. It’d be like kicking a puppy.”

               “Woof!” Suzuki’s chest grew arm as Yamato burst into a fit of giggles.

               Yamato took off his cap and mussed his hair. “Go on, your mom’s probably worried you got kidnapped by a crazy fan.”

               “Text me when you get home,” Suzuki said.

               “Will do. See you at school.”

               Suzuki watched Yamato go until he vanished around a street corner.

               Yamato texted him about twenty minutes later to let him know he’d arrived home safely. Suzuki tried to do his homework, but his thoughts were a jumble. He couldn’t concentrate. After an hour of struggling, he took a bath and changed for bed. If he couldn’t do his homework, he’d go to sleep now and wake up early to finish. And yet…

               Suzuki lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. What had happened tonight was different from how things usually went between him and Yamato. He remembered the light, fluttery feeling in his chest when Yamato had held his hand, and how it had doubled when their foreheads were together. He remembered looking into Yamato’s eyes as they’d sung the Star Sailor duet at the karaoke place.

               Friends didn’t react that way. Suzuki knew that. A friend didn’t set your heart racing just by touching you. They didn’t spawn butterflies in your stomach. Suzuki was starting to tremble just thinking about it. Heat burned up his neck to his ears.

               If he was being honest with himself, he had imagined kissing Yamato before. It was impossible not to. There was a whole legion of fans who thought they should be a couple. Suzuki had never missed an opportunity to please them. He thought it was actually rather sweet. Yamato had laughed at first, but in general had approached the whole thing with good humor. With that sort of thing going on, it was hard not to imagine what it might be like if they actually were together.

               Yamato seemed like he’d be a good kisser. He’d probably kissed lots of girls. Had he ever kissed another boy before? Probably not. Suzuki touched his lips. He had faked kisses with girls for MVs, but had never done it seriously. Yamato might laugh at his inexperience.

               But he might also smile as he kissed him. He might hold Suzuki to him in a firm embrace, stroking his hair. He might also push Suzuki against a wall and kiss him fiercely, channeling the energy of his music into Suzuki until they were both breathless.

               Suzuki opened his eyes. He hadn’t realized he’d closed them. He took a deep breath in, then let it out. His imagination usually didn’t go that far. Suzuki felt a little uncomfortable. It was probably wrong for him to think of Yamato like that, but now that he’d started he couldn’t stop.

               He pictured being able to hold hands with Yamato all the time, not just in a crowd, kisses before class, cuddling with each other while they watched movies… His heart surged. The thought of being with Yamato as more than a friend had made him so happy he couldn’t want anything else.

               Suzuki wasn’t stupid. Maybe somewhat naive at times, but not stupid. He knew what he was experiencing. He loved Yamato. He had been loving Yamato for a long time now. Why shouldn’t he? Yamato was so artistic and brilliant and kind. It was just now occurring to him that his feelings ran over the edges of platonic affection into something else.

               At the same time, Suzuki knew he couldn’t tell him. Yamato couldn’t possibly return his feelings. Even if he did, they couldn’t date without it being plastered over every magazine cover and celebrity news website. He thought of the message boards on the anti-Suzuki site. Those people would riot if Suzuki even hinted at the idea of loving Yamato. They might even go so far as to threaten him. And, worst of all, what if they were right? What if Yamato was only his friend because he had to be?

               Suzuki didn’t want to believe it. He refused to. But the seeds of doubt had been sown. If he confessed to Yamato, and what those people online said was true, then he’d just humiliate himself. They’d never be able to hang out again. Suzuki feared that the most. He’d rather hold these feelings inside rather than run the risk of losing Yamato’s friendship.

               He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. If he stayed like this long enough, maybe he would smother himself and never have to think of it again. He lifted his head eventually. It got too uncomfortable.

               “I’ll just keep going like everything’s the same,” Suzuki said out loud. “He’ll never find out and we’ll keep being friends. I won’t have to give him up.”

               Still, the resolution filled him with pain. He would never have that relationship with Yamato. It wasn’t going to be easy. Yamato would only have to touch him to send ripples of longing through Suzuki. He would have to train himself not to react, not to reciprocate where it wasn’t wanted.

               He got up and found his MP3 player in his backpack. He put his earbuds in. Suzuki had every single album Yamato had released. He started with the first one, for nostalgia’s sake. As he listened, he imagined Yamato was singing just for him.

               Pretending everything was normal was a lot harder than Suzuki realized. Yamato was everywhere. They were in class together all day, ate together during lunch, and even hung out after school. Suzuki didn’t want to stop hanging out with him; that would just make Yamato suspicious. But it was getting more and more difficult to focus on history and science when they studied together.

               They were at Yamato’s apartment that afternoon. Yamato lived alone, which Suzuki used to think was a good thing, since there was no one to bother them if they decided to stay up all night watching anime. Now, he desperately wished there was someone to ward away his thoughts of kissing Yamato.

               Yamato ran his fingers through his hair. He looked frustrated. “I’m not getting it,” he said. “What about you?”

               Suzuki shook his head. He hadn’t even been trying. The whole study session was turning out to be counterproductive. How do people with crushes survive?

               “Do you want to take a break and play Mario Kart?”

               Suzuki shoved his notebook aside. “Absolutely.”

               Hopefully, a game would keep his mind off of contemplating the feel of Yamato’s lips against his. He settled into Yamato’s couch, controller in hand. They weren’t competitive with each other in any area except Mario Kart. Soon, he’d want to strangle Yamato instead of make-out with him.

               The plan worked, for a little while. Suzuki got swept up in the races, he and Yamato resorting to cheating by bumping into each other in real life and trying to wrestle the controllers out of each other’s hands. It was just like how things had been before. Suzuki relaxed.

               However, things took a turn when Yamato hit him with a shell, right before Suzuki was about to win Rainbow Road. Bowser dashed across the finish line while Princess Peach was still spinning out. Suzuki threw down his controller and started pummeling Yamato lightly with his fists.

               “I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!”

               “I’m just playing the game,” Yamato laughed.

               “That was my win, you cheater!”

               “Shells are a part of the game. You hit me with a blue shell a couple tracks ago. How is this any different?” Yamato grabbed Suzuki’s wrists. “You still got second place.”

               “I should’ve been first,” Suzuki said. “I did the shortcut and everything.” He struggled against Yamato’s hold. “Let me go. I’m not done beating you up.”

               Yamato pushed him backwards, pinning him to the couch. He hovered over Suzuki. “Oh yeah? I’d like to see you try. When you were hitting me, it felt like being stung by a mosquito.”

               Suzuki went red. He tried to break free, but Yamato was strong. He went redder as he became more aware of their position. What was this, a scene out of a shojo manga?

               “Okay, okay,” he said hastily. “You win. Fair and square. Can you get off me?”

               Yamato let go. He leaned back. Suzuki lay there for a second longer, trying to catch his breath. Had he actually been wanting Yamato to kiss him like that? To just lean down and…

               Suzuki shook his head. He had to get out of here before he did something stupid. He sat up. “Um, I should probably head home. I promised Mom I’d eat dinner with her tonight. She says she barely gets to see me.”

               “Oh.” Yamato sounded disappointed. “It’s still early.”

               Suzuki coughed. “Yeah. I said I’d help her cook, too.”

               “Alright. I’ll walk you.” Yamato started to get up.

               “Ah, no thanks!” Suzuki squeaked. He winced at the sound of his own voice. What was wrong with him? “I can make it on my own. I have my disguise and everything.”

               “Are you sure?”

               Suzuki nodded. He gathered his notebook and school things as quickly as possible. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow! Good luck on the physics homework.”

               Yamato followed him to the door. “Text me when you get home?”

               “Sure!” Suzuki chirped (too brightly, he realized). Then, before he could embarrass himself any further, he rushed out the door.

               Suzuki made good on his word to help his mother make dinner. She’d been surprised to see him home so early, but glad to spend time with him as well. Suzuki’s schedule was so hectic that they rarely ate dinner together, let alone cooked together. He wasn’t as good as Souma in the kitchen, but he managed.

               A part of him wanted to tell her about Yamato. He had a good opportunity to when she asked how he was doing. In the end, he said Yamato was doing fine and left it at that. He didn’t want to bother his mom with that kind of thing. (Truth be told, he was embarrassed to mention having a crush in the first place.)

               After dinner, he holed himself up in his room. Suzuki knew it was the last thing he needed right now, but he logged back onto the anti-café. No one had banned him yet. Suzuki hadn’t commented since that first time, so they’d probably forgotten he was there.

               It was full of the usual hatred and vitriol. Suzuki picked a thread railing against his and Yamato’s relationship. He scrolled through it for a while, his heart sinking lower and lower until it reached the Earth’s core. They despised the idea of him and Yamato together, whether they were friends or dating.

               It can never happen, Suzuki thought. His fans might turn on him.

               Suzuki finally closed the thread. Then, because he had no one else to turn to, he texted Jae. Jae was currently in South Korea, visiting family and the other members of his group. Suzuki hoped he wasn’t too busy.

               Hey sunbae, Suzuki wrote, do you ever get hate comments?

               It didn’t take long for Jae to text back. oh totally. happens all the time.

               How do you deal with them?

               i try to ignore it. block out the haters

               It was good advice. A no-brainer, honestly, if only Suzuki could follow it. have you ever found a whole site that hates you? an anti café?

               man don’t tell me you have one of those. you’re a ray of sunshine! how could anyone make a whole anti-café devoted to you?

               Idk either. It’s really been getting me down. What should I do?

               Jae spent a long time typing. Suzuki watched the little ellipses dance while he waited. Eventually, Jae wrote back, you can always block the site or their comments. it’s nothing to be ashamed of. you don’t owe them anything tbh. if they’re not actually sending you constructive criticism, if all they’re doing is trying to tear you down, then kick ‘em to the curb ㅋㅋㅋ seriously tho, don’t read that stuff. it breaks my heart that anyone could be so mean to my hoobae

               T^T you’re the best jae-sunbae, Suzuki replied.

               i try 😉 is there anything else i can help with?

               Suzuki hesitated. He could trust Jae with anything. But could he trust him with this? Maybe if he was vague, Jae wouldn’t realize who Suzuki was talking about. He took a deep breath and wrote, yeah. Have you ever had a crush on someone who’s like, your friend?

               are we talking about yama?

               Suzuki nearly dropped his phone. He typed a response with trembling fingers. Haha nooooooo where did you get that idea? I’m talking hypothetically.

               sure, ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), Jae replied. so in this hypothetical situation, is the crusher a j-idol and the crushee a rockstar?

               (^◇^；) no…

               suzuki literally everyone on the planet thinks you guys are dating. even my mom thinks so.

               Suzuki huffed. That doesn’t make it true! he typed. Answer my question: did you ever have a crush on a friend, yes/no?

               Again, it took a while for Jae to reply. yep! didn’t work out but hey! it was someone else in the music scene. you know how it is. not that you should get discouraged! you and yamato would be super cute together.

               Suzuki blushed. He thought for a while about what he should say. He typed out, do you really think so? what if a lot of people got mad?

               you shouldn’t care about what other people think. it’s your personal life.

               What if, hypothetically, it’s just one-sided and I ruin our whole friendship?

               i doubt it would ruin your friendship, Jae wrote. i’m 99.9% sure yama likes you. have you seen how he looks in your selfies? heart eyes <3

               Suzuki’s blush deepened. No way. Jae was just trying to make him feel better. Then again, the duet in the karaoke room gave him a sliver of hope. But that was a performance. They were acting like Damian and Selena.

               What about the other 1%? Suzuki wrote.

               you doubt my judgment?? look, even if he doesn’t feel that way about you, your friendship won’t tank just because of a little crush. not if it’s real and i think it is.

               Okay. Thanks again, sunbae <3 I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing.

               anytime! it’s good to be home, but i miss everyone over there TT take care of yourself!

               Suzuki locked his phone screen and lay down. Talking to Jae had helped, but he still couldn’t bring himself to confess to Yamato. He didn’t understand how Jae could be so confident when his own crush hadn’t worked out. He knew just as well as Suzuki how hard it was for idols to date normally.

               Even if Yamato liked me back, I’d get flayed alive. Probably by my manager, too. His manager still hadn’t given him the green light on the vacation. Suzuki was starting to think that was her way of saying no. It might be better if he didn’t go. Hawai’i was a romantic place, right? What if Suzuki got carried away and blurted his feelings? It would defeat the purpose of a relaxing getaway.

               I should tell Yamato I can’t come with. Suzuki would do it tomorrow, at school. He’d rip the band-aid off, so to speak, and get it over with. Hopefully Yamato wouldn’t be too disappointed.

               Suzuki didn’t get a chance to tell Yamato the next day, because Yamato was suddenly super busy. He was on the phone with someone before class started, and he spent every break scribbling in his notebook. He disappeared during lunch before Suzuki could even ask if they were going to eat together. It wasn’t that strange, really. 3-A was full of students with irregular schedules. For example, Takahiro had taken off for some part-time job earlier.

               However, Yamato wasn’t there the next day either, so Suzuki couldn’t tell him then, either. And then Suzuki had to skip a day to spend it in a recording studio. He considered texting Yamato about it, but he would rather tell him in person. It seemed a bit too important not to discuss face-to-face.

               Suzuki finally got a chance when he and Yamato both arrived late in the school day. He guessed Yamato must have been recording something as well. He was dressed down from his usual leather jacket and had left out a few piercings. He only did that when he had an early morning session.

               “Are you free to walk home today, Yama?” Suzuki asked as they jogged up the stairs to 3-A. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

               “Today’s no good.”

               “What about tomorrow morning?”

               Yamato shook his head. “Busy. Sorry.”

               Suzuki paused. “What’s going on? Are you prepping a new release?”

               Yamato didn’t answer. He just kept going. Suzuki stared at his retreating back. What was the big secret? Yamato usually shared any and all details about his projects. He’d been talking about a new song after karaoke. Were the two related, or was this another thing altogether?

               What if I made him uncomfortable? Suzuki thought, gripped by terror. Or what if Jae was trying to be helpful and told him I have a crush on him? He knew he was jumping to conclusions. Yamato was busy; that was all. Even so, he felt nervous. Why hadn’t Yamato answered him?

               Suzuki investigated Yamato’s fansites. He wasn’t making special appearances anywhere. There were no concert announcements. Not even a rumor of an album release. So what was he doing? He hadn’t walked home with Suzuki or asked him over for a while. They didn’t even have lunch together anymore.

               A sick, heavy dread settled in Suzuki’s stomach as he logged onto the anti-café. It got worse. The café was overjoyed.

               No suzuyama sightings lately! He finally dropped him!

               Heard rumors from school that they’re split up.

               Maybe S*zuki will take a hint and stop clinging to Yamato like a puppy

               It’d be like kicking a puppy. Suzuki’s mouth went dry. He tossed his phone into his backpack. Did Yamato really see him as a dog, stupidly following him everywhere? He’d played along with the joke that time, but now it stung.

               “Romantic troubles?”

               Suzuki jumped a foot. Ai was standing right behind him, his quiver slung across his back. He didn’t wait for an invitation to take the empty seat next to Suzuki. Suzuki had thought he’d been alone in this courtyard, but Ai must have had a tracking device implanted in every boy in school.

               “I’m not having romantic troubles,” Suzuki lied.

               Ai smiled skeptically. “It’s about Yamato, isn’t it?”

               Am I really that obvious? Suzuki’s shoulders sagged. “Not you, too.”

               “What, is it a secret? Even that nice girl at the café knows.”

               Suzuki put his face in his hands. If everyone knew then how could Yamato not? He’s avoiding me, since he realized I’m bad for his image.

               Ai patted his knee. “Cheer up! You could do a lot worse than Yamato.”

               “Not if he hates me!”

               “Why do you think he hates you?”

               “He’s been avoiding me,” Suzuki said. “At first, I thought he was working on something, but he wouldn’t tell me anything about it. And don’t say he’s throwing me a surprise party. My birthday isn’t coming up.”

               “Hmm, that’s tricky.” Ai rubbed his chin. “He usually shares all his projects with you, right? Maybe he’s seeing someone else?”

               Suzuki went cold. He hadn’t considered that possibility. Had Yamato started dating and not told him? No, that couldn’t be. Someone would’ve snapped a picture or started a rumor by now, and the fansites were quiet.

               “No.” He shook his head. “He would’ve told me for sure.”

               Ai shrugged. “Then he’s probably busy. You shouldn’t get too worked up, Suzuki. Guys like him sometimes have trouble communicating their feelings. He might be focusing so hard that he hasn’t had time to tell you about it. Kurou does the same thing. He gets tunnel-vision when he’s working on a play.”

               It made Suzuki feel a little better, but it didn’t inspire confidence. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Yamato was purposefully ducking him.

               “Anyway, I’m meeting Sousuke for an archery showdown,” Ai said, standing up. “He’s going to regret challenging me. Are you going to be okay?”

               Suzuki nodded. “Thanks for the advice, Ai. Good luck.”

               Ai shot him a thumbs-up before he left. Suzuki remained where he was. He didn’t know how long he sat in the courtyard, staring at the flowerbeds. His phone buzzed, snapping him out of it.

               It was Yamato. Suzuki had been expecting his manager. His heart thumped rapidly. He opened the message. Hey Suzuki, can you come to the music room?

               He was torn. Should he go? Yamato had asked him, but what if it was just to say that they shouldn’t hang out anymore. Or worse, that he didn’t return Suzuki’s feelings, which were apparently so obvious that they could be seen from space? Eventually, Suzuki gathered his courage and went to the music room.

               School had finished for the day, so the music room was deserted, except for Yamato and Suzuki. It was quiet. All the clubs were meeting on the other side of Ikemen. Yamato was leaning against the piano, fiddling something. When Suzuki got closer, he realized it was his MP3 player.

               “Hey,” Yamato said. He sounded nervous. “Sorry for ghosting you. I was working on an important project.”

               A bit of relief crept into Suzuki’s veins. “Really? Why didn’t you just say so?”

               Yamato blushed. “Well, uh, it was kind of a surprise. I didn’t know whether it would work out. I, um… here.” He held out the MP3 player. “Listen.”

               Suzuki took it. He put an earbud in. There was only one track on the device, untitled. He hit play. A second later, the sound of Yamato’s voice filled his ears. Yamato’s singing voice was wonderful and familiar, but the backing track didn’t sound like his style at all. It sounded more like Suzuki’s music than his, though there was a hint of Yamato there, too. The more Suzuki listened, the more it grew on him. The lyrics were about stars burning bright for centuries, their light stretching across galaxies long after their death, and gazing at the same sky as someone you loved. A lump formed in his throat.

               “What do you think?” Yamato asked when Suzuki finished.

               “Amazing, like always,” Suzuki said. “Is this going to be on your next album?”

               “Actually…” Yamato scuffed the floor. “I was thinking it could be on yours. I wrote it for you to sing, if you want it. I figured it was the least I could do, after you made me that mixtape for my birthday.”

               Suzuki couldn’t believe it. Yamato had written him a song. Not just one to listen to, but one to sing. The lump in his throat got bigger. “W-what’s the occasion?” he asked, his voice trembling.

               “No reason. I just wanted to do something special, I guess. Do you like it?”

               Suzuki nodded vigorously. He couldn’t speak. Before he could stop himself, tears began to flow down his cheeks. I’m so dumb. I thought he was ditching me this whole time, and he was working on a song. For me. He covered his face, but it didn’t stop the noise from escaping. It was like a dam had burst; all of Suzuki’s feelings rushed out in one go.

               “What are you crying for?” Yamato asked, gently removing Suzuki’s hands from his face.

               Suzuki hiccupped. He was so embarrassed. He hadn’t meant to cry. “I…” he tried to say. “I was afraid you were tired of me.”

               Yamato sighed. “I’m not tired of you, Suzu. Have you been paying attention to what those losers online are saying? I told you they’re full of it. Come here.”

               He folded Suzuki into his arms. Suzuki let out another involuntary sob. He buried his face in Yamato’s shoulder. It was sturdy and strong. His t-shirt was soft. Yamato alternated between patting his back and rubbing circles.

               Eventually, Suzuki cried himself out. He stepped back. Yamato let him go, but he kept his hands on Suzuki’s arms. He was looking at him with concern.

               “Are you okay?”

               Suzuki nodded and sniffed. “I’ll be fine. I didn’t want it to get to me, but I guess…”

               “They’re just bitter and pathetic people who have nothing better to do with their time.” Yamato gathered Suzuki’s hands and held them against his chest. “They’re not real. This is. And any fan of mine who talks that way about you isn’t a real fan. If they can’t love you as much as I do, then that’s their problem.”

               Suzuki blinked. He wanted to wipe away a few stray tears, but he didn’t want Yamato to let go of him. “You love me?” he asked, half-stunned.

               The realization seemed to come over Yamato at the exact same moment. A blush covered his cheeks. “Did I say that?”

               “You did.”

               “Well… I mean, of course I do. You’re my best friend.” To Suzuki’s dismay, Yamato dropped his hands. He ran his fingers through his hair, disturbing the spikes. “I thought you already knew that.”

               “I do now.” Suzuki smiled, trying to mask his disappointment. I shouldn’t be disappointed at all. Yamato’s friendship is super important to me, too. “I love you, too.”

               Yamato blushed deeper. “Alright, alright. Let’s not get carried away.”

               Suzuki laughed. This was good. He knew now that Yamato wasn’t going to abandon him. They were still friends. They could continue performing together at school. It would be fun. At least I had a chance to say it to him out loud, even if he doesn’t know how much I really mean it.

               Suzuki blocked the anti-café. He had to stop using it to punish himself. Besides, he couldn’t forgive them for leading him to believe Yamato didn’t care about him. He made sure to delete his account too, just in case the urge overpowered him, and he lifted the block.

               It’s been fun, he thought. He instantly felt better. Things returned to normal. Suzuki approached his manager with Yamato’s song. He leaned heavily on the idea of marketing it as a collaboration and watched as the yen signs appeared in her eyes. After that, she shocked him by giving him permission to go to Hawai’i.

               “If the song does well, we’ll find time for a vacation,” she promised. “I couldn’t answer you before, since there was a lot up in the air, but you deserve some time off.”

               “And I can go with Yamato?”

               “If your schedules line up, I don’t see why not.”

               The next morning, he told Yamato by throwing himself into his arms and shouting, “We’re going to Hawai’i!”

               “Your manager said yes?” Yamato said, brightening.

               Suzuki nodded. “She said that if the collab works out, then I can go with you. As long as we’re free at the same time. Hawai’i, Yama! Hawai’i!”

               Yamato actually swung him around the classroom but stopped short when their homeroom teacher gave them a death-glare. Suzuki let go and jumped back.

               “Oops. Sorry, sensei.”

               “You’d better concentrate on passing your exams before talking about Hawai’i,” the teacher warned. “And don’t do that again. You could’ve knocked over the desks.”

               It didn’t bring Suzuki’s mood down at all. He was walking on air. Later, when his and Yama’s managers called about some kind of music industry party, he agreed to go without hesitation. Yamato was a little more reluctant, but he caved when Suzuki said they could go together.

               All in all, life was good. Suzuki still wanted to kiss Yamato. He still wanted to hug him as tightly as possible and tell him how he felt, but he couldn’t bear to mess everything up. Why sabotage a good thing? Yamato clearly only thought of him as a friend.

               And that was fine. Everything was fine.

               Suzuki enjoyed getting dressed up for public appearances. Yamato didn’t. He always looked uncomfortable in suits. Uncomfortable, yet handsome. Suzuki’s heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest.

               “I hate ties,” Yamato muttered, playing with the end of his.

               “Then don’t wear one,” Suzuki said. He stepped forward and undid the knot. “It’s a formal party, but no one will care. See, I think you look just fine without it. Undo a couple buttons, and voila! Rock superstar Yamato is red carpet ready!”

               Suzuki might have been mistaken, but Yamato appeared flustered. He turned towards the limousine their managers had arranged to drive them to the event and held open the door for Suzuki.

               “After you,” he said.

               It was after sunset and traffic was bad. Suzuki checked the time. Unless they learned how to teleport, they were going to be late. Oh well, in that case they’d make an even more striking entrance. Suzuki stretched out, putting his feet up on the seat. They were barely moving.

               Yamato, meanwhile, was reading something on his phone. Suzuki didn’t know what it was, but it appeared to be irritating him. He kept frowning. Finally,          Yamato tossed the phone into the corner and folded his arms. He huffed, a deep furrow forming between his eyebrows. Suzuki was torn between laughing at his grumpiness and wanting to comfort him.

               “What’s up, Yama-kun?” Suzuki asked.

               “Oh, it’s…” He stopped, turning pink. “It’s stupid.”

               “You did something stupid?” Suzuki knew he sounded a bit too eager, but he couldn’t help it. He was dying to know.

               Yamato rolled his eyes. “Yes, actually.”

               “Are you going to tell me about it or am I going to have to tickle you for information?” Suzuki wiggled his fingers to demonstrate.

               “Don’t!” Yamato pulled his legs up onto the seat, as if to shield himself from Suzuki’s attack. “Jesus, Suzuki we’re in public.”

               “No, we’re not. The windows are tinted and the partition’s up. Now tell me what made you so mad.”

               Yamato relaxed. He retrieved his phone—which was undamaged—and passed it to Suzuki. Suzuki’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing: an anti-Yamato fansite. For a few seconds, he just stared at it. Then he began to actually process the words he was looking at.

               Yamato’s style totally clashes with Suzuki’s. Don’t know why they’re friends.

               Do u remember when he was talking about how “””fake””” Zuzu is? He said in a press conference that ur not a real artist if u don’t write and produce ur own songs. What a snob. Did he ever apologize for that?

               Suzuki laughed out loud. He glanced at Yamato. “They have a point. Did you ever apologize to me?”

               “It’s not funny.”

               “It is!” Suzuki kept scrolling. “This whole time you were telling me not to pay attention to the haters and you didn’t even follow your own advice. Aww, Yama, don’t feel bad. Wait a minute.”

               There was a new reply to one of the comments by a user named, “st4rpower826.”

               Do you guys ever get tired of talking trash behind the safety of your computer screens? Why don’t you say this stuff to Suzuki’s face and see how he takes it. Last I heard, he and Yamato were still really close. He doesn’t get mad until you insult his friends. If you actually cared about him, you wouldn’t do this.

               It had a bunch of negative replies. Suzuki looked at Yamato again. Yamato was chewing on his lip.

               “Is this you?” Suzuki asked, pointing at the screen.

               “That could be anyone.”

               “It’s you! You made an account!” Suzuki grabbed Yamato’s shoulder and shook it. He was laughing uncontrollably now. “You made an account so you could fight with them! Oh my God. That’s my birthday in your username!”

               Yamato’s ears were growing steadily redder. “You have to make an account to read the message boards,” he muttered. “You know that. Someone was going to come along and tell them off eventually. Might as well be me.”

               “How did you get that username? That’s, like, a prime fandom username. When I went on the anti-Suzuki boards, YamaFan#1 was taken.”

               “No one else spelled with a four for the A.”

               Suzuki was still giggling. He continued scrolling. “How long did you have this?”

               “I went searching for one about me the same night you went on yours. I was curious.” Yamato smiled sheepishly. “I could take all the garbage they spewed about me but when they started throwing you into the mix, I got really upset. So I fought back. Didn’t do much good though.”

               “These people say we’re so different, but we actually have lots in common, huh?”

               “Yeah…”

               “Oh, here’s a familiar one: ‘Suzuki is friends with Yamato for fanservice. Yamato wouldn’t be as popular if people didn’t think he was gay for Suzuki.’ People were saying the same stuff on my anti-site.”

               Yamato’s blush had spread down his neck. “They’re crazy.”

               “I know.” Suzuki turned the screen off. “You shouldn’t get into fights with people online, even if they are being jerks. We know the truth.”

               Yamato nodded. He rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, it was really stupid, but I started to get scared that they might be right. Just for a second. Seeing all that old stuff I said made me wonder if you were still angry with me, and you were pretending not to hate me for the sake of getting along.”

               “I don’t hate you, Yama.” Suzuki kneaded Yamato’s shoulder. “I’ve always thought you were cool, even when you were criticizing me. I could never hate you. Do you wanna know why?”

               “Sure,” Yamato said, his lips quirking into a smile.

               Suzuki kissed him. His heart was pounding a mile a minute, but he had never felt more sure of anything in his life before. The hand on Yamato’s shoulder was steady. When he pulled away, Yamato was staring at him, his eyes huge.

               “It’s because I love you,” Suzuki said. And because he couldn’t help it, he winked.

               The words were barely out of his mouth before Yamato returned the kiss. It took Suzuki by surprise, almost knocking him backward. He managed to hold himself up by catching hold of Yamato’s other shoulder. The realization that Yamato was kissing him sank in about two seconds later. Suzuki’s imagination had been lacking. Actually kissing Yamato was better than anything he could’ve dreamed up.

               Yamato was holding him, one hand braced against the small of Suzuki’s back, the other cupping his chin. His mouth was soft and smooth and warm. Suzuki tasted a hint of lip balm. He leaned into the kiss, following Yamato’s movements. Then, Yamato pulled Suzuki onto his lap. Both hands slid to Suzuki’s hips.

               “Suzuki,” Yamato breathed.

               “What?”

               “I don’t want to go to this party. Do you?”

               Suzuki didn’t have to think about it. “No.”

               He gave Yamato another lingering kiss as he got off his lap, then went to knock on the partition. It rolled down about halfway. Suzuki held up a hand in apology.

               “Sorry,” he said, “but could you take us back to Yamato’s place?”

               The next morning was strange. After they’d been dropped off at Yamato’s house, he and Suzuki had spent the rest of the night watching movies and making out. When they were too tired to keep their eyes open a second longer, Yamato let Suzuki borrow a t-shirt and pair of pajama pants, and they had fallen asleep in his room.

               Suzuki woke up thinking last night had been a dream. He wasn’t surprised by coming to in Yamato’s room. (They had sleepovers all the time.) What reminded him that it was real was feeling the weight of Yamato’s arm around him. Suzuki bit back a fresh fit of giggles. He couldn’t believe it. He had kissed Yamato last night. Yamato had kissed him back.

               Yamato stirred and lifted his head. It seemed to take him a minute as well. Then he smiled. He kissed Suzuki’s cheek. “Good morning,” he said softly.

               “Good morning,” Suzuki repeated. He wondered if they could get away with staying in bed all day. Their phones had been blowing up all night, to the point where they’d set them to silent and left them in the living room.

               Yamato groped for his alarm clock. “It’s almost noon.”

               “My manager is probably going crazy right now because I didn’t show up.” He laughed at that. She was going to kill him later, but there were other things on his mind right now. “Is there anything important going on today?”

               “No. There’s just you.” Yamato nestled himself against Suzuki again.

               “We can stay in today,” Suzuki suggested. “We’ll play video games and make pancakes.”

               “And make out,” Yamato added. He stuck his tongue out and wiggled it around.

               Suzuki slapped his hand over Yamato’s mouth, laughing helplessly. “Gross! Don’t do that. You’re not a member of KISS.”

               Yamato laughed as well. He let go of Suzuki and rolled out of bed. “Come on. I’ll make you pancakes. I bought blueberries.”

The apartment complex was quiet. Everyone was either sleeping in or out. Suzuki helped Yamato get out the mixing bowl and the skillet. There were, in fact, blueberries in the fridge. (Suzuki may have helped himself to a few before putting some in the batter.) Yamato started a pot of coffee, promising Suzuki that he still had the French vanilla creamer he liked.

               While they were waiting to flip the first pancake, Suzuki decided to bring up the question that had been on his mind since he’d gotten out of bed. “So… are we boyfriends now?”

               To his credit, Yamato wasn’t caught off-guard, though he did hesitate. “I don’t know. I want to be,” he said. “Things are different for us.”

               “I’d be fine dating you in secret. Plenty of celebrities do it.”

               “Me too, but I don’t know how long we could keep it up. There’s a lot of stress involved.” Yamato did the flip. It was clean. He passed the spatula to Suzuki. “It would definitely make some of our fans happy.”

               Suzuki grinned. “Maybe that’s how we should justify it to our managers.”

               “Yikes,” Yamato said. “Honestly, I don’t want to think about it right now. I just want to eat and destroy you at Mario Kart again. We can talk about the serious stuff later.”

               “Can’t you go easy on me?” Suzuki whined. “I’m your boyfriend.”

               “What makes you think I’d go easy on you just because we’re dating now? I never let you win when we were friends and that’s not going to change now.”

               “You’re so mean.” Suzuki pulled his eyelid and stuck out his tongue. “Yama-kun’s a bad boyfriend. I’m gonna tell the whole world, so no one will steal you from me.”

               Yamato laughed. He put an arm around Suzuki’s waist and brought him in for a kiss. “No one could steal me from you,” he said when they separated. “I love you.”

               Suzuki put his head on Yamato’s shoulder. Life was good. The world might as well be limited to this small kitchen. To him and Yamato, and no one else. “Love you, too.”

[marmolita]

belonging, ch1 (kink week day 1)

Heeeeeeey there!  So I wanted to write a chaptered fic for @ffxv-kink-week​ but then I ran out of time, but then, I wanted to do it anyway, so I started writing a sequel to my other D/s-verse fic heart and soul.  If you haven’t read that one, all you need to know for this is that it’s D/s-verse, Noct is a dom, and Iggy and Gladio are his collared subs.  Once I get a bit farther along I’ll start posting to AO3, but for now, here it is on tumblr!  For the kink week day 1 prompt of authority kinks.

Title: belonging  Pairings: Noctis/Prompto, Noctis/Ignis/Gladio, eventual OT4  Rating: Explicit  Words: ~2300 Warnings: none, at least none in this chapter

Teaser: Prompto taps his phone, rewinding the clip to the beginning to play again. Bless IBC for always putting news clips online right away, because after watching the live feed of the Kingsglaive swearing-in ceremony Prompto immediately wanted to watch it again.  And again.  And again, and okay, maybe he's got one hand in his pants while he's watching it but Noct looks so good all dressed up.

"It'll be the exhibition match on Thursday afternoon, then the swearing-in ceremony Friday evening, then the banquet right after," Ignis says, thumbing through email on his phone as he pulls on his clothes. "Gladio, I assume you'll have His Highness in top form for the exhibition?"

"'Course I will. He's been training with the Glaives for the last couple weeks, right Noct?" Gladio prods Noctis with the ball of his foot, and Noctis swats him away.

Laying back on the pillows, Noctis says, "As long as I don't have to go against Nyx I'll be fine. That guy could kick Gladio's ass."

"Yes, well. I'm sure he'd let you win for show anyway," Ignis replies as he buttons up his shirt.

"I don't want to win for show -- that wouldn't help with the whole filling-in-for-my-dad in the ceremony. People already think I'm too young, or too weak, or too . . . whatever."

Ignis sits on the bed next to him, setting a hand on Noct's knee through the blanket. "Don't worry about what they think. You're going to do just fine."

"You think so?"

Ignis leans in and kisses him, soft and light. "I know so."

*

The exhibition is in the courtyard, with bleachers erected on both sides. Gladio eyes the crowd briefly, then turns to survey the arena. "Don't forget the Glaives can warp just as well as you can," he murmurs in Noct's ear. "You can't just warp out of the way and think you'll be able to hang out and catch your breath."

"Right," Noctis says, and Gladio can read his nerves in his tone of voice.

"You're fast, and you're flexible. The magic is yours, it's not borrowed. If you want to swap weapons you can probably do it faster than they can. Don't forget to watch your back, and watch your left side -- they probably know you're a little weaker there."

"Got it." Noctis is clenching and unclenching his hands, like he's ready to pull his blade from the ether, but his eyes are still darting around the crowd. Gladio steps in front of him to block his view, forcing Noctis to look up at him.

"You got this," he says. "Even if you lose, you're gonna put up a good fight and show 'em what you can do."

Noctis takes a deep breath, holds it, then lets it out. "Thanks," he says, and Gladio claps him on the shoulder.

In the middle of the arena, Drautos raises his arm and the crowd falls quiet. "Ladies, Gentlemen . . . new recruits," he says expansively, "thank you all for coming. Today we'll see a demonstration of the power of the Crystal, and the power of the Kingsglaive. His Royal Highness Prince Noctis will battle one of our fiercest warriors." Noctis takes another breath, and Gladio can see his public mask settle into place. He walks out into the arena, smiling and waving.

"Now," Drautos says, "let us see who his opponent shall be."

An assistant brings out a bowl full of scraps of paper and holds it out to Noctis, who reaches in and selects one. Noctis looks at the paper for a moment, his face carefully blank, then announces, "Nyx Ulric." Shit.

The audience bursts into applause and Nyx takes the field, grinning. Drautos backs away to the sidelines, and Noctis summons his Engine Blade in a shower of sparks. Nyx makes the first move, throwing his short blade and warping straight for Noctis. Noctis phases through the attack, then swings hard, nearly connecting before Nyx warps away again.

To a layman, what follows is just a blur of blue sparks and phase shadows, clashing blades and flying kicks. To Gladio, it's Noctis putting in his best effort and having it be just enough to keep him on his feet, barely dodging each of Nyx's attacks. Their weapons clash together a few times, but the fight is mostly a series of fast warps as the two of them flicker from one end of the arena to the other.

Noctis throws his sword up so it rams into a high post, warping to hang from it briefly, then as Nyx starts to follow him, Noctis yanks the sword from the post, lets it dissolve back into the ether, and pulls out a javelin instead. He throws, warps, executes a mid-air backflip, and dives down toward Nyx with the javelin in his hand. For a moment, Gladio's breath catches as he thinks Noctis might just pull this off.

But then, Nyx throws up a crystalline shield, and Noct's attack is blocked entirely. Before his feet hit the ground, Nyx drops the shield and swings, his blade slicing into Noct's arm.

"First blood to Ulric!" Drautos calls. Both men drop their weapons and step back, breathing hard. Gladio's heart is in his throat, waiting to see how Noctis will take his loss. But Noctis ignores the blood running down his arm and turns to Nyx with a smile. Nyx executes a perfect bow, and when he rises, Noctis extends a hand to him, which Nyx clasps firmly.

"Lucis is honored by your skill," Noctis says, loud enough to carry to the crowd. "May all the new recruits grow as strong as you."

"The honor is mine, Your Highness," Nyx replies, appropriately deferential like he never is in training.

Drautos reminds everyone of the ceremony to be held the next day, and the crowd begins to file out as a page brings a potion to heal Noct's arm. By the time Gladio gets to his side, any sign of the injury is gone.

Noctis keeps his polite smile on until they're alone in the locker room, then sinks onto the bench with a groan. "Damn it," he says, slamming his fist into his thigh, "why did it have to be Nyx?"

"Hey, that aerial attack with the javelin was quick thinking," Gladio says, tossing Noctis a towel. "You did good."

"I got my ass handed to me," Noctis grouses.

"But you did it well. Iggy's gonna be proud of you for how you handled that."

"I'm supposed to swear in the new recruits tomorrow but all they're gonna be thinking is, 'Why should we swear our allegiance to this kid?' Ugh. Remind me why Dad can't do this again?"

Gladio sighs. "His Majesty is tied up with the ambassador from Accordo. You know that."

"Ugh," Noctis says again, slamming the door to the shower stall on his way in.

*

Noctis is still fuming when he flops into his bed after dinner. Ignis and Gladio have gone home, since Noctis is too tired and cranky to be good company despite Ignis's best efforts. Spending the night alone isn't unusual -- Gladio only stays over rarely, and Ignis often prefers an earlier bedtime and can't sleep with Noctis still awake. Some day, Noctis will get a place with enough bedrooms for all of them to be comfortable, but in the meantime this works well enough.

He rolls onto his back and flings an arm over his eyes. His mind keeps replaying the fight, searching for everywhere he could have done something differently. Of course now that it's over he can easily see a hundred opportunities he missed, but it's too late now.

His phone chimes and he groans and wrestles it out of the pocket of his jeans.

Hey buddy, the text from Prompto says, saw a clip of your fight w glaive, those moves were awesome!

Noctis's face does something between a smile and a grimace. Nyx kicked my ass, he types back.

[Prompto] u kidding bro he's like the biggest war hero and ur 18 of course he did [Prompto] u looked awesome tho, flipping around and stuff [Prompto] flexible ~.~

He laughs at that, imagining the way Prompto is probably wiggling his eyebrows, and types back, lol u make it sound way sexier than it was.

The return message comes right away: ur always sexy. Noctis can't help the little thrill that runs through him; Prompto has been dropping hints that he's interested for a while now, but he always backtracks before making anything clear, leaving Noctis to wonder whether he ever really meant it at all. Speaking of which . . .

[Prompto] I mean [Prompto] the whole royal authority thing, bet it really works for you w Iggy and Gladio

Noctis types out does it work for you? but then hesitates over the send button and ends up erasing it.

[Noctis] guess so [Noctis] sometimes I just want to be me

He sighs, thinking of the royal duties waiting for him in the morning.

[Noctis] gotta do the swearing in ceremony tomorrow bc dad is busy [Noctis] rather be playing kings knight w you

[Prompto] the night is young, and your phone is already in your hand

Noctis grins and opens the app.

*

The ceremony is held in the throne room, with the recruits lined up in formation and Noctis standing in front of the throne. He holds himself tall, and nobody would know that only minutes before Ignis was adjusting the drape of his cape and fixing his tie and cufflinks while Noctis frantically repeated his speech over and over.

"On behalf of my father, the king, I welcome you all to the Kingsglaive. Today you join the ranks of Lucis's most elite warriors, and begin your service to the people and the Crown." Noctis's voice is strong, and Ignis sees a hint of his father in the tilt of his chin. He hesitates for a barely detectable moment, then says, "Are you ready to pledge your loyalty?"

As one, the recruits fall to their knees and bow their heads, a hush falling over the room as Noctis descends the stairs. He approaches the first recruit and lays his hand on the back of her head. "I give myself in service to the Crown and the Crystal," she says, "and pledge to use the power granted to me to protect the people of Lucis."

"Do you give your life to the Crown?" Noctis asks. Normally, with Regis performing the ceremony, the line would be, do you give your life to me? but Noctis had felt it would be disingenuous, and Ignis finds he rather agrees.

"I do."

His hand slides around the side of her head and cups her chin, lifting her face. "Then rise, and join the ranks of the Kingsglaive." The recruit stands, and Ignis can see the shine in her eyes as she rises. Noctis smiles at her before moving on to the next recruit. The ceremony is repeated for the whole group, Noctis receiving one oath after another, until they're all standing.

As the audience bursts into applause, Noctis ascends the stairs again. When he reaches the throne, he materializes his sword and swings it high above his head, then spins it in a flashy circle and slams the point down into the floor in front of him, in the crack left there by this very same ceremony in the past. "The Crystal welcomes you, as do the people of Lucis," he says strongly, and the newly minted Glaives cross their fists over their chests and bow.

The applause is thunderous, and when it finally starts to die down, Noctis banishes his sword and makes his way down the stairs. Ignis meets him at the bottom as the recruits and the audience begin to file out of the chamber. "Well done, Your Highness," he says.

"You think so? My sword has nothing on Dad's armiger."

"You saw the look in the recruits' eyes. They were proud to be swearing their loyalty to you."

"To my dad," Noctis corrects.

"It may have been him in intent, but it was you in practice. I remember swearing my own oath of loyalty to you, you know."

Noctis laughs. "You mean when we were kids?"

"We may have been children, but I've always taken it seriously."

Looking at him with a small smile playing at his lips, Noctis says, "Me too."

"Well then," Ignis says, "I believe the banquet is ready to begin."

*

Prompto taps his phone, rewinding the clip to the beginning to play again. Bless IBC for always putting news clips online right away, because after watching the live feed of the glaive swearing-in ceremony Prompto immediately wanted to watch it again.

And again.

And again, and okay, maybe he's got one hand in his pants while he's watching it but Noct looks so good all dressed up. Even the ridiculous cape lends him an air of authority.

Are you ready to pledge your loyalty? Noct asks in the video, and Prompto's hand tightens on his cock. There was a time when he hesitated to jerk off to photos and videos of his friend, but these days he's accepted the fact that his feelings aren't going away any time soon and he can still be a good friend to Noct despite wanting to suck down his dick until he chokes.

Do you give your life to the Crown? Noct asks, and Prompto breathes, "I do," as he jerks himself faster. The clip is almost to the end, and he bites his lip as Noct ascends the stairs, then gasps, "fuck, fuck, fuck," when Noct materializes a sword and swings it around his head. He comes as the sword slams into the ground, the camera catching the steely glint in Noct's blue eyes, the hard set of his mouth, the perfect fall of hair over his forehead. He looks like a king, and Prompto would gladly lay down his life for him.

As the clip finishes, he pushes weakly at his pants, shoving them down to keep them out of the mess. He doesn't feel guilty for jerking off to Noct, but sometimes he feels guilty for how much he likes it when Noct acts like the royalty he is, because he's still got the texts on his phone saying sometimes I just want to be me.

[huffle-dork]

Control (Part 3)

Part 2: [x]

“I don’t like you bossing us around short fry…” But a sickly grin spreads across the ink demons face, “But I can’t say that doesn’t sound like f̡̫̬̽̽͝ṳ̻̻̍̈́͋ň̰̱͇͌͠!”

Unreal waves her hand and the fog separating Huffle from her trance and “reality” dissipates just enough that Huffle can now see that Juri is the one drowning her. Huffle sobs and fights more, looking heartbroken up at her friend but she can’t cry past the ink filling her mouth.

Unreal whispers into a little ball of ink in her hand and her voice echoes in between Juri and Huffle in their struggle.

“See where silly friendships get you, Lauren? They’ll always betray you in the end. Every single friend you ever had and ever will have will f̡͈̦̈̓̓ả̤̝͌̒ͅi͇̘͙̎̄͝l̛̝̼̎̕ͅ ̤̥͓̌̌͘y̪͎̪̾͛͠ơ̬͍͍̽̍ŭ̙̳̙̄́ ̤̺̬̎̊̚ą̩̦̈́̅͂ń͎̜͙̔͑ḏ͕͚̈́̾̕ ͕̟̀̏͛͜l̤͉̩͆͌̕ę̛̯̭̓͐ả͓̹̻̍̄v̧̖̮͛̐͝e̤̜͈͒̂̀ ̨̮̲͛̓̚y̰͓̝̏͑͘ọ̗̀̉͜͠u͙̤̥̾̍̌ ̢̘̣͗͗̅ó̘̱͚̐͆ú̫̱̣͆͠t̘̗̯̐̌̊ ̨̖̻̃́̚t̰̘̜̄̾̈o̖̭̘̍̇̈́ ̥͖͕́̑̆r̠̟͇̈́͋͋ȍ̰͉̹͐͊ẗ̯̩̠́͋̿.̟̥̓̂͘͜”

Juri clenches her teeth as more tears stream down her face. She was going to be haunted by Huffle’s heartbroken gaze for a long time after this.

Ouros approached from behind Juri to say, “I thought I said to hold her down.” Gravity increased on Juri’s hands and she slammed Huffle’s shoulders into the ground and held her there with a sob.

She couldn’t move at all now with gravity pressing down on her. Ouros knelt down next to Juri and looked down into Huffle’s face. “I’ve never seen someone drown before. What a wonderful experience,” Ouros commented while leaning her chin into her palm and settling in to watch Huffle.

Anibase laughed and sat down to watch, the sound bouncing rapidly between ears at a painful pace. She figured that if her friends were anything like TeFA, they would surely be suffering by now. Any minute their will will surely break like a twig.

Huffle was sobbing and her world was falling apart. Unreal moved her hands and more inky shifting shapes started to move behind Juri and Ouros. To Huffle, they looked like anyone she ever cared about helping Juri to push her further and further. She choked, the ink from her mouth producing bubbles just like if she was underwater as the illusion took its toll. Huffle weakly grabbed onto Juri’s arm as she convulsed, her body convinced that this was it. Her tears started to run black, ink pouring out of her eyes as she spasmed, the last of her “air” running out. Huffle’s head lulled to the side, lifeless looking, as her eyes turned completely black and ink pooled onto the floor.

Unreal grinned and chuckled evilly at the sight. What a great bunch of chaos. Then suddenly she jolted and gripped her chest, cursing slightly as she winced.

Juri screamed as Huffle “died” but gravity increased around her throat and she choked before Ouros released it and let her breath again. “That went quicker than I thought,” Ouros commented. She nudged Huffle’s head with no reaction and stood.

“Guess that just leaves one left,” Ouros said while staring back at a glaring Juri. Ouros snorted, “Defiant until the end.”

Tracing a finger down her inner arm Ouros released Niy and Gary who circled around a stubbornly glaring Juri. With a lunge Niy sank her fangs into Juri’s shoulder. Juri jerked back but didn’t get far as Niy wrapped her in powerful coils and began squeezing her.

Anibase watched in a proud manner. ‘VGhleSdyZSBsZWFybmluZyBhbHJlYWR5Li4u ((They're learning already…))’ Anibase thought to herself, then she clapped in complete giddiness. She kicked TeFA’s destroyed corpse next to Huffle’s so they can get a good look at the two of them. Plus, who knows? It might destroy Juri a bit too.

Unreal coughed and gripped her chest further, “shit-!” She winced and hit her head slightly, like she was trying to shake something loose. “Lauren doesn’t do well with nightmares, she’s trying to wake up!” She gritted her teeth and cursed her host, “Why can’t she just take this and stay quiet?!” Huffle’s body in the dreamscape gave no sign of movement though. Unreal tried to focus so she could see that annoying little Juri break.

Juri’s leg spasmed in Niy’s grip and hit Gary in the head. With an affronted hissed he lashed out to and opening in Niy’s grip and sunk his fangs into Juri’s neck. Gurgling in pain Juri spasmed in what she thought were death throes before her vision went dark.

Once Juri went still Ouros waved Niy and Gary back to her side. “That will only keep her down for a little bit,” Ouros warned. She turned to observe Unreal struggle with her creator.

Anibase walked over closer to Unreal and looked into her eyes again. “WW91IG5lZWQgdG8gYmUgc3Ryb25nIHRvbyBJbmt5Li4uIElmIHlvdSBjYW4ndCBncmFiIGRvd24gdGhhdCBwZXN0IGFuZCBicmVhayBoZXIgeW91J2xsIG5ldmVyIGJlIGFibGUgdG8gY29udHJvbCBoZXIuLi4= ((You need to be strong too Inky... If you can't grab down that pest and break her you'll never be able to control her…))” She wrapped the art glitches arm in her rope around an area not exposed by ink, and tightened so she can focus her pain.

“QmUgc3Ryb25nLCBhbmQgcyBOIGEgUC4uLg== ((Be strong, and s N a P…))”

Unreal growled through her wincing and regarded the little dark side, “What the hell is that supposed to mean? If I can kill her here and she still can do stuff like this how do I snap her?!”

Ouros walked around Unreal and shrugged. “You just….snap.” She mimed snapping a neck as if it would help. “You just have to figure out the best way of breaking her.”

Anibase nodded and crossed her arms. “RXhhY3RseS4uLg== ((Exactly…))” Then Anibase’s eyes lit up with an idea. “TWF5YmUgaXQncyBub3QganVzdCBoZXIgd2lsbCwgb3IgaGVyLQ== ((Maybe it’s not just her will, or her-))” Anibase proceeds to motion to Huffle’s unmoving body. “Qm9keS4uLiBBIHdpbGwgaXMganVzdCB5b3Ugc291bCdzIHdpc2ggdG8gc3RheSBhbGl2ZS4uLiBXaHkgbm90IHRyeSBhIEwgbCBvZiBoZXIgc291bC4uLj8= ((Body... A will is just you soul's wish to stay alive... Why not try a L l of her soul...?))”

Unreal gripped her head and roared in rage. Huffle jolted and spasmed more ink flooding her mouth despite her dead eyes. Unreal spread the ink out from around her host into razor sharp points and drove them down into the girl’s chest. Then she lifted them up before plummeting them down over and over. Unreal could feel Lauren jolting in her head with each jab, crying out and trying to fight this awful dream. But soon enough she started to quiet with a sad pathetic whimper. Unreal growled and drive the spike once more through the girl’s middle before leaving it there.

“There! Now stay asleep you pathetic w̞͖͕̋̊̓a͔̼̺͑̀̿š̝͈͕́̒t̢͖̯̀͋̏e̝̲͂̊̍͜ ̳͉̖̄́̓õ̼̫̿̇ͅf̺̳̤̍̃̈́ ̝̠̺̆̉̎s͓̠͉̑͑̈p͈̤͖̓̑͂a̢̧̟̍͑͘c̨̙̜͑͐̐ẹ̢̭̏́̕!͖̖̩͗̓͒” Unreal heaved, expecting any moment for her stubborn host to try to wake up again. But the pain in the demon's head had subsided, her host too tired to fight the pain and fear anymore.

Ouros raised an eyebrow at the display and said,”I would have preferred a more elegant touch.” She looked over at Juri where Gary was currently judging if he could fit her through his jaw. “No,” Ouros commanded She ignored Gary ignoring her.

Anibase smiled. “SG93IGRvZXMgaXQgZmVlbCBndXlzLi4uPyBZb3VyIGhvc3QncyBhcmUgbm8gbG9uZ2VyIGluIHRoZSB3YXkuLi4= ((How does it feel guys...? Your host's are no longer in the way…))” She asked them both. She giggled, and looked at all three of them, lying down unorganized. TeFA in several pieces and blood leaking out from several wounds; Huffle with inky tears drowning her mouth and eyes out, with a huge puncture wound dominating her stomach; and Juri merely knocked out with a single bite to the neck.

Unreal calmed her breathing and pushed back her hair with a sigh. “It doesn’t feel like it will last. We’re still just secondary parts of their wholes.” She crosses her arms and stares coldly at their corpses. “We may have control for now but for how long? This doesn’t solve our problem of not having bodies yet.”

“It's not much yet but I've been researching magic to try and find a way.” Ouros motioned to Niy lounging across her feet, “I've only progressed so far though.”

A noise had Ouros turning abruptly and yell. “Gary I said no!” Gary looked up from where he had just swallowed Juri whole. Her feet were only just disappearing into his mouth. Gary met Ouros’s gaze unrepentantly.

Anibase put her hands on her hips and sighed. “WW91IGFyZSBzbyBpbXBhdGllbnQuLi4= ((You are impatient…))” Anibase muttered under her breath. “VGhpcyBnaXZlcyB1cyBtb3JlIHRpbWUgdG8gYmUgaW4gY29udHJvbC4uLiBPYnNlcnZlLCBsZWFybiwgdSBOIGQgRSByIFMgdCBBIG4gRC4uLiBXZSBjYW4gZnVsbHkga25vdyB3aGF0IHdvcmxkIHdlIGNhbiBqb2luLCBtZWFud2hpbGUgY2F1c2UgYWxsIHBhaW4gZm9yIG91ciBob3N0J3MgZm9yIHNodW5uaW5nIHVzIGFzaWRlLi4u ((This gives us more time to be in control... Observe, learn, u N d E r S t A n D... We can fully know what world we can join, meanwhile cause all pain for our host's for shunning us aside…))”

Anibase looks towards Ouros. “SG93IGxvbmcgd2lsbCBpdCB0YWtlIG5vdyB0aGF0IHlvdSBrbm93IGhvdyB0byBjb250cm9sIGJldHRlci4uLj8= ((How long will it take now that you know how to control better...?))”

Unreal huffed and crossed her arms more, rolling her eyes at Gary’s antics. “I’m the opposite of Huffle. She’s patient, I’m not. I’m already sick of waiting and being a shadow!” She then raises an eyebrow at Ouros waiting for her to answer Anibase’s question.

Ouros shrugs calmly. “Anywhere from a month to a few months. I got this far from Juri’s grandmothers books and I ordered more online.” Ouros nudges Niy off her shoes and Niy goes with an annoyed hiss. “Most of what I do is learned from magic so it's all about finding the information on how to do it.”

Anibase let out a frustrated sigh. “TXkgaG9zdCBpcyBub3QgZ29ubmEgYmUgaGVyZSB0aGF0IGxvbmcuLi4gQW5kIGFmdGVyIHRoaXMgdGhlIGxpa2VsaWhvb2Qgb2YgYWxsIHRocmVlIG9mIHVzIGJlaW5nIGhlcmUgdG9nZXRoZXIgaXMgZ29pbmcgdG8gYmUgdiBFIHIgWSB1bmxpa2VseS4uLg== ((My host is not gonna be here that long... And after this the likelihood of all three of us being here together is going to be v E r Y unlikely…))” She looked back to Ouros.

“QW55IHBvc3NpYmxlIHdheSB3ZSBjYW4gY3V0IHRoYXQgdGltZSBkb25lLi4uPyBJJ20gd2lsbGluZyB0byBkbyBhbnkgdGhpbmcgSSBjYW4gaGVscC4uLiBJJ3ZlIGJlZW4gYSBtZW1vcnkgZm9yIG5lYXJseSA3IHllYXJzIG5vdywgbWUgYmVpbmcgZGFyayBmb3IgMi41Li4uIEFzIHBhdGllbnQgYXMgSSBjYW4gYmUsIEknbSBzdGFydGluZyB0byBnZXQgZnJ1c3RyYXRlZCBteXNlbGYuLi4= ((Any possible way we can cut that time done...? I'm willing to do any thing I can help... I've been a memory for nearly 7 years now, me being dark for 2.5... As patient as I can be, I'm starting to get frustrated myself…))”

Unreal closed her eyes for a second before addressing the other two, “If we’re still stuck by the time our hosts split, I have the power to connect us through the internet. I’m not as strong there as I am in person but it can be done. It’ll just take even longer…” Unreal kicked the ground and gritted her teeth in frustration.

Ouros stared at them both blankly before sighing heavily. “There is a way. It's more Alchemist than magic and requires ingredients I can't get by myself. If we were to do it though there would have to be no second thoughts. One you start this you will be forced to finish.”

Anibase thought for a bit then nodded. “V2UgYWxsIGRlc2VydmUgaXQgYnkgdGhpcyBwb2ludCwgY29uc2lkZXJpbmcgaG93IHdlJ3ZlIGJlZW4gdHJlYXRlZC4uLg== ((We all deserve it by this point, considering how we've been treated…))” She flashed a smile and nodded again. “SSdtIGluLi4u ((I'm in…))”

Unreal scoffed and gave a withering look to Ouros, “why would we be doing this at all if we had second thoughts? I’m not stopping until me and that wimp are separated for good.”

Ouros grinned at them in a terrifying manner as it lacked any true emotion. “Good. Then I suggest we all wake and get started.” Between the blink of an eye Ouros vanished back to the real world dragging her snakes and Juri with her.

Anibase looked towards Unreal and nodded her off. “WW91IG1pZ2h0IHdhbnQgdG8gbGVhdmUgZmlyc3QsIHRoaXMgbWlnaHQgZ2V0IG0gRSBzIFMgeS4uLg== ((You might want to leave first, this might get m E s S y…))” Anibase grabbed TeFA’s body by worming the rope through her dismembered body.

“Have fun, kid. But don’t take too long.” Unreal glitched next to Huffle and dragged her up by her Josie before throwing her over her shoulder fireman style. Unreal gave kinda sassy wave to Anibase before her and Huffle turned into puddles of ink and vanished back outside TeFA’s head.

Ouros appeared back in Juri’s bedroom with Juri but a distant presence in her mind now. Still too close for Ouros though. She walked quickly out of the room and into the storage room where she hid her experiments. Looking around Ouros found the book she was searching for and stood holding it. She glanced at the page she needed and nodded. “Things are about to become interesting around here.”

As Anibase prepared to leave, she felt a presence light up behind her. She turned around and saw Nini, the stuffed rabbit, now humanoid, put her hand on the dream demon’s shoulder. “So… you're actually going to do it, huh?”

“WW91IGtub3cgSSBoYXZlIHRvLi4uIEhvdyBtdWNoIGhhdmUgSSB0b2xkIHlvdSB0aGF0IEkgZGVzZXJ2ZSBtb3JlIHRoYW4gdGhpcyBOaW5pLi4u ((You know I have to... How much have I told you that I deserve more than this Nini…))” Anibase said, a twinge of sadness in her voice. Nini stared and then slightly shook her head.

“But Anibase, you have to realize, if you get a new body, maybe even a new soul, you'll be different. You won't have your powers, you won't have your influence-” Nini then looked down to the ground and sighed. “You won't have me anymore.” Nini looked back to the dream demon. “Is that something you really want?”

Anibase stared back, wanting so badly to collapse into her arms. As much as Nini caused trouble with her plans with taking over TeFA, she still loved her all the same as her host. She gently took Nini’s gloved hand off of her shoulder and turned around, unable to look at Nini’s depressed face.

And with a purple glow of her right eye, Anibase and TeFA vanished and woke up.

[indominusregina]

The Bet: Unforseen Consequences

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Warnings: Swearing Lite™, flirtacious Bucky

Word count: 2.1k

Notes: Finally, part 2! Lots of complications in my personal life led to a long gap between part 1 and 2, but I don’t forsee many more delays like this one! This part has the actual prompt (Is that the best you can do?) from the @justsomebucky challenge! Also, credit where credit is due, many of the wonderful responses are from @sarahwroteathing Enjoy part 2! Remember, feedback gives me life!

Masterlist || Part 1 || Part 3 || Series Masterlist

The rest of the morning, Bucky is quiet. You aren’t going out of your way to avoid him, but even so, he’s nowhere to be found. Although you’re not overly concerned by the bet, having him almost entirely vanish is setting your nerves on edge, making you more than a little paranoid every time you round a corner. Will he preempt his line with something? Will he just go for it?

Your fears are abated mid-afternoon. Just as you finally settle down on the couch to watch some Netflix and procrastinate on packing with a steaming mug of tea after a hard workout, Bucky strolls in and sits down on the other end. You tense up but continue your browsing, both of you waiting in silence. Just as you settle on a show, Bucky clears his throat.

“Hey, uh, is your name Earl Grey?” He starts, and you look over at him in confusion. “Because you’re a hot-tea!”

Your face quickly drops from confusion to unamused. “Leaf me alone.” You deadpan before returning your attention to the screen in front of you, selecting the show and staring ahead. There’s a brief moment of silence as your episode loads before he gets up and awkwardly walks away. So that’s how these two weeks are going to go.

~~~

The next time Bucky tries a line on you, you’re slightly more prepared. You managed to watch a few episodes of your show before Wanda dragged you away to start packing because “your stuff won’t pack itself, Y/N, and no matter how many times you ask me, no I will not put your things into boxes using my powers.” Lame. After spending some quality time with the dust bunnies at the back of your closet, you’re ready for a dinner break with the rest of the team.

You glance over at Bucky continually throughout dinner, which at this point is down to just takeout, since half of the kitchen has been packed away and is ready to be sent off to the upstate compound. He catches your eye after the tenth time or so and offers a wolfish grin. You raise an eyebrow at him in a silent dare. Unable to decline your challenge, he swallows his mouthful of food before clearing his throat.

“You know what’s on the menu? Me ‘n’ u.” He grins, and everyone else at the table pauses, some confused, while Natasha is intrigued.

“Gee, I thought it was foot, since yours seems to be in your mouth.” The words are out of your mouth instantly, followed by a chorus of “oohs” from the rest of the teammates.

“Would someone care to explain what just happened?” Tony asks as you continue to eat the food in front of you, unphased by the reaction of the group.

Natasha steps in to answer for you. “Barnes and Y/L/N have a bet going on. Barnes is doing his best to make Y/L/N blush with a pickup line. If he succeeds in the next two weeks, she has to wingman for him, and if he doesn’t, he has to be her escape date for a month.”

“What the hell’s an escape date?” Tony blurts out and you finally speak up.

“He has to pretend to be my date whenever some asshole - sorry Steve - won’t take no for an answer.” You respond as Steve mutters something about language.

“So you’re trying shitty pickup lines that you’ve clearly found online?” Sam turns to Bucky, an amused smirk on his lips.

“Well, where else am I supposed to get them?” He frowns and Sam laughs.

“Y’know what, Frosty? I just might help you out. This sounds like fun.” You narrow your eyes at Sam as he says this.

“Help him, Wilson, and the same terms will apply to you when I win.” Your voice is low and threatening, and Sam seems to reconsider his decision.

“Nevermind, you’re on your own.” He tells Bucky, quickly returning to his food.

“That’s what I thought.” You finish your food and stand, giving one last sweep around the room. “This is between Bucky and myself. Any of you step in, and you’re done for.” You throw your container out in one smooth motion as you continue on your way out the door. You can barely hear Steve as you leave.

“Well, good luck, Buck.” He clears his throat as he finishes his statement.

“Thanks, Stevie.” The sarcasm in his voice has you smirking.

~~~

You’re in the gym getting in one last workout before moving day has everything packed up when Bucky tries again. Clad in leggings and a sports bra, you’re busy with a barbell when he walks up. You lock eyes in the mirror as you squat, holding the weight steady on your shoulders.

Bucky eyes your backside as you lower yourself and grins. “Are those space pants? Because your ass is outta this world!”

You keep your eyes locked on his as you stand, setting the weight down on the rack behind you. You turn to face him before holding up your pointer finger in his face. “Phone home, E.T.” You leave him muttering as you move on to the next weight machine in your circuit.

~~~~

You’re dressed up for a benefit event, waiting in the living room for Tony, Nat, and Clint to make their appearance when Bucky walks in. He lets out a low whistle as he takes in your appearance, and you turn to face him. “I must be in a museum, because you are truly a work of art.” His voice is a little lower than usual, but you shrug it off.

“I’m pretty sure that you’re old enough to make anywhere you go seem like a museum.” You chirp, crossing your arms. Clint and Natasha walk in at that moment and Clint laughs. You raise your hand for a high five, which he gladly meets. “Better luck next time, Barnes. For future note, calling a girl a masterpiece might get you farther.” You turn on your heel as Tony strolls in, late as usual, and head with them towards the lift. Out of the corner of your eye, you catch Bucky actually making a note of your comment and you giggle as the doors close behind you.

~~~

The afternoon before the move, you find yourself practicing your bow and arrow skills with Clint. You’re doing alright, but you know you could be better. Bucky walks in just in time for you to actually shoot one into the center of the target. With a whoop and a grin, you do a little victory dance, eyes gleaming as Clint compliments you. You don’t notice Bucky until he speaks.

“Is there something in your eye?” You turn to face him, wiping at your eye and frowning. “Oh wait, it’s just a sparkle.”

Your earlier joy dies a bit at his comment. You were so excited to celebrate your tiny victory, and he had to cheapen it with a dumb line. Giving him a glare, your response is a bit sharper than it normally is. “Damn. My murderous glint must be losing its intensity.”

Bucky frowns at this and you turn back to the target, nocking another arrow on your bowstring and drawing. When you release, you score a close hit, but not quite as good as your last one. Your shoulders slump a little in defeat, and Bucky slinks away, feeling a little bit guilty.

~~~

The morning of the move, you go out for a run early, the anticipation of the upcoming move making you too jittery to sleep. After a few pre-dawn miles are finished, you’ve managed to burn most of the anxious energy out of your system, and you feel pretty satisfied as you make your way back to the (mostly empty) tower. As you ride the lift back up to the common area, you stretch, looking forward to a tall glass of water to help with your recovery.

The doors open on your floor and you beeline it to the kitchen, trying to level out your breathing as you come down from your runner’s high. You stand at the sink and, looking around and seeing no one, you duck your head under the running stream of water. It wasn’t worth it to try and find a glass, wash it, dry it, and repack it. After a few gulps, you stand back up, wiping your mouth and breathing a little harder than before after downing what was probably at least one glass of water. Of course, Bucky walks in at that moment.

“Well, gee doll, are you running out of breath from running through my head all night?”

You roll your eyes, still trying to catch your breath for a moment. When you finally decide to speak again, your response is yet another snarky comment “No, but this one was so terrible, I am speechless.” The idea of being in Bucky’s dreams has you unsettled. You know he has a lot of nightmares, and although this is probably just a line, you find yourself agitated that you might be something that upsets him. This new feeling accompanies you as you make your way back to your room to clean up and change into comfy travel clothes.

~~~

Later that afternoon, everyone files outside, with small squabbles over who gets to go in which vehicle. It’s already set that you’re in Nat’s van as navigator, and Steve is driving the other car with Bucky riding shotgun. You double check that you’ve got everything for your car, and find that in your file of information, you’ve got the map for the other car as well. As everyone finally settles on their car, you make your way to Bucky’s window, gesturing to Nat that you’ll be right back.

You knock on Bucky’s window, grabbing his attention. He beams as he notices it’s you at the window and rolls it down.

“Darlin’, what a surprise! You wanna come in this car?” You give him a look before you hold up your folder.

“Sorry, Buck. I’m navigator for the other car.” You give him a quick smile, and he smiles back. You stay that way for a moment before he clears his throat.

“Hey doll, do you have a map?” His words cause you to snap out of your daze.

“Huh?” You shake your head slightly, trying to clear your mind.

“Because I’m getting lost in your eyes.” He waggles his eyebrows at you and you give him another look before tossing the map you had for him into his lap and patting his cheek. Turning, you head quickly back to your car. What was that, Y/N? You’re going crazy. Your mind is a little off kilter again, and you can’t shake the feeling that something’s off throughout the drive to the new compound.

~~~

It’s a calm morning as everyone settles into life at the compound instead of the tower. There’s so much more room here, and everything is just quieter in general, leading to your peaceful mood as you start to make breakfast.

You set some coffee on and, knowing that it will draw a crowd, you pull out a pack of bacon and a carton of eggs, intent on making breakfast for whoever comes in. Humming, you set some strips of bacon into a pan and pull out another for the eggs.

Sure enough, as soon as you start scrambling some eggs for yourself, Bucky saunters into the kitchen.

“Is that the sun in here, or is your smile just that bright?” You roll your eyes as Bucky slides up next to you as you stir your eggs.

“Is that the best you can do today, Barnes?” You raise an eyebrow as he pours himself a mug of coffee.

“No, but you are.” He says with a wink, and your stomach does a little flip. You swallow hard, but it gets stuck in your throat, causing you to cough.

“I-In your dreams, Barnes.” You sputter out between coughs, eyes watering. Bucky sets down his mug and hurries over to you.

“Are you alright?” Bucky asks, concern in his eyes as he gently rubs your back. You nod, fighting the butterflies in your stomach. Suddenly, you’re grateful for the incident, as you’re no longer sure that the flush in your cheeks is strictly from choking.

As he turns back to his coffee and you turn back to the stove in front of you, it hits you.

Butterflies. Red cheeks.

Signs that indicate that you just might be falling for Bucky Barnes.

….

Oh shit.

Part 3

Tags: @childoftimeandmagic, @shugr12110629, @emolordisme, @dugan365, @sociallyimpairedme, @witchymarvelspacecase, @dontsassmecastiel, @peter-pan-hoe, @assbutt-son-of-a-bitch, @allofthesearetakendafuq

[2womenforme]

who ever is playing this woman needs to be dealt with Do you have my boxes and trying to play smart or something?I’m trying to understand the reason why you are sounding like I know it was going to turn out this way? go talk t the manager who helped u send it andtalk to u self of how u are gonna problem solve this  cause i alredy gave u problem solves but u do not like or do not listen and u are about to convince me to block u for a week or 2 How do you expect me to do that knowing the situation here in camp? You must be out of your mind because you will live to regret all your actions Hello David How are you doing same as usual here Hello Good morning hello goo eve Williams Anderson Jan 1, 2021, 1:31 PM (6 days ago) to me Thank you for your recent order from Magaya shipping cargo.I am pleased to share that your order was shipped on [December 21,2020] via Magaya shipping cargo Service. Your packages are now in (Rochester International Airport US)It has been detained by the custom. During the scanning, it was detected that your package contains American dollars. Below is your current delivery status U1-200945-001: Inc Number 344UIONH910: Contract Reg. no CD-US44A201: Code Customer Ref No: 018816576 Customer Name:David Corbett Registered by: Elena Barnett Destination: Minnesota US Current location:Rochester International Airport Delivery Status: Pending Clarification Package Details: Photographic Materials Weight: 24kg Items:2 This is inform you that the contract registration number is valid and the airport authority demanded for all legal back up to prove that the package doest contain drugs or terrorist money I have presented the papers and handed it over to them and they are very pleased with the papers I presented. But it was made to my notice that the boxes need a delivery tag which is placed on the boxes by the airport authorities so that we can exist the airport immediately and the package can be delivered to you today successful . After every arrangement they said the tag fee is $1000 on this arrangement please note that we want to let you know that your shipment does not have DHS approval Delivery tag’s as it doesn’t contain an immunity seal and clearance need to be paid at this point For your information the sender Elina has paid for registration and shipping charges But you need to get this two tags placed on the boxes as it will enable successful delivery to your destination address(home address) Immunity tags permit:$1000 Yellow tag $270 Safe insurance ..$125 Security .$330 Taxes ..$220 TOTAL…$1,945 DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT. Thursday, December 31, 2020, 9:43 PM +0430 from 1davidscorbett@gmail.com : David Corbett David Corbett 12:23 PM (1 minute ago) to Williams it is not mine it is elena barnetts she said she was in danger at a military camp in afghan and wanted to try a safer place for her personal belongings and i did not know what it was and figured she would send what was legal so u contact her ,i only meet her online for a month ish and do not know if she is even a real woman i got one pic of ,, sort it out with her, elinabarnz67@gmail.com I am a USA Air Born Army 82 Battalion Camp Phoenix Afghanistan Base 2, i work with the united state peace keeping force in Kabul Afghanistan and my father has worked a variety of jobs, but he ended up in the Military Before he died, then I decided to take after my father in the military.My name is sergeant Elina I was born in Germany November 11 1987. I come from a middle-class background family, and i am the only child of my parents, my mother was from England While my dad from U.S. , elinabarnz67@gmail.com What is the meaning of all this? Do you have my boxes now? nope it says who has them just sending u the e mail saying so Are you joking with me or something? i am smart ass with truth in it but not much of a joker or liar, and the post above is a copy of the email i got and bottom is what sent back to them Don’t be silly and stop talking nonsense, I asked you before sending my belongings to you and now you sit there and tell me nonsense it is what it is and i posted it to u what i know about it If anything happens to my belongings I will not be happy with you. well u be unhappy with u and delivery company it was never in my possesion Williams Anderson 6:50 PM (8 minutes ago) to me This package was registered in your name and who you are to her does not matter to us as we are diplomatic delivery and we are only doing our job, We hope that you respond to us as soon as possible because if you fail to respond until the expiry date of the foremost package we may refer the package to the commission of welfare as the package doesn’t have a return address Kindly contact the delivery department with this email. You are to forward us with the copy of receipt for immediate pick up. Thanks. David Corbett 6:58 PM (0 minutes ago) to Williams David Corbett 6:58 PM (0 minutes ago) to Williams i gave u her e mail address so talk to her i am not responsible for anothers stuff and especially anothers stuff that was never in my possession and i also gave her a copy of your last e mail and will this one  , elinabarnz67@gmail.com u aparently sent stuff thats a no no for customs to get involved and also did not put return adress n it? How I’m I supposed to put return address or did I not tell you I’m in the camp and how do you expect me to Handel that I don’t want anything to happen to my luggage Please negotiate with them and as soon as they deliver them to you open it and take all that you have spent and keep the rest in the bank or a safer place. It’s not safe in their hands and look at what the email says and how will you feel if they are been referred to the commission of welfare? Remember if it had to be handed over to the commission welfare you and I are in a big danger because we will be charged for money laundering Try and settle with them so they can deliver our package to you immediately i was not $ laundering did not know u where sending $ nor lots of it  so have at it but worse should havppen to u and any trying to drag me into your crap i told u it all sounds like a scam anyway your delivery people could be u also and all a lie for me to send u $ and i send no one $ i have no adress it was just gonna sit where it was delivered till u get it all along = i had no plans of going to my mothers to get it at any time unless u where driving us there and i will block u for a few weeks now for this think and do of yours rather then u problem solve it from your end and with your delivery people i will not answer u tonight but i will block u for 2 ish weeks after i think u got it and read it i will not deal with that item again since u just admitted for the 1st time it was illegal stuff = $ laundering and if u start talking about it again in 2 weeks i will block u for good