#but like. you could swap around their classes and there would be barely any difference

[aussie-bookworm]

My friends and I are talking about the dnd movie stat blocks and roasting the choices vs what happened in the movie and we’re starting a conspiracy that they swapped Edgin’s and Forge’s classes during development.

[film-in-my-soul]

WHEREIN ANEURYSMS ARE A SERIOUS CONCERN | 2,166 | atti (attilatehbun) / @recursivities

Summary: Billy has certain bad habits. Occasionally they don't actually lead to disaster.

Of Metal Rings and Other Things | 2,365 | atti (attilatehbun) / @recursivities

Summary: He's been aching, distracted, blood boiling under his skin ever since Teddy came home from class with a glitter of silver at the base of his neck, four sparks sending syncopated Morse code messages straight to Billy's nerves.

Steal The Sunrise And Keep It Close | 2,385 | atti (attilatehbun) / @recursivities

Summary: Didn't expect you to resort to attempted murder so quickly," Teddy says as he slips around Billy to get his head under the shower spray. "Well, you know me," Billy says, "big, scary, coulda-been supervillan. I'm made of underhanded tactics." "If 'pants on the floor' is the most creative thing you could come up with, it's probably for the best you didn't choose to follow that particular career path, B," Teddy says. "There's got to be a least an intricate death trap that'll provide you with enough time for monologuing." "I'll show you a death trap," Billy says

(See more recommendations below!)

Coda | 2,460 | atti (attilatehbun) / @recursivities

Summary: "Billy, come here," Teddy says, and Billy goes. He goes angry, frantic, crawling on top of Teddy and bringing their mouths together like a bruise. Bruise. Teddy had bruises, but he doesn't any more. Teddy's bruises are gone, faded away beneath his healing factor and now it's only Billy that can feel them, ripe and raw and painful.

Just a Dumb Human, Like You | 2,685 | frogy

Summary: "Wait, wait," Teddy says, breathless and rough, and if that's supposed to make Billy want to stop then Teddy has another thing coming to him. "I'm still-" Teddy says waving a hand at his appearance, as though Billy could have missed him being huge and green.

Major Relief | 2,831 | atti (attilatehbun) / @recursivities

Summary: When you spend all day in a chair, sometimes all you need is an excuse to stretch.

No Place Like It | 3,056 | SpiritsFlame / @spiritsflame

He has been living with Billy, sharing a house with him, for years. But this is different. This place is theirs. No guest bedrooms, no parents, no brothers (usually). Just them. Just Billy and Teddy, an apartment that barely holds their stuff, and a couch that needs christening.

Solace | 3,225 | Ardatli / @ardatli

Summary: His mattress was warm. Warm, and lumpy. And breathing. The head beside his was turned away, but Teddy would know it anywhere, eyes open or closed. Billy. He nuzzled in closer, buried his nose in Billy’s hair, breathed in long and slow. He smelled of soap and sweat, dust and sunshine, of rightsafelovehome. Teddy refused, absolutely refused, to open his eyes as he slowly drifted towards consciousness, memory returning in bits and pieces. Sounds – a soft electric hum, a tick-tick-ticking from another room, voices through the wall that was thinner than they’d hoped but in a building that the pair of them could actually afford – all things he’d get used to, given time.

The Exception that Proves the Rule | 3,478 | Ardatli / @ardatli

Summary: “What are you doing?” “They bounce,” Teddy muttered, her brow furrowed and shoulders tense. “It’s distracting.”

Journey on Route 17 | 3,691 | frogy

Summary: Going to Woodstock was Tommy's idea. Most things are.

When You're Sixteen | 3,723 | Ardatli / @ardatli

Summary: An art-swap fic for Cris-Art, based on her prompt: "Billy and Teddy, first mutual masturbation, at Billy's house after training with Iron Lad. A detail … Billy has no patience, and almost spoils everything."

Discourse In Ink | 3,903 | atti (attilatehbun) / @recursivities

The tattoo hurt, but it also felt weirdly good in a way Billy wasn't expecting, and for a while after it's done he felt sharp, strong, like he could remake the world. And while that part is technically true, it doesn't normally feel as light as this. Usually it's a heaviness that makes him feel like he could fall through the earth at any moment, but this-- This. This felt like he could leave it.

The Boys of Summer | 4,723 | Khirsah / @khirsahle

Summary: It feels…pretty good, actually, once he gets past the reflexive embarrassment. The faint wind is cooler against bare skin than it was through the hot black cotton. The sun feels amazing against his shoulders. Billy drops his T-shirt into his lap and anxiously picks at the hem, feeling color staining his cheeks even as he refuses to look at Teddy. He’s pretty sure one look will send him diving back into his shirt, or sprinting across the field, or teleporting to Siberia or something and, wow, okay, he’s sitting shirtless next to Teddy Altman and he really doesn’t need to throw up or get turned on or anything, so his body had better behave right the fuck now.

Whole New Ballgame | 4,976 | atti (attilatehbun) / @recursivities

Summary: Teddy had thought he could handle anything, that maybe he and Billy were a little bit old and married - which was its own kind of wonderful - and maybe that meant no more surprises like this, where the breath just gets punched right out of his lungs. But apparently not, because Billy in a mostly proper baseball uniform makes Teddy's, well, everything, just stop working, like an extremely not-painful lightning bolt straight to the dick.

Every Day That Gets To Pass | 5,279 | atti (attilatehbun) / @recursivities

The larger piece of Billy's home drops down next to him, his weight barely denting the mattress at all. Teddy reaches over and brushes some hair out of Billy's eyes. "Don't go to sleep yet, okay?" he says, and his voice is all Billy needs.

Time in a Bottle | 5,731 | Khirsah / @khirsahle

Summary: Billy tried to smack Teddy away, but heat was already coiling low in his belly. His cock stirred, hardening at the warm self-satisfaction in Teddy’s eyes. “Stop that, jerkface, or my parents are going to walk in on a heck of a lot more than us sleeping together,” he muttered.

Nightswimming | 9,134 | Khirsah / @khirsahle

Summary: “Hey, if I’m sober enough to not drown, I’m sober enough to…do other stuff.” Teddy cocked his head. “I’m pretty sure that’s not a great standard to set for yourself, Billy.” “Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure your face needs to be making out with mine right now, Teddy, so you should get on that.” He laughed, dimples flashing; his lips were wet and swollen—from his kisses, Billy realized with a dizzy sort of joy. Oh God, this was really happening. “No, but seriously, Billy.” “No, but seriously, Teddy, all I’m hearing is hi let’s French, so… Chop chop.”

Tigers on a Gold Leash | 19,900 | Ardatli / @ardatli

Summary: William of Genosha is a spare heir, and one thing spares are good for is solidifying peace treaties. A sight-unseen betrothal to an alien, however, was never going to be his first choice. Dorrek, heir to the Allied Kree-Skrull Empire, is just as unhappy about the idea. And one night's chance encounter has the potential to destroy the galactic alliance before it's even begun.

Fireflies | 23,825 | Ardatli / @ardatli

Summary: The world had washed in gray when Cassie and Vision died. Not all at once, or fast enough that he noticed right away, but the color leeched out from around the edges first until it had always been that way. It hurt to breathe. The ache lodged in the middle of his chest. If they cut him open they would see it, a physical thing, a bowling ball of bile and doubt and unshed tears.

Some Are Born and Some Are Made | 32,969 | flightofthedragons

“I am proud of you, you know,” Teddy’s mom said as she handed off her empty dishware. “For what?” Teddy laughed. “For getting a boyfriend?” “Mmhmm. For building a life of your own.”

I'll Cover You | 58,093 | isengard / @goulets

Summary: Animal Shelter! Billy just got his first job as a junior copywriter for Marvel Agencies, and decides that living on his own would be much more tolerable if he had an animal friend. He pays a visit to the animal shelter, where he falls not only for a rambunctious puppy named Tommy, but for the shelter's Care and Training specialist, Teddy Altman.

Rough Trade | 59,702 | Ardatli / @ardatli

Summary: It's the 1920s in New York, and anything is possible. Prohibition is underway but the gin-joints are hopping, and in some of the more underground clubs it's safe to be yourself. Billy Lehnsherr, one of the heirs apparent to the Lehnsherr fortune, steps out to find some fun... and finds a lot more than he ever expected. For Teddy Altman, orphan, life has been one kick in the teeth after another. And when something good finally walks into his life, he knows it's only a matter of time before it's taken away again...

Green Man From Outer Space | 68,430 | Ardatli / @ardatli

Summary: The one where the year is 1947, Prince Dorrek crashes his ship at Roswell, Bill Kaplan is an astronomer with a problem, and life gets complicated from there.

Wayfaring Stranger | 82,797 | Khirsah / @khirsahle

Summary: “Whoa, whoa,” a low voice cried. The horse snorted, and Billy heard the soft thud of hooves hitting the earth alarmingly close to where he was standing. It was so close, he could feel the muffled reverberations in the packed earth. Then, “Oh my God, are you okay?” No, he wanted to shout. He was trembling all over, knees actually shaking. Billy slowly dropped his arm and dared to blink open his eyes. He looked up—and up—and up—until he met those blue eyes, just as open and bright as the whole damned Big Sky country in a face that was, oh God yes, really incredibly handsome. The sharp words dried on his tongue; the fear drained away. He could actually feel his brain derail. Holy crap, that was one hot cowboy. “Um,” Billy said stupidly. “I. Yeah. I think…yeah. Hi.” “I am so sorry,” Hot Cowboy said. “I am so, so unbelievably sorry.” “No, hey, it’s fine,” Billy quickly assured him. “No harm done. Um. Nice horse.” Nice horse? He fought the urge to cover his face with his hands.

There's No People Like Show People by Ardatli / @ardatli

2 Part Series* | Rated G | Total Words: 4,618

Part 1 Summary: The door slammed open and Eli stormed in, flinging his clipboard down onto the table with dramatic frustration. Teddy shifted his coke can over about three inches to make space, but Eli just flopped into an empty chair in the boardroom and stole half of Billy’s sandwich out of the cellowrap. “Hey!” “Thank you,” Eli mumbled around a mouthful of turkey. “Also, I quit.”

*part 3 is kate/america and has not been counted

Gotta Catch 'em All by Ardatli / @ardatli

2 Part Series | Rated G | Total Words: 11,607

Part 1 Summary: Pokemon Go is Teddy's childhood dream come true - his own pokedex, a team to raid with, and control over at least one most excellent city gym. That is, until a new challenger appears...

at the end of the world by atti (attilatehbun) / @recursivities

2 Part Series | Rated M & E | Total Words: 17,343

Part 1 Summary: Maybe things weren't always so clear, Before, but Teddy thought he understood the world enough, understood who he was in it. These days, the road blurs the routine of search, scrounge, fight, hide, survive into a different kind of world with a new kind of people living it, and Teddy has to learn the type of person it's making him if he's ever going to find a way to fit.

*Retail Hell with the Young Avengers by thepinupchemist / @sergeantscarlett - @scarlettshazam

10 Part Series | Rated T & E | Total Words: 32,045

Part 1 Summary: David Alleyne works at the mall and has a crush on Noodles Guy. Meeting him does not go as expected.

*this series predominantly features the David Alleyne/Tommy Shephard pairing

Summer Lovin' by Ardatli / @ardatli

2 Part Series | Rated E | Total Words: 109,699

Part 1 Summary: The one where the gang are counselors at a sleepaway camp, and shenanigans ensue. A few dozen horny teenagers, minimal adult supervision, and five acres of nature. What could go wrong?

Teenage Wasteland by Khirsah / @khirsahle

3 Part Series | Rated M & E | Total Words: 254,465

Part 1 Summary: Billy leaned forward a little, watching as Teddy found a felt-tipped pen and began searching for a slip of paper. The napkins were all balled up and messy; the placemats were splattered with gravy. "Erm," Billy said, half afraid Teddy would change his mind. "Here," Teddy finally said, turning toward him. He caught Billy's hand between his own and turned it over, palm-up, his fingers calloused and warm against Billy's smooth skin. He smelled like…like something amazing. Oh, oh, wow, Billy thought dazedly, squeezing his knees together against the liquid rush of heat low in his belly; the glide of the pen against his palm was the most arousing thing he'd ever felt. The sight of Teddy's golden hair falling into his face made him want to do something incredibly stupid, like lean forward and kiss him, or throw his arms around his neck, or… Or something. Anything.

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[yanderes-galore]

Halloween prompt(or regular once space clears up): MvM how would a S/O deal with a medic bot who keeps following them around? Maybe they encountered it during a wave of robots and now after two hours on the field their fellow mercs notice how they have acquired themselves a "pocket medic" hell even their own human medic laughs at how close the bot follows S/O around almost like a chick following its mother... Oooh they won't be laughing once this little bot begins to intentionally get the mercs killed out in the field while staying close to his new "Owner"

It could be an engie darling or maybe a new merc class I just thought to share this prompt cuz I love how the Bot would just follow instead of attacking

MvM bots 💜

Substitute

Yandere! Medic-Bot/Uber-Bot Short

(Halloween Event - Doppleganger)

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Sabotage, Murder, Possessive behavior, Deception, Jealousy, Robot gaining sentience.

You thought this tour with your team would go like any other. Bag rewards for crashing robots, then do it all over again. It was a fine living.

You've trashed all sorts of bots. Scouts by the hundreds, Giants, Engineer bots barely had a chance to get their teleporters down. Nothing was ever too much for you.

Although, there was one difference this time around. You had smashed a Medic-Bot's Soldier-Bot and it just... stood there. Normally they swapped to their more offensive mode when vulnerable.

You let it be until the bots thinned out. You weren't too worried as it was just a common variant of the Medic-Bot, although it was odd when it made no attempt whatsoever to heal its team.

"I'm checking this one out-" You announce to your team.

"You sure that's safe?" Your engineer asks, you shrug.

"Well, I think it's broken anyway. It would've swapped to the offense mode if it posed a threat."

Carefully you stand around the bot. It rumbles, clearly on, just unresponsive. You look to its side and notice the syringe gun. It has one so it's not like it's unarmed.

You pry the weapon off the bot so it can't use it before stepping back. Waving a hand in front of it doesn't make the bot answer your attempts at communication, either. You sigh, shrugging before walking to your engineer and tossing them the weapon.

"It's harmless. Here, extra scrap."

"Little robot is following you-" Your heavy points out, causing you to turn quickly.

"The hell!?"

They were not wrong. The Medic-Bot you disarmed was now right behind you. It had no other weapon except the medi gun. So all it could do was follow.

"Now what? Would you like me to sap it?" Your spy suggests, you shake your head.

"No need, it'll be fine. Let's just keep it out of the way."

You shuffle yourself away from the battlefield, watching as the bot follows. It was a bit scary to you, those emotionless blue eyes staring at you with unknown expectation.

"Alright... now stay here until we know what to do with you-"

"NEIN."

"What-"

Your medic almost bursts out laughing at the bot's insistence. You, on the other hand, are annoyed.

"Whatever... you'll end up blowing up by accident."

"Next wave incoming!" Your heavy calls, you darting to the front lines. The Medic-Bot follows close behind, much to your displeasure.

Then you noticed a blue beam around you....

"Well would you look at that... how do you feel?" Your medic asks, intrigued.

"It... feels like your medi gun's beam-"

"YES."

Now you knew the bot wasn't a threat. In fact, it was an ally. An ally you could use.

So you continued your tour like that. Blasting robots to scrap with a bot of your own to help. You honestly didn't mind the pocket medic.

"I may be out of a job if we keep this bot around!" Your medic jokes, the bot rumbling alongside you.

"Engie, is it possible we can get him a new coat of paint at some point? He may look pretty good in RED."

You smile at the bot, the bot focusing intensely on your face for a moment. You feel awkward at the staring before adding on to your last statement.

"That is... if you agree?"

"YES."

"Then maybe I will." Your engineer laughs. "He seems to like you an awful lot."

"YES."

"Strange... but cute." You chuckle softly before patting the bot on the back. "Keep up the good work."

The bot nods and you're in for another wave.

---

You've had the bot for a few tours now. After the first tour you found it on, your engineer and you had shaped it to be your own. New paint, tuning the medi gun color, pretty soon it looked like it was always on your team.

The bot reacted pretty positively to what you were doing with it. Although, according to your fellow mercs, the bot did not heal anyone that was not you. Your engineer tried to alter this but the bot become non-compliant.

Your medic even voiced concern when the bot stared at them. You just thought it was still fighting with its old programming.

Things did not become a problem until your team kept being sabotaged by your Medic Bot. The red bot would push them into crowds of enemy bots. That or just watch them fall victim to a bot when it could've healed them.

Your team started to think the bot hated them. It was docile and affectionate to you and you only. Your team caught you chatting with it so casually. The bot would sit and listen, even responding back at times.

Out of everyone on the team, however? It hated your medic the most. Your medic was subjected to borderline abusive behavior from the bot. It despised him.

That bot was always the cause of his demise. The way he was targetting your medic made them think they were actually being replaced. If that was true... why did it also get the others killed?

You knew you needed to do something about this. The easy answer was to scrap the bot but it always acted violently when it felt threatened. Your spy even said it broke their sapper.

It was learning and soon... you may not be able to stop it.

"It talks with you, (Y/N). You should try to disarm it." Your engineer suggested.

"I suggest you use this." Your spy gives you a spare sapper. "It makes it quicker."

You frown, you had grown close to this bot of yours. It would be sad to get rid of it, but you can't have it getting your team killed. That was the opposite of the reason you had it on the team.

Sapper tucked away, you went searching for where your bot went. Your question was answered when you heard your medic yell at something. Only for a robotic voice to yell back.

"Hey!" You call, stopping your bot in place. It spins its head towards you quickly before wheeling towards you. You grunt when the bot slams into you in a hug.

"MISSED YOU."

You sigh, pushing away.

"Mhm, missed you too, buddy. Now, can we have a private talk for a moment?"

The bot obediently follows you to a more secluded area of the base you set up with your team. With a heavy, yet nervous sigh, you begin.

"You've been naughty lately."

It sounded as though you were disciplining a dog. It even tilted its head towards you.

"HOW?"

"You don't even heal the rest of my team! They've been dying due to you."

"NOT THEIRS."

Your turn to be confused.

"Not... theirs?"

"I AM YOUR COMPANION. NOT THEIRS. I DO NOT HEAL THEM."

"So you get them killed?"

"YOU'RE NOT THEIRS, EITHER."

"We're a team-"

"WE'RE A TEAM. NOT THEM."

"No- we're ALL a team-"

"NEIN."

You sigh in frustration.

"This is exactly what I mean. Now, please don't fight me on this..."

You pull out the sapper your spy gave you, the Medic-Bot quickly recognizing the device.

"NO."

The device is torn from your hands and tossed across the floor. You're surprised by this but make a move to get it back. Only to be crushed by metal arms.

"NAUGHTY."

It echoes your words before pulling you back, far away from the sapper. You struggle, trying to call for help, the robot only muffles your cries.

"BEHAVE. YOU DO NOT NEED THEM. I AM HERE TO HELP."

You go to scream again, then you hear a large crash and electricity sparking. The Medic-Bot falls to the floor. When you turn, you see its head has been damaged.

"Next time. Let's not trust a robot." Your spy huffs, looking over your frightened face. They had shot it with their revolver. "Did it threaten you?"

"Yeah... you could say that-"

You shudder as you back away from the bot. Thankfully your spy was there.... You weren't sure what would've happened if they weren't.

"Let's send the scraps to Engie." Spy suggests before walking out. You refuse to touch the bot and walk out. You'd ask engie to retrieve it.

You think back to what would've happened if you weren't saved...

Would you have been hurt?

Would your team have been hurt?

Either way, you learned your lesson.

You were safe now... that's all you cared about.

[lizhly-writes]

I wish you would write a fic where jmx meets yhs. I like yang haoshu.

man! what's the point of sending this ask anonymously! yang haoshu's never even made out of discord!

Ahem.

Right. So. "Yang Haoshu" is an alternate universe version of Chen Lihua, where she was the second-born child of the Yang family instead of Yang Haoran.

The way she meets Jiang Mingxi in this universe is virtually identical to how the original Yang Haoran meets Jiang Mingxi -- that is, as small children and almost immediately trying to beat the shit out of each other, because they're both very easily angered.

It's really not that different from 'canon', because truthfully, at that age, the original Yang Haoran and Yang Haoshu aren't that different. I could have written that out, swapped a few names, and then I would have a scene I could actually use in the not-cnovel as a pseudo flashback, or something.

Instead of doing that, though, I wrote an entirely self-indulgent and significantly easier to write weird crossover snippet that I can't use anywhere else but this ask.

Under the cut!

...

Yang Haoshu was a world-class champion at making Jiang Mingxi angry.  This was a skill she had mastered at a young age, when she had realized that fighting Jiang Mingxi – punching, kicking, clawing, biting – just didn’t work.  

Jiang Mingxi was bigger, stronger, faster, and she devoured the martial arts education their parents gave them with an enthusiasm that Yang Haoshu couldn’t come close to matching.  There was no way around it; in a fair fight, Yang Haoshu would always lose.

Still, there were other ways of fighting.  As the saying goes, “sticks and stones may hurt my bones, but words–” 

Words had never hurt Yang Haoshu.  

Oh, she got angry, sure, but hurt?  Not at all.  And as she got older, the anger had mellowed out into irritation into annoyance into, perhaps, mild amusement. For all of the things Jiang Mingxi was good at, she could not rival Yang Haoshu in this.  This was ultimately the key difference between them: Yang Haoshu could keep her temper.  Jiang Mingxi could not.

And thus, when it came to words, Yang Haoshu always won.

Naturally, Yang Haoshu endeavored to win as much as possible.  And she did!  It was probably a little mean of her, but at this point, she was very good at it – even the right sort of smile was enough to send Jiang Mingxi into a barely restrained rage.

…This one, though.

“Hmm,” Yang Haoshu said, tilting her head at the Jiang Mingxi in front of her.  “You’re more level-headed than mine.”

“What’s that supposed to mean,” said Jiang Mingxi.  The words were right, but Yang Haoshu’s Jiang Mingxi would have been grinding them out, nails digging into her palms and drawing blood.  This one, though, only narrowed her eyes.  No sign of any real anger in her at all.

How interesting.  

Yang Haoshu smiled brilliantly.  “Ah, I don’t mean anything bad!  I suppose I’m projecting some expectations on you.  You look so much like someone I know from home, after all.  A childhood friend of mine!  I always called her Ming-jie –”

“Don’t call me that,” Jiang Mingxi said immediately.

Well, Ming-jie always did hate it.

“Are we not close enough for that kind of thing?” Yang Haoshu said.  “I must look very familiar to you, too.  Does she not call you that?”

“It doesn’t matter if she does or if it doesn’t,” Jiang Mingxi said.  “It doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“It could be argued it does, at least a little. After all–”

They were the same person.  This Jiang Mingxi’s Yang Haoshu – more than family, more than genetics, more than what science could ever hope to achieve, they were really, truly, the same person.  

“Doesn’t matter,” Jiang Mingxi said shortly.

“Is that all you have to say?”

Jiang Mingxi was like this at home, too.  Fiction, fantasies, philosophy, theology – none of them, no matter how well written, well-made, ever caught her attention more than sheer brute force and violence.

“None of this interests you at all, huh?” Yang Haoshu said.

How boring.

“Did I say that?” Jiang Mingxi said irritably.  “You sound just like – no.”

Yang Haoshu perked up.  “I sound like…?”

Jiang Mingxi exhaled, hand going up to her temples.  “It doesn’t matter.  Nothing about you, and your counterpart here – that relationship isn’t there.”

“...Pardon?”

“It’s experiences who make people what they are,” Jiang Mingxi said, turning abruptly.  “It’s those memories that shape a person’s drive, goals, personality.  If those memories aren’t there anymore, you can’t say that they’re the same person.”

Yang Haoshu blinked.  

“I,” Jiang Mingxi enunciated slowly, “am not the person you know.  You aren’t anyone I know, either.”

In truth, this was the conclusion Yang Haoshu had been contemplating, despite the shit she was trying to feed this Jiang Mingxi.  But –

“You have actual, articulated thoughts about this?” she said, delighted.

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“You’ve thought about this concept enough to immediately cleanly say this sort of thing?  You, of all people?”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

[mollywog]

Which of your WIPs is the most fun for you to write?

I love this question: Thank you for the ask @bodyelectric77!!

I have a lot of WIP/idea’s floating around and they take turns being the most fun…

From my arranged marriage/marriage of convenience fics - Teacher!Peeta has been in my drafts for a while and I am absolutely tickled anytime I can come up with a way to swap the speaker of a canon line to the opposite character… but alas editing the mess has taken the fun out of the process, hahaha

Otherwise, I started Wild Wednesday because all my other WIP felt too daunting and I wanted something low-key and fun, so I’ve been enjoying that.

And because I remember your Wild Wednesday comment on Enobaria - I outlined some of my vision of her in this universe:

Enobaria has goals and she’s not letting distractions get in the way - her determination however is intimidating to most, so her social goals get pushed to the side in favor of her career goals.

Ryen and Enobaria met at a bar - He approached her and she would have never considered him if it weren’t for the alcohol: she’s nearly 10 years his senior and he’s not-her-type but they chat and she laughs and they exchange numbers.

They date casually - They have a sort of class clown/Valedictorian thing going on.

She knows she should end it, this kind of guy is not-part-of-the-plan, but he’s fun and sweet and seemingly not intimidated by her - he’s barely a distraction really and she could think of worse ways to spend her spare time

He on the other hand is head over heels for her - she’s a little bit terrifying and she doesn’t giggle at everything he says like most women, but making her laugh is addictive.

A couple months into dating and she discovers she’s pregnant… with twins…

She’s always wanted children, but had long since resigned herself to the fact that it wasn’t in the cards - the rigid timelines she put on her social goals dictated ages and lengths of time for dating, marriage, and pregnancy- she had failed to meet her deadlines.

Rye is thrilled - he proposes and they quickly get married- him for love and her because it’s the logical decision.

When Enabaria decides on something, she’s all in - her newest goal is to be is the best mother. She buys the books and takes the classes, but each one has slightly different takes on ‘what’s best’. She drives herself mad over the smallest decisions, but Rye is there, she eventually allows him to help. It takes her a while but she comes to terms with her real feelings for him despite their unconventional start - they balance each other out.

She refuses to let her personal life effect her work - picture heavily pregnant and still teaching CrossFit classes

She takes on the roll of Mellark Matriarch - fierce protector of her family including her brother-in-laws and Delly, the Mellark’s surrogate sister.

Rye is a stay at home dad - it’s the job he was born for, but as the twins grow up and get ready to start school, he begins to feel adrift - he has trouble communicating these feelings. Enobaria wants to problem solve, but she’s frustrated when he doesn’t seem to like any of her suggestions, not one to avoid conflict, she initiates their Wednesday couples counseling.

[writing-nebula]

Someone Else (Swapped Destinies)

Something wasn't right.

He'd spent years learning to tell when something was wrong, when a place was too loud or too quiet, when to avoid people and when it was okay to approach them, when he had too much attention. He knew when something was wrong, unsafe.

But this wasn't wrong, exactly. Just… different.

He didn't like it.

It had started the day after he finished the puzzle, and because of that he'd originally attributed it to sleep deprivation- it had been 4 am when he finally finished it, after all- but it was now the next day, and the strange feeling of something different had persisted.

Logically, he knew that whatever it was had to be related to the puzzle somehow, and so the way to stop it would be to just take it off.

…But when he'd put it on for the first time, it had felt so… normal.

The added weight should've thrown him off or at least been somewhat uncomfortable- but it wasn't.

Having something so large against his chest should've been obtrusive, getting in the way all the time- but it wasn't.

It felt like he'd been wearing it for years instead of barely two days, and for that reason alone, Seto couldn't bring himself to take it off. Things were so rarely familiar and not bad at the same time, he was reluctant to lose the feeling, even if it was also strange. 

He went to school, and it was the same as it always was. People talking about him behind his back, people talking about Yugi Muto even though he wasn't even in class today, half the students trying to secretly play duel monsters during class.

Joey Wheeler was being a constant bother as usual, trying to speak to him in every class they shared, following him in the hallways, challenging him to a duel every chance he got. As if beating him would be any kind of challenge, Wheeler couldn't duel his way out of a paper bag. 

But ever since he'd discovered that Seto used Blue-Eyes, he'd been practically begging for a chance to see it in action, no matter how many times he was refused. It was honestly becoming less irritating and more pathetic the longer it went on. 

At least it was getting easier to ignore. He had to give up eventually.

Finally, the last bell rang, and Seto was on autopilot as he stood up and briskly made his way through the halls, going through the mental list of strange things he'd noticed since he put on the puzzle. 

I've gotten incredibly brief dizzy spells, but there are quite a few other things that could be causing those. There's the strange familiarity with it, I still don't have an answer for that… Sometimes I feel as if someone is standing over my shoulder, but it isn't causing me any added anxiety, which makes that difficult to figure out as well. Perhaps I should ask Mokuba if he's-

"Seto?"

His brother's voice startled him out of his thoughts, and Seto blinked as he took in his surroundings, surprised to find himself by the gate already- he must've been more lost in his head than he realized.

Mokuba was looking at him with a worried little frown, so he tried to relax somewhat, nodding for them to start walking and just waiting for Mokuba to be ready. 

"Seto, you've been acting weird lately," Mokuba started purposefully, about two minutes into their walk home. "For a couple days now, ever since you finished that puzzle."

"Have I?" Seto questioned, genuinely curious what he'd noticed.

Maybe I should take the puzzle off, if it's been causing such obvious symptoms…

His brother nodded firmly and pulled a notepad from his bag, flipping to a specific page and scanning over a list of things before nodding.

"I've noticed times where you'll stop speaking in the middle of a sentence, look confused for a few seconds, then start talking again like you never stopped," he started reading off, "I've seen you stop walking and look around like you didn't know where you were, only seeming to recognize the place after a few seconds. Seven times I've seen you stumble out of nowhere, six times you've hit your head trying to look in somewhere you know you have to bend over for, and there have been… Fourteen times that you've reached for something and misjudged the distance, usually resulting in you knocking said thing over- and that's just from yesterday and this morning." Mokuba looked up at him again as he paused, his frown deeper this time. 

…Alright, now he could understand why Mokuba was worried. He'd noticed that he'd been a bit more clumsy, but hadn't chalked it up to anything serious- except apparently it was happening a lot more than he realized.

How could I just not notice these things happening? Have I been zoning out that often?

"And just now, in the courtyard!" Mokuba continued when Seto didn't reply, "you're always going on about how much that boy Joey annoys you, and you want him to leave you alone- but then today you exchange numbers with him out of nowhere! What's up with that?"

Seto stopped dead in his tracks, every thought process halting at once when he heard those words.

I didn't do that. I wouldn't do that, he's been nothing but a pest, I'd be happy to never hear that stupid accent again-

He fumbled to pull out his phone, barely hearing Mokuba still talking next to him, hardly even breathing as he navigated to his contacts-

I wouldn't exchange numbers with him, I would never-

But the name Joey Wheeler stared back at him, attached to a number he'd definitely never seen before.

"....I didn't do that," he mumbled to himself, blinking rapidly like that would somehow change what he was seeing, but the name and number remained, like they were silently taunting him. 

I didn't do that.

Seto shook his head sharply and shoved his phone back in his pocket, moving forward again without even acknowledging Mokuba.

But Mokuba saw it happen, this isn’t a case of Wheeler stealing my phone- not that he would've ever had the chance.

He saw it happen, but I have absolutely no memory of it happening- and I wouldn't have done it.

Without thinking, he reached up to grab the rope the puzzle was attached to- and he nearly froze up all over again.

…If I didn't do it, that means someone else did.

What the hell have I gotten myself into? 

[paxtontinsleyarchive]

WHEN I’M NOT LOOKING YOU ARE SOMEONE ELSE / self para when / autumn 2006 (sophomore year) tw mention of abuse, high school shit featuring @knoxwells and hudson wells (npc)

The lights on the Iron Hill house made the already large mansion look like a castle. Paxton had thought about houses like this her whole life. Thought about the people who lived in them. It was a stark different from the small house she lived in with her mom that was just barely in Outpost, one street separated it from the Mines. But it was the Mines, really. Yet, Montgomery Wallis had invited her to this party. Mostly because he had a feeling she’d bring drugs, which, she did. 

Her and Hudson got into a fight on the way to this party. She didn’t tell him that it was Monty, a senior, who invited her. He found that out on the way over and was convinced it meant something. It didn’t. Monty was in her calculus class, he was a senior, she didn’t pay him any mind. If he paid her mind, that wasn’t her business. 

Paxton was walking through the halls that were crowded with people, pausing to swap pills for cash. She was making her way to the bathroom when she came face to face with Monty. He had perfect white teeth. He was rich. He was the captain of the football team. He was going to Mississippi, just like his parents. “Hey, you came!” He said with a laugh. 

“Seems like everyone came, Monty,” Paxton said with a nod. 

“Yeah, there are a lot of people here, it got out of hand.” He shrugged. Monty wasn’t one of the assholes, you know, the rich ones who thought they were entitled to everything. He worked hard. If she thought anything of him it was that he was bland. Generic. 

“Are you actually gonna stay and dance, we have a whole dance floor.” 

“No, I don’t think so.” At that time, someone tried to pass behind her and shoved her, to which drew a glare at them as she was thrown into Monty. “Sorry,” Paxton said and then muttered under her breath, “fucking asshole.” 

“No worries, I think I spilled on you,” Monty said.

Paxton looked down and noticed that he did, in fact, spill on her. She chose that moment to laugh, because of course.

“Paxton?” Hudson’s voice cut through the noise and she and Monty looked to him. He was red in the face. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Paxton looked at Monty and said, “Talking?”

That made his little head explode and he reached out to grab her forearm, his fingers like vices on her. Paxton ripped herself away. “Don’t fucking grab me, Hudson.”

“Why the fuck are you talking to him?”

“He’s my friend? We have calculus together? He invited me here?” Paxton said, her tone drawing the obvious and condescending with disbelief. 

“Are you fucking him?” Hudson said. The noise around them had stilled, waiting to see the fight. 

“What?” Paxton couldn’t believe that. She started to laugh, which was the wrong move, and she gestured to Monty, “Where? Here in the hall? Might be a little painful considering he still has his pants on.” Paxton glanced to Monty, “but maybe his dick is big enough to be able to keep his pants on when he’s fucking me.” Monty went red, his hands coming up and he stepped away from them.

Hudson however, was pissed, she could practically see the steam coming from his ears.

“You’re embarrassing,” he hissed at her.

“Oh, that’s ripe. You’re the one who started screaming. What’s the matter, can’t take what you dish?” Paxton snorted. “You’re a coward.”

“Fuck you.” 

“I already have, and I would give it a one star rating,” Paxton hissed back. 

“I’m done, find someone else to bring you home.”

“Not a problem,” Paxton said and turned around and walked off. She didn’t see him go, instead she got a drink and finished making some money. Another drink, another couple hundred bucks. She was done and making her away out of the party with money. She didn’t even bother looking to see if his truck was there. She’d rather walk home than deal with him.

Turning a corner, she almost walked into Knox. “Sorry,” they said at the same time. Paxton almost smiled, but she was still annoyed. 

“I saw Hudson peel out, I thought you’d…” Knox trailed off, reading the irritation on her face. “Here,” he said and handed her the drink he had in his hand. 

Paxton sighed and moved to lean against the wall. Her guard always slipped when it came to Knox. He was associated with quiet libraries, math problems, and vocabulary. He’d always been present in her physical safe space, and he’d made himself a pleasant companion in it. 

“He loves you, you know,” Knox said with a shrug.

“Everyone loves me, Knox.” Paxton said with a sip. She was tired. If this was love, she was tired of it. 

“I don’t,” he said with a shrug.

Paxton’s icy eyes flicked up to his face. She caught his golden ones, there was no trace of a lie there. 

“You don’t?”

“Nope,” he said. “Can’t love something you don’t know.” 

She nodded. Her guard came down again. He was smart enough to know he didn’t know her, even if he was probably the one who knew her best at the moment. Everyone else made up stories about who she was, parts she played because if they were going to be committed to misunderstanding her, why fight it?

“You want to get out of here? I’m kinda tired,” he said with a shrug.

“Yeah, me too.”

“I can take you home,” Knox said as they walked to his truck. 

Paxton shook her head. “I don’t want to go home yet. You want to just drive around for a bit?” Paxton unrolled a twenty and handed it to him. 

“What’s this for?”

“Diesel.” 

Knox barked a laugh. “Pax, no. Don’t worry about it, I was gonna probably do that anyway.”

It was starting to get cold, and Paxton left her jacket in Hudson’s car. Her flesh turned to chicken skin in the cool night air. Paxton’s rule of clothing was that less was more, and tonight was another example of it. Walking home probably would have been miserable, but she’d been more miserable before. As she climbed into Knox’s truck, he reached over and turned the heater on. He moved to hand her the cord to the tape player to radio cord. Paxton dug into her jacket and pulled out her iPod. She flicked through the songs before she found the one. “I wanted to show you this one at the library today, I think it’s good.”

“Who is it?”

“We The Kings.” She’d never led him astray with her music choices, so he accepted it. And they drove for a while, her showing him songs and him telling her to put on ones too. She’d moved to the middle of the bench seat in the old truck and was working on the balance of the stereo and she didn’t pretend to move away. At some point, his hand went to her knee and she didn’t chase it away or flinch from it. 

The clock flicked to midnight before long and he looked to her and she looked back. He cruised once around the block and then when they saw that there no trace of Hudson’s truck or her mom, they parked into the driveway. It wasn’t uncommon that Knox would drop her off, or that he popped over. They were paired on a lot of science projects together as they had the same biology class. It was something of a second home, her mom was either sick on the couch or gone. 

Tonight was the latter. As they walked through the front door, Paxton turned to lock the door and chain it. After she walked back to the kitchen to get him a glass of water and he nodded a thanks. He moved to turn the TV on. Paxton sat in the middle, and without much prompting, put her legs into his lap. Knox was flicking through channel when Paxton blurted, “Wait, this.” It was a cooking show. She loved cooking shows. Knox glanced to her. “I love cooking shows. It’s cool how they can do things with like nothing.”

His hands went to her feet, resting on them until his thumb pressed into the ball of her foot. Paxton blinked a few times, it felt good. He was relaxed on the couch, and she felt herself scoot toward him and his touch. They chatted about the show and as she got closer, his hands went up her legs. She was telling him about how she learned how to cut an onion and he looked up at her. “You’d probably be a good cook, you know.”

Paxton snorted. There was no food at the house to learn to cook with. “No, I’m going to into programming.” She liked computers and coding. 

“You’d be good at that too.” 

Paxton was practically sitting in his lap and she rolled her eyes. 

“Pax, you know I mean it. I think you could be good — great — at anything you do. You’re really clever. You work hard too.”

Something about that hit her, and between the way he had a hand on her thigh, how he wasn’t pressuring her, and probably the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her, his head tilted just a little before she moved to kiss him. 

There was no delay in his reaction. Her legs came around and she settled to straddling his lap, his hands running down her sides. Her hands went to his face. Knox’s thumbs hooked under her shirt. She moved to pull his shirt off, he shuffled to let it come off, hands smoothing under her shirt, and it came off seconds later. 

They broke, breathing hard. His hands moved over her rib cage as he looked at her. “Paxton.”

She moved to kiss his neck. “Mm?”

“Hey,” he nuzzled her so that he could look at her. She looked at him back. “Are you sure? Do you actually want to?”

She paused. She’d never been asked that. Not once in all her years of sexual activity. No one ever made sure. A small smile crossed her face. “Yeah. I want you.”

“Okay,” he said and his hands moved to her thighs, managing to stand up and carry her to his bedroom. 

—

It had been two weeks. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t think about that night. For a brief moment she thought about something with him, but the fact she caught feelings put her off a bit. It was weird for Paxton. Then the phone calls started. Hudson was relentless. 

And Paxton did her best to avoid him. Until three weeks later and he couldn’t be avoided anymore. Paxton was standing in the parking lot, talking to Wesson Winslow, a guy she was in robotics club with. He also played baseball. Wesson was very All American, which wasn’t Paxton. But they had more in common when it came to interests than personality and Paxton liked him enough. He’d studied with her and Knox a lot. 

Hudson moved to lean against his truck that he parked next to her. “Paxton.”

Her eyes flicker to him. “Hi Hudson.” She went back to shuffling her books in her bag. Wesson looked to her and then Hudson. 

“I’ll see you in tomorrow for the Tech meeting?” Wesson asked.

Paxton nodded, “Yep, I’ll meet you there.” Wesson moved to walk off and her eyes went back to Hudson. 

“So you with him now?”

This was exhausting. “No, I’m not with anyone.” She had a lot rolling around in her mind, and Wesson was only part of it. 

“He looks like he wants to be with you.”

“Everyone wants to be with me,” Paxton said with an eye roll.

“Did you sleep with him already?” 

Wow, how fast the jealousy came. It was gross. 

“I mean, if you did, then you probably already know I’m the best. No one can hit your buttons like I can.” Hudson shrugged. 

Paxton’s head turned to finally look at him, her eyes cold. “Your brother is better, actually.” It came out without her meaning it too. The filter didn’t click in. 

Hudson’s eyes jerked to her. He didn’t believe her. She smiled. “He’s bigger than you, you know. Kisses better. Goes down better. Lasts longer and rebounds faster.” Was it cruel? Perhaps. But she’d had enough. “His name tasted better when I screamed it.” Partial lie, she didn’t scream. She wasn’t a screamer. 

Hudson’s face went red. With both embarrassment and fury. “You’re a fucking —“

Paxton cut him off, “Slut? Bitch? You’ll have to pick a more clever name to call me.” She leaned into his face. “But rest assured, you best pick a good one, because I soon as I hear it, I’m making sure I fuck your dad too. I’ll chop down your whole family tree, and I’ll make sure your home for each of them so you can listen in.” 

Hudson stepped back. “Fuck you.”

“Never again. Goodbye.” Paxton walked around him and headed to her house. 

—

The next day, when Paxton sat down next to Knox at the library study table, she did a double take. He had a black eye and busted lip. “Knox, Jesus.” Her hands turned over his to see his knuckles had cuts on them too. 

“It’s fine. Just, maybe next time warn me before?”

“I wasn’t thinking.” She felt guilty. She looked at him. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” Knox said. He shrugged. Paxton smiled and looked down. “What did you actually say?”

“I said you have a big dick, a magic tongue, and stamina and quick rebound.” Paxton paused. “I said your name tasted better when I screamed it.”

“Yeah, that will do it.”

Wesson walked up at that time and placed his books down. He also did a double take at Knox’s face. “Damn, dude.”

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t mean it badly,” Wesson shook his head. He looked back to Paxton and she smiled at him. “You alright, Pax? I heard things got ugly after I left.”

Paxton glanced to Knox. “It’s fine. Handled.”

“Alright. Hey, so, I wanted to show you the notes from the coding class and the project.” Paxton liked that if he heard she slept with Knox he wasn’t making a big deal of it. That and he was focused on the project at hand. But that was Wesson. He tended to get very zoned into the projects. It made it easy for her. 

[holy-hyuck]

NCT Dream Reaction: They See You Wearing Their Clothes

warning: there’s like a swear word or two in jaemin’s

by the way, would you guys want me to add shotaro and sungchan as a bonus into these since they’re not in a permanent unit yet?

also no, i absolutely do not have a crush on jaemin, what are you talking about?

Mark

It was so cold, so unbelievably cold in Mark’s apartment. You told him to fix the heating but he’s been too busy binging Netflix to bother. Shivering in your thin tee, you rummaged through Mark’s closet for something warm to wear. If he wasn’t going to get the heating sorted, you were going to steal every last one of his hoodies until he had no other choice.

Throwing the black, oversized hoodie over your head, you made your way downstairs and plopped on the couch beside him, making him turn his attention away from the TV screen and towards you.

“Is that my- Is that my hoodie?”

“Yes, it is. Actually, it’s now mine, at least until you get the heating fixed.” You crossed your arms over your chest and raised an eyebrow at your boyfriend.

Laughing, he threw his arms around you and started mumbling into your neck.

“Gosh, you’re so cute, you have no idea.”

You let out a whine, surrendering. This was not how this was supposed to go.

Renjun

You stayed over at the Dreamies’ dorm with the intent of catching up with them since their busy schedule meant you barely saw them - especially your boyfriend. A sleepover and a movie night seemed like a great idea.

The boys already had a table stacked with snacks and drinks.

You made the awful decision of wearing denim shorts, which meant twisting and turning for the first thirty minutes of the first movie Jeno picked until he had to go to the toilet and you paused it.

“Are you okay?” Jaemin asked, seeing your discomfort.

You shook your head, looking over at your boyfriend. “Do you have anything comfortable I could wear?” you asked, a puppy-like look on your face (or at least an attempted one), and he obliged, bringing you a pair of his sweatpants.

Once Jeno exited the toilet, you changed into your boyfriend’s clothes, coming back into the living room. Upon seeing you, Renjun burst into laughter, the already slightly baggy (on him) sweatpants completely drowning out your legs so it looked like you were wearing a trash bag over them.

“Y-You l-look great-”

He managed between laughs, covering his face, his head falling back into the couch cushions as he nearly fell on Jaemin. He was hoping his hand also covered his blush because - although he wasn’t sure what exactly it was - something about you wearing his clothes made him feel fuzzy inside and he hoped to see you in them again - just maybe in different circumstances.

Jeno

Out on the beach with your friends was the best way you could think of to spend the last weekend off before school. You sat on the sand, watching Yeri and Jaemin splash each other with water, their swimming suits soaked. They've been at it for the past fifteen minutes, and it all started because Jaemin drank one espresso too much and threw Yeri into the water.

You sat next to Jeno, both of you watching your friends laugh, and next to him sat Renjun, who typed on his phone like his life depended on it. You and Jeno didn't speak much; you were a bit awkward around each other, you'll admit, but that's only because two months ago, you kissed during a game of spin the bottle, and it was a little more heated than you would like, and now maybe, just maybe, you've developed a crush on the black-haired boy.

It was weird - you've known him for three years, and never looked at him that way. Only after the kiss, you started seeing him as this handsome guy with crescent-shaped eyes when he smiled, and not just a friend who wasn't ugly.

Your two friends finally got out of the water, making their way to their towels and drying themselves off. You shivered, the evening weather finally catching up to you. Wrapping your arms around yourself, you rubbed the skin harshly, hoping to generate some heat, and hoping you'll be making your way back home soon.

Renjun noticed this and shoved Jeno with his elbow, gesturing to you. When Jeno gave him a confused look, he rolled his eyes and started tugging on Jeno's jacket in an attempt to take it off. They had a little fight to the right of you, but you were none the wiser and ignored them until Jeno cleared his throat. You looked in his direction to see him taking off his jacket and draping it across your shoulders before giving you a small smile.

"You looked like you needed it."

You smiled at him. "Thank you." Both of you looked at the sand beneath your feet, heat rising to your cheeks.

To your left, Jaemin and Yeri exchanged a look and simultaneously rolled their eyes. You were both so goddamn oblivious.

Haechan / Donghyuck

You clipped your hair back with the lonely bobby pin in your pocket, pulling the jacket around you tighter to brace yourself for the ruthless winds outside. Exiting the shop with Donghyuck by your side, you picked up your pace to make it home before it became any colder or windier - which it did, a minute into your journey.

The wind made your eyes water and you shrunk yourself, head down, ignoring your boyfriend, who began failing to catch up to you.

Suddenly, you felt something warm wrap around your neck and turned around to find your boyfriend securing his scarf around it, unzipping your jacket to tuck it underneath, then zipping it back up. It left his neck exposed due to the low-cut t-shirt he wore under his leather jacket, and you frowned at the sight of it, opening your mouth to protest before he interrupted you.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine. You look like you need it more than me.”

Wrapping his arm around you, thus offering you even more of his body’s warmth, he led you towards his apartment, where he made you hot cocoa and cuddled you until you felt warm again.

You still didn’t take off his scarf, and he never asked for it back.

Jaemin

Maybe you didn't remember much from last night, however, when you woke up with a white, oversized denim jacket hanging from your desk chair, you were reminded of Jaemin - a loud and charming boy from one of your classes - lending you the covering after he walked you home after one too many drinks. In your defence, you bet with your friend that you could handle more shots than her, and won (the vomiting-in-the-garden part doesn't matter).

You got ready and rushed into your lecture hall, sitting somewhere in the middle and eyeing the students to spot the black-haired boy. When you managed to finally do so, he was already talking to one of his best friends, and the professor had started the lecture.

At the end of the lecture, you went up to Jaemin, who again, had busied himself talking to his friend. But when the other boy, Lee Jeno, saw you, he slapped Jaemin across the chest to get his attention.

Finally, Jaemin turned to you, taking a second or two to take in your appearance, his denim jacket hanging loosely on your shoulders. He almost laughed, his smile getting bigger than you've ever seen it. In the background, Jeno was laughing his ass off at Jaemin's reaction.

You cleared your throat. "Sorry, I just saw it on my chair today. It's yours right?" You took the jacket off of you and handed it to him once the boy nodded his head. "Thanks for last night, I don't know how I've survived but you certainly made it easier. Anyway, I'll see you later. You too, Jeno."

The older boy waved his hand at you and walked to Jaemin as the two of them watched you leave. "They looked good, huh?"

Jaemin looked to Jeno and smiled. "Fucking gorgeous."

Chenle

You may or may not have gotten too comfortable during your last few weeks of university, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie every day around your house, only swapping out the bottoms for a pair of jeans when going out. Honestly, you couldn't even remember the last time you put any effort into your appearance.

However, the dreadful day came when you had to meet Chenle's friends. You weren't dating for long, only a couple of weeks at most, so you felt the need to impress both them and your boyfriend. Thankfully, the plan to go to an amusement park were cancelled and swapped out for a movie night, so you felt okay with throwing on a hoodie and calling it a day. Spotting a bright blue coloured one in the corner of your bed, and realising it's Chenle's, you quickly pulled it over your head and rushed out of your house after realising you were late.

You were shaking the whole way to Jisung's house, hoping to calm down by the time you got there. He graciously let you inside and introduced you to two other guys and a girl, and you hoped they would spare you the embarrassment of wiping their hands after touching your sweaty palm.

"I like your hoodie," the girl said.

"Oh, thank you. It's Chenle's, actually," you replied after a beat. "Um, where is he?" You looked around, unable to spot the blond boy.

Suddenly, you heard a high-pitched scream coming from your right, an exclamation of "cute!" yelled your way, right before being tackled to the ground by the man-child in question. He pulled the hood over your head and grinned down at you.

"I'm guessing you like it?"

Jisung

Grabbing a book off Jisung's bedside table, you plopped on his bed with nothing but his thick, blue robe on. Admittedly, it was warm and cosy; definitely something you would have to steal. You skimmed through some of the pages of the history textbook before becoming bored and chucking it next to you.

Standing up from the mattress, you wandered around his room, waiting until he finished his shower.

"Hey, have you seen my-" Jisung came out of the bathroom, holding a towel to his chest, "-robe?"

He sighed, looking at you in his garment as you smiled like the Cheshire cat.

"Can I have that back?"

You skidded across the room to stand in front of him, going on your tip-toes and giving him a peck on the lips. "Nope."

Jisung shook his head at your antics before going to change into some clothes.

[alwaysmarveling]

Socks

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Warnings: toxic relationships, small mentions of death, gaslighting, fighting, and miscarriage

Word Count: 4k (literally exactly 4k, I’m kinda proud)

A/N: Based on the song “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back” by Olivia Rodrigo as suggested by @vancityfire13, I hope this meets all your hopes and expectations <3 also technically this is my first prompt from someone who’s not me??!

You met Wanda at the library. Your legs crossed, eyebrows scrunched, and bottom lip caught between your teeth, you’d settled in the familiar corner of the library's world languages section. That area was always quiet, which you’d found out after many trips to the library as a kid. When the occasional patron did wander through, perusing the shelves, sometimes they brought family or friends, weaving together sounds and syllables that had to be from another language. It was the only sound you’d tolerate while you were immersed in your reading. Well, to be fully honest, you loved it, wondering what the hushed voices were saying, what stories they were telling. So Wanda’s English was a jarring wake-up call.

“I like your socks.” Her eyes flashed to your ankles, leaving you wondering if she was more drawn to the sky blue color or the characters covering it.

You’d noticed the brunette walking the aisles about ten minutes ago. Unlike most, she ran her fingers along the worn spines, seeming only half-interested in what the titles read.

“Thanks.” Your voice was cold, unwelcoming. She gave you a terse nod before heading off, her footsteps silent against the worn carpet. You thought she was gone.

-

A week later, you were back at your spot. You’d finally finished the work you’d been putting off for weeks, just about to reward yourself with a reread of Little Women, a book you’d read an uncountable number of times since you were a child. She was an unwelcome interruption.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but-”

“I was looking for a book for my brother. His name is Pietro. Was Pietro. There was a Sokovian fairytale he always loved. Begged my mother to read it to us every night. He could recite it by memory by the time he was five, knew every word. I thought I did too.” Your eyes traced down the curve of her spine. Your mother would have scolded you for standing so poorly.

“I’m sorry for your loss” was all you said, your lips forming a tight line when you finished.

“I couldn’t- I can’t remember the title.”

“I can try to help you find it?” You weren’t sure why you offered, maybe the lost look in her eyes, the growing strength of her accent as she talked, or the way her fingers traced her empty palms. No one should leave a library empty-handed.

“Do you speak Sokovian?” The corners of her eyes creased as you shook your head.

“I suppose you won’t be much help then, will you?” Her words held no bite, only the sadness of a stranger who was trying to hold herself together, her emotions threatening to unravel her at the weakened seams. You matched her facial expression out of sympathy, but she was gone before you had a chance to apologize.

-

“Do you like Disney?” she had asked you. Her eyes were back on your ankles. You were wearing the same socks as when the two of you first met. You were milliseconds away from answering, your tongue already against the roof of your mouth, ready to shut down the conversation immediately afterward. But then you noticed the way her hands fidgeted in her lap, her fingers always moving, almost like they were dancing. You sighed. You should be nicer; she’d really done nothing wrong.

“It’s alright.” Your shoulders raised and dropped, your answer purposefully vague. “Did you manage to find the book?” The darkening of her eyes was enough to tell you that, no, she hadn’t found it. “What’s the main character’s name?” Her gaze followed you as you pulled out your laptop.

“Boleslav,” she answered finally. Her gaze was timid, unsure. Why were you helping her? You’d been so closed off before. 

“Do you know any major points of the story? The names of the other characters?” Before she could answer, you eyed the pillow that sat next to you. She took a seat.

The two of you poured over Google, eventually finding the story and its location in the library. But by that point, you were too wrapped up in your findings on the Internet to get up. Too wrapped up in each other.

---

Wanda insisted she make it up to you, for finding the book for her.

“For helping me find my brother,” she insisted, pulling you out of the library. If she was anyone else, you would have responded by saying that she could make it up to you by leaving you alone with your books, but she wasn’t anyone else. So you let her tug you out of the building, Mirabelle, the librarian, giving you a wink upon seeing you leaving the building with someone else, soft smiles gracing your faces.

You thought she would’ve brought you to coffee, but it seemed you hadn’t yet developed the ability to understand her. She brought you to the city, a small store on the corner. Socks lined the walls, the different colors and patterns flooding your vision.

“Your Disney ones looked old.” You half-nodded as you scanned the store, your hand going limp in hers. You remembered learning about rods and cones in class ages ago, not quite remembering what each one did but remembering that one of them was involved in seeing colors. Those—whatever they were called—must’ve been on overdrive.

You picked one pair for her, and she, one for you. You wore those socks constantly, slipping them over your feet the second they were out of the wash. You never told Wanda about it, but you didn’t have to; her eyes fell to your ankles every time she saw you, a small smile on her face. You didn’t know if you did it for her reaction or simply because you loved them. Maybe it was both.

---

Wanda drew you into her world. Some might have used the word “yanked” given how quickly your relationship moved. But that made it sound involuntary, as if she’d forced you to move in with her when she’d asked you exactly eight months after your first date. And if you’d known she had powers when you first met her, you might’ve agreed. Maybe she’d entranced you and now you were stuck with her, even if you didn’t really want to be.

But the truth was that you did, you wanted to be with her every second you could. And though magic never left her hands when she was with you, even her name was magic, the way those two syllables rang beautifully in the air as she formally introduced herself for the first time. She spoke English when she talked to you, but you swore that whatever left her mouth was a language of her own, so elegant, sweet, and charming in a way that no English speaker could replicate.

But, one night, her words twisted into daggers, punctuated syllables sharpening into dangerous ends, the beginning of each sentence like a handle she grabbed and used to hurt you further, twist until it was lodged as deeply into your chest as it could go.

You weren’t sure what you did to make it happen. Maybe it was just a bad night. She was drunk, after all, home from some party with the Avengers that you hadn’t gone to. The two of you had talked it over before, though, both agreeing that it was too soon in your relationship to attend anything where it’d be publicly released, which was why you were confused about why she was cursing you out for abandoning her, not being there when you needed her.

You promised that you’d be sure to go next time. Wanda just turned around, dismissing you without another word. You weren’t sure what was worse, the silence or her words. She somehow missed the tears that streamed down your face.

-

The next day, she knocked on your door. This time, she was the one in tears, the rate at which they fell only increasing when she saw how puffy your eyes were.

“I- I’m sorry,” she bumbled, the sounds tumbling out of her mouth like a barrel coming down the Niagara Falls. She couldn’t have stopped them if she tried. You watched her struggle through an apology, something about her insecurities being magnified as she saw all the other couples around her seemingly happy. She just wanted that. And even though her speech was much more clumsy than the usual effortless diction you were used to hearing from her, you allowed her words to draw you in, provide you shelter from the horrors you’d experienced yesterday, when your heart raced and blood rushed your ears and your palms were so sweaty you couldn’t get a grip on anything. You allowed her arms to draw you in, make you feel safe. You allowed her to bring you home.

---

Wanda saw a side of you that no one had ever seen before. Scratch that, Wanda saw all of you. Where others would’ve looked away or missed the true meaning of your words, she dug deeper. You lived your whole life with a mask on, swapping one out for another to appease those around you. Wanda took them all off.

But she didn’t force them off; she made you want to take them off. You were the one who peeled them off one by one, the experience being extremely unnerving every time you revealed that much more of yourself to her, but you always found yourself relieved at the end. Because she accepted you, she loved you.

Right?

---

You called her once, during a mission. It was something the two of you had been doing ever since you started dating. You would ask how she was doing, make sure she was okay, and she’d do the same for you. Of course, when her missions were off-the-grid you didn’t call, but if the two of you were allowed to stay in contact, she insisted that you guys do so.

“I have to make sure my love is okay,” she’d murmured, just before she left for her first mission since the two of you started your relationship. She was holding you in her arms as the two of you swayed back and forth. Your feet were bare for once, the cold kitchen tile underfoot grounding the both of you. Neither of you had wanted to let go; your hands were clasped firmly together around her waist, and hers rested on top of yours. But eventually, the incessant honking from Tony became too much, and the two of you reluctantly moved apart.

“I’ll call you the second I can, yeah? And make sure you call me in the morning when you wake up.”

“I will,” you nodded as Wanda’s hand came up to brush against your cheek.

But somehow she’d forgotten about your agreement, and nothing but annoyance filled your ear, the phone pressed up against it.

“Y/N, I really don’t have time for this right now.” You sucked in a breath, her tone an instant reminder of that night she’d yelled at you. But that was so long ago. And you hadn’t done anything; there wasn’t a party you’d missed since then, not a moment since then that you’d let her feel alone. Or was there?

“I- I’m sorry,” you stuttered. “Should I call you back later?” All you got was a sigh, doubt and panic filling your chest in the momentary silence.

“We’ll see. Goodbye, milaya.” There was barely a pause in between her voice and the disconnect tone. You weren’t sure if the pet name was sincere or a habit leftover from the good times.

Were you still in the good times?

What went wrong?

Where did you go wrong?

-

She came back from the mission, and all was well again. She spun you around and around, her melodious giggles filling your ears and causing the corners of your mouth to lift. But you couldn’t help your brows from cinching inwards, wondering where this Wanda had been when you’d called. Was it just another fluke, or maybe something you’d imagined?

“I love you, printsessa, so, so much,” Wanda whispered. You loved the way her smooth voice filled your ears, made you feel whole again. Maybe it was the kitchen? Was that the place she felt safe, the place where she felt like she could love you fully? Maybe that’s why she seemed so closed off during the mission. When you didn’t respond, too lost in thought, she spoke up again.

“Detka, d’you know you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me? I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Her eyes sparkled. No red mist emerged from her fingertips, but you swore Wanda’s essence was magic in and of itself. How could you ever deny her?

You surrendered.

“I love you too. More than anything in the world.”

---

The next day, Wanda woke you up with excitement filling her voice, insisting that you come with her to the compound to pick up some of the things she’d left behind. 

“I want to show you off,” she’d laughed as she rolled you over.

“We’ve already met, babe. They love me, you’ve said so yourself,” you groaned. She shook her head as she corralled you into the bathroom.

“You haven’t met all of them! Now c’mon, let’s go!” You agreed, and she was right, there were lots of new people there.

“You must be Y/N, right?” You nodded as you shook the man’s hand.

“I’m Clint. I’ve heard, um, lots about you. And your socks.” The two of you laughed at his joke, but something about his chuckle was off. His smile never quite reached his eyes. Wanda whisked you off too soon for you to figure out why though, bringing you over to a rather large man. No, god, he’s a god. Thor, he said. His name is Thor.

“Hi, I’m Y/N,” you’d responded.

“The love of my life,” Wanda sighed, her voice wispy and dreamy. The god’s eyebrows had raised at that.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you then, Y/N. I didn’t know Wanda was so fortunate as to have a love so strong.” Sometimes you had to remind yourself of that too. “You are very lucky, my friend.” Am I? 

-

You exchanged jokes with Natasha, learned of some of Bruce and Tony’s new projects, listened to stories of Thor’s childhood adventures on Asgard; the night went well. Until it didn’t.

You were yanked into a mostly empty room, the door quickly shut behind you. Was that a flash of red you’d seen in the corner of your eye?

“What did you do?” someone hissed. The voice was familiar, but by this point, you weren’t sure if it filled you with dread or joy when you heard it. Was that part of the excitement of your relationship, trying to figure out the complexities of it all, trying to predict which version of your lover you’d get this time?

“I don’t know,” you whispered. “I didn’t do anything, Wanda, I swear!”

“Then why is Clint telling me to break up with you? What did you say to him?” Your head shook, your whole body shook. This was news to you.

“I didn’t say anything. Please, Wan-”

“How am I supposed to believe that, Y/N? Do you really think he’d just make that up out of nowhere?” You tried to find the words, the ones you should say, the ones she’d want you to say. You had nothing. The witch’s anger grew, her hands slamming down on her sides. “God, Y/N! It’s like sometimes I don’t even know who you are!”

But wait, that was how you felt. Wasn’t it? Or had you dreamed that up too? What had you done?

“Wanda, I promise I didn’t do anything. I’ve been friendly to him all night.”

“So you expect me to believe he’s lying, then.” Your eyes fell to her chest, its rise and fall rapid but deep, going up and down several times before she spoke again. “Y/N, he named his child after my brother. Why would he lie to me?” You could do nothing, say nothing to fix this. You weren’t sure exactly what you did, but you’d messed up. Again.

“Maybe he’s right, then.” Her hand ran through her hair, the brown locks that you loved to twist around your own fingers, play with as she laid in your lap, a show playing in the background. You missed those times.

But weren’t you just doing that last night?

You weren’t sure. It seemed like so long ago.

---

Weeks, months, even a year passed. Wanda had apologized for that night at the compound. She’d also apologized for the countless number of other times the two of you had fought since then. But it was okay, you’d thought, because for all those arguments was an equal number of moments where the two of you laughed so hard you couldn’t breathe, slow-danced at 3 AM, used your hairbrushes as microphones to sing concerts for your millions of fans. At least, you thought it was an equal number. Did number matter anyway?

Wanda went from being your girlfriend, to being your fiancé, to being your wife. Like Thor had said, you were “very lucky.” You are very lucky. Because right now, you’re looking down at the stick in your hand, and there are two lines, not one. The two of you had done something so many couldn’t; that was a huge blessing. And now you had to tell Wanda.

Finding the box was harder than you thought, but the other part was much easier. All you had to do was go to the store Wanda had taken you to all that time ago, the small store on the corner. And when the brunette lifted open the lid to find a pair of socks so tiny they could only be for one thing, one person, one baby, she knew. She was ecstatic. You were relieved.

-

Four weeks. Four weeks later from that day was the worst day of your life. Just as quickly as the baby had come, it had gone. He or she was gone. Was it your fault? The doctor had been quick to shut those thoughts down, insisting that there were many factors that could’ve caused the miscarriage, but you certainly weren’t one of them.

But Wanda didn’t talk to you for a whole week, spending the nights in the guest bedroom to avoid you. It was the longest the two of you had gone without speaking. That had to mean something, right?

It did. It meant that it shouldn’t have been a surprise when you came home from work the following Monday to find half of the things missing. All of her things.

The box was still there, though; you saw it out of the corner of your eye. It sat on top of a cabinet, the two socks poking out of the top.

The two of you had fallen in love with those tiny socks faster than you’d fallen in love with each other. They held so much love, so much promise. But now they were empty, devoid of anything they might’ve held just hours before. They were nothing more than a painful reminder of what could have been, what should have been. Meanwhile, your own socks were still on, the same ones Wanda had given to you on your first date. You weren’t sure you could take them off if you tried. Was that a reminder too? Did it have significance?

The ticking of the clock suddenly caught your attention. You had been standing at the doorway for thirty minutes, but what were you supposed to do? Were you supposed to go somewhere? Where would you go? Wanda was gone, not leaving any clue as to where she could’ve run off to, and you were alone. 

When was the last time you’d been truly alone?

Didn’t you use to like being alone?

You grabbed your keys. You weren’t sure what you were looking for, but whatever it was, you wouldn’t find it here.

-

You push open the door, always the one on the right. Walk twenty or so steps through the entrance, turn left. Take another left, then walk-

It was different. Completely different. The shelves weren’t the same color, metal had been swapped for wood, the carpet was new; what had happened?

“Y/N, sweetie, is that you?” Mirabelle’s voice. At least she was still here. You turned to face her, taking in her wrinkled face, the tortoiseshell glasses that had been perched on her nose since you met her as a child. “Oh my goodness, it is! We haven’t seen you in ages. We were all so worried.”

“Wha- what happened to the library?” Her kind smile flipped, her lips separated with their corners turning downwards.

“We got a renovation at the end of last year, honey. Didn’t you see it on the news?”

“Right,” you nodded, swallowing again, trying to push down the lump that had been growing in your throat for over an hour. “Um, where’s the world languages section?”

“Upstairs, love. Take two rights and you’ll see it. Enjoy your visit, okay?” You nodded again, pressing your lips into a wavering smile that Mirabelle accepted.

You found the section easily enough, pushing yourself into one of the beanbags that crowded the floor. It was quiet—you supposed not many people came to the library on a late Tuesday afternoon—but something was missing.

No, that wasn’t it. Nothing was missing. Everything had changed, and you couldn’t settle yourself no matter how hard you tried. You couldn’t recognize the white walls or the large windows that surrounded you. You couldn’t recognize the book in your shaking hands; the title read “Little Women,” but it lacked the comfort and familiarity it once brought you. You couldn’t recognize the artwork that hung on the walls, the large signs suspended from the ceiling.

You caught a reflection in the shiny metal of a book cart that lay several feet away from you.

You couldn’t recognize yourself.

When you finally left the library, Mirabelle frowned as she watched you exit the doors, not stopping to check out a book like you always did. No one should ever leave a library empty-handed. You’d forgotten that too.

---

She came back less than a week later, her cheeks tear-stained and her eyes rimmed with red as she stumbled her way through an apology.

“It was a mistake, detka, I promise. I made such an awful mistake, and I’ll never forgive myself. I won’t blame you if you don’t forgive me either.” You stared at her, neither your eyes nor your mouth moving as you tried to take in what she was saying, tried to come up with an adequate response.

Which had changed more, the library or you?

“Please, you’re the only thing that matters in my life. I can’t lose you.” The melody of her once-full voice was broken, the chords fragmented and notes falling out of tune. It was as broken as you’d felt for the past few days. Maybe she understood. But you couldn’t think anymore because you were suddenly in her arms again, her tears soaking your shirt as she sobbed.

The library had been renovated, its modernity and welcoming environment being a major improvement to the once somewhat dilapidated building. You had slipped, your feet wrapped in the socks Wanda had given you as you stumbled down the dark, crooked hallway of your life, trying desperately to get a hand on the wall, grab a solid footing.

You had two options: save yourself or fall.

“Please, Y/N, please. Promise you’ll stay.” 

You fell backwards, your head being the first to slam into the floor.

“Of course I’ll stay, Wan. I’d never leave you.”

You weren’t sure if you’d ever get up. After all, changed or not, what’s a library without its books? Who are you without her?

-----

🏷 : @007giu

[ncssian]

A Favor: Part Twenty-Eight

Nessian Modern AU

Masterlist

a/n: the beginning of the end :,) if u made it this far i think ur cool

***

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” Lana asks.

Nesta closes her eyes, letting the picture swirl and take shape in her mind.

This time last year, she would have imagined nothing. Nothing but a desk in a busy law office, and maybe a nice apartment if she was lucky. That would be it. But now she sees…

“Somewhere with good food and good music,” she muses. “Maybe a sea breeze.” The sun-faded buildings of Portofino fade into the foreground of her imagination. “There are lots of people with me,” she hears the sound of children shrieking and Cassian’s rumbling laughter, “but it’s okay, because I love every one of them.” Her eyes open. “Is that a good answer?”

A near invisible smile tugs at the corners of Lana’s lips. “You tell me, Nesta. Do you like what you see?”

“It’s a little too cinematic if you ask me,” Nesta says nonchalantly, picking up her bag from the ground, “but I suppose all dreams are that way.”

“It’s a good dream,” Lana says. “A worthy dream, and one you deserve to chase.”

Nesta shrugs lightly, not too worried about the burden of the future for once. “Maybe I will.”

“In that case, congratulations on completing your final therapy session,” Lana says, setting her notebook aside. “You’ve made some amazing progress this year.”

Nesta gives her therapist her signature what’s-wrong-with-you look. “I’m going on vacation, not firing you for good. I’ll see you again in two months.”

“Two months can be enough to lose all your progress, if you forget everything you went through to get here.”

Nesta isn’t stupid. She knows that she isn’t suddenly desperate to make babies or be maid of honor at her sisters’ weddings or some bullshit. She knows that the image she just dreamed up, with Cassian and kids and her unburdened heart, is likely more than five years away. If it happens at all, it could be ten, even twenty years of hard work away.

She’s not nearly finished growing yet. “I’ll see you in two months, Lana,” she repeats.

Lana smiles at her fully this time. “Enjoy your summer, Nesta.”

***

The air is different in the Smokies.

Nesta rolls the truck windows down so she can inhale it, relish it. Wind whips her hair every which way as they drive down the winding freeway cutting through the lush mountains, and something about the look on her face makes Cassian chuckle and press down on the accelerator.

Nesta watches the red needle on the speedometer cross ninety, then one hundred. She can barely feel the June heat with how fast they’re going.

In the end, it was Feyre and Elain that reached out and invited her to the Tennessee summer home. Cassian had made it obvious that he wouldn’t push her to go if she didn’t want to, and at first she really didn’t want to. But Feyre had looked so hopeful when she asked Nesta to come with them, and even Elain had revealed a glimmer of eagerness that Nesta would say yes.

So against all odds, she agreed to go.

Exchanging one mountain home for another isn’t much of a getaway, but Nesta can’t help but be excited. Even with the unhappy memories of her childhood, she loves these hills more than any other.

The pure exhilaration of being back in Tennessee overcomes her at some point during the drive, knocking her out in the passenger seat where she sits. In her drowsy state, she distantly hears the windows being rolled up, before feeling Cassian’s hand guide her head to rest against the glass. The rest of the drive is warm and sunny, enough to lull her into a deep sleep.

The next thing Nesta’s aware of is the crunch of gravel and the feeling of the truck tires slowing to a stop. Fingers brush against her heated cheek, and then Cassian is murmuring at her to wake up.

Blinking her eyes open, Nesta twists around to see their destination.

For a moment, she thinks she’s still dreaming.

“Welcome to Holly House,” Cassian says with a grin. The house in question is quaint and sprawling at the same time, the way most upper class Southerners like their houses. The whole thing gleams with a fresh coat of white paint under the afternoon sun, complemented by a sky blue wraparound porch. Colonial style windows and proud columns decorating the facade of the building makes it look like the setting of a fairy tale.

Beyond it, Nesta can see cherry blossoms. Pink, fluttering cherry blossoms that fly off their branches and swirl through the air, some of them disappearing into the thick woods behind the house. Woods that Nesta has walked countless times before.

“The rest of the guys won’t get here until tomorrow afternoon,” Cassian is saying to her, “so we have the whole place to our—”

Nesta isn’t listening anymore. She unbuckles her seatbelt and shoves open the truck door, hobbling outside on unsteady feet to make sure she isn’t hallucinating things. But no, this is…

“Cherrywood,” she breathes, eyes wide in disbelief.

Cassian gets out of the truck, coming up beside Nesta to slip his hand into her shorts pocket. “What’s wrong? You okay?”

“This is Rhysand’s summer home?” Nesta points at the house. “This place?”

Cassian looks around at the building grounds in confusion. “Has been for the last two decades, yeah.”

It’s been eleven years since she last stepped foot on these grounds.

With wonderment in her voice, she utters to Cassian, “I’ve been here before.”

At his puzzled look, she explains, “I lived just on the other side of those woods.” She points to the trees. “There’s an old cracked road that hasn’t been maintained since it was first paved, and you can follow it straight to the poor side of town. Whenever I wanted to get away, I would come down that road and trek through the woods, and I’d end up here. I stopped coming because…” she trails off.

Because she got caught that one time.

Cassian seems to realize it at the same moment as her. His hand slips out of her pocket. “You…”

Nesta remembers a tall boy with shocked eyes and shaggy hair, and she shakes her head slowly in forceful denial. It can’t be true. It’s too much of a coincidence.

But he points at her, then her feet. “You—with the size six Converse,” he sputters. “It was you.”

Before Nesta can confirm or deny it, he grabs her by the wrist and starts tugging her along, up the porch stairs and inside the house.

Even with Rhysand and Feyre’s renovations, it looks undeniably the same as all those years ago. The living room is to her right and the farmhouse style kitchen and dining area is to the left, though she speeds by it all as Cassian pulls her farther inside the house, to the closet beneath the curving stairs.

He lets go of her hand to search the small closet, muttering, “I know they were here somewhere.” But the closet looks like it was stripped empty for renovations, with only bolts in the walls indicating that shoe racks used to hang there.

Cassian turns and heads for the stairs, and Nesta blindly follows him. She also wants to go upstairs, wants to see if the bay window looking out onto the garden has stayed the same.

Like he read her mind, he leads her straight to the room she used to spend hours reading in. It’s smaller than all the other bedrooms in the house, but it’s always been her favorite because of the view.

As Cassian keeps looking for whatever it is he’s looking for, upturning boxes and checking beneath furniture, Nesta drifts toward the bay window. She looks from the cherry blossom trees outside, to the full-sized bed, to Cassian, and a weight drops even heavier in her gut. She has to reach out and grip the edge of the dresser for support.

Finally, Cassian pops out of the closet victorious. In his hand are a pair of ragged shoes that Nesta hasn’t worn in a long, long time.

He comes over and drops them with a thud at her feet.

“Whose room is this?” she asks with a rough voice, still staring down at the shoes.

“Mine,” he answers simply.

“Oh.” She met him before. She met him before.

When Nesta dares to look up and meet Cassian’s eyes, what she finds there nearly robs her of breath: wonder, astonishment, and unwavering fealty. He breaks into sudden wholehearted laughter, which dazes her even more.

“What’s so funny?” she demands.

Cassian gets out between laughs, “What was it Rhysand said about Feyre? When they found out they were close to crossing paths when they were younger?”

Nesta’s earth-tilting shock slowly slips away, replaced by a stern look. “Don’t say it.”

He pretends to remember. “I think it was fate.” A wicked smirk pulls at his lips at Nesta’s resigned sigh. “But I have another word for it, too.”

“Don’t say that, either.” She pleadingly holds up her hands, only for Cassian to snatch one out of the air and intertwine his fingers with hers.

“Soulmate,” he says quietly, now less amused.

Nesta swallows thickly, not having any words for him. All she knows is that he is never going to let her live this down.

“Imagine if we’d gone to the same high school,” Cassian says to her later that afternoon as they lounge in his old room. “Fuck, I could’ve saved myself so much time with all those random girls.” They’ve been swapping childhood stories for the past hour, as if they might find more instances in their history of a red string tying them together.

Nesta doesn’t need coincidences or fateful run-ins to know that a string has always been wrapped around her ring finger, pulling her to Colorado and to that cabin. But for Cassian’s sake, she’ll gladly amuse him. “I would have been a freshman while you were a senior,” she says matter-of-factly. “It never could have happened.”

He hums in thought, head propped up in his hand, elbow propped up against the bay window seat. “Maybe if you were older. You would have been the smart, quiet girl, and I’d have been the player jock, and as soon as we locked eyes in math class, I’d be head over heels in love with you.”

Nesta cackles from where she sits in the window seat above him. “Now you’re just writing fanfiction.”

Cassian grins up at her but doesn’t send a rebuttal her way. The conversation falls into a lull, until Nesta has to reach out and ask, “What are you thinking?”

His smile turns a little sad. “That I wish we weren’t doing this right before I leave for another country.”

Right. That’s what’s been hanging over them the entire trip to Tennessee: that as soon as they get back to Colorado, Cassian is going to be on a plane to Milan.

Getting Keith O’Connell to quit—how exactly Cassian went about accomplishing it, he still won’t tell Nesta—left Rhysand at square one with his search for a team leader for his overseas venture.

When Cassian brought up the idea of taking the job to Nesta, he sounded like he hoped she would shoot him down, talk him out of it. He both wanted to go and was reluctant to leave, like his very soul was glued to his home and he didn’t want to unstick himself.

So Nesta, being his home, had to do the unsticking for him. She nearly accepted the year-long Milan position herself for Cassian’s sake, and it took weeks of coaxing and convincing to put him at ease about the whole thing.

“But we promised to go together for the first time,” he kept saying.

“We’ll still go together one day, and it’ll still be our first time there with each other,” she reassured him.

Eventually, he relented to her and Rhysand’s pressures with a single condition. “I’ll do six months. Not a year.”

Only Nesta knows deep down how much Cassian needs this opportunity. Though Cassian must know it a little bit too, because he wouldn’t have taken the job if he didn’t.

Nesta might have needed him in order to come out of her shell, but now he needs to get away from her in order to find his own shell. Something he can call his own, unburdened by his loyalties to the people he loves. So he can find who he wants to be for himself, without always being attached to her hip.

Rising to her feet, Nesta raises her arms in the air in a full body stretch. Her back and legs ache with being curled up in that window seat for so long without movement.

Dropping her arms, she holds out a hand to Cassian still sitting on the floor. “Come on,” she urges him. “Let’s go outside. I haven’t seen a Smoky sunset in years.”

“But it’s not evening yet,” he argues while taking her hand.

Outside, they explore the garden that leads into the woods while waiting for the sun to slink down the sky. Cherry blossoms ride the summer breeze wherever it takes them, resulting in Cassian sniffling and scratching at his neck as they walk hand in hand.

“Rhysand wanted to take these trees down and replace them with a flower garden for Elain,” he tells Nesta as they walk. His sinuses sound clogged, but he’s refused to go back inside until he’s explained every inch of the land to Nesta. “I convinced him not to because it would ruin the view from my bedroom window. Didn’t I make the right choice?” He throws a grin in her direction.

Nesta’s swallow is tight at that grin. “The view from your room was always my favorite part about the entire place. So yes, you did good.”

His eyes widen at that tidbit of information, and she can almost see him tucking it away as more Soulmate Evidence.

They stroll through the woods for a while, and Nesta points out the path she would take to get to Cherrywood—she still insists on calling it Cherrywood, even when Cassian argues that the house’s original name has been around since the sixties.

“Show me the rest of the way?” Cassian asks her, face lit up in boyish hope. “Show me where you ran away to that day I found you.”

Nesta almost expects the memory of the rundown apartment complex she grew up in to feel like being shoved into sludge: dirty, cold, and slimy. Instead, she finds she has no problem with looking back at her old home, no matter how many ugly memories she holds from there.

However, the dappled sunlight streaming in through the trees overhead has turned from yellow to dark gold, and she shakes her head in apology to Cassian. “Another day,” she promises him. “It’s almost sunset.”

They walk back to the house, rounding it until they reach the front. At the bottom of the hill that the house is perched on stands a pier that leads all the way out to the lake. Green mountains frame the lake from both sides, creating the perfect cradle for the sun to sink into.

They go all the way out to the edge of the pier, as if they’re trying to get as close to the sunset as physically possible. Dragonflies lazily swoop by as the lake is gradually painted in a hundred different colors.

Once there’s more darkness than light in the sky, Cassian nudges Nesta with one of the arms he has around her. “Look.” He points.

Along the shoreline of the lake, little dots of light have lit up to welcome the evening, their blinking glow so small that Nesta almost doesn’t catch it. Fireflies.

Nesta watches the insects flit in and out of the long grasses of the lake shore, getting tangled in the weeds and wildflowers. In that moment, she remembers something Cassian once confessed to her not long after his birthday.

I want to see more beautiful places with you.

Nesta ticks this beautiful place off the long list in her head—the first place out of many that she plans to see with Cassian.

More beautiful than the scene before her is the man in her arms. The man who was kind enough to understand a woman who barely understood herself, and to be her friend when she had none. The man who is extending his kindness right now by not having made any breaking-and-entering jokes about Nesta so far, though she’s sure he’ll pull them out eventually.

Discovering that she once found Cassian, just to let him slip by running away from him, only to find him again over a decade later—it comforts the tiny part of her that’s loath to say goodbye to him in two weeks.

Like Cassian is thinking the same thing, he murmurs into the dark, “I can’t wait to come back to you.”

Nesta huffs in amusement. “You haven’t even left yet.”

“I know.” After a moment, he adds in a low voice that not even the fireflies can hear, “Thank you for convincing me to go.”

She reaches up to squeeze his bicep. “Always.” And then she adds what she really wants him to hear: “Don’t come back until you find what you’re looking for.”

“I better find it quick then,” he jokes. Still, he nods in promise against the side of her head.

The only sound after that is the chirp of cicadas and the occasional lap of water meeting the pier beams. Nesta and Cassian stay outside in the June heat long after the sky turns ink blue.

***

a/n: next chapter is just some ic bullshit so take all ur bittersweet sentimentality here and go

tagging: @sjm-things @thewayshedreamed @drielecarla @valkyriewarriors @superspiritfestival @aliveahaahahafuck @cupcakey00 @sayosdreams @rainbowcheetah512 @claralady @thebluemartini @nessiantho @missing-merlin @duskandstarlight @lucy617 @sleeping-and-books @everything-that-i-love @cassianscool @swankii-art-teacher @wannawriteyouabook @arinbelle @awesomelena555 @julemmaes @wickedqueenoffantasy @poisonous-bloom @observationanxioustheorist @gisellefigue08 @courtofjurdan @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @wolfiixxx @cass-nes @seashade @royaltykxx @illyrianundercover @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @humanexile @that-golden-lyre @agentsofsheilds @mercy-is-alive @cassiansbigwingspan @laylaameer01 @verypaleninja @maastrash @bow-dawn @perseusannabeth @dead-on-the-inside666 @jlinez @hungryreadingaddict @anidealiveson @planet-faerie @shallowhighwaters @ghostlyrose2 @chosenfamily-valkyriequeens @rarephloxes @readiajin @nessiantrashh @live-the-fangirl-life @ifinallygavein @xoblivisci @sjmships @jungtaekwoonie-is-life @lysandra-tiara @lanyjoy-13 @post-it-notes33 @loosingdreams @fromthelibraryofemilyj @18moneytoad @dontgetsalmonella @champanheandluxxury @togreblog @ladygabrielli1997 @meridainthedisneyland @moodymelanist @pixieelea @teagoddess99 @mystic-bibliophile

[bitchesgetriches]

To get this one out early to all your followers who I'm sure will eventually be asking: NFTs are essentially a scam. They're the digital equivalent of the creator of parks and rec scribbling you an autograph saying "Piggy owns parks and rec now, love, Mike" on the back of a napkin and jotting his phone number down on the bottom of it in case anyone wanted to ring and confirm that he did actually sign this autograph.

It's *technically* not actually a scam because deep in the small print it does usually specify that your NFT grants you zero rights zero ownership and is absolutely meaningless despite the marketing claims, and in theory the NFT in itself *could* have some sort of collectors' value (like an autograph could) but the marketing around them is VERY scammy making all kinds of ownership promises and rights implications that they really can't deliver on. It's also got a whole 'nother level that the whole scam essentially exists to suck real fungible money into the eretheum system, which as a previous poster has already pointed out is also a proof-of-work-based environmental disaster. NFTs are essentially a barely legal cash fleece to prop up the crypto bubble.

So buyer beware people, if you wouldn't pay that for an autograph from whoever it is, don't pay it for their NFT.

I suppose we should also cover "What is an NFT" shouldn't we?

An NFT is a Non-Fungible Token. What does that mean you might ask? Well fungible means it's practically exchangeable for anything else like it in the same class. The best idea of this is money. A ten dollar note is fungible. If I have my ten dollar note, or I swap it for a different ten dollars with you, or I swap two of them for a twenty, I don't fundamentally care. Ten dollars is ten dollars.

Non-Fungible is like an autograph. If I have an autograph from Joe Biden, it's not immediately and self-evidently equivalent to an autograph from Barack Obama. Sure, you might *decide* to make the trade, it might be worth it to you, but they're not inherently interchangeable. If you woke up one morning and someone had swapped out your Joe autograph for a DJT one, or your mom borrowed your Joe and promised she'd replace with a Ford one later, you'd be well within your rights to be pissed in a way that you just wouldn't be with a simple ten bucks.

An NFT takes this idea and makes it ~digital~. It's built on the same idea as crypto currency but they've made each one unique. Like putting different people's autographs on a ten dollar bill, I suppose - now your Joe Biden $10 IS different to your mom's Barack one (very ELI5 don't @me).

What they claim to do is provide digital "ownership" of art, or music, etc. As we all know, digital artwork can be copied and pasted to your heart's content, and no one can really own an original. Copyright law can come into play, but who *owns* the original. NFTs (claim to) attempt to solve that. When an original is created, the artist creates an NFT that says "X person owns this artwork" and sells it. This person now has a cryptographically secure little badge saying "I own this artwork", that they can prove no matter how many people copy and paste it. The idea being that everyone can see the Mona Lisa, or copy and paste a print of it, but only one person gets to OWN the Mona Lisa, right? Even owning the artwork doesn't necessarily give you copyright over it - that's normal, so NFTs just work the same. You get to own it and be the only person in the world who can prove they do. Seductive marketing. Cool, right?

Wrong.

Firstly - you do not "own" this artwork. Like, not even slightly. Hell, the artwork itself isn't actually contained within the NFT. It's usually just a link to another website that is contained within the NFT. Something like "the person who can correctly prove possession of this token owns the artwork at www dot artwork dot com". Well, can you imagine if the Mona Lisa did the same?? You'd never stand for that, would you? Can you imagine if you spent $1bn on buying the Mona Lisa and then looked at the fine print and it actually said that you own the painting that stands at the middle of the Denon Alley in the Louvre? Sure, that's the Mona Lisa NOW, but there's no guarantee it'll be the Mona Lisa next week.

Secondly. You do not actually own the art in any meaningful sense. The terms and conditions confirm this. You do not gain the copyright. You do not get the right to have it taken down. You do not get the right to exclusive use of the photo. You don't get the right to destroy it. You literally only own this digital token that says you own it. To take it back to the Mona Lisa example, it would be like getting a piece of paper saying you own the painting at the middle of the Denon Alley in the Louvre, but we're gonna keep hold of it: you're not allowed to move it, touch it, tamper with it, copy it, take photos of it, sell merchandise of it, stop anyone else from looking at it, or do any of the things that one usually associates with "owning" a painting. In fact, all you get is a piece of paper saying it's yours, and you can ring us up anytime to check we really did give you that paper. That's it.

What's the point? You don't actually own the painting in any meaningful way. It's like those "name a star" gifts. It may well be "official", but in practical terms it's worth diddly fuck all. You'd be pretty annoyed if someone told you you'd bought the Mona Lisa and that's all you got.

Thirdly (and finally)

There is literally NO benefit to 'owning' it for you. To go back again to the Mona Lisa, the example the sellers use to justify the "but anyone can copy it" is that anyone can own a print of the Mona Lisa, but only one person can own the original. You're the original owner of this digital artwork.

Except... The Mona Lisa is unique. Digital artwork isn't. The original and copies of digital artwork are - ironically - completely fungible. If I copy-paste the original file, they're both "originals". Neither has any more claim to be original than the other. And remember, there's no "original" actually stored in the token, just a link to something that shows another copy. The Mona Lisa is unique, different, there's only one copy. He only put his paints on one piece of canvas. Prints aren't the same. But a digital artwork? By the time it's finished being drawn and copied over to the website, it's a completely different set of electrons on a completely different server. It's already not an "original". It's a completely, utterly, identical copy. Which I can then download. And copy a thousand times. And they're all still perfect copies and indistinguishable from the original. If I swapped one of them out for another on the website my link points to, there's literally no technical or practical way to tell.

After all that. NFTs DO have some uses. They are ways to support the artist. They are ways to give money back. They are ways to make people feel special (like autographs). You may ask why would you buy a digital print from the K&P Etsy store if you think all digital art is the same. Why would you pay to download an ebook when you could pirate an identical copy for free. This is what they will come back to me with. And there's many - good - reasons to do so! There's many good reasons to buy digital art. And you should! Support your local artists! But this can be, and is already, all achieved without paying over the odds to falsely claim I actually own some sort of permanent original. It can certainly be done without all the crypto-hyped middle men taking their cuts. And it can be done in a way that doesn't prop up the horrible eco-disaster bubble that is a proof of work Blockchain.

The technology isn't a scam. The technology has real world uses and benefits. But the entire marketing ecosystem around it is a scam.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

Now this is the kind of “better know a scam” content for which I come to the internet. Thank you so much for this primer on NFTs!

[kwonhoshi0]

𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 | h.c

navigation | requests : open | 5th february 2021

pairing : midoriya, bakugou, todoroki x gn!reader [separate]

genre : angst to fluff

warnings : season 3 spoilers, violence, eating, drinks

themes : heartbreak, idiocy, violence

: since the training camp you had been a target for the league of villains you fought hard to get your classmate back and that made you an instant target since you showed how powerful you can be but that also means no one can know about your relationship with [ - ], if they did that would be mean he’s also a target and the thought of that terrified you, so it’s for the best.. right.

> quirk : telekinesis | eleven stranger things |

[ midoriya ]

> it was no secret that you’re powerful

> deku trained with you a lot so he knew what you were capable of

> he was the one who truly let you embrace your quirk praising you

> he always told you he’s proud of you afterwards

> so when you told him you couldn’t be with him anymore he was devastated

-> scenario

> you had been thinking about the threat of the lov and how much they wanted to get rid of you, it’s a matter of time before people catch you going to cafes and on dates with the green haired boy, since you were getting more publicity each time a villain attacked it was difficult sneaking around

> breaking up with deku never once crossed your mind, only for his safety, he was already a target but they don’t know he’s all mights successor so you’re still a lot more targeted but if the lov found out you’re dating? you could only imagine the worst

> you knocked on his door, he opened it with a smile on his face as usual ‘hey baby’ he pulled you into a hug, noticing you trying not to hug him back he looked at your face ‘hey is something wrong?’

> you were trying so hard to keep a straight face, to make this hurt as much as possible so he wouldn’t come back, you knew if he tried to get you back you wouldn’t be able to resist

> ‘izuku..’ you paused breathing in, ‘we can’t be together anymore’ he looked at you for a couple seconds before breaking out in a laugh, ‘ very funny, don’t say things like that!, we need to finish that series we were watching..wait-’

> your face hadn’t changed, the only different being the small beads forming under your eyes, ‘you’re being serious?’ he said with a shaky voice, his eyes were slightly shiny tears threatening to form, his entire face fell

> ‘i’m sorry’ was all you said before you attempted to leave only being stopped by his hand ‘midoriya let go-’

> ‘not until you tell me why, y/n we’re so happy, you were happy yesterday and now you’re saying you don’t want this anymore? what happened, you told me you loved me, was that a lie’

> you tried so so hard not to sob yelling how much you love him right there but you already started crying

> ‘y-you’re crying, why would you be crying if you don’t care about me, if you didn’t care you would’ve left minutes ago so why’

> ‘izuku i couldn’t keep putting you in fucking danger it’s driving me insane, we can’t go out to eat without worrying someone will recognise us and hunt you down, i need you to be safe and this is the only way’ you pulled your arm away from him wiping away the tears on your cheeks

> he pulled you back towards him his nose touching yours, you didn’t push him away, he took his thumb swiping it across your cheek wiping it of the fresh tears

> ‘then we’ll deal with it together, not apart’

[ bakugou ]

> he knew how you felt because everytime aizawa mentioned being targeted he couldn’t help but notice you not looking at him or glancing at him as much

> you comforted him after each nightmare or any doubts he had after he got kidnapped

> whispering to him while he layed in your arms ‘bakugou you are the strongest person i know, you can’t blame yourself for anything, nobody blames you, they never have’

> you were his comfort, his teddybear

-> scenario

> the last few days you had been distant from him which didn���t make him worry much since you’re both busy sometimes and you both understood that

> but when you refused to look at him and gave him short answers after class he got worried

> ‘y/n, what the fuck is happening’ you couldn’t look him in the eyes

> you put on your best straight face and said ‘bakugou we can’t be together’

> there was silence for a couple seconds

> ‘teddy bear..’

> it hurt, it hurt so bad seeing him upset over you, you couldn’t even comfort him, so you left

> you sat with the dekusquad afraid of running into him and sobbing

> after you left he stood there for a couple seconds, he wiped away a couple tears forming as all the memories of you flashed through his head in a second, he held the necklace you got together, a promise necklace

> he sat at his normal table not talking to anyone only glancing at you, you weren’t talking to anyone either, not even touching the food in front of you

> after a couple minutes you got up and grabbed your bag after the many protests from todoroki and midoriya telling you to eat

> mina saw you getting up ‘hey bakugou is y/n okay?’ he only ignored her watching as you hurried off to what seemed to be the girls bathrooms, mina followed after you. he couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t worried

> ‘y/n?.. wait are you okay, come out of the toilets’ she watched as you slowly came out with puffy under eyes and teary eyes ‘oh my god y/n what happened’, you explained everything, how you broke up with him because of how dangerous it was being with him, how he would be safer without you

> ‘y/n i’ve never seen bakugou happier then when he’s with you, if things are meant to be with you two then things will work out, i promise’

> you both walked back to class only to see him and a couple students already there, you weren’t planning on going back to lesson saying you’re injured but you knew aizawa would’ve sent you to recovery girl only for there be nothing to recover from

> you sat in your seat trying your hardest not to cry or move or even glance at him

> he watched you every couple seconds, eyes softening when he noticed a tear drop from your eyes watching as you quickly wiped them away sitting up straight

> he knew you love him but he doesn’t know why you left him

> a couple days past and he couldn’t help but notice how puffy your eyes looked

> he missed you, a lot and his nightmares had increased in the last 3 days

> you did everything to avoid him

> but finally you had to talk to eachother because aizawa paired you up, you asked aizawa if you could swap ‘y/n you and bakugou are great training partners, plus he doesn’t hurt you enough to send you to recovery girl like he does others’

> you sighed walking to your designated training area

> you didn’t want to hurt him more than you have emotionally this past week so you barely tried

> ‘you’re not trying’ he states, you looked up at him regretting it instantly seeing his eyebags and crimson eyes, not twinkling as they usually do

> ‘sorry’ you said quickly getting ready to dodge again

> ‘for what’... ‘huh?’.. ‘what are you sorry for’ he said searching your eyes for an answer

> ‘everything’.. ‘y/n that’s not a fucking answer’ frustrated he walked over to you pulling out a necklace that hid under his shirt

> ‘we got these as a fucking promise, a promise we would always be here, are you even wearing yours’ his hand reached over to your neck, his eyes lit up for a second when he realised you were still wearing it

> ‘i know you still love me, so why the fuck-’

> ‘bakugou you’re in constant fucking danger because of me, we can’t do anything together without having to worry, i want you to find someone that you can be in a normal relationship with, not someone who can’t even go outside with you without fearing the worst’ you let a couple tears slip out wiping them away as fast a they came

> ‘don’t be fucking stupid come here’ he pulled you towards him engulfing you in his scent which you missed greatly, ‘dumbass, we make these fuckin decisions together, which means you have to deal with me, we aren’t breaking up over some stupid villains alright’

> you held him tighter than you have before

> he made sure that for now you order take out rather than going out to eat and when you do go outside you made sure to wear masks and go with some of your classmates

> he does all of this because he loves you that much and he cares that much

[ todoroki ]

> you pined over eachother for months before todoroki had the courage to talk to you

> the conversations always flowed really well and there was no awkward pauses thinking of what to say

> you fit with eachother like a puzzle piece

> since you’re the first person he’s felt this way about you had to, show him affection and how it w o r k s?

> like when you hug him he doesn’t understand why people like hugging until you do it, he feels warm and safe in your arms and he now understands why he sees people hugging a lot

> when you first kissed it was like sparks and fireworks were going off around you, you didn’t plan on kissing him then but you had just hugged him so he was close and you looked up at him as he looked down at you smiling a little, with that you closed the space between you pressing your lips to his

> your relationship since then has been a comfortable and safe relationship for you both, that was until the training camp incident when you realised how much danger you were really putting todoroki in

> aizawa was talking to you in the staff room about the safety precautions you had to take and how you have to be careful with your relationship with todoroki

> a part of you was hoping he’d say you have to break up for safety reasons but he knows you don’t want that, even if it was for the best

> todoroki is going to be an amazing hero who will save thousands of lives and you could be the undoing of that future

> so you had to do it

-> scenario

> ‘hey love, what are we doing outside’ you were stood outside the dorms, you wanted to tell him here just so no one would interrupt

> ‘i uhm..’ this is a lot harder than you thought

> you looked at your feet refusing to look into his eyes knowing you’d breakdown

> ‘todoroki i can’t do this.. anymore’ 

> ‘can’t do what?’ when you didn’t look at him again he realised

> ‘what.. what happened baby we were normal yesterday did i do something wrong?’ you ignored him shifting your feet a little

> ‘do you not love me anymore’ it broke your heart that he thought that, you’re doing this because you love him not because you don’t .. but you had to say this to get him away

> ‘i..no i don’t’

> refusing to look at his face you ran back in tears falling down your cheeks as you ignored your friends asking if you’re okay and shut yourself in your room

> no more laying on his chest while you talk about random things at 3am, no more feeding him soba and no more holding hands running in the rain

> it was all too good to be true and now it’s over

> the next couple weeks you wanted to see him, check how he was doing but you couldn’t so you stuck to quick glances, sometimes you met his eyes in the process cursing at yourself

> your friends noticed you were off, ochako midoriya and iida asked why you weren’t hanging out with them

> you didn’t want to cause todoroki more pain so you hung out with the bakusquad so todoroki could stick with his friends without it being awkward

> you’re already friends with some of the bakusquad but you just didn’t hang out with them as much

> ‘y/n why do you look so.. lifeless’ denki asked you, you would usually be happy to talk to people and be playful but recently you had just stared at your food and soba only to be reminded of him

> ‘i don’t know’ you lied, your friends were worried about you

> todoroki was good at hiding things, he was a lot happier with you smiling while with you and around you but now he doesn’t have you

> a part of you thought he was over it already but you knew that was just you overthinking it

> ‘you know what, we should have a class movie night !, mopey you’re coming’ you looked at mina for a second before realising you’re who she’s talking to

> ‘mopey’ you raised a brow, ‘yeah you haven’t been yourself lately we want the old y/n back!! ..you haven’t even gamed with us’ kirishima spoke up making you smile sadly

> and then you realised todoroki probably won’t be at the movie night since he only went because of you ‘okay, ill go’

> that night you sat inbetween denki and bakugou scrolling through your phone while the dekubakusquad picked a movie

> ‘hey dumbass, why’d you look so fuckin dead’

> ‘not sure’.... ‘that’s bullshit’ he responded staring at his own phone

> ‘mhm’ was all you could say before the movie started

> as you looked up you realised todoroki was sitting in front of you

> how were you going to get through this..

> the movie begun and you quickly realised it was one of your favourite movies, it was the movie that you and todoroki had your first kiss watching

> clearing your head of these thoughts you carried on watching

> half an hour later it got to the part where the guy finally kisses his crush and you felt tears in your eyes, holding them back as you remembered todoroki kissing you during this scene

> you felt someone move from in front of you, your eyes widening as todoroki took your arm pulling you up close to him

> ‘what are you-’

> ‘y/n i chose this movie because i wanted to be able to do this again’ he cupped your cheeks smashing his lips to yours, you couldn’t pull away this is all you wanted and missed

> as you both pulled away he said ‘i know you don’t love me but i want to help you learn to love me again and i prom-’ you cut him off as you felt guilt bubble up inside of you remembering what you said

> ‘i lied.. i said that i didn’t love you because i needed you to leave, i broke up with you because of the target, i can’t have someone finding out about us and using you and hurting you as a way to get to me i would be taking away your chance at becoming a great hero, i can’t do that it’s selfish’

> he looked at you as the sides of his lips curled up in a small smile

> ‘a part of me should be mad at you for breaking up with me because of hero stuff but i understand, i’m relieved you love me, i love you and you love me that’s why we’re going to be careful and make this work’

A/N :

pain only pain, why do i do this

taglist : @blazedbakugou @todoroki-shoto-is-life @luluwiie

[raibebe]

Simple Lessons

Genre: fluff Words: 3.200 Prompt: 90s grunge boy Jeno x female reader

Warnings: smoking, mentions of food

A/N: Literally no one asked for this but this just poured out of me the other day... EVERLONG JENO IS MY COMFORT CHARACTER OKAY??

Everlong masterlist

“Do you want to go out to grab lunch? You don’t have classes until later as well, right?” Your best friend asked as she dragged you out of the lecture hall. “Sure,” you smiled, basking in the rays of the sun for a while after being stuck inside an auditorium with barely any daylight for two hours straight. “There is this cute new diner a little off-campus and a little birdie told me there is this super hot guy working there,” she wiggled her eyebrows to which you could just groan loudly, making her giggle in return. Mimi had talked you up during orientation days and you two hadn’t seperated since. Sharing majors surely helped with that and soon you had found a small group of girls to call your friends. While she was very much the flirty, extrovert in your group, a crush on a different boy each day of the week, you couldn’t not be fond of her shenanigans when it made all of you laugh out loud whenever she told stories of yet another drastically failed date. “Not everyone can still be with their Highschool boyfriend like you,” she accused, slapping your arm before tugging you in the direction of the diner. “Are we really going to this diner just because someone told you that one of the waiters is hot?” “Listen. This was a very trustworthy source,” Mimi pouted, “I’ll pay for your meal, just come with me please.” “How can I say no to free food?” You laughed loudly, letting her pull you along while complaining about all the assignments your professors had given out.

You had to admit that the diner was really cute. It had this old-school look inside with the red, big sofas and a variety of license plates decorated the walls and the female servers even wore cute puffy skirts. “This is so pretty,” you said once Mimi had chosen a booth, the leather of the sofa squeaking while you sat down. “Yeah, yeah,” she waved it off, looking around the place, “Now where is this hot waiter?” “You’re hopeless,” you giggled, picking up the menu that was already laid out on the table to look at their food options instead of helping your friend. “Shut up,” she grumbled, copying your action, “You also still haven’t introduced us to your boyfriend.”

“Yeah,” you sighed, “He’s...” Well, what were you supposed to say now? If it were to go how you had wanted, your friends would have already met Jeno at the first party you were invited to but he had declined the offer, only sweetly kissing your head and promising to pick you up at 2 am from the adress you had given him. Which he had done but by that time everyone was so wasted that they couldn’t remember a thing. Which had become a reoccurring theme, no matter how much you’d bribe them to not drink to finally catch a glympse at him. “If you all would stop drinking yourself into a coma every time we go out, you’d have met him already.” “I am beginning to think you’ve made him up,” Mimi grinned, “He seems way too perfect. Letting you go out and party on your own and picking your drunk ass up after but then he never shows up to your classes to walk you to the next one.” Well just maybe you hadn’t gotten around to telling your friends that Jeno in fact wasn’t even studying but working different part-time jobs to help finance your apartment until he had figured out what he wanted to do in the first place. They had just assumed he was studying something way different than you hence why you wouldn’t meet up during your breaks. “Well he is real,” you sighed, “He’s just... Different?” “Oooooh, I get it,” your friend grinned, “He’s older than you. Oh my god. Do you have a sugar daddy?” At that you let out an embarrassed screech which made her double over with laughter. “Why would you say that?” You whined, “He’s the same age as us, for real.”

“Hi ladies, I see you’re already having a great time. I’ll be your waiter for today, have you already decided what to get?” A deep velvety voice interrupted. You didn’t need to look up to know who the waiter was or what he looked like because his voice was almost as familar to your ears as your own was and you knew his body inside and out. Smiling brightly, your eyes met Jeno’s who was also smiling, throwing you a little wink. You had known that he had been working in a diner for a little while now but not this specific one so it was a nice surprise to see him here clad in a neat button-down and pants that for once weren’t ripped to shreds. Meanwhile, Mimi was stunned in silence, her mouth parted in what must be awe. “Hi,” you kept smiling at Jeno, “Anything you can recommend?” “Our burgers are pretty good,” he shrugged, “But what’s really good are our milkshakes.” “Then we’ll take that, right?” You asked your friend, kicking her shin beneath the table to get her to snap out of it. “Y-yeah sure,” she stuttered, still blatantly gawking at Jeno. “Great, I’ll be right back with your drinks,” Jeno smiled before walking off again.

“Girl he’s so hot oh my god,” Mimi exclaimed as soon as he was out of earshot, dramatically flopping down onto the table. “He’s really good-looking,” you admitted, a big grin on your face. “Better than your boyfriend?” “I wouldn’t say that,” you laughed, awkwardly shuffling in your seat. Was this the right time to tell her that the waiter apparently a lot of girls were thirsting after was in fact your boyfriend and probably not at all like they thought him out to be? “God, I bet he looks so good out of his uniform as well,” she groaned, “Just the thought of him in light washed denim.” At that, you had to mask a burst of laughter with an awkward cough. You had tried times and times again to convince Jeno to swap out one of his dark jeans for light-washed ones but he wasn’t budging, only in turn challenging you to wear one of his many black baggy T-shirts instead of your brightly colored spaghetti tops. “Sure,” you giggled instead, kicking your friend’s shin again to alert her when Jeno came back with your drinks. “There you go, food will be out in a bit,” he smiled politely. Not the kind of smile that turned his eyes into beautiful crescents but a more reserved one.

“Hey, uhm,” Mimi suddenly spoke up when Jeno turned around to walk away again, making him halt in his steps. “Have you been working here for long?” Oh god. You had to physically keep yourself from cringing at her awkward try to rope him into a conversation. “Just a handful of weeks, so not that long,” Jeno shrugged, “Looking for a job as well?” “Oh no, we both work part-time at a clothing store downtown,” she waved it off, “I was just wondering because I had never seen you around before.” “Well yeah, makes sense I haven’t been here for long.” “So you recently moved here? I’m sure I would have remembered a handsome face like yours,” Mimi now blatantly flirted, twirling a dyed strand of hair around her finger and just slightly leaning forward on the table to give Jeno a better view of her cleavage in her white cropped top. “Yeah, I’m not from around here,” he shared, his eyes firmly staying on her face but the redness of his ears and how his fingers were fiddling with his little notepad betrayed his cool facade. Was this the time where you should end this to save Mimi and Jeno from further embarrassment? Or should you enjoy this for a little longer? “Are you also a student?” She asked next, “We both go to university here.” “Oh god no,” Jeno exclaimed and this time you couldn’t hold in the little giggle that slipped past your lips, noticing that your boyfriend’s lips twitched into a little grin as well. The more Jeno saw you struggle between classes, essays and study sessions, the more sure he had become about his whole decision to not do the whole university thing. Just when your friend wanted to ask the next question, a loud voice interrupted: “Jeno, I am not paying you for flirting with customers! Get back to work!” Rolling his eyes at his boss, Jeno shot the two of you an apologetic look before quickly walking to the register where his boss was waiting.

“God, even his name sounds good,” Mimi groaned, returning to her former position, sprawled out over the table. “You sound like you’re in love with him,” you giggled, “You don’t even know him.” “Listen. This is love at first sight. Do you not watch romance movies?” You did in fact. Even though Jeno would complain throughout the whole first 30 minutes of the movie until he’d either accept his fate in favor of cuddling and letting you pet his hair or actually get invested in the movie as well, cursing the characters for being so stupid and not talking out their problems. “I do, dummy,” you rolled your eyes, taking a sip from your milkshake that didn’t disappoint after Jeno had praised it so much, “But don’t you need to get to know a person before you can love them?”

“You’re the one with a boyfriend,” she mumbled, collecting herself from the table to take a sip of her drink as well, “Tell me about him.” “My boyfriend?” “Yeah, you never speak much about him and don’t let us meet him either. Convince me he’s not made up.” “Well we know each other since childhood,” you shared, feeling heat creep up your cheeks and neck, knowing how cliche your story sounded, “He lived in the house next to ours so we played a lot as children but then my family had to move away when I was in like elementary school or something because of my dad’s work but eventually we moved back for my last year of highschool.” “Oh wow, that must have sucked to leave all your friends behind twice.” Sighing, you ran your hands through your hair. “It wasn’t easy to just leave everything behind, but I managed. We moved back into our old house and he was also still living in the house next to us with his family. His mom made him take me to school every day and we shared a lot of classes and then it just went from there,” you smiled, blatantly leaving out the part where you had to basically force Jeno to speak and open up to you at nights on his rooftop beneath the moon and the stars. That was a private matter you didn’t want to share without his consent.

“That is so wholesome,” Mimi cheered, “What’s he like?” “Different?” You tried to explain, swirling your straw in your milkshake, “Like different than you’d expect him to be. When you see us together, you’d probably say we don’t match.” “Ooooh,” she nodded, her eyes wide, “So you’re like opposites?” “You could say that,” you smiled, “But when you get to know us, we’re not that different.” Before she could ask more questions, Jeno interrupted you again, hands full of your plates. “And that’s your food girls. Please enjoy,” he smiled, placing the plates down, “If you need anything else, I’ll be around.” “Actually,” Mimi began and you had to hold yourself back from interrupting her, “I was wondering when your shift is ending.” “My shift?” Jeno repeated, his eyes shortly drifting over to you. “Yeah,” she smiled, waiting for his answer. “I’m off in a bit,” he said slowly after checking the time on the neon clock hanging over the counter. “So you’re free after we’re done with our food?” She pressed on. “Probably?” “Would you like to hang out after? We still have some time until our next classes start. “Hang out. With you two,” he repeated, still dumbstruck by her boldness. “I mean you don’t have to if you really don’t want or have something to do,” she shrugged but you knew that look in her eyes. She was determined to have him hang out with you. “I was just going to go get groceries and go home,” Jeno shared, “Listen, I gotta go back to work or my boss will literally fire me because he already hates me.” With an apologetic smile, he quickly walked down to another table where a couple was seemingly done with their meal.

“You’re so shameless,” you accused your friend, finally digging into your meal. “Listen. I see a hot boy and need to talk to him, it’s as easy as that,” Mimi giggled, taking a bite from her burger. “Now tell me more about that boyfriend of yours.”

Once you were finished with your meal, Jeno already wasn’t there anymore to take your bill, instead, a cute girl with a big puffy skirt handed your friend the bill. “But half the stuff is missing,” Mimi asked, “I’m paying for both of us.” “Oh, my colleague took care of one of the meals,” the waiter smiled, “He must like one of you.” “I told you my flirting was worth it,” your friend smiled, handing over the money. You really didn’t have it in you to tell her that Jeno most likely covered for your half of the meal when she seemed so genuinely happy about it, so you swallowed the words back down even if it was going to come out sooner or later when you’d finally get Jeno to meet your friends.

Apparently, the universe wanted it to be sooner because as soon as you stepped back out of the diner and into the sun, a boy clad in all black caught your attention. He was leaning against the little railing around the diner, a cigarette between his lean fingers. “Hey,” you nudged your friend, nodding towards Jeno. “Huh?” “It’s the waiter,” you explained, looking over at him. By now it looked like he was trying his hardest to hold back his grin while taking another drag. Shocking people with his looks still was one of his favorite things to do if they only knew him from one of his jobs where he had to wear a uniform. “No way,” Mimi whispered, “He looks like a completely different guy.” “You’re not in love anymore now?” “He’s just so…” “Different?” You helped her out, rolling your eyes. Why could no one see past the dark clothes, chains and the cigarette and made the effort to actually get to know Jeno? “I don’t think he’s my type.” “You’re ridiculous,” you snorted, leaving her behind to walk over to Jeno.

“Hey bubblegum,” he smiled, curling an arm around your waist like it was second nature already, “Fancy seeing you here.” “You didn’t tell me that was the diner you applied to,” you pouted, scrunching your nose at the smell of smoke. “I didn’t know it was close to your campus,” he shrugged it off and stubbed out the remainder of his cigarette after taking a last drag, making an effort to blow the smoke away from you, “Your friend tried really hard to flirt with me.” “She’s an idiot,” you rolled your eyes, looping your arms around his torso to hug him close, “I missed you.” “I made you breakfast literally this morning,” he laughed but pulled you closer to him anyways. “If you work this close you could have come to visit.” “Bubblegum…” Jeno sighed, tucking a wild strand of hair back into place. “My friends think I’ve made up my boyfriend,” you pouted. “You want to show your friend back there how real I am? I think her eyes are already very close to falling out of her head.” “What’s going on in that head of yours Jeno Lee?” “Let me show you,” he grinned, cupping your face with one of his hands before pressing his lips to yours in a languid kiss, the taste of smoke on his breath familiar by now. “You really need to quit,” you grumbled against his lips. “I know,” he sighed but kissed you again anyways, “Wasn’t expecting to see you this soon.” “So you smoke in secret?” “Stop arguing when I’m trying to kiss you,” he grumbled, playfully biting your bottom lip. “Stop kissing me when I’m trying to safe your lungs,” you pouted, slapping his chest for emphasis but didn’t protest and insted kissed you again, languid and deep.

“Are you two done making out now?” Mimi suddenly interrupted you, making your face heat up as you took a step back from Jeno who was having nothing of that and pulled you back against his side by your waist. “Yeah, all done,” he grinned, holding one of his hands out for your friend to shake, “I’m Jeno.” “I figured from your boss screaming at you,” she mumbled but shook his hand anyways, giving him her name as well, “You made me look like a fool. Like you could have told me you were the infamous boyfriend refusing to meet us.” “It’s not like I was refusing.” “You totally were,” you butted in, pinching his side. “Listen it doesn’t sound as appealing to spend my evenings with a group of all girls as you think it does,” he defended himself, “And now you have a witness that I am in fact real.” “You’re not getting out of his now, Jeno Lee,” you grinned, lacing your fingers together. “And if I told you I had this really important thing to do?” He tried, throwing you his best puppy eyes. “We can go grocery shopping after my last class,” you rolled your eyes, “You’re walking back to campus with us now.” “Yes, ma’am,” he rolled his eyes, “Let me carry your bag.” “Oh god, you’ll make me feel so single,” Mimi groaned when you handed Jeno your backpack to carry. “You wanted this, I can leave any time,” your boyfriend shrugged, “Do you have like stones in your bag or something?” “It’s called books, you should try it,” you said, playfully sticking out your tongue. “Why am I even dating you?” Jeno just rolled his eyes. “Because you love me,” you smiled brightly. “Yeah, I kinda do,” he confessed, squeezing your hand.

“No need to make me feel even more single,” Mimi groaned again, “Do you have any hot friends to introduce me to, Jeno?” “I don’t think they’re your style,” he shrugged it off, motioning at his attire of ripped black jeans and dark shirt. “So you do have some hot friends that are also single?” “You almost fainted when you saw me, I don’t think you could handle them.” “Don’t judge a book by its cover, babe,” you smiled, leaning into his body. “Sure, bubblegum,” he gently smiled back.

Because if you had judged him by his cover, you’d never be as happy as you were right now.

[bloody-bee-tea]

Novelty

Jiang Cheng doesn’t speak much. One would think that would mean that people listen even more to him when he does say something, but one would be wrong.

Jiang Cheng learned very early on that no one cares about what he has to say; it didn’t start with Wei Wuxian’s arrival, but it certainly didn’t help either.

Wei Wuxian is a chatter box; there’s always something he has to say, no matter if it’s of sustenance or not but no one ever seems to care. People are listening to him, and they indulge him and that’s really all that matters, isn’t it.

Not so much with Jiang Cheng. If he says something without sustenance, people get bored and tune him out; if he is asked a question and he starts rambling on, people lose interest and move on.

So Jiang Cheng didn’t only learn to keep silent most of the time, he also had to learn that he has a very short time window in which people will give him attention. Attention usually comes together with eye-contact, and Jiang Cheng learned to make the most of that.

So he doesn’t talk much, and when he does his answers are short and on point. It seems like everyone prefers it that way, and Jiang Cheng learned to accept it.

His gruff nature helps him with this, actually, because people expect him to be taciturn so no one questions it much.

Jiang Cheng thinks his parents are glad he doesn’t talk much, because that means they don’t have to give him too much attention and Wei Wuxian is talking enough for two, so he mostly doesn’t notice if all Jiang Cheng contributes to a conversation are some grunts and hums.

It works for them.

Jiang Yanli—now things with her are a little bit different. She tries to get him to talk regularly, never taking for granted that Jiang Cheng simply doesn’t want to talk or has nothing to say, but her attention is so easily snatched away by Wei Wuxian that Jiang Cheng doesn’t bother to talk with her either.

Sometimes he will try—because he can never help himself, always hoping that maybe things are different now, that she will listen to what he has to say—but before he can make it past the two sentence mark, Wei Wuxian will chime in and Jiang Yanli will give him an apologetic look and then the moment is gone.

It happened often enough that Jiang Cheng gave up trying with her too.

It’s okay that no one wants to hear him talk; it’s not like he has anything interesting to say anyway.

A tiny part of Jiang Cheng hoped that things would change in the Cloud Recesses, but since Wei Wuxian is still always at this side, everything stays just the same.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian don’t share a room here at least—Jiang Cheng feels bad for being relieved by that but he can’t help it—so he gets some time to himself, but it also means that Wei Wuxian can get up to all kinds of shenanigans without his supervision.

Shenanigans he desperately wants to share the next morning, so Jiang Cheng learned to expect Wei Wuxian to crash into him on their way to the hall where they’ll take breakfast.

“Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng, how are you?” Wei Wuxian cries out, just loud enough to attract the ire of a senior Lan disciple who is walking in front of them and Jiang Cheng elbows him in the stomach.

“I’m fine,” he gets out, right before something else catches Wei Wuxian’s attention and his eyes slide away from him.

These days Jiang Cheng is proud that he manages to say even that before something snatches Wei Wuxian’s flighty attention away from him, though he doesn’t even get the chance to ask Wei Wuxian how he has been doing.

He’ll probably tell him all about it, anyway.

“Huaisang!” Wei Wuxian yells, waving his arm so Nie Huaisang will definitely notice them, as if there’s any chance that someone could miss Wei Wuxian.

“Jiang-xiong, Wei-xiong,” Nie Huaisang says and flicks open his fan. “Why are you this awake, it’s too early to be this awake,” he then whines and Jiang Cheng has to hide his smile with a frown.

He likes Nie Huaisang; he’s fun to be around, and he’s not half as lazy as he wants everyone make to believe and Jiang Cheng is curious to see how far he’ll take his rouse.

But Nie Huaisang is just as enamoured with Wei Wuxian as everyone else is, and Jiang Cheng is under no illusions that he’s just accepting Jiang Cheng’s presence as inevitable.

“It’s never to early to be awake, especially not when you can do so many new things here,” Wei Wuxian says and Nie Huaisang sighs.

“Jiang-xiong, you’re more sensible than this right? How are you?” Nie Huaisang asks him, but before Jiang Cheng can even answer, Nie Huaisang looks at Wei Wuxian who took the opportunity to throw his arm around Nie Huaisang’s neck, and Jiang Cheng knows there’s no reason to answer now.

No one will hear him anyway.

“Listen, Huaisang, how about we meet this night?”

“You mean after curfew?” Jiang Cheng can’t help but to snap out at that, because he doesn’t want to be kicked out of the Cloud Recesses before he even had a chance to learn anything, but Wei Wuxian only waves him off.

“I’ll get some alcohol in, and you’ll bring the snacks, how about it?” Wei Wuxian goes on as if Jiang Cheng didn’t say anything at all and Jiang Cheng turns away from them.

No amount of protest will make Wei Wuxian change his mind and Jiang Cheng is too exhausted to try. Wei Wuxian will get into trouble like he always will, and Jiang Cheng will bear the brunt of it, like he always will.

It’s stupid to expect anything else, just because they are not at home at the moment.

“Don’t count me in,” Jiang Cheng mutters, more to himself than to Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang who are still talking to each other, and then he picks up his pace to get away from them for a bit.

Classes are fine, mostly; Jiang Cheng would love it if Wei Wuxian could manage to not cause trouble for five minutes, just so that Jiang Cheng can learn something and doesn’t always have to feel like he needs to be defending his shixiong but Jiang Cheng never gets what he wants and so he has to watch as Wei Wuxian sticks the drawing of a turtle on Lan Qiren’s back.

Jiang Cheng grinds his teeth at that, but he doesn’t say anything. He’s unwilling to draw even more attention to it, and it’s not like Wei Wuxian ever listens to him anyway, so what’s the point.

Wei Wuxian still manages to get thrown out of class and for all that Jiang Cheng hates himself a little bit for thinking it, he’s glad about it.

At least like that he gets to enjoy half of the class uninterrupted.

When class finally ends, Jiang Cheng intends to study the parts of class he missed before due to Wei Wuxian’s shenanigans, but before he can leave, Nie Huaisang catches up to him.

“Jiang-xiong,” he says and leans into his space. “You didn’t answer before. How are you?” he asks him, his face for once not hidden behind his fan, and Jiang Cheng frowns at him.

“I’m fine,” Jiang Cheng tells him, waiting for the moment when something else catches Nie Huaisang’s attention.

But the seconds tick by and Nie Huaisang keeps looking at him as if he’s expecting Jiang Cheng to say something more and Jiang Cheng’s frown deepens.

“What?” he bites out, because attention like this is never good when it comes to Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang flutters his fan.

“You’re not a man of many words, are you?” Nie Huaisang asks him and Jiang Cheng tenses at that.

“What does it matter?” he snaps out. “It’s not like anyone is listening anyway,” he lowly tacks on, but it seems like Nie Huaisang still picked up on it.

“Wei-xiong does get a bit much sometimes, right? You can barely get a word in. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to live with that,” Nie Huaisang muses and now Jiang Cheng is openly staring at him.

“What do you mean?” he carefully asks because he cannot believe that Nie Huaisang picked up on something no one else noticed before.

“It must be hard talking on to Wei-xiong all day long,” Nie Huaisang softly says, clearly picking up on Jiang Cheng’s mood.

“Maybe I don’t like talking,” Jiang Cheng says but Nie Huaisang’s eyes tell him just how believable he is.

“Don’t you?” he asks and Jiang Cheng looks away from him.

It’s the first time in a long while that someone is paying this much attention to him and Jiang Cheng has to admit that he no longer knows how to deal with that.

“What do you want?” he brusquely asks instead of answering Nie Huaisang and Nie Huaisang is silent for long enough that Jiang Cheng fears he already lost his attention again.

It would be just like Jiang Cheng’s luck.

“I want to know more about you,” Nie Huaisang says, catching Jiang Cheng completely off guard with that answer.

“There’s nothing to know about me,” Jiang Cheng snaps at him but when he turns around to look at Nie Huaisang again, he’s still staring at him.

“I don’t think that’s true at all,” Nie Huaisang says, and there’s a calculating look in his eyes. “You were very interested in the history part of the lesson today, right? I saw you listening. Are you interested in history?”

Jiang Cheng blinks at him, because no one asked something like this about him before and Jiang Cheng is unsure how to deal with that.

He distantly wonders how long Nie Huaisang will insist on pestering him, how long it will take for Nie Huaisang to talk right over him, but Nie Huaisang waits patiently for an answer.

“I am,” Jiang Cheng eventually gets out and watches as Nie Huaisang lights up.

“I know a lot about the history of my Clan. Do you want to swap stories? I know almost nothing about the Yunmeng Jiang history and I would love to learn!”

“I don’t think we’ll have time for that,” Jiang Cheng mutters, because he’s not going to stop studying just because Nie Huaisang wants to talk to him.

It’s beyond flattering but Jiang Cheng is here to learn.

“What about tonight?” Nie Huaisang asks and Jiang Cheng immediately frowns at him.

“Wei Wuxian wants to drink tonight,” Jiang Cheng reminds him because clearly Nie Huaisang already forgot about that.

“But you said you don’t want to be counted in, so I figured you’re not going? And I’d much rather spend the evening with you talking about history than drinking with Wei-xiong and then getting punished for it,” Nie Huaisang says with a shudder and Jiang Cheng stares openly at him now.

“You heard that?” he asks, beyond surprised that Nie Huaisang even heard him and now it’s Nie Huaisang’s time to frown at him.

“Of course I did. You were talking so I was listening.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t know what to do with that information at all, and so he simply turns away from Nie Huaisang and starts walking away.

“Jiang-xiong!” Nie Huaisang cries out and rushes to keep pace with Jiang Cheng.

“It’s Wanyin,” Jiang Cheng says, keeping his eyes on the path in front of him, because he’s beyond embarrassed but Nie Huaisang makes a delighted noise.

“Wanyin!” he says with excitement and Jiang Cheng feels himself flush bright red. “I insist you call me Huaisang then!”

“Why would I?” Jiang Cheng grumbles but secretly he is very pleased by the novelty of this whole situation.

“Because we’re friends now, and you can’t take it back. I want to hear all you know about your Clan’s history!”

“Mark your words,” Jiang Cheng threateningly says. “I know a lot.”

“Good. I love history.”

Jiang Cheng does too, but no one knows about that because no one was paying attention to him. And Wei Wuxian certainly does not like history at all, so why would anyone care beyond that.

“I like it as well,” Jiang Cheng lowly admits, for the first time out loud and Nie Huaisang gently bumps their shoulders together.

“I’m happy we get to share our knowledge then. I bet Lan Qiren also has some book recommendations for us,” Nie Huaisang muses and Jiang Cheng’s eyes widen.

“Why would he give them to us?”

“Because he loves people who like to learn,” Lan Xichen suddenly says from behind them and while Jiang Cheng has too much self-control to squeak in surprise, Nie Huaisang does not.

“Lan-xiong,” Jiang Cheng greets him, elbowing Nie Huaisang to fall into a bow and Nie Huaisang scrambles to follow his lead.

“I’m sorry, I overheard you talking,” Lan Xichen says with a gentle smile. “I can point you towards the right section in the library tomorrow, if you would like that.”

“Yes,” Nie Huaisang immediately says and so Lan Xichen turns to look at Jiang Cheng.

“We would. Thank you,” Jiang Cheng says, surprised that Lan Xichen wasn’t satisfied with just Nie Huaisang’s answer but it seems like today is full of surprises.

“See, I told you,” Nie Huaisang whispers to Jiang Cheng who desperately tries to shush him.

“It’s my pleasure,” Lan Xichen tells them, still smiling as he walks away from them.

“He really is the most gentle one,” Nie Huaisang mutters behind his fan. “My brother did pick well.”

“Your brother and Lan Xichen?” Jiang Cheng asks, one eyebrow raised and Nie Huaisang flounders.

“You didn’t hear anything!” he rushes out. “They are not—official yet.”

“It’s not like anyone listens to me anyway,” Jiang Cheng says with a shrug at that, and he only has a moment to notice the pained look that flashes over Nie Huaisang’s face.

“I am listening to you,” he says and it sounds like he just made a decision too. “Will you spend the evening with me?”

“Sure,” Jiang Cheng gives back, because he truly is looking forward to talking about history with Nie Huaisang. “But I make no promises about Wei Wuxian.”

“He’s not welcome,” Nie Huaisang grumbles. “I don’t like how he ignores you,” he then tacks on, much quieter than before and Jiang Cheng goes all warm at hearing that.

“Thank you,” Jiang Cheng says, just as quietly as Nie Huaisang and he shares a smile with him.

Maybe having one person listening to him is already enough. It certainly feels like it to Jiang Cheng.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

[intheticklecloset]

The Great Academia Road Trip, Part 1 (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

Summary: Class 1-A (plus Shinsou) is going on a road trip! In this first installment, Bakugou contemplates how he's going to get Deku back for cornering him before, having a little fun with the nerd along the way.

A/N: Welcome to the first official mini-series within the Primary Universe! I was hoping to do this more in the middle of summer than towards the end, but better late than never! I hope you enjoy taking a road trip with the students of Class 1-A - with plenty of tickling included! ^^

Shoutout to @ticklishscumbag for the "Bakugou loves strawberry milk" headcanon that is briefly referenced here.

Word Count: 1,796

**SPOILER ALERT:** This fic contains spoilers from Season 5 of the anime. (Below the cut.)

~~~

The door to Bakugou’s dorm room slammed open.

“Road trip!”

“What the—?!” Bakugou yelled, instinctively shoving his covers off and scrambling to his feet, heart racing from the anticipation of an oncoming battle. When he saw it was just Kirishima, he clutched his chest and yelled, “Kiri, you idiot! You gave me a heart attack!”

“Forget that,” Kiri replied easily, bounding inside with a huge grin on his face. “It’s road trip time! Where’s your bag? You packed it already, right?”

“Freakin’ – yeah, it’s over there.” The blonde gestured to his closet. “God dang, Kirishima.”

Kiri laughed, punching him lightly in the shoulder. “Sorry, dude. I’m just so excited, and we’re leaving in less than an hour! How could you still be asleep? Get dressed! Eat some breakfast! We’re gonna hit the rooooad!”

Bakugou grumbled as he shoved Kirishima back out his door, barely registering that his friend had grabbed his bag on his way out. Still, he couldn’t help but smile once he was alone. Today was the day. Their entire class – along with Shinsou, who would be entering the hero course next year – were taking a month-long trip around the country as both part of their training and as a vacation. Officially, they were touring the different prefectures and meeting the top heroes across the nation, learning how things worked in different places and sometimes even helping out if needed. Unofficially, they were getting away from the stress of school and the League of Villains for a while, making stops at popular tourist locations and having some down time to balance out the work they’d still be doing.

No rest for the weary, but honestly, Bakugou was looking forward to this trip just as much as Kirishima and the rest of the class were. He couldn’t wait to meet pro heroes in other prefectures, beat up some bad guys, and take a dip in the pool at the end of their long days. It was going to be great.

But first, he had to get dressed.

*

Downstairs, the entire dorm was alive with activity. It seemed everyone was either finishing up breakfast or hauling their gear out to the bus that was already waiting outside. Bakugou made a mental note to ask Kiri if he’d actually gotten his luggage all the way out there before they left. In the meantime, he headed to the fridge, hoping Sato hadn’t taken the last strawberry milk.

It was still there. He grinned, grabbed it, and twisted open the cap.

Just beyond his hearing range in the living room stood Iida, Kaminari, Ojiro, Shinsou, and stupid Deku. Bakugou narrowed his eyes. He still hadn’t gotten the nerd back for tickling him to death while he was trapped under his bed last week. He was rather looking forward to finding ways to mess with him on this trip in retaliation.

“Baku-bro!” Sero said by way of greeting, slapping him on the back. “Good morning! Ready to go?”

“Yeah, sure.” Bakugou took a swig of strawberry milk, savoring the flavor, trying not to let it show how much he loved it. “Where’s Kiri?”

“Probably taking Mina’s bag out to the bus. He already grabbed mine and his own.”

“Mine, too.”

Sero laughed. “He’s pretty excited.”

“Yeah, well…” Bakugou shrugged. “It’s a good opportunity.”

“I take it that means you’re excited, too? Good! It wouldn’t be any fun if you were a grump the whole time. Though we have ways of making you cheer up nowadays, don’t we?” Sero winked, nudged him, and moved on to the next person, greeting them enthusiastically as he made his way to the front door.

Bakugou scowled. He supposed he would have been stupid to think he’d get a break from his own torture just because they were on a tour of the country. Oh, well. As long as no one else found out, he’d survive.

He took another drink just as Deku suddenly broke away from his group and hurried past him toward his own dorm room.

Must have left some All Might backpack or something, he thought, grunting. Stupid nerd.

*

Somehow, despite the fact that it was obvious the two of them didn’t get along, Bakugou wound up seated next to Shinsou right in the middle of the bus. Kaminari had practically shoved him into the taller boy’s lap, much to both of their annoyance.

“Bakugou,” Shinsou greeted coolly, polite but not much more than that.

The blonde bit his tongue to resist calling him a mind-reader again. “Shinsou.”

After that, the two lapsed into silence as the bus finished loading, pulled out of the school grounds, and made its way onto the highway.

It was a long, grueling twenty minutes before Bakugou finally sighed angrily and got up, turning on his heel to stride toward the back of the bus to where Kiri and Deku were sharing a seat.

He interrupted their conversation without an apology. “Deku, switch with me.”

Deku blinked. “What?”

“Swap seats with me. You’re friends with that freak from 1-C, right?”

“He’s not a freak. And yes, we’re friends.”

“Then swap with me. I don’t want to be near him.”

Kirishima gave him a withering look. “You’ll have to get used to having him around sooner or later. When he joins the hero course, there’s a fifty percent chance he’ll be in our class.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like him.”

Deku poked his head up over the seat in front of him, glancing to where Shinsou now sat alone. He stood to do as Bakugou asked, but before he could even get a step down the aisle, Kirishima shot out in front of him, declaring, “I’ll sit with him! I never get to talk to the guy.”

“Wait – I don’t want to sit with stupid Deku, either!” Bakugou yelled. “What are you doing?”

Kiri turned back to him. “It’s Shinsou or Midoriya. Take your pick.”

Bakugou gritted his teeth, growled, and shoved Deku down into the seat he’d just vacated. “Fine. Move over, nerd.”

Deku smiled, scooting over to the window seat to allow the blonde to sit with him while Kiri moved up to join Shinsou.

More silence.

“You’re not going to make it, you know,” Bakugou said at last, crossing his arms.

Deku startled. “What?”

“To the end of the trip. You won’t make it back.”

“Why?”

“Because you declared war, idiot. And I’m not going to lose to you.”

The greenette was silent for a long moment, seeming lost. Then it clicked, and his face brightened. “Yeah? Well, I’m not losing to you, either. So where does that leave us?”

“With you begging me for mercy.”

“Or you begging me.”

“Never.”

Deku smirked, then glanced out the window at the passing scenery. Bakugou smirked, too. This was going to be an interesting road trip for the both of them.

*

Several hours later – after they’d arrived at their first destination, unloaded, trained, had dinner, and were wrapping up for the day – Bakugou stood just inside the door of the four-person room he was sharing with Kirishima, Tokoyami, and Shoji, waiting patiently. Any minute now, Deku would pop into the hall on his way to the shared bathroom to clean up before bed, and he’d pass Bakugou’s room on his way to do so. It was just a matter of time now.

There he was.

Bakugou reached into the hall, grabbing Deku by the back of his shirt and pulling him into the currently empty room, throwing him onto a bedroll. Then he pounced, climbing on top of him and digging his fingers into his sides, ribs, and underarms in rapid succession.

Deku burst into hysterical giggles, shocked and confused for just a moment before his brain caught up to what his body was feeling. “Ahahahahahahaha Kacchan! Nahahahahahahaha!”

“So about this tickle war you’ve so stupidly decided to start with me, nerd.” Bakugou spoke casually, though he smirked at his friend’s useless attempts to get away. “How do we know who’s won? Begging for mercy doesn’t seem like enough, since I get you to do that anyway during our normal tickle fights.”

“I-I mahahahahahake you beheheheheg, too!” Deku protested, earning a sharp jab into his hip bone for his trouble. He squealed and laughed. “NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!”

“Like I was saying, I don’t think it’s enough to end a tickle war. What exactly was your plan going into this?”

“I dohohohohohohon’t knohohohohohow!” Deku writhed on the ground, smiling wide and pushing at Bakugou’s hands weakly. “I dihihihihidn’t thihihihihihihink about it!”

“Well, think now.”

“I cahahahahahahahan’t! Y-You’re distrahahahahacting me!”

Bakugou hummed, swinging a leg over to straddle Deku and reach up into his underarms, drawing out a fresh burst of laughter and kicking. “Better come up with some excuse.”

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHA KACCHAHAHAHAHAHAN!!”

“Is it because you can never beat me on your own? You’ve got to use furniture to help you come out on top?” Bakugou half-mocked, half-teased. “Is that why you decided it was smart to challenge me like that?”

“IT WAS JUHUHUHUHUHUST – JUST AN OPP-P-PFFAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Deku tossed his head back and laughed freely, still trying to push Bakugou away with whatever strength he had left after the long day and the surprise tickle attack. “STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Opportunity? Is that what you were trying to say?”

“YEHEHEHEHEHEHES!!”

“Interesting. An opportunity to come after me while I was completely helpless, right?” Bakugou left his underarms at last, trailing back down to his sides and belly. “Because that’s the only way you can really win against me.”

“P-Plehehehehehease,” Deku whined, looking up at him with mirthful but tired eyes. “Lehehehet me gohohohoho, Kacchan…”

Bakugou thought a moment, then relented entirely, grabbing Deku’s wrists and pinning them down by his head, looming over him. “I’ll let you go for now, nerd, since the others will be back soon. But you’d better start watching your back extra closely from now on, because when I catch you, I will not show mercy until you’re pleading for it.”

Deku’s eyes widened, but he nodded, and Bakugou released him and stood up just as Tokoyami returned from the bathroom.

“Midoriya,” he said, “I’m fairly certain sleepovers are not allowed.”

“Oh, n-no, I was just…” Deku trailed off, then laughed and got to his feet. “Ah, never mind. I’ve still got to get ready for bed. Night, guys!” And he hurried out of the room, waving as he went.

Tokoyami turned to Bakugou. “Why was Midoriya here?”

Bakugou scoffed. “Stupid nerd wanted to get his butt handed to him, that’s what.” The blonde flopped onto his own bedroll and turned toward the wall, facing away from Tokoyami and the door.

“All right, then…” Tokoyami muttered, then went blissfully silent.

Bakugou grinned at the wall.

This was going to be the best road trip ever.

~~~

Part 2

[maybe-your-left]

ASK FRIDAY - CREATE A SCENARIO: roommates trope with Kylo

Due to some last minute room swapping and late registering Reader and Kylo end up in the same dorm but they're mad about it and hate each other (cue intense sexual tension)

Dorm room, Snowed in, evening time like 6

The heater/power has just gone out and Kylo knows a few ways to get warm...only if Readers up for it...

been working on this for FOREVER ANON. 

I loved it! 

Crushed

TW: NSFW, dirty talk, dom/sub vibes, exhibitionism, kinda fluff, Kylos not that nice and is an entitled man.

Oh yeah, you fuckin’ slut. 

Yes-Yes-Yes! 

‘M gonna cum all over your fucking tits.

You slapped the wall next to your bed, hard. 

“Can you guys keep it down! It’s 1 in the morning!” 

Muffled voices came through the paper-thin wall, sounding like bodies moving to the floor. Good, you thought, at least he will get rug burn from the shitty carpet, might keep him from fucking everything that moves. 

A hard knock on the wall pulled you from that thought. 

“Go read your fucking Bible! I’m trying to get my dick wet!” 

“Please!” 

“Why don’t you go get fucked!?” 

Some giggled came through next, followed by more muffled whispering. You whined loudly, trying to ignore the sounds of him fucking whatever bimbo your dormmate had in his lair. Shoving your face into your pillow, muffling your tears and wails. 

You turned on your TV, drowning out the final act of his performance. Fingers poised over your keyboard to file another noise complaint with the RA… not like they ever helped you. The last time they intervened they left with a black eye and broken nose, shrugging for you to sort it out yourselves. 

A door slammed shut, you let out a sigh of relief. 

At least he wasn’t a cuddler. 

You climbed out of bed, tip-toeing to your door to take a peek of whatever slut found her way into his room this evening. The special lady was a new cinderella every fucking week, he didn’t even try to know their names. You heard him admit it once in class to his friends, saying he called them all ‘baby’ so he wouldn’t have to learn. 

You peeked out the door, blinking from the harsh fluorescent lighting of your dingy dorm halls. The walls were a screaming white, yellowing from years of shoddy cleaning. You tried to clean your room when you first came to school, but it was too disgusting. 

A non-smoking dorm, ha. Everyone smoked, especially your neighbor. 

“Shouldn’t you be in bed creeper?” 

You jumped at his voice, exhaling harshly through your nose. You steeled your features, caught red-handed looking for his latest prey. Crossing your arms defensively, not that there was anything to hide. You were in your ratty pj’s, they were on sale at Old Navy a few years ago and you never threw them away even though they barely fit anymore. 

“If you’re so interested in being a cuck,” he grinned at you, flashing his crooked teeth, “I would love to have you over for an encore, I’m sure you’d love to watch me in action.” 

“Buzz off, Ren.” 

“Ooo, angry tonight,” he smirked, now stepping out of his door frame. You choked a little at his appearance, no shirt on, basketball shorts barely hanging off his hips. Dangerously low, seriously, if he took one wrong move they would be on the floor. His chest was covered in fresh scratch marks, no doubt from his latest victim, a sheen of sweat glistening under the lights. 

Fuck, he was good-looking. 

But he was terrible. 

“Ahem,” he cleared his throat, daring you to stare back at him. 

You gulped, caught again. You were better than that, you were just tired from being kept up since ten with his version of ‘love-making’. 

“My eyes are up here cupcake,” he stepped forward. Pushing you back into your doorframe, almost inside your sanctuary. “If you ever decide you want to break your vow of chastity, I’m right next door.” 

“Step away from me, Kylo.” 

He cocked his brow, “I love when you’re mean, come on. Let’s see if kitty has claws.” 

You bared your teeth, fists balling under your underarms, “Not even if you were the last man on Earth.” 

He shrugged, backing away from you. 

“Deal, bitch.” 

You moved to shut your door on him, “Go away.” 

“See you in class, bright and early.” 

------ 

When you imagined leaving for college, it was different. 

Saying goodbye to your parents, packing your car with whatever small valuables you owned. Determined to make a name for yourself all the way across the country, no friends or family, truly on your own. You imagined everything would be different, the dorm would be filled with new and friendly faces. 

RA’s greeting you as you parked outside, giving you a tour and maybe a group lunch with all your floormates. Getting to know each other, maybe even going to some new-student orientation event they planned for the newbies. 

Classes were smooth, acing all your major requirements. Professors were kind and ready to help you at any moment, letting your artistic vision flow through your body every morning with your 8 AM yoga class. 

But no. 

Instead, you registered late. 

Your classes all at the worst times, bright and early. 

Second rate dorm, COED even… smelly dudes between your single bedroom which would be better defined as a broom closet. Burping and fucking on both sides of you while you tried to study. Your major requirement classes were boring and filled with pretentious art students who thought they were the next Picasso. 

Professors didn’t care if you lived or died, only focusing on the bell schedule because they couldn’t control what the freshmen did in their classes. 

Your options for clubs were limited, either join a sport or a cult. 

And worst of all. 

Kylo Ren. 

He was your neighbor, signed up late just like you. You actually arrived at the same time, he pushed you down on your ass in the lobby so he could be checked in first. Calling you a clumsy bitch, only for you both to be handed keys to the same floor. Right next to each other, sharing a flimsy wall. 

On top of that, he was an art major like you. 

And since he registered late, he was in almost every class. 

Even yoga! 

He took your mat the first day, leaving you in tears in the hallway. He apologized afterward, handing it back to you before storming off to be with his beefy upper-class friends. Any moment he could, Ren would humiliate you. Trying to push your buttons, whistling at you when you had to cross the hallway to the showers. Tripping you when you had your hands full, making fun of you for hanging out with your sparse group of friends. 

And when he found out you were annoyed with him making noise, he latched onto it. 

One week he decided to recite the entire Phantom of the Opera, just because you mentioned in class that you loved that play. 

He did every part, even the musical scores, you could’ve sworn he did it with a megaphone on the wall, just to spite you. 

Your parents told you ‘he just likes you, he’s a boy.’ 

No! 

That’s not how people express feelings, at least not healthy people. 

Your alarm clock blared on your nightstand, you didn’t sleep so it didn’t bother you. Letting out a heavy sigh of defeat, Ren ruined another night for you, a night you’d never get back. Of precious, precious sleep that you desperately deserved. 

Slipping on some plum leggings and a sports bra. No one gave a fuck about your outfit in your early morning class, as long as you went with clothes on. You popped on your headphones, trying to drone out the noise of Ren’s music through the wall. He liked to blast some god-awful music every morning. 

Today, it was an old Black Veil Brides album! 

You made it out of the dining hall, snatching a muffin for breakfast. Smiling at some guys you knew, waving at your friend Rose as you stormed off to the gym. The cold chill of Winter biting at your nose, it was too cold to not wear a full outfit. But there was no time, with Ren keeping you up all night and classes back to back, you didn’t have time to fuck around with dressing up. 

Ren ran in after you, laughing with his friends. Big nose all red from the frost, his hair looked frozen to his scalp, probably showered beforehand. You rolled out your mat, trying to stretch while he bragged about the pussy he got last night. Making a big show of your complaining, saying you were desperate to fuck him based on your whining. 

You rolled your eyes when he planted next to you, “Good morning, you ran out in a hurry.” 

“I didn’t want to be late,” you sneered, not giving him the time of day, still stretching your back into child's-pose. 

“How are we supposed to walk together if you run away from me, cupcake?” 

You scoffed, shooting him an icy glare. Despite him grinning at you like the happiest man on Earth, god, you needed to stop giving him a reaction. That would shut him up if you didn’t give him the attention he is clearly lacking from his parental figures. 

“Good morning class,” your teacher greeted you calmly, “I hope you’re all doing well. As you all know, this next week is finals week, I’m offering makeup classes to those of you who need to make up some credit hours. We are also hosting some meditation if you need time to relax between classes.” 

Next to you, Ren leaned towards your mat, setting his hand right behind your back. You didn’t have to open your eyes to know he was hovering. Ready to devour you like a piece of meat.

“Hey,” he chuckled. 

You stayed quiet, pushing back into his arm so he would move. Ren stayed put, purring in your ear, “Did you sleep well?” 

“Move off my mat, Ren.” 

He smirked down at you, “You seem stressed, do you want me to help by fucking your brains out.” 

You shot off your mat, effectively knocking him onto his back. Laughing loudly in a relatively silent room of students trying to center themselves. He grinned from the floor, hands up in the air in defense, “I’m just offering to help you, Jesus!” 

“Just,” you pointed in his face, hair falling out of your ponytail. Everyone was staring at you, even your instructor. Shocked you were yelling, you barely spoke in class, at the scariest person in your class. 

“Just, leave me alone.” 

------

Ren avoided you for the rest of the week, mostly. 

Still had his nightly fuck-more subdued though, you had on noise-canceling headphones to try and focus on studying. There were still so many classes to get to, and you wouldn’t be finished until the day before Winter break… you were desperate to get this over with. 

You missed your family, the plane ticket itself cost you a whole month of meals. 

Of course, you would do fine in your classes, it was just the motivation to get there. Every morning you glared at Ren when he greeted you in yoga, still standing next to you like a menacing shadow. 

This morning was no different, only you skipped class to study in the library. Bundled up in your winter coat, long black scarf, hair in a lazy braid, and thermal leggings on. The wind had picked up last night, bringing on an ice storm that wasn’t expected until late next week. You walked on treacherous sidewalks, dodging all the other students who were seeking the warmth of the library. 

You settled inside, sprawling your books and laptop on an old desk. Grabbing out a few sketch pads so you could finish up some pieces that were due in a couple hours. Most of your finals in art were ‘unconventional’ which meant the professor wanted to see what you were motivated to work on during the year. 

For yours, you had decided to draw the people you saw on campus. 

Studying their faces, mannerisms, languages while they were in an organic environment. It was a great piece, and one of your professors was very interested in showcasing it in a show. You were proud, it wasn’t large but it was important for you and you wanted it to be perfect before turning it in. 

Your pastels were spread out, fingertips smudged and stained from charcoal, a few lines on your face and brow from forgetting about the streaks. There was this one person you couldn’t finish, it was one of your friends from last week. She was laughing and holding a drink, the expression wide and full of emotion but it was hard for you to capture without her being there. 

But you steeled yourself, you weren’t leaving this spot until you finished her. 

“You smudged that dude's face,” a low voice rumbled behind you. A finger pointing down at the top left corner, “Stop-don’t touch it.” 

You moved to swat the hand away, not wanting some random guy to ruin your piece with their grubby fingers. Recentering yourself, he wasn’t smudged, he was just in the corner so it looked like it wasn’t finished… what did he know, anyway? 

“You didn’t draw me?” 

Now you stopped, why you didn’t recognize the timbre of his voice was ridiculous. 

You let out a long sigh, “Please, don’t touch the canvas, Kylo. It’s not ready, yet.” 

The chair that housed your backpack slid out next to you, your things tossed on the ground carelessly before Ren sat. You scooted away from him, he smelled like he just showered. Judging by his wet hair you were probably right… “What are you doing?” 

He shrugged, fiddling with one of your notebooks. Flipping through pages carelessly, “I don’t know-you weren’t in yoga so.” 

“So,” you gave him a weird look, “You stalked me to the library?” 

“There’s no reason to go to yoga if I can’t bother you,” he flashed a smile, dropping it slightly when he saw you weren’t playing back with him. 

Silence fell over you both, the only noises the heat kicking in around the scuffling of boots and shoes to face the weather again. 

“I like your piece,” he gestured to your work, “For drawing, right?” 

You nodded stiffly, not enjoying his friendly tone. Like he wasn’t your demon neighbor who made it his job to annoy you and had for the past four months of your life. Ren shifted again, now leaning on the table with his cheek resting on his forearm. Looking at you with wide eyes, you never took the time to look at his face. 

He had very large eyes that betrayed his emotions. Swimming with flecks of auburn, gold, and some streaks of green, blinking slowly as he studied your canvas. You looked away from him, trying to ignore the urge to draw them, how his long lashes rivaled your own. How his skin was freckled with beauty marks, creases from frowning lined his forehead and nose. You could even make out his stubble, some pieces he must’ve missed the last time he shaved. 

You went back to drawing, no longer focusing on it. Just trying to understand what was happening, your tormentor was a foot away from you. Breathing calmly like a cat laying in a patch of sun. Hunched over the edge, torso too long to rest like a normally proportioned human being, had he always been this big? 

“Wanna get coffee before class?” 

“Huh?” 

You blinked slowly, not registering that he spoke to you. 

Ren leaned off, letting out a big yawn and scratching the back of his neck. 

Yes, definitely a cat. 

“Do you want to get coffee,” he stared blankly, “Before we head to English?” 

You looked down at your mess, then back up at him. Shaking your head softly, voice quiet as a mouse, “No-thank you.” 

He exhaled harshly, “I’m not gonna burn you with it, it’s just coffee.” 

“No, I’m fine,” you said firmer, “I wanna work on this some more.” 

Ren stayed still, probably trying to think of a way to get you to agree with him. You had known him long enough to know he doesn’t like people disagreeing with him. Didn’t have to be a college graduate to see that the man had issues with control, hence terrorizing you all semester. You didn’t want to offer him an olive branch, because he was just doing it as a joke. Probably, waiting until you were calm around him to do something cruel. 

You went back to drawing, listening to him get up and leave you. Mumbling something under his breath about ‘trying to be nice’ before walking out. You shook off the awkwardness, not willing to break down and let him do something nice for you, just because he didn’t ruin your final piece didn’t mean he wouldn’t do something in the future. 

The day was still young. 

------

Oddly enough, Ren didn’t bother you that evening. 

Not even a door slam! 

You almost thought he was dead, but you saw him in the hallway when you were walking to the bathroom. Wrapped in your robe, caddy in hand, he didn’t whistle or try to touch your ass like he normally did. Just a stale smile before closing himself back in his room. 

Not to waste the precious quiet, you went to work packing your bags for your trip tomorrow. Deciding to do a quick load of laundry, your hall was almost empty, so no one would be down there while you waited. 

Piling up your hamper, you threw your pj's and slippers on. Remembering to grab a blanket and your laptop so you could hang out down there while you waited. 

Your friends back home were all excited to see you, ready to hear all about your time away. The boys you met, friends you made, classes, all that. So excited to get home and see your cat, Gremlin, he was all alone without you. Your mom sent you pictures earlier of him curled in your blankets, saying that he knew you were coming home soon. 

Maybe next Fall you could get an apartment, you didn’t want to leave him for another year. 

A washing machine door slammed shut next to you, causing you to jump from your perch atop your own. Faced with Ren, who was doing his laundry in his pjs, or his version of pjs. Giving you another tight-lipped smile before leaning against the far wall. Yawning loudly before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. 

You ignored him, turning back to your laptop that was playing a crime documentary. Texting some friends to keep your mind from wandering to Ren and why he was in such a mood. 

“Are you leaving tomorrow?” Ren called from his wall. 

You pretended to not hear him, refocusing on the documentary, there was something very interesting happening and you weren’t about to miss how they found the killer's shoe prints in the mud just because Ren was trying to talk to you. 

Then something was thrown at you, and it smelled awful. 

“Oh-my-god!” 

You shot off the washing machine, throwing down the offending garment. Ren was laughing loudly, “Chill out! It was just an old shirt!” 

“How old was it?!” 

He smiled at you from the ground, propping an elbow on his kneecap. One leg stretched out on the tile, you tried to regain a sense of calm, he was just messing with you again. Just take some deep breaths… in-out-in

“Are you leaving tomorrow, after our final?” 

You let out your deep breath, sitting back on the washer. “Yeah,” you paused your show since mister meanie wanted to have a tea party. “I have to get to the airport right after.” 

He hummed, “Same.” 

The washer beeped loudly, echoing in the otherwise empty room. Ren watched you hop off, fixing your shorts which definitely rode up too much. Trying to not flash him your underwear as you bent to move your clothes to a dryer. You cursed when a sock fell from your pile, great.  

“How come we’ve never fucked?” 

Now all your clothes were on the floor. 

Along with Ren, who was staring at you like you were an art exhibit. 

You dragged your clothes back to the washer. There was no way you were finishing now that they touched the dirty floor, no one cleaned down here and just because it looked clean didn’t mean-

A whistle, “You good over there?” 

“Yup.” 

“Okay,” you heard him stretch, popping his joints as he lifted off the floor. You could feel his breath on the back of your neck as he closed in. Almost touching you, no escape, “As I was saying, how come you’ve never let me steal your virginity?” 

You scoffed, “I am not a virgin.” 

Ren pressed into you, pushing you against the washer now. Grinding his hips into your own, you squirmed, trying to dispel every fantasy flooding your brain. Every night you spent listening to him through the wall, imagining just once that it was you. If he weren’t such a monster, you would have gladly laid on your back and let him do whatever he wanted. 

“Nothing?” 

You took a deep breath, placing both palms on the top of the washer. Biting your lip as you silently pleaded for him to let you go, but also continue. You could smell his cologne from this close, how it complimented him so well. Mixing in with his dark aura, you wanted nothing more than to spin around and…

Soon you were doing just that, but not on your own violation. 

Ren had his hands grasping your hips, thumbs slipping under the fabric of your t-shirt to caress your soft skin. Lips capturing your own, you froze in his hold. Unsure of what to do, a part of you wanted to scream and smack him, but the other part loved the smell of his toothpaste. 

He relaxed when you relaxed, your lips still awkwardly locked together. Not opening and allowing for more, but not moving away either. You stared at him, startled to see him looking back at you. Pulling back slightly, you watched his face chase yours. Bringing your lips together a few more times, kissing at the seam. 

You felt his tongue flick for entry, trying to pry your mouth open so he could explore. When you didn’t move he finally huffed in annoyance, “I know it’s your first kiss, but you’re supposed to open your mouth.” 

You groaned, bringing both hands to cradle his cheeks. There was no way he was going to make fun of you, he initiated this so. 

Ren made a muffled noise when you pressed your lips back together. Probably of shock and surprise, because, no. This was not your first kiss, not even your fourth or fifth kiss. Working your tongue skillfully into his mouth, you moaned softly at his taste. Just like you imagined… not that you put much stock into this but… it was wonderful. 

Bringing your fingers to the nape of his neck, tugging on his dark brown hair. Just like you always wanted to, whenever he walked past you with it tied in a bun you dreamt of tearing through it. Ren returned your affection in kind, his left hand moving to the small of your back. Fingers dancing under the waistband of your pajama bottoms. 

You heard him swear when he felt the lace underneath, nestled between your cheeks. Ren slid a hand over the globes of your ass, moving his hips in time with his tongue. Tasting every inch of your mouth, even growling in approval when you sunk your teeth into his bottom lip. 

Petting and groping each other against the washing machines, the sound of you swapping spit barely heard over the rumble of your clothes. Ren had gotten sick of grinding against your hip bone, pulling away from you for a moment. Shushing your pathetic whimpers, he hooked the hand not cupping your ass behind your left knee. 

Hiking it over his hip, opening your legs up. Allowing him to assault your center with his straining erection, oh you could picture it now. How easy it would be to just let him slip inside you. 

Right here, in the laundry room. 

*Beep* 

You pulled back roughly, barely able to unsuction your lips from Rens' own. A string of spit connecting your kiss-bitten lips, he looked at you with pleading eyes. Grinding himself against you harder, pulling a few soft mewls from your throat. 

“I need to switch my clothes,” you croaked.

He nodded, shakily setting your limb back on the floor and backing away. You watched through your own lust-filled state as he trembled. Walking back to his far wall, a hand cupping his cock through his sweats. Your throat clicked as you took in a much-needed breath, doing what you said you would. 

Setting them in the dryer, all the more aware of his eyes watching your every move. 

Not sparing him a glance when you sat back on the washer. 

Turning on your laptop once again to watch your crime documentary. 

Ignoring the throbbing between your legs, his deep breaths, and your shaking limbs. 

------

The TV’s at the airport all said the same thing, “Record snowfall this winter, right before the holidays! Experts say that we will be lucky to keep power until it passes. Our friends on the west coast are enjoying a white Christmas, while we’re stuck in the North Pole.” 

All flights have been grounded until further notice. 

Stuck. 

You could barely make it back to your dorm without crashing. 

Bursting into tears several times when you realized you wouldn’t be home until it was over. Wouldn't be able to safely leave your dorm room until it passed, leaving you utterly alone. 

You had emailed your RA letting him know your bad luck, he let the staff know you’d be there so they would have food and water running still. 

But other than that, this was your holiday. 

You slipped on the walk up to your room, sobbing loudly in the halls as you clutched your luggage. No going home, no seeing your friends or family, no Christmas dinner, no personal shower, no Gremlin to sleep on your face. 

Collapsing on your bed, curling yourself in the multitude of pillows and blankets that adorned it. The room had shitty heating, the entire building had shitty heating. The entire month of December you’d been freezing, and no amount of personal heaters could fix this kind of cold. 

You drifted off to sleep after crying for a few hours, letting your parents know what was happening. Setting alerts for earlier flights, anything you could do to get home. You were so tired in fact, that you slept through a power outage. Leaving the entire building to shut down, no backup generators. 

And no heat. 

It wasn’t until you felt yourself being lifted that you woke up to the commotion. 

Squirming in the kidnappers' arms, limbs aching from freezing for a time in your bedroom. The window must’ve cracked open because it was much colder than when you arrived. Your attacker didn’t let you go, growling in your ear to be still. 

Dragging you out of the building, towards a car you didn’t notice when you pulled in. With the snow swirling all around, it was a miracle they could see their own vehicle. You were thrown in the front seat, followed by your luggage tossed in the back. You stayed still, every time you moved it hurt, hypothermia. Common in the New England storms if you were foolish enough to be outside… 

You about passed out when the driver's side door opened, Ren climbed in. Looking just as frozen as you, slamming the door shut and mumbling something as he started his car. You could’ve cried when the engine turned, heat blasting between the both of you. 

“Hands,” his teeth chattered, holding his own out. He nodded for you to do the same, grasping your pink fingers between his own and blowing on them. “Power went out,” Ren took a shallow breath, “I was leaving and I saw your car. You were almost frozen to your bed, the window broke.” 

“Th-thank you-u-u.” 

Ren cringed at your fingers, slowly gaining back their normal color. “I tried to grab everything I could, like your backpack and luggage. But we can’t stay there, we’ll fucking freeze.” 

You nodded, tugging your hands away to curl into your chest. Thankful that Ren had enough sense to grab blankets, stuffing them in your lap from the backseat. You thought about grabbing your phone, but you could barely make a fist so it would do you no good. 

“My plane g-g-got ground-d-ed.” 

Ren shivered, nodding sharply, “Mine too, my mom got me a hotel room not far from here to stay until the storm passes. So, I’m taking us there.” 

“Okay.” 

You didn’t say anything else, not wanting to distract him from the treacherous roads. Thank god he had a Jeep, or else you would’ve died. You couldn’t see more than ten feet ahead, less than that when you were on the highway out of the city. 

Ren kept mumbling things like it’s okay, I’m sorry, I know it's cold, whenever you shivered and took in sharp breaths. You must’ve been out for a while, to get this bad. A quick look at the clock in his car said you’d been asleep for three hours, who knows what would’ve happened if he hadn’t noticed your car… 

He helped you out, more carried you, towards the check-in desk. Too worried you would pass out in the car if he left you for too long, the front desk lady was quick and sweet. Making sure to send up extra blankets and pillows to your suite. Ren had you walk up with him, so he wouldn’t have to carry you and the luggage on separate trips. 

You clutched his hand like a child, tight enough for his knuckles to turn white. But he was so warm, it’s all you could think about. All you wanted was to be warm, nodding blindly to whatever Ren said to do. 

Plug your phone in, check. 

Let him talk to your mom, check. 

Draw a bath for you, check. 

Climb in the bath with you, double-check. 

It wasn’t until you were defrosted in the clawfoot tub that you realized you were naked with him. 

Rens chest against your back, holding you like his life depended on it. Judging by his shaking, you both were probably suffering from acute hypothermia. You had been silent for so long your voice spooked him a little, “Thank you.” 

He hummed into your hair, which was sitting on top of your head in a messy bun. “Are you okay?” 

You nodded slowly, “Can we go lay down?” 

“Yeah,” Ren hastily got out of the tub, draining it and wrapping you in plush towels. You were still too cold to blush from your nakedness, not how you pictured this going. You imagined you would finally give into him on some drunken party night, barely remembering his reaction to seeing you nude. 

But now he had seen you half-frozen, forced to cradle you back to life. 

------

You squinted from your cocoon, greeted by a dimly lit room. 

One spare lamp on a dingy-looking nightstand, well it wasn’t terrible. It was better than your nightstand in your dorm room… where was your dorm room anyway? 

Something vibrated behind you, followed by a heavyweight sprawling against your back. 

You held your breath, you were in a hotel. 

With a stranger. 

“Shit,” you whispered. 

Okay, you could wiggle out of here. You took a moment to study the room, there was the lamp from before, and some curtains on a metal rod in the far corner. If you managed to get out without being detected you could knock out the assailant. 

“You smell so good.” 

More weight settled on you, now you were trapped. This bear was closing in, who knows what happened while you were asleep! All you could remember was falling asleep at your dorm after the upsetting trip to the airport, then being dragged away. 

Your fingers burning when you tried to use them, being shoved in a car… 

Kylo. 

“Kylo?!” 

“Mhm.” 

You threw your arms up, successfully throwing him off you and the covers. Your limbs screaming at the sudden movement, you were still suffering from the cold. Next to you, curled in a ball, totally catlike, was Ren. 

A sleepy smile gracing his lips, hands curled under his cheek, and legs moving towards his chest, Like a child under a blanket. You gasped when you saw he was naked, “Fuck!” 

You were too. 

“What the fuck, Ren!?” 

“Stop yelling,” you watched his hand bat his nose like an animal, “Come back, you were warm.” 

You huffed, flailing off the bed in search of your bags. 

Memories flooding back to you, he took you here after saving your life. 

The bath. 

Ugh, bad time to remember your kiss the night before. 

Ren sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes and blinking slowly. You flushed red when you looked between his legs, shit. How does he walk around with that? Is that why he has bad posture? You choked on your spit when he spread his legs out. 

Sprawling completely on the mattress like he wasn’t in a room with a stranger. 

“Snow hasn’t stopped,” Ren yawned, snapping a hand and pointing between his legs, “Come back.” 

“I’m not doing anything until you have clothes on.” 

He rolled his eyes, now looking you up and down. Focusing on your bare tits, swinging around with your erratic movements. You watched him lick his lips, wagging his eyebrows, “Come on, don’t you want to sit back on the bed?”

You shook your head, crouching down to your bag. Trying to not flash him more of your goods, but that didn’t work. Not with him leaning to the side of the bed to make a show of him peeping on you. 

A wolfish grin splitting his face, “You have a nice ass.” 

“Can you stop,” you huffed, tugging on some sweats you found. 

Ren made a pouting noise when you stood, pushing his bottom lip out while you threaded your arms through a t-shirt. You shivered a little-it was still freezing in the room. Probably from the weather, it sounded like it got worse… hopefully this place would keep power. 

You looked back at the bed, Ren was still manspreading. One of his large paws crawling towards his cock, watching you with the same smirk. He let out a soft sigh when he touched himself, eyes momentarily shutting in bliss. 

“Do you have to do that with me here?” 

He cracked an eye open, “Do you have to be that far away?” 

You scoffed, moving to the corner of the room. Shivering since you were near the window, you plopped down in the cheap armchair. Ignoring the sounds of his fist gliding along his cock, you tucked your feet under your body. Humming a tune to ignore the arousal growing between your legs, there was no way you were caving to him. 

What kind of man does that with a complete stranger present!? 

More importantly, why was it turning you on? 

“Come here,” he whistled, you spared a glance at him. Blushing profusely at the sight, his cock was now fully erect. Standing tall and proud, tip flushed almost purple from want. You quickly looked away, trying to swallow down the drool that gathered in your mouth. 

What would happen if you gave in? 

Not like it would hurt you… he looked so delicious. 

“If I come over there, what's gonna happen,” you whispered, determined to stay put.

With a deep breath, the mattress groaned under his weight, probably leaning back to get comfortable. He seemed to love you being there, watching him, or trying not to. Ren made a small non-committal scoff, “Whatever you want to happen, baby.” 

“Don’t call me that, you know my name.” 

“Meow.” 

Your head snapped towards him, met with his grin. “Come on-you really want me to do this by myself?” he waved his cock, fist tight around the base. You rolled your eyes, training your eyes to focus on the least attractive part about him. 

You were coming up empty, all you could stare at was his cock. 

The prominent vein along the underside thrumming in time with his heartbeat. You could practically feel it along your tongue, rigid and stiff. Slowly, you stood from the chair, met with a soft whine from Ren. Eying your hungrily as you sauntered over, you planted a knee in the mattress. 

Between his legs, which were spread obscenely wide, he licked his lips in anticipation. 

“If I help you, are you going to be nicer to me?” 

He nodded, chest taking in sharp breaths. You slowly leaned back on your heels, stripping your top off, despite him seeing you naked earlier. Surprised when he bit his bottom lip, watching you play with your tits, rolling them in the palm of your hand. Just to make him squirm a bit, “I’ll be nicer, whatever you want.” 

“I’m really cold still,” you spoke softly, making sure to lean in close enough to graze his lips with your own before pulling away, “Can you help warm me up?” 

“Yes,” Ren's hands shot out, kneading your flesh a few times. Debating to grasp your tits or the small of your waist, like a kid in a candy store. So many options, but you didn’t want to wait. If you were doing this, it would be about you.

“Eat me out.” 

He stilled, cocking a brow, “Excuse me?” 

“You heard me,” you exhaled on his neck, being sure to drag your kitty claws along his chest. Briefly grazing his nipples, savoring the way he gasped. “Eat me out, if you make me cum, I’ll let you fuck me. Like the desperate slut you are.” 

Ren scowled for a moment, nudging your face from his neck. Eyes dancing across your face before capturing your lips, moaning softly in your mouth, “I can make you cum so hard you’ll never want another man again.” 

You placed a soft kiss, rolling onto your back dramatically. Splaying your legs wide, “If that's true, why do you fuck a different girl every week?” 

He growled at you, actually growled. 

Hands no longer soft in their quest to memorize your skin, instead Ren pinned your legs hard enough for them to pop. Making you squeal from the stretch, “How fast do you think I can make you cum? Hm?” 

Before you could answer, he dove in. 

Lips wrapping around your clit and suckling fast, tongue flicking out every few seconds. You were already bucking up to meet him, but his firm hold kept you flush. While his tongue began to lap thick stripes along the seam of your pussy. Briefly hooking the tip into your entrance, both of you moaning when he tasted your wetness. 

“Shit-Kylo!” 

“Mm,” his voice vibrated against your clit, continuing his assault until you choked on your spit. You buried your fingers in his hair, keeping him in that right spot. “I’m so fucking close,” you cried out, pleading his name over and over and over. 

“You know,” he popped off, smacking his lips that were glistening with your cum, “I’d rather you cum on my cock.” 

“Wait-” 

Ren flipped you onto your chest, yanking your hips into the air. You barely had time to take a breath before he shoved his cock inside you. His breath hitched as he sank to the hilt, you groaned at the stretch. Now this, this you could get used to.

He pulled out slowly, you heard him swear under his breath. Leaving just the tip of his cock inside and ramming his hips into yours. Pulling a loud scream from your lungs, Ren chuckled at that. Pumping his cock at a rough pace, “Shh-you’re going to upset our neighbors.” 

You huffed, cheap shot, angling your hips a little so his cock would rub up against your front wall. Moaning when he picked up the pace, skin slapping skin. Ren leaned over your form, planting a hand on the headboard to keep it from knocking. You weakly lifted your head, clenching at the sight of his knuckles turning white. 

All you could do was sit and take it, revealing in the bliss you’d denied yourself for four months. 

-------

Ren dropped you both off at the airport two days later. 

You spent three days together, fucking each other's brains out. 

Choking on his cock while he was brushing his teeth, eating you out while you read through your newsfeed. Bouncing on his cock while he fed you breakfast, you didn’t need to change clothes the entire vacation. 

But you wanted to go home and were thankful for the storm ending so you could head home. It was a little awkward, Ren wasn’t very excited about the snow stopping. It felt like he was trying to stall you leaving but reluctantly listened to your desire to fly home. 

“Got everything?” he mumbled, hitching his backpack over his shoulder. The two of you were waiting in the TSA line, about to part ways to head home. You nodded, giving him a tight smile before stepping up on your own. 

Ignoring the feeling of his eyes on the back of your head. 

Both of you stood awkwardly after making it through, “Well-my gates over here,” you pointed behind you. Ren hummed in acknowledgment, kicking at the ground instead of looking at you. 

“Thanks for letting me crash with you,” you tried again, still nothing. 

You groaned, spinning on your heel. Back to being an asshole, you were kicking yourself for thinking he would be nicer. All he wanted was some pussy, and you willingly gave into him when you should’ve remained strong. 

Your parents picked you up back at home, lots of tears and laughs were shared. Thankful that you made it home without freezing, your mom was grateful for your friend who saved your life. She wanted to call him and tell him how much she appreciated it but you shrugged it off, he was just being nice. He wasn’t your boyfriend or anything, you left out the part that he was the neighbor you always complained about. 

Collapsing on your bed felt surreal like you would wake up and be back in the hotel room at any moment. It was odd not sleeping next to him, you had grown accustomed to his clingy arms. Circling you in the middle of the night when he thought you were dead asleep, smelling your hair before tucking you into his naked chest. 

You tossed and turned all night, groaning when you were woken by your siblings to get up the next morning. Barely sleeping a wink, you resolved to take a nap later to try and not spoil your trip back home. 

At breakfast, your mom yelled at you from the kitchen. 

“Hey hon, someone’s calling you!” 

“Just answer it,” you groaned through a mouthful of cereal. Briefly hearing your mother answer in a typical chipper tone, stalling mid-sentence before she yelled again, “It’s someone named Kyle?” 

Shit, you shot to the kitchen. 

Snatching the phone and escaping to the living room where no one was hiding. 

“Kylo?” 

Hey, didn’t think you’d answer.

“How’d you get my number?” 

Took it while you were napping the other day, I knew you wouldn’t give it to me willingly.

You rolled your eyes, “Alright creeper, what’s up?” 

Just wanted to talk or whatever, felt weird not to. 

Silence. 

Are you gonna let me buy you coffee when we are back?

“You were being serious about that?” 

A scoff. 

Yeah-or we could just fuck again if that’s all you want from this. 

“Coffee sounds good.” 

Cool. Cool. 

It’s a date. 

-------

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