#but maybe she'll let me borrow him

[greensaplinggrace]

the darkling to mal and alina: oh, so now I’m the bad guy for suggesting mass murder?

[hyunniesgirl]

I wanna be yours

Pairing: Bangchan x fem!reader

Summary: it was all a game to him, until all he could think about was you. He wanted to have all of you. Ruin all of you. Love all of you.

Or, the one where Chan is a cocky asshole who's going out with you just for fun and ends up falling in love.

Slightly inspired in the movie 10 things I hate about you.

Genres: angst, smut, fluff

Words count: 10,991

Masterlist

This content is +18 ONLY, minors do NOT interact!

Warnings: Corruption kink(kinda), dry humping, fingering, blowjob, loss of virginity, unprotected sex, pet names(princess, baby), Chan is cocky as fuck(and I'm here for it, stan cocky Bangchan), reader gets kinda insecure close to the end(let me know if I missed something)

A/N: should I be answering my requests or updating my series? Yes, did I spend too much time in a super long self indulgent oneshot? I did. It was supposed to be just smut with corruption kink 😭 turns out I can't write the porn without the plot.

It all started as a game for him. He just didn't guess how much you would mess with his head.

Bang Chan doesn't care much about college, with a promising career in music, he's just attending classes so his parents won't nag him too much.

That means he's bored all the time.

So when Jeongin, his youngest friend, begged him to win his girlfriend's sister over and date her for a bit, he almost accepted right away, yearning for some fun. But he didn't, not before knowing who you were.

That's how he ended up here, trying to find you in the middle of communication class. He didn't need to look too much, from Jeongin’s description, he could find you in the blink of an eye.

“A pretty girl, probably wearing black or some neutral color and she'll probably be in a corner. She's very shy, when you speak to her don't be too straightforward, you may scare her”

The way Jeongin described you didn't show any ill intent and he was always a good guy, that's why Chan considered accepting his offer in the first place. He must have his reasons for almost kneeling in front of his friend, asking for him to date you.

Chan sits behind you, observing every movement you make. You're indeed pretty and you really are shy. He notices how you want to raise your hand every time the professor asks a question, but you always hesitate and someone speaks over you. Every time you try to speak, some rude person cuts you and instead of getting mad, your face turns red and you shrink in your seat, trying to make yourself even more invisible.

There's something about you, Chan can't tell what it is, but it's something amusing about how you behave. Someone like you could have every guy in this university wrapped around your little finger and every girl wanting to be your friend.

As soon as the class ends, Chan sends a text to Jeongin, telling him he will do it. He doesn't waste time, waiting for everyone to get out of the classroom while you're still collecting your things.

“Hey”, he says out of nowhere, making you jump and look at him with huge doe eyes. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you”.

He kinda did want that, though, curious to see how you would react, he thought maybe you would raise your voice and curse him, but you reacted as calmly as possible.

“It's okay”, you mumble.

You keep organizing your things, trying to ignore his presence.

“So, I wanted to ask if you can let me borrow your notes”, he asks, making puppy eyes.

You turn back to him and Chan can almost see the gears turning inside your head.

“Why does he want my notes if he just attended the same class?” It's written all over your face.

“I pulled an all nighter studying for another class and kind of dozed off earlier”, he lies, smiling sheepishly while scratching the back of his neck.

You stare at him for a bit, pondering if you should say yes, actually, let's be real: can you even say no?

This is Bang Chan, handsome and popular, everyone knows him and the other two guys from 3racha. The last you heard, he didn't care much about classes since he's already progressing in his music career so you still don't understand why he wants to borrow your notes.

“Yeah, okay”, you nod, deciding to agree so this conversation can be over soon. You pull your notebook out of your bag and hand it to him. “Just make sure to give it back by next class”

“Sure, thanks”, he gives you a big bright smile that makes you gulp while staring at him, just a few minutes in his presence and you already know something very important: this man is dangerous.

You look around awkwardly, not knowing what Chan wants more. He's just standing there, staring at you.

“I'll get going then”, you sigh, feeling exhausted by this whole interaction.

You turn around, walking to the door, leaving Chan there, dumbstruck. Jeongin was right, you have no social skills, but you're much more entertaining than he made you out to be.

—

You're having lunch with Yuna, your sister, and Jeongin, her boyfriend, in the cafeteria. You like spending time with them, they are probably the only people you feel comfortable around in this university.

You met Jeongin three months ago. Your sister came home giggling like a child on Christmas, sat on your bed and told you she got a boyfriend.

You ran to your door, closing it after checking that your parents weren't around. There's only one rule in the house: your younger sister must not date before you do.

Your parents are not conservative or anything like that, they just had you two later than other parents, so they are very overprotective. You don't know exactly the reason why they set this rule, maybe it's because they are sure you're never going to date.

Yuna is your best friend, she was a sickly child so all those interactions and fights that normal sisters have, you didn't. You spent most of her childhood and a huge part of yours by her side in the hospital. Fortunately, she was able to go back to a normal life by the time she was becoming a teenager, she was always a social butterfly even in the hospital everyone loved her.

You always thought it was unfair that she had to wait to have a boyfriend simply because you are not interesting enough or can't even hold a conversation properly without stuttering, but there was nothing you could do about it. You even tried arguing with your parents about it but it always ended with them telling you to forget about it.

You see Jeongin waving to someone, something is off, they never invite anyone to eat with them. A tray is settled by your side and you look at the person who sits in the seat next to yours: Bang Chan.

“Hello again”, he smiles at you, a handsome smile with dimples showing and everything. He greets the others after.

You look at Yuna and Jeongin, she is frowning just like you and her boyfriend is eating like this is an ordinary situation in your daily lunch.

“Hi”, you sister answers, “I don't think we met before”

“Oh, yeah, I'm Bang Chan!” He stretches his hand so she can shake it. “Jeongin is an old friend and I have communication class with y/n”

“Ah”, she nods, looking at her boyfriend. You stay in silence, playing with your food, waiting for Jeongin to send Bang Chan away.

“Babe, I forgot I have a project due tonight”, Jeongin says, slapping the palm of his hand on his forehead. He stands up, “can you help me? Chan will keep y/n company.”

No. You don't want him to keep you company. Your eyes widen and you stare at your sister, trying to send her a mental signal so she won't let you alone with him.

What you don't see, it's that she has already caught up on the way Bang Chan is looking at you and she might think she understands what's happening.

“Okay, yeah. Take care of her”, your sister says, smiling apologetically to you while she gets up and follows Jeongin out of your sight.

You should just throw your food away and go to the library, maybe you can eat a sandwich.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” You hear Bang Chan's voice before you can put your plan into practice, turning around to look at him with the most terrified face he ever saw on someone. “Ouch, does the idea scare you so much?” He jokes.

“Why would you want to go on a date with me? We just met yesterday”, you point out, holding yourself back so you won't just stand up and run away.

“I find you interesting, it's just a date so we can get to know each other better”, he shrugs. He's so nonchalant about it, while you're freaking out inside.

“I don't think that's a good idea, I'm not good at keeping conversations, you'll get bored”, you say frantically. You just didn't expect him to laugh.

“I can do all the talking, I love to talk"

Chan knows this move is risky and there's a high probability you won't accept, but he just felt like asking you at that moment.

“Are you sure you won't get bored?” You ask.

His eyes widen and he nods, are you really considering it?

You are, obviously. You bet no one could ever guess, but Bang Chan is your ideal type, actually he is probably everyone's ideal type.

He has the kindest smile you have ever seen and the way his eyes turn into crescents when he's smiling makes your legs weak. He met you yesterday, but you know him since 3racha performed in the university’s festival last year. Since the first time you two crossed paths, everything about him, appearance wise, seemed appealing: his dark eyes, his smile, his dark curls, his broad shoulders and his muscular body. That's why you freaked out so much when he spoke to you yesterday, you never thought he would give you the time of day. So you would be dumb to reject his offer.

“Okay”, you nod, handing your phone to him. “You can put your number there, I'll text you so you can save my contact”, you say and he stares at the device for a few moments before picking it up and typing his number.

This was easier than he thought.

—

“Do you have pepper spray with you?” Your mother asks for the 30th time in the last hour.

“Yes, mom. I'm going on a date with another student, he's not a criminal”, you tell her and your father tsks.

“There are alot of students that commit crimes”, he says.

“I know”, you sigh, “don't worry, I have pepper spray, emergency numbers and I'll turn on my localization”

Your sister is watching the scene unfolding in front of her, while she chuckles.

“You shouldn't laugh, if I start dating you will go through the same thing when it's your time”, you whisper at her and she sighs.

“You're not going to this date just so I can officially date Jeongin, right?”

You grin.

“You think too highly of me, I'm not that selfless”, you hear the sound of a horn in front of your house, “I'm going on this date because he's hot”

Chan thought you were pretty in your everyday clothes but after seeing you ready for your date he just couldn't take his eyes off you. You're wearing a little sundress with thin straps holding your much too generous and low cleavage. Your hair is down and your lips are red with lipstick.

He's waiting for you outside of the car so he can open the door for you, but when you stop in front of him, he just doesn't move.

You frown, waving a hand in front of his face.

“Are you okay?” You ask and he snaps out of his daze.

“Yeah, you're just too pretty”, he tells you honestly, “I just couldn't believe I'm so lucky”

You feel your skin hotter, you're sure your whole face must be red like a tomato.

The restaurant you are going to have dinner at is a bit further than you thought, it takes at least one hour by car to get there.

“Were all the places close to the city closed?” You try making a joke and he smiles.

“Considering your personality, I thought you would like this place better”, he tells you while you go in. A person greets you two, leading you inside. There's no open space, the building is full of rooms and you're guided to one of those. There's a glass wall in the back of the room with a view to a lake and a waterfall, there's colorful lights everywhere, making it even more beautiful.

“So, when I was searching for a nice place to go on a date, I came across this one.” Chan starts speaking and you notice there's a small stove on top of the table. “There's no attendants, so we will cook our own food and only call them if we want more servings”, he explains, pulling the chair so you can sit.

“Oh”, you feel a weird feeling on your stomach, are these the butterflies your sister told you about? You never knew something like this existed and the fact that he was attentive enough to take your shyness into consideration while choosing the place of your date makes you melt inside. “Thank you”, you tell him after sitting.

You don't shut up the whole night. This is the first time you feel so comfortable with someone other than your family.

“So, you want to work with entertainment?” He asks surprised.

“Yes, I really like the whole thing about managing an artist, it sound exciting”, you smile happily, “who knows, maybe one day I can manage 3racha”

“You have heard 3racha?” Chan asks, surprised.

“I really like your music”, you tell him, “besides, everyone knows about you guys”

“Yeah, but I didn't know you knew about us”, he smiles charmingly, leaning on the table while clasping his hands. “So does that win me some points? Maybe a kiss?”

You already are red because of the wine, now you feel your whole face hot. You're already feeling a bit out of it, not drunk enough to make a bad decision but definitely drunk enough to lose a bit of your shyness.

“I don't know how to kiss”, you say simply, no further explanation.

Chan almost chokes on the air he just breathed, he didn't think you would be so blunt about it. Curiously, he finds your innocent face while saying that too enticing.

“I can help you with that”, he says, tilting his head and winking.

“Would you really?” You ask and he nods. “Like now?”

Chan didn't expect that to happen so soon, especially with someone as shy as you. But he won't refuse your offer.

“Are you done?” He asks, eagerly, standing up and you nod. Chan stretches his hand to you, waiting for you to hold it.

He takes you to his car, helping you get in and fastening your seatbelt. He's not in his right mind, not at all, he didn't even drink so why is he so excited? He doesn't think he ever felt this way about a kiss. He drives for a while, looking for the drive in movie theater he had read about while looking for the restaurant.

After fifteen minutes he parks his car behind others, there are a lot of people there to watch the movie.

You have your hands on your lap, fidgeting with your fingers nervously. It's so endearing how innocent you are.

“Would you like to take a seat?” He asks and you frown, looking around and then looking at him. You are already seated.

He tilts his head, chuckling and patting his lap. You nod so fast, it's embarrassing. He smiles, seeing you climb on top of him, legs are over the cup holder, you're using him as a literal seat.

“You never kissed anyone?” He asks, while you adjust yourself on top of him, his breath hitting your neck, making goosebumps rise all over your body. You shake your head, feeling a bit insecure, what if you are no good?

Chan bites on his lower lip, shifting a bit so you won't feel his hardening cock under you, you're just too cute, too sexy.

“Okay, I'll go slowly, we can stop anytime you want”, he tells you, brushing his hand on your arm all the way to your neck, making you close your eyes to his touch. He pulls your face closer, touching your lips with his, it's warm and soft, it feels like heaven.

He brings his other hand to your cheek, caressing. He pulls back a bit, just enough so he can speak.

“Open your mouth for me, baby”, he tells you and you obey instantly, feeling his lips back on yours. His tongue brushes against yours and you whine, lifting your hands to grab on his shoulders to steady yourself, causing your ass to rub on his cock. Chan groans, making you flinch, did you do something wrong?

He notices your hesitancy, so he slides his hand to your waist, squeezing you in reassurance.

“Are you sure you have never done this?” He asks playfully and you smile, shyly.

“Can- Can we do it again?” You whisper, making him chuckle. Dear god, would he be able to stop this with just kisses?

“Did you like kissing me, princess?” He teases, seeing you blush. Chan wraps his arm around your waist, pulling you even closer. He lands a kiss on your exposed collarbone, tracing kisses up to your neck.

“You smell so good”, he tells you before leaving a kiss on your jaw, then on your chin and finally a peck on your lips.

“Must taste even better”, he thinks, smiling to himself.

Your phone starts ringing, taking you two out of that hazy atmosphere. You feel embarrassed now, not believing you actually acted that way. Going back to your seat, you pick up the call, it's Yuna.

“Mom and dad are freaking out because you stopped moving for too long”, she whispers. Shit, you forgot your localization was turned.

“Tell them you called Chan and I'm alright, my phone just died”, you instruct her.

“Yeah, got it, just hurry”

Chan probably heard the conversation, but you still feel upset that he started the car right away and drove fast back to your home.

When you arrive in front of your house, you're not sure if you should kiss him goodnight or just wave, both are awkward options for you, so you go with the one you want the most.

You grab his arm and pull him closer to you, kissing him on the lips. Chan is quite surprised with your bold action, but he won't complain, he can't get enough of your lips.

“I will text you when I get home”, he says after pulling away and you nod.

You get out of the car and walk to your door, stealing glances at Chan. He's giggling at your antics, watching until you are safe inside your house.

He should be thankful to Jeongin, he's finally having a good time.

—

Chan is taking his mission seriously, he's texting you everyday and even stopped seeing all his fuck buddies. This is the closest he ever got to a relationship, but you're not official yet.

Especially not when you're avoiding him like the plague when it comes to meeting face to face. You answer his texts normally but he has to literally hunt you down so he can find you in this damn university and if you see him before he sees you, it's game over, you'll hide immediately and he has to begin his search all over again.

This time, though, he caught you off guard. You are at the library, seated alone, trying to focus on the book you have in your hands.

He smiles to himself, knowing you can't escape anymore. Chan leans over, caging your body with his two hands around you, gripping the table.

“I missed you, baby”, he whispers and you shiver, feeling butterflies on your stomach.

“H-hi”, you say, closing your book and taking a deep breath.

You will not try and pretend you didn't hide from him for almost a week. But that's not your fault, it's your brain's.

After Chan left you home, you ran to your room, still feeling all tingly and hot from kissing him. Since Yuna didn't come to your room you guessed she was already asleep, so you took your makeup off, took a long bath and snuggled in your nice sheets.

The thing is: you had the most lewd, filthy, awfully good dream that night. You could never even say the things Chan did to you in that dream out loud.

You woke up sweaty, heavy breathing and panties soaked, this never happened to you before.

You just couldn't look at his face after that, you felt dirty and guilty with having those thoughts about such a nice guy.

“Am I wrong or were you avoiding me?” He asks, not moving from behind you.

“No- I wasn't”, you turn around to look at him, bumping into his face too close from yours. He glances at your lips, biting his lower one and chuckles. “I was just, hm, kinda embarrassed”, you tell him, aware that he's going to know right away if you try lying.

“Embarrassed about what?” He asks, tilting his head.

“I don't know”, you look away, trying not to give in and tell him about your dream.

“I think you should come to my place so we can talk about it”, he says and you choke on your own spit, struggling to function correctly. Did he just ask you to go to his house? Just you? And him? Just the two of you?

The apartment is not far from the campus, it's a maximum twenty minutes walk. The building is nice and modern, it absolutely matches what you had imagined Chan’s place would look like.

His apartment is huge, it's not possible that he lives there alone.

“I have three roommates, Jisung and Changbin you already know and Hyunjin, he's an arts major”

“Hwang Hyunjin? I know him, he's friends with my sister”, Chan nods, he forgot your sister dates Jeongin, she probably knows his entire group of friends.

“Do you want to drink something?” He asks, looking at you while you walk around the living room, looking at every corner but not at him.

“Water is fine”, you say, looking at some pictures he has with his friends. He always has that breathtaking smile that makes all your insides turn around.

“What about watching a movie?” He asks out of nowhere, sitting on the sofa. He looks at you, an arm resting on the back of the sofa.

“Sure”, you walk to him, sitting on the far corner. Chan has to bite back a laugh so you won't feel embarrassed, do you really think it's so easy for you to get away from him?

He turns on the movie, adjusting himself on his seat. You're really trying to pay attention to what's going on on the screen, but you just can't. Not when Chan's scent is all over the place, making you remember about your dirty dream.

He knows you're restless, he can see you fidgeting by his peripheral vision.

“Are you uncomfortable?” He asks, turning his head towards you, with a smirk plastered on his lips. “Maybe you can sit here again, I'm sure you are going to like it better”, he pats on his lap.

You feel your face red.

“Stop teasing”, you mumble, pouting, “that's not nice”

He chuckles. If you're not coming to him, he has no problem going to you, so Chan slides his body closer, making you stare at him with a frown.

He raises his hand to your face, cupping it and caressing your cheek.

“Tell me you don't want this, princess, I'll stop”, he says. But you want this more than anything in the world, how could you not?

You lean a bit, trying to close the gap between your mouths. Oh, how much Chan missed your soft lips, he felt almost like going through a withdrawal staying so long without kissing you.

You learn fast, your mouth opens right away after your lips touch. In a bold move, your tongue is the one to look for his first, making him groan. He puts his right hand on your thigh, squeezing it harder than he predicted, but he didn't predict the bite you would give on his lip at that exact moment.

Chan grabs your hip, pulling you up to his lap, this time with a leg on each side of him. You're looking at him in that innocent way when all he has on his mind are the dirtiest thoughts. He caresses your thigh, sliding his hand to grab your ass and pulling you closer to him.

“Will you tell me now, why you were embarrassed? You looked pretty fine when I left you home after our date”, he asks and you blush instantly, oh, you forgot about the reason you are here. You can't tell him about your dream, you'll die of embarrassment if you do.

“It was- nothing”, you lie, avoiding his eyes. Chan noticed this already, you always look anywhere but him when you are lying to him.

Maybe he'll have to make you tell the truth.

“Really?” He says, skeptical. “Then you were just being mean? Playing with my feelings after just one date?” He's teasing, he knows you'll give in eventually, it's just a question of time.

“No, I wasn't”, you argue, with a frown on your face, your lips shut tight in a pout.

“Baby”, he calls, your legs would definitely give out if he called you like that while you were standing. “I don't like liars”

Chan slides his hands up to your ass, grabbing a handful and pulling you closer. You can already feel something hard beneath you, making you shift and adjust on his lap, involuntarily seeking some friction. Your core is aching, just by staying so close to him.

“I'm not lying, that's mean”, you try changing the subject and he chuckles.

Chan comes closer, lips brushing against yours, his breathing hitting on your mouth, everything just making the wet spot on your panties grow bigger and bigger. He kisses you, a nice and soft kiss with his tongue caressing yours gently.

Chan notices that you're moving your hips slightly, trying to feel his cock. He smiles during the kiss, pulling away while putting his hands on your hips, guiding your movements to be harder.

“Hm”, you whine, feeling his hard on giving you the friction you're looking for. His hand cups your cheek, pulling you closer into a kiss again.

You never felt this way, like ever. You did masturbate but it's different to do it with another person. It's just so good to feel Chan's touch on your skin, his breathing, his muscular arms holding you. You feel your orgasm coming, you can't believe you're going to cum by just rubbing yourself on this man.

Chan knows you're almost there, that's when he grabs your hips steadying you, not letting you move further. He earns a whine from you, an angry look on your face.

“I will only let you keep going if you tell me why you were embarrassed and avoided me”, he says cockyly and you shake your head, trying to move again but his grip on your hips is too strong.

“I don't wanna”, you tell him.

“Then, I guess you won't be cumming today”, he shrugs. “At least, not with me”, he smirks to your face becoming even redder.

“You're such a meanie”, you whine, pouting, still trying to move again but he just won't let you.

“Are you going to tell me what I want to know?” He tilts his head.

You ponder for a moment, what should you do? It's not going to end here, if you don't tell him right now, you're sure he won't let it go.

“I- I had a dream”, you start, trying to gather some courage.

“Uhm”, he nods, “what about it?” He asks curiously, feeling strangely aroused by the way you're looking around, lips pulled into a line and the way you're speaking leads him to believe you're talking about a wet dream.

“Li- like one of those dreams”, so he was right, did you have a wet dream about him? That's interesting.

“Hm, you'll have to be more specific, princess”, he pushes, “I don't think I know what you're talking about”

“I mean”, you groan, dropping your head to his shoulder so you won't feel his eyes on you. “A sex dream… with you”, you whisper.

The grin on Chan's face after you finish saying that, is priceless. He can feel his cock twitching, he's eager to know more.

“Tell me more about it”, he presses, “I really wanna know what happened in that dream that left you so embarrassed”

“Please, Chan. Don't make me say it”, you beg, but he's not having it. He likes seeing you blushing and struggling to talk dirty, it's endearing.

“No can do”, he grabs your shoulder to pull you away so he can look at your face. “I promise I'll give a nice reward if you tell me”

You nod. If he won't drop it, then you have to try and earn something over your embarrassing situation.

“I- like- you ate me out”, you start and he smiles, he would indeed love to do that. “And I s-sucked you off, it was nice”, you stumble over your words in each sentence. Chan can only feel even more turned on, your lips are so soft, he can't even picture what it would feel like to have them wrapped around him.

“Keep going, princess. You're doing great”, he reassures you. Chan loosens the grip on your hips, guiding your movements back and forth once again.

“And you said all these dirty things to me, I can't say it out loud, please”, he smirks, pulling you even closer and pressing your covered core against his cock.

“Did I tell you how good it felt to have your pretty little mouth sucking on my cock?” He asks playfully and you nod, feeling the warmth creeping in your face again while that tingly sensation grows bigger in your lower stomach.

“Did we fuck?” He asks, feeling himself getting closer to cum too.

“Yeah”, you nod frantically with your eyes closed shut. “You fucked me on all fours and in this same position too”, you tell him.

“Oh? Did you ride me? Did you like it?”

“I did”, you struggle to make your voice come out, feeling too light headed to even speak properly.

“There's something more, right, baby?” He feels his cock throbbing, he's almost at his limit.

“Yes, you- you choked me a bit, I liked that”, and that sentence was enough to make Chan reach his orgasm, being followed by you right after.

He can't believe he really did cum in his pants, like a fucking teenager. It's your fault actually, how can someone make him cum like this and still look angelic and innocent? Like you never told him he choked you and you liked it, even though it was a dream.

Chan kisses you eagerly this time, his chest is feeling hot and he feels a weird sensation on his stomach.

“You shouldn't feel embarrassed about this kind of thing”, he tells you and you nod, because it's true, “if it makes you feel better, I'm sure I had worse thoughts about you”, he smiles, seeing you blush.

“Like what?” You ask, curiously.

“Oh, I won't tell you”, he shakes his head, “you would never look at me again if you knew all the dirty things I wanna do to you”

—

Another week went by and now you were not avoiding Chan anymore. He follows you around pretty much all day at school, stealing kisses and pulling you to empty classrooms to have make out sessions.

It's time for him to meet your parents, it's not something he ever did, he never dated anyone after all. It's a Wednesday night, he brought flowers and a bottle of wine. So five minutes before the set time, he's knocking at your door.

Your sister opens up, greeting him but you're nowhere to be found until he hears your voice from upstairs.

“Is he already here?” You sound panicked and your sister giggles.

“Yes! Hurry up”, she says and Chan hears something falling and making a weird noise. It was not loud enough to be a person so he's not worried you fell, but he finds it funny to think about you nervously stumbling around.

When you show up at the top of the stairs, he has to blink a few times to actually believe you're real. You look so beautiful, showing your nice legs in a short skirt and your shoulders in a tank top.

“Hey”, you greet him, looking at the things he has in hands and he finally regains his composure.

“Hi”, he gives you a peck on the lips, “this is for you” he hands you a bouquet of red camellias.

You stop for a second, you never received flowers. Before you can answer him, your father's head is popping out of the living room.

“Why is it taking so long for you to bring this guy inside?”, he asks grumpy, he's not too happy about you dating but there's nothing he can do about it.

Chan straightens himself, walking to your father to greet him.

“Good night, sir. I'm Bang Chan”, he clears his throat when your father doesn't say a thing, just staring at him. “I brought this for you”, he shows the wine bottle and your father takes it.

“At least you have good taste”, he nods to the wine bottle Chan stole from his father's collection.

He turns around, shrugging to you and you smile, listening to your sister's chuckles. You take his hand into yours, interlacing your fingers.

In the living room there's a woman that looks too much like you and your sister to not be your mother, she smiles kindly at you two.

She's less intimidating than your father so Chan's greetings to her are less awkward this time. As time goes by, your parents warm up to him, making jokes and even telling him about your childhood.

“The night went great”, you say while walking Chan to his car. “Thank you for coming”

“Your parents are great”, he says, leaning on the door of his car. He takes your hands in his and pulls you closer, wrapping his arms around your waist. “Thank you for inviting me”

He looks so good tonight, his dark hair is carefully styled and he's wearing much more formal clothes than usual, making him look like a prince.

“Can I have a good night’s kiss?” He asks, slyly, seeing you eyeing him up. You nod, putting your hands on his chest and closing the gap between your mouths. Chan's hands slide from your waist to your ass, squeezing slightly, he can't get too into it since he won't be able to go further than a kiss tonight.

You pull away from him when you have to breathe, his lips are so inviting you could kiss him all night long.

“I will see you tomorrow”, he tells you.

There's something wrong with his heart, it's beating so fast he thinks he may be dying. After driving away from you, he calms himself a bit. It's not possible that you were the cause of that reaction, right? This is supposed to be fun, he only has to date you for a while and then break up, no strings attached. So why does he feel such hurt in his chest after thinking about leaving you?

After one more long and sleepless night Chan realized something: he is in love. This feeling snuck in so unexpectedly he didn't even notice he was falling in love. Chan never fell in love before, so he can only guess that this is how it feels to love someone.

He notices every little detail about you, he jokes around all the time waiting to hear you laugh about something he says. Chan likes the way you smell, the way you smile, the way you just look at him so focused while he is speaking. He is in love with your personality, your cleverness, your kindness, your beauty is just a bonus that makes him even more in love with you.

He wants to confess to you, ask you to be his girlfriend, to never leave him.

He even asked for your sister's help to make something for you, maybe a song, he can definitely make something beautiful and romantic for you. Maybe he can cook too, he wants to make you feel appreciated.

He's waiting for your class to finish, seated on the bench in front of the classroom while scrolling through his phone.

He feels someone sitting by his side and before he can look, a kiss lands onto his cheek. Chan puts his hand on his face, blushing and you laugh seeing his reaction. You two did much more than just a kiss on the cheek, why is he embarrassed about it?

“Did you miss me?” You ask him and he rolls his eyes.

“Of course I did”, he grabs your hand, interlacing your fingers. “Should we go to my place?” He asks and you nod, standing up, pulling him to get up too.

It's still a bit weird that you two are together, you never thought liking someone as much as you like Chan could actually happen to you, you could even say you're in love. The only thing that still makes you doubtful is the fact that he didn't ask you to be his girlfriend yet, you have been going out for a month and you do everything together, so why hasn't he made it official?

You still have many questions in your mind, sitting on Chan's bed while he makes popcorn and you choose the movie you're watching tonight.

He enters the room, closing the door and turning off the lights, two water bottles and a huge bowl in his hands.

“What movie did you choose?” He asks, but you can't hear it, your mind is too loud. “Y/N? Are you alright?” He asks, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Are we exclusive?” You ask out of nowhere, ripping the air out of his lungs.

“Yes”, he says firmly, “do you want to be with other people?”

Chan asked that, but he's holding his breath until you answer him, hoping you're going to deny. For a moment, you don't say a thing and seeing you hesitate makes his heart ache.

“No, I-” you try speaking, trying not to sound ridiculous, “I want to be exclusive, I just don't know if you want that”

Chan takes a deep breath, putting the things he has in hands on the nightstand.

“Of course, I want to”, he takes your hand into his, bringing it to his mouth so he can kiss the palm. He's feeling guilty, he's taking his time preparing a nice confession but you're feeling insecure. “I'm sorry I made you feel like I didn't want things to get more serious”, he climbs on the bed, getting closer to you, “let me show you that you're the only one I want, hum? Can I?”

You suck on your teeth, knowing exactly what is about to happen but you just can't say no to him, let's be real, you don't want to say no to him. So you nod, making him smile.

Chan is eager to have you, he has been for weeks, just waiting for you to be ready to give yourself to him. He cups your face, pulling you closer and kissing you.

He helps you lay down on the bed, towering over you while landing kisses down your neck. You feel him biting on your shoulder and he brings his hands to the hem of your shirt, pulling it up. His hands travel around your body, making you hotter.

“You're so pretty, princess”, he says, kissing your chest. You whine, he's taking too much time to get to the place you want the most.

“Channie”, you whisper, “please, touch me”, you ask him.

His smile grows bigger as he mumbles “your wish is my command”. Chan unbuttons your pants, pulling them down your legs, throwing it someplace in the room.

He slides his hand down to your core, your underwear is soaked. He pulls your panties down your legs and brushes a finger along your folds, collecting the wetness before inserting a finger inside, you arch your back to the feeling. It's delicious, but it hurts a bit. It's different from how it feels doing it alone.

“Is this okay?” He asks and you nod. “You're such a good girl, baby, all wet and ready for me.” He whispers, getting closer to your face again. I'm going to put another one”, he tells you. The sensation it's too much already, his fingers are too much.

“Chan”, you moan, “I'm gonna cum if you keep doing that”

“Oh? But I didn't even get to the better part”, he answers pressing his thumb on your clit, making circles.

“Fuck”, you whine.

His smirk grows while he keeps the movement of back and forth inside of you. Before he can tease you more, your legs are shaking and your tight hole is clenching around his fingers. You put your hand on your mouth, covering it so you won't make a loud sound, but he doesn't like that. He wants to hear how well he's fucking you.

“Let's not do that, okay? I want you to be loud, want to hear you scream my name” He says, pulling his fingers out of you and sliding them on his mouth. He comes closer, kissing your neck and face, helping you calm down after your orgasm.

Goosebumps rise all over your body, his kisses feel like fire on your skin, you thought you'd feel less horny after cumming, but you're still so turned on.

Chan kisses your chest, opening your bra. You feel embarrassed when he sees you completely naked.

“You're still dressed”, you point out, face red.

He gets out of the bed immediately, taking his shirt off and his pants too, crawling back to you in only his underwear. His cock is hard, outlined by the thin fabric of his boxers.

You feel the urge to touch him, maybe taste it. So you grab his length, making him groan.

“What are you doing, princess?” He asks, eyes closed from the pleasure of having your beautiful hands wrapped around him.

“I want to make you feel good”, you tell him, pushing his chest and making him fall on his back on the bed. You kiss his neck the same as he was doing to you, suddenly feeling possessive and sucking on the skin, leaving a few hickeys there.

You go down, kissing his chest and stomach, getting closer and closer to his throbbing cock. You pull his underwear down and his cock spring on your face.

“I just- you need to teach me”, you tell him. How can you look at him with such innocence in your eyes when you're about to suck him off?

“Hold the base”, he instructs, “now you can go up and down with your hand.”

 He feels your movements, making him groan. You are bolder than he gives you credit for, since you lick the head of his cock without being told to. You wrap his dick with your mouth, waiting for the next command.

“You can go up and down, princess, yes, like that” he moans, feeling his cock being embraced by your warm mouth.

Chan feels like exploding any time now, weeks of pent-up sexual tension being released. He sees you rubbing yourself on his bed while sucking on him, that just makes him crazier, he wants to make you feel good now, he can let you do the same for him another time.

“Baby”, you hear him say and you stop your movements. “I won't be able to last long with your soft mouth doing that, I need to feel you around my cock”

You nod, letting go of his cock and climbing up, stopping on top of Chan.

“I wanna be on top”, you say confidently.

“Let's do it slowly okay? I don't want to hurt you”, Chan tells you and you agree.

He grabs the base of his cock, brushing the head on your folds, trying to wet it enough to make it easier for you.

It feels like heaven when his cock finally slides inside of you, you're so tight he feels like he can cum at any moment.

Chan sees the pain in your eyes, he doesn't move, “do you want to stop?” He asks worriedly, putting his hands on your hips to stop you from moving but you shake your head.

You keep pushing it in, trying to relax. Chan kisses you, massaging your breasts to help you relax a bit.

When the painful part is gone and you're feeling all the good sensations back, you don't think you can stop, it's too addictive. You start riding on him freely, hands taking support on his chest and head thrown back, the pleasure is just too much, you'll be coming soon.

“Fuck, you look so good riding me, princess”, he says, feeling his own high almost catching him.

“Oh, Channie, I'm gonna cum”, you whine, fastening the movements of your hips, “please, oh, your cock feels so good”

For someone who couldn't talk about a wet dream a few weeks ago you sure talk dirty in real life, Chan chuckles, feeling you clenching around him and when you squeeze his cock for the last time he cums too, filling you up.

You collapse on top of him, breathing heavily. Your eyes are heavy, you're not sure if you can stay awake. Chan caresses your back and plays with your hair, making you fall fast asleep.

You wake up feeling just a bit sore. You're on cloud nine, the night was amazing. When you open your eyes, there's no one in the bed with you. You wrap yourself in the blankets trying to find and collect all your clothes scattered around the room.

The delicious smell that embraces your nose the moment you step out of the room, is enough to make you drool.

Chan is in the kitchen, dressed in nothing but sweatpants and an apron. That's right, he's shirtless. You're feeling bold today, so you get closer to him wrapping your arms around his waist in a back hug.

He lets out a laugh, putting his hand over yours and turning off the stove. He turns around, hugging you.

“Did you sleep well?” He asks, kissing your forehead and you nod, snuggling in his embrace.

“Why didn't you wake me earlier? I woke up missing you”

“Ow, my baby is so needy”, he teases, making you pout. “I was making you, breakfast”

“Hm”, you look at what he was cooking.

“How are you feeling?” He asks, a bit worried, it was your first time after all.

“I'm doing great”, you smile, “just a bit sore, but it's nothing”

He nods, putting his hands on your shoulders and turning you around.

“I'm happy to hear that”, he kisses the top of your head, guiding you to take a seat on the table. “Let's eat so we can go for another round then”, he smirks.

—

“Jeongin is coming here today?” You ask your sister and she nods frantically while fixing her hair.

“He's coming to ask dad's permission to date me”, she giggles excitedly.

“Alright”, you smile seeing your sister so happy.

You're the one opening the door for Jeongin while your sister is getting ready, he's clearly nervous but he's trying to keep his smile.

“Hey!” You give space for him to enter, “Yuna is almost done”

He nods, looking around. Your sister comes down minutes later, leading Jeongin to the living room.

Your father is less hostile to him than he was to Chan, maybe it's because Jeongin is adorable.

After an hour of conversation, you go upstairs, you have a date tonight and need to get ready.

The memories from your night with Chan flood your mind making you giggle and kick your feet, they have been your most cherished thoughts lately. It's a struggle but you finally end your bath after probably an hour.

You walk back to your room, you're already late. However, you stop in front of your sister's room when you hear voices being a little bit too loud.

“You did what, Jeongin?” your sister's voice is a pitch higher than usual.

“I didn't think things would get out of hand”, Jeongin answers, are they fighting?

“In what world did you think that was a good idea?”

“I was desperate, I'm not proud of that”, he answers back.

“There's no excuse for you to ask Bangchan to date my sister”, she tries speaking lower but you still can hear them. Your whole world crumbles with that one sentence, what does she mean by that?

“I didn't do it to be mean, I know how hard it is for your sister to get to meet new people, I thought it would benefit the both of us”, he tries explaining. Your heart is beating too fast, the throbbing in your ears grows stronger and your legs are giving out.

“How am I supposed to tell her now? She is so happy” Yuna cries out. “Don't come any closer, get out of here”, you panic instantly, they can't see you there. But you're too slow, when you finally manage to move Jeongin is swinging the door open. He stops on his tracks, turning white on the spot.

“Y/N-”, he tries to speak, but you run to your room before he can say anything else.

You can't believe this is actually happening to you, you thought that someone finally liked you but everything was a lie? That's not possible, right?

You are going to go to Chan, you two have a date, and he is going to tell you that Jeongin is lying, that he was just joking.

The uber to Chan's apartment doesn't seem to show up fast enough and the ride there couldn't be slower. You're restless, fidgeting with your fingers and shaking your legs.

You pay the man, practically running out of the car and running upstairs. The person who opens the door is not Chan but Changbin, you met him a few times when you were visiting the apartment.

“Hey, y/n”, Changbin greets you. “Chan is not home, but he will be here soon, I heard you have a date”, he says, letting you in.

“I'm going to wait for him in his room”, you tell him, too disturbed to worry about proper manners.

You walk back and forth in the room, anxiously waiting for Chan's arrival. You hear his voice after twenty minutes, he's talking to his friend in the living room when Changbin tells him you're there.

You can hear the fast footsteps leading to where you are, you take a deep breath, trying not to cry.

“Hey, baby”, Chan smiles at you, dropping his bag on the floor and walking towards you with open arms. “Did something happen?” He stops, noticing your face.

You stare at him for a minute, brows knit together and eyes trying to find the least bit of sincerity in the time you two spent together.

“Did you ask me out as a favor to Jeongin?” You ask and his standing falter, how did you find out?

“L-let me explain”, he says, taking a step closer to you.

“So you did”, you feel the tears trying to escape from your eyes.

“Please, just… just hear what I have to say”, he asks, trying to hold your hand, but you pull away from him.

“I don't want to hear a thing from you”, you tell him, running your hands through your hair.

It really was all a lie. How could you be so dumb?

You walk past him, trying to get out of the room, go anywhere but there. But Chan grabs your arm, making you stop in your tracks.

“Please, don't leave”, he begs. You feel a pang in your chest, but it doesn't make a difference since you're already hurting too much.

“You have no right to ask me that”, you pull your arm out of his grasp and walk out of the apartment.

It would be too humiliating to enter the uber while bawling your eyes out, so you decide to walk. You walk for a long time before your feet start hurting and your eyes are burning from how much you cried. You can't believe you really let yourself fall pray to such a scheme, you thought you were smarter than that.

It's obvious you only fell for it because it's Chan, you were attracted to him since the first time you laid eyes on him. You try to believe that it wouldn't be that easy to trick you if it was anyone else.

After at least two hours, you finally reach your house and you're feeling utterly miserable. You greet your parents and walk upstairs, anxiously searching for your room so you can finally let yourself fall and cry as much as you can.

Your sister is seated on your bed, biting on her nails. She stands up as soon as she sees you.

“I'm really sorry”, she says, teary.

You sigh, feeling the weight on your chest even heavier.

“It's not your fault”, you tell her. You start to undress, looking for your pajamas so you can snuggle on your bed until all of this passes.

“I shouldn't have started dating before you”, she whines.

“I don't blame you, so stop doing that to yourself”, you say, even though you feel a bit of resentment because Jeongin likes her truly, he likes her because she's her. Of course no one's going to like you, you're… you.

“But”, she bites on her lower lip, not sure if she should say this, “I think Chan really likes you-”, she stops talking when you give her the meanest glare you ever threw in someone's way.

“I don't want to hear it”, you say.

“He even asked help so he could confess to you in a way you would like”, she continues.

“I'm not going to repeat myself”, you say and your sister knows that tone too well, it's better for her to stay silent for the time being. “If you're done, I would like to be alone”

Yuna nods, glancing at you all the way to the door.

You collapse on your bed, finally able to cry your eyes out without people looking at you in a weird way. This is the moment you realize how much you love Bang Chan, the pain you're feeling is greater than anything you ever felt in your whole life, you truly don't think you'll be able to survive this.

Chan is an idiot, he knows this and you are right to never look at his face again. But even though he knows you're right, he can't accept the thought of you leaving him.

He tried calling and texting you, you blocked him. He tried talking to your sister, she cursed him out and told him to leave you alone. She and Jeongin are on bad terms right now but they didn't break up yet.

He tried to find you in the university, but you didn't show up for the entire week, he just doesn't know what to do.

“You are an idiot”, Hyunjin says after listening to the whole story, “you should have told her about it while you still had time”

“I didn't know I was in love”, Chan runs his hands through his hair, “not until it was too late”

His friend sighs, he just can't see Chan like that anymore. He's just miserable, he looks like he's dying and Hyunjin doesn't doubt it could actually happen at this point.

So as a good friend, he takes this matter into his own hands and calls your sister, trying to convince her to listen to Chan and maybe forgive Jeongin too, Hyunjin is tired of him whining all day long.

“Did you really call me here for this?”, Yuna asks, ready to grab her things and go home.

“Hear me out, okay?” He says. “I know what they did was wrong but they regret it, Jeongin even told you about it”

She huffs, crossing her arms.

“He told me because I was talking about how Chan wanted to ask y/n to be his girlfriend”, she says. “He felt guilty, he would have never told me about it otherwise”

“Chan really likes y/n, he really wants to be with her”

Yuna sighs, she knows that. There was no way Chan could fake the way he looked at you.

“She's not going to believe that”, Yuna says, “y/n is heartbroken, she's not even going to her classes. She just stays in her room all day, crying’

“There's nothing better to fix her broken heart then”, Hyunjin points out, “let's help them meet, they can talk things out that way”

“She doesn't want to see him”, Yuna sighs, “but I do think this is the best solution”

“Okay, I'll text you the day and time, just bring y/n, Chan will take care of the rest”

Yuna nods, collecting her things but before she can stand up, Hyunjin's voice sounds again.

“About Jeongin-”, he starts, but she cuts him off right away.

“This whole mess started because of Jeongin”, she takes a deep breath, “after y/n and Chan resolve this matter I'll see what I'm going to do about him”

Yuna turns around, leaving Hyunjin there. At least he got Chan a chance, he can't save everyone.

Chan can't take it anymore, he has to see you. So he musters all the courage he has and goes to your house. It doesn't help that it's 2 a.m. so everyone is sleeping, except you it seems, since there's light coming from your room.

He begins throwing rocks at your window, trying to make you notice him and after a few tries he sees your face popping out.

Chan wishes he didn't come at all, your face is puffy so he knows you have been crying and the way you're looking at him, it's just awful, he feels despicable. More than he has felt all this time without you.

“What do you want?” You ask, at least you didn't ignore him.

“Can you come down for a bit?”

You sigh, you don't actually want to, but you're afraid he'll make too much noise trying to convince you to go down and wake up the neighbors or even worse, your parents.

You close the window, he knew it would be hard, that you wouldn't want to see him. Before he can turn around and walk away, Chan hears the sound of the front door opening.

You are in your pajamas, holding yourself trying to protect your body from the cold air.

You stop in your tracks, looking at him with an intense gaze, like you can read all his thoughts and know about all his mistakes.

“How have you been?” He asks and you scoff.

“Are you here to survey my mood? I have been feeling like shit, what about you?” He remembers the first time he talked to you, how he wished to see you mad, now he regrets that. He never wanted to see you mad at him.

“I'm not well either”, he says.

You sigh.

“Now that we know how each other is feeling, you can go”, you tell him.

“Can you let me explain?” He pleads.

“Did you start dating me as a favor for Jeongin?” You ask and he sighs, nodding. “That's all I need to know, I would appreciate it if you don't come looking for me anymore”, you say, turning around and going back inside. Tears start running down your face while you go back to your room, when will this pain subside?

—

You are finally back at school, after moping around all day at home for an entire week, you decided it was time to get back to your life. Staying at home just made you feel worse, you didn't have a thing to distract yourself so you ended up thinking about Chan the whole time. That only weakened your resolve to forget about him, you avoided coming to school because you knew you would give in if he tried to approach you.

Your day goes by fast enough and you just want to go home to lay on your bed. You feel your phone buzzing, it's a message from Jeongin. You were so angry with Chan that you forgot to block him.

He should be begging to meet Yuna, so why is he asking to meet you? Maybe he wants your help to fix things between them.

You don't know why you decided to meet him, maybe it's curiosity to know why he did such a thing to you or maybe you want to look at his face and curse at him.

He arrives at the cafe at the set time, looking around for you and walking towards you when his eyes lock with yours.

“Hey”, he says, sitting in front of you. You don't say anything back, not in the mood to be polite.

Jeongin sighs, he expected this much.

“I wanted to talk with you about this whole situation, believe me I didn't mean to hurt you even though it ended up happening in the end-”

“I considered you my friend”, you say making him stop talking.

“I- I'm”, he says, voice a pitch higher.

“Friends don't do what you did”, you say and he nods.

“I know it was an ill executed plan, but my intentions weren't bad, I swear”, he tells you.

“And do your intentions matter if I was the one hurt in the end?” You ask, angrier now.

“No”, he answers. “I'm truly sorry, I swear, I just caught you staring at Chan more than once. I thought this would be good for us both but I was clearly wrong”

You huff, exhausted. You start collecting your things to go home but you hear Jeongin's voice once more.

“Chan really likes you, he fell in love with you”, he says and your heart skips a beat, it shouldn't be behaving like this, not after the heartbreak you are going through.

“I don't care, he lost his chance”, you answer firmly, even though you know it's not true.

“Are you sure?” Jeongin asks, “are you sure you won't regret it? Not let him explain or not hearing him out?”

You glance at him once more, before standing up and walking out of the cafe.

Your mid terms are finally over, that means, you don't have anything to study so you're stuck with your thoughts. Your phone buzzes in your pocket, it's a message from Yuna, asking you to meet her in the arts department.

You reply, saying you'll be there in a moment. What is she even doing there? She's a business major.

The arts department is not far from yours, but it's emptier than you are used to. She asked you to meet in the first classroom of the second floor.

When you open the door, the first thing you see is Bang Chan. He looks awful, worse than you even.

You try going back, but he already saw you, so he stands up, coming closer.

“Don't leave, I'll do anything just… don't leave”

He's pale, and the eyebags he normally has are darker than usual.

“Are you sick?” You ask, worried. It's not like you can stop loving him in such a short period of time, of course you're worried.

“No”, he says, “I mean, I'm not feeling well, but I don't think I have an illness”

You nod, feeling awkward. It's been a while since you felt this way about him.

“Okay, then I'll get going”, you say trying to leave, but his voice stops you.

“I love you”, he is desperate, you can hear it in his voice. However, you're too petty.

“This was part of Jeongin’s plan too?”, you scoff, seeing his lips trembling.

He takes a deep breath, he deserves that, he knows he does.

“I really started going out with you because Jeongin asked”, he starts explaining, “but I fell in love with you, for real”

You feel your heart ache once more, he's about to cry, you can see it. But you're not sure if you can forgive him, even if what he's telling you is true.

“I don't believe you”, you say, shrugging, trying to hold your own tears.

“I will do anything to prove it to you, just say what I need to do for you to believe me”, he says, taking a step closer to you.

“I'm not sure if I'll be able to forget this or even forgive you, Chan”, you sigh, letting your heart speak and not your anger.

“I know I messed up, I don't deserve you I know that too”, he grabs your hand, “but please, I'll prove to you that I deserve a second chance, I'll earn back your trust”, he pleads.

You sigh, even after all this, it seems you still can't say no to him.

“I'm going to need some time”, you say slowly, “but I will give you a second chance, you better not ruin it”, you say.

Chan can't believe you're really going to try and forgive him, he can't ask for anything more.

“I won't disappoint you this time, I promise”, he says, kissing the palm of your hand, the same way he did before.

“Let's see about that”, you sigh, feeling your heart beating fast once again.

You may be making a stupid choice, but you'll only learn by making mistakes. You just sure hope this is not one.

A/N: If you like what I write please reblog or let me know in the comments, feedback gives me motivation to keep writing.

[fuxuannie]

Hi, so feel free to reject this but your choice of HSR characters with either a little sibling or child they are babysitting for that is like Klee from Genshin Impact.

* pairing(s) : various hsr x gender neutral reader

* prompt : request ♡

* authors note : this was rlly cute as someone with younger cousins!! i hope you like it anon ♡ Chunhua, (Dan Heng's little sister that doesnt exist lol) will be the child in all 3!

DAN HENG is ever so embarassed as he holds onto the hand of a small child that stood next to him, hes hanging his head down low in embarrassment as the little girl with black hair and light blue eyes smiles. "Hi there! Big brother has to take care of me today, because he made a promise to me!"

"You.. have a sister?!" March 7th exclaims in surprise, while Welt and Himiko were already aware of her existence. Stelle shrugs before returning to her game, and you giggle a little. "Hello, everyone. I promise she won't bring too much trouble." He says in a mumble, letting her hand go and she looks over at the unfamiliar faces, before seeing you and her face immediately lights up.

"Pretty!" She runs in your direction, and clings onto you. This leaves you surprised and looking at your boyfriend, "Love?" You say with a chuckle, the little girl looks up at you and bounces a little. "I'm Chunhua! Big brother calls you pretty!" She says with an excited expression, "Shhh! Stop blabbering the first thing you think of!" He hissed, pinching her cheek.

"Oooww! Ow ow-"

"You think I'm pretty?" You say with a teasing tone and Dan heng chuckles. "I always do."

"Please, not infront of Chunhua. You two are corny!" She'll cover her eyes and shake her head. Dan Heng feels an uncontrollable shade of red color his cheeks as you look away and clear your throat. "Aaanyways, yeah.. Dearest, please help me take care of her." He asked of you, and you happily nod and pick her up into your arms. She immediately starts to squish your face, in which you giggle at her little antics.

The entire Express crew couldn't help but either be happy (mostly from Himiko and Welt), throw up (mostly from March.) or wish they had a partner (mostly from Stelle.) as Dan Heng looked at you and was just absolutely lovestruck that you got along with his little sister.

"I knew I made the right choice when I chose you."

"You can watch her for a while, can't you? I have to help Herta with something involving Stelle and a few others.. I have no one else to ask." Dan Heng practically pleads MARCH 7TH, who pities him in whatever evil scheme Herta's planning for whoever is involved. "Fine.."

You notice Dan Hang thanking March 7th whos back is turned to you, something like that between those two was a very rare ocassion. "Oh? Did you get him his favorite dish or something? There's no way that he'll be thanking you for anything.." You say with a little chuckle, but she turns around with who seems to be Dan Heng if he were a petite little girl. You squint a little and she gives you a toothy grin, one you immediately recognized. "Chunhua?" You raised a brow, "Thats me!" She answers with a giggle as March 7th seemed surprised that you boh knew each other.

"I was stuck on babysitting duty once too, I can help out with taking care of her."

All you really needed to do was borrow Peppy from Asta, and handed the small little dog to Chunhua who was entertained for the rest of the hours that Dan Heng was probably suffering in Herta's experiments. You and March 7th only used that free time to talk and talk while watching over the little girl, maybe the time together was enough of a payment after all. (Though truly unintentional on Dan Heng's part)

When GEPARD first boarded the Astral Express, he didn't expect that a small visit turned into a babysitting session. Once again, Dan Heng leaves his little sister with you and an unwilling Gepard as he has to run a few errands in Belabog with March and Caeulus.

"Sorry.. he does that a lot.. it's a little funny." You apologize on Dan Hengs behalf, as Chunhua seems to be staring at the unfamiliar blonde in the room. He's staring back down at her, tilting her head and he imitates the action. She tilts it to the other side, and he follows, making her giggle a little.

You notice the gentle smile in Gepards eyes, lifting her up into his arms and letting her rest there comfortably. "I didn't know you were good with kids?" You say with a surprised chuckle, crossing your arms and leaning on the nearest wall. "I mean.. Serval was older, but we had each other. There are a lot of kids who look up to the Silvermane Guards, you know? Sometimes we have to meet kids and.. they're always sweethearts. Most of the time, at least." He says while patting her back, swaying back and fourth as your heart warms at the idea your boyfriend is loved by children and elderly.

He always had such a big heart, and it was always so clear with how loved he was within the city. And he was good with kids? Truly husband material, you couldn't wait for the day your future would be spent every day with him, and you were reassured that if you ever decided to adopt children.. they'd be in good hands with Gepard.

The sound of him clearing his throat snaps you out of his daze, and you make eye contact with his beautiful eyes. "What are you thinking about?" He asked curiously, but you only shake your head and smile. "Nothing," You walk towards him and place a hand on his shoulder, looking at Chunhua who fell asleep in minutes while in his arms. "Just a little jealous."

He scoffed playfully, rolling his eyes. "You get me everyday, and can't handle not being in my arms for a few hours?"

"Exactly. Hours without you is simply devastating!"

[junipers-archive]

*ੈ✩‧₊˚✧VALENTINES DAY CONFESSIONS

❥ James!potter x reader (You've had a crush on James for months now, he finally gets the nerve to ask you to be his Valentine, only to find you were on your way to ask him.) Word Count: 700

"Jus' don't know if she'll like it!" James was in the common room discussing his singular girl problem with his friends. "I mean we've been friends for a while, but I still don't even know if she likes me!"

Sirius who was languidly laying across one of the armchairs nearby rolled his eyes as he answered, "Your delusional if you don't see it."

"He's right James, she really does like you, laughs at every one of your bad jokes enough." even Remus had enough of his jabbering, most of their conversations almost always ended up with James bringing up your name.

He was blushing at even the mention of you liking him back, "What if she already has a Valentines though? What if she doesn't really like me? What if-"

"Give her the Valentine!" It was Pete, laying on the ground in a star-fished position, he'd almost drifted off into a sweet sleep before he was woken once more by James' worried voice.

He got up from the couch he'd been stationed at, quickly and quite bravely if he said so himself heading for the door. "Fine. But if I get my heart broken you will all be very sorry!"

As he left they all let out a collective sigh, they'd been attempting to convince him all week, maybe, just maybe if they could finally get you two together, they'd get some peace and quiet.

When James gets to you he's panting, having ran down several flights of moving stairs to reach you. You had come to the library to return some of the books you'd borrowed to study, he knew this since he was the one who offered to help you, just so he could spend more time with you.

"Y/n!" He tried to look casual, all the same hiding the gift behind his back as he approached your figure.

"Oh, hey Jamie!" you eyes were bright and your heart fluttered at his flushed cheeks.

"Have you got any plans for the day?" He was hoping your answer was no, so he could take you on a proper date, something you deserved.

"M'no don't think so, why?"

"W-well I was just hoping, since you're free, and its Valentines day..." your heart beat faster as he continued, you'd waited months for him to realize you liked him back.

"Well maybe you could, or rather we could, w-would you be valentine?" He swears you're the only to ever make him this nervous.

When he see's your pleased expression however he gets a surge of confidence taking out your gift and handing it to you, a beautiful bouquet of your favorite flowers accompanied by a small box of chocolates.

"Yes!" Your reply comes far too quickly, but you couldn't care less, taking out the small card and chocolate box you'd gotten him from your bag.

You shove it towards him as he gapes at you, "I-What-What is this?"

"Well, you were taking far too long, I mean I went to every one of your quidittch matches, pretended I needed help studying so you'd offer, laughed at every single joke of yours, godric I even went to your friends for help!"

"I never thought you'd like me!" He was bright red, how had he not seen it this entire time?

"Jamie I laugh at every single one of your jokes." You were exasperated, how had you fallen for such a sweet oblivious boy?

"Is that supposed to be an insult? Cause if I'm being honest it sounded-"

You stop his jabbering, placing the gifts on the table nearby and pressing your soft lips to his. Your heart melts as his hand comes to caress your cheek as if you're the most delicate flower in the world.

Because to him, you were.

When you pull back you're both grinning so hard your faces hurt.

"S'not and insult, just a fact." And it was, you would laugh at everyone of his jokes, no matter how ludicrous or ridiculous they were, you found him funny. And charming, and kind, and beautiful, and perfect, perfect for you.

"Well then, my Valentine, shall we begin our date?" He held out his arm as you smiled sheepishly at his name-calling.

"We shall."

[findafight]

Okay but. Now I am thinking of transfem Evie Harrington starbara canon au where Barb is like. Preeetty sure she only likes girls. Possibly. But she's willing to give Steve a try. He's charming and goofy and listens when she says to cut out all that mean talk and is also, shockingly, very interested in her.

So she thinks sure, she'll try dating a boy. Feel like a normal teenage girl for a bit. It's fun and Steve listens when she tells him to back off. And she really does like him. So maybe she just likes mostly girls usually, and sometimes a boy. Mostly Steve, though.

But then she gets taken by the demogorgon and survives the Upside Down and everything is awful. Steve is still there, and he's worried and protective and so so glad she's back mostly safe. She thinks she might be a little in love with him.

They date, and it's nice and good and normal and Steve lets her set the pace with how to talk about the Upside Down. She does talk about it, and he talks about what happened in the right side up, and they both cry. Barb knows she loves him, and that he loves her. It's nice and comfortable, they kiss and have sex and saying it's love is probably fast but they've survived monsters apart, so now they want to stick together.

One day, maybe the spring or summer after round one, Barb convinces him to lay back and let her get him dolled up. They've got a free afternoon and she wants to practice doing someone else's makeup just in case. Also, it's fun. It's silly and they deserve a little silly. She doesn't really wear a lot of make up but she's got mascara, a couple colours of lipstick, rouge, and a whopping four different eyeshaddows. While Barb prefers the dark red lipstick, she thinks the lighter, cherry shade would be better for Steve. She curls his lashes (borrowed the curler from Nancy and forgot to give it back) and adds just a little pink eyeshadow, then blush around his cheeks. She's admittedly not very skilled or practiced, but it's definitely passable application. The finishing touch, though, is that Steve lets her style his hair, parting it to the side because of all the cowlicks, and letting its waves curl slightly around his face. She climbs off him and stands, looking down at him.

"oh. You make a very pretty girl, Stevie. Or. Hm... Evie, maybe? Wanna see?"

He pauses for a moment before crawling off his bed to the bathroom, and when he faces the mirror Barb can hear him stop breathing. It's just a moment, before he turns to her and smiles. Kisses her cheek and likely smears lipstick on it (which does give Barb a bit of a thrill, and little jolt of pleasure and longing and she doesn't want to think about that because she loves Steve. She knows she does. If people can be a little gay sometimes Barb can be a little Straight with Steve. She doesn't need lipstick on her cheek or to watch a skirt brush the ground or anything else like that when Steve is beside her.)

It isn't until after the tunnels that Steve brings it up. A week after, he's barely gotten the go ahead to slowly get back to school (he's able to do half days until the headaches get too much), they're laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, holding hands and just breathing together.

"Barbie?" He starts, and stops.

She hums, encouraging.

He sighs. "Do you remember when you...when you did my makeup?"

"yeah, I do."

"you called me Evie. Like my great Aunt, my favourite Aunt, I would've been named after if I was a girl instead of my great Uncle."

She turns her head to look at him, still staring at the ceiling, squeezing her hand tighter now.

"I did..."

"I need you to know I love you. I do. I really, really do."

She almost sits up, but stops herself. Whatever Steve is talking about is important, he's clutching her hand tightly but not looking at her. Instead, she squeezes back. "I love you too."

Steve's breath hitches. "I really liked it when you called me Evie." It's a whisper, a breath.

Barb squeezes his hand again.

"Barbie. I really, really, liked it. I wish it was my name." Finally he turns to face her, and his eyes are glossy. She reaches up to brush her fingers against a yellowing bruise on his cheek. "I wish I was that little girl that was named after her Great Aunt Evelyn and I could wear makeup like you did for me whenever I wanted and that I was a pretty girl."

Barb leans in to kiss softly, a brush of lips. "Maybe you are?" She doesn't know. Just knows that Steve, Evie? Is upset. She doesn't want to see someone she loves upset, and it seems like saying that may help. She doesn't know.

Breath hitches. "You think I can be? Just like that?"

Combing her fingers through her...through her lover's hair, Barb shrugs as best she can lying on her side. "I've never wanted to be a boy. But you want to be a girl. I think. I think maybe that's what makes you one?"

"yeah?" It's a tiny, cracking, word and Barb wishes she could help fix whatever grief is causing it.

"well. I don't think any people who aren't girls want to be girls."

Her lover shifts, enough that their foreheads touch. "And...would that be okay? For you? For...for us?"

Barb leans closer, so their lips brush when she speaks. "Pretty sure you're it for me, Evelyn Harrington. Whoever you decide you are, I'll love."

"and if I want to be your girlfriend?"

She grins, can't help pressing into a kiss. "Then I guess I've got the prettiest girlfriend in town."

Evie presses in for another kiss. "Mmh. No. I think that's me." Barb can feel her smiling against her lips.

[mama-qwerty]

The Garden

Just something I wrote up really quick in one of the servers I'm in. Trying to dust off the brain and get it working again.

I am rusty. Holy moly.

~~~

Callie stood in the side yard of her house, staring at the weed-bed her landscaping had become. Thistles and onion grass had crowded out any other plant she had tried to grow--although, granted, that had been a number of years ago.

She wasn't a gardener. By any stretch of the imagination.

She had everything she needed to deal with the offending weeds. A hand shovel, a full-sized shovel, a little hand rake, and a paper bag to toss the pulled weeds into.

Everything except the motivation to get started.

She hated dealing with this crap.

"Whatcha lookin' at, Mom?"

A voice behind her, and she turned. Silver stood with his head cocked to one side, a curious look on his face. She sighed, offering him a little smile.

"Just doing some gardening, Bug. Wanna help?"

A smile brightened his muzzle, and he nodded. "Okay!"

The boy stepped forward, and the two took to their knees, looking upon the chore before them. Callie pointed out the different weeds and named them, explaining how they'd need removed by the root to make sure they didn't grow back. Then they'd have to turn the soil, remove any grubs or other harmful insects, before planting any of the decorative flowers she'd bought.

Silver seemed excited to help, and the two worked for a while, slowly pulled the weeds out.

"Greetings, Callie," a deep voice called behind them, and they turned. Knuckles emerged from the trees surrounding her home, and he nodded toward the hedgehog. "Silver."

"Hey, Knux," the redhead called. "To what do I owe the visit?"

"Mother would like to borrow your spare coffee maker. There was an . . . incident with ours."

"Sonic or Tails?"

"Tails. He insisted he could make it work faster and . . . it did not end well."

"Hmm. That kid."

"Yes. Mother was not pleased."

"I can imagine," Callie said, pushing herself to her feet. "I think it's in the basement, but it may take me a few minutes to find it."

The echidna nodded. "Of course."

She turned to the hedgehog. "Silver, why don't you show Knux what we were doing. Maybe he'd like to help."

Silver nodded. "Okay."

A few minutes later, as Callie dug through the boxes in her basement, Silver and Knuckles sat near the weedy patch near the house. They stared at the many unwelcome batches of vegetation, a silence hanging over them for a moment.

"That is an impressive amount of weeds."

"Yeah," Silver said. "Mom's not really into this kind of thing. She keeps saying she'll let me make a garden, but we never get around to doing it."

Knuckles turned to him. "You would like a garden?"

Silver nodded. "I like to take care of plants and think it would be fun to grow my own vegetables."

The echidna lowered his head as he thought. "Hmm." He lifted his head, his chest pushed out. "I will help you, young hedgehog."

"Help me what?"

"With your garden. Mother has allowed me one at home, and it is very relaxing."

"Really??"

"I will help you now."

Silver furrowed his brow. "What about the weeds?"

Knuckles waved a hand over them. "They are not going anywhere. Come. Show me where you would like your garden."

The two hurried off to a spot in the yard Silver had been eyeing for his garden for months. And at first things went well. Knuckles used his claws to dig in the ground, turning the earth and preparing it for planting. Silver used his telekinesis to rake the soil smooth, giving any rocks unearthed a quick flick to send them flying into the trees. They worked quickly, and soon they had a proper garden plot prepared, ready for seeding.

And then Callie returned.

"What are you two doing??"

It came out a little harsher than she intended, and startled the two boys with her tone. Silver jerked, sending the rake and three rocks he still held in his telekinesis flying toward her.

Callie gasped, holding the coffee maker before her as a makeshift shield, before Knuckles hit her in the midsection, shoving her out of the way.

Silver came rushing over, hands over his mouth, eyes wide.

"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" he cried, his forehead fan bristling in fear.

"It's okay," she said, Knuckles helping her to her feet. "My fault for startling you." She looked back at the roughly tilled earth. "What are you doing?"

"Making our garden!" Silver said, his fear forgotten in his excitement. He rushed over and gestured to it with extended arms. "Look! Knuckles helped me get it started!"

"He did?" Callie cast the echidna a raised eyebrow. "Did it occur to you to ask me first?"

Knuckles shrugged. "He said you kept promising to make one, and hadn't gotten to it. I was merely doing what you had already promised."

She narrowed her eyes. "I suppose that's fair." She looked back at the garden. "I'm not sure how well it'll do over there, though. That spot seems pretty bad with grubs and rocks."

Silver waved a hand. "I took care of the rocks, and Knuckles took care of the grubs."

At first Callie's brow furrowed. Then it cleared as understanding hit. She flicked her eyes down to the echidna.

"You didn't."

He looked back, unblinking.

"Knuckles."

He shrugged. "They have a different taste here, but it is not necessarily bad."

Callie pulled a face. "Gross, Knux."

"We're not in trouble, are we?" Silver asked, pulling a head spike forward to give a little tug. "I mean, you did say I could make one."

Callie gave a little sigh, nodding. "Yeah, I did say that." Another sigh. "Why don't you head in and grab those seeds we've been holding onto and you and Knuckles can get them planted, yeah?"

Silver smiled, one that stretched across his muzzle, and he zipped into the house with a speed that would have made Sonic proud. Callie watched him with a smile, before looking down at the echidna.

"Did you really eat all those grubs?"

He shrugged. "Should I have saved some for you?"

"Gross, Knux."

A little smile curled one corner of his lips, and he walked over to the tilled earth. He sorted through a batch of dirt, before picking something out and bringing it to her. A small white grub squirmed in his outstretched hand, and she curled her lip in disgust.

"Don't."

His smile spread wider.

"Knuckles Wachowski, don't you dare."

He chuckled, a deep rumble in his chest, and popped the insect into his mouth like popcorn. He chewed twice, then swallowed, a loud, exaggerated, sound.

Callie nearly gagged. "Ohmygawd, you're such a turd."

That produced a loud laugh from the echidna, and he shook his head as Silver returned, his arms full of seed packets.

"Ohmygosh!" he cried, bouncing up and down in his excitement. "I don't know what to plant first!"

Callie gestured to Knuckles. "Ask Mr. Grub Breath over there. I'm gonna sit over here and tend to the weeds and try to forget what I just saw."

Knuckles laughed again, and the two boys began the task of setting up the different rows and sections for Silver's garden.

Callie sat before the weed patch, thankful for something else to focus on.

[viscerax]

Hey I was just wondering if you could do a finney x fem!reader where he has a huge crush on the reader but he dosnt know how to tell her so he stutters and embarrasses himself so much but somehow [you can chose how] he finds enough confidence to finally ask her out but overall he's just an awkward blushing mess maybe you could tie it all together with a reader being finney first kiss thank you so much!!

Awkward As Hell

Finney had a crush on you for as long as he could remember. You lived just down the street from him, and since the moment he laid eyes on you, he was head over heels. However, Finney swore up and down he didn't have a crush on you. It was obvious to anyone with eyes, and especially his sister, Gwen, who constantly teased him about it.

"Oooh, Finney! Stop making heart eyes at Y/n and come help me carry these groceries in!" Gwen shouted from the front door. You were in your front yard, helping your dad out in the vegetable garden. Finney blushed and gave Gwen a spiteful glare.

"Could you keep it down! What if she heard you?" Finney whisper-shouted and grabbed a few paper bags from the backseat of his dad's car.

After bringing all the groceries in, him and Gwen were unpacking them in the kitchen, while their dad was sat in the living room.

"You know, if you like her so much, why don't you just ask her out?" Gwen whispered in a quiet voice, and Finney immediately froze, dropping the can of corn in his hand onto the floor. He heard a loud sigh from the other room, and winced. "Sorry, daddy!" Gwen called out before facing Finney, rolling her eyes.

"I-I can't ask her out! She's way out of my league! It would be so embarrassing." Finney huffed, stacking the cans of food in the pantry.

"Oh yeah, because stalking and drooling over her isn't embarrassing." Gwen chuckled as she folded the paper bags and stored them in a cupboard.

"I-I'm not stalking! Or drooling! I'm just... admiring from a distance." Finney huffed and Gwen let out a chuckle again.

"Yeah, sure. That totally doesn't sound creepy at all."

The next day at school was relatively normal for Finney, except for the increasing number of posters hung up around the school, letters in all different shades of pink, red, and purple, exclaiming in big letters "Valentine-grams!"

Robin stood next to Finney, stuffing books in his locker, meanwhile Finney was staring at the poster. His school did Valentine-grams every year. He of course, had never received one, except from Robin whom was trying to make Finney feel better about not getting one.

"You should totally get her one, dude. I mean, thats better then just, swooning from a distance, right?" Robin chuckled and slammed his locker shut, making Finney jump a bit and break him out of his trance.

"H-huh? What?"

"A Valentine thingy! Get Y/n one. Trust me, chicks dig stuff like that. You should get her a rose from the supermarket too. Not a whole bouquet. Just one or two. Get her a rose, a valentine-gram, and boom! You'll get your girl." Robin smirked, feeling proud of his advice.

"B-but, I'm not smooth, or cool like you! What am I supposed to say? Just 'oh, here Y/n, I have a huge massive crush on you and have secretly been swooning for you ever since you moved in down the street from me'? H-hell no! She'll totally reject me!" Finneys cheeks were once again a bright shade of pink as he imagined the whole scenario play out.

"The worst she can say is no. Besides, you've been rejected by girls before. You can totally take another blow man, you're strong!" Robin playfully punched Finneys shoulder, causing him to Wince and rub the area where he was punched.

"Wh-whatever. You're right. The worst she can say is no." Finney murmured, giving Robin a nervous smile. "Thanks, Robin."

Finney begged his dad to let him borrow some money, and through enough chores and good grades, he had finally convinced him to give him enough for Valentine-grams on the very last day to purchase them.

The next day, Finney waited excitedly in homeroom, waiting for the grams to get delivered, he kept glancing at the clock, then the door, then the clock then the-

Suddenly the door burst open and one of the office assistants came strolling in with a box of small teddy bears and mini boxes of chocolates. Only a few of the kids in class had gotten one, and he thought all of the grams for his class was passed out when suddenly he heard his name.

"Finney Blake." A small stuffed bear and a box of chocolates was placed on his desk, and for a moment, Finney was sure he was dreaming. Or maybe Robin had pitied him again, or maybe it was a cruel prank. He frantically reached for the note attached to it, but it gave no clues as to who sent it to him. All it read was "To Finn, from Your Secret Admirer" the handwriting was fancy, and all the i's were dotted with little hearts. Finney felt his cheeks warm up, and a smile spread across his face. He glanced over at you, and for a split second, he swore he saw you staring at him, but you quickly looked away so he figured that perhaps it was just his imagination.

School seemed to drag on even longer then usual. When that final bell rang, Finney couldn't have been more relieved. Except now was the hardest part of the day, confessing to you.

Finney rushed to the local supermarket after school, using some of Robins generously provided money to buy one single rose. The cashier seemed to find it funny how nervous Finney seemed.

After the supermarket, he took his sweet time walking over to your house, dragging his feet while aslo trying to give himself a pep talk. "You can do this... you've got this, Finney. Worst she can say is no..." he let out a silent breath.

"Finn?" He heard his name called and quickly looked up to see he was already in front of your house. You were standing on your front lawn, in a flowy white sundress. You smiled at him, and Finney suddenly felt all of his confidence drain out of him.

"Oh- h-hey Y/n! Uhm, funny uh seeing y-you here!" He laughed nervously and you chuckled and walked up, opening the gate of the white picket fence and inviting him in.

Finney smiled and nervously fidgeting with the handles of the plastic bag from the supermarket, which held nothing more then your rose and some of your favorite candies.

"Well, this is my front yard! Its more funny seeing you here! Did you... need something?" You looked slightly nervous and a bit confused as you glanced down into his bag to see the rose.

"A-ah uhm, y-yeah! I actually wanted to talk to you!" Finney hummed and quickly pulled the rose from the bag. "Th-this is for you! A-and I also was the one who got you the Valentine-gram..." Finney felt his entire head turn a bright shade of burning red, probably as red as the rose he handed to you. You chuckled and brought the rose up to your nose, taking a quick smell of the flowers fragrance.

"Wow thank you, Finney. This was really sweet of you!"

"Y-youre welcome! Uhm well actually, I got it for you as more than a f-friend thing. I-i uhm- crap! Sorry, this is awkward as hell! I'm so sorry I really suck at th-"

He was cut off as you quickly leaned forward, pressing your lips onto his. Finney gasped against your mouth, and for a second, he was frozen in shock. After a second or two, he smiled and closed his eyes, leaning into the kiss and dropping the bag in his hand. It was messy and a bit rushed, but it was everything Finney could've asked for. You tasted sweet, like strawberry chapstick and vanilla. Finney felt a shock of electricity pulse through him, making every hair on his neck and arms stand up. Finney had never been kissed before, but this was just about everything he expected and more.

You silently pulled away, giving him a smile and chuckling a bit. "I really like you too, Finney. I was the one who sent you the Valentine-gram. We should go out sometime."

"U-uh, yeah! Welp- you know where I live so, uhm- yeah! I'll see you later." He huffed and very quickly jogged off to his house, silently cheering to himself as soon as he got past his door. You giggled and picked up the bag, finding your favorite sweets.

Sure, he was awkward, and nervous. But he was also kind, and the sweetest boy you've ever met, even if he did kind of suck at kissing.

[jedi-lothwolf]

Two Weeks of Whump Day 2: Needles

Fandom: Across the Spider-verse

Summary: Miguel is scared of needles after he gets sober.

  Rapture was a highly addictive drug that binds to your cells. Miguel remembered it well. After being drugged by someone who turned out to be his biological father he needed it. He remembered hunting it down and sticking himself with long needles so he wouldn't be in pain for the withdrawal.

    When he became Spider-Man the spider DNA replaced the rapture and he was safe. But he wasn't safe from the memories. The feeling of being so helpless, to succumb to the need for the drug.

    When Miguel was told that he would need to get a few shots he was nervous to go. Peter insisted he come with him. Knowing Miguel's history with addiction he knew he'd be spooked.

    Despite Miguel consistently telling Peter he didn't need anyone to go with him to see Spidey Doc he still came. Even if hr wouldn't admit it he actually appreciated Peter looking out for him.

    "Hey Miguel, how are you today?" Spidey Doc said as he walked in. "Oh, you got a friend with you?"

    "Nope, I'm actually his nemesis" Peter joked. The two laughed and Miguel snarled. "But seriously, Miggy gets nervous about needles."

    "Peter" Miguel scowled.

    "Hey don't worry! I'll be quick" he looked at Miguel, "and don't be embarrassed." He grabbed one of the three needles he had prepared, "shoulder please."

    Miguel moved his sleeve and looked over to Peter. His facial expression was soft. "Here" Peter held out his hand. He reluctantly took it.

    As the needle pierced his skin memories flood his mind. The feeling of not having control, sobbing telling his brother what had happened, staying with Alchemax to find a way to get rid of it, taking the doses so that withdrawal didn't kill him, everything.

    Miguel grabbed at the syringe and pulled it out of his arm. He moved to attack Spidey Doc but Peter stepped in. He placed his hands on Miggy's shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

Miguel wrapped his arms around Peter and dug his claws into his back.

    "It's okay. Miggy it's okay" he soothed. "Look at me, hey look" he removed one of his hands to gently cuff his face, "I'm not gonna let him hurt you."

    Looking Peter in the eyes Miguel calmed down a little. He realized what happened and let the other pull him into a hug. Without realizing he started to cry mumbling how he couldn't do it again.

    "It's okay Migs." Peter ran his hand over his back. Once Miguel calmed down he released him and retracted his claws.

    "I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked.

    "Nope! I'm alright. Let's finish getting your shots." Peter walked in a way to make sure he didn't see his back.

    Spidey Doc moved from the floor back to standing, dazed. "Peter I thought-"

    "Bup bup bup, let's get this done, okay?"

    "Alright." The Doc got what Peter was avoiding. Telling Miguel might be worse than letting him believe everything was okay.

    Spidey Doc placed a bandage on Miguel's arm from where he pulled the needle out. "Can I borrow your other arm? I'll give it back don't worry."

    Miguel silently extended his arm to the doc. Peter grabbed the other and looked him in the eyes. His were soft and Miguel's were scared. "I promise, you'll be okay."

    The second needle went into Miguel's arm. The fear intensified but Peter calmed him down, "I'm right here. You're safe. Okay?" Then the third.

    "Alright! You are done! You can go."

    "Thank you." He walked towards the door, "Peter?"

    "Oh, I had an appointment right after you so I'm gonna do that now. Mayday's with Jess if you want to hang out with her! Maybe she'll help you feel better."

    "Alright." He wasn't so sure but decided not to question it. It was strange that he hadn't mentioned the appointment before.

    As the door closed Peter leaned into the table. "Ah, that kinda hurts."

    "Makes sense." Spidey Doc walked over to a cabinet and grabbed stitches. "Miguel could have handled it."

    "He's fragile. I worry a lot about him. I know he could handle it but honestly he doesn't need it."

    Spidey Doc just sighed and shook his head. He had Peter lay down and sowed his back up. Peter left and never told Miguel what happened that day.

@promptsforyourwhumpfic

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Assistant and Bruce consummate their relationship

"Bruce-"

When you murmur his name he pauses. Lifting his face from your breasts where he'd been pressing soft kisses into the soft skin. "What's wrong?" he breathed, "What can I-"

"I'm not really super- I mean I don't-"

"I know," he admitted, kissing your nose. He knew as soon as you'd gotten shy when he put you on the bed.

"Bad experiences, you know?" You look away, feeling stupid. "So I don't- I mean- It's just not really something I spent a lot of time doing."

"I'll go slow," he said tilting your chin up so you'd look at him. "I'm not in a hurry, sweet girl."

"But-"

"We're just havin' some fun," he rumbled, pinning you under him, lacing his fingers through yours, letting you feel how big he was compared to you. Wanting you to feel safe. Like he'd protect you. Take good care of you. "Let me learn my way around, huh?"

"I usually don't- I-"

"That's because they don't know what they're doing," he tutted. "No one ever taught them that if you take good care of your girl she'll take care of you." He kisses your nose and shifted his hips so you could adjust to be a little more comfortable, relishing how sweet and flustered you look.

"Your girl?" you ask, feeling warm, smiling a little.

"My girl," he repeated, kissing your forehead, smiling. He'd had a lot of women in his bed. But no one ever looked so... content, with just that little bit of possessiveness. So he filed that away for later.

You wanted to belong. You want to feel wanted. And Bruce is happy to oblige you.

"My pretty baby," he murmured, sitting up to admire you, sliding his hands over your bare skin. "You just let me do all the work, beautiful. Let me make you feel good."

"I- you don't want me to-"

"Not tonight," he said smirking, stroking your inner thighs as he pared your legs. Exposing you to him. "You, sweetheart, are gonna be a lazy, pampered creature tonight. I want to know what you like. I want to know what makes you tick."

"You don't want me to know what you like?" you ask, stifling a whine when he parts your folds carefully. Stroking his thumb over you until he felt them part, making a soft pleased noise when he felt you wet and found your clit swollen.

"Maybe later," Bruce said grinning. "Right now I just want to watch my girl havin' a good time- it's good for my ego."

"You have an ego?"

"Course I do," he chuckled, "and my ego likes watching a beautiful woman beg for just a little more- and then cry tears of joy when I finally put her on my cock."

When your breath stuttered and you swallowed hard, Bruce stroked his thumb over your clit- the smallest, softest little circle. And it's immensely gratifying when your hips jerk and you whimper in need. "Is that what you're going to do to me?" you ask breathlessly.

"Until you want to stop," he said, leaning down to kiss you. "You're my baby girl but I'm just borrowing your body- gonna make us both feel good. But we can stop whenever you want. All you gotta do is tell me 'no' okay?"

And when you nod hesitantly, he kissed you again, making a mental note to pay close attention. Someone had taught you not to trust that. You might not speak up if you needed to stop, expecting him to be mad at you. So he'd watch. He promised he'd take care of you. And all he wanted was for you to feel good. You deserved it. And he was going to enjoy this.

[smolgloves]

The Perfect Crime

Summary: The group makes their way to the Zhentarim basement, putting Tav on edge.

Tw: Sexual innuendos

“We are not taking things from the Zhentarim.” Tav hissed out to the borrower within their hood. 

“But some of their stuff looks useful.” Freya protested. “Besides, weren't they trading with the goblins? It sounds like they deserve to lose a trinket or two.” 

Astarion let out a giggle as he walked alongside them. “I think dear Freya has a point, we're running low on gold, you know.” 

A deep sigh erupted from Tav, it was nice to see Freya and Astarion starting to get along, but had they known that the two of them would spark some questionable ideas, Tav would have left one or both of them in camp while they ventured into the Zhentarim hideout. “You know exactly why you don't want to make enemies with the Zhents.” 

“We'll only make enemies if we get caught.” A smirk flickered onto his lips. “And I'm good with my fingers, darling.” 

Years of monk training had never prepared Tav for the suave words of Astarion. Their cheeks quickly flushed and Tav was too preoccupied with trying to keep those late night trysts at bay to notice a stone that was wedged in the dirt path. Their worn boot caught on the jagged rock and nearly tumbled forward. Wyll shot his hand out and grabbed onto Tav's arm to save them from eating dirt. 

“Gods!” Freya shrieked out, clutching onto the robes to keep from falling. 

“Freya, sorry I-” 

“Focus k'chakhi, do you wish fumble into one of their poorly disguised traps?” Lae'zel snapped. 

Embarrassment snuffed out the elation in Tav, which was quickly replaced with annoyance. Astarion was relishing in the chaos he made with just a couple sultry words. If they weren't in the hideout of black market dealers, they would forgive his jests. 

“You four!” Shouted the guard. “Quit pissing around and get over here! Zarys doesn't like waiting.” 

“We'll be right there!” Wyll called out. 

Tav dusted themselves off, ready to ignore the vampire's antics when Freya tapped on their neck, the light touch was enough to make Tav's stomach flutter. 

“I don't think I should be around these guys if they're as bad as you say they are.” She spoke in a hushed voice.

“I agree, what do you suggest?”

“She'll come with me.” Astarion said. 

“Are you serious?” They hissed out. “Not after what you two just suggested.” 

“But wouldn't it be better if I am given to the rogue in case there's some trouble?” Her lips pouted as she stared up at them with big gray eyes. “That's what you always suggest when we do something especially dangerous.” 

Gods damn it, if there wasn't a pissed off guard waiting for them to get down, Tav would absolutely sit them both down to explain why they can't go off together like children since they want to play dumb. “Fine, but don't do anything stupid.” 

“We'll behave.” With a smile, Astarion's slender hand clapped down on Tav's shoulder, coaxing the borrower to slip out of their hood and get snatched up by him in a fluid motion. 

“I mean it, you two!” Tav shot them both a final glare before heading deeper into the hideout. They could already hear them whispering some sort of scheme. Tav turned towards Wyll. “Keep an eye on them, will you.”

“I won't let them out of my sight.” 

Tav nodded, but a pit formed in their stomach. They wouldn't be surprised if Astarion found a way to slip away from Wyll. A plan already began forming in their head in case the worst happened. Perhaps one day when their lives weren't in danger, Tav would be about to sit down and admire this newfound relationship budding between the two and maybe one day, be a part of it too.

[ilovelosersandshortmen]

OMG I HAD A CUTE IDEA FOR THE BROTHERHOOD-

The reader decides to dress up as them to troll them, like they roll up behind Pietro mocking his voice in a horribly sewn version of his costume all 'I need to get Fred to make my sandwiches for me!'

Dressing up as the members of the Brotherhood to make fun of them (because they deserve it LMAO)

You're right, this is such a cute idea!! I love it. This one might be shorter, but I still hope you enjoy it anyways! Also, I'm so sorry this took so long, the holidays have been really busy for me. But I still tied my best.

PIETRO:

• He isn't amused.

• Yeah, he's a bit of a sourpuss.

• "Very funny. Take it off. This costume took a lot of time."

• But he eventually starts smiling a little (and I'd you're dating maybe he even thinks it's cute, who knows?)

• Also, if he was really annoyed, he'd dye your hair in your sleep

• "What? I thought you wanted to look like me."

LANCE:

• He's a bit of a sourpuss too. Crossing his arms and rolling his eyes and huffing.

• "I do not sound like that!"

• (He definitely does sound like that)

• He claims he doesn't care, but he'll make his voice a little deeper for a while

• Eventually starts making fun of you back, like mocking your voice and saying stuff like "do I look as ridiculous in that outfit as you do?"

TODD:

• He's kind of honored, honestly.

• Even if you're not dating, he kind of finds it hilarious and adorable at the same time.

• Maybe a little eye rolling and poking fun, but he just likes playing around so he's not really offended.

• Gives you tips on how to impersonate him better.

• "No, no, that's a Staten Island accent! You need to go higher"

• He might be a little hurt at first, because he's been ridiculed for his looks so much. But he realizes it's friendly teasing and he calms down.

FRED:

• This poor man.

• As if being a mutant wasn't bad enough, he also has to deal with a crazy amount of fatphobia.

• So a joke like this.. might not be the best idea. Just saying.

• He's got some trauma, and I think any joke you make towards him would feel like a personal attack. (I mean, all of them have a bunch of trauma, I just think he's the most emotional)

• Not to get all serious or anything, but I really don't think he'd react well.

• He'd probably be confused at first, then angry, then sad.

• Probably all three at the same

• I know everyone else has dealt with a lot of ridicule, but his looks and personality are a really sensitive subject, you know? I think he'd be more sensitive

• Just wear his clothes, he'll think it's really cute. No trauma reactions needed!

WANDA:

• She's mostly stone faced.

• She does crack a smile every once in a while, especially if you're actually wearing her outfit.

• When she's feeling especially nice (which is rare so appreciate it) she'll actually compliment you. Like saying "it looks better on you."

• Honestly, she gives me Rosa from B99 vibes.

• She lets you borrow her clothes if she thinks they looked good on you. You guys would basically share a wardrobe from then on.

TABITHA:

• "And? What about it? You're just jealous."

• She's way too confident and proud to let something like that effect her

• But she would definitely make fun of you back, like right away.

• It's like she has a secret list of insults she keeps of anyone who decides to make fun of her.

• She is extremely prepared.

Again, this was adorable! Thank you so much for requesting it. And again, I'm sorry for being so late. I promise I wasn't ignoring you lol

[pasiveagressive]

Broken Bones IV // H.S.

PART 1   PART 2     PART 3

He knew something was up when Ryan met him at the door.

"Harry, right?" He asked before letting him in.

"Yeah, is everything alright?"

"It's a bloodbath up there." He shook his head. "She had been coming to get you when all the doctors were called in, apparently a bridge collapsed and there's a lot of injuries."

"Why aren't you up there?"

"I was just clocking out when they all were summoned, I have to go get changed again and everything. She ran into me and told me I should come get you so you weren't sitting out there forever."

"Where am I supposed to go?" He asked.

"Waiting room, she'll come get you if you're still there when she's done and something tells me you will be."

He winked and walked off, leaving Harry at the door to the waiting room. He opened it up and was instantly met with panic. There were injured patients and crying family members everywhere. Doctors were running around trying to assess people's needs. He noted, somewhat proudly, that Y/N was not amongst them, she would be in surgery saving people.

Harry took a seat as far away from the chaos as he could, not wanting to be in the way. He wanted to help but he had no idea what he was doing, the only thing he could do was wait for Y/N to finish and be there in whatever way she needed.

There was a constant influx of patients, all sporting serious wounds for the next hour, and all the non serious injuries were pushed to the back of the line, they didn't mind.

There was a man crying a couple chairs down from him. He looked a little worse for wear, a couple nasty bruises on his legs and an oddly shaped arm.

"Anything I can do?" Harry asked before he could stop himself. Someone he loved was probably dying back there, what could Harry do to help him.

"Can I borrow your phone?" The man choked. "Mine got crushed in the accident."

"Of course." Harry handed him his phone. "Take as long as you need."

The man nodded, dialing up a number. Harry blocked the conversation out, not wanting to intrude. Not that he would have been able to discern much through all the crying.

"Thank you." The man tapped on his shoulder, handing him his phone ten minutes later. "Thank you so much."

"Of course." He gave the man a small smile. "I don't know how much this will help but my friend is back there, working on people, maybe even the person you brought in, and they're in the best possible hands."

The man nodded, lip quivering. "My wife and son." He choked on a sob. "They were on the side that got hit. Oh my God." He cried.

"They have their best chance here." Harry patted him on the shoulder.

The man nodded, putting his head in his hands and trying to control his breathing.

The waiting room was devoid of all patients in the next hour, filled with anxious people waiting for news. Harry felt somewhat out of place in all the grieving. But he figured Y/N would need someone when it was all done and he was determined to be that person.

After another small chunk of time doctors started coming out, reading names off clipboards. Some people got taken back to see their healing loved ones, some were told to stay but that things were looking good, and the unfortunate ones were told what no one wanted to hear.

Harry was going to go for a walk when a doctor called a name and the man next to him head shot up. And the doctor was Mia.

"Are you Mr. Bown?" She asked.

The man nodded, fear written all over his face. "Your son wants to see you now, your wife is still unconscious but she is expected to make a full recovery."

"Thank God." The man cried, although they were tears of joy now.

"Harry." Mia nodded to him before leading the man to what he thought would be the happiest moment of his life.

It was 2:17 when Y/N finally came out. Her eyes flickered across the people in the waiting room until they landed on Harry. She looked exhausted but she tried a tiny smile at him, one which he returned.

He went towards her when she jerked her head, wrapping an arm around her when they were on the other side of the door.

She practically fell into his embrace, arms tight around him. He squeezed her back, kissing her head.

"How are you?" He asked into her hair.

" I've been better. " She mumbled into his chest.

He smiled slightly. "Is it over?" He asked.

"Not really." She sighed leaning back. "I was supposed to get off two hours ago from a 24 hour shift, they're sending me home."

"Isn't that good?"

"Kind of." She shrugged a little. " I'm too tired to think straight anymore and all the immediate surgeries have been performed but they need people elsewhere. "

"When do you have to come back?"

"Noon, for however long they need me. '' She sighed, unwrapping one of her arms.

"You should get home, get some rest." He told her, walking with her to the elevators. She popped into a room, coming back out with her purse.

" I don't want to sleep alone. " She looked at him, a vulnerable look in her eyes.

"I can come with you." He offered. "I'll drive you there and drop you off on my way home, I don't think you're in any condition to drive."

"I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you too." She sighed, pressing the down arrow. " I've been doing this long before I met you. "

"I want to." He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Let me do this?"

"On top of sitting in a waiting room for no reason with a bunch of crying people imagining the worst of the situation?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Come on, give yourself some credit. You're a good reason."

She smiled, turning her head away. "Let's get out of here, I'm going to crash."

"Piggyback ride?" He asked, completely serious.

She looked like she was going to say no when she nodded. He gave her his back. She jumped on, laying her head on his shoulder.

"You're the best person I ever met." She muttered into his shoulder.

"Funny, I think the same thing about you."

He felt her smile even though she couldn't feel his. He walked out of the elevator, through the hospital, and to his car. She was half asleep on his back, so tired that he had to buckle up for her. He didn't mind of course.

Pandora sleep station came through his speakers as he hooked up his phone. It wasn't really helping him stay awake but sacrifices.

He pulled into her apartment complex only two wrong turns later. She is completely gone now. Head dropping to the side. Normally he would have just carried her in but he knew she would regret not showering in the morning.

"Love." Shit, where'd that come from? "You need to wake up so you can take a shower."

He rubbed her shoulder, shaking her until her eyes opened.

"What?" She rubbed her eyes.

"We're at your place."

She nodded, moving to unbuckle her seatbelt and get out of the car.

"Thanks for this." Y/N looked over at him as they walked up her stairs.

"My pleasure." They walked through her door. "Now go shower."

Y/N nodded, heading to her bathroom. He followed her, he had never been in her room before.

It matched the rest of the house. White walls, dark curtains, and a gray bedspread. Her pillows were all different shades of blue. She had a large window seat with white and gray sheets and blue pillows and blankets. He figured it was safe to assume blue was her favorite color.

He laid on her bed, listening to the water run from the shower. It didn't take long for her to finish, shorter than his showers.

"Do you need something to wear?" She asked, stepping out of the bathroom, hair still dry, in nothing but a sports bra and shorts. She had a tattoo on the side of her rib cage and words snaked under her bra. Her freckles were on full display and he had a problem ripping his eyes away.

"You have something?"

"Luke spends the night sometimes." She shrugged, motioning for him to follow her to the other bedroom.

Her back was open to him, showing off her spine tattoo. There were words all the way from the bottom to the top but he couldn't read them. He had never found tattoos so attractive before. He wanted to figure them out, learn their meanings, and trace them with his fingers.

She handed him a pair of sweatpants. "These good?"

He nodded. "Perfect, thanks."

"You can change here then." She shut the door on her way out.

He did that, taking his shirt off to reveal his own tattoos.

He left his clothes folded on the bed and went back to Y/N's room. She was under the covers, fan on and light off. He slid in beside her and she rolled over so she was facing him.

"If you're not careful I'm going to get used to you doing things for me." She gave him her hand over the covers. He took it, mixing his fingers with hers.

"I'll keep it up then." She smiled. "Now go to bed, you've got to save lives when you wake up."

Harry leaned in to kiss her temple, she looked like she was already sleeping. He watched her until he fell asleep, memorizing the curve of her nose and the freckles on her cheeks. She was beautiful, really. And he was falling hard and he didn't want to stop.

When he woke up his clothes were on the bed next to him, a note and key on top of them.

I was going to wake you up but I figured it was the least I could do for you. Mia picked me up on her way so don't think you inconvenienced anyone by sleeping in. Thanks again for taking care of me, you're honestly the best. Lock up when you leave, I'll pick them up when I come by for a redo of last Tuesday on Tuesday?

- Y/N

P.S. I like the tattoos

He buried his head in her pillow, trying to contain his smile. It smelled like her so it didn't help. He thought that maybe she was falling hard too. God he hoped so.

_______________________________________________________________________

"Am I going to meet her this time?" Gemma asked, sitting with him on the couch. Drake had gone home a couple days but she had elected to stay here and even he wasn't dumb enough to pick a fight with her two brothers present.

"You should." He shrugged, keeping an eye on his phone. "She's pretty spontaneous if you hadn't noticed."

"I have." Gemma laughed. "How long was her shift this time?"

"Uhhh." Harry shut his eyes, thinking. "I don't know actually, she visited her mom on Sunday and she was texting me all yesterday morning so I'm going to assume 12 hours."

"Wow." She whistled. "I could never do that."

"I know." Harry grinned as a knock on the door rang through the house. " She is pretty amazing isn't she. "

Gemma watched him go, a funny smile on her face. It was good to see her brother like this again, for a while it felt like she had lost a brother.

She heard his laughter after her voice and she thought she already loved the girl for getting her brother back. He sounded almost normal now.

And then Y/N was walking through the kitchen and towards her, smiling back at Harry who was laughing at her. She thought that maybe he was already a little in love, he just didn't know it yet. And looking at Y/N, she thought that maybe it was mutual.

"Gemma, this is Y/N in her non doctor form." Harry sat on the couch next to her, pulling Y/N down so she was sitting next to him. His hand was still wrapped in hers, their fingers tangled.

"It's so nice to meet you slash see you again." Gemma smiled at her.

"You too." Y/N smiled back, tucking her legs underneath her.

Harry's phone rang from the kitchen.

"Who calls someone after midnight?" Gemma asked him.

"Probably Jeff." He shrugged, getting up and going to answer it, leaving Y/N and Gemma alone.

"Hello." He answered, he had been right, it was Jeff.

"Hey man, are you free for a gig on Friday?"

"Yeah." He ran his hand through his hair, no matter what he wouldn't be wrapping the cast back up on Thursday. He hoped it was healed. "What is it and what time?"

"9 o'clock and a charity concert for that bridge collapse." He paused. "Did you hear about that? "

"Yes." Harry reassured him. "I'm getting the cast off on Thursday."

"Alright, I'll text you more details before it comes."

"Where is it?" He asked, he wasn't in the mood to go very far.

"Downtown, so not very far. Thank goodness you are going to have that cast off."

"Well your prayers have been answered by a little doctor."

"Oh yeah." His voice sounded different, much lighter. "I heard about the girl who's got you enamoured lately, had I known that all it would take to get you smiling again is her I would have introduced you a long time ago."

Harry laughed. "I wish you would have."

"Alright," he laughed, "bye Harry, see you Friday."

" Bye. " he hung up, making his way back to the living room.

"Seriously?" Gemma's voice reached his ears, laughter evident in it. "And he thought you would still want to date him."

" I know. " Y/N laughed back. "And I'm like you literally fuck every girl with a vagina and suck every guy with a dick and I just interrupted you in a closet with someone going down on you, why the heck would I say yes?"

Gemma's laugh boomed through the hallway. "Even his name is creepy, like Ryan, it gives me the chills! "

Ryan asked her out? Just another reason to hate him, he guessed.

His seat had been taken, Y/N had moved over. He squeezed in on her other side, smiling as they barely noticed his return. He had never thought it would be an important thing to him, his sister and whoever he liked getting along with, but looking at the two made him extremely happy.

Her hand found his and he grabbed on to it, tuning his way into the conversation.

"Worst date you ever went on?" Y/N asked, leaning back so she was resting on his shoulder.

"Ugh." Gemma groaned, leaning so she rested on the arm rest facing the two. "I was like 21 and it was my junior year of college and this broke ass college student took me for cheap gas station food and I spent more time on the toilet than with him."

Y/N laughed. "That's terrible."

" I know and then he asked if I wanted to take it back to his dorm and I was like, no, my friend's coming to pick me up. "

She laughed harder, throwing her head back. "That's gold."

"Why is your species so disgusting?" Gemma asked him.

" Hey. " he shot her a glare. "Don't bring me into this."

Gemma snorted. "Yeah, you used to be worse, he used to be like Ryan."

Y/N laughed, and to his relief it sounded genuine. "So there's hope for the bastard yet."

" I thought you liked Ryan? "

She shrugged. "He's alright when he's not talking."

He laughed, shaking his head at her. "You're something else."

"Thanks." She looked over at him, a grin on her face.

"You're welcome." He said, his voice soft.

"So." Gemma asked, "What did Jeff want? "

"I have a gig on Friday apparently."

"So no matter what your cast is coming off Thursday?" Y/N asked.

"Yeah." He studied her face. "Is that alright?"

"It's your arm." She laughed. "I'm surprised you lasted this long to be honest."

"That's because he wanted to impress you." Gemma told Y/N, a smile on her face.

"And look at it." Harry butted in, throwing Gemma a glare. "This is the prettiest thing that's ever been on my body."

"I don't know." She grinned at him. "I like tattoos. And you where some pretty fancy stuff, Mr. Gucci"

He grinned down at her. "I like yours too, I've been trying to think of what they could say."

Y/N laughed. "Bunch of old literature quotes my dad used to spew at us."

"You know classic lit?" Harry asked curiously .

"That's it." Gemma interrupted, hurrying off the couch. "I'm going to bed."

"You're into classic literature?" She asked, eyebrows raised, not bothering to say good night to Gemma.

"Yeah." Harry laughed. "I like it all."

"Really?" She laughed lightly. "My dad would have been very impressed."

"Would have?" He asked.

"He died a couple years ago." She shrugged.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"It wasn't your doing." She shrugged.

"Still." He draped an arm around her and squeezed her to him. "No one should have to lose a parent."

"Anyways," she lifted up her shirt. He leaned in close enough to read the words. For what, for whom. "Luke has the second half, 'must I kill and be killed'."

Harry resisted the urge to touch it. She leaned forward, bringing her shirt up so he could see her back, and the back of her very black and very lacy bra. In the same cursive letters as the front, only bigger, was the quote, The gates of Hell are open night and day; smooth the descent and easy is the way.

"You're dad sounded like a treat." He said, wondering what the one on her rib cage was.

"He was." She laughed, leaning back. "I hated him for most of my life."

"Than why did you get the tattoos." He asked, keeping judgement from his voice. Just curiosity.

"At first it was because they were already engraved in my brain, why not my body." She looked up at him. "And then it was because I started to understand him, his methods were twisted but his intentions were pure."

"Twisted how?" He asked, hoping it wasn't what he was thinking.

"For a while his abuse was limited to words and eventually it escalated a little. I never had to go to the hospital or anything, I just had a couple of nice shiners from time to time." She shrugged. "My mom left him after that, we moved in with her childhood best friend, they got married a couple of years ago actually, and it's been good."

" I'm sorry. " His voice was soft again.

"It's alright." She smiled up at him. "Nobody's life is perfect, but it made me who I am today. I wouldn't have grown a love for helping people if I wasn't always patching myself and my brother up."

She traced patterns on his shirt. He smiled into her hair. He kissed her head softly. "You're kind of my favorite person already and I've only known you for a month."

"You too." She smiled into his chest. "I don't open up to people very well, normally."

"It's the same for me." He rubbed her arms. "It's weird, I miss you when I'm not with you, I've never really felt that before."

She buried her head in his chest. "No ex-girlfriends?"

"Yes." He shook his head. "But it never felt like this." She laughed. "Relationships weren't in the works for me, girls never kept my attention for long enough . And when covid hit I just kind of stopped with them completely. Until you." His voice was almost a whisper by the end.

"Why me?" She looked up at him.

"You're beautiful." He pushed her hair behind her ear. "And I'm not talking about your looks, although they are very beautiful, I'm talking about your mind and your soul."

"Yours is too." She smiled shyly. "When I first saw you two thoughts went through my head. The first was that you were possibly the most beautiful person I had ever seen. The second that you were probably the biggest asshole on planet earth."

He smiled slightly, it wasn't completely without cause. “You had no predisposed predilections of me?”

"I did but, you happily surprised me. In every single way."

"You're so fucking perfect." He dropped a kiss on her head, unable to help himself.

She blinked her eyes open. They were lighter than he had ever seen them.

"Really? Cause I think you are." She said, laying her head back down on his chest.

He had never been so content to just sit with someone before. He was on fire, from his fingers to his toes.

"Can we go to bed?" Y/N asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, you need to shower?"

She nodded, standing up and stretching. He copied her before leading the way to his room. She followed him, grabbing on to the hand he stretched back. Her eyes were more unfocused now than before.

"Long day?" He asked, turning around and grabbing her other hand.

"Yeah," she sighed, "I had never been so excited to get out of there before."

"How come?" He asked, still walking backwards.

"We're still recovering from the bridge collapse, everyone's stressed out." She shook her head. "I felt like I was on a tv instead of at an actual hospital."

His hands rubbed circles on hers. "When do you have to go back in?"

"24 hours." She let go of his hands, walking to the bathroom. "And I'm exhausted, I don't know why."

"Maybe you need a break longer than a day for once." He suggested.

"Maybe." Her voice came through the door. "I actually have the weekend off, I switched times with a lot of people which means I work pretty much the rest of the week."

The water turned on and she wouldn't have been able to hear him. He grabbed his sleep shorts and took off his shirt, climbing into bed. He grabbed his phone and opened his Snapchat. It used to be his favorite social media before a lot of random people got his Snapchat and he didn't know who his friends were and who were not.

The amount of nudes he opened up was alarming. And very annoying. He stopped opening up any Snapchats he didn't know all together a long time ago.

The door opened and Y/N walked out, hair dripping wet and wearing one of his t-shirts. It swallowed her. He doubted she was even wearing pants.

"Goodnight Harry." She climbed into his arms, pressing herself on him.

He buried his head in her hair , disappointed when she smelled like him instead of her normal self.

He kissed her cheek. "Goodnight angel."

”Angel?" Her eyes peeked open.

"It's cute, like you."

She laughed, closing her eyes again. "It's a new one. I like it."

"Good." He closed his eyes, falling asleep to the rhythm of her heart against his chest.

[cherryblossomlion]

Katsugi

Oh hai, it's a Mizukemi Yakuza AU! Many thanks to @todaywefvight for collaborating with me on this project, it's been so fun!

You can read it after the cut or also here:

🌸

Katsugi (noun): shouldering, carrying, raising, bearing. 

<i>Katsugi is a noun form of katsugu, which means “to carry on your shoulder”. So in katsugi waza, you life your shinai towards your left or right shoulder instead of above your head</i>.

🌸

Akemi's outfit would be completely unacceptable back in Kyoto. Short, tight, blood red, her cleavage on full display-- Akemi looks nothing like either the dutiful Yakuza daughter or the med student overachiever that are the warring counterparts of her identity...

But it’s summer break, the first summer of Akemi's life that hasn't been filled with "family" functions or cram schools or internships. Next year, she'll begin her residency in Florida under a new name and a social security number she’d bought for a hefty price.

Even though she's spent the last eight years in New York, she's only been out maybe a dozen times, always at the behest of Ringo. It's not any different this time.

"You finally have some time to enjoy yourself. Live this life you worked so hard for," he'd said.

Ringo knows her better than anyone. Is the only person who's ever been able to change her mind– and Akemi has always been stubborn. Like her father.

The same stubbornness that had elevated the Tokunobu clan to the one of the four great Yakuza families in Japan is what allowed Akemi to escape it. She’d crossed an ocean so she could become the opposite of her father. Someone who helped people. A doctor.

Or, if she wanted, for just one night, an ordinary girl on her way to a club in a dress that was way too small and unsuitable for the weather. Ringo will let her borrow his leather jacket, and besides, he’s picking her up in his car. She can hear him honking the horn for her, so she steps out into the not quite warm spring air.

🌸

The phone rings in the dim apartment, interrupting its owner as she sits at the table, a katana laid out beside a bottle of polishing oil. Sharpening stone in hand, she finishes the remaining strokes with a satisfying vibration, before wiping it down with a lambskin cloth.

She shakes her head and lets the answering machine pick up.

[ We are calling to inform you about your car’s extended warranty- ]

She growls and rolls her eyes. Try as she might to keep her status updated on Do Not Call lists, there’s always some scam or gaudy advert that weasels its way in.

She stands, tall and slender, then strides into the bedroom, where she picks up a pair of slacks, a button-down and suspenders, and heads into the bathroom. The club, O, would be opening up soon.

12AM

Lace-up boots splash in the shallow puddles of a recent rainfall, as footsteps carry her to the famed nightclub, O. Music spills out onto the streets from inside the three-story building, along with colorful and strobing lights. The orange lenses of her glasses filter everything.

Easily dodging a few drunken and unsteady passersby, she wears her sword inconspicuously at her hip. Any other night, such a weapon would draw much attention- but this event gives her a perfect alibi.

Walking past the entrance and into the back of the long line of patrons, she takes a deep breath and waits.

🌸

“What’s the matter?” Akemi worriedly checks her makeup in Ringo’s sideview mirror. It nearly falls off when she tries to adjust it.

“I told you. It’s a masquerade.”

She notices that Ringo is wearing a mask, not what she’d presumed to be a hat, on his head. Probably so he can focus on driving.

Akemi shrugs.

“So what? They’ll have masks there, won’t they?”

Ringo sighs heavily, then gives her a once over. “Take off your stocking.”

“What? No!”

Ringo folds his arms, his prosthetic hooks resting on each bicep. “Trust me. I’m the fashion student.”

Akemi sighs and reluctantly hikes up her skirt in order to unhook her garter belt.

Ringo’s voice startles her. “Are you wearing a fucking knife?”

Akemi looks up and blinks. Right. Ringo doesn’t really see this side of her that often. “Just in case,” she says, then slides her fishnet stocking down her leg.

Ringo shakes his head. “What about security?”

“What about security? O just has four bouncers at the door. They're not going to pat me down. They don't have cameras. There's not even typically anyone at the back.”

“Who checks that kind of thing?!”

Akemi shoots him a warning look. He knows about her family, but he doesn’t. He’s from Kyuushu. “Let me have my little ways, Ringo. We’ve talked about this.” A bit too much, for Akemi's taste. It’s a subject she lacks patience in. She peels her stocking off and and hands it over to Ringo, then moves to take the other one off– but Ringo stops her.

“I only need one.”

“What? I’m not going to wear one stocking–”

“Rip it up in a couple places, it’ll look good.” Ringo reaches into the compartment between him and exchanges his hook prosthetic for a knife prosthetic– a shearing knife, to be exact. Akemi watches him work, but the mess of material in his hands makes no sense to her. She looks down at her remaining stocking, on her right leg, and takes Ringo’s advice. Worst case scenario, she’ll just get rid of the garment.

But it ends up looking good. And Ringo has fashioned a long rectangle of fabric out of the fishnet. He hands it to Akemi. She uses the mirror– which is now definitely tilted– as a guide. She wraps the cloth around her eyes. The strings of thread in front of her eyes are unexpectedly non-occlusive. It looks surprisingly appropriate– modern– but it also clearly fulfills the dress code.

It takes three tries for Ringo to get the car started, but his car always starts on the third try. The day it doesn’t it when Ringo says he’ll finally give up the jalopy he’s had since he came to the States. He parks it far away from the blazing pink O that towers above the club.

Outside of his. car, Ringo looks chic, his suit avant garde and deconstructed, his prosthetics a complement. His mask is similarly deconstructed. With Akemi by his side, a promoter scouts them and takes them to the front of the line.

It’s been a really long time since Akemi’s been on display. Ever since she got to university, she’s been in either sweats or suits, depending on the occasion. It was a deliberate choice, a rejection of everything her father had raised her to be—a beautiful thing, a possession to be leveraged or sold.

The old posture comes back like muscle memory, spine straight, head inclined just so, a graceful step. She attracts attention, especially in a crowd of Americans, especially next to Ringo, who looks like her fancy bodyguard. Especially since they’ve been chosen by the promoter to bypass the line.

Akemi’s eyes flicker over—everyone is wearing masks, half the crowd is in costume. You’d never see this sort of thing in Japan, except for maybe Harajuku. It’s too extra. Maybe that’s why the wolf in black catches her eye. As soon as she really looks, she realizes she’s caught their eye, too.

Everything stops, and turns blue—ice blue. The eyes are so bright she can see them even from here, even in the silver lines of a lupine mask. The eyes are the only part Akemi can see. The snarling muzzle of the mask makes the eyes look animal, predatory.

The figure is long, and slim, suited in sharp black lines. Perhaps it’s the posture that stops Akemi—no, it’s more like a stance. It makes sense, because the man is wearing a sword.

And staring right at her, like he knows her, like he knows more about her than she knows about herself. Akemi turns as she walks by, unable to let go of those eyes—until Ringo calls her name, and she realizes they’ve gotten too far ahead of him and the promoter—she rushes after them, towards the entrance of the club.

🌸

The looming neon O bathes the street in a pink glow.

The line moves surprisingly fast for how many patrons are ahead of her, yet Mizu’s patience is quietly waning. Club-goers begin putting on their masks, if they aren’t already eagerly donning them, complimenting each other on their outfits. Mizu is particular about her appearance and is almost always dressed to the nines in any public appearance. She doesn’t have anyone to dress for but herself, and takes a quiet pride in it.

Deft fingers detach the wolf mask from her hip, while her other hand removes the glasses from her eyes as she slips it on. She was lucky enough to find it at a specialty costume shop- it looked much more elegant than most of the novelty items there, and stylish enough not to feel too ridiculous. What’s more, it complimented her dark silhouette as much as any costume could. The shape settled comfortably against her face, a matte black visage dusted with traces of silvery blue. Mizu hadn’t grown up in very social settings, despite dealing with large swathes of people in her line of work. She takes a private delight in the opportunity to remain anonymous.

Even more so, given the task at hand. She’s waited years for this opportunity. Years of gaining information here and there, years of dead ends and trickles of clues, and then… everything is finally coming together, so beautifully orchestrated that it almost feels too easy. Especially to someone like Mizu, ever the skeptic.

Weeks ago– after mercenary jobs were cleared from her schedule and she was able to revisit a long-held personal vendetta– Mizu had tracked down a stateside associate of the Tokunobu clan. Through careful investigation, Mizu unearthed a trail of information on the only daughter of the bastard Lord Daichi.

The temptation to capture and torture the associate was strong, and Mizu could have probably pulled it off. But she wanted to strike closer to Daichi’s heart, and pride.

Akemi. The little princess was privileged enough to travel stateside and pursue an education, the records showed. With clean hands and a clear mind. Perhaps Daichi let her leash out so that she could be sated on her thirst for knowledge, fattening herself in self satisfaction. It was impressive, really.

And the demon in Mizu was that much more eager to strip her of that opportunity.

She’s going to make make his daughter’s life hell, and when she’s finished with her, she ‘s going to draw out her father.

Mizu and Daichi are both sinners, but she intends to make the oyabun of the Tokunobu clan pay for his in full. Mizu is fairly insensitive to greed and corruption in the world, but that bastard was responsible for the collapse of her personal corner of the universe.

She slips her glasses into her pocket, straightens, and stares ahead, letting out a light sigh as she observes everything around her. She cultivates an air of vague disinterest.

She feels, before seeing, the woman who would walk past in just a moment, a fire beginning to smolder in her breast. The loud call of a promoter signals everyone to make way, leading a chosen few past the velvet ropes and weaving through those loitering outside of the line.

Mizu turns without thinking, eyes drawn like a magnet. Locked onto a gaze darker than hers, yet bright with recognition and… just as tethered to Mizu herself as she is to those eyes.

A young woman whose face had stared back at her from low-res photographs on the four walls of her apartment a thousand times before… now it was here, in the flesh, not even five feet away.

In that moment, it feels like she knows. Mizu is not often unnerved, and she tells herself she isn't now, knowing it is a half truth at best as her posture goes rigid, her breath catching in her chest.

She sees in those eyes, opportunity… and, something she cannot yet put a name to. Yet.

And just like that, the spell is broken. She’s staring at the back of her head til it disappears into the crowd.

Mizu blinks, and stills the urge to bolt somewhere to find a back entrance. That would be guarded as well, especially on a night like this.

No matter.

Her prey is in the four walls of the club, and that is more than enough for her purposes.

🌸

Akemi wishes she’d brought earplugs. It's way too loud in this club. It's impossible to hear anything Ringo is saying– she keeps shaking her head at him when he talks. Finally, he makes a drinking motion with his hands, and Akemi nods.

She looks around her as she waits for Ringo. American girls don't dance like Japanese girls– they sweat under the lights, let their makeup run down their faces. Mizu stares at them, a little transfixed. It's raw, muscle under skin… beautiful.

She remembers those eyes, the dark figure in line, wonders if she'll see him in here. Wonders if he’ll hunt her down.

But then, Akemi’s never been into men. So she shakes off that too-long look, accepts a drink from Ringo, and studies the crowd, trying to figure out how to move so she at least didn't stand out like a sore thumb.

It’s so loud, she can feel, not just hear the music. That helps a little– hard not to keep the rhythm when it’s in your bones. The second she and Ringo enter the crowd, it’s not an option not to dance. So she does her best. At first, she imitates the people around her– then she starts to get it, the way the shoulders go, the hip rolls, the beat– she and Ringo are ensconsed by dancers, and have both done very well not losing their drinks.

Ringo toasts Akemi, and she toasts him back. They dance, mostly with each other, but they open themselves to everyone around them… Akemi has a low-key goal of going home with someone, but being a femme Asian woman makes it hard to go home with who she wants to– white guys in particular tend to get in Akemi’s way.

Not even fifteen minutes in and some guy in a tiger mask is dominating her attention. It doesn't really matter. If she ends up dancing the night away with Ringo, it’ll be the most fun she's had since she remembers.

Besides, the guy’s a pretty decent dancer– she's pretty sure he's foreign, maybe Asian like her, from his movements. He doesn't get into her space, like the Americans. When she copies his movements, he smiles.

Ringo’s been distracted by some girl. Akemi shrugs, follows tiger mask into the crowd– when he goes to place a hand on her waist, she stops it with a hand on his wrist– the dancer takes the hint, thankfully. Seemed to only be pulling her to guide her–

Tiger mask bends closer to Akemi’s ear– she hears: “too loud” and nods in agreement, and follows him off the dance floor. When he guides her down a corner and gestures towards a door, she shrugs. She’s not about to follow a stranger into an unoccupied room at the club. So she just looks at what the door reveals, curious.

The thing is, it's a billiards room. And pool is s Akemi’s weakness. Pool halls were the center of the best and most peaceful times of her childhood.

And she’s damn good at it.

“Wanna play?” Akemi asks the stranger in the tiger’s mask. She realizes she hasn't heard him speak yet.

She heads over to me the row of pool cues anyways. Picks her stick, heavy and short. “Come on,” says Akemi. “Bet you a hundred bucks I'll win.”

“No need to bet,” says the man in the tiger mask. Akemi freezes. She knows that voice– but he’s taking his tiger mask off. “I know you'll win.”

“Taigen,” gasps Akemi.

He’s so different than he was the last time she'd seen him, a high school senior, with a school appropriate haircut, a slimmer physique, and clear skin.

A tattoo of a dragon pokes out of his t-shirt, a nod to the family business–her family business. He’s thick with long-hewn muscle. His hair is long– he wears it in a top knot. He's wearing exactly the kind of shiny suit they used to make fun of when they were young.

It makes sense. He’s her father’s wakagashira now, his second-in-command. The day he told Akemi he was going to work for her father was the last day they spoke.

“Taigen,” Akemi repeats. “What are you doing here?”

🌸

It’s as chaotic inside as expected. Knowing her target is so close, while she’s held up by the crowd, feels like drowning. Mizu keeps her stoic facade as the crowd draws nearer to the bouncers, but she feels something start to stoke the anxious spark inside of her into a fire.

She makes it past the entryway before it ignites. Past the first bar the club opens up to a vast dance floor, nearly every inch of it covered with people. The music pulses in her ears and in her ribcage. Partygoers bump her shoulders as they skirt past.

If she desired, Mizu could cut them all down. It would make her mission easier. But that wouldn’t be the thing to do. Especially knowing that Yakuza from the Tokunobu clan could be nearby. Mizu was more than efficient at tracking, but it would be foolish not to assume that others could be tracking her.

Stopping at the corner of the second, bigger bar, she backed into a small pocket of space to gather herself. Her heart was racing. Every time she blinked she saw those imploring eyes. Mizu’s eyes squeezed shut as if to wrench it from her vision, and she took a deep breath. Held it for a few seconds. She imagined the anxiety within her (a rare element for the swordswoman) as flecks of golden dust in her lungs, swirling around. And with a slow and thorough exhale, she breathed out, through the snarling maw of the wolf. She opened her eyes, and steadily scanned the crowd, patrons moving together like some giant beast.

A hand traced her shoulder. Gripping her sword, she declined to sheathe it as she turned, meeting the masked face of a woman dressed as an exotic bird.

“Hello handsome, can I buy this wolf a drink?” She was forward, only looking to flatter. Mizu’s eyes stared dully back and she calmly brushed the woman’s wrist away. Words weren’t needed; it was too damn loud in here anyway.

She would start on the outside, scanning outlines, silhouettes framed by the strobing lights and swirling colors. This may take a while, and patience was needed now more than ever. Mizu was never sloppy, but she felt the potential, the eagerness as a beast breaking its containment. If anything could make her trip, it was Akemi.

Standing with her back against the wall, she caught sight of the taller companion that was with her when they headed to the front. Gaze sharpened, and she saw her. Talking to a man wearing a gaudy suit and a tiger mask. The body language read that she did not know him, but she was apparently interested enough to follow him. Mizu held her breath as she watched, where they soon disappeared into a hallway, no doubt to another room within. Mizu straightened, grip tightening on her sword. Her eyes narrowed, and she followed. There was no need to rush now. She would tread carefully, with the surety that each step would carry her further to her task.

🌸

Akemi can’t help it—she’s glad to see Taigen. After all, he was her oldest friend, her childhood sweetheart who didn’t hold it against her when she figured out she was gay, kept her secret for her—even after he joined her father, even now. He gives her one of his old bear hugs, lifting her off the floor—even with five inch heels on, Taigen still towers over Akemi.

“I thought you were supposed to be in med school,” teases Taigen, gesturing at Akemi’s club wear.

“I thought you were supposed to be committing crime with my father,” says Akemi, folding her arms. She’ll always love Taigen, but the old betrayal still rankles. Half their friendship had been dreaming their way out of the world they were born into. She’s even had a plane ticket ready for him. It would have been that easy, not to become a scumbag like her father.

The smile has long since faded from Taigen’s face. There’s something new in the set of his features. Akemi has a good guess about some of the things he must have done by now. He sighs, and blinks, and all of the sudden, his eyes are completely cold. “He wants you back.”

All of the sudden, Akemi knows it’s very important to pay attention. “We have a deal,” she says. Not one she intends on keeping. And, apparently, not one her father intends on keeping, either.

She looks around. Only the one door, and the windows are too high for her to access before Taigen can get to her.

Taigen shakes his head. “Not anymore. Your father’s brokered a merger with the Ito clan. You’re a doctor, like you wanted. He did his duty to you. Now it’s time for you to do your duty.”

Akemi has been dodging her “duty” since she was 13 years old, when it was obvious that she was going to be beautiful. The only thing that kept Tokunobu from selling her off was the idea that a virginal, well-educated wife was more valuable than a whore he could use to placate his contacts with, like his friends did with their daughters.

Akemi had insisted that her education be overseas. She had a whole new identity waiting for her in Florida. She wonders if there was a leak, if this is why her father’s making his move now.

Akemi backs away from Taigen. There’s a door set in between the empty bookshelves that line one wall of the billiards room. “If I say no?” she says, eyes flickering towards the door they’d come in through.

“I’ve got two guys waiting on the other side of that door. Twenty three more in the club.”

Akemi nods. “So you were expecting a fight, huh?”

“There’s more going on than you know. You have eyes on you. Your father wants you back under his protection.”

Akemi laughs bitterly. “You actually believe this bullshit now, don’t you?”

Taigen shakes his head, has the audacity to give her a pitying look. “You know how this game is played, Akemi.”

At that moment, they’re both interrupted by a shout and a crash coming from the other side of the door. After a beat, the door crashes open.

The man from outside—the wolf, the one who’d been standing in line, the one who’d been staring at her— steps into the room, utterly calm despite the fact that there are bodies behind him—Taigen’s men. He steps into the room, and brandishes a blood-covered sword, pointing it at Taigen.

The swordsman speaks in Japanese, in an oddly musical voice. “She’s coming with me.”

🌸

The second she turns into the hall, she spots the two men in well-fitted suits, the blades at their sides similar to hers. Mizu’s hackles raise, and she draws her blade. Unmistakable Yakuza. She wonders how many may have infiltrated the club.

The question is, are they for Akemi’s protection, or to kill her, or something else? Something in Mizu’s chest leaps as the thought crosses her mind– what a terrible irony it would be if her chance at revenge was lost like that– an image flashes in her mind, the woman’s body splayed on the floor, red dress stained with a darker red.

Focus.

The guards step in front of the door, hands reaching for their weapons. One manages to shout a warning into the inconspicuous earpiece that he wears, his eyes wide. She cuts in high wide arc, slicing through their tracheas and external carotid arteries before they can attack– before they can say anything further.

The door is locked. She severs the handle and thrusts to crush the mechanism inside, then delivers a strong kick to take care of the rest.

Mizu finds Akemi inside. Shocked, of course. She’s still alive.The man is leaning toward her, but he straightens defensively as Mizu walks inside. A trickle of blood that is not her own runs down the ridge of her mask. Her sword–its blade a brilliant blue, covered in red– raises and points to him. A drop falls onto the pool table that sits between them.

“She’s coming with me.”

The man steps forward with his weapon, his proud chest out, waist coiled. He’s tense. A juxtaposition with Mizu’s controlled but open stance. Mizu notices the shape of his tattoo, peeking out from between the open buttons of his shirt and recognizes it immediately.

Tokunobu.

Her eyes narrow and her head lowers like a predator.

He opens his mouth to retort, but Mizu disregards it as unimportant. Futile.

Mizu watches carefully. It’s often predictable that her opponents make the first strike, and she is waiting for just that.

But the next to move is neither Mizu’s, nor the man’s.

A knife flashes behind him in the flourescent light, Akemi’s pale fingers curled tightly around the handle. It happens quickly, her features twisted into something vicious as she sinks it into his body.

“I do know how this game is played, Taigen.”

Mizu’s eyes widen in surprise. Daichi’s prized daughter is dangerous. Heavy footfalls crowd the doorway, and she feels Akemi turn with her in unison as more Yakuza rush in, weapons ready.

[f0point5]

I just have to write a quick response to your answer, I'm so invested in this... 🙈

Your words about Elliot not deep diving into all the comments and stories of y/n on the internet made me wonder... you said he's not doing it YET. Now what if he's gonna be the cause for real trouble between Max and y/n for different reasons than I thought... what if he starts to hate how close they are? What if he tries to drive them apart? You wouldn't make us dislike the guy even more than we already do, would you? 🙈

I absolutely get where both y/n and Max are coming from! They've found their safe haven with each other, without any relationship troubles, fights, mistrust, and all the problems love (not platonically speaking) can cause. So I would understand why Max wouldn't want to fight. At least at the moment.

But I think it's more about the future and how they want it to look like. Do they want to build a family? Having children run around one day? Because if so, how would their relationship the way it is now fit into this future? They wouldn't live together forever. What kinda partner would accept that, knowing how close they are? So Max is afraid of change, but there will be change anyway, if they're both getting romantically involved with other people. And with y/n believing things don't need to change at all, she'll realize sooner or later how wrong she is. Because if Elliot or any other guy in her future would become more important and she starts a serious relationship, noone would accept her putting Max above everyone else and rearranging her life for him in every sweeping second.

Things will change anyway. And both of them need to ultimately question themselves HOW they want things to change.

So can Max fight? Does he want to? Well, he doesn't seem to want to let her go in the slightest. But he might need to let her off the hook then, let her live her life with another man. And can he do that? Does he want to? That's the question he's probably got to ask himself shortly. And if he doesn't, he might still not want to fight. But he might need to.

Elliot is a smart cookie. I don’t see him ever being that guy to try and make Y/N choose, because I think he knows he’s on the back foot. If there’s one thing men like Elliot know, it’s how not to lose. BUT, no guy can be totally immune to even what he’s coming across casually, never mind what he’s come across if he did a simple search, or maybe even followed her on Instagram.

I think that’s the point, they’re living on borrowed time if they plan to have any “normal” future. Unless their respective spouses are going to happy with adjoining properties and coparenting lol.

You are right, Max is the one who is realising that things will change if Y/N gets into a serious relationship with Elliot. Y/N is very confident she can have her cake and eat it (even if she likes one cake more than the other). But, I think Max is also the one who is more desperate for things not to change, and has been for a long time.

I think the thing with Max, he knows how to hold on, but he also knows how to let go. And he knows what he wants (or he thinks he does), and he would fight for that. But I’m not sure he’d fight arbitrarily. And at the end of the day, he wants Y/N to be happy. Why fight for something if she doesn’t want it either.

It’s complicateddd

[fountainpenguin]

"She's into superstitions: black cats and voodoo dolls... I feel a premonition- that girl's gonna make me fall..." (x)

---

New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season

Chapter 23 - “Cooldown (Pearl, Lizzie, Mumbo, Scott)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics

---

Pearl puts research into camera accounts and brings home books for her nonexistent roommate, EthoCam… Er, Rhetoric. Lizzie and Joel enjoy date night. Mumbo collapses in bed after an exhausting break-up. Scott puts on his ambassador hat, entertains the Fox Dragon, and reviews a fey contract with a peculiar white-eyed man.

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

---

PearlescentMoon - Bat

Status: Reflective

Venue manager, event coordinator, and seasonal business owner

💙  🧡  💚

When Pearl lets herself through the door, the whole flat is quiet. From the pale smell, nothing's cooking in the furnace. But then, he can't, can he? Then he'd be burning my charcoal. She dropped by the library tonight and borrowed a book on soul twins who never became official camera accounts. That should subtly break down the Yes and Nos of what Rhetoric can do. All the librarian villagers were happy to help. She even ran into Gem, which was a surprise. Gem's eyes lit straight up.

"You're back! Hope you had a good time. And how's Impulse? Is he better than he was after last week?"

"He's all right, I think. Had a rough go of it mid-session, but he said he'd share the story on movie night."

"Oh, that's good. I've been worried more than I need to be; I want to smack him. Hey, I'm on snacks tomorrow, right? I'm thinking popcorn balls."

"Popcorn balls sound amazing, actually. I'll make sure I'm stocked up on butter."

"How d'you feel about two movies back to back? I found one I'm DYING to show you guys."

Now the soul-twin book rests in the bag at her waist, hidden by the black cloak that marks her uninterested in the courtship events of the night. Pearl moves through the flat's entryway, glancing left and right. All the lights are off. Can Rhetoric turn on lights?

I didn't even think about that when I went out. Oh, this is a toughie… She didn't bring back any treats on purpose, not wanting to offend him. She did pick up a random book on folk tales and another on hybrid biology. These, she leaves on the kitchen counter. As a museum curator, maybe Rhetoric considers himself a historian and potential expert on both these subjects.

Maybe he'll scoff. But according to the patient librarians, account-less soul-twins can hold books and turn their pages just fine. They just can't write in them because it would update the book, and they can't rip out the pages because it would create paper. If you're account-less, you can't update blocks.

That's the word, by the way. Soul-twins… She never actually knew that. She's always just called them "cameras." Did you know you can be account-less as the player, and it can be the camera twin who gets most of the creator bleed and activity levels?

It's not common, but apparently true. It happens on occasion if the same creator is juggling three or more accounts at a time and largely uses that third one for spectating right at the start in those early days. Traditionally, the first account to sync goes to the player soul. The second sync goes to their soul-twin, whether they're often on spectator mode or not. The third can be a coin-flip as a completely new pair of souls is spawned in, syncing up to an already established Minecraft player who may actually prefer spectating this time around.

Food for thought. I wonder if Moo's ever been bugged when I've called her a camera. Maybe I should ask if I can meet up with some of her friends. Maybe we can all do a Q&A night. You could write a paper on this stuff.

… or a book, evidently. Pearl checks the signed name again. Pixlriffs. Of course it is.

If this is insightful, I'll have to drop something off to thank him. But she'll wait until the full moon's faded out so he won't get the wrong idea.

Pearl leaves the books she got for Rhetoric at the end of the counter, next to the bar stool she drapes her Not Courting cloak over. She'll hang it properly some other time. For now, she wants to set the scene: I'm not trying to come on too strong. I just happened to leave a few books here, that are mine, and when I'm away, nothing's stopping you from taking a little looksie at them.

When she turns around, she catches her new roommate standing out on the balcony, one elbow on the rail. Did he open that door? Did she leave it open? He gazes into the courtyard below, swishing his tail back and forth against his heels. It stiffens when she creaks the door open. "Don't talk to me," he mutters, not turning around.

"Right, I won't- Not for no reason, now. Still, I have some housekeeping things we should go over."

Rhetoric's tail twitches again. "No. That can wait. Literally, don't talk to me. I was getting fresh air. As fresh as you can get under bedrock, anyway. Now that you've returned, I'll stay in my room and keep my head down, but it's a full moon tonight. I don't technically exist, but I'm still a hybrid. Give me space."

"Okay," Pearl concedes. There are seven fox ambiance defaults: burrowing, hunting, napping, courtship, marking territory, playing, and stealing. On top of that, the urge to flee from players is a legit part of their coding. Rhetoric's maybe or maybe not feeling courtship tugs, and neither of them wants to deal with that. If it's not courtship, that urge to find his own private space is probably gnawing at his spine. She's not giving up on him, but she'll wait until he's less prickly.

Pearl returns to the kitchen and starts prepping a mixing bowl. Rhetoric's ears snap up. He turns his head. He has gray eyes. They're dull from lack of color, but almost puzzled or wary when he studies her from across the room. He says, "You're an anivore, right?"

"Just a little bit- I'm a partial anivore. I need code to keep my energy up, but I actually can eat other foods without feeling sick. My diet's still restricted." He doesn't look away, so she doesn't stop talking. She barely looks at him, though. "I know fox hybrids can change color between white and ginger when they respawn. My friend Grian's a parrot and they're the same way- the soul spawner might spit them out with different feather colors than what they had before, based on RNG. We bats are like that. Right now, I'm a vampire bat. I used to be a fruit bat when I was first spawned. The type of food that actually refills my hunger meter shifts between respawns, but my stomach can digest all of them."

"So you're an omnivore."

"Well. Yeah, I guess so."

Rhetoric folds his ears flat against his night-black hair. "I don't have proper code. I'm not real."

"Nah, I don't nip much off other people. I barely need any, see; I nip my own code." Pearl lifts her arm, gesturing to the space between her sleeve hem and her hand for emphasis. "Tastes like macaroni and marshmallow right here at the edge." For the sake of it, she doesn't ask if he's ever tasted code before. Probably not. She pauses for breath anyway so he can have his chance to speak.

"That's… disgusting." Rhetoric waves his tail for a second, keeping it low, then almost rotates full around to talk to her. "I had a visitor today."

"What?"

"Some phantom wearing green. Yellow hair. Black bandana. He didn't give his name, but I found him rather rude. I'm half tempted to report him for harassment."

Martyn. Pearl's instinct is to volunteer the name, though she catches herself and hesitates just before she can. "Oh. I'm sorry he bothered you. Was he hunting? Maybe he clocked you as not having slept… ever."

Rhetoric shrugs, dismissing her thin attempt at comfort. "He broke in. I'd talk to Scott about upgrading your security, if I were you."

[Full chapter on AO3 - Link at top]

[nspwriteups]

Blind Date | Vanmozhi OS Sequel

To say that Arun was surprised at the turn of events of the night would be an understatement. Contrary to what he thought how the blind date set up very cleverly by his sister would go, here he was, walking side by side his sister's best friend a.k.a his date while she was on a solo mission to find the "perfect" street foodspot, scanning the roadside with her wide eyes. He failed to suppress a short laugh and Vanathi turned to him inquisitivly "What's so funny?" She asked curiously. He shook his head and said "Just imagining my Akka thinking that we are bonding over champagne and steak". That got her to laugh as well "Speaking of food" Vanathi said, pointing to a dhaba opposite the road, "Let's start with appatizers". They crossed the road to a seemingly crowded dhaba, "Pani poori or Pav Bhajji?" She asked Arun. "Arun shrugged and grinned "Both?" Apparently that was the right answer because Vanathi's eyes lighted up and she turned to the dhabawale to make the order. The dhabawale handed them a plate each of Pani poori and pav bhaji each and said another plate is going to take some time because of the crowd. They said it's not a problem and decided to share. Arun popped a Pani poori into his mouth and chuckled at Vanathi trying to stuff a large portion of Pav bhaji into her mouth. "Hey, leave some for me too". She blushed and turned the other way, her hair forming a curtain over her face, obstructing him from seeing her expression. He wanted to look at her face, make sure she was happy and enjoying this moment as much as him. What to do to make her look at again? He extended the Pani poori plate towards her and that got her attention. She looked flustered but quickly recovered to pick up a Pani poori and pop it into her mouth, closing her eyes and giving him a thumbs up. "This is so delicious" She said and he gave her a thumbs up too, agreeing silently. Together they finished the meal and paid. "Where to next?" Vanathi asked, looking around. Arun had already noted a chaiwala some distance away. "A perfect cup of midnight chai" He said and made way for the shop.

Vanathi blew on her hot chai in clay cup. She stole a glance at her companion who was busy scrolling through his phone. This was better than she ever imagined. The perfect date. One of many to come, maybe? She felt her cheeks heat up thinking of the possibility of a second date and focused back on her cup. "Penny for your thoughts?" She looked up to see him smile at her and suddenly felt tonguetied. She let out a breathy chuckle and shook her head "I was just thinking, you seem really comfortable doing this. Ever been on a street food date before?" She was just attempting to make small talk and blutered out the first thing that came to her mind.

"Nope, this type of a blind date is first time" He said, smiling.

"If you think about it, it's not exactly a "blind" date" Vanathi continued, fully knowing she was just babbling but not able to stop her talk "I mean, I have seen you around and know you as Keerthana's brother and I'm pretty sure you know me too" She said softly, thinking if he said no, it would be so embarrassing.

"You have seen me around?" Arun looked at her questioningly "Where?" Because while it was true he knew her as his Akka's best friend, he didn't remember seeing her around before.

Vanathi found herself tongue tied for a second time that night . Well, better to come clean rather than lie around it. " I once came to your house to film a dance video. Keerthana was going to let me borrow your guest room for the filming. I didn't really knew my way around and ended up coming into your room. You were sitting by the balcony, with headphones so you didn't really notice me. I went out quickly, that was the first time I saw you" Vanathi deliberately left out the part where she had stood for some time, admiring his good looks and wondering if she'll ever get the courage to strike up a conversation with him before making her out of the room. But apparently the universe had heard her prayer because here she was, living out the date of her dreams with the guy of her dreams. "I remember that. Keerthana said it was the first time she was participating in a dance video" Arun remembered. He also remembered Keerthana sending him the link and him forgetting to watch it. For the next few minutes they spend watching some of her dance videos on YouTube. "This is really beautiful. You are superbly talented" Vanathi basked in Arun's compliments. After finishing their chai, they decided to end the date and go back to their respective cars parked in the hotel parking lot. 

They made their way, walking slowly to the parking lot. They were walking so close that they could feel each other's fingers touching and both let it lingering there. 

"So, does this meet up with your expectations of an ideal date?" Arun asked nervously.

Vanathi gave him a reassuring smile "It was better than my expectations" 

Arun returned the smile and mustered up the courage to touch her hand and was relieved when she held his hand tighter. He felt they reached the parking lot faster than he thought of and gazed at her. "So…" He began, wondering how to phrase what he wanted to say next.

"So…." She mimicked his sentence, also seeming to be in a dilemma. Then she let out a gasp "What are we going to tell Keerthana?" 

"We both been to the fancy hotel she booked. Just comment on the quality of the food and the quantity of the people or something. I'm not saying she's going to buy the lie but atleast we can confuse her" Arun winked and Vanathi gave him an amused look. "You are unbelievable!" She said, "Maybe you can tell me how much you confused her on our second date?"

Arun was impressed on how straightforward she was "Only if you promise we'll be having that conversation in a streetfood - style date again" 

They shook their hands again, neither making an effort to move and gazing into each other's eyes with goofy smiles on their lips.

Hope you liked this...waiting eagerly for your reviews

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