#doing it this way by member is the easiest way for me to play catch up

[shirefantasies]

How Thorin’s Company Acts Around Their Crush

Hope all who celebrate had a wonderful Christmas! Since I’ve gotten some requests for The Hobbit characters as well I thought I would start with my usual beginning! Yes I’m repping ALL of them 😤😂 you can imagine the older members’ as taking place when they were younger or not…depends how you like it 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

Balin

✧ As his feelings for you grow, so too does his care for you. As if by magic he always seems to know where you are and what you need. Being more subtle and witty with his feelings, Balin is not the easiest to decipher in terms of intention but you can be damn sure you know he cares.

✧ Shares stories with you, tales of his ancestors or days as a young dwarf roaming the mountain halls, chuckling warmly at your reactions.

✧ There to catch you whenever you fall, hands gently gripping your waist as he asks if you’re all right.

✧ Tells you how much the others like you, especially if those around you are a bit tough about it. Balin hears and sees a lot more in his position so he is quick to reassure you.

✧ “Let me get one last look at you before I go- that’s all the energy I need.”

✧ Balin loves to hear your voice, so his guilty pleasure is asking you to read to him whenever you get a moment’s peace- please indulge him, he’ll be so relaxed and content!

Dwalin

✧ Acts like he's just going along with your ideas or whims, but in reality you're wrapped around his finger and he'll do anything for you, not to mention go anywhere so he can ensure you're protected. The way he always makes jokes for you and shows off in your presence may make it easier to tell how he feels!

✧ Offers you a drink at any opportunity, bringing you a mug or glass of whatever you prefer most, even if it’s just water.

✧ Playfully spars with you if you’re game, complimenting your form and encouraging you to try more daring moves.

✧ Does anything in his power to make you comfortable and stand up for you. The log you’re sitting on is uncomfortable? He stands right up then and there to carve it down. If he sees an orc get a strike in on you you’ll know who’d getting beheaded next.

✧ Laughs at jokes he wouldn’t normally, like if the others tease him Dwalin will probably smack them or snark back, but if you say it he’ll just laugh and roll his eyes, maybe lightly elbow you.

✧ I’m pretty sure it’s both book and movie canon that this man dwarf plays the violin??? So you know he is going to whip it out to impress you! And maybe it’ll make for an excuse to dance and sing together too!

Thorin

✧ Thorin is the sort to orchestrate his entire romance to a T, so you will not be able to decipher his intentions until the exact moment he plans to tell you, and that will take some time getting to know and trust you.

✧ Always moves you behind him when danger strikes, readying himself in a moment to stand in and defend you. If you've been separated, you're the first person he seeks to check on.

✧ “Give me your hand.” Anytime the terrain is rough or you could fall, Thorin takes your hand in his to gently but firmly guide you over/across it.

✧ It’s hard sometimes to defer to others especially with all the pressure of being king, but Thorin is intentionally very considerate with you, asking for your input and following your counsel.

✧ Drapes his coat over your shoulders if he sees you looking cold, his hands lingering a bit longer than necessary…

✧ Rather than tell his story, Thorin prefers to ask yours- he wants to know where you came from and why you care about the things you do. If nothing else he craves a feeling of understanding passing between you two, a deeper relation and connection. He’s not afraid to ask deep questions like if what legacy would you most like to leave behind or the most important character trait in your eyes because his partner needs to share his values and be comfortable with deep discussions.

Oin

✧ His biggest tell is the way he dials up the gentleman act for you and only you, behaving so much more politely and attentively.

✧ Sometimes people don’t take the time to have conversations with him due to his hearing difficulties, so he makes sure to be extremely attentive and show his appreciation whenever you talk to him. Expressive listening and reactions are his specialty!

✧ Having skills as a healer, Oin does anything in his area of expertise to ease your travels, whether it’s pain relief, soothing oils for your muscles, steam treatments for your breathing, etc.

✧ He knows a lot of games, too, so if you’d like Oin would love to sit down and teach you some. If you ever look bored or down he will approach you with cards or dice in hand asking if you’d like to while away some time or thoughts.

✧ In turn, any hobby you have is something he’d be eager to learn about. You like to see? Show him how! You paint? Well, what do you make your paints out of? He wants to find a way to support your joys.

✧ Does silly things behind the others’ backs when only you can see, making fun of them or just shaking his head no if they give bad advice. Acts completely innocent even if they catch you laughing.

Gloin

✧ The ability to speak one's intent and feelings clearly, perhaps even with a bit of poetry, definitely runs in his family 😌 He will pay you the best compliments you've ever heard, leaving you to wonder what wheels are turning in his mind as he speaks them.

✧ Unafraid of telling you how nice your outfit looks on you whether it’s the color or the fit or, as is most likely, both! Tells you, in fact, that you’re more beautiful than any gem he’s ever seen.

✧ Teaches you how to play all his favorite tavern games! Subsequently always asks for you to be his partner at them.

✧ “Oh, you’ve got a little…” Extending a hand, he gently removes a small leaf from your hair, gently brushing it back into place.

✧ Won’t give the others the time of day if you’re talking to him. “Can’t you see I’m talking to them and not you?”

✧ Becomes your designated lifter of heavy objects and opener of difficult things, flexing as he tells you that pretty much everyone comes to him for it (even if it isn’t true) 😌

Bifur

✧ Absolutely becomes a showoff whenever he sees you, especially when he's sparring. You're like an energy of your own, bringing him new vigor and passion to overtake his enemy before he flashes you a smile. It's fairly obvious what he's doing, but you can't deny its effectiveness.

✧ Gets you familiar with his signs so he can spill the tea about the others when they aren’t looking 👀

✧ Elbows you lightly to get your attention, then waves at you or wiggles his eyebrows teasingly when you peer at him.

✧ Strings together some beads he has on hand along with some pretty rocks that he found to make you a little necklace or bracelet! Looks so proud as he holds it up for you too 🥺

✧ Gives it his all in every fight where you’re in harm’s way too because it’s not just about him making it out anymore.

✧ Sharpens your weapons for you without you even having to ask 😌

Bofur

✧ Bofur is incredibly sweet around the one who draws his attention, always smiling when you look his way and address him and always laughing at your jokes. His actions could be seen as just friendly but he's incredibly generous and giving around you which is a bit of a tell.

✧ Starts breaking touch barriers! Just with little things like resting a hand on your shoulder as he teases you or expresses sympathy, offering a helping hand to stand back up, or taking your hand or wrist to look at your jewelry.

✧ Yours is the first hand he reaches for when Bofur starts up a song and dance. He holds you so gently but twirls you so eagerly, a smile on his face for you the whole time!

✧ Hype man. Believes in you like it’s a given- of course you look amazing, go on, you can do it, don’t be scared, they’ll love it. In his words, “Don’t dull that great shine you’ve got.”

✧ Sharing little running jokes is his favorite. Whether you two were the only ones to catch another company member say something ridiculous or Bofur was the one you shared a certain story or fact with, he loves those little points of connection and will never let them die.

✧ Loves to take care of you, so when you’re seated together at meals he’ll load your plate and pour your drink for you- you won’t have to do a single thing but enjoy your time!

Bombur

✧ Such a quiet sweetheart! You may not be able to tell he likes you because he's so subtle with his little gifts and waves sent your way, but he's always asking about you and trying to show he cares.

✧ Lets you sneak tastes of whatever he’s making even though he’d usually smack their hand away 🥰 Also he always serves you first at the end of the day and gives you the best bit of whatever he's made! And if you're a lady, he always says “ladies first” with the sweetest smile ☺️

✧ The absolute best if you get anxiety, like he will learn exactly what is best to do for you whether it’s breathing, words, serving as a living weighted blanket for you, a phrase or sensory experience, you name it! He just wants to see you smile again 🥺

✧ Quietly leaves you flowers by your bedroll when you aren’t around, just little surprises to bring a smile to your face at day’s end.

✧ Bombur has the most hilarious theories about how he thinks he can predict the weather, so rather than have you ask Gandalf he’ll explain them all in depth until you’ve got stitches in your sides from laughing.

✧ If you break touch barriers, expect the most shocked, happy :o face from him followed by a smile that slowly grows more and more lovestruck.

Dori

✧ Another case of 'could be interpreted as friendly', Dori practically fawns over you to make sure you're comfortable and have everything you need, but because he's a big brother it can come across like his natural sibling instinct.

✧ Anyone who bothers you gets the biggest scolding of their life- watch out!

✧ Making tea is his love/connection language. He'll offer to make you a cuppa if you're cold, stressed, need some energy, you name it and he'll do it for you!

✧ Practically shushes everyone to get your opinion when a ruckus emerges over some company decision or another, making some creative excuse why you have sway over it.

✧ Dori is definitely the sort to always check in and make sure you ate and got a drink too, always getting certain you’re keeping up your strength and care for yourself.

✧ Invites you to take walks with him when he wants fresh air and time away from his brothers, just the two of you enjoying nature and some one-on-one chatting and laughter.

Nori

✧ Shameless flirt! You'll know by the way his eyes travel up and down, by the way he smiles and approaches you, by his complete and utter lack of fear in complimenting and teasing you.

✧ Probably hits you with a pickup line as one of your first interactions, seeing you and immediately stepping in with the 'what's someone like you doing in a place like this'.

✧ Naturally he always volunteers to pair up with you on watches or lookout duty…just to make sure you’re safe, you know!

✧ Tells maybe, just possibly, exaggerated stories of his feats of heroism…or just gambling, whichever.

✧ One hundred percent the one who tries the old ‘yawn and put your arm around them’ trick one night by the fire or on watch.

✧ If his exploration leads him somewhere interesting you’re the first one he’ll be pulling over to check it out with him, pride written all over his face at your amazed reaction!

Ori

✧ He's so shy and polite around you that you can't help but wonder if his flustered state and smiles are connected to you. He also gets clumsier, suddenly walking into things and dropping them. What can be said, you just have an effect on him 😉

✧ Always points out animals he sees on your travels because he knows you like looking at them. Will sketch you pictures of your favorites so you can carry them with you!

✧ “Ooh, ooh! Sit with me!” *proceeds to not know what to say or do with himself once you get there*

✧ Knits for you, whether you request a scarf or gloves or a hat Ori will make it for you. “Here. This’ll keep you nice and warm,” he tells you as he passes it over, smiling sweetly as your hands brush.

✧ Tries to replicate anyone else’s feats. Fili threw a knife and hit a bullseye? Well watch this. Bifur balanced three bowls on his head? Care to see Ori do four? And if he doesn’t, please don’t laugh too much!

✧ Asks your favorite everything, like what flower you like the best, what meal you enjoy most, what’s your favorite color. Your favorite flower will forever make Ori think of you, and in fact it becomes his muse. He dedicated two whole pages to pressing and sketching them, one for him to keep and one for you!

Fili

✧ Epitome of 'if he teases you, he likes you'. Always shooting you jokes and smoothly grabbing your attention to show you things. Fili just gets a twinkle in his eye around you and his behavior clues you in.

✧ Teaches you the best way to throw knives, standing behind you to help you get the best angle 😏 asks if you’d like to give a name to the one you do the best with!

✧ Such a great listener. Goes full-on chin in hand just watching your animation intently, nodding and smiling as you speak.

✧ Struggle with something in Fili’s sight and you’ll never lift a finger at it again. He swoops right in to help you, always reassuring you it’s no big deal at all.

✧ Opens his arms immediately if you’re stressed or grieving, offering a warm, comforting embrace. He gives amazing hugs, too, a hand sliding soothingly up and down your back as he pulls you in.

✧ Trips and falls in front of you, but saves it by saying he lost his footing because you were so stunning 💁🏻‍♀️

Kili

✧ If he teases you he likes you part two. He also shamelessly flirts by winking at you and doing anything in his power to hear you laugh, so you'll be able to see what's up pretty quickly.

✧ He has a habit of taking things to see if you notice, just small things like if you leave your comb sitting out or lay down your weapon to go talk to someone, he'll snatch it up and hold onto it to see how long it takes! "Just keeping it warm for you ;)"

✧ Takes it upon himself to teach you archery or help you practice, making lots of corrections to your stance, especially with guiding hands on your hips 👀

✧ One night Kili has a coin perched on his hand. “Heads or tails?” You call your guess, and as luck you call it correctly. “Well, that means you get to sit with me tonight,” Kili replies with a wink.

✧ If you don’t mind it, he’ll probably end up giving you some sort of nickname, whether it’s based on some sort of inside joke or just something you like or remind him of.

✧ Conversations he’s involved in quickly involve you, too, as Kili can find a reason to think of you amidst even the most mundane topics.

Bilbo

✧ He isn't flustered around you, but he behaves with a certain awkward consternation that you wonder at. If you have a tougher time reading others like me, you might think he's just plain studying you, confused even, but in truth he is hyperfocusing on every little part of your interactions!

✧ The type to always stick by you, making sure he's the one seated next to you at mealtimes and placed next to you at the campfire.

✧ “Perhaps we ought to hold hands? Just to keep together. After all, it’s quite crowded out here.”

✧ Being introverted as he is, a big sign of Bilbo’s care for you is the way he approaches your time together- even at the end of the day he will still come to you, making it clear time together with you recharges. It equates to ‘me time’, which is big for him.

✧ Asks a lot of questions about your home, the cultures you come from and languages you speak. Bookish as he is, Bilbo will undertake learning your other language(s) and trying to bring pieces of your home right to you!

✧ “So, have you ever… you know, thought about settling down someday? After all this is over.”

[reallychaoticwoo]

Hi babe!! How do you think the different ateez members would be with a gf who is a single mom? Especially if a 1 y/o baby girl? I see all of them as girl dads, but truly you can choose any age or gender for the baby. Also, for obvious reasons, fem reader :). Love you 💕💕

Hello again doll 🖤🖤 Of course I am more than happy to do this as a momma myself 🖤 🎬Overview: Ateez members meeting you and your 4 year old daughter for the first time and what became of it.

‼️This is gonna have to be a two parter, so bare with me 😅😅 I may have gotten a bit carried away. I did get my sister's help with these so everyone say thank you lol 🖤🖤

❤️Pairing: individual ot8 x reader

⚠️Warnings: Probably some cussing, mentions of dead father, Wooyoung being a little shit. Let me know if I missed anything

✨️This is purely for entertainment purposes and does not represent the idols in any way

🖤As always I hope you enjoy!

🧸Ateez meeting Y/N, a single mom. Part 1🧸

Part two

Hongjoong:

Walking into the music store wasn't something you expected to be doing today, but your daughter would not let up about wanting to learn to play the guitar, and she just needed to go look at some right now. So you gave in, taking her inside and looking around. You'd gotten a little distracted looking at a violin, reminiscing over when you used to play, when your daughter slipped away. Of course, she headed straight for the guitars. They were only a few feet away, and she ran straight into a man with burnt orange hair stumbling back a bit before catching herself. "Oh, uh, what are you doing in her cutie? Where's your parents?" He asked her, looking around, trying to find anyone who seemed like they were missing a child. Just that second you rounded the corner, "Oh sweetie, there you are! I told you not to leave my side." You said, looking at her sternly, before turning to look at the man, "I am so sorry about that. I looked away for two seconds." He assured you it was fine, asking your daughter why she was running to the guitars in the first place. "Oh, she wants to learn to play and insisted I bring her to look at them. I figured looking wouldn't hurt. I'd get her one, but I know absolutely nothing about guitars or where to even begin trying to find a teacher." You started rambling. He was gorgeous, and you found yourself a little embarrassed and flustered as he listened to what you were saying. He chuckled, noticing how you seemed a little overwhelmed, "I could help you find one if you'd like. I play a little, so I definitely know the best ones for beginners and more advanced options."He offered. You smiled shyly, nodding at him in thanks. Your daughter, however, had other plans, "Mommyyy, he said he plays!! He could teach me! Can the pretty man teach me, Mommy? Plleaaasseeeee??" She begged looking at you with pleading eyes. You glanced at him, a look of shock and mild panic on his face, before looking back to your daughter. "Now sweetie, I'm sure he's very busy we can't just go demanding lessons from strangers." Your daughter turned to look at him, giving him her best puppy dog eyes and lip pout to this day, "Pleaaaaseeeee will you teach me to play the guitar pretty man? Pllleeeeeaaaaassseeeeee.." She begged. He chuckled at the nickname given to him by your four year old and kneeled down to be eye level with her. "I will teach you one thing if you promise to listen to your pretty mommy and be good for her." He said, patting her head. "Okay, I'll be good!" She exclaimed, looking up at you with the biggest cheesiest grin on her face. He sat down with her and explained one of the easiest chords he knew to her, smiling brightly when she picked it up rather quickly. Heading back to you, smiling brightly, "Mommy, the pretty man taught me to play guitar!" Your daughter beamed at you. "Honey, I'm sure the pretty man has a name." You said, smiling down at her enthusiasm. "I do, it's Hongjoong." He said, looking at you with a smile. "Well, Hongjoong, thank you for taking time to teach her something. I really appreciate it. I'd love to maybe take you out to dinner sometime? As a thank you." You said smiling warmly at him. "If teaching her one chord gets me a date with her pretty mom, then she may have just found herself a teacher. He replied, handing you his phone with a cheeky wink.

Seonghwa:

Your daughter was exploring the Lego store and came across a big Star Wars set, "Mommy! Mommy! Can I get that one?? Pweeaaaseeee!?!" She asked, giving you her best puppy dog eyes and pouty lip. "Sweetheart, we can't afford that.. I'm sorry." You sighed, patting her head, "why don't we keep looking, I'm sure we'll find something." Seonghwa couldn't help but overhear and walked over. "I don't mean to intrude, but I couldn't help but overhear this sweet baby asking for that big Star Wars set. I just bought this one and realized I already have one at home. If mom doesn't mind, I'd be more than happy to give it to her." He was smiling down at your daughter before looking up at you awaiting your reply. "Are you sure? It's okay really, we were going to keep looking. Plus its a bit too advanced for her age." You replied. "More than sure, and I'm happy to help her build it. As long as that's okay with you?" He shot you a warm smile. "PLEAASSEEE MOMMYYYY can we please go build legos??" Your daughter asked, practically jumping in excitement. You looked at her and back to the man in front of you, "Okay, let's go." You said looking at your daughter fondly. "Thank you, uh.. I'm sorry I didn't catch your name?" "Seonghwa, and no need to thank me. I couldn't bare to see a little Lego lover so sad." You sat down in a seating area near the store and the two of them got to work. You'd noticed Seonghwa checking the directions pretty frequently, making you question if he actually already had the set at home, but you decided to leave it be. You were just grateful for his kindness towards your daughter. He was being so patient with her, teaching her where all the little pieces went asking her about what other kinds of toys she liked. You'd overheard him asking about you and not long after your daughter skipped up to you, "Mommy, Hwa wants to know if you'll come build legos with us?" Her big doe eyes pleading with you. "Oh, he does?" You looked at the man with a playful quirk of the brow. He just smiled back shyly. After some conversation between the three of you, Seonghwa reluctantly said he had to leave as he had somewhere to be soon. "But - but mommy, I want to show Hwa when I'm done!" Your daughter said, tears starting to well in her eyes. Seonghwa looked down at her and then to you. "I could uh, give you my number so you can text me when she's finished." He offered. "YES!! Pleaseee mommy!!" She said tugging on the bottom of your shirt. "Yes, that'd be nice. Thank you for building with her, you made her whole day." You smiled at him handing him your phone. He put his number in, "Don't thank me I enjoyed every minute of her happiness. And it was nice getting to talk to her pretty mom too."

Yunho:

It was your first weekend in months you weren't swamped with work. Deciding to take full advantage of your free time, you took your daughter to the arcade. Walking in your daughter immediately squealed in excitement, grabbing your wrist and pulling you over to the dancing games first. After several rounds and some pouting due to unperfect scores, she decided she wanted to try racing games. "Mommy, I wanna drive!" She exclaimed, pointing to one of the race car simulating games. "Baby, you're too short. You can't reach the peddles." You said, looking at her sympathetically. "But mommyy, I want to drive! It looks fun. I wanna be a big girl like mommy and drive!" She stomped her little foot, pouting. Just then, a very tall man walked up to the two of you, "I couldn't help but overhear, I could help her drive if you're comfortable with that? I think I might be tall enough, right?" He offered, directing that last sentence to your daughter, causing you both to giggle at this ridiculously tall man. "I think that would be okay.." You said, turning to look at your daughter, "what do you think, sweetie? Think he can reach?" You asked with a chuckle. "Yes, pweaseee!! Thank you, Mr. Giraffe!" She exclaimed, looking up at him with a bright smile. "Giraffe? I'm a giraffe?" He questioned, laughing at how adorable the nickname was. "I kinda like it! But, you can call me Yunho, since that's my name." He bent down, ruffling her hair, while looking up at you. "Otays, Mr giraffe Yunho! Can we go play now?" She asked, pulling on his pant leg. About 10 minutes into watching them play, hearing laughs come from your daughter you haven't heard from her since before her dad passed, you looked down at your phone and noticed it was almost time for bed. "Sweetheart, I know you're having so much fun right now, but we need to head home and get you to bed." You said softly, walking up to the game to help her down. "Nooooo, I don't want to go home. I want to stay with Yuyu!" She cried, holding onto Yunho. He pulled her back and gave her a pat on the head before setting her on the floor, "I know, and I want to play too, but you need to listen to your mommy. You gotta get some sleep so you can grow big and tall. So next time you won't need my help and you can play by yourself." She pouted, rubbing her eyes. "I don't want to play by myself anymore, I want to play with you forever!" You smiled sadly at her, knowing exactly what your daughter meant by that. Turning to Yunho, you said, "Thank you again. It's been a long time since I've seen her smile and laugh this much. She hasn't been that happy since her dad passed last year. You helping her play that game made her night and means a lot to me." Picking your pouting, sleepy daughter up to head to leave, Yunho stopped you. "I'd be more than happy to continue hanging out with the both of you, if you'd like?" He said timidly. "I, we would really like that." You replied, a fond smile on your face.

Yeosang:

You're sitting down at a restaurant with your daughter when two good-looking guys sit at the table next to you. "Look, Mommy! That guy looks like a prince!" your daughter says loudly, pointing at the blonde one. "Yes baby, he does, but you can't say that stuff so loud, and it's rude to point." You say a little embarrassed because they most definitely heard what she said given the fact the the one with black hair is giggling like a maniac "But mommy, that means he must have a castle and I wanna go!" She says, getting up and walking towards them."Excuse me Mr prince, can you take me to your castle? pwease I've always wanted to see one." She says, batting her eyelashes at the blodne haired man. You quickly follow after her. "I'm so sorry she's only 4, and she really loves fairy tales. Mostly the princes and castles." You say embarrassed. "Yeah, come on, Yeosang, show the little princess your castle," the black haired one says with a shit eating grin, causing Yeosang to look down, trying to hide his blush. "I'm not the princess," your daughter says to the black haired one. "My mommy is because princesses marry the princes, and I'm not old enough to marry anyone yet." She says matter of factly. With a little nod agreeing with her, Wooyoung replies, "You're so right, little one! So does that mean my friend, the prince here, should be courting your mommy? " He says, nudging Yeosang, who has yet to look up. Yeosang shyly looks to your daughter, "I would be horrored given that your mommy is a very beautiful princess, but I believe that princess should choose their prince." He said, sparing a shy smile towards you. "Well," you say, " I think I might be willing to give this one a chance." Both you and Yeosang are now smiling shyly at each other while Wooyoung and your daughter are sharing a victorious fist bump.

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

⛓️If you'd like to be tagged in part 2, please let me know!(:

[arcane-apathy]

Chapter 10

Prologue | Previous | Next

AN: No you are not dreaming, I'm actually posting another chapter. Thank you all for being so patient with me this past year. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. 🌻

Warning(s): Brief talk of self-mutilation

It only took a week for Talnir to lay down the first layer of snow. The tan of the dying grass was sprinkled with snow and frost. Only to be turned into mud beneath people’s feet that same day. Despite being from a considerably warmer climate, the horde was not deterred. They donned extra layers without being told and helped the rest of the camp as they prepared for winter. The beginning of the winter rush was nothing new to you. And like most years you busied yourself with making tinctures, salves, and medicines. Making sure to use all ingredients you know would spoil if not used soon. 

  While you were busy preparing for a winter full of illness, Kurakh started a project of his own. He would leave once his food was devoured every morning and wouldn't return to your shared quarters until the last meal. You barely saw him around camp, nor did either of you speak unless necessary. It took five days for you to lose your mind because of the silence. Opting to work in the main hall with other camp members who wanted to hide away from the harsh wind.

  The main hall always brought a small smile to your face. The rebel's and the horde's children play together in the middle of the room. An Orcish woman helping braid the tail of an older Centaur. The Dwarves assess broken blades of all kinds. An Elven man was teaching a group of teenagers how to build arrows. Everyone sat in groups, no matter their race. Across the hall, you could see Schelura doing the hair of a younger Orc woman. The intricate style was already full of beads by the time you made your way over. 

  “Oh hello,” Schelura smiles and motions to an empty spot on the table, “have a seat.” You set your tools on the table and sit down, openly staring at Schelura’s handiwork. “Do you want to be next?” 

  “It’s tempting, although that’s a lot of beads…” 

  “She’s trying to catch a young warrior’s eye… Maybe you need this style too,” she teases. 

  “You’re ridiculous,” you roll your eyes. 

  “And you’re blind,” Schelura scoffs. “This is a more traditional plait since his parents are more set in the old ways. I’d give you something different… What do normal Vorren women do with their hair?” 

  "We usually just weave ribbon into our braids. Our hair is usually covered because you're clergy, or due to the cold."

  "Such practical people."  You roll your eyes at her comment and begin measuring out your ingredients. Schelura and the girl start to gossip while you ignore them to focus on the task at hand. "And Kurakh is away checking and setting up traps all day. I wonder what he's trying to catch, he comes back nearly every night looking frustrated." 

"Wait that's why he's gone all day," you look up from your herbs. 

The younger girl turns her head as much as Schelura would allow, "you didn't know?" 

Schelura laughs, "somebody might be getting a gift soon" 

"A courting gift, now that's romantic," the younger orc swoons. 

"Oh I don-" 

"He hasn't told you about it, he's gone all day, and he's constantly frustrated things aren't going as planned. If it isn't a courting gift, I permit you to cut off my hand," Schelura deadpans. 

 "You know I wouldn't do that unless it was at serious risk of infection or severely mangled ." 

  "Maid, that is not the point I am trying to make," she scoffs at your logic. You didn't even get to properly glare before she scolded you, "don't even look at me like that! Kurakh is one of the easiest men to read, like a warg pup."

"I don't even know what a warg pup looks like Schelura," an exasperated sigh leaves your lips.

"Cuter than you'd expect," the younger girl smiles while Schelura repositions her head. "I also heard he threatened a Tiefling in the courtyard yesterday for disrespecting you." 

  "That sounds likely,” Schelura smirks. 

  "You've made your point very clear Schelura," you roll your eyes and refocus on your craft. 

  "Then you should make sure Kurakh is aware that you know. He needs to know if you reciprocate or not. Not knowing is currently driving him crazy. And if you don’t want his advances he should know before he goes too far.”

  “And how do I do that?” 

  Schelura smirks, “you can start by letting me do your hair.” 

  "I'd rather not think of my hair, it has been so long since I washed it last. " 

  "You haven't gone to the hot springs yet?" 

  "And have strangers see me bare," you flush at the thought. 

  "The girls and I could go with you, and if we go in the evening there shouldn’t be that many people." 

  "I would appreciate the company," a rare smile graces your lips. 

  "We'll go tonight, I've been dying to wash off with something other than cold water." That evening you dropped Mazna off with Roldza, luckily without much fuss. And you left a note for Kurakh since he had yet to return. With your only clean change of clothes and bath oil in hand, you meet the girls in the hall. Maaga and Galta were both equally excited to relax in the warm waters that lie further within the former mine. Like Schelura said there was hardly a soul in the springs. Only a few elven girls sat in one of the smaller pools, applying oils to their hair. 

  With the safety of only being surrounded by women making you more confident you begin to undress. Schelura was the first one in, with a massive smile on her face, "definitely better than cold water and a bucket." You slowly follow in behind her, minding your steps on the slippery rocks beneath you. The water was certainly warmer than any water you bathed with before. After waiting a few minutes, thankfully there was nothing within the water that would irritate your wound. You take the chance to properly inspect it, not having to hide in the shadows from Kurakh. 

  "Is it still bothering you," Maaga asks concerned. 

  "Not as much as it used to, it'll be an awful scar." 

  "There is no such thing as awful scars in our culture," Galta chuckles. "I mean just look at Kurakh. Blind in one eye from one and littered with dozens smaller than that. And Orkisch women swoon over him every day... Well, the ones who don't know him like we do."   

  "Men can be scarred all they want in my culture, but for women it's unsightly."

  "The more I learn about your culture the more it pisses me off," Maaga groans. 

  "How do you think I feel," you scoff and sit on a rock in the water. The warm, mineral-rich water goes up to your shoulders. Galta dunks herself beneath the water with a smile. The whispers of the Elven girls were welcomed in comparison to the noise of the main hall, or Mazna throwing a fit. You slowly sink below the surface after getting more accustomed to the water temperature. The voices above you became louder, and you could practically feel the grime melt away.

  The light burn in your lungs prompted you to stand again. The water trickled down your back as you wiped your face. The cold air of the cavern causes goosebumps to bud across your skin. Once the water was out of your eyes you refocused on the rocks ahead. Trying not to stare at anyone in particular. Schelura scoffs and moves beside you, trying to run her fingers through your soaked hair. "This won't do... Don't worry I brought tools for this." She reaches for her comb and motions for you to sit on the rocks again. 

  "I can brush my hair." 

  "I'm aware, but I need to prep it for braiding tomorrow." 

  "Fine," you sigh and try to relax as she works the comb through the ends of your hair. Luckily it felt much better than Mazna playing with your hair at night. Out of the corner of your eye, you watch Schelura reach for the pool edge again, followed by a light herbal smell. "What's that?" 

  "A hair oil," she hums as her hands gently massage your scalp. "Your hair is damaged from the fabric of your headcover. It is too rough... I might need to make you something stronger. You also need a trim; your ends are a mess." 

  "I get it, my hair is awful." 

  "It just needs more than a hairbrush," Schelura chuckles. "Don't worry, you're in good hands," she emphasizes by massaging the back of your neck. You couldn't help but hum in relief, fighting not to melt into her touch. "your muscles are just as stiff as the warriors. You know, for a healer you are terrible at taking care of yourself." 

  An ache settled in your stomach. Schelura was one of many people to point it out to you. Usually, you'd be able to blame it on your duty. The life of a Maid of Eia was busy, even before the King declared war. Maaga seemed to sense this ache, moving closer to the two of you, "so how long until we have snow up to our knees?" 

  You smile softly as you welcome the distraction, "I'd say another month. It's supposed to be a late winter this year. Or as we say in the clergy, Talnir is lazy this year." 

  "Talnir?" 

  "The Spirit of Winter, son of Sokastr and Sala." 

  Galta laughs, "because that explains so much." 

  "The number of deities your people have is ridiculous," Maaga chuckles before dipping her head below water. 

  "It's a lot to remember," you sigh as Schelura's hands leave your scalp. "Honestly I forget most of it now. Just the stories we were told as kids. And the weird stuff you can't forget how much you try." 

  "How weird," Maaga looked apprehensive to ask. 

  "Eia's parents are aunt and nephew." 

  "That's not too bad," Galta relaxes against the pool's edge with her eyes closed. 

  "When creating their children, the elder gods forgot about procreation. So, the new gods had to create their genitalia. Eia took it upon herself to create the females by cutting herself open. Using her muscles to create a womb, and cutting between her legs. Hence the monthly cycle and the pain of childbirth." Galta and Maaga wince, and Schelura groans. "Want to know how Lantes created male gen-" 

  "Absolutely not."

  "Don't even dare." 

  "I'm close enough to push you underwater." Despite the threats you all laugh. A rare deep belly laugh escapes you. It has been so long since you've laughed like that it almost scared you. The good mood carried through as the four of you finished bathing. You felt the most relaxed and clean you've been in ages.  The clean change of clothes felt heavenly against your skin. Per Schelura's orders, your damp hair flowed down your back as it air-dried. The only bad thing was that you now needed to launder your only other set of clothes. 

  You returned to your quarters with your things in your arms, greeted by the smell of food cooking. Kurakh looks up from the pot but doesn't say anything. His good eye was looking you up and down. His silence was killing you, “is something wrong?” 

  “The scouts spotted a battalion just north of us. We'll ride out before dawn to intercept them." 

  "I should probably pack my supplies-" 

  "You're staying here." 

  "Kurakh, I can be careful." 

  "You are what they want. It would be surrender if you came with." You knew this tone well, Kurakh's words were final. And you didn't want to ruin your evening by wasting your breath. "That was easier than I expected," he smirks.

  "I don't feel like ruining my good mood," you set the dirty clothes in the corner. Hopefully, you won't forget them come morning. Kurakh doesn't say anything, choosing to stare at your hair instead. "Will you at least wake me up before you leave?" 

  "Of course, Odmili," he motions for you to sit. "The stew is almost ready." 

  "Rabbit?" 

  "They are plentiful here." 

  "I fear you will run out of recipes before you run out of rabbits," you sit cross-legged beside him on the bedroll. He breathes out a laugh while handing you a bowl. A plate of Freronbrod on the ground beside the two of you.

  "Your kingdom will run out of rabbits before the horde is full." 

  "Your fault for coming in the winter," you snicker as you dip your bread in the stew. Kurakh elbows you in the rib playfully, his worried expression having finally worn away. You smack him in the chest as retaliation, a challenging look in your eyes. For once you didn't recognize the expression on his face. He looked conflicted like something was holding him back. His eye goes back to your hair, nose twitching. "What?" 

  "It's nothing."

"Considering the face you're making; I highly doubt that. Is it my hair?" 

   "Not necessarily... What oil did they put in your hair?" 

  "I don’t know. Schelura only scolded me for how unhealthy my hair is." 

  "That makes sense. I think Schelura is trying to make a fool of you." 

  "What do you mean?" 

  Kurakh sighs, "Orcs have a stronger sense of smell. Because of that, hair and body oils tend to have different meanings. And the one Schelura used on you… Well, it’s supposed to be seductive." 

  Immediately blood rushes to your cheeks, “you can’t be serious.” 

  “I wish I weren’t,” his lips parted as he tried breathing more through his mouth. 

  “I can go sleep with the girls tonight, considering they’re the ones who got me into this mess.” 

  “No,” Kurakh said rather quickly, “I can handle it.” He smiles sheepishly and continues to eat his soup. You decided not to press any further and do the same. Once the two of you finished eating you took it upon yourself to clear up the dishes. 

  “Do you have anything that needs to be laundered? I’ll be cleaning my spare clothes tomorrow.” 

  “I’ll leave a few things on the pile you’ve made. I know Mazna has a few tunics as well.” There was a quiet hiss of a blade leaving its sheath from behind you, soon followed by it scrapping the whetstone. “Do you not have any more clothes?” 

  You glance over your shoulder, hands still in the tub of cold soapy water used for cleaning, “I do not.” Stew was easy to clean off the wooden bowls, you hardly needed to look at what you were doing. “Clergy life is not as luxurious as people think. I had my own room, but it was tiny and drafty. The library barely had anything other than medical tomes. Three flavorless meals a day. We had no days off because ailments and childbirth don’t care for the calendar. And I would be lucky to get a new apron for my birthday.”  

  “Just enough to keep you from complaining about working for no pay I presume?” 

  “A twenty-pence on high holidays, which there are five of in a year,” anger made itself known in your gut. Stomach turning as you tried to ignore it, “it would take me three years to make enough for taxes. Luckily I don’t have to pay taxes. But I do have to catch a deadly disease, get robbed while traveling from town to town, never see my family again, or get captured by the enemy in a pointless war!” The scraping of the blade stops and so do you, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.” 

  Kurakh motions for you to return to the bed roll. Patiently waiting as you dump the dirty water into the floor drain. “I wish you would stop apologizing for being your true self.” You pause and open your mouth to rebut, yet nothing comes out. “It is as if you are playing a character,” he gently takes your hand to pull you closer. “When I see that fire in your eyes, I’m reassured that there is a real person hidden within. You need to break free.” 

  “Kurakh, I hardly know how,” the words barely above a whisper. 

  “We can teach you. Remember you are one with the horde now, and we take care of our own.” 

[nextstopwonderland]

Family gatherings with Bryan and Zack. If it inspires

Timestamp sequel within my gotta have faith series

Become a part of me (766 words)

Its been a busy year, as Bryan expected, and seeing one another hasn’t been the easiest. When Bryan takes time off in April and May after his match with Will, he almost immediately hitches a ride to Japan with Mox. 

“You know, Bry, if you weren’t so allergic to winning titles this could’ve been you. Would’ve seen your boyfriend all the time then.” 

Bryan just laughs and shoves the IWGP belt out of his face. It’s a little ironic that there’s a member of Blackpool Combat Club who will be getting to see Zack all the time and it <i>isn’t</i> Bryan, but he’s happy for Mox and besides, he has a lot still to do in AEW this year.

But they make the most of their six weeks together. And then he gets to see Zack for Forbidden Door, and then their own rematch at a small venue in England (not a pub this time).

Zack comes to Wembley, watches him face Nigel and lose. The rematch is set for the Tacoma show, which is as close to a homecoming as he’s going to get, even more so than Wrestledream a year prior. 

 Bryan thinks about that night last October, the night everything finally changed for them for real. 

This time Bryan’s family is here and Zack is nervous. 

(“Not good with the parental units,” he said the night before as they were laying together in their hotel bed. 

“They’ll love you,” Bryan reassured, pressing a kiss to Zack’s shoulder. “Just charm them the way you did me.” 

Zack laughed. “It took you over fifteen years to come around, darling, not sure that’s the best advice.”

He ran a hand up and down Zack’s chest, kissing his skin once more. “C’mon, you know you had me earlier than that.” 

“Mmm yes, just playing hard to get like the ponce you are.”

“Maybe don’t call my sister a ponce.” Bryan pauses. “And maybe don’t say cunt around my mom.” 

Zack groans. “This is going to be bloody torture.”)

Zack is trying to hide it but Bryan knows he’s still nervous today. He’d invited him to watch out in the crowd along with his family, but Zack opted to stay in the back.

When Bryan wins, streamers fall and he and Nigel hug and he knows this isn’t the end-end (has unspoken plans already to be at Wrestle Kingdom in January) but it does feel like something. 

He embraces his mom, sister and niece at ringside and thinks about Zack backstage. 

It’s a whirlwind of handshakes and hugs and speeches and people. When he gets to the back, Zack is right in Gorilla, standing with Will and looking happy. His eyes light up even more when he sees Bryan and then they’re walking toward each other and embracing tightly. 

“Magnificent.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Fuck off. Bloody masterpiece and you know it.” 

Bryan smiles as they pull back. The urge to kiss him is strong, but Tony claps him on the back and Will is talking to him and it’s back to being a whirlwind. 

His family comes back a few moments later and Bryan feels Zack stiffen beside him. 

“Is this the young man I’ve heard so much about?” His mom asks. It’s so cliche Bryan nearly groans.  

“In the flesh,” Zack replies, reaching down to squeeze Bryan’s hand while shaking his mom’s with the other. Introductions are had. His sister winks at him discreetly and his niece is fascinated by the fact that Nigel, Zack and Will all have different English accents.

Bryan finds himself getting a little nervous as well, not needing but wanting approval. His family is quiet, kind, and easy to please. But it’s also been a very long time since Bryan actually brought someone home.

When they make their way back to the dressing rooms and Bryan emerges, freshly showered, it’s to Zack telling a story about his childhood and making everyone laugh. 

They catch one another’s eyes and nod, a silent check in. 

Bryan has to abandon them all to do press, but then looks over to find everyone lingering off to the side of the media scrum as he answers questions and reveals which books he’s currently reading. 

It feels right, seeing Zack along with his family. It’s what he’s become. 

Later, in the parking lot while they say their goodbyes, his mom hugs him tightly.

“Seems like a keeper,” she says in his ear. 

Bryan looks over at where Zack is standing, looking on with a fond expression. Zack meets his eyes as he replies, “Yeah. I think so too.” 

[dalimoor]

So I did a shiny-only run in SoulSilver

I know, it's probably the dumbest thing I've ever done. But I saw SmallAnt's Shiny-only run and was like 'I want to try that'. My rules were:

-No catching Pokémon unless they were Shiny -No using non-Shiny Pokémon in battle -Must finish the game (all 16 Badges plus defeat Red) with a full team of six Shinies -Receiving non-shiny gift Pokémon is okay, because I needed them for HM purposes Tl;dr - I did it. If you want to know how many resets it took, I didn't count, because I was doing other things at the same time and kept losing count 🤣 So, the first thing to do was to get a starter. HGSS is great because you can see if your starter is Shiny even before you receive it. After resetting a bunch, I finally got one!

...And it's my least favourite of the Johto starters, but beggars can't be choosers. (Also, sorry about the shitty photos, I was playing on real hardware.)

Welcome to the team, Gatorade! So, I decided to go for static or gift Pokémon as it would make resetting for them easier, as SmallAnt did. My next choice was Sudowoodo. He actually came along the weekend I was staying with @runeandmoon for Hyper Japan, so she saw me get him in person!

As you can see, this was five days after starting the game. Not bad, huh? I named him OnTheRocks, and Croconaw was pleased this was no longer a solo run!

Moving on, I headed to visit Bill in Goldenrod, as my next target was Eevee. He arrived sparkling four days later.

I nicknamed him 'Guinness' and eventually evolved him into an Umbreon. I'm naming all my Pokémon after drinks or drink-related things. After Eevee, I picked up the easiest catch in the game that required no resets...

...Seems a little too easy, doesn't it? This is Red Bull. I used her for a while, but eventually she was fully replaced by a more 'legit' Shiny and became just a HM slave. Our next proper team member was found in the Rocket Hideout.

Ramune the Voltorb! I forgot to take a photo of its status screen after catching it, but it was caught five days after I got Eevee. I didn't get another team member until after getting all eight Johto Badges. I was actually gunning for the Extreme Speed Dratini from the Dragon Master, but in the end, I changed my mind and went to the Game Corner instead. That way I was able to check five Dratini at once. It was probably a bad idea to change my mind half-way through, as this one took ten days to get.

Eventually, MonsterNRG arrived shining! We were so close to being done now! I could have just stopped here, as with Gyarados I did have six Pokémon, but where's the fun in that? Nope, I knew exactly who team member nuber six had to be...

LUGIA!!

Five days later, P. (Pink) Lemonade joined the party! Now I had my actual full team, it was time to challenge the Elite 4!

It was tough, because I was pretty underlevelled, but I did it.

How cool it was to see a full shiny team enter the Hall of Fame! Going around Kanto was a fairly breezy job, until I got to Red. I was badly, badly under-levelled for him, and it took forever, and a lot of healing items, but he too eventually went down.

I was too slow to catch the actual 'you defeated Red!' text when taking the photo 🤣

And there it was, my Shiny-only run of SoulSilver. I had a lot of fun, but I don't recommend anyone else doing this. I didn't count my resets, but I must've got extremely lucky, as I finished the run in barely a month. Now, what kind of run to do next...?

[sweetlyocs]

In A Dream - Phoenix’s Cut

synopsis: Phoenix’s words throughout the showing of NCT Dream The Dream Show: In A Dream The Movie

note: trying a new layout for Phoenix’s cut in TDS Movie! enjoy!

HER OPENING WORDS TO THE FANS

“Are we really doing this? Wah... A whole movie dedicated to the Dreamies for Dreamzens. I think my first thought was, are they crazy? We can appear really different to how the fans see us but I hope through this they can feel closer to us and understand us a little bit better” 

Nodding to herself, she ran her hands over her dress to smooth it out, the white a striking contrast to her normal fashion when promoting. Thinking for a moment, Phoenix paused as she tried to come up with her next words,

“My hope, for us doing this concert or these concerts really, is that I just want us to be able to finish proudly. We haven’t stood on a stage as a team in front of fans for such a long time I think it will be really hard for us. I want them (the members) to be walking off stage and be happy because they did well and are healthy”

PHOENIX AND JENO

Her laughter was what was heard first, the scene cut from Jeno and Jaemin calling him stupid to her sitting in front of the camera. 

“Jeno, he is really like the kind of friend you don’t know you needed. He holds a lot of strength in the team, but he’s very confusing. Did he tell you that the cutout on his shirt was his idea? When I saw it for the first time... But he helps us a lot, and he’s always so playful he really is our pup”

Somin was trying to stretch her legs as the stood on the stage, the poor girl having to do the rehearsal in heels for the first time was proving to be more tiresome than what she first thought it would be for herself. As they began to take a break, most of the members moved behind the stage to escape the burning sun and heat for a little while but she stayed put,  “Are you coming?” Shaking her head she looked down, “I feel like my legs are jelly already and we aren’t even properly dancing yet...” Nodding Jeno walked over to her and bent down, “Up you go, we don’t need you burning out from this sun before we start” She climbed onto his back wordlessly as the camera captured the two heading off screen.

PHOENIX AND CHENLE

Somin was half hidden behind Chenle as he was playing around with Jisung, the girl fiddled with his mic pack before tapping his side and passing it to him. Grabbing her own mic from his hands she patted him as the two separated to their spots in the line up. 

“Chenle used to be my baby before he grew up. I think it took me a bit of time to realise that he didn’t need me to look after him all the time and I couldn’t hold onto him as tightly. He is very caring to anyone around him, even strangers. I don’t tell him I love him verbally as much anymore because I think it makes him embarrassed now but I do”

PHOENIX AND JAEMIN

“The easiest way to describe my Nana? He’s like my fairytale love honestly. He’s so different and he listens to absolutely everything I say and pays attention to all the little things. Sometimes life just gets too much and he helps me find things that make sense” 

Phoenix waved Jaemin over to her as she was getting ready to do the air lift jump, he smiled as she held her arms open. The taller male wrapping his arms around her as they watched and waited for her turn. He had already tried it and it was fun but nervewracking at the same time. His eyebrow however, lifted at the girl as she traced her fingers over his biceps,  “You good there pretty girl?” “Mmmh, when did your arms get so big?” “Checking me out?” “No just appreciating” She smiled up at him as her name was called, “Catch me when I fall?” “Of course"

PHOENIX AND JISUNG

“Jisungie... Jisungie worries me. I think that I worry about him almost more than I do about Haechan. I wasn’t someone who babied him a lot but he’s still our baby you know? Everytime I see him though, I’m always wanting to tell him how proud I am of him. But he asks so many weird questions about life I get a headache sometimes”

Jisung suddenly sat next to her as they were in the hall practicing their markings for the show, the older turned in slight confusion as he made himself small on her lap. His legs bent as he curled into her stomach. Immediately her hands fell into his hair as she soothed and separated any knots that had formed from practicing.  “Noona?” “Yeah?” “Do you think I’ll do good out there?” Her hands stilled as she looked down, his eyes were closed but the crinkle formed between his brows and his breathing was unsettled,  “Ji, you could walk off that stage absolutely hating your performance and I wouldn’t lie to you when I’d say you were amazing if not perfect. I have all the faith in the world that you are going to do more than good.” “Thanks...” “You’re very welcome, how about we just stay here for a little bit? Noona will wake you up when we get started again”

PHOENIX AND RENJUN

Renjun lay in the clear box as they rehearsed Quiet Down, the girl casually walking over and laying on top facing in as he ran through the steps,  “Can I help you?” “You ignored me last night when we were meant to sit and read” “I was busy” “Doing what?” “Laying in bed,” Sighing the girl tapped the box to get his attention as she sat in front, “Tonight, we are eating together and painting. I don’t care for how long or what but you need to let your brain shut down a little otherwise you’re going to keep overthinking and then you’ll be mad when you mess up. And use your legs less and hips more when you do the moves so it flows better”

Smiling, Phoenix shook her head as she thought of the best way to describe Renjun, “Renjun holds a lot of power in the team. Everyone wants his attention and to protect him. He’s very soft and sincere - I wouldn’t say innocent. He talks about lifes possibilities a lot and he puts too much pressure on himself so I hope in future he loves himself most and cares about himself most.”

PHOENIX AND MARK

Their voices constantly kept overshadowing one another as they talked with the team, the rest of the member stood idle as they discussed things. Mark and Phoenix had began to grow more frustrated with each other to where their tone was getting harsher and short. Eventually the two were pulled away from each other to cool down before they picked back up again. As they sat in silence avoiding each others presence, Mark let out a defeated sigh, noting how he hadn’t seen her eat anything the entire time they had been in the hall. Grabbing a few things, he came to sit next to her on the floor,  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped and I really do appreciate your input Som” Nodding the girl took the water bottle he had opened, “I’m worried about you. Mark you’re not resting, both you and Hyuck are so busy that neither of you eat proper meals and now look at us,” “I know,” “Do you? I want you to be healthy and I want you to understand that us having this amazing concert doesn’t mean we have to jeopardize your health. Let us help you with carrying the stress, we’re a team” “You always look out for me Som, love you okay” “Someone has to, half the time it’s like there isn’t a thought behind those boba eyes of yours” 

“Mark, he’s so precious. He’s the oldest but he’s like a baby. His mind is everywhere and thoughts are nowhere to be found sometimes, but he is the reason why we’re still here. Mark is our home, and we make sure to take care of him because without him we aren’t okay”

PHOENIX AND HAECHAN

“Haechannie, he is my comfort. Whenever he comes back after being away it’s like, ah okay everything makes sense again. He keeps us happy and always makes sure we feel energised. My favourite thing about him is probably his smile? Just seeing him truly happy makes me feel better”

Somin was walking around the stage as she watched the crew prepare for tomorrow’s concert, her eyes catching Haechan being projected onto the screen. Pulling out her phone she took a photo of him, turning to locate where he was before rushing over as she heard his laughter echo out from his mic. Standing back slightly she kept taking photos, now of the boy right in front of her. He wasn’t blind to the camera going off but he shrugged it off until he was lifting a brow in her direction as his conversation ended,  “Trying to fill up your storage?” Shaking her head she simply sat in front of him, “Smile” Rolling his eyes he obliged, regardless of how confused he was. “Seriously though what’s up with you?” “You look happy,” “Okay?” “I don’t know it’s just, you just, I don’t know how to say it but looking at you right now? I want to keep this photo of your smile with me forever you know” Nodding, he slipped down to sit in front, turning slightly and pulling out his own phone, “Smile Som” 

SOMIN’S INTRODUCTION

I think the best way to describe me is the calming voice of our family, I am your Neo girl Phoenix

DREAM’S WORDS ABOUT SOMIN

Chenle shook his head, “Phoenix is the best kind of crazy. She is so fierce in everything she does it can be overwhelming. But everything she does it’s always for other people so I hope she can allow us to look after her more” Nodding he wrung out his hands. 

“My little love. I think she always fights to prove herself even when she doesn’t have to and she’s not afraid to love and that’s my favourite thing about her” Jaemin smiled as he spoke, looking down a little as his hand rubbed the back of his neck, “She’s always our biggest fan and she’s very vocal”

Jeno shook his head no, “She is the most powerful member in NCT, not even just in our team. Her mind is always ten steps ahead and she’s so smart everyone ends up just following what she says. She can be scary too which is funny” 

“Noona, she worries about us a lot. Even though we’re all so close in age she always took responsibility for everything. If anything went wrong or if one of us got in trouble she always took the heat and protected us. So I always want to protect her now” 

“Phoenix really matches her name well, she’s a rare kind of person to come across and it never mattered what was thrown at her back then or even now but she always comes back stronger than ever” Renjun fiddled with his ring, “She makes you want to fight to be better than you were and always makes sure that you’re loved”

“Som is I think my best friend, honestly. Honestly Somin is like my number one.” Mark crossed his arms as he tried searching for the words, “We are really similar but super different at the same time and she’s honestly just so cute. Yeah she’s mine” 

Haechan laughed as he thought about how to describe her, “Phoenix is unlike anyone I have ever met before. She is very quiet but super loud and she’s so smart. I think if we didn’t have her we probably wouldn’t be as good of a team. She helps bring out the best in us”

SOMIN’S LETTER

Her hands were shy to open the note, Jaemin rubbing her arm slightly as she opened it and took a breath, 

I was always worried about the person that I would grow up to be, but I feel like growing up and having someone like Phoenix unnie was what helped me become a better version of myself. I don’t know what my dream is and I don’t know if I will be able to survive as strongly as she has in this harsh world but everyday I wake up and am thankful that I have been lucky enough to hear Phoenix’s encouraging words. Words she says with love and belief that even the bad days become better in the end so I hope one day Phoenix will never have any more days where it’s dark but ones that are filled with only love and light. Phoenix, Somin, our dream girl hwaiting!

SOMIN’S ENDING MESSAGE

Dream will always be here, in your heart, in your lives and by your side. I think the thing that makes me understand how lucky I am is that I get to receive so much love and I hope that in a years time or two years time or even ten that people can turn around and say that they were proud to be someone who supported Phoenix

We are here together. We are NCT DREAM

[namikiheights]

hey, asker of the web / light novel differences that was passed over to u the other day, thank u for all the things u brought up. i am curious to hear more about kiritos violence in particular bc that aspect always felt like it was missing smth which definitely checks with the information u gave. his dream sequence and battle w internalized guilt has always interested me but again it just felt like it wasnt quite all there. im also very curious about kyouji and since that seems to be ur area id love to hear u expand. i havent gotten to the phantom bullet lns cos im trying to catch up on progressive first and im a slow reader but the way hes portrayed in the anime just felt so ,,poorly written and overall bad?? like he just completely did a 180 and it never rlly made sense to me, i just assumed his character would be more coherent in the ln and they cut it out of the anime for time or whatever.

Thank you for sending the original ask, and thank you for sending this one!

The other violent thing about web novel Kirito IMO is specifically HOW he killed the Laughing Coffin members in the raid. In the web novel, he mentions that he had sort of… lost grip of what he was doing? I guess? And got really into the fight, thus actually slicing a Laughing Coffin member’s head clean off (not a stance or slash you would take or do if you were only fighting in self defense). He does say his anger and vengeance took over in the light novel, but I think the decapitation in the web novel came from another place in his heart. Perhaps the same place that led him to beat up and steal from his beta tester friend in-game.

As for Kyouji! This boy has gone through so much, changes wise. And, as a Kyouji stan, it is my duty to not hide the monster he used to be.

TW: Mentions of sexual assault, discussion of suicidal characters, suicide attempts, and suicide as a religious and literary trope

The easiest way to put it is this:

For the most part, both Kyoujis are the same. They are nerdy and runty, something that got them bullied. That led them to dropping out of high school, so they are angry of those who seem to have it better. This leads them to make Death Gun, something that both backs them into a corner and yet also gives them an opportunity to attempt shinjuu with Shino (will elaborate what this means later). Now to contrast them a little.

Web novel Kyouji:

-Mocks Sinon when she makes mistakes (laughs in her face)

-Seems to think of Shino as a doll (or, at the very least, gives Shino the idea that he thinks this way of her)

-Is so obsessed with Shino he refuses to talk about her to anyone else because that is how sacred she is to him (that he doesn’t even want her name in other peoples’ mouths!)

-Is partially sexually motivated (remember the scene where he lightly touches a picture of Sinon on his computer? In the web novel, he, uh… does the nasty to it)

-Actually killed someone (he didn’t just play the part of Death Gun in the game)

-Doesn’t feel remorse for doing so

Light novel Kyouji:

-None of that lol 😭

This is what I mean by just a few cut sentences can change a character entirely! Without him being aggressive and ruthless and misogynist and this possessive, he ends up being a good friend who is just a bit whiny sometimes. The removal of his sexuality also makes it so that his motives are entirely religious. It’s still wrong for him to force that on Shino, but I think there is a difference between a delusional boy who doesn’t realize what he’s actually doing and thinks he can save both himself and this girl he cherishes who actively thinks she’s going to Hell… and an asshole boy who is very much attracted to this girl and is using this as an opportunity to force himself on her (which he nearly does, Shino is almost entirely naked by the end of the web novel’s iteration of the scene, but she fights back and then Kirito saves the day).

Wait, hold on! Religious motivation?

Here comes the part where I explain what shinjuu is. Shinjuu means lover’s suicide, in which a couple take their own life together. The religious component is that shinjuu is specifically a Buddhist practice and, within that, a free ticket to Heaven.

Hold on! But Kyouji and Shino aren’t a couple!

They may not be, but they like each other. This is certain in the light novel, and sort of there in the web novel. Shino thinks to herself that she does like Kyouji and want to date him, but simply thinks her trauma would cause too many problems in their relationship. Kyouji knows this and accepts it.

But also probably gives him the idea that this shinjuu thing could actually work.

In Kyouji’s mind, and partially Shino’s, the two of them are fellow tormented souls (Shino with her PTSD, Kyouji just not wanting to be here anymore). With the added layer of Shino thinking she’s going to Hell for having killed someone (real line in the light novel!), shinjuu sounds perfect! And with the religious belief that there’s something after death as well as Kyouji’s own delusional mental state, the gravity of death disappears.

Okay, this sounds plausible. But the word shinjuu is only ever used in the Sachi side story! How do you know this is the intended reading of the murder suicide attempt scene?

Some more context on shinjuu now. It’s actually a trope, having its own subgenre known as shinjuumono (“love suicide story”). It was popularized in theater in the 1700s, when playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon wrote Sonezaki Shinjuu (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki). The format of shinjuumono is that there are two lovers (usually a merchant and a courtesan) who cannot be together (think Romeo and Juliet), so they decide the only way they can get their happy ending is in Heaven. A motif of the older theatrical shinjuumono is that they would have Buddhist chanting as part of the performance. Very religious indeed.

So, shinjuu is sort of a big deal in the creative world. It makes sense for an author who unabashedly pays tribute to his inspirations to include it. I’ve gone over how Kyouji and Shino’s story is particurly similar to Sonezaki Shinjuu in the past, so I won’t delve too much into it here. The point is that Kyouji’s murder suicide attempt is shinjuu.

Some smaller tidbits that point to that are the placement of Kyouji’s hands during the scene. He puts the syringe on Shino’s neck — not on her side like in the anime or manga, which pisses me off! — which is where the protagonist of the Sonezaki Shinjuu places his knife on his lover. Kyouji’s whole spiel about reincarnating into a better world is also Buddhist, and so is his reassurance that “I’ll carry you all into the mountains where nobody is, and then I’ll follow right after you. So wait for me once you’re there, okay?” The mountains are a place in the afterlife in Buddhism, and this sort of journey he speaks of is often poetically depicted and performed in shinjuumono classics.

But I digress. This is just me trying to make sense of what’s in Kyouji’s head as he does what he does. When it’s just this, without any sexual motives like in the web novel, it paints a more depressing tale rather than one of abuse and fear. But since the anime frames it in a more sexual way (as they always do) and ALSO cuts out Kyouji’s backstory (that he was bullied and extorted for money, that he isn’t doing well in cram school) and makes it seem like Shino never liked him…

Well, it’s almost like they reduced him to a shell of his web novel self instead of adapted his light novel self. He’s no longer a misguided boy in pain (who feels remorse for his actions, so much that he can’t speak at ALL, unlike his web novel counterpart who bragged about killing and only refused to talk about Shino), he’s a one dimensional creepazoid like all the others in the show. It’s a disservice, since the light novel went out of its way to take out the sexual assault whereas most of the other villains didn’t get theirs cut out (it almost seems like Kyouji specifically was edited that way… because they knew the character he COULD be, as opposed to the other villains who were too far gone).

And, man, I’m real sad about that! Because now my favorite character is just a meme, someone people barely remember anything about other than him screaming Shino’s name.

There’s a lot more I can say, but I think this covers a lot of it. I hope this helped you understand him more! If anyone wants to ask clarifying questions, please go ahead! I know it can be confusing to know which Kyouji I’m talking about sometimes, lol…

Thank you for reading!

[meganuzlockediary]

Gym 7 and 8 Pokemon White

September 23rd

Honestly a surprisingly easy part of the game this time. I'm starting to think that the main reason I was struggling with nuzlockes in the past was simply game knowledge. Playing through black twice has made this a bit of a cinch all of a sudden. Either that or I have a much safer team.

So getting through twist mountain is no sweat. Glad I know the way through and with crustle, throh and Darmanitan on the team Icirus city is set to not be hard at all.

And honestly I'm right. Sheer force darmanitan is terrifying! 3 fire punches is all it took. Easiest gym battle yet it was embarrasing. I kinda wish Ice types were more threatening.

Following that is the climb up dragonspiral tower and down the desert castle. After doing these twice and a pretty strong team a bunch of plasma grunts are not going to give me any issue.

I do however catch a Druddigon on the way up! Surprisingly this is the last good appearance it makes in these games so its basically a free use pokemon! While it is slow it is reasonably bulky hopefully it will be a solid member of the team to switch into when needed.

Bianca now shows up and she is always a bit scary.

Her stoutland as usual uses work up as I go for revenge getting him to just above half health. Fortunately it goes for retaliate next which does half damage to me but the rocky helmet damage and increase power of revenge gets the KO. That's the tough one out the way. I switch into Crustle to deal with Musharna very successfully but crustle takes quite a bit of psybeam damage after being put to sleep. Once Musharna is down simisage comes in Darmanitan is all that is needed to finish the fight. One Fire punch and one Thrash takes down both simisage and Emboar.

I catch a Pawniard on route 9. While a steel and dark type can be super useful and Bisharp is a fantastic pokemon I'm actually hoping I can save it for another game although it doesn't make a decent appearance until Sword and shield and of course kingambit now exists. We will see.

But after entering Opelucid city it is time to challenge Iris.

Now this is a tough battle, I feel ready though. I play a couple of risky games here however. I lead throh vs fraxure. Fraxure can barely do anything here so I start to set up bulk ups. In response she is setting up dragon dances. I feel pretty comfortable with this until she Dragon tails... Yeah I forgot about that. Fortunately it brings in Druddigon who can KO with dragon claw as she actually goes for another draogn dance. I sigh in relief. Now my druddigon easily outspeeds hers and gets the druddigon down into the red. A night slash does little damage and I deal enough roughskin damage to take out the opponant druddigon! Last up however is her Haxorus. Here is where the risky play comes in. I know she is going to go for dragon dance so I switch into Samurott who can outspeed and use encore! A risky strat due to her set up but that's half the fun. I switch back to Druddigon and begin dragon clawing. Annoyingly she starts to hyper potion only getting to +2 atk and speed. When encore runs out I panic a bit but bit the bullet and go for dragon claw. Druddigon somehow outspeeds which should not be possible until I realise the Haxorus is going for Dragon tail which always goes last! This allows me to finish off the Haxorus getting the KO and winning me the fight.

I'm honestly thrilled. I was expecting a death there definitely I'm very happy none have occured yet! But it is time for the final league and lord knows if I am actually ready for this.

Badges won: 88

Pokemon Used: 181

Pokemon defeated: 47

[xyztrio721]

I’ve been meaning to make an update on my progress in Pokemon Violet, but for some reason, I’ve kept putting it off until now.

And since a lot has happened since my last post, I’m just going to give a short summary of what has happened so far.

Warning: Spoilers for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Under the Cut

Let’s start with my progress in all three of the stories.

Victory Road: I’ve beaten two Gym Leaders: Brassius and Katy (in that order)

Path of Legends: I’ve beaten two Titans: Kwalf, the Stony Cliff Titan, and Bombadier, the Open Sky Titan (in that order). I somehow didn’t get by any of the boulders Bombadier was trying to drop on me prior to the battle.

Starfall Street: I’ve only beaten one of the squads: the Schedar Squad. I plan on taking on the Segin Squad next (which I probably should have beaten first because Level-wise, this squad is the easiest one to beat. However, since these games allow you to do everything in any order you want, this is how I’m going to continue the Starfall Street story).

Next, I’m going to list all of the new Pokemon species I have met.

Oinkologne, the evolution of Lechonk (I only have a male Oinkologne, but I did catch a female Lechonk and plan on evolving it so I can get a female Oinkologne)

Nymble

Charcadet, the pre-evolution of both Armarogue and Ceruledge

Toedscool

Flamigo

Tandemaus

Spidops, the evolution of Taroundula

Maschiff

Dachsbun (I caught a male Fidough and nicknamed it Pillsbury, then evolved it into Dachsbun. Also Dachsbun is adorable and I’m so happy my little Pillsbury grew up?!)

Clodsire (I wanted to nickname my Clodsire Flat Fuck, but for obvious reasons, I had to change it to Flak Frick. Also this is the evolution of Paldean Wooper).

Squawkabilly (I caught all four forms: Blue Plumage, Grey Plumage, Yellow Plumage, and Green Plumage)

Naclstack, the evolution of Nacli, another Pokemon I met between the last post and this one.

Wattrel

Tadbulb, the pre-evolution of Bellibolt

Pawmo, the evolution of Pawmi

Capsakid

Tinkatink

Finizen

Lokix, the evolution of Nymble

Kilowattrel, the evolution of Wattrel

Technically Revaroom because of Mela’s Starmobile, but I don’t know how I can obtain this Pokemon myself.

As for the Pokédex overall, I’ve seen 144 Pokemon and caught 117.

Now for the stories: Victory Road hasn’t been that exciting in terms of the story it’s telling, and I’ve only beaten one Team Star squad, so I can’t say much about Starfall Street for the time being (other than the fact that Clive is TOTALLY not Clavell in disguise and I’m almost certain Penny is playing a bigger role in this story than just being a member of the Supply Division), but Path of Legends… that’s a different story.

Arven’s reasons for seeking out the Herba Mystica was way more sad than I thought it was. He’s trying to help his Mabosstiff recover from the serious injuries it got in a battle a long time ago, but nothing has helped. Not items, not Pokemon Centers, nothing… except for the Herba Mystica.

He is placing his faith in a bunch of records from an expedition that happened a long, long time ago that may or may not be true, but the Violet Book’s records may have some truth to them… after all, after eating the Bitter Herba Mystica, Mabosstiff finally opened its eyes again.

I originally wanted to do the Path of Legends story first so I could unlock new powers for Miraidon, but now I have a second reason to complete this story first: I want to see Mabosstiff recover.

I really hope it does…

This is not a good segway into the last part of this summary, but this is too important for me to leave out: I found my first Shiny Pokemon before I’d even beaten my first Gym, Titan, or Team Star Squad, and it was this Spoink.

I did make a post about this last month, but like I said, this is too important for me to leave out of the summary.

Oh actually, one last thing, my current team (which I’m thinking of making my final team) includes the following Pokemon:

Floragato (nicknamed Hierba)

Kilowattrel

Charcadet

Tinkatink

Daschbun (nicknamed Pillsbury)

Naclistack (nicknamed Ata after a character from Boueibu Happy Kiss)

Okay, now I’m done. I’ll have to remind myself to make another post when I beat one or two mores Gyms, Titans, and/or Team Star Squads.

[conniemolina]

Vote Yourself Off Sometime Island

Indeed Sometime in the not so distant future! I will do that Sometime in the not so distant future! I hear "Sometime in the not so distant future" constantly. Sometime I will get in shape (I use to say that each New Year). Sometime I will begin my business. Sometime I will leave my place of employment, venture to the far corners of the planet, quit smoking, compose that book, sing in front of an audience... experience my fantasies. I know "Sometime in the future" I used to live on Some time or another Island.

I planned to sometime play proficient football. I was a capable 5'10" 246 pound fullback who ran a 4.56 40 yard run. In 1995 that was cracking astounding. I could obstruct, catch, and run. Triple danger running back. Perhaps you knew about me? Try not to look I never played after secondary school. Be that as it may, some time or another I would have been a star competitor. Tragically, I was living on Some time or another Island.

Could it be said that you are living there now? It's said that the street to some time or another prompts the town of no where. Long island SEO You really do wind up some place simply not where you needed. Some time or another never appears. Assuming your objectives are dependably around the bend you won't ever arrive at your objective. Wear 't stall out on Sometime Island.

The Island Of Reasons

Sometime Island likewise has a moniker and it's known as the Island of Reasons. The street to average is cleared with expectations. 95% individuals with goals get tainted with an infection called "Excusitis". There marriage is terrible, their folks didn't adore them, they went to some unacceptable school, they were excessively fat, excessively tall, excessively thin, to short, or to _____ fill in the clear.

Failures gain pardons victors gain ground. The island isn't abandoned. You have companions, family, and collaborators there. More often than not you share your reasons. It feels significantly better and despairing people tend to be desperate for kindred spirits. There are a lot of ways off the island however you never adventure towards the shipping bays.

On the off chance that you need more deals in your business, a greater rundown, more grounded group, and more income you need to cast a ballot yourself off Some time or another Island. Advance toward the shipping bays and load up that kayak, boat, pontoon, boat, plane, or helicopter. Try not to tell anybody. They will toss you a stay on the island party or attempt to obliterate your transportation.

The following are 4 activities now to Cast a ballot Yourself off Sometime Island

1.Develop Self-control - I just completed the book, No More Reasons, by Brian Tracy. He gave 21 moves toward foster self-control in your business and individual life. Except if you have a rich family member or just won the lotto there is no boat coming to monetarily save you. The best way to get away from the island of normal is with work, ingenuity, tirelessness, and everyday reliable activity. Normal individuals can't stand those words.

Self-restraint is the way to progress. You realize it yet could you at any point practice it on a regular basis. Self-restraint is the capacity to do what you ought to do, when you ought to get it done, regardless of whether you like it. It's the eagerness to rehearse the essentials of your business ordinary. You don't get exhausted with the basics.

Competitors train for quite a long time to get to the Olympics or to come to the masters. Specialists and attorneys keep on going to class and should rehearse their calling. Performers put in the hours practicing. You really want a similar discipline in your business.

2. The Easy way out - Individuals bomb in their self-start venture since they generally follow the easiest course of action. It requires investment to become familiar with a promoting system. It takes persistence to test your catch pages, pipes, and follow-up frameworks. Sorry there are no press button achievement frameworks that guarantees you abundance without the work. The easy way out baits you in yet it will constantly prompt disappointment.

Indeed, you can purchase traffic and leads the entire day. In any case, could you at any point change over? Are you ready to get familiar with a showcasing procedure and have it make your business productive. Individuals search for the simplest way as opposed to learning Web optimization, PPC, Email Advertising, or post office based mail. Pick 1-3 showcasing methods and expert them.

3. The Practicality Element - The sister of the easy way out is the convenience factor. Individuals look for the quickest and the least demanding method for getting the things they need, presently, with almost no worry about the future results of their way of behaving. Quit worrying about the normal laws of planting and harvesting.

Normal individuals do what is generally convenient and the best time. Not what is vital. To this end you see individuals escape, switch groups, or switch organizations since they don't have the self-restraint to fabricate their business.

4. Time to get Off Sometime Island - Discipline is the way to get off and remain off Some time or another Island. Plan your departure now and don't let the influxes of the typical drive you back to shore. Find these ways to cast a ballot yourself off Some time or another Island:

Get clear on your vision of how much cash you need to make

Focus on being in the top 20% of pay workers in your industry

Put 3% of your pay into self-awareness and showcasing preparing

Focus on Discipline

Gain ground not pardons

Activities Beat Goals Ordinary

Activities beat goals ordinary. Activity won't ever fall flat. Self-restraint requires everyday activity and day to day activities is the best way to cast a ballot yourself off Sometime Island.

Charles Fitzgerald Steward, is a business visionary and master in web showcasing. Charles has an enthusiasm for aiding individuals start and run fruitful self-start ventures. You can join forces with Charles and begin fabricating increase revenue streams from your home. Charles will likely assist all who join forces with him accomplish income and benefits from their business.

[maklineluv]

Ni-ki Catch Up

[ncityavenue]

𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙎𝙏 𝙆𝙄𝙎𝙎. / 127

Okay ik that I said that I had a brain fart but..Idk y I saw these 3 pics and for some reason thought " first kiss with 127 mhm yup!" But it's obviously not gonna be just cute, fluffy, adorable WE OBVIOUSLY GONNA ADD SOME FUN TO IT. also maybe suggestive idk

Also Johnny might be used in this for other hcs of the members bc he's a very good emotional support I feel,so YAS!

────────────────────────

𝙏𝘼𝙀𝙄𝙇

I just feel taeil is so sweet that even if he liked you, he wouldn't initiate that he wanted to kiss you. I just feel like he's too sweet for his own good LIKE BABEEE STOP LOOKING AT OUR LIPS AND JUST GO FOR IT.

Speaking of looking at our lips, He does often find himself paying attention to them lips sometimes his friends catch him and tease him abt it.

BUT ANYWAYS ON TO THE KISS, since Taeil is too scared to communicate that he'd like to kiss you match maker johnny has to come through and gets the idea of the classic "lip balm challenge" which if you don't know it's like 2 ppl play and one of them put a flavored lip balm but they have to kiss the other person so the other person could guess the flavor.

NOW, Johnny is like "Dude, I have this idea so you could finally kiss the person of your dreams!" And Taeil is a little concerned since None of friends have good plans, More of Johnny, but he explains it to Taeil and now he has his bff in shambles. Taeil is like "but what abt you? I'm not kiss you just to kiss Y/n" Johnny answers with a quick, "oh no! I'm gonna be in charge of keeping up 'the scores' and seeing if yall get it right"

ON TO THE GAME HIDWVDUBWOS. It's all set up and your kinda innocent to this and you don't really think much of it except that you're KISSING ONE OF THE HOTTEST GUYS EVER but anywayssss, it starts blah blah you get orange flavored lip balm and TAEIL IS SO SCARED THIS MANS IS SWEATY, KNEES WEAK, ARMS ARE HEAVY. So yall kiss but like for a little to long that Johnny is like "OKAYYY THE TIMER WENT OFF 10 SECONDS AGO STOP KISSING LOVE BIRDS!!"

"So what was the flavor Mr.Moon Taeil?"

"I forgot we were doing a game-"

"Taeil you're a great kisser, I could get use to this without the lip balm to be honest"

"UHM—"

Taeil has died.

𝙅𝙊𝙃𝙉𝙉𝙔

Okay I see this man just going for it but like kinda subconsciously.

You're playing a game against haechan since that mf wanna talk shit how you only win against Johnny bc he let's you get away with it cause he likes you which is lowkey true BUT NOBODY GOTTA KNOW🤫

And win the match against haechan bc YO MAMA AINT RAISE NO LOSER🥱🥱!! And Johnny is happy for you and was on your side the entire time so like he grabs you into a hug a kisses your cheek.

SEE CAUSE PERSONALLY IF THAT WAS ME— GIRLLLLLL JFOW XHWKSLMS

Haechan wit his nosy ass notices and is like 🤨🤨🤨 "hyung did you just kiss Y/n?" And then FIRST TIME IN FOREVER JOHNNY GETS EMBARRASSED. You on the other hand you're just like "🧍🏾‍♀️🧍🏾‍♀️" but inside you're like "BXIWBDHWVSKSBXHWVAISN JOHNNY FUCKING SUH KISSED ME" which is understandable babes.

Later on, He apologizes and beats himself up for it and wants to make it up to by making you a "5 star meal" word from him, but you grab him down since hes kinda a giant and kiss him..ON THE LIPS THIS TIME.

It might've gotten a little heated BUT YOU AIN'T HEAR THAT FROM ME🤫

𝙏𝘼𝙀𝙔𝙊𝙉𝙂

Poor Taeyong, that's all I think when this man tries to be affectionate without the other person initiating it. He needs the ENTIRE 127 TO HELP HIM. How? What's the easiest way of getting someone to kiss their crush? Spin the bottle OFCC🤗🤗

Taeyong does tell Johnny first since he trusts him the most but then he tells everyone except you or not really tell bc it's kinda obvious, HONESTLY YOU KNOW AS WELL BUT YOU NEVER BRING IT UP BC YOU DONT WANNA SCARE HIM HXVSUDVAONAO

Yall are bored out of your minds until Jaehyun surprisingly requests a game of spin the bottle, you guys give him a questioning look though but go with it anyway.

Taeyong kinda gets nervous so he tries to run off with a "guys I'm kinda sleepy so-" Jaehyun interrupts him with a cheeky smile "nooo your not, especially now." Which momentarily confuses you and Taeyong until you both look down at the green tinted bottle that was faced both of you.

"Oh...." was all He could get out until Johnny pats his back with a loud encouraging "BRO YOU GOT THIS IT'S ONLY Y/N, THEY WON'T BITE."

"At least not that hard..." You muttered until you moved closer to taeyong.

You kinda felt sly and had a weird itch to see Taeyong feel as nervous around your present or maybe that's just your Dom self kicking in

You felt his bicep tense up under his oversized Grey sweater, you whispered a small "relax it's just me" GDUWZVISAKOMCS Before giving him a big cute smooch on his lips.

To Taeyong and you, the room felt alot more humid in that moment but it quickly went back to bright and clear after you backed up and gave him a innocent sweet smile.

the boys clowned him about it the next day bc he had his eyes open for a bit and closed them

YOU JUST COMMITED MURDER DOING ALL DAT TO MR.LEE TAEYONG🙄🙄

𝙔𝙐𝙏𝘼

He's not afraid to express his feelings I've notice, so he straight up is like "Yo, you're fine as fuck and I would definitely kiss you"

But this doesn't just come out randomly, you're just chilling late night with Yuta,Mark, and Haechan. Y'all just talking about random shit until, kissing techniques come up which is lowkey fucked up for mark bc we know our boy ain't really had a first kiss that he can remember BEOWVFUCBQO. But then our mans Yuta has had a few.

You already know that Yuta thinks you're good looking because almost everyday he says something positive about your looks so you kinda have a feeling where this convo is going.

Haechan kinda loudly asks, "is there anyone in mind you would like to kiss? Other than Mark, Yuta." I CAN HEAR MARK'S NERVOUS LAUGH HELPPPP— Yuta thinks which he honestly doesn't know why he needed to because as Haechan asked that the first person that popped up was none other than you.

His eyes lingered on you for a bit as you also gave him the same look while you drink the last bit of your cola, he sighs and pipes up, " If we're being honest, Y/n."

Mark is like "Bro fr?! [Laughs nervously]what— WAIT YOU'RE BEING SERIOUS?!—"

And you grin because you internally give yourself a round of a applause for guessing the unthinkable, you clear your throat before speaking and you say "well...what are you waiting for?" Leaning closer to him.

WOOO IS IT JUST ME OR IS IT GETTING HOT IN HERE???

But yeah yall lowkey make out—yes infront of Haechan and Mark's salad.

Mark is just like :0 the entire time while Haechan is like "OKAY CUUUT!"

"Wait so...are y'all like— dating? No? I'm confused!" Poor Markie just wanting some reassurance from this weird situation 😕 You and Yuta kinda just shrug it off for now.

𝘿𝙊𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙉𝙂

(SUGGESTIVE SO SUGGESTIVE YALL I— I MAYBE DRAMATIC BUT IDK)

Okay it happened so fast, one minute you're admiring your bf singing Shirt by SZA the next you're giving him sloppy toppy okay I'm joking abt that but it's in the same realm I guess you can say.

You kinda watch him look up songs to cover and you suggest one of your favs, and he immediately does it.

Now the thing is yall never really did much affection since it's still fresh, kisses on the forehead, cuddles, cheek kiss, temple kiss, and all that sweet jazz but never lip kisses OR EVEN HICKEYS😭

But you see your mans YES YOUR MANS over here in his chair looking good with a white tank top with his lean arms showing and some of his chest (I'm a hoe for doyoung's neck IM NO BETTER THAN A VAMPIRE BITCH—) What's not helping is that he rests his head back when he hits little highnotes

It lowkey looks like he's getting the best head right now which it lowkey turns you on, SO YOU TAKE YO CUTE ASS OVER TO HIM AND SIT ON HIS LAP. This is not abnormal for yall tho, BUT the vibe is tho.

He looks at you momentarily until BOOM yall lips are together, ngl it gets a lil..sloppy.

Getting carried away means love bites on the neck meaning doyoung's neck was COVERED (over exaggeration #2)

But it also leads to...fun in the playground which means his slender fingers in your pussy.

OKAY LEMME JUST SAY YALL WERE SHOCKED AT HOW FAR YOU GUYS WENT BC YALL NEVER TALKED ABT STUFF LIKE THAT BF4

"If you guys are gonna do that, at least be more quiet. Love, Everyone in this house<3" Doyoung read off the teared piece of paper swept under the door.

"Anyways what do you want for breakfast?"

"Our roommates just said they heard us last night, y/n-"

"My main concern is the grumble in my belly doyoung and it should be yours to"

"...sometimes you're too carefree-"

𝙅𝘼𝙀𝙃𝙔𝙐𝙉

See cause who doesn't wanna kiss jaehyun? Absolutely no one. But how many of those people get to actually do it? Very very slim! (Sorry Jaehyun stans, including myself)

But the thing that shocks him is not that people wanna kiss him its that YOU wanna kiss him, which everytime he thinks abt it his ears go red.

But the thing is you're only doing this so your ex could stay away from you. The guy has a weird habit of always trying to get close with you still after 5 months of the breakup when you clearly don't wanna deal with him, so you use you bestfriend!jaehyun as a fake boyfriend

Though you want him to actually be your bf BUT THAT'S ANOTHER CONVO.

Yall are at the mall and TO OUR SURPRISE you see your obsessive ex only 2 stores down standing out the store waiting for yall to get out of Bath and Body works. You get out of there with Jaehyuns hand in yours and you notice his hands are pretty classy.

" don't be nervous! He won't hurt you, trust me I'm alot stronger than him and so are you." You reassure while pinching his toned arm, he just flashes a unsure smile. You turn to your left to see your ex and you curse under your breath.

"He's here! Jaehyun kiss me"

"What?"

"Kiss me!"

"Why do I need to?"

"..you're my boyfriend right?"

"Well yeah fake tho"

" Just kiss me. You won't regret I swear"

He kisses you for a while, he grabs your waist until he realizes that this is just "fake"

"Jaehyun!"

"I'm sorry i-"

"Stupid why are you apologizing? Do it again."

"HUH?"

"You heard me Fool, You're pretty cute kiss me again."

WAIIIITTT THIS WAS CUTE UHM ANYWAYS- yall end up actually going on a date even tho yall are at the mall.

𝙅𝙐𝙉𝙂𝙒𝙊𝙊

Well, you see how he kisses his homies already? Yeah he does that with you as well. YALL BESTIES OR WHATEVA😋🤞🏾 or so you say...

You can be existing and he just pinches your cheek and says "awhhh cute!" And swiftly steals a kiss on your cheek. And you're just like "JUNGWOO LEAVE ME ALONE!" (You're like Mark 2.0)

As kiss on the lips wise, he's always thought abt what it would be like to kiss your plush lips but never brings it up. You catch him looking at your mouth and you just take it as him telling you there's something on there.

He catches himself and immediately starts smirking at you and you're like "BRUH STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT"

But then one time you actually had something on your mouth, he was like "fuck it" and used his thumb to wipe your lip. You stopped mid sentence but not bc jungwoo wiped his thumb over your lip but because he THEN leaned in and kissed you.

You kissed back after some shock washed over you. After yall stopped he kinda tilted his head with THAT FUCKING INNOCENT SMILE.

"Now...what if I slapped you afterwards what would you do?"

"I would moan."

"...ok well-"

"Do it."

"NO JUNGWOO"

"PLEASEEE"

"OH MY GOD NO—"

HELPPPP BDJBXUABAO IM SORRY.

𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙆

We already know Mr. No game ain't gon do shit so we gotta do it for him BFIWVDIQMWOG HELPPP NO MARK SLANDER I SWEAR I LOVE MARK

So I see this man talking about how he wants to kiss you and make sweet love to you. Which lowkey cringes you bc instead him saying I wanna have sex with you he says that but you still find it cute.

So he obviously tells all of this to johnny and Johnny is dying of cringe bc he never thought the person that he basically raised is talking about such things, Mark transfer this into a song though and Johnny is like "Dude you should totally sing it to her"

He's kinda scared at first bc he thinks you'll catch on way too quickly but gives in anyway, so you're chillin' while listening to Mark sing his song while playing the guitar.

But there's a lyric that he can't finish because it distinctively talks specifically about you and he mentally kicks himself because honestly he made the song to not show it to you unless yall get married and have 5 children.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Uhm...I don't think you wanna hear-"

"Why would I not? I like it so far!"

"I don't want you to think I'm weird-"

"C'mon it won't hurt me, is it about sex?"

"Not exactly"

"Then what's the issue?"

He sighs, and begins once he starts he looks at you momentarily to see your reaction and as he ends the lyric he looks up again to see you like :0

"MARK IS THIS ABOUT ME?"

"UHMMM YEAH- WAIT NO UHHH IS IT?"

"OH MY GOD. AWHHHH"

"WAIT YOU'RE NOT MAD?"

"NOOO IM HAPPY"

"YOU ARE?"

"YES...MARK DO YOU WANNA KISS ME?"

"UHM? YEA I GUESS? WAIT- ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?"

As he points at himself questioning you, you pull him by his neck and gives a big SMOOCH

He's malfunctions honestly, he's on glitch mode one may say🤭

He scratches the back of his head, "I feel so embarrassed though" tilting your head at him you answer with a simple 'why'

"Because I feel like I should've been more straight forward since I know you like blunt men-"

"Stop right there. Just cause I said that Yuta being so bold was attractive doesn't mean that's my type. I like dorky cute cringe men, meaning you."

"Wow thanks."

"I'm serious! I like you mark!"

"wAit[voice crack] you dO?[voice crack]"

"Yes stupid!"

"Oh my fucking god..:0"

Then he grabs with a second kiss from excitement 😭😭

𝙃𝘼𝙀𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙉

(Kinda suggestive)

Okay we all know haechan is flirtatious devil and you never take his flirty jabs to heart but very recently its been getting more bold. For example! He has placed his hand on your thigh, squeezing and kinda playing with it but never in a sexual manner. NOT KNOWING HOW MUCH EFFECT THAT GIVES YOU.

And everytime you help him with something he puckers his lips out but you never give in because WHO KISSES THEIR BFF AM I RIGHT?

His lips have been looking real kissable lately, every since he asked if he could borrow your chapstick bc he was "too broke to get some himself" which was a lame excuse to throw in everyone's face that he shares the same chapstick as you. Which should've been reason 1 that he likes you but that's just silly ole' haechan right? Right...?😧

But honestly that desire to kiss your "bff" grew quicker also when he got tomato sauce on his lips and licked it off making his plump small lips glossy and a little red.

SO haechan needed help with his computer since it was acting stupid, he had the perfect Idea to mess with it so he could call you in his room just to have you around.

You sleepily shuffled your way into his room with groggy 'what', he explained the situation and you stared at him so his request could register in your still half asleep brain.

"Haechan...do you ever think about figuring stuff out before calling me?"

"I DID! I told you I tried to restart my computer like 3 million times and the add won't budge."

"There's no way a browser add is just gonna be stuck there after you shut down your computer unless you're on pornhub."

"That's not the point, Just fix my computer pleaseeeeee"

"Ugh fine! You're repaying me though "

"Yeah yeah yeah just come sit on my lap"

"Okay I'm leaving"

"IM JOKINGGGG"

After turning back to enter his room you made your way over to him and his precious little computer, you bent down some so you could be eye level with it.

"Damnnnnnn!"

"I'm gonna fucking kill you haechan."

"Please do"

"...not if you get pleasure out of it"

"Oh so you like edging huh?"

"WHAT?"

"It's a genuine question."

"Lemme just fix this computer before I do the unthinkable in here"

"Kinky."

After huffing at his sly response, you took the cord out and plugged it back in. After the computer buffered a few, the screen turned on and the home screen popped up with you and him at the 2021 Halloween party (FYI you were guys went as vampires since it was a lot minute costume grab)

"Why do you still have this up?"

"We looked hot I don't know."

"[Chuckle] I have other hot photos you know?"

"Don't joke like that"

"Does it look like I'm joking?"

"Lowkey hope you are"

"Mhm as if you don't have me on your lap right now"

"Its a habit. BUT THANK YOU FOR HELPING MY COMPUTER BESTIE"

As he did his signature puckered lip thing, you look at them for a second and you think if you should go for it, "Fuck it" you muttered before grabbing the back of his neck and kissed him.

You felt him tense up guessing that he's shocked by this new gesture of yours, and when you broke the kiss he pants a bit before looking away.

"Oh....that's not haechan getting all flustered is it?"

"Give me a minute please."

"You never give me a minute"

"What does that mean?"

"[Sigh] when you touch my thigh you never give me time to regain myself"

"I didn't think it was making you all hot."

"Okay I didn't say that"

"But that's what you meant."

"Okay fine."

"But why did you kiss me?"

"Mmmm.. your lips looked nice and you look really cute right now."

"So all the other times I didn't?"

"It's not that, I was waiting for the right time."

"So me calling you in here to fix my computer and you sitting in my lap was the right time?"

"Yes."

"I'm not mad at it"

────────────────────────

Okay I'm kinda sorry on how long some of them are but I'm also not bc they're kinda cute if you ask me.

Also recently idk what it is but jungwoo lowkey is starting to grow on me I think it's bc I watched that relay cam of him and the one with mark which also has him in it and the taeil one starring him I think jungwoo might become a fav but WE'LL SEE🤭🤫

Anyways hope you enjoyed bestie boos and this is the end of YOU GUESSED IT The BGKSC BYEEEEEE😋🤞🏾❤

[primofate]

Genshin [Volleyball Team AU - Inspired by Haikyuu!] What it’s like to be their manager Headcanons

Note: I think a lot of people misunderstand the role of the manager XD It’s not that the whole team is dating you. It’s that the whole team treats you like their family/sister. So you’d better bet that all of them are gunna be hella protective of you XD

Scenario: What do you do for the team and what do they do for you? :D

Warnings: not proofread, fluffy, might have some swear words, platonic relationships

Characters: Zhongli, Diluc, Kaeya, Albedo, Tartaglia, Kazuha, Xiao, Tohma, reader as the team manager

Other works in the Volleyball Team AU Series: Click Here

Genshin Volleyball Team manager

It’s just fuckin’ chaos

On your first day you’re already bombarded with questions by Tartaglia and Kaeya

“So which class are you?” “What’s your height?” “Are you single?”

Captain Zhongli just cannot be bothered to reign them in anymore.

So Vice Captain Diluc does it and grabs their collars. “You idiots, you’re scaring her off!”

Possibly Kazuha and Tohma are the ones you really try to rely on, on your first few weeks.

So how do you gain the trust of your team? Let’s start with each player shall we?

#1 Zhongli (Captain/Wing Spiker/Ace)

Zhongli is just handsome and mature. He’s strict and needs to be the pillar of the team. 

You’re intimidated by him the first few weeks and he just seems...a little far. He’s always so focused that you can’t seem to catch a moment to just chat with him.

There’s a day where you notice that his form is a little off, you suspect that he hurt his wrist a little. 

You fidget uncomfortably in the gym as they practice, but finally turn to the coach “U-Umm... The captain is... I mean! I’m not sure, but... I think he needs to take a rest,”

The coach calls for someone to substitute Zhongli and suddenly asks you to check on him.

“Huh?! Me?!” the coach pushes you towards him, and Zhongli is just looking at you quizzically, you can practically see the question mark on his face.

“C-Captain, d-do you need some bandages on your wrist?”

Zhongli is taken aback, but silently puts his right wrist out for you to wrap.

Only when you’re done tending to it does he look you in the eye and ask.

“How did you know?”

“...Because I always watch, and all I can do is watch. If I can’t even spot that out then I’m not a very good manager am I?”

Zhongli has a newfound respect for you. He thought you were just a meek and shy thing sitting around and passing them balls but he feels his heart swell that someone like you is seriously watching over them.

#2 Diluc (Vice Captain/Wing Spiker/Defense Specialist)

Diluc is probably the second hardest to get along with or break the ice with.

But he gradually warms up to you when he notices that he’s always the first one you pass a towel and water bottle to.

You’re not doing that on purpose, it’s just him who always comes up first.

After a few days he deliberately goes to you faster cause he always wants to be the one to receive a water bottle and towel from you first. Secretly a puppy.

The moment he realized that you were reliable was when you stayed behind to help him practice when everyone else went home already. 

You didn’t let up in your constant praise of “nice receive”, “great spike!” and “that’s so cool!” 

He thinks he saw stars in your eyes at some point.

“Hey, Diluc, it’s getting late, let’s leave some energy for tomorrow, yeah?” he could tell from your mannerisms that you were tired too, but you tried not to let it show on your face and still cleaned up with him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then!” you wave but you’re stopped by a quick. “No,” from him. You tilt your head in wonder and he just looks at you as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.

“It’s late, I’ll walk you home,”

#3 Kaeya (Middle Blocker)

You don’t have to impress this guy, anyone of the female gender impresses him.

lol jk

safe to say it’s not difficult to befriend Kaeya, just bring him a cheering squad and some food.

all jokes aside the way to this guy’s heart is through his stomach.

He’s not a particularly hungry person but there’s this one time he forgot to bring lunch. He was running late, or something of that sort, honestly not something new for him.

He ALSO didn’t bring money so he couldn’t eat food from the cafeteria.

Ask his friends for money you say? Tartaglia would go, “Haha no way!” Albedo would go, “Let this be a lesson for you,” his brother would go “Serves you right,”

By club time he’s famished and dramatic. “Guys, go on without me, this is as far as I go,” as he sprawls on the gym floor.

You ask if he’s okay and he doesn’t answer so Diluc is the one that answers for him. “He forgot his lunch, as always,”

You make a sound of understanding and the next thing you know you’re taking out a lunch box and Kaeya has lifted his head up, sensing food.

“I packed onigiri for everyone today, actually... In case someone was hungry. It’s not much but--”

Kaeya comes alive from the dead and clutches your hands to his chest. “Manager you really are an angel,”

Diluc jump kicks him away from you.

#4 Albedo (Setter)

You also don’t know how to approach this guy

He always looks mad or stoic or something. Like he’s always thinking about something.

He low key actually is always thinking about play strategies and how to set the ball better for his teammates.

You really do think he works so hard while the game is going on, so you decide to help him out a little bit.

You watch a few more of their games and somehow come up with a list of what kinds of sets are better for each different spiker in the team.

There’s surprise in his eyes when you pass the document to him and modestly exclaim “...but, it might not be accurate, since I’m not that experienced,”

He still nods and says “...It’s the thought that counts,” 

When he does read your report and try the techniques out he notices that it does hold some merit in it

Is amazed like how Zhongli is amazed. He thought you were just there to hand them bottles and cheer for them but he had never been so wrong as to what a manager’s role is.

Will trust you enough to ask you about his set performance.  

Will sometimes slam Kaeya with an insult. “Kaeya, your spike sense is horrid, Y/N can read the moves better than you,”

#5 Tartaglia (Middle Blocker/Wing Spiker)

It’s not that he has a hard time trusting people but let’s just say he has the tendency to make you feel like he likes you but then he actually does that to everyone.

For example: He’ll throw compliments like “Oh that’s amazing Y/N!” but then back in the classroom you’ll hear him say “Oh that’s amazing!” to, like, every other person. 

That kinda disappoints you cause then the comment doesn’t really hold that much meaning to it if he keeps on saying it to others too.

He encounters a crisis mid year because this guy is just... he struggles with his grades. 

Captain Zhongli has told him he can’t play volleyball if he fails even one subject.

This boy is panicking and has semi-accepted this is the end of his volleyball career.

So you offer to study with him and he’s legit stoked.

Intensive and strict study sessions commence. Note taking, pop quizzes, surprise questions and even sudden random calls from you wherein you ask him a question and he has to answer within 5 seconds.

You’ve pulled all the study techniques you know here, this man better pass everything.

Welp, he still fails History....but since he worked so hard Captain Zhongli excuses it.

He’s so happy that he can’t hold back the stupidly wide smile on his face. He turns to you and for the very very first time in months, he bows and THANKS you.

You realize that he’s never thanked you before. Not even when you pass him water bottles or towels. 

You consider it a win, getting rare and sincere appreciation from him.

#6 Kazuha (Decoy/Middle Blocker/Wing Spiker)

One of the easiest to get along with but at the same time, he’s so mature that you feel like you’re not even in the same age range as him.

Definitely someone you can count on though, so you ask him many questions on the first week.

Still, it’s one of those things where you can kind of talk to him but there’s still a wall between you two.

One day while walking around in school there were these boys who were commenting about his height, and questioning his abilities as a volleyball team member.

You didn’t really think much about it when you speak up, “But he’s a really good middle blocker and spiker,” 

Those boys look at you weirdly and you realize that you’ve unconsciously spoken up. So you hurriedly walk away.

Little did you know that Kazuha was in some secret corner and heard the whole thing.

Just like that, the next day, it seems as if the wall between you two was gone, and you’re able to talk freely.

That, and he seemed to like asking you to help him practice his spikes and throw balls for him now.

#7 Xiao (Libero)

is deceivingly easy to get along with. Just has a rough exterior but is actually a softie if you squint.

You know this because there are subtle things he does. 

He doesn’t speak to you much but then he would be the one picking up the balls with you, or sometimes there’s magically a new set of clean towels on the bench that you don’t remember taking out from the storage room.

This guy is passionate for the game, so he really beats himself up when he isn’t able to receive a ball during actual games.

You worry about his mentality sometimes. I mean, it’s a team game, it’s not like he alone can save the whole game

So you talk to him about it the other day

“You’re already a really good libero Xiao, I mean... I’m not saying you should stop practicing but you don’t have to feel so bad...” you pause because this doesn’t feel like the message you want to convey

“Sorry, what I mean is... You CAN feel bad, but share the burden with your team, you know?”

He knows what you’re saying and contemplates it for a while. He knows that his team has his back, but sometimes just needs reminder about it.

He looks at you and asks, “...Can I share the burden with you too?”

You blink “Huh?”

“You said I can share the burden with my team, but can I share it with you too?”

There is a blush on his cheeks at this point.

“Oh, yea! Of course! I don’t play but I’m still part of the team you know!”

Ever since then, during games, if he feels a little frustrated he’d glance at you on the bench and you’d give him a thumbs up for a job well done.

#8 Tohma (Pinch Server/Middle Blocker)

You’re like bffs the moment you see each other

lol jk

You’re still awkward with him the first few days cause that’s just how first meetings are.

But he is very easy to talk to and always makes you feel at ease

Will always be the one to ask how you are if you need any help or if class was okay in general

Seems like the type of person to care more about others than himself

So he’s surprised when you come into the gym and you beat him to asking his usual questions.

“Tohma, how are you today? Did you have a proper lunch?”

“Tohma, are you getting tired? Want some water?”

“Tohma, how was class today?”

All the other members of the team turn to look at the two of you, thinking ‘Why does Tohma get extra attention?’ 

Tohma certainly doesn’t get extra attention you just TALK to him more. The other members deadass are also getting cared for by you, just in different ways.

This boy has some insecurities though, when it comes to playing the game. He hasn’t been in it for long so he’s the least experienced and that gets to him sometimes.

“Oh, really? But you play really well! I couldn’t tell that you’re new” 

His serves are really amazing though.

“Also! You always score points for us with the serves. Sometimes, your serves are my favourite part of the game!”

Has practiced extra hard so as not to let you down.

Masterlist

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[heisenho]

Karl x Fem!Reader that also has the ability to bend metal and being his little apprentice. Like they go from mentoring to lovers?

Power

[Karl Heisenberg x Fem!Reader]

Warnings: 18+, MINORS DNI! Good ol' pussy eatin', Karl being a bit of a dick, just normal re8 stuff.

A/N: This was so fun to write, i do hope you like it! Thanks so much for this request! This is more... uh reader loathing karl and then letting him mentor her, and then they become lovers. i hope that is okay dfijffnwfjw

“Fuck!” You screamed out, stomping your foot. “Why can’t I just live with Lady Dimitrescu?”

You were growing angry. Rage boiled inside of you. You let out a loud, shrill scream and slammed your foot against the metal you were supposed to be moving around with your fucking mind.

“Shit!”

Another yell. You grabbed your foot and fell to the ground, rolling in the dirt for a minute.

“Get the fuck up.”

You stopped your rolling and your eyes shot towards Heisenberg. You stood up and glared at him. You crossed your arms and stepped closer to him.

“Girl,” Heisenberg growled, “You do not wanna do that.”

When you were first sent to live with Heisenberg, you were sure it was going to be hell, he was terrifying. But now, it was hell because he was being bossy.

“You’re lucky I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. Otherwise... You’d be-”

“What? What would I be?

Your arms fell to your sides, your fingers digging into your palms. You screamed again and turned to stomp away from Heisenberg. His jacket rustled and you ignored it, thinking he was probably going to fuck around with his powers just to show off.

Show off, he did.

A piece of metal came flying towards your legs and wrapped around your shins, knocking you to the ground. A scared noise fell from your lips and you scratched at the ground, trying your best to stop whatever was happening. Once it registered that you were not about to get away, you let yourself slide towards Heisenberg.

The metal around your legs began to pull you upwards and you tensed. You truly had not expected to start fucking floating. The metal tightened as your moved higher into the air, thankfully Heisenberg seemed to not want to drop you.

“Oh, if only there were a way you could escape this.”

You swung your arm out and let out a strangled, stressed scream as he caught it. “Karl, let me down right now!”

Blood was starting to rush to your head. Heisenberg was deadpan, watching you struggle. He didn’t look comfortable, but he also was letting it happen. As you were leaning up, pulling at the metal, Heisenberg reached up to you, the metal falling and you dropping into his arms.

He quickly set you down and began to walk back to his factory. “C’mon, we’ll try again tomorrow.”

You looked down at the metal and tried your best, really giving it your all, and moved your hand outward, towards it, but nothing happened.

“Karl,” you let out a soft whine, “I can’t do this.”

Karl came up from behind and sighed. You knew for sure he was about to pull some more bullshit, so you tensed. Karl’s face dropped, his eyes softening, but you couldn’t quite see that. You could, however, hear Karl sigh.

“We’re gonna try something different.” Karl stepped behind you and your body only tensed even more.

Karl placed his gloved hand on your bicep and slid it down your arm, causing your breath to catch in your throat. “Focus on the metal,” he brought your hand upwards and uncurled your fingers, which were digging into your palm. “Just think about moving it, it’ll come naturally.”

You nodded and relaxed into him, “Okay.”

Suddenly the metal moved. You gasped and practically ripped away from Karl, your excitement bubbling over. You turned and looked at him with wide eyes.

“I did it!”

“Told ya it wasn’t hard.”

You huffed at him, “You literally dragged me around the dirt yesterday, sir! Do not go talking about this bein’ easy!”

Karl snorted, “Whatever, girl,” his eyes rolled behind his sunglasses. “Now, we can get to the actual training.”

You stood across from Karl, in the scrapyard, your fingers twitching at your sides. You were finally getting good at whatever the hell Miranda had “blessed” you with, and Karl was taking training up a notch.

The metal began to float around you causing you to feel a little anxiety. You brought your arms up, palms facing Karl, and you pushed some of the metal back towards him. As you did that, he snapped his fingers, effortlessly causing a piece of metal to fly at you. A short whine escaped you as it scraped your cheek.

Warmth ran down your cheek. Blood.

“Not fair!”

“Life isn’t fair, Kitten,” Karl smirked.

You blinked, and your hands fell down to your sides. Your entire body tensed and without even thinking, you caused the metal to shift around you. Every single piece, even the ones near Karl, hit the ground. Hard.

“That’a girl!”

Karl walked towards you and smiled proudly. Your stomach twisted and you swallowed hard. Something about that pet name, and the way he said it... He had your stomach in knots. You gave him a nervous smile and nodded.

“Thanks. I totally meant to do that.”

Karl laughed, “Let’s go inside, I think that’s enough for today. Anyway,” Karl brought his gloved hand to your cheek, “You’re bleeding. You need to clean that up.”

Without thinking, you swatted him away and leaned back from him. Karl, unbeknownst to you, was not a fan of that reaction. His face dropped, slightly, before he gave you a cocky grin once more.

The both of you walked in, and you knew you were going to have to deal with your new feelings, one way or another.

It had been about a week since ‘the incident’ and you could not get the way he called you ‘kitten’ out of your head. He hadn’t said it since, he had barely gotten close to you unless he was training with you, and even then he kept his distance.

You had to find a way to relieve stress and you had to find one soon. Being a desperate woman, you decided, when there was a family meeting, you were going to find one of Alcina’s daughters and ask her for help.

And you did just that.

“Daniela,” You pulled her to the side and prayed that Karl wouldn’t find you, “I need help.”

“Ooooh~” She let out a laugh, or what you could only assume was a laugh, “what does the newest member of the family need?”

“Please keep quiet, this is important to keep between us, and only us.”

“Of course,” she grabbed your shoulder and smiled at you.

‘Maybe she’s trying to make me feel less scared?’ You thought. “Anyway...” You tried to shrug her hand away, “Look, do you ladies have any... toys. Just, like, around the castle?”

“Toys?” Daniela cocked her head, “I didn’t think you wanted to play with men?”

Your eyes widened, “No! Sex toys!” You hissed at her.

Her eyes lit up, “Oh! Of course. Follow me, my cute little pet.”

And just like that, you were completely set up to relieve your stress.

Finding a secluded area was not the easiest. So many of Karl’s little experiments wandered around. But once you found it, you were ecstatic.

You were sprawled out on a small pallet you had made. You had surrounded yourself with some metal, a barrier between you and the creatures that could find you. Keeping it up was becoming a hassle, especially once you started feeling immense pleasure.

You had been messing around with yourself for a good half of the day. You had somehow convinced Karl to let you wander off and not work that day. He said he had things he needed to tend to, and let you go off on your own.

You were taking breaks in between sessions, but nothing was like the real thing. The vibrations of the toy were sending shockwaves through your body. You were getting close to the edge, toes curling, eyes rolling back, and body tensing. And, unlike all your other orgasms, you let out a loud whimper.

“Hey, girl-” Karl called out, obviously looking for you.

“Karl-” You moaned out, not registering Karl’s voice.

Something had come over you, you were completely wrecked by the thought of Karl having his way with you. To the point where you called out for him. And he most definitely heard you.

The metal dropped around you and you, suddenly, you were forced to face Karl. Once and for all. A scream ripped from your throat and you closed your legs, pulling your large, button up shirt, over your knees.

“Fuck!” You yelled, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t-”

“Damn,” Karl, being the extreme gentleman he was, noticed you weren’t entirely comfortable and covered his eyes. “If you needed some help you could have asked.”

“Karl!” You shouted throwing the sex toy to the side. Face burning, body trembling, mind filled with pure embarrassment, you just sat on the floor, “Shut up!”

Suddenly, you realized what he said. Your jaw dropped and your arms, that were wrapped around your legs, tensed.

“Last chance,” Karl smirked, eyes still hidden, “you obviously need-”

“Okay.”

That was all he needed to hear. His hand dropped from his face and he stalked towards you. Without a word, Karl leaned down, picked you, and tossed you over his shoulder. Letting out a small gasp, you hung down his back. One of his hands held you steady while the other rested on your ass.

The both of you reached his ‘room’, just an area with a mattress on the ground not as many experiments around. Karl placed you down on the mattress and leaned over you, he peeked over his sunglasses at you.

“You have no clue how long I’ve wanted this.”

Heisenberg’s mouth was the shell of your ear, his breath causing your body to react in the best way possible. He pulled back and stared you down, like a predator ready to devour their prey. Your knees knocked together and you were looking up at Heisenberg with big doe eyes. His large calloused hand grabbed one of your knees and he pulled your legs apart, gently.

“I was wondering where that shirt went...”

“Well, maybe if you had more shirts you wouldn’t have noticed.”

Karl chuckled, a rumble coming from his chest, and you felt like you had made some type of mistake, “Are you sure you wanna get that tone with me, kitten?”

“Yes...” It sounded more like a question than an answer, but the confidence was almost there.

“How are you so bratty, yet so cute?” Karl positioned himself between your legs.

You shrugged, unable to find words to say. Your brain was malfunctioning at the worst time. You had thought about this moment, even dreamed of it, and now there you sat, looking like some deer in headlights. You were vulnerable and so small compared to him.

“You sure you’re up for this, kitten? You’re looking a little-”

“I’m good!” Your voice cracked, “You have no clue how much I’ve wanted this- you. I just kinda thought you... hated me.”

Karl cocked his head at you, “How? You’re fucking amazing. I thought you hated me, the way you tensed when we were training... I just assumed you were afraid.”

“Karl,” you spoke so calmly, as if you weren’t almost naked and completely vulnerable under him, “as I said before, you dragged me through the dirt with metal...”

“That was just tough love,” Karl smirked down at you, before his facial features softened, “I can make it up to you?”

You nodded, wondering what he had in mind.

“Lean back,” he moved down, positioning himself between your legs, his body keeping your legs from closing.

You complied of course, and leaned back for him. Your back hit the mattress and you let out a shaky sigh. Karl began to softly kiss up your thigh, his large hands pulling your legs further apart. Your hands gripped at the bare mattress below you and you arched into Karl’s mouth.

Once he reached your cunt, you let out a soft moan, waiting for more. One of Karl’s hands gripped at your hip, while the other pulled your shirt up further. His hand quickly moved from your shirt and to your bare ass.

“I promise, I’ll be gentle,” Karl murmured right before his tongue licked a stripe up your pussy.

You gasped. God, it was everything you had imagined, and better. His tongue quickly found your clit and he sucked at it, briefly, before getting back to your pussy.

You let out a soft hum of pleasure, your hands knocking his hat off and grabbing at his hair. You pulled at it and Karl immediately stopped.

“Girl,” his chest rumbled, and his eyes snapped up at you, “I don’t think you’re prepared for what that brings.”

You couldn’t answer, you were genuinely too in the moment to register anything but your own pleasure. And you were getting close to cumming. Your back arched, and your toes curled, once his lips met your throbbing pussy again.

“Karl,” your voice was loud, but not loud enough.

“Kitten, who’s making you feel this good?”

“You- You are!”

Your feet jerked, pulling you up on your tiptoes, and your back curved, causing your hips to push into Karl, letting his tongue go deeper.

“Karl! I’m- I’m gonna-” You were cut off, everything becoming too much.

You gasped loudly and the entire factory shifted and groaned. Your eyes screwed shut and your entire body tensed under him. Karl did not slow. You felt the metal around you beginning to move.

Your eyes snapped open, just in time for you to witness the metal starting to come to life around the two of you. You fell, your back colliding with the mattress once more, and the metal fell back down. The factory stopped creaking, the only noise now being your loud panting.

“Damn, girlie,” Karl brought his face up to yours, “you’re more powerful than I thought...”

Karl gave you a kiss, and you quickly deepened it. Your arms wrapped around his neck and held himself above you. Your legs wrapped around his waist and you softly mewled beneath him. Reluctantly, Karl pulled away and pressed his forehead to yours.

“How about-” he paused, thinking about his wording, “how about we take this shit over? Fuck everyone else. Me and you, kitten, that’s all that matters.”

You quickly answered, unsure if it was the fact he just ate your pussy, the love you felt for him, or your genuine hate for Mother Miranda. Or all of the above, “How about we fuck first? The vibrator just wasn’t doing it. We can think about world domination after sex.”

“I like the sound of that.”

[just-another-blog-of-fluff]

A Game of Jealousy

Word count: 4050

This one is focused more from Loki's perspective, lots of fluff (and tickles!) Guest starring Bucky 😎

* * *

Loki never needed anyone to make him happy. He’d spent the better part of his life on his own, learning to rely on himself and not others for comfort. He’d been lied to his entire life by his parents, and while his relationship with his brother was at least improving gradually over time, he still remained very guarded, afraid that anyone he let in would only hurt him the way everyone else in his life had done. No, Loki felt he was better off alone.

That is, until he met you.

You had joined the team about a year ago, just a few months after Loki himself had finally given in to his brother’s persistent requests for him to move into the Avengers tower. The others were polite enough, but Loki could still sense the fear and anger in their eyes when they looked his way. Thor insisted they would warm up to him over time if he’d just try to be more sociable, but it was difficult to bring himself to want to spend time with people who burned holes into his soul with their eyes.

The day you had arrived to move into the tower to join the team, your few belongings in hand, his curiosity was piqued almost instantly. Steve had showed you around that first day, introducing you to all the members of the team. Loki had been in the study, reading in one of the oversized armchairs Tony had furnished the place with, when he saw Steve walking by the doorway with you in tow. You’d paused for a moment, taking a few paces backward to peek inside the room, eyes trained on Loki. He had braced himself for the inevitable exclamation of surprise and fear when you realized that you were living in the same building as the monster who tried to take over the city.

But it never came. You had merely smiled at him, waving in greeting, and introduced yourself as you would with anyone else. Even when he told you his name, your eyes lit up in recognition, but without an ounce of fear. You had hurried along to catch up with Steve after expressing your pleasure to have met him, a slight bounce in your step as you disappeared from sight.

He couldn’t deny it – he was intrigued by you.

Loki’s interest only grew as he began to get to know you more over the next couple of months. The first day he had seen you working with Natasha in the training room, you had impressed him with your grit and determination, not to mention the graceful ferocity with which you fought. And you were smart, too. He’d never forget the day Tony was teasing you, and you’d come up with such a witty retort that even Tony had to applaud you.

Unfortunately, Loki wasn’t the only one in the tower who had started noticing you.

As you became more integrated with the team, the others began to get more physically affectionate toward you. You spent a lot of time with Wanda, often leaning against her on the couch as you watched TV or giving her hand a squeeze when one of you was excited about something. Steve often put a comforting hand on your shoulder after a rough day of training or patted your back in encouragement when you came back from a successful mission. The friendly gestures never bothered Loki to any significant degree.

But there were other team members, notably single team members, whose advances tended to irk him more than the others. Thor was one of the worst offenders, as it was in his nature to wrap any one of his friends into a giant bear hug whenever he saw them. Bucky often liked to push your buttons, teasing you and egging you on until you’d start play wrestling with him on the couch. Even Bruce, on occasion, would wrap an arm around you in a side hug and squeeze you against his side for a moment in silent thanks whenever you’d help him with something in the lab.

He wasn’t jealous, of course. He just… wished they’d give you more personal space sometimes.

You were physically affectionate with Loki as well, which took some time for him to get used to at first. Once Loki started swallowing his pride and began initiating conversations with you instead of waiting for you to talk to him, the two of you became fast friends. He found he didn’t mind it when you squeezed his arm after a jump scare during team movie night, or if you rested your head on his shoulder on a long plane ride home from a mission. Dare he say… he even enjoyed it a bit. Recently, he’d developed enough confidence to initiate physical contact with you himself – giving you a quick hug goodnight when walking you to your room after a late-night conversation or resting his hand on your knee when sitting side by side on the couch.

Yes, you were someone he was willing to tolerate.

One evening, Loki was wandering through the compound, trying to find a quiet place to sit and read. Normally he lounged in the study, but it seemed Peter had overtaken the room with his schoolbooks as he studied frantically for one of his final exams the next day, and he showed no signs of leaving. He decided it would be easiest just to read in his room tonight but decided to swing by the kitchen to grab a glass of water before making his way back there.

As he paced down the hallway, a sound coming from the common room captured his attention. He drew near enough to the door to elucidate that it was your bright, infectious laughter that he was hearing. His heart swelled at the sound. Loki very much enjoyed making you laugh, often telling you embarrassing stories of Thor from their childhood, or otherwise whispering inappropriate jokes in your ear during team meetings, just so he could hear you snort before erupting with giggles. He reached the common room and stood in the doorway, trying to identify the cause for your hysterics.

You and Bucky were sitting on the large sofa in the common room. Although, admittedly, you couldn’t really call it sitting. You were leaning away from the super soldier, giggling frantically and swatting at his hands as he wiggled his fingers into your sides.

“Buckyhyhy! Cut it out!” you ordered, grasping at his wrists. Bucky’s agile hands evaded yours, poking and prodding at your belly and sides.

“What? What’s the matter? I thought you said you weren’t ticklish,” he teased, squeezing gently above your kneecaps, and eliciting a squeal.

A pang of jealousy stung in Loki’s chest. He had discovered your ticklishness a few months ago himself, having accidentally jabbed you a bit too gently in the side during an impromptu sparring session. When he dug his fingers into your torso with more intent, you had shrieked and laughed, but hadn’t pushed away as hard as he knew you could. He interpreted it as you enjoying the playfulness, or at least not minding it all that much. Since then, he had experimented on occasion, proudly discovering over time that you were definitely most sensitive right along your ribs where your back and sides met. He delighted in the silly, giggly mess you became when he scribbled his fingers into that spot, practically melting into his side as your muscles weakened with laughter.

Now, watching you and Bucky as he tested out your vulnerable spots, he felt his throat tighten a bit. He knew he had to find a way to interrupt this little exchange without letting on how he was really feeling inside. Luckily, the God of Mischief knew how to tell a good lie, and above all he most definitely knew how to spin a partial truth.

“You’re doing it wrong, Barnes,” he called into the room, leaning with his forearm propped against the doorway. Both you and Bucky glanced up at him, Bucky’s fingers slowing a bit against the back of your knee but not quite stopping.

“L-Lokihihi! Help!” you pleaded, a bright smile on your face, cheeks tinged with the exertion of your laughter. His heart skipped a bit at the request, proud that you would seek his assistance to escape the winter soldier. But he had to hold firm in his resolve. He couldn’t let you think he was soft for you, after all.

“Now, why would I want to do that? It’s so entertaining to watch you squirm.” He flashed you an evil grin, slowly striding into the room. “Move over, Barnes. Allow me to demonstrate.”

Bucky obliged, an equally mischievous smirk on his face. “Please, do tell!”

Loki motioned to you to scoot closer to Bucky so he could sit on your other side, gently pushing you over when you refused to make space for him on your own accord. You were now sandwiched between him and the super soldier, glancing nervously between the two men. In a desperate attempt to escape, you suddenly leapt to your feet to make a run for the door. Loki predicted your movement, his hands pulling you back down by your waist before you could even fully stand up.

“Ah, ah! You won’t be going anywhere, darling,” Loki teased, holding you in place while he leaned around you to look at Bucky. He ignored your desperate protests in favor of keeping you trapped there beside him. “Now then. First, you must understand that you won’t be able to access her worst spot until you weaken her adequately. Personally, I enjoy beginning right here.” He slid his hands slid around your waist to your belly, fingers drumming tauntingly against your T-shirt. Loki felt your muscles stiffen immediately under his touch, which made him grin.

“Loki! What the hell! Why are you helpihiHING HIHIHIM?” Your scolding of your mischievous friend was made much less intimidating as giggles bubbled from your lips once again, Loki’s fingers having sprung into action, expertly skimming across your belly. Your hands closed around his wrists and tugged to try to remove them from your sensitive torso, but Loki maintained his hold on you.

“Ah, yes, I see that is quite effective,” Bucky noted somberly, his eyes flashing. “Please, continue to show me your ways.”

“Notice that she will continue to fight you when you tickle her here, but trust that her laughter is slowly beginning to weaken her,” Loki continued, conversing casually as if he weren’t torturing you. “However, if you aren’t cautious-“

“Ha!” you shouted triumphantly, having twisted out of his grip and jumped to your feet.

“-she may find a way to escape.”

“That is unfortunate,” Bucky lamented. “What do you suggest if that were to occur?”

“No! No suggestions!” you demanded, defiantly holding out a hand toward the boys to protect yourself. Loki raised his eyebrows, looking up at you with a serious expression, although he was unable to prevent a smirk from pulling at the corners of his lips. You appeared so much more composed on the battlefield and in the training room – seeing you so disheveled, yet still with an involuntary smile on your face, made a thrill run through Loki’s chest.

“If she does escape,” Loki continued, completely disregarding your protests, and trying desperately not to start laughing at your adorably indignant expression, “you simply need to ensure you have a backup plan. Catch her off guard, if you will. Like this-“

Taking advantage of his inhuman speed, he lunged forward and grabbed your leg just behind your knee, causing your leg to buckle unexpectedly beneath you. He chuckled as he watched you stumble a bit on your other leg to try to remain standing but couldn’t maintain your balance and toppled to the floor. Loki swiftly took advantage of your bewilderment at finding yourself suddenly on the ground, standing up and grabbing hold of your ankle.

“Now, you won’t find her worst spot on her legs or feet, but she is most definitely still sensitive here – this can serve to weaken her resolve further,” Loki continued, fully aware that he was causing a blush to rise in your cheeks now as he tugged on your ankle to straighten your leg, yanking you onto your back. You began cursing at him, which he quickly silenced by dusting his fingertips across the sole of your trapped foot. He had discovered this spot a few weeks ago, when you had refused to move your legs to allow him a place to sit. Not to be deterred, he had plopped himself down atop your shins, grinning at you as he had tested your reaction to his fingers dragging up the bottoms of your feet. The frenzied giggles this elicited from you were some of his favorites, only encouraging him to want to continue with the torment.

“But what about her knees? Will that help to weaken her resolve?” Bucky queried, smirking down at you as you shot him a glare.

“Allow me to show you,” Loki obliged, his hand moving to scratch against the delicate underside of your knee. You snorted, then, and he nearly broke his façade by laughing aloud. He experimentally pinched your calf muscle gently, just below your knee, and was not disappointed by your sudden violent jerking of your leg away from his touch. “Ah, a new weak spot. You see, even being an expert at tormenting our little friend, you can still learn something new.” Loki was speaking to Bucky but kept his eyes trained on you, smirking as you beat your fist against the floor in protest.

“I thought wehehe were friends!!” you cried through your laughter. Feeling somewhat merciful, Loki paused his torture and lowered your leg back to the ground, offering you a hand up.

“I apologize, darling; are you tired of this?” Loki asked, holding a hand down to you in offering to help you to your feet. He kept his hand outstretched as you sat up on the floor, your eyes fixed on his, brows furrowed as if trying to decipher whether he was tricking you. Hesitantly, you took his hand. Your skin was pleasantly warm against his own, which almost made him regret what he was about to do.

Almost.

No sooner had your feet rooted onto the ground beneath you did he grab hold of your arm, spinning you around and wrapping both arms tight around your waist. He wasted no time dragging you backward so your back was flush against his chest, his ticklish touch making its way to your lower ribs. You let out a shriek, followed by rambunctious belly laughter. He relished in the feeling of your giggles vibrating against his chest as he tightened his grip around your waist, holding fast against your desperate thrashing.

“If you can convince the girl to trust you,” he continued, having to speak loudly to be heard over your squealing, “an unwise decision, honestly,” he added, his voice rumbling low in your ear, “you may be able to trick her into falling into your trap.” You screamed his name as he walked his fingers agonizingly slowly up your ribcage, your fingers hooking around his wrists and pulling desperately at his hands.

“An excellent tip, thanks for that,” Bucky teased. You whined at his words, which somehow only made your laughter even more adorable. Loki had the sudden urge to squeeze you tighter and nuzzle his nose into your neck, but he thought that you might interpret such a gesture as a flirtatious advance, and he didn’t want to spoil this little game.

At this point you were doubled over, hands weakly tugging at Loki’s fingers as your muscles began to fatigue. Loki could sense that you were leaning more and more of your weight on his arms as you tired, forcing him to tighten his grip even further to keep you from collapsing onto the floor. He slowed his torment a bit, allowing you a moment to rest. You gasped for air, your chest heaving under his forearms with every breath.

“Notice, Barnes, that she has weakened considerably by this point,” Loki explained, continuing under the ruse of showing Bucky how to torture you. “It is only at this level of exhaustion that you will be able to target her one true weak spot.”

Loki felt you jolt at his suggestion, twisting your torso as much as you could in his vice-like grip to look back at him, wide-eyed. You shook your head, pleading with him. He hardened his expression, albeit with some difficulty as he was struggling to wipe the smile off his face, and he splayed his fingers across your ribs so his fingertips rested just along that overly sensitive spot near your back on each side. You were already giggling, bracing yourself for the inevitable torment that was to come.

“Ahahahaha… please Loki, you dohohon’t have to do thihihis!” you begged, pouting at him. Loki couldn’t help but laugh at that, his heart melting at your tiny frown and protruding bottom lip. For a moment, he considered releasing you. But then again, he was getting drunk off of your sweet laughter, and he wasn’t ready for it to stop.

“Sorry, love – I have to show Barnes how to tickle you properly,” he lamented, a faux sympathetic smile on his lips. Before you could beg him once more and break his resolve, he went in for the kill, fingers drilling into the crevices between your ribs. You screeched, torso jerking in his grip for a moment before going limp as you accepted your fate. Loki knew exactly how to tickle you, his fingers expertly vibrating against your ribcage until your laughter became silent. He finally relented after that, loosening his hold so you could catch your breath but not releasing you yet.

With his arms loosened, he could lean around to get a better view of your face. Your cheeks were bright, small tears of mirth collecting in the corners of your eyes. You still had a smile plastered across your face, so wide it caused your nose to scrunch up the tiniest bit. Loki’s heart fluttered at the sight of you, pleased that he had been the cause of your giddy laughter.

“That was an excellent demonstration,” Bucky observed, winking at you as you groaned. “Could I give it a go?”

Loki hesitated, and you stiffened, already arguing with the super soldier. He had anticipated this might occur, given he was supposedly teaching Bucky how to tickle you ‘correctly.’ Still, the idea of having to watch Bucky’s fingers skittering over your belly or scribbling into your knees made his throat burn with jealousy. If he refused, though, he would almost surely give away his feelings.

Reluctantly, though he hid it well, Loki motioned for Bucky to take his place behind you, releasing you only once Bucky’s arms snaked around your waist. Your pleas for mercy were quickly drowned out by your laughter once again as Bucky’s fingers spidered along your ribcage.

“You weren’t kidding – this is much more effective,” Bucky noted, your resolve already weakened from the prior bout of torment. Loki watched as you leaned involuntarily backward into the winter soldier, your head resting back against his shoulder as you submitted to his ticklish onslaught. Loki’s fingers contracted into a tight fist at his side, willing himself not to intervene and give away his displeasure. But damn it, if watching Bucky’s fingers exploring your ticklish sides wasn’t setting a fire in his belly. It felt as though someone had grabbed hold of his heart in his chest and was squeezing it painfully tightly in their clutches.

He couldn’t take it anymore.

Knowing you wouldn’t appreciate if he lashed out at your friend, Loki placed a firm hand on Bucky’s forearm, urging him to stop without saying a word. Confusion etched itself into Bucky’s features as he stilled his fingers against your sides, his grip around you loosening. Your eyes were shimmering with exertion as you looked up at Loki pleadingly.

“I believe she has had enough for today,” Loki stated sternly. He took a step toward the two of you, swiftly scooping you up bridal style in his arms without a second thought. You let out a squeak of surprise as your feet left the ground, your arms instinctively reaching up to wrap around Loki’s neck to stabilize yourself. He turned back around with you in his arms, looking Bucky in the eye. “I’ll be taking her now, thank you.”

Bucky held Loki’s gaze, his face contorting from confusion to surprise, then finally to a knowing smirk. He nodded in approval, waving him off nonchalantly as he returned to his original seat on the couch and turned on the television. Loki carried you out of the room, a fuzzy warmth spreading through his chest as you began to giggle once again, leaning your head into his shoulder.

He arrived at your room, opening the door with his magic so as not to risk dropping you, then turned to avoid striking your head on the doorframe as he carried you inside. Carefully, he set you down on your bed. You sat up, your legs dangling off the edge of the bed as you smiled up at him.

“Your savior has rescued you from the winter soldier’s clutches,” Loki teased, smirking.

“Excuse me – my savior? If I recall, you were the one who nearly tickled me to death,” you retorted, playfully shoving him as he sat down beside you on the bed.

“You enjoyed every minute of it, love,” he smirked, giving you a swift poke in the side to make you jump. You smirked back at him with mischief in your eyes.

“You know, I know exactly what you were doing back there.” Something in your calculated gaze made Loki’s heartbeat quicken ever so slightly.

“Is that so? And what is it you think I was doing?” Loki asked, trying to keep his tone casual and sarcastic to avoid giving himself away. You leaned closer to him, bravely holding his gaze.

“You were jealous of Bucky,” you declared. “You couldn’t stand to see him with his hands on me, even when it was as innocent as tickling. You don’t think I noticed?”

Loki opened his mouth to retort, but for quite possibly the first time in his life, the silver-tongued god was at a loss for words. You maddeningly perceptive thing. You’d seen straight through his little façade and into his heart. Your eyes glowed with the triumph of having silenced the God of Mischief with just a simple observation.

“Do you deny it?” you queried, your grin expanding. Loki sighed, recognizing he’d been caught.

“No, love. I can’t deny it.”

“Good.” Your hand reached up to touch his cheek, leaning forward and pressing your lips against his. The shock of your sudden advance was quickly replaced by elation, and Loki kissed you back fervently. His hands found your waist, gently grasping your hips with enough weight in his touch to keep from tickling you. He felt you smile sweetly against his lips. When you finally broke away, Loki lifted his hands to cup your face, resting his forehead against yours. “Now then – I believe I’m owed some payback for the torture you just put me through…”

“Oh, really?” Loki raised his eyebrows at you, grinning playfully. “And how do you intend to execute such revenge?”

“Hmm… Maybe I’ll just take a page out of your book.” The mischief in your eye reminded him uncannily of himself. He suddenly felt your delicate fingers squeezing into his side, making him jolt. Your face lit up with pure joy as you witnessed his reaction.

Oh, he couldn’t be having that.

His arms were wrapped around you in a flash, dragging you into his chest and leaning backward until you were lying on top of his chest in his arms, eliciting a squeal. He leaned in close, his lips right beside your ear.

“Darling, you don’t want to be doing that.”

The room was soon filled with your frantic giggles once again. But this time, you really didn’t try to get away. Because in all honesty, he was right before – you loved every minute of it.

[roniscloud]

lhs - runnin’

lee heeseung [a. + f. 4700 words] runnin’

to you

you came up on some new

i know i shouldn’t feel blue

‘cause i was runnin’ out of time for you

synopsis: you met heeseung in your freshman year of college and immediately hit it off. you’ve made it to your third year and when everyone including yourselves thought that you were each other’s endgame, the devastation when you two split was immeasurable. you both know there’s still love between you. this break allows you both to realize new things. can you two find your ways back to each other? will this be the final goodbye?

genre + tropes: angst. fluff. comedy. college!au. establishedrelationship!au. exes!au.

warnings: fem reader. swearing. arguing. nosy friends. cold heeseung and cold reader. drifting relationship. interventions. slight suggestive themes but it’s only mentioned like once. they both pine over each other. mentions of alcohol and binge drinking. maybe not a happy ending. if you choose to see it that way. whoops. appearances of the rest of enha plus txt yeonjun and soobin.

i.  the break

“so this is how it’s gonna end? i thought we were doing fine.”

heeseung erupts into an even angrier fit, “are you kidding me? we are not fucking fine. in what world is this fine? tell me!”

you scoff from where you stand cross-armed on the other side of the bedroom. “well, can you really blame me? it’s hard to see if there’s something wrong if we never see each other.”

“exactly my point! we don’t see each other.”

the two of you have been at each other’s throats since heeseung showed up at your apartment. you have no idea how long ago that was or when the argument started. all you remember is coming up to him when he arrived, wanting to actually spend some time with him. instead he shrugged you off and ignored you, blaming the fatigue. the rest has been a blur. one of you made an offhand comment and now here you are: frustrated and in another fight.

a quick recap: you two met at a mutual friend’s party. you thought that each other was attractive and he ended up asking you out. from there you kept going out, fell in love, dated, and everyone thought you were perfect together. three years later and it’s getting tiring. life has been draining trying to balance it all.

“and who’s fault is that?”

annoyed, he snaps back, “oh please, you can not put the blame solely on me.”

“bullshit. i sure can when i’m the only one making an effort here. i’ve actually been trying to save us. you, on the other hand…” you pause again, rolling your eyes, “well, we both know just how much you care.”

his jaw drops, defensively he spits back, “are you genuinely implying that i don’t care about you? about us? that’s rich.”

you move to sit on the edge of the bed, staring at a single spot on the floor. you can see the shadow of heeseing pacing back and forth. you sit there, not looking at each other. the only sounds to be heard are his footsteps and the heavy sighs from you. you think back to the last several weeks. you recall each of the times you have been able to see each other. there’s no substance, nothing memorable. the only thing that comes to mind is that you always end up not talking at all or arguing.

just like right now.

“be real, heesung. when was the last time we went on a date? when was the last time you stayed the night without it ending up with you just knocking out? when was the last time we actually sat down and had a conversation? be honest because i will. i can’t remember.”

“and yet you thought we were fine?”

“well it’s better to believe a good lie than face the hurtful truth. i’m trying to save this relationship. i’m trying all the fucking time and you don’t do shit.”

he spits back frustrated, “well maybe that’s because there’s nothing to be saved.”

“are you kidding me right now? am i supposed to be scared? you tell me that there’s nothing to be saved and expect me to just give up?”

“sorry but i’m not running from this anymore.”

“you’re not sorry and we both know it.” you push yourself back up to stand, resting your hands on your hips, “you can’t say you’re sorry and expect me to forgive you. that’s not how this works.”

“this isn’t what i wanted to happen. this isn’t how it was supposed to go.”

“then make it work.”

“i- i can’t,” he holds his hands over his face, running one through his hair, “it’s too much.”

“so what? what do you mean?”

he finally stops. he takes a deep breath and lets it all out, “i just can’t see this working anymore, at least not like this.”

ii. week one

you thought this would be more difficult. that this would be the hardest pill to swallow. the first week apart may actually be the easiest. nothing has really changed. that’s probably because you haven’t told anyone that you two are no longer together. perhaps the time that you didn’t spend with each other before the break up had trained you for this.

life goes on, with or without heeseung. that’s what you keep telling yourself. you choose to get caught up with your life. you have other priorities. it’s not a crime to focus on yourself for the first time in three years.

heeseung feels the same. he doesn’t see any point on dwelling on the breakup. sure, he was the one who made the decision. he’s the one who put it out there. he’s the one who ended it and the one who is taking responsibility.

lucky for both of you, you don’t have any courses together and your schedules don’t really coincide. there’s no chance at any awkward run-ins. there is this weird, tiny feeling though. there’s this small inkling of something missing. you both suppress it. i mean, hell, the breakup just happened.

iii. scheming

meanwhile, your friends have all seemed to notice that the two of you are off. they aren’t sure what it is. they get that you two have had some time apart, but you’re both adults with lives. you have your own classes, jobs, other friends, and such. no one mentions it because they don’t think it’s their business.

but come on… there’s no way they won’t get to the bottom of it. our resident gossips, sunoo and sunghoon, team up and make it their mission to snoop around. of course, they take precautions to not get caught. the scheming duo find out nothing, to no avail.

now the gang of the scheming duo plus jay, jake, and niki have convened in the common room of jungwon’s dorm building. the 02z are all playing billiards in one corner. sunoo battles jungwon in a game of ping pong. the youngest of the group sits by himself on one of the couches, contemplating if he should speak up. they’ve been in a heated discussion as they try to figure out what exactly has been irking them.

riki, against his own conscience, speaks up to the five. he has this gut feeling and innocently wants to voice his opinion. “what if,” the young boy start out while gauging the faces of the others, “now don’t get mad and just hear me out.” he stops again, taking his time to make eye contact with each of the older boys, waiting until they all nod, “what if… they broke up?”

the group of friends all exchange glances with each other before breaking out into laughter. jay composes himself a bit, still chuckling when he says, “seriously? you think they broke up? heeseung and y/n? yeah, no way.”

sunoo leans onto the ping pong table and eggs him on, “they are literally soulmates.”

jungwon sets his racket down and goes to plop himself next to riki on the couch, “there is no way in hell the two of them split.”

iv. breaking news

“yeah, we split.” plain and simple. three words that crushed the poor hearts of jake and jungwon. he broke the news over brunch. he sensed their curiosity when they deliberately never brought you up. 

“good joke there, dude. almost had me for a second.” jake says, awkwardly with a forced laugh.

the youngest of the three chiming in and agreeing, “yeah, that’s really funny.” a silence hits the booth. “you are joking… right?”

the oldest then looks back and forth between the two, tilting his head to one side like a confused pup. he doesn’t see why they think he would joke and simply replies, “nope. you guys haven’t asked so i’m guessing you tried to snoop around and pick up on my cues. i’m also guessing sunoo’s behind this whole operation.”

“ok wait,” jake interjects, “what do you mean you broke up? you can’t just break up.”

jungwon agrees, “he’s right. you two are just playing a prank on us.”

“guys, i’m serious. y/n and i are no longer together.” the two just freeze, jaws dropped, eyes wide. “besides, it’s better this way.”

v. bad timing

meanwhile the remaining four members of their friend group have met up in the campus library in an attempted study session. so far, they’ve just gone back to gossiping and slacking off. the boys all find themselves teetering on the verge of sleep. that is until sunghoon catches you walking in. immediately going to softly pat the others back awake, they all look up confused. trying to stay subtle, hoon jerks his head to the side in your direction.

you make your way to one of the shelves, searching high and low for a book you need for your literature class. sneaking up behind you comes choi yeonjun, the library aid and a friend of yours. 

“need any help?”

“no thanks, i’m good jun.” you give him a polite smile.

unbeknownst to both of you, the failure of a study group has creeped to a closer table. they knew that you two were friends but they still can’t help but eavesdrop. “will you two please shut up so we can hear them?” the annoyed face evident on sunghoon’s face at the bickering of sunoo and niki. he turns to see jay, snacking and not paying attention. he rolls his eyes at the group, his gaze then catching yeonjun leading you out of the shelves. quickly shushing the three and nodding his head in your direction again, they finally get the hint.

yeonjun steps in front of you, “so you know my friend soobin, right?”

“soobin… as in choi soobin?”

yeonjun flashes his bright smile, “that’s the one.”

“yeah i know him. we had a stats class together a while back. he definitely taught me a few tricks around a calculator.” you laugh with him, “he’s super sweet, and needless to say cute too.”

“well, am i glad to hear that! long story short, he’s kinda been crushing on you lately and wants to know if you’re free. he mentioned your shared class before but he said he never got your number.”

“since you have mine already, go ahead and give it to him. tell him i’m free whenever he is.”

yeonjun raises his eyebrows at your boldness, “will do. i just wanted to ask you first before i gave it to him because… y’know…”

“no worries, i completely understand.”

he gives a quick goodbye before going back to his desk. storming quickly, four faces appear in front of you, all a combination of confusion, shock, and anger. 

sunoo starts, “um… y/n. why are you telling yeonjun to give your number to another guy?”

“yeah, are you cheating on heeseung?” his partner in crime, sunghoon, joins in.

you pause and scan their faces. your face dawns an equally as confused expression. “how can i cheat on someone who isn’t my boyfriend?”

four jaws simultaneously drop. riki’s being the first to close and answer a bit hushed, “i knew it.”

jay turns to him in disbelief, “not the time, niki!”

“did heeseung not tell you guys?” you ask them slowly. “i assumed he would be the one to let you all know.”

“that you two broke up?!” sunoo asks angrily, being shushed by yeonjun from the counter. giving an apologetic smile then tuning back into your conversation, “what do you mean you two broke up?”

“we just… broke up. that’s it. end of story. now if you’ll excuse me, i have to actually study.”

they watch you check out the book you came in for originally and walk out the doors, unsure of what to do next.

vi. the intervention

arranging your monthly movie night was not exactly the easiest task given the tensions surrounding two people in your group. so the only logical solution that they all could think of was to simply not to tell one of you that the other was coming over. a fool-proof plan.

in the dorm of the 02z, you did not expect to see heeseung when you walked in.

he gets up from his spot on the couch, “what the hell is going on here?”

“yeah, an explanation would be nice.” you cross your arms as you glare at the younger boys.

niki, trying to act as mediator gestures for both of you two sit on the loveseat—the same loveseat that was always reserved for the two of you before. “this is an intervention.”

after the confession of their intentions, everyone goes quiet. not a single word is spoken for several minutes, no one knowing how to start. after much internal contemplation, jungwon finally attempts to start. “we brought you two here today because- you know what, i can’t do this.” he stops and cuts himself off, burying his face in his hands.

sunoo sits next to him with his arms crossed. “how dare you two? our parents gets divorced and we don’t even get a notice.” it was common for them to refer to you and heeseung as the parents of the group, being the oldest. although something about sunoo still calling you by that nickname stings, him shaking his head to display his disappointment making you feel guilty. 

you see heeseung out of the corner of your eye avoiding looking up to your friends. “look, i don’t see the big deal. we broke up. that happens when relationships don’t work out.”

sunghoon quickly intervenes, “how can you say it isn’t a big deal? you’re letting three years go to waste and that’s all you can say? that’s what happens.” he scoffs at how shameless you come off.

“well, would you rather us stay together even when we were unhappy?” their reactions were a mix of shouts, the words yes, of course not, and duh all blending into each other.

that’s what brought your ex boyfriend out of his daze. “y/n has a point. we broke up and it’s over. we were no longer happy and i don’t see the point in bringing it up again either. it’s in the past. let it go.” he says rather coldly and sternly. him actually saying it and acknowledging it caused that weird feeling to come back. his body language is off, too. your years together has taught you enough about heeseung to know when he’s upset, especially with himself.

jake takes his turn, looking down at his fidgeting hands and muttering sadly, “but you promised each other forever.”

that prompts you and heeseung to glance at each other quickly, making eye contact and it lingering for a couple of seconds. you look away first, not noticing that his stare doesn’t leave you.”some promises just can’t be kept.” your response then making him turn away.

“bullshit.” it’s the first word uttered by jay this entire time. “neither of you are the type to break promises.”

“some things can’t be helped,” heeseung defends.

jay, getting angrier, asks his friend, “did you know that she’s already going on a date? yeah, that guy, soobin. i’m pretty sure you know who he is. your ex,” he makes sure to stress the last word with a certain degree of annoyance, “thinks he’s cute.”

emotionless, heeseung answers back, “good for her, then.”

you were sure that you were over him, that’s why you said yes to the date. but something about him not caring leaves you feeling odd.

jungwon stops your train of thought, “no, you’re supposed to be upset. you’re supposed to get jealous and confess you still want to be with her. you’re supposed to fight for her and be together.”

another quick glance between the two of you, lasting longer than the previous one. no words are said on his end, but you know exactly what he’s trying to say. “he doesn’t have to fight when i’m the one who ended it.” you knew him. you knew he couldn’t admit to the others his decision. after all, he wants to be a good role model even in his darkest times. he couldn’t crush their idea of love and you did what you had to do. you lied for his sake—and maybe even yours.

vii. him

two months have passed since the breakup. there’s tension amongst the friend group, the six not wanting to pick sides between you and heeseung. they’re constantly going back and forth, like they’re walking on eggshells as to not bring up something that only happened with the other.

to get your mind off everything, you’ve found comfort in soobin. well, more accurately you’ve found comfort in between his sheets, or wherever you two decide for it to go down. that’s not to say the dates aren’t great. you’re not official and you both know that. your latest date, however, couldn’t help but feel weird.

the date was going pretty well. don’t get me wrong—soobin is a great guy. he’s sweet, caring, funny, and handsome. you have a lot in common like your taste in drinks and movies. maybe if you had met him first, you would’ve dated him… but you didn’t meet him first. you met heeseung first, and soobin isn’t heeseung.

you found yourself drifting from the conversation now and then, thinking about how heeseung would’ve been at that moment. you think back to his habits, particularly the way he raises his eyebrows whenever he’s excited or talking about something he’s passionate about. you always found it endearing. over the course of dinner, you are able to notice that soobin has some cute habits too, like him covering his face when he gets shy or puffing out his cheeks. but it still isn’t the same.

“you two deserve each other.”

soobin catches your attention again with that comment. “what?”

“you and heeseung. i know that look. don’t try to lie to me.”

“look, heeseung is my past, and i want it to stay that way.”

“do you really want it to stay that way, or are you just afraid of what could happen if you let him back into your present?”

you give him a teasing glare, “don’t get all philosophical with me. i just don’t think he and i can go back to how we were before.”

“what’s so bad about you two changing? obviously if it didn’t work out, you shouldn’t try to be what you were before.”

“can’t i just try with you?”

“as much as i would love for you to give me that chance, i can’t do that to you or to myself. it’s not fair.”

you hesitantly ask him, “but is it worth it?”

“that’s not my decision to make.”

viii. her

now that you’re virtually not in his life, he seems to be looking for you everywhere. actually… rather than going out of his way to look for you, everything just reminds him of you. the jingles of the commercials you always sang along to, your favorite songs on the radio, the reruns of 90’s shows you always binged. hell, even when he was making ramen, he was reminded of how you would make his favorite for him every time he was stressed over an exam. he was sitting in the back of the lecture hall, trying so hard to stay awake for his 3 hour long class with the most boring professor on campus. he fought the urge to text you since it felt like second nature to rely on you to help cheer him up.

there was a particular night when it really hit him. reality smacked him in the face late one evening. heeseung was bored out of his mind, laying alone in bed, aimlessly browsing netflix to find something to watch. he thinks to himself y/n would’ve slammed this laptop closed and talked all night about random and obscure topics. he laughs to himself, reliving the memories. right then, it’s obvious. he misses her.

ix. promises

the rain hitting your bedroom window had no help on your already gloomy mood. what did help was the bottle of soju- well more realistically, four bottles of soju. it was all the liquid courage you needed to call heeseung at three in the morning. 

you sat drowsily on the rug of your living room, your phone on speaker and placed in front of you as you stared out the dewy glass. you heard the phone ring seven times, ready to hang up until you heard his groggy voice come out from the other end. “hello? y/n, why are you up?”

you laugh softly and ask him, sounding loopy, “why are you up?”

“because you’re calling me. would you like to give me a reason why, and are you drunk?”

“maybe. anyways, you know… i was thinking. we broke a lot of promises and it hurts. i have to know that we’re not bad people. i have to keep at least one, right?”

heeseung groans but lets you ramble, knowing that you won’t stop until you’ve said it all, “go on…”

“we made a promise that if something was going on, if we were in a dark place, that we would talk to someone. well, if you couldn’t tell by now, i’m not in the best place. the first person i thought to talk to was you.”

“why me?”

“shhh… don’t ask questions. i know you’re tired so just stay on the phone and let me talk. ok?”

he goes quiet for a bit, sighing, “ok.”

“i miss you. i do. i don’t expect you to miss me but i just want to say it,” pausing to hiccup, “soobin helped me realize some things, saying some crap like we deserve each other.” you chuckle as you recall his words, “maybe he said it because bad people deserve bad people. maybe he said it because in our own fucked up lives, we’re the only ones who can understand each other. i did a lot of thinking and i’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t. because if we stay together, we can’t move on. we can’t grow. we can’t become good people, no matter how much we want it. that’s life. sometimes, no matter how much we want something, no matter how much we wish on stars or pray, some things just aren’t meant to be.”

“y/n, get some rest…”

“wait, i’m not done. you already can tell i’ve been drinking and to be honest i have been, for a while. i do it,” starting to choke up and sniffle, “because it helps me forget. even if it’s just for a minute that i can forget what happened, i’ll drink as much as it takes. i’ll grow out of it, eventually. i know i will, but for now… i have to do what i have to do. i’m sure you can relate.” you laugh again, getting more drowsy. you bring your legs up, hugging your knees. faintly, the sounds of heeseung’s snores play from your phone. you smile to yourself, “i wish you were here, singing me a lullaby. i don’t know when you fell asleep but goodnight. take care of yourself.”

cuddled up in his bed, heeseung hears you hang up. he lets you believe he didn’t hear what you said. he knows the reality of it all and the weight that you both are carrying. knowing that you won’t check your phone for the rest of the night, he sends you a quick text: bookstore, saturday, noon. goodnight.

as he turns off his phone to try to fall back asleep, he sees his reflection in the black screen. he sees his puffy, red eyes and his tear-stained cheeks. the end of it all is coming and finally, you two are ready for it.

x. love song

seeing him in person is a good idea. clearing the air, letting it all out, getting closure. all good ideas, you hope. walking into the bookstore was a weird feeling. when you spot him sitting by the window, you quietly make your way over. he looks up at your new presence, his feet shuffling out of nervousness. you notice the glass of pear juice on the small coffee table in front of him, already half empty.

“hi,” he says like a whisper.

“hi,” you awkwardly respond. it’s unlike the two of you to not know how to start a conversation. you make your way onto the cushioned seat, letting yourself get comfortable to help ease the tension. you each avoid the other’s gaze, not knowing how to begin. you sigh and finally ask, “how have you been?”

“busy,” he says as he nods, “finally took up actual music lessons. thought it would be better to have someone who’s played piano and guitar professionally instead of trying to teach myself.”

you softly giggle, “that’s good. you’ve always loved music.”

“yeah… how about you?”

“same, busy. i got the t.a position i applied for like forever ago.”

“congrats! you still looking to become a teacher?”

“well, generally yeah. i was having my doubts before but i just fell back into it. finally being able to be there, present, and guiding others… that’s what i want.” you sit there across from him, watching him and taking it all in. the man in front of you is heeseung, but not the heeseung you knew. no, this is the better version of him. the version of him where he can focus on himself. the version of heeseung that’s glowing and happy and ready to take on the world. “so, look. there’s no easy or delicate way to put it but i think there are things we both need to get off our chests.”

“agreed. since it all happened—the fights, the breakups, the ambush interventions—we haven’t actually talked.”

“those interventions… they were silly but the guys did help me realize some things. we’re growing up. sure, i thought we had this plan of us graduating, getting married, having a family, settling down, growing old. we both wanted that type of life. sadly, it’s not what happened and we have to live with it.”

he lets out a chuckle, “heeseung and y/n: meant for each other and meant to be.”

“but not meant to last. what a bittersweet and poetic ending."

“it’s like people always say: right person, wrong time.”

“you know… you used to tell me that our love song was the soundtrack to the best life you could live.” you reach out and take his hand in yours, “i just,” pausing to take a deep breath and compose yourself, “i just want you to know… that if anything happens-”

he cuts you off with a quiet gasp, whispering your name with a shaky voice, “don’t.”

you shake your head and gently squeeze his hand, “if anything happens… if in the end, we don’t find our way back and it isn’t us, don’t think we ended on a bad note.” you drop your head as you chuckle lightly before continuing, “cause you were always on key.” you give him a small grin, trying your hardest to not make things worse by crying. “we were just playing different tunes.”

he pulls you in closer to him, placing his hands softly on your cheeks. “i always hated seeing you cry,” he says as he wipes away the tears on your face, not bothering about his own. he wraps his arms around you, holding you close for the last time. 

you stay there in his warmth, hearing him sniffle as he tries to hold back the falling tears. when you pull away, you tell him “i will always love you. maybe not in the way i thought i would but it’s still there.”

“maybe in our next life, it’ll be the right time.” with that, he leaves a kiss on your forehead, leaves the bookstore, and leaves your life. your duet that worked in perfect harmony now playing a beautiful cadence—two wandering artists, free to fill your own wretched worlds with new melodies, the bliss and tranquility of it all. the hope that maybe one day, you’ll be in each other’s lives again is enough.