#especially compared to the cheap shit we throw up now; it makes me with I could puke in anger and disgust at it

[medicinemane]

"DIY tiny home you can build in weeks", ok... now lets see the cost

...seven and a half minutes later, the answer is $75k... so when you include land and all the rest of it, so basically nothing right?

This is my problem with tiny homes stuff, it's for rich people

[sukirichi]

sweet lies [02]

His lies were way too sweet – and you were too addicted to make him stop.

cw. explicit smut, slight body worship, public sex, dirty talk, praising, toxic megumi, fwb dynamics, slight angst, body marking, sukuna bullying megumi, age gap, scratching, mentions of oral (m receiving) and mutual masturbation, the traditional unedited fic

note. choose your fighter, megumi or sukuna 😈 also UHM do you guys want me to make the ending angsty or fluffy? i wrote out two versions so LOL let me know what you think! we’ll get more of the megumi scenes on the next chapter though~

series masterlist | 01 | 02 | 03

Sukuna isn’t kidding when he said he’ll have you unable to walk by the end of this.

You’ve lost count of how many times you guys have fucked.

Once more in the stalls when you thought of repaying the favor by sucking him off, followed by him growing impatient and hauling you inside his car. Both of you were too tired to go for another round, but were still very much addicted for the other’s touch that mutual masturbation seems like the best option.

Thankfully, Sukuna’s cut his nails, so having three of his fingers buried knuckle deep in you feels like absolute heaven. He’s not complaining about your smooth hands wrapped around his shaft either, especially not when you’ve had enough practice with Megumi to know just how to make a guy lose his mind. By the time you’ve made it back home, Sukuna’s grown hard again, too impatient to make it to the bed before he just fucks you raw against the wall. You’re trembling at his hold, left with no choice but to trust his strength to drop you on his cock and bounce you to his pleasure.

It’s a miracle you’ve made it on the bed.

His digital clock reads a quarter at three in the morning, and for a moment, you worry about how tired you’ll be in class tomorrow when Sukuna’s large hands grips your thighs sharply.

“Goddamn,” he hisses through clenched teeth, chuckling at the irresistible sight of your breasts bouncing before him. Limbs tangled, minds controlled with the primal need to fuck, and moans shared with his deep grunts – you somehow end up on top of him, your thighs feeling like they’re on the verge of giving up as you continue to ride his thick length.

“You are so fucking sexy,” he slaps your ass and causes your hips to rut deeper, forcing that delicious curve of his cock to meld with your walls. You throw your head back, palms planted on his chest, focused only on that burning pleasure between your thighs. “I could fuck you all night long.”

Even though you truly have no wish to, you shake your head, fingers balling into a fist. “I have class tomorrow, need to wake up early,” you protest, the words falling into deaf ears as Sukuna thrusts up into you. He must’ve noticed how you’re growing tired and took matters into his own hands, feet grounded on the mattress to pound deliriously into you. You’re debating whether to be thankful or frustrated he still has so much energy even after hours of fucking, but it honestly doesn’t matter. You’re falling into his chest, arms slipping on your equally sweat-covered bodies. Right now, you just wanted to cum – once more, again, one last time! “Ah, Sukuna, t-too much!”

“Too much?” he laughs and tangles his hand to caress your scalp, the gesture too soothing that you almost forgot he’s fucking you into oblivion. “Want me to go slow?”

“No…”

“Thought so, sweetheart,” his grin is absolutely cocky as he bends his knees in a fold, pushing you until your back rests on his muscular thighs. Your mouth falls open at his hands wrapping around your threat, keeping you right there, hips flat and grinding on his cock. “Come on. Come for me,” Sukuna urges, tightening his hold around your neck a little harder.  

That’s all you need for your vision to blur and see stars, your body’s shaking uncontrollable. He’s thrusting with all his power and energy that it feels like you’re nothing but a hole on top of him, tongue falling open in a wanton manner as your drool trails down your chin.

You look filthy, you feel filthy, and yet, Sukuna sees it entirely different.

“So – fucking – gorgeous, fuck. I woulda fucked you sooner if I didn’t feel weird about it.”

“What?”

“Aw, come on, sweetheart,” he smirks at your half fucked out state. Sukuna rolls his hips in such a mind numbing manner that you end up staring at the ceiling, trying your hardest to decipher the colors of his room to get a grip of yourself. But he feels so hot, cock throbbing and pulsing inside you, your puffy lips encasing him with a translucent ring of cum and it feels so fucking good you don’t really understand what he’s saying anymore. “Did you really think I never saw you in my dreams?” he slaps your ass again, the reflexive response of tightening around him pulling a deep groan from the beautiful man beneath you. “I have such a sexy roommate, I couldn’t help it.”

“Then why didn’t you – ah, right there, shit – tell me?”

“Cuz,” he snickers and finally lets you breathe, your pupils blowing wide from the sudden flow of air. Sukuna kneads your breasts greedily, never stopping his mind-numbing rhythm of ramming deep into you. Your body burns, your thighs ache, your pussy feels sensitive but you can’t find the energy to stop him. Instead, you fall prey, failing in your mission to keep him wrapped around your fingers because now you’re wrapped around his cock, and you were quite fucking addicted to it. “You’re my friend’s student. Felt so fucking wrong.”

“What’s the difference now?”

“The difference is,” Sukuna’s face contorts into something of discomfort for a moment before he leans forward, his sturdy grip homing in on your hips again. You feel his searing breath on your ear, so parching it puts the warmth of your pussy to shame. “Having you like this has never felt so right, and I’ll keep fucking you if you let me.”

“I-I’d let you,” you concede absentmindedly and capture his lips for a sloppy kiss, tongues giving up on a battle of dominance. You’re always so clingy when you’re about to come, something Megumi never fails to chastise you for, and you fear Sukuna might push you away as you wrap an arm around him, nails painfully scratching down his back. Red marks leave a trail on its wake until his blood pierces through the sheets, the pain manifested through the increasing roughness of his pace. Now it’s your turn to whimper in his ear, pulling the man close and tugging harshly at the ends of his hair. Gosh, were you actually crying? “Sukuna, I’m close! Yes, yes, right there!”

Sukuna groans at the erotic sounds you reward him with. “Come for me, that’s right, ohhhh,” he stills inside you, his seed spilling deep inside you. You wince at the burst of warmth spreading all over your belly and Sukuna chuckles at your bulging belly. He presses down on it to coax his cum to trickle all over his cock, and he’s fucking filthy – you learn easily – to watch you make a mess on his cock with a childish smile on his face.

You push yourself off him and fall to his side, him following suit not long afterwards. The room feels completely stuffed from your intense fucking, the bruises on your body and scratches on his back a huge attestment to that.

Your legs remain wide open as you clench around nothing, his cum oozing out like a waterfall. Sukuna (that damned pervert) dips two fingers into your hole for one last moment just to drench his fingers in it, his eyes lit up in wonder while he lets it web around his fingers. You snicker at his actions and roll to his side, eyes fluttering close from the wave of exhaustion that comes into full force.

The lingerie set you intended to wear for Megumi was now ripped at the other side of the room, discarded, forgotten – merely evidence of a moment that had never been given to him.

Oddly enough, you don’t feel bad, not even when Sukuna faces you, his cheeks squished by his soft pillows. “I’m spent. I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired. My gym sessions can’t compare to this.”

“You go to the gym?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t born this gorgeous, you know. I had to work hard for this,” Sukuna gestures to his body. You can’t help but follow the gestures and admire the hard planes of his muscle ripped above one another, the smatter of dark hair leading down his hips adding to his already immense sexual charisma. It makes you want to jump on him all over again, and you have to bite your lip to resist that urge, rolling your eyes at him in favor of letting him know you could totally go for another round.

“Dork.”

“Got me laid though, was worth the effort,” he jokes, and you both laugh.

It’s actually…weird, to laugh so casually with someone like this. It might be normal for Sukuna in his past sexual endeavors, but it’s totally a different thing for you. You and Megumi had never even bothered with aftercare. As long as he’s satisfied himself, he’d clean himself off in the bathroom and wear his sweatpants, winking at you before he leaves you alone all over again. The memory – albeit not really a regrettable one – is still painful each time you’re reminded you’ll keep coming back to him.

But are things different now? Could you go back to Megumi? You only ever wanted to fuck Sukuna because you’re sad and horny, but it wouldn’t be fair to him, especially when your roommate has been nothing but nice to you. Besides, him being a little more decent doesn’t immediately equate he’s different than Megumi.

For all you know, you could just be another cheap fuck. Sukuna is older and sexier, after all, he’s clearly had a lot more experience than you do.

As if reading your mind, Sukuna rests his head on his palms, elbows flat on the bed as he turns to you. The expression on his face is unreadable, but there’s some sort of softness behind it – a softness you’re not really familiar with.

“Hey. I don’t exactly know what you’re going through, not everything, anyway, but whatever we have right now, I want you to know it’s not because I see just as a pretty pussy, okay?” he says with a straight face, but you really shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up because Sukuna smirks, mischievous eyes darting back and forth to your soaked pussy and bare breasts. “Although you do have a pretty pussy. Can I eat you out again?”

With that, you snatch the pillow underneath him and whack it straight at his face. Sukuna laughs at your protests, the sound growing louder and a lot more mocking the harder you hit him. “Gosh, Sukuna, shut up!”

You end up hitting him way too many times in the face that he can’t get his words through, and before you could react, Sukuna’s ripped the pillow away from you. He cages you in his arms and hovers over you once more, his boneless dick grazing the insides of your thigh. It’s not meant to be sexual, and nothing about his stance gives off anything that shows he wants to do it again, but you can’t help but feel aroused, shifting your legs up and down the bed as you squirm.

“Seriously though,” he repeats, “We can be casual, or this could be a one time thing. Card’s all yours to play. If you want to forget everything tomorrow, I’d gladly do it. Let’s just go back to the way we were-”

“Sukuna.”

“Yes?”

“Did you really think I was only using you to distract myself?”

Sukuna’s lips flatten into a line. “I’m not stupid,” he says somberly, “I could tell you were still thinking about him. Not that I mind, though, you can’t stop yourself from loving someone,” Faintly, you’re distracted by his thumbs rubbing at your pulse point. It’s so lulling you want to fall asleep, but Sukuna isn’t done talking. “My point is…you don’t have to worry about being weird with me. We could just be friends with benefits, if you want, and not the kind you have with your boy toy either. ”

His blatantly catches you off guard and your eyes widen before they narrow at him, trying your best to hide your embarrassment. If Megumi was painfully honest, Sukuna’s ridiculously blunt that his mere words make your heart do weird things you’d rather not feel.

Careful, you remind yourself, Megumi is the one you want. You have to keep reminding yourself that before your feelings get the best of you. It’s Megumi, it’s always been Megumi and it always will be Megumi. Sukuna is just your roommate who’s nice enough to take your mind off things. You only wish you weren’t lying too much in case he gets the wrong idea you’re leading him on, but then again, isn’t that what you’re doing?

Friends with benefits or not – you still have no plans on getting involved with this guy any longer.

It’s always Megumi. You just really needed a quick fuck, someone whose dick didn’t belong with the guy you’re so hung up on over. The change feels nice and you definitely feel a lot better than the last time you met Megumi, but this guilt…it tastes bitter on your tongue, too heavy to swallow and ignore. It’s always Megumi, you tell yourself again in an attempt to relieve your pain.

Though it doesn’t subside and you huff in exasperation, turning away from Sukuna. You can’t stand looking at him right now.

“I’m not,” you mumble weakly, but the tears – the guilt, the heartbreak of not being Megumi’s lover, the regret and the ironic need to be closer to Sukuna feels all so confusing – all threaten to burst through. You don’t want him to see you cry, that would be lame, so you scoot closer to him and kiss his shoulder as you shyly ask, “C-can we cuddle?”

“Of course,” he chuckles, pulling you closer, “You don’t have to sound too nervous to ask.”

“Sorry, it’s just-”

“He never does that?”

“…Yeah.”

“Well, I’m not him,” Sukuna answers confidently, surprising you when he grabs your ass to press you flush against him. You’re both sweaty and hot to the point it’s uncomfortable, but Sukuna smells so sweet with his lingering cologne that you can’t help yourself from planting your face in his neck, breathing in the little hums he makes. Sukuna kisses the crown of your head – which is a little too sweet than you’d like – while his other hand runs down your back in a slow, sensual manner. Hell, it feels close to body worshipping, and you hate that you silently want more of this. “I’d cuddle you every day if you asked me to.”

“You’re surprisingly sweet,” you voice with a smile. Sukuna’s chest rumbles from the low laughter, and like that, you cling to him like he’s the only sturdy pillar in your life. It’s pathetic, maybe even desperate, but if he doesn’t mind, then why should you?

However, the moment is quickly ruined when the bell rings. “Shit, I forgot he was coming over!”

Sukuna glares at the door and holds you tighter, almost possessively, and refuses to let you go even as you squirm under him. “At three in the morning?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to meet him right now,” you groan helplessly.

Sukuna shoots you a blank look after that, then shoots out of the bed in an instant. You watch as he quickly dresses up in a fresh pair of sweatpants, grabbing a random hoodie from the back of his chair, presumably to hide the scratch marks. You have to hide your smile behind your hand because he looks so drool-worthy with marks littered on his already marked skin, and the fact he lets you mark him is even hotter.

He pauses at the door for a moment, pointing a finger at where you peered up at him curiously. “Stay there. I’ll talk to him and say you went out or whatever. Just make sure to silence your phone in case he calls. Better yet, turn it off.”

Sukuna closes the door behind him, already on the way to the entrance just as you press your ears against the door to eavesdrop. There’s a slight shuffling before the door unlocks, then, “Why the fuck did you lock-” Megumi pauses in his words, and you can perfectly picture his infamous scowl painting his handsome features already. Gosh, you wish you could actually see it, but if Megumi catches you sleeping with someone else, he might totally lose interest in you. That’s not something you could afford to happen.

“Oh. You’re her roommate.” You snigger at his usual what the fuck tone – how Megumi of him.

“Hey, kid, it’s a little too late for a visit, don’t you think?” Sukuna taunts, and it takes everything in you to not burst through the door at that moment. You’re stuck between wanting to laugh and crying, mostly because you would love and hate for Megumi to get riled up. “Do your parents know you’re here? Kids shouldn’t be out this late.”

“I’m not a fucking kid, I’m in uni,” he defends, “Do you know where Y/N is? I need to talk to her.”

Deciding fuck it, you open the door by an inch, just enough to peek. As expected, Megumi is glaring behind Sukuna’s shoulders in search of you. Meanwhile, Sukuna’s completely calm, checking his nails boredly as if Megumi isn’t fuming in front of him. And boy, do you know how much Megumi hates being ignored. “Oh, I think she went out, I don’t know why though. House was empty when I got here.”

“She didn’t tell you where she was going?”

At Megumi’s imposing tone, Sukuna tilts his head to scrutinize Megumi. Now that you’re seeing them together, Sukuna’s twice the size of Megs, their height and shoulder width too different to start comparing. But knowing Megumi, he’s not going to back down from a tattooed guy twice his size, not even as he sarcastically remarks, “Ain’t you her friend? She should be telling you that kind of stuff.”

Truthfully, you expected he would put up more of a fight. The two of them share a heated staring competition before Megumi scoffs, the first one to look away. “Whatever,” he dismisses, “Tell her to pick her damn phone up. I’ve been calling for the past hour.”

“I think I should tell her to get better friends.”

“What was that?”

“I said get home safely,” Sukuna chirps. Even with his back turned to you, you could tell Sukuna’s just further pressing his buttons with a grin that’s not meant to be inviting at all. Just when you think it’s done, however, Sukuna finishes off with, “Kid.”

Megumi rages. His blue eyes flame into something feral, his fists balled at his sides. He’s always had a temper issue and you nearly reveal yourself to stop whatever fight is about to ensue, but Sukuna’s already closing the door, ridding any opportunity for the younger one to retaliate. At the sound of the door closing, Sukuna leans against the door, his smile still plastered on his face as if he knows you’re watching the whole time. He meets your eyes from the slight peep of his door, waving his hands sarcastically.

“Sukuna, you didn’t have to be so mean.”

“Sorry,” he isn’t apologetic at all. “Next time I’ll be nicer to your asshole crushes,” he adds with a slight roll of his eyes and you punch his chest playfully. You don’t stop him from grabbing your wrists to embrace you in a hug that doesn’t seem so platonic – but not so suggestive either. Sukuna rests his chin on top of your hand while he sways you both side to side, his voice muffled in your hair. “I understand why you’re attracted to him though. He’s really handsome.”

“Yeah, he is,” you agree sadly, thinking of how much it’s really all a waste Megumi has to be like that. “Just sucks his personality ruins everything.”

“A pretty face is always deceiving,” Sukuna suddenly pulls away and holds you an arm’s length away.  “Hey, want to have early breakfast?”

“I think that would be late dinner,” you frown at him.

“Whatever, food is food,” he responds rather excitedly, and you watch as Sukuna rummages through the fridge. Now that you think about it, having sex so much really took a toll on you, and your stomach grumbles loudly. Sukuna hides his chuckles through the fridge but you hear him anyway, shouting at him that you’re not hungry. “Wasn’t asking, sweetheart. Now go get cleaned and changed, I’ll make something for you.”

If anyone were to tell you that a good fucking is all that’s needed for you to immediately form a new kind of friendship with your roommate, you’d call them weird. Sukuna isn’t necessarily out of reach, you and him just simply didn’t cross paths.

But now, you’re dressed comfortably in his boxers and the oversized shirt you stole from him, eating the slightly burn cheese sandwich he’s made, sharing conversation and laughing with him like you’ve been doing it for such a long time. Your sandwich is actually half forgotten on the plate as you whack your palms on the counter, “That’s how you and Prof Gojo met? I never would’ve expected you guys fought over a girl!”

“He was fucking annoying in high school,” Sukuna grumbles over an angry bite, “He was getting all the girls that when someone confessed to me, the hottest chick, no less, he straight up punched me in the face,” you laugh as you imagine the memory of a younger, already rebellious looking Sukuna getting smacked by the even more intolerable Gojo Satoru. Sukuna is lost in his own memories as well, shaking his head from around the last bites of his bread. It’s clear he hates the burnt crust judging from the way he turns a little green, but he’s bragged about his cooking skills so proudly that he has to save face in front of you. “Ah, such good times,” he muses before wincing at his own words, dropping his bread in disgust. “Damn, I sound old, don’t I?”

“You’re only like, five years older than me, it’s fine,” you giggle, “I like the maturity that comes with older people. You’re a lot easier to be with than guys my age.”

“Please,” Sukuna smirks, “Just say you like fucking older men. I won’t judge.”

If anyone were to tell you that you would be jumping over the counter to strangle your roommate who’s now running like hell, your laughter bursting through the once silent apartment, you would call them a liar. But now, you and Sukuna are panting on the floor, too tired from sprinting all around before calling it quits. Maybe it’s a lie – maybe this connection will never really be that much of a big deal – but as long as this lie and play pretend of friendship lasts, you’ll just enjoy every sweet moment of it.

taglist (lmk if you want to be added/removed) (bold can’t be tagged) @uwubby-1 @expectoscamander @your-consulting-fangirl @dora-the-grownup @cosmotoic @charlie-xo @kittaliapenn @sukunas-cult-leader @flowersgirl02 @cloudsinthecosmos @90s-belladonna @averysheart-raleighsdick @generousstudentpsychic-bat @kat-su-ki @issamomma​ 

[thebibliosphere]

soooo I’m finally watching Marie Kondo’s Netflix show in an attempt to motivate myself to clean my room, and while a lot of the tips seem like things that will be good for my ADHD and anxiety, the homes she looks at are... kind of already clean? Like, no dust, no trash, no dirty laundry, no spiderwebs. There’s lots of clutter, but not a lot of actual dirtiness. And especially with my worsening depression, I’ve been trying not to think about how bad my room is for so long that there are Actual Cobwebs in a couple corners. I know I’m an extreme exception, but if you had any tips on how to tackle that aspect, I would fully appreciate it

 Marie Kondo is less of a “clean your home” show and more of a “keep it organized.”

It’s also important to remember that no matter how real the people are, parts are staged. Because I guarantee you, some of those houses with the amount of clutter that is in them? Will absolutely have dust, cobwebs, and mold problems. We’re just not being shown them.

But that doesn’t mean you also can’t use Marie’s techniques to actually clean.

I’ve talked before about removing the lid from the laundry hamper helped ETD actually start putting laundry in the basket instead of on the floor/any flat surface. What I’ve yet to talk about is how that in no way helped us keep on top of doing laundry. The thing that really helped us was buying multiple cheap laundry baskets (this kind) and sorting our laundry out as we got changed. For example, there are three laundry baskets lined up near the door in our bedroom. One has t-shirts, another one has underwear, and another has, like, pants and jeans and shit. They serve both as visual reminders that we need to do laundry and help with pre-sorting laundry. Once they get full to a certain point, it’s time to do a laundry load.

We’ve also got baskets like these for towels, kitchen things and bed linens. Everything just goes into visible baskets, which can, if necessary, be stacked and shoved into a closet if company suddenly comes over. (Though that doesn’t happen so much these days.)

I also use spare hampers for doing 15-minute-pick-ups, which is exactly what it sounds like. I set a timer for 15 minutes, and I pick things up from places where they don’t belong and throw them in the hamper. So, for example, Holly’s toys and blankets are currently scattered all through the house. If I want to dust, vacuum, and clean, I will walk around the house picking her stuff up and putting it in the hamper, clearing a path for me to do the other things I need to do without worrying about organizing a space for her stuff. 

Another example would be my work desk. My work desk is currently covered in everything from my work printouts, bills I need to pay, medical gear like my blood pressure cuff, all my charging cables, multiple books, some of Holly’s toys, and for some unknown reason, four measuring tapes. If I want to dust my desk, I will put everything in a basket, wipe the surface down, then pick out the things that belong on my desk. Like the printouts and the bills. My desk is now, in less than 15 minutes, dust-free and organized. But Joy, you might say, what about the things in the basket? What do I do with those? Easy, keep them in the basket and take them to where they do belong. But what if the space they belong needs cleaned? Rinse and repeat, take your basket to the next space, clear everything into the basket, clean the area, then put back the things that belong. Congrats, you may have just cleared multiple spaces. And if you run out of energy in the interim? That’s okay; it’s better to have things contained in baskets than scattered everywhere across your house. It reduces them down to smaller problems and reduces your visual exhaustion from clutter, making tasks easier for ADHD brains in the long run. (This also works for other types of executive dysfunction. Visual exhaustion is a real problem for brains that are already trying their hardest.)

So, now you’ve got things sorted into manageable piles, what do you do next? You prioritize what is necessary for your space to be safe and sanitary. Cobwebs might be gross looking, but they’re not really an issue compared to, say, actual trash or dirty dishes that might be molding in your space. Remove those things first. Set another 15-minute timer, pick up as much trash as you can, and put it in a trash bag. If the timer runs out and you’re still good to go, set it for another 15-minutes, or keep going until you’re done. I find music helps. I’ve actually tricked my brain into realizing that dishes take me 12 minutes (instead of the literal hours my brain thinks it is), so for me, that’s 3-4 songs from my favorite band. Other people like to watch “clean with me” videos on youtube. They can be quite motivating, sort of like second-hand dopamine from watching people be productive.

 Once you’ve sorted one major task, assess how you’re feeling. Are you tired and need to stop? Great! You’ve achieved a lot already; well done. Have a sticker and or reward of choice. Tomorrow you will do another 15 minutes of something else, and slowly but surely, your space should become more manageable and less intimidating.

Think you can do more? Also great! Let’s maybe try to get the dishes next. After that, I’d suggest tackling the cobwebs, then dusting, then sweeping/vacuuming, and then if necessary, mopping the floor. And I don't mean all at once, I just mean in that order, just so you’re not having to go back and dust again.

I try to do 15 minutes of housework every day in this fashion. I also keep a rough schedule on our fridge and tick major tasks as we go. So did I do laundry this week? Yes! Excellent, gold star. No? Okay, well, that gets priority next week. (Still gold star for what I did achieve, though.)

It helps keep things manageable while also not being Too Much for either my ADHD or my physical disabilities. For some people, that 15 minutes is too much, and I would say even doing 5 minutes a day is better than none. Anything you can do to keep your living space safely habitable for both your mental and physical health is good and worthy of praise and pride.

Anyway, I hope some of this helps and wasn’t too long! 

Take care and good luck!

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Darkness Within (1x12)

Amazing! I can't believe how happy I am with this whole season, it's just caused me so much joy from beginning to end. I can always find flaws in any thing I watch, and I'll talk about those briefly, but wow. I'm happy. I'm so happy.

Cons:

But let's start with a couple of things I wasn't totally sold on, although I wouldn't call them huge problems or anything...

The resolution of the cliffhanger with Keyleth didn't quite land for me, and it was mostly a minor pacing issue. We end the episode with "holy shit Keyleth is going to DIE," but this final episode isn't about that at all... We have a drawn out period of time where we are struggling to bring Keyleth back, but to me it lacked tension because when Keyleth did wake up, it was like "oh hey, we don't have time to deal with this" since Percy and Orthax were now the obvious focus. If I had been the one writing the scene, I would have replaced the weeping and the long pause before Vax realizes he can try the herb and dirt thing, and instead have it be more frantic, like, "oh shit, no more potions, quick, grab the dirt!" keep the momentum, make it more of a triage scene than a true resurrection-type scene. I get that they wanted the stakes to feel very serious, but it didn't quite gel the way I wanted it to in the aftermath. In short, while I loved the decision to make Keyleth the one in peril in the last episode, I'm not sure the resolution to that plot beat landed in the context of this episode.

And for a much smaller pacing issue, this was such a small moment and I only want to comment on it because the show has been so good at pacing character beat moments all along, so when there's a slight misstep it stands out. After Scanlan throws Percy's gun into the acid and we see the bubbling Orthax goop, there needed to be an extra beat of silence before "well I'll be damned" and then another extra beat before "thank you, Scanlan." It happened so quickly, I wanted more space for the incredulity to build. Like I said, this is tiny, but it stood out to me as a moment that wasn't paced entirely right.

And then for the "big" one, and by big I just mean comparatively, this is the most negative thing I have to say about the episode... I mentioned in an earlier installment that the pacing was my biggest concern for this season as a whole. These are short episodes and there's a lot of story to tell. They managed to build in a lot of character beats among the action and chaos, but these past few episodes especially have had very little in the way of breathing time. And that makes sense, I don't need breathing time when everything is action-action-action, go-go-go. But the consequence of that is... well...

In the aftermath of what happens at the Ziggurat, we see that Whitestone is trying to recover from the rebellion and zombie horde attack. The Briarwoods are defeated, as are all their henchmen. What happens next? Well, Percy decides that he isn't fit to lead, it should be Cassandra, and then he immediately fucks off with the rest of Vox Machina to Emon, since they need to tell the sovereign and the council what happened with the Briarwoods and all that noise. This... feels cheap and anticlimactic to me in the show, in a way that it didn't in the original version. See, there, they hung around in Whitestone for a while, they had a festival, we had conversations with Percy and Keeper Yennen. The reason Percy leaves with Vox Machina in the story is because it's a D&D campaign and Taliesin wasn't leaving the game. The reason Percy leaves here is... not well founded. I get that he feels like he needs to work on himself and can't be a leader, but that's not actually a reason he needs to leave town literally hours after defeating the great evil.

And this is a consequence of pacing - if we could have had some sort of montage showing that a couple weeks had passed with Percy and the whole of Vox Machina staying in Whitestone and helping Cassandra establish herself on the throne, helping the people to clean up and grieve after what they'd lost... hell, a scene where we see a monument, where Percy has a moment to grieve and say goodbye to his family and to Archie and all the people of his community who died, since he was forced to flee and never got to honor them at home... I just felt I was missing that final emotional resonance that we could have gotten with honestly just five more minutes of screen-time here in the finale.

I understand why they rushed everyone back to Emon. I knew exactly how they'd end season one of this show, a lot of people guessed it and they were correct, and I get wanting to end on a bad-ass shocking cliffhanger that gets people hooked in for what's next. But it did rob something from the epilogue of Whitestone specifically. I hope that we get to return there, maybe repurpose some plot beats from the next arc and set them in Whitestone so we get that chance to have Percy check in with the home he thought he'd lost forever.

But anyway! Enough of my complaining!

Pros:

While I stand by what I said about Keyleth's near-death being imperfectly executed, I do want to say that I loved the character work and the acting here. Vax's utter despair, Vex's disbelief and grief... and Percy's coldhearted focus on his revenge even as his friend lies dying. I like that Scanlan gets to be the smart one to figure out about the orb causing an anti-magic field. It mimics the fact that Sam is often the first one to cotton on to a clever mechanical aspect of the gameplay at the table, since he's got quite the strategic mind for this kind of thing. You've also got the tenderness of Grog taking Keyleth from Vax and carrying her, that little moment of solidarity between the two men... so tender!

But the bulk of this episode is focused on Percy vs. Orthax, and it is one epic showdown. I don't really know where to start in praising this aspect of the episode, and to be honest these reviews have gotten a little out of hand with their length so I'm going to try to restrain myself, but I probably won't succeed.

Percy goes insane at Delilah, doesn't kill her quickly, instead saying: "I'll shatter your ankles for my sister Vesper. your hands belong to Julius..." oof. Chilling. He breaks out into Percy's maniacal laughter, and when Vex says "something has possession of you," he and Orthax answer together: "and we are better for it." I just love how Percy has been doing this shit all season and yet the extremity still kind of catches you off guard, the degree to which he's gone off the deep end...

And let's just talk about the moment with Vex, because... fuck, I'm so happy with it. I knew they wouldn't let us down, I knew they must have moved this moment to a more pivotal place. First, you get Vax's panicked yell: "Vex'ahila, what are you doing?!" as Vex stands between Percy and Delilah, the object of his vengeful hatred. And then she says the thing. "Darling, take off the mask." The reveal of Percy's face under the mask, just full on sobbing, is exactly what I expected it to be and yet it still hit so fucking hard. Because this is the thing, right? The mask is so creepy, but what is it hiding? Not just the glowing eyes of Orthax, but the real anguish Percy has been feeling all along. Percy tries so hard to stop Orthax from controlling him, ends up pointing the gun under his own chin, but Orthax takes control before he can end it...

Everything about Orthax and Percy's fight is gorgeous. The animation, the voice acting (Matt does an amazing job as Orthax, holy shit!), and the whole psychological journey of seeing Percy's past and his present collide. This works for me on so many different levels. You have the flashes of his family being killed, and then said family insisting he avenge them, you have Percy trying to kill his tormentors again, but actually aiming at his friends... and then meanwhile Vox Machina is darting around trying to avoid him, Scanlan is dragging Delilah around like a ragdoll trying to avoid Percy's shots, the names of his friends are appearing on the barrels of Percy's gun... the intensity just won't stop!

I like that we're doing the possession trope too, this idea of "only he can stop it," and the power of love breaking through. Vex gets a moment where she manages to penetrate the fog, and Cass makes her speech to convince him. The reason this all works for me is that we learn that in some ways Percy asked for this. Not in the way where it's his fault, of course, but in the sense that he wanted vengeance, he wanted to kill those who had wronged him, and he let himself live in denial about Orthax and the darkness consuming him all this time, in order to achieve his goal. It's not some straightforward thing where Percy has been controlled this whole time so actually none of his behavior is his own fault. It's a series of escalations, a series of decisions that culminated in this moment where Orthax is trying to take all his choice away.

And then Cass is there, she says "I'm here for you", and Vox Machina is there, and Vex says "we all are", and my heart skipped a beat, I was so happy!

I like that the way of subverting Orthax was deceptively simple and yet still enormously thematically relevant. Percy shoots his own hand instead of shooting Cass, thus paralleling shooting Desmond's hand all the way back in episode three.

And then there's the silence in the aftermath. There's Cass asking for assurances that it's really Percy, and Percy saying: "I'm afraid so. Well, most of me anyway." There's Vex's declaration: "So... that was the most fucked up thing I've ever seen, and I hang out with Scanlan."

But of course, there's still Delilah to deal with. Her grief in the aftermath of Sylas's death, and her failure to resurrect the Whispered One, were excellently portrayed. I like how she basically goads Percy to kill her earlier on, and then after Percy defeats Orthax, she mocks his failure to finish the job.

And then Cass gets the kill. It's perfect, it's bloody and brutal, and the line delivery on: "I'm glad you forgave her brother, but I could not" was honestly so perfect it gave me chills.

And then we're in the epilogue, basically, and the setup for the cliffhanger.

Taliesin's voice acting in the aftermath of Orthax's defeat is so perfect. He sounds different, like the Percy we got to see briefly back in the earlier episodes, but even lighter, even more free. It's only with the contrast that you realize how gradually and how entirely he has been consumed by the darkness. It's a brilliant performance from Taliesin Jaffe, I just can't say enough about what a good job he did with all of this.

And of course next let's talk about Vax and Keyleth! We got to see Vax's sincere grief and even a kiss on the hand when he thought he'd lost Keyleth, and then they spend the rest of the episode just a little too busy for a conversation... it's cute that Vax is holding Keyleth up, though, that she knows she can lean on him.

And then the final conversation between them out by the Sun Tree. It's obviously a lot shorter than the full conversation that played out at the table, but it amounts to something similar. Vax tries to reopen the conversation and say he meant what he said, and Keyleth shuts him down with a soft no. She doesn't say "I don't feel the same", but rather "we can't", because of responsibilities... honestly the reason why I love their relationship so much is that it does start with this rejection that is pretty clearly "I don't think I'm in a place for this right now" and not "it's impossible, I don't see you that way." It's a distinction that matters because of where the story is going, but Vax is going to respect her rejection and be her friend anyway, and I am honestly feeling very tender about it. Of course, Vax saying "I'm gonna walk away" was a lovely little comedy beat and a fun reference for all of us Critters out there who saw Campaign One.

To be honest and I don't want to be negative here but I've seen people saying some completely unfounded stuff about the Vaxleth content, and I don't agree with them at all. I think the people who are disappointed with Keyleth and Vax in this episode aren't paying attention, or something. I keep seeing people say "it was played for laughs" which is... absolutely not accurate to what literally is happening on screen? What are you even talking about? Just because a moment has some levity to it, or there's a laugh in there somewhere, doesn't mean an entire scene is being played for laughs, written off as nothing more than a joke. I even saw someone say that the Vaxleth dynamic was completely different from the stream, and that's not even remotely true. This is exactly what the dynamic was in the stream, they just haven't kissed yet. Calm down.

Sorry, I just really can't stand it that people are seemingly looking for reasons to be unhappy? The campaign is the campaign, and the show is the show. They are going to be different, but to look at what we saw with these characters, their relationship dynamic and think it was disrespectful and diminishing... I could not disagree more, as a huge Vaxleth shipper. To me those responses reek of entitlement. If you don't like what you saw, that's fine, but to act like you deserved something different betrays a lack of understanding in so many things. This show was made with love, and the obvious respect and attention given to Keyleth and Vax and their relationship is plain to those of us who aren't determined to be negative. I get steamed about this because the people who don't like something and are cool about it, that's awesome and great. I've listed my complaints in these reviews, the things that didn't line up for whatever reason. But I don't turn around and say "how dare they not give me the version I wanted." I've seen people go so far as to imply that people who disagree with them are watching the show "wrong" in some way. I've seen people doing that, and it grates on my nerves like nothing else. Okay, sorry, end of soap box.

This epilogue also has adorable Vex and Keyleth moments, like Vex calling her "Kiki" as they're being hailed as heroes, and then Vex encouraging her: "darling, you've got this" as Keyleth prepares to cast her spell to take them through the Sun Tree. Keyleth blushes, it's super adorable, and of course I love Vaxleth but honestly Kiki has got such a crush on Vex and we love to see it.

While I wanted more of Percy coming to terms with his home being rescued, I still did like the brief resolution we did see, with him leaving Cass to rule. He gets to say another classic Taliesin line, slightly altered and taking place at a very different point in the story: "we live as long as Whitestone lives." I loved that the line was in there, it was such a lovely tribute to the campaign but also a lovely setup for an imagined future prosperity for Whitestone, depending on how much of that future we actually get to see.

And then we're back at the keep in Emon! Percy is tinkering with a new gun, which I think might surprise some viewers but it's part of what makes Percy the deeply complicated character that he is. He knew what he was unleashing on the world when he invented guns, and he did it anyway in his quest for vengeance. He can't put that back into a box, and so instead he'll keep refining, and keep using the weapon he created when he was lost in darkness. Also, his hand gem thing thing is so cool! I bet I know where they're going with this based on a certain glove Percy has in the campaign, and I think that's such a fun way of showing a lasting consequence from what happened in Whitestone.

We also get an all-too-brief flash of domestic bliss at the keep, with Grog trying to do some repairs and dropping a door on his foot, Pike doing some healing and also some reading of a certain romance novel previously glimpsed at Gilmore's, we see Vex and Vax hanging out with Trinket, the best member of Vox Machina finally returned. While I think the pacing issues are a bit of a thing here, in that I would have wanted a bit more time to relax in this space before the end, I was still quite pleased with what we did see!

And then we're at the Cloud Top District. Sovereign Uriel Tal'Dorei is making a speech - he's stepping down as sovereign and handing rule over to the whole of the Tal'Dorei Council! What a shocking twist for the end of the season, right?

Oh yeah, and four massive dragons are flying towards the city. That's also a thing that happens.

I've got to say, I love me a good cliffhanger, and this one was so much fun because us in the know were all waiting for this exact ending! They teased us with not a whole lot in terms of character design for the Chroma Conclave, but what we saw has me super hyped for what comes next.

God, what else is there even to say about this show at this point? I'm already excited to do a full re-watch, and I know I'll be delightfully revisiting these twelve episodes for as long as I have to wait until season two comes along and gives me more to obsess over! I'm so happy that this show was made with such obvious care and love and attention to all the characters we already adore. You can tell this is a labor of love and even the times when I didn't agree with a choice or felt a joke fell flat, I could still sense the passion and effort behind every frame. It's all more than I ever could have hoped for.

High points of the season for me were probably episodes three, eight, and eleven, but honestly the whole season is a roiling adventure and a heart-stopping joy to behold. The finale gets...

9/10

[circethegoblin]

STAYING ALIVE MASTERPOST, FROM A BROKE TEEN WITH ADHD

here you go. some down to earth tips on how to not die metally nor physically.

tired of those "drink three liters of water everyday uwu" and "wake up at 5 am" and "buy a bath bomb and a fec mask and some other things you don't have the money for" shit? i'm here for ya.

1. NOT DYING

eat at least three meals a day, one of which m u s t be warm and above 300 kcal (it can be istant ramen with an egg added if you have to)

you technically should shower everyday, but we know how it is. A change of clothes is sometimes enough.

DRY SHAMPOO AND BABY WIPES!!!

keep bottles with water everywhere. On your desk, near that spot on the floor you always end up sitting on, near your bed, basically whenever you know you spend a lot of time. No need to get up and go to the kitchen will help. Obviously change the water in the bottles as often as you can.

Get some form of physical activity. It doesn't have to be much, you can for example replace scrolling on tiktok by walking around your room and scrolling on tiktok! Brilliant, isn't it? Obviously, running or doing those 10 minutes workouts from youtube is better, but you are still getting like an hour of walking.

Buy blankets. Steal blankets. Summon blankets from other dimensions. Just make sure you have a lot of warm, soft blankets in your house. You will thank me when you won't have the anergy to wash your sheets (just take them off and throw some blankets on your bed), or when the power goes out.

If you have pets, ALWAYS keep spare food that'll last for a week for them.

things to always have in the kitchen: milk, eggs, flour, rice, pasta, yeast, cheese, oil, a leafy vegetable, onions, tomatoes, apples, patatoes, some flavourful sauce, sugar, salt, spices and an emergency chocolate bar. You can make a lot of food with those. Just make sure you won't eat the chocolate too fast.

Have a lot of spare batteries. A lot.

Get urself a flashlight, a lighter, and a pocket knife.

Remember the apples? eat one a day. if you don't like apples or you can't eat them for any other reason, you can take a kiwi, banana, orange, basically something that will give you vitamins and non processed sugar.

do the dishes before your sink starts developing it's own ecosystem

drugs from that one guy around the corner = very bad time

2. NOT DYING INSIDE

Open the damn window.

Don't watch so many commentary videos. You are probably not even checking the sources, so you can easily make unjust judgement, and like. did you even hear of half of those people before?

make a discord server just for yourself. get into the habit of writing little things that happened to you there. rant about the fanfics you read. or the movies. vent there if you don't have anyone you can vent to. write your ideas there, write e v e r y t h i n g. make a section for passwords, for quick ideas, for your to do lists. you won't lose it as you do with sticky notes or notebooks. there is no risk anyone will see it. oh, and when you'll have a strong impulse to tell emily that you hate her? write that message in your private server and list all ur arguments. look at tat the next day and decide if you really mean that.

life sucks. come to peace with it.

cuddle ur pets if you have them

1 hour a day without a lot of sensory input. if you have to, reduce to half an hour.

if you find yourself scrolling endlessly through social media, make sure it's pintrest (just don't compare urself to the people here; if you have issues with that, tumblr may be better)

delete. twitter. from. your. phone.

influencers are lying to you; maybe not even intentionally. remember when you were watching that cute-aesthetic-productive morning routine, and you were wondering why your life isn't that pretty? why your room is a mess? why you cannot for the life of god be aesthetic 24/7? its the filter. don't worry about it, their lifes arent that nice either.

realize there's actually nothing stopping you from screaming as loud as you can right now. like there is no physical barrier. think about it. realize there's no actual physical barierr to many other things.

your body is your body. you can decide how it looks like; just remember it's in your greatest interest to keep it healthy.

3. BEING A LITTLE BETTER THAN JUST ALIVE

If you wear make up, take it off before you go to sleep.

moisturize your body; everything is better when your skin doesn't feel dry

have a one brand of cosmetics that you love and buy things mainly from it. they often have sets of products that complete each other. i like ziaja. it's a polish brand, it's surprisingly cheap and has nice quality

cleanser, moisturizer, face mist

of you can, change your sheets once every two weeks

do the dishes before your sink starts developing it's own ecosystem

do a deep house clean once a month (don't beat yourself up when you don't tho)

keep your workspace organized (it doesn't have to look organized to other people, remember)

sunscreen

cook your own food

keep a calendar

no money for scented candles? got ya. make a simmer pot: throw some apple peel, a couple of cinnamon sticks and whatever spices that smell good you have into a pot, add some water and simmer. boom. your house smells good, and you haven't spend 20 dollars.

If you really like candles, buy scented wax melts. it's cheaper.

Buy urself scented mists. they're pretty cheap and will make you feel A LOT better.

keep your clothes clean. if you aren't sure if that shirt thats on your chair is dirty or not, throw it in the washing mashine anyway. better be sure.

if you can, make your bed right when you get up

wear clothes that make you feel good. put some effort into your outfits. really.

4. OTHER PEOPLE

be nice to essential workers.

if you have money, give tips.

remember, you do not owe anyone love; it is not something you can force. even if they saved your life. even when they helped you in your darkest time. if you don't love them, you don't.

you don't have to be in a romantic relationship to be happy.

if you want to, date! date everyone! date girls, date boys, date nonbinary people! date people completly different than you, date people from different countries, date them!!! just make sure they're kind and won't kill you. even if you don't end up in a relationship, you can learn a lot.

don't be afraid to piss off people that deserve it

smile to strangers :)

5. NOT FAILING SCHOOL

heard of dark academia? check it out

romanticize the heck out of studying

do not let your studying be just reading the same partagraph over and over again. it won't work. believe me.

seterra for geography, quizlet for everything else

try to make yourself intrestet in whatever you are studying (watch veritasium, listen to podcasts about weird history facts)

notes are for you and you only; don't worry about them looking pretty. doodle on margins, make weird metaphors, squeeze in as much info as you can.

when you're studying, listen to music without words/in a language you don't understand.

chew gum while you study

get the forest app, get attached to the trees, focus.

don't feel guilty for taking breaks

grades aren't everything, but they are important.

eat something in school

don't just use the cheapest pens. invest a couple dollars in something that will make writing enjoyable and smooth

those study with me videos? they're great

if you like to argue with the teachers, take care of your grades becouse. they may not like you afterwards.

be nice to your classmates and help them with homework. if you don't do your homework they'll help you

executive dysfunction won't let you study? been there. sometimes it's better to wake up ealier tommorow and do that homework then.

don't feel guilty for failing a test

go to the goddamn class

don't pull all nighters oh my god don't especially on weekdays

6. OTHER LIFEHACKS

don't get involved in the crime, and if you do always have a believable explanation why you were doing it

have different alarm sounds for every day of the week

set a daily limit of money that you spend

great hobbies that don't require a lot of money; urban exploration, writing, hiking and learning other languages

thrift stores

don't eat grapefruits while on meds

nail polish removers dissolve most strong glues.

if you have a cut on your skin, desinfect it. do it. please just do it.

always have pads with you. even if you don't get periods, at least one of your friends probably does

sign up in your local library. its free

[dracosathenaeum]

Something Precious

Summary: You and Draco realise your feelings for each other when he ends up at the bottom of the Black Lake during the Triwizard tournament that you are a champion for.

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Slytherin!reader

Warnings: Some swear words

Word Count: 2,321

Requested by anon! I hope this meets your expectations 🥺 (I changed the wording slightly, so instead of Treasure, I used precious as it just fitted slightly better here, sorry if it bugs you :3)

“Don’t touch me you filthy little mudblood.” You sighed, why was it always you that had to stand up for the first years. You’d think that by now Draco would’ve gotten used to your scolding and would get bored of picking on the helpless first years.

“Draco! I told you to stop calling the muggle-borns that, lay off the derogatory terms you shit.” You were pretty much the only person (other than the golden trio) that would stand up to Malfoy. But you were however the only one in the school who he would actually listen to. The two of you basically grew up together so you were used to putting up with each other. By now you wondered if Draco only kept picking on the younger years to wind you up.

“I’m just calling them what they are, don’t be upset love.” He said with a wink and his signature smirk. You don’t know when it had started but somewhere along the line, ironic flirting had started between the two of you. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy it though.

“I’m not upset Draco darling; I simply want you to take that stick on the floor and stick it up your arse.” Draco flushing a deep pink was worth having to call him these ridiculous pet names.

“Thank you, Y/N!” the little Gryffindor squeaked.

“You’re supposed to be courageous right? Malfoy isn’t even scary, he’s very… ferret like.” And with a wink thrown over your shoulder to Draco, you were on your way. You weren’t by any means popular or well-loved by the school, it was more like you had their respect. You were still a Slytherin after all, you just stood up for the ones Draco and other Slytherins were especially cruel to. Simple name calling you could turn a blind eye to but the hexes and use of “mudblood” was just unnecessary.

That was probably why instead of boos, you simply got applauded when your name was pulled from the goblet. You weren’t in it for the ‘eternal glory’ you were just bored at Hogwarts. These deadly tasks sounded like something to get your mind off of everything, besides now that ‘The Chosen One’ was also competing, you had extra motivation to win the whole thing.

That being said… Potter tipping you off about the first task was probably the single worst feeling you’ve ever had in your life. The feeling of owing someone, let alone Potter, a favour. But he had saved your life, without his tip off you don’t know if you could’ve won that task. I mean it was dragons, DRAGONS. But your victory meant firewhiskey parties in the Slytherin common room for a week straight so you wouldn’t complain too much. You definitely kept it to yourself though, the thought of the rest of your house finding out you were saved by Potter made you shudder.

“Surprised you’re still alive Y/L/N, though I suppose someone has to beat Potter. His head is big enough.”

“Don’t look so happy to see me Malfoy.” Sarcasm dripping from you voice.

5 seconds of eye contact was all it took for you to be pulled into his arms, a breathe you didn’t know you were holding finally being released. You allowed yourself a couple seconds to enjoy to be held, it wasn’t often that you and Draco hugged despite having grown up together.

“I’m glad you’re alive Y/N/N, I need someone other than mudbloods to make fun of.”

“Shut up Malfoy, don’t ruin this.”

“Don’t fall in love with me yeah? I know I’m hot but you’re not really my type, though being a pure blood does help.” Smacking his chest, you pulled away from his hold. “God you are insufferable, now help me figure out how to work this stupid egg so I can tell Potter and not have to owe him anymore.” Draco was your one exception to the ‘tell no one that you owe Potter rule’ you set yourself, besides, you couldn’t hide anything from him. He’d find out sooner or later.

You had spent weeks with that egg, trying to figure out how to open it without the deaf-curdling screams. It was only when you convinced Draco to sneak you into the prefect’s bath (nothing in that dingy castle could compare to the prefect’s bath), that you figured it out. Though it took an awful lot longer to decipher it but being even with Potter again made every blood-curdling screech worth it.

The yule ball was a whole other catastrophe. Watching couples slow dance for hours on end sounded like utter hell to you, which is why you practically threw a fit when you were told champions had to lead the first dance.

“Draco stop laughing at me, they want me to dance; they want me, me to hold some guy against me and dance in front of 3 schools. I was content to stand by the food and make fun of the Weasley’s tattered robes or Potter’s awkward dancing but now I actually have to join in? I should just quit now.”

“You fought dragons Y/N; a dance is nothing. Besides we’ve been going to  balls for years, you should be used to it by now.” He did have a point, maybe all those long boring parties your parents would throw would finally serve a purpose for you.

“Pansy’s been trying to corner me for weeks, honestly I’d rather slow dance with your flat arse than hers. Besides, then we could make fun of Weasley together.”

You thought it over but not for very long, you knew he’d be the only one you’d willingly go to the ball with, well the only one you could tolerate for so long that is. Besides, the two of you had made it through countless balls together, what’s one more.

“Fine, but you’re buying me a new dress.”

“What? That wasn’t an invitation? I was just joking. Hang on, you have just as much money as me! Pay for your own damn dress.” You turned and made your way to the girl’s dorms, blowing a kiss towards the flustered blonde on the sofa. “Make sure it’s velvet or silk, nothing cheap either, else I’m telling you mother.”

And that’s how the both of you went to the Yule Ball together. Waltzing like you had done for so many years in the Malfoy manor and stuffing your faces, as you made fun of Ron Weasley’s robes and Potter’s pathetically sad looking face. Though you had to admit, Hermione was the focus of the night, no matter how good you looked in the dress Draco got for you, there was no denying all eyes were on her and the Durmstrang champion. As you climbed into the bed that night, a soft smile stretched across your face, the Yule ball wasn’t so bad with Draco as company you supposed.

===========================================================================

Which brought you to where you are now; stood in the freezing cold ready to dive into the equally freezing water. Calming yourself, you ran through your plan again. Cast the bubble-head charm, collect whatever ‘precious item’ Dumbledore was talking about and once you were out you would find Draco Malfoy and kill him. He had promised he would be there to help you prepare the night before; yet you spent the entire evening alone in the Slytherin common room waiting like some bloody girl being stood up.

You knew you weren’t traditional friends (if you could even call yourselves that) but you thought at the very least he’d be there for you when you really needed him. Swimming had never really been your strong point after watching your cousin drown during your childhood, but that was a story for another day. After all these years, you really thought despite everything he’d be with you when you needed him most.

The canon went off, startling you from your thoughts as you quickly cast you charm and dove into the water, taking a second to adjust to the freezing water and calm your nerves. You really should have learnt a body warming spell. You watched as the other 3 swam straight through the village and watched as Fleur was attacked by Grindylows. “Better her than me.” You thought.

You swam through the murky water and eerie village until you reached four figures afloat in the water. You swam toward them and recognised Weasley and Granger straight away, of course the golden trio would be making an appearance even here. Yet it was the mop of blonde hair that made your heart skip. ‘Something precious has been taken from you.’ Draco was your precious something!? You saw a young girl next to him, probably Fleur’s sister. Why was it Draco who was taken? Why wasn’t it your own sister who was just 3 years younger than you? God you were going to get an earful from the both of them after this.

Swimming closer you realised how gaunt he looked, you felt like you’d never truly looked at his face til this moment in time. Not even when slow dancing that night at the Yule Ball. He looked so different yet so similar to when you first met him at the age of 5. Both of your parents cooing as tubby little Malfoy held his tiny hand out to ask you for a dance.

For once he looked peaceful, rather than the sneer he always had at Hogwarts or his blank look at home around his parents and yours.

You slashed his bonds with a nearby rock, deciding to just get out of the water as soon as possible, you couldn’t bear to be in the water with your heart thumping this fast any longer. Turning to give one last look at Potter you could see the disgust on his face as he stared at the unconscious boy in your arms. You threw a glare and the rock at him before swimming away, feeling slightly sorry for the poor French girl left behind.

You were the first to break out of the water, Krum following shortly behind.

“What?? Where am I? Y/N?!” Draco spluttered, coughing the water from his lungs before wrapping an arm around you and keeping the both of you afloat.

“You can ask questions later, I’m exhausted, can you please just swim us back to the stands.” He didn’t need more instructions, knowing you hated the water, he pulled you against him as he swam straight for the closest stands.

Everyone cheered as the both of you were pulled from the water and wrapped in towels. You had won first place but that was the last thing you were thinking about.  

“Draco is your precious item? I always knew there was more going on between you two than you admitted!” You could kill Blaise then and there, you decided. Though you supposed the glare you received from Pansy was worth the humiliation, just a little.

“Y/N? What’s Blaise talking about? All I remember is Professor Snape asking to see me last night as I was walking to meet you in the common room and the next thing I know I’m freezing my ass off in the water with you. I mean is it even legal to do this to a student? My father will be hearing about this.” You could barely meet his eyes at this point, you were just as confused as he was, but you couldn’t help but roll your eyes at his last comment.

Did you have feelings for Draco? Sure, you grew up together and had a love-hate relationship the whole time but that was the extent of it. You didn’t like Draco, surely, you’d know right?

“Something precious was taken from each of us, Krum got Granger; Potter, Weasley; and Fleur got her sister. I guess Dumbledore thought your sorry arse was precious to me or something.”

“Oooo does my darling Y/L/N have a crush on me? I thought you- and I quote- hated the sight of my stupid face?”

“In your dreams Malfoy, now shut up I want to hear them announce me as the winner.” In reality you could care less about the announcement, just wanting to change the subject as fast as possible. Your eyes went to Potter, along with everyone elses, as he shot out the water like a bloody dolphin. You would give him credit where credit was due though, saving just Draco was hard enough, Potter had saved both Weasley and the Delacour girl.

“You know, if you wanted me all you had to do was ask? Obviously, I’m very attractive and my father is very important but don’t be intimidated-”

“Shut up you git.” God if he wasn’t going to shut his stupid mouth, you’d make him, one way or another. The ‘other way’ as it happened was you grabbing his face between your palms and pressing your lips to his.

Draco wrapped his arms around you to pull you closer, deepening the kiss. You giggled into the kiss as everyone around you cheered; you didn’t think you were a fan of PDA but after kissing Malfoy, you couldn’t care less. You pulled away and nuzzled yourself into him, the both of you still ice cold from the swim but hearts beating fast.

You never thought you’d get a boyfriend from this tournament but being there in his arms, despite freezing your ass off, you were happier in that moment than you had been in a long time. There was nowhere you’d rather be.

“Be my girlfriend?”

“Shut up and kiss me Malfoy.” You both smiled into the kiss, loving how natural it felt to be with him like this. Completely ignoring the winner’s announcements and instead focusing on how happy you felt. 

Life was looking more bearable by the second.

Well until you got killed by Voldemort that is.

I See The Light can be read as a loose sequel describing this moment

#A/N: I literally had the HP wiki page open the entire time, it’s my first time writing a changed story line, something with a proper plot. I hope it was okay, please let me know if I got anything wrong or if something should be improved! Also sorry for the crappy ending :33

Thank you for reading!

Add yourself to my taglist!

[gojology]

Fireworks.

the request :

pairing : not technically a pairing.. but lets just say gojo x female reader warnings : angst and cursing, no editing. wordcount : 2561 a/n : this physically hurt me to write thanks anon. aha all jokes aside i’m so sorry for not making this quick enough, i finally got enough time to finish it and it’s not even that good :( thank u SO much for ur kind words omg u got me feelin like <333333333

       You stare at him, and he stares back, you’re sure he’s unblinking behind those shades of his.         You knew what would happen after this confrontation, after all, you were the one who had asked him to meet you here. It’s a small, calm park. The atmosphere is still, and the shrill sounds of cicadas are the only thing penetrating the deafening silence between the two of you.          “Hey.” he finally speaks up, sounding a bit too impatient for your liking. You flinch a little, and your fist tightens. It was like he never learned how to introduce himself politely.         You take a deep breath in and exhale, your breath comes out in clouds of smoke. You remember when Shoko had given you those cigarettes one day and Gojo slapped it out of your slack hands, Geto and Gojo laughing at your flushed face, your heart twists.          Truth be told, you didn’t even know why you were thinking the world was ending- it wasn’t. Breaking up with your fellow peer was awkward to say the least, but there were only 4 of you in the jujutsu class, yourself included. It would be undeniably dreadful to see his lanky figure dotting around the back of the class with Geto, and to have to work with him for everything else.          “Hey.” you reply, your words dripping with venom.         “C’mon, cut to the chase.” he waved his hand a few times in the air as a dismissal of the conversation, a half eaten lollipop dangling dangerously from those limp long fingers. It makes you hate him even harder. Couldn’t he read the room?     “I don’t have time for chit-chat, you know?! The strongest needs some rest. I’m human like the rest of us! Sheesh, Jujutsu is so demanding....”      “We need to break up.” is all that slips from your lips, and even you’re shocked it came out that carelessly. You wanted to stop resisting, to stop holding back and let loose the long river of hatred and misery you had for this man- no, a boy, he was a boy.      A strong wind blows against your warm face, and the lollipop drops onto the grass without another word.        Gojo gapes at you dumbly, and in return you look down to study that glistening in the moonlight lollipop, it’s pink and ants are already crawling on their new found prey. Your shoes are slightly dirty, and you could see-        “Are you serious?” he scoffed as if it was a joke. It’s not, and you hate being taken like a joke. You weren’t, and that’s all Gojo Satoru did- take everything as a joke, everything was childs play to him. You were looking for a serious relationship, and him? He was looking for sex and quick make out sessions.        “Wait- you’re not joking?” he laughs again, but it trails off, you doubt it actually affected him.        “Of course I’m not joking. Why would I joke about shit like this?” you spat back.        You didn’t care about his feelings right now. You deserved some sort of medal for dealing with him, any sort of compensation really. it seemed to you like the relationship didn’t quite matter for whatever reason. If he wanted to be fuckbuddies he could’ve just said so-       But you still can’t wrap your head around why he kept you, he didn’t throw you away, and you falter. You wanted to be his girlfriend in some ways, in others you wanted to punch him in the face with as much cursed energy as possible.        Gojo takes his glasses off, slipping them into his jacket’s pocket. It seems like he doesn’t want to talk, but you press on.        “I’m fucking tired, Satoru. You treat me like bullshit. I’m not your-” you take a short breather, tears beginning to dawn at the corner of your eyes. “I’m not your fucking doll. And I never, ever WILL BE. I’ve hung onto this stupid fucking relationship long enough and the amount of dedication you poured into this isn’t enough. I deserve better.”        Shit. You hated rambling like that. Scratch that, you hated confrontations as a whole, this would be sure to take a toll on you later.       Turning your back on him, you allow those tears to finally fall. Tears that had been shut in long enough had finally seen the light of day. You wipe the trails away with the already wet sleeve of your hoodie, a large trembling frown adorned your features.        You can’t hide your sniffling even if you tried, and before you know it you can’t even prevent the floodgates from bursting. The tears seeped into the dirt, creating some sort of rhythm as they fell from your cheeks.       “Hey-” he places those hands on your shoulder that made your knees go weak, it’s gentle, and he slightly caresses you. It’s strangely intimate for the situation you found yourself in, but you’re still mortified. Why did you enjoy his touch?        It feels like you’re in this position for ages, his hands on your shoulder, your back facing him. Somehow, someway, you can taste salty tears and you didn’t remember drinking any, for a split second you feel disgusted, at you, at him, at the world.      A small noise leaves your throat.      “It’s okay.” he finally spoke, was that a hint of sorrow? Never mind that, he was actually taking this seriously. What a turn of events.      He took it better then you certainly thought, especially since this would be a definite blow to his big ego. You turn to face him, maybe as an act of superiority, hell like you knew.       Peculiarly, there are tears in his eyes as well. Crocodile tears, probably. He’s most likely trying to guilt trip you- hah, like you’d fall for that. You knew better.      “It’s okay.” he repeated again, brushing those tears away with his roughed up thumb, you’re mortified. Why were you allowing him to touch you?      A calm silence settles between the two of you, but shortly after you hear the rustling of cloth.       Gojo’s taking his jacket off?       About to speak, your mouth snaps shut as he placed the impossibly large jacket around your body, small compared to his. Instinctively, you allow it, but your mind is cursing you for not lashing out on him- why did he still care about you, anyways?     Gojo takes a step back, and you realize you’re now wearing his jacket. His gaze directed at yours, eyelashes fluttering. Your lips are tingling, and for some unbeknownst reason you wonder how a kiss would feel right now.      A part of you still wanted the relationship.      “Take care.”      And with that, he twirled around with a hint of flair, hands shoved deep into his jeans pockets; wind howling against your ears as he did so. He was finally leaving you, but that wasn’t what you envisioned, you wanted to leave him- not him leave you.      You watched him stroll off, heading to where ever he came from.     That was how your first, and last relationship ended.  ‧₊˚✩彡.     The thought of this abandoned relationship nestled at the back of your head, and it had been for several years. It was like it happened yesterday.      His glasses still resided on your nightstand, sitting on the same spot that you had hastily dropped it on all those years ago, gathering dust quickly as you couldn’t quite look at it.       Gojo’s jacket was at the very back of your closet, and you’d advert your gaze to somewhere else- anywhere else, whenever you saw the wretched pitch-black sleeves that were twice the size of your arms.       You had taken a rather looked down upon jujutsu path, one that you knew only one other person had done before you. Nanami Kento was his name, from what you remembered. Sure, you still kept in touch with Shoko, but that was about it.       Today was one of those days, Shoko would invite you to some sort of establishment to eat, perhaps make small talk about what had been happening in your life, and that was that. Admittedly, you missed that childish relationship with her so badly- but you could never tell her about that.       Japan at night was always a treat though, that was certainly a fact.      Perhaps Shoko was thinking about other things when she took you to the Japanese night market, though you didn’t blame her- after all the fireworks festival was today, if you remembered correctly. Stalls filled with games and cheap street-snacks wafted about in the air, sweet tangy sauce, noodles, your stomach grumbled as you thought about taking a bite on the horribly unhealthy junk food.       “Here, Y/N. I’ve heard this takoyaki is really good.” You and Shoko had finally found an empty bench to sit at, and for some reason the muddy green color painted onto the wooden bench made your stomach lurch- it was the same shade that you saw nearby when breaking up with Gojo.     Shoko gives you this lukewarm yet kind smile, enough for you to give her a small grin to her in return, and you take the still hot container out of her gentle hands.       You plop the doughy deliciousness into your salivating mouth, and immediately you’re giddy. Savoring the taste of the thick brown sauce coating your pallet. You had to admit, Shoko, Geto, and... Gojo had amazing taste in food. Your tastebuds had instantaneously dulled as soon as you parted ways with the trio.      “Shoko-” you mumble, your mouth still stuffed, you cover your mouth and try to lower the sound of your chewing. “This is really good! How much was it?”        Shoko’s eyebrow quirks, and she leans in closer to you, “What was that?”        About to repeat yourself, you drink in the scene around you first. Cheerful children roaming the streets; too past their bedtime. Angsty teenagers and the many lanterns strung highly above everyone’s heads, how bright everything was.       Then you see it.       Someone large, atleast, significantly larger as opposed to the general crowd bustling in the streets. You couldn’t be mistaken, he had the same wild white hair- except it’s gelled up into spikes. He’s wearing a mauve darkish-purple uniform, it seems, a cute shopping bag swinging side by side as he took long strides. One thing you had to note was a blindfold, though.       Gojo’s not wearing those classic shades that was practically his signature.       You peer over at Shoko, who’s now frantically waving at Gojo, humming, his chin tipped towards the clear canvas of a sky, dotted with many white stars. He seems livelier somehow, an aura of friendliness radiating instead of arrogance, and you drop your takoyaki in suit.       He notices you.      And then he notices Shoko.       “...’Scuse me. Comin through.” he maneuvered himself through the already annoyed crowd, muttering quick polite apologies before finally freeing himself from the tight bundle of people. A large toothy grin is displayed for the world to see on his face, you feel like you’re about to vomit everything you had eaten today.       Your eyes scan the bag he’s holding, it contrasted heavily from the dark color scheme of whatever he was clad in; pastel yellow with a cute light green mascot chewing happily on mochi. In bubble letters above it were the words, “It’s a good day for yummy food.”      “Shoko!” he exclaims joyously, giving her a quick hug. “Hey, haven’t seen you in a while outside of work.”       Then, Gojo glances at you, atleast that’s what you assume he’s doing, the blindfold was really confusing you. He politely smiled, not as big as the one that he gave Shoko, though.        “Long time no see, Y/N.”        You clear your throat and nod in agreement. “You too.”        Polite chatter between the two of them ensued, and you steadily got more bored as the time went on, checking your phone and stealing quick stares at the two of them. You want to comment, to be included, but you doubt anyone really cared for you right now.        “...How are you?” you say bluntly, blinded by boredom, and immediately you regret it.       Shoko chuckles awkwardly, looking at you with those tired eyes of hers. “Was that for me or Gojo?”        Fuck it, if you were gonna go out, you might as well do it now.        “Gojo.”        “Shit. Putting me in the spotlight like this?” he stands back up from leaning down to talk to Shoko eye-to-eye, now turning to look at you, pausing.       “You’re even more straightforward then I remember, and I thought that was impossible.”        “Yeah.” you finally say after too many seconds of silence. It seemed like he was hinting at something. “I guess we just grow as people, even though I thought that was basically impossible for you.” you cheekily retort back, crossing your arms over your chest with a smug smirk now proudly playing at your lips.        “AND you got sassier? Never quite grew outta the brat phase.” taking a seat between the empty space between the two of you with a huff, his right leg placed above the knee of his left, his thumb plays with the hem of his blindfold, pulling it just a bit so that you could see his snow white eyelashes, alongside with a singular eye.     It’s like time stops as soon as you see them, and it’s like Shoko isn’t closely surveying the two of you, obviously perplexed with this sudden increase of the intensity of conversation.        You see a split second of something flickering in those eyes of his, you’re not quite sure what it could quite be.. Vulnerability?         “Can’t believe my eyes.” pulling his blindfold back down. They’re still as breathtaking as you had imagined them to be. He shrugged, leaning back into the bench casually.      For a while, the three of you just watch the stall directly in front of you- it’s a goldfish stall. Gojo had gotten you one when the two of you were still dating.         Shit. Why weren’t you over such a silly relationship? It wasn’t like you still had feelings for him, but there was still this emotion you couldn’t shake off. It clung onto you like a leech.         “It’s been so long since we’ve relaxed with each other like this.” Shoko mused aloud, turning to look at the two of you. The words are so faint, you’re barely able to hear her subtle voice.        At this point, colorful fireworks started bursting into the air- every shade of color could be seen. Vibrant greens, blues, reds, a loud crackling is all the ear can hear, aside from the loud cheering of over joyous children. Both of you are unanswering.       Vaguely, you remember the first time you saw the fireworks. Lo and behold, you remember wisps of Gojo’s white hair that you twisted and played with, your legs wrapped around his head. You felt on top of the world. Now, you found yourself at the bottom of it.         There’s a grateful, albeit, sad smile on your face. It wasn’t like it was all sunshine and rainbows for you, no. You felt bitter. Hatred, even, that Gojo matured without you.        “Yeah. I miss this.” you say through gritted teeth.         If you were to be honest, you did miss them. Geto, Shoko, Gojo, running around pelting each other with scrunched up paper.       Not just Gojo.        But you guess he’s a big factor as well.       

[werealljustwinginit]

Tell us about what skincare ingredients and products you love!

Okay, so I LOVE TALKING SKINCARE. This is a huge topic for me and I often write up a blog post once a year where i recommend skin care products. So here is this year’s recommendation! An insanelyyyyy long and detailed post nobody asked for!! HERE WE GO: 

I am a long time skincare advocate...before it really blew up and people started really getting to know more about their products and ingredients. I’ve just always had very acne-prone skin so I’ve had to pay attention to what products and ingredients I was using and how their formulas worked for me. As a result, over the years I tried A SHIT TON of products. Many expensive, fancy, high end, etc. But now I have my skincare routine down to a much more manageable and quality ingredient list. Obviously everyone’s skin is different...but this is what I use on a regular basis these days:

Serums:

- Krave Beauty’s Great Barrier Relief Serum: Honestly, this is THE SHIT. My favorite moisturizing serum to really help balance your skins hydration barrier and stay hydrated. It’s thicker and almost feels like a moisturizer. It’s so great.  - The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% Drops: Niacinamide is an amazing ingredient for your skin and can help a tremendous amount with clearing the skin, resurfacing, fading scars, and more. This really does a good job helping with my acne, so i really recommend to anyone. And I am pretty sure it’s like $5 cause it’s from the ordinary.

Moisturizers:

- CeraVe Moisturizing Cream: It’s a very cheap drug store moisturizer that has good, clean ingredients. After using fancy moisturizers for years, I finally gave into my dermatologist’s recommended lotion. LOL. They do have a lotion that is lighter, but my skin tends to be dryer, especially in the winter so I use the cream not the lotion. It’s thicker. (For high end junkies--it’s like comparing Drunk Elephant’s LaLa Retro to their Protini cream). I also sometimes throw in drops of a marula oil into this cream if I am really dry. Make myself a little face smoothie. 

Eye/Lip Creams:

- Mario Badescu Ceramide Herbal Eye Cream: Now honestly, I still haven’t found my perfect eye cream yet...but I have used this one for a few years now. It moisturizes well and is cheap to buy. It’s probs not the most effective but at least I am moisturizing my eye area. One day I will take on more eye creams that target certain things, but that is one day when I have money to spend lmao. -Glossier Bubblewrap Lip/Eye Cream: This is a very unique moisturizing product that is meant for sensitive skin like your eye area and lips. It does say it plumps a bit, which I don’t ever feel a plumping effect, but I do love to use it on my lips. It’s so moisturizing and is kind of like using a primer before you apply chapstick or lipstick. 

Exfoliators:

- Glossier Solution: The OG chemical exfoliant I tried and loved. These types of products aren’t great for everyone, and may have to be used less or more depending on skin type, but as an acne-prone human, I love a chemical exfoliant. This works and lasts a long while.

- Krave Beauty’s Kale-Lalu_AHA: Another chemical exfoliant. I recently tried this one because I do believe Krave Beauty uses better ingredients than Glossier Skin typically does (no shade tho). They were close in price, so I made the switch and have enjoyed the results so far. The packaging is also beautiful.

- Dr. Brant Microdermabrasion Exfoliant: This is NOT a chemical peel, this has aluminum oxyde crystals in it to polish the skin like a normal exfoliant would. It also has a lot of ingredients that help renew and refresh the skin while exfoliating. Now this product is HELLA expensive...I only have it because I once bought it for way cheaper when I had a subscription box. I don’t know if I would spend the full $80 bucks on it, but your skin does feel smooth.

- Tatcha The Deep Polish: This is an enzyme powder that you mix with water and exfoliate fro there. It is from when I used to buy the highest end products in hopes it would help my skin. It is pricey, but again does leave your skin feeling soft. So I rotate it in from time to time.

Masks: 

- The Ordinary’s AHA 30% BHA 2% Peeling Solution: AKA THE BLOOD MASK. Now hugely popular on social media, the “blood mask” is a chemical mask that peels off dead skin and essentially works to eliminate the top layers of your skin and begin rejuvenating a fresher layer for softer, healthier, plumper skin. I do this once a week and it is way cheap. I can compare it to Drunk Elephant’s Sukari Babyfacial and it definitely beats that expensive version.

- Glow Recipe’s Avocado Melt Sleeping Mask: This is an overnight moisturizing mask that you simply wash off in the morning. It really helps lock in moisture and feels nice on the skin. I use this when I am feeling really dry. 

- Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay Mask: This one you have to mix the dry clay mixture with water and apple cider vinegar to create a goo that you can then let dry on your face. It may be intense for some, but I find it really helps dry out my acne spots and reduce redness in my skin. It’s always a fun one to do with other people too because you do have to prepare it. Good sleepover activity. 

- GlamGlow Bubble Sheet Mask:  This one is honestly more so used for when I am traveling and want to keep a mask on hand or when I am having a fun girls night or something. It’s a bubble mask--so to me that just means fun. I typically avoid sheet masks (unless I am traveling) because I think you end up throwing a way a lot of product you are paying for. But this one is fun, it’s cute, it’s different. I don’t notice a huge change in my skin tbh, but it is a fun activity for girls night. 

Honorable Mention/Random Products:

- Youth to the People’s Kale and Green Tea Superfood Cleanser: I stayed away from this one for a long time because it’s expensive and I could rationalize buying such an expensive cleanser, but I got a gift card to Sephora and finally decided to try it. And ya know what?? I guess I am fancy now because I really love it. It does not overly strip your skin at all, and for the first time in my life I really know what that means. It’s so great, it smells so good. Ugh. Can’t get enough of this bougie bitch of a face wash.

- The Inkey List Retinol Cream: A recent purchase, but I have enjoyed seeing the results. Everyone imo should be using an eye cream and a retinol. This is a nice introduction to retinol, so I recommend to those looking for one.

- Glossier Mint Balm Dot Com Chapstick: THIS AGAIN--IS THE SHIT. Many will say they would never spend more than two bucks but one tube of their’s is seven bucks and it is WORTH IT. I buy the three pack once a year and i’m good. This is the best chapstick you will literally ever use. Fucking buy it. If I could tell you only three products that are a must from this list this would be one of them. (the other two would be great barrier relief and the kale cleanser)

- Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask: I like this lip mask, it’s not needed everynight, but I do like to use a lip exfoliant (made or buy one, whatever) and then use this to really retextures my lips. 

- Bag Balm: Now this is a very unusual product to recommend lmaooo. Originally, bag balm is used for chapped cow udders on farms--which is how I discovered it. Farmers eventually noticed that it helped your skin retain moisture and repair cracked skin in their hands. So now it is known as a good thick ass cream for hands and feet. Now this shit is again--used on cows originally, so the formula feels thick and greasy. I like putting it on at night and letting it soak in for a while as I lay on my phone. It really works--I swear to you. 

- Sagely CBD Cream: I use their relief and recovery crea which smells like lavender and has a cooling effect when applied to the skin (kinda like biofreeze or icyhot would). This is only a 50mg CBD lotion, but I do like it. 

- Mad Ritual CBD Muscle Recovery Balm: Now this is thick and definitely a balm, not a cream. It is much higher strength though, so I break it out when needed and a little goes a long way. This one is 200mg of CBD. 

- Mario Badescu Drying Lotion: This drying lotion is now so popular but has been a staple of mine for at least a decade now. You leave it on over night and it really does dry up and reduce zit size. Helps a lot. There must be a reason why super models are told to use this shit before a runway show. 

- Tatcha The Essence: Essences are a new and kind of weird thing, kinda like priming the skin to allow for better absorption of a product. Now this product I received as a Christmas gift one year, but I am pretty sure it’s like $100...breaking the bank as always, tatcha. Anyway, it does allow for better absorption of products and feels light and refreshing on the skin. One bottle has lasted me two years now. I don’t know if I would recommend it, but I do use it somewhat regularly and it does make you feel like a bougie bitch. 

AND THAT IS THE END. Sorry that was soooo long. But like I said, I do a write up once a year of my skincare products anyway. So there you guys have it!! If you have any questions at all about your skin or skincare routine , honestly hit me up. Over the years I have slowly has friends come to me. Once I collect all of the I will have all of the infinity stones lmao. 

[yhtaejoon]

hi! this is chey, i was here close to opening with kim1 (kim joonwoo), but i got really busy with a new job and accidentally dipped. i’m so so sorry for that! anyway, here’s taejoon’s unfinished info page & his pinterest board. this is rushed so it’s probably gonna be messy??? idk. we’re all in this together. hmu on discord if that’s your thing --- pepper#4940

full name is kang taejoon, but he has no affiliation with the kang family. he’s actually filling the role of daebak8! i checked the last names to make sure he didn’t have the same one as one of the families but alas, my pea-brain still failed me.

on that note, he’s a tiktoker born in 2000. started on vine in 2012, but didn’t actually get serious about his online presence until 2014-ish and IMMEDIATELY started lying about his life because what else is a fourteen year old gonna do online?

lied about his age, his hobbies, his family, his experiences, etc. he just really, really wanted to seem interesting, and hey! it worked! he eventually fooled thousands of people into thinking he’s someone worth their time. chased trends like crazy, kept in close touch with his “fanbase”, picked up sponsorships all while keeping his ACTUAL life completely secret basically. got very comfortable with lying.

he was always pretty obsessed with the attention because he lost his popularity when he stopped playing soccer (f’s in the chat for the former athlete side of him) & getting money from promoting brands was good, too, bc while his family isn’t necessarily lower class, they could still use some help. plus he needed cash to buy anime merch.

flash forward to 2020. he graduated high school in early 2019, still has no desire to go to college or get a “real” job. he has it made rn living in the daebak house and creating online content still. living the life.

except not really because how fulfilling can it honestly be to watch thousands of people becoming fond of ur fake persona? he still lies a ton, has begun to feel like no one will ever like him for who he actually is bc it’s quite disappointing in comparison to the always ON persona he shows. 

his tiktok user name is “beetlejoon” which is a play on beetlejuice if you couldn’t tell dshbfvds.

he speaks english really well from a mix of classes when he was young, growing up online and trying to appeal to westerners, and watching a ton of western shows/films. he does kind of have an accent but for the most part.... a lot of ppl who only know him online assume he lives in america/is from america.

the rumor about him buying views/followers is definitely true. he’s not losing popularity or anything, he just wants to look even more relevant than he actually is.

cries himself to sleep like every night but you’d NEVER guess. he’s super funny when he’s around people, knows what people want and will do anything he can to blend in and make everyone like him. needs that validation so bad. life of the party.

flirts a lot for no other reason than he can and he likes the validation of people flirting back! but his love life is hectic and always disappointing. on one hand, he knows a ton of his followers are delusional w the idea that they can be with him and he doesn’t wanna lose followers by being Unavailable. on the other hand, can’t risk being too close with anyone and them finding out nothing he says is true. heehee.

he follows whatever trends are in at the moment, so he owns a ton of dumb shit that will never be practical/clothes he’ll never wear in public/probably has dumb tattoos he got impulsively.

his trademark thing (that he stole Obviously) is a broken heart that he draws on his cheekbone Every Single Day. probably claims that it’s a tattoo just to fuck with his followers but there’s those odd times when it’s not there and everyone’s confused.

wears all black usually, lots of chains, leather, platform boots, dangly earrings, but he’s not the kind of guy your parents worn you about. he couldn’t be scary if he tried. he’s CLEARLY just a tiktok e-boy. he’s more like the lowlife your parents compare you to to make you feel better about how slow your life is moving.

while we’re talking about parents.... his gave up on him when he moved into the daebak house. he tries to give them money and support them but they won’t have it. decline his calls. don’t write him back. they think he’s mad embarrassing which is... fair. his tiktok presence is definitely questionable

likes to be funny and make people laugh, but he actually cannot take anything seriously even if he tries. this definitely gets on peoples’ nerves, has probably ended some good friendships/relationships/whatever else. sometimes he can lighten the mood if it’s dark but most of the time it just pisses people off bc it seems like he doesn’t care/doesn’t understand.

idk what else to say but if you’ve read this far and you like music, two songs that i heavily associate with taejoon are cotton candy by yungblud and lowkey as hell by waterparks. listen to them if you want... or don’t.

i don’t have a plots page put together yet, but here are some vague ideas i have:

(0/2) --- past tinder dates whom he lied to about his age and it came out somehow </3 maybe he tried to take them to a bar and he got caught with a fake id. maybe they went snooping and found out none of his info adds up. either way, the dates were short-lived and they probably clowned him pretty hard.

(0/?) --- fans of his tiktok page.

(0/?) --- alternatively, people who know of his tiktok page and think it’s dumb.

(0/1) --- another influencer who is jealous of his following, thinks he doesn’t deserve it.

(0/1) --- another influencer who “beefs” with him online so they both get more views.

(0/1) --- another influencer he collabs with a lot, even if their content is completely different. they’re friends, so might as well piggyback of each other’s popularity!

(0/1) --- close friend who makes frequent appearances on his tiktok, usually for relationship trends bc he doesn’t have an actual partner to film them with. usually acting like clowns, clearly faking but his fans still think it might be real. 

(0/1) --- someone he hooked up with at one (or more) of the daebaek house parties and ghosted afterwards. completely acts like he doesn’t know them. oops.

(0/?) --- friends to do dumb shit with. he’s impulsive and just hates to be alone (especially when doing stuff that might get him in trouble) so you could say these are his accomplices. if he wants to do things he’ll regret, they’re always in!

(0/?) --- some mellow friends who balance out his chaos.

(0/1) --- the one (1) friend he got matching tattoos with on impulse. probably something really stupid. the one thread that holds their friendship together when they fight.

(0/1) --- someone who holds themselves to really high standards, takes life seriously. thinks they’re better than taejoon and doesn’t hesitate to show it.

(0/1) --- ex partner who broke up with taejoon because (1) he wouldn’t stop lying to them, (2) he still claimed to be single online and (3) he just cracked jokes when they tried to talk out their problems, wouldn’t really listen. probably hate him now but he’s really sorry. please accept these (cheap, probably wilting) apology flowers.

i want every plot. all of them. anything u can throw at me! but if i kept typing ideas out, i’d be at this forever and we really can’t have that. so just hit me up if any of these catch your attention or if you’ve got anything you think he’d fit! 

[streetsteel]

.: Gloves Compartment

The SIM card clicks into place, the soft sound muffled by electronics and the plastic casing of a cheap flip phone. Jay hesitates to close the small cap over the opening in which he just slid the card, but ultimately decides against it. It’ll be easier to access it after the call is done. He doesn’t want to waste time. Once this is done, there’ll be little left to do but to wait. 

He punches the numbers in, one by one, making sure he doesn’t make a mistake. He only gets one go at this. Hopefully, whoever he’s calling will pick up their phone. The wait, however short it should be with phone calls, is already unbearable. Jay finds himself fidgeting, finding his switchblade to pop the blade out and back in, out and back in, out and back in as the call tonality rings in his ear. Come on. Come on, pick up the phone. Five rings in, Jay almost hangs up when a voice can be heard on the other end of the line. 

“What is it?” The gruff, deep voice doesn’t miss a beat. Always straight to business, especially when ‘Unknown Caller’ shows up on his phone screen. 

“Didn’t get caught yet, an’ I’m still alive, so I thought I’d call ya again. I got one last service to ask, then I’ll forget your number forever.” Half a lie. Jay doesn’t forget when it comes to numbers, but he’ll be out of the guy’s hair as soon as he has what he wants. 

In Mauville City, private investigator J.P. Baxter sighs and runs a hand through his hair. It’s too early for this. He’s not paid enough for this shit. Jay can imagine the tired look on the man’s face, the creases under his eyes a dark purplish hue as he looks at the alarm clock on his night stand. The Aqua can hear the older man grunting and groaning, probably sitting up and rubbing his eyes. 

“You know I don’t do services, kid.” 

“If money’s your thing, you’re in luck. This poor asshole got some for ya.” No more favors. He can’t risk hanging out around the other man, that’d be a dead giveaway that they’ve worked together. However, when it comes to sneaking money somewhere… 

“What you had for me last time was dangerous as fuck. Give me one reason to accept something from you again.” Baxter’s annoyed, Jay can tell without seeing him. True, he might have called out of the blue after promising they were done. But there’s one last thing. There’s always one last thing. 

“You’re the only guy I know who could do that. I can’t count on anyone but ya for that one.” 

Hell, a little flattery could go a long way. Doesn’t hurt either. Jay doesn’t have to fully believe it, although it would make things much easier than to look for another P.I. who wouldn’t scam him out of money and sell him to the cops. Needed one who had enough of the brass to not trust them at all. Like him. 

“Look, you got what you wanted last time, I—”

“The cash is in your car’s gloves box. 1.5k now, 2.5 later.” 

“You snuck into my car to put 1.5 grand in my gloves box? What the fuck?” At that, Jay can’t help but let out a short bark of laughter. In Slateport, on the bench where he is sitting, a Wingull finds perch, only to be chased away by Kukri and Sibyl. 

“Come on. It’s already there,” he tries to coax the man into accepting, his tone bordering on pleading. He can’t hide his amusement, he’s damn-well pleased with himself. 

On the other end, Baxter sighs. Jay can almost hear the old, rusty cogs turning in his head. On one side, no more services. On the other side, four grand in cash. 

“Where did you get that mon—”

“It’s an easy job. I just need you to tell me a yes or a no. Just an answer to a simple question. Come on, Detective. For old times’ sake.” 

Another sigh. Maybe he’s pushed it a bit. 

“How easy are we talking?” The deep voice of the private investigator took that tone of disinterested curiosity. It’s at this moment that Jay knows he has him. 

“Nothing hard. I just need some ballistics compared to those in an old police case in Goldenrod city. No dealin’ with Rocket, if that’s what’s scarin’ ya.” 

That’s what seems to sell the other on the job. It’s not hard, just a few connections to hit up. Easy pay, good money. 

“Y’know what, sure. I’ll check it out for ya.”

“You in?” Jay bites on his lower lip, throwing a glance around. No one to hear him yet. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m in. I’ll just need the gun you wanna have checked, an’ I’ll compare that to the files we got. You got a precinct and case number for me?” 

Jay smiles. Gets up from his bench, whistling to call Sibyl and Kukri over. 

“You already got all that. Precinct number, case ID, gun—”

“I already—” Oh, the surprise. The surprise, and the incredulous realization. “You didn’t leave a fuckin’ gun in my ca—”

Crack. Jay snaps the phone in half, interrupting the conversation. Pulls the SIM card out of it, forces his knife through the chip. Chucks a half of the phone in one of the nearby bins. The card will find its way in the trashcan near a Sinnohan restaurant. The last bit of the phone, thrown in the back of a garbage truck that drives by. It’s trash pick-up day, and it’s all to his advantage. 

Now, to the hardest part of all.

Never has the waiting game been this rough.

[buckleyydiaz]

if you weren’t just an online love pt.8

Derek had no clue what to expect from Elle and her scheming, but it wasn’t this. This was some new level of torture.

The case had been easier than expected - they had been able to find the unsub with little difficulty; he had been apprehended in the act, thanks to an extremely accurate geographic profile from their new “Boy Genius”, as the girls had taken to calling him.

Throughout the day, any time Derek would mention “Reid” (He had somehow managed not to slip up and call him Spencer, something Derek considered to be a minor miracle), or would even glance at him, Elle would shoot him a knowing look, one that had Derek reconsidering the ethics of murder.

It was some crazy level of hell, but felt like heaven compared to what the evening had to bring.

The jet was not going to be ready until the next day, so they had to choose between flying commercial - which received a general consensus of no’s from the whole team -  or staying an extra night in the hotel. 

The hotel was obviously the better choice, because whilst it wasn’t as comfortable as being at home, and they did have to double up, there were two beds per room, and although there was little else, they were comfortable and clean, especially when compared to many of the places they had stayed in the past, which looked like crime scenes as much as the murder sites they visited.

Unfortunately, being at the hotel left Elle with far too much opportunity to carry out her plan.

“I’m sleeping with JJ tonight,” she proclaimed loudly. “I refuse to sleep with Morgan and his snoring again. I’ve already moved her stuff to our room, so you boys are in here.”

The four youngest agents were in a room together, quietly celebrating the quick case with some wine and cheap snacks that they had been able to buy without being seen by Hotch, who would likely not be impressed by them throwing a mini party out of their hotel room when they should be writing their reports.

At Elle’s announcement, JJ gave her a confused look, aware that Derek did not snore, from years of sharing rooms, but certainly did not look displeased at the idea. Derek on the other had was glaring daggers at her. 

Whilst yes, it would be awkward for Derek, he could live with that, but as she pointed out, Derek had probably made Spencer uncomfortable, and he didn’t want to continue to do that.

Derek looked to Spencer to try and get a feel for how he was responding to the news that they would be sharing a room. 

Spencer, as he had been most of the evening, had been sitting awkwardly in the corner, despite the girl’s cajoling to get him to join in the conversation more.

When there was no response from him, the girls took that as agreement (not that Elle would have taken no for an answer). They finished their glasses of wine, beginning to certainly get tipsy. 

Normally, Derek would have attributed what happened next to Elle’s slightly drunk state, however given her plan, he was not giving her the benefit of the doubt for spilling wine onto one of the beds.

“Oh! Shit!” she exclaimed in what Derek was certain was mock surprise, as she jumped up from the bed that she was sitting on.

There was no way that either of them were going to be able to sleep on that bed - not given that there was no way that the wine would dry before they went to bed, and it would still smell strongly of wine regardless.

They couldn’t go and get fresh sheets, not without alerting Hotch to what they had been doing, which would without a doubt earn them a lecture that Derek could not be bothered dealing with. They would definitely have to leave Room Service a considerable tip in the morning too.

“Well maybe you girls should go to your room now,” Derek suggested, before Elle could make any more trouble in the name of setting him and Spencer up.

He corralled the reluctant girls out of him and Spencer’s room and into their own before returning to have the awkward conversation of where they would sleep.

“I can take the floor,” Derek immediately offered, willing to do whatever he could to minimise Spencer’s discomfort, even if it meant his back, neck, shoulders, his whole body, would hate him for it later.

He wished there was a couch, because that would make it easier, but that clearly hadn’t been considered essential in the room’s design.

“No! I, uh, you don’t have to do that! I can sleep on the floor,” Spencer countered.

“I’m not letting you do that, you are taking the bed. I’m not kicking you out of your bed just because Elle,” Derek had to pause for a moment to calm himself down at the mention of his scheming friend, “spilt wine on what was supposed to be mine.”

Spencer held his ground though, with much more confidence than he had all evening.

“Well I’m not letting you sleep on the ground!”

They were at an impasse, neither of them willing to give up at all.

Derek sighed. “We can share the bed, but only if you want. Just tell me, and I’ll get on the floor.”

Elle will be proud her scheme worked, Derek thought, I should not tell her as revenge for doing this.

Derek knew he wouldn’t actually stick to that, as he hadn’t when he swore to himself he wouldn’t tell Elle the truth, but that was a matter for later.

Spencer nodded, and confidence apparently lost, shyly moved to the bathroom to get changed into his pyjamas.

Derek, having grabbed his bag from his previous room when he had moved JJ and Elle there, considered what he should wear. He would usually just sleep in boxers, but didn’t want to make Spencer uncomfortable - it was bad enough that their first time sharing a bed together was like this, and not what he had always imagined, something romantic and happy, not awkward and a last resort.

He decided to pull on a t-shirt and some tracksuit pants before climbing into the bed, waiting for Spencer.

Spencer left the bathroom in a matching flannel set, with little Star Trek patterns on it, something so uniquely him it made Derek’s heart burst, before he reminded himself that no, he couldn’t think like that. 

Derek got up to turn off the lights, but turned back to Spencer, and the slightly apprehensive look he saw was enough to remind him of Spencer’s fear of the dark, something that he had been scared to admit haunted him into adulthood, but he had shared anyway, because they loved each other, and knew they could trust each other.

It made Derek wistful for those times, this whole scene was.

He switched on the small lamp that sat on the dresser, and couldn’t help but grin giddily at the soft, relieved smile on Spencer’s face. He resisted the urge to kiss him as he got back into the bed, and hastily faced away from Spencer to help his self-control. 

He doesn’t want me kissing him, he reminded himself, so I won’t. I can’t.

Derek was so close to Spencer that he could smell the slight aroma of coffee that was from the ridiculous number of cups he had each day, and that was exactly what Derek had imagined on those bad days he had, when he needed to imagine Spencer was there beside him, not just there through a screen, or after the break up, not there at all.

The silence was tense with the words left unsaid between them, but Spencer put an end to that as he bid Derek goodnight. It was final, made it clear they would not be talking that night.

“Sweet dreams, Pretty Boy,” Derek said quietly, as he let sleep take him.

[ohtheseboysilove]

Too far (2) [Roger Taylor x F!Reader]

Words : 6, 200 k + (I got a little carried away)

Summary : Roger and Reader were having fun until he went too far with another girl.

Note : Quite different from the first part but I quite like it ! I promise the nice anonym who asked about this fic to post it this week so here it is, hope u like it lovies ;)

No warnings.

"Where is (Y/N) ?"

Roger’s lips disappeared into a thin line when he heard Freddie’s words. Of course he would asked about you. He absolutely adored you. As well as Roger did. But he fucked up everything and now he would have to listen to his band mates giving him a lesson about how stupid he had been.

"Not here" The drummer grumbled and he reluctantly made his way to the dressing, not in the mood to make conversation.

Three days after the fight, he was still moping about it, hating himself to destroy the best thing in his life.

"And why that ? She is the best at highlighter and eyeliners !" Fred complained, admiring the way the bodysuit was making his arse looked in the mirror.

They were having a photo shoot today to promote the recent album and, usually, you tagged around, loving to doll up the boy and especially Roger.

"She was busy" The blond lied and grabbed the clothes resting on chair for him.

The lead singer plopped a hideous hat on his head and came closer to his band mate, looking at him suspiciously.

"What did you do, Roger fucking Taylor ?" He groaned and crossed his arms, his foot tapping impatiently against the floor.

Brian and John glanced at the drummer, curious to hear the story too.

"I fucked up, alright ? I had been bloody stupid and now, whatever was between us, is over” Roger mumbled, his cheeks red under their intense gazes. He was ashamed to tell what he did. "Can we focus on our work now ?”

"You better tell me now what you did, I’m not leaving this—"

"Don’t use big words now Fred, we’re suppose to do the makeup in two minutes" Deaky cut him and the singer took a deep, annoyed breath.

"After the photo shoot, you explain everything" He shoved a finger into Roger’s chest before storming out of the room.

"Fuckin’ drama queen" The drummer cursed and quickly buttoned his pants, shaking his head.

"He just want to help, Rog" Brian gently said, resting his hand on his band mate’ shoulder. "He is acting like a little bitch but he saw how you like (Y/N). He is not blind, neither I am or John"

The drummer didn’t answer and watched his friend leaving with an encouraging smile. He inspired and expired few times, blinking away the tears pooling at the corner of his eyes and once he was sure he wouldn’t sob pathetically, he followed his friend.

**

"I let that chick, the one who stayed with me most of the evening at your party, I let her suck me in the bathroom" The drummer admitted and immediately earned a concert of groaning.

"Tosser" Deaky commented and rolled his eyes, not very surprise. "Why on earth did you do that ?"

"Aren’t you the two of you a thing ? Or at least, was ?" Brian frowned his brows a bit lost, his friend was an enigma sometimes.

"We weren’t officially together" Roger breathed quietly. "It was a mistake and now I broke her heart" His shoulders sunk under the culpability, your crying face still lingering in his mind.

"Alright, I really want to kick your ass because you bloody deserved it but, you look like a sad puppy so I take it like you regret it enough" Freddie said and the drummer nodded, shame drowning him. "Fine, what did you do to make (Y/N) forgive you ?"

"Nothing’" Roger mumbled, his hand rubbing awkwardly on the back of his neck. And by the look on Freddie’s face, he knew it had been a mistake to reply that. "She told me to not bother calling her" He weakly defended himself and Brian smacked dramatically his hand against his face.

"Roger ! Honestly are you daft or something ?" Freddie scolded him as he fished a cigarette from his packet.

"So you didn’t try to contact her for the last three days ?" John asked with arched brows, wondering what was wrong with him. Roger’s ears burned and he felt like he maybe misread the situation. When he shook negatively his head, the bassist sighed. "She must feel like shit now"

"You cheat on her and then you don’t even fucking apologise ?" The lead singer exclaimed, slapping Roger’s head, calling him a stupid fucker.

"I didn’t cheat on her ! We weren’t even together properly speaking ! And she kissed that Ricky guy before, just to piss me off !" The drummer suddenly stood up, he was already feeling guilty, he didn’t need his band mates to make him felt worse.

"Please, don’t try to compare in front her a kiss and sucking a dick, Roger. Or you will end up with a bleeding nose" Deaky commented casually, he was already changing in his normal clothes, eager to go back home early.

"I always said that your and (Y/N)’s relationship was bloody weird. And unhealthy" Brian groaned. "Kissing people around to end up fucking each other at the end of the night...who on earth do that ?"

"Piss off Brian" Roger grunted with annoyance. "Coming from someone who cheat on his wife, it’s a pretty audacious thing to say"

Before the curly man could bite back, his eyes shinning with anger, Freddie stepped in front of his band mates, raising his hands to calm them.

"Both of you can shut up, we’re not here to do Roger’s trial. Or Brian’s" The two musicians glared at each other but didn’t reply. "We here because our drummer is incredibly stupid when it’s about relationship" John cackled and completely ignored the blond death glare. "And we all know that if (Y/N) doesn’t come back to you, you’re gonna be a right pain in the ass"

"Always is” The guitarist muttered and barely avoid the shoe threw by his band mate.

"Roger, you’re gonna move your butt from this sofa and go buy (Y/N) a nice gift before dragging your sorry ass to her place and apologise"

The drummer shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t good at apologising. Always saying the wrong thing and ending with making the situation worse than before.

"She don’t want to see me”

"Of course she don’t want to ! You cheat and didn’t call her, the poor girl probably thinking you don’t give a fuck about her" Freddie exclaimed and tugged Roger’s arm, forcing him to stand up. "Go, now"

The drummer mumbled something and quickly changed back into his clothes before sliding on his shoes, his mind thinking about what he could buy you. He wasn’t even sure if you would open the door to him.

"What if she don’t let me see her ?"

"You bloody sleep in her hallway if you have to"

The advice came from Brian and Roger nodded simply, murmuring a low awesome before walking to the closest shop.

**

Roger found himself into a Tesco, wondering hopelessly through the supermarket shelves. Maybe going to a fuckin’ Tesco wasn’t his smartest idea. He passed the kids toys and refused to buy a stupid teddy bear because you would certainly hate it.

He spent more than fifteen minutes looking at the beauty products, grabbing perfume and creams then put it back. The perfumes were awfully cheap — you’re in a fuckin’ Tesco! — and the creams weren’t really nice to offer in his opinion. It was like saying ‘hey here some anti-ageing cream for you, it’s deeply needed!’

Then he thought that a box of chocolates could be nice. Sweet food always worked with you. But even with his deepest efforts, he was struggling remembering which flavour you liked. Certainly not something with mints or fruits, you were more classic flavours.

White, milk or dark. He could perfectly remember that night where you had smoke a join together, naked in his bed and talked about chocolate for a good half an hour. There was only one flavour you would eat but he couldn’t put the finger on which one it was, you deeply hated the two other. He was almost certain it wasn’t the white one, no human normally constituted would like to eat that awful type of chocolate.

It must be milk or dark and if he had to place a bet he would say dark but he wasn’t utterly sure about that. And if he brought you the wrong one, you would certainly throw it in his face and he would make the situation worse. So he forgot about that, no chocolate.

And now he maybe found an idea for you. The red bottle caught his eyes when he walked past by and he was really considering buying it. Perhaps you would find the gift original and funny. Or insulting and too presumptuous. But at least with this one, he was sure what was your favourite flavour. He knew it because he saw this same little bottle a handful of time in your overnight bag. He also used it too, more than once. And you always insisted about how this special brand and flavour was your absolutely favourite, perfectly doing the job and even more.

"Fuck it" Roger muttered and grabbed the little bottle adorning by the tittle cheeky cherry. Yes, he was about to buy lub as an apologetic gift. He was sure Fred would has loved the idea, his two other band mates in the other hand...probably less.

His gaze fell on the bigger bottle next the little one and he swapped them. The drummer wasn’t a bloody tight-wad and really wanted to be forgiven. He paid his single product then walked toward the wrapping station, an old lady ogling him nastily. Yeah, he was probably looking like a serial fucker, putting a stupid bow on a bottle of lub but whatever, you would have loved the gesture, certainly cackling at it if you weren’t absolutely mad at Roger.

"No wrapping, just a red bow please" The drummer mumbled as he dropped the bottle on the counter, feeling the weird look of the boy on him.

"You’re aware it’s a bottle of lub, mate ?" The young employee said, seeming absolutely jaded to be here.

The blond contained himself to not just roll his eyes and telling him to piss off. "I am very aware of what I just bought, mate" Roger scoffed and the boy just arched his brow but didn’t add anything.

The way the employee was loudly chewing on his gum was driving him mad and as soon as he was done with the bow, Roger threw the first note he found in his wallet and put the lub back into his shopping bag.

"You know it’s free of charge, right ?" The young man commented lazily and Roger bit the inside of his cheek, wondering why he was so daft.

"The fuck is wrong with you ? I’m giving you money and yet, you’re complaining" He harshly replied and took back the note, shoving it furiously into his pocket.

"I can’t keep it anyway, supermarket policy" He shrugged, not a tad offended by Roger’s tone.

"Bloody fantastic" The drummer sarcastically said and left in a hurry, hating this day even more.

**

Now he was in front of your flat door, nervously rubbing his chest. He entered the building because someone was apparently moving out, leaving the front door wide open. His fingers held tighter the bouquet of flowers — he bought them after the supermarket — and breathed out quietly. His Tesco bag hanging on his arm, he ran a hand on his hair then knocked on the door.

"Yeah ?" Your face fell as soon as you recognised Roger at your front door, wearing an awkward smile.

"Hey" You didn’t reply and stared at him angrily. "How have you been ?" The drummer cursed himself at his awful starter.

"I have been bloody amazing, Taylor" You sarcastically bit back and started to close the door. "Now can you fuck off ?"

"Wait! (Y/N), please, gimme a minute" He breathed out in hurry, stressed that you would close the door in his face. "I’m here to apologise for the other night"

He looked frankly desperate. Lost. Like a deer caught in headlights. You knew he wasn’t really the guy who usually apologise. But today you didn’t care.

"I don’t want any of your apologies" You replied with a cold voice and the drummer seems surprise by your anger, probably expecting the flowers to make you melt or something.

"(Y/N), baby, please...I feel awful for what I did and I need to apologise—"

"You’re three days late for that, Taylor" You cut him and slammed the door, feeling a tiny bit better for this small victory. Stupid really and it wouldn’t last long but you needed anything to cheer you up these days.

You could hear him cursed loudly then the bag dropped on the floor, you could picture him seated in your hallway, ridiculously out of place with his flashy and rocky clothes.

"I’m gonna stay here until you let me properly apologise (Y/N)” He yelled threw the door, feeling absolutely stupid but determined to win this argument. He wanted to be forgiven so badly.

You didn’t reply and went back at your life, the thought of the blond seating your hallway pushed in the back of your mind.

**

Around ten in the evening, you heard loud voices outside your door and curiously peered through the door.

"I’m not a bloody homeless!" The drummer hissed dramatically, now standing next to one of your neighbours, Mrs Smith, an old lady who was openly racist and homophobic and everything that made young people growing angry against the old ones.

"This is unacceptable ! You can’t sleep in our building, it’s a private property young man !” She bite back and pushed back her round, big glasses on the back of her nose. "You need to find a job, not waiting around to steal money from honest and good people, you punk ! "

"But I have a bloody job ! I’m the drummer for Queen, the rock band !” Roger crosses his arms but the lady didn’t even budge at the name of Queen. "Whatever” He scoffed and sat back on the floor, ignoring the furious glance of the old woman.

"I’m going to call the police, Sir" She threatened and the blond snorted loudly giving her a thumb up. "I’m serious !"

"Go ahead, you would probably be dead by the time they arrived anyway" You couldn’t control the heartily laugh who escaped your lips and the both of them turned toward your door, surprised. You clapped a hand on your mouth and they quickly went back to the argument. "I’m waiting for my girlfriend, alright ? We had a fight and it’s all my fault and now I’m waiting for her so piss off" Roger couldn’t give a damn about being rude to her, the stupid things she said in such short amount of time...she totally deserved it.

She mumbled something between her teeth but entered her flat anyway, giving Roger a last nasty glance. He replied with a fake smile and a little sarcastic wave.

Your heart was beating so fast in your chest after the word girlfriend that you almost didn’t heard Roger spoke to you :

"I’m glad I made you laugh, doll”

You shook your head, he was such a charmer and you would be really stupid to fall back right in his arms. So you stayed silent and walked to bed, the ache in your heart a tad less painful than the day before.

**

Around two in the morning you woke up to pee and couldn’t repress the need to peer through the door. Roger was still here, seating against the wall, his head slightly falling on the side, his mouth apart and you knew he would have a sore neck tomorrow morning. He was cute, you couldn’t denied that. A shiver ran through his body and he automatically clenched his black weather jacket tighter around him, his face twisted with discomfort

"Fuckin’ hell" You cursed but grabbed the little fluffy blanket on the sofa and silently opened the front door.

You wrapped it around his body, knowing that you couldn’t back to sleep with the thought of Roger freezing his balls off in your hallway. You went back inside and finished your night, feeling better after that.

**

You weren’t surprise when you woke up to see that the drummer was still deeply asleep. It was only five in the morning after all. Your shift on Thursday was always early until midday so most of the building was still sleeping. Sometime during the night Roger drifted on the floor, his hands acting like a pillow under his head and the rest of his body curling like a foetus. Your pink blanket tightly held by his arms.

You get yourself ready, sipping your cuppa through the process, mind still half asleep, checking nervously if Roger was still sleeping. You didn’t wanted to confront him so early and before work, you didn’t have the energy for that. Thankfully when you made your way out, the drummer was still snoring. You placed a hot cup of tea next to him, cursing yourself for being too nice to this asshole but you couldn’t help yourself. You knew how hard it was for him in the morning, he loved his good sleep and couldn’t function properly without his tea. Or else he would be a nightmare for his band mates, even worse after sleeping in a hallway.

After all, it wasn’t Freddie, Brian or Deaky’s fault, they didn’t deserve a piss off drummer for their day.

That was your excuse for the sweet gesture, nothing about Roger obviously.

**

When the drummer opened his eyes, every fibres of his body were sore, he knew immediately something was wrong. The feelings was deeply hooked into his chest. The lights were too bright and the mattress wasn’t at all comfortable. That when the events of the night came back, he was in your hallway and he missed you when you went out.

"Oh for god’ sake !" Roger groaned and massaged his sore arms. He just slept at your front of your door for literally nothing.

He felt desperate and useless. Maybe you wouldn’t forgive him at all. During his sleep he crushed the — very expensive —bouquet flower he bought you and he cursed even louder. His head rolled against the walls and his heart tightened painfully. He was worried, extremely worried. About you. About a possible us with you. But the task was more complicated than it appeared to be.

"Fuckin’ cunt you had been !” Roger spat, his eyes slightly burning from the urge to cry. He couldn’t lose you.

But he didn’t cry. Instead, his gaze fell on the fluffy blanket covering his legs then the cuppa clearly waiting for him not far away and a bright smile curled on his face. The tea was lucky warm by now but he couldn’t care less, the thought of you caring enough for him t bring a cuppa and a blanket made the butterflies in his belly crazy.

Maybe all of this wasn’t useless as he thought he was. Maybe there was hope.

**

Roger was waiting for (Y/N) to finish work. It was in less than two hours and for now, the drummer was seating in a little café, taking his breakfast.

A fuming cup of tea. Two waffles covered in maple syrup with bacon on the side. You were the one who initiated him to the delicious world of sweet and sour food, the best combination ever in your eyes. And he had to admit that you weren’t wrong, it was damn good.

He was half-asleep but before catching you back from work he had to buy another bouquet of flowers and your favourite Chinese food. The restaurant caught his eyes as he was walking in the street and he knew you would be hungry after your shift.

"Roger, where the hell are you ?" The drummer rolled his eyes at the dramatic tone of Brian, of course.

"Waiting for (Y/N), still need to be forgiven” The blond was outside the café, in an open phone-booth, a cigarette hanging between his cold fingers.

"But we have an interview today !” The curly hairs man cried and mumbled something away from the phone, probably to Chrissie.

"Well I don’t care, I have better thing to do today" Roger groaned and took a puff of his cigarette, exhaling deeply. "I’m sure you can manage one interview without the talented drummer" He smirked and he could guess that his band mate was rolling his eyes.

"They only are after Freddie anyway..." The guitarist complained and sighed. “We didn’t hear from you yesterday so we thought it went good with (Y/N)”

"Not really, no" Roger mumbled and threw his finished cigarette into the bin next to him. "I barely say sorry and she slammed the door in my face and I spent the night in her hallway like you advised me to do"

"Did you really ?” The drummer was a bit insulted by the surprise in Brian’s voice but he couldn’t denied that he wasn’t the one to do such effort for a girl. “That’s...great, I mean if you really like her you need to explain her the situation, I hope she’s gonna listen to your sorry ass" The guitarist teased gently.

"Yeah, yeah, I hope too. I do really really like her and...hum anyway, wish me luck, I’m going now" Roger rubbed awkwardly his chest, he wasn’t the most comfortable about confessing his feelings for a girl to his mates.

"Good luck Rog" The curly man said truthfully. "I’m gonna say you’re sick to Reid but you own me one Taylor"

"Thanks Bri" He smile lightly and hung up the phone, his hands sweating just thinking about seeing you in less than ten minutes.

**

He was ready. A paper bag filled with hot Chinese, lot of stuffs you liked, in his right hand. A cheap bouquet of daisies in the other hand — it was the only thing he found in the area —, the Tesco bag hanging around his arm with the cherry cheeky lub. The more he thought about it, the more he felt awkward and maybe you won’t find it funny at all.

"(Y/N) !" You slightly turned your head as you pushed the door of your building open and found Roger running to catch up with you. "Please let me explain myself, I know I did a mistake but I want to apologise" He followed you inside, his big eyes pleading you to listen.

You scoffed sarcastically at the word mistake and kept walking, feeling too tired to fight right now.

"Rog, I’m not interested into listening to you" You didn’t spare him a glance and entered the elevator, leaning against the wall in loud sigh.

"But I brought you chinese" He gave you a little, shy smile but you didn’t smile back and pressed the button of your floor. "I know I fucked up (Y/N) but you need to listen me" He stood in front of you, frankly sweating with nerves.

"I don’t own you anything, Roger" You kept your gaze on the wall, ignoring him. The memories of him and that girl was still vivid in your mind and if you looked at him, you were afraid you would just burst in tears. "I told you it was over so don’t lose anymore of your time on me" You swallowed harshly, the lump in your throat making it difficult.

"No, it’s not over" Roger shook his head and crushed his hand against the emergency button, making the lift stopped brutally. You gasped with surprise and stabilised yourself against the wall, sighing quietly.

"Roger, what are you doing ?" You hissed and tried to reach the button but he stayed firmly in front of it, not letting you approached it. "You’re being childish right now"

"I don’t care, if it’s the only way for you to listen to me than I’m fine with that" He shrugged. You knew he was quite stubborn so you simply nodded slowly and crossed your arms. The drummer took a deep breath and ran a nervous tongue on his lips. "I know what I did hurt you but— but technically we weren’t together, (Y/N), you can’t—"

“Great way to start your apologies, Roger” You spat angrily but you could feel tears filled your eyes again.

“Just listen, alright ?” He urged you, feeling you were hurt by his words but he really needed to get through the explanation. “We never had been official, what I did with this girl hurt you but you can’t me mad at me ! You smooched that Ricky guy right in front of me—”

“Jesus Rog ! She sucked your fucking dick !” You threw your arms in the air, angrily. Why men always tried to find stupid apologies when they acted like pig ? “It’s not the same, not at all ! And you fucking know that” You humphed annoyingly, brows deeply furrowed as Roger scratched awkwardly his chest.

“You’re right” He whispered so softly that you turned your head toward him, surprised to hear him agreeing with you. “I shouldn’t have done that. Even if we weren’t together, it was still deeply disrespectful toward you. And I’m very sorry about it” He sheepishly said, his eyes focused on his sparkly pink converses. He looked like a little kid who did a big mistake and needed to apologise after being grounded. “I do like you, very much. I think that why I reacted so stupidly with this girl. I know it’s not an excuse for my behaviour but I’m…still trying to process my feelings for you. Make me do stupid thing” He peered carefully at you, a shaky breath leaving his chapped lips. Almost shy.

You stayed silent. You didn’t know what to say. The last thing you expected was to hear Roger apologised so easily. Saying everything right. You were ready to scream and kicking him out of your place but not to find yourself stupidly quiet in front of the drummer.

“Please, forgive me” He grabbed your hands and tugged you against him, carefully not spilling the Chinese food from the bag. “I wanna be with you, for real this time. No more blurry lines. A couple who goes on date and all that shit”

You felt your throat tighten and your eyes pooled, making you quickly rubbed them. You couldn’t cry. But you could certainly forgive him now.

“You’re so romantic, Taylor” You chuckled weakly, linking your arms behind his neck, cheek pressed against his shoulder.

“I’m trying my best, sweetheart. I could ask some advice to Deaky though” He snorted and rubbed his large palm against your back, clumsily trying to not drop the flowers on the floor. It wasn’t the most comfortable hug but it had a strong meaning. Well, he hoped so. “Can you give me another chance ?“ You could feel his lips pressed a butterfly kiss on your hair, making you relaxed immediately.

You buried your face onto the crook of his neck, taking a deep breath, his familiar odour bringing a smile to your lips.

"I—” You coughed loudly as your breath get stuck in your throat, suddenly too tight to even speak.

You took a step back as well did Roger, surprise by you reaction. Your eyes fell immediately on the flowers that he was holding. The sight only made your eyes widen. Roger’s eyes quickly matched yours as he looked at you, worry wrote inside his pupils.

“(Y/N), you’re alright ?” You tried to take a breath but you couldn’t, you could only feel your throat getting tighter at each try. “Your face is red…why your face is red ? And swollen !” His voice went an octave higher than usual, clearly scared now.

His fingers quickly pressed on the lift button, praying it would open the door rapidly.

“The…” You took little breathes, trying to not suffocate as the drummer cursed loudly, your eyes turning red and puffy making him completely panicked. “Flowers” You spatted with difficulty, gesturing desperately toward the bouquet of flowers still his hand.

He glanced at the daisies completely lost and handed them to you but you shook your head with fear and suddenly he understood what was wrong.

“You’re allergic ?” You quickly nodded, fingers massaging your tight throat, big tears rolling down your cheeks as your lungs burnt deeper each second. “Holy fucking shit” The familiar ding! of the lift made the drummer jumped as the door finally opened.

He ran down the hallway and opened the window before throwing carelessly the flowers through the air. You followed him to the window, more than eager to got some fresh air, hand digging blindly inside your bag until you found your precious allergy pills.

“Water ?” You murmured to Roger, feeling already a tad better from the fresh air but the pills were deeply needed. And quickly.

“Hum…beer ?” The blond dropped most of his things on the floor, clumsily looking for the two beers he bought to go with your lunch, hands shaking under the sudden adrenaline from your state. “Here” He cursed quietly when few drops of the drink fell on his fingers, nerves making his all body shook.

You popped the pills on your tongue and took several sip of the cold drink under the worried gaze of Roger.

“Oh god, it feel good to breath” You sighed, letting your whole body relaxed against the wall.

“I can’t believe I almost killed you” The drummer whined as you chuckled softly, your pads checking if your face was still swollen. Thankfully, it weren’t anymore. “I told you I was bad at apologising” You both sat on the floor, right in the hallway, feeling absolutely exhausted.

“I’m fine” You replied with a little smile, gulping down the rest of the beer.

“Who the fuck is allergic to daisies ? It’s like the most common flowers ever !” Roger ran a hand on your flushed cheek, wiping away the rest of the tears.

“Usually I’m not that bad but the confined space and the contacts with the pollen kind of finish me” You shrugged with an amused smile and the blond shook his head, not believing you were actually joking about it.

“I’m sorry. For cheating on you. And for almost killing you. And being such a jerk”

“That’s a lot of thing to apologise for” You teased and took a look inside his brown paper bag, the delicious of Chinese food tickling your nose.

“Good thing that I got a lot of free time to make you forgive me then” He smiled cheekily and pressed a small kiss on your forehead, his lips resting several seconds on your skin before moving away.

“You can add wrong Chinese order to your list of apologies” You frowned at the sight of the udon prawns and sighed dramatically, putting back the box inside the bag.

“Shit. You don’t like seafood right ?” You shook your head and he bite his lips, brows furrowed in concentration. “Beef ?” He asked with a pout, his tongue poking out like a little kid.

“Chicken”

“For fuck’ sake” He groaned at his mistake and you giggled quietly. “Meh, it’s almost the same anyway” He added as he rolled his eyes.

“It’s not at all !” You playfully slapped his shoulder and he grabbed your fingers, pressing an another kiss right on your knuckles.

“This time, I definitively calling the cop !”

You both raised your head and bursted in laugh at the sight of the old lady who nicely called Roger a “homeless” and a “punk” the night before. The drummer winked at her and helped you get on your feet before walking to your flat, giggling like two hysterical teenagers.

**

“(Y/N), darling !” You smiled fondly as Freddie stood up from the old couch to hug you with enthusiasm. He pressed a loud kiss on each of your cheeks and reluctantly let Brian and John hugged you too. “Yes, hello, hello, now (Y/N) dear, please sit and tell us everything” The singer patted the spot next to him on the sofa and you chuckled softly at his excitement. Not sure what all of this was about but you were happy to see the boys.

It hadn’t been that long, a week not much more but with the events which happened previously you hadn’t been sure to see them again at all.

“Tell you about what Fred ?” You took off your jacket and threw it on the back of the couch. “Thanks, babe” You said gratefully as Roger handed you a fuming cup of tea, he winked at you and sat in one of the armchair, a little smile floating on his lips.

“I would love a cuppa too, babe” Brian commented with an ironic smile, his red special carefully resting in his arms, pads softly pinching the strings of the instruments. “Thanks for asking”

“Well, you know where the kettle is” The drummer replied casually, looking at his friends through his sunglasses, not intending to move from his spot.

“You’re a wanker” The curly haired man sighed, rolling his eyes but weren’t really surprise either.

“We all know that but that’s not very important” Freddie chimed in, signalling to his friends to shut up. “Darling, tell us how our dear Roger processed to make you forgive him”

“This idiot was moping around without you, it was painful to watch” Deaky chuckled, ignoring Roger’s glare.

“Please tell me you made him crawl and beg on his knees” The lead singer added, clapping his hands with an amused smile.

You let out a little giggle and exchanged a glance with your now official boyfriend, his mouth resting in a pout.

“Well, he did spend a certain amount of useful time on his knees...” You cheekily replied and Roger smiled proudly before winking at you.

“Oh did he now ?” Freddie grinned and shot a look to his friend, both of them sharing an amused gaze.

“That a way to apologise” John shrugged and Brian rolled his eyes.

“What about the present you were suppose to get her ?” The guitarist arched an eyebrow and the blond lost his cocky smile, scratching his chest uncomfortably.

“He offered me a bottle of lub” You laughed and took a sip of the warm drink, savouring the look of Roger with red cheeks.

“You’re kidding ?” Brian gasped and Freddie pinched his lips, clearly repressing a giggle.

“With a red bow on it” You added and the drummer shot you a look, not as amused as you by the situation. “And chinese but it was the wrong order”

“I think that the worst apology you could have done” John commented.

“Not too fast Deaky, the end is even better” You chuckled and gave a little kick in Roger’s leg with your foot. “Babe, tell them what happen with the flowers” You teased him and his whole face was red, giving a pleading look.

“Oh my god, what happened with the flowers ? I need to know more than everything else” Freddie cried and turned toward his bandmate, imitating by everyone in the room.

Roger shifted awkwardly in his seat, gaze looking at his shoes.

“I almost killed her” He muttered and you bursted in laugh. The face of each boy was priceless.

“What is wrong with you ?” Brian asked Roger, a confused look on his face.

“It was an accident !” He defended himself, crossing his arms like a little kid.

“Glad to hear that detail” Deaky sarcastically added.

The drummer rolled his eyes and sighed.

“She didn’t want to talk to me so I stopped the elevator when we were both inside so she didn’t have a choice” The blond explained under your amused gaze.

“Smart move” The lead singer commented, his chin resting on the palm of his hand, captivated by the whole story.

“But I didn’t know...she was allergic to the flowers I bought her” He admitted in a grunt, ears turning red as his bandmates snorted shamelessly next to him. “It’s not my fault okay ?” He cried, shouting daggers to Deaky, the loudest to laugh.

It only increased his laugh louder.

“I know that, babe. They’re just teasing you” You murmured and softly squeezed his forearm to calm him and his bad temper.

“I can’t believe it, of course it happened to you” Freddie let his head fell on the sofa, arms crossing around his stomach as his laugh slowly calmed down. “Roger, you’re a real piece of work”

“You really need to work on your apologies, man” Brian shook his head with a little smile.

“Honestly, I don’t know what is worse in this story” Deaky said when the room became quieter. “Roger’s disastrous apologies or the fact that (Y/N) actually forgave him”

It was now you who was turning bright red.

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Dead Man’s Eyes Ch. 3

Link to AO3 by @dracusfyre

Three days after Bucky’s return, he and Tony had ventured out of the compound for fresh air, taking a walk through the quaint downtown shops of the nearest town. Bucky had ducked into the secondhand bookstore and coffee shop for a moment while Tony held their place an outdoor table when Natasha sat down across from him. 

“Hey,” Tony blinked. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Small town,” she said with a quirk of her mouth. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” Tony said honestly. “Things with Steve are, you know,” he held out a hand and gestured so-so. “But other than that…” His eyes traveled inside the glass window of the bookstore to where Bucky was browsing the new arrivals section. “I mean, Bucky’s back. What else needs to be said?”

“And everything is going well with him?”

“Yeah, of course.” Tony raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t it?”

“He went through a lot in the past two weeks, I’m just making sure he seems okay to you.”

Tony stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowed, then laced his fingers together and rested them on the cheap wrought iron table. “Cut the shit, Natasha.”

“Fine.” She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table as well. “Are you sure that the Bucky that came back is the same Bucky that left?”

Tony’s jaw dropped, stunned. That was not what he was expecting. “How - how can you even ask that?” He said finally. “You’ve seen him, you’ve talked to him. What are you trying to say?”

“The Winter Soldier wasn’t always a sniper, Tony. He was trained, just like I was, to put on a persona to get close to our target, to gain their trust. If he was ordered to  act  like Bucky Barnes to get close to you, no one would know how to do it better.”

“That is ridiculous,” Tony spat. “I would know if he was - was faking. Besides if he was-was still...” Tony gestured expressively rather than say the words the Winter Soldier. "Then why didn't he kill me when he had the chance?"

"If he wasn't, why didn't he save you when he had the chance?" Natasha countered. "Why did he walk away, and not come back for another week?"

Tony actually had an answer to that. "He left to protect me, and he was gone for so long because he was destroying all the facilities where they'd held him during those three days, especially the one with the chair," Tony said. "Come on, Natasha, it's not like I didn't ask."

"Do you have proof?"

"I don't need proof!"

Natasha stood and put her hands in the pockets of her jacket. Her eyes flickered to where Bucky was still inside buying coffee. "Believe me, I hope for all of our sakes that you are right."

“Then why would you even say anything?”

“Because we’ve both been burned before for trusting the wrong people,” she said. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…” She shrugged and looked away for a moment. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. But if I don’t warn you, and the worst happens, then that’s on me, right? And I don’t think I could live with that.” Then she walked away, leaving Tony staring at her back in disbelief.

                                                   ------------

“You would not believe what Natasha said to me today,” Tony said, throwing his clothes with unnecessary force into the hamper as he undressed, still angry hours later.

“What?” Bucky set his book down on his chest and sat up straighter in bed, punching the pillows to support his back. “More stuff about Steve?”

That reminder made him even madder. “I don’t even want to talk about it,” Tony scowled. He fell face first into bed, trying to shed his bad mood. He felt Bucky stroke a hand down his back, which made him realize how gross and sweaty he still was. “I’m going to take a shower, hopefully that will help.”  He levered himself back off the bed, and saw Bucky watching him.

“Shall I join you?” Bucky said, waggling his eyebrows and smiling.

Tony leaned over and gave him a kiss. “Nah, I’ll be quick.” He had hoped that the shower would help him relax, but instead Natasha’s words just played on repeat, like a song he couldn’t get out of his head.  Same Bucky that left.  Both been burned before.  “I would know,” he muttered to himself, sticking his face under the spray like it could physically wash away his thoughts. 

Like you knew with Stane?

Tony’s hands stilled at the thought. “It’s not the same,” he argued with himself. “I see Bucky every day. No one could fake it for that long.” Natasha did, his traitorous brain pointed out. All day, for weeks. “But I wasn’t sleeping with her!”

“Tony, are you talking to me?” Bucky called out through the door.

“No,” Tony called back. He banged his head against the tile of the shower, trying to knock some sense into himself. “Sorry, just talking to myself.” 

“Alright.”

As Bucky moved away from the door, Tony said, “JARVIS, gimme some music,” and turned up the volume loud enough to drown out his thoughts. When he came out of the shower, towelling his hair dry, he saw Bucky reading one of his old science fiction novels with the garish cover and the scene looked so normal that Tony immediately felt like an idiot for his paranoia. When he climbed into bed he lay diagonally so he could put his head in Bucky’s lap. Bucky’s had immediately began carding through his wet hair, like it always did, and Tony smiled. “How are you feeling?” He asked after a few minutes, twisting so he could see Bucky’s face. 

“About as well as you would expect,” Bucky said with a humorless quirk of his mouth, meeting Tony’s eyes over the top of his book. “Being back with you is the only thing keeping me sane, but sometimes...well, you know.”

“Yeah,” Tony said with a silent exhale, turning his head again so Bucky could keep stroke his head. Memories of being trapped in the dark with the dead Hydra agents, wondering if there were others, wondering if he was going to ever see Bucky again, wondering if he was going to die there in his suit buried in the rubble of a Hydra base, rose unbidden in his thoughts.  “I know.” He reached up and squeezed Bucky's hand for a moment, then grabbed his tablet to do some work before bed.

 That night, Tony woke up in a sweat from a dream that dissipated upon waking, leaving behind just a vague feeling of disquiet. He rolled over and realized Bucky’s side of the bed was cold. “Bucky?” He called out softly, climbing out of bed and going to the bathroom before searching their suite. He expected to find him in the living room watching TV or reading his book, like he usually did when he couldn’t sleep. Instead, the rooms were dark and empty. “JARVIS, where’s Bucky?”

“He is currently in the garage, sir. He appears to be double-checking the security,” JARVIS said. “I assured him that the building was secure, but he said he needed to check for his peace of mind.”

“Oh.” Bucky hadn’t done that in years. “Thanks, J.” Tony hesitated in the living room for a moment before returning to bed. But of course, now he couldn’t sleep.  We will finally get our hands on an arc reactor,  one of the Hydra agents had said. “JARVIS, did Bucky - no, never mind.” If Bucky was Hydra and was here for Tony’s tech, he could have just killed Tony there in the rubble and taken it, no need for all of this espionage. He also had free access to Tony’s lab, so he could just steal it. Fuck Natasha for putting these thoughts in his head, anyway.

With a sigh, he gave up on sleep for the night and reached for his tablet; might as well get some work done if he wasn’t sleeping anyway. But his tablet wasn’t on his nightstand, in the drawer, or next to the bed. Which was weird, because he had been working on it before he fell asleep. “JARVIS, where’s my tablet?”

“Next to the couch, sir.”

As Tony climbed out of bed to get it, he told himself that Bucky had set it there without thinking as he got ready to go to sleep; it’s not like Bucky could access the tablet anyway, it was retina locked, he reminded himself. As he picked it up, he tapped it against one palm thoughtfully. Unless...unless he had fallen asleep with it unlocked. After all, the arc reactor was small potatoes compared to what he’d been working on for the Avengers and SHIELD, all of which were on JARVIS’s servers. “Stop it, Tony,” he said into the dark room. “You’re losing your goddamn mind.”

“Join the club,” Bucky’s voice said from the darkness, making Tony jump. He came up behind Tony, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his chest into Tony’s back. Tony exhaled and relaxed against his warmth. “Bad dream? Is that what’s making you lose your mind?”

“Pretty much,” Tony said honestly. He turned in Bucky’s arms so he could loop them around Bucky’s neck; in the dark, the arc reactor’s light cast Bucky’s eyes into deep shadow, giving Tony a chill. He pushed the feeling away and buried his fingers in the air at the nape of Bucky's neck. “You?”

“Yeah. C’mon, let’s go back to bed.” Bucky slid his hands down Tony’s back and squeezed his ass, then lifted him up and wrapped Tony’s legs around his waist like he was light as a feather. "I'm sure we can figure out something to take our minds off of it."

 The next morning, Tony was frowning in concentration at the exploded diagram of a next generation propulsion system out of Wakanda when a cup of coffee, still steaming, appeared in his field of view. “Oh, thanks.” Tony sat up straight and took it, wrapping his hands around it gratefully. 

“Whatcha working on?” Bucky asked as he came around the work table, eyeing the bright blue hologram with interest.

“Propulsion system,” Tony said dismissively, ignoring the unfair impulse to close down the plans as Bucky studied them. “What are you up to?” He asked as he took a sip of coffee, then paused, making a funny face before he swallowed.

“I’m heading to the range with Clint later. What’s wrong?” 

Tony was staring down into his coffee, eyes narrowed. “Did you put soy milk in here?”

“Maybe?” Bucky frowned. “I guess I wasn’t paying attention. You like, uh-”

“Almond milk,” Tony supplied, when Bucky hesitated.  

“Right, almond milk,” Bucky said. “I’ll go make you a fresh cup.” He reached for the mug but Tony waved him away and set the cup to the side.

“It’s fine,” Tony said with a smile. “I’ll just make another pot down here so I don’t have to go up to the kitchen for refills.”

“Are you sure?” When Tony nodded, Bucky leaned in for a kiss and stroked his jaw as he pulled away. “I’m sorry, I’ll remember next time.”

Tony held his smile until the lab door closed behind Bucky. He let out a breath and raked his fingers through his hair before covering his mouth with one hand, staring sightlessly at the propulsion plans. “It’s just fucking coffee,” he said out loud.  

                                                 ---------

He held out for four days before he broke. Nervously wiping his palms on his pants, Tony stared at the safe built into the concrete wall of his lab, pulse pounding. He couldn’t believe he was doing this; usually the thought of reading the red book make him feel like he needed a shower, but he had to  know.  If there was any information about what Bucky could and couldn’t remember from one mission to another, even between mind wipes, or what, exactly, the trigger words did, Tony had to know. Natasha’s words were a parasite invading his thoughts, destroying his focus and poisoning his time with Bucky. Last time, he had only read the parts he’d had to in order to do what Bucky asked, but this time he was going to read the damn thing cover to cover even though he would hate himself the whole time. He would find out that Bucky was fine, everything was fine, and all this shit Tony kept noticing - inconsistencies, forgetfulness, the minute hesitations - was just the product of a paranoid mind. 

 Two and a half hours later, he closed the red book and rested his head in his hands. He'd found none of the answers he'd wanted, only more questions. “JARVIS, open a surveillance file,” Tony said eventually, the words bitter as bile on his tongue.  “Target, James Buchannan Barnes.” 

[thatesqcrush]

Mr. In Between, Ch. 3

Rafael Barba x Reader.Brief mentions of Rafael Barba x Olivia Benson. Prompt inspired by @sweetsummertime99: “ I was watching friends and it was the episode where Ross writes the pro/con list for Rachel and Emily. I’d like to see if someone would write the same kind of scenario not with a waitress but other attributes. Rafael Barba x Female Reader where Rafael writes the list and the reader finds it. Possibly comparing to Olivia?”

CW: angst, language

AN: Special thanks to @melsquared79 for helping me proof and bounce ideas!

Tags: @madpanda75 @ottosuricato @delia26 @dreila03 @sass-and-suspenders @glimmerglittergirl @melsquared79 @mommakat32 @garturbo @southern-magnolia @niyashell @tropes-and-tales @imjustreallynosy @whyissvuruiningmylovelife @sweetsummertime99 @evee87 @scarletsoldierrr @kscarlett1 @cesarofangirl78 - anyone else just ask.

The season came and changed the time. The winter wind howled fiercely outside your apartment window while snowflakes gently fluttered to the ground. You swallowed some generic acetaminophen and chased it with alka-seltzer in an attempt to quell your hangover.

You walked over to the naked man in your bed whose name you didn’t care to learn. Your apartment reeked of alcohol, sex, and cigarettes. It was nauseating and your stomach churned.

“Wake up,” you replied sternly, nudging him with your foot. The man stretched, turning over to face you. “Hey doll,” he replied, with a leer. “Last night was fun.”

You grabbed his clothes which were lying in a heap in the corner and tossed them onto his bare chest. “I am going to take a shower. You better be gone by the time I get out.”

You made your way to the bathroom and locked the door behind you. You felt relief when you heard the door to your apartment shut moments later. Certain you were alone, you began to cry.

To your disappointment, Rafael heeded your advice and didn’t reach out any further. You wondered if you were important to him after all.

In the immediate aftermath, you walked around in a haze. To numb the pain you felt, you drowned yourself in work during the day. You even made yourself available to the other partners at the firm you were at. Your billable hours increased exponentially. However, at night, and especially the weekends, you drank your paycheck.

On more than one occasion, as you recently demonstrated, you entangled with random strangers who for a brief moment in time made you feel wanted and desired. They made you feel like an object to crave; something you always wanted with Rafael. You always hated yourself after. You felt greasy, cheap and easy. But you were devastatingly heartbroken.

You would swear after every drunken hookup, there would be no more - that would be the last one. But you knew you were lying to yourself. The names were never important - just the brief moments of pleasure - you just wanted to forget - and as the orgasms washed over you, you imagined it was Rafael who you were with.

—

Rafael threw himself into his work as well. It was the one coping mechanism he could easily rely on. Work was always there, like clockwork.

Part of his brain reasoned he should move from sex crimes to another unit in the D.A.’s office. Anyone else would have called him a masochist for continuing to work with Olivia and the SVU squad after.

Rafael was the utmost professional - and prided himself on that. So when the SVU squad barged into his office, he acted as if he were completely unfazed by Olivia in the room.

“Detectives,” he acknowledged. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Olivia gave a thin lipped smile, which was accompanied by a roll of her eyes, of which Rafael didn’t miss a beat of. Carisi launched into the details of their most recent case, providing reasons for their need for warrants. Rafael nodded along for good measure, but he had effectively tuned Carisi out.

Taking a sip of his coffee which had grown cold, Rafael waved Carisi off. “Okay, okay, I’ve heard enough. I’ll get your warrants. Now if you don’t mind, I have to get back to trial prep.”

The squad shuffled slowly out of Rafael’s office. Olivia hung back, and she turned to face Rafael. “It’s good to see you as always Rafael.”

“Likewise Olivia,” Rafael replied.

“I do miss you - us,” Olivia continued, pushing back her hair. She approached Rafael, who was now standing by his coffee maker pouring himself a fresh cup. Rafael shook his head and sat back down at his desk.

Olivia sighed and made her way towards the door. She pivoted, turning to face Rafael eye to eye, and waved her arm around. “Just so you know, I know you’ll say you’re fine - and that may work with this office and the rest of the squad - but not me. You don’t know how bad of an actor you are. It’s obvious being dumped has affected you.”

Rafael swallowed hard. “I—“

Olivia gave Rafael a small, patronizing smile, before she headed out the door.

Rafael slammed his pen down in frustration. Huffing, he began gathering his documents and stuffing them into his attache. He barked at Carmen, advising her to clear his schedule and hold his calls. Almost immediately Rafael felt guilty for snapping at Carmen and vowed to take her to lunch to make up for it; he also felt guilty for allowing Olivia to get to him the way she did.

—

Rafael tried to focus on his upcoming trial as he nursed his scotch.

“Ahem,” a voice interrupted his thoughts. Rafael sighed and turned around. He groaned at the sight of Rita Calhoun.

“Counselor,” Rita greeted, setting her purse down at the bar and taking the seat next to Rafael. “Am I interrupting?” The bartender approached. “I’ll have a glass of Merlot, thanks.”

“You are,” Rafael snapped. “If you recall, we have a trial in two days.” Rafael swallowed the remnants of his drink, appreciating the burn down his throat. He snapped his fingers at the bartender and motioned for a refill.

“I’m here for that reason. Let’s play make a deal,” Rita, continues ignoring his comment. “Put my drink on his tab,” she winked.

Rafael sighed once more. “The people aren’t interested in any deals-your client is a sadistic rapist who assaulted three women.” He rubbed his face in exasperation. Rita opened her mouth to make another crack, when she noticed how worn Rafael appeared.

“Rafael, are you okay?” Rita asked, concerned.

Rafael chuckled low, and gave a small half smile. “Like you give a shit.” He took a sip of his refilled drink, and let the alcohol swish around in his mouth before swallowing. Rita smacked Rafael’s arm in response.

Aggravated, Rafael stood up and gathered his camel colored wool coat. He wrapped his red scarf around his neck before reaching into his wallet and throwing a couple of bills onto the bar. “I’ll see you later,” he replied before reaching to pop an olive in his mouth.

Rita followed Rafael as he exited Forlini’s, throwing on her coat. She followed behind him, her heels clicking against the pavement. “Would you just wait Rafael!”

Rafael turned around. He shivered as a gust of wind blew through. “What is it Rita?”

Rita closed her own coat tighter. “Rafael, I know we don’t get along when we are opposing counsel, but at the end of the day, you are still my friend from Harvard who helped me ace my constitutional law final.”

Rafael didn’t reply, but gave a curt nod. “Come on,” Rita replied linking her arm with his. “Let’s go back to my office.”

Rafael released his pent up emotions about the breakup to Rita as they walked side by side.

“You should move on Rafael. This isn’t healthy. You deserve to be happy,” Rita leveled with him. “I may know someone.”

“God damnit Rita, I don’t want anyone else but her,” Rafael snapped.

“Then you need to talk to her,” Rita replied. They stopped at the intersection, waiting for the light to change.

“She — “ Rafael began but he stopped short. From a distance he could see it was you crossing the street. Your head was hung low, your arms wrapped around you tightly. You hadn’t noticed him - yet.

You suddenly materialized in front of him. “Rafael,” you replied softly. “Hi.” You looked at him, then at Rita, and then at their linked arms.

Rafael followed your eyes and realized it must have looked like if it was more than just two friends walking. Rafael jumped and unlinked his arm. “Hi - this is my colleague, Rita. She’s opposing counsel but we went to law school together.”

Rita shook your hand and you gave her a small smile.

“How have you been?” Rafael asked but he knew the answer almost immediately. You looked exhausted — your skin was sallow, you had bags under your eyes and your normally shiny hair had lost its bounce and luster.

You frowned, unsure as to how to answer, so you didn’t. “I have to get going. It was nice to see you - and it was nice to meet you. Take care.”

And with that, you were gone, running into the adjacent the subway entrance, without so much as a glance behind.

“Well, that was sufficiently awkward,” Rita quipped.

“Tell me about it,” Rafael grumbled.

—

When you saw Rafael, your heart ached in your chest. You knew he was handsome, but you nearly forgot how strikingly handsome he was.

You wished you could just go back to the way things were. You wished you had never bothered to get the WiFi that night. You closed your eyes as you recounted him telling you were the one for him at the gala.

Despite being in the subway, you still had an internet connection on your phone. Slipping on your headphones, you played some music as the train lurched through the station.

Your heart racing in your chest, you opened up your messages and began to type.

{Y/N, 3:15 PM} Hi. It really was nice seeing you. Can we talk?

You hovered over the send button. You chewed on your bottom lip. Just as you were about to hit send, your brain took over for your heart, and you deleted the text altogether. Instead, you focused on the blur of the station as your train hit full speed.

—

Eventually Rafael went home. He removed his suit, hanging it neatly in his closet. He dug out a pair of well worn Harvard sweatpants and slipped them.

Pouring himself a drink, he sat cross legged in his bed and turned on his iPad. He opened the notes app, and scrolled through until he found the list.

He read through each one. And then re-read the list. Opening up a new note, he began to type.

TBC...

[vicunaburger]

Admittedly, I’m Hard to See

Fandom: Beetlejuice the Musical Chapters: 3/? Pairing: Beetlejuice x OC (Holidae) The Players: Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz, Holidae Bell Word Count: 1,594 Warnings: M for Language

Notes: AW MAN. HERE WE GO.

In Which There is a Sleepless Night

Lydia, in fact, did not ease Holidae into an introduction with Beetlejuice that afternoon. Nor did the subject come up during dinner.

Or after dinner.

...or at any point that day before the two women retreated to their respective sleeping areas for the night.

Not for a lack of reminders that the ghost so thoughtfully bestowed upon his best friend during every single lull in the women's conversation. He made grotesque faces behind Holidae's back in order to frustrate Lydia into compliance. Lydia did her damndest to ignore him, which was a precarious balancing act of keeping her expression neutral and stopping him from physically manipulating their surroundings.

Twice she had to stop random objects from being chucked across the room. She was mildly impressed at herself for catching them - sports were never her forte - but running all over the house after the ghost was exhausting. It was when he started picking at Holidae's sweater and flipping bits of her hair into her face that Lydia decided to bring out the heavy weaponry.

Whilst Holidae's attention was distracted for a moment, she quickly muttered Beetlejuice's name two-and-a-half times in a row.

All poltergeist-esque shenanigans ceased immediately, and Lydia could finally relax enough to try and get some sleep after such a long day of moving. Dejected, Beetlejuice resigned himself to following Holidae around like a strange, otherworldly dog. Lydia thought better of telling him to stop outright; knowing he could throw a fit and plunge the house into absolute madness.

With a final warning, Lydia closed to the door to her room, assuring the ghost the promise of tomorrow.

That wasn't soon enough.

Holidae shuffled through her new bedroom, unaware of being followed by the spectre, and flopped unceremoniously upon her bed with a sigh. She was glad for the day to finally be over; truth be told. Not that she didn't appreciate the fact Lydia offered the home stay in the first place, quite the opposite.

Since their graduation from college, the roommates had bounced from sofa to sofa while they tried to find a permanent home. It was difficult to pick a location to settle in for the time being as Lydia's art career tried to get off the ground. Finding inexpensive places to live while traveling around the country for art shows was proving to be the needle in a haystack. Landlords didn't really want to give discounts for absentee tenants.

It was sheer luck that Lydia's parents had decided to spend several months traveling around the world, leaving the house in the girls' care without a thought for monetary repayment.

Holidae rolled over on her back, staring up at the ceiling in a daze. A nagging voice in her head told her this whole situation was just too good, and that the other shoe was destined to drop down at any moment. Maybe it was her own anxieties that had made the day feel...off since their arrival. Lydia's behavior, the strange mood of the house... it could have been all in her own head.

Beetlejuice paced around the room as Holidae stared off into oblivion, occasionally stopping to see if she were doing anything entertaining. He hated being invisible again, especially since all the residents of the house were able to see and interact with him on the regular. And Lyds had expected him to last a whole night being bored because she didn't want to scare her breather friend or some shit?

Patience might have been a virtue, but it wasn't one of his.

He scratched the stubble of his beard thoughtfully, "If I were a breather... which, ehh, not trying that again; what would make me want to see me?"

Holidae sat up with a jolt, startling the ghost as he pondered over his next course of action. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she got up and padded over to the empty space he was currently occupying. Beetlejuice backed up out of reflex, unsure of how corporeal he may or may not have been to her at the time. The Handbook was a bit fuzzy on interactions with breathers who were more receptive to otherworldly influences; but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Besides, he was the one usually disregarding personal spaces, not having his space invaded so abruptly.

"Hey, short stack, a little warning next time would be nice." He reached out, one of his darkened fingertips prodding against Holidae's forehead.

Reflexively, Holidae swept her hand upward, thinking there was some sort of insect she couldn't see in the dim room lighting. Her hand hit something.

Something heavy.

With an undignified squeak, she stumbled backward, catching the corner of the bed with her ankle and landing square on her ass on the hardwood floor. Hissing in pain, she rolled over on her side, letting loose a litany of curses into the crook of her elbow to muffle the noise. Beetlejuice was torn between wanting to help her and wanting to laugh at the slapstick display. He probably should help her out a little, seeing as if she was hurt Lydia could come into the room he would get blamed, but he could always vanish and feign ignorance.

Nah, Lydia would blame him anyway.

"That's it... I've gone insane. It's the house!" Holidae moaned in defeat, curling up on the rug. "Okay, Lyddy, I've got the next idea for the art show. Just come here and take photos of the pathetic nutcase on the floor. What once was a human, now pile of barely held together nerve endings."

The ghost took out a business card from the right breast pocket of his jacket, shaking it clear of cobwebs before materializing a pen in his other hand. He crossed out a few things, scribbled down some additions, and sat down on the floor beside Holidae. With a little finesse, he flicked the card so that it would land within peripheral vision of the woman curled up like a roly-poly.

The minutes crawled by, but eventually, Holidae noticed the small card a few inches from her head. Gingerly sitting up, rubbing the base of her spine, she picked up the card; the yellowed paper embossed with dingy black ink.

"Betelgeuse, the Bio-Exorcist...say my name three times..." Holidae mumbled, flipping the card over. "Professional... matchmaker, psychoanalyst, and amateur massage therapist. What the hell is this?"

Beetlejuice's face split into a wide grin, his sharpened teeth glinting in the dim light of the room, "C'mon, follow instructions..."

Holidae looked around the floor just in case there was anything else that could explain the sudden appearance of the card, wincing as her bruised skin protested the movement. Could it have been an art project of Lydia's? Fake advertisements? Maybe she had been experimenting with graphic art in her off hours? If the card required speaking something aloud, it could have even been a foray into performance art. Weird stuff.

"Ugh," she made a noise of frustration, flipping the card around idly in her fingers. "This is dumb. I'm dumb. Why am I even thinking about this for long? It's just some stupid set of weird things... and... and random pieces of paper. Probably garbage."

Beetlejuice tugged at his hair in frustration, the hue reflecting streaks of deep red, "Just. Say the words. Very simple. Three times. That's it. It'll be a magical fucking experience."

Brow furrowed in dismay, Holidae stared at the card as though it would suddenly catch fire in her hand, "Beetlejuice..."

The ghost perked up, "Yesssss?"

"Beetlejuice..." she continued, a chill in the air making her shiver.

One. More. Time.

A deep breath filled her lungs, and she looked upwards toward the stationary ceiling fan, "...Beetlejuice?"

The familiar sensation of being pulled fully into the material plane - which felt like a weird pinching sensation he could never understand - washed over Beetlejuice as soon as the words left her lips. He could feel the living world, the warmth radiating off the breather in front of him; the general alive-ness of the atmosphere of the house. It was so different from the Neitherworld; so much more appealing compared to the drab, monotone world he had inhabited for countless eras.

Holidae could feel something shift in the air around the room, but it wasn't something she could pin down into a tangible sensation. The lightbulb flickered in her bedside lamp, the shadows crawling along the walls like serpents or a swarm of insects. A musty, heady smell like freshly tilled earth filled her nostrils; mixed with the acrid scent of smooth cigarette smoke and cheap liquor.

And just like that, she was no longer alone in her room.

One of the most eccentric looking men she had ever seen was on his hands and knees in front of her, smiling with a mouth full of distressingly sharp - stained - teeth. He was dressed in a matching suit of black and white vertical stripes... at least at one point they might have been white, it was hard to tell under the fine layer of grime and various imperfections. A shock of bright green hair was fluffled up on his head, and his rounded face sported a five o'clock shadow.

Holidae's jaw hung slack as she tried to process his sudden appearance. She felt so... small in his presence, as though his entire being filled the empty spaces in the room.

The wood floor under his hands and knees creaked suddenly with his new weight, his body shifting into a crouching position, "Hiya, Holly-Jolly."

[chaoticneutralwriter]

Thirty Second Heartbreak

You think you’re doing pretty well for a human being who has to deal with two demonic entities in your life, to the point where you think you’ve become unfazed by them (maybe even prefer them over dealing with the arguably more trivial things in your life, like working customer service). But alas, you are still only human and humans grieve over the darnest things.

guardian demon! Jimin x reader

genre: fluff, comedy, slice of life, supernatural, aspects of slow burn

word count: 8.6k

Related works: see masterlist under guardian demon!jimin section

Story progression from Worlds Collide

A/N: Oh my God, the struggle to start this was fdskgh but probably because there was no way I could avoid a more ‘slower’ installment this time compared to the previous ones. BUT! All necessary! Don’t want to jump to the....exciting bits so soon. :D I hope you enjoy...while you can. (LOLL i kid idk i’m just gassing yall up).

The sound of the door unlocking, opening and then closing brings your attention away from your screen momentarily, spotting the familiar figure of Jaehee as she throws her shoes off, clearly disgruntled. You turn back to the video you’re watching just as she ambles over to your place on the living couch, collapsing onto the other end in a mess of limbs.

Taking out an earbud, you comment. “You look like you’ve been through hell.”

“Ugh don’t even get me started.” She groans back, rubbing at her temple before she spills her guts. “I’ve been trying to help Jason look for a place with his roommate since the place they’re renting now is so dingy. I don’t know how many viewings I’ve been to now but every time I think we’ve found a decent enough place, they complain about the stupidest thing!”

“Such as?”

“How it’s ‘too far’ from their school and work.” She air quotes it before squawking incredulously. “It’s literally a five minute bus ride away! How is that far?!”

You snort with a shake of your head. “Yeah, that’s like, nothing? What are they expecting, especially living in the city here?” 



“Exactly! Not only did they want to a nice, cheap place but somewhere close to one of the busiest parts of the city? Nah uh, not happening.”

“So? What are you gonna do about it?”

Jaehee lets out a heavy sigh, exasperation lacing her every word as she lets her head flop back against the couch. “They still haven’t decided on a place, and I’m making his roommate look for some himself but they got about half a month left to find one because the idiot—!” She interrupts herself by making a strangled, growling noise that expresses her restrained frustration (for her boyfriend or his roommate, you’re not too sure at this point), “Put in his notice already! Like I get you have to let the landlord know two weeks ahead of time but were they really that confident in finding a place by then?!”

You grimace at your friend’s predicament because it really does sound like a pain in the ass.

“You working any time this week?” Jaehee asks after a moment. You pause your video to think about it.

“Hmm, I only work this Tuesday and Wednesday. Why?”

“Let’s go out for lunch or something — check out some of the cafes I have saved from Instagram.”

You hum in consent; it’s been a while since you’ve been out (besides for work) anyways so you’re okay with a little outing. “Sure, how about this weekend?”

“Sounds good!”

-

“Have a good day!” You say cheerily, waving off the customer you just cashed out. As soon as they’ve walked away from your register, your smile immediately drops, eyes whipping to the time before immediately you’re pressing the button for the mic on your radio. “I’m going to take my break. The line’s dead.”

“Yeah go ahead, Alicia will cover you.”

“Thanks.”

You don’t hesitate to speed walk out from behind the cashier counter and beeline your way to the very back of the store where the staff lunchroom is, all the while dodging the few customers lingering in your path. You will not be stopped here if you can so help it. Punching in the code on the security pad in record timing, you fling open the door while tearing the earpiece off to place on the communal table then heading over to the fridge to grab the large iced latte you had bought before going into your shift today.

And thank god you did because you don’t think you would be able to make it through the day without it. It’s your first shift of the week and being that it fell on a weekday, the store isn’t so busy. It’s great on your part because then you don’t have to deal with talking to customers and putting up a fake smile but it makes for the shift, however short it may be,  feel ten times longer than it is.

You’re only here for four and a half hours but you already feel like dying.

As you settle into a chair, you pull out your phone to scroll through your social medias as well as take the time to reply to messages in your group chat. You’re sipping on your drink when a sudden chill overtakes the room. Before you can so much as shiver, a voice nearly makes you shriek.

“So this is where you work? Man, how depressing.”

You nearly fall off your chair at how hard you flinched, managing to stifle your would-be shriek into a more controlled yelp. It’s only when you recover were you able to shoot the intruder a hard glare.

“Jungkook! What are you doing here?!” You hiss, trying to keep your voice down. The offending demon merely shrugs nonchalantly from across you, leaning back in his own seat in a very impossible way where he should’ve tipped over but he doesn’t.

“I was bored and decided to follow you — find out any of your dark secrets you might be hiding.”

“You know even Jimin doesn’t stalk me as much as you’re doing right now.”

“He’s boring; doesn’t know how to have fun anymore.” Jungkook sighs almost tragically as he gets up to stride around the room. You watch, a little thrown off by the juxtapose this demon-disguised-as-an-idol has to his surroundings. He’s got on a black hoodie that has bold white letters on the front that spell out Balenciaga, Kappa sweatpants and Puma runners; casual yet so bougie at the same time, it’s painfully obvious that Jungkook does not belong here, a lunchroom of a minimum wage job and that’s not taking into account his good looks either.

You sigh out in both annoyance at the scene and at Jungkook’s unannounced appearance.

“Look, I don’t have time to entertain you so I think it’s best if you —“

It’s quiet but you distinctly hear the trill of the lock pad being woken up and the numbers being punched in, announcing the arrival of a co-worker. You immediately clamp your mouth shut, eyes darting to see who would walk through the door. Not like it would matter because the more worrying issue here is that Jungkook has not left yet. The door clicks open and in walks Emily, a girl who usually helps out around the floor.

“Hey!” She greets you cheerily, none the wiser of the demon standing just mere feet in front of her.

“H-Hey…” You reply back, trying hard to be casual and maintain your attention on her rather than on Jungkook who’s grinning so widely, you think his cheeks would split. “Done for the day?”

“Yeah, thank god! I’ve been here since twelve.”

“Wow….but lucky you, at least you’re leaving.”

It’s currently seven in the evening, you started at five today and are scheduled until closing which was nine-thirty. You envy her for getting to leave, regardless of your otherwise short shift. Emily clocks out at the computer, taking off her work vest, walkie and headset, placing them back in the appropriate charge holders. It’s then that Jungkook decides to saunter over, silent as a ghost to peer curiously at the equipment and hover over your co-worker as she opens her locker to grab her bag and other belongings.

You try to grab his attention to get back, facial expression doing the talking for you but all he does is bunny grin at your cartoonishly angry faces.

“You’re part of the closing team today right?”

You instantly school your expression as Emily shuts her cubby locker, turning your way to head over to the wall hooks to grab her jacket.

“Y-Yeah. I hope we get out early since everyone’s been working on the go-backs as much as they can so cleaning shouldn’t be so bad…” Your voice comes out higher than normal, and though you technically have nothing to worry about (his demon visa only allows for you and supernatural beings to see him after all), it’s still hard to ignore a begrudgingly handsome 5’10” man. Actually, you think it’s even more frustrating because you’re the only one who can see him. And that doesn’t add to the fact that he’s being a total little shit right now — what is he doing with those radios? You try to subtly lean your head to get a better look but your co-worker speaks, pulling your gaze away from the mischievous demon.

“Yeah, it has been pretty slow too but you know how it gets when we’re just about to close; they all come swarming into the place out of nowhere.”

“Damn it you’re right….” You groan, the thought effectively distracts you from your demon problem momentarily. You let your head flop back, eyes looking skyward as if to pray to the retail Gods to have mercy. Emily pulls on her jacket, fixing it into place while slinging her bag over her shoulder to throw one last pitying look your way.

“Well, fingers crossed it doesn’t happen. I’ll see you—“

A piercing screech erupts in the room, causing both of you to wince and whip your head towards the rows of radios by the computer desk. Emily’s confused while you’re not impressed because she can’t see the stupid, wide eyed look Jungkook has on his face, mouth shaped into a perfect ‘O’ and looking like he just discovered the next best thing after Nutella, finger poised just inches from a walkie.

“Did someone forget to turn off their radio? That was a nasty feedback.” Emily remarks, shuffling over to take a quick peek only to walk away with a puzzled shake of her head. “Weird.”

“Y-Yeah…” You agree uneasily, shooting up from your seat and attempting to change the subject. “Weird—anyways! I should probably head back out there, get this done and over with.”

“Ha ha, yeah you’re right. I need to get going too; I’ll see tomorrow then!” Emily smiles, waving at you before she hurries out the door, finally leaving you to be able to openly glare at Jungkook.

“What did you do?!” You hiss, pulling on your own walkie and shoving your phone away into your back pocket.

“I don’t know! But it was cool!” He squeals, giddy as a kid on Christmas. It makes your head begin to pound and you just know that you’ll end up with a headache if you stay here any longer. But the conundrum here is that you don’t want to leave to finish the remainder of your shift, and not because you don’t want to work. No, you’ve found yourself a bigger problem.

“Look,” You say sternly, “I better not see you in and around the store doing…whatever the hell you just did there!”

“Hmm, can’t promise you that poppet.” Jungkook grins, wiggling his eyebrows. “I’m a free demon, tied down by no contract or mortal so you have no power over me.”

You huff, aghast at his declaration because you cannot have him running around causing a mess in the store (that’s more work for you!). Your mind races before the thought strikes you and you stick your nose in the air, challenging. “I’ll tell Jimin.”

You almost smirk in triumph at the way Jungkook’s snarky grin falters, eyes flickering as you see him consider his options and when you think you got him beat, he squares up again, mirroring your stance only it’s annoyingly more effective with his height advantage.

“Go ahead — I’ll have you know that he loves me too much to do serious harm to me.”

You don’t know if he’s bluffing or not but you really have no time for this; you already hear your manager asking if you’re back from your break yet over your headset. You answer that you’re on your way back out now before shooting Jungkook one last warning glare.

“Just. Leave. Or at least stay here!”

His only response is to continue to look like that meme of the cat with a knife pointed at it. Begrudgingly, you turn to leave, already feeling your blood pressure skyrocket.

You continue to work as the cashier for the remainder of the night, keeping up an impressive front that everything is fine and you’re not beside yourself with anxiety at the thought of whether that troublemaker of a demon had pity on you to leave you alone or not. So far, you’ve not heard a peep of any supernatural business coming from anywhere around the store. Your hope runs higher once the clock reaches nine and you only have half an hour left on shift to clean up with your co-workers before you can finally head home.

“Alright guys, how are you sections doing?” You hear your on-duty manager ask over the radio.

“Still got some stuff to put back.” Someone replies.

“Any up at the front?”

You turn your gaze from dumping the trash in the smaller bins by each register into the larger garbage bag, bringing up your mic to speak into, “There’s a couple of stuff here.”

“I’ll go grab them.”

Things were going pretty well, you manage to finish emptying the trash bins and as you’re tying the bag up, that’s when you hear it — a static noise coming through your headset but before you can make anything of it, it’s gone. Not a minute later you hear one of your co-workers, Daniel, say over the headset, “Stephanie where are you?”

“I’m in aisle 48, why?”

“Did you say you need help?”

“….No?”

A pause.

“….Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Then who said they needed help then?”

You chime in after a moment of your own puzzlement. “No one said they needed help.”

“Yeah I didn’t hear anyone say they needed help.” Your manager adds in as well too. You see her coming up to where you’re standing by the return bins behind the register, shooting you her own pinched look of confusion. You can only shrug, just as lost.

“I swear I heard someone say they needed help….Or I’m going crazy.” Daniel responds, sounding unsettled. You honestly don’t know what to make of it either…..unless……

“I think the store might be haunted.” Your manager comments as she begins to unload the assortment of items left in the return bins.

“…..What makes you say that?” You ask nervously though the thought of a possible poltergeist isn’t what got you sweating.

“The last store I worked at, we actually had some unexplained things happen — all caught on camera by the way. Like, stuff being knocked over with no one there to cause it, or hearing people when there’s no one there just like now.” She says this all in a really light-hearted tone, even adds in, giggling, “Whenever we had to close the store, everyone would be so scared to go to the back by themselves; we would all just move in a group.”

You give your own stiff laugh, glancing out onto the store floor in hopes that a certain demon didn’t hear that and get any ideas. Your manager shuffles off with the items in a cart, off to put them back in their appropriate spots which allows for you to begin dragging the garbage bag and grab the handful of damaged items to put in the back. You nearly break out into a run to get these tasks done because your mind is set on another goal: find out where the hell Jungkook had gone off to.

You pass by Daniel who, on meeting your eyes, only shakes his head in disbelief, still not over what had just happened.

“I swear I heard someone….” He begins to defend himself and though you would’ve loved to validate him that it’s most likely true, you don’t for various reasons.

“I think that’s a sign that we should all go home soon.” You teasingly say instead. He laughs as you scurry past him to fling back the ‘Employees Only’ double doors, throw the trash bag by the door that lead out to the dumpster and deposit the damaged items in the designated racks. You swear you do it in record timing, you’re left slightly panting by the time you barrel out of the flapping doors of the back room area, but before you can begin to think of where one might find a demon lurking in a department store, you hear a loud crash.

“What was that?” Your manager asks over walkie.

“I don’t know, but something big fell over around aisle 50-56….”

You hurry on over to the scene of the crime, arriving fourth among your co-workers who had thought to do the same thing. From the end of aisles 52, you hear a very loud gasp, followed by a barrage of concerned remarks.

“Oh my God, what is this even doing here?!”

“Didn’t we sell this?”


“Okay, I’m low-key a little spooked and it doesn’t help that this was the Halloween decoration.”

Sure enough, your eyes travel downwards to see a massive dark shape lying on the ground. Once you’ve approached the group, they’ve already propped it back up again to reveal that it was a six feet tall witch, abnormally pallid face haggard and twisted into a wicked, gnarled grin, complete with rows of sharp teeth and wispy, long white hair. You grimace, metaphorical hackles raised as you stand at a safe distance away from her outstretched, clawed hands. You’re not a big fan of anything horror to begin with, but at least before, you would’ve still been assured that this was just a mannequin-like, overgrown store centrepiece …..and not something that could possibly be possessed if given the chance. 

That being said, your eyes nervously dart around but find no signs of the demon on the loose.

“Rachel, didn’t we move this to the back? What’s it doing out here still?” Daniel asks your approaching manager on duty.

“I….thought so too?” is her puzzled reply. She does a once over on the witch, trying to think of whether or not maybe the other managers have forgotten about it and had left her here in the corner to rot but it all doesn’t seem plausible; the store is very strict on moving out seasonal items once the occasion is over and Halloween was well over at this point.

After coming up short on an explanation, Rachel shrugs, “Either way, we have to move it to the back. It doesn’t belong here anymore. Anthony and Daniel can you do two do that while we do final touches?”

“Sure.”


“Yeah.”

Your two male co-workers go to grab a side on the witch to lift her up but as soon as they touch her, she comes to life, shrieking and cackling while waving her arms around and everyone present find themselves shrieking along with her.

“OH MY GOD!!!” Stephanie wails, hand pressed over her heart. “I NEARLY FUCKING DIED!!”

You can’t voice your own agreement with her, too preoccupied trying to calm your own racing heart after nearly jumping into the shelves of clothes behind you. Amidst the loud complaints of the near death experience, you faintly hear another set of cackling that wasn’t coming from the witch. Rachel eventually reels everyone back in once everyone’s general panic has died down to hearty laughs. The boys get set back to the original task and the rest of you were given the duty to put back the remaining straggler of items from the return bins earlier.

But once again, not even a minute goes by before you hear another startled shout coming from back room.

“Guys everything okay?” You hear Rachel ask over walkie.

“Oh my God, I think this store might actually be haunted!” Daniel’s voice cuts through, pitch a tad high from whatever encounter he just had. “The lights just turned off in here, we’re leaving right. NOW.”

You distantly hear a swoosh of air from the force the back doors swing open, followed by a garble mixture of nervous laughing and rapid talking.

“Okay guys if everything’s fairly clean then we can definitely head out now and put the remainder of the stuff back early morning.”

You check your watch and see that it’s 9:15, which by your work standard is a way early wrap up time for a closing shift — but you’re not about to complain. You’ve got a demon to catch and the faster you get out here, the better. So you race back to the lunchroom where mostly everyone was already gathered, taking off their headset, vests, and clocking out on the computer before grabbing their things from their cubby lockers.

“You need to get a priest in here and bless this place or something Rachel.” Daniel half jokes but you think underneath it all, he’s actually pretty serious. Everyone else seems to agree and you can only offer a wry smile, not sure if that would actually keep Jungkook away from causing any more trouble, or if an exorcist is a better option. Either way, everyone seems more antsier to leave than usual, even if they seem like they’re not taking these supernatural activities too seriously. You all move out of the lunchroom in a group, hastily making your way to the front entrance in hopes that you don’t encounter any more spooks. Your manager reaches up to the panel by the sliding doors, punching in the alarm code with speedy fingers and once the initial beep has sounded, she pulls open the doors and everyone goes rushing out into the cool night air.

“Goodnight everyone!” You hear a chorus voices call out and you return your own before you start making your way to the bus stop, bag strap clutching tightly in your grip. You arrive to the little shelter, huddling yourself into the seat in the farthest corner, leg bouncing in a mixture of impatience and jitters. Naturally, you swivel your head to either side of you to check on your surroundings but find that no other soul to be approaching or presently with you. You swallow, breathing out deeply while rolling your shoulders a little to finally settle back in your seat. Maybe Jungkook got bored after everyone left the store, off to find some other unfortunate being to —

“Y/N!”

“GYAK—GOD!”

The brunette throws his head back to let out a boisterous laugh, leaving you practically clinging to the bus advertisement panel for dear life. After a few breaths, you shake yourself from your frozen state to shove Jungkook by the shoulder. He only continues to laugh, clutching his sides and curling up on himself.

“You—! That was you in the store wasn’t it?!” You accuse right off the bat, eyes glaring as he calms himself finally to breathy giggles. Once he’s reigned in those too, he looks at you square in the face, dead serious.

“No, it was bloody Mary, come back to take revenge because you didn’t let her use her coupon six times.”

Your mouth hangs agape, so caught off guard by his answer but when it actually registers, you wheeze. Now it’s your turn to throw your head back and laugh. Vaguely, you remember that you probably look really crazy right now because no one other than yourself can see Jungkook, sitting beside you but you don’t care; it’s late and if anyone has caught sight of it then all the more reason for them to leave you alone, just like how you want it. Eventually, you calm yourself, catching your breath and with a sniffle, you half-heartedly slap the demon’s arm.

“You’re awful.” You say weakly, failing to keep the lingering mirth out of your voice. “You didn’t have to scare my co-workers and in turn, me, half to death.”

“But it got you out early, didn’t it?”

You go to argue but find that you can’t. Jungkook sees and isn’t afraid to let you know he’s got you beat with a smug smirk and quirked eyebrow.

Well played, you think, well played.

-

The weekend couldn’t come any sooner and you find the joy in not having to set up an alarm all the more sweeter. It puts you in a better mood knowing that you can finally sleep in and wake up when you actually feel rejuvenated enough. Which is why you’re feeling more energized to be out and about with Jaehee as you two make your way to one of the cafes she had bookmarked. It took a bit of searching (the cafe, evidently enough, was located on the other side of the plaza you were in, facing out towards the busy roads rather than grouped together in the inner circle like the rest of the other establishments), but you were settled into a cozy cute booth of the aesthetically pleasing cafe, iced latte and an assortment of fancy pastries to try out in no time.

You and Jaehee catch up for the first couple of minutes while sampling the little cakes in between conversations. After you finish two of the four you both bought, you ask Jaehee about her impromptu real estate agent job she’s taken on for her boyfriend and his roommate. Instantly, she lets out a groan of irritation at the mere memory of it.

“God, it’s still a mess. I actually have a scheduled viewing later today; I was wondering if you’re okay to tag along. It won’t take long.”

You nod your head, sipping on your latte. “Yeah it’s fine, I don’t got anything else planned for the day.”

Jaehee nods, slouching in her seat a bit as she pulls out her phone. “Good, I might just need the moral support. Like, the roommate was also supposed to come too since Jason’s at work and because, well, he’s the one looking for a place right?! But ugh! He’s like, ‘I’m too lazy’. I’m ‘bout to drag his ass if I have to at this point.”

“Gosh, you’re honestly doing the most right now and I don’t even know what for.” You say, frowning at how this situation sounds to be more and more of headache the more she talked about it. That’s what you kind of admire about Jaehee; she’s willing to go through such lengths for the people she cares about the most but at the same time, you really wished she knew when it starts to get too ridiculous. Even if he was busy with work and school, Jason or at least his roommate should still try to make an effort in apartment hunting instead of leaving it all to Jaehee (regardless of any amount of compensation that was probably offered).

“I know, it’s because they think they can get a place so easily when it comes down to it but it’s not. Like, we were lucky enough to score the place we live in now but that was before the housing market really went to shit.” She says, firing off a text message (most likely to her boyfriend’s roommate). “I honestly would’ve left it up to them too but….” Jaehee grimaces with a shake of her head. “Some of the places his roommate sent to me to check were so sub par for the offered price, like, you can get a much better place for the same price and also if they’re willing to dish out another $75 on top of their budget.”

“Huh.” You reply, not sure what to say to that but also thinking that the whole situation speaks for itself. You’re low-key glad that it’s not you that has to deal with this all, considering the fact that you have enough on your plate. On second thought, you think crazily enough, having to deal with two demons doesn’t seem so bad compared to what Jaehee’s doing — at least they leave you alone for the most part, save for Jungkook’s random bouts of shit disturbing but overall, they’re not bad company; just enough spice to your otherwise mundane life. The notion makes a wry smile begin to tug at the corner of your lips.

“By the way, how’s it going with Julien?”

“Huh? Wh— Oh! Yeah, Julien….Um…Good? I guess?”

Things have been….interesting between you and Jimin. He still goes out nightly to do….God knows what but you’d rather remain ignorant to whatever demonic activities he gets up to but when he does come around to pester you, it’s very much ‘the usual’; a lot of bickering and pranking (mainly on his part) where often times it leaves you fuming and red-faced and him smirking triumphantly or in a fit of giggles. Despite your indignation though, you surprisingly don’t mind it….that much. It’s a weird push and pull with you two, where even though it seems like he shows up just to judge your choices, poke fun at your human first world problems, you’ll still be able to find him standing at the end of your street, waiting to walk you back home after a late night shift so that you don’t have to face the convenience store corner alone without fail. On the rarer occasions, you’ve caught him humming parts of the ‘The Truth Untold’ during late night showers where you wake to get yourself a glass of water and the first time you did, you had stood in the hallway, completely mesmerized (you told yourself it was the good acoustics, you know, to help you sleep at night).

A puff of air releases from your nose quietly, unconsciously; the beginnings of a chortle bubbling up in your chest as you muse about your aloof guardian demon who looks like your idol crush. He’s started out to be such an anomaly, a disturbance to your normalcy, but now, you’re starting to see how interwoven he’s become in your life — settling into an empty space you hadn’t quite noticed until now and making it into his own.

“Uh…Y/N? You okay?”

“Huh….?”

“You like, spaced out on me.”

“O-Oh…Sorry, was just thinking about something…”

“Julien….?” Jaehee teases with a waggles of her eyebrows.

“Oh my God, you’re annoying.”

Jaehee only laughs, scooping up another forkful of the pink decorated cake. “We should finish up here and get going, I’ve finally convinced Jason’s roommate to get his lazy ass up and go to this viewing with us so we gotta go meet up with him.”

“Yeah, sure.”

You both finish off the rest of the cakes and you your latte before leaving the cute little cafe. After a quick subway ride, you arrive in the area where Jason’s university is; a hub of students walking around either on campus or around the neighbouring streets leading to downtown. You and Jaehee head off in the direction where a small residential area is located by the school, just a block around the corner, an admittedly convenient place to live in for those attending the school but also understandably not the best of living spaces. Right off the bat, you could tell that this is a very old neighbourhood, one that has probably been around since the building of the university. Many of the small bungalows look cramped beside each other with their collective, muted grey, brown and off white colour schemes, facing out with even smaller yards with overgrown lawns and low chain linked fences, all rusted and has seen better days.

Subsequently, Jason’s place falls in with the monogamous look the neighbourhood has taken and you can’t help but grimace when you and Jaehee step up the small wooden patio of the front entrance, noticing how badly chipped the white paint is. It makes you wonder if the interior is as dismal as the exterior, and if that was the case, then you can see the reason why they would want to find a new place despite how convenient the location is.

Jaehee gives the doorbell a ring, quickly growing impatient as a minute passes and your third companion doesn’t answer the door. You shift idly in place, but then decide against it as a loud creak gives off from the old wood — best to stand still lest you wanted the entire patio to give out on you, seeing that it very well may if you so much as sneeze on it. You both wait a bit more until finally you hear shuffling from inside and the locks click, door finally swinging open to reveal what you assume to be Jason’s roommate.

Personally, you’ve never met him until this moment but you can’t help being a little bemused; the guy looked like he straight just rolled out of bed and put on the nearest clothes he could grab.

“Took you long enough Henry.” Jaehee snaps, already heading back down the steps towards the little driveway. You follow after her without so much of a word or second glance at the male to see if he would follow. 
“We need to start heading to the viewing, it’s literally just down another block across the street.”

“I just got up…”

Well that solves that mystery, you think wryly. You stop by Jaehee’s side as she stands at the end of the driveway, looking back to see Henry locking the front door and closing the screen one in front of it afterwards. He shuffles on down in his sweatpants and university hoodie, ball cap on over his head to no doubt hide any unruly bed hair. It makes you glance down at your own outfit for the day through the lenses of your shades, it’s one of those days where you’re actually coordinated and looking pretty cute, if you do say so yourself (self pat on the back).

When he finally catches up to you, Jaehee takes the time to formally introduce you. “This is my bestie and roommate, Y/N.”

“Hello, nice to meet you.” Henry greets, offering a small smile. You return it with a simple hi and a small wave before Jaehee ushers the both of you to start making your way. The weather is nice and clear, sun beaming in a fairly cloudless sky but has yet to reach the point where you can feel the heat bearing down on you. A perfect temperature where it’s not too hot, not too cold and all you need is a light jacket. The air feels fresh, promised with the coming of spring soon along with the budding of leaves sprinkled on the branches of the trees you pass by. You inhale deeply, enjoying the breeze and the way the sunshine makes everything seem a little more vibrant.

You take it back when you reach the so-called apartment. Well, you had expected it to be an apartment but it’s another one of those small bungalow houses, the only difference is that this one is a lot better kept on the outside; grass trimmed with a small garden and even had an overhang on the side that separates the garage, leading to what you assume is the backyard. You spot a figure standing on the sidewalk just outside the home, in the middle of stubbing out a cigarette. It made you and Jaehee pause to look at each other, wondering if this is the owner waiting on you to arrive. It’s Jaehee that speaks up first.

“Hi there, we’re here for the viewing…?”

The man turns, lanky with a scruffy beard, dressed in a plain grey t-shirt and jeans with a baseball cap. He gives you both a wry smile.

“Funny, because so am I. It seems that the guy is showing someone else around right now.”

“Oh! Okay…”

And so you have no choice but to wait around outside until the person who had arrived first was finished with their viewing. It doesn’t leave much for you to do, and you find yourself pulling out your phone to scroll idly through your social medias. You get pulled into conversations with the other two but for the most part, Jaehee and Henry are discussing about other possible viewings they should see with Jaehee pushing Henry (and through him, Jason) to get some of the required paperwork when signing the rent for a place (i.e. credit scores).

You’re bored by the time the man in the grey t-shirt gets his turn. Sighing, you tuck your phone back into your pocket and glance around, actually seeing more people approaching the home most likely for a viewing as well. As your eyes scan over the patrons, they lock onto a figure standing right across the street from you, casually leaning against a lamp post, staring right at you through their own pair of dark shades. You had to lower your own to make sure you weren’t seeing things but nope, there he is, in all of his dark denim glory and you just know he’s smirking (honestly when is he not). Before you can even sputter, you see him reach into his back pocket, pulling out his phone and fingers making quick work on it. Not a moment later, your own phone vibrates.

It’s only then that you tear your gaze away to avoid looking suspicious (or crazy, who knows; you can never tell if you’re the only one who sees him or not), pulling out your own phone to see a text notification. You swipe your lock pattern, quickly tapping to open the message.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

You hate how you just read that in his voice, teasing lilt spot on. Your fingers fly to reply back.

“I should be asking you that, aren’t you allergic to the sun nowadays?”

Instinctively, you glance back at him to see his reaction but should’ve known to be disappointed because he only coolly inclines his head downwards to read your text off his phone before you see deft fingers work on a reply.

“I’m a demon, not a vampire. Besides, what is this haunting of a department store I keep hearing about going around?”

You suck in a breath, glancing up nervously to see if he’s caught wind (being a demon and all). You duck down when you catch sight of the those dark shades locking onto you, even when you can’t even see his piercing eyes behind the lenses. You could only hope your own shades hide the way your eyes shift briefly with unease.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about but considering the fact that I have a literal guardian demon, this shouldn’t even be that concerning?”

“Y/N! It’s our turn now!” Jaehee calls, pulling your attention away from the demon.

“Oh, yeah coming!” You scurry after the duo who had walked up the length of the driveway to meet with the agent doing the viewing. He introduces himself, shakes all of your hands and then leads you under the overhang to a door on the side of the house. Upon opening it, you realize that the space up for rent was the finished basement of the home, not the actual house itself as the door leads to a pair of stairs going downwards and straight into a small, tiled kitchen. It’s simple, open spaced with two bedrooms (one on each side of the living room area), one bathroom down the hallway leading from the kitchen and a laundry room. It’s adequate enough for two male students to live in.

Jaehee seems to think the same, nodding her head in approval as she directs Henry to ‘take a good look’ around. You hang off near the entrance seeing as how you’re just here for the shits and giggles, which allows for you to resume your conversation with Jimin. When you pull out your phone, you see a string of messages.

“You’re funny doll but you’re not dumb.

This has Jungkook’s name written all over it.

So have you been talking to that brat? I thought I told you not to.”

You roll your eyes, shooting off a reply.

“Hey man, he’s the one who follows me. Not like I willingly go out and look for him.

If it bothers you so much, then why don’t you just do some demon voodoo magic to ward him off?”

You don’t get an immediate response and it makes you smirk triumphantly for once. Yeah, you know him by now that whenever he brings up Jungkook and how you should stay away from him, his tone never gets stern enough to where he would personally go out and burn the younger demon with hell fire. In fact, you want to go as far as to say he’s using Jungkook as an extension of keeping his eye on you without actually having to constantly shadow you. You don’t mind, but you still find it funny that as loathing as he seems to be of his junior, Jimin undeniably has a soft spot for him…. or at least some semblance of trust, which is a good sign right?

Your phone vibrates and you glance down to read the new texts.

“What are you even doing there anyways? Don’t tell me you’re downgrading….

Please don’t.

No offence but this house looks ugly and I just saw you go through a side door that leads down to the basement of it.

That’s never a good sign.”

You actually snort to yourself, smile wide on your face as you go to reply but then back track a couple of times, debating on whether or not you should take this opportunity to mess with him. Unfortunately before you get the chance to decide, Jaehee, Henry and the sales agent are shuffling over to where you’re standing, looking about ready to leave.

“So I will definitely send you the paperwork that you need to fill out through the email you gave me and if you have any questions, feel free to email me as well.”

“Sounds good! Thank you so much!” Jaehee smiles, nodding to the agent before turning to you. “We’re ready to go, sorry if you got bored.”

“Nah, it’s all good.” You reassure as you follow her out with Henry. When you emerge back outside, your eyes instinctively go to the lamp post where you last saw your guardian demon, but find that he’s no longer there. Figures.

You shrug it off (you’ll probably see him later tonight anyways), turning back to Jaehee who’s talking to Henry about how they should take the place because this is the best one she’s seen so far in terms of meeting their requirements. Henry nods, seemingly agreeing with her and says he would let Jason know about it. The look of relief washes over your friend instantaneously and you just know that she’s glad that this headache will be settled once and for all.

“Make sure you tell him! You guys seriously only have less than half a month left before you get evicted!”

“Okay, okay!” Henry’s smiling good-naturedly, clearly not letting that looming fact dampen his spirits. It’s commendable because if it were you, you would be a hair away from a mental breakdown. His easy-going response makes Jaehee’s smile falter a little and you can only send a helpless sorry look to her; seems like she’s not quite out of the woods yet.

“Anyways, we’re gonna head home now since all of this has made me tired so bye.” She’s turning away in a huff, not so much as another glance at Henry. You smile awkwardly, sending a hesitant wave before following after your friend.

“I swear to God they better take that place like, I’m so over everything.” You hear Jaehee mutter under her breath as she rapidly types out a message, probably to Jason because you get the feeling that she’s lost faith in Henry to do something as simple as that.

“I think it’s a pretty good place for them too. And it’s only slightly farther from where they live right now anyways so there shouldn’t be any commuting ‘problems’.” You add in half to placate her and half in honesty.

“Exactly, and the rent is around what they pay for already.”

Your discussion carries on to Jaehee telling you about the places she has seen in the past weeks (quote, ‘it was the saddest and dinkiest place I’ve ever seen’) to how she’s also received some pretty shady emails from landlords about possible viewings. You make it back home in no time, the both of you taking off into your rooms to change into something more comfortable as well as wipe off all your make-up. No sooner had you closed your bedroom door and flopped back onto your bed, flinging your bag and sunglasses off to the end of your bed, completely worn out for the day did a familiar face pop up to hover over yours, brown eyes looking none too pleased, arms crossed. It’s then you realize he’s lost the dark denim jacket you last saw him in, revealing the simple black fitted t-shirt underneath, which showed off nicely toned biceps. His sudden appearance had made you flinch in surprise, but find that you’re too tired to care, settling back into your mattress unperturbed.

“You never answered my question.”

“Hello Jimin, I’m doing great too.”

“Not funny. I need to know so I can make sure I won’t be caught dead going into a shack of a house.”

His words make you perk up, giving him a cheeky look. “So if I said I was downgrading, you’ll move out?”

The words fly out of your mouth before you even register what you just said. For a fleeting moment, Jimin’s face takes on an unreadable expression but it was enough for a dull ache to start blooming in your chest and in its centre, regret. It was meant to be a light-hearted, teasing jab, like the ones you always engage in with Jimin but you find yourself wanting to backtrack because, even when you won’t admit it out loud, you don’t actually mean it. Besides, it’s not like you see him on a daily basis to begin with, so you’re not particularly sick of seeing his face every day…. And last you heard, demons don’t need sleep so what’s the point in getting his own place when he won’t even use it that often?

You’re about a breath away from blurting out your own poorly constructed ‘psyche!’ moment when, in a blink of an eye, the air around him shifts, a dangerous gleam in his gaze. He moves slowly, deliberately, arms uncoiling like a snake ready to strike and it makes you tense up, effectively pulling you out of your head. His hands come down on either side of your head, caging you in as he lets out a dark, breathy chuckle.

“Oh, my darling Y/N….” He leans in close, voice but a low rasp that actually sends goosebumps along your skin. “Have you forgotten that it was you who bound your soul to me?”

Oh shoot…. By technicality, he’s right; as if you can even forget about the night you first met him anyways. You have no arguments there, and his smirk widens knowingly as he watches you chew on your lower lip nervously. You hate how you get the feeling that one of his favourite hobbies is making you squirm and when he catches you in those moments, he likes to milk it as much as he can. Point proven when he doesn’t let up in iterating his point.

“Or….” He continues purring with a languid tilt of his head, “Do I need to remind you so you won’t forget…?” He trails off vaguely enough to have your imagination running wild without your permission.

Like a nail in the coffin, your face instantly flushes, indignantly or from being extremely flustered — or maybe a combination of both. Either way, you feel like you wished the bed would swallow you whole but Jimin, ever so cunning and sly, always knows when to rile you up only to have it all come crashing down on you. It’s the same old trick, but you always manage to fall for it so his next words knock you right out of the spell.

“Besides, I know you’ll miss me too much to let me leave.”

Instantly, your face morphs to one of disgust, the teasing tone that replaces his seductive one acts like the bucket of cold water you had desperately needed.

“You’re insufferable.” is the only thing you can manage to seethe out but it comes off more of a pout, cheeks still burning strongly. His face breaks into a huge grin, eyes disappearing as he throws his head back to laugh, finally easing off on you to a comfortable proximity but still keeping his hands firm on either side of your head. You choose to petulantly turn your face to the side, refusing to be subjected to this humiliation any longer.

Thankfully the chiming of your phone allows you that moment of escape, hand eagerly bringing up the phone to address the notification and when you get a glance, it nearly makes your eyes pop out. Faster than you thought possible, you whip into a sitting position and it’s only thanks to Jimin’s inhuman reflexes that saves the both of you from causing each other’s concussions.

“Woah, if that was your plan on trying to kill me, you’re gonna have to do better.”

You ignore him in favour of the news you received in your group chat in the form of a video trailer. More specifically, a trailer for BTS. Concert. TOUR. DATES.

You’re silently screaming, heart pounding so hard you think it might explode out of your chest as fingers tap furiously to open the link, all the while in your mind you are chanting;

Please let it be in my city, please let it be in my city, please let it be in my city, please let it be in my city, please —

Your eyes are laser focused, the new title track blasting through your phone’s speakers as clips of past concerts flit by in rapid succession. Bold words flash by in accompaniment with keywords being ‘BTS’, ‘WORLD TOUR’, ‘LOVE YOURSELF’. It all further adds to the buzzing live wire your body has become and it reaches the apex once you see the name of the first city and date flash across the screen. You swear you stop breathing.

Moment of truth.

Time seems to slow for you, but the names go by within seconds and then...the video ends. 

It takes some time before you think you finally let out a slow, deep breath, the buzz dying out of you just as quickly as it had come like being on a roller coaster.

Your arms drop from holding the phone up so close to your face and you can’t help your heart from doing the same.

“Ah...So they’re going on a world tour....” You hear your guardian demon muse airily from beside you. “Aren’t you excited?”

Shoulders slumping, you bring your group chat to type back a response, saying the words aloud for him to hear as well.

“They’re not coming.”