#i have so much i still have to reveal for this au

[slutteok]

Long Time Coming (rockstar yungi au)

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pairing ✭ dom!yunho x afab!reader x dom!mingi

summary ✭ Things get a little steamy in the green room after your last show on tour

content ✭ smut 18+ MDNI

word count ✭ 9.3k

warnings ✭ smut, unprotected sex, mingi is VERY rough, choking, slapping, heavy degradation, threesome,

tags ✭ praise kink, degradation kink, rough oral sex, rough sex, thigh and ass slapping, polygamy, childhood best friends to lovers, rockstar yungi au, non idol au, dubcon, power dynamics, under negotiated kink, throat fucking, multiple fem orgasms, yunho and mingi have big dicks, size kink, cervix fucking, fluff at the very end

notes ✭ it's a little more yunho centered than mingi, but please enjoy anyways <3

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When you were 6 years old, you met these two little boys. They were cute you thought, and the three of you became insanely fast friends. The older of the two had always been fond of you, always fawning, and fretting over you, he was quick to defend, protect and comfort you, while the younger of the two, usually kept his distance physically from you, but that’s not to say he wasn’t also fond of you. He loved you in his own way, much different to how he loved your mutual friend.

If you were to tell your 6 year old self that in 18 years time you’d be in a band, doing what you loved more than anything in the world, alongside those two boys, you’d never believe yourself. You’d actually call yourself a liar.

But if you were to tell yourself at 16 years old that in 8 years, you’d be lying underneath the older boy, with your legs wrapped around his waist, your nails clawing down his back so hard it drew blood, you’d believe it… mostly because even at 16 that’s exactly what you were doing.

Today was one of the last days of the tour. You and Yunho laid together in the hotel room bed, both naked, your legs still tangled with each other and the sheets. Yunho snored softly in your ear, his face half buried into your neck, as your arms wrapped around him, his fingers twitching against the bare skin on your sides, making you tense up as it tickles sometimes.

A knock on the hotel door is what inevitably wakes Yunho up. He groans, pulling away from you. You watch as he sits up, and stretches his arms above his head, groaning and arching his back. You watch in awe as his back muscles seem to taunt you. You sighs, sitting up and looking at him.

“Morning.” he lets his arms fall to his side, and he turns to look back at you. You hold the covers tightly to your chest, before leaning forward and quickly capturing his lips with yours. You both giggle a little, before another knock on the door sounds. Yunho rolls his eyes, “coming, coming..” his morning voice was deep, and gruff, something you learned gave you massive butterflies. You slip out of Yunho’s bed, pulling your clothes on from last night.

“Yunho, where’s y/n? Have you seen them?” Mingi asks, looking around from the threshold of the door for you. Yunho, now fully dressed, shakes his head as he opens the door. Mingi scoffs, rolling his eyes and storming off. Yunho closes the door, and hurries back to you, beckoning you to leave. You nod, and you follow him out into the hallway, before Yunho starts running towards Mingi, giving you an opening to hurry back into your own room.

You take a quick shower, washing off as much of Yunho that you possibly could. You could swear you still smelled like him, though, even after washing yourself 3 times. You changed into new clothes, brushed your hair quickly, and applied your usual amount of makeup before finishing up your hair.

“y/n!” Mingi knocks on your door, and you have to physically fight off the smile that is peaking through the corner of your lips. You hop out of the bathroom, and swing your door open, revealing your done up self to Mingi and Yunho. Yunho looks away from you, and you catch a glimpse of his red ears. Mingi just looks frustrated.

“What? I was sleeping. Are you dying?” You question why Mingi was so adamant on finding you this morning, but you couldn’t let him know why. Maybe someday… but probably not anytime soon. Just like you couldn’t let Yunho know about you and Mingi either.

“W-what? No? Can you focus?” Mingi scolds you, and you stifle a laugh, raising your eyebrow at the younger male, who was actually still older than you by a month or so- give or take.

“I’m focused.” You’re still a bit confused by why he was looking around for you. Your eyes dart to Yunho, and he shrugs, before walking to his room. You wanted to chase after him, you were tired of pretending. You were tired of pretending to both of them.

You were the one who wanted to tell the other about the other, but they were the ones holding back- like they were scared something terrible would happen to the group. You had a good feeling though, they had been friends much longer than before you came along. They had spent essentially their entire lives together, and you can recall that one time Yunho’s mom actually thought the boys were dating, because at that point in time- there was not one thing the two didn’t share.

“They want us down at the venue early, to do soundcheck.” Mingi snaps you back into reality, and you nod, furrowing your brows just a bit. Mingi looks you up and down, then looks to where Yunho’s room is. He smirks before grabbing your chin. A small whine leaves your lips, as he brings you closer to him. You watch his eyes flicker to Yunho's room once more, before pressing his lips against yours. Your eyes instantly shut as Mingi’s familiarity comes crashing over you.

You couldn’t lie, you were sore… so fucking sore, but that had never stopped you before. It honestly had been a while since you and Mingi were intimate, and you can tell that he’d been pent up for a while. He came looking for you this morning just to fuck you, and get on with his day.

His hand moves from your chin, down to your throat, and his tongue presses into your mouth, meeting yours in a battle of dominance as he gently pushes you back into your room. You oblige, taking a step back, while Mingi’s other hand wrapped around you, pulling you tightly to his chest.

He pulls his lips away from you, moving his hand back up to your face, his thumb stroking your bottom lip gently, before hooking on your bottom teeth. Your face twitches slightly, your eyebrows turning upwards as your lips lock around his thumb.

“Where were you, pretty baby?” He croons, leaning close to your face, his eyes focused on your lips around his thumb. He pulls his thumb out of your mouth, before pressing his index and middle finger into your mouth. You willingly take them, staring up at him as your tongue moves skillfully around his fingers. He lets out a deep sigh, his hand around you coming to your hip to squeeze you, eliciting a small moan to leave your mouth. He pulls his fingers out, then wipes them off on your shirt. You scowl at him, before rolling your eyes at him.

“I was asleep. Is that a crime?” You retort, turning around and going to sit on your bed. You weren’t lying… you were asleep, just not in your bed.

“Oh give me a break.” Mingi rolls his eyes and scoffs, sitting next to you and turning to look at you. You follow suit, turning to face him.

“What?”

“You weren’t in your room, at least.” Mingi growls and you roll your eyes again.

“it's not a crime to not be in my room all the time.” You argue, and he scoffs. he puts his hands on your shoulders and quickly turns you around, before pushing you onto the bed. you gasp at the sudden movements, and you know you're about to get pounded mercilessly. though you were excited, Yunho had destroyed you the last three nights and mingi was just a tad bigger and thicker than Yunho.

“I bet you were out being a little whore, huh? you just had to sneak past not just me, but Yunho? what would your little boyfriend think of his little girlfriend getting fucked by her best friend while she's away on tour huh?” he was just throwing insults after insults at you, and you couldn't say you hated it because you were soaked through your panties.

“what would your little boyfriend do if i sent him a video of me fucking his little toy?” Mingi hisses, and there's a sharp pain in your asscheek for a split second, making you bite down on your lower lip so hard it almost broke skin. you feel mingi’s hand come down to your asscheek again, another sharp pain shooting through you- harder this time because that cheek was particularly sore because of Yunho.

“Mingi,” you choke out, and Mingi laughs at the sound of your voice dying in your throat. you let out another little moan as his hands grab your ass, spreading you apart and massaging you just for a moment. his hands release you, then you feel his hands grab your hips. your head reels at the feeling of his hands on you, completely ignoring this fact that he had flipped you over onto your back.

In an instant, as you're coming out of the daze, you look down at your body, and see he’d already taken your pants off. your eyes widen, and he chuckles, seeing your confusion.

“you're so fucking easy, y/n.” Mingi chuckles dryly, grabbing the back of your thighs, and pushing them up and against your body. He pulls his right hand from your thighs, creating space between you two again. He smiles, and sighs happily seeing you bent like a pretzel for him. “I think I should just leave you here, soaked and desperate.” Mingi taunts, and your eyes rolls into the back of your head and you groan- obviously frustrated with him.

“Mingi, i just know your cock is painfully throbbing, please let me take care of it.” you whine and pout, making sure to stay quiet as people pass by your room. Mingi laughs again, leaning over you, caging you in before capturing your lips with his. He kisses you hard, and with force, eliciting a moan out of you against his lips before he pulls away. you inhale sharply as you feel another sharp pain hit your inner thigh as Mingi’s hand makes contact with it.

“you don't know anything,” he laughs dryly, pulling his hands from you and watching as you sit up, your legs dangling off the bed. “You should be there when I need you, and we wouldn't have this problem.” he commands and your eyes widen a little. you roll your eyes though, and he scoffs.

“I have other things I have to deal with, you know. I can't just drop everything when you want to fuck.” you say, crossing your arms over your chest. Mingi rolls his eyes, and his hand grabs your chin, again, before moving down to your throat. He leans over you, putting his mouth next to your ear, his breathing tickling you.

“All you are is a hole to me, so I don't care what your excuse is. you’ll drop whatever you're doing, no matter what, if i come looking for you.” Mingi hisses into your ear, you shudder, your eyes fluttering closed and a moan leaving your pretty lips, before he forcefully pushes you down on the bed. “got it? that's our new agreement- and because you annoyed me, i’m not gonna fuck you. I'll go find something else to use.” Mingi says, looking down at your trembling shape on the bed, licking his bottom lip. you lift your head to watch him touch himself briefly through his pants, and you gulp. You wanted him, but if he was seriously about to go fuck a fan, you could easily go find Yunho, and he’d be more than happy to fuck your brains out.

Mingi rolls his eyes, turning around and swiftly leaving your room. you sit up, in a daze, wondering what the hell just came over both of you. you run your hands through your hair, and let out a shaky breath before deciding to just take care of the longer effects mingi left you with.

“y/n!” Yunho comes bounding over to you with a wide smile, he grabs your waist and picks you up, embracing you tightly. You laugh, clinging onto him tightly as he spins the two of you around. Your set had just finished for the night, it was such an amazing show- the best one you guys had yet.

You can't lie, you were exhausted. Yunho kept you up late last night, and when Mingi came into your room this morning you thought you’d have a chance to nap but Mingi had left you so bothered, you hardly had a chance to even rest- your legs had felt like jello all day.

Yunho sets you down, leaning forward and kissing your forehead, before leaning down to your ear.

“how about round 2?” he asks, and honestly, how could you deny him- not only that, you were still worked up from mingi’s words and touch. you nod, excitedly and Yunho grins, standing up straight. He grabs your hand and basically drags you into your green room. you both knew Mingi wouldn't show up to the green room after some time- he only came to the green room at the very end of the night.

As Yunho opens the door, Mingi is stood there, with his arms crossed- presumably waiting for you. Yunho instantly drops your hand, tucking his hand behind his back quickly.

“h-how did- what?” Yunho stammers, feeling embarrassed by mingi’s sudden appearance in the place the least expected it.

“Can I talk to y/n about something? privately?” Mingi asks, and Yunho looks down at you, his eyes suddenly narrowing at you, then darting over to Mingi. you gulp loudly, and wipe your sweaty palms on your jeans.

“Whatever you say can be said in front of Yunho, too.” you stumble over your words a bit, and the two men look down at you- confused. Mingi shakes his head, and Yunho glances between the two of you.

“y/n!” you hear a familiar voice come from behind you, and your eyes widen to probably the size of the moon. if you turned around right now, you’d be faced with your latest boyfriend you left back at home. you did like him… just not enough to not fuck Mingi and Yunho while you were away.

“ohhh… you're here!” you turn slowly, forcing a smile on your face, and you skip over to him, you raise your arms to hug him but he stops you.

“I'm not here to hug and kiss and make up.” your boyfriend glares at you, and you feel a pit in your stomach. you felt like you were going to be sick.

“then… Why are you here? why did you come all the way out here?” you question, your voice trembling just a bit. you shoot a quick look behind you to see Mingi and Yunho; with conflicting emotions on their faces. you turn back around to face your boyfriend.

“because i’m not stupid y/n, i know there's something going on but i just don't know what. you're sleeping with someone, fans or whatever. I know you are.” he begins, and you instantly freeze. unbeknownst to you, Mingi glances at Yunho, then at you, then back to Yunho- whose eyes never once left you. Not that that was strange, Yunho had always had his eyes glued on you, but it was the way Yunho looked at you that made his heart swell in his chest. Yunho was infatuated with you… but so was Mingi. A tinge of jealousy crept through him, but he very quickly dismissed it.

“No, I'm not. you can't just claim a statement like that and accuse me of being a cheater without any proof.” you fight back, shaking your head. you could feel your emotions rising in your chest- you were still a little on edge from the adrenaline of the concert.

your boyfriend reaches for you, and grabs the collar of your shirt. Yunho and Mingi both instantly respond, and you freeze again- the older boys standing behind you to protect you if something were to happen.

“Relax your hound dogs,” your boyfriend rolls his eyes, and you can't help but smile at the nickname for the boys- it was funny. Then you remembered where you were, and who you were with the second they stepped back. He pulls your shirt down just a bit, past your collarbones, exposing the marks Yunho had left all over your chest- marking his territory.

“I fucking knew it!” your boyfriend exclaims, pulling his hands from your shirt- it popping back into place. your eyes begin to tear up, and your eyebrows furrow, shaking your head. you didn't even understand why you were crying- you hadn't been invested in him in a long time… you’d been on tour so long you almost forgot you were even dating someone. “we’re done. you're a fucking cheater. i should have known better than to date a damn musician.” he scoffs, as he walks off. you watch him with misty eyes, before Yunho steps in front of you.

Mingi is quick though, and he pulls your shirt down too. his eyes widen, his lips part slightly, and you look up at him, with fear in your eyes- hopefully he didn't recognize yunho’s mark.

“Jesus christ… is that where you were this morning? getting fucked?” Mingi sneers, his eyes flickering to yours for a moment- the jealousy flashes through Mingi again and he clenches his jaw. Yunho on the other hand, was absolutely fascinated by the marks he left- successfully marking you as his. He loved seeing it, he loved doing it, and for as long as you let him, he will continue to mark his territory.

“no, I was actually asleep this morning.” you stumble over your words, feeling your tears start to well up- you got caught in an elaborate lie and now you were terrified of Yunho and Mingi finding out about each other.

“whatever. I don't care.” Mingi mutters, dropping his hand from your shirt. He looks down at you, then at Yunho, then he leaves without another word. you sniffle, and blink your eyes a few times, watching him leave. Lately Mingi had been distant, and you wonder why- did he know about you and Yunho?

“y/n…” Yunho’s voice snaps you out of your spiraling thoughts and you look at him, feeling a little dazed. you watch as Yunho's jaw clenches, and his eyes move down your body. you shiver under his gaze.

the way he’s looked at you since you both were 16 was intoxicating. he would literally undress you with his eyes and you could see he was just thinking about pounding you into the mattress, or whatever was closest, until you were a stupid, drooling mess. But, you didn't know, he thought about this for a longer time- when you suggested it he was thrilled to know this could be reality.

“Yunho,” you start, but Yunho shakes his head, putting his hand on your chest, and pushing you back into the green room. You oblige, and watch as he kicks the door closed. “What are you doi-” you’re cut off as he grabs your hips, and smashes his lips into yours in a fevered manner. you can't help but melt into the kiss, despite your almost panicky state.

You cling to Yunho like never before as he presses into you harder, instantly deepening the kiss, a low groan coming from Yunho's mouth. He squeezes you, making you gasp, and he takes his chance to shove his tongue into your mouth- this time making you moan in response. your tongues dance together, allowing Yunho to take the lead.

You try to focus on the feeling of Yunho’s fingers on your body, relishing in every since touch he gets on your bare skin but between his fingers, his mouth, his scent, mixed with your emotions from your now fresh breakup, and even the tension Mingi had built up in you earlier that you never got rid of no matter how hard you tried, your mind was reeling. it was hard to focus all on one thing, and before you knew it, Yunho was pulling your pants off and kneeling in front of you.

“W-what are you doing?” You look down at him, and he looks up at you, with a smile. He points to his face, and your eyebrows furrow. “what?” he points again- you could swear you could see a tail wagging. “Yunho, what?” you try to ask him for clarification because you genuinely are confused.

“Sit, idiot.” Yunho laughs, grabbing you by your hips and pulling you to him. He grabs your thigh, lifting it up and placing your foot on the couch not even giving you a second to protest before his mouth is on your clit, eating you ravenously.

Your body jolts, and you catch yourself as a loud moan is suddenly ripped out of you. Yunho gave you no time to prepare for this, and that was on purpose. You look down at him, and his face is buried between your legs, his eyes closed as he enjoys himself, feeling content at the way your body responds to him so eagerly, and the sound of your moans he loves so much.

“Fuck, yunho~” you moan, and he pulls away to catch his breath, looking up at you. You run a hand through his hair, before taking a fistful of his hair and pushing him back towards your core. He laughs, before slowly, agonizingly slow, licks between your folds, until his tongue flicks over your clit- making your hips jolt.

“You're so fucking beautiful.” Yunho groans, before plunging two long, spindly fingers inside of you, making you gasp and moan loudly; not quite used to the two fingers off the bat. your grip on his hair tightens and he chuckles, attaching himself to you again, as he works his fingers inside of you.

“Fuck, Yunho,” you exclaim, moaning out his name as his fingers curl inside you, before he starts pumping them inside of you faster. You can feel yourself getting increasingly wetter with each thrust of his fingers inside of you, his fingers and even knuckles are coated in your slick.

Yunho quickly pulls his fingers out of you, and pulls away. You whine at the loss of his mouth and fingers, you glance down at him, and he has the most mischievous grin on his lips as he takes in your fucked out expression. Your breathing is heavy, and irregular, like you had just ran a mile, but all Yunho did to you was finger you and eat you out- he knew you were never this exhausted this quickly.

“I didn’t tire my puppy out, did I?” he grins, standing up to his full height. You follow him with your eyes, tilting your head back to look up at him. You shake your head, and swallow hard. Your eyes flicker to his fingers that were covered in your own fluids. “Good girl.” He whispers, before presenting his fingers to you, gently pressing the pads of his fingers on your bottom lip. You part your lips, and Yunho pushes his fingers into your mouth.

Your tongue darts around his digits, lapping up any evidence of your arousal left on his fingers. His eyes never leave your lips, he would never find the courage to tell you how many ways he’s imagined your mouth on him since he hit puberty. He was always jealous of the boyfriends you brought around when he was here all along. From as far as he knew, he was the only one to make you orgasm… more than once at least.

“You're mine.” Yunho suddenly grunts, ripping his fingers out of your mouth and grabbing your chin forcefully, making you look up at him. The grip he had on you almost hurt, but you didn’t mind it. Your hand instinctively makes its home on the groin of his pants, gently moving your hand back and forth, creating some sort of friction for Yunho.

Yunho swats your hand away, and grabs a fistful of your hair, pulling his other hand away from your chin. You swallow hard, and your eyes flicker all over his body, drinking in every single detail about the man in front of you. The way is brown hair was messy from his headbanging from the set, the fact that some of his eyeshadow had smudged and his eyeliner was definitely fucked up- all of your perfect work from earlier, messed up- but honestly you weren’t complaining. You had always preferred Yunho to look more grunge than his normal attire outside of venues.

“You hear me puppy? Mine.” Yunho growls into your ear and you let out a moan, your body jolting at his words as you are brought down to reality. Yunho holds your head at an arm's length, and he looks you up and down. He chuckles a little when he realizes he only undressed your bottom half. “Let me get you all fixed up.” He says, and you give him a questioning look as he releases your hair and takes one long stride towards you.

“Fixed up? Are you not-”

“Who is talking to you? Because I don't remember addressing you.” The words that come out of Yunho's mouth are harsh in nature, but you knew he didn’t mean it. He would spend the rest of his life listening to you talk. It was just Yunho's funny duality.

You blink in response to his words, dumbfounded. He’d only ever spoken like that to you once and you honestly weren't even sure if you liked it then, but for some reason at his condescending words, it churned your stomach and you could feel yourself getting wetter the longer you let the words sink in.

“Good pup.” Yunho praises, his hands come down on your shoulders and you watch his every move. You watch as his long, spindly fingers ghost your skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake as they slip under the straps of your tank top. The veins in his hands, his arms, and all the way up to his neck, taunt you- they mock you even. Yunho wasn't even flustered for a moment, his heart wasn't pounding in his chest so hard it felt like it was going to explode.

Your breathing becomes shallow, as you feel and watch Yunho slip the straps of your tank top off of you. A sudden urge to cover yourself up crashes over you, but Yunho knew better. He swatted your hands away again, pulling your tank top down past your breasts.

“God,” Yunho groans, pushing your tank top around your waist, where it makes its home now. Yunho’s hands cup your plump flesh, and you can feel a shudder ripple through you as his thumbs pass over your nipples, making you moan. “My puppy, ever the eager one.” He giggles, making the corner of your lips twitch into a smile- but that's easily ripped out of you when his mouth makes contact with your breast, eliciting a small, quiet moan from your lips.

Your hands immediately come to the back of Yunho’s head, your fingers grasping onto his hair as his tongue flicks over your sensitive bud, making you jerk in response.

“Yun… p-lease…” The begging starts to slip out in small pleas at first, the whining and the whimpering- it wouldn't be long until the tears and the incoherent mumbling came along too. Yunho looks up at you, you were closer to tears than usual.

“Not yet, princess. You're not ready.” Yunho mumbles against your flesh, before moving his mouth to give your other breast the same attention. While he does that, he takes advantage of your pathetic state, and his hand slips between your legs. You gasp in response as you feel his fingers slide through your folds, two fingers slide into you, and you practically collapse right on top of him. “mmm, maybe you are.” He chuckles darkly, before pulling away from you completely. You blink back the tears forming and stare at him, in shock.

“Yun-”

“Who is talking to you?” Yunho hisses, grabbing your hips and turning you around. You gasp, bewildered once again by his behavior. It was hot- but he seemed… genuinely upset… jealous even. You try to turn around again, but Yunho forces you back, then throws you down on the couch. You gasp again, turning around to look at him. You weren't scared of him, he would never ever hurt you- it took him years of convincing to even hit you.

“Yu-” You try again but your attempt is in vain, because before you can even open your eyes after blinking his lips are on yours again, in a hungry kiss. You can hear the sound of his belt unbuckling, then being thrown to the floor, the all familiar clunking is your signal that you're about to become nothing but a sex doll for Yunho… not that you could complain.

Yunho pulls away, pulling his jacket and shirt off, in two swift motions, before kissing your forehead.

“bend over.” Yunho instructs, and at first, your instinct is to say no, but Yunho is quicker than ever. You feel a sharp sting as Yunho’s hand comes down on your thigh, you inhale sharply before rolling your eyes and obeying his command. You wince at the lingering feeling, but you don't budge even still. Yunho growls, and pushes you down onto the couch.

You fall onto it, but Yunho isn't satisfied with your positioning so he leans over you. He grabs your wrists, and puts them on the back of the couch. He drags his hands from your wrists up your arms, making you shiver and shake under his touch, while he leaves a trail of kisses along your bare shoulders. You can feel your mouth watering, as your body begs him to continue to touch you, to fuck you into the couch, into the wall, wherever Yunho wanted.

Yunho’s hands drag along your waist, until his large hands cup your ass cheeks. He groans quietly, cursing under his breath as he appreciates the plush flesh. He squeezes your cheeks hard, and you let out a small whimper in response. You feel another sharp sting on your asscheek as his hand comes down. You hiss at the feeling, jolting away from him. Yunho grabs your hips and pushes you forward, making you stumble on the cushions of the couch, your knees touching the soft fabric. Yunho leans back, admiring the sight before kneeling down.

You look back, your breathing starting to get heavier and shakier. Your eyebrows furrow a little, watching him dip his head between your legs again. The feeling of his mouth on you again unexpectedly rips a loud moan out of your mouth. The feeling of him sucking on your understimulated bud, paired with the way his tongue lapped every inch of you up made you realize your orgasm was not too far off.

“Shi-” You moan out, but Yunho slaps your ass again, making you hiss in pain again, jolting away from him. Yunho grumbles, pulling you back to him as he continues to devour you. His fingers slide back inside you, curling up and hitting all the right places as another moan is choked out of you.

Your orgasm approaches fast, and hard and before you know it, you've basically drenched Yunho’s fingers and face, your moans spilling out of your mouth at different frequencies. You feel Yunho pull his fingers out, and you're about to protest, to tell him to wait to ride the rest of your orgasm out but he slams himself into you. Your body spasms around him, and you gasp loudly, your knees buckling under his sudden weight.

“Fuck, you're so tight. You feel so good, baby.” Yunho leans forward, his mouth right by your ear as he whispers praise. You moan at his words, and the feeling of him filling you up and stretching you out was just heavenly. Your breakup long forgotten about as Yunho begins to kiss along your back, leaving a lingering feeling behind as he pulls back, just a little. You moan at the feeling, and at the loss, before he thrusts his hips into you again. You curse under your breath.

His hands reach around you, cupping your breasts in his hands, before he starts to slowly pick up speed in his thrusts. Your body is still a little weak and sensitive from your orgasm a moment ago, and Yunho knows it. He knew your body better than anyone- even Mingi. He’d been with you long enough to know the signs- you were on the brink of another orgasm.

“oh? so eager to cum already?” Yunho whispers into your ear, making you shudder again. Yunho slips his hand down your body, between your legs. Your knees start to buckle again, but he catches you. “not so fast~” He chuckles dryly, watching you melt under him.

“What the fuck do you think you're fucking doing?!”

You and Yunho both instantly stop. Your eyes are wider than the moon, and you could swear you could feel Yunho’s heart just genuinely stop.

“Yunho. Y/n. What the fuck?!” He says again, this time, with a lot of anger behind his voice. You couldn't move, you were literally glued to this couch. Mingi just walked in on Yunho fucking you senseless- there was no way you were getting out of this one.

“Mingi, let me explain!” Yunho starts, his hands leave your body, and he pulls out of you, making you whine. He gently sits you down on the couch properly as he shoves his still hard cock into his pants and zips it up. Yunho even goes as far as handing you a blanket, but you didn't take it.

“No, let her explain.” Mingi points at you, and you look up at the two of them. Mingi’s eyes come across your chest, sneaking another quick peek at the marks left on you.

“Mingi, it’s not what you think…” You try to protest, but both Yunho and Mingi’s eyebrows raise, and Yunho shoots you a glare.

“What do you mean y/n?” Yunho asks, and now suddenly you're being grilled by both of them. You wondered what you did wrong in this life for this to happen to you.

“Yunho, you know what i mean, please…” You beg, and your voice cracks as you can feel your emotions start to rise. Your body was still hot with arousal, and your chest felt tight at the thought of them both leaving you.

“Mingi, I can't lie anymore.” Yunho says, and your eyes widen, you start to shake your head, and you reach out to grab his arm. He lets you take it but he doesn't look at your pathetic state. “Y/n and I have been sleeping together since high school, behind your back, behind all our partners backs.” Yunho admits to Mingi, who to Yunho’s surprise doesn't even blink.

“You think I don't know?” Mingi tuts, smacking his lips together while he looks between the two of you. “I've known you had a thing for her since we met, and well… you're both kind of really fucking awful liars, and you're terrible at sneaking around. By the way, since we live together full time, you should know by now y/n isn't very quiet.” Mingi explains, his words hitting your ears and making you blush. You weren't a good liar, but Yunho when he wasn't trying was a terrible liar. He also just generally hated lying to you and to Mingi.

“oh…” Yunho mumbles, his eyes falling to the floor. Mingi looks over at you, and smirks. He reaches out to your head, grabbing a fist full of your hair and you look up at him. Yunho notices Mingi move, and he looks up to watch what he was doing- his jaw about fell off his face when he realized what was happening right in front of him.

“What you don't know, that I know you don't know, is that we share the same toy. The same dumb, slutty little toy- but not just each other… all those stupid guys she keeps bringing into her life who are nothing but useless, anyways.” Mingi’s voice is low, almost like a growl. Yunho and your eyes are glued on Mingi’s hands, unbuckling his belt, and pulling down his pants, just slightly. His cock springs free from his boxers right in front of your face.

“So what do you say? Should we teach her a lesson, Yunho?” Mingi asks, lightly tapping the head of his dick right on your plump lips. The corners of your mouth twitch, and the heat in your belly becomes so fucking unbearable you can't stop the moan from escaping. Mingi uses this as his opening to shove his dick in your mouth, and down your throat, forcing you to choke on his thick length.

Mingi lets out a low moan, before pulling you away from him by your hair. You gasp for air, already feeling the tears start to spill over. Mingi grins, and places his hand on your cheek. You brace yourself, closing your eye on that side as Mingi’s hand comes into contact with your flesh, hard and fast, making your head spin.

“Mingi- what are you doing?!” Yunho sounds panicked after seeing this, he himself had never hit your face- he refused to. He didn't want to hurt you or make you distrust him.

“She likes it. Trust me. You're not the only one who’s fucked her for 8 years.” Mingi grumbles. He pulls away from you, and pulls you to your feet by your hair. You obey, standing up and looking between the two men- Yunho is looking at you with concern, wondering if Mingi was taking it too far but you give him a reassuring smile and just like that, he snaps back.

You feel Yunho’s hands on your back, but you can’t see him, as he’s behind you and the grip Mingi has on your is deadly- denying you from looking at Yunho.

“Think I didn't know about this little thing between you two? Yunho’s like a little lost puppy without you, following you around, wanting to always be near you, always touching you. You think I didn't notice your glances, your sneaking away with one another. The fucking hickey’s that litter your body, that I know I don't leave.” Mingi pulls you close to him, pulling you out of Yunho’s grip. Yunho looks up, and shoots a glare at Mingi, before wrapping his arm around your waist.

“Do you think I’m stupid y/n?” Mingi growls, and your eyes widen, shaking your head. You gasp, and moan as you feel Yunho enter you again. Mingi’s other hand cups your breast, his thumb and index pinching your nipple hard making you moan, and your eyes roll back as your body gives into Yunho.

The sensation of Yunho filling you up, while Mingi grills you, kneading the plush skin of your breast, was driving you crazy. Yunho’s hand coasts up from the small of your back, pushing Mingi away with his other hand as he forces you to bed back over the couch. Your body gives in, and you faceplant right into the couch. Yunho adjusts both of your bodies so now he’s on the couch behind you, as he starts to pound into you.

Mingi watches as your eyes shut, your brows furrow and your lips part as Yunho destroys you. His body twitches at the sounds of your moans, needing to touch you somehow. It was driving him insane. For a moment, he just watches as Yunho ravages you, his cock aching to feel any part of you.

“M…Mingi.” You choke out, and Mingi’s entire body goes rigid… You wanted him too? Not just Yunho? Yunho pulls you back onto him, lifting you up a little. You move your arms out, resting your palms on the cushion of the couch to hold yourself up, while Yunho’s arms encapsulate your body.

You and Yunho watch Mingi process all of this, the smile on your faces more than evident that you were literally inviting him to join. Yunho pulls an arm from around you, and reaches out to grab Mingi’s wrist pulling him closer to the two of you. He lets go of Mingi, and wraps his arm around you again.

“This is what you wanted, right, Mingi? To fuck her? To teach her a lesson? So why are you just standing there and watching? Are you that pathetic?” Yunho’s words strike a chord with Mingi, and he groans, letting his head fall back for just a second, before lifting his head up to look down at you.

Neither you or Yunho can say anything else, before Mingi’s dick is down your throat again. You moan at the feeling of being filled from both ends, and the feeling of being used by both of them is so intense, your second orgasm comes crashing down. You pull away from Mingi to catch your breath, but Yunho’s hand on the back of your head keeps you in place, while Yunho fucks into you, at a relentless pace. Mingi reaches forward, grabbing your head and pulling you back towards him, smashing your nose against his pelvis.

You try to breathe, you try to cry out, do anything, but all you can do is choke, and sputter and just cry. You felt so small between them, their hands just swallowing every part of you up as they use you for their own pleasure.

Yunho’s arms wrap around your thighs, pulling you closer to him. It felt like they were playing tug of war with you, being tugged back and forth between them. Yunho’s fingers graze your folds, feeling himself push in and out of you for a few second before finding your clit and rubbing small circles in it, making you moan against Mingi’s dick.

“Oh, Fuck.” Mingi curses, pulling out of you quickly. He bends down, and kisses you, harshly. You don't have time to even catch your breath as Mingi pushes you further onto Yunho’s dick, and Yunho bottoming out inside of you. All three of you moan simultaneously, and there's a familiar feeling inside of you, and Yunho’s grip around you tightens so hard it's painful. The warm liquid spilling inside of you, and the twitching, and pulsating makes your body clench around him naturally.

Yunho holds you in his embrace for a moment, while your lips are still locked with Mingi’s. Yunho can't help but watch, feeling something different growing in the pit of his stomach. Mingi cups your face and his thumbs pass under your eyes wiping your makeup and tear stained cheeks off.

Yunho watches in awe, before his amazement is replaced with concern as he watches Mingi strike your cheek again. This time, Yunho could feel how much you liked it. You clenched around him hard, and let out a little whimper.

“Want me to cum inside you?” Mingi asks, pulling away from you to allow you to catch your breath. You pant heavily, and you nod your head, your eyes trained on Mingi as he presses his forehead against yours. Yunho, reluctantly, pulls his arms from around you, and watches as you slide off of him, whining at the loss- even he was a little upset at the loss.

Yunho gets up, and Mingi takes his place immediately. Mingi slaps your ass, harder than Yunho had done previously, making you whimper in response. Although Mingi and Yunho were similar in length, Mingi was just a tad girthier than Yunho so watching your face contort almost in pain as Mingi pushes himself inside of you made Yunho’s heart flutter.

“A-are you okay?” Yunho grabs your face, worried that Mingi was doing too much to you. He would hate it if you got hurt by either of them. You look at Yunho, and he can't help the twitch in his cock again as he takes in your fucked out expression.

“Y-yun…” you choke out another moan, as Mingi bottoms out inside of you. Your body still raw from Yunho’s usage of it, it makes you jolt a bit, Mingi pulls you back again, forcing you to take all of him. Your head falls forward, and you reach for Yunho, who gladly takes your hand, holding onto it tightly.

“Good to know you're still so tight after Yunho uses you.” Mingi leans forward, pressing his chest against your back as he growls in your ear. You whine in response, before Mingi’s hand comes to the back of your head, forcing your head into the seat of the cushion, and Yunho’s eyes widen as Mingi literally fucks you into the couch.

“Are you just gonna watch?” Mingi tuts at Yunho, and Yunho’s eyes snap to Mingi- a little conflicted. Of course he wanted to join in again, but your safety was his biggest concern. It had always been.

“I-”

“She likes it, stop worrying so much. She isn't as fragile as you think.” Mingi grumbles, before his hand comes down hard on your ass again. You let out a muffled cry, and Yunho watches as Mingi’s hand moves from the back of your head, to the back of your neck, gripping you tightly and pulling you up. “Don't you?” You pant heavily, but nod regardless. Your body trembles under Mingi’s force.

Mingi’s other hand comes around, hooking under your arm as he grabs your throat, and squeezes the sides. His hand moves from the back of your neck, down to your ass as he starts to speed up his thrusts again.

Yunho was so conflicted, but he got an idea- he stands up, taking Mingi’s former place. Mingi nudges your chin, making you look up at Yunho who towers over you. He gently pats your head, before pressing the head of his cock against your lips. You whine a little, your throat feeling raw from how rough Mingi was, but you oblige anyways, knowing Yunho wouldn't be so rough now that he has cum.

Yunho’s strokes are slow and gentle, but his hips buck as you hollow your cheeks out, flattening your tongue against his shaft. He lets out a little whimper, and as Mingi thrusts in, Yunho pulls out, making your body feel electric. Their thrusts are opposite of one another and it drives you literally insane. Mingi’s thrusts are harsh, and forceful, but Yunho’s are gentle and kind.

Mingi’s hand was still on your throat, squeezing perfectly, making you feel just perfect. Yunho get another idea, and he pries Mingi’s hand from your throat, replacing it with his own.

“Yunho? What the hell.” Mingi frowns, furrowing his brows as he halts his movements. You whine out and push against him, he growls and slaps your ass again, making you jolt forward and choke on Yunho’s cock. Yunho groans, and holds the back of your neck, pushing his cock so far down your throat, your nose touches his pelvis and he can literally feel his dick in your throat.

“Ohhh, fuck…” Yunho moans, looking down at your pathetic, fucked out state. The tears that stream down your face, and the spit bubbling at the corner of your mouth, as you choke on him.

“Look at her,” Mingi croons, smiling devilishly at you. “So pretty with our dicks inside you, huh?” Mingi whispers, making your body erupt in goosebumps. You can hear Mingi chuckle behind you as he picks his pace up once more, pounding into at a punishing force and speed, and Yunho pulls out of your mouth. You gasp for air, before a choked moan leaves your lips, your eyes closing tightly and your hands reaching for Yunho.

“You're doing so good, princess.” Yunho mumbles, moving his hands from your neck to your face. One hand holds your chin to face him, the other is wiping the tears from your cheeks, and the drool from your lips. You were a fucking mess, makeup smudged everywhere, your hair tangled, your lips swollen and abused, along with the drool coming out of the corners of your mouth as you get fucked stupid.

“So fucking good.” Mingi moans, grabbing your hips and forcing you back against him again. You cry out, and Yunho’s brows furrow with concern- never having heard you make that noise before.

“Mingi, stop.” Yunho warns, and Mingi shakes his head.

“Shut up.” Mingi strains, slamming into you once more, his painted nails digging into your hips. You reach for Yunho again, just needing something, anything to stabilize you, before you collapse as you can feel Mingi’s cum spilling inside of you. “Oh, shit…” Mingi moans, throwing his head back and letting out a loud, deep breath. Yunho holds your hand tightly, he can feel you shaking, and he wants to sweep you into his arms and protect you from everything but he wasn't quite sure you wanted to be touched after all of this.

You're left completely speechless, panting heavily with your head resting in Yunho’s hand. Hot tears still spilling out of your eyes only concern the eldest boy more and more.

“Baby, what's wrong…? Did we hurt you?” Yunho asks, pulling his hand out of yours to push your hair out of your face. Mingi watches Yunho, his heart aching a little at the sight of his best friends. Although Mingi loved you, just as much as Yunho did, he had always wondered if the bonds between the three of you were different.

“N-no, she’s okay… she usually takes a while to recuperate after we have sex.” Mingi admits, Yunho’s eyes flickering up to Mingi, giving him a dirty look, before looking back down at you. You nod at Mingi’s words, letting Yunho know the truth.

Yunho was rough with you, but not like Mingi was.

Yunho huffs in response to your nodding, before wiping your tears away from your cheeks. He places a kiss on the tip of your nose before he pulls his boxers, and pants back up, and walks over to the vanity where your makeup was. He swipes a makeup wipe off the desk, and comes back over to you, sitting in front of you.

“A-are you always this way…?” Mingi asks, a little hesitant. He didn't know what he should or shouldn't say, if anything at all. Mingi just looks down, and pulls out of you, making you gasp and whine, while Yunho shoots him another dirty look.

“She deserves to be treated well.” is all Yunho says, as he begins to wipe your makeup off with soft, and tender hands. Yunho pulls away for a second, grabbing your underwear and shorts, putting them in his lap, before guiding you to sit next to him.

“I’m so glad today was the last show.” You mutter, and Yunho chuckles, grabbing your chin, forcing you to look at him again. He instructs you to look up with just your eyes, and you do. He takes the makeup wipe, and begins to very carefully clean your under eyes of makeup and tears.

Mingi watching the two of you made his heart shatter. No wonder you two were so smitten with one another. He clears his throat, catching both of your attention. He quickly gathers himself, pulling his pants back on and sitting next to you.

“We should talk about this.” Mingi offers, and Yunho and you exchange a look, before looking at Mingi again. “What?”

“Talk about what?” Yunho asks, seemingly clueless to what Mingi was trying to get at.

“What just happened…?” Mingi raises an eyebrow, and you giggle. You grab the collar of his shirt, and pull him down to you, planting a tender kiss on his lips. Mingi melts into you, both of your eyes closing at the contact, and Yunho chuckles. You pull away, and look at Yunho, then back at Mingi.

“We kind of already talked about it before…” You start, watching as Yunho sets your clothes in your lap. You pull your shirt back on properly, before slipping your panties and shorts back on.

“Talked about what? I’m really confused here…?” Mingi scratches the back of his head, and furrows his brows. Yunho shakes his head, swatting Mingi’s hand away from his head.

“Stop worrying. It’s nothing bad. Y/n and I agreed, back when we first started all this, that if you ever found out, and joined us- that it solidifies her and I’s relationship.” Yunho explains, but Mingi looks even more confused than ever.

“Wait so you're dating now? What the hell am I doing here?” Mingi scoffs, finding your agreement to be bullshit. Yunho knew Mingi liked you, just as Mingi knew Yunho liked you, and somehow Mingi is being left out? How dare his best friends.

“Mingi!” Your voice brings Mingi back to earth, and he looks at you. You looked so cute, sitting next to Yunho as he leans close to you, holding himself up with his arm behind you, just to be close to you. God… you both looked so good to Mingi.

“Can you let us explain?” You ask, gently, knowing Mingi was one to overthink and jump to conclusions. He sighs and nods, mentally shaking off the daze he was just in.

“I guess, yeah, us two are dating now… but if you want, only if you want… we want you to join us.” Yunho says, almost awkwardly- like he doesn't want to say the words. He wants you all to himself all the time, he doesn't want to share. but if he was going to share with anyone, he was glad it was Mingi.

“what…?” Mingi narrows his eyes at Yunho, then at you, before turning back to Yunho.

“be our boyfriend, or my boyfriend.” You blurt out, and Mingi’s eyes widen the size of large saucers and his lips part in shock.

“What?” He repeats himself, and Yunho scoffs, rolling his eyes.

“You can either be both of our boyfriends, or you can also be her boyfriend. I don't mind either way.” Yunho explains, but Mingi just looks as dumbfounded as ever.

“Like… polyamory…?” Mingi asks for clarification and the two of you nod. You didn't know why the boys were so scared of the outcome- you knew they'd love doing what they just did to you, but they both just refused- scared to lose their friendship with one another.

“I… I guess I can try being her boyfriend too…” Mingi finally answers after a long pause between the three of them. You smile and nod, leaning forward and kissing the corner of Mingi’s mouth.

“Great! Well, I’m starving and my throat hurts, so I’m gonna go to the bus.” You get up from between them, grabbing your phone that was discarded at some point, and swiftly leaving the room, leaving behind Yunho and Mingi.

Mingi glances at Yunho, seeing the dreamy expression on his face, and the small smile playing on his lips.

“How long have you waited to officially be her boyfriend?” Mingi asks, his voice barely above a whisper, and Yunho turns his head to look at him, the smile just growing and growing.

“19 Years.”

“Since we were 6?!” Mingi exclaims, and Yunho nods, patting Mingi’s knee before getting up and pulling his shirt and jacket back on. Yunho looks at Mingi and shrugs his shoulders, before starting to follow your footstep.

“Since we were 6, Mingi.” Yunho smirks, before turning on his heel and chasing after you with a new spring in his step.

[jobean12-blog]

Impossible to Resist

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x female reader (Mafia/Mob AU)

Word Count: 1,144

Summary: From time to time your husband has to attending important events and from time to time you just don't want to go and would rather keep him home.

Author's Note: Seb's new and delicious looks have been so fun! I just loved the idea of a bratty reader seeing him looking perfect and just needing to keep him home-at least a little longer 😏Thank you all so much for reading! Much love always! ❤️❤️❤️ Divider by the lovely @firefly-graphics thank you so much Daisy! 🥰

Warnings: fun, fluff, bratty reader, dom Bucky but he's always soft and sweet for his wife, fingering, curses

“You’re still not dressed?”

Bucky’s voice rumbles through the room and even from your semi-hidden spot under the plush covers you can hear the edge in his voice.

“BUCKKKYYYYY. I don’t feel like going to the gala,” you whine.

“Doll,” he warns. “We don’t have time for you to be a brat. Get. Dressed.”

“NO.”

In the next breath the covers are ripped from your body and your bare skin instantly chills in the cooler air. You keep your face snuggled into the pillow to hide your smile but do nothing to hide the curves of your body for him.

You feel his heat first then the familiar weight of him against you when his lips meet your ear.

“If you’re trying to tempt me into staying home it’s not going to work.”

“Yes it is,” you murmur, still hiding.

That’s when you take the opportunity to remove yourself from the pillow and languidly stretch your body out under him.

Your breath catches when your eyes focus on him.

His lips turn up into a knowing smirk and he stares right back. Your palms flatten on his hard chest and you gently push him off you so you can get a look at all of him.

The crisp white material of his shirt is fitted against every sculpted muscle and his pants fall effortlessly over his long legs. But it’s the neatly fastened bow tie that has you  licking your lips before your teeth sink into the wet flesh.

“Bucky.”

You sit up and crawl to the edge of the bed to reach out for him. Your arms circle around his neck and you curl your fingers through the ends of his hair.

“I don’t want to go,” you whine. Again.

He takes your chin between his fingers and tugs your face up to his to let his nose run along your cheek and when his lips are just a centimeter from yours he whispers, “get dressed.”

With a kiss he releases your chin and steps back.

You pout and chase his lips. “What am I going to wear?”

“I bought you something. A surprise. Come see.”

Still naked, you slide from the bed and follow with a huff.

“I think what I’m wearing now is just fine,” you purr.

He takes your hand in his, sliding his fingers up your arm until they rest at the back of your neck. He gently massages as he guides you toward your walk-in closet.

“Definitely my favorite outfit,” he croons. “But not for a gala.”

You giggle and press yourself into his side.

A garment bag hangs against one of the glass doors and he walks over to slowly unzip it, revealing a gorgeous designer dress beneath.

You gasp and clap your hands together.

“OH BUCKY! It’s perfect.”

“Of course it is,” he preens. “I picked it out.”

You step into his arms and press your soft curves against his hardness.

“Are you sure I have to get dressed now though?”

Your fingers work along his broad shoulders and then straighten the bow tie at his neck. You graze your hands over his chest and bat your lashes.

“Doll face,” he simpers.

“Hmm?” you ask in a soft sweet voice, feigning innocence.

His hand falls between your bodies and he smooths his fingers along your skin leaving goosebumps in their path.

A soft moan spills past your lips and he moves you toward the wall, pinning you against it with his body.

As his fingertips continue teasing along your skin you quickly undo his bow tie so you can tug on each side and pull his lips down to yours. He groans into your mouth and slips his hand between your legs.

“Please Bucky. Please,” you beg. “I need you.”

“Fuck doll,” he murmurs. “You know hearing those words makes me weak.”

When his fingers meet your soaked flesh he hisses out another curse and easily slides them along your clit, gently pressing and circling until your legs are shaking.

“Is this what you want baby doll?” he asks as he pulls away to gaze at you.

“Yes Bucky,” you breathe out. “Yes!”

He’s still fully dressed and the lush fabric of his clothes is overwhelming as it glides along your heated and sensitive skin. With his hand wedged between your bodies you can feel the cool metal of his bracelet and ring as they press into your skin and it makes you roll your hips, desperate for more.

A firm hand spreads your thighs wider and he pushes a finger inside you. His lips meet your neck and he bites down on your pulse point, relishing how you tighten around his finger.

“You’re such a brat,” he whispers against your lips. “So needy for me.”

“Always Bucky,” you answer on a moan.

He slips a second finger inside you and rolls his thumb over your clit. His other hand ghosts up to your neck and gently closes around your throat. At first the pressure is light but as you begin to chant his name he puts more, squeezing harder like you squeeze his fingers.

Your orgasms hits you in a blissful ripple, making your body tremble and cling to him until you ride out every second of perfection.

He pulls his fingers free, still glistening with your release, and lifts them to your mouth to run them along its plush outline. Your tongue darts out to lick them and he hums in satisfaction, parting your lips until you clean his fingers of every drop.

“See how sweet you taste,” he whispers before he kisses you.

You’re putty in his hands by the time he pulls away and you grasp his shoulders.

“Please. I want you inside me Bucky.”

His mouth captures yours in another hard and dominant kiss. “I decide when I’m going to fuck you.”

Your lips curve wickedly. “Fine. As long as it’s now.”

Amusement dances in his eyes, but it’s quickly extinguished with determination and desire. Keeping his gaze locked on you, he starts to drag the undone bow tie from his neck.

You try to stay steady as he reaches behind you and brings your wrists together, securing them tightly with the silky fabric.

“You’re going to do as you’re told,” he murmurs as he spins you around and presses his chest to your back.

His lips lightly brush the shell of your ear. “Understand doll?”

You give your wrists a slight tug, whimpering when nothing budges.

“Yes Bucky. I understand.”

He steps back to look at you, naked with your legs spread wide, thighs shiny with your wetness, and growls out a low “fuck.”

“Please Bucky!”

You arch along the wall, presenting yourself for him.

“When I’m ready doll,” he says, running his hand along the curve of your spine, “I’ll fuck you like the madman you’ve turned me into.”

@lizette50 @hiddles-rose @randomfandompenguin @goldylions @blackwidownat2814 @buckysdollforlife @littleseasiren @kmc1989 @identity2212

[bucktheally]

there's a part of me that is just DYING to write my take on a s1 bucktommy au where tommy's still at the 118 when buck joins but every time i sit down to start it i get hung up on how different they both were back then (especially with tommy being in the closet) and i'm like 🧐🧐 wait how can i even make this WORK the way they do as they are now. bc so much of why i love them in s7 is how well i think it worked that tommy is this settled, confident guy who has experienced so much and developed so much by s7 and is ready to be the one taking big swings in love, and buck has also changed a lot and is actively seeking something missing in himself by the time they meet,,, and them meeting when tommy was still closeted and anxious and resistant to revealing that part of himself while also buck was still closed off to his own issues and trying to bandage over all the problems in his life would have been so different,,,, but at the same time i can't get over how iconic buck getting a meredith gray intern-accidentally-sleeping-with-my-boss arc in combo with discovering his sexuality and his his s1 self-destructive behaviour could have been ??? much to think abt (but also it just goes to show how powerful the character development is on this show that the characters have developed so much over the seasons i'm kissing the writers with tongue)

[scottmemelordstrashpile]

Survivor Tessa AU (Murder Drones AU Concept???) [Episode 7 Spoilers]

So, you know when you want to make an AU but you also don't want to dedicate to the grueling process of actually writing a story and writing how we got to this part? No? Just me?

Well, regardless here are a couple of potential examples of scenes that could have unfolded

Click the "Keep reading" button if you either don't care or have already watched.

had Tessa been a survivor of the fall of Earth. I guess these are just concepts for potential scenes or something?

Unlikely Alliance

N: Fine. You're right. Maybe I'm not the real N. So I won't pretend to be. But that doesn't mean we can't help eachother! I want the patch to save Uzi, you want it to defeat Cyn. We can make this work!

Tessa: ... *Sigh* Fine. It would be smarter to work as a team for now I suppose.

*Suddenly Tessa presses the barrel of her gun right against the side of N's head*

Tessa: But I swear... if you even dare THINK, of trying to cross me... I'll kill both of you. Understand?!

N: Y-Yes... m'am.

Tessa: Good.

I Found You Faker

*The scene with "Tessa" and Uzi at the chapel unfolds the same until-*

"Tessa": No worries, makes my job easier.

*BANG*

*A gunshot reverberates throughout the chapel as a bullet rips through the back of "Tessa's" helmet and ejecting through her visor leaving a bulletwound behind*

*"Tessa" collapses to the ground bleeding heavily revealing the real Tessa standing behind her with a smoking gun*

Tessa: You must think you're real funny, huh Cyn? Running around impersonating me?!

Uzi: W-What?! W-Who?!

Tessa: Shut it! I'm getting to you. Where is the patch!?

Uzi: The what?!

Tessa: Don't have it? Bloody hell... Then who does?!

The Patch

*N reaches out expecting Tessa to hand over the crucifix usb but she steps back, drawing her gun on N with the other hand*

N: Tessa?

Tessa: No.

N: I-I thought you finally trusted me?!

Tessa: Trust you?! Please! You and that little monster took everything from me! Oh! But you weren't satisfied with just that! Now you oughta' go and destroy everything else while you're at it! Huh?!

N: Tessa... please-

Tessa: No. I won't let you have it. It means too much to me!

*Tessa clutches the crucifix tightly*

Tessa: This, this might be my only chance of finally destroying her. And I won't let you take it away from me too!

N: But... I thought... I thought we were friends.

Tessa: ... No. I was friends with the real N. Not you... You're just a fake...

N: ... Fine. I don't care what happens to me, but please! You have to help Uzi!

Tessa: Why should I? Doesn't she want to kill us all too?! Don't think I didn't overhear that. I'm onto you lot. Can't trust anyone but myself anymore. I learned from my past mistakes...

Old Enemies

Tessa: Fine... just do it already. Finish it!

Cyn: "Manical Laughter" I promised I wouldn't kill you, didn't I? Besides, I wouldn't get the satisfaction of watching you suffer if I do.

Cyn: ... But, there's still a chance. The Solver is pretty chill, maybe you could like join us or something.

Tessa: I'd rather DIE than to serve you!

Cyn: Oh well, it was worth a try. Have fun watching everything you know and love die for the second time. Loser.

I dunno what to call this one but I couldn't not include

*To Tessa most likely*

Cyn: I won't kill you and you can't kill me. I guess we can just sit in this room and glare at eachother until somebody drops dead. But I have a better idea.

End

I don't know what to call this. A proof of concept or something? I don't know. Because sadly I'm too lazy in addition to just not having enough time to make a full genuine AU about this but I thought the idea was interesting so I dunno, if people with more dedication or time on their hands want to steal these ideas for stories, art whatever. I don't care. You don't even need to tag me or credit me or anything. (And I mean that. It's not like my ideas are very original anyway.)

Basically in general the idea of this AU as I said at the start is the idea of the real Tessa having survived the destruction of the Earth. Now she's hellbent on destroying Cyn whom she perceives as the one that took everything and everyone she loved away from her.

She doesn't trust the disassembly drones in the slightest, not seeing them as her friends from the manor but as crude mockeries of her friends created by Cyn.

Cyn treats the entire thing like a game. Think of it like a sort've reverse Batman and Joker where Cyn refuses to kill Tessa due to her promise to not discard her. However all it does is fuel Tessa's unending rage when she laughs in her face and tosses her aside.

As for Tessa herself I like to imagine she's missing at least one hand and maybe even an eye. Of course her missing hand being replaced with a cybernetic one. (Definitely not a Berserk reference.)

That's about it. I imagine her personality would be totally different from Episode 5 Tessa as well. She'd probably still have funny moments or one liners but in general she'd probably be a lot more deadpan and monotone. When she's not being "Girl too angry to die" anyway. I imagine her in contrast to her past self being very quiet, cold and distant. Not wanting to be hurt again by becoming too attached to those around her.

All she wants is REVENGE. (You could even play with the idea of this desire slowly turning her into a monster too if you want to be really angsty with it.)

I imagine for the most part things would play out MOSTLY the same but with the added element of real Tessa also landing on Copper-9 to find the patch before Cyn (Disguised as Tessa) does. I guess serving as a rouge 4th element or something?

EDIT: I also like to imagine the real Tessa looks similar to canon "Tessa" (Which is just the fake Tessa in this version.) but without the stickers, hat and bow on her suit. Maybe a more visible oxygen system on the back too, like one of those big air tanks or astronaut backpacks. Something like that. Could get more creative with it, but yeah that's how I imagine it. I feel like the cybernetic hand probably wouldn't be visible due to the suit. As for the eye for me it alternates between it just being stuck closed like Guts or her having an eyepatch. (Personally I prefer it being permanently closed.)

Oh yeah of course also feel free to like... reblog... whatever. Give your thoughts? I guess? I don't know. I just wanted to get these ideas out of my head I guess and this was the most efficient way to do it.

[amourane]

THE WAY YOU WRITE IS JUST *CHEF’S KISS*

You deserve all the notes ⭐️ would it be ok to request a post hogwarts with theo? Angst to fluff if that’s alright?

TIA if you decide to do it!!

—🍄

calm after the storm

pairing: theodore nott x gn!reader

genre: angst to fluff, post hogwarts au

w/c: 1.2k

summary: theo has a hard time dealing with his emotions and you were always there for him but what if one day it becomes all too much.

warnings: it's going to hurt <3

a/n: 🍄 thank you so so much for this request because i read it when u sent it and i remembered it in my exam and i managed to write this banger (i dont know if its word for word but i tried to write as much as i could remember) i just added the fluff at the end. BUT THIS IS FOR YOU <33333

Rain.

It was the first thing that hit Theo’s face when he stormed out of the door. Thick and heavy droplets that fell from the sky, marking his perfect face. They streaked down his cheeks parting into different directions like rivers. The cold sensation enveloped him as he listened to the pitter patter that flooded his ears.

He was angry. He was frustrated. He was livid. The ugly emotion bubbled within him, threatening to burst. It twisted and toiled, shrieked and screamed. It was like a monster, feeding on his anger, waiting to pounce at any second. 

The fight wasn’t meant to escalate this badly. Insults were thrown and meaningless threats were made as the both of you shouted at each other.

The argument could have been solved. The solution simply lay right in front of Theo but he had refused to see it. He had refused to accept he was wrong. You hadn’t asked for much, hadn’t asked anything unreasonable yet he had lashed out. He chose to ignore what lay in front of him and blame you instead. 

“I should have never accepted your pathetic excuse for a confession.”

The words had tumbled out of his mouth before he could’ve stopped them. Harsh cutting words that dug into you and twisted with malice. He saw the way his words clawed at the seams of your heart, ripping it to shreds. He watched as your face fell and broke. The once bright smile he always saw was replaced with a heart wrenching stare.

It was all too much. So he ran.

Bitterness swallowed him whole as he thought back to the moment. Festering anger turned into anguish. You had always been so full of joy. Ever since he had met you all those years ago when he watched as you got sorted and skipped to your table with glee. You were so beautiful, so kind, so pure. Your eyes would always look at him with so much adoration and love. Theo loved you more than he could imagine. 

Then the fight would resurface. It overtook his honeyed memories of you like an infectious plague, tainting the sweet thoughts. They replaced your beautiful smile with a heartbroken expression. Your eyes, that he was so used to seeing filled with love, looked at him with incredulous horror. The sight haunted him.

Rain brought Theo back to the present. The thunderous clap resounded through his ears. At first, he had wanted to run far away but he only found himself able to walk so far before his feet refused to move. He stayed stuck to the ground as he felt the rain wash over him. Theo didn’t care what others thought, didn’t care if the passersby looked at him oddly.

All he cared about was you.

Theo didn’t know how long he stayed outside letting the water rush over his body. He simply stood. Time seemed to pass slowly as he tried to remind himself of your laughter and smiles. He forced himself to forget about what had happened but he couldn’t. The memories were constant, a never ending cycle that would taunt him. 

The rain slowed and eventually stopped. The dull grey clouds cleared to reveal the peaceful sky as if nothing had happened. 

Even though the sun beamed down on Theo he still felt the endless rivers that ran down his cheeks. He still felt the streaks of water as they rolled down his face. The tears didn’t stop as he stood there.

The streets were still damp, the scent of rain hanging in the air. Theo felt a gentle touch on his arm and he flinched, spinning around to meet your worried gaze. Your voice, soft and full of concern, broke through the haze. 

“Theo, you’re soaked. You’ll catch a cold out here.”

He turned to face you, his eyes red and puffy from crying. The moment his gaze met yours, the dam broke. Sobs racked his body, and he fell into your arms, clutching you as if you were his lifeline.

“I’m sorry.” He choked out between sobs. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean any of it. I was just so angry, and I took it out on you. I was wrong, and I’m so sorry.”

You held him tighter, your touch soothing him. He continued to cry, unable to stop the tears as they continued to fall. The guilt ate him up inside, gnawed at his conscience, continuously banging on the iron bars that he kept his heart behind.

“Shh, it’s okay.” You whispered, stroking his wet hair. “It’s okay, Theo. We’ll get through this.”

Your words broke him even more. You were so kind. He didn’t deserve you. He didn’t deserve your kindness. You had always been the understanding one, the one to resolve fights, the one who would reach out and tell him it’ll be okay. Theo knew he had a problem with his emotions, he knew that he had a hard time expressing how he felt. You knew it too. He would always be grateful for the way that you still stuck by him despite everything. 

“I hurt you. I said such horrible things. How can you even look at me?” He whispered against you, his voice cracking. His throat was dry and hoarse from the crying and he pulled away to look at you. His vision was blurry but he could still make out your beautiful features.

You cupped his face in your hands, wiping away the tears with your thumbs. “Because I love you, Theo. We’ve had our fights, but this…this is something we can fix. We just need to talk and understand each other.”

Theo could only watch as you smiled despite the fact tears were spilling from your eyes too. He felt the emotions whirl in his mind.

“I love you so much Y/n. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry Y/n. I’m such a bad boyfriend. I’m so sorry. I never meant any of it. I love you so much, so so much.” He hugged your body tight, trying to grasp onto the warmth you always provided him with. “Can we - can we start over?”

You nodded, a soft smile spreading across your face. “Yes, Theo. We can start over. But first, let’s get you out of these wet clothes and somewhere warm.”

The two of you walked back to your apartment, your hand holding his as you led him inside. No words were said as you helped him dry off, grabbing new clothes so he didn’t fall sick from the rain. Each touch that you left filled his cold body with warmth. He pulled you towards him, embracing you tightly.

“Thank you.” He whispered against your hair. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

You held him tighter, making sure that he knew that you would always be there for him, making sure that he felt all of your love and comfort.

“I would never give up on you.” You breathed out a sigh as your hands massaged his back. “We’ll get through this, just like how we got through everything else.”

The two of you stayed in silence, letting the day pass by. No words needed to be exchanged as the both of you enjoyed the comfort of each other's love. Theo knew he had issues. He knew he had problems. Yet as long as you stayed by him he knew that life wouldn’t be so bad.

[cyncerity]

Cyncerity you’re giving me brainrot for your store shifter au

I have to admit most of your aus give me brainrot, the two main ones rn are Store shifter and dads troubles.

And feel free to disregard this if you don’t wanna answer it, I’m just curious if you have any tidbits about either au you wanna share? Let your mind go free friend :) I love your work, and you’re doing amazing!

oh absolutely AMAZING question to ask, my friend

little did you know that I have a list of bullet points for ideas i think of that i don’t know what to do with for both of these aus (these are also the two giving me the most brainrot hsksksj)

For now I’m gonna answer with the ones for the Store Shifter AU, cause I think that some of the ones for Dad’s Troubles have been posted, but I can post those later! For now there’s a decent amount of the Store Shifter ones, and I may add more later

-Even if humans can’t understand borrowers, they can hear pitch. So therefore, if a borrower is singing a familiar human song, the human can hear the tune and recognize it.

-Quackity is the least careful borrower of the three, so he ends up accidentally meeting one of the workers: Foolish. No he does not tell his fiancés this. Foolish doesn’t really know what’s going on, and he’s only like 50% sure that Quackity is sapient, so he’s just kinda along for the ride as Quackity abuses his human privileges to get free stuff.

-Dream introduces Sapnap to hair dye and dyes his hair from light brown to black as a bonding activity (this was when Sapnap was newer to the store). That night Sapnap tells his fiancés what happened to his hair and long story short Karl is bleach blonde by morning.

-Dream has an almost debilitating fear of heights in this au. Fantastic fear for anyone borrower sized to have. Since he became a shifter he’s started to try and rid himself of his fear. (spoiler alert he eventually does way down the road and parkours everywhere no matter what size he is just because he can)

-He’s also slightly claustrophobic. Again, fantastic fear for someone borrower sized to have. (wonder what this would mean for him getting stored…)

-Dream has never met Tubbo despite them having lived in the same house for 4 years. Even after Dream becomes a shifter Tommy just keeps forgetting to introduce the two.

-Out of all the shifters in the au (btw you don’t know all of them yet), the worst traumatic experience that anyone had to go through to unlock their powers was Tommy’s. Second worst was Sapnap’s.

-Tommy’s “incident” happened when he was 7. He met Tubbo when he was 5 and Tubbo was almost 6. After the incident, Tommy was in and out of the foster system for the next 5 years, and Tubbo was with him every step of the way.

-The reason Tommy was in the foster system for so long was because Dream was only 13 when Tommy’s incident happened, and couldn’t legally adopt him. He worked really really hard to get a stable wage for him and Tommy to live off of, and Puffy and Foolish helped him save enough to buy the neighboring house to theirs, the one Dream grew up in.

-Dream adopted Tommy on his 18th birthday, when Tommy was 12. They are currently 16 and 22 in this au.

-Before Dream adopted Tommy, he made it very clear that as soon as it was legal, he’d adopt him, so Tommy started seeing Dream as a big brother/father figure before he was officially his son. They hung out a lot and Dream would frequently stop by any home fostering Tommy and make it clear to the foster parents that Tommy was gonna be his kid one day so they’d better not get attached. Dream was responsible for getting Tommy kicked out of foster homes like 45% of the time. Another 50% was just Tommy being Tommy and 5% was Tubbo breaking shit when he was bored and the homeowners blaming Tommy.

-Sapnap has a really bad habit of picking at his fingers and nails from stress, and his knuckles are really scarred from fighting/sparring back when he was in a colony. Dream gives him a few pairs of gloves to help with this, and Sapnap is literally floored because he’s never seen gloves before, given that they were too much of a hassle to make from whatever scraps he had.

-The employees keep a little box of discreet fidget things under the checkout counter at the store, and Dream and Sapnap use it the most. Dream just cause he likes to keep his hands busy and can mess with something in his pocket and Sapnap cause if he’s using his hands it means he’s not actively picking at his skin (this is self projecting. this is me. i do this so it’s canon now. Dream uses an infinity cube most often and Sapnap has a small collection of spinny rings cause those have been the most effective for me).

-Sapnap had a weird bruise scar over his nose and around the inner half of his eyes (you can vaguely see it in some of the fanart i’ve drawn for this). It’s just an area of his face that got hit really hard and didn’t heal properly (hard enough that it broke his nose too and no, that didn’t heal right either), so blood has a harder time flowing there, and it gives it a weird darker color. Karl and Q nicknames Sapnap “Pandas” cause the bruising kinda reminds them of panda markings.

-Quackity tends to wear a face mask while borrowing because he’s got a really gnarly scar across the left bottom half of his face through his lip, and it’s bad enough that he can’t fully close that side of his mouth cause the scarring messed up his cheek and he’s missing a tooth there. He’s really insecure about it and only Sapnap and Karl are allowed to see it.

[reynaruina]

Beneath The Mask

[puhpandas]

I keep thinking about how on earth they would canonize ggy bc like. at this point if they have to sacrifice Gregory screentime of just him to make something we already know actually canon, I would rather just take the screentime, but on the other hand they have to canonize it if they want to do anything at all with that plotline, and that makes me wonder if theyll stick with it as canon in the games at all or just leave it as background knowledge if u read the book 😭

[krikeymate]

In the “billy parents the girls” au, I wonder how Sam and Billy would react to Tara being attacked by ghostface? Like one overprotective and “slightly” unstable family member wasn’t enough.

Somebody knows.

That's his first thought. Maybe he should have known something would happen on the 20th anniversary. He never thought it would come back to him. After all, there was a 'Ghostface attack' just five years prior, and it was all about Sidney. Why wouldn't it continue to be all about Sidney? Billy's dead after all.

He should have moved out of Woodsboro. It's always been risky, staying. But this was his home, and by the time he'd given up entertaining the thought of revenge against Sidney, he'd put down roots. He'd thought about moving a few years ago, when the last attacks happened and the police started sniffing around for information, but the girls had friends here, and Sam's never quite treated him the same since she learnt the truth. She would never have agreed to leave.

So here he is, staring Deputy Judy Hicks right in the face, unrecognised. God these people must be stupid, to look him right in the eyes and still not see him. He manages to talk his way back into the house with a well-placed quip about the absence of their good Sheriff and a reminder that his 14-year-old daughter, her own son's friend, who was attacked, is going to need some comforts of home and her inhaler.

He pauses to take in the murder scene on the way. He memorises the pattern of blood soaked into the living room carpet, the outline of his little girl, the kitchen knife abandoned on the floor. His own knife. They used his own knife on his daughter. When he finds out who did this, he's going to make them pay.

He packs a bag, he packs Tara's essentials, a change of clothes for Sam and the teddy bear she denies sleeping with. He heads for his own room to get some things, and that's when he learns somebody really does know.

Because Billy is scrawled across his bedroom wall in red.

Red is all he sees.

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Me: I don't know what to do with Veronica's character in post s8 au, I don't want her to be Just Lance's sister and Kuron's friend with Pidge's storyline slapped on her, but also I'm not really sure about her character. Sure there's the whole lying to her family thing but I don't think that's enough?

Brain: ok so what if Veronica started out as trying to look for what was Lance upto but she ends up being so obsessed with finding the truth that not only she repeatedly puts herself in harms way but also the original goal falls on wayside.

This could be her way of dealing with trauma which is getting engrossed in the Mission and a problem to fix while suppressing her grief and refusing to actually acknowledge her problems and her own emotions a foil to Kuron's arc that is him being literally driven by emotions. She's angry at Lance for leaving without a word and angry at her family for their clinginess, however she keeps it to herself and just avoid them pretending everything is fine and normal

Also a foil to Lance who started as trying to figure out what was going on but as soon as he realized that 1) Allura and Kuron are still sorta alive 2) he can bring them back, he got obsessed with it consequences by damned.

Plus through her we can actually explore how quintessence actually effects and changes humans rather than become aware of the end result

Also there's something a character who is obsessed with truth but is also such a frequent liar

[icarrymany]

YES I DO THINK. i hc that skully has their own rlly weird music taste however if you play a song one of the many loved they would feel feelings abt it. if you throw a bass at them they could pluck out something.

[ghostie-gengar]

news flash! three more teenagers want ghetsis dead

Rosa May had a peaceful and unassuming life at her ranch near Floccesy Town, at least, until Team Plasma took over. It was one thing after the other, and then her best friend Hugh was wrongfully arrested! This is the last straw for her, so she decides to go rescue him, befriending local musical artist Roxie along the way. Rosa May is quite shy, and really doesn't want to hurt anyone, so she can't help but feel overwhelmed as she's slowly being dragged into something...legendary.

I hope she knows that she isn't alone and that she can rely on her friends...

[halfseoulco]

All My Love: A SEVENTEEN x Hogwarts AU

Published Wednesday, February 14th, 2023 — Happy Valentine's Day and, more importantly, happy Carat Day! Honestly, I really got attached to these versions of the SEVENTEEN members that I created for the Christmas AU, so I decided to continue their stories with what I hope is a cute series of events for our thirteen diamonds. ♡

As a refresher, here's some information before you start reading!

Word count: ~ 10,800

AU Ages:

Seventh years — Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Joshua, Junhui, Soonyoung

Sixth years — Wonwoo, Jihoon, Seokmin, Mingyu, Minghao

Fifth years — Seungkwan, Vernon, and Chan

AU Houses:

Gryffindor — Seungcheol, Soonyoung, Vernon, Chan

Ravenclaw — Wonwoo, Jihoon, Minghao

Hufflepuff — Junhui, Mingyu, Seokmin, Seungkwan

Slytherin — Jeonghan, Joshua

Description: It's Valentine's Day at Hogwarts and everyone has plans—or some things that go according to plan and some that don't. Romance is on the table for some, while others prefer to spend quality time with their friends—because all love is important. All you need to know is that you probably don't want to be Vernon.

Read “All My Love” on Ao3!

The Black Lake — February 14th (early evening)

"Hansol Vernon Chwe!"

The Gryffindor winced as his boyfriend's voice transcended octaves in his unbridled fury.

"You'd better have a good explanation for this!"

Gryffindor Fifth Year Boys' Dormitory — February 1st

"Vernon?"

The fifth year Gryffindor turned his head away from where he had been watching the rain fall outside the window to look at his oldest hyung over his shoulder.

"Oh, hey, hyung," he greeted him with a nod.

"Have you seen Seungkwan recently?" Seungcheol asked him, brow furrowed with concern.

"Um, not since last night," Vernon replied, face blank. "Why?"

The older Gryffindor sighed, sitting next to him on the bench seat in front of the window.

If not even his boyfriend had seen him recently, then maybe Seungkwan's situation was far more serious than anyone realized.

"I'm worried about him," Seungcheol admitted. "He doesn't really seem like himself. Not anywhere near a quarter as fussy as he normally is about everyone and everything." He glanced at Vernon out of the corner of his eye, noticing that he had gone back to facing the window. "You're usually attached at the hip, it's unusual that you haven't seen him at all today."

"Are you saying that I should know where my boyfriend is every minute of every day?" Vernon said tonelessly.

"No, that's not what I'm saying." Seungcheol tilted his head to one side, surveying him carefully. "I'm saying that as his best friend, you might know what's been going on with him."

The younger boy turned his head away.

"So you do know," Seungcheol said gently.

Vernon's shoulders tensed. He said nothing for a few moments, Seungcheol waiting patiently while he grappled with whether he should confide in the prefect or not.

Finally, his shoulders slumped.

"Last spring," he began, "one of Seungkwan's closest friends from home... passed away."

"I remember," Seungcheol said gravely. "That's why he was gone for a while."

"Yeah, he went back home to attend the funeral." Vernon sighed. "The friend... he was a Muggle... and obviously Seungkwan couldn't tell him that he was a wizard, so his friend thought that he had gotten a scholarship to attend some fancy boarding school in the UK. Seungkwan had been jumping through all kinds of hoops to stay in touch with him without giving himself away, getting letters sent by Muggle post... talking about classes that are taught at Muggle schools... They would hang out all summer when Seungkwan would go home after every end of term... but then..." Vernon rubbed at his nose furiously with the sleeve of his sweater, sniffling. "His friend was really unhappy and I think he missed Seungkwan a lot—"

"It's okay," Seungcheol stopped him. "You don't have to keep going."

Vernon nodded gratefully, wiping at his eyes.

"His birthday was last week," he said softly, "and Seungkwan hasn't been taking it very well. I feel like I should be doing something... more? Better? But he barely even talks to me, won't even look at me sometimes..." He finally looked up at Seungcheol, his eyes sparkling with tears. "Hyung, I don't know what to do. I feel like such a bad boyfriend."

Seungcheol inhaled deeply through his nose, his mind running through the memories he had of Seungkwan and Vernon, both back when they had been just friends and after they had gotten together. To anyone who didn't know the pair very well, it would seem like Seungkwan took care of Vernon in every way—because that was how his affection manifested itself—but their friends all knew that Vernon was Seungkwan's biggest supporter and that the Hufflepuff relied on his boyfriend more than anyone. At just fifteen, they had a connection deeper than most adults Seungcheol had met; and no one who saw them together could ever accuse Vernon of not being a good boyfriend.

Seungcheol exhaled heavily.

"You're not a bad boyfriend," he reassured Vernon. "The fact that you're worried about it this much is proof that you're not. All you need to do is let him know that you're here for him." He stood up, patting the younger on the shoulder. "Besides, Valentine's Day is coming up in a couple of weeks. Maybe come up with something that will really show him that he's not alone in this."

Astronomy Tower — February 14th (early afternoon)

"What took you so long?" Wonwoo asked, not taking his eyes off the book he was reading.

"I'm so sorry," Mingyu huffed, stuffing something into his school bag. "I got stopped by... Alice Pembroke... on my way up here." He dropped to the floor next to his best friend, chest heaving with exhaustion. Shoving his still-open bag away from him, he raked his fingers through his sweaty hair. "I didn't mean to be late."

"I know you didn't," the Ravenclaw said softly. "You have quite a lot of sweets in your bag," he observed, finally looking away from his book to peek inside the contents of Mingyu's school bag.

The Hufflepuff beater snorted.

"I would offer you some but after that one Gryffindor girl was sent Sugar Quills dipped in love potion, I've learned not to eat anything people give me on Valentine's Day," he muttered, zipping up his bag and leaning back against the wall, eyes closed. "It's all a bunch of nonsense anyway."

Wonwoo carefully folded the corner of the page he was reading before setting the book aside. He tried to remind himself that it wasn't because he felt inadequate and needed Mingyu to tell him that he was wrong about what he was going to say—he just wanted him to be happy. The possibility that his best friend was choosing to remain single so that he would always be able to hang out with him just didn't sit right with him, and he would make sure that Mingyu's love life no longer suffered, even if it meant he had to spend more time alone.

"You know, you don't have to keep turning down girls because of me," he said quietly.

Mingyu slowly straightened up, opening his eyes to stare at Wonwoo blankly. When he didn't say anything for a few moments, Wonwoo decided to elaborate.

"Every time I try to have this conversation with you, you refuse to talk about it," he pressed. "You like girls, or at least you liked the girls back home. I know that you want to fall in love—that you believe in love—but you've rejected every single girl that's been interested in you since we started at Hogwarts. It's okay, you know? I'm not going to become a recluse if you start going out with someone. I can take care of myself."

Mingyu continued to stare blankly at him, showing no sign that he was taking in anything that the Ravenclaw was saying. Irritated, Wonwoo waved his hand in his face.

"Is any of this getting across to you?" the usually laidback boy demanded.

Still not receiving an answer or any indication that Mingyu had processed anything he had just said, Wonwoo stood up and started gathering his things, trying not to be too aggressive about it. If Mingyu wanted to keep avoiding the subject, then he could do it by himself.

"Wha—wait, wait, wait!" Mingyu said hastily, lurching forward and tugging on his arm to stop him. "Don't leave! I... I'm not trying to be annoying on purpose, I just—" He cut himself off, exhaling through his teeth. "I don't really know how to explain it."

"Explain what?" Wonwoo asked, looking down at his best friend, who was still sitting on the floor.

"A lot of things," Mingyu replied, leaning back against the wall again, "but I promise you that I'm not turning down dates because I think that you can't function without me."

Now thoroughly embarrassed that he had even voiced that particular insecurity, Wonwoo hesitated for a moment before dropping his bag back on the floor and sitting back down next to him.

"I'm sorry I got upset," he murmured. "I just don't want to be the one holding you back from something that I know is important to you."

"You're right, it is important to me," Mingyu agreed, "but not right now." He tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling of the Astronomy Tower. "It's funny... we're in our sixth year, we have one more year left after this before we have to go out into the world and decide what we want to do with our lives... and I still feel so... young."

"I mean... we are." Wonwoo looked up at the ceiling himself, eyes following the veins in the stone. "Sixteen is not old enough to really make any decisions, not even about girls."

"Right, so I don't really understand why everyone is trying to find their future spouses now. I know a lot of Pureblood families don't arrange their children's marriages anymore, but there are still a few Slytherins who are already bound to betrothal contracts! Betrothal contracts! In this day and age! Anyway..." Mingyu grabbed his bag and shook it, the contents rattling around inside. "This? It's all fake. These girls are only interested in me because they think I'm handsome."

"You are handsome, though," Wonwoo pointed out.

"Thanks, but my point is that they don't know me. They don't know anything about me," Mingyu said. "I'm nothing more than good looks to them—with bonus points for being a foreigner and adding to the intrigue."

"Well, how is anyone supposed to get to know you if you don't let anyone close enough?"

"I don't need anyone else!" the Hufflepuff insisted stubbornly. "I have a twelve-person friend group. For some people, that's more than enough. Plenty. A lot, even."

"Oh, you won't find any disagreements from me there," Wonwoo said, chuckling. "Sometimes I think our friend group is a little much at times, but they're very understanding about me time. Anyway, back to you, you're being very cynical. A lot of people our age date for fun. No one's telling you that it has to be that serious, it might just be nice to have someone to spend time with on Valentine's Day. That's all."

"Is that something you want?" Mingyu asked him.

"Someday," he answered. "Not today, though. Besides, no one's been asking me, but a lot of people have asked you. That's why I'm bringing it up. If you were less nice, the girls here might start calling you a heartbreaker. Even Cedric Diggory had a girlfriend, you know, before the Triwizard Tournament."

"They can say whatever they want about me, it doesn't matter," Mingyu said, shrugging. "We're graduating next year and I don't think I'm going to be looking for jobs here, so I don't have to play British wizarding politics by avoiding rejecting girls from good families. I value my time and I'm choosing to spend it with people whom I also value, which includes you. Like..." He scratched the back of his head, frowning. "I think you're the most important person in my life and I want to be with you forever, but like... in a... not romantic way? If that makes sense? Like, I think we could get a house together and split bills and go grocery shopping and I would find that just as fulfilling as doing all that stuff with a girlfriend. I mean, girls are nice, but they're not you."

"I think the word you're looking for is 'platonic'," the Ravenclaw supplied helpfully. "And for the record, I feel the same way. I think people whose friends stop existing for them once they get a significant other are terrible."

"Yeah, what is up with that?" Mingyu agreed. "Can you imagine Seungcheol and Jeonghan just dropping all of us? Or Seungkwan and Vernon?"

"Never." Wonwoo shook his head. "Our lives are all so wrapped up in each other's, the thirteen of us can never really be apart. We're going to be old and gray... and taking up an entire apartment complex building by ourselves."

"I think that would be fun, honestly. A huge high-rise in Seoul, paid for by Jeonghan hyung." Snickering, Mingyu dug through his bag, unearthing a couple of packages of kimbap wrapped in plastic from under the piles of candy and cards. "My mom sent these, by the way. She specifically told me that I could not eat your portion, so you are now legally obligated to eat it."

"Tell her I said thank you," Wonwoo said, gratefully accepting the kimbap and unwrapping the plastic. "Your mom always has really great timing, she just knows when to send food."

"See, now you have to be friends with me forever," Mingyu teased. "Otherwise, no kimbap for you."

Wonwoo punched the Hufflepuff's arm affectionately.

"I don't need kimbap for that," he promised. "We were always going to be friends forever."

"Is there something longer than forever?"

"Forever and a day."

"That's still forever."

"I know."

Hufflepuff Sixth Year Boys' Dormitories — February 14th (afternoon)

Seokmin shuffled through the pile of parchment in his hands as he trudged into the sixth year boys' dormitories, muttering to himself about moonstone properties and measurement conversions. Entirely preoccupied with trying to figure out where he might have made a mistake on his last quiz, he didn't notice that anything was amiss until a voice broke through his concentration.

"Whoa, what happened in here?"

Seokmin's head snapped up when his dorm mate walked into the room, the amazement in his tone catching his attention.

"Well, that's certainly something," he said, blinking at the grand display in front of him.

The curtains of his four-poster bed had been pulled back to reveal a large bouquet of red, pink, and white balloons floating in place with magic above his mattress. Also floating in the air was a single card in a plain white envelope with his name printed neatly on it, although it didn't look like anyone's handwriting that he recognized—especially since the person had written it in Korean and he knew what all of his friends' handwriting looked like when they wrote in Korean.

Seokmin crossed the room to his bed, dropping his bag on the floor and the parchment in his hands on his bedside table. He plucked the card out of the air, using a quick spell to break the wax seal on it without destroying the pretty heart shape. When he opened it, he saw that the person had tried to also write their message to him in Korean with the help of a translation spell; and while the words were a little clumsy, he immediately found himself touched by the effort.

"To the one and only Lee Seokmin,

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm sorry that I couldn't face you in person. I'm not ready to reveal myself to you yet, but I still want to tell you that you make me smile every single day because you deserve to know. Please accept this card and the balloons well, I worked really hard on the spells to make them work. Maybe someday I will be able to tell you how I feel face to face. Until then, please be happy and healthy, and tell some new jokes in class when you learn them. I promise I will laugh like I always do.

With love,

Your secret admirer"

Reaching the end of the card, Seokmin stared silently at the words on the cardstock paper, trying to think of people in his classes who maybe laughed a little too much at his jokes or paid him any kind of special attention. Truthfully, there were very few people who didn't find him funny, so he quickly gave up on trying to figure out his admirer's identity that way.

"Does the card say who the balloons are from?" his dorm mate asked him, breaking him out of his deep thought.

"No, secret," Seokmin replied absentmindedly.

"Oh, that's a shame. Well, good on you anyway, mate!" His fellow Hufflepuff clapped him on the shoulder. "At least there's someone out there who likes you a whole lot."

As the other boy left, Seokmin inspected the balloons with a critical eye. The card had said that his secret admirer had worked really hard on the spells to "make them work" and he was curious to see exactly what the balloons were meant to do. What could you even make balloons do with magic anyway?

Intrigued, he cautiously poked one at the front of the bunch and gasped as the shiny surface rippled, revealing the words "POP ME".

"But I'm easily startled," Seokmin muttered to himself.

Wand clutched in hand, he debated just leaving the balloons alone and enjoying the sight of them—but the thought of never finding out what kind of magic had been placed on them was too tempting for him to ignore.

Waving his wand, he then quickly braced himself for the loud pop, covering his ears. However, instead of a popping sound, a high-pitched voice chirped, "I hope your Valentine's Day is magical!"

The voice had been disguised, of course, but the realization that his secret admirer had charmed the balloons not to make sounds when he popped them because they knew he was easily startled had tears welling in the corners of his eyes. Wiping at his face with his sleeve, he eyed the remaining balloons, trying to decide which one to pop next so that he could hear a different message.

"Wow, who sent you those?" Junhui asked, peeking in the doorway on his way down the hall.

"No clue," Seokmin told him happily, "but they're pretty amazing. Look!"

The older Hufflepuff entered the room, approaching Seokmin's bed to get a closer look at the magic balloons. The sixth year tapped a random balloon, showing Junhui how the words "POP ME" appeared, then waved his wand, causing the balloon to pop.

"I must need Occlumency because I can't get you out of my head!" it trilled.

"That is some amazing charm work," Junhui praised, peering more closely at the balloons. "The person who sent them to you didn't leave a name?"

Seokmin passed him the card.

"Too shy," he informed him.

Junhui read over the contents of the card quickly then handed it back.

"Hmm, would've been nice to know so that you could thank them for their effort, but the gesture is thoughtful," he said, shrugging. "They even made it so the balloons wouldn't make noise when popped. They must have enough classes with you to know you're a big ole scaredy cat."

"Yah!" Seokmin huffed, even though it was true.

Junhui chuckled, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"I'm happy for you, Seokmin-ah," he said, his tone genuine. "I'll see you later, meeting up with Minghao."

"What else is new?" Seokmin called after him as he left. "Now, back to these balloons..."

The Whomping Willow — February 14th (early evening)

"Who do you think it is?" Junhui asked his best friend, having just finished telling him about the charmed balloons Seokmin had received from his secret admirer.

Minghao didn't look up as he answered, his focus on washing the tea leaves in preparation to brew tea for the two of them.

"Your guess is as good as mine. A lot of people think Seokmin is funny, I'm sure he has no shortage of admirers."

"Honestly, I kind of want to know just so that I can ask them how they came up with the spell," Junhui said thoughtfully. "It was really very impressive. Whoever did it must like Seokmin a lot."

Minghao hummed in agreement, still concentrating on the task at hand.

The pair had chosen a nice spot not too close to the tree to set up a small, low-rise table so that they could sit and drink their tea together. Minghao often held these tea ceremonies alone, something that he did purely for his own joy and relaxation. The activity required singular focus, which took his busy mind off of other things for a while. It's not that the others were never invited, but they understood that it was something he needed to do for himself; and he had an unparalleled collection of different teas for a sixteen-year-old living away from home.

Junhui stretched his arms over his head, looking up at the Whomping Willow looming deceptively calmly above them.

"Do you ever wonder about what it would be like to settle down with someone?" he mused. "Even if they really like you, they still might not understand certain aspects of your personality or what's really important to you. What if they don't appreciate your tea ceremonies?"

"I haven't really thought about it," Minghao replied, tone even. "I know that I'd like to settle down eventually, but that seems pretty far off. There are still so many things I want to do first—like graduate from this school that we worked so hard to get into. I'm not enduring racism and xenophobia from narrow-minded Brits to worry about whether some witch from the English countryside appreciates my tea ceremonies. Besides, I do the tea ceremonies for myself, not for other people."

"You're preparing a tea ceremony for me now," Junhui pointed out.

"Yeah, well, that's you."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you're not on the same level as everyone else," Minghao elaborated. "You're my best friend, and I know you do appreciate my tea ceremonies."

Not even remotely satisfied by the reassurance his best friend was giving him, the Hufflepuff pressed further.

"Will you miss me after I graduate?" Junhui's eyes left the Whomping Willow, dropping back down to observe Minghao's hands as he started to steep the tea leaves in hot water. "Tell me honestly."

"Don't be stupid," Minghao told him flatly and without missing a beat.

"Hey! I was just asking—"

"And I'm telling you again: don't be stupid." Minghao didn't take his eyes off the tea leaves, even as he spoke. "No offense to our friends but you know I'd miss you the most. I can't believe I even have to tell you that."

"It wouldn't hurt you to tell me sometimes! I like the reassurance."

"All of our friends are already talking about how I'm going to try and sneak you into the Ravenclaw dorms every weekend next year. If they know it, then so do you. Now drink your tea."

His tone was not unkind, simply matter-of-fact, the way it often was. Junhui knew that Minghao was nice in his own way, and he definitely cared about him—he just communicated it a little differently.

Having already poured the freshly brewed tea, Minghao carefully slid a teacup across the table towards the Hufflepuff. Junhui simply stared at the cup for a moment, admiring the detail and craftsmanship of the emerald green and gold accent pattern. Tendrils of steam wafted up gently but Junhui knew it would be the perfect temperature. It always was.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, finally picking up his tea and bringing it to his lips.

Minghao hummed in response, picking up his own tea. The fragrance coming from the perfectly steeped jasmine tea leaves filled the chilly February air around them, almost as if they were in their own bubble.

Most days they really were.

Junhui knew that he was really lucky that Minghao had come to Hogwarts at the same time as him, even though they were a year apart. It had been a long and difficult process to get accepted as a second year; and if Headmistress McGonagall had been a less generous woman, he never would've met Minghao—or any of the others. They had been made fun of and harassed from the moment they had arrived, but now—almost at the end of his time at the illustrious school—he wouldn't have done things any differently.

Now, if he could only be as certain about what laid ahead.

"Do you think falling in love is as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be?" Junhui asked, setting his cup down.

"You're full of existential questions today." Minghao also set his cup down. "I think... that it's probably really nice in its own way... but that it's not the only kind of love that's important. Love comes in all forms and they're all equally necessary and fulfilling. People put all of their eggs in the romantic love basket and then wonder why they're still unhappy when they ditched all their friends for a new relationship."

"So you don't think it's lame that you're having tea with your best friend on Valentine's Day?"

"Of course not." Minghao snorted. "There's nothing else I'd rather be doing. Anyway, do you think it's lame for Mingyu and Wonwoo to be hanging out in the Astronomy Tower of all places doing who knows what when Mingyu has the entire female student population after him?"

"No, not at all," Junhui replied quickly. "They are each other's most important person."

"Exactly." Minghao smiled at his best friend over the rim of his teacup. "Aren't I your most important person?"

"Yes. Always yes," Junhui assured him.

"And you're mine, so don't worry about it anymore," Minghao said, reaching across the table to pat Junhui's shoulder fondly.

"Why do I feel like you're the older one instead of me?"

"Because it's my duty to impart wisdom upon you from time to time," the Ravenclaw informed him matter-of-factly. "It comes with the house."

Junhui rolled his eyes.

"In other news, my mother wrote to me this morning letting me know that one of the girls with whom I attended primary school told her parents that I'm going to a private school in the UK, and so they contacted my parents asking if they had any prospective fiancées in mind for me," Minghao told him. "My pretend pedigreed education is apparently an attractive quality."

"Ah, they're Muggles," Junhui concluded. "Your parents don't have a problem with that, do they?"

"No, definitely not." Minghao shook his head. "I just think it's much more difficult to try and be in relationships with non-magic folk. You have to hide so much, not even just because you think they can't be trusted but because you never know how they're going to take the news. It's a lot of information for most people to handle."

"I don't know, I think my father took it pretty well," Junhui said, thinking back to the story his parents had told him about how his mother had broken the news to her then-boyfriend that she was a witch. "But he is a little odd himself, so I think he was just relieved that she wasn't as normal as he thought she was."

"Your parents are a pretty strange pair," Minghao admitted, "but I like them. They're very nice."

"And your parents are hilarious," Junhui returned, remembering when they had come to the pick-up point at Hogsmeade to take a Portkey back to China for the summer just last year. "You really take after them."

Minghao shrugged.

"Superior genetics."

Junhui snorted into his teacup, blowing bubbles across the surface of the still-hot liquid.

"Don't scoff," Minghao pretended to scold him. "You have the very best best friend you could possibly ask for. You should be grateful."

Still holding the teacup to his face to hide his smile, Junhui nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I am. I always am."

The Library — February 14th (early evening)

"I knew I'd find you here!" Soonyoung exclaimed happily, weaving through the aisles as he skipped towards the study tables.

Jihoon looked up at the Gryffindor, frowning. The table that he was sitting at was covered entirely in books and parchment, a stark contrast to the other empty tables. In fact, his was the only occupied table in the entire library. Madame Pince wasn't even lurking in the shadows as usual, considering that Soonyoung was speaking at louder than an inside voice and she hadn't come over to reprimand him.

"I'm usually here," he deadpanned, looking back down at his work, "the same of which cannot be said for you."

Soonyoung didn't look the least bit offended by Jihoon's words, long since used to his particular form of communication. Undeterred, he looked down at all of the materials spread out on the table, trying to figure out what Jihoon was working on even though it was upside down for him.

"You have to be the only person in the entire school who's studying today!" he pouted, pawing at the parchment nearest to him. "It's Valentine's Day! A day for love! What are you even working on?"

"Getting ahead," Jihoon said shortly, yanking the parchment back from him. "Love can wait."

"Jihoon-ah, you'll work yourself to death," Soonyoung chided him, pulling out the chair opposite the Ravenclaw. "I think you should take a break."

"That's how I like it," Jihoon grumbled, "and I have nothing pressing to attend to tonight, so there's no point in taking a break."

"I came all the way up here, to the library—where I never am, as you correctly pointed out—to find you and you won't pull yourself away from your books to hang out with me?"

Jihoon's quill paused mid-scratch, the only indication that he had heard the seventh year's question, before he continued writing.

"You don't usually ask me to hang out," he said, his tone bordering on indifferent.

"It's not for lack of wanting to. I always want to," Soonyoung admitted. "And I always think you're going to say no, so I never ask."

He thought he could see a faint pink blush on Jihoon's cheeks but it was hard to tell from this angle.

"That's not very Gryffindor of you," Jihoon commented, scribbling away.

"It's the one thing in which I lack courage," Soonyoung huffed. "But to be fair, you're very intimidating, even though you're the cutest person I know."

Jihoon accidentally pressed down on the parchment too hard with his quill, creating an ink blot over the words he was writing. Swearing under his breath, the tips of his ears red, he waved his wand at the offending spot.

"Stop talking nonsense," he hissed, the red flush spreading from his ears to the rest of his face.

"I'm not!" Soonyoung insisted. "I think you're the cutest person in the whole school!"

"Shut up!"

Jihoon wasn't even trying to focus on his work anymore, intent on getting Soonyoung to stop talking before he had a coronary. Not that it was possible. The seventh year was actually very shy—but you would never know it by the way his mouth ran a million miles when he was around his friends. He seemed determined to say his piece and nothing was going to get in the way of him saying it.

"You're always so strict and I think it's because you like it when people listen to you, but you're always doing nice things for people while pretending that you had nothing to do with it," the Gryffindor continued, oblivious to the fact that Jihoon was now bypassing red and heading into scarlet. "Like that time you jinxed those people who had been making fun of Junhui and Minghao when they first arrived. It was so impressive, I remember thinking that you were such a cool and dependable person even back then."

"That's enough!"

"And you're so buff for such a small and cute person." Soonyoung rested his chin on one hand. "You could probably knock me out if you really wanted to. Honestly, please do it, it would be the greatest honor of my life. Anyway, it makes no sense... and yet it makes perfect sense. Everything about you is just... so fascinating."

The Ravenclaw jumped up from his chair, hurling the quill he had been using at Soonyoung, who turned and ducked just in time to watch it sail over his head.

"Whoa! What was that for?"

"Why are you saying all this?" Jihoon demanded. "Did you come up here just to embarrass me?"

Realizing that he and the sixth year were not on the same page in spite of the way he had just gushed about him, Soonyoung shook his head.

Apparently he had not been clear enough.

"Accio quill," he murmured, holding a hand out for the quill Jihoon had thrown at him before offering it back to him. "I'm not trying to embarrass you, although I am sorry if that's how you feel. I'm just trying to tell you how I feel, which is that you scare me but I like it—I like you."

Jihoon snatched his quill back, face still impossibly red.

"You have a funny way of showing it," he snapped. "You have mere months left before you graduate, your timing is nothing if not grossly impeccable."

"I know, I haven't been very brave," Soonyoung said, shrugging, not even the least bit put off by Jihoon's criticism. "I really didn't want to ruin our dynamic or make things weird for the others, but if we hadn't agreed to the no dates rule for the Yule Ball, I would've asked you."

"You said you weren't interested in anyone when Minghao asked you," Jihoon pointed out, narrowing his eyes at him.

"So I lied." Soonyoung started gathering the parchment on the table into a pile. "I haven't exactly told anyone that I've been harboring this secret crush on you for three years. I'm no good at keeping secrets but I was very good at keeping this one. And stop being so pragmatic about this, I'm trying to be romantic."

"I really don't know what you want me to say to all of this," Jihoon said snippily. "You're the last person I expected to confess to having a years-long crush on me."

"How about you say what you want to say?" Soonyoung suggested, a hopeful expression on his face.

Jihoon, having just noticed that the seventh year had compiled all his parchment into a neat stack, slid the pile away from him and across the table, putting everything into his school bag. He then waved his wand, sending his books flying back onto the shelves in their rightful places. When he had stalled enough, he sighed and turned to face the Gryffindor.

"I know we've been friends for my entire time at Hogwarts thus far," he began finally. "I know that I can trust you, that you're telling the truth—that you wouldn't confess just to yank the rug out from under me, as I believe the expression goes. I know all of that, logically, but considering that—as you said—people find me intimidating, it's hard to imagine someone being so earnest about their feelings for me. Most people think I'm too... domineering."

His hands came up to his throat, loosening his blue and bronze tie from around his neck.

"I can't even really say if I like you as more than a friend or not," he said, sounding apologetic. "I didn't think it was a possibility, so I never considered you in that way."

Soonyoung leaned over the table between them, reaching for the Ravenclaw's school bag and hoisting the strap over one shoulder. He maintained eye contact the entire time, willing Jihoon to believe him but also wanting to fluster him just a little bit more.

"But as you said, you know that you can trust me," he pointed out. "Plus, if you think about it, you're a strict taskmaster and I'm a glutton for punishment—we're perfect for each other."

Jihoon tried to wrestle his school bag back from the taller boy, his pale face gaining back the red that had just begun to fade.

"You can't just say things like that!" he hissed.

Soonyoung simply tugged the bag out of his grasp and just out of his reach, smiling cheekily.

"I've waited three years to confess," he reminded him. "Now that the secret's out, I have all sorts of things that I kept to myself that I'm going to say—including how adorable I think you are. Walk with me?"

Jihoon stared up at him for a few moments, expression unreadable. If he thought at all about refusing him, the thought didn't last. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he nodded towards the front of the library.

"Well, after you then."

Slytherin Common Room — February 14th (dusk)

"Hong!"

Joshua didn't even so much as raise his head, instead making an indifferent "mmm" sound in acknowledgement.

He didn't need to look to see who it was—the voice alone was clue enough.

William Bennington the third was an awful homage to the Pureblood Slytherins of old. With generations of English aristocratic breeding to support his claim to everything he wanted in life, he was disliked even within his own house and by many of the portraits in the dungeons; and after seven long years sharing a dormitory with him, he still said "Hong" with a certain sneer that was clearly affected by poorly concealed racism.

At this point, Joshua had been living in the UK long enough to let things roll off his back, but William could've given Draco Malfoy a run for his money with the way he paraded about the school as if he owned it.

"Pretty prince doesn't have a date tonight?" William asked him, dropping down onto the sofa across from him, his tone mocking.

"Not that I'm aware of," Joshua replied pleasantly, still not looking up from his book.

"Hey, it just goes to show you that looks aren't everything in life," the other boy commented snidely. "The girls here won't go after some foreigner with no title. And aren't you a Half-Blood?" he added as an afterthought. "Yeah, that won't do at all."

Joshua turned the page, letting William carry on the conversation by himself. The golden-haired heir to a Potions empire (or so he claimed, Joshua had never bothered to verify this) had been harassing him from the moment he had set foot in the common room first year; and he had long since learned that it was best to let him converse with himself to get everything out of his system before he was satisfied. Not only did William take issue with his race and his blood status, he seemed oddly offended by his appearance as well, referring to him as "pretty" with his tone suggesting that he did not mean it in a positive way.

"Nothing to say?" William asked him softly, noticing that his tirade was falling on deaf ears. "Truth hurts, does it?"

"If you say so." Joshua barely shrugged his shoulders.

Apparently it was the wrong thing to say.

"You think you're better than me?" William demanded, suddenly shooting up from his seat. "That you can sit there like you're royalty and I'm some sort of commoner? I'm far more important than you will ever be!"

Joshua sighed, recognizing that his night would be a lost cause if he didn't address this particular problem promptly, and slipped a tasseled bookmark in between the pages of his book before closing it and looking up at his aggressor for the first time during their previously one-sided confrontation.

"I get that certain things matter to you," he said carefully, "but they don't matter to me—and they don't matter to a lot of people anymore, not even the Slytherins here. I didn't realize that me being dateless on Valentine's Day was of such great significance to you, especially when it's of no significance to me and my evening. Maybe you should be more worried about the fact that you care so much about what I'm doing with my time, alone or otherwise."

William's upper lip curled into a sneer, his eyes narrowing.

"Listen, you filthy—"

"Oh, shut it, Bennington," snapped a voice from behind Joshua.

Joshua turned to look over his shoulder, noticing that Mira Nott had just come from the girls' dormitories and was standing just behind the sofa he was sitting on.

According to Jeonghan—who seemed to always know the latest gossip amongst the various wizarding families—Theodore Nott had settled down with a Pureblood witch from Bulgaria who had graduated from Durmstrang. They had met while Theo had been taking some time away from England and had returned together shortly after their wedding.

While she had been a cute girl when she had first arrived, Mira had grown into an exceptionally pretty young woman by the age of seventeen. Taller than most of the other girls in the school, the first thing that Joshua had noticed about her was that she had perfectly straight posture that adjusted minutely according to her movements. With long, dark curls framing her face, a warm complexion, and high cheekbones, she had the best features of both of her parents—except that she had one brown and one blue eye, both of which were cunning yet also surprisingly kind. Top of the class in at least every class Joshua shared with her, she was also the Slytherin Seeker; and he loved to watch her fly against Seungcheol during matches. Her intellect and athleticism made her a formidable opponent, and their matches were always close ones.

All that being said, Mira was obviously highly sought after—even by William Bennington the third.

"Don't mind him. Joshua," she said to him, a beautiful, wicked smile on her face as she made direct eye contact with William. "If betrothal contracts were still common practice, I would've already asked my father to request a meeting with your parents to discuss one."

Joshua resisted the urge to grin broadly at the way William's face had gone absolutely scarlet, a purple vein starting to make its appearance at his temple.

"You flatter me, Mira," he said to her instead, laying it on a little thick for the benefit of their audience, even as he ignored him. "I don't think I would be opposed to such a meeting. There's still time to write to your parents and mine."

Standing up, he offered her his arm.

"Walk with me?" he asked, every bit the perfect gentleman.

"Of course," she replied, walking around the sofa and linking arms with him.

Triggered by the events taking place right in front of him, their forgotten peer leapt up from his seat, positively quivering with entitled rage.

"Mira! You cannot possibly be thinking about entering a betrothal contract with that Half-Blood foreigner! My father—"

William's deranged bellows were cut off abruptly as the door swung shut behind them.

"I wonder what his father would have to say if he knew that the daughter of a Sacred Twenty-Eight family had filed a complaint with the school governors about the shady little deals William conducts in the prefects' bathroom," Mira said innocently.

Joshua smiled at her, completely enamored. Was there any other witch at this school more perfect than the one looking at him right now?

"You are so ruthless, I love it," he told her.

She tossed her hair over one shoulder, smiling back at him.

"Tell me more."

Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch — February 14th (evening)

"Yoo-hoo! Channie!"

Chan squinted down at the figure waving up at him, figuring out who it was based on the gleaming head of hair.

Camille Archambault, which she had told him meant "bold master"—the girl from the Yule Ball.

It had been almost two months since Christmas and he had met up with the stunning beauty from Beauxbatons a handful of times—a Hogsmeade outing here, a walk on the grounds there. They were what some people might call dating, if a little intensely for something that was supposed to be casual. Translation spells helped bridge the language barrier; and she was sweet, funny, and charming. She was quite good at spells, and she had told him that if she had been a student during the time of the Triwizard Tournament, she would have entered. She liked picnics by the greenhouses and broom rides with her arms wrapped around his waist, coffee with milk poured in delicate swirls and the feeling of his hand intertwined with hers, primrose perfume and the way he got red right before he kissed her.

Sometimes he found himself thinking that he should be a little more cautious with his heart—that he should be waiting for the other foot to drop—but so far he was having fun, and he supposed that was what mattered.

He was surprised that she could tell it was him considering how high up he was, but he did catch her staring at him from the Ravenclaw table quite often. She never looked embarrassed at having been caught—in fact, it only emboldened her and he ended up having to be the one to look away.

"That girl never gets tired of looking at you," Jeonghan had told him once, the disdain in his voice more like that of a disapproving parent rather than an overprotective friend. "I wonder how she manages to concentrate on her studies when she's staring at you all the time. I suppose she'd at least get an Outstanding in Lee Chan."

"Let them be, Hannie," Seungcheol had admonished him gently.

Secretly, Chan wondered what Camille saw in him, exactly. She had been the one to ask him to dance at the Yule Ball and the one to lead him out to the gardens that night. She had also initiated all of their dates so far, as well as most of their shows of affection, which he still hadn't quite gotten used to. After their time together at the ball, he hadn't expected to hear from her again, yet she kept seeking him out. She seemed to have memorized his schedule to account for all the classes she didn't share with him—she always knew where to find him, even when he didn't tell anyone where he was going.

It was flattering, he had to admit.

At the ball, she had asked him how to pronounce his name correctly, repeating it multiple times even after he had told her that she had down—and then proceeded to only refer to him as Channie, saying that it was her cute name for him. One of the other Beauxbatons girls, having only heard Camille call him Channie, tried to use the nickname one morning and the next time he saw her, she was missing her eyebrows.

"Why doesn't she just grow them back?" Mingyu had asked, perplexed.

"If she would, she could," Chan had replied, shrugging. "Camille's really good at spells, the other girl probably can't figure out how to reverse it."

"Wow, you'd better make sure she never gets mad at you."

Privately, he agreed.

That being said, he wondered if she felt like she had to teach him everything—where to put his hands, when to kiss her, what he should say. He had made his lack of experience known that night in the gardens, but she hadn't seemed to mind. She had simply directed him and he took direction well.

And yet... he couldn't help but think it was as though they were caught up in a race in which only she knew where the finish line was—and the thought made him more than a little sweaty-palmed.

Coming back to his senses, he Summoned the Quaffle he had been practicing with and tucked it under one arm. Although he wasn't on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Chan still liked to fly. It brought him peace and helped clear his mind, and on an evening when he figured he had no plans, it was the perfect way to spend his time.

I guess I have plans now, he thought to himself.

He circled the goalposts on the far right side of the pitch, making a nose dive and pulling up straight just as his toes skimmed the grass. He dismounted smoothly, giving Camille a friendly smile as he approached her, Nimbus 3000 broom in one hand and Quaffle in the other.

"Hi, Camille," he greeted her. "What can I do for you this evening?"

"Bon soir, Channie," she returned, smiling prettily at him. "I admit, I am a little disappointed that you did not come looking for me today. I was hoping that we could spend some time together."

"Ah, I wasn't aware that that was what you wanted," he told her sheepishly. "It's Valentine's Day and we're not, you know, official, so I didn't think you would want to do anything."

"Channie, Channie, Channie." Camille shook her golden blonde head. He caught sight of delicate pearl strand earrings dangling from her ears, a matching set with the string of pearls around her neck. "I am going back to France at the end of term, do you think I want to waste time going slow?"

"I wouldn't think it was a waste of time," he protested, cheeks growing pink. "I just... haven't really hung out with a lot of girls. You move kind of fast."

"Oh, I know, mon chéri, it is what makes you one of the good boys," she said, touching his cheek, her expression fond. "I always enjoy our time together, and I think it would be silly to not make the most of the time we have left, non?"

Chan dropped the Quaffle on the grass and placed his own hand over her hand on his face.

Being with Camille was like one ongoing surprise party. Sure, it was fun, but it also kind of gave him a heart attack. Even though he always did his best to try and read her mind before she actually executed any of her plans, he more often than not found himself unprepared. It was a little jarring to be caught unawares as many times as he had been since they had started seeing each other, but he knew that he had to enjoy the ride while it lasted.

She was, after all, leaving at the end of term.

"Let me shower first?" he asked her.

She tilted her head to the side to press her lips to his other cheek.

"Meet me at the entrance to the grounds in half an hour," she murmured in his ear. "I'll be waiting."

The Gilded Phoenix (Private Room) — February 14th (night)

"You know I really didn't need all of this," Jeonghan said, taking a sip from the glass of elf wine he was holding daintily in one hand. "We could have stayed at school and I would have been just as happy."

"I know, but it's our last year at Hogwarts. Maybe it sounds kind of childish... but I just wanted to do something to commemorate our last year as kids," Seungcheol told his boyfriend honestly, shrugging. "Life is going to change pretty dramatically once we graduate. I feel like we're never going to have this kind of peace again."

"So you wanted to live in this bubble of youthful innocence one last time," Jeonghan guessed.

"Exactly."

"We're still going to be kids when we graduate," Jeonghan said thoughtfully. "The Wizarding World in the UK moves so fast, it's amazing how anyone manages to find something stable so soon after graduation."

"Are you planning on going home?" Seungcheol asked him.

"Yes, for a while. My parents will want to see me—and they'll want to see you as well."

"I think I'll go home for a little while, too." Seungcheol ran a finger around the rim of his wine glass absentmindedly. "There's this famous producer based in London whom I'm trying to get an internship with, though. I'll need to find a job so that I can get a flat nearby if I get accepted."

"Darling, you know that you don't have to work if you don't want to," the Slytherin reminded him. "I don't have to work if I don't want to, and I'm more than capable of taking care of both of us. Besides, my family loves you. We'd be married as soon as we landed on Korean soil if it were up to them."

"Spoiled rich kid," Seungcheol teased.

"You love me," Jeonghan flirted back.

"Always." Seungcheol took Jeonghan's hand, his thumb skimming the tops of his knuckles affectionately. "Look, I appreciate you offering to support me financially, but I want to be able to do things on my own, whatever I choose to pursue."

"Your music has always been important to you. You're an artist. You could... simply think of me as your patron," Jeonghan suggested.

"Hannie—"

"I mean it," Jeonghan insisted. "You would be focusing on making music without worrying about your finances. It's not like I would be paying for you to stay idle. I'm sure I could also come up with work for you."

"I really can't accept," Seungcheol said firmly, "so please don't ask me to."

Jeonghan set down his wine glass with a huff.

"You never let me do anything for you!" the Slytherin exclaimed, eyes narrowed dangerously. "I always indulge this little... complex you seem to have about being perceived as the provider, but you know that that concept is extremely outdated. There is no hunter-gatherer dynamic in the twenty-first century."

"You think this is about my masculinity?" Seungcheol asked incredulously.

"Yes, I do!" Jeonghan snapped. "I let you open jars for me and move my furniture around because I know it makes you feel useful. The least you could let me do is use the resources I have to help you!"

The Gryffindor leaned back in his chair, staring at his boyfriend in disbelief.

"So that's how you really see me," he said flatly.

Jeonghan sighed, deflating at once.

"Cheollie, it's not that I see you as some sort of caveman," he said sadly. "You help me all the time. I just want to be able to help you for once."

Seungcheol's expression softened. He knew that Jeonghan just wanted to help—he was generous to a fault, and throwing his money at problems was his way of trying to make things better. There was some truth to what he was saying, though—his ego wouldn't let him allow his boyfriend to pay all the bills while he tried to make it as an artist.

"You do help me," he murmured, taking both of Jeonghan's hands in his. "You help me every day just by existing. I'm already taking advantage of the fact that you wake up every morning still wanting to be with me."

"You're stupid," Jeonghan huffed, eyes watery. "You big, stupid man. You're not taking advantage of anything. Sometimes I wish you would!"

"Alright, point taken." Seungcheol chuckled, gently smacking the palm of one of Jeonghan's hands. "I mean it, though. Do you know how coveted you are by most of the student body?"

"Of course everyone wants me," the Slytherin scoffed. "As they should. It doesn't mean that they can have me. I'm yours, and I always will be."

Seungcheol smiled at him.

"I know."

"So will you let me bankroll your endeavors in music?" Jeonghan asked hopefully.

Seungcheol stared at him for a moment, considering.

"I'll think about it," he said finally.

"I suppose that's the best offer I'm going to get." Jeonghan sighed dramatically, picking his wine glass back up. "Life doesn't have to be so hard, you know. If there's an easy way, you should take it, never mind your moral qualms regarding classism and the way the one percent uses their wealth to get ahead in life."

"Hannie, you're the one percent," Seungcheol pointed out dryly.

"And what about it?" he sassed back.

"Nothing, you're the most benevolent benefactor in all the land," the Gryffindor said primly.

Jeonghan reached across the table and tugged his boyfriend forward by his black tie, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"Only for you."

The Black Lake — February 14th (early evening)

Vernon paced back and forth anxiously on the far shore of the Black Lake. He had tasked a pair of what he hoped were reliable second-year Hufflepuffs to locate Seungkwan and bring him to the Black Lake, where he would get in a boat that he had charmed to row itself across the water. He had spent more of half of the time between the day he had talked to Seungcheol and Valentine's Day panicking over what to do, then spent the remaining time trying to get everything together, including practicing the spell to make the boat row itself for several days. That morning, he had packed a picnic basket full of all of his boyfriend's favorite things, as well as a blanket, and he hoped that his sincerity would come across.

Before they had started a relationship, Vernon and Seungkwan had been friends, and even then they had done something small and quiet for previous Valentine's Days, just because there was no one else they'd rather have spent that time with—and because Vernon had spent his first five years at Hogwarts avoiding any girls who even looked at him longer than necessary. So really, he didn't need to worry. Seungkwan just happened to be his boyfriend now—it wasn't as though he needed to be impressed further.

Vernon looked down at the picnic basket sitting on the rather cliché red and gold patterned blanket and wondered if it was enough.

Maybe I should have gotten flowers? he fretted.

It wasn't so much about the fact that it was Valentine's Day than it was about how much Vernon had been worrying about Seungkwan since his late friend's birthday.

Every time the Gryffindor had tried to approach his boyfriend to try and get him to open up, Seungkwan had always come up with excuses for why he couldn't talk and would busy himself with something else. It was frustrating, of course, but it was more anxiety-inducing than anything—and more than once Vernon wondered if he was just a really bad significant other who didn't know how to talk to his partner just right in order to get him to confide in him.

"Agh!"

Startled out of his own self-wallowing, Vernon looked up to see the boat that he had charmed to carry Seungkwan across the lake rocking back and forth wildly—with Seungkwan in it.

Privately, Vernon was relieved that the boat was already pretty close to shore, but he didn't think that his boyfriend would see it that way—and definitely not after the boat tipped to one side, dumping Seungkwan into the lake that was surely still freezing.

"Oh, no," Vernon muttered, covering his face with his hands. "He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me then bring me back so that he can kill me again."

Peeking through the gaps in his fingers, he watched as Seungkwan swam the remaining distance from where the boat had tipped over to the shore, weighed down by his school robes. A fairly decent swimmer from his years spent growing up on an island, Seungkwan was letting his fury propel him forward with surprising strength. Dripping wet and looking absolutely furious, he stomped up the bank towards Vernon, who silently sent prayers heavenward and hoped someone heard him.

"Hansol Vernon Chwe!" The Hufflepuff tore through his full name. "You'd better have a good explanation for this!"

Not my government name, Vernon grimaced.

Lowering his hands from his face, he said uncertainly, "Happy... Valentine's Day?"

Seeing that Seungkwan was opening his mouth to deliver what would probably be the human equivalent of a Howler message on a Monday morning in front of the entire Great Hall, Vernon interrupted.

"Look, I didn't mean for you to get dumped into the lake!" he blurted out. "I've been planning everything since the beginning of the month and with everything else, I didn't have that much time to practice the spell on the boat. It was just supposed to bring you across the lake without you having to do anything, I swear!"

Seungkwan held up an index finger, cutting him off. Vernon shut his mouth abruptly, anxious, as his boyfriend leaned his body to one side and peered over his shoulder at the blanket laid out behind him with the picnic basket.

"Kwannie," Vernon began.

Seungkwan made a noise, his index finger still raised. He inhaled deeply—dramatically—then lowered his finger.

"You planned all of this?" he asked.

Vernon nodded rapidly.

Seungkwan exhaled.

"Okay, walk me through your vision." The Hufflepuff gestured with his hands for his boyfriend to proceed. "Tell me what was going through your mind when you came up with all this. I want to know."

"Well, it's our first Valentine's Day together as a couple." Vernon scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "And I know that you've been really sad since Binnie's birthday..." When he noticed Seungkwan had stiffened at the mention of his friend, he said defensively, "I tried to talk to you about it so many times but you wouldn't talk to me! I thought that maybe I was doing something wrong, or that you felt like you couldn't trust me to open up... so I talked to Seungcheol hyung."

"And he told you to drown your boyfriend in the Black Lake?" Seungkwan deadpanned.

"He told me that I should use Valentine's Day as an opportunity to show you that you're not alone," Vernon corrected him gently.

Seungkwan huffed, wringing the water out of his robes as he avoided looking at the Gryffindor. Vernon watched him for several minutes while he fussed over his water-logged clothes before he finally straightened up and took a few steps closer to him.

Vernon held his breath.

He's going to break up with me, he chanted in his head. He's realized how bad I am at this whole relationship thing and he is going to break up with me.

"I'm only going to say this once, so you'd better listen," Seungkwan told him sternly, holding his face securely between wet hands. "Well, not only once, because I will always tell you good things about yourself so that you're aware of your own worth, but regardless! Me not talking to you about Binnie has nothing to do with how good of a boyfriend—or even how good of a friend—you are. You are doing wonderfully, I promise. Do you understand? Nod for yes, shake for no."

Vernon nodded, face still trapped between Seungkwan's hands.

"It's very difficult for bossy people like me to let go," the Hufflepuff continued, trying to sound flippant. "We need to be taken care of just like everyone else, but we're not very good at letting other people take care of us. And it shows in our dynamic, even after we got together," he added, using one hand to gesture between Vernon and himself. "So me avoiding talking to you every time you tried to talk to me about Binnie is not because you're not good at being supportive, because you are—it's because I'm not good at being vulnerable. Understand? Nod for yes, shake for no."

Vernon nodded again.

"I appreciate the effort you put into this." Seungkwan smiled at him, the effect only slightly diminished by his bangs still dripping water onto his face. "I appreciate the effort you put into us, all the time; and I'm sorry that I made you feel as though I didn't."

"I know how hard it is for you to say sorry first," Vernon teased, his voice muffled by the squishing of his cheeks. "So I appreciate it."

"Yah!" Seungkwan pinched his cheeks gently. "But you're right, and I really am sorry. You're an amazing boyfriend and I love you." Vernon jumped, not expecting the sudden declaration when neither of them had never said those words before. Noticing this thanks to his grip on his face, Seungkwan only held on more firmly. "Do you understand? Nod for yes, shake for no."

Unable to do anything else, Vernon nodded.

"Good."

Seungkwan loosened his grasp and stroked the apples of Vernon's cheeks with his thumbs affectionately.

"Because I do. Love you, I mean. Since first year, when you told those boys off in class for bullying me," he clarified unnecessarily. "I knew then and there that you were someone I could count on, and you've proven time and time again how right I was—although, of course, I've never been wrong in my life. So I'll tell you that I love you all the time, because you need to hear it. I want you to hear it and know that I mean it, because I've never meant anything more in my entire existence on this wretched planet."

Vernon swallowed.

"Kwannie, I—"

Seungkwan stopped him, putting a hand over his mouth.

"Tell me when you're ready," he said. "I'll still love you then, even if you make me wait for a long time. But don't make me wait too long, okay? Nod for yes, shake for no."

Vernon nodded.

[nonuggetshere]

I keep imagining Lummis and Petunia in different outfits but never Flower, they always stay in their black pants and white shirt getup unless for special occasions, and I think the funniest possible explanation to this is if they have like 20 pairs of identical pants and shirts

Which makes sense if they're the Pure Vessel. Just throw something comfortable and practical but still okay-looking by noble standards on them when not on duty and sew a shitton of these bad boys for them, it's not like they have an opinion or preference or even need to be fashionable. Basic stuff will do.

The side effect of this is the fact post-reveal they still wear the same goddamn thing 7 days a week

And also they're autistic/neurodivegent in general. Having a duplicate or two (or 20) of their favourite comfy outfit is handy, and finding new clothes that don't have Bad Texture or annoying tags is a chore and a half.

[sparklecryptid]

Reveal AU where the reveal takes place due to Cor and Ardyn discovering that they’re soulmates. (Bonus if it’s one of the ‘soulmates swap bodies’ scenarios. Ace is praying loudly at the thought of Ardyn with unconstrained access to the Citadel.)

Ace stares at the out of place very Cor-like expression on his Uncle’s face.

“No.” It’s the only word out of his mouth as Ace feels the world crumble under him. “Absolutely not. I am leaving.”

“Sit down.” It comes out as an order and Ace has the expected petty urge to disobey Cor - because that is Cor in Ardyn’s body and Ace is certain of it - because Ace is not paid nearly enough by the Crown to deal with this.

“Siren.” His code name comes out as a warning. Ace makes the mistake of looking back and is hit full force with the intensity of Cor’s glare on Ardyn’s face.

Ace sits back down and the expected interrogation begins.

“Am I in an Imperial?”

Ace’s expression does not change from the poker face he has perfected under Ardyn’s tutelage.

“In a manner of speaking,” Ace answers, “I’m sure you’ve already felt the uh - absence - of something in that body you’re in.”

“This man is a Lucis Caelum. How do you know him?”

Ace debates the merit of setting the restaurant he and Ardyn decided to meet in on fire.

“He’s an ally.”

“Siren.”

“Alright, ally might be a too strong a word. He’s….an informant.”

“Siren.”

Ace plasters on a fake smile.

“He’s also the Chancellor of the Empire,” Ace says.

“How do you know him?”

“Oh,” Ace says as if discussing the weather and ignoring the hammering of his heart, “He’s my uncle.”

-

Ardyn comes to in a throne room. He comes to with Regis looking concerned as Ardyn quickly catalogues the lack of lingering Scourge and Scourge associated pain and then spends a moment to look down. Well muscled. Lean. At least Ardyn’s soulmate has an attractive body.

He looks back up at Regis and debates setting him on fire. Ardyn then debates the merits of letting Ifrit run loose in Insomnia. But that would make his nephew and his nephews family sad. So he doesn’t do that.

He wants to.

He doesn’t do it.

Ardyn thinks Ace would be proud of his restraint.

“You’re not Cor, are you?” Regis says.

Ardyn’s answering grin is sharp.

[rabbithub]

You know the line, 'to be loved is to be changed'? I think that would work for Fallen Angel!AU.