#i haven't had a chance to look at my dash yet today (i was at work and then reading the new murderbot ahhhhhhhhhh so good!!!!)

[tathrin]

Writing Year Wrapped (2023)

Ooh, thank you for the tag @sallysavestheday!

3 Favorite Fics You've Written This Year:

Of course we have to go with my current obsession, And In The Darkness To Unmake Them, an as-canon-compliant-as-possible Fellowship-AU that asks, what would happen if Celebrimbor got himself re-embodied and came back to Middle-earth to try and make up for his mistakes by helping to destroy the One Ring (and brought all his unhealed trauma with him)? Plus a slow-burn romance for Legolas and Gimli, a whole lot of delicious world-building for Mirkwood, and a more active role for Arwen too!

Five Times Gimli Died (and One Time He Didn't) is, I think, despite the simplistic and trope-y title, one of the most elegant things I've ever written, and I am very much in love with it. It's the story of Gimli and Legolas's romance, from beginning to end (well...not really end, because the joy of them is that they're a story that doesn't end—Gimli Immortality Agenda, you can't stop me!—but the story ends with the beginning of their happily-ever-after, which is a sort of end, no?), told in a series of scenes that takes place from Moria to the Undying Lands, and could almost slip right in between the pages of canon if you squint enough to overlook a little bit of meddling from Mahal on behalf of his new favorite dwarf (don't tell Durin).

To Live In Undying Lands is a series of snippets set in Aman after Legolas and Gimli cross the Sea, focused on both their new life there and that of our beloved Hobbits who went over before. And I went back and forth several times deciding whether to swap the placement of this one and Last Temptation... below, but I ultimately think that was a bit more of a stretch than this one, despite the fact that I Never Write Hobbits and am writing quite a lot of Hobbits for this one, and also I Never Write Snippets Without An Overarching Plot—and because I'm such a sucker for Gimleaf that if I have to pick a favorite between any two comparable stories, it's always going to be the one with them in it! (Also: Gimli Immortality Agenda, always!)

3 Fics That Stretched You the Most:

Dead Faces In The Water; Dead Faces Everywhere - I don't write present tense, I don't write modern AUs, and I don't write zombie stories...but here I am, writing all three at once! (Thanks, @katajainen! This story is 1/3 your fault, 1/3 @roselightfairy and @deheerkonijn's fault, and 1/3 Mira Grant's lol. And you were the inciting incident, so you get first blame!) And somehow having a great time doing it! (So much world building! I'm in paradise!)

The Last Temptation of Narvi of Khazad-dûm - probably one of the most overtly ambitious stories I've ever done. It's likewise in present-tense, although that's considerably less daunting now after almost forty chapters of zombies; but there were a lot of other balls to juggle on this story, including my first time properly writing both of the main characters as well as anything set in Ost-in-Edhil; and of skirting right up against the line of how close it came to all ending differently and making that (hopefully) feel almost like it could have gone differently and avoided all that tragedy in a way that, hopefully, both satisfies and distresses the reader.

And (I suppose this is a bit of a give-away, but it's not like I tried very hard to hide anyway; the anonymity is mainly designed to make people feel more comfortable offering con-crit, which I have no idea if it actually helped or not but I did get some lovely and helpful feedback on it, so I'm going to say the tactic has been a success) definitely Cliffside Revelations, which has the honor of being my very first explicit smut fic...even if most of the smut is an excuse for world building, which I'm sure shocks all of you lmao!

(And sneaking in an honorable mention of On The Far Side of the Sundering Sea, because my name isn't on the previous one so it probably doesn't technically count...which means I can slip in an extra story as a technicality, right? Right. Shhh, it's fine!)

3 Favorite Lines You've Written (loosely interpreting "lines" as sallysavestheday has cleverly demonstrated):

Oh this is difficult. Most of my best lines are only their best because of the context around them; and it's hard to remember them as distinct lines after their sections have been finished and posted. But this does at least save favorite and not best, so that helps; let's give it a try, then.

First, from Five Times Gimli Died (and One He Didn't) we have a moment of a revelation on Gimli's part, as he discovers that his heart might not be as alien to his Maker as he feared it was:

He stood in silence, staring at the unseen form of he who had made all Dwarves; of the Maker of stone and rock and mighty mountain. Mahal, who had made the Dwarves…Mahal, who loved the green.

This is one that definitely needs the context to make it work, so we're including the whole preceding paragraph from Blows Uncounted, a little AU-take on Helm's Deep where either the uruks are stronger or Gandalf is slower, and the battle has a darker ending.

For Legolas was not simply any elf: he was an elf of Mirkwood. Taur-ne-Fuin, the forest under nightshade; Taur-e-Ndaedelos, the forest of great fear. These orcs and uruks of Isengard, used to preying on earnest horse-lords and forthright farmers, had never met an elf of his sort before. Their northern kin could have told them stories of what befell orcs beneath the black boughs of Mirkwood…but orcs did not often come alive from those dark woods, not at least without Nazgûl to guard their travels.

And there were no Nazgûl here.

And taking a complete one-eighty in tone from the previous, I am quite inexcusably delighted with this one from Honeysuckle and Cider, and still giggle to myself whenever I re-read it:

"Uh," says Aragorn, son of Arathorn, King of Gondor, first of the House Telcontar.

(The line after it definitely qualifies as a runner-up, but I do think this one beats it out. Sorry, Faramir!)

Actually there's one other line I really wanted to put in here, even more than the one about the Nazgûl, but I'm not going to, because it's the very last line of the story it appears in, and reading it before you read that story would suck all the wind out of its sails, I think; so if you want to know what that is, you'll have to go read The Last Temptation of Narvi of Khazad-dûm for yourself.

3 Characters You Enjoyed Writing (that surprised you):

Anntar (Sauron), actually! I got to play with him as more than just a Menacing Presence in The Last Temptation of Narvi of Khazad-dûm and oh, he was so much fun! This was Sauron in full-on seducing-the-Gwaith-i-Mírdain mode, with maybe just a hint of how he actually wanted to be stopped, so that he could let the schemes for world-domination go and just be happy here with his smith-lovers...or maybe that was all wishful thinking on Narvi's part. Regardless, it was great fun to play with both failed and successful manipulations here, as well as to actually write something with my new favorite OT3.

Boromir may have come as even more of a shock to me, actually. I very quickly went from "distant fondness but very little interest" in Boromir to taking great delight in him, thanks in largest part to Dead Faces in the Water, Dead Faces Everywhere (and a little bit to Two Fell Into Shadow, although most of that was written or at least sketched-out earlier; but I'm counting it, because I don't think I realized how much fun he was fifteen years ago or so when I was writing it initially). Also, of course, his part in And In The Darkness To Unmake Them, although I haven't gotten to the point of posting any of his Grey Company chapters yet (shhh). He's such a wonderful sort of "I did not sign up for any of this; I have no idea what's happening; but I Am Participating Anyway!" sort of character, dragged out of his element commanding Minas Tirith's armies (where he's an extremely competent and confident fellow) and tossed into this baffling world of weirdness full of elves and magic and nonsense, for which he is so ill-equipped and ill-prepared. And yet he gamely goes along with it, because it needs doing! Whatever the fuck it is! He has no idea!

And last but certainly not least: Gimli, although this one may be less of a surprise; but it was a surprise to me how often I ended up writing from his perspective. I did not expect that, because I'm much more interested in elves (especially Mirkwood elves) than I am dwarves in general, and I've done a lot less world-building (a lot less) for Erebor than I have Mirkwood; but it's so much fun using Gimli as "the sensible perspective" (as well as an excuse to get really flowery with my wording sometimes, shhh!), not to mention an extremely astute and observant one, that he makes for a very addictive viewpoint character. I actually ended up having to make a conscious effort to switch to Legolas's pov sometimes, in fact, because it was so easy and charming to fall into Gimli's head and stay there! That was definitely a surprise to me.

3 Unexpected Inspirations:

This fucking dream! I still don't know what the hell happened to me that night, but it sure was unique and extremely unexpected!

And quite startling was the time where seeing the Legolas-always-looks-back-for-Gimli gif-post from the LotR movies cross my tumblr dash right to an Orpheus-and-Eurydice poll basically popped this whole-ass story fully formed into my head in one big rush of inspiration. Although the same thing happened with this post and And His Hands Ran With Gold and Shadow, so maybe I should stop thinking "random post on tumblr" is unexpected inspiration...

And uhhh....this XD

3 WIPs You're Excited About in the Upcoming Year:

And His Hands Ran With Gold and Shadow which I swear I will get back into working-on as soon as I get some of my other ongoing stuff finished, because I absolutely adore it! and I definitely want to write more on it! very much so! but the vibes required for writing it are so different from the other stuff that it's hard to switch back-and-forth between it and them (same goes for the zombie-fic).

An As-Yet-Untitled story set many, many, many years after the end of the War of the Ring in the Undying Lands, where our three beloved Hobbits (and one Dwarf) living on those timeless shores discuss their mortal lives, and decide when and whether to let them end.

The sequel to The Dark Reborn, because I am at some point going to drag my brain back into the galaxy far, far away enough to start reading and writing Star Wars fic again, and I fucking will finish this fucking awesome sequel trilogy fic I started, kriff it!!!

3 People Tagged to Share Theirs:

Tagging with zero pressure: @babybat98 @bifuriouswaterbender @katajainen

[saetoshis]

the toxic ex! muzan on the dash today is just 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩

like the thought of him ruining any chances of you moving on and even if you did (which is highly unlikely cause let’s be real dick too bomb) him just ruining that too

just him catching the slightest inkling you may have a date and him showing up at your apartment before to fuck you senseless. then when the poor person you were going to see calls to see where you are he makes you pick up the phone while balls deep inside you😮‍💨

-🐙

OT KY GOD THE WAY I HAVE SO MANY TOXIC EX MUZAN THIRSTS IN MY INBOX RN XRYINF😃IDEK WHAT TO SAY HELO IM LITETJAJY?:?;$3 IM GIGGLING ACTUALY FIGFLING N SMILINF AHFHWHF:??();

[‹ MATURE CONTENT WARNINGS ›]

fem!reader, toxic ex!muzan, manipulation, degradation, [kinda] jealous sex, voyeurism (?) [your date calls you and listens to muzan fucking you], possessiveness, some dumbification, mention of creampie

it’s like muzan knows you like the back of his hand.

he’s held onto his spare key to your apartment for times like this, just so he can coincidentally show up right before you have a date. your adorable little gasp of surprise and hesitant response is warranted, of course, and all he wants to do is fuck you until that look of shock turns into one of sheer ecstasy.

“shh,” muzan puts his finger to your lips, slipping whatever outfit you had prepared for your date off of your keening body. his rasped tone shudders on your neck, “do you really think some random scumbag could possibly make you feel better than i do? mm, i don’t think so. only i know how to touch your body, fuck you just how you like it…”

you don’t even fully process his lips moving on yours, the sensual feeling lighting up every tip of your nerves as the familiar scent of his dark cologne fills your nose. it doesn’t take long until you find yourself splayed on your sheets beneath his brawny frame, thighs pushed open with his cock pressing into your cunt.

“feels good, doesn’t it? being touched like this by me again…” muzan’s words pervade through your mind like poison, and all you can do is chant out ‘yes’s as you whimper against his lips. each rut of his cock sends shivers up your spine, the filthy sound of unrelenting brash smacks making your head hazy. “that’s it… there you go, feel it all for me. you know i’m the only one for you…”

muzan can’t stand the idea of another man having and taking what’s his - and now he realizes he has to absolutely ruin you again and again until he’s the only person you can ever think of.

the more that his anger simmers in his chest, the rougher his wet thrusts get as his fingers dig into your skin hard enough to leave marks. his hand reaching up to grasp your neck, his lips parting to leave splotches of crimson on your skin - every filthy word and unforgiving stroke is completely possessed with obsessive jealousy.

“tell me who’s making you feel good right now, hm?” muzan mutters out between a pearled sneer, eyes sharp and biting as they admire your drooling, pitifully fucked-out state. his ruts burgeon in speed at your cute little whimpers of his name, and he knows he’s about to fuck you until that’s the only thing you can remember.

but when your phone vibrates on the mattress with another man’s name splayed on the screen, he has nothing but filthy ideas to take advantage of this opportunity.

“answer it. unless you want me to,” muzan leers out the words in a panted rasp, watching your shaky fingers press the ‘accept’ button before bringing it to your ear.

"h-hey," you murmur into the microphone, teeth catching your bottom lip as muzan's cock presses so far into your cunt that you swear it's touching your stomach. all you can hear is filthy smacks and your date complaining and whining about how you haven't shown up yet.

"put it on speaker," muzan sneers as his fingers dig into the plush flesh of your thighs, cock twitching with every time your walls tighten around him. he knows your body well enough to know that you're right on the verge, and the slick suddenly burgeoning around his shaft is enough of a clue.

a snapping tone of 'where the hell are you? why are you blowing me off?' resounds through the speaker, and you’re sure he can hear wet slaps with the bed squeaking in tandem through his end of the call. ‘wait- hold on, what’s that sound?’

muzan’s thumb shifts to rub harsh circles into your clit, the buzzing sensation sending you reeling into ecstasy as you cum practically on command. you’re shaking and whimpering, walls tightening around him as cock-drunken babbles of his name spill from your mouth.

“that’s the sound of your date cumming all over me… isn’t that right, pretty thing?“ muzan smirks devilishly at your chanted slews of ‘yes, yes!’ it only takes a few seconds until the man on the phone hangs up the call in a blind rage, and muzan’s back to focusing on making you absolutely addicted to him all over again.

“you can give me a few more of those, can’t you?” muzan mutters against your lips, breathing in your gasped whines and incomprehensible begs as he ruts into your now-sensitive cunt. “i’m not done until you show me how pretty a little slut like you looks with a pussy stuffed full of my cum…”

“i’m not done until i hear you say you’re mine again.”

2022 MUZANS.

tagging: @cherrykamado @aveegrex @divilyn

[sacklerscumrag]

I literally haven't written for ADCU in over a year but recently something sparked in me again so I decided to write out this little daydream that's been stuck in my head. I'm so sorry if it sucks, I haven't done this in so long ajsdhasjhd

Charlie Barber x Reader

Summary: Just a little fluffy moment in a coffee shop with our favorite director.

Word Count: 410

The smell of vanilla and sounds of scattered conversations spread through the coffee shop as you sat in a tucked-away booth with Charlie by your side. You couldn't help but admire him, sipping his coffee while trying his best to hold the small cup in his large hands and hunching over slightly as if making himself smaller in the crowded coffee shop. It was adorable. Days like today made you often think back to everything the two of you had been through and the days when you craved doing something as simple as getting a coffee with Charlie Barber. 

Both of you had come such a long way. Falling in love with Charlie was the easy part, but it certainly wasn't what you thought falling in love would be like. In your head, it was always sweaty palms and nerves through the roof with a dash of butterflies in your tummy. But it was different with Charlie. There was nothing more comforting than being near him. Your heart was steady, knowing it was safe with him; he calmed your mind as nothing else did. 

Charlie's eyes glanced over towards you, noticing how lost in thought you were. God, you were beautiful, he thought to himself. He often wondered how someone could listen to the sound of your laugh or see your smile or look into those breathtaking eyes of yours and not fall in love with you. It was beyond him. Both of you were doing nothing but sitting beside each other in this coffee shop. Yet, the feeling of your hand mindlessly laying on his knee and your body tucked so close to him was enough to make Charlie's breath hitch and warmth blossom in his chest. But his mind couldn't help but wander back to its factory setting of the worst-case scenario. The lurking thought that you'd eventually move on from him, find someone younger, better, with less baggage was always in the back of his mind. But you didn't. Every day you found a way to prove your love to him, and for that, he would forever be grateful.

Even after all of the turmoil he's been through, Charlie knew he'd love again someday, given the time and patience he needed. But you made him realize that maybe there was a slight chance he deserved to be loved in return. And for the first time in a long time, he was willing to give himself the chance.

Charlie Barber tag list: @fizzywoohoo @direnightshade @hopeamarsu @thepriceofstars @zimmermansbrat @wayward-rose @jynzandtonic @mariesackler @butyoudidthis4what @millenialcatlady @roanniom @veryspookybatbabe @cornmousequeen @lucky134ever @emi11ie @mistress-ren (please send me a dm if you would like to be removed)

[anemoflower]

First Meeting

Ship: Wriothesley x Elowyn Word Count: ~ 1.9k Warnings: first time writing a fight scene pls bear with me; again may be ooc (yeah I still haven't played the archon quest in Fontaine yet but still wanted to write this) If there's anything you need me to mention/tag let me know! A/N: Nothing too romantic yet, really just their first meeting... This got a little bit longer than I expected but uhm- I hope you still have fun reading my first vision of how these two met

Sneaking into an underwater prison wasn't an easy task, but thanks to the advantage of her hydro vision Elowyn made it without being caught by the searchlights.

Her research of the current location of the Fatui Harbinger Childe led her to the fortress of meropide, where criminals judged guilty by the court of Fontaine were imprisoned. Accoding to her latest information the 11th Harbinger was recently judged guilty, which meant he had to be here.

Memories of Liyue flashed before her eyes as she was hiding behind a pillar, to not get caught by the guards walking by.

“You seem familiar”, the ginger had said when their weapons crossed in the Golden House. "Have I fought you before?" And then his eyes had widened as if he remembered where he had seen her face already. Her brother's name, just a whisper of realization that had left Childe's lips.

Since this day she hasn't got the chance to interrogate him about her brother. Now she finally found him - but of course there were still some complications. As she wanted to dash around the next corner she collided with something - or someone.

“Can I help you?”

A deep voice, which made her heart flutter a bit. She looked up and her gaze met a pair of ice blue eyes. She had run into a tall man with black hair, a few silver streaks carved through it. There was a little scar beneath his right eye. He wore a gray vest, a loose red tie around his neck. A dark grey coat with a crimson lining and dark fur trim around the collar hung around his shoulders. But what caught her attention was the shining silver dog's-head brooch on his vest.

“I haven’t seen you here before,” he said.

Elowyn tried to stay calm, although her eyes darted around the corridor and avoided eye contact. “I’m new here, today is my first day as a guard” she replied hastily.

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Is it common now that new guards sneak around here without their uniform?” Heat flushed into her cheeks. “Who hired you exactly?”

Elowyns mouth turned dry and she realized how stupid this lie was. “Uh… I…” Snippets of conversation from the last few days ran through her mind. Were there any names from the fortress she could use to win some time? Then she remembered the two guards at the entrance talking with each other. It wasn't a name they mentioned but a title. “I've been hired by the Duke” Elowyn said confidently and adjusted her posture.

He looked at her in surprise, but still unconvinced. “Is that so?” He crossed his arms, bandaged in some black fabric, in front of his chest. The chains of the dog brooch clinged. “Well, I’m the Duke and I think I would remember you.” He didn’t sound angry, rather confused and intrigued about why a random woman would sneak into a prison.

Now she couldn't hide the confusion in her face anymore and frowned. There were many images in her mind of someone called a “duke” and… a man with multiple silver stud and cuff earrings and tall black boots wasn’t really one of them. Was that dog brooch some kind of symbol she didn't recognize? Then she noticed the silver handcuffs hanging from his belt.

Oh. Shit.

There was no way for her to talk herself out of this. She started her mission to get into the fortress without thinking, without further research beforehand. Elowyn felt embarrassed about herself. That wasn't what she was trained for the Knights of Favonius before. Of course she wasn't trained to be a spy, she was a fighter, but her emotions got the better of her and made her act careless.

A little smile lifted the corner of his lips, as if he would look forward to what lie she would try to tell him next. He seemed to be rather amused by this situation.

Elowyn let out a deep sigh and said: “I’m terribly sorry about this! I just need to interrogate the Fatui Harbinger who’s in here. He has some very important information for me.”

The Duke didn't say anything, just tilted his head in interest, to signal her to continue.

“He knows where my brother is… he disappeared many years ago, I need to find him.” Her voice sounded more desperate than she wanted to. So many years she was hoping to find her brother, her family, and now she was so close to finally reuniting with him again, to find out the truth about his disappearance. Even if it might hurt her in the end. She swallowed the tears, which were slowly trying to crawl out.

Something shifted in the Duke's eyes. The serious look turned to a sentimental softness and it made a strange warmth grow inside Elowyn’s chest. Paired with her racing heartbeat she watched him, waiting for another reaction. He looked down rather thoughtful and pointed to the hilt on her belt.

“Can you use that sword?” he asked.

She followed his gaze and replied hesitantly: “I uhm… yes, of course.”

“Would you show me?”

Her eyes widened. “You- you want me to fight you?”

She looked at his quite muscular arms still crossed in front of his chest. She had fought Fatui Skirmishers twice as tall as him. Exhausting battles, but not impossible. Still, she was sure it would be problematic for her to win in a fight against him. Not because he might be stronger than her but because of that damn tingle in her belly.

“If you wanted a fight against me, you would have already started it.”

Fair point.

Then he led her to a hall with a big circle platform in the center of it. Soft rays of blue light from the underwater outside shone on it through the gaps of a huge ventilator. The grey coat flew gracefully behind him as Elowyn followed the Duke the steps upward the platform. “I want you to fight this.”

He pointed to a tall humanoid machine made of silver and golden plates of metal, which already awaited their arrival. Elowyn remembered this kind of thing, Clockwork Meka's were all around Fontaine, made to serve as laborers but were eventually modified for combat purposes. Now she recognized what this strange hall was supposed to be. It was a battle arena.

“Is this some kind of test?” She looked at him confused.

“You wanted to start working here, right?” A cheeky crooked smile. “This is your qualifying exam.”

“My what?”

“Would you prefer to speak directly to the Harbinger in another way?”

Elowyn understood what he meant by that. To avoid getting thrown into a prison cell instead, she straightened herself and entered the arena.

Graceful like a dancer on ice, the Clockwork Meka drew their sword, a long sharp extension of their left arm, and swung it around.

Also Elowyn on the other side of the arena raised her sword and prepared herself for attack.

The machine rushed forward, too fast, Elowyn didn’t get a chance to parry, the next second she tasted blood in her mouth.

Metallic sounds of crossing blades echoed through the hall.

She took a step to the side, dodged their attack in a flowy movement and struck the Meka with her sword. As soon as the blade touched the silver metal, Elowyn felt a stinging pain rushing through her body and purple lights dancing in front of her eyes.

A wave of pulsing lightning threw her through the air. She crashed against the railling of the arena, collapsed on the floor, panting, some kind of electricity still pulsed over her arms.

Clockwork Mekas were able to use a certain amount of elemental energy. This one could cause electro damage.

Another purple light of lightning flashed through the Meka’s sword before it rushed down on her.

Hydro energy flowed through her weapon and made it glow in a shimmering blue light, while she blocked. Blue and purple sparks of light danced around them. She shoved forward, ignoring the pain, pressing all her weight against the Meka’s weapon. It stumbled.

She focused all her elemental power at once, her sword pierced through the air, waves of water crashed down on her enemy and didn't give them a chance to parry.

Glowing tears of water caused by her hydro attack floated through the air around her, followed by the last little sparks of purple electro magic, which lit up her face.

Elowyn caught a short glimpse at the Duke, who was watching her every move. Even more adrenaline pumped through her body now.

She parried another strike of the Meka, pushed their weapon to the side and sliced the point of her sword through her enemy’s chest plate.

With that last strike, it broke down. Elowyn fell on her knees with an exhausted groan and shoved some wet hair strands out of her face.

“Impressive” the fortress’ administrator walked towards her, each of his steps caused a metallic sound echoing through the hall. And she saw an expression on his face, which surprised her. He smiled. “May I ask where you learned to fight like this?” He offered his hand to help her up on her feet again, which she accepted.

Elowyn wiped a few drops of sweat from her forehead and tried to catch her breath again. “Mondstadt. I am-” she hesitated and corrected herself “I was a member of the Knights of Favonius.”

An understanding nod from the Duke. “You can start right now.”

Elowyn blinked at him. “Wait, what?”

“You can start here as a guard” he further explained “I want to see if you really mean it. I can’t risk it if something goes wrong, so I will keep an eye on you of course. Then I can see what I can do to let you talk to the Harbinger.”

Elowyn couldn't help but smile. Her victory in the battle and the feeling to be another step closer to her goal let her fall into euphoria. “Thank you… uh- your Grace.”

“It’s Wriothesley. And you are…?”

“Elowyn.”

“Well then, I'll first introduce you to Sigewinne, she can treat your wounds, you still took some serious hits.” He wiped some blood off her cheek with his thumb and Elowyn immediately backed away as her face heated again.

“It's nothing, really…” she murmured, looking down on the floor.

“Hm.” He leaned forward, face inches apart from hers and said in a low serious tone: “Wait ‘til you fight the sea monsters, that try to take over the fortress.”

She looked at him in shock, stared at the scars on his neck and forearms, asked herself who or what could have caused them.

Wriothesley grinned. “Just kidding. Although I'm sure you could deal with a sea monster.”

"Why are you doing this?" Elowyn asked. "Why do you hire me despite knowing that I want to talk to a Fatui Harbinger?"

"If you would be one of the Fatui you were better at lying."

Elowyn pressed her lips to a thin line with a nod. Wriothesley's eyes softened again. "I could see that this is very important for you, otherwise you wouldn't have done all of this." He looked over to the Clockwork machine on the ground. "Let's say this is your trial to prove yourself."

He turned around and waved over his shoulder to indicate her to follow him.

"I bring you to the infirmary. Do you like some tea while we're at it?"

Taglist:

@jils-things @soveriegns @huggsbury @satoruswaifu @lovinglin

[Please ask if you want to be added or removed]

[more-than-a-princess]

Happy Munday! Just a few quick things, plus some cosplay photos from a recent convention (under the cut, in order not to clutter the dash with OOC content).

I am still accepting starters for this starter call! I'll close the call on Saturday, November 18. Until then, I will not have a cap on starters beyond writing one per mun/blog. This will likely be my last starter call from now until the beginning of 2024, so if you'd like me to write you a starter that isn't attached to a meme, this is your chance! I will still share memes when I have the time in my schedule to start new threads, but for those of you who don't like memes and prefer starter calls, this is the best way to interact with me through the holiday season.

I'll be a little quiet around here from today until Friday: I've got two long days in the office and then I'm celebrating my wedding anniversary on Thursday after work (with a considerable amount of food and champagne), so my writing and chatting time will be limited this week.

That said, I've finally had some time to look at my cell phone photos of my costumes from my last anime convention. I'm still waiting on photos from my private photoshoots, but in the meantime, I'll share a costume I haven't posted here yet. I predict some of you may recognize her (hi Bubblez!).

Did you know that I've either played or watched my husband play both AI: The Somnium Files games (because watching me try to play through the somniums is a stressful experience for everyone involved)? Now you do!

Actually, I've had my Boss costume for about a year now and I haven't been in a happy place with it until last month. Admittedly, my dress is a bit oversized after I lost weight and I need to take it in in a few places before wearing it again. That's the only thing that has stopped me from doing a private photoshoot with Boss.

In any case, she was my favorite out of the games and one of the very few (maybe only?) character I cosplay as who is older than me. How is this woman in her forties? I thought I had amazing skincare and genetics but Boss is on another level.

The jacket and gloves are both leather, with the dress made of a cotton/poly spandex and the boots being custom pieces that I ended up repainting to be a closer match to my jacket. The Ai-balls are from Lemon Penguin, who loves Uchikoshi games and produces a few Uchikoshi-related items to vend at conventions (and they conveniently end up at the cons I attend!).

But let me say: I love this wig so much. It was a custom piece after I was hating my own styling attempts, and comes with her 'hair donut' ponytail holder, her slicked back tendrils, and a stubbed ponytail that keeps the weight of the tail and wig lighter on my head. When I get a professional shoot of this done, I definitely want more shots of this incredible wig from the back.

And finally, the AiTSF cosplayers I've met at conventions have all been so friendly and kind! I had to miss the photoshoot this time around but I participated at one at a previous convention: we were a small group but we were mighty. Even if we either weren't recognized or called by some other character name (I get Misato Katsuragi in this one quite a lot. Ironic, as I also have a Misato costume).

[scarletttries]

Today was a Fairytale

Pairing: Eddie Munson (Stranger Things) x Reader

Rating: Explicit (Gender neutral pronouns through, but AFAB reader for smut purposes)

Word Count: 4.5k

Author's Note: Eddie Munson has not yet moved out of his residence in my one brain cell, so here is a bit of Eddie Munson smut to help cope with the next part of Stranger Things coming out soon. Enjoy, reblog and let me know if you have any other Eddie Munson thoughts :)

Today was a Fairytale

Dustin and Mike sprinted down the hall as fast as their legs could carry them, frantically searching, trying to save Eddie Munson from an unimaginably cruel fate. As they rounded a corner without slowing, barely avoiding a collision with the football team, they spotted him absentmindedly getting a book from his locker, unaware of the two boys barrelling towards him and the horror in their eyes.

"Eddie?!" Dustin screamed, unbothered by the judgemental looks from his classmates, "You dumb son of a bitch, you put Hellfire club on tonight!"

He cursed, clearly winded by the dash from the car park. Mike picked up where he left off, tone slightly more measured,

"Did you forget what day it is? Because we just saw (y/n) in the parking lot and they definitely didn't!"

"You're a dead man!" Dustin chimed back in, half doubled over, trembling with concern for his friend. Eddie let out an easy laugh, quite touched by the concern of the two little freshmen, and clamped a hand on each on their shoulders..

"Gentlemen, I appreciate your concern, but I know today's valentine's day, and I am prepared to woo my partner without the advice of two freshmen, whose out-of-state girlfriends have a 50% chance of being fictional." He teased, "My sweetheart has their own practice after school, and then they're going to sit in on Hellfire before I take them home for the night. Do you have any more urgent questions about my love life boys, or can I get on with my day?" He asked sarcastically, watching the relief on their faces as their evening plans, and friend, were out of jeopardy.

"No that makes sense, sorry for the language Eddie." Dustin breathed out, pulling Mike away and leaving Eddie wondering what exactly had made them so concerned. Closing his locker he looked up to find the answer to his question walking towards him, beaming smile making his stomach do somersaults. You were always beautiful to Eddie, but today he could have mistaken you for a heaven-sent angel. You wore a simple white sweater with a small red heart on it, tucked into cute red shorts in an outfit that would get tens across the board from a certain bow-wielding cherub. Everything about you looked bright, and happy and perfect as you stopped in front of Eddie, extending your arms out to offer him a small basket.

"Happy Valentine's Day Eddie!" He peered inside, slightly awestruck, words catching in his throat. This was the first valentines day he'd ever had a partner for, and even though he was desperate to make it a special day for you, he hadn't really considered that you'd want to do the same for him. He looked down at the basket, almost overflowing with gratitude for your place in his life, and moved to a place beyond words as he saw an envelope, a small plastic container, and a bouquet of dark purple and black flowers, twisted with thistles and ivy in a way he'd never seen before.

"I got you the most metal flowers I could find, and then I baked your favourite and I got you a card." You said proudly, but gasping as you remembered something, "but don't open the card at school! Nancy leant me her polaroid camera and some of the pictures..." You were interrupted as Robin called your name from behind you, ready to make her way to class with you. Catching the disbelief in Eddie's eyes you teased him a little more,

"Hey Robin, I can't remember, what's the list you get put on at Christmas when you haven't been nice?" Maintaining eye contact with your speechless boyfriend.

"Naughty!" Robin said proudly, ever the helpful friend, oblivious to the way Eddie's eyes widened further as a smile spread across his face.

"Exactly, thanks Robin." You smiled, giving Eddie a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to head to class. Looking over your shoulder you quickly added, "Oh, and I checked and that basket should fit in your locker!"

Eddie gave you a small wave as you headed to class with Robin, absolutely emotionally bulldozed by your sweet, romantic gifts. He slammed his locker closed with a smile, basket still in hand. He decided he was going to carry this round all day, for everyone to see. After all, no one had ever brought him flowers before.

***

You waved good night to your teammates after practice and found Eddie waiting for you on a bench in front of the school, ready for you to watch him lead Hellfire for the night. His hands found your face as you settled beside him, pulling you into a loving kiss he'd been craving since your Interaction this morning.

"Rumour has it the big bad Eddie Munson spent all day carrying around a basket of flowers? Do you think that's true?" You teased, noticing the collection of gifts still right by his side, the smile spreading across his face making you wish you could treat him to a thousand more.

"I'm nothing if not a plant expert, and a locker is no place for flowers as badass as these ones." He replied assuredly before passing a paper bag to you, steam rising from its folds.

"I figured you wouldn't have time for dinner so I got you something," he said casually as he started talking you through what to expect from the Hellfire session that evening, his easy thoughtfulness always catching you off guard. As you finished up your food, which he'd gone out of his way to get your favourite, you leant your head gently into his shoulder.

"You know Eddie, if I wasn't already deeply in love you, that meal probably would've been enough to get me there." You felt the shaking of his laughter work through his body as you lifted up to look at him, gaze focused happily on your content face.

"In that case I guess I don't even need to give you your other present." He said smugly, laughter erupting again as your face turned to a pleading pout. "I'm only joking sweetheart, happy valentine's day." He said, tone softer than usual as he fished a small box out of his inside jacket pocket, setting it carefully in your hands. His fingers immediately began to play with his rings, nervous to see your reaction as you gently lifted the lid to reveal the glistening trinket inside. You carefully lifted the thin chain up to see the detail of the pendant, a little charm that was a perfect match to one of Eddie's rings. The one you always played with and said was your favourite.

"I thought it might be a bit much to get you a ring, but this way we still match." He stuttered out sincerely, eyes fixed to his own ring as he waited for you to speak.

"Eddie, I love it." You breathed, absolutely awestruck at the beautiful gesture, heart already fluttering at the thought of having a reminder of him around your neck everywhere you go. "Help me put it on, please?" Turning your back to reveal your neck to him as carefully did up the clasp, planting a soft kiss on the nape of your neck before letting you go. Your lips quickly found his as you turned around, feeling his grin against yours, both feeling like the luckiest valentine in Hawkins. Your kiss only stopped when you heard Erica screaming across the car park "That's not appropriate! There better not be any more of that tonight!"

***

Watching Eddie running D&D for the first time was like watching a movie come to life as it was being written. He crafted detailed visuals of forests and caves, created a thick atmosphere of tension as enemies crossed the party's path, and as the pieces of plot began to fall into place he unravelled a mystery so compelling you found yourself perched firmly on the very edge of your seat, almost threatening to lose your balance. It was easy to see why the club admired him so much as a Dungeon Master, his naturally commanding presence taking each of their imaginations to far off places. As the final roll of the dice fell to a natural twenty, the room erupted in cheers and applause for the party's efforts, and Eddie's in leading them through the narrative. As everyone began to collect their things, gushing about the twists and turns of the adventure, you could feel your heart swelling with pride for your Valentine.

The drive home was longer than usual, Eddie's van gradually depositing each of the kid's on their doorstep, the air thick with speculation for the next campaign until it was only you and Eddie left. He seemed nervous about hearing your thoughts on the evening, filling the silence between you with a near endless stream of consciousness that wouldn't let you get a word in edgeways. As you finally pulled him through your front door, grateful to have the house to yourselves for the night, you silenced him with a kiss, his lips finally surrendering their monologue.

"Eddie!" You practically shouted, not leaving enough of a pause between words to let his self-conscious rambling begin again, "That was incredible! The way you set such a tense mood in the hobgoblin lair, the little jokes between the two goblin brothers, the twists, the turns, even the way you kept using the party's strength and spells and turning them against them..." As you spoke, completely focused on your review of the evening, Eddie settled his hands on your bum, lifting your legs around his waist so he could carry you to your room, eyes never leaving your face as you animatedly talked through his campaign. He knew you would be kind and have fun, but what he wasn't expecting was for you to watch and appreciate so closely, praising all the little details he'd spent weeks writing into the session, totally seeing the game he was playing and letting him know it worked. As he settled on the end of your bed, pulling you over his lap, your hands moved to cup his face, eyes staring deep into his as you concluded your sweet review, "I can so see why the kids all admire you as a DM so much now, you're amazing! I'm so proud of you!"

The last words caught in Eddie's throat, his eyes burning as he stared back at your beaming face. You were proud of him. And not for the reasons people were usually proud, like doing sports or school work or anything like that. You had seen him do the thing he loves to do, the thing people in this town were constantly looking down on, and you were proud of him for that. It wasn't something Eddie really expected to hear, and now to hear it from you, the partner that he loves, his forever Valentine, felt too good to be true. Reeling from your kind words, the usually talkative boy managed to breathe out,

"You really mean it." It wasn't a question, so much as a reassurance to himself that this was real, your enthusiastic nod finally lighting the fire under him he needed to pull you close to him, standing up with an excited laugh and switching your positions until you were lying on the bed with him leaning over you. "You really mean it!" He repeated, more enthusiastic this time as he peppered your face with kisses, heart spilling out of his chest. "You're proud of me, and I'm so proud of you, and I love you so much and you actually love me. And you're amazing, and wonderful, and kind, and too good to be true, except you are true and you're really dating me!" It wasn't unusual for Eddie to talk non-stop but watching him process your relationship live in front of your face had you in fits of laughter as his face formed an almost crazed smile. "Happy Valentine's Day to you too Eddie." You laughed, his eyes focused down on you as you spoke, attention completely undivided,

"And it's valentines day! And you look so fucking good (y/n)!" He almost sounded like he pleaded for something as he spoke, the warmth inside you growing as he body rested on top of yours.

"As long as you don't like my outfit too much to help me out of it," You teased, gently placing one of Eddie's hands on your thigh, just under the hem of your shorts. His eyes grew wide, smile even wider as he nodded in response to the unasked question that had hung over your last few sleepovers.

"Do you want to..?" Eddie trailed off, not wanting to assume anything, and more than anything wanting to hear your answer yourself.

"I want to have with sex with you Eddie Munson." you enunciated every syllable, looking deeply into his sweet brown eyes as you spoke, wanting to leave no doubt in his mind about your enthusiasm. Leaning forward until your lips just brushed against his, you asked softly, "do you want to have sex with me?"

It took every brain cell in Eddie's head to actually articulate a response to your question, blood leaving his brain in favour of other parts, "Literally more than anything in the world sweetheart." His gaze raked over your body before rising up to land on your smiling lips, diving greedily in for a kiss, releasing his inhibitions at the way the gravity of your body pulled him in. One arm propped him up over you, while his free hand softly brushed against your cheek, tucking a stray hair behind your ear before it began to journey down your side. Your fingers buried themselves in his soft locks, drawing circles on his scalp and earning a soft moan your lips happily swallowed. You squirmed at his gentle touch as his fingertips brushed down your side, pausing at the hem of shirt and tugging at it slightly in request. Putting your hands on his chest you leaned up slightly, pulling at the back of his shirt until he clawed it over his head, before removing your own to match. Eddie's mouth fell gently open as he stared down at your chest, displaying lacy underwear you had picked out especially for today.

"Jesus Christ gorgeous, you're trying to kill me." He choked out with an impish grin as you smiled back, softly outlining the tattoos on his chest with your fingertip.

"Well I wanted to look my best for you," You replied, tone feigning innocence as his face plunged to meet your chest, lips leaving a trail of kisses over the exposed skin while his fingers traced lightly over your nipples through the lace,

"If I knew you had this on all through Hellfire, I'd have had a dragon immediately kill everyone and got us home after five minutes." Eddie admitted, tone thick with frustration that he hadn't been able to spend the whole day wrapped up in you.

"Picking me over Dungeons and Dragons? It's a valentine's miracle, I must look good!" You laughed, back arching up to meet his touch as he worked over your chest methodically, ensuring no spot was left without his loving embrace.

"You have no fucking idea sweetheart, you look beautiful, perfect, otherworldly, " His compliments were each punctuated by a kiss trailing lower over your stomach until his face was settled at the hem of your shorts, glancing up for your encouragement. You held your lower lip between your teeth as you nodded, stomach stirring with anticipation as Eddie slowly slid your shorts down your hips, pulling them off your legs and stopping again to drink in the sight of your newly exposed skin, covered only by matching lace panties.

"How did I get this lucky?" Eddie breathed out to himself, genuinely captivated by the loving work of art before him, his heart fluttering in his chest as he pictured a lifetime of romantic nights like this together.

"Well if I had to put it down to one thing I reckon it would be your silver tongue, but your smile's a close second." You teased, watching his face light up with that same perfect smile that first had you falling for him. His eyes darkened with focus as he shifted between your legs, lifting your knees to allow him access to your inner thighs, planting wet kisses agonisingly close to your centre.

"You mean this silver tongue." He quipped, the content hums falling from your lips spurring him on. His knuckles dragged over your arching entrance as his mouth left mark after mark on your inner thigh, the sensation from the cold metal of his rings palpable through the thin lace fabric.

"Eddie," You whined, unsure if you were asking for anything or just praising the delicate way he handled you. He could feel his own throbbing excitement between his legs at the way you purred his name, needy for him, the way he always wanted you to feel. Slowly he hooked his fingers either side of your underwear, pulling them off of you so gradually your hips found themselves bucking up to meet his touch of their own accord. As he gazed hungrily at the now unobstructed view you swore you heard him whisper 'silver tongue' to himself again with a sly smile before his mouth found your entrance. His tongue licked broad stripes over your glistening folds as he watched your chest rise and fall at the incredible feeling, a hand firmly gripping each thigh to keep you pressed to him. His nose brushed gently over your clit as he worked, nuzzling the sensitive bud in a steady rhythm that had you crying out his name in a chorus of appreciation. His skilled tongue lapped at your juices, the vibrations from his own moans sending sparks through you, pressure forming in your stomach. Carefully wrapping one arm over your hips to keep you firmly fixed in place, his other hand brushed gently up the inside of thigh, the slightest touch making your legs tremble. Eddie watched intently as your head fell back against your pillow, back arched as his tongue darted deep inside your walls, desperate to taste every drop of you, a man possessed. As the twitching of your hips grew more erratic against his strong arm, his eyes stayed trained on your face as he slowly slipped one finger between your walls, his tongue now focused solely on your tingling clit.

"Fuck Eddie," you moaned out louder than below, head tilting up to watch his gleeful smirk against you as he worked. His hair was wilder than ever as he worked, eyes dark and never leaving their focal point on you, he was a sight to behold and even better to feel. "You feel so good," You managed to cry out as his finger curled inside you, the unrelenting attention of his tongue overwhelming your senses until your thighs shook on their own, a wave of release washing over you as your pleasure reached its climax. Eddie watched as your face contorted in bliss, the tremble of your legs around him making him wish he could spend every second of the rest of his life between your legs, making you cum as many times as you could handle, and then a few more just for him.

As you rode through your high, Eddie's fingers still brushing over your sensitive centre, you craved the feeling of more of him, desperate to be filled by the incredible man. Reaching down you took Eddie's face in your hands, pulling him up your body until his lips found yours, chin shiny with your own slick as his tongue explored your mouth. As you tried to wrap your arms around his waist he shook his head against your lips, interrupting the kiss with an enthusiastic,

"I think I should go back down for at least a few more hours my princess, maybe indefinitely," The happy glint in his eye as he spoke was followed by his hand trailing down your chest, settling between your legs again to play with your clit, relishing in the involuntary moan it drew from you. You smiled at his devotion to your pleasure, a fresh wave of heat stirring inside you at the thought of a day spent with Eddie between your legs, but you resolved to palming his now painfully aching erection through his jeans and licking your lips,

"We'll have to save that for another day Munson, for now I want. No, I need, something else from you." He groaned at your touch, his rutting to meet your hand, desperate for the feeling of friction. You made quick work of getting him out of his jeans and boxers until he was left completely exposed to you, really letting you appreciate just how gorgeous your boyfriend was,

"You really are beautiful Eddie." You stated sweetly, wrapping your hand around his manhood and rubbing once over the length of it, rendering him speechless before he could deny your praise. "The most gorgeous person I know. And the one who makes me feel the best." You continued to praise, working your thumb over his tip across the excitement beginning to leak out. Eddie tried to stifle his guttural groans as you spoke, not wanting to miss a word you said, but head absolutely spinning with the feel of your hand. With your free hand you pushed firmly on his shoulder, his thinking just clear enough to roll onto his back at your direction. Still stroking firmly over his length, you moved to straddle his legs, his eyes staring up at you in a wide mixture of disbelief and anticipation. You leant forward slowly, taking him between your lips and deep in your throat in one movement earning the loudest noise from Eddie's throat yet. Pulling yourself back up you pointed to the bedside table next to Eddie and instructed,

"Condoms are in the top drawer." He nodded eagerly, still looking a bit shell-shocked, but grinning wildly as he pulled out the small square packet, watching in awe as you took it from his hand. Unable to control the string of horny thoughts running through his mind as you slowly opened the wrapper, Eddie panted out, "Your mouth might just be the best thing I have ever felt," hips twitching in reaction to you carefully putting the protection in place.

"Thanks Eddie, how about this?" Your tone was thick with desire as you knelt above his length, sinking down until he was deep inside you. You let out a shared moan at the feeling of finally being this close, the intimacy of your bodies connecting overwhelming you both in the moment. As you adjusted to him you lifted back up, then slowly lowered yourself again, feeling every vein and twitch of his hard dick inside of you,

"You're an angel," Eddie cried out, his eyes clenched shut as he tried to control his desperate hips, fighting every nerve in his body to hold back his release. As you picked up the pace of your rolling hips you couldn't resist teasing the blissed-out punk,

"I thought you were a devil worshipper." A genuine smile spread across face as his eyes flicked open to find yours, laced with desire. Before you could react Eddie sat up, gripping your ass with both hands to keep you mounted on him, as he pulled you into his lap, legs wrapped around him. Using his hands to bounce you on his lap he chuckled darkly,

"I swear sweetheart, now I only worship you." His lips locking onto your neck as his hips bucked up into you. His movements were strong and sharp, sending pulses of ecstasy through your core, your head falling back as you moaned, only giving him more skin to abuse. He unclasped your bra with one hand, pulling it off your shoulders with care before tossing it aside, kissing below your earlobe as he whispered, "Please wear that for me again some time, it's almost as pretty as you." His soft words against his harsh thrusts melted you from the inside, wrapping your arms around his shoulder and almost tugging on his hair as he continued to pound into you. The room was filled with a chorus of your two names, the sweet tension building inside you both as your bodies worked in unison, lips barely still long enough to meet. The warm tight welcome of your entrance was unlike anything Eddie had ever felt before, and watching your expression shift as he drove himself into you had him struggling to fight back the pressure growing inside of him. As the coil in your core tightened your felt one of Eddie's firm hands leave your ass, brushing gently over each of your stiff nipples, shaking at the soft whimpers the contact drew from you. Continuing to trail down your body his hand landed at the place your bodies connected, two fingers gently strumming your overstimulated clit, keeping a steady rhythm like your moans were the sweet chord he could imagine playing. His fingers were sticky with your slick as they played between your legs, feeling your legs tighten around his waist as he moved,

"Eddie!" You cried out, the pleasure shooting through you from his touch and deep inside you, almost about to tell him it was too much, too intense a feeling, before the pressure in your core released, your whole body tensing as you reached your climax. The loud pants and the tremble of your soft folds around him had Eddie crashing over that cliff's edge with you, his hips bucking wildly inside you, only driving your apex to new heights. It felt like you were cumming for an eternity before you finally crashed against Eddie's chest, placing your hand over Eddie's, stilll working your sensitive bud, eager to please. Eddie's arms found their way around your waist, pulling you against his chest as he lay down, resting his back on your now less than pristine bedding. He smiled softly down at your face as he traced his fingertip over your features, awestruck by your beauty in your blissful haze.

"You're so beautiful, sweetheart, especially like this." He breathed out quietly, breath still not fully returned, and taken away again by the soft smile you gave him in return.

"And you're incredible Eddie. At so many things, but especially at this." You joked, letting your lips land gently on his, almost swollen from the pressure of yours. "I love you Eddie." He stared deeply into your eyes as you spoke, overwhelmed by the sweet sincerity he saw when you said those words.

"I love you my valentine." Eddie had never been able to say that combination of words before, but after today, it was his favourite.

[chloe-spade]

A Special Secret Chapter 4

---

Twenty minutes earlier. . .

Jack and Epel soon left Heartslabyul after they realize that their friends weren't to be found.

"Alright, to probably make this easier let's split up and check the other dorms," Epel announced while scanning the mirror chamber hoping to find any leads.

"Sounds like a good plan, I'll go to my dorm first," Jack responded, "Deuce hopefully might be there and could be waiting for me."

"Okay, I'll check Scarabia, maybe Yaz is spending time with Kalim," Epel said with determination in his voice.

And with that, the two split up to investigate, hoping they might run into one of their friends.

On Jack's end, he had no luck, he didn't hear anything or got anything from his dormmates, nobody visited, no one mentioned seeing Deuce coming over, just nothing.

And with that, Jack left Savannaclaw and started to debate where to go next.

"Maybe I could drop by in Ignihyde, yet there's an extremely small chance that they'll be there," Jack thought to himself.

He looked and thought of going to Octavinelle due to Yaz working in the Mostro Lounge, but knew that if he run into the twins he'll get distracted and lose track of time.

Then he looked in the direction of Pomefiore, remembering what happened to Epel back at lunch.

"Maybe Yaz stopped by to see Epel, and probably got dragged into something by Vil..." Jack thought while starting to walk toward the mirror portal.

---

Epel didn't have any luck as well, in fact, he accidentally put Kalim and Grim in a panic and started to search everywhere with his fly carpet, going around the school in the sky.

So after witnessing that, he headed towards Diasomnia to see if Sebek have been hanging out with them at any chance. Yet he was once again met with a dead end.

"Sorry to say but I haven't seen them at all," Sebek said, "how long have you been searching for them?"

"I don't know, just for a long while now," Epel answered, now sounding defeated.

"Have you tried giving the human a visit from their dorm? After the three troublemakers could have been there this whole time," Sebek stated, sounding a bit smug and annoyed by the situation.

Epel was about to say something, then realized that Sebek had a good point. He was so worried that he didn't bother to go check Ramshackle in the first place.

"...Sebek, remind me to get you apple juice later," Epel quickly said

Before Sebek could even answer him, Epel dash out of Diasomnia and made it back to the mirror chamber, he was ready to leave the building...until he heard the familiar voice of Ace, Deuce, and Yaz talking with each other.

---

Jack was sitting in the fancy lobby. He asked Rook if he had seen Deuce and the others, but unsurprisingly Rook hadn't seen them all day.

Jack was about to leave until he wanted to talk to Vil for a bit. And now here he is, waiting to talk to Vil about concerns for Epel's well-being. Thankfully, while he has to wait he was offered some tea to drink.

Moments later, Vil and Rook walked in and took a seat themselves.

"You want to speak to me, Jack?" Vil asked, rather surprised to see him here without Epel. But yet he already knew what Jack was going to say next...

"Yes, sorry if I'm taking time away from you but, I wanted to talk about Epel," Jack said.

"You aren't taking my time away, after all, I finished my work for today," Vil answered while taking a sip from his teacup

"Ah, so you wanted to ask Vil for relationship advice I presume? If so Vil can be a great service for you Monsieur Tough Guy," Rook announced while being chipper as ever.

"Wait what- No it's not about that, well-," Jack answered, taken aback by Rook's comment.

"I don't think that's the reason why he's here Rook," Vil explains, "if it was the case he would have been more embarrassed by your claim," Vil calmly announced, not trying to find Jack's embarrassment funny.

"Look, I'm here to talk about Epel's well-being here in Pomefiore," Jack calmly states

"Oh I see, then he told you about the argument we had earlier then?" Vil asks, now sounding tired of all a sudden

"Yeah, about you putting him in another competition? More particularly a pageant show," Jack said, remembering how upset Epel was.

Vil let out a soft sigh, "Yes, I told him about the additions that were being held here at the school and explained that it would be a good opportunity," Vil explains, "but despite that, he decided to throw a temperature tantrum and storm out before I can say anything else," Vil said

"Well, I can't blame him for storming out then," Jack spoke

"Pardon, you do realize that's a horrible idea, particularly having a heated argument with your very own housewaredn?" Vil replied, "I mean, would you really walk away from Leona if you were in Epel's situation?"

"To be honest, yes I would," Jack answered, "I would be upset myself if my housewaredn force me into something that makes me uncomfortable. And what Epel only did was stand his ground from you."

"Oh? You think I was going to go above and beyond? Making Epel do something he's obviously going to object to? Oh, don't be ridiculous." Vil scoffed, but he smiles. "Epel is so lucky to have such a caring boyfriend like you."

Jack stopped and was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I knew he was going to say no. I knew that. I wasn't going to have another Vocal and Dance accident. Even so, I knew he was going to say no but I do want him to be civil about it."

Jack sighs."I..guess so."

Vil smiles."I knew he'd complain to you about it. I know Epel well. He didn't agree and I know that, and I wish he could've told me without getting upset."

Jack sighs."Sorry for being upset about it. Epel was not having a great day and considering that Yaz, Ace and Deuce disappeared, it's been a hard day."

"Well, you don't have to worry about it,"Rook said, walking in with Yaz and Epel," Epel has found them while you two had your little argument."

"Sorry about the worrying." Yaz said, getting hugged by Jack.

"I'm glad you are alright. What about Ace and Deuce?"

"Back at Heartslabyul, because of curfew issues," Yaz explained,"Don't worry, we are a-ok, I had some trouble at the Mostro Lounge and I asked them to help and we lost track of time."

"Oh, you must be very tired," Vil said, leading Yaz to the couch"Rest up, alright."

"Ooh, I can even make some more tea." Rook said, walking to the kitchen.

"So, Little Potato, what exactly happened at Octaniville? It must've been a big problem for even Azul Ashengrotto to even handle." Vil asked, sitting down.

"Oh, the food turned horribly bad. We had to restock everything and remake everything! It was too much so I asked Ace and Deuce for help."

"Ooh, that's unfortunate," Rook says, walking in with a tray of tea. "That must've been a nightmare of Roi Du Effort."

"It sure was." Yaz says, sipping his tea."I'm just glad we got it fixed."

"And man, I'm glad you're ok, I tried calling after what happened at lunch time." Epel groans. "You've been making me grow grey hairs, you know that."

"And I'm sorry, but work happens."

"Rou du Poison? May we speak in private? There's something I wish to speak with you about."

Vil nods and follows Rook to the kitchen.

"That was such a pitiful lie," Vil said, taking the teapot from Rook," I don't think someone like Azul would leave food out to rot. And sure, maybe but Azul is the one who keeps our finances here at Night Raven College. He's intelligent."

"I agree, I don't think Rou du Effort would do anything."

"Yeah, however I believe you had a different idea."

"Of course, I think Monsieur Emerald has been keeping a secret. Maybe some similar to Monsieur Crabapple's." Rook said with a smile.

"Are you suspecting that Little Potato is a merperson? And how can you prove it?"

Rook smirks as he took a warm cup and show it to Vil."This, I'll prove it with this."

Vil chuckles."I generally hope you know what you are doing, Rook. And I hope that isn't hot."

"I would never knew that do Monsieur Emerald. He's go sweet." Rook leaves the room, holding the tray.

Meanwhile, back with the first year, everything was peaceful. The three friends were just talking about their past week.

During that time, Yaz was checking his phone and making sure to tell Kailm he was alright. Which he got an immediate response from Kalim right after.

"Alright, just let Kalim know that I'm with you guys now."

"That's good to know, when I told him he was extremely worried about you," Epel said.

"Yeah, again sorry for giving you all a fright today," Yaz replied while enjoying his warm tea.

Unfortunately, right afterward, his chair was violently jolted making him spill a little bit of warm tea on himself.

"Oh my, are you alright Yaz?" Rook asked, now very concerned about Yaz well being.

Yaz didn't answer him, instead getting up instantly, "I'm going to the bathroom," he said while leaving the room.

Yaz looked down the halls, he had only been to Pomefiore a few times, so he has no idea where to go. Yet he needed to find a place to go now. The only place that he could remember was Epel's room.

"Hey Epel, you don't mind if use your bathroom?" Yaz asked

"Wait why?" Epel asked, now getting up to check on Yaz.

At this point, Yaz isn't going to take no for an answer, he needs to find a place to hide now. So he quickly headed off to Epel's room.

"Hey, don't use my bathroom now," Epel said, he forgot that he needed to clean it by today, so he didn't want Yaz to take a long time in there.

Once Yaz step foot into his friend's room, he close the door behind him and looked around frantically, he only has a few seconds left.

"The closest won't work, I know the bathroom door doesn't have a lock from what I remember," Yaz thought to himself, "The only place that could work is..."

Yaz look over to Epel's bed and quickly went under it. Right at that moment, Epel enters his room, now annoyed.

"Yaz you can't be in here now, I have to clean my room soon," Epel announced. He looks over to his bathroom and realized that the door was open and Yaz was nowhere to be seen.

Jack soon followed Epel into his room, to make sure that no one gets into a fight.

"Epel, is everything alright?" Jack asked a confused Epel, "Where's Yaz? And does your room smell like fish?"

"I don't know, and what do you mean by that?" Epel asked, now even more confuse

Jack walks over to Epel's bed, "the smell is really strong here."

Once Epel walks over as well, the two look at each other.

"Yaz? Why are you under my bed?" Epel cautiously asked, while getting down to check.

"Oh- uh- I guess this wasn't a good hiding place then," Yaz sheepishly says, "Look, sorry for invading your space but this is the only room that I know in this dorm," Yaz continues, now sounding scared.

While Epel is about to check under his bed, Jack notices something poking out. It looked like a fin. So he walked toward it and pokes it with his shoe.

The fin immediately goes back under the bed "Hey! Don't touch that," Yaz shouted.

With that, Epel lifts the covers and sees his friend, looking timid. But Epel also saw that Yaz has a mermaid tail as well.

"What in the great seven-" Epel mumbled to himself.

"YOU SAW NOTHING!" Yaz shouted, quickly grabbing the sheets from Epel

But by doing that, Yaz accidentally shook Epel's small desk by his bed and a vase with different flowers has fallen over, splashing Epel with water.

Silence fills the room, during that time Vil and Rook finally came over to Epel's room.

Silence fills the room, during that time Vil and Rook finally came over to Epel's room

"Hm, I guess our suspicions were correct," Vil calmly says, "Yet Epel, you should probably hurry and dry yourself."

"What do mean by that?" Jack said, now even more confused with the situation.

Epel didn't care at that moment, he has questions that needed to be answered. With that, he violently pulls Yaz out, now showing letting the three see his merman form.

And not only that Epel also went in his merman form as well.

"Since when were you able to turn yourself into a mermaid!?" Epel and Yaz shouted at the same time.

"Nevermind that, how are you both mermaids!?" Jack gasped, looking at them.

"It's a long story, Jack." Vil laughs as Epel glared and wacked Yaz with his tail.

-----

"Let me recap, so you both found a moon pool, separate times, and you became mermaids after a night?"

Epel and Yaz nodded.

"And you didn't tell me, because it was a huge secret?"

Another nod.

"When did this happen to you?" Epel asked. "I mean, how long have you had this tail?"

"Only 2 days, at most. A moon pool accident happened." Yaz looks away.

"Were we the only people who knew?" Jack asked."Not to judge of anything, because well, Vil and Rook seems to figure it out quickly."

"Well..." Yaz hesitated. "You guys aren't exactly the first."

"Oh?" Epel looks over, glaring at him. "Meaning?"

Yaz gulps and quickly grabbed his phone, video calling Ace and Deuce immediately.

"Hey, Yaz!" Deuce greeted."Are you alright? I mean, after what happened."

"Yeah!" Added Ace. "Getting kidnapped by Octaniville was pretty scary. But hey, we got new information about what happened to us."

"Kidnapped!?" Jack shouted.

"Is that why you guys were at Octaniville?!" Epel growled.

".... Jack and Epel were in the room?"

"Well...yeah, long story short, they found about me, and I don't want to be alone and I'll drag you both into this."

"He knows we're..?"

"Yep! You better start explaining." Epel hissed.

----

After a long night, explaining and calming Epel down of his anger, Yaz was in the kitchen.

"And the apple is finally in the oven." He sighs. "And Epel will forgive me in the morning."

"I'm hungry,minion! I want it." Grim complains.

"Absolutely not. You'll get a piece tomorrow, and tomorrow only."

"You are mean. First you guys disappear under my watch after leaving me with Kalim! He kept feeding me crackers! And now I can't have a sweet treat!?"

[hexenmond]

Ask Game: List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers ;)

Oh! My first ask ever! 😃 Five things that make me happy, well:

My banana bread. I got into a habit of making this once a week so I'd have a quick breakfast on the mornings where I'm running late or need to be somewhere early, and then I ran out of xylitol and didn't make it for weeks. And today I'm finally having some again (I have a standing appointment on Tuesdays at NINE), and I am honestly over the moon with joy.

The sun. It's the same thing every spring (and autumn in reverse), and every time it hits me so viscerally that knowing it's going to happen just pales in comparison. The days are finally getting warm enough to go outside barefoot, and I've already seen some kids splashing about in the nearby stream, and I go for walks and I just love every little bit of warmth on my skin.

Tumblr. Well I'm on tumblr right now so I'm gonna go ahead and say that it makes me happy! I will, however, specify that it's the funny posts and the lovely people that make me happy. NOT the buggy technology that makes my dash jump around at random and seems to repeat five posts three times before showing me something I've never seen before, only to never show it again the next time I scroll to the "same" place. But then, I'll take what I can get, and really I'm very happy to be here right now 🙃

My plans for Friday. Actually there are SO MANY things that make me happy, it's hard to pick just five! But right now I'm really looking forward to Friday evening, where I've got a 75 min Qi Gong course followed by three hours of painting landscapes and stuff with watercolours and ink. So far I haven't had a chance at a live watercolour course and I'm hoping to learn so much about the medium that I haven't been able to figure out on my own yet! And Qi Gong is always good of course.

My current work projects. Honestly I could go with so many things here, but my work currently really does make me happy, and this is a very good place to be in. I was struggling to scrape up the energy to enjoy working recently, but currently I am working on a website where I'm not only putting the technology together to make it work and look good, I'm also doing the design (which I often hand off to others, or get handed over to do the rest). Design work takes a different kind of energy and the fact that I can do this, right now, and enjoy it, that really does make me happy. (Also I got a random email from somebody I've never heard of before who wants me to do their website! That's fairly rare and I am THRILLED 🤩)

Thank you for the ask, my new internet friend 😊

[song-linked-from-nine-verses]

The Bribe (Uneditted and not Beta'd)

(A/N we die like every other math rock band)

Indie artists needed!!

Opener for a show!

Sign up now! (Details below)

— ----

Once he has finished reviewing the audio, he turns to the scheduler. "Dash! I've already sent you the details, can you please slot them in second?"

"..."

"Dash? Is it my Japanese or your aids…"

The owner taps her on the shoulder.

"Dash!"

"Yes?" Dash looks up all confused. 

"Details on phone. Slot them in second."

"Okay!" 

— —

It has been a busy day today, but not for Dash however. Scheduling is quite quick and easy lately, since all the bands that do play seem to just pick the schedule themselves. That means, no need to do much work. Dash has mostly been cleaning.

The real work is reviewing who's actually worth letting on the stage. 

Now that's busy work. 

The owner doesn't really have a standard, so almost anyone gets a chance, but sometimes there are bands who really can't even play and just wanted the money.

Anyway, it has been a few grueling hours. For the owner at least. Not that Dash could hear him mumbling and groaning disappointingly.

Ravio said that he thought it had been very interesting.

—

"Uncle, there's still 30 minutes left empty in the Saturday schedule."

Legend's uncle takes a quick glance then does a little squint at him. "And?"

"...come on, do I have to spill it out…"

"If you want to play, the answer is no. Tell Dash to push everything down half an hour."

Despite all attempts to convince his uncle, Legend's band still hasn't got the chance to actually play in front of the crowd. 'You guys need a little more practice- and.. something else..' His uncle said, but... Legend promised Wind that they will play as soon as possible. 

It's a Badge of Maturity, after all.

Twilight thinks they're not "mature" enough for playing yet, but Legend will also prove him wrong. Well. Not right now. Right now he has to text their Japanese scheduler.

"Dash"

"ヾ(＾∇＾)"

"Can you move everyone on Saturday down half an hour? To fill in the vacant gap."

 " ハ____ハ    ｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ｡"

꒰   ⬩ ω ⬩  ꒱  ˚｡          ｡˚

  |   つ ~ okay　ﾟ ･｡･ﾟ

"Actually, can I ask you something?"

"(｡·  v  ·｡) ?"

Legend pauses for a bit. An idea. He takes a deep breath. 

"Can you put us in for the spare slot?"

—

"Didn't you signed up for an opener at Apple's?" Hyrule asks, and he sits in one of the weirdest positions on the couch. His eyes are fixed on his laptop, which is also in the strangest position, with his bootlegged music program still open, along with 300 tabs. 

"Didn't get picked." Wild shrugged, sitting equally as weird and pedals on his belly. He never says this, but he is quite happy that they didn't get picked. He feels as if he hasn't practiced enough yet, and he still forgets the songs from time to time. Besides, they have played at Apple's before. Odd hour on a less crowded day, but it went well, so they will probably get slotted next time.

"This close Rulie. This close." Warriors slaps on his own instrument to emphasize his words. Wild thinks Warriors is quite sad after failing to get the deal, but is holding himself together really well. He ego took quite a toll, after all, and Wild hopes that Warriors would let this slide quickly. He is making everyone practice twice as hard and Wild needs his breaks. If this continues, he guesses he'll pass out. Maybe then Warriors will have some mercy.

Hyrule continues to type something, eyes still haven't left his screen. "One of my friends says that he asked the scheduler directly for a slot," he says.

Wild quickly adjusts himself as he turns to Warriors. Please

"Can you tell him to help another friend out?" Warriors says jokingly. "You know, give us their number or contact?"

"You can find her at Apple's front door." Hyrule says. "But I doubt it's that easy. My friend knows the owner. You don't."

"Sounds like nepotism-" Wild mumbles.

"I've never failed at convincing people." Warriors says. "What's her name?"

— — —

"Dash says no." Ravio translates. 

"Someone.. um.. is in vacant slot." Dash says. "legAsea. Schedule this month is full."

Warriors punches his fist to the counter, but not hard enough to startle anyone. "This. Close!" They were this close.

"Question: Wouldn't you lose your job if your boss realizes what happened?" Four asks.

"The guy in legAsea will keep us safe." Ravio shrugs. "We don't lose much."

"Dash also says she can keep it a secret until it's too late to back out. And they will also pay us back."

Warriors sighs. If it comes to that, then two can play that game. "Dash, what if we bribe you?" Warriors says. 

"What's the point of paying her if we're trying to get gigs for money?" Four snorts.

"No." Dash says. "Unless…"

"Yes?" Warriors leans in. "Unless?"

"Can you guys play better?" 

"We played here once!" Warriors says. "We introduced ourselves! Remember us, the Timeline Breakers?"

"I… can't translate that." Ravio cuts in. "Would you transliterate it or just use the same word?"

Dash shakes her head either way. "Show me," she says, smirking and staring at Warriors dead in the eye. "Play right now."

Ravio quickly tries to stop whatever is going on. "Wait Dash no-"

"Oh, would you like an impromptu jam session?" Warriors smiles. He clearly can't say no to that! He looks over to Four, who just sorta shrugs.

"Dash says yes but I'm saying no. Don't we need permission?"

Warriors and Dash both ignored Ravio. "Four, call Wild." Warrior says. "We have an emergency." 

— 

"What the Hylia are they doing?" Legend asks once he enters the livehouse. 

"You're saying like it's not normal." Time says as he tries to step over some wires. "It's a place for music afterall." Although, he would admit that there are more wires than he'd usually like.

"Yes, but not at 4pm on a Wednesday! Does uncle know? Ravio!" Legend says as he leans inside the drinks bar. "I left for one hour."

"And they asked for 20 minutes." Ravio says as he scrambles to find the words from inside the trashcan he's hiding. "Ask Dash! I did try to stop them because I can't tell whether or not we need a permit for this!"

"I don't think you do, this place is pretty soundproof. And you guys don't open until an hour so they have plenty of time. Unless they are asking for money - Can you explain what is happening?" Time says, as he pulls Ravio out. The guy is covered fully in trash.

"Dash challenged them to impress her and since they can't play on Saturday also they're borrowing the amplifiers and"

"Alright, who are they?" Legend cuts Ravio off.

"Timelin-"

"The idiot band?"

"Now, Legend, I wouldn't call them idiot." Time chuckles.

The room echoes with the speakers screeching and everyone covering their ears. 

"Hey, get off the stage!" Legend heckles. But Dash promptly places a finger on his mouth, whispering, "shush".

Legend mumbles something in Japanese with a murderous tone, but Dash just replies with a smile.

Legend just rolls his eyes. "We'll see."

Time taps on Dash's shoulder to get her attention. "I'm excited. I like these fellas."

"No you don't." Legend mumbles.

"WE ARE TIMELINE BREAKERS!" Wild yells without a mic. "THIS ONE'S FOR YOU DASH! ALSO, SCREW YOU LEGEND, YOUR BASSLINE SUCKS!"

—

They played a song that Dash hasn't seen anyone play since 2003.

An obscured song that almost got lost through time. It still exists in Dash's playlist, but other than that, barely anyone knows this track.

Dash starts humming loudly (but badly, because this is very difficult to hum) to the music, and Warrior's face seems to light up for a second once he notices what she is doing. 

They both nod at each other, happy at their new found kinship.

What a shame, when her tinnitus starts to flare up right that moment. 

No, no Dash, you started this, you can't just end it now.

Besides! This is a once in a life time occurrence! How often would anyone know this, let alone play this? She can ignore it for a second. 

Dash starts rubbing her ear as the ringing slowly gets louder. Time taps on her shoulder, points at her and gives her thumbs up, while mouthing, "Are you okay?"

Dash gives a thumbs up back. A lie. She is not okay, but she doubts it will get worse.

It got worse.

Time looks over at her, very concerned. He runs off and brings Legend with him. Dash starts plugging her ears. The distorted guitar does not help right now.

—

Dash resorts to text as she sits quietly. 

"Alright, party's over." Legend says once everyone finishes putting away their instruments. "But she did say your music is awesome," he translates.

"Wait, really??" Champion's eyes practically light up. "Like, really really?" Almost as if he thought he was lying.

"I know she did!" Warriors smugly says, tugging Wild in from the shoulder. "We did well!"

Dash texts (and signs) something again, and Legend was about to reply, "Yea, I will tell them that," but he just thought of something devious. They don't need to know what she says, do they?

"What did she say?" Champion asks.

"She says she was lying, and that your music sucks." Legend says without blinking an eye.

"Oh," Champion says. Captain just mumbles, "There we go", while Smith just rolls his eyes.

Dash, clearly confused at the reaction, asks, "Why does he look so confused?"

"Trust."

"No, really, your music sucks and honestly she was thinking of not slotting you guys in for the schedule." Legend says with the most devious smile. 

"Alright, I think we can end it here, or else someone will have a headache." Time gestures over to the scheduler. "Anyone who doesn't need to be here, see you."

"Oh, but before you leave, take this." Time hands them a letter. Looks like some sort of invitation?

"What's this Old Man?" Legend asks. He has two extras.

"That? Unless you open them, it's a secret to everybody."

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

Shoutout to @toomanyhobbiesandthisisoneofthem and this instagram user: https://www.instagram.com/goddess_hylia2023 for helping me write a HoH character and @crystal-dragon-of-dreams for the HoH Dash idea!!!!

[alyswritings]

Mean Girlfriend

Request: Hiiii could you do a Hollandxsister where Sam is dating a girl who doesn't like Yn and insults her when no one is around?

Sam Holland x sister!reader

Summary: Sam's girlfriend isn't as nice as she seems.

Warnings: swear words, rude/mean comments, sam being a bad brother for part of this, some soft holland sibling moments though

a/n: thank you for the request! hope you all enjoy!

(gif not mine)

Sam was bringing his girlfriend over for the first time since he started dating her about two months ago. She's met Nikki, Dom, and Harry, but hasn't had a chance to meet the other three yet.

Y/N is setting the table while Nikki finishes up dinner with Harry helping her. The front door opens and Sam walks in, his girlfriend right behind him, their hands latched together.

"Hey, guys." Sam greets, him and his girlfriend making their way to where everyone is in the kitchen. "This is Blair. Blair, that's Tom, Paddy, and Y/N. And you remember my parents and Harry."

"Of course I do. Lovely to see you all again." Blair tells the parents and twin, a sickening sweet smile on her face. "And it's great to meet you all." She sends polite smiles to the other three siblings.

"Nice to meet you." Tom nods in greeting.

"Hi." Y/N waves.

"It is great to see you again, Blair." Nikki smiles. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, uh, just a water right now, please." Blair says.

Nikki gets her a glass of water and everybody eventually ventures off. Harry drags Sam away to show him something, leaving only Blair and Y/N in the kitchen.

"I like your bracelet." Y/N says, trying to start a conversation.

"Thanks." Blair mutters, slightly rolling her eyes.

"So, uh, Sam says you met--"

"Do you always talk this much?" Blair cuts her off.

"Uh... sometimes." Y/N awkwardly chuckles. "I've barely even said anything, though."

"Well, you've said more than enough. No need to be a motormouth." Blaire remarks.

"Right. Sorry." Y/N mumbles, looking down at her hands.

"So sensitive." Blair sighs, walking out of the kitchen.

Y/N stares after her confused, wondering what she did wrong. Maybe the girl's just in a bad mood.

"Hey." Y/N turns to find Sam walk in. "Where's Blair?"

"Oh, uh, she just left. I think she went outside." Y/N informs.

"Okay. Do you like her?" Sam asks.

"Um..." Y/N trails off, not sure what to say. "Yeah. Yeah, she, uh... she seems nice." Y/N forces a smile. She's going to give Blair the benefit of the doubt, even though she's not sure if she should. Besides Sam seems happy and that's what's important.

"Great." Sam giddily smiles and Y/N's smile becomes slightly more genuine seeing her older brother happy. "You wanna go out there?"

"Uh, no. I'm... I'm just gonna stay in here. It's been a busy day, bit of quiet time would be cool." Y/N lies. All she's done today is sit around and watch TV.

"Okay." Sam nods. He presses a quick kiss to her cheek before practically dashing outside.

"You haven't done jackshit all day." Y/N jumps at the voice at the other twin.

"Jesus, Harry!" Y/N exclaims.

"I'm just saying. You've had plenty of quiet time today." Harry says.

"Being lazy isn't a quiet day." Y/N retorts.

"Well, it hasn't been a busy day. And I don't recall us getting on your nerves." Harry says.

"You're on them now." Y/N fires back.

Harry studies her, sensing something's wrong, but decides to leave it for later. He pinches her cheek before going outside.

At dinner that night, Blair was the sweetest she could be. All smiles and full of manners. She acted like she hadn't spoken the rude words. Y/N supposes they weren't that rude, but they still weren't something you really say to someone.

"I'm gonna drive Blair home." Sam announces.

"Okay, drive safe. It was wonderful seeing you, Blaire. Hope to see you again soon." Nikki warmly smiles at the girl.

"Oh, yes! I would love that." Blair gushes, hugging the woman. Everybody bids goodbyes, Y/N sitting at the bottom of the stairs.

"Bye." She calls as Sam walks outside, Blair being the only one around.

"You eat like a teenage boy and it's disgusting." Blair states.

"Well, I was raised with four of them." Y/N fires back, a sardonic smile on her face. Blair rolls her eyes, leaving.

- - -

Ever since that dinner, Blair comes over a lot more often... much to Y/N's disdain. Anytime the two are alone, Blair takes as many jabs at the Holland girl as she possibly can. But when somebody's around, she acts as if they're best friends and has done no wrong in life. Y/N absolutely hates it and isn't sure how her brothers don't see through the nice act.

Y/N wants to speak up, but she also wants Sam to be happy. And she's also not sure if anybody would even believe her.

Y/N is leaning against Tom's side as they sit on the couch in the living room and watch New Girl. They turn when they hear footsteps, seeing Sam and Blair walk in.

"Hey." Sam greets.

"Hi." Blair smiles.

"Hey. Hi, Blair." Tom waves.

"Hi." Y/N mutters, quickly turning her attention back to the TV. Sam sits next to her and Blair is on the other side of him.

"Ooh, I love this episode." Sam whispers.

"Don't you love all episodes?" Tom chuckles.

"Yeah, but this is one of my favorites." Sam says.

"Aren't they all basically you're--"

"Shut up, Tom." Sam cuts his brother off, making both of his siblings laugh.

"Sam, could you go get a beer?" Blair sweetly asks.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure." Sam says. "I'll get us all some snacks too." He offers, getting up. "Tom? Help?"

"Yeah." Tom gets up, Y/N whining when she falls onto the couch. "Sorry, Y/N/N. Personal heater is taking a break." Tom says, mockingly saluting her as he follows Sam into the kitchen.

"Are you always so clingy?" Blair wonders.

"What's it to you?" Y/N grumbles.

"I just think it's a bitchy thing to be clingy." Blair says.

"Where did I ask for your opinion?" Y/N bites, glaring at the older girl who glares right back.

"You know, if you weren't such a little shit, maybe more people would like you." Blair hisses.

"I'm an introvert. People not liking me is the dream." Y/N says, just to piss the blonde off.

Blair rolls her eyes, but before she can retort, the brothers make their return. Tom tosses a pack of Oreos at Y/N who barely manages to catch it.

"You could take somebody's eye out with that, you know?" Y/N says.

"But I didn't, did I?" Tom smiles at her. She sticks her tongue out at him and he reciprocates the action before sitting down next to her again.

- - -

It's been a few months since Blair first met the whole family and the secret verbal abuse towards Y/N has gotten under the girl's skin much more. At first, Y/N would always just brush the blonde's words off and fire back comments as best she could.

But over time, Y/N started getting less annoyed and more angry and hurt by the words that Blair would say to her. She didn't want to be affected by them, but they do and she hates that they do.

Y/N tried to talk to Sam about it, but he just brushed her off and defended Blair.

Now, the family of seven -- plus Tessa -- and Blair are all at the Holland household and enjoying the nice weather outside in the backyard.

Nikki, Dom, Harry, and Tom are sitting at the table, Tom talking about the new movie he's going to be in. Sam, Blair, and Paddy are sitting on chairs as Paddy talks about stuff happening at school. Y/N is sitting on the other side of the yard and shooting hoops, mostly out of boredom.

Y/N is simply minding her business when Blair makes her presence known.

"You know, being antisocial isn't very polite." Blair says. She keeps the sweet smile on her face so the others don't think anything of it.

"Being a bitch close to hearing distance? Getting risky, are we?" Y/N questions.

"I'm not being a bitch. I'm simply stating facts. You're antisocial and rude and a bitch and ugly and a terrible sister to your brothers. I mean, nobody in their right mind would ever love something that looks like you."

Y/N's jaw clenches, but she's unable to contain the anger that's been building up for months. Y/N throws the basketball at Blair, but she catches it, smirking.

"Have to do better than that, sweetheart." Blair says in a condescending tone. "You probably can't even put up a fight. You're too weak and tiny.

"I grew up with four brothers. Trust me, I can handle a fight." Y/N says.

"Sure you can." Blair says sarcastically.

Y/N tries to hold back, but before she's able to register it, her fist is colliding with Blair's face. The blonde lets out a noise of shock, dropping the basketball, a hand flying to her face.

"You psycho bitch!" Blair exclaims, slapping Y/N across the face. Y/N coldly chuckles, glaring at Blair. The rest of the family look over just as Y/N attacks Blair, the two starting to hit and tear at each other.

The rest of the Hollands rush over, attempting to break the fight up. Tom and Paddy try to drag Y/N off while Sam and Harry pull on Blair.

"Girls, girls!" Nikki tries to yell over the shouts and screams.

Eventually Tom is able to yank Y/N away as the twins hold Blair back.

"Enough!" Dom bellows, getting everybody to stop. "That's enough." He says in a calmer but still stern voice.

Blair takes a deep breath.

"I'm gonna, uh... I'm gonna go assess my injuries." Blair says, hurrying off inside. Tom keeps an arm around Y/N in case she decides to pounce. Once she's in, Sam turns to Y/N with a glare on his face.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" He questions.

"Sam--" Nikki starts.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with your bitch girlfriend?!" Y/N retorts.

"Don't call her a bitch! You're the one who started a whole fist fight." Sam states.

"Because she's been talking shit about me since the moment she met me!" Y/N informs earning an eye roll from Sam.

"God, stop being so jealous." Sam rolls his eyes.

"Sam." Tom warns, knowing whatever is said between either of them is probably going to be regretted later on.

"Jealous?!" Y/N shrieks. "I am not jealous!"

"Yes! Yes, you are! Look, I'm sorry I don't have as much time for you as I used to, but that doesn't mean you can ruin my relationship!" Sam shouts.

"I'm not trying to ruin anything! I'm trying to tell you about how she's not how she seems!" Y/N yells back.

"Could you just be happy for me for once?! Just let me be happy!"

Y/N looks at him with teary eyes, slightly glaring at him.

"Mate, come on." Harry whispers.

Y/N bats Tom's arm away from her, going for the house.

"Wait. Darling, wait!" Tom calls.

"Fuck off!" Y/N yells, going inside, the door slamming shut behind her.

"Both of them need to apologize to each other. Now. You and her too." Nikki orders Sam. The boy silently nods and his parents head inside.

Once it's just the four of them, Paddy slaps Sam on the chest.

"What the fuck was that?" Paddy asks.

"What?" Sam asks.

"She's not jealous. Have you ever known Y/N to lie?" Harry asks.

"To get stuff she wants, sometimes, yeah." Sam says.

"Yeah, like when she was little and wanted a cookie or something. She wouldn't lie about something that would effect any of our feelings." Tom says.

"Exactly. She cares too much." Paddy states.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go check on my girlfriend." Sam says, shoving past them.

"Yeah, because she's much more important than your sister!" Harry sarcastically yells out.

- - -

Y/N is lying in bed, hugging a pillow to her chest, dry tear stains on her cheeks. There's a knock on her door.

"Go away!" Y/N calls out.

The person behind the door just opens it, the girl turning to see Tom, Harry, and Paddy.

"I said go away." Y/N mutters, turning back around to face her wall.

"Here." Tom holds out two ice packs. "Your cheek and your hand. You both got each other pretty good." He says.

"Thanks." She mumbles, taking the ice packs. She puts one to her swollen cheek and holds the other to her knuckles.

"Look, we're on your side." Harry tells her.

"Thanks." Y/N quietly says.

Tom leans over and kisses her on the head, resting his chin on her arm to get a better look at her face, wincing when he sees the tear stains.

"I'm sorry about both of them." Tom quietly says. "I'll knock some sense into Sam, I promise." Y/N lightly smiles and Tom squeezes her arm comfortingly before leaving. Harry pats her leg before following Tom out.

Paddy doesn't leave, instead sitting on the bed and making himself comfortable, even turning the TV on.

"What are you doing?" Y/N asks.

"Not letting you be alone. Also if I see Sam, I might just punch him in the face. And I'm sure he's not coming in here." Paddy says.

- - -

A few days later, Y/N is on the couch and watching TV. Her, Sam, and Blair were forced to apologize to each other the other day, even though the three knew that none of them meant it.

The front door opens, but Y/N tunes whoever it is out, not in the mood to care. However, that soon changes when Blair walks into the living room.

"God, you're allowed back here?" Y/N asks.

"Hmm." Blair smiles. "Guess your family likes me more than you."

"No. Sam likes you more. But he's outnumbered." Y/N grins.

"If you weren't such a psychotic bitch, none of this would even be happening." Blair says.

"I'm the psychotic bitch?" Y/N asks.

"Yes. You hit me, remember?"

"Because you constantly insult anything and everything about me."

"Well, maybe you should look and act better. I mean, really?" Blair motions to Y/N's cropped shirt and shorts that only go a few inches down her thighs, but they're long enough to cover her butt. "You call those pajamas? You look like a fucking slut."

"What'd you just say?" The girls turn to find Sam in the entry way with two beers in hand.

"I, uh... I'm... well, she started it." Blair accuses. Y/N rolls her eyes.

"Even if she did start something, that doesn't mean you have a right to call her a slut." Sam says.

"Well-- I mean, isn't she, though?" Blair asks, making the eyes of both Hollands pop out of their sockets.

"No. No, you are not going to talk to or about my little sister that way." Sam declares, putting the beers on the coffee table.

"Okay, but really? Come on, Sammy. You wanna defend that thing?" Blair asks, motioning back to the girl on the couch.

""That thing" has a name and it's Y/N. And she's a much better person than you are." Sam says.

"Come on, Sam. You are always calling her annoying and complaining about her." Blair says.

"A. it's not always, it's happened maybe three or so times. And B. she's my sister. Only me and our brothers are allowed to do so. Nobody else. And we would never call her that." Sam declares.

"Sammy--"

"No. No, we're done. Get out." Sam orders.

"What? Come on, babe."

"No! Get the fuck out of this house!" Sam yells. "We're through!"

"Are you serious?" Blair asks.

"Extremely." Sam nods.

Blair turns to Y/N with a cold glare.

"Fuck you." Blair seethes.

"Don't talk to her. Get out." Sam demands, dragging Blair to the door and kicking her out. Sam sighs, leaning his forehead against the door, softly hitting it with his fist. "Damnit." He whispers to himself.

Sam trudges back into the living room, Y/N back to watching the TV. Sam goes over and sits on the coffee table facing her.

"I'm a complete and utter idiot." Sam states.

"Oh. Look who finally came to his senses." Y/N sardonically smiles.

"Look, I... I don't deserve it and I understand if you don't want to, but hopefully one day you forgive. I... I'm very, very sorry. I-- I should've believed you from the jump. You're my little sister, it's always you over a girl I've known for a few months. And I know you wouldn't make up something like that. And I'm sorry for everything I said the other day. I've been a massive dick."

"You're not gonna hear me disagreeing." Y/N tells him.

"I'm really sorry. I will do anything to make it up to you. Anything. Paint your nails, get you food, clean your room, whatever." Sam offers.

"Anything? Really?" Y/N asks.

"Well... I mean, not technically anything. Because I'm not going to endanger anybody or anything like that." Sam says.

"Get my pint of ice cream out of the freezer." Y/N says and Sam practically dashes into the kitchen. He soon returns with the pint and a spoon, giving them to Y/N.

"Thank you." She says, taking them and Sam nods. He sits on the couch by her feet. Sam takes sips of his beers as Y/N starts to eat her ice cream.

"You know... I was letting you be happy." Y/N says, breaking the silence between them.

"What?" Sam asks, looking over at her.

"The other day... you asked me to just let you be happy. That's what I was doing. It's why I let it go on for months." Y/N says.

"I'm sorry." Sam frowns, feeling terrible.

"I know you are. And I... mostly forgive you. But you're still waiting on me hand and foot until I say so." Y/N says.

"I deserve that." Sam agrees and Y/N grins.

Taglist: @glxwingrxse @peyton-14 @venomsvl

[lightseoul]

you should've seen this coming.

you'd chalk it up to those ancient Facebook text posts for instilling the idea in your subconscious and for assuring you it'll be fine but then again, you should've known better with all the media you've consumed featuring the best friends to lovers trope.

the trope you're currently living out in the real world.

well, technically. just the subcomponent of one of the best friends falling for the other.

(alexa, play accidentally in love by counting crows)

but, yeah. those teenage girls behind the #GirlFacts Facebook text posts weren't lying. a girl and a guy can become best friends without getting romantically involved with each other. it's just that they didn't really account for the factors social psychologists have since identified to predict attraction.

familiarity? yep.

physical attractiveness? duh.

similarity? you'd say so.

reciprocity? you'd like to think your (now) 3-year (best) friendship hasn't been one-sided.

and fuck akaashi keiji for having all four.

the shrill ring of your doorbell echoes throughout your apartment, ripping you out of your stupor. fuck.

hurriedly putting some sweatpants on, you dash towards your door, mentally cussing out your best friend and his characteristic punctuality. of course, in any given day, you'd appreciate this about him.

not today.

having the groundbreaking revelation that you're in love with your best friend dawn on you during finals week is one thing. realizing that earth-shattering fact five minutes before keiji's scheduled to arrive for your regular study session is another. tip toeing on your bare feet, you squint through the peephole, heart hammering at the sight of your best friend like he hasn't been dropping by to hang out every week in the last two years.

"y/n? you there?"

you finally will yourself to swing the door open, flashing him an apologetic smile, "sorry. just had to quickly put on some pants."

he chuckles, letting himself in but not without first wiggling the goodies he's carrying, the ones he promised to pick up from your favorite coffee shop on the way.

"i know it's been a bit humid lately, but you have to have some pants on 24/7, y/n. in case of emergencies."

did he have to be so fucking doting? jesus.

you plop down on the living room floor across him, trying to look like you're not having a mental breakdown from the recent realization concerning your best friend.

you probably look constipated right now.

helping him out with setting up the food and study materials on the coffee table, you scrunch your nose in belated disagreement, "well, i haven't had to run across the lobby with just my underwear on during a fire or earthquake. and it's been 2 years of living in this building. i think i'm good, thanks."

keiji only shakes his head in defeat, albeit donning that familiar fond look on his face, which never failed to give you a rush whenever you managed to pull it from him.

could that've served as a sign? you just assumed everyone in keiji's life felt that way. besides, having a stoic, composed person "break" out of character is always exciting in its own right, regardless of who the person in question is.

but if it was, indeed, a sign, then congratulations! you're still in the running to be the world's greatest airhead.

you stifle your nth yawn of the night, much to your chagrin. it hasn't been that long since you started studying (you caught up with each other's lives while snacking for the first hour) yet you already feel drained.

keiji snorts, "already?"

you lightly smack his shoulder in retaliation, "no one shames me for my wack energy levels in my household."

although he can probably power through a few more pages of his reading, keiji locks his iPad in (what you think is) an act of solidarity. you raise your eyebrow at him.

he only shrugs, "a little break won't hurt."

you grin in delight, and keiji couldn't help but mirror it back to you.

the "little" break has been anything but, and it's currently hurting both of your chances of getting an A on your major finals.

you nudge keiji with your shoulder, who's sprawled comfortably beside you on the couch, mindlessly scrolling through his phone. admittedly, the proximity is getting to you, but you suppress the nervousness as best as you can. the last thing you need is for things to get awkward between the two of you.

"pst," you start, "we've been lounging here for two hours now."

he grunts in acknowledgment but doesn't move to do anything in response to your statement.

well, then. if the more responsible one is being an enabler, who are you to complain, right?

but just as you were about to go back to your own doom scrolling, keiji pokes your shoulder.

you briefly glance at him, quickly looking back at your phone. now you can't even sustain eye contact anymore? great.

you, at the very least, still hum in acknowledgment, "hm?"

"i want to know what you think about this."

he tilts his phone towards you, and you recoil a bit from the brightness.

(you always told him to turn it down lest he damage his eyes even further. guess you aren't the only stubborn one between the two of you)

"oops," he quickly turns it back to himself, lowering it to the setting he usually sees your phone be at, "sorry 'bout that."

you just shake your head in amusement, instead choosing to zero in on what he's trying to show you. immediately, you recognize it as the short manga he's been working on in the last 2 weeks, only now it's completely polished and colored in. and looking like the real deal.

"damn!" you excitedly take the phone from his hands, bringing it closer to your eyes, "this looks so good, keiji!"

he only chuckles shyly, though you can tell he's pretty flattered, "you really think so?"

"of course! i can definitely picture this being displayed at our local bookstore. it's that good."

you beam at him as he gently takes his phone from you. keiji has never been good at taking compliments; even as his best friend, you're still doing trial and error when it comes to giving him the right amount validation.

he's looking down at his phone, quiet, and you can't help but feel like (maybe) you overdid it.

"i'm serious, keiji. i'm not just saying all this because i'm your best friend."

he finally looks up at you with a grateful smile on his face, "i know."

your conversation falls into a lull. a few minutes of comfortable silence passes before he speaks up again.

"it's funny that you said that, actually."

"how so?"

he sits upright, turning to face you, and you follow suit. you mentally chide yourself for feeling antsy all over again. this whole being in love thing is exhausting. you're not even sure if it's real or if you're just imagining it.

(professional self-gaslighters, amirite?)

he clears his throat, "if i really think about it, then yeah. maybe as my best friend, my agreeable and nice best friend," he eyes you teasingly, "your inputs shouldn't really have that much weight for me."

you get what he's trying to say, but you can't pass up the opportunity to mess with him, "ouch, but go on."

"no! i didn't mean it like—"

you cackle over his immediate, satisfactory reaction, "i know! go on."

he huffs lightly, an imperceptible (to the untrained eye) pout evident on his face. "i was just gonna say that even though I know your opinion shouldn't really count, just like my mom's, which like yours—always seems to be positive, by the way, i can't help but feel ecstatic when I hear them."

you can't get anything out from the shock; thankfully, he continues, "basically, i just wanted to tell you that, as silly as it may sound and for me to be even doing this," he chuckles a bit self-consciously, "i hold what you say in highest regard."

"possibly even higher than mom's or bokuto's," he adds quickly, rubbing the back of his neck, "though now i'm being redundant 'cause i already said highest.."

you can only laugh at keiji's rambling, but also because he just rendered you speechless, unable to muster anything in response to that sweet and innocent confession.

he seems to loosen up at the sight of you receiving his message well, eventually chuckling alongside with you.

once the laughter died down and the heavy beating of your heart became manageable, you force yourself to look at keiji, who is still seeming a bit sheepish from his recent stint of vulnerability.

"thank you, keiji," you say as softly as you can, "i can say the same thing about you."

he visibly brightens up at that, and you can't help the surge of affection from washing over you despite your efforts to keep them at bay.

"really?"

"really," you playfully punch his chest, "so you better be honest with me!"

you intended to lighten up the atmosphere with that last sentence, but instead, keiji appears as if he's been reminded of something that sits heavily in his mind (as everything does for your best friend, but this one seems like an especially worse case)

"actually, y/n," he starts, a faint blush appearing high on his cheeks, "i have something i've been meaning to tell you."

[cinnamon-bebe]

Chemtrails (Pedro Pascal x Fem!Reader)

Chemtrails (Pedro Pascal X Fem!Reader)

Summary: "If you died today, would you be happy with the life you've lived?" What happens when you've sacrificed your love for fame and fortune? Despite the glitz and glamour, the Reader is all Pedro can think about. The stars have never been on your side but can you rewrite the plans they have for you?

Warning: Angst, Fluff, Occasional Cursing

Inspired by the song Chemtrails Over the Country Club by Lana Del Rey

"I'm on the run with you, my sweet love

There's nothing wrong contemplating God

Under the chemtrails over the country club"

"Baby what's your sign?"

"You're in the wind, I'm in the water

Nobody's son, nobody's daughter

Watching the chemtrails over the country club"

Pedro's POV

The chatter of a hundred people and yet I still only hear your voice. Memories of your words, from years past.

You asked me what my sign was, I told you I was an Aries. You laughed and told me we shouldn't be friends, the stars say so. The stars say we're incompatible, we'd be at each other's throats. I'm a fire sign and you didn't need any more drama. I kissed you for the first time and told you I'd prove you wrong, you simply smiled and looked off to the chemtrails that flew over us.  

Memories from years past.

I didn't have much to offer you but I told you that you could take my word. At that time, it was worth more than anything I could have given you.

"You want me to defy the stars?" You raised an eyebrow, a smile teasing your face.

"The stars can go fuck themselves." I told you and kissed you again.

We were so young. We were nobodies. Running through the concrete jungle, with your hand in mine. Sun dress and kisses at midnight convenience stores, splitting a hot dog on a summer day because we needed money for the show at 7.

We used to contemplate the meaning of life over a bottle on our little balcony. I asked you if you were happy and you smiled but did not reply.

"If you died today, would you be happy with the life you've lived?" You asked me instead.

"No." I told you. "There's so much more I want to do. I want to be somebody."

I didn't know it then but that was the moment I started to lose you.

Memories from years past.

I find myself sitting at a restaurant now, with more money to line my pockets, pats on the back from strangers. People know my name and it comes out in whispers, as they stare over their expensive plate, getting cold just to catch a glimpse of me.

A beautiful woman sits across from me. As if a movie star isn't a big enough draw, a woman like her only invites more gazes. She looks like she'd just stepped off a screen herself. She gives me all her attention, so much so that she does not register the envious stares from the others around her.

Her lips are moving, perhaps a funny anecdote came to mind or is she telling me about her sister's wedding again that she mentioned before?  I cannot tell you, for my mind is elsewhere, with someone else.

"So would you like to come?" She smiles brightly at me, her perfect teeth sitting between her lips, painted in a dusty pink.  

"Huh?" I snap out of my daze, embarrassed that I was clearly not paying attention.

"Jule's wedding, did you...want to be my date for the day?" She blushes, hopeful.

"Oh. I...uh. I don't know Kate. I have a pretty packed schedule coming up, I don't know if I'll have time." I try to make up an excuse.

"It's too early isn't?" She bites her lip sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I know we've only been dating for a few weeks, I shouldn't have sprung this up on you so fast."

"No no, please don't be silly. I love weddings!" I try to laugh it off. "It's just that, with the new movie coming up, I need to start preparing before we go into production."

"I understand." She nods with a smile, "Comes with the territory when you're dating a big movie star I guess." She looks at me, I'm not sure if she's anticipating a response but I reciprocate with a grin and wave at the waiter for another drink.

Soon enough, she excuses herself from the table to go to the ladies room and I'm left sitting alone at our spot. I grow tiresome of the incessant chattering from the tables around me and I massage the temples of head, wishing I was at home in the comfort of my bed with just the company of my television.

I see glances from a small table to the side of me, a group of young women clearly too shy to ask for a photograph, egging each other on to make the first move over to me. Their hopes quickly dashed as I feel a firm hand on my shoulder, turning me around.

"Pedro?" A familiar voice calls my name.

"Anthony! Fancy seeing you here!" My eyes widen as I pull an old friend down for a hug.

"It's my anniversary with Charlize, we're just celebrating! God I haven't seen you for so long!" He shakes his head, slowly looking me up and down, examining my so-called transformation. I've aged so much since we last we saw each.

"How long have you been here?" I ask.

"A couple of hours, I actually saw you before but I..uh...I didn't want to interrupt your date."

Date? I swallow the word whole.

"You lucky man. She's very pretty." He comments.

"Yeah, she is."

"You could seem a bit more interested though but those are Charlize's words, not mine." He raises his hands up, letting his wife take the blame.

"I must seem like an ass, don't I?" Poor Kate, how spoilt am I to show a woman like her so little interest. "I haven't dated for so long, it's just hard getting back into the scene that's all."

Anthony let's out an inaudible "oh" and I know he's thinking the same thing, I can practically hear the name sitting on his tongue, desperately wanting to come out. 

"How is Y/N?" I break the ice, allowing the elephant in the room an escape before he suffocates along with me.

"She's good, very good actually. She's a documentary film maker now. Her work is amazing, you'd love it." Anthony couldn't help his excitement when speaking about you and I feel an intense pang of sadness and jealousy seeing his eyes light up. To see you, celebrate you. I wonder if you've aged like me or do you still look the same as how I remember. Do you still crinkle your nose every time you hear a bad joke? Do your eyes still get red and glassy when you look at the sky because you're wondering if anyone's looking down on you? I wish I knew.

"Listen, I have to go." Anthony looks back at his wife who gives me a polite wave from a distance.

"It was really good seeing you Anthony, I'm sorry we haven't spoken all these years. It's just with work..." I recycle that old excuse again.

"Don't worry about it...you made it! I know you worked really hard to get where you are now. I know you had to make a lot of sacrifices..." The last sentence, spoken so softly, it was almost drowned out. "I'm genuinely happy for you."

I nod, giving my friend one last hug before I ready for him to turn and leave, instead he hesitates and looks at me.  

"Hey Pedro?"

"Yeah?"

"She still lives in the neighbourhood." He looks down at the scarf in his hand before patting me on my arm. "Just so you know."

With that, he waves me goodbye. Walking back to his wife, who he wraps his arm around. The way she naturally rests into him and slips her hand into his coat pocket as they exit the restaurant, I wonder if I'd ever have that level of intimacy with Kate.  

__________________________________________________

I sent her home in a taxi. "I have an early morning and need to prep for some meetings", my excuse for her this time. Kate's disappointed expression, as I gave her a kiss on the cheek is the last thing on my mind.

Scuffing the cap of my leather shoes, I kick at the pavement. The world moves past me as I hide myself in the bubble of my thoughts. I have no sense of direction, my legs taking me to no intended destination, only letting the neon lights around guide me to where it desires.

Anthony's words were still ringing in my ears.

Would you want to see me?

My mind reminds me of the last time we were together.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this, if I don't leave the city now, I may never get my chanc-"

"Get your chance to do what? Be a star?" You were sat deep in the corner of the sofa, far from me. Your voice calm and monotonous as you watched me pace up and down our tiny apartment. I couldn't decipher your expression, it was as if you knew what I was going to say.

"I want to make something out of my life! I want to prove to everyone and myself that I can make it Y/N. I don't want to waste my life away." I moved towards you, our presence separated by the little vintage coffee table I hated but still bought home because you loved it so much.

"Well then go, I don't want to hold you back from chasing your dreams."

"Y/N-"

"No. It's okay Pedro. I understand...I really do. I don't want to stop you from pursuing what you love." You got up from your spot, you seemed so small to me as you closed the gap between us. Your hand felt so light against my face, like you were disappearing before me. "Don't live in regret because of me."

"Y/N come wi-" I tried to hold you, hold you before you evaporated.

"No. My place is here." You took your hand away, moved back, the space between us grew more and more distant. "I don't have big dreams like you do. I like normality. I like living my life however I want it, do whatever I want, whenever I want. You asked me if I was happy...and I am."

"Would you still be happy without me?"

I stared at you. My gut sank because I already knew this was the end. You didn't have to tell me.

"I don't know..." You managed to smile, even through the gentle tears that formed in your eyes. "But I know you would be without me."

"That's not true." I tried to reach for you but you pulled away.

"We're very different people Pedro...I told you, we're incompatible. It's time we listened to the stars."

My thoughts are suddenly interrupted as I feel a hand rest softly on the small of my back.

"Hello sir, would you like to buy a rose?" An elderly woman smiles up at me. A child stands obediently nearby, holding a bouquet of individually wrapped stems, clearly past his bedtime but still helping Grandma late at night. The child looks tired, sad. Judging by the number of roses still in his hands, they must have had an unlucky day.

"How much for one?" I return her kind smile, taking out my wallet.

"$2. Thank you, thank you so much sir." The old woman sighs in relief calling the child over to bring the flowers for me to pick. Each stem had a handwritten tag with various cheesy sentiments adorned.

....A kiss in exchange for a rose...

...You're more beautiful than any flower but here's one to show you my love anyway...

....Would you be my Valentine?...

....Please forgive me, I was an idiot.

I chuckle at the last one before picking a rose at random.

I take out $100 and watch the old lady's eyes panic as she reaches in her purse to find change. Taking her hand firmly in mine, I assure her it wasn't necessary.

"I'll take one rose for the $100. You keep the rest of the flowers and have a good night okay?"

The woman looks at the child with her mouth agape and then back at me, clearly taken aback by the gesture.

"Sir, are you sure?"

"Yes, take the kid home and get some rest. This one rose itself is worth every dollar." I pat her hand which trembles in mine.

"Thank you! Thank you! Bless you and the woman who receives your rose!"

Taking the child's hand they quickly walk away, whispering to each other and disappearing into the night.

I stare at the flower in my hand and bring it closer to my face, studying the message on the tag.

...Let's defy the stars and write our own destiny.

I stand in the dark of night, illuminated only by the cafe lights ready to turn off for the day. My hand grips the stem as if it weighed a hundred tons yet afraid it would float away like a feather. The frantic honking of the traffic seems to taunt me, the laughter from the bars nearby seem to be mocking this idiot of a man standing in the middle of the streets, holding a flower he paid $100 for.

"Just do it!" I hear a young boy shout at his friend attempting a skateboard trick up the block.

Just do it. I repeat to myself. Just fucking do it.

"Taxi!"

 _________________________________________________

I remember these steps, we used to sit here with the neighbours' kids. Charlie, I think that was his name? I remember little Charlie proposing to you with a plastic ring and threatening to get his kindergarten buddies on me, simply for existing. I can't help but laugh at that memory.

Everyone was in love with you, the young, the old. They couldn't help but fall for your charms, your kindness, the way you'd smile at them even if you've never spoken a word to each other. Everyone was under your spell, including me.

You told me you loved me on these steps.

I had gotten back from a bad audition and couldn't bear to go home to you. I sat here for hours until you saw me from the balcony and came down. You didn't ask me anything. You just sat with me as we watched the kids run up and down the block, racing each other, teasing each other. I looked at you and you gave me a kiss on the nose.

"I love you."

You said it so quietly at first that I pretended I didn't I understand.

You rolled your eyes and pulled my face into yours, telling me you loved me over and over again as you smothered me with your kisses.

That was one of the happiest moments of my life.

Walking past our faded figures, I enter the building and see that nothing has changed.

The walls were the same duck egg green. The bulletin board covered in layers of flyers and advertisement, some new, with plenty dated months back. I wouldn't be surprised if the audition ads I tried out for from years ago were still there.

The smell of various cuisines mingle together to form its own unique indecipherable aroma.

A comforting aroma.

I look to the elevator, still out of order. Obviously.

We only lived on the third floor, the stairs will be fine.

I prepare myself for the incline when a voice calls out to me.

"Where are you going?"

I turn around and see our old building superintendent, decked out in his uniform. Stanley.

"Stan! It's me Pedro! Wow, you're still here!" I walk to him.

"Who?" He looks me up and down, completely confused as to who the hell I am.

"Pedro from 3B upstairs? I used to live with Y/N...maybe you don't remember me because of the moustache." I rub the bottom of my nose sheepishly.

"No...I don't remember you."

Old Stanley, perhaps age is catching up to him.

"I'm just going to see Y/N." I try to resume my journey but he stops me once more.

"No entry into the building if you're not a resident!" He points to the sign on the wall.

"Since when was that a rule?" I throw my hand in the air.

"Since today. We have too many unsavoury men try to come into the building, how do I know if you really know Miss Y/L/N? I'm not letting any potential predators or burglars into the building."

"But Stan she-"

Pointing to the sign on the wall again, he raises an angry brow. Not wishing a full body beat down by ol' Stan, I take myself back out the building like a bad dog.  

I sit on the steps, sighing in defeat. I try to convince myself that coming here is a mistake.

"Defy the stars...pfft! You've been in way too many movies Pedro." I mumble to myself, as I dig my thumb nail into the stem of the rose.

Perhaps we're only given the choice to rewrite our destiny but it doesn't mean destiny would just sit idly by and let you do whatever you want. It's probably for the best. What would I say anyway?

Running my hand through my hair, I get up to leave. The adrenaline from earlier had drained so quickly out of me, that its left me a fatigued mess. Move on Pedro, it's time to go home.

"Hey movie star." A voice calls from above. "You looking for me?"

Your hair falls past your face as you lean over the balcony and in that moment I feel my heart break into a million pieces.

There you are.

Standing before me, even more beautiful than when you left, if that is even possible.

You're wearing a simple white vest and grey shorts, one leg rubbing softly against the other. Your skin bears the warm orange glow reflected from the lights inside your apartment.

You look so raw, so delicate.

Every pulse in my body aches seeing you again.

"Wow." I breathe. "You look..."

You hide your laugh and I can see you blushing from behind your hand.

"Thanks. You look great too. I'm like the...um..." You rub under your nose with your finger.

"Thank you, I grew it out for a role but now people tell me I look like their grandma without it." I shrug, much to your amusement.

"What are you doing here?" You speak, more softly, more seriously.

How do I even respond to this question? I was out on a date with another woman but I bumped into our old friend who told me I should find you? Or should I go with I met an old woman and her kid, who I'm pretty sure were cupid's little minions, sent down to earth to give me a rose and to fuck with me?

"I was just in the neighbourhood. I wanted to see if you wanted to um...go out for a coffee?" I lie.

You look at me incredulously, clearly seeing through my bullshit.

"Everything is shut by now." You simply respond.

"Oh...well maybe we can just talk then?"

You tap the metal rails, where you lay your arms. Are you contemplating whether to come down or throw a bucket of water over me? I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Without saying a word, you disappear out of sight. The lights in your apartment switches off.

What does this mean? Are you off to bed?

Before I could ruminate any more, the doors open from behind me and you slip through.

God, you look even better up close.

My hands instinctively reach out to touch you but I withdraw quickly before you could see. You had wrapped yourself in a fleecy blanket, the threads a deep purple.

Without saying a word, you sit down on the step and I can only follow suit, my mind can no longer make decisions for itself it seems.

You smell the same, that same soft floral scent I used to love. The one I used to breathe in when I'd hold you close to me in bed because I didn't want you to leave for work.

Our knees are so close, they almost touch.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

For a minute I don't know how to respond, I just don't want to stop looking at you.

"I was...I was wondering if you were thinking about me?"

You laugh, I laugh too. Of course you weren't.

"I think about you all the time." You tell me so casually, it catches me off guard.

"You do?" I whisper in disbelief.

"It's hard not to when you're on every other billboard in the city."

Oh.

"I think about you all the time too Y/N."

You smile and look up at the sky. The night is aligned with many stars tonight and they all call for your attention but mine. I feel greedy staring at you but I'm simply making up for all the nights that I was alone without you, all those kisses I've shared with women that weren't you.

"What do you think the stars are telling us tonight?" I ask.

You grin and without looking back at me, you say "I think the stars are laughing at us."

"Do you think the stars have changed their mind about us?"

You finally turn to me, your eyes drop. "I don't think that's how it works Pedro."

"If this is the life the stars have planned for me, a life without you, then I don't want it Y/N."

"Pedro-"

"I thought if I made a name for myself, if people knew who I was, then I'd be sure of who I am...but who I'm meant to be, who I want to be...is to be with you." Your eyes meet mine, coloured with emotions you are scared to express. "I look for you everywhere I go Y/N, in every women I meet but you are always a world away."

"We don't even know each other anymore Pedro."

"You are the only one who has always known who I am, even before me Y/N. I'm still as strange and as wild as I have always been. I'm still as messy and as clumsy as I was before. I still love cheap corner store liquor and dancing terribly in public. I still look at chemtrails whenever they past me...because they remind me of you."

"Chemtrails are bad for you, they say they're chemicals."  You tell me, your voice low and expressionless.

"If I die with you as my last thought, it won't be so bad."

I finally find the courage to reach for you and you don't recoil from me, you let me gently run my finger against the hair that falls down past your face. You close your eyes and I selfishly take you, pulling you towards me.

I rest my forehead against yours and I savour this moment where I can be close to you and not let it be a memory.

"What if I've changed?" You whisper.

"Well then I'll spend the rest of my life getting to know you again."

"If I told you to run away with me tonight, would you?" You open your eyes to see me, your expression as serious as ever.

"You're my home Y/N. I'll go wherever you go. Even if it's to another galaxy, we'll drive a little red Corvette into space together and leave this all behind."

You smile and tug on the bottom of your lip. "You think the stars would still allow us to go to space?"

"Fuck the stars." I say as I take your lips.

Oh, how I've missed the sweetness of your taste; in this moment you are spoiling me rotten. You wrap your arms around me and allow the blanket to drop from your shoulders. The only stars that mattered now are those in our eyes. They're telling me the future and it's you. It's always been you.

The sirens of the city and the plane overhead may be loud but I hear nothing over the sound of your heart beat.

You pull away and we both laugh.

In this moment, we are perfect. I am no longer the famous celebrity that belonged to everyone. I am not a son and you are no one's daughter.

We only belong to each other.

I see you shiver and look towards the door.

"Let's go inside." You get up and take my hand, guiding me back to our home. The one I've longed for ever since I left.

The building is quiet, everyone asleep by this hour but old Stan at his desk. I try to shuffle past as inconspicuously as I could, my hand entwine with yours.

"Welcome back Mr Pascal." Stanley greets us as clear as day, his head not even looking up from above his phone.

"Wha- so you do remember me!"

Sly old dog.

Stanley doesn't respond and concentrates on his screen instead.

You shake your head and pull me up the steps but not before I set down my lucky rose on the desk.

"Good night Stan."

I call out before I chase my love up the stairs, both of us ready to write our next chapter together. I don't know what it will entail but I know if you're in it, it will be the greatest adventure I'll ever take.

"Kids these days." Stan sighs, closing the article on his phone and clicking on a familiar app. Putting his feet up, he relaxes with a smile on his face as the Mandalorian theme song begins to play.

[yarbz]

cowardly game of rival — n.jaemin ( f )

synopsis!

 ━ as the girl’s football team captain, you were used to the endless derogatory taunts, the wolf-whistling, the attempts at romance being boys telling you what they thought of barcelona’s starting XII. na jaemin fell into all those catergories, a detestable flea in your hair. as sworn enemies, there was not even an inkling of romance, and you were convinced that your attraction to him was ONLY physical. weren’t you?

pairing ━ na jaemin x female!reader

word count ━ 6k

genres ━ fluff, rival!au, football!au, comedy, romance, very little of the football game is described in detail.

warnings ━ profanity, football terms, dirty jokes, y/n and jaemin are literally just cowards

( author's note! )

this one came to mind when i thought of how i love female footballers and decided that jaemin would be the idiot in question to chicken out of confessing to their crush by being an ass instead. i really hope you like it !! other notes are sissoko is the name of like three different players and a cracker is slang for a really good goal.

Football.

A sport of creatively insane wits, fancy footwork and incoherent celebrations. Those were all the things you loved about it, along with the ridiculously cute uniform.

It provided you an escape from the man's world, a chance to carve out your own story, free from the shackles of stereotypes. At least, that's what you'd initially thought.

Unfortunately, the boy's football team made it their sole objective in life to demean you. As captain, you took on the strenuous task of refusing to resort to physical violence when a stupid comment about your short length was made or when boys assumed you couldn't tell your Sissoko's apart (you could, quite well actually).

You had taken it as a sign of war, and refused to comment on their pathetic sneers. You did, however, feel as if Na Jaemin made a blood pact or something to be a parasite towards you.

He stood at the cusp of six foot, towering over you like an evergreen beanstalk, cheshire-cat like smile taunting you. Chocolate colour tresses fell over his eyes in straight lines, shielding his forehead.

It's not like you paid attention to his visage, but even you had to admit in your spite that he was attractive. And horribly so.

Today started like every other, going to your locker before heading to your homeroom. Luckily, you'd managed to get there before the freshmen started to pile in. Being a senior had its positives along with its various faults, one of them being the early access you got to the school.

You jammed your key in the lock, flinging open the locker door, making quick work of exchanging your books. In your fast-paced stupor, you didn't notice the figure leaning behind the door. You slammed the door shut, nail catching an patch of skin, scraping it.

"If you wanted me to leave, you could've been less catty." The voice wheedled, throwing a withering glare in your direction. You rolled your eyes, annoyed, arms crossed across your chest.

"Jaemin." You sighed, rubbing your temples. "Why are you hiding behind my locker? Are you looking for a death wish?"

He sat up slowly, soothing his reddening nose, suddenly regaining his smile as he leaned closer towards your face. "If I was looking for a death wish, I'd eat whatever food you just stuffed in there."

"Fuck off. Don't see you making any gourmet meals."

"I'm the gourmet meal." He slithered, breath fanning your nose. From this distance, you could see the wonder swimming within his eyes, breath caught in your throat.

Damn, he was too fine.

You tore your gaze from his eyes, "And yet, I don't feel inclined to taste it." He jumped back in surprise, eyes widening, giving you an opening to dash. Chuffed that you left him speechless, you walked towards your next class, resisting the urge to turn back to revel in his awe-struck face.

Jaemin's eyebrow quirked in curiosity, crooked smirk hanging from his lips. He watched you stalk away, cursing underneath his breath softly. You carried a fiery aura around you, burning him with every snarky remark — even though it beat him bruised ghastly lavenders, he could bear to play with fire if it meant you would pay him attention.

You see, Jaemin did not hate you as per say. The 'hate' which you believed in was merely his inability to profess his affections towards you. For lack of a better word, he was a coward.

A dashingly handsome one, but a fragile, chicken-legged coward all the same.

You'd made it to class in record time, ego bared boldly on your shoulders, attracting the curious eyes of your best friends Yangyang and Donghyuck. Both were terrorists in their own right, but you couldn't help loving them all the same. Sure, they came as a dreadful pair, but love had decided to shackle your heart to them.

"What's got you so happy? Jaemin finally drop dead?" Yangyang joked, shifting to make space for you. Headband strapped to the pinnacle of his forehead, he grinned at you from beneath the base of stretchy ebony material.

"No..not yet." You hummed, sad lilt to your tone.

"Awh, didn't kill him yet?" Donghyuck teased, nudging Yangyang in their laughter. "I think it must be love stopping you from committing the crime yourself." You shoved both, peals of laughter tickling your throat at their whines of pain.

"If you don't shut up, I'll be killing you two instead, never mind Jaemin." You snapped. "Love is what I feel when I score a cracker from the halfway line. Seeing Jaemin makes me want to jump out of the nearest window."

"Are you sure it's not just unresolved sexual tension? I, too get antsy when I haven't jacked off—"

"Finish that sentence and you'll have no arms."

"I'm flexible enough to suck myself off." Yangyang mused, "You'll never stop my libido."

"You're disgusting." You and Donghyuck said in sync, swatting his grabby hands from flying at your shoulders. Quite frankly, you didn't want to hear about his freakishly boneless limbs, or his untameable sex drive, nor hear anything about his genitals at all.

"Does that count as self—"

"Yes, it does. Please don't be telling people that I'm your friend, or that you can do that. It's not a little icebreaker."

Friendship with these two had crossed all sorts of personal boundaries you didn't know existed, and it was starting to decompose you, like a rotting piece of cabbage infested by slugs, yet still hanging on for the glimpse of sunlight to regenerate.

Okay, so you were being dramatic. But, that didn't explain their dire need to over share certain aspects of their lives with you.

"Doesn't change the topic at hand —Did you get my pun?" He asked, looking for Donghyuck's reaction.

"I did. Not going to comment on it before she breaks my arms. Just know I enjoyed it very much."

"If I wanted to mess around with Jaemin, I'd put my hand in a beehive. It'd sting less." You snarled, slamming down your books. They winced comically, faces alert as the teacher walked into the class.

Apart from football, you enjoyed learning — how to make things, break things, self defense, people skills, and education fell not too far from that. Classes like biology interested you greatly, which is why you found yourself fully immersed in the process of respiration.

Your mind drifted for a second, thinking back to what he'd said. Was it actually sexual tension? Did you actually bare an emotion other than loathing towards him? Then, you thought of that face and how you'd want to do nothing more than break his pretty little nose—

Yeah. There it was. You were normal after all.

School had come to her daily dreadful end, and you were happily striding into the ladies' changing rooms for football training. Nobody had gotten here yet, luckily.

You glanced over into the full body mirror, tugging at your shorts until they fell just above the bump of your knee, pulling your sock midway at your calf. Lean abs shone underneath the dim light, and you proudly paraded around the room, happy to be alone.

A knock on the door came, and you swung the door open with a feverish excitement. "Who is it?"

"Didn't take me as a bra kinda girl. Was thinking more spandex or a binder." Jaemin seethed, hands on hips, azure jersey hanging off his lithe frame.

"You're insufferable. Why are you here?" You groaned, choosing to ignore his taunt at your breast size. His eyes crinkled into upside down crescents, wandering lower to the dip of your frilly black bra.

"To see my favourite girl, of course." He whistled, eyes still glued to your unmarked expanse of skin. "I think those need a new owner." He pointed towards your chest.

"Preferably one whose face I can stand to look at."

"I'm roaring with laughter." You snarked, voice dripping with sarcasm, making no attempt to cover yourself up. Jaemin was still staring, face flushed a flaming cerise. "You gonna keep staring or are you gonna leave me alone?"

"I'm not staring. Why are you staring at me?" He shot defensively. Your eyes narrowed at him, watching his cheeks darken with every lingering stare.

"You're in the girl's changing room, drooling over two lumps of fat on the body of a girl that you hate. The real inquisition here is your lack of sensibility to stop thirsting after anything with a vagina."

Jaemin stayed silent, eyes boring holes into your full lips, tongue instinctively darting out to wet his own nimble, chapped ones. Rolling your eyes, you lead him to the door, hand clasped against the door handle.

Then, you heard loud footsteps approaching the room, incoherent rambling increasing in clarity. You began to conjure up a plan, wondering how on Earth you'd be able to kick Jaemin out without the girls knowing.

With the shouts of the team gradually getting closer, you panicked, chucking Jaemin into a locker.

"Fine, I'll leave! Lemme out!" He squirmed, trying to come out of the metal confines.

"You can't leave now, they're literally outside. Do you want to be stomped to death by Nike Mercurials?" You hissed, closing the door over, much to his protests.

"Don't wanna die with the last image being your breasts."

"If you survive this, I'll gladly provide you a new image."

He shut up at that, and you straightened, reaching for your jersey in a false calmness. The girls burst in, squeals of various greetings being thrown across the room.

You smiled gently at them, encouraging them to get changed, joining in to laugh at their jokes. The topic kept shifting from manicures to new boots before finally settling on Na Jaemin.

"Cap'n, what's going on with you and Jaemin?" One of the girls asked, batting her eyelashes softly. "A boy on the football team told me that you guys are dating."

Dating..that devil? A sin punishable by death! You repelled all instinct to shudder in disgust, instead choosing to maintain a neutral expression.

"I am absolutely not dating Na Jaemin. He's a despicable little mongrel and I'd rather eat my shoe—"

"Mon bébé chérie, why do you curse me like this?" Jaemin squeezed from the locker, voice like a wounded puppy.

"Did you hear that? I think it was—"

"No! It's my Jaemin impression. Isn't it so good?" You spluttered, voice rising in volume. You were sure that your face was a painful beetroot, breathing crazily as you over-exerted yourself.

"Cap'n, it was so good I almost thought Jaemin was in here with us!" She gushed, hands clasped. "You guys would be so cute together. Even if you don't like him, I think he most definitely has feelings for you."

The rest of the girls joined in at this, shouts of 'you should take a chance!' resounding in the hollow room. You'd already ruled out that as a possibility, chalking it down to his uncontrollable thirst for being a pest. Na Jaemin was your rival, the utter bane of your existence, a rodent that fed on robbing your spirits dry of any positivity.

"He'll get a chance when pigs fly." You muttered, noticing their eyes staring at you inquisitively, as if they knew something you didn't. Awkwardly, you smiled at the girls, ushering them towards the door, scanning the hallway after the last one had skipped out.

Jaemin untangled himself from the locker, straightening his limbs, pulling at his calves in a stretch. You peered over your shoulder, frown deepening at him.

"Did you mean what you said?" Jaemin breathed, walking into your personal bubble. He was way too close. His breath tickled your forehead, eyes dark with something you couldn't decipher.

He felt his heart pound against his chest, resisting the urge to pick the stray hair in your eye to the side. You were looking at him with a confused expression, nose scrunched, eyebrows furrowed. You were going to be the death of him. Devastated, he broke eye contact, feeling all forms of fight seep from his bones.

"You don't like me." You whispered, wincing at the wobble in your voice. "Everyone's just saying that....right?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"No. I want you to say no."

"I can't do that."

"Well, you have to say no. I don't want to hear the rest of your sentence — keep us as just this." You softly yelled, pointing between the pair of you. "Don't change anything."

"Okay. I'll leave, but only because you want me to. But, before I go..you've gotta start being more observant." He sighed, ruffling your hair before making his way out.

"I’m plenty observant. Wouldn’t be a good player if I wasn’t.”

"I’ll see it when I believe it. Oh, and the thing you said about pigs flying..”

“What about it?”

“Renjun’s working on it.”

You laughed heartily, locking the door behind you. So, Jaemin did in fact think of you as his Aphrodite — all those nicknames were genuinely created out of affections. 'Mon bébé chérie' held a lot more emotional weight than it did twenty minutes ago, and you had to breathe before your eyes prickled with saltine tears.

Fresh air hit you like a loaded delivery truck, Mother Nature delicately wiping the tears from your eyes, shaking you with a cold flourish, roaring your cheeks to life. The team had already started their warm-up drills, as opposed to the boys' football team who were cooling down from their jog.

You ran over, tightening your ponytail, shifting into 'Captain' mode. The coach pushed you into the circle, encouraging you to take the reins. "Team, we've been doing nothing but straight work. Let's make this session count before the match tomorrow." You shouted, feeling that familiar rush of adrenaline.

The team chanted back, settling into their positions for the first drill — a penalty shoot out. You stepped to the ball, striding back to gain a better angle, socks hugging your knees.

Giving yourself a five second countdown, you charged at the ball, foot pointed, kicking it with a passion that rivalled Lionel Messi. It rolled in the back of the net, flying past Hyejoo, who could barely even process it.

"Still got those fire feet, I see, Cap'n!"

"Lady Luck gave them to me for a reason." You boasted, smugness slapped all over your face.

From the corner of your eye, Jaemin snickered, winking at you when you turned to make eye contact. At least he had the audacity to keep up appearances in front of everyone, even if you had probably made everything awkward.

"My granny could kick better than that, babes!" He boomed from across the pitch, teasing smirk on his lips.

"Your granny lives in a retirement home and still calls on you 'Nana Banana'..it's not very nice to lie." You retorted, eyes narrowed, nearing his hunched form.

"Doesn't mean she can't kick your ass. Granny was a little Aguero back in the day."

"She can't if I'm the Manè, can she?"

"But I'm a Modric. I'll beat your ass, any day, any time." He grinned, leaning in to you. "In any way you want."

You heard blood pumping in your ears, your cheeks filling with immense heat. He grabbed your cheeks softly, grinning even wider when you flushed even warmer, a human sauna. Pushing a lock out of your eyes, he searched your eyes for any sense of rage, face softening at your lack of that emotion.

"Any..way..I want?" You mouthed silently, innuendo catching your attention again as you mulled over the words. "Na Jaemin, you're a dirty boy."

"I think you're the dirty girl." He hummed, saying the next sentence in an octave that made your head spin, quietly enough that only the two of you could hear. "Sauntering around in your little Victoria's Secret bra, cozying up to me without even batting an eyelash or covering up."

"These boobs are mine. I'm allowed to show them to anyone I want."

"So you admit to showing them to me? You admit that you were trying to put on a show for me?" He pressed, purposely craning his neck over you.

"I was trying to change. If you didn't come into the room like a little pervert, you'd never have gotten a visual of these."

"And yet I know how they look now. There's nothing that can erase that image."

"Fuck you, Na Jaemin."

"I think you meant to say fuck me, but I'll allow the slip-up just because I'm so nice." You squirmed under his predatory gaze, heat in your cheeks akin to a fever. "Better get back to training, Cap. Your team's got a match tomorrow."

You hissed at him weakly, choosing to walk away from his provocation, going back to the team, who were all smiling at you with a glint in their eye. By the looks on their faces, they'd definitely taken that exchange as a form of flirting.

Not that you were disputing it, of course.

The coach rounded the girls up, calling them to grab bibs. You relaxed, running over to take the last bib once you'd calmed down. Na Jaemin was a little toe-sucking, filthy mongrel who only knew how to charm his way out of everything — totally not your ideal type or anything.

His penance for being blunt coupled with that honeyed voice was what was throwing you off. Not your physical attraction to him. At least, you hoped so.

The shrill shriek of the whistle behind you shook you out of your mind, bringing your attention back to the practice game. With every shot at the goal, you could see Jaemin taunting you, making kissy faces.

After the first half, you weren't sure if it was real or if you were hallucinating — almost like a mirage, he was wearing that stupid little smirk and there was nothing more you wanted than to slap those lips clean off his face.

Soon enough, you clocked that it wasn't just an illusion, as he'd shifted to the opposite end of the pitch, the other boys from the football team watching from the stands.

They'd started jeering at every pass, exaggerating their reactions, commentary toeing the border of sexual harassment. You volleyed the ball on your foot, battering it into the stands, grinning widely as it hit one of the boys in the face, leaving his nose lopsided.

"If you're gonna be a sexist piece of shit, just fuck off. My team doesn't deserve to hear your brain-dead commentary, nor see your fuck face." You smiled, bite in your voice. "Kindly take the opinion that nobody asked for and shove it up your ass."

Jaemin's eyes twinkled with respect, breath caught in his throat at the dark look in your eyes. He felt his chest warm in adoration, heart doubling in size. "You heard the lady."

"Includes you too, Jaemin. Better get home before Granny Na starts missing her little boy."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Fuck off." You said playfully, recovering the ball. He waved you bye, lugging his bag over his shoulder, fixing the collar of his jersey. A beam touched your lips, face lighting up.

Jaemin smirked back at you, taking his leave. He dragged the remnants away with him, leaving the girl's football team alone in the cooling dwindle of Autumn light.

"Nice shorts." A tug.

"Oh? Na Jaemin complimenting me?" You mused in surprise, arms folded across your chest.

"You didn't let me finish." Jaemin whispered, standing on the sidelines of the pitch, pulling at the hem of your shorts. "Ooh, I can see your stubble. Better bring out the razor."

Your jaw tightened, feeling that rush of annoyance fill your veins again. The nerve.

"More stubble than you'll ever grow on that chin."

"At least I'm not a human Sasquatch."

"I've got hair in the right places—" You started, catching the innuendo, glaring at Jaemin's raised eyebrows. "—I know what I meant. Don't be such a dirty boy."

"Say it again. Love the way it rolls off your tongue."

You gaped at him, whole body blowing a fuse, skin reddening at his tone. Sweltering heat danced atop each fingertip, each muscle, making you jolt. His gaze was still glued to your face, relishing the quickly dilating pupils in your eyes.

"I—"

"—Would rather have you speechless after our first time, not for your championship final. When you win, I'll buy you fucking adorable ice cream with the little star sprinkles that you like."

"Going to ignore you on that first statement, but the second one sounds like a motive."

"Win the match, and I'll ask you out. Properly."

You saw his eyes flash with something passionate, flakes of gooey molasses swirling behind the irises. Before you opened your mouth to reply to him, he pleaded silently for you to just take it as it was. "Gimme a chance. Who knows you better than your enemy? Nobody."

"I mean..."

"Only you know that my grandma calls me those corny names or that I see her all the time."

"Or that you lose every game that's not football because you're too lazy to pay attention." You added.

"And I know that you broke a guy's jaw because he was bothering Yangyang." He continued. "And I also know that you know one thing I've never told anyone."

"Ooh, what's that?"

"That I like you."

You looked away from him sheepishly, goosebumps popping up on your skin, and whether it was from the cold or from his words, you didn't know. He was looking down at you tenderly, ruffling your bed of hair, pressing a small, wet kiss to your forehead as the whistle blew.

"Don't play with fire, Na."

"You're more like a carpet burn."

You sighed, defeated. "Fine. I'll give you an answer when we win. If you're playing me, I'll break your arms."

"Okay. Go get 'em, Lady Luck." He smiled, waving you off as you scurried onto the pitch, face glowing under the fluorescent lights. Jaemin felt his chest tighten with pride, jaw aching from all the strenuous smiling.

With that absurdly contented face, you reminded him of a cross between a kid at a carnival and a man about to kill another. Your hair gathered wildly atop your head, a wicked glare painting your face.

This was you at peace, he deduced. Even with the gruesome of expressions, you looked calm. The pitch was truly your home away from home.

Two minutes into the second half saw you being carried off on a stretcher with a torn hamstring. You'd fallen to the grass, no sounds coming from your limp body. Jaemin swore he felt his heart plunge into his ass, and with a frantic flourish, he was coddling your head into his chest.

"Luck, don't die on me. I'm supposed to take you out for ice cream after this, and I stole Renjun's Baskin Robbins loyalty card to cut costs so if we don't go, I'll be getting beat up without having kissed your stupid face." He babbled, slapping your cheeks, scared that you'd genuinely lost your life.

You groaned, rolling slowly in the elastic. "Stop touching my face, I'll get acne." Mildly concussed, you soothed your throbbing headache, registering Jaemin's face looming over you. "Jaemin?"

"Oh, thank God. Thought I'd never see that unruly sparkle in your eyes again."

"Fuck off. My hamstring feels like a fried chicken mukbang and you're talking about my eyes."

"I can't cry before our first date. You'll think I'm a wimp."

"Already think that."

He hit your arm lightly, beaming at your focus on his face, meeting your eyes. You were glaring at him with a kissable pout on your lips, eyebrows furrowed — he wanted to pepper your face in balmy kisses.

The paramedic pushed him away, leading you to the ambulance. You flipped him off, yelling loudly as they wheeled you in, "Make sure you win! Won't forgive you if you don't."

The girl's football team had gathered around the door, all tight-lipped smiles and crumpled faces. They visibly brightened at your declaration, huddling together to recalibrate — the ref blew her whistle to call them back, summoning them back into position.

Yangyang and Donghyuck left the stands, rushing into the ambulance alongside you, closing the door behind them. Jaemin could faintly hear your loud curses, and sighed in relief, knowing that you'd be fine.

With two goals up, the team were at optimum working speed, playing loyally for your honour. Jaemin stood at the sidelines, holding your jacket in his hands as he recorded the match on his phone, wanting to send it to you later.

At 90 minutes, the girl's team had become the winner of the Division One Seoul Inter-district championship, and Jaemin was content. Not because it meant you'd go on that date with him, but because he could feel how much it meant to them.

Everyone around him was cheering madly, chanting and spraying assorted drinks in each other's faces, an infectious joy lingering in his veins. Amongst all the commotion, he'd somehow been pushed into the middle of the team, feeling their gazes boring into his frame.

"You like Cap'n, right?" The brunette said, eyes bright.

"No. I don't like her. She's my rival." Jaemin lied pathetically, trying to escape their judgement.

"Why were you in the locker room then?"

"Damn. How do you know that?"

"Cap'n is horrible at lying, so she's always upfront. She also cannot do an impression so she never attempts it."

"Wow, you guys sure know your stuff. Bet she's glad to have a team like you. I know I'm feeling a little jealous."

"Cut the smooth talk. If you like Cap'n, just be straightforward. She's more innocent than she seems, and can get her heart broken easily."

"Got it." He nodded, "Well...ladies, I have to thank you for the advice."

"No problem, but if you break her heart.." They chorused, "We'll break that pretty little nose." Fifteen studded feet swung at his face, narrowly skimming the bridge of his nose.

He flinched, caught off guard, grin bared. "Now, I definitely got that message. I'll be going to check up on her, what do you want me to say?"

"We've already called her and shown her the trophy, so we have nothing left to say, you, however...take all the time you need."

"Since I have your blessing, am I allowed to—"

"Don't finish that sentence. Keep in your lane."

Jaemin promptly closed his mouth, and bid them a goodbye, dashing into his car towards the hospital, stopping at Baskin Robbins to buy the ice cream he promised. He hoped you’d at least be able to eat the sprinkles (the ones you liked were expensive, and if you didn’t eat them, he’d just wasted an extra 2,500 won.)

In the hospital, you were now dressed in a medical gown, surrounded by the two idiots. It smelt like an experiment lab, and the spotless shades of ivory splashed on the walls made you feel a tad bit overwhelmed.

Your leg had already undergone the MRSI scan, and the nurses had told you that you’d definitely tore your hamstring, but surgery would fix it right up along with natural healing.

Of course, all those details lacked in comparison to your team finally winning the trophy you’d worked so hard towards — that excitement numbed the pain considerably.

“We thought you’d somehow died.” Yangyang confessed, grasping your hands in his clammy ones.

“You did.” Donghyuck sneered, pointing at him, continuing when he saw your face change in confusion. “Yang was convinced that you were invincible like Superman or something. He started blubbering about how you could definitely defeat the grim reaper in close contact and that should be enough to steal back your soul or whatever—”

“I’m just never going to ask questions again.”

“Jaemin was on the verge of a breakdown when he saw you fall. Never have I ever seen him run so fast towards a girl.” Donghyuck said, hand on chin in mock thought.

You blushed, remembering your promise about the ice cream and falling back into the bed in distress.

“What’s going on with you? I saw you two all friendly at the sidelines.” Yangyang murmured, eyes squinting in judgement. “Don’t tell me...you guys fucked before the game?”

Suddenly it was too hot in the room. You fanned yourself to cool down, slapping your own cheeks before pulling Yangyang’s ears. “Yeah, because I have the guts to just have my first time in a school setting.” You deadpanned.

“Naughty girl.” Both boys swooned, unable to note your sarcasm.

“Just because my leg is gone doesn’t mean I can’t harm you anymore. I’ll break your kneecaps.”

In the midst of your fight with your best friends, you spotted Jaemin opening the door, wearing that greasy smirk that made butterflies tickle your throat.

“I see a broken leg isn’t enough to stop you, is it?” Jaemin drawled from the door, hands behind his back. “Still threatening people?”

“It’s not threatening if they deserve it.” You mumbled, suddenly shy. Jaemin maintained his distance from you, arm outstretched, ice cream tub in hand. He was looking away from you, faint blush tinting his cheeks, lips squeezed in a puffy ‘o’.

“Not that I remembered or anything, but you did say something about liking these sprinkles.” He said, eyes darting around to focus on anything but you.

“I do...like these sprinkles..how did you know?”

“Everyone calls you star, and you’re cute. It’s your personality in an edible sugar shape.”

You rolled your eyes at his words, forgetting both Donghyuck and Yangyang were seated in the room. It felt like the two of you were just stuck in your own world, glaring at each other like a pair of lovers.

Unfortunately, that moment was cut short by your ungracious best friends, cooing annoyingly. They were squealing like little girls, incomprehensible screams of ‘our girl’s grown up!’ scraping your eardrums.

“Leave me alone!” You whined, face scrunched in discomfort, making futile attempts to push them away. “Jaemin...please get these two off me.”

“Asking your boyfriend to get rid of us? Already?” Yangyang hollered, one of Jaemin’s arms stopping him from jumping on you again.

“He’s not my boyfriend. As of now, he’s the only sensible one who isn’t mauling the girl with a broken leg, and that’s why I’m asking him for help.”

“Should I throw them out?”

“Yes —actually, do whatever. Let them go terrorise someone that isn’t me.”

“Your wish is my command.”

On that, Jaemin escorted both boys outside, shutting the door on them, cutting off the beginning to their long-winded rant with a smile. That left the two of you alone.

Oddly enough, the silence wasn’t stifling but rather a conversation of the mind — you were able to see what he wanted to say by looking into those mocha coloured eyes. You threw the ice cream tub in the bin, reaching for Jaemin’s hands shyly.

He’d sat down beside you on the bed, just staring at you like you were an abstract painting, a mosaic of a splendid array, unable to take his eyes off you. He took your hand warmly, running his fingers over your calloused knuckles, sharing his heat with you.

“Jaemin.” You yawned, head falling onto his shoulder. “I’m saying yes to your date. If I didn’t get injured, you could’ve taken me out today, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry. Being with you is enough for me, even if I do want to comment on your horrible tackles during the match.” Jaemin teased, grabbing your hand a little tighter.

“Haha...I’m dying of laughter.”

“Hey! None of that here.”

“Sorry. I’m just happy. My team won our first championship, which we’ve been trying to do for three years, and I feel on top of the world. All those years of boys being absolute dickheads to us about our abilities, trying to put us down have amounted to this moment. I’m at peace right now.”

“Don’t apologise. I should be sorry instead. It was easier to talk to you if I pretended I hated you. I shouldn’t have been like that.”

“I accept your apology. But..I think it was cute you couldn’t tell me you liked me! That’s so endearing.”

“Fuck off.”

“That’s my line! Well, you were always attractive to me, even when you were being a dickhead. Now that I think about it, you’re at your hottest when you’re being mean.”

“Is that so?” Jaemin mused, rolling onto his hands, dangling over you, lips eerily close to your own. “Do you want me to treat you mean, keep you keen?”

“Firstly, don’t ever say that again.” You stopped him, hand placed on his chest to push him away lightly. “Secondly, I’ve never had a boyfriend or my first kiss. That means no experience.” You slurred that last part, rushing the words so he wouldn’t be able to hear.

“Cap’n, you’re telling me that I’ll be your first?”

“Not if you don’t ask me out.”

Jaemin sat back beside you, looking up to the ceiling. This was the moment. He took a deep breath, standing up before you, hands rubbing his stomach softly to calm down.

“I wanted to do a real dramatic confession, but I rushed over here in fear that you wouldn’t be able to hit me again, so I’ll have to stick with my speech.” He cheesed, trying to ease himself of his nerves. You laughed, hissing in mock anger when he wore that stupid grin. “I like you. Like a lot. Sometimes, I come to school with a dirty scowl on my face, but then I see your face and start smiling like a love struck fool. You’re someone that I wouldn’t want to lose.”

“Jaemin, you little mongrel. Come here.” You waved him over, arms outstretched in a hug. “Even though I know your ego won’t let you ask me out properly, I would love to be your girlfriend. However, if my heart is broken..I’ll be stoning your car.”

“Thought you were gonna say that you’d break my face.”

“That too.”

He snuggled closer into you, peering up at you with shining eyes, not wanting to move too much to keep you comfortable. You grinned back at him, placing a soft kiss on his head, running a hand through his hair.

That familiar silence returned, and that’s how you fell asleep with Na Jaemin enveloped in your chest. Although you’d broken a leg, Lady Luck seemed to have twiddled her fingers to send you a ‘get well soon’ present, the ever cunning Na Jaemin.

Five months later had you no longer hobbling around on crutches like a hobbit, but walking proud and tall. Jaemin drove you to school (using the excuse of carpooling) and helped you take your books to first period everyday — the alpha male in him winced seeing you attempt any ‘heavy lifting’, and he’d made it a routine.

“Can you fuck off? I can carry this.” You complained, pinching his side. “Just because I see a physio biweekly doesn’t mean I’m about as able-bodied as a monkey.”

“Got the hair to be a monkey.” He snorted.

“Look who’s talking, Mr.Sasquatch. Bigger feet than his prints, you little scoundrel.”

“Big feet means big—”

“Don’t finish that if you wanna keep the body part in question.”

“—heart. Dirty girl.”

You felt the honey pooling in your stomach, kissing his cheek in haste to escape his relentless teasing. He shut up at that, pulling you back to kiss you properly, attracting the attention of everyone in the hallway.

“Get to class.” He announced as he parted from you, enjoying your petulant face. You hit him softly, flipping him off from behind you, blowing him a kiss.

Ah, Na Jaemin. You still hated him. Just a little less this time.

[yolkyeomie]

Crescendo | Kang Yeosang

summary — The beating of a heart is like a crescendo, screaming louder and louder in one's chest until it's reached maximum capacity, and you’re about ready to burst.

word count — 8.6k words

pairing — yeosang x female!reader

genre —violinist + college au, band au there if you look around a little bit, fluff with like a hint of angst in the later parts

disclaimer — SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT,,, this is more of prologue than anything tbh. also I have almost zero knowledge on college and violins so if this is horrible I’m so sorry. also typos. lots of typos.

part I | part II | part III

I.

There was just something about summer that you liked so much. You just couldn't exactly put your finger on what.

Maybe you liked the sunny days that it would bring? The giant ball of light in the sky beaming down at full power onto every human in sight. It would illuminate the world with a golden glow, bringing out the more natural and earthy colors hidden from the other seasons. The heat would call for unplanned trips to the cool waters and hot sand of the beaches or a quickly made dash to the nearest frozen ice cream shop. Perhaps it was because there was no more school, no more time needed to spend on slaving away for hours at a desk just to not retain any knowledge given.

Or maybe you liked it because it was the time you’d see children the happiest. Every time you biked along the sidewalk to and from your home you’d come across a playground almost always filled to the brim with the joyous sounds of laughter. Children scattered around the playgrounds like little ants to a picnic, grabbing whatever they found the most intriguing for the day. Some would be swinging, some would be sliding, some would even be chasing each other around without any of the equipment catching their attention at all.

However, there was a possibility that you enjoyed the summertime because of the theater your town held. It wasn't very big compared to the ones that could be found in the big cities of your country, but it was nice nonetheless.

There were white walls lined with a fake golden trim along the floors, bright lights nearly blinding one as they walked inside of the theater for the first time. There was a slightly smaller stage than normal, not too tiny but definitely smaller than you’d seen in the more famous theaters. The seats weren't in their traditional curved angles either. They were in neat straight rows leading all the way to the back of the theater where the volunteer tech crew would operate behind the scenes.

There were white walls lined with a fake golden trim along the floors, bright lights nearly blinding one as they walked inside of the theater for the first time. There was a slightly smaller stage than normal, not too tiny but definitely smaller than you’d seen in the more famous theaters. The seats weren't in their traditional curved angles either. They were in neat straight rows leading all the way to the back of the theater where the volunteer tech crew would operate behind the scenes.

Every year your high school would hold recitals for their students in that theater. They would use these performances as a way to showcase their students' growing talents in the art of music or to spotlight their shyer students who never had gotten a chance to show everyone what they were made of. You weren’t in any sort of music group nor did you know how to play any instruments, so you never participated. But you did show up to every recital you could.

When you were in tour first year the only reason you had attended the performance was because your English teacher had promised to raise their overall grade for the year if they did. You were a decent student, overall you had average grades but wasn't the most outstanding person in your class. A few extra points to curve your grades were always appreciated so you had planned on attending the performance.

You had tried to grab a couple of friends to go with you, but all of them coward out when they got the chance. Some would say they were too busy, some would outright tell you they didn't want to sit through a performance they had no interest in. So you ended up simply going with your family, more begrudged than you originally were for the recital.

You had sat through choir members and members of the school's small orchestra and band repeating nearly the same song over and over again. Each song had a different tune, maybe a different style depending on how much creative liberty the singer or player gave themselves. One song was sung a bit louder than the others, another song was played by a small thrown together orchestra than simply a soloist, but they were all the same.

It was boring, and you were growing tired of listening to the same thing constantly. The only thing willing you to stay in your seat the entire time with the arm crushing strength of your mother and your need to get extra points on your grades for the year.

Near the end of the recital was when you had gotten hooked. Your family had finally decided they were going to pack it up for the night, her father had to work early in the morning and you were going to be thrown over towards your grandparents for summer. Just before you could have risen out of your chair to leave behind your parents, you heard it. A different melody than the ones that have been rocking your brain that night.

There was a boy walking on the stage, probably no taller than you was at the time. He was tiny for a first year boy, probably one of the shortest in his class as well. His hair was like a fluffy brown bunny's tail, bouncing and tousling itself around with every step he took. There was a string instrument in his hands, from what you could see was a red-tinged wood violin. You couldn't quite see the expression on his face either though, due to the distance you were from the theater stage.

You hadn't even realized you were holding your breath until he plucked one of the strings, letting the note resonate through the theater and bounce off the walls and into their ears. He had played a note, on a different key from the other performers. He was playing a song that his fellow violinists hadn't picked. He was different.

The sound was like a siren's song that grabbed the audience's attention and placed it to the stage. His melody started out soft and somber, almost as if the violin itself was conveying its unspoken emotions. The violinist was trying to use those emotions his instrument lent him to serenade the tears in the audience's eyes to fall and hit the ground simultaneously, creating their own beat to his song.

After a moment of enticing the audience to his performance, he sped up his pace. His quiet song suddenly grew in size until it overpowered every other sound in the room. He strummed each string with a quickness you didn't even believe was possible, his bow striking each note like it was powerful enough to create an earthquake. In a sense, it was like he and the violin had become one being, his string instrument becoming an extension of his arm as he played.

The audience whispered in wonder and amazement of the boy's talents, unable to take their eyes away from his figure. It was an enchanting sound so you couldn't blame them. The violinist had brought you into a world completely different from reality, where every object and plant in sight was made out of his musical chords.

How does a boy, barely over the age of fifteen, have this much power in his hands? You would be cursing yourself if you didn't grant him the title of prodigy right then and there.

Unfortunately for you, you couldn't listen to the rest of his alluring song. Your family had dragged you out of the theater to finally retreat to their humble abode for the night. After that night you had declared to yourself that you’d find the violinist who played that song, whether you had to search all summer for him or dig around your school for him. You’d attend every recital and every performance your school's small orchestra had just to get him to play for you again.

However, you lucked out each time you tried. Your school's orchestra didn't allow students outside of their instrumentalists into the classrooms. The violinist boy was too short for you to find in a crowd at their performances either. You even tried to find someone who might be close to him, but no one seemed to step up to the plate. This went on for the rest of your high school years. The only time you could see him where those days after the school year had ended, listening to him play those high energy tunes and somber melodies for his recital before he disappeared from existence once more.

That was, until now.

Plus you made a little bit of money on the side as well, and who didn't like money? Sure most of it was going to your tuition for college but there were times where you liked to splurged on your own interests every once and awhile.

"You seem tired," a feminine voice commented, making you turn around to face her. It was a girl, around your age, walking towards you, her long sleeves rolled up against her arms to mirror the way her shorts looked. She sat down on the pavement next to you, handing you a water bottle ice cold to the touch. "I would be too if I rode around in this crazy heat. I'm surprised you haven't melted at the mere light of the sun yet."

"I almost did," you responded, taking the water from her hands gratefully. "Today was unreasonably hot... I felt like I was sitting right in the middle of hell. And the fact that my bike is made out of metal, too? It's a miracle I didn't get third degree burns or something."

The girl went quiet for a moment, her brow furrowing in thought before speaking again. "You know I can always do it for you? The delivering stuff. It's my family's business anyway, I should be helping them out, not relying on you to do all of the hard work for me."

"Are you serious?" you questioned, suppressing the unusually strong urge to laugh. "You can't even ride a bike or skate. Nor do you have a car either, it'll take you hours to get from one house to the next. And I like the money I earn from doing this for you, I can't get a job anywhere else so this is just perfect for me."

"But still!" She complained, a pouting donning her lips as you screwed open the bottle cap. "I feel bad seeing you bike along in this hot ass weather for my family! I gotta do something to give you... at least a little relief."

You laughed at her desperation, placing the water by your side to face her fully. "The relief you can give me is not playing your cello so loud in the morning. You play wonderfully, trust me, but it's so loud and I'm so tired." you clarified, reminiscing on every time she'd walk up to her house with the sound of a cello's notes wavering through the air.

The girl wasn't in their school's orchestra, she had picked up on the instrument as a hobby. She didn't have a desire to play it in a school setting or professionally no matter how much everyone would suggest otherwise. Yet she suddenly began to really start practicing more often when her next door neighbor had moved in two years ago. You remembered exactly how frustrated the girl was when she discovered that he played guitar at maximum volume in the middle of the night without any regard for anyone else.

To counteract his annoying behavior, she'd open up all the windows in her house and began to play her cello as loud as she physically could in the morning times. It became a war of the instrumentalists after that and neither of them seemed like they were going to stop any time soon.

"Oh you know I can't do that," She responded, glaring at the house to their left where the guitarist resided. "He'll take it as me surrendering to him. I don't even want to think about what he'll do in the middle of the night once I stop. Probably bass boost his guitar so that it's even louder than normal! Oh god, I won't ever get any sleep if he does that."

You found it funny really. The two had never even met each other face to face. "Right... and we don't want that happening do we?" The girl shook her head vigorously in response to your words, taking your sarcasm very seriously. "I still think you can at least tone it down a little bit... this is our last year, in a few months we'll be dragged off into a bigger city to attend colleges and universities for another four or more years. Are you really going to be playing your cello first thing in the morning in your dormitory?"

"Well..." the girl pauses, taking your words into consideration. "No... I won't really need to since I'm not bringing it with me."

"Exactly!" You exclaimed, clapping your hands together and giving the girl a mocking smile. "Now I think you should at least go over to that boy's house and settle this raging war before you move onto better things. Make amends with him, he might even become a new friend of yours for the future. If not, you're not gonna see him again. There's a very high possibility that he's not going to the same college as you, or that he might not be going to college at all!"

She rolled her eyes at your suggestion, forcing herself off of the ground reluctantly. "Fine. I'll go make amends with him or whatever. But I'll only do it if you give up on the violinist boy from the recitals."

You stiffened at the mention of your high school goal, your very unsuccessful goal of finding him and making him play a song for you. "It's like you said, this is our last year here as teenagers. You've been trying to find him longer than I've been waging this musical war on my neighbor. It's about time to lay to rest, you. Seriously, it's more painful to watch than those terribly edited movies from my parents' watch for the "nostalgia"."

"Ouch there was no need to stoop that low," you mumbled, making the girl laugh in turn. "But I guess you're right. I've failed at finding him for this long, I might as well just give up now."

The girl nodded before patting your shoulders in reassurance. "If you really want to hear someone play music so bad for you, you can always ask me. I know a cello sounds nothing like a tiny violin but I can always try?"

"Actually that doesn't sound like a bad idea," you mumbled after a moment of thinking.

"Perfect!" The girl hummed, nearly jumping with excitement to show off her talents and pleasing your several years long urge to have someone play for you. "Usually I only play for my family but I'm very willing to show off what I've been working on. There's this one song I've using to annoy the guitarist boy in the morning and—"

"Go," you reminded her, your smile growing wider at her friend geeking out about her work. "Go get your cello and actually play it for me."

She nodded at your words, skipping on her feet as if she was as light as a feather towards her house. You knew it would be a bit of a struggle in moving her instrument from her room to the outdoors but if the girl was willingly and happily doing it, she had no reason to stop her.

It was a little funny though, how much you were surrounded by people who were gifted and talented in the form of music. Your school's orchestra knew you because of how you’d always try and snatch a peek into their classroom and attended their performances. Your closest friend was a cellist, but only played for hobby and the boy next door was a guitarist. All these connections started happening because a boy you had been chasing after for four years was a violinist.

You'd think you’d pick up some sort of instrument to attract them to you, and trust and believe you tried. You attempted to start playing many instruments after that summer night in your first year. Guitar, flute, piano, trumpet, you even tried to learn the violin yourself. You just weren't musical gifted, you didn't have the patience nor the ears to learn any sort of instrument that passed your way. The best you could do was play a sad tune on the kazoo or laugh into a harmonica.

It's even funnier when other’s learn that your mother used to sing and play the piano while your father played the clarinet when they were in high school. Go ahead and laugh, you knew you were a musical disappointment. Music was practically flowing strong in your blood and you sucked at it. Don't even get started on dancing either, it was a frightening sight to see. Those who could live to tell the tale never told the tale to anyone.

A melody began to float through the air once your friend disappeared into her house, catching you off guard. It wasn't the sound of an electric guitar, shocking the hair and making your skin prickle with its overbearing and booming sound. It was soft and sweet, vibrating through the air as if it was playing with the wind that blew by every few minutes. You could immediately identify the instrument as a violin, it's slightly strained notes from the bow connecting with the strings were all too familiar to you.

You turned towards the guitarist's house where the song was the loudest. To your knowledge, the boy didn't play any other instrument than the guitar. Yet the violin's sweet yet sorrowful song was coming from his house. Without even thinking you rose off the ground, following the song's notes like it was your guide. You had heard the door of your friend's house open again, signaling that the girl had successfully brought her cello from her room to the front of her house. Unfortunately for her, you were walking a little faster than she could drag her cello case.

"Y/N?" The girl called, trying to catch your attention. "Y/N, where are you going?"

You stood in front of the guitarist boy's house, right before where the balcony was hanging. The door to the balcony was ajar, letting the cool afternoon air into the room and releasing the melody of the violin out. "Is that the guitarist boy's room?" you called out to her friend, not taking your eyes off of the balcony. Just as you spoke the violin came to a screeching stop as if the mere sound of your voice was disrupting the flow of its song.

"No," the girl responded after abandoning her cello and running to your side. She pointed to the other side of the house where the window's blinds were closed yet light still shined through them. "His room is right across from mine, I should know I get the brunt of the blow every time he strums his stupid guitar."

Your voices dropped into pure silence when you saw something moving in their direction from the balcony. The door to the outside area slowly screeched open as the figure on the other side pulled on its door handle, stepping onto the wood floor of the balcony and letting the floorboards creak under their weight. Your eyes widened at the sight of a red-tinged violin, it's body scratched from its long term usage and its color dull from the lighting the setting sun had given them.

A boy stepped into view after the violin, the brown hair bouncing on his head like a bunny's tail. His resting face looked like you were staring at a statue, unable to catch any hint of movement in most of his features unless he blinked his eyes every few seconds. Right beside his eyes was some sort of mark, more of a rosy color than the rest of rather pale skin. He must not leave his house that much. After a few moments of silence, he leaned over the balcony's hand railing and spoke, "What do you want?"

The girl beside you glanced between the boy and you frantically, trying to piece two and two together. "you... is that the—"

"I want," you yelled up to him, interrupting your friend's question to respond to the boy above them. A smile began to play on your lips as you spoke, excitement festering up in your chest. You had found him. You had found the violinist from your first year. "I want you to play for me one of your best songs yet."

II.

There was just something about mornings you hated, no matter the day of the week. They'd always leave you more exhausted than you were the night before, whether you had gone to sleep late or not.

Maybe it's because of the dorm room you stayed in, assigned the room the moment you had gotten accepted into your university. It wasn't tiny, but it was definitely much smaller than your room at home. Your belongings barely had enough legroom with your roommate's whole entire area taking up more than half of the room. Despite being rather clean, to an extent, and cool during the day it was also incredibly hot at night.

A few months back the air conditioning unit for the floor you lived on broke down due to age. The university had reassured the students that they'd be looking into the broken unit and the technicians would be coming in and out of the building to fix it. However, they were rather slow with the process. Instead of just moving toward the third floor where the problem had started, they were moving from room to room on each floor the building had.

Apparently, they were just going to fix the problem in one go, however one go suddenly turned into a few days. A few days turned into a few weeks. And a few weeks turned into two months.

Thankfully they were on the edge of the summer season, the crisp breeze of the autumn air in October beginning to blow throughout the city. However that breeze simply abandoned them every time the night fell, the hallways and the common room being filled to the brim with students trying to escape the blazing heat. One would think it would be much cooler around the nighttime, so did they.

You weren't the heaviest of sleepers either, which meant you'd wake up at even the slightest vibration of a phone. One could only imagine your reaction when your alarm clock suddenly blared its ear piercing wake up call. The irritating buzzing of the built on alarm would always shock you out of bed like a cat. Yet even when you knew you were wide awake, you constantly struggled to force yourself up and out of your room. If time would allow it, you would lay in your very warm and comfortable spot in the bed for at least an hour or more.

What's even worse for you was that your dormitory was co-ed, which meant that next door to you was a group of boys who were sharing a room for the school year. They were loud, constantly moving around in the middle of the night, and screaming at random times of the day which usually ended up being the time that you used to study. There were always noise complaints about those students. No one on their floor, or the floor above and below, like them that much. Yet they never seemed to tone down the problem, they made them worse with every noise complaint that was filled to their resident assistance.

Every time they'd get a noise complaint, they'd go and find someone else who was just a little too loud one day and pin the blame on them. It was a way to show that everyone in the building made a commotion and that they shouldn't be the only ones punished for it. You didn't really care about what they were doing until you had suddenly become a target one day.

"I'm sorry, what?" you questioned them, leaning up against the door frame with your arms crossed. In front of you stood the two boys that lived in the dorm next to you, nearly towering over you like the buildings in the city thanks to the monstrous amount of height. They appeared to be up to no good when they had randomly shown up, and you were absolutely right.

"Are you the one who has been playing that music for the past three days? What was it... classical music?" He asked, tugging at his hair as he spoke. He glanced towards his roommate for confirmation, who nodded his head vigorously in response to his question. "Are you a music major or something? Maybe in the orchestra? If not it's been blasting really loudly lately and my roommate here has a majority of his classes at eight am. Right, Jaehyun?"

The boy didn't seem like he was on board with being used as an excuse at first, raising his eyebrow and staring at his roommate in confusion before turning to you. "Right, I have to get up so early for all my classes. I'd really appreciate it if you keep the violins and cymbals and triangles to like a minimum so that it doesn't bother me anymore."

"If not we'll take it to the RA," His roommate quickly added to put their threat in full effect. "And we'll file a noise complaint for disturbing us."

You scoffed at the thought, wanting to slam the door closed and forget about their petty revenge. "Aren't you the same duo that got a noise complaint filed to them last week because of an extremely loud yet unidentifiable thud..." you began before turning on your heels and correcting yourself. "Oh, my apologies. I meant boom, extremely loud yet unidentifiable boom that came from the laundry room. Only for one of the students on the lower floors to go down there and find that one of the washers and dryers had literally malfunctioned and exploded?"

"Listen," One of the boys tried to interject, his ears burning bright red as you kept talking. "That's not... listen, we—"

"Didn't they go on the security cameras to find out who had done the damage? Because a washer and dryer going suddenly haywire on its own is extremely worrisome and dangerous for the students who may have been around during that time. And weren't you two—"

"Classical music is such an amazing genre of music!" The roommate interrupted, yelling over your voice in a panic. There was a pained smile on his face as he hooked an arm around the other boy, punching his arm to follow along as he spoke. "I mean, it has such a clean and light texture to it, simplistic but a great melody nonetheless! God, it gives me nostalgia for a time I wasn't even alive in! Isn't that right, Jaehyun?"

"Oh," the boy spoke, his eyes darting in between his roommate and you. Slowly a smile began to grow on his face to mask his growing embarrassment as he gestured towards the other boy. "Of... of course! Johnny has such nice music taste! So you know when he says a genre is really good it really means something. Seriously love classical music, man. Lulls me right to sleep!"

Needless to say, they choose to not bother you as much as they used to. The strange and loud noises that would echo through the dormitory walls had gotten significantly lower since that day. They didn't stop completely yet but it was enough for you to keep your peace of mind before waking up every day.

Your mornings had gotten relatively calmer after that incident as well. Both of those boys were usually out of the dormitory by the time you were awake to attend classes or work, so you didn't run into them much during the week. You'd have calm enough mornings to where you didn't feel the need to nearly pass out on a car or bus ride to your campus and almost miss your stop. It felt like a dream come true when you would hop out of whatever vehicle you were in and would be right on time before your classes even started.

"Y/N!" A feminine voice screamed, catching you off guard when an arm suddenly slung around your neck. You clutched onto the bag hanging off your shoulder as you nearly tumbled to the ground at the sudden addition of weight, bringing the other girl down with you as you struggled to comprehend what was going on. They got a few stares from the other students who were arriving and leaving the campus but no one said a word to them. Thankfully everyone practiced the art of minding their business. "You'll never guess what I got!"

"Do I want to guess?" You questioned, shoving the girl's arm off of you so you could regain your balance. Once you were stable enough to stand up, you turned around to see who had stumbled into your path. The girl's eyes were wide with innocence and excitement as she stood in front of you, fidgeting in place as she tried to contain herself. Most of the energy she'd originally be exerting into jumping up and down was focused into the beaming and bright smile she couldn't wipe off of her face even if she tried. "Do I have to guess?"

"Yes, you have to," She demanded, holding her hands behind her back to hide whatever got her spirits high. The girl must have ordered some sort of object online again and simply couldn't wait till after your classes to show you. "It's so worth it, I promise! Just... just guess!"

A sigh escaped your mouth as you straighten your posture, reading deep into the girl's expression to try and figure out what it was. "I'm going to guess—"

"Two front row seats to our school's very own band performance!" The girl nearly squealed, shoving two flimsy pieces of paper in your face. You took a few steps back in order to align your sight with the tickets, taking them out of the girl's hands to inspect.  Both tickets were for general admission, their names printed on it with the date they were expected to attend the performance. "Aren't you excited? I literally fought tooth and claw to get these before they sold out, and you know these sell out fast!"

"Band? Like the guys who play trumpets and bass drums during school games?" You questioned, glancing up from the tickets to face your friend. The tickets didn't have exactly who was performing written down on it, simply stating that it was a live music event. "Why would you go watch them play? I thought you were more of a... pop genre person?"

The girl rolled her eyes at your response, snatching the tickets from your hands and placing them back into your pockets. "No, not the band. Who goes out of their way to specifically watch our band team play?" She hissed. "I mean like rock bands. You know, the type of people who play the drums and guitars in one big band and perform on stage with a lead singer and everything. That type of band."

"My point with you being a pop genre person still stands," you mumbled in response.

"Yes I do like pop music, I understand that," The girl clarified. "But we're going to see Aurora. Our school's very own rock band! Do you seriously not know who they are? I know you listen to classical and orchestral music and all, but I thought you were at least in the loop with Aurora!"

You scoffed as you began to walk forward, shoving your hands into your pockets and you spoke. "Just because I don't listen to the popular music right now doesn't mean I'm out of the loop! I'll have you know that I am a very big fan of idol groups. I even participated in those farewell events when groups’ oldest members start enlisting in the military."

"Idol groups have absolutely nothing to do with Aurora and you know it," your friend grumbled. "Do you seriously not know who Aurora is? At all? Have I seriously been friends with a hermit crab this whole time?"

"Fine then," you shrugged. "Go ahead, tell me about this Aurora band since you're so obsessed and knowledgeable about this group I've never heard of."

Aurora is a much bigger thing than you had imagined. From your friend's knowledge, it was a group of boys who had gathered around the beginning of the year together, all of them having several different traits and personalities that simply meshed together all too well. They had created the band, Aurora, for fun at first as they were all instrumentalists with different crafts. They had started busking in order to make money as a side job and quickly grew in popularity with the audiences they performed to.

Their university had caught wind of their musical abilities and had asked them to perform during the annual club fairs to help attract more students. After that, they seemed to have skyrocketed in popularity within the college campus. Jung Wooyoung, the group's bassist, Song Mingi, the group's lead guitarist, Choi San, the group's drummer, and Jeong Yunho, the group's lead singer, had become some of the most well-known people on campus.

Everyone seemed to know them and wanted to listen to their music, which is why your friend was so excited to be getting front row tickets to their next performance. You thought it was funny though, Wooyoung was the guitarist boy that lived next door to the girl. 

"The past is in the past!" She exclaimed, throwing up her hands as the two entered the university's building. The indoors wasn't very crowded, all the students attending were spread throughout the area either taking a break before their classes began or nearly booking it straight up the stairs in fear of being late. "Sure I wanted to murder him with my cello beforehand, but it's okay because we put our differences aside like you said we should have. And it's good that we did because we ended up going to the same university."

"So..." you began, thinking for a few moments before turning towards your friend. "Does this mean he's your favorite member? I mean you've got the background and chemistry for a nice little love story don't you think?"

"Oh absolutely not," she immediately responded. "We may have made up that summer but I have not spoken to him since. Plus my favorite member is their drummer so if anything I'd like to start a love story with him. Do you think I should plan out of my outfit for the music event? What if I actually start a love story with him like in those tv shows my parents used to watch? We catch each other's eyes during the performance and before we're about to leave I get asked backstage to meet him in person!"

You visibly cringed at your friend's fantasizing, putting four feet of space in between the two of you. "Gross. Go to class before you contaminant me with your fantasies."

"Oh shut up." She rolled her eyes, stopping in her tracks so that you were forced to wait for her. "Everyone likes to fantasize about their love life every once and awhile. It's natural to want something grander than reality to happen to you."

"You are the most cliche woman I have ever met," you mumbled, glancing over your shoulder to look at the girl. "You just told me you want to make eye contact with him and immediately fall in love just like that! Have a fun time dreaming about that while you stand in a crowd full of people in your general direction."

"You're so mean to me!" She yelled, causing everyone in the vicinity to turn and stare at the sudden commotion. "You're just mad that the violinist boy from freshman year refused to play music for you even when you got on your knees! And you were looking for him your entire high school career!"

You sprinted towards the girl at full speed, clamping your hands over her mouth to silence her. She screamed into your hands as you dragged her away from the public eye and muffled her voice. "Heejin, are you out of your mind?" You growled, looking behind you to see if anyone had heard her. "I thought we had both agreed to pretend like that never happened?"

The girl pried your hands away from her mouth and smiled innocently up at you. "We did promise. I just never forgot."

You shoved the girl towards where her lecture hall was located, a frustrated frown growing on your face as a pinkish flush began to creep across your face. "Go to your stupid business math class. Go before I chase you all the way there!" you threatened through gritted teeth. Her friend laughed at the girl's response, skipping like a child to her class for the day.

You really did get rejected that day, it was too ingrained in your brain to forget. The boy had stood on the balcony staring down at the two with a bored and uninterested expression in his eyes, tilting his head like a dog's when you screamed your demands up at him. Honestly, you didn't know exactly what you were expecting. Did you really think that he was just going to pick up his violin and start playing whatever tune he knew just because you asked him to? You didn't even say please!

You had spent a good ten minutes arguing with the boy about how you had been searching for him for years just to make him play at least ten seconds of a song for you. Each time you'd explain your situation to him, he'd immediately give you a dry response of why he kept declining you. He didn't even say it politely! He stared at you straight in the eyes and told you," I don't want to play for you because you aren't worth it."

You swore if you could jump high enough, you would have bounced onto the balcony and strangled him for his rude behavior. It was truly a sight for sore eyes watching an angry and frustrated high school senior scream up at an innocent looking but totally uninterested boy on the balcony. The argument was always almost completely one-sided as well, which made it slightly embarrassing to watch from the sidelines.

You had forced your friend to promise you that she'd either forget the whole incident or pretend like it never happened. Either one was good with you since your friend was known to tell everyone's stories when you weren't paying attention. She had gone this far without saying anything so the urge to talk about it must have been truly bubbling up inside of her. It's been a few months since the incident occurred and the memory is still fresh in your minds.

"God, I'm never gonna live down that stupid incident am I?" you grumbled, practically stomping towards your end destination. "Just when I thought maybe I was finally growing past it, she has to go and bring it back up again. Doesn't she know I'm still healing from that embarrassment? It took a toll on pride and this is how she helps mend the wound? By opening up again?"

You stopped in place when a melody began to waver in the air, following along the cold breeze of the university's air condition. The music notes hopped from breeze to breeze as it traveled through your ears to the next. The sound continuously grabbed your attention as each note was struck no matter how many times you turned to keep walking. It was hitting you like a rock to the head as your brain immediately identified the music maker to a violin.

You slowly turned around to see a few students peering through a crack in some double doors, staring intently on what was on the other side. "They're at it again," one of the older students spoke, holding the door open for his friends to look through. "They're much earlier this time than usual, we'll only catch a little bit of the performance. Do you think something important is happening?"

"You think they're competing for first chair again?" One of the younger students asked, glancing up towards the boy who had spoken beforehand. He shrugged in response to their question, but he seemed to agree for the most part. "Whatever it is, I bet Hong is about to take the first chair again. He's always the first chair. No one can beat that boy when it comes to the violin."

"Kang is always right behind him though, don't forget that," another voice reminded, trying to get a better view of the inside. "Both of them are musical prodigies, and the conductor has always been fond of Kang's playing style. I think he'll get first chair this time."

You couldn't help but let curiosity take over, standing just a few feet away from the group of friends and trying to peer through the small windows of the door. It was rather dark near the entrance to the room, but farther back was lit up by lights that illuminated the wood floor stage where two performers stood. The doors seemed to have led towards an auditorium from the looks of it. You couldn't exactly see their faces from how far away you were, but you could make out a little bit of what was actually going on.

A boy stood in the middle of the stage, the music coming directly from him as he strummed the violin with his bow, grace and elegance oozing off of him. He seemed rather focused on playing his violin precisely, not missing a single note in the song as he allowed the rich and melodic song to ring through their ears. The opened door seemed to amplify his sound even more, ringing within your brain as if it was trying to engraved its sound into her ears. Hearing a violinist play in person was truly much different from hearing it through speakers.

In a chair behind the violinist sat another figure, holding what seemed to be a violin as well in his hands. You assumed that it was the competition who had played their song earlier before you had arrived on campus. His shoulders seemed to tense as the violinist held his final note, a plaintive sound echoing through the auditorium as he held his form to leave an everlasting effect on his listeners.

The students in front of you held their breath as he finished, staring intently at where you assumed the conductor was sitting for his reaction. There was a moment of silence after the note finally fizzled into nothingness, no longer bouncing off of the walls after finding a home in the audience's ears.

"It's Park," the younger student spoke, standing up from where they originally crouched down. "Park is the first chair once again. Honestly, was I expecting a change? No, not really. He's just that talented."

"I was really rooting for Kang this time," the other student spoke, huffing as they crossed their arms in disappointment. "I wonder what he did to not get picked again this time. Usually, Kang performs wonderfully but we weren't early enough to catch his turn."

"Whatever it is," the older student added, shutting the door to the auditorium and shrugging his shoulders. "I'm sure Kang will get over it. I mean that's always next time! But I guess I say that every time this happens..."

When the trio had disappeared from sight, you couldn't help but open the door to the auditorium and peek inside. You had been walking past this exact area how many times and you didn't even notice an event like this happening? Your either extremely stupid or completely oblivious, there's no in between.

You pulled on the heavy auditorium doors, peering in the room to take a look for yourself. The room was chilly, much colder than the breezes nature had been giving you so far. It was like you had stepped straight into the freezer, feeling the need to rub your arms for warm to make sure you didn't suddenly die from the cold. "How long has this place been here? I could have sworn this was an administration office or a classroom... literally anything but an auditorium..." you mumbled to mumbled, your eyes drifting towards the stage.

Only one violinist was at the stage, his instrument dangling in his hands as he sat in silence. The other violinist and conductor were nowhere to be seen, abandoning him to be alone with his thoughts. He must have been the one who wasn't picked by their conductor for first chair, reveling in his defeat by his peer. "Is it that serious?" you mumbled, going to close the door before you zoomed to your class, only just a few minutes late.

Though you saw the violinist rise from his seat in the corner of your eye, approaching the edge of the stage to leave the room. Of course, being the generally nice person you were, you pushed the door back open, holding it open for the violinist to pass through. "Hey, are you about to— Woah! Woah, woah, woah, don't do that!" You yelled at him.

The violinist had raised his instrument high above the ground, a bored and uninterested look in his eyes as he debated on whether he was going to let the violin drop from the height it was at and scar it. It definitely wasn't going to shatter and break, but an ugly dent would be achieved through the notion. Your yelling seemed to stop him in his tracks, preventing him from possibly making the worst decision in his life.

"Don't violins cost a lot of money?" You nagged, forgetting about the door you were holding open and marching towards him. "I know you might be frustrated over whatever just happened but is it really worth breaking your instrument? You should be satisfied with the fact that you even got the chance to be chosen as an option for, what was it, first chair? Whatever it is, I think breaking your violin might be a really bad..." you trailed off as you got closer, slowing down your pace as you got closer to the stage

The violinist stared at you through his long blonde bangs, his eyes gleaming in the dingy and dim stage lights. Despite the horrible lighting it seemed to illuminate him as if he was some sort of statue on display, every curve and sharp corner of his face being highlighted just perfectly. His impassive expression refused to let you in on any sort of emotion or thought in his head, locking you out with every chain known to man. His eyes glanced over you, reading you like an open book before he finally spoke. "Why... do you care?"

Your eyes dropped from his face to his violin, taking note of the bored expression and the red tinged violin in his hands. It seemed like it had been used frequently, it's the color worn from age and usage with scratches scattered throughout the instrument's body. "Oh...," you trailed, dropping your hands to your side in defeat.

How long had he been here? Hiding right under your nose in what seemed to be plain sight. How long were you going to go without realizing the violinist from your freshman year was attending the same university as you? "It's you again."

The boy titled his head curiously, a moment of silence expanding over them like a blanket. You felt like you were going to twitch and squirm under his gaze, the eerie silence of the auditorium and his almost blank stare making the atmosphere uncomfortable for you. All you could think about was the one sided argument you two had; how you had embarrassed yourself in front of your whole neighborhood just because you wanted him to play a song for you. The amount of humiliation that was crashing over you like angry waves could have washed you right of the auditorium if it wanted to.

The violinist crouched down on the stage to look down on you, resting his head on his hands as he began to speak. “Do I... know you?”

“Do you know me?” You repeated, disbelief prevalent in your tone of voice. “Did you really just ask that? Of course you know me! Remember from this summer? Just a few months back?”

The boy nodded his head as you spoke, absorbing all the information you were telling him and letting it process in his brain. He closed his eyes as he began to form his final thoughts, leaning back on his heels before opening them again and staring at you. “Ah... I remember now. You were Wooyoung’s fling for a couple weeks... right?”

“What?” You exclaimed, a rosy pink tint spreading across your face as you spoke. You’ve never even spoken to the guitarist boy when he lived near you, nevertheless have a fling with him. The mere thought of doing something so... dangerous like that made your skin crawl. “No... I don’t... listen, are you serious? You don’t remember who am I at all? Not a thing about me seems to trigger some sort of memory in you?”

“Not to be rude,” he responded, lifting himself out of his crouched position and beginning to walk across the stage to the stairs positioned at the side. “But you don’t look like the most memorable type. I mean if I don’t remember you are, would anyone else be able to?”

His blunt honestly was like a knife to the chest, only he was repeatedly sinking the weapon into your already open wound. Had he always been this straightforward with people? Of course he was, that’s why you never got him to play a song for you. You didn’t even know whether or not you liked the fact that he didn’t recognize who you were because he had formatted his words. You’d much rather be remembered for something embarrassing you did than be forgettable as a whole.

Though by the time you had clocked back into reality, a snarky and rude comment ready to hit the bullseye on the back of his head, he was gone. There was no sign of violinist boy anywhere in the room, as if he has quiet literally disappeared into thin air. “I should have just let him smash his violin to pieces,” you rumbled, now not only late to class but also filled with bitter rage that wasn’t even reciprocated.

[alj4890]

May the Fourth Be With You Drabble

(Thomas Hunt x OC) in a And Then I Met You Drabble.

A/N I am a big, we're talking huge, Star Wars dork. I also love the books by Jeffrey Brown showing Darth Vader as a father to little Luke and Leia. Since Thomas and Amanda have a set of fraternal twins after their daughter, Kathleen, in this AU; this idea came to me today.

@lxaah11   @alleksa16   @penguininapinktuxedo   @blackcoffee85   @stopforamoment           @krsnlove     @annekebbphotography        @hopelessromantic1352   . @sunflowergirl05      @greywitchyshots   @lilyoffandoms  @moodyvalentinestories  @emceesynonymroll   @my-heart-beats-for-ya @aworldoffandoms   @ab1901     @lolablackwrites     @flyawayboo   @sophxwithers​   @trappedinfandoms   @esmckenzie. @choicesficwriterscreations

Masterlist

May The Fourth

Every few minutes there was some type of pounding of footsteps running past or squeals. An occasional argument could be detected, yet mercifully Thomas couldn't make out the words.

Of all the days, why had Amanda agreed to host a playdate between their three children and Addison and Matt's brood of five?

He tried once more to focus his attention on a potential screenplay he had been given. There were some scenes that he had difficulty picturing as the voices beyond his study door rose and fell like the tide.

He jumped when his door was thrown open and his son, Ian, burst in. Out of breath, the little four year old quickly shut the door and pressed his body to it.

"Ian, I thought I told you I didn't want to be disturbed." Thomas reminded him. "When that door is shut, it means I am working."

"Sorry." Ian whispered. "But it's May the fourth!"

Thomas merely blinked. "And?"

"And they're after me because I'm your son!" Ian gleefully explained.

"Who--"

Kathleen poked her head inside. "There you are! Hurry! We found a way past the guards!"

"Coming!" Ian dashed after his older sister.

Thomas softly groaned and shut his door once more.

Just as he was deep within another scene, he was startled by his youngest child peeping over his arm.

Four year old Elizabeth' s eyes narrowed at the paper in his hand. "Are those the plans?"

"Elizabeth," Thomas muttered. "Go play with your siblings and friends."

He made the mistake of looking at her face. Her big hazel eyes, so like her mother's, were filled with sadness when she turned toward him.

"But Daddy, it's May the Fourth!" She pointed at her hair made up with two small buns at her ears and the white nightgown she was wearing. "It's your turn!"

"Turn for what?"

"To be in the story!" Elizabeth took his hand and tugged. "Come on, Daddy!"

"I am working." He reminded her. "When I finish, I will come see what it is you're talking about."

"But then it will be too late!" She wailed.

"Elizabeth, I don't--"

Just then Ian appeared with a toy lightsaber.

"There you are, princess!" Ian said with all the drama worthy of being a director's son. "I'm here to rescue you!"

Elizabeth sighed. "You forgot to say who you are."

Ian's frown firmed at that. "I'm Luke Skywalker."

"And?" Elizabeth prompted.

"Oh! I came with Ben Kenobi."

"Obi-wan! Here!" She replied.

"Yeah." Ian grabbed her hand and tugged.

"Aren't you going to fight Daddy?" Elizabeth asked her twin.

"I don't fight him now. Mommy does." Ian explained.

"But, I'm with him." She looked up at their father.

Ian tilted his head too at this unexpected development. "But he isn't in costume yet!"

"Oh." Elizabeth's shoulders dropped. "Daddy! You have to change! Your part is coming up."

Knowing it was futile to keep arguing with these two, Thomas set the screenplay in his desk drawer."

"Those were the Death Star plans." Elizabeth said in a loud whisper.

"They were?" Ian's eyes widened.

Thomas's lips trembled with mirth. "It is fully operational."

Ian and Elizabeth's mouths dropped open at his deep voice reminding them what the Death Star was capable of. They both had to fight their giddiness at finally having their father play with them.

When Thomas followed them out, he saw the complete transformation of his home. The living room had multiple rolling chairs in different positions. A tan blanket covered the floor in one corner with stuffed Jawas strewn about.

He noticed his daughter, Kathleen, dressed in gold and moving like a robot with Addison's youngest, Myles, wearing a blue shirt and a silver mixing bowl on his head.

Michael and Marcus jumped out from behind the couch toward their two little sisters. Marcus was clearly Han Solo while his tall older brother was Chewbacca. Both of the Rodriguez girls were Storm Troopers.

As they made pew pew sounds while aiming toy guns at each other, he saw Ian help his twin up on a recliner. The two looked down while Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her brother.

Ian mimed throwing a rope at the ceiling fan. His little face scrunched in disgust when Elizabeth kissed his cheek.

"For luck." She told him.

The two jumped off the chair, neither able to hide their smiles as they ran off once more.

While dodging the Rodriguez battle, Thomas made his way upstairs.

"Stupid beard." He could hear his wife mutter in the master bathroom. "Why do men even bother?"

Thomas leaned against the doorframe and watched her try to loop the beard just so around her ears. She had on one of his old tan bathrobes with the hood pulled up to hide her dark hair in a bun.

She smiled when she noticed him. "There you are!" She kissed his cheek while hurrying to point out his costume she had prepared on the bed. "Hurry. Our big lightsaber battle is about to start."

"So I heard." He folded his arms. "I was trying to get some work in before we leave for Cordonia."

"But it's May the Fourth." Amanda replied, as if he should automatically know what that meant.

"Yes, our children have been repeating the date to me with each interruption." He reached out to straighten her lopsided beard. "Why does that matter?"

"May the Fourth?" She repeated. "May the Force Be with You."

"Ah." His children had become obsessed with the franchise. "And I'm Darth Vader."

"Well, not to point out the obvious," Amanda's smile brought his own out, "but you are the father of twins."

He snorted softly.

She wrapped her arms around him. "I know you wanted to work, but these moments we have with them are rushing by so fast. Soon they won't want us to play with them." She raised her hand to his cheek. "An hour or so won't matter with work but it will to them."

She had hit in the one area he could never say no to. If there was one group of people he would drop everything for, it was his family.

"What am I supposed to wear?"

She kissed him then burst out laughing when he told her she better shave before doing that again.

Within minutes he was dressed in all black, had a cape on, and the voice modulated Vader mask had been placed over his head.

Amanda tossed him a red lightsaber while snatching up a blue one.

"Just in case you forgot," her eyes twinkled with mischief, "I was trained in fencing by some of the best masters in Europe."

"Yes, but I'm the master now." He taunted back.

Her smile, so like the excited ones on their children's faces, brought out his own once more as he followed her downstairs.

All the children froze when they heard the familiar breathing sound.

"Rebel scum." He greeted with a slight bow. "Princess, shouldn't you still be in your cell?"

Elizabeth clasped her hands over her mouth while bouncing in excitement.

"You'll never get ahold of her again!" Ian yelled out. "Right, Marcus-I mean Han?"

"Yeah! Chewie and I are getting paid for this rescue." Marcus nudged his brother.

Michael tried to do the growl, causing Kathleen to giggle.

"Lord Vader!" Ashley and Ally saluted him. "We've rounded them up for you."

"Excellent." He replied. "Though I sense something I haven't felt in a long time."

"Get him Ben!" Ian cheered when his mother turned her lightsaber on.

All the children sat down and watched the two adults fight. The couple gave them a sparring match that had them cheering with each near blow.

Amanda winked at Thomas. "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."

Lifting his lightsaber, he slowly brought it across her. She fell to the ground, his large robe hiding her body perfectly.

The children gasped. Ian, remembering that he was supposed to react to Ben dying, jumped to his feet and yelled out, no.

The rest of the time was spent with the kids in various rolling chairs, pretending to fly and dodge each other. Thomas remained behind his son until Michael and Marcus sneaked up behind him, sending his chair to spin as it rolled off into a corner.

After Elizabeth gave them medals, Amanda called an end to their playing by saying that lunch was ready.

Thomas collapsed on the sofa after pulling his mask and cape off. He wished he had thought to film their play. Each one had truly tried to be the characters they portrayed.

Amanda leaned over his shoulder and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"I shaved for you." She teased.

He chuckled while tugging her around to sit with him.

"Do you think they had a good time?" He asked.

The children's excited voices could be heard, each fighting for a chance to share their favorite parts.

"Very much so." She replied, resting her head on his shoulder. "They will remember this...always."

[fandom-collective-writers]

Mystery Date

Pairing: Ray Blackwell x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 1,691

Written by : @rikumorimachisgirl

Disclaimer: I do not own Ikemen Revolution and its characters, but this fic is conceptualized and written by me.

It happened on a Monday - that fateful Monday morning, during the Black Army Officers' daily huddle, which you've started attending as part of Sirius's Intelligence Division. Today's meeting was the same as always - nothing uneventful, thank goodness - which meant you could start training with your troop in about ten minutes… At least that's what you thought until Ray asked the magic question.

"Are there any other items you'd like to discuss before we adjourn?" The young King of Spades scanned the room one last time after everyone had given their updates. 

"Oh! Oh, I have one! The Festival's on Friday, " your seatmate, Fenrir, cried out. 

"Yes, we are all aware and preparations are underway, " Sirius said calmly.

"Oh-ho, but we may have missed out on an item here - a very important item, " the Ace of Spades insisted, as he pulled you to your feet, much to your surprise. "This lady here doesn't have a date to the Lunar New Year Ball yet."

All in attendance gasped. All, that is, except for Ray. The King of Spades sat back at his desk, his gaze lingered at you, as you blushed furiously beside his best friend. 

"You should have said so sooner! I would've asked you instead of that Red Army chick that Kyle introduced to me at the bar two nights ago, " Seth whined. 

"Why not go with Luka?" Sirius suggested.

"I'm on duty that day, " the Lieutenant tenant General replied, dispassionately.

"See? Told ya we had a problem…" 

"You guys don't have to worry about it, " you said, cutting them off before they start giving out suggestions. "It's really not a big deal. I can be on duty on that day, too."

"Or you could get all dressed up and attend the ball with a mystery date, " Ray finally spoke, and silence filled his office once more, as he smiled smugly at you. "And I've got the perfect person in mind for you."

"Well, how about that, " Fenrir turned to you happily. "See? My best bud's getting you a date! What did I tell ya - it ain't a problem, right?"

"Yeah, " you replied, trying to conceal your nerves as you watched Ray leave his office, still smiling smugly. "It's gonna be fine." 

***

You lazily crawled out of bed, silently cursing Fenrir and Seth for your lack of sleep. Ray had snuck out of base after dinner and the two officers you were patrolling with did nothing but put ideas in your head. After getting dressed and applying concealer under your eyes to hide the dark circles, you head out to join the team for breakfast. 

"'Morning."

You jumped at the greeting and heard a familiar laugh behind you. 

"Did I scare you?"

"Not really, " you replied after taking a few calming breaths, as you heard him approach. "Good morning, Ray."

"Rough night?" He peered at your face, as the two of you stood in the hallway just outside the dining room. "Your eyes are red."

"Oh… I… I was up reading, " you started, while watching him cock an eyebrow at you. "I was reading through the applications we received to check for high potentials…"

"If you say so, " he said, but you knew well enough that he didn't buy your excuse. As he made his way to the dining area, you pulled at his sleeve to stop him. 

"Hey, Ray -"

"Hmm?"

As his emerald green eyes met yours, you felt your heart pound and your cheeks flush several shades redder. He was so attractive, it just wasn't fair - from his messy dark hair and naughty smile, his lean physique, commanding presence, and his love for books - everything about him was perfect…

Too perfect, you were sure his date to the ball was, too. 

"Uh, are you okay?"

"Yes. Sorry, " you said, shaking away your previous thoughts. "I was gonna tell you that you don't have to find me a date -"

"Oh? That's too bad because I already did and he said he's excited about it."

"W-what? You already told him?"

"Yesterday. But you can't find out who he is until the ball. That's how a blind date goes, right?" he smirked, gazing deep into your eyes. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask before we head on to breakfast?"

"Yes, " you said bravely, squaring your shoulders as you met his gaze. "What about you, Ray? Who will you be going to the ball with?"

His eyes twinkled as he smiled wider. "Why so curious?"

"N-no reason." 

"I'm going with the prettiest girl in Cradle, " he said, winking at you before he opened the door to the dining area and stepped inside. 

You watched his retreating figure, grateful to the gods that he was immediately greeted by the soldiers and the rest of the officers. If he had turned back, he probably would've seen the crestfallen look on your face. 

***

"He wanted me to ask you what color your dress is for the ball."

You stared at Ray in disbelief. He had asked you to stay behind after the Officers' morning huddle on Wednesday, and you thought for sure it was because of something urgent. There in his office, with no one else around but the two of you, you thought of all the dresses you currently own. 

"Don't tell me you haven't thought of that."

His remark made you wince. "Don't blame me. I wasn't planning to go in the first place, " you retort. "And I haven't even fully absorbed the fact that I have a date, so don't pressure me."

"Well, he has to know to be able to match what you're wearing." 

"I know, I know…, " you said, wishing that Seth was there to coach you. "What about the silver dress I wore to the summer ball? Jonah said I looked good in it."

You watched him wrinkle his eyebrows in thought. He seemed to be trying to recall what dress you were referring to. The dress had a modest neckline and a very low back and hugged every curve of your body. 

"Too daring, " he frowned. "Do you have other options?"

You sighed and shook your head. "I can't think of any at the moment, " you said. "But why don't you ask him what color he's wearing and I'll shop for a dress to match."

He looked at you briefly and nodded to signal that you could leave. That evening, you received a daintily wrapped package that contained the most beautiful blue dress you've ever seen. Along with the dress came a note that had three words. Three words that made your heart skip a beat. 

See you Friday. 

***

After the morning huddle the next day, you kept looking for ways to stall leaving the office before Ray did. When you were finally alone, he glanced up from his desk and smiled. 

"Is there a reason you're still here?"

"Yes, " you nodded and cleared your throat before walking up to him. "Please tell my date that the dress fits perfectly, and I love the color."

"Good." 

"Hm?"

He coughed. "Good. It's good to know you like what he chose."

"But I have a favor to ask, " you blurted out before your nerves got the better of you. "Can you please teach me how to dance?"

"Why me?"

"Well, I figured you'd know what kind of dances he'd like, and I don't want to embarrass him."

He stared at you thoughtfully, and you lowered your gaze as the silence engulfed you. 

After several seconds, you heard him exhale. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Meet me here after dinner, " he told you. "But if you step on my feet, we're stopping."

With that promise, you left his office with a spring in your step. He was glad you were distracted, else you would've seen how he smiled tenderly as he watched you bounce out of his room. 

And as you swayed to the music in his office that evening, you silently wished your mystery date was as amazing as the man you were dancing with. 

*** 

I'll meet you in the lobby of the Civic center at 8. 

You held the note Ray handed you that morning from your mystery date. It was five minutes to eight in the evening, and you had just arrived at the Civic Center in the Central Quarters. You smoothed out the elegantly embroidered blue gown your date had picked out, just as you had stepped out of the carriage. 

'This is it, ' you said to yourself. You were five minutes away from meeting your mystery date… and five minutes away from seeing Ray and his beautiful date. 

You took a deep breath and tried to shake the thought of the young Black Army Leader off your mind. Tonight should be about you and your mystery date - probably the only guy who took a chance at going on a date with you. 

"'Evening."

You jumped at the unexpected greeting, and you once again hear a familiar laugh behind you. You froze on the spot, your heart pounding wildly. 

"Somehow this scene seems so familiar, except I was talking to a spaced-out soldier that morning, " you continued to listen to the voice as it grew closer by the second until you finally felt his breath behind you. "And tonight, I'm talking to the prettiest girl in Cradle."

"Ray?"

You turned around and saw him standing right behind you, looking dashing in his crisp black suit and his bowtie that matched the color of your dress. 

"Hi, " he said, as he flashed you a dazzling smile. 

"Is this some sort of joke?"

"I can tell you it's not, " he said, as he tucked a stray curl behind your neck. "And you are the prettiest girl in Cradle - at least I think you are."

"Then why didn't you just ask me?"

"Because I wanted our first date to be something you'll tell our children about, " he winked and offered his arm. "Well then. Now that we've sorted that out, shall we go in, my lady?"

You smiled and placed your hand in his, playing his words over and over as you danced the night away with your one true love, your mystery date. 

The end.