#i love thesis papers as long as i manage my time well

[soyboysace]

did i breakdown a lot during my thesis years? absolutely. would i make a quantitative paper on doctor who fandom statistics just for the heck of it? absolutely

[sagesskies]

ᴛᴏ ꜱᴛᴇᴀʟ ᴀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ I

✒ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴀʀᴅᴇɴᴇʀ'ꜱ ꜱᴏɴ, ᴡʜᴏ ᴋɴᴇᴡ ʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ.

ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇꜱ: ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱɪꜱᴍ, ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ʜᴏᴍᴏᴘʜᴏʙɪᴀ, ᴘʀᴏᴍɪꜱᴄᴜᴏᴜꜱ ʙᴇʜᴀᴠɪᴏʀ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ (ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴᴇᴅ ᴏɴʟʏ), ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ɪꜱ ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴀᴘᴀᴛʜᴇᴛɪᴄ

You always loved a good romance. 

Sure, it was looked down upon for a man such as yourself to be reading a novel instead of a thesis, or helping your family manage the estate, but you never cared. Your siblings all begged you to do your job as the first born, and take charge, especially now with your parents growing old, but again, you never cared. 

Currently, the book you were reading was one with a most interesting premise. A young noblewoman is mugged by a dashing thief, and instead of punishing him, orders for him to be made her guard. Between the two, a beautiful romance blossoms. And to think their first meeting the thief thought to steal from her. 

You chuckle, “The only thing he managed to steal from her was her heart,” 

Before you could turn to another page, you hear the sound of heavy footsteps marching to your room. 

You sigh, it’s probably one of your siblings. What would they complain about now? Perhaps your laziness, perhaps your waste of intelligence, maybe this time they’ll complain about your lack of a wife. 

When the footsteps stop outside your door, you brace yourself for whatever nonsense they’ll be bringing to you today.

“I cannot believe this- [Name], have you heard?” Your brother burst into your room, looking dishevelled, and clutching a piece of parchment tightly. 

You set down your novel, “Heard what exactly?” 

James slams the piece of paper down on your table, “Your loverboy,” He sits down on the leather armchair across from you, “He’s back in town, and he’s apparently come to ask for your hand in marriage!” 

You blink, not many things can render you speechless, but this is certainly not what you expected to hear today. 

What did James mean, your loverboy? No matter how good your looks are, and no matter how many people you’ve slept with in the court, you don’t have a loverboy. Hell, you’ve made sure that none of your family ever found out about your various affairs.

“What, who-” You shake your head, “James, what exactly are you on about?” 

James simply taps the paper, “Just read it, [Name].” 

Sighing, you pick the letter up and do as you're told. 

 —

To my dearest, [Name]

Good day to you, my love. I am writing this to inform you of my return to the estate. I apologize for my sudden departure all those years ago, I assure you that I will never leave you again.

You may be wondering where I’ve been all this time. Well, I anticipate that you’ll be pleased to learn that I’ve been studying under the esteemed lawyer Maxwell Yates, you may remember him from multiple cases such as that of Nathan Lynch, Carol Wolf, and Jonah Hewitt. According to him I am the best student he’s ever had. 

But enough about me, I’ve heard you are still yet to wed. Though it is no good for a man such as yourself to remain a bachelor, especially at your age, I cannot express to you enough my happiness that you’ve remembered our promise and saved yourself for me. 

Despite the distance these past years, I promise to you I have not strayed away from you. You are the only one who understands me, who accepts me, and sees me for who I am, my dearest [Name]. You are the only one for me, and that will never change. 

We may still be separated for now, but I promise you, we will not be apart for long my love.

Best regards, your future husband,

Glenn Alston

—

You set the paper down, and you bury your face in your hands. 

You can hear the pity in James’ voice without even looking at him, “I know that you and Glenn were close, and had a special relationship, but you cannot marry him-” 

You raise a single hand, and he stops speaking. You sigh, and sit up straight, “I won’t marry him, James,” You smirk when James looks visibly relieved, “Same sex marriage may be legalized, but I won’t dishonor the family name by engaging in sodomy.” 

James groans, “You know that’s not why we’re against it,” Your family may have high standards for you and never failed to express their disappointment, but they weren’t narrowminded, god imagine how horrible they’d be if they were. 

You chuckle, “Yeah yeah, he’s still the gardener’s son even if he’s some sort of bigshot lawyer now.” 

"And you won't authorize his entry into the estate, right?"

That makes you wonder if you should. Regardless of how you feel, Glenn's father would still like to see him again, even if the man ran away. And Glenn would be a useful asset to the estate, considering how your other lawyer was already getting old.

You shrug in response, "Probably not." You say that to only appease your younger brother, who'd surely throw a fit if you said otherwise.

James nods, clearly satisfied, “Well then, I’ll be going now,” He glares at the romance novel, “And please stop reading that senseless drivel, [Name].” 

You roll your eyes, and ignore his protests as you push him towards the door, “This ‘senseless drivel’, is what your fiance reads in her pastime,” You raise a brow at him, “I’m sure you don’t want her to hear what you said about her hobby.” 

James sputters and tries to find the right words for a decent comeback, but clenches his fists and huffs in frustration, “Fine! Keep reading then,” He turns to leave, but then stops, and turns his head to look at you, “Wait, what did Glenn mean by you remembering your promise?” 

“Aaaaand that’s my cue to close the door,” You grin at him, though it’s strained, “This was fun, bye bye Jamie!” 

“I told you to stop calling me that-” The door closes, and you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. 

Your gaze settles back on the piece of parchment. You walk over to it, and pick the letter up. 

“When did his penmanship get so neat…” You can’t help but feel a twinge of envy, writing was never your strong suit. Well, you never really had a strong suit. No matter how hard you tried, your performance would be mediocre at best. No amount of sucking up from your instructors would change that. 

Despite the bitterness you feel, your eyes soften as you trace Glenn’s elegant strokes. Your mind can’t help but wander to when he first asked you to teach him how to write… 

—

Rarely did you ever willingly go to the library, much to your parent’s chagrin. The entire atmosphere was so stuffy, and you hated how quiet it was. It felt dead, and the old lady who worked as the librarian didn’t help. You swear, one day she’ll fall off the stepladder and her ghost is going to haunt the library for eternity. 

Today was a special occasion however, it was Glenn’s twelfth birthday, and because you forgot to get him a gift he got to request something from you. He didn’t tell you exactly what he wanted, all he told you was to meet him at the library. 

You sigh as you walk inside, ignoring the librarian’s glare when you don’t bother to minimise the sound of your footsteps. 

Sometimes you wished Glenn could be a normal kid, and ask for something like a sword, or a new kite, or something else dumb kids liked to play with.  But then again, if he was anything normal then you wouldn’t like him very much. 

The library was a large room, with various shelves all arranged according to genre, like an actual public library. Your mother told you there were many ancient books and tomes within the shelves, all brought here by your ancestors. You tuned out most of what she said if you were being honest, the only other thing you remembered her saying about it was that there was a book that could make a mini explosion happen. 

You wandered through the room, looking for Glenn. It didn’t take you long to find him, the dark-haired boy was carrying a stack of books in his arms and set it down on one of the tables. You waved over to Glenn, and sat beside him. 

“Why are-” Before you could finish your sentence, Glenn, very rudely, placed a finger to your lips and his hazel eyes hardened into a glare. 

“Lower your voice, [Name]!” He whispered, “We’re in the library.” 

You glared back at him, and licked his finger. Glenn yelped, and immediately pulled back quickly, nearly toppling out of his chair. The noise he created earned him a stern: “Shhhh!” from the librarian. 

Glenn pouted, his cheeks flushed and his ears red. You smirked. It was so easy to fluster him. 

“Anyways, before you oh-so rudely interrupted me,” You spoke softer now, “Why are we here?” 

Glenn was still clutching the finger you licked, and he avoided your gaze, and muttered something under his breath. 

You rolled your eyes, “Geez man, I only licked your finger.” He was acting like you bit him instead, or something else weird. Sighing, you grabbed his chin and turned his face towards you, “Seriously, speak up.” 

Glenn gently pulled away, having learned his lesson now, and then cleared his throat, “I, uh… I wanted to ask…” He took in a deep breath, “Couldyouteachmehowtowrite?” 

“Uh, what?” 

Glenn sighed, “Could you teach me how to write?” 

“Oh,” You blinked, and then furrowed your brow, “That’s it?” You expected him to ask you to read him some big boring book about history or something, this was way more manageable. 

“Yeah, I don’t want to keep asking you to read for me anymore,” He pushed a pad of paper towards you, and handed you a pencil, “It’s embarrassing.” 

That was true, at his age usually he should be the one reading to others, but people from Glenn’s social class never learned how to read unless they were being sponsored by a noble family. But Glenn never seemed to mind before, what changed? 

“Did Emil tease you again?” Emil was the asshole son of the captain of the guard, your presence always warded him off from picking on Glenn, but you couldn’t always be there for him. 

When Glenn didn’t respond, you sighed. Glenn had some weird complex about being seen as capable and dependable in your eyes, but you could care less about whether or not he could handle himself. Unfortunately, you were never the best at expressing your emotions. 

“Emil’s a little prick,” You ignored Glenn’s soft gasp, and started to write the alphabet on the pad of paper, “Guys like him are everywhere, Glenn. Stop caring about what he’s saying, his words don’t matter.”

Glenn muttered, “But they still hurt.” 

Glenn, for how much he tried to look tough, was always so sensitive to what others thought about him. It was another way you two were so different from each other, he could never stop caring, while you just didn’t. 

You set the pen down after finishing the letter z, “Yeah, that’s because you let them.” You glanced at Glenn, since he was shorter than you, all you could see was the top of his dark hair. You wondered what the expression on his face looked like.

Glenn remained silent, and so you sighed, “Anyways…” You handed the pencil to Glenn, “Copy this.” 

When Glenn finished, you took a piece of empty paper from the pad, and handed it to Glenn, “Now do it again, this time without the reference.” 

You weren’t a good student, in fact you were a terrible one. You never did your homework, you barely showed up to class, and whenever you did you never paid attention. Glenn was unfortunate to be stuck with such a lousy person for a teacher.

When Glenn handed the paper back to you, you hummed, “Well, it could be worse.” That was being generous. Glenn managed to remember A, B, and C, but completely skipped D and E, somehow messed up G, and seemed to have merged I and L. However, it was… okay. Considering how this was his first attempt. 

Glenn frowned, “It’s terrible isn’t it?” 

You ruffled his hair, “It’s not bad for a first try man, hand me the pencil,” You take it from his outstretched hand, “So, this is not how you write G, this is how you actually do it..” 

You and Glenn stayed in that library till it was five pm, and you were both being shooed out of the library by the old hag, and then separated when Curtis took you to get ready for supper. 

Perhaps you weren’t such a lousy teacher after all when Glenn was able to write properly only three weeks later. You still remember his smile when you read the letter he wrote to you for your birthday, and you still remember the immeasurable feeling of pride you had for him. 

You can still remember the letter he left for you, the day he disappeared. The warm, wet tears that fell onto the parchment, as you struggled to read through Glenn’s handwriting. The emptiness in your chest, like Glenn ripped your heart out and took it with him when he left. 

—

How things have changed. 

You wonder who taught him to write cursive, was it Maxwell Yates? A fellow student? Perhaps it was a young woman, who fell in love with him like you did, and wanted to have his heart like he had stolen hers. 

You let out a shaky breath, and place the letter in the same drawer as the other one. When you open the drawer, and see the weathered parchment, the tear stains, and the childlike scrawl, you feel your chest clench. 

“You’re over this, [Name],” You remind yourself, “You’re over him.” 

You fold the paper, and set it down with more care than you should’ve given. You close the drawer, and lock it. 

You look at your novel, and realise that you’re not really in the mood for romance anymore. You pick it up, and set it back on the shelf. 

[lily-blue]

13 reasons why | reason no.11: the baristas can speak numerous languages

☆ characters: barista!junhui & foreigner!you (Zhixiao - ‘98 liner) ☆ genre: coffee shop au, humour, angst ☆ summary: you like that Junhui always speaks his mind around you when he thinks you don’t understand the words he’s saying because those times he makes it obvious that your feelings are reciprocated; however, what starts out as an innocent lie - a harmless albeit intentional omission of truth - almost ruins your chance for a happy ending ☆ words: 8,7k ☆ taglist: @dat-town​,@soobin-chois​

➼ chapter index

Even though you liked your personal space and had no problem having fun on your own, you were a great friend. An amazing, attentive friend, really. Someone who might have called her loved ones out on their ridiculous behaviour, but supported them nonetheless, because at the end of the day, you were a firm believer that even a seemingly horrible idea could have put people on the right path - on the path that led them exactly where they were supposed to be.

Thus, for those who knew you, it came as no surprise that you had willingly relocated your study sessions with your best friend from the uni library to a downtown coffee shop just because her new boyfriend worked there as a manager. With how extremely busy Yuri could get due to her teacher assistant and substitute high school literature teacher duties and her two majors out of which one required a well-written thesis paper by the end of the year, you understood her need to at least see Wonwoo while you were working on your assignments and quizzing each other for upcoming tests. Especially because they weren’t one of those cringe couples who couldn’t keep the PDA at the bare minimum around their single friends. In fact! If you had had time to give it a serious thought, you would have realised that you had never seen them sharing anything more than the chastest, softest, shortest kisses when you were around.

They were definitely more subtle with their stolen glances, too, than you, who were openly ogling at Junhui whenever his shifts aligned with your weekly study sessions. It was both surprising and unsurprising that he hadn’t noticed your interest in him yet, but you supposed that his obliviousness was somewhat charming, and you were also too busy for a serious relationship. As much as you hated Yuri’s asshole ex-boyfriend for dumping her in public, you knew you wouldn’t have been able to settle for those baby steps they were taking with Wonwoo. Hence, at the start of your university career, you had promised yourself that you wouldn’t have committed until after graduation, and you were adamant to keep yourself to your word.

Still, as you were witnessing another female customer chuckling by the counter at something that the Chinese barista told her, you couldn’t have helped but wish that he would have been still single when the right time finally came. Otherwise, he would be your one that had gotten away.

‘Have you finished your research analysis? Mine is getting way too long,’ Yuri’s question pulled you out of your head, forcing you to tear your gaze away from the customer who took way too long in the line, making the people behind her visibly fidgety.

‘My analysis?’ You asked, holding onto those pieces of information your brain had actually managed to register, although you didn’t stress over whether your best friend had caught you red-handed or was unaware of your growing dislike towards the giggly girl.

With furrowed eyebrows, Yuri nodded.

‘I still have two entire aspects to explain in detail, but I’m almost there. They shouldn’t take up more than three, three and a half pages,’ you said, quickly checking your notes and the progress you had made in the last two hours. Admittedly, you had always had a problem with word and page count requirements despite your major - you were a zealous journalist-to-be in the making -, but somehow working on your thesis paper came easily. Maybe, because for the first time since you had become a student, your options were plenty: you had been allowed to choose your own topic, your own consultant, your own research methods. Unlike many, you loved every second of the journey.

‘But are you within the required number of pages? I think I need to get back to a few points and delete a few sentences,’ the girl frowned, tapping on her keyboard and clicking with her mouse vehemently. ‘Or entire paragraphs.’

Well that… that made you jut out your bottom lip a little. You made grabby hands at her over the table that you shared under the coffee bean sticker.

‘Come on! Give me that laptop. I’m sure it’s not half as bad as you make it to be,’ you reassured her and took the device from her when she lifted it over your empty plates.

First, with an easy keyboard combination, you checked how close she was to the maximum number of pages, then skimmed through the paragraphs, paying more attention to those that looked massive at first glance. Fortunately, she didn’t have many of them. You managed to get rid of almost an entire page of word vomit in half an hour without damaging the core value of the paper.

Unruly locks falling into your face, you were chewing on your cheeks from the inside when a soft thud made you look up from the screen.

‘I’m sorry,’ Junhui said before he quickly repeated his apology in Chinese, so that you could understand as he was still under the impression that you didn’t speak the local language. In his defence, you had never bothered correcting his assumption, but that was because some things were simply too entertaining to purposely put an end to them. ‘Your cup was empty for a while now and you work so hard,’ he rambled before he pointed at the freshly made mocha next to your notes that you had never ordered.

His thoughtfulness made you feel warm.

‘Thank you, I haven’t even noticed it honestly. It’s really nice of you,’ you offered a smile that turned into an amused chuckle when not even ten seconds later, Wonwoo walked up to your table with a glass of iced coffee on a metal tray. You wondered who had stolen the idea from whom.

‘I…’ Junhui started, unconsciously giving in to his nervous habit when he cracked his knuckles one by one methodically. You wished you could have put your hand on his to stop him from further damaging his joints.

‘Would you like some pastries, too, girls? A sandwich?’ Surprisingly, it was the always quiet Wonwoo who broke the silence, his question attentive albeit business-like. He sounded more like the manager of the place than your best friend’s boyfriend, although it was true that the former would have taken your money for the snacks, while one look at the boy’s rose-tinted cheeks and shy smile was enough for you to know he meant them as freebies.

Your eyes met Yuri’s and you wiggled your eyebrows a few times before your gaze slid to the Chinese barista, then to her boyfriend. You prodded your best friend in the shin with your foot to make sure she understood your silent request.

‘Do you still have one of your chicken-avocado sandwiches, Wonwoo-yah? She’d really love to try it,’ she assisted you, so that you could live with the opportunity even though you could have afforded your own food. It was nice to get special treatment every once in a while even if you knew it was all thanks to Yuri who - unlike you - politely declined the offer. ‘I’m still full from those donut balls with lemon custard, but thank you. Tell Mingyu, they were delicious. I really enjoyed them.’ She smiled at the boy, then helped him collect your empty plates while you were busy observing the small changes in Junhui’s facial expressions.

The barista seemed more lost than flustered by the time Wonwoo left and your best friend took her laptop back from you.

‘Can I help you with something?’ You inquired with your chin resting on the back of your hand, completely disregarding Wonwoo’s confused look when you addressed his friend in his native language instead of Korean.

You wondered whether you had noticed his reaction because he was standing in your line of sight or his emotions were oozing out of him for everyone to see. However, Junhui made no sign of acknowledging Wonwoo’s bewilderment, hence you guessed it was all in your head. That, or the boy was the most oblivious person you had ever had the pleasure or misfortune to encounter. One day, you would definitely need to sit down with him and talk to him about his total lack of situational awareness and its dangers in today’s society.

‘With something?’ He asked, scratching his nape and you suck in your lower lip to keep your urge to laugh aloud at bay. You didn’t intend to embarrass him more than how awkward he must have already felt. ‘No. No, thank you. I… I think I should, yeah. Go back, you know?’ He rambled and you nodded along his every word, endeared.

‘Yeah, it’s a busy afternoon, isn’t it? I’m sure Yeseo would appreciate the help at the counter,’ you agreed without checking how many people were standing in the line to get their order from the girl. It didn’t matter. Agreeing with Junhui and soothing his nerves at the same time didn’t hurt anyone even if you had already seen afternoons much busier with only one barista standing behind the coffee machine.

‘Good luck with your assignment,’ he lifted his fists for a “hwaiting” before he slowly turned his back to you and rushed back to work.

‘You should tell him you speak Korean. You clearly make him nervous,’ your best friend said with a disapproving shake of her head that you ignored on purpose. It wasn’t like you were straight out lying into the boy’s face or hurting him intentionally. Not to mention that it hadn’t been you who had addressed him in Chinese first. It was all on him that he had never asked you whether you were speaking the local language to any extent in which case you would have come clean right away.

‘You think he’s nervous to speak in his native language?’ You raised a brow in amusement, her boyfriend’s temporary absence not registering in your mind until Wonwoo came back to your table with a chicken-avocado sandwich on a porcelain plate.

You thanked him for the food with a small bob of your head and a bright smile.

‘He’ll feel stupid when he realises,’ Yuri frowned, her argument quiet, but impactful. It made you frown, too, so you bit into your sandwich and used it as an excuse to prolong the silence. You knew that your best friend was only trying to look out for you and Wonwoo’s friend, and you were also aware that she hated confrontations. These were your main reasons for not letting your hurt get the best of you and saying something you might have instantly regretted in the next second.

‘How are the kids in your class? Any crazy stories these days?’ You asked between two bites, diverting the topic as soon as you swallowed down the first one. Considering how tired your friend’s sigh sounded, you supposed she wasn’t too happy about your choice, but she played along nevertheless for which you were grateful.

You would talk about Junhui another day.

Rationally speaking, you were well aware that pulling two all-nighters in a row because of your upcoming exams, piled-up assignments and the last-minute editing of your thesis made you more sensitive to a lot of things including noises and lights, but you still thought that you were being followed. The fact that the street lights made every stranger, who was taller than you, look sharper and more dangerous didn’t help at all. Your heart was hammering in your throat.

You were on your way home from a long study session with a few of your classmates for a group project, mentally cursing yourself for leaving your powerbank in your other backpack, when you became aware of the rhythmic sound of a pair of sneakers coming from behind you. It was super unnerving because usually the streets in downtown were loud enough to shut out individual noises, but this time it was as if your entire being was hyper fixated on the loud thud, thud, thud that resembled your own speeding up steps. Could it have been all in your head?

You were too freaked out to look over your shoulder and check it.

If you had been studying in the university library, you would have taken the metro to get back to your apartment, as you lived three minutes from the closest station, but since one of the guys had wanted to be able to eat snacks during your brainstorming session, you had opted for a quieter bubble tea and coffee shop where you knew the owner wouldn’t have sent you away to make more space for new customers. When your nervous eyes landed on the lit up windows of Coffee Carat, you had never been happier that Freefall was so close to Wonwoo’s workplace or that you had to walk in that direction to get home.

Resisting your fight or flight response and the growing urge to just hold onto your tote bag and run for your life, you did your best to stay as calm on the outside as possible. You didn’t want the person who was very likely following you to know you were onto them. Who knew what kind of reaction that would have triggered in them.

Your hand was trembling like a damned leaf in the autumnal wind when you finally reached the familiar double door and instead of walking past it, you pushed it open urgently. Your legs almost gave out when it closed shut behind your back, shielding you from the outside world.

You didn’t know how long you had been blocking the entrance before someone walked up to you, but you flinched without meaning to when the person touched your upper arm ever so gently.

‘Hey. Is everything alright?’ Wonwoo’s voice reached your ears from under heavy layers of water, and you nodded, forcing yourself to look him in the eyes.

‘I’m just…’ you started. Admittedly, you weren’t sure whether it would have been a good idea to tell him what had chased you into their shop so late. Not because you were afraid of his opinion of you in case you were seeing things due to sleep deprivation, but because you would have bet your life on it that it would have gotten back to Yuri, and you didn’t want to worry her. ‘I’ve just had a group meeting nearby and still have some school stuff to work on at home, so I came by for a cup of coffee. To re-energize,’ you said.

‘Okay,’ Wonwoo replied with a curt nod; however, it was clear as day that he didn’t believe you. It didn’t matter. At least he was considerate enough not to push for details. ‘Coffee to go? Or would you like to finish it here? Rest a little before going?’ He asked and you gulped, pushing down the urge to look outside the window to check whether the person who had been following you was still lingering nearby.

‘Yeah, a break sounds nice. Thanks,’ you agreed easily and you both walked up to the counter without engaging into a more meaningful conversation.

Even though Wonwoo made it clear that he would prepare your order out of turn, you insisted that you could wait for yours just like any other customer, then stood in line with a faux smile on your face. Having three people in front of you meant more justified minutes to stay in the building. It meant more time for your hypothetical follower to get bored and leave.

Deep in your thoughts, you didn’t pay much attention to your surroundings until it was your turn to order, but looking up from your sneakers, you lifted your head just in time to see as Junhui pushed Minghao aside, so he could take your order instead. In his defence, the action would have been pretty subtle if it hadn’t been for him saying:

‘Go away! We’ve already talked about this. I’ll take her order!’

You bit into your cheek from the inside to swallow down a chuckle. He was so dumb, but so adorable.

‘Man. You’re embarrassing yourself,’ Minghao retorted with a deadpan expression and rolled his eyes for good measure right before his girlfriend pulled him towards the sink where they hand-washed the dirty plates, cups, glasses and mugs.

Junhui sent a bright albeit awkward smile in your direction.

‘What can I get for you?’ He asked in Chinese and you chose a random item from their menu with one of the desserts that was sold for half of its original price due to how close they were to closing the place. The strawberry daifuku looked too good to let it go to waste even if you knew from Yuri that the owner always gave the leftovers to his employees and friends.

Once you put your hands on the sweets and your extra large salted caramel macchiato, you chose an empty table close to the windows and took a sip from the drink. A rational part of you, that was aware that you should have caught up on some sleep that night, doubted it did you any good, but hell, it tasted delicious.

The less daifuku remained on your plate, the more content you felt, but it wasn’t the same as if you had been suddenly freed from the anxiety. You still kept looking outside the window, following every pedestrian with your eyes and focusing on the darker areas of the park that separated Coffee Carat from Freefall. It was ridiculous because you didn’t actually need to go near the trees to get home, but still. The greenery you liked so much in this neighbourhood made you feel nervous for the first time in your life.

Maybe, you should have asked for something without caffeine or less sugar.

‘Hey… are you like, uhm, waiting for someone?’ Junhui’s question came from beside you and you almost dropped your mug because of how unaware you were of your own surroundings. It was almost comical, how the roles had gotten reversed for a second.

‘What do you mean?’ You asked, genuinely confused by his assumption. With whom would you have met at a coffee shop after 9PM? For late-night dates, you much preferred diners and underrated restaurants where you could learn about the other person’s taste, too, not just their personality, which could be faked more easily.

‘It’s just that you keep staring outside and I was thinking. I didn’t mean to be rude, maybe it’s not my business, I mean, it’s definitely not my business. But we’re closing in ten minutes,’ he informed you and you looked down at your watch with eyes wide like saucers. You hadn’t realised it was already 9:50PM.

9:51PM.

‘I’m sorry. I’ll speed up and leave. Thanks for the reminder,’ you said with a smile, another one that felt more genuine that it should have been considering the whirlpool of emotions in your belly. Or were those butterflies? This thought only turned your grin wider.

Junhui nodded and turned his back to you just to turn back around again, not even a heartbeat later.

‘No, but… are you okay? Can I help you with something?’ He asked, a bit unsure yet clearly determined to get the truth out of you. You contemplated how pathetic it would have sounded if you had admitted that you were suddenly afraid of the dark; that you were unsure whether there was a monster waiting for you outside or it was only in your head because you didn’t take good care of yourself these days.

On most days, you didn’t give a damn about other people’s opinion of you. You liked to think that you had thick skin that allowed you to live a carefree, unapologetic life at least in this aspect. However, sitting by the window, sipping on your salted caramel macchiato, you felt unusually vulnerable. Still, instead of annoying, the question felt nice when it came from Junhui. Obviously, you had nothing against Wonwoo, either, he was a sweetheart, but he wasn’t your person.

You looked around in the customer area, acknowledging that there were only three other girls in the shop and that most of the empty tables were already cleaned.

‘Do you have some time to sit with me?’ You asked and he nodded immediately, jumping on the opportunity like an excited puppy despite trying his best to remain collected. At moments like this, you had a hard time believing that he wasn’t off the market already, that Junhui was seriously single when he was a green flag on two legs.

‘Of course, I have,’ the barista claimed before whispering under his nose in Korean: ‘I always have time for you.’ 

You decided to file that piece of information away for another time and took a sip from your macchiato before you started your story time. You told him about the straining workload at uni, your poor time management and messed up sleep schedule. You also mentioned the new group project professor Lee had dumped onto you last-minute and those long hours you had spent at Freefall. Then, you took a momentary break - drank another gulp from your drink - and went into details about the footsteps you had heard from behind your back and how eerie it had been that they had hit the concrete for the same rhythm yours had done so.

‘Maybe it’s all in my head. Dunno, it’s not like there aren’t CCTVs everywhere in Seoul,’ you tried to downplay it, but Junhui had none of it. He shook his head vehemently and went as far as to put his hands on his hips with a straight back, his posture almost unnatural.

‘Maybe, but what if you’re right and this person is real?’ He asked, his tone firm enough for you to know he wasn’t stalling because he was waiting for an answer. Thus, you pressed your lips together and remained silent. ‘Are you in a hurry? If not, you should stay until we finish up and I’ll walk you home,’ the suggestion left his mouth easily, the flames of determination in his eyes rendering you speechless.

If you wanted to be honest, you didn’t hate the idea of waiting for Junhui. Mostly because his presence made you feel safe - a sensation you were lacking that night - and because it was him offering and not you begging for his company. Not that you had ever had to fight for his attention, not really, but he was an objectively handsome young man, which meant he wasn’t short of young girls and women fanning over him. He could have spent his time with anyone, yet he chose to walk you home because you might or might not have been followed.

‘I’m not in a hurry,’ you said at the end, not exactly shy about the sudden turn of events, but lowkey blushing when Minghao walked up to your table and shoved a mop into his friend’s hands without further explanation.

While the other customers left the building, you were allowed to stay by your table and eat some of the leftover pastries for free while the guys closed the cash register and cleaned the place. In a weak moment, you offered to help them with the easiest tasks, such as mopping the floor after Junhui put every chair on the tables in the customer area; however, Wonwoo reassured you that Seungcheol paid his employees handsomely. They could manage the short list of things to do easily.

Time flew quickly in good company; it was a universal truth. Hence, as you were watching the guys joke around and annoy each other while they were simultaneously doing their job and joining the radio whenever there was a song they knew by heart, it came as no surprise that they finished everything before you realised a whole hour had passed. Standing in front of the double door with one hand on the handle, you had to make a conscious effort to not laugh or smile when Seokmin called Junhui out on his eagerness to leave with you. He was funny, but you weren’t supposed to get the joke. You hadn’t told Junhui yet that you spoke Korean and it didn’t feel like the right time or place. His friends would have never let him live it down.

So your smile was more on the polite side until you left; until it was only the two of you and the boy coaxed the first laughs out of you with his silly stories and ridiculous jokes. He was so bad at telling them, jumping from one key point to the other, sometimes leaving out the most important pieces of information, that your belly hurt by the time you reached your apartment building.

If you had been the main leads of a romantic comedy - or one of those Chinese dramas that were worth binge watching in your scarce freetime -, Junhui would have lingered before he eventually said goodbye to you, but in reality, he seemed pretty okay with leaving as soon as you pointed at your windows, so you needed to take matters into your own hands before he walked away.

‘We will celebrate the end of our - hopefully - last exam period next weekend with a few of our classmates. It’s more like an early graduation celebration party, you know, without the family and all the hassle. Would you like to come? Wonwoo will be there, too,’ you asked in one breath, trying to sound as casual as you could despite your obvious ramble.

Since when was “you” and “rambling” in one sentence a thing? God.

‘I… sure, someone has to make sure Wonwoo doesn’t become a party pooper after all,’ he shot a smile in your way, that bright and genuine smile that always awoke the butterflies in your tummy. ‘And make sure you get home in one piece,’ Junhui mumbled under his nose in Korean, his voice barely above a whisper yet impactful enough to paint your cheeks a faint shade of pink - a colour you could hide in the dimly lit street.

You bit into your cheek from the inside to contain your giddiness.

‘Someone has to,’ you agreed with both statements without his knowledge and promised him that you would tell him more about the details once they were set in stone before he walked away for real.

You couldn’t have believed you had let such a great opportunity go to waste when later that night you realised that you could have asked for Junhui’s number if only you had told him that you would send him the fixed date and location via kakao. Such an amateur, school girl mistake.

You were so busy with finishing up the school year and so excited about the party with your chillest classmates and friends that at one point of the night, after like two or three glasses of somaek, you completely forgot that only a handful of your Korean friends spoke Chinese and that they all talked to you in their native language, which you couldn’t have pretended not to understand when they had already known your Korean was close to fluent. How else could you have gotten yourself a partial scholarship to a Korean program at one of the best unis in the country? It wasn’t like you had written your assignments in Chinese or your lectures had had magical subtitles only you could have seen.

If you had the brain capacity, you might have wondered if anyone had ever set themselves up for failure as wonderfully as you had done when you had invited Junhui for the party, but you were sleep-deprived and tipsy, so you simply greeted him with one of your sweet smiles when he finally arrived.

‘You’re late!’ You complained, your lips taking on a naturally pouty shape as you looked him in the eyes. He looked so good with his adorable mole above his upper lip and the one on his cheek that lately made you want to pinch it. Or kiss it. Maybe something in-between. Or both. Yeah, you could have definitely pinched his cheek and kissed him as an apology. Or should you have kissed him first and pinched him afterwards just to tease him? You liked teasing him a lot.

‘I’m sorry. There was an emergency at the shop,’ he apologised before he tilted his head to the left and pointed at Wonwoo who had also arrived only a couple of seconds ago. You followed his line of sight and sighed when you saw Yuri hugging her boyfriend so openly albeit a bit shyly. You wanted to do the same, just not with Wonwoo.

‘Hey guys! Grab a shot and come to the table! It’s time for the classic, the cliche, the legend!’ One of your classmates shouted, hyping up your slowly growing group, although you knew what was coming was the most basic drinking game of all time: ‘Truth or dare!’

You shook your head with a smile and tugged on Junhui’s sleeve.

‘You heard her. Let’s go!’ You exclaimed, completely oblivious to the fact that you shouldn’t have been able to understand the girl or that you had just blown on your imaginary house of cards as though it had always meant to be destroyed so carelessly.

You didn’t stutter, you didn’t waver and you clearly weren’t aware of the reason why Junhui was giving you such a terrified look. Your tipsy brain assumed it was because of the game and how juicy it could have gotten when one was playing it with the right gang.

With so many people around, it took for a while until you could actively participate in the game, but you genuinely enjoyed yourself while you were watching your classmates and friends embarrass themselves in public. Then, you dared Yuri to sit into Wonwoo’s lap and the crowd went wild. You hadn’t felt so light and carefree in months.

‘Your turn. Truth or dare?’ Wonwoo’s question was directed at you three or four rounds later, his eyes shining with unexpected mischief as he raised one of his brows. He was challenging you and you were a coward, so you chose:

‘Truth.’

Obviously, you would have been stupid to willingly embarrass yourself in front of Junhui. He was already way too quiet for your liking. Now that you thought about it, he hadn’t said a word since you two had joined your friends by the table.

You turned towards him, worried. And you were still looking at him when your best friend’s boyfriend’s question reached your ears, dread morphing your features as the seriousness of the situation hit you in the face. Oh. Why hadn’t you thought of the possibility that Wonwoo might have asked you why you were pretending not to understand Korean around Junhui? It was such a predictable question in hindsight, especially after the sneaky dare you had given Yuri. 

‘I…’ you started, but the words stuck in your throat and you had to take a deep breath before you tried again, this time, with more confidence. It was as good of a time to come clean as any even if the circumstances weren’t ideal. So far, you could have soothed your conscience with the reminder that you had never lied in Junhui’s face. You didn’t want to start it now.

So you turned your whole body towards the boy and made sure he heard you when you told him the truth.

‘I like knowing those things he isn’t brave enough to admit aloud,’ you said, giving him one of your sweetest smiles in hope of his forgiveness.

Yet, he averted his eyes, and when you gave in the urge to touch his face and make him look at you, he cleared his throat and excused himself like it wasn’t painfully obvious that he didn’t need to use the toilet. He needed more distance between the two of you. 

You bit into your cheeks from the inside hard enough to draw blood before you, too, left the table, using the weak excuse that you needed some fresh air. In reality, you just couldn’t bear to see the pitiful look everyone was giving you or hear the apology that fell from your best friend’s lips as though it was her or Wonwoo’s fault.

Even tipsy, you knew it was all on you.

The first thing that popped up in your mind when you left the diner and sat down on one of the plastic chairs outside was that maybe you were wrong and you did need some fresh air. Because hell it felt amazing when the cold, wintry air hit your face and caressed your warm cheeks like a mother would - or a best friend. A person you could confide in. God, you had screwed up big time, hadn’t you?

Frowning, it didn’t even occur to you that sitting outside in December, wearing nothing but a thin long-sleeved shirt and denim jeans was a bad idea. You didn’t question why there were only three other dudes chatting on the terrace, smoking cigarettes. You were just relieved to be alone while you were mourning a relationship you had never even had. You really liked Junhui.

It was the sudden weight of a jacket on your shoulders that pulled you out of your thoughts, your head snapping towards your intruder fast enough to hurt. However, as soon as your eyes met Junhui’s you swallowed down the groan.

‘What…’ you started, but didn’t know how to finish the question, so you pressed your lips together and said nothing. Did you even have the right to ask him what he was doing outside when you had made him so uncomfortable, he had to distance himself from you? Did you even want to hear the answer?

As much as you didn’t mind being rejected - you were an advocate for the basic human right of saying no -, at that moment, you would have rather not be called an awful person by the first person who had piqued your interest in years. You had already felt pathetic, your self-esteem could only take so much one night.

Junhui took the chair next to you.

‘Were you having fun?’ He broke the silence when he realised you wouldn’t, his gaze fixated on something in front of him instead of on you as though he was just as afraid of the look on your face as you were of the emotions in his eyes. You didn’t want him to resent you, though, you might have deserved it. ‘Or do you really like me?’

It wasn’t the first time you heard the boy speak Korean, clearly, but there was something new and almost odd about hearing Junhui dedicating a question to you in the local language. You allowed yourself another quick glance at him, and even in your tipsy state it was ridiculously easy to tell that he was much drunker than the last time you had sat this close. It took one to know one.

You let out a defeated sigh.

‘I like you. I really do, Junhui,’ you admitted as you wondered whether your confession was too plain and about the chances that he would believe you. Weren’t you a notorious liar in his eyes?

Your lips parted in disbelief when instead of an answer or a well-deserved accusation, you felt a light weight on your right shoulder; the side Junhui was sitting on. Slowly, to not ruin the moment, you turned your head in that direction, surprised to see the boy’s head resting on you. Too stunned to comprehend the situation, you lifted your left hand to touch his soft hair and simultaneously check whether he was asleep.

Based on the lack of reaction, he was. He fell asleep on your shoulder. On the very same person’s shoulder who had unintentionally made him feel like a fool. You didn’t have to be a genius to know you didn’t deserve the immense amount of trust something like this required from a person; he was so vulnerable, completely unconscious beside you, and so adorable as he was snoring lightly that you swore you would protect him from all harm. If only he had given you a second chance.

If you wanted to be honest, you had no idea how long you stayed outside or whether you had also managed to fall asleep at one point. However, it was fairly obvious that the party hadn’t been over yet when Yuri and her boyfriend walked up to you and informed you that they had already called a cab.

‘Do you need help with him? We can take a small detour to both of your apartments if you’re okay to leave in ten,’ Wonwoo offered and you sneaked a glance at Junhui before you made up your mind. Sure, you would have gladly stayed for a little longer, making up for all those university parties you had deliberately missed out on due to your workload, but making sure the boy got home in one piece was higher on your priority list.

‘Thanks. That would be nice,’ you accepted the help and let Wonwoo pull his friend into a bent albeit standing position when the driver finally arrived.

Since Yuri volunteered to take the passenger’s seat and out of the three remaining passengers you were the tiniest, you stuck between the boys in the backseat with Junhui’s head once again on your shoulder. Way less tipsier than an hour prior, it was impossible not to notice the effect his closeness had on your body: his warm breath fanning over your skin under your ear sent a pleasant shiver down your spine and whenever his nose touched your neck, you felt new goosebumps forming on your lower arm. He was so, so close and so damn out of it, you were sure he would have felt embarrassed that he was particularly cuddling you in front of his friend if he had been conscious.

God, even your cheeks were burning and you were sitting so upright, one would have thought someone had shoved a stick up your ass.

‘We’re here,’ Wonwoo nudged you when the cab parked in front of Junhui’s building and you acknowledged with a surprised hum that his place was in the opposite direction from the café than yours. Suddenly, his offer to walk you home after your mild panic attack meant so much more to you.

You looked down at the sleeping boy and brushed a stray strand of hair out of his face.

Although you did shake Junhui awake, dragging him up to the third floor was an adventure on its own, not to mention the mess he made as soon as his front door closed behind your back. He might not have thrown up on your shoes, but he crashed into several furniture and walls, which resulted in two broken porcelain decorations and a rose-coloured bump on his head.

‘It’s okay. You can rest now,’ you told him once he was under the blankets, still in his clothes but with his shoes and socks off. It wasn’t below you to put a drunk person in their pyjamas; however, with Junhui, you didn’t want to risk crossing that line without his explicit consent. Especially not after the unplanned twists and turns of the night.

Placing a hastily written note in front of the glass of water and painkillers that Wonwoo had put on his bedside table before he had given the two of you some space, you only hoped he wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable during the rest of the night in his jeans and shirt.

You were thinking about this and the way Junhui’s warm breath felt against your skin in the backseat until your body (and mind) gave in to exhaustion in your own bedroom.

You weren’t avoiding Junhui. But with Christmas coming up, then your thesis defence and your scheduled family trip back to China a week before Chinese New Year, you told yourself that you were too busy to spent so much time in a coffee shop, pathetically hoping that the boy you liked would not only show willingness to talk to you, but have some time to do so as well. You didn’t know his schedule and he had never texted you despite the note you had left behind before you had walked out of his bedroom after the disastrous end of semester party.

Rationally speaking, you knew you had other options. You could have asked Yuri’s boyfriend to send you Junhui’s schedule. You could have also cashed in a favour from Wonwoo and asked him to give the barista a short break when there weren’t too many customers at the shop, so that you could have talked. You could have texted Junhui first or simply shown up at the shop close to closing time. However, a selfish part of you wanted him to take the initiative, because you felt like that would have been a clear sign that he didn’t hate you, that you might still have had a chance.

So why you were at Coffee Carat two days before your flight to Beijing was beyond you. You guessed this was what it meant to be a supportive best friend: you showed up even when it was the last thing you wanted to do at that moment, even when you knew you were being set up as there was no way Yuri would have seriously needed a cup of coffee delivered to her flat in the middle of the day when she had her own coffee machine at home and her boyfriend worked at the same coffee shop.

With a resigned sigh, once it was your turn in front of the counter, you asked for her usual iced coffee.

‘And here I was thinking, he was overdramatic. You do look like you would rather eat glass than be here,’ Minghao said as he started the coffee machine, then filled an empty plastic cup with ice cubes. He was as grumpy as ever, but you wouldn’t have had him any other way. It also did good to your guilt that his first words to you weren’t overly nice. If you wanted to be a hundred percent honest, you deserved the roasting.

‘It’s always so nice to see you, Minghao. Thank you for asking, I’m doing pretty okay these days. No more assignments, no more all-nighters,’ you remarked with more amusement than malice as you fished your wallet out of your bag and linked your arms in front of your chest. Eyeing the glass display, you were contemplating whether you should have bought yourself a cupcake or a cinnamon roll. They both looked delicious. 

‘Amazing,’ he mused. He put the plastic lid on Yuri’s drink, then followed your line of sight and put a freshly baked cinnamon roll with walnut pieces on top in a paper bag. You licked your lower lip unconsciously; you could feel the yearning in the pit of your tummy. ‘Though, it’s not exactly what a best friend would want to hear from the girl who is messing with their friend’s head,’ he added when you exchanged money, deliberately disregarding the whine that escaped your mouth.

It was a low blow, but you couldn’t deny that there was some truth to what he said. Even if you had never messed with Junhui’s head on purpose. Because despite the implication, you had never played with him. Your interest had been pure and genuine. It still was.

The unmistakable sound of broken glass pulled you back to reality and also forced Minghao to tear his judging gaze away from you. The scream stuck in your throat the moment your eyes landed on a panicking Junhui in the middle of a latte pond. Was that strawberry jam on his lower arm? Was he bleeding?

‘Are you okay?’ The question fell from your lips without thinking, the fact that you were speaking in Chinese not registering in you until Minghao gave you a nasty side eye. Oh. You quickly cleared your throat and repeated the question in Korean. ‘I’m sorry. Are you okay?’

‘I’m…’ Junhui started, awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other in a crouching position. His cheeks, neck and ears were rose-coloured, but for the first time you were too worried about him to find his bashfulness adorable. 

You were seconds from rushing behind the counter, so that you could examine his body for possible injuries.

‘I’m fine,’ Junhui shot a tight-lipped smile in your direction, which might have been meant to be reassuring, but did nothing to soothe your nerves.

If you had only given a single thought to your actions, you would have realised that running behind the counter as a customer was a horrible idea for numerous reasons. For instance, it  went against basic hygiene regulations, therefore it could have gotten the place in big trouble if anyone had taken a picture of you sitting on your knees beside Junhui without an apron and a proper uniform. In the era of social media and cancel culture, there were no such things as small or innocent mistakes.

However, you clearly weren’t thinking - not about the negative consequences of your actions nor anyone else but the flustered boy in front of you.

‘Stop fidgeting. Don’t touch that!’ You scolded him so naturally it felt like the two of you had never stopped talking and pulled him up from the floor with ease, taking full advantage of his confusion as you dragged him to the closest empty chair.

After checking every inch of his lower arms two times, lips pressed into a thin line because of how nervous you felt, you acknowledged with a relieved sigh that Junhui was fine. He had one minor cut on his left index finger, that you dressed in a plaster dutifully.

‘Here. As good as new,’ you teased, not because you found the possibility of Junhui getting hurt funny, but because the worry you had just felt had been overwhelming and you needed to lighten the mood - for the sake of your sanity.

And maybe to dilute the lingering awkwardness around you when the silence settled.

It was the first time you saw him in weeks. Unsurprisingly, he looked the same, but somehow things still felt different. You wondered whether it was because you weren’t talking in your native language anymore. You missed the familiar warmth that always embraced you when he addressed you in Chinese. For the first time since you had moved countries, you swore you were experiencing homesickness, which was as ridiculous as true.

‘You know…’ Your body jerked when you heard Minghao’s girlfriend’s voice from behind your back. You snapped your head in her direction only to see her staring at the two of you with a broom and a plastic dustpan. ‘For people who can converse in at least two languages, you two are pretty shitty at communication,’ she said with a frown, her tone not judgemental per se, but still a bit reprimanding.

You bit into your cheek from the inside, swallowing back a scoff. Your communication skills were exceptional. You hadn’t had any problem talking to Junhui before… before that stupid truth or dare. Just the thought of it soured your mood.

‘Sooryeon-ah…’

‘We’re doing just fine,’ you remarked at the same time Junhui let out a pitiful whine. You looked back at the boy who was sitting beside you and closed your eyes for theatrics. Maybe, you weren’t doing fine at all. However, saying it out loud, admitting it in front of his friend’s girlfriend, felt so bad. As though you had failed before you could have even tried.

‘Oh? You’re doing fine, you say?’ Sooryeon’s interest was clearly piqued at the sudden turn of events, the smirk audible in her voice. ‘So he’s finally asked you out on a date?’

The speed your head turned in the barista girl’s direction wasn’t even funny. You could feel your neck crack and you cursed your instincts for betraying you so badly. Still, as giddiness slowly blended into your confusion, you couldn’t help but smile. Was it naive of you to hope that she was also up-to-date with the happenings between the two of you? Shouldn’t you have at least prepared yourself for the disappointment in case it had only been true before… before that stupid truth or dare.

‘Lim Sooryeon!’ Junhui’s raised voice took you completely off guard, pushing you from one surprise to another as the twists of the day pulled the rug from under your feet. You had never heard him so frustrated - angry? - in your life and you had known him for over a year by then. You had seen him surrounded by girls who didn’t know what no meant; you had seen him handle entitled Karens on a weekly basis with utmost patience; you had seen him being teased for hours to no end by his friends.

‘Moon J—’

‘He did. We’ll have street food tonight. Go, watch a movie,’ you cut the barista girl off before their banter could have drawn too much unwanted attention. A few of the customers were already giving you curious glances and you knew, deep down you just knew, that the only reason Minghao didn’t come up to you to scold Junhui was because of the growing line in front of the counter.

The silence that followed your statement was deafening and for a second you contemplated whether you should have apologised and told Sooryeon the truth - if you should have stopped altering reality so shamelessly whenever you seemed fit even though you never meant any harm when it happened -, but then Junhui asked:

‘We will?’ With so much enthusiasm that it threw your life off its axis.

He sounded so happy as though he wasn’t aware that he had, in fact, hadn’t asked you out on a date. How could you have said yes to a question that he had never asked? He was so silly but so adorable.

A grumpy voice in your head, suspiciously akin to Minghao’s, attempted to convince you that lying was not the solution, but one look at Junhui’s shy smile made it impossible for you to do the morally acceptable thing. What was so good about doing the “right thing” when that would have only dampened his mood? And it wasn’t that you were about to straight out lie in his face. You had every intention to have street food with him after his shift in case he was up for it.

You would have been stupid to turn down this miraculously obtained second chance.

‘We will,’ you confirmed with a soft smile, mustering up the courage to lean a little forwards, so you would have been close enough to him to cup his cheeks with your hands, squeezing them with a cooing sound.

‘Junhui! If your injuries aren’t deadly, come back behind the counter. You’re not off the clock yet,’ Minghao’s command cut through the air and you reluctantly let Junhui’s face go, so that he could pull away and go back to work.

That day, you decided that Yuri needed to wait a couple of hours for her iced coffee - the first cup became lukewarm by the time you put yourself together, therefore you used it as an excuse to stay until lunch break and finished it with your dessert. In the meantime, whenever the crowd was manageable, you exchanged a few words with Junhui: you apologised for last time and he apologised for never contacting you. You made him blush, teasing him about how delighted your grandparents would be when they found out he’s Chinese and he tried his best to repay the favour with the cheesiest compliments you ever heard (and a slice of orange cheesecake that finally did the trick and painted your cheeks red). It was as easy as you had remembered, talking to Junhui again, but you also knew Sooryeon had been right. The two of you had a long way to go when it came to communication, but that was okay. You were only at the beginning of the journey.

You had years to perfect your skills. A lifetime if you were lucky.

➼ next reason

[bellysoupset]

Hello, I wasn't sure if my request went through so I thought I'd resend it. If you already got it please ignore. I was wonder if you could write something where Leo gets really sick before a big game and keeps insisting he can play when he clearly can't. With Jonah and Luke taking care of him and having to force him back to bed. I love when Jonah goes all 'doctor mode' and is all sweet and protective of Leo. Those two are so cute. Thank you!

Hey Book! I hope this is what you had in mind! This is LONG. TW: Mention of depression and Leo's intrusive thoughts (including mild suicide ideation). It's nothing as harsh as the TW make it sound, but be warned.

-------

It was the last game of the season. Or better, his last game, period. With graduation rapidly approaching, Leo knew he couldn't miss this. Besides, it was at home. How fitting, the last game ever happening in his own town.

He was more than a little emotional, had been since waking up. Leo wasn't one to break into tears over anything, but he had pretty much spent the entirety of his shower that morning tear eyed as he mulled over the fact there would be no more bus trips, no more euphoria after the game, no more... None of that.

Jonah had eyed him weirdly as they drove together to campus, but he had been in a rush to get to class, so any questioning he had was pushed aside.

Leo hadn't been able to focus at all in his thesis, the one he needed to present by the end of the month in order to graduate. The one his entire future hinged on. Yeah, that one little paper - paper which was currently 76 pages and counting.

"Hey kiddo," Vince messed his hair as he passed by his table in the cafeteria, "too hot to sit with us?"

"I'm not kiddo..." Leo groaned, looking up from the sandwich he had been staring at for the past 20 minutes, unable to stomach another bite. Everything felt off.

"Well, stop sulking and come sit with us," Vince scoffed, waiting by the bench. His own plate was piled up with food, considering the campus cafeteria had an all-you-can-eat buffet, for a pretty reasonable sum. Leo eyed it and grimaced, it didn't look appetizing at all.

"Found this one sulking near the architecture nerds," Vince announced as he sat down next to Lucas, Leo's own spot clear to his right.

"What's with the face?" Mikey asked, while Aidan merely looked up from his plate. Leo shrugged, sitting down and tearing the crust out of his sandwich.

"Nothing, I'm fine."

This seemed enough for the rest of the team, they were hyped after all, but not to Lucas. His friend smiled at him.

"It sucks that's the last one, right?"

Leo nodded, glad that someone understood him. Much to his dismay Vince let out a scoff, but not before wrapping an arm around Leo's shoulders and tugging on him, basically forcing his face to meet his armpit in an overly affectionate headlock.

"It might be the last official one, but we're so not gonna stop playing. Or seeing each other, I literally have gym with you tomorrow, Leo."

"Let go off me!" Leo groaned, trying to fight him, "I said it's fine."

"Yeah, I heard you, kid," Vince ignored his complaints, chuckle rumbling in his chest and Leo punched his side in order to free himself. He was dizzy by the time he managed to sit up, but the guys were laughing and even starting to feel wretched... Leo couldn't help but feel a little better with Vin's words.

"Banks is coming for tonight's game, right?" Luke asked and it took Leo a whole second to understand he meant Jonah.

"Yeah, he switched shifts with Wendy."

"Wait, what?" Vince whined, pouting, "aw, c'mon, that's not fair, I thought she was coming..."

Leo shrugged, "maybe she switched with someone too? No idea." Not that he cared or wanted Wendy there, he thought viciously, then frowned at his own thought.

He didn't want to be a shitty person, even in his own head. Vince was grumpily stabbing his food with his fork and Leo moved so he wouldn't smell it.

The rest of lunch went by quicker than he would've liked. Leo knew they were trying to involve him in the conversation, Vince asking about his thesis and seeming genuinely interested, but he couldn't hold a conversation. His whole body felt heavy and achy... And he wanted to be in bed.

"Hey," Lucas circled him as they finished up, planting both hands on Leo's shoulders, seeing as he was still sitting down, "are you good, Leo?"

"Yeah, I'm fine-"

"So you keep saying, but I'm not sure if I buy it," Luke frowned, then before Leo could stop him, he moved a hand from his shoulder to his forehead, big paw covering most Leo's face.

"Lucas, stop being fucking weird!"

"I think you're feverish," Lucas sounded concerned, "a little bit, I'm not sure."

"I'm fine," Leo pushed his hand away, glaring at him. He immediately missed the touch, if for no other reason than the fact it helped sustain his heavy head, "stop being a weirdo, let go off me."

"Uhm," Luke squinted at him, but did step back so Leo could get up from the bench, "I'm gonna keep my eye on you."

"I'm not five," Leo deadpanned, rolling his eyes, "and I have to go, I have to finish scanning a bunch of internship documents if I want to make it in time for tonight."

He wasn't actually in any rush, he had used the copy machine earlier, but anything to get out from under Vince and Luke's worried gazes.

Once he was out of the cafeteria the slight queasiness he was feeling faded into the background and although he still felt exhausted and achy, at least he didn't have to keep any conversation going.

His plan worked out fine until it was 5 PM and Jonah was right outside his classroom door.

Normally just seeing him there would make Leo giddy. Jonah was a fucking sight to behold, especially when he wasn't paying attention, just leaning against the hallway right outside the lecture room, propped against the wall as he scrolled down his phone, wearing a black bomber jacket over the light button up he wore everyday. He had even shaved the side of his hair, in the fashion Leo liked, which suited him much better than the fluffy fro.

Today was not a normal day, though, so Leo almost groaned as he realized his boyfriend was out there and there was no chance now that he could go back to his own dorm, take his sleeping pills and crash until the game.

"Hi," Jonah smiled as Leo walked out of the classroom, the last student out. He pocketed his phone, "how was the day?"

Leo shrugged, "it sure was a day."

Jon's eyebrows shot up, "that good?" he leaned in, grabbing the neckline of Leo's sand colored sweater, "can I cheer you up?" Jonah smiled, bumping his nose over his, minty breath in his mouth.

Leo recoiled as the smell of gum made his stomach roll, "no- I mean, yeah, you can, just... Let's ease up on the PDA."

That was so widely out of character for him that Jonah simply gaped.

"Uh... Are you feeling okay?"

"Why is everyone asking me this today?" Leo grabbed Jon's hand, forcing him to walk down the hallway, "I'm fine, I'm just in a bad mood."

"Because of the game."

"Because of the game," Leo agreed, nodding, "I just... Don't take this the wrong way, I'm ready for college to be over, just..."

"I got you," Jonah squeezed his hand back, then leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek, "but I promise you it'll be a good change, not a bad one."

Leo sighed, leaning onto his touch. At least Jonah felt warm, a good change from the permanent chill that he had felt all day, "can we go home?"

Jonah shrugged, "the guys are all gonna be together before the game, are you sure you don't wanna go?"

He didn't want to miss out on that, since it'd be the last time ever, but... But he also just felt like he wanted to sleep and never wake up again, which normally shaped up to not having a good time.

"No, I wanna go home. I wanna sleep."

Jon frowned, but said nothing, intertwining their fingers.

Jonah wasn't like the others, he wasn't the chatty type and normally they could sit in silence for hours, but today he apparently had decided he really wanted to talk. For some fucking reason.

Leo stared at him, unimpressed, as Jonah rattled on and on about the hospital and the fact one of the interns had passed out seeing blood and Wendy this, Wendy that-

"Can you stop?"

"The car?" Jonah's eyebrows shot up, "why? Are you carsick-"

"No, stop talking," Leo grumbled, then regretted it, "I just have a headache, that's all..." he really didn't.

"Oh... Yeah, of course," Jonah nodded, sounding very confused.

Now that Jon had brought up being carsick, suddenly all that Leo could focus on was his stomach. The measly sandwich that he had forced himself to eat was just sitting there, heavy as a rock. Not digesting at all.

He placed a hand over his stomach, rubbing in small circles over his sweater. Thankfully they were already close to the apartment building, so the car came to a stop quickly.

Once again, the nausea faded, but this time it didn't vanish, just sat uncomfortably in his gut, annoying as hell.

"Leo?" Jonah called once he didn't get out after the car was parked. He circled the car and opened the door, "baby... Talk with me, what's wrong? This isn't you..."

"I don't know," Leo sighed, leaning in and planting his forehead to his shoulder, "I don't know, I don't feel well, my head-" he let out a little noise as Jonah combed his fingers through his hair. Leo didn't mean a headache, but he welcomed the soothing touch just the same, "I just wanna go to bed."

"Okay..." Jonah whispered, leaning in to plant a kiss on his temple, only to frown as he pulled back, "you're a little warm, baby."

"Jon," Leo groaned, "please, I just wanna go to bed."

He could tell that Jon wanted to argue, but for the moment, that could wait. They didn't talk as they went up to the apartment and Leo stripped by the door, paying Jonah no attention as he stomped to the bedroom and faceplanted the pillow.

"I got you some Tylenol," Jonah whispered, entering the room and sitting gingerly at the edge of the bed, "Leo."

"No," Leo shook his head, "no, I don't want that..."

"Well, I don't really care," Jonah ushered him to sit up, "take the meds."

Glaring at him, Leo took the pill dry, then promptly fell back down, "just let me sleep."

"You're welcome," Jonah said sardonically, then ran his fingers through Leo's hair, absentmindedly.

Next time Leo opened his eyes, he immediately knew something was wrong with him. His head felt like it was weighting a ton and he could barely sit up on the bed. Jonah wasn't in the room.

Leo all but crawled to the bathroom, splashing his face with water. He looked horrible, his face was all blotchy, pale in certain places and red where it had been pressed to the pillow, his eyes looked sunken in.

"Great," he mumbled, water dripping form his hair and causing him to shiver. To add insult to the injury, the tylenol he had had previously was sitting in his stomach just like the sandwich: like a fucking brick.

He pressed on his belly, forcing up a sick belch that tasted like acid, but nothing else happened. Leo groaned, his stomach felt disgusting, churning in rhythm with the pounding of his head.

Sure that nothing was going to come up, he walked out of the room. Jonah was sitting by the dining table, a bunch of papers spread around him.

"Hey..." Leo said tiredly, entering the kitchen area and filling up a glass of water, "what time is it?"

"a quarter to eight," Jonah looked up, "how are you feeling?"

"Great," Leo smiled. If he was honest he felt worse than before, but at least the overwhelming urge to walk into open traffic had gone to the backburner, as his body was much more interested now in the pounding of his head and the nausea bubbling in his belly. He'd take feeling sick any day over feeling depressed.

"You know, I don't believe you," Jonah rolled his eyes, jumping up and circling the table, "don't go anywhere, I need to get the thermometer."

"Jonah, I'm fine," Leo rolled his eyes, then squeezed the table under his hand, as the world took a minute too long to stop spinning, "you should've woken me up, now we're on a rush."

"I don't think you should play, you're looking... Awful, to say the least."

"Thank, Jonah, you always know how to charm me."

"I'm serious, Leo. You know better than to play with a fever."

"I don't have a fever anymore," Leo ignored him, walking back to the door so he could put the shoes he had previously ditched, "let's go."

Jonah glared at him, "you're so fucking stubborn."

"It's my last game ever, stop being a dick and let's go," Leo urged him, walking out without looking back.

It was clear Jonah did not agree with his decision, hence why Leo was driving and why his boyfriend had his arms crossed to his chest and looked ready to bite his head off.

"This is a very dumb idea. You're gonna crack your stupid head open. Again."

"Last time I did that we ended up dating," Leo shrugged, fighting to ignore the uneasy feeling that was spreading all over him. His mouth tasted weird, "maybe I'll land an even hotter doctor this time around."

"You're such a dick," Jonah snorted, but there was a ghost of a smile in his lips. He turned his head so Leo wouldn't see it.

The blonde smiled back, then gulped down nervously as his stomach clenched. His head felt woozy.

"Your parking skills are fucking atrocious," Jonah commented as they jumped out of the car and Leo rushed ahead of him to the locker rooms.

"You get so grumpy when things don't go your way," Leo rolled his eyes, entering the locker room and Jonah followed him in, as if he was still allowed there.

"There you are!" Vince shouted from across the room, "we thought you had died, I've been blowing up your phone."

"And you brought the deserter," Michael scoffed and Leo ignored the guy, moving to his locker in order to grab his clothes. Behind him, he could vaguely tell that Jonah was mouthing off Mikey.

"You," Lucas marched to him, "are not playing."

"What?" Leo scoffed, ignoring his captain and slipping on his jersey, "of course I am. You can't play without a cornerback."

"I'm aware. Alex is gonna replace you," he explained and Leo felt twice as nauseous as before. He gulped down, using the fact that his head was still inside the jersey to conceal it. Then he glared at Lucas.

"You can't bench me. I'm better than Alex and you know it, Luke."

"I... I'm not benching you, Leo. You're sick, I can tell you're running a fever from here and Jonah is hovering over you like a worried mom. You're super pale. I can't let you in the field."

"It's my last game," Leo forced his voice not to waver. Rationally he knew Lucas had a point... But it was his last game. He didn't want this memory to be him sitting in the bench, watching his friends enjoy themselves, outside of it all already. His head throbbed, "you can't bench me in my last game, Luke, please..."

Begging was weird, it made him feel off in a whole different manner. Six years before type of odd, begging-

"Leo?" Lucas frowned, his hands coming to cup the blonde's nape, "dude, are you alright-"

"Please don't bench me, please, I- I'll be better, I'll do better-" his stomach rolled and Leo's mouth filled up with bitter saliva. He swallowed in, almost gagging, "please-"

"Okay, okay..." Lucas looked panicked, then a new set of hands were on Leo. Jonah's delicate hands, coming to cup his cheeks, fingers dancing down to his neck.

"Leo, baby, take a deep breath."

"Luke's- Luke's gonna bench me, he's gonna replace me... Alex- He's going to replace me..." he said, heart in his throat, blood pumping in his ear. Lucas' shook his head.

"Leo, that's not what I meant! Leo, I- You just don't look well-"

"Lucas, shut up," Jonah snapped, without glancing back, "Leo, look at me? Hey, look at me."

With a lot of struggle Leo forced his eyes away from Lucas - who was replacing him with Alex, during his last game ever, who had made him beg just to be included-

"Leo!" Jonah shook him lightly, "look at me, baby."

He was looking at him, feeling his heart thumping in his ears, nauseous and shaky. His stomach sloshed uncomfortably with the anxiety running through him, rocketed up to his throat to stinge it with acid, but then settled back down, like a rough sea.

"Breathe, Leo."

He obeyed, or tried to, breathing in through his nose, then out through his mouth. In again... He wanted to throw up. Not even out of nausea, he just felt like he'd feel better if he did.

"Out, darling, you need to breathe out."

Slowly, very slowly, Leo felt like he was back in the locker room. Covered in cold sweat, shivering like crazy.

"Sorry..." he mumbled, feeling woozy and planting a hand inside the metal locker to support himself. Jonah looked concerned and Lucas looked frantic.

"I'm not benching you..." Luke said in the smallest of voices, "I'm- I'm sorry..."

"So I can play?" Leo asked, but he knew it was bad idea. He just couldn't bring himself to stop moving now, it was a snowball of bad decisions.

Lucas made a face, clearly he didn't want to agree, but then nodded.

Jonah frowned, "Leo..."

"I need this," he forced himself not to include the please at the end.

He was sure they were going to lose the minute they stepped on the field. Or better yet, he was going to lose it.

The lights were too bright and it was a really cold night, shivers running down his back, the wind clinging to the exposed part of his neck.

In the bleachers, Jonah was standing right next to Wendy, arms crossed to his chest, both dark heads together as they talked. Wendy looking at Leo worriedly, leaning in to whisper something to Jon.

"Leo!" Lucas snapped at him, in full captain voice, no longer his best friend.

Leo realized he had blanked a good full minute of the game, only to realize he had just allowed the wide-receiver of the opposite team to grab the ball. Well fuck.

He tackled the guy, attempting to minimize damage or stop the pass, but the wide-receiver was huge, Vince sized at least and next thing he knew he was receiving a sharp throw on his chest as the man quickly burled past him, throwing the ball to the next player of his team.

Leo didn't even feel the jab, he was already backpedaling to face the wide-receiver again, adamant he wouldn't do the same mistake twice.

By the time they reached the halftime break, he wasn't sure which way was up. The whole game felt fuzzy and Leo was aware he should be more in pain, considering the amount of times he had body tackled the wide receiver, but he couldn't really focus on anything.

"Wagner!" Coach Eric yelled after them as they slipped into the locker room, just as the cheerleaders took over the field. Leo stumbled forward bracing a hand on Spencer's back and the man jerked a little at the touch, before relaxing as he realized the heavy touch was just Leo.

"Wagner! Get out of my way Monacelli- Wagner!"

Leo stopped, bracing against a tiled wall, wheezing. Everything felt weird as hell, he felt like he was in a rollercoaster, as the world twirled around him, in and out of focus.

"What the fuck was that!? You were out of yourself, you got warned and if you don't behave you're getting disqua-"

Leo interrupted him by removing his helmet and promptly bending in half, throwing up his measly lunch all over the coach's shoes.

There was a general groan of discontent, some gasps, the coach himself shouting-

Leo stayed bent in half, hands on his thighs, his belly churning. He gagged again, spitting into the mess. He wasn't even nauseous, not really... Just really really weird and -

"I got you," Lucas grabbed his arm and stopped Leo from tipping to the side and collapsing, "I got you, c'mon, let's wash your face."

"I don't... I don't feel well..." Leo groaned and Lucas scoffed, dabbing his chin with a wet paper towel. He wasn't wearing the helmet anymore either and his dark brown hair was glued down with sweat, green eyes sparkling with worry.

"I can't tell if you have a fever, I'm too hot," Lucas said, but rested his warm hand on Leo's forehead anyway, their skin damp and clingy, "but I think you do."

"Okay..." Leo leaned onto his touch, wanting to collapse in a bed. He was starting to feel completely detached from his body, which was never a good thing, "where's Jon?"

"Vince went to get him," Lucas grabbed his arm, "let's move here..."

He led Leo to the opposite side of the locker room, sitting him down on the wooden bench.

"Water!" Lucas shouted and Leo almost laughed hysterically as he watched half the team scramble to meet the demand.

"You're such a spoiled-" he cringed as another wave of nausea hit him, "spoiled brat."

"My counselor calls it leadership," Lucas scoffed, crouching before him and patting his elbow, "arms up, you're cooking inside the uniform."

"Bossy as fuck," Leo groaned, but obeyed and allowed Luke to strip him, including from his protective undershirt. He shuddered with the sudden cold, but immediately felt a lot more alert, "Luke."

"Yeah?" Lucas was hardly listening, raising his hand to catch the water bottle Mikey threw him from across the room, "little sips."

"Luke," Leo grabbed the bottle, but didn't drink, "you have to get back on the field. Break's almost over."

"I don't-"

"It's fine. I'm okay, I'll just wait for Jon," Leo smiled, "go captain."

Lucas looked like he was choosing between which family member to shoot, much to Leo's amusement, "I'm fine, it's just a bug. I'll live. Go."

"I don't think-"

"ATWOOD!" Coach Eric yelled from across the room, "GET BACK IN THERE!"

"Go," Leo smiled, "go" and then, much to his relief and Lucas' too, Jonah entered the locker's room, alongside Vince.

Vin sped past them, offering Leo a concerned smile, but already slipping on his helmet. Jonah lingered behind, waiting until the last player was out before sighing loudly.

"Just say it already," Leo grumbled, staring at a spot between his feet and grimacing as his belly continued to roll. He waited for the inevitable I-told-you-so.

"How are you feeling, baby?"

Leo looked up, surprised and Jonah rolled his eyes at his shocked face, "I'm not going to scold you when you feel like crap and look worse."

He let out a chuckle, lowering his head back down, "thank you, Jon..." his stomach gurgled again, interrupting the good mood and making his mouth taste even more bitter, "pass me the bin?"

Jonah said something, moving the large trashcan of the locker room's closer and Leo turned his face away from it, briefly glancing at his boyfriend, "get out of here, Jon," he mumbled, his voice thick. He leaned over the garbage bin, spitting the awful taste.

"I'm not going anywhere," Jonah scoffed, sitting on the bench too and carefully planting a hand on Leo's forehead, aiding with the aim and support.

Leo groaned, bracing against the large bin. His stomach hurt, all the nausea he had been avoiding all day crashing onto him at once. He gagged, once, and then leaned forward, all but diving into the bin as everything he had ever eaten rushed out of his mouth.

He attempted to breathe, but his throat was burning and his nose too, it felt like he was drowning. There was a thump on his back, forcing up another burp and even more bitter liquid and Leo gasped for air, both hands white knuckling the trash.

"Fuck, Leo..." Jonah mumbled behind him, rubbing his back. He was applying pressure enough to dislodge another burp and Leo gagged as even more vomit splashed out of his mouth, now without him even having to heave.

He panted, feeling dizzy and empty, his stomach still churning uneasily, "I think..." a burp forced another gush of bile and he spat, clearing his throat forcefully to get rid of the sick taste, "I think I'm done."

"Uhm," was all that Jonah said, handing him a bunch of paper towels that Leo had no idea from where he had manifested them. The blonde's hand was shaking as he took them, cleaning the puke that had ran down his chin and blowing his nose.

Jonah squeezed his shoulder, "done?"

"Think... Think so," Leo nodded, throwing the paper towels in the large trash and pushing it away from him. He turned to look at Jon, just in time for his boyfriend to bolt up and brace against the sinks, gagging harshly.

Leo groaned, "Jon..."

"I'm fine," Jonah mumbled, before another heave wrecked through him, sending up a small stream of pink colored puke. He gagged again, closing his eyes and breathing through it, "I'm fine."

"Yeah, you look great," Leo sighed. He wanted to get up and help him, but his head was swimming and he didn't want to make Jonah's life even harder by crumpling to a pile on the ground, "I'm sor-"

"Not your fault," Jonah washed the basin and his mouth, splashing cold water on his face and then turning to look at him, "see? I lived."

It caused Leo to snort, in an amused way. Jonah's dark rich skin was a sickly shade of grey, but at least he retained the good humor. Whenever Jon was actually feeling sick, Leo had learned by now, his temper flared up.

"Yeah, you lived," he nodded, pressing a hand to his forehead, elbow to his knee as he folded in half, "I fucked up the game, should've let Alex-"

"Alex can choke for all I care, it was your night," Jonah scoffed, walking back to the bench and rubbing his back, "and you got to go out in style, hurling all over coach Eric's shoes."

Leo huffed, smiling, "I guess... I'm going to miss college, Jon."

The man opened a sympathetic smile and moved his hand up, squeezing his nape, "I know, baby-"

"No, you don't," Leo straightened up, voice strong, "I don't think... I know I wasn't happy until I came to college. Until I met you and joined the team and everything else... I'm terrified of this being over."

Jonah frowned, forcing their eyes to meet, "it's not over, Leo. I promise you, I'm not- I'm not just saying this so you'll calm down. I do get what you mean, I love my life now. I love my life with you, baby."

Leo let out a little sob, tearing up and then he slumped forward, melting against Jonah's chest. He felt a kiss pressed on the top of his head, Jon squeezing him tightly.

"There are greater and better things waiting for you, Leo," he promised, "and you're never gonna be alone like before."

[bamdelune]

Genshin boys as uni students + content creators 🎧🎬🗯 (Sumeru edition) headcanons!

— this took a while to post because I saved the draft the moment my wifi cut off and I had to rewrite the whole thing.

— these are my personal headcanons, you may feel free to disagree with me ! little wonky when it comes to talking about what they do in uni because a high school student wrote this 🔥

Al Haitham ★ Law Major + Day in My Life

As much as I want to assign him to being a literature major, I believe he would choose law over it because he believes in practicality and plans WAY ahead into the future. It's not that he was forced into it, he chose it himself to survive in society and he's somewhat fine with that.

He's passionate about his course to a certain/decent degree but I image it's not even measurable to his interest in books & analyzing literature.

Naturally excels in his class and is commended for majority of his thesis papers and projects.

Adding to the last bullet: Whenever the professor assigns those scenario based requirements, the teacher will always get shocked from reading his works because he finds the most unexpected ways (and uses the most unexpected constitutional statements) to answer the question and somehow they always turn up reasonable.

In terms of content creating, he doesn't upload on a schedule but gets irked when the date between today and his last upload is a little too far so he uploads one when he feels today is gonna be a productive one.

Doesn't talk a lot in videos and just shows himself going about his business (mostly studying in the silence of the library or in the bustling environment of the nearest cafe, he still manages to concentrate either way)

When he reads new books with really good plots, he somehow incorporates them into short videos along with his usual routine and talks about what he thinks of it so far (which prompted a few not so pleasant comments on some of his videos because of his unbiased opinion)

Absolutely despises bullshit and problematic authors and problematic plot points and he makes no effort to hide that.

He likes silence. he finds the silence of his room with only the sound of his mouse and keyboard clicking and clacking as he edits his videos. he finds both the lack of sound and the activity very theraputic.

Posts study with me videos — believes in the power of the body doubling study method and it's a win-win for both him and his followers.

Examples of his videos would be something like what saranghoe or kai notebook would post on their channels (check them out! they're so cool omg)

Kaveh ★ Architecture Major + GRWMs & DIML

Be honest were you really expecting another major for him...

Okay, maybe he would fit as a fashion/art student.

If it's not obvious enough, his blueprints and structure plans are immaculate. Whatever the prompt is, he would ALWAYS find a way to make it fit into both the theme + his distinct architectural style or draw it even better. This man is so full of ideas and genuinely loves his major.

Affinity to classical and dainty architecture styles.

Enjoys doing interior designing as well — he tries to include them in his initial exterior designs if he has the time but majority of the time, he doesn't.

He's a self-care babe. Already has an estsblished skincare, haircare, nailcare, and even makeup routine by the time he starts content creating.

Trust me, if his course didn't entail straining his hands a lot from sketching and nails getting accidentally cracked (to his dismay), he would've painted them a LONG time ago. Instead, he paints his friends' nails for fun.

Is the type to upload anytime without a schedule like he genuinely enjoys making videos and such. Even if those updates last for about 30 seconds or a minute, he uploads them.

His videos are motivation to get your life togjether just because his looks like it.

It's not. He lives off of lattes and convenience store snacks on his off time. (He also films himself even when he doesn't look as put together as he does in his usual videos).

Examples of his videos would be the content Song Jia (free지아) would post. Drops effective tips, recommendations, and even advice from time to time.

Cyno ★ Criminal Justice Major & Tighnari ★ Med Student + Vlogging & Mukbang

Cyno

I decided to write these two as a duo because I headcanon them as roommates as well in a modern au.

Cyno despite his kind of intimidating course takes it very well and has always been a fan of solving stuff related to criminology. In serious moments, he's able to give his two cents on social topics.

The fastest in his class to answer and solve scenario-based questions.

He's a fucking pain in the ass (said in a loving tone) to watch action/thriller movies with because on top of the puns and jokes he makes, he ends up spoiling the plot because he's already deduced what's going to happen.

Tighnari

Tighnari is a tired medical student, taking up a pre-med course in either biology or medical devices.

He's the type to have the messy-neat room, papers neatly but at the same messily sprawled on areas in his room but it adds to his personality so it's alright.

The one med student who makes his notes as neat as possible because he believes that it's better to understand during his first year and the one who relies on a distant memory to decode what he wrote in his notebook that looked like it went through 7 failed situationships, 3 divorces, and lost the custody of 3 children in the later phases of his academic career.

Despite that, he remembers the names and uses of medical treatments and supplements at the top of his head.

Tighnari likes to be precise in practice operations during the later years in med school after pre-med.

-

Cyno introduced the idea of content creating to his roommate.

Tighnari agreed because he's drowning in student debt.

They would mostly do vlogs when they go out with friends or play board games (Tighnari cheats his way to the top whilst Cyno is left to wonder how he, the master at card games and alike, is losing to someone who just learned the mechanics 5 minutes ago).

Their viewers enjoy that bit very much.

When the weekend pulls closer, they like to plan the food they want to eat at home for a video or the restaurant/food fair hopping they'll be doing on a random Friday. It's a routine they do to unwind from the stress of academics.

They also gossip together while filming and eating.

The type of content they would post would be like the videos Stephanie Soo posts.

Scaramouche/Wanderer ★ Performing Arts + Gaming & Covers

He's so K-pop idol coded, did we as a society forget one of his hobbies was dancing in canon

He has a background in contemporary dancing/ballet and hip-hop dancing.

His voice is angelic and his professor really likes his vocal color (probably would have TXT's Soobin / SVT's Minghao's tone).

Scara ensures that dance moves are always clean when he performs and makes sure that there isn't any idle part of his body when he dances. His right hand is up? His left arm has to be placed somewhere at the same time. He hates it when he looks awkward on stage.

A really wide vocal range and can comfortably shift vocal tiers. He only strains his voice when the following note is unbelievably high for his pitch.

Shines the most in slow and r&b type performances, and is extremely flexible physically and in terms of genres.

When he posts content, Scaramouche takes interest in horror games as well as fixed-world (I'm not sure about the word) RPG games (ones like Persona 5, Honkai Stsr Rail). He screams (much more than he likes to admit).

He posts dance covers and song covers as well and gets a lot of praise for it online, urging him to become an idol (little do they know that he's studying to do just that).

Books really nice dance studios for covers and goes all-out for outfits.

Examples of his videos would be what Tuonto/Jake and Antony Chen would post.

© bamdelune may 2023. do not repost or plagiarize any of my works, thank you so much! reblogs, notes, and comments are always appreciated!

(main masterlist)

[shizukais]

Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Hi! Thank you for asking ❤️ On general (no specific order):

Coraline, Neil Gaiman (book)

I read it for the first time in elementary school. I completely fell in love with the story. I was young and I remember being quite impressed with it (for a children's book, it's quite shocking huh). Years later I reread the book and felt again as if I was reading it for the first time. It's been my favorite book for a long time. I always read it every now and then.

Friends (TV series)

My comfort show. I watch it at any time to have fun or just pass the time. I've watched it so many times that I know almost everything about this series. I can talk about it for hours or write a 10,000-word thesis about it.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (manga)

My favorite manga of my collection. My little paper treasure, as I like to call it. I really like this story, it has everything I enjoy in a piece of media (fantasy, mystery, plot twists, angst, well-developted characters, etc). I really wanted to erase my memories and read it as if it were the first time again. It is breathtaking.

One Piece (anime)

Despite having seen Naruto first, One Piece is somehow more memorable for me. Whether due to its long duration or the complexity of the character/world build, One Piece is a remarkable work that I always talk about when talking about favorites.

Shinya Shokudo (manga, TV series)

Talking about Shinya Shokudo is not easy. Whether it's the manga or the TV series, it touches me on several levels. A feeling of nostalgia for something I didn't experience, coziness and tranquility. There are few media that bring me such nice feelings. It's simple but touching. Even though I have zero kitchen skills, I love seeing Master cooking different dishes and the customers telling their unique stories.

Hajime no Ippo (anime, manga)

It's a lifetime series, published since long before I was born. I've been reading it for so many years already! I always say I need to see its ending before I die. It's something that I simply have as a goal in life lol Seeing Ippo reaching the end of his story. (Mori sensei please be healthy, okay?)

World Trigger (anime, manga)

Amazing story, amazing characters, amazing world building. Everything about World Trigger is amazing to me. I'm a big fan of science fiction and World Trigger delivers everything and much more. The only sad thing about it is the very slow pace for the story to progress, but we have to be grateful that even with health problems, Ashihara sensei keeps going. I'll always support him and wish to see the end of WT someday.

Supernatural (TV series)

I watched it for the first time when I was a kid and it scared the hell out of me. Ever since then I've been watching SPN from time to time. I love the cheap drama and the quirky stories. Although, for me the quality of the series has deteriorated a lot over the seasons and I don't understand the fandom tbh. But that's another topic I guess.

Tokyo Revengers (manga)

Tokyo Revengers started as an obsession and has remained as a favorite. Time travel stories are always a must-read / must-watch for me and TR knows what they're doing with it. I love protagonists who at the beginning are nothing, but over time manage to develop into someone better in order to achieve their goals. Also, Mikey has become a very imporant character for me, I can say that in the end, he was pretty much the reason why I read the whole thing.

*I didn't include movies because I would need a whole list to fit all of them, there are so many that I would like to mention.

**Honorable mentions: mushishi, natsume yuujinchou, link click, nge, golden kamuy, pandora hearts, yu yu hakusho, dorohedoro, hxh, naruto, bsd, clamp's works, junji ito's works.

[nihyunluvskookie]

shēngrì kuàilè wǒ dí àirén

“Mingyu one shot”

Pairing: Kim Mingyu x female reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: no mentions since it's a fluff

Word count: 1.6K

Author’s Note: Happy Birthday best person to ever exist!! @aestheticfangirl Sending you love and hugs, although I wish I was there to wish you face to face, and I tried writing something different so I hope you’ll like this, and telling just in case you get confused, I used Mandarin, because they speak Cantonese or Mandarin in Taiwan and shēngrì kuàilè wǒ dí àirén means happy birthday my love

happy reading <3 ily sm 💗

I looked at the date and I sighed, it counted my first month here in Taiwan. I looked at my phone, I wonder what he is doing right now, I missed him. It’s been a month since I last saw him and it’s been three days since I heard his voice. I was a bit busy with assignments and he was busy with his work.

I wonder if he’s taking care of himself or not. I shut down my Mac and went to bed, holding my phone; it’s like I missed a bit more today even though I don’t know why. For the last month, it took me a bit of time to settle down here, and since it was the first time for me to study out of the country. I made few friends, but there was always a lingering feeling which I don’t understand. Being in a long-distance relationship now, I remember crying when I first came because I missed him, his warmth which always made me feel home. Coming back to his arms, after a tired day was the best feeling ever but I can’t even do that. And coming here and getting busy with my papers and thesis, I don’t even get proper time to do anything else, it’s like a commitment I have with my Ph.D. degree, I have to do well no matter what but I was failing in time management.

The urge to call him and hear his voice was strong but then I looked at the time, it’s already past midnight here; so it was almost past 1 am there, I kept my phone on the nightstand and lay on my bed.

I tried to close my eyes and started thinking about him. I remember how excited I was when I told him I got accepted into National Taiwan University and I’ll be doing my Ph.D there, both of us were happy until that night I heard him telling Wonwoo, that I’ll be leaving soon.

‘I’m gonna miss her so much, what do I do’ I went to him and hugged him tight from back. I didn’t want to show the acceptance letter as soon as I got, because I needed some time to think about it and decide how to break this news to him because although I was excited but I was sad that he won’t be with me these years by my side.

‘Mingyu…’

‘I’ll call you later hyung’ and he turned to look at me, ‘Aki’ and he kissed my forehead

I hugged him tight, hearing his heartbeat as if it was the music for my heart. ‘I will miss you so much, but I am so proud of you. You always make me proud for who you are’

‘Mingyu… I’ll be back soon’ I lifted my face to look at him, the moonlight falling on his face and making him look breathtaking. ‘This is going to be tough but we can do this’ he nodded and cupped my face and gave me the softest kiss ever.

Tears started falling and I realized I was crying, I missed him so much right now. Wish he was here tonight, just to hold me and give me the warmth I needed. Another memory flooded in when I started thinking about ‘us’

‘Aki look here’ and I turned around just to see him holding his camera, ‘did you click pictures?’

‘Yes, I clicked pictures of my pretty girlfriend, who looks lovely in this yellow summer dress.’

‘Mingyu…’ and when I started taking steps towards him, he started taking his steps back; it was enough for me to understand that he was going to run and I have to catch him. the smile he had on his face at that time, no one could understand how much peace it gave to me, how much I wanted to treasure his smile at that time, even pictures can’t do justice to that smile.

I missed him so much, he didn’t even text me goodnight tonight, I wonder how his day was today because today we hardly exchanged two texts not more than that. Wish I could go and check on him, whenever I am busy or he is busy we just meet each other or wait for each other after making dinner.

Thinking about dinner, how much I miss watching him cook dinner for us sometimes.

At times, I hate staying awake past midnight because of these overwhelming thoughts I get about him. past one month was difficult for me, he was checking up on me, almost every day but I couldn’t tell him everything in details because he might get worried, that’s why I tried to make him believe and understand that I am doing well, but how can I be totally okay when sometimes I just wish him to be here and miss him so much that at times I end up crying.

My tears were making my pillow wet. I tried wiping my tears but how do I stop them now?

I was about to get up and switch off the lights, so that I could try to sleep but as soon as I got up from my bed, I heard my door bell ring. I looked at the wall clock, it was already 1 am and why would someone be here ringing my door bell at this time. I wiped my face first, trying to look normal, I looked at the mirror once before walking towards the door. I was hesitating to open the door but knowing this was the safest neighborhood and full of students, I was still unsure then the bell rang for the second time.

I took a deep breath and said “shuí zài nàér?” (who’s there?) while opening my apartment door, and the moment I looked at the person, I gasped hard. Because I couldn’t believe, “Happy Birthday my love” I felt like I was hallucinating right now, “shēngrì kuàilè wǒ dí àirén” (happy birthday my love)

I hugged him tight although his two hands were full, I couldn’t believe anything, “Mingyu” it felt forever since I called him, and my tears started falling, “I'm here now” I didn’t say anything anymore. I let go of him after calming myself down, he looked at me, and his eyes told me everything. I smiled at him and wiped my tears.

“Let’s go inside, sorry to keep you here for so long” and held his hand; I closed the door behind us, and the moment I turned around Mingyu’s lips met mine,  I was surprised by this act.

His hand went to my cheeks and other hand went to my waist, he pulled me closer and I could feel the longing in the kiss. “I missed you so much” he said in between kisses and started caressing my cheeks. “I couldn’t wait to surprise you on your birthday” I got emotional and was about to cry and saw him pulling back from the kiss. He cupped my face, “were you crying?” his thumbs were on my face, telling me to calm and it’s okay. I nodded slowly.

I was about to speak but he kissed me again, this time he kissed me until we were out of breath.

“I’m here now and once again happy birthday” he said and kissed my forehead.

I smiled looking at him, I was missing him so much that I didn’t even remember that it was already midnight and it was my birthday.

“Now, come make a wish and let's celebrate your birthday” he held my hand and pulled me towards him, and he gave me the bouquet which was on the couch now. “This is for you, my flower.”

I hugged him tight, not wanting to let go of him, “Let me show you the cake atleast!” I laughed a little, it was the true laugh I let out since past one month. We were standing near the table, and he opened the package and showed me the cake, he also lit the candles.

“Now make a wish”

‘I want to be yours forever’ I said in my mind and blew out the candles. “Thank you so much Mingyu” Before I could say anything else, it hit me, that he was here sitting beside me.

“BUT WHEN DID YOU COME?”

“We can talk about it later love” he kissed me again, “I missed kissing you” and he kissed me again, my hands went to his shoulder automatically, feeling him against my body. Our forehead touched after we were out of breath, “You have no idea how much I missed you, although it was one month but felt like years to me, wish I could tell you how much this distance was killing me. wish you were somewhere near and I could just drive to you and see you whenever I missed you.” his breaths were hitting my face, I felt alive again, felt like I got my reason to smile again.

He took a step back, and I looked at him, taking something out from his pocket. It was a red velvet box, I was looking at him the whole time and then he opened the box, it was a pendant.

“Your birthday gift”

“Mingyu….” I hugged him so tight; I couldn’t help it. This whole surprise was making me so weak, him flying all over to Taipei to meet me and celebrate my birthday was already overwhelming and now giving me the pendant, which was his birth flower, Adonis.

“Stay here and complete your studies because after that I’m not letting you go alone anywhere I’ll go wherever you go”

“I love you” I lifted my head to look at him and smiled, "I love you too" and kissed me.

It was the best birthday ever.

[longagoitwastuesday]

I've also been reading the three musketeers and the thesis chapter had me Cackling. the clowning on learning latin in particular and aramis as a character constantly emphasizing that being part of the higher sought after and hard-to-get-into regiment of the king's musketeers is just kind of a temp job for him is so funny. character of all time. (also bazin wanting aramis to be a abbe so bad is so good)

Disclaimer that I was actually not reading the book, just giving a look and toying with the idea of reading it soon. In fact I was reading something else, but the chapter was so funny I've abandoned it and will probably start The three musketeers instead xD

Yes! Bazin was so funny. While reading him I couldn't help but be reminded of Smee wanting to leave Neverland and done with Hook's obsession for Peter Pan. Aramis dismissing being a musketeer is hilarious, but it becomes particularly funny after reading Cyrano de Bergerac, where Cyrano mentions being a musketeer wistfully a couple of times. While I was reading the play I kept thinking that Cyrano's aspirations were basically to be Aramis haha

The use of Latin each character (the curate, the Jesuit, D'Artagnan and Aramis) does was indeed very funny, as well as insightful. I ended up reading a paper on the command each of the four protagonists has of Latin, and I loved the comparison it established between Athos and Aramis. I don't have an opinion on this formed because I have yet to read the book, which is a good thing (it will hopefully keep me from rambling), but I found what I read super interesting.

The chapter was very funny, and I felt Dumas managed everything very well? I loved the writing itself. Every part of the chapter worked wonderfully as a whole to enhance every aspect, making the funny parts more fun and drawing a more clear lively depiction of the characters.

By that I mean, basically, that even from the initial interaction between D'Artagnan and the hostess in which he asks for Aramis and she goes "the charming hot guy?" we can see Aramis' hypocrisy and unsteadiness by a mile. It's hilarious to read the chapter and see how Aramis ends up contradicting everything he does or says, at times not even that long after saying it xD

Which takes me to the thesis itself. Honestly, I loved the topics. I know they're supposed to sound a bit ridiculous and funny, but I thought Dumas conveyed very well the air of some of those intricate questions of theology that seem trifle but have a lot of implications, and end up being of a very poetic nature (such as the question about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, one of my all time favourite questions). I wasn't very interested on the topic of the hands until the Jesuit commented that sprinklers "simulate an infinite number of blessing fingers"; that's beautiful.

Now, the topic Aramis himself proposes is just gorgeous. The way he defends it with a syllogism is so clever of Dumas considering the link between theology and the development of Logic. Besides that, despite how unorthodox the topic may appear at first, as Aramis himself puts it, there is a lot of truth in what he says about the world being full of temptations and it being very much a sacrifice to leave it, and how there lies the devotional act. I ended up being very intrigued by the potential development of this thesis in a mix of appreciation of the world as God's creature, and thus the leaving of the world as an act of true love for God, of more importance; how instead of an easy surrender, the struggle and doubts are as much reflection of the condition of humanity's frailty as it is a more steady and full surrender to God.

The topic of Aramis' thesis is somewhat paradoxical yet sound, and reflects doubts, as well as an appreciation for the world, aesthetics and beauty; I think it reflects so much of what makes Aramis himself.

And then, again, there's the whole hypocrisy through the entire chapter (which is what makes it for me haha). The way he says he isn't defending a regret at renouncing the world while proposing the thesis, that the mere idea is sacrilegious, how he insists he won't miss it, that friends are but shadows and the world a grave, and still how his resolution wavers almost instantly with his "And yet, while I still hold to the earth, I would have liked to talk with you, about you, about our friends" (and what a tender shaking), only to end up asking D'Artagnan to tell him about the world in the last line? Hilarious. What an hypocrite xD

But how extremely charming and adorable, I must admit! I love how when D'Artagnan tells him "But how are you going to live while you wait for me? No more thesis, no more commentaries on fingers and blessings, eh?", Aramis smiles and replies "I shall compose verses". Truly one of the characters of all time xD

[apparencies]

the other day my press secretary advised me to diversify the voids into which i scream, which is why i'm tentatively returning to oversharing on tumblr dot com (which has changed completely in my year long absence and i'm deeply disturbed WHO are tumblr lives for?). i thought this would be nice moment in time to return since, after handing in my last two research papers a few weeks ago, the only thing standing between me and my master's degree is my actual thesis. horrifying to think about, honestly, but alas. i just think it might keep me a little more sane to keep a diary of sorts of my progress.

SO. in review, this degree has been truly insane so far, and definitely pushed me to limits i didn't even know i had in a multitude of different ways, but - as is often the way of these things - i really have learnt a lot, and that goes beyond specific polisci knowledge. speaking of which, i'm now a *stats girly*. i mean i can barely operate stata and it's entirely unwillingly but i still think it counts, so there. my focus has also shifted (or rather, expanded) from populism studies to include democratic representation and responsiveness, which really was just a product of the prof i studied under quite a bit and also the project work i do as a research assistant. i'm thinking my thesis might develop somewhere at that intersection, but i can't bear to think about it in any real detail yet. i'm saving that for when the semester actually starts in two weeks.

the rough timeline is: classes start in two weeks and, besides an intro to R seminar i haven't actually gotten into yet, i'm only visiting a colloquium to develop my thesis and one week-long intensive seminar (on intersectionality!! i didn't realise anyone at my institute even knew that word). i know the last months of the year are going to slip through my fingers much faster than i think, so i'd like to have several research ideas until then and settle on one that i can present in it's entirety (including theory, hypotheses, research design etc.) towards the end of january. at which point - i guess all i have to do is write the thing? my goal is to hand in at the beginning of june and hopefully defend my thesis towards the end of the month and use the remaining months of the semester until my grant runs out to do one last internship (abroad, if i can manage it!) before i become a working girl. scream. that's absolutely not terrifying to think about.

i am kind of excited? i do think i've found my strengths in academia and there are definitely so many questions i'd love to ask and contribute towards answering, but it's such a big project and i feel a lot of pressure to produce a certain level of work (intrinsic as well as extrinsic). but i suppose others have done it and there's really nothing left to do but get started, so i might as well. famous last words?

[zenki-soukokq]

Hi! I hope you have a nice day :)

Can I asked about romantic genshin matchup request? (any characters)

My personality type is INTP, 5w4, zodiac sign is Gemini. I have short, light brown hair, blue/grey eyes. She/her. I'm about 5'5 but I don't really know. I really like ugly sweaters and music like "the smiths", "queen", "the cure", "the happy fits", "david bowie", "jack stauber", "crywank". My language of love is quality time. I fond of philosophy (I study it on a professional and scientific level, if I can say so), reading and cinematography. I'm not very emotional person, rather this thing really makes me tired. But I really curious person. I like romantic things, but maybe more in observational meaning. Anyway I have daddy issues. I like smart, wise, well-read, interesting, supportive and caring people who can give me new knowledge and thoughts. But I like to spend enough time alone, because my social battery and work. At the same time I like communicating with people, I think this is a great way to get to know this world better.

I will be waiting for your answer!

Thanks :)

You have been matched up with...Layla!

A Rtawahist student who always looks sleep-deprived. Her dark eye circles have been worsening due to academic stress. Yet no matter how difficult the work at hand, she always manages to make the most brilliant deductions. Could she be writing her thesis in her dreams?

How you two met:

Another day, another flurry of assignments from the Akademiya. Today, though, a different type of assignment was given to the Rtawahist students. Students were to be paired up and to work together on a project about their reasons for entering the Akademiya, so that the alumni could get to know each other better.

Despite it being nearly the middle of the year, the Akademiya had decided to put all of the students through a partner assignment to get to know each other

Layla, being in the same class as you, was randomly paired up with you

She got up to sit down next to you, so that you two could start learning about each other for the project

Both of you sat in a bit of silence for a couple of minutes, until she began with the question of why you sought out education from the Akademiya

That started a line of interrogation-like questions were exchanged between the two of you

Layla had been listening attentively, and jotted down quick notes about your answers, and you did the same

This went on till ten minutes before the end of the class, when the two of you decided that you would work separately to analyze the answers that each of you got

Layla seemed as if she was thinking quite deeply about what was on her paper, yet she had not verbalized any of it, nor had she written anything else down on her paper

Nevertheless, you could tell that she was working through her thoughts very carefully

Later, when all of the classes had wrapped up for the day, you and Layla sat in your respective rooms, working through assignments. You finished yours diligently, falling asleep without a worry in your mind. Layla, however, had gone through quite the opposite.

Layla sat in her room, panicking somewhat over her papers

More specifically, she was panicking over her papers about you

She knew exactly how she felt about you in her mind, but she couldn't formulate the sentences nor the thoughts in words

It was almost like her thoughts about you were in feelings only, something that was purely emotional

She fell asleep at her desk, and just like every other night, she went into an odd sleepwalking state

In her supposedly sleepwalking mode, she began to write pages of what she was able to decipher about you, and how she felt about you

Pages and pages of her thoughts and feelings were brought into existence, and before long, they had completely consumed the entire area of her desk

Remarkably, all of these notes were completely organized, and even more, were so bluntly direct in their wording, that it couldn't be mistaken on how she felt about you

Later, Layla had woken up, and was in shock at the amount of work that now laid on her desk

She had no time to contemplate this occurrence though, as she collected all of the papers strewn on the table, and headed to class

Now, it was time for her to share what she had written, and she was a little embarrassed at how blunt the words had been written

"So, yesterday, I was able to understand that...oh...I, have some specific feelings about you. There's not much else I could try to paint this as...well, here it goes...written on my paper, it says very clearly that I love you-!"

Why you two are compatible:

A Rtawahist student who specializes in Theoretical Astrology. Heavily prone to somnambulism and locked in a grinding war with sleep deprivation, the problem of restful slumber is a most troubling one to her.

I imagine that Layla would be very similar to you, in a way where the two of your personalities don't clash with each other

Quality time would also probably be her primary love language as well, due to the fact that she probably doesn't have much time to begin with

If her partner could find the time in a relationship to spend with her, then she'd likely be very happy from that alone

I think her position as a student in the Akademiya would also be quite nice for the both of you, for multiple reasons

Whether or not you're also in the Akademiya, it allows for you and her to have conversations about her studies (and yours)

It also allows for a natural space from each other in the relationship

Due to your social battery (and the social battery that I envision her to also have), it makes for a mutual understanding of not needing to be social with each other 24/7

You and her would be mentally and intellectually stimulated by each other, likely because of how both you and her have a lot of knowledge about your respective fields

Generally, the two of you seem like naturally compatible people

Relationship Headcanons:

A lot of your time with her is probably spent in the House of Daena

Study dates are very common, as well as dates where the two of you work on assignments in the same room

For the most part, the two of you don't see each other/actively interact with each other for more than 2-4 hours a day

This is due to her schedule and yours, as well as your general temperaments

She does try to make it a habit to get into a better sleep routine to spend more time with you, though

Like I said before about being mentally and intellectually stimulating each other, that's probably a large part of the relationship

In fact, most people would probably say that you're research partners, and not actually in a personal relationship

You two would exchange book recommendations, and also recommend certain courses for each other

After education in the Akademiya (however long that is), you two would likely end up working together in some way, whether it be as researchers, or something else

New Years Headcanons:

Layla likely doesn't really celebrate New Years as much as other people

Her exhaustion and tiredness is the cause of that

However, this year, she wanted to at least do something small for you

Since the Akademiya gave this day off for the students, she decided to spend most of it sleeping, and when she woke up, she would do something for you

Almost all of the day passed by while she slept, and when she had woken up, her clock told her that it was around eleven

This was the perfect timing, and she made her way over to your room

After knocking on your door, and waiting for a minute, she brought up her idea to you

Her idea was to simply head down into the city, and to have some snacks and drinks at the café

You agreed, and the two of you began to slowly make your way down into the city

Finally, you had reached the café, and got a table off in a secluded corner outside

A platter of snacks soon found it's way to your table, along with some hot coffee

Neither of you had been keeping track of the time, so when bright green lights began to splatter the skies, the two of you were caught off guard

Layla had been slightly dozing off, and her head had jerked up as she looked up into the sky

You had simply turned your head upwards, and had seen the abundance of fireworks that now expanded across the dark night

"Wh- oh! I didn't even realize that it was already this late...ah...oh-! Happy New Years-! Sorry, I think I might be falling asleep..."

Afterword:

I hope you enjoyed the matchup! (Also, I hope it doesn't seem too low quality or something like that, since I'm in quite a similar state to Layla as I write)

[itsawriterthingblog]

Final Mastery Journal

In this final course at Full Sail University, I was required to complete a thesis project for my final capstone article. As a result of taking this course, I learned how to write a compelling and well-researched thesis paper to support an article. I have realized over the course of this program the importance of preparation and organization when explaining the steps that go into writing an article. This is from the original preparation to the publication and distribution. It is my third and final degree at Full Sail University and by far the most challenging. As a journalist, I underestimated the amount of research and dedication required. Full Sail University has been such a rewarding experience, and the lessons I've learned here will stay with me for the remainder of my career. From time management and constructive criticism, Full Sail has taught me to become a better listener, writer, and student. In my career as a creative writer, I will be taking with me my knowledge of creating smart goals. This will help me achieve all that I've set out for myself to accomplish. I will also use my knowledge of networking to establish personal and professional relationships with my peers as I progress throughout my career in the film and television industry. I will also be using Full Sail University as a life-long resource from the career development team, to the teachers and staff. I have received so much love and support from Full Sail University and am so thankful for the time I've spent here, learning and growing. Full Sail University has taught me the fundamentals of succeeding as a professional writer and businesswoman and the knowledge I have gained is invaluable. Thank you so much to Dr. Carstens and all of the faculty at Full Sail University for believing in me and helping me to turn my dreams into a reality.

[pen-observing]

request: how lucifer, mammon, satan, belphegor and diavolo react and find out about you having 'I now own your soul' under the terms and conditions of a webpage.

Lucifer:

While Lucifer is certainly busy all the time, and tries to balance it by having you in his study as he works, he can’t hide how tired he has actually been for the past 4 weeks.

All you know is that Diavolo has made the meetings more frequent and they are taking a toll on him

And since he means that much to you, regardless of if you wish to acknowledge it or not, you have to ask what is going on once he stands up and walks over to reach for another bottle from his shelf Lucifer does not drink that often and he certainly doesn’t try to avoid work by drinking.

Just what could be making him act this way?

“Lucifer, you have to tell me what is going on.”

He stands on his side of the desk just pouring another glass down.

Curse him for being elegant and showing his forearms while doing so!

And then he dares to look at you with full focus and furrowed eyebrows and he is about to say something and he looks like-

‘no. You are human.’

Fuck.

“Come on! You know I won’t tell anyone!”

He does trust you at least after so long.

"Very well. I will tell you since it has something to do with a human. If, by any chance, you spread the information, the price you pay will be a heavy one."

He can’t intimidate you that much but you know when he is serious.

"You see, recently, Diavolo has had more issues than ever with someone we like to call ‘code soul stealer"

“Uhn,, and that is?”

He takes a sip of his drink and holds the glass while looking at you.

“Apparently, a pesky human added ‘I now own your soul’ in their terms and conditions on a web page and some application. With this, they have stolen many souls and Diavolo has grown even more concerned these past few weeks since the page is just gaining popularity.”

Oh fuck, oh fuck. Thats you that he is calling a pesky human! You only did it as a joke because you saw a meme! It wasn’t supposed to make an enemy out of you to the prince of hell!

How are you supposed to tell Lucifer that? How will he react?

Maybe if you do tell him it will actually create more good than harm?

Or, you could hide it for the rest of your life and- no! The honest way with Lucifer is the best way. He trusts you enough so you have to trust him too!

“Lucifer...I am the pesky human you are referring to...”

He drops the glass. 

“I swear I had no idea souls were actually real and now I own a lot of them! O-On the good side I went viral 4 weeks ago so...oh, that is why you’ve been so busy....sorry.”

Lucifer says nothing.

He just falls into the chair in the most dramatic way you’ve ever seen.

He covers his face with both hands and groans into them loudly.

If you were not ‘code soul stealer’ you would laugh at him right now. But he has to figure out a way to protect you now.

Mammon:

You see, dating Mammon means that you two will bicker plenty.

However, it is usually silly stuff that you bicker about like; are gold or silver lines better on this cup of tea or not?

He just loves you too much to get into a serious argument with you.

However, Levi dragged you both to play a spy/heist game that just came out and Mammon cannot accept to lose such a challenge.

He is not proud that people call him thief, but he is proud and believes he has the skills to back up his many enrichment-plans

So the fact that you won against him for 3 times in a row is UNNACCEPTABLE under this dark, dark sky.

Mammon denies it all. ‘i went easy on you’; ‘I did it cuz you are happy when you win’ and ‘please, don’t you know who I am? I am THE Mammon!”

And while he is cute while bickering, sometimes it becomes unbearable.

So, you do what any normal human would: you challenge him by listing your biggest ‘heist’ ever.

“You don’t know who you are talking to! I have created a heist unlike any other! I have stolen a million souls so far! The DevilTV refers to me as – unstoppable soul collector!”

Levi left long ago so Mammon is standing there completely stunned with the stupidest look on his face so far. He kind of looks like a blowfish.

Still, he runs and puts a hand over your mouth and whispers:

“Don’t yell! We don’t want others to know that we run that business!”

Excuse him? Who is this –we- he speaks of?

“You will add your boyfriend to those plans, won’t you?”

Mammon will not let shock stand in the way of money or souls. You can explain to him how you managed that later but for now – just add him as your accomplice.

Satan:

You love your boyfriend.

You really, really do.

You love seeing him so excited and focused on finding clues to the newest Devildom mystery that you chose to let him have his fun by not telling him YOU were the one he was searching for.

And while you love him that much, you are about to ruin the whole game.

Why does he think it is appropriate to own 48 pairs of the same Sherlock Holmes outfit with THE UGLIEST MATCHING HATS YOU HAVE EVER LAID YOUR EYES ON.

First, he wore them in his ‘detective office’ only. Also known as the Lamentation house storage room for cleaning products. And that was fine, it was.

But then he started to wear them inside the house and in the garden. The saddest day was when a cat knocked the ugly hat off and ran away with it. Oh praise that cat! Praise the little paws!

However, he has gone too far.

He knows no bounds and shows no signs of stopping.

He started wearing the outfits OUTSIDE! In the middle of cobblestone paths of the main street while you were trying to have a nice date!

"Who knows where the soul snatching culprit could be hiding? I must wear this outfit everywhere to catch their clues. Trust me.”

That is it.

If one more iguana-looking-ass demon points their finger at you two and snickers as you walk past – he will have a rude wake up call.

How is it possible that he is trying to catch the culprit that is you but doesn’t pay any attention to you?

So, when you arrive home and he walks into the mop closet to add another unrelated photo to his crazy whiteboard as a clue – you tell him to sit down for a moment.

“Satan, honey, I have something to tell you about your soul snatching culprit.”

That definitely got his attention.

Finally! He is actually looking at you!

You lean down and gently kiss his head.

“I am the culprit you’re looking for. How does it feel to completely miss something right under your nose?”

He freezes up and throws a pen towards the whiteboard. It just bounces off and hits him in the back.

“You....you mean to tell me that,,, the biggest Devil Mystery TV phenomenon is ACTUALLY YOU?”

You are met with complete disbelief. Satan demands a detailed explanation on how you did it. He even tells you to use his whiteboard to retrace your steps!

...good luck...

Belphegor:

Will Belphegor ever actually publicly say that he has changed because of you? No.

Will he ever actually admit that to other brothers besides Beel when they’re talking in the late hours of the night in their room? Oh, absolutely not.

Will he tell you? Yes.

Yes but.. He will leave something out.

Sometimes Belphie looks at how you smile and remembers things that make him famous in this realm.

Yes, he is one of the most powerful demons and yes, he has a reputation of rebellion and the biggest steak of unattendance in RAD but

He is also a fairly famous scholar.

His papers and research are cited on the regular.

But when you smile and say a witty joke – he remembers that most of them focus around him proving just how dumb or naïve humans actually are.

But, you’re human and he hopes that you never see those.

Except that you do.

Because he is so famous it is no surprise that while looking for research papers to reference for your next assignment you saw his name while browsing through

And while you love him - you will not allow him to just diss the whole mankind.

So, you grab one of them from the library. Walk home, go to the attic while he is napping and open it up, putting it right on his face.

It takes a couple of seconds but he feels something is wrong and his hand reaches for it.

When he pulls it away, he is met with his thesis that was further developed from the seduction speech class assignment.

It sets it up as: ‘Seduction speech as a matter of blatant deception that humans always fall for but could never recreate.’

You are not even that mad at it to be honest.

But proving him wrong is always fun. And little does he know about your biggest secret ever.

“I will cut right to the chase and say – fix your bangs I want to see the way your eyes look when I tell you this!”

“I wonder who messed up my bangs with the academic paper in the first place?” is what he replies but his hand is already on his forehead.

“Whatever. Prepare to be amazed! I am the one the elders of the devildom are always ranting about on TV! Yes, I am the ‘pesky little human’ who is stealing away ‘edible’ souls! How is that for your thesis now? Is that not true deception?!”

He likes your smile still. You’re standing in front of the bed looking at him with sparkling eyes and clenched fists while striking a pose. It is silly really but he smiles.

Because you are.

And while he will ask you a bit more about that claim, he is just happy to know that maybe his next academic paper (which everyone eagerly awaits) will be tad more positive to your kind.

Diavolo:

You got an urgent call from Barbatos.

On the doorstep he told you that Diavolo needs you in his study.

What could you do that Barbatos can’t and will help Diavolo? Does such a thing even exist?

You walk inside of his office and are pretty sure Barbatos did not want to go inside because of the fact that a rat could be hiding under the mountain of papers that are all around the room.

Usually, Diavolo immediately stands up, lights up the room with his smile and stretches out his hands for a hug.

Now? He hears the doors open and looks at you with a weak smile while his head is resting on his elbows from behind the desk.

He has never looked worse.

“Barbatos said you called for me?”

You are unsure where to begin with this so you state a fact while thinking of questions to ask.

“He has? I have done no such thing?”

Great. Now both of you are confused.

“Can you tell me what is going on?”

Diavolo sighs and his smile is still nowhere to be seen.

“The elders have been so annoying lately. I understand that the biggest threat to the Devildom and everyone’s life here still has not been identified but there is nothing I can do except search!”

Just what threat is that? What could be making Diavolo so miserable?

“They keep comparing me to my father without actually offering any ways of fixing this!”

“I will try to offer some way if you tell me what the threat is!”

There you are, making a grand exclamation and promise while trying to avoid papers on the floor. Diavolo sighs again.

“A human is ruining our business! They somehow set up a page that allowed them to own souls by consent in some application under the terms and conditions. I mean, this has never happened before! Humans were never expected to think of that or have access to such means! And the name they used was fake. How am I supposed to find them and then burn them in the darkest pits of hell as the elders want me to?”

You stop trying to avoid the papers.

Did...did he just say darkest pits of hell? Did he just say the elders want YOU burned?!

How are you supposed to fix this? It was a fucking joke! You did not imagine this could ever happen!

“Diavolo you promised you would protect me no matter what, right?”

His eyes are serious when you say that. “Yes. I will. Is something amiss?”

“Diavolo.... I am the enemy your elders want to burn.. PLEASE DON’T LET THEM! MY SKIN JUST ADJUSTED TO THIS TEMPERATURE!”

Diavolo looks at you and laughs like never before. It is cute, it is childlike. His laugh finally lights up the room.

He thinks you are joking.

He thinks you are joking and abruptly stops once he realizes that you did not join in on the laugh.

You were just trying to crack a joke and make him feel better, right? There is no way that is true, right? But judging from your reaction he knows it is.

So, he grows serious once more.

He runs to embrace you.

“Please tell me you are willing to make a compromise because the elders do not care about how your skin adjusts to the temperature.”

[blackacre13]

Please continue the teacher/student au

Part 23 is here; Here’s part 24!

“All I need is my voice, baby.”

Lou swallowed thickly, her stomach coiling as she realized what Debbie was suggesting.

“Put your phone on speaker,” Debbie spoke gently. “Get yourself comfortable.”

“Alright,” Lou breathed, barely able to utter a coherent thought as she did what Debbie instructed, laying back against her pillows, her heart racing and her head pounding.

“I want you to tease yourself for me, Lou,” Debbie instructed. “And you’re going to keep telling me what you’re doing, alright? And if you’re good for me, I’ll let you see what your own magic fingers can do for you.”

“And what are you smiling about?” Amita laughed, handing a coffee cup over to Lou. “You get laid last night or something?”

“Something,” Lou shrugged, accepting the coffee with a grateful smile as she pulled out a chair in the student union, the older student sitting across from her.

“Do I get the details?” The brunette smirked. “I barely slept this weekend, let alone slept with another human being. This thesis is going to be the death of me, I swear.”

“You know I’d be happy to read it,” Lou offered, pulling out a folder before sliding it across the table. She was hoping to change the subject, but she also genuinely liked Amita and appreciated all the prep work she was doing to get her ready for the teaching assistant position. She wanted to impress Debbie, and she was willing to do anything to achieve that goal, including racking Amita’s brain for every little detail, no matter how small from coffee orders to margin preference on papers and everything in between. She owed Amita big time. “If you ever need a fresh set of eyes or anything. Can even give me a personalized request. I can play good cop or bad cop when it comes to editing.”

“Trust me, you don’t have to do that,” Amita laughed, opening the folder as her eyes started to scan through the papers.

“It would be an honor,” Lou promised, sipping at her coffee as she waited anxiously for Amita to finish reviewing.

“Lou.”

“Oh Fuck,” Lou cursed. “Just give it to me straight. How bad is it?”

“Bad?” The brunette laughed. “Lou, Fuck being a TA, you could give Debbie a run for her money when it comes to teaching the class.”

“Oh, piss off,” the blonde snorted. “It’ll do though? She won’t rip it in half if I give her that version? I have some time later to edit it and make any kind of adjustments you recommend.”

“Lou, I’m serious. She’ll love this,” Amita grinned. “You have nothing to worry about. I’d just drop it off with her when you have class in a bit. She’ll give you brownie points for being early with it too. Always goes a long way with her.”

“Thanks, Mita.”

“Anytime,” she grinned. “Well, while I’m here. Once I abandon ship, you’re dead to me.”

“You can’t get rid of me,” Lou teased, tossing her pen at the brunette as Amita squealed ducking away.

“I’d hope not,” she laughed. “You have to keep me posted on all the art history department drama. Which, speaking of—have you seen Dr. Becker? That man is off the walls even more than usual.”

“Seriously? I mean, not that it takes much, but come on. He always has something new pissing him off.”

“New, maybe,” Amita shrugged. “But it always circles back to Debbie. If I had to bet money on it, I’d say she’s fucking someone new. He’s absolutely green with jealousy.”

Lou practically spit out her coffee as she tried to swallow, only managing to let out a half-choked laugh as she did.

“You alright there, Miller?”

“Yeah,” Lou lied, the panic setting in as realization dawned on her. There was always drama when it came to exes, sure. But knowing that your partner’s ex was your department head? That was some soap opera level bullshit.

[earnestly-endlessly]

I love your fic recs! Do you have any with Protective!Erik?

Protective! Erik is one of my favourite tropes so I have a TON of fics to share with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Protective! Erik fic recs

Erik Lehnsherr's Guide to Saving the Universe By Meeting Your Soul-Mate and Falling in Love in Less than 72 Hours – madneto, Pangea

Summary: Army Pilot Erik Lehnsherr is just trying to enjoy his day off when a mostly naked person crashes through the roof of his car. Even more alarming, the strange falling naked person—who goes by Charles Xavier when he's not speaking an ancient dead language—brings tidings of the apparent potential end of the world, and begs Erik to help him put a stop to it.

Well. His mother has been nagging at him to go out and meet new people.

In Sound and Silence – endingthemes

Summary: Erik is assigned to care for the special patient in room 301.

How Not To Meet Your Future Boyfriend – ikeracity

Summary: Erik punches Charles in the face the first time they meet. There isn't anywhere their relationship can go from there but up.

Forgotten – FuryRed

Summary: Charles is having a really bad day. Not only has he woken up in the middle of the afternoon with no idea where he is or how he got there, but when he returns home he’s confronted by a stranger with intense eyes, who insists that he knows Charles rather more intimately than Charles remembers…

Thou Shalt Not Eat Stones – valancysnaith

Summary: Two months after Washington, Raven found Erik in a skeevy motel off the Florida interstate.

“They have Charles, Erik,” she said.

The bedframe shrieked. In the bathroom, the showerhead snapped in half and clattered into the tub.

Demoted – JayPendragon

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr is a detective-specialist with the NYPD Mutant Tactical Unit, ready to help out where his skills are needed. Or he would be, if he and his partner hadn’t been demoted. For the next four months, he is patrolling the Lenox Hill precinct with Azazel – if he doesn’t die of boredom first. One night they are called in to investigate a potential case of domestic violence, yet the tenant assures them he is both alone and unharmed. However, there is something about this Charles Xavier that compels Erik to follow up.

Warning: Sensitive material, domestic abuse and dubious consent

Watch Your Back – swoopswoop

Summary: Bodyguard AU where Erik is overly protective and things aren't as simple as they seem.

If We Met Differently – swoopswoop

Summary: Erik wasn't the only mutant 'taken in' by Shaw, Erik learns this the hard way when a new mutant is dropped into his cell. They manage to escape together, but things aren't all roses after that. Erik has a score to settle and needs to make sure Charles is safe.

The Color of Love (Character Swap Remix) – BadLuckBlueEyes

Summary: Nobody sees in color until they meet their soulmates. When your soulmate dies, your vision returns to black and white. What happens when your soulmate only dies for a few minutes?

Omega Online – miss_aphelion

Summary: Newly imprinted Charles is having trouble dealing with his overly protective alpha—so in desperation he seeks advice in an omega chat room. Emma Frost is more than happy to help, Raven isn't helping at all, and Erik can't stand to be out of touch with Charles for more than five minutes at a time.

Cannot be Contained in Words – wallhaditcoming (uvcatastrophe) 

Summary: Crime syndicate head Erik Lehnsherr travels to London on business, where he meets oxford student Charles Xavier. Their liaison spawns into a years long transatlantic affair, kept apart by Erik's work and Charles' studies,which Erik chronicles in photographs. When distance ceases to be an issue after four long years, the overlap between Charles' past and Erik's work create a whole new set of complications.

A Pertinent Reminder – ikeracity, Pangea

Summary: Sometimes it's easy to forget that getting involved in Erik's mob business isn't all fine dining and sex on yachts. There's nothing like taking a couple of bullets to remind Charles of the reality.

Part 3 of the Associates series

A Dangerous Game – ikeracity, pangea

Summary: When a familiar enemy of Erik's returns to the city for some old-fashioned revenge, Charles is sucked deeper into the world of the mob than ever before.

Part 6 of the Associates series

You don’t choose the thug life (except when you do) – Anonymous

Summary: Charles is kidnapped and discovers that Erik, the Alpha he has been dating for the past few months and is head-over-heels for, is not just a wealthy businessman but actually the head of a syndicate.

He is rather unhappy about this discovery and Erik gets an earful for lying to him. Then Charles is kidnapped again and really, he hopes mating Erik won't result in weekly kidnapping because he has a thesis to finish and papers to grade.

Marrying a Mob – Ook

Summary: Charles is a teacher at a very exclusive school. When armed men burst in on the trail of two children, of course he stands up to them and gets hurt. The children are Erik Lehnsherr's children (of course); a "prominent businessman" or, less politely, "mobster".

Erik is grateful to Charles for saving his children's lives at the cost of his kneecap. So very grateful.

Naturally he tries to reward Charles for his actions. Equally naturally, Charles will be having none of that.

Azazel finds the whole thing unspeakably hilarious. Naturally.

Rumor Has It – blueink3

Summary: "Did I hear the doorbell earlier?"

"Yeah, but I'd steer clear if I were you. It seemed a little tense. I don't know what's going on, but there's a kid out there who looks freakily like the prof."

Nearly six months after Cuba, Charles' life is turned upside down for the second time. Though he's slowly learning to adapt to the first, he's not sure he can handle the second. Luckily for him, there are a few people out there more than willing to help.

Forward Momentum – AsYouWish

Summary: Six months after Cuba, Charles and Erik find themselves thrown fifty years into the future, where they meet their older selves, the Avengers, and a world that's very different from their own. Faced with the pieces of their broken relationship, an unparalleled adversary, and dealing with Tony Stark on a daily basis, Charles and Erik do their best to adapt while trying to find a way back home -- and to each other.

Runs in the Family – Anonysquirrel (chibirisuchan)

Summary: Alex knew his own reputation. Hell, he'd started some of his own reputation, because it kept some of the smarter thugs off his back. Everyone knew Alex's reputation. There was no way Hank didn't know his reputation, but he'd brought Alex into a house with some really expensive things and a lot of innocent little kids and his too-friendly, too-harmless dad.

But clearly Hank hadn't told his family anything about Alex, just like he hadn't told Alex anything about his family. At least, not about the brain-breaking parts of his family.

"I didn't know where to start," Hank said, for the dozenth time.

Featuring mpreg!Charles in a Kiss The Cook apron, overprotective!Erik in wet black leather, and baked goods. Lots and lots of baked goods.

Round the Corner Waiting – swoopswoop

Summary: When things go so spectacularly wrong during a relationship, Charles - now a single dad - almost makes a big mistake, only to be stopped by a mysterious man who just might turn his life back around.

Hide Your Fires – swoopswoop

Summary: As the sole heir, Prince Charles, had no problem with the roles and responsibility that would come with ruling a kingdom. Though he was the only one who did not see a problem. After years of being shuttled back and forth between kingdoms, his Regent hoping he would find a match more suitable to being King, he is finally sent to Genosha. Though the path has never been less clear than the one to a foreign kingdom with no ties to his native land.

Shaw’s Captive – swoopswoop

Summary: Magneto killed Shaw, it had to be done for the sake of mutant-kind but what he wasn't expecting to find hidden deep with Shaw's complex was a man held captive, obviously tortured, that somehow made Magneto turn into Erik.

Erik now has a potential human in his citadel as he continues the war with the human's.

Mind’s Eye Blind – Sperare 

Summary: As far as Erik is concerned, if you want to scare a person into talking, you have to present him with something more compelling than what he stands to lose...

And there is nothing in the world more compelling than Charles.

Chipped – Rosawyn 

Summary: Magneto's fledgling Brotherhood find Charles Xavier in a mutations research lab as an apparently willing subject for an experimental suppression device.

Okay, I Feel Better Now – Harleydoll

Summary: The AU in which Erik is sent to a mental health facility after being convicted for Shaw's murder and pleads insanity, and Charles is his paranoid schizophrenic of a roommate. Powers, Hellfire conspiracies, protective!Erik, and of course the inevitable angst.

Five Nights in Nuremberg – FuryRed

Summary: When Charles escapes from the mutant prison he has been held in for the last two years he knows that he’s going to need help to avoid being recaptured.

What he doesn’t expect is that help will come in the form of a mysterious German man who rescues Charles and takes him to his home; a handsome stranger who, frustratingly, doesn’t speak a single word of English…

Five Bullet Points – Sperare

Summary: It was supposed to be Erik locked away in a prison one hundred stories below the ground.

Charles was never supposed to be there with him.

Notes: Unfinished but an excellent read. Highly recommend it.

Stolen – ishipitsobad

Summary: Erik is a miserable, grumpy, cantankerous bastard, and he has every fucking right to be. He drew the short end of the stick when he got the Underworld as his domain, and there isn't very much fun to be had in judging and governing dead souls who would rather be anywhere else but with Erik in the depths of Hell.

So when he meets Charles, brilliant and lovely Charles who is more popularly known amongst the mortals as Persephone, and feels the promise of something wonderful that could make his eternally doomed existence infinitely more bearable... you can bet all your drachmas Erik's not going to let Charles go any fucking time soon.

My Barbaric Darling – baehj2915

Summary: Erik is revivified caveman. Charles is the anthropologist(?) taking care of him. This is as ridiculous as it sounds. Romcom misunderstandings and prehistoric wooing ensues.

Swimming with Sharks – Not_You

Summary: Erik used to be a shark. Now he's not, and has to figure out how to be a good human father to his twins. Charles is willing to help.

Eucalyptus leaf of my soul - kageillusionz, ourgirlfriday

Summary: Zookeeper Raven at Taronga Zoo keeps having ideas on how to capitalize on interest in the zoo mascots, Koala Charles and Drop Bear Erik (the only drop bear in captivity!), who have captured the hearts and minds of the public. First it was to introduce prospective mates (It’ll generate attention, Hank. People are perverts. They’d love to see koala porn.). This idea was not effective the first through fifth attempts, as Erik and Charles seemed to show at best polite interest in the newcomer before resuming whatever marsupial debate they had going. However, the resulting lesbian koala orgies did indeed generate interest. Then Raven unveiled the Hug-A-Koala program, which was successful, as the public showed great interest in hugging Charles, and Charles seemed to enjoy being hugged.

Then Raven unveiled the Hug-A-Drop Bear program, and Hank, not for the first time, wished he had a flask handy.

Notes: Yes, they’re Koalas, yes they’re adorable, and yes, Erik is super protective even as a Drop Bear.

[oneoftheprettynerds]

Devout Worshipper: Dark! Peter Parker x Professor!Reader

A/N: So this girl here tried something else. I’ve been wanting to upload since long but this got delayed a lot and now I have several WIPs but finished this first. Sorry not proofread. I’m still discovering my writing style and my forte and thank you for staying and witnessing my experiments! Wear safety goggles please.

Summary: The best of all the educators yet, both smart and stunning, became Peter’s mentor in university. Peter grew too much of a liking for her, from a clingy scholar to her devout worshipper.

WARNING: STORY AHEAD HAS NON-CON, KIDNAPPING, POSSIBLE DRUGGING, UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOUR, OBSESSION. DNI IF TRIGGERED.

You sat on the teacher’s desk, going through the latest thesis published by Dr. Banner last week. He had given you one of the several copies and asked you to go through it and your judgement on it. The classroom was slowly filling in as the scholars stacked in, their buzzes growing loud with each passing trice.

You were on the last paragraph of your current page when a slight thump made you break out of your stupor, you tilted your head up to find a brawny youngster leaning in front of you, with his hand planted beside your ass on the ebony desk. He had blonde locks with grey eyes and was definitely a sports’ team captain, basketball you believed, who had his own posse of wannabes behind him.

You kept the paper down in your lap and met his eyes again with an inquiring look. “Yes?”

“You seem new. Me and my guys will save you a seat at the back, so come there when your little reading session is over, babe.” He said smugly, his eyes brimming with mischievousness as they dipped to your cleavage not-so-subtly and stood there gawking while he awaited your response.

You paused to see the whole class had gone quiet watching your encounter with the jock. You gave him a sickly-sweet smile as you nodded shyly for show and he tapped your knee with his other hand before leaving. As soon as his back faced you, you rolled your eyes so hard at his antics you heard the first-benchers gasp. You could still hear him talking to his ‘friends’, “I love myself a badass girl like her.”

You returned to your thesis but before you could finish the last few sentences, the bell rung and you had to stop. Thanks blondie.

You got down from the desk, jumping on your black heels as you made your way over to the door, closing it as lock clicked into place.

The entire class was watching you with quizzical glances as you stood in front of your desk this time and wrung your hands together, “Good morning class and congratulation on making it to your second year in college, I will be your mentor and also your lecturer for biology for this semester and for those who pass, also their next one.” The entire class’ jaw slackened and you giggled lightly as waited for them to digest the news, and then told them your name.

“I know a lot of you see science itself as a chore but since you’ve already taken it, I suggest you try to pay attention as you will have to study it anyways. However, because I can relate to your struggles, I will try my best to be a companion or advisor, whichever way you prefer it, and help you get through the class with flying colours hopefully. So, ask me anything, no matter how stupid or absurd you believe your doubt or query is. I’ll answer as many times as you ask and trust me when I say that I am a woman of my word. You have any questions for the semester?” You finished with a bright smile on your face as you saw the students in the front relax slightly. At least you had their approval.

“Ma’am” The blonde kid started without raising his hand, stressing the word unnecessarily as he and his horde sniggered at some stupid inside joke, and continued, “Can I have your number?”

Some of the students gulped while the others leaned forward interested in your response. That kid thought he could fluster you by putting you in a weird spot. He smirked arrogantly, leaning back in his chair as you raised your eyebrows.

“That, Mr.?” You paused as you lingered for his answer, which came almost immediately.

“Flash Thompson, but you can call me whatever you want baby.”

His friends hooted at his pickup line, some praising his smoothness while some high-fived him.

“That, Mr. Thompson, is an excellent example of the stupid questions I mentioned formerly. Thank you for helping me make it clearer to the rest of the class, an extra point for you in the first grading assignment.”

His face fell as his jaw ticked and you turned to face the rest of the class again, “Though I suppose I will give you my number but for emergency purposes only, you can contact me on my e-mail though which I will be using most frequently. You are supposed to mail me majority of your papers this semester and the grading pattern is expected to change this time around but I will inform you of that when the time for the first assignment comes around. Any other questions, and if possible, a bit wiser ones?”

Peter knew he liked you that day. You were attractive and stunning, yes, that too in the natural way, without make-up and tight clothes. But of course, there was more to you than that, you were smart and witty, hence a young lecturer in this esteemed college and you being a science enthusiast as well was like chocolate chips on top of a well baked dessert. You were spirited and jaunty and your sardonic and sassy replies were never degrading or humiliating. The five-year difference between you and the class made you their elder sibling rather than professor.

The first benchers worshipped your intellect while the last benchers adored your sarcasm. Everyone could see how you gave your all to teach, every trick for learning, showing real skeletons and organs in formalin, easily becoming the favourite mentor ever. You could easily be labelled as the university’s crush of the year.

But Peter soon began to despise that. The perverted comments by the students and jealous, snarky remarks by the plastics irked him. He was enraged by the geeks admiring you but baffled all the more by the strange palette of emotions he had never suffered before.

The sheer envy he was sinking in had never even surfaced while he dated Liz or MJ. For him you were a Goddess, tons divine than his exes or any other female for that matter, who should be properly worshipped and treasured.

He knew these sentiments weren’t right, but in this twisted world where he had combatted with unnatural beings and seen unimaginable horrors, he began to believe morality is just fiction used by the herd of inferior men to hold back the few superior men.

It was the last day before spring break and no matter how much your pupils loved you, it wasn’t enough for them to not get distracted and murmur around. Only half of your entire class’s strength came and that half somehow managed to create more ruckus than usual. Even you were minutes late, not in the mood to teach this aloof and uninterested batch of youngsters.

You sat on the table and crossed your legs, which was somewhat your habit that you weren’t really proud of but continued to indulge in nonetheless, and cleared your throat times to catch the attention of the unmindfully fantasizing students.

The baritone of the males and shrieky pitches of the females made you clutch your head. You were sure going to end with disprin at the end of day. You clapped loudly and effectively so, gathered the class’s attention, but by the roll of their eyes and glares on their faces, you deduced they weren’t happy. Who would have thought?

“Okay, before you all slaughter me to the netherworld with your lethal gazes, let me make it clear that no teaching will commence today.” The class hollered appreciatively and whistled, while you paused to let them do so. Teaching on the last day before a vacation was like speaking to yourself only but with the consequence of your name being added to several hitlists.

“I’ll distribute the graded assignments submitted last Thursday and then, since I’m required to clock thirty minutes of educating at the bare minimum, we can play something, maybe you have some talents to show, principles to mock or some gossip to attend to.” The college kids laughed at your poor joke, perhaps too thrilled for their break that nothing could make their mood sour. “We’ll see accordingly, but first, raise your hand when I say your name, I want to learn at least the names of the students who bothered to come to uni on the concluding day.”

You distributed the papers back, making sure to associate each name with a face and the students took them stuffing it straight inside, not bothering to check their scoring and possibly wreck their mood.

“Peter Parker?” A hand raised in the second last row shyly, a flustered boy with glasses on his nose and a hoodie covering his head. He barely made eye contact and you smiled at his nervy, edgy form hoping to ease him a bit. Your heels sounded heavy against the few stairs as you made your way to the back, the class buzzing with laughs as students barely paid you any heed.

The draught of epinephrine Peter felt was unlike anything he had ever felt before, nothing like the anxiety on the battlefield or the excessive sweating while impressing Mr. Stark. The apprehension he felt was decuple that.

It’s not like he had never talked to you afore, he constantly asked clever doubts, which he knew the answer to already, of course, to make an impression on you, but that was with a two feet and 7.5 inches of teacher’s desk in between. Yes, he measured. He had even made sure a couple times, let’s be honest, more than several times that his Goddess had arrived her fascinating abode safely.

But this time, they’d be hardly half a foot apart and the anticipation was tearing him apart. He did want her close, in all ways possible, but was he ready enough to not make a fool of himself? All his previous conversations were thought out meticulously and beforehand but was ready for a spontaneous interaction?

“Good job, Smart Cookie.” You mused at Peter with a wink and dropped the paper on his desk as he looked at you with those innocent, doe-eyes of his, his cheeks and nose a tad bit rouge.

Peter’s hearing ability got lost as the sound of his heart pumping blood filled his tympanum. He could only watch you retreat back to the front of the class, your hips swaying invitingly in that damned black pencil skirt as you called another person’s name.

Smart Cookie was his favourite nickname now.

It was pretty late when you left the university premises, finishing up all you had to and even preparing for your first week of teaching after vacation because you knew how procrastinating errands went.

You couldn’t almost believe how you were on the adult end of things, making sure and guiding other people. With the job, came a lot of obligations that you had to fulfil and being responsible was hard, really demanding. You suddenly had a lot of reverence for all the teachers in your life, from kindergarten to your degrees.

You were on a sabbatical from research temporarily, signing a teaching contract for three years minimum and you were satisfies with the refreshment. Interacting young, curious minds was almost like a recreational activity you indulged in free time and the various angles they approached science at even taught you something. The scholars found it in themselves to even question well-established biology.

Slightly humming, you made a mental checklist of what all was left to do for your solo, self-discovering trip the next week. All that you should pack, clothes according to the weather in the hills and enough emergency eatables. Maybe you could revisit the work-in-progress papers of yours or maybe it would be a leisure excursion only.

Only you never made it to your flight.

 The pounding of your head made a thrumming noise in your head, increasing its tempo and volume with each passing instant. Your eyelids felt heavy and opening them felt like a chore, which even more difficult considering the light that flooded your vision with every bit they opened. Your senses felt overwhelmed being burdened and strained with their everyday tasks after what you assumed to be at least hours of inactivity.

The sudden spike of pain shooting in your head made you jerk your hand to clutch your throbbing forehead, only to fail and find your hands bounded to something. They weren’t cuffed or shackled, nothing dug in your wrist either. Maybe a rope but the texture wasn’t rough enough. After what felt like minutes, you opened your eyes and sat up, as straight as your confined self could, and looked around.

The room was shades of grey and blue, a giant bed was where you were sitting. The giant ceiling to floor windows beside you, cast enough moonlight in the bedroom for you to see the entire bedroom. The view outside was so picturesque, that you had been gawking were you not afraid of your surroundings. You could discern you were high up, with how small the vehicles looked and another wave terror ran through you.

A white desk with a blue chair had a laptop atop it, also sitting beside several books. You would have noticed them being your subject and recommendation but you were scanning your brain as to how you landed here. With your vision now clearer, you saw your restraints to be like silk but no matter how hard you pulled, they didn’t snap.

You were full on panicking and staring wide eyed when the laptop entered your vision again. There was no other electronic except it and you calmed yourself to think rationally. Deep breaths, in and out. Your best bet right now was to hope that the laptop was connected to someone’s wifi.

You slid off the edge of the bed and tried to cut the weird silk ropes with bedside table’s corner. It took some time but you succeeded, your hands freed from the poster of the bed as you made your way towards the laptop, after checking the locked door of course.

Another wave of panic ran through you when the laptop wasn’t connected to anything and all available connections were password protected. You noticed the laptop to be brand new, and of a very expensive company that was out of your budget. You also noticed the OS was very different, not the usual Windows you ran. Your AI Cortana in this overpriced gadget, was named Karen.

You still refused to wait for your captor to show up and snooped to find something on the laptop, anything. There was no profile of the owner but you did manage to find at least three GB of videos and images.

Your hands froze and eyes widened when you saw the security footage of your building’s outside, the little bakery’s neon sign confirming the location. The videos were the same, of you entering and exiting every day, just the dates on the videos varied.

Another folder had clips with the same dates, but they were in the lobby of your apartment, your potted plants outside your door the affirmation again. It showed you getting milks and newspaper every morning, ordering take out several days and placing the garbage bags outside.

The earliest date in each folder was after your first month of moving here, second week of teaching probably.

When you opened the third folder, as the video started your hands covered your mouth as you tried your best to hold back the sob and making a noise. The screen showed two camera screens, both inside your apartment. The first showed the living room clearly and your kitchen and you concluded it to be behind some article on the bookshelf.

The other screen showed your bedroom.

You could still see the floral bedsheet with the white quilt atop it. Your red suitcase that you took out from the storage for your trip this morning, resting beside the wall. Your lamp switched on from when you mayhap left it on, already late for the last day of work. As the time hit 12 AM at the bottom of the screen, the video ended and played again. There were even more folders and you wondered how far would the surveillance go, till your bathroom?

Your abductor had live footage of your house being sent to his laptop and that scared you shitless. This was not a random crime, that ransom could end. You were here for something, some sick purpose you didn’t even know. Was this a hate crime? Would you even make it-

“I really wish you hadn’t looked there.”

The deep, familiar voice amplified your fear and you turned your head slowly, almost comically to look at him. Another gasp escaped your lips as you found warm eyes of your student and brows furrowed in confusion and fear when you saw the deranged lust in his eyes. Was this some sick prank?

“What am I doing here and what is this?” You gestured to the screen playing footages of the inside of your house. Seeing someone familiar and the probability of this being a prank should have calmed you somewhat but the revolting trick and the strange darkness in the boy’s eyes made you even more wary.

As he took a step closer, you hastily climbed out of the chair and backed away, nearing the bed again as he locked the door and closed in on you. He made a move to snatch you and you jumped to the other side of the bed barely missing him by an inch. You reached for the door hoping to find it unlocked but it didn’t even budge.

You pulled even harder while being painfully aware of how that kid from your class just sat on the bed and observed, having the utmost confidence in the door. Your frenzied state got a jump-scare when a female voice broke the silence, “Authorization to access locked doors is granted to Mr. Parker only, please refrain from damaging the property, Mam.”

So some tech-boy with a rich background is set on you?

“Please sit on the bed and I’ll explain, please.”

His doe eyes would have fooled you were you not extremely aware of your environment due to the adrenaline coursing through your arteries. He was an exceptionally good actor, you had to give him that. You prided yourself to be an excellent judge of character and here this guy had deceived you for three months.

The AI called him Parker, what was his name again?

Patrick? Peyton? Peter? Yes, Peter Parker.

“Peter?” You softly called out and his eyes widened as a blush crept up to his cheeks as he relished the fact that you remembered his name. You sighed internally, praying that this was a case of a harmless crush gone wrong and he was just innocently hopeful. The image of his dark, lust covered eyes crossed your mind to make an argument but you pushed it aside to calm your nerves and stay as relaxed as you possibly could with all that was happening.

“I know that this is all a big misunderstanding but you are really scaring me here. Can you please at least let me out of this room to somewhere open?” You looked at him, hoping to talk him down and get out. You didn’t think he would hurt you but you weren’t willing to take any chances with this maniacal youngster either.

“I’m sorry but I can’t do that, you’ll run.”

Of course, you’ll run, who wouldn’t?

“Peter, boy, listen to me-”

“No, you listen to me! I admit the situation isn’t ideal and you’re probably terrified because of your meddling but this is all for you! I’m here to protect you! The world out there isn’t safe and your heavenly self needs to be resuscitated.”

“Peter, you’re not making any sense. I’m an adult, older than you and you need to understand boundaries-”

“I’ve seen the way of the world, trust me, in fact, far more than you have! Did you know that raping and murdering women on Asgard is considered a common crime? How Hydra is kidnapping young, bright women to exploit them for breeding projects? How the Red Skull resurfaced and his ideals now include eradicating women from Earth as well?”

“Pete-”

“No, you don’t know! You are just blissfully unaware of this world, so oblivious you don’t even how know the perverted and debauched comments your own class makes?”

His outburst frightened you as you felt yourself losing control of the situation, maybe you never were in control. But now the unleashed fury on Peter’s face told you that had triggered an irrevocable topic.

“Calm down, it’s alright.” You said quietly, hoping to ease him again but his steps towards made you back up yourself to the other side of the bed.

“You, You are still scared of me, aren’t you? You still don’t understand, do you? I’ll show you, show you how much I worship you, the true extent of my devotion.” Every ludicrous declaration of his bit away your hope of getting out.

As he approached you again from the foot of the bed, you jumped across the bed again, hoping to reprise your stunt from before. However, your jumping halted midway as something glued your right wrist to the headboard and you jerked due to inertia of movement. As your eyes looked to your hand, the same silky rope met your vision.

You did not have the time or the wits to ponder over the fluid, about how your abductor shot it or how it wouldn’t budge no matter how hard you pulled. A hand on your ankle prompted you to try one last time as you screamed as loud as you could, for as long as your lungs allowed.

“It won’t work, Mr. Stark got me a soundproofed apartment. Pretty cool, right?”

A sob wracked through your entire frame as the tears descended, the frustration and hopelessness and dread, all attacking you at once. Your legs kicked and flexed and when your left fist swung, he restrained all your limbs after dodging, of course.

“I just want to love you, is it too much too ask?” He asked in a quiet whisper, his hands undressing you cloth by cloth; first unzipping the side of your pencil skirt and unwrapping it, then unbuttoning your blouse. When he brought out a pocket knife, your eyes instinctively closed, a “Please don’t hurt me” falling from your lips.

“Never.” He replied with absolute assurance.

The blade cut through your blouse first, leaving you in your garments while Peter sat back on his knees to admire you. You’ve been flattered with the adoration in his eyes had you not gone through the mayhem that you had.

His hand caressed your curves, feeling the soft skin underneath as he took his time admiring you, committing each feature to memory while your tears poured, your eyes never leaving the knife he held.

The blade invaded your privacy once again as it took away your last pieces of defense, leaving you utterly nude and your cries wreaked havoc in the otherwise quiet room. Your eyes found Peter face and you noticed his eyes twinkling in admiration trailing up and down your body several times. His disciple complex was scaring you, you almost bordered considering his Goddess belief.

“So stunning.” He whispered as he came down to kiss you, his lips meeting yours in this bruising embrace of both your mouths and as he began to undress himself simultaneously, his dramatics became the least of your concerns. The thought of the inevitable future made home in your mind and gave you one last bout of courage to try and fight.

The restraints on your limbs didn’t even budge and every fleck of hope deserted your body when you saw the chiseled abs on his scarred torso, his biceps bulging and silently warning you into staying put. He made quick work of his remaining outfit and his hard, angry member was bigger than you had anticipated.

You had not expected a stereotypical nerd to be packing, with muscles and brawns, hardly to even expect him to be the largest among the ones you had ever experienced.

“Please don’t.” You mumbled, defeated, knowing he would not listen. You closed your eyes expecting the intrusion to get it over with. You were caught off handed when you felt him shift and devour into your pussy. He feasted like a man famished, his tongue leaving no area unlapped. The sparks in your abdomen made you queasy and giddy at the same time, you could barely open your eyes due to the intensity of his actions and when he added two of his shockingly calloused fingers, you let go of the coil in mere seconds.

Your limbs sat limp while your vision whitened, your mind foggy and hazy, deprived of all sensibility. When his thick thighs rested on top of yours, your gaze ascended to meet his already staring pupils, the warm, honey brown orbs now a black abyss. You couldn’t even protest in your blissful state as lined himself and entered your cavern, which was lubricated enough courtesy of him.

The stretch burned but as he rocked himself and thrusted with a rhythm, the pleasure started building from scratch. Each push was sturdier than the last and every spot he hit managed to make your breath hitch. Your hands and legs freed as the fluid perhaps melted but the last of your energy was being used by you to stay conscious. When he descended to kiss you once again and trailed kisses to your collarbone, your hands held onto him for support, his biceps providing anchor to you, made of pure muscle.

His teeth bruised your skin as he lightly bit your neck, reaching his end and releasing his load. The warmth that filled you made you let go, his orgasm encouraging another one from you.

Your eyes drooped, your body filled with exhaustion due to all the struggling as you curled in to your side and wrapped your arms around yourself, trying to forget your abductor and the forceful, mind shattering ecstasy you felt. Your refused to think about the guilt and the uncertainty of your impending doom in the hands of this maniacal student of yours. You just wished for sleep, for some peace alone.

The wish of yours was not granted when you felt Peter slide behind you, his hand wrapping around your middle as if you were lover. You still gave into slumber, but not before feeling him peck your shoulder with a promise.

“This devotee of yours will worship you forever and always, Goddess.”

[wiypt-writes]

Barking Up The Wrong Tree

 Ransom Drysdale One Shot

Summary: It’s the Annual Pre-Easter meal at the Thrombey’s and Ransom and you are in attendance. As usual, there’s fireworks, a lot of swearing and there’s only one way you know he can get rid of his frustrations…

 Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW) NO UNDER 18s!

Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x Reader

A/N:  So this was originally written last year for @jennmurawski13​ who requested a smutty one shot with an Evans character of my choice for her birthday. It was coined from a Brainstorming sesh me and @icanfeelastormbrewing​ had for our intended Ransom x OFC series (we might get round to it in 2022…so by then you’ll have forgotten if we use it again.) FYI Eighteen year old Ransom is totally Bryce from Fierce People, you can’t convince me otherwise… I also very much now see this being the same Reader as in mine, @ohthankevans13​ and @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​’s  Real Life Tasks With Ransom Drysdale series.

Your brown leather, knee high Saint Laurent boots (a gift from the man whose lap you were curled up on) were on the floor by your feet leaving you in your grey, woollen over-knee socks. One of your boyfriend’s large hands was resting on your left shin, the other just at the top of your right thigh, almost on your ass cheek. You were well aware your black sweater dress was riding up so went to shift and shimmy it down a little, conscious that you were, after all, sat in the large drawing room at his grandfather’s house whilst the rest of his family milled around as the pre-Easter dinner, which always took place the weekend before the actual holiday, was being prepared.

“You okay?” Ransom looked up at you, noticing you shift on his lap and you smiled.

“Yeah, just don’t want to flash everyone too much if you get my drift.”

Ransom cocked an eyebrow at you, then peeked around the room, before he gave a snort as his eyes fell on his cousin Jacob who was watching the pair of you.

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want Adolf junior getting a boner now would we?”

You gave a chuckle as you re-arranged your dress, making yourself more comfortable.

“He’s just a kid, Ran.” You soothed.

“He’s a deviant, Princess.” He replied, his voice quiet.

“So were you when I first met you.” You grinned, looking at him as you bent closer to whisper into his ear “Still are when the mood takes you.”

Ransom pulled back to look at you, his face inches from yours, his eyebrow raising slightly as that dirty smirk spread across his handsome face. “Stop it.” He warned, and you shrugged innocently, as he placed a soft kiss on your mouth.

“Come on son, put her down.” Richard’s voice rang across the room and instantly you felt Ransom’s entire demeanour change. Gone was the relaxed, jokey, happy Ran you knew and loved and in his place was Hugh Ransom Drysdale, asshole extraordinaire.

“Piss off, Father.” He shot back, his head moving back from yours, fixing his dad with a steely glare.

“Hey.” Richard glowered “Don’t speak to me like that…” he turned to Linda. “Did you hear that Linda?”

“Ransom…” Linda said lazily, not looking up from her phone. “Don’t speak to your father like that.”

Ransom rolled his eyes and you gently looked at him, shaking your head, silently telling him to stay calm. It was always the same with the Thrombey family gatherings. Ransom despised them for the simple fact that Harlan was the only one he had any time for, bar his mother on a good day, and you were inclined to feel the same way. It always ended in chaos, each individual nuclear sects within the extended family trying to get one up on the other, prove they were the best players in the game.

Frankly, they made the fucking Lannisters look normal.  

All your friends were constantly asking you how you managed to stay tangled in this web of dysfunction, but the answer was right in front of you, his crystal blue eyes now narrowed as he shot a sarcastic reply back to his mother.

The simple truth was, you loved him and couldn’t walk away if you tried.

It hadn’t always been that way, mind. When your High School had been asked to submit nominations for the coveted position of Harlan Thrombey’s Summer research assistant, you’d been short listed along with 15 other candidates from the New England area. Each of you were asked to produce a five-thousand word thesis on a literary subject of your choice to be submitted for reading by Harlan. You’d been ecstatic when you received the call from his Publishing Company to say you’d made the final three and were requested to attend an interview.

You’d been and bought a new suit. Nothing fancy but decent enough quality. You made sure your hair was tamed, your make up was as on point as you could get it, and had driven the thirty minutes or so out to his mansion from the home you shared with your Nanna in Brookline, following the directions on your GPS to the area near Pierce Park where the Thrombey Mansion was located. You were greeted by his housekeeper and shown into the large office where the man himself was waiting. Harlan was nothing like you had expected him to be. He was eccentric, sure, but also dmaned good fun. He’d asked you a few questions about why you wanted the position “I’m going to major in English at college and I hope to work in publishing when I graduate, this would be an invaluable experience.” He had then discussed your paper with you and after a few more general questions he had reduced you almost to tears of laughter by telling you a about an incident when he had been at college and was almost caught climbing down the trellis of his girlfriend’s parent’s house following a late night rendezvous of the very naughty kind “Don’t think too badly of me, we ended up married for forty-seven years…”

Then, just as he was showing you out of his study a tall, well-built young man, your age you had correctly guessed, with a strong jaw, dark hair flicked to the left side of his forehead, and a pair of the bluest eyes you had ever seen, waltzed down the hallway. He was dressed in a pair of riding breeches, a polo shirt and wore a long pair of tan leather riding boots.

"Ransom?” Harlan looked at the young man “I wasn’t expecting you till this afternoon.”

“Yeah well, the fucking horse I should have been riding is lame.” Ransom shrugged “Which means I can’t ride, and I probably can’t compete this weekend.”

“Dressage?” you had asked, your mouth speaking well before your brain had engaged, for some reason thinking it was a good idea to comment. Ransom had looked at you with disdain, scanned you up and down and cocked his head to one side, his eyes cold as they locked onto yours.

“Polo.” He had answered, a sneer on his face “Do I look like a dressage rider to you? Mind you, from the state of your cheap high-street dress the nearest you’ve probably ever been to a horse is those shitty little trail rides they run at kids parties.”

“Ransom!” Harlan had snapped sternly “Enough!”

You felt the heat rise in your neck and cheeks, and you drew yourself up to your full height, folding your arms as you looked at the ass hole stood in front of you. One thing your Nanna had told you was that, despite your humble origins, you were as worthy as the next person, no matter how much money, status or self-importance they may have.

“My apologies. I always thought polo was played by arrogant, snobby, stuck up pricks.” You retorted as you made a show of looking him up and down in the same way he had done to you. “Actually, on second thoughts, I should have guessed.”

As soon as the words were out of your mind you let out an internal groan. Way to go, flush your chance of landing this summer internship down the fucking toilet by insulting Harlan’s grandson. Nevertheless, you held the gaze of the man in front of you who stared back, his expression and face utterly stoic bar the blink of surprise his eyes made.

You heard Harlan chuckle behind you and the old man dropped a hand to your shoulder. “Fran, could you see Miss Y/L/N to the door.”

Two days later Harlan had personally called you to offer you the position, and it had turned out to be everything you ever wanted, and more. Three weeks into your internship, to your utter surprise, Harlan confessed that he had been looking to fund a worthy, local candidate through college and as the successful applicant it was yours for the taking. Some strings had been pulled, and in the last week of September thanks to his generosity you started your English Major at Harvard.

And so did Ransom.

He pursued you with a dogged determination, seemingly viewing your indifference towards him and his advances as some kind of challenge. You weren’t fooling yourself, however. He was devastatingly handsome and your traitorous vagina and that part of your brain that controlled your libido harboured a deep desire to fuck his brains out, a desire you finally gave into at the end of your first year when, following your final exam, you got drunk and woke up the morning after in his bed.

It wasn’t all puppies and roses though. You were on and off more than his boxer shorts, as simply put, Ransom was a player. And it didn’t bother you to start with. He was a hook up, a way to relieve tension when you needed to, and he was a very handy person to know with his seemingly endless network of connections. But by the time you graduated you knew you were head over heels for him, and needed to break this seeming cycle of being in and out of his bed.  So you turned down Harlan’s offer of a job at Blood Like Wine and were ready to move away from Boston after landing a job at a publishers in Manhattan…but then your nanna had been taken seriously ill and suffered a stroke meaning you had to stay.

As a result of her illness, your nanna was unable to live in your house in Brookline alone and so you were forced to sell it so she could afford to move into a supervised Retirement Village a five minute or so drive away. You were now jobless, drowning with the house-sale which would leave you homeless, and your emotions and been all over the place. You had no other family since your Grandfather had died at the start of your senior year so had no one to turn to.

Enter Hugh Ransom Drysdale.

You’d called him one evening, drunk and emotional and needing a release and he came over alright, but instead of fucking you into the mattress he made sure you drank water, ate something, and then got you into bed. The next morning, Harlan had shown up, telling you the job offer at his company was still open, and then to your utter surprise and initial horror he had offered to buy your nanna’s house, meaning you could remain there as a tenant. At first you had refused, insisting you weren’t a charity case but Harlan had simply waved your concerns away by insisting it was an investment. After a little discussion he agreed to allow you to pay rent which, all things considered, was a pittance in comparison to what other properties the same size in that area commanded but it was a rent nonetheless and made you feel better.

And you knew all of it had ben Ransom’s idea.

This was the side to Ransom he very rarely displayed to anyone. A softer side, a caring side, a gentle side. A side that held you as you cried at the thought that your nanna was growing old and may soon leave you behind, a side that made you a sandwich when you hadn’t eaten in days, a side that helped you pack up and move your Nana’s stuff to her new home, a side that turned up at 9pm with several tubs of ice cream and a bottle of wine after you’d messaged him earlier that afternoon to tell him what a shit day you were having when his Uncle Walt was being a dick at work.

The rest, they say is history. History which meant you were now curled up in his lap some eight or so years post that initial meeting in the hallway of this very house, listening to him bicker with his family, feeling his leg beginning to shake in that way it always did when he was agitated.

“Ran…” you said gently, squeezing his arm and you felt him take a deep breath and he looked at you, his mouth closing as you shook your head “Don’t.”

He turned away, looking to the other side of the room and his face glowered as he spotted Jacob once more had his eyes trained on your bare thigh. God the pubescent creep did his fucking head in, and if he stayed here he was going to end up putting the lanky streak of shit through the wall.

“Can we go?” Ransom looked at you, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“We’ve not even had dinner yet.”

“Please.”

That single word was enough to make you understand. It was a word he hadn’t learned until he’d met you, when he realised that his demands and arrogance got him nowhere with you. He still rarely used it mind, but when he did, you knew he was in desperate need of what he’d asked for.

“How about we take a walk?” You suggested “If you still wanna go after then we will”

He took a deep breath as he considered what you had said. Compromise was another word that hadn’t been in his vocabulary until you. His eyes locked onto yours and you looked at him, encouragingly and he took a deep breath, nodding.

“Okay.”

You uncurled yourself from his lap and stood up, him following so you could sit down and place you boots on.

“Are you leaving?” Linda asked, looking up for the first time.

“For a walk.” Ransom said simply, grabbing your hand and pretty much dragging you from the room. He didn’t say a word as he reached the coat stand and retrieved your lightweight Ted Baker belted mac, holding it out for you to slip your arms into, in a display of chivalry he reserved only for you. Once you’d done it up, he took your hand in his and you headed through the kitchen and outside into the reasonably mild April afternoon.

“Don’t let them get to you.” You said softly, leaning into him a little and he sighed, untangling his fingers from yours so he could drop his arm round your shoulders. He hated the fact his family could make him feel like this, like he wasn’t in control, like he was insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He could quite happily go without seeing any of them, well, bar maybe his grandfather, but you had told him he would regret it if he pushed them away completely because you had always wished you’d had a large family unit like that. So, despite the fact he knew deep down that was a load of bullshit, he played the game. He attended the damned gatherings more for your benefit than any as you adored Harlan and seemed to get on fairly well with Joni, Meg and his mother. He hung onto a glimmer of hope that maybe one day it would all change and he’d feel part of it.

But it never did. And he never did.

The two of you walked in comfortable silence across the Mansion grounds, round the lake where Ransom stopped by the small pier, looking out over the water.

“You know my most vivid childhood memories are of this spot.” He mused, his gaze focussed over the lake “Grammy used to bring me down here to feed the ducks.”

“It’s beautiful down here.” You agreed, snuggling further under his arm. “Peaceful.”

“Yeah unlike that fucking house.”

You gave a chuckle, as his hand curled over your shoulder, absentmindedly rubbing over the smooth material of your coat. He was agitated, you could tell, and there were very few ways in which he could calm down when he was like this. One was riding his beloved BB- a polo horse Harlan had bought him for his 21st, one was the pair of you curling up on the sofa with snacks and a good scotch or bourbon, getting drunk and watching Trashy Films, in particular horrors-you both loved to pick plot holes and insult the main characters, declaring the victim a dumb bitch for running up the stairs and not out of the door and the other, well…

You glanced around, checking you were alone before you pulled away from him, taking his hand and tugging on it slightly.

“What?” he asked looking down.

“Come on.” You gave his hand another pull.

“Y/N?” he questioned again, but followed nonetheless despite you not answering. You tugged him away from the lake, into the thin thicket of trees a little further round. You could still see the house here but you knew there was no way anyone from up there could see you.

“Seriously, Y/N what the fuck?” he groaned, as he stepped in the slightly squelchy mud “You’re gonna ruin my Gucci’s…” “Should have worn something a little more substantial then shouldn’t you?”

“I didn’t know you were planning on going fucking hiking in the fucking woods.”

“That’s not what we’re doing.” You said, stopping in front of a large oak tree, looking up at him.

“Then what are we doing? Reconnecting with Mother Nature? Or are we on the hunt for Oberon, Titania and Puck?”

“Ooh, good Shakespeare reference.” You grinned at him and he rolled his eyes as you slid your hand up over his navy blue lightweight Barbour jacket which was done up to his sternum, leaving his plain white, Armani t-shirt slightly visible at the neckline. “Does that make us Lysander and Hermia?”

“You got a hidden suitor called Demetrius I don’t know about?” he arched an eyebrow, his hands falling to your hips.

“Nope, I’m all yours Tiger.”

The sound of your ridiculous nickname for him drew a large smile across his face and he shook his head, giving a genuine chuckle. Here, with you there were no annoying voices to listen to, no family politics, nothing to care about but the gentle brush of the wind as it blew through the canopy of trees above your heads and the faint sounds of birds as they went about their business and Ransom felt a sense of comfort. Because you were his rock. The one person that saw through his bull shit, the woman in his life that knew all his horrible personality traits as well as his slightly less horrible ones and loved him all the same. The girl that had rounded off his harsher edges no matter how much he protested to the contrary.

You were his better half for sure.

“Well that’s good, because I don’t like sharing.” Ransom smirked, dipping his head to capture your lips in a soft kiss.

“Don’t I know it.” You mused against his mouth. His fingers flexed on your sides, pulling you closer to him as he slid his tongue across your bottom lip. You opened your mouth slightly, allowing him control over the kiss, knowing that’s what he craved when he was like this. His lips were soft on yours, tongue domineering as he kissed you deeply, slowly. Eventually he pulled back, his nose bumping yours slightly as he gave a little chuckle.

“I know you’re trying to distract me from those shit heads in the house.” He said, his tone playful and you loved playful Ransom. Another side to him only you really got to see.

“Is it working?” You played along.

“Yeah.” He nodded, his lips pressing to yours again.

“Good. Now why don’t you let your inner deviant come out to play?”

“You don’t need to ask me twice, Princess.” The words were barely out of his mouth before he had pressed you into the harsh, earthy bark of the tree behind you, kissing you hard again, groaning as you palmed his crotch through his designer denims. He grabbed your wrist, pinning it above your head before he did the same with the other one, easily holding both in place above you with one large hand, his other softly tracing up the outside of your thigh, fingers skating under your skirt.

“Is this why you wore this?” he smirked, toying with the material slightly. “So you could tempt me away for a fuck in the woods?”

It wasn’t, it was because it looked and felt good, but you decided to play along “Maybe. Was it a good choice?”

“Damned right it was…” he growled against your mouth, his long, soft fingers sliding your lace panties to the side. His index finger traced a path up your slit and you gasped at the feeling as he gently began to toy with you. Soft, teasing touches, his eyes never once leaving yours. That was one of his things, he liked to see your face, watch as your expressions changed as he undid you, fuelling his ego. Your hips gently started to move in time to his strokes as he played you, like an instrument from which he could always draw a tune. And in no time at all, he was listening to the music as you let out a soft keen, a purr almost as your head fell back against the tree, your mouth parting slightly.

“Like that?” he asked, and it was all you could do to nod, panting brokenly as the familiar feeing began to rise in the pit of your stomach, the fire growing hotter and hotter. “God you’re a fucking minx. Come on, cum on my fingers, you know you want to.” And you did, hard, your knees trembling, as you let out a loud cry of his name as the lights exploded in front of your eyes. Ransom pressed into you, his erection evident as it dug into your stomach, keeping you pinned between him and the tree as he coaxed you through your orgasm, before he moved his hands, allowing yours to drop to his shoulders as you held onto him tightly.

The clanging of a belt buckle, then the zipping of trousers and the rustling of fabric broke through the post-orgasm haze as Ransom undid his flies, reaching into pull out his painfully hard cock. He gently pushed forward, sliding the tip against your folds, gathering your slick as you gave a moan, the feeling of him sliding against your clit sent lances of red, hot desire through your veins.

His hands gripped the back of your thighs as he pulled you off the ground and you hooked them round his slim waist, ankles locking at the base of his spine. In a swift, fluid moment, no teasing, no gentle ease, he buried himself inside you with a deep thrust making you cry out as he filled you. His lips crashed onto yours as he drew back, then thrust back in hard, his cock dragging against your walls inside, hitting that spot that he knew would leave you seeing stars.

Yes, if there was one thing on this Earth Ransom knew he was good at, it was fucking you.

His lips traced a path from your mouth to your jawline, then to your neck, biting and sucking at any bit he could get to, his hips moving back and forth in a slow but deep pace which was torture, and you needed more.

“Ran, harder…” You groaned, digging your heels into his ass and he gave a dirty moan of his own as his hands held your hips.

“You’re such a needy little slut.” He smirked against your lips, not waiting for your reply as he picked up the pace, his hips snapping back and forth with a vigour that was merciless as he pistoned in and out of you again and again. Your hands gripped his shoulders tightly as you kissed him, teeth clashing together as your back repeatedly brushed against the harsh, rough surface behind you as you clawed desperately at the material of his jacket.

It wasn’t long before you felt another orgasm brewing and your head fell forward, teeth nipping at his ear drawing a growl from his throat. Your hands moved into his hair and you pulled sharply back causing him to hiss and look up you.

“Fuck, Y/N….” he groaned, the pupils of his eyes blown wide with a desire you would never tire of seeing. You pushed your hips down against him causing him to drive deeper and you let out an almost primal cry, the noise you made simply revving him up even more, his rapid movements growing even more urgent.

“Fuck Ran…” you moaned as your head rolled back against the tree, hands back on his shoulders, as once more that snake in your belly moved. Ransom felt the tell-tale flutter of your heat tightening round him and he continued his voracious pace, his eyes locked onto yours.

“You feel so fucking good…” he panted “So fuckin’ good Princess...”

His words made you moan again, and he pushed up once more, stilling slightly, grinding up against you as opposed to thrusting and a few rolls of his hips later you were done. The world faded around you as you came hard, with a loud scream before your head dropped to his shoulder, as you moaned his name, again and again whilst he pounded through your orgasm chasing his own.

“Shit, Y/N…I’m…fuck…” his words tumbled into your hair as his movements became desperate and he came a short while later with a loud yell. You felt him fill you up, as his hips stilled and he groaned, face buried into your neck, his chest heaving, sweat beaded both his brow and yours as he simply pressed into you, panting and shaking.

Neither of you had any idea how long you stayed like that, but eventually Ransom managed to gain enough control to pull his softening cock out of you and set you gently on your feet as he brushed the tendrils of your hair that had fallen over your face back with a tenderness he reserved only for you. He said nothing, simply looked at you, his lips gently greeting yours in a soft, loving kiss, a stark contrast to the violent ones you had shared moments before. You smiled at him, unadulterated love in your eyes as you moved your hands to brush his hair back before you leaned up and kissed him again, your nose sliding against his.

“I adore you Hugh Ransom Drysdale. Don’t ever forget that.”

“Don’t fucking call me Hugh.” He grumbled and you chuckled as he pulled you to him, nuzzling into your hair as he sighed. “But for the record, the feeling is mutual Y/F/N, Y/M/N, Y/L/N.”

You gave a laugh and were about to reply when you felt his head snap up, and his entire body tense and he let out an angry cry causing you to jump.

“Jesus Fucking Christ! The perverted little shit!”

“Ran?” You saw his face contorted in anger as he pushed back from you, striding away from the tree, rearranging his jeans as he went before he broke into a sprint. You watched him go and then, to your horror, saw the retreating back of a smaller male running away from the thicket of trees on the curve of the bank to your left and you felt yourself grow cold.

Jacob.

How long he had been there Ransom had no idea but he chased the little fucker all the way to the house, yelling insults and threats as he burst into the kitchen. Ransom finally caught up with him just as he ran into the hall and grabbed the kid by the collar, spinning him round and pinning him to the wall, arm crossed over his windpipe. “Enjoy the show did we?!” He yelled, the noise drawing the rest of the family out from the sitting room into the tiled hallway. Walt started to shout angry threats about what he was going to do to Ransom if he didn’t take his hands off his son, which then sparked Richard to bite back at Walt saying if he touched Ransom he’d give him a damned good hiding. If Ransom hadn’t been so focussed on the dirt little bastard he had pinned to the wall he would have laughed because the idea of his dad fighting anyone was hilarious, he couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag.

“Give me your phone.” Ransom demanded.

“I didn’t…” “GIVE ME YOUR PHONE NOW YOU PERVERTED PRICK!” Ransom yelled, and reached into Jacob’s pocket, grabbing his hand where it was curled around the offending item, bending the boy’s fingers back. Jacob gave a yell, pulled his hand out of his trouser pocket and Ransom seized the phone, yanking it out, just as you walked into the hallway.

He looked at you, then to Jacob and saw you pale as the realisation washed over you that you’d not only been seen but recorded or snapped, by a twelve year old boy nonetheless.

“Unlock it.” Ransom demanded, thrusting it back at him.

“Now listen here…” Walt started until Harlan turned to him.

“Walt, shut up.” He barked, turning to Jacob “Unlock the phone, now Jake.”

Jacob sullenly took the phone from Ransom and did has he was told, Ransom snatching it back. He glanced down at the screen, flicking to the Gallery and let out an angry noise as he saw not only footage of you both in the woods but ten or so photos of your bare thigh and close ups where he had attempted to see up your skirt when you had been on his knee before. Thankfully from the snaps there wasn’t really anything visible, but still the fact he had even taken them in the first place made Ransom apoplectic with rage.

“You dirty little prick.” he mumbled, looking back up at him. Jacob visibly recoiled under Ransom’s glare.

“Ran?” You questioned as you gently touched his arm and he tilted the phone so you could see the screen and your eyes widened, your entire body growing warm as you saw the close up of your thigh on the screen.

“How the fuck dare you?” You exploded, glaring at Jacob.

“Can you explain what he has supposedly done?” Donna, Jacob’s mother spoke for the first time and you turned to face her, your pretty features contorted in rage.

“He’s…” You shook your head “Taken photos of me, before up my skirt.”

Noise erupted in the hallway, Joni and Meg screaming about you being violated, Richard and Linda yelling at Walt and Donna whilst Harlan shook his head, making a noise of disgust. Ransom ignored them all as he selected the photos and images, deleting them, and showing it to you.

“Gone, Princess.” He turned the screen off before he leaned over and kissed your temple.

“Look, he’s a teenage boy…” Donna was protesting “He’s a bit curious…”

“He’s a dirty bastard.” Richard snorted and the irony wasn’t lost on Ransom as he’d seen his father eyeing you up on more than one occasion. He looked at his dad, eyebrow raised as Jacob bit back at the dig.

“I’m a dirty bastard?” The pre-teen snapped, his eyes flicking from Richard to Ransom “I’m not the one that was having sex against a tree!”

Everyone paused and their heads turned to you and Ransom. You gave a groan, your hands sliding up to your face to hide your utter embarrassment, but besides you Ransom’s expression never changed because, well frankly, he couldn’t give two shits about everyone knowing what you had been up to.

“I’m a grown ass man.” He snarled “If I wanna fuck my girl outside on private property I will”

He held Jacob’s phone out to him, but as Jacob went to take it Ransom opened his hand, dropped it to the floor with a loud “oops” and stomped on it, the metal and glass crunching under the heel of his expensive, leather boots.

There was more yelling, and Ransom simply turned, taking your hand in his. “We’re leaving.”

This time you didn’t argue. The pair of you walked away, ignoring the screaming which grew fainter as you headed down towards the large front doors, only to hear Harlan calling after you. Ransom stopped, took a deep breath and tuned to face his grandfather.

“Y/N are you ok?”

“Of course she’s not.” Ransom snapped but you gently squeezed his hand, shaking his head.

“I’m okay Harlan, thank you. But I think its best we go before Ransom commits murder.”

“Well, I can assure you I’m not far off killing the little turd myself.” Harlan shook his head, sighing. He then took a deep breath, looked at Ransom, and there was a flash of something which you knew only too well to be amusement in his eyes. “Which tree?”

Ransom frowned “What?”

“I asked which tree you two were doing the naughty against.”

You groaned as Ransom blinked and then shrugged “Just in the thicket to the south side of the lake, near the little jetty. Why?”

“Well, instead of barking up the wrong tree so to speak, next time stick to the North side.” Harlan grinned cheekily “It’s in the dip and no chance you can be spotted by anyone unless they’re a foot or so away.”

Ransom’s mouth curled up into a smirk as he looked at his grandfather then to you.

Meanwhile you simply wanted the ground to open up and swallow you.

Harlan bid the two of you goodbye as you headed out to Ransom’s Beemer. He stopped just besides it, turning to you, his hands falling to your hips again. “Well, I don’t know about you, Sweetheart, but all that excitement has made me a bit hungry. Seeing as we’re not getting dinner here, how about I take you to Asta?”

Your face lit up at the mention of your favourite restaurant and you gave an eager nod before you frowned “Aren’t we a little underdressed? And it’s Saturday evening, we’ll never get in.”

“Baby girl, enough money can get us in anywhere, and you look fine.” He said, dropping a kiss to your lips before he grinned “You might wanna brush the twigs outta your hair though.”