#i might be upset if he's only in like two badly lit scenes but really

[notasapleasure]

Yes, after the excitement of today and various teasing websites like ‘oop no, it’s not here actually!’ ‘not available now!’ ‘this page will only show up if your vpn is set just right and even then....no! not available!’ I gave in and spent actual money on this obsessive project.

No, I don’t speak or read Italian.

[ateezmakemeweep]

four in the morning.

yunho x reader; strangers to lovers

word count: 11k

angst, fluff, smut

10:05 p.m.

you never wanted a public proposal. you had told your boyfriend every time you saw someone get down on one knee in times square on new year's eve or in front of cinderella's castle at disney world that you would absolutely die if he did that to you.

and maybe it speaks to your naivety, to your complete disregard of just how shitty he's treated you over these past five years, that you thought that would ever be a problem in your relationship. because he's the guy who ditches you for his friends and religiously forgets date night, who falls asleep right after extremely unsatisfying sex that has you faking orgasms, who doesn't answer your texts all day but freely like posts on instagram.

and evidently, he's also the guy who breaks up with his girlfriend in the middle of dinner.

because one second the waitress is putting down the dessert, a tiramisu cheesecake you were drooling just thinking about all night, and then the next, before she's even out of ears reach, he blurts out, "we should break up."

you don't even say anything at first, just stare blankly and shake your head because he didn't just that. he wouldn't say that. not today on this day and not right now in this setting.

"wh-what?"

but he doesn't miss a beat.

"i've been thinking about it for a while, y/n," he says to you, leaning on his hand like this whole conversation is about to be a bore. "i just...we've been together for so long and i'm really kind of...sick of it."

"you're... you're sick of it?" you squeak.

"well yeah, i mean it's been four years and i don't wanna lie and say i feel like i'm still in love with y-"

"five."

"what?" he asks, looking at you in pure and utter confusion and you don't know if you feel more heartbroken or angry at this very moment.

"five. we've been together for five years," you tell him, voice too calm and composed for how you're feeling inside. "in fact, today marks our fifth year together. but you didn't remember that, did you?"

you think you would've felt better if he showed some sort of regretful or guilty reaction, his mouth dropping open or face lighting up like the date sent off alarm bells in that stupid little head of his. but nothing. just a thoughtful nod, like you told him the food was good or you needed another drink.

"oh," he says with a small shrug, "well five years then, even longer than i thought. see, y/n, i'm just over it. i'm over this relationship and i'm over being someone's boyfriend."

"hm....hm," is all you hum because you refuse to make a warner and elle woods type of scene in this restaurant right now. but your burning throat and shaking hands want so badly to do something. to scream and curse at him or throw that cake right in his face or maybe even slap him for being so cold and harsh and detached.

"are you mad?"

a laugh bubbles out of your mouth now and anyone around can probably hear how unhinged it sounds, like you're a second away from having some sort of breakdown or bursting into tears and screaming.

"am i mad?" you ask, a cold edge finally seeping into your tone. "am i mad my boyfriend just broke up with me, in public, at our anniversary dinner? are you seriously fucking asking me that?" you grunt out the words through clenched teeth, lowering your voice when you let the profanity slip out.

"well...yeah," he says dopily, "i still care about you as a person. i just- don't wanna be in a relationship anymore. i kind of figured i was making it obvious these past few weeks."

"then why wouldn't you have just told me the second you had these thoughts!" you spit and now the volume of your voice is considerably louder. "why make me wait and then do it at this very moment!"

"i-i don't know, i didn't really know how or when was a good time to tell you."

"oh, well thank god you waited, this was truly ideal," you growl sarcastically.

and then, like he has any right to be offended or upset, he lets out a scoff. "look, i'm sorry but this is what i want....i'll still pay for dinner if that's what you're-"

"you think i give a single fuck if you pay for dinner!"

you finally break whatever composure you were channeling, voice breaking and raising and causing the several groups of people to look in your direction. some of them are subtle with their side-eyes and whispers while others are full on staring, mouths agape with looks of pity and you wouldn't be surprised if you find a video of this on the internet later.

"what is your problem," he says, "i said i'm sorry but you really can't be that-"

"leave," you tell him, quietly now, with your head down and eyes on the table. "i'll take care of it. just please...get away from me."

there's a few beats of silence before he mumbles something along the lines of "whatever," deeply sighing like this is actually causing him any distress, like he's the one who has to stay here with lingering gazes and pitiful stares. you think he might take a breath to say something else but then ultimately decides against it, the squeaking of a chair and heavy foot steps walking away indicating you're finally alone.

and it's during that time your tears start falling, your head hung and hand cupping your forehead so the people around you don't get more of a show.

maybe a part of you knew deep down that the relationship was gonna be over, that it really should've been for your sake and you were just too scared to accept it. but it was just the manner in which he did it, so coldly and out of nowhere, like the past five years didn't mean anything to him. and you can't deny the sickening parallel to years of you telling him you didn't want him to fucking propose to you in public and then going and dumping you at one of your favorite resturants.

"i'm so stupid, oh my, god, i'm so fucking stupid," you mumble out, voice wobbly and wet before you feel the presence of the waitress at your side. you peak up at her as she bends down holding out a packet of tissues, a sympathetic look on her face that has you realizing she probably watched the whole thing go down.

"you're not stupid, baby, don't say that," she says, placing her hand on your arm comfortingly.

you thank her quietly for the tissues, taking one out and dapping at your wet face. "i'm sorry, this is so embarrassing," you squeak out, "i'm gonna pay the bill don't worry, i just...i needed him to leave."

"no, i'm so sorry that just happened. i can't believe he thought that was okay."

you sniffle as you scrunch up the tissue. "i-i know," you say, "i mean i knew he was an asshole but he really just...our anniversary dinner! and during dessert! i was so excited for this cake."

she laughs softly at your sad whine, placing down the tissue packet and moving the plate closer to you. "well, you can still be excited. don't you dare let him ruin this tiramisu." you're pleastantly surprised when a small chuckle leaves your mouth, wiping at your face with your wrist.

"you're right, he can't taint it," you say before catching the side glances of people surrounding you, "but i think i have to get out of here before i cause any more of a disturbance."

she nods her head sympathetically, urging you to take a few bites and that she'll bring the check right over.

you keep your head down as embarrassed tears threaten to fall again, the feeling like a milllion eyes are on you making you feel even more awkward and unsettled; you're sure it's just paranoia but you swear you can feel eyes boring into the side of your face, someone probably laughing and mocking and feeling so incredibly sorry for your pitiful situation.

sorry enough that when the waitress comes back, she tells you someone has already paid for your bill. your eyes widen upon hearing the news, looking around curiously and stuttering out incoherent bits of sentences.

"who?" is the only clear thing you're able to ask.

"i don't know, he just left," she tells you, "brown-haired guy. very tall. cute, too." you feel her hand on the back of your chair when you stand up. "and i'm sorry again, honey. i didn't charge you for the cake but i hope to see you in here again enjoying it," she adds on quietly.

you give her a grateful smile and nod, assuring her you'll definitely be back before rushing out to catch up with the mysterious man who just dropped well over $100 on two complete strangers. and luckily, you don't have to look very far. because there he is, all dark hair and broad shoulders, leant against the side of the building with a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth.

he sees your teary-gaze meet his and his lips quirk up ever so slightly before he flicks the ashes and begins to turn around. but your low "hey!" stops him in his tracks. he cranes his neck back to look at you, the sky dark around you both but the light from the streetpoles clearly showing both of your expressions.

his is unnervingly blank, only a flicker of soft sympathy in his eye while your own, still heartbroken, also holds a curious, maybe even a wary look. because why would this stranger do that? could he have felt that bad?

you make your way up to him, feeling slightly intimidated when he fully turns around and you see just how much he towers over you. but it's funny because his face is shockingly...sweet looking, like a fresh-faced boy you'd see in church or volunteering at a nursing home.

but then his large stature, the shoulders you can't stop eyeing, his all black attire mixed with the scent of cigarette smoke and cologne makes for a very strange contrast. even his voice, when he finally mumbles back a "hi," is sweet sounding.

"why did you...the waitress said you paid my bill." your tone is quiet and small but still manages to sound accusatory.

"i did, i'm sorry," he says and you're wondering if the pink flush on his cheeks is from the cold. "i hope you didn't mind." you find yourself staring at him blankly, eyebrows pinched together because...did he really just apologize for that?

"i...well no but..i..it was probably expensive," you eventually get out, "you didn't have to do that."

"well, neither did he," yunho mumbles and you can tell by the airiness in his tone he didn't mean anything bad by it. but it doesn't stop your face from dropping slightly, lips pressing into a firm line to distract yourself from your stinging eyes.

"i'm sorry, that was insensitive," he winces, the sincerity in his tone only confirming your thoughts. "but i just... i wanted to pay for it. why should you have?"

you swallow the lump in your throat, shrugging your shoulders lightly because you don't really know what to say back to that.

"because i'm the one who got dumped," you squeak out before a humorless laugh bubbles out of you. "dumped on our anniversary. how pathetic is that?"

"it's pathetic of him," the boy grunts out and you cock your head to the side at how mad he sounds.

"i-i guess..." you say after a few quiet seconds before words start pouring out of you. "i just.. can't believe it. i don't know what i'm gonna do now. i've been with him for so long and got so used to him and then he really went and-" your voice breaking cuts off your sentence, like it's finally hitting you that the relationship is over.

because no matter how bad it was, it was still something you put years of yourself into. years of effort and years of memories and you feel so stupid for feeling this upset when there's far more bad than good.

"i'm sorry, you definitely don't wanna hear this," you laugh out humorlessly as tears sting your eyes. "but...i just wanted to thank you for paying the bill. i wish i could make it up to you somehow, it was probably expensive."

you meet his gaze to see him smiling slightly at you, even though you're on the verge of a breakdown and talking far too much.

"you're welcome," he says before hesitantly continuing. "i was gonna go walk around for a bit. do you wanna join?"

when you look up at him with a wary expression, he puts his hands up in defense, eyes soft and wide as he shakes his head. "it might clear your head a little, that's all."

your fragile heart warms at the gesture but you find yourself declining, insisting you're not the best company right now and that'd he probably regret inviting you.

"i don't think so," he says and his voice is just so kind that you're questioning if he's even real, questioning why on earth this stranger seems to care about your wellbeing. and when he sees you're still teetering, teeth sunk into your lip as you look at him with conflict in your eyes, a sweet smile spreads across his face.

"c'mon, you said you wanted to make it up to me."

your lips purse to the side, eyebrow raised ever so slightly before letting out a quiet sigh. "okay... but don't say i didn't warn you."

his smile widens as his long arms come out to showcase the sidewalk in front of him and you find yourself giggling slightly at his dramatics. you take one last look back at the restaurant before exhaling sharply and feeling his looming presence next to you as you both begin to walk.

"so....were you there with friends tonight?" you chirp, hoping to distract your impending nervousness with conversation.

he tells you he had met his mom there for dinner, who brought along his new step-father he can't help but detest. but he sat politely all throughout the appetizer and main course until one too many ignorant and snappy comments had him putting the man in his place.

"he was also mean to the waitress which is why i eventually snapped," he tells you. and by snapped, he means lowly speaking for him to either find some manners or piss off. "my mom asked for the check so fast and they left within five minutes. so i stayed for a drink."

"i could so use a drink right now," you laugh out, "but it sounds like you were in the right. you're just all types of chivarlous, huh?"

you peak up at him to see a smirk cross his face, his eyes falling to you at the same time and pink covers both your cheeks at being caught. but you and him will pretend it's because of the harsh winds whipping through the city; yes, the whipping wind, definitely not the soft curious gazes and arms bumping into each other clumsily.

"what made that obvious?"

you shake your head as another giggle falls from your lips, tightening the sweater around your body when a particularly harsh breeze pelts into you again. and of course, the boy next to you immediately notices, hears the clattering of your teeth and sharp intake of breath.

"you cold?"

"no, i'm okay," you squeak out. but you already see his movements from the corner of your eye taking off the black bomber jacket.

"please don't give me your coat, i can not-"

but it's already placed around your shoulders before you can finish your sentence, a knowing smirk on his lips when you huff at him, exasperated.

"....i was gonna say your name but it appears i don't even know it."

his deep chuckle rings through the air, stopping his feet so he can properly put his hand out.

"i'm yunho."

"y/n," you say back, taking his large hand in yours and what an innapropriate time for you to admire its sheer size and the length of his fingers. "you're... nice, too nice."

his smile widens looking down at you, hands still intertwined as he cocks his head to the side. "because i gave a cold girl my jacket?"

"and paid for her bill. and welcomed her on a walk," you say, "i'm wondering how much more i can get out of your very obvious pity."

his smile falters, eyebrows knitting as he shakes his head. "i'm not doing this out of pity."

the firm way in which he says it has you lowering your head shyly, eyes on the concrete as you take the hand in his back. all of your emotions are out of wack tonight, your chest not knowing how to feel, broken and aching over that awful dinner but also...slightly warmed by the actions of this random boy.

"then why are you doing it?" your voice sounds so small and it makes a frown cover his face now.

"can't i just be nice to you?" he asks, "why do i need a reason?"

"because we're...strangers," you say, looking up at him hesitantly and pressing your lips together nervously, "and you don't know me."

"everyone's strangers until they're not," he retorts, stepping just a smidge closer to you and it makes you swallow down the dry patch in your throat. "and maybe i want to know you."

when you can't find the words to respond, heart racing and throat clogged, he speaks up again.

"let me distract you tonight."

your eyebrow raises, head turning to the side because you don't know what to make of that comment. because you know you're vulnerable right now, know you should probably go home and cope normally in the form of crying and ice cream.

but you trust him for some reason. trust his soft voice and kind eyes and the way he seems so genuine and pure despite his dark appearance.

"what do you have in mind?" you find yourself asking, stomach fluttering and whether it's from nervousness or his bright smile, you don't know.

"could you still use a drink?"

12:22 a.m

"okay, i think....this is a weeeee bit unsafe!" you say as you stumble up the stairs behind him, his hand pulling you carefully by one of your fingers.

"probably," he says, "but we'll be okay."

the sound of a door squeaking open is the first thing you hear, the harsh whipping of wind the next as your hair blows back and coldness envelops your body. yunho bends to stick a brick in the door before guiding you to the middle of the rooftop.

the dark sky is lit by faint lights shining from apartment buildings and bulletin boards, the only sound an occasional honk of a horn making it's way up the 20 stories. you disconnect your hands to stumble over to the edge, placing them on the cold concrete to peer your head over. you take in the sight of tall buildings and taxis and little figures of people walking the streets.

"heeelllooo!" you scream down at them, your hands cupping your mouth in hopes someone will hear you. yunho's laugh echoes through the sky, quickly walking over to place a hand on your lower back.

"be careful."

you turn around, back now resting on the ledge as you poke his chest lightly. "you're the one that said we'll be okay," you mutter, lowering your voice to imitate his words. "because i'm big and strong and a suspiciously nice boy."

"okay, nice you told me," he says, voice teasing as he stares down at you with bright eyes. "but big and strong, you say?"

"very big and very strong," you say, letting your finger travel from his chest to his shoulder. he watches your eyes follow your hand, roaming from one side of him to the other before meeting his eyes. and it's like his gaze acts as an electric shock, your hand immediately falling from the black material.

"and i had very too much drink."

he smiles down at you, making sure to stay close because he'd be lying if he said you being so close to the edge didn't make him nervous. and perhaps this wasn't his best idea, bringing you up to the roof of his apartment complex after you had one too many beers.

but it's a nice place to clear your head, to take in the sights of the city in a less noisy and crowded way. and he thinks you could use that after the night you had, after the night he couldn't help but hear take place as he sat alone at the bar.

he had ohad a perfect view of you all night. you caught his eye the second he sat down, your shy smile and the way you fidgeted nervously with your hair making him not being able to tear his gaze away.

but then he'd heard the bored tone of the guy across from you, the way he was barely entertaining the conversation and just avoided all your softly spoken questions. he had tightened his grip around the beer bottle one too many times, sick and tired of asshole men who never learned how to respect other people.

"i just wanted my cheesecake."

your sudden whine rips him from his thoughts and he can't help the smirk creeping up on his face.

"which one? the tiramisu?"

it's your surprised gasp and bright eyes that has a smile stretching across his face and your own heart warms upon seeing it. because he is super cute.

"yes! oh, my gosh, yes!" you giggle, "have you had it?"

"every time i go," he chuckles out, "except tonight."

"me too," you say and the sudden thought that he wants to kiss the pout off your face comes into his head. but that would absolutely absurd because he's only known you two hours and you just got broken up with and you're a bit tipsy; there's just far too many reasons for him not to do it.

so he lifts his hand to your mouth, his thumb and pointer finger lifting your face into a smile. you giggle against his hand, opening your mouth playfully and pretending to bite it but he quickly rips it away.

"hey!" his voice is deep but teasing and it makes you squeal as you drunkely trot away from him. in fear that you'll somehow stumble over the edge, he chases after you but the sound of his feet causes you to speed up. your laugh echoes on the rooftop, his own deep chuckles and pleas of "stop!" ringing through the air.

and he wishes you would've listened because no less than ten seconds later do you trip over your shoe lace, stumbling and crashing down right on your side. he yelps your name, rushing over and is grateful to see your head didn't ricochet off the concrete.

"oops," you giggle out, rolling onto your back as you rub at your side. he kneels over you, assessing your face for any injuries and sighing in relief when you're unscathed. but then you sit up, looking around in a daze before your eyes land on the untied white lace.

"okay so not my fault....my shoe was untied."

"i see that," yunho laughs out, tapping his large hand on his knee. you look at him with a small unsure smile.

"let me tie you up."

your eyes widen for a split second, mouth dropping open and you see how bright red his face his face gets even in the dark.

"your shoe! let me tie your shoe up! so you don't fall again." you plop your foot down with a nervous laugh and watch his long fingers double knot your laces before gently placing it down. "next one," he says with a smile, "just in case."

you purse your lips to the side to hide your own, sticking your foot on him before laying back on the cold ground. he plops on his butt after he finishes tying the second shoe, watching you lay there and he hopes you don't fall asleep.

a few moments pass before he hears your quiet voice.

"what'd you say?" he asks, leaning his head towards you. but now it's his eyes that are widening, your hand pulling him by his sweater and if he didn't put his arms out, he probably would've fallen right on top of you. his large figure rolls off, laying right beside you just as you speak again.

"stars," you slur, "i wish we could see them here." because you're just staring at the black abyss, the crescent shaped moon the only thing beaming down at you. but what you'd give to see a sky full of twinkling stars, because there's a sense of wonder in them that always makes you feel better.

"i know, that'd be nice," he sighs. and it's a thought he's also had when he'd sneak up here. whether it was after rough days or okay days or great days, he always found solace up here. but he always thought, especially on those particular nights he felt gloomy, that the stars would've been good company.

"what made you take me up here, anyway?" you hum curiously.

he moves his gaze, watching you look at the sky and he feels his chest tighten. because it's like the moon is reflecting in your eyes, the only source of light shining down on you as you look up and take it all in. and even though your cheeks are red from the wind and tears and your hair is windblown and knotty, "you're beautiful."

he says it so lowly that you wouldn't have heard it if a harsh blow of wind whipped through the air. but because it didn't, because everything up here is now still and unmoving, you crane your neck to look at him.

"what?"

his cheeks flush ever so slightly because he did not mean to blurt that out. but he got lost in his admiration, in the way you looked so angelic and at peace and content and now he really has to work on answering you.

"i'm sorry," he says, voice sounding breathy and flustered. "i meant....i mean, i don't know, really. i just think it's a nice place to get away for a bit."

he thinks he might've scared you off by his compliment, watching you turn your head back to the sky and remain silent for a few beats of time. his brain is screaming at him now that you're gonna jump up and run away and think his intentions were anything but pure. but then his brain and body relax when your soft voice begins to speak up.

"it is," you squeak quietly, "i...think this was a good first choice."

"first choice?"

your head snaps to look at him again, a smile on your face at just his presence next to you. because he's the type of person who has a light around them, who makes you feel at ease and whose soul you just know is good.

"well yeah," you squeak out, "i have you as a distraction all night, right?"

a big smile of his own brightens his face and you feel your heart flutter, jumping and shifting at the way he just looks so happy.

"you do."

"well, i have our second place in mind. but we might have to take a taxi," you explain to him, "on me, of course."

"no need," he says, "this is actually my apartment building. my car is downstairs."

you huff out as your eyes roll and he chuckles when you stare at him with a pained expression.

"what?"

"you're too chivalrous!" you whine, smacking his chest lightly as you cross your legs. he only smiles as he shakes his head at you. but his heart hurts because the bare minimum for you would probably seem like an act of chivarly.

"fine. i'll drive myself there and you can walk," he teases, poking your kneecap lightly when he says the word 'you'.

"deal," you giggle and he bites his lip at the sound, placing his large arm behind his head before you continue. "but first..."

he watches you unzip his jacket, fishing inside of it before whipping out two beer bottles with a smile. "i'd like to finish these, if that's okay."

"did you smuggle those out?!" he asks, humor in his tone as he leans up on his elbows.

"well, i paid for them of course!" you squeak, cheeks heating up at the way he's looking at you with his soft eyes and red cheeks. but then it occurs to you why his poor face is probably bright red. "and since we're at your house now....can i please ask something of you?"

he raises his eyebrow at you.

"please get yourself a jacket."

2:38 a.m.

he'd been driving for a little over an hour when you quietly alert him that you've almost arrived. he'd been led to a suburban area, brick houses lined with garden gnomes and mini vans in a quiet town. he smiles when he drives around the corner and sees a fenced in playground, two jungle gyms equipped with monkey bars and slides as well as a swingset in the farthest corner.

"ah, so this is destination 2?"

"yeah..." he hears you mumble quietly, "do you think it's stupid?"

he looks over at you when he hears the almost whispered tone in your voice, eyes staring down at your lap with your hands tucked into one another tightly. it seems like you think he's gonna berate you, like you're reliving some sort of bad memory and expecting history to repeat itself.

so without thinking, he reaches out with his hand and places it over yours. the unexpected warmth causes you to jump, looking up at him with glossy, hazed eyes.

"of course not," he says softly and you swallow the lump in your throat. "i'm pleasantly surprised. i haven't been on a playground in forever."

the smallest of smiles makes its way on your face, whipping your head back to the park and wiggling your feet. "me either," you mumble.

"then let's go, shall we?" he hums, removing his hand from yours as he turns off the car and opens his door to get out. you just manage to place your hand on the handle when five seconds later, he's opening and holding the passenger side door for you.

"i'm not even gonna say it," you mumble before thanking him quietly. he chuckles as he follows you to one side of the park, a gaping hole in the fence that easily allows the average sized body to slip through. but it proves a bit more challengingly for him, a giggle leaving your mouth as you take him by the hand and pull him the rest of the way in.

"i forgot you're a giant."

he scoffs playfully at you, running past you to get to the swings first. but you're sluggish in your movements, teetering and eyes heavy because you really shouldn't have had those two drinks. you were hoping it'd liven your spirits, make you more fun and playful.

but it appears when you're as sad as you are, the fun parts of drinking get skipped over and the sorrow you're feeling only heightens. and the boy smiling at you on the swing is making it easier, the way he talked and laughed with you in the car, the way he's parading you around and keeping you company so you're not lonely and sad. but you still feel it, feel like you're being crushed by the pain in your chest and torn in two different directions.

"i shouldn't have drank," you whine, taking a seat on the swing and leaning your head against the cool chain. your statement immediately has his eyes widening, his feet stopping on the gravel and looking at you.

"why?" he asks, slight panic in his voice, "are you gonna puke?"

"no," you giggle out slightly as you shake your head. "i just...i know my company's about to get pretty depressing." you swallow the lump forming in your throat, feeling tight and like you're about to choke on it. "your distractions have been....great but i'm still feeling so- i don't know why i'm-"

you feel his hands on your knee, the warmth radiating through your pants as he's bent down and looking at you with those kind brown eyes.

"hey, it's okay," he says softly and it has tears stinging behind your own because he looks at you nicer than he ever did and here you are crying over that waste when you could be getting to know him. "it'd be unusual if you didn't, y/n, it just happened."

your teeth dig into your lip to stop it from trembling, sniffling against the cold air. "i guess...i brought him here once you know."

"yeah?"

his heart wrenches seeing you stare down at your lap dejectedly, moving your foot in small circles that his thumbs micmic on your knee. and that's the way you stay for a while, in the cold silence together as he stays bent down rubbing your knee, your eyes trailing from your lip to his long fingers that have such a gentle touch.

"when we first started dating," you finally say quietly because it was probably one the first red flags that he wasn't gonna be the best boyfriend. you'd been dating for two months, driving back into the city after his first time meeting your parents when you asked him if you could show him one of your favorite places.

and you don't know why you were so surprised when he laughed at you, raised an eyebrow and scoffed  because 'why would a grown adult wanna go to a playground?'

"did he like it?" he asks, seeing that you're in your head again.

"of course not," you laugh out humorlessly, "he thought it was so stupid. asked why either of us would even wanna go here when we're full grown adults. but i...i don't know, i came here all the time when i was younger and wanted to show him. i though it'd be fun."

he forgets he's holding onto your knee so you look down when he squeezes it between his large hand, eyes tight and jaw slightly clenched as he shakes his head.

"he's the stupid one," yunho bites into the cold air, "you wanted to show him something meaningful and he couldn't see that."

you shrug as a quiet sigh leaves your mouth. you don't even know why you keep talking but words just keep falling out of you, making you even more mopey and sad and you know he's absolutely regretting this. regretting spending his night with a whiney loser who can't stay out of her own sad head, who doesn't ever know what to say back so you lapse into silence while uncomfortable thoughts plague your mind.

"would you break up with someone like that?" he hears your voice ask lowly and his stomach twists at your question. because it was so random and out of nowhere, he knows you've probably been mulling over everything for these past few silent minutes.

"would you just spring it on a person like that? at a restaurant in front of people?"

he doesn't even have to think about his response.

"no," he mumbles truthfully, "i...don't think i could ever."

you sniffle because you had known that would be his answer. he's nice and kind and everything you wanted your boy....ex-boyfriend to be.

"but i've also never broken up with anyone before," he shares quietly.

you wipe at the lone tear that finally escaped your eye, cringing when you see your makeup on his jacket.

"oh? but you've had a girlfriend before, right?"

when he doesn't answer, your eyes widen and you quickly correct yourself when you meet his gaze. "or boyfriend..."

a small smile crosses his face as he shakes his head. "it'd be girlfriend..." he says teasingly, "but no... i've never really dated anyone, officially. just flings and stuff."

"why?" you squeak out and his eyes flicker to you, roaming your face to see an avid curiosity in your wide, glossy eyes.

"i don't know," he says honestly and he wishes he had a better answer for you. "it's not like i haven't wanted one...i just never found the right person, i guess."

you can only hum thoughtfully, nodding as you take in this new bit of information. because how is it possible that he can't manage to find the right person?

"well who would that be then?"

when he looks up from your knees, he sees you looking down at him with your head back against the chain. and if was anyone else, he'd think they were asking coyly. like they were trying flirt or be tempting.

but he knows that's not the case, even if he wants it to be.

"someone good," he says after thinking about it for a second, "someone i can have fun with but also be serious with. just someone...genuine and sweet, who i know deserves the best."

"you just described yourself," you mumble and he can't help the laugh that bubbles out of him.

"yeah? i thought that kind of sounded like someone else here," he responds lowly, his deep voice causing your gaze to meet his. you bite your lip nervously at the eye contact and any other time it'd make you nervous and fidgety. but now, because you're in the state you're in, you can't look away.

and it's a state he knows you're in as well which is what causes him to look away and stand up, moving himself behind you until his hands meet the middle of your back. you jump in surprise, craning your neck back to look at him.

but before you can ask him what's happening, you start flying into the air. you let out a small squeal as you tighten your hold on the chains, his large hands pushing on your back as you swing.  

"don't fall again!"

"well, a warning would've been nice!" you squeak before another uncontrollable laugh cuts you off.

"that's not as fun."

he continues to push you until you whine for him to sit down next to you, pumping your legs as you two fight to get higher. but when he leans his head back a few minutes later and catches a glimpse of the dark sky, he's halting and grabbing you to stop the swing.

"what're you doing, cheater! i was winning!"

"come with me."

he grabs your hand and leads you over to the jungle gym, guiding you up to the highest platform before craning his neck up.

"what're you doing?" you ask as you mimic him before a gasp cuts you off. because the exposed ceiling of the playground shows off the sky full of bright twinkling stars, the lack of light pollution from the bustling city allowing you to see just what you're robbed of every night.

"the stars!" you squeal, looking at him excitedly and he feels his chest constrict like it has every time that bright smile comes out. "they're so pretty."

"they are," he mumbles, watching you plop down on the cold floor and lay out to stargaze. he smiles softly before joining you, bending his legs so he fits on the platform. and just like on the rooftop, your arms press together but neither of you make any attempts to move them.

and then if your head somehow ends up grazing his shoulder, he only peaks down with a smile that matches your own.

4:10 a.m.

once the cold got too much, lips chapped and hands red, you both ran to the car and waited anxiously for the heat to crank up. there was a sense in the air that your time wasn't over yet, neither one of you mentioning going home or ending the night despite the early morning hours creeping around.

so it's why you ended up picking up food at a 24-hour conveience store, crumps of snacks and water bottles littering the floor of his car. why you're both just pulled over on the side of the empty highway, the occurence of another flashing pair of headlights rare.

"so what do you usually do on a friday night?" you chirp as your feet rest on the dashboard, "you know, when you're not accompanying a weepy dumpee?"

"don't call yourself that," he laughs out, "but usually just at one of my friends. we're a boring bunch so you've actually spiced up my night."

"now i know that's a lie," you quip, poking his arm lightly and the sound of his deep chuckle has your cheeks heating. he is cute.

"it's not," he assures turning his head to the side to throw you a wink. "and thank you."

your body freezes as a gasp leaves your mouth, snapping your head to look at him. he doesn't laugh because of how wide your eyes are, how shocked and horrified you look that you just said that aloud, but he really wants to.

"i...i didn't say- oh, my god."

"what's so bad about that? i blurted out that you were beautiful two hours into meeting," he says, embarassment laced in his tone.

your cheeks heat at the memory, a shy smile on your face as you look down to hide the bright blush. it's daring on his part, daring to reach out and lift your face, rub his thumb along the warm skin and smile softly as he does so.

"why are you hiding?"

"because you're crazy," you say lowly, quietly, and you're cursing the dinner and the way this sweet boy affects you for your low self-esteem ruining the car's atmosphere.

"fine, i'm crazy," he says, "but you're still bea-"

"i'm not," you interupt quietly, before he can say those words and warm your heart and make you wanna kiss him. because that would be a terrible idea. even though you want to, even though you've developed the fastest crush in history and it would be so easy to just scoot over a few inches, move your head in just a little and-

"why? because he broke up with you?"

you bite your lip at the reminder, roaming over his face that's unwavering and serious. dark eyes looking into yours, focused on nothing but you with his hand still on your cheek. you swallow the ball forming in your throat as he waits for you to answer.

"yes," you mumble, feeling your eyes gloss over before you move your face to look back out the window. he sighs next to you and you can feel his gaze on you, boring into you and the tightness in your throat is almost suffocating you.

"i'm sorry, y/n, but you have to know-"

"stop it," you mumble brokenly, "please stop."

"why," he says softly and he's surprised by himself for pushing you. but he can't help it, not as he watches your fleeting moments of happiness fade in and out the way they have all night, sees your eyes water and hands start to fidget.

there's only a tense silence in the car for the next few moments, your eyes out the window and his on you as he watches your fingers fold into each other.

"he didn't deserve you," he suddenly says and you look up with your eyebrows furrowed, a humorless laugh leaving your mouth.

"how could you say that, you don't even know him," you mumble, hating that you're sitting here and defending him. and for what? you already knew he was the worst.  

"from the things you've told me. from what i saw and heard with my own ears," he tells you quietly. "i...he acted as if he wanted to be anywhere else but with you. and i just couldn't imagine why. because you seemed so... sweet and happy to be there with him."

you swallow nervously at his intense gaze and words, reaching out to fumble with the heat because it just got uncomfortably warm in here.

"why are you saying these things?" you ask suddenly, snapping your head up to look at him. "why are you still being so nice to me?"

he lets out a strangled sigh, his hard eyes looking you over and it makes something in you burn.

"i get it, you feel bad and wanted to play the knight in shining armor for a pathetic girl. but i can't take it, tonight. i can't take you...saying these things to me and not meaning it. just saying it out of pity."

"that wasn't why i did it," he's quick to say and there's something building in the air, a light buzzing as you become more snappy and he becomes more adament to prove himself to you. "and how do you know i don't mean it? i never felt pity for you."

"because it doesn't make any sense," you squeak out brokenly, "you're...you and i'm just some sad girl who can't keep her boyfriend interested enough to remember their fucking anniversary. can't keep her boyfriend happy enough to wanna stay with her and instead be dumped at-"

it's his large hand grabbing your jaw that starts it. halts your words and connects your gazes and has shaky, strangled breaths leaving your mouth. has him mumbling "stop it," through gritted teeth and you snarling a firm, "no."

and it could've been him bringing you forward or you pulling him closer but somehow, after a few beats of lingering gazes and breathy sighs, your lips connect.

at first neither of you even realized what happened, lips instinctually moving against one another and eyes shutting. his hand moves to your cheek and yours move to his shoulder, squeezing it lightly to ground yourself, make sure this is really happening because apparently the warm tingly feeling in your body isn't proof enough.

but it's what makes him rips himself away from you, chest heaving up and down from the adrenline of acting upon the feelings and actions he wanted to the moment he saw your smile on the rooftop.

"i'm sorry," he breaths out, eyes trained on the steering wheel, "i shouldn't have done that."

and if he thinks he shouldn't have done that, then you certainly don't think crawling over the console to straddle his lap would be the next appropriate move. but you do because it's like the second your lips met, you realized just how much you wanted and needed that.

his body freezes, back pressed right up against the black leather seat when watches you climb over. he looks down at you, dark eyes with a mix of agony and surprise and he's trying so hard to remain the nice, gentle boy he's been all night.

but then you bunch his shirt up between your hands, pull him down a few inches from your lips and mumble a plea to kiss you again against his mouth that has your lips crashing into one another again. his arms wrap around your waist hesitantly, your back arching when you feel how big his hands feel on your back, the warmth from his skin penetrating through your shirt. and it's all the encouragement he needs to tighten his hold around you, part his mouth and allow his tongue to sweep across your lips.

you stiffle a moan at the intrusion, meet his with yours as you slightly roll your hips on him. "y/n..." he groans against your lips but you only hum against them, body buzzing and the sound of heavy breathing fanning throughout the car only is only making you more willing to kiss him, to press yourself against his body and give yourself over to him.

but he quickly stops again, disconnecting your lips and squeezing your hips lightly. "wait..we shouldn't ...i don't wanna make you-"

"please," you say breathlessly, almost like a whine because your desire had been harboured by sadness but you now you don't even care. not with the feeling of him under you and the taste of him lingering on your lips and the way he's looking at you. "i want you."

"this isn't how how or why i wanted to distract you," he grunts out, "i swear i didn't-"

"yunho," you say, eyes boring into his and when he looks at you with wide, questioning eyes, you place a peck on his lips. "shut up."

and shut up he does when you bring his face down to yours, grinding his hips up into you at your eagerness and a tiny moan leaves your mouth at the feeling. because you feel the hint of a bulge and now arousal is just pounding through you.

your hands move to his hair, pulling and tugging and grinding against him and you hadn't realized how pent up sexually you were. and like the man under you has transformed into a new person, you just about faint when he disconnects your lips and mumbles against them, "he wasn't fucking you right, was he?"

your hazy, half-lidded gaze moves to him and you swallow at how different he looks. messy hair, red lips, dark eyes looking at you with such an intense, lustful gaze. and his voice, his deep and almost condescending tone causing wetness to pool between your legs.

"no," you whine out frustratedly.

"i can tell," he mutters teasingly and the way he says it makes your stomach flutter. his lips trail against your neck, kissing down and down as you lean your head back and bite your lips to suppress a moan.

"i'm gonna make you feel good, make you moan my name and come on my tongue and then fuck you right," he says pulling away from your neck to make you look at him, "is that good, baby? is that what you want?"

his dick twitches when he sees your roused hair and flushed face, eyes glossy and lips abused from his kiss and your teeth.

"hm?" he mutters again when you can only stare at him as your chest heaves.

"yes," you moan out and you can't believe how quickly you've fallen so needy and wet, "please."

"yes what?" he growls, "say my name."

"yunho. yes, yunho, please."

he lays you down on the seat, sliding it all the way back until he has just enough leg room to crouch down by the floor. he snakes his hands up your legs and thighs slowly, rubbing along your core and smiling when you thrash and twitch on the seat.

"are you gonna be wet for me, baby? i hope that's what i'm gonna see."

"yes, yunho," you repeat and he sharply inhales at how quickly you've learned to listen, how eager you are to respond and how you're already widening your legs.

"you're such a good girl, you know that?" he hums, undoing your pants with his fingers and you make sure to crane your neck to watch him. and it doesn't get lost on him either, smirking as his tugs your pants down to mid-thigh and you moan in response. your eyes roll back when you see his long finger trail against your wet lace thong and he has to surpress the growl in his throat.

"look at these," he hums moving them to the side just a little to graze your wetness and licks his lips when he feels his fingers get slick with your arousal.

"you," you gasp out, desperate for his touch or his tongue or just to feel him do anything but teasingly have his finger on you. "for you."

"yeah?" he mumbles, slowly moving around your dripping slit and you swallow down a loud moan. "you know. i wanted to kiss you all night," he hums, sliding your soaked thong down slowly and kissing in your inner thigh, "but i didn't think i'd get this lucky."

and with that, his hair grazes your stomach as he dips his head and places his tongue on your clit, lapping over it before trailing down to lick and taste more of you.

"holy shit," you gasp out and it only causes his tongue's assault to build frantically, sucking and licking and moaning against your wetness as he mumbles how good you taste. your hand moves to his hair, pulling and twisting the strands of hair and then gripping it harshly when you feel his finger slide into you.

"yunho," you screech out and you catch his eyes looking up at you, the image of him right between your legs, his mouth grazes over your burning core causing your own to roll back.

"look at me."

his deep voice commands it with such deep authority, so different than his sweet soft-spoken words, that you roll your head back to look at him with hazy eyes.

"i want you to watch me. watch me eat and finger this tight little pussy until you're screaming my name," he growls, bringing his other hand up to squeeze your bare thigh. "understand? i want you to watch me."

you nod your head frantically and you think you would've agreed to anything just for his tongue to go back on you and his finger to start pounding into you. and when it does, when he finally starts again between your legs, you bite your lips so your eyes don't roll back again.

because his tongue lapping over your clit, his long finger pounding up into you as looks right at you is quickly becoming too much. you can't ever remember a time oral felt like this, felt so consuming and had you making the sorts of moans and whines vibrating throughout the car.

"oh my god," you whine lowly, rolling your hips over his face but it only causes the hand not in your pussy to pin you down by your hips.

"hey," he warns lowly, his wet lips retracting from between your legs, "you've been so good for me, baby. what happened?"

"i'm sorry," you whine, "it just feels so-" his tongue laps at your clit teasingly and you screech "good, feels so good," when he sucks it into his hot mouth.

"i think i need to sit you on my cock," he says and the pride that floods through him when you clench around his finger is all consuming. "what do you think?"

"yes, yunho," you say, trying to remember how he likes you good, "please, i wanna sit on your cock." and it pays off because one second your laid out on your back, the next your pants are at your ankles and he's flipped you guys so you're straddling him again.

you feel his hardness under you, peaking down and your eyes widening when you see his sheer size. "whoa..."

your cheeks flush when you hear his deep chuckle, his hand running through your sweaty hair as he lifts your head.

"i'll be gentle."

but in a bold move, you spit on your hand and jerk his cock causing him to sputter in the seat below you. "i hope not," you mutter, eyes teasing and voice low and he squints his eyes at you.

"oh no?" he hums, "then sit."

thighs wet from the arousal dripping out of you, you swirl the tip around your slit teasingly and throw your heard back with a moan. and it's the only reason he humors it, because the way you look with your head thrown back, chest heaving and mouth hung open, is enough to make his already throbbing cock ache for you even more.

you move it to your clit, pressing him into it and grinding as a whiney cry leaves your lips. "oh my god," you squeak, your eyes shooting to his and you connect your lips again. he meets your kiss with the same fervor, taking his cock from your hold and lining it up with your entrance.

"i need to fuck you now," he growls, "please, baby."

"yes," you mumble against his lips, groaning out against him when you feel him enter you and stretch your walls. you both let out breathy moans when he fully enters, him because "you're so fucking tight" and you because "you're so big, yunho," and it's all the motivation you need to start grinding your hips onto him.

his hands dig into your hips, urging you on with coos of pet names and expletives that have you grinding and bouncing and moaning out. and if anyone were hitch hiking on the side of the road right now, it wouldn't take an expert to know just what was going on inside.

because both your deep moans and grunts are echoing throughout the car. your heavy breathing and sighs have fogged up the windows of the shaking car from your rolling and grinding and his thrusting to find that spot within you.

the spot he finds only a few minutes later that has you falling forward into the crook of his neck, bouncing your wet heat on him because you hear his strangled breathing and loud grunts until the familiar hot feeling of him releasing inside you has moans ripping out of your chests in unison.

it takes a while for your breathing to turn even, for your shaking legs to simmer and the ringing in his ears to stop. but when it does, he kisses the top of your head still buried in the crook of his neck and gently places you in the seat next to him.

he fumbles with the glove compartment and takes out a wipe, gently dabbing between your legs as you lay your head back on the leather seat.

"you okay?" he quietly laughs out seeing you still in a post-orgasm daze.

"i'm....good, great," you say, a laugh bubbling out of you before shyly thanking him for cleaning you. because even in the car, directly after an intense sex-crazed adrenaline rush, he still remembers aftercare. and you think if it was possible to fall in love with someone in a night, with a heart as fragile as yours, he'd be the person to make it happen.

"me too," he says quietly, throwing the wipe in the empty plastic bag before he looks over your face. "i...that was uh great, really great."

his face burns when you turn away to laugh into your shoulder, his deep of groan of "stop!" only making you giggle more. and like it wasn't the cause of what just happened in the first place, you mumble again that he's cute.

"also," you say, when your laugh and his red cheeks subside, "it'd probably be a good time to mention i'm on the pill."

6:49 a.m.

you're half asleep in the front seat of yunho's car, the familiar sounds of horns honking and the bustling city keeping you from falling into a full slumber. he had asked on the way back if he could bring you to one more place before you called it a night (even though the birds were chirping and sun was rising). and who were you to say no when he had smiled and asked so softly.

you pop your eyes open, hands under your cheek as you watch him silently bob his head to the soft music. he's at a red light, one hand atop the steering wheel as he looks over to see you staring.

"hey sleepy," he says, reaching out to fix your slightly messy hair. "i'm sorry, i know you're tired but we're almost there."

"s'okay," you mumble, meeting his soft eyes with a smile, "i don't wanna leave you yet anyway."

"oh no?" he hums softly and his heart tightens when you sees a shy blush cross your face.

"i didn't mean to say that," you sigh out sleepily and his small chuckle rings through the car.

"i was hoping you did," he says, hand moving from your head to pink cheek, "because i don't wanna leave you yet either."

the sound of a honk promptly ruins the moment, yunho's eyes moving to squint into the mirror before he drives off. you giggle as you shut your eyes again, burrowing yourself further into the leather.

he shakes you awake a few moments later, his hand on your shoulder as he looks down at with you soft brown eyes.

"we're here."

"where?" you mumble, sitting up and peaking out the window to see a small bakery.

"let me show you."

he gets out and meets you around the passenger side door, opening it for you and extending his hand out to you; you take it without a second thought and he smiles as he intertwines your fingers.

you walk up to the bakery door, the fresh smell of baked bread wafting through the empty store. the faint welcome from the worker is drowned out as your eyes peer over the shelves, bread and cookies and cakes lined up behind the streak-free glass.

you look up at him curiously when he leads you over to the cakes, tightening his hold on your hand when you guys stop in front of the display.

"pick anything you want."

you cock your head to the side before your eyes roam over the selection, squinting your eyes to read the script in front of every pastry when a tiny gasp escapes your lips.

"is that a-"

"tiramisu cheesecake," he confirms, "i heard it's really good here."

you stare at the glass as your heart tightens in your chest and you can't believe you have any tears left to sting behind your eyes today. but you don't wanna cry, even if they're happy tears, so it's why you lean your head against his arm and press your lips into a firm line.

"and i don't know if it's as good as that one," he says lowly, "but i figured it could hold you over until we....until you go back."

you lift your head to stare at him and he pouts upon seeing the one on your face. but before he can ask what's wrong or if he overstepped, your arm is wrapped around his body as you press your head into his chest.

"thank you," you choke out, "i....thank you." because if you try to say anymore, your hope that not even happy tears escape your eyes will be gone to shit.

and it's like he knows that. so he presses his lips to the top of your head and asks for a slice, your body still attached to his when he pays and ushers you out to the car.

and that's where you tell him you're so thankful for this cake but you also wanna enjoy the other one too. and at first he doesn't understand, his eyebrows furrowed together as he nods his head hesitantly.

"so i was thinking....maybe not this week, so i don't show up with a new boy right away...but next week, maybe we can go to-"

"yes," he blurts out and a big smile makes its way on your face when you see he can barely hold back his excitement. and he doesn't even care too.

because as he takes you home, you excitedly talk it over and exchange numbers. and he's quick to tell you you can start out as friends first, that he doesn't expect anything from you and will take this new found relationship at whatever pace you decide to set.

but you hope the smirk you throw his way shows him that you know within a few weeks time, you'll completely forget about the boy who made you so upset and dropped you into his lap, now filling you with such an excited, hopeful feeling even in your sleep deprived state.

you direct him to your apartment building and you thank him again for the night, sweet smiles and lingering gazes as you both delay separating.

but because that time has come, you gather your cake and open the door after teasing him that he better not get out and do it for you.

"so, i'll see you next week?" you ask quietly, a small shy smile on your face.

"next week," he says, watching you with a smile and light heart as you barrel up your apartment stairs and he gives himself two hours before his fingers start itching to text you.

[kwrittink]

WRONG - COLLAPSE

Pairing: F!Reader x AdoptedBrother!Jungkook

Genre: Fluff/Angst/Smut

Warnings: Language, sexual themes (female oral, male oral), explicit description of sexual interactions

<EXPLOSION

You weren't one to often pay mind to gossip - only when Mou inevitably blurted out the latest news on the office - but the following days to the news about Park JiMin's recent love interest you were trying to be aware of anything, glad and wary of not being recognized yet.

There was no sign of him though, making you wonder if he was upset, and if you should contact him to check on things, but work piled up a little that day so you decided to have a go once you got home.

"Shall we go home?" Kim TaeHyung was, on the other hand, completely at ease with the whole ordeal - or so he looked like - even after you showed him the pictures from Mou's phone. He had even joked that he felt partially guilty about how things turned out to be in the end, all with a soft and reassuring smile while agreeing that, since no one besides close friends knew it was you, everything would be okay in a while.

"Sure, let me just take note of the touch-up for this piece and..." Your chair was turned slowly but firmly as you scribbled in the tablet, thoughts cut short as you felt his presence looming over you. Hesitantly, you glanced up to find a smirking TaeHyung holding the arms of your rolling chair.

"When I say home I mean singular, Y/N." He whispered, eyebrows twitching up suggestively, a move that you've only heard from Mou about since he had been fooling around a bit before you two started hanging - and the girls from the company apparently were really good on profiling people. You had some questions to them. "So I'll ask again: Let's go to one of our homes?"

Your mouth was gaped and you could barely feel your fingers, reacting so obviously to his flirting that made his grin widen in satisfaction as he registered your flustering.

"Hey, you guys leaving- Is everything okay?" Hoseok popped from the other side of the divisor, frowning as he saw the positions you two were in. Apparently no one had told him that you and the TI trainee have been smooching, so the scene might have looked weird.

"Yeah, we were just about to decide where to watch today's game but Y/N's a little indecisive," TaeHyung explained and you tilted your head even more confused, never aware there was a game in the first place.

"Oh that League of Heroes or something of the sort? Never knew you were into that Y/N," As on cue, NamJoon also decided to appear to call you out and that made the friend in front of you back up a little, adopting a slightly more composed posture. It was a fact that NamJoon made him feel intimidated and you kind of liked that. To his inquiry, you only shrugged.

"Legends, you old man," Hobi chuckled, making your best friend roll his eyes at him shortly before he turned back to you with a small wince. "And I would invite myself over too, but I don't really care about the semifinals, actually."

"Shame, we could all do a slumber party at mine's" you tsk, trying to play it off, ignoring the look NamJoon was giving you, for some unknown reason. If he could have fun around, you could too.

After quickly assembling your stuff, you followed TaeHyung to the elevator, both suddenly growing silent as looking at each other and sharing an accomplice smile.

You weren't sure what exactly was entailing you two hanging out at your place and neither how far you wanted to go with him, but all things considered, TaeHyung was something easy and chill in your life, currently. You needed to talk to him about your relationship, though.

As soon as you stepped into the empty elevator - a given since the company managed the working hours to avoid crowding - TaeHyung pulled your elbow, twirling your body around for the second time in that afternoon and pulling you closer, his free hand immediately pressing at the side of your face as he captured your lips in a kiss that almost made your mind shortcut; if you weren't sure before of his intentions while going to your apartment today, now it was perfectly clear by the way his tongue laved on yours, the palm once around your arm inching down your back dangerously.

The machine dinged warning your arrival to the lobby and you detached yourself from him in the quickest - but gentlest - way you could, practically stumbling out the doors as they opened. You were sure that your hair was a mess and your face was flushed, so hurrying out of the company was a must. It's enough the show that the security guards had, you thought to yourself, not even daring to glance at the main desk while pulling a smug TaeHyung behind you.

Didn't take too long to get a car thought, the weekend was near and people were heading home earlier than expected. In a way, you were glad of being able to get home faster and, to give a rest to your wobbling knees. It had been a while feeling like this.

Your love life hasn't been moving since the end of college - since the fateful day when JungKook walked out on you - so you were a little out of practice with all of that. Sure, you weren't blind and had a crush once or twice but nothing serious or that you had made an effort to evolve or pursue. In fact, TaeHyung had been the result of a drunken impulse, for you were so angry at him that day after unconsciously blurting out about your birthday to your clients - the follow up of you inviting them to your social gathering was completely your fault - that it turned you on enough to take the opening he gave you in the kitchen. That maybe had to do with JungKook being at the party as well, you had to admit.

But just a tiny bit.

Engrossed on the scenery outside, you barely noticed when TaeHyung scooted closer to you, taking your hand in his with delicacy.

"Can't help but remember your birthday party," he started softly, the deep baritone of his voice making the butterflies in your stomach flutter. "That kiss... Maybe because that time you kissed me I can't stop thinking about it." The whisper near your ear made you shudder lightly as you turned to stare him in the eye, gaze falling on his lips instead, unable to utter a single word.

He smiled softly at your lack of response, almost shy. "I've been meaning to gather courage and ask you out, but I did this instead, sorry."

"Why you're sorry?"

"Because I decided to cut to the chase instead." The tilt of your head made him snicker, head rolling to the side a little before looking back at your face. "I wanted to treat you to dinner, walk a little before dropping you off your apartment, and maybe be invited in, you know?"

You smiled at him, hand dropping to his thigh. "I don't mind you decided to be direct," you said, glad of how his eyes widened slightly at your discreet move to reciprocate his intentions. The whole thing looked less serious that way, exactly what you needed it to be. "I like it better like this." The muttered phrase was a manner to convey what you wanted to talk about, perhaps later on, when you were more focused on the subject.

"Good," he hummed, his palm meeting the back of your hand again, this time moving it upwards his crotch, offering a feel of the hardening bulge inside his pants. "Because I've been wanting you for a while now." You couldn't help biting your lower lip. Not really a fan of being this bold at public spaces - not that the backseat of the taxi was that exposing but still - yet TaeHyung's lingering stare had the pit of your stomach twisting.

--

It wasn't long before the taxi pulled up to your address and both of you hopped off in the most discreet way you could without looking too hurried, TaeHyung insisting on paying the driver and calm down a bit after riling himself up so much in the backseat - you weren't thinking about the small walk to your door when you just kept gliding your fingers over the strain on his slacks, enjoying the way TaeHyung clenched his jaw -, eyebrow quirking at you when the driver started counting the change.

You felt giddy. Impatient and already slightly damp, really excited for the whole obvious event that was a few meters from happening. In your defense, you had focused so much on being a successful woman and improving your craft that relationships were put aside easily - sure, there was JungKook as a reason too - so the whole thing with TaeHyung felt like a first all over again. That didn't stop you from practically yanking the man out of the car by the hand, handing him your coat and bag to hold over his still glaring boner and hurry to your home.

Since you lived on the first floor, it was a no-brainer to take the stairs once noticing the elevator was on the higher floors, so it was safe to say you were really determined to get under the man you currently guided by the hand through the badly lit stairs. Your keys were even in your hand.  

As you pushed the stairwell door TaeHyung pulled your hand back, pushing your body to the wall beside it and holding your face with his big hands, his body also pressed to yours. "Fuck, I like seeing you like this, so eager and hurried... Do you want to-"

The sound of a throat being cleared interrupted both of you, whole body tensing as you glanced to the side.

"Sorry, seems like I've beaten you to getting home, Miss Y/L/N." The dry tone from none than Jeon JungKook as he stared at you two from the door of your apartment was what made you push TaeHyung away, face heating up with a mix of embarrassment and fury because of course, he'd be the one there to witness that exchange between you and TaeHyung for the second time and dampen your plans to finally get some and pluck him out of your head. Probably.

"What are you doing here?" You blurted out, walking towards his figure, barely noticing how he hid a bag behind himself as he eyed your company trailing behind you. He was dressed casually as he'd just went to his house after his shift, showered, and got his comfiest - but still put together - clothes on with the sole intention of swinging by your house and spending some time with you. Like you'd let him.

"I... JiMin said he'd come here today, didn't he said anything?" As he faced you, body twisting and squaring up a bit and chest a little puffed, you crossed your arms defensively, recognizing the defiant stance that apparently hadn't changed even after all those years, meaning that he was ready to spew some bullshit if you were taking experience in account. I don't know if it's good or bad to still know him like the back of my hand...

"No, he did not, Mr. Jeon. And I don't remember having anything pertinent meeting in my house involving the A.R.M.Y. line-"

"This doesn't have to do with the clothing line Miss Y/L/N, but rather with the tabloids situation you and my business partner are in. He said he wanted to come and talk," you felt TaeHyung tense up when JungKook cut your words, cheeks burning in anger. The man in front of you was furious as well, even if his expression remained stoic. "But apparently I misunderstood the time of arrival."

"Indeed must be a mistake." Your tone was dry, even though a little shaken and you notice the irritated little quirk of his eyebrow, the hard swallow and change of body weight to the other feet.  

"Yeah," he bit the inside of his cheek. "My apologies."

The mutter was barely heard as he started walking out, barely missing your shoulder in his leave.

The mood was completely ruined as you got inside of the apartment and thought you didn't want to be this mad, you appreciated that TaeHyung didn't try to pick things from where they were right away, letting you feel your emotions for a while.

"Do you want anything to drink or eat?" You asked, turning to TaeHyung with a sigh, fingers threading your hair tiredly. He gave you a sympathetic smile before nodding, muttering 'tea' in a small voice that made you smile back.

"Then I'm going to shower while the water heats, okay?" Once again the man nodded, taking your hand and squeezing it reassuringly. "You can make yourself at home, if you want a shower too I've got extra towels and... Maybe NamJoon's change of sweats here too," you hurried to offer, knowing that even though the day was chill, he must be tired as well and in need of refreshment.

"Actually I might take you up on that offer... I feel like a cold shower would do me good right now." And that made your eyes wander down towards his crotch again, the straining not present against the slacks anymore, making you a little bummed. You were really looking forward to this afternoon, but it was understandable that he wasn't in the mood anymore. You chuckled with him and then gave instructions for the guest room, having him follow as you went to get the towels and your friend's sweats - which rarely used them, only when he really needed to spend the night - so he could change into something more comfortable.

Till the moment you two finally sat on the small couch of your living room with your respective cup of green tea - the only type you had available at your house - you had failed to realize how comfortable you felt around TaeHyung, even to a point that you were cuddling some time later while watching some movie on TV. It felt domestic in a way, and it was dangerous. Still, he had an effect on you and that was easy to acknowledge, which made you unsure of your position at the moment.

"Ah, my roommate will be so pissed I'm watching this episode without him," TaeHyung mentioned at one point with a small chuckle, the deep comforting sound rumbling against your ear. You were halfway through an episode of 'Ozark' you've already watched, a little bored and trying to come up with a way to heat things back up. So far you achieved laying your head on his chest for further closure, one of his hands resting on your waist, but nothing else. Like you realized before, it was domestic.

"Oh? We can change it, if you want. Though this feels more like a filler episode, nothing really happens here..." You commented, looking up his face. He tilted his head with a small pout before meeting your gaze, and you smiled at his cuteness. It hurt your pride that he was probably cuter than you but you couldn't care so much at that moment.

"Whatever you want, though. I don't want to bother." At his statement you chuckled, straightening up in your spot and shaking your head. You understood then why he wasn't pushing for anything because he didn't want to annoy you in your house and be kicked out. Cute.

"Hmm," biting your lower lip in ponder, you looked away, fighting a smile. "Whatever I want?" You glanced back at him, mischief laced in your tone. TaeHyung's eyes widened a little before he nodded, suddenly struck by the undertone of the proposition. Good, he was down to whatever, then.

Smile widening, you decided for the bold, straight to the point move you had in your mind - since you taking the first step something TaeHyung mentioned to enjoy earlier -, reaching for his cheek and leaning, observing his reactions. Shoulders relaxed, mouth gaped and eyes dropped to your lips, fluttering close as you finally met his mouth with yours, almost tentatively. It was different from the first time, where you had initiated it by pure frustration of how things had turned out.

Groaning, TaeHyung then pressed back, hands gripping your waist as he kissed you back with intent, lips molding with yours perfectly. You then moved to straddle him, at first only one of his legs, sliding up his thigh and shuddering as one of his palms slid inside your shirt, caressing up the increasingly hot skin of your back while pulling you even further to his body. The other one wandered down your side, reaching the back of your knee and, with a swift movement he pulled it up, settling it at the other side of his waist and splitting your legs enough that there wasn't any other option but stay settled right on top of the growing bulge of his crotch. You hummed against his mouth, feeling brave enough to shift your hips a little, enough to make him pause the exchange for a second and resume by deepening the kiss with a soft hum, tongue licking at your mouth slowly.

It felt like everything was moving slow, you pulling off the shirt you had just borrowed him, TaeHyung pawing at your body and breathing raggedly as you ground your increasing heat on his hard need, desperately wanting to feel him without all those layers and barriers. When he parted from your lips to mouth at your neck, you were a goner.

"Tae please-" You urged with a gasp as he nipped at your skin, a bruise that would definitely be visible and you'd spend half an hour trying to mask it with makeup the next day, but you didn't pay it any mind at the moment. His hands traveled all the way up under your shirt to take possession of your covered breasts and you took that opportunity to pull out your shirt, throwing it beside you on the couch. He leaned back to look at you, squeezing and pinching at your chest, watching your reactions intently and biting his lower lip, concealing any sound he wanted to make as you circled your lips on top of his, moaning softly at the light tease. "TaeHyung..."

"Yeah?" He dragged out breathlessly, so deep it made you shudder, nipples pebbling. He flicked them and you yelped softly. "Tell me what you want love." The term of endearment made your insides twist, wondering for a moment if he used that with every other girl. "I want you, Tae." And to stress it, you slid your hands down his chest, reaching the straining on his pants, ever so slightly squeezing the outline of his cock. The man's eyes fluttered close at the contact. "I want to feel you."

"Fu- I'm all yours, Y/N. I'll do whatever you want." That response made you smile, feeling him throb under your palm. You leaned, pressing your lips to his in a tender, quick kiss, pulling away while biting his lower lip.

"Then let me hear you, hm?" You instructed, watching as he nodded, at first automatically going to biting the already abused lower lip but settling to licking it, mouth gaping.

Getting to your treat, you latched your mouth to his neck, fingers trailing back up again to caress the planes of his chest, only to draw back down with your nails, not hurtfully, only to tease. TaeHyung gasped deliciously, throwing his head back and exposing his neck even more, so you could also mark him up with a suckle to the sensitive skin, discovering the weak spot at the base of his throat that had him grunting, hips jutting just as you reached the hem of the sweatpants.

Never truly a patient woman, you decided for yanking down pants and underwear, TaeHyung lifting his hips to help you free the raging boner that waved out, thick girth making your mouth water immediately.

But before you could even think of hopping off his thighs, as soon your fingers wrapped lightly around his throbbing cock he took purchase of your ass, dipping both hands under the fabric of the sweatpants to squeeze the flesh almost painfully. You breathed out hard, glancing up to look at the man that already had some strands of hair glued to his damp forehead before your lips were captured into a desperate and almost clumsy kiss, your fingers squeezing the leaking tip of his dick and messing with his focus, a shudder rocking his whole body.

"I'm going crazy already," he panted against your lips, breath hitching as you twisted your wrist, jerking him off with small movements. "You'll drive me insane, Y/N."

You drank up his whispers, biting your lower lip and keeping on with the teasing and TaeHyung's head came to rest on your shoulder, trying to concentrate while pawing at your body as well, lips pressing kisses on your scorching skin in between pleased hums, hands resuming to roam over your partially clothed body.

"Oh my, T-" Your gaps was almost muffled by the groan coming from the man that had decided to take you by surprise and slip his fingers inside your panties, dipping the digits on the overflowing essence that already had ruined your underwear, TaeHyung's sounds so enticing to your ears. He throbbed at the way your back arched and your chest pressed to his face as his kisses lowered, aiming for the pebbled peaks of your nipples. With a free hand, you held onto his shoulder for leverage, aiding the slippery thumb to rub circles on your clit, the other getting back on massaging the tip of his cock almost clumsily.

But you had a clear objective in mind, and when his lips wrapped around one of your nipples you knew that it would be impossible to continue after TaeHyung made you cum. It had been a long while since someone made you climax, and you were already a little tired from the whole ordeal from early on- Let's not even start thinking about how bothered you still were with JungKook.

"Tae, TaeHyung-" You stopped him just as he was about to part your lips and slip a finger inside, the thought of the long digits inserted into your heat making your throat dry with want. You wanted nothing more to have him inside of you soon, but the need to have him on his mouth weighted a little heavier. "I need to suck you off, please."

"Please? Fuck Y/N, I'm the one who's begging you," he breathed out, eyes raking your figure as you slid off his thighs, mimicking your gestures as you yanked off your sweatpants, ruined panties thrown by the couch and you watched in awe as he picked them up, pressing them to his nose. It was a little embarrassing, but at the same time made your insides twist with need as you dropped to your knees.

Once again, glancing at the thick, veiny cock in front of your face, you reminded yourself that it had been quite a while since you've done something of the sort. You'd be lucky if you didn't gag when his tip hit the back of your throat.

Yet, you rested your palms on his thighs, snickering at the jolt it caused TaeHyung, his eyes opening to glance down at you, putting your underwear away. His lips parted mirroring yours, as you lean to lightly press the cushions of your mouth on the feverish member, a hiss being coaxed from him.

With a hum, you then parted your lips wider to fit the engorged head, molding your mouth to press in a circle against it and sinking your head slowly till the 'oh' his mouth was making was out of sight, hollowing your cheeks when he hit the beginning of your throat. TaeHyung breathed out barely holding off a whine, one hand coming to press the back of your head just slightly, the silent urge to go faster completely ignored. You'd enjoy this moment to the max and intended to milk him for all he was worth.

Bobbing your head a few more times, excruciatingly slow to torture him and bring out those delicious gasps and hums he wanted to suppress - but was still keeping his promise about letting them out - you reached out to play with yourself a little, the throbbing of your insides mirroring his, wanting desperately for friction, for attention.

"F- Don't you dare t-touch yourself Y/N," he practically growled as soon as your fingers slid down your stomach, and you returned your hand to wrap around what your mouth couldn't cover of his cock, a surprised hum in response. "You - fuck - cum in my mouth today."

You couldn't help but gasp at such promise, made so firmly that would make your knees wobble, weren't you already on them. So with renewed will you sank your head further on his cock, letting the tip breach past the uvula, the feeling of constriction turning you on even more. Gagging, you still forced to go as further as you could, but your lungs were screaming for air already, all the while trying to see TaeHyung practically trashing at the action, hips jutting upwards in a manner of helping you - or himself - to take him, a string of curses falling from his lips. "I'm not guh-going to last much more, 'm really clo-"

"Cum in my mouth," you breathed in, coming up for air and interrupting his stuttered babbles, watching his eyes widen as you parted your lips, tongue rolling out and pressing against the back of the tip, one hand twisting around his shaft, the other going to softly cradle his balls, causing TaeHyung to groan loudly and fuck your hand with sharp and fast movements. "Give it to me, Tae."

You barely finished speaking when the first ribbon of cum landed on your lips, making you open up again quickly to receive it, tongue poking out to lick at the throbbing head and eyes fluttering shut as some shot near them. TaeHyung came in many spurts, gasping loudly till he breathed out heavily, marking the end of his climax. That was when you wrapped your lips around the sensitive tip, drawing a surprised keen as he was overstimulated just for your own satisfaction. He writhed as you sucked out the last drop of his release, then letting him go with a pop when one hand grasped the back of your head in a desperate, silent pleading.

"You're so gonna get it Y/N," TaeHyung panted out, cupping your face as you slid back up to meet his lips, thumb wiping the sticky streak of cum from your cheek. You hummed, softly pressing your lips to his, his mouth dry from the recent orgasm. "Damn I'm thirsty..." He parted briefly from your lips to smack his, panting out while catching his breath.

"Do you want me to get you some w- Oh!" A surprised gasp left your mouth as he pushed you to lay on the couch hastily, quickly grasping your legs and yanking them open. Your eyes widened as TaeHyung slid to the floor, looking half-mad with lust as he stared at your heat, a shiver running through your spine as the cooled air of his heavy breathing hit your folds. Delicately he exposed you more to his gaze, unconsciously licking his lower lip, yearning.

When he dove, you gasped silently, not even remembering how to make a sound as TaeHyung clamped his lips on the throbbing bundle of nerves, suckling on it with a hum. Electricity ran through your whole body as he popped his lips away and laved at your folds, savoring the overflowing juices that spilled from your core with a hum. Your hips jutted upwards, eyes rolling back as you whined, finally finding your voice in the middle of your pleasure.

TaeHyung chuckled, squeezing the inside of your thighs, and you peeked down.

"Though I'd lost you there for a second," he quipped, the smugness stamped on his face glistening with your essence around his plush lips. You chanced a grin, reaching down to touch his cheek, a small caress that turned into an impatient plead when you ran your fingers through his head, smoothly pushing him back to his task. "Guess you're ready to get wrecked hm?" His voice was deep with lust, the effect of you bossing him around getting to his eyes, which darkened with mischief.

Getting back to his task, this time paced a little slower, he began to play around with your folds, thumbs drawing circles at the inside of your thighs. Your eyes rolled back as TaeHyung licked up your slit, not quite reaching where you expected, only for the tip of his tongue to circle the inner hood of your core. The grip on his hair tightened, coaxing a huffed laugh against your heat that made your hips jolt. You knew it wouldn’t take much more to reach your high, and seemed like TaeHyung did too. And he was making the most of it.

One of his hands slid up to grab at your breast, tweaking the nipple between his fingers, and then you knew you were a goner. Your legs were already quivering when his lips reattached to your needy nerve ending, free-hand pressing two fingers to your slit and gently inserting them in your depths, juices aiding his sliding. He curved the tip of his fingers upwards upon reaching your limit and you heaved. “TaeHyung,” you started, looking down at him, not meeting his eyes as he devoured your core, eyes shut in focus. “You're gonna make me c- fuck!” Barely able to finish your sentence, you threw your head back, white-hot pleasure blinding you and making your limbs tremble. You barely heard TaeHyung's surprised gasp, before a deep chuckle vibrated against your increasingly sensitive folds.

Took you long seconds before you were able to open your eyes again.

“Look, I feel like I’m responsible for this,” TaeHyung’s words confused you a little, as you entered a post-blissed state and began to notice your surroundings again. TaeHyung was still on the floor, head pressed on the inside of one of them as he looked up at you with a smug smile plastered on his soaked face. A moment of ponder went through your mind before you realized that not only his cheeks were wet, but your thighs and couch as well. You had squirted all over him, it seemed.

“Holy shit, I’m so, sorry-” You tried to straighten up, face feeling warm with embarrassment. In the back of your mind, you knew there wasn’t anything wrong with that, but you did feel ashamed to have done that when you only felt relaxed enough to do it alone.

“Why are you apologizing? This is hot as fuck, Y/N. I couldn’t have imagined anything hotter to happen.” His awed admission made you smile, and, mirroring your actions, TaeHyung climbed up your body to press his lips on yours again, his warmth extremely welcome on your still boneless body.

The more he held you closer once again, the more you felt like continuing to the next step towards intercourse, lured by the tang of your taste on his mouth, how TaeHyung had expertly dragged out your climax with only his tongue. You wished to feel more of him, deep inside yourself.

Inside the bag atop your dinner table, a phone rang and vibrated urgently.

“Fuck,” muttered the man once more aroused and ready to finally give you want you needed before parting from your body and rushing to get his phone. You sighed, straightening up on the couch as you watched a very naked TaeHyung rip open his bag and grasp his phone to answer it, pushing his damp hair back. He had barely time to even greet the caller before being cut off and a voice started urgently speaking, so loud you could almost make out what was being said from the other side of the room. He gave you a sad smile, which you returned with yet another sigh.

Looking to the side, you spotted your own device, usually void of messages after work hours, also blinking silently with unseen messages. Maybe something had gone wrong in the company, it was a weird coincidence that both of you were being called. Well, that was the end of the day, you guessed.

“Work as well?” TaeHyung plopped by your side as you turned off your screen after checking the messages. “Somehow the guys managed to crash a site after the scheduled promotion was announced, now I need to go there and fix it, because they’ve supposedly tried everything…” He threw his head back with a groan, closing his eyes.

You chuckled half-heartedly at his actions, bummed but at the same time relieved that he needed to leave. Apparently what JungKook had said about JiMin coming over was true, though he had gotten ahead of his partner in hours.

“Yeah, mine is something Yoongi wants to check, little details he won’t let go - you know the man’s a perfectionist,” you giggled awkwardly, gut sinking for having to tell a lie to TaeHyung about the upcoming matters. Of course, the news that was sent to you would be sent to him as well, since it personally concerned his image, but you didn’t want to have a discussion about the matter at that moment. TaeHyung was supposed to be something easy and chill in your life.

You kept your phone clutched in your hand the whole time until TaeHyung left, hoping he wouldn’t be able to see the worry in your eyes even as he pecked your lips goodbye, before closing the door after himself.

You didn’t even finish breathing out when your phone vibrated again.

[PARK JIMIN]: now that your friend left, may i come in?

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Why I Haven’t Given Up Hope On Barchie Just Yet.

The more I think about it the more I feel like there might still be a chance for Barchie. I was very disappointed and angry after the episode aired, but after rewatching the episode a few times I realised that there wasn’t really anything in that scene that makes me think that its permanent. I mean what was said really that ends them for good? That they should make sense, was it that line, or that they were so different at their cores? Because to me that seemed more like Betty seeing Archie as this golden boy and as this light she was going to corrupt, which is very similar to how Archie saw Betty as the perfect girl next door in the pilot and if I didn’t think they were over permanently in the pilot why should I believe they’re over now? We know that this statement that they are too different and that they don’t make sense isn’t true. Barchie make perfect sense and they aren’t different at all, I mean they both have protector like jobs, they both have gone through a trauma and are suffering PTSD due to it which manifests in a similar way of nightmares, they both have a habit of rushing into dangerous situations to protect others, they both have stereotypes forced onto them and struggle with that identity. They’ve both struggled with an inner darkness that was brought out when someone they cared about got hurt, for Betty it was Polly and for Archie it was when his dad was shot. They’ve both lost their fathers, they both see the other as their light in the darkness. I mean alot of elements from their stories are very similar. There is just so much that they have in common that Betty’s line just doesn’t make sense at all. So the only explanation is that Betty doesn’t realise how similar they are because she is still looking at him as this All American Boy and herself as having this darkness. I do think that as they get closer as friends they are going to come to the realisation that they aren’t too different at all. I think that Betty will realise that Archie too has a darkness that he struggles with and that it is ok to be each others light.

I’ve also been thinking alot about that scene between Archie and Eric again where he talks about Betty and how it felt different and not great because for me out of all of it that was the moment that made the less sense to me. I feel like that’s the moment alot of people kind of had a wtf moment. But I think I might have finally cracked what was happening in that scene and what Archie meant by ‘different’. To fully understand it I think we need to take a look back at all of Barchie’s other hook ups and see how they evolve and they do evolve, there is a change in them.

So first I want to talk about the shower and the car scenes. Both of these scenes have very similar energies, they are both very s*xually charged and very passionate. In my opinion these two scenes are very much about the s*x and distraction. They are both letting out all the pent up frustrations they have.

But then there is a shift at the end of episode 6 with the porch and bed scene where the ‘do you love me’ theme song is played over the scene. The reason why this scene was different was because it didn’t focus on the s*x. Instead the focus was on the kiss before which was very sweet and very soft and then on the intimate moment between them where they were cuddling in bed.

Again this scene where they are just laying in bed together is not about s*x we aren’t suppose to look at this and go ‘wow that’s hot’ it was about the intimacy between them and the fact that they were just enjoying being together and that cosy, relaxed feeling is, like Betty says, nice. It has similar vibes of the scene in 4x18 where they are lying on the bed in the bunker and its purely about them wanting to be in each others presence more than anything else. Also to me it seemed very much like Archie didn’t want Betty to leave.

Again the next hook up scene we get has another shift in tone. This scene is the Firefighter scene. Again this scene doesn’t focus on the s*x aspect of it but on the connection between the two of them, its about the intimacy. We can see that they seem very comfortable together and very relaxed. On top of that there is another shift in that the scene is given a much more romantic atmosphere due to the like 100 candles that have been lit, I mean seriously who lights that many candles for just a casual hook up? In this scene they also talk about their past together again showing that deep connection and history that they have. Also this bit I am probably giving the writers way too much credit and looking too much into it but the line Betty says when Archie first came out and she says ‘I was so not ready’ maybe this was kind of foreshadowing and what we are being told here is that Betty just isn’t ready for something deeper with Archie right now. I mean especially when not long after we get that scene with Betty and Kevin where she admits she doesn’t want to get too deep with him because she is afraid of losing that light. But I do struggle to watch this scene and not see any romantic feelings at all, to me this seems so romantic and soft and they just seem really happy.

Then we get to the scene where Betty has her nightmare and calls Archie over. When Archie talks to Eric he says that when Betty called he thought it was going to be a booty call which he was more than fine with that and when we see Archie show up he is very happy and smiley very much like he was in the scene above.

When he sees that she is upset his demeaner changes immediately and you can see that he is immediately concerned for her. Now circling back for a moment to the line about thinking it was a booty call and being fine with it, the problem with this line is it makes it seem like all Archie cares about is s*x and that he didn’t really care that Betty was upset. But that doesn’t correspond at all with the scene where we can see that he very clearly does care that she is upset. I really do think that the line was just badly written and then misinterpreted. We have to remember that Barchie themselves have been calling what they are doing a casual thing and a booty call, I think when Archie said he was expecting a booty call he was saying he was expecting something like the firefighter scene where he felt close with Betty. That’s what he was ok with because although he knew she was using him as an escape I think in those more intimate scenes like the bed scene in 5x06 and the firefighter scene in 5x08 he probably still felt very connected to her. But then after her nightmare Betty was likely feeling very vulnerable and we also know that she is hiding what happened with TBK and pretending everything is fine from everyone, so I do think in this moment she had probably shut herself off a bit and Archie likely picked up on this.

When Betty says she doesn’t want to talk about the nightmare and just wants to forget, I feel like Archie says that it’s fine and whatever she wants because he feels like that’s the deal they’ve made, that’s their kind of arrangement, that they are there to help distract each other, and Archie might feel unsure about breaking that when she clearly doesn’t want to open up about it and he isn’t sure what her feelings are.  

The other thing I noticed was when Betty kisses Archie in this scene he seems a little hesitant. In their other kisses he immediately responds to her and leans into the kiss. Here he barely moves the first time she kisses him and she kind of has to pull him down with her which makes me think Archie wasn’t hundred percent on board and I do think he really did want to talk to her as oppose to sleep with her. Weirdly this kiss, on subsequent watches, kind of reminds me of the kiss Betty and Jughead have during their break up s*x where its very much initiated by Betty and Jughead was a little hesitant at first. I do feel like Archie felt disappointed that she didn’t want to talk to him and again like I said I feel like Betty had closed herself off in this scene and that’s what Archie meant when he said it felt different and it didn’t feel great. I think for the first time he felt used and like there was some kind of disconnect between him and Betty.

On top of that just before this scene were the ones where he had spent time with Veronica and where Eric had talked about Archie juggling two women which as I said in another post Archie didn’t look happy at the idea. So I think on top of feeling like Betty was more distant from him and feeling a little used, I think he was confused and maybe even feeling a little guilty about his feelings for Veronica. All of this combined and its no wonder why Archie would describe it as feeling not great. Also I think when you take into consideration that whilst Betty is closed off to him and he’s not sure what her feelings really are, Veronica is being very open about how she feels. They’ve been getting along really well since they got back to town and they don’t have any awkwardness between them, so with Eric making him question what is between him and Veronica and this sudden distance between him and Betty and how comfortable he feels with Veronica and the fact that Veronica is making it no secret that she is still interested in Archie, I think he just kind of comes to the conclusion that he must still have feelings for Veronica. Now whether he still does have feelings for Veronica I’m not sure. I do think alot of it stems from nostalgia and to be honest I don’t see it lasting long. I think they will realise pretty quickly that what they have now isn’t as deep as what they had in high school.

However there are other reasons why I think that Barchie aren’t over just yet and the first is because I feel like this season is following very closely to the first season and the journey of the characters are very similar. I mean just in this episode there were so many parallels to the pilot. There is some romantic story with Barchie, Archie begins to have feelings for Veronica, there’s a party where they play a game and Veronica and Archie get paired together and the episode draws to a close with Barchie ‘breaking up’ before we get this shocking cliff hanger, in the pilot it was Jason’s body, in this episode it was finding the crushed phonebooth. So if we are following the same journey as season 1 then the next things that will happen is that Betty gets with someone, maybe it’ll be jughead or maybe it’ll be someone else, I mean Glen has to make an appearance at some point right. When she is with someone else then Archie will realise his feelings for her and confess this to her. I think the difference this time is instead of her shutting him down they both would have grown enough to finally confess their true feelings.

Another reason why well this is more why I think Archie and Veronica won’t stay together and that is because it feels like they are all kind of, as well as following their own storylines from season 1, but their parents as well. Jughead is following the same addiction storyline FP did. Betty is having to deal with a missing Polly like Alice did in season 1 and Archie and Veronica are following Fred and Hermione’s journey in season one. Fred and Hermione were high school lovers who meet again as adults. Hermione isn’t in a good place in her marriage and she gravitates back towards Fred her old flame. This is exactly what happened with Veronica and Archie and just like Fred and Hermione I think that they’ll come to realise that they are very different people now and that whilst they might have worked in high school they don’t work anymore. I also wouldn’t be surprised if just like how Hiram caused problems between Fred and Hermione, Chad will make a reappearance and cause some problems between Veronica and Archie.

I fully understand why alot of Barchie fans see it differently from me, why they think Barchie is don and why they want to take a step back. I do think that if stepping back is something you feel like you need to do then definitely do that. Myself though I just don’t think I am quite ready to give up on them yet. So I think I am going to keep watching just a little more to see where it goes. I’ll keep my fingers crossed over my heart and hope for the best.  

[thesassenachswiftie]

A Preview of Reputation (Lover Prequel)

The chaos of progress report grades, the holidays and you know, surviving a global pandemic have been keeping the muses away, so I haven’t been writing much. A few months ago I started writing the prequal to “Lover” where Claire and Jamie first meet. I haven’t been able to start posting it yet because the first couple pre-Jamie chapters involve Claire and Frank being very much in love and it’s not something I’ve been super inspired to write. However, I did write the scene where Claire and Jamie meet, and since it takes place on New Year’s Eve, I figured I post a preview! Without further ado, here’s a rough, unedited preview of Reputation: Chapter 3 “Gorgeous”

Claire was on her second glass of wine when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t ken anyone would be down here, they’re all outta whiskey upstairs and I was told there was more down here.”

Fuck. You’re so gorgeous it actually hurts. Claire couldn’t believe the man she’d been avoiding all night was standing before her, alone in the basement, lit only by the backlight of the bar.  “Help yourself” she answered, gesturing behind the bar with a flourish. “You ken?” she giggled “What is that, Sco’ish?” she mimicked in a poor, slightly tipsy attempt at his accent. 

He slipped behind the bar and pulled the whiskey bottle off the shelf. “Are you making fun of the way I talk, lass?” he chucked with a twinkle in his eye, picking up a glass as well. 

“You should take it as a compliment.” she lilted with a flirtatious smile. “By the way, There’s ice in the fridge if you need it” She didn’t want to flirt with him, but it seemed to come out naturally--and being several drinks in, she didn’t have much restraint.

“Thanks. You don’t exactly sound like yer from around here either, Sassenach” he pondered. Heading towards the ice maker with his glass.

“Sass-a-nack.” she pronounced slowly, savoring each syllable on the tip of her tongue. “What on earth does that mean?”

“It means something akin to ‘outlander’ it’s just that ye don’t really seem like you quite belong here, perhaps that’s why yer hiding in the basement? Where are you from anyway? I can’t quite pin down your accent.”  He was back at the bar now, setting his glass down.

“Allow me” she implored, taking the bottle from him and pouring. “My parents were English, but they raised me in Boston, after they died when I was 14 I traveled the world with my Uncle, I suppose I picked up on a little bit of everything.”  She handed him the glass, “one whiskey on ice, sir.”

“Ah, so you’re a true Sassanach then? From everywhere and nowhere all at once” They were drawing in closer, Jamie drawing closer to where Claire was perched atop the bar. 

“I suppose you’re right, I never thought about it that way...” she trailed off.  God, how did he seem to understand everything about her moments after meeting her? 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend, sometimes I let my mouth run off without thinking” he apologized, touching her hand in the darkened room.  The moment he touched her, it was like electricity surging through her veins.  Her face was flushed, her pulse was quickening.  Those ocean blue eyes were looking straight into hers. I think I might sink and drown and die. She couldn’t say anything to his face, cause look at your face, you’re gorgeous.  Their eyes and hands lingered on each other as they sat there in silence.  After what could have been a moment or an eternity, he lifted his hand from hers.  “Christ Sassanach, say something, if I’ve offended ye badly I’ll leave.”

“What can I say? I’m fine, no harm done, I’m just not used to people really seeing me like that is all.  I promise I’m not upset.”

“Good. I’d hate to hurt ya.” he said, finishing his whiskey and giving her a stunning smile that made her feel butterflies in the pit of her stomach.  It was getting too intimate and she had to change the subject.  

“So what brings a Scotsman to our lovely cul-de-sac?”

“Well, I’m just visiting my sister for the holidays right now, but I’ll be spending my summers here for the foreseeable future as well.  Ya see, my brother-in-law, who also happens to be my childhood best friend was in an accident.” he saw the look of concern on her face “don’t worry, he’s fine, just he injured his leg pretty badly and can’t do the farm work he used to. I came down this summer to help him plant and harvest before I had to go back to my wee tree farm.”

“In Scotland?” questioned Claire. 

“In England actually, not too far outside of London.” corrected Jamie.

“Ah, the motherland, that’s respectable.” she replied “It isn’t too much, managing two places so far from each other?”

“My godfather Murtagh oversees my place back home while I’m gone, the thing about trees is, they pretty much grow themselves.  I really just need to be there for the holiday rush.”  Claire looked at him quizzically “It’s a Christmas tree farm, ya ken?”  Claire could picture it perfectly: rolling snow covered hills,  families dragging small children along on sleds, trees being twined up on top of cars, twinkling lights decorating a barn.

“Sounds lovely” she expressed. She found she was noticing how large his hand was around the whiskey glass, wondering what it would feel like to have it wrapped around around her waist, gently caressing her face, what those fingers would feel like tangled up in her curls, what they would feel like inside her--

“Oh Claire, there you are.” Frank interrupted coming to the bottom of the basement steps, “What are you doing down here?”

“Frank, darling” she beamed, her face flushing. She felt like she’d been caught although she did nothing wrong. “I just needed to take a break from these heels for a few moments.”

“Who’s this?” Frank asked, eyeing the imposing Scotsman who abruptly sprang upright from his position leaning at the bar as soon as he heard that beautiful woman call this man ‘darling’.

“This is Laoghaire’s date, Mr….”

“Fraser. Jamie Fraser. Pleased to meet ye.” he stammered, extending a hand towards Frank. “Frank, was it?” 

“Frank Randall” he replied, accepting the handshake. They were polite to each other, but Claire felt a tension between the two of them, as if they were trying to one up each other, staring each other down.  Claire couldn’t help but picture them snorting and stamping like bulls, which it seemed could happen at any moment. 

“Ah Randall! This wouldn’t happen to be your lovely abode, would it?”

“As a matter of fact, it is, and my lovely fiancee’s, of course.” he professed smugly, sidling over to Claire, who was still seated on the bar and wrapping an arm around her waist, claiming his territory. 

“Aye, it’s a lovely home--you’ve both done a great job, great bar as well.” He said, gesturing to the whiskey bottle and heading towards the stairs, understanding the implicit message Frank was sending.

“Darling, we really should get back to our guests, it’s not appropriate for the hostess to be hiding in the basement.” Frank chided, helping Claire off the bar, and casting a cold glance in Jamie’s direction. 

[elswordimaginesdrabbles]

Lap of Gold

Liberator x reader

he feels ooc to me in this one

Noah story somewhat spoilers

Noah had quite the exhausting day. He'd listened to Ventus retell the adventures of the El Search Party in Varnimyr; Clamor wouldn't shut up afterwards, teasing the kid because of his childlike curiosity.

There was one thing left to do before retiring to his bed. The highlight of his time in Elrianode which was seeing a certain individual of the Landar camp.

That person happened to be you, brewing a vitality potion in your tent. It wasn't the wisest idea, seeing as you've set fire to it multiple times because of your shenanigans. Fortunately, there were many spares but you got scolded quite a bit.

Noah tried his best to make his presence known, by clearing his throat right outside your little shelter. You were too immersed in pouring tiny droplets of substances upon other tiny droplets of substances to hear anything.

Clamor made his discontent known: 'Kid, that was the most pathetic attempt at catching someone's attention I've ever seen. I've lived thousands.'

The boy got flustered and hushed him. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the tent. Only then did you finally take notice of your visitor.

"Ah, Noah! I'm glad to see you! I'd tell you to come test my newly brewed potion, but I'm not sure of the side effects just yet," you giggled. He smiled softly and sat down next to you.

The faint bags under his eyes bothered you more than a bit.

"Have you been sleeping well lately?"

He shook his head, "I've been having some nightmares. Is it that obvious...?"

"Yes, and I have just the cure for it. A good night's sleep! Or at least a nap. Come put your head in my lap."

"Your, what?" mouth agape, he stared. Clamor was having a chuckle with their interaction and he made sure to let Noah know: 'You might as well confess at this point; the scene is set!' Since he was in front of you, he couldn't scold Clamor. Instead, his cheeks were tinted pink from his words.

"What, you've never laid your head in a lap before?" You seemed to be clueless.

"N-not really... but where did you get this idea?"

"I used to sleep in my sister's lap all the time when I was little. It helped a lot, especially when I was having nightmares," you shrugged. "It might feel a little sudden, but we've been talking for a while. It's fine right?"

He couldn't say no, because he didn't want to in the first place. Noah was a little reluctant to make the first move, but who wouldn't? A subtle encouragement from you was all it took for him to sigh and actually lay on your lap, closing his eyes.

"So I just have to sleep like this?"

"Yep, and don't be afraid. If you're having any bad dreams I'll wake you up, okay?" you let your hand pat his head, the gentle touch making him melt more into your thighs. It sent a shiver down his spine.

He was a little too nervous to fall asleep; he pretended to do so.

"Ah, I can't work on my potion like this... Why didn't I think of that before?" you whispered. To fill your time, you ran your fingers through his soft hair. "Good night, sleep well."

Of course, you didn't stop the touching and because of that his heartbeat was going haywire. Noah gulped, doing his best to keep calm.

You started humming a lullaby and he wanted so badly to doze off. No matter how much he wished it, he just couldn't.

"Hush, hush, go to sleep, little baby~"

"I'm not a little baby."

His curt reply startled you out of your trance.

"Gosh, I thought you were asleep. It's been a while, why aren't you?"

He opened his eyes slightly and looked up, only to realize it was a little embarrassing to face you in that position. He preferred total darkness to it.

"I can't... I don't know."

"Seems this isn't working out very well. I'll lay out a blanket and pillow for you, you can sleep in my tent if you'd like," you prepared to take him off your lap.

"I-I don't really want to get off you either..." he mumbled, pushing your hand away.

"Okaay... What do you want me to do then? Keep singing? Or maybe pat your head more?"

"Whatever you want," he blushed, his ears reddened as well. Clamor went to sleep not too long ago and he was very glad for that. He could have a little peace and quiet with y/n. "Why are you going this far anyway?"

"Because I love you."

He shot up, hitting your chin pretty hard. The two of you moaned in pain, holding your injured spots.

"That's one hell of a hard head you got there... This might leave a bruise, oww."

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me," Noah spoke, rubbing his head. He didn't know whether to ask more about your possible confession or not. The situation had turned a tad bit awkward with seemingly no way out of it.

"You must have been taken by surprise I know," you had your mouth covered, still hurting. "But how could I not love you? It's really easy to."

When you used the same words, he realized there was only one answer he could give: "I feel the same."

"You think it's easy to love yourself?"

"N-no-"

"Awe, I'm just kidding, don't get too flustered on me. I can't handle when you're this cute!" The compliment made his ears go even redder. "This is where I go in for the kiss, right?"

"I think, you're moving a little too fast?!"

To contradict his words, you inched slowly towards him and cupped his cheek with your palm. Staring deep into his eyes, he stared into yours; they appeared to glimmer in the dimly lit tent with certain intentions, or so it seemed to Noah. He didn't hesitate and closed the gap in between, with a light peck at the corner of your lips.

"You're such a tease~" you winked and glanced behind him. A silhouette was standing right outside. Would you let that interrupt the moment?

"Did something happen?" he was a little concerned at your lack of response. He was worried he might have done something to upset you, but quickly he disregarded the thought and kissed you once again, fully. He pulled you closer onto him by the waist; feeling daring, Noah gently ran his fingers across your back, over the fabric of your clothing. Did he want to tickle you? Well, two could play that game.

With your lips still on his, you smiled as your hands found his hips. And on they went! Relentless, you tried to find his weak spot. It didn't last long, since he attempted to push you away in a giggling fit.

"N-no, I'm sensitive-!"

"What are you two doing in there?!"

You and Noah were petrified. His face turned a few shades whiter and you gulped.

"S-sis? Did you need me for something?"

"Yes, but are you doing something inappropriate? Now's really not the time," her stern voice made you sweat.

"Of course not, we were just tickling each other!" right as you said that, Noah's thumb traced across the back of your neck. 'Payback', his innocent smile seemed to tell.

"Yuria is sick, I need some of your most potent potions, and yourself. Right now."

His hand dropped and so did the mood. Noah ran out of air, it felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. 'Not again, not now,' he was so afraid to lose everything he'd gained up until that point. He was so afraid of losing you. The tips of his fingers were numb and he was so very cold inside a supposedly warm tent.

He never wanted to go back to that empty headache, the chilly, lonely temple. Not when he had so much to lose.

A voice echoed in his mind, over and over. His descent into nothingness was interrupted by the feeling of tears on his cheeks and your desperate attempts at wiping them away.

The thoughts wouldn't stop, but by looking at your face he could distract himself just for a little while.

"Please, Noah, what's gotten into you? Are you listening? I'm really worried, you weren't responding," your speech was a little too quick for him to understand, but he had no time to ask.

The boy grasped your palm tightly and looked right at you: "Let's see Yuria," he squeaked out a whisper from his dry throat, coughing afterwards.

"Alright. But I'm having you rest right away."

Hand in hand, you two followed your sister to Yuria's tent. Once you were in the proximity, you heard a hilariously loud 'ACHOO!' coming from inside, followed by a sniffle.

"Okay sis, lay it on me."

"We suspect it's just a cold, but she's been like this for a few days. Symptoms are as such-"

"You know, it might be just a cold. Have you tried any of my weaker warming potions?"

"Not yet," your sister approached you and spoke quietly. "Is Noah alright? He looks like he just came out of his casket."

She was right, more or less. After crying, his eyebags had darkened and he was a lot paler than when he entered your tent.

"Yes, he'll be fine, if you let me do my job."

"No need to get sassy on me, go take care of him already," she shooed you away.

It was too late to do so, since the boy had already gone inside Yuria's tent. He was staring blankly at her sleeping form, not a single sound he made. You almost didn't want to bother him, but he was standing way too close for comfort to Yuria's sleep snot bubble, so you had to drag him away.

"Were you worried about her? As you can see, she's fine. She needs some rest, but more importantly, YOU do. You look even worse than before."

Noah felt your hands on his shoulders; if it weren't for them, he believed he might've dropped to the ground. "...I'm a little tired."

"No wonder. Let's get you to my tent, it's getting late."

He was not as afraid, only anxious. Worried that it might all disappear, like it did before.

Even as he was tucked in by you and scolded by Clamor for leaving him alone, he couldn't shake it off. He didn't want to close his eyes; it was so easy to trick himself into thinking he was back there again if he did.

'Why do you look so grim? What's on your mind?' Clamor's had it with the teasing once he noticed he wasn't getting much of a response. His words were genuine, Noah knew.

"What if it'll happen again?"

'Ah, you mean the loop... There's a high chance it won't happen here, Elrianode is safe. It's beneficial to think of what ifs, yet in this case you are only hurting yourself.'

"Noah, please go to sleep. I'm here."

'What they said!!!'

You sat next to him, hugging your knees to your chest. You observed his exhausted expression intently, staring holes into him hoping he would magically lose consciousness. You knew of no intricate spells of the sort, neither could your potions imitate that effect. You were stumped.

You patted his hair and smiled sadly. His eyes suddenly found yours: "What if you forgot all about me? What then?"

Pondering, you answered with a question:

"What then? What would you like to know specifically? How I would react, how I would feel about you? It's difficult to think about, as there's so much I don't know. If I had met you in different circumstances, I'm sure it wouldn't have gone this path. But honestly, I think I'd fall in love with you again.

I'm just like that," you chuckled. He too smiled, mumbling that he was happy.

It took no genius to realize he fell asleep instantly.

[sylvies-chen]

“Take my hand

Take my whole life too

For I can't help falling in love with you”

For brettsey 🥰

She should have seen it coming. 

It isn’t a huge conversation, really. She’s sitting on a fancy chair in a fancy restaurant for what is supposed to be a nice night out for her and Matt. It’s a beautiful restaurant with dim lights that just nail the whole romantic ambiance. But then, she gets a Facebook notification while they’re waiting for their food and sees Hope’s recent wedding photos to some random guy from Fowlerton, sending her shamefully stalking her Facebook page. It’s not like she had specifically planned to bring it up with him, but just. Ugh. Hope sure does bring out the worst in her. 

“Ugh, look at her stupid pretty flowers, and her stupid perfect dress,” she pouts while they sit at their table “Who has roses at their wedding anyway? Rich people, that’s who. My wedding is going to be strictly orchids.” 

“Wedding?” His eyebrows raise at his question.

She backtracks as fast as she can. “Oh, I- hypothetically, I mean.” 

He nods slowly, the awkwardness creeping up on them. 

“I’m sorry,” she knows she should stop herself, but she can’t help it as she asks, “do you, uh… do you not want to get married?” 

“Me? Uh- I mean… Well, we both have had pretty awful experiences with engagements and marriage. So… It just didn’t cross my mind.” 

“Really?” 

“... Nope.” She can’t tell if he’s imagining it but she swears something in his voice is off. 

“Oh… ok,” she nods, blinking back tears and just. She can’t believe what she’s hearing. “I just, uh. We’ve been dating three years now and I figured it was going somewhere. I guess I was wrong.” She can’t stop the tears from trickling off her cheek as she gets up from their table and grabs her coat. 

“Sylvie, wait,” she hears Matt plead as she grabs her coat and dashes. Her heart stings as she leaves the restaurant, the tears blurring her eyes as she fumbles for her keys in her purse. When she gets home, she orders a deep-dish pizza, still hungry after missing out on the food from the restaurant, and passes out on her couch almost immediately after two slices. 

The next morning, she wakes up to two missed calls from Matt. She grunts and puts her phone on silent, getting up from the couch to get breakfast. The only food she has in her fridge that isn’t rotten or expired is the cold, leftover cheese pizza from the night before, so she takes a slice for breakfast and prepares herself for a marathon of Property Brothers. Her relationship with Matt might be slowly crumbling before her eyes but hey, the Scott brothers can be the reliable men in her life from now on, right? 

Her phone keeps lighting up throughout the day with missed calls and texts from Matt. She doesn’t want to hear it. Not yet, at least. Working things out, if even possible, will take hard work and time, and she’s not ready for that yet. Hell, she doesn’t even know if working it out is possible. She’s got a lot of thinking to do and no willpower to do it. 

Two more days pass before her next shift. The second day, Stella and Mackey come over, yanking her off of her couch where she’s been sleeping for the past two days. She had tried to go up to her bedroom the first night but was too upset by the framed pictures on her nightstand of her and Matt. Their trip to Cabo, their first date, the time they went to a carnival. The memories make her head hurt with messy confusion and heartache, so she sleeps on her couch. 

Stella and Mackey drag her to a girl’s day out. They get their nails done and go out for lunch, but Sylvie can tell she’s being a drag when she keeps groaning at her phone. 

“Girl, he’s been calling you all day,” Stella pouts in sympathy for her best friend.

“Ugh, I know. I miss him,” she groans. “But this is just too hard. He basically said he didn’t want to get married! I mean, I know we both haven’t necessarily had the best luck in that department but… I thought we were heading somewhere, you know?” 

“I’m so sorry, Sylvie,” Mackey sighs, rubbing her shoulder tenderly. “You guys will get through this rough patch.” 

Sylvie nods in an attempt to muster up some hope but is unsuccessful. She hadn’t even realized how badly she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Matt Casey until he had told her he hadn’t thought about it. 

They pay for lunch an hour later, and Sylvie leaves feeling only slightly less shitty than she was when she first left the house. 

The morning of her shift after the fight, she’s still asleep on her couch when she gets a knock on her door. She figures it’s Casey, as he normally drives her to work on their shifts together. 

“Look, Matt, I know I haven’t responded to your calls in a few days but I really don’t—” She starts to call out to Matt as she pulls herself off the couch and stumbles on the way to the door. She opens the door though, and her prepared speech about needing more time and space is cut short when she sees Severide leaning against the doorway instead of Matt. 

“You look awful,” he kids.

“Thanks,” she rolls her eyes. “What are you doing here?” 

“Get dressed. I’m here to take you to work,” he shrugs and invites himself in. 

“I thought Stella was doing that.” 

“Nope. It’s me today. Special occasion.” 

“What special occasion is this, exactly?” 

“You’ll see when we get to work. I’m under strict orders not to say anything until we get there.” 

Sylvie hesitates for a moment. The chances of this not involving Casey are slim. Whatever brought about this weird turn of events feels important, but it makes her reluctant to give in. “If this has anything to do with Matt and what happened last time we spoke—”

“No! No,” he frantically exclaims, “Nothing to do with that. Just- come on, let’s go. We’re going to be late.” 

She runs into her room and throws on jeans and a t-shirt. It’s not the nicest outfit she owns but she’s going to get changed there anyways, so she grabs her bag and hops into Severide’s car. 

“You know, Matt loves you. A lot,” he comments as they park outside of the firehouse and jump out of the car. They had been silent the whole car ride and Sylvie’s about 100 steps away from the firehouse as he says it. “I’m sure his priorities are more similar to yours than you think they are.” 

“I doubt that but it’s fine,” she grumbles. 

They walk in through the apron and into the firehouse through the doors leading to the common room. Except as Sylvie walks alongside Severide, she notices that the lights are dimmer than usual. “Are you sure about that?” He retorts as they reach the entrance to the common room and find out why. 

Standing at the kitchen counter facing the entrance is Matt, surrounded by rose petals and lit candles as a soft, familiar Elvis ballad plays in the background on a radio. People are watching from the entrance in adoration, giving her encouraging nods and smiles. The scene is overwhelming and makes Sylvie tear up a bit as her bag falls off her shoulder and onto the ground. 

“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Matt’s voice is low and sweet as he smiles nervously at her. 

“Oh my god… did you do all of this,” she asks in a whisper, her breath watery and shaky with emotion. She’s absolutely speechless. And very underdressed.

“This was supposed to happen after our dinner the other night. It took a lot of convincing for the Chief to let me light these candles in here, what with the fire hazards and all, but he made an exception for an important cause.” She meets him halfway between the entrance and the kitchen, her heart feeling a pull towards him that’s almost magnetic. Severide and the rest of the firehouse are shuffling closer to the entrance as they watch the scene from afar. 

“The cause?” She knows the cause. Knows what’s coming next. She just wants to hear him say it, she needs to hear him say it.  

“Yeah.” Matt takes a deep breath in and exhales shakily before continuing. “I am so sorry, Sylvie.” Her heart is fluttering fast like a hummingbird as he takes her shaking hands in his own, his skin warm and soft to the touch. “I had this all planned out. I thought…” He starts to tear up and it makes the tears fall down Sylvie’s face even quicker as he powers through, his voice shaky and his eyes glossed with tears, “I thought that it mattered… where and when I would propose to you. I got so caught up in making everything perfect… that I nearly ruined everything. But you… you make me happier than I ever thought I could be. And, if you’ll let me, I want to spend the rest of my life doing the same. So,” he pauses as he gets down on one knee and pulls out a ring from his pocket. 

“Oh my god,” she blurts. She’s a blubbering mess by now and she feels her knees give out as she lowers to the ground to meet Matt’s eyes. 

The laugh he lets out is watery and shaky, and his hands fumble as he shows her the ring. “Sylvie Brett… will you marry me?” 

She doesn’t believe it. She thinks she must be having some weird fever dream because this moment is so perfect and happy that it just can’t be true… but it is. It’s true, and she’s smiling like an idiot as she whispers her answer. “Yes.” 

“Yes?” His wide, goofy grin matches hers. 

“Yes!” She repeats it louder this time, letting him slip the ring on her finger. They both stand up as he leans in and kisses her. It’s soft and sloppy and his lips taste like tears, but it’s perfect. 

Their kiss is interrupted by a roar of cheers and clapping. The whole firehouse, still watching intently, comes barrelling into the common room to congratulate them with hugs and cheers and pats on the back. They smile and accept the giant group hug from their group of friends. Even Boden comes over and hugs them, tells them he’s proud of them both before going to blow out all of the candles. 

“Ahhhh!” Mackey and Stella both squeal and pull her in for a group hug. She feels bad for soaking their shirts with tears but they don’t notice as they jump up and down. 

“Girl we were practically dying the other day trying to keep his secret,” Stella huffs dramatically and whacks Casey on the shoulder. 

“Wait, you guys knew?” 

“We’ve known for weeks, girl! We all have,” Mackey gestures to the whole firehouse and Sylvie just. Her heart feels like it’s pouring out of her eyes in the form of tears. It’s so overwhelming and beautiful and just… perfect.

Sylvie laughs, burying her head into Matt’s chest before looking back up to him. She kisses him again, this time slower and deeper, before saying the words that have turned into an instinct for her over the last three years. The words that she has to say because no other words are perfect enough. “I love you.” 

Then, he smiles at her and the words come naturally to him after he kisses her forehead. 

“I love you too.”

[sadlysinn]

Gin Joints (aka Taking Song Lyrics Too Literally)

Ship: Petekey (with mention of Freard)

Word Count: 1671

Warnings: Alcohol/Drinking, mention of drugs

Notes: Teenagery Petekey (mostly) Fluff

Summary: A nice date night to the junkyard hangout where hilarity ensues. Gerard may be the most well known of the Junkyard Teens, but Pete definitely prefers Mikey.

The maybe abandoned junkyard had become a popular spot for the small group of punk teens that cut a hole in the fence. If anyone worked there, they probably would have noticed the excess of cigarette butts and cheap bottles of alcohol (some empty, some not) marking the entrance and strewn about the makeshift paths that led to wherever you needed them to go. This place had been the scene of more than a few parties and impromptu concerts along with fights and surprisingly secluded date nights. 

Gerard was a kind of icon in the group. He knew it as much as anyone else and whatever he said, went. Only once had someone went against his word and that was why he was holding the fence back for Frank. He led Frank by the waist to the collection of post crashed cars, just starting to feel the pills they took before going to the junkyard. They sat on the hood of a car that had probably been cherished by someone until the entire back half had been removed in something that Frank would most definitely qualify as "rad." They smoked cigarettes and watched the sun go down, then made out and counted the stars and planets and whatever celestial bodies they could see. "Hey, Frank?" He mumbled through the pills and thick night air. "You're cute."

"That's pretty gay."

And of course, as Mikey recollected the story from the week before that his brother had confided in him like juicy gossip at a sleepover, Pete was already planning an outing. He didn't tell Mikey his plan until they were out of the door and in Pete's car, and for good reason. Mikey objected almost as soon as Pete finished telling him. "What if someone's there?" He bit his lip, only taking brief glances at Pete.

"What are they going to do, beat you up?" Pete cocked an eyebrow in Mikey's direction, almost carelessly looking away from the road. "No. They won't. Because they know your brother will kick their ass or at least send somebody to do it for him."

"But..." Mikey sifted through many bleak outlooks for another answer. "What if Gerard is there? Or somebody that works there?" The fidgeting had progressed from lip biting to shifting in the seat every couple of seconds.

"Nobody works there, Mikes. It's been closed since forever pretty much. As for Gerard? He'd never lay a hand on you." Pete placed a hand on Mikey's thigh, just gently enough to comfort him and just high enough to make him blush. Pete noticed his mouth move to open and stopped the thought before he could say it. "He won't hurt me either because that would upset you and he just has a policy against hurting and/or upsetting his brother. I mean, I don't blame him, I wouldn't want to be in the same house with someone I pissed off."

Mikey nodded. He was beginning to have a hard time finding more reasons to be scared because Pete seemed to be made of rational answers to his problems, which took the edge off quite nicely. He let himself look around and nearly calmed down. They were almost there. Either something would happen or it wouldn't, and there was nothing Mikey or anyone else could do about it.

They got to and in the junkyard with no problems, as Pete had said they would. Pete had parked the car at the back of the fence near the entrance, but not near enough to break bottles and get a flat tire. Pete grabbed a couple bottles from his trunk (gin, cheap beer, and a bottle of the less-than-alcoholic root beer) and put them in his bag along with a slightly tattered picnic blanket.

"Now if I'm not mistaken," Pete started as he hefted the messenger bag over his shoulder and held open the fence, "There's this one place I found this one time that could be pretty cool." He glanced at Mikey, noticing the unease creeping back into him and reached back to grab his hand. Pete laced their fingers together. "It's fine. It's nice. Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise."

"Pete..." Mikey said hesitantly, "Don't make-..."

"I promise." He reaffirmed Mikey, squeezing his hand gently.

Sooner rather than later they were at this spot. A wall of refrigerators stacked heftily to one side. Scrap metal stood precariously in piles nearby. In the middle, there was a wide open space, a large pentagram etched into the dirt. Mikey raised a suspicious eyebrow. "What? It's for protection."

Pete's complete and utter seriousness at the statement caused Mikey to crack a small smile. "Shut up. That's the only protection you're going to need." Pete pouted a little for show and Mikey shook his head, the smile still there.

Once they were settled on the ground with the blanket sprawled open, Pete cracked open a root beer and handed it off to Mikey before opening his own bottle of beer. "I don't see why you like that shit." Mikey made a face and continued, "It’s like... a bread beverage."

"I love that that is your concern. Not that it's illegal. That it's bread in a different state of matter."

"Fuck off. Just because I'm quiet doesn't make me some goody-two-shoes or whatever." Pete smirked a little as if to challenge Mikey. "I'm not! I've done things. I hang out here." He realised that it didn't sound like he had "done things" but he couldn't think of anything particularly badass that he had done off the top of his head.

Pete chuckled a little and they sat in silence, continuing to drink as Mikey desperately searched his memory for something that was worth telling, something that Pete might have heard about.

"Hey! Yeah. I got in that fight. Like a month ago. With the big guy." Mikey puffed out his chest and brought his arms down like Macho Man Randy Savage, mimicking "the big guy," who was broad shouldered, thicker than a Snicker, and about 6' 4." Mikey was almost sure Pete had heard about that happening, but was slightly hoping that whoever had told him had spared Pete the gory details of what went down.

Of course, they hadn't. "Right, right. I remember. The fight where he got so drunk he could barely stand, took a swing at you because he thought you were flirting with his girlfriend, and missed you so badly that he tripped over his own feet and broke his nose." Mikey's, now flush, face deepened with each detail Pete mentioned, but he attempted to save face.

"Yeah. I broke his nose."

Pete threw his head back and laughed. He put one hand back on the blanket beside him and held his beer steady in the air with the other. "Oh god. Mikey..." He tried to talk between fits of laughter. "Mikey. You are... You're the funniest person I've ever met."  He caught his breath and put an arm around Mikey.

"That's sad then. I am definitely not the funniest person I've ever met. By a long shot." He rested his head on Pete's shoulder, finishing off his first bottle of the root beer. "Can I have another?" He discarded the bottle and took a new one from Pete after it was open.

The boys drank and cracked jokes between each other. They got closer by the minute. At four beers in, Pete leaned in towards Mikey, who graced him only with a quick peck. "Not with the bread juice." Pete pouted and Mikey laced his arm around him. "Don't pout about it." Mikey nestled his face into the crook of Pete's neck.

A little bit later and Pete had finished off another bottle, reaching into the messenger bag once more. He pulled out the Captain Morgan and twisted off the cap. He offered it to Mikey. "Youth before beauty." Mikey rolled his eyes, but Pete had a goofy smile on his face. Nevertheless, Mikey took the bottle and swallowed some of the rum, making a face and shaking his head slightly.

He handed it back to Pete and the pair got through half the bottle in the next half an hour. With Mikey's inhibitions lowered and Pete's moderately the same as they usually were, within minutes Pete was on his knees straddling Mikey's lap. Mikey's hands rested lightly on Pete's lower back, their lips locked.

Pete hungrily kissed Mikey. His hands traveled from the back of Mikey's neck into his hair, lacing his fingers into the greasy mop. Mikey, knowing vaguely where this was going, moved a hand to Pete's chest, not yet pushing him back though. When Pete's grip on Mikey's hair got tighter, Mikey let out a small noise of warning.

Pete backed off, detaching himself from Mikey. "What?" He kissed his shoulder to the base of his neck.

"Pete, I know what you're doing," Mikey said, just sober enough to have cohesive thoughts on the matter, "You're going to bite me again and it's going to leave a big mark and then I'll have to wear a coat in the middle of summer." Mikey frowned in a sort of childish way, Pete chuckling a little.

Once again Pete kissed the base of Mikey's neck, nosing under his chin. "I didn't hear you complaining last time." Mikey felt Pete's smirk against his skin and brought his bottom lip between his teeth. "But... If you really don't want me to." Pete backed off, leaning back on his hands and looked Mikey over. "Fuck, you're hot."

The drunken red of Mikey's nose shifted towards his cheeks and he smiled a little, bashfully. "No, you." Pete smiled too and glanced at the ground.

"I'm really glad I met you."

"I'm glad I met you, too. Even though you're an idiot."

The stars lit up in the sky and the full moon sent a gentle glow over Pete and Mikey. They stayed under the dark sky until the sun rose above the horizon again.

[goatbi]

What Happened? Chapter Two

Benrey drifted for awhile, his strange half-sleep the best he could actually accomplish with his whole just left of being human thing going on. He was distantly aware of everything going on, but it almost felt like a third party watching in rather than him being in the scene himself. 

Sure, when Gordon woke up, he could feel him shift slightly, his hand moving through Benrey’s hair again, but it was just as distant, though it did make him smile. Sleeping against Gordon’s chest, Benrey didn’t actually move much, barely breathing, just enough to show he was alive. 

Gordon had been woken up by Coomer and Bubby’s failed attempts at being quiet, trying to get into the kitchen to start breakfast. Gordon just smiled over at them, which gave Bubby the incentive to raise his voice back up to normal levels. Coomer tried to shush him, seeing as Benrey was still apparently asleep, and Tommy had yet to emerge from his room either, but Bubby just kept talking about pancakes as he walked into the kitchen. 

Benrey didn’t pay too much attention to the argument about pancakes and waffles that followed. He felt Gordon’s hand moving in his hair, but he didn’t really pay much attention to what was going on, closing his eyes and floating, separated from everything. 

He opened them again when he heard barking, and realized that Sunkist was attempting to jump up on the couch next to them. Upon failing that, Sunkist just pressed his head against Benrey’s back and sat next to the couch. Tommy was awake then, though Benrey still didn’t see him up. He might need to wake up soon, but... then he’d have to talk about everything. He didn’t know if he wanted to do that, and he frowned, wrapping his arms tightly around himself, causing him to hold tighter onto Gordon. 

Gordon frowned down at him a moment, hooking his other around around him to hold him tighter in return, and Sunkist almost whimpered, pressing against his back again. God, he really didn’t want to have to explain everything. He was just... how could he have fucked up this badly? It was so simple, he pretended to be human all the time, he had friends but... 

What if he had fucked it up with all of them? Every person he thought was a friend he had successfully made in his efforts to look and sound more human all hated him? 

Without his consent, sweet voice began to tumble from his mouth, where he was pressed against Gordon’s chest, fear and worry floating up around the ceiling as more and more began to slip free the more Benrey worked himself up. Gordon noticed, sitting up a bit, gently trying to wake him, and Benrey... let him. 

His eyes opened, just having one form again, and he closed them again quickly, just to hide his face in Gordon’s chest and force all the emotions in the sweet voice back down, tears streaking down his face. 

“Tommy what do they mean?” He hears Gordon ask, but he doesn’t hear Tommy’s response. He knows Tommy had to have responded, as Gordon holds him all the tighter, and Benrey shrinks himself just a bit to fit better into Gordon’s arms, safer there than he had ever had been. “I’ve got you, you’re okay Benrey...” 

He feel Sunkist leave as he calms down, apparently trusting Gordon to calm him down the rest of the way. Benrey slowly opens his eyes, the shapes behind his eyes dissipating as the pressure goes away. The room is still lit up by his sweet voice, but as the emotions calm down, the sweet voice disappears, and the only light becomes the sun filtering into the room from between the half drawn curtains. Benrey focuses on them. They look handmade. 

“Benrey?” He looks up at the sound of his name, and Gordon gives a small smile, as if trying to hide the worry floating in his eyes. Benrey can almost see the color of it behind Gordon’s brown, and he cracks a smile himself. “Wanna get up so we can eat?” 

Benrey doesn’t move, just watching as the sweet voice hidden in everyone floats around behind Gordon’s eyes. For a moment, he expects to see annoyance brighten everything up, but no, Gordon’s sweet voice stays that consistent worry-tone, and Benrey nods slowly, lowering his head onto Gordon’s chest slowly. Gordon doesn’t prod him, and, after a moment, he finds his legs again and pushes himself up, standing shorter than normal, arms around his chest. 

They shuffle into the kitchen, and Coomer greets them with his normal, bright “Hello Gordon!” and Benrey smiles, teeth tinged with held back sweet voice, light shining from his mouth, so he ducks his head again and hides it. Tommy is the only one who can translate it, but even then, Benrey doesn’t want them all to know his emotions when even he doesn’t understand them all. 

“Benrey?” He looks up at his name again. Gordon is watching him, sweet voice slightly amused now, but mostly worried. He should have payed attention to that color more often in Black Mesa. Maybe this would have all been avoided if he had just looked. 

Color bubbled out of his lips, and he covered his mouth with one hand looking away quickly. 

“Hey, it’s alright! Coomer just wanted to know what you wanted.” 

“Pancakes are the right choice here, Benrey!” Coomer says from the side, voice still just as loud, but soft in his own way.

“Don’t listen to him, waffles are better.” Bubby grumbles, and Benrey finds himself despite himself. 

“Uh, same... same thing, just different shapes. One of each.” Benrey grins at the outraged look on Bubby’s face, but he hears Gordon laugh besides him, so he counts it as a win, letting himself be herded over to the table to sit. Tommy is on one side of him, and Gordon the other. Sunkist lays at their feet, Benrey assumes for Tommy, but when Benrey sits, Sunkist sits up and puts her big head on his lap. Benrey stares down at him ignoring the sweet voice bubbling out of the corner of his mouth. 

Slowly, Benrey puts a hand on Sunkist’s head, and she looks up at him, tongue lolling out of her mouth, and she turns her head to lick his hand. Benrey smiles down at her, slowly petting down her head, letting his hand be covered in doggy slobber as he did. The colors floating about the ceiling changed, slowly, though there still was the occasional fear bubble floating around the colors of love and contentment. 

A plate is set down in front of him, and he looks up, watching as Coomer’s extendo-arm retracts back to a normal size, and when he looks at the plate, there’s a waffle stacked on top of a pancake sitting there, and a bottle of syrup is set down soon after. Gordon and Tommy’s plates are set down soon after-apparently agreeing with Bubby and Coomer respectively on which is better-and Coomer balances his and Bubby’s plates, along with Bubby, as he walks over to the table. 

Benrey doesn’t do anything at first, but slowly, he sits up, drying his hand on his pants, where Sunkist doesn’t lick his hand again because she’s the perfect dog, and he drenches his food in syrup, just covers it, taking the time to fill each cell on his waffle with syrup, watching as it pools on the plate and soaks through the batter. 

“Jeez...” Gordon laughs slightly, struggling a bit with his fork in his left hand, though Coomer seemed to have taken this into account and precut his waffles for him, so he could just stab. Benrey didn’t want to watch him struggle, so he found another reason to look forwards to when Gordon’s right arm grew back. He didn’t like watching his friends struggle with anything major... if they were his friends still... 

He looked away, smiling down at his syrupy mess of a plate, and passed the syrup to Tommy, who grinned at him pouring the same, if not more, syrup over his pancakes. 

“Okay, am I the only person here who likes a normal amount of syrup?” Gordon asked, as Bubby started eating his without a single drop of syrup, and Coomer began the same charade as Benrey and Tommy did, soaking his in syrup. 

“This is... the uh, the normal amount, Cringeman.” Benrey mumbled at him, stabbing at his food to cut it into smaller bites, watching the syrup drip down the sides of his stack, pooling on the plate. He glanced over at Gordon, catching his eyes carefully, staring past them to the sweet voice. 

Gordon shook his head slightly before Benrey could get a good look at it, though he didn’t notice anything angry hidden there. “You guys are insane, though, really, I’ve known that this entire time.” 

Benrey watched quietly as the syrup was passed to Bubby, who just pushed it along to Gordon. Gordon stared at it for a moment, glancing down at his right arm, and Benrey frowned, color bubbling behind his lips, spilling out when he spoke. “Does uh, Does Gordon Feetman need help?” Gordon glanced over, looking up at the color for a split second before back to Benrey. 

“Uh... yeah, that’d be uh... appreciated, Benrey.” Benrey grabbed the syrup, drizzling it across the bits of waffle on Gordon’s plate, and took the chance once more to find Gordon’s sweet voice. There was embarrassment, yes, and Benrey understood that, needing help was never fun, but there was a bit of relief hidden in there too, for what Benrey assumed was not having to make an ass of himself in front of Bubby or himself, the two that usually jumped on him about things. 

Benrey set it aside before Gordon said anything. It was far less syrup than Coomer, Tommy, or himself used, which had taken easily half the brand new bottle, but Benrey didn’t want to, even jokingly, upset Gordon right now. He had fucked up enough before. 

Gordon stared at him for a moment, as he stabbed as his food carefully, before turning to his own food. 

They ate in relative silence, all of them ignoring the sweet voice that Benrey couldn’t seem to get under control the entire meal, though Tommy would shoot worried glances out of the corner of his eye towards him, watching the fear and worry and pain float out of his mouth each time he took a bite of food. 

They sat in silence as they finished, and Benrey wanted to sink off, noclip through the floor and disappear into the void. He stared down at Sunkist, and reached down to pet her head again. She licked the syrup off his fingers before he could pet her, but that was okay. This gave him a reason to stay. 

“Alright... we need to talk.” Gordon looked over and Benrey, who nodded, not letting himself shrink any further. He had to explain himself. 

[fortheloveoffanfic]

Lullaby

Keanu Reeves x reader (A/n- We’ve spent way too much time in Greece, so have this time jump, sorry not sorry. This was so bad, I can’t even.) (Chapter Summary- One month after Greece, Y/n and Keanu have fallen out of contact, but one night spent in separate states can change things.)

Chapter1  Chapter2  Chapter3  Chapter4  Chapter5  Chapter6  Chapter7  

Warnings- SMUT//NSFW-> masturbation/co-masturbation, sexting/phone sex. (As you can see, this series is just an excuse for me to write Keanu porn.)

Chapter 8

One month Later Greece had been a month ago. It had also been a month since Y/n last saw Keanu; before they had parted ways, he had told her he’d be filming for a while New York. Despite having exchanged numbers, the pair hadn’t made plans to see each other again and they hadn’t even stayed in contact. As a result, Y/n had passed off their steamy week as nothing more than a fling and had gone back to her life; working and going out with Jillian when she could, leaving with whoever had caught her attention. 

Admittedly none had come close to being as skilled as Keanu, though one came close. There was just something about Keanu hands on her, his quiet confidence and they way he could take control with out Y/n even realizing it. Part of her missed him. Okay, most of her missed him. But alas, there was nothing she could do about it, he was in New York and hadn’t even sent as much as a text or left a voicemail. 

Y/n was at her parent’s place, home alone, well, not really alone considering that most of the staff was still there. Clad only in a pair of skimpy shorts and a silk camisole; she laid a top fluffy creamish-yellowish sheets that contrasted perfectly with the dark wood of her carved bedframe. Next to Y/n was her phone and the remote for the television that had been playing one of her favorite movies. Occasionally, she’d take a sip from her glass of Rosé and flip through her social media. Jillian had asked her to go out that night; she and Catharine, the only other one from their group that still lived in Los Angeles, were heading to a popular spot at Sunset Boulevard for drinks. But it was only Wednesday and Y/n had an early meeting the next morning. Besides, she was supposed to be packing. 

Stacked, against the walls were several half packed boxes, some with clothes, other with books, or beauty products and other little trinkets. Y/n was carded to move out from her parents house to her own place in Bel Air within the next moth, though by the rate she was packing at, she might be there for another two. The separation was merely a ten minute drive, still Y/n craved privacy and couldn’t wait till she as living at a place where she wouldn’t run into her parents making out in the kitchen.

With a huff, Y/n glanced at the brown cardboard boxes, briefly debating turning off the television and try to get some of it done. Though, the thought was fleeting when next to her, her face down cell vibrated, signaling and incoming text. 

“Hey,” was all it read; three simple letters from a formerly MIA Keanu. 

Scrunching her nose, she eyed the screen suspiciously, typing in reply, “Hi.”

Three little ellipses bounced in their place as Keanu typed his reply, “What’s up?”

The whole thing felt all too casual for two people who hadn’t seen each other in a month, but still, Y/n entertained him, it couldn’t hurt, right? “Nothing, just in bed, watching T.V.,” immediately after she tapped the little ‘send’ arrow, Y/n sent another, though shorter, message, “You?”

“In bed?” Keanu sent, along with a winking face, completely ignoring her question, “All alone?”

So that’s what it was about.

Smiling slyly, Y/n scoffed, “Yupp. All alone.....” She followed it up with a frown.

Keanu’s response came a few seconds later, “Poor girl,” he sent and Y/n could almost imagine the drop in his voice if he were right there, saying it. A couple others came in after that; first; “Too bad I’m not there,” and then, “Why don’t you tell me what you’re wearing and we can pretend that I am?”

In the mood the tease, Y/n simply offered, “Nothing much, just shorts and a camisole.”

Keanu’s only response was a little yellow face with a down-turned, drawn on lip.

“What?” She giggled as she sent it, knowing what he had wanted in the first place.

“That’s not enough,” Keanu texted, “Send me a picture baby.”

Y/n took a minute to contemplate his request, eventually giving in. Hastily, she readjusted her top, pulling it down so the lace edging would rest right over her nipples. Then, she shoved the duvet down a bit, so her legs would be on display. Finding the right angle took a hot minute, but Y/n somehow managed to get the perfect picture in about ten minutes, capturing everything from below her neck to just above her knees. 

After she sent the picture, Y/n let the phone fall to the sheets, grabbing up her glass and taking slow sips as she awaited Keanu’s reaction. 

The folder that held his script laid, discarded on the coffee table in the living room of Keanu’s Brooklyn condo. He was sprawled on the sofa, phone in his lap as he took a swing of his beer. He had intended to spend his night off reading through his lines, preparing for his next scene, but somehow, his thoughts had travelled to Y/n. They hadn’t been in touch since they parted ways after the end of her week in Greece. Keanu didn’t know why he hadn’t called, sometimes he had wanted to, but in the end something else would come up, and he’d just push the idea aside.

He had been caught up with filming anyway; too busy for otherwise, at least that’s what he told himself. Keanu had stayed away, but that night, when a random thought of Y/n popped up in his head, his mind racing back to hours spent with her in his hotel room in Greece, he couldn’t help but itch for some kind of contact with her. His intentions were crude, selfish and sinful, but still, like an immature asshole, he texted Y/n at near midnight, her time, hoping that she was still up. 

Going into it, Keanu didn’t even know what he should have expected, for all he knew, she could just tell him to go to hell, though, when his messages grew subtly suggestive, Y/n didn’t seem to mind. 

He had just asked her to send a picture and while she had read the text, nothing else came through. For a brief moment, Keanu figured that he had upset her with too much too soon, though, when she finally replied, he was far from disappointed. 

Setting the amber tinted bottle down next to his open script, he opened her message, smiling at what she had sent, feeling himself stir at the sight of her. Like she had told him, Y/n really was dressed in shorts and a camisole, though the racy picture was far better than her purposefully vague description. The ‘shorts’ fit her more like boyshort panties; grey cotton with darker bands of broad lace at the legs and waist band. From the way she had laid, he could see the curve of her perfect ass and he so badly wanted to squeeze and knead the flesh, maybe while she sat facing him in his lap. Y/n’s fuchsia pink, silk camisole loosely hugged her body, tighter around the area of her plump breasts. The ‘v’ of black lace trimming resting on low on the swell of her cleavage and the teasing protrusions of her nipples just below it easily catching Keanu’s attention.

Absently, Keanu stroked himself through his sweats, already semi-hard from just seeing her like that. Quickly, he typed a one handed reply, “So fucking sexy. If only I were there.....”

Almost immediately after, Y/n sent back, “I thought we were pretending that you were?” And before Keanu could think of a response, Y/n texted again, “Show me how sexy you think I am.”

Huffing a chuckle, Keanu felt almost ridiculous; taking a picture of the tent in his sweat pants. Still, he sent the picture and after a couple beats, Y/n asked, “All that for me?” 

“You have no idea sweetheart,” Keanu typed, “There’s so much I want to do with that pretty little pussy.”

“Oh yeah?” Y/n challenged, “What would you start with?”

“Tasting it,” Keanu smirked as the message went through. He could tell he had her full attention by then; his texts were read instantly and her replies were quick. “Getting you out of those panties and running my tongue up you’re cunt.”

Y/n involuntarily pressed her thighs together. Sexting had never had that kind of tingling effect on her, and if it ever did, it certainly wasn't that soon. Maybe, it was because Y/n could almost imagine Keanu with his head between her legs, eating her out until she came all over his face. Or maybe it was because he had given her enough vivid memories to work with during their week in Greece. Whatever the reason, it had Y/n ‘s fingers creeping down her body, gently rubbing herself through the cotton of her panties, the fabric in the center slowly damping. 

“Too bad you’re so far away,” Y/n actually pouted as she sent the text, adding; “I’m already so went for you. For your tongue, and your cock”

For the first time since their conversation had started, Keanu’s response was delayed; three little dots in the blue bubble appearing and reappearing before they disappeared and then, he left her on seen. With a huff, Y/n flopped into a laying position, annoyed. Though it didn’t last long as her phone lit up, ringing as Keanu’s name flashed across the screen.

“Keanu,” she breathed, her voice husky, “Texting’s not enough?”

“I hate texting,” he grunted, “Now; put me on speaker, take off your panties and touch yourself,” Keanu demanded roughly.

“Shouldn’t I lock the door?” The chances of Y/n being interrupted were slim, her parents weren’t in the country and the staff knew better than to barge into her bedroom unannounced. Still one could never be too careful.

“You should, but hurry up sweetheart,” As Y/n shuffled off her bed, padding barefoot towards the doors of her room, Keanu kept talking on his end, “You looked so fucking hot in that picture; you have no idea how much I wish I could be there, to feel that ass in my hands, and bury my face in your tits.”

Heat rose to Y/n’s cheeks, reddening her cheeks as she turned the gold colored lock, a distinct snap signaling that the door could no longer be opened. “Yeah? I wish you were here so you could ruin my cunt with your cock. I’ve missed your cock,” she grinned mischievously, getting out of her underwear before sliding back into bed. Briefly, Y/n turned on her side, tapping the screen, putting Keanu’s call on speaker, “I’m back,” she announced, eager for more instructions. 

“Good,” she could hear Keanu’s smirk, and his voice came loud and clear from the phone laying on the pillow next to her. She could hear him shifting around, adjusting himself as he repeated, “Now, touch yourself, start off nice and slow, with two fingers.”

Reaching between her legs, her nails raking her still clothed abdomen on its way there, Y/n made a ‘v’ with her index and her middle finger, rubbing gently until the lingering twinge of arousal intensified and growing moisture helped her fingers moved easily.

Keanu’s breathing was audible; rapid and shallow and Y/n wished she was there with his, able to see how he looked with his hand circled around his length, pumping at a rough pace.

Moaning quietly, Y/n’s free hand slipped under her top, shifting between palming her right breast and teasing her nipple. Her offending hand slid lower and Y/n eased two digits into her tightness, sighing frustratedly, knowing that the feeling was nothing compared to the one that accompanied Keanu being deep inside her. “How does it feel baby? Do you wish it were my cock instead?”

“Yes,” Y/n whined, her thumb occasionally brushing her cilt as she added a third finger moving in and out of her, “Fuck, yes!” She hissed loudly.

With her eyes screwed shut; Y/n’s imagination worked in over time; trying to convince her body that Keanu was there; on top of her, harsh thrusts pushing her frame into the mattress, his throat grunts and groan coming from the phone actually close to her ear, his hot breath fanning her cheek as he fondled her breasts.

“Ke....” she moaned after a while, “I’m close.”

Growling, Keanu hastily commanded, “Do it baby, cum for me.”

It took a bit more work, but eventually, Y/n’s orgasm was leaking out onto her fingers, during probably her most anti-climatic release ever. It was over before she could even really enjoy it and in the end, Y/n couldn’t help but feel at least a little disappointed. It wasn’t terrible, but she was sure that if Keanu was actually there, it would have been much more enjoyable.

Keanu didn’t seem much more enthused when his breathing grew ragged and he came with a frustrated grunt.

Settling, Y/n turned on her side staring at her phone, “That was......” There were no words.

“Yeah....” Keanu managed, blowing a breath, he couldn’t really recall the last time he had had such unsatisfying sex. Though, he guessed it didn’t really count, considering it was actually sex with himself featuring Y/n. Leaning his head back on the upholstered arm of the long sofa, Keanu sighed as he listen to Y/n’s steady breathing.

Slowly, an idea started turning in his head and Keanu sat up abruptly, “Y/n, I have to go.”

She made a whining noise in her throat, scoffing, “Is this the phone-sex equivalent to ‘wam bam thank you ma’am’?”

Chuckling, Keanu started cleaning himself using tissues from the box on the end table behind them, “It’s not, don’t worry. But I really need to get going. Talk soon sweetheart,” and before Y/n could even say goodnight, Keanu was hanging up.

Sitting up, Keanu pulled himself, and his pants, together and then snatched his phone up again. Scrolling until he found the contact he had been searching for, he hit call and waited until she answered, “Amanda,” he greeted curtly, “Sorry for waking you,” he was actually surprised that she was asleep, considering that it was only nearing eleven pm there. Then again, he supposed that not everyone was wide awake at that time looking for a quick phone fuck.

“Ke-” She quickly caught herself, sounding groggy and half asleep, “Mr. Reeves, what can I do for you?”

“I need you to get me on tomorrow’s earliest flight to Los Angeles. Can you do that?” There was an urgency in his tone that seemed to wake her even further.

It took her a minute, but Amanda eventually answered, “I think so. But you’re due on set tomorrow, are you sure you want to just fly out like that?”

“I have to,” he lied easily, his logic out ruled by his need to see Y/n, to make up for that night, “Something just came up.”

Realizing that her boss wasn’t going to get into it, Amanda just acknowledged her understanding, “Okay. I’ll go book the flight not and send you the details. Should I arrange for a car to pick you up tomorrow and then after your flight.”

“Yeah,” he huffed, walking towards his bedroom.

“Is that all Mr. Reeves?” Already, Keanu could hear the keys on her laptop making little clicking noises, signaling that Amanda had already gotten to work.

“It is. Thank Amanda,” Keanu offered, moving to refill a duffle bag that he had discarded in the corner of the room upon his arrival, “Goodnight.”

Hanging up, Keanu tossed the phone onto the bed, sighing in relief; by midday Thursday, he should be in Los Angeles, with Y/n. 

**********

Tagging- @harrisongslimited​ @a-really-bi-girl​ @paanchu786​ @baphometwolf666

[moonlightreal]

Fate episode 4

Welcome back to Fate Elemental Academy!  Or should I call it Fate: The Elemental Academy Saga? Fate: Tales From Elemental Academy?  I kinda wish I had an actual following now, we could push changing the name all over the fandom. Fate’s a bad Winx show but it’s not a bad show.

When we left our cast Beatrix just murderized a dude, Terra was suffering, Musa was finding love, Stella was mysterious, Bloom was destiny-ridden and Aisha was getting bored with it all!  What will happen now?

Also, is Rosalind evil?  I assumed she was the “she” who got rid of all the Burned Ones and thus was a hero, but she’s got some serious resting evil face.

Episode 4 opens with a gorgeous shadowy shot of Alfea in the twilight of day twelve-ish I assume.  In Dowling’s still badly lit office the adults are investigating Callan!  Whose real name was Callum, I think, but he’s dead and so won’t mind what I call him.  But Dowling says he hasn’t been seen “for days” so we’ll jump to it being day twentyish.  They’ve searched Callan’s room and found “metal-amalgam” which seems to be mercury, which someone would use to try to get past the trap on the door to the undercroft. Harvey charmingly starts a lecture on its properties before realizing Silva and Dowling want to get on with the infordumping.  Dowling says Callan wouldn’t have known about the mercury, it’s “archaic fairy knowledge” and he’s not a fairy.  

But couldn’t anyone study the lore even if they don’t have powers? Dane was doing potions/chemistry in the greenhouse with Terra and he’s not a fairy.  There’s usually some magic stuff that muggles can do just by having an enchanted thingamabob.  Fate, your worldbuilding leaves much to be desired.

Silva guesses Callan had help.  And Harvey’s made magical fingerprint mist!  He’s got a pitcher on a stick and smoke is coming out to track the magic used in the room!  Does that make Harvey a fairy?

The smoke outlines Callan’s vanished form, where he was sitting paralyzed before Beatrix zapped him.

Dowling: “At least we know where he went.”

Silva: “And that there’s a murderer in our school.”

The murderer herself is looking at her phone, scrolling through Bloom’s social media selfies.  Bloom’s online name is bloomerang04 which is a dumb online name.  Of course the fact that we pick our online name at age 15 or thereabouts means most of us have dumb ones.  Riven asks B what she’s obsessing over and Beatrix says, “Your fault for spreading it around that she’s a changeling. She’s now the most interesting person at school.”

WHAT is it about changelings?!

Riven says everyone will move on in a few days and asks Beatrix if this is “one of those movies where you dye your hair and take her life...” and Beatrix looks… hmm.  

Do I smell Plot or am I imagining it?  But then Riven decides to claim Beatrix’s attention in smoochy ways and I’m pretty sure they’re Doing The Sex.

Opening!

In the cafeteria, people stare at Bloom as she gets her breakfast!

Aisha has taken over Callan’s job to snoop on what he knew!  Bloom “suggested” she do it.  Or more like, begged.  And thought Aisha is such a suckup she’d do it just to get brownie points with the headmistress.

The vibe of this scene is like nails on a blackboard.  Bloom, you are awful people.  And Bloom wants to eat breakfast in here to avoid the stares because she’s a changeling.

Musa comes in cheerful, “Bloom still pretending she’s not upset by the gossip?”

Bloom: ‘still pretending you’re not dating your roommate’s brother?”

And Terra comes in right in time to almost hear that.  Bloom, you are awful people.  But Terra’s got her own gossip: Stella’s mom is coming!  Stella is “dreading being outshined by her mom” and Terra is kinda loving it.  For which I can’t entirely blame her since Stella is also awful people even if my suspicions are right and there are circumstances that made her that way.

Bloom tries to be non-awful and says the girls don’t have to come eat breakfast with her “like I’m some kind of loser-mess.  I’m fine.” Friendship music plays.  The girls smile. Then Bloom heads off to finish her “poison paper” before the assembly.  Musa says, “For the record, she’s not fine.”

In the arched walkway above the cafeteria Riven, Dane and Beatrix and talking about changelings!  B: ‘Changelings were a way for pissed-off fairies to get revenge on the first world.  Swap a fairy for a First world baby and wait for it to wreak havoc.  Changelings are bad news.  That’s why we stay on their good side.”

One of the boys had asked about “is that true about changelings?” presumable Dane, since Riven knew enough to spread the truth around. So not everybody knew all this.

FINALLY! Thank you, show.  And, this is neat!  Those would have to be some very pissed-off fairies to sacrifice their own baby, what’d the first worlders do to them I wonder!  Though it still doesn’t explain why Bloom should be “bad news” any more than any other fairy.  Does growing up in the human world make for more powerful fairies?  I mean, that IS the lore, human food, human milk, human soul… but did the writers of Fate know that?  I’m not trusting the writers of Fate to know much of anything at this point, even if they did get all those Yeats episode titles.

But we get interrupted by teen drama, Dane sees Terra down below and goes to see her.  Sigh.

But then to muddy the waters, riven says Dane “believed all that changeling bullshit you just fed him!”  but B says it “isn’t all bullshit, changelings can be dangerous.  You did everybody a favor.’ warning them about Bloom, I assume she means.

Show, I hate you now.  WHY are changelings dangerous?  What was true and what wasn’t?  Bloom’s changeling nature is the central bleeping worldbuilding of this story and we get dragged around?

Next I see black SUVs, tell me it’s Silva and his army people coming to do cool competent stuff so I can like this show again!

Nope, it’s Stella’s mom.  Stella and Sky are waiting to greet her, Sky says it’s only half a day and Stella says, “Half a day of everyone adoring her like she’s literally the sun.”  Sky says, ‘She is the queen of light.” which is an awesome title.  She’s here to do an assembly about Burned Ones… what, like those  PSA assemblies we had about the dangers of drugs?  Hahahaha!  That kind of PSA might be more apt, I’m pretty sure there’s more drugs at this school than there are Burned Ones.

But Stella is terrified, I think, behind her Stellaishness.  Says her mom is really here to “check on my progress.”  Sky suggests getting the rest of the girls to be a buffer but Stella says, ‘I don’t need them.  I have you.”  But Sky can’t stay physically, he leaves Stella to meet her mom alone

Stella is wearing a long coat of pale pink with gold and diamond star barrettes in her hair.  I would love it if at the end of Stella’s character arc when she grows past whatever it is that’s squeezing the life out of her, she’ll switch to bright bold colors and teenage rather than middle-age fashion to celebrate her freedom.  At the moment it makes sense that she dresses rather dumpy and too-mature, she’s dressing under pressure.

The black cars, they’re not all SUVs, pull up.  there’s a flag, faded blue above, red below split by a diagonal line with some kind of crest in the middle.  Solarian flag?  No yellow, no sun or moon.

Stella’s mom looks noting like Queen Luna, she looks like a middle aged lady with brown hair, her hairdo and clothing juuuuust like Stella’s! In season 8 the real Stella designed a dress after her mother’s gown out of love, but I think this Stella dresses like her mother because of pressure.  Also there’s nothing queenly about the queen. She’s wearing a business skirt and jacket, big chunky necklace, no crown.  Political royalty not magical royalty.  She gives Stella a kiss on the cheek and says, ‘You look stunning.” and Stella grins.

In the greenhouse Harvey, Terra and Sam hang out.  Where’s their mom? Harvey wears a wedding ring but no mom in sight.  Harvey is working on a special project, filling a vial with something.  Terra asks if she can help but Harvey says he’s got this.

Dane comes to see Terra.  Both her family members give Dane a serious Look.  Heh.

Terra: “Whilst I appreciate that it is the historical perspective of the patriarchy to save women from upsetting situations, I’ve got this.”

Props to Terra’s actress for delivering that in a not at all groan-y way. Every time this show tries to be woke it is groanworthy and awful and they should just not, but every time the actors pull it off.  

So Dane says “You didn’t answer my texts… you’ve been really great to me...” and Terra shuts him down!  “Yeah I have.  I’m a good person, Dane.  I think you are too, but I’m not really sure I care to find out.  Anymore.”  and leaves him with “A word of advice.  Be careful who you trust.”  

Sam: ‘Still kinda want to punch him.”  Heh.

Harvey gets a text and takes his project off to meet the queen.  When he’s gone Terra immediately goes to his workstation to check out what he’s up to.  

The queens party goes to Callan’s office, which is now Aisha’s office.  Aisha greets the queen, whose name is actually Luna!  And she knows Aisha’s name, but does not need any help.  The adults go into Dowling’s office to talk.  

Aisha accidentally knocks some papers off the desk then, grumpy at this spying job she’s taken on and isn’t having any luck with, slams a filing cabinet door.  And finds something.  A mechanical ring the size of a jewelry ring, stuck in between two parts of the filing cabinet.  Aisha thinks it’s part of the cabinet, but then it begins to whir and she hears voices.  It’s the receiver for a bug!  Callan bugged Dowling’s office and now Aisha can listen in on the adults!

Only she… hides the receiver back under the cabinet?  

The only thing she overheard was the fact that Callan is dead.  Seems that Dowling’s telling everyone he left for a family emergency. Aisha tells Bloom this and Bloom is even more keen to get at those old records, from before Dowling became headmistress.  Maybe they’re in the east wing, and everyone’s going to be at this mandatory assembly so now would be the perfect time!

Aisha says it’s a bad idea.  Bloom says it’s a better idea than getting stared at by everybody and “I can’t just sit and listen to people make stuff up about me.”  

WHAT are they making up?!  I wanna hear these rumors!

Anyway Aisha is finally convinced to cover for Bloom, say she was too sick to come to the assembly.  But for reasons of Plot Beatrix was right above them on the upper walkway so she knows where Bloom’s off to.

Gorgeous outdoor shot of the castle.  Pardon me while I look it up… it’s a stately home!  You can go there, they have a farmers market and everything!  Ok, mark that down on my travel list between my Lost Crown tour of Polperro and my Higurashi tour of the real Hinamizawa…

Whilst I dream of seagulls and cicadas, Bloom is back in the dark east wing past a keep-out looking for clues.  Sky catches her!

Beatrix is outside looking for Bloom.  Riven catches her.  She says, ‘mandatory assembly’s a mandatory ditch.”  they pass a keep-out sign on some big doors as rain begins to fall.

Mysterious big doors in the school!  Another Winx Club sort of thing here at Elemental Academy.

In the cafeteria benches have been put in for the assembly,  Lots of students chat and the adults talk together.  Outside the arched windows we see bright blue sky.  Are the windows enchanted?  That’d explain why I never know if it’s day or night around here!

Queen Luna walks in her heels on a sort of stage in front of the windows. She holds up her hand and snaps her fingers and the light in the room goes purple and the sunlight streaming in from outside dims as if dusk has fallen outside.

Stella, wearing a brighter pink coat and double star pin, sits in the very front between two of her mother’s bodyguards.  The pin could be just because of Stella’s name, but in Winx Solaria does have two suns.  I like this pin, for Escape to Witch Mountain reasons, so I looked it up.  Stella’s pin is gold but the silver version is… oh dear… three dollars on amazon!  Methinks this show spent its whole budget on the Irish castle!

Terra and Aisha admire the queen.  “Massively powerful fairy, zero ego, boss goals.  Bet it drives Stella crazy?”  Stella glances back. She can hear them.  

Musa and Sam are knee-nudging each other, it’s pretty cute.  They text with phones on laps, sam asking if Musa’s into all the sneaking around hiding their relationship from Terra.  He asks, ‘is it a kink?’ and Musa texts back, ‘Meet me after the assembly, you’ll find out.”  Tell me you two aren’t dumb enough to start Doing The Sex in the same suite Terra lives in too!  Maybe they’re just gonna hang out and make out.

Hilariously Queen Luna is saying, ‘I’m here to treat you like the adults you are” as these two plot that most teenage of plots, meeting up to have a good time!  Luna says she’s here to talk about the Burned Ones, it’s been years since one was sighted…

Terra nudges Musa.  “What’s Stella going through right now?  She’s miserable, right?”  Terra has noticed what I’ve been suspecting! Poor Musa, distracted from flirting with the cute guy, sighs a little and says a polite, ‘Please wait.’  

She turns her powers to read Stella’s emotions… but there’s interference.  Dowling is walking by and she’s using her mind powers as well!  Musa says, ‘This assembly isn’t just about the Burned Ones.  Something else is up.”  Harvey is standing in the audience and Dowling takes a position among the students also

Queen Luna is talking about, “...for decades, families and villages suddenly torn apart by one of these monsters that left our world in chaos...”

The teachers are here to scan for Callan’s killer, I assume.  Since it’s a mandatory assembly every student will be present… except for Bloom and Beatrix, who ditched!  Gee, I hope Beatrix doesn’t try to pin it on Bloom!  But how could she when Dowling can read minds?

Back with Bloom and Sky, Bloom says she was born in 2004—the year Winx Club was first broadcast, seventeen years ago!  Our beloved show, may it survive to see eighteen.  Bloom’s idea is to look for pregnant teen fairies in the class photos, and she has oddly specific details to look for: baggy clothes, girls holding books in front of bellies.

There’s some conversation about how Bloom is tired of being whispered about and wants to yell at people they’re all assholes, and Sky agrees that most people are but you have to find the good ones.

Then he finds a picture of adults.  His dad is in it, along with Rosalind, Dowling, Silva and Harvey.  Bloom says, “you look like him” although we don’t really get a good look Andreas at the photo.  Sky mimicks Silva’s accent, “And act like him, and maybe one day if I work hard enough I can be half the warrior he was.”  Heh.  Bloom also giggles at the accent.

Sky also said, ‘his commander was a woman” presumably Rosalind.  So Rosalind was a leader of soldiers.  Was she a fairy or a specialist?

Bloom asks if it’s weird that everyone knows his dad better than he did, and Sky says ‘Alfea’s been my home my entire life” so I guess he grew up here with Silva being much more father than mentor. Wonder what happened to Sky’s mom.  They’re having a nice moment and here come Riven and Beatrix to join the party!

Back in the assembly, Musa scans the adults.  Dowling and Silva are on edge, and Harvey is really scared.  Terra says her dad was making something with the crystals from the vessel, so he was putting crystals in a little vial.  A magic tracking device.  Now Dowling’s got it.

Queen Luna is saying, ‘conflict is now on the horizon!  We are tracking at least five Burned Ones throughout Solaria.  The threat is serious. And growing.”

Back in the vaults B says, “people who think history is rubbish are rubbish.  Don’t be rubbish”  Ah Beatrix, there’s the like 10% of your personality that I like!  Then she reverts to the other 90% and suggests Bloom and Sky were down here to have The Sex.  Riven says nah, Sky’s not that interesting.  Bloom, who heard all that, says ‘But we were alone and that was pleasant.”  Heh.

They find a locked door.  Sky says he can ask Silva what’s behind it but bloom wants to get through now.

Riven: ‘The more you say no the more she wants it.  Give in.”

Beatrix: “Do we need to have a talk about consent?”

The more this show throws woke verbiage into random conversations the less woke it looks. 9_9

Bloom sensibly: “Why are you guys down here, again?”

Anyway Beatrix says she’s on Bloom’s side, which I do not believe for a minute.  Bloom says no thanks, don’t need help from someone who posted a nasty video about terra, Beatrix says she was an innocent bystander which I do not believe for a minute, and says Bloom should be mad at riven for starting the Changeling rumors.  Bloom and Sky look at Riven.

Riven: “Not exactly the way I thought you’d screw me today, B.”

Sky if it’s true, Riven flees to escape a lecture from “Saint Sky” and Sky goes after him to deliver the lecture.

And he does, out in the rain.  Riven says he really likes Beatrix, that B is the only one who likes him the way he is.  That Sky thinks he’s better than riven.  And that Sky should maybe not be talking about bad life choices while he’s chasing Bloom while still having Stella.  Sky says that’s not what’s really going on and Riven says that’s what everyone else sees, including Stella.  And Riven says, ‘that’s probably why she told me Bloom was a changeling in the first place.”  And he walks off, leaving Sky in the rain with the knowledge that Stella is mean-girling Bloom.  Unsurprisingly.

Sky of Elemental Academy is having just as much trouble here as his animated counterpart keeps having with Diaspro!

Back inside the girls haven’t figured out what the adults are after. Terra finds it hard to believe they have “some big ulterior motive.” and Musa says, “people have more stuff going on than you’d think, especially parents.”  Heh.  Then she takes off for a snog session with Sam! Sam says he’s like to make their relationship public, but Musa likes the secrecy.  If everyone found out, she’d have to feel everyone’s reaction, ‘good bad, positive or negative.”  Sam says she has to feel it bu does she have to care?  And says being an empath seems to suck, which it sure does seem to!

Would “everybody” even care that they were dating?  I mean Terra would but at a school full of teenagers dating how many people would care?

I read a book… Burning Glass, about an empath so powerful that when a starving mob approached she let them in the gates because she forgot she wasn’t one of them, caught up in the mob’s need to get in to where the food was.  She didn’t just feel people’s emotions, she acted on them because she couldn’t tell which of the things she was feeling were coming in from outside.  I keep thinking the writers are trying to imagine Musa like that and failing completely.

Over in the east wing Beatrix guessed that it was Rosalind who left bloom in the human world and Bloom realized that Beatrix lied the night of the party about not knowing who Rosalind was.  B says Rosalind was “a fierce bitch.”  I’m still feeling this great big hole where someone should say “Rosalind destroyed the Burned Ones in the war with her great magic.” or something and nobody says it.  Bloom knows Rosalind was headmistress before Dowling and is dead, we viewers know Rosalind is not dead, did something important with the Burned Ones, and has an evil face.  I dunno, like the changeling thing it feels like there are these weird blanks in what the show is giving us.

Beatrix suggests Bloom light the locked door on fire as a way to get it open. She knows Bloom’s powerful enough.  Bloom says power is not the problem, lighting the whole school on fire is the problem.  Then sky texts and Bloom lies and says she’s not down here anymore which will definitely be back to bite her later.  She suggests she could “fry” the hinges off the door, but Beatrix has already picked the lock.

With a machine custom made for picking locks, not with bobby pins.

On the other side of the door they find… a war room.  A round sand pit that, when B enchants it, the sand lifts up to create a miniature of the school.  Beatrix calls it, “A place where dangerous, shady-ass people decide who lives and who dies.”

Dowling is giving Stella a magic lesson.  She creates an arc of colored light between her hands, mimicking the chains on her brooch.

Queen Luna is not impressed.  A little mini rainbow is not much of a display of power.  Luna and Dowling proceed to ignore Stella and talk over her head.  Luna sent Stella back to be “fixed”--the same word Stella used about bloom after she taught Bloom the way of the Sith—after the “incident with Ricki.”  Dowling says rehabilitating magic is a process and it takes time.  Luna: “would you like me to recite the list of threats we’re facing while you take time?”

Me! I would!  1)Burned Ones 2)???  And how much can one fairy do about them?

Stella tries to interrupt and Luna says, “Do not speak when I’m speaking.  Solaria is the strongest realm in the Otherworld, she is its heir, an extension of that strength.”  Stella protests that it’s working, she is getting stronger, and her mother just snaps at her not to speak again.

Stella says she blinded a Burned One and Dowling has her back, praising her for how skillfully she did it.

Queen Luna makes a full illusion, disappearing the room and leaving Stella in a VR forest.  With wind-howling sound effects, not sure how light did that!    Stella is terrified.

Queen Luna: ‘when you control light you control what people see.  And despite what anyone says matters in this world, appearance is everything.  You know that better than anyone, Farah.  Especially given my efforts to help you maintain them.”

Dowling just says they’ve both done a great deal to preserve Solaria’s reputation.  Hmm!  That’s interesting!  And she lets Stella go.

Outside the office, Aisha is working at her desk.  She asks Stella if she’s ok and Stella says of course she is, but Aisha’s using the listening device again!  She overhears Queen Luna basically threatening to have Dowling removed as headmistress!

Outside in the still cloudy day, Sky is taking his mood out on a punching bag.  He gets a text from Stella saying, “She’s a monster.” before Sky can go give her some much deserved sympathy Silva walks past demanding an update.  On what?

In the greenhouse Harvey is worried.  His magic bottle, which is very pretty, didn’t work.  Terra comes to ask if everything’s ok and he yells at her, then apologizes.  Terra turns to go then turns back and asks, ‘if there was something going on you would tell us wouldn’t you?”  and Harvey lies and says of course he would.

Aaaaaaaand now I’m looking up potion bottles on amazon wondering if this prop is also something I can have.  Not obviously.

Terra, Musa and Aisha are talking about it in the suite.  Aisha is sure the grownups are doing what they think is best.  Terra would rather just be told there’s a secret rather than be lied to.  But they do work it out.  The crystals read magic, there’s a dead person, the adults were looking for someone who kills by magic but didn’t find them.

Then Sky bursts in looking for Bloom.  The girls ask if Silva told him what’s up, but Sky is out of the loop.

Terra: “Dowling’s assistant died, the faculty think a fairy did it. They held the assembly to find out which fairy, but they didn’t because he or she wasn’t there, so now we don’t believe or trust literally anyone.”

Sky: “Shit.”

Sky, smart cookie that he is, realizes immediately that it’s Beatrix.

The murderess and Bloom are reading scrolls in the war room—in the DARK, everything’s shadowy how are they even reading?

In 2004 Rosalind was “leading the crusade against the Burned Ones” Beatrix says so finally there’s that laid out.

Bloom was born December 12 2004, just like the real Bloom.  Beatrix seems oddly interested in that fact.  I’m beginning to have a suspicion.

Bloom’s phone is blowing up with messages but she’s busy reading.  Beatrix stealth zaps bloom’s phone to break it so she doesn’t get Sky’s warning call.  

Rosalind was in a place called Aster Dell.  This also seems to interest Beatrix, who suggests they just go there right now.  She knows where it is, it’s not far.  Bloom has a rush of common sense to the head and hesitates to leave school with someone she barely knows but Beatrix points out that they’ve already broken into a secret war room and maybe now is not the time to stop before they get somewhere. Not completely without a point there, so Bloom agrees.

Sky finds Riven and demands the whereabouts of “The unstable sex addict who’s been leading you around by your dick.”  Pfft!  Also, not very understanding after Riven admitted he really does like Beatrix and feels accepted by her.  But Riven doesn’t know, anyway.

Stella bursts in, “I sent you twenty texts and you’re here looking for Bloom?”  And Riven gets to say, ‘Have fun with that!” as he escapes.  Sky blames Stella for starting the changeling thing, Stella says, “I didn’t want to hurt her.” which is not true.

Sky: “You say you don’t want to be like your mother but all I see is someone who treats others exactly the same way that Luna treats you.” And he says he’s done with this.

Harsh but true.

Beatrix stole a car.  Bloom is very impressed!  Heh.

The other three girls have had a rush of common sense to the head and gone to Dowling to tell her about Beatrix.  Dowling’s first response is to ask why Bloom was down there but Terra pulls out their deductions and says “can we please drop the bullshit?” and when her father tries to stop her she calls him out for putting them in danger by not telling them!  Go Terra!  Silva comes in to tell them someone knocked out one of the queen’s guards and stole an SUV.

Beatrix must be extremely badass to take out a bodyguard!  we’re only in episode 4 but I don’t think she’s planning on coming back to school after this.

Black SUV drives on a dirt road between trees.  I do love how there seem to be no other buildings and no paved roads in the Otherworld.  I guess I’ll take what worldbuilding I can get.

Bloom and Beatrix have arrived at an absolutely stunning location, a cliff over the sea.  Bloom wonders if this is the right place.  Isn’t Aster Dell supposed to be a town?  Then she realizes there are skulls at her feet among the heather.

But no time to ponder it, Beatrix is getting lightningy!  She throws lightning—shorting out an invisible barrier concealing ruins. Aster dell was a peaceful town until it was attacked by Burned Ones and “a military unit from Alfea” decided to go all scorched earth on the place and killed everybody.  Queen Luna set up the illusion to hide the ruins.  “Leader of our realm tried to cover up a war crime.’

Beatrix says this is where she was from, and where her family died.  Two days before Bloom’s birthday.  This is where Bloom is from.  Rosalind rescued Beatrix too, and gave her a memory of the Alfea adults destroying the town.  Rosalind was the only one of the adults with a conscience about killing innocent people.

Bloom protests, the adults are lying but they aren’t monsters.  I’m skeptical too, because us viewers know that Beatrix is Beatrix and has said all sorts of things. 

On the drive back Bloom asks Beatrix if she’s a changeling too, but no.  Rosalind left B with “a close friend” and Bloom in another world.  Bloom asks why Dowling would recruit her as a student after killing her family and Beatrix says she doesn’t think Dowling realizes yet what Bloom is, and Bloom shouldn’t tell her.

Bloom: “Which is exactly what you’d say if you were making this up.  To keep us from comparing notes.”  go Bloom!   Beatrix asks what she has to gain from making up a story about murderous teachers, and the two of them can work together to find out more.  Rosalind is alive and imprisoned at Alfea, and Beatrix came to break her out.

...for “him”?  Mysterious “him” not mentioned yet.  And where does the return of the Burned Ones fit in?  Hmm.  I admit my main reason for not believing Beatrix’s story is that it’s Beatrix telling it.

Also in these sorts of stories the birth parents are never dead.

But no time to ponder it, the teachers are here!  They stop the car, Dowling slaps some magical cuffs on Beatrix and Silva and Harvey grab Bloom.  They deliver her back to Alfea into a group hug from her suitemates.

The girls were worried that Bloom was off with a murderer but they heard that from the adults who Bloom just heard are liars and murderers themselves.  We know the adults are telling the truth about Callan but Bloom doesn’t.  Sky is there, also worried that she’d been kidnapped by Beatrix—but Silva calls him away.  Paranoia intensifies.

As they head for bed Terra rants about her dad lying to her and acting like it was for her own good.  Terra ends with, ‘you don’t lie to people.  Not if they matter.’

And Musa feels guilty and spills the beans about her and Sam!  It’s been weeks!  Terra bursts into giggles and hugs Musa and says Sam looks just like their dad and he went bald early.

Looking down from the walk they see the queen’s guards rolling Stella’s suitcases towards the door.  The one thing the two Stella’s have in common apparently is their love of lots of luggage!  Yep, Stella’s been moved out.

Stella is in the car.  Back home her mother will teach her.

Stella: “You could’ve let me say goodbye to my friends.”

Luna: ‘”They’re not your friends, Stella.”

Which, evil mum kinda right.  Apart from taking out a Burned One together, every interaction between Stella and the others has been nasty and catty and mostly Stella’s been avoiding them whenever possible. They aren’t friends.  They might be later, but they sure aren’t yet.

Beatrix has been thrown in a cell.

Silva locks the door—with Sky there watching, and I’m sure Silva’s trust in Sky will come back to bite him later.

Then interesting conversation.  Silva asked Sky to keep an eye on Bloom, and now he wants Sky to get all the details of what just happened out of bloom and report back.  Silva actually says the “a soldier’s job is to take orders” and “your loyalty is to me, no one else.” which, I like you Silva but that is the wrongest tack you could take right now!  Silva is very scared and it’s making him make bad choices.

Bloom has gone to Dowling’s office to ask what she did to Beatrix.  The cuffs were “runic limiters” which prevent a fairy from using magic.  Bloom says ‘They were barbaric” and “You tore her skin open.” which I guess the cuffs did kinda burrow into her skin.

Dowling is just worried if Bloom’s ok and then asks what they talked about. Bloom says it was just a joyride, she and Beatrix talked about clothes and boys.  Bloom leaves.

Dowling immediately phones up Bloom’s parents on Earth and says Bloom’s been having a bit of trouble and would they please report to her if Bloom says anything weird.

Sheesh. Could these otherwise smart, capable adults who have years of experience with teenagers be handling this any worse?

Well that was… something.  Terra is badass.  Stella’s mom is exactly like I expected her to be.  Beatrix spilled a lot of important Plot and I’m sure some of it was true and some of it wasn’t.

Next time on Elemental Academy!  Will the girls rescue Stella from evil mum?  Will Bloom bust Beatrix out of the dungeon?  Will Sky be forced to choose between his father figure and his crush?  Will Bloom’s parents accidentally betray her?  And what’s Riven gonna do now that his smoking and boinking buddy is under arrest?  Half the cast is being set up to make some really dumb life choices!  Tune in next time!

[valentinestorm]

I don’t know if anyone will see this. But let’s talk Austen, like properly. I will give my answers and hopefully someone or many someones will reply and a debate or talk can happen.

What is your favourite Austen novel?

Northhanger abbey. I read a lot and love gothic literature and I love this book because it is mocking gothic lit. It does it beautifuly. We are like Catherine she is imaginative, full of curiousness and life. She makes mistakes many of us make, with her mind full of scandals and murder, which fascinates many generations. Yet it is still beautiful with a gorgeous love story about loving someone for who they are. Catherine represents readers who get too emerged in the world of books.

I also have a massive love for persuasion. It is raw, about two people trying to find themselves back to each other. About trust. I cry everytime. Which makes it even more special is it is based on Jane Austen’s own love life.

Who is your favourite Austen heroine?

Emma. She is a realistic women. Well rounded full of flaws, she speaks her mind, hurts people as we all do. She was written to be disliked and yet she is likeable, I think because she reflects women well. We are all capable of cattiness, jealousy and ignorance. I love the way she ignores how much she loves knightly, she is determined never to marry so not to leave her father. But how jealous she got. For instance when Mrs Elton called him knightly, and Emma went on that massive rant about how she never calls him knightly but has known him her whole life. Notice after that scene she starts calling him knightly. Or the real upset she feels when she faces losing knightly and the horror over her best friend liking him. She is witty and remarkable.

Who is your favourite Austen man?

Mr Knightly, he is honest, not afraid to speak his mind, to tell Emma off, he loves her. knowing her fully, her flaws, her darkness, her joys, her virtues. Everything and he loves her. Wanting to make sure she is okay after Churchill. We all deserve a Mr. Knightly. Also one hell of a proposal. “If I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more.” When he talks about Emma you know he loves her. He doesn’t place her on a pedi stool, even when complimenting her, saying she isn’t vain, as she is very handsome but doesn’t occupy her self with it. But then critiques her in another manner. When he says badly done Emma that is just my whole sexuality in one line 😂.

Who is your favourite non main Austen character?

Mrs Bennett so much so I wrote my English course work on her, pride and prejudice from Mrs Bennett’s point of view. She is funny, an insight on how things really were and written by a women which is a more reliable as she is a women.

Who is your favourite Austen villain?

Mr Collins, he is utterly hilarious and is great. Honestly we should make a drinking game about how many times he saying lady Catherine.

Least favourite non main character?

Hmmm... okay so I am going to go with, sir Thomas Bertram. I think he is for lack of a better word a prick. Unable to accept his son until he almost loses him. But still blames him. Also you know the whole slavery thing and the whipping and torture of slaves.

Least favourite Austen man?

Hmm... possibly Edmund Bertram, but then again, I love how he loves franny despite how poor she is, he loves her mind.but he chose the rich lady over her, but she turned out to be a bitch so he went back to the ever kind and clever franny. But I don’t think he ever loved anyone but franny, he was just taken with vanity.

So hmm.. even Willoughby I have sympathy with, he loved Marianne but loved money more, but he had to live knowing he lost the one thing that could make him really happy. And that is really sad, knowing he is the cause of his own sadness.

My answer is Wickham. He was just fully a pedo. Like fully, he tried taking advantage of one fifteen year old girl and succeeded with another, he was corrupt and tried to hide that by slandering a good man (mr Darcy) he also manipulated lizzie’s feelings for him.

Least favourite Austen heroine?

Okay this one is hard. And honestly I don’t have one. I guess it is easier to criticise less likeable characters. If I had to chose then maybe marianne from sense and sensibility. She lets her romantic mind render her vulnerable to manipulation and only chooses the right man when the wrong one was taken away by his need for money and social standing. But I think that is because I have the same tendency to let bad men in and let the good ones pass me by, so I most likely just feel personally attacked by her 😂 so basically I just don’t like myself 😂

Least favourite Austen book?

I honestly don’t have one, I love them all, with all their flaws and perfections.

Favourite Austen tv show?

Again this going to have to be Emma, the one with Johnny Lee Miller who also plays my favourite Edmund in Mansfield park. It is stunning honestly and I have watched it about 20 times and I will never tire of it.

Favourite Austen movie?

Pride and prejudice 2005, yes I know the costumes were not accurate but this film is so visually stunning and the music. And Matthew MacFayden is an amazing mr Darcy and Keira knightly brings a brilliant cheek to Elizabeth which I love to see. It is one of my favourite movies of all time.

Favourite Austen adaptation?

Either Bridget Jones or clueless they are funny and brilliant.

Does anyone agree with my answers? What are your guys opinions. Do you have any questions for me?

Val 😊

[darks-ink]

Ectober Week day 6: Unearthed (AO3)(FFN)

Content warning: Suggested character death, descriptions of corpses

In the stress of the events that followed the Accident, as Danny struggled to control his new-found ghost powers and as ghosts started attacking Amity Park, the trio completely forgot about the body that they had buried in the woods.

Until someone found it.

Crime in Amity Park, real actual crime, committed by humans, was exceedingly rare. Robberies and muggings were practically unheard of, never mind murders. And while ghosts attack the city almost constantly, physical injuries are very rare. Sometimes people get injured in the general chaos, hit by debris for a ghost fight, or get threatened, but no one ever gets killed.

So when a corpse is found in the woods near Amity Park, the whole town becomes abuzz with rumors and gossip.

The police are called, the crime scene thoroughly investigated, and the corpse is studied, but the public is told nothing except that a body was found.

But good God, were the police unprepared for this. Working in Amity Park prepared them for a lot of weird things, the job lending itself not to strict, highly experienced police officers but rather the adaptable younger officers, and most of them had never dealt with actual dead bodies like this.

And the investigation wasn’t easy, either. It clearly wasn’t a recent crime, the body partially decayed and burned beyond recognition. They can’t even prove if a ghost was involved or not, because any traces of ectoplasm that might have been left behind would have evaporated a long time ago.

The slight body is brought back, and carefully examined. It was almost impossible to determine the cause of death, but there didn’t seem to be any injuries. They determined it was likely that this person had been killed by the same thing that had scorched them so badly, but they weren’t sure what, exactly, that had been.

It was much easier to determine who this person had been. The corpse was male, a mere teenager at the time of their death. And while he had been burned beyond recognition, there were more ways to identify someone than just by looking at them.

When the results of the DNA comparison came in, every single person on the case was baffled. They decided to verify it by comparing the teeth of their corpse with the dental records of the DNA match.

It was an exact match.

There was only one problem; the person that was a perfect match for the corpse from the woods was still alive.

It was one of the newer officers who suggested that they didn’t actually know if he was, in fact, alive. And while this might normally get a person send off to get their head checked, it actually wasn’t too crazy for Amity Park.

The boy was still in the city, still lived with his parents and still attended school, but he hadn’t been to any medical check-ups in close to two years. It was absolutely possible that the boy was a ghost.

Which led to the next concern: was the ghost that lived among them in the city the teen’s own ghost, or was it a different ghost pretending to be someone he wasn’t?

While the ghosts of Amity Park weren’t known to kill people, they had been known to pretend to be alive. Some could even pull it off so convincingly that no one knew until the ghost blew its own cover, usually in a fight with Danny Phantom.

So the possibility that a ghost had attacked an innocent teenager, killed him, and then replaced him, was rather unnerving. It was made all the more chilling by the knowledge that this boy had died and no one had noticed until they found his corpse.

This opened the way to another horrifying possibility, however. Maybe the boy’s parents never noticed because they were the ones to kill him.

They had always been ghost nuts, even before Amity Park saw its first ghost. And if the boy had died two years ago, as his records implied, then that would have been just before the city had its first spectral visitors. The parents might have found a way to guarantee that the boy would become a ghost, and killed him so they had proof.

But the police weren’t paid to speculate, they were supposed to find evidence and prove what happened to the boy. And so they set out to FentonWorks, where they interviewed every member of the family separately.

They couldn’t diverge too much information during the interviews, of course, and the people they were interviewing weren’t the easiest either. Between the adult Fentons, who would constantly ramble about ghosts and their inventions, the older kid, who seemed to be analyzing every single word the police said (and even what they didn’t say), and the youngest kid, the possible victim, they had their work cut out for them.

The parents seemed genuinely upset by the news that the dead body that had been found was a teenager, and immediately jumped on the possibility that a ghost was responsible. While this would be rather suspicious for most people, it was rather characteristic for the Fentons. Between their responses, and their general behavior towards their family, it was declared unlikely that they were responsible for the death of their own son.

The oldest child, the daughter, also carried no answers. When she was asked if her brother had changed over the last years, she had shrugged them off and told them that “he was a teenager, it would be worrisome if he hadn’t”. Her gaze was sharp and calculating, however, and she was clearly taking in every word they said. They ended up cutting off the interview early, afraid of letting anything slip.

Her younger brother, the ghost, the possible victim, was the most befuddling. When they asked him if he had heard of the body that was found in the woods, he didn’t respond with recognition. No, his eyes lit up with fury that had the officers shaking in their shoes, and clenched his fists as if he would go out and beat up the person responsible right that instant if he had known who it was.

It was clear that this ghost wasn’t the killer of Daniel Fenton, but this just raised more questions. Because if he wasn’t the killer, and he didn’t know that it was his body that they had found (didn’t even seem to consider that possibility), then who was this ghost? Was it the ghost of Daniel who had forgotten about his death when he became a ghost? Or was this just some random ghost who decided to pretend that he was Daniel, and then never stopped?

When the officers met back at the station to discuss everything they had learned (and everything they hadn’t), they could only come to one conclusion; they had to interview the ghost again, but this time with a focus on identifying him.

This proved to be easier said than done, however, because they had to achieve this without the ghost finding out that they had found the body of the boy he pretended to be.

The spirit that may or may not be Daniel Fenton was brought into the police station for further interrogations. He seemed to have gone through a personality shift since the last time, however, and played the act of a stubborn teenager far more than he previously had. He was obstinate and bull-headed, eyeing them with utmost suspicion and constantly questioning why they were asking him this.

When the man leading the interrogation finally reached his wits end and growled out “Dammit boy, we know you’re a ghost” the specter freezes up, eyes blown wide with barely hidden fear.

“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered out. “Me, a ghost? That’s- that’s crazy.”

The interrogator sighed deeply. “Look, we identified the body as Daniel Fenton’s. That means that you,” he poked Danny in the chest with a finger, “are either Daniel’s ghost, or you’re some spirit playing pretend.”

Danny scowled at the officer and swatted away the finger, speaking with venom dripping from his voice, “I’m no pretender.”

“So then why not tell us who killed you? Because I gotta tell you kid, when we asked you about the body last time, you looked ready to murder whoever did it.”

Danny hunched in on himself, blushing, with embarrassment of all things clear on his face. “I… forgot.”

“You what?!”

The boy shrunk in even further, rubbing the back of his neck in what had to be a nervous gesture. “I forgot about the body.”

The officer blinked at him, stunned. “You forgot that you died?”

“Not that I died! Just- just where we left the body.”

The interrogator groaned, sinking his head into his hands. “Can you at least tell us who did it? Who was this ‘we’?”

Danny smiled sheepishly, still rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh, it was an accident. And my friends and I, we just kind of, uh, panicked. So we buried the body and then just kind of forgot about it?”

“Well, we’re gonna need official statements from you and your friends. And then we’ll have to inform your parents.”

“Wait, no, you can’t! They’re ghost hunters! Why do you think we decided not to tell anybody?!” Danny scrambled up, the panicked look back on his face.

“Look, it’s just protocol, alright?” the officer attempted to soothe, but Danny just glared at him.

“Really, you have a protocol for ‘a kid dies in an accident and comes back as a ghost’?”

“Kid, just calm down, okay? I promise you that it’ll be fine, your parents clearly love you.”

Danny huffed, but slumped back into his seat.

“Fine, so what now? Official statements from the three of us, and then? Gonna officially declare me dead? Send me off to the Ghost Zone? Set ghost hunters on me to make sure I don’t turn malevolent?”

The officer glared at him, but Danny ignored him.

“Well, if Phantom hasn’t kicked you out of the city then you’re probably fine to stay.” Danny snorted at this, but the officer didn’t understand why.

“As you guessed, we don’t have protocol for this. Most people outside Amity don’t know ghosts exist. Hell, most people in Amity don’t even know that they could pass for living as well as you apparently can.” Danny muttered something under his breath, but the officer didn’t catch what he said and chose to ignore it.

“So, we’ll take your statements, and then we’ll talk with your parents to figure out the rest.”

And so Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley found themselves at the police station, where they managed to comfort a once-again panicking Daniel Fenton, before all three had their statements taken.

Danny rode in the back of the police car with the same officer that had interrogated him earlier that day, and a female officer he didn’t recognize. He felt like he heading towards the gallows, ice-cold dread pooling inside him.

He also felt somewhat guilty that he hadn’t told the officers the truth, and hoped that it wouldn��t come back to bite him. But the truth was just so ridiculous, they probably wouldn’t have believed him anyway. Better to play along, he thought. Not that that stopped him from feeling guilty.

Instead he tried to focus on calming himself down. He took a deep, if somewhat shaky, breath. Calm down Fenton, he bit at himself. You’ve faced off against ghosts like Pariah Dark, but you’re scared of your own parents? They love you, they’ll accept you, and it’ll be fine. They don’t even know you’re Phantom! They have no reason to hate you!

All too soon, and simultaneously not soon enough, they reached FentonWorks. Danny followed the officers to the front door, still trying to cork up his overworked emotions. He’s so occupied that he doesn’t even listen to the conversation between the police and his parents, just trailed after them and slumped into a chair in the living room.

He heard the male officer clear his throat, and snapped back to attention, cringing slightly at the worried expressions on his parents’ faces.

“So, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. As you know, we found the body of a dead teenager in the woods near Amity Park recently.”

His mom frowned, glancing between the officer and Danny. “Yes. But how is this related to Danny?”

“Well, we successfully identified the body-” Oh no, nope, too brash. They needed to break this to his parents with more care- “and we’ve received statements confirming it,” the man just kept talking, completely oblivious to Danny’s panicking. “The body belongs to your son, Daniel Fenton.”

Danny froze up, fingers digging into the armrests of the chair with almost enough strength to tear them, anxiously gazing at his parents. His mental cursing fell silent, dread washing away all his emotions until he just felt numb.

The expressions on his parents’ faces hardened, and their hands shifted to reach towards the anti-ghost weapons they carried, and yep, this was going exactly as he feared. But he stayed still, frozen in place.

The moment was broken when his mother swung up an ecto-gun, however, which was knocked aside by the female officer, the shot just barely missing Danny. He panicked, went intangible on instinct, and fell through the chair and onto the floor behind it.

“A dirty ghost replaced our son! Some filthy piece of ectoplasm killed our Danny and replaced him!” his dad roared, and Danny remained crouched behind the chair. He could feel adrenaline bubbling up, his core releasing ghostly energy into his body, and he was struggling to stop himself from transforming.

“Please calm down! We assure you that no ghost killed your son-” “And how can you be so sure?! It’s been pretending to be our son for lord know how long, how do you know it didn’t lie about- about killing him?”

Danny forced himself to block out the shouting match, glancing around the chair and catching the eye of the male officer. The man turned slightly towards him, then jerked his head towards the front door almost imperceptibly. Danny frowned at him before understanding dawned on him, and he turned himself invisible but remained in place for another moment to confirm. The man nodded, and Danny took this as a dismissal. He hesitated for another moment before turning intangible as well and launching himself towards the nearest wall, phasing through it.

Once outside, he confirmed that no one could see him, and then retained visibility again, having dropped his intangibility the moment he was through the wall. He stopped for a moment to think, trying to figure out what to do next. He checked that he still had his phone on him (he did, thankfully), and shot a quick text to Sam and Tucker, asking if he can stay over at one of their houses.

He stuffed the phone back into his pocket before they answer, deciding to go on a patrol first, to blow of some steam. He reached out to his ghost core and let the cold power flood over him, transforming him into Danny Phantom.

Turning invisible once again, he launched himself into the air. He retained visibility again somewhere in the clouds, but can’t bring himself to care.

Several hours later, while on patrol with Sam and Tucker, he received a text from Jazz. It simply read “mom and dad think that a ghost killed Danny and replaced him, wtf?” and Danny can’t stop the snort that comes through. God, what a mess.

“Hey guys, I gotta go talk to Jazz. I’ll meet you back at Tucker’s place, okay?” Receiving two nods as answer, he quickly texted Jazz (“omw”) and shot off towards FentonWorks.

He hovered outside her window and knocked, then entered as she nodded at him. He opened his mouth to explain himself, but Jazz was faster.

“So, what on Earth is this about?” she snapped at him, and he rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly.

“Well! When the accident happened and I became half-ghost, I may or may not have left behind my old, fully-human body. And since we were kind of, you know, panicking, we decided to bury it in the forest so no one would ever find out what happened.”

Jazz stared at him, incredulous. Danny hunched up in response, blushing in embarrassment.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were past lying to each other, Danny.”

“We are! I just… I just kind of forgot?” he muttered, guilt lacing his voice.

“Oh my God, please tell me you’re joking.” Jazz stared him in the eye, then sighed. “Danny, how on Earth did you forgot about the fact that you buried your own corpse in the fucking woods.”

“Look, the Accident was a really confusing time, and then I had to learn to control my ghost powers, and then ghosts started attacking and we just kind of forgot, okay? Now will you please help me explain this to mom and dad so they’ll stop shooting at me?”

Jazz looked at him with an expression he couldn’t read, but she put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a hug. “Of course, little brother. We’ll figure this out, okay?”

Letting go again, she put her hands on her hips and put on a determined expression. “So, first things first. How much are you going to tell them?”

“Uh, everything, I guess. Well, except for the Phantom part, they don’t need more encouragement to shoot at me.”

“You’re not going to tell them about Phantom? Are you sure?”

“Jazz...” He sighed. “If this goes well I’ll tell them, okay?”

She nodded, before cutting back to the original subject. “Alright, so you’re going to tell them that you got into an accident with the Portal, and that you instantly became a ghost, and that you freaked out and decided to bury your body and pretend nothing happened. Does that sound about right?”

“Yeah, I guess so. You think that that’ll be enough?”

“Of course it will be enough. The only reason they freaked out is because they care about you. Do you have somewhere to stay for tonight?”

“Uh, yeah, Sam and I are sleeping over at Tucker’s place.”

“Good, good. Come by tomorrow after breakfast and we’ll talk this through with mom and dad.” Seeing his hesitation, she spoke again. “Danny, don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine, I promise. Now go and get some sleep, because you need it.”

He smiled at her and disappeared. She shook her head, a fond smile on her face.

The next day, not long after his family would normally have breakfast, Danny found himself hesitating in front of the door of the house. He took a deep, fortifying breath, and then walked in.

He could hear quiet chattering coming from the kitchen, and made his way over. He watched them for a moment from the doorway before his dad spotted him.

“Danny-boy!” he boomed, before remembering their last interaction, face souring instantly. His mother’s face also fell, but Jazz smiled at him and grabbed their parents before they could pull out any of their weapons.

“What are you doing here, ghost?” his mother hissed. “Haven’t you caused us enough pain yet?”

Danny winced, and Jazz glared at their mother before chastising her. “Mom! I asked Danny to come over, not that it should have been necessary since he lives here.”

“Jazz, that’s not your brother. That’s some foul ghost playing a sick game of pretend.”

“No, you listen to me! Danny has been a ghost for two years, but he never told you. And this is exactly why! He came over to tell you what happened, and you won’t even let him!”

“Jazz, you knew? How- how long have you known?” Danny had never heard his dad so quiet, and he hated it. He hated everything about this entire conversation. He could barely stop himself from turning invisible.

“I’ve known for a while now, but he told me about a year ago. And yes, I know the entire story.” She looked over at Danny, hoping that he would take over to tell his story. Seeing that Danny wasn’t about to join the conversation, however, Jazz kept going. “Do you remember when he had an accident in the lab, in freshman year?”

His parents glanced at each other, and loosened up a little. “Was that it? Was it- was it one of our inventions that- that killed our son?”

Danny sighed, drawing the attention back to him. “Yeah. It was the Portal. I uh, I turned it on while I was inside.” He shrugged at them, smiling sheepishly. “You put the on button on the inside, that’s why it didn’t work.”

“Sufferin’ spooks,” Jack swore quietly, eyes locked on Danny.

“But if it was the Portal, then how did your,” her breath caught for a second, “your body end up in the woods?”

“I panicked, okay? We didn’t know what to do and we were all really freaked out so we decided to just bury my body in the woods and pretend it never happened.”

“Oh sweetie,” Maddie mumbled, standing up from her chair and walking over to Danny. She touched his face, gently, before pulling him against herself, hugging him. “Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry.”

A second pair of arms wrapped around the two of them as his dad joined in. “Oh Danny-boy,” he muttered, and Danny was shocked to see tears forming in his dad’s eyes.

“It’s- it’s okay. You didn’t mean it. I don’t blame you for panicking.”

Finally they pulled away again, and he saw his family all smiling at him, and he found that he couldn’t keep the truth to himself any longer.

“Actually,” he glanced over to see Jazz nodding her approval, and steeled his resolve. “Actually, there’s something else that I need to tell you. Uh, promise you won’t freak out?”

“Of course Danny-boy, you can tell us anything!”

He stepped away from them, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply. Then he called on his ghostly core, and let its power wash over him.

“I’m, uh, I’m Danny Phantom too. This,” he made some vague hand motions towards himself, “is what I actually look like as a ghost.”

Suddenly he was drowning in warmth as his father hugged him again, ruffling a hand through his hair. “Look at my son the ghost hunter! I knew you would follow my footsteps!”

“Well, I still think that Phantom has done some… questionable things, but I’m guessing that you have an explanation for all of that?”

Seeing that Danny was getting overwhelmed, Jazz cut back in. “He does, trust me. He has told me everything.”

His mom nodded, and then smiled at him. “Then I must say that I’m proud of my ghost-hunting son as well. My own little superhero, huh?”

She re-joined the hug as well, and Danny’s dad grabbed Jazz and pulled her in as well. Danny melted away in the familial love, feeling far happier than he had in a long.

He was in such a state of bliss that his next words slipped out without intending it.

“Also I’m only half-ghost, I’m not actually fully dead.”

“WHAT?!”

Cut intro / Prologue of sorts.

Also available as a 15 chapter fanfic / sort of continuation eventually.

[henry-hart]

The Danger Begins s1 ep1

I’m so glad I decided to rewatch this because it made me so happy!!!! (also, to keep you guys from getting uber annoyed with me, i’m just gonna lb on one big post like this from now on lolol)

first off

s1 henry was the cutest thing to ever exist. ever. my heart couldn’t take it bc he’s so grown now but in that first ep he’s this adorable little baby chick ajdksjslk

it was so incredible to see Siren on my screen. Like, within thirty seconds BAM there she was. i felt blessed, like she blessed my laptop

PIPER. MY OVERDRAMATIC DAUGHTER. I miss her “I am NOT okay!!!” catchphrase akdjlsj 

her “so we’re living like animals now” reply to being told to wait for her video to load---same girl, same.

Henry at 13 was a million times more proactive about the whole job search than I have ever been and I’m 22 sksjskjsk

his whole “I’m not good at anything. I’m a big ball of average”---I feel that lol

“No special skills needed.” “That’s me!!” 

okay one of Char’s first lines was “One day when you two are cleaning my pool bc you failed this algebra test...” and it doesn’t get more iconic than that

GOOCH. I HAVE MISSED YOU. 

Ray just coming in with all these ridiculous questions lolol poor Hen

“I’m 13. I’ll be 14....on my next bday.” ajskjsksljk

“Ah, so you’re aging sequentially. I like that. The name’s Ray.” “Nice to meet you, Ray. I’m Henry.” “You ask a lot of questions.” “I....don’t think....I’ve asked any questions...????” loved it

I laughed when Ray changed into his uniform and the zipper got stuck (that never happens again????)

“Did you have to melt my phone???” Hen, sweetie, hate to break it to you, but your phone gets broken.....preeeeetty much every ep (need me a bank account like that where I can steady get new iphones)

WhAt Do YoU mEaN nO sPeCiAl SkIlLs HeNrY???? yOu NoTiCeD tHe TaToO!!!!!! u smart lil cookie

Ray was all “I’m getting old. I can’t do this forever.” Two things: 1) RAY DID YOU JUST REFER TO YOURSELF AND OLD IN THE SAME SENTENCE??? 2) why is this never mentioned again??? Like, Ray got a sidekick to pass the mantle onto someone younger to keep protecting Swellview when he’s done. We’re like 4 yrs down the line, and they haven’t even hinted towards CM retiring??? (I know that would mean the end of the show, but they could at least bring it up every now and then)

OK. hated the toddler then. hate him now. 

Props to the props department (ha ha get it???) for all the junk in the store. It’s all so strange and doesn’t make sense and fits the show so well (also it seems like each ep has diff junk??? that’s impressive)

“They seem like nice kids.” “Yeah, they’re names are Jasper x Charlotte. I’ve known them ever since--” “Get rid of them.” “I’ll get rid of them.”

DAWWWW Jasper x his buckets :’))))

“I told you Canadian money upsets ppl!!!” Ah Char (I wonder if Riele comes up with some of these Canada jokes??)

OMG I FORGOT ABOUT HEN’S HORRIBLE TEST WARDROBE. IMAGINE IF THEY HAD KEPT ONE OF THOSE IDEAS AKSJLKSJ (there really wasn’t any need for a whole test wardrobe tho--just style an outfit to fits Ray’s. His obvs works out well for him) (I know that’s what they ended up doing lolol)

Okay, Ray’s “Oh man. I ate a lot of fruit.” line KILLS. ME. bc when i first watched this ep, every time the scene changed and Ray was shown w/ a diff fruit, I was like, “Why...is he eating so much fruit????” bc they’re all diff and he even eats a whole pineapple--outside peel and all. BUT I WAS THINKING IT AND THEN HE SAID IT AND IT MADE IT ONE MILLION TIMES FUNNIER.

LIL BB HEN IN HIS SUIT FOR THE FIRST TIME. I CRY. HE’S SO TINY AND HAPPY

“Chew gum. Blow bubble. Fight crime.” Ray wrote those instructions. I just know it. aksjskl

“And what does a single flashing light mean?” “Just to shoot me a text, you know, whenever.” aksjklsk

HENRY JUST GAVE HIS PLEDGE. THEN. HE. SAID. THE. ICONIC. “FEELS GOOD” FOR. THE. FIRST. TIME. I’M CRYING.

Hen not knowing how to get the tubes to work and just jumping up and down making noises aksjlsk

“Affirmative.” “That means ‘yes’.” “I got that.” and so the sass begins lolol love it

“Awwww no! That was my favorite bridge!”

“I hate my life and I am NOT okay.” i feel u Pipes

the sass is strong in those Hart kids. Siren x Jake can’t catch a break aksjslk

Siren. Hart. Is. So. Beautiful. her hair just looks so good this ep

“I’ll run away. I’ll do it.” ajskjskl Pipes chill

Jake....Siren...that’s....your son on the tv screen...like.....that’s literally your child’s face.....the product of both of your genes is right there.....plastered on the screen.....how do u....not....recognize him?????

“Two ppl said they might come.” “Who?” “Sidney Birnbaum and Oliver Pook.” “Ew.” “Those guys eat bugs.” “So? They’re people.” I just love the kid’s line delivery here lolol

I just want everyone to know that s1 Henry is the cutest. I already said it, but I’m saying it again. 

Henry panicking bc he doesn’t want C x J to keep reading about KD but he also doesn’t know what to do so he just throws a glass and smacks C’s phone out of her hand and clean across the room ajskjslk SAME

Jace was so.....twitchy in the first two seasons. He’s really mellowed---which I understand it happens when you get older---but it’s just so funny to see this little bean with all his crazy expressions and loud outbursts and rapid movements lolol

Hey Lelani? You’re hot (give me ukelele lessons pls)

“The toddler’s men stole 5,000 packages of diapers. Can you guess why?” “Uhhhh???” “To bombard the diapers with radioactive zenite particles.” “.....I would not have guessed that.”

also Ray getting lower to the ground as he talks and Hen just following is so funny to me. Ray was really extra in that first ep 

RAYMOND MANCHESTER HOW DARE YOU GET MAD AT HEN FOR WANTING TO GO TO HIS BFF’S BDAY PARTY INSTEAD OF FIGHTING CRIME. HE IS 13. AND YOU WOULD LATER CALL HIM UP WITH THE EMERGENCY ALARM PAST 12 AT NIGHT FOR CORNDOGS, SO I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT.

“Okay. Okay. It’s cool. You go to Jasper’s party. I’ll handle the toddler by myself. Don’t worry about it.” “Are you sure?” “Yeah. I’ve battled the toddler alone before--almost killed me, but whatever.” and u still want to take a 13 yr old out there??? Ray.

“No, I’m not bringing the muffins!” but u said u would

okay, but the news jumping from CM’s kidnapping to a report on why squirrels love nuts???? TOO tru (they really do that “here’s something serious. kids are dying. now here’s this pointless and meaningless crap” lolol)

“I can’t talk! I’m naked!” friends anyone??? (“You can’t come in. Ross is naked.” “Why’d you tell her I was naked???” “I couldn’t tell her I was naked. She’s allowed to see me naked.” “Why does anyone have to be naked???”) (sorry i just love friends akjslkjs)

I FORGOT WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO HAVE SIDNEY X OLIVER ON MY SCREEN. I LOVE THEM. 

I hate u toddler. just in case you were doubting.

Jasper unknowingly saving the day by downloading that sound effect app on Hen’s phone *claps for him*

Henry just....completely kicking butt on his second day???? That’s my son.

“Captain Man!” “Henry!” “It’s Kid Danger.” :))))) I’M SQUEALING. I’M SO PROUD OF HIM. HIS LIL POINT TO RAY AND THAT SMALL SMILE. TOO. CUTE. (also Ray just namedropping like they don’t have identities to protect)

“How do I get you out of there?” “I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve been stuck in a baby bouncer hovering over a bottomless ball pit.” CALL SUPERHEROES OUT, RAY. all these extravagant traps they’re caught in and they just....know what to do??? Doubtful. (bottomless pits are impossible, but you know lol)

Ray swinging around everywhere in that baby bouncer was hilarious alkjdlksj

that spitting device is the literal WORST thing i have ever seen. i freaking hate spit.

God, i wish the toddler had stayed tf down there in that ball pit. i wish that bottle had blown him to the center of the earth. (sorry i just really don’t like him akdjslj)

“What do we do with this? (the bottle bomb)” “We give the baby his bottle.” “Ah. Good call.” “Hey.” “Suuuuup.” “Hurry.” “Oh, right.” aksjlsksjl there are some really good moments in this ep

Ray shielding Henry was <33333 (it would be really messed up if he hadn’t considering he’s indestructible, but I like to think that he chose to)

AJKSJSKLSKSJLK HENRY’S FACE WHEN RAY TOLD HIM “GOOD JOB” WAS SOOOOOOO PRECIOUS. He looked so shocked. Like, “CM thinks I did a good job????” 

It’s like, Henry’s second day on the job, and they’re just namedropping right and left. Why be careful???? It’s not like they have secret identities or anything.....(they steady use their real names. i guess they don’t really have to worry. C must be the only smart person in Swellview bc no one else seems capable of figuring it out. I mean, not even his parents recognized him ajksjslk)

If you need any proof that Ray is a good guy, just watch this ep. His willingness to show up to J’s party despite only knowing Hen for like two days is a solid testament to his character. This is the Ray I know and love.

awwwwww poor Jasp. your party isn’t a flop. It’s about to be lit af because your bff is HENRY FREAKING HART, THE SWEETEST BOY TO EVER LIVE.

Ray, your excuse is horrible. “My van broke down across the street so I decided to come into this house and into this basement.” alskjlskj what is that????

“You’re CM!” “Thank you.” “You’re my hero!” “Of course.” oh Ray

Henry’s just watching J freak out over CM, watching how excited and happy J is and knowing he did that for him, and it’s just----my heart is all ajkdjlsjks

Char is the cutest in this ep. she’s fangirling over CM, and it’s so weird bc now she can’t stand him lolol

Hen x Ray pretending they don’t know each other. SO. PRECIOUS. Ray’s face is so sweet and they share this secret smile and just GAHHHH

J asking CM if he can hit him w/ a bball bat alksjlk “Remember kids: never do this to anyone but CM bc regular ppl could be badly inju--AHHHHHH.......I wasn’t done talking.” “Did that hurt?” “Yeah. But I’m okay.” the way Ray says yeah cracks me up bc it’s like, duh it hurt. it was a bat hitting my head lolol

“Hey, CM?” “Yes, boy?” “Would it be ok if Jasp texted a few friends and told them you were here at his party?” “Suuurrreeee. I love being used.” Ray kills me. cooper x jace have some of the best line delivery/comedic timing akdjslkj

*J is shaking CM’s hand* “Thank you so much! This is the best day of my life!” “Ha ha, are your hands always this sweaty?” “Yes sir.” “He takes medicine for it.” “Wellllll, it’s not working.” *wipes hand on J and leaves wet mark* ajsklj poor Jasper

Henry brought the muffins after all <33333 “Muffins.” “Yeah.” (you can tell Jace x Sean were already good friends. so cute.)

Hen x Char got Jasp the bucket from the shop that Gooch wouldn’t let him have. Dawwwwww

“For awhile there, I thought you weren’t gonna come.” “Come on, man. I’ll always be there for you.” then. they. hug. they’re. so. cute. i. love. solid. friendships.

HENRY’S LAST LITTLE LOOK AT THE PARTY BEFORE HE LEAVES IS THE BEST THING EVER. THE LITTLE NOD HE MAKES LIKE, “YEAH. THIS IS GOOD.” LIKE, HE’S PERFECTLY OK WITH MISSING OUT SO LONG AS EVERYONE ELSE IS HAVING FUN. AHHHHHH. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. :)))))) <3333333

that was a perfect way to end an ep

<3

I’m glad I watched this. I’ve forgotten most of the earlier episodes which is a crime because they’re so good. It was hard to see Jace so little when he’s so grown now!!!!! My heart couldn’t take it. But lil Henry is precious and I love him. Stay tuned for more rewatches!!!! xoxoxox

[jabbers-of-jay]

Here we go again.

Les Mis to Hogwarts

The First Night at Hogwarts

The Quidditch Bet

 Everyone had settled into Hogwarts, routines were built, and the group was easily getting closer. They would often sit together at meals, especially lunch or breakfast. Occasionally they would split into their respective houses, but they were almost never found alone. Enjolras was easily the one everyone looked to for ideas as he had been the one to originally come up with a tutoring system in their friend group to help one another. He was also the only one who seemed to really have any sort of way to calm down Courfeyrac when he got carried away.

 The boys were all gathered at the Hufflepuff table, the great hall was abuzz with excitement for the first quidditch match of the season.

“Hufflepuff will win!” Courfeyrac crowed, chugging his pumpkin juice.

“Well,” Marius started, looking a bit sheepish, “There’s nothing that really says they can’t. But…. just look at Gryffindor’s team. They’re older, bigger, they’ve had more time to practice together.” Marius said.

“I don’t care! The Huffles will puff their way to the top!” Courfeyrac said cheerfully.

“History proves that Hufflepuff doesn’t have a good team.” Came Enjolras’s greeting as he sleepily sat down.

“Spoil sport!” Courfeyrac huffed.

“I’m just stating the facts, Courfeyrac.” Enjolras said, pouring himself some tea. Courfeyrac stuck his tongue out, though it wasn’t as playful as usual.

“I’m sure Hufflepuff will do just fine, Courfeyrac.” Marius placated him, while Enjolras sent a small glare at the two.

 Though no one noticed it in the group because they were too young and Enjolras and Courfeyrac were such good friends, the group did not notice that the two friends didn’t always mesh well. Enjolras knew how to handle Courfeyrac’s antics because he had grown up with his friend, but he also sometimes let out biting remarks that hurt Courfeyrac. Or Courfeyrac didn’t always know when to stop pushing Enjolras’s buttons. In some ways, they were like siblings. Marius would try and help things between the friends, but he often made it worse, inadvertently.

Grantaire, who had been watching the scene play out, suddenly had a slow smile spread across his face.

“A bet then.” He said.

“Excuse me?” Enjolras asked.

“You know, a bet. To settle the whole thing.” Grantaire said. Enjolras quietly studied the other boy.

“Yes! That’s perfect!” Courfeyrac said, his excitement picking up. Enjolras sighed, but agreed.

“What are the terms?” He asked. Courfeyrac sat and tapped his chin.

“If I win….You’ll do my homework for a month!” He said smiling. Enjolras rolled his eyes.

“That’s dishonest and I won’t do it.” He said. Courfeyrac pouted.

“Aww come on, we’re first years. It’s not like we aren’t all turning in the same things.” Grantaire said.

“You may be. But I, am not.” Enjolras said, his face growing a little red.

“I’m not asking you to do the same work, just two versions.” Courfeyrac said, though he was starting to feel a little guilty, Enjolras shot him a look. Courfeyrac sighed.

“Fine. One week of homework and just the basic stuff. If there’s an actual paper or longer assignment, you’ll help me write it.” He said. Enjolras quirked an eyebrow.

“And what do I get out of this?” He asked. Courfeyrac thought for a moment before his face lit up.

“I’ll ask to change potions partners!” He offered. Enj rolled his eyes and shook his head no.

“No deal. I’d rather have you that does very little over a partner that tells me what to do and fail potions.” He said. Courfeyrac pouted.

“He could write out the schedules for everyone’s study buddies.” Marius offered. Courfeyrac looked over at Marius with horror.

“No!” He protested. “That took Enj hours to do because of all of our schedules. And it’s only going to get worse with people thinking about joining clubs.” He whined. A smile spread across Enj’s face.

“Alright. You have a deal.” He said. “If Gryffindor wins, you do the schedule. If Hufflepuff wins, I do your homework for a week.” He said. Courfeyrac pondered the bet for a moment.

“How about, if someone on the Hufflepuff team gets injured and the game is close.” Courfeyrac offered. Marius looked confused at the new bet.

“I thought you said Hufflepuff will win.” Enjolras challenged.

“They will!” Courfeyrac said, “But I really don’t want to base organizing everyone’s schedule off of that.” he whined. Enjolras waited for a second before he stuck his hand out,

“Deal.” He said and the two shook hands.

 The group made their way down to the pitch with all the other students, Courfeyrac skipping ahead of everyone. As they clamored up into the seats, Jehan and Grantaire caught up.

“I can only meet at 7:25 for my partner.” Grantaire stated as they walked up the stairs. Courfeyrac gave him an odd look.

“What are you talking about Grantaire?” He asked

“The bet.” The other boy said with a shrug.

“What? You have no faith in me or our house?” He asked, Grantaire shrugged.

“It has more to do with how specific your bet is.” Jehan chimed in. Courf looked between the two and shrugged.

“I like my odds.” He said, “Besides, my sister always talks about how Hufflepuff has the most injuries of the houses.” He said. The other two shared a look but let it go.

 The game was close, much to the shock of some students. Hufflepuff seemed to have put together a decent team. The chasers made a few mistakes here and there, but they seemed to do enough to hold even with the Gyrffindors. The Keeper and one of the Beater were the more senior players on the team and seemed to know well enough to help the team’s defenses.

 Courfeyrac felt slightly bad for hoping one of the Hufflepuffs would be injured, but maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. He could hope for a black eye or a twisted ankle. He just needed it to be bad enough that he could loophole his way into the bet. After all, they never defined the injury. He watched the game with his hands clasped in front of him, cheering wildly every time his house scored. Meanwhile, Enjolras sat studying the game, his eyes growing stormier as the game went on. He was still holding out hope though, no injuries had taken place yet and the snitch had made a couple of appearances.

 Two of Hufflepuffs chasers suddenly veered around and cornered a Gryffindor player, while the third shot up, close enough to one of Gryffindor’s beaters to become slightly disoriented. There was a slight tussle for the quaffle, before the Hufflepuff chasers came out with it. There was a loud cheer from the Hufflepuff side, before louder shouts echoed around the pitch as the two seekers seemed to be in pursuit of the snitch. It was a tense few minutes and Courfeyrac wasn’t sure where to look. He was jumping up and down, using Marius as leverage to catapult himself higher.

 Suddenly a “CRACK!” echoed around the pitch, the crowd was cheering loudly, the seekers were within reach of the snitch and 15 seconds later one of the Hufflepuff chasers suddenly moved out of formation, holding their side and attempting to keep their broom from crashing. The Gryffindor’s went wild as their seeker came out with the snitch. The ref blew their whistle, and the announcement came out that Gryffindor had won. The crowd was talking wildly, everyone trying to process what had happened.

“I won.” Courf and Enjolras turned and said at the same time. Enjolras glowered while Courfeyrca looked confused. Marius stood on the edge, looking nervously between his two friends.

“You don’t suppose he’s hurt too badly?” Jehan asked of the chaser. Grantaire shook his head.

“No, he was walking off the field.” He said.

“I clearly won! Gryffindor won by 150 points!” Enjolras said.

“But Hufflepuff just tied the game up before the snitch and it was a close game the whole time!” Courfeyrac argued. The two started going back and forth.

“No one was injured.” Enjolras stated.

“I wouldn’t call a bludger to the ribs not an injury!” Courfeyrac retorted.

“It barely grazed him!” Enjolras said.

“He was struggling to control his broom and he had to have help off the pitch!” Courfeyrac said, gesturing towards where the other chasers were helping the third off the field. He was starting to get worked up. Sure the bet had been close, and he did often look for loopholes, but he would have honorably held up his end if it was clear he had lost. He probably wouldn’t have even held to the bet that closely and might have let Enjolras have the snitch point, but someone was clearly injured. The two continued to go back and forth as they all walked to the castle, before they stopped mid way up the hill, almost yelling.

“Enough!” Grantaire finally interrupted. “It was close, but Courfeyrac clearly won.” He said. Enjolras turned his glowering face on Grantaire.

“You’re just saying that because it’s your house!” he argued.

“Well yeah, but Courfeyrac also won.” Grantaire argued. Enjolras looked to Jehan who shrugged. His eyes landed on his next victim. Bossuet looked a little sheepish.

“It was close. A hard one to call.” He said, just wanting Enjolras’s stormy look to pass. Marius found himself the next subject.

“Well. It. That is to say. It, it was a close game. And, well. It does appear someone was injured. And those were the terms. And you can’t argue that I’m a Hufflepuff.” He supplied. Enjolras gave them all a disgusted look before he stormed off and Courfeyrac instantly deflated. They were all very competitive, but it usually wasn’t this bad. They didn’t usually argue over technicalities. Well, they did, but it usually wasn’t this bad. But Courfeyrac also refused to lose a bet that he won fairly.

 Courfeyrac let his other friends lead him to lunch, though he didn’t eat, too upset. They all made plans for the afternoon, trying to encourage Courfeyrac to join them. The boy shook his head.

“No. You go on. I-I have something to do.” he said before waving to them and walking off. Having known Enjolras, he knew his friend needed time to cool off. Courfeyrac would probably even offer to still do his homework. He talked a big game of not doing homework and disliking school, but he really didn’t find it that bad. Courfeyrac aimlessly wandered the halls of Hogwarts, not sure what to do. When he looked up, he found himself near the hospital wing and realized he’d been wandering for awhile. He decided to peek in, maybe his sister was there getting the practice hours she wanted for getting into Saint Mungo’s.

As he opened the door he heard laughter from the bed that was surrounded by quidditch players. Courfeyrac looked around and his sister came bustling from another bed and smiled.

“Come to see your housemate? The Hufflepuff sorting surprised me a bit, but I can see it fits.” she said, before pointing him to the bed. He gave her a small smile before wandering over.

“Bloody hell Barhorel! I haven’t seen someone hit a bludger that hard in, I don’t know!” Someone said.

“I think I cracked my bat.” Came the reply while several people chuckled.

“It would have been better had it just been your bat and not my rib.” Another voice chimed in, sounding slightly upset.  

“Sorry mate, I wasn’t aiming directly for you.” The other voice said, “But I guess my bat just couldn’t resist a quality chaser.” He said with a wink. The other boy groaned. Courfeyrac, who had edged his way into the group by now, looked at the boy in the bed with concern.

“You alright?” He asked. The others looked at Courfeyrac like he had a second head, not sure who this tiny first year was.

“Yes, but I think this bloody Gryffindor’s words may hurt more than my ribs.” He muttered. Courfeyrac looked to the older boy who was cradling his beater’s bat, he winked at the boy in the bed. A slight flush covered his cheeks, but he sent a glare back.

“I-I’m sorry about all this.” Courfeyrac said. The boy waved him off.

“It comes with the game. Hardly your fault.” He said.

“Well… actually. I made a bet you see.” He started off, his guilt finding its voice. He had the group’s interest now. “And, I said someone would get hurt. But There’s always injuries in quidditch, I mean like a minor injury! Nothing Like this!” He said apologetically. There was a brief silence before the boy in the bed started laughing.

“Well…. You’re not wrong. An odd bet to make against your own house.” The boy said. Courfeyrac shrugged sheepishly. The boy rubbed his side and made a face after laughing.

“Well the bet was originally that we would win, and I had all faith that we would!” he explained, “But… I wasn’t willing to stake sorting out my friends’ schedules.” He said. The boy smiled this time, trying to avoid laughing and stuck his hand out.

“Feuilly, glad to be of service.” He said. Courfeyrac let out a sigh of relief.

“Courfeyrac.” He stated. Some of the other players looked backed towards where his sister was.

“Yes, yes. We’re siblings. I like my last name.” He said with a shrug.

“Well that’s not fair that good looks just run in your family.” The Gryffindor chimed in.

“I know. Really we should have shared some of our genes. Could my hair be any better?” He asked, twirling a curl.

“Barhorel.” The Gryffindor said with a chuckle and sticking out his hand. Courfeyrac gave it a firm shake.

“Fitting name for a beater.” Feuilly chimed in. Barhorel groaned.

Courfeyrac wandered off after awhile. He enjoyed the slightly older students, and had even felt welcomed by them. But things felt off in his world since Enjolras had stopped talking to him. Courfeyrac tried to approach his friend at dinner, Enjolras decidedly ignored him. Courfeyrac wasn’t sure how to fix this mess, but he knew his world wouldn’t feel right again until Enjolras was by his side.

[drewxmay]

Contestshipping Review - Part Twenty-Two - Thinning the Hoard

Previous

Next

Index

-The Title-

What “hoard”? Hoard of trainers who want to win?

Why is this the title?

-Episode Link-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu8f7s_SzrU

-The Review-

0:00

Episode starts off with the Narrator giving exposition. You want some? Go read the other reviews.

0:28

Unfinished theme song, I was very lucky with the link yesterday with the full song. I think the video will be taken down soon though, seeing how high quality it is.

0:32

And now for the second appeal rounds. Drew starts it off by sending out his new Absol. The Absol uses flash, which sends a blinding light in waves across the stage, Absol apparently absorbs the light and it make’s their fur coat sparkle.

1:03

May and Solidad and backstage talking about Drew’s preformence while Harley sits close to them filing his nails.

Remember: I thought he was a girl for two whole years.

1:13

Back to Drew’s preformence.

The light is gone and Absol uses Water Pules. A blue Aura starts to surround Absol and a ring of water appears, getting bigger as it flows away from the Absol.

The water starts Spiraling around the Absol, until they are told to use Razor Wind. Once they do, many of them come and destroy all of the water. This only leaves small sparkles of glitter from the water.

1:50

His appeal ending, and he and his Absol bow. Drew is obviously not happy about something.

2:01

So now with Team Rocket.

Jessie is doing this thing where she’s going to interview a random person who made it to the next round.

She’s literally in the middle of a hallway and body could walk through.

just walk away Drew she’s insane you should know it.

Jessie: So how did it go? Inquiring minds want to know!

Drew: Sorry no comment. :walks away:

Goods job Drew.

You still seem very bothered by something though.

Jessie: Gee thanks for the sunshine.

It’s not only James’ sarcasm now everybody has it.

2:43

And now for the next person’s second appeal! It’s Harley, and he’s no longer in that stupid outfit!

I really want to make a snarky comment rn about how he’s still wearing a stupid outfit but I don’t becuase I don’t think it’s stupid he just cares a lot about his Cacturn and it’s cute.

He sends out Octillary who starts off by using Fire Blast. They jump up into the air and light a circle of Fire. Octillary stands in the middle, and pretends like he’s summoning the devil.

Don’t beleive me?

Let’s see if I can get the gif to work

Can’t get the gif to work but you get the point

3:29

Wait so Ash is trying to get his hat back from the Apom?

I thought Ash already got his hat back. Oh well.

So eventually Pikachu uses quick attack and Ash gets his hat back. Then, to make the Annoying Apom not come back for a while, Pikachu also uses Thunder Bolt. Then, Ash throws a Pokeball at them, but before it is able to catch them, the Apom uses its tail to throw it back. Kinda reminds me of when Ash tried to put Pikachu in a Pokeball...

4:37

And we’re already in the middle of Solidad’s preformence! Her Slowbro is uses psychic to make the only part of them that is touching the ground their shell, then, it starts spinning around the field. Then, it goes to the middle of the stage, still on their shell, and continues spinning in circles while using water-gun.

5:15

Harley stay away from my baby :(

5:25

And now for May’s appeal round!

She sends out Munchlax, who is told to use solar beam, but instead of just immediately shooting one off, they start super charging the energy, turning it all of the light into a huge ball. Once they finally shoot, the ball of light goes high up into the sky until Munchlax jumps up and hits it. It doesn’t dissapear but sparkles escape from it and go in all directions, as well as a low pitched pretty sound coming from it as well. May gets praise from the judges.

5:52

You know what Solidad claims to be old buddies with Harley and never once in this entire show have we seen them interact so that means the fandom needs to make headcanons.

5:58

May: :is shaking badly: Sixteen is an awfully small number for the people who will get to the next round...

Max: Oh c’mon you were awesome right there!

Brock: Just remember all of the hours of training you put in.

Yes but Brock, everybody else has spent so much time into that training and so many of them will also not be able to go, some of them tries so hard and failed. May’s case may be the same, and so he shouldn’t just rule out the idea that she might not make it to the next round becuase she trained.

7:20

Solidad: Hi May.

Solidad: Your first round preformence was one of the best ever!

May: You think so? Thank you so much!

Harley: :runs up behind everybody: May May!

Everybody: :turns around:

Harley: It’s awful awful! Something’s wrong with Drew!

I’ll save that snarky comment for later.

7:34

So it cuts to Drew and Absol in the forest. Absol tries using Razor Wind.

Gifs from @toasty-coconut-test

But even if your Absol wanted to try to prefect the attack Absol wouldn’t want to hurt their trainer. I mean, people usually try to practice attacks on other Pokemon when training.

You know what, let’s say that somebody wants to help somebody to prefect something. It doesn’t come out how it should’ve, you could go with what May tried to do and praise them, telling them that it was great but you need to do better, you you could go with telling them that it failed, and that you need to try harder. One is going to make the person your trying to help want to get better, the other is just going to make whoever you’re training upset and be nervous that the attack doesn’t go as planned.

Though, these gifs have different words then what I’m watching, they tell about the same thing. Though, there are a few more things that the version I’m watching said and that I would comment on, right now I think that this is enough.

If you didn’t watch the scene then you wouldn’t know just how harsh Drew was being. “I’m not a wimp like you!” Drew is upset, and it’s not just becuase of the failed Razor wind. Sure, it might’ve upset him, but it wouldn’t get to the points of him yelling at May. In a later scene I’ll explain what exactly made him more angry.

9:24

Solidad: Bullying is no way to raise a Pokemon. Training has to be a two way street. If the two of you can’t agree then you have nothing!

Max: I’ve never seen that dark and scary side of Drew I guess.

Solidad: I think seeing your first round preformence really shook him May.

May: Huh?

Solidad: Don’t forget you’re right up there next to him in the contest standings, right? That just hit him, y’know?

May: You think so? What do I do??

9:51

Ash: Hey!

Drew: :looks over his shoulder: Huh?

Drew: Oh it’s you guys.

Drew: Look I said what was on my mind okay???

Ash: I know that Drew.

Pikachu: :Jumps off of Ash’s shoulder: Pikachu. (Probably something like “Me too.”)

Brock: Solidad’s having a little talk with May right now. I think it’d be a good time to do the same thing.

Ash: Y’know, watching you out there made me think about all the rivals I’ve faced in battle over the years. I never talked to them about how they trained or anything. We deal with that on the battle field.

And then Ash met Paul.

Drew: I hear you.

Drew: We’re rivals. May and I.

This show is beautiful have you every cared to look at the backgrounds?

10:42

The Grand Festival is back up!

Oh yay May VS Harley this’ll be fun.

11:56

And now for May VS Harley!

12:36

Just kidding the battle starts here.

So it starts out with May sending out Munchlax and Eevee. Harley sends out Cacturn and his new WigglyTuff. Munchlax uses Focus Punch and Eevee tries using tackle. They both run towards Harley's Pokemon, but then WigglyTuff jumps in front of Cacturn and inflates their body, so when Munchlax and Eevee hit, Wigglytuff is unaffected. It's like a balloon that will never pop.

13:52

Solidad and Drew are backstage watching the battle.

Solidad: Being able to expand Wifflytuff's body like that can mean big points, but Harley better be very careful.

14:03

Back to Harley and May's battle.

Wigglytuff jumps into the air, looking like their able to tackle Eevee and Munchlax. At the last second, Wigglytuff jumps out of the way and Cacturn comes flying towards them while using poison sting. Munchlax and Eevee are both hit and May looses even more points. Cacturn runs towards them with a needle arm but before he hits Eevee uses Shadown Ball and Munchlax punches it with Focus Punch and it goes flying towards Cacturn. Cacturn faints and is no longer in the battle.

15:03

Solidad: Wow, Harley’s cutting it close.

Drew: Maybe.

15:10

WigglyTuff, still in the air, tries coming down on them with body slam. May is able to dodge, but then WigglyTuff grabs them both and throws them unto the air. While they are in the air, Wigglytuff jumps up and uses double-slap on them both. Munchlax and Eevee fall to the ground. Munchlax uses Solar Beam and Eevee uses Shadow Ball. WigglyTuff dodges all of them, but Eevee and Munchlax continue to use the same attacks over and over, while WigglyTuff dodges them all. May looses points. Eventually, May gets an idea. Munchlax uses Solar Beam and Eevee uses Shadow ball and the two attacks combine mid air. It creates an explosion behind WigglyTuff and is sent down to the ground. While they are falling Eevee helps Munchlax into the air and then Munchlax punches Wigglytuff. Wigglytuff passes out when they hit the ground.

17:13

May wins!

17:33

Death by Petals!

And they’re even heart shaped this time!

Drew wins becuase he does.

17:47

And now for Solidad’s fragment of a battle. Slowbro uses psychic and wins

You know what Solidad is a perty girl I want to hug her.

18:13

YA’LL KNOW IT’S GONNA BE LIT.

MAY VS DREW BRO.

I HAVE SO MANY GIFS FOR THEM.

EVEN THE BATTLE FRAGMENT HAS GIFS.

May starts off my sending out Cumbusken and Squirtle. Drew sends out his Flygon and Absol. May's Ssqurtle starts it off by using rapid spin. Before it hits Flygon uses sandstorm, but then May immediately afterwards makes Cumbisken jump off of Squirtle's shell and uses Mega Kick. Before Cumbusken is able to hit Absol uses Flash from inside of the sandstorm, making it so that Cumbusken couldn't see clearly when he tries to hit Flygon. Absol uses Iron tail on Cumbusken and it lands a direct hit. In order to recover from this May makes Cumbusken use Sky Uppercut and Squirtle use Bubble.

Then the episode ends :D

Don’t worry it’s just a cliff hanger, the next episode is where I keep all of the gifs.

-Conclusion-

hahahaha

Time to write a serious conclusion. Sometimes I struggle with these, becuase after I finish a review I just get so tiered. Five hours of writing, but writing a conclusion is fun and the conclusion might be one of the most fun parts of the review for me to make.

Now, if you’re just reading the reviews and not watching the episodes, a lot of the scenes I try to summarize or recap with telling you what they say won’t have the same feel. The one that I am specifically talking about is the scene near the middle of the episode where Drew yelled at May. I’m pretty sure I explained well enough within the review what exactly was bothering him, but I might as well restate it during the conclusion.

Drew realized that May is close behind and about to surpass him. That just hit him. He’s been watching her turn from a coordinator that barley knew what a contest was to somebody who was close to beating him. That made him realize a few things, like that he wasn’t improving nearly as fast as May was. It just hit him. I’m usually good at explaining things but for this? It’s hard to explain emotions like this. You can figure it all out in you head, but you can’t explain it.

Many people say that Drew actually meant what he said back there, and it just isn’t true. Drew knows that bullying his  Pokemon isn’t getting him anywhere. He knows that May has talent, but this all just confused him, and it almost hurt. It’s confusing, and almost to the point where it’s not meant to be explained.