#if anyone is interested in seeing the announcement at weekend just let me know

[lil-melody-moon]

@jimmysdragonsuit13 @radioroger and all of ya I have to put this out

There might be a big fic announcement coming. I'm insane enough to take into consideration a project which will turn into the worst thing I have ever considered to write - my first entirely E rated fic on top of that

BUT

I need to think it over, what I have in mind, how I will switch to different narration, because if I do decide that I'm insane enough, I will put it out in 3rd person perspective, with my self-insert and I will feel like exposing myself, which I kinda fear the most, but those two people up above said that they would be interested in reading this kinky shit so...

I'll think about it to the end of this week. No promises that a story in "Tommy" musical which will focus mainly on creepy uncle x niece trope (so basically Uncle Ernie x Me) will happen and will be published, but who knows what my decision will be

I would sometimes love to know what I'll decide on, but my writing spirit is as unpredictable as drunk Keith

[5sospenguinqueen]

Fake It 'Til You... Confess? - Liam Lawson x Verstappen! Reader

Summary: RBR are preparing fans for the announcement that Liam will be replacing Perez in 2025. And how do they propose to gain more interest in him? By having him fake date Verstappen’s sister. 

Fluff. Touch of angst. Fake dating 

Requested: Yes by @biancathecool (here)

Blurb halfway down. Not proofread

F1 Masterlist

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ynverstappen just posted

liked by charles_leclerc, francisca.cgomes and others 

ynverstappen my brother still comes to me and goes “wanna see something cool?” and then makes me watch as he does something uncool #silverstonegp

3,301 comments

maxverstappen1 excuse me. i got a trophy. how is that not cool?

→ ynverstappen because i had to listen to the british anthem

→ landonorris again. how is that not cool? 

user here before liam

→ user he always gets to posts so fast, are we sure they’re not dating?

→ user just childhood besties 

liamlawson30 the coolest thing i saw this weekend was you 

→ ynverstappen obviously 

→ user i love the dry verstappen humour 

danielricciardo that’s because you spent the weekend in the wrong bulls garage. i could’ve shown you my cool scooter tricks 

→ ynverstappen no. the last time you tried to show me a wheelie, you hit me in the ankle 

redbullracing yn representing us in the last pic 

→ user admin keeping it real 

user definitely the hottest verstappen sibling liked by liamlawson30 

→ user they say childhood besties but their internet behaviour says down bad 

ynverstappen posted a new story

liamlawson30 replied stop making me seem like a fan  → also i can’t believe you posted the makeup pic. i said you could do it so long as you didn’t show anyone!  → ynverstappen be for real. you let me do it so i’d sit in your lap → liamlawson30 no ‘cause you smell 

redbullracing replied bestie, are you aware that your entire insta story is just liam lawson?   → ynverstappen are you aware i’d support ferrari if not for max and liam  → redbullracing ouch → ynverstappen yeah, my bad. too far 

jackdoohan replied (pic 2) i’m tired of this grandpa → but for real, he looks like you’ve destroyed his soul → ynverstappen you’ll be next if you keep bullying me 

user so you go to watch max race in hungary yet spend the entire weekend with a guy NOT driving??  (seen 2 hours ago)

 

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Hungary GP

Fingers drumming on the table, Liam swung on the hind legs of his chair, eyes frantically darting to the door of the meeting room every time he heard a noise. At the other end of the table, the head of PR for RBR whispered back and forth with the legal rep. The pair of them glanced his way every now and again.

“So sorry I’m late. Christian kept talking to me about ‘the Tik Tok’ and I couldn't figure out how to get away.” A blur of blonde burst into the room, cheeks flushed with exertion. “Liam, legs on the floor. You could lose your tongue that way,” she reprimanded. 

“I knew you cared about me.” 

Noticing the three other people in the room, her smile slipped and she straightened, attempting to look more presentable. (And less like she’d run through the RBR factory). Being called to a meeting with the head of PR, a legal representative, your best friend and his manager, usually implied that you’d done something wrong. 

“Thank you for joining us, Miss Verstappen.” 

“I’m sorry if me posting pictures of Liam on my Instagram with mean captions caused problems. I swear I didn’t mean for Twitter to-”

“Relax. You’re not in trouble,” assured Liam's manager, a fond smile on his face.

Plopping into the seat next to Liam, she frowned when he offered her a forced smile. Not his usual blinding grin. 

“Quite the opposite, in fact. Your friendship with Liam has gained traction amongst the fans. They seemed quite invested in your closeness.” 

This time when she turned to look at her friend, he looked out the window, feigning interest in a passing bird.

“As you know, Liam has signed a contract to replace Checo for the 2025 season-”

Liam braced himself, preparing for a blow that never came. Instead, he turned to find her glaring daggers at both him and her brother.

“Actually, I didn’t know because Max and Liam take their NDAs seriously, and don't tell me a thing.”

A flicker of a smile crossed the legal representatives face but the PR manager remained impassive, eager to get this over with. “Yes, anyway, as I was saying… Mr Lawson will be joining the team as a fulltime driver next year. Whilst the team are overjoyed to have him, many of the fans have been speculating-.”

“More like begging,” remarked Liam's manager. The driver was starting to regret asking him to attend the meeting in support. 

“-for Daniel to come back. We’ve been drumming up a few ideas on how to get the fans more interested in Liam.”

“Have you met him? All you have to do is stick him in a room full of fans and let them talk to him. He’s charming.” She defended, outraged at the idea of him not being interesting enough for the fans. He wanted to reach over and grab her hand, hold her close. But he hadn’t done that before and he couldn't start now. “Don’t let that go to your head,” she whispered to him, eyes twinkling. 

“We couldn't agree more. We were hoping we could rely on your help to show the public that.”

“Of course. Anything you need.” 

Liam winced at how eager she was to help him, hoping that the next few minutes wouldn’t ruin the strong bond of friendship. Not having her in his life would be worse than not having a seat next year. 

“Perfect. We were hoping that in order to garner some more interest in Liam, we would tease the fans with an insight into his personal life. With your consent, of course, we’d like to hint at the beginnings of a relationship between you and Liam. Fans have already proven that they love your friendship and want more.”

“Wait, what? You want us to fake date?” 

He couldn't decipher the tone of her voice, and was terrified to turn and look at her face. Holding his breath, he silently pleaded for her to say more. 

“The internet is currently obsessed with public figures soft launching their relationships. You don’t have to come out and say that you’re in a relationship. But, maybe post each other a bit more. Hold hands when you go out together. Flirty comments left on Instagram. Maybe posts that hint of both of you being involved with someone without showing who.”

“And you’re okay with this?” She turned to Liam, hand touching his for the first time since they were kids. His skin flamed at the contact. “You’re comfortable with being paraded around like this?” 

“It couldn't hurt, right? Everyone wants Daniel in that seat and I’m just a rookie.”

“You’re more than that,” she whispered to him, before turning her attention back to the RBR team members. “How long do we have to do this for?” 

“Everything is outlined in the contract. We’ve asked that you spend the weekend together in Spa, and then post some dates over the summer break. We can reconvene again the week before Zandvoort, and go from there.”

“When will you announce Liam? He has signed the contract, right? You can’t renege on that?”

“No, we can’t. He’ll be announced the week after Monza.” 

“Show me where to sign.”

No hesitation. No doubt. Just undying loyalty for her friend. Liam’s heart stuttered painfully in his chest, bringing forth all the feeling’s he’d tried to repress. The Red Bull reserve driver was getting everything he wanted. Except the most important part wasn’t real. It was nothing but a legally binding contract with an expiration date. He only hoped his friendship didn’t have one as well.

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Liam Insta - soft launch (have)

liked by ynverstappen, redbullracing and others

liamlawson30 just things in spa 

4,040 comments

ynverstappen whoa, you didn’t tell me you had a girly friend, i thought we were bffs 💔

→ liamlawson30 i talk but you never listen

→ user stop trying to throw us off the scent. we know that’s yn 

→ user ouch but his response was kinda bitchy 

→ user yn and liam falling out because liam moved on? 

maxverstappen1 watch your hands

→ user nah ‘cause this confirms that it’s yn

→ maxverstappen1 no, there’s just children on this app (lando)

→ landonorris hey! i’m older than your sister 

→ ynverstappen not mentally 

user @/redbullracing look he even wears team gear on weekends, now give him a seat  

user liam lawson soft launching a woman and not a contract? could my heart break any more? 

redbullracing pr said you’re not supposed to publicly grope women

→ liamlawson30 i privately groped but publicly shared 

→ ynverstappen ew you mean someone actually let you touch them?

→ liamlawson30 yes. i know that’s a foreign concept to you but

user max and liam interacting? i smell future teammates 

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ynverstappen just posted  

liked by maxverstappen1, alexandrasaintmleux and others 

ynverstappen summer break with my favourite people (oh, and liam)

40,33 comments

landonorris you said i was your favourite boy the other day :( 

→ ynverstappen you bought me a waffle, i’d have said anything 

→ jakckdoohan is this why you offered to marry me when i gave you a hotdog last weekend? 

user anyone noticing liam and yn have been posting each other a lot more lately

→ user thank you! i know they’re friends but they’ve defo been spending more time with each other recently 

→ user he's not as smiley though?? anyone else noticed?

victoriaverstappen i’m sorry but is that you being nice to max in front of people?

→ ynverstappen shh, it’s the wine he gave me. he said grape juice makes me nice 

→ liamlawson30 he was right

user ngl but all of yn’s recent posts have made me more interested in liam lawson

→ user haha same, i only followed him because people kept saying he was dating her

francisca.cgomes minha linda amiga

→ ynverstappen jij bent mooier

maxverstappen1 whoa, is this you being nice to me on the internet?

→ ynverstappen why do you and vic act like i’m evil to you?

→ maxverstappen1 you pushed me into the pool the other day fully clothed

→ liamlawson30 and flung your mother’s spaghetti at his white shirt

→ user i’m sorry but liam at verstappen family dinner? 

maxverstappen1 just posted

liked by kellypiquet, landonorris and others

maxverstappen1 ☀️

3,316 comments

user liam lawson, what are you doing here

ynverstappen liam looks like his mum told him to smile for a picture to his Oma

ynverstappen also, i took loads of nice pics this summer, why not one of those 

→ liamlawson30 my smile is because i’ve been kept captive and i’m begging for someone to save me 

→ ynverstappen max ain’t gonna help ya 

user i’m conflicted. on one hand, i can’t imagine max liking liam dating his little sister but on the other, i can’t imagine yn’s “friend” making the summer dump 

redbullracing we love a post that has not one but two bulls in

→ ynverstappen release your hold on them (the cap is starting to smell)

→ user liam lawson for RBR “25 confirmed? 

user no because now i’m convinced liam and yn are dating because he managed to make it to max’s summer dump?

landonorris save that poor boy from your sister

→ maxverstappen1 hey, he chose her. he has to deal with her now 

user i need liam to join rbr next year just so i can publicly watch his relationship with yn unfold 

user everyone commenting on how liam should be scared to be max’s brother in law but imagine being 🤮 jos’ 🤮 son in law

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liamlawson30 just posted

liked by maxverstappen1, jackdoohan and others

liamlawson30 a seat for 2025 and a best friend for life, what more could i guy want 

5,540 comments 

ynverstappen for life?! no one told me that when i said for reals, it would mean eternity 

→ liamlawson30 foreverrrrrr

→ ynverstappen can i return you?

→ liamlawson30 the contract said no take backsies 

ynverstappen i knew you liked my ass

→ liamlawson30 obviously

jackdoohan finally. he’s been pining after you for years

→ ynverstappen exposed! 

→ liamlawson30 i already told her that so ha

→ user yes but you didn’t tell us that!!

francisca.cgomes i can’t believe you left me for a man

→ ynverstappen the pr team said i had to

→ redbullracing stop exposing us 

landonorris can’t believe it took fake dating for yn to admit to real feelings

→ ynverstappen lando! 

→ liamlawson30 lando knew you liked me?! 

→ user fake dating?! 

→ landonorris oops. now i’m in trouble with everyone 

user anyone else noticed max hasn’t commented? i know we joked that he would run liam off the track but…

→ user oop nevermind

maxverstappen1 just posted

liked by charlesleclerc, redbullracing and others

maxverstappen1 he fell first, she fell harder. and i fell off my chair when i heard that these idiots fake dating led to them actually falling in love 

4,733 comments

ynverstappen i can’t believe you made an entire post with pics of me and my boyfriend. obsessed much 

→ maxverstappen1 worth it to bully you 

→ user boyfriend! we’ve had the use of the word boyfriend! 

redbullracing can’t wait to see our bulls on track next year

→ user i can’t tell if i’m happier for yn and liam content or max and liam teammate content 

user i love when they give max access to his social media 

liamlawson30 all i see is a couple who slays 

→ ynverstappen you look so good as a cozy cone

→ liamlawson30 kachow :)

→ ynverstappen my lightning mcqueen

→ liamlawson30 my sally

→ maxverstappen1 actually she’s more of a mater

danielricciardo stole my seat and my max :( 

user gossip so good that charles leclerc had to follow 

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A/N: Sorry this took so long. I ended up making it a lot longer - almost made it into two parts - because I had so much angst in here haha. Until I remembered the request wasn’t angsty so had to remove a lot. 

Tag list

@peachiicherries @rosecentury @c-losur3 @heavy-vettel @evie-119

[ckret2]

Chapter 69 (lol) of human Bill Cipher being a prisoner with terrible fashion sense: beach episode!!! Well, lake episode. Close enough.

And a few other people come to town.

Just after dawn, a sleek, nondescript black government SUV, now dusty from a long drive, parked in front of the Gravity Falls Police Department. Three agents in sleek, nondescript black suits stepped out.

As they left the car, Blubs came out to meet them, Durland trailing behind him. "Agent Powers, Agent Trigger! Good to see you again." He shook Powers's hand, then glanced at the new agent. "And you are...?"

"Agent Dale!" The rookie shook Blubs's hand next, beaming. "Very pleased to meet you. I was just saying in the car—you have a beautiful town here, just beautiful."

"Wouldn't stop talking about it," Trigger muttered.

Blubs chuckled. "Why, thank you. We're quite proud of it ourselves."

Durland said, "Say, Agent Dale—don't you agents usually have tougher-sounding codenames?"

"Agent Clyde S. Dale. Like the horse."

"Ohhh. Yup, that'll do it."

"Sheriff Blubs," Powers said. "I trust you have the requested materials?"

"Right inside," Blubs said. "We've got the readings on last week's gravity anomaly from McGucket's scanners, and reports on this weekend's power surge."

"No overlap between the incidents?"

"None anyone here detected."

"Hmm. Has anything else strange happened since we were last in town?"

Blubs hesitated. "Well—never mind all that." He quickly shifted topics, "Say, I like your 'honk if you want to be arrested' bumper sticker." ("Oh is that what it says?" Durland asked.)

Agent Powers said solemnly, "I can get you the contact information of the shop where I bought it. It's a very nice small business run by art students."

"Would you? That'd be delightful."

Powers paused before following the cops and his agents into the police department, glancing out at Gravity Falls' town square—the modest little main street shops, the town hall, the statue of the town founder, the distinctive water tower with the faded muffin graffiti, and the familiar mountains surrounding the little valley town.

And then he let out a long, frustrated sigh.

"Fine," he muttered grumpily, glaring at the town as though it were an old rival as annoyed to see him as he was to see it. "Let's just get this over with."

He followed Blubs into the police department.

####

"Attention, everybody," Stan said, standing in the entryway with his fists on his hips, Soos beaming behind him. "I've got some great news!"

Abuelita and Bill glanced up from one of Abuelita's soap operas; Mabel and Dipper craned their necks to see Stan from where they were having dinner at the kitchen table.

Stan announced, "It's finally time!"

Dipper and Mabel blinked. Bill said, "Great. I'll get the ritual daggers, you can set up the blood red candles. Dolores?"

Abuelita said, "I will put out the good sacrifice altar." Bill laughed in delight.

"Yeah, yuck it up, you two," Stan said. "We're going fishing tomorrow! I've got the bait, I found everyone's rods, Soos and I patched up the old boat, I even—" He paused at the sound of the vending machine opening. "Hey! Ford!"

Ford ducked in from the gift shop. "What?" 

Stan chucked a hat at him. "I made you a fishing buddy hat! See, it's got your name! That's pretty good!"

"Oh." Ford inspected the letters haphazardly stitched onto the hat. "Why?"

"Fishing tomorrow! Half the summer's gone by, and we haven't gone fishing once! The guys from the lodge probably think I'm too ashamed to show my face. But it rained this weekend, the weather's just cleared up, now's the perfect time for fishing!"

"Oh," Ford said again, trying to drag his thoughts from magical tapes to fishing. "If you'd let me know earlier, I'd have built another fish-summoning beacon like the one on our boat." (Bill glanced curiously at Ford at the mention of an invention he didn't already know about; then stubbornly refused to be interested and dragged his gaze back to the TV.)

"No beacons! This isn't fishing for survival, this is about the sport! Asserting our manhood! Just the skill, strength, and patience of three men—and some women and children—against the lake!" (Soos beamed at being included amongst the men.)

Ford considered that. He didn't assert his manhood very often; usually he just sort of let his manhood hang around minding its own business, like an old cat that wants to be in the same room as you without socializing. It sounded like an intriguingly novel experience. "Okay, great. What time?"

"I want everyone on the road tomorrow morning! By six thirty at the latest."

The kids groaned.

"C'mon, dudes," Soos said encouragingly. "It'll be fun! After about three hours, once you're awake enough to think."

"No griping, we've gotta be there early to get a prime fishing spot," Stan said. "Tomorrow's a lodge fishing day. We're going home with a haul so big they'll be embarrassed they kicked me out!"

Dipper asked, "You mean the lodge for the Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel, right? Why'd they kick you out?"

Stan sighed, "Once the town found out about Ford, they realized I'd spent the last thirty years attending lodge meetings under his membership. Since I'd never undergone the—" He rolled his eyes and made finger quotes, "'sacred angler initiation rites,' they booted me. And they said I can't try to join again, just because of that one dumb little white lie! And my extensive criminal record."

Ford hurriedly crossed the living room to avoid blocking Abuelita's TV view. (Bill looked through him like he wasn't there.) "Stan got a lot more out of my membership than I did—once I'd finished my initiation I probably only ever attended three meetings. I tried to petition the Mackerels to let him rejoin."

"How'd they respond?" Mabel asked.

"They kicked me out too."

Bill scoffed. "Big deal! The Fishmasons and all their subordinate organizations are just a big boring social club that got you hotel discounts three hundred years ago. The mystique around them is more interesting than anything they actually do."

"Figuring that out is why I stopped attending after three meetings," Ford said. "I joined to learn about the dark secret underbelly of Western politics—not sit around eating charcuterie and fancy nuts while everyone talks about baseball and makes fun of me for not knowing what a fly ball is. It's a stupid term! Doesn't the ball always fly?"

"Really, they aren't even worth joining," said Bill Cipher, the only person to have ever been kicked out of seventeen separate Masonic lodges in seventeen separate bodies.

Reminded of the fancy nuts he was missing out on at this very second, Stan set his jaw in determination. "Yeah, well, they're a big boring social club that'll rue the day they kicked out Stan Pines! Out the door, six thirty, on the dot!"

"I don't have an alarm," Bill said. "Hey star girl, wake me at five."

Mabel shuddered at the thought of setting an alarm that early. "No way. You can borrow my radio."

"Hold on, I didn't say you're invited," Stan said. "We've already got a full boat! Me, my brother, the kids, and Soos and his girl. Nobody wants to sit on the lake with you for eight hours."

"I wanna sit on the lake with Bill!"

"Nobody but Mabel wants that."

"Relax! I don't want to sit on a boat with you underpainted clowns either," Bill said. "I just want to sit on the beach! I miss sunlight! Sunlight without being forced to hike through half the valley on no food or sleep."

(Ford decided that was his cue to make himself scarce. He scooted into the guest room.)

"Well," Stan said, "we're not staying thirty feet from the shore, we're not leaving anybody behind, and we don't trust you to stay put on the beach without your dumb magic bracelet—so how do you expect that to work."

"I'll just stay with Dolores."

Stan and Soos stared at Abuelita. Soos said, "Abuelita? Do you want to come?"

Abuelita considered it. "Sure. The weather is nice. I can catch up on my reading."

"Yes!" Bill hopped off the couch. "Then it's a plan!"

"Hey, hold on," Stan said as Bill breezed past him, "I didn't agree to—"

"Hey star girl!" Bill leaned into the kitchen. "Need your fashion services! I need a swimsuit before tomorrow."

Mabel gasped in delight. "What kind?"

"Whatever exposes the most skin without getting me arrested. I'm absorbing as much sunlight as possible."

"With sunscreen, right?" Soos said.

Bill turned and gave him a blank-faced stare.

Soos hopefully repeated, "With sunscreen?"

"Don't need it."

"You totally do, dude. Not many people talk about this? But having more melanin doesn't totally protect you from sun damage, it just slows it down," Soos said. "Trust me on this. When I was like eight, I went to this water park—

"Uh-huh, and three days later you were peeling off flakes of your own dead flesh," Bill said. "It's cute how you think you know more about humans from 23 years of passively being one than I do from 500,000 years of actively studying them."

"Oh."

"C'mon, star girl! No time to waste!" Bill grabbed Mabel's hand and tugged her off her chair.

"Wait, my sandwich—!" Mabel grabbed the rest of her dinner off her plate and shoved it in her mouth as Bill dragged her upstairs.

Abuelita shot him a dirty look as he passed, but turned back to her soap opera.

####

Just past five in the morning, Bill crept by the guest room door. He glanced through the wall as he passed; good, both of the Stans were in bed and sound asleep. Bill wouldn't have had a chance to get up to his mischief if Ford had decided to sleep downstairs.

He snuck behind the vending machine; paused to squint toward the future and confirm that when he looked at the stairs, he could only see himself using them anytime soon; then down to the elevator; and down, down to Ford's study.

Bill sighed in relief when the elevator slid open and he saw that Ford had left his study door ajar. He crept into the room, feet socked, hands gloved—Ford was the kind of paranoid to actually check for prints if he suspected anything, and Bill's triangular whorls were very distinctive—and looked through the objects piled on the shelves and furniture for any concealed sensors or cameras. The coast was clear.

He idly scanned the nearby shelves for any sign of his stolen time tape, didn't find it, but didn't expect to. That wasn't what he was here for.

He knelt in front of a half-disassembled filing cabinet, flipped through the files in the removed bottom drawer until he found several folders together about curses and hexes, and flipped through them until he found the one labeled "Curses & Hexes (w/ ingredients)". Good old Sixer, left everything exactly where Bill remembered it.

He rifled through the pages—"aha!"—until he found the paper he was looking for and pulled it out. Handwritten at the top of a ragged-edged piece of notebook paper were the words "Reverse Sunscreen". Bill read through the list of ingredients—"Oh, pepper juice, not pepper flakes, right."—then put the paper back.

He glanced back and forth between the past and present to ensure he put the files back exactly where he'd found them—again, considering Ford's paranoia, he might notice any difference.

And then he returned to the elevator and headed upstairs.

The whole time he was in the study, Bill didn't let himself glance at the back of the room where Ford's shrine to him used to be.

####

"Heya, pal," Bill said. "It's been a while! Where have you been hiding all summer?"

Gompers blinked up at Bill.

"I guess we both look different than we did the last time we met, huh? I think your makeover went better than mine, though! You didn't fall as far as I did." He didn't have as far to fall.

Gompers accepted the backhanded compliment with utter indifference.

"But hey, why talk about the past! Let's let bygones be bygones. Here." Bill knelt, pulled one of Ford's nutrition pills from the folds of his beach towel, and held it out. "A peace offering! A little snack for you."

Gompers eyed it warily.

"Come on, you've eaten worse things than this."

He delicately ate the pill out of Bill's hand.

"Thaaat's right. Tell me how you like that thing later."

Leaning on his car, Stan—the only other person who'd actually been ready to go at 6:30—looked over Bill's shirt and trout slippers, and asked warily, "You didn't forget that humans need to wear pants, right?"

Bill got to his feet, shoved his makeshift umbrella-cane under the same arm as his beach towel, and pulled up the hem of the puma shirt he'd stolen from the gift shop to reveal his bikini bottom. It was teal with little puffy gold triangles painted on. "Cover-up dress. Your arbitrary fashion rules are different for beaches."

Stan considered whether a t-shirt counted as a dress, decided he didn't know enough about dresses and he might as well give this one to Bill, and grunted. "Fine, you're legal."

"Am I free to go, officer?"

"Never compare me to a cop again."

"Stop acting like one!" Bill trotted off to his ride to wait for the other humans to assemble.

There wasn't room for all eight beachgoers in one vehicle; the Pines piled together in Stan's car, while the Ramirezes (including Melody—honorary future Ramirez—and Bill—magic braceleted to Abuelita) took Soos's truck. So that Abuelita didn't have to squeeze past the front seats into the back, Bill and Melody were assigned the back bench; when Bill greeted Melody and she only responded with a vague mumble and an averted gaze, he scooted closer to the middle of the bench, spread his knees to take up more space, and smugly pretended not to notice how Melody squeezed herself against the door.

By the time the Ramirez vehicle parked at the beach, the Pines family was already out of their car: Stan was glaring up the beach with his fists on his hips, the kids were unsuccessfully searching Mabel's supply bag for Dipper's sunscreen, and Ford was lingering back at the car, pretending to check the contents of their tackle box but actually trying to shake the sudden memory of weightlessness and water in his throat. As Bill passed, Ford muttered, "I'm surprised you wanted to get this close to the lake so soon. Considering." It had been less than a week since their joint near death experience.

"Why not? Nearly drowning was the most fun part of that hike." (Ford wondered whether that was a red flag, an underhanded comment about how unfun the rest of the hike had been, or just Bill being Bill; and, for his own peace of mind, decided it was probably the third thing.) "Looks like you got something fun out of the trip, too." Bill snapped the shoulder strap of Ford's waders.

Ford shoved Bill's hand away. "As long as I have them, I might as well use them."

When everyone caught up with Stan, he was scowling at four men, ages ranging from 50 to 80, wearing fishing vests and hats with the Holy Mackerel's distinctive stylized fish symbol. "Eugene," Stan muttered. "Eugene and his goons wanted to kick me out of the lodge for years. Just because I have a grating personality and am generally unpleasant to be around! And tried to get the lodge to pick a local affordable housing fund as our charity for fundraising one year!"

Ford gave Stan a surprised look. "You never mentioned you worked with an affordable housing charity."

"Yeah. The Compassionate Angel's Fund For Gravity Falls Tourism Business Owners Who Are Behind On Their Mortgage Payments."

Ford snorted. 

Bill said, "I think you should've gotten away with it just for being funny."

"Don't even look at them," Stan instructed the group. "These jerks aren't worth it." The collected group studiously avoided looking at the Mackerels, except Bill and Abuelita, who didn't care.

As they walked up the beach toward the pier and veered around the Mackerels, Stan suddenly stopped, turned straight toward them, and said loudly, "Why, Eugene! What a coincidence! I almost didn't notice you!"

A tall, elderly man with a fishing rod over one shoulder and a black wooden cane in his other hand glanced over at the Pines/Ramirez party. "Oh," he said, with a voice like he'd found a fly stuck in gum on his cane. "Hello, Stan-ley. We haven't seen you out on the lake this summer."

Stan laughed loudly, as if Eugene had told a hilarious joke. "Oh, that! I was just waiting for perfect fishing weather! I'm not about to waste my time out on the lake on a bad fishing day!" He gestured behind himself, "Besides, I had to wait until my whole family was free to come along."

(Soos elbowed Melody and whispered excitedly, "He called us his family!")

Stan clapped his hands proudly on Dipper and Mabel's shoulders—who looked like they hoped the sandy beach would swallow them whole—and said, "I don't see your family, Eugene, where are they?"

"Dead." With mournful dignity, Eugene said, "I outlived my wife and all three of my children. Remember? You ate potato chips during my daughter's funeral."

Stan opened his mouth, shut it, and said, "Was that the really boring one that went like an hour?"

Ford, who didn't always have the best social instincts but could tell when Stan had screwed up, started shooing the rest of the family away from the scene, elbowed Stan, and said, "Let's get to the boat. You wanted to get a prime fishing spot, right?"

Eugene looked at Ford. "Ah. You must be the real Stanford Pines?" he said. "So I'm assuming, anyway. Apparently it's hard to tell you two apart."

Stan scowled; but before he could retort, Bill pushed past him to butt into the conversation. "Is it ever! Listen, take it from someone who's made this mistake—you've got to count the fingers on these two, every time."

Eugene huffed sardonically. "So it seems." (Ford self-consciously hid his hands in his pockets and shot Bill a dark look as he shuffled off with the rest of the family.)

"Say, while I've got your attention—name's Goldie, by the way—I couldn't help but admire your cane!" He tapped the tip of his umbrella against Eugene's cane. "I'm in the market for an upgrade from this substitute I've been using! That's no blackwood, right? That looks like true ebony."

"Good eye," Eugene said, surprised. "Yes, genuine Gaboon ebony."

"Must've dropped a lot of gold on this thing," Bill said appreciatively. "You've gotta tell me where you got it."

"I'm afraid I don't remember off the top of my head..."

"That's fine! Look it up—" (he twisted around to speak over his shoulder as Stan grabbed his arm and dragged him away) "—I'm sure we'll meet again!"

About fifteen feet away, Stan growled, "What was that?"

"Networking. I've got plans for that guy," Bill said. "Hey, did you hear him? Gaboon ebony?" He laughed condescendingly. "Easiest way to make a guy look like a moron, start talking about 'true' ebonies. Didja know the word 'ebony' comes from Egyptian? And when they talked about 𓍁𓈖𓏭𓆱, they were talking about African blackwood. Wood so hard it sinks and you have to tool it like a metal! Gaboon ebony is a flimsy usurper!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"But you don't pretend you do, and that's what makes you better than that guy." Bill tugged Stan down by the shoulder. "Listen, Fisherman. I can't tell you where the fish are biting but I can tell you where they're swimming. It'll give you an advantage, but you'll need to do the rest."

Stan squinted mistrustfully at Bill. "What's the catch."

"The catch is you have to accept my help. Do you want it or not?"

"And why are you offering?"

"Because I think these lodge guys are a bunch of snobs. And they should've chosen your charity. It was funny."

That, plus Stan had been the most reluctant to let Bill live; Bill had to convince him he'd made the right choice.

Bill gave Stan directions to a bunch of fish he could see underwater by the Island Head Beast's right earhole; and then, his good deed for the day done, he headed off to claim a spot on the beach.

Ford had gone into Tate & Backle's to properly purchase the clothing they'd borrowed after the eclipse, and Soos was helping set Abuelita up with a low beach chair and a large umbrella. Bill smoothed out a patch of sand about ten feet from Abuelita so he could lay out his beach towel and dump his supplies for the day beside it. While Mabel and Melody got the boat ready, Dipper wandered around looking for sunscreen to borrow. He saw Bill's tube, snatched it without asking, and generously coated his arms, legs, and face. Bill fought back a grin and pretended not to notice.

He tossed aside his t-shirt and fish slippers, settled down on the towel in his bikini, carefully squeezed several horizontal lines of reverse sunscreen across the front of his abdomen and thighs, and drew a few vertical lines in between to break them up.

Ford trudged over from the bait shop to tell Bill, "I thought you'd like to know those ridiculous fish slippers were thirty dollars."

Bill laughed. "Whoa! Seems like a lot of money for some cheap novelty shoes! It's too bad you decided to trap me in a position where I'm too destitute and powerless to make my own purchases, isn't it?"

"All right, all right." Ford's gaze caught on the bruise-blue line discoloring the skin from Bill's left shoulder to his right hip—had he gotten injured during one of his hikes the past week? Or had that always been there? Ford didn't think he'd ever seen Bill's body shirtless, maybe it had always been here—but then he noticed Bill's lines of sunscreen and barked a laugh. "I suppose you're not planning to rub that in."

"Brilliant observation." Bill began smoothing down the lines with a finger, maintaining the pattern he'd drawn.

"You wanted to come out here to suntan? I'm sure you're already aware of the cancer risks from tanning."

"If I'm in this body long enough to get cancer, I'll welcome it." Bill lay down, laced his hands behind his head, and gave Ford an obnoxious smile. "Anyway, basal cell carcinomas are delicious. There's something kinda romantic about them, you know?"

Ford ruminated on that with thoughtful bafflement, shushed the voice in his head trying to point out that Bill was waving ever more red flags, and concluded that perhaps humans weren't meant to comprehend the romanticism of skin cancer. "Fine."

"What's everyone standing around for?" Stan asked, trudging up to Soos and Ford. "C'mon, we're burning daylight! Let's..." He trailed off, staring at Bill.

His bikini top consisted of two triangular red cups. Each cup had an enormous staring eye.

"See something ya like?" Bill asked dryly.

Stan quickly looked away. "Ugh. That's indecent."

"What is?"

"That—design!"

"What's indecent about eyeballs?"

"It looks like...!" He gestured vaguely but emphatically.

"What? What does it look like? Tell me what it looks like, Stanley."

"Never mind!" He turned away with a huff and muttered to Ford, "Can you believe him?"

"I honestly didn't notice anything until you pointed it out." Ford waved back at Bill dismissively as he followed Stan toward the boat. "Enjoy your sunburn."

"I will! I haven't had a good sunburn in centuries! That's one of the best features of earthling bodies!" Bill got comfortable and shut his eyes.

Soos finished getting Abuelita settled, headed toward the boat—but hesitated as he passed by Bill. Bill opened an eye a crack to glower up at him. "What?"

Soos mumbled, "You could've just told me you wanted to get sunburned. I mean—yesterday."

"But you didn't ask if I wanted a sunburn," Bill snapped. "You just assumed I didn't know how they work. And that's the point: you assumed I was stupid instead of considering that maybe you didn't know my plan."

"Oh. Uh... sorry." Soos rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't mean to make you feel stupid."

Bill's irritation flared higher. He sat up. "I didn't say you made me feel stupid," he hissed, voice low, talking fast. "There's nothing that you could do to make me feel stupid. But that doesn't mean you aren't treating me like I'm stupid, does it?"

"Whoa—!" Soos raised his hands defensively. "Chill, dawg. I didn't mean—"

"What's the phrase, do ut des? 'Do unto others'? Your species's phrase. Don't treat me like I'm stupider than you and I won't have to return the favor—sound like a fair deal, Question Mark?" Bill stared up at him challengingly, brows raised.

"But th— I w— You..." Soos's protests that he'd been doing nothing but trying to do-unto-others Bill got jumbled all around under the force of Bill's spotlight glare. His shoulders slumped. "Sure," he mumbled. "Sorry."

"Good." Bill lay back down. "Get out of my sun."

Soos trudged away; and Bill took a deep breath, tried to get in a meditative mindset where he could shut off his mind, and focused on the feeling of sunshine on his body.

He'd just about managed to drop into a proper trance when Abuelita called sweetly, "Bill? Would you grab a bottle of water for me?"

His face twitched toward a frown as he was dragged back to full consciousness. Hadn't Soos left them close enough for her? Some grandson. 

"Bill?"

He tried to think of an excuse to stay where he was; then growled in irritation and sat up. "Okay, okay." He couldn't afford to offend the chef with access to the poisons.

The bag with the water bottles was right behind Abuelita's elbow; but maybe her joints were stiff. Bill knelt to unzip the bag. "Another bodice ripper?" he asked, glancing at her book. 

"A powerful sorceress queen has been captured by her enemies. She just learned they are led by her former apprentice."

"I can sympathize with that." Bill dragged the bag up next to Abuelita's knee so he wouldn't need to grab another bottle for her later. "Who's the love interest—guileless guard? Heroic rescuer?"

"The apprentice."

"Sympathy's gone." Bill glanced toward the boat to see what the rest of the household was up to.

They'd already reached the spot Bill had indicated and started fishing. Soos was excitedly reeling in his line; the boat listed to one side as everyone crowded around him to see what he'd brought up. Stan dipped a net in the water to scoop up his catch.

It was a boot.

Everyone's faces fell in disappointment.

Except for Ford's, who gleefully snatched up the boot he'd kicked off during the eclipse when he fell in the lake. He dumped the water out of his boot, switched places with Soos, and began fishing the same spot.

Abuelita said, "My grandson has been very nice to you."

Bill looked at her warily.

"Hasn't he?" She had a polite smile and daggers in her eyes.

He had the oddest feeling that this was going somewhere dangerous. "Yeah yeah yeah, sure he has," Bill said. "Nothing but nice. I think I'll take a little stroll, stretch these legs! See ya!" He stood to escape.

He only got a step away before the enchanted bracelet pulled tight around his wrist. He turned around to stare in amazement.

Abuelita had wrapped the slack of the bracelet thread around her hand.

Bill had made a severe miscalculation.

"So," Abuelita said. "Why are you being mean to my grandson." It was a trap all along. She'd agreed to be handcuffed to him so she could corner him for an interrogation.

"Whaaat," Bill said. "Me? No way! I'd never!"

Abuelita stared at him patiently.

"I don't even talk to him," Bill said, trying to think of a conversational escape route.

She raised a brow.

Got it. "He's just too nice, you see! I don't know how to talk to a guy that nice," he lied. "Makes things awkward!" How could any grandmother complain about her grandson being called too nice? "Yeah—not Jesús's fault at all. I don't hold it against him."

"Ah," Abuelita said, "you aren't used to people being nice to you?"

Sure, they could go with that, try to get him some pity. "Yeah! You know how it is. King of Nightmares, scourge of the multiverse—I'm not a popular guy."

"But you have friends, don't you? The scary ones you brought with you to town last year? Are they not nice to you?"

Bill hesitated, trying to figure out his story now. "Sure—they're nice to me. They're my friends! They love me! They'd do anything I say!"

"Oh. So, you're only comfortable with people being nice to you when you can control them." Abuelita smiled sweetly.

Swift, efficient, and brutal. Bill gaped at her.

"I'm glad you have nothing against Soos," she said. "And that you won't be rude to him."

Bill snapped his mouth shut. "Of course not." He gave Abuelita a tight smile. Played like a fiddle. Even though he'd been lying, she still managed to make him look like a loser. How embarrassing. "If you don't mind, I've got a sunburn to get back to."

"I'm not stopping you." She let the extra thread on the bracelet cuffs unwind from her hand and drop to the sand.

Bill trudged back to his towel, snapping as he went, "I hope this is one of those books you hate where the couple only gets hitched because they've got a baby coming."

"The sorceress has magical birth control."

"Course she does."

Bill flopped onto his towel again and stared at the sky. Ouch.

####

(I've been promising Agent Powers AND a beach episode for ages, and we finally get to them both at the same time. Let me know what y'all think so for!)

[yoon-kooks]

paired & pierced | jjk

⛓️pairing: hotnerd!jungkook x popular!reader

⛓️genre: smut, fluff, college!au

⛓️summary: When your professor assigns a collaborative midterm project, you’re paired up with Jeon Jungkook, the quiet grumpy smartass who keeps to himself and doesn’t fuck with popular kids like you. If you can win him over, he might give you a taste of the tatted and pierced body he’s carefully tucked away beneath those oversized hoodies.

⛓️word count: 5.3k

⛓️warnings: dom!jungkook, sub!reader, unprotected rough sex, daddy kink, good girl kink, she's tight, he's big, fingering, mutual masturbation, begging, edging, orgasm denial, cumshot, dick tattoo, not the soft jjk i usually write

⛓️p&p masterlist⛓️

a/n: this is a request from @screamertannie !💖 im not used to writing dom/sub stuff but i tried!! paired & puppy-eyed is jungkook's pov✨

It’s become somewhat of a pre-class ritual for the gals to gather around your desk to discuss anything from the latest frat party hookups to guessing the lengths of your male classmates. The gossip doesn’t particularly interest you, and you’ve never once contributed to the cock talk. But who are you to tell them to leave you alone? If people naturally gravitate toward you, you should see it as a good thing.

“I heard that hottie Tim is single again,” Blue Hair Girl says, turning to you with the curious eyes of a true gossiper. “Y/N, you were hanging out with him at that party last weekend, weren’t you? Is he as big as they say?”

“Didn’t see it.” And you’re glad you didn’t. You wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt when he approached you, but he kept pulling you in for PDA conveniently when his ex was in sight. He was clearly using you for something you want no part of. In the end, you let him off easy by saying you had to leave early to feed your fish (you don’t have any fucking fish).

“Aw, that’s too bad.” Blue Hair Girl and the others give you a few pouty frowns.

“Yep.” Not really.

“Well, speaking of hotties, I’ve been trying to get Hoseok’s attention for a week now,” Nose Ring Girl sighs. She suddenly grasps your hands and pleads, “Wait, Y/N, you’re friends with him, right? Think you can give me his number?”

You wouldn’t call Hoseok a “friend”—he’s more of an acquaintance you happen to be friendly with, much like everyone sitting around you. But you do have his number. You have a lot of people’s numbers on your phone even though you can’t match any of their names to their faces.

“Here.” You flash your phone screen with Hoseok’s contact info before Nose Ring Girl. Her eyes light up like fireworks.

“Thank you so much, Y/N! You’re the best!” she squeals.

Toward the end of class, your professor announces something that makes your stomach turn.

“The midterm will be a partner project where you have to debug the code I assign to you and add on to it in a creative way,” she explains. “And because I’m nice, I’ll let everyone choose their own partners. Please let me know who you’ll be working with before taking off.”

You hate this. You’re surprisingly okay about the debugging part because the masochist in you kind of enjoys it, but you’re not okay with the partner part. When it comes to choosing partners, it never ends well for you. Because despite how many people you surround yourself with, you always struggle to find someone who chooses you before anyone else. 

You’re no one’s number one.

This time is no different. The girls who were so happy to be gossiping at your desk an hour ago are partnering up with one another on the other side of the room. Among them, Nose Ring Girl doesn’t appear to have coupled up yet, so she might be your only shot. Besides, you did her a favor earlier by giving her Hoseok’s number. The least she can do is partner up with you.

“Y/N, guess what?” She skips over to your desk with a big fat smile on her face. “I just texted Hoseok, and he asked to partner up with me. It’s all thanks to you, babe!”

“Oh, cool.” You try not to sound so disheartened.

She gives you a quick hug before heading back to the boy you indirectly set her up with. You’re happy for her, but you’d be lying if you said it didn’t suck. Whether intentional or not, it feels like everyone who comes near you just wants something from you—love advice, a boy’s number, PDA to make their ex jealous, or even answers to the homework—which is fine to an extent. The problem is that people keep taking, and you’re tired of not even getting the bare minimum in return.

To top it all off, Big Tim is headed your way. Yes, you want a partner. No, it’s not going to be him. You’ll pick literally anyone else in the class over him. The question is: who else doesn’t have a partner yet? People are paired up left and right. 

Except for maybe the boy sleeping in the seat right next to you.

“Jungkook,” you say in a half-hushed half-hurried voice. The boy doesn’t move an inch. Maybe he’s dead.

You hop out of your chair, stand in front of his desk, and tap on the wooden surface in front of his face. Still no response.

Aware that Big Tim is inching his way closer, you crouch down to hide as if that’ll buy you more time. The boy in front of you needs to wake up right now.

You reach toward his slumped-over body and peel off his hood. There’s a good chance he isn’t dead and just didn’t hear you because he had earbuds in or something. You hope.

No earbuds. But you do find something worth noting—a trail of empty piercing holes up his earlobe. You don’t know Jungkook all that well, but he’s been in a bunch of your comp sci classes and you’ve never seen any piercings on him. You’d remember something like that because you’re a huge sucker for boys covered in piercings and body art. All you remember is that he’s quiet and always gets the highest grades on exams because he’s a genius or whatever.

“Hey Jungkook,” you whisper into his ear and tap one of his fingers. A sleepy eye finally peeks at you. Thank god he isn’t dead. “Wanna be partners?”

He sits up slowly, adjusts his glasses, and looks around the classroom before turning back to your puppy eyes. “Sure, I guess.”

“Good, good,” you sing, scurrying back to your seat. Partner secured. Mission accomplished. Just in the nick of time.

“Y/N, still looking for a partner?” Big Tim asks at your desk.

“I’m actually partnered up with Jungkook, sorry.” You give an apologetic smile. You really need to stop that. If you had just been brutally honest with him the other day at the party, he wouldn’t be here bugging you now.

“That kid asked you to be his partner?” He points a finger at “that kid” who appears to have gone back to sleep.

You nod even though you were the one who technically asked Jungkook.

“And you said yes?”

You nod again. Big Tim continues to stare as if he’s waiting for you to abandon Jungkook for him. Maybe if he wasn’t such an asshole in the first place, you wouldn't be actively avoiding him like the plague. He had his chance.

After several awkward seconds, he finally backs off and Jungkook rises from the dead once more.

“Why didn’t you just partner up with that other guy? It sounded like he wanted to work with you,” Jungkook yawns as he fluffs his bedhead around. He looks so nice and toasty in that hoodie. No wonder why he falls asleep in class so easily.

“That’s not what he wanted.” He wanted to use you to hurt someone else. And you don’t want to be taken advantage of anymore.

“What about everyone else? Aren’t you friends with everyone here?” That’s just the illusion you’ve created. It feels so fake.

You shake your head. “Let’s just say, if a house were on fire and these people had a choice to save either me or one of their actual friends, I’d burn down with the house 10/10 times.”

“And who would you save?” he challenges you. That’s an easy question.

“No one.”

“Good answer.” The edge of his lips curves upward ever so slightly. “Alright, if it’s cool with you, I’ll just do the project myself and slap your name on it. Shouldn’t take me longer than an hour.”

“Wait, I wanna contribute too, you know,” you argue. He might be a smartypants, but you’re not the type of person to slack off and make him do all the work. You wouldn’t be surprised if other people take advantage of him on group projects like this. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t even bother with fake social interactions with peers the way you do. You admire him for that. “We should meet up and work on it together over the weekend.”

“I’m busy,” he says. Bullshit. You can tell when people make up excuses to get out of things because you’re guilty of it too. The difference is that Jungkook doesn’t sugarcoat it with coverup stories like needing to feed your nonexistent fish. Why do you find that so attractive?

“Busy with what?” You flutter your eyelashes and challenge him the way he challenged you. The fact that you’re fighting over the right to help with the project is both silly and refreshing. Usually, it’s the opposite where you’re forced to plead with your group to pull their own weight. But here you are, practically begging the boy to let you do some coding with him. Him pushing you away is a huge turn-on.

“My newborn.” He says it with such a straight face that you take his word for it.

“You have a child?” Your eyes sparkle. That either makes him a young single dilf or a committed family man you probably shouldn’t be batting your eyes at. For everyone’s sake, you hope it’s the former. “If it’s easier for you and the little one, we can work at your place?”

For a long while, he just blinks at you like you’ve said something horribly wrong. Oh no. Maybe he’s still with the kid’s mom and now he thinks you’re trying to invade their space and be some kind of homewrecker.

“I was just fucking with you…” he admits. Why does it feel like he has secondhand embarrassment from your gullible ass? It’s fine, though. You much prefer being gullible over the homewrecker angle. Then he inputs his number and address into your phone. “But if it makes you feel better, come babysit my kid tomorrow.”

The next day, you wake up a little earlier, dress a little cuter, and feel a little more excited than usual. You’re usually indifferent (if not stressed) about hangouts and parties, but Jungkook is different. It’s fun talking to him, and you don’t have to put on a fake smile around him. He’s even got that hot grumpy boy vibe that you’re determined to win over.

After knocking on his door, you wait for a good minute but there’s no response. Maybe he’s still asleep or butt-naked in the shower. You would’ve messaged him that you were on the way, but you were scared he might have second thoughts and cancel the meetup altogether. You’ve lost count of how many times that’s happened to you in your college career.

Just as you lift your fist to knock again, the door swings open. The boy who stands before you has a full sleeve of tattoos, too many piercings to count, a whole man bun, and a handsome face that looks exactly like Jeon Jungkook’s. You didn’t know he had an identical twin with a totally different style. If he wore glasses with a hoodie and took the man bun and piercings out, he’d literally be your quiet neighbor from coding class. It’s fascinating.

“Isn’t it common courtesy to give someone a heads-up before showing up at their door?” he says with his phone in hand. Same grouchy attitude though. You love it.

Wait. You suddenly remember all those mysterious piercing holes you discovered on Jungkook’s ear less than 24 hours ago.

“Why do you look like that?” You point a finger at him as if your question isn’t already rude enough. Maybe you should rephrase it. “I mean, if I’d given you a heads-up, would you have thrown on a hoodie and removed all your piercings before I got here?”

“Maybe.” He lets you into his home, but you’re more concerned about all the sick art on his arm. If he ever rolled up his sleeves in class, you know you’d be too distracted to focus on the lecture. Perhaps that’s why he keeps it all hidden. He’s just looking out for you and your higher education. Yeah right.

“Why do you hide all of this at school?” You’re sure everyone would be coming to you for his number if they knew what he was hiding up his sleeve.

“Tattoos and piercings give people something to talk about,” he explains. “And I’m not really a fan of compliments or small talk.”

Oh. He’s aware of the physical and emotional impact his body art would have on anyone lucky enough to see it with their own eyes. Your poor body is already aching to see more.

“Fine, I won’t talk about how pretty I think your tattoos are.” Or about how hot you find his lip piercing. You’ve always wanted to kiss someone with a lip ring. You’re feeling pouty all of a sudden so you bring out the puppy eyes again.

He studies the way you shamelessly work your charm on him, and you wonder if he picks up on the temptation in your pupils. “I’ll grant you permission to give one single compliment,” he huffs, finally giving in.

You’re quick to wrap your eager paws around his arm and examine it like it’s your most prized possession. The problem is, he has way too many tatts and piercings to fit into a single compliment. You could write a whole essay expressing your love for each piece you see, and that doesn’t even include the ones still buried beneath his clothes.

“Well? Are you gonna fangirl over my tattoos or just keep fondling my arm?” Funny how he’s acting all impatient and bothered by the “fondling” but doesn’t shrug you off of him. In fact, he was the one who lent you his arm in the first place!

“I wish I could see all of them.” That’s your compliment. Because you love the lusting implications behind it.

You flick your eyes up from his arm to his face, and sure enough, he’s got his eye on you as well. It’s almost a crime that it took this long for the two of you to come together like this. You’ve been neighbors in coding class for the past few weeks, and yet you were too busy with the popular crowd and he was too busy not giving a fuck about them. All you want to do now is make up for lost time.

The only thing that distracts you from the boy is a puffy tail minding its own business in the corner of your eye. When you look down, you’re pleasantly surprised to see the tiniest fluffball dropping a mouse toy at your feet.

“Ooh kitty,” you squeal as you squat down to play with the pink-nosed darling. It’s so tiny it fits in the palm of your hand, and its meows sound more like squeaks. “Wait, is this the newborn you were talking about?”

Jungkook nods. “I found her about a week ago and she’s been a menace ever since. Especially in the middle of the night.”

“Is that why you’ve been falling asleep in class lately?” You like the thought of him scolding the kitten for zooming around at 4AM only to fall back asleep with her on his chest. You’ll take a cat dilf any day.

“Yeah. But it also doesn’t help that the professor never says anything important.” He picks up the mouse toy and drops it off with her stash of goodies including a pink bed, a pink blanket, and a pink bunny plushie. The kitten hops into the bed, cuddles up with her bunny, and has the boy cover her up with the blanket. What a spoiled little thing. “So what’s this project about again?”

“You’d know if you were listening!” Gosh, you can’t stand smart people who sleep through every lecture and still come out on top while you’re taking notes and working your ass off. You still want to fuck him though.

“I’m just fucking with you again.” He finally cracks a whole ass smile and it’s beautiful. You’re mesmerized by it as he scoots you over to the computer in his room. “I already finished it, by the way.”

So much for fulfilling your dreams of coding with an exceptionally handsome boy. With a dramatic sigh of disappointment, you run the program on his screen.

As expected, it runs smoothly, free of any bugs. He even threw in an interactive portion with a sleeping kitty. Total cat dad vibes. It’s great, and there’s really no need for you to tamper with the work he’s done. But you refuse to give him the satisfaction of being the one to carry you on this project. Besides, you have an idea of how you can spice up the program and expand on the kitty part.

You spend a good amount of time going through the code line-by-line and inserting small bits here and there. Once you get to the kitty part, you add in a function to wake up the cat and have it start dancing around to a few different songs from your favorite kpop group. When it’s all set, you run it back, earn Jungkook’s stamp of approval, and submit it for your professor to grade.

“Are you sure that Jim guy wasn’t trying to be your partner just to get a good grade? Nerd.” He leans on the chair over your shoulder. You’d correct him on Big Tim’s name, but you’re too focused on the way he looks at you with such gorgeous dark eyes.

“If that were the case, he would’ve asked for a threesome with you too, Nerd,” you fire back. This is the kind of banter that results from putting two smartasses and an immense amount of sexual tension in the same room together. You want more of it.

“Not particularly interested in a threesome with him,” he says rather casually. “Doubt you would be either, judging by that game of dodgeball you were playing yesterday.”

“Well yeah, he’s kind of an asshole.” You shudder at the thought of almost being stuck as Big Tim’s partner. It’s thanks to Jungkook that you escaped that fate. 

“Why do you hang out with those people anyway?” He spins your chair around to face outward and lays himself down on his bed next to the kitten who just woke up from her nap. She’s cleaning her paws like a good girl.

“I know I have a lot of shallow connections, but I figure if I surround myself with enough people, I’ll eventually have to run into someone I genuinely like, right?” You hop out of the chair, sit your ass on the edge of the bed, and convince yourself it’s to play with the kitty. She jumps down right away to catch a fly but you don’t chase after her.

“Found anyone yet?” he asks, gazing up at the ceiling like it’s the night sky. What did you ever do to deserve seeing this handsome boy and his tattoos all laid out on the bed like this? You’d do it a million more times.

“There might be a boy I’m interested in,” you hum.

“I bet it’s Jim, isn’t it?” he laughs. Why is “Jim” the one name this guy knows from your class? “You know, like a passionate love-hate type thing?”

“Fuck no.” You shimmy your ass closer to him and block his scenic view of the ceiling with your face. Now it’s you he’s gazing up at. You’re free to admire the tempting ring around his soft lip, the glimmering piercing through his brow, and all his beautiful features that have drawn you to him. You look him in the eye and lie because you know he already knows the truth. “Never mind, it’s no one.”

“Really?” All of a sudden, he pulls your body down against the mattress and climbs on top of you. One hand holds your wrists above your head while the other caresses your cheek. He leans in close but stops half a centimeter from your lips. “I was under the impression you were kind of into me.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You were begging to work on this project with me yesterday, fondling my arm as soon as you got here, practically eyefucking me a minute ago,” he pauses as his hand unzips your jeans and presses into the folds between your legs. “And you’re pretty wet for me right now.”

You want to lunge at him and devour his lips to prove how right he is, but your arms are still being held captive. He smirks at your failed attempt to bite him. For now, you have to settle for squeezing your thighs against his hand to get the tiniest bit of stimulation. 

“So if it’s not me, who’s this boy you’re interested in?” he whispers into your ear as you feel his hand slipping out from your pleasure spot. “I won’t continue until I get an answer.”

It’d be kinda badass if you had the willpower to keep your lips sealed for at least a minute, but you give in after 0.3 seconds. You never had a fighting chance anyway. “It’s you, Jungkook.”

He smashes his lips against yours, his tongue practically down your throat when he says, “Good girl.”

The ring around his lower lip is cold to the touch, but you keep going in for more. You love the way he tastes—like sweet alcohol that encourages you to keep indulging in the high. He’s so addicting.

At the same time, he helps you kick off your jeans and slides his whole hand back into your panties. He swirls his fingers around, coating them in your lust before rubbing over your clit. The jolt of pleasure draws a soft moan from your mouth and gets your body nice and hot. Normally, you’d be eager to get your hands back to join in on the fun, but the boy somehow knows exactly how you like being touched and toyed with. Plus, you kinda like the idea of being so helpless beneath him.

Eventually, your panties come off, followed by your shirt and his. You get the perfect view of his full sleeve as well as the big shark tattoo on his ribs. If you weren’t so horny, you’d drop everything to analyze each piece in depth. But right now, all your weak mind can handle is admiring the shark.

As soon as he lets your wrists breathe, you run your fingers along his ribs, tracing the tattoo from head to tail. The lines are so smooth and pretty. He has great taste in art and apex predators. You’ll have to ask him for the artist later so you can get yourself a baby shark at your hip.

“Got any others I should know of?” you ask with two paws ready to tear his black jeans off of him. 

“Just one.” He presses his face into the crook of your neck and sucks hard to mark you as his. You can’t wait for Big Tim to see it on Monday. “You’re gonna have to earn it, though.”

You’ll do anything to get his pants off and find that final tattoo. You need to see his bare body in full, and you have an idea of how to earn it.

“Please?” For the hundredth time, you bring out the puppy eyes because that might be his only weakness. His body twitches a tiny bit, but you realize you have to take it up a notch with the dilf angle. “Please, daddy?”

The word not only makes your face hot but also taunts the bulge ready to burst out of his pants. He watches with immense focus as you unbuckle him and free his hard cock from all the fabric standing in its way. 

You assumed you would’ve had to search his skin for that last tattoo, but it’s staring you right in the face. A fat snake slithers along his cock, tempting you to stroke it with its seductive glare. You’d appreciate the design more if not for the fact that snakes eat cute little lizards like salamanders and chameleons, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t incredibly hot.

Without thinking, you wrap both of your hands around his length the same way you had with his arm. Jungkook would probably use the term “fondling” again if he wasn’t so entranced by your touch. If he’s like this with just your hands, you wonder how he’d fare with your whole mouth around him.

Just as you lick the drool from the corner of your lips, he lifts your chin up to meet his gaze. “If you do good today, I’ll let you have a taste tomorrow, yeah?”

Tomorrow is too long of a wait for a starved babe like yourself, but you nod anyway because you want to be praised again.

“Good girl,” he purrs as he removes the final piece of clothing over your breasts. Then he leans back to get your whole bare body in sight. “Can you show daddy how you want to be touched?”

You start by squeezing your breasts together and working your way down to your core. Your legs spread themselves open and your fingers glide right in. One hand pumps in and out of your hole while the other strokes your clit. You’re so wet you’d think you’d already orgasmed several times if you didn’t know any better.

With shy eyes, you glance up at the boy watching your every move. This is the first time someone has ever dropped everything to watch you touch yourself. You usually just tease your clit a little if the cock inside you isn’t enough, but never once has a boy given you his full attention like this. He might not take any notes in class, but he’s definitely jotting a few things down for the next time it’s his turn to play with you.

Your fingers speed up and your panting gets louder. How long is he going to make you suffer before he takes over? The one thing you need right now is for him to fuck you senseless.

But instead of getting handsy with you, he grabs his cock and forces you to watch—not that you’d look away anyway.

“Do you want this cock inside your tight little pussy?” he says rather calmly as he jerks off.

You nod as a gasp for more pleasure escapes you.

“Beg for it.”

“Please daddy,” you whimper, giving up the last of your dignity. “I need you inside my tight little pussy.”

“Such a good girl.” He throws your legs over his shoulders and pushes himself into you. It’s definitely a tight fit, but your body adjusts to him accordingly. You almost lose it when you hear the way he grunts your name. 

As he pounds in and out of you, you feel yourself getting dangerously close. “Jungkook, I’m—”

“Don’t cum yet,” he warns. “Not until I say so.”

You wish you’d known he was the type to torture you for one single release. If you’d known sooner, you would’ve tried to pace yourself. Now you’re stuck on the edge without permission to orgasm. You love it here.

In the meantime, he gives you some more sloppy kisses. His tongue doesn’t have to fight for dominance over your docile one, but he’s certainly not holding back. That, in combination with the forceful thrusting down below, is your definition of the best rough sex.

At some point, the pleasure begins to melt altogether into a foggy haze of feral lust. Your moans have been reduced to a broken record machine, and your poor body is just waiting to hear the word to finally hit its high. You don’t even know how much time has passed.

“You poor thing,” he growls into your mouth. On pure instinct, you tighten around him and feel him tense up. “Do you enjoy it when I tease you like this?”

You nod without thinking too hard about it.

“Think you can go another hour?”

Hell no, but you nod anyway.

“I’m not that mean,” he chuckles as his hands slide up and down your limp legs. “But good to know.”

He quickens the pace to build the pleasure back up with you still so tight around him. Your obnoxious moans and whimpers give porn star vibes. He better let you get your release soon if he doesn’t want any complaints from his neighbors.

“Please, Jungkook, I can’t—” you gasp, biting back the impending wave of pleasure. Your claw marks are etched into his ribs. “Please let me cum.”

Satisfied with your begging, he nods with the cockiest smile you’ve ever seen and gives you the okay. It feels like your whole body breaks into a million pieces of pure pleasure. Your back arches, your walls tighten even more around him, and your chest heaves up and down as you ride the wave out.

Not long after, he pulls out and pumps his fat cock over your breasts until they’re covered in his lust like two glazed donuts. He admires your glossy worn-out body for a good while before tossing you a hand towel to clean up. You feel timid and small all of a sudden. What if there’s nothing left to say after the excitement of sex has come and gone? What if he shrugs you aside like everyone else does once they get what they want from you?

“Did you really call me daddy?” He throws his pants back on and joins you back on the bed. You can tell he’s trying his best to hide a smile, but you see through him. It’s adorable.

“I thought you were into it, no?” Your face is flushed with heat again as you slip back into your outfit.

“It’s cute coming from you, I guess,” he shrugs as if he’s not aware of how weak he is to your baby girl charm. “I was just going with it because you said it first.”

“Well if you don’t like it, I won’t say it next time.” You give him a hmph for extra emphasis.

“I didn’t say that,” he clarifies, almost a little too quickly. You knew it. 

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Your voice is soft.

“Go for it.”

“Why did you invite me over even though you finished most of the project yourself?” It’s been in the back of your mind all day, although you did shove it away during the sex.

“Well, my little demon cat kept me up all night so I thought I might as well work on it. And you were hard set on coming here, weren’t you?” he says. You nod for him to continue. “But also, I wanted you to know that there’s at least one person in our class who’d save you from that house on fire.”

He’d choose you. That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to you.

“Yeah, but you hate everyone else, so I’m your only option.” Your smartass can’t help but point out the flaw in his statement. If anything, it’s you challenging him one last time.

“Maybe you’re the only option that matters,” he hums to himself as if those words don’t mean a thing. Who knew a grumpy boy could say such soft things? And who knew you’d fall for it? 

If a hundred shallow friendships is what it took to bring you to this moment—this boy on this bed—then you’re glad you took that route. And you’re even happier that that route ends where this new one begins.

[ssivinee]

✧Elapsed✧

BEBE! Bada Lee x F Reader: Two girls whose families were close at one point, but when their families lost touch, the girls almost forgot the other existed. You are just in time for their party, where you will perform and meet up with the past.

Word Count: 5k

Note: Tatter is portrayed as a MAJOR bitch in this so PLEASE do not take this seriously. this one has also been in my drafts for so long. OH and pov switches in this🤓. everyone's ages are also adjusted to the early 20s. the reader is older than Bada.

TW: Pertains smoking, alcohol usage, catholic religion?????

ANNOUNCEMENT: Reqs are closed for now!

Character Vision Board

"Are you telling me you came home last night, and the first thing you did was party with Haechan?" Yena asks as she sits on your bed with Yunah sitting at your desk, continuing to study for her finals. "I couldn't help it, okay? He asked me while picking me up, and I just went for it."

"Let her be. She came back from a work trip, dude," Yunah rolled her eyes at her sister. 

"This is why you never ask Haechan for a favor. You're just gonna party at the end of the day."

You begin to text your cousin as you laugh at the two girls.

This made you laugh. "Dude, these finals are gonna kick my ass; I can already feel it in my bootyhole," Yunah complains, and while her sister gives her a disgusted face, you stifle a laugh, just staring at the two.

"I'm gonna have to head out soon, but you two can just wait for Jieun unnie if you want?" "Nah, I wanna study in the comfort of my room."

"Well, I have to make up a choreo for this week's dance class, so I'm just gonna head out as well."

The sisters began to pack and head out, hugging you as they exited the apartment. You started to change into a black velvet tracksuit set with just a white tank top underneath, then put on some slides as you drove to the studio.

When entering the building, you checked in and went to the room to see Soobin and Jihoon chilling on the black couch. "Hey~ Welcome back," Soobin hugs you as Jihoon continues writing in his notebook. "You can't even look away from the lyrics FOR TEN SECONDS to greet me, your ass," you say as he feels a slap on his head, forcing his cap downward, causing him to sigh.

"My bad, I've been struggling with this song and must finish it by Friday."

"When are you never struggling, dude?" You question as you tie your hair up into a messy bun. With the statement, Hoon flicks you off, causing a laugh to arise. "All jokes aside, why do you need it done by Friday? You never have a deadline for your music."

"It's for Mrs. Lee's birthday party," Soobin says casually, but you grow shocked at the familiar surname. "The Lees?"

"Bada reached out to me through Instagram, telling me she wanted a mini-concert for the surprise birthday party."

You think for a second. You remembered the girl's name but had not heard it for years.

The memories of hanging out with her often were there when you were kids since your families were close, but as you grew up, both sides drifted apart for some unknown reason.

"They said we're all invited too," Jihoon states while quickly writing notes. "Is that so?" You ask, confused, but the two nod in confirmation. 

"Well, this weekend is gonna be interesting."

A WEEK BEFORE...

"So why is she coming out with us later rather than now?" Minah questions as she points at me as Bada paces around the room. "She's preparing for her mom's birthday party... Have you not been listening to her the past few weeks?" Lusher counters at the girl, pairing it with a massive eye roll.

"I have to get the invitations out and find some music," Bada mumbled, biting her lip in anxiety. "You still haven't found anyone?" Tatter asks her, and she shakes her head, "Why not try asking Park Jihoon?"

The tall dancer stares at her with a puzzled look as she shows her phone, "Park who?"

"You don't know Park Jihoon?" CheChe asks the older while thumping her forehead. "She barely knows anybody but us. What did you guys expect?" Minah points out while applying her gloss.

"Jihoon is super known on campus for his music. He has songs that aren't provocative, and he does small concerts at parties if you ask and pay him."

Kyma explains as you begin playing a few songs that didn't have the explicit next to them, and Bada admits that she found a good tracklist for the party already, plus she thought her mom would like it. "Alright, I guess I have to reach out."

She DMs Jihoon on Twitter, and thankfully, he responds within a minute.

"Well, he said yes, quick," She told the girls, and Minah shrieked. "We really get to meet Jihoon???" Lusher asks, almost as excited. "Yeah, and he says I don't even have to pay him; he just asked to bring his partners and friends."

"So strangers? Maybe you should ask him for names," Sowoen shares worryingly, and Bada agrees, going back to texting him. 

While waiting for Jihoon's list, Bada returned to her computer, checked the lists of people, and sent out invites. That was until her phone got a notification. Since Tatter had her face ID on the phone, she opened it immediately to see Jihoon's friends.

"Bada... you're gonna have to see this," Tatter tells her surprisingly, causing the other girls to look at us curiously.

She rushingly checked the DM to find a list of nine names and saw familiar ones among the eight. "Choi's? Like the ones that used to hang out with us years ago?" Tatter takes Bada's phone and checks the first user, eyes widening. "Is this the Gyuhan Minhyun-oppa used to hang out with?"

The latter grabs the phone out of her hands and looks at the page. "Holy shit, no way," as soon as Tatter connected the dots, Bada checked their names on Instagram. She kept scrolling down to see the final one. "Y/n..." The page was private, but she would always remember that girl.

"Choi Y/n??? As in, the kid you used to hang with?" Tatter asked again as she checked the phone. Bada spaced off, trying to remember my last memory with the girl.

FLASHBACK

"Okay, so we're gonna have the girls line up and hold the basket of flowers; they'll slowly make their way to the altar," the project leader told the families, and the girls could be seen in pretty dresses.

It was for a holiday at church, and the girls had to dress up and get all pretty to walk around the church. Almost all the families were there, but they were missing one. You sat next to Yunah, wearing a velvet pale yellow dress with a white cardigan, while your cousin wore a long sage green dress as Yun was taller then.

Every family was only waiting for one more group, the Lee’s. They were a well-known family who always helped with fundraisers and beauty pageants. So everyone knew that the youngest girl in their family would wear the prettiest dress by far, and they weren't wrong.

Bada Lee entered in a light blue gown-like dress that reached the floor and white mini heels. She had her hair in a braided bun and wore a light pink gloss with mascara. Sure, it was minimalistic, but everyone always found Bada cute. You, on the other hand, were already growing into her features.

You were a year older, and many boys found you attractive. After all, you were a child model at some point, which should say a lot in itself. "Y/n!"

The two hugged, and Bada sat beside the two Choi's. "You look pretty in your dress, unnie," Bada compliments, but all you can do is look down with a whinny face starting to form. "Thanks, but I already wanna rip off the dress and set it on fire."

Bada giggles, but you were so serious deep down. Being at the now, age of 12, self-identity was a struggle.

Not that you hated the dresses. You even felt pretty in them. Still, there were times when they were beginning to become uncomfortable for you.

"Girls, we need a photo of you three, please," The three smiled wide, not knowing that was the last time the two families would see each other.

PRESENT TIME

Neither you nor Bada knew why the families stopped contacting each other. To their knowledge, Bada’s parents and your aunt were close friends, but that was the only thing keeping the two connected.

"So let's do your lines, then the adlibs for this song?" Soobin's voice was snapping me out of my trance. "Yeah," you sip the bottled water and head into the booth where she stayed for almost the rest of the night.

Once the three of you finished and headed home, you opened the door to be welcomed by Jieun unnie setting up the table for dinner. Once she notices you, she rushes forward with a tight hug, "Gosh, it's been so long."

"Unnie... it's been 3 weeks," you tell her sarcastically, and she hits your shoulder with a tiny grin. "Did you call Mom while you were there?" 

You stayed silent momentarily, knowing you were about to be scolded whether or not you said the right thing. "Y/n!" "Unnie~ you know Mom is just gonna lecture me about dating a boy instead and tell me to take over the company, so why even stress myself."

She sighs, "Look, I understand speaking to her is frustrating, but one, it's not like you don't like men, and two, all you have to do is text her for her to at least know you're alive."

"I doubt she cares," you mumble as she gathers the last pot of food. Come on, let's just eat and talk about this later. 

"Wait, unnie, did you know about the Choi's party?" She nods.

"Jihoon got us all invited," Jieun takes a bite of rice and meat, not noticing the smirk on your face. "So~ you excited to see Minhyun-oppa?" She chokes a little, making you rush to give her water.

"Don't do that~" Jieun keeps hitting me as you laugh. "How about you? You were a little close with Bada when you guys were younger."

Hearing that, you pause for a second. "I honestly don't know how to feel... it's been years, and I'm 95% sure it's gonna be awkward." 

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, Bada wasn't the most outgoing either. We were both shy. She only hung out with that Tatter girl while I hung out with Yun and Ye. We only talked when we were comfortable with the people around us. I just know it's inevitable, unnie."

She nods in understanding, and you both continue to eat in comfortable silence. 

The next day, you woke up, got ready with some coffee, and headed to the studio. You, Jihoon, and Soobin were working on 2 more songs today, and you had to tweak an individual project before sending it to a large record label. And that's what was done for the next few days leading up to the party.

It was the day before the party, and Tatter went to Bada's house as usual. Bada scrolled on her phone, taking a needed break from the hectic days due to the party planning while Tatter rummaged through the girl's entire closet.

Tatter was usually content with her style, but knowing the Chois were coming put her on the edge for some reason. It seemed like everyone was becoming like that due to them.

Minhyun seemed agitated and made sure he looked good in the mirror every day since Bada told him about the family coming over. Then Sunghoon kept cleaning his room and secretly bought alcohol for him and Haechan. 

Bada seemed to be the only calm one in the house right now, not seeing what the big deal was.

"Why are you like this? It's people we used to know as kids, not celebrities or anything."

"That's what you'd think with a private Instagram," Tatter said as she walked out with one of the maxi dresses Bada owned. "But search Y/n on Twitter."

She returns to the closet, and as Bada is about to do what she is told, Minhyun stops by her room. "Does this shirt look good on me?" Bada peaks up at her older brother with a confused yet disgusted look.

"Uh, you look fine?"

"You're literally no help," Minhyun leaves disappointed. At the same time, Bada shrugs her brother's antics off and begins to search, but she finds this massive account just by typing half of your name on Twitter. She sees your partially covered profile pic, but Bada could tell you definitely grew up "nicely." 

Maybe sexy was the better word for that.

Though, no matter how hard she looked, she found no other photos of you. You shared paintings, drawings, pottery, photography, and book quotes. Still, the most significant thing was the collaborations you've done.

Bada only discovered that you were a songwriter, producer, and singer. Even working on projects with prominent artists like SZA, Labrinth, Jhené Aiko, Dani Leigh, Giveon, and Khelani.

This intrigued Bada; she never knew you were so artistic. The things you created drew her in without even noticing she was in the depths of your Twitter. "Well?" Tatter comes out with the dress of her choice and sits next to her best friend. 

"She's definitely something."

"More than something, she's sexy as hell," Bada knew Tatter was attracted to women. Still, she also knew her best friend had never pursued one. "Are you gonna make a move?"

"Nope, I'm gonna sit there, look pretty, and have her come to me," Bada shakes her head at her best friend's words, "Of course, that's your plan."

"It always works."

Well, let's just see about that.

"Yo, Y/n, what's the fit for the party?" Saerom asks, eyeing you as you stress over the wardrobe choices. Meanwhile, Mia's just chilling on the Choi’s couch, scrolling through her phone.

Mia's rocking dark blue denim shorts, a light blue long-sleeve vibe, and some killer platform sandals. Saerom, on the other hand, is flexing an ivory long-sleeved bodycon dress with off-the-shoulder action, paired with cute baby pink heels.

You, usually the style queen, are surprisingly indecisive today. "Why you lookin' so anxious?" Mia calls her out, but you keep it mysterious, not saying a word. Saerom and Mia exchange raised eyebrows, like, what's going on with you?

Finally, deciding on a fit: baggy ripped jeans, a tight-cropped white v-neck, and a Yankees jersey left unbuttoned. Mia's like, "Seriously? After all that stress, you pick something so casual? Work trip vibes, for real."

You grin, "Hey, sometimes you gotta make it look like you didn't try too hard." Saerom jumps in with a flirty smirk, "Impressive. Trying to keep it low-key, but still looking fine."

You fire back, "Well, what can I say?" Saerom chuckles, "If that's the case, I wanna steal you away for tonight." You laugh, "You know I'd let you, babes," you tell her, slightly joking.

You look at Saerom with a slick gaze. The flirting is nothing new. Mia then gags at the sight, "Can you two like not? At least not until we get to the party?"

You laugh and change, then slip into some air forces, "Are you ready to see her?" Saerom asks. She knew Bada existed in my life, but they were never friends.

As you were in your head, your phone began to ring, and you saw that Yena was calling me. "Yo, wassup?"

"Tell me how I saw Tatter at the store, and we didn't have the greatest interaction," you were taken aback, "THE Tatter? As in Bada’s other half, Tatter?"

"YES, what other Tatter is there?"

"Wait, so what happened?" You went to the kitchen to get a drink and sat on the bar stool. "So I was picking up some iced coffee for Yun and me when I was waiting for my order, and she walked in. Bro, I tried to be friendly, say hi, and ask her how she's been... SHE LOOKED AT ME UP AND DOWN, MADE A DISGUSTED FACE, AND THEN SHE RESPONDS 'I've been fine,' IN THE SNARKIEST TONE IVE EVER HEARD."

You reacted in disgust and scoffed, "Ew, dude." "I KNOW, RIGHT?"

"Just don't talk to her at the party later," You try to reason with her, but all she says is, "I wasn't planning on it," making you laugh. "Alright, I'll see you later, girlie." "Bye~"

You head back into the room and find Saerom applying lip gloss in front of the modern vanity, "What was that all about? I literally heard Yena screaming from all the way here."

"Apparently, she saw Bada's best friend, and it wasn't the greatest interaction." "Oh, what happened?" Mia perks up, loving to hear some tea. When you told them the situation, both of their faces went sour. "Ew."

"That's exactly what I said," you tell them, giggling at the similar reactions. "Makes me not want to go to that party, honestly," Saerom says.

"Hey, she's not gonna be the only one there. Maybe you can hook up with one of her friends," You tease Saerom, and she scoffs. "Please, you know there is only one person who knows how to please me, right," she raises her brow, and you reciprocate the same look, causing Mia to groan, "Ugh, not again, guys."

As the party was already beginning, Bada and her brothers were helping Jihoon set up the stage and equipment. He was the first out of his friends because he wanted to ensure there were no technical difficulties.

"You think appa is doing a good job distracting eomma?" Sunghoon asks his older siblings. "I mean, she hasn't texted us yet, so that's saying something," Bada tells the two, and they laugh in agreement. 

"Yo, Soobin and Jaeseok are here. I need to help them get the setup out of the car," Jihoon tells us, walking through the driveway gate. 

"So~ You guys ready for the Chois?" Minhyun oppa asks us. "I'm ready for the chaos they're probably gonna bring," Sunghoon smirks. "Kinda ready for some drama, too," Bada shrugs. 

"Hey, girl~" Bada looks at the entrance to see her friends walking in with gifts in their hands, "Hey guys, just put everything on that table over there."

Soobin and Jaeseok begin to walk in with large boxes, with Jihoon behind them carrying Mics. "Hey, Soobin and Jaeseok," I say with a wave, and the two boys smile. "Wassup Bada," Soobin greets her with a hug while Jaeseok looks at her, "You grew up nicely, puppy," This causes Soobin to elbow him.

"Don't mind him. It's just Jae being Jae," Bada laughs at this cause of the nickname and knowing Jaeseok never changed as a child. "So when are your cousins getting here?" Minhyun oppa asks as he greets Soobin with a bro hug. "They should be here in about 30 minutes. Maybe 10 for Haechan. The dude can never resist being early to a party."

"He better get here soon 'cause I have whiskey in my room, and it's waiting for him," Sunghoon butts in. Bada rolls her eyes, and the girls help us set up to help with the time.

By our hour deadline, everything was finished, and family began to roll in. Bada went inside to prepare while Sunghoon and Minhyun oppa entertained the guests. 

She wore a plaid mini-skirt, a baby pink tee, a white denim jacket due to the breeze, and some plain sneakers. Then, she styled her hair in a simple high ponytail to complete the outfit. 

As she returned to the living room, Bada saw all the girls waiting for her, and Tatter excitedly ran up. "They're here. I REPEAT they're here." She moves over to the window in the front and sees two cars with a group coming out of each. That's when her eyes landed on the familiar individual.

As if on queue, her heart begins to race, and the palms of her hands get sweaty. You were even prettier than I imagined you to be... also taller than she thought.

No way she was gonna survive this day without having a tiny panic attack.

The Chois enter through the back, greeted by some Lee family members. "Holy shit, is that who I think it is?" The cousins hear a familiar voice and turn to the backyard door to see the infamous Lee Sunghoon. 

"Yo, Hoon! What's up?" Haechan gives him a bro hug. "Dude, long time no see," you greet him with a small hug, "Don't mind me, gonna help Jihoon with final touches."

Sunghoon stares as you walk away and turns back to Haechan, "Bro, she's so fine now." 

Haechan's face goes sour, "That's literally my cousin. Shut up, please." "Besides, she likes women more than men," Yena perks up and kills Sunghoon's mood slightly. "You were always so fun, Ye," both give each other a sarcastic smile. "See, that's why Yunah was my favorite."

"You're not my favorite, though," she butts in again, killing Sunghoon's mood. "I'm hurt."

Jaeseok laughs at the interaction, but before anyone can say anything, Bada and her friends come out, and she rushes to the mic. "Guys, eomma is coming home with appa in a minute. So we would appreciate it if you guys get ready to surprise them."

You look to the front of the stage and see the middle child. Safe to say, you were mesmerized by Bada. You couldn't help but check the girl out as she gave the announcement. "Take a picture. It'll last longer," Jieun says as she sips her juice. "I just might," the latter smirked, causing her older sister to choke on the drink and elbow her. "OUCH."

Everyone began to hide, and as people heard the more mature voices, they all got ready in anticipation. "Oh, jagi, did the kids do this for me?" A woman's voice could be heard, and that's when everyone pops out.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The Lee couple comes into everyone's view, and tears can be seen in Mrs. Lee's eyes. Once she sees this, Bada runs up to her mom for a hug while her siblings are behind her. 

This puts a smile on your face, a daughter with a loving mother. Something you wish you had at times. The family then tells everyone to enjoy themselves and go eat. 

You then go over to the family and greet their mother with a happy birthday. "Oh my gosh, Choi Y/n? How has the family been?" You smile as you hug her. "My cousins and I have been good, but I'm unsure about my eomma and ajumani." Before the older woman could reply, Jihoon called you over for the song that had to be performed. 

"You're gonna sing for me?" Mrs. Lee gets excited and smiles as you nod. "Well, come get a drink later and catch up with Bada." She hugs her daughter, causing you to grin, and says, "I'd like that." 

Bada's face forms a rosiness at the seductive tone and lingering gaze. 

You hop on stage and smile at the crowd, "Hello, I'm Choi Y/n, and today I'll perform 'Longevity' with my cousin Soobin and best friend Jihoon."

The youngsters crowd around the stage and jam out as Bada joins her friends. "Did you know she can sing?" Kyma asks while jamming, "No, actually."

"Well, she's hella good, too," Lusher says as she jumps. The Lee couldn't agree more with her. Your voice had a raspiness to it, and she noticed Tatter looked like she was about to eat you up. 

After a few songs, you and Jihoon stopped as Bada, her friends, her twin, and the Choi cousins went inside to drink since the party in the yard was full of kids and older adults.

The two singers walk in, and the group cheers for them, "You guys were sick as always," Soobine tells them. "Thanks, Binnie." You make a rum and coke, then greet Bada with a wave. "How are you?"

"I've been good," the two give each other a quick side hug, and Bada whiffs your fruit-like scent. You sit near her and beside Yunah, while Tatter sits beside Bada. Jieun, Minhyun, and some older friends were still outside with other guests, not wanting to be with the "youngins."

You all chat a little, even catching up with Bada. The multiple topics discussed led to talk about school. "You're in uni, right? What are you majoring in?"

"English," Y/n pauses, "You seem more like a performing arts kinda girl, no?" 

Bada thinks, "I could be pursued to change majors." You smirked at her and were about to tell her how fun it was, but you got a call. Seeing the name causes you to roll your eyes, "Sorry, let me take this call."

You walk out the front door and answer the call, "Yes, eomma?"

"So you weren't even going to invite us to that party?" You scoff and furrow your brows. "It's not my party to invite you to; only Jihoon invited us."

"You're still hanging out with that lazy no future singer? I told you several times to stop being friends with him."

"And I've told you you can't control me like your puppet many times. If that's all you called me for, I will go."

"Wait, Y/n, I'm not finished-" you immediately hung up. The wave of anger washes over you, and you take a puff of the flavored smoke.

"Isn't it bad for a singer to smoke?" You hear a voice behind you, and you turn to surprisingly see Tatter walking over to you. "Eh, I'll manage."

"So~ You did amazing out there, by the way." "Thanks." You cut short, seeing her twirl a strand of hair around her finger. She gives you these seductive eyes, "So, are you seeing anyone right now?"

"Uh, no?" You shift slightly, remembering not liking the story Yena told me about their interaction. "Well, do you maybe wanna go out sometime?"

"No, thank you."

Tatter moves back in shock, "Wha- what, why?"

"Not really looking for anything right now," You make up on the spot, and she smirks, "This could be a casual thing?"

"Again, no, thank you," you head back into the house, leaving her there. As you sat back in my seat, Tatter was storming into the house, angrily making her way up the stairs to the second floor. Bada's face is painted in concern, "let me go check up on her."

After she leaves your side, you decide to get food with Yena and catch up with Gyuhan and Minhyun. As you ate some noodles, Bada came out and said, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

She pulls you to the side as you continue to eat, "Can I ask what happened between you and Tatter? She told me not to worry about it, but I just wanted to ensure it was all good."

"Your friend tried to make a move on me, and I said no," you say bluntly. "Sorry to say, but my cousin and her didn't have the best interaction, and I didn't want to deal with that."

"That's fair, actually. I thought it was worse than that."

"Sorry about her, though," you wave her off as if it wasn't her fault. "Wait, you like girls?" You pause at the sudden question, "Yeah." 

"How'd you know?" You stare at Bada for a few seconds, "Are you questioning your sexuality, Bada?"

She plays with her hands in nervousness, "Kind of." You smile at her, "And that's okay. You have to go through with it yourself. Someone usually makes you realize it, though."

"I see," she thinks for a second, "We should go back to drink a little bit."

"Sure," you giggle at her nervousness.

After a few hours, everyone had a few drinks, and you could tell Bada was feeling it as her flirtiness became bolder after every sip of the alcohol. She would caress your arm if you made a joke, stare at your eyes and lips, biting her lips after her little giggles.

It almost drove you mad.

You excuse yourself to use the bathroom and go upstairs. After doing your business, you washed my hands. You heard a knock on the door, "Hold on!"

As you dry your hands, you open the door to find Bada rushing inside. "I need to know if I like girls now."

You stood there shocked, almost not knowing what to say, "How do you want me to help you?"

The two of you stood there for a few seconds as you waited for an answer when suddenly Bada grabbed your face and aggressively kissed you.

Your eyes widened open in shock. You couldn't reciprocate fast enough as she pulled away. "Are you not okay with this? Like I can always stop-"

Without another thought, you pulled her in by the waist as your lips attacked hers. Your bodies generate some heat, and you carry her hips to set her on the sink counter. 

"I've been waiting for this ever since I walked through that gate," you mumble into her lips. You feel a smirk form on her lips and think more devious because of this. Your tongue made its way to hers, showing clear dominance as it played with hers. The wet feeling makes it difficult for either of you to keep your hands off each other.

Bada moaned at the feeling, grinding her hips onto your body as she pulled you closer, wrapping her arms around your neck. Your hands placed themselves on her waist, and Bada almost whimpered at the feeling of your grip. You bit down on her bottom lip, slightly, and moved your way to her neck.

The girl bit her lip, trying to keep in any whimpers or moans that could possibly leave her mouth, trying to make the least amount of noise. Your hands were about to unbutton her skirt, but you paused as you both heard Tatter's voice outside the bathroom, making you pull away slightly. "Will your friend be okay with this?" 

"She doesn't have to know," Bada says, causing you to smirk. "I didn't know you were so naughty, Bada," you teased, and she smiled.

You help her fix up, knowing people would look for you two. You adjust Bada's top with your long fingers, pulling the shirt down a little as she stares at herself in the mirror. "Well, did I help answer if you liked girls?"

"Oh, most definitely."

Fun Fact: this was originally a Yeji fic🙈.

Taglist (OPEN): @bada-lee-ily @froufrousnowman @amararosesblog @tikitsune @nimixe @lorenztired @sammybeefangirls @cephox @1luvkarina

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't find anything about whether request were open or not, but if they are can you do the gushing over their animal form with Jade/Floyd, Ruggie and Malleus (since he has referenced several times that he can turn into a dragon)? If not pls just delete thank you

Jade Leech

“Ohhh My Gaaahsh! You’re a merman?! An eel merman?! Wooowww!”

“(Y/n) focus! Or you’ll lose Ramshackle forever!”

“But he’s a moray eel!”

Even after the fact he’s flattered that you were so stunned about this

If you don’t seek him out he’s seeking you out 

Like feather on a string to a cat he’ll mention something about being a moray eel or dropping a fact 

Watching excitedly as your face lights up and your face moves closer to his

You’re so adorable it's insane

Inviting you to meet up with him so you could look at his tail

Or letting you look inside his mouth at his rows of teeth

Of course it's all for a price but he doesn’t need to tell you that 

He’ll just happily repeat that whenever your friends ask why he thinks it's okay to disappear with you in the Coral Sea

“(Y/n) just wants to know more about me, what's the problem with that?”

He knows why they’d be worried but it's so satisfying to find you so excited to simply hold his tail

You’ll even let him squeeze you if it means you get to touch his scales

You’re just cute like that

He’s addicted  

It's his favorite game of watching you ignore all his red flags so you can gush over his animal traits 

“If you promise to spend that weekend camping with me, I’ll let you see a secret trait I have in common with real moray eels.”

Floyd Leech

That's adorable

Shrimpy likes morays!!

He’ll be curious as to why your so excited everytime he comes to play with Baby Seal or Crab or the Mackaral

And as long as he doesn’t squeeze too tight you love playing with him

“So I’ve been meaning to ask: what is it that you like so much?”

You aren’t afraid to tell him and his reaction further spurs you on

Immediately he’s carting you off so you can play with him in his mer form

You’re so excited because Morays are so mysterious

Where you’re from they’re pretty elusive so your more than excited when Floyd proudly presents his teeth

Your his favorite to play with, so don’t play with anyone else

Don’t look at Jade hang out with him

he prefers it when you don’t announce when you get handsy with him

He’s guarding your curiosity because its his you’re his

At first it's just your interest in marine life than its you simply asking how your friends are

“Oi oi I don’t like it when my Shrimpy goes explorin’. You’re not encouraging that right?! Otherwise I’ll have to squeeze all the air out of ya.”

Ruggie Bucci

For a while he just knows that whenever he enters the room your eyes are on him

He doesn’t have to talk to you but you notice him

He sees you look at his ears and tail 

And he figures you just want to touch them

That's cool if your willing to pay

But even if you do it doesn’t stop

Honestly he’s flattered he doesn’t have to do much to get your attention

It certainly helps when he’s busy taking care of Leona all day

So he’ll bite 

And he’s in shock when you admit how much you like hyenas

“Like you're already a team player and survival is like super important! Not to mention you are a male but your so cool and sure of yourself–”

“G-geez don’t dissect your seniors like that! It gives serious Rook vibes.”

“R-right, sorry.”

“Not exactly saying you should stop all of it though…”

He’s blushing but he’s making the most of your interest

Drinking in that smile on your face as he answers your questions

While he’s not exactly used to being the one that's glorified but he doesn’t mind it

In fact the moment he feels your attention wane he’s pulling out any and all stops to maintain your attention

“Ruggie, did you take something from my bag?”

“Shishishishi you know hyena’s are scavengers! Best you start paying more attention!”

Malleus Draconia

This doesn’t come up casually

For the beginning of your friendship you didn’t even know his actual name

So it's more likely than not you mention it off-handedly

Once characters in books or movies or just in general is recognizable he’s keeping track

This is still so new

He doesn’t want to lose you if he reveals this part of himself

But Malleus is a stickler for correctness

So if you speak about how dragons in fiction do things and he corrects you or makes a distinction and your doubtful or just downright now believing he’ll transform

Totally dwarfing you in sheer size

Realizing what he’s done he’s fully prepared for you to gasp and runoff Not that you’d get too far

Your beam and squealing and touching him so much more

Your so adorable with your questions

Your soft little fingers running over his scales and spending all night excitedly being around him

Transforming back he relishes in the intimacy this brings

In the future he may refrain from full-on dragon form but his tail is close enough

But it keeps you close to him both as a conversation topic and as a limb that can easily pull you to his side

“Sorry to put you under the lens like this Tsuno…”

“It is not a problem. I have found that your inquiries help answer my own curiosities about you.”

He can’t be beat, he won’t be beat because who else is going to go full dragon for your mere curiousity

No one can compare especially when it comes to animal-heritage

According to you the closest that you could ever get to a dragon would be a carnivorous lizard

So aren’t you lucky that this dragon fae is swooning at the suggestion of your touch

“I would like for you to feel my horns. Please, do not be shy, this is an action instigating intimacy. Intimacy that I welcome with you (Y/n), my child of man.”

[adventuringblind]

Admitted

Daniel Ricciardo x Reader

Genre: angst

Summary: Reader has a breakdown and has to be addmited

Warnings: Self-harm, reader is admitted, probably inaccurate

Notes: Please bear in mind that I'm not schizophrenic. I've hallucinated because of medication, which was diagnosed as 'schizophrenic like', so that's what I'm going off of, as well as some extensive research.

Masterlist

Everyone seems to be interested in Daniel's love life. Something he really likes talking about - until they are just digging for gossip. The one thing Daniel won't let them pry into is the private life of his fiancé.

He himself is open, but he's also protective. Specifically of her and what she has to go through on a daily basis. It's not anyone else's business.

He knew she'd been struggling. Her medication was doing a number on her mentality. She's hates the side affects and it's a struggle everyday to get her to take it.

He should've known not to leave her alone for the weekend. He arrived at the paddock on Thursday and left on Sunday after his job was done. Getting home late at night is never ideal, but at least he's here.

He sets his stuff down quietly and slips into the bedroom. Daniel expected to he greeted by his sleeping fiancé. Instead, he finds her staring at the wall. A knife pressed against an already bleeding wrist and mumbling to herself.

He knows not to panic. Panicking will startle her. Daniel makes a conscious effort to step softly and announce his presence while crouching on the floor by her.

"Hey baby, can you talk to me? Tell me what's going on."

The fact her eyes are glassy and she's not looking at him is highly concerning. Her eyes flicker to different points in the room. "They won't be quiet."

"Yeah? Did you try to make them be quiet?"

She nods her head slowly. Tears slip down her cheeks as she finally looks to her wrist then to him. Her breathing picks up to a startling pace.

"No Danny - I'm sorry - please don't."

And god does it hurt him. But he knows it'll get worse if he doesn't get her help. She knows this too.

He hates leaving her, but it's so late they won't let him stay. He takes to sleeping in the car and calling anybody he trusts who will pick up the phone.

He's back in the hospital as soon as he can be. Daniel hates the psych ward. He knows it's probably the worst place to he considering, so he stays as much as they'll let him.

He can see the dark circles forming under her eyes. She's struggling to eat. It's absolutely gutting and he wants to take her home as soon as possible.

Finally, after a few days, she is allowed to go home. Exhausted and in need of a decent meal, but her medication is back on track.

He's going to start taking her to all the races at this point. Who cares what people think? He loves and wants her to be safe. Wants her to not feel like she's isolated and an alien on her own planet.

She's funny and kind and he loves her smile with every ounce if his being. She's extremely talented despite everything going on in her head.

So he'll love her and calm her thoughts because she means so much to him.

[pickingupmymercedes]

So, São Paulo GP is finally getting a fan zone.

And that has me wondering what exactly changed and who is/are pushing for that.

Now, I haven't been to a f1 race in Interlagos in years and fan zones are relatively new, but it was never a thing in Interlagos.

What was a thing from the late 90's up until the 2010's was Interlagos being the last race of the season. And getting into one the end of season parties was actually really easy, and so was meeting f1 drivers (you could find them at bars).

It'll be interesting to see what teams send their drivers, considering how some teams and drivers are seen by brazilians now. Specially the ones known for not leaving their hotel unless is for the track or to catch the plane to leave (and some uncalled remarks over the years)

I fully expect Mclaren to be there with both drivers (Lando is well liked and a Palmeiras supporter of sorts?!) and also Aston, Alonso has quite a following as well, and surprisenly (to some) Lance is known for going to a few spots around town.

Haas probably both too as they have a brazilian sponsor (Oakberry). Alpine I can see both going. Sauber and the b team to rbr who knows.

Now, Williams's drivers I'm on the fence, they are the only team with its own standing (since 94' actually) but all the times I was there (even after Massa being their driver) there was a bit of hesitation.

Ferrari is really up to the drivers, Seb could easily be found at a bar/bakery around the Hilton hotel back in the days (that's how I got my first photo with him as a Ferrari driver), but Charles is known for not even acknowledging the fans around the track. While Carlos, we all know the day after the race in 2021, also he's known for going out in SP for a few restaurants.

Lewis goes without saying really, but George, that's actually a good opportunity for Merc to build him for the latam fans, because he's also a known one for fleeing, whenever he can, from anyone with a cap and only ever leaving the hotel to catch the next flight.

(I know the fame Brazil has, but really, São Paulo it's no different from major US cities those drivers love to stroll around)

The RBR situation is the one that intrigues the most, because if Checo still has his seat he's really liked around there, but Verstappen and Interlagos... well, people don't hate him, but let's just say he has road rage there every other year, and that only to add to his gf and the fact Piquet hasn't been seen with good eyes since the 80's. Btw Piquet Jr (yes, the Singapore gate one) won a Stock race this past weekend in Belo Horizonte and got booed, on the podium while taking his trophy (seriously, that family reeks and they're all known Bolsonaro defenders - the last brazilian president that mocked and laughed at people dying without oxygen with Covid, tried to stage a coup, etc, etc).

But yeah, just some thoughts that popped into my head after that announcement. What do you guys think?

ps: fan zones in both FE and Wec went really well this year and people really enjoyed it.

[the-travelling-witch]

⇢ ˗ˏˋ But I Still Love You ﾟ☾. ࿐

summary: your relationship was all you could have wished for but what if it turned out it was just a little more?

pairing: scaramouche x gn!reader

prompts: 8. "you're a monster", 19. "i can't do this anymore", 23. "what's wrong with me?"

warnings: [heavy angst] murder, somewhat graphic depiction of violence, emotional abuse+ manipulation, toxic relationship, gaslighting, mentions of suicide, yandere (?) themes, you know i normally love scara but he’s a totally messed up asshole in this, i do not condone this type of behaviour; do not engage with this fic if any of these could potentially jeopardise your health!!

a/n: i can happily announce that this is my first collab fic ever and i’m very excited!! i just had to join after reading the prompts in @versadies’s “farewell, love” collab, my brain was running wild with ideas and settled on the darkest one, don’t ask what possessed me that day; thank you to @mari-on-dragonspine and @yaesnovels for reading this ahead of time and boosting my confidence about it, couldn’t have done it without you; now… soft scara stans, look away, this is not your man

happy halloween🍁

genshin impact masterlist

It was a dream come true.

Every time you’d meet him, the butterflies in your stomach would create a whirlwind of emotion and your heart would soar higher than any bird ever could. That fact that he’d chosen you out of everyone still didn't feel real to you.

Always bright-smiling and elated to see you, he had your heart wrapped around his finger but you didn't mind, you'd gladly given it to him. Taking you out for dinner, escorting you home from work, planning weekend trips with your interests in mind…

He was perfect.

But he was also the Balladeer, who could make anyone dance to his tune. Your friends were wary of his flawless performance from the start. Something that seemed too good to be true was usually just that; a short-lived dream at best, an intricately woven tapestry of lies and illusions at worst. But you ignored all their warnings as your rose-coloured glasses blended every possible red flag with the bouquet of dendrobiums he had gifted you on your date.

As time passed, you saw your friends less and less and eventually they stopped reaching out to you; there were no more letters in your mailbox, you didn't run into them on your trips to the market and their excited knocks on the door faded away into memories. Besides your colleagues at work, you spent most of your time with Scaramouche, whose role in your life was growing more significantly with each passing day.

From helping you with everyday chores to helping you secure better business deals with his position as the Sixth Fatui Harbinger to even going so far as lending you money or straight-up buying whatever you needed or wanted, you were starting to wonder how you managed to navigate life before he waltzed into yours.

Then, Scaramouche asked you if you wanted to move in with him. Considering how evolved he already was and how often you saw each other, you thought living together would make everything easier. Besides, waking up next to him and coming home to him every evening did sound rather enticing, so you agreed.

Relocating all your belongings from where you had grown up to the far side of Inazuma was quite the challenge but of course, Scaramouche came to your rescue, lending a hand in sorting through your stuff and leaving behind what you didn't need anymore.

It was hard to find a new job. Every interview you attended ended up in you being turned down without a specific reason given, even though you more than met the required qualifications. After continuously being rejected you couldn't take it anymore as the venomous fangs of failure sank their teeth into you. Luckily, Scaramouche was there to catch you when you broke down.

“Shh, it's okay, little dove. Why don't you rest for a while and let me take care of you? Can't you see how all this stress is weighing you down? Let me handle everything while you recover, I promise I'll cover whatever you need, so don’t worry. Take all the time you need and then you can start looking again.” As he pressed his cold lips against your temple, you couldn’t help the shiver that ran down your spine. Somewhere in the back of your mind, the notion of Death marking its next victim had taken root while he securely held you in his arms, letting your falling tears stain the shirt clutched in between your hands. “You’re doing so well for me, I'm very proud of you, my love.”

Grasping the fact that you were unemployed and solely relying on your boyfriend’s, admittedly generous, income took a while. Up until now, you’d always stood on your own two feet, a philosophy your parents had instilled into you from a young age and something you had prided yourself on. 

At first, it was hard facing yourself in the mirror, too ashamed of yourself and too afraid your mind would zero in on your every flaw to tear your confidence down even further. But whenever your eyes averted from your figure, two hands would wrap around your middle from behind, Scaramouche’s face appearing next to yours to whisper sweet words into your ear, saving you from shattering completely.

And frankly, your income couldn’t compare to his anyway, so you working would only be worth a drop in the bucket, if at all. 

To keep yourself busy with all your new free time gained, you started working around the house, doing chores just to pass the time and distract you from your feelings of uselessness.

One of your greatest joys was going grocery shopping at the local market. With no new coworkers to speak of, it had been increasingly difficult finding a connection to the people. With the title of being a Harbinger’s partner, they were wary and kept their distance, a precautionary measure you couldn’t fault them for.

As you stopped by more often, however, their behaviour changed. The elderly lady selling vegetables started sharing recipes with you, the young pair from the flower shop were waving you over to catch up and the guy from the herb stand handed you free samples to try around with.

Finally, for the first time since moving here, you felt like you could become part of the community, so naturally you told Scara about it. What you didn’t notice was how his smile strained the more excited you grew. 

"How long has this been going on for?” Even he couldn’t hide the venom lacing  his words. “Remember, you have to tell me. Not telling me is just as bad as lying.”

“Wait, Scara, you aren’t upset with me, right? I just wanted to help out, you know.“

“Am I upset? Why? Should I be?“ The hairs in the back of your neck rose and your skin tingled as if someone had shot a bolt of electricity through you. It was like the ground around you broke away at his tone and you knew you had to tread carefully if you wanted to make it out of this safely.

“No, don’t be.“ You gingerly extend your arm as if not to scare a cautious animal and cupped his cheek. “I love you like I’ve never loved anyone else, you know that right?“

Leaning into your touch and trapping your hand under his own, his purple eyes zeroed in on you. “So you knew after all?“

You froze. “What?“ It was barely more than an exhale as your gut seemed to plummet. His grip on you tightened as you started squirming.

“Oh come on, you’re smarter than this. You knew I‘d get jealous and you told me anyway. Or maybe that is why you told me in the first place?“ Apparently your appalled face gave away how impossible the thought was to you because he merely sighed deeply before dropping your arm and turning to leave. “Whatever. It’s not like I care anyway.“

The silence he left behind that day left you stunned, weighing down on your chest and pressing the air out of your lungs only to be shattered by the sound of a plate smashing against the wall a few rooms over. Yet, despite flinching and despite the acidic sting in your eyes, the tears wouldn't fall.

In the wake of that incident, you desperately scrambled to make it up to him. There was no need to go to the market for groceries anymore, instead you found a basket with produce in the kitchen with no trace of the Fatui Agent who brought it. So, you devoted your time to cooking homemade meals and cleaning the house. Only to have your heart broken when Scaramouche picked at his plate with disinterest or had someone clear the decorations you had put up in careful consideration.

But he still loved you, he always reminded you. From showering you in expensive fabrics and jewellery to treating you to fancy dinners in high-class restaurants to sweet words of praise dripping from his lips like honey, making it hard for you to taste anything but their saccharine flavour. Of course he still loved you when he responded to your gratitude with “I would do anything to make you happy. I just want you to do the same for me.”

Maybe you were the one who wasn’t showing their affection enough. Otherwise, why would you feel this sharp stab of guilt piercing your heart whenever you refused him? How could you stay unmoved when his glassy violet eyes drooped as he mumbled “I guess you just don’t love me enough after all.”

And when you brought up an issue you wanted to discuss with him, his cold “I could just leave, you know” didn’t mean he actually would, he still loved you after all. Surely, he just had a bad day at work and needed some space. Your theory was cemented when Scaramouche sat you down one evening, expression unreadable as he took hold of your hands.

“Listen, little dove, something at work happened that I need you to know about. I’m telling you this for your own safety, okay?” You silently nodded at his genuinely concerned voice. Normally, he never told you anything about his work and completely shut you out if you asked about it, so you figured it must be pretty serious. “You understand that my job is dangerous, right? That shouldn't be news to you. And while I’m always very cautious to keep any kind of information about my personal life away from the Fatui, it seems that recently some of that information trickled down to our enemies through a mole.”

You didn't need to voice it, the anxiety sparked within you at his words apparent in your expression and Scaramouche gave your hands a reassuring squeeze as he continued with a softened tone.

“I'm sure you already figured out what kind of information has been leaked if I need to tell you. Yes, the enemy knows the location of this estate. It's unclear, however, if they know about you.” At that you couldn't help but clench your fingers into fists; enemies of the Fatui weren't to be taken lightly. “Don’t worry, I already made sure that traitor got what he deserved. Despite all of that, he wouldn't talk about the reason for giving up this particular intel, the working theory being that someone is after my life. Personally, I don't think you are their target; all the same…”

Pulling out a silver dagger, he handed the razor sharp weapon to you. Its handle felt like an icicle against the warmth of your palm and the weight of it seemed to sink into your gut rather than your arm. Certainly he wasn't asking you to…

“I want you to have this. If the situation calls for it, you need to be prepared to use it.”

“Scara, what is it that you want from me? I’m not like you, I can't just…” Lost for words, your currently empty hand was waving through the air trying to grasp the meaning of all of this. 

Your lover reached forward and clasped his hands tightly around your shoulders, his stern gaze glued to your shaky one. “Your life or my life might depend on this, (Y/N), do you understand? If you really cared about me, you'd do what I'm asking.”

For the first time in a long time, you cried. Bitter tears seeping out of the corners of your eyes before starting to fall faster and faster and broken hiccups echoed around the room. The knife clattered noisily onto the floorboards as Scaramouche pulled you into his arms as you clutched onto his robes, gasping for air. 

“Shh, shh, I understand, little dove. It's scary,” he soothed. “But you have to see my side of things too. If something happened to you, what would I do? You’re the most precious thing in the whole world to me, I can't lose you, ever. I promise you, we’ll be together forever, so don’t cry.”

You didn’t sleep well that night. Or any of the following for that matter. It was even worse when Scaramouche had to stay out on Fatui business, leaving you all alone in the estate. Even the agents you knew where stationed somewhere in the vicinity didn’t help quell your fears.

Had this really become your life? Waking up in cold sweat, thinking you heard a noise? Flinching at the curtains blowing in the night’s breeze? The dagger didn’t pacify your worries either. Instead, the wretched blade seemed to follow you into your dreams, cutting through the pleasantries to reveal subconscious terrors slumbering under your quiet surface.

It was one of those nights where you were startled awake by your own hammering heart and the sweat rolling off your temple, the other half the bed cold and empty. Just as you slid your legs from under the blanket in hopes that a glass of water would help you calm down, you heard a thud. 

You wanted to play it off as your mind playing tricks on you, like every other night; that it was just the blood thumping through your ears that made you hear things. But then it was there again. 

There was someone else in the house with you.

It couldn’t be the Fatui nor Scaramouche. They were better trained than this, stealthier than to make a sound twice. In the moonlit room, you groped for the cool metal under your pillow, shaky fingers wrapping around the handle. There was no way you could win against an enemy who’d go after a Harbinger in one-to-one combat, much less if you were outnumbered, so you hid in the shadows of your room.

The creaking of the floorboard grew closer and you tried to stifle your ragged breathing. Even when you wrapped both hands around the hilt, they were still trembling as you recalled what Scaramouche had drummed into your head… “Go for the throat”

You didn't dare inhale or exhale as the door slowly slid open and a shadowy figure stepped into the room. The person was wearing a straw kasa shielding most of their head from your view but, from what you could make out, it was a young man. 

There was no time to think. In the few seconds he took to advance to the middle of the room, you lunged forward, driven mad by fear alone. Just before the sharp blade made contact with his skin, the man whirled around, startled by the noise. And then, merely a fraction later, the dagger was lodged to the hilt in his throat. 

When he tried to speak, nothing but a gruesome gurgling sound left his mouth. From the proximity, you could finally see under the hat, just to meet familiar eyes. You staggered back, mortified. It was as if someone had punched out all the air from your lungs as realisation struck you.

How didn't you recognise him? You had seen him so often. If you had just taken a second longer to properly look at him, he wouldn't…

The person burbling unintelligible noises sounding too similar to the letters of your name was certainly not an enemy of the Fatui. No, he was a simple herb farmer, selling his products on the local market. And you…

…just killed an innocent man.

The dull thud of the knife hitting the floor barely registered as your knees gave out and you sacked downwards. Two cold hands wrapped under your arms and stopped you from joining the blood-slicked blade. You didn’t put up any resistance as you were pulled against an all too familiar chest, your body limp like a puppet with its strings cut as he lowered both of you to the ground slowly.

“Look at you. You’re a monster,” he cooed and you could feel his grin curl against the top of your  head as he placed a frosty kiss there. “You just murdered an unarmed farmer, just like that. But it’s okay. I still love you.”

“No, I– I didn’t… I cant–” Guilt crushed your chest and wrangled your airways. You might as well have been the one with the slit vocal chords, judging by the lack of sound coming from you.

“Mhh, but you did, little dove.” Scaramouche’s soft hands were caressing the side of your face as he softly spoke to you. It took a few caresses for you to realise that his fingers were sticky and you forced yourself to focus on the scene in front of you. There was a pool of dark liquid slowly expanding from where the man's neck would be, the metallic smell filling the room, making you nauseous. You saw the knife lying next to the slumped over body. As in trance, you reached for it, anything to make the pain go away…

But Scaramouche was faster in pinning your arms back to your side “None of that, don’t be dumb. It wouldn't remedy what you already did.” When you sagged back against him and he was sure you wouldn't try taking the knife again, he let go of your arm. “Did you know? He was here to ‘save you’, isn't that funny?”

“...what?”

“I know, right? It's ridiculous,” he chuckled. “Apparently, the townsfolk were concerned about you when you stopped showing up at the market, so they waited for an opportunity where I wouldn't be home, those fools. But you made nice work of this idiot without my help. You did so well for me, love.”

“You… you knew about this?” You couldn't prevent the way your voice cracked from lack of energy. “But… the enemies of the Fatui… and the information that was… you said that… I thought..”

“Hm? Oh, that? I told you, didn’t I? We took care of them a couple of days ago. I definitely told you, little dove; you were so relieved when you heard the news. You didn't forget, did you?”

Did he tell you? You couldn’t remember; surely you would, if he had told you something so important. The Fatui, however, were notorious for dealing with their problems quickly, so it was possible this had been resolved so swiftly. No, you'd definitely remember…

You were ripped out of your thoughts when something warm touched your bare foot. Violently jerking your leg towards yourself as vermillion smeared across the wooden floor. Suddenly, it wasn’t just your lungs caving into themselves but also your stomach being compressed into a fraction of its size. Flopping onto your side you pulled yourself up onto shaky arms and knees as acid burned your throat and your body tried to rid itself of nonexistent content. 

Throughout all of it, Scaramouche lovingly ran his hand up and down the length of your spine, cooing at you to soothe your nerves, all the while praising you for doing so well. When you stopped throwing up for the moment, he gently lifted you up and brought you to the bathroom and helped you wash up. Frankly, he did most of the work, whereas you merely stood there, watching your reflection in the mirror. 

This was the baseline behaviour for the next few weeks as you processed what you had done. Naturally, by the time you exited the bathroom that night, there was no body or crimson trace left of what had transpired there. Nobody would know, except you, Scaramouche and the Fatui agents under his command. Although, the guilt and shame within you remained, most possibly until the day you died. He was right, you were a monster.

But underneath all the easily-accepted self-loathing, another sensation reared its ugly head. Denial spilled into the numbness and slowly warped into scepticism. And it culminated the morning you looked at yourself in the mirror. What had your life become? When did it all go wrong? 

Quietly, meant for nobody but the reflection on the polished surface but with the force to shake you awake, you mumbled a long overdue question: “What's wrong with me?”

However as you turned the situation over and over in your mind, there was only one answer. It was him, it all started with him. Your life was good before him. You weren't the problem here; you weren't the monster in this house. And there was only one solution to your problems.

“I can't do this anymore.”

“What?!” It was pure fury, the way he sliced the air with that single word. “You’re kidding, right? Well, it's not funny, so cut the crap, (Y/n).”

“I’m not. We’re done, Scaramouche.” It took every ounce of willpower for your voice to remain composed and unwavering. But you had made your decision and you wouldn't let him charm you into your downfall again. “I'm leaving. Don't follow me.”

“Have you completely lost your mind? You killed a person, remember? You should be grateful I’m willing to stick by your side; who else would love a freak like you? And that’s given the chance you’re even allowed to walk free.” The sneer was contorting his face into an ugly grimace and in the back of your head you wondered if those were the true colours you were just too blind to see all of this time. “You do realise, my position is the only thing keeping you from prison and poverty and homelessness. You need me. You owe me.”

“I don’t owe you anything for ruining my life,“ you spat, thoroughly done with him manipulating the narrative. It felt good to finally stand your ground and argue with your own agency in mind, no matter how terrifying it might be. Turning on your heel you marched straight to the front door, belongings in hand. Before you could make it there, however, a hand wrapped tightly around your wrist, spinning you around forcibly.

“You don't want to do this, little dove, trust me. You don’t know what I'll do if you dare leave me,” he gritted out. “I told you, we will be together forever.”

Merely raising an eyebrow as you held his stare you noted, “What you do no longer concerns me.” And so, you took the first steps to your regained freedom.

It had taken months of gentle caring to nurture the wilted shell in your chest back into a living sapling, hopefully strong enough to fill the empty void where your heart had been carved out.

It had taken years of genuine reassurance for your friends, who readily took you in again, to finally be fully let back into your life as you slowly broke down the high walls you had erected to keep the tiny sprout safe. 

Finally, the lively breeze that had carried you from adventure to adventure before had returned to ruffle your rusty wings once more and you were ready to rejoin the path you used to walk on.

So when you were waiting for your friend to pick you up and you excitedly answered the knock on your door, the dreaded amethyst staring back at you made you stagger back, the bouquet of crimson dendrobiums tearing open scars you thought had healed.

“Hello, little dove. You seem surprised to see me.” Every nerve in your body was screaming at you to run, far far away, put as much distance between you and the person you had once called your lover. But the weight in your stomach was dragging you down and you could only stare with wide eyes as you were once again pulled under and into your own demise.

“I came back for you. I promised I would.”

tag list: @mccnstruck @silentmoths @teyvattales @ainescribe

[gurugirl]

A Balancing Act Sneak Peek

A/N: I'll be posting Part 1 of this 4 part mini series next week (not sure what day yet but I'll be announcing it). This is a 1.5k word sneaky so enjoy! xoxo

Series requested by @cinnamonone

It had been a while since she’d been interested in anyone. And she didn’t know what Harry wanted but the night before she was picking up certain vibes. She could be wrong. Perhaps she’d misread the whole situation. But she thought it could be fun to get out a little. Try and move on from the trauma of her last relationship. She tried not to think of it when she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Moving on had been something she’d been attempting to do for a while. A fun night with a handsome pop star could help a little. If that’s where things led. Hopefully.

At the bar, she ordered soda water to start. She didn’t want to get sloppy, just in case it turned into something more than just a friendly chat. It was around the time Harry said he’d meet her. She’d give him a little leeway to be late since he had just gotten finished putting on a concert for thousands of adoring fans.

But when another thirty minutes had passed she checked her phone to find that there was nothing from him and no sign of his cute dimples in the bar anywhere either.

She waved at the bartender, “I’ll have a glass of house chardonnay please.”

She figured she might as well have one more glass of wine for the evening before calling it a night.

Looking at Instagram while she waited for her glass of wine she realized she had a dm. It was from Dante. An artist she hit it off with at her last art showing. They’d been messaging back and forth a bit but nothing had come of it. He lived a few hours away from her so getting together again hadn’t really been brought up. Except now.

Hey!  I’ll be heading your way for an art exhibit soon. Would love to catch up in person if you’re free. Would you be interested in seeing me again? I’ll let you know when I’ll be in town when I find out more.

Smiling she began to type her response when the bartender placed her glass of wine down along with an envelope with her name written on the front.

She looked up at the young man in question

“Concierge handed this to me right after you ordered.”

“But how did you know this was for me?” She lifted the envelope up and flipped it over to open it up.

“Because I have your credit card with your name on it when you started your tab. Plus they described you. It’s from a very special guest I’m told.”

A very special guest.

She pulled her lips into her mouth to hide the grin that was about to take over as she looked around the bar, still, with no sign of Harry.

Pulling out the contents of the envelope she took a sip of her wine.

Sorry, I ran late. Take a drink in my room with me? p1900 - H

Blinking her eyes she felt her pulse pick up as she folded the note and tucked it into her purse. She gulped down another bit of chardonnay and grinned to herself, already having completely forgotten about Dante.

So she had read this right. The nerves in her belly bubbled up as she waved at the bartender, Check please!”

After making a pitstop at her room to “freshen” up she realized that in the elevator the buttons for the floors stopped off at 8. After that was P.

Penthouse.

Hitting the P, she leaned her back into the wall as the elevator took her to the top floor.

The moment she stepped out of the elevator she was greeted by a man, “Can I help you, ma’am?”

“Oh!” She suddenly remembered who she was dealing with. Harry Styles, a world-famous, A-list pop star. Of course, he’d have security. “Yes, I uh… Harry invited me up-“ She reached into her purse and pulled out the note, “Here.”

The man unfolded the note and then looked at her with a smile, “Y/n?”

So he’d told them her name…

She nodded as he handed the note back to her, “Follow me.”

She figured this was something Harry had done before; had people brought to his room. The occasional one-night stand. Some fun for the weekend.

The man knocked at the door and only a handful of seconds passed before Harry was standing in the doorway, wearing the same comfortable after-concert outfit he’d been wearing when she left the venue earlier.

He smiled at her, “Come in,” and then looked at the man, “Thanks, Shamus.”

The suite was huge. That was no surprise. She’d seen a few nice suites in her days. Being an artist wasn’t always so lucrative but she was often invited to the good after parties. She had a lot of artsy fartsy friends, some very well-off.

“I’m really sorry about being so late. I just got caught up and then before I realized the time it was too late. I’m glad you were still at the bar.”

“Yeah,” she said as she walked around toward the sitting area with the large woven rug and plush couches, “about that… what if I wasn’t in the bar? I was about to go back to my room.”

“Well, then I guess we would have missed one another. That would have been a shame.”

“But you have my number. You could have reached out.”

Harry scratched the back of his neck as she sat down. She was acting far more confident than she really was. But this was part of what she did. She was constantly put into situations where she needed to be confident and sell herself. Her art was an extension of herself. So when she needed to make some sales at shows and galleries she learned just how to do that. Her art sold itself for the most part. But there were enough people who wanted her story. Sometimes, she was what sold her piece. She’d do whatever it took to not be a starving artist anymore.

“I know I could have. But… I hope you don’t take offense. I have a rule not to give out my number so easily. Not that I think you’d use it to do anything but I’ve just had some really bad experiences. People I’ve trusted have betrayed me and changing my number is something I have nightmares about,” he laughed as sat down next to her on the couch.

She laughed with him. She actually could sort of understand it. Being a woman was like that in a way. Giving out her number to someone could be risky. It was a gamble to have her information out there with someone she didn’t know well.

“I’m not offended. But I really thought you’d changed your mind. Though, in all honesty,” she stretched her arms overhead and leaned back into the very shockingly comfortable couch, “I was sort of looking forward to my bed. I’m exhausted.”

Harry leaned back and draped his leg over his knee, “I know what you mean. If I were you I’d much prefer a comfy bed than to spend any time with me either,” he laughed and then put his arm along the back of the couch, “but really… if you’re tired, don’t feel pressure to stay. I am glad you’re here, though.”

There it was. He gave her the choice. So he could have the green light. The thumbs up. He was clever. Telling her she didn’t have to stay but also letting her know he wanted her there. The ball was in her court.

“I’m curious as to why you think I’m interesting enough to invite back to your room for a drink, of which I’ve not yet been offered,” she teased with a chuckle. She didn’t want to seem like some pushover but at the same time, she felt a little flirty. She’d had such a good night at the gallery and she hadn’t been alone with a man nearly as attractive as Harry in… well, she’d never been alone with a man as attractive as Harry. And he was very much giving off the air of flirty himself. The way he kept putting his finger up to his lip, the eye contact, his arm reaching across the couch behind her… His body language was a dead giveaway.

 “You don’t think you’re interesting?”

Y/n smiled. He was good. Of course that was a good line to use on someone he didn’t know. She was wondering something very specific that he’d yet to admit. That she was there for some fun. A quick romp. He had a need that he wanted filled and so did she. The reason he’d asked her to his room was for that. Yet he insisted on playing coy.

“I know I’m interesting. But you don’t know me. So why is it that you’ve asked me here?” She raised her brows at him as he stood and walked to the buffet across the room.

“I felt comfortable with you from the start. It’s nice to have a conversation with someone new once in a while. Not someone in the industry,” Harry turned back with a bottle of wine in one hand and two glasses in his other, “and sorry I didn’t offer you a drink. Wine?”

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[blushinggray]

change of plans: part 6

crying. it just keeps getting longer… but i can't stop

sero hanta x fem! reader

part 6/? (part 5 | part 1)

rain. coffee. music. these were the three ingredients used to create the perfect spontaneous booty call. but then there was an extra ingredient added to the concoction: pasión

nsfw // cw: fluff, (light) shower sex, growing feelings, sero knowing spanish

—

Ashido and Hagakure have not stopped giving you “I know what you did” eyes since the kickback last weekend… You wish they would give it a rest, since it’s been almost a week already.

They haven’t let the topic go since you returned to the party that night — rather inconspicuously, you’d say — hand in hand with Sero. Which was all him, by the way! You tried to create an opening to part ways for each of you to do your own thing several times, but Sero just kept you with him for the remainder of the evening. Not that he was keeping a close eye on you or anything, but he’d just find a spot for both of you to join a group or conversation together and once you were settled in, you didn’t really see a need to leave.

You did eventually part ways though, when the bestie duo insistently announced they would take you home when you decided to leave for the night. Hagakure drove the three of you to get some late night fast food and eat it in the car while they extracted every drop of gossip they could get from you about your little rooftop adventure with Sero. There was a lot of excited screaming that night, and despite how careful you’re still trying to be, you couldn’t help but join in every so often.

So yeah, now that they know that you like Sero and have officially fucked him, they have become physically incapable of bringing him up every time you see them.

“Has he texted you since then?” Hagakure asks while the three of you are having lunch on campus together.

“Yeah. Like ‘good morning’ and stuff like that.” You shrug, “Haven’t really had any extended conversations with him through text before.”

Even though he didn’t totally lose interest in you after you finally did the deed, you still know better than to wait for his texts or to expect too much from him now. Because you never know when you’re gonna catch sight of him wrapped up with someone else again. And while having to accept that possibility scrapes and gnaws at your chest, you still have to take care of yourself. Even if you like him, you don’t need to put yourself through more pain than necessary.

“Ugh, what the heck is that guy doing?” Ashido groans, stabbing at her salad, “He’s got such a catch, but he has no idea how to lock it down!”

“Uhm… I’m not really—”

“Maybe it’s because he hasn’t had a steady partner in a while.” Hagakure interrupts, “So he’s forgotten how to pursue someone seriously?”

“No, he’s not that stupid.” Ashido waves off, “He may be a serial lover, but he should know how to make someone feel special. The problem is his timing! Doesn’t that guy know there’s only so long a girl will wait for him? It’s been days, and not even one invite to coffee or lunch since then? Ugh. Boy’s fumbling.”

"Big time." Hagakure agrees with a groan.

“Guys, I don’t think…”

“Or maybe!” Ashido interrupts this time, “He’s out doing all his photography stuff again. I remember he mentioned he has some project going on about that.”

“True. He does get pretty busy when he does those.” Hagakure nods, then puts a hand on your shoulder, “But still! It’s [Name]. And you guys have like, crazy good chemistry that he hasn’t had with anyone in a while. He should at least be doing something!”

“Right? Totally agreed.” Ashido stabs at her salad again before taking a bite.

“Guys!” You speak up, finally, “Look, thanks for your concern and stuff, but… have you ever just thought that maybe he’s not actually that into me?”

“Huh?” The girls give you the same blank look for a pause before they burst into protest.

“What are you talking about? Of course, he’s into you!” Ashido insists.

“He wouldn’t have been all over you at the party — and all the parties before that — if he wasn’t!” Hagakure adds.

You sigh, wondering how you can explain it to them in a way that would make sense.

“Yeah, okay, I mean sure, he’s ‘into’ me. But that doesn’t mean that he’s serious about me, you know?” You say, but only get more confused looks and retorts so you try again, “Look, what I mean is, like… Maybe I’m his favorite right now, or he’s curious about how far he can take it with me. But at the end of the day, it’s not like he’s gonna be my boyfriend. You know?”

The two girls look at you with deadpan reactions for another beat before Hagakure starts shouting in disbelief and Ashido is sighing in frustration.

“I thought Sero was bad, but girl… the density of your brain!” Ashido shouts, slamming her palms on the table, “I mean, I know you’re not dumb, so are you just in denial?”

“Such strong denial…” Hagakure shakes her head sadly.

“Okay, shut up! I know you guys have been friends for a while and you probably know him better than me, but I just... there's this feeling I get about him. Like yeah, he's cool and sweet and kinda sexy when we're together, but when we're not," you take in a breath to think about how to explain it, "He's kinda vague and just lets himself fade into the background. I barely hear from him when we're not around each other."

It's just a feeling in the back of your mind, but you'd rather not ignore you intuition just to chase after an exciting romance. You've done that before and it certainly didn't turn out well for you then.

Because with Sero, you like him. His charm, his hands, his voice, and all of the small things he does that make you feel good. But sometimes, the things he says to you just feel kind of paper thin. Almost like a pretty flyer printed with sweet and alluring words that could be used on anyone, to appeal to whoever's passing by to read it.

That time he surprised you with a French pickup line was the first time you've heard anything remotely catered to you, since he happened to learn that you knew some French. Yet even then, it was still just a pickup line. One that could be said to anyone whether they understood it or not.

You just don't feel like there's enough substance in his words for him to truly mean them, which is what makes it that much harder for you. Because you like him. You like him to the point that you're thinking about it hard enough to give you a headache. But you still can't tell how much he actually likes you or he just thinks you're another fun pursuit.

No matter how Ashido and Hagakure try to convince you, you can't shake the feeling. And you won't betray yourself this time, so you'll just have to continue being careful for now. You spend the rest of lunch trying to change the subject, bothering them about their own love lives and other things until it's time to part ways.

The rest of the day is graciously easy on you during classes, but you are still exhausted by the time you're finished. It's getting darker earlier these days with the change of seasons, so the sky is already losing light by the time you leave campus. Today was especially cloudy, so it feels even darker than usual.

There's one thing you need to do before you go home though, so you make a detour to one of the local import grocery stores a few blocks away from campus.

However, by God's graces, your simple errand is interrupted when a voice calls out to you before you even make it into the store.

"Hey." Sero calls your name when he spots you, coming from the opposite direction. "Heading home for the day?"

"Hey." You reply, trying to hold in the awkwardness that bubbles up as you remember 'this guy has been inside of me before.' "Uhm yeah, was just gonna grab a few things first." You gesture towards the small grocer.

"Cool. Can I join you?" He asks.

"It's a grocery store. Not like I could stop you even if I said no." You shrug as you walk inside, grabbing a basket.

He follows you in and walks beside you, chuckling, "Suppose not. But I just meant to help you with your shopping, if you wanted."

"I'm good. I'm just here for coffee and some other things." You say, heading to the import section, and scanning the shelves before grabbing the one you want, "They don't have this brand at most places, so that's why I always come here when I need more."

Sero hums as he reads the label of the coffee that you show him, "That does sound pretty good. But if it's coffee you like, you should try this one."

He hands you another bag from the shelf, which you see is labeled to be from the Dominican Republic. While you do like coffee, you don't actually know all that much about it, so you have no clue as to why this one would be worth recommending over any of the others.

"This is a really good one. Especially if you like it a little sweet." He explains, "Goes with any cream or sugar combo."

"I see." You say, reading more of the info on the package and then back at the shelf. It's around the same price as the coffee you were originally planning to get, so you wonder if you should actually try it.

"Actually," Sero takes the bag from you and returns it to the shelf before leading you towards the front of store, "Let's go see if they have the actual fresh beans in stock."

You have no idea what to say so you just follow him and watch as he greets the employee working behind the counter with a smile. "Hi there, do you guys still have the Dominican blend right now?"

"We do. How much of it would you like?" The employee asks.

"Just the regular 200 grams, if you please." He says, then turns back to you to ask, "Do you have some sort of grinder or blender at home, by the way?"

"Uhm... yeah." You answer.

"Cool, then let's just take the beans as they are. They'll be fresher if you just grind them right before you brew it." He suggests before relaying the same thing to the employee.

"I don't really remember asking for a whole new coffee recommendation, but sure, I guess..." You say.

"I swear by this one, okay?" He promises, "I drink it all the time when I'm visiting family back in South America."

"You have family in South America?" Your brows quirk up at the new tidbit of information.

"Yeah, in a few places. I visit them a lot and I've tried a bunch of the local coffees all over, so you can trust me on this." He says with a wink, as if he didn't just drop one of the biggest bombs on you. But before you inquire further, the employee puts the sealed bag of coffee beans on the counter and rings him up.

"Anything else for you today?" She asks.

"Did you get everything else you needed?" He asks you, "Ring it up together. It's on me."

"What? No, that's fine. I can pay for it myself—"

"Don't worry about it, okay?" He takes your basket and puts it on the counter for the employee to scan.

You let out a sigh before asking him to wait for you to pick up a few extra items and bring it back to the register. After all your things are bagged and paid for by Sero, you take your now free groceries and leave the store with him.

"You didn't have to do that, you know." You remind him, "But... thanks, I guess. I'll try the coffee."

"Great!" He smiles, "Let me know how you like it."

"Sure..." You trail off when you step out of the store and are suddenly faced with an unexpected dilemma.

Rain.

Thick, loud droplets that deafen the entire block. You thought it was a bit cloudier than usual, but you didn't expect anything like this after the few minutes you were in the store.

"What the heck? Where did this come from?" You say, holding your palm out to catch a few raindrops, getting totally soaked within a matter of seconds.

"Wow, it's really coming down hard." Sero observes beside you.

"I don't suppose you have an umbrella hidden anywhere on you?" You ask, though you already know the answer, considering Sero is only carrying a small messenger bag around his back.

"Nope."

You check your phone to see if the weather is going to let up within the next hour, but it seems that this sudden rain is going to persist for the rest of the evening... So letting out a sigh, you turn back towards the grocery store, "Maybe they sell some inside. I'll go check."

But Sero stops you from going in with a hand on your wrist, and when you look up at him in confusion, he just gives you that cheeky smile of his and says, "I've got a better idea."

Before you can ask, he takes your shopping bag and ties it up tightly before tucking it into his jacket, which suddenly makes you suspicious.

"Sero... don't tell me you're thinking about—"

But before you can finish, he's already snatched your hand in his and is dashing out into the pouring streets. You yelp as you get pelted down on by the cold, heavy raindrops and can already feel your shoes getting soaked through. Sero jumps easily over larger puddles, but your legs aren't as long as his, so you end up getting a few shoe fulls of rainwater.

You're screaming at him to stop and calling him an idiot as you get pulled down so many streets, trying to keep pace with him as his hand stays warm and latched to yours. The two of you are splashing with every step you take, and sometimes he pulls and twirls you around to avoid an extra dirty shower from a passing vehicle. It's complete chaos, especially because you don't even recognize where you are anymore.

At some point, however, when you turn another block and you're already soaked through to the point where it couldn't get any worse, you let out a laugh. It's drowned out a bit by the sound of the rain, but Sero seems to hear it and turns over to smile at you with his own rain-soaked face.

His hair is completely matted and flops a bit in waterlogged ropes as he continues to run, but it just makes you laugh again. Something about this entire stunt, as stupid as it is, makes you smile. Even splashing into bigger puddles now makes you a giggle now instead. So you just hold his hand tighter and keep going with it.

By the time he finally ducks into shelter, you’re pretty sure you’ve soaked through a few layers of skin. Despite the running, you’re shivering from the cold that’s started to seep into your body. You’re almost certain you’re going to catch a cold after today. And yet, you still can’t help laughing.

“You are absolutely crazy.” You chuckle as you let go of his hand to wring out your hair and shirt.

“You make me a little crazy.” He winks as he wrings out his own shirt.

You groan and roll your eyes at him for throwing the usual line. It’s shit like that that makes it impossible to take him seriously. Though you can’t say it’s totally ineffective, since you still continue to stick around.

“Do I also make you annoying?”

He laughs as he wrings out his own hair, “That might be a personal issue.”

“Figured.” You scoff with a shake of your head, but the smile is still on your face.

“So you’re not mad at me for dragging you through a rainstorm?” He asks after a short pause, his voice changing into that softer, more genuinely curious tone.

You're surprised he's even bothered to think about the consequences of your reaction after the water damage has been done. Even more surprising to you, is your actual reaction.

“You know, I thought I would be. But I guess I’m not.” You shrug. As much as you’d like to pretend to be upset and have a real reason to dislike him, you’re not really all that bothered about it. It was actually more fun than you thought.

“Good.” He smiles, taking your hand again and leading you into the building you were standing just outside of, “Let’s go inside.”

“Inside?” You look around and realize that this must be an apartment complex. You don’t know why it didn’t occur to you earlier. “Do you live here?”

“Yeah. It’s close by so I figured a light jog wouldn’t kill us.” He chuckles as he leads you up to the third floor and unlocks the door to the apartment at the end of the walkway.

So that’s why he just ran out into the rainstorm without telling you a thing. You want to beat yourself over the head for falling for a trick that led you right into his apartment before you knew it, but you know it’s already too late. You are far too soaked to do anything else at this point.

Once you’re both inside his apartment, the both of you slip off your shoes and he leaves his messenger bag on the floor in the living area. Then he slips the plastic bag filled with your coffees and groceries out of his jacket to put down as well. You follow his lead and set your own backpack down, internally grateful that you invested in a more expensive one with water repellent material.

But it’s not a second later that Sero has his hands on your hips and pulls you in for a soft, but chilled kiss. His skin is just as cold and damp as yours, but somehow, the sparks warm you up a little from the inside.

“Let’s go take a shower.” He says when he pulls away slightly.

“Separately?” You try.

“You’re cute.” He chuckles before dragging you by the hand into the apartment until you step into the bathroom together.

As he turns on the water to get it heated up, your mind is already sprinting. Is this really happening? Are you really going to just let yourself be swallowed up in his pace like this? Should you stop it? Do you want to stop it?

When Sero pulls his damp jacket and shirt off over his head to reveal his surprisingly ripped torso, you immediately decide that no, you don’t think you want to stop this.

It suddenly occurs to you that despite how you’ve already fucked and been inside each other’s bodies, you’ve never really gotten a full look of him naked. Neither of you stripped anything beyond your thighs that night, what with the hurry that you were in. So you had no idea that in addition to his monster dick that he would have such a sculpted chest, or abs, or shoulders, or arms.

He’s pretty tall, but he actually looks a little lanky compared to some of his gym rat friends like Kirishima or Bakugou. His baggy clothes don’t really give his body much definition either. So while you knew he was strong from touching him through his clothes a few times, you had absolutely no clue that he would be this… this fine.

And while you’re drooling over his upper body, he seems to be thinking about the same thing, since he’s back in front of you, hands on your hips, and eyes on your lips. You’re not sure if it’s his focused gaze on your mouth that’s making it warmer in here, or the steam that’s starting to fill the room from the hot water, but you take in a shaky breath before you follow his lead again.

You slip off your jacket and let it drop to the floor before you slowly pull your shirt over your head as well. Your skin is actually quite sensitive from the cold now, and your nipples are so hard that they’re poking through your bra. So you have no choice but to be slow with unhooking it as well.

Sero seems to appreciate the show, considering he can’t take his eyes off your naked chest now. His tongue even darts out and grazes over his lip ring as his hands drag up your sides to cup the underside of your breasts and bounce them a bit in his hands, playing with them for a moment.

“Fuck, these are beautiful.” He rasps, giving them another knead and squeeze, “Such a shame that I didn’t get a look at them the other night.”

“You must have been preoccupied.” You say, voice equally as raspy as Sero’s, as you undo your pants and drag them down your thighs. As much as you want to bask in this growing sexual tension, the steam from that hot shower is calling for you. You’re fairly certain that you’re starting to get wet between the legs partially because you know that the shower is right there, waiting to warm your cold skin.

“Oh, yeah.” Sero agrees, watching as you undress yourself completely, his eyes roaming everywhere on your body now, “Definitely preoccupied.”

He’s naked in seconds, his bottoms shucked off somewhere as he pulls you right into the shower. And once the perfectly tempered water hits your cold, naked skin, you let out a shuddering moan in relief.

Sero gets the shower door closed and he settles himself right behind you, pressing his hard chest into your back and bringing his hands up to palm at your breasts again as the hot water and steam envelopes the both of you.

You’re already moaning. And embarrassingly, you can’t stop. Between the delicious hot water, Sero’s hands on your breasts, his growing erection resting between your ass cheeks, and his lips on your neck, you couldn’t get yourself to shut up even if you tried.

“Mmm, do you like that, baby?” He asks into your ear as he pulls gently at your sensitive nipples, making you yelp and arch your ass back into him, and your chest closer into his hands.

“Yes, yes! Yes…” You beg, one hand hanging onto his neck behind you and the other holding yourself up against the wall.

“Mm, thought so.” He hums in approval, slipping his thigh in between your legs and making you sit back slightly on it.

Your pussy isn’t particularly sensitive yet, but it’s certainly wet, and you are more than happy to have something hard and thick to stimulate your clit against. “Agh! Yes… yes…! Please.”

It feels so good. Everything. The water pelting down on your face and running down your skin, Sero’s hands playing with your chest and now your clit too, his strong thigh acting as your little riding saddle, and the thick steam clouding up your lungs just makes it all that much more intense. Like your body is being taken over by Sero and the elements until you let go a few minutes later with a breathless shout and come all over his thigh.

You’re trembling against him, pulsing and rubbing against his thigh to ride out the high for as long as you can, until Sero hums against your ear again and pulls his leg away. Only to turn you around to face him before he gets to his knees and spreads your legs apart to stick his face between them.

“Ahh!” You yelp, clutching at his head for support and balance. Your hips squirm against his poking tongue and fervent lips, knees starting to buckle every time he dips a little too deep. “Sero… Sero, wait. I dunno if I can… can stand if you keep… ahn!”

He doesn’t seem to care in the slightest, only responding by inching you towards the adjacent wall so you can lean your back against the flat tile. And he only comes up for air briefly to shelve your thighs onto his shoulders before burying his face right back in between your legs.

Just watching this is enough to get your pussy throbbing. The sight of Sero on his knees, easily holding you up with his shoulders and hands as he gets rained down on by the steaming shower water. You’re more than warmed up now, but his tongue you stirs up an even deeper dormant heat inside of you, making you sweat.

You’ve already come once, but he’s really about to send you into another high with this one shower. And there isn’t a thing that you can do to stop it, even if you wanted to.

You’re shouting his name helplessly into the bathroom walls, pleading for him to finish you off, to lick you apart from the inside, to soak you up in his special type of rain. And he delivers with a thorough aggressiveness, adding a few fingers to stretch you out with his tongue until your muscles tremble and squeeze around them to try and trap them inside.

The rest of the shower is a blur. It takes all your strength to stay on your feet even with your back still against the wall as Sero finishes cleaning himself off and turns off the water. He somehow leads you out of the shower and gets a towel wrapped around you before he lets you sit on the toilet lid to regain your strength.

By the time you come to, he’s already dried himself off and got a towel wrapped around his waist as he blow dries his hair in the mirror. You wipe yourself off completely before wringing and soaking out some of the water from your own hair, silently reflecting on the whirlwind of events that just happened. Though it’s actually quite difficult to think properly when your brain’s half melted from two consecutive orgasms.

Once Sero’s finished drying his hair, he offers the dryer to you, but you shake your head, knowing you are way too tired to do that right now. He chuckles and leans down to give you a soft kiss before bringing you to your feet, “Why don’t you head into my room first? It’s just down this same hallway. I’m gonna get these wet clothes in the washer first.”

He piles up both of your wet clothes in his hands and waits for you to have your towel wrapped around your body before opening the bathroom door. Giving your butt a quick squeeze, he exits the bathroom first, leaving you to tiptoe in the direction he told you his room was in.

There’s only one other door in this hallway that isn’t for storage, so you step inside of the surprisingly well-decorated bedroom. It has a totally oriental theme, with all kinds of different prints and fabrics and furniture that seem to come from different parts of Asia.

There are a few plants scattered about the room, and it smells like a mix of cinnamon, flowers, and a little bit of weed. There’s a bed on one side of the room, and a desk with a large computer monitor on the other. But there’s also a cute floor hammock by the window. A few knickknacks and photos tucked into some cool, Asian-style frames are scattered about the room. They look like they’re mostly of his family, just goofing around or posing at some sort of special location or event.

Seeing the big smile or goofy expressions on Sero’s face in the photos makes you smile a bit, too. There really is so much more to this guy than meets the eye, or what comes out of his mouth. You never would have imagined he would be this into Asian decor, or to know much about coffee, or to have family in South America.

These smaller details you learn are what make you so much more curious about him, despite your initial plans to avoid falling into his playboy trap. Things like this kind of give you hope that it’s not all a trap, that he isn’t just a hopeless flirt who can’t be taken seriously.

Eager to find more details, you drift over to his bookshelf. Skimming over the titles, you find a few of his university textbooks, a couple of fiction and nonfiction novels, a few books about photography, some manga, as well as a couple books in other languages. Wow.

At the top shelf is a line of CD albums and a radio/CD player device. You mean to scan through the different titles, but one pops out to you before any of the others, and you’ve already reached to pluck it out. The nostalgia and excitement bubbles up so much that you forget to hide the fact that you’re snooping once Sero gets back to his room.

“You like Pink Martini?” You practically beam at him.

“Huh?” He blinks in confusion before he spies the album in your hands and smiles in understanding, “Ahhh. Yeah. Sure, I do.”

He takes the album from your hands to pluck the CD out of the case and tuck it into the CD player. Pressing a few buttons to turn it on, he skips to a certain track to play first, “I’m guessing you like the French song, right?”

“Yes! I love it.” You say excitedly, “It was one of the first French songs I ever heard and I’ve loved it ever since.”

Sero chuckles as he closes his bedroom door and uncaps one of the water bottles he brought with him, sitting down on his bed to take a drink while you sing along to the whimsical lyrics of 'Sympathique.'

You twirl around in your towel and physically act out a couple of the lyrics as you sing them before plopping yourself down to sit beside Sero with a cheeky smile and shrug of your shoulders.

“Oh my god, hold that for a sec.” He says, holding his fingers up in a rectangle shape to point at you like a camera. Except he actually jumps off of the bed to pull out one of his weaved box drawers to dig out his digital camera.

“What? Oh my god, no! Stop.” You huff in exasperation, holding a hand out to block his lens from your face.

“Come on, that was the perfect shot. You’re beautiful.” He insists, plopping down beside you again and adjusting a few dials to hold the big DSLR up in front of you, “Gimme that gorgeous sim-pa-teek attitude again.”

“Sympathique.” You correct him with a half-scoff-half-chuckle, shaking your head.

“Oui, oui. Come on, just the one pose. Please?” He pleads jokingly.

You sigh with a roll of your eyes, but with the last chorus coming on, you just sing along to the lyrics again, trying to channel the same energy you had at first to pull off the same cheeky pose you gave him earlier. And he snaps away, the shutter noise clicking restlessly even when you stop posing.

He asks you to do the same thing once more, but you're done. It was embarrassing enough to have to do it again the first time.

"That's enough." You push his wrists to get his camera out of your face, "What happened to 'an honest subject is the best subject'?"

"Well, you were honest." He smiles, relenting with the camera and clicking through it to scan the photos, "That's the first time I've seen you enjoy yourself that honestly with just the two of us. I kinda wanted to keep it."

You narrow your eyes at him, wondering if that's really all there was to it. Though if you think about it, he has a point. It's not like you've ever really let your guard down around him before. You still haven't really done that yet.

"Here," he scoots closer to you to show you the preview on his camera screen, "Look at that smile and tell me it wasn't worth capturing."

From the angle he took it from, you look like you could be naked, since you're only shown from the shoulder up, and the way you're shrugging hides the towel that's wrapped around your chest. It does have a bit of a pure, joyful, and almost dewy look about it, what with your playful smile and your damp hair leaving a few droplets visible on your skin. While it's not a photo you would have chosen to take, you can't say that it doesn't look good.

You're suddenly getting deja vu, recalling a scenario rather similar to this one at that Thai restaurant Sero first took you to. He had unexpectedly taken your photo, but he still showed it to you and proved even then that he wasn't a half bad photographer. Though with that photo, this one, and the one he took of you in the Cellophane hoodie, the photos of you in Sero's possession seem to be accumulating...

"Whatever," you deflect, "Just don't send that one to Mina. Or anyone else, for that matter."

"Oh, believe me, I'm keeping this beauty all for myself." He reassures you before turning off his camera and setting it aside. Then without warning, he wraps his arms around you and pulls you down to lie on top of him on his bed, making you yelp as he jokes, "This one, too."

"You jerk." You scoff, feeling your towel come loose around your chest.

"Ay de mí..." He laments dramatically and reaches up to steal a kiss from you. At the same time, the song playing on from the CD player changes tempo and the singer starts crooning in Spanish.

And Sero sings along perfectly as he rolls you over to lie on top of you.

You're absolutely stunned as he just continues to put on a theatric performance as he sings along, caressing your cheek and making dramatic gestures as you listen to his perfect accent. The way his tongue curls around the trills and syllables is evident of nothing less than fluency...

"You know Spanish..." You address the obvious, still staring up at him with what must be a dumbfounded look on your face.

His smugly amused smile is back as he watches your reaction, leaning down to nose along your jawline, "Sí, querida." he purrs, "I told you I've been all over Sudamerica, didn't I?"

"That's right." You recall the new fact you learned about Sero earlier today. You had actually wanted to ask him more about that before you got swept up in his impromptu rain dash and shower sex.

He hums as he rubs his chest against your naked skin, your towel having completely fallen open by now. "So even if I can't keep up with your sympathique, I can try to make up for it with a little pasión."

Wow. You wonder how many people he's seduced rolling his tongue around a few words like that. You're rather upset at how easily it's working on you.

As much as you want to ask him more, learn more of these interesting, new facts about him, it seems like it'll have to wait. His dick between your thighs and naked skin all over yours leave you warm and unfocused. It doesn't help that he's looking down at you with that soft, tender expression on his face that you've seen on occasion. The one that leaves your brain privy to your heart.

He takes you in with another slow, syrupy kiss, this time without any of the urgency from the shower, or the roof. You're in his bed, pliant and aroused, and he seems perfectly content — or rather, completely intent to take his sweet time.

But if he keeps this up, you don't know if you'll make it through this. If he keeps kissing you like he's in love with you, hugging you like you're precious to him, and pulling back to just... look at you like that, you don't know if you'll get out of this unscathed.

You don't know if you can leave this room without falling for him.

Because when you're with him like this, and he holds you and looks at you like that, you're no longer plagued with that feeling that stops you. He erases any trace of doubt or hesitance you have towards his advances or intentions with you. When you're together like this, sharing heat and skin and air, it all goes away, and only leaves you floating from his ardor and affection.

And until you get your fill, you can't do a thing to bring yourself back down to earth.

—

tbc

a/n: the sympathique album by pink martini is absolutely filled with multicultural and linguistic flavor!! i highly encourage giving it a listen!!

and much love/thanks to leo @4xesp for helping me with the spanish in this one!!

//

part 7

[alwaysxlarrie]

an end of 2022 thank you :)

the end of this year marks my first full year of having this account & i wanted to thank everyone who made this year fun, accepting, supportive, and informative! i made a post similar to this a few months ago, but i’ve met new people since then & wanted to make an updated, 🌟formal🌟 list. to everyone who became a friend this past year and/or who helped me out in any way; whether it was educating me on all things larry history, one direction history, LGBTQIA+ history, helping me with my fics/moodboards, helped me edit my first custom theme, betaing for me, trusting me to beta your fics, supporting my fics + fests in any way, etc: i appreciate you all very much + whether we talk often or occasionally, i’m thankful for your support & to have gotten to know you all/talk to you all :) 

first, big shoutout to my two fic fests @notjustsmutficfest & @harryislouisbabyficfest !!! very proud of these & can’t wait to see what the writers for each fest create :’) (writer & beta sign ups for the harry is louis baby fest are still open! an announcement on what the new deadlines for the fest will be coming out this weekend as well, if anyone’s interested hehe)

(doing the tags in alphabetical to make this easier on my adhd brain lol)

@2tiedships2 @allwaswell16 @beelou @beardyboyzx @becomeawendybird @beckydoesthings @brightgolden @cyantific @crinkle-eyed-boo @disgruntledkittenface @fallinglikethis @finelinelarents @finelinegynandromorph @faithinwalls369 @gaycousinlarry @greenblueish @hlkings @homosociallyyours @haztobegood @hershelsue @hearyouhowling @heyangels @howharrymetlouis @huggieshalo @ireallysawanangel @infinitelymint @juliusschmidt @jaerie @jacaranda-bloom @jalboyhenthusiast @justalarryblog @justanothershadeofblue @kingsofeverything @kingonafiftymetreroad @lululawrence @londonfoginacup @loveislarryislove @leedsau @larryatendoftheday @larrieblr @larriescompass @larrydoinglaundry @larrysballetslippers @lunarheslwt @larry-hiatus @littleroverlouis @momrryrights @maggieisalarrie @neondiamond @onlythebravest @oliverstaark @panye @pancakesforthebrave @pocketsunshineharry @polaroidlouis @parmahamlarrie @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed @sadaveniren @skipperxao3 @twopoppies @thedevilinmybrain @thinlinez @thebreadvansstuff @tobesokaylee @tommokat @voulezloux @wabadabadaba @xsaerahx @zanniscaramouche 

lastly, shoutout to the four wonderful discords i’m in: @1d-library, @writerscornercafe, the larrie hangout & beauty direction. thank you to all the mods for providing a wonderful community !!

i didn’t start writing this with the intention of turning it into a tag or calling it one, but i just realized that technically it can be? idk but if anyone wants to take inspo from this & make your own ‘end of the year’/’end of the year thank yous’ post, go for it lmao

[canayams-art]

"i don't need anyone fighting my battles"

"no, but someone should have your back"

STOP STOP THIS IS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!

i absolutely adore your take on the situation! i also feel like mq would have such a hard time believing lqq being genuine, especially if this would be during the time they would be fighting. and while mq doesn't see himself through the eyes of those who judge him, he still thinks even those who don't think the same. lqq meanwhile doesn't have much of information on mq and xl's relationship so perhaps he would get more curious about it seeing the way mq reacted to the situation.

however i look at it i don't think qianqing would have much issues with their relationship/friendship simply because they would end up talking about the issues at some point, because neither of them are weighted by shared or complicated history, the power imbalance doesn't really exist between them so it wouldn't play that much of a role in their issues, and both of them are stubborn enough to keep trying to make it better when things go south. maybe the topic of morality would be an issue, but seeing as both of them are generals and know war, i don't think the topic would come up all that often. and if it does, mq doesn't strike me as someone who would deliberately take jabs at lqq's ways of dealing with things and would let him do his thing voicing his thoughts (he did deal with both fx and xl's idealistic views after all) and lqq would at least demand mq's explanation before jumping his throat about his ways being "conniving".

ooooh lqq and mq meeting while lqq is in the pursuit of revenge and mq maybe potentially after he escapes the prison 👀 you're giving me so many ideas i can't even put them all in order lol

no no i enjoy an occasional qianxiu cameo! actually the reason why your account brought my attention was that ship since i myself never could get into qr x lqq one. im like super casually into them but i can get behind your vision

ah im still kinda getting used to new uni, so i dont think i will be able to write anything in a while, but our discussions have opened my eyes and brain and i don't think the ideas i have for them will be leaving soon. i will let you know how it goes when i finally get something concrete because i don't think i will rest peacefully until i make something for qianqing :"))

btw have you decided whether you're participating in the weekend lqq/sqx event? the prompts seem cute from what ive seen

Now I’m just thinking about the more mundane sides of their relationship. Like when all of the tension of their previous circumstances is gone and over with, they could really have one of the most sincere companionships in the heavens. I mostly think that way about any relationship where lqq is involved but it’s especially refreshing to imagine with mq who’s never really had that for himself in the way most of the other gods have. Mq deserves a confidant and lqq would be such a positive person for mq to learn to open up more with.

I definitely think they’d have a liveliness to their relationship— lqq seems like the type to lose interest and drag out his formal duties (paperwork, organizing, etc), which mq would absolutely get on his case about. Attendants wouldn’t even be able to formally announce mq’s arrival without lqq trying to find ways to avoid mq for the dread of being dragged back to his duties by the ear. Meanwhile mq would give lqq an earful about how childish he’s being (even if mq may or may not be going along with lqq’s game of avoidance) and eventually sit down with lqq to make sure he finishes what needs to be done.

On the other hand mq is always so distant at festivals and events— always solitary with his martial training and meditations. Lqq is a noisy disruption from the norm but he makes a good sparring partner. Somehow they both find each other’s martial styles familiar (it’s the xl conditioning but neither of them know that yet). Lqq is far from besting mq but I think he would be a good sport about it— mq leaves him in the dirt more times than either of them can count but lqq always grins and leaps back to his feet for another determined round.

There would be quiet, comfortable moments too but those seem somehow more rare and more special for them.

Anyway—! I would LOVE to see fy!mq run into lqq while they’re out trying to solve their individual problems in the mortal realm. Maybe lqq wouldn’t recognize mq at first— maybe mq wouldn’t want lqq to recognize him. But despite that possibility I still think it would be interesting to see mq try and convince lqq as fy to take a different path,,, even if he fails to dissuade lqq.

I just love having these talks though!!! And I get where you’re coming from. It feels out of place to be someone who likes lqq but doesn’t necessarily like qiurong. No hate or judgement here though— it’s just not for me! And since lqq’s presence in the plot is very limited it’s both a blessing and a curse cos it means so much about him is a mystery BUT!! it also means interpreting how he interacts with other characters is free real estate 😂 I love the creativity that comes from the circumstances!

And I’ve decided I want to participate in the lqq/sqx event but I haven’t decided what prompt(s) I wanna draw for yet. That’s something I’ll figure out soon huhuhu

[pancake-breakfast]

I've been neglecting Tumblr as a whole this weekend as I burn through costume-making, but I think I can keep up with Trigun Book Club!

Archive

Trigun Volume 1: Covers + 1-3, 3 Detailed Thoughts, 4, 4 DT, 5-6, 5-6 + DT, 6 DT, 7-8, 9-10

Trigun Volume 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 1 Supplemental Research, 2-4

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for Trigun Vol. 2, Chapters 5-6 below.

Chapter 5: Murder Café

CW: Sexual assault, human trafficking

This title sounds like a place I'd either really want to eat at or never want to eat at.

It's interesting to see what they did and didn't keep of the city design in Stampede.

Even yandere emo boys have to eat sometimes.

The heck? Is this woman barefoot?? Why would anyone be barefoot out there??? Oh. Oh, shit. Are we gonna get into that aspect of the story already???

Yyyyup. Well, dang. These men chose the wrong bar to stumble into. I know a few things about yandere emo boys and there's a thing or two they're a bit sensitive about....

If your SO ever, EVER slaps you to the floor while screaming at you for looking at someone else, even if it's not in public, get help and get out of there. I realize these guys aren't these women's significant anything, but that's not the point. Or maybe it is. They are the kind of people who would treat another human being this way. They are not people who love these women.

Dude. This shit is blaming Legato for being too pretty and making these women feel bad that they'll never have a handsome man like him while bragging about assaulting them in the same breath. WTH???

Everyone else in the bar wants to take these guys down, but they're big and powerful and intimidating, making it pretty impossible for the average person.

Ok, but this panel of chibi Legato just... chewing away. At this rate I'm gonna add him to my collection. And then shove him in a box and throw him in the bottom of the sea.

I wonder if this guy meant to hit Legato's fork or if it was just a lucky shot. Also, what kind of grip does this man have that he was able to keep ahold of his fork while it was shot in two?!?!

Huh, he was going to let them go about their business, confident they'd get theirs. But they done overstepped now.

He says it like a command, as if they have any control over the matter once he's in play.

Nice and traumatic for all involved. Good... good....

I'm impressed these guys are standing their ground after that display. We're gonna assume they're so scared that whatever sense they had has left their stupid heads.

Current favorite angry Legato face:

Just in case being kidnapped and raped by slavers wasn't already the most traumatic thing to happen to these women....

Honestly, it's good and important to see this bit of humanity from Legato, even if it makes for a much more muddy morality in the story overall. Maybe particularly because it makes for a much more muddy morality overall.

Dude, for his arm to be at this angle, he's gotta have CLAMP-in-their-Tsubasa-Chronicle-xxxHolic-era proportions.

I wonder how Vash would have handled this situation had he been there instead. Surely Vash isn't unaware that this sort of stuff happens in this world....

Chapter 6: A Gathering of Demons

CW: Human trafficking

So much sand....

I love how, in this story, our primary windows into the world are Milly and Meryl. Like, they're characters in their own right, but they're also the closest thing we have to an Everyman through which we interact with the story.

Yeah, Vash is probably on hyper-alert for now because of the Gung-Ho Guns. Constantly concerned about the safety of everyone around him.

That reminds me, I should retrieve my tea from the kitchen. (It's jasmine, if you're curious.)

GoshDARNIT, Legato! You're not supposed to be flattered and happy when people announce they're gonna hunt you!

He's just a silly, happy boy.

Heh. Foreshadowing.

YUS YUS YUS MY BOI WOLFWOOD IS HEEEEEEERE!!!

Soooo many things I could say here and I will say none of them. Instead, let's all just appreciate how much the bus driver here looks like a hippie straight from 1960's Berkeley.

I'm impressed they managed to get that thing on the roof of the van.

LOL, Wolfwood's response to people calling him out for being a frumpy, shady guy....

Awww, cute Vash face!

I love everything about their meeting here.

It's interesting that WW quickly notes how much Vash fits the description on his posters when Monev was quick to say Vash looked nothing like the description of him.

I do like the introduction '98 gave them, though, with Vash inventing a crazy name for himself and then Milly casually dropping the whole "Vash the Stampede" bit.

Vash looks very unsure of WW here. Resigned, but unsure.

The slavers are gonna try to do what to whom? Hahahahahahaha GL

Speak of the devil....

Who the hell is he talking to??

Yeah, this wasn't gonna end well for them....

THE PORTABLE CONFESSIONAL!!! Gods, I hope this thing shows up in Stampede. It's the dumbest thing, but it's also beautiful. Especially the way WW just SHOVES it on people's heads.

WW's introduction is great. Is he a genuine sweetheart or is he a conman? Both??

WW can't not melt at kids, can he?

Dude, they've been hanging out for... what, a few hours? And already WW is reading Vash like a book.

This pose looks... uncomfortable.

Hahahahahaha, he's stuck in it.

Gods, that's a freaking MOUNTAIN of bodies. He should compare it with the one Erwin Smith has.

Ok, I kind of love how Legato handles these guys. He's like, "Oh, so you want to make a profit selling people? How about I kill half of you so you can make a profit off the organs of people you might actually give a shit about? Get fucked, scumbag."

Oh. THAT'S where the chapter title comes from. Hi, everyone!

[eleni-cherie]

lonely hearts club ✨ || kth au - chapter 1.4

“lonely hearts club // do you want to be with somebody like me?”

maybe single parents are meant to be members of the lonely hearts club.

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masterlist: here

— genre: single parents au, romcom, humour, fluff, angst, strangers to friends to lovers s2f2l

»»»

It was one of those days. One of those days everything seemed pointless and you simply wanted to curl up in your bed and stare at nothing in particular. It was one of those days for Cassandra, too, even if it had started like any other normal day. In fact, she had been feeling good, great even in the beginning. Not even the disgustingly warm weather upsetting her. She was actually thinking of going on a walk later with her daughter. She felt quite productive that day. And all it took to switch her mood was the simple question of where she should go for a walk. And suddenly she lost all interest in going out at all. Instead she was laying on the couch, contemplating her whole life.

Truth was, ever since she had become a mother, these days had become rarer. There was something now that wasn't so pointless in her life. However, they apparently weren't gone forever yet. So she was laying there now. Staring at the clock that told her an hour had already passed. And she had to somehow manage to get her stuff together. Or at least make it appear so, so her friend, who was coming over later, wouldn't notice anything. She saw her phone display on the coffee table lighting up then. Indicating a new text message. To be honest, she didn't feel like talking to anyone and having to pretend she was alright when she rather felt restless and sad for no real reason. But she decided to check nonetheless, curiosity getting the best of her.

Tae (4:45pm): today was the worst day

Cas (4:50pm): why??

Tae (4:51pm): bc doing anything in that heat is a chore :(

Cas (4:52pm): ohh.. true :(

She was about to put the device away when her ringtone startled her. Of course, an incoming call from him. She should've known since he almost always did that. Preferring calls over text messages. And although she still wasn't in the mood for talking, she answered. Because she knew she was in the mood to talk to him. She had accepted her obvious feelings for him. She had done so quite awhile ago and even though she had never expected him to reciprocate them, their festival visit a few weeks ago had sparkled a little hope in her. A hope that seemed more than pointless. And that not only because of her sudden mood swing.

"Hey." Taehyung smiled when seeing her drowsy face. He was never someone to really complain about something. Only if it was a topic which worried or upset him indeed. And yet he found himself venting to Cassandra about smaller things quite a lot. She was a great listener. Or perhaps he just wanted to tell her about his day and that was his excuse. Cassandra forced a small smile onto her lips for his sake and shifted a bit. "Hey.. so was that really the worst day ever or are you exaggerating?" She heard him sigh on the other line. "It was pretty exhausting, trust me." "You know the day isn't over yet?" she smirked. A long groan being heard by him then. "Thanks for the reminder.." "At least they announced some rain for the weekend." He saw her sitting up. Her hair a slight mess. "Did I wake you up from a nap?" "No.. not really.. Was just laying here." His eyes frowned. Sure he wasn't seeing her face to face, but something seemed off. He could tell by her weak voice and her restless eyes. They were avoiding him. "Are you sure everything's okay?" he carefully asked. Earning a half-hearted nod and a small smile. "Yeah, just a bit tired." He pursed his lips, not fully believing her. "Hm okay." Obviously he wished she would tell him what was troubling her, but there was no use in pushing and making her uncomfortable. "I'll let you rest then." "Oh, it's okay." "No, I'm sorry for randomly calling. You're tired," he said. A rueful smile on his features. "Talk to you later." And she didn't object. Even if she wanted to. She didn't have the energy left to do it. So all she said was "okay" and he ended the call. Looking at the display for a moment before exhaling deeply. He heard steps then.

"Did you ask her?" Yoongi was standing at the doorframe with crossed arms and an inquiring look on his face. Pushing himself off when seeing Taehyung looking away and shaking his head quietly. "Why not?" "She seemed.. not in a good mood right now. I'll ask later. Or not at all." The older guy hummed and approached the kitchen table. Taking a seat opposite of him. "You should ask her though. Since none of us can, she might have time." A dry laugh came from Taehyung's lips. "Why her out of all people?" "You seem close. And she seemed like a nice person. At least she did when I met her. And Soyeon liked her as well." Taehyung remained silent. Absent-mindedly staring at the device in his hands. He blinked then, snapping out of it. "Let's say I ask," he said then, "Who says she'd be up for it? You forget she has a child herself. I doubt she'd drop everything just for that. We.. we aren't that close." "What better way to get closer then?" Yoongi shrugged. Folding his arms in front of him. "Either you ask her or you simply go alone. Whichever you prefer." He knew exactly which one Taehyung would prefer. He'd rather bite the bullet and ask for help than having to go through the awkwardness of meeting Ari's grandparents alone. Or so Yoongi assumed at least. The fact Taehyung hadn't even tried to protest making it clear to him that he was right. And he smiled contently to himself. He wasn't mad or judging him. He knew him and the others weren't always better. But he knew Taehyung well enough all those years to know there were only very few occasions this kid would truly open up about his feelings and struggles.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Taehyung asked in an attempt to change topics. Seeing the older guy nodding. "Yeah, found both films." He held up two dvds before sliding them back into his backpack that was resting on the floor. Taehyung hummed. "Thought you've already watched those before.." "I have," Yoongi explained, "But Soyeon hasn't yet. And since they aren't on Netflix.." "Huh.. didn't know she was into that kind of films." "Well," Yoongi scratched his head and Taehyung noticed his longer becoming waves, "She usually isn't. I don't know why she suddenly wants to watch them. Guess someone recommended them."

And Taehyung could immediately think of someone.

Tae (8:34pm): random question Tae (8:34pm): was it you who recommended some films to soyeon? Cas (8:36pm): yes why? did she mention it? Tae (8:38pm): was just curious Tae (8:39pm): yoongi was here today and borrowed some of them from me Cas (8:40pm): ah I see.. happy to hear she actually listened to my recommendations :) Cas (8:40pm): which ones did he get? Tae (8:42pm): 2 tarantinos Tae (8:43pm): we know each other for half a year and you never mentioned you like his films Cas (8:45pm): djdjdjd same goes for you!! Tae (8:46pm): :D Tae (8:46pm): how are you feeling? still tired? Cas (8:49pm): a little.. it's just one of these days you don't feel like doing anything and everything seems stupid.. Tae (8:50pm): fid smth happen? Tae (8:50pm): *did Cas (8:51pm): no nothing Tae (8:53pm): smth must have happened tho Cas (8:54pm): nothing happened. Cas (8:55pm): just forget it

Taehyung frowned. That wasn't Cassandra. Or at least not her usual self. Something was definitely up with her. Perhaps nothing specific had happened, but something wasn't right for sure. He could tell.

Cas (8:56pm): it's just one of these days Tae (9:00pm): you know if there's anything you can tell me Cas (9:01pm): I know and I appreciate it Tae (9:02pm): you think a small weekend trip would help getting your mind off? Cas (9:04pm): that's quite a random question.. idk it might. but where should I go? Tae (9:05pm): how about you come w me? Tae (9:06pm): i'm bringing ari to her other grandparents Tae (9:06pm): and I'm staying in that town for the weekend Tae (9:07pm): it's pretty boring alone and none of the others have time Tae (9:07pm): if you want you can come along Cas (9:14pm): i'll think about it :)

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"Good morning." "'Morning," Cassandra yawned when sliding onto the passenger's seat. The tiredness of the early hour not having washed off yet. Making it hard for her to even keep her eyes open. "Just so you know, 9 o'clock is way too early for a Saturday." Ari, who was playing with her stuffed penguin at the backseat, snarled. Making Cassandra smirk. "See, she thinks the same. Why did I even agree to come with you?" she whined then. "No one forced you to come," Taehyung snorted jokingly. Raising his brows at her as he stopped in front of a red light. A challenging look on his eyes. "Here, you can get off if you want." Cassandra rolled her eyes, giggling. "Fine, fine. I'll stop complaining. But seriously, it's early." "I know," he sighed, ruffling through his waves as the light turned green again. "But what can I do? It's a 3-hour-long drive. So better leave early. Or not?" "I guess.." "Thanks for joining me despite the hour," he briefly smiled at her, "I prefer driving with company and besides, you know.." He paused, peeking at her. She had her arm propped on the crackdown window. Cheek resting on her palm. The airflow was messing with her ponytail but she didn't seem to mind. Only the sun made her eyes flinch. "I get it. I wouldn't feel like driving so long only to stay at a town I don't know anyone either." She leaned over to her backpack then, getting a pair of round sunglasses out. Putting them on her nose before going back to her previous position. He silently nodded.

Truth was, it had only been half the reason. Sure, it was one of the main ones he had asked her to come with him. However, it wasn't the only one. "Are you getting along with her grandparents?" A lump formed in his throat. It was as if she had read his mind. "Y-yes.. but not really." She pursed her lips, giving him a sympathetic look. "Well, if they get mean, call me and I'll fight them," she said with a toothy grin. Causing him snort out, laughing. "Fight them?" She nodded vigorously. "Don't think because I look all cute and friendly I wouldn't be able to fight someone!" She smirked cockily, crossing her arms in front of her chest. He arched a brow at her. "Can't forget you're into gangster films. So I know I shouldn't mess with you," he countered amused. She hummed, getting back to observing the passing trees and fields outside. "You shouldn't, trust me," she smiled then.

They grew quiet, Taehyung musing quietly. He wondered what it'd look like if someone like her got mad. Would she indeed fight someone? He couldn't quite imagine it, but then again you shouldn't underestimate anyone. "So.." He spoke up after awhile. "Are you really getting that angry?" She perked up. Remaining silent for a moment as she contemplated. "As a kid I was a little aggressive and often got physical," she admitted embarrassed, "And I'm afraid Izzy may become like this, too. But now that I grew up I'm obviously not like that anymore. Only my voice raises and I get loud. Though.. if someone gives me a good reason to, I might even end up throwing stuff. But to get me to that point, you'd really need to make me outrageous. Which isn't easy. So don't worry. " She giggled then. "Did I scare you?" "Maybe a little," he nervously chuckled, "It's just that I've never seen you angry. Only a bit upset, but that's normal. I can't imagine you yelling and throwing stuff." A light laugh came from her lips, amused. "Oh really? Is it that hard?" "Of course it is! You're the size of, like, I don't know, a Santa's elf and you have a baby face that makes you look eighteen at best. So how in hell are you aggressive?" He let out a confused laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. And she bursted out laughing at his silliness. "Aren't you exaggarrating a bit?" she laughed, "I'm of average height and I don't look like eighteen. Maybe twenty." He gave her a lopsided grin. "Still, you get what I mean." "Guess so.. but they say not to judge a book by its cover. It honestly doesn't happen often though. And besides.. I haven't seen you angry either. How are you then?" He thought for a moment, unsure how to answer. He eventually shrugged then. "It's rare that I get very upset, so I don't know what to tell you. I guess I stay pretty calm and just list facts. Which upsets others a lot." He paused, before adding, "Maybe I'd also bang a door while leaving the scene, I dunno." She nodded, redirecting her gaze to the scenary. "You don't have to be scared of me, really. Nowadays when someone upsets me, I might yell first but then simply stop talking to them and ignore them completely." "So instead of aggressive you become passive-aggressive." "Pretty much."

They grew quiet for a while. Cassandra dozing off occasionally, only to be woken up by the car driving over a bump or Ari making a noise. To be honest, it wasn't only the time. It had been the fact she hadn't been able to fall asleep the night before. And when she finally did, she would wake up inbetween. So she couldn't really claim having had full night's sleep. And she had to wake up early to bring Isavella to her parents, as she couldn't bring her with her. Or well, she could have. But since Taehyung wouldn't have Ari either, it'd have been weird if she brought her daughter along. Besides, it'd have been tiring to carry all the baby stuff with her. And a bit me time without a baby was sometimes important, too. Even if she started missing her already. "Would you mind some music?" "No, not at all," she smiled at his politeness. It was his car after all, he could do what he wanted. His index finger pressed on a button on the sideboard. 'Under the sea' starting blasting from the speakers, startling both of them as they jumped up in their seats. "Sorry, forgot we were listening to that yesterday," he chuckled and quickly pressed pause before his hand went to the phone laying between them. Fumbling with it when different music started playing softly. Him decreasing the volume.

His playlist played for awhile as they sat there in silence. Cassandra recognizing some songs while never having heard of others. She overall liked it though. Not everything her style, like the ballads. But she definitely liked many of the old ones. Especially the ones she also had on her phone. Her eyes widened when recognizing the melody that began playing then. "Out of all their songs you picked that one?" she laughed out, glancing at him teasingly. He laughed under his breath. "Just be glad I like your fave band," he retorted with a grin. "I'm not complaining," she said holding her hands up in a defensive manner, "Just saying they have better ones." He shrugged, biting down his lip. He could imagine which ones she meant. The ones she knew all the lyrics by heart and had screamed from the top of her lungs. "I like this one though." She smiled softly. Finding the fact he ended up liking her band thanks to her more than thrilling. It was an amazing feeling actually. "It's definitely a good one."

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next chapter: 1.5 here

[pippytmi]

omg I can't believe you're actually working on the To All the Boys I've Loved Before AU for Josie and Isabel! I hope it's going well and something sticks for you! May I ask for a sneak peek?

!!! yes its been SO fun writing it...im aiming for pure comedy in this one so its been such a joy to focus on humor. i dont have enough josie/isabel scenes fully fleshed out (im still picking and choosing the scenarios i want) but can i interest you in one of my favorite PJ & josie scenes:

“A fake letter? At least open it before you jump to conclusions,” PJ scoffs, tearing into the envelope herself. “I'll read it to you. ‘Dear Josie, I think I'm falling in love with you. Ever since you helped me cross that stream blah blah blah I haven't been able to get you out of my head…this is so junior high. Did Isabel write this while she was drunk?”

Josie makes a split-second decision to snatch the letter away. “You know what, let me see that.”

Dear Josie (I don't know your last name),

I think I'm falling in love with you. Ever since you helped me cross that stream and you put your jacket on the rocks so my socks wouldn't get wet, I haven't been able to get you out of my head. You're much more of a gentleman than any of the dumb boys here! I wish you would ask me to be your date to the end of summer bonfire…something about fire and sharing s’mores is so romantic. I had my first kiss around one of these bonfires. Would I be your first kiss? I want to be. I don't want anyone else to kiss you besides me. But every time I look at you, you're never looking back. :( 

You confuse me so much! One second you're letting me wear your beanie because it's cold, and the next you're avoiding me like I have the plague when everyone pairs off for kayaking. The night where Brittany and I got lost in the woods for five minutes, Stella-Rebecca told me you were the first one to notice we were missing. And later, when the kitchen ran out of hot chocolate, you gave me yours. I thought that was proof you liked me, but the next morning I said hi and you just stared at me until we had to keep moving. I can't figure you out, Josie (I Don't Know Your Last Name). You're the most beautiful mystery I've ever encountered and I wish you would give me a chance.

Love, 

Isabel ♡

Josie is quiet for a long moment. “Fuck,” she says out loud. “Isabel used to like me. Fuck!” 

“Seriously?” PJ perks up and yanks the letter back so she can read through its entirety. “You lucky bitch.”

“Camp was ages ago, though,” Josie says dejectedly. “I missed my chance.” She tries to punch the wall with a dramatic flourish and just ends up with stinging knuckles, barely hanging onto her sanity while PJ starts raising Isabel’s letter to the light.

“Who says you missed your chance?” PJ says, either completely unaware of Josie’s pain or ignoring it. “Do you not understand how monumental this is? You’re basically in the pussy already.”

“I hate to break it to you, PJ, but it's been years since everything in this letter happened. Literal years. Isabel probably doesn't even know my name anymore.”

“What, did she get amnesia since she became a cheerleader? Knocked in the head by the sheer force of your bad sense of style?” PJ waves her hand in Josie's general sense of direction (which Josie personally takes great offense to by the way). “You're not seeing the vision. If Isabel wanted you at one point, then she can feel that way again!”

“How?” Josie can't take it anymore. She has to get a bag of frozen peas to ice her poor, bruised hand. “There is nothing I can do to make her remember I exist. Short of, I don't know, faking my death at a homecoming rally or something—”

“I like it,” PJ says. “Or, stockholm syndrome. That's always a great choice.”

“I really don't think so,” Josie says. “Actually.”

“First order of business. We're going to the county fair this weekend,” PJ announces. “The football team will be there, which means Isabel will be there—”

The bag of peas falls to the floor with an unceremonious clunk. “I feel like you're forgetting one super important roadblock in all this,” Josie says. “Her boyfriend.”