#if anything is at all confusing lmk and i'll try to clear it up

[muniimyg]

4: the cold // series m.list

note: reblogging w fic taglist cos the limit is annoying n my posts keep glitching </3 sorry for the long wait! i literally finished c2u and was working on c2u's extras as well as attempting to keep my life together LOL . this jk is literally GETTING INTO IT YUHHH . hope everyone is enjoying the story ,, i'm so excited for the rest ! we're halfway thru :( if u missed aao jk ,, lmk ur fave moment of his as of now huhuhuuuu

taglist request: send a request with the title of this fic “aao” // DO NOT comment here or on the masterlist . it gets confusing and i prefer answering and tagging through asks !!!

🏷️ permanent taglist: @joonsjuice @taetaecatboy @pb-n-juju @miss-rainy-days @firesighgirl @whoa-jo @vantxx95 @pamzn @kakixaku @casspirit0705 @tae165 @defzcl @sopebubbles @leefics @ggukkieland @bebebutbetter @yoongimentita7 @boraength @era-genius @4ksj @vampcharxter @miss-jupiter @floweryjeons @taegijns @jeonqkooks-main @ellesalazar @jkslvsnella @parkinglot-nights @kissyfacekoo

//

Picture this. 

Jungkook sent you a text, claiming to be sick. He said:

jungkook (liar) 3:09PM: no fr i get so dizzy standing up lol

jungkook (liar) 3:09PM: deadass i’m wearing like 7 layers and i’m chilly af .. need the warmth of ur arms, baby 🙏🏼

jungkook (liar) 3:10PM: do u think u can come by w some medicine? i’d owe u like… my whole heart

jungkook (liar) 3:10PM: nvm gave that to u already 😘✋🏽

Your natural response to his concerning text messages was to call him. When you called to check up on him, you noted how he coughed at every perfect pause... How his voice was toned groggy with a hint of pathetic. 

Just as pathetic as his lie. 

Does he think you're dumb? Fine. Two can play this game.

The second Jungkook opens the door and is greeted by his friends, grinning goofily with alcohol in their hands—he feels the urge to shut the door at their face. “Ah, for fucks sake—”

“Not so fast!” Hobi squeals as he grabs your wrists and tugs you from the back of the crowd to the front. Offering you to Jungkook, Hobi winks, “I believe this belongs to you.”

Jungkook’s eyes soften at the sight of you.

Lowering his head, he purses his lips for a kiss. You blink at him, letting him stand there like a fool. A few of his friends chuckle at the rejection, but it doesn’t dishearten Jungkook. Instead, he lifts his head and carries on. 

Hey, the kiss was worth a shot. 

With a patient tone, he tries to talk this out. “I thought it was just going to be you coming over...”

Shrugging at him, you answer; “And I thought you were sick.” 

"Well, what can I say? I always feel better whenever you're around." Jungkook chides.

Unimpressed, you tsk at him. “Nice try, buddy.”

Your hunch was right.

Jungkook wasn't sick.

There was no eye bag in sight, no cough to be heard, and with the short amount of time it took him to answer the door; he doesn't seem dizzy at all. If anything, he looks freshly showered and prepared.

For a sick man, his 5PM fit was rather suggestive. He's wearing jeans, and a white wife beater with an off-white button-up unbuttoned. He must know he's hot, right? He wore this on purpose.

"A little dressed up for someone who should be pretending to be sick..." you poke his chest.

Jungkook grins, instantly shrugging his button-up off. "Oh, my bad. Here, I'll undress and—"

"Jungkook!" you gasp as you tug his button-up back on. "Your friends are here! Don't be so shameless—"

"Whose fault is that?" he laughs. "___, was I not clear when I asked for you? You. Not the circus.”

“Hey!” Nam Joon cries from the crowd. “Are you calling me a clown?”

Jungkook lifts his head and shakes it. Smiling at his hero, he assures Nam Joon; “Not you, hyung. I love you.”

Earning a few laughs, the moment ends when Jin interrupts and pushes past you. Jungkook places his arm in front of your body, gently moving you against the wall. He shoots Jin a glare but Jin doesn't seem to catch on. He makes one final comment before inviting himself into Jungkook's home; “Stop sucking Joon's dick and let us in!”

As his friends cheer and begin to invade his home, you stand still and laugh at them hustling in. As they make random remarks, Jungkook warns them not to touch certain things in his living room and that his bedroom is off-limits. Walking in, his friends can't help but feel out of place when they spot the homecooked meal Jungkook prepared for you two. The table is all set up. The projector is ready to go in the living room corner, accompanied by the ever so comfy set up of pillows and fuzzy blankets on the couch… The fuzzy blanket on the couch that Taehyung and Hobi have now wrapped themselves in.

Yeah..

Jungkook did not see this coming. He groans at the very sight. His plans were ruined.

Once Jimin gets his little ass inside, you take that as your cue to head in. You duck under Jungkook's arm and just as you think you’re about to get away—he stops you. He takes a step back and swoops his other arm around your waist.

“Not so fast.”

You huff. “Okay. I’ll walk in slow motion—”

“___…” Jungkook says in a warning tone. “Yah, I said I was sick and you show up here with my friends?”

You poke his chest. “I had a feeling you were up to no good. I brought reinforcement.”

For the most part, Jungkook likes to think he has you figured out. Then, you pull shit like this and he is completely tongue-tied.

Jungkook can’t help but applaud your move. It’s petty and nonchalant… It’s well played. Yet, he feels bittersweet at the very realization that you’ve outsmarted him so early on. 

To be fair, his main moves are centered around lies. 

… Is it so wrong that he thought he could at least get one last good lie before facing the truth?

The truth is that he has grown to like you so much he has completely lost control of his words and thoughts. Every time he’s around you—that’s it. That’s the entire moment. That’s his entire world. He doesn’t know how to keep it that way, you know? He hasn’t figured out how to freeze time and just be with you. So, he lies. He lies in an attempt to make the moment last just a second longer. 

He knows he could have you with a simple conversation and his bunny smile. He knows he’s kindhearted and would be a great boyfriend if you let him… He’s just having a hard time navigating through all the feelings. They consume him faster and fiercer than he expected. The only way to keep up is to keep you near, and the only way to keep you near is to keep making excuses. 

Thus, this week’s excuse. 

He huffs at you. "A home-cooked meal, a movie on my projector, and comfy blankets... Means I'm up to no good? Come on, ___. This is ridiculous!"

"You've been so mischievous ever since—"

"It was just the ice skating thing!" Jungkook defends himself.

"It was also the pocky thing—"

His eyes light up. Jungkook’s lips curve into a smirk. "Ah... Thinking about our kiss, huh?"

Now you feel sick.

Was he serious? How does he do this to you? He says everything so bluntly and out of pocket, your tummy has no choice but to flip upside down and feel all the butterflies flutter.

"N-no!" you panic.

"Pucker up and prove me wrong," Jungkook insists, shutting his eyes and pursing his lips at you. "Like you said, I'm not sick. Kissing me won't get you sick—love sick, maybe..."

You cross your arms at him.

"Jungkook."

Opening his eyes one at a time, he puts his hands up and lets you go. He'll admit defeat here. Clearly, you aren't happy with his moves...

He'll try this.

He'll try honesty.

“___," he smiles, attempting to lighten the mood. "Hey, I was trying to—”

“Flirt?” you finish his sentence. “Yeah, sure… Has it ever occurred to you that you can flirt with me without lying?”

His eyes widen. 

“Does it bother you that much?” He asks, feeling like he is completely messed up. “I’m sorry, baby. I thought it was harmless—”

You shake your head, denying his accusation. It was deeper than that. It is the principal and the root of his lying being a habit in your relationship.

“It’s not that it bothers me that much… It's just... Y-you don't have to do all this, you know? I like getting to know you, but it feels like it's impossible. You keep setting up scenarios for yourself to look good in or for me to take care of you in. I'd do it regardless if you're hurt or not. You know that, right?"

"I do," Jungkook agrees. "I just..."

You look at him with sincere eyes. "Jungkook, I'm just not understanding... Why? It’s just weird to me that you were so confident and honest when you confessed. To be honest, I really admire that part of you. B-but now that you’re… That w-we’re…. Uhmm—it's different. You're acting differently. You can flirt with me all you want. It's whatever... But maybe try something else? I'm tired of you lying, Jungkook.”

He gulps.

"You want honesty?" Jungkook begins. "Here it is... I like you too much. Like, so much that I don't know what to do with myself whenever you're around—not to mention it's even worse when you're not. I want your attention. All the time. Everything about me for everything about you."

"Jungkook—"

"Can you wait for me?" He asks you unexpectedly. "Wait for me to get it right... Because I know I can. I will get it right."

When you two join everyone inside, Jungkook’s apartment is filled with so much chaos it’s difficult for him not to A) partake and B) be upset about everyone crashing his date night (by ambush). 

Honestly, Jungkook’s been pretty busy lately. He’s been neglecting his social life as school, work, and you (not that he’s complaining) have been taking over. In a way, he finds it sweet that you ruined his plans with yours. Especially since you came in with all his friends. It was a nice surprise. He will definitely take note of your sneaky ways too. 

By the time everyone gets hungry, there’s barely any space for anyone to eat. Some friends are sitting on the floor, eating off the coffee table or parts of the couch. Others are eating standing up, and the rest crowd over his tiny kitchen island and dining table. There are a few girls you’ve invited here and just as usual, you all went to the bathroom together. As you all enter back into the scene, there is absolutely no space. 

“___!” Jin calls you over. “Eat with us.”

You look at the girls and exchange laughs. They tease you before pushing to towards the dining table. As you approach, you realize there’s barely space let alone a seat. Without much thought, you gravitate towards Jungkook who is sitting and eating. Squeezing your way through, he notices you and nods towards Hobi. Hobi then responds by handing you a plate of food Jungkook set aside for you. Taking the plate, you thank Hobi. Jungkook then pushes his chair back and just as he’s about to get up from his seat to give to you—

“No, it’s okay. Sit.” You insist. 

“But you don’t have a seat—”

Then, it happens so naturally.

You place your plate on the table next to his and take a seat on his lap. When you do this, all the boys exchange looks but say nothing. Their eyes almost pop out of their head and Hobi even chokes on his food. He tries to hide it and turns away so you don’t think twice about it. They’re all aware of how shy you are and this? This was a big thing for Jungkook that they couldn’t ruin. You were finally coming out of your shell.

Thank god.

Meanwhile, Jungkook feels winded. 

He can’t believe this. 

He can’t believe you.

But given the circumstances… He might just have to. So, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he smiles at you warmly and tells you that he put all your favourites on your plate. He tells you to eat everything and that he ordered strawberry bingsoo for dessert. 

“I love strawberries!” you gasp. Looking up, you bat your eyelashes and tease him, “yah, you make it too obvious you have a crush on me… You know that?” 

Jungkook squints at you, followed by scrunching his nose. You lean against his forehead and mimic his little stare. 

It takes everything in him to not lean in and kiss you.

Slowly but surely, everyone leaves. The only ones left are you, Jungkook, and the other 6 clowns. Yoongi and Jin went out to start the cars while Joon, Taehyung, Jimin, and Hobi finished up taking the trash out or washing the dishes. 

You and Jungkook are tidying the living room. He thanks you for organizing the little get-together and apologizes again for lying to you about being sick. You tell him it wasn’t that serious—it was just built-up confusion and frustration. Further, you tell him that you don’t want him to see you as someone that he has to jump through hoops to spend time with. You tell him you want it too. You want to spend time with him too. You want to get to know him too. 

You want to fall in love—

"I can do that," Jungkook nods, understanding where you're coming from. Your thoughts are interrupted as he fluffs the final pillow and grabs your hands. He squeezes them and then lets go. "But only if you stop being so oblivious. At least try, you know? It's hard for me too. Like, we're dating and I'm trying to woo you and shit—"

Dating?

Woo you?

Shit.

Your heart skips a beat.

"Wait," you pause. "Jungkook, a-are we dating?”

Just when he opens his mouth to speak, Hobi interrupts. 

“___, let’s go! Jin wants to race Yoongi!” 

Jungkook blinks at Hobi. “You’re not racing when ___’s in the car. Are you mad?”

Hobi lifts his hands. “Shit man, I’m just the messenger!”

Without skipping a beat, Jungkook turns to you with stern eyes. “I’ll drive you home.”

You decline. “You’re already home. Relax, it’s Jin. He’s all talk and no bite.”

“___…”

As a compromise, you promise him; “I’ll ride in Yoongi’s car.”

He thinks about it for a moment. Then, he realizes he has no other practical choice. “Fine. At least if you guys do race, you’ll be in the winning car.”

Hobi coughs. “Yo, what the fuck? I’m riding in Jin’s.”

You laugh and tell Hobi you’ll meet them out the door in a second. Hobi leaves immediately, yelling at Jimin to trade spots with him so he can ride with Yoongi. Once he’s out the door, Jungkook’s apartment falls in silence. 

“.... I better get going,” you breathe. “I’ll see you around?”

Scanning his apartment, you smile at the sight of everything being tidy. Picking up your feet, you head towards the door. Like a sad puppy, Jungkook trails behind you.

As you head out, Jungkook feels an urge in his stomach to make this moment last longer. “Oh... S-sure. See you at the library tomorrow?”

“You hate the library.”

“No, I don’t—”

“It’s also Saturday tomorrow.”

Jungkook blinks at you. “I love spending my Saturdays in the library.”

Giggling at his awful attempt, you remind him, “hey, we just talked about you and your fibs—”

“Sorry, sorry,” Jungkook surrenders. He puts his hands up and tilts his head. Pouting as you put your shoes on, he continues to ramble. “See what I mean? I say the wildest things just to be with you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you say, plopping back up. Jungkook then helps you put your jacket on and gives you your tote bag. “Whatever you say, liar.”

He rolls his eyes at you. As you open the door, you face him with a silly face. He ruffles your hair as he bids his farewell, “Goodnight. Text me when you get home, baby.” 

Then, just like that, the door shuts and Jungkook is all alone.

As he turns away and finally feels like he can catch his breath after everything that happened between you two tonight, he hears the door knock. Turning back, he reaches for the doorknob, opens the door, and sees you standing there. 

“Did you forget something?”

“Goodnight kiss.”

He draws a blank. 

“What—”

Jungkook’s heart skips a beat as you tiptoe and reach for the nape of his neck and pull him close. Leaning in, you press your lips against him and kiss him softly. Without hesitating, he kisses you back and chases your lips the second you pull away. 

You pull away too fast for his liking.

“Okay, goodnight—”

He kisses you again, deepening it as much as he can. When you pull away to catch your breath, he sneaks in one last kiss. Then, he kisses your cheeks and turns you around. Before sending you off, he teases you one last time. 

“Go away. I hate you.”

Laughing at his words, you realize that sometimes—they aren’t so bad.

Him and his lies.

You and your reading in between lines.

[ladychota]

Remember It All

Pairing - Loki x Female Reader

Warnings - Memory loss (lmk if you want me to add anything)

Summary - Y/n is working at the coffee shop with MJ when a mysterious visitor arrives to order drinks.

Word Count - 1.2k

Masterlist

"So... did you guys get in to MIT?" You ask, fiddling with the bandage wrapped tightly around your left hand.

"Nope," MJ tosses her letter into the bin nearby. "Neither did Peter or Ned,"

You sigh. "Ugh, I'm so annoyed that the world believes all that Mysterio crap. If only it hadn't affected you all so,"

MJ hums in agreement. "It's okay. I was kinda expecting it anyways,"

"You expect disappointment so you'll never be disappointed?" You quote the line she has said so many a time, especially since the whole Spiderman and Mysterio nonsense. You feel for Peter - he's a nice kid.

"Mhm, exactly,"

The shop's doorbell chimes as someone walks in, hands in their pockets to stave off some of the winter cold.

"I'll get that. You take as much time as you need, okay?" You say, walking over to the counter.

A man stands in front of it, scanning the menu. He has black, shoulder length hair and his eyes are a stunning - almost familiar - green. You swear you've seen him before, but where? Every soft curve and smile line in his face looks right... except the deep bags under his eyes. For some reason you want to place your hand on his face and smooth them out...

But this man is a stranger. You don't even know his name.

"Hey, how can I help?" You ask, brushing away your odd thoughts.

"Uh hi, can I-" He turns to you and freezes, eyes wide. He just stands there in silence for a few seconds, his eyes scanning your face. Normally you'd find this rather creepy, but this feels strangely... right.

The man turns away and looks out of the shop window to where a man with long, blonde hair stands. He beams at the man in front of you.

"Um..." He hums, turning back to you. "Could I have two coffees... please? The name is Loki,"

You nod and start preparing the drinks, trying to ignore the gaze of the man behind you. Loki... that name is also very familiar. But you have no idea why; it's getting rather frustrating.

In no time at all, the coffees are ready; you place them on the counter and secure the lids.

"Loki?" You call. He doesn't respond. "Loki? Your coffees," He seems to jolt from his thoughts, striding over quickly to pay. 

"Of course, sorry. And thank you," He slides a ten dollar note onto the counter, a sad grin playing on his face. "Keep the change,"

You nod and open the till, picking up the money and sliding it in. "Thanks,"

"Uh... are you alright?" You look up, noticing that Loki now wears a concerned expression. He points at your bandage-bound hand.

"Oh! Yes, thanks. You know, I don't actually know how I did it. I just kind of... woke up one day and I had a huge gash in the middle of my palm," You chuckle at the strangeness of the situation, thinking of the other random cuts and bruises all over your body.

"But it's okay," You continue, for some reason feeling safe to talk in such detail to this man. "It doesn't hurt too much anymore. And I can use it just fine!"

Loki smiles a sad yet happy smile; one that looks as if he's yearning for something but knows he can't have it - possibly for the better.

"Well, I'm glad it's healing well," He picks up the drinks he ordered. "And, uh-" He clears his throat. "Thank you... for everything,"

He smiles, his eyes glittering with... tears? Is he upset? But, as much as you are worried for him, you are extremely confused. Why is he so thankful? All you did was make him some coffee and spit out some sob story about your injury.

Your brow furrows, but you smile anyway. "No problem..."

Usually you wish customers a good day before they leave the shop, but you seem to be frozen as you watch him walk out, handing one of the drinks to the blonde haired man as they walk out of sight.

"What the hell was that about?" MJ calls across the shop, speaking your thoughts aloud.

You shake your head slowly, your gaze stuck to where the man just stood. "I have no idea..."

Snapping out of your daze, you grab a donut in a serviette and place it on the counter in front of MJ.

"Thanks," She says, picking up the food. "Honestly though, he's either a creep or a long lost lover of yours,"

"Really? A long lost lover?" You laugh, your smile not reaching your eyes.

A long lost lover...

Suddenly an image pops into your mind of you and Loki sitting exactly where you and MJ are now, his hand clasped in yours on top of the counter. A small, loving smile plays on his lips as you talk, his thumb rubbing slowly over your knuckles.

"Well, duh." MJ jokes. "I mean-"

You don't hear her finish that sentence. Image after image of you and Loki fly through your head - it feels as if you've been hit by a bolt of lightning, each memory shuddering through you like electricity.

Before you can even process what you're doing, you're running towards the door.

"Wait, Y/n! Where are you going?!" MJ calls out to you.

"I'll be back!" Is all you manage to say as you slip through the door and begin to run down the street.

You and Loki were dating! You were a thing! He was yours and you were his...

And yet, you forgot. How the hell did you forget!?

But that is a concern for later. For now, you have to catch up with him.

You push past everyone on the sidewalk until you see the two men up ahead. Thor and Loki...

"Loki! Wait!" You yell, not caring who hears or sees.

Your thoughts and memories are too jumbled up to know exactly how long it's been since you forgot, but for a while you've been feeling as if something has been missing. Moreover, someone.

The two Gods turn upon hearing your shout, their eyes wide with confusion. Panting, you come to a stop in front of them.

"Y/n? Are you quite alright?" Loki asks, a spark of realisation flaring in his eyes. But he doesn't dare ask for fear he's being too hopeful. 

A smile crawls onto your face, tears springing into your eyes as you realise how much you've unknowingly missed him.

"Y-you... me..." You're still panting after having run down the block, words not forming correctly in your mouth.

Loki just watches you, handing his coffee cup to Thor and waiting patiently for you to finish your flustered attempt at a sentence.

Instead, you reach up and place a hand on his face. He doesn't flinch away, but leans in to your touch, tears welling at the bottom of his eyes.

"I remember... I remember it all..." Your voice is strained and choked by tears. Loki's hands cup your face, his thumbs running over your cheeks and collecting the wet trails.

"You do?" He whispers.

You nod, moving your hands to cover his. He lets out a bewildered laugh before leaning down and smashing his lips against yours in a desperate kiss.

Eventually he pulls away, murmuring: "I love you, my darling... and I'm so sorry,"

"It's alright, you have nothing to apologise for," You reassure, your heart swelling. "I love you too," Your lips meet his once more as you decide to never let go of him again.

~★~

A/N - Not sure how I feel about this one so feel free to let me know your thoughts! :)

[the---hermit]

Hallo! Hope you don't mind me asking, what was your course structure like in Italy? Like we study Ancient in Bachelors first year, Medieval in second and Modern in third. We also did Ancient Greece and Rome in the second semester.

P.S. your blog REALLY inspires me to study more and your photographs are just so aesthetic, thank you so much 💕

Hello anon!

I don't mind at all, I'll try to be as clear as possible in my explainations, in case anything is confusing let me know. I wiil of course base this on my personal experience, it might be bit different in other universities but the general idea should be the same.

in bachelor you get a basic course in all historical eras so: ancient greek history, roman history, medieval history, modern history and contemporary history. these are all 12 credts value, so they are all pretty dense. Usually classes with this value are divided in two halves, and the second one has a focus on something specific (for example i had a insight on medieval economy in my medieval history calls, whereas in my contemporary history class we had an insight on the rise of scientific racism and creation of criminology in the late 1800s). Usually you have more options and you pick whichever class depending on which professor seems better to you and which focus is more interesting to you.

this idea here is that no matter what your main interests are you need to have a base of everything. this is clearly because you need to know at least in general all eras to be able to fully comprehend everything. with no base knowledge you couldn't get a real understanding of all passages because at the end of the day everything is linked to what happened before too strongly.

an important thing i have to mention is that we have a lot of choice in general, you have three or four classes to choose from at least. and that also includes all the other classes you take during your degree (if you are more interested in what i did i can definitely sit down and tell you about some of the classes i had in my bachelor). then other than these more basic classes you have many more that add up during you 3 years of bachelor. i did some italian litterature, philosophy, anthropology, two English classes, archeaology classes, as well as more practical classes like the modern history seminar i did where we learned how to actually be historians, how to work on different kind of sources and so on. The whole idea is that you can create an academic path for yourself that follows your interests. I should check but if i remember correctly we had 6 exams on the first year 12 on the second and 6 the last but to be honest i could be getting confused. I should definitely check my old bullet jorunals to tell you the precise number of exams.

During your masters you also get a lot of choice, but the classes are more advanced and on more specific topics! Again i can get a bit more specific if you want.

I wrote this and didn't reread if before posting so again if i am too confusing or didn't explain things well lmk, it's the end of the day and my brain is struggling.

[markdelonge]

“ i'm in love ”

not my gif !

note: i am so sorry !!!!!!!!! that this took forever!!!!!!!!!!!! i wanted to take some time to learn about billie before writing about him bc i didn't know anything other than him being in green day so i spent a week listening to their music and watching interviews AND i was originally gonna do a "dating billie" type thingy but i gave up half way thru bc i was running out of headcannon thingys but its in my drafts so if u want it just lmk

...

request?: yes

pairing: billie joe armstrong x female!reader

contains: bad writing, age gap

keys: Y/F/N = your friend's name. Y/F/F = your favorite food

...

You walked into a fancy restaurant that you had never heard the name of before, fiddling with the hem of your knee-length skirt as you walked up to the waitress standing behind a desk.

"Hi, Just one?" She asked as she picked up a menu.

"Um, No, I-I'm supposed to be meeting someone here. By the name of 'Billie' You started, chewing on your lip from your anxiety.

"Billie Armstrong, I think" You finished

You watched as she looked down at a chart she had as she ran her finger down the paper.

"Y/N?" She asked as she smiled back up to you.

"Yes, that's me" You smiled back, a little bit of your anxiety going away.

"Right this way" She said after she walked from behind the desk and started leading you to the table that an unfamiliar face sat at.

Your anxiety immediately came back as you watched him stand up and he smiled at you.

"There will be someone to come ask for your orders soon" The woman smiled once more before turning to continue her job.

You looked back at the man who was standing in front of you, your friend was not lying when she said that he was attractive. He was shorter than you imagined, though. Taller than less than 5 inches, you didn't really care that much about it.

"Hello. Y/N, right? He asked before sticking his hand out.

You took his hand in your and lightly shook it

"Yes, and you're Billie?" You smiled, mentally cringing.

All he did was nod before breaking the handshake and sitting back down which you followed his actions and looked down at your lap and fiddled with your thumbs.

You looked back up to him to see him already looking at you with an adorable smile plastered on his face.

"So, do you know what you're gonna get yet?" You asked before biting the inside of your cheek and lifting the fancy restaurant's fancy menu.

"No not yet, I haven't even ordered a drink yet"

You looked up at him and your eyes took a second to study the table, noticing that nothing but the menus, salt, pepper and a bouquet of fake flowers were on the table

"How long were you waiting?" You asked, your stomach flipping, hoping that it wasn't long.

"Not that long, maybe like 10 minutes."

"Thank God" You thought to yourself

"So, Y/N, tell me a little about yourself" He stated with a charming smile which was enough to make you smile back

"Well, my full name is Y/F/N, I just recently turned 31"

You continued to talk about yourself, answering the questions he had for you and trying to leave out anything that made you seem lame.

After about 3 minutes of talking about yourself and laughing, the waiter had finally walked up to the table

"Hello, what can I get you two for drinks?" She asked, pulling out a pen from her apron.

Billie looked over to you as if he was waiting for you to answer. You looked down at the menu for a couple seconds before making up your mind.

You lightly cleared your throat before speaking

"I'll have sweet tea"

The lady wrote down what you had said before looking over to Billie

"And what about you, Sir?"

"A pepsi would be cool"

She raised her eyebrow before writing down what he had said then closed her notebook pad and put her pen away.

"I'll be back with your drinks shortly" She smiled and walked away

"Did you see the way she looked at me?" Billie leaned closer over the table and whispered so she wouldn't be able to hear him which made you laugh

"She's probably confused on why we didn't order champagne or something" You whispered before looking around you

"This is a very nice restaurant" You finished.

Your friend, who was also your roommate, had completely set up the date. She was in charge of the day, the time, where it was and she refused to tell either of you what the name of the restaurant was all she did was give you guys each other's names and the address to the restaurant.

"Yeah, I feel underdressed right now" He said in a more normal voice and sitting up straight.

"Me too, I wish Y/F/N would've warned me that this restaurant was gonna be so fancy, I'm used to dates at Applebee's" You joked and silently praised yourself when you saw the smile that showed up on Billie's face

"So, you go on a lot of dates?" He joked back

"Oh, all the time" You replied sarcastically, dragging out "all" to put more emphasis on it.

"I just got back from a date before I came here" You fake bragged, having no idea where you got the confidence to joke with him the way you were.

"Oh, yeah?" He raised an eyebrow

You hummed and nodded your head.

"Where'd you go?" He asked

"Uhh, Applebee's" You said in a "duh" voice.

Your response made him laugh loudly which caught the attention of some people around you. The two of you both looked at the people who were most-likely silently judging you before looking back at each other and laughing more.

The waitress soon came back with your drinks and took your orders. He had ordered Chicken Alfredo while you ordered Y/F/F, that being your go-to food whenver you went out (which wasn’t a lot).

“Okay, Billie, you know almost everything about me, tell me about you” You said before taking a sip of your drink.

You learned lots about him, like his middle name being “Joe”, how he’s in a band called “Green Day”, which you were suprised to hear, given the fact that you knew a couple of their songs, maybe like 2 or 3, you never took the time to see who was in the band though. You also found out that he was 9 years older than you, making him 40. That took you aback given the fact that he looked very close to your age but you brused it off, deciding to give him a chance since it had been so long since anyone had shown any interest in you.

“Wait, so if you play in a rock band you must like rock music, right?” Your face lit up with excitment, you had finally found someone who liked the same music as you. 

“Yeah, I love it” He said after he took a sip of his pepsi

“Do you have a favorite band?” You asked, curious on what his answer was gonna be

“Uhh, I don’t really have a favorite at this moment, but I used to really like Operation Ivy, if you know who they ar-” 

You had cut him off with a gasp once you had registered what he said

“No. Way.” You said a little dramatic.

“I loved them all throughout high school! I used to be so bummed that I couldn’t see them live because when I had started listening, they were already broken up” You pouted, remembering the teenage version of you complaining to your parents about how sad you were about that.

“ What’s your favorite song by them?” He asked 

“Oh, that’s a hard one” You paused, your brain flipping through all the Operation Ivy songs you know, trying to pick just one.

“Um, I’m gonna have to go with “Knowledge”.” You replied and his jaw dropped. 

“That’s my favorite, too!” 

“Nu-uh” You said in complete disbelief 

“Yeah” His voice grew a little louder due to excitment which caused the couple next to us to give us dirty looks once again.

“That’s truly insane, I’ve never met anyone who had even heard of them, I thought I was the only one” You said while stirring the ice around in your cup with the straw.

“Well, now you’ve got me” 

You looked up at him through your lashes, his response making you blush

“I’m glad about that” You smiled before finding a new topic to talk about.

After what felt like forever, the food had finally came, and the two of you spent the next almost 2 hours learning more about each other, laughing, and eating.

Soon, the sound of a chair scooting across the floor had caught your attention and you watched as the couple (who was dressed way fancier than the both of you) put on their jackets to go. The woman who was there looked over at you and the two of you made eye contact. Instead of breaking it, you smiled and waved at her, all she did was look at you like you were trash and rolled her eyes which caused you to gasp.

“What?” Billie asked, looking in the same direction as you were, making it very obvious that the both of you were looking at them. You lightly tapped his hand so his attention would turn to you.

“I smiled at her and she rolled her eyes” You laughed at it, finding it more funny than offensive.

“Oh, shit, for real?” He whispered before turning back over to them and watched as they made their way to the exit. 

You saw as the man talked to the lady who had led you to the table earlier and pointed over to us while saying something that you couldn’t make out.

“Oh, shit” You whispered, sinking into your seat a little when you saw that the lady was coming towards your table. 

“Are you enjoying your dinners?” She asked

“Yeah” You both said at the same time, then smiling at each other.

“Well, I just got a complaint from a couple that was next to you two and they were saying how you guys were being too loud and it made them uncomfortable. So, if you could keep it down, that would be highly appreciated.” She smiled

Both you and Billie smiled at each other before he spoke up.

“I’m sorry about that. I guess we got too deep in conversation to notice” He smiled at the woman

“It’s okay, just remember that they’re others trying to eat here” She smiled back and left.

Not very long after she turned around, the both of you started laughing once again, this time is was quieter so you wouldn’t get a complaint again.

“You wanna get outta here?” He asked after the laughter died down and you nodded.

Billie looked around to see if he could spot the waitress, thankfully she wasn’t far, only a couple tables down. So the two of you talked until she walked by and she asked if everything was going alright.

“Yeah, everything is great. Can we get the bill?” He asked, she nodded and left.

Once she turned with the bill, she took the plates and bid us “goodnight”

You grabbed the bill before he could and your eyes widened as you looked at the price.

“How much is it?” He whispered for unknown reasons

“200″

“Oh, that’s not that bad” He said while reaching in his back pocket and pulling out a wallet

“Yeah, but we didn’t even get anything that fancy. I bet if we would’ve went to Applebee’s and got everything we got here, it would be like $60″ 

He laughed at what you said before speaking

“That’s what happens when you go to fancy resturants, babe, shit’s expensive”

Your heart stopped for a split second due to the pet name he had thrown in ever so casually.

You are cool with me calling you that, right?” He made sure you didn’t feel uncomfortable which you thought it was the cutest thing ever.

You nodded in agreement before clearing your throat 

“Yeah, t-that’s cool with me” You smiled which he mirrored.

Only a few seconds later, Billie stood up and walked over to where you were sitting

“Shall we?” He asked, extending his arm out in front of you.

“We shall” You giggled as you took his hand and stood up.

The two of you started walking towards the front of the resturant and you smiled to yourself, happy that this date had gone very well.

The two of you talked about random things until you got to your car.

“This is me” You stopped walking and stood in front of the car.

“Well, actually I was wondering if you wanted to come back with me” He said but it sounded more like a question

“Sorry, Billie, I don’t do hook ups on the first date.” You frowned

“But if you give me your number, I’d be more than happy to go on a second date  with you” You smiled

“Wait, really? I didn’t completely  fuck this date up?” 

“What? No, what makes you think you fucked up”

“We almost got kicked out of a top notch resturant”

“But we didn’t, plus that wasn’t just your fault, I was being loud, too, y’know” You reminded him and he nodded.

You pulled out your phone, unlocked it, went to contacts, and handed him the phone.

“Here, put your number in and we can plan another date later” 

You blushed as his hand brushed over yours when he took your phone

“I really had fun tonight” You after a few seconds of silence.

He looked at you but his head was still down

“Me too” He smiled at you which made your heart melt

“How ‘bout next time we go to Applebee’s since you love it so much” He joked before giving you your phone back. 

Without looking, you put it back in your purse that was on top of your car.

“Believe it or not, I’m actually not a huge fan of going out” You said

“No?” You could hear the sarcasm in his voice which caused you to laugh a little.

“Mhm” You hummed in response. 

“So, then what do you have in mind?” 

“I have this old stereo with a bunch of old cassette tapes that are all the rock albums I used to listen to. So I was thinking, y’know, me, you, a stereo, and maybe chinese food or something?” You chewed on your lip, hoping the plan didn’t sound dumb.

“I got Operation Ivy” You said, your voice filled with hope.

“Text me the time and your address and I’m there, baby” He winked

God, he was gonna drive you insane. You stood there for a few seconds, the both of you just looking at each other before you cleared your throat.

“I should probably get going before Y/F/N starts to worry, I’m never out this late.”

He smiled at you before looking down at his watch

“It’s only 10:30″

“I told you already, I dont go out a lot” You remarked

"Well, I'll see you soon?" He asked

"Of course" You said in an obvious tone.

"Okay, have a good night, Y/N. Text me when you get home?"

You nodded in response.

"You too, Billie"

"Well, you don't have to text me when you get home because you won't have my number until I text you so even if you wanted to text me, you wouldn't be able to a-"

You were cut off by Billie kissing you, it shocked you at first, but you couldn't help but kiss back. The kiss was soft and passionate and only lasted a couple seconds before Billie pulled back.

"I'm sorry, you were ranting"

"No, don't apologize, I liked it" You bit your lip, trying not to smile too big.

All he did was laugh, before he put his hands in his front pocket.

"Goodnight, Y/N." He smiled at you before turning around to walk away.

"Goodnight, Billie"

He turned back, smiled, and waved before turning back to walk to his car.

You silently freaked out right then and there, Your first date in almost 3 years went amazing. You calmed yourself down by taking a deep breath before grabbing your purse and walking to your car door. You were looking through your purse for your keys when your phone went off. Opening it, the first thing you saw was the new contact that had been recently added and was titled "Billie <3".

You smiled before whispering to yourself

"I think I'm in love"

[krizaland]

Found Once Again Chapter 18

LMK Wukong x Bao Li

First Previous

"C'mon! I'll show you!" Wukong gestured for Bao Li to follow him.

"Hey! Wait for me!" MK called out as he ran after Wukong

Wukong led Bao Li and MK to the treasure room of the temple.

"Surprise! I bet this place feels familiar, eh Bao Li?" Wukong teased as he gave her a wink.

“Wukong, giving me presents isn't going to prove to me that you've changed." Bao Li huffed as she folded her arms.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to shower you with gifts. I mean unless you see something you like then it’s-"

Bao Li simply gave Wukong an unimpressed look.

"Right! Right! Ok, so the real reason I brought you here is to show you- where is it-"-Wukong rummaged through a small pile of treasures- "-Ah ha! Here it is!”

Wukong held out a golden scroll.

"My thank you letter from one of the villages I saved a while back!”

Bao Li and MK looked at the scroll in confusion.

"Ok, hear me out. So a long time ago, there was a village that was under attack by a seriously nasty group of demons! So after I beat all those demons, the people of the village sent me this thank you letter. I had one of my monkeys read it to me at the time. It says some super good stuff about me." Wukong explained as he handed Bao Li the scroll.

"Oh-kay then..."

Bao Li gingerly opened the scroll and cleared her throat.

"To: Sun Wukong, We thank you for saving our village from that dastardly demon clan. If it wasn't for your courage and clever planning, we may have never survived you have our eternal thanks.”

Bao Li closed the scroll.

"Well, that was awfully sweet of them to send you a thank you letter, Wukong.”

"And that's not all! Look on the back!" Wukong insisted as he opened the scroll back up.

Bao Li flipped the scroll over and gasped!

There, on the back of the scroll was the most beautiful painting she had ever seen!

The painting showed none other than Wukong, fighting back a group of vicious demons.

The look of determination painted in his eyes reminded Bao Li of how determined he was to take on The Deadly Trials and The Lava Demon.

Upon further inspection of the painting, Bao Li noticed something familiar peeking out of Wukong's pocket.

"Is that-"-Bao Li let out a gasp as she took a closer look-"-The deadly trial gem?!”

"Yep. I always carried it with me so that a part of you would always be with me on my journey with my master." Wukong explained as he gently took the scroll.

Bao Li felt her heart flutter as a few tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Whenever I felt down that gem always there to comfort me." Wukong explained as he closed up the scroll.

"Aww! That's so sweet!" MK cooed as he listened to the story.

"You really missed me that much?" Bao Li asked incredulously.

"I missed you more than you could ever know." Wukong sighed, "There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of you."

Bao Li felt her heart sink into her stomach.

"When the journey got really tough, Zhu Bajie would sometimes  try to cheer us up by telling us to imagine a beautiful woman waiting for us in the west or something," Wukong chuckled, "My master was soo not about it. Sha Wujing tried to go along but kinda gave up on the idea. But me? All I thought of was you. I thought of how proud you'd be to see me deliver those scriptures."

Bao Li felt a couple of tears trickle down her cheeks.

"At one point I thought once I delivered those scriptures, I could ask The Buddha for a chance to see you again. But I didn't since I didn't want to push my luck. I really didn't want to deal with another tightening spell." Wukong let out a half-hearted chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh Wukong...." Bao Li sniffled, hiding her face behind the sleeves of her dress.

“But no amount of tightening spells, mountains or anything else would stop me from loving you-" -A few tears trickled down Wukong's cheeks- "-I was determined to deliver those scriptures not just for my master but for you too. I thought in some weird way that if I did, you'd like....I dunno forgive me or something?”

It was then Bao Li could no longer hide her tears.

The guilt and sorrow she felt was just too overwhelming for her heart to bear.

The dam burst as Bao Li begun to sob.

"Oh Wukong! I'm so sorry! I didn't know! I-"

"Hey, don't cry! Don't cry! I wasn't telling you all this to upset you or anything. I-" -Wukong gently reached for Bao Li but retracted his arm- "-I guess what I'm trying to say is, I hope you can forgive me someday. Maybe not today or tomorrow but soon-ish? Maybe? Huh?"

Wukong was cut off by Bao Li pulling him into a tight hug.

"I forgive you, Wukong! I'm sorry you had to feel so guilty for so long! And I'm sorry for leaving you too! I was so caught up in my own feelings that I didn't even consider yours and-"

“Hey, hey. It's ok. You don't have to be sorry for anything. I was the one that messed up here. Not you. We don't have to get back together if you don't want to. You have every right to need space. I guess I just wanted to clear the air a bit." Wukong insisted as he returned the hug.

"Still. I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better of me and-"

“Bao Li, look I don't blame you for feeling the way you do, ok? I get it. It's a lot to process. I'm sorry I threw you headfirst into everything." Wukong reassured as he rubbed small circles into her back.

"Still I-"

Wukong lifted Bao Li's face.

"Hey. Look at me. You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing at all."

Next

———————————————————————

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[profound-bouquetbird]

Hi! could I make a request? I would like you to write hcs about young eda (maybe young raine, odalia, lilith too) but in modern, real life. I don't know what specifically, some high school anecdotes, hobbies, Daily data, her social media presence? Just reconforting one shots, ¡Thanks!

Well.. The request is kind of confusing but I'll try my best!

I included young eda (of course), young raine and young lilith (I refuse to write 4 odalia)

Sorry if this request takes 2 long to get out, but I tried to write the characters as in character as possible (if that makes sense-) and basically just tried to make it as Canon sounding as possible

I'm writing eda and lilith together, but separately... If that makes any sense-

Warning: not proof read

We're just gonna talk about what they'll be mostly doing & what their ranks in school will be, okay? Okay.

I see Eda and Lilith being inseparable in early stages of high school, but the more they got used to the school, the more they got comfortable going separate ways and making friends

They of course still talk to each other during school hours, it's just less frequent since they have totally different social lives

While Eda took the title of the jock/surprisingly smart kid and was more extroverted and has made more friends throughout high school. But just because she has more friends doesn't mean she's more comfortable around them, she couldn't open up to them until she was a 100% certain that they aren't using her just to look good

Lilith was more on the introverted side, gaining a more nerdy status in school than anything. But, she easily found more trustworthy friends, her group of friends may consist of four or less people, but at least she can proudly say that she trusts them

Eda did have a crush on raine in like- her second year of high school, but when she mentioned it to her friends they laughed at her, telling her she could do better and that she doesn't need someone like them to ruin their reputation. She, sadly, listened to them, but admired Raine from afar

Lilith sometimes offers Eda to just chat with her and her friends, feeling bad that she got stuck with such terrible people to be friends with

Also, from the episode where we look onto edas past, I can say that Lilith wanted to be in lots of after-school activities, just for the purpose that she stays in school longer (and maybe so that she has an excuse to not be home)

Eda wasn't too bothered on the after school activities, wanting to just relax home more than ever. She did try out some after school activities since her friends suggested it, but she ended up hating it and dropping it immediately

As we all know, Eda is a trouble maker. Always pulling pranks on the students and teachers. When she doesn't feel inspired I can just see her using the normal harmless pranks, like wrapping up clear cooking paper (idk what it's called 😭) on the door so when the teacher walks in her face hits the clear paper and smears her makeup

And Lilith is the teacher's pet, but the good kind. Would sometimes get her classmates out of trouble, but is the type of student where if she spent hours upon hours working on a homework assignment, she would remind the teacher just to brag about her work. But she doesn't do it on little homework assignments, just the ones she is really proud of

About social media, I can see both of them having a decent following. Just their friends from school, friends outside of school, and the weird people from their class that they barely know

But as to what they post, that is a completely different story

Eda would post things like: her recent pranks, memes, a party she went to (that her friends told her to go to) and pictures with Lilith

Lilith would post things like: her studying, surprisingly good pictures, food, maybe even math memes and of course pictures with Eda

I can't think of anything else, but Lmk about ur headcanons in the comments or by simply sending an anonymous message 👍

I see Raise as the person that everyone knows but isn't popular, you get what I'm saying?

Everyone knows their name and who they are, even if it's brief, but they aren't really that popular

They do have a couple of friends, including Eda, but just like to be quiet and sit in the back, not making any noise nor trouble, just whistling or playing around with near by pens or pencils

They aren't the A+ student, but they definitely get A's and B's, occasionally C's

Of course they're in the music club, and of course they play the violin like-it's obvious

I see their friends either being the quiet introverts that no one really talks to, and or just the band kids from his school club

For after school activities, they're of course in the music club, but I also see them just hanging around with friends, talking about what they're doing and all that type of stuff... That isn't really an after school activity but whatever-

I could see them sometimes helping Eda with harmless pranks, but they do not want to even be mentioned when and if they get caught, so eda takes all of the credit. They do feel bad but Eda make them make it up to her by buying them apple juice or a cans bar or something

Biggest crush on Eda, but they don't want to ruin her reputation at the school, so they never planned on confessing. But they do steal occasional glances and panic when they make eye contact

Once preformed on stage with their violin, but it went so poorly because their hands were shaking and they were forgetting notes, they cried after the performance and never went on stage again, well unless they're in the background where they can't be seen. No one remembers that except for them

Also I can see them sharing their homework with Eda, sometimes tanking them and sending them the wrong answer, which Eda is very proud of but also pissed off

About the social media thing. I could see them having a pretty good amount of followers, that of course being some small musicians, their friends from school and out of school, and generally people who like their musical skills

They would mostly post: audios of them playing the violin (with the name of the piece as a green screen for the video), pictures of them with friends, pictures of when they are practicing with the musics club, and maybe them showing off a new outfit and or instrument they got

I can't think of anything else, but Lmk about ur headcanons in the comments or by simply sending an anonymous message 👍

[mercedesbarnes]

Lovebug

Summary: lovebug (n); the name given to the person with whom you have fallen head over heels in love. to be called a lovebug is the ultimate expression of affection. they are the love of your life.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 5,207

Warnings: 40s!Bucky, memories in italics, v minor cursing, angsty fluff, sadness

A/N: so I’ve had this idea for a while and it took a life of its own, hence the word count. As always, I love hearing from you! 

A/N: a massive thank you to the american science queen @modestlyconfused for listening to me rant about this and life, helping me with details, and laughing about my autocorrect mishaps. Bucky would get you a crown too❤️

“She’s over here.”

Steve’s voice carries over the rows.  Bucky doesn’t respond. Although the autumn sky is clear and blue, the sun is making its journey down in the sky and the breeze is cool.  It’s only when Steve places a gentle hand on his shoulder that Bucky stirs, tearing his gaze away from the weeping willow and focusing instead on his best friend.

His best friend, who knows where you are.

“Buck…we don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.”

Steve’s eyes search his. He’s reading Bucky like he always does, and as always, he knows what Bucky is thinking.  Bucky says it anyway.

“Yes—“ His voice shakes and he clears it to try again. “Yes we do.”

“I know.”

Bucky needs Steve’s hand on his shoulder like he needs air.  Squeezed tight and solid, Steve keeps his hand there as he guides them through the rows, respectfully keeping to the carefully marked paths.  Each rock speaks of the deceased, the long-lost loves, the ones that got away.

The worst part is that you hadn’t gotten away.  He had you, once, until it was ripped away from him.

Steve stops, Bucky stops, and both simply stare. Y/N Y/L/N.

Steve drops his arm and walks up to your headstone.  He crouches, holding the rock that has your name and the eight numbers that speak of your life yet could never carry the weight of love you brought between each four.

He speaks to you, but the words are lost to Bucky’s ears.  Is he tuning them out for the sake of Steve’s privacy? Maybe. More likely they are lost because of the memories that have thrust themselves into the forefront of Bucky’s mind.  

Laying the bouquet of flowers he brought, Steve rises and tells Bucky he will give him some time alone.

“Hi. It’s me.”

After meeting in seventh grade art class, Steve invites you over to teach him more about shading techniques.  You’re both on the fire escape in the middle of drawing when Bucky lets himself into Steve’s apartment and yells his presence.

“Hi, I’m Y/N.” You introduce yourself with an outstretched hand and a dazzling smile that cannot be outshone by the sun setting on the horizon.

“The name’s Bucky. How you doin’, doll?”

“I’m doing pretty well, handsome. Your friend here is a great artist.”

This makes Steve puff out his chest. He tells Bucky, “She’s the queen of shading.”

“Is that so?”

“Damn right I am, come look.”

He looks, and you are aptly named. Your sketch is enchanting despite being in the middle of construction, your lines capturing the character of the Brooklyn Bridge with impeccable ease.

“Remind me to get you a crown, you are the queen! Can I?” he asks, and you let him flip through the rest of your book. 

Steve likes to draw people; he has tens of sketchbooks full of his mother, of Bucky, of the mailman.  You, however, like to draw places and things: skyscrapers, houses, the graffiti so often found in the alleys where Steve fights. All shaded beautifully. All of Brooklyn.

“It’s home,” you explain when he points this out, “I never want to forget home.”

~

It’s years later that Bucky sits cross legged and leaning back on his hands, amused at the sight of you snatching the bowl of chips away from a greedy hand.

“Will! Stop eating, it’s your turn.”

“Okay, okay, don’t have your kite in a twist.”

Will wipes his powdered hands before spinning the empty glass Coca-Cola bottle the group is using for Spin the Bottle. It wobbles in circles on the carpet before pointing at the lucky person: John.

“Ooo,” Bucky teases, “Pucker up, Johnny boy.”

You’re in murmured conversation with Steve to his right, and his feeling of contentment grows.  He’s surrounded by his friends, at night in Dot’s house, doing what teenagers do during the summer after high school graduation. Eating and drinking and laughing.

John taps his cheek jokingly. He isn’t prepared when Will grabs the sides of his face and crashes his lips to skin, adding an audible ‘mwah’ for dramatic effect. John swipes at the spot.

“Ew, he licked me.”

Bucky pokes Steve, who is massaging away the stitches as you go on with your entertaining story; Bucky had convinced him to tag along, and although he originally hesitated, Bucky knows he’s having a good time.  Your narration and constant inclusion of Steve is a huge factor--you two are both passionate beings and had become fast friends. It’s not possible for Bucky to be more grateful that you’re here.

“Okay, go John.”

Bucky’s not sure if he believes in God, but he’s sure the bottle is guided by the divine: it lands on Mary.  He cheers watching John press a tender kiss to Mary’s cheek.  Pink dusts her face as she gives him a shy smile—they have a crush on each other. It’s positively cute how their eyes catch across the circle.

This game could be a romantic catalyst, he thinks, recalling his lessons in chemistry. Catalysts cause a change.  Reactions happen regardless of catalysts, but with them the reactants mix faster to make the product almost instantaneously. Here, the product could be love.

Bucky loves the idea of love, but he hasn’t found it. Not yet. For now, he kisses girls behind shops, kisses them on the Ferris wheel, woos them, charms them, sweeps them off their feet.

“Mary, don’t forget the rule!” Dot pipes up. “If you land on John, you two have to kiss for thirty seconds.”

“Is that new, Dot? Seems like you come up with more rules every time we play,” you ask, tilting your head. You have that smirk playing at your lips, the one Bucky classifies as reserved for teasing.

“My older sister says it’s how she plays. If two people spin each other they have to!”

If Mary’s hand shakes, no one sees it. Her shoulders fall at the result but only slightly. It’s Bucky, after all. He meets Mary in the middle of the circle and receives his kiss on the cheek. It’s soft, and he remembers how her softness felt on his own not too long ago. She was a good kisser, and if her and John weren’t about to go steady, he’d consider finding her later and doing it again.

Bucky spins idly, and is roused by Steve’s clap on his back.  You.  He smirks and reaches out with both hands.

“C’mere doll.”

Your eyebrows rise, but you move past Steve, who has scooted back to make room. Bucky brings you close and places not one, not two, but three kisses on your cheek.  When you pull away, surprised, Bucky flashes an innocent grin.

“What?”

“You’re somethin’ else, Bucky Barnes, really.”

“Thanks, Y/N Y/L/N,” he grins wider.

There’s something curious in the way you’re looking at him. “I haven’t decided if that’s a compliment yet.”

Your hand reaches for the bottle, breaking eye contact for the second it takes to twirl the glass. It goes fast, then stops suddenly, snagged on a bump in the carpet.  It’s pointed directly at Bucky and your eyes lock.

Will yells, “Go on then! Kiss him!” and you do.  You kiss him, and he thinks he’s in heaven. If Mary’s lips were soft, yours were silk.

He’s so caught off guard by this feeling, this feeling of right, that ten seconds pass before he realizes you two are only connected by your mouths.  You’re tugging at his sleeve and you shuffle closer, enough for him to wrap an arm around your waist and bring you flush against his chest while you run your fingers over his shoulders and in his hair.

When Bucky surfaces at the call of thirty seconds, he is visibly shaken. The thought that he must be red as a tomato flits through Bucky’s muddled brain, because Steve has the exact look his Ma wore whenever he had a coughing fit.

The world is spinning. He likes it.

“Buck, you okay?”

Nothing so articulate as a sentence could be said from him now.  So he says the only word he knows.

“Y/N.”  Yes.

“…you sure?”

“Y/N,” he answers again, dazed.  

His eyes are on you as a small smile creeps onto your lips and they're on you as you hide it and your blush by looking at the carpet. You squirm under the taunts of your friends and Will’s excited cheers. Nobody’s ever seen Bucky rendered speechless. Hell, he doesn’t think he’s ever been. Your smile is well deserved.

Mary nudges you. “I think you broke him.”

Bucky sees you bite your lip, now worried, and turn to Steve. “Maybe he needs to go home? He’s a bit red--”

“Oh no, he’s not leaving. It’s time to play Seven Minutes in Heaven,” Dot announces while clapping her hands, “Y/N and Bucky can go first.”

The seven minutes are spent talking, any teenage awkwardness overshadowed by the sheer comfortableness of your friendship. 

Bucky realizes he wants more.  More time, more you, more than friendship.

Perhaps Cupid’s arrow is not made of wood, but of a red and white glass catalyst.  Whatever it is, whoever shoots it, Bucky knows he’s grateful for that bottle.

Which is why he places another one on your grave, beside Steve’s flowers; the neck of it pointed towards the carved letters of your name.

“I miss our seven minutes in heaven, Y/N. I miss you.”

It is two weeks later that Bucky sees you again, this time at Coney Island on a Saturday.  You’re standing arm-in-arm with Mary, in line for the games. The fabric of your clothes flows lazily as the crowd moves around you.

“Go over there.”

“Hmm?”

“Go over there,” Steve repeats.

“What happened to the Cyclone? You promised you’d come, don’t back out on me, punk.”

“Bucky, you haven’t taken a girl out in weeks. You’ve clearly got it bad for her, jerk, now go.”

“Stevie...”

Steve considers Bucky for a long minute, taking in how he is shuffling his feet, hands in his pockets and his teeth worrying at his bottom lip, yet staring longingly at you. Bucky is surprisingly nervous. He has never been nervous to talk to a girl before.

They ride the Cyclone, and Steve throws up.

“Steve was playing matchmaker; can you believe it? Man,” he says, smiling softly, “I’m so grateful.”

A week of pining and not-so-subtle flirting goes by before Bucky finally asks you on a date, much to Steve’s relief. He had told Bucky that Will made a move on you that morning and you declined. Then Steve pushed him out of the apartment with the threat of “an ass-kicking if you don’t come back with a date.” Nerves be damned, Bucky spends the whole afternoon trying to find you, checking all your regular spots and catching you as you exit a store. You're adjusting your purse and your head raises when he calls your name.

“Y/N!”

Bucky walks backwards, facing you, looking behind him every few moments to make sure he doesn’t bump into anything.

“Hey, Bucky.”

“Going somewhere?”

You nod. “Dot’s asked me to come over.”

“Nah, you’re not going there. We’re doing something fun.”

“Steve said he heard the theatre’s playing a good one--”

“No, no, not with Steve.”

You gasp, holding a hand over your heart. “No Steve? You’re a terrible friend.”

“It must be Opposite Day, I’m a terrific friend. And I’m a boy too, I can show you how terrific of a boyfriend I am.”

Bucky bites his lip and runs his fingers up your arms to brush back your hair, and he blinks when you don’t swoon like other girls at the classic Barnes seduction technique. Had you not seen him in action over the years, maybe, just maybe, you might not have rolled your eyes. No matter how affectionately. It is then that he knows you will challenge him more than any of his trigonometry problems ever could. 

“I can’t ditch Dot...”

“You could...reschedule. Unless you two are meeting Will? Little birdie told me he was asking after you.”

“Steve’s such a gossip. No, we’re not seeing him, look out—”

He twists to avoid hitting a mailbox but he overshoots in excitement and whacks his elbow, making him bite his cheek to stop a colourful string of curses from escaping. All he wants to feel better is your hug, and that’s exactly what he goes for.  

“Ow.”

“Poor Bucky,” you say, your voice sympathetic and muffled by his shirt while your hands rub up and down his back. “Anything I can do?”

It’s clear you mean ice, or a bandage, but you walked right into it and it’s too good of an opportunity for him to ignore.

“Play hooky with me. You can see Dot tomorrow and tell her all about our spectacular date.”

“Spectacular, huh? What are we doing?”

“Well...” Bucky sways you back and forth, slowly walking you back to where you came from. He meets next to no resistance. In fact, you wind your arms tighter around him and prop your chin on his chest to meet his gaze.  “You’ll just have to find out, won't you?”

“You’re making me very curious.”

“Good. Means you’ll come with me.”

His mind is running wild with possible date spots when he hears them, and his head falls onto your shoulder. They're the unmistakable, undeniable sounds of Steve’s righteousness.

“Goddammit Steve.”

You giggle. It’s right in his ear and oh, how he loves the sound. “Go rescue him, the brave stubborn soul.”

“If you’ll go out with me. See? My elbow feels better already and I’ll need more hugs after pulling Stevie out.” You’re shaking your head in wonder at him, that teasing smirk on your lips again. “And I’m more fun than Dot, believe me!” 

Bucky pecks your cheek and runs off, calling over his shoulder, “Seven!” 

It is seven o‘clock, and Bucky has his fist raised, poised to knock on your door when it flies open.  

“Hello.”

Your smile, the one that has him hooked, knocks the wind out of him.  So does the dress that hugs you like it was custom-made. You look beautiful. Ethereal.

“Wow,” he breathes. “Hi.”

Part of being their friend means lounging in their apartment due to Steve’s health, so Bucky is used to seeing you in more casual wear or in his sweaters anytime you got cold.  Regardless of the outfit you’re stunning, but this date look is new and it’s making you glow and he’s more than a fan.

With the way you’re looking at him, you must be thinking the same thing: Bucky has parted his hair neatly and is looking smart in a pair of black dress pants and a blue button up that matches his eyes. His face is clean shaven, just the way you like it, and he’s wearing his best cologne.

“I must say, Barnes, you clean up well for dates,” you wink, running a finger under his chin before turning to lock your door.

“We’re just getting started, doll,” he assures you. 

Never breaking eye contact, Bucky takes your hand and brushes his lips across the knuckles. This gets a soft smile and linked hands, and his heart does a flip-flop. You keep the other on his upper arm while he takes you to the destination.

“Where are we off to, Mr. King of Spectacular Dates? Do I have to wear a blindfold?” 

“Patience is a virtue,” he teases, “And nope. Look! We’re on the way and no blindfold.”

“Give me a hint. No? Not even one? Okay. I’m calling you Mr. King of Secrets instead.”

“For future reference, Y/N, if I’m a king then you’re my queen.”

“You did tell me you'd get me a crown when we first met.”

“What do you think I’m getting you for your birthday?” Bucky grins and it’s rewarded by one of your own.

“I'll be sure to wear it every day.”

“As you should, Your Majesty.”

One night while watching the stars Steve, the hopeless romantic, had asked what was the perfect date? You had said a dinner on the docks; it's simple yet romantic, with the waves lapping at the wooden pier and serenading you as you get to know your companion.

Bucky had filed that information away for the future. Now is the future. It didn’t take too much for him to set up; he just had to call in a few favours with his chef friend, charm the local vendor into selling him your favourite fruit, and promise to switch shifts with the dock workers so they’d keep the area empty for the night. 

Slightly anxious, Bucky awaits your reaction when you reach the docks. Your eyes are wide and you're uncharacteristically quiet, having trailed off from telling him about your mom’s cousin and he’s worried you don't like it.

He scratches at the back of his neck with his free hand and is about to open his mouth to suggest something else but he doesn't have to.

“Bucky…this is...wow…” You speak in a whisper, and it is no whisper of dislike. Wonder, astonishment, but no dislike. Your gaze shifts from the meal on the candlelit table to Bucky. “I can't believe you remembered. I said that years ago.”

“Of course I remembered. I remember everything about you.”  

Your face reflects your awe and gratitude, and it's as if someone lifted a heavy weight off his shoulders: you like it. He just needs to know if it’s as perfect as he remembers the tone of your words being when you described it. 

“It's still true, right? What you said?”

“Yeah.”

Squeezing his hand, you go to the table and he helps you into your chair. You have dinner, your conversation easy and the food delicious, and halfway through you confess the date is more than spectacular. He wholeheartedly agrees. It’s the best date he’s ever been on and it's not even done. You’re the best date he’s ever had.

It's dark when Bucky walks you home, his sleeves pushed up to his elbows, your intertwined hands swinging merrily while he recounts what happened at the docks last week.  It’s a silly little story, but it makes you light up and that’s all that matters.

If only the night could never end.

Dying to get more time with you, Bucky declares through your laughter that he's forgotten where your building is and kidnaps you for another lap of the block. You make him complete two more before he’s allowed to bring you to your doorstep. 

Bucky's ecstatic when you hold off on the goodbye by fiddling with your keys. As a gentleman he doesn’t want to overstep, but he really wants to kiss you goodnight.

“Thank you for tonight, Bucky, I had a really great time,” you murmur, wrapping your arms around his neck. You sigh happily when his encircle your waist. This too, feels right. Maybe he can kidnap you again.

“Mmm,” he hums, breathing in the intoxicating smell of your shampoo, “I did too. Cancel all your plans, doll, we're going out again tomorrow.”

You move but don’t go far. Still, touching noses isn't close enough for Bucky. “Dot won't be happy.”

“I’ll be happy. What do you say, Y/N?” He tilts his chin so his lips feather gently over yours. The taste of your exhales pleases his beating heart, which is screaming at the manners telling him to wait for permission. “Another spectacular date?”

Your eyes flutter closed. “Yes. Now kiss me already.”

It's soft and sweet, and when you melt into him, his eyes roll back into his head. With his previous lovers he is used to being in control, on solid ground. But you are making him fly, over the tallest of buildings, above the highest of clouds, and the feeling he got from the Cyclone is laughable compared to this. He's falling.

“Goodnight, Bucky, ” you say softly when you part, and your hand trails down the side of his face. He takes it and kisses your palm.

“Night, Y/N, see you tomorrow.”

You nod at his words, and turn to open the door. Unsuccessfully, because Bucky still has your hand and uses it to pull you back to him and steal another kiss, lacing your fingers as he does. You whack his arm when he doesn't let go but it’s light and he feels you smiling against his lips.

He’s falling, and has every intention of bringing you with him.

Walking away from your door, running a hand through his hair and grinning like a fool, Bucky stops when you call his name.

“I’ve made up my mind.  You’re really somethin’ Bucky Barnes, and that’s more than a compliment. It's fact.”

“Steve swore he could hear me cheering from blocks away...not sure if he ever told you that.”

He is 22 and he is in love.

“Bucky, please not there—“

“Why not? Dancing is fun!”

You draw circles in the dirt with your shoe and mumble, “I-I don’t know how,” to which he clicks his tongue in disagreement.

“Lying is bad, Y/N.”

“You’re so good, I’ll embarrass you.“

“You could never embarrass me, how could I be embarrassed when I have the best and prettiest girl in all of Brooklyn on my arm?”

“You could, if you saw my moves. I might even break your toe.”

“Doll, you’re being worse than Steve,” he sighs, and you pout. It’s adorable.

“Am not.”

Bucky takes your face in his hands and he kisses your nose, rubbing your cheekbone with his thumb. The trust in how you look at him is everything he’s ever dreamed about and wanted in a love, only it’s better and it’s you. 

“You are. I’ll be right there with you and it’ll be fun, I promise. Let me dance with my lovebug.”

“Okay. I hear our song playing, too.”

You let him lead you to the dance floor, and he thinks, for the millionth time, how perfect your hands fit in his. There have been many dates since the first one and the novelty still hasn’t worn off.

“Ah! Sorry!” you exclaim as you step on his foot again.

“It’s okay. You’re doing great, really fantastic! Now we go left,” he coaxes, guiding you through the movements. It takes a few songs, but he’s an excellent teacher and you’re a fast learner. “That’s it, Y/N, you’ve got it!”

Soon you have forgotten the steps and are simply dancing like nobody's watching.  Because nobody is: there is only you and him, him and you. The music swells and he is laughing and you are laughing, your hair coming undone from its style. Bucky spins you to make more pieces wild, because they frame your face and the sparkle in your eyes.

You are spinning. He likes it.

When a slow song comes on as the last dance of the night, Bucky brings you into him and, resting his forehead on yours, he places his hands at the small of your back. You close your eyes and your hands are warm on his neck.  After all the dancing, both of your heartbeats are fast, though Bucky can feel them slow in the comfort of each other’s arms.

He is 23 and he is in love.

With a phone he has the world in his pocket.  With you, he had the world in his arms.

But the world faces disaster; natural or manmade, none felt as devastating as the writing in that fateful envelope.

Drafted.

It is the best thing to have someone’s love. Though Bucky cannot feel his body much, your hands are on him, smoothing back his hair, wiping away the sweat, and it is nice.

“I don’t want to go.”

“I know, Bucky, I know.”

You don’t say it, yet Bucky hears it loud. You don’t want him to go either. It’s not like he has a choice; his country needs him. If he did, he’d stay with you and Steve in an instant--

“How the hell am I going to tell Steve?!” He bolts up, eyes wide, and he searches your face for the answers he knows you don’t have.

“We’ll find a way,” you soothe, and you guide him back down to the bed. “Let’s get some sleep and think about that tomorrow.”

You lie on your side, facing him, the line of your waist as graceful as the curve of your smile. You reach out and trace the shape of his nose, his jaw, his collarbone.  It makes him shiver; you hurry to grab the blankets, but he isn’t cold.

“I didn’t know it then, but you were memorizing me, weren't you?”  

The first time Bucky notices you drawing a person, it surprises him.

The three of you are sitting on the fire escape as usual, breathing in the afternoon Brooklyn air. You and Bucky are reading a book together, his inner thighs pressed against your outer ones, and his arms are around your waist as you lean against him and read aloud. Steve is across from you, sketching who knows what, his eyebrows drawn into the line only art could cause. It’s perfect.

Then Steve wordlessly passes you the sketchbook, and you untangle yourself from Bucky and take Steve’s place.  He pushes the book into Bucky’s hands and insists, “Keep going.”

Bucky wants to question it, he really does, but the sound of your pencil scratching against the paper and the feeling of his best friend’s chin on his shoulder convince him that, maybe, he does not need to know. Not now, anyway. So he reads; he reads until Steve is shivering from the quickly disappearing sun and must go to bed, but you have not moved save for the satisfied, toothy smile you wear as you admire the sketchbook.

He shuts the novel. “Whatcha got there?”

“Nothin’.”

“Y/N…”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow.“ You set the sketchbook aside and resume your cuddles. You take one of his hands and kiss it. Bucky presses his lips to your temple, and his breaths tickle your ear when he speaks.

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Stevie knows.”

You stay quiet, and Bucky knows you well enough to wait for you to elaborate.  

“I asked him to help me with something. It’ll all be revealed tomorrow. Don’t you worry your pretty little head, lovebug.” You reach up and card your fingers through his hair, and he hums in appreciation. It’s peaceful like this, the stars watching over Bucky, you, and the rest of the city.  “I love you, Bucky.”

“I love you too.” He squeezes you once and you snuggle deeper into his embrace, linking your fingers with his other hand. “We’re going to sleep here? Okay. Are you warm enough?”

“Mhm, you’re warm,” you say, and promptly fall asleep.

Looking down at you, your soft snores rumbling against his body, Bucky’s sure he’s the luckiest man alive. You’re fast asleep by the time he closes his eyes.

Tomorrow comes, and you are not beside Bucky when he wakes up.  Neither you nor the sketchbook are anywhere in the apartment, and Bucky’s seriously wondering if you fell off the fire escape until you walk through the door, completely nonchalant. He wraps you a tight hug, making sure not to squish the sketchbook, which he supposes to be the reason for your disappearance. 

“If telling me you’re a magician is the secret, I don’t think I like it very much,” he mumbles, and you laugh.

“It’s not. I can show you my card tricks to prove it,” you say, releasing Bucky and knocking on Steve’s bedroom door. “Here’s the secret.”

You settle into breakfast with the boys, and pass out three sheets of paper. They all have the same drawing:  you and Bucky, reading, with Steve leaning on Bucky’s shoulder and looking at the book. It’s Steve’s drawing and your shading.

“It turned out great, Y/N.”  Steve bounces giddily.

“Yeah it did! Thanks again for the help, Stevie.” He pats your forearm. “The library’s photocopier works magic,” you wink at Bucky, but he’s too engrossed and he misses it.

What he thought was entirely Steve’s work has yours; the most noticeable parts being your definition of Bucky’s nose, jaw, and collarbone.The sketch is black and white, but all Bucky can see is colour.  He can see Steve’s hair shining, the last rays of light hitting it and turning it golden; the beauty of your hair behind your ear; the blue in his own eyes as he listens, his whole face relaxed.  

Below it are the words:  My home, and my family.

“I love it. I really do, this is amazing.” 

Steve signs his name on all three, and passes the pen along so you and Bucky can do the same. Bucky decides this is the picture he will bring with him.

“I brought it overseas, and you’d know better than me where it ended up. Steve’s a hoarder, by the way.” He glances at the blond, who is admiring the trees a few hundred yards away. “He kept his sketchbook and I framed the new photocopy. It’s on my desk.”

The morning he leaves, you are not crying.  He can see it brewing under the surface, in your shuddering breaths when you think he can’t see, and he’s aware you will cry with Steve later. Right now, he is thankful.  Otherwise he’s not sure he could walk out the door or remotely hold it together here. You are strong for him and that is nearly everything he asks of you.

“James Buchanan Barnes. If you think I won’t be here the moment you come back, I’ll smack you.”

He kisses you, hard. He tries to give you all the words he has said before, the ones he cannot say, and the ones he is about to say.

“I love you so, so much,” he whispers.

“I love you so much, Bucky. Be safe, please.”

“Don’t you dare forget about me.”

“I could never. I’ll be waiting for my lovebug to come home.” You seal your promise with a tight hug and one last kiss. 

Tuberculosis, they told him, got you a year after he left. He supposes it is good, great even, that you never heard the stories of what he would become.

The next thoughts frighten: what if you saw it from heaven? Angels are omniscient, right? Will he have a chance at the afterlife with an angel?

Bucky wants more than seven minutes in heaven with you. He wants it more than anything.

The tears are forming hot and fast now, and he blinks, letting a couple slide down his cheeks, pause on his jaw and continue down his throat before he wipes them away. He swallows hard and collects himself.  You were strong for him, he can be strong for you.

The breeze passes through again, this time warmer.  It swirls around Bucky, running its fingers through the tendrils of his hair, slipping underneath his arms and caressing his cheek.  The air flies straight through his ribs to hug his heart just like you did when you curled up next to him.

It is then that he knows: whenever the serum wears off, in two weeks, in five years, in a hundred—when it does, you will be waiting for your more-than-seven-minutes together in heaven.

Bucky presses a lingering kiss to your name and then traces the epitaph.

“Goodbye, my lovebug.” 

Bucky stands, letting his fingers trail along the headstone curve, and reunites with Steve by a grip on his shoulder. They stay like that for a long time. The sun sets.

A home doesn’t need to be a house, and family doesn’t need to be related. I’ll never forget home.

{epitaph credit to this pin} 

A/N: thank you for reading❤️ 

TAGS (open!):  @wndas-romanoff  @whyisbuckyso @buckys-fossil  @bootypoppinbarnes @fxckmebuck @langinator @seeyainanothalifebrotha @secondstartotheright-imagines @canumoveyourseatup-no @the-renaissance @miraisnotavailable @winchesterandpie @supernatural-girl97 @aekr

[danowh0re]

You want edward requests? How about being the one coworker who is genuinely nice and kind to Edward. You see him, you ask how he is and actually care about his answer, you bring him puzzles he mentions offhand. He’s so shy but he gradually warms up to you. Nothing happens because he’s so insecure but when the riddler murders happen you think he seems familiar somehow….and before he’s apprehended you get a note similar to the ones on the news, addressed to you instead of Batman with instructions for how to safely get out of the city signed with a heart

𝙰 𝙻𝚒𝚎 <?>

A/N: OOO OOO OOO. imma make this a series probs. Leave it with a cliff-hanger ;) I kind of went a different direction!!!! But there will be a lot of parts to this:)

<𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝> ; 681

<𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜> ; language and nothing else :) lmk if I need to put anything else in the warnings!

𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑- 𝚕𝚖𝚔 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝

"The usual?" You say when you creep up on Edward, with your notebook in hand. FuUah—", he covers his papers, not making eye contact with you just yet. "Everytime..." he says, chuckling to himself. "What?. You still haven't answered my question eddy?." Y/N says as you make your way into his booth, trying to peek at what he's writing. "S...sorry.. i- don't look-.. I'm not done.." he fixes his glasses, finally looking up at you and smiling. "Coffee- just coffee... I have to go-" checks his watch "soon... so..". His voice lowers as he realizes he won't have that much time to be with you.

You look up at the t.v that's set in the corner of the room, furrowing your eyebrows. Looking back at a coworker and asking them to turn it up. Paying close attention to what's on the screen while Edward is trying to talk to you. "Y/n... " he says with a whiny tone, "what is it-". He turns around to where you are looking at, his heart racing. "You shouldn't- you shouldn't look at that-,, ..c..could I get my coffee..? Please.. and thank you, y/n''.

"Sorry yeah- uh." You say with confusion, getting mixed feelings as you look down at his writing and back at the screen. "I'll.... be right back.."

Walking away from the man, taking a deep breath as you grab a mug and a fresh pot of coffee. Bringing both of the things towards Edward and pouring it in front of him. "Y/n, y/n, y/n, I have another riddle for you!, you aren't ready." He waits till you have all of your attention to him. "My favourite time, i still think you can't beat me, but, knock on wood. Hah." You watch the coffee pour closely, sitting back down across from Edward and handing a couple sugar packets in his direction. Knowing he only likes sugar in his coffee, for, some.. reason.. "hit me." Setting your hands on the table and making eye contact with him.

"What can be lost, but not returned?",

Edward says with a serious face. You look down at your hands to 'think'. Acting like you don't know the answer. "That's really dark nash- if i know what the answer is—". Keeping your head down still. "Well, come on.. say it." His knuckles turn white, not liking the anticipation he's receiving.

"Is it... life?.." You say kind of slowly, Edwards eyebrows raising. "Wow, you've been around me for too long- how about another one, hm?." He leans over the table, just overly excited. "Sure! If you win, you get a piece of pie on the house, okay?. And if I win, I guess I get nothing, actually-". You both chuckle as Edward looks down at what looks like an arts and crafts project.

A couple moments going by, him being in a mindset where whatever anyone says to him he wouldn't hear it, thinking real hard.

"OKAY. okay." Takes a sip of the boiling hot coffee, clearing his throat after. "That literally burnt my throat, jesus christ-. Okay. What can you not keep, until you are given it?."

"Hm... I don't- I don't know- ..what is it..?" You say with the most confusion. "Ah...hah... ahhh... hah... look who thought they were so big and strong... the answer is, a secret.". Leans even closer to you, being able to feel the hot oxygen that's coming from his mouth. Sounding like he's panting. "..I have a secret,, and... and I want to tell you, I want to protect you okay..? I promise nothing bad is going to happen. You're under my watch, 24/7. Now don't be alarmed, please don't be." Connecting his hands with yours, trying not to freak you out.

He let's go of the grip that he has with your hands, packing up his things quickly and leaving with the sudden need to go somewhere important, with no goodbye.

From that day more mayhem was appearing on the streets, but no sign from Edward the rest of that week.

Part 2 coming soon if you want to see it :)

<𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚜>

@thehermitsaltar @ghot-girl @nephilxterra @truecobblepot @sympathyforher @trelaney @koshi-sama @creepling @the-hidden-pages @swn-kings1 @hansakind @milfodyssey @pauldanos-world @geisterfvhrer @iggay @vocivious @earwax666660 @etherealweed @yelenabelovasbathwater @vigilanteboyfriend @im-a-burden-to-society @riddleklitz @vxid42 @halcyonbabe @2000sbxtch @cowboys-and-riddlers @beenz-beenz @sagexsenorita @whiiiiplaaaaash

[thefallenbibliophilequote]

The Lion

Bucky x Witch!Reader

Summary: being a witch in modern times is not easy, you regret a spell you casted but have to deal with the consequences.

Word count: 800

Warnings: fluff, Light witchcraft, cursing(the non-witchy type)

A/N: this is the first out of three drabbles I am doing for @syntheticavenger 8k Spooky Challenge. This essentially can be read as standalone drabbles but the full 3/3 miniseries is called The Narnia Witch! I'll post the second part tomorrow and the final part on Halloween/Samhain! Lmk if you want to be tagged! This is a witch reader (she is also pagan).

No one is allowed to repost my writing, steal, copy or translate my work! The only place my writing can be in is on my own blog! Plagiarism is a crime.

Masterlist

Thunder boomed outside as you stirred the pot in your hands, using the lightning as a light in the room as you read the recipe.

"Just a bit of cinnamon…" you mumbled to yourself as you paced through the kitchen. You peppered the cinnamon in and it caught on fire. "Oh for fuck's sake settle down."

You continued on with the recipe and a few ingredients later and some words whispered the potion was ready and you were beamed to try it out.

Drinking the liquid you felt a slight burn in your throat, closing your eyes you felt the tingles and let them take you. The next thing you felt was hardwood against your back and you opened your eyes to darkness- and then you heard noises and saw a silver of light.

You pushed forward out of the closet and found yourself stumbling into an unknown room, and suddenly the voices came to a halt. You looked up to find an unfamiliar place and 2 pairs of blue eyes staring at you.

Crap. You recognized them as Avengers and your mouth went dry, you knew you had to get out of here before they got out of their confusion.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to go all Monsters Inc. on you guys." You let out a nervous chuckle, chastising yourself for giving that potion a try.

"You mean like Narnia?" Bucky asked you. And you knew you couldn't look into his eyes for that long.

"Oh, yeah that's better." You nodded to him before raising your wrist, aiming to go back home.

"How did you get here? Who are-" you were gone before Steve could finish talking, vanishing into thin air.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y get Tony, an enhanced girl breached our compound."

•

"So, what is exactly our plan here?" Bucky asked Steve, as they advanced through the coarse woods with guns packed away- for now.

"Well, Tony couldn't find anything about her besides a trail leading to an open spot in this forest, so we don't know who she is or of her capabilities-"

"So we're going in without a plan?" Bucky groaned at his friend- some things never change.

"It's fine, Bucky, we don't know for sure if she is hostile- that's what we are going to check."

As they advanced into the woods, the atmosphere changed- and it had Bucky's hair stand up, nerves assembling as cold chill passed through him. A shared look with Steve let him know he was feeling it too. The shadows seemed fuller now, darker, as if they are swallowing the light instead of hiding from it.

The clearing in the middle of the woods was now in sight, light was shining on the solitary house. Now walking with their holsters open, ready in anticipation for whatever the tension ahead held.

Then Bucky heard a deep loud growl, to his right he saw a creature- a lion. Black fur graced it, and as tall as the two supersoldiers, his mane seemed to form smoke around the beast. But the worst part- the deep red eyes that pierced Bucky's breath from his lungs.

And then the lion was rushing towards them.

The beast roared as it charged at Bucky. Pulling out his gun, Bucky shot towards the animal but it didn't seem to have any effect on it. Steve came to Bucky's side and put the shield in front of the two of them, scratching tore the shield across the field and a force blew both Steve and Bucky back. The lion knocked Steve away and swung his head back as Bucky got up to try and hurt the beast with his knife; Bucky held his vibranium hand forward as the black lion opened its jaw to attack. Its sharp teeth sunk into the metal trying to pierce through the vibranium as Bucky fought back to try and stab the lion.

You sat in your house facing the window, looking at the fight as your projection protected your house- and then the lion started to hurt Bucky. You rose up from the chair, changing the enchantment, your black dress swirling around your legs.

"Don't hurt the brunet," you whispered, you wished you'd never given into temptation. "Keep them away from me."

Your glowing eyes faded when his eyes briefly caught yours from across the field- your breath stopping for a moment, you chastised yourself for it- it's only a matter of time now.

The lion backed away and a second later you appeared in front of him in a dark mist.

"Leave me alone, and my pet won't hurt you." You threatened the blond before disappearing once again, lion fading to dust.

Back at home you watched them walk away; you closed the spell book shut and sighed.

"I should have never casted that soulmate spell."

•

Taglist: : @callmeluna @sstanbarnes @buckys-other-punk @drabblewithfrannybarnes @easygoingtheatre @that-one-person @justab-eautifulmess @onceupona-happilyeverafter @wipplogg @supraveng @ayybtch @kitkatd7 @chrissquares @make-me-imagine @jessalyn-jpeg

[byuncock]

Do you still love me? // Baekhyun

pairing: baekhyun x oc/reader

genre: angst, slight fluff?

word count: 1.6k

a/n: unedited! inspo came from a oneshot that is no longer available to read.

The cafe was filled with such a happy atmosphere. You were feeling everything, but.

You looked over to your boyfriend as his attention was solely on the one person sitting across from him. Which so happens to be his ex.

The both of you were out for your anniversary celebration, but it seems like you were the only one excited noting the outfits as you looked down at yours then looking over to Baekhyun's laidback hoodie and sweats. Good thing anything he wears makes him look stylish.

For some reason his ex keeps glaring at you from time to time. You havent even talked to her beside a simple introduction of hello's and my name is.

Your mood for the day has been ruined and dampened even more at the fact that he was paying attention to his ex more than you. You heave out a sigh while staring ahead just wanting them to finish talking so the both of you could just end the day even though it's only the after noon.

Hearing the sigh Baekhyun turns towards you while his friend is still talking. He stares a bit feeling bad that you had to deal with this on a special day.

He turns to her, "Well, it was nice seeing you again. If you don't mind leaving us since we are celebrating our anniversary after all" Baekhyun shoos her politely.

She let's out a flabbergasted "Oh!" and nods at the both of you then leaving. Baekhyun turns his head towards yours and gives a peck at your temple.

Feeling annoyed you stood up to leave not before telling him, "Let's go home, Baekhyun"

You were washing the dishes. Deep in thought about when things went wrong with your relationship with baekhyun.

He's been distant since around a month ago you ponder. Then the affection started decreasing weekly along with dates and communication you investigate.

As you were deep in thought Baekhyun was standing at the entrance of the kitchen the whole time with his arms crossed while staring at you. Also, deep in thought of what words to start off.

"Hey, we need to talk" he starts off as he uncrosses his arms and walks closer to you leaving a good distance.

Coming back to reality you looked over to him then down at the sink since you were still washing the dishes, "What did you wanna talk about?" letting out nonchalantly.

He opens his mouth, but the words are stuck. He closes and swallows, trying again, "I don't think I want to continue this relationship anymore" he lets out softly. As if he was hesitant even saying it, scared even.

You knew this was coming. Were you surprised? No. Just disappointed. You ceased washing the plates and turn to look fully at him, "Why?" genuinely curious even though you were breaking inside.

He stayed silent while looking around. Trying to find the words you assumed. "Do you still love me anymore?" you questioned in a whisper.

He stares at you straight in the eye, "I don't think I love you anymore" he finally lets out. Breaking you completely.

It was suddenly getting harder to breathe. You feel the tears creeping up. But you swallowed a large lump and nodded. Going back to finish washing the dishes, "Alright then, I guess this is it?" you questioned.

Not letting him say anything else when you added, "I'll pack my stuff when I'm done with this" you turn your head at him with a forced small smile.

Then he left.

-

It's been about a few weeks. Or a month. You don't really know since you lost count of the days. Not having the energy to even care about anything else besides your broken heart.

You were staying at your friend's place, who is kind enough to let you move in, but because of reasons you didn't want to do that to her. Letting her know you'll only be staying there for a short time until you find your own place.

The sun has set and the moon is shining brightly. Though the weather has been nice lately your mood hasn't got any better. So you try to cheer yourself up by having walks daily either in the morning or night.

This time around you were feeling extra sad and heartbroken which led to all memories with Baekhyun and self doubt. Must be your incoming monthly cycle.

You were walking out at night aimlessly. Which should be dangerous, but you didnt care at the moment. Not until someone grabbed your shoulders from behind and turned you around, startling you.

You were so shock you didn't really get to process who the person was before they pulled you into their embrace. The scent giving it away.

The tears you've been trying to keep at bay for the past week had finally been let go.

Baekhyun hears you sobbing and hugs you tighter while whispering apologies and I love yous in your ear.

You were so upset and hurt that he broke it off just like that. All the anger and sadness coming out through your sobs and actions. You pushed him away while looking at him.

"W- What ar-are you doin- doing?" you asked while hiccuping. Now that you were finally able to take a look at him you cried even harder.

He was flabbergasted, didn't know what to do, but pull you in his embrace once again while apologizing, "I.... I'm sorry my love.... I'm so sorry"

He tightened his hug while whispering apologies and sweet nothings.

While you just stood there. Limp. Bawling your eyes out at the same man who broke your heart.

So many thoughts were bombarding your already tired head. Why is he here? Why is he hugging me? How did he recognize me? What the fuck?

Baekhyun let you cry in his arms while he soothes your back. Waiting for you to calm down before he speaks again. When you do he lets out softly, "I would like to speak with you. If that's okay?" pulling away at arms length so he can look at you. Trying to decipher the emotion on your face other than sadness.

You were so confused, "What do you even want to talk about?" giving a deep frown as you try to back away from him and have a decent amount of space in between.

Baekhyun didn't like that. Even though you created distance he still managed to graze his hands down to yours to intertwine them.

"I wanted to apologize" he started quickly. "I know I broke your heart and told you I no longer loved you, but baby was I so damn wrong," he tightened his hold on you.

Millions of emotions ran through you. Still confused obviously. But now. Upset. How can he just do that? One second decides he no longer loves you and breaks it off then come back because he was wrong. Who does that?

He was eagerly waiting for any type of reply, but all he received was a troubled look and thoughts running through your head.

"These past weeks we've been apart felt like hell. I realized I made a mistake shortly after I broke it off with you, but I didn't want to get back to you so soon because I wanted to be sure that I still love you. Which I do, which is why I was trying to plan something until I ran into you" he pauses. Letting you soak in what he said before continuing.

He saw your eyes move from the ground up to his eyes. He took that as a queue to talk again and hopefully convince you how sincere he is.

"Something in my gut told me to do it now or else I wouldn't have got a chance later. So I took it." he pauses again and slowly gravitate you towards him into an embrace so the both of you could look directly at each other.

"Now I am hoping you can forgive me and give me another chance because I love you so damn much. I'm a fucking moron to ever thought I didn't love you anymore. Please, baby. Give me another chance and let me be with you again." he softly lets out with his lips just a centimeter away from yours.

His eyes occasionally drift between your eyes and your lips. Somehow his arms were wrapped around you.

You were still soaking it in. Everything was too much at the moment and in the state you were currently in didn't help.

The whole time he talked you didn't even reply back with anything besides all the emotional looks he caught.

You were deep in thought. So deep in thought you forgot what was happening until you feel his arms tighten around you.

You can tell the situation was making him anxious and your lack of response made it 10x worse.

"I don't" you croaked. Clearing your throat you tried again " I don't know" you finally let out.

He ended up placing his forehead against yours and stared deeply into your eyes. "Please" he begged with a crack in his voice. He closed his eyes and his expression seemed like he was holding back his tears.

You didn't feel bad.

You pulled away from him. Making sure you were six feet apart and he stood there with his eyes closed. You can see a tear run down his pretty features.

"My number's still the same" you whispered. You stood there for another few seconds then turn to leave.

If he wanted you back then he better work his ass off.

You were not going to experience that heart break again. You wanted to be sure that he means it so if the both of you do get back together there wouldn't be doubts. There wouldn't be second thoughts of what if Baekhyun falls out of love with you again. Because you have no idea if you can handle that the second time.

-

As you are walking back to your friend's place. Your phone vibrates.

~

a/n: lmk your thoughts!

[souichieatr]

wanna be yours, ch2

suna x freader , foxy boy

where in which two opposites fall in love

a/n: for everyone who commented on the posts youve been added sorry i cant reply <//3 if you're interested in being in the taglist send me an ask, i was thinking of making a playlist for the au would anyone be interested? lmk !! sorry if there are any mistakes or if its bad this is my first writing <3

ch1. this voice im hearing rn? , hey bestie

word count: 2,090

the first song- The Ghost of You- my chemical romance

second song- I Bet on Losing dogs- mitski

third song- Crybaby- destroy boys

pocketing her phone after reading tendous message, she opens the door waving to a couple friends and offers friendly smile taking her seat. a pair of pale green eyes follow her. after yesterday suna did a little research about her y/n y/l/n the bassist and youngest in the band called 4u, she has quite a big following on twitter, she's really nice and interacts with the fans. looking at her now you can't imagine her on stage suna thought. breaking away from his thoughts as the teacher walks in. spouting for about what feels like hours and the students taking notes, finally lunch approaches. y/n jumps from her seat grabbing her case she walks to the third year hallway. waving to her friends they walk to her, tendou wrapping his arms around her “y/n!!!!!! i missed you” laughing as she hugged him back “tendou!!! i missed you toooo.” she turns to the grey haired male, “semisemi!!” she says giving him a hug, he rolls his eyes and hugs her back “and ushi!!” she turns to the brunette to which he pats her head “good afternoon y/n.” as they go to the lunch room to grab their lunch, they walk to one of the music rooms they usually occupy. a beep from her phone grabs her attention seeing her friend atsumu asking if him his twin and their friend can join for lunch, “hey guys you dont mind if atsumu and his friends come join us?” she says setting down her case against the wall. “nah you can invite them, atsumu is our biggest hype man” tendou says, grabbing his drum sticks from his back pocket. texting him its cool she goes to unzip her bass. “oh ms lady ive missed you” she says hugging the instrument, “i can't believe you two and always wanting to play, dont yall have any other hobby?” semi says, grabbing the schools given guitar setting the speaker up for y/n. tendou gives a scoff “semisemi dont act like you hate hearing us play i see you listening to our covers alllll the timeeeee” he says “yeah semi besides we have a concert soon and it wouldnt be bad to have an audience” y/n says walking to semi to connect her bass to the speaker when the door opens, entering is atsumu in the middle, osamu on his left, and a mystery guy in the back. setting her bass down running up to the blond “tsumu!!” giving him a hug “y/n!!” he hugs her back, she waves to osamu, who shes met on an occasion. looking towards the dark haired guy she walks up to him, noticing shes seen him somewhere. “youre suna right? we're in the same class?” she says giving him a hand and a awkward smile, nodding at her words. “hope its okay im here” he says taking her hand giving a slight shake. “nah dont worry its nice to have a different face, seeing tsumu is getting boring” turning around to the male. “what she means to say is we could use practice in front of new people” the grey haired male says giving a small laugh when tendou scoffs at him, both guys walking towards the small group. “this is semi and this is tendou” she says introducing them. when the introductions are over the two males go back to setting up, y/n walks the newcomers to the sitting area “here you guys can sit, im sure you all know ushijima” on hearing his name he looks up from his name giving a small head bow. they all sit “any recommendations tsumu?” y/n says walking to her bass making sure everything was good, looking towards the small group. “y/n you know my favorites” atsumu says stealing one of his brothers onigiri. y/n laughs and rolls her eyes, turning to tendou “anything you wanna try tori?” tendou looks at her with a smile “y/n lets show semi whatweve been working on” hearing this semi looked at them “what do you guys mean? what did you two do” y/n chuckles at the grey hairs doubtful expression “mr semisemi you know your favorite mcr song” when she sees him nod she continues “me and tori learned it” she says pushing him lightly. semi looked at her with wide eyes then at tendou, looking at semi tendou flicked his drum stick between his fingers with a nod. “wow semi cant believe you, we spent so much hours perfecting a my chemical romance for your sap self and he doesn't believe us y/nie i might

” tendou says fake sniffing. the little group in the back beyond confused, atsumu clearing his throat “have you three forgotten us already, wheres our show” ushijima nodding his head “yeah why are you guys being so vague” tendou snickers “dont worry you three and wakatoshi we have decided to play a new song or well cover i should say” “yeah and its semi’s favorite band you know the one that he wears on his shirts?” ushijima looking towards the girl after hearing her statement he nods. “okay can we play now ive been waiting to show my skills and get our lovely semi's opinion” y/n says removing her pick, both boys giving a ‘yeah’. finally tendou does the countdown. suna looks at all three of them with slight excitement in his stomach, ‘is this a new song im going to hear?’ before he could think of anything else, semi started playing a few chords by himself and y/n starting to add her own strums then tendou adding drums. sunas eyes widen at how well all the sounds blended together, freezing in his spot when semi started singing, when hitting the chorus y/n joins him. suna looking at her, he felt like he had been put in a trance, feeling like theres a spotlight on her when she starts nodding her head seeing her tongue sticking out when stringing the instrument. towards the end you can see y/n lose focus and her eye twitches, ending the song she sighs. “hey sorry about the end” waving to the guys to her left with a frown. hearing applause from the group the frown doesnt last long. “WHOOO!!!!! THAT WAS MY BESTIES GO SEMI! GO TENDOU! GO Y/N!!” atsumu gets up and yells. “that was so good what the hell that was yer first time too?” he says going up to the group, high-fiving y/n. “i mean me and tendou practiced together but semi basically has every song by them memorized but together? yeah our first.” tendou getting up to get his water that was next to ushijima. semi joining the fake blond and the girl, patting her on her back “that was a good first for us i can tell you and tendou worked hard, we're definitely adding it to the set list.” getting a laugh from both of them semi walks to the small group. “hey man that was really good, you have a nice voice” suna says as semi approaches, semi turned to him surprised “oh thank you im glad you enjoyed, do you listen to our stuff?” he says taking a seat next to him. “ive recently just started, i hope that doesnt sound too weird” the dark haired suddenly getting a little embarrassed, chuckling “its not weird i promise, well its good you listen to us or im sure it would've been awkward to just be here” nodding along to what he said. tendou going back to the drums “are you cowards tapping out now?” “COWARDS?!?!” y/n yells back turning around “i am no coward tendou satori i'll make you eat those words semi get over here” she said grabbing semis attention and shooing atsumu back to his seat. chuckling as he sat back down, turning to suna “howd ya like em? theyre good huh?” suna rolling his eyes “im not going to help inflate your ego tsumu” “yeah tsumu yer big ego is not cute” gasping to their remarks “you guys are so mean to me, i introduce you to nice music and even the artists and this is the thanks i get” before any could respond tendou starts clicking his sticks. starting this one is tendou with a slower sound, y/n entering second then semi with vocals. y/n leans down to mess with something by her foot turning a notch noises like static come out adding to the music, coming up fast she starts adding her vocals complimenting semis. pressing on the box she leans down as more noises come out. atsumu leans over to sunas ear “thats a pedal that holds other sounds and can help stretch other sounds” suna giving him a nod. towards the end y/n reaches down to the pedal again adding a distorted sound before adding her last bit of ‘oohs’ before the song ends. everyone clapping as the members stay still for s bit before y/n dramatically bows “youre so welcome lovely audience” she says blowing kisses to them, laughing at her atsumu jumps up and down pretending to be a crazy fan “oh y/n you were so go

od i love you y/n!!!” y/n laughing at him. “hey atsumu what about me!” tendou asks swinging his hand “howd i do?” “oh tendou you were so good, i love you too tendou!!!” he says swinging his arm back. tendou satisfied with his response nods his head, “and with that lets play one more i still want time to actually eat before we play again later.” “yeah lets try ‘crybaby’ we haven't done that in awhile” semi says getting in position.“remember y/n you do the verses” y/n nods clearing her throat “go tori” she says and tendou starts the counting again. starting the counting fast he gets one beat then y/n starts off with singing, swinging her bass back she grabs the mic. suna cracks a smile nodding his head a little as he remembers this song on their youtube, atsumu whistling when y/n dips down her mic as she sings, letting the boys have a solo in between verses she bobs her head. the last few seconds of the song she swings the instrument back as she steps on the pedal creating feedback, as semi goes to vocals she starts getting a solo with tendou playing, y/n leans forward and her and semi sing the rest of the song. after the last note they all look out of breath. clapping for them again letting them catch their breath, y/n starts laughing “i forget how hard that song is towards the end” laughing with her tendou nods “its literally the last 50 seconds that get the hardest” “alright lets clean up” semi says laughing at both of their bored looks they send him. finishing up they all go to the group whove are talking among themselves. sighing as she sits y/n takes the seat next to suna, “so howd you like the songs?” she says with a smile “they were good though i only recognized the last one” he replies, “tsumu told me you started listening to us recently so i thought or well semi thought wed show off a bit with our best song being that” she says with a smile grabbing her bottle. a small smile appears on his face “oh hey tsumu told me youre like really good in your classes and i really need help in history and since we have that group project coming up do you wanna pair up?” she says setting her bottle down grabbing a bag of chips. “yeah i dont mind as long as you actually do something and i can help you study if your grade is that bad” he says. “thatd actually help me out a lot i really appreciate it” she lets a breath out. after that the two spent all lunch just talking, the conversation coming easy for both of them. hearing the bell ring y/n hugs her friends and walks with suna to their class, pairing up in the project the teacher had given them in their period. after class before y/n rushed out she passed him her number with a wink “text me for the deets foxy boy.” ‘foxy boy? suna thought to himself shaking his head texting her with a simple ‘hey its suna’ and heading home.

facts !

during lunch when suna and y/n we're talking the followed each other on twitter

semi was really touched they learned the mcr song

the 4u concert is at a small venue but no one really cares about the other groups going there

osamu and atsumu almost started fighting over the onigiri until suna said something about ushijima being right there

atsumu was watching suna and y/n talking

osamu actually really enjoyed being there during lunch

—taglist

@applekenm , @xhanjisungiex , @astronomyturtle , @sirachano0dles , @yn-tingz , @killmepls-uwu , @bakugouswh0r3

[hoseokisgucci]

HIFTB (Hit it from the back)

GENRE: smut

WORD COUNT: 4.2K

PAIRING: Namjoon x reader

SUMMARY: OC moves into a flat, happens upon hot neighboour joon. Gets off to thoughts of said hot neighbour, and the rest is history.

WARNING: Joon hears her get off, theres a lot of consent in there, some slut shaming, some humiliation, some soft stuff. OC might have a size kink.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wrote something kinky in a long while. Lmk what y'all think. Hmu w requests, i wanna try writing some new stuff.

🐨

"I told you, it's a pretty good flat. I'm glad you're all moved in."

"You were very spot on with this one, thanks once again dude."

"No problem at all. I'll come over in a few days and we can have that binge session, alright?"

"Yes ma'am."

After finally breaking up with your boyfriend, ex-boyfriend now, (who was probably labelled asshat by your friends) you had to be the one to leave your shared apartment, which led to you needing a place ASAP.

Your univeristy friend was the one who had come to your rescue when you had needed a place to stay. At first, when she suggested that she had just the place in mind, you were a bit iffy. But after seeing the place, and the rent, you were willing to move in at any moment. And so you did.

Which brought you to this moment in time, where you have probably just seen Adonis in human form waiting for the lift. When you stop beside the tall serving of man, he turns to you and gives you a small smile, which brings into focus his dimples. And his face. Oh God. His dimples. His fucking face. Yeah, his fucking face would be good to see too. Shut up.

The lift opens, and he gestures for you to walk in first. He enters after you, and stands near the panel, expectantly looking at you.

"Oh, uhh 5th, thank you." You stutter out.

Surprise colors his face as he turns to you and says, "I didn't know my floor had someone this pretty."

Oh? Ohhhhhh.

Looking at him head on, your eyes twinkling, mustering all the confidence and sexual prowess in your being, you reply, "Well sweetheart, now you know."

For a second, his eyes look like they'll pop out of his head. But that moment passes, and he seems to collect himself as he chuckles and nods his head, muttering,

"That I do."

The lift doors open on your floor, and as you walk out, you turn around to coyly give him a look, twiddling your fingers in a wave. He just stands there watching you go.

Oh baby, nothing ever felt this sweet.

The next time you run into Adonis is when you're stepping out of your apartment and he's...stepping out of the apartment...beside you. The sound of you closing your door makes him look towards you, and he smiles.

Screw his face, dear God.

You smile back, hoping that your face doesn't look like that of a raccoon, and turn to face him.

"Hey neighbour," he says.

"Hey, uhhh, neighbour?" you say, trailing off.

"My bad. I'm Namjoon. How have you been?"

"I think, I've been, pretty okay. You?"

"I've been good too. You like it here?"

The way he asks this, it seems like he's hinting at something else entirely and not just asking you a basic question. The low timbre of his voice doesn't make it easier for you to not misinterpret.

Scrabbling for a reply, on autopilot, you say

"Uh yes, yes! I like it. A lot."

His smile turns into one of amusement, and he starts walking to the lift. When you don't follow, he turns to look at you, raising his brows.

"You comin' sweetheart?"

You bet your ass I am.

After running into your neighbour a few more times, you realise that this man, is truly some other being. Aside from being cute as hell and having that voice which makes anyone wanna strip, he is actually, personality wise, very nice. And kind. Everytime you've run into him, he's offered to carry your groceries or asked about your day or suggested going for a walk. This one time, he even came to your door to give you your mail, saying he went to get his and figured he'd get yours too. Other times, you've seen him at the florist, conversing with an old lady, once outside the library with a small boy, and once coming back, probably from the gym. All sweaty and flushed.

Looking at a sweaty Namjoon had triggered something inside your brain. It was as if, seeing him like that added another dimension to him in your head. Earlier he was just, nice hot neighbour. But now, now he was nice hot neighbour who can pound me into the mattress four ways to Thursday. How hot would it be, big palms holding you down, biceps flexing as he thrusted into you, skin glistening, lips rubbed raw? Very fucking hot.

All you could think about that night was Namjoon. And it was all your fucking fault. If you hadn't ogled him, then you wouldn't be wetter than London in the rain right now. And you felt like a weirdo, humiliated and dirty at the thought of what you wanted to do. Not just with him or to him, but also without him. Only if you didnt get off at feeling like this, your predicament could've been a little different. But now, after contemplating (contemplation being, you thinking of one very naked tall man), you had no damn choice. You just had to get one out while your imagination was thriving with your memory of him. So you did what you had to do. You teased yourself, fingers brushing your clit, light touches here and there. Your other hand cupped your breast, a small moan slipping your mouth as you squeezed. Your fingers left your core to traverse up and twist your nipple, gently. When you let out a sigh at feeling some sort of relief, you twisted with purpose, a sound of surprise leaving your mouth when the pain gave way to pleasure. Fondling yourself, your eyes closed and all you could think about was Namjoon. Oh, how good it would feel to have him touch you like this. To have him see you like this.

Would his eyes darken with desire, would he get off at seeing you wanting him?

With this question in your hazy mind, your hand went back to your core, where you first pressed your pointer finger to your clit testingly. Sighing in pleasure, you drew tight circles with your pointer finger as your legs fell open. As the pleasure increased, another finger joined in rubbing your clit. Your back arched, hips stuttering, body seeking more pleasure. With one last sharp twist to your nipple, you dipped your fingers into your mouth. Your imagination went wild at the thought of your mouth being filled by anything. You pressed your fingers to your tongue, eyes watery, mouth sloppy, as you moaned at the thought of Namjoon filling your mouth with his fingers, or his dick.

The hand on your clit pressed harder, but when you knew you couldn't get off with just this, you whined, the sound garbled because of the fingers in your mouth. You thrust one finger into your core at once, feeling the wet heat of your walls, and started pumping it. After a few moments, another finger was added on the way in , and the stretch made you feel good. As you continued pressing in and out, your hips moving to almost ride your fingers, your moans building in volume, the hand in your mouth came down to knead your tits. Both hands messily covered in bodily fluids, hips chasing an orgasm, throat raw from whimpering, you truly felt filthy. When you closed your eyes, you could almost see Namjoon's sweaty face, you could almost hear his groans and feel his cock pounding away. It was this thought, which made your hips move faster, made your hand squeeze harder, and before you knew it, you were writhing and cumming and moaning his name.

Little did you know that the centre of your fantasies was on the other side of the wall, in bed, feeling shocked, aroused and guilty all at once.

You woke the next morning, feeling tired and sated. When you remembered what your body had yearned for, what you had done, you were ashamed. Sure Namjoon flirted with you here and there, but maybe he was just being kind and you were just an idiot who was attracted to him. He was sweet. And very fucking nice. Last night, it felt like you crossed a very big line, and you were pretty sure you couldn't look him in the eye anymore.

After having breakfast, when you were working on laying out the plot for your next documentary project, the doorbell rang. You were pretty sure none of your friends had said they were coming over, so you were wondering who it could be as you opened the door.

Oh. Namjoon.

Your face flushed as you remembered your actions last night. You cleared your throat and smiled.

"H-hey, good morning."

When he didn't say anything, you brought your gaze up to his face, and realised where his eyes were. So, someone else is doing the ogling now. When his eyes met yours, they widened, and he cleared his throat and said,

"Hi, I was wondering if we could talk?"

Confused at his vague statement, you nodded your head. You opened the door wider, gesturing for him to get in. When he closed the door behind him, you turned to walk further inside but a hand gripped yours and yanked. Your yelp of surprise was covered by the thud you made when you were caged against the door, by Namjoon.

What the fuck. Just. Happened.

His foreams rested on either side of your head, one of his hands still holding your wrist. Looking at his face, you could only conclude that he looked wild.

Feral.

"Hey sweetheart, have fun last night?"

His low baritone sent electricity dancing up your spine, arousal stirring in your gut. But when you registered what he actually said, your blood ran cold. How did he know what you were up to last night?

As if he could read your mind, he continued, "You know, the walls are pretty thin. At first I didn't want to listen to your lovely sounds. I thought you were with someone, felt like I was being a pervert, you know? But as you went on, moaned my name, I realised what it was. Little Miss Sunshine was getting off at the thought of me. How sexy. You know what I was going to do?"

With bated breath, head turned down, you wait for him to carry on. But when you realise he was wants you to speak, you meet his gaze and whisper, "What?"

"I wanted to come here and show you how I would do it. Let you take care of the problem you gave me. You would have loved that, right?" His eyes twinkle with mirth and lust, a challenge on his lips.

It's now or never.

You surge forward and kiss the smirk right off of his stupidly attractive face. After a moment of shock, his pillowy lips start kissing you back, body coming impossibly close to yours. His hands trail down and wind around your waist, pressing your lower half to him. When his mouth parts from yours, warm breath filling the space between you, your hand grips his jaw, turning it the other way as you kiss his neck. When your kisses touch sensitive skin, his hands start roaming your body. One of the butterfly kisses you're trailing here and there turn into a hickey when you latch your mouth onto his skin and press you teeth in. The skin gives deliciously and you lave your tongue to sooth the throb. The hand on your ass squeezes as your mouth pops free from his neck, and you fall forward into him. His head dips to whisper in your ear,

"Take me to the bedroom baby."

Wobbly and inebriated, you pull away from him, and start walking towards your bedroom. As he walks in after you and comes closer, you put a hand on his chest and push. No words need to be exchanged as he stays where he is, and watches you get on the bed.

Tantalisingly, you grip your top and take it off, not once breaking eye contact with the man. His jaw ticks as he looks on, tongue teasing the inside of his cheek as you lay back, legs spreading, coqeuttishly batting your lashes at him. Your hands cup your breasts, squeezing them. When you grip one of your nipples and twist, head titling back, eyes closing and lips letting out a whimper, you feel him get on the bed, climbing his way to you. You want to close your legs, to try and save some semblance of integrity but he doesn't let you. He grips the back of your thighs, and urges you to wrap them around him. When he leans over you, you feel his hip press into yours, the onslaught of heat making you sigh. His hands urge you to leave your bosom and wrap around his neck, one of his hands brushing the hair out of your face. Tenderly, he holds your face and kisses you. Slowly, as if he's tasting you, devouring you. The thought you had last night, of him seeing you like this, makes a spark run through you and you grind your hips into his. At the sudden action, he moans into your mouth, the vibrations shaking up your core. He pulls away, fingers touching your face and asks,

"What do you want, baby?"

You contemplate while two of his fingers trace your lips, dipping in around your eager lips. When your tongue stroke his fingers, his eyes darken and he pushes his fingers deeper into your mouth, saliva coating them and making them wetter. As he feels the inside of your mouth, he says,

"Don't even wanna answer, huh? Just want something filling you up. Are you that desperate, doll?"

Of course your inability to form any thoughts, let alone words makes his eyes glint with lust, his fingers reaching the back of your throat with every thrust in. As your mouth opens wider to accommodate his fingers reaching deeper, your legs widen even more and you start grinding into him. He chuckles darkly, face hardening and says,

"Aww baby, just want to cum, don't you? Want someone to hold you down and fuck you stupid? But I haven't even done anything yet, and you're already writhing. You haven't even answered my question, such bad manners."

He ends his statement by thursting deeper, harder into your mouth, making even more drool spill over your chin, and leans down to catch one of your nipples into his mouth, and bite. You mewl, back arching off the bed and into him, tears brimming in your eyes. His tongue soothes your nipple as it swirls around it, and his fingers lessen their vigour in your mouth, stopping altogether and resting on the edge of your mouth. His face comes close to yours and he whispers,

"Tell me what you want, darling."

He patiently waits for you to come back to your senses, allowing the haze to clear from your mind. When you realise what he has said, you grind into him and say,

"Fuck me. Fuck me like you want to, like you've been wanting me."

The words make him crash his lips into yours, passion pushing him to take off your shorts. His wet hand leaves the side of your face marked with saliva and his tongue pushes into your mouth. When he tries to pulls away, you bite into his lower lip, and take it into your mouth. He stills manages to pull away from you, and sits up on his knees. Both of his palms come to rest on the inside of your thighs and massage the soft skin, eyes taking you in. He sighs and says, enamored,

"God, you look like a dream. You feel like a dream, and you sure taste like one."

Ironically, his words make you feel shy, given your state, and you whine out, "Just touch me already."

Your words make him smile, the devil incarnate, and he says, "But I did touch you, and I still am." His hands knead harder into your thighs, emphasising his statement.

You roll your eyes and huff, "If you don't fuck me soon, I'll do it myself, or get someone else to-"

Your words are cut off by a moan as he suddenly thrusts two of his fingers into you, body caging yours as his other hands comes to grasp your jaw into his hands, your mouth shutting up. The only sounds you let out are titillating whimpers. He speaks in your ear, voice darkening with dominance,

"For a slut moaning out my name last night, you sure talk a lot of shit. When I'm done with you, nobody will be able to make you feel this way baby."

When you clench around his fingers, eyes rolled back, he hisses, "Of course you like being called a whore. I shouldn't even be surprised. Desperate little minx."

He adds another finger, carefully thrusting it in and out of you, fingers slick. When your walls flutter and you moan at the stretch, he says, "Shit. Feels so good around my fingers. Can't wait to feel this pussy clenching and cumming on my cock. You want that babygirl?"

His fingers feel amazing inside of you. Longer than yours, hitting all the right spots, they make you want his cock even more. So when he asks you if you want his cock, you nod your head, which makes him loosen his grip on your jaw, and you open your mouth to let out a litany of whines, chanting "Please, please, please!"

His body straightens up again, and his fingers pull out of you. You lean up on your elbows as your eyes try and focus on him. And you see him take off his shirt, revealing toned caramel skin, almost glowing as his muscles move with him. Your mouth waters when you see his pecs, firm and strong, with nipples that are just asking to be latched onto. As he moves to take off his pants, pulling out a square foil packet from one of the pockets, your eyes focus on his bulging biceps and then his bulging thighs, and you just want to take a damn bite. You don't know from where, but you want a bite.

Coming back to the present, away from your visions of biting into honey glazed skin, you see him tearing the packet and pulling the condom onto his dick. Oh shit. Oh god. Thats. You're going to die. You're going to ascend to heaven. His cock is just asking to be sat on. Its fucking perfect. Fuck. If you weren't so delirious right now, you would've let his fuck your mouth, nice and slow and then hard and fast. But you want that cock inside of you. Now.

When he puts the condom on and strokes his dick a few times, eyes trailing up to your face, he smirks in satisfaction when he realises you kept looking at him.

"See something you like?"

"I'm seeing everything I fucking like, but if you don't fuck me right now, I'll make you watch me fuck myself."

He gets on the bed as you say this, grips your legs and yanks you to him. Eyes concentrated on your face, he says,

"As much as I would love to do that, right now, I have something else on my mind."

You sigh in relief when you realise that, finally, you'll get what you want. Only when you're expecting him to enter you, he taps the tip of his dick on your clit. The shock makes you yelp, and he does it again, harder. One of his hands grip your waist and fingers dip inside your cunt, as he spreads your slick across the inside of your labia and starts moving his dick up and down, just rubbing onto your core.

Wound up and sensitive, you arch your back when you feel him so close, and you start begging.

"Please, I've been good. Please, Namjoon plea-"

He thrusts into you, just a little, but the force of it, and his sheer girth has you moaning. The stretch that you feel borders on pain, but you know it'll turn into pleasure soon enough. Your hands find purchase in the pillow above your head, legs spread wide around Namjoon as he thrusts deeper and deeper, still not completely fucking into you.

"Since you asked so nicely, I should give a slut what she wants, huh?"

His words make you moan louder, and you start saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, yes, please, thank you!"

"So now that you've got a cock in you, you've remembered your manners?" His voice remains unbothered as his hips work harder to piston into you, your body getting used to him and allowing him to get deeper.

You don't answer him, his movements forcing out a staccato of moans from your mouth. When his hipbones finally touch yours, and he sheaths himself completely into you on one particular thrust, you moan so loud, youre pretty sure the whole floor heard it.

After that, his ministrations get a little bolder, his thrusts get faster, his groans get louder and his hands on your body squeeze harder. When one of your hands creep down to touch yourself, he smacks it lightly and says,

"You're not cumming like this baby. Don't you wanna be on my cock like a little slut, letting me take you from the back?"

You nod your head and say please, fingers coming up to play with your nipples instead. Namjoon slows his thrusts and pulls out completely, flipping you over, hands urging you to get on your knees. When you shakily get on your knees and arch your back, elbows supporting your upper body, you feel Namjoon get behind you, smoothing a hands down your back. Then his hands grip your waist, thumbs touching the dimples in your back and he fucks into you in one quick motion. Its like a dam breaks inside you, as you start downright wailing and cursing, hips moving in tandem as the head of his cock hitting your g-spot with every thrust, slick walls fluttering around him.

"Fuck! Fuck yes! Right there, yes, yes, yes, oh God, yes!"

Your voice eggs him on, hips gaining momentum, thighs straining to give you what you want. One of his hands push your head down into the mattress, as he says,

"Looking so beautiful baby, just like a good slut. You're taking me so well, making me feel so good."

When you start mewling, and he feels you start clenching around his dick, he moves the hand on your head to start rubbing your clit. The added stimulation makes you move your hips back onto his dick, chasing the relief that you can almost feel on your fingertips.

"That's it. You gonna let go for me? Let me feel you cum on my cock baby, come on."

His voice, straining with control, mixed with the sound of your his hips slapping into yours, makes you clench and finally orgasm, back bowing and body coiling tight and then sagging as you let yourself go. His hips grind, and his fingers draw light circles on your clit to let you ride your high.

Once the bliss you feel wears off a little, and feel Namjoon still grinding into you, you turn your head to look at him, and you croak,

"Give it to me, please. Fuck me like a slut."

His pupils dilate, jaw ticking, and his hands find purchase on your body as he starts fucking into you in the earnest. The strength behind his thrusts makes your over sensitive core feel him even more, your cunt gripping onto him tight.

When he feels your warm wet heat enveloping his cock, his hips lose momentum as he chases his peak. You start moaning out, "Cum for me Joon, please baby, come on, give it to me, fuck, please!"

Its those words spoken out in your sweet, lust laden voice which pushes him over the edge, and you feel warmth fill you as he cums into the condom inside you.

He slumps over your body, arms still holding your hips, warm breath now hitting your neck. You wince a little as he gets off of you after a moment and pulls out of you. You turn over, body sore and sated as you look at him tie off the condom and throw it in the bin on your bedside.

His body still glistens like a glazed donut, face glowing and smile blinding as he turns to look at you and climb on the bed to cage you in his arms once more. In the most shy voice, he says,

"Hi sweetheart. How you feeling?"

Your cheeks redden as you hear his voice, soft and filling with adoration. You try to keep your voice strong as you reply,

"Like I got fucked four ways to sunday. You fuck like a damn beast. How the hell are you smiling at me like this right now?"

He laughs, "Fucking you four ways to Sunday can be arranged, maybe we can add a few more ways? And I just had sex with someone I've been crushing on. Please allow me to feel the sweet joy envelope me."

For a second, your eyes widen at his words, but as you feel him nuzzle into you, naked body now resting beside you, arm thrown over your torso, you can't help but let the happiness seep into your voice as you say,

"I think I can allow that."

[imaginethe-dragons]

Boy With Luv (2)

summary: While maintaining your corporate office job at Kim Publishing House, you also have to try and balance your professional life with your love life. Can you keep both separated or will they collide?

pairing: eventual jeon jungkook x reader

genre: fluff, eventual smut, coworkers to lovers

warnings: this part gets a bit steamy, make out themes. nothing extreme, but lmk if I missed anything!

word count: 5.4k

part: 2

pronouns: she/her

part 1 here

As soon as your alarm sounded, you tapped the off button so fast. It's the weekend, so you are not getting up at the ass crack of dawn. You shifted onto your other side, feeling the warmth of someone else.

Did Joon have a nightmare and sneak in? You thought to yourself. He had done it before so you wouldn't be shocked. Though, when you realized who it was, memories of last night immediately flooding your mind. It was your 'Work Husband', as Namjoon referred to him.

The alarm hadn't disturbed Jungkook, but you were wide awake now. His arms were still wrapped around you, but you carefully removed yourself from his hold in order to go to the kitchen. You reached for the Advil in the medicine cabinet and tapped two of the pills into your hand. You grabbed a bottled water and went back to your room. Jungkook was sitting up, looking around your room.

"Noona? How'd I get here?" He asked you, voice a little hoarse due to the alcohol he consumed. You laughed lightly, handing him the water and medicine, which he took gratefully.

"You called me from Hobi's party and then you crashed here," you told him. His eyes widen and he checked to see if he was still dressed. He leaned his head back, eyes fluttering shut, and released a sigh of what you concluded to be relief.

"H-how bad was I?" He asked you, his tone was letting you know he was nervous.

"You came on to me a few times, but then I told you if you didn't stop, you could sleep on the couch," you answered, walking to your closet.

"Like how?" He asked further. You could tell he was walking on eggshells because he had no idea if you were upset with him in any way because of his drunken actions.

"You told me I was pretty, grabbed my ass, grabbed my thigh, then tried to have sex once we got home," you answered him. He groaned in response. He lifted the comforter over his head to 'hide'. You giggled at his childish actions, making him peek at you.

"I'm sorry, I should have called someone else," he told you. You picked out a sweatshirt as the apartment had gotten colder since last night. You took off Namjoon's shirt and replaced it with the hoodie.

"It's alright, Koo. I told you that if you felt the same today, we could talk about it," you shrugged, walking to your dresser. You put your jewelry back on, opting to leave your rings off.

"This isn't how I wanted to tell you, I hope you know that," he said after a moment had passed. You nodded in understanding.

"I'm gonna go make breakfast, would you like to stay?" You asked.

"Is Namjoon going to mind?" He asked, still nervous.

"No, he was just worried last night because he was half asleep when I told him I had to pick you up," you answered, leaving the bedroom to the kitchen. Namjoon was up and making coffee.

"Good morning," he smiled when he noticed your presence next to him.

"Morning," you responded quietly. You opened the cabinet and pulled out the box of pancake mix before going to the fridge and grabbing some bacon.

"Did he leave yet?" Joon asked, handing you your own cup of coffee.

"No, he's staying for breakfast," you answered as you both moved around the kitchen in sync as you prepared breakfast.

"Good morning," Namjoon said and you looked behind you. Jungkook had emerged from your room. Namjoon placed his hand on the small of your back as he walked behind you to get plates.

"Good morning," Jungkook responded coldly.

"JK, there's milk or orange juice in the fridge, grab whatever you want," you told him as you flipped a pancake.

"Thanks, noona," he told you.

"So, what'd you do with the condom," Namjoon asked.

"Joon! What the hell," you hissed. He laughed at how defensive you got.

"So that translates to you put in in your nightstand and didn't have sex?" He asked, making you roll your eyes.

"He was drunk, I wasn't going to do anything," you explained. You both finished breakfast and brought a plate of pancakes and a plate of bacon to the kitchen table.

"This smells amazing," Jungkook said, smiling at you.

"We've had a lot of trial and error before we got a routine down," Namjoon laughed, remembering the many times the smoke alarms had gone off.

"Okay, I'm starving," you chuckled, putting three pancakes on your plate. You drowned them in syrup before you dug in. You hadn't had anything since you had gone out to eat with Jimin yesterday.

"I made an appointment to go to the shelter today," Namjoon told you.

"Oh, cool. Did you look at any of the other hybrids?" You asked.

"I looked on the website and they have so many dog hybrids. I thought they only had a few, but wow was I wrong," he told you.

"You're getting a hybrid?" Jungkook asked.

"I am, it's not something we're doing together," Namjoon told him. There was a sudden knock at the door and you got up to answer it. It was a man in a suit holding an envelope.

"Miss Y/l/n?" He asked.

"Yes?" You asked, very confused. He thrusted the envelope in your direction. You grabbed it and the man hurried off. You shut the door as you walked back in the kitchen, pulling a letter opener from the junk drawer.

"Who was it?" Namjoon asked you. You shrugged as you sliced the envelope open. It was the invitation to the annual fund raising gala that the Kim Publishing House holds every year on the last Friday of March.

"It's my invitation to the fundraising gala," you told them, examining the expensive looking paper.

"Who did you get paired with?" Jungkook asked. Each person who worked in your department got paired with an executive at your sister company, Min Press.

"Min Yoongi," you groaned. He was the son of the owner of Min Press and he was known as a fuck boy, a fact the media never lets anyone forget.

"Shit, if you've got it that bad, I'm dreading to see who I'm stuck with," Jungkook groaned as well.

"What about a date?" Joon asked. Jungkook chuckled at his naivety, but you shook your head. That was how Jungkook was able to tell that Namjoon was being serious.

"You can't take a date to this gala. We get paired up with someone from Min Press to keep them in business with us. All of our focus is on this one person. And y/n drew the short stick," Jungkook explained while you were cursing Seokjin at the moment. Your phone began ringing and you picked it up. It was Jin's caller ID. You opened the message. Your thumbs flew across the screen, responding to all of Jin's messages.

Jungkook's blood began to boil. Min Yoongi was a slimy son of a bitch and he couldn't stand the thought of any one's hands on you except for his own. But he bit his tongue, not wanting to cause a scene.

"What's the theme, Noona?" he asked you, drawing your attention away from the invitation.

"Masquerade," you answered, putting the invitation on the fridge with a magnet. You put your plate and fork in the dishwasher and sat back down, resting your head on your hands.

"Depending on my partner, I can cut in whenever you need it," Jungkook suggested. You shook your head, knowing that could result in a write up.

"No, it's fine. I'll just have to put up with it," you told him.

"I have to get ready for the shelter, do you want to come with me?" Namjoon asked as he cleared his and Jungkook's plates from the table.

"I'll stay here and get the apartment cleaned up," you told him. He nodded and went to his room to get dressed.

"I guess that means I'll go then," Jungkook said, starting to get up.

"You can stay. We still have some things to talk about," you told him as you started to wash any dishes that were in the sink.

"Okay, I'm out. I'll text you when I'm on my way home," Namjoon said, completely dressed and ready to go.

"Be careful!" You called after him as the door shut.

"Noona, why do you live with him?" Jungkook asked once he was sure Namjoon had gone. You looked up from the dishes and leaned your head to the side in thought. You were searching for the right way to explain it.

"After Hoseok and I broke up, I couldn't live with him but I wasn't ready to live on my own. Jimin offered to let me stay at his place, but I didn't want to just stay for free. Joon agreed to go in 50/50 on an apartment with me," you explained as you began dusting all of the wall décor.

"Does he like me?" he asked you, making you turn to look at him.

"Namjoon? Koo, he calls you my work husband, he just doesn't show it to your face," you giggled, but you noticed the way Jungkook visibly relaxed at what you had told him.

"Your work husband, huh?" He asked, curiosity weaved in his words.

"Yeah," you hummed as you continued to do a deep clean of the house.

"What makes him say that?" Jungkook asked, suddenly behind you. He was wrapping his arms around your waist. You jumped at the sudden close proximity.

"He says it because whenever he comes into the office we're attached at the hip. He always says you followed me around like a lost puppy," you answered.

"That was because you're so addictive," he mumbled, drawing circles into your skin. You shivered at his touch.

"Koo, we shouldn't," you told him, trying to unwrap his arms from around your waist.

"If you want to stop say no. But please, let me do this," he whispered, pulling your hair over one of your shoulders as he kissed the newly exposed skin.

"At least take me to dinner first," you giggled at the way his hair tickled your neck. It had always been hypersensitive. He smiled against your skin.

"I can do that. Where do you want to go?" He asked. He was kissing his way up your neck now. You leaned your head away from him, exposing more of your skin to him.

"You choose, I'm up for anything," you answered him. He nipped at your ear, causing you to stiffen in his arms.

"Sorry, do you not like that?" He asked you, concern making its way into his expression.

"Just sensitive," you answered him. He continued pressing light kisses here and there. You relaxed in his arms once again.

"There's a new sushi restaurant that opened up, let's go there," he suggested, pulling you closer to him.

"Okay, sounds good," you agreed, beginning to rock back and forth in his arms.

"Let's go tonight," he continued, moving with you.

"I don't have anything to wear," you said, knowing you had plenty of date night outfits, but most of them were from your relationship with Hoseok.

"What about that red dress you wore for Valentine's day?" He asked. You had bought the dress with Hoseok and wore it to one of his parties.

"No, I don't want to wear something that he touched," you whispered. Jungkook didn't even need you to say your ex's name to know what you meant.

"Come on," he said, grabbing your hand and leading you to your bedroom. He gestured for you to sit on the bed and you did so as he walked over to your closet, opening the door. He found your section of date night clothes.

"What are you doing?" You asked him. He just went through all the different dresses you had. His hands seemed to stop on any dress that stuck out to him.

"Which one of these have not seen out of this apartment?" He asked, holding up three dresses. One was a black dress you had worn clubbing with Jimin a couple times. The second was a red dress that you had bought for a party that Jungkook threw a month or two ago, but you had the flu so you ended up staying in. The third was a white dress from when you graduated from university.

"Black one I went clubbing in, second one never got worn, third one is from graduation," you told him.

"Who went clubbing?" He asked. If it was just your girlfriends, then he was willing to let it go.

"Jimin," you responded and he immediately hung the dress up as if it was burning him to the touch.

"Definitely not that," he laughed.

"I knew you would say that," you smiled. He held up the red dress.

"What was this one supposed to be for?" He asked, silently wishing that it hadn't been for someone else.

"I bought it for that party you threw, but I got sick and had to stay in," you answered him and he let out a low whistle.

"Were you trying to kill me?" He laughed as he laid it down on the bed. Your face was on fire as blood rushed to your cheeks at how quickly he was able to figure you out.

"No, I had just broken up with Hobi and I wanted to look good," you explained, not giving him the whole truth.

"For who?" He questioned you further. You didn't want to admit that he was right, so you tried to come up with something to satisfy his questions.

"Myself," you sassed him. Your phone beeped and you looked at it.

"Hey, pay attention to me, Princess," Jungkook told you. You snapped your head to look at him with the sudden use of a pet name. He smirked at how you had reacted. You managed to text Joon back before turning your attention back to Jungkook.

"Namjoon is on his way home, I have to get dressed and straighten up everything," you told him, scrambling off of the bed.

"I'll take care of the cleaning, you get ready," he told you. You both sprung into action. You traded your sleep shorts for some ripped mom jeans, and your sweatshirt was traded for a more cheerful sweater. You hurried to make your hair decent and brushed your teeth.

"How's it going?" You called as you made your bed.

"I was able to vacuum and dust!" He responded. Wow he worked fast, you thought.

"Can you make Namjoon's bed and put his laundry basket in the laundry closet?" You asked him. You put on your rings and some fluffy socks to protect your feet against the hardwood floor.

"Y/n, we're home!" You heard Namjoon call. You walked out into the living room, and before you knew it, you were tackled by an unfamiliar figure.

"Taehyung," Namjoon exclaimed. The boy scrambled to get off of you. The hybrid wrapped his tail around his legs, his eyes glued to the floor.

"I'm sorry, you just smell so sweet and I couldn't help myself!" He whimpered.

"It's okay, let's just not make it a habit," you told the hybrid. He had golden ears that flopped over his brown hair and a long shaggy tail.

"Noona, all done," Jungkook said, out of breath.

"I thought you said you lived with just her," Taehyung said to Namjoon.

"That's her..." Namjoon started to say, looking at you.

"Complicated. He's my complicated," you answered. Jungkook nodded in agreement, knowing that it was too soon for labels.

"Well, Y/n, this is Taehyung. He is a golden retriever hybrid," Namjoon told you, as if you hadn't read that on the website the night before.

"It's nice to meet you," you smiled.

"Likewise," he smiled, his tail starting to wag.

"Tae, why don't you do a little exploring," Joon told the younger boy. He walked in the direction of his and Namjoon's room, leaving the three of you alone. "Since when was this complicated?"

"When you left, we started talking. We're going out tonight," you told him. His focus sapped to Jungkook.

"If you don't treat her right, I swear you'll be a eunuch," Namjoon growled. Jungkook began rapidly nodding, moving to hide behind you.

"You should go now," you told Jungkook. He nodded in agreement.

"I'll come pick you up at seven, and I'll bring Namjoon's clothes back washed," he told you, hurrying out of the door once he had everything.

"He's gone?" Taehyung asked, emerging from the bedroom.

"Yes, he is," Namjoon sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry for tackling you," Taehyung said again.

"It's fine. You said something about my scent. What does it smell like?" You asked him. He sat on the couch and thought, taking deep breaths every now and again. You sat next to him to make him feel comfortable.

"Like orchids, irises, and honey," he answered you.

"Orchids mean love, fertility, and elegance. Irises mean wisdom, hope, trust and valor. Honey means sweetness and prosperity," you said, recalling many flower dictionaries and online resources you had read.

"They all smell so pretty when mixed together," he told you.

"Thank you, Tae," you smiled.

"How about we go get the room set up," Namjoon offered and Taehyung jumped up to follow him. You went back to your room and stared at the dress on your bed. You chewed on your fingernail, thinking about if this was the right thing to do. It felt wrong, but things came so easily with Jungkook. You just had to keep your love life separated from your wok life.

"Church and state," you whispered, quoting an episode of Grey's Anatomy you had seen. Essentially, keeping the love life at home and the work life at work. You hung the dress up before moving to sit on the middle of your bed.

"Hey," Namjoon said, pulling you out of your thoughts. You turned your head to look at him. He was leaning against your doorframe with a small smile on his face.

"Hi. How's Tae settling in?" You asked.

"He's doing good. He's taking a shower, so I figured I'd come see how you're doing," he told you, sitting on the edge of your bed. You looked at him questioningly.

"I'm fine, why are you checking on me?" You asked, twisting your ring that was on your right hand. He raised his eyebrows at the action, making you roll your eyes.

"This is your first first date since Hoseok and I can tell that your mind is going a mile a minute," he answered, shrugging his shoulders. You huffed, but pat the spot next to you and he moved closer.

"I'm nervous. I just don't want this to end badly and then not have Jungkook in my life at all. He's been such a good friend at the office, I don't know what I would do without him there," you admitted. Namjoon knew that you weren't seeking his comfort, so he allowed your words to hang in the air.

"If you think about it, your relationship won't change that much. The only new thing will be intimacy," Joon said after a few minutes.

"It's still scary," you mumbled, resting your head on his shoulder. He chuckled at you, making you smile in return.

"That's what you said about Hoseok. You'll be fine, Y/n. Jungkook likes you a lot. He would be an idiot if he let you slip through his fingers," Joon said in earnest. Your ears turned red at his words.

"That's what you said about Hobi," you laughed, remembering having this same conversation roughly a year ago.

"No, I said he'd be stupid if he fucked up your relationship," Joon laughed, making you smile.

The conversation had happened before you moved out of your apartment from college. You were sitting with your legs crossed on your bed while Joon occupied your desk chair. You had been freaking out about the date all day and Namjoon took it upon himself to calm you down since your roommate didn't seem to be bothered. He talked you down for two hours before you successfully took a deep breath and began to get ready.

He soothed all of your anxieties up until the moment Hoseok had knocked on your door. He was the one who made you answer the door and the one who put the calla lilies Hoseok bought you in a vase. You vividly remember the two thumbs up he gave you as he shoved you out of the apartment, stumbling into Hobi because of your high heels. That was something that the two had teased you about for weeks.

"It'll be fine. It's not gonna be much different," you repeated Namjoon's words back to yourself. He gave you a nod of encouragement. You took a deep breath, letting the words sink in.

"It will," he assured you. Footsteps sounded throughout the hallway and before you knew it Taehyung opened the door slightly.

"Are you okay? Your scent changed," he asked you with big doe eyes.

"I'm fine now, Tae. Thank you for your concern," you smiled at him. A boxy smile took over his features and his tail began to wag.

"Can we do something fun tonight? Like to get to know each other?" Taehyung asked the both of you. You felt bad that you agreed to go out with Jungkook on the same day Namjoon brought Tae home, but it wouldn't be fair to Jungkook.

"I have a date tonight, but I promise we can go do something tomorrow, just you and me," you told him. He looked at Joon, searching for approval.

"If you want to go, I'm okay with it," he chuckled and Taehyung jumped onto the bed to hug you both. Everyone erupted into laughter. This was such a simple moment with you and the boys, but whatever you were feeling right this instance, you knew you never want to let go of it.

"Do you guys want to help me pick out a dress? I'm not wearing the one he picked out," you asked, knowing that it was a party dress and not a date dress.

"Can we hyung? Please, please, please?" Tae begged so hard, he might as well have been down on his knees.

"Let's go," he agreed and the three of you hurried to put shoes on. You made sure to grab your wallet and keys before walking out of the apartment door.

"Who's driving?" Tae asked as you approached your car. You laughed but Namjoon just rolled his eyes.

"I always drive because Joon doesn't have his license," you answered Taehyung. He smiled and giggled at what you told him.

"Whatever, let's just get going," Joon huffed as he sat down and buckled his seatbelt. You drove to the mall closest to you and Joon's apartment and parked right outside a fancy department store.

"Does Tae have a collar?" You asked Namjoon quietly, knowing that Tae could still hear you. Right on cue, he whimpered at the word.

"Tae, it's only while we're in the store. Laws are extremely strict regarding hybrids in public. I'm not asking you to do it at home. It's honestly for your safety," you assured him, looking at him through the rearview mirror.

"We got one, I let him pick everything out," Namjoon answered you, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the silver chain with a small oval tag on it. It looked more like military dog tags than a hybrid's collar.

"It's subtle. Great taste, Tae," you smiled as he put it around his neck. When he was done the three of you got out of the car and went into the store. Taehyung kept extremely close to you. Something about how your scent was calming to him.

"Miss Y/n, so good to see you again. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Hana, the store's manager, greeted you. You frequented this store every time you had an event to go to and you needed an outfit.

"I'm going on a date tonight to that new sushi place that opened up and I don't have any fresh date clothes," you answered her. She nodded in understanding.

"Well, we just got our spring collection in, come take a look," she smiled, pulling you to the racks nearby. Taehyung eagerly followed you while Joon kept a little bit of distance, watching you.

"What color scheme are we going for?" Hana asked as she pointed out some of her personal favorites.

"He likes me in red," you answered and she smirked because who doesn't like you in red. It was the color that has always made you confident in your own skin.

"Okay, well here we have a nice dinner party styled dress. It's not too flirty but not too innocent either," she told you, pulling a dress off of the rack and handing it to you. You came in here so often that she knows your sizes like the back of her own hand.

"This is going in the maybe pile," you smiled. Hana nodded and handed you a few other dresses from every color possible.

"Y/n please let me hold something," Taehyung whined as your arms became full. You giggled but handed him a few dresses which he took happily.

"Hana, thank you for your help once again. I'll come find you when I decide," you smiled and she nodded. She went back to fixing displays as you led the boys to the fitting rooms.

"Okay, you two wait right here. I'll come out and show you when I get one on," you told the two as the sat on a vacant bench, a few feet away from where another guy was surrounded by shopping bags. You took the dresses from Taehyung and hung them up in the small space and shut the door.

"She makes you come with her too?" You heard the other guy laugh.

"No, we wanted to come," Namjoon answered, clearing his throat. You could sense the tension as you slipped on the first dress. It was a white dress, but you knew it would end up some other color after dinner. You were always the one to spill something on your dress.

"Joon, can one of you zip me up?" You asked, opening the door just a bit. Namjoon shot up and opened the door so he could come in.

"You know this dress will end up trashed by the time you come home," he chuckled as you pulled your hair out of the way. His hand ghosted over the zipper for a second, but before you could ask what he was doing, he pulled it up.

"I know, but I have to try on everything Hana hands me. It's an unspoken rule," you told him. You opened the door to walk out to the bigger mirror outside of the rooms.

"Y/n! You look so pretty in white," Taehyung smiled. It was a boxy smile and that made you smile. Namjoon took his seat once again as they both watched you in the mirror.

"Thanks, Tae. But white and I do not mix," you laughed, ruffling his hair as you walked back into your room. As you shut the door, both boys were engrossed in their phones and you just smiled. Little do you know what they were doing.

"How about this one?" You asked, opening the door to reveal you in the red dress Hana had first handed to you. Both Namjoon and Taehyung had their eyes fixed on you, jaws practically on the floor.

"I don't think you need to try on any others," Taehyung answered you, regaining his composure much quicker than Joon. Taehyung elbowed Namjoon, who fake coughed in response.

"Yeah, you look stunning," he answered. You smiled before admiring yourself in the mirror.

"Thank you, boys. I agree," you nodded, turning to go back into the room, changing back into your clothes. You hung the red dress back on its hanger before putting the rest on the rack for the clothes meant to be put back.

"Can we go get something to eat?" Taehyung asked but Joon just laughed at him.

"You have so much to learn. Starting with the fact that Y/n doesn't go to just one store. Especially before a date," Joon answered, patting Taehyung on the shoulder.

You dragged those poor boys all around the mall. From Sephora to Pandora to a small shoe store. You only had a bag from each store, but Taehyung was stressing that you were carrying too much so you gave him one to make him satisfied. You picked up a new red lipstick to match with the dress, you bought two rings that you had been looking at for a while now, and you picked up some red sandals for tonight.

"Okay, are we done?" Namjoon asked, leaning against Taehyung as you walk towards them from Barnes & Noble with two bags in hand.

"Please let me carry some more," Taehyung whined once again and you handed him the bag from Sephora. You smiled at the dissatisfied look he gave you.

"We're done, I wanted to pick up a couple of books I edited for the bookshelf," you told the two as you both went to the car.

"Anything I'll enjoy?" Joon asked as he opened the passenger door, but Taehyung hopped in before Joon had a chance.

"Compiled short stories and rewrites of Grimm Brothers' fairytales," you answered him, putting your bags in the backseat. You had spent a couple hours in the mall, and it had shocked you when the time on your phone read 6:15.

"Shit, we gotta go now," you exclaimed, hurriedly turning the engine over and driving hurriedly back to your apartment. You grabbed as many bags as you could before Taehyung started begging to help. You led the way to the elevator, which thankfully was quicker than you had anticipated.

"He's picking you up at 7?" Namjoon asked as he unlocked the door. You all stumbled through the doorway, Tae following you to your room with his three bags.

"Yeah, and it's already 6:30!" You exclaimed, stripping until you were in the shower, hurrying to wash your hair, face, and everywhere else.

"Here's the dress, undies, and a bra. Everything is seamless, don't worry. Get dressed and I'll blow dry your hair while you do your make up," Namjoon told you. He had walked into the bathroom as soon as he heard the water shut off.

He had learned how to do your hair the weekend you were sick and supposed to go to Jungkook's party. The reason being is that you had been complaining that you felt gross, but barely had the strength to take a shower. Namjoon had ran you a bubble bath, washed your hair, and then offered to blow dry it as you talked him through it.

"Thank you, Joon. You're a life saver," you smiled, quickly getting dressed as he turned around.

"Finished?" He asked when he heard you digging in your make up bag.

"Yeah, hair dryer is already plugged in," you told him. He began to gently brush your hair as you started to apply some light make up. Nothing too dramatic, given that it's a first date. Namjoon was drying your hair in bigger sections than he usually would, given that Jungkook's supposed to be here in ten minutes.

That's when you heard it. The loud knocks that could be heard over the hair dryer. Taehyung busted into the bathroom as Namjoon worked harder with the dryer. He looked between the two of you, obviously in distress of some sort.

"He's hear, do I let him in?" Taehyung asked the both of you. Jungkook was early, so he could wait until 7 like he had promised. Namjoon was close to done.

"No, he can wait. I'm not ready yet. Thank you Tae," you added, spraying some sweet perfume on your wrists, rubbing some on your neck.

"Okay, you're good to go," Joon smiled, turning off the dryer. You turned around and smiled at him.

"You're such a life saver, you know that?" You told him and Namjoon didn't even tried to hide the blush on his face, but nodded. You leaned onto your tip toes before pecking his cheek in thanks, walking into the foyer. Suddenly frozen in place.

        Ding Dong.

Thank you guys so much for reading! I’ve been working on this chapter ever since I published chapter 1! If you want to be on the tag list, ask questions, or have suggestions, my ask box and my messages are open!

tag list: @religious-pizza-roll, @fangirl125reader

[nana-n-nono]

Starborn

cw: mentions of death, mild injury, fire, lmk what else

SBB says: This thing is gigantic and got completely out of hand (at a word count of 7726 oh my god) but I hope you like it anyways and find some interesting lore points! Please do yell at me in the ask box! I'll try to have Jeno's up in less time but honestly it probably won't come out until end of August just before the event ends anyways lol.

They say in Soladium that being born is as instantaneous and explosive as a supernova. Jaemin always thought that was a bit odd, considering supernovas only occur when stars die. There's never an explanation either, when he asks. It's always, you'll understand when you're older.

According to the history books, the kingdom of Soladium was birthed the same way. It appeared entirely overnight. One day there was barren land under twin suns that were far too hot for life, the next a single sun and a brilliant realm built of white gold and molten lava. People questioned of course. Where did the second sun go? How did they do this? The first king answered none of these, instead going forth to conquer surrounding realms with swift and deadly force. These realms were by no means small either, the ancient lands of Tonitrua and Beongae being some of the lands razed. Soladium was fearfully hailed as a kingdom built in a single lunar cycle and as an empire built nearly as fast.

Now, those days seem like only stories, exaggerations from history. Memory is imperfect in that way. But Jaemin, and really every royal of Soladium, knows they're real. Knows that Soladium on the surface may seem like a cheerful, festive kingdom built on the foundations of honesty and sincerity, but that it lives on a foundation of bloodshed and deceit. It's hard to reconcile at times. You would look at someone like Jaemin and think, how can he be lethal?

True, Jaemin does not look particularly deadly. He's tall but he's not broad like his brother, nor does he seem clever like his sister. Often people will whisper that Jaemin was raised as a carefree child and that his parents spoiled him despite his status as the second prince, the second heir to the throne. Jaemin's inclined to agree with them to some degree, he was spoiled and he is carefree. But like everything in Soladium, that which is bright is built on something dark. And he is no exception to that rule.

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Concentrate. Feel the heat around you. Feel it rise, heat always rises. Feel the intensity, that life breathes into—

"Your highness?"

Jaemin's head snaps up, a pure deer in the headlights look on his face as he's startled out of his training. The messenger sighs to themselves, fondly of course. It's well know that the second prince will get wrapped up in anything, and that he needs to be reminded of his other duties. But no one has the heart to tell him to stop, not when he looks so excited when he succeeds. Not when he looks so absorbed, eyes locked into whatever he’s studying when he’s concentrating. Jaemin clears his throat. “Yes?”

“I apologize for the disturbance, but your mother is requesting your presence in the courtyard.” The messenger sweeps into a bow and then straightens up, opening the door. Ah, so then it’s an immediate summons. The prince sighs, getting up and dusting off his trousers. Casual wear for the day, stuff he can run in since he had morning training with the weapons master. He nods to the messenger to lead the way, following closely behind. What could mother be summoning him for?

Even before entering the courtyard, Jaemin could sense his mother. Not through heat sensing, though he could do a bit of that as well, but rather through sheer presence. The queen was a formidable woman, even by Petramus standards. Tall, regal with a hard set jaw and narrow eyes. She was terrifying, at first glance. But underneath all that was a woman who based her strength in kindness, someone who was never afraid to stand up for justice and happiness. She didn’t back down on anything, didn’t back down from anyone. Though Soladium was a patriarchal society, the queen stood on equal ground as her beloved the king, and Jaemin admired that so.

The ideal behind marrying a Petramus princess to a Soladium prince was to form political alliances, of course, but also to try and instill a new set of values in the children of their union. Soladium’s undying determination and pride, Petramus’s stone cold analytics and cleverness. But it seemed there was still some way to go, with the first prince falling more into Soladium’s habits while the first princess fell into Petramus. Jaemin, it seemed, sort of fell into neither. An oddball.

As soon as Jaemin steps into the courtyard, the quiet chattering ceases and the queen turns with a beautiful smile. "My baby," she coos, reaching her arms out from where she sat. Jaemin immediately steps into her embrace, pressing a kiss to her temple as she does to his.

“Mother.” The queen gestures to her side to the empty space reserved for him. The bench is quite small, especially considering the size of the queen’s skirts that flare out but Jaemin still manages to sit down without accidentally sitting on the silken fabrics. “What is it?”

“My baby,” she repeats, but it’s different. A touch sadder. Jaemin leans into her touch when she cups his face with one hand, thumb caressing his cheekbone. "Oh, my precious Jaemin-ah."

He stays quiet, unsure what to say. What to ask. There have been few times in his life that his mother has taken this tone. When his grandfather died. When he was so ill they thought he may not survive. This tone is always accompanied by the pain of loss, potential or real.

"As you know," she starts softly, "You'll be fifteen soon." Between when he sat and when she began speaking, all the servants had stepped away to the edge of the courtyard, leaving only the two of them. Jaemin nods. Of course he knows, it's his own birthday for one but for two it's his Blessed day, so the entire court has been preparing for this. His birthday is happening in only a few days, but the planning for festivities has been so much longer. Months of color design, decor placement, outfit tailoring, inviting foreign royals. Of course Jaemin knows.

He also knows that Blesseddays are special. They're secretive and sacred but after a Blessed day, people change. They grow into themselves, whatever that mean for them. For Jaemin's older brother that meant becoming more confident and bold, bordering brutally honest with every passing day. Jaemin's older sister embraced her innovative spirit, devoting all her time to strategy and intelligence. That wasn't to say they weren't those things before their Blessed days, but after... It was like they'd been shocked into realizing their life purpose or something. It was, frankly, a bit terrifying for a young Jaemin. And just a bit lonely, though he'd never admit that.

Jaemin doesn't know what any of that has to do with the queen calling him today though. The way it works is that three days before the day of celebration, the person in question (Jaemin in this case) is brought somewhere (of course he doesn't know where yet) by the last person in the immediate family who had their Blessed days (Jaemin's sister in this case). Then they undergo some kind of ritual for the three days and emerge on their birthday to undergo a more public ritual. The public one is more for appearances than anything else, but it's an important ending to the whole process. The only part the queen needs to play is in the public ritual so... What's the whole point of this?

She doesn't say anything for a while, for a time that seems to stretch on and on though it's likely no more than a few minutes. Jaemin has his father's eyes but his mother's smile. A smile, no matter how small, is always the warmest thing in a room. A smile that embodies Soladium, as he's been told again and again. He offers this smile to her now, as reassuring as he can.

"I just wanted to see you," she says finally. Some part of Jaemin is confused and maybe a little disappointed. This seemed like something so serious and yet...? But he just smiles wider and tilts his head in her touch, childlike despite no longer being a child. Young, but not a child. That just seems to make her sadder, though she still smiles and boops his nose with her free hand like she did when he was a toddler. "You'll always be my baby, okay? No matter what, you'll always be my baby."

Jaemin really doesn't get it, maybe this is a nostalgia for him growing up? Still, he nods and replies, "Yes mother."

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Jaemin is awoken just as the sun begins to peak out from over the mountain tops. The break of dawn, three days before his birthday as promised. His sister, dressed in white robes with simple gold trimming herds him out of his room, ushering him into a bath first before dragging him down the hall, down the stairs, down down down. Jaemin has never been this far down. Jaemin hasn't seen another living soul since he woke up either, not in the bath, not in the halls. No knights, servants, gardeners... no one. His skin prickles at the loss of heat.

He's dressed in grandeur unlike his sister. A white shirt of satin, hand sewn with thread that is so fine and delicate it looks more like it was woven into the shirt rather than sewn in. Gems embellish the hems on the sleeves, the bottom of the shirt, the collar. And then simple slim fit trousers, in the same fashion except with some extra curling embroidery creeping up his legs. For once, he looks every bit the prince he's meant to be. And yet he feels so vulnerable, the satin unusually light and thin.

"Jaemin." His sister stops at the base of the stairs. How long have they been walking while he got caught up in his thoughts? A long ways down if the endlessly spiraling stairs above him have anything to say. It's entirely pitch black down here too, not a single light in sight. Jaemin only knows to turn to his sister by sound, by instinct. By...

Oh.

He inhales sharply. When he was first introduced to the idea of heat signatures, Jaemin was confused. Which was unusual, because nearly every living person in Soladium can pick up on heat signatures one way or another. But Jaemin had no idea what they were talking about. He was a rare case, someone who could not innately tell where heat was coming from. So they trained him from the beginning, and now he's made enough progress that if he concentrates, he can pick up strong heat signatures. But only strong ones. His sister's is not very strong, but what she's standing next to...

It's blinding. It's so, so very bright and Jaemin wants to take a step back. Something they teach you about sensing heat is to avoid things that are too hot. Most things will not fall in that range. Certainly not humans, at their internal 37°C count. Not even boiling water at 100°C. The limits alter per person but the general consensus is to cap out around 300°C. Some of the more talented individual can push it to 500°C. But this... Jaemin feels like his skin is melting, his throat is closing up, his eyes--

"Jaemin," his sister says softly. And just like that, he's back in darkness, gasping as he collapses onto the cool stone floor. For a few minutes, there's just the sound of Jaemin's wheezing. Deep breath in, hold, breathe out. Do it again.

"I won't be going any further with you. For the next three days, you'll be here alone. This place has everything you need, food, clothes, water, baths. Anytime during those days, you need to confront it. It doesn't need to be now, and it doesn't need to be in the last hour. But you must. If you don't..." She sounds so far away, echoing softer and softer. Jaemin wants to call to her, but he can't. He still can't breathe. Everything is unsteady. It's too dark, completely and utterly dark, and yet he still feels light fading around the edges of his non-existent vision. "Be brave Jaemin." A pause, so short it might not be a pause at all really. And then infinitely softer, so soft that he can barely catch it. "Until last light."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

When his eyes open again, Jaemin is 100% sure he's awake and yet it doesn't feel like it at all. Right. All consuming darkness. How Jaemin didn't break his neck walking down somehow eludes him, he's always been clumsy. He slowly gets up, but his body isn't stiff as expected. The stone beneath him is hard and cold, and yet he feels like he's just slept on the softest, warmest bed in the whole world. He rubs his eyes to try get some sensation out of them, but. It's just dark. If he strains his eyes to see then it'll definitely hurt him later. So instead he closes them, to try and trick his brain a little.

He doesn't really want to stand with how his legs gave out earlier... Earlier? How long has it been since his sister brought him down? God he doesn't know at all. He's not hungry though, so maybe it hasn't been that long. He stretches his legs, wiggling his toes and by the feeling of it, he might be okay to stand in a few minutes. But for now he just keeps stretching, slowly but surely waking up every part of his body.

After he feels enough blood in his limbs, he stands and though he wobbles a bit, he's stable enough to not fall over. He'll take that win. He doesn't recall at all what this area even looks like, so he just takes a step in a direction. There's faint heat signatures around, but most of them are near muted completely. Not entirely bizarre since Jaemin doesn't have a good track record of heat tracking anyways, but definitely inconvenient. He wants to squint but-- oh wait. His eyes are closed. After a momentary battle of what to do, he settles for scrunching up his nose and stepping towards a cluster of signatures, small ones. When he feels around them, he thinks ah okay, so this is food. It's simple stuff really, bread rolls, some fruits, a block of cheese. Probably? It feels like that anyways.

To its left are something that feels definitely like clothes, though he has no idea what kind. They’re soft though, so it probably doesn’t really matter. Who’s going to see him anyways in all this?

Somewhere further left is a kind of hallway that Jaemin finds by feeling along the walls. There at the end, the heat signature rises to a more normal view. A hot spring maybe? It’s close to that if it’s not. A slight misstep confirms it though, and Jaemin, disgruntled, hauls himself out sopping wet.

After changing into some dry clothes, he finishes cataloging (which isn't much, just a lot of soaps and an actual bed) and then sits on the floor to just... Ponder. His sister said he needed to face it, but what is it? His own weaknesses? And then there was that bright light. He's fairly certain that it had to be a hallucination or something. After all, if he saw it after being in the dark for so long, wouldn't he go blind? Or... Is he blind? No way... Except there's no way to tell because even with his eyes open, the darkness is as thick as ever. Fear sinks into his blood, cold as ice. But he shakes his head, it can't be. It can't be.

He stretches himself out on the bed, apprehension still crawling on his skin when he settles. There's a lot to consider here. So, Jaemin thinks, let's take it step by step.

First: Jaemin must complete some kind of task during these three days. His sister mentioned it doesn't matter when, only that he do it. Caveat? He has no idea how time is passing here.

Second: There are faint heat signatures all around but they're muted, even the hot spring that should be very bright. Could the mysterious light have something to do with that?

Third: What happens if he doesn't complete the task?

Third: What happens if

Third: What

Jaemin blinks, suddenly dizzy in his attempt to sit up. It's as though the bed is pulling him down, coaxing him to rest his head and close his eyes and let go of this thoughts. Oh, he thinks as he sinks back down. Maybe it's been a day already. Maybe it's night now. There's no reason for him to be sleepy though, he thinks even as he yawns. After all, doesn't that mean he was asleep on the floor longer than expected...?

——————————————————————————————————————————————

"Jaemin-ah!"

He turns, blinking. It's not dark anymore. Not at all. In fact it's very bright, so much so that Jaemin should be squinting against the shine. And yet he isn't, instead slowly twisting around with a growing smile. He knows that voice anywhere.

"Jeno!" And there in full view is Lunaste's only prince, eyes crinkled in their usual moon crescents. Jeno looks good as always, wearing a tighter fitting formal shirt tucked into newly tailored dark pants. On his ears sparkle the mark of an heir, small gem from Lunaste's mines. They're a shimmering dark blue, not unlike the night sky before the sun fully sets down. Jaemin half runs over to hug his best friend, reveling in the clean and cool feeling that Jeno always gives off.

"What, did you miss me that much?" Jeno laughs, squeezing Jaemin just as tightly. "C'mon, let's go sit. It's been ages since I last saw you."

Jaemin genuinely has no idea where they are but Jeno seems to know it well, so the younger boy just follows behind with a spring in his step. They don't walk long, just enough that Jaemin gets a bit whiny to Jeno's endless amusement. "Jenooooooo--"

"Shush you big baby, we're almost there." Jaemin's pout does nothing but make Jeno smile wider, tugging them both along until they're suddenly in some kind of clearing. A huge meadow? Jaemin's never seen it before, in either Soladium or Lunaste. But he just accepts it, trusting Jeno. The older boy takes them to a patch of grass that's mostly clear of flowers, laying down first and gesturing for Jaemin to join. It's nice out here, a light breeze ruffling the grass and the suns not too bright. Wait. The suns?

"Jaemin-ah." Jeno's voice sounds so far away. Jaemin looks to his side, and yet there's no one there. He sits up, looking around but Jeno's no where to be found. The meadow is still there though... As is a plume of smoke, slowly encircling the edges of the horizon. "Jaemin!" The boy scrambles to his feet, heart racing as he hears his best friend yell. "Jaemin!!"

"Jeno?" Jaemin yells back, eyes widening in horror at the smoke approaches. And where there's smoke, there's fire. The meadow's burning up. And Jeno... Is nowhere to be found.

"Jaemin you have to run!" Jeno's voice sounds more strangled, like he can't breathe. Did he get caught somewhere?

"Jeno! Jeno where are you!" Jaemin coughs as the smoke starts to crowd where he is, ash falling onto his skin and burning him just like real fire. There's no where to go though. Even as Jaemin turns, he's confronted with more smoke, more fire. "Jeno!"

"Jaemin you--" The rest cuts out, the flames roaring too loudly. Jaemin swallows dryly, crouching down to the floor. What can he do? He's going to be completely surrounded soon. There's no where to go--

"JUMP!!"

Jaemin's eyes snap open at the feeling of a hand on his elbow hauling him up. Jeno??? He's scuffed up, scratches and blooming bruises across his cheek and on his hands. Jaemin hesitates, mind racing too fast to comprehend but Jeno whips around with his eyes blazing. "Jaemin trust me. You have to jump." Jump where? The solar prince looks down and oh. There's a hole, about two times his width. It seems to go straight down, just down down down endlessly. Jaemin's logical brain doesn't understand, but his instincts do. And his gut trusts Jeno.

So he jumps.

Down

down

down.

Jaemin gasps, hands clenched tight in the sheets as his eyes fly open. Where is he? Why is it dark? Is he underground, is this--

His voice is barely above a whisper. "Jeno?"

Silence stretches endlessly, swallowing his soft call.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Jaemin doesn't really dream. Or at least he never remembers his dreams, so this is really unusual and quite frankly very unpleasant. He'd taken a long bath right after waking up, wincing at the sensation of hot on his skin but settling in after anyways. He's awake now, definitely.

The dream... Well, maybe nightmare would be more appropriate. Jaemin shudders thinking about how vivid it was, how he still feels his throat closing up at the vague thought of ash. Soladium residents have some heat resistance, sure, but that sensation was... Like being surrounded by...

The sun.

Jaemin blinks, understanding slowly coming through. The sun! But wait... Wasn't that just a legend? Two suns? One shot down--

No. It was never fully explained what happened to it. Jaemin just assumed it was shot down as part of the story, but in fact... What if it wasn't?

This is crazy. Jaemin, you're nuts. You're losing it. And yet in his heart he knows he's right. Something about this ritual has to do with the sun. The second one that vanished without a trace the day that Soladium was established.

You need to confront it. It. Not yourself, not them, but it. A non-human entity.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Jaemin spends the rest of the day not thinking. Honestly his head hurts, waking up with a hammering heart and a confused brain was not been a great way to start the day. And then all that thinking immediately after in the bath... Yeah, Jaemin's calling it for day 2. He still has at least 24 more hours in day three. And then... Does he technically have part of his birthday? Maybe?

He spends the day nibbling on apples and cheese and crackers. Another thing, the food is always prepared in easily eaten bites. Apples are sliced, sometimes peeled. The cheese is always cubed. Weird. Magic isn't really prevalent in Soladium, not really. The only thing really would be their heat control. Even the heat sensing doesn't seem that magical, more a byproduct of adaptation to the landscape. But there's definitely something magical about this whole thing. It's a bit unsettling.

Like the previous night, Jaemin starts to feel the pull of bed at some point, probably around the peak of the lunar cycle. He yawns as he settles down, curling up on his side and falling asleep.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

It smells like earth. Like damp earth. Jaemin doesn't hate it, but he's not the fondest fan either. Rainy days are nice, and he like them just fine, but they're not his favorite. That's just how it is. But he likes them when he can be with Jeno, then it's fun. Running around with Jeno chasing him is fun. Spending the day inside talking over snacks is fun. Finding new hiding places and cozying up is fun.

"Jaemin-ah."

"Jeno-yah."

Jeno's always been there. Jeno is reliable, like how the lunar cycle always follows and leads into a solar cycle. They may be princes of different realms, but somehow they're still best friends. Constant letters, excuses to visit. Sometimes the queen dowager of Lunaste will whisper to the reigning queen of Soladium, ah they're kindred souls.

"Jeno, I'm scared." It should feel scary to even admit that and yet it doesn't. It just comes out. Jaemin still has no idea where he is, has no idea where Jeno it. Everything's blurry, like he's looking at it through some thick frosted glass. But Jeno's there, he knows it.

Jeno doesn't ask why. Doesn't say that it's going to be fine. Instead he says, "But are you going to let it stop you?"

Jaemin almost wants to say yes. It's infinitely scary to think that perhaps the thing he has to face is what he thinks it is. But it's infinitely more terrifying to think that if he fails, he might never be able to see the people he loves again. After all, no one knows the cost of failure for the ritual, only that if you fail you don't come back the same. Or at all sometimes.

"No," he says instead. "No, this is something I have to do. To move forward." To be with everyone, with you.

Jeno smiles and Jaemin feels a warm hand over his own. "That's right. It's something you have to do."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Jaemin takes a deep breath. He hasn't tried to heat sense much outside of what's necessary, but even then he's gotten so familiar with the space he doesn't need the sensing to tell him where everything is. But he has a feeling he should try again, maybe it'll show him what's there.

Sitting in the center (or what he thinks is center) of the room, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Concentrate. Feel the heat around you. Feel it rise, heat always rises. Feel the intensity, that life breathes into objects. Take a deep breathe in, do you feel the warmth in the air around you? Stretch your senses out, feel for the things around you. Exhale slowly, do you sense the warmth of your own breath, your own life?

Slowly but surely the heat signatures return, muted as they were before. Jaemin furrows his brow, hands clenched into tight fists that rest over his knees, legs crossed in front. He can feel that prickling on the back of his neck, warm across his back. He peeks open his eyes a little at a time, seeing heat wrap around in wisps. The signatures of the ordinary objects have all but disappeared. The only one left is the one seemingly behind him, emitting curls of heat that flutter around the room before vanishing. It's much too bright to be the bath.

He doesn't turn around immediately, he'd be a fool if he did that. "I'm not sure if you can speak, but I..." He pauses, unsure how to say what he wants to. In the end, he settles for a simple, "But I'm ready." Jaemin squeezes his eyes shut again as the light starts to flash, brighter and brighter until the entire room is engulfed in white.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

The first thing Jaemin registers is screaming. A mix of voices, adults and children, men and women. Incoherent, though he picks up a few repeated words. Run! Hurry!

He's afraid to open his eyes, but he forces himself to and it's definitely not within the castle. It doesn't even seem to be a dreamscape, with how vivid everything is. Jaemin finds himself in the center of a jostling crowd, everyone seeming to sprint in the same direction. He turns to what they're fleeing from and...

He sees the lion emblem of Soladium. He sees gleaming gold breastplates over white chainmail. He sees a soldier slam his sword into someone who is fleeing, and watches as red stains the pristine silver metal.

Jaemin's going to throw up.

"Nana! Nana what are you doing standing there? You have to run!" What? What the hell, how can this be? It's Jeno, but he's... Younger. A lot younger. Is Jaemin that young too? Only seven, maybe eight? And how can Jeno be here, he's not a resident of Soladium. But wait, is this Soladium? Or...? "NANA!" Jaemin feels himself being yanked along the stream of people.

"Je- Nono, what's going on?" Jaemin can barely keep on his feet, tripping over himself often. Jeno's hand pulling is the only thing keeping him upright. "Nono, wha--"

"There's no time, we need to get out of--" There's a fuzzy sound, not unlike TV static.

"What??? Out of where? Where are we??" Jeno's younger look alike looks at Jaemin like he's crazy. He repeats the word, but again it's just static. Jaemin's really losing it. Jeno twists down an alley, escaping from the crowd but still moving. It's a little like going down the stairs with his sister, Jeno just keeps taking him down and down and down. At some point they enter some kind of tunnel, barely big enough for them. Jaemin has to crouch a little as he walks.

It's dark.

"Nono?" Jaemin can still feel his touch on his wrist, but he can't see him and Jeno doesn't answer. After what seems to be hours but could be minutes, they stop.

"Nana." The voice speaking is soft, a blend of an older sounding man and a young boy. "Nana, I'm gonna go ahead okay? Wait for me here?"

"Y-yeah," Jaemin-- Nana-- says quietly. "Come back soon?"

"Always."

And then Jaemin is alone.

For minutes. Then hours. Maybe a day has passed. He doesn't know, he hasn't moved. A voice inside whispers ever so faintly, maybe he won't come back. But Jaemin believes in his best friend, or this person who looks like his best friend. So he waits.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

"Jaemin?" He blinks, yawning. When did he fall asleep? Is he still in the tunnel? He can't be, it's too light out. The air is too fresh. Jaemin snaps awake, scrambling up. He nearly headbutts the person above him, who rears back just in time to avoid breaking their nose. "Jesus!"

"Wh-- Where am I? What time is it?" Jaemin tries to calm himself down, taking stock of what's around him. It's some sort of courtyard like area, but there are people everywhere. In the same clothes. Yellow blazer coats and black pants, white button up shirts. A uniform?

"You're at school and it's twelve thirty." Jaemin snaps his head to the side to look at Jeno, who's rubbing his nose lightly. "Damn, I think you actually nicked me a little with that iron head of yours."

"Jen?"

"Huh?" Jeno stops touching his face and Jaemin almost wants to cry at the sight of his best friend. Jeno from Lunaste has near perfect pale skin, his mole stark against it. Jeno-- Nono-- from wherever had the youthful tan of carefree boy. This Jeno looks just like he'd expect a teenager to, skin a bit pocket marked from acne scars, uneven redness all over, more freckles and moles. But it's Jeno, it's definitely Jeno. Jaemin really is going to start crying. “Jaem what’s wrong?”

Shit is he crying? Like for real? Ugh, gods that’s embarrassing. He shakes his head, pressing his sleeves to his eyes and heaving a breath. “It’s nothing Jen,” he mumbles. At least it’s just light sniffles and not full blown sobbing. That would be hard to justify. “Just tired and yknow how it is.” Why’s he talking like this? Maybe it’s just a tic of this Jaemin.

“Ah.” Sweet, understanding Jeno, who never questions when he doesn’t need to. “Yeah that assignment was pretty rough, I was going to strangle Hyunseok when he almost deleted our files. Here.” Oh a handkerchief. It’s just like Jeno to be a little old fashioned like that. Jaemin takes another minute to collect himself, stuffing the cloth into his pocket.

For a minute it’s just quiet and peaceful. A light breeze drifts across, ruffling the grass and just barely shifting Jaemin’s bangs. This is nice, yeah. Jaemin leans back on his palms and tilts his head up. It’s warm.

“So Jaem, I was asking about Friday? Cause I know you said you had student council stuff—” does he? “and you know how caught up you get when Donghyuck slacks off.”

Jaemin doesn’t even have to think about it for a second. “I’ll make time for you.” He always will. But of course he can’t say that part here, this isn’t his Jeno even if the beaming, crescent eyed smile he gets looks so familiar.

“You’re the best Jaem!” Jeno grabs a bag and slings it over his shoulder, offering a hand out to Jaemin. “Thanks for always being there for me.”

“Yeah,” Jaemin says with a smile so genuine it hurts his cheeks. “Of course Jen, always.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————

How much more must he go through? Somehow it feels a little like he’s been through countless iterations, countless universes. Him as a gangster, Jeno as the innocent bystander. Jeno as a celebrity, him as a devoted fan. Sometimes it’s Jaemin who is cruel and heartless, sometimes it’s Jeno who’s broken and hurting. And yet always the same, Jaemin and Jeno, Jeno and Jaemin. Tied together, always faithful to the other. Not once does Jaemin regrets getting shot at, getting strangled, getting screamed at if it means he can protect Jeno. He never regrets stealing or lying or smashing things if it mean staying with his best friend. Always, he thinks as he fades out of yet another life. I will always be there for you.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

“Sir.” Jaemin turns to see a squire, stiff in their naivety. “King Jeno has requested your presence.” The mere words send shivers throughout his skin, but he nods and dismisses the boy before spinning on his heel.

King Jeno is every bit as regal as Jaemin knew he would be. Midnight black hair coiffed just so under his crown of silver and white gold, dark sapphires embedded as accents. His expression is cold, something Jaemin himself has only seen once in his fifteen years. Somehow he suspects this version of himself has seen it far more often. Jeno looks almost bored, but his voice simmers with anger. “Na Jaemin.” Jaemin swallows but keeps his head bowed where he kneels. He hears a kind of clicking, not loud enough to be shoes but certainly loud enough to be a threat. Jeno’s rings most likely.

“Report.”

Jaemin still doesn’t raise his head as he speaks. In his memories, there are too many blood splatters to ignore. “The Southern Isles have refused to relinquish their control over the pass, they say that… that they won’t unless their demands are met.”

“And what are their demands?” The temperature seems to drop another ten degrees. Jaemin doesn’t want to say it, but he know when Jeno sounds sickly sweet like that… there’s no room for arguments.

“They’ve demanded that their prince be returned to them, no matter what. And that… and that you be removed from power your majesty.” There’s more of course, but those are minor compared to this. Jaemin knows that the Southern prince with caramel skin and a halo of golden curls is alive, but perhaps not for much longer. He prays he’s wrong, but he’s known Jeno for far too long.

For too long there is silence. Jaemin is almost shivering with how tense he’s gotten with every passing second. And then Jeno laughs, a soft chuckle that is so icy, so unlike his own Jeno, that Jaemin almost wants to curl in on himself and scream because it’s wrong. It blows into full, body shaking laughter and Jaemin can’t help flinching when he feels rather than sees or hears Jeno come close. A cold hand tilts his chin up and he meets Jeno’s eyes. Dark, black not brown.

“Is that so,” Jeno says softly. Jaemin doesn’t try anything funny. Jeno’s technically unarmed now, there’s no one else around. Just them. Jaemin could so easily overpower the King if he tried. Jeno isn’t special here, he can’t predict what will happen. And they’ve always been equal in strength. Jaemin could end it all, save the people from war. But he doesn’t. Not that he can’t, he doesn’t. Because this is Jeno, who he chose. “Na Jaemin, what are you?”

“I am your right hand, your majesty. Your shield and your spear to command as you see fit.” A practiced answer that spills as easily as oil over ice.

“Yes, that’s right,” Jeno coos, tapping Jaemin’s cheek. Has Jeno ever been this cold? Physically or otherwise? “You do as I ask.” Jaemin’s heart is hammering so hard he’s surprised Jeno can’t hear it. “And now I ask of you this.” Jeno leans in close, voice a sly whisper. “Kill the prince and send his mangled remains to them. They want to make demands of us? Of me? No. Jaemin-ah, show them who we are.”

Kill. In all the universes, Jaemin has killed before. But this is the first time he’s been asked to by someone he loves. The first time he’s been asked to kill someone he cares about.

Show them who we are. We, Jaemin and Jeno. Jeno and Jaemin.

Jaemin swallows and whispers back, “As you wish, your majesty.” And later, when he’s in the dungeons with a far familiar face glaring at him, spitting insults at him, when he raises his sword high and brings it down with all his force, all he can think is that he promised he would never turn his back on Jeno, no matter what.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

It’s quiet after he plunges the tip into the southern prince’s chest and Jaemin welcomes it. A brief respite between universes, somewhere he can rest. These breaks never last long, some hardly over a minute or two. Jaemin closes his eyes and waits, waits for the next universe to wake him up somehow. But instead he hears a voice, one that echoes like thousands of voices speaking at once.

Have you made your choice?

Jaemin blinks slowly and then stumbles back. Oh, so he’s in a corporeal form for this. Okay. It should be burning hot and blindingly bright, given that he’s staring directly at a sun. Neither sensations occur though and he tentatively steps forward again.

My choice?

The sun rumbles.

Yes. Your choice on your will.

My will?

Yes. That which makes you strong and that which makes you weak.

Oh…

You must decide now. Your will is what you are, but you may choose another way. Be warned child, your will is the strongest and weakest you will ever be. Your other cores may save you from those extremes, but you will never fully involve yourself in your fate. You may end up simply drifting along, always feeling away from yourself.

I don’t want that.

Most do not. However it is an option.

Can I… Can I ask a question?

Of course child.

Why was it always Jeno?

I cannot answer that.

What? Why?

It is simply not my place to do so. I can only answer questions about you.

Was it something I chose?

Yes. In a way.

…

In the last one. Why didn’t I stop him? Would I… would I do that in real life?

That I cannot tell you. I can only show you what could be, given the strength of your will.

What is my will?

Do you not know? Hm... A pause, as if the entity is pondering how best to answer this. You, Na Jaemin, third child of King Na Seomin and Queen Lee Minyoung, are destined to be the strongest ally. Your loyalty knows no bounds. Once you have chosen a person or a cause to dedicate yourself to, you will do so endlessly. Without question, without fear. Regardless of who you might hurt to achieve the goals they've asked of you. Regardless of what might be taken away. You will do what is asked, if that person is who you've chosen. That is your will.

That doesn't sound very good...

A will is neither good nor bad. It is, like everything, something that is altered based on what you choose.

…

It seems you’ve made up your mind.

Yeah. But one more question. Who are you? All of you?

Ahh, but you already know this do you not?

Just checking.

The entity chuckles. Are you ready to make your choice?

“Yeah,” Jaemin says with a smile. “Yeah I am.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————

“… Min”

Huh?

“Jae… min…”

Oh that’s his name.

“JAEMIN!”

“Gods above what!” Jaemin snaps as he opens his eyes, annoyance vanishing in an instant at the sight of Jeno’s tear streaked face. Actually, looking around, everyone was in various states of distress. His mother had her hands over her mouth, silent sobs wracking her shoulders as she leaned against his father who was pale but wearing an expression of pained pride. “Wh-why are you all crying??”

Jeno’s face contorts in a way that would be funny if not for the fresh wave of tears dripping down his cheeks. “You were gone for so long, I thought— we thought—”

“Gone?” Jaemin echoes, brows knitting together as he tries to piece it together. It must be his birthday right? The ritual shouldn’t last longer than that.

"You— you were— Gods Jaemin," Jeno hiccups, hands wrapped tightly around Jaemin's in his lap. "You were gone, you were—" Jeno can't finish it, instead sobbing again and releasing Jaemin's hands to pull him into a tight hug. Jaemin automatically raise his arms to wrap around Jeno's shaking shoulders, neck getting uncomfortably wet with tears. Jaemin turns slightly to his parents for clarification.

"You were dead, Jaemin," his mother says in a broken but somehow calm voice. She was just sobbing a second ago, how has she collected herself so quickly?

Dead? He was... dead?

"Your h-heart wasn't beating," Jeno cries, "A-and you weren't breathing and— Jaemin. I thought, we thought—"

Oh.

"What... What day is it?"

"It's the day after your birthday."

After?

No wonder... There's never been someone who didn't complete the ritual after their Blessed day. He... Wow.

"I came in," his sister says with an odd detachment, "on the dawn of your birthday. Like I was supposed to. And you, you were just laying there and gods..." Her voice cracks. "You were just laying there and you were so cold."

"When I saw Jaehee in her ceremony, she was sitting there like she was dead too. But she was warm when I touched her, and she opened her eyes immediately. And I saw— I saw the sun in her eyes so I knew. But you," Jaehyuk swallows. "You just didn't. We tried to look but it really was like you were dead Min, your eyes were so empty."

Jaemin squeezes his best friend tighter, throat closing up. "B-but I, I just accepted it like noona said to?"

"Accepted? Jaemin, I said confront. What do you mean accept?"

"Huh?"

"Jaemin-ah," his father says now. "When you meet the second sun, you should have seen yourself in different scenarios." Jaemin nods, that he did. "And you should have always made the same choices." Again, he nods. "And then the final scenario is the hardest, it's the one where you choose. And then you wake up."

"You, you didn't talk to anyone?"

"What?" No one seems to understand. Not even his father. "You spoke to someone? Do you mean in the final judgement?"

"No! No, I mean... After. After I made—" Jaemin shudders at the memory. "After I chose, I spoke to someone. To it."

"You..." Jaemin's sister was always the clever one in the family. "You spoke to it?"

"To them, yeah."

"THEM??"

"Gods them! Yes!" Jaemin reels back, earning himself a yelp from Jeno who gets tugged along. "Them. The second sun isn't just a sun. It's, it's our ancestors."

"WHAT," Jaehee shrieks, lurching forward as if to grab Jaemin's collar to demand what he knows. Ah, so this is what they meant when they said strongest and weakest. Her thirst for knowledge, her willingness to do anything to get it. How similar it is to his steadfast devotion.

"Stop that!" Jaehyuk hauls her back. "Stop, you're scaring him."

Jaemin's... Not scared. But he doesn't understand. "So none of you have spoken to them?" He's met with three mirrored head shakes. "Wow..."

"So what happened then?" His mother asks, the voice of calm despite how frazzled she looks. Jaemin's never seen her like this, pajamas underneath a coat, hair undone. His heart swells at the sight, at how much she loves him.

"They asked me to make my choice. They uh, they told me what my will was and how it might be... hurtful." And they mentioned something else but that's for Jaemin's ears only.

"That's it?" Ah ever shrewd, his sister.

"Yes."

"Why does it matter," comes a muffled whine. Oh shit, Jeno. Jaemin reels back but is held in place by his best friend. "He's not dead, he passed your stupid test. Isn't that enough?"

Evidently not for everyone but no one seems to want to challenge the Lunaste prince. It makes Jaemin wonder what happened when he was dead.

"We should give Jaemin some time to rest." His mother is the first to collect herself, standing and lightly dusting off her skirts. His father is quick to follow, always one to support his wife. "Jaemin-ah, although it's late, happy Blessed day." Jaemin hears the proud, unspoken happy birthday my baby.

Jeno stays behind though, unwilling to let his best friend out of sight. Jaemin understands it, he would be the same. For a while it's just quiet, Jeno clutching onto Jaemin and trying really hard, it seems, to not cry again. And it's like at that sight, Jaemin loses all his strength and pitches forward, pressing his face into Jeno's neck and mumbling, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Jen, I'm so so so sorry."

Jeno just pulls him in closer and buries his own face into Jaemin's neck. Jaemin will pretend that they're not both shaking, even though there's no one to pretend to. Cause it's Jeno.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," Jeno whispers fiercely, voice thicker and more ragged than usual. "Na Jaemin I swear I will pull you back just to kill you myself."

Jaemin laughs at that, shaking his head. "I won't. I'll never leave you Jen."

"Don't promise things you can't keep," Jeno sighs back. But Jaemin knows, feels it hot in his chest, that this is one promise he's never going to break. Not even on his life.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Notes:

- A lunar cycle is just one night. The only special time terms are solar cycle/lunar cycle instead of day/night. If it's a week, it's still called a week.

- While this event states that Jaemin/Jeno have only recently discovered they are princes, this blurb is slightly separated from that. This blurb is set in the full AU but is twisted slightly to fit the bot, thus both Jaemin and Jeno have been princes from birth. So just, don't think about it too hard?

- Inspiration: Stars are born from nebulas in which the gas and stardust in the nebulous cloud begins to collapse in on themselves from the gravitational pull. Stardust is from the death of other stars. This got a little out of hand but those various scenarios Jaemin goes through are like his own lives and deaths, so when he dies in them or when he kills in them, they "piece" together to form his will which is his strongest trait. Jaemin's a unique case where he always chose the same thing. Often people will kind of alternate their choices and whatever is strongest/gets picked the most often becomes their will.

- In the final dream sequence, Nana is Jaemin's ancestor. Naming conventions differ in the past, children would receive a nickname (Nana) and then once they became adults they would receive their formal name (Jaeyoon). In Jaemin's current timeline, you receive the name you live with when you're born. So when Jaemin was born, he was named Na Jaemin and that's just it. I can explain it more if it's confusing. Really I just wanted an excuse to make a Nana and a Jaem compared to Jaemin, yknow?

- The final dream sequence serves as the final judgement by the second sun. It weighs more heavily than others with higher emotional stakes. The reason why people lean into their attributes so heavily is because of this last scenario. In their minds, they have already played through everything that could be and will not deviate from their choices. Thus people of Soladium are considered rigid and stubborn.

- The second sun doesn't always choose to enhance positive attributes. Though Jaemin and his siblings received (in order) loyalty, cleverness and determination, others in Soladium history have received things like ruthlessness, deception and fear. Generally speaking, what attribute is chosen is what the individual's core value is, and has a lot to do with nature vs nurture.

- Don't @ me about plot holes lmao