#in every single way (well when she not eating plastic from the trash can lol)

[rattfreakk]

I just give tim a deep ass bond with his cat holy shit.

[tumblunni]

Headcanons about maddiman's wife:

* name: Joy Nocturne

* her personality is like your classic 'overbearing wife' or 'loud woman' except its not a bad thing and i hate how its always stereotyped as a bad thing. She's confident and outspoken and badass and these are all the things that made Madds fall in love with her. Its also the things that makes everyone else think she's 'such a nag' and start rumours that their marriage is on the rocks, because he 'must be so whipped', etc. And back when they met in highschool everone thought she was a 'typical american thug' who was 'being a bad influence to that poor honor student'. Basically she's used to people hating her personality and she was already secretly doubting whether her husband also found her annoying/bossy/unattractive cos of this. Like she's usually able to be confident in the face of hate from strangers but as she grew to love this man she felt her old insecurities coming back. They were both having trouble talking about their feelings and worrying that their spouse didnt love them...

* oh and BIGGEST HEADCANON: she very much loved him and there was no villain of this story, just a sad tale of two people falling apart due to miscommunication. I think its infinately sadder if they were total soulmates and never stopped loving each other even after this tragic falling out. I feel like Joy just had to make the decision that was right for her son when her husband was never around to be part of his life. And with the way maddiman acted she had every reason to feel like he'd stopped loving her...she didnt leave because she hated him but because she didnt know why he was so distant and thought he hated her...

* She never remarried. She did manage to live a full life and raise their son to be an upstanding human being, but she never forgot about madds and never found anyone she loved more than him.

* She was actually there when he died. The point where he passed out midway through writing a diary entry wasnt actually the exact moment he died, his coworkers found his comatose body and rushed him into surgery. He was on life support for a few days befofe he faded away, having never woken up. Joy rushed over on the fastest flight possible to get to see him before it was too late, but she only managed to arrive in time to see his yokai self emerging and vanishing into the ether. This phantasm haunted her for the rest of her life and she sorta inherited his fatal yokai obsession, in hopes that what she saw was real...

* after her son died at just 17, she became even more tied to the desperate hope of her husband's old fairytales. Ultimately though, she was never able to find him. She actually could have walked straight past him and not been able to see him. And madds wouldnt have recognised her, only wondered why something in his heart says that this particular trespasser in the haunted hospital should be guided to the exit without harm.

* they first met in high school, oddly enough due to maddiman's dad being a massive asshole. Nogut always pressured his son to be perfect and live out all his dreams for him, blablabla, gotta get to the best schools and never get a single bad grade. Joy and madds werent in the same class so they hadnt talked much, and she only recently transferred anyway. But one day Nogut was in school for a parent teacher conference and he was being his usual pissy entitled self, blah blah im too important to be here and my son is the cause of all my problems somehow. So he got uhh.. "Distracted". Aka being an absolute fuckin creeper to underage highschool girls! Thus the day Joy first became friends with maddiman was also the day she became mortal enemies with his dad by kicking him in the balls. And shortly afterwards she bumped into maddiman who was hyperventilating in the same closet she coincidentally picked while hiding from Groinally Harmed Anger Dad. He was having a panic attack from the general stress of his dad being here, and she helped support him through it which became a really valued memory of his, and why he sees her as his hero. Well, that and shortly after when she was like 'lol i just met this total creeper and kneed him in the nads' 'THATS MY DAD' 'geez sorry dude' 'NO THATS AMAZING'

* she also helped him pull off his ultimate escape from trash dad. They had a plan in place for a long time that as soon as he turned 18 they were getting on a motorbike and riding off to Anywhere But Here. But he didnt expect her to literally bring a birthday cake and throw it in his dad's face! And then that was the beginning of their relationship. Madds had totally been crushing on her for quite a while but never knew how to confess, until the sheer awesomeness of that moment made him accidentally squeak it out while they were riding for their lives from an angry old man.

* oh and also there were probably a lot of funny cute clueless moments where it kept going over joy's head that he had a crush on her? I was thinking of a cute idea for a valentines day flashback where maddiman was too shy to give her a box of chocolates and she comes along like "man i didnt get any chocolates im glad you managed to get some!" "U-uhh no i umm..wanted to give them to someone but i...didnt." "Oh that sucks dude! At least now you can eat them all to yourself to help forget that girl. Lemme sneak one, tho!" And thus he ended up sharing the box of chocolates with the perosn he wanted to, even if she had no idea. And it was a very good day!

* also i think considering the pattern of him bottling up his feelings and running from relationship problems, it seems likely that he ran from the altar on his wedding day. But it was also one of the only times ever that that happened and it wasnt super sad. As he does, he got all worked up into a mess of anxiety and convinced he knew the only answer- the stupidest and most reckless answer! So even though he loved this woman he was so scared that he'd be a bad husband that he tried to jump out the window at the last second without even once trying to actually talk to her about any of this. But this time she did manage to find him! All the friends and family were like 'ugh leave him, he doesnt love you', but she knew there had to be more to it so she ran out in the rain in her wedding dress and searched for miles until she found him sobbing in a public bathroom. They managed to talk it out and get to the bottom of his feelings and actually resolved something for once, and it all went okay. It kinda helped that seeing her turn up all bedraggled in the wreckage of the dress she loved so much, bleeding from her tight heels and fighting off several biker gangs along the way helped convince him that "hey maybe she thinks i'm worth fighting for, so i should try and believe her". So yeah then she swept him off his feet and they danced all night as everyone else in the church was all "ugh she looks awful" and "why would she take him back", but the moment was so magical that they just didnt care. And thats how the biggest failure of a wedding was also the happiest day of their lives! (..though sadly the same doubts and communication difficulties would come up again and not be resolved so easily...)

* i keep flip flopping on what career i want to give her, but at the moment im thinking possibly owns a lil bakery/coffee shop type place? Madds is one of those people who cant stand the bitterness of tea/coffee and prefers caffinated sodas instead, but he used to drink strong coffee every day back when he was human just because his wife made it. He loved all the rest of her cooking so itd be cruel to say no! Its a lil detail that i figured would be cute but also foreshadow how he'd meet his tragic end, as it shows he's capable of bottling up his feelings for years even when talking would be so much easier. Also probably a comedic note that he's coming up with nonsensical mad science techniques to make himself able to drink coffee! "Shall i genetically modify my tastebuds or create an undetectable translucent plastic armour plate for my tongue?"

* also maybe she could make cinnamon rolls shaped like madds's doofy cyclops head when they reunite in the future. Just because i want to eat that.

[rvinsounds]

-- half moon alternatively titled ‘the 5 times jess (kinda) broke up with saebom and the 1 time she didn’t’

a/n: this is the time for self-indulgent fics LOL. i think i said this was like, a timeline through the years so say the first fic is probably sometime during my last year @ hogwarts and it just continues from there :D

“isn’t this like, your seventh coffee today?” 

jess glances over at her friend, and then glances down at the americano blanco that had just been delivered to her table. nadine had opted for an iced floral tea instead of coffee for once, and she shrugs, picking up the cup and taking a long sip. “ooh, this one is better than the last cafe. but the last cafe had a nicer .. what would you call it -- ambiance?” 

“how have you not gone to the bathroom like twenty times since i joined you?” 

“i have a magic bladder that is fueled by coffee.” 

nadine rolls her eyes, sucking on the straw of her tea as they both swivel around in their seats to take multiple photos of the coffee shop they were currently sitting in. they had been cafe-hopping all afternoon, and apparently the younger girl had been doing it since before she had met up with the former gryffindor. it wasn’t exactly a strange thing -- not when they both had aesthetic instagram feeds that they needed to keep up with. 

(megan and arazely would probably beg to differ.) 

it wasn’t until a while later of them sitting there, silently musing over their drinks that nadine realizes that they were missing something -- or rather, someone. 

“where’s saebom?” 

jess barely glances up from her phone, in the middle of trying to take an aesthetic photo of her coffee, liking how the sunlight from the window reflected just so in the surface of the black coffee, answering after snapping a few more photos. “i broke up with him.”

”WHAT.” 

the younger girl doesn’t answer, too busy taking pictures of her empty coffee cup before her phone is snatched out of her hand by the older. “hey!” she protests, reaching out and flailing slightly as she tries to get it back, pouting at her friend when it’s not handed back to her immediately. 

“what do you mean you broke up with saebom?” nadine hisses, clutching both of their phones in one hand, glaring at the other girl. 

“exactly that? i broke up with him,” jess waves a hand idly in the air, shrugging. “i’ll apologize after the next couple cafes -- he didn’t want me to go cafe hopping, okay? now, give me back my phone!” 

her lunge at the older girl is stopped short when the bell above the door chimes and she pauses to glance over, always habit nowadays considering she was working part-time in a coffee shop as training for her to open her own cafe in the future. she almost physically has to stop herself from calling out a welcome greeting, but her words become stuck in her throat anyway when she sees who’s walking through the door. 

megan. 

sina. 

saebom. 

her boyfriend -- or rather, her ex-boyfriend at that exact moment -- looks absolutely miserable, and he was complaining quietly to megan about something when their eyes meet and he freezes, almost automatically slinking behind sina. 

(she almost feels bad.) 

megan, on the other hand, looks almost angry when she makes eye contact with the only current slytherin, stalking over immediately and taking jess’ hand and practically dragging her back towards the door so they could have a decently private conversation. or as private as it could be in a public place. 

“what the fuck jess,” she mutters under her breath, meant only for her best friend to hear. “he’s been at our house moping for the past eight hours, why can’t you deal with your shit like a normal person instead of breaking his heart to go drink overly copious amounts of coffee?” 

all jess can do is shrug a bit helplessly before she’s flung in the direction of her (ex?)boyfriend who, despite looking upset and a bit angry at her, catches her in his arms and glances down at her. bless his heart. she, rightfully so, looks sheepish as she smiles awkwardly up at him. 

“hi ... sorry?” she apologizes, reaching up to touch his cheek where his dimple would show if he was smiling, and she does feel sorry for not having just come to a more logical way of doing this besides ending their relationship. her phone is slapped into her hand before she sees megan dragging nadine out of the coffee shop, sina making eye contact with her and mouthing ‘talk things out’ and raising his hands in a sort of ‘fighting!’ position before the bell above the door chimes once again, leaving her, mostly, alone with saebom. 

“... okay, let’s talk.” 

-- 

they’re sitting outside on the patio at a bar that she had gotten into using saebom’s name -- oh the irony is not lost on her, she knows -- along with her own. she hates that it usually works when their names are used in conjuncture, but only because he’s slightly more famous than she is. of course he is, considering he had started modelling when she was in her fourth year and she hadn’t started until after graduation. it’s understandable, but that doesn’t make her feel less bitter about it. 

she takes another sip of her peach cocktail, squinting at it and attempting to fish out the maraschino cherry that was, for some reason, sitting at the bottom of the fancy glass. 

arazely glances over at the older girl and watches in fond amusement as the now-former slytherin struggles to get the cherry out and ultimately gives up on it before taking another sip. it’s just the two of them for today, their older friends all busy with their lives and university and stuff and arazely’s just become legal a few weeks ago and jess has nothing better to do today, so it works out. 

“how’s chanuk?” jess asks, for lack of a better subject and she’s probably depressed enough that listening to her friend’s happy tales of a good relationship might either cheer her up ... or perhaps depress her more. 

she’s willing to take that gamble. 

settling back with a newfound determination to fish the maraschino cherry out of her cocktail, jess puts on an expression that she hopes conveys her barely there interest in the conversation topic, despite it having been her who had brought it up. don’t get her wrong, she loves listening to those sorts of things usually, but right now she has too many things on her mind. she makes a soft sound after getting a hold of the cherry, and she grips at the stem as she uses that to attempt to stir the ice around in her drink. 

she’s happy that her friends are happy, she thinks, watching as arazely’s face positively lights up when the younger girl talks about her boyfriend. last she had heard, they were planning a trip for the two of them once they both finished applying for jobs and, hopefully, landing them. or at least getting into healer training, in the case of the hufflepuff. her mind slides to her other friends in their little group -- megan and sinhwa are well on their way to getting married, she knows, considering she had helped the oldest hufflepuff look for rings on multiple occasions now, though she has no idea when exactly he’s planning to propose. she just knows it’ll be soon enough -- probably sooner than later, knowing him. minseok and nadine are abroad, or something, she knows her friends well enough and they were probably away for some quidditch game of minseok’s. 

and then there was her. 

ugh.

tuning back into the conversation at hand, jess just grins at her friend. “i hope you get accepted into healer training,” she says, hoping the younger girl wouldn’t notice that her attention had lapsed for a moment. as expected though, she does feel slightly better after listening to most of arazely’s tangent. 

“how are you and saebom?” 

jess winces, somehow not having been expecting her friend to turn the same topic of conversation back on her and she avoids the other girl’s gaze for a moment, eating the cherry in lieu of replying to that. 

“uh,” she starts, unsure of how to start on that specific talk and she sighs, glancing at the hufflepuff after a moment and deciding to just get it over with, knowing she couldn’t avoid the topic without it coming off as extremely suspicious. “i broke up with him.” 

“... again?” 

“we had an argument okay! he was insisting i needed to not avoid specific conversations and i told him i didn’t have to listen to him and then i don’t know who started yelling first but i broke up with him and left,” she admits, and even to her it sounds stupid. it’s obvious that she’s in the wrong in this case, but she hadn’t wanted to admit it. she still doesn’t want to admit it. she sighs to herself before she pouts and downs the rest of her drink, picking up her phone to turn it on and holding up a hand to stop arazely from saying anything more. 

“yeah yeah, i’ll call him right now.” 

-- 

shit hits the fan and explodes like an erumpet horn when her secret gets out. it’s all over the newspapers and across the internet and she’s being shit-talked and trashed everywhere that she thinks it matters. her instagram comments are such a big mess that she has to disable them for the time being. it’s not like she had ever hidden it from the media, not actively, but she had never gone out of her way to tell people about it either. 

“you’d think that people would understand that i use my normal face when i model after my fucking agency said so, hey?” she hisses, throwing yet another newspaper onto the table at her apartment, already ladled with many a newspaper and magazine, all accusing her of the same thing -- making herself prettier by unnatural means, as if people who did plastic surgery were natural either. “people get fucking photoshopped in every single fucking picture that’s ever posted anywhere and they decide to attack the metamorphagus for apparently changing her goddamn appearance.” 

her friend just nods, having sat through different versions of this rant already and deciding to just let the former slytherin get it off her chest before trying to talk any sense into her. 

“where’s saebom?” megan asks instead, changing the topic in hopes of cheering her friend up, but that seems to backfire when jess’ expression only darkens more, eyes narrowing. 

“he was trying to help, or something, and held a press conference but now they’re even more on my ass saying i confunded him or some shit and just -- ugh.” 

the former ravenclaw just stares at her friend, unsure of why the younger girl was so upset about that, when her boyfriend had just stepped out and stuck his neck out on the line to try to help her. usually the younger would be ranting at him and clinging onto him and denying that she was clinging at all. it was strange that he wasn’t here to comfort her, especially when this was such a big thing that would impact both of their lives, and perhaps even both of their careers. but it clicks at the look on the other’s face.

“jessica nguyen, what did you do?” 

the former slytherin winces at the tone the older girl is using, and it’s a testimony to how often she gets called out like this by the other that she doesn’t even really pause to think before answering her. if anything, jess trusts megan’s advice over most people’s, considering they lived together for a long while before they had split off because megan decided to get married. “i might’ve ... broken up with him ...”

“jessica.” 

“i’m sorry okay!” jess throws her hands up in defense, groaning and falling onto the couch in her apartment, curling up and hugging her legs to her chest as she stares at the blanket there, reaching out to touch it gently. saebom had given it to her because she had complained that her living room was too cold sometimes. “he was overwhelming me, i didn’t know what else to do!” 

because, and only because, the blonde already looked downright miserable, megan held her tongue and sat down next to her, taking her hand. she didn’t even flinch, glancing away instead. 

“he’s probably at my place again,” she says softly, standing and bringing jess to her feet as well, and she leans in to brush her off and smooth down her hair, considering she had been running her fingers through it in frustration just moments before when she was ranting. 

“let’s go and talk to him.” 

-- 

as predicted, her modelling career does end up in shambles for a while after the whole fiasco, but the bright side was that she had been planning to quit long before that had even happened. it was really just the final nail in the coffin at this point. 

her true love, of course, had always been coffee. and will probably always be coffee. her cafe was well on its way, despite the last couple bumps in the road she had to deal with. the company she had originally been planning to order coffee beans from had hit a block when it came to discussing the last details with her, and as they were also the ones who were supposed to provide her espresso machines as well -- well, the easiest way to put it was that jess was hella stressed out these days. 

after she and saebom had worked things out the last time, there had only really been smooth sailing ever since. she had finally started opening up to him about whatever problems she had instead of pushing him away and trying to deal with it by downing copious amounts of coffee and/or alcohol. it had helped their relationship greatly when they both realized it would just work out much better for the two of them to just talk things out, instead of him going behind her back to do things that he wasn’t sure she would approve of and her pushing him away whenever she was stressed and bottling up her emotions. 

but the stress was starting to get to her again. she had just had another deal with a different company fall through and was going through her current options: she could scrap the idea of using these ethical companies for coffee beans since they weren’t cooperating with her and buy beans from someone else, she could continue calling them and emailing them in hopes they would reply, she could probably also go knocking on their door and demand they respond to her ... she could also burn down their headquarters, but that wouldn’t solve anything besides perhaps sating her random pyro cravings. 

she’s sitting in the front of her cafe by the counter, the chairs and tables having come in just a few days earlier and she has something in front of her that already resembles a cafe — just without espresso machines and actual coffee beans. staring at the papers spread across the counter in front of her, she groans softly and is in the middle of wondering if one could actually die from being too stressed, when the chime on her door goes off and she glances over, raising up half out of her seat, “sorry we’re not open for business yet —” when she catches sight of her boyfriend’s grinning, dimpled face. 

“saebom!” she practically launches herself into his arms, so stressed out of her mind right now, she can’t help but want to relax with him, no matter what they do. they had recently moved into an apartment together, finally, but he had been away on a business trip for the past couple days that she hadn’t been able to tag along with. 

in other words, she just really missed him. 

“let’s go eat dinner,” he suggests, pressing a kiss to the top of her head when she doesn’t do anything besides try to burrow deeper into his chest, smiling to himself in the very blatant show of affection. she’s been much more affectionate with him in private as of late, and he’s unsure of why but he’s not going to complain. it’s reassuring, if anything. 

jess agrees and she quickly packs up her stuff before they head out and she locks up the cafe for the rest of the night, thinking she would deal with it tomorrow. they head to one of their favorite restaurants, jess allowing her boyfriend to treat her to dinner for once. 

they’re done their food and dessert and are outside walking hand in hand, just strolling along with no destination in mind, when he turns to her, and takes both of her hands in both of his. 

“jessica,” saebom starts, and she stares up at him, confused as to what was going on before she sees him fumbling with something in his pocket, and before she can stop herself or think her decision through, it’s already been made for her. 

“no —” she blurts out before she can’t stop herself from doing it, her eyes wide and she feels bad immediately when he pauses, hurt flashing across his face and his expression crumbles soon after. she knows she’s guessed correctly when his hand stops trying to find whatever was in his pocket, and her first reaction is to run. like she always says, despite always saying she wanted to fight, her fight or flight reaction is always to run as far as she can, but she knows she can’t do that. 

not to him. 

so when he moves to pull away, his hand letting go of hers before she reacts quickly enough, she grabs his hand and holds on tight. 

he looks as surprised as she feels, and turns to glance at her, hope in his eyes, and she has to shake her head regretfully when their eyes meet, so as not to give him the wrong idea.

“i’m not ready to get married yet, not right now at least,” she tries to explain, taking his other hand once his expression isn’t so wary anymore. she knows she’s hurt him, and she hopes he won’t hold it against her. “my cafe is all i can focus on right now, bom-ah,” she says gently, squeezing his hands and she smiles a bit at him. “i can’t plan a wedding anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean i’m not in love with you, okay? 

“in the future, but not right now. it’s just not the right time right now.” 

— 

it’s weird to think that all of their friends are engaged now, but they’re the only two that aren’t. her cafe had taken off once she had finally figured everything out and she had been busier than ever, trying to run it on her own before she finally had to cave — only once she had enough funds to do so, of course — and hire a proper baker and a manager and even a barista for her rare days off. 

she had taken some days off, though. only because she had finally been able to and her staff had practically forced her to stop working herself to the bone, to accompany saebom to seoul for the fashion week there, since he was walking in a few of the bigger brands’ runway shows. it had been tiring, but in a different way than it had been when she was trying to open her cafe by the planned date. mostly because she had to speak korean more than she was used to, having learnt it because the company she modeled for a few years back had been headed in seoul, and she was rather rusty now. 

thank god for saebom. 

they were sitting on the couch in the almost-penthouse hotel room that his management had rented them, sipping on the champagne that had been a welcome gift from one of the clothing companies that saebom was walking for. 

“it’s nice to be away from london sometimes, hey,” he breaks the silence and she hums in agreement, her legs stretched out over his lap and her head resting gently against his shoulder. she thinks that maybe she could’ve had this life as well, if only she hadn’t wanted the cafe more. it had been fun while it lasted, at least. she doesn’t regret it at all. 

they clink their champagne glasses together as the television in front of them plays some reality show that neither of them are really paying attention to, jess’ eyes on her phone as she texts into her group chat that she has with arazely, megan and nadine. he’s not sure what’s happening that chat, but he doesn’t think he wants to know just in case they’re having another one of their ‘roast saebom’ conversations. he waits until she puts her phone down with a content sigh before he nudges her gently, wanting her full attention. 

“what about now?” saebom asks softly, pressing a kiss to her lips before he pulls away, not wanting her to misunderstand what he’s asking. 

(he, on the other hand, after discussing in detail with megan one day very soon after the first time, understands being the right person but asking at the wrong time now. he wants to ask again, knowing that they’re right for each other but it might still not be the right time yet, and he doesn’t want to pressure her or anything.)

“what about now?” jess replies, a bit sleepy from the champagne and the time change and she glances up at him with a concerned expression on her face, unsure what he was asking her. he hadn’t given any context but he did that sometimes, and she raises her head from where it had been perched on his shoulder. “bom?” she prompts, nudging him gently and sneaking a kiss onto his cheek. 

“... is it the right time now?” 

she pauses, taking a moment to consider what he had just asked her before it clicks. the wording is familiar enough that it doesn’t take her very long to realize he’s quoting her words back at her and she makes a soft sound, moving to straighten up but he shakes his head and tugs her back against his side. 

“it’s okay if it’s not,” he reassures her, a smile on his lips and she relaxes when he doesn’t seem angry or annoyed. “i was just wondering,” he adds, tugging her closer and she changes her position and shifts to curl into him instead, tucking herself cozily under his arm. 

“not right now,” she acquiesces a lot later, when they’re in bed, curled up close together with the light of the moon shining in through the window that they forgot to draw the blinds over, and are too lazy to do so now that they’re in bed and comfortable. he’s shirtless because she stole his shirt off his body to wear, just like old times. “soon though, i promise.” 

—   

they’re at nadine’s and minseok’s rehearsal dinner for their wedding, but their seats are set slightly apart from the head table because of the lack of space compared to the actual venue they would be in eventually. the food is soon to come out and everyone, as per usual, is at varying degrees of sobriety already. she makes a soft sound as she gazes up at nadine, watching as the older girl talks with her soon-to-be husband. 

it’s nice, she thinks, seeing them that happy. it’s the same way she feels when she sees megan and sina together nowadays as well, wondering if she’ll feel the same way if they were to put an official official label on them. she makes a soft sound, watching as nadine plops herself into minseok’s lap, obviously tipsy. 

they’re cute and it makes her feel happy, glad that they were tying the knot finally. soon.

leaning against her own boyfriend, jess glances up at saebom with a fond smile on her face. “they’re so happy, hey?” she murmurs, reaching out to pick up her cup of crown and coke and taking a long sip. 

“bommie, lets get married,” she says softly, not really realizing she had said it out loud and not realizing he’s frozen beside her as she watches minseok stare in their direction and she raises an eyebrow as she sees nadine protest at her fiancé. 

“hey bom!” she glances back at minseok when she hears his voice and then glances at her boyfriend who looks completely frozen in his spot, “looks like you’ve just seen a ghost?” 

“jess just said she wants to get married,” she hears him whisper, and because everyone had shut up at minseok calling out, so does everyone else. it’s completely silent and most of the people there knew how heavy that statement was. everyone in their friendship group, at least, knew she had turned him down the first time, and a select few knew about the second. “she wants to get married.” 

there’s a split second where no one reacts as everyone stares at them, and she’s kind of in shock because she hadn’t realized she had said it out loud either. 

“then why aren’t you down on one knee?” 

she doesn’t even have time to process who had yelled that — she’ll later pinpoint that it had definitely been megan who had done it — because next to her, saebom has jumped up and pulled out the ring case from his pocket. 

and in the next moment, he’s down on one knee in front of her, holding the ring up. it’s completely silent around them, as if everyone was holding their breath in anticipation. 

as if there would ever be a different outcome when she was the one who had suggested it first this time around.

“will you marry me?” 

there’s no chance for her to even answer, because apparently everyone already knows what its going to be this time. there’s a chorus of shrieks, probably from a tipsy nadine, joined by arazely and then megan soon after. or, that’s what she would figure out if she wasn’t staring down at her boyfriend -- fiance? -- in awe, nodding numbly, mutely, and watching as he finally was allowed to slide the ring onto her finger. 

it’s beautiful, as expected, and she’s sure all of her friends probably had a say in which one he chose, and she wouldn’t even put it past him if he had chosen to get it custom made. it glitters prettily in the light shining down on them, and jess stares at the ring on her finger as if she can’t believe it still, still sort of shocked into silence at the sudden turn of events. 

(she’ll feel bad later that she had done it at nadine’s wedding rehearsal dinner but the older girl reassures her again and again that it was totally fine.) 

nadine yells for a photographer, trying to rearrange the rehearsal dinner into an engagement party for them instead, but all jess can see is the blinding smile on saebom’s face as he stands, before she throws herself at him, her arms winding around his waist, sniffling slightly. 

thank merlin for makeup setting charms, honestly. 

[advernia]

fic: firewater

— there’s the passion of burning flames in those eyes of blue. - role reversal!AU: one of the mornings between the resident red king mikoto suoh and his bartender lieutenant, awashima seri.

Tap, tap, tap, goes the wood upstairs: it's a soft yet still audible sound to his ears and he cracks an eye open to be greeted by a blurry view of dark brown, the mahogany wood of the ceiling. From looking at wood he angles his head to the side a bit so his eye could turn to the window, covered with that cutesy white lace curtain that ought to be burned. Little sunlight poured through the glass panes, faint but nevertheless, still there.

(He doesn’t look for the color of the sky - the curtain and the sunlight that streamed in combined makes it look gray, and perhaps that’s what the sky was at this hour. The lack of noise outside and glaring sunlight tell him that, too.)

Mikoto Suoh closes his eye and drifts away to sleep once more, drowning out the sounds of car engines to focus on the sound of wood upstairs going tap, tap, tap.

    Kamamoto often pointed out that the bar's floorboards were goddamn creaky every time he would walk around, but it didn’t seem so for Awashima Seri’s case - each step she took didn’t induce a squeaky protest from the wood under the two-inch heels on her feet, nor did it leave the soft click clack sounds that Yata would scowl at whenever it would reach his ears.

(Then again, Yata Misaki always seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face whenever she was involved.) 

Once fully dressed, her lithe fingers wrap around her room's doorknob and she closes the door behind her slowly like she had done when opening the door earlier - a practiced motion leaving not even the slightest sound, carried over until she crosses the hall and goes down the stairs, each step she took light and careful. She'd hate to wake her roommate, an adorable young girl sleeping soundly in her animal pajamas.

When Seri's at the first floor’s landing, her eyes turn to the couch at the far end of the rom and a frown pulls at her lips: there he was, sitting at the couch with his gangly legs spread wide open and his arms set behind his head. A cigarette hung loosely from his lips and a half empty bottle was set on the table not far from where he sat - she rolls her eyes then shakes her head before moving across the room to the couch.

Her heels still leave no sound against the floorboards.

When he was within her arm’s reach, she unceremoniously swipes the cigarette from his mouth and turns away, grabbing the bottle on the table on her way back - his eyes flicker open just as quick, and he sees a retreating figure in a cream dress with his cigarette in one hand and a bottle in the other.

(Right - the bottle. How he intended only to drink a few cups of the whiskey last night that turned out to be almost finishing the bottle in one sitting was beyond him.)

… give that back, Mikoto growls lowly.

I'd like you to specify what shoud I return, Seri replies casually.

She’s already going behind the bar’s counter, and she glares at him briefly before storing away the bottle in the refrigerator. A snap from her fingers and hey presto - his cigarette turns to ash right in between her fingers, pieces of white and gray fluttering down to the floor like snowflakes. Mikoto scowls and throws his head back languidly, eyes set back on the ceiling.

You almost finished a bottle of the Hibiki Japanese Harmony, she tells him from across the room, her voice at a controlled volume. Do you have any idea how much a single bottle costs?

There it is: that firm, scolding voice of hers, early in the bloody morning - it’s probably topped off with her narrowed eyes staring him down like a criminal. He brings a hand to his temple and closes his eyes, eyebrows drawing together.

I might as well finish it, he drawls. His response makes her scoff.

You’ve had enough. What did I say about taking bottles from the display?

He blinks. If it's something she set, then it's probably along the lines of 'with my permission' or 'with supervision'.

(Probably.)

… you wasted a good cigarette.

And you're wasting life away by lazing around in my bar, she sighs. Totsuka-kun told me you sat on the couch the whole morning yesterday.

Mikoto clicks his tongue.

(Goddammit, Tatara.)

I was sleeping, he grunts.

You’re always sleeping, she snaps. You smoke three packs of cigarettes in one day on an average, rarely move from a spot that you find comfortable unless needed, and then you take drinks from my display when you feel like it. Your current lifestyle isn’t going to reflect well on your health - do yourself a favor and breathe in some fresh air… if only for just an hour.

Silence. He lifts his head up slowly and their eyes meet from across the room, gazes steady and unyielding.

Lazy amber against gleaming blue - he always found it strange that somehow in those eyes of hers, he would find the intensity of a roaring flame that would rival that of Yata's.

(Or perhaps it was even brighter... sometimes he couldn't tell.)

For what seems like an eternity, he makes the first move - her hands still remain on her hips as she watched him shove his hands into the pockets of his jackets, then he draws out a heavy sigh as he pulled himself off the comfort of the couch.

You’re gonna take a walk too, he says.

She pauses, eyes blinking. Her hands leave her hips to fall to her sides, and she tilts her head slightly.

What do you mean?

Anna finished the milk cartons last night.

She raises an eyebrow at him and frowns.

... There were two whole cartons still left.

He rolls his eyes as he scratched the back of his neck.

… there’s no more anko on the fridge either.

She narrows her eyes at him for a moment, and then she proceeds to open the fridge again for the both of them to behold: she stares and he stares at the fridge with no anko and milk cartons in sight, until she closes the fridge door with a soft thud. Seri glances at him one last time with her hands-on-hips-and-a-frown-on-the-face combination and he shrugs in response, adjusting the jacket on his shoulders.

... Stop glaring. I won't even eat a single piece of your -

- I’ll get my wallet, she huffs.

Mikoto watches her turn around and walk back up the stairs before he exhales a sigh and flumps right back on the couch, listening again to the wood go tap, tap, tap.

        Mikoto Suoh ends up carrying four cartons of milk plus two large plastic tubs of anko all crammed up in one convenience store plastic bag, while Awashima Seri holds a much smaller plastic bag containing six boxes of a cigarette brand that she claimed to have lesser nicotine content than Mikoto’s favored brand (that he could care much or less what its name was). They walk side by side at a steady pace, Mikoto’s gaze set straight ahead while Seri focused on the streets of Shizume City.

A few number of robots roamed the streets, cleaning up trash and maintaining street lights and signs. There were also a few people who walked the streets, either joggers or white-collared workers that could be distinguished by their clothing or the objects they had with them. Cars were few as well and perhaps it was no wonder, it was far too early for the day to begin for most people.

It might be better to take walks this early, Seri says as she turned to Mikoto.

Even with heels, she still has to look up at him while talking. He turns to face her, lowering his head slightly to meet her eyes. His gaze drifts from the expectant expression on her face then lingers to the plastic bag in her hand.

… Too early, he sighs. A yawn escapes his mouth shortly after he spoke, as if to prove a point.

Seri shakes her head, shifting the plastic bag she held to her right hand.

Any time of the day I suggest, you always think it’s early.

Because it is.

Even when I suggested that you and Anna take walks on the afternoons?

Mikoto groans audibly and Seri can only sigh in frustration, her left hand tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

If it’s any consolation… there’s little security in the mornings, so there would be less eyes on you.

… You make it sound like I'm on the run.

For a moment, there’s the sound of rumpling plastic. Mikoto glances at her briefly - at her furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips - before looking away.

That... she pauses to bite her lip for a moment before continuing, ...that isn't what I meant.

Mikoto closes his eyes.

A light breeze rushes in and dances in between them, and he breathes in the chilly air it brings.

... I know.

        ... Cook meat for breakfast afterwards, then I'll consider it.

Seri looks up at Mikoto again, an eyebrow raised. Her hand's about to open the door to the bar but then he spoke, breaking the silence that fell around them for the rest of their walk. He doesn't meet her gaze, too preoccupied with scratching the back of his neck.

Afterwards? she repeats. Mikoto runs a hand through his hair upon hearing her response.

You heard me, he sighs.

Mikoto opens the door and walks right in immediately, heading for the counter.

Seri trails behind him a few seconds after taking in his words.

... I'll determine your portions on the time and intensity of your walk.

He suddenly stops walking, turning around to watch her close the door and walk past him, not even sparing a glance at his face and the expression of dread it held.

You're not serious.

If we're trying to regulate your health, your diet should come with it, she chuckles.

And for the second time that morning, Mikoto Suoh audibly groans.

    1: i remember seeing a tumblr post about a what if: seri was mikoto’s lieutenant and izumo munakata’s and i’m like... nice... that would probably be a fun time lol, this AU has so much potential 2: i am liking my headcanon of mikoto not making it a point to call seri by her name (not even by her family name) and vice-versa. and they’ve been like... friends(???) since middle school. or probably longer, shocker. totsuka calls both of them by their given names tho. communication is strange.