#in my head i soooo wanted it done before my birthday as a little treat for me a la slasher fic but oh my gooood its not happening

[rosyredlipstick]

hii i hope you’re doing alright !! Just wanted to know if you have any idea of when you’re going to publish the last far galaxies chapter !!! i love the fic and i can’t wait to read chapter 11 !! have a good day/night :)

thank you for reading!!!!! the answer is soon but not soon soon unfortunately this chapter is a BEAST like a BEAST of a BEAST and no matter how many words i write THERES STILL MORE A;SLJLSDHGLSHGQV

have a good day/night :) here are the first few hundred words <3

Hours later, after piling themselves back on the ship and cutting through space to the rendezvous point, they were back on the star base.

It felt like a true whirlwind, a few hours of action so packed he could hardly think and now somehow Nico found himself walking the same gray halls, up the same ramp, into the ship, into his empty room. The privacy panels were drawn, the room in near darkness. It was late in the night, not even Command at the ready. They’d meet first thing in the morning, a disgustingly early call time already on his schedule, something he’d have to be dragged out of bed to make.

For the time being, he was alone. Will had marched Thalia straight off to the medbay, hearing no arguments but enough complaints that Nico pitied him greatly. Jason and Piper went off to meet Annabeth wherever she was, and Leo was already setting himself on ship repairs, more than enough crafts lined up for him to choose from. Nico hadn’t felt the slightest bit of temptation to follow any of them.

Nico sat on the edge of the bed, his legs coming out from under him. Quite suddenly, he felt exhausted down to the bone. He felt like he could sleep for a month and still want a nap. 

He dropped his head into his hands. He thought of the look in Thalia’s eyes, the anguish. 

Nico had taken his eye off the ball. It was a fact. If he’d faced one delay in the trees, an extra few minutes spent somewhere else, Thalia would be dead. And it’d be what she wanted. The thought was enough to tighten his throat, painful. 

Things could have gone so differently. He could be standing somewhere completely different, a completely different person. 

Nico didn’t let himself think on it very long. He grabbed for his comm. It only took a few rings until there was a mechanical click, the line connecting.

“I messed up,” Nico muttered into the dark. “I don’t know what to do.” 

There was a pause. “Do you want me to come?” 

Nico swallowed, wholly unsure. He was just figuring out what to say, how to even respond to that, when -

“Send your coordinates,” Bianca decided in a second, crisp in his ear. “Let your leadership know, I’m bringing the Huntresses.” 

[katnissmellarkkk]

how about Katniss’s birthday before the Quell — do we hear much about that? if anything? if not, what about Peeta taking a timeout from his trainer persona to bring her something like a cake? 🥺

I’m always a little insecure when I do post prompts because I don’t know if it’s exactly like the prompt but I actually think it’s like 99 percent close? Which is like, amazing for me because I always twist prompts a little 🤏🏻 and I don’t think I did here! Anyways! I finally wrote this soooo. Well actually I wrote most of it a while back but I finished it and cleaned it up. But anyways, yay! I hope you and everyone else who blesses me by reading enjoy this! It’s short — at least for me. I don’t know the exact word count but … probably too long for a drabble but a short oneshot. Okay anyways, if I keep talking the AN’s going to be longer than the oneshot.

Since the morning after the Quell was announced, I’ve done my best to not cry again about my given fate. Going back into the arena a second time—this time with all experienced killers, who have been friends for decades, no less—was daunting, but one morning of weeping is about all I could afford.

Not that I truly had time to wallow in my own misery. Peeta had me and Haymitch on a tight regimen. Every day he pushes us further, every day he orders us to cut the breaks between circuits shorter, to keep on running, to not lose our momentum, to hit the target again and again and again. And again.

It’s even gotten to the point, as of late, that Peeta’s mother, the witch herself, has forbidden our usage of her precious flour sacks as weights, claiming she still needs the ingredients to keep the bakery running and we’ve already wasted enough.

Her son is rather put out with her — to put it lightly — but for perhaps the first time ever, I’m grateful to the sour woman. Last year, when I cited Peeta’s ability to toss a sack of flour over his shoulder, I didn’t recognize what a true feat it really was. Even after two weeks of attempting to lift the stupid, heavy objects, it still took all of my strength to even get the stupid things off the ground.

Haymitch and me so much as shared a conspicuous smirk when told we no longer have to endure that particular activity.

Of course, Peeta still insists on heavy lifting to gain muscle, trying to find a substitute for the flour sacks in way of buckets filled with gigantic rocks and overfilled water jugs. This doesn’t seem to be of much strain to him or Haymitch — and therefore, not of much help to their training — but I can visibly see the difference in my arms day to day. Having never done much lifting in the past, since it’s hardly necessary for hunting or trapping, it’s particularly fascinating to me, watching my biceps grow larger as Peeta’s insistent training plan marches on.

But Peeta still feels the need to push himself further. Perhaps even more so than me — or our now very sober mentor — he feels the urge to always put additional strain on himself, more and more with every day that passes on by.

And as of today, his dissatisfaction with the lack of heavy weights available for his training finally reached a head when he casually pitched the idea of using me as a weight.

At first, I thought he was kidding. For a solid minute, I just stared at him, waiting for the punchline.

It was only after I glanced at Haymitch’s uncharacteristically earnest face that I realized there was no joke in the matter. I debated refusing for a moment before I sighed, resigning myself to becoming a human leverage.

It took over an hour of Peeta lifting me over his head, of being swung up in his arms, being whirled over his shoulder or seesawed up and down, for me to realize this was actually a nice break for me from the rigorous training. By the day’s end, I’m perfectly content to let my fake fiancé bench press me, throw me up like the sack of flour he covets so badly and whatever else he deems necessary.

It was only later on the walk home, right after Peeta said he needed to stop by the bakery to see his father, that Haymitch predicted the true reason for my day of leisure.

“I suppose that was the boy’s birthday present to you.”

My head whips upwards towards him, shocked. No one has mentioned the date at all as of late. The acknowledgement of the sparse time left until the games is weighing heavy on us all. “How do you know it’s my birthday?”

Haymitch raises an eyebrow. “Because I do,” is all he says finally, as he turns in the direction of his own house now. Just as he reaches his door though, he murmurs, “Happy birthday, sweetheart,” before heading inside.

Ever since the announcement that I’m doomed to be reaped again, my mother and Prim have done just about everything to make things seem okay around the house. Beyond that even. They’ve dedicated themselves to always appearing cheerful, to always having dinner ready for me, to always having a remedy for healing my achy muscles or advice for putting on more weight.

But if they’re usually chipper, tonight they’re downright ecstatic when I cross the threshold. And the reason is all too obvious.

This is likely going to be the last birthday we spend together. And not just of mine, but any of ours.

It strikes me unexpectedly that I’ll never see my own sister grow up, I’ll never see her into adulthood, I’ll never be able to watch her become the talented healer, the wise beyond her years young woman, the nurturing mother she’s doubtlessly destined to be.

And I almost get choked up at the thought. My resolve to not break down into tears like the morning after the president’s announcement nearly crumbles. But I hold it together somehow. By some inexplicable strength deep inside, I hold myself together.

My mother did her best to recreate the lamb stew dish from the Capitol I loved the best and I practically lick my plate. Not just to make her feel good but because all this training has exponentially increased my appetite.

Prim tells me all about school and Lady and a funny man she healed this afternoon, who had a proclivity for telling jokes while she stitched his bleeding arm.

She’s just getting into a pretty fabric she saw in town today when a loud knock interrupts us. My mother glances at me meaningfully, as if urging me to go get the door.

I shoot her a puzzled look, as I’m the least personable member of this family and surely, no one is here to visit me.

“Go on,” she says though, nodding towards the entryway. “Go see who’s there.”

I stand from the table and hesitantly humor her, unsure the entire walk there what could be awaiting me on the other side.

The answer dawns on me as the most obvious thing in the world, as soon as I turn the knob.

And see Peeta standing on my porch. He’s still in the same white shirt he wore earlier, still damp with sweat from the heat outside and the added exertion of lifting my body weight countless times.

But that’s not all I notice. Right off the bat I see that he’s holding something delicate in his hands. I blink once before recognizing what it is.

A birthday cake.

A birthday cake that has been meticulously frosted into a deep pine green. My favorite color, as he knows.

I realize after a moment that my name is cursively splayed across the top in white icing.

“Peeta,” I open my mouth to say something, to say just about anything, but much to my dismay, nothing comes out and I’m stuck fumbling like an idiot in the doorway.

He gives me a tight smile though and it’s the first smile he’s really showed me in weeks, and as he gently pushes the cake into my hands, it strikes me just how much I’ve missed the sight. “Happy birthday, Katniss,” he whispers, his baby blues lingering on my face only for one beat before he quickly turns to make an escape.

Before I can think it through, I’m calling after him. “Peeta, wait!”

Very slowly, he swivels around to face me. “Yeah?”

I freeze, dumbfounded. I don’t actually know what I wish to say now that I have his attention. That I miss him even though I don’t know how I really feel for him? That I plan to trade my life for his in only a few weeks time and all his work and effort to prepare me for the games is useless because it’s him I intend to come back home? That I hate his trainer persona so much and I wish he’d go back to just being my friend again?

That I really miss it when he acted like friend?

Instead all that comes out is a choked invite. “Come in,” I urge, and the plea in my tone is palpable. “Please come in and share this with us.”

He thinks about the proposition for a long moment, leaving me still standing there like an idiot, holding a cake too big to fit in my hands. Finally though, he graciously relents to my request. “Okay,” he murmurs and I swear I see something akin to excitement in his eyes.

And I wonder in the back of my mind how many nights Peeta spends alone, eating these delicious desserts by himself in his too grand dining room.? I wonder if, deep down, he secretly wanted to join me and my family for cake? If he misses our attempt at friendship too?

He generously takes the cake back into his hold, having the advantage of strength over me. Lifting bread-trays and flour sacks all his life made him reasonably strong before our first games. The current training regimen him and I — and Haymitch too — are currently doing has made him remarkably strong.

“Thank you,” I whisper again as he brushes past me in the doorway, as he enters my home and heads in direction of the dining room where Prim will doubtlessly be overjoyed at the sight of the sweet treat.

“You’re welcome, Katniss,” he says again, and flashes me one more smile. This time it’s less shy and with teeth. “Happy birthday.”

Yes, I think to myself as I shut the door behind us. Happy seventeenth birthday to me.

[chanluster]

two types of fireworks | {f} ; mild {c}

oneshot | tangled! au | historical! au | 21.2k words

“ who could be better adventurers than a wanted thief and a girl with magical hair? ”

s u m m a r y > > when you find a notorious thief wounded within the woods you wondered, you heal him, not realising that the same man will lead you to your destination, and the few feelings you’ll develop along the way.

c o n t e n t s > > long haired flynn rider! hyunjin, rapunzel! reader, irritated companions to lovers, a lot of fluff, kkami is a horse, hyunjin gets SOOOO angry with you all the time, teasing, hyunjin gets flustered easily, everyone in skz included cause i miss them everyday, jisung is the villain iMSOSORRY, a few swear words sprinkled throughout, perhaps? sexual tension? never r e a l l y addressed, and of course, some familiar disney scenes

a u t h o r ‘ s  n o t e > > once again, i cannot control myself and wrote double the intended word count!! i hope you like and reblog if enjoy this homies, and remember, long-haired hyunjin domination!!!

back to masterlist

YOU WONDERED WHEN YOU WOULD FINALLY GET OUT OF THE FOREST.

Bag slung over your shoulder, your naked feet skimmed through the soft grass as you trudged on, waiting for an opening within the infinite trees to your destination beyond. 

It was days like this that you wished Mother had a horse at the foot of the tower. Even though it was a creature you had never seen, you had studied its striking figure within the illustrated books your mother gifted on countless birthdays, their natural-coloured coats, long, beautiful faces and poses of them galloping across green fields.

Green fields you wished had greeted you sooner.

The only sound of the entire forest was the rustling of leaves upon branches, woodland creatures here and there scrambling for food, or for shelter within the thousands of trees surrounding you. Even the sun could not break through the dense masses of nature, only slivers of light shooting through the leaves, providing light for your journey. 

Hard. The paths were hard, your feet getting slightly muddied, and even your water was slowly running thin, leather skin holding about a day’s worth of water left. Your food was stocked, collecting apples from the nature above, but you knew you needed a proper meal if you had not a clue of when you were to arrive at your hidden destination.

You knew what you were searching for. You just did not know where to search.

Sighing, you felt your spirits dampen the further you lumbered on, the mass rings of hair wound around your other arm a heavy weight. The locks were endless, making a trail behind you. You tried to gather up as much hair as you could manage, but the damned mess refused to listen. Irritancy furrowed your brows, and you let out a shallow sigh, cursing fate for being so cruel.

Within the trees, you spotted an opening - a sliver of light beyond the tunnel of nature. You gasped, picking up the pace of your feet, running out and breaking free of the leafy barrier.

Before you were not the opening fields you expected, but rather a small pond, cocooned within the trees you ploughed through. The water looked pure, glimmering from the sunlight which now freely fell upon the opening. It was a peaceful sight, but still could not stop the disappointment reaching your face as you slumped your shoulders.

Brilliant.Yet another dead end.

You were about to head for the pond when you heard distant shouting. 

Fear froze over you, expecting your mother breaking through the bushes.

Your instincts had you dashing for the trees again, gathering your hair and hiding behind the bushes. The aggravated voice grew louder, but the closer it came, you realised with confusion that it was not laced with anger. It was laced with pain.

Suddenly, something broke out of the bushes. You nearly let out a childish yelp.

It was the most beautiful man you had ever seen. 

Hell, it was the only man you had ever seen - you would have kept staring in awe were not your features distorted with worry. This man stumbled to a nearby tree looking over the pond, one hand clinging onto the trunk as the other hugged his abdomen, fingers stained with the blood caked upon his turquoise vest. Dear God, there was so much blood.

He whirled, back to the trunk, and slumped down, legs spread before him as his mouth parted, letting out shallow breaths as he tried to stop the bleeding. His head frantically darted, looking everywhere, and then tilted his head back against the wood as he closed his eyes. Sweat matted his locks, beaded down his cheeks, and he hissed as his hand held his bloodied side tighter. His satchel had been discarded before the pond, a few papers and food spilling from the opening.

You watched him whither slowly, fingers threading through your hair. You wanted to help; of course you did, but you held back. Perhaps fear still crept at the back of your neck, but you hid behind the bushes, waiting for what might happen.

Minutes later, you wished you ran to his help instead. The man, after heaving rapidly, left his hand upon the wound, thumping down on the ground, slumping fully against the tree.

Your eyes widened at the realisation. 

In that space of a few seconds, you knew. 

Whoever he was, you had to save him.

Feet nearly stumbling upon huge tree roots, you rushed around the pond. Hair getting caught in a few twigs, you did not glance back as you tugged at the meters of locks, the man’s face now closer in your vision.

You dropped down to where he sagged against the trunk, unrolling your locks from your arm, eyes darting frantically to his figure. Instantly finding the horrific wound, cutting through the fabric and his skin, you slide your hand through curtains of your hair, taking out a long trail and tugging the ends to you. 

With hesitation, but then determined certainty, your hands unbuttoned the man’s vest, taking every single nerve in your body not to glance at his face. The white shirt underneath was stained with blood as well, which you raised up to his top part of his chest, exposing his granite-hard abdomen. You would have even blushed were it not such a grave situation you found yourself in, blood oozing out of the injury.

With a final, long draw of breath, you grabbed the locks of your hair, carefully tying them around the man’s waist. You made sure the strands covered every single ribboned area of his stomach, praying to fate for this miracle. The only injuries you had treated were cuts from paper and burns from hot trays of cupcakes. A slash this deep and serious was going to be another matter entirely.

Once you were done securing the hair, you put your hand upon the locks guarding the injury, and closed your eyes.

The words that left your mouth nearly silenced the forest.

“Flower, gleam and glow.”

A spark.

“Let your power shine.”

You felt the glow hum beneath your fingers.

“Make the clock reverse.

“Bring back what once, was mine.”

You dared not open your eyes as you sang, sensing the miracle of your hair threading itself around the unconscious man, assessing the wound, driving inside and repairing the damage done upon his skin. You dared not stop singing, fearing for his life.

“Heal what has been hurt.”

The magic obliged to your call, slowly knitting the wound, working on the scarring, the loss of blood. 

“Change the Fate’s design.”

The lost flesh formed miraculously underneath your fingertips, tendrils of muscle knitting within itself, saving the abdomen from complete ruination. You carried on, squeezing your eyes further shut.

“Save what has been lost.”

You felt the damp blood dry in the moments, the newly created muscle now raising your hand slightly as warmth radiated around you, courtesy of the otherworldly glow of your hair. It comforted your nerves, still there despite knowing you had brought the man out of grave danger.

“Bring back what once was mine…”

You took a deep breath, both hands upon his wound.

“What once was mine.”

You paused.

Opened your eyes.

There he still was, leaned back before you, dreaming away with a restored peace, lost when he got slashed in his gut. His top half was splayed out before you, abdomen all healed save for a dried blood scattered here and there. You turned to the pond, straining as you cupped some water and splashed it upon the crust, hitching your dress and using the ends to wipe the mess away. 

As you wiped you looked up at his face — it was then you noticed the little details; his closed eyes, the groomed brows — the straight nose, gosh, the full lips, slightly parted mouth. You could not help but stare at the man, sleeping in tranquility with the nature around him. It was almost like he did not possess a grave wound moments before.

You realised when you glanced down that he was still bare waist up, and with heated cheeks raised your hands to the hem gathered at the top of his chest. Your eyes darted, and locked with his open ones, and reverted back to the shirt to yank it down—

You stopped completely in your tracks. 

Widened your eyes.

Tilted your head up to see the man’s opened eyes, just as wide as yours, the lips you shamelessly stared at not so long ago parted more. 

It was a few seconds before the heavy silence was shattered.

With the man’s rather shrill scream.

“OH MY GOD—!”

Suddenly he wasn’t slumped against the tree, but shooting straight up, backing away from you. Stunned, you retreated a few steps too, watching his slender eyes nearly shoot out of his sockets.

“Who are you?! What did you do to me?! How am I not dead—?!” his questions kept coming, head darting to where his satchel lay. He jumped towards it, frantically searching for some kind of weapon only to find a few posters and salted meat. He then perked his head towards you, immediately positioning himself in a fighting stance, fists out.

“Don’t make me fight you, girl!” he exclaimed, warning written in his face. “If I have no sword I can fight with my fists!”

That was a convenient time to whip out a weapon of your own, but you only argued with words.

“I’m not here to hurt you, I promise!” you reasoned, hands raised. 

“Then why were you so close?! Bombarded in my face and fiddling with my shirt?!” he showed off his chest, now covered by the white material, turquoise vest still open. “Oh, dear God, what did you do?!”

“Nothing!” you proclaimed, pointing towards your chest. “I only healed your wounds!” You took a step closer. “You were going to die!”

Hesitantly, the man followed your finger, lifting his shirt up to see his side, completely free of scarring, of the slash that haunted his skin. He then looked to you once more, anger being replaced with pure fear.

He let out another unnecessary scream.

“WITCH!” 

The tree stopped him backing up any further, and he watched you with pure horror, expecting you to grow fangs, form claws and gut you mercilessly. You only regarded the beautiful, yet rather silly man with incredulity.

“I’m not a witch,” you grumbled, crossing your arms, “I just have hair that glows when I sing.”

That did not help your situation at all.

“Because that’s normal, is it not?!” he yelped, and dashed behind the tree, taking notice of your hair. “And having a kingdom's worth of hair on your head isn’t something out of a grim fairytale?!”

“Well that ‘grim fairytale’-like hair is what saved you from death,” you snapped, hand slipping into your satchel, feeling the handle of your frying pan. “Ungrateful man!”

“Witch!” he growled right back.

“Ungrateful man!”

“Witch!”

“Ungrateful man!”

The man soured up, his raven locks caressing his cheeks as the wind rustled the forest. Both of you stared each other down, pan-handle jutting out of the satchel, and the other’s fists raised once more, half of his figure behind the tree still. None of you backed down. None of you dared lose to the other.

Minutes past, the only sound being the water softly lapping in the pond. The man let out a sigh, breaking the stare.

“I’m leaving.”

He picked up his satchel, a stray poster falling to the ground. You watched it descend, asking, “What, where?”

“None of your business.” He dusted himself off, buttoning up his vest. “I can’t waste my time here.”

You ignored his cold answer, and picked up the poster. It advertised the day of the Fireworks, a couple of weeks away, and boasted of the activities happening in the Kingdom of Corona. 

An excited gasp escaped you.

“You!” 

The man turned, frowning. “What now?”

You ran to where he stood, blocking his vision with the poster. “You know of Corona? Do you know where it is?”

Grunting, he waved the paper away from his face. “Of course I do.” He slung his bag over his head. “I was going to go there before I got rudely stabbed.”

A thrilling wave washed over you, barely containing your smile. “You’re still going then, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but—” the man stopped talking.

Began glaring at you.

“You’re not coming with me.”

The smile fell instantly.

“But wait!” You hurried over to him, but he reflexively dodged your advances. “We’re journeying to the same destination!”

“So?” He straightened his vest once more, and turned his icy stare towards you. “That, if I can remember correctly, is not my problem.” 

“But I do not know where the Kingdom is!” You tried to break his shell, the constant rejections of teaming up. 

“Refer to my previous point, witch.”

“I’m not a witch!” you sniped, getting more and more irritated with his discouraging demeanour. “I save you from the claws of oblivion, and this is how you repay me!”

He gritted his teeth. “I never asked you to save me.”

You scoffed, shocked by his total lack of gratitude. “Oh, really?” You finally brought out your own weapon. “Then I can gladly bring you back to your original state!”

The man stared at the black frying pan before bursting into laughter.

His shameless laughter made you even angrier, and you swung the pan back, another bad remark and it’ll hit home.

“A frying pan!” He gasped out, clutching his stomach. “What are you going to do? Fry my food to hurt me?”

You let out a roar as you swung the pan right onto his head.

With a sharp PANG! It banged against his head and the man let out a hideous yelp, gripping his head.

“What are you doing?!” he cried out, doubling over before the pond. 

You only positioned yourself once more, the weapon hovering above your head. “Don’t insult my frying pan ever again. Nor my hair, you bastard.”

He groaned painfully in response, massaging his head to soothe the pain of the metal. “How do you think,” he guttered, looking over his shoulder at you, “I’m ever going to let you come with me after you nearly knocked me out?”

You did not break his stare. “Because I can easily do it again.

“Take me to the Kingdom of Corona. I saved your life, and it’s the least you can do in return.”

Again, the battle of eyes, refusing to surrender. You did not even know the man’s name, but you wished to swing the frying pan upon him, really make sure to wreck that awfully beautiful face.

That made you scowl further. Why was he so ravishing?

Whether it was your stubbornness, or the promise of another beating, the man stood straighter, a heavy exhale leaving his lips.

“Fine. You win.”

He turned fully to you, not leaving your eyes. 

“You may accompany me to the Kingdom.”

The minute the words left his mouth, you flung your arms back, letting out a howl of victory.

“I’m going to see the fireworks!”

You ran around the tree, hair looping around the trunk as you hooted in pleasure. “I’m going to see the fireworks, I’m going to see the fireworks, I’m going to see the fireworks!

The man, still caressing his head, hissed at the commotion you made. “Oh, be quiet!”

Ignoring him completely, you continued your unpredictable running, until the former trudged up and stopped you in his tracks, gripping you by your arms.

“Stop!”

You returned his sour expression with a brilliant smile. “I can’t help it! I’ve been wanting to see the fireworks for a very long time.”

“Whatever.” He let you go, looking around the forest. “But before we go anywhere…”

He settled his eyes upon you. For once, there wasn’t any scorn alight in them. 

“At least you can tell me your name.”

You pondered a bit. “Tell me yours first.”

The man rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He held out his hand.

“Hyunjin. Hwang Hyunjin, at your service, even though I don’t wish to be.”

You stared at his hand. 

“Why did you raise your hand at me?” You asked in confusion, pan still in yours.

The man — Hyunjin — regarded you in disbelief. “You...you don’t…?” He cocked his head, retracting his hand. “Where did you come from, witch?”

“Again with the witch!” You exclaimed, cutting distance to his face, hovering the pan under his chin in warning. 

“How about,” he started, lowering your weapon with his hand, “You pause the constant threats, and tell me your name?”

With a cautious eye still upon him, you obliged. “____.”

“____,” he repeated. “____,” he continued, as if tasting the very name that identified you. “Well, then, ____, the first thing we’re to do is search for Kkami.”

“Kkami?” Your eyes followed his every move, as he brought out his own leather skin, filling it with the water from the pond. You reflected his move, replenishing your own water.

“My horse,” he clarified, placing the skin within his satchel, closing the straps. “He must not be far.”

That snippet of information nearly had you screaming. “You have a horse?!” You asked eagerly, earning a hiss from the man.

“What are you so excited for? It’s just a horse.” He then sighed, tying locks of his hair in a half-up ponytail. “Yes, I do have a horse. So does half the kingdom.”

“I’ve never seen a horse before my eyes,” you explained, wonder misting your eyes, yet clearing your mind. You knew you had to find this ‘Kkami’ soon.

Hyunjin glanced at you, curiosity knitted onto his features. “You really do surprise me. It’s as if you’ve never left your home in your life.”

You could only offer him a smile. “You can say that again.”

“Come.” He started up a rather fast walk, separating the bushes with his hands. “He must not be far.”

You followed his trail, sparing one last look over your shoulder at the pond, then turning towards this Hwang Hyunjin, the man who would lead you to your destination. 

The Fireworks of Corona.

For the next hours calls for Kkami were being pursued by the two of you, with little to no result, for a horse could not possibly call back on his searchers. Hyunjin showed no mercy in his marching, and you refused to let him show you mercy, despite your legs on the brink of collapsing.

After another hour the both of you broke away from the forests, and found a cobblestone road, leading to an unknown destination. Signs decorated the pole standing on the opposite side of the road, and the man stepped onto the path, assessing the places mentioned.

“Ah!” He spoke out after. “The Wolf’s Den.” 

“What is that? Your home?”

“An inn, not far from here.” He looked to his left, the continuing pathway. “I stop there often in between journeys, so perhaps Kkami went there to wait for me.”

“Well, what are you standing around here for?” You sprung up in front of him, a tired grin etched into your features, a beacon of hope now beyond the road. That inn better be within the next ten steps.

Sure enough, there were only mere minutes of walking before you set your eyes upon a wooden cottage, it’s sign, displaying The Wolf’s Den, swaying within the cool woodland breeze. Distant noise was heard while you both walked towards the inn, howling and boisterous laughter ringing through the forest.

Hyunjin let out a sigh of relief, picking up the pace of his stride. 

Confused, you followed his line of sight, and let out an excited gasp at what he ran towards. 

Horses. Real horses, right before your eyes.

There were different colours of the animal, slick brown and black and white coats, but the one the man strolled towards, almost a skip in his step, possessed the opposite colours, black and white scattered upon its body, an unusual yet beautiful combination. The horse softly neighed when its owner laid a nurturing hand upon him, whispering greetings to him. 

It was so...ethereal. Even if horses were common animals, seeing one for the first time from your own eyes rather than the pages of a children’s book made all the difference. 

Hyunjin, feeling your blatant staring, glanced back, a groomed brow raised. “What is the unnerving staring for?”

You snapped out of the bubble of your thoughts, instantly souring over his comment. “I was just looking at your horse,” you mumbled. 

“Oh my. You really were not kidding, then.” The other brow then joined its partner. “Are you going to faint if we come across a donkey?”

You gave him a scowl. “Shut up!”

He huffed out a laugh, patting his horse once more before walking around to the entrance, tilting his head up to assess the whole inn. He then looked past at you, still admiring Kkami. “I’m going to go inside for a bit. You stay out here.”

Again, you perked up, furrowing your brows. “Why can’t I come in?”

Gritting his teeth, he said, “Don’t argue! The inn’s full of madmen, and you’ll get scared.”

“You don’t know that!” you cross your arms, shooting him a mean glare. “I can take care of myself!”

“Just stay outside!” he exclaimed, wrenching open the door and storming inside, a loud bell indicating his presence as the door closed behind him.

You scream in anger at the door as if Hyunjin was still there in front of you. Dear God, he didn’t have to be such a pain in the rear!

Stubbornly, you stepped right to the door, opening it just a little bit, sticking your head inside. 

Your eyes widened at the sight of the inn.

About a few dozen men were creating disorder, drinking away in big glasses, shouting and hollering, even threatening to throw punches at one another in a rather strange state of mind. Sweet singing was heard over the melody of the piano, a man’s rich voice adding softness to the anarchy. You noticed men stumbling around tables and slurring their words, your curiosity being stained with a little fear. 

Why were these men acting like fools?

You opened the door a little wider, hand on it still as you stepped inside, the other hand holding onto your bundles of hair.

Your eyes settled on Hyunjin squeezing past the crowd, walking up to the counter, where a line of men were already settled, different coloured drinks in their hands. A handsome man, of similar age to your companion, greeted him with a dazzling smile. “Hyunjin!” he welcomed warmly, raising his hands.

You saw your grumpy companion sit down on the high chairs, not particularly returning the smile.. “Chan,” he started, putting his elbows on the counter top. “Any news?”

“The news is that you should rest,” this Chan countered, pouring a dark-red liquid in a glass, sliding it to his friend. “When was the last time you slept properly?”

His concern was waved off, as Hyunjin sipped on his drink, completely unaware of your presence. “When Jisung didn’t run off with my treasures.”

Chan’s smile faded, as he looked frantically around, lowering his voice. “What? Jisung betrayed you?”

Hyunjin kept darting his eyes back to you. “Let’s not dwell too much on it. My main objective is to find him.” 

The bartender parted his mouth, worry in his features. “And...and what will you do when you find him?”

You saw the man’s face darken. “I will make him regret fucking with me.”

A small gasp escaped you, hands coming to your sides. This fury was of another scale entirely, and it made you almost shudder at his need for vengeance.

You were about to take a step further when the door shut completely. 

The bell rang, a lot louder than you had imagined. 

The chaos quietened at the sound, all eyes turning to the door.

Then at you, with all your seventy feet locks, trailing out the shut door.

And if that didn’t ennerve you entirely, then the look on Hyunjin’s face as he slowly got up from his seat, that same cold fury now focused on you, definitely did. 

You nearly yelped out a cry of help.

The melody of the piano continued, and before all the men could come pounce on you, your hands dropped the tumbles of hair, falling at your feet as you grabbed your pan and raised it in warning.

Hyunjin thundered past the others, though, hair bobbing with each step as he stopped right behind the pan you raised in defence.

“I told you to stay outside,” he guttered.

You only craned your neck back, matching his stare. “You do not tell me what to do.”

“I swear to God—”

He was cut off when Chan eased past his customers, stopping beside Hyunjin as he widened his eyes at your arrival.

“Oh my,” he started, a small glance at the pan. “Miss, none of us intend to hurt you, do put the...your weapon down.”

Your eyes did not stray from Hyunjin’s. “One of you does.”

The owner of the tavern raised a brow at his friend. “Well, he won’t hurt you as long as he’s under this roof.”

He then blessed your eyes with a smile. “The name’s Bang Chan,” he said, hand stretched out. You took it, just how the ladies in your books did, and felt the expected kiss on the back. “What may I call you?”

“____,” you offered. 

“Don’t let Hyunjin’s usually foul demeanour dampen your spirits,___,” Chan continued, leading you further into the tavern, the men unable to keep their eyes from you.

“Oh, so he’s always like this?” you mused, the already sour glare grilling into you. 

The man leading you to a seat laughed, a single cheek dimpling. “Don’t you worry about him,___.” he snapped his fingers, the man playing the piano stopping, being replaced with another as he came down the stairs. “Worry about what drink you would like.”

“No!” Hyunjin cut in immediately, daggering the men around him with his gaze. “Do not even think about giving her anything.”

You scoffed louder than usual so the long-haired man would hear. “I would very much like a drink, thank you, Mr. Bang.” 

The manager chuckled at the game of cat and mouse, pulling a seat for you to settle down into. “Chan is perfectly fine, ____.” He then turned to his friend. “Don’t fret too much, I’m only offering some ale.”

As if on cue, another fine, slender man, who was just playing the piano, presented you with a huge mug of the diluted alcohol, a soft smile etched onto his lips. You melted at his demeanour, accepting the object with a thank you. He then glanced at your companion, smile slightly fading.

“I assume you have heard about Jisung?”

Hyunjin cocked his head, a watchful eye still on you as you took a careful sip, eyes widening at the slight, sweet tang to the drink. “Of course. The bastard tried to stab me.”

“Dear God,” was his answer. “Are you alright?”

“Yes.” The feline gaze was more prominent, and you did not know why you began to drink the ale a little faster. “I escaped death...perhaps by witchcraft.”

You held in the urge to roll your eyes. 

Hyunjin then fully focused his attention upon the musician. “Wait, Seungmin, how did you know of this?”

“Jisung came to the inn.” 

Chan looked to his coworker. “I did not see him arrive.”

Seungmin shook his head, you right in the middle of these men as you finished your first mug. Another sweet customer poured you some more from his serving, and you clinked your drink with his, continuing to watch. “You were tending to Kkami. It was very quick, he came and went.”

“What did he tell you?” Hyunjin demanded. 

“Well, firstly he told me you and him had gone your separate ways.” Seungmin propped a finger of his chin, thinking some more. “Which made me a little sceptical, since both of you are joined at the hip. Anyway, he said you gave him whatever you both had picked up on your adventures, and that he was going to Corona and sell them off.”

A curse was emitted over this information. You wanted to know why that was such a problem, but in reality all you wanted was more ale. “Chan?” You called, holding out the mug. The owner of the inn immediately took care of your request, filling the mug to the brim and setting it upon the wooden table. 

“That is quite enough,” Hyunjin declared, trying to pry the drink from you when you slapped his hand away, shooting him with what you thought was a terrifying glare. 

In reality, the men around him began to laugh at your attempt of intimidation, which looked more like a child pouting over a scolding. Your companion tried again to take the mug away but this time you hugged the drink as tightly as you could, some of the contents spilling lightly onto your top. 

“I swear—” he muttered, but then angrily shook his head, dismissing you entirely.  “Seungmin, do you know when he plans to go to Corona?”

The said-man furrowed his brows in thought. “He did seem in a bit of a rush. I reckon he has already found buyers and is riding to the city as we speak.”

Hyunjin poked his tongue out under his cheek, clearly not content with this new information. Chan, sensing his discomfort, put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry too much,” he reassured him. 

“I must leave for the capital now,” the younger said, and the other knitted his brows in irritancy.

“But you just arrived!”

“I can’t let Jisung get away with this,” Hyunjin muttered, and suddenly the words of his departure truly hit you.

“NO!”

All the men flinched at you shrill call, the one you knew the most sending you his typical bitter glare. “You, firstly,” he drawled, pointing an accusatory finger at you, “Need to stop drinking!”

“But I’ve only had two mugs!” you exclaimed. “And it only tastes like water!”

“It’s three, actually,” he corrected, propping both hands on his hips. “And I do not want some whiny, drunk witch while I travel.”

“Hyunjin!” Chan scolded, instantly at your side. “Why are you calling the poor girl a witch?”

“Mr. Chan,” you recited, as if you were a bard about to sing poetry, “This insufferable man has been abusing me with this term all day!”

A gasp escaped the owner of the bar, who then frowned at the man accused. “You monster!”

“Dear God,” he mumbled, ready to leave the inn then and there. It was a shame that he owed you a favour, or else he would have abandoned you in the forest.

Hwang Hyunjin did not like doing favours for others. Even if they derived from pretty young ladies with magical hair. 

A scowl marred his full lips at the strange thought. 

“I am not leaving,” you declared, dragging him down to reality as you took a hefty gulp of your ale. You smacked the cup down, eyes never leaving his. “And you are going to stay with me till I am done.”

That’ll show him. You were extremely confident that he would listen, now that you told him off. Your brain, now a little fuzzy, praised you for standing your ground, along with a smiling Chan and Seungmin. Wait, did Chan have a twin? He did not before, so why was there two of him before you?

“Oh, hurry up, then!” The man roared, and you flinched from his tone before the words settled in. That then caused you to harbour a complacent smile upon your face, and when he caught sight of it he let out a groan. “And for God’s sake, get me something to drink!”

Seungmin obliged, chuckling at his friend’s tantrum, and Chan only ruffled his half-ponytail, messing it up slightly. “That’s the spirit, Hyunjin,” he said. “Learn to relax.” 

“How can I relax when my ex-partner is about to sell off everything we made together?”

“Even Jisung would need his rest,” the elder countered, sitting the younger down onto the seat opposite yours, which looked a little less sharp even with your blinking. Were these the consequences of drinking? Were there consequences for drinking?

Well, you did not seem to care. Not when it tasted so divine. 

“If I do not catch the bastard because of this wit-ow!” he was interrupted by a pinch of his gut, done by Chan over his lack of manners. “I mean girl!

“If this girl—” he knifed you with a look, which you returned with a feline grin, as you drank some more. “—is the reason I do not catch Jisung, I will willingly kill her in his place.”

“Whatever you say!” you hollered much too loud, earning a deep snarl from the man as Seungmin curved through the customers and brought more drinks, propping his friend’s drink before him. 

Hyunjin wrapped his fingers around the black handle, and on cue, you raised your own mug. 

“To catching whoever annoyed pony boy this time!” you declared in a mighty roar.

Laughter rang from all around the tavern, yet the man you targeted only grumbled, awkwardly clutching tufts of his locks before taking a swig of his drink. 

Alcohol was shared throughout the evening, an airy and boisterous atmosphere lingering in the candle-lit room, orchestrated by you as you told your dream of seeing the famous fireworks of Corona. You informed them through ale-tainted words of their importance for you, as they happened on your birthday without fail every year, and when the men around you heard they all hooted an early happy birthday to you, all toasting to you and your contentment. 

At one point, at what you thought was your fifth glass, you scrambled on top of the table, to Hyunjin’s absolute horror, and you requested another toast.

“To people like me and you!” you exclaimed to the tavern, and everyone cheered so loudly that you thought your ears would lose its purpose. 

You then had the brilliant idea to try and jump down from the table - why, you were ready to take the leap when you heard a frightened yelp. Looking down, blinking hard to differentiate one man from another, you saw Hyunjin shooting up from his seat, arms reaching out.

With your mouth parted you felt his long, slender hands grip each side of your waist, and a small gasp escaped you as you as he lifted you in his arms, setting you down upon the tavern stone as quickly as he picked you up. His hands nearly left their place on you when you looked into his eyes, yours so wide at what he did he reflected your action.

Even in the chaos of the tavern around you, you found slight peace within his stone-cold eyes.

The tranquility was short-lived, when he shook his head, hands straying as they gripped the empty mug, turning to Chan, who was downing his own third beer of the night. “I’m going to take my leave now,” he said. 

“But it is past dusk!” The owner stood his ground, gathering all the empty mugs. “I cannot have you trotting about in this forest.

“And look—” he pointed to you, who was asking around for yet another mug-full of ale, being guiltily refused by the men surrounding you. “—she is in no state to travel. You both need rest.”

“We are fine,” Hyunjin insisted. “I will take care of the damned witch.”

“Stop it,” Chan warned, setting the objects upon the counter. “Just because she has hair which could wrap around our inn ten times, doesn’t mean she’s a witch.”

“Pony boyyy!”

Grimacing, Hyunjin turned to catch you, offering him a lop-sided smile as you stumbled up to him. “Ponyboy, serve me some ale!”

“Oh my God,” he muttered, looking you over, assessing your rather ridiculous state. “____, we are leaving.”

“Leaving?!” You repeated one horror. “But we cannot leave now!”

“That is what I am saying too!” Chan chimed in. 

Hyunjin did not acknowledge his friend’s comment, though. Only your refusal, as he propped his hands on his hips, leaning into you with brows furrowed. 

“___,” he whispered, and, oh, why was your breath abandoning you? “You come with me, or I can easily leave you here. You carry on drinking, hmm?”

Well, there it was. Of course, all you wanted to do at the time was drink till only the Den’s ale ran through your veins, but in reality, you knew your situation. The fireworks were mere days away, and although you would have gladly asked any of the others to accompany you to spare the agitation of this long-haired man, you could not dump yourself onto his friends. At least the former owed you a favour.

You had to see the fireworks. And only Hwang Hyunjin could show you in time.

“Fine,” you mumbled, but Hyunjin raised a hand to his ear, mocking a confused expression. 

“Wait, I’m sorry, what were you saying?” 

“Damn you, I said fine!” you exclaimed right into his ear, making him flinch. “I’m coming with you!” 

His amusement had not faded entirely, though, as a ghost of a smile still lingered on his lips. He turned to Bang Chan, who already had his arms held out. “You better not die,” he mused, and the long-haired man only scoffed before hugging his dear friend. 

Seungmin, then playing on the piano, waved his hand in goodbye, sending a flying kiss Hyunjin’s way, smiling adorably when the latter rolled his eyes. 

Chan also kissed your hand in respect, holding onto to it as you tried to steady yourself. “Farewell, ____,” he said with a radiant smile. “We will try and find you both in the capital if we can find the time.”

“Thank you for the drinks, Mr. Chan!” you yelled with too much enthusiasm, earning a chuckle from the man. “I wish I could repay you, but-”

“There is no need,” he countered kindly, waving off your concern. “Any friend of Hyunjin’s is a friend of mine.”

Scrunching your nose at the thought, you found the said-man already at the door, calling for you to hurry up or else he’ll dump you here and go alone. Sticking your tongue out, you bid your remaining farewells, waving to Seungmin before whirling, the whole tavern chanting goodbye to you as you followed, rather clumsily, Hyunjin out of The Wolf’s Den.

The cool, night air kissed your face as you stepped out into the forest, blinking excessively to familiarise yourself with your surroundings. Soft neighing was heard beside you, and you turned to the sound, finding Hyunjin going through his satchel, now strapped upon Kkami. The boy spared a glance towards you before saying, “Let’s get going.”

You looked at the horse, and suddenly you realised how big the animal really was. You feared even trying to slide your foot in the stirrup, knowing you would fall flat on your rear. 

Hyunjin, noticing your uncertainty, huffed out a malicious chuckle. “Oh, so now the bold little witch is scared, now? Of riding a horse?”

“The pan is right beside me,” you warned, wishing your glare would have intimidated the man who teased you. In reality, it only made him laugh some more. “And you already know I’ve never seen a horse in real life, let alone ride one.”

The man watched you rather pityingly, stroking Kkami’s mane before sighing. “Come here, then,” he started, patting the saddle. 

You tilted your head, confused. “For what?” You scowled at him, lower lip jutting out. “I am not going anywhere near you.”

“Well then, I hope you enjoy walking in forests at midnight,” he said, holding onto the reins as he propped one foot atop the stirrup. “All alone.”

He was about to hoist himself upon his horse when you groaned out, running to him, hair trailing after you. “Fine! Help me get up the bloody animal!”

Shaking his head, he descended upon the grass before you walked right up to Kkami, a little too big for your liking. He inhaled, a little too loudly, and then his hands gripped your waist, hoisting you up. 

You nearly yelped at the contact but remembered to grip onto the reins, propping one leg over the other. Your dress hitched a little higher with the distance, and you felt the eyes of your companion upon the exposed skin for barely a second before he grasped the pommel of his saddle, and climbed atop the horse. 

It was then you noticed the sheer closeness of him, right behind you, even more so when he leaned forward, taking the reins from you, his head hovering near yours. If you were not influenced by alcohol, you would have screamed at him for daring to approach you, but you were influenced, enough for a strange, sensational feeling to hit your gut. You tried your best to ignore it as you swiped the air with your raised pan, holding onto your bundles of hair.

“To the Kingdom, Pony boy!”

“Oh, be quiet!” Was his answer before snapping the reins, Kkami instantly obliging.

You instantly lurched back at the sheer force of the horse’s galloping, a shuddering breath whooshing out of you as you collided with Hyunjin’s chest. The animal picked up the pace immediately and swept through the vast expanse of the forest, the light of the moon guiding your way. You held onto the pommel of the saddle, occasionally letting yourself lean against the man behind you. If he noticed you closing the distance, he did not say anything of it.

Soon, the ball of light which accompanied you on your journey was halfway through its own, indicating that midnight had long passed. Fatigue crept up your mind, but with every bounce of the horse had you perking up, irritation marring your features.

“Hyunjiiin,” you whined, watching trees upon trees sweeping past you. “Can we rest already?”

You rather felt more than heard his sigh. “We need to get to the capital.” He snapped the reins, urging Kkami to gallop faster. “It’s already a two-day journey, we need to be as fast as possible.”

This was not acceptable in your mind. Holding onto your hair, you looked over your shoulder, catching your guide watching his path ahead. “But Hyunjin, I am tired!”

“That sounds more like a personal problem to me, ____,” he only said, raising a brow at you. The pathways became thinner, branches barely missing your heads. 

“Hyunjiiiiin!”

“What?!” he demanded, turning a right, past the signs. “Stop vexing me, already!”

“Pony boy, I will jump off Kkami if you don’t listen to me!” You warned, already sliding slightly off the saddle. With slight concern you realised that the horse was riding a little too fast for your drunken liking.

“Oh, I dare you to,” the man growled in your ear, already so irritated with your constant rambling. You, on the other hand, found no fear from his threat, only wishing he had not dared you to do something so risky.

Because now, you were going to do just that.

A thunderous shout escaped Hyunjin as you swiped your left leg over, sitting sideways upon the horse and ready to jump off and to your very possible death. With one hand guiding the reins his other immediately stopped you, wrapping around your stomach and pulling you straight against his chests.

“What in fine heavens are you doing?!” The man screamed in anger, causing you to wince. Kkami slowed with the pull of the reins. 

You looked up at him, wide eyes with confusion. “Why, what you dared me to!” You answered, as if it was a reasonable action to commit.

Hyunjin did not seem to agree with you on this. “You...you—”

“If you do not stop over, Pony Boy, I will jump once again!” you warned him, already wanting to squirm out of his grip if the damned man was not so strong.

You then flinched when an enraged cry escaped Hyunjin, pulling harshly on KKami’s reins. On command, the horse began to slow its galloping, and when your companion searched for a place to stay he spotted a little opening within the trees, a plain, grassy area among the oaks and bushes. Hyunjin, leading the group into this space, sighed in relief when he saw a little pond among the greenery, and stopped his horse before the calm waters.

The man, swinging his leg carefully behind you, got off the horse, and you waited for him to bring you down, only for him to create distance between you two as he propped his satchel before a large oak tree.

“Ponyboyyy,” you called, but he only looked back, knifing you with a glare. 

“Oh, so now you’re afraid to get off the horse?” he taunted, fisted hands upon his hips. “What about ten bloody minutes ago when you were ready to jump to your death?”

“I was a different person then.”

“No!” he countered right away, practically ripping out an apple from his bag. “No, you are still the same, drunk, witch who keeps putting a giant dump on my plans!”

You had the audacity to giggle. “I did not take any dumps on your plan, silly! In fact, was it not me who saved you?”

“Oh, be quiet!” he only demanded, making you laugh a little uncontrollably. 

“Will you help me down, already?” you sang out, only to irritate your companion some more. “Or will I have to risk breaking my legs?”

The prolonged silence had you nearly sliding off the horse when you heard his heavy footsteps, harsh grumbling sounding from the trees until Hyunjin advanced to where you sat, dropping your locks of hair upon the ground. Strong hands held onto your waist, and you grabbed onto his shoulders quicker than you thought, clinging onto him as he descended you from Kkami, neighing from the lack of passengers.

His hands left your sides instantly, and you did not know why you missed their presence. Perhaps the alcohol messed with your mind a little too much.

You watched as Hyunjin began to collect some wood, a few thick branches from the trees and bushes scattered around the grasslands. Hair trailing behind, you walked to where he dumped the wood beside the pond, settling yourself with your satchel strapped to you.

Your eyes lingered on him still when he sat down beside you, maintaining a distance as he brought out his flint and steel. Creating fiction, he swiped against the materials until a spark was ignited, and quickly he brought it near the wood until the spark caught on. The man began to blow softly as the fire expanded, catching onto every twig and branch until it spread to the very ends of the wood, illuminating the empty expanse. 

Hyunjin brought out a few edibles, while you hugged yourself a little tighter, the past-midnight air powering over the fire. He looked over the strips of meat, and slid his eyes to your satchel.

“Pass me your pan.”

You squint your eyes at him. “And why do you want my pan?”

The man cocked his head, locks of raven hair spilling over his shoulder. “Why would I want a frying pan, ____?” 

“Don’t be smart with me!” You chanted, opening up your satchel, the black utensil in display. 

“Just give me the damned thing,” he ordered, holding out a hand. You, on the other hand, curled a smile upon your lips as you brought it out, refusing to give him the pan.

“What is the magic word?” You asked, all sweet and sugary.

Hyunjin’s brows dipped in annoyance. “Now!”

“Wrong!” You sang out, swinging the pan in your hand. The gesture seemed to tick the man off even more. “Guess again.”

“____!” He snapped, and you let out a cackle at his reaction. “I am extremely tired and hungry, so stop toying with me and hand me the bloody frying pan.”

“Fine!” You responded, and did not realise the full intensity of you whacking the pan to him till it hit Hyunjin right in the face.

A pained groan escaped him as he dropped his meat, hand instantly rushing to his face to cover the scratch marring his cheek. You let out a shocked gasp, eyes instantly looking at his covered face.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry,” you began, hands reaching to his wrists, but he turned away from you, hissing. 

“Damn it,” he cursed, pulling away slightly, and with slight distress saw an angry cut across his cheek. “Are you crazy?”

“Hyunjin, I’m so, so, so sorry, please—” you were about to beg for forgiveness when you had an idea. 

“Oh yes!” you exclaimed, which was not received well with the injured beside you. You ignored his grumbling, and grabbed his wrist. “Wait, Ponyboy! Stop covering your face!”

“Stop calling me Ponyboy!” he retorted, but that was not important when you knew how to fix your little mistake. 

You brought his hands from his face, and you blinked several times to notice the slash of the rusty pan. “Wait, stay still—”

“What are you trying to do?” he demanded, trying to pry your hands off but then you impaled him with your stare. 

“Ponyboy, let me help.”

He matched your glower. “What are you going to do, huh? Save me again?”

You did not answer him, separating a small section of your hair as you wrapped it lightly around your finger. You then reached that hand out, bracing yourself for the touch.

The first caress of your fingers against Hyunjin’s cheek had him completely freezing his complaints. 

Noticing, you were careful — so, so careful, when you relished the softness of his skin. It was incredibly unfair; had this man not travelled places, gotten himself in filthy situations, only for his skin to be flawless? You knitted your brows at this detail.

“I’m going to sing, now, okay?” you murmured to him. “Do not be scared over what happens.”

“Oh, because something magical is going to happen, no?” he taunted, eyes darting between you and you hair-engulfed fingers. 

You only smiled at his ignorance before you closed your eyes. 

Wait, how did the song go again? 

Oh yes. I remember. Stupid ale. I’m never drinking again.

You parted your mouth and began to sing.

“Flower, gleam and glow.”

Hyunjin stopped breathing.

“Let your power shine.

Make the clock reverse.

Bring back what once, was mine.”

Hwang Hyunjin stopped breathing, ceased completely because the moment the words fluttered from your mouth, the moment your hair began to glow all over, like molten lava slowly spreading over a volcano, he did not know how to function.  

You continued to sing, distinctly aware of his eerie stillness as the hair, brushing against his cheek, performed its healing on the cut, forming more flesh from the damaged skin and repairing itself.

“Heal what has been hurt.

Change the Fate’s design.”

The verses rolled off your tongue, never opening your eyes as your fingers caressed his skin, wonderfully warm underneath you as additional warmth from your hair radiated all around the opening. The fire seemed so insignificant now, when you possessed all the light in the world, threaded within the locks of your hair.

And Hyunjin only watched, eyes starstruck over your transformation.

“Save what has been lost.

Bring back what once was mine…”

At last, you opened your eyes, meeting with the sole man in the forest. His awe-filed gaze beheld you, in all your celestial glory, and more warmth radiated from you, specifically from your cheeks. 

You nearly forgot to end the healing poem.

“What once was...mine.”

The glow lingered when you closed your mouth. Your fingers lingered along his cheek.

His eyes, too, lingered upon yours. Almost unable to stray. 

Even when his hesitant hand raised to your fingers, feeling the cut on his skin - now gone, courtesy of your witchcraft.

No. Not witchcraft. Magic.

“I…” he tried to say, but his words were paused, crippled under your fantastical abilities. “It...it is healed.”

You felt your hair’s light begin to dim. “I do not lie, Ponyboy.”

His gaze darted all over your face, one glance at your parted lips and felt another sense of warmth heating his face. “Hmm. I guess not.”

Something within you wished he would lean a little closer, share some of the heat which you were losing the longer you stayed silent. You dared not take the step, despite your entire mind begging you to stop being a coward. 

Come on, Ponyboy. Do not fear like I do.

Perhaps it was only wishful thinking. 

For the man clasped your fingers, and brought them down from his face, the hair curled around loosening. His hand, letting yours go, strayed to his side, where the damned frying pan lay discarded. 

Hyunjin did not feel much like cooking anymore. 

“We should sleep,” he said, leaning against the tree trunk. “There is still a day’s journey left for Corona.”

You only nodded, rounding up your locks and attempted to create a make-shift bed from the volume. He watched you work, shivering slightly from the icy night air, despite the fire still burning.

When finished, you dusted your dress, laying down upon the hair-bed, facing Hyunjin’s left, the side of his face darkened by the direction of the moonlight. He spread his leg before him, sighing out, and crossed his arms, closing his eyes. 

Even then, he heard your teeth chattering.

Of course, he could always ignore it. It was not like him to care for the wellbeing of others, especially those who managed to piss him off every time they opened their mouth.

He glanced at you.

There you were, knees raised to your chest, curled up in a little ball with your masses of hair, engulfing you almost completely. Even with your magical advantages you trembled under the midnight chill, cursing nature for being too, literally, cold. 

Hyunjin cursed too, but himself, when he took off his turquoise vest, sliding it off his arms, and stretched towards you. 

It was your turn to still under another’s presence, as the leather attire settled on you like a blanket, instantly warming you under the shade of the oak trees. You let out a soft hum at the heat, and the man widened his eyes at the reaction. He found it annoyingly endearing.

“Thank you, Ponyboy,” you murmured to him, a lazy gaze on him. 

He did not say anything in return. Only went back to his original position, fingers pinching his hair grip, sliding it out as his locks escaped from the tie, cascading his shoulders as he smoothed them down. He then sat down, leaning against the tree, spreading a leg before him.

A comfortable silence settled upon the both of you, save for the leaves rustling from the breeze and the sound of crickets scattered around the forest. You closed your eyes, fatigue creeping over you, but you held on to your conscious, a few unanswered questions in mind. 

“Hey, Ponyboy?”

You heard, rather than see, the man sigh.

“Hmm?”

Keeping an eye closed, you observed his lack of movement, a hand upon his raised knee. “Why did you agree to letting me come with you?”

A soft scoff emitted from him. “Because you would have knocked me out with that damned frying pan if I said no.”

“No I would not!” you argued, but when he shifted his eyes to you in disbelief, you found yourself doubting your own words. “Well, well...you would have defended yourself just fine!”

“Whatever you say,” he said, facing ahead once more. 

The quiet was blanketed upon the both of you once more, yet you still looked at him. Dear God, nature was truly unjust for making him so ethereal. 

“Is there something else you wish to ask me, witch?”

You pouted at the name. “Do not call me that.”

“And you can keep calling me Ponyboy?”

The mention of the endearment had you giggling once again. “And what about it,” you mused, smirking,”Ponyboy?”

You smiled harder when Hyunjin tutted. “You are truly...impossible!”

A laugh escaped you, you shifting in your bed of hair. You could not help biting your cheek, as you wished to say one more thing to your companion, the man who had closed his eyes, ready to sleep.

“I can feel you looking at me,” he said, making you blink away the slight daze you were in. 

You bit your lip before parting your mouth. “I…” you brought his vest closer to yourself. 

“I just wanted to say thank you.”

Hyunjin opened his eyes.

“For what?”

“You know…” you ran a hand over his turquoise vest. “This. The inn...letting me come with you in general.” He was about to open his mouth to object, but you stopped him. “No, shush! You did not have to.”

He rested his stare upon you, locking his hands over his knee. “You saved me from death, ____. It is the least I can do.”

“Well,” you murmured. “Thank you anyway. For putting up with me.” you let out a huff. “Drunk and sober.”

A small chuckle emitted from him, raking his locks back. “I am never letting you drink again.”

“I bet.” you could not help the slight burning of your cheeks. “I must have been such a bane to your existence this entire time. I would not have been surprised if you left me at that inn.”

There was a pause after, and you figured he was tired of talking so you closed your eyes, ready to lose yourself to temporary oblivion. 

Then you heard his whisper. 

“I would never do that, ____.”

You dared not look at him. God, you could feel him looking at you, but you did not dare, for you feared what would happen if you matched your stare. 

So you kept your eyes close, the image of a certain long-haired man lingering in your mind as you slept.

And the certain long-haired man you thought of, slumped against his tree, only watched you drift away to another world, wondering whether you truly were the bane of his existence.

The answer he received, as he closed his own eyes, scared him.

For no matter how drunk, how tenacious you might be, he would still not have abandoned you at the inn.

He could not have abandoned you at the inn. Anywhere, for that matter.

It was that rather strange thought, and his even stranger heart rate, which finally had him joining you in slumber.

THE TWO OF YOU TRAVELLED FOR ANOTHER TWO DAYS BEFORE YOU REACHED YOUR DESTINATION.

By that time you had fully recovered from your drunken state, and went through with the dire consequences that brought with it. Of course, Hyunjin made sure to mock you as your head hurt throughout the journey, and only ceased when you whipped out the frying pan, promising to hit him properly this time. 

You both were actually arguing over the last slice of cheese when you looked towards the path, and spotted the giant, cream-coloured turrets, shooting up in the sky, peeking out from the trees. You let out a scream then, making Hyunjin nearly drop the cheese, and you took the reins from the boy as Kkami galloped faster towards the kingdom. 

“Slow down, ____!”

But you did not listen to him, your hair about to fall from the horse had your companion not held onto the masses, and your blood began to thrum under your skin when the lining of the trees broke.

An excited scream lurched out of you.

A baby pink bridge stretched beyond your vision, guiding you to the entrance of the kingdom. It was plated in solid gold, and several people walked up and down, smiling politely at you as you stopped Kkami before the start. The entire castle was in full view, despite the length of the bridge, and you could barely contain the thrill which drummed in your veins.

“Hyunjin, do you see this?” 

He did not share your raging enthusiasm. “Just carry on riding, witch!”

You stuck your tongue out to him before you snapped the reins, Kkami starting off on the bridge. You heard the waves lap against the stone, the clear blue water twinkling in the sun, and the citizens watched you rush past in mild surprise, not expecting someone to be this excited for entering the capital.

But of course you were excited. Especially when you arrived at the place you’ve been dreaming to see on your birthday.

“____, you heathen, slow down or you’ll get us killed!” Hyunjin shouted over the rapid clicking of the horseshoes over the stone. 

You only obliged when you passed the entrance, guards nodding, and slowed Kkami’s gallop to a mild trotting around the streets. There was buzzing all around, thatched houses displaying colourful banners, depicting the fireworks which were to occur that evening, and many people seemed to have dressed up, enjoying each other’s company, children running around with kites and ribbons, playing and simply having fun.

It made you smile a little, seeing everyone in such harmony. You hoped you would be able to join in.

Hyunjin jumped off the horse, to your surprise, dusting himself off. “Off,” he ordered, hands out, and you complied, wrapping your arms around his neck as he brought you down, bare feet touching the cobblestone. Your hair tumbled down from the saddle, and a few people nearby watched in awe at your neverending locks. 

“Why are we getting off?” you asked, picking up as much of your hair as you could. 

Hyunjin grabbed onto the ends which you could not carry, one hand guiding Kkami along with him. “The fireworks are still hours away.” He began to walk, leading you deeper into the streets of Corona. “So I’m going to use this time to search for the whereabouts of someone.”

“Oh, is this the whole Jisung business?” your eyes darted everywhere, each flash of colour, of each depiction, drawing, painting of the fireworks. 

You saw the man visibly stiffen. “Yes,” he muttered, fingers tightening on the reins. “I know a few friends in the city who might know where he went.” 

“Show me the way, then!” you declared, returning each awe-filled smile one sent you. “If you have more friends like Mr. Chan and Seungmin then I want to meet them!”

Clicking his tongue, he said, “If you’re going to end up drunk with them I’d rather you didn’t.”

“You’re just jealous that your friends like me more than you,” you mused.

“You keep thinking that,” he only said dryly, though he feared that might be true. You had a habit of creating an unforgettable impression of yourself to others. 

You certainly left that impression on the poor man who walked oh so carefully beside you.

Another turn of a street and you were met with various shops, the scent of various savories and sugary desserts tempting your nose, and your eyes being bombarded with all the goods from around the country. You demanded Hyunjin to provide you with some pastries, but he only glared in rejection, moving on from the stalls. 

The man then stopped before a flower shop, dozens of different forms scattered around the opening. Stepping aside what nature has to offer, Hyunjin went inside, only to be met with more flowers.

“Felix?!” 

“Who is that?” you asked, but your question was answered when a small, blond haired man stepped out from the back door, holding a bouquet of roses in his little hands. He adorned a peach-coloured shirt and black trousers, leather shoes thudding as he walked inside the shop.

This man smiled brightly at seeing your companion. “Oh, afternoon, Hyunjin!” he greeted. “I’m surprised to see you here..”

“I was not going to come to Corona so early, as well, but something has come up.” He looked around, tying Kkami’s reins onto the wooden column, holding up the shop sign. “Say, has Jisung met you in the past two days?”

Felix furrowed his brows in thought, sliding the roses in an intricately decorated vase. “No, actually,” he admitted. “I haven’t seen him in about two months.”

“Damn it,” Hyunjin seethed, playing with a stray lock. “Is Jeongin here?”

“He’s outside, but he’ll be back any moment.” Felix then looked past you and your companion, and parted his mouth. “Ah, here we go!”

You turned around, and instantly softened at the beautiful boy which skipped into the flower shop, black curls bouncing along his step as he held bags, stained slightly with grease. “Felix, look!” He proclaimed, holding his possessions out and catching a glimpse of all the sugary goodness Hyunjin refused to buy you. “Lunch!”

The said-man rolled his eyes, dusting his hands. “You are crazy if you think I’m going to let you eat all of those pastries for lunch.”

“Oh, don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud!” Jeongin whined, propping the bags on the counter. He widened his grin at seeing the long-haired man. “Hyunjin!” 

“Hey, buddy,” you heard him say, while he brought out a hand to ruffle the boy’s hair. “Tell me you’re still as troublesome for Felix as before.”

“I could never let you down,” Jeongin drawled, earning a laugh from his elder.

He then turned to you, and his mischievous demeanour dissolved into amazement. “Oh my, miss, your hair!” His eyes skimmed over the locks, astonishment growing. “I’ve never seen anything like this before!”

“It can be a nightmare,” you confessed, dropping the masses of hair from your arms. “Carrying it, at least.”

Jeongin studied your phenomenon a little longer. “Miss, may I offer you assistance, then?”

You raised a curious brow. “And what would that be?”

“Well, if it can be bothersome,” he started, locking his hands behind his back, a little shy. “How about I braid it for you?”

“You…” your eyes widened, your fingers threading through your hair. “Can you do it?”

The young boy looked to Hyunjin, who very much doubted him. “I mean, you can go about your business, and until then I can take some trouble away from the lady.”

“Jeongin,” Felix warned. “Don’t go asking things like that!” He turned his eyes towards you, apologetic.  “I’m deeply sorry, my lady, but this boy is still learning to hold his tongue.”

“No, no, it’s alright, Mr. Felix,” you reassured him, facing Hyunjin as he, too, pondered over this offer. 

The long-haired man eyed the youngest a little warily. “I will be nearby, so I guess ____ can stay.” he then knitted his brows. “If I hear that you caused any inconvenience to her—”

“Oh, don’t you worry, Hyunjin, we’ll be fine!” Jeongin sent you a dazzling grin, bowing. “I will be on my best behaviour.”

Felix propped a little hand to his hip. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Hyunjin slid his eyes to you, parting his mouth. “You’ll be okay, right?”

You shook your head. “I’ll be fine!” Raising your hands, you turned the man around, pushing him out of the flower shop. “Go and find that Jisung man of yours and let me enjoy my birthday!”

“Alright, alright!” he looked over his shoulders. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“Don’t miss me too much, Ponyboy!” you simpered, to which the man only rolled his eyes, leaving your sight as he turned to another corner.

You then turned to the two boys, smiling kindly. “In advance, I apologise if I annoy you with my rambling.”

Laughing, Felix gathered up a pot of orange tulips, turning towards the back door. “Ah, don’t be sorry, Miss ____, consider us good friends! I’ll be going in and out to check up on lunch but Jeongin will be here.”

“I won’t bore you, promise!” the younger exclaimed. “I have many good stories of Hyunjin!”

“Now that,” you get out as you laugh, “Is something I wish to hear.”

“Only for you, Miss ____,” Jeongin mused, gesturing towards a stool sat beside the counter. “You can sit here while I braid your hair. I don’t want you getting tired.”

You thanked him, walking over and settling yourself upon the cushioned seat. “If you can tie up all this mess, then I owe you a huge favour.”

The boy stepped towards your back, assessing how he was going to start this difficult process. Making an approving noise, he then grabbed the bags he first held when he came inside, bringing out a sugared doughnut and holding it out. “Snack?”

Seeing the treat had you yelling in joy. “Of course!” you took the doughnut from him, immediately digging in. “Thank you, Mr. Jeongin!”

“Please, Miss ____, just call me Jeongin,” he offered, separating your locks into three sections, splitting them downwards and creating distance between them on the floor. “I feel much too old when you call me that.”

“As long as you call me only ____,” you said as you ate, watching the busy street. You then felt a faint tightness on your scalp, and sensed the boy’s fingers commencing their task.

As Jeongin worked on braiding your hair, you slowly depleted his sweets, striking up conversations of the Kingdom, the shop and the people who dwelled here. You learned a great deal from his words, describing you the constant merriment within the walls throughout the year, yet today was the most important day for Corona - the fireworks celebrating the ascension of the King and Queen who lived in the castle. 

The young boy also explained his relation to your grumpy companion, explaining that their acquaintance originated from childhood, when Hyunjin would fight off any bullies which tried to pick on him, yet would be the first to tease him whenever he had the chance. They, along with Felix and others, all grew up together, but Hyunjin had been the first to adventure out of Corona along with Jisung, who, too, was a childhood friend.

It was welcoming, hearing the humble beginnings of Hwang Hyunjin. A true shame he turned out to be a grouchy and annoying bastard. 

You cocked your head, reassessing that statement. Well, he was not a bastard. That was a much too harsh a word to describe him. In truth, you wished you still harboured the feelings you first inhibited when you met him. 

In truth, you found yourself warming up to him. 

I would never do that, ____.

That night, beside the moonlit pond, when he declared in a quiet murmur that he would never abandon you, despite your irritable demeanour. It was terrifying, because it was all you could think about. Although it had not even been a week since you healed him in the woods, here you were, pondering over him as if you had been all your life. 

This only added to your fear. 

“Isn’t that so, ____?”

You perked up at Jeongin’s question, looking over your shoulder to see him already so far ahead in his task. The plait, each third huge and reducing the original length of your hair. You observed with further fascination that the boy had created another network of braiding, woven into the bigger thirds, and you let out a sigh of wonder, thankful for your miracle for the first time. “I’m so sorry, but I couldn’t listen.”

“Oh, I was just saying how Hyunjin should have stayed in the Kingdom, but he left to do whatever he did with Jisung.”

You brought your feet upon the railings of your stool. “Jeongin, what does Hyunjin actually do?” You asked, curiosity fresh on your tongue. 

“Apart from being a pain in the rear?” A laugh escaped you, and Jeongin continued braiding, nearly finished. “Well, all I know is that he’s involved in a lot of trading circles. Every week I used to see him bringing something new from foreign lands.”

“So a true adventurer, then?” 

Jeongin propped a third into another. “In a sense.”

After a half-hour Felix joined the two of you, mitten-covered hands holding a tray of hot bread as he set it on the countertop. He admired his friend’s artistry as well, taking off the gloves and watching for a little while as Jeongin was on the last parts of your hair. 

He then spoke. “I have an idea.”

The younger kept working as he said, “Go on.”

Stepping past you so he faced you, Felix propped a finger over his chin. “Hmm...yes…”

You gave him a confused look. “What do you mean, ‘yes’?”

But he hurried out of the shop, grabbing different variations of small flowers, all ranging from soft, pastelled colours, and walked over to you again.

“May I?” He asked, and you nodded, understanding what he was about to do. 

As you thought, the man picked out a blue forget-me-not, and planted it within the folds of your hair.

“Hmm,” he only got out, continuing this as he scattered more flowers in your locks, adding colour as he then moved past you, going behind as the flowers now littered the back of your head, lining against the plaits. 

“Felix, this will take you forever!” You said, worried that you may waste their time.

“No it won’t, Miss ____,” he waved off your concern, carrying on the task as if it would not take him a whole day to complete. “We want your hair looking immaculate for tonight. Especially if it’s your birthday today!”

You smiled at the kindness, initiating further conversation with Hyunjin’s friends as they kept you entertained throughout the afternoon. It was the first time meeting them, and already you wished to see them often. Secretly, you envied your companion for having such sincere friends.

You, on the other hand, were never given the chance to create such special bonds.

It was another hour before you heard a satisfied noise escape the youngest, and you turned, catching a victorious grin on his face. 

“It’s done, ____!”

On cue, you looked down, and gasped.

The finished braid was a masterpiece: all the networks of plaits were worked intricately into the original big three, and at the end were tied by a band of daisies, knotted so tightly there was hardly room for the locks to be set free. Felix tucked in the last of the flowers, and this added feature enhanced your hair even more, like a little garden of your own growing in your locks. The whole result had you returning their smiles. 

“Oh my God, Felix, Jeongin!” you started, swivelling on your stool, braid following. “It's exquisite!”

The two mocked a bow at you, receiving your applause with grace. “It was our pleasure, ____,” the elder said, a toothy grin on display. “I know I like having flowers in my hair.”

“Now you’ll be the talk of the town,” Jeongin drawled, which had you hesitantly laughing. The younger’s eyes then perked up past you. “Oh, look, just in time!”

You turned in your seat.

Stilled at seeing Hwang Hyunjin catching sight of you. Your new hairstyle.

His eyes lit up at the change. 

He saw the huge plait, and the flowers which littered in your hair, and thought he saw paradise inhabiting earth. He then saw your face accompanying this hair, and knew paradise will be staying for a while. Taking in the decoration, the intricate consideration of detail within your locks, had you elevated in every single way. 

By God, he found you so beautiful.

Jeongin raised a brow over Hyunjin’s dumbfounded reaction. “Are you not going to say anything?”

But the man was silent, hands on his satchel tightening. He then saw an empty expanse in your hair, just above your ear, and had a little idea.

Spotting his favourite flower, he picked it up from the stash outside the shop, and slowly walked towards you, your eyes never leaving his.

When he stopped before you, he raised the white rose, sliding the small stem within your locks. It found home above your ear, and the man nearly swooned at how perfectly it suited you.

He curled his lips at the sight of you. “You look...ethereal.”

You cursed at the hairs at the back of your neck, which stood erect at the soft praise. “Thank you, Ponyboy.”

Jeongin let out a snort, in result receiving a glare from Felix. “Ponyboy?”

Hyunjin’s smile faltered. “Do not even ask,” he only snapped, and returned his focus to you. “Let’s go.”

You stood up from your stool. “Where are we going?”

He began to walk out of the shop. “Our next stop,” he said, smiling at your scowl over his vague answer.

As he glanced at his friends, he saluted, a gesture of friendly mockery. “Thank you, you two.”

“Anytime, Hyunjin,” Felix said, and he took your hand, pressing a chaste kiss upon your skin. “And thank you for letting us decorate your hair.”

“No, please,” you countered, “Thank you for such an extraordinary present. I won’t forget the gesture.”

“Do see us again, ____!” Jeongin exclaimed, which, after you chuckled, you promised you would.

After waving the two goodbye, you followed Hyunjin out of the flower shop, a confident stride in your step as your flower-kissed braid trailed after you. 

The streets were fuller, the crowds more loud and excited as you two squeezed through people, with Kkami trotting behind on Hyunjin’s leash. The silly horse tried to pluck a few flowers from your braid but you made sure your hair stayed intact, having no intention of it being ruined in any circumstances. 

“Hyunjin, where are you taking me?” You demanded, trudging through the streets. Your feet, still bare, began to hurt. “If we don’t stop soon I’ll collapse!” 

He spared a glance at your step, wincing as a pained groan escaped you. “It’s not far,” he said, looking ahead once more.

“Ponyboy, can’t you carry me?” you whined, and when he turned back to see you, you braced yourself for a verbal lashing with the frown he adorned. 

Instead, you were hit with something quite different. 

After a hard, ragged sigh, he paused his walking, widening his arms from behind. “You better not be heavy,” he warned.

You watched him hunchbacked, dumbfounded at his acceptance. Since when was he complacent on giving you comfort?

Your cheeks then burned when you were reminded of that night again. Of the turquoise vest, which, although was hugging his lean figure now, was hugging you. 

“Are you going to just keep staring at me,” Hyunjin jeered, bringing you back to reality, “Or are you actually going to jump on?”

“Oh!” you got out, and stepped towards him.

You slid your arms around his shoulders, locking your hands upon his chest. You then felt his hands wrap around your thighs, and a small breath went free from your throat as he hitched you upwards, grip tightening on you. 

“You are very lucky to have me, witch,” the man gritted out. 

He then yelped as you pinched his shoulder. “You are very lucky to have me, Ponyboy,” you only mused, and raised your fist in the air, despite the growing nerves. “Come on now, let’s get going!”

Hyunjin obliged you, starting up a heavy, yet steady pace towards their destination. Each time he took a step, it radiated off you, and you hoped to all the heavens above that your body would not give up on you. Every time the man hitched you higher, though, had the possibility becoming much less likely.

You had not realised just how much his hands on your thighs affected your very senses. 

A few specifics from the crowd watched the two of you in adoration, murmuring how sweet it was for your lover to hold you when you were tired. When Hyunjin heard these whispers he nearly dumped you on the cobblestone, but you did not miss the scarlet blush which developed on his face. The rather charming image had you smiling as you rested your cheek against his neck. 

The man kept his hands secure, never letting you go till you arrived at wherever he wished to take you. You only knew you arrived when his grip on you loosened, straightening his back so you had no choice but to feel the street beneath you. So bizarre that you missed his touch — his warm, welcoming fingers.

You followed to where he looked, and saw the front of the shop littered with shoes. Different types of footwear, all neatly stacked on wooden racks, their sizes carved into the wood. You did not have the time to carefully admire each design before Hyunjin tied Kkami to another column, feeding him an apple before taking your hand and leading you inside the store.

The minute you entered you were welcomed with a homely extravagance, more and more shoes being displayed all around you, different colours and patterns luring you into getting all the pairs. It was a little odd, that your companion wished to show you this place so eagerly, but when he rang a bell atop the counter, and another man with fire-kissed hair entered from another door, furiously sewing on the back of a child’s shoe, you assumed that he must be acquainted.

“Minho!” Hyunjin exclaimed, following the said-man to where he paused his stride, setting the shoe down and breaking the thread, finished. 

“And what do you want?” was the heartfelt response, as the seller put the object under the counter. Hyunjin mockingly pouted, to which his friend scoffed. “Oh, you’re not getting any free clothes this time! Pay or go away!”

You let out a small chuckle at his tagline, and the man’s eyes darted to you, brow raised. “And who is this lady?” he inquired, fingers drumming on the countertop. “Who is much too beautiful to be accompanying this swindler?”

“Hey!” the man beside you objected, but you could not help the laughter which spluttered from your lips. 

“My name is ____,” you said, locking your hands behind your back. You then roamed your eyes about the room, turning to him once again, awed. “Did you make all these yourself?”

“Why, of course!” Minho opened up the countertop, joining you as he admired his work. “I take pride in my work, and am glad you appreciate them.” He then glanced at Hyunjin, squinting his eyes. “It’s honest money, after all.”

Confused, you looked to your companion but he only rolled his eyes, waving off the comments. “Save the sarcasm for later, buddy,” he drawled, and propped a hand upon his friend’s shoulder. “Now show me your best shoes for women.”

You widened your eyes. “Hyunjin?”

Minho curved his lips. “Oh, trying to delve into a new world, now?” 

“Shut up,” was his answer, as the long-haired man strolled further into the shop, right where all the elegant, more colourful shoes were inhabited. “Ah, here we go.”

You followed him hurriedly, not quite understanding. “Hyunjin, what are you doing?”

He only trailed a finger across the racks, humming to a few shoes which caught his eye. “Getting you a present.”

This only added to your shock. “What?” You breathed out, but he was too busy picking out a pair of boots, dark with silver lining around the edges. “Hyunjin!”

“How do you feel about these?” He held them out to you, who still did not comprehend why he was giving you a birthday present. 

Well, it was your birthday. So why did you expect him to give you nothing at all?

“____!”

You blinked. “What?”

He holds the black boots. “What are your thoughts?” 

Before you could answer, Minho clicked his tongue, walking to where you both stood. “Hyunjin, do you not know anything of styling?”

“What do you mean by that?” The long-haired man furrowed his brows. 

“Whatever you think I did.” The shoe-seller turned to you, mock pity in his gaze. “My lady, let me help you out. This buffoon does not know the art of attire.”

“Ugh!” Your companion grumbled, and you could not help but melt a little at his pouted irritation.

Minho watched his friend cross his arms, looking away in annoyance. “Let him sulk,” he said, and smiled at you. “Until then, I’ll find you something worth your beauty.”

You return his enthusiasm, letting him whisk you further into the women’s section, all the shoes in fashion at the time displayed before you, begging to be worn by you. Minho’s designing eye had to be commended — the man knew how to create.

“Let me see what you’re wearing,” the orange-haired man ordered, and you gave him a little twirl of your violet dress, your flower-littered braid following. 

“The flowers are adorable, might I add,” he said, and you thanked him excitedly, watching him choose more softer colours to pick your perfect pair of shoes from. 

At last, his hands settled upon soft, ballerina-like shoes, lilac in colour and ribbons flaring out from the back. With a satisfied hum he brought out the pair, holding them out to you. “What do you think?”

You brought out your hands, holding the shoes, and felt your smile grow. “They’re so pretty,” you gushed, feeling the silky ribbon between your fingers. “May I try them on?”

“Go right ahead, my lady.” He gestured to a leather seat, and you sat yourself down, just as Hyunjin walked up to Minho, scowl still there. “Are you done moping around now?”

“Quiet, you,” your companion snapped, but his agitation faded when he saw you dust away at your feet, and slide them inside the shoes. Your other foot pursued the first, and you stood the ribbons scattered to the floor.

“You’re supposed to tie them,” Minho explained, about to show you when a hand stopped him. 

He was met with Hyunjin’s determined features. “I’ll do it.”

You watched as the long-haired boy stopped before you, hands landing on your shoulders as he pushed you back on the seat. He then knelt before you, taking the attached ribbon in his hands. “May I?”

Your heart skipped happily a little beat. “Of course.”

Raising your leg slightly, you offered him easier access as he began looping the two strips of ribbon, one overlapping the toner and continuing this cycle till the material wrapped all the way up to your shin. You slid your dress higher, and only stopped when Hyunjin tied a little bow at the top of your entangled ribbon. He then did the same to your other leg, effortlessly wrapping the strips all around your leg till it hit the shin once more. After another bow, his fingers lingered on your leg, barely skimming over your ribbon-adorned skin.

He looked up at you, and an unrecognisable haze lifted in his eyes. “Happy birthday, ____.”

You certainly could recognise the butterflies in your stomach, fluttering much too uncontrollably. “Thank you, Hyunjin.”

Perhaps you both could have relished in this position forever were someone’s voice not dragged you both down to reality. 

“Are you both going to keep eye-rutting each other or am I going to get my fare?”

You immediately stood up, feeling yourself heat up over the comment. Hyunjin, too, snarled at his amused friend, buttoning and unbuttoning the top of his vest. “I’ve got it, you greedy prick.”

“Good,” Minho only said, smirking at the two of you as he retreated to his counter, where all his gold was stored. You and Hyunjin followed him there, the slight distance having too much weight for it to be comfortable.

Your companion brought out a little bag, jingling as he set it upon the countertop. “This alright?”

Taking the bag, his friend weighed it with his hand, and nodded in satisfaction. “Better than that.”

“Thank you so much for this, Minho,” you began, putting a hand to your chest in respect. “I will cherish these shoes.”

“You better, my lady,” he teased, but returned your gesture. 

You turned to leave with Hyunjin, beginning to head out when he stopped. “Oh, I nearly forgot!” 

He rushed back to the seller, who sighed. “You just can’t leave me alone, can you?”

His question was ignored, and was instead presented with another. “Minho, have you seen Jisung recently?”

This had the fire-kissed man cocking his head. “I did,” he answered, shocking Hyunjin. “Yesterday, actually.”

“By God—” The long-haired man could barely contain himself. He whirled to you, pointing to the entrance. “You go outside and untie Kkami. I’ll be right out.”

“Hyunjin,” you tried to object, but the look on his face, the silent pleading, had you giving in, nodding grimly as you exited the shop, waving to the owner.

Kkami welcomed you with a hearty neigh, and you stroked his mane, slowly untying his reins. “Why does he not tell me things?”

Your answer was another noise from the horse, and you patted the creature, leading it out on the streets. The sun was descending, light still clear yet the first glimpses of oranges had arrived. The fireworks were mere hours away.

The man had not come out after a while, you looking back every now and then, catching concern in his dazzling features. The people’s excitement did little to have you join in, and you began to worry that something may be wrong. 

You were about to go inside the shoe shop once more when you caught sight of Hyunjin exiting, hands fisted at his sides, expression grim. 

Stopping before you, you worked up the courage to ask first. “What’s going on?”

Surprised, you noticed he could not even look at you. His eyes drifted away, a tick in his jaw, teeth grazing over another. Oh, the man was enraged. 

When let in a deep breath, he faced you, catching guilt in his slender eyes. “I cannot be with you when the fireworks occur.”

Silence.

Despite the merriment around the two of you, the pure joy radiating in the kingdom, you felt your heart stop. “What?”

The man tightened his little ponytail, locks still caressing his neck as he tried to avert your gaze. “I have to be elsewhere when nightfalls, but I can show you where you can see them best, so you’ll be okay-”

“Hyunjin-”

He continued, closing his eyes. “I don’t want you missing the fireworks, so let me show you the best spot before I have to leave.”

You could not believe your ears. “Hyunjin, I-”

“And I know how important they are to you, so I suggest we start going right now, so I can be on my way-”

He would have gone forever, rambling excuses if you had not looked down, at his clenching, unclenching hands. If you had not reached your own hands out, clasping them with his. The man ceased his digression at the sudden contact, and finally whipped his head to you. His frantic eyes met yours, and something within you cracked. 

You did not let go as you breathed out, “What’s the matter, Ponyboy?”

No irritation responded to you from the nickname. Only his commencing of his thumbs, stroking the back of your hands. “I have learned of Jisung’s location.”

Parting your mouth in surprise, you asked, “Where is he, then?”

“I do not know where he is now, but I know where he will go tonight.” his gaze scrutinised you. “And do not think I will tell you of that place.”

“What?” Bewildered, you took a step closer, and noticed the lack of distance between the two of you. At the time, you took no note of it. “Why won’t you tell me?”

“Because for the past few days I’ve been with you, the one thing I’ve learned about you is that you’re incredibly foolish.” You scoffed at this strange declaration, but he carried on. “I know that if you learned where I was going you’re going to follow, especially if I tell you not to go.”

You were about to object, but you shut your mouth, glancing sheepishly back at him. “Well, maybe you should let me come with you!”

“Damn it, ____, I probably would have any other time.” He let out a harsh sigh. “It is much too dangerous tonight.”

“Damn you, Hyunjin, what is it that’s so troubling that you even can’t tell me?” you demanded, your grip on his hands tightening. “What did this Jisung do to you?”

The mere mention of his name had the man hissing. “The bastard crossed me,” he guttered, and you felt his rage pour off of him. “And I’m not going to let him get away with it.”

You watched him helplessly, clinging onto his hands. “Hyunjin, please,” you pleaded. “Please, let me help you.”

As you watched his stare peer into you, you witnessed the chaos behind his eyes, a civil war raging within him whether to trust you or not. You prayed to the heavens that this man, this reckless, insufferable, heartwarming man, would let you in.

He opened his mouth. 

“I’m sorry, ____.”

Letting go of your hands, he took the reins of his horse. “It’s too dangerous.” he then murmured to himself, and although it was quiet, you heard the words well enough.

“God forbid if I let you get hurt.”

He then stepped passed you, already walking ahead, leaving you to catch up to his agitated stride. 

Of course you were angry. How could you not be? you asked yourself as you followed him, refusing to stroll beside him. You two have been travelling together for nearly a week, yet he still does not trust you enough to tell you of his troubles. Disappointment washed over you more, for ever thinking he would give you a chance. 

You knew that if you were in his position, you would tell him everything.

After a few twists and turns of the street, you were met with a network of ports, a whole civilisation mingling upon wooden stilts. Boats of all shoes and sizes docked along the wooden lines, and you saw with mild surprise that barrels of fireworks were filled to brim on each deck. 

“Around the evening, this place will clear away, and all the little boats will enter, offering places to see the fireworks.” Hyunjin glanced at you, but you refused to meet his eyes. “Find yourself a boat, and have him row you beyond the kingdom.”

Nodding, you began to descend on the steps, until your wrist was caught by his hand. “____.”

Still, you looked ahead.“What?”

“I’m sorry.” A pause. “You know I’d let you come if circumstances were different.”

Silence was his answer, to his immense dismay. He let go of your hand, and instead had you gripping your horse’s reins. “Take care of Kkami while I’m gone.”

Holding on, you looked back, and made sure he drank in the solemnity of your gaze. “Don’t you dare die on me.”

A little laugh huffed out of him; it was all he could offer, when he turned, and strode into the crowds of Corona. 

God. It physically hurt seeing him leave.

Kkami neighed softly. “I know,” you only said, already wishing dusk would arrive. 

At least the fireworks were still happening. Something you’ve been wanting to see for years is right before you now.

So with that small consolation, you sat down on the stone steps, watching the port’s business as you stretched your feet, now adorned in a Hyunjin’s birthday present, and waited for time to pass. Sometimes, when your mind drifted to that certain man, you would run a shaking finger over the white rose embedded in your hair. 

This was harder than you thought.

The sun began to descend some more, the blue sky morphing into more oranges, reds and pinks. The atmosphere was hushed now, chatter still here and there, but almost awaiting for something. The larger ships had set sail long before, and, just as Hyunjin had said, smaller boats populated the docks, devoid of the fireworks. 

Curiosity peaking at your mind, you heaved up to your feet, dusting the back of your dress, and, tugging Kkami, decided to go upon the wooden wharf, taking the longer route without the stairs. 

The horse, seeing the water, began to stomp its hooves, but you reassured him, stroking its long face as you led him along the dock, careful of the sailors. 

You reached near the end of the dock, and noticed a small boat anchored at the very edge, fireworks stored all around it. There was a small man settled inside the boat, tying up stray objects with rope, whistling sweetly away. You tried to take a step forward, but Kkami neighed loudly, frightened to get closer to the bed of water. 

“Kkami!” you seethed, trying to calm the creature down, but it only made more noise, stirring the people around you. Sending them apologetic looks, you took out a carrot, seducing the animal with it until it settled, munching on the vegetable.

“Careful with that fine horse of yours, Miss!” 

Startled, you turned around, and saw the same man you were looking at now staring back at you. He had a friendly, curious smile upon his face. His dark locks were swiped back with a dirtied cloth, tying at the back of his neck. His loose shirt followed the sea breeze, and as you took a step closer, his hands came into view, roughened with labour. 

Catching your expression, he chuckled to himself, a sweet little sound despite his appearance. “You should know horses don’t like the water much,” he explained, continuing with his work. 

“Ah, sorry,” you said, slightly embarrassed. “It’s my first time taking care of a horse. It’s my friend’s, you see.” You could not help the irritation slip.

The sailor sure sensed it. “Oh, no,” he mused, a sympathetic smile on his lips. “Has this friend let you down in any way?”

Careful to tie Kkami along the railings, you walked towards him, fisting your hands. “I was going to watch the fireworks with him,” you confided. “But he just abandoned me! To go heaven knows where!”

The man scoffed, tying the fireworks. “A man, I presume?” you nodded, and he sighed, setting the bunch in his boat. “Just tell me the name, my lady, and I’ll take care of him for you.”

You huffed out a laugh at his offer, waving it off. “Oh, it’s alright. I just wish I knew where he was.”

“I’m sure he’ll come back,” the man reassured you. “As long as he has not gone anywhere near the castle walls.”

You paused as the words left his mouth. “Why?”

He turned to you, leaning back in his boat. “A lot of suspicious dealings happen there, my lady. Almost every thief in Corona sells their faux possessions along the abandoned walls of the palace. Especially today, with everyone distracted by the fireworks.”

The moment you heard this information, you felt your interest spike to the clouds. “Oh?” you sat yourself upon the docks. 

“My lady, please.” He gestures to a free seat upon his boat. “I cannot have you sitting on this dirty wood.”

He held out a hand, and you took it, taking a mindful step onto the boat, and, making sure you weren’t going to fall into the waters, stepped inside, hull shaking as you settled down before the man. He let go, and put that hand on his chest. “I’m Changbin, by the way,” he introduced. “I need to prepare for the fireworks but I’m only just behind.” He then regarded your hair, wonderment in his gaze. “How long is your hair?”

“The name’s ____, and longer than you think,” you replied, bringing the massive braid in front of you, stroking the flowers. “You said there were thieves in the Kingdom?”

Changbin looked at you incredulously. “____, there are crooks everywhere around here.” his incredulity then turned a little timid. “I must confess, I was one myself.” he then sat up. “Not anymore, though! I swore never to degrade myself like that ever again.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” you consoled him. “I assume it would have been entertaining.”

“I guess so.” He relaxed once more, watching the lazy waves lap over each other. “Though I had never done anything too fantastical.” He pondered some more. “Actually, there was one adventure I partook in. Hellish, but incredibly delightful.”

The sailor then exhaled deeply. “Maybe that’s because I was on a job with Hyunjin.”

You were about to ask more when you stilled.

Hyunjin.

“Did…” you knitted your brows, not sure you heard him properly. “Did you say Hyunjin?” You leaned in, now fully focused. “You know him?”

Changbin stared at you for a few seconds before he burst into laughter. “Who doesn’t know of Hwang Hyunjin?

“The most famous thief of the Kingdom.”

Your mouth dropped. 

“Hyunjin? A thief?”

“Why, the greatest one out there!” He chuckled some more. “I was very lucky to go on an exploit with him, but he usually stole treasure alone.”

He then corrected himself. “No, in fact, there was someone else he always committed his plundering with. Damn it, I can’t remember the name…”

Your assistance was barely a whisper. “Jisung?”

“Ah, yes!” he exclaimed. “Those two were joined at the hip. Though, mind you, ____, I spied the man wandering around the streets alone.”

“You did?” 

A nod was your answer. “He had this big bag with him, and from my previous adventures with them I knew it was Hyunjin’s.” Changbin drummed a finger upon his chin, lower lip sliding over the top. “Something suspicious is amiss.”

With the way your eyes widened, everything coming to you in an instant, you knew. 

Something horrific will go down. 

Jisung’s apparent betrayal, from the conversation at the tavern. Hyunjin saying it was too dangerous to disclose wherever he was going to go. Changbin revealing a huge trade off occurring around the castle walls, including the big thieves of Corona. 

It all made sense. 

You suddenly shot up, yelping as you nearly fell off the boat. “Careful!” the man warned, but acting with caution was the least of your concerns when you now knew where that long-haired bastard was.

“Changbin, I have to go to the palace walls,” you said, hopping quickly off the shaking boat. 

The sailor, steadying it, stepped onto the docks, too, puzzled over your sudden change. “Good God, why do you want to go tonight?”

He then looked into your eyes. Saw the desperation, the realisation that hit you not moments before.

“Oh dear God!”

Walking to you, he planted a hand upon his forehead.”Hwang Hyunjin’s the friend?” 

“Changbin,” you began, looking back on the streets. “He’s in deep trouble. He’s gone near the castle walls to confront Jisung and I’m so scared something’s going to happen.”

Looking ahead, the sailor bit the inside of his cheek, weighing in his options. He glanced at his boat, and the fireworks, needing to be transported near the palace. “We need to be quick, _____.” 

Bringing out a dagger, glinting in the new moonlight, he asked, “Do you have a weapon with you?”

You searched through the bags strapped upon Kkami, and whipped out your frying pan. “Got it.”

Changbin raised his brows, but decided against commenting on your choice. “Keep the horse here, then. We need to be as quiet as possible when we arrive at the wall.”

He then stepped past you, leading you up the steps and back into the crowd, making sure you’re close behind. The two of you made little noise as you left the populated streets, diving into private neighbourhoods, avoiding questionable groups who stared at you, and only averted their gaze when Changbin flashed his dagger in the moonlight.

As the palace came closer in view, you felt your nerves return. Not even for yourself, you realised, as you turned another corner, walking silently along the muddied footpaths. More for the long-haired thief who may or not be in extreme danger. 

You prayed to the heavens he was okay. Because if something happened to him, you really did not know what you would do. Did not even want to comprehend the turnout of events if things turned sour.

“____.” 

You perked up at the mention, realising that you had reached the start of the palace barricade. The walls towered over the two of you, fencing you from the inside of the royal lands. Changbin looked at your right, and sure enough, at the far end, from the houses clustered together in a close, a group of men were gathered. The sailor beside you crept closer, back against the house walls, and you journeyed nearer, the former quickly switching to another residence, taking you with him. Beyond the building, you both studied the group closer. Before you, with his back to you, was a slender figured man, his black longcoat blowing in the night breeze. Although you could not see his face, you heard his uncontrollable cackling, taking a step closer to the group, holding onto a certain fugitive.

You nearly let out a scream. There he was, your esteemed Ponyboy, struggling to free from the thieves’ hold as he raged against the man before you. His semi-ponytail was left down, stray locks tumbling over his face, and his boots dug into the cobblestone.

“Look at you,” this man cooed, leaning into your companion. “All angry and ready to slit my throat.” 

“You took what was mine!” Hyunjin roared. He was met with another round of heartless laughter, and you realised that this man was no doubt the notorious Jisung. 

“We need a distraction,” Changbin said, looking around the dimmed area. “Otherwise…”

He did not need to say more. 

“I took what was needed to send a signal,” Jisung clarified, studying something in his hands. However, you could not see. “That I have no desire to share my treasures with you.”

“You bastard!” the captive growled, but was shoved down by Jisung’s men once more. “I did all the work! I put my life on the line and you know that!”

“A shame that life wasn’t taken,” was his cool answer. “Now I’m going to have to take it myself.”

You and Changbin exchanged fearful glances. You needed to act. Now.

Just as the sailor was about to step into the scene, loud music began to play.

Sounding from nearby, it not only stopped you, but the thieves in front of you. It was a sweet harmonising with a flute and a fiddle, and, puzzled, you saw the same expression on Hyunjin’s capturers. 

Then, you heard the voice which led the music.

“Who has the right mind to be singing in a neighbourhood like this?” Changbin whispered furiously, but you only answered his question with a knowing smile.

It was the same, mellow call which you drank to at the tavern. And when another voice joined in, you nearly laughed, already remembering the fond memories.

Mr. Chan and Seungmin arrived just in time.

Jisung turned his head to the direction of the music, and you saw the side of his face, doe eyes marred in irritation, thin lips pursed. “Who the fuck is belting out a song at this hour?” He looked to the four men, pointing to two. “You both! Go check the drunkards and shut them up.”

Obeying the command, the rest still kept an iron grip on Hyunjin, who, you could tell with a broken heart, was losing his strength. The fury, however, was still there, daggering his former partner in crime. 

“Now, tell me, Hyunjin,” Jisung mused, wrenching the man’s face forward with a hand, clasping his cheeks. “How did you manage to heal yourself so quickly?” His gaze dipped, to the dried blood stains on his turquoise vest. “I was sure you’d die off from the stab wound.”

“Well, you were wrong, weren’t you?”

Jisung, scoffing, dug his nails in his cheeks, causing Hyunjin to release a pained exhale. “I can see that, you little prick. Now I know it was deep enough to take weeks to heal.”

He leaned in, tilting his head in curiosity. “How did you manage to fix yourself up like that? Where did you find such a miracle?”

Your companion was about to snarl out a retort when his eyes darted beyond Jisung, into the dark. He caught the sight of a white rose.

His eyes, then, caught sight of you. 

Of you, hiding in the shade.

His mouth stayed parted. 

You pressed a finger to your lips, taking a careful step out of the dark.

“Oi! Hyunjin!” Jisung forced him to look at him again, anger simmering. “What was the miracle?!”

Your long-haired thief watched his once best friend, a still peace harbouring his face. With one last glance towards you, he smirked, sliding his gaze back.

“It was no miracle, Jisung,” he rasped out.

“It was witchcraft.” 

Just then, when you were about to swing your frying pan down on Hyunjin’s nemesis, a deafening sound erupted from the earth.

Blinding lights shot into the sky. Exploded into millions more, blazing into different directions. More coloured brilliance followed, illuminating the night.

You felt your soul at a standstill.

“The fireworks!”

Hyunjin, watching everyone distracted, took the golden opportunity and raised his fists to the men’s chins, causing them to yelp in pain. They released his hold on him, and the man wrenched free, already on one of Jisung’s lackey’s. 

The leader took note of the commotion, widening his eyes. “For God’s sake, it’s two against one!”

Soon, it was two against two as Changbin raised his knife, charging towards the other man. He landed a damaging hit on his shoulder, and the chase began in taking them down. 

His back still to you, you raised the pan, watching him about to charge towards Hyunjin.

You were ready to swing it on his head when the second round of fireworks started.

Looking back, completely off guard, this time they were more victorious, like beacons bursting in the cloudless sky. It was a shame the castle blocked the main view of their ascent, only seeing wisps of the blaze.

However, remembering you have a man to knock out, you turned to see the very nemesis.

Jisung, although not very large in build, had a calculating, cunning face which chilled you to the bone. Even your arms felt numb holding the pan, when his stare penetrated through your every layer. 

“Oh my,” he murmured, taking a slow step towards you. Reflexively, you took one back, weapon still out. “And who might you be?”

“Hyunjin’s miracle,” you spat, and you dared to take a full swing of the pan.

To your absolute horror, Jisung instantly dodged, ducking and then grabbing the handle from you. He waved it in the air, grinning like a demon in your scary stories. 

“Look at you,” he purred, continuing his tempered pace towards you. Fear curled in your stomach, hands slack at your sides, feet backing away. “Trying to fight me with a kitchen utensil.”

He chuckled darkly. “It’s almost adorable.”

You did not realise how long you were retreating for till your back hit the murky, palace walls. When you caught the predatory gleam in Jisung’s eyes, your breathing nearly ceased to work. 

“You really thought you’d save your little thief,” he crowed, daring another step, creeping closer, too close for your liking. He threw the pan behind him, skidding along the cobblestone. “With what? A sailor and a frying pan?”

When he was only a mere few inches from you, he regarded your braided hair, the flowers which littered among each strand. You froze up completely when his fingers reached out, tucking in a stray curl behind the beloved rose. 

“Or perhaps it was your infinite locks that healed him.”

You could not suppress the shiver that escaped you, and he, noticing, snickered, planting the hand beside your head. “Where is your salvaged thief now?” he whispered. 

The fireworks erupted behind you still, and you closed your eyes, not able to take in what was to happen next. Hyunjin was right. You should never have come here. 

But you would have done it again without hesitation. Ponyboy was in trouble, and hopefully he took this opportunity and ran away from this scene. 

You would fight a thousand Jisungs to save him, over and over again. 

Jisung was about to take the next step, do something unnamable.

Till you heard the loudest PANG!

Instantly, you opened your eyes, and found the wicked man being thrown to the side, thudding on the dirty cobblestone. From the sound of the pang! You knew that this man was unconscious. He ceased to even move.

You whipped your head to whoever knocked Jisung out straight.

And let out a breath you didn’t realise you were holding in.

Hwang Hyunjin stood before you, heaving as he held up your frying pan. His eyes, dilated, were rooted to you, and his mouth was parted, mist escaping his lips and joining the cool night air.

Silence fell upon the close, with Changbin finished dealing with the last of men, and the two of you just stared and stared at each other till you let out a ragged sigh.

“You can never insult my frying pan again.”

You waited for him to laugh, or even scoff at your ridiculous statement after experiencing a life-threatening situation.

The man did not even smile.

Only dumped the pan upon the ground before he was on you in seconds.

His hand clasped onto your wrist, and pulled you towards him. You stumbled into his chest, and when he wrapped his arms around you, you found yourself being nearly crushed with his hug.

He nestled his head into your neck, his locks falling to your shoulder, free of the ribbon which tied them. “This is why,” he muttered upon your skin, “I did not want you following me.”

You rested your cheek against his chest, returning his embrace. “If you get to save me, I get to save you too.”

There was a heavy pause. “You missed the fireworks because of me,” he whispered, and hearing the guilt in his voice nearly undid you. “I don’t even know how to compensate for something you’ve waited so long to see.”

Although there was that downside, something within you wasn’t as devastated at the thought as you’d expected to be. “There’s always next year, Ponyboy,” you reassured him. You then smiled deviously. “Or should I say thief?”

Hyunjin pulled away slightly, holding you still as he blushed scarlet with embarrassment. “I suppose you know I’m no adventurer.”

You caught the slight fear in his eyes, and your heart broke. He really thought you’d be wary of him now that you knew of his true identity.

Squeezing his shoulders, you offered him mischief through your smile. “Being a witch isn’t so far off from being a thief.”

A little laugh spluttered from him, but he quickly reigned in his amusement, looking at you once again. “You know, I never really wanted to do this,” he confessed. “As a child, I always had to look out for myself, and stealing was the only way to escape poverty.”

His hands tightened on you. “I really want to get out of this mess. In fact, I was going to let Jisung get away with everything, but he took something very precious of mine.”

He turned to his satchel, the one his nemesis was said to have pinched, and went through the inside until he brought out the most stunning necklace, the diamonds glistening as gold swirls curled along its edges, the golden chain studded with more of that jewel all around. 

“Hyunjin,” you breathed out, observing the jewellery. “It’s beautiful.”

The man hummed in agreement. “It was my mother’s,” he said, admiring the necklace. “It is the one of the few things which is truly mine.”

His soft voice hardened. “Jisung stealing it was the last straw for me.”

You upheld his gaze. “I would have done the same.”

He did not say anything for a bit, just regarding you under the moonlight. Well, in his eyes, it was more admiration, awe-stricken marvelling. 

You, in his eyes, were a little too stunning under this night. 

The thief was to say offer something when he heard more voices. 

Freezing, he turned around, only to find more men joining Changbin. The men who contributed in saving him.

After staring at you a moment longer, he let go of you. “Let’s join the others.”

You nodded, not missing his hand on the small of your back as he led you to his friends. Chan, Seungmin and Minho were all talking amongst themselves, despite the unconscious bodies around them. They all noticed you both walking towards them, and instantly they all smiled at your arrival.

“____!” Chan exclaimed, raising his wooden fiddle in excitement. 

“We missed you so much at the inn!” Seungmin added, holding his silver flute.

“I nearly died ten minutes ago, prick,” Hyunjin guttered, but was only responded with more laughter. 

Minho, raking a hand through his fire-kissed hair, clicked his tongue at you, dipping his eyes. “Not even a day and you’ve muddied the shoes,” he drawled, earning a stuck out tongue from you.

“When did you arrive?” you asked him. “I only heard Chan and Seungmin’s singing.”

“I was handling more men further ahead.” he then rolled his eyes. “Felix and Jeongin were supposed to help me but the little one’s stomach started to hurt. Apparently he ate too many doughnuts in the afternoon.”

Hyunjin glanced at you, eyebrows raised, and you scoffed. “Excuse me! You were taking your time! Not my fault Jeongin and I got hungry.”

“You did not get to see the fireworks, then,” Seungmin stated. You shook your head, hugging yourself a little tighter. 

“What a shame,” Chan said, sadness in his usual cheerful tone. “I remember you talking about the event so fondly.”

Changbin, who was quiet throughout, then spoke up. “Actually,” he started, looking at you. “I think I can fix that.”

You and all the men turned to him, baffled. He only said, “Minho, bring Felix and Jeongin to the docks in fifteen minutes. Bring some good snacks with you.”

“What have you got in mind, Bin?” Hyunjin asked, furrowing his brows, but Changbin only stepped past the group, whistling.

“Follow me, friends!” he declared, sheathing his dagger. Everyone, still confused, decided to follow, save for Minho, who turned to another avenue to fetch the absent two.

You and Hyunjin walked side by side, hands skimming against each other as the men in front of you led you out of the network of residences, until you were away from the palace walls, and any more danger.

Soon, you found yourself descending the same steps where the thief had left you to face Jisung. The people had dispersed, as the fireworks had ended, yet when Changbin turned the corner, to the far end of the harbour, his little, firework-filled boat still floating upon the sea. Kkami was present too, waiting patiently for his owner to return, and when Hyunjin saw him he sighed in relief, hurrying towards him.

The horse neighed eagerly as the man stroked his mane. Changbin stepped past him, carefully getting on the boat, searching for some flint and steel.

It was then you realised. 

“We’re getting our very own fireworks show!”

The sailor grinned at your enthusiasm. “We can’t let a lady be disappointed.”

Chan tapped on his fiddle. “Seungmin and I can play the music!” he declared, wrapping an arm around his friend.

You clasped your hands together. “Oh, I’d love to dance!”

“Let me join in!”

Stunned, you whirled around, and found Jeongin running up to you, beaming from ear to ear as Felix and Minho followed behind, holding food. You returned his smile, calling, “Jeongin! Feeling better now?”

Blushing, he scratched the back of his neck, raven waves curling under his ears. “Ah, I really wished I could have helped at the palace walls, but my stomach chickened out on me.”

Felix tutted as he set the food along the benches. “I told you to stop eating, but you do not listen!”

“He goes after all of us here, then,” Minho commented.

“Can someone help me with the lighting?” Changbin asked, and the men flocked to assist him.

Only Hyunjin stood rooted as he tied his messy locks back, staring at you with an indecipherable emotion.

It did not go unnoticed. “What’s wrong?” 

You could tell he was thinking. Pondering hard over what he wanted to do next. 

He then brought his hands upon your shoulders, turning your back to him. “Hyunjin?” you got out, surprised, but he said nothing as you heard him fishing something out of his satchel.

You were about to turn around and scold him when you felt cold metal upon your neck. 

Looking down, a small gasp escaped you when you found his mother’s necklace settled on your skin, tinkling as the man clipped the lock under your head of hair. When he was done, he spun you around, assessing the added accessory upon you. 

He smiled lovingly at the sight.

“Hyunjin, I-” you started, trying to untie the necklace. “I-I can’t take this from you.”

Pausing your efforts, he held onto your hands. “Yes you can. I want you to have this.” you tried to argue some more, but he raised his brows. “No! I don’t want to hear more.”

Your eyes swirled with something akin to affection. “Hyunjin.”

His lips curved upwards. “You know, ____, I always call you a witch but…” he let out a shuddered breath, fingers playing with a stray curl. “But you certainly never looked like one.”

Your heart, damn the thing, fluttered at the statement. You only held onto the lapels of his vest, wishing that all these people would fade away, if only for a moment. 

The long-haired thief leaned in a little, tugging you closer, and perhaps he would have closed the distance were it not for Changbin letting out a victorious screech. 

“It’s happening, everyone!” 

He quickly jumped off the boat, others following as the spark was lightened. Everyone took a few steps back, watching the spark fuse closer to the fireworks, Hyunjin holding onto you still.

Chan bumped his elbow against Seungmin, firing up his instrument. “Let us liven up, everyone!”

Seungmin brought the mouth of the flute to his lips, and instantly, music began to fill the docks. 

“When will the fireworks start?” Minho demanded, tapping his foot, but when Felix shushed everyone, they all watched as the fuse hit the heart of the firecrackers.

The first thing that welcomed you all was a very loud BANG!

Everyone jumped at the sheer light which flashed before your eyes, shooting for the stars as it burst into the sky, scattering bright brilliance upon the sea. More and more fireworks joined in on this fire-like race, exploding everywhere in the air, igniting gasps of wonder from the crowd.

You were the most awed in the entire group. Ever since you were young, you had admired this show from miles away, but now, when it was a few metres from you, it filled with you with the same light that it spluttered down on you. Although it was not the official fireworks which you wished to see originally, this alternative was just as extraordinary - more so, as it was done just for you.

The fireworks were then accompanied with music, being fired up once more by the innkeepers, and instantly everyone began to dance along the merry beat, singing along to Seungmin’s and Jeongin’s honey voice. 

You joined in on this fun, making sure to swing along to the music with everyone, joining arms with Jeongin and then moving to Minho, changing to Changbin and then frolicking with Felix, you even sang with Seungmin, chuckling with Chan as you try to steal his fiddle, and you twirled and twirled in the middle, dress and plait trailing after you.

Hyunjin, sat upon the benches, clapped to the merriment, his smile lingering whenever a breathless laugh escaped you as you danced with all his friends. When you caught sight of him settled alone, you ran to him, ushering him to join in. he refused at first, hurryingly saying he hated to dance, but you grabbed onto his hands and wrenched him off the bench, a yelp fleeing his lips as he was dragged into the center.

Hands still clasped, you led them about your waist, not missing the blush staining his cheeks as you planted your hands on his shoulders, moving him along to the music.

“Oh, my, Ponyboy,” you drawled as you felt yourself being led by hands. “You are a good dancer.”

“I never said I was bad at it,” he mused, twirling you around. You tried to fight your smirk, both pairs of eyes joining in their twinkling.

Yours began to glisten even more when you dared to say, “You know, Ponyboy,” you started, voice dripped with mischief. 

He watched you, lips twitching. “Yes?”

“When the fireworks occur…” you lock your hands behind his neck. “You’re supposed to kiss the person you’re dancing with.”

The way Hyunjin's eyes widened at the implication had your stomach in disarray. The surprise quickly darkened when he leaned in, cocking his head. “Oh, really?” his little chuckle was felt on your lips. “It is too bad you’re a witch, then.”

Returning his laughter, you dared raise your fingers to his ribbon, untying the strip and letting his luscious curls fall at his shoulders. “What a blessing for you,” you said, “That this witch does not follow the rules.”

The man’s smile was unforgettable. “Neither does this thief.”

That was all he said, before closing the distance between you two.

The moment his lips touched yours, it was like another round of fireworks had erupted. This time, these fireworks were within you and the man before you, moving plush lips against you and bringing you the finest form of sweetness you had ever tasted. You melted under him, he pulling you right against his chest, unable to accept any distance between the both of you. 

A soft noise left you as he pulled away from you, mouth parted, glistening like the diamonds adorning you. Around you, cheers broke out from the boys, whooping at the kiss you and Hyunjin shared. Although your cheeks burned, you giggled at their reaction, staying close with the thief.

The dancing only continued, as the fireworks still illuminated the docks. You turned to Hyunjin once again, whose hands encircled your waist still. 

As you moved slowly along to the music, the man dipped his face, settling his forehead against yours. His erratic breathing mixed with yours. “I am...so happy to have met you, witch,” he whispered to you. 

Your heart, if it was not already in the clouds, now elevated to seventh heaven. “You’re not so terrible yourself, thief.”

It was his answering smile which had him pulling you closer again, finding paradise in your arms as you and your friends danced the night away under the fireworks.

[phantomthiefsbitch]

phantom thief au oneshots p1

"Are you sure we can get away with this?" "Oh no, I'm just bringing you here because I knew we were gonna get caught! Obviously!" "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not at this point." The moon shone over the cracked sidewalk, making the raindrops glimmer like diamonds in the warm sunlight. Skyscrapers towered over everything in sight, blinding us to the far sides of the city. I was assigned a mission. A mission to find the world-renowned phantom thief and send him to justice. Pfft, that's easier said than done. The main plan was simple really. Pretend to be on his side, lure him to an obscure area no one can see, and put him in cuffs. We continued walking towards where ever the hell he was leading me. You'd think a rational person would've backed out. I mean, he could be taking me anywhere! He could be taking me to a fucking torture chamber for all I know! But I'm almost 100% sure that where ever he was taking me, wasn't going to harm me in any way. You see, the thing about the phantom thief is that he hasn't been loved much in his years, meaning if you treat him with the smallest bit of consideration he'll never ever forget it. Fortunately for me, I've studied human psychology for quite some time now, and I've been trying to understand him more using that knowledge. "Welp, we're here!" We stood before the grand building decorated with bright neon lights, forming the words "CASINO" in huge bold lettering creating a city-wide purple light source. Is this really where he was taking me? It seemed so noticeable and obvious. "There's no way in hell that we aren't gonna get caught in there! Are you out of your mi-" I felt a warm finger brush over my lips as I looked down, finding myself staring directly into his eyes. Shhhh, I promise we won't get caught. I have a plan! Just follow my lead, 'kay?!" He lifted his hand off my chin and clutched my hand, walking me to the entrance as he pulled out a key from his hand and unlocked the enormous wooden door. Immediately as we entered, the scent of booze and air freshener filled my lungs. The walls were painted with a red and black checkerboard pattern, complimenting the black marble floor which was covered in old magazines, cigarettes, and empty beer cans. "I know, I know, this isn't the greatest place! But don't worry, my dearest detective, there's more! Follow me!" He ran to a small hallway that blended in with the walls in the corner of the room, leading me to a silver elevator, lined with gold string, making it look like a child's birthday party. The button on the left lit up as he aggressively clicked it, making the doors open into a rather cramped space. The clamping of his boots against the hard marble floor echoed throughout the building as he stepped into the elevator. "Where are you taking me?! I asked for a meetup spot, not a casino!" "Nee-heehee! A casino is technically a meetup a lot, silly! And either way, the whole casino thing is just a disguise for what this place actually is!" The elevator door slowly creaked open, revealing a calm little room. There were maybe around 9 or 10 people there, all doing something different. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to D.I.C.E's headquarters!" he shouted, even though I was the only one entering the room.

[7:18 PM]"Hey, don't you think it's a bit...err...irresponsible to show the person trying to capture you your gang's headquarters? I mean, what if I was with the police?!" "Now now, it's not time to worry about that! Let's just relax! Hey guys, could you leave me and Shuichi alone for a while?! Go to your rooms or something!" As if they were robots, they all got up and walked to the doors with their suitable nametags on them. His smile slowly dropped as he put his hand on my shoulder, looking me dead in the eyes. "Is something wrong?" "Don't play dumb. How could my dear detective do this? I thought maybe someone, anyone, could care about me or even just listen to what I had to say! But it seems as if I was wrong..." Even though he was a liar, he sounded genuinely upset and betrayed. No matter how hard I tried fighting it, I really did feel awful for him. No matter how bad he was, he didn't deserve this. "N-No, you've got it wrong!" I was just following instructi-"

"Oh come on, there's no need to lie! But y'know, I do think there was some truth to your act. Even as a liar myself, the way you talked to me, it was definitely an act out of lust. I mean, if it really was a lie, I'm both upset that you lied to me and proud of how amazing of a liar you are! But I seriously doubt that you were lying." I quickly took my handcuffs out, trying to hide how nervous I was. "You're under arrest. Don't try resisting any further." "Awww, what a shame! But unfortunately, I can't let you arrest me! Sorry not sorry!" "I have a weapon." I exclaimed, pointing my tazer directly at him, feeling my body sway back and forth slowly.

"Nee-heehee! And I don't?" I flinched as he cocked his gun, putting it so close I could feel it brush against my forehead. "I'm not gonna hurt you, unless you try something. I know you don't wanna turn me in. You really do wanna understand me right? Don't you wanna know why a villian like me does so many bad things? Actually, you don't need to answer that. I know you do! So just listen to my plan, 'kay?! You're gonna go over to the cops and tell them that you couldn't catch me in time. Just give me a chance, alright? I mean, you obviously don't have a choice!" His slender fingertips traced my face as he glared deep into my eyes. "You're really pretty, you know that?" My face flushed into a light red shade which I quickly fought against. "Aww, someone's nervous! Well no wonder, you have a gun to your head! Soooo, do we have a deal or not?! Just a reminder, you only choice is yes!" I should've said no, tazed him, and put him in handcuffs. I should've stopped him. But something inside me, I don't know, fear? Lust? Nervousness? Something inside me just didn't let me do that. "Y-Yeah, okay." "Nee-heehee! Yay! Hey, by the way, can I have your number?! Don't you want the nitty-gritty details of my plan?! I know you do!" ... "Riiiight, well, here's my totally legit business card! Alright, bye bye now!" I thought he'd leave a normal way, like through the elevator we came from or like, go back into his room. Nope. He opened a window, falling backwards into the late night streets giggling. No matter how much I tried to bury it, he was right. I felt drawn to him, more than just being curious about his lies and his motives. Maybe I was trying to deny it, not because I was scared of getting fired, but in fear for my own life.

[k-n-e-o]

Bts Reaction to forgetting their s|o birthday 

Requested? Yep

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Warnings: angst, maybe swearing (i don’t really remember). 

A|n: I tried to make these really angsty but some of them aren’t as angsty as others, sorry :(

They’re also quite long. I could’ve posted last night but I wanted to add a keep reading since it was so long. 

I think I also flip flop between gender-neutral and female pronouns throughout this soooo I’m sorry if it gets confusing. _____________

Jin

He probably would’ve done an impromptu live just cause he wanted too. He would see some comments asking about what he did for your birthday (Your relationship was announced a few months ago let’s say).  He honestly thought your birthday was tomorrow and started talking about how he was going to take you to a really nice restaurant for dinner and everything. His face paled as he read the comments saying that today was actually your birthday. Without question, he ended the live and quickly made his way to the restaurant you were supposed to meet. When he arrived, he was about an hour and a half late for your date. Jin entered the restaurant, out of breath and panting. You were at the front desk waiting for your coat (It was a fancy restaurant) You looked over to him and sighed. You got your coat and left through the door completely ignoring the man who was apologizing and following you to the car you took there. You didn’t say anything when Jin sat in the passenger seat (He just let himself in, there was nothing you could do). 

“I’m sorry love, let me make it up to you” You turned on the car and continued to look at the outside wall of the restaurant. “If you’re going to stay, then put your seatbelt on” Your voice was monotonous and flat. Jin went rigid, his normal, confident, and cocky self went out the window. He buckled the seatbelt and you quickly put the car in reverse and backed up into the parking lot. The car ride home was mostly jin trying to justify the fact that he forgot your birthday and your date while you continued to ignore him. 

Jin was at a loss. No matter what he tried to do or say, nothing could break your silence. You tossed a blanket and a pillow into the living room where Jin was helplessly standing. He understood what you were doing and decided not to fight with you. 

When you woke up in the morning you felt a little guilty for how you treated Jin, however you were still a little peeved about being stood up. You walked into the kitchen ready to talk it out with Jin when you saw the table set and filled with an array of breakfast foods. Jin stood beside your chair, dressed in his apron that said ‘kiss the cook’ (Sorry that’s cliche lol)

When he saw you he pulled out your chair and gestured for you to sit down. Hesitantly, you take your seat. Jin elegantly poured fruit juice (Like orange juice) into your wine glass before he sat down across from you. In front of you was a plate with a card set on top of it. On the card was a sad-looking taco with the words ‘can we taco ‘bout it?’ scrawled underneath. You look up to jin and can’t help but to roll your eyes. Jin has his hands on both sides of his face with a dramatic pout on his lips and when you meet his gaze he winks at you. You smile, it’s hard to stay mad at this goofball. 

———

Suga

(why does his hair look so soft??)

Suga was sat at his desk in his studio working very hard on his music. He was probably the most focused he had been all week and so because of this he unknowingly worked for hours on end. By the time he chose to take a break and he looked at the time, it was around 8:30 in the evening. He didn’t think too much of it until he looked at his phone and saw quite a few messages from you. Suga went on a cursing tangent as he turned off his equipment and grabbed his bag, and started running towards your shared apartment. You and him were supposed to go out on a romantic evening to celebrate your birthday. Suga was supposed to pick you up around 4 and take you around some of the prettiest places in Seoul, but obviously, that didn’t happen. When he entered the house you were busy in the kitchen clad in sweat pants and an oversized shirt. While taking off his shoes, Yoongi watched you carefully. He knew that you heard the front door open and his panting, but you didn’t even spare him a glance. Suga walked into the kitchen where you were washing dishes. He observed you for a moment, assessing the situation. 

“Baby, I’m so sorry I forgot about our plans for tonight. We can still go out.” He wrapped his arms around you and kisses your temple. 

“Yoongi, please go back to your studio, obviously work is more important than me” 

Your tone was emotionless as you dried the now clean dishes. Suga furrowed his brows and clenched his jaw. You’ve had this conversation before and he’s told you multiple times that nothing is more important than you. His hands rest on your hips as he tries to answer calmly. 

“Let’s not do this now” You turn around, towel gripped tightly in your hand. 

“And why not? We don’t get a lot of time together as it is and when we finally set up something, on my birthday none the less, you spend the whole time sitting in that stupid studio of yours.” Suga didn’t say anything, instead, he closed his eyes to calm himself down. 

“Never mind” You throw down the towel onto the counter and stalked off to your bedroom. Suga rubbed his face. He knew that he needed to give you some space so he picked up the towel that you had tossed down and finished the dishes. When he was done, he made his way to the room and quietly snuck in. He crawled on your bed and wrapped his arms around your waist, hands sneaking up your oversized shirt to rest on your stomach. He wasn’t the most affectionate but that doesn’t mean he isn’t affectionate at all. He placed little kisses on the back of your neck. “I’m sorry baby. I’ll take you out for breakfast tomorrow how does that sound? I’m so sorry that I missed your birthday.” You turn around in his arms and kiss his nose. Things were silent for a moment as Suga waited for your answer. You nodded your head before whispering.  

“I forgive you” 

———

J-Hope

(I had to use this gif cause 1. he’s cute and 2. there’s a cake 🤷‍♀️)

J-hope was practicing with Jimin and Jungkook when Jimin mentioned your birthday. To be honest he was like jin and thought your birthday was tomorrow. Jungkook gives him a look, “But isn’t their birthday on (your birthday)?” J-hope nods as he continues to dance. 

“But that’s today” J-hope paused and looked at the date on his phone. Cursing he messaged you. 

< Baby, i’m so sorry that i’m going to be late, but I’m heading home now and we can head out to the restaurant. 

> Don’t bother

Your message made j-hope freeze, his heart pounding just a little harder than normal. He could tell that you were pissed but he didn’t know how to make you feel better (He’s never forgotten your birthday before)

Jhope was already late as it was so he figured he could take a little more time and ask the boys what they thought he should do, which turned out to be a horrible idea. So j-hope said good night and grabbed his bag, heading home to you.

Jhope opened the door and found you sitting in the kitchen crying, a half-eaten slice of cake in front of you. He hurried to you and attempted to wipe your tears.

“Baby don’t cry” you swatted his hand away and turned away from him.

“Leave me alone Hoseok” once again, he was taken aback. You don’t use his real name much anymore.

“I’m sorry can I make it up to you?” You shake your head and turn further away from him. He places his hand on your shoulder but you shove it off. J-hope felt lost. He kind of just sat there in silence with you. He looked to your slice of cake and tilted his head. 

“Where did you get the cake?” You sniffled and poked the cake with your fork. 

“It’s the slice the restaurant gave me, they actually wanted to give me the whole cake cause they were sorry that I got stood up on my birthday.” Your words were bitter as you mutilated the cake. J-hope placed his hand on yours to stop your murder of the cake and he tried to catch your gaze. 

“I’m really sorry” His words were soft when he spoke. You sighed and got out of your seat to sit in his lap. You feel him press little kisses to your face and neck, and then kissing your lips last. You mumble incoherently against his shoulder as J-hope kisses your cheek before speaking. 

“I didn’t hear you sweetie” You laugh lightly. 

“You owe me one” 

------

Namjoon

(I love this gif)

A week ago Namjoon promised you that he would leave work early in order to spend your birthday with you, telling you that he was going to plan something special. You furiously walked down the hallway towards Namjoons studio. You didn’t bother knocking, swinging the door open aggressively instead. Namjoon jumped at the loud sound and quickly spun towards the noise. His face softened when he saw you and he spoke cheerily. “Hey baby, what are you doing here?” Your features furrow and you place your hands on your hips. 

“What happened to leaving early Namjoon?” your tone was amused but namjoon knew that you were far from that. Namjoon turned back to his computer, glancing at the time. His eyes widen when he sees that it’s 9:00 at night. 

“Wow, it is getting late, we should head back home,” he says, still completely oblivious to his past promise. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” you say with a breathy laugh. “You really forgot didn’t you” Namjoon was calm as he looked at you. 

“Was I supposed to do something?” You stare at him in disbelief. You rub your hands over your face before you spoke. 

“Last week you told me that you were going to leave work early and that we were going to do something special for my birthday” 

“Babe, I’m so sorry. How about we go somewhere tomorrow? I will take you anywhere you want to go” You look unamused, your arms crossed against your chest. With a disappointed sigh, you shake your head and leave the studio. Namjoon felt helpless, he wasn’t sure what he could do to make you feel better. It was too late to do your original plans which were also his gift to you so Namjoon was left empty-handed. 

Namjoon entered your shared apartment half an hour after you, a vibrant bouquet of your favourite flowers in his sweaty grip. 

He searched for you throughout the apartment and soon found you sitting up in bed on your phone. When you looked up you had to fight back a smile. Namjoon stood in front of you with the bouquet in his hands and he looked like a guilty puppy. 

“Hey, um, I’m sorry. I know there’s no excuse for me forgetting your birthday, but I promise to make it up to you, however you want me to.” You gave in and smiled.

You gestured for Namjoon to walk over to you. He set the flowers down on the dresser and crawl over the bed to kiss your lips. You cup his cheeks and smile.

“I forgive you Joon” 

------

Jimin

Jimin was happily shopping with Tae, completely oblivious to the fact that you were waiting at the restaurant that Jimin had told you he would meet you at. While he was there he had bought you a gift and everything, but it still didn’t jog his memory. Jimin had made it home and went to open the door and walk in but ended up just running into the door because it was locked, which wouldn’t have been a problem except normally when jimin leaves the house for a short while and you're still home you leave the door unlocked for him so he doesn’t need to take his key. So jimin had a problem, the door was locked and he didn’t have his key, and he didn’t know how long you would be. 

Jimin sat on the floor in front of the door, placing his bags beside him. It was only about fifteen minutes before he saw you step out of a taxi clad in your fanciest clothes, your hair all done up and makeup that probably took really long.

Jimin stood up as you walked closer to him, your shoes clicking on the ground. He opened his arms wide for a hug, a huge grin on his face.

“Happy birthday babe! Where did you go? Did you go out with your friends? You look stunning!” But his questions were met with silence as you unlocked the door, closing it on Jimin and locking it shortly after. To say Jimin was confused would be a great understatement. This man stood there staring at the closed door for a few minutes thinking through all the things he had done that day that could’ve upset you. Was it because he left early for work and didn’t cuddle with you? No, you wouldn’t have been that mad about it. He didn’t forget to say happy birthday because he texted you a birthday message and he said it when he took you out to lunch ( which was to your favourite place) and he just told you now. So what did he do? Or didn’t do? He looked through his past messages with you and that’s when it hit him. Jimin felt horrible as he read his messages between you and him a few days prior to talking about the dinner you would have at this fancy restaurant for your birthday.

Jimin knocked on the front door and called out to you.

“Babe, please let me in. I know what I did and I’m so sorry that I forgot. Please let me in so I can make it up to you.” Only silence followed. So Jimin stayed seated in front of the door, waiting for you to open it. 

It only took just over fifteen minutes before you opened the door causing Jimin to fall into the house (Since he was leaning against it). He smiled happily as he looked up to you. You had changed into more comfortable clothing and your makeup was mostly off, but you were still so beautiful in his eyes. 

“Does this mean that you forgive me?” 

“No” You state matter of factly while you grab his bags and start digging through them, “What did you get?”

Jimin got up off the floor, melting a bit inside as he watched you get excited over what he bought. 

(This ending was weird sorry 😂) 

Taehyung

(I realized while I was editing this that Tae's repeats somethings that were in jimins, sorry about that) 

Tae was just chilling on the floor, playing with yeontan. It’s not like he didn’t notice that you weren’t home, he just thought that you were out with some friends or something. Taehyung looked up when he heard your keys jingle and the lock click. He smiled and stood up holding his arms out for a hug when you entered the apartment. When you avoided his hug his shoulders slumped but he just summed it up to something happening while you were out. 

“You look really gorgeous babe, did you go out with your friends?” His brows furrowed when you didn’t reply, instead choosing to quietly enter your shared bedroom, slamming the door afterward. This surprised Tae and slightly annoyed him a bit. You seemed okay this morning. Actually, you seemed happier than normal this morning, so the fact that you were so upset really confused Taehyung. He opened the bedroom door and saw the dress you were previously wearing, laying messily on the bed. The bathroom light was the only thing illuminating the bedroom. You are standing in front of the bathroom sink, an oversized shirt draped over your figure. You were wiping away the makeup you had spent so long on. Taehyung came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. “Taehyung please don’t” This made him freeze. You never call him by his name at home. He loosens his grip on your waist and looks at your face in the mirror. “What’s going on? You seem really out of it” You glare at him through the mirror. “I wonder why” You snap. Tae’s face falls making him look like a kicked puppy. “Was it something I did?” You took in a sharp breath and pushed taehyung out of the bathroom to avoid you giving in to Taehyung’s pouty face. Tae sat on the floor in front of the now-closed bathroom door, yeontan strolling up to sit beside him.  He placed his forehead against the door, “Baby, talk to me, what did I do?” 

You glare at your reflection in the mirror. 

“I waited for three hours for you at the restaurant. If today was any other day I wouldn’t be too mad but it’s my birthday Taehyung! You left me waiting at a restaurant for three hours on my birthday. No “Sorry i’m going to be late message’ or even a happy birthday” 

Tae quickly lunged for his previously dead phone that was charging on his side table. When his phone turned on there were numerous messages from you and a few messages from Jin who apparently drove you home. Tae cursed under his breath and knocked on the bathroom door. When you opened the door, Tae felt so guilty. Your eyes were starting to water, and your lips were pouting. Taehyung pulled you into his chest and kissed your temple. 

“I’m so sorry baby” He mumbles into your hair. 

“Why don’t we go out for some food, I’ll pay for all the food you want” You shake your head mumbling into his chest. 

“I just want to stay home now and cuddle with you.” Tae nods and kisses your head again, “Okay we can do that too” He lets you go and watches as you walk to the bed. “I was telling you the truth though, you did look really beautiful baby” Tae explains to your retreating figure hoping to get a smile out of you. You give him an unimpressed look.

“I’m still mad at you tae” 

Jungkook

Jungkook sent you a message saying that he was going to be spending the night with the boys about an hour ago, however you never replied even though below the message was the word read, making Jungkook feel very uneasy. Jungkook turned off his phone and walked into the kitchen where some of the others were gathered, snacking on anything they could find. “What’s up?” Jungkook sighed as he stood beside Tae who was munching on a bag of chips. “Y|n hasn’t replied yet”

“Is everything okay?” Jungkook shrugged

“I thought it was. She was quite happy this morning, happier than normal. But know she’s ignoring me...” Jungkook looked to his phone again, and again, still no message.

“Maybe go spend the night with her, you can stay with us whenever you want but I think you need to sort this out,” namjoon said, watching Jungkook. He nods and heads to the door to put on his shoes and grab his overnight bag. He says his goodbyes and heads to the apartment.

The moment Jungkook saw you he knew you were ticked off with him. Your hair was done beautifully but your face was rubbed red like you had taken off makeup. You wore your own Jammies, not one of kooks shirts, and you held a slice of cake in your hand. Jungkook tried to speak but you stiffly walked into the bedroom. As Jungkook went to take off his shoes, a pillow and blanket were tossed out of the bedroom door and into the living room.

“It’s either with the boys or on the couch, but I don’t want to be with you right now” Jungkook looks to the blanket before looking back to you.

“But what did I do babe? Why are you mad at me?” You scoff and cross your arms.

“Do you not know what day it is today?” Jungkook looked around nervously.

“....Wednesday...?” (I just picked a random day) His voice was hesitant. You groan and roll your eyes.

“No Jungkook it’s my birthday” Jungkook felt his world come crashing down. That’s what he was feeling like he was forgetting the whole day.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry babe” you put your hand up.

“I don’t want to hear it Jungkook.” You walk into the bedroom and close the door before you yell out to him.

“Like I said if you don’t choose to stay with the boys, it’s the couch”

With a pout, Jungkook set up the pillow and blanket on the couch. He knew he did wrong but he didn’t like you mad at him. He had a hard time falling asleep.

It was around one in the morning when you felt the bed dip and arms carefully wrap around your waist. You felt delicate lips touch the back of your neck before a shaky whisper.

“I’m sorry baby, please forgive me” his words squeezed at your heart. You gripped one of his hands that were resting on your stomach and intertwined your fingers.

“I forgive you” Jungkook was surprised at your movement and your words. He hadn’t expected you to be awake. He leans over top of you and places a couple wet kisses on your cheek before kissing your temple.

“I love you so much”

“I love you too kookie”

___________________

I hope you enjoyed 💙

[descendantofthesparrow]

Commission work - Harry Hook x OC - Birthday fun. - Oneshot

OC= Morgana Barbossa owned by @sephiralorange​ and commissioned by them

Morgana + Harry outfits

=

Morgana hummed to herself as she strapped on her heels, standing in front of her mirror and smoothing out her dress as she admired herself. ‘damn’ she thought, smirking at herself in the mirror and spinning. ‘I look good~’

“Well, hello, my love~” Morgana turned with a grin, biting her lip as her handsome boyfriend Harry hook stepped out of their bathroom, dressed in a form-fitting black and cream suit that made his eyes pop. He struts towards her with a flirty smile and grabbed one of her hands to press a kiss to it. “don’t yeh look lovely~”

“Why thank you~” she laughed, pulling her hand out of his hand and grabbing it, pressing a quick kiss to his fingers “and don’t you look absolutely handsome~!”

“thank you, my love,” he pulled out his phone and hummed, glancing back up at her “are yeh ready? Yeh said we had ta leave around six” Morgana nodded and turned, walking into the bathroom and grabbing a pinkish-red lipstick, and quickly applying it.

She walked back into her and Harry's room and spread her arms out “now I’m ready! Let's go”

Harry gave her a mischievous smile “sooo where we goin’?” Morgana dropped her shoulders and quirked her brow as she smirked.

“ohhh you’ll see~ don’t worry you’ll love it.” Harry nodded at her and held out his hand, squeezing it a bit as she took it and led her outside.

Morgana turned a bit as Harry locked the door to their apartment and took her hand again. They stepped outside the apartment building into the cool spring air and Harry gasped in awe.

Sitting just in front of them was a carriage with the driver standing by the doors, Morgana smiled at him and gestured to it “your carriage awaits my love” Harry chuckled and pressed another kiss to her hand and walked to the carriage, letting Morgana step in first after the driver opened the door.

He sat next to her moments later and the driver closed the door, the carriage moving forward after the driver got in the front seat.

“soooo where we goin’?” Harry asked again, grinning as Morgana gave him and look and pinched his arm.

“you’ll see” Harry gave her a playful pout and crossed his arms “oh stop the pouting, you did the exact same thing to me my birthday, so let me surprise you” Harry pouted for a few moments then sighed, his usual bright smile replacing it.

“Alrigh’ alrigh’, I’ll wait” Morgana laid her head on Harry's arm, the two talking about random things as the carriage went wherever Morgana had scheduled it to go.

The carriage stopped and Morgana pulled harry out of his seat, waiting for a moment for the driver to open the door and hopped out. Harry chuckled at her enthusiasm and popped his head out of the door, laughing at what he saw “really? We got all fancy fer rubys?” Morgana shrugged and held out her hand, Harry taking it and stepping down from the carriage.

“well, it is your favorite restaurant, and I ordered you a salted caramel shake~” Harry grinned and pulled at Morgana to go into the restaurant. “we’re just doing pick up though, I don’t want to make the driver wait for two hours for us to eat” Harry hummed in agreement, pulling open the restaurant door and letting Morgana step in first, then following in after her.

The hostess at the front smiled at them and reached for two menus “hello~! Table for two?”

“no” Morgana waved her hand in dismissal “pickup, under the name Morgana?” the hostess pulled back from the menus and tapped on her tablet, nodding after a few moments.

“yep, right here, about seven minutes?” Morgana nodded and plopped down in one of the seats in the waiting area, Harry sitting down next to her.

“that’s perfect, thank you” the hostess nodded and turned to the new couple that had walked through the door, but Morgana tuned out what she was going to say and turned to harry, who was staring at her with a soft smile “what's with the look?”

“wha’ I can’t look at meh bonnie lass?” Morgana felt her face heat up as she stared at Harry's flirtatious grin.

“no” she teased, a grin growing on her face as she put her pointer finger on Harry’s jaw and pushed his face away “no you can’t, you must pay the toll before you can look upon my face~” Harry pouted again and shook her hand off, grabbing it and pulling her in to kiss her cheek “hey! It's extra for kisses”

The two didn’t notice the patrons and workers coo at the display of affection, lost in their own little world.

Morgana looked up just as the hostess brought out a large back and called her name, she stood and grabbed the bag, thanking the hostess and turning, nodding towards the door at Harry.

He stood and opened the door for her, letting it swing closed behind them as they walked back to the carriage, where the driver was messing with his phone. He looked up and smiled, his green eyes twinkling “you two ready?”

“yep! To the next spot please!” the two got into the carriage and Morgana handed Harry his shake, giggling as he immediately started to down the cold treat.

Morgana pulled out her ruby burger and carefully ate it over her dress, putting a large pile of napkins on her lap to prevent staining. She laughed a bit as Harry just completely devoured his burger, somehow, even without napkins or anything, he didn’t stain his suit, the only things being dirty were his fingers and lips. “that’s a damn good burger” he muttered to himself, licking the sauce off his fingers and lips.

Morgana bit her lip at the sight, smirking as an idea came to her head. She sneakily reached across Harry's leap, aiming for the half-done shake when Harry grabbed her hand, grinning down at her. “wha’ do ya think yer doin~” he laughed, releasing her hand and grabbing his shake, taking a big sip as he stared triumphantly at her. He let out an exaggerated sigh as he took the shake away from his lips and grinned “delicious ~”

“come on let me have some~ I paid for it!” Harry shook his head and giggled at Morgana’s pleading. “it's my birthday~ so no.” Morgana pouting a bit and pulled back, crossing her arms.

“rude” she muttered, squealing a bit as cool fingers touched the back of her neck. “Oi!” she snapped back around and pushed at his hand that was still near her neck “jerk”

“yeh make it too easy love” Harry chuckled, downing the rest of his shake and putting in the now-empty food bag “so what's next?” Morgana smirked at the topic change and peered out the carriage window.

“we’re almost there, won't be long now” Harry whined at her refusal to just tell him. “oh chill, you’ll love it” Harry pouted for a moment before he glanced out the window, gasping as he saw the large building that the carriage was getting closer to.

“THE AQUARIUM?!” Harry yelled, turning back to Morgana with sparkling eyes. She laughed a bit and nodded.

“yep, the aquarium, unfortunately, it won't be a private visit but I was told this day of the week is pretty much dead.” Harry nodded enthusiastically and looked back out the window.

“I love it thank yeh” Morgana grinned and leaned over his shoulder, her chin hitting it as the carriage rolled into the parking lot “sorry” Harry muttered, backing up in his seat as the carriage stopped and the driver walked over to the door.

“it's fine” Morgana muttered back with a laugh, hopping out of the carriage after Harry offered it and waiting for him as he climbed out after her.

“may I ask how long the two of you will be?” the driver asked, closing the door and turning to them.

“um…possibly two hours? Maybe three? If you already haven’t had dinner please go eat, I’ll let you know when we're ready” Morgana smiled, pulling out her phone and waving it a bit, nodding as the driver bid them goodbye for now and drove off to go do whatever.

Morgana grabbed onto Harry's hand and laughed as he quickly tugged her towards the entrance. She quickly unlocked her phone and let the ticket worker out front scan the tickets on her phone, smiling at the girl who wished for a good stay.

Harry grinned at the huge blue whale replica hanging from the ceiling, he tugged Morgana towards the smaller fish aquariums, kneeling to look at the pufferfish calmly swimming around their tank.

There were very few people around them, maybe two small families walking around the small area of the tanks. Morgana turned a bit and cooed, smiling at the teal-colored starfish that was clinging to the glass.

She looked towards Harry again and giggled, watching him wiggle around his fingers as a small school of clownfish followed his hand. He glanced up at her with a childlike grin and stood, pressing a kiss to her forehead “thank yeh my love, this is already the best birthday gift” Morgana closed her eyes for a moment, laughing a bit as she was suddenly pulled out of the small tank area and towards the very tall tank filled with the much larger fish, including tiger sharks and stingrays.

They stayed there for a few minutes, Harry pointing out the three groupers that were swimming around the bottom of the tank.

Morgana glanced at the stairs to their right and tugged at Harry's arm, grinning at the stars in his eyes as he spotted the seahorses sign she was pointing at.

Morgana laughed quietly as Harry pulled out his phone and took multiple pictures of the sea horses, cooing at the ones directly looking at him, he showed them to her before sending them to Uma, who immediately texted him back a bunch of heart-eye emojis.

Morgana glanced at his phone and grinned “sometimes I forget how much she loves these things” Harry snorted.

“aye, but once yeh hear it a billion times yeh nev’a forget” Morgana giggled, remembering one of Uma’s three-hour excited rants about “sea ponies” “come on, let's go look at tha’ penguins!” Harry grabbed her hand again and pulled her to the outside tanks, where the seals and penguins were being kept.

One of the penguins waddled up to the glass and stared directly at Harry, blue staring into reddish-black. “…I can see why Gil really wanted ta see them but lowkey they are creepy as fuck” Harry muttered, squinting at the smaller creature.

Morgana covered her mouth and looked away, holding down the loud shout of laughter that wanted to escape. Harry took a picture and sent it to Gil, tracing his fingers against the glass as he and Morgana walked towards the seals.

Morgana pressed herself against the glass to coo at the most blubbery seal that was majestically sitting on a large rock, proudly laying in the fading sun. “cute~” she muttered to herself, gasping as a smaller seal hopped on the rock and cuddled up next to the bigger one to share the sun. “daww”  Harry quickly took a picture and sent it to Morgana so she could save it later.

“come on love, there's still so much ta see” Morgana looped her hand through Harry's offered arm and they walked down the nearby stairs to the petting pools and the shark tanks.

Harry rolled up his suit and shirt sleeves and reached into the pool to let his fingers drag against the smooth back of the deep grey-brown ray, laughing as some of them jumped up against the walls and begged for pets. Morgana reached in and rubbed the head of the one in front of her gently, gigging a bit at the smooth texture. “it feels kinda weird” she muttered. She drew her hand back as Harry walked over to the shark petting pool and started cooing at them.

Morgana quickly followed and laid her chin on Harry's shoulder, smiling at the soft tone of Harry's voice as he happily pet the small sharks “their skin feels like sandpaper” he whispered to her, smiling as she pressed a kiss to his cheek “wha’ was tha’ for?”

“just felt like it” Morgana mumbled, turning her head towards the large tank in the far corner of the outside area of the aquarium and rose her brows, there was a set of stairs that guided towards the top of the tank and a window to the left, where a very large pointy shadow had just passed it. “come on, I think there’s big sharks in that one”

As they got closer, the shadow passed by again, making harry let out a quick breath as he got a good look at its sharp jagged teeth “I think those are the kind we have on the isle” he muttered, getting closer to the glass and taking a closer look “aye, a sand shark, Uma punched on in the nose once” Morgana whipped around to look at Harry with wide eyes and a disbelieving smile.

“What!?” she laughed, patting his arm rapidly to make him spill more “when?!”

“When we were kids” Harry shrugged as if it was no big deal that the even tinier version of Uma had punched a shark in the nose “Gil fell in tha’ water an’ Uma dived after ‘im, shark almost got a good snack but Uma punched it, that’s kinda it”

Morgana let out a snort, shaking her head a bit and watching as a large round stingray with white spots swam by the window. They stood there for a few minutes, watching the sharks and larger stingrays move through the water, before they made their way back inside, passing by a tropical bird enclosure.

While they both wanted to go inside, it seemed the keepers were already off work for the day and the walk-in enclosure was closed.

Harry pouted in disappointment but brushed it off, walking into the tunnel that lead under the seals. He grinned at the diving seals that passed by the underwater windows, Morgana cooing as they rounded the corner to see jellyfish and other deep-sea creatures.

Harry cackled quietly as they passed the moray eels, muttering something about Flotsam and Jetsam. Harry took some pictures of amphibian creatures like the poison dart frog and axolotls.

Harry jumped back a bit as a large tarantula raced up to the edge of its tank, its front legs raised in a threat. “guuh noope, nope, come on love” he pulled Morgana out of the room as she laughed at his reaction.

“Harry it was just a spider” she teased, giggling as he got into her face and squished her cheeks.

“tha’ thing had pincers the size of Mal's ego, I don’ care if It was in its damn cage I ain't going near that hell made thin’g” he grabbed her hand again and shushed her, making Morgana laugh even harder.

He pulled her to the right, walking into a long glass top tunnel, sharks and stingrays swimming around them “wow” Morgana whispered, her laughter leaving her as she looked straight up, licking her lips as a reef shark swam above her “cool”

“aye” Harry muttered, the two of them walking slowly through the tunnel, just watching the animals swimming around them.

As they excited, a large room caught Morganas eye, and she tugged Harry into the room, gasping in awe as a huge tank rested in the back of the room, the water casting a soft light against the rest of the room, hundreds of fish and larger sea creatures swimming around the tank, coral decorating the entire thing.

“beautiful” Morgana muttered, walking up to the tank and pressing her hands to it, smiling as a whale shark slowly passed by the glass.

Harry stood next to her, leaning against the glass on his forehead and looking around, Morgana giggling a bit as his nose squished against the glass.

Harry leaned back a bit as soft music started to play, and he smirked, taking one of Morgana's hands and pulling her into his chest “what are you-“ she laughed, realizing what he was doing when he gently spun her around “you dork what if someone sees?”

“let them” he shrugged, grinning softly as he pulled her back into his chest and rested his hand on her waist. Morgana gave him a look then shrugged, resting her head on his chest and placing her free hand on his shoulder.

As they swayed around the room, the music got just a bit louder, and Harry snorted as he spotted the camera that rested in the corner of the room. he decided to spare Morgana the embarrassment of realizing that someone was watching them, and had turned up the music for them to dance to.

He spun her out and turned a bit when he pulled her back in, her back to his chest, her right hand in his left, and vice versa. Harry hummed along to the song, closing his eyes and resting his cheek against Morgana's soft red hair.

It was a couple of silent comfortable minutes, just swaying against each other, before the comm system beeped to life, scaring the two as they suddenly separated.

‘attention sea life explorers, the aquarium will be closing in ten minutes, please finish any transactions or picture opts and make your way out of the building, thank you for coming to the Auradon sea side Aquarium.’

Morgana pursed her lips and pulled out her phone to look at the time “it's only seven fifty? They really close that early?” Harry shrugged, tossing his arm over Morgana's shoulder, and began to lead her out of the large room and back to the main halls.

“I saw a sign outside tha’ said they are closing early today fer clean-up shit” Morgana sighed, pocketing her phone and wrapping her arm around Harry's waist.

“Alright then” they made their way back outside and Morgana sighed in relief as the driver was already waiting for them.

He perked up when he saw them and jumped down from the front, opening the door and stepping aside “all ready to return home?” he asked, nodding as Morgana confirmed it. “alrighty, I’ll get you two home safe and sound” he closed the door behind Harry and hopped back up front, Morgana and Harry leaning against each other as the carriage bounced to life and made its way back to their apartment building.

-

Harry yawned as he ruffed his hair, slipping off his suit jacket and hanging it on the bathroom door. He slipped off his hard boots and kicked them under the sink.

“you almost done in there?!” Morganas muffled voice came from the other side of the door, Harry just hummed and wiped off most of his eyeliner.

“aye! Just a few more moments!” he yelled back, throwing down the makeup wipe and stretching his arms behind his back, groaning in relief as his back popped. “alright I’m done!” he walked over to the bathroom door and opened it, letting out a small laugh as he spotted his and Morganas shared bed “I was in the bathroom for ten minutes” he shook his head, stepping further into their room, analyzing their bedframe that was covered in blankets and sheets, fairy lights hanging below them, gently illuminating the bed

Morgana just shrugged, kicking her shoes aside as she walked over to the bed and grabbed two large boxes wrapped in gold and sea green wrapping paper. She spun back around and lifted them towards Harry “don’t mind how just open your presents!” Harry smiled and shook his head, walking over to Morgana and sitting down on the bed next to her, taking the boxes from her and setting one on his lap and the other behind him. Morgana flopped down next to him and set her chin on his shoulder, grinning as he ripped open his presents.

“wow,” he laughed, pulling out a handful of self-care products, face mask forms, moisturizers, mud masks, application brushes, a black headband with little cat ears on it, oils, exfoliating rub, and a red weighted blanket. Harry set the other items aside and pulled the 15-pound blanket out, humming happily against it. “it’s red too” he giggled, grinning underneath the fabric as Morgana bumped her head against his shoulder and nodding towards the other box

“open the other one!” she pushed, bouncing excitedly as Harry turned to grab the long flat box and set it on his lap. He ripped the wrapping paper and tossed it on the floor, opening the box he gasped.

He tossed the top onto the floor and grabbed onto the gift inside, standing as he did so. Morgana grinned at his reaction to the brand-new scarlet jacket she had commissioned Evie to make him.

The tail reached his calves, with gold detailing on the cuffs and lapels, silver-gold buttons to connect the middle, his infamous symbol stenciled on the back “oh songbird” Harry sighed, folding up the jacket carefully and turning to Morgana with a soft smile “I love it, thank yeh”

“well, when you ripped the sleeves on your last one because your damn arms got too big, I knew I had to get you a new-woah!” Morgana gasped as she was suddenly pushed back into the bed, harry climbing on top of her “not that I’m complaining but what are you” she was silenced as Harry's soft lips pressed against hers, her eyes fluttering closed.

Harry pulled back for a moment and whispered in her ear “well I must thank yeh properly for these gifts, don’t cha think~” he purred, hands gently trailing up her thighs.

Morgana bit her lip, tossing her arms around Harry's neck and pulling him down to her chest, her ankles locking around his waist “I have no problem with that~!”

-end-

Bit of a steamy end there intit~ lol yeah @sephiralorange​ wanted a fluffy story with a fluffy end~! Hope yall liked it~! Thank you sehp for commissioning me to write this! Sorry, it took a couple of days, I was kinda burned out from writing rewrite heh.

 no taglist since this isnt a xreader :p

commissions are open tho 

[rmg91]

Meant To Be (In Any Form)-7

Heeeey...So yeah...muses were being finicky as they always are and I just couldn't seem to focus on anything! Those are the main reasons why I just haven't been able to get myself to write. Seriously, I know I can write a oneshot fairly quickly so it shouldn't take almost 3 weeks to do so and yet! Also as always I've been distracted my RP with Autumn and some RL crud so yeah. Anyway, please enjoy some domestic fluff!

Chapter Summary: Poppy comes home to a delightful surprise.

Also found on: AO3/FF.Net

@hayleysstark LOOK! I WROTE SOME DOMESTIC FLUFF!

~*~*~*~*~*~

The day had started as usual for the trolls of Pop Village, sunshine beaming down through the trees as they went about their daily business of singing, dancing and hugging led by their darling Queen Poppy. Even when it got a little cloudy it didn't deter them in the slightest, their fun continuing up until the sky opened up and rain began to fall. Some families rushed their kids inside, not wanting the trollings to get sick, others stayed and danced in the falling water until it started to really pour. While they all made a mad dash for some cover, Poppy laughed joyously as she ran through the rain, the water soaking her through as she made her way to the large tree her home was built in. Thankfully she knew her scrapbook supplies would be safe, having long since taken the advice of Branch to keep it contained in plastic in case her hair got too wet. Carefully running up the stairs, she didn't want Branch to scold her for not being careful, she made it under their porch awning, dripping wet and giggling breathlessly.

Taking a moment to squeeze some water from her dress and hair, the least she could do so she didn't make a huge puddle inside, the pink troll slipped inside the tree-house her loving husband had made them. Stepping inside, she shivered at the sudden temperature difference, goosebumps raising on her pink skin as she dripped all over the foyer. She wasn't greeted by the usual warm glow of the glowshrooms however, which made her pause and tilt her head, because instead there was a fainter glow flickering beyond the corner. Alongside one of her favorite sounds in the world, Branch's humming. She stood there, curious as the what he was up to but also just wanting to enjoy the soft music he made. Maybe if she stood here long enough he'd start singing~ However that wasn't to be as she shivered again just as he spoke up.

“You can come around the corner, you know. Don't have to hide to listen to me hum.”

Poppy giggled and replied, “I would but I don't want to drip too much on the carpet~!”

She could just feel him pausing before he padded around the corner of the living room to spot her in all her wet, dripping glory. Dress plastered to her and hair dropping over her eyes. She grinned at him as he sighed, exasperated, before shaking his head. Then she noticed he wasn't wearing his usual vest and shorts combo. No, her hunk of a husband was all dressed up; white dress-shirt, the top few buttons undone, and dark blue, almost blank slacks with his indigo hair combed and swept back. Taking a moment to appreciate the look, Gumdrops was he delicious, the queen asked, “What's the occasion? Not meeting anyone behind my back are you~?”

Rolling his blue eyes, Branch approached his soaking wife with a shake of head, “Only the queen herself. Who apparently decided to not even try to avoid the rain.”

“Aww, come on~ You know as well as I do how fun it is to run in the rain!” She grinned as he rolled his eyes once more before saying, “Soooo? You never answered by question. What's the occasion, my man~?”

He gestured with his head, stepping back lightly, “Look for yourself.”

Peeking around the corner, careful not to drip too much on the soft felt and moss carpet, Poppy gasped in delight as she spotted a small round table set up for a romantic dinner for two, candles burning in the center beside a small mound of flowers. “Awww~” She cooed, looking back to Branch with a grin, “And whatever brought this on?”

“What?” He shrugged, “Can't a husband treat his wife to a romantic dinner date at home? To thank her for everything she's ever done and for choosing him to spend the rest of her fun, loud and crazy life with?”

“You've been thinking about things again.” It wasn't a question that needed an answer, she already knew it.

He shrugged a little bashfully, “Maybe just a little.” It wasn't like he ever hid the fact that he would always be grateful that she had taken a chance on him, helped to turn his gray and lonely life around to something he could now say he loved just as much as he loved her. Crazy, glitter filled parties and all.

Smiling softly at him, the pink troll bounced over, cooing, “You are adorable~” She quickly kissed his cheek before stating, “And I'd choose you every time~ Be right back~!” And then she was quickly racing up the stairs to change out of her wet clothes.

~*~*~*~

Bouncing back downstairs, her hair only slightly frizzy from her rush towel drying, Poppy found Branch pouring them a glass of stoutberry wine, a delicious smell wafting through the covered dishes now on the table. She grinned at him once he noticed her and sashayed over when he held his arms out for her.

“Smells great~ What'cha make?” She asked, happily returning his hug.

He chuckled, warm and fond, as he brush some of her hair back behind an ear, “You'll see~” He then, like the gentletroll he was, pulled her chair out for her.

Once they were both settled, the survivalist gestured for her to take the covering off her plate and as she did so, she got the best whiff of their meal. Looking down, she grinned and bounced a little in her seat, seeing her favorite dish ever! Rice and mixed vegetables, extra mushrooms! And there was even a little bowl of spicy pepper flakes if she so desired to add some heat to it! She squealed happily, thanking Branch profusely, and then gave a little happy dance as he revealed he also whipped up some twisty garlic and cheese bread-sticks!

“Ooh-hohoho!! You love me~!” She sang, digging right into her food.

“That's not exactly a secret anymore.” He chuckled, taking his own calmer bite of food.

Soon enough, Poppy calmed down and they enjoyed the quiet ambiance of falling rain and the soft crackle of the fireplace. They shared their days from when they had separated after the morning song, Branch telling her he had finally worked out what had happened to the waterslide. The pipes had somehow been clogged by some of Sky's prototype water beads. They were suppose to be soft enough to squeeze through most things, being mostly made of water, but the formula wasn't right yet and so they had grown too large inside the pipe. Sky's assistant had admitted to accidentally spilling some in the pool, hoping to come and fish them out once they had grown large enough to see but not knowing some had been swept up into the pipe. Thankfully it had been an easy enough fix and with a new even tighter mesh insert hopefully nothing would get through again. Branch admitted that had the weather not changed so quickly, the slide would have been fully functional that day but instead trolls would have to wait a little longer.

Poppy had filled him in on all the fun he had missed during an impromptu dance party and the then resulting game of hide and seek. Before all that she had gone to three different birthday parties and a muffin tasting at the muffin stand. After being found, she had stopped by Ginger's baby shower before hanging around the market with some of the Snack Pack, trading ideas for the upcoming Prank Day. There had been a brief search for Mr. Dinkles but thankfully the glowworm hadn't been missing for long. And then a flash mob had taken over the market place! It was just after everyone was taking a breather from that bit of fun that the storm had hit and Poppy had made her mad dash home.

After that their conversation moved to other things, mostly ranging from any day to day activities to any upcoming holiday's and events, Poppy focusing on the fun and Branch on making sure everything she wanted to do would be safe. But that was what made them work so well together, in official royal business and personal life, they'd do their respective specialties and meet in the middle. Of course they still had moments where they were unwilling to compromise but in the end they always worked it out and everyone winded up having more fun for it.

Dinner ended soon enough without fan fair, Poppy leaning back in her chair with a sigh of satisfaction as she patted her stomach, “That was delicious~ As always~”

Branch snickered lightly but smirked at her, “You always say that.” He leaned his head on his hand, watching Poppy through hooded eyes past the candlelight, smirk turning into something soft as he gazed at her. “Sorry there's no dessert. There wasn't any time to go pick something up. Your stuff's better anyway.”

Poppy grinned at him, “Flattery will get you everywhere and that's okay,” She shrugged one shoulder before giving him a sassy smirk, “You're all the dessert I need~”

“Pffft!” Branch snickered, getting up and coming around the back of her chair to nuzzle under her ear as he replied to her flirt, “You're impossible~”

“You love me~!”

“Mmm, I do...I really, really do~” He kissed her cheek softly before leaning back, “And I do have a little after dinner surprise for you. But you have to keep eyes closed.”

“Awww!” The pink queen whined lightly, “Do I have too?”

“Yes.”

Poppy sighed, more dramatically than upset, “Fiiiiine.” And then did as her husband asked, sitting and waiting for him to tell her to open them. She knew he hadn't gone to far, listening to him shuffle around somewhere in their living room but she couldn't figure out what he could be doing.

Meanwhile, after making sure she wasn't peeking, Branch set up the surprise he knew she'd love, tossing and arranging an array of their softest and fluffiest blankets down the perfect distance away from the fire. They'd be warm, but not too much, and comfortable without having to worry about anything catching on fire. After arranging the pillows just right, he went over and gently pulled Poppy out of her chair, telling her to open her eyes. “I figured you wouldn't mind a cuddle session since it's rainy.” He smirked, gesturing to the pile.

“You bet I don't!” Poppy cried happily before pulling Branch over with her usual exuberance, pushing him gentle down upon the pillows before joining him. Cuddling up close, she listened as he chuckled at her antics, smiling at the fond sound. But as she laid her head on his chest, she realized something was missing. Sitting up with a slight frown, she ignored Branch questioning look as she quickly undid the top few buttons of his shirt. Nodding with delight, she laid back down, hand slipping under the now semi-opened shirt to feel his skin. She hummed happily as she held it above his heart, feeling the comforting pulse of it beating and sighed, “Much better~”

Branch merely chuckled some more at his wife's antics, laying his hand over hers to hold it as he used his other arm to hold her close. Reaching with his hair, he draped one last blanket over them as they relaxed, unconsciously beginning to hum as he held her hand above his heart. It wasn't long there after that between the full bellies, crackling fire and the heavy rainfall crashing outside found the royal couple drifting off to sleep, wrapped up in their embrace.

~*~*~*~*~*~

And there you have it! Some, hopefully, tooth rotting fluff! And yes, Poppy enjoys feeling her man up whenever she can XD Anyway, hope you enjoyed and maybe one day I'll be able to focus again on something for more than 3 seconds Lol! I have things I want to write I tell ya!

[popculturebuffet]

Goof Week: House of Mouse: Super Goof or Wish I Could Fly Like Super Goof (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

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Hello all you happy gorshers and welcome back to Goof Week, my week long celebration of Goofy’s 89th Birthday. And today I take my once a month trip down to the house of mouse as part of my patron kev’s yearlong celebration of the show’s 20th anniversary. And since I had this theme week in mind I asked him if it’d be okay if he strictly randomized goofy episodes, he said yes and here we are. 

Luck was on my side as I got what I remembered was one of my faviorite episodes of the show. But before I can get if it lived up to the hype or not a brief word on Super Goof. 

Super Goof is actually from the comics, first debuting in a story where Goofy thought he had super powers and fought the Phantom Blot in a cowboy hat. 

This concept was a hit so in 1965 Goofy was made a superhero for real with Super Goof #1. This dosen’t suprise me: this was the height of the silver age: The Lee and Kirby age of Marvel was in full swing and DC was still doing gangbusters. So there was market for a superhero spoof comic starring one of Disney’s best and brightest characters, who was given a bunch of super peanuts called super goobers to give him superman powers.  What DOES surprise me is the series lasted 74 issues from 65-84. And what’s more insane and wonderful? It didn’t get canceled because of low sales or anything. That was simply when Gold Key shut down... and Gold Key was FOUNDED three years before it meaning this book lasted the company’s ENTIRE lifespan. I’ll say that again, a book about goofy eating peanuts that started because of a story where goofy thought he was a superhero and fought a cowboy phantom blot, lasted 74 issues and only ended because the publisher shut down. That... is one of the most amazing things I have ever heard in my life. I’m genuinely impressed... this isn’t even a bad concept, I likes it and wish Disney would give it a full series. Farmer could do wonders with it. I’m just amazed that this odball little comic took off like it did. And as one final fun fact much like Superman, Super Goof set off the trend of Disney’s classic characters becoming heroes, with Donald’s own Papernik/Duck Avenger following in his footsteps. I REALLY want a Disney Superhero Verse in animatoin now, I know there was a mini series like that. And I will have to visit these comics at some point I just simply didn’t have room in the week with a movie review tomorrow. . 

So with all that out of the way how does Super Goof do on screen and does the episode hold up? Join me under the cut to find out. 

As usual for HOM I’ll be doing the shorts and overarching story seperate soooo

How To To Take Care of Your Yard:

Look anyone whose read my stuff or even just my goofy shorts special  will know how much I love the How To Shorts and how this series is responsible. This admittedly isn’t one of the BEST of them.. but it’s still fun to watch. Even a forgettable How To Short is still GOOD. It’s abotu Goofy taking care of his yard over the four seasons and has some decent gags but nothing really standout.  I Honestly DO wish I had more to say but this one’s just okay and it woudln’t stick out as much if both the wraparound and the other short weren’t so spectacular. Speaking of which. 

Locksmiths: This is one of the few shorts I VIVIDLY remembered from childhood and for damn good reason. This is THE best short i’ve seen so far for House of Mouse this year and for good reason. The premise is simple enough: The Golden Trio are locksmiths.. who end up getting locked inside their own office just after Minnie calls with something urgent to tell them. 

The results are comic gold, with the standout bits being Goofy’s keys which is just such a wonderful hurricane of puns with some great visual gags to start it off that I can’t help but love it

There’s TONS of other good stuff too: The boys fishing for the key, Mickey opening a ton of doors in a sequence MST3K would be proud of and the finale with the boys falling out the office. This is a true , hilarious classic and my words can’t really do it justice. Seek this one out on it’s own or in the episode you will not regret it. A true classic for Disney Shorts period. 

Super Goof:

So onto the main story. Goofy asks Clarabelle out and she’s not only incredibly receptive but simply asks to check her schedule.. which he interprets as no.  I would make a joke here but i’ts clear from previous episodes HOM goofy has Low Self Esteem: he was utterly crushed not having a valentine and by his friends all wishing he could be less Goofy. So him overreacting like this is in character and comes off as endearing: it’s not that he thinks so low of her he’d think sh’ed pull something like this.. it’s that he’s so doubtful of someone liking him for who he is deep down he self sabotages something I can PAINFULLY relate to as that’s one of my biggest personal issues hands down. 

So outside presumably on break...

Not THAT kind of break. Though since I bring it up: they both were wrong. They WERE on a break, and it was wrong of tweedle dee and tweedle dum there to keep needling it ESPECIALLY since their the ones who TOLD HIM to hide his sleeping with the waitress and took NO responsibility for that. Rachel treating it like an affair constantly when she’s the one who wanted space and didn’t give him any paramerters for said is fucking terrible. It’s telling that in the reunion trailer everyone but Matthew LeBlanc, who was clearly just having some fun agreed they were.  That being said Ross still slept with someone five seconds after being on said break, still listneed to the two of them on hiding it when it was a bad idea, and STILL caused said break by being a clingy asshole to such a degree even his previous history of being cheated on does not justify or excuse how badly he treated Rachel. What i’m saying is they both sucked, and thus deserved each other, and by the end NEITHER was remotely likeable, with both having done terrible things both in said will they or won’t they hellscape and outside it, with Ross dating a student and Rachel dating her assistant. 

Anyways after that thing I clearly needed to get off my chest, we get a narration informing us a METEOR IS COMING and it strikes the peanuts Goofy’s depression snacking on, as a result he becomes SUPER GOOF! And after a display of his powers with various disney characters (finding Gepetto and Pinocchio in a whale, saving the dalmations from cruella , lifting the giant from the littlest tailor) and finds he has a narrator. No really Goofy notices and is not happy about it despite all superheros having one. I mean he’s not wrong, look what the X-Men’s did to  Cyclops:

But regardless he has him and Goofy flies through the air with the quickest of ease through the house of mouse impressing everyone who has no idea he’s goofy. This gag is a carry over from the comics and a transparent parody of the superman clark kent thing. But it works because Goofy still uses his name in costume, still has his hat and really changes nothing about his appearance. It’s simple but sometimes you just need a very simple gag to work and overxplaning it spoils the whole thing. Trust me I know as a certified experinced fuck up. 

So after the first cartoon Super Goofy guest stars, and we get some neat gags with the disney movie characters, though my faviorite is Peter Pan’s reactoin of “He Can fly he can fly he can fly, big deal. Anyone can do that”. It’s both perfectly in character and utterly hilarious. 

Goofy however starts to feel disheartneed as everyone compliments him.. and Minnie says he’s better than a regular goofy as do the others minus Mickey because he’s a good egg. And Clarabelle but he misinertperts her like of super goof as her liking him better as that. 

So fed up with everyone liking him better, Goofy throws away the peanuts, which he kept in his hat.. though one did fall in his waiter’s uniform. Remember that. The narrator questions if this is really the end and what if there’s peril but Goofy’s stubbornly instiant he won’t do it no matter what. 

Cue the what: another MUCH LARGER metor heading straight for Mainstreet

Goofy refuses to summon super goof despite the danger... Mickey has an apt response for him

This is the one scene I don’t really like: Goofy has a righ tto be upset they all prefer someone who just showed up hours ago over him, especially beceause it IS him, to the point Daisy was upset she got a picture of goofy instead of super goofy because J Jonah Jameson’s not going to pay for pictures of his next door neighbor. But Mickey has a right to not want to die horribly in a cataclysm of fire. 

So Goofy mopes off like his son to go save the world, fine whatever. Only as is cartoon law, the trash has been picked up meaning he dosen’t have any goobers.. except the CHEKOVS GOOBER. With it he chews it, flies up and has a truly impressive display holding it back while it’s just over clarabelle before dispoising of it. he hits on her in super form but she says she already has  date with regular goofy. Goofy’s confidence is restored, he’s probably getting laid tonight and we close on a Mike add for a school for Goofy’s. How much is tution.. asking for a me. 

Final Thoughts: This wraparound was great, a few small flaws but it has a great, engaging charcter driven story with some delightfully silly jokes that are right up my ally. It’s easy to see besides my love of superheroes why this one stood out to me: It’s funny, heartwrenching and stars one of my faviorite character.

The shorts are also good, one that’s okay , a bit too long but not bad, and one that’s an utter masterpiece. In fact the only reason the first short feels so long is you really want to get back to the main plot fast,  and that’s not a bad problem to have. This was an excellen tepisode and I recommend seeing it out. 

Before I get to my whole patreon speil, i’d like to say that House of Mouse STILL is not avaliable on Disney+ for reasons that haven’t been made clear. As such it’s on my Not Streaming List, a list I keep and update reguarly of shows that SHOULD be streaming on a particular service and have no clear reason NOT to be such as musical rights issues like the ones likely keeping shows like Drew Carrey, Northern Exposure and Murphy Brown off streaming. So check that out if your curious, link is on my main page and hit me up if you have any suggestoins for it. 

So thank you for reading and if you liked this review give it a like and consider joining my patreon at patreon.com/popculturebuffet. As a patron you’d get access to exclusive reviews, the patreon’s discord and to pick a short each time I do one of these shortstaculars. Donald’s comnig next month and the deadline is in only a few days to join up for said month so the clock is ticking. Even a dollar a month helps me reach my stretch goals so please i fyou can sign up today and if not, I understand and i’ll see you at the next rainbow

[solari-writes-things]

Hello my lovely friend, may I request numbers 82 and 43 with Chibs please? I'm soooo looking forward to it, I love your writing!✨💖✨

Of course you can!! I love writing for this man and it seems like he is widely appreciated amongst these parts, so having a request such as this one is super duper fun!!

Prompt - #82: “I’m not your boss? Then who is?”/#43: “Frost the damn cupcakes.”

Chibs Telford x Reader

Warnings: Language

Gif isn’t mine, credited below.

tag list: @crimsonheart01 @sazafraz @supervalcsi @chibsytelford @kind-wolf (if you would like to be included in the tag list, please comment below or message me directly!)

REQUESTS TEMPORARILY CLOSED

Luckily for you today, the SAMCRO clubhouse was quiet. Hell, you had hoped to some form of higher deity that it would stay that way. It’s not that you didn’t enjoy the company of the MC, it’s just that the occasion called for the silence. Because if it wasn’t, this whole project that you were putting together would have crashed and burned in a matter of minutes.

Yes, it probably would have been one of the patched boys who had done the crashing. They couldn’t help themselves around you, having become one big family with them. Usually you wouldn’t have minded. However, this was Abel’s birthday that was being prepped for today, and you had been borrowing the clubhouse kitchen the past couple of days to make little treats for the boys.

Occasionally, someone would come by and swipe one. Pretending as if you wouldn’t notice that the overall count had gone down. With the other things, you didn’t mind as heavily. These cupcakes that you had laid out on the counter, though, you did mind if they had gone missing. You had made just enough buttercream icing for all of them, and considering the time and effort that went into crafting it, you didn’t intend to waste.

You had Chibs at your right, hoping that he would be able to contain his impulses to scoop and run with one of the sweets in front of him. You trusted that he would be the one to get into the least amount of trouble with you, considering that you two had been seeing each other for quite some time. He would be helping you with the icing today, thankful that the had agreed to help you out. He could see how much this meant to you, and wanted to be a part of seeing it to it’s end.

So here you were, prepping a piping bag that you had snagged from your home. You had done baking and confectionary as a hobby, looking for a reason to pick it up again. It looked like Chibs had gone on a tangent about the things he had learned about you, because suddenly Jax had approached you about a request to help him and Tara celebrate his son’s birthday.

You began to fill the piping bag with blue icing, Chibs watching with a bit of interest. He had admitted to wanting to learn something like this for his own accord, and you were happy to oblige once you both found the time of day.

You look up to connect your gaze with his. “You wash your hands and everything?”

“Of course I did,” he stated immediately. You knew he knew better, so you trusted his statement.

You bring the scissors up to the corner of the bag and snip it, putting the piping bag into the nozzle that you had brought with you. Once you had managed to funnel the icing into the tip, you carefully handed it to Chib. “Alright, here.”

He takes the bag carefully, mimicking the way that he had observed you holding it. “Alright, love, walk me through it?”

You nod your head, taking your own piping bag into your hands and beginning to tell him what to do, step by step with a visual demonstration on a cupcake that you had pulled closer to yourself.

-

After a couple of attempts from Chibs, you both had gotten through about three dozen cupcakes. While you were able to see which ones were iced between the two of you, you had to give it to him. He got the hang of it quick with a few words of encouragement and a couple kisses to follow. So both of you were now taking a break, leaned against your respective walls in the SAMCRO kitchen.

“Can I trust you to fight off anyone who tries to snag one while I use the restroom?” you asked him, pushing yourself off of the wall.

He nods his head. “Sure, darlin’,” he agrees, smiling at you lovingly.

You match it, moving toward him a bit and bringing his face in for a soft kiss. You let go and pull away, moving out of the kitchen and around the corner to head to the restroom. While you shut the door and turn to face the American flag painted walls, your brain seems to shut off. Hopefully today, with all of the hard work and dedication going on from all fronts, would go seamless. You would hate to see something happen on a day that needed to be riddled with happiness.

A couple minutes of silence to yourself pass, you give the toilet a flush and wash your hands at the sink. You wipe them off on your pants, leaving small wet marks on your thighs as you pull the door open and head back to the kitchen.

You turn the corner, expecting to see Chibs where he had initially been standing. Instead, you saw him with one of the chocolate cupcake errors that he had made halfway in his mouth. He looked at you, evenly in the eyes, any chewing that he had needed to do to get another piece in his mouth has ceased. You smack your lips, crossing your arms with a shake of your head.

“Oh come on, I trusted you,” you chide to him in jest.

He finally takes the bite that he had meant to take when you had rounded the corner, lowering the last bite that he had in his hands a little away from his mouth. He chews it out of respect for you, swallowing it before opening his mouth to speak.

“You’re not my boss,” he said with a childish smile.

“I’m not your boss?” you ask in mock exasperation. “Then who the fuck is?”

Chibs casually nods his head to the blonde President, who had taken residence at one of the black circular tables with Bobby. He must have made his way in when you were in the bathroom. “That fuckin’ lad.”

You tsk, shaking your head at his answer and moving toward him quickly. You pluck the last bite out of his hands before shoving it into your own mouth. His face contorts into mock offense, his lips pursing.

“Lets just frost the rest of these damn cupcakes,�� you respond to him, grinning mischievously as you migrate back to your station and pick up your piping bag.

[rainebowkitty]

Happy Birthday Riddle! <3

IT'S FINALLY TIME! I've been hyped about this for awhile ngl, but let's just get right into a small summary of the piece.

Riddle celebrates his first birthday with friends (for plot convenience, I'm also making this when he first tries a tart. Also, I originally had Che'nya insert cat puns whenever he spoke, but ehhhhhhh I don't think they really fit the piece, soooo yeah. They weren't good either, they were just changing 'you' to 'mew' and such, but whatevs).

“Take a bite now, would you?” 

“Che’nya, no need to rush him.”

Riddle stared at the slice of strawberry tart with a hesitance no kid should a dessert on their birthday. It was a gift, after all. He should be just as grateful for this sweet treat as he was the new stack of books his mother gifted him that he had neatly worked into the countless other organized scriptures on his bookshelf earlier that day. 

“Che’nya’s right,” Riddle nodded slowly as he picked up his silverware. “I… suppose I’m nervous is all.”

“It’s not like your mom can sense when you’re misbehaving,” the cat boy continued, causing Riddle to freeze mid-cut. Was he really that easy to read? 

Of course he was. He was just a boy, yet he had developed years of trust in his mother’s words already. The only flicker of doubt he had in her was the contradictory things his friends would say and do, but it was enough to keep him from arrogantly strutting about as if the name ‘Rosehearts’ were that of a prince. 

For now, anyway. 

“If you don’t want to do this, Riddle-”

“No, I-I didn’t say that, I…” the redhead trailed off as he gritted his teeth in a fit of determination. He jammed his fork into the piece of tart with the grace of an awkward goose, causing a not-so-subtle clang of plate and silver before lifting the utensil up and turning it towards his mouth. He opened then closed his lips around the fork as an overwhelming sweetness danced on his tongue. 

To anyone else, the strawberries covering the top of the tart would’ve more than balanced out the sugary cream just beneath them, but this was a new flavor for Riddle. His taste buds didn’t know how to process the dessert in the slightest, yet it was still so good that he quickly brought the knife back down to the plate to cut off another bite-sized portion. He plopped the new piece into his mouth before he’d finished chewing the last one. This frenzy persisted until there were only crumbs remaining.

“See, I told you he’d like it,” Che’nya elbowed Trey with a wry smile coloring his already flashy features. Trey just smiled as if he knew too, but he was too gentle to force Riddle into anything whether he trusted his intuition or not. 

Trey almost regretted his inability to give Riddle much of a proper push upon seeing how drastically the boy would change whenever the trio happened upon something he hadn’t experienced before and enjoyed. There was always this light in his eyes that wasn’t there before. It’d never last long, especially when early in their friendship, Riddle would sniffle and sob as he mumbled strings of apologies to his mother, careful not to exclude how much of a disgrace he was for breaking the rules. 

~

“I-I n-never should’ve d-done th-this,” Riddle wiped a salty tear from his cheek only for three more to take its place in a neat and orderly line. It was incredible how even Riddle’s tears seemed to follow some sort of pre-planned procedure. 

“But you had fun, no?” The curious cat boy tilted his head as he asked. He was never great with this sappy side of Riddle. He knew he was there simply to convince the impressionable redhead to do things he normally wouldn’t with that buzzard of a mother present, but at least Che’nya had enough sense to be serious when these episodes of Riddle’s occurred. 

“I g-guess,” Riddle hiccupped. “B-but wh-what if w-we’re caught? M-mama will h-hate me and I-I’ll d-deserve it.” 

“That’s not true,” Trey put a hand on the blubbering boy’s shoulder, the redhead jolting a little but not having it in him to push Trey’s hand away. “At least you learned something new, right? Croquet was a pastime of one of the Great Seven.”

“R-really?” Riddle’s lip quivered. He’d heard tales of the Great Seven before and the school they represented. Entry requirements were a mystery, but even his accomplished eyes glazed with innocence dreamed of entry to a school with so many dazzling founders.

“The Queen of Hearts,” Trey nodded before wiping Riddle’s tear stained cheek with his sleeve gently. “In fact, games like this were part of the rules she upheld.”

“A-a Queen built entirely on f-fun,” Riddle wiped his other eye slowly as if the concept were impossible to him. “So sh-she wouldn’t get m-mad at me, even if I’m a-awful at the game?” 

“She wouldn’t,” Trey smiled as he picked up the mallet cast aside in Riddle’s short outburst. “So how about we give it another go?” 

“A-alright. If you’re sure.” 

~

“Thank you both,” Riddle looked up to his friends happily, that light so rarely seen in his eyes lingering there, even as underlying guilt rested in the sheets of silver.

On their way back, the sun only seemed to illuminate them more before the group reached the window in which Riddle always climbed from to join Trey and Che’nya on their daily escapades. The metallic gleam of grey irises dulled at the sight of his room. He climbed into it with a wave and a weak smile to his friends, two boys that represented the freedom he could never fully grasp returning Riddle’s gesture before turning around and walking away back to their happy homes, the redhead watching them was sure.

“I had fun,” he whispers to their backs as they disappeared in the streets.

~

Bonus: 

“I certainly hope you did, because it won’t be happening again,” came a stern voice from the corner of the room. Riddle whipped his head around to the sound with a sharp gasp.

“M-mama? Mama, please, I-I can explain!” 

“Oh, I think you’ve explained quite enough. The cream attached to your bottom lip certainly does tell me exactly what you’ve been up to.”

Riddle could only blink before wiping the remnants of the tart away distractedly, the shirt unluckily enough a darker color that made the white icing stand out harshly on his sleeve.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could squeak out as he pursed his lips so they wouldn’t quiver and so he wouldn’t cry. But it wasn’t enough for her. It never would be, and neither would he.

~

Bonus bonus: aka some doodles of mine :3

Aaaaaaand that's it. Until next year everyone! (Jk I can't pry myself away from making Riddle content. I already have ideas for general hcs of next year's bday for the lil' tyrant, but that's none of my business 👀)

[oikawas-bae]

OHMYGOD I need a part two for Target with Akaashi!! It’s so beautiful and I need to know please? Like does he confess? Do they start dating? Does Bokuto suspect something!? Does she(?) like him back?! I NEED ANSWERS PLEASE 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Here’s the part 2! Ahah thank you for literally being my #1 hype man/woman/person since I started this blog like a week ago!! I’m really feeling the love :,) also here are answers hehe

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOKUBABEY!!” You whooped when you slapped the front door open. Bokuto came running down the stairs in only boxers with a paranoid look on his face.

“Calm down, we’re not burglars.” Akaashi walked ahead to set the snacks down on his credenza.

“HEY, don’t rule it out. I was watching this documentary the other day-“ You cut him off by grabbing his hand, earning you a surprised yelp from the owl boy.

“You really need to stop watching the videos Kuroo sends you, they all make you act some kind of way and we get to deal with the aftermath.” You frowned for a millisecond before flashing him a toothy grin and looking at Akaashi for reassurance. The latter nodded.

“It’s your birthday Bokuto! We’re doing whatever you like, we brought you snacks right at 12 o’ clock to experience your birthday for as long as it lasts.” Akaashi sighed, bracing himself for the incoming storm of excitement that would explode from Bokuto’s mouth in a minute.

“ALL 24 HOURS? WERE STAYING UP?” Yep, Akaashi was right. “I’ve always wanted my birthday to be longer...how did I not think of this sooner? Ah! What should we do? Good thing I took a nap! I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH.” Pulling you both into an agressive hug, there was a synchronized groan.

“Well (y/n) and I didn’t nap all day so you’re in charge of keeping us awake with all that energy of yours.” The black haired boy grumbled into the hug. Bokuto let go and placed a hand on his hip, “Deal.”

“Speak for yourself, Akaashi. I’ve done countless all nighters.” You boasted, locking elbows with Bokuto and walking toward the kitchen.

“You’re literally a baby. You nap in every car ride where you’re not the driver.” Akaashi followed.

You stuck your tongue out at him and he simply rolled his eyes. Bokuto looked to you then to Akaashi, sighing but shrugging off the mini argument. His owl eyes shrunk in concentration as he tried to figure out what to do for the next 24 hours.

“Okay!” Akaashi and you turned at his call for attention. “I’ve decided that the best plan of action is to start off with the light stuff like watching movies or homework if you guys have any and then we’ll do the intense stuff when we’ve been awake for a couple of hours and feel the sleep kicking in.”

“It’s smart to do more interactive activities when we’re tired but I’m afraid to ask what you mean by ‘intense activities’’” Akaashi mumbled, Bokuto chuckled ominously.

“I have twister! And we’ll make an obstacle course...” He continued to ramble on about the ideas he had and Akaashi and you knew it was going to be a long day.

Hour 5

Bokuto put on a movie for and you pretended to be critics and pointed out all of its flaws. Bokuto and you chortled at how serious Akaashi got about critiquing the movie- he really should’ve majored in film.

Hour 10

The drowsiness began to kick in for you but you refused to show any sign of weakness. Your eyes were peeled and you blinked constantly to keep the dryness from reddening your eyes. Akaashi, being as observant as he was and just looking up to admire you every once in a while, noticed but kept it to himself since he had to admit that it was amusing to watch you battle with pride about being a ‘professional staying awake person’ as you put it.

Hour 13

Twister time! And Bokuto was feral. He pushed you out of your place, making you lose, when his hip was beside your face and he bumped you intentionally (and he lied about doing that when you accused him). Akaashi lost on purpose and went to use the restroom but not before mumbling incoherently about Bokuto being a cheater.

Hour 15

At this point, Akaashi and you were begging Bokuto to do something not so physically demanding so that you could sneak in at least a few minutes of sleep. Your head was on Akaashi’s lap and he was so frazzled by it that he stuttered while lecturing Bokuto about the dangers of driving with zero hours of sleep.

“AHAHA you stuttered, Akaashi!” The owl boy teased and Akaashi’s face heated up, even more so when you nuzzled on his lower thigh to get more comfortable. A wave of relief washed over him as he thanked the forces of nature and whatever was out there that Bokuto was so simple minded, “the sleep deprivation must really be getting to you.”

You shot up at Bokuto’s words, “IM NOT SLEEPY AT ALL. It’s Akaashi, like you said, Boku.” You were not about to even be vaguely assumed to be tired.

“If we can’t go out, let’s do karaoke!”

You and Akaashi looked at each other and breathed in like exhausted parents trying to appease their hyperactive child. And at this point, that’s what you were. Only nine more hours.

Hour 20

“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. “ Bokuto alternated from you and Akaashi as he watched the two of you nod off every few minutes while he was bringing out his birthday cake from the fridge.”

He served the two of you your pieces and didn’t bother with the candles or the song. You had already sung a dubstep version of ‘Happy Birthday’ and awkwardly inserted Bokuto’s name in during karaoke.

“Eat. Sugar will keep you awake.” Akaashi heeded his friends orders and lifted the form up to his mouth but sleep sounded much more enticing. You and Bokuto both watched Akaashi’s head flip back and his mouth open just a few centimeters wide, his breath coming out slowly.

Chuckling evilly, you took a bite from the cake, “Weak.”

“I honestly thought you would be the one to go down first.” Bokuto said in between mouthfuls. It was really a mystery how this boy could have so much energy with so little sleep.

“Huh? I’m literally a god when it comes to not sleeping.” You slurred. Bokuto grinned, it wasn’t long before the sleepless drunk (y/n) emerged. You were fun when you were fueled by sleep but he could really mess with you when you were in the vulnerable state of almost-sleep.

It only took about half an hour before the two of you headed to the dining room to leave Akaashi alone in the living room to sleep.

“I’ve got a question.” He set his palms down flat on the wood.

“Yes, birthday Bokuto? Ahh I mean birthday boy...oh wait, it still weeerks...it’s even bettturr.” Your words tripped out of your lips and he couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

“How come you haven’t made a move on Akaashi?” The question came at you like a canon ball. Your cheeks flare up and usually you and the wit to counter Bokuto’s ridiculous remarks but this was sleepy (y/n).

“Huh? Akaashi is lame, he’s literally a sleepyhead...” you denied.

“Cmon, (y/n). I’m dense but I know my best friends and you like him and he like you.” You wanted to smack the smirk off his face but you were just so lethargic.

“Yeah, he’s a cute sleepyhead.” You drew circles on the table with your index finger and Bokuto couldn’t help it compare you to a little girl with a crush. He smiled at the thought while you continued to breathy commentary on Akaashi. “He’s not even just cute, he gorgeous like I had a dream we were married and I woke up soooo happy , I cried. But it’s weird, no?”

Bokuto asked ‘what?’ With a flick of his eyebrows and you sighed and continued to exhaust yourself by talking. “Well, we’ve been friends since forever and it’s weird because he treats me so well and I love this him, I don’t want him to become someone else if we’re together. And don’t assume he likes me.”

“Are you kidding me? He’s love struck on you, he stares at you and he takes you places even though he hates driving. He keeps every dumb selfie you take on his phone. When he talks about you, it’s like he’s lost in his own world. And I get it, you’re really great, (y/n).”

“B-Bokuto...” You breathed out. The drowsiness was out of your mind and the only thoughts flowing through your head were those pertaining to what Bokuto was saying.

“Yeah, (y/n). Akaashi sees you just like I do but for him there’s just something extra there. Like he doesn’t just want to be with you, he wants to take care of you and for you to take care of him.”

“That sounds so-“

“Chummy, I know.” The black-white haired boy chuckled, his head falling on his wrist. “But it’s true and it has been for about...3 years now?”

“Three? HUH?” Your eyes opened wide. 3 years and you didn’t notice? Or maybe you chose not to see it because you were afraid of mistaking it for something it wasn’t.

Bokuto nodded, looking over to the curled up Akaashi on the couch. “You should tell him. If you wait for him, you’ll be waiting for six more years.”

“Maybe I will.” You confidently stood up, chest puffed out before grains of static filled you vision, that was too quick of a movement for someone who hadn’t slept in nearly a day.

“Actually, tell him after you get some rest.” Bokuto shuddered before getting up to help to balance yourself.

“But it’s your birthday...I’m not sleepy...” He lightly shoved you next to Akaashi on the couch and you r head fell to the armrest and almost instantaneously, you fell asleep.

Bokuto stood back and gave a satisfied nod at his sleeping friends. “You two made it farther than I thought you would.”

He looked down a his phone at the sound of a ding from Kuroo.

Kuroohohoh: I’m outside. Birthday dinner is on me!!

“Okay, gotta go!” He snapped a quick photo of the two of you sleeping beside each other before slipping on his shoes and continuing his birthday celebration. Akaashi’s eyes twitched at the sound of the door and he caught a glance of you next to him but he would save his freaking out to after he got his 8 hours.

[what-a-messsss]

1x10 rewatch

Ok, let’s get back to Walt Longmire: Disaster Boi of S1 and finish this season off with a...something.  Pleading look to the heavens, maybe?  

How do I keep forgetting that Lizzie is a thing, even after our decision to find her some nice Smitten Cowboy to be with?  Holy hell, but why are you still keeping your dead wife’s ashes in the kitchen?  At least you kept Lucian in your fucking truck.  In a coffee can.  What is with you and breakfast beverages??  We all know you need lots of therapy, but this seems like a kind of niche issue.

“Trust me, you don’t, uh, you don’t want that tea.”  Buddy.  

Poor Lizzie.  She really is so nice.  And he’s such a fucking disaster.  “You seem weird,” she says, in reaction to him going bug eyed from having to convince her not to drink his dead wife without her realizing that’s what he was doing.  Sweetie, you have no idea.  And she really does like him.  

This is.  So.  Gloriously awkward.  And Lizzie’s there in her bare feet.  And all we need is for Branch to show up and we’ll have a full house, and aaaaahahaha, Walt is so trying to freeze time with the power of his brain.  Staring off into the Not Here place with his mouth pressed just so...  Awwwww, suffer.

I had forgotten that Ferg was the one who actually did the body work on the Bronco!  Even did the paint work, because that old truck has never looked so good.  I know Omar loaned Walt his truck while the Bronco was “in the shop,” but I like that the writers gave Ferg the skills to do that.

“If anybody... has something they want to say, I suggest you think twice about it.”  We don’t need to say anything; we’re too busy laughing at you.

Oof, and then Lizzie hearing Martha’s voice still on the message greeting.  She’s really quite a good actress.  Lizzie isn’t a terribly subtle character generally, but she gives her these really fine microexpressions that give you occasional glimpses that there is more going on under the surface, and she’s not just an open book.  : (  Making me actually like her and feel bad, not just cringe when she comes on.  Dang iiiiiiiit.

Ok, that does NOT look like Sharpie.  I’m sorry, but that looks like a paint pen or lipstick more than it looks like a Shapie on the dead kid’s forehead.  Even if it were one of the jumbo Sharpies, they don’t write like that, they aren’t that colour on skin, and the thickness of the lines are all off.  Which is not really relevant, but it buuuuugs meeeee.  Pedantic little shit that I am.

Ope, Branch is basically past the angst about Walt not liking him and straight into just giving him nothing but attitude.  Which, while I can hardly blame anyone for giving Walt shit, does get old pretty fast.

Walt, you are So Bad at talking to people, even when it’s for the damn job!  Yeah, it’s fine to have Ferg fill Vic in, but at least acknowledge that she’s there, damn.  Honestly it would have been good for both Vic and Ferg for Walt to tell her to follow Ferg’s lead on this one.  He knows the case, the local history, the players, the situation, and probably more about archery than her, and she could stand to take the reminder that working 5 years in big city homicide still doesn’t make her the senior deputy and that she needs to be ok learning from even Ferg.  Shit, I keep finding more and more reasons to be annoyed at Walt.  Is he even really that good of a sheriff?  I’m shaking the ol’ Magic 8 Ball here, and signs point to frickin’ NO.  Ugh.

Five HUNDRED dollars says that he didn’t check with Mathias before going on the Rez for official police business again.  Jackass.

Can’t really blame Viho for being super bitter.  And Ayasha is so sweet.  This whole family dynamic is so well done.

Aw, Ferg is so excited about the gum wrapper.  “Still minty!”  How are you such a sparklebunny?  Bless.

Detective Falessssss.  His opening line is so great, but uuuuuuuhg, he’s as bad as Walt with his singlemindedness about the case.  

“Talk to Ruby.  She runs my life.”  She runs the department, bucko, and you’d be lost without her!  Lost, I say!  But you treat her like your personal social secretary, and that’s crap.

In Fales’ dubious defense, you were just super weird about that whole encounter.  

Omar!  You creepy little lecherous jackass.  Why am I still fond of you?  It’s really rather galling that I enjoy your character at all, but I doooo.  Thank gods he has the beard now; cleanshaven was just wigging me out.  “Vickie’s never shot before--”  “That is the second-to-last time you will ever call me that.”  And I chortle myself to distraction to the point that I have to rewind to catch the lines that I missed.  With her horrible plans when she gets drunk (I’m still cringing at that flashback of her with Travis) and her obvious thing for older men, I’m honestly kind of surprised she didn’t end up having a deeply regretted something with Omar at some point.  They do have good chemistry in an antagonistic way.  And he does so enjoy tugging her pigtails.  ...ew.  Why is my brain like this?  

“A little bit of practice, even a girl can make that shot.”  Aaaaaaand we’re back to kick him in the nuts.  Not that we ever really left there.  Such a butthead.

Boy oh boy, it sure is great the tone that all these shitty rich white people take saying “Indian.”

“That is what a normal person would do in your situation.”  Henryyyyyy, I love you so much.  Why can’t we spend more time with him in the early seasons?  Why are you drinking a Rainier?  Nooooo, please have better taste in beer than your boyfriend!  You have expensive tastes in bourbon, why can’t you have decent taste in beeeer?

Walt, what is the point of practicing darts when you are FIVE FEET from the board?  Seriously, you’re supposed to be like...  (a google later)  7 feet 9.25 inches away!  That’s...  That’s an oddly specific measurement.  Wtf.  No quickly apparent reason for that specific measure.  Resisting the pull of this particular rabbit hole to continue the ep.  

Aaaah, that’s right, this is still when Walt thinks that Henry may have killed the guy for him.  And BestDad Henry talked to Cady after the blow up about Branch, and he is a wonderful human being.  “It’s really none of your concern.”  Hoooooow dare you.  It is clearly a function of being bffs with that butthead that Henry just smiles (somewhat bitterly) at this instead of tripping him into the bar or shoving his head into the cigarette machine.  (Is that a cigarette machine?  Wtf is that thing with the yellow lit up portion towards the top? [14:05])  

“What a rich inner life you must lead.  From time to time, you should consider sharing some of it with the rest of us.”  The sass!  Swoon.  Henry.  Marry me.  

“I’ve got other problems.”  Buddy, you are other problems.

I wonder how many people/places Ruby just has on speed dial so that she can zoom through her list of “Where the hell is Walt now” to get in touch with him.

Aaaaand we’re back to Branch getting a bit big for his britches.  Whee.  Better fight about it like Big Boys.  Ffs.  “Go ahead.  Give me your best shot.”  ::Pat Benatar starts playing in the background::  Oh holy shit, I wish so damn much that I had any know-how about making vids.  I would be beyond amused by a spoofy hate vid of Walt and Branch being assholes to “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”  Ooo, oo, or “Hit Me Baby One More Time!”  Aaaahahaha, these fucking losers and their fragile masculinity.  Get rekt.

Children.  Childreeeeen.  Stop it, or you can’t go to Timmy’s birthday party next week.

The irony of Vic being the one who is actually calling them on their shit and getting to do their damn jobs.  Well shit, they actually have a warrant this time.  Will wonders never cease.

Damn, Viho is smart.  Politically savy, pointing out the election coming up.  He’s got the wrong end of the stick this time, but the fact that he’s seen these angles and considered a bunch of things about the consequences already is telling about how smart he is.

Ruby is so pleased to see Henry.  She sounds tired (dealing with Walt and Branch and the sheer volume of bs that is accumulating in that office, no wonder) but still fond.  And the look she gives him.  I love her so much.  She puts up with so much.  And I love Henry continually calling Walt and the department on their shit and just being a dedicated activist for his community.

Fuck right off, Branch.  “Woah.  I know you’re Walt’s friend, Henry, but you don’t have any particular rights here.”  You are sliding into being a full on trashbag of a human being so fast, Brancheroo.  Reminding a young man of his rights and helping him avoid getting railroaded by your biased ass isn’t a bad thing, you rusty wingnut.

Ok, it might not be Glasses!Henry, but cowboy boots!Henry with the glow of righteousness upon him is also quite A Look.

Aaaaahahaha, for once Vic’s unholy yelling saves the day.  Being able to shout over a mass of raucous teens is usually reserved for teachers, camp counselors, and stage managers.  Looool and using detention as the threat.  And then jail.  Heeeh.

This is soooo weeeeeird: I’m starting to genuinely like Lizzie.  She just showed up and I remembered that it’s for dropping off that present, and then Vic is such a butt about it, and this poor lady is just trying to date a guy that she really likes and even gave him about 5 different outs that morning and he pointedly didn’t take any of them and dammit, Lizzie deserves better, too.  Fuck, Walt, you are such a disaster zone.  And Vic is a whole other disaster area that’s looking to, uhhhh, share a border.  Yike.

The present is definitely more Lizzie than it is Walt, with the wrapping and everything, but it’s still a sweet impulse.  AND THEN VIC, who told Walt how many times that he should call her?? gets all up in her business?  Poor Lizzie trying to figure out what the fuck this has to do with Vic or how it is even on the same planet as any of her business.  She does have some issues from her previous marriage, but she owns them.  And her BS meter is actually pretty finely tuned.  Sure picks up on Vic’s awkward boner for Walt in no time flat.  Not that it’s particularly well hidden, damn.

This kid is a rapist and a murderer and The Bad Guy, but at the same time, he is a high school kid, chances are he’s a minor, and Walt is talking to him alone in his office without any parent, much less a lawyer.  What the fuck.  

“Because Ayasha Roundstone told me so,” is a good line, solidly so.  And Walt’s all in The Righteous Hand of Justice mode or whatever, with the gravelly voice and standing over the kid, staring him down.  Effective.  (But where are that kid’s parents?)  Ah, that’s right, his dad is taking a shot at whatshisnoodle to make it look like he’s the killer.

Awww, Cady.  Honey, how long have you been waiting for you FailDad to show up?  Fuck.  Right.  This was how she found out that Martha was murdered.  He lies to her so much.  He manipulates her so much.  He passes all of this off on it being Martha’s wish, but he even acknowledges that Cady had a right to know and he chose not to tell her.  He denies Cady her own agency again and again.  He makes decisions for her without ever giving her a chance to choose for herself, and punishes her when she makes a choice that he doesn’t agree with.

It’s not “protecting” her from the pain.  “Protecting you from the pain,” is not a father’s job; it’s to teach their child how to manage it, help them live through it, and how to grow past it.  You’re damaging her.  Into the suuuuuuun, Walt!  Into the fucking SUN.

But fuuuuuuuuuuuck, her delivery of that same line, “Well, let me relieve you of that burden,” is sooo good.  You done fucked up, buster.  And you just keep fucking up.  I would say in new and exciting ways, but it’s generally in the SAME DAMN WAYS, dammit Walt.

This flashback is really difficult.  

They’re right about that technically being kidnapping, too.  Wyoming  § 6-2-201 specifically includes defining kidnapping as unlawfully confining another person, with the intent to “facilitate the commission of a felony; or Inflict bodily injury on or to terrorize the victim or another,” with unlawful confinement defined as “accomplished (i)  By force, threat or deception; or (ii)  Without the consent of a parent, guardian or other person responsible for the general supervision of an individual who is under the age of fourteen (14) or who is adjudicated incompetent.”  Meaning that not only could Walt charge Jake with the kidnapping of Rich, but also probably of Ayasha, since she was ruled an unreliable witness and would more than likely be legally considered a “mentally incompetent person” according to the states’ legal definitions.  

Not... that I have the Wyoming State Criminal Code downloaded on my computer.  >_> Certainly haven’t skimmed about 80% of it trying to figure out what charges would most make sense to be levied against Jacob at the end so that I don’t have to deal with him going in to a Federal prison on RICO charges.  <_<  Or what Cady probably should have been charged with after that mess with Tate and Catori.  Nnnnnnope.  Sure don’t, didn’t, haven’t. o_o

This is about the only time I can remember there being a legitimate reason for Walt not to have backup.  Since they’re off checking other locations.  Also, damn, that was some classic Old West quickdraw shit, Walt!  Noice!

“Why did you stop me?”  Because you have to testify, you little shit.  HE is not terribly bright.

Ooooooo, somehow I forgot that it was Branch who went to Jacob.  But that makes total sense; I can’t really see Jacob seeking Branch out, but once he walks himself into his office, Jacob will certainly play those new cards for all they’re worth.  Ooooooooo, and the Hotamétaneo’o headdress!  I’d forgotten about Branch seeing it, too!  Nice call back and foreshadowing to finish off S1!

“You will not find a chili cheeseburger of this caliber anywhere in Colorado.”  And now it’s 4:30 in the morning and I want a chili cheeseburger.  Thanks, babe.   Some daaaaaay, I will figure out which is my favourite Henry, but it is not this day, because godsdaaaaamn, the red checked shirt with that vessssst, is *chef kiss* a wonderful thing.   And the director knoooooows it = that pan down Henry’s back as he turns after saying, “I said nothing,” for noooo reason other than to have Henry’s ass on screen.  Seriously.  He says his line, it pans down, we get a primo shot of his jeans, and then it cuts away.  Solely a pan for Henry Butt.  Who directed this, and where do I send the fruit basket?  Dang, it was Nelson McCormick, and this was the only ep of Longmire he directed.  Huh.  In S1, there’s only one repeat director, who did eps 1, 3, and 7.  Interesting.

Focus, kid.  You are less than 3 minutes from the end and you’ve had it paused for over 5 minutes to wander around IMDb.  No wonder it takes you three flipping hours to watch one of these episodes.  What a mess, indeed.

“We all process grief in our own way.”  Buddy.  You have not processed.  You are a human <BUFFERING> screen.  You’re a walking loading symbol.  Walt, he gives you some basic vital statistics on the guy, but...  You haven’t even asked who it was.  Walt, you are so bad at this.  Fffffffff---  And there’s season 1.  lawd.

[starscheme]

Only You

Chapter Six: Planning, Perplexed, and Provoked.

 The next morning, Steven woke up alone, leaving him to wonder where Spinel had run off to so early. He had convinced her not to worry about Connie and finally get some sleep, but he was still a bit concerned that she wasn't going to let it go. He knew it was difficult for her to trust people after she felt used by his mother. Hopefully, she trusted him enough to believe his words. Its not like anything he said was a lie. Of course he still loved Connie very much, but his romantic feelings for her had all but gone.

Spinel had mentioned that she wanted to prepare for their trip as well. Yet another reason for Steven to be concerned. She was rather unpredictable, so he had no idea what she was thinking had to be prepared on her part

This was Stevens first time as a boyfriend and he was determined to play his role perfectly from here on out. However, that did require a few embarrassing tasks he would have to complete before the small vacation he had planned. One of which, meant he would need some advice from his dad and he was not looking forward to that conversation. With all this in mind, Steven dragged himself out of bed to get himself ready for the day. Hopefully, he'd be able to get the more awkward tasks done as soon as possible.

As Steven compiled his list of errands in his head, Spinel was already working on a few of her own. Last night, she realized that she was Stevens first official girlfriend and if that was the case, she needed to do her best to be his last. The only problem was, she had no idea what her job was as a girlfriend. Peridot had told her that she had to be affectionate with Steven, but that's all she said. Spinel was sure that she'd need a human’s advice on this. After all, Gem relationships were a lot different from human ones and surely Steven was looking for a more human experience as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Her biggest problem now was finding a human to ask for advice. Ideally, she would have liked to ask a human female, but the only one she knew well enough for this was Connie and surely it would be insulting to her for Spinel to ask advice like this so soon. So after scanning her brain, Spinel found herself walking into Lars' bakery, hoping that he would have some insight on this for her.

"Good morning," Lars greeted as he stepped out from the back, but surprised when he saw that Spinel was here alone. It was always unusual to see her about town with Steven. "Spinel, what brings you here so early? I told you that if you wanted to eat the batter, I'd just send some over."

Spinel shook her head, "I uh...came here for some advice. Do you have a minute?"

"Advice," repeated Lars curiously. "Well, I'm not sure what I could possibly help you with, but I guess I'll try?"

Spinel smiled now, "great! I need to know how to be the perfect girlfriend! Like, should I wear something specific? Am I supposed to match his clothes? Do I have to do anything specific when we are in bed? How do I—"

Lars had darted from the counter and clamped his hand over Spinels mouth before she could finish. "Hold up," he insisted before cautiously removed his hand. "Why are you asking me how to be a good girlfriend? Shouldn't you be asking, you know, a girl?!"

Spinels pigtails drooped lightly, "...I don't really know any human girls I can ask and I'm not very close to any other humans except for you."

"But Steven has lots of other friends that I've seen you talk to."

"I was only friendly with them because of Steven. Because I had Steven...I didn't really even think about making any other human friends."

Lars sighed, "I'm really the only one you can ask?"

Spinel nodded her head, "please help me."

Lars was not very comfortable giving advice like this. Though, maybe he could help with some generic information about relationships. "Okay, okay," he agreed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I can probably help with some little things, but I really think you'd be better off finding a girl to talk to."

With that, Lars sat down with Spinel at a table and allowed her to ask her questions. While they began their awkward talk, Steven was on his way to have his own embarrassing conversation.

He had made his way to his father’s Van, which was normally parked beside the Carwash. Even after all these years with his money, Greg really didn't seem like he wanted to do anything with it.

"Hey, Dad, you in there?" Steven asked as he knocked on the back doors of the old vehicle. One of doors opened with a long metallic groan and he was greeted by his Father who had clearly just been woken up.

"Morn'n Schtu-ball," Greg began cheerfully. "Shouldn't you be at little Homeschool?"

"...not this morning. I uh, actually came to talk about my 18th birthday. Cause I know you—"

"—oh well already have a few things planned, but did you want to ask for something specific?"

"Uh...sort of," Steven continued. "I know you guys wanted to celebrate with me and we still can, I was just kinda hoping that maybe...we could cancel the party and...instead...Spinel and I could take a little...trip?" This should have been the least awkward part of the conversation, but he knew how much his dad was looking forward to this birthday. "I mean, we can all have a party or something afterwards. I just...I mean it's a big birthday and I wanted to..."

"You want to spend it with your girlfriend," Greg finished for his son with a nod. Truthfully, he was a little disappointed. His son was turning 18 and now that he had a girlfriend, he was spending less time with his old dad. Still, this was how things usually went and this was new to Steven. He certainly remembered what it felt like to be in love.

Steven blushed lightly and glanced down at the ground. "We-well, yeah. Just a small trip for some...time alone. It's a little awkward with the gems always around and Pearl is still circling us like a shark."

"Yeah, I've been there." Greg laughed. "Don't worry, son, I get it. Where are you planning to go?"

"Uh, well...I wanted to go somewhere that Spinel would have fun. A place with a big amusement park or something. She likes Funland a lot after all. I thought she would enjoy going on bigger rollercoasters and seeing the shows. She mentioned wanting to go once when she saw a commercial about a year ago. Everything was just so busy; we all had to tell her no."

Greg watched his son as he thought aloud, talking about the plans for his birthday as if it was all for Spinel. It was quite nostalgic. When he was with Rose, all he ever thought about was making her happy. It seemed that Steven was no different. "That sounds like a great time," Greg agreed, "but Spinel can be...excitable. I hope she doesn't break something or...someone if she gets startled."

"I think I can keep her calm," Steven added, even if he was little concerned over that as well.

"Soooo...will you two...be...staying overnight?" Greg finally asked while clearing his throat. Pearl had spoken with him about Steven and Spinel being a little intimate and he had been looking for an opportunity to have 'the talk.' Perhaps this was a good chance to guide the conversation that way.

"Yeah, a couple nights actually," answered Steven. "I didn't want to rush our time at the park or...anything."

Greg nodded his head, trying to remember everything he had practiced saying for the last couple of days. "Well you know, son, when a man and a Gem are in love—-"

Steven blushed and put out his hands to stop his father. "D-dad, wait! You don't have to go through the whole thing..."

Greg was clearly nervous, but he did appear slightly disappointed. Wasn't this one of the things a father was supposed to do? "Oh...yeah, I guess you wouldn't need me to explain too much. I mean...you know, the internet and all."

"Well...no, I did want to talk with you about...some things," Steven began awkwardly. "Cause this will be our first...um..." his voice trailed off and he wasn't sure how to finish. Sex was a natural thing when you loved someone and he knew that, but it was still embarrassing to talk about with his dad.

Greg took a deep breath and puffed up his chest before placing his hand on his sons shoulder. "Don't worry, Son. Your dads got this."

While Steven was dealing with the can of worms he had opened, Spinel and Lars had been talking about her own concerns. Luckily for Lars, she wasn't asking anything too difficult.

"So, what I'm saying is," Lars continued as Spinel listened eagerly from the seat across him. "You don't have to do anything for him specifically. Just be yourself."

"But...than what's the difference between me as his friend and me as his girlfriend? I've been trying to come up with my own answer...but besides the things we do in private, not much has changed..." said Spinel quietly, still worried she was doing all this wrong.

"A-and..." Lars started with a light blush, "...that's fine. Nothing has to change that much. Just...do what you've always done. I'm sure Steven would tell you the same."

"Do you really think so? I mean, Steven was saying how he wanted to prepare things for a trip he wanted us to take. Doesn't that mean I should prepare some stuff too? And what should I prepare? As a girlfriend, how am I supposed to make things special for him like he does for me?"

"Well now...this is where you would be better off talking to another girl," answered Lars with a nervous laugh. "Why don't you ask Pearl or something? Isn't she like, basically your mom or something?"

Spinel sighed miserably as she shrunk in her seat, "Pearl has never been with a human. Gems treat relationships a little different than humans do. So asking another Gem seems pointless."

"Oh, yeah I guess I can see that..." he trailed off, unsure how to help with this part. If only he had a sister to pawn this off on. Sadie wasn't in town and she'd probably be way too shy to talk about this stuff with Spinel. "Well...you know, there is nothing wrong with figuring this stuff out as you go. Though...haven't you been around humans for what, thousands of years? You didn't have any other human partners? In all that time?"

Spinel shook her head. "I came here with my friend and that's all I needed. Besides, we spent most of our time fighting corrupted gems. I did meet lots of humans because of Rose, but I never...felt anything for them like this."

Lars smiled a bit. Spinel’s naivety and innocence on these subjects made her seem so adorable. Like a bunny worried about coming out of its hole. It was odd since Spinel was thousands of years older than him, but he couldn't help seeing her as younger than he was. "I don't think you need to worry so much. Just the fact that you want to be a good girlfriend, will make you a good girlfriend. At least, that's what I think. Besides, you know that you could probably talk with Steven about all this. If you want to do things that make him happy, just ask him what makes him happy. You don't have to do stuff in secret."

"...I really hope so," replied Spinel with a small smile. "Thanks for talking with me about all this."

Lars stood from his seat and sighed, feeling a little accomplished. Maybe he was getting wiser? "No problem. I'm not sure I was able to help much, but hopefully you won't be worrying too much now."

Spinel stood up as well and gave Lars a quick hug as she expressed her thanks. Lars pat her head lightly in response, but in that moment, it felt as if something had stabbed him in the chest and his legs gave way from the pain.

"Lars?!" Spinel exclaimed as she knelt down with him to see what was wrong. She couldn't see anything physical, but for a moment, the whites of Lars eyes appeared to turn completely black. Though it went away so quickly that she wasn't really sure it had happened.

 "What did you do to him?!" Sodalite shouted in concern as she rushed into the bakery and hurried to Lars' side. "G-get away from him!"

"Wha-I didn't do anything!" Spinel insisted. "He just suddenly—"

Sodalite looked terrified, but she wrapped her arms around Lars shoulders in an attempt to block him from Spinel. "J-just wait a moment! I-I saw my Diamond just d-down the street. She will heal you..."

"You mean Steven?" Spinel asked hopefully. Who else would Sodalite mean? This was good timing. Whatever was hurting Lars, Steven could fix it. "Here, help me get him into a chair," insisted Spinel as she reached for Lars.

"N-no! You can't touch him!" Sodalite shouted with a shaky voice.

Spinel was silent, staring at Sodalite with a blank stare until her eyes became dark for a split second. Sodalite gasped and her whole body began to tremble. "Y-you're...—"

Spinel smiled, her eyes turning dark once more. "It's just a game, if you play nice, Lars won't be hurt." As Spinel Spoke, Lars woke up, his eyes blackened out as well.

Sodalite seemed like she was going to reply, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Steven approaching the store and she panicked even further. She let out a small gasp and everything around them became completely dark due to her fear.

Steven had barely noticed Spinel inside the store before the black out and he found himself panicking as well. Sodalite always freaked out like this, but more so around Spinel. He quickly opened the door and walked into the darkened store. "Sodalite, you need to calm down!" He called out into the void, unable to see where the others were. Luckily, it didn't take much more than that for the darkness to recede back towards Sodalite.

Steven was relieved, but only for a second until he saw something that stopped him cold. He and Sodalite were both staring wide eyed as Lars had a shocked Spinel pinned up against the wall, forcing a kiss on the pigtailed Gem.

"LARS!" Steven shouted furiously, his entire body turning a pink hue as a fragmented shield formed around Spinels body, a rush of force pushing Lars away from her.

Sodalite was quick enough to catch the pink human as he was thrown backward. Lars was a little disoriented from the blow, placing his hand on his aching head. "Wha...what hit me?" He asked in a daze.

"What the hell were you doing?!" Demanded Steven as the ground began to crack beneath them.

"Pl-please, my Diamond!" Sodalite began with tears in her eyes, horribly terrified that she would be cracked or shattered any moment in Pinks angry outburst. Still, she had let go of Lars and bowed down in front of Steven with trembling hands as she saluted him. "He-he didn't know what he was doing! It-must have been—"

"Huh? Hold on," Lars started, his thoughts finally becoming less hazy. "What's going on?! Steven, what are you doing? You're gonna wreck the place if you don't calm down!"

"SHUT UP!" Steven shouted in reply. This wasn't like when Spinel had been reset. He didn't have a real reason to be angry with Lars back then, but now, he was overwhelmed by the desire to crush something.

A/N: Once again, I apologize if there are a lot of mistakes. Sick brain still reigns supreme. Also, I’m really sorry Lars, you’re just a pawn in this terrible game that’s been started. >.>

[imagine-the-fanfics]

Birthday Burn

Pairing: John Wick x Reader

Fandom: John Wick

Request: 

Soooo i know your John Wick writings are usually pretty serious (which i love!) but what about John Wick with a super clumsy, always getting hurt, dummy s/o?

A/n: Hope you enjoy! Sorry it took so long!!

Warnings: Accidental burn, so tw for those who may have struggled with burning as a form of self-injury/self-harm.

Tags: @fanficsrusz

It was John’s birthday, and although he assured you he didn’t want to celebrate, you felt the need to do something to celebrate. So, you spent a week planning ahead. You felt pride in how you were able to find out the details of what kind of cake he likes and what his innermost sexual fantasy included. While the last 

While the You had already purchased the French maid costume, complete with matching lingerie and stiletto heels. There were new toys, wrapped with paper left over from a nieces’ birthday celebration. A brand new suit hung on the chair in a garment bag. Bookbinding materials were both wrapped and exposed. Most of the table was covered with gifts, stacked together like it was Christmas morning. A giant bow rested towards the front of the stack, so that it would greet John when he entered the room and there would be no doubt what the purpose of the gifts were.

Things were unfolding perfectly. Thanks to some help from the neighbors and you being extra careful, everything was going perfectly. That is, everything was going perfectly until you tried to take the cake pan out of the oven.

You let out a gasp as you pulled the pan from the oven, but it crashed onto the top of the stove as you winced, pulling the oven mitts off you saw that a fresh burn was forming. You carefully and gently closed the oven door with your foot, making your way to the sink.

A quick bump to the faucet and cool water was running over your hands. At first the water hurt your skin, but after a short while you could feel your nerves calming down. Thankfully, it wasn’t a bad burn, but -

Were those keys in the door?

You shut the water off and made your way to the foyer. You watched anxiously as the door opened, letting out a sigh of relief as John entered your home. Suddenly, you realized he shouldn’t be home yet and a light panic overwhelmed you.

“John! Welcome home! You’re early.” You shifted your weight nervously. “I had some stuff I was working on, but it’s not ready yet. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I was offered an earlier flight so I took it.” He leaned over and kissed the top of your head. “Something smells good. Are you baking-” His voice cut off as he saw the dining room table. 

“It was supposed to be a surprise!” You whined, wiping your hands on your shirt before the pain made you yelp and tear up. Immediately, John set his things down and grabbed your wrists, looking at the burns on your hand. 

“Y/n. Are you alright? What happened?”

“I took the cake out of the oven and I guess we need new oven mitts or something because I burned myself pulling the pan out.” John sighed, a bit relieved. 

“You need to be more careful, Y/n.” 

“I know, I know.” You sighed. “But you’re home too early and things aren’t ready!”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I stopped at a bakery on my way home.” He grabbed the bouquet of flowers you hadn’t noticed earlier and went to hand them to you but instead caressed your face and kissed your cheek. “I’m going to put these on the counter and then treat your hands. Don’t touch anything.”

“John! They’re beautiful!”

“Yet they pale in comparison to you.” He replied softly. You knew he meant it and It gave you butterflies. His hand left your face and you followed him into the kitchen. “Wait here.” He said, once he set the flowers done and washed his hands. Quickly, he went to the guest bathroom. 

You heard him grabbing the first aid kit from the cabinet above the toilet and you decided to rinse your hands off again since the burn was hurting again. The relief of the cold water made you sigh, and you used your upper arm to rub your  suddenly itching face. 

“Is that helping?” John asked quietly. 

“Yeah.” After a moment you took your hands out of the water and John grabbed a wash cloth. The two of you sat at the island and he started working on your hand. 

It was quiet, but it was the comfortable silence you had grown fond of with him. You watched as he gently patted your hands dry, you winced a little, but he mumbled an apology in response and continued to dry your hands. 

He set the rag off to the side and opened the kit, rummaging for some antibiotic ointment. It didn’t take him long to pull out one of the packets and tear it open. Gingerly, he applied the ointment to the burn, leaning back while he waited for the burn too cool.

“You really went all out, didn’t you?” 

“I tried. I’m not satisfied though.” You sighed, looking around. “I was going to be all dressed up, have a cake and dinner ready, and then after we ate and-” You let an eyebrow wiggle fill in the words before continuing, “Then I thought you could open your presents and we could have cake and then maybe some more birthday sex.” John watched your lips as you spoke, the edges of his lips curling in an almost animalistic smile.

“That sounds perfect.”

“Shame you came home too early.” You reminded, sticking your tongue out. John chuckled, nodding in agreement.

He rested a hand over yours, not close enough to touch you, but close enough to know the heat had left your burn. He dug through the kit again, this time taking out one of the aloe vera packets. Gently, he applied the gel and made extra effort not to accidentally hurt you again.

“There. Now all we need to do is bandage you up and you’re all set.” 

“Thank you.” You said as he pulled the bandage from the kit. 

“No, thank you. You put a lot of effort into this, and got hurt because of it. That means a lot to me.” You straight up laughed at him and he looked at you with a furrowed brow and slightly squinted eyes. 

“It’s not like I don’t get hurt multiple times a day.”

“True.” John snorted with a smile. He finished wrapping your hands and placed a gentle kiss over the bandages. 

“I’m sorry I ruined your birthday by being a clumsy bitch.”

“Do you love me?” John asked seriously, you blinked for a moment before nodding.

“Yes, I love you very much.”

“Then today is perfect.”

[mfingenius]

AU Prompt: Auguste, the respected and very alive king of Vere, having a small crisis because he either found out or was told about crown prince Damen being interested in Laurent. He is his baby brother after all, what do you mean he’s receiving courting gifts and ACCEPTING THEM? I have a large space in my heart for auguste who strongly believes Laurent has every right to make his own choices, but is still internally very protective and distressed at the realization that Laurent is all grown up.

“A courting gift for Prince Laurent, from Crown Prince Damianos of Akielos.” Jord announces.

Auguste doesn’t bother to look up from the book he’s reading; this isn’t the first courting gift Laurent has gotten. He thinks it’s hardly the hundredth courting gift Laurent has gotten, but it hardly matters. He always sends them back.

“Thank you, Jord.” Laurent says politely.

Auguste’s mind screeches to a halt. Laurent always says ‘send it back’ without even so much as looking at it. ‘Thank you’ implies he’s accepting the courting gift. Accepting the courting gift implies he’s being courted. But he can’t be courted, because he’s Auguste’s baby brother. He’s a child!

It also seems to take Jord a moment to react, surprise clear on his face. He manages to hide it a moment later, and he places the small gift package on Laurent’s exteneded hand.

Auguste looks up and closes the book, leaving it on the table. He stares at Laurent, who is opening the box and smiling fondly at whatever it is that’s inside. He’s smiling. Smiling. Because of someone who is not Auguste! Because of a foreign Crown Prince who will most likely take him away to a foreign country! To Akielos!

“Crown Prince Damianos?” he asks in his most innocent voice.

“Yes,” Laurent says, closing the gift again and leaving it in his lap before he looks up. “We met last year, when the Akielons came for the Summer Games and you asked me to show Prince Damianos around the palace because you were wrapped up in one of the Vaskian women?”

Right. Auguste had done that. Fuck.

He clears his throat. “Yes. But, uh. Courting?”

“I didn’t tell you about it before because I didn’t know if he was serious about it.” Laurent says. “He has a, how to say it? Reputation.”

“But you think it’s serious now?” Auguste asks, searching his brain for anything he knows about Prince Damianos. Likes blondes. Has bedded what is probably the entirety of the women in the Akielon palace, and quite some of the men. Likes Laurent?

“I think so,” There’s a delicate blush on Laurent’s cheeks - one Auguste has not seen before - and Auguste can’t quite stop the alarms from going off in his head.

Somone is trying to court Laurent. Not only is someone trying to court Laurent, someone is succeeding in Courting Laurent. Laurent is accepting the gifts. Laurent is a child. He cannot be courted.

“Aren’t you… young for this?” he carefully phrases it not to sound like a judgement, because it will only cause Laurent to get angry and do it anyway. 

Laurent cocks an eyebrow. “I’m almost twenty, Auguste.”

Laurent’s birthday is in three days.

“Right,” Auguste says faintly.

“I forgot to tell you,” Laurent continues. “I invited him to dinner. He should be arriving tonight or tomorrow morning.”

Auguste opens his mouth and closes it several times. Laurent invited him to his birthday dinner. Laurent invited an Akielon prince willingly into the palace. An Akielon Prince who is courting him.

“Right,” Auguste says, again.

Laurent says nothing more on the matter, and Auguste doesn’t ask because he doesn’t think he’s quite ready for more information at the moment. When Laurent leaves for the stables, Auguste beckons Jord over.

“I want to know everything there is to know about Damianos.” He says. “By tomorrow morning.”

Jord nods. “Of course, your highness.”

*

Damen arrives two days before Laurent’s birthday, in the morning. He dismounts and immediately finds himself with an armful of Laurent, arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Damen laughs merrily and wraps his arms around Laurent’s waist, lifting him from the ground.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmurs, pressing various kisses to Laurent’s jaw - the only visible piece of skin he can reach with his face buried in Laurent’s neck, hidden from view by his Veretian clothing - and rubbing slight circles with his thumbs on Laurent’s hips.

“I have not missed you,” Laurent says, and Damen laughs and pulls away to kiss him on the lips. “Maybe only a little.”

Damen laughs and finally puts him down. He scowls at the laces on Laurent’s neck. 

“I did not miss this,” He says, pulling at the laces, not hard enough for them to come undone, but hard enough for Laurent to feel it.

Laurent smirks teasingly. “Prefer me in a chiton, do you?”

“Don’t tease,” Damen says. He can only imagine how Laurent will look in a chiton, since Laurent has not been to Ios yet. Soon, he thinks. “I don’t think I’d be able to keep my hands off you if you did wear a chiton.”

“You can’t keep your hands off me either way.” Laurent says smugly. He grabs Damen’s hand before he can protest, and leads him up the palace steps, where the King is standing with an odd look on his face. “Damen, this is my brother, Auguste. Auguste, this is Damianos.”

Damen smiles. “Pleased to meet you, your highness.”

“Likewise,” Auguste says politely. “Jord will show your guards to their quarters so they can rest. I’m sure you’re tired, too. I can show you to your rooms.”

“No need,” Laurent says, before Damen can say ‘thank you’. “He’ll be sleeping in my rooms.”

And then he leads Damen inside without bothering to wait for Auguste’s reaction, which is a withering glare Damen’s way.

*

“I don’t think your brother likes this arrangement.” Damen mutters between kisses, hands wrapped around Laurent’s hips and rubbing gentle circles at his hipbones.

Laurent pulls away, peeved. “You’re thinking of my brother?”

Damen laughs breathlessly, chest moving against Laurent’s; they’re sitting in his bed, and Laurent is straddling his lap. They’ve not gone beyond kissing - and though it is not what Damen is used to, he is enjoying every minute of it.

“I want him to like me.” He explains lightly. “If I want to get his permission to ask for your hand-”

Laurent rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “No. Auguste promised I’d pick who I married.”

“Alright,” Damen says. “But wouldn’t you rather he approves?”

Laurent sighs, and tumbles off Damen’s lap, sitting on the bed beside him. Damen lets his hand slip up and down Laurent’s side soothingly, and Laurent rests his head against his chest.

“Yes,” he says. “It’s just - I have missed you.”

Damen presses his lips against his hair. 

“I know, sweetheart.” He says. Laurent never gets like this outside, in front of anyone else. But here, with him, Laurent lets Damen see all of him, and Damen treats it like the rare privilege that it is. “I have missed you, too.”

He tries not to think of the small box in his pack; a final courting gift. A golden lion with a ruby eye; Akielos’s mark. The gift to ask for Laurent’s hand in marriage.

“A little longer,” Laurent mutters, and Damen smiles fondly, allowing his lover to burrow deeper into his chest. 

*

When there is a knock on his door, Auguste doesn’t expect it to be Prince Damianos. He looks uncomfortable but resolute, and Auguste invites him in and sits on the chaise.

“Is there something the matter?” he asks.

It’s the second day of Damianos’s visit - the day before Laurent’s birthday - and Auguste has seen very little of either of them. Of course, Jord - following them, at Auguste’s order - reports back to him every night, so Auguste isn’t exactly ignorant as to what they do.

“I want to ask you permission to ask for Laurent’s hand.” Damianos says without preamble.

Auguste blinks. It is usual for suitors to ask the King’s permission before begining to court the prince, not when they’re already courting them. He decides not to mention it.

“If I say no?” He asks, not because he is considering saying no, but because he thinks it’s a reaction worth knowing.

Damianos’s smile fades, but he still looks determined.

“I will still ask for Laurent’s hand.” He says. “He wants you to approve. I wish for you to approve. But I love him. You saying no will not change that.”

Auguste smiles slightly. “And if he says no?”

Damianos takes a deep breath. “If he says no, I will not press. It is his choice.”

Auguste tilts his head in agreement, and Damianos frowns lightly.

“Are you saying no?” He asks, and Auguste laughs.

“No, Damianos.” He says. “You have my permission.”

*

It does not happen during Laurent’s birthday dinner. Damen had considered it briefly, but he’d almost immediately realized Laurent would not appreciate the public pressure, so, instead, he waits until they’ve retired to Laurent’s rooms before bringing it up.

“I have brought you a gift, if you will accept it.” He says, trying not to sound nervous.

“Oh?” Laurent asks, undoing the laces at his neck. “May I see it?”

Damen smiles lightly and hands him the small blue box.

Laurent opens it and stills. Everything is quiet. Damen prays to every God he knows - Akielon and Veretian alike - that it will be to his liking.

Laurent looks up. “You - you mean it?”

Damen nods. “Come to Ios with me. Be my husband. My King.”

Laurent doesn’t react for a moment, and then a small, private smile spreads across his face. Damen falls in love with him all over again every time he does this.

“Yes, Damianos. I’d love to.” he says lightly, wrapping his arms around Damen’s neck. Damen lets his hands drop to Laurent’s thighs and lifts him, earning a yelp, and he laughs and makes sure Laurent’s legs are wrapped around his waist before he spins them around, causing Laurent to laugh.

“I love you, Laurent,” he murmurs, rubbing their noses together.

“I love you, too, Damianos.” Laurent says. He grins, bright-eyed, and pulls away lightly. “Now take me to bed.”

Damen laughs and does as ordered.

——————–

soooo this was amazingly fun to write, I hope you enjoyed!! sort of deviated from the original prompt hehe :D

Send me a Request :D

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Commissions

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Archie//Funeral

Request: Do you do like song-fics, or writing inspired by songs? if so could i request an Archie/reader or Jughead/Reader (whichever you prefer) using the song Funeral by Meg myers, plot wise, maybe reader's a serpent/in trouble and he helps get her out?

okay, so i changed it a bit but i really love this soooo. i hope you like it!

Trigger Warning: Mental health issues

Archie Andrews was the best guy you had ever met. He was lovable, kind, funny, great, had a heart of gold and would do anything he could to help his friends, or even to help people he barely knew. But he hadn’t always been like that. When you first met him he had just come back from being on the run from Hiram Lodge. 

*flashback*

You were new to town but had heard plenty about the head of the Lodge family. About how he was trying to kill a teenage boy for loving his daughter. And how that boy had been imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, busted out by his friends and now on the run. You were a little excited to meet the red-head everyone had been talking about, however you were not expecting who you saw. Up until he walked into your class, you never thought love at first sight was real, but you were so wrong, and it had just smacked you in the face. 

Over the following weeks you had been watching him. Not in a creepy way, you just wanted to know if he was okay. He had been on the run, and you’d heard from Reggie that he was attacked by a bear. And you’d heard a few rumors about stuff that had happened before Hiram. So he was bound to be at least a little bit traumatized by the entire experience, however he seemed fine. He got along with his friends, did his school work. He seemed normal. But you could tell something was wrong. When he smiled, it never seemed to reach his eyes. If someone made any sudden movement around him, he’d flinch. And he seemed angry. Not a lot, but small things would set him off and according to his friends that had never happened before. 

You may have only known him for a few weeks but you were worried. 

You had quickly become friends with Betty, Jughead and Veronica, as well as a few other people. But he seemed closed off around you. When you would meet them at Pops he would leave. If you were hanging out with them at school he would instantly stop talking. And according to Betty he would have been one of the first people to talk to you and make you feel welcome. All of his friends were worried, but nobody knew how to help him. 

So you decided you would try. You decided to go over to his house to see if he was truly okay. You didn’t know why you were so worried about him (you did, you were hopelessly in love with him because of stories that had been told about him). But you also knew when someone needed help, and he did. Nobody should have to suffer alone, so you thought if his friends can’t get through to him. Maybe a stranger could. 

To him you weren’t a stranger though. To him you were the one. And it killed him that he couldn’t do anything about it. Before the drama with the Lodges he would have done anything to get to know you. But he was a different man then. Then he was strong, and brave and Archie Andrews, the man that could do anything. Now he was weak and broken and Archie Andrews, the boy who was afraid his own shadow was someone out to get him. And you didn’t deserve to be burdened by that. You deserved a man that could protect you and treat you like a queen and he just couldn’t do that. So he admired from afar, closed himself off from you and from his friends. He can’t piss anyone off if he doesn’t talk to anyone.

Making your way up the steps to the front door, you rang the doorbell and looked around the outside of the house. It was pretty, clearly whoever lived here took pride in their house, and it looked almost identical to yours a few streets away. The front door opened to reveal a man who you assumed to be Archie’s dad. You smiled brightly at him and stuck your hand out towards him. 

“Hi! Mr Andrews?” You asked and he nodded, shaking your hand. “I’m here to see Archie. Is he in?” 

“Err. Yeah.” He nodded, looking at you confused. He had met literally everyone single one of Archies friends, but you were new, and he liked you. You were more polite that some of them. “Who exactly are you?” 

“Oh, Y/n. Y/n y/l/n.” You introduced yourself and Fred smiled. He had finally met the Y/n that appeared in the majority of Archie’s songs. He’d found his notebook one day and decided to see if he had been working on anything knew after what had happened and he was pleasantly surprised to see a few new songs in. The main one was complete and titled ‘y/n’, it was bittersweet and made Fred sad that his son thought he couldn’t talk to a girl after what had happened. I mean what were the chances that two girls fathers were psychopaths?

“Come in.” He shook his head once he realized you were staring at him expectantly. 

“Thank you.” You smiled and walked in. 

“Can I get you a drink?” 

“No thank you Mr Andrews. I’m okay. But I can take one up to Archie if you want?” 

“Sure.” He smiled. “Here, Its his favourite.” He handed you a drink and you took it from him. “His rooms up the stairs and the first one you see.” 

“Thank you Mr Andrews.” You smiled at him and started to walk towards the stairs. 

“Call me Fred.” He called after you and you nodded. 

“Okay Fred.” You agreed and started walking up the stairs. You knocked on the door and waited for a reply. 

“I’m not hungry dad!” You heard Archie call back so you knocked again. “I said I’m not hungry.” He replied quieter this time and you sighed, before opening the door slowly. 

“Not your dad. Although he is lovely. I can see where you get it from.” You replied and he looked at you wide eyed. 

“Y/n. What are you doing here?” He asked standing up and making his way towards you. He quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and you pretended not to notice. You didn’t think it would be best to dive in with the questions about his emotional trauma. 

“Well your dad wanted to bring you a drink but thought it would be easier if I came over to give you it. He’s a busy man you know, he can’t waste his time with tasks such as bringing his child a drink.” You joked, trying to lighten the mood and he looked at you even more confused. “Here.” You threw him the can and he caught it with ease. 

“Thanks.” He said and placed it on the desk. “Is that it?” 

“No.” You shook your head. “I thought we could hang out. I know practically everything about everyone else, but nothing (a small lie) about you.” You nudged him. 

“Thats good. There’s nothing to know about me.” He replied, and turned around, sitting back on his bed. 

“Come on. I’m sure there’s something to talk about. I don’t like being friends with all of your friends and not you. Its weird.” You followed him to his bed, standing in front of him. 

“I said I don’t wanna talk.” He replied through gritted teeth. 

“Okay.” You shrugged and sat down beside him. Was she being serious? Archie thought to himself. How and why were you still here wanting to talk to him? Why did you have to be so nice and perfect. This wasn’t part of his plan. “I’ll just talk about myself. I can do that for days.” You smiled at him and he could feel himself become breathless just at the sight of your smile. “I’m Y/n y/l/n. I moved to Riverdale three weeks ago because my family wanted a change and they thought what better place to come was this little town that was famous for gangs and murder.” You smiled at him and he had to fight the urge to smile just as brightly back at you. However he succeeded and his expression remain stoic, but it didn’t faze you. “I once broke my arm falling of a swing when I was six. Well I thought I broke it but apparently I was just being over dramatic. My mom was pushing me and I got distracted by my runny nose, I used to get sick a lot as a kid. Anyway, so I let go to blow it and I fell off. I also used to be convinced that my toys were alive and talk to each other, like in Toy Story. I watched that film one too many times as a kid. I had a birthday party when I turned 7 and I was given some fish as a present from one of grandparents and one of them died the same day, then the next day the other one died so it was a pretty crappy birthday. But I did eat loads of cake so I suppose it was oka-” 

“I SAID I DIDN’T WANNA TALK.” He shouted and you jumped, standing up quickly. He regretted it immediately, as soon as he saw the fright in his eyes, it was the fright that he felt every single day. But he needed to do it. He couldn’t let you get close to him. “Get out.” He muttered and you nodded. 

“Sure. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” You agreed and made your way towards the door. “You’re friends are worried about you Archie.” You sighed before closing the door behind you. As soon as you left you could hear Archie’s soft sobs from the other side of the door. Taking a deep breath you opened the door again and he looked at you, not bothering to wipe the tears from his eyes. Instead of saying anything you just walked towards him and sat beside him on his bed. You arms wrapped around him and he leaned against your chest, crying harder. “I’m right here if you ever need to talk.” You reassured him, stroking his head. 

“I feel so broken.” He whimpered and you hugged him tighter. “I used to be Archie Andrews, the man who could do anything and everything. I was popular, happy and the only thing I had to worry about was wether I did my homework. But now, I’m Archie Andrews, the boy who was abused by his music teacher, who’s dad was shot, who was terrorized by the black hood, who was hunted down by my girlfriends dad, put in prison for a crime I didn’t commit, used in an illegal fight club, stabbed, beaten, on the run, attacked by a bear and almost killed too many times to count. I’m afraid of my own shadow, of who could be lurking round the corner to kill me. I hate meeting new people and getting close to them because what if they turn out to be bad? I can’t trust my friends any more because how do I know they haven’t turned against me and I try to act like nothing has happened and that I’m fine. But I’m not fine. And I don’t think I’ll ever be fine again.” He sobbed and you had to stop your own tears from falling down your face as you rocked him gentle. 

“Its okay to not be okay Archie. With everything you’ve been through you’re bound to be like this. But there’s people that can help. People that you can talk to. Your dad, your friends, me. We can even get you somebody professional to talk to. It may not seem like it now Archie, but you will be okay. One day, I promise. You will never completely heal, but it will get better. You won’t be afraid of everything and you’ll be able to open up and trust people again. It just takes time. And we’re all here to help you.” You reassured him and he nodded. Fred stood outside his sons bedroom and cried quietly. But he knew there was a reason he liked you. 

*end of flashback*

Eventually Archie did get better. He started seeing someone to talk about what he had been through. His dad had payed (with the help of his friends, including you) for a therapist and they’d prescribed him medicine to help him feel okay again. He was far from being completely healed, but he felt a little less broken than the day you came round to see him. He talked to his friends and family about what he was feeling and they all supported him with everything. 

After that day you and Archie hung out more and more. Archie knew he was getting better and he knew that some of that was down to you. Well, the majority of it to be honest. You were the one that he spent four hours crying on and telling him his deepest darkest thoughts while you listened and comforted him. 

You found yourself falling more and more in love with him (if that was possible) and he found himself opening up to your more (which terrified him, but in a good way. most of the time). 

However today was not a good time. He’d seen so many reminders of his past and he felt as if he was crumbling from the inside. He could barely breath as he made his way through the crowded corridors. The thoughts of how everyone was out to get him swirled through his brain, the main person being you. That you had tricked him into falling in love with you as a big cover for Hiram still being after him. So when he heard you shout his name down the corridor he froze, ducking down into the busy halls, hoping you wouldn’t notice him. However luck did not seem to be on his side. 

“Archie!” You continued to shout as you weaved through the mass of people. You eventually caught up with him and he sighed before turning to face you. 

“Hi Y/n.” He mumbled and you smiled brightly. 

“How are you today? The weather sucks but that just means we can have a movie night after school if you want. I’ll bring the movies if you bring the snacks. If we have it you’re way we’ll watch Back to the Future again and as much as I love how much you love it, I would like to chose the film, just this once.” You teased but he continued to look at the floor. He could feel himself getting more and more overwhelmed, the corridor seemed smaller, more people seemed to be roaming the halls, you seemed to louder and he couldn’t breathe. You were out to get him, he should never had let himself get this close to you, you were bad news, something bad was going to happen and he would have to leave again. Something bad is always going to happe- “Archie?” His thoughts were cut off by you looking at him concerned. “Are you okay?” 

“What. Yeah. I just need some space.” He moved away from you, opening his locker and busying himself with nothing. You stood beside him, leaning against the lockers and started talking about nothing. But Archie couldn’t hear anything, all he could hear was Hiram threatening him. It replayed in his head, over and over like a broken record and it was deafening. He turned to his side to see that you were still talking about something and he sighed, slamming his locker door shut making you jump. 

“You sure you’re okay?” You asked, looking at him, your eyes wide with concern. “You can talk to me if there’s something bothering you. You know I care about you.” Your hand went to his cheek so you could look at him properly but he just groaned loudly. 

“Yes! I’m fine. And yes I know I can talk to you but I don’t want to!!! I’m sick of talking about things. Especially to you. You’re only helping me because you’re working with him. And you say that you care about me but you don’t! Nobody does! Just leave me alone. I don’t want to talk to you anymore, I don’t want to talk to anyone anymore! Just BACK OFF!” He shouted and you jumped slightly. Everyone in the corridor was staring at the two of you and you could feel the tears in your eyes. 

“Archie.” You whispered and tried to grab his arm but he just shrugged you off and pushed past you. 

“Don’t.” He muttered and stormed down the corridors, walking out the front doors of the school and disappearing from your eyeline. You were left standing in the corridor, a quiet mutter had settled over the students, every-so-often they would glance at you before going back to gossiping. 

“What was that about?” Veronica asked making you jump. She placed a hand on your shoulder and patted you sympathetically. 

“I dunno. I’m fine. I think I’m gonna go to class.” You excused yourself before walking down the corridor. For the rest of your day, the only thing that was on your mind was Archie, and not in a good way. You knew he would have off days and that he probably didn’t mean what he said but the words still stung the more that you thought about them and by the end of the day you were miserable. However, you weren’t giving up. 

“Y/n!” Fred greeted you, inviting you in. 

“Hi, Mr Andrews.” You smiled at him and he raised his eyebrow at you. “Sorry, Fred.” You apologized and he laughed. 

“No problem. He’s in his room. I think he’s had a bad day, he came home early from school.” He whispered as if Archie could hear him. 

“Yeah I know.” You mumbled. “I was on the receiving end of it.” You shrugged. 

“Ah. I’m sure whatever he said he didn’t mean it.” 

“I know.” You smiled sadly at him. “Do you want me to take him a drink?” 

“That would be great.” He smiled at you and handed you a soda. “Take one for yourself.”

“Thanks.” You smiled at him, before making your way to his room. Knocking on his bedroom door you could hear his soft sobs from the other side and it reminded you of how broken he was the first time you came over. 

“I told you ten minutes ago I wasn’t hungry.” You heard him mumble and you sighed opening the door. 

“Good job I didn’t bring any food then.” You smiled at him and he narrowed his eyes at you. 

“What do you want?” He asked, lying down on his bed. 

“Well, again, your dad thought it would be easier to ring me to bring you a drink.” You placed the can on the desk and he sighed. “This time I got one too.” You shook the drink and then put it beside his. “Maybe best not to open that right now.” 

Archie looked at you, looking around the room awkwardly and he could tell you were trying to figure out how you could make him feel better. Even after he had been awful to you, you still came round to see if he was okay. No matter how much he pushed you never left. And he hated you for that. Well he didn’t but he wanted to. You were too perfect for somebody as broken as he was. He was in love with you, but he couldn’t be. Being in a relationship with him would be about as fun as a funeral. 

“I also brought Back to the Future.” You smiled at him, waving the DVD at him and he smiled softly. You set it up and then sat beside him on his bed. Usually after half an hour Archie would put his arm around you and your head would lie on his chest. But now, an hour in you were both still just sat by each other, barely touching. 

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled. 

“Its okay.” You shrugged, you continued to watch the film, but Archie was watching you. 

“I really am sorry. I’m just scared.” 

“Why?” You asked, pausing the film. You turned your whole body so you could look at him and he sighed. 

“Because I like you. Like I really like you. But the last time I really liked someone bad things happened and I don’t want that to happen again. I am terrified of getting close to anybody but somehow I ended up getting close to you without even knowing and now I don’t know what to do because I think you’re amazing but I’m a lot to handle and I really don’t want to get hurt. I know you wouldn’t but...” He trailed off and you sighed softly. Your hand stroked his cheek softly and you smiled at him, brightly as ever, the smile that was only ever reserved for him. 

“Archie. I understand that you’re scared. I’m scared too. I’ve never liked someone as much as I like you and I never want to hurt you. But you are the best guy I know. Just because bad things have happened to you doesn’t mean they are gonna keep happening. You have friends and family, with an endless amount of support and you’re getting so much help.” 

“I know, thank you.” He leaned into your touch and smiled softly at you. “I just get overwhelmed sometimes.” 

“I know. And thats okay.” You reassured him. “If you want to see how this goes” You motioned between the two of you. “We can take it at your pace okay. Everything is up to you. I promise. But if you want to wait until you feel a bit better then we can. Whatever you want. I promise.” You held your pinky out to him and he laughed before linking his pinky with yours. “So. What do you wanna do?” You asked. 

“I think I wanna see where this goes.” He nods and you smile. 

“You sure?” 

“Yeah! Positive.” He smiled brightly at you. 

“Great! Do you wanna cuddle and watch the rest of the film?” 

“I’d like that.” He agrees. “Can I try something first though?” He asks and you nod. 

“Of course.” You reply and he takes a deep breath before leaning into you. 

“Oh.” You close your eyes and lean towards him. You lips connect softly, and he leaves a quick kiss on them before pulling away. You both smile at each other before laughing. “How are you feeling.” 

“Pretty good.” He replied and you smiled at him. “The best I’ve felt in a while.”