#it’s late but it was originally started for the week so i’ll tag it

[xskyll]

Page 15, for the second time! Apologies to those that saw the version I posted last night with the typo. My days lately have been busy, so sometimes I feel a bit brain foggy. A couple of people left comments on either here or Twitter and it killed me to delete everything. ;_;

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[supnerds]

Yu Ijin: I've only had my sister for a day and a half but if anything happened to her I will destroy everyone in this school and then myself. Fantastic in just the first few chapters, thanks for the recommendation!

oh it’s so good!!! I’m glad you’re enjoying it!!

I need to reread that one again, I binged the whole thing over a few days ago month or so ago and I wanna see ijin and his sister again I love them

[americasass91]

Use Me

Hello there! I know I’ve been M.I.A. for awhile. And literally haven’t written anything in like 8 months. I’ve been going through a shit ton. (Divorce, job change, all kinds of fun stuff) And I really lost my spark to write. And then the Fnaf movie came out. And seeing Josh Hutcherson on screen again lit a fire inside of me! That boy was my original crush (long before Evans). Peeta Mellark will forever have a piece of my heart. That being said, here’s a little something starring Mike Schmidt! I know, I know. It’s not a Chris Evans character? What’s wrong with me? Josh is fucking pretty. That’s what’s wrong with me. Like, I have a problem. Don’t get me wrong, I still think Chris is pretty and hope the best for him. But…he’s not been my muse lately. I said a long time ago that I wanted Josh to fuck me like a screen door in a hurricane. And it apparently still holds true today! So, I hope you enjoy it even though this is not a part of your regularly scheduled programming! Also, this takes place after the events of FNAF. Also, Also. Not sure if the people on my Taglist for Chris’ characters want to be tagged in Josh’s. If so, just let me know!

*DISCLAIMER*, If you’re under 18, this is nothing for you to be reading. Go away.

Words: 3.3k

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Smut, p in v smut, oral(f rec), unprotected sex, language, Mike being good, um I think that’s it

💙💙💙💙💙 

“Listen Y/N, I’m gonna need you to stay and work the next shift.”

You turn around and look at your manager as if she had suddenly grown 3 heads. “Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you right. It sounded like you said you needed me to stay and work the next 8 hour shift.”

She rolls her eyes as she goes back to charting the current patient she’s working on. “You know that’s exactly what I said. Look, I have no other options. Hannah called off.”

“Again? This is like the third day in a row! How is that fair exactly?” You put your patient’s paperwork down and cross your arms over your chest as you stare at her expectantly.

She doesn’t even bother looking at you as she answers. “I don’t know what to tell you Y/N. She says she’s sick. I can’t have her come in if she’s sick.”

Now it’s your turn to roll your eyes. “If by sick you mean hungover! She literally posted on Instagram last night about her night out on the town!”

She glances over at you. “There’s no way to prove if that was from last night or if it's older. Now just get back to work and I’ll let you have an hour and a half break instead of an hour.”

Now you’re pissed. “Yeah, see, that's not going to work for me. I’ve already been here for 16 hours because Kim was late. I’m not working Hannah’s whole ass shift. I have plans. I finally get to see my boyfriend after weeks because our schedules weren’t lining up. I’m not staying.”

“You really don’t have a choice. I wasn’t really asking you, I was telling you. There’s no one else to cover.”

Tears started welling up in your eyes out of frustration, exhaustion, and the possibility of not being able to see Mike again. “There’s a bunch of other people that can cover! What about you? You’ve only been here 8 hours. It would make more sense for you to stay.” 

She turns in her chair to look at you now. “Y/N, I have actual plans. My husband has a work party. And the rest of us have husbands and children to attend to. Not just ‘hanging out with my boyfriend.’

Now you’re seeing red. “So what you’re saying is because I’m the only nurse on this floor not married, I get the shitty end of the deal and have to cover when other people call off?”

“No. If you had legit plans then I’d be more sympathetic. But you haven’t even been with this boy that long. You don’t need to spend every free moment with him.”

“I’m sorry but who do you think you are? My mother? Because I’m a grown ass woman. And if I want to hang with my boyfriend on my time off then I’m going to! I don’t really need your approval for it. I’m not staying.”

You grab your Stanley and start heading towards the locker room to grab your stuff. 

“Y/N! If you don’t stay, then you can forget about this job.”

You turn around just before reaching the end of the hallway. “Well, then I guess you’re going to have to stick around and cover Hannah’s shift. Stick it up your ass, Jan. I quit.”

You don’t even stay to hear what she has to say. You quickly run to your locker and grab all of your stuff out before you start to cry. You can’t believe you just quit. And it’s not just because of your boyfriend. You haven’t been treated right since the first week you started. This was just the last straw. You just hope Mike won’t be disappointed in you.

💙💙💙💙💙

After a quick shower and outfit change at home, you reluctantly find yourself pulling into Mike’s driveway and getting out of the car. You haven’t gotten to see him in about 3 weeks and you know you look like shit from not only your long ass shift but also because you cried on the way over.

You head to the front door and open it up. He always leaves the door unlocked when he knows you’re coming over, and get hit with the aroma of pasta. Mike’s cooking you dinner. That makes you want to start crying all over again. He’s the sweetest.

“Babe? Is that you?” You hear him call from the back of the house. He quickly comes towards the front and sees you. His smile falters when he sees the state you’re in. “Babe, are you okay? What happened?” He quickly wraps you up in a hug. 

You try your best to keep it together but a few tears fall. “I quit today.”

He pulls out of the hug but keeps his arms around you. “You did? Babe, that’s fantastic!” He pulls you back in for another hug and picks you up to twirl you around.

Your mood instantly lifts and you can’t help but laugh. “It is?”

He sets you down and pulls you in for a quick kiss. “Of course it is! That place was treating you like shit! And Jan was a bitch! What finally made you do it?”

He lets go of all but your hand and leads you into the kitchen so he can continue making spaghetti. He sets you down at the table and pours you a nice big glass of wine he bought just for tonight. “I want to hear all about it.”

He goes back to the stove and continues making dinner while you rehash the last 16 hours.

He turns around with the sauce spoon in his hand and his other on his hip. “Hannah called off again? Jesus, how does she still have a job? Didn’t she do this to you last year during Christmas?”

Oh, shit. You had forgotten about that. She did do this last year! You had plans to fly home and see your family for the holidays when Hannah unexpectedly came down with ‘the flu’. Jan had called and needed you to work since nobody else could cover. You felt like since you were still new at the time that you couldn’t say no. Now you’re getting pissy all over again. 

“Oh my god! You’re right! Maybe the bitch has some vendetta out against me. I’ve never done anything to her though! I’ve been nothing but nice!”

Just then your phone dings, alerting you of a text. You quickly check it. It’s from Hannah.

I can’t believe you threw a tantrum and quit just because I wasn’t feeling my best and couldn’t come in. Wow. All so you can hang out with your piece of shit delinquent boyfriend. You sure have your priorities straight.

“Fucking cunt!” You yell as you throw your phone across the table. Then immediately you slap your hands over your mouth just as Mike turns around to see what you’re yelling about.

“What’s wrong? Who was it?”

You remove your hands from your mouth. “Mike, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to curse that loud. I hope Abby didn’t hear me.”

He waves you off. “Babe, she’s not even here. She got invited to a sleepover at Natalie’s house. We’re alone. You’re good.”

You sigh in relief. “Thank god! I don’t want any of my bad habits to rub off on her.”

Mike just chuckles and turns back to the sauce. “If she turns out anything like you, I’d be entirely okay with that.”

You can’t help but feel a blush creep up your neck. He was always saying sweet stuff like that. You get up and hug him from behind and press a kiss to the back of his neck. “You’re too sweet.”

He turns around in your arms and grabs your face and gives you a proper, toe-curling kiss. “I mean it.”

After a few more shared kisses, Mike finishes up dinner and fixes you both a plate and a glass of wine for himself. As you’re sitting there twirling your spaghetti around your fork, you can’t help but think about Hannah’s text again. And then all of the little snide remarks she’s ever made to you come flooding back.

“Babe?”

You snap out of your thoughts and Mike comes back into focus. “Yeah?”

He puts his fork down. “I asked if there was something wrong with the spaghetti? You’ve hardly touched it.”

You look down at your plate and realize you’ve just been twirling it around your fork. “No, it’s fine. Just thinking about what Hannah said and how much it pisses me off. I’m sorry, I’m not meaning to ruin our time together.”

He smiles and grabs both of your plates and gets up and places them on the counter. He comes back over and holds his hand out to you. “Come on.”

You grab his hand with no hesitation and let him pull you out of your chair and let him lead you to his bedroom.

He turns around to face you right before you get to his bed. “First of all, you could never ruin our time together. I love getting to spend time with you no matter what. Second of all, it sounds like you need to let out some anger and need a distraction.”

You can’t help but feel all tingly at the smirk he’s giving you. “What did you have in mind?”

He backs up a little and sits on the bed and looks up at you. “Use me, Y/N.”

You shake your head. “What? What do you mean?”

He reaches out to grab your hands to pull you towards him. “I mean use me. Use me to distract yourself and to take your anger out on. I’ll be a good boy and do whatever you need.”

That almost had your knees buckling. “Oh.” He lifts your shirt up and starts pressing kisses along your stomach while running his hands from your back to your hips and down to your ass. You’ve never been in this position before. Sure, you guys have only been together for like 5 months but anytime you’ve ever been intimate, he’s been the one who’s taken charge.

He pulls back and looks up at you. “Use me, baby. I got you. Tell me what you need.”

You decide to run with it and take control and blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “I wanna sit on your face.”

He lets out a little whimper as he moves back on the bed. “Fuck, baby. Please sit on my face. I want you to suffocate me.”

He lays back and patiently waits for you to remove your pants and panties. You hesitantly climb up on the bed. You’ve never done this before with anyone but have always wanted to try it. You climb up until you’re straddling his waist and lean down to kiss him. 

He returns the kiss enthusiastically and grinds you down onto him so you can feel how hard he already is for you. It makes you let out a small moan into his mouth. The making out only lasts for a few more minutes before you pull away and start climbing up until you’re hovering right above his mouth.

Before you fully lower yourself onto him you grab his hair and yank so that he has to look at you. He lets out another beautiful whimper. “I’m going to ride your face until I can’t think of anything else but your tongue. You’re going to be good and make me cum as many times as I want, right?”

He nods instantly. “Yes, I promise I’ll be good for you.”

“Good boy.” You tell him, which makes his eyes roll to the back of his head. Hmm. Who knew he had a praise kink?

You let go of his hair and grab onto the headboard with both hands before you slowly lower yourself onto his waiting mouth. 

He immediately grips your thighs and pulls you even harder on him and starts eating you out like a man starved. “Oh, fuck!” You throw your head back and start grinding on his tongue. He gives you a few more licks before he sucks your clit into his mouth and starts lapping his tongue back and forth against it. “Oh, god. Fuck, Mike! You’re so fucking good at that.”

Your praise has him moaning and whimpering into your pussy, heightening the experience that much more. He moves his right hand towards your ass and gives it a nice squeeze before moving towards your pussy and immediately inserting two fingers.  It makes you start grinding faster, feeling yourself already close to the edge.

He starts pumping his fingers in time with your grinding, pushing you even closer to the edge. You can’t believe how quickly he got you there. 

“Mike, please! Gonna cum! Make me cum.”

He pumps his fingers even faster and lightly bites down on your clit, knowing it’ll make you fall over the edge.

You scream his name out and grind on him until it’s too much and you lift yourself away from his mouth. To which he whimpers out, “where’s that pussy going? I wasn’t done yet.”

You let out a breathy laugh. “Jesus. I almost passed out from how hard I came. Give me a minute.”

“So I did good?” He looks up at you with big eyes and his chin glistening with your juices.

You pat his hair. “You did so good, baby. Made me feel so good.”

He smiles and wraps his arms around your thighs and presses soft kisses to the inside of them. You close your eyes and take a minute to enjoy that before you look behind you and see his erection pressing painfully against his jeans. You need that inside of you. Right now.

You remove yourself from his face and he lets out a little whine. “Don’t worry. I’m not done. Need your cock, baby.”

You’ve never seen him undo his belt and slide his jeans down that quickly before. It almost makes you chuckle. “Eager, are we?”

He nods as he pushes his jeans down far enough that his cock springs free and hits your ass. “Need to feel you around me, babe. Please.”

You lean down and pull him into a kiss which he returns generously. You can taste yourself on his tongue. He grabs his cock and hits it against your ass, signaling that he’s ready for you to slide onto him. You take the hint and lift up and back until he catches at your entrance. He’s the first one to break the kiss as you slowly slide down onto him. The little whimpers he lets out as you sit flush against his thighs is music to your ears.

You decide to tease him and just stay resting there for a minute while looking down at him. He has his eyes clenched shut and a death grip on your hips. He opens his eyes after a few moments and looks up at you. He reaches his right hand up and places it on your cheek, caressing it with his thumb. “Go ahead and use me babe. Take what you need from me.”

You slowly start moving your hips back and forth, never really lifting them up and down. The friction against your clit is so delicious. You place both hands on his chest and start moving your hips a little faster. “Oh, fuck baby. You feel so good. You’re so deep.” 

“Yeah? Am I making my girl feel good?”

You smirk down at him. “Oh, yeah. You’re being so good for me.”

He lets out another whimper as he grabs you by the back of your head and pulls you in for a heated kiss. This one sloppy and desperate. His hand that’s still on your hip starts moving you a little harder against him. He pulls away from your mouth and kisses his way up your neck towards your ear. “Come on babe. Cum on my cock. I can feel you clenching around me. Cum for me so I can be good and cum for you.”

This time you’re the one letting out a whimper. “Yeah? Want me to be your good boy and cum for you? Fill you up?”

“Please.” You whine out, moving your hips even faster than before. You can feel your orgasm coming like a freight train. There’s no stopping it. 

“Oh yeah. I can feel it. You’re gonna cum for me. Do it. Make a mess on me babe. Please, I need it.”

“Yeah? You need me to cum for you? Need to feel me cum? Oh, god Mike. I’m almost there. Please don’t stop.”

He continues helping you grind your hips against his. You’re almost there. Just a little something…..

“I love you, Y/N. So fucking much.”

That did it. You’re pitched off the edge and silently scream out. The edges of your vision going white. You can vaguely hear Mike whimpering out your name as he does as promised and fills you up. You slow your hips down until you can’t move them anymore and slump down against him with your face tucking into the crook of his neck. He wraps his arms around you and rubs his hands up and down your back.

You both stay like that until your heartbeats return to normal. You lift up your head just until you can see him, almost nose to nose. He’s the first to speak. “So, did I do good for you?”

You let out a chuckle. “You were so good, baby.” You can feel him twitch inside of you at the praise. “But, we need to talk about what you said.”

Mike scrunches his brows for a few minutes before his eyes go wide and he realizes what he said. “Shit, I did not mean to say that.”

You can’t help the disappointment that crosses your face. “Oh, well that’s okay. It was in the heat of the moment.”

He quickly wraps his arms tighter around you. “No! That’s not what I meant. Shit. I one hundred percent meant it. I just wanted to make it special when I told you. Not in the middle of an orgasm. You deserve better than that.”

You smile and press a kiss to the tip of his nose. “I appreciate the thought. But I really don’t need anything special. I already have you.”

His smile lights up his entire face. “I love you, Y/N.”

This time you press a kiss to his lips. “I love you, too Mike. Like, a lot.”

“I bet not as much as I love you.”

Just as you’re about to retort, Mike’s cell starts vibrating, causing you to jolt with fright since his phone is still in his pocket which your leg is pressed up against.

“Jesus Christ.”

You quickly get up so that he can grab his phone. “Hello?”

You go into the bathroom to clean up. You come back in with a wet cloth to clean Mike up. He just hangs up as you come in the room. “Everything okay?”

He smiles in thanks as you hand him the cloth. He goes about cleaning himself up. “Yeah. That was Natalie’s mom. Apparently Abby has decided she doesn’t wanna stay the night so I have to go get her.” He stands and pulls his jeans back up and smooths his shirt out. “Sorry we won’t be alone anymore.”

You pull him in for a quick kiss. “Nothing to apologize for. I love you Mike. And that means loving all of you. Which includes Abby. Whom you know I just adore. Go get her and we’ll have a movie night or something.”

He shakes his head and pulls you in for another kiss. “I still don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

You just smile in return. “After the past year you’ve been through, you deserve to be happy.”

He chuckles as he heads out the door. “Ain’t that the damn truth!”

[silkentine]

An anatomy and lighting practice that turned into Ichiji! 😊❤️🎇✨🔥 I’ve been really inspired by @dannymans66 lately so I’ve got #1 on the mind.

ALSO!!! I HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN A FREE COMMISSION BELOW (Check it out and see if you can win!)

So I jokingly shared the lineart for this piece with my friend and said that it looked like a page from a coloring book and the idea humored me so much that I decided to hold a competition. I’ll give you all TWO WEEKS (ending June 4th 2024 at 23:59 EST) to color this picture of Ichiji using the blanks provided below and submit your illustrations here on tumblr with the tag #ichijirecolor (and it’s probably best if you @ me as well @silkentine). I’ll judge all the submissions (with the help of my unbiased mom) and the one that I like the best* will receive a free commission from yours truly :) anything you want!!! Feel free to color outside the lines, add stuff to the illustration, use the “wrong” colors, print it out and color it traditionally, whatever floats your snail-boat! 🐌 The only requirement is that my original illustration is included in some way (it doesn’t even have to look like Ichiji at the end, I suppose!)

*If my first place winner declines the prize or fails to respond with a week of the announcement, I’ll move on to the second place and so on and so forth.

Below the Read More, I’ve provided two versions of the lineart with and without the tattoo. Also, they are all 1526x2048 pngs either with a white background or no background at all. To color using a white background, place it as your top layer and set it to a Multiply blending mode, then you can add colors on a layer below without having to fuss with the lineart or delete the background. I’m not going to check if you keep the original size or ratio of the images; I like to work really big, so feel free to compress it if necessary. Feel free to move the watermark around, and it would delight me so if you added yours alongside mine!

Thanks in advance to all who decide to participate!!! I’m so excited to see what you can create!!!

Also here’s my version without any shading, you could use this too if you wanted to but isn’t it more fun to start blank? Idk I just think this is fun to look at.

If you made it this far and you’re still not sure if you want to participate or not, let me sweeten the pot and let you know that I’m a very small creator and I’m not expecting to get many submissions, so your chances of winning could be much higher than usual with these kinds of things!!! I’m not someone who judges on technical skill either, it’s purely my own taste that will decide the winner, so don’t let your skill level hold you back! I love funny things and getting to know people in the One Piece community!!! This is all my selfish attempt at making some new friends hahaha!! Thanks for reading all of this 😋🥰 you mean the world to me.

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box Series— Bonus Editions: Captain Quinn

22-23 Season/Summer Masterlist

yourusername

liked by _quinnhughes, jackhughes, and 15,788 others

yourusername laideez, non-laideez, gremlins, hockey babes, and everyone in between, allow me to introduce you to, CAPTAIN QUINN “HUGGY BEAR” HUGHES OF THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS!

quintin, i’ve been DYING to get this one off my chest since the second you called me with the news and i’m so beyond ecstatic that i woke up today knowing that your captaincy would be announced! i knew it with my whole butt that tocc and the rest of the canucks organization would pick you after the family dinner with them last week. (p.s. thanks for buying a margarita <3)

you said that this honor isn’t the end to your learning and that you’re excited to learn more about yourself through this great new opportunity, and i can’t wait to be there right beside you (from various hundreds of miles away at any given time)!

congratulations on being a single father! i’m so proud of you, captain best friend! mwah! you’re going to do amazing things this season, and i can’t wait to see what they are🩵 i love you!

tagged _quinnhughes and canucks

view all 223 comments

_quinnhughes thank you, sissy! i love you too! were some of these pictures really necessary?

yourusername i just think everyone should know the type of captain they’re getting <3 a great one! an icon! a hero! my hero! a meme! captain meme!

_quinnhughes please don’t start that

jackhughes @_quinnhughes too late

trevorzegras #CaptainMeme

_quinnhughes @/jackhughes @/trevorzegras lovely

lhughes_06 CAPTAIN MEEMEEEEE

user24 THAT’S MY MF CAPTAIN

trevorzegras i’m so proud of you bro!! congrats!! please defend me to refs!! @_quinnhughes

_quinnhughes yeah you wish (thanks z!!)

yourusername @_quinnhughes feel free to slightly talk shit

trevorzegras @/yourusername feel free to learn to love

yourusername @/trevorzegras feel free to learn how to stfu

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras @/yourusername “be fucking for real” -sissy

yourusername @_quinnhughes BE FUCKING FOR REAL

_quinnhughes -sissy

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes she is um… not pleased right now

jackhughes @_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras we don’t piss off the baby! do you two know nothing?!

trevorzegras @/jackhughes I DIDN’T DO SHIT

jackhughes @/trevorzegras THEN WHY IS SHE MAD

trevorzegras @/jackhughes I’M WORKING ON IT

user50 i’m in tears again oh my god

colecaufield IN HIS CAPTAIN ERA🏒🤍 @_quinnhughes congratulations stud!!

_quinnhughes thank you coley!!!

yourusername bestie points for the taylor ref!!

colecaufield @/yourusername i saw my chance and i took it

_quinnhughes @/colecaufield so did the canucks media team

colecaufield @_quinnhughes i didn’t say it was an original chance

yourusername @/colecaufield we love an honest king!!

user68 OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN🥵😭

jackhughes you just had to one up me, didn’t you?😂 congratulations, quinny! so proud of you!! @_quinnhughes

yourusername #QuinnIsTheSuperiorBrother #CaptainMeme

_quinnhughes it’s what i do best @/jackhughes thank you!

_quinnhughes @/yourusername sissy. please stop.

yourusername @_quinnhughes quintin. i do what i want.

jackhughes @_quinnhughes you tried!

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes you gave it a valiant effort!

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras i didn’t even know you knew that word

yourusername @_quinnhughes i got me a word of the day chart and he’s been learning with me

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes we’ve been working out our brains in the offseason a tad

_eliaspettersson congratulations bro🎉🥳 you deserve it!!

_quinnhughes thanks, petey!

yourusername PETEY!! LIGHT OF MY LIFE!! I MISS YOU!! don’t let the power go to his head!!

_eliaspettersson @/yourusername i miss you, too! i’ll try my best😂

yourusername @_eliaspettersson tysm you’re a real one! mwah!🩵

user12 and the hottest captain in the league goes to…

lhughes_06 so proud to be your little brother @_quinnhughes ! congratulations!

_quinnhughes thank you, moose! you’re my favorite brother!

jackhughes @_quinnhughes HEY!

yourusername @/jackhughes you’re my favorite soulmate!

jackhughes @/yourusername i was lead to believe i’m your only soulmate… i am now not so sure

yourusername @/jackhughes dramatic much? this is quinn’s post! not yours!

_quinnhughes @/jackhughes yeah!

jackhughes i have this gut feeling that i’m being attacked right now

lhughes_06 @/jackhughes you should start trusting your gut

user41 the captain, the alternate captain, the rookie, and their sister— C.A.R.S: a hughes story

canucks we love our captain!!

yourusername heelllllll yeah we do!!

_alexturcotte CAPTAIN HUGGY! ALL HAIL!

yourusername BOW BEFORE OUR RULER

_alexturcotte HE IS THE ONE THAT WILL SAVE US FROM OUR WICKED FATE

_quinnhughes @_alexturcotte @/yourusername and that fate is????

_alexturcotte @_quinnhughes trevor

yourusername THE HORROR

trevorzegras @/yourusername i love you, too, babe🧡

yourusername @/trevorzegras i love you, always!

trevorzegras @/yourusername i love you, forever!

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras quit that i’m supposed to save alex from you

_alexturcotte @_quinnhughes come quick, he’s getting closer!

trevorzegras @_alexturcotte i’m coming for your bucket hats

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras not if i come for yours first

yourusername @_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras @_quinnhughes dibs on all bucket hats!

jamie.drysdale congrats @_quinnhughes!! you deserve it, bud!

_quinnhughes thanks jimmy! take care of sissy and z for me, yeah?

jamie.drysdale i always will

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes AWW YOU DO LOVE ME

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras i never said that

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes i love you too, huggy!!!!!

yourusername aww my favorite boys are getting along! somebody get my camera! this is getting framed!

colecaufield mark your calendars people! alert the news! history was just made!

jamie.drysdale what a lovely turn of events

yourusername @/jamie.drysdale i could cry

_quinnhughes added this to their story

canucks added this to their story

jackhughes added this to their story

lhughes_06 added this to their story

[abibliophobiaa]

Gone Fishing: And Baby Makes Three…

this was originally a request from my dear friend Katie (but tumblr ate it, so it no longer exists) and it spiraled into a short little mini series (tagged on my masterlist). just sweet little blurbs when i get a request or the mood strikes.

original prompt: eddie tells wayne he’s going to be a grandpa.

warnings/tags: r is pregnant; mentions of pregnancy and related symptoms; dad!eddie munson x afab!fem!reader. (2k words)

-

Eddie had come home from work one day and found you sitting in the kitchen with Steve and Nancy’s newest little one. A wrinkly faced newborn with Steve’s dark head of hair and Nancy’s eyes. And when Steve had handed that baby to Eddie, your eyes had softened in a way he’d never seen before.

He supposed it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when later that night you'd asked him if he wanted to try for one of your own. And it wasn’t like he’d been opposed to the idea—he’d married you with the intention of starting a family some day.

In all honesty, the trying to get pregnant part…well, that had been fun. He’d just anticipated a little bit of time between deciding to start trying and getting pregnant. But two months later, you’d come home from the doctor with a photo in hand of his affectionately named “little gummy bear.”

It hadn’t looked like much at the time. A tiny little blob with wriggly limbs, if he was being honest with himself. But you’d cried when you held the grainy picture in front of him, and he’d cried too, holding you on his lap at the kitchen table.

Soon enough, another month passed and you were far enough along you felt comfortable enough to tell those around you your exciting news. Naturally, you suggested the two of you tell Wayne first. It felt right to do so, you told him, and he’d agreed.

You were glowing and beautiful, like Nancy had mentioned people said happened during pregnancy one day over dinner, but not your fullest self. Most mornings Eddie felt the bed dip as the sun rose in the sky, and joined you with a hand to comfort in any way possible when you rushed to the bathroom. Whether it was a warm palm sliding up and down your back or the chill of his skin on your clammy cheek, he’d wanted to be there in whatever capacity you’d allow. He’d carry your struggles on his back if he was able to. You were doing all the work, after all. And he was grateful for it—grateful for you.

The evening you were meant to tell Wayne over dinner, you’d been sick since the morning—all day, really, and it pained him to see you like that. He watched you washing dishes in the kitchen while Wayne settled down in the living room with a freshly opened beer, feeling his heart double in size when your eyes lifted and met his.

You’d always been beautiful, but there was something different about you lately. Nancy said that the “glow” people often spoke of was from the endless hormones raging through your body. Some of which he’d become well-acquainted with these few weeks, because they made your emotions vary between happy and sad in a split second—often to his own detriment.

But he really thought they’d gotten it all wrong; he thought that the glow came from the way you were so in love, it manifested on the outside with no more space to contain itself. And if it made him pathetic to admit how in love with you he was, especially so as of late, he’d happily own up to it.

“Are you feeling okay?” He asked, moving over to where you stood with your hips flush against the countertop, your head bent a little low as you scrubbed idly at a dirty plate. His fingers curled along the side of your cheek, turning your face so your eyes would meet his. His thumb tapped at your chin, your lips tugging upward weakly. “There you are. Why don’t you go lay down, hmm? I’ll take care of the rest of the dishes.”

“Eddie.” You placed the dish down in a drying rack and huffed out a slow breath.

“You were up at three in the morning—” He chuckled when you opened your mouth to protest and nudged your cheek with his nose, brushing a kiss there. “I’ll take care of it.”

“I still want you to tell Wayne. I think it’ll be nice for you two to share that memory,” you admitted softly, leaning into his shoulder, one arm wrapping loosely around his waist.

“Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

You wrinkled your nose, grinning. “Only every day.”

He dropped his ringed fingers down to your sweater, sliding over your midsection, seeking the comfort of your warmth. You sighed against his neck, head tucking against his throat, and he murmured, “Please let me take care of the kitchen? I’ll feel ten times better if you go get some rest.”

It took a little bit more convincing, and a brush of lips against your brow with a muttered reassurance he’d take care of everything, before you retreated to your bedroom and closed the door behind you. Eddie worked in quick silence to finish up where you’d left off, calling over his shoulder to his Uncle that he’d just be a minute.

His Uncle leans back with a great sigh, hand waving unhurriedly in the air. “No rush, boy.”

And once he’d finished scrubbing the remnants of dinner off the final plate to tuck it away in the drying rack, he flounced over to the kitchen table where you’d wrapped a gift for his Uncle. He double checked the little card tucked in between sheets of tissue paper, pushed it to the front of the bag, and snatched the handles in his hand.

A crooked, lopsided smile crosses Wayne’s face that matches the one Eddie wore, eyes widening in curiosity at the gift dangling in his nephew’s hand. “It’s not my birthday, y’know,” he said, placing his beer down on the coffee table. Eddie leaned back on the couch beside him, nerves bubbling to life at what lay within. Wayne’s smile dropped, concern lining his features as he asked, “Is the little missy not feelin’ okay?”

Eddie sighed heavily. “Yeah, she’d been up this morning sick. I told her to go lay down,” he admitted, thumbing at his ring finger, twirling the yellow gold wedding band around and around in his nervousness. “Open the card first.”

“What are you doin’? More jittery than normal,” he chided, but slid his finger beneath the edge of the envelope all the same, opening the lip to reveal a Hallmark card. On the front was a golden trophy, with a banner stretched across reading ‘The World’s Greatest Pop Pop.’ His head turned to Eddie, the creases around his mouth deepening as he swallowed thickly and opened the card. The older man rubbed a hand over his mouth, throat clearing as his eyes reread the words on the card over and over again. “My boy. Are you tellin’ me I’m gonna be a grandpa? The Mrs. Munson is havin’ a baby?” At Eddie’s slow nod, Wayne barked out a disbelieving but excited laugh, pulling his nephew into a rough hug.

Eddie swallowed the knot forming in his throat. Exhaled deeply to keep the tears at bay. He’d been doing that a lot since finding out you were expecting; blubbered when you told him you were pregnant, then once more when he’d accompanied you for the next doctor’s appointment and saw the little thing for himself, and then once more when he’d heard the heartbeat for the first time.

“Finish opening your gift before you start getting all sappy and shit,” he teased, choking on his own emotions. Wayne slid out the grainy photo from the last ultrasound, thumb running along the tiny outline of the little one. Eddie grinned, leaning over to trail a finger along the form. “That’s from an earlier appointment. I can show you what they look like now. Less…alien-gummy bear hybrid, more…actual baby. With fingernails, the doctor said. Thought that was pretty cool.”

Wayne huffed out a watery laugh and fished out the pieces of tissue paper within the package. His mouth worked silently over the emotions riling in his gut as he lifted a hat within his palm and glanced at the words etched across the front. There at the top, was a fish with a reel swirling around in a loop, poised at its opened mouth. Then, in blocky lettering below, read ‘Reel Cool Pop Pop.’

When Wayne leaned back, his teary eyes scanned Eddie’s face, frown setting further into the wrinkle lines crowding his lips. “What’s wrong, boy? I can tell somethin’ is goin’ ‘round in that head of yours.” He knocked his weathered knuckles lightly against Eddie’s temple; Eddie nudged his head away, lips quirking with a smile despite himself. “C’mon now. Your brow’s wrinklin’ like your momma’s did when she used to worry.”

“I’m happy. Shit– I’m so excited, but I…” He paused, pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes. “I’m, ah, in a few months I’m gonna be a dad and I don’t know why, but the universe thinks I’m ready for that.”

“Listen, I know what you’re thinkin’. But I’m gonna tell you right now that you are not your old man. You’re a good man, Ed. Gave me hell for a few years, but I know you’re ready,” he said, lowering his head to where Eddie’s palms slid down his face, an exhausted sigh falling through the gaps between his fingers. “Got a good head on your shoulders and a big heart. Been a good husband to your wife, and I know you’ll make a fine dad. I’m proud of you. So very proud of you, son.”

Later that evening, when Eddie entered your shared bedroom with joy in his heart and excitement bubbling in his blood, you shifted up onto your elbow. You peered over at him with a wide grin across your pretty features. Asked, “What’s making you smile like that?”

Eddie’s grin widened, hand splaying over his heart like a love struck fool as he practically threw himself onto the bed, singing, “You're havin' my baby what a lovely way of sayin' how much you love me.”

The sleeves of your too-long sweater covered your face, body rolling away from him, mortified. “Edddds, no. Please no Paul Anka song again.”

His nose pressed into your cheek as his chin hooked over your shoulder. Lips smacked a loud kiss against your cheek, an amused chuckle spilling from his lips. “What? I’m a man madly in love with his wife. What’s wrong with that?”

Nothing. Nothing at all, so you shifted closer to him, back aligning with his chest as his arms wound tight around your waist. You let out a contented hum as his palm drifted along the waistband of your jeans and beneath the hem of your sweater, lingering over the secret growing beneath your heart. “I love you, too,” you whispered, hand affectionately grazing over the back of his. “Was Wayne happy?”

“Over the moon. Said he thinks it’s a boy.”

And seven months later, he’d be right.

Wayne entered that hospital with balloons in one hand and a teddy bear in another. His weathered face drew tight as he ducked into the room you’d been moved into to rest and recover, hand waving in greeting to where Eddie sat at your bedside with his newborn son cradled in the crook of his elbow. An infant boy with dark hair like his and the eyes of the woman he loved. Eddie leaned down to press a kiss to your temple, pride at what you’d done to bring your son into the world still glowing bright in his chest, and waved his uncle over. Watched as Wayne placed the gifts down onto the small couch pressed against the corner wall and drifted nearer to your bedside.

Eddie’s lips quirked into a bright smile as his uncle glanced down at the little blue bundle in his arms, before glancing up. “Congratulations, you two.”

Eddie glanced your way briefly to capture your glowing smile—to take in the way your eyes had never once left your son’s since his arrival on this side of earth, and then lifted to his uncle’s, your voice tired as you asked, “Wanna hold your grandson?”

“Yeah,” he said hoarsely, breaking off to clear his throat and inhale deeply. Eddie swapped places, climbing up from the makeshift rocking chair to allow Wayne to sit, before he leaned down and brushed a kiss against the baby’s head. Once his uncle situated himself, Eddie lowered the infant into his arms. “What did you two end up namin’ him?”

Your eyes flickered briefly to Eddie’s, head bobbing with a nod. Eddie brushed his thumb along his son’s cheek and said proudly, “James Aragorn Munson.”

James shifted in his grandfather’s arms. His head moved to seek out the shelter of his warmth—to seek out the love he’d already known in his short span of time in the outside world.

“Welcome, James.” Wayne moved his rough palm to the back of the baby’s head and shifted him on his lap so he lay stretched out before him. The older man admired those tired eyes that blearily gazed up at him with a tenderness that knocked the wind out of Eddie. James’ mouth opened in a little grunt, eyes closing once more in contentment, unknowing that he’d already stolen the hearts of the three watching him with rapt attention. “I’m your Pop Pop. We’ve been waitin’ for you.”

-

[leafofkudzu]

Hello and Happy New Year!!! The first Saturday of a new month will soon be upon us, which means it's time for another art party hosted by my guild, Verdant Shield [VS]! But this one is extra special, because exactly one year ago was my first real foray into the world of event hosting - that's right, it's the one-year anniversary of [VS] Art Party!!!

The very first [VS] Art Party was held January 7th 2023, and was a very quiet experiment with no visible tag, announced only two days before and hidden away in an obscure corner unlikely to be noticed by non-participants. I was nervous, but with a modest 20ish-person turnout and a chill energy not dissimilar to the current EU parties, it seemed to go over great! As art trickled into the tag over the following days and weeks, people started asking about future parties, and even about hosting ones on EU servers, which I could certainly do since I already had an EU alt. And so, a monthly tradition was born!

For those unsure of what an art party is, they're a concept carried over from Final Fantasy XIV - in-game get-togethers for artists/writers/creatives of all kinds to hang out, chat, and create together! Grab your character and outfit of choice, head to the party location, find someone that inspires you, and create! Afterwards, everyone posts their creations in a shared tag (ours is #VSArtParty) so others can see, interact, and share! The tl;dr I've been repeating since the very first announcement post is simply this: the 'goal' of an art party isn't to be drawn, but to draw others, and share with the community!

Time and /squadjoin information is under the cut, but will be posted again via reblogs as the squads go up on the day of the party!

Location Information:

It's a bit tricky to get to if you're F2P, but there was no way I wasn't returning to the location of the original party - the uninstanced asura home instance in Rata Sum, the Applied Development Lab! I've even dusted off my original map image, complete with hand-drawn arrows:

(That's Magustan Court Waypoint, by the way.)

This area is only accessible via flying mounts or with the use of a Teleport to Friend, so be sure to have one (or both) handy when the time comes!

Time & Squad Details:

As per usual, there will be two 3-hour parties - one on EU servers and one on NA ones - with an hour break in between. People do tend to arrive early though, and those with multiple accounts often jump directly from one to the other, so don't be surprised to see things running late and/or starting early!

The first party will be on EU servers and begin at 9pm Central European Time (aka 3pm Eastern Standard Time or 4 hours before in-game reset). I’ll be hosting on my EU alt account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Paranomalous Plexxi for an invite.

The second party will be on NA servers and begin at 7pm Eastern Standard Time (aka 1am Central European Time or at in-game reset). I’ll be hosting this one on my main account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Teekzi for an invite.

Closing Words:

The engagement, energy, and love in these events always blows me away, and words can't express how happy I am with what we've all created together. I'm so glad that I took that first step last year and extended an invitation to what would've likely just been a throwaway guild event to the best section of the GW2 community I know. GW2 tumblr, keep being amazing. I love you guys so much, and I can't wait to see you guys on Saturday, and for many more first-Saturdays-of-the-month to come!

Ever your diligent cat herder,

Meka ♥♥♥

[kishdoodles]

Treebark Week 2024 - A Post-Mortem

Hi! If you haven’t seen, I have released seven (7!) videos for Treebark Week 2024! This wall of text is my behind the scenes and also post-mortem thoughts on the project, which I found worth documenting.

Even if you don’t end up reading the text, I appreciate every comment, tag, and view my videos get. I did it for the fun of it and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t do it for the attention. I did, because I think these videos are the funniest things I’ve ever released. Shoutout to @thefluxqueen for being my partner in crime and confidant for these. You saw my vision.

I wanted to do something for Treebark week but admittedly I had noooo idea. So this whole gimmick was a fun set up for me to stretch my creativity in. What started as “I’m just going to do everything in mspaint with a mouse” spiraled to “I think it’s going to get boring if everything’s in the same style, so I’m going to have to do something different everyday.”

The important factor to me throughout all of this is earnesty.

Even if its life started as a joke, this project is a love letter in every respect. This is what I grew up on, this is the YouTube that is precious to me. Capturing this era of time in 7 videos is all at once easy, yet surprisingly laborious.

First I planned the songs. Fitting the songs with the prompts was a brain scratcher, but once we (me and Spain) had a few in the rest slotted in pretty easily. Common thread was, of course, any popular song from the mid-late 2000s.

The first confirmed song was Sugar, Sugar for Sweet (Day 2) courtesy of Spain, given the Eddsworld video. We had a few songs for Burn (Day 3) or Infernal (Day 4) which we threw out (Elli Goulding’s Burn, 2NE1’s Fire, Steam Powered Giraffe’s Fire Fire, etc.) I ended up digging through my old playlist and listened to 20% Cooler, which after a realization I immediately slotted it for Frost (Day 1). Spain brought up the Heat Waves parody (Cold Spells) for Frost too, to which I realized I could just do regular Heat Waves, so that became what I did for Burn.

Bring Me To Life was brought to my attention (I forgot how, maybe Youtube recommendations?) and with the lyrics, it became the song for Blood (Day 7). The all time classic, Angel with a Shotgun, fit in nicely with the prompt of Divine (Day 4), so there was no contest. Another classic, Everytime We Touch, was harder to fit but I eventually reasoned through the prompts enough to fit it with Lips (Day 5) (the everytime we kiss part).

At this point, nothing I’ve found fit Day 6 (picnic/garden/strawberry) at ALL. So I decided the only way I knew how. RANDOM CHOICE!

Mad World won but that was a trap, for I have biased myself toward Animal I’ve Become at that point and it almost won, so I went with that instead. This is a lawless land. 

-

The actual video ideas really came to me in piecemeal, so I’ll explain how I got each idea as I cover each day in order of when I completed them. 

20% Cooler (Day 1) was the most straightforward of the days. It was done in 1 hour and 30 minutes and I was purposefully being extremely literal about the lyrics. I already had the vision for what I want, and I didn’t want to care about quality all that much, so it came together really fast. 

For my process, I lined with mspaint brush and then bucket tooled with default colours. I took advantage of the new layer system mspaint added for some scenes, but otherwise it was as simple as just drawing. (Pictured, 3 layers for 2 scenes.)

It was really easy to just quickly edit in Windows Movie Maker 6 too, I just dragged the pictures in, slapped effects, roughly timed everything and it’s done.

Programs used: mspaint, Windows Movie Maker 6

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Sugar, Sugar (Day 2) was an honest effort at avoiding any complicated animations. I initially thought of doing an animation similar to the original video that inspired the song choice, but eventually scaled back because. I don’t want to animate. 

Thus came the decision of subject matter. I ended up settling on the demon roleplay because I thought it was the campiest thing in the world. And it was a sweet reunion, no? The lyrics just fit the vibe, and in a moment of brilliance (hitting the showers) I thought to make a visual novel. One reflective of old flash games and like the visual novels of cultural zeitgeist at the time.

I’ve known about Ren’py for quite some time now, but I’ve never properly learned how to use it. For this my task was simple. Find out how to change sprites, backgrounds, and move people into the scene.

Sprites and backgrounds were easy, so those were the first things I did. Ren’s sprites were inspired in design by Demon Hunters in the Warcraft world, mostly because I was playing a lot of Hearthstone and liked the idea. Martyn’s sprite style was inspired by early 2000s anime visual novels, like Higurashi (though I’ve personally never consumed it nor do I actually recommend consuming this piece of media (neutral) its ripple throughout the anime community was felt. Notably, parodies of the anime’s opening were very popular.) I toned back the stylizations, but trust me when I say that Martyn’s hands were purposefully big to be yaoi hands. It didn’t end up that big, and I did not give him the dorito chin here so, immense self control on my part (or cowardice?). False and Joel were just my regular style. For all this I used my tablet instead of my mouse.

The programming part was a little troublesome, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t google, so it got done pretty fast. There’s other small bits, like how I mismatched the background sizes, the sprite sizes (with each other)(minorly) but for the most part it came together pretty quick. Once the VN was done, it was just about recording it. So I put on the song, and danced along.

[You can download the VN here]

Programs used: Ren’Py, OBS, mspaint, After Effects (just to move the scene over at the beginning)

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So I knew I wanted a classic style AMV, so that eventually became Everytime We Touch (Day 5). 

The pictures mostly come from a discord server I’m in (hi [redacted]!!!!) and I thought of it like a nice homage to the insanity we had in there. Bless all of you guys, you guys were the ones I wanted this series to be made for the most.

Not much to say beyond that, besides me just editing it all on movie maker as usual.

Programs used: Windows Movie Maker 6

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Angel With a Shotgun (Day 4) was the last to be planned for. I predicted it was going to be the easiest to make on the fly (it was) and just kind of winged it. I wanted a unique style still for it though, and the idea of drawing their cubitos came pretty late. 

I was not exempt from this trend in my youth (my art in mspaint, age 11, me and my sister)

The rest was history. Just kidding, I really wanted something to do with the shotgun thing so I literally searched “shotgun” in Curseforge and got MrCrayfish’s gun mod just for the shotgun. I loaded up the 3rd Life world I had from my Broken Lives animatic (it’s a custom made world using the seed) and just got to work with FreeCam and OBS (it’s my first time with FreeCam too!)

A rejected clip I didn’t use because of skin consistency / continuity.

Programs used: Minecraft, mspaint, Windows Movie Maker 6

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Heat Waves (Day 3) acquired a pixel art style as an homage to its original lyric video. People have said it reminded them of Homestuck, which I honestly don’t mind. It fits the era and I did grow up with it. It kinda looped back in on itself that way.

I blame this frame, here's it as a gif which lies unused.

For the video, the more I rewatched bits of Last Life for it (it’s been a while!) I realized it had a lot more potential than I initially thought. Though I doubt most of it didn’t come through in the final product (I limit these videos to a minute or less, if possible, excepting credits and allowing few more seconds over the minute mark so long as it felt warranted), I tried to cram in what I thought fitting to the prompt the whole time.

The watch tower burning was an easy pick, a classic Treebark moment you might say. For the rest of it, the nuance laid a lot in how Martyn presented the Shadow Alliance. “The Dog, The Shadow, The Roots. We make this place burn.” Under the eyes of the moon, it witnessed this pact form, and its resolution for the server. The moon is included in multiple frames because of this, as a stand-in for the eye of the Watcher(s) I included at the start, watching Martyn through the series.

In a lot of ways, how Lizzie and BigB turned red I also found fascinating. Lava and explosions you could argue are an extension of burning and fire, and an explosion was also how Martyn left the series. Ren, from the start of this alliance, inexplicably committed to and saw through what ultimately rips the people he was loyal to away from him. 

Martyn on the other hand, I drew in the later portions quite aware of the position he’s in, hence only his eye in the frame with the last 4 folks. This to me starts a path for him toward where he goes in the later serieses (notably in Limited Life). This is all very “vibes” and instinctual kind of “trust me on this” sort of read on c!Martyn honestly.

On missed opportunities, I’m almost upset at how I never brought up the moment Martyn buys a love crystal from Scar (never used, it got blown up) which I (and a lot of other) may have delusionally thought it was for Ren. Besides that, I never had a chance to desaturate the colours in the video leaving only red (which Ren did upon the encounter of the establishment of the Moon Cult)(it really emphasized Martyn’s lips!), I tried just plain desaturating, but ended up ditching it since it never felt like it jived well with the rest of the video.

All that aside, I finished this one really late (for me, which was past midnight on the day it was going to be posted), so I’m glad it was out on time. It’s the one I put in the most effort for, and I’m glad to see people enjoy it.

The eye on its own, which reveals the Watcher symbol I accidentally did in the wrong orientation. Oops!

Programs used: Aseprite, After Effects

-

Animal I Have Become (Day 6) was thought on for a while. Eventually I have my eureka moment and I thought it was a nice shout out to the Bannedstory community who I’ve followed in my early days, where I’d watch animations of people’s custom OCs (original characters) made with Maplestory sprites animated to audio clips that I really wasn’t supposed to be listening to at the time lol. That, and all the online games and the like I grew up with on the early internet. I personally didn’t partake in it, but roleplaying on those was a common sight, and I found it endearing. 

My partner in crime for this day in particular was @thefluxqueen, because I really can’t be bothered with character customization for a lot of these games (I respect the craft but I lack the patience), but I knew who LOVED doing that. He really knocked it out of the park, helping me do the Gachalife, Club Penguin, and the characters for Animal Jam and Ponytown. For the latter, they handed me the account information and we just went to town.

A Treebark stream in a just world.

I can’t tell you exactly how I assigned the lyrics, but I definitely assigned the animal sections during the chorus so it was a surprise (and so it also fit the lyrics). I did have fun recording and we had a fun time in Ponytown. We were shown where other mcyt fans are by a Grian pony (Hermit Hill) and then we hung out there sitting down while we workshopped the Bannedstory segments with both our sonas together. All in all a great time.

It took a few takes.

Programs used: Bannedstory 3 (I would’ve loved to use 4, I grew up with that!), Gachalife, Club Penguin, Animal Jam, Ponytown, Windows Movie Maker 6, OBS

-

For Bring Me to Life (Day 7)... I ended up getting more attached to the thought of it the longer this project went on. 

I wanted it to be the end all be all, go out with a bang and everything. I kept thinking and thinking, how do I end Treebark week? After a week of homages, how do I make the last one?

What’s beyond my childhood? It was just growing up. But it’s not like I had to let anything go. My artistic endeavors are influenced by all of my experiences. I saw good reason to bring it all home, do a callback to the styles of the entire week, it’s my victory lap.

And why not call back every instance of Treebark through the entire series then? This evolved into me learning more about Martyn’s lore because I want to be informed! I want to make this as someone who earnestly loves the narrative of these characters, and the stories they’ve told.

From a story perspective, it felt like Martyn was always doomed to tragedy. Suppose the life series always does end tragically, but Martyn’s Vtuber in relation to all this has its own inherent tragedy to it. In my eyes, this roamer of cyberspace constantly has to live through different lives with familiar people. The people he loved and cared for in one world will always be ripped from him, and he knows that.

Amongst everything the Unguided Hand gets me the most. In the video I drew the Ren he chases as a shadow. He’ll never get the Ren he knew then, back. Even if he meets another Ren in another world, it's never going to be The Red King. To me, Limited Life is the snapping point, a point of selfishness above all else in the comfortable knowledge that he wins, without ever needing to experience the same closeness and loyalty he had in lives past. The realization that this is what the game was about. Winning at all costs. I wanted the progression to reflect that.

Deep down, maybe he yearns to be saved from all that. The song echoes that sentiment. I tried to match the lyrics to how I saw the timeline of events as close as possible for that to hit. In this, Ren is his anchor, someone that he gets drawn to no matter the incarnation. The tragedy is that Ren, even if he knows about what Martyn’s going through, can’t join him in this journey. Martyn will always be alone in this experience, and Ren can only be a short comfort before the cycle starts anew. 

I quite liked the pixel art I did for LimLife!Martyn

From a meta perspective, this video (and by extension, the whole series) is about art and creating. I have been obsessed with art for 14 years now, and as time goes on I’ve grown fond of every way that we, as people, have evolved our storytelling. The multitudes of mediums that we have developed to express ourselves and share narratives will continue to fascinate me endlessly. Cringe be damned, there is a universal desire to create and enjoy stories of all folds. From the smallest story told from painstakingly typing chat boxes for little custom-made characters to say, to the highest production play put on for multiple hours in a game of Minecraft. 

And at the beginning of my journey lay paper and pencil. Bring Me To Life is an elaborate pun on my end, yes, but also a reflection of my roots. I started my journey as an artist endlessly doodling the adventures of tiny magical girls fighting demons, drawing fanart of costumes in MMO games I found cool, and sharing them with my friends at school. I find myself still drawing, still creating, for hundreds, if not thousands of eyes to see. Still I get inspired by the stories others tell, and I create in turn. In appreciation, in love. 

Bring Me To Life as a song, is a slate that, to me, reflected what I saw in the relationship of Treebark. Bring Me To Life is also a demand, of a piece of art that I had a vision for, that I wanted to bring to life. I struggled at how to end it for a while. Closing the book became very straightforward. It’s the end of this video, this saga, and another way that me, as a Watcher myself (as what they’re originally meant to represent) exercises control over stories in my own unique way. Creation is never limited to a select few. I think everyone should keep getting inspired by the things around them, and keep making art in turn.

To the people who’ve made it til the end here, make art, keep creating. Do shitty doodles, write whatever you want, make sounds and crafts and keep living. That’s all I really want, and this was what this whole series was about.

Programs used: mspaint, Aseprite, Blockbench, Bannedstory 3, Pencil and paper, After Effects

[boundinparchment]

Genshin Fic Reccomendations

Here are some of my personal fic reccs. All links go to AO3. Some of these are from writers I've had the great honor to get to know. Others are ones I've stumbled across over the course of the last few years. All have a special place in my heart and I wanted to take the time in the final week of the year to lift up other writers!

This list is alphabetical by character (and skews heavily towards Dottore). Dividers are from saradika-graphics.

If you're on this list and want your tumblr tagged as well, let me know!

Alhaitham

The Brazen and the Cold - Rosengrata

Teen. Alhaitham/OC. Rosen always puts so much attention into the dynamic between the characters and making them feel immersed in the world, like they belong there. The bickering and the banter between Aisha and Althaitham is incredibly entertaining.

Magpie - Insult2Injury

Explicit. Alhaitham/Female Reader. In which you catch Alhaitham in a compromising position and offer some…assistance. Mind the tags.

Childe & Scaramouche

Love is a Dog From Hell - Maokitty

Mature. Childe/Female Reader, Scaramouche/Female Reader, mind the tags. Absolutely heart-breaking as only Mao knows how to cultivate. Immersive and grounded in the way reader is woven into the world of the Harbingers (and all the more painful for it). This fic is one of the only exceptions for either of these characters; thanks for hurting me in this way.

Diluc

Lady Lazarus - Unlockthelore

Diluc / OC, OC / OC. One of the first Genshin fics I ever read as a whole (pretty sure). The prose is so rich and descriptive, captivating right from the start. Go check out the author’s other fics + original works

Il Dottore

Take My Everything (It Was Always Yours) - Nightfrost

Mature. Il Dottore & The Tsaritsa. Like all stories on this list, it deserves far more attention than it gets. This was one of the first Dottore fics I read, back when little was available other than the manga and a few brave people were creating content based on that alone. The writing itself is beautiful, poetic in the way it portrays his rise to power and his dedication to the Tsaritsa despite his hatred for the gods. The warnings should be heeded (torture, descriptions of torture, monsterification, not a happy ending).

Moon Waltz - Yoshinori

General Audiences. Gender neutral reader/Dottore. An enjoyable mix of canon and headcanon, especially with the Segment lore thrown into the mix.

I’ll Break You - 12thFatui

Teen. Il Dottore/Female Reader. Beloved enemies to lovers with lots of world building. An indulgent favorite read.

Lungs Into Gills - Lestaire

Explicit. Il Dottore/Female Reader. The definitive Sharktorre fic. Need I go on? (I’m absolutely enabling you again if you ever do more with this).

Solar Flare - Lestaire

Explicit. Il Dottore/Female Reader. A Fontainian scientist finds herself in Snezhnaya as Dottore’s new assistant. Shenanigans and pining ensure. It’s been a treat to see this story develop! <3 I’m looking forward to the rest of it (and all of you should too!)

the capillaries in my eyes are bursting - LocalPlagueNurse

Mature. Il Dottore/Female Reader. Heavy family dysfunction and angst, in which Dottore’s wife grows tired of his nonsense and the man is too dense to realize until it’s too late.

Chemistry - Jessamine_Rose02

Not Rated. Il Dottore/Female Reader. Yandere, dark themes, unhealthy relationship. Whenever I’m in need of a dark yandere fic for Dottore, this one comes to mind.

He Hates You - Sweatandwoe

Explicit. Il Dottore/Reader. He just can’t stop thinking about you and has little self-control (and we love him for it)

Arrangement - Sherwood

Explicit. Il Dottore/Reader. Modern AU in which Dottore is a sugar daddy and both of you toe the boundaries. Mind the tags.

Motion Sickness - Chickenparm

General Audiences. Il Dottore/Reader. Zandik explores ancient technology. It doesn’t go as planned.

Eventide - Chickenparm

Explicit. Il Dottore/Female Reader. Unrequited love, mild yandere themes, smut; mind the tags. Another fic in which the writing is just as captivating as the character interactions themselves. The dynamic is perfect and I love the reader character in this, who could easily be their own person.

A Seed of Doubt - Krokus

Explicit. Il Dottore/Lumine. Hurt/comfort, smut. BDSM and sub/dom relationship, in which Dottore is (of course) perceptive. Mind the tags.

Responsiveness - Krokus

Explicit. Il Dottore/Lumine. Smut, BDSM, sub/dom relationship, implied drugging. A little experiment to see how Lumine reacts to his touch (and more). Mind the tags.

Crackling of Fire and Lightning - harmonic_melody

General Audiences. Il Dottore/La Signora. Signora survives her duel with the Raiden Shogun but returns with a newfound fear of lightning. Emotional hurt/comfort, and as usual Dottore sucks at feelings.

More Than Routine - morikouyou

Explicit. Il Dottore/Female Reader. Mind the tags; violence and noncon, generally a dark fic. Reader remembers Dottore from when he was Zandik, and finds herself a subject of his experiments.

Quid Pro Quo - Petrichorium

Explicit. Il Dottore/Female Reader. A deal with Dottore to help find a cure seals Reader’s fate. Jealous and repressed as only he can be, mixed with a Reader character who knows exactly how to get what she wants. Lives rent free in my head a lot.

Pale Flames Withering - Cassander

Explicit. Il Dottore/Pierro, Il Dottore’s Segments/Pierro. A beautiful relationship study in which both are bad with feelings, juggling immortality, and misinterpreting one another.

Kaveh

Even Exchange - Chickenparm

Explicit. Kaveh/Neutral Reader. Cute dynamic and a reader character that’s easy to believe exists within the universe; organic in their banter and interactions with Kaveh.

Scaramouche

Inauguration - Chickenparm

Explicit. Scaramouche/Female reader. Companion fic to Eventide. The only other exception for me regarding Scaramouche. Love the characterization! Scaramouche, so close to godhood, and yet so lonely, insecure; Reader, strong-willed and unbelieving. Themes are on-point, such a good balance to Dottore’s character in the other fic.

Xiao

Preta - Maokitty

Teen. Xiao/Gender neutral reader (if that’s wrong, correct me Mao; going by AO3 tags). Xianxia, with a lot of in-depth clarification and notes for those not familiar with the genre. I’ve been meaning to go back to this one, both for the prose and because I have a soft spot for the yaksha and adepti of Liyue.

Zhongli

Against All Odds Series - Rosengrata

Teen. Zhongli/Original Female Character. Hauteclaire struggles with her place as a Khaenri’ahn in a post-cataclysmic world; Zhongli is one of the few who understands the burden of a long life.

Stay Gold - Enegmatic

Mature. Zhongli/Female Reader. Reader comes from Fontaine and, upon looking for a new start, bumps right into Zhongli. Such good world-building and organic interactions, tension absolutely on point!

[hellfirenacht]

Reader ==> Enjoy Your New Car!

Summery: Through no powers of your own, you end up in Hawkins 1985, in a tv show that you once saw on Netflix. Slow burn, Eddie Munson x Reader will be canon, choose your own adventure to a degree, monkey’s paw author.

Isekai Chronicles Master List

START HERE <<<--- FIRST CHAPTER HERE

Chapter Summery: You get a new (old) car! That should help you get around Hawkins... right?

Tags: Eddie and Reader, sfw

Work Count: 2.8 k

Reader ==> Enjoy Your New Car!

The junk car that you managed to scrape together a couple hundred dollars for worked well enough for the first two weeks. It had no heating, no radio, the seats were uncomfortable, and there was a lingering scent that you couldn’t get rid of no matter how much you tried to clean it, but it drove you to the Hideout and the high school, and to the trailer you now called home. 

That was until about a half hour ago when the key snapped in the slot to turn the engine on. Could you ever catch a break? Just fucking once while you were here? 

You nearly jumped out of your seat and through the roof of your rust bucket when you heard a tap at the window. You looked to see Eddie, frowning at you and you manually cranked down the window. 

“Evenin’ officer. How can I help you?” you asked, trying not to sound as defeated as you felt in that moment.  

“This is a no parking zone.” He said, leaning over and resting his arms on the open window. It was late November, and the cold was consistent now, but you hardly noticed with how you’d been just staring out the windshield for the past thirty or so minutes. “Neighbors have been sending in complaints.”

You looked behind you at the neighboring trailers. There were at least 2 that had broken down cars within the block, one that’s been sitting on cinder blocks since before you arrived and one that the neighbor had been working on for a few weeks on and off. Other cars were scattered and parked near their own trailers, haphazardly. 

“I’ll be sure to move it.” you said, more dry than intended. 

“So why are you sitting out here in your car, staring out into space?” Eddie asked and looked out the way your car was facing, as if trying to see if there was anything interesting in that general direction. There wasn’t. 

“Car’s broke.”

“How broke?”

You held up the piece of plastic where your key had been attached to. 

“So the car’s fine, but the key broke.” Eddie clarified.

“Is there a difference?” You asked. 

“There is. If the car was busted then you’d be fucked out of this rust bucket-”

“Eddie, you can’t say things like that.-” you rubbed your face, now feeling the cold in the contrast to the warmth in your cheeks. 

“What I’m saying is I can help.” He continued. “Do you have any tools?”

“Uhhh....”

“Follow me.” 

You got out of the car, not bothering to roll the window back up, and followed Eddie back to his trailer across the park. It wasn’t a long walk, you had already come to visit your friend more than a few times since you moved in. You felt a little bad, you found yourself spending time at Eddie’s place more than your own. 

“So, what brought you to my end of the park?” you asked as the two of you walked. The ground was covered in a thin layer of frost that wouldn’t fully commit to snow or ice.

“Boredom.” he said honestly. “I fried my brain trying to learn this new riff I’ve been working on and I needed a break.” 

“New song for the set?” You asked. “It’s about time, I get that one Judas Priest song is a staple, but you’ve beaten it into the ground at this point.” 

“Prowler isn’t going anywhere as long as it’s the one song everyone can play consistently.” Eddie protested. “And it’s a new original song I’m working on.” 

“That’s actually really cool.” you followed him into his slightly warmer trailer and watched as he opened a tiny closet and pulled out a tool box. “How many original songs do you have?” 

“Three and a half.” Eddie said. “We uh.. We started with a song that Ronnie and I wrote together. We don’t play that one anymore, but we’ve got one other song, and this one that I’m working on now.”

“Why don’t you play the first song?” You asked as you followed him back out. 

Eddie’s face went stoic for a moment, staring at the dirty green toolbox. “It just didn’t work out.” he finally said, and you had a feeling he wasn’t interested in talking about the song. “The second song is called Litch and if Jeff can commit to learning the vocals then we’d actually be able to play it at the Hideout at some point. They always hesitate on playing our original songs.”

“I’d like to hear your original stuff at some point.” you said, following him back out into the cold. 

“If I can get the guys to commit, then you’ll hear it at some point.” Eddie said, leading the way back to your car. 

There were times where the two of you couldn’t shut up for five seconds, and then there were times where the silence between the two of you was deafening. Sometimes you felt like you were getting somewhere with your friendship with Eddie, and sometimes... sometimes you wondered if he thought about you at all when you weren’t around. 

He came over to see you. Of course he thinks about you. You told yourself, watching the subtle way his hair moved as the two of you walked together. 

Eddie hopping into the driver seat of your car and you moved into the passenger side seat next to him, with the toolbox between the two of you. He immediately pulled out some pliers and started messing with the key slot, trying to get the broken bit of metal out. 

You focused on his face, watching the way his eyes narrowed in concentration and the way his tongue subtly poked out from between his lips. That was something you noticed he did a lot. His brows were furrowed and from your angle it almost gave him a unibrow until he moved his fringe to the side. It was a little longer than it had been in the past two months and you wondered how often he cut it. 

“Shit.” he muttered and leaned back against the seat, his hands resting on the wheel. “Yeah, it’s really jammed in there.” 

“So I’m fucked out of this rust bucket?” you asked, frowning. 

“I... there’s another option.” Eddie said, staring at the wheel. “It’s not a smart option. It’d be stupid, actually and not really safe. And I’d have to do something not completely within the letter of the law.” 

You paused and stared at him. “Don’t you sell special K to high schoolers?” 

“That was once and I overcharged them.” Eddie said. “I save that for a different clientele.” 

For now. You thought. 

“So, what’s the illegal method you have to help me with my car?” you asked. 

Eddie took a deep breath and seemed to refuse to look at you. “We can hotwire it.”

“Hotwire... I’m sorry, what?” you looked at him surprised. “You know how to hotwire a car?” Had that been part of the show? You really wished that you had watched season four more than once over a year ago. It didn’t help that the longer you stayed here, the less you seemed to remember. You had your private box and notebook tucked away in your closet under a blanket, but you only pulled that out when you absolutely had to. Paranoia stopped you from reading everything too closely, and the idea of being caught with the things in that box... you shuddered to think about what would happen and how you’d explain yourself. 

Eddie didn’t say anything for a moment before he pulled a screwdriver from the toolbox. “It’s up to you. I can hotwire the car and teach you how to start it up like that, or you can call a tow and pay to have the key fixed.”

You thought about the options for a while, you were already eating ramen for most of your meals to pay for the car. The car clearly wasn’t worth more than the couple hundred you had paid for it, and you really were convinced that you’d overpaid for it. 

Fuck it. 

Eddie wasn’t gentle with the way he ripped open the dashboard and he started pointing out the different wires. You did stop him for a moment to grab a sheet of paper to write it down. Eddie insisted that after you’ve done it once, you wouldn’t need the cheat sheet, but you weren’t going to take any chances. 

“So.. how’d you learn to do this?” you asked as he rubbed two wires together, flicking them almost. You didn’t think he’d answer, but then the car suddenly rumbled to life and he actually smiled, looking proud of himself. 

“My dad.” Eddie explained. “We didn’t exactly have a traditional relationship growing up. Some kids got birthday parties and trips to the zoo, I got lessons on hotwiring cars and trips to the bar to learn cheap tricks for money. That only lasted until I was about ten when I stopped being small and cute.” 

“Shit.” you said, looking at him, trying to decide on how you’re supposed to respond to that lore that was just dropped on you. Eddie didn’t open up often, and this had to be a sign of trust, right? “...Want me to fight your dad?”

Eddie snorted at your question. “I bet my uncle would take you up on that.” he shook his head. “No reason to, I haven’t seen him in years. He’s probably in jail right now, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s been locked up.”

“Want me to break in and beat him up anyway?” you offered. “I’m sure I could figure it out.” 

“Your stealth rolls are shit.” he said. 

“You sound like Gareth. What I can or can’t do in D&D is completely different from what I could do in real life.” you said. 

“And how exactly do you plan on sneaking in to beat up my dad?” he asked, amusement in his eyes. 

“I’ll walk in, bat my eyelashes, and ask to visit him. Then when he’s in front of me I start swinging.” you punched your own hand for good measure. 

“I’m pretty sure you have to be a relative to visit someone in jail.” Eddie said. “And I’m not exactly itching to see him again, even if you decide to start a fight.”

“Okay, so my car is now on.” you said, on a roll now. “Hear me out, Eddie. You and I go to the courthouse right now and get married- I said hear me out, I’m not done-. I take your last name, use that to get into the prison to visit your dad, and then I can beat him up. I leave, we get divorced, we split with all of our own shit since we don’t have kids or shared property. Easy.”

Eddie rubbed his cheek as he laughed. “Bad idea, you’d be stuck with my last name. Munson doesn’t really get you anywhere in this town.”

“‘Lipton’ isn’t exactly doing me any favors either.” you pointed out. “Go big or go home, Eddie.”

“You are home.” he motioned to the trailer.

You weren’t, and you didn’t think you’d ever be again. 

“So, is that a no on marriage?” you asked, leaning close to him with your hand over your heart. You gave him your best pout. “I’m heartbroken.” 

“You were only going to marry me to get to my dad.” He gives you a playful shove away from him. 

“Yeah, but you’d be a bonus.” you said, blurting out the words without thinking. Ah, fuck, you weren’t supposed to be flirting. Flirting was a bad idea, a very very bad idea. You had made the decision a while ago that it was a bad idea. 

If he turned you down, it could be awkward and that could fuck up your chance to save him. If he dated you and it went badly that would make your chances worse. 

Focus on the mission, and not the way Eddie sounds when he laughs or how impossibly pretty his eyes are get your shit together and stop that-

“Nice to know you think I’m such a prize.” Eddie said casually, maybe a little too casually for how he usually talked. 

“When we divorce you can use that to fuel your music. I look forward to hearing the break-up album.” You tried to smooth your genuine flirting over by committing to the bit. 

“If I ever sell out, I’ll write our divorce album.” Eddie replied. “Until then, I’ll stick with singing about Hell and demons and references to my campaigns.” 

You don’t know why the idea of him writing songs about his campaigns made your stomach explode with butterflies, but it did. Maybe it was because you were now part of the campaigns and knowing that made you feel special. Like you were actually a part of something, part of him. 

Stop that. 

“Oh shit, I was actually doing something.” you realized and shook your head. “Right, I wasn’t just sitting here for fun. I had to go get groceries.” 

“That would explain why you were sitting in here when I found you.” Eddie agreed. “Do you... Want company?”

He wanted to go grocery shopping with you? That surprised you a lot. It almost felt domestic-

“Yeah, sure.” you agreed, pushing any other thoughts out of your head. “I need you to come anyway.”

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah, you showed me how to start the car but you didn’t tell me how to turn it off.” 

Eddie laughed and hopped out of the car so that you could scoot back into the driver's seat. He hopped in next to you and it felt like things were swapped now. You had spent weeks in his passenger seat and now he was sitting in yours. 

If this was going to be a regular occurrence, you were tempted to slap a BABY ON BOARD sticker on the back of your car. 

As you pulled out of the trailer park, Eddie rummaged around his jacket and pulled out a cassette. 

“Radio’s broke.” you warned as he stuck the tape in and pushed play. To your surprise, music started playing through the speakers. 

“Tape player isn’t.” he said, looking proud of himself. “You can keep this one.”

“Keep...?” you asked. He’d loaned to tapes before, but that was always with the promise you’d return them. 

“Yeah, I already have all these songs.” Eddie fidgeted with one of his rings casually. “I thought you might need something to fill the silence. You know, since you’re always coming over to listen to music with me.”

You really did, the quiet of being home alone had been grating on you and you had been spending as much time as you could with Eddie at his place. 

“Is this your way of giving me a hint that I’ve overstayed my welcome?” you asked wryly, feeling a knot in your stomach at the thought. 

“No! No, not that.” Eddie said quickly. “No, uh... I just thought you’d like these songs. You told me you liked a few of them.”

“So... you made me a mixtape?” you asked, trying to remain calm despite the fact that your brain was screaming. 

“I had some time to kill, and you were complaining about not having anything to listen to so...” he shrugged. 

Maybe you’d ask him to marry you for real. You didn’t even had a tape player, or anything other than your car to listen to it but you didn’t care.

Next up, get a tape player for Emergency Vecna Use. And batteries. All the batteries. You added to the endless list of to-do’s to prepare you for Hawkins High’s Spring Break. 

“Thank you.” you said, feeling genuinely touched that he went out of his way to do that for you. “Really. I’ll listen to it until it disintegrates.” 

“I’ll make you a new one when that happens.” Eddie promised. 

Conversations drifted back into easy territory after that. Hellfire, dungeons and dragons, comics, work. It felt so easy talking to him in these moments when it was just the two of you. It had been so long since that first disastrous hang out session, but somehow he’d still let you keep hanging out. 

You wished that things could be different.

For now, you just decided to do what you did best when hanging out alone with him. You pretended that your ID was legitimate, that you were some vague relative of his drug supplier, and that you two could be normal friends, doing normal things. 

For now, that would have to be enough. 

Reader ==> Learn How to Hotwire a Car was submitted by my Green Heart Anon <3

So what would you like to see Reader do next?

Tumblr User ==> Leave A Suggestion

Dividers by @strangergraphics

[whitedarkmoonflower]

Reunited Part 2

Pairing: modern!Sihtric x you (female reader)

Authors note: it all started with the ask, whether I accept modern!Sihtric requests, that left me deeply thoughtful whether I am really up to it. So my dear @sihtricfedaraaahvicius gave me a little push with a challenging fic request that resulted in my very first modern! Sihtric fic. Initially I didn't think of a continuation of the story, but some of you were very insisting and I'm deeply thankful for that. I have decided to make it a bit longer story. So, this interlude is intended to set the scene for the upcoming parts. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Warnings: fluff, quite suggestive on the borderline with getting smutty, heartbreak, abuse of alcohol

Summary: It was supposed to be a short two week trip that turned into five long years apart, just because your best friend couldn't keep her mouth shut. Will the reader and Sihtric manage to repair their broken relationship and find their way back to each other?

Part 1

Word Count: 2,043

Leave a comment if you want to be tagged for the upcoming parts.

Tags: @uunotheangel @jennifer0305 @sihtricfedaraaahvicius

"Damn it," Sihtric cursed at himself as he watched the door slam shut behind you. Your sudden appearance, followed by an even more abrupt departure, had left him not only speechless but questioning whether you had been real at all or simply a fevered hallucination conjured by his foggy mind after yesterday's party.

He had undoubtedly had a few drinks too many. Waking up this morning, he couldn't even recall the name of the long-legged, dark-haired beauty he found in his bed.

"Uh, good morning, gorgeous," he greeted the girl nestled against his chest with a hesitant smile. "Oh crap, it's late already, I have to rush to the studio. Just slam the door shut when you leave. I’ll call you tomorrow!” 

This had become his standard exit strategy, and it always did the trick. Most of the time, it wasn't even a lie, as he almost always had photoshoots and studio appointments. Sihtric cautiously freed his hand from beneath the girl and, within the next five minutes, he had donned his trousers and shirt before vanishing through the doors, leaving the long-legged stranger in his bed bewildered. He didn't have her number and had no intention of calling her. He never did.

In the beginning, he was driven by a desperate eagerness to forget. He believed that the only way to heal his shattered heart was to quickly fall in love again as deeply and madly as he had with you. However, as time passed, waking up beside yet another imperfect copy of you only made him crave more for the original. At some point, he stopped deluding himself; there was no one who could replace you, so he stopped searching.

Nonetheless, being a famous and handsome fashion photographer had its side effects. His work ensured he was surrounded by women – beautiful, intelligent, and also compassionate women. There always seemed to be someone who believed they could fix him, even when he had no desire to be fixed. At some point, when once again an unsuccessful attempt to mend him had left yet another self proclaimed angel saviour heartbroken and crying, he had enough. He didn't want it anymore. He was what he was: an irreparably broken wreck, an adrenaline junkie, unable of navigating his emotions and incapable of feeling love and affection. He was just inflicting pain on those foolish enough to get close to him. From that point on, his decision was clear – he didn't do relationships. He was good for a passionate one-night fuck, but nothing more, and after a while everyone seemed to know it and accept it.

—-------------------------------------------

"Oh, honey! You're here! I've missed you so much!" Gisela nearly screamed your head off in joy, as she spotted you on her doorstep. You hadn’t seen each other in real life for all five years, but she had remained your best friend. She had been your rock during your darkest days following the breakup, always just a phone call away, ready to listen or simply be there for you, regardless of the time difference. Gisela was the better half of your soul, your moral compass, the anchor that kept you grounded in the tumultuous sea of life. She offered support and solace when you needed it most, asking for nothing in return.

It came as no surprise that, after your panicked flight from the photo shoot, your first instinct was to seek refuge at your best friend's place.

"Oh my goodness! You look like you've been hit by a freight train," Gisela immediately noticed your devastated state. She grabbed your hand and pulled you into a tight embrace.

"I saw him this morning... I couldn't... I ran away," you sobbed, your tears soaking her fine blouse, emotions pouring out uncontrollably.

"Whom did you see? Oh my god! Sihtric?" Realisation struck Gisela as she led you inside her apartment and settled you on her sofa. "Just wait a moment. I'll make you some tea, and then you can tell me everything," she said, heading to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, hidden from your view, Gisela clutched her head with both hands and began to pace around the small room.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Why did this have to happen?" she cursed to herself. "Couldn't he have just broken his damn neck on one of his insane climbing expeditions? I can't let her go through this again. She won't handle it. And she'll never forgive me if she finds out I'm the real reason behind all this mess."

Gisela had never found the courage to tell you that her direct involvement was the reason for Sihtric's decision to break up with you. Initially, there was no point in revealing it, as you would have rushed back to Sihtric. As time passed and Gisela witnessed how hard it struck you, how much pain you endured, and how long it took for you to start halfway functioning again, she couldn't bring herself to confess that she was unintentionally responsible for all this suffering. She had acted with the best intentions, all she had wanted was for you to follow your dream and be happy. The realisation that her good intentions had led to you becoming a miserable and broken version of yourself, someone who had closed herself up and now distrusted everyone, came far too late. 

With the tea ready and after taking a deep breath, Gisela picked up the tray with cups and sugar and returned to the living room. She was determined to do everything in her power to protect you and to shield you from Sihtric and the damage his reappearance in your life could cause you. Gisela had witnessed Sihtric change, and not for the better. By now, she was convinced that it had been for the best that he had broken up with you all those years ago. You had built a successful career, you were beautiful, independent, and respected. Somewhere out there, your prince charming was undoubtedly waiting for destiny to bring you together. If you had stayed with Sihtric and witnessed him turning into the person he had become – a jerk and a fuckboy – you would have been left with nothing but a broken heart.

"Can you believe it? He just called me 'sweetheart,' as if nothing had happened," several cups of tea later, you had managed to calm yourself to the point where you could finally speak without your words dissolving into incomprehensible sobs.

"He's not worth a single tear of yours," Gisela reassured you, taking a sip from her tea. "Believe me, you don't want anything to do with him. He's been changing girlfriends like underwear. Lately, they don't even last longer than one night. I've heard that some of the fashion houses are considering terminating their contracts with him. In addition to fucking every model hired for the photoshoots, he's started drinking quite heavily. There have been a few times of him arriving at the set in the morning so drunk that the shoots had to be postponed. I have to admit he's got a certain talent, and when he's sober enough to hold his camera steady, his photos are quite amazing. But that doesn't make him a good person. You deserve better. You deserve someone who will love and cherish you, and most importantly, respect you."

Gisela continued to speak about an opening of an art exhibition featuring the works of a promising new painter to be displayed in her gallery for the next two months, and how she wanted you to attend and possibly meet someone, but you weren't really paying attention anymore. 

Nothing Gisela had said about Sihtric aligned with your memories of him. Yes, he was impulsive and daring, but he had also been attentive and gentle. You remembered how sweet and caring he had been, making you feel like a goddess. It all didn't make any sense, but then again, you were a living example of his real attitude. He had replaced you with someone else after just one week apart. Gisela was right; he had been a fuckboy, and he likely still was. You didn't want anything to do with him. Or did you?

"Hey, hey! What planet are you on? You're not listening, are you? No, no, no, don't tell me you were thinking of him. He ruined your life and broke your heart. Have you forgotten already?" Gisela nearly shouted, bringing you back to reality.

"I know exactly what you're thinking," she continued, her face displaying an annoyed grimace.

"What am I thinking?" you scowled at her.

"You were thinking that you could fix him. That if you hadn’t left for that summer course, it might have turned out differently…"

You opened your mouth to protest, but deep down, you knew Gisela wasn't far off from the truth. Even if these thoughts weren't explicit, they lingered in the back of your mind, like a faint, elusive haze, beyond words to explain. What if…

"Don't even think about it. I could assemble an entire soccer team of heartbroken girls who thought they could fix him. Do you really want to go through all of that again?"

You shook your head vehemently. No, you didn't. You wouldn't survive another heartbreak. This was one of the main reasons you had remained single over the last five years. You hadn't allowed anyone to get close enough even for the possibility of a relationship. It wasn't for a lack of willing candidates, but Sihtric had left you incapable of trusting anyone, almost paranoid, and you hadn't given anyone a real chance.

—----------------------------------

Sihtric collapsed onto the bed, burying his face in the pillows, his body tense with frustration. The long-legged doll had departed, and the cleaning lady had dutifully changed the bed sheets, a daily ritual he insisted on. He couldn't bear the lingering scent of his one-night companions on his bedding. Taking a deep breath, he tried to recall your scent, a fading memory locked away in some remote corner of his mind. It had been so sweet, arousing, delightful, and soothing. After a long night of lovemaking with you, bodies slick with sweat, your scents blending as one, he loved burying his face in your hair and breathing you in, savouring the feeling that he had finally found his home. Something he hadn't felt in all those five years since you had left his life.

And now, you were suddenly back. You were as stunning as he remembered, perhaps even more so. There was a newfound self-assuredness in your demeanour, an aura of captivating confidence radiating from you. Your eyes sparkled with inner strength and poise. 

Sihtric felt his pants grow tighter as the image of you from this morning reappeared in his mind: your lovely face, your sparkling eyes, and sensual lips; your velvety hair cascading down your shoulders; the blouse and pencil skirt giving you the appearance of a madly sexy businesswoman; your hands holding the papers; and your legs in high heels – something he'd never seen you wear before. 

Every detail about you drove him to the brink of madness, as a low moan escaped his lips, his arousal undeniable. He would have sold his soul to the devil for the chance to bury his face between your thighs, to taste you again, to feel your walls clenching around him and pushing him over the edge.

For five years, Sihtric had dreamt of this moment, playing it over and over in his mind, rehearsing what he would say and do if he ever had the chance to see you again. But now that the moment had finally arrived, he had found himself unable to utter anything of significance. He had wanted to stop you, to hold you back, to shout something that would make you turn and face him. Yet his mind had gone utterly blank, and all he had managed to do was watch you storm out of the hall with a tortured expression on his face.

And so, you had left without a single backward glance.

"She hates me. She still fucking hates me," was the only thought consuming Sihtric's mind as his hand found its way into his pants, gripping his painfully hard cock and starting to stroke it with rapid, desperate movements.

[cadybear420]

WIP Wednesday!

Thanks to @jerzwriter for the tag!

I've got like, one or two other WIP fics, but they're currently on hiatus while I'm focusing mainly on this Evie x Aiden birthday fic. Although Evie's birthday this year has already passed, I'd still like to get this fic out by the end of her birth month haha.

Tagging: @inlocusmads @peonyblossom @aces-and-angels @aria-ashryver @lover-also-fighter-also (apologies if you've already been tagged this week, this is my first time doing a WIP Wednesday thing so I'm a bit unfamiliar with the process)

Title: [Title still pending.]

Rating: G.

Fandom: High School Story (Original Trilogy)

Pairing: Evie Ayana (f!MC) x Aiden Zhou

Friday, March 8, 2019. The day of Evie’s 18th birthday.

She’d been planning to host a birthday party at one of her favorite restaurants in the city, starting in the early evening after school. Almost everyone she knew from school was invited. 

It was late in the afternoon now. Evie took one last look at herself in her new outfit– a navy blue suit with a purple floral necktie– and grinned, before dashing to the living room. There, her dad was checking his phone. 

“Alright, I’m ready to go!” she said. 

He turned to her. “Actually… we can’t leave just yet…”

She pouted. “What??? But Daaaad, the party starts at 5 PM and it’s already 4:45!”

“The people doing the decorations are… taking a bit longer than expected.”

“Oh…”

“It’s a bit awkward to go to a party when they’re still putting decorations up, isn’t it?”

“That’s true,” her face softened. “Do the other guests know?”

“...yep! I’ve just told them, in fact.”

“Okay… but how long do we have to wait?”

“Shouldn’t be more than… ten to twenty minutes?”

Evie pouted again. 

“It’s not that long…”

“Okay, fiiiiine, I’ll be patient…”

“And I’ll be doctor!”

Evie winced. “Dad, NO…”

…

About twenty minutes passed, and then finally, her dad said it was okay to start driving to the restaurant. After a fifteen minute drive, they arrived, and Evie wasted no time going in. 

The room was alive with upbeat music, purple decorative lights and flowers, and many of Evie’s friends. It seemed like just about everyone she’d invited had shown up– her main friend group, her teammates, her friends from the other cliques and Hearst, Cher and her friends from theatre, the seniors from last year who hadn’t gone away for college… And all of them greeted her with a big “Happy birthday, Evie!!!”, in unison. 

Evie inhaled, beaming at her friends. Many of them ran over to hug her, a few others cheered for her. Then she saw Emma and Cher push their way through the crowd and grab her by her arms. 

“Evie! There’s a special surprise for you, right now” said Cher. 

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!” said Emma. “Just come with us…” 

The crowd parted, making way for Emma and Cher to pull Evie to the opposite side of the room. As they did, the party music slowly faded out and the lights began to dim. 

When they made it to the opposite end of the room, a warm spotlight turned on over her, and there she saw it. The jazz band, all set up with their instruments and dressed in matching black-and-red suits and… devil horns?

And at the front of it all… was none other than her beautiful boyfriend Aiden. And she just about stopped in her tracks when she took in his outfit– an ivory-colored flapper dress that had silver beads sewn into intricate patterns, and hung just barely above his knees. Plus, a couple of matching long pearl necklaces, and a fluffy white halo accessory over his head.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

And that's as much as I've gotten so far. What exactly is Aiden's surprise for Evie? Hopefully we'll see soon enough.

[mk-writes-stuff]

Get to Know the Writeblr Questionnaire

Rules: answer the questions!

Thank you @kaylinalexanderbooks and @willtheweaver for the tags :)

Basics

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

I’ve had a tumblr for like… six months now? It’s been a writeblr for four or five of those

What led you to create it?

I don’t remember why I made the account originally. I made it into a writeblr because I wanted someplace to ramble about my first original WIP in like five years

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

Y’all are so friendly and supportive! I love how nice people are and every comment I get :)

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

I jump around between projects more than I’d like. I swear I am still working on Seven Stations, I’m just also doing a bit of other stuff and being hella busy, which is why I haven’t made much progress on it. I haven’t forgotten it, I swear!

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

Can’t think of much, I’m pretty happy. I do love polls though. Something about clicking buttons makes the brain go brrrrrr

WIPs

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Always Seven Stations and Pirates’ Roost. They never leave me. I do also have another fanfic short I’m working on because it possessed my brain, but that’s a very short-term project

How long have you been working on them?

Seven Stations (the original idea) is about five months old now. Pirates’ Roost has existed in one form or another for about four years, and has existed in its current form for about two. My random short is a week old lol

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

Seven Stations was inspired by the concept of “lesbian noblewoman and her bodyguard who hates her enemies to lovers in space fantasy.” Pirates’ Roost was inspired by my obsession with Magic: the Gathering and started taking shape in its current form when my gf introduced me to her OC Merry and decided to move him to Ixalan. My short is inspired by the fact that I can’t stop thinking about Star Wars: the Clone Wars

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

Uh. A lot. My WIPs are my special interest, so probably at least several hours a day

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

“Fantasy and sci-fi.” Sometimes if we’re in a longer conversation I’ll give them a little Seven Stations blurb, although it rarely goes longer than “space fantasy political drama on a set of space stations”

Characters

Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

Oh boy, okay. This is interesting because my gf created or had such a strong creative influence on so many of the characters I write about that I can’t lay claim to a lot of them. But here’s some that I at least came up with the initial baseline for, although she’s probably had her influence on most of them too (I can’t exactly remember for sure but I’m pretty sure on these ones):

Seven Stations: Belladonna, Cassie, Cassiopeia, Stellaris, Ricinus, Goldenrod

Pirates’ Roost: Len, Favin, Finley Albertson, Julian, Kiali, Morrigan, Skipper

Other MTG: Amaranthe, Viveri “Viv” Evern, Andreia Kozlov, Salas Nivar, Tendrii Lenira, Sorcil, Adana, Estrill, Astrilla, Valentine, Remi, Kaine Belnatsky, Ettie Strubins

Other fandoms: Brin Damson, Baresh, Trax

Other original characters: Celestine, Maia, Fellise, Rhea, Ashlin, Medlar, Dravite, Rokku, Falcon, Jesker

There are definitely more but there’s a sampling :)

Who’s the most unhinged?

For Seven Stations, it’s Cassie. In general, Viv and Astrilla are probably vying for the top slot. I haven’t introduced y’all to them but they’re both CRACKED

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Once again it’s Cassie. And Stellaris, he’s very relatable

Do you ever cringe at them?

All the damn time

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

They refuse to cooperate on a semi-regular basis. I can usually tell when I’m fighting to justify the action I want them to do. That means it’s time for a change-up

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

Literally anytime for any reason. I love it. Asks and reblog dare my favourite, but I’m not picky :)

Interaction

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

I follow writeblrs if I like the look of their stuff enough that I want it on my dash

What makes you decide against following?

Anything that makes me uncomfortable (ranging anywhere from weird takes to content I just don’t like). Or if I’m just not vibing with their stuff. But sometimes I miss cool blogs too because I don’t have time to check out everything

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Not super often because I don’t often see their stuff but I’m not opposed to it. Feel free to come chat with me even if you’re not my mutual :)

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Oh yeah. Both the people who tagged me in this have characters I think about. But also @illarian-rambling has phenomenal OCs - Sepo lives in my brain on the little shelf of my favourite traumatized fictional little guys

This was a fun game! @somethingclevermahogony @nixwithapen @touloserlautrec want to play? Blanks below the cut :)

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine! What led you to create it? What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community? What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you? Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash? Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately? How long have you been working on them? Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started? How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them? When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say? Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like! Who’s the most unhinged? Who comes the most naturally for you to write? Do you ever cringe at them? How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others? Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc. What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes? What makes you decide against following? Do you interact with non-mutuals often? Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

[alieinthemorning]

can you make a short story of the reader getting really stressed with work and ais notices and try’s comforting them and giving them cuddles please?

Little Things Help | Ais

Content: Fluff, Switching POVs, Cuddles & Snuggles, Literal Sleeping Together, Written Before Game’s Full Release, Modern AU

Pronouns: None

Reblogs: Let me know that you enjoy my work and want to see more, so don't forget to like and reblog (and comment in the tags. I love seeing people’s rambles in the tags)!

This work's concepts, plot and original characters are my own which means I do not allow any sort of creative theft nor do I allow my work to be entered into any sort of A.I. bots. Thank you for respecting my space and boundaries.

It was exam week at the Senobium and you had been pouring every bit of yourself into studying. Rising early and sleeping late. You had even gone so far as to record your notes and listen to them as you sleep to maximize your productivity.

Whatever you could do, you did it,

but because you were so focused on that, you had failed to realize other important things. Like taking care of your hygiene, eating and getting a proper amount of sleep.

Ais, however, was easily more observant than you, so when he had come to visit you, he immediately could tell something was off.

First, he had to let himself in with his own key instead of you greeting him with a kiss.

Then, there was the state of your home. At the very least, he hadn’t been cleaned in two weeks.

And finally, you. Hair unkempt, clothing comfortable but obviously overworn and your smell.

But he commented on none of it, simply giving you a peck on the temple before leaving you as you were.

He worked from the rooms farthest away from your bedroom first, cleaning and straightening things up for you. He assumed that you wanted to clean, but the mess stressed you out and instead just compounded.

He didn’t blame you.

Once the other rooms were done, he reentered your room to assess the situation.

Clothes on the floor, bed undone, trash on the floor and curtains drawn. Despite the mess, your bed didn’t look like you had spent much time in it.

“Okay, so I don’t have to change the sheets…” He nodded to himself, as he began collecting your clothes.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that…” You murmured, eyes flicking back and forth from him and your work.

He just smiled and continued, so you said nothing as you returned to your work.

Ais had been awfully quiet since he’d shown up, didn’t say a word, and yet here he is cleaning.

You glanced at your phone, slapping a hand over your month as the time stared back at you in the face.

He had been over for 3 hours? And you hadn’t said a word to him!

Glancing back at your cracked door, you bit your lip. Surely you could take a bit of a break? At least so that you weren’t being a terrible host and significant other.

But just as you stood up, holding back a groan due to your aching muscles, Ais returned.

“Oh good, you’re up. Come with me.” You raised a brow, but listened nonetheless.

You were surprised when he had led you into the bathroom, gesturing to the bath, which was steaming and ready to be had.

You bit your lip. Did you really smell that bad? Enough that he had to run you a bath. How embarrassing—

“Before that pretty little head of yours starts going—I did not make you this bath because you stink, I did it because you deserve it. Picked up a bit, ran a bath—I’m gonna wash your hair too—you know, little things to help.”

You smiled, heart melting. How did you end up so lucky, you’d never know.

“Now go ahead and do what you gotta do before getting in the bath, leave your clothes outside, I’ll put’em in the wash.” He said as he once again pecked your temple. “Oh—you want pajamas or inside clothes to put on after?”

“Inside clothes please.” He nodded, then left you to it.

Grabbing a towel, you quickly stripped out of your strong smelling clothes. You grimaced as you left their clothes outside the door.  

“I can’t believe I let it get this bad…” You sighed, as you grabbed your toothbrush.

Ais took his time cleaning your room. Opened the curtains to let in some natural light, cleaned up all the trash, put your clothes in the wash and made your bed for your upcoming nap.

The only thing he didn’t touch was your desk. He knew you had a system for things, and you hadn’t cleaned it up before you left, so he’d rather not mess with whatever process you were in the middle of.

After a quick scroll on his phone, answering a few texts from Vere and Leander, he made his way back to you.

“How are you feeling?” He asked as he laid your clothes on the counter.

“A lot better. Thank you.” You replied, eyes blissfully closed.

Ah, you were falling asleep and fast.

“Alright, Sparrow, let me wash your hair and then we can take a nap.”

“Fine…”

You were like putty in palms, letting him move your head this way and that. Large hands, gently against your scalp, almost put you back to sleep if he hadn’t been talking to you about the most mundane things.

Like how things were going at his tattoo shop. Vere’s and Leander’s antics. Even a little update on Mihn and Kuras.

And then he was done, helping you out of the tub and cleaning it as you drowsily moisturized and put your clothes on.

He gently guided you to your freshly made, very inviting bed. You laid down first, making grabby hands when he didn’t join you.

“Ais…” You whined.

He chuckled. “I’m coming. Just let me change first. You know you’d hate me late if I got into the bed with my outside clothes on.”

“Well—yeah, you’re right.”

He quickly changed into a pair of sweats and a plain tee, then finally joined you, perfectly slotting against you.

“Next time things are getting too hard to keep up with, just call me, okay?” Seeing the frown curl against your lips had him cutting you off before you even spoke. “And before you apologize, don’t. As your partner, this is the bare minimum of what I can offer. I want you to lean against me. Can you do that for me, Sparrow?”

You hesitate a moment before nodding. “I’ll try.”

And for the third time that day, he kissed your temple. “That’s all I can ask for. I love you.”  

Grabbing the hand that was closest to you, you kissed his fingers, knuckles then palm.

“I love you too. So much.”

This kinda got away from me lol (really wasn't expecting to write 1000+ words but here we are).

Kinda forgot that I like writing domestic things.

And fluff lmao

Also sorry of the constant POV switching was confusing! Just kinda…that's how the story wanted to be written haha.

Anyhow, I hope that the person who requested this enjoyed and thank you for requesting!

Ko-Fi | Commission | Masterlist | 500 Follower Event

[lily-blue]

13 reasons why | reason no.8: they support aspiring artists

☆ characters: music producer!jihoon & singer!you (Jihye - ‘94 liner) ☆ genre: coffee shop au, coworkers au ☆ summary: you are struggling to make your dreams come until one day you cross paths with jihoon who not only sees your potential, but falls in love with your music and then, with you ☆ words: 11,9k ☆ massive thank you: to @dat-town ♥ for always taking your time to support me, my writing and my dreams ☆ taglist: @soobin-chois​

➼ chapter index

You didn’t hate your job. However, you wouldn’t have said that you were particularly content with it, either. Sure, with years of work experience at the same company, you had managed to get yourself a team leader position that paid enough to live a comfortable life in the capital city, but the workload had started to slowly burn you out during the last couple of months and you didn’t like how you were always too tired for your hobbies. You missed working on lyrics and recording your own songs a whole lot.

A part of you had been hopeful that with the end of the holiday season, things would be a bit less hectic again, but it was already late January and you still hadn’t had a week when you hadn’t had to stay overtime three or four days out of five. The only reasons why you could have left the office before seven this once was your little brother’s birthday and the fact that you had your brother-sister cinema date in your work calendar since November.

Taking a step forward, you lifted the back of your hand in front of your mouth to hide your yawn, then took a glance at the screen of your phone, checking the time. You had around one hour to get yourself a black coffee to not fall asleep ten minutes into the movie and arrive at the cinema where Jiung had promised to wait for you with the tickets and snacks despite your protest that you should have been the one who paid for everything. He had made awful good arguments for his age. If he had waited for you just so you could have used your card, you would have missed the trailers of the upcoming movies. And you both loved making future cinema plans on the spot, while you were sipping on your coke.

When the person in front of you bid her goodbye to the barista and left the line with a tray of delicious pastries, you took another step forward and greeted the guy with a polite smile.

‘I would like to have an espresso and an avocado-chicken sandwich to go, please,’ you said, deliberately disregarding the fact that you would have a huge basket of sweet popcorn to eat in an hour. You needed something more filling for dinner that you had skipped on purpose to make up for your early departure. You were also too old to live off on snacks.

While the barista was preparing your order, you watched him swing from one of the coffee machines to the food display, then back to your drink and listened to him as he was singing along with the radio. His voice was surprisingly stable and not just that, he managed to hit all those high notes Taeyeon executed flawlessly in the original ballad, which made you wonder whether he had been taught professionally or learned on his own just like you.

‘You know, this place could use a live singer. Open mic nights are pretty popular nowadays, but they’re still relatively rare, so the competition isn’t that cut-throat,’ you suggested with a hint of a smile, the musician in you feeling some sort of connection with the guy although you hadn’t paid attention to his name tag when you had ordered. ‘You have a beautiful voice,’ you added as you belatedly realised that you should have looked for your wallet if you hadn’t wanted to hold up the line for too long.

‘Thanks,’ the barista said, his sudden shyness merging with his voice, his tone a pitch higher than before. It was adorable, but you obviously didn’t voice it out loud. ‘I’ll make sure to mention your idea to Seungcheol hyung,’ he added while he placed your paper cup in front of you on the counter along with a brown paper bag.

You fished a few bills out of your wallet, then shoved the change back into it quickly before you grabbed your order, bid your goodbye and let the next customer ask for a medium sized caramel macchiato.

You didn’t stay much longer, only until you threw your wallet and your sandwich into your bag and made sure you had an empty hand to open the double door with. You might have had to take the subway to the cinema, but you couldn’t have been sure you would be able to get on the first one and you didn’t want to make your brother wait. He deserved the world and more for being your biggest supporter and the best baby brother you could have wished for.

Arriving on time, making his only wish come true and spending the rest of your day with him were the least you could have done. (You also couldn’t have waited to see his face when he opened his present and put his hands on the designer backpack you had gotten for him from Milan.)

Late January and early February for your team was all about Valentine’s Day. You had to find not one, but a dozen of different ways to include the holiday in your seasonal advertisements without being too cliche or liberal, without coming off as cringe and pushy. It was draining, because love in itself was somewhat banal in your opinion and there weren’t many sides of it that hadn’t been overused by artists all around the world, but what needed to be done was needed to be done, therefore, you tried your best to add a bit of uniqueness to every idea that come up during your brainstorming sessions.

With your decayed creativity, it didn’t get easier to work on your mixtape, but you had some promising snippets you could send to independent producers and entertainment companies, so you wouldn’t have said you were short on feedback you could anticipate. It usually took them a week or so to respond to your email, however, you had already encountered agencies that had turned your demos down within a day or reached out to you after a month, which meant you preferred checking your personal email once in every hour. Just to be sure you didn’t miss out on a good opportunity because of your slow reply.

At the familiar ping of your notification, you shifted your gaze from the line your brother was standing in to your phone and took it in your hands with a semi-excited, semi-anxious heart. You didn’t want to get your hopes up, but it was a Saturday afternoon. You would have liked to think that people who were working on the weekend didn’t spend their time on sending out rejection emails, but seeked out talents they couldn’t afford to lose.

‘Is it from YG?’ Jiung’s question came from in front of you, the fact that he was already back with your orders genuinely taking you aback.

How long have you been staring at your screen without opening their email? It felt like you had barely unlocked your phone.

‘Yeah…’ you mumbled, willing yourself to touch the envelope icon in the left bottom corner, then the first incoming email above many that you hadn’t had the energy to delete yet. You should have really taken your time to unsubscribe from all those mass emails you received on a daily basis but never bothered to read. It was easier to just ignore them. 

The polite rejection was in the first sentence after the greeting, but you pretended to read the whole letter to steal yourself a couple of moments to contain your disappointment. You didn’t want to look disheartened in front of Jiung, because you had noticed that sometimes he talked and acted like the older sibling and you wanted to be someone he could have relied on and turned to instead of another person he had to lend his shoulder to cry on.

‘They don’t need it,’ you spoke up with a pseudo-unbothered tone, then put your phone back on the table and reached out for the tomato-mozzarella-ham sandwich you had asked for. 

‘That company is a sinking ship anyway. They wouldn’t recognize good music even if it was shoved into their face,’ your little brother scoffed, coaxing a genuine chuckle out of you with the disapproving grimaces he made. He was clearly over exaggerating; YG was one of the big three for a reason even if their idols were managed poorly. Still, you were grateful for his lighthearted words and painfully biassed opinion.

Lacking a response that could have brushed Jiung’s worries away without sounding insincere, you decided to take a big bite from your food without adding any further comments to the topic. You prayed that your brother would take the hint like he usually did, but his emotional intelligence had either left the building or he deliberately ignored your silent request to move on from your newest failure.

Knowing him, it was most probably a mixture of both: he saw right through you and wanted to make sure you wouldn’t have given up on your dreams because of another brick wall.

‘Hey, if they don’t need it, it’s their loss,’ he claimed and at that moment, you envied him for his faith in you. Not that you were about to throw in the towel for real, but there were days when it felt harder to run after the cart that didn’t want to take you.

‘I know. I wasn’t too hopeful about them anyway,’ you claimed with an enervated shrug as you lifted your sandwich in front of your mouth and took a big bite from the heavenly food. You concealed your bitterness with your exaggerated reaction to the perfect combination of flavours, though, you weren’t lying. Comforting lost souls with your music and working on new snippets in your own studio had been your dream since high school. You had started to send your demos to entertainment agencies during your freshman year in university when you had realised your voice cracked in front of a real audience. The years behind your back had taught you not to be too hopeful.

Even when the initial reaction was positive about your songs. Nothing was set in stone until one had a contract in their hands and sometimes, not even then.

Munching on another bite while playing with the spoon in your black coffee, you were about to ask Jiung about your parents and how your father had taken the news that instead of going to the same university everyone in your family had attended, your brother wanted to study animation at Bang Arts Academy, when the furrow between his eyebrows made you alert and you changed your priorities.

‘What’s…’

‘Sis… have you seen this?’ Jiung’s stunned question cut off your worried one, successfully confusing you with the lack of details or pointers in the inquiry. You lowered your half-eaten sandwich and let your lower arms touch the edge of the table as you leaned forwards, trying to see what he was so focused on.

It was one of the leaflets the employees in Coffee Carat had put on every table; the one they advertised their first open mic night with. You had already seen the A3 sized version of it on the entrance, not to mention that Wonwoo also sent the draft versions to you after one of your visits because for some reason his boss wanted you to have one vote, too, besides all those people who could have had a say in the final design.

‘Yeah, their manager pulled me aside two weeks ago and asked me whether I wanted credit for the idea. I said it wasn’t necessary, but he even gave me a month’s worth of free coffee coupons, so I rolled with it,’ you said with an amused chuckle, not deeming it necessary to tell your baby brother how the coffee shop’s giant baker had walked over to you when you had given your business card to Wonwoo and torn it into pieces while he had enlightened you that his friend had already had a girlfriend.

Like you would have ever hit on someone in the catering industry - or put up with their lame attempts to charm you - while they were on the clock. Some of these people earned more tips a week than their actual monthly salary. They flirted for a living. And while you didn’t judge them for it, you looked for something more serious.

‘Cool! Do you plan to sign up for their first open mic night?’ Your little brother asked, his dark, chocolate brown eyes shining with the same excitement you often saw in them when he was talking about fashion and his favourite webtoons.

You took a sip from your coffee and made a face.

‘No, not really,’ you mumbled, suddenly unable to look at Jiung’s face as you were afraid you disappointed him with your answer. It wasn’t that you wouldn’t have liked to sing in front of people. It was more like you couldn’t.

‘Come on! Why not?’ He pressed and you genuinely weren’t sure whether he was pretending to be unaware of your boundaries or he was about to lecture you that most things were only impossible because you made them to be.

You decided to not give him enough time for the latter and instead of taking another bite from your sandwich, you leaned your back against your chair and raised a brow in annoyance. You obviously loved your brother too much to be angry with him when he acted like this, but his laid back and optimistic personality could piss you off in no time when you had to spell the obvious out to him to make him stop.

‘Because this coffee shop is actually pretty popular. There will be people,’ you made a point, going as far as shifting your gaze from one table to another in the customer area for emphasis. 

‘That’s even better!’ 

‘Tell that to my anxiety,’ you retorted sharply with a scoff, disbelief more dominant in your actions than anger.

‘But what if it could actually he–’

‘Can we talk about something else? Please,’ you pleaded and your pouty lips and puppy eyes seemed to do the trick. Because the next moment your brother bit into his mouth and put the leaflet back into its place.

Jiung shot a sheepish smile in your way and scratched his nape like a child who got caught red-handed while stealing candies from a cookie jar. It reminded you of those months when he had actually had the tendency to stuff himself with sweet snacks before dinner and your frustration was no more.

During the rest of those hours you spent in Coffee Carat, you did ask him about your father’s reaction to his future plans, but you dismissed that topic as well when his answer implied that he hadn’t taken it well. You knew your mother would have moved out as well if your old man had thrown Jiung out of home for real, so you weren’t worried. Still, you made a mental note to give your father a call and talk this matter through with him before your brother had taken it into his head that he would have paid for his tuition on his own. You wanted him, you needed him to stay a child for a bit longer. He could have obviously worked part-time during school breaks like he had done last summer and this winter, but you weren’t willing to let him work beside the academy.

In this matter, your opinion was final. So even if you had failed to talk some sense into your dad, you would have found a way to support him financially. He could have whined about it as much as he wanted, it was no question at all.

You couldn’t have pinpointed which one of the following had convinced you in the end that singing up for the open mic night was a good idea: Jiung’s pleading emojis and encouraging messages whenever the topic had come up in your conversations (and he had always found a way to hint at the event even when you had been talking about cooking), the curt reply in which the representative of IST Entertainment had advised you that you should have tried for their upcoming audition, or the degrading comments under your latest cover on your Youtube channel that had called you fake.

Well aware that you rarely acted on impulse, it was most probably the result of them all. You might have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that day, too, getting easily irritated by the comments people had made at work. Anyhow, what had been done had been done and your name was about to be called by the emcee in any second.

‘Okay, guys! Let’s give a round of applause to Kim Dahee,’ Boo Seungkwan encouraged the crowd to cheer for the brunette and his bubbly personality would have made you smile under almost any other circumstances. If only you hadn’t felt like throwing up.

You tried to focus on the girl’s song that might have been a bit amateur in the context of beats and composition, but had lovely lyrics. However, once she got to the refrain for the second time, your chest got heavy and your heart was about to explode inside your ribcage.

You didn’t think much. You rushed towards the hallway in the back that led to the restrooms, then locked yourself in the women’s once you were sure the tiny room was completely empty. You put your hands on the marble countertop and shifted a big part of your body weight onto them, relieved to be alone. 

The space obviously wasn’t sound proof. You could hear the blond emcee calling your name, but you willed yourself to shut him out along with the disappointed and confused noises of the audience. You tried to calm yourself with the usual, textbook-like methods: you counted to ten, twenty, then fifty, but it barely helped. You also washed your face and neck with cold water, but that did more harm to your grey tee than good to your nerves. Therefore, after two attempts at different breathing exercises, you decided to focus on what made you feel the best in life: music.

As you were humming the same song you had sent to those entertainment agencies that were constantly rejecting you during the past couple of days, you could feel the tension leaving your stiff muscles and you were finally able to breathe. Singing in front of so many people might have been one of your biggest fears, but enjoying the melodies you created was what made you keep chasing your dreams.

It could have taken mere minutes or half an hour, you weren’t sure. All you were aware of was that impatient knock on the restroom’s door that pulled you back to reality and urged you to leave the room before the person on the other side called for the employees’ help. The last thing you needed was Wonwoo coming to your rescue when you weren’t stuck and reassuring you that you could have still gone on stage after the last participant.

‘I’m sorry,’ you mumbled under your nose, avoiding eye contact while you bowed to the older woman with your palms pressed together. You hoped your voice was loud enough for her to hear, but quiet enough to ignore easily.

Not exactly keen to stay until the end of the open mic night and having no other reason to be at the coffee shop, you were about to keep your head down and sneak out of the building when someone cleared their throat on your right and took advantage of your reflexes to gain your attention. You snapped your head towards the black haired boy before you realised and his sharp gaze sucked your soul out of your body as soon as your eyes met.

He made you feel uneasy: like you were a mere child up to no good and he was about to scold you for every harmless crime you had ever committed in your life.

‘What’s the name of that song? I’ve never heard that one before,’ the boy asked and the blood ran cold in your veins upon hearing his question. With furrowed eyebrows, you took in how he had his back leaned against the wall and for the first time since you had noticed him, you couldn’t have helped but wondered: was he waiting for his turn to use the men’s restroom or he was waiting for you.

‘What?’ You gaped at him, internally scolding yourself for exaggerating your surprise when you could have just told him you couldn’t recall either the artist or the name of the song. ‘I… I don’t know. I don’t remember,’ you tried to save the situation, although a part of you was convinced that you only made it worse.

The silence that followed your statement was heavy. It made you fidgety, because you didn’t know whether he would call you out on your blatant lie or cut you some slack instead, saving you from the urge to lie into his face again, this time, in more detail.

‘I see. Are you perhaps one of the participants?’ The boy asked, approaching the matter from another direction. You didn’t understand why he was so pressed about your song, but you had gotten enough rejection letters in the past weeks. You might have always been down for the good old constructive criticism from a fellow musician, but you didn’t want him, a layman, to talk poorly of your skills once he had figured out that it was your own creation.

‘No!’ You retorted a bit too loudly, earning a side eye from the old woman who just left the women’s restroom and passed you by. Coming to your senses and realising how ridiculous you were acting, you straightened your back and cleared your throat. You even fixed your hair with your fingers before you rephrased your answer in a calmer tone. ‘I mean… No, I’m not.’

This boy had no power over you! He was just a stranger. Someone you would most probably never see again, let alone talk with.

‘What a shame!’ He exclaimed with an almost pout that you couldn’t have helped but found cute despite your better judgement.

Your cheeks turned ruby when you realised you weren’t just zoning out, but staring at his thin lips for literally no reason and for shamelessly too long.

‘Here! In case you suddenly remember,’ he took a step closer to you and held his business card out for you until you took it. ‘It could use a few more modifications, but it has potential,’ he added with an encouraging smile before he bid his goodbye and left the corridor.

Instead of following him with your eyes until he disappeared, you were staring at the business card he had given you and his name that was more than just familiar. As a wanna-be singer, songwriter and producer, you were obviously up to date with the cream of the industry you oh so desperately wanted to be a part of. However, you had never seen any footage of Woozi in spite of those two dozen awards his songs had received since his debut under Pledis Ent. No one had.

He looked nothing you had imagined him to be based on those songs he had written about dreams, bittersweet love, and yearning for something better. If he had really been Woozi. But that was a “you” problem, and a fact you should have accepted on your own.

Taking a deeper breath, you shoved the business card in your pocket and fixed your clothes. On the count of three, you power walked to your table and grabbed your purse. You might have been tempted to finish your black coffee even though it had gotten cold, but you didn’t want to take risks. Thus, you left the crowded building immediately: without explanations or goodbyes.

On your way to the metro station, you told yourself they didn’t need you to call the open mic night a success and that you could have always apologised to Wonwoo via text for not feeling well enough to go on stage. You had a feeling that he would have understood.

Needless to say, you were sceptical about the black haired boy and his real intentions with the song you had written. Because no matter how much respect you had towards Woozi as a musician, you couldn’t figure out why he - of all people - would have seen so much potential in your work. Not to mention that a defensive part of you still questioned his identity. It was hard to picture the industry’s young prodigy at an amateur open mic night, looking for talents. Maybe, if it hadn’t been the first event at Coffee Carat, your gut feeling wouldn’t have pulled walls around your heart at the thought of being discovered by one of your idols, but it just felt too good to be true. Something that would have happened with your annoying cousin or your neighbour who always greeted you cheerfully in the elevator, but never with you.

No wonder it took you two weeks to write to the boy about the song that you had suddenly remembered without attaching the file to your email. But at least he didn’t seem to mind your caution based on his reply, his professionalism helping you ease yourself into the thought of meeting him again. He even let you choose the location and while it would have made sense to talk about your song in his studio, you picked the same coffee shop you had first met since you had already known a few of the baristas there by their name. They could have been your safety-net if something had gone horribly.

While you were waiting for your usual black coffee in front of the counter, you made a poor attempt at fixing your dishevelled hair. However, despite doing your best, you still felt like a mess when Sooryeon slid the porcelain towards you and sent an encouraging smile in your direction as though she knew you were worried about the worst first impression one could have made at an important meeting.

In your case, another horrible first impression since you had already lied in the boy’s face the first time.

‘I started to think you wouldn’t come,’ you heard the boy say in a neutral, almost eerie tone that made you gulp as you took a seat on the chair next to him instead of the one across from him.

‘I’m sorry. I needed to take a small detour. Check on a venue for work,’ you explained curtly, hoping that he wouldn’t ask for more details although you would have told him everything if that could have lightened the mood. It wasn’t that he gave you side eyes for arriving half an hour late, but you felt bad for doing so anyway.

To your surprise, he didn’t call you out on the fact that it was a Saturday afternoon. Whether it was because he didn’t care or believed you, you couldn’t be sure. Anyhow, you decided to focus on how he was still at the shop and intertwined your fingers around your cup to avoid fidgeting with the handle. The porcelain was pleasantly warm against your skin.

‘Did you bring the audio file? I’d like to listen to the whole song first,’ he asked and you let go of your coffee quickly, so that you could have fished your laptop out of your bag.

‘Of course!’

You placed the device in front of the boy in an angle that allowed you to see the screen, then typed in your pin code and opened the folder in which you kept your songs - including both the finished and unfinished snippets. You had never realised before how ridiculous the funny titles of the latter were until you were suddenly super aware that Woozi could see them. Still, despite feeling his judgemental gaze burning holes in your skull, when you glanced up at the boy, he was staring at your laptop, waiting for you to open the file with endless patience.

Thus, this was exactly what you did next.

You had a couple of scenarios in your head about what could happen after he took his headset off and turned his attention to you again. He could have turned you down politely and said he had been talking about a different song and it was all a misunderstanding. He could also have been straightforward and claimed it sounded better in his memories. You were fairly prepared for the worst of the worst, but his first question, nevertheless, managed to take you aback.

‘Where do you work?’ He asked, his eyes telling you that he was serious despite the comedy in his words. Shouldn’t he have asked you about the story behind the lyrics or what had given you inspiration to write about the happiness in heartbreaks?

Shouldn’t you have talked about music?

‘Uhm…’ you started, a bit confused. You hold onto your drink with tooth and nail to resist the urge to scratch your nape out of uneasiness. ‘I work for a multinational company. I’m the leader of their marketing team,’ you answered, once again, not going into too much detail on your own.

‘What about your free time?’ He threw yet another irrelevant question at you before he lifted his coffee in front of his lips and took a few gulps from it, keeping his piercing gaze on you.

In theory, you were well aware that you weren’t obliged to answer or tell him the truth. You could have easily and rightfully said your personal life wasn’t his business and asked him to not waste your time if he had hated the song, but reality in a conservative country often went against these kinds of ideas.

If he had indeed been Woozi, he was not only a man, but also your senior. You shouldn’t have offended him deliberately when he was here for you.

‘I’m either with my little brother, do some house chores or work on my music,’ you admitted, hoping you didn’t sound too plain or lame. Obviously, you had friends. And you were kind of up to date with their lives even beside your inhuman working hours. It was just… you always told yourself it was an inevitable part of adulthood that the three of you could meet up for dinner only once a month. There was nothing wrong with preferring texts over friendly dates until you were genuinely concerned about them.

You must have furrowed your brows or puffed out your cheeks while you were lost in your thoughts because the next thing you realised was Woozi trying and failing to hide his smile while he was watching you.

Bashful, you tore your gaze away and chose to analyse the cup you had gotten your drink in, how it was pristine on the outside and how you could make out a few light-brown lines close to its edges where your coffee touched it on the inside. Undoubtedly, you were acting ridiculous.

‘I mean, how much free time do you have on a usual week?’ Woozi asked and you shrugged without looking at him. You couldn’t have said you had a lot, but it could have been worse. If you had learned anything after moving out from your parents’ house it was how things could always get worse.

Having a job that you didn’t despise, a job that paid you enough to lead a comfortable life in the capital city was in itself a privilege. Even if it drained you and killed your creative energy sometimes.

‘It depends on the season. But honestly, not much,’ you admitted, although you made sure your voice wasn’t too blue. You didn’t want him to pity you or worse! To think you were just another sad girl in the line, dreaming about making it big in the music industry. ‘But today was an emergency! It’s rare that I need to work on the weekend,’ you added quickly as an afterthought when it hit you how your actions might have made your statement worse than it was.

‘Good,’ the boy said, confusing you with his almost relieved tone. He acted like it mattered to him. Like the lack of your free weekends and nights had any affect on his life when you were still calling him on his stage name in your head. When had you jumped to the part when you had become his concern? You hadn’t even realised you had been going in that direction.

Not sure how you were supposed to react, you opted for sitting in silence and waiting for him to take the first step, but instead of literally anything you could have come up with in your head such as him having a friend who was in the same shoes as you, he did none. Instead, he finished his black coffee in one go and leaned his back against his chair, observing you with his arms linked in front of his chest.

You wondered whether he was about to tell you your song was mediocre at best.

‘Would you like to work with me? I’m talking about a one-month trial as an intern who does more than bringing me my black coffee every morning,’ he specified before you could have asked, his words registering in your mind a bit slower than you would have been proud of. ‘It won’t be easy. You will definitely need to learn to be more confident, more adamant while staying humble and open for suggestions,’ Woozi claimed, and while what he was offering you was quite literally your dream job, your first instinct was to tell him all those reasons that made you unqualified for the internship.

For example, your current job.

‘I… I don’t have tim–’

‘It’s enough if you come by only on the weekends. You can also leave around eight or nine on Sundays so you could sleep enough before your full-time job. How does that sound?’ He drove a hard bargain like he really wanted you to jump on the opportunity despite the voice in your head that kept reminding you that some dreams were meant to remain just that: a dream. You were already closer to thirty than twenty. Weren’t you too old for believing in miracles? (Or to try yourself out in an industry where some people became sunbaes before graduating high school?)

A part of you was afraid that living your dream would ruin it for you forever, the picture you had of the musician life in your head. But it was also something you had wanted to explore with your whole being. You would have regretted turning down this internship even if giving it a try had left a bittersweet taste in your mouth afterwards.

‘I’ll do it!’ You exclaimed before your worries could have caught up to your determination and forced you to accept that you were a marketing team leader, not a singer. You could have been both and whatever you wanted to be. It wasn’t too late for you.

You might have been high on the moment, you probably were, but if anyone had asked you, you would have sworn Woozi’s smile was proud before he said:

‘Then, see you tomorrow,’ and got up from his chair.

You wanted to ask him about the specifics: the exact time when you should have shown up at his studio, the things you should have brought with you, what you should have told at the reception. You wanted to know whether the company knew about his offer or it had been a split second decision because he had liked your song that much. If it had been the latter, what would happen if his bosses didn’t need you?

However, your million questions obviously needed to wait because by the time you untangled your messy thoughts, the boy was out of the door and you were sitting by the table on your own. If he had bid his goodbye to you or anyone else in the building, you hadn’t noticed. You barely registered that Sooryeon walked up to your table and gave you a slice of chocolate pie to congratulate you on surviving your meeting with Jihoon.

Oh. She called him by his birth name. Could it have been that he had come to the open mic night because he had known someone from the shop? Then, it hadn’t been pure coincidence, nor had he been looking for raw gems in his free time when he had found you.

‘Thank you, Sooryeon-ah,’ you mumbled under your nose a bit belatedly, but the girl didn’t seem to mind your absentmindedness. She walked back behind the counter where Wonwoo was explaining something to another barista by the cash register, then patted her coworkers’ shoulders and entered the staff only area that was hidden behind a pair of curtains.

You didn’t stay much longer. You finished your extra dessert and your black coffee then said hi to Wonwoo and left. The odd feeling that your alarm could have woken you in any minute stayed with you through the day, but you didn’t mind it, not really. It kept you on your toes, not letting you get your hopes up too high.

Because the more you expected or secretly wished for, the bigger your disappointment could be when these expectations didn’t match with your reality. And you didn’t intend to start this new chapter of your life with a bitter heart.

In the next three and a half weeks, you had pinched your arm each and every time you had entered Woozi’s studio. And you did it again, when two days before your internship ended, he slid a pile of papers in front of you during your short albeit well-deserved lunch break.

‘What’s this?’ You asked with a raised brow, right after you had swallowed down a huge bite of your jjajangmyeon. You usually opted for less messy food when you ate this close to the equipment, but tonight you were both too lazy to go as far as the canteen on the second floor.

You looked up at Jihoon in confusion who took a sip from his coke before he pointed at the stack with his index finger.

‘A full-time producer assistant contract,’ he said, encouraging you with a nod to look through the papers. ‘You know my drafts aren’t this neat,’ he added with an amused chuckle while you slowly slid your gaze back to the pile and placed your chopsticks carefully atop of your bowl.

‘Are you serious right now? Do they really want me to stay?’ You asked, disbelief loud and clear in your voice. You made sure to wipe your hands clean with a tissue from your tote bag before you touched the contract, but even then, with the evidence in front of you, it was hard to comprehend. 

‘Why not? You’re talented, diligent and a quick learner,’ Jihoon argued between two small bites, his mouth full with lukewarm black bean noodles. ‘Not to mention, we’re a good team. What else would they need?’

It was clearly a rhetorical question, hence you pressed your lips into a thin line and hovered over the first page of your new contract silently. You were aware that Jihoon was right. You were more than just good together. Your team work had been spot on from the beginning as you were precise and reliable that gave the producer a reason to rely on you when he felt like his schedule was all over the place, blocking his creative flow. You had composed five new songs - songs that were accepted by your higher ups - in the past three weeks and you had a good feeling about finishing the sixth for Minhyun sunbaenim’s solo album in the next 24 hours.

However, you weren’t delusional. You knew the monster part of these projects were done by Jihoon. He was the one who stayed at his studio to work on them when you needed to leave and catch up on some sleep before your full time job. You merely helped him with your ideas and beginner enthusiasm, criticising him professionally and cheering on him when he felt he was running in circles fruitlessly.

‘Shut up!’ You grumped under your nose and pinched your lower arm one more time, making Jihoon scoff with affection because of the ridiculous sight. You were acting ridiculous again. Especially when finishing the first paragraph of the contract, your first thought was that you couldn’t have met the criteria. How were you supposed to take on so many administrative tasks and help Jihoon with the songs when you worked forty to fifty hours a week at another company? ‘Even if I quit my job now, I’ll still need to work there for another month,’ you explained, your sour expression more disappointed than you intended to showcase.

‘Just look at page four,’ the boy mumbled with a full mouth, encouraging you to do as he said and you did.

Scanning through the fourth page, your lips parted in bewilderment when your eyes fell on the second paragraph. There, it was stated black and white that the company would give you another month of paid internship at the beginning with the slight difference that instead of a fixed amount of hours - now you worked twenty hours a week -, this time you would need to work as many hours as Jihoon required you to.

Your smile was small albeit grateful. You had no doubt about it that it was Jihoon’s doing as he was pretty up to date with your schedule at the marketing team, so that he could have had you around when he knew you weren’t too exhausted to form complex sentences or bear with his occasional mood swing without crying. He had told you on your first day that he couldn’t comfort crying people and that you shouldn’t have taken it to your heart if he had left you alone as soon as you showed the first signs, because it was simply his way to give you more space to put yourself together without him awkwardly staring at you from a distance.

Needless to say, the boy hadn’t seen you cry so far. However, you were pretty certain it was because of his warning, his willingness to let you sleep enough, and your determination to prove to everyone you could handle the industry. 

You took your sweet time reading through the details, but Jihoon didn’t seem to mind your speed even though initially you had given yourselves a twenty-minute lunch break so that you could have had time for recording a demo, too, once you finished the current ballad. Instead of reminding you of your plans like he would have usually done, this time he finished his noodles in silence, threw away the trash and walked back to you with his notebook and a pen, jotting down what most probably were new lyrics and song ideas.

You were about to sign your name at the bottom of the last page when Jihoon chose to break the silence.

‘You don’t look too happy, though,’ he stated, a clear observation, and you wondered whether he had known you so well already or your face was just that bad at concealing your thoughts.

Frankly speaking, under the anxiety-filled layers, you were beyond happy. You were joyful, you were over the moon, you were every bright adjective in the dictionary. You just couldn’t have helped but being reminded of your original ideas of your future as a delusional teenager now that you got so close to living that dream.

‘I am happy,’ you claimed and signed the papers before you slid the pile back towards Jihoon on the coffee table you used for eating. He raised a brow at your curt answer and you sighed in defeat. You reached out for your cold jjajangmyeon and took a bite from it to steal yourself a couple of seconds before you would have elaborated.

Jihoon didn’t rush you, but you could feel his attention on you even when he did everything in his power to keep his eyes on his notebook.

‘I’m happy. Working with you… it’s an amazing opportunity I’m grateful for,’ you started to make sure the boy didn’t misunderstand you. You had loved every minute of your internship under his direct guidance even when it had been disheartening to retake the same two lines over and over again. ‘It’s just…’ You took another bite from your soggy lunch. ‘I still can’t sing live in front of a living, breathing audience. I’ve always thought that once I sign with a label, I’ll do it as a singer and not as a producer,’ you admitted, the words heavy on the tip of your tongue. You felt so stupid, so shameless and ungrateful.

Jihoon’s calculative eyes didn’t leave you. He tilted his head sideways, let his shoulders fall a bit forwards, then let out an amused scoff.

‘That’s it?’ He asked, his reaction irking you because of the palpable relief in his voice. As though now that he knew the reason for the change in your mood, he deemed it unworthy of his worries.

A rational part of you was aware that your dream was none of his business, hence his tone should have been understandable, but people had never meant to be rational, especially about things that were dear to their heart. Thus, you rolled your eyes, annoyed but kind of polite, then took another bite from your lunch.

You expected the conversation to be over with this and maybe a reminder that he was your boss - although Jihoon had not once used his title against you in or outside of his studio -, but what you got was a soft smile and another offer that made it hard to believe you were awake.

‘I can help you with that,’ the boy claimed, unbothered and confident while he kept his brown eyes on you.

‘You make it sound like you could fix all of my problems in a week,’ you stated slowly as one of your eyebrows slid a tad bit upwards. It wasn’t that you hadn’t tried every damn trick you had found on the internet. You had sung with a mask on your face just for your voice to crack after the first verse; you had tried singing with your back to the audience, but your hands had been shaking so much, you had dropped your mic. Your case wasn’t as easy as he thought.

‘Only your stage fright,’ he retorted. ‘And I might need a month or two.’

‘A month or two?’ You echoed with disbelief, but Jihoon just nodded. He didn’t elaborate. At least, not as much as you wanted him to.

‘Come to the coffee shop on Tuesday after work,’ he said before he pointed at the half-empty bowl in your hands. ‘And speed up! We don’t have all the time in the world,’ he reminded you that you still had a song to finish, which immediately set your priorities straight.

Instead of calling him out on his overconfidence or pestering him about the details of his plan, you finished the rest of your noodles silently, then tidied up the area around the coffee table and got back to work.

You two stayed until 11:30PM that Saturday, but the familiar tiredness in your bones was so worth it, you thought, when listening to the last take of the demo, you noted that you once again succeeded at creating something beautiful that could have brought comfort to people.

(This was the part of your new job that you had failed to find in any other profession.)

After the first night you had stayed at Coffee Carat after closing time with Jihoon and a few of the staff members, you had had serious doubts whether you would have ever been able to sing in front of people.

Three weeks, seven failed and two semi-successful attempts later, your confidence level was stagnant at your newest low, but you still kept coming back because what else could you have done? These people had already seen you losing your balance in the middle of a song when you had tried to shut them out and closed your eyes. It could hardly have gotten worse.

‘He’s making me nervous,’ you admitted when Jihoon walked up to you with a glass of warm honeyed herbal tea that might have tasted like cough medicine, but always helped you feel a bit more in control while it warmed up your vocal cords.

‘Who? Minghao?’ The boy asked when he stole a glance at the customer area from above his shoulder, his sharp gaze loitering over his friends who were chatting by the tables that were closest to the counter and the corner where you were about to perform one of your ballads. ‘That’s just his face. He’s built like that,’ he insisted with a nonchalant shrug, his attention back on you and your stiff posture.

You took a sip from your drink and frowned.

‘Last time I dropped my coffee on the floor and Wonwoo asked him to take care of the mess. I’m pretty sure he hates staying here longer because of me,’ you complained in a small voice while your fingertips were drumming a familiar melody on the outer side of your mug. The porcelain was pleasantly warm against your palms, but the mere memory of the boy’s grumpy face from Monday kept you on the edge. You were old enough to understand that being loved by everyone in life was an impossible concept, but he was Jihoon’s friend. For some reason, getting on his bad side didn’t sit well with you.

‘No one is forced to stay longer because of you,’ the boy said in a neutral voice for which you gave him a sceptical look. You honestly doubted all of them stayed at the shop willingly each and every time when you couldn’t have finished one song during the past three weeks. ‘They are not! He’s here because his girlfriend wants to support you and he doesn’t want her to get in trouble on her way home,’ Jihoon explained and you shifted your gaze from his face to the girl who was sitting next to Minghao. Sooryeon was stuffing her face with a leftover croissant while she was chuckling at someone that the owner’s fiancée was explaining to her with big hand gestures.

‘So it’s because of me,’ you concluded. Because at the end of the day, it was still on you that these people were at the coffee shop. You needed them so that you could practise in front of a real audience.

‘Since when are you so whiny?’ Jihoon asked, the furrow between his brows showing only a slight annoyance and a lot more confusion.

You pressed your lips together, into a firm, pale line.

Since when were you this self-conscious? Your behaviour must have had something to do with your frequent appointments for embarrassing yourself in front of the same employees who served you black coffee five times a week. But breaking this down to the boy aloud might have sounded ungrateful considering how much Jihoon had done for you in his free time, so you chose to keep your mouth shut and answered with a small albeit apologetic smile.

‘You will be fine. I brought you blindfolds.’ He squeezed your shoulder, then pulled a grey textile out of his hoodie’s pocket.

You narrowed your eyes as you let your gaze linger on the silk-looking stripe. Honestly, you weren’t sure it would stay up in case he planned to secure it with a knot at the back of your head, but instead of making a comment on that, you decided to pull his attention on a more crucial fact: your awful sense of balance while nervous.

‘Thanks. I hope you brought pillows, too, before I faint again and crack my head open,’ you said with a playful edge to your words and a light nudge, earning an eye roll from Jihoon that seemed as amused as annoyed.

‘It’s super thin. You’ll see everyone, just not as clearly as before, so their faces won’t distract you,’ he informed you and waited until you finished your drink, so that he could have placed it on the counter behind you.

Jihoon’s hands were working gently when he tied the blindfold around your head and you had to give it to him, his idea felt a lot less problematic than you had previously thought when you took a look around the shop. Just like he had promised, you could make out shapes and a bit of depth, too, through the thin material. You saw his friends, Hoyeon’s hand gestures and Mingyu’s lame attempt at stuffing a piece of something into his best friend’s mouth. Yet, their facial expressions didn’t make you overly self-conscious anymore since they were too blurry for you to put your hands on their assumed feelings and thoughts.

After a deep breath, you took your worn guitar in your hands and walked in the middle of the stage without tripping and causing another accident. This achievement in itself gave a little boost to your confidence. You could do it!

It was Seokmin who announced you to your audience and it would have been a lie to say that your heart wasn’t pulsing frantically in your throat when the buzzing of the coffee shop came to a sudden silence. However, being blind to the guys’ reaction helped. Your fingertips might have slid on the strings a few times when they weren’t supposed to and your voice might have cracked in the middle of the last bridge, but you successfully finished the song without major mistakes. And most importantly: you did get to the end of the ballad.

It was a baby step that every fibre in your body celebrated with the small albeit proud smile in the corner of your mouth. However, what was an achievement in itself in your dictionary was the opportunity to thrive for more in Jihoon’s.

You knew him. You had been working with him for over a month by then, but it still took you off guard when instead of congratulating you like the others did, he asked you to sing another song right away. And a third one when you managed to perform the second one with only two tiny mistakes on your guitar.

‘Good job!’ Jihoon exclaimed, clapping calmly while you reached for the blindfold and took it off with a bright smile. His acknowledgement meant a lot more to you than he thought; he had been your idol once and now, he was your mentor.

High on adrenaline and the feeling of finally moving forwards, you rushed up to the blacked haired boy and wrapped your hands around him. You were rocking back and forth due to your excitement and didn’t let go of him even when his characteristic, musky scent reminded you of how close you were standing.

You had never stood this close before.

Contemplating whether you should have apologised immediately, making everything more awkward in front of his friends, or just pulled away like it was no big deal, your eyes widened at the realisation that you could feel the light weight of Jihoon’s palm on your back. He was patting you a little clumsily, but it was precious: his attempt to reassure you it was alright.

You pulled away after a couple of seconds, flustered, but happy.

‘I’m… thank you,’ you mumbled, unsure how the rose tint of the boy’s cheeks made you feel. You were too used to his snarky remarks and affectionate eye rolls to comprehend the slight change in his attitude. Not that you weren’t aware it was your fault. You had just jumped on him in front of everyone, of course, he was affected. You could have only hoped his obvious discomfort would have disappeared quickly.

‘Yeah, no big deal. It’s not like I cured your stage fright already,’ he brushed your gratitude off with a nonchalant-looking shrug, and you let out a lighthearted scoff due to the familiarity of his tone. He seemed fine. A tad bit flushed, but fine, which put your heart at ease. The last thing you needed was things getting awkward between the two of you now that you also had a signed contract with Pledis.

‘True. But you still have time,’ you reminded him of his confident claim about how he would help you sing in front of a living, breathing audience in a month or two; the promise more possible than it had sounded to you weeks ago.

The last thing you heard before Sooryeon, Seokmin and Mingyu showered you with their congratulations was the click of Jihoon’s tongue. You got a “nice job” cupcake from the tall baker and a bone-crushing hug from Seokmin before the only other girl in your small group pulled you aside and asked you about how you were feeling and what did you think, when would you have been able to attend their open mic night.

The more people gathered around you, the more overwhelming the experience got, but it was also very comforting to know that they were so excited for you. It made you believe that they really hadn’t been forced to stay after their shift in the past few weeks.

It was Jihoon who reminded you that tomorrow was a Wednesday, hence you shouldn’t have stayed for too long if you hadn’t wanted to feel exhausted during your 9AM meeting. And he was right. No matter how much you enjoyed talking about your music, you got easily irritated when you were sleep deprived and you still needed to cook something quick but delicious for your lunch break. It was better if you bid your goodbye.

Which you did not long after, bowing and waving on your way towards the exit, grateful for Jihoon’s offer to give you a ride back to your place. It proved that the impulsive hug that had turned both of your cheeks’ rose coloured had done nothing to stir the waters in your relationship.

You weren’t sure what had made you see Jihoon in a new light in the end when everything had felt normal after he had dropped you off on Tuesday. However, let it be because of how you were suddenly incapable of not noticing the light tint of his cheeks when he was looking directly in your eyes or due to his support, you couldn’t have denied that it felt different to be around him after that night.

Anyhow, it wasn’t like you could have asked your immediate boss whether he had felt just as confused and excited around you as you did around him. You had just signed with the label and you still had a bit of time from your offboarding period at your previous workplace. Both a negative and an affirmative answer could have messed up the path that led towards your dreams. You couldn’t have afforded to develop feelings for him (or confront him about them now that you were more than possibly screwed).

Taking a deeper breath, you gave yourself a couple of seconds before you opened Jihoon’s studio with your card, then took a seat beside him by his table where the two of you had been working on a hopeful love song before you had excused yourself to the restroom. It was for a new artist, a female soloist with the most beautiful, raspy voice you had ever heard and you were determined to fit the lyrics to her uniqueness despite the cliché concept the management had chosen for her debut.

You looked at the notebook in front of the boy and let out a pleased hum when you saw the progress he had made while you had been away. A complete verse in five minutes? He wasn’t called a prodigy for no reason.

‘You make it look like we were playing around all morning,’ you joked, earning a soft chuckle from him with your comment even though he kept his focus on the scribbled page. You both knew it wasn’t true. You had already had a vague idea for the melody and a theme you intended to build the lyrics around.

‘Always a sweet talker at work,’ he teased and jotted down a few promising one-liners that you could have used in the last verse before he read through what you had so far and changed a couple of words here and there, so that the flow of the lyrics would have been smoother or more poetic.

He always did this; never a hundred percent satisfied with his own work even when you two had already decided that the last version was good enough.

‘No, but seriously. What gave you so much inspiration all of a sudden?’ You asked when you stole another blunt glance at the notebook and leaned close enough to the boy for Jihoon to be hyper aware of the lack of distance between your bodies.

That, or his timing to lean his back against his chair and simultaneously get further from you in the process was very unlucky.

‘Dunno,’ Jihoon said and you furrowed your brows when he cleared his throat and slid the notebook closer to you on the table. This way, his notes were right in front of you, so you could look at the current page while you were sitting comfortably in your own chair. ‘Check the new verse, I’ll bring us something to drink,’ he announced before he stood up and turned his back to you.

You watched him walking towards the door with bewildered eyes, but shook your confusion off fairly quickly. Thus, you were able to find your voice before he closed the door on you.

‘Strawberry coke?’ You asked, forcing him to look at you from above his shoulder just so he could give you a displeased glare. His nose scrunch was more adorable than intimidating, but you wouldn’t have broken this down to him for the world.

‘I’ll see,’ he retorted with a visible frown, but without lecturing you on how every flavoured version was a disgrace to the original taste of coke. ‘Check the new verse!’

You saluted with a cheeky grin on your face, then turned back to the notebook right away; the echo of the quiet collision of the door and its frame filling your senses as you hovered above the last page.

Reading the new lyrics, you couldn’t have helped but wonder what had made Jihoon feel the way he had felt when he had come up with these exact lines. What had made him yearn for something or someone so intensely, his similes grabbed your heart and squeezed it dry over and over as you jumped from line to line?

These questions stayed with you even after the boy came back with your drink and asked for your opinion. They were in the back of your mind while you were working on the rest of the ballad, after you had bid your goodbye to Jihoon at 10PM, while you were waiting in line for your takeout at your favourite diner, and under the shower head as you were getting ready for bed.

You fell asleep thinking of that particular verse the black haired boy had finished on his own and wondering whether you were delusional for assuming: maybe, it had been your absence that had made him come up with those lines.

You were talking on the phone with your brother, throwing questions at him about his senior year in high school and those bonbons he had received on White Day, when you heard your name echoing off the walls close to Jihoon’s studio. Your steps came to an immediate halt.

‘Jiung-ah? I need to go, I’ll talk to you later,’ you murmured into the speaker, suddenly super anxious about being noticed although a rational part of you tried to convince you that hiding behind a wall wasn’t necessary or a good idea.

‘Noona, are you oka–’

‘I’m fine, it’s just a work emergency. Love you,’ you cut him off in a hurried manner, giving him just enough explanation to not call you back before you hung up the phone and shoved the device into your pocket.

‘Why won’t you introduce me to her? Everyone else has already met her, it’s unfair!’ The boy, who was standing in front of Jihoon, asked, his pouty lips emphasising his distress. As you were watching the interaction, you couldn’t decide whether he was that good at acting or he was genuinely hurt by being left out, but his puppy eyes tugged on your heart nonetheless.

‘They met her because they work at the coffee shop. Don’t start!’ Jihoon sighed and took a step sideways. However, the other boy copied his movements without missing a beat.

‘Tsk, so now people need to work at Cheol hyung’s to be introduced to your girlfriend? I am your best friend!’ The kicked puppy boy claimed and you needed to cover your mouth with your hand to not let out a giggle because of his dramatics. You would have never guessed that Jihoon of all people had such a hyperactive best friend, but the more you saw, the easier it became to understand why their friendship worked.

Sometimes opposites did attract.

‘She’s not my girlfriend,’ Jihoon hissed and only when his words got to you did you realise what they were bickering about. A not-girlfriend girlfriend. Oh.

Your nails scratched the surface of the wall when you leaned closer to the duo, desperate to hide your body, but eager to steal a glance at the black haired boy’s face. You wanted to know whether he really meant it. Was he sad that he wasn’t in a relationship with this girl? Was he unbothered by the topic and annoyed only because his friend was pushing it?

‘But I’m your best friend and…’

‘Debatable,’ Jihoon scoffed and you didn’t even have to see his face this time to know he rolled his eyes.

While you were busy pondering how perfectly the boy’s crush fitted every scenario you had come up with since you had read his yearning lyrics for Rayun’s solo debut, Jihoon pushed his best friend out of the way and took a couple of confident strides towards his studio. He was almost in front of the familiar, midnight blue door when the puppy boy raised his voice and shouted after him.

‘You got her a contract and wrote songs about her!’ He said, kicking the air out of your lungs with his boldness and the implication his words carried in themselves. You closed your eyes for a second to gather your thoughts, then leaned your forehead against the wall.

Jihoon had gotten a contract for you. And you had definitely heard your name before you had hung up the phone on your little brother. 

The puppy boy’s claim was followed by eerie silence. It was heavy and sticky. Instead of embracing you with warmth and comfort, it stuck to everyone and made you anxious. You obviously didn’t think anyone at Pledis would have been willing to offer you a full-time job if you hadn’t had potential, but it was your opinion. Jihoon’s friend should have known better than to say something so controversial in the company’s hallway where anyone could have heard and misunderstood them.

‘Fine, I did. So what?’ Jihoon retorted, visibly irritated. However, in a twisted way, the boy’s admission made you really happy. Because it meant he liked you, too.

Giddy, you were so hung up on the revelation, you didn’t notice the person who walked up to you and tried to gain your attention by waving her hand in front of your face after you had unintentionally ignored her calling your name.

The yelp that escaped your mouth was a lot louder than it should have been. And you weren’t particularly proud of the way you jumped backwards, either, but that was embarrassing for a completely different reason.

Because one uncertain look at the boys made it as clear as day: they both knew you had heard them. The sharp difference between their reactions lay in one small albeit significant detail: unlike Jihoon, his friend had no idea who you were.

You sucked in your lower lip to not make things worse with your cheap excuses. Even though you would have most probably made the same decision if you could have turned back time, you were aware that eavesdropping was morally wrong.

‘Can we… can we talk?’

It was Jihoon who broke the awkward silence and you nodded wordlessly before you bowed to Mina and Jihoon’s best friend with an embarrassed smile on your way to Jihoon’s studio. 

When the door closed shut behind your back, you considered apologising immediately. Yet, just as you parted your lips, Jihoon cut you off with his hesitant words.

‘Look, I…’ he started and the panicked glint in his eyes closed up your throat. It made you feel that if you hadn’t been straightforward enough, if you had let him overthink the situation, he would have denied everything you might have heard and you didn’t want that.

So you took a deep breath and a step closer to him to make him focus on you instead of the walls and his equipment he was suddenly so interested in.

‘I know we’re coworkers, but… would you like to go on a date with me?’ You asked and you genuinely couldn’t believe you had just done that.

Based on the boy’s wide eyes, he had a hard time believing his own ears as well.

It was nerve-wracking: waiting for him to process your question and say something, but then he shot a beautiful, grateful smile in your direction and your heart found peace even before he said:

‘Yeah. I’d like that. Very much, actually.’

Feeling like a happy mess, you were about to hug him for the first time since that Tuesday night at the coffee shop, but before you could have wrapped your arms around him, Jihoon’s best friend made his presence known with an annoying(ly adorable), whine-like noise.

‘Psst! Does this mean you can finally introduce me to your girlfriend?’ He asked from behind the door, only his head and his fingers visible in the position he clung onto the moving object to be able to peek inside the room.

Although you tried, you couldn’t contain your chuckles when Jihoon took a deep breath and launched himself at his friend. You watched them from a safe distance, seriously taken aback by the black haired boy’s vigour and determination to push the taller guy on the floor. You had never seen this side of him before, but you found it oddly charming.

At the end, Jihoon did introduce you to Soonyoung who stayed at the studio for half an hour, entertaining you with ridiculous stories about his best friend and the guys from Coffee Carat. He kept referring to you as Jihoon’s girlfriend and while it was obviously too early to claim yourself that title (you hadn’t even dated yet), the fact that the black haired boy didn’t correct him made you feel hopeful.

It felt like an unsaid promise that he wanted this thing between you two to work just as much as you did.

➼ next reason

[dragons-and-dwarves-are-nice]

To the Shadows that Cry Witch /// Chapter 20

*Rises from the dead* Good evening. So I honestly should've put this fic on hiatus because I haven't updated in a hot minute (cough3monthscough). But having to hand in a Presentation, Essay, Video AND portfolio, all within two weeks of each other kinda made me forget lol. Uni is so hard pls send help. Anyway, I've made this one longer to make up for lost time, and I decided this won't be the last chapter of Part 2, I'm now planning on doing two more to fit in everything I've planned, and the good thing is that I have no work to do for the next 2 weeks so I can just work on this non stop. Hopefully you'll be seeing me again soon lol. Enjoy! <3

Summary: Magic was real, but it came at a price. So when two girls end up in the one place they never thought they could reach, strange things began to happen. Good or bad? That's up to them to find out.

Tags: Kili x oc/reader - Fili x oc (POV to be written soon) - Thorin's company × ocs/reader (platonic) - fluff - angst - EXTREME slow burn - crack - Bagginshield

Word Count: 8465

Warnings: Paranormal encounters, swearing, being chased by giant snakes if you aren't a fan of that.

Taglist - comment or message to be added!

PLEASE START FROM THE BEGINNING IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY OK LOVE U

Want some background music? Check out my Soundtrack Playlist!

Now available on Wattpad and AO3 (please let me know if links aren't working)

< Chapter 19 // Chapter 20 // Chapter 21 >

Part 2: Chapter 20 -

Yer a wizard. Sorry, witch.

Minatory (Definition): Having a menacing quality; Threatening. (Adjective / Origin: Late Latin /ˈmɪnət(ə)ri )

Bag End, Hobbiton, The Shire – T.A. Friday, 18th November 2939 of the Third Age (Highday, 28th Blotmath, 1339 in Shire-reckoning)

“Annnd, there we go.” Kay huffed, both of us letting out a sigh of relief as we lowered a passed out Bilbo into his armchair. Lifting the blanket that was drying by the fire, I shook it out, before draping it over the unconscious hobbit, tucking it over his shoulders.

We both took a step back, waiting for him to wake up, when a fist impacted with my shoulder.

“OW!” I cried, bringing my hand up to rub at the spot. “The hell was that for?!”

Kay shoved a finger in my face, glaring up at me. “That – was for levitating me! Upside-down of all things!”

“It’s not like I wanted to! And I didn’t expect for it to actually work!”

All she did was grumble, crossing her arms as she stared at Bilbo.

“…  You can do the same at one point in return?” I offered.

“Oh, I will be, just you wait.”

I sighed in exasperation, before focusing on the problem at hand.

“Should I make some tea? For when he wakes up.” I suggested.

“Yea, that’ll be nice. I’ll stay here in case he wakes up.” She replied.

I nodded, turning on my heel and wandering through to the kitchen. Hooking the kettle over the open fire, I prepared three mugs along with some tea leaves in a straining bag. Staring at the exposed bricks lining the fireplace, I let my mind wander as I tried to figure out what to say, my hands absentmindedly turning the mug as I listened to the kettle’s whistle grow louder.

Within 5 minutes I was done, and just in time, as I managed to walk back through just when Bilbo had begun to stir. Lowering the tray onto the small table by the fire, I knelt down in front of Bilbo’s chair, his steaming mug of chamomile in my hands.

His eyes flickered open, blinking rapidly as he tried to adjust to the low light. Spotting us, he gasped as he shot up, everything seemingly coming back to him.

I quickly shoved the mug towards him, and that managed to calm him down slightly as he settled back into his chair, bringing his hands from beneath the blanket to take the hot beverage from my hands.

Taking a small sip, he lowered the tea onto his lap, and took a deep breath.

“What,- in Yavanna’s name… where you doing!!?”

I gave him straight lined smile, clasping my hands together.

“That’s the thing.” I said, shrugging as my eyes focused on the fire. “We don’t know.”

He spluttered, his head jerking back in confusion and frustration. “Wh – d – don’t know?? What do you mean you don’t know??”

Kay shoved at my shoulder as she sat down on the floor next to me. “What Kate was meant to say,” She explained, deadpanning at me before turning to the poor hobbit. “Was that it was an accident, we were joking about something and she didn’t mean to send me floating into the ceiling.”

Bilbo frowned so hard that his eyes had scrunched shut, placing his mug on the table. “And what, pray tell, could you have possibly been joking about that made Kay levitate into the air.”

I nodded slowly as my eyes darted around in thought. “About sending her floating into the ceiling.” I stated, shrugging as if it was obvious.

Bilbo dropped his head into his hands with a loud groan of anguish, whilst Kay drew her lips between her teeth to try and hide her smile.

I fiddled with my fingers, watching as Bilbo’s head rose back up, dropping back onto the cushion of his armchair as he stared into space, his eye-bags looking more prominent than ever.

“Okay, just.. fetch one of your cakes, I need to eat something after all that.” He sighed, closing his eyes.

I quickly replied with an ‘ok’, getting to my feet and strolling over to the pantry, retrieving the cake, then to the kitchen to get three plates, forks and a knife.

Handing Bilbo his slice of cake, me and Kay sat down on the armchairs opposite, placing our own plates on our laps. Minutes passed where only the crackling of the fire and clinking of forks against plates could be heard. But it wasn’t long before Bilbo spoke up again.

“Do you really not know what’s going on?” He asked, tilting his head slightly as he looked over at us.

Kay shook her head. “This is just as new to us as it is to you. We’re trying to figure out why, but it’s been difficult.”

“I can imagine.” He replied. “If I started accidentally levitating things, I wouldn’t dare to show my face until I knew how to control it.”

“We have somewhat managed to control it, though” I added.

“Oh, I know that.” Bilbo reassured with a shake of his head. “Otherwise Kay would still be stuck to the ceiling.” He joked, much to Kay’s chagrin.

“You don’t need to worry about us, though.” I said, voice muffled by a mouthful of cake. “I know we’re ‘barely adults’ according to you, but we do have some idea of how to look after ourselves.”

Bilbo nodded. “I’m sure you can, but then again, you said yourselves that you don’t know how to navigate this world properly. I just want to make sure you’re both safe. The Shire is a very comfortable place to live, but once you step out its borders, I can guarantee you two wouldn’t last a day.” He stated, prodding his knee with his finger to emphasise each word.

Kay raised her hands in mock surrender, “You’ve got us there.” I pointed a finger at her in agreement whilst staring at the rug.

“But…” I raised my head to look at Kay as she spoke. “Could we possssibly go to the forest? To try and figure this all out??” Bilbo instantly deadpanned. “It saves us accidentally blowing a hole in your wall!”

He reeled back. “You can do that?!?!”

She nodded. “Well – I haven’t, exactly.” She straightened up, pointed a finger at me. “But Kate has!”

I whirled round, a betrayed look on my face. “Are you trying to rat me out?!”

“YOU BLEW A HOLE IN MY WALL?!?!” cried Bilbo.

“NO! I BLEW A TREE UP, NOT YOUR HOUSE!” I cried back.

“WHY WOULD YOU NEED TO BLOW UP A TREE!”

“I DIDN’T MEA – ugh, I can’t be asked with this.” I groaned, rubbing my face. “Look, I didn’t do it on purpose, it was in self de – no, right, I picked up a stick, and accidentally knocked it against something, which caused a spark to fly out the end and blow up a tree.”

The hobbit tossed his hands into the air. “And my day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” He breathed a deep sigh. “Ok fine, you can go to the forest, BUT, I’m going with you.” Kay groaned from beside me. “No, none of that. The last time I let you both out on your own, you almost froze to death after going for a midnight swim, I’m not having that happen again.”

We both slumped in our chairs, nodding reluctantly. Satisfied, Bilbo nodded to himself, before standing from his chair and walking slowly to the door.

“Right, well – I’m off to bed. We can discuss this further over breakfast tomorrow.” He paused in the doorway, twisting around to look at us both. “And uh.. thank you,” He said, gesturing to the tea and blanket in his arms. “For taking care of me.”

We both nodded at him with a smile, Kay muttering a ‘You’re welcome’. He returned the expression, before disappearing into the hallway.

“Well, that went a lot better than I thought.” Said Kay, turning to retrieve her own tea.

My head jerked around instantly from where I was facing the fireplace, my face twisted in both confusion and offence. “Easy for you to say. I almost got kicked out because you made him think I was renovating his home!”

“Well that sounds like a you problem, doesn’t it?” She said over her shoulder as she walked towards the doorway.

I went to retort, but quickly noticed which direction she was going in. “NUH UH, don’t think I haven’t forgotten what I said earlier.”

Kay stopped, punching the air in frustration. She spun around, inching towards the doorway. “But it’s so pointless!” She whined. “And it disappears when you’re around anyway!”

I looked over my shoulder, squinting my eyes at her. “Are you saying ghost hunting’s pointless? I am both shocked and offended.” I mockingly turned my nose up at her, walking through the doorway to my room. “And about to sacrifice your Hello Kitty.”

Footsteps followed me instantly. “If you do I’m sacrificing Toothless.”

I paused, my hand on the doorknob to my room. Glaring over my shoulder, I pouted grumpily, before twisting the handle and stepping in. “Fine, I’ll smelt your jewellery down instead.”

I could practically feel Kay gape at me as she lightly punched my shoulder. She walked over and sat on my bed, watching as I rummaged through my drawers. “What are we doing in here anyway, I thought we were sleeping in my room?”

“That–” I grunted as I struggled to reach under a pile of stuff. “-is a good question – aha!” I pulled out my small wooden chest. “But I thought I would bring this to try and work out how to protect us.”

Kay sighed, crossing her arms as she looked up at me. “Okay, so, you know how to do that?”

“Of course.” I replied with a grin. “Protection spells are the first thing you should learn about as a practitioner. It’s witchcraft 101.”

I unhooked the clasps on the box, opening it up and picking something out and handing it to Kay. She took it in her hands looking at it confused. “The protection is a Christmas bauble?”

“It does look like one, but no, that’s a Rowan cross.” I explained, taking it out of her hands and lifting it up to the candlelight.

The object consisted of two dark twigs, specifically from a rowan tree, tied in a cross by some thick, woolly, red string that formed a diamond, with dried rowan berries glued to the centre of the shape. At the end of one the twigs was a red ribbon, tied so it could be hung up.

“They’re normally hung in doorways, to ward off negative energy and wrong-doers.” I gestured to my doorway, Kay turning to spot an identical cross hung on a nail on the wooden beam. “I did it the week I had the thing appear in my wardrobe, and luckily, it seems to be working.”

Kay turned back round, eyeing the cross in my hand, before quickly snatching it. “So I just hang this in my doorway and it’ll go away?”

“Maybe,” I said, uncertain. “It’s already activated, but I doubt it’ll be strong enough to get rid of it, so I want to see if it’ll upset it, so it can show itself and we can work out what it is for sure.”

Kay nodded, slinking off the bed to join me on the floor. “Okay then, show me what to do.”

I held up the cross. “We’ll start, by hanging this in your doorway.”

---

Loud knocking echoed through the hallway as I hammered the nail into the beam of wood above Kay’s doorway. Kay was deeper in the house, near Bilbo’s room, to check if he had been woken up by the noise. The final bang resounded through the still air, and she peeked one last time round the door, and saw the Hobbit remain in a deep sleep, much to her relief. Pulling the handle until she heard the door close with a soft click, she returned to watch me as I hung the cross, the almost-black branches contrasting strongly against the warm wood as it hung in the centre of the beam. Taking a step back, I nodded in satisfaction, walking over to the chest of drawers to put down the hammer we had nicked from Bilbo’s gardening tools, before turning to Kay.

“This will hopefully do something whilst we wait for the right moon phase to come round.” I said. “Or it’ll upset it and you end up being haunted for the rest of your life.”

“It better not,” Kay replied. “Otherwise you’ll be having a permanent roommate until it’s gone.”

Soon enough, the candles around the room were blown out, all except one, that currently sat on the vanity, its flickering casting the odd shadow here and there.

We both laid there under the covers in our nightgowns, Toothless and Hello Kitty in hand, glancing around diligently, looking for anything out of the ordinary. When almost an hour had passed by, we slowly settled down to the sound of the crickets outside, burrowing deeper into the covers as sleep threatened to take over. I had just closed my eyes for a minute, trying to rest them as faint colours danced behind my eyelids, when the crickets went quiet. Thinking Kay had gotten up to close the window, I pressed myself further under the covers. That was, until a hand shot out and latched onto my arm.

I jumped out of my skin, eyes shooting open, only to be met with darkness. It felt deathly cold, the candle had somehow gone out, and, what was hopefully Kay, was currently gripping onto me like a lifeline. Luckily, the curtains had drifted apart from the wind slightly, and the glow of the waning crescent in the sky shone through the cracks. Thin wisps of smoke from the extinguished candle floated in front of where I was laid on my side, facing the wall. Following it to try and spot the candle, my eyes moved across the room, when they flicked into a corner. I would’ve missed it completely, if it weren’t for the rattling breath it let out.

It just stood there, looking half solid but casting no shadows, it’s long thin arms held straight up in the air as it stared with deep hollow sockets and a gaping mouth hanging open wide enough for me to almost fit my head into. It had no teeth, no eyebrows or hair, just dark, grey, dusty skin. All it did was stand there. And stare. And I couldn’t move.

All I could do was stare back.

It felt like hours as I sat there half-laid on my elbow, feeling the ache settle into the joint but unable to move. It wasn’t moving either, not even one of its long, sharp-looking fingers twitching as it held its appendages up as if it had been stretched up with invisible chains.

Kay wasn’t moving either, but was shaking profusely, her hand imprinting into my skin as she gripped onto me like a vice. I wasn’t any better, the thing in front of me making all my paranormal experiences from my childhood seem like a joke.

It wasn’t until Kay’s nails dug in that I moved, keeping my eyes locked onto the ghostly creature as I reached behind me, and gritting my teeth, dragged the pillow from behind. As soon as I felt Kay’s hand release my arm, I shot up and launched it as hard as I could at its face. The pillow soared through the air, and within a second, the creature had vanished into thin air, the candle on the vanity flickering back to life before the pillow even hit the wall.

It dropped to the floor with a muffled thump as light enveloped the room once again, and we both sat there, staring at the corner with wide, terrified eyes. A creak sounded from within the house’s structure, snapping us out of the trance as warmth swept back in.

“I don’t think the cross worked.” Kay whispered shakily.

“… Let’s go sleep in my room.”

--

The Next Day

Silence was all that could be heard, except for the clinking and scraping of utensils against plates and bowls. Kay and I sat slumped at the kitchen table, deep bags under our bloodshot eyes as we squinted at our half-eaten breakfasts.

Bilbo was quite the opposite, looking as chipper as ever after a full nights-sleep as he finished the last few mouthfuls of his meal with a satisfied huff. Untucking the napkin from the collar of his night-shirt, he placed it on the table, looking between us with a smile.

I tried my best to hide a wide yawn behind my hand whilst placing my fork down, unable to finish the meal, when he piped up.

“So, who fancies going down to the market today? I heard there’s a new flower stall being set up.”

All I could do was push my plate away, dropping my head down onto the table with a loud ‘thunk’. Kay wasn’t any better, her head tilted back as she slowly fell asleep in her chair.

The hobbit let out a sigh. “Couldn’t sleep?”

All he got was a groan in response.

----------------------

Bag End, Hobbiton, The Shire – T.A. Friday, 23rd November 2939 of the Third Age (Hevensday, 3rd Foreyule, 1339 in Shire-reckoning)

“Bilbo, are you sure you want to go with us?”

Kay and I sat on the rug by the front door, wrapped up in several layers of winter-wear – gloves, shawls, knitted scarves and all. We were preparing to leave for the forest, determined to figure out our wands in a safe environment, said objects hidden in our deep skirt pockets. Earlier, as we were sat lacing up our boots, a shivering Bilbo had walked through the door, ingredients for dinner in his bag. Within a second he had demanded to go with us, refusing to budge and reminding us of the agreement from five days ago. Which led to now.

“Yes, I’m perfectly sure!” he grunted from where his head resided in the large chest down the hallway, looking for his scarf. “We made an agreement, and even if we didn’t, I’m certainly not leaving you two to wander into the fog when the clouds have been threatening to snow all week!” He stormed past us, flinging the scarf around his neck, simultaneously hitting me in the face with it from where I was sat, sending Kay into a fit of laughter as I spluttered about. Swinging the door open to reveal the foggy evening scene outside, he gestured expectantly. “Hurry now, it’ll be getting dark in a couple hours.”

Grabbing the leather messenger bag containing my Grimoire and a few other materials, we were ushered out. The freezing chill hit us almost immediately, like Jack Frost had decided to practice acupuncture with a thousand ice needles. Twisting my scarf, I pulled part of it over my head whilst bunching the rest around my chin until it reached my nose.

Walking down, the two of us stood by Bilbo’s front gate, waiting as he struck a match, lighting the same lantern he had used when he found us in his bushes, bringing forth a flurry of those not-so-great memories. Stuffing the matchbox in his pocket, he pulled the door closed, before following the short path down to us.

Reaching us, he held an arm out, gesturing down the path. “Alright,” he said, his voice muffled by the scarf. “I don’t know where you guys want to go, so lead the way.”

Kay looked at me expectantly, and so, I begun to retrace the steps I had taken that eventful night.

---

The sun had already begun to set when we arrived, and I noted that the forest looked at lot less intimidating during the daylight hours. Rounding a relatively dense pack of bushes, I came across a very familiar sight.

Rotting splinters of bark and branches littered the ground, along with the fallen half of the tree, now slowly being covered with moss and rotting leaves that had fallen in the last few weeks of Autumn. Memories from what happened a month ago came flowing back, and I grimaced when my eyes finally landed on the jagged stump, sticking out the ground like a giant clawed hand with a hundred sharp fingers.

I turned to face the others, gesturing with my hands in a half shrug. “Well this is where it happened.”

Kay stared at the stump with wide eyes. “Ok, I’ll admit I was exaggerating when I said you blew it up. I didn’t think you actually did.”

Bilbo was silent. His eyes were practically bulging out of his head as he gawked at the scene in front of him. “How?” Was all he could utter, the whisper barely heard over the chatter of the forest.

“That’s exactly what I’ve been asking myself this whole time.” I said equally confused, wandering over to another familiar tree. “I found my wand, and was making my way back, when I turned around, knocking it against this tree.” I acted it out, pretending to hit something against the tree, my hand lining up with a very obvious burn mark embedded onto the bark, like someone had set off a firework in close proximity next to it. “Then - ” My hand pointed from the burn, over to the broken stump. “Voila, tree bomb.”

“Bomb?” Bilbo said perplexed.

“Think firework, but with a bigger explosion, and use it as a weapon.” Explained Kay from beside him.

All the poor hobbit could do was look up at her in horror, before looking between us both warily. “And – And that thing, can create something like that?”

I nodded. “But only if you choose to. This was a complete accident.”

Bilbo nodded silently, looking as if he was going to faint again. But he suddenly seemed to calm down, fiddling with his fingers whilst peering up at me apprehensively.

“Do you… think you could do it again? But smaller?”

Both of our mouths fell open in shock, before I let out a guffaw.

“Bilbo Baggins! Are you secretly rebellious?!” I gasped out.

His ears flushed a deep red. “No! I – I just-” He dropped his head bashfully. “This all just reminds me of when I was younger, and of Gandalf and his fireworks.”

“Mhm sure.” Said Kay, putting her hands on her hips as she looked down at the pouting hobbit. “Well we’re not going to blow up another poor tree, but we could show you something else? I’ve been meaning to try out my wand for ages now.” She reached into her skirt pocket, pulling it out.

I pulled out mine, weighing it in my hand as I thought of what to do next. “Can you think of any spells for wands?” I asked Kay as I walked over.

She shrugged. “Only the ones we wrote down from you-know-what. It worked the other day.”

I tilted my head in confusion. “You-know-what?”

“You know, the story about magic from our place that we can’t talk about because we get strangled by air?” She replied.

I nodded in realisation, then my eyes moved about in thought, before I slowly turned my head to a small pile of dead leaves nearby. Kay darted her eyes at me, following my line of sight before they landed on where I was looking.

“What are you thinking – ?”

I lifted my arm up and pointed my wand. “Incendio.”

“Absolutely not.” The pile of leaves burst into flame. “KATE FOR FUCKS SAKE.”

She stormed over to the pile, stamping on it until all that was left was a pile of blackened smouldering leaves. “Being a borderline pyromaniac does not give you an excuse to set everything on fire!”

All I did was smile impishly in response, hiding my wand behind my back. “Now you try.”

Kay huffed, pointing her own wand whilst thinking about her next move. I skipped over to Bilbo, who seemed like he was struggling to keep himself upright.

“You okay? We sorta forgot about you for a second there.” I said softly, crouching down to be more eye-level with him.

He blinked, seemingly snapping himself out of something. “O-oh, yes! It’s just not every day you gets involved in something as interesting as this.”

He gestured to my wand with a far-away look, and at that moment, he looked almost smaller, burying the lower half of his face into the thick scarf wrapped around his neck as he stared. Though in a flash he was shaking his head. “But you two have something you need to do, right?”

I blinked at his sudden mood-swing, but quickly let it go. “Oh, yes, we do.”

I reached to my hip, swivelling the messenger bag to the front of my body and flipping it open. Grabbing my Grimoire out of one of the pockets, I flipped through the pages as Bilbo tilted his head to try and read the words from his angle. Finally landing on a page, I came across an old envelope I had stuck in. Lifting the flap, I pulled out a piece of lined paper, torn from Kay’s notebook days earlier containing the list of spells we had tried to recall. It seemed silly, that spells from a book series would work, but they did, and we weren’t complaining.

Unfolding and smoothing the thin sheet out, I scoured the list, noting down the ‘safe’ spells we had circled. Whilst Bilbo looked over my shoulder at the paper, I called out to Kay. “Alright! I guess we’ll start you out with the easiest first spell.” Scouring the area, my eyes landed on a small log and I pointed at it. “Try levitating that log.”

Kay took a stance, before taking a deep breath, setting her stern eyes on the log. Reaching her wand out, she waved it with a swish and a flick, muttering the charm under her breath. Soon enough, the log began to rise, fallen leaves sliding off and floating to the ground as it hovered in the air.

Kay screamed in excitement, throwing her hands in the air as she beamed at her accomplishment. She whirled around to face us, the log dropping to the ground with a thud as she did. “Did you see that?!?!” she squealed, jumping on the spot as her hands cupped her face in shock.

I nodded enthusiastically, whilst Bilbo simply gawked at the now unmoving log.

“Tha – how? How did yo – That was incredible!” he gasped.

Kay nodded dramatically, her copper hair flopping over her face as she did. She quickly beckoned me over, and I handed the list to Bilbo.

“I don’t suppose you could read out the circled ones?” I said, pointing at the words. He looked up, nodding with a nervous smile.

Thanking him, I brought him with me to stand between me and Kay. Raising my wand, I tried out the levitating spell, watching in excitement as the log rose once again, before slowly lowering down. Then me and Kay both raised our wands, waiting for Bilbo to read out the first spell.

“Okay, so Ag – oh Yavanna what in Middle Earth does that say?? Ag – Aguam – A-goo-ah… men..tee??”

“Aguamenti?” Kay suggested.

“Yes, that!” He replied.

“Ok,” I said. “let’s do that one.”

Pointing our wands ahead, we both said the charm. It didn’t work at first, which was expected, but Kay managed hers on the second try, water shooting out like a jet and giving the bush several metres away a shower. I managed on my third try, but we both found it difficult to get it to stop, but after pulling our wands away while visualising the intention of stopping, it worked.

Turning to Bilbo, we both waited patiently for the next challenge. Drawing his attention away from the large puddle we had created in front of him, he scoured the list.

“Right, well erm…”

---

The spell trial went almost perfectly, the log now lost amongst the bushes after I’d flung my wand about too hard and sent it flying. Some spells had been easy to do, the two of us managing them after the second or third try, but, as expected, the more complex ones took longer, taking up to twenty tries at certain points, and some were straight up impossible to do.

After realising that not all of them could be done, we tried our best to improve the basic ones as much as we could. I exceeded with the fire spell, pointing my wand around and setting random leaves and dead bushes on fire, whilst Kay was more skilled with water, following me around as she shot at each fire I set, putting them out before they grew, and also threatening to shoot me in the face if I carried on.

--

Darkness was already setting in as we decided to head back, the couple hours if spellcasting draining us more than we expected. Bilbo held out his lantern, watching as I excitedly lit it with a spell, and we began our trek back.

We had travelled back about a quarter of the way, when Kay caught up with me.

“Hey, I don’t suppose we could go to the lake?” She asked, and I faced her with a curious look. “ I want to visit where I found my wand, and see if I can figure out what happened to me.”

I nodded, and looked to Bilbo who was ahead lighting the way. “Hey Bilbo?” I called out, receiving a humin response. “Could we quickly pop to the lake? We just wanna check something out real quick.”

He let out a sigh, but reluctantly gave in. “Fine, but we must be no longer than ten minutes. I want to make it back to make dinner on time.”

Thanking him, we sped up, speed-walking until we hit the main path, taking a few detours that would take us the long way to Bilbo’s house, that would also pass the lake.

By the time we got there, it was already dark, the sun setting earlier in the deep winter months. Approaching the black water, it had already began to re-freeze, new ice expanding from the half melted sheets from last night, one that was so cold, the three of us took shifts waking up to add wood and stoke the fires around the house all night.

Frosty reeds swayed in the icy wind, the breeze biting at our exposed skin more than ever as we peered into the rippling depths of the lake.

“Girl I am glad I didn’t have to drag you out in this weather.” I mumbled to Kay, keeping out of earshot of the hobbit who was currently stood on the path part-ways up a bank, about ten metres away.

“I am too. Neither of us would’ve survived that night if it was like this.” She replied with a shiver.

“Do you remember anything that happened between you leaving and waking up?” I questioned.

Kay was quiet for a moment. “…Not really, I remember what I had already told you, but everything after that had gone black, like I was back in that void we ended up in, on the bridge back in our world.” She paused. “Actually, it’s not much, but there were a couple times when I could feel myself try to wake up, once when I was stood at the edge, and the other when I was at the bottom of the lake. But it was all blurry, like someone was holding up a TV covered in frosted glass on the other side of a room I couldn’t reach.”

“Are you two going to take long?” Bilbo called over the wind, holding his lantern up higher for us to see better. “We do really need to get back.”

I gave him a thumbs up, turning back to the water as I stepped onto the familiar small pebble beach, standing just where the miniscule waves lapped at the tips of my boots. Kay soon joined me, trying to look beneath the surface with the limited light.

“I don’t think we’re going to find anything tonight.” She sighed, dejectedly. “Actually, I don’t think we’ll be finding anything for a while, because I’d rather eat a mouthful of raw chicken covered in dog sick than swim outside in December. Or January. Or February, for that matter.”

“I agree.” I mumbled back, side-eying the frozen death-trap in front of us. “Let’s just go back and stick our hands and feet into the nearest fire. We can figure this out another time.”

I went to turn back, when Kay shot out her hand to latch onto my arm for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Do you have a personal vendetta against this arm or something?” I poked, facing her. “At this point we don’t need matching tattoos cuz your handprint will do just that.”

All she did was slap at my shoulder, silencing me whilst refusing to look my way as she reached out to point across the water.

“What? – ” Another slap. I quickly quietened down and squinted at the darkness in front of me. Though I didn’t have to look for long.

Looking across, the bank at the opposite end of the lake would’ve been lost in darkness, if it weren’t for the large blue shape glowing from where it sat in the grass.

I instantly felt fear pierce down my spine as recognition hit me in the chest, but confusion wormed its way in as I took a closer look at the shape. No wings, or legs, just one long body, and amongst the coil of scales, a head covered in a multitude of bony and sharp-looking spines.

A snake.

And – excuse my language – a real fucking big one at that.

Like, thirty, fourty feet long?? And body thick enough for me to not even wrap my arms around it! And from beside me, I heard Kay whisper out one word.

“Basilisk.”

I slowly began to back away. “Yea, Basilet’s get the fuck out of here.” I hissed, tugging at her arm.

Luckily, it hadn’t seen us, the light of Bilbo’s lantern blending in with the street lanterns that flickered up in the hills, and said hobbit was not noticing a thing, too busy staring up at the stars as he waited.

The pebble beach rose slightly at the end where it met the grass, so I tried my best to take a huge step up it as silently as I could. Kay went to do the same, but was still staring behind her at the snake, and her foot didn’t go as high, scraping against the small bank, causing some pebbles to dislodge, their noise carrying across the water as they fell.

We both froze, tensing at the sound, stock still as we waited for the last pebble to finish its journey down. When it was silent again, we both slowly turned to see if it had heard us. It hadn’t, and it carried on hunting for something in the tall grass.

We both let out a sigh of relief, most of the tension leaving our body as we silently began making our way over to Bilbo.

The hobbit was still staring at the night sky, his hand raised as his finger absentmindedly pointed up and moved about slightly, most likely trying to make out the constellations. He slowly turned on the spot, not seeing the wooden fence post next to him, and the lantern collided against it, letting out a loud ‘clank’ that echoed through the crisp air.

The snake’s head shot up, detecting the soundwaves. Flicking it’s tongue out, it scoured the area for only a moment, before its slitted eyes were on us. Bearing its glowing orbs into ours, the three of us had a staring match for the next few seconds. I blinked, and in a flash, it lowered its head. I blinked again, and it was already sliding into the water. Directly towards us.

“Ok, we’ve got to go.” I stated shakily, and shot my hand out to grab Kay, hauling her forward, and the both of us began sprinting.

Clambering up the hill, my hands dug into the mud and gripped onto slippery grass blades until we reached the path, where I reached my arm around the waist of an unsuspecting Bilbo. He let out a yelp as I snatched him up, almost dropping the lantern in his hands.

“What. Are. You. Doing????” He strained out as his arms and legs jumped up and down with each step.

“Just uhhh – ” I heaved between breaths. “Me and Kay decided to race back?? Didn’t want to leave you behind.”

“Well at least give me a warning next time??” He scolded, and I gave him a nod in reply, before speeding up as much as I could with the extra weight.

Up and up the winding paths we ran, skipping some as we jumped and scrambled up the banks between to try and make short-cuts. At this point the snake had crossed the lake, breaking the water without a ripple as it slithered up the banks, gaining speed with every second.

I slipped on the icy ground over and over as we sped up the path, my panic causing my clumsiness to increase tenfold, and only having my non-dominant arm free didn’t help. To our luck, we rounded the corner, losing sight of the creature, but not losing sound as a guttural hiss pierced the air.

“What was that?” Bilbo demanded, his own nerves starting to settle in as he tried to twist in my arms to look behind.

“No clue.” Kay quickly replied from just behind me, the noise motivating her to speed up even more, her hand pressing against the back of my shoulder blades as she helped usher me along.

“Uhh, I think you do?” he jabbed back.

“We don’t have time for this, cmon!” Kay pushed, exasperated at Bilbo, who only replied with an arched brow.

The warm light from Bilbo’s windows soon appeared, and we pushed the last bits of adrenaline to get us up the garden path and slam against the circular door, swinging it open and crashing onto the floor in the doorway.

The moment didn’t last though, as I was up in a flash and hauling the door shut, pressing my back against it. Flailing my hand out, I beckoned for Kay to come over.

She did, joining me by the small circle window next to the door, the two of us trying to peer through the pieces of paned glass into the darkness outside.

We both stilled as our sights set on the blue glow that grew brighter and brighter on the left, and it wasn’t long before a large head came into view, the snake’s entire body lowered to the ground as it slowly slid silently along the path in front of Bilbo’s fence.

It slowed as it neared the gate, and the two of us lowered ourselves until our eyes were just peeking over the top, thankful that the entrance hall wasn’t lit as we hid in the darkness of the house.

I caught movement in the corner of my eye, and peered to the left, only to see Bilbo stood at the opposite window, frozen with wide eyes as he stared out at the creature. Panic shot through me, as I realised his face was on full view in the window. And it seemed Kay had realised the same thing.

“Bilbo!!” she hissed as quietly as she could. The hobbit darted his head towards her, face full of fright. She waved her hand up and down, gesturing for him to lower himself from the window. “Get down!”

He did so, taking one last look at the creature before he darted down out of sight. I kept an eye on the window, watching the snake as it took one last look around, apparently deciding to call it a day, and turned, just like the winged creature had done with me, returning back down the hill, twisting and slithering until it disappeared over the edge and out of sight.

I let out a sigh of relief, slumping against the wall as I slid to the floor.

“Whuh – What??” Poor Bilbo was now hyperventilating, his mouth gaping open and shut as he tried to stammer out the words that caught in his throat.

Kay stood up, walking over and offering a hand, only to be met with Bilbo raising his hand to stop her. She did so, and we both watched as he quickly calmed his breathing, easing himself onto his feet. Bending over slightly with his hands on his hips, he took a few calming breaths, furrowing his brows as he blinked rapidly.

Kay went to open her mouth, only getting a sound out when Bilbo’s hand shot out again.

“No, no. I’ve seen quite enough.” He stated, looking up at the both of us sternly. I felt dread settle in my stomach as I watched a flurry of emotions cross the hobbits face. “I was quite happy with the magic, but this – this.” He gestured at the door with a flop of his arm. “I just – I’m going to bed.” He rubbed his hand across his face tiredly as he made his way down the hallway. “Goodnight.” He rounded the corner, leaving us in the entrance hall.

All we did was stare frozen at the door he left through, and I could feel my hands start to twist in my lap. A hand tapped my shoulder, and I looked up to Kay stood over me.

“C’mon,” she mumbled. “We need to go to bed too. We can worry about him in the morning.”

I nodded silently, feeling more unease settle in about the possibilities of tomorrow, praying to whatever Deity I had ever given offerings to that the worst wouldn’t happen. Getting to my feet, I slipped off my shoes and outer layer of winter wear, and trailed after Kay.

--

I didn’t get out of bed the next morning, too anxious to face the hobbit, fearing the worst outcome, which was us becoming homeless.

Kay wasn’t any better, having got up before the sun even rose to make us tea, disappearing back to my room before Bilbo could even stir. We were now both sat on the wide window ledge, cushions behind our backs, as we stared over the bushes of Bilbo’s garden and out across the rolling hills in the distance, listening to the morning birdsongs that floated through the blanket of mist that coated the ground, and drifted between the open windows along with the chill. We remained like that until lunchtime, wrapped in blankets and talking quietly, until there was a knock at my door.

The two of us turned our heads to face Bilbo as he stuck his head around the door, his eyes darting around slightly as he barely made eye-contact. We both waited silently, too nervous to speak.

Seeing that we weren’t going to talk first, Bilbo took a deep sigh, and stepped into the room, one hand still on the door.

“Look, I –” he began, rubbing his forehead. “I know last night I was… frustrated, but I know what I saw wasn’t your fault. It’s just that – it’s just, I feel like there’s always something going on with you two, and don’t get me wrong! What happens is harmless most of the time! But there have been points where my mind just…” he took a deep breath. “All of this overwhelms me, and I just want to know that you’re safe, I’m safe, along with everyone else. Because if this home ends up becoming dangerous, I don’t know if I can keep on pretending it’s all fine. Do you two understand what I’m saying?”

We both gave silent nods in reply, solemn looks on all of our faces as we absorbed his words.

“Now don’t you two go thinking that I’m blaming you for any of this.” He said, giving us a pointed look. “And it’s not like I haven’t enjoyed getting to know you both, and the trail of crazy things you’ve left behind since the moment you got here.” He gave a smile, walking over to where we were at the window. “Just tell me next time something like this happens, because I know you’re as clueless as I am about all this, if your research in those books you brought say anything.”

We both faced him fully, confusion on our faces.

“Wait, you’ve read my books??” I questioned.

He rocked back and forth on his heels, raising his eyebrows and nodding. “I’m very good at cleaning, I’ll have you know.” He lectured, waving a finger at me. “And you’re not very good at tidying your books away.”

I sighed at myself, a sheepish look on my face.

“The two of you are dealing with things completely unheard of in Middle Earth, from my knowledge anyway, Yavanna knows what someone like Gandalf has seen in his lifetime.” He mumbled to himself. “So this won’t be your eviction notice, for now.” He paused as he gave us a look, until a smile slowly rose onto his face. “Now up! You’ve missed breakfast, second breakfast, and elevensies, and at this point, you’ll be missing luncheon! How you two haven’t turned to skeletons yet is beyond me.” He nagged as he pattered away to the kitchen. A pause went by. “I know you two haven’t moved yet!” he called out, sending us into a frenzy as we chucked our blankets off and sped-walked after him.

--

Bilbo made sure to make a hearty luncheon, filled with pork pie, scotch eggs, tomato soup and vegetables to snack on. Most of it was spent chattering on about local events, and the latest gossip. At one point it was even interrupted by Erard ringing the bell, which caused me to shoot out of my seat to check if Bilbo hadn’t accidentally eaten the batch of cupcakes I had made for the doctor, much to the disgruntled mumbling that he ‘would never do such a thing’.

The meal was finished off with a slice of poppy seed cake, and as we were washing up, Bilbo turned to me, asking if he could discuss last night’s events with us.

“I thought we had already done that?” I asked, confused.

“Yes, but..” Bilbo trailed off in thought as he swept up the last of the crumbs on the table. “during my.. ‘accidental snooping’, I came across some methods for um.. spiritual protection, was it?”

I nodded slowly, choosing to forget that he had sneaked a look at my stuff. “Mhm, what did you want to know?”

We all sat down at the now clean table as he continued speaking. “I couldn’t help but wonder about how you’re going to.. deal with that-” he jabbed a finger at the window. “-thing. Considering you both ran from it, I’m taking a guess that it isn’t friendly.”

“Things.” Kay said quickly.

He blinked in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“Things.” She repeated nervously. “There’s two of them.”

The poor hobbit’s frown lines deepened on the spot, his eyebags seemingly darkening as he slowly dragged a hand across his face.

“Remind me to never take what I see as the whole thing with you two.” He groaned from behind his hand. “Or I’ll be in an early grave by the time I’m sixty at this point.”

“C’mon Bilbo.” I jived as I leaned back in my chair. “We wouldn’t let that happen to you.”

“I starting to find that hard to believe.” He sighed in response, staring at the window with tired eyes.

“Anyway,” Kay started, quickly moving the conversation on. “I’m guessing you want to know if were able to stop it.”

He nodded. “Get rid of them, even. I’m relatively okay with what’s going on, considering I’ve been expecting crazy things the moment I dragged you both in, but if anyone around us got any idea that two humans from… elsewhere, were causing a noticeable disturbance, they wouldn’t be so lenient. I mean, you saw how everyone was in the first few months, including myself!”

I grimaced. “Yea, getting twice as many stares and whispers as we did is definitely not on the agenda.”

“Don’t even get me started on my reputation in town!” he blurted. “I’d be the source of rumours until the day I die, I tell you!” he quickly realised his words. “U-Uh not that it matters more! Anyway! Anyway, what I was saying before.” He flapped his hands around as if the brush away his last comment. “I saw something hanging above Kay’s doorway, and uh..” he pointed his finger in the direction of Kay’s room slightly, eyes flitting hesitantly between us and the doorway. “I was wondering what that was?”

“Oh! That’s a.. rowan cross?” Kay answered, eyeing me for confirmation, to which I nodded.

Bilbo nodded, almost sighing in relief.

“What?” I prodded playfully. “Did you think it was a Satan symbol or something?”

He scrunched his face in confusion. “What’s a Satan?”

“Uh… nevermind.” I said, dropping the subject before we instilled more fear into him. “The Rowan Cross just works as a ward for nasty spirits and people, but it won’t work against those things forever, until we figure out what they are, and I don’t think we ever will, unless we can find someone who can help us or give us some ideas.”

Kay perked up slightly. “Like Gandalf?”

I nodded, rubbing my lip in thought. “He could probably help, but it’s not like we know where he is.”

Kay slumped in her chair with a huff at the reality, until a thought came to her mind. “We could… wait to see if he shows up?” she suggested, with a hardly detectable tone of ‘You know what I’m talking about, right?’. I gave her a subtle look of realisation.

“I guess.” I said as ideas came to mind. “And we could improve our skills in the meantime? See if the use of magic can draw him to us somehow?”

Kay nodded in excitement, whilst Bilbo sat trying to decipher the conversation.

“Wait what?” he said in confusion. “You want to wait until Gandalf comes here? How do you know he will?”

“No idea.” Said Kay with a shrug. “But it’s our best shot without wandering into the wilderness and straight up dying.”

“In the meantime..” I piped up as the two turned to me. “I don’t suppose at some point during the next few months, we could take a trip to Bree?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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