#it's a cocktail of sleep problems

[chibi-pix]

Being a parent is no easy feat. Being a fifteen year old mom with little bundle of Galran joy? It's probably a bit like playing a game on hard mode without even knowing how to play. But hey, she's doing her best. Not sure if that coffee will wake her up, but it's a start.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this one! Until next time!

[mustymausoleum]

I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents I hate living with my parents

[passiveagressivepoet]

you can pry my sleep playlist from my cold dead hands

[thebibliosphere]

If you feel like talking about it — what’s the *aftermath* of anaphylaxis like? I know that an epipen is just step one, and further treatment and observation follows at a hospital, but I’m curious about what the subjective experience is like in the longer term; whether one can bounce back fairly well or whether there’s lingering unpleasantness.

So with the caveat that everyone experiences things differently (and putting this under a cut because I don't want to trigger anyone):

After epi is administered, you're usually put on a cocktail of drugs ranging from several different IV antihistamines (typically a mix of h1 and h2 histamine blockers and a giant whack of benadryl), anti-nausea meds, a beta-agonist to assist with breathing, and a shit-whack of steroids.

Once you've been stable for a few hours and discharged, you'll be told to watch for symptoms for up to 72 hours, which is the period in which a biphasic reaction can happen. (For me, it's always within 20 minutes to 8 hours after rescue medication is administered if I'm going to slip back into an allergic response, but everyone is different.)

Depending on your symptoms, you'll sometimes be told to take an antihistamine for up to 72 hours (if you're not already taking one daily), but the one thing they always send you home with is a steroid like prednisone. I usually need a 5-7 day dose because I need to taper off it or my adrenals crash, but some people get a 3-day dose and come off it with no problems.

Body-wise, it's a draining experience, and the medications often leave you both tired and wired. It's an odd sensation.

Mentally and emotionally, it takes me a lot longer to recover because I've just been smacked with a proverbial mallet of stress hormones and adrenaline, and that can often lead to depressive moods and even rage for some people. The prednisone also heightens emotions, so it's not unusual to be having some of the wildest mood swings of your life while also processing the stress of what just happened.

It takes me a while to bounce back, typically about a week on full rest, but I know some people who claim to feel fine in a couple of days. Couldn't be me, haha. My body goes into hibernation mode for quite a while, and I'll be lying in bed exhausted and jittering like I've had ten espressos, but I don't know how much of that is general anaphylaxis or how much of that is specific to my mast cell disorder.

So, for me, it's a desperate need to sleep, jitteriness, depression, and rapid mood swings from the prednisone followed by a general feeling of blegh. It also takes me about 72 hours to be able to eat solid foods again because of the effect anaphylaxis has on the digestive tract (the esophagus is lined with histamine receptors; that's why some heartburn meds are actually antihistamines.), but I suspect that's my MCAS.

It's basically just a bit shit, lol.

[mockerycrow]

Lately I've been dying with stress induced migraines and was wondering if I could request the 141 or any character of your choosing to take care of the reader suffering from them??

MIGRAINES (Ghost x GN!Reader)

ghost masterlist

[WARNINGS; medicine/drugs, inaccuracy of medicine stuff, inaccuracy of military, fluff, physical hurt/comfort, mention of overdosing, it’s implied you do not have regular sleeping problems.]

You know a migraine is about to come on when you’re looking down at the paper in front of you—something about a past mission—and you can’t see the lower right corner of the paper. You blink harshly and rub your eyes, the blotch not leaving which leads you to believe it’s a migraine aura. A heavy feeling forms in the bottom of your stomach, a weird sensation blooming in the nape of your neck. You put the paper down for a moment and rub your eyes—it’s only Tuesday and this will be your second migraine. 

You feel frustration ebb at your nerves as tears threaten to spill, causing you to let out a shuddery breath. You stand up from the office chair you’re sitting in, near your desk in your barracks. You decided that you should warn the Captain about your aura and that you would need some rest for the incoming day and maybe even tomorrow.

You can already feel the light sensitivity setting in. It doesn’t hurt just yet as you open your door and you’re forced to be under fluorescent lights, but you can tell your tolerance is lower than usual. You offer quiet greetings to those who you pass in the hall, making your way across base to the offices. You squint a bit more, the muscles surrounding your eyes tensing. You can’t help but wonder why they use such shitty lighting in an office space.

You stop in front of a door with a name plate labeled “CPT. JOHN PRICE”, and you knock on the door a couple of times. You hear his gruff voice, saying something along the lines of come in. You open the door and close it behind yourself, looking at Price who is looking up from his paperwork; probably surrounding the last mission like yours is, too. “I feel another migraine coming on, Captain. I came to ask for the day off.” 

Price’s eyes narrow for just a moment in concern. He knows your history with migraines, and how they’re usually induced by stress. “Alright, but you make sure to go see medical if it persists, yeah?” Price says with a lifting tone, but it’s not a question, it’s an order. You go to open your mouth, but Price beats you to it. “I know they can’t do much for you, but those painkiller cocktails are very much worth it.”

You close your eyes as a wave of nausea passes over you, causing you to freeze for a moment. The man in front of you utters your name which prompts your eyes to open back up. His eyes are scanning your face. eyebrows lifting ever so slightly to prompt an answer. You press your lips together and give him a nod; those cocktails are lifesavers, but they don’t last as long as you need them to. You’re thankful for his suggestion anyway. Price gives you a firm nod. “Hope to see you tomorrow feeling better, sergeant.”

“Thank you, Captain.” You reply before leaving his office, pinching the bridge of your nose, trying to stave off that beginning twinge of pain beginning in the base of your skull.

Something was off—Ghost could feel it in his bones. When you don’t show up for morning PT, he knows something is off, especially when for the second time in a few days, Price hands him a signed off medical emergency paper from you. It contained no details, nothing other than “1 day medical absence” signed by Price himself. It left Ghost feeling uneasy; you are not the type to do this type of thing, even when you had the seasonal flu, it was like the entire 141 had to lecture you to slow down, or maybe even rest a bit.

Ghost half expects you to show up anyway, but just like a few days ago, you are nowhere to be found. Ghost finds some free time a bit after 1500, so he makes his way towards medical. Perhaps you were physically injured? He steps into the infirmary and is met with a few pairs of eyes, a couple of them shocked to see him. “Lieutenant! How can we help you?” A medic at a cart parked against the wall asks, quickly packing up something he was doing. Ghost utters your name, glancing around. “Are they here?” He grunts.

“No, sir,” The medic replies. “They did stop by for some treatment, though.” Ghost’s eyebrows furrow for a moment; treatment? Treatment for what? Ghost doesn’t bother to ask, knowing the medics wouldn’t likely tell him anyway, so he murmurs a shirt thank you before leaving the infirmary. He racked his brain—what possibly could keep you out of commission willingly when not even a GSW would? Ghost then decides right then that he will head for your barracks.

He makes his way across base, going from the infirmary unit all the way across to the on-base barracks. Gears are turning in his head as he tries to not jump to conclusions—is there a physical injury he’s not being told about?—and Ghost is failing. You’re one of the couple of folks who don’t have a roommate, so he knocks with a purpose as there isn’t anyone else to worry about bothering. He waits for a few moments and is greeted with silence, so he knocks again with a loud and deep, “Sergeant?”

Ghost is met with silence again, which doesn’t soothe his nerves. He tries the doorknob and to his surprise—and concern—it works. Ghost slowly opens the door to find your room in complete darkness, the only light being the one from the hall which is illuminating your bed. He sees you hunched over in your bed, wrapped in your blankets with your face half buried into your pillow. Near your bed is a TV tray stand with two plastic bowls with separate washcloths hanging off of the side of the bowls. There’s an orange medicine bottle and a small white medicine bottle next to a half empty water bottle and another full unopened bottle.

Ghost closes the door behind himself as he walks over to you, narrowly avoiding the TV tray stand. He peels back the velcro of one of his gloves before removing it, pressing the back of his hand to the part of your forehead that is exposed. Your temperature feels fine at first so he turns his hand over and presses his wrist to the small part of your forehead and he receives the same result. Ghost blinks for a moment, noting that you have no fever. Immense relief floods over him; he’s not exactly sure why.

He calls your name and puts a hand on your arm, shaking you ever so slightly. You don’t move a muscle, but you’re breathing just fine. Ghost looks over at the bottles of medicine and leans over, grabbing both of them. He reads “Zaleplon” and “Rizatriptan”. With a quick google search on his phone, he finds out they are both prescribed medications, which makes his eyebrows furrow in confusion. You have prescribed medications? For sleeping and migraines? You’ve never mentioned this before.

Ghost puts them back down on the TV tray stand and he shakes your shoulder a bit more forcefully as it seems you’re really asleep. He feels bad, knowing he should just let you rest, but he doesn’t know if you’ve eaten. He has no idea if you have only drunk that one bottle of water all day, if you have left to go to the bathroom—nothing. He calls your name louder which still does not harbor a response from you, making his gut tighten once again.

He knows it’s the anxiety talking, that you would be careful with medicine, careful enough to not take too much—but he can’t help but still worry. Ghost doesn’t know that maybe you forgot you took a sleeping pill before popping another, putting you in a deeper sleep. Your breathing seems fine, so you’re definitely not struggling in that department. Maybe you’re just sleeping heavier than usual?

But what if you did take more than needed? What if this is you in the middle of an overdose? You are indeed turned over, your face halfway smushed into the pillow. That’s enough to strike anxiety into Ghost’s soul so he grabs your shoulder and forcefully rolls you onto your back, a heavy relieved sigh leaving him when he doesn’t see any vomit or excess saliva on your pillow or hoodie. Your skin is its usual color, as well as your lips. Ghost’s fingers grab your wrist to feel your pulse, counting the beats. Your heart rate is fine.

So why are you not waking up? And why is he so anxious about it?

Ghost calls your name even louder and his shoulders relax when he hears a quiet groan leave your lips. Your closed eyelids squeeze together for a moment before an expression of pain floods your face, causing Ghost to press his lips together underneath his balaclava. “There ya are,” Ghost murmurs, putting a hand on your shoulder. Your eyes flutter open and they land on Ghost after a moment. “Ghost,” You breathe out, pain lacing your tone.

The room is dark so you’re both struggling to see each other, but Ghost doesn’t mind. If it helps your head, he will gladly squint. “Have ya eaten?” He grunts out, his voice rumbling and low in his chest. You let out a tired breath and rub your eyes, taking a moment to answer. “What time is it?” You croak, your hands moving from your eyes to your temples. Ghost pulls out his phone, it being too dark to look at his watch. “1321.” He replies, making you inhale sharply and let out a groan. “Shit, didn’t mean to sleep that long.” You slur ever so slightly.

“Did’ja miss a dose?” Ghost questions, and you let out a quiet “mhm”. You hear Ghost reach over to the TV tray stand, but you can’t tell what he’s doing. You hear one of the medicine bottles pop open. His hand finds yours and gives you a pill, and then you hear the water bottle crinkle. “Up.” He orders, and you comply, sitting up just enough to take the medicine. You wince at the change in angle so easily irritates your pounding skull, but you appreciate the soothing water running down your throat. Ghost caps the water bottle and puts it back. You hear water sloshing around and one of the washcloths being wrung out, and you flinch ever so slightly when you feel a cold washcloth being tucked underneath your head and against the nape of your neck.

“When did you start ‘aving migraines?” Ghost asks. His tone isn’t accusatory, but it’s clear he’s confused on why he was never let known. He’s also your superior next to Price, looked over the necessary files. You let your eyes shut, focusing on the cold feeling seeping underneath your skin. You appreciate the man keeping his voice down. “Always had ‘em, but they’re stress induced. They aren't constant.” You reply, your voice also remaining low, barely disturbing the silence of your room. “Had one a day or two ago, guess that shit never left.” You joke, earning a huff from Ghost. “Y’didn’t answer my question. When’s the last time you have eaten?” Ghost inquires, making you let out a sigh. “Mm, maybe 4 or 5 hours ago,” You hum. “I should go grab something soon, helps the medicine kick in faster.”

Ghost shakes his head even though you can barely tell. “No need, I’ll grab it. Are you experiencing nausea?” Ghost stands up from the bed, the mattress leveling out. “A bit, yeah. Could you grab something light on the stomach?” You request, your fingers grabbing your blanket as a warm fuzzy feeling in your gut begins to distract you from the pounding in your temples. “‘Course.” And with that, Ghost leaves you with your thoughts for the time being. You don’t understand why he’s being so nice and generous—it’s not like Ghost is not nice, but he’s usually more teasing and serious about getting shit done. 

To be fair, the last time you got injured, he also took care of you. You had earned a nasty brush with death after being too close to a large explosion. You had been thrown back into a wall, crashing through the other side, earning you a broken shoulder and a piece of wood through the major artery in your thigh—as well as the classic severe concussion, of course. This happened about a year ago and when your shoulder aches, Ghost somehow knows and offers to rub cream into it. It’s similar to Soap’s knee pain, so he knows what to do. Countless nights over a year of rubbing cream into the part of your shoulder that you can’t reach, the words left unspoken between you two? 

Ghost returns with a light meal for you as well as a cup of ice water, knowing it’ll help you more than your room temperature water bottles. Something about Ghost being so domestic over this past year up to now, taking care of you and bringing you food, rubbing cream into your shoulder when needed, when he took you to those temporary physical therapy appointments for your shoulder? Something snapped inside of you and you could never look at him in the same friendly way and by the way he looks and speaks to you, it seems to be the same for him.

[dandylovesturtles]

listen ok I know shit is dire in CAS land (by @somerandomdudelmao) but I had this stupid idea and it's a slow day at work and I type fast so here you go I didn't proofread this at all

I'm sorry I made it silly

Massive spoilers if you haven't read the new CAS update

...

"I can fix it," is a much easier thing to say than to do. Casey's thinking that as he takes long, quick strides through the lair, turning the problem over in his head as fast as he can. He hopes Uncle Tello can't hear the parts of his thoughts that are in a panic, but based on their conversation before he probably can.

Uncle Tello doesn't say anything about it, and Casey kind of wishes he would, just for the reassurance that he's still there.

He's so absorbed in his thoughts he doesn't notice Donnie (the younger Donnie, the physical Donnie) standing in front of him until it's too late and he's already collided with his back. Coffee spills everywhere, though thankfully it only splashes his plastron where he can't get burned.

Younger Donnie whirls, something distinctly murderous in his eye that feels so weird and wrong directed at Casey. It cools only slightly when Donnie processes it wasn't one of his brothers bumping into him, and somehow that feels just as weird, that Donnie has to readjust his feelings to accommodate the unfamiliarity. (He's not family, not to this Donnie.)

"Is something chasing you?" Donnie snaps.

"Uh... no-"

"Is there a fire?"

"No, but-"

"Do you need glasses?"

"I don't... think so?"

"Then watch where you're going!"

He spins on his heel and marches off, toward the kitchen to get more coffee, Casey assumes. For a moment he's left too off kilter and dumbfounded to remember what he was doing.

Then Uncle Tello's voice in his head startles him out of it. What just happened?

Oh, uh... I ran into the other version of you.

Ran into?

Literally. I spilled his coffee.

Ah, and he didn't take it well.

And Casey knows he shouldn't stop for this. Casey knows they may be on limited time and he has to fix this and Uncle Tello shouldn't have to listen to his whining about things that don't matter.

But he's been holding in so many feelings for so long and even if it's just in his head, hearing his uncle's (dad's) voice makes it rush out of him before he can stop it.

I don't think he likes me very much. I touched his shell the other day and he snapped at me. I got mad at him when he touched your tech and that made him mad, too. I don't know how to talk to him.

He doesn't really know how to talk to any of them, is the thing. It used to be the easiest thing in the world, and now it's a wall he hasn't yet learned how to scale.

He can feel his thoughts spiraling against his will. He doesn't have time for this, but the grief and the lack of sleep and the lack of easy affection are all mixing together with the weirdness of it all into a dangerous Molotov cocktail of emotions and he's not sure what will light the fuse.

Casey Jr, says Uncle Tello's voice.

Uncle Tello?

Do you want to see something really funny?

Casey can't help but make a strangled noise at the back of his throat, one that isn't a laugh but isn't a cry either. Something funny?

Yeah. Trust me, it'll be hilarious. Go to my lab.

Casey hesitates. He doesn't let me in there without him...

I feel confident I outrank him. Wait, how old is he?

Sixteen.

Ahhh, that explains it. I know I'm an absolute delight now, but at that age I could be a real pill.

It startles an actual laugh out of Casey. Without arguing further, he rushes to Donnie's lab, quick before he can finish brewing his coffee.

How do I get in?

Is this the subway?

Yeah.

Okay, there's a manual override for the voice lock hidden in one of the wall panels, should be... three to the left, middle of the door. Give that a good knock. Shave and a haircut~

Casey does as directed, and the panel slides back, revealing a flat, glossy keypad.

What's the access code? he asks, feeling like they're on some secret mission now. Maybe it doesn't fall into what people in this time consider normal, but to Casey this is standard stuff. He falls into the rhythm of it like a well loved song.

Oh one one four twenty one twenty seven, says Uncle Tello.

Casey punches it in and the door slides open. He slips inside and hits the button to close and lock the door behind him. Donnie still hasn't returned; the mission is proceeding as planned.

Wasn't that the code for one of the weapons lockers in the old- at base?

Yes, it was. Poor security protocol to reuse codes, I know, but I'm partial to that one.

What is it?

Atomic Lass's birth date. Uncle Tello pauses, then adds, Has he shown you any of the old Atomic Lass episodes of Jupiter Jim?

Uh, no...

Ah, continuing to fail my already low expectations, Teen Tello. Never mind, we'll worry about that later on.

Later on. Right, they shouldn't be doing this, they should be trying to fix Uncle Tello, they should be-

To my computer, Casey Jr! I can't type so you'll have to do it for me.

Uncle Tello's voice pulls him out of his reverie, and he hurries to do as he's told.

Uncle Tello walks him through passwords and then through navigating the OS. It's old and out of date compared to what they had in the future (Donatello's custom OS, better than the hacks at Apple and Microsoft, or so he said), but when Casey had called it old and out of date Donnie had gotten mad about that, too.

Ada Lovelace, this is old, says Uncle Tello's voice now, and incredibly Casey laughs again.

But they find what he's looking for and then input a series of commands into the command line. Casey isn't familiar with all of them, but if he had to guess, they just sent a video from late 2019 to every device in the lair.

Alright, mission accomplished, time to retreat, says Uncle Tello's voice, and he hurries out of the lab, just in time to hear a ping from the phone in his pocket.

He pulls it out and watches the video. It's Donnie, only slightly younger than the teen Casey now lives with, adjusting the camera before grinning and posing in front of it. He's in his lab, though a different one than the one here in the subway. He looks cocky.

He moves further back from the camera so his entire body is framed in its lens, then steps onto a skateboard. He glides in a circle for a moment, then jumps to try and do some kind of trick. Casey doesn't know the name of it, but what he does know is that Donnie's feet get caught in his board, and he ends up tumbling to the floor, crashing in an undignified heap, arms splayed out and face smooshed against the concrete.

It shouldn't be funny.

(It's pretty funny.)

It seems the others echo this sentiment, because suddenly Casey can hear laughter erupting from elsewhere in the lair.

"OMIGOSH! Barry, you gotta watch this!"

"HAHAHAHA BRO ATE SHIT!"

"Hah... Don't worry Donnie, I'm sure you'll get it next ti-hahahahaha!"

There's the sound of scurrying feet, and then Donnie slides into the hall, glaring at Casey who forgot he should be moving away from the crime scene.

"YOU!" he screeches.

Casey freezes. What is he supposed to say? What excuse does he have? The you in my head told me to do it? Yeah right.

Casey does the only sensible thing and turns to run.

Casey Jr?

Uncle Tello!?

What's happening now?

The other you is after me!

Oh. Well. Better run fast.

Casey turns on the speed, sprinting down the corridor and toward the only exit he knows, Donnie hot on his trail.

Why is every younger version of you so scary!?

Oh please, there's no way that scrawny, barely pubescent mess is scary. Have you ever heard his voice crack?

...Well, yeah...

See? Hilarious. And we didn't even have to pull up my browser history.

Okay, but none of this helped us fix anything.

Ah well. One problem at a time.

[01zfan]

mango flavored | o. st

coworker!shotaro x fem. reader | 7.6k words

thought about how shotaro was studying economics in school and i started thinking a little too much…i promise i’m so normal about him.

contains: secret relationship, reader and shotaro are tipsy, fingering (fem. receiving), teasing, unprotected sex (but reader is on birth control)

the mango flavored alcoholic beverage got you by surprise. it went down like juice at this point in the night, although it didn’t go down with any problems to begin with. it was sweet and barely tasted like alcohol, the fruity cocktail tasted like juice with a little bit of a punch.

you weren’t normally the type to drink in a work setting, but it was a special occasion. you and your team were wrapping up the end of a project that ran all your lives for a month. it was extremely ironic to have another late night out after spending the last two weeks in the office after hours. it had gotten to the point that your team would take power naps in the conference room just to come right back out and type away. you thought your eyeballs were going to melt out of your head from the blue light and lack of sleep. but you couldn’t miss out on a celebratory drink with your coworkers. especially because you knew what followed after each project was closed.

“i think you should pace yourself, yeah?” shotaro said into your ear.

he spoke to you quietly, leaning backwards to remove himself from everyone’s line of sight. shotaro tried to be sneaky for no reason—none of your coworkers had picked up on your secret relationship. if they didn’t know what you guys were doing they definitely wouldn’t find out tonight. they were drunk a long time ago, going straight for the hard liquor in contrast to your mixed beverages. they were two shots deep before the food even arrived, and it only got worse from there. you could make out with shotaro in front of them and they probably wouldn’t pay it any mind, and if they did it would be forgotten by the morning. 

you looked to your coworkers sitting directly in front of you and shotaro, engaged in their own conversation. you could hear them a little too well, the alcohol making their speech slurred and loud. you kept staring at them, waiting for them to acknowledge your stare that was less than an arms length away. they were unbothered, shit talking your bosses boss that was elusive and never in the office. you turned back to shotaro to see him staring curiously at you, waiting for a response. you almost forgot what he had asked you when you let your eyes shamelessly eat at him, resting on his lips. 

letting the thought of kissing shotaro enter your mind was a mistake, because now it was all you could think of. it became more and more tempting when his tongue ran over his pink lips. you’re sure he would taste like a mix of the mango beverage he finished for you and the shot he had at the beginning of the night. you thought about how his lips were probably soft from the balm he applied religiously, kept in his front pocket (and a spare in his backpack) for maximum convenience. 

if you were going to hypothetically kiss shotaro in front of the entire marketing team you would have to hold his face too. when you two kissed, his hands always found their place on the back of your neck while yours rested on his face or ran through his hair. his skin was always so soft underneath the pads of your fingers, firing off all the dopamine receptors in your mind. his skin was glowing underneath the warm light of the restaurant, and a little glossy from the warmth and alcohol in his system. shotaro looked cherubic, the apples of his cheeks shining each time he laughed or smiled. 

you constantly felt like you were fighting two wolves each time you thought about shotaro. on one side you saw the angelic sweetheart that everyone in the office loved, but on the other you saw the confident and attractive man that had you on your knees. you thought he was hot in his business casual attire for work but outside of work he was even more captivating. his carefree spirit translated into his fashion, with a hint of classiness that had intrigued you. you had already fucked shotaro by the time you first saw him wearing his casual clothes at a company lunch months prior. it was pleasantly surprising to see a new side to him, the complete opposite of the button ups and slacks he wore to work. you were checking him out the whole lunch, barely contributing to the conversation your bosses were having. when he looked at you worried asking why you hadn’t eaten you lean to whisper in his ear that you were hungry for something else. you saw shotaro’s eyes widen and his ears that were tucked into his beanie get red when he understood what you said. 

ever since the lunch you both started unabashedly flirting with the other during office meals, loving the risk of it all. it was easy to cover it up if someone did ask what you two were chatting about, you and shotaro were friendly. you guys were assigned to nearly every project together so how could you not be cordial? if shotaro had his arm on the back of the chair behind you it was only because he liked the comfort of having an arm up. not to mention shotaro was even more chatty when he was tipsy, talking to anyone who would listen. you became bratty when you got alcohol in your system and you became an awful liar too.

“i’m barely tipsy.” you said, looking back at shotaro. “what’s it to you anyways?”

shotaro ran his hand through his hair for the nth time of the night, staying in the pushed back position he wanted it in. you let yourself look at the rings on his hand then drift down to his face, where a knowing smile had you smiling back. you had crossed the threshold of  “tipsy” a long time ago. you were at the part where you wanted to do unspeakable things to your coworker and you didn’t care if other people saw it. shotaro seemed to know it too when he leaned close to your ear. he was at the part where he started to care less and less about getting caught.

“i don’t know if you’ll be able to handle it later if you’re too drunk.” shotaro said innocently.

it was whatever shotaro had planned for you once you both made it back to your apartment after drinking. it was usually shotaro pressed against your sweaty body while feeling you up or you on your knees for him. it had become plenty of things ever since you started seeing him.

when you first met shotaro you didn’t think he had it in him. he wasn’t shy by any means, instantly hitting it off with everyone in the office but he was just so kind and seemed so innocent. his bright smile and expressive eyes gave the impression that he was the human embodiment of purity. you found out that this very much wasn’t the case half a year ago.

you and shotaro were working on a project about consumer preferences for off brand versions of skincare products alone when the question first came up. it was simple and non assuming on your part, just a question to try and keep yourself awake.

“do you have a girlfriend?” you asked.

shotaro took a break from typing on his computer to turn and look at you. you instantly clarified that you weren’t asking romantically, only curious as to why he transferred to your office’s location. shotaro went back to typing before answering you.

“no i don’t have a girlfriend.” he answered. “i transferred because my friend needed a roommate and i wanted to leave my hometown.” 

“cool, cool.” you typed on your keyboard a couple of times, trying to move on. “any particular reason?” you asked.

shotaro laughed, still typing on his computer. you took a quick peak over your shoulder and saw shotaro with perfect posture filling out endless cells on the spreadsheet. he was a terrible multitasker, having to pull away from his computer before answering you.

“that i don’t have a girlfriend? or why i left my hometown?” shotaro asks.

shotaro smiles at you tripping over your words. you thought this interaction would be the other way around, with him being the mess instead of you. but you have to clear your throat and look at the random words you typed on your computer as an excuse to look away from shotaro.

“why you left. if you want to answer the first question too go ahead.” you said.

shotaro laughed before explaining his reason for moving. he wanted a change of scenery and a chance to spread his wings. he woke up one day realizing he was an adult who had never seen life outside of his prefecture. so when his friend from college told him he was moving shotaro leaped at the chance, transferring from his previous location to this one. shotaro didn’t have a girlfriend because he was too busy with work, which you understood. there was no way to have a significant other when a majority of your day was spent in an office. unless you were seeing your coworker.

it was silent between you two again, the only sound in the office was typing on the keyboards and the occasional sigh. shotaro stopped typing again and turned towards you, a smile on his face.

“do you have a boyfriend?” shotaro asked.

he didn’t clarify why he was asking you that question, you assumed it was to embarrass you. you felt you face heating up as you shook your head staring at the graphs on your computer. it was getting to the part of the night where nothing made sense and your eyes were losing focus. 

“i don’t understand how you don’t have one.” shotaro said. “you’re beautiful.”

you thought that your lack of sleep was making you delirious when you heard shotaro say that. you turned in your chair to face him, and his smile confirmed that you weren’t just hearing things. 

you had foolishly believed that shotaro wasn’t hiding anything underneath his smile and big shining eyes. you thought that you had him figured out, a typical twenty-something that had never pursued a woman before, much less slept with one. but shotaro pursued you that night in the dark office and he got you. you ended up with your back pressed deep into the chair with one foot perched on the edge while the other one pressed into the ground. you could feel your toes curling in your dress shoes from the pleasure while shotaro sat in the chair next to you with his hands shoved into your pants. the sound of typing in the office was replaced with your quiet pants and the subtle squelching while shotaro told you how good you feel. you ended up returning the favor, palming him through his slacks while he put his fingers that were inside of you in your mouth. he held on tight to the armrest of his chair when he came in his pants and squeezed his eyes shut, whispering quiet explexitives. his face was tinted red and sheepishly smiled when he said you two should do this again. 

you learned that night that shotaro was far from innocent. you also learned that you needed more of him. so you two worked out an agreement that everytime you finished a project or were alone in the office together you two would have sex. sex in the office became a rarity especially with the onslaught of group projects.

but now the project was done and shotaro was telling you he had something in store for you. you suddenly didn’t want to drink anymore, pushing the rest of your mango beverage away. you turned to shotaro and lightly shrugged your shoulders.

“i’m actually done for the night.” you said casually.

“good,” shotaro smiled and looked towards the exit of the restaurant before looking at you “wanna get out of here?” he asked.

when you nodded and shotaro flagged down a waitress so he could close out the tab both of you were drinking on. you bid your goodbyes to the table together, giving pleasantries and saying you’ll see them in the office on monday. no one questioned why you and shotaro were leaving together, why he had a hand on the small of your back while he held your bag, or why he got into the cab with you when he lived on the other side of town. 

the cab rides back to your place was always one of your favorite parts of the night. people out on the street passed by you in a blur and lights on buildings caught your eye. when you were tipsy you always felt like you were in a spaceship in a car, moving through space and time while shotaro’s hand rested on your thigh. it felt like the imprint of his hand was burning through your pants, making you squirm in your seat. you moved closer to him and shotaro welcomed it, putting a hand behind you so you could nestle into his chest.

when you got to your apartment shotaro helped you out on his side of the car, wishing the driver a goodnight before closing the door. you waited patiently for shotaro in front of your building, for him to lead you to your room. you just liked his gentle hand resting on the small of your back, helping you up the stairs like you couldn’t walk. the brunt of your drunkness had worn off during the car ride, leaving you with the giggly tipsy feeling. you couldn’t hide your excitement of what was coming your way as shotaro led you up the stairs.

you didn’t waste any time once you closed the door to your apartment. you pulled shotaro close to you by his button up, pressing your lips to his. his lips were incredibly soft and his hand pressed into the door beside your head. you put your tongue in his mouth to taste the mango and the sake, pulling him even closer. shotaro laughed into your lips, letting you explore his mouth as you pleased. he started using his free hand to help you out of your jacket and undo the buttons on your blouse, letting your clothes fall to the floor. when you hastily got out of your shoes shotaro did the same.

when your top was gone shotaro moved his hand to your neck, helping you deepen the kiss. you were getting drunk again off of shotaro alone. you thought about how pent up you were during the whole project, stealing glances during the late night team meetings. you caught shotaro looking too, always asking your team for coffee to hide the fact that he already had your order waiting for you at his desk.

shotaro pulling away from you brought you back to the present. his lips were glossy and already plump from the biting. you had lost yourself in kissing him like you always do, not coming back to reality until shotaro ran his fingers over your bottom lip.

“lets go sit down.” shotaro said.

he walked through your apartment with ease, tracing the same steps he has taken thousands of times. each time he comes over you’re reminded you should try switching your furniture around or buying a painting. it’s ironic, paying rent for a place you’re never at. it would make more sense to split the electricity bill of your office building with all your coworkers. but you like seeing shotaro familiar with your apartment, you enjoy seeing him go into the fridge and know exactly where your bottles of water are. you enjoy seeing him point to the seat he knows you like on the couch, letting you sit there while he unbuttons his shirt. shotaro takes his time, making sure it’s not wrinkled when he lays it over the back of your chair. he sits the two bottles of water on your coffee table and stands in front of you. you look up at him, your hands going to his thighs to touch him.

“still a little stressed?” shotaro asked.

you actually felt the calmest you’ve been in a long time. you weren’t necessarily relaxed, the anticipation making you antsy all over. but you felt calm underneath the squirming feeling to the point that you were enjoying your nerves. regardless, you nodded your head slowly and looked up at shotaro through your eyelashes. he cooed at you, bringing a hand to rub and hold your chin.

“you work so hard for our team.” shotaro said.

it was simple work you did, much easier than what shotaro had to do. he was the one actually gathering the data and doing the math that you barely understood. your job was simply just compiling the answers shotaro gave you into neat graphs and reports to give to your bosses. he knew you felt this way, you never hesitated to tell him that a robot could easily do your job. you let him have it this time when shotaro started moving to get behind you on the couch. 

his body fit between yours and the armrest of the easily. it was the perfect amount of space, your body fit between his legs like a puzzle piece. you sat slotted between shotaro’s legs waiting for his next move. his hands went to your shoulders and guided you backwards until your back was pressed against his chest. it was broad and comfortable, you instantly settled into him. 

shotaro kissed the exposed skin of your shoulder when your body was flush with his. you sighed contently and tipped your head to the side, purposely exposing your neck to him. it was soothing the way shotaro slowly pressed his lips to your skin. each kiss was gentler than the one before. you started having to fight the lack of sleep away. it was catching up to you before you felt shotaro’s cold rings brush against your warm skin. his hands started massaging your shoulders, starting from opposite ends and working their way to the base of your neck. 

shotaro worked through the knots brought on by bad posture and stress, coaxing a satisfied groan from you. it was almost painful when shotaro found a particularly stubborn knot, kneading your skin until you started slumping your shoulders in relief. you had almost forgotten what you both were here to do, too caught up in the comfort of it all.

you brought a hand to rest on top of shotaro’s and he kissed your knuckles, still driving his thumbs into your tensed muscles. he pressed exceptionally hard on a knot, eliciting a pained whine. shotaro kissed the back of your head before going even further. your whine got louder, the mixture of pain and relief causing you to tense your shoulders. shotaro kissed your hand one last time before pulling away from your shoulders. he wrapped his arms around you and pulled him closer to you, placing an open mouthed kiss to the back of your neck. you felt his tongue touch your bare skin before he pulled away. shotaro’s face was close to yours, so close that his hair brushed your skin and his lips were against your ear.

“can i help you relax?” shotaro whispered into your ear.

you could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke to you, his curled lips grazing the shell of your ear. shotaro asked the question so innocently while his hands found their way to your dress pants, undoing the button and pulling down the zipper. he didn’t even have to look down to know what he was doing, a mix of experience and intuition guiding his hands. you nodded against his chest, lifting your hips and pulling off your pants a little too quickly.

while you took off your pants shotaro pulled his hands away from your body to take off his rings. he took them off in front of your face, just to tease you a little more, to let anticipation build all over your body. he put the rings between the bottles of water that sweat from condensation. you discard your pants and shotaro helps guide your back to his chest to the position you were in before. you settle against him and bend your knees to help keep yourself stable, loving the way your skin rubs against his undershirt. one of shotaro’s legs hang over the edge of the couch and he keeps the other extended and close to your body. you can see the way he places the leg, the way he’d be able to keep your legs spread with ease. he kisses the crook of your neck and a gentle hand on your chin tilts your head to expose more of your neck.

you keep your head in the same place as you feel shotaro’s hand travel down your body. he starts by trailing down the center of your throat and he lets his middle finger and thumb trace the outline of your collarbones before continuing his way down. shotaro has you on holding your breath when his fingers travel down the valley of your chest. it’s a breath that comes out rushed when he cups your breast, alternating between pressing it into your body and kneading the supple skin. you’ve tried touching your chest the same way shotaro does but it’s different. the grip doesn’t feel the same and you can’t mimic the desperation, or the way he twitches against your back. shotaro’s lips touch your neck as he switches to the other breast, just as desperate as he was on the other one.

“you’re so perfect.” shotaro whispers.

you whine and press yourself further into his shotaro’s body.  your hands grip his thighs and he flexes his muscle to give you somethign to dig your nails into. your legs squirm in the air, your knees close in until they touch. everything is too much already, the tipsy brain fog making all the sensations feel more intense. by the time shotaro makes it your panties you’re already whimpering and digging your fingernails into his skin.

“so pretty in pink.” shotaro says.

you look down to see him play with the elastic of your pink panties. it’s an intoxicating sight, seeing shotaro’s fingers grab the band of fabric and pull up slightly. it’s almost a feeling of discomfort, feeling the panties press against your folds. but you let it happen because shotaro is doing it, and you might trust him just a little too much. 

the fabric sticks to your folds and shotaro runs a light finger over the fabric. he takes his time, tracing all the way up and all the way down until he settles on your clit, pressing lightly. you gasp and let your head fall back against his shoulder, craning your head to kiss his jaw. it’s an impulsive act, but it’s one that has shotaro moving his head to kiss you on the lips. you let him kiss you, loving how he has to sacrifice the perfect posture he always brags about just to get closer to you. he doesn’t care about the discomfort either when he gets to see your face contort in pleasure or feel your lips on his. you feel good and you taste even better, and shotaro wants to keep indulging himself in it all. 

shotaro pulls away from your lips, waiting for you to open your eyes and look at him from his shoulder. when you make eye contact with shotaro, he pushes your panties to the side and slips a finger inside of you.

even though it’s only one, you still sigh and have to bite your tongue to hold back curses. you know it’s by design, the way shotaro teases you. he likes for you to see what he’s doing to you, he wants you to see his finger plunge in and out of your heat. he has always taken a liking to teasing you, you’ve had nights with him where he edged you to tears before finally giving in, maintaining that sweet smile the whole time. you wanted to say you were used to it by now, but when he pulled his finger out you whined from loss of contact. 

he leaned his finger towards your heat again and you slid down slightly to try and follow his fingers. you looked up to shotaro, eyes wide to show him how badly you needed it. he had his signature smile, so innocent and non assuming like he wasn’t propelling you towards your wits end. 

“i’ll take care of you, just like i always do.” shotaro says.

he helps you out of your panties and you let him. when they’re off shotaro’s soft hand guides one of your legs until your thigh rests on top of his. your legs are completely spread, and shotaro kisses your cheek for being so pliable. his hand that doesn’t tease your center undoes the clasp on your bra with ease. your tits are hard from the cold air of your apartment. the fact that you’re completely naked while shotaro is fully clothed makes you even more sensitive. he has you completely in the palm of his hand, and you’ll eventually have to come to terms with how much you love it.

you nod your head and whine, and you feel shotaro’s slow hands go back to your thighs. he uses his fingers on his other hand to spread your folds and bring two fingers to his mouth. you have to tilt your head awkwardly to see them glisten from his spit. he puts his wet digits inside of you, and you straighten your back. it’s hard to maintain your composure, your iron resolve from work related stress crumbles in shotaro’s hands. he uses your whimpers as guidance and your face expressions as motivation. when your eyes close it means he’s doing good, and when you bite your lip for a moment it means he needs to pull back. shotaro loves having you figured out, and he loves knowing what makes you tick. when he bends his fingers inside of you, you bring your hand to his bicep.

“right there.” you sigh contently.

shotaro looks down to see his fingers pump in and out of you. he has to bring his chin forward to rest on your shoulder to see the view. he wouldn’t change it for anything else. 

your foot that hangs down from shotaro’s leg flexes. each time you habitually try to close your thighs together to lock shotaro’s hand in place his leg keeps them apart. you let yourself completely fall into shotaro, his pretty fingers that kept your folds apart went to focus on your clit instead. it’s slow and steady strokes, ones that prolong your whines and moans. shotaro extracts your sounds like surgery, each pump of his fingers and revolutions on your clit is deliberate. he wants to feel your tense body progressively become more and more relaxed against him, until your become so pliant your legs start to shake. it’s suspiciously easy to get you to that point and shotaro has to tell himself to not get a big ego because of it.

“just like that.” you tell shotaro breathlessly. 

he nods and adds another finger. you tense for only a second to get used to the stretch before your body becomes limp against his again. shotaro smiles against the skin of your neck before kissing it. your head tilts upwards to the ceiling and when you take the occasional moment to open your eyes you focus on your ceiling fan. its blades move slow and steady, in such a contrast to your racing heart. you try to focus on the slow fan to steady yourself but it only reminds you of the same gentle way shotaro pushes his fingers inside of you.

“feels good?” shotaro asks. 

he sucks on the skin of your neck. he wants you to look at what he’s doing to you, but shotaro lets you focus on other things if it means he can do this to you longer.

”so good.” you say quietly.

“good.” shotaro kisses your neck. “i just want you to feel good.” shotaro says.

you let him continue to slowly pump his fingers in and out, your grip on his bicep varies based on what he does. shotaro can feel you getting tighter around his digits and your thigh starts trying to pull in a little harder.

“do you want me to add another finger?” he asks.

you shake your head, still looking at the ceiling.

“no. three is perfect.” you say.

shotaro starts driving his fingers a little deeper, and his hand that rubs your clit speeds up. shotaro can see your breath catch in your throat.

“i’m close.” you whine.

shotaro picks up the pace on your clit and acknowledges you with a hum. your other hand grips his other bicep now. shotaro hopes you don’t plan on pulling his hands away when you release around his fingers.

“can you look down for me?” shotaro asks innocently. 

you hesitate for a moment but you obliged. your head tilts down and shotaro starts picking up the speed on your clit. your jaw starts to hang ad your eyebrows cinch together. shotaro looks down for himself too, conflicted on which sight he rather see.

“can you cum for me baby?” shotaro asks.

you nod and shotaro pushes his hard dick into your back. you move backwards quickly, loving the feeling of the imprint on your hot skin. 

your hands tighten on shotaro’s biceps and try to pull them away with minimal force. he keeps them in place, not halting his movements. the rest of your body reacts first before your mind does. your thighs twitch and try to close in on eachother and your feet start flexing again. your breathing becomes rushed and the nails leave indents on shotaro’s skin. your walls clamp around his fingers and your sopping heat squelches from your cum. you let your head go back on shotaro’s shoulder as your mind tells you you’re experiencing your first orgasm since the project started. it runs through your brain and fires off all your receptors, the feeling of shotaro kissing your face gently. pushes you through it all.

you’re still reeling and shotaro can tell it. his precum seeps through his underwear as you start moaning. it starts off raspy and loud, but by the time shotaro’s fingers come to a stop it evolved into quiet high-pitched squeaks. shotaro has to let you gain composure while you’re slumped against his chest. he takes the time to compose himself too. if you were to move your body any deeper into his he would be cumming in his pants.

when your breathing settles shotaro looks at your face. when you shyly turn to him he pecks you lips and taps your thigh.

“wanna move to the bed?” he asks. 

you were still out of it, coming down from edging that seemed to last forever. all you could do is nod your head and take shotaro’s hands as he lifts you up from the couch. your legs are like jello underneath you when you stand on them fully, wobbling a little bit like you’re still drunk. shotaro laughs and puts his hand on your hips to steady you. shotaro follows behind you closely, mimicking your steps as you make your way into your bedroom. your clothes in the livingroom are long forgotten, your mind instead focused on the next part of your night with the man behind you.

his hands only leave your hips when you enter the bedroom to close your door. you situate your naked body on top of the covers, trying to hide how badly you need shotaro to touch you again. he walks slowly over to the opposite side of your bed and your eyes follow his every move. you see the way shotaro undoes his belt, the way it falls out of your line of sight. you get excited, resting on your haunches to watch shotaro slowly take of his dress slacks until he’s left in his underwear and a-line shirt. he gets on the bed in the spot you subconsciously save for him, walking on his knees until he gets to you in the center of the bed. shotaro puts a hand on your chin and traces your jawline before tilting your head upwards. his eyes are so inviting, and he hold your stare when your body leans forward to kiss you. 

shotaro keeps a hand on your face to caress your skin while his other hand presses on your lower back. it makes you move forward while you use your own hands to play with the end of shotaro’s shirt. he gets the hint, pulling away from you to lift his garment over his head. he stops only for a second, looking at your lips then looking at your eyes. 

“how do you want it?” he asks.

while you think, shotaro lets his thumb press on your bottom lip. he has never been the dominant type in bed despite his inclination to be a tease. when you first asked him what his thing was in bed, shotaro was raking his brain the same way you were racking your brain now. nothing was off limits for shotaro in regards to sex. he didn’t know how to say it then, but now he knows he would try anything if it meant he could see your eyes screw shut in ecstasy and hear you whimper. but when shotaro told you simply that his thing was seeing girls cum, he knew you didn’t believe him. so since then he has made it his mission to prove it to you. if that meant giving you the reins that was fine. if it meant edging you until you were a mess underneath him that was a bonus.

“i want to be on top.” you say confidently.

when you finally decide what you want you let shotaro push his thumb into your mouth. you can taste yourself on your tongue, and you can smell it on the rest of his hand. shotaro opens his mouth slightly as he watches you take more of his thumb. you can see his tongue move in his mouth the same way yours moves around his digit. he had a strange habit of mirroring your movements, in and outside of the bedroom. that’s something you’re going to have to tease him about later when he copies you in the office. 

you shift on the bed and shotaro follows you, finger still in your mouth and his hand still ghosting over the small of your back. you two lay down on the bed together, chest to chest while you maneuver into the right position. shotaro takes his finger from your mouth regretfully to reach for the waistband of his underwear. you help him out of it the same way he helped you out of your clothes on the couch.

you’re both content when he’s free from his boxers, his heavy dick hits the taut skin of his lower stomach. you try to tease shotaro the same way he teased you, ghosting a slow finger up his shaft to spread the precum on his tip. you love the way his head presses into the pillow, and hearing his sigh of relief. shotaro has been high strung from the deadlines the same way you were, he just hid it behind a bright smile.

“you’re stressed too, right?” you asked. 

shotaro nodded his head, a hand pressing into your tricep lightly. you grab his length into your hands, jerking him off gently. he hissed and twitched in your hand. you can’t bring yourself to tease him, to innocently ask when was the last time he took care of himself. you don’t  know what you’d do if he told you the last time he masturbated was to the thought of you, or if he had let himself get all pent up until he could be with you again.

“i can help you too.” you coo at shotaro.

he opens his eyes and his other hand goes to your arm. he pulls you slightly, trying to tell you subtly he can’t wait any longer. he’s much more impatient than you are.

“show me. please.” shotaro says.

that’s all you need to hear before moving your knees to straddle his hips. shotaro’s hands go to your waist, pressing the pads of his fingers deep into your skin you think it’ll leave a bruise. he doesn’t hold back his strength, too desperate to feel you around him again. shotaro has to use every ounce of self control to stop himself from bucking upwards when his tip prods at your entrance. you let go of his dick and rest your hands on top of his. the angle is awkward when shotaro flips his hand to intertwine your fingers, but he doesn’t care. he’s able to feel your hand squeeze his as you sink down onto him, slowly taking in everything shotaro gives you. you’re both gasping pent up messes, drunk off the feeling of eachother. 

shotaro moans when you sink all the way down, and a fast hand pushes his hair from his face. he watches you swivel your hips and you can feel shotaro’s dick in your stomach. you had almost forgotten what it felt like, riding shotaro while he looked at you with so much lust and gratitude. it made you cocky and a little too confident. when shotaro grabs a handful of your ass and praises you for how tight and perfect your pussy is it makes you think you can ride him until the sun comes up. you do have the vigor and you want to keep bouncing on his dick, but when your knees and burning thighs catch up to you the brutal pace you set starts to lag. shotaro understands, because he’s nothing if not patient. he always enjoys watching you tire yourself out just to please him. he enjoys the way your eyes look down at him, the way you grip his hands for stability. he loves the way you wrap around his dick and how he can feel your walls clamp around him when he praises you. 

when you slow down shotaro is more than happy to take over. he sees your tired but determined face, and he can feel the way your thighs start to shake. when you stop to take a breather shotaro brings your body down until your chest to chest.

“i told you i’d help you relax.” shotaro coos at you.

you let yourself fully rest against shotaro’s chest, your sweaty skin keeping you glued to him. it only takes a moment for him to plant his feet into your mattress before pistoning up into you. the sound of his hips slapping against your ass fills the room as he exceeds the pace you failed to set. you plant your hand against the wall for stability and put your other hand on shotaro’s shoulder. the moans tumble out, and your words are stuttered each time his hips meet yours.

“oh my god.” you cry.

“good right?” shotaro asks.

you opened your eyes to look at shotaro in front of you. he has a smile still, one that falters as he focuses on fucking up into you. he took the brunt of the work just so you could take all of him. you wondered if he would still fuck you like this if you were to date him, or if he’d become the soft and affectionate shotaro you got on rare occasions. either one didn’t matter to you, but you hoped that he would still fuck you with the reckless abandon he was giving you now.

you lift yourself up and kiss shotaro on the lips. it’s the only thing that slows down his pace temporarily, before going back into his speed with more stamina. you don’t know where all this energy suddenly came from, but you can feel it draining you as you get closer. your hand on his shoulder flails back and grabs his bent knee, digging into the skin. you don’t know what to do with your hand to stabilize yourself. you need someone to ground you before you explode.

“gimmie your hand.” shotaro says. 

you comply immediately, going to his hands that moved to your ass. shotaro grabs your wrist, pressing it into your lower back. the hold he has on you turns you into his rag doll, you have no control over the way your body moves. your breasts surge upwards in tandem with shotaro’s hips. your upper body pressed to shotaro’s is the only thing that keeps your chest somewhat in place, and you move a hand to his shoulder in an effort to stabilize yourself. now your headboard creaks pitifully and occasionally bumps into your wall. it’s no use trying to stop the pace—not that you want to anyway. you take as much of shotaro as you can, because you’ll need something to think about when he’s not here. 

when shotaro kisses your forehead you look up from his chest, barely able to focus on anything else anymore.

“you close?” shotaro asks. 

he already knows the answer before you nod your head and whine a yes. your hand that’s grabbed by the wrist balls up, and your walls close in on shotaro. his pace starts to slow down too, going for spots deep inside of you instead of going fast.

“still on birth control?” shotaro asks.

“yes.” you whine.

shotaro keeps going and you go back to kissing him. your body moves upwards from earch deep thrust, but you stay focused on kissing shotaro as he stays focused on fucking you. when you have to break away to curse shotaro watches you with wide eyes, needing to see how you look when you cum before he can do so himself. he hears your high pitched moans and the way his name falls from your lips. you can barely keep going, resting against his body as your walls continue to clamp around his length. it’s then when shotaro lets himself cum, cursing into your hair as he continues to fuck slowly into you.

you’re reduced to quiet moans by the time shotaro is done. his hand let go of your wrist so you grabbed his instead. your nails dug into his skin while he gripped your ass. shotaro’s legs slid on your sheets, fully extending down your bed while you both caught your breath. 

you came back first, trailing drowsy kisses from his sweaty chest to his lips. you lifted your hips and brought them down on his dick experimentally, just to see shotaro hiss and to feel his hand grip your waist. you smiled and settled back into his chest again, listening to his heartbeat. 

it doesn’t take long for you to fall asleep on shotaro’s chest. his heartbeat lulled you to sleep and his hand rubbing your back soothed you. 

shotaro lets himself lay there with you even after you’re fast asleep, loving how your chest rises and falls in time with his. one of these days he’s gonna keep you awake and tell you how he feels, how much he liked spending time with you outside of having sex. shotaro always considered himself to be an extrovert when it came to handling people. he was confrontational and didn’t hide from conflict or expressing what he wanted. 

but when he kissed you for the first time he made the decision to do whatever he had to for you to stay around. shotaro also considered himself to be a conceited individual, but even he didn’t know what you saw in him. he didn’t know why you kept coming back to him after every project wrapped up, or why you were so keen on fucking him out of everyone in the office. 

you’re a snoring mess and sleeping like a log from the drinking and exertion you have gone through for the past month. he’s happy you’re sleeping so soundly after the stress of the last couple months, your stress lines actively disappearing as you snore into your pillow. shotaro grants himself some of the credit, the fact that he was able to tire you out enough to get a good nights rest. 

shotaro almost feels weird for watching sleep, but he can’t bring himself to look away. you snuggled your pillow in his absence, your hand awkwardly underneath your chin causing your lips and cheeks to poke out a little further. if you were to wake up in this moment you would be freaked out and self conscious over someone seeing you in such a vulnerable and unflattering state. but shotaro thinks you look beautiful—ethereal even as you catch up on your sleep. he can’t stop himself from squatting down to kiss the side of your face that isn’t smushed into the pillow. you barely react to the kiss, your face twitching in the spot where shotaro pressed his lips to your skin. he stays there beside the bed, looking at how serene you look. he gentle caresses your cheek, rubbing the place he kissed. shotaro stands up and gives you one last look before heading towards the door.

“see you on monday.” shotaro says quietly to you.

you don’t reply, only turning sleepily to throw your arm on the spot you leave open for him in bed.

[whiskersz]

Can you please do headcanons with Angel and Husk with a reader who suffers from chronic pain/illness and how’d they’d help reader get through it? Platonic or romantic is up to you! It’s okay if you can’t but thank you so much if you do.

Hey there! Of course I can, I decided to go with chronic pain though it’s written pretty vaguely, so it can be relatable to a wider audience; and for anyone struggling with this, make sure you rest a bunch :)

Angel and Husk with a Reader who has Chronic pain/illness

Angel Dust

✧Angel is a very caring boyfriend; he remembers all the meds that you’re supposed to take and at what time, and if you forget about taking them he’s going to gently scold you and remind you that this is important for your health.

✧However, his life is pretty busy with him having to be on set for most of the day, so he can’t really take care of you the way he’d rather do it. Still, he’ll take a few breaks to remind you to take your medicine at the right time and entrust somebody else to take care of you if you’re having a particularly bad day.

✧Speaking of bad days, every single morning before he goes to work he’ll stop by your room; if you’re already awake he’ll tell you to text him if there is a problem and you two will share a kiss as good luck to both of you; if you’re still sleeping, he’ll gladly leave a neatly written note on your nightstand where he reminds you how much he loves you and tells you he hopes that you have a good day, and to obviously text him if something’s wrong.

Good Morning Sweets, I hope you slept fine, and that today goes well! Leave me a message if you need, I’ll try to check my phone for you. I love you a bunch, -Anthony <3

✧At the end of the day, expect a lot of cuddles and kisses! He’ll ask you how it went and if you managed to carry out any of your projects. At the start of the relationship he might even avoid talking about his own struggles because he knows you have to deal with yours every day, but as you two get more comfortable so will the relationship, and you’ll be genuine with each other, as the other will always be there for comfort.

Husk

✦Husk may appear grumpy, but as I said probably a million times at this point, he’s the exact opposite in a relationship, especially if you struggle with chronic pain or illness. He’ll be extra careful not to cause you any additional pain or fatigue, and will be thinking of you pretty much the whole time when you’re resting in your room.

✦Alcohol doesn’t really help with chronic pain and illness, so he’s willing to mix you non-alcoholic cocktails and of course prepare something extra for you, such as a breakfast in bed here...a favourite dish as lunch there...he’s skilled in the kitchen! So he does so both because he enjoys it and because it lessens your strain.

✦He can also be a bit of a couch potato, so he doesn’t really mind if you sometimes prefer to have little dates at the Hotel because you’re not feeling the best. Watching some TV to distract you sounds good enough to him, as long as you get to spend time together and he gets to comfort you with his purrs.

✦If you’re having a particularly bad day, he will do anything for you; bring you your meds, remind you to eat and drink, he will even take breaks from tending to the bar to check on you. Alastor doesn’t mind him doing that either.

✦- This only applies if you’re dating both of them – Husk will always be appointed to look after you by Angel while he’s at work if you’re in pain, and he doesn’t mind it one bit. You will receive lots of love once Angel comes home, from both him and Husk, and the playful banter between the two will surely be able to distract you a bit.  

[in1-nutshell]

Bot Buddy the single parent with a sparkling and being friends with Swerve

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Cybertronain reader

MTMTE

Swerve has a lot of respect for Buddy.

Who else goes on a ship looking for a new life for them and their sparkling?

Not a lot of bots sadly.

Buddy and Swerve first met in one of Blurr’s races.

Swerve had just left with his supposed hero’s number in servo when he noticed a bot holding a sparkling trying to open a door with their pede.

Swerve opens the door for the bot.

The bot looks in surprise at the open door and looks down at Swerve.

“Please, after you.”--Swerve

The bot goes through and turns to smile at him.

“Thank you so much! I’ve been trying forever to try and get that door open, but you can only do so much when your servos are tied.”--Buddy

Swerve just smiles before looking at the sparkling who was staring at him curiously.

“No Problem! Happy to help!”--Swerve

The bot looks at a nearby confection stand.

“Hey, let me buy you something as a way to say thanks.”--Buddy

“Oh, there’s no need—”--Swerve

“BAH!”--Sparkling

The bot smiles a bit.

“I think they’re insisting too…”--Buddy

“Oh! The names Swerve!”--Swerve

“That’s a nice name, I’m Buddy.”--Buddy

After a bit of talking the two had exchanged numbers and the rest was history.

Buddy doesn’t go on the ship immediately; they ended up on the ship as Megatron’s official guard.

It took a lot of convincing to get they’re only sparkling to come aboard the ship.

When Swerve heard about his friend joining the ship, he made sure to be one of the first to meet them.

Buddy was so relief to see a familiar face when they entered the ship’s entrance.

The sparkling was just cooing and giggling hearing the familiar voice.

Swerve loves the little sparkling.

The sparkling gets very attached to him and their parent when more and more unfamiliar faces start to appear.

“Hey Swerve, have you seen—”--Buddy

The sparkling is crawling on the floor with Swerve crawling behind them.

“Imma getcha! Imma get—"--Swerve

Swerve pauses and looks at Buddy who’s leaning on the door frame with a tired smile.

“I take it you got them?”--Buddy

The sparkling perks up and happily crawls to their parent.

Buddy picks up their sparkling as Swerve stands up brushing the imaginary dust from his armor.

“We just finished one of those Earth dino films and they wanted to play dinos so…”--Swerve

Buddy chuckles a bit and pats Swerve on the helm.

“Thanks Swerve.”--Buddy

Swerve looks a bit more at Buddy’s tired face.

“You know I don’t mind watching them for a while longer. Really! Anyways I think a few hours of recharge would do you good. You look like Whirl after that 36-hour cocktail binge last month.”--Swerve

“I’m fine Swerve—”--Buddy

Swerve gives them a look.

Buddy sighs before giving him their sparkling.

“Only for an hour.”--Buddy

“I’ll wake you up Buddy.”--Swerve

Buddy smiles at Swerve and their sparkling and walks back to their habsuite for some extra sleep.

Swerve knows that Buddy’s job isn’t easy and long night are a common thing, but it turned into a real nightmare when the sparkling was awake or had a nightmare.

He did his best to help Buddy with their sparkling so they could at least get an hour or two of sleep or work done.

One of the best ways he has figured out to get both Buddy and the sparkling to relax a bit was through movie nights.

He has all sort of kid’s movies or softer toned ones to entertain them both or just the sparkling and let buddy sleep through it.

It’s mainly a minibot club that joins in for the movie nights, but on the occasion, they’ll get other bots to join in.

While watching Beauty and the Beast.

“When is Belle going to use that knife and kill the Beast?”--Whirl

“Whirl this is a kids movie!”--Swerve

“And? The last ‘kids’ movie you put on had that earth cats creator die from that free fall.”--Whirl

“Wait he died!?”--Tailgate

“Yes?! Weren’t you—oh yeah, you left in the middle for a snack break.”--Whirl

“Shhh! Buddy’s sleeping. Keep it down a bit.”--Rewind

Whirl sassily waves his claw dramatically draping part of his frame on Cyclonus who was holding Tailgate in his lap. Tailgate was holding the sparkling on his lap, both extremely invested in the movie.

The sparkling is very shy meeting the new bots but does warm up to them with some time and with enough talking.

They prefer the minibots a lot more than the rest of the crew.

It may or may not be because they associate smaller bots to Swerve.

Tailgate loves playing around with the sparkling.

But he can only play certain things with them.

One time Tailgate thought it was a smart idea to bring the sparkling on his hoverboard to take a quick ride around the ship.

Buddy, Swerve, Cyclonus and Whirl walking down the hall.

“Do you think they’re okay? It’s been a couple of hours…”--Buddy

“You worry too much Buddy; Tailgate isn’t going to let anything happen to them. Tell them Cyclonus.”--Swerve

“Tailgate would never put your sparkling in harm’s way.”--Cyclonus

“Hmm…”--Buddy

“Please! What is the worst thing Panic buttons gonna do? Take them on a high speed chase—”--Whirl

Tailgate zooms past them with the sparkling strapped on their sling.

“HI! BYE!”--Tailgate

Rodimus is chasing after him with Drift following closely behind.

“…I stand corrected.”--Whirl

THUD!

Buddy falls backwards fainting.

Swerve is by their side slightly panicking that his friend just passed out.

Rewind shows pretty colors and shapes to the sparkling.

He teams up with Chromedome in trying to get them to say their first words.

Both secretly think this is their idea of practice in case either wants a kid in the future.

“C’mon say ‘Rewind’.”--Rewind

“Or Chromedome.”--Chromedome

“That’s too long.”--Rewind

“And Rewind is too complicated.”--Chromedome

Brainstorm comes into the room.

“Brainstorm?”--Chromedome

“I brought the new binary gun designs—”--Brainstorm

“Bwainstorm.”--Sparkling

“…”--Everyone

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”--Brainstorm

Brainstorm picks up the sparkling who just looks confused while Rewind face palms and Chromedome just chuckles a bit.

“Buddy is not going to like this.”--Rewind

Swerve is the sparklings favorite.

They have him wrapped around their digit and everyone knows that.

He gives the best bedtime stories, and they love hearing his voice.

The sparkling will get excited whenever they hear their parent of Swerve talk.

Swerve is Buddy’s go to babysitter but knows that they can’t rely on just him and the mini’s. They do take more of an effort to formally introduce their sparkling to the rest of the crew.

A safety precaution if you will.

Buddy pointing at a picture of Swerve.

“Safe?”--Buddy

The sparkling nods.

Buddy shows them a picture of Lockdown.

“Safe?”--Buddy

The sparkling shakes their helm.

Buddy shows a picture or Whirl.

“Safe?”--Buddy

The sparkling nods their helm.

“HA! Take that Magnus!”--Whirl

Whenever Buddy has a mission out of the ship and Swerve is babysitting them at the bar, he puts up a sign announcing when the baby is present.

This is a universal sign of being on your best behavior or he will sic Magnus or Ten on you.

[barcalover86]

Can you do where they go to the club with aurora and her bf and she brings a friend and she like flirts with Gavi and the reader get jealous

Pablito- Pablo Gavi

"Just-please don't pay her more attention, she can be.. really difficult."

You were in Aurora's room, getting ready to go tonight in a club with Gavi and some friend of hers. You didn't mind at all, new people weren't a problem to you.

"It's ok, Rora. Really. You don't have to worry."

After a few minutes, Gavi came to his sister's room, took you, and then drove you to the club. You had to meat, Sara, the new girl's name, there.

You saw a girl, dressing in a very short black dress. She was really pretty and you were excited to meet someone new and make a friend tonight. That didn't happen at all.

It all started since she saw your boyfriend. She was always between you two. Sara was finding a way every time to touch Gavi.

You first didn't mind, thinking she is just a fan and after a while she would leave your boyfriend alone. You were so wrong, cuz every minute she spend with Gavi, she started to get more touchy with him.

"Doesn't she know he has a girlfriend and that she is right behind him!?"

"I told you, y/n, she is difficult sometimes." Aurora tried to console you, which didn't help at all.

"But you didn't say that she would be all over my boyfriend!?"

"I didn't know either. I'm sorry."

You had enough of Sara's behaviour and decided to go to Gavi, thinking that that way she would leave him alone.

"Amor, wanna go grab a drink with me?"

Gavi turned smiling at your voice and nodded quickly.

You grabbed his arm and guided eachother at the bar and sat down on some chairs.

"What do you want to drink, mi amor?" Gavi asked you while looking at the options.

"Something with alcohol, whatever you choose."

Gavi seemed shocked by your answer. You rarely drink alcohol, especially at parties and clubs.

"You sure?"

"Why, can't you think I'm capable of drinking it?"

"No, no-"

"Then you answered your question!"

Gavi was confused by your sudden moody, and he just thought that it was before your period started.

"But, amor, I don't think alcohol is good for you these days" he told you, knowing that it might not be ok to drink while being at that time of the month.

"Oh and why so?"

He didn't want to create a fight with you, so he just didn't reply and bought you some cocktail without alcohol.

You as well didn't want to make a big deal for it, so you took the drink without saying anything.

"What do you want?" you asked him.

"Nothing, really."

"Why?" you were confused. He was always drinking something. Soda, juice..

"I don't feel it."

Right after he said that, Sara came and hugged Gavi from behind. When he felt some arms around his body that weren't yours, he panicked and stood up, coming next to you.

"Oh, why are you running away from me, Pablito?" she said with that voice.

"Sara, enough!" came Aurora to take her outside.

"You are coming home. You know that he has a girlfriend, right in front of you, and you still flirt with him!?"

"What? I didn't flirt with him at all!"

"Oh, not at all right" you said, now really angry.

Gavi put your head on his shoulder to calm you down a bit, which helped you a lot. Feeling him closer to you made you feel comfort at any time, especially now, knowing that his arms were around you and not on that girl.

You've been jealous before, but now seeing it coming this far, made you really angry and frustrated.

"Ok, I'm only going home to prove you all that I didn't flirt with that handsome" she said while walking out of the club.

Her hands went slowly on her black dress, and she pulled the material up, everyone seeing her butt more clearly now.

Gavi closed his eyes in disguised at her gesture, while the single boys were eying her up and down. That girl was really stupid.

You didn't stay long either, deciding to go home. None of you were in the mood anymore and it was better if you would go to sleep.

"I'm really sorry, y/n." Aurora said after knocking at your door.

You smiled at her, knowing that it wasn't her fault.

"It's ok, Rora. It's finally over now."

"I know, cariño, but I ruined your night and-"

"Not you!"

"It still was my fault"

You made a face to her and went to hug her, saying that it was fine. After she left the room, Gavi came and cuddled with you.

"It really hurt me when she said to you "Pablito"..." you said it like a whisper.

He looked into your eyes and then kissed you.

"You are the only one that can call me that, amorcito."

You smiled at his words and kissed him again.

"Do you feel ok?" he said, still thinking that you were on your period.

"Yes, why?"

"Well...it doesn't hurt you?"

"Sara or-"

"No, no, your stomach."

You were now really confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you on your period?"

You started to laugh and shake your head.

"No!!! That was the reason you didn't give me alcohol?"

"Yes.."

You made a "awh" face and kissed his nose, while he blushed.

"I am not, cariño."

"Oh, thank God" he said before kissing your neck.

You started to chuckled, but eventually let him do his job.

"Let me show you that you are the only girl for me"

"Show me then, Pablito"

He blushed hard at the name, but still managed to show you pretty good that you were only his and he was only yours.

I hope you liked it!!

[butterflywithsass]

Watched Dead Boy Detectives last night and I’m obsessed. If you like the queerness of good omens, but with more gore, and in the same universe as the Sandman (death and despair both show up) if you like dark academia gay boys, if you like ghosts, or paranormal stuff, or demons, if you like cats — lemme tell you this show is for you.

So, like, there’s these two ghost boys who are best friends but also gay for each other but also a secret third thing and their names are Edwin and Charles.

Edwin Payne was a demonic sacrifice in 1916 and as spend literal decades in hell but escaped. He’s a repressed Victorian gay who has zero charisma but every single man he meets becomes obsessed with him and wants to sleep with him except the boy he actually likes which is his best friend Charles. His entire character arc is about gay panic and getting over his internalized homophobia — he wears bow ties!!!! He doesn’t know what a hand job is. He’s literally the perfect tumblr blorbo. His superpower is getting tortured. He’s so sassy! His sexual awakening comes at the hands of a cat king and his first kiss is with a crow.

Charles died in like the 90s or something I’m not sure. He’s so optimistic and sunshine but also so full of rage. He’s the most supportive guy 100/10 would trust him with anything. He doesn’t like to talk about his issues. When confronted with the inexorable monsters of hell he solved the problem with a Molotov cocktail. I love him and his single earring he’s a golden retriever who would rather stay on earth with best friend than move on to a peaceful afterlife. His jawline is impeccable he can’t not press a big red button when he sees it.

Crystal Palace I wasn’t sold on because I thought she’d get between my boys but she actually so cool and I developed a bit of a crush let’s be honest I have a thing for curly haired witchy girls, she’s a physic with amnesia and a demon stalker ex boyfriend people stare at her when she hangs out with the boys cause it looks like she’s talking to herself. Everyone she knows thinks she’s insane. She’s a reformed mean girl.

Niko Sisaki I was a little iffy about because it felt like they were gonna go with the bimbo anime Asian girl but turns out she just had a parasite that made pink hearts float around her. She’s so weird she tries to help Edwin with his gay problem by introducing him to explicit gay fan fiction, she tries to get her landlord to date, she likes cool rocks. She has two tiny people trapped in a jar in her room. Her friendship with Edwin is everything. She’s ghosting her mom.

Jenny. I love her so much, she feels so safe which is weird because she chops meat and all her clothes are covered in blood. Everything about just screams big sister and her character arc is learning to embrace that. She goes on one date and almost gets murdered.

Monty. He’s literally a crow turned into a boy. He’s down bad for Edwin. He’s a secret honeypot agent for an evil witch. He has the most adorable smile, the whole time I was expecting him to be an agent of Morpheus. He’s obsessed with astrology.

The Night nurse originally annoyed me a bit (in a good way) I just wanted to get rid of her. When Charles punted her into a giant sea monster I clapped. Then it just got weird and I love it.

The cat king. He’s such a creep, but honestly, I love that for him. He has some of the best lines and he just exudes cat. He’s a classic fairy tale trickster, he a nuisance for the whole season, he’s central to the plot, he’s constantly hitting on Edwin.

Esther. She’s a archetypal evil witch. She gives off mystic trash vibes. She’s obsessed with beauty and revenge. She’s shamelessly horrible. She feeds kids to her giant snake. She literally can’t die.

All in all, I think I’m gonna have brain rot over this for the next year, go and watch it.

[applejuicefruit]

hey.. you could do one where kylian takes care of the drunk reader, they left a party and he helps her, take a shower, change her clothes... and etc, even gives her a hangover medicine...?

kylian mbappe x reader

Drunk in love

“Be careful…” Kylian whispered softly in your ear while his hands were on your waist, trying to help you to not to fall.

You were out partying with friends and your boyfriend Kylian and you probably drank too much. But it was your best friend’s birthday and you were having so much fun you couldn’t contain yourself. Kylian loved seeing you so happy and comfortable around people so he let you enjoy the night.

But after a few glass of wine, two cocktails and four shots you were completely drunk. Kylian helped you going back to the car, his drive was low, scared you might feel bad and once you got home he helped you through the stairs, cursing his old parisian building because the elevator was broken and he lived on the penthouse floor.

“One step…” he held you closer afraid you would fall “and we’re home” he said opening the front door.

It probably took you twenty minutes to get over all of those stairs but he didn’t care, all he wanted to do was making sure you were okay.

He led you through your shared bedroom and sat you on the bed while he went to the bathroom taking all of your make up removing products.

He put them on the nightstand and gently sat next to you on the bed. You were looking like a lost puppy, so sweet and completely drunk but also free, your mind completely free of any problems and your smile still present on your face.

“Okay babe now close your eyes…I’m going to remove your make up” he said grabbing one of your wipes from the nightstand and gently stroking in on your face, making sure every little corner of your face was clean. He then applied your vanilla cream to your face and smiled at you when you melted into his touch.

“Okay princess, your face is done…” he said standing up from the bed and reaching for the walking closet to grab you a pajamas.

“Now I’m gonna help you change in something more comfortable so you can have a good night of sleep okay sweetheart?” he asked you as you could have understood him but still, he loved talking to you, making you feel loved and cared of.

“Stand up for me babe” he helped you standing up. He knelt down, firstly removing your heels that he threw on the other side of the room and then standing up again, softly turning you around so he could unzip your dress and helped you change in something comfier. He let the dress fall down and helped stepping over it, he turned you around again and smiled at you, showing you how much he loved you. His hands were on your back, reaching for the clips of your bra just to unclip it and tossing it on the other side of the room. You were standing there, almost completely naked in front of him and even if you were drunk you still felt a wave of insecurity coming through you.

“You’re beautiful baby, just the way you are” he said softly at you, probably sensing your doubts. You smiled at him, too tired to even speak.

He helped you wearing your pajamas and softly helped you in bed.

“Kyky…” you called for him when you saw him leave the room.

“I’ll be back very soon, don’t fall asleep” he whispered at you and you simply nodded.

He came back with a glass of water, painkillers for the morning and a glass of some kind of smoothie.

“Drink this, it will help you with the nausea” he said handing you the glass.

It looked delicious so you happily grabbed the glass and drink the kind of smoothie just to find out it tastes terrible, like a mix of fruit and medicines.

“Ewwwww” you screamed “it’s terrible Kylian…I can’t drink it!” you said acting like a kid who didn’t want to take its medicines.

“But you have to drink it, you’ll feel better baby, I promise you” he said and you believed him, too tired to argue with him so he simply held your glass and helped you drinking it. Once the glass was empty he put it on the nightstand and helped you laying back in bed, tucking you under the covers and laying next to you.

It took you five minutes to fall asleep and Kylian looked at you with a soft expression, thinking about how cute and adorable you looked when you were drunk.

[thegildedbee]

Awkward: May 5 Prompt from @calaisreno

Sherlock scrambled awake, alert for any sign of someone inside the room or outside the door, keeping his breathing synced to sleep mode, waiting as his eyes adjusted to the dark. With no sensory data to detect, he cautiously propped himself on his elbow to do a perimeter scan as a second check, and provisionally decided that all was as it should be. Except now his body was in hypervigilant mode. Sleep would be a fugitive eluding his efforts to get some badly needed rest.

God, he wished he had a cigarette.

John, of course, would have disapproved. And as ridiculous as it was to follow rules of proper health given his current way of life, Sherlock refused to relinquish any mental tokens of his absent friend.

But God he wished he had a cigarette. Something to help quiet his mind, something to occupy his restless fingers, something to engender a state of detachment.

Do a breathing exercise, John would have said. You can inhale and exhale as if you were drawing in smoke and releasing it, and you’d be close to the proper breathing technique used to calm agitation. As the words floated through his mind, he began automatically following the instruction.

He’d been missing John even more intensely than usual; his recent visit to an A&E to liberate medical supplies while shamming intestinal pain had resulted in memories slyly infiltrating his consciousness, and then his subconscious, when he ruthlessly targeted them for elimination.

Too much John in his head. He hated to admit it, but the recent mental storm had likely thrown him off his game, and contributed to his cock-up the other evening. God, that had been awkward. Well, it was best described as horrifyingly embarrassing, but he was only going to concede as far as awkward.

He’d been instructed to receive a live drop of information from a contact sitting at the far left at the bar of the posh hotel near the government offices. Woman in her 30s, brown hair, green dress. He was surprised to see her in place earlier than arranged; he’d arrived early out of an abundance of caution to observe the site. Was she careless? Perhaps a novice? Or had there been a change of plans that hadn’t been communicated? He didn’t want to be here in the first place, with his head pounding as it was, so he went with the flow and sat down. He really should have realized there was a problem when she didn’t seem to understand the parole he offered, and just tossed her hair and giggled. But he thought that maybe that was what she had been told would be her half of the recognition signal.

After several tedious moments of innuendo and sultry looks he couldn’t fathom why she wasn’t just slipping the info under the cocktail napkin, then leaving, and letting him retrieve it. He had been highly annoyed at her lack of professionalism; was the flirting really necessary? They could have been colleagues from work, or strangers. There was no need for deep cover to include her hand running up his thigh. And when it seemed as if the only way to get the information was to go up to her room he nearly aborted the mission. But he needed the goddamn intel.

Awkward. But not as awkward as the fact that when she opened the door he saw a man in the room with whom she was obviously friendly. That had caused several minutes of panic that he’d walked into an ambush. Until it became clear that the reason for the flirting, and the obfuscation, and the lack of clarity, had been that she thought she had been arranging a rendezvous for a threesome.

So, not his contact. Awkward. A walk of shame back to the bar, albeit one that hadn’t included undressing and then dressing again. Where, after ten minutes, a woman in her 30s, brown hair, green dress, sat down at the far left end of the bar. Who knew how to respond to the parole. Who ordered a glass of red, lit a cigarette – damn her – crushed it out after a few moments, and left, the information he needed written on the cocktail napkin that replaced the one under the wineglass.

He really needed to hone his skills at recognizing when he was being propositioned. Although the hand on the thigh really should have clued him in. Awkward. Propositioning. Which reminded him of John. And that first evening at Angelo’s. That really could have gone better. If wishes were horses . . .

He’d been thinking so much about John lately, that he’d swore he’d caught a glimpse of him at the back of the crowded lobby at the opera house the evening before last. As if. Stupid. Awkward.

He’d even risked contacting Mycroft, afraid that somehow all the John on his mind was some kind of telepathic signal of distress. It didn’t seem so. He’d been sent a photo of John at Tesco in the check-out line, doing his usual shop. No bottles of alcohol in sight. Although he noted that there was a carton of Haagen-Dazs Biscoff and Caramel ice cream, which John said was insanely sweet, and which he only bought because it was Sherlock’s favorite.

Maybe John thought about him at times, as well.

God, he wished he had a cigarette.

........................................................ @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @friday411 @peanitbear @original-welovethebeekeeper rest of the @s in the tags, which will work for communication purposes, I hope? just say the word if you want to be tagged or untagged xoxoxo

[minhosimthings]

Someone Older, Just a Little Bit Colder.

Summary: Yoon Y/N and Lee Minho. Perfect enemies. But when some guns and roses get mixed up with both of them, I wonder what the fates have weaved for their story.

Pairings: Fem!reader × Minho, classic Enemies to Lovers. Includes rest of Skz and other groups

Warnings: lots of violence, blood, murder, guns, swearing, mention of food, mention of dead bodies. There is a lot of violence so please do not interact if you are sensitive to these things.

A/N - I finished this finally. This took a lot of time and it is probably my longest work till date. I took inspiration from an edit I saw on Instagram. So here you go! Please enjoy this and feel free to give me feedback. I don't like some parts of the fic that much tho. Cause I was very lazy when I wrote them.

Song rec:

1: I need someone older

"No, no, no" Mournful voices were surrounding your frame. "No this can't be happening. Please Y/N!" Tears, not yours, dripped onto your skin as something red mixed with it to create a pretty little cocktail. "Fuck princess wake up! Fuck no....."

"Y/N! Come down quick! You've gotta get to school!" Another day of school. How mechanical was your life. In your final year of high school, you'd have thought that your life would have sugar, spice and everything nice. But instead, you got stuck with a robotic schedule, which consisted of waking up, going to school, coming back, food time, homework, checking to see if any colleges had sent you mails and then going back to sleep. But you couldn't really complain, because you were in Jeju Island. Literally everyone here had the same robotic schedule. Well maybe except for the richest people here. Your family was what was known as the middle classes. You lived comfortably, but not too plushily and your mom and dad both had jobs. Your elder sister Jinhee and you basically raised each other and now, with Jinhee, already graduated and married (since she was seven years older than you), you were left all alone in your turquoise room, with white borders and black finishes. It wasn't the fact that you weren't happy or anything. But, as a child of the Cosmos and as a ruler of the skies and tides, you wanted to feel that feeling that people had when they would roll around in the grass, or buy flowers from a sweet old lady, or wear ridiculous nail polish with someone, keeping the stories of the stars to yourself, whenever someone asks 'what did you do last night?'. But wasn't that why fairytales existed? To tell you that getting all those things was nothing but a mere dream? A dream which you hoped would come true? Which you hoped that the universe would understand your heart's desire and grant it to you?

"Be safe alright? Got your pepper spray?" "Yes ma don't worry. Im always safe aren't I?" Your mother kissed your forehead gently before letting to walk off to school, pepper spray in hand, knife hidden up the sleeve of your blue school sweater. The road from your house to your school was one of the safest ones. It was a suburban area, with families like yours lining up the street. You had no problem walking by yourself, and casually greeting the wakening families, with their toddlers and teenagers. You felt safe here and in the rare times there was some danger, you knew you could kick their asses (flashback to that one time you thought your dad was a stranger and accidentally kicked him hard in the shin. He still doesn't forgive you for that)

"Miss Yoon. Are you walking alone your highness?" That voice. That voice was perhaps the bane of your existence (not the object of all your desires. Sue me for using Bridgerton right now). A smooth black car pulled up next to you as you were just a metre away from the school. The windows were rolled down to reveal a young boy, your age with fluffy plum brown hair, cat like eyes, a sharp nose and a smirk on his stupid face. Lee Minho. Also known as the worst person you knew. And no this wasn't an enemies to lovers scenario. It usually is but this? Yeah absolutely not. Lee Minho had been your childhood neighbour since he was six. He lived with his grandparents since he was six, with his parents being in one of the richest families of South Korea and working in Seoul. He also went to your school, which was weird considering he was basically a billionaire and still chose to go to the 'middle class' school along with his his seven friends, who coincidentally were also from the seven richest families of South Korea.

"Oh no Minho. I wasn't walking alone. I have an invisible friend that you can't see from behind those stupidly pretty eyes of yours." You threw him a glare as his smirked just increased in size. "You think my eyes are pretty?" "Oh for fucks sake. What do you want?" "Language, princess." Minho chuckled and unlocked the passenger seat door. "Get in." You let out a chuckle and said "With you? Oh no thank you. I would rather go to Hell and dance with the devil." "Oh come on princess." Minho's face only widened even more to form the face of the devil himself. "You know people who die to even touch my car. You're lucky I'm offering you to ride in it." You rolled your eyes at him. So fucking cocky for no reason. You decided that you couldn't take it anymore and just started walking with a small 'I'll see you at school Minho goodbye now.'. Minho seemed to have taken the sign as he locked his doors, rolled the windows down and sped away to school.

Finally some peace. You breathed in the September air as you watched the Magpies fly around with their mates. You always loved Magpies, courtesy to your dad always encouraging you to birdwatch whenever you were free, with the pink binoculars you had. And today, in the serene September air, it felt good, watching two birds in love fluttering around, probably having a conversation about who knows what. There was that odd feeling in your chest again, that feeling which you pretended wasn't loneliness. People never understood the difference between alone and lonely. Yes you can be alone and you can enjoy it to your fullest. Some of your friends loved to be alone, eating chocolate, reading a nice book, sitting by the rain, all of those aesthetic things those Pinterest people do. You always craved to be like that too, but you never could. And you still had to learn to accept the fact that being basic wasn't a bad thing.

"Babe your foundation isn't blended properly come here. Hasn't Mama Huh taught you anything?" Your best friend Yunjin greeted you at the stairs of your school, with her bright unicorn bag and her perfect makeup as usual. "Sorry sweetheart. I really can't focus today." Yunjin gave you a sympathetic look as she blended the foundation on your neck with her hands carefully. "Is it Lee again? I swear to God one of these days I'm gonna go and tell him that you like him and then he'll confess to you and then this can be an enemies to lovers novel where I'm the sassy, amazing best friend who saves the day." You laughed at Yunjin's rambling. "And I thought Chaer was more delusional than you." "Do I hear my name?" A pretty girl with long black hair and perhaps the greatest jawline in the world came up behind you. Lee Chaeryoung, cousin of Minho and your second best friend, also your prettiest friend (sue me she's my wif- I mean my bias) "Hey Chaer. By the way have you guys completed Mr Hong's assignment?" Yunjin groaned at your words as she pulled out a red copy from her bag and opened it to reveal her messy handwriting. "I stayed up to finish this shit. Why do we need to analyse what a curtain means in Shakespearean language? Like I don't know. It could mean the heroine wants to be at an orgy for all I know." Chaer hit Yunjin's arm as you laughed at went inside the school to go to your English class along with Yunjin. Chaeryoung stalked off in the other direction, to her biology class, as you entered the class, where Mr.Hong wasn't present yet. You always dreaded English period, not because you weren't good in the subject, but because of the seating arrangement. Yunjin would always sit at the back of the class while you were stuck in the front with Minho. You internally groaned as you walked up to your seat, where Minho and Chan were talking to each other. Chan was a good friend of yours since your mom was the head of the Jeju Island branch of his dad's buisness. Curly haired, eyes filled with stars and the most gentle behaviour ever, he came straight out of a goddamn book. You always wondered how he became friends with Minho, considering both of them were as different as chalk and cheese. But then again, they has been brought up together, by their grandparents while their parents would stay in Seoul to run buisness.

"Hey Chan. Did you get those physics notes done yesterday?" Chan greeted at you with than omnipresent smile on his face as he nodded fervently like a puppy. "Yeah I got them done! It was really hard though. I really hope Mrs.Choi is absent today. So she can't call me out on my 'mistakes'." You smiled fondly at Chan as he took his seat on your other side, while Minho toyed with a blue hairband. Your hairband. "Minho where did you get that?" He turned to look at you and gave you that smug smirk again. "Why princess? Is it yours?" You scowled as you reached forward and grabbed the hairband out of his hands and stuffed it into your bag. "Yes it is mine! I think you'd know that considering I have been looking for this ever since the playground incident from when we were seven! Oh but I think you wouldn't remember that would you? Considering you're an ajhussi." It was Minho's time to scowl now and he scrunched up his nose like an angry bunny and stuck his tongue out at you, all while mumbling "I'm only two months older you know.", As Mr.Hong entered the classrooms in his pinstriped shirt and began asking for the assignments.

The rest of the day went as normal. You went to all of your classes, had a gossip-filled lunch with Chaeryoung, Yunjin, Miyeon, Sunoo and Jake, accidentally spilt water over Sunghoon from Chemistry, and got top grades in biology as usual.

Gosh September was good. September was lovely. People don't really get why September was so comforting to you. And to be frank, you didn't get it either. But there was this aura that September had that you couldn't shake. It wasn't just all pumpkin spice lattes or orange scarfs. It was..... Something else. Something you couldn't describe. You know that feeling when you bite into an ice cream cone? It crumbles all over you, but you love that feeling, that crunch combined with the sweet ice cream inside. That's what September was.

The bell rang loudly as school got over and you went over to the the basketball court. Being captain of the girls team, you always needed to stay back after school in order to train your team. "Unnie come quick would ya!" Chaewon, the team's greatest shooter called out to you. "Im not that late today Chaewon. That's a record for me!" Chaewon rolled her eyes as she adjusted her shorts. "Y/N are we gonna discuss some tactics for next week's game then? Cause I drew a lot of shit last night and I don't want it to go to waste." Wonyoung, the team's co-captain was nudging some papers into your hands. You gave her a quick smile as you looked over all the loopy drawings she did. "Oh and girls! Please remember to get your registration documents tomorrow! I really don't want to submit them late to Coach Kim." All your teammates nodded at your words and went on to the court, where to your dismay, Minho and his team were also practicing. You were annoyed. You had booked the court for today and has specifically checked with both of your coaches and yet again, your mortal enemy was playing with his team on what was meant to be your court. "Yah Minho! Get off the fucking court. We have it booked for today!" You gave him the biggest glare that you could muster, while he simply strode up to you, ball in hand, and that stupid smile on his face. "Aww princess. You booked the court for today? Well sad because I booked it earlier. I have a signed consent form from Coach Kim too. So either you can get off the court or we can have a practice game together." You felt like blowing up the earth below his feet right now but you couldn't do anything when he showed you the piece of paper on which Coach Kim had signed specifying that the boy's team could play today. "Fine then. But a practice game? Together? Boys versus girls?" Minho simply nodded at your words as you looked back at your girl standing behind you who were currently looking like they wanted to go to war. Seeing their determination, you extended a hand forward to Minho and in a assertive tone, said, "You're on then Lee. I wanna watch your pretty little face when you lose really badly. So what's the prize then?" You regretted asking that question when you saw Minho's face turning into that evil little smirk again. His team was assembled behind him and now you were a bit scared, considering that your tallest player was the size of their shortest one. "How about........ loser has to take the winner to that nice ice cream place that just opened down the street? And it'll only be us two. You know, captain to captain." Hearing that both your team and Minho's team broke out in high pitched 'ooohs' (yes even the Bois) as if you were doing something scandalous. You had no choice but to accept so you extended you hand again as Minho gripped it with his veiny hands and shook it firmly.

Chan and Chaeryoung were sitting by the stands since neither of them played and you smiled gently at them talking and giggling so fondly. The game started with one of the assistant coaches, Jungwon, refereeing. You were more determined now than you were at last month's regional games. You had to beat Minho and he had to take you to that stupid ice cream place. "Scared princess?" Minho asked as you assembled on the half line. You didn't say anything but threw him a smirk, hoping that it would catch him off guard. "Alright, ready set. Rumble!" Jungwon blew the whistle and threw the ball up in the air as you reached forward and managed to slap it onto your side of the court, where Wonyoung caught it and swiftly passed it on to Chaewon, who was standing by the hoops. You heard Minho scolding Jeongin, who was defending Chaewon, for not blocking her properly as you high fived Wonyoung for the quick pass.The rest of the game pretty much went the same way as you kept using witty tactics while Minho kept using speed and strength, which you knew was his greatest weakness. From time to time, his shirt would fly up ever so slightly and you would get distracted for a split second by his abs (which you scolded yourself for).

"Guys can you stop now please? It's 7:30. I'm going home now and you guys should too before they shut the school gate." Jungwon finally ended the game as you looked over at the scoreboard. You had won! You hugged Chaewon tightly before striding up to a very sweaty Minho who, not even in the slightest, looked defeated. "So, Mr Lee. You owe me ice cream now." He gave you a small smile, which made your heart leap, and said "Of course your Highness. Do you wanna get changed and then we can go? Or would you like to come being all sweaty?" You scowled at him and stuck your tongue out as you made your way to the changing rooms as he shouted behind you, "Meet me at the gate!" You quickly took a shower and changed into the tshirt and yoga pants you usually brought with you to change into after a sweaty game.

"Yah are you going to take me in your dumb car?" You questioned Minho as he pulled up by the gate. Chan had taken Chaeryoung home today so you didn't have anyone to walk you home, which was a plus point (for Minho). "Yes princess. Since the ice cream place is not at a walkable distance, atleast for my feet, we are going in my dumb car. And you don't wana walk home this late Y/N. It's dangerous you know? So get the fuck in and let's go. I'm hungry." You begrudgingly got in the car, silently admiring the sleep leather seats as Minho started the engine and turned the car. "Oh and Chan hyung already informed your mom and dad. They're not gonna come home tonight cause they're busy or something so I'll drive you back if you want." You snapped your head from the flying butterfly outside the window to Minho's concentrated face as you shyly mumbled a 'thank you'.

The drive to the ice cream was long and silent. You simply stated out the window while Minho stared forward, trying not to look at the way the rays of the setting sun fell on your skin or how your hair fell in that particular way that just felt good. Do the boys usually confess first? He didn't know. No he hated you. This is absolutely not fucking happening right now. You were Yoon Y/N, captain if the girls basketball team, annoying neighbour, beautiful mortal enemy. No not beautiful. Get out of it Minho!

"Uh is this the place? Looks cute." Minho's car pulled up near a tiny cafe like building called 'Jureimi's parlor', lit up in bright pink signs. "Oh yeah. I'll just park and we can go." You got out of the car as Minho parked nearby and got out too. "Is that boba flavoured ice cream?" You pointed at a brown coloured ice cream in ghe booth. The lady at the counter smiled at you as she nodded and gave you little sample cup. You offered a bit to Minho, who shook his head and went to find a table. "Get what you want. I'll pay." You rolled your eyes at him. He had to pay anyway for losing the game so badly.

You tasted the ice cream, which tasted like heaven and decided that you wanted this. "Can I get this in a cone please? Two scoops." The lady nodded and told her co worker your order, who went to the back to make it. You noticed some pudding cups on the shelf behind the lady. "Are those puddings?" "Oh yes. They're a new addition really. It's a favourite among all the grandmas here." You pointed at the vanilla one and asked the lady to give you that one, while you handed her the money and she handed you your ice cream and the pudding cup. You strode over to Minho, who was sitting with his legs wide open at the little round table in the corner of the store. "Is that for me?" He pointed at the pudding. "No dumbass it's for the Magpies." He gave you a sarcastic smile and grabbed the pudding cup from your hands. "I only got it for you cause this boba ice cream is expensive. So stop smirking at me." He looked up at you with those cat like eyes and slightly pouted, but remained quiet as both of you savoured on the sweet, sticky food.

"Dude how slow do you eat?" You watched Minho as he has halfway through his pudding, while you had already finished your ice cream. "Just slow enough to annoy you baby." You frowned at his words. "Do not call me that ever again. It's makes me wanna vomit." You made a gagging motion as Minho just simply chuckled. "Fine then. While I finish this amazing pudding, how about we play truth or dare hm? Because our impatient princess can't wait for five seconds without doing anything." You thought for a while before finally saying yes. "Alrightly then." Minho smiled at you. "Y/N. Truth or dare?" You picked truth, which seemed like the only viable option, considering the fact that you were in a shop, and Minho said, "How's your brother?"

Your heart dropped as you heard that sentence. How did he know about that? The blue shade of the shop spun around you as you tried to focus on anything else other than what just came out of Minho's mouth. Silence. Yes silence would work. Just give him a glare and it'll be over. "Oh come on princess. We all know what happened to your brother. I just wanna hear it from you personally." Your blood turned cold as your mind kept feeding you memories of that night. That faithful night. That peace filled night. That night when the Magpies stopped singing and September ran cold once more.

"Fuck you Lee Minho." Saying that, you picked up your bag and got up, slamming the chair to the ground, behind you. The lady at the counter looked up to see you walking about the door, pushing it agressively. "No Y/N wait!" Minho knew he had fucked up now. He had never meant to hurt you like this. He had learnt from Yunjin that you were already over your brother's incident. This was just supposed to be normal mortal enemy banter. How do you still remember? He quickly pulled out some cash and slammed it on the counter to the very shocked lady as he ran out after you. You wouldn't have gotten far. After all, you had to pass the school to get to your house. Minho quickly got in his car and started the engine with a blast. You had also left your headband in the carseat. So, that was another excuse for him to chase after you. He wasn't going to lose you again. Not now. Not when he was so close.

The street was dark and cold, lit up faintly by the wavering streetlights. This wasn't September anymore. You could feel December taking all the love out of September. And as you walked upon the concrete, you could feel the Magpies talking about you. You could feel the crescent moon feeling nothing but pity for you. You could feel all the plants with their bugs, looking at you and saying, "Yoon Y/N. You fucked up again just like you always do." You shouldn't have let your anger take control. But then again, when we deal with anger so long, she never tells us that her actual name is grief. Your brother was supposed to be a closed chapter of your life, but like a faded page of an Agatha Christie novel, he lingered on in your brain. All your family had far moved on, but you loved your twin brother, older than you by 8 minutes, too much to let him go from the dusty cabinets of your brain. You tried to forget his screams on that day and that cold, hard cackling but you couldn't. You were right there. Right in front of all the destruction, when your heart broke into a million pieces. Yet how could you forget such a memory?

"Y/N!" Minho was rolling up with this car next to you as you reached your house. The magenta coloured door was locked, your parents were still out on work. "Minho just fucking leave me alone. And I mean it this time. Don't even fucking talk to me." "Yn would you listen to me? Don't go inside the house!" What was this maniac saying? You stared at his figure getting out of the car and swiftly moving across over the lawn to your figure standing at the front door. "please just don't go inside the house." You noticed some figures behind him and you realised that Chan and his friends Jisung and Changbin were also there. "Minho what the fuck are you doing?" Minho looked at with what you thought looked like an expression of pity. "Just please don't go inside the house."

No you weren't going to listen to him. Absolutely fucking not. The last time you listened to him, you ended up in a mud covered ditch. Not today. "Fuck you and fuck your fucking existence Minho! I'm not listening to one word that comes out of that stupid mouth of yours." Before Minho could stop you and before Chan called out your name, you opened the door with gusto, only to be met, not with the familiar scent of Eau de Perfume but with the stench of iron. Your world came crashing down again. Your parents. Lying dead. On the floor. Of your house. Covered in blood. You were frozen. You couldn't move. A sense of familiarity came over you. You knew this feeling. This feeling of feeling like a thousand icicles had pierced your veins. All that came to your mind was him. No this can't be September. September was his birthday! It can't be this bad. No please don't let September be bad. "Y/N. Princess are you alright?" "Min- Minho. They're- they're not. No." The tears weren't coming. This wasn't sadness this was shock. "Chan hyung can you get her out of here? Jisung call the police. Now. Y/N. Y/N what are you doing!" You had strode up to your parents' bodies. Your mom was covered in more blood than your dad. Your dad looked like he was peacefully sleeping. Your mum's head seemed bashed in. Oh god the smell of blood. That night. All that remained was that night. You were too immersed in looking at your parents, that you didn't notice the creeping black figure in front of you. "So you're their daughter are you?" That husky voice was the last thing you heard before a gun shot, Minho's voice and the thud of your body. There was something warm on your stomach. And gooey. And red. This felt nice, you thought. Dying felt nice. If only he felt like this before....

Chan and Changbin slammed the man who had stabbed you onto the wall, destroying some photo frames in the process. Jisung turned on all the lights and went over to the two other men to get a look at the stranger. Minho, on the other hand, had rushed to your side, picking you up in his arms, towel pressuring the wound on your stomach.

"No, no, no" Mournful voices were surrounding your frame. "No this can't be happening. Please Y/N!" Tears, not yours, dripped onto your skin as something red mixed with it to create a pretty little cocktail. "Fuck princess wake up! Fuck no....."

2: Just a little bit colder

"Well well well, Mrs Yoon. How are the children?" Your mother cowered in fear as your elder sister and your dad were tied up next to the fridge in the kitchen. Your twin brother and you were in the clutches of some buff looking men. Eleven years. That's all you were. Eleven fucking years. "Mr. Wang I promise I won't leak the papers. I swear on my children. Please do not harm us." Mr. Wang or whoever he was striding up and down the carpeted room, white papers in his scarred hand. "It's ok Y/Nnie. I'm right here. It's just another November. September will come soon won't it?" Your brother, Doowon tightly held your hand and calmed you down, as your tears threatened to escape from their prison. "Mr. Wang. Please I beg you. Please do not harm me. You have the papers. What more do you want?" Mr Wang smiled at your mother. A cold smile. Shivering and undaunted. "Oh my dear Danbi. I have the papers of course, but you know how I do my work. I do not like bitches who butt their heads into everything. So I want your children to see how their mother is a little bitch." Mr Wang pulled your mother's hair as she screamed and cried out. "Hey don't do that to my mom!" Your borther screamed out as you but the hand if the man who was holding you. Both of you escaped from the clutches of the two men as Mr Wang looked on, slightly amused. "Or what little boy? You gonna beat me up?" Your brother stood his ground, not even daring to break eye contact. "Doowon get back please!" Your mum pleaded with Doowon, but he wouldn't listen. He stepped forward to Mr Wang and stepped painfully on his smooth black shoes. Mr Wang let out a cold laugh as he grabbed your brother by the neck of his shirt. "Grab the little girl too. Let her see how her twin meets with death." A man grabbed you from behind as your family pleaded and you thrashed around, trying to escape. "Let me go!" You screamed as the man took you upstairs while Mr Wang followed with your brother. You reached your bedroom door, which you shared with Doowon and Mr Wang slammed it opened pushing you and your brother inside. "Open that window, Brian." He spat at the man who grabbed you, while you and Doowon stood still. "Now boy. Come here. Come. Here. Now. Unless you want your sister harmed." Doowon looked at you and squeezed your hand before going ever to Mr Wang. And that was the last touch of your brother you had, before Mr. Wang pushed him out of the window on to the green grass below. Your screams had filled the neighborhood, scared the Magpies and threatened September to never come again. September's child,you told yourself. That's all he was. September's child, at the mercy of October.

"She'll be alright Minho. Just give her a few hours. She'll wake up." You were lying on an oak bed with grand purple bedsheets. You had a white sheet wrapped around your waist and your stomach, which stopped blood from coming out of your stab wound. Minho had taken you to his mansion outside of town, where all the sons of the mafias of Korea would hang out. Bang Chan, Seo Changbin, Hwang Hyunjin, Minho's brother Lee Felix Yongbok, Han Jisung, Kim Seungmin, Yang Jeongin and Lee Minho. Stray kids, they called themselves. Basically abandoned by their workaholic parents and brought up by relatives. "Hyung she'll be fine don't worry. Seungmin's aunt is the best surgeon in the country. She stitched Y/N up all fine." Changbin put an arm on Minho's shivering shoulder. Chan and Jisung were also there in the room, trying to comfort Minho and convince him that you would be fine. "What if she's not ok hyung? What do I tell her when she wakes up? Ho-how do I explain to her how I knew that her parents' bodies would be lying in her floor before she even got home? How do I fucking explain that?" Minho looked up at Chan with teary eyes. Chan was worried. Minho hadn't eaten or drunk water for the whole day, ever since you came out of that four hour long surgery. Never before had he seen Minho's cold face so filled with emotion. "Minho listen to me. You can explain everything to her once she wakes up. I called her sister and she'll be coming over in three days from Busan. Now please. You've got to eat something or drink water atleast. I promise you, Y/N will understand if you speak to her properly. Now come on, let's get some breakfast. It's 8 am in the morning. The boys would have woken up by now." Minho listened silently to Chan's words and simply nodded. Words weren't coming out anymore as he slowly got up from his chair and let go of your hand. Taking one last look at you, the boys left the room, all the while commanding two bodyguards to stand outside the door, making sure no one else can even come near you.

"Y/Nnie! Look what I can do!" "That wasn't a proper cartwheel Doowon, it doesn't count!" "Atleast I can do a cartwheel." "Yah don't stick your tongue out at me! Jinhee unnie! Doowon's making fun of me!"

'Do you remember? Twenty first night of September? Love was chasing the minds of pretenders.' "Happy birthday Doowon! I got a CD of your favourite song!" "Thanks Y/Nnie. Let's listen to this song on my birthday every year!"

Purple sheets? This was not your bed. Your bed had dinosaur sheets and made a rickety noise every time you moved. You noticed the white tape wrapped carefully around your waist and dared not touch it. You tried to remember what day it was and where you were as you slowly moved and leaned comfortably against the bed frame, groaning slightly as your stomach was hurting. Gosh what day was it? Was it still September? Or did October come to take you away again?

Lost in your thoughts, you looked around the room, trying to figure out whether you were still in Jeju Island or not. You noticed a drawer close to the bed. Curious, you opened the drawer, to find your phone, a bracelet and a picture of a you and Minho in your jerseys. That bracelet. It was the one which your brother had made for you. Which you hadn't seen ever since that day. And the picture was the one which was taken when you and Minho were elected captains of your basketball teams. You grabbed your phone hurriedly as you realised that this had to be Minho's house. You had to get out. Now. Your memory was coming back to you and you remembered the events that had unfolded the night before. Blood. The smell of iron. The blade of a knife. The tears of a plum brown haired boy.

You threw the sheets off of yourself and made to get up. Stupid decision, you told yourself as the moment your feet hit the floor, you fell down witha loud thud. "OUCH!" you cried out loudly, hoping that this was a soundproof house. Probably not, because five seconds later, you heard footsteps coming down to your door. The oak door swung open with a loud crash to reveal a panic stricken Minho, who had dark circles under his eyes, a worried looking Chan, who was clutching a half finished piece of toast and a very confused Seungmin, who was holding a cup of coffee in his hand. "I knew I shouldn't have left your clumsy ass alone." Minho grumbled as he made his way to you and gently lifted you up, taking care not to touch your injury. You should have probably thrashed around, but for the sake of not accidentally injuring yourself even more, you resisted, as Minho put you back on the head and flicked your forehead painfully. "Yah!" You exclaimed rubbing your forehead. "Ok first of all, where the fuck am I? Second of all, what the fuck am I doing here? Third of all, I know my parents are dead now, so what I am going to do?" You directed the last question at Chan, who scratched his hair and glanced at Seungmin, who was looking at you as if you were his hero. "You know noona, you can come stay with me if you don't wanna stay in Minho's hyung's house." Minho glared at Seungmin as Chan took him by the arm and forced him out of the room, before saying "Minho explain everything. And no I will not help you stop pouting." He slammed the door, leaving Minho and you all alone. All alone in this wood carved room. All alone to face September together. "Alright" Minho took in a deep breath. "Im going to explain everything to you princess. But you will not fucking interrupt me, got it?" You opened your mouth to fire something back at him, but you decided against it in the last moment and quietly nodded. "Alright here goes. First of all I am really sorry for bringing up your brother. I know it was an asshole move and I thought you'd have forgotten about it. Clearly you didn't so I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Second of all, yes your parents are dead. Im sorry Y/N but they are. We informed your sister, she'll come in a few days from Busan. And the reason I knew that your parents were dead and tried to stop you was because my cousin killed your parents." Pause button. Wait what?

"Minho what are you talking about? If this is some kind of joke I will seriously kill myself right here and right now." Minho looked at you with an expression of pure sympathy. "It's not a joke Y/N. You know your mom is the head of the Jeju Island branch of Chan's parents' buisness right? Well all our businesses are connected. And one day when you were a child, your mother had found some papers which proved that my family was in illegal work. My family was ready to forgive her but my cousin, Jackson, wasn't. All those papers were related to his dealings and he wasn't happy that a mere woman had found out about it. So one day, without my parent's knowledge, he found out about your family and well. I think you know the rest don't you?" Too many things. Too many things for your brain to process as it went back to that night. Mr Wang. Jackson Wang. Pretty name, you thought, as you tried to bring his face back to your memory. Scarred. That's all you remembered. Scarred face, scarred mouth, scarred hands grabbing your brother by the cuffs on his shirt. "Chan had found out first. You know him having contacts and all. And when he told me about it, there was this thing inside of me that told me that your parents were probably already dead. I know my cousin pretty well. And he isn't one for patience." "But what did my mom do now?" Minho sighed at your question. "She, she found out some more information about Jackson and she decided to step up. But we all know what happens to heroes don't we?" Your breathing had gotten more steady now and your hands had stopped shaking. Sadness wasn't arriving for you. Not yet. Was it September? Or was it because you never actually knew your mother and father? Because thinking about it, you actually never did.

"Y/N I think it's time to tell you what my parents actually do. What all the boy's parents actually do. We run an underground syndicate over the whole of South Korea. We own every piece of land in Korea. We have information about every person existing in this country. And I want to tell you that your mom was actually one of the most important people for our 'buisness'. She wasn't just some head of the Jeju Island branch. She was a personal spy for my father and mother, put here along with your dad, to spy against, uh, some people." Your head hurt even more with all the information that Minho was unloading on you. You held your head in your hands and massaged your temples gently. Minho looked slightly worried at this and nervously asked, "You ok princess? Want some breakfast?" Oh gosh his lips. "Or a doctor? You know what I'll get a doctor. Chan hyung will say no-" Those lips looked so kissable" "- but what if you don't feel well later on a faint and then you become even more sick-" Don't kiss him Y/N don't you dare. "-and then I'll have to marry you and take care of you foreve-"

Yep you couldn't keep it to yourself anymore. "I wanna kiss you." You blurted out, instantly cringing and regretting your words and Minho turned his head towards you, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted in surprise. "This is adream right? Oh shit I had too much coffee." You were surprised at his words. Wait did he dream of this in a regular basis or what? Or were in you in a coma and this was all in your head? You slightly moved in the bed and as your stomach slightly hurt, you thought, yes definetly not a coma. "Or you could just get me some breakfast? Im hungry and in pain right now." "O-oh yeah I'll just tell t-the guys to get you some. K cool bye Y/N! See you later definetly don't wanna kiss you haha bye!" You were in a state of euphoria as Minho left the room, a blushing mess. Did you just make the Lee Minho blush and stutter? Oh you could jump in joy right now. Well if you could jump. Was this wrong, you thought. Not feeling sad even though your parents had just died? Or were you too familiar with sadness, that meeting her wasn't a big deal anymore?

The door opened again after fifteen minutes to reveal a blonde- haired boy with the most prettiest eyes you've ever seen, carrying a breakfast tray, followed by a taller long haired boy, who looked like he came straight out of those anime comics you read. "Hey noona! Here's some breakfast! Are you feeling better now?" The blonde haired boy, who had a very deep voice, said in a cheery tone. You considered asking him if he was a pixie or an angel because God did he emit that vibe. That positive vibe that just made you wanna pick some flowers and braid them in someone's hair. "Oh hello there. Um thank you for the food. Im sorry if it was of any inconvenience to you." This time, the long haired boy responded instead, saying "Oh no Noona it's fine. Minho hyung would kill us, well specifically me, if, according to his words 'you felt any discomfort', so please eat up. Im Hyunjin by the way and this is Felix." "Im Y/N. Yoon Y/N. But I'm guessing you already knew that?"

"Well of course we know about you. Minho hyung doesn't stop talking to me about you." Jisung had just appeared at the door, dressed in a leather jacket with leather pants, making him look like a biker. "He literally talked to me about your favourite ice cream flavour for five house noona I'm not joking. So please would you tell him you like or something so that I can get out of this hellhole of listening to him?" You were slightly taken aback by Jisung's words and as he plopped and deflated onto the purple couch, you looked at him with a curious expression, "Oh I'm Jisung by the way. Minho's amazingly talented best friend." You heard Hyunjin mutter something along the lines of 'he forgot to add annoying'. "Um I have a lot questions that Minho didn't properly answer. May I ask them,if you don't mind?" You directed this question at Felix, who looked ecstatic at the thought of answering questions, as Hyunjin pulled up two chairs. "Yeah of course Noona! My brother is really vague so please forgive him for that." You smiled at Felix's words about Minho. "Ok first of all where are we right now?" "We're in the outskirts of Jeju Island. This is Minho's hyung's mansion. Well technically our mansion, but my parents are the ones who own it. It's really old and no one cares about it. So we carry out our, er, operations here." Seeing Felix say all that was like seeing a chick with a knife. "So do all of you have like different jobs here? Like in the books and movies?" Hyunjin chuckled at that. "Minho hyung told us you liked suspense literature. Well to answer your question, yes we do have different jobs here. Chan hyung is kind of like our leader. He basically gives all the contacts and manages our profile and connections. You know all the administration shit. Changbin hyung and this idiot over here-" He gestured towards Jisung who gasped dramatically, "-they are our muscle and also so the money work. Lix over here does all the hacking work since his parents trained him and also since he's obsessed with gaming." Felix turned red at that, "Seungmin and Jeongin are our snipers. They are really young but I mean none of us really had an actual childhood. I run the interrogation work. And Minho hyung basically does everything. He doesn't really have a designated position." The way Hyunjin said all of that in the most casual tone weirded you out. He talked as if he was talking about morning coffee, as if it completely normal and nothing suspicious. You smiled awkwardly at Hyunjin who simply stared out the window at the sunlight. "Are all of you so gorgeous over here?" You blurted out, to which Jisung choked on his own saliva, Felix blushed pink and Hyunjin blinked multiple times. "I mean unless you count Jisung out, then yeah all of us are really pretty." You laughed at Hyunjin's statement to which Jisung looked like a furious squirrel.

"Yah Yongbok, Hyunjin are you coming down?" You heard Minho shout from below. "Oh gotta go. Anyways it was nice talking to you noona! I think Minho hyung called the doctor to come in the evening, so you should probably rest up until then. Oh and-" Felix paused for a moment and pulled out a sketchpad from nowhere. "Don't tell Minho I have you this. He told me you like to draw so I sneaked this in here." With that, all of them left you in the room, with a sketchpad, your phone and September's tunes.

You wiled away the hours by drawing the room around you. You tried to draw Hyunjin, Felix, Jisung and Chan too. The house was quiet apart from the voices of whom you assumed was Jeongin and Seungmin talking very loudly. But something was distracting you. That bracelet. The bracelet lying on the bedside drawer. You knew that bracelet very well. It was the bracelet which Doowon had made for you when you were eight or so. And you hadn't ever seen it ever since that night. So what was it doing here? Minho had told you that his cousin and his family don't talk at all, so how was this bracelet here? Was Minho lying? No he wouldn't do that. Yes mortal enemy things but you didn't think this man would be crazy enough to kill. You picked up the bracelet and twirled it in your hands. It was pretty, with gold lining the thing.

You noticed something on one of the biggest pink beads of the bracelet. The bead was... Open? It had a line tracing it as if it was a Pokemon ball, ready to split at any moment to reveal your Pokemon. Curious, you dig your nails into it to open it up. After a few minutes of difficulty (and you almost giving up), you managed to open the ball up. Inside was a tiny piece of folded paper. It was so tiny indeed, that you wondered how someone had managed to fold it. You dug the paper out and unfolded its many layers of folds. This definetly wasn't there when your brother had so lovingly made it for you. The paper was faded, but still looked relatively new. There were some words on it typed out in red, black and blue. The words:.

Yoon Doowon

Birth: September 21, 2005 (Age: Unknown)

Job: Hitman, Ally, Possible heir

Status: Alive

3: Take the weight off his shoulders

'Do you remember 22st night of September? Love was chasing the minds of pretenders all while dancing the night away."

"God boss can you turn that off? It's been playing for an hour now." A stout man, dressed in tight black clothes, which fitted his muscles was sitting spread eagle on a nice blue cushion chair. Sitting in front of him on a much more bigger chair, was a man dressed elaborately in a white mink stole, a pristine white suit, with rings of all colours adorning his fingers, and a big black brooch on a golden chain stuck to his suit. "I won't turn it off until the chorus Brian. You know I love this song don't you? And you shall listen to it until your ears bleed out." Brian groaned and leaned back in his chair. "When is Mr Wang coming?" The man asked Brian. "It's possible he'll be arriving in a few minutes sir. But don't worry. I have intel that he got the job done well and good." "And the little rat? What about her?" Brian shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Well she might have gotten away. Lee's gang was there." The man threw his long hair back and threw off the stole, a frown and a red scar decorating his handsome face.

They were in a large room, an office, but it looked more like a King's throne room, where there were chairs for the ministers and wine glasses all decked with pink fluid. There was no door, but a few handing blue beads, which tinkled every now and then. "How could she have gotten away? Who did you send to kill them?" "I sent our best assassin sir." The man scoffed. "Well, clearly he wasn't the best. Does he have family?" Brian nodded in response to the question. "Good. Kill them." "Of course sir."

The blue beads tinkled as a heavily scarred man came into the room along with two bodyguards. "Mr Wang." The white draped man bowed deeply to Jackson who bowed back, only a bit. "Well well well Doowon. You did good. Your parents are dead. This deserves a toast. Shall we?" Doowon smirked at the man and got a green bottle from underneath the table. "Only the finest whiskey for you Mr Wang." Jackson chuckled coldly, taking a glass from the table and extending it forward to Doowon. "But-" Doowon said as he slowly uncorked the bottle. "I do not wish for your bodyguards to be here. You know how the Lee Family works? Even the most trusted allies can turn into back stabbers when their money is involved. " If Jackson Wang was startled, he didn't show it on his face. Instead he motioned for his guards to leave the room, who followed suit, although with a little uncertainty. Brian also left the room, leaving the two scarred men alone.

"Well then a toast. To me and you. Buisness partners." Doowon raised his glass in unison with Jackson, who drank up the whiskey quickly. "Mr Wang I have something to tell you." Jackson looked up at the younger man and waved his hand as if to say 'go on'. "First of all I just want to thank you for taking me in that night, when everyone thought I was dead. You were so ever so good with your observations to notice that I was only playing dead. And then you trained me and everything so thank you for that. And for telling me the truth about everything." Jackson simply nodded. He felt a sharp jab in his stomach and his head started to stir. Doowon was going out of focus now and in what seemed like a split second, Jackson Wang rolled off of the chair, onto the floor. Dead. "But I wanted to tell you sir." Doowon spoke to the limp body on the floor. "That I would like to take over by myself now. You're getting too old and I don't want you to interfere in my personal matters."

"How do you feel now Y/N? Better?" A pretty older woman was checking up on you. She wore a doctor's coat with the nametag 'Dr Kim' on it. She was Seungmin's aunt, the surgeon who had saved your life. "Well the pain has subsided a bit Dr.Kim. I still feel a bit dizzy every time I move, but I think I'm good now." Dr Kim warmly smiled at you as she checked your heartbeat. "Well in any case, I think you'll be fine by tomorrow. You can even walk around tomorrow if you like. But for now, just get some more sleep. I'll tell Minho and the boys not to disturb you alright?" Dr Kim gently squeezed your hand and packed up her equipment. She spoke to you as if you were her own child, with such delicate words and a comforting voice, something that your mother never gave you. "Um Dr Kim? Could you ask Minho to come up here please? If you don't mind?" "Of course honey! I'll ask him. Take care now." She gently kissed your forehead and went out the door.

"You wanted to see me?" Minho was dressed in a blue shirt, slightly open at the top and white pants. He looked so.... refined. And hot, exactly like a K drama CEO. God damn he looked delicious. Don't lick your lips. Do not lick your fucking lips Y/N. "Yeah I have some questions." Minho groaned as he shut the door and came forward to sit on the bed. "What now?" "Where did you get this bracelet?" You held up the bracelet to Minho, who looked at you, perplexed. "That's my bracelet, for your information. My mother gifted it to me. It's been in my family for centuries." Wait what now? "Minho stop fucking lying would you? My brother gave me this as a surprise gift when I was ten. And it went missing ever since the day he fucking died! So could you please tell me where the fuck you got this? Or I'm getting out of this bed and asking Chan." "Woah there princess." Minho looked at you, worried at your outburst. "Alright don't get out of bed please. I don't want you bleeding out and dying. But I'm telling the truth. This is the bracelet my mother gave me when I was twelve. It's been passed on from generation to generation in the Lee Family. It's a special bracelet, because it has these tiny chits inside the beads, telling the person who opens it who the next leader of, well, underground South Korea is going to be."

Too much information again. Number one, you could not stop staring at Minho's pretty pink lips. Number two, why did the chit inside the bead have your brother's name? And why did it say that he was alive?" "Wh-who puts the chits inside of this?" You asked Minho, carefully hiding the chit inside of your hand. "Well my uncle Wang dies. Jackson's dad. His great great great grandpa was the one who made this bracelet. So he has the right to choose the heir." "Minho I think you need to see this." You handed Minho the faded chit. He looked at it for a solid fifteen seconds before looking at you, blinking rapidly, just like how he does whenever someone surprises him. "Y/N oh fuck. Shit come on get up. Quick. I'll help you." "Wait Minho what? What happened?" You asked Minho as he gently wrapped his arms around your waist, supporting you as you slowly got out the bed, and onto your legs. "Y/N we need to get to a safer place. If- if what this chit says is true, you're in more danger than I thought." "Wait Minho stop. Would you stop for a moment? Minho- Lee Minho!" You shouted his name, which made him stop in his tracks, arms still supporting your waist, even though you could still walk fine. "Would you please explain to me what's going on?" "Come down to the hall." Minho sighed and told you. "The boys, except Chan hyung, don't know either. So I can tell them and you at the same time. It'll be easier won't it?"

You nodded, not saying anything. Your mouth was dry and words were not escaping it. Gosh September was meant to be good. Why was it so full of surprises?

"Yah Minho Hyung! Auntie told noona can't get up until tomorrow." Seungmin said to Minho as both of you cam doen the stairs. All of the boys were pin the living room, immersed in their own work. Seungmin and Jeongin were playing chess and Chan was on his laptop as usual. "Chan hyung. I think I've figured out who the Mink Thief is." Chan's head snapped from his laptop to Minho so fast, that you swore you heard a cracking sound. The other boys' attention was also now on Minho. "Are you joking or are you actually telling the truth right now?" Minho smiled at Chan's words and set you down on the couch next to Changbin gently. "No I am not joking. Look at this." He handed Chan the bracelet and the chit, which Chan twirled in his gorgeous fingers, all the while looking at it as if it was some alien substance. "Oh fucking hell. Not him?" Minho nodded at Chan's exasperated words as Chan slumped in his chair, setting his laptop down on the table. "Can anyone explain what's going on please? Minho hyung?" Felix asked. "Alright bitches-" "language Minho" "Hyung stop being so old. Alright bitches listen up. So first of all let me introduce you to a man named Yoon Doowon, also known to us as The Mink Thief, who has been sending our families threats for a long time, also know to Y/N as her dead brother." "Yah! Rude!" "Anyways, one thing that Chan hyung found out a few days ago is that The Mink Thief has been in contact with my cousin, Jackson, ever since the day of Y/N's brother's murder. Also Y/N," he paused at looked into your eyes. "Whatever I'm about to say next will probably shock you so please don't faint out of surprise." You looked at Minho with the best offended eyes you could.

Minho then continued in a much more serious voice, "Yoon Danbi, Y/N's mom has been a spy for my family ever since I was born. Her and her husband had been placed here in Jeju Island along with their only daughter Yoon Jinhee, for an important mission. But soon, people grew suspicious of how both of them would act all the time, leaving their daughter alone for such long periods of time, coming home late at deadly hours and blah blah blah. So, in order to make their family seem much more 'normal', they took in two children. Choi Doowon and Jeon Y/N." "Minho what the fuck are you saying right now." Why were there so many surprises? Was your entire life a lie? Were you adopted for some stupid mission or something? What kind of Marvel shit was this? "Yeah this is why I said, don't faint out of shock." Minho slightly chuckled as Chan looked at repramandingly. "Look yes it's true your parents aren't your real parents. But the thing is your didn't even have parents. You came straight from the orphanage. So when my family took one look at you, someone with no background information which can be traced, they thought you were perfect for this mission. I mean, think of it Y/N, haven't you ever saw your parents hiding any documents from you or getting afraid when you asked for your birth certificate whenever you needed to register for your basketball games?" Yes, when you thought about it, they did do that.

"Hyung don't you think you should have had this conversation somewhere more private?" Felix looked from your distraught face to Minho's. "We probably should have but I have shit to tell all of you too." Minho said to his younger brother. "When Doowon supposedly died that night, Jackson Wang got a new partner in crime. Doowon was probably still alive. I know that no one can survive a fall like that, but I seriously don't know how he survived. So what I'm assuming from this tiny chit here, is that Jackson probably told Doowon the truth about his true parentage and all, and then like a basic villain, Doowon wanted revenge and now Y/N's life is basically a fantasy novel." "Ain't that right?" You scoffed. "My entire fucking life is a lie. I mean is my name even Y/N? Are we just living in a hallucination? What if all humanity is meant to do is just live our boring lives until a giant space turtle comes along and kills us all?" "That would be a cool way to die." Jisung said, not even a bit surprised by your rambling. "Jisung." Chan looked at Jisung with a glare. "Alright listen up everybody. Now that the sad backstory is out the way, we need to get down to buisness. First of all we need to get Y/N somewhere safe. Well safer. So Y/N, would you be willing to go along with Jisung, Jeongin and Seungmin?" You nodded at Chan, who looked very relieved. "Great. Felix, Hyunjin, would both of you search out if Vernon's mansion is still protected and everything? " Felix and Hyunjin replied 'yes' to Chan and quickly went out the room. "Um noona we should get going. Can you walk by yourself?" Seungmin stood up and extended a hand to you, which you gratefully took and got up. "Yeah I can walk don't worry. Um where are we going?" Seungmin smiled at you, revealing his braces. "Don't worry about that. Just follow me to the car."

Fifteen minutes later, you were sitting in the back of a Bentley with Jisung, with Seungmin driving and Jeongin stared out the window, sitting quietly in the passenger seat. "You're lucky Minho hyung gave us his car noona." Jisung commented. "He never even lets us touch it. But then again, we're with you, so I guess that makes up for it." You looked at Jisung's wavy hair and thought to yourself that how can a sweet boy like him, be Minho's best friend. "Jisung, when you said Minho doesn't stop talking about me to you guys, what exactly does he talk about?" "Oh noona I could write an entire seven book Series about that " Seungmin responded instead of Jisung. "He doesn't ever stop talking about what your favourite song is, or what you wore today or how your hair falls in such a perfect way. And when we tell him to just tell you that he is pathetically in love with you, he sulks and says that he would rather kill himself." Well that was certainly surprising. "Oh we're here." Jeongin said, as the car pulled up to a massive iron gate, which had the letters C, H and V on it. What it was guarding was a massive black mansion, which looked very much like a vampire's lair, covered in vines of ivy with a statue of bat hanging out in the big yard. "Chwe Hansol. Also known as Vernon. This is his mansion. He's a good friend of Chan Hyung's and he lets us use the mansion whenever we want. It's the safest place in Jeju Island so we'll be good here noona." Jisung told you, as you stepped out of the car. The mansion looked so ethereal and as you walked into the yard through the gate, you wondered if this was the mansion which was described in the story of the vampire Carmilla. You lived and breathed for that story and you were excited at the thought of hiding in a place which looked exactly like Carmilla's mansion, where she took the blood of her lover, weeping over her body, and complaining about her death.

The boys pushed open the big dual doors of the mansion with difficulty, but not before Jisung had entered a pass code on the tiny keyboard thing which was on the right side of the door. This was indeed Carmilla's mansion, you thought as you entered the big living room, which was decked from head to toe in gold and silver. There was a magnificent chandelier hanging from the ceiling, along with busts of some vague looking people.

"Gosh this is so pretty." You said to Seungmin, who smiled and said "Wait till you see the ball room." You were about say 'theres a ball room here?' when suddenly the lights went out. "Ah fucking hell. Guys stay here with noona. I'll go and see what's wrong." You heard Jisung's voice. "I don't think you need to do that, my dear Mr.Han." you heard a cold voice, which didn't belong to any of the boys. "Who's ther-" Before Seungmin could finish his sentence, you felt a hit to your head, and you blacked out, before hearing Jisung shout, "Noona!"

"Y/Nnie. Wake up." Doowon said in a sing song voice. The boys were tightly tied up to the chairs, with cello tape around their mouths. You were also tied up to the big blue cushion chair, with Doowon, standing in front of you, wearing a red coat and that mink fur stole. He had three bodyguards with him, all buffer than Changbin, all carrying guns and all looking scary as fuck. "Y/N wake up you stupid bitch." Doowon slapped your face painfully, which made you slightly stir. "Hey don't do that she's injured!" Jisung shouted out, having managed to chew through his cello tape. Doowon looked at Jisung with a sarcastic smile and said nothing, while one of the bodyguards punched Jisung. "Doowon?" You had woken up and the surroundings were appearing more clearly now. Your stomach hurt so much and your brain was still fuzzy, except for your dead brother standing in front of you, smirking. "Oh hey Y/Nnie. You miss me?" He asked you in a cold voice you didn't recognise. Never September. This was not September's child standing in front of you. This wasn't September's child, who used to chase butterflies and gift you cute little stones, standing in front of you. "Doowon you're alive." You managed to cough out some words, along with a bit of blood. "Ahh yes I am. I assume your stupid boyfriend already told you what happened to me. So I'm going to skip over the part where I explain shit to you." He let out a cold laugh which made you flinch. "Doowon this isn't you. What are you doing?" You asked him, tears welling up in your eyes. "This isn't me? No Y/N this is me. I've been lied to my entire life and Jackson Wang told me the truth. He taught me the way to survive in our world. He's dead now by the way. Just like our 'parents'." "Doowon please. Stop this lunacy! Atleast let the boys go they haven't done anything wrong!" Doowon leaned down to your level and lifted your chin with his finger. You shivered at his cold touch. "Aww Y/N. Always so fucking innocent. Baby the boys are leverage. Soon the rest of the boys will be here and then after some introductions, I can finally rule all of South Korea." Your tears had escaped now as you looked over at the boys, who were knocked unconscious by the bodyguards. You felt like the most lowest human being on earth, when you looked at Jeongin's bleeding lip, wondering what Chan's reaction would be when he arrived here. "Brian! Go check if the doors are open please. I want them all to waltz in here and call for these pathetic boys. And then we'll hit them where they don't even know it hurts. Maybe we'll start with this one." He moved over to Jeongin. The man named Brian laughed and winked at Doowon. "I'll get the door sir." He moved out the room swiftly.

Fifteen minutes had passed. Fifteen silent minutes. This was silence which you did not enjoy. Silence was sweet in September, when only the Magpies chirped. But now, as you watched Jeongin and Seungmin slightly stir, silence became bitter. "Is Brian not coming? You!" Doowon shouted at one of the guards. "Go out and see where he is! Does it take this much time for the rascal to come back?" The guard obeyed and made to get up from his seat on a rickety wooden chair. BANG! A bullet shot went through the guards head, and as he slumped to the ground, with a pool of blood around his head, Doowon screamed and grabbed Jisung by his chin. "You! What have you done!" Jisung merely smirked at him as Doowon lay frozen there, staring at the body. "Oh for fucks sake what are both of you doing?" Doowon spat at the two remaining guards. "Go upstairs and check if the rats have entered the house already!" The guards nodded their heads fervently and went off in opposite directions, only to be met with two gunshots. The door burst open, as Minho and the remaining boys barged in.

"Doowon." Minho said coldly to Doowon, who merely smirked, trying to hide the fact that he had peed his pants a bit. "Well you found me didn't you? Good job Minho. You know Mr Wang told me how your family works. So I'm honoured that I'm actually getting to experience a member of the great Lee family trying to kill me." You were disgusted by his words. Where did your sweet Doowon go? Where did the boy whom you had cried for day and night go? "Let the boys and Y/N go. Now Doowon. And we won't have any consequences." Chan said to Doowon. He looked furious. You hadn't ever seen Chan like this. "Oh you can take the boys first and then I'll give you Y/N." Hearing that, Changbin and Hyunjin hurried forward, untied the boys, who were concious by now and supported them on their arms, as they carried them back to safety.

"Now Y/N's turn. Give her back to me Doowon and maybe you won't end up choking on your own blood tonight." Minho's voice made your heart go warm. He had nothing but cold fury in his voice. If you thought you had seen his anger on that one particular basketball match in Busan, you were mistaken.

"Now why would I do that? Sweet little Y/N is all ok tied up to his chair aren't you Y/Nnie?" He pulled your hair and kicked you hard in your stomach, which made you cough out blood. Yep, the stitches in your stomach had probably opened up. Fuck no, not now. Don't die in September. Let me wait for October. October seemed more comforting now. The Magpies had their babies in October. Im October, you could get boba on discount. In October, you could hand out with your friends whenever you want. In October, Minho would turn a year older. Wait how did you know that? Why was this room so fuzzy? Hey Minho's face. His beautiful face. It was going out of focus now. Good way to die isn't it. You hoped death came to you, wrapped in white silk and picked you up in her arms like a baby and put you in a cradle. A cradle painted orange and yellow. A cradle with Magpies on it. A cradle which loved all the months equally. But especially October. Especially October.

"Doowon, stop that! Stop fucking hurting her!" Minho screamed at Doowon. You were blacked out now and as Minho looked at your gently sleeping figure, his heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach. "And what if I don't? What will you do oh great Lee Minho? I have her in my arms and I can do anything I wa-" That was the last thing Minho heard before all he saw was Doowon's dumb face, struck with shock, bullet hole in his big head, blood staining his already red suit and his stupid mentality finally gone from this world. "Good job Minho. Now come on let's get Y/N. Guys get Jisung, Seungmin and Jeongin to the car. We'll get Y/N." Chan told the others, while Minho had already strode over to you. He hurriedly untied the ropes around your arms and legs and got you to his arms, fingers looking for your wrists, to check your pulse. Tears were coming out now. Tears he never knew would come for you. He loved you. So much. So much it was honestly pathetic. The way you scowled everytime you saw him, the way your eyes lit up whenever you got a high test score, the way you cherished December for your birthday, the way you existed. He loved everything about you. And he can't lose you. Not now. Not ever.

"Feeling good kitten?" You had woken up in Minho's house again, with Dr Kim checking your heartbeat and adjusting your blood pump. "Minho." You managed to breath out weakly, making Minho's heart drop again. He was quick to stand up and cup your face in his arms gently as tears poured out of your eyes. "Hey hey hey don't cry." He said so gently, in a tone which he never used with you. "No Y/N. Shh. I've got you. You're safe. You're safe." He hugged you gently, supporting your head with his hands as you silently sobbed into his shirt. Once you pulled away, you noticed that his shirt was wet from all the crying and that his eye bags were more prominent. "Im sorry. I'm so sorry Minho. I-I really didn't know about..... about him and I caused you all this trouble. I am so sorry." "Hey hey princess. Y/N listen to me." You looked into his eyes, which were twinkling into yours. "None of it is your fault. You hear me? None of it. If anything, I should have told you all that I know earlier but I couldn't. Because- because I- I love you Y/N." That was it. That's all it took. That's all it took, for your eyes to widen, your hands to reach up to his jaw and for your lips to meet his, in a slow dance accompanied by the melodies of the Magpies outside, celebrating that you two had finally realised your love for each other. You pulled away after what felt like a very short time, but you were running out of breath. Minho and you stared at each other for a while and then burst into giggles. "That felt nice princess. You sure you haven't kissed anyone before?" You slapped his chest playfully as you said "Yah! Don't make me think back about being your girlfriend Lee Minho." Minho's eyes lit up and he stuttered out "Girlfriend? Yep I'm in a dream someone pinch me." You rolled your eyes as you pinched him and he let out a tiny scream. "Oh stop so dramatic. How long was I out by the way? And are the boys alright?" "You were out for two days now kitten. And the boys are good. Jisung is saying he finally got his 'Wattpad best friend gets kidnapped moment' and I think Chan told Dr Kim to double his dosage of sleeping pills so now he's crashed out. And snoring loudly."

"Noona you're awake!" Felix had come into the room, well more like bounced into the room along with the rest of the boys, Seungmin sporting a cast, and Jeongin having a pink band-aid on his lip. Felix hugged you tightly while Chan hugged Minho. "Lix let her go. She needs to breath." Chan said to Felix, who had been hugging you for a long time now. "Seungmin, Jeongin are you guys ok now? I am literally so sorry." Jeongin smiled at you sweetly, his fox like eyes forming crescents and said, "We're good noona. Technically we should be asking you that question. And it's fine please don't apologise." He bowed a bit to you and as you tried to bow back, whilst sitting, Hyunjin said, to Minho "So hyung. Have you finally got your ass together and asked noona out?" Minho glared at Hyunjin as everyone else in the room laughed. "You will be getting your mouth stuffed tonight Hyunjin. And yes I have asked her out. And now she's my girlfriend." "Yah who said I was your girlfriend?" You jokingly said. "Ok I'm gonna ask Jisung out then." Minho said standing up.

Four years later

You had been living with Minho for four years now, as his live-in Girlfriend. He had introduced you to his parents, who had been nothing less that kind to you. They had first apologized profusely for the whole Doowon incident, to which you told them that you really didn't care. You had Minho with you and all of your past had slowly faded away.

And every year as October and September came, you learnt to cherish ,not the month, but the memories you made every day. You learnt to forever keep memories of you, your boyfriend, your friends and everyone around you. You learnt how to let go of grief easily.

And when Minho proposed to you, on the twenty first night of December, you learnt, you just needed someone a bit older, and a bit colder, to teach you what it meant to love a person like you'd love a month.

[dark-romantics]

Zodiac signs as summer aesthetics

Virgo: cozy video games, writing essays hyped on caffeine, blankets and pillows, lofi music, floral/botanical print fabric, wet grass, sleeping with the windows open, taking notes, caramel icecream, art gallery dates and greek statues, daydreaming out loud.

Libra: late night drives down empty roads. singing to lana del rey, beach weather, counting stars, mapping out constellations, breaking into abandoned buildings, loud, heartfelt laughter. feather tattoos and band t-shirts, thrift stores and life long friends, falling in love too easily, loving too loudly. 

Taurus: Sunshine and linen sheets, freckles and dimples, gold and sand, warm laughter and cold cocktails, strawberry lemonade, pizza and a can of soda, tan lines and stretch marks, afternoon naps on the porch and late night rides, a light breeze in the summer heat

Pisces: wiling the hours away, staring at the ceiling, wanting to write but not knowing the words, blaring music, ignoring texts, bucket lists, hiding from the world, scrolling aimlessly through the internet, messy hair from the heat, reading books before class starts. cozy bookstores and losing track of time

Cancer: large smiles, loud, infectious laughter, sunflowers, denim, hands hiding in pockets, cigarettes, okay grades, napping under trees, pointing out constellations, bucket hats and bandannas, morning people, fancy teas

Leo: blooming flowers, late study nights, picking up an old hobby, writing never-sent love letters, reminiscing about the past, buying heartfelt gifts for friends, telling the moon all your problems, mature for your age yet still a child within, competetive, secretely cries during movies

[sky-kiss]

Modern AU

A/n: This is just for me. This is just a dumb little treat for me. Puttering in the modern au.

IF HAARLEP TAKES YOU HOME, THEY HAVE ULTERIOR MOTIVES

Raphael's condo is cold and clinically efficient, much like the man himself. It would be different, she thinks, at one of his country retreats—there, he could express himself more freely and indulge in lavish excess. There's a brutalist modernity to his home in the city, with hard edges and white-blue lighting. No color. No personal photos. Nothing incriminating. 

It's also fucking cold temperature-wise. Not an issue with a cocktail of designer pills and booze in your system and the devil's sugar baby whispering sweet-nothings, but a real fucking problem the morning after. There's an insane part of her that wants to crawl back into bed with Haarlep. Write the evening off, call a truce, and just…sleep off the hangover. Maybe a sympathy lay for the road. 

It's not in the cards; she's been gone too long already. 

Father would start to worry. 

Fuck. 

Her clothes are gone. Her phone is gone—concerning. Again, filed away, future problem. For now… she's got what she came for— Haarlep's phone. Predictably locked, but it's nothing Enver wouldn't be able to crack. 

"My—we're looking a touch worse for wear, aren't we?" Raphael asks. The cambion is waiting for her. In her current state, they couldn't contrast each other more strongly. She's a wreck. Raphael is perfect; his robe, slippers, and pajamas are the same beautifully rich maroon. He tips his head to the side, plucking the reading glasses from his nose. "Tell me, little heiress, what would your father think of this…display?" Raphael's gaze flicks from her face to her chest with no hint of interest. He tuts, holding his hand out for the phone. "Indecency and petty theft."

"It's mine." 

"Curious." Raphael reaches into his robe's pocket. "Haarlep was good enough to bring me your phone hours ago." The devil smirks. "You're a heavier sleeper than I might have expected. Or shall we credit dear Haarlep with your exhaustion?" 

Joi screws her eyes shut, sighing. She crosses to him, setting the phone on the counter. "Didn't expect the little shit to be so…prompt." 

"Few do. Curious how often they're underestimated." 

Joi motions to her phone. "I'll take that, thanks." 

He chuckles. "My dear, do you believe you are in a position to make demands?"

"Not with how my morning's been going." She scrubs her hands through her hair. "Fuck—fine. What do you want, Raphael?" 

"The pleasure of your company, nothing more." The devil shrugs out of his robe and holds it out for her to slip into. "Take a seat. We have much to discuss—to our mutual satisfaction, of course."