#ive been adjusting his theme 4 him

[concealeddarkness13]

Fire and Steel (Speedrunning Therapy) Part 4

Content warning for mild suggestive themes, mentions of sex, kissing, and needles (in a dream). And here’s part 4! This one’s got a lot of fluff. About 7,500 words for this one!

Part 1, part 2, part 3

Tagging: @drabbleitout, @ratracechronicler, @maple-writes, @pen-of-roses, and @for-fuchs-sake!

I pulled back when Ryker and Ives started heading for the stairs. Beau was so sweet, and I already completely trusted him. Honestly, she trusted all of them. I nodded and headed after them. I didn’t say anything, just nodded to Ives when I caught up, since he had been waiting.

We got to the parking lot and the car, and I headed for the backseat, but Ryker got there first and slid into the backseat. I frowned, but went to the front seat as Ryker laughed. “Well I’m not gonna make her sit in the back by herself. That’s rude.”

Ives opened the door for me, and my cheeks burned as I sat in the seat. He was so kind. I barely remembered to thank him, damnit.

When Ives closed my door, Ryker leaned up so he could whisper. “Hey, just want to let you know. Ives is pretty experienced when it comes to people, but still new at having his own place. He, uh, he tends to hover when he’s nervous. You know, like,” he made a circular motion with a hand, “hang around worrying you’re not comfortable. Might take him a second to get you figured out, and it might seem a little awkward. But he warms up.”

I just nodded when Ives got in. I wasn’t used to such care or worry. I just settled in the seat as Ives started driving, but I could feel him glance over at me during the drive, and he drove a lot more cautiously than anyone else. Almost as if he was worried about me. I…I didn’t understand. Why would he be worried for me?

But I just stayed quiet as we got to Ryker’s building. He sighed. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Chess.” He opened his door. “I hope to see you around more. I’m serious about the job search though. I’ll let you know what I hear.”

I nodded and smiled. He was so kind. “Thank you. I appreciate it. It was nice to meet you too.” Once he left, I settled in my seat a little more. Ives’s driving was calming, and the drinks I had were giving me a slight buzz. So, I was just happily tired. I looked over at Ives after a bit. “Do you like your new apartment? Where were you before that?”

“It isn’t bad.” He watched Ryker get inside before he drove off. “It can be isolated, but I’m adjusting. I used to be at the station. They have barracks for us there, in the back. But there’s far less room there, much like your standard janitor closet.” He glanced over at me, his expression unreadable. “Did you have a home where you’re from?”

He lived in a fucking janitor’s closet? Maybe I would have to punch more people. I huffed. “Glad you got out of that shit. But no. Not that I remember, at least. I just kept travelling, and I tried to find a place to stay at night, but if not, I slept in an alley.” I shrugged. I was used to it.

“Hm,” he didn’t say anything for a bit. “Are conditions much colder there? I’ve noticed your average body temperature is much higher than the medical standard of humans here. Is that an adaptation to the cold?”

I shook my head. “It could get really cold there, but my internal temperature is hotter than the humans on my world too. I have fire magic, which I got from my prosthetics, and I think that’s what makes my body hotter. Oh, and just in case so it doesn’t worry you, I do occasionally cough up smoke. This’ll sound ridiculous, but I think there’s a magical fire burning in my lungs, and whenever I get too stressed especially, it flares up and burns my throat and makes me cough. I’ve dealt with it for at least two years, so it’s not something to worry about.”

He stopped the car at the light and turned to look at her, brow wrinkled. He looked even more worried. Shit. “Not something to worry about? You…you’re burning. Right now? There is fire inside your lungs at this very moment?”

I grimaced. Yeah, that sounded ridiculous. “I never was able to confirm it, but that’s what I believe. What else burns my throat when I’m stressed or just because?”

“I’m assuming due to your experience with medical establishments, you’ve never had your condition studied? To see if there may be something done -if it’s something you rather not have, of course.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, I don’t like hospitals, and anyway, they wouldn’t treat me or check out my condition. I’d be interested in learning about it if I could, though.”

“I agree with Beau, then. We should have Mikki check to see what she could find. I think you’d like her. She takes very good care of us.” He kept driving, still driving so cautiously.

She sounded wonderful. Maybe I could flirt with her. I nodded. “Sounds good.” Oh, and Beau had mentioned that I could decide whether I wanted to go into work with the person I stayed with or stayed at their place during the day. So, I had to ask Ives. “Oh. What would you prefer tomorrow? For me to go in with you or to stay in your apartment? I’m good either way, so it’s up to you.”

“Oh, that…” He trailed off. “That is entirely up to you. I admit, I’m not used to making those sorts of decisions, but I do believe it should be safe if you’d like to go tomorrow. I don’t want you to feel as if you have to if you aren’t feeling up for it. You aren’t expected to do anything you don’t wish or don’t feel comfortable doing.” He glanced at me, and I stared back at his gorgeous light blue eyes. He was so kind. “You understand that, don’t you?”

It was so odd that they all were so worried about my comfort. I shrugged. “It’s more that I’d feel comfortable either way. I don’t get uncomfortable easily, unless I’m stressed, and I’m not stressed out around you.”

“I…thank you. I’m glad that I don’t frighten you. I know I’m not built to be as approachable as Beau. But if you feel up for it, tomorrow should be a good day to see Mikki. At least, as long as there are no emergency calls she has to tend to." The car started slowing down again. I glanced out to see a tall building that we seemed to be headed for. It had hanging vines on it and blue lights. It was so pretty! “This is where I stay.”

I nodded, still staring at the building. But I had to address what he had said. “I think you’re very approachable. You have a dog and you’re very handsome.” My cheeks burned, and I couldn’t look at him.

He didn’t say anything for a while, and my cheeks just kept burning worse. Fuck. “Thank you. I’ve only heard that from those who are inebriated or attempting to avoid arrest. It sounds more different coming from you. And I’m glad that Niner has favor with you. She’s usually seen as even more terrifying than me.” He drove into a place to park his car. There were a lot of other cars here as well, and it was well-lit. “I know Niner is very fond of you. I’m sure she’ll be just as pleased to know you’re here tonight.”

I nodded, warmth blooming in my chest. I loved her so much. She was so amazing. “I can’t wait to see her again.” I glanced over at him as he was parking the car. He was so fucking gorgeous, and I didn’t know if he expected it, but honestly, I wouldn’t mind spending the night with him (if you know what I mean). A smile pulled at my lips, and I kept my voice low and flirty. “But Niner certainly isn’t the only reason why I wanted to stay with you. I couldn’t have asked for a more handsome partner tonight.”

The stop was a little more jarring this time, and I tried not to laugh. “I’m sorry,” he said. “And I’m glad that you feel comfortable enough to stay here tonight. I promise you’ll be safe here.”

That was sweet! But that probably meant he didn’t understand what I had meant. So, I went for blunter. I tilted my head. “I certainly feel safe with you. And I bet you only have one bed, so we’ll have to share.”

“Absolutely not.” He shook his head slowly, and I had to stop myself from laughing again. “I wouldn’t expect you to be comfortable with sharing sleeping quarters with me, especially considering you’re in an entirely new place. Besides, I don’t sleep in the traditional way Humans do. Like Valetta said, you need the best rest you can get. You should have the bedroom to yourself.”

Honestly, I preferred sleeping next to someone. “I’d have a better rest if you were there with me.”

“Are you concerned someone may break into the apartment? I promise you this building has the latest in security systems, and I will still be there.” He hesitated, leaning forward and touching my hand gently. I relaxed even more at the touch. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Damn, he was smooth without even realizing it! My cheeks burned way worse, and I tilted my head. Time for very blunt. “Such a gentleman. I think the best way you can do that is by cuddling with me all night.”

Bingo. That made him realize what I was saying. He froze and stared at me, taking a long while before he could respond. “You -you would be comfortable enough to rest while in the same room as me?”

Fuck yeah! I rested, even if it was only a little bit, all the time with people I was very uncomfortable with. But I already trusted Ives and felt very comfortable around him. He was so kind. I nodded. “I’ve slept with people I’ve trusted way less. And I actually trust you a lot. And I feel completely comfortable around you.” I didn’t really understand why, but that was the truth.

He froze again, and I couldn’t help the thrill I felt at being able to make him flustered. He seemed so calm and in control most of the time. He finally spoke after a long silence. “I—I don’t quite understand the reason for your trust. I’m not made in the same way humans are. I’m not sure how much comfort I may be. But if I agree to this, I need to know you will tell me as soon as something changes. If you no longer feel comfortable.”

Oh, he was someone who needed a lot more flirting in his life. I nodded. “Of course. And I hope you’ll do the same. I certainly don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

He frowned a little. “It isn’t discomfort as much as confusion.” He glanced at the dashboard. “Did Garnet put you up to some strange dare or prank?”

I immediately shook my head. “No! I wouldn’t flirt with someone as a prank. That’s fucking awful! I’m 100% genuine, I promise. I think you’re very handsome.”

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I’m afraid I don’t quite grasp the attraction based upon physical looks, but I do think you’re beautiful. I’m just not sure of a way to describe it.” He went quiet and nodded. “I hope that doesn’t offend you.”

Oh fuck. My cheeks burned worse. Damn, he was so kind. “No, that doesn’t. Honestly, I’ve heard way the hell too many drunken bastards call me beautiful and then in the next sentence mention how I’m less than an animal because of my prosthetics, as if their attention was their gift to me. So, someone commenting on my physical beauty has lost all meaning to me, anyway.” I shook my head. “But forget that. I’m also interested because you’ve been so kind to me, and I noticed how careful you’ve been around me, as if you were worried you’d make me scared again. And you couldn’t do that, but I appreciate the sentiment.” I winked.

Ives frowned deeper, and I worried that I had said something wrong. Of course I had. I had fucked it up like I always did. I should know by now that being vulnerable was never a good idea. But then he spoke. “I will always be careful around you. You’ve had a difficult life and I want to be sure it never happens again.” His eyes darkened, and I stared. But then he looked back over at me as my cheeks burned worse, somehow, and his expression softened, and I had to stare at him. He looked even more gorgeous now. Shit. “Perhaps we could head up now. It’s only going to get colder and I don’t want you catching ill.”

“You’re so sweet.” I got out of the car, still not able to comprehend why he cared and worried so much, but it was so nice.

I walked around toward the back of the car, and Ives got out and walked over too. “One moment.” He opened the trunk, and I stared. Niner! Niner was here!!! “I had to transport her home tonight considering Ryker agreed to drive me home. When taking a rideshare I’m usually not able to.” I barely listened, honestly, as a squeal escaped my mouth as she woke up and jumped down, instantly going over to me. “You see? She is fond of you.”

I instantly petted her when she got close, and she was still so soft and warm and amazing! “I’m…I’m so glad. She’s amazing.” My voice cracked, and my cheeks burned.

Ives spent a while locking the car, but I didn’t mind. It gave me more time to pet Niner! Once he was done, I followed him into the building, still petting her. Ives looked over at me. “Do heights bother you?”

I shook my head, staring at Niner. Her tail was wagging! “I actually like them.”

“Good, I wanted to make sure in case we needed to take the stairs.” We walked into a small lobby, and I spared a glance to see a small waterfall and down farther, the glass walls looked like a night sky! But then my attention was back on Niner as Ives hit the button for the elevator. She was the best dog ever! But I did reach over to take his hand, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles as we waited.

After a while, I vaguely noticed someone else approach. He scoffed. “All dogs are supposed to be on a leash.”

“She is,” Ives responded. “It’s Bluetooth.” I had no idea what that was, and it wasn’t my place to say anything, so I just stayed quiet. But then I felt the man’s eyes on me, and my skin crawled. It was kind of like the way people would stare at me on my world, just not as harsh. But I just kept my attention on Niner and tried to ignore the man.

The elevator arrived, and I followed Niner onto the elevator, and Ives kept the man from coming on. “You can call for another elevator.” And the doors closed without complaint. I breathed a sigh of relief as Ives hit the button for the sixtieth floor. “I’m sorry about that.”

I looked up from Niner with a shrug. “I’m used to it. It doesn’t bother me.”

“It bothers me.” He eyed me as Niner sat at my feet, leaning into my pets. “I may not understand physical attraction, but I’m familiar with being seen as an object. That, you should not be subjected to, and I won’t allow it in my vicinity. But if I step over a boundary, please say something.”

I nodded. “Thank you for stopping him. And I’ll let you know, but I don’t think you will. I found what you did to be sweet.”

His expression softened again, and I smiled back. Had I made him happy saying that? I wanted to say it more then. The elevator reached the floor after only a little bit, and even the lobby of the floor was gorgeous! The floor was white tile, while the walls were painted a soft gold. And the windows! They took up the whole exterior and looked out on the city! We were so high up! I ran over to the windows and stared. “This is amazing! I’m never leaving this apartment.” I glanced over at Ives with a mischievous smile before I returned to the breathtaking view.

He walked over to stand beside me. “If you change your mind about leaving tomorrow, that’s alright. Although, it doesn’t look as vivid in the daytime, but you can see the ocean then.” He pointed in a certain direction, and I stared there, as if I could already see it. The ocean! I had always wanted to go see it! “It isn’t terribly bright as it would be in tropical areas, but it’s there.”

I grinned. “I’ve never been able to see the ocean, but I’ve always wanted to! Even though the sand and salt would probably fuck up my prosthetics.” I unconsciously moved closer to him and leaned against him.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I relaxed more against him. I felt so completely safe around him already. “I haven’t been to the beaches myself. Most of them are boardwalk shops. Our station covers more of the area to the west.” He pointed away, towards more of the lights of the city. “I don’t have a consistent shift like most officers. As a Synthetic unit I can be called at any time if a situation calls for it -hence why I stayed at the station until recently. But the need for crisis intervention has fallen recently. So I shouldn’t be needed outside of typical hours.”

This was so nice. But once my eyes started to close, I straightened up and tried to stifle my yawn. “I’m sorry. I’m ready.”

“Don’t apologize. We should get you to bed however.” He led me a little down the hallway to his apartment, and he opened the door without a key or anything. Cool! And the inside was nice and dark, with black hardwood floors, a white couch and chair, and a huge floor to ceiling window! I stayed in the entrance though, just taking it in. I didn’t know if he would be ok with me sitting anywhere. He closed the door behind him. “It may be cool in here, please let me know if I need to change the temperature.”

Oh fuck, I had to pounce on the opportunity. I grinned and took off my jacket, so I was only in my tank top and pants. I even slipped my tank top strap and bra strap off my left shoulder as I leaned closer to him. “You already want to bed me? That’s exciting! And I’ll certainly stay warm with you.” And I winked.

He froze with his hand still on the door, and I grinned more. And some kind of whirring came from him. It took him a while to speak, but I waited patiently. “Would you like me to?” It almost sounded mechanical that made me wonder what that meant. “Or is that sarcasm?” He offered to take my jacket.

He really needed to be flirted with more. And I would do the honors if he didn’t seem uncomfortable. I handed him my jacket. “That is certainly not sarcasm. If I’m flirting, it’s genuine. I certainly don’t want to flirt with someone I’m not interested in and have them get the wrong idea. So, yes.” I lowered my voice back to flirty and sexy. “I’d love for you to bed me.”

He laughed quietly, and he looked surprised by it. As if to buy him some time, he put my coat up and put the keys next to it. “I may be a bit of a disappointment. I lack experience in such. But I admit, I do enjoy your close company.”

Aw shit. My cheeks burned, and I smiled more genuinely. “You won’t disappoint me. I can make up for any inexperience, if you’re worried about that. And I do enjoy your close company as well.”

He looked very worried and confused, and I did back up slightly just in case I was making him uncomfortable. “Perhaps tonight should be taken one step at a time. I want to prioritize your comfort. Would you like a shower, a change of clothes, or to rest while I get things in order for your stay?”

I blinked as warmth bloomed in my chest. He didn’t jump at the chance to sleep with me. That was so refreshing. “You’re such a good person. Thank you. Um. A shower and change of clothes would be nice.”

“You’re welcome, it’s the least I can do. I…well, I’ve just realized you don’t have your own change of clothes. I’m sure I have something, but,” he smiled a little, “it may not fit you properly. If you’d like, I can wash what you have on to be ready for your day tomorrow.” He started down the hall, but I stayed at the entrance. I didn’t know if I was really allowed to just walk in.

“It would probably be a good idea to have these clothes washed.” I hadn’t been able to wash them in days.

He paused at the entrance of the hall, where the other areas of the apartment would be, probably. He looked back at me, and my cheeks burned again. “I can show you to the washroom if you’d like. Please don’t feel like you’re confined to the entry. While you’re here, this is your home as much as mine.”

Home? I froze and had to wrap my head around it. I could…have a home? I just tried to not show how my confusion and excitement as I nodded and followed him. I…I could have a home! I might not have to worry about falling asleep in an alley again. Warmth bloomed in my chest. I couldn’t believe it. “Thank you.” I took his hand as we walked. He was so warm and comfortable, and I felt so safe with him. That was so important.

Ives led me down the hall, showing me the entrance to the kitchen. “I don’t…exactly have food. But, if you know of things you might like to eat we can get some to store here.” He paused, and I looked at the kitchen. It was so nice. But honestly, I had never cooked food, so I’d probably just burn anything I tried to make. He gave me a small tug and kept walking to where the bathroom was. It looked so nice. “I also don’t have any extravagant soaps. I’m afraid it’s fairly basic. But, that’s also something we can get for you. If you have a preference.”

I nodded. “Thank you. I don’t have any specific preferences, but it would be nice to look. Anyway, I think I’ll need more clothes. I’ll probably look like a child in your clothes.” I laughed a little. He was so fucking tall. I only came up to his chest.

His expression was so fucking soft, and I had to stop myself from getting up on my tiptoes and kissing him right then and there. Fuck. I loved touch way too much.

It seemed he was having an existential crisis too. After a silence, he spoke. “Most likely, I’m afraid. But, if you’d like, you can leave them in the hallway. I’ll bring your own towel and clean clothes and come back and get yours to wash. Please feel free to take your time.”

I nodded and let go of his hand reluctantly, going into the bathroom and locking the door, just in case. Once I got out of my clothes, I put them outside the door before getting in the shower. My thoughts were more muddled than they normally were when I flirted. And…well, this wasn’t what I normally felt when flirting. What did that mean? What was I feeling? I had no fucking idea. But it was more than just attraction. I felt so damn safe around him. And I had never felt safe around anyone, at least that I could remember. And it was so nice. My cheeks burned at the thoughts, and I couldn’t help but keep thinking in a loop during the whole shower.

Finally, I finished my shower and changed into the large shirt that dwarfed me and shorts that I could at least tighten at the waist, even though they still felt too large in the waist. And when I left and found Ives in his room, I was completely flustered, just trying to figure out what my feelings even were.

He was making the bed, but when he looked over and our eyes met, he dropped the pillow he was holding. He stuttered a little, and my cheeks burned. “H-how are they? Comfortable?”

I nodded. “They’re…they’re good. Very comfortable. Thank you.”

He nodded and grabbed the pillow, finishing up the bed. “Are you sure you’re alright with sharing a bed? If you’ve changed your mind I have no issue leaving it to you. I…I rarely use it myself.”

I nodded, scared of the tension and silence. If I could just think of a flirt, but fuck. Everything was slipping from my mind. “I’m sure. I’ve always felt better having someone near me.” I laughed. “And yes, they’re comfortable, but I hope you won’t be offended that I want to take them off tonight.” Wow. That was a fucking terrible flirt. My cheeks burned worse.

“If you’re more comfortable. I have no problem with lack of clothing.” And oh fuck. He took off his shirt and grabbed another, and my mind short circuited.

“If you want!” I blurted. “You could just leave your shirt off!”

“Would you want me to?” He paused. “Clothes aren’t entirely important to me. I don’t entirely carry the same understanding or attachment to clothing.” He chuckled and graced me with taking his shirt off again. “In a way, my paneling is what you would consider clothing.”

I had to be completely red at this point, and I wasn’t usually flustered by this! Damnit, what was going on? I couldn’t stop staring. He had abs and…and damn. He was gorgeous. “Well, it’s all so pretty.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say, still staring.

“Is it too much?” As he was literally taking off his pants. Oh fuck. Maybe I would just pass out right now.

I blinked, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Was I being disrespectful? Shit. But I couldn’t look away or even find words for a bit. “No, no. It’s great.” My voice sounded like I was about to pass out. Did he know what he was agreeing to? “It’s just…are you really okay with sleeping together? With having sex?”

“Are you okay with sleeping together?” He sounded so fucking calm! I looked away long enough to look at his lips instead. Damn. “I am committed to sharing the bed, if that’s what makes you comfortable, if it will help you sleep. As for sex, it isn’t a necessity for me, and I don’t know that it would be the same for me as for you. I’ve…well, I’ve never actually tried before.” He watched me with thoughtful eyes, but his stare didn’t make my skin crawl. It had none of the lust and hunger I was so used to. “It isn’t an expectation or prerequisite for staying here. That I hope you understand that.”

I nodded, and all of my confused thoughts spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them. “I…I understand. It’s just…I’m really attracted to you. You’re very handsome, and you’ve been so sweet to me, and I feel so comfortable and safe around you. And all I really know is having one night stands with people, but this might be more, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but you’re really pretty and I don’t know how to say how I feel about you. But I care deeply for you already, and I want to protect you from those Auditors, and I want to have a close relationship with you, both mental and physical, and I’m not sure what that means yet, but I want to figure it out. And I’m sorry, I’m just feeling flustered around you because you’re very attractive and I care a lot about you. But I would be interested if you would.” I ducked my head afterwards. Fuck. I shouldn’t have said all that. I probably ruined everything! It wasn’t like I could have a long-term relationship with someone, and didn’t people normally take longer to figure this stuff out? All I had, all I was good for, was one night stands. No one would want me for more. So, why the fuck was I telling him this?

He didn’t speak for a while, and I became convinced that I certainly had fucked it all up. But he walked over softly and placed a knuckle beneath my chin, lifting my head gently so I was looking at him. And I swore I could get lost in his light blue eyes. “Teach me,” he whispered. “I want to figure this out as well. I want to make sure you’re safe and comfortable. I don’t want anything to happen to you, from the moment I saw you at the station, so teach me how I can care for you.”

Fuck. I had to be bright red with how much my cheeks were burning. I couldn’t find my voice for a bit. “I…I don’t honestly know. No one has ever cared for me before. Until I came to this world.”

“Then that’s something we’ll have to learn together. But you have to do one thing for me. You have to stop apologizing for expressing yourself. How else am I to learn from you? If you want something, tell me.”

I swallowed hard, everything getting muddled and confused in my head. “Would you still care if we didn’t have sex? But would you be okay with kissing and cuddling tonight? I’m…I think I’m too confused to go all the way yet.”

He tilted his head. “Would I be upset if we didn’t? No. I’m still going to care for you either way.” He must not have realized what an anomaly that was. Anyone who wanted to be close to me wanted sex and that was it. He moved his hand from my chin, brushing hair out of my face, and I leaned into the touch as tears started to blur my vision. I couldn’t believe this was really happening. Someone actually caring about me. “In all honesty I think I would prefer kissing and cuddling first. Tonight. This week. This month. However long it takes to be comfortable. To do what you want, not what you must to survive.”

I nodded. It was so hard to believe. I could go slow with it. I didn’t have to rush because I actually had time because I had people who cared about me, and they didn’t want to leave. I kept staring into his eyes as long as I could as I kissed his collar bone (since that was where I could reach), and I reached up and ran a hand through his hair, enjoying the softness. I leaned more against him as I relaxed and didn’t try so hard to decipher my thoughts and feelings.

Ives leaned down, closing the distance between us, pulling me so I was flush against him from chest to knee. My cheeks burned worse, but I leaned into the contact, savoring the warmth and softness of his skin. He buried his face in my shoulder, and my breath hitched as I continued to run my fingers through his hair, messing up how perfectly it had been styled just minutes before. But then he gently kissed my neck up to my jaw, and I fucking melted. He…he was initiating contact. I always had to initiate. Every fucking time. I never imagined someone would ever take the lead, and I let him.

He moved back, and I was about to protest, but he looked me in the eyes, and I almost got lost in his eyes again. “Chess, may I kiss you?”

I wrapped my free arm around his waist, pulling him as close as I could. I closed my eyes, feeling so completely, utterly safe around him. When I hadn’t with anyone else I slept with. I nodded, trying to find my voice. “Yes, I’d like that.” Fuck. My voice sounded so husky.

He brought his hands up to gently cup my face, staring into my eyes, and fuck, I was drowning in his eyes. I could barely think about anything else until he gently brought his lips to mine. And…he was adorable. Certainly genuine and trying, but he needed a little bit of help.

And since I had all the experience, I kissed him back passionately, less hesitantly, gently maneuvering his lips and tongue into the best way to kiss. And he relaxed and deepened the kiss, and I sighed and leaned completely against him. Damn. Once he learned how to, he was an amazing kisser. His hands gently combed through my hair as I pulled him closer and got lost in the kiss.

As my knees buckled, he brought his hands down to my waist, and I moaned, but he kept going down my thighs and actually fucking picked me up. He held me comfortably, leaning back to look at me as my cheeks burned completely. “Are you okay? Is this okay if I take you to bed?”

I had to stop myself from purring my words as I nodded. “Yes, I would like that very much.” But wait. What about Niner? I wanted to sleep near her too. “Oh, but what about Niner? I don’t want her to be lonely out there all alone.”

He laughed, and I had the sudden need to hear him laugh again. His laugh was beautiful. His eyes met mine, and he nodded. “Call her. She’ll come to you.”

Oh shit. She would listen to me? I grinned and looked at the door. “Niner? Please come here!”

I could hear her running for us! When she showed up in the doorway, I squealed a little and held my hand down to her. She walked over and nudged my hand as I started petting her. She was the best dog in the world! “Can she sleep in the bed too?”

Ives gave me the best news. “Of course, if you want.” He sat down on the bed, so I was sitting in his lap, but I barely noticed as I kept petting Niner. “Tell her, she’ll listen.”

I nodded. Would she really just understand me? “Niner, could you please sleep on the bed tonight?”

Niner jumped on the bed and walked over to us, sniffing especially at me, which just made me giggle. Her sniffing was ticklish. I scooted closer to her, petting her even more. “She’ll stay the night,” Ives said softly. “She’ll be right here.”

I gave her more ear rubs at the wonderful news. Dogs were just so amazing, and Niner was the sweetest and cutest! “Thank you. I just love her so much. She’s amazing.” But, fuck, my eyes were getting heavy, and I yawned as I leaned back against Ives. This was the best day ever, and I didn’t want to go to sleep. What if I woke up, and I was back on my world, in that nightmare of a place?

Niner curled up at the foot of the bed, but before I could protest, Ives pulled back the covers and held me close as he lay down on his side. I immediately relaxed in his arms. The lights dimmed, and he whispered into the darkness. “Do you need more pillows? Blankets?”

I cuddled as close as I could, except for one foot that I reached out so I could touch Niner too. Both her and Ives made me feel so damn comfortable and safe. I could barely keep my eyes open. I buried my face in his neck and attempted to say that I was happy with how it was, but it was completely unintelligible, but I was too tired to try to say it again. I fell asleep even faster than I ever had before.

*

I was strapped to a table with faceless scientists standing around me, jotting down notes and prepping syringes. I struggled and fought as best as I could against them, but I couldn’t escape. The straps were too tight. Everything hurt, I was dizzy, and I coughed up smoke as my throat burned, but they just kept injecting me with more burning liquids.

I blinked, and I was in an alley, having escaped. I was on the run, hiding from people and hungry and cold and terrified. Shadows found me and trapped me and told me that I could never escape, that I would always end up back in that lab being treated like an experiment, never a human being.

I screamed, and my eyes flew open. Where…where the fuck was I? I flailed and fought out of the sheets and fell to the floor. “You won’t take me back! I’ll never go back there!” I started coughing up smoke as I started crawling away, anything to get away from the bastard who wanted to trap me!

Someone touched me, and I flinched away, trying to smack them away. They would never take me! They said something, but I didn’t care. I just kept crawling, hoping to make it to the door. I was so damn tired.

The fire scorched my throat as I kept coughing up smoke. “You…you won’t take me. I won’t let you!” Something about this place was familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Probably somewhere from the experiments, from before I lost my memory.

Fuck, I couldn’t get away from him. He was now on his knees in front of me, and he took my wrists, and I tried to flail, to get him to let go, but he didn’t, and I had to listen to what he said. “Chess? Chess, look at me.” He leaned down to look at me, and those light blue eyes were familiar… “Chess, little one, look at me. You’re safe.” He…he…Ives let go and cradled my face, rubbing his thumbs beneath my eyes.

I blinked, and everything came back. Oh fuck. Did I hurt him? Did I hurt Niner? I looked around frantically, but Niner looked ok, just sad on the bed. I started shaking, and smoke was still leaking from my mouth. “Where…? Oh. I guess it was just a nightmare.” At least no one looked hurt. I tried to laugh it off. “Sorry for waking you. I’m…I’m fine.” I tried to stand up to prove it, but I almost lost my balance from how shaky I was.

He caught me, and I felt my cheeks burn. “You aren’t fine.” He sounded angry, and I flinched away from him. Oh. I had said something wrong. I had fucked it up. He was angry at me now.

But…he just sat me gently on the bed, hovering. “You were terrified. You…” He sat down beside me, placing a gentle hand on mine. He wasn’t going to hurt me? He…he wasn’t mad at me? “Is there anything I can do for you?”

I couldn’t look at him as my thoughts warred against each other between fear and relief, worry and safety. “I’ve had this nightmare for as long as I can remember. I don’t really know how to calm down after it. I never figure out how to fall back asleep.”

He gently held my hand, running his thumb over my knuckles. “Would you like to talk about it?” he whispered, sounding scared. Even more confusion clouded my thoughts. Why would he be scared for me? “Would it help to hold you? Or sit up and talk about anything else?” Niner walked over and gave a drawn out whine as she rested her head on my knee.

Niner and Ives, they both were the best. Tears started streaking down my cheeks as I petted Niner and leaned against Ives. And, surprisingly, it was helping. The panic was dying down a little. “If I talk about it, if I open up, you’ll look at me differently. You won’t care anymore.” Why would he care about an experiment who spent her time seducing strangers just for a chance to sleep next to someone?

He gently wrapped his arms around me, and I immediately relaxed more. Why did I feel so safe with him? He cradled my head to his shoulder, burying his fingers in my hair. “That isn’t true. I want to know you more. Whatever happened to you, to terrify you still, isn’t something that’s going to make me care less for you.”

I started crying harder. I couldn’t imagine this. He actually cared no matter what he learned about me? “I…I don’t even remember. But I just keep having a nightmare of being strapped down while scientists inject me with burning substances. And then I’m free, but people keep trapping me, telling me that I can never escape. I’m not human, just forever a fucking experiment.”

“They’re wrong,” he immediately said. “You aren’t an experiment. You’re Chess, and you are human, and you have escaped. You’re free now. You’re safe.” He cautiously pulled me closer, and I relaxed even more. I…I was free. I was safe. “They can’t hurt you anymore. I’ll make sure of that myself.”

I started sobbing at his words, and I petted Niner more. “Th-thank you. It’s just so hard to believe that I’m not still in danger. I’m sorry.” I sniffled. “I don’t want you to get hurt either, so I’ll protect you too.” I could never let him get hurt. I cared too much about him.

“Please, don’t apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong. This is no easy adjustment you’ve made, without warning or preparation. None of us expect you to instantly be alright. You need time to heal, Chess.” He swept a hand up and down my back. “But, please, don’t worry about me. Your safety is far more important.”

Nope. “I will protect you.”

“Chess, I am a GW-IV5, a General Ware protective series. I am made to protect humans from harm. I was designed to go to war in place of human soldiers. I am not meant to be protected.” He sounded confused. “Your first priority should be your own preservation. To adjust from your old world and be happy."

I latched onto what he had said first. “You aren’t meant to be protected?” I sighed. There was no way I was going to listen to that. “All the more reason why I need to protect you. Also, it’ll make me happy to protect you.”

“It…” He trailed off. “I’ll be alright. I know you’re here for me. But I want you to focus on your new life.” He leaned back from me, and I did make a sound of protest. “I need you to promise me that you will put that first.”

I barely thought I could deserve this kind of care. I couldn’t look him in the eyes. “I can’t promise that.”

“Please?” He leaned over to try to meet my eyes. “This is the only thing I will ever ask of you.”

“I…I don’t even think of myself as worth as much as you, so I can’t. Not yet.”

Ives hummed. “Then I’ll have to remind you of your worth every day. So you don’t forget.”

Wow. I still didn’t understand, but I snuggled up to him, not shaking anymore. How could he be so nice? “And I’ll remind you that you’re worth protecting,” I mumbled. My eyes were actually growing heavy again.

He smiled as he lay back down as he held me. And his warmth and softness and safety really made my eyes heavy. But I fought to stay awake. So I could counter anything that he might say about how he didn’t deserve to be protected. Niner also lay down right next to me, and I welcomed her presence. I felt even safer. I barely heard his whisper. “I know you would take care of me. I know it in the way you treat Niner.”

I mumbled something that I didn’t even know what I was going to say as I tried to snuggle closer while simultaneously flop an arm over Niner. But I finally got some words out. “You’re both so amazing, and I’m lucky I got to meet you.”

I was already falling asleep again, but through the haze of sleepiness, I heard Ives’s words. “We’re the lucky ones.”

I couldn’t respond or argue as I fell asleep seconds later, completely safe and completely comfortable.

[enbyripley]

analyzing remedial chaos theory instead of doing my overdue assignments

ok so I've been rewatching community and taking notes, and recently i watched remedial chaos theory and i just wanna talk about how each timeline relates to what abed thinks will happen if each person leaves greendale or the study group or him. i may be very wrong but ive seen the darkest timeline get talked about a lot (as it should) but i think the other ones have a lot of things to say as well anyway lets get started (listed as they’re shown in the episode not numerically)

timeline #2: annie leaves

so i like to think of this reality as the baseline or setup to all other ones. i wrote in my notes that “nothing very notable happens”, nothing happens in this timeline that doesn’t really happen in the other ones. it’s almost boring, which could be how abed thinks things would end up if annie were to actually leave, in a more permanent sense rather than a getting pizza sense

timeline #4: shirley leaves

the main thing that happens in this reality is that shirley’s pies are burnt when she goes. there’s also the googly eyes moment which probably says something about shirley’s “pure nature”, how the group may function romantically without that deep sense of morality to keep them in check, or at least judge them. shirley does end up leaving somewhere in season five or six, nothing really happens other than the show going further off the rails (also troy and abed looked at each other during that romantically themed moment trobed brain go brrrrr)

timeline #3: pierce leaves

troy and britta romance and we are introduced to the toilet olives in troy and abed’s apartment, nothing other than that. i don't think abed believes that anything too notable happens when pierce leaves, well accept troy getting with britta sooner and we already know how that went down in virtual systems analysis and conventions in space and time. but when pierce dies in real life, troy ends up literally leaving abed, and everyone else. so same principle just at a larger scale which made me sob

timeline #6: britta leaves

now we r getting interesting 😈 this timeline especially showcases abed’s dislike of troy and britta’s growing feelings for each other. troy and abed exchange this quick dialogue that goes: troy: “you’re the best” (directed at abed) abed: “wanna stay up all night talking in our bunkbed?” anyway, jeff and annie get together and britta is moved out of the romantic picture when she falls in love with the pizza guy

timeline #1: troy leaves

ouch! just writing that heading brought me physical pain! anyway, something i didn't mention before this point is that in every timeline thus far, abed’s raiders boulder gets rolled down the ramp, but every time abed was able to catch it. this time however, it rolls onto the ground (since abed shows britta to the bathroom instead of troy). now this is when i start reading into things at least a little too much but oh well, my post my rules. so my thoughts are that that boulder represents abed’s sense of control when each person leaves. when every person before troy left, he was able to regain that control by catching the boulder before it’s on the ground and out of his hands. he doesn’t regain that control when troy leaves, rather his loss of it initiates most of the other events in this timeline. the chaos doesn't have any parallels to reality, just wild shit. HOWEVER, before abed goes to help pierce out, he adjust the lil figurine on the raiders display. this is a Reach but i think if we connect this to troy actually leaving, it represents abed focusing on appearances, making sure no one know how distressed he actually is. he tweaks the figure before dealing with the serious things that are going on around him. anyway if i’m right geothermal escapism and all episodes that follow suddenly get a lot more sad (and i cried over troy not being present in at least ten of them so yeah it’s A Lot it makes me feel A Lot of Things)

timeline #5: abed leaves

so in this one, britta eats shirley’s pies and reveals the group’s plan to not let shirley make cooking her Thing, jeff and annie kiss like in timeline #6, but annie ends up revealing that she has daddy issues and both she and jeff end the kiss feeling uncomfortable. abed comes back, says “pizza time”, and isn’t able to notice that everyone else is dissatisfied. it’s pretty self explanatory, abed’s concerned that if he leaves, he’ll end up being out of sync with the study group

conclusion

ok but like i didn't even touch on the darkest timeline beyond troy and abed’s housewarming party and how after abed catches the die he emphasizes essentially how much he thinks that no one has to leave and ow i’m sad again, but yeah if you read through this thank u and good job i am forever in your debt. also the title isn’t a joke i wrote most of this during my social studies Zoom call during which we went over the assignment i haven't even started✨

[strideofpride]

DAIR APPRECIATION WEEK 2021 DAY ONE: Why do you love Dan and Blair?

I broke down what I love about Dan and Blair into five parts under a read more below. The tldr is: their compatibility, their parallel arcs, their slow burn, the larger message it would've given GG if they were endgame, and finally their mature, adult relationship (aka "pure and simple love").

Warning: I basically wrote a fucking essay lmao. Cited my sources and everything.

I. Compatibility

Dan and Blair have great chemistry sure, but they have something that I don't think any other pairing on the show really had: common interests. They were pseudo-intellectuals who could talk about books, literature, art, etc. with each other ("Dan and I have a real connection. We did things like visit the Dia and debate Charbol versus Rohmer..."). And I know in TV world all anyone cares about is chemistry, but in the real world the key to a long lasting relationship is common interests.

And yet they are also still an opposite attracts pairing, just in the best way, where they are opposite in personality and background, but still share lots of common interests. Blair was the rich mean girl from the Upper East Side and Dan the "poor" loser from Brooklyn, but they still can relate to one another, they can still find stuff to talk about together, they still come to enjoy each other's presence and friendship.

And back to their chemistry: it isn't steamy chemistry 100% all the time (although they can certainly go there). Their's is a sweet chemistry, a chemistry where it's clear that they respect each other, that they know each other on a deep level, that they understand each other more than anyone else. It's a chemistry that you believe could lead to a satisfying marriage one day.

And I know I've said this before, but to me Dan and Blair are just soulmates.

II. Parallel Arcs

I am such a sucker for when two characters' life journeys parallel one another and Dair had that in spades. In season 1 especially, they were both dealing with the abandonment of a parent (Dan's mom/Blair's dad), they both lost their virginities and entered into sexual relationships with much more experienced partners (Serena & Chuck), and they both had their sights set on one school (Yale & Dartmouth - although come season 2 this became Yale for Dan, giving them even more in common).

I've also already talked on here about how you can parallel all of their other romantic/sexual relationships to one another, as well as how they both were abandoned by their best friends sophomore year. And, they both have a bad habit of going back to the same person over and over again (again, Serena & Chuck).

To me, Dan and Blair are almost narrative foils. Dan's relationship with his father starts out pretty solid but deteriorates over time - Blair's relationship with her mother is the exact opposite. Dan pines, while Blair loves to live in denial. Blair sees her life as a movie, Dan sees his life as a novel.

And that makes it all the more satisfying to see them come together, to learn to appreciate their differences, to accept their similarities, to see them grow together (albeit briefly) over seasons 4 and 5.

III. Slow Burn

A lot of people on here use this word incorrectly. If the characters kiss during season 1 (unless it’s under false pretenses) it’s not a slow burn! But Dan and Blair are a true slow burn (whether or not that was intentional).

From that hallway scene in 1x04, it's clear that Dan and Blair have a deeper connection and understanding of each other than they are letting on. We get brief glimpses into that in 1x15, 2x08, 3x18, and 3x22. All of that very slow build up makes it all the more satisfying when they become friends in season 4.

I truly think the W arc is the best written arc of the entire show. You very slowly see them accept their common interests, grow to begrudgingly respect one another, even begin to accept that there might be an attraction there. It never feels rushed, when they kiss in 4x17, it's earned (I use this word a lot - buckle in).

And then, yeah, the Louis arc was fucky (I stand by that they should've kept the love triangle Dan vs. Chuck, or Dan vs. Louis, all three was too much). But Dan standing by Blair through everything she went through that season was beautiful, to see her depend on Dan in her darkest moments, to see her realize that he's the one who will always be there for her...it just really, really worked.

And so that moment when Blair finally calls him "Dan" to his face, when it becomes clear they are finally going to be together...it's one of the single most satisfying moments in the entire show. Because, again, it was earned.

IV. Larger Message

As this video essay posits, the showrunners were left with a choice after the 2008 economic recession: "Either adjust to the times or lean further into an escapist fantasy where extreme wealth is the status quo...and lean they did. For the sake of providing their audience with an escape, the dark underbelly of extreme affluence became the show's core theme. The more it began to sell cynical opulence as standard escapism, the more the writers and fans turned on the less wealthy characters."

Furthermore, by revealing Dan as Gossip Girl, "It transitions him from pretentious soft boy to borderline sociopath, actively ruining the lives of his friends, family, and crush just to get a foothold in Upper East Side society. And then the show did something it had seldom deemed to do for a less wealthy character: it rewarded him...And thus, the show presented us with the most insidious message of all: wealth, privilege, and power corrupt...and that's okay."

By having Chuck & Blair and Dan & Serena as endgame, GG became one of the most cynical shows on the planet, where (to quote Constance Grady) "all relationships are transactional".

But yet: "The sole bright spot in the midst of this cold universe in which relationships are bought and sold like real estate came in the form of Blair’s brief season four romance with Dan...it marked the last hurrah of the first version of Gossip Girl: In a world in which money is so powerful that it makes romantic relationships indistinguishable from prostitution, Dan and Blair were working to create an authentic, meaningful bond outside of the influence of wealth and privilege."

If Dan and Blair had been endgame (and Dan hadn't been GG - although we all know that one is bullshit anyway), it would've been a rebuke to that ideology, it would've shown that there is more to a good marriage than a shared tax bracket, that a genuine connection is more important than wealth and privilege. That abuse does not equal love.

But alas, that was not the story they wanted to tell I guess.

V. Mature, Adult Relationship (aka "Pure & Simple Love")

I am personally not much of a fan of grand romantic gestures. I often find them shallow, childish, and showy. To me, it is far more romantic for Dan to have secretly written a book about Blair, for Blair to submit Dan's article to Vanity Fair, for Dan to say "it wouldn't to me" when Blair asks if it would matter if she was pregnant with another man's child (especially since this moment is (take a shot here), you guessed it, earned - we know he's being honest because we already saw him do this with Milo).

Now, I am personally not as much of a fan of the Met Steps moment as everyone else (Blair's desire to be royalty is probably the thing I like least about her), but that was probably Dan's grandest romantic gesture and yet...it's still so simple. It's really just a plastic tiara and a cab ride. Which is what makes it so beautiful. Because it's not about the money or the extravagance or showing off to anyone else...it's about Dan showing Blair he truly knows her. And to me, that's the healthiest way to do a romantic gesture.

I also love their bad sex arc in 5x18 because a) it's real - most real world couples don't have earth shattering sex the first time together, it takes time to learn what your partner likes and needs and b) because they actually (after getting drunk at Dorota's & Nate's) communicate about it and work out their problem like adults.

Because that's the thing about Dan and Blair - it's a real adult relationship. It's not a never-ending game of cat and mouse, it's not a fallback, it's not a bad habit...everything else just melts away when they're together. They grew and changed together...they learned to put aside their prejudices and see each other beyond their facades. They became better people together. They always had someone they knew they could turn to.

And that's what true love is supposed to be.

[macaronsforchat]

Ladynoir July Day 4 - Disguises

@ladynoirjuly2020

read on ao3!

Chat adjusted the hoodie that hung off his shoulders, noticing that it a little looser than he’d expected it to. A yawn rose from his throat, and a clawed hand instinctively came up to cover his mouth, just like he’d been taught. He quickly put his hand back in the pocket of his sweatpants, glancing over his shoulder and being grateful that the two guys behind him were still distracted by their conversation.

He rocked back and forth on his feet, whistling the tune of the piano piece he couldn’t quite memorize, wishing that any other song would have been stuck in his head at that moment. He kept trying to force the theme song for Ultimate Mecha Strike IV to repeat in his head, but he’d been unsuccessful even though he’d watched the teaser trailer an innumerable amount of times that day.

Glancing once again at the banner that hung above the doors to the video game shop, Chat’s ears perked up under his hat. He was so excited for the game to finally come out, and he’d never been to a midnight release before. Letting his grin spread even wider, he looked over the long line in front of the store, his eyes catching on someone standing a few groups of people ahead of him.

At first glance, nothing stood out to him about the person. They looked pretty stiff, but he was guessing that was because they were alone in line. But when his eyes rolled over their frame once more, the streetlamp hanging overhead highlighted the dark pigtails that stuck out from under the slouchy beanie perched on their head.

An even warmer smile spread across his lips, the one that appeared when he got distracted thinking about her. He wondered if it could really be his lady standing just ahead of him in line, their conversation about video games coming to mind, but he dismissed the thought. He guessed that she probably would just buy the game digitally, like most of his other friends.

Chat looked away, wondering what time it was but not able to check his baton in front of everyone. He couldn’t wait to get home and play the game, hoping that some of his friends from school would pick it up too.

He continued to wait impatiently, clicking his tongue and tapping his feet. For some reason, his eyes kept wandering back to the stranger with the pigtails in front of him, and for a few seconds, he wondered if maybe it was Marinette. He almost entertained the thought, but he couldn’t imagine Marinette wearing such baggy clothes in public.

After a few more minutes, he wondered if he was doomed to wait forever, wishing he’d brought something to do other than be tortured by the endless piano piece in his head.

The stranger shifted at that moment, adjusting their hat, and Chat’s eyes locked onto them automatically. Their arms rose as they stretched, lifting the hoodie above the waistband of their sweatpants. He expected to see skin, but red, dotted spandex peeked out instead. Chat blinked in surprise, watching wide-eyed as Ladybug finally turned and their eyes met.

She stopped mid-stretch, her disguise doing little to cover up her bewildered expression. She lowered her arms, one of them coming down to point at him, her eyes narrowing accusingly. He scoffed at her disapproval, pointing a finger back at her with his eyebrows raised in questioning. She looked him up and down, pressed her lips into a tight line, and then burst out laughing. He couldn’t help but join her, ignoring the looks he was getting and holding his sides when they began to ache.

When they both were able to speak again, Ladybug gave up her position in the line to come and stand by him, still giggling behind a gloved hand.

“What are you doing here?” she wondered, and he chuckled at her, tilting his head as he got a closer look at her disguise. They were pretty much matching, from the baggy hoodie and the drawstring sweatpants, but she’d tucked her pants into some Ugg knockoffs. She’d also gone the extra mile and worn a scarf around her neck, even though the mask from her suit was still very visible. He couldn’t do much about his mask either.

Chat couldn’t deny the feeling that was spreading into his toes and his fingertips. He was so surprised that she was actually there, but he wasn’t surprised at the tingly feeling in his chest. Somehow, seeing her there made him think that there was no limit to how much love he could have for her.

“Isn’t it obvious, bugaboo?” he teased, making her roll her eyes.

“I meant what are you doing here looking like that?” she asked, poking his chest with one finger and then pinching the fabric of his hoodie and pulling it slightly to draw his attention to it. He smirked to himself at her expression, the one where she thought she was being so clever.

“We’re dressed exactly the same, if you hadn’t noticed,” he spoke, leaning a little closer to her and glancing down at her dark blue hoodie. She blanched, looking down at herself and letting her hand fall from his chest.

“It’s so comfortable I forgot I was wearing it,” she admitted, the tiniest of pouts appearing on her lips as she gazed back up at him. It made his heart skip a beat, wondering how she could be absolutely adorable even in the slouchiest of clothes. He held back a giggle, seeing that a few people were staring at them intently.

“I don’t know how well these disguises are working though,” he said, watching her glance around like he just had.

“How long until you think people notice?” she asked, glancing at the watch on her wrist. He shook his head, wondering how she was always prepared for everything as a warm smile came and threatened to stay. She looked absolutely ridiculous and completely adorable all at the same time, standing there in line with him for the midnight release of a video game. He realized then that he could never be in love with anyone as much as he was in love with her.

“Only three minutes til midnight,” she said, pulling her sleeve back over her watch and looking up at him, doing a double take at his lovestruck expression. “What?” she wondered, blinking at him. He chuckled, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek.

“You’re amazing,” he told her, watching as a slight blush rose into the skin where his lips had been. She closed her mouth quickly, crossing her arms over her chest and looking up at the sky. He’d never seen her get flustered quite like that, but maybe it was a good thing. His heart felt like it might burst, looking at her standing there not knowing what to do.

“It’s j-just a watch,” she mumbled, making Chat’s chest fill with warmth and laughter erupt from his lips.

There was no disguising his complete adoration for her.

~~~~~

AHHHH im gonna cry i love them SO much

thank you all for reading! sorry for the late post, but i hope you enjoyed!! 

[sinner-as-saint]

Home With You

Mob! Seb AU

Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4   Part 5   Part 6   Part 7

 Part 8.

 Run-through: After having gone through hell, the mob boss finally finds his solace.

 Themes: angst, fluff, mentions of death, smut, mentions of violence, gore scenes and death

 ALL TAG LISTS ARE OPEN. 

A/N: Here we go, one last time…

  He was numb, and regretted with all his heart that he wasn’t here when you woke up. 

 Sebastian didn’t know how to react to the fact that you sat on the bed, surrounded by doctors, with a faint smile on your face as they filled you in with what happened to you and your recovery from here on.

 He felt every emotion at the same time, like a giant wave crashing down upon him. He was relieved, yet scared. He felt as though the entire world around him had come to a halt, and the only thing he could focus on was the little nod you gave the doctors as they congratulated you on waking up and fighting through it all.

They were saying something along the lines of it being a miracle and Sebastian could barely hear them.

Within a few seconds, you spotted him by the door, and your smile magnified. The doctors turned to him as well, and they had reassuring smiles on their faces.

There were three of them, two of who walked out as soon as he walked in. The one who stayed, along with the nurse, was checking the monitors and writing down stuff.

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. One second he was by the door, and the next he was approaching you; cautiously.

He was afraid that this was another one of his torturous dreams, and that he would wake up and find that you were still lying on the bed – unmoving.

Only, it wasn’t.

 You extended your weak arm towards him and he reluctantly took it. Once he held your hand, he could no longer stop the tears.

They flowed uncontrollably and silently down his face.

 He tightened his grip around your knuckles, as if testing if you were real or just a fragment of his imagination.

And he soon found out that you were very real.

 He stared at your face, and your bright smile and he couldn’t believe his eyes. After so many days, you had finally woken up. You were here, with him. You didn’t leave him like everyone said you most likely would.

Without saying a word, he sat on the edge of the bed. Just like he normally would, the only difference was that now; you were awake.

 He watched how your other hand, which still had the IV attached to it, reached out and gently wiped away his tears.

Your hand wasn’t cold anymore. And he leaned into your touch and thanked God quietly as he felt the warmth of your hand against his face.

You gently cradled his face in your hand as you inched closer to him.

 “You badly need a trim,” you whispered, chuckling faintly as you ran your fingers through his now long hair. Despite your head still being a little foggy, you could tell that he hadn’t been taking care of himself.

 He closed his eyes and allowed his tears to fall. The mob boss didn’t care who saw him crying, you were back now, and that’s all he cared about.

 He sniffled and brought your hand to his lips, kissing your knuckles and thanking God countless times.

 “You were gone for three weeks, and that’s the first thing you tell me when you wake up?” he asked, fresh tears forming along his water line.

His eyes were red, caused by the many sleepless nights he had spent alongside you – worrying about your well-being.

His ocean blue eyes looked into yours, and all your pain was forgotten.

 You leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, his beard tickled your skin as you did. He sighed and closed his eyes again.

“There’s so much I need to tell you. So much happened, while you weren’t here, and I-,”

You cut him off.

 “I was here, Seb. I heard you, every day. I heard everything you told me. About Chris, and Connor and… Liana. I know you got me flowers all the time, and told me that I was rude and that I should at least say ‘thank you’. I’m sorry, I couldn’t say it then, but I really liked it. I’m sure the flowers were pretty,”

He chuckled while you spoke, softly.

 “I heard you as you complained about your work, and I even heard you snoring at night. I heard everything, Seb. I- I just couldn’t find my way back to you. I wanna go home now, with you,” you placed your head on his broad shoulder and he inched closer to circle his arms around you carefully.

You spoke slower than usual.

His ran his hand up and down your back lazily.

 “Don’t ever leave me again, promise me,” he asked, kissing the top of your head.

 “I won’t. I promise,” you whispered in the crook of his neck. The warmth of your breath ignited a spark inside him, and he was happier than ever.

 When he felt you tightening your grip around his torso, his world suddenly seemed brighter. He felt as though he had been trapped in a dark room all this time, and now, out of nowhere someone flipped the switch and granted him the light he needed, and craved so much.

With you awake, responsive and so alive in his arms; the mob boss felt stronger. He felt complete. You were here now, everything made much more sense.

 ---

 The doctors suggested that you spend a couple more days, under observation, at the hospital. You were weak, and your body was stiff and you needed to get over the shock before they could allow you to go home.

For the following 3-4 days, Sebastian was the happiest he had ever been. His girl was back, and he gets to bring her home after so many days.

 He had people clean the house, made sure everything was in order. He indeed got the trim he so badly needed, then proceeded to come and show you his new hair. It was still longer than before, but it suited him. A lot actually.

You laughed and asked him to do a spin and show it off better. He, very grumpily, did. And made you swear not to ever mention it again, to anyone – not even Chris.

  ---

 By the third day, you were feeling much better. Sebastian helped you walk around; to get you used to moving your limbs which had been resting still for so many days.

And he was extremely not cooperative when the nurses told him that he wasn’t allowed to be in room while they gave you a sponge bath.

You had to suppress your laughter while you watched a grown man in a dark suit argue with two middle aged woman about how he should be allowed to make sure ‘everything was okay’ and how he should not have to leave the room because you were girlfriend.

 After he reluctantly left, the women told you that you were very lucky that he loved you that much. You smiled and told them you were very grateful for having him in your life.  

After all, he was all you had. He was your everything too.

 ---

Sebastian was ecstatic when the doctors finally told him that he could bring you home. You had never seen that big of a smile on his face before.

The doctors told him it would take some time for you to figure everything out, and get back to how things initially were.

He understood, and promised that he would take things slow.

  In the ride back home, he would stop asking if you were fine, comfortable or if you needed anything. It felt like he was dealing with a child.

 “I’m okay, babe, don’t worry,” you reassured him and watched how his ears got red, and so did the apples of his cheeks.

His entire face flushed.

 You chuckled, holding his hand firmly as it was lazily placed on your lap.

 “I just- I want to make sure everything’s alright. With you, with us,” he spoke and brought your intertwined hands to his lips and kissed the back of your hand.

There was a white patch on it, under which was the wound caused by the IV.

 “We’re alright, Seb. We’re fine, we’ll be okay. Don’t worry so much,”

 He smiled at your words and proceeded to tell you how happy he was that you were going back home with him.

He looked like a little kid; excited as if he was bringing home his best friend.

 Truth is, he was.

   ---

Days went on.

And you were happily back on track. You had adjusted pretty quickly to everything, and you used your social media to catch up on everything you missed.

 Sebastian was of great help, of course, the man barely left your side. He made sure you ate properly, and David came by often and helped with your physiotherapy, to help your stiff joints.

You were getting better and better, and Sebastian was happier than anyone to hear about your progress.

  As much as he could, Sebastian avoided talking about Connor and Liana, but somehow, you managed to bring it up once.

You asked about them, but he still refused to tell you about the horrifying details.

 “They’re gone, okay? You don’t have to worry about them, baby, just focus on getting better, I-,”

 You sighed.

 “I am better, Seb, it’s been two weeks. I’m fine. I just want to know what you did to them, it’s r-,”

 “Killed them, threw their bodies in lakes, no big deal,” he cut you off and answered nonchalantly.

 Surprisingly, you didn’t react.

It did hurt to hear that the man you once thought as being your father, was now at the bottom of some lake. Dead. Alone. Left there without a proper funeral.

And Liana, the one you once considered to be a close friend. She was also dead and lying at the bottom of a lake somewhere. Not cared for.

It hurt for a moment, you were human after all, and unlike Sebastian; you weren’t used to this. But once the recollection of what they did to you settled in, what they did to Sebastian and to your real parents – a little voice in your head whispered that they probably deserved what fate had in store for them.

 You just nodded. At Sebastian, and at your conscience.

 Well, at least they were gone for good.

  ---

 You noticed that Sebastian was still being very careful around you. He held you like you were the most brittle thing in the world, or that he was scared he would break you.

Right now, he assisted you as you got out of the shower, wrapped in your bathrobe. He stood outside as he waited for you to step out.

 “God Y/N, you took so long in there. I thought you fell or something,” his voice showed his worry.

You had barely stepped out of the shower completely that he began questioning you.

 You laughed and shook your head.

 “I’m not made of glass, Seb. I’m fine, you need to stop worrying so much, really,” you spoke as you got your hair out of the twisted towel.

 Your wet locks fell down your back and Sebastian walked up to you and wrapped his hands around you. He kissed the side of your face and looked at you through the mirror in front of which you were standing.

 “Don’t ever leave me,” he spoke, his voice small and gentle. You noticed that he said that quite a lot these days. He wrap his arms around you at different times during the day and would whisper the exact same words, all the time.

You turned around in his arms and faced him, cupping his face in your hands as you placed your lips on his.

He immediately responded by moving his mouth with yours. His hands gripped your waist and one of them easily slipped past the slit of the robe and traced imaginary shapes on your hip bone.

You missed this.

You missed him, and his touch.

And he knew.

But he believed he would hurt you.

  Your hands travelled to his hair and you ran your fingers through it, as you walked the two of you towards the bed.

You sensed that he was holding back. He was, again, being very gentle.

 When the back of his legs hit the edge of the bed, Sebastian broke the kiss abruptly and pulled away. His face showed that he was worried, for nothing, again.

 “Baby, are you hurt? I’m so s-,”

 “Will you just shut up and fuck me? Jesus fucking Christ, Seb! I’m fine! Just-,”

 He didn’t even let you complete your sentence. Having heard what you wanted, all he wanted to do was to please you, all while being gentle of course.

 Sebastian carefully pushed you down on the bed and climbed on top of you, untying your dark grey bathrobe in the process.

He immediately dipped his head down and gave you a deep kiss, tongue slipping past your lips while his hands lazily rubbed up and down your sides.

His hands were warm against your still, somewhat, damp body.

He pulled back and saw the hunger in your eyes. Truth be told, he was eager to have you as well. He had been for so many days, but he was scared.

 His hands ran along your legs and he settled in between them, arms wrapped around your thighs as his face got dangerously close to your damp core.

You whimpered as each puff of air he breathed out fanned against your wet folds and sent shivers down your spine.

 He watched how your back immediately arched off the bed as soon as his mouth made contact with your sensitive spot.

A quiet moan escaped your lips when his tongue circled your clit; eyes closing as each stroke of his tongue felt like ecstasy.

Your hands grabbed onto the blanket under you as Sebastian’s mouth worked wonder on you. His lips rubbed against your folds relentlessly as each sound you made fueled his passion.

You bucked your hips against his mouth gently, moaning as you coated the lower half of his face with your arousal.

 Your thighs tensed as the pleasure washed over you again and again with each stroke of his tongue. It didn’t take you long to reach your release.

Soon, you gushed out all over his lips. Cursing and whimpering under his touch as he kissed his way up your body.

He very briefly took one of your nipples in his mouth, swirling his tongue around it and soon shifted his attention to the other one.

His actions got hastier as he dipped his head back into the crook of your neck again, nibbling on the skin at your throat and collar bones.

 He was just as impatient as you were.

 “Baby, tell me if I hurt you, okay?” he panted at the shell of your ear and waited until you nodded. Once you did, he lowered his sweatpants just enough to free his excited member.

You moaned as soon as you felt it; hard and firm, against your inner thigh. Sebastian chuckled.

 “Needy for me, huh?” he teased, nibbling on the spot right beneath your ear; knowing very well that it was your weak spot.

 You whined in response and he chuckled again – staring into your eyes.

He stared for a bit too long so your hand reached out and touched his face, stroking his cheek affectionately.

“What?” you asked, the look he gave you was different.

It was comforting, loving. Providing you a sense of belonging – there in his arms.

 “Nothing, I love you. I’m so in love with you, and I’m scared that– please don’t leave me. You’re my everything, Y/N,” his words immediately brought tears in your eyes.

 You leaned in and placed our lips on his, sealing the promise that you wouldn’t leave him.

 “I love you, too Seb. A lot,” you whispered against his lips and he wasted no time in pushing his length inside of you.

You sensed a warmth engulfing both you and him, wrapping around you like an invisible shelter – promising a sanctuary. One you wouldn’t find anywhere else.

 He filled you up, and watched how your face frowned in pleasure. He searched for any signs of discomfort, but when he found none; he sped up into you.

 Your hands gripped his shoulder for support as your body moved against his perfectly. Your legs circled his waist and locked behind his lower back.

Each stroke of his member allowed you to feel all of him. His scent infiltrated your mind and soon, that was all you could focus on.

His cologne, mixed with the faint scent of his shower gel. He smelt divine.

 You panted and groaned along with him each time you matched his thrust; body moving against his like a rag doll.

 He pounded into while whispering how much he loved you in your ear, telling you how lonely he felt when you weren’t here, how much he missed you and how he will keep you safe for the rest of your life.

All the sparks, the warmth, the emotions and the pleasure – all at once became too much to handle and soon, you were riding the waves of euphoria.

Walls clenching around him as you let go; moaning his name out loud and whimpering in pleasure as he grunted at how good you felt and how much he had missed this; missed you.

  -

 After going at it for quite a while, the two of you just collapsed onto the bed and snuggled under the covers – panting and sweating, but worth it.

Sebastian’s hands circled around you and he pulled you into his side, kissing the top of your head and sighing in satisfaction.

Out of nowhere, he chuckled.

 “What’s so funny?” you asked, voice still hoarse from your past actions. You tangled your bare legs with his quietly winced at the soreness between your hips.

“Just thinking about the time when I had to literally chase you around the country because you wouldn’t stop fucking running away from me,” he chuckled again.

You scoffed, and smiled at the memory.

 “Well, you did threaten me by placing a gun to my face. You poured hot wax on me, Seb, who wouldn’t run away?” you giggled at the memory.

He turned to look at you in fake disbelief.

 “Oh shut up, you liked it,” he argued and kissed your forehead. Hands lazily hovering over your skin, you sighed in the comfort of his touch.

 “You remember the note you left me? I was so scared of you then,” you laughed at the memory.

 He inched closer and gave you a quick peck on the cheek.

“And now?” he asked, his baby blue eyes looking in yours.

 “And now you’re my safe place. My sanctuary. You’re my home, Seb,”

  ---

  Weeks went on and your relationship with the mob boss kept flourishing. You did have certain situations where you had your differences. Sebastian had this habit of looking out for you and sometimes, it could get suffocating.

But, just like any other couple, you faced your highs and your lows together – promising each other that no matter what happens, you’ll figure out a way to handle it.

 Sebastian, along with Chris, soon got back to his work. All was going smoothly, until one day.

 You were playing around on your phone while Sebastian made dinner. By dinner he meant wine and grilled cheese. Your favorite as you had been loving cheese lately.

 As you scrolled through your calendar, you realized that you hadn’t marked the date you last had your period.

A wave of panic washed over you. And you sat there, frozen on the kitchen stool. Your thoughts were racing and it felt like you were going to pass out any time soon.

 You told Seb you were going to use the bathroom, and on your way there, you searched the bathroom drawers for the two pregnancy tests you had kept just in case.

Your heart pounded as you took both.

 You waited for a while, allowing it time to process the sample and then you finally checked both of them.

Two lines.

You were pregnant.

 Holy shit.

  You paced around in front of the bathroom mirror, making a mental plan of how you would break the news to Sebastian. Would he be happy?

Was the timing alright?

Is it too soon to have a b-

 “Babe? You in there? What’s taking so long?” your always too worried boyfriend yelled from outside, interrupting your overthinking session.

 Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Screw the plan.

 Your heart pounded even more as you twisted the handle and opened the door. Stepping out of the bathroom, you found Sebastian standing in the middle of the room.

You knew that both of you thought about that time when you threw up blood and lied to him. But there was no lying this time.

 “Did you throw up again? Y/N, are you okay? Should I call David a-,”

You cut him off

 “I’m pregnant,” was all you said and you watched how it took him some time to process the words you spoke.

He just stared at you, lips parted as he looked like he was in shock.

 “My period’s late, and I just took two tests in there. I’m so pregnant. Seb, baby, I know it’s too soon for us to even consider having a baby and I-,”

 He cut you off by walking over to where you were standing and placed his lips on yours. All your worries went away as fast as they came when he held your face gently in his hand.

When Sebastian pulled away, you noticed how glossy his eyes had become. His blue eyes sparkled as he spoke.

 “Shh, this is perfect. You’re perfect, baby, thank you so much. Jesus, I’m gonna be a dad. Babe, I don’t know how to do anything around babies. I should hide my guns, oh God, do we need a bigger house? Baby, I-,”

Your tears fell as he went on and on, and rambled until you cut him off.

 “Hey, calm down. And don’t worry, the baby won’t be here for a while now. We’re fine, Seb, we’re gonna be okay, we have plenty of time. You’re gonna be a great dad,” you reassured him while he wiped away your tears as they kept falling.

 “That’s my baby in there?” he asked, softly as he placed his hand on your tummy. You nodded with tears in your eyes.

 Sebastian let out a little laugh as he looked down. He was a dad now. He had a baby on the way. And he was more than happy that he’ll get to share this part of his life with you.

 “When will it show?” he asked, suddenly very interested in your belly as he caressed the skin with the palm of his hand and you chuckled as you ran your hand through his now slightly longer hair.

He had been growing it since you once told him that you liked it better that way.

 “It’ll take time for the bump to show, Seb,” you laughed at how clueless he was. Then you realized than due to the nature of his work, he must have been so disconnected from the more ‘normal’ side of life.

He never got to see how beautiful it was to start a family, and watch the life you helped create grow inside someone you love.

He never had this before. But he was going to now, and you were more than happy that you got to give him that.

 Sebastian kissed you again, after which he promised to keep you and his baby safe and sound.

 ---

  And so began the life you had always dreamt of, with the one you loved the most in the world. Life with Sebastian was blissful.

It was everything you had ever dreamt of, and more. Ups and downs, moments spent with him which you would cherish until your last breath. Vacations, and arguments over your baby’s name and your sudden cravings.

And more arguments over names after you found out that you were having twins. A boy and a girl. Sebastian became more protective than ever.

 On some days, he could be the biggest baby you had ever seen. And on other days, watching him run around trying to deal with your mood swings soon became the funniest thing you had ever witnessed.

 Every night, he would wake up even with the slightest movement you made. If you woke up to use the bathroom, he’d wake up and sit on the edge of the bed and waited until you were back in bed before sleeping again.

 While asleep, he soon developed this habit of caressing your baby bump whenever he pleased.

 Sometimes, you both would just look at each other and smile. Not a word was said – but so much was shared through that one smile.

All the hard times which went by, and the ones to come; you both knew that as long as the other one was there, you’d make it through hell and back.

You knew that no matter what, you’d always find a way back to each other. Back to the safety of one another’s arms.

Back home, with each other.

  -

 A/N: I’m crying.

Thank you to each and every one who made it till the end of this series. Thank you for each like. Each comment. Each re-blog and each ask you sent. Thank you for encouraging this.

This is it. This is the last part of the ‘Back For You’ series. Thank you for loving it as much as I did. This is the first series I have ever written, but definitely not the last.

The love you all showed to this series means a lot to me. I adore you. Each one of you. Thank you again!

Love,

Your friendly, neighborhood Sinner.

-

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[astralkoo]

Beautifully Misfit | 4

SERIES: Hybrid BTS

‣ Genre: fluff, smut, hybrid au

‣ Word Count: 8.5k

‣ Pairing(s): skunk!Jimin x reader, puppy!Taehyung x reader, bunny!Jungkook x reader

‣ Warnings: strong language, Baby Kookie can’t read very well ;(, food porn (I’m not kidding), y/n deadass has a pizza kink, Jimin being tiny, nothing else really

‣ to be aware of: sub!jimin, switch!taehyung, switch!jungkook, dom!reader, some kinky ass future happenings, BDSM themes, some heavy angst, and triggering themes.

Summary: you never really saw yourself as a hybrid person. that is, until your best friend introduces you to his hybrid, and you suddenly find yourself craving the companionship. you only intended to bring home one. somewhere between the lines you ended up with three beautifully misfit hybrids who craved nothing but your love.

part. i, ii, iii, iv, v (coming soon)

A/N; I’m sorry this took so long to get up, i’m a slow writer when I’m not motivated, but yesterday I buckled down and wrote over five thousand words because I was determined to get this part posted for you lovely people. hope you enjoy! lmk if I didn’t tag you and you wanted to be added to the tag list!!

“Oh my god you live in a palace!” Taehyung gasped, pressing his face against the window of your passenger’s side seat. You giggled at the absolute wonder that sparkled in his dark eyes as you pulled into your driveway.

Actually getting the three hybrids to your home was probably more difficult than it should have been.

Taehyung was really the only one that understood the general ins and outs of cars, while Jimin and Jungkook were at a total loss. Jungkook expressed through broken sentences that the last time he’d been in a car, he’d been forced to sit in the truck. They may have put a crack in your heart. 

After stuffing all their belongings (which was a shockingly small amount considering there were three of them) into the trunk, it took a solid ten minutes just to get Jungkook to accept that he needed to wear a seatbelt; he damn near ripped it out of your car with all his unnecessary tugging and squirming. You’re ashamed to admit you were very much debating just tying him up with some rope and duct tape to keep him still.

It took another twenty to reassure an anxious Jimin that the car would not eat him and the seatbelt was just to keep him from falling out of his seat. It took Taehyung offering Jimin one of his stuffed animals, an adorable yellow chicklet, for him to finally relax. And you’d be lying if you said seeing the petite skunk hybrid clutching the little stuffed animal to his chest in his tiny hands wasn’t the purest thing you’d ever laid eyes on,

All the while Taehyung was happily bouncing in the passenger seat, a big boxy grin plastered across his handsome face as he waited for you to begin the drive home.

“Not quite,” you chuckled in amusement at his awestruck expression, “but it’s pretty, isn’t it?”

You weren’t going to deny it; you had a nice home.

Plenty of spacious rooms, a beautiful pool accompanied by a hot tub, three bedrooms– although only one (now two) being put to its intended use as the third was being used as an in home gym area. Not a mansion by any standards but definitely up in the higher percentile.

It, of course, had originally been a surprise from your Aunt when you graduated from college. Talk about extravagant gift giving. But she wouldn’t allow you to turn it away, no matter how adamantly you insisted you wouldn’t be able to maintain the place. For god’s sake you were just coming out of the shitty run down college dorms and suddenly having this gorgeous house catapulted onto you. She claimed that it was either hand it down to you or send a bulldozer over the property.

And you were not one to enjoy seeing beautiful things being carelessly destroyed.

So in spite of initial hesitance, you accepted. It took you awhile to adjust to the place, but once you had, it really had become a home to you. And you hoped it could become a home to your three new hybrids as well. A place they could feel safe to be themselves, a place where they didn’t have to hide themselves out of insecurity or fear of rejection. A place they could find genuine happiness.

Shit, when’d you get so sappy?

“Big! Big!” Jungkook chanted as he popped his head between your and Taehyung’s seat to get a better view, blinking those big sparkling eyes in amazement. You giggled, before turning to glance at Jimin. His eyes were squinted, face strained as it seemed he was having some trouble making out what he was looking at. But as soon as he realized you were looking, he plastered a shy, unconvincing smile across his face, head bowing.

“I–it’s nice…” you opened your mouth to question him, but Jungkook cut you off.

“Kookie go in now,” He declared. You watched in amusement as he pushed at the door, nowhere near the handle. He blinked in confusion as it didn’t immediately pop open for him. He then tried a random button, flinching in surprise as the window began to lower. He watched, seemingly transfixed as it slid out of sight, before placing his feet on top of the seat and crouching. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was about to do.

“Jungkook no!” You laughed loudly, reaching back and gently gripping the back of his shirt to keep him from launching himself head first out the window.

He turned to you with the cutest look of frustration, “why?”

“Pull the handle and then push,” you instructed, pointing to it.

He cautiously wrapped his hand around said handle, pulling it towards him and then pushing rather harshly on the door. His brows jumped up in amazement as the door easily swung open. It was only when he immediately hopped out of the car that you realized his seatbelt hadn’t been securely strapped around him. He must’ve undone it when you weren’t looking. Mischievous bunny.

Taehyung turned to you, with excitement in his eyes, “are we allowed to go inside now? I really want to see what it’s like inside!” His enthusiasm was contagious, and a wide smile broke out on your face.

“Of course! Let’s head in.”

Taehyung squealed, quickly undoing his seatbelt and rushing out of the car. You smiled to yourself, about to exit the vehicle before suddenly catching a glimpse of Jimin in the back seat. His lower lip was sucked into his mouth, his knees pulled up to his chest as he cradled the small chick under his chin, delicate eyes downcast. He looked so conflicted.

“Are you coming?” Taehyung tilted his head in confusion upon noticing neither of you had moved from your seats.

“Um— why don’t you go ahead, I’ll be there in a minute, okay? The key is under the potted plant on the right side of the door, you know how to use it?” Taehyung quickly nodded and bounced off to join Jungkook (who was aggressively pulling at the doorknob) at the door.

Once he was out of earshot, you returned your attention to Jimin. “Hey, Jimin, are you alright?”

Despite you having intentionally softened your voice, he still flinched, eyes sliding up to unsurely meet yourself. He seemed at a loss for words, mouth opening and shutting multiple times, on the verge of speaking but never getting out so much as a squeak.

But he did gasp in surprise as you suddenly jumped into the backseat (not very gracefully but still managing not to crack your head open so you’re chilling). “Hi there,” you smiled widely at the slightly baffled skunk hybrid.

“Hi…” his voice was quiet as a pin drop. His closed off nature was really beginning to show, and it made your heart sore with sadness.

“How are you feeling? Please be honest with me,” you shifted slightly closer to him, a tender upturn of your lips all it took to coax him out of his anxious silence.

He swallowed, gaze flitting. “I’m… I guess I’m… scared…”

“What’re you scared of?” You carefully pushed, wanting more than anything to reach out and run your knuckles over one of those adorably round cheeks, but refraining– just barely.

He sucked his frustratingly perfect lips into his mouth, noncommittally shrugging his shoulders as his grip on the small stuffed animal tightened. “I don’t… know… a lot of things, I guess…” each word seemed to grow quieter and quieter as it escaped him.

“It’s okay to be scared,” you murmured softly, “I know all of this change is scary. And, I know we don’t know each other very well right now, but I’d really like to get to know you, Jimin. All of you. I want us to be a real family, and I know we can be. Just… don’t give up on me just yet, okay? I’m pretty fuck— freaking far from perfect, so I know I’ll most definitely make a few mistakes. But I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy, I can promise you that.”

He looked up at you slowly, dark eyes shining behind his bangs. Shit, he had such beautiful eyes. Your chest tightened a bit as a wave of nerves struck you suddenly. You really hoped you said the right things, that maybe he’d trust you just a little bit more. Any progress is still progress, after all— another thing you’d learned from your oh–so wise auntie.

“Would you like to come inside now?”

You extended your hand for him with a gentle smile. The corners of his lips twitched upward subtly, and he shyly nodded his head, “y–yes.”

His hand was warm and soft, and small oh god it was so small as it slid delicately into your palm. You had to hold your breath as you carefully guided him out of the car from the pure adoration you felt towards him.

He didn’t let go of your hand the entire way to your front door, head bowed as an endearing blush settled on his cheeks.

Somehow, you remained outwardly composed. Stepping through the threshold of your front door, you were immediately greeted by a gasping Taehyung as he darted back and forth, taking in every last inch of your home with massive, shining eyes. You giggled, cupping a hand over your mouth as you watched the excited pup practically bounce off the walls every time he discovered something new to gawk at.

“Look at this! Oh my god what is that!? Wow that’s so cool! I’ve never seen one of these before! It’s so pretty! Can I keep this? Ohmygoditssoshiny,” words, questions, and exclamations were being spit out of his mouth faster than you could keep track. Suddenly he halted, ears raised, tail stiff, “wait a second.”

“Is–is something wrong?”

“Yes!” He yelped, before his eyes met yours, and he seemed to shrink in on himself, “I mean— no, no definitely not. Everything is perfectly perfect and beautiful and amazing…”

“But?” You tilted your head, watching as a soft pout twisted the corners of his lips downwards.

“But…” he swallowed, rocking on the balls of his feet as he fiddled with his fingers behind his back, “I was wondering— you mentions— are there may be any—”

It suddenly clicked what he was so hopelessly searching for. A playful, mischievous smile twitched at the corners of your mouth. “Toys?”

His entire body seemed to jump upright, ears raising to their full height, tail whipping upwards and twitching in tiny anticipating wags, eyebrows dramatically lifting as his eyes widened adorably. A desperate whine ripped from his lips as he performed a little wiggle.

“If you go up the stairs, turn left, last door on your right—” aaand he was off.

“OHMYGOD,” you heard his muffled screams of glee, snorting loudly.

Puppy has a kink for toys, that’s for sure.

“Where the hell is Jungkook?” You muttered, suddenly realizing you hadn’t seen or heard him since you walking into your home.

It was more to yourself really, but Jimin stuck his button nose up in the air nonetheless. You watched in amazement as he inhaled deeply, chest inflating, before his finger raised, pointing towards your back door.

“Shit, but that leads to the—”

A loud splash had you shrieking in horror and bolting outside, damn near cracking the glass sliding door in your haste.

The crystal blue water of your pool was jumping and foaming, angrily disturbed from its previous calmness. Below the surface there was a dark, distorted blob, slowly sinking.

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you cursed loudly, “Jungkook!”

This would only fucking happen to you of all the people in the fucking world. You brought the hybrids home not ten minutes ago and one of them was already in danger. There was no way in hell you were about to let his little mutant bunny ass drown.

“Mother of shitness—” those were the last words to escape your lips before you heaved in two lungfuls of air and dove head first into the chilly water. You forced your eyes open in the chlorinated water, easily locating a blurry dark form a little way in front of you.

But, it wasn’t sinking.

In fact, it was rising. Very quickly.

The fuCK.

Breaking the surface, you were immediately greeted by a casually treading bunny hybrid. His eyebrows raised a fraction upon seeing you in front of him, but the surprised look vanished into a happy smile.

“Swim with Kookie?” He asked innocently, head tilting.

“Are you kidding me, Jungkook? Why in the holy hell did you think getting into the pool fully dressed was a good idea?” You hissed, water splashing as you clumsily tread, legs kicking quickly as your hands flung around.

His brows furrowed, a confused pout touching his lips as he glanced down at your submerged body. “Full dress, too?”

“I thought you fell in and were drowning or some shit, I was trying to save you!” You cried, “you gave me a fucking heart attack, Jungkook!”

He suddenly smiled shyly, cheeks rising as his gaze flicked down, “save Kookie?”

“Yes, save Kookie! But apparently Kookie doesn’t need any saving because Kookie already knows how to swim and purposeful jumped into my pool with all his clothes on,” You hissed, reaching out to grab his hand and tugging him to the edge of the pool, “now it’s time for Kookie to get out of the pool.”

You hauled yourself out first, grimacing as your clothes stuck like glue to your skin. Not to mention wet socks. You can’t imagine a time you’d ever been more uncomfortable than when you were wearing wet socks.

With a defeated sigh, you swiveled around, about to lend the bunny a helping hand, “Okay, Jungkook hop out— Jungkook what the hell happened to your clothes?!”

He smiled, proudly pointing at the pile of sopping wet clothes sitting on the side of the pool that he’d managed to strip off weirdly fast. “Naked!” He chirped like it was the most natural thing in the world.

God have mercy. 

… 

“Okay Jungkook, repeat to me the rules?” You hummed, carefully towel drying his wet hair, making sure to be extra gentle with his big, sensitive ears in the way. 

“No pool without ask. Hm, no run near pool. No swim ‘lone. No outside after dark. No swim full dress. And… and no swim naked.”

“That’s right! Good job, Kookie,” you cooed, and he grinned proudly, wiggling happily in place. You turned your attention to the other two hybrids in the room. 

Jimin was nestled up against your back, sleepily watching the movie you’d put on for them. Homeward Bound, a personal childhood favorite of yours. Never failed to bring you to tears. Taehyung, who’s made himself comfortable on the floor in front of you, was more engrossed with the dinosaur squeaky toy that he was happily gnawing on, squeaking up a storm. It might have gotten on your nerve had he not looked so fucking adorable, big eyes shiny with happiness and lips drawn into a never wavering grin. 

“You hear that boys? Those rules apply to you, too. I don’t need anymore incidents like today.” You informed sternly, drawing both of their attentions to you. 

Taehyung quickly nodded his head, toy dropping from his mouth and into his lap as he spoke, “I understand! I’ll be real good, promise! I’m good at following rules, I think.” 

You reached down, ruffling his hair in praise. His tail quickly began beating against the hardwood floor with loud thumps as he leaned into your touch, grinning widely. You turned your attention to the skunk curled up behind you, peering over your shoulder. 

“Jimin?” 

“I–I don’t like to swim… but I understand.” He affirmed in that soft, melodic voice of his, thick with sleepiness. Jungkook piped in before you could reply. 

“Kookie like to swim! What Kookie swim in?” 

“When we go shopping tomorrow, I’ll buy Kookie a swimsuit,” you explained simply, briefly taking your focus off of drying his dark locks to meet his gaze, lips twitching upward at how cute he looked, white towel laid on top of his head, ears flopping down on either side of his face. 

The incident with Jungkook leaping into your pool opened up a few fundamental truths you’d have to face. 

One; clothes. They needed clothes. The one thing you’d failed to collect on your shopping binge earlier in the week for obvious reasons were things for your hybrids to wear. And of the very few things they’d brought from the shelter, outfits held an even smaller portion. Having all worn the same white scrubs everyday left little need for duplicates. 

And after Jungkook soaked his only pair, you’d had to force him into one of your favorite pairs of large grey sweatpants and an extra large white t-shirt that somehow still managed to hug ever inch his admittedly muscular body. It was an interesting look for him. It made Taehyung giggle, that’s for sure. 

You also made a mental note that Jimin needed glasses ASAP. He obviously had a lot of difficulty seeing things beyond a certain distance and you were surprised he hadn’t been given any at the shelter.  Getting glasses was a long, annoying, and expensive process, but you didn’t mind as long as he’d be able to see properly. 

Two; they might need some help navigating life outside of the shelter. You’d definitely be needing to set some boundaries. Obviously, they’d spent most of their lives in small living quarters, closed off from the real word. As a result, they’ve never been exposed to many seemingly ordinary courtesies such as manners, or public decency…or not stripping buck naked whenever they damn well feel like it. That could use some adjustment. 

And three; Jungkook was going to be keeping you on your toes for a while. You’d have to keep an eye on that little troublemaking bastard at all times to make sure he doesn’t do something unintentionally reckless and get himself hurt. 

All in all, you felt a second massive shopping spree was in order. This time for more specific commodities. 

“Kookie swim in swim…s–suit?” He asked, stuttering faintly on the pronunciation. 

That reminded you, you’d also need to ask Hoseok about speech lessons to help Jungkook with communication. As far as you can tell, he has no problem getting his point across, you can understand him perfectly fine, but to what extent does it reach? 

“Can I get a swimsuit, too?” Taehyung asked, a pleading pout resting on his lips. 

“Of course, you can all get swimsuits,” you glanced at Jimin, “just in case you ever change your mind. Now that that’s settled…” you pulled the towel off of Jungkook’s now only slightly damp hair, jumping up off the couch, “who wants pizza?” 

All the boys seemed the grimace at the mention of the cheesy delicacy. 

“What’s with those faces? Don’t tell me you don’t like pizza,” you laughed, but it died in your throat almost immediately. 

You gaped at them in horror, clasping a hand over your mouth as they all shared a telling look. No fucking way. They didn’t like pizza? How was that possible? Maybe they were lactose intolerant or something. There had to be an explanation. 

“How do you guys not like pizza? I practically live off of it most days of the week!” Taehyung flinched faintly as you raised your voice, despite your harmless intention. 

“W–well, we’ll have it if you want us to, master. It’s just that… the shelter gave us pizza every other Friday, I guess it was supposed to be a treat of sorts… but it wasn’t very good,” Taehyung explained in a meek, unsure voice, lead lowering as he peered up at you. 

“That’s probably because it was that organic, healthy shit. No, I’m talking about real pizza. Cheesy, delicious, juicy, thick crust, crunchy on the outside but soft on the in— wait, did you just call me master?” 

He seemed to shrink in on himself. His ears flattened against his head, tail ticking between his legs. You’re no expert on animal behavior, but you didn’t need a degree to see that he was showing submission. 

“Is… is that bad? Am I in trouble? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” his voice broke into a whimper, but you were quick to drop down to your knees in front of him, shaking you head.

“No, no you’re not in trouble, sweetheart, you’re alright. You didn’t do anything wrong,” you made sure to keep your voice soft and stable, gently taking one of his hands in yours, “I was just a little surprised is all.” 

He seemed to calm at your reassurance, body language relaxing, “really?” 

“Really.” You giggled, reaching up to nudge his cheek with your knuckles. That’s all it took to have his face brightening up with a grin as he nuzzled into your touch. “But you know you don’t have to address me like that, right? Unless, you wanted to call me something different, you can just call me y/n.” 

“Kookie call you y/n,” the bunny hybrid declared from his perch on the couch, nodding firmly, “y/n nice name.” 

“Why thank you. Jungkook is a very nice name, as well,” you cooed playfully.

Jungkook shrugged cockily, “I know.” 

You laughed loudly at that. 

“I–I’ll call you y/n, too… if that’s okay,” Jimin squeaked, blushing a pretty shade of pink as your eyes met his fluttering ones. 

“It’s more than okay, beautiful,” you grinned, shooting a playful wink in his direction. 

His eyes widened, face exploding in a deep red as a squeak escaped his lips. You watched with a wide smile as he grabbed the nearest pillow, shoving his face into it in a feeble attempt to hide his rose colored cheeks. Jungkook snickered at the smaller hybrid’s reaction, nose wrinkling in the most bunny like way imaginable. 

“Then I’ll call you y/n, too!” Taehyung sprung back to his happy go lucky self, lips splitting into a massive grin as his tail began to whip back and forth behind him. 

“Perfect,” you smiled, reaching up and scratching behind his ear, “now, about that pizza…”

. . . 

Within the next thirty minutes, you and the boys had swallowed down two whole boxes of large, cheesy pizza for your favorite pizza place. Talk about a food baby. 

“That was so much better than the shelter’s pizza,” Taehyung groaned, tossing his head back as he rested a hand on his well fed belly, “I’ve never been this stuffed in my life!” 

Jimin nodded quickly in agreement, still working on finishing his last piece. He was an adorably slow eater, very careful with his bites in not getting sauce anywhere on his face. Jungkook and Taehyung on the other hand… not so tidy. Taehyung had sauce smeared across his pretty lips and lingering at the corners of his mouth. Jungkook— shit, somehow the rabbit managed to get cheese in his damn hair, let’s just say that. 

You giggled at the puppy hybrid, thumbing a tiny spot of sauce off his chin, “I told you! They were definitely feeding you garbage pizza. This is the real shit, you’re eating with the big boys now, baby!” Taehyung’s tail began its helicopter blade wagging, an incredibly dog like ‘yip’ escaping his lips, his excitement rising right alongside yours. 

“Hell yeah, baby!” 

Throwing your head back, you laughed so hard that your stomach began to hurt. “Hey! Where’d you learn that kind of language, mister!” You cackled, smiling down at him in wild amusement. 

His grin mimicked yours, ears perking, “you!” 

And you’d been trying to keep your cursing in check, too. Perhaps you slipped up a few times during dinner… 

“Ah, I’ve got to watch my tongue or by the end of next week you’ll be able to name a curse word for every letter in the alphabet,” You snickered, ruffling his hair affectionately. 

“More! Want more,” Jungkook exclaimed, holding up his empty plate for emphasis. 

“Kookie, it's all gone,” you trotted over to him, picking up a nearby napkin and beginning to clean his face. He pouted at the newfound information, obviously very disappointed. “Don’t get all frowny on me now, you messy son of a bi–bunny.”

“Nice save,” Taehyung snickered, and you shot him a playful glare before returning your attention to the deeply disheartened rabbit. 

“Hey, but don’t worry. We’ll be getting pizza often. Very often,” because your ass can’t cook for shit, “and next time, I might even get you your own whole pizza, okay? That work for you?” 

His eyes light up at the suggestion, pout dissolving into a content smile, “okay. Work for Kookie.” 

“Fantastic,” you hummed, before tossing the tomato sauce soaked napkin into one of the empty boxes, “okay. I think that you need a bath. Napkins aren’t cutting it.” 

Jungkook froze, eyes widening, then narrowing into sharp slits, “no bath.” 

Your brows shot up at his sudden defiance. “Um, yes bath. You’re covered in pizza guts.” 

“No. Bath.” He hissed, ears pressing back. 

“Jungkook,” you said slowly, arms folded over your chest, “you are taking a bath.”

“No.” 

“Yes.” 

“No.”

You stared at him hard for a moment, him staring back just as harshly. Then you lunged. You should’ve known a rabbit hybrid would be faster, because the next thing you know you’re getting a face full of chair. And that shit hurt. 

“Fuck me!” You shrieked, cupping your throbbing nose. 

“Y–Y/n, are you a–alright?” Jimin gasped, running over to you in tiny font and carefully helping you back onto your feet. 

You glanced over to see Jungkook on the opposite side of the kitchen, looking over at your crumpled form with a piss all smug expression. A growl rose in your throat. 

“I’m good, Jimin, don’t worry.” You offered Jimin a reassuring smile, only wincing slightly. No way in hell would you let the mutant bunny win. He was taking a bath if it goddamn killed you. 

A determined glare found your face as you struck Jungkook with your stare, pushing up your sleeves. “You’re still taking a bath, Kookie.” You sneered, pointing a finger in his direction. 

“Gotta catch Kookie first~,” he sang, excitement sparkling in those big eyes.

“Oh, I’ll catch you, alright.” 

Little need be said, you did not catch him. 

All of fifteen minutes later, you lay face down on the floor of your upstairs hallway, sweating so much it looked like you’d fallen in the pool, completely winded, and on the verge of passing out. You always seem to forget that running is definitely not your strong suit. 

“Y/n?” You heard a meek voice chime from above you.

“Yeah?” You wheezed, not bothering to so much as open your eyes. 

“Are you okay?” 

“I’m fucking dandy,” You chuckled, finally forcing your eyes open. Jimin was squatted down in front of you, head tilted to the side as his large tail calmly swayed behind him. 

“You don’t look dandy.” 

Somehow, you managed a tired smile, “it’s called sarcasm, darling.” 

Jimin flushed at the nickname, cupping his reddening cheeks in the palm of his hands as he let out a soft whining sound. So cute. 

“That bunny is quick.” You groaned, rolling onto your back and letting your aching body melt into the floor, “where’s all that stamina come from, huh? He was going up and down the stairs like it was nothing. Up, down, up, down, up, down, like what the hell? Don’t his legs hurt after that? Well, I guess he does have pretty massive thighs—” 

“Would you like some water, Y/n,” Jimin softly cut off your delusional rambling that was about to take a not so appropriate turn. 

“I would love some water, Jimin, thank you.” 

He giggled that sugary giggle of his as he stood up, “alright, I’ll get you some water. Don’t move.” 

“Wasn’t planning on it.” 

He laughed again, standing and trotting towards the steps, disappearing down them. He has a really pretty laugh. 

Just as your eyes began to flutter shut again, a loud thump caught your attention, and then a shout. 

“Y/n! Y/n I caught him! I caught him!” 

“Can a girl not get a moment's peace in this house—” you cut off your incoherent mumbling abruptly, shooting upward. Caught him? He caught him? Holy shit! You leapt to your feet, frantically scrambling in the direction of the commotion. It wasn’t too difficult to find what room the shouts were coming from with all the noise they were making. 

In your downstairs gaming room, you found Taehyung, his entire body wrapped around a flailing Jungkook, whom he’s somehow managed to pin to the floor. 

“Tricked! Tae tricked Kookie!” The bunny screeched, betrayal shining in his dark eyes. You were trying so hard not to laugh. Taehyung looked absolutely ridiculous, Jungkook even more so as he tried to squirm out of the puppy’s vice like hold. But you knew you couldn’t allow them to continue like this, or else one of them might end up hurt. And that was something you definitely did not want to happen. 

“Tae, let him go, hun.” 

Taehyung’s eyes widened at your request, mouth opening to object, “but—”

“It’s alright, Tae. Trust me,” you shot him a sly wink as you murmured the last bit. He reluctantly obeyed, rolling off the bunny and scrambling behind you before he could retaliate. The moment he was freed, the bunny leapt to his feet, glaring harshly at the puppy cowering behind you. “Ah–ah–ah, eyes on me, Kookie. Tae didn’t do anything wrong, he was just trying to help me catch you.” 

He huffed, lower lip jutting out. 

“I have a proposition.” 

His ears twitched, brows furrowing. “Prop… prop… prop…?” 

“An idea,” you rephrased, noticing his struggle, “one that doesn’t involve running around the house like a couple of chickens who got their heads cut off. If you win, you don’t have to take a bath. I win, you bathe. That cool?” 

He squinted his eyes at you suspiciously, “what idea?” 

You smirked, eyes drifting to something behind him. You made your way over to the large flat screen television, opening up the cabinet to the right off it. Inside were hundreds of games. That’s an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Jungkook’s eyes bulged, pupils practically turning into hearts at the glorious sight. You pulled one out, holding it up for him to see. 

“You race?” 

It was Jungkook’s turn to smirk, “Kookie race.” 

. . . 

“Watch out for the banana peel! Oh my god the red shell! The red shell! Careful on the turn—”

“Taehyung!” 

“Sorry.” 

You were on the third and final race of Mario Kart. The deciding match. Each of you had won one round prior to that, making it an even game. It was tense. But Taehyung seemed to be more on edge than you and Jungkook combined, and he wasn’t even playing! 

The finish line was in sight. It was neck in neck; Jungkook in first, you right on his heal in a close second. 

There was absolutely no way in hell you were letting him beat you at your game. The game you’d been playing since you first learned how to use your thumbs. You absolutely demolished anyone you went up against. But Jungkook was good. Really good. He matched your skill level almost perfectly. He knew all the shortcuts, all the right turns to making, even how to drift flawlessly. And for the first time, you weren’t completely positive that’s you’d win. A thought terrifying enough to send chills racing down your spine. No. No, you were going to win. You had to. That bunny was going to bathe. You’d make sure of that. 

The finish line was approaching rapidly. Your heart thundering against your ribcage, entire body trembling with the adrenaline coursing through it, a sheen of sweat resting on your upper lip. Your hands were aching for the effort, thumbs just about ready to fall off. 

Beside you, Jungkook was just as tense, tall ears fully erect, body stiff and leaned forward as he pinned all his attention to the screen. 

This is it. Time to pull out all the stops. You’re secret move that got you the win every time without fail. The boost and drift. 

“Eat my dust, Kookie!” You shrieked, pressing down on the buttons just long enough to have your car shooting forward and crossing the finish line, earning you the first place slot. A triumphant laugh burst from your lips, and you jumped to your feet, pumping your fist into the air victoriously. You’d be lying to say your ass didn’t hurt from sitting on the hardwood floor that entire time, but the brilliance of your victory washed out any lingering ache. “Fuck yes! We have a winner folks! We have a winner!” 

Taehyung and Jimin giggled from their seats on the couch behind you, clapping encouragingly as you shamelessly gloated. 

Jungkook stared at the screen in shock, unable to process that he was seeing the number two on his half of the screen. Second place. Second place. It was mocking him. 

Squatting down beside the stunned bunny, you placed a hand on his shoulder, “I won, Kook. You know what that means.” 

He pouted, turning his head away from you stubbornly. “Cheated.” 

You gaped at him. “Did not! I won fair and square and you know it! Come on, we had a deal. You can’t just go back on your word,” you frowned, offended by his blunt claim. You would never cheat. You didn’t need to. At least not in Mario Kart. Pure skill, baby. 

Jungkook snuck a glance in your direction, and his ears dropped seeing the expression on your face. He quickly turned his gaze away, focusing intensely on the floor as he worried his lower lip between his teeth. He knew you didn’t cheat. He knew he lost. He hated it, but he knew you won fairly. Admitting it out loud was just a bit harder to do. 

But the look in your eyes was enough to get him to put his pride aside. 

“Kookie take bath.” He relented with a defeated sigh. 

You smiled brightly, gently ruffling his hair, “thank you for keeping your word, Kookie. It means a lot to me.” 

He flushed at the praise, quickly swatting your hand away with a pout, eliciting a giggle from your lips. You stood first, helping Jungkook to his feet as you turned to the two other hybrids. 

“Okay boys. As soon as Kookie here finishes up his bath, we need to discuss sleeping arrangements, alright? It’s getting late and it’s been a hectic day for everyone so I think we could all use a good night's sleep, yeah? Don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone.” 

They quickly nodded in agreement, bidding you soft farewells as you guided Jungkook to the upstairs bathroom. Of course, he donned a pout the entire way, obviously trying to make you feel bad by milking the blow of his loss. 

Tugging him into the bathroom, you sat him down on the closed toilet seat, and began to explain the ins and outs of your bathroom. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, towel location, how to change the temperate, and even pointing out the bubble bath bottle in case he like that. He stared up at you blankly, blinking slowly. 

“You got all that?” He nodded. “Any questions?” He shook his head. “Good, I’ll sit outside. Just give me a shout if you need any help.” With that, you proceeded to exit the bathroom, plopping down beside the door and pulling out your phone to kill the time. You heard the gush of water hitting the tub, and assumed he’d be fine on his own. Until—

“Y/n?” You hopped to your feet, leaning against the door.

“Yeah, Kook?” Silence. “Kookie? You okay in there?” Silence. “Jungkook?” A nearly inaudible murmur. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand that.” 

“N–need… help…” 

“Okay, I’m coming in,” you took his silence as an okay and slowly nudged the door open, “are you… covered?” He hummed quietly in confirmation and you let out a breath of relief, sticking your head inside. 

He was submerged in the bath, the top of it was covered in a thick layer of white, shiny bubbles. He had his face turned away from you, and seemed to be fidgeting slightly. 

“What’s wrong?” You asked carefully, gliding over to kneel next to the tub. He avoided your gaze, and you noticed how red his cheeks were. You were worried he might’ve made the bath too hot, but when you experimentally dipped your fingers in, it was the perfect temperature. “You can tell me, hun. What’s up?” 

He bowed his head, splashing his hand against the water. “Can… can y/n wash… w–wash Kookie?” 

Hah. Pardon? 

“W–wash? You want me to wash you?” You reiterated, making sure you’d heard him correctly. 

“Please…” he murmured quietly, and you watched his neck melt into a boiling red color that perfectly matched that adorning his face. He looked so humiliated, so vulnerable. It dawned on you that he might not know how to properly wash himself. At the shelter someone had helped with that sort of thing, so he might have never actually done it himself. Your heart swelled at the thought. 

“Of course I’ll help,” you murmured softly, touched by the fact that he’d ask instead of struggling alone and saving himself the embarrassment, “in fact, I’ll do you one better. I’ll teach you how so next time you can do it all on your own, okay?” 

He peered over at you shyly, a light smile twisting the corners of his lips upwards, “okay.” 

“Perfect. We’ll start with shampoo then,” you chirped, reaching down to grab the white bottle of shampoo. 

You learned that Jungkook wasn’t the best reader, something you probably should’ve guessed based on what Hoseok had told you. But it still made your heart clench to see him trying so hard to make out the letters on the bottles you present to him. His bath managed to turn into a reading lesson, as you explained to him in depth how to read the words shampoo and conditioner as well as their individual purposes. And soon enough, something seemed to click in that cute little brain of his.

“You’re a fast learner, Kookie!” You praised, grinning happily as he pointed out the word shampoo every time it appeared on the back of the bottle. 

He beamed at the praise, sighing in content as you massaged the conditioner into his hair, being extra careful around the base of his ears. It was then that you realized how beautiful they were. The fur was sleek and healthy, shimmering faintly under the dull glow of your bathroom lights. Instinctively, your fingers reached for one, gently stroking the silky fur. His body jolted forwards, a loud gasp shooting from his lips. You snapped your hand away as he whipped around, staring at you in shock. 

“D–D–DON’T touch!” He squeaked, his entire face a deep shade of pink, his chest heaving as he seemed genuinely flustered. There was terror in his dark eyes, the emotion read loud and clear. 

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, I didn’t even realize,” you blinked rapidly, clutching your hand against you chest like it’d been burned. You were horrified with yourself. You’d obviously crossed a boundary you weren’t meant to so much as think about. It was careless. “I’m so sorry, Kookie. I shouldn’t have touched your ears without permission.” 

He stared at you a moment longer, breathing heavily as his hands gripped the edge of the tub so tightly that his knuckles paled. There was something in his eyes. Something dark. You couldn’t make out exactly what it was before he snapped himself out of him, shaking his head. 

“It… okay.” He slowly turned back around, facing away from you. You weren’t sure what to do. Did he want you to keep washing him, or would it be better if you left all together? Your prolonged silence caught the bunny’s attention, and he softly uttered over his shoulder, “can keep wash Kookie.” 

“A–are you sure?” You swallowed, needing the extra confirmation.

He nodded, “yes.” 

The remainder of his bath was spent in silence. It wasn’t awkward persay. It was more like both your mind were weighed down from the previous upbeat mood. Even as you were running a washcloth soaked in your favorite face wash over his faintly red stained skin, he wouldn’t meet your gaze. 

“Alright, I think you’ve got it from here. You can wash your body with this green soap and then dry off and meet us downstairs, alright? I put a new shirt and sweatpants next to the door outside, so you can put those on when you’re finished,” You hummed, standing and stretching from having sat for so long, back cracking loudly. He nodded silently, sinking lower in the tub so that his nose hovered just over the water and you took that as your que to exit. 

You were disappointed with yourself. That could have been a beautiful bonding moment— and it had been! But then you had to go and screw it up. Like you always seem to do… 

Taehyung and Jimin were playing with some of the toys you’d gotten in the living room when you came trudging down the steps. They must’ve noticed the heaviness in the air surrounding you, because their sweet giggling ceased rather abruptly and they jumped up to meet you halfway. 

“Y/n, what’s wrong?” Taehyung asked with a soft frown. “Did Kookie hurt you?”

“Ah, no, of course not, Kookie didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I’m fine,” you reassured, reaching up to pet the top of his head, but freezing and redirecting your hand to land on his shoulder instead. Taehyung blinked, looking at your hand in confusion. 

Without missing a beat, he grabbed your wrist and placed your hand on top of his head. 

You couldn’t stop the grin that found your lips, one he happily returned as you combed your fingers through his dark locks. Jimin whimpered mournfully from his larger companion’s side, staring longingly at your other hand. “Oh you big baby,” you playfully cooed, immediately shifting to stroke the top of his head as well. 

They both melted into your touch, Jimin chirping as Taehyung vocalized his happiness with high pitched whines. It was a rather ridiculous scene, but so utterly precious you couldn’t find it in you to stop. Not until you heard heavy footsteps coming from the stairs. He was dressed in new clothes, lingering droplets of water creating dark patches on the shoulders of the grey material of the oversized sweatshirt.

Jungkook paused, meeting your gaze. You offered him a light smile, but he only ducked his head and plodded to Taehyung’s side, eyes fluttering around the room. You’d be lying if you said that didn’t sting a bit. You’d hoped that you’d be able to brush off the incident, but apparently not. Maybe it’d be forgotten by the morning. 

You cleared your throat, shaking yourself from your thoughts. There were more important things to address than a moment of discomfort. 

“Alright, boys. Now that we’re all here, I have to tell you that we have a small dilemma.” 

“A dilemma?!” Taehyung repeated, blinking at you with wide, concerned eyes. You nodded in confirmation, folding your arms across your chest before continuing. 

“As of right now, I only have one bed for you guys. I’m pretty sure it’s more than big enough to fit the three of you, but I want to ask if any of you are uncomfortable sharing a bed? I know you all had your own back at the shelter, so it would definitely be a change.” 

“I don’t mind! I love cuddling!” Taehyung chimed, unknowingly lifting a weight off your chest. You shifted your attention to the bunny hybrid, who seemed to be in deep thought, eyes squinted, lips puckered as he mulled it over. 

Finally, he shrugged. “Fine with Kookie. Don’t mind.” 

“M–me either. I’m okay with it,” Jimin quickly added, blushing as you smiled gratefully over at him. 

“That’s a relief to hear. I promise that this won’t be permanent, just for a little while until I figure out a better sleeping situation, alright?” You breathed, clasping your hands in front of you, “let me show you guys to your room.” 

The hybrids quickly scurried behind you as you guided them up the stairs and down the hall, before you were pushing open a door. They gasped simultaneously, eyes widening as they took in the sight before them. “T–this is our room?” Taehyung swung his astonished gaze to meet yours. 

“Yeah… do you not like it?” You asked, unable to read whether their reaction was positive or negative. 

“No! I love it!” Taehyung cheered, bolting into the bedroom and pouncing onto the bed. “It’s so big! This is probably the biggest bed I’ve ever seen in my entire existence!” 

“It’s amazing,” Jimin grinned excitedly as he made his way into the bedroom, joining Taehyung on the King sized mattress. 

Jungkook murmured his agreement, “very nice. Very big. Kookie approve.” 

You smiled, watching as they oohed and awed over every little detail of the room, from the dresser to the windowsill seat to the light fixtures above their head. Their amazement made your chest feel light. 

“Well, I’m glad that you like it. You guys can get things to decorate it and really make it your own when we go shopping,” a yawn followed your statement. You hadn’t realized just how tired you’d become. It was a pretty eventful day, if you do say so yourself. But a wonderful kind of eventful. 

“I’m headed to bed if you guys don’t need anything else. But if you do happen to need something in the middle of the night, my room is right across the hall.” You turned to leave, but paused as Taehyung cleared his throat. 

A warm flush was resting on his cheeks, the faintest of smiles on his lips as he stared at you with such sincerity that your skin prickled and your heart picked up, “speaking for all of us… Thank you, Y/n. For everything.” 

Taking a slightly trembling breath, you plastered a smile across your face, biting the inside of your cheek, “Of course. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.” 

“There are bed bugs?!” 

“It’s just a saying Taehyung. There are no bed bugs.” 

“Oh. Good night then! Sweet dreams!” 

You shook your head in amusement, murmuring a final ‘goodnight’ before you stepped out of their room, gently shutting the door behind you. You plodded across the hall, slipping into your bedroom just as another yawn escaped you. Throwing yourself onto your bed, you groaned as you muscles instantly relaxed. 

“Fuck, I missed you baby,” you muttered, tugging the sheets up to your chin as you nuzzled your head into the thick embrace of your favorite pillow. You know the one. 

In no time you were dead asleep, snoring up a storm as your mind filled with fantasies of living on your own private island. But, this time you weren’t quite alone. Instead, you were accompanied by three beautifully misfit hybrids who seemed to fit right in. An island all alone in the middle of the island might’ve have gotten a tad bit lonely. You were glad they were there. 

“Y-Y/n?” 

Until one of them interrupted your blissful slumber that is. 

“Yes? Huh? I’m awake. Who is it?” You fumbled, jolting upright as your heavy lids adjusted, squinting to try and make out the figure stood in the doorway. It was only dainty enough to belong to Jimin. 

“It’s Jimin,” he identified himself. 

As you suspected. You’re a genius even when half asleep. 

Running a hand down your face in a feeble attempt to draw yourself further from the steel grip of sleep, you acknowledge him with a soft hum, “What’s up, beautiful?” You didn’t have to see him to know he was blushing. 

“I–I… Jungkook accidentally kicked me out of bed and then he spread out and kinda took my spot a–and I was too scared to move him… s–so I was wondering if—” he faltered, fidgeting and lowering his head, “—if possibly… if it’s not too much of a nuisance… if I could—” 

“Jimin, get over here.” You cut him off with a playful chuckle. He gently shut the door before stumbling over to you in the dark, tripping over various items you hadn’t taken the time to clean up. You weren’t expecting visitors. 

The skunk hybrid faltered at the foot of your bed. “You really… don’t mind?” 

“Not at all.” 

That was all the encouragement he needed to climb onto the mattress, crawling up and plopping down beside you. But there was an awfully large space between the two of you, and it made a frown touch your face. 

Sleepy y/n liked cuddles. 

“Do you like to cuddle, Jiminie? Because, unless you’re opposed, I would really love to have a cuddle buddy right about now.” 

You heard his breath falter. Then silence. 

A discouraged sigh escaped you, and you rolled to your other side, facing away from him as you shut your eyes.

“I… I like cuddles.” 

You flipped back over immediately, grinning widely as you parted your arms invitingly, making grabby hands, “then give me some love, sugar.”

The heat radiating off Jimin’s face was palpable as he shifted into your arms, allowing you to wrap yourself around him almost entirely, resting your chin just above his head. You could feel how quickly Jimin’s heart was beating, feel the faint trembling of his body against yours. But the way he nuzzled his burning face into your neck and coiled his arms shyly around your waist told you he wanted this just as much as you did. Small flicks of his ears tickled your under jaw, drawing the corners of your lips upwards. 

You’d long forgotten the warmth of sharing your bed with another. The feeling of comfort that settled in you chest, the sense of belonging. It vanquished any loneliness that had lingered there in nights prior, Jimin taking the place of empty air. You loved it. You loved it so much. 

It was then that you noticed something small and yellow squeezed between your chests. The chick stuffy Taehyung had given him. You bit your lip almost harshly enough to draw blood to keep down a squeal. How much more adorable could he get? Wrestling off the sudden desire to squeeze his cheeks and kiss all over his adorable little face, you drew slow, soothing circles against his back, listening to his breathing grow slower and heavier, until you were certain he was completely asleep. 

“Good night, Jimin.” Pressing a tender kiss to the top of his head was the last thing you did that night before falling into the most blissful sleep you can recall ever having.

tag list: @queenofthecliff @sweetmurder12345 @thatmemechick @abehavedtinychild @twinklestqr @xanny91 @jintrohasarrived @purringpanda @rationalmagic @neocity97 @shelley-hennig14 @catsandstrawberries @brokebinnie @shortpeoplematter @bangtxnbxunch @jinnieseok @sosushy @cottoncandyparakeets @brazilianpal @camilaxpolanco @boononx @enthusiastt @daydreamindollie @kimsamueldeservesbetter @xxqueenwxtchxx @aimee-lucass @maryseesthings @unknownblinkarmy @mrsplisetsky @cliffordmonarchy @serious-addiction

[soobiniebaby]

Angels & Devils Part IV: Can You Tell Me

Tomorrow x Together Fanfiction

~ p a r t s : main post || prologue || part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 || part 5 || part 6 || part 7 || part 8 || part 9 || part 10 || part 11 || part 12 || part 13 || part 14 || part 15 || part 16 || part 17 ~ p a i r i n g : love triangle involving choi soobin and choi yeonjun ~ g e n r e : high school au | some social media au | some fluff & angst | childhood friends | love triangle ~ l a n g u a g e : English ~ w a r n i n g : contains swearing, alcohol, kissing (?) and may contain mature themes (angst, etc.) ~ a / n : This will be my first fanfic (go easy on me pls) and i’m just writing this as I go along, so bear with me juseyo The setting (place/country) of the story is up to the reader’s interpretation ~ s u m m a r y : What should she choose? Han Baby: the new girl with a troubled past MO Academy: her new high school Choi Soobin: student council president, member of the Ecosave club, volunteer at the Humane Treatment of Animals, member of the Honor Society, a vocalist in the Jazzed club, the school’s all around golden boy Choi Yeonjun: leader of the Dance club, star of the Jazzed club, the school’s it boy with a bad rep 5 best friends, 1 new girl, 1 childhood friendship, 1 epic love triangle? What will this school year bring?

B’s first week at MO Academy had been going smoothly so far.

She rarely found herself lost around the campus since she always had Kai or at least 1 member of the student council by her side, she was able to get to know a few other people in her classes, she was able to keep track of lessons and deadlines so far, she had grown to enjoy her walks to and from school with Taehyun every day, and she was able to adjust well to living alone without her parents to watch over her or without anyone else to help around with household chores.

She actually really liked living away from her parents for the first time. The one downside was that she was starting to feel a bit lonely, especially since the apartment had 2 bedrooms, which was obviously meant to be occupied by at least 2 people. The spare room was also set up like a bedroom with a bed and a wardrobe and a desk, but she didn’t have any use for it so she never really went in it since she moved in. She mostly used it to store extra clothes.

Today, Wednesday, the boys had their first student council meeting of the year to finalize things for club recruitment day, so B walked home alone, which she didn’t really mind.

Her week was going smoothly until she received an unusual message that night, while she was lying in her bed after finishing some household chores.

B smiled as each boy sent a selfie, and laughed when she realized that all of them were holding up peace signs in their photos. She quickly saved the pictures and set each boy’s contact photo until she saw Beomgyu send more photos to the group chat.

B locked her phone and turned over in bed, her head full of thoughts of what they could do for Kai’s birthday. If it were up to her, she would take Kai to someplace special and out of the way, like the beach so that they could reminisce about their childhood memories spent along the beaches in Hawaii. But considering that there would at least be 4 other people celebrating Kai’s birthday with them, she knew it was out of the question. She was also curious about what the other boys had in mind, and she was wondering what gift she could get for her best friend.

She checked her phone one last time before shutting her lights off and drifting off to sleep.

•°•

Soobin put his phone away once the other boys sorted out their plan to keep Hyuka busy while he, B and Yeonjun stayed behind. Their last period had already ended, and they were preparing for their meeting.

“So, where do you guys wanna talk?” B asks, grabbing her bag and getting up from her seat. “I’m guessing the 3 will be hanging out at the café, so that’s not an option.” she says, referring to the café that Taehyun’s family owns and runs, which they’ve hung out at everyday after school so far, except for yesterday when the boys had their student council meeting.

“There other cafes nearby, but they’re really not as good as Kang’s.” Yeonjun says, leaning back in his seat.

“You know, there’s one place we could hold our little meeting, and we won’t even have to leave school.” Soobin says.

Yeonjun and B look at him then, curious and interested.

“Well come on then, let’s go. You can lead the way, Mr. President.” B says teasingly. Soobin visibly cringed as she did so. It wasn’t a nickname, but it was something she seemed to enjoy calling him by.

“Alright, follow me.” Soobin says, and the three make their way across the campus.

Walking across campus with Soobin and Yeonjun by her side made B remember the times in the past when she would be escorted by bodyguards hired by her parents. The dark days. She had yet to fill Kai in on the specific details, and a part of her was secretly afraid of spending one on one time with her childhood friend, dreading the moment when she would have to recount the memories that she would rather just forget.

The 2 boys had been chatting about their term project for their creative writing class, Yeonjun whining about getting paired with someone other than Soobin and Soobin in turn comforting him, and B had been so lost in thought that she didn’t even notice where they were.

“Ah, I see. Nice thinking, Soobin.” Yeonjun says, as they walk down a familiar hallway.

“What, why? Where are we going?” B asks, the hallway wasn’t familiar to her at all. It was at a part of the school near where the faculty rooms and offices were, so it wasn’t really part of the tour.

“Actually, I just remembered that I had to stop by to sign some forms that I left after the meeting yesterday, but I figured we might as well have our meeting here.” Soobin says, as they reach a set of double doors at the end of the hall. He takes a bunch of keys out of his pocket and takes a moment to sort through them before taking one and unlocking the doors.

The sign above the door read “Student Council Office.”

“Oh wow, I haven’t seen your office.” B says, realizing where they were.

“Well then, welcome to our lair.” Yeonjun says, before Soobin pushes both doors open in a dramatic fashion.

The three step inside, and B takes a moment to scan the room. There were 5 desks situated along the walls of the room, 2 desks each on 2 opposite sides of the room and 1 desk at the very end of the room, which was bigger than the other 4. Each desk had an assortment of files, papers, trinkets, and frames on them. In the center of the room was a long conference table lined with office chairs. There were 2 whiteboards on the walls filled with scribbles from past meetings with a bulletin board full of reminders and notes, and a projector screen at the end of the conference table hanging from the ceiling. The only windows in the room were behind the 1 desk at the end of the room.

Soobin goes straight to that desk and shuffles through some papers, opening the drawers as well and sorting through documents.

Yeonjun sits at the edge of the conference table and beckons B over. “Come on, Baby. Take a seat.”

“Where, though? This place is huge. And I know we’re sort of having a meeting, but isn’t a conference table for 12 a bit too much?” she says, her eyes still scanning the room. “This place is…pretty cool.”

Soobin makes his way over to the 2 with a stack of papers in his arms. “I think it’s my favorite place in the campus. We come here all the time, and we’re free to use it as much as we want, so please, just take any seat. Make yourself at home.” he says, smiling sheepishly.

“Alright, I guess.” B says, taking a seat close to the end of the table. Soobin takes the seat at the end and Yeonjun sits between the 2.

B notices that the boys seem a bit different as they take their seats. When they were seated in class, Yeonjun was usually slouched in his seat while Soobin had an elbow on his desk and his head resting on his hand. Now, seated at the student council office, they were both sitting upright. Yeonjun had both elbows resting on the table and was leaning forward, while Soobin was sitting up straight with one hand on the table and the other on his lap.

“So, B, we just wanted to talk about Hyuka’s birthday. It’s tomorrow, and we were wondering if you could help us plan something as a surprise.” Soobin says, beginning their meeting.

B felt a bit intimidated, so she found herself sitting up straight as well. “I’ll help you as much as I can, but I haven’t celebrated his birthday with him since we were kids, so I’m not sure what we can do.”

“I’m sure anything you suggest will be a big help, really.” Soobin says, smiling warmly at her.

“Okay, well honestly, I already had an idea but it’s nothing grand, I just thought it would be nice.” she admits. When she sees that Soobin and Yeonjun are focused on her intently, she continues. “I was thinking I, or we, could greet him right at midnight? Maybe drop by his place and surprise him with a cake and stuff so that as soon as his birthday begins, we’ll be there to celebrate it with him. But if it seems too hard to pull off, we don’t have to do it. Or I can do it myself, since I grew up with his sisters too so I could ask them for help.”

“That’s actually a brilliant idea.” Yeonjun says. “I’m up for it.”

Soobin nods. “So am I. We can let the guys know about it in the group chat to see if they can come with us, and B you can coordinate with his older sister Lea to see if we can come over to surprise Hyuka.”

“Alright, I’ll get in touch with her and if she gives us the go signal, I’ll let you guys know right away. I’ll buy a cake tonight, maybe you guys could bring those pop out streamers or something so it’ll be a mini celebration.”

Yeonjun nods. “Great idea, Baby. I’ll deal with food and snacks, maybe a pizza?”

“Or 4?” Soobin says, grinning sheepishly at him.

Yeonjun’s face softens as he says “You know I can’t say no to you.”

Soobin laughs and says “Thanks, Yeonjunie. I’ll try to see if I can get my hands on streamers and stuff too.”

B nods. “Okay, that’s good. Is that all you guys wanna do? I’m sure you have something in mind.”

“A party. Let’s throw him a party.” Yeonjun says. “Tomorrow’s Friday, and we don’t have school or anything the next day, so it’ll be perfect.”

Soobin nods. “I was thinking of a party as well, but where? And how will we set it up?”

“Friday’s club day, but we won’t have club meetings yet since recruitment day will be on Monday, so we’ll just have homeroom in the morning then we’ll be free for most of the day. Plus we can come in school in casual wear, since Fridays are our washday.” Yeonjun says, stating facts.

“Wait, what’s wash day?” B asks.

“It’s the one day of the week where we’re allowed to wear casual wear to school. It’s on Friday cause the school thought it would be more convenient for club day.” Soobin explains. “If we throw a party on Friday, I think we could do it at my place. It’s always available.” he offers.

“Won’t your sister be home?” Yeonjun asks.

Soobin shakes his head. “She started at University this year and moved into a dorm, and you know my parents only come home a couple of times every year, so I practically live alone now. Except for the household staff, of course.” he explains.

So he lives alone too. Like me. B thinks to herself. “At least you have household staff to keep you company. It’s actually a bit lonely, living alone.” she says wistfully.

“It really is, especially since I’ve always been close with my family. It’s a big adjustment, having everyone move away now.” Soobin admits. “You guys are always welcome to come over, though, so I’m hoping I won’t be too lonely often.” he says hopefully.

“You guys are always welcome to come visit me too, though I doubt my apartment is as big or as grand as your house.” B says teasingly. “What about you, Yeonjun? Do you live with anyone?” she asks suddenly.

“Nah, my house always feels crowded, even though it’s just me and my parents, plus the household staff. I don’t like being at home though, and I think I’d actually prefer living alone, or at least away from them.” Yeonjun responds candidly.

B was surprised by how straightforward his answer was, and by how easy it was to ask him about it. “I’m an only child too, but as much as I love my parents, I wanted nothing more than a bit of freedom, so I think I understand.” she says, sympathizing with him.

Yeonjun gives a small smile. “At least you got your freedom, Baby. And at least you can say that you love your parents. I mean, my mom’s not bad I guess but my dad is just…” he says, shaking his head. “Anyway, yeah alright, I guess we’re having Hyuka’s party at Soobin’s place.”

Soobin nods. “Yep, that’s settled. Uh, we have to think about setting up now and stuff. Decorations, food, drinks, guest list, that sort of stuff. Gifts will be handled individually, of course.” he rambles, a bit flustered from the sudden change of mood in the conversation.

“I think the main problem is keeping Kai distracted while we’re setting up the party?” B says, offering her opinion. “It’s nice that we’ll be out of school early so we’ll have more time to prepare, but that also means that we’ll have to keep him distracted for longer too.”

“Well, we could do what we did today? Split up the group, 2 of us can distract him while the rest help with party prep.” Yeonjun suggests.

“No, we’re gonna need as much hands on deck as possible with the preparations, plus I don’t think splitting up the group will be necessary. One person is all we need, and I think I know the perfect one.” Soobin says.

B raises a brow at him when she notices him staring at her with a pointed look, until it clicks in her head.

“Oh… you mean me.” she says. Looks like she’d be having her one on one time with Kai a bit sooner than she thought.

•°•

“I can’t see anything.” Beomgyu says.

“SHUSH! Hyuka might hear us.” Taehyun shushes him.

“Wait, I’ll light up the candles so we won’t be in complete darkness.” B whispers. “Hold this for a sec, please.” she whispers, passing the cake to Yeonjun as she shuffles through her bag for the lighter. She lights the candles and pokes them into the top of the cake one by one then takes the cake back into her hands. “Thanks, Yeonjun.”

“Sure thing, Baby.” he whispers, and with the candles lit she could now see that he was smiling at her. She smiles back.

“Okay, are we all ready to go? Hyuka’s room is down this hall, the 2nd door on the right.” Soobin whispers.

“We know where Hyuka’s room is, Soobin.” Beomgyu scoffs.

“I, uh, was talking to B? Are we all re—oh wait! Everyone, put these on!” Soobin whisper-shouts, opening a pack of party hats and passing them around.

“We should’ve done all this before we snuck upstairs. The lights were on in the foyer.” Taehyun whispers while securing the party hat on his head.

“Too late now.” Beomgyu mutters. “Ouch!” he then whisper-shouts, as Taehyun grabs the elastic of Beomgyu’s party hat and releases it so it slaps against his chin

“That’s enough bickering, now let’s go!” Soobin whisper-shouts, holding up his huge pop out streamer like a bazooka.

“Ah, wait, shouldn’t Baby be in front since she’s holding the cake?” Yeonjun whispers.

There’s a moment of silence as everyone thinks it through.

“Okay, cake then pizzas then egg tarts then pop out streamer then camera. So that’s me then Yeonjun then Taehyun then Soobin then Gyu at the back so he can capture everything.” B whispers, getting everyone into formation.

“Why do I have to be at the back.” Beomgyu whispers, pouting as he takes his phone out to start taking the video. “Uh, guys, it’s 12:01 already. We missed midnight.”

And with that everyone runs down the hall and barges into Kai’s room.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!” they shout as they burst through Kai’s bedroom door.

“What the—?” Kai exclaims groggily, sitting up in bed and pulling the sheets up to his shoulders.

“Hyuka, were you, um, sleeping naked?” Soobin asks awkwardly.

Kai’s face flushes red as he says “No, of course not! I’m wearing underwear!”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.” Beomgyu smirks behind the camera.

“I can’t show you my underwear.” Kai says, flustered. “Wait, are you filming this?”

“Everyone sing!” B exclaims, which the boys happily oblige to.

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you!” they sing as they walk further into Kai’s room and surround his bed.

B leans forward, putting the cake as close to Kai as she could, and says “Make a wish, Ningning.”

As flustered and red as he was, Kai squeezed his eyes shut before whispering something under his breath and blowing the candles out.

Soobin lets the pop out streamer rip as Kai blows the candles out, which causes everyone to jump and someone to scream in surprise.

“Uh, that wasn’t me.” B says, as they all look each other, trying to identify who screamed.

Soobin sighs. “Okay fine, it was me.” he admits.

“But you’re the one who popped the streamer.” Kai says.

“Yeah but I wasn’t expecting a loud sound to come out so I was surprised as well.” Soobin says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Anyway, happy birthday Hyuka!”

“Thanks, everyone.” Kai says as they all start to greet him. “How’d you get in here, by the way? And what time is it?”

“I asked Lea if we could come over to surprise you, so she told one of the maids to let us in beforehand.” B explains.

“And it’s 12:13 now.” Beomgyu says.

“Oh wow, you really came over here just to greet me at midnight? Thanks, you guys.” Kai says, smiling warmly at all of them. “It means a lot to me.”

“It was B’s idea.” Taehyun says, setting the box of egg tarts on the bed and wrapping an arm around B’s shoulders. “You’re lucky to have a best friend like this one.”

B blushed, surprised by the sudden show of affection from Taehyun. “Thanks, Taehyun. I couldn’t have done this without you guys.”

“Quick, group selfie before we devour the pizza?” Beomgyu says, holding his phone up.

As everyone moves closer together around the bed to fit into frame, Kai asks “Can I at least put a shirt on first so it won’t look weird?”

“Nah, it’s fine. Everyone say Kimchi!” Beomgyu exclaims.

Kai wraps the blanket tighter up to his neck as everyone says “Kimchi!” and Beomgyu takes pictures.

“Okay, now let me put a shirt on so we can do this properly.” Kai says. “Baba, please look away.”

B scoffs. “Oh please, it’s not like I haven’t seen you shirtless before. We lived in Hawaii, remember? Beach days? Sunburns?”

Kai’s face starts to burn red as he explains, “Yeah, but things are a bit different now, Baba. We’re not kids anymore.”

“Aw, is Ningning shy?” Beomgyu says teasingly.

“Just look away for a sec, please, Baba?” Kai pleads, giving the girl puppy dog eyes.

B sighs. “Fine, because I believe in consent and respect your adolescent boy body.” she says before burying her face in his sheets. “Just let me know when it’s safe to look.”

The mini celebration went on until 1:30 in the morning, with the boys exchanging funny stories about Kai and B in turn telling the boys embarrassing childhood stories about him. The 4 pizzas were easily devoured, the egg tarts were saved by Kai for later, more pictures and videos were taken, and they had to remind themselves that they had to be at school at 8 AM, and that’s when they decided to put the birthday celebrations on pause.

Yeonjun offers to drive Beomgyu home since the two of them live in the same area, while Soobin offers to drive B and Taehyun home since he lived closer to the 2, which they happily accept.

Before B falls asleep, she remembers to put together a quick birthday greeting in the form of a tweet.

And as she wakes up the next morning, she smiles when she sees Kai’s reply, but her smile drops a bit when she remembers what she and the boys had planned for the day, and what her role in the plan was.

•°•

“No offense to MOA, like this school is great and all, but are Friday mornings always this boring?” B asks Kai and Taehyun.

They were sitting in their homeroom, which was scheduled every Friday from 8AM to 10AM. Since it was the first homeroom of the school year their teacher didn’t have much to discuss, and on a normal Friday, homeroom period was used to prepare for afternoon club activities, but since club days haven’t started yet, so they were basically just sitting and waiting to be dismissed now.

“Kinda? Don’t worry, it’ll be less boring next week since we’ll be having club day by then.” Taehyun says, trying to reassure her.

“Hang in there, Baba. There’s only 15 minutes until the bell rings anyway. After that, we can do whatever we want.” Kai says cheerfully, trying to fight the boredom.

“You mean we can do whatever you want, birthday boy.” B says, nudging his arm playfully. “Seriously, anything you wanna do? I’ve got you for the whole afternoon, right?” she asks him. She was able to guilt him into spending the whole afternoon with her by playing the ‘I’m your best friend and I’ve missed you so much and I haven’t had quality time with you since we were kids and we need to catch up’ card. It was the perfect opportunity to keep Kai distracted from the 4 other boys.

“We could hang out at my place, maybe watch a movie or nap for a bit? We kept you up pretty late earlier so I wouldn’t mind a quick nap.” B suggests. She was feeling pretty sleepy, and she wanted to feel energized for whatever the boys had planned for tonight.

“That actually sounds really really nice. I wouldn’t mind taking a quick nap, plus we can finally catch up one on one, just me and you.” Kai says, grinning at B.

“You and I.” Taehyun says, correcting Kai’s grammar. “Honestly, I’ll probably spend the whole day sleeping as well, then I’ve got to work a night shift at the café.”

Kai pouts suddenly. “Aw, what? I was hoping you guys would be free tonight, we could all have dinner together or something. My treat.” he offers.

Taehyun fights the urge to smile at how adorably clueless his friend was. “No, it’s fine. I’m glad we were able to celebrate earlier today though. But still, you can ask the other guys if you want to but I think they might be busy too.” he says.

Kai pouts, nods, and takes his phone out to text the other boys. While he’s distracted, B takes the opportunity to communicate to Taehyun.

“Night shift? Really?” she asks, mouthing the words to him behind Kai’s back.

Taehyun shakes his head at her, mouthing back “No. Made it up.” Then he holds up his hand, showing her his fingers crossed which meant he was lying when he told Kai about it.

She nods, understanding him and then gives him a thumbs up.

Just then, the bell rings. B groans and says “Finally!” as she stretches her arms above her head. “This period was a long moment of nothingness.”

Kai nods his head in agreement. “You got that right. Let’s get out of here. Tyun, you gonna walk with us?” he asks, turning to Taehyun. “You guys walk together all the time, right?”

“Yup, let’s get going. I can’t wait to spend the afternoon in bed.” Taehyun says, gathering his things. And with that, the 3 of them leave school together.

•°•

B sent a quick update to the boys as she and Kai step into her apartment. All she had to do now was make sure that he stayed within her sight for the rest of the afternoon, plus she wanted to make sure she was appropriately dressed when they left for the surprise party later. How she could get all dressed up without Kai suspecting anything might be a bit of a challenge, but she was sure she’d come up with an excuse.

“Welcome to my humble abode! When I moved in, I decorated and organized everything by myself, so sorry if it’s a bit of a mess.” B says as Kai’s eyes scan the surroundings. Upon entering the front door, the living room was the first thing that greeted everyone who stepped in. There are 3 doors on the left side, the kitchen to the right separated from the living room by a counter with bar stools set up, and there was a round table with 5 seats set up in front of a pair of sliding glass doors that led into a small balcony at the back.

“Baba, this place looks great. Not bad at all, considering it’s your first time living alone. It’s pretty spacious, too.” Kai says, stepping further into the apartment. “Quick question, how have you survived living alone? I don’t think I could do it, I’m not a very good cook.” he says as he surveys the place, trailing a hand on the kitchen counters.

“It hasn’t been very easy, and honestly I don’t really know how to cook either, so I end up having food delivered a lot or getting takeout instead.” she admits. “I swear, I tried to cook here once on the day I moved in, and I almost burned the kitchen down, so I’m probably never gonna do that again.” she says, laughing sheepishly.

Kai’s eyes widen at her revelation. “Baba! What happened? What did you do?” he asks, almost screaming at her in surprise.

“I tried to cook and then the next thing I know, my smoke detector starts beeping nonstop, then I got so distracted by trying to shut it up, I didn’t notice that the food I was cooking was burning, then the sprinklers came on and my superintendent called to ask what was going on and I had to beg him not to tell my parents about it. It was pretty funny, but yeah, I’m probably never gonna try to cook on my own ever again.” she says, laughing at how ridiculous the whole thing sounded.

“Hey, if you want, we could try cooking a quick meal now? For lunch? I’m no seasoned chef, but I know a thing or two. You deserve to eat a homecooked meal at least once in your own home, after all.” he offers, as he starts rummaging through the fridge. “You got any rice?”

As Kai starts to scrap together ingredients from B’s almost-bare kitchen drawers and shelves, he goes into full focus and even puts on an apron. Whenever B asks him if there was anything she could do to help him, he just waves her off.

She takes a seat on one of the stools at the counter and snaps a quick picture of her bestfriend and she composes a tweet.

“Hey, remember that one time when we were still kids and we tried to cook eggs?” B asks as she puts her phone down. “I think we were at your place, we snuck into the kitchen while the maids weren’t looking, and we had to stand on stools just so we could reach the stove.”

Kai nods, though he still had his eyes focused on his cooking. “I remember you ended up with a burn on your arm cause it accidentally brushed against the pan, and when the maids caught us, you were trying so hard not to cry so they wouldn’t see your burn.”

“Oh yeah, I did get burned that day.” B says, then she lifts the sleeve of her sweater until she spots the barely-there mark just above her wrist. “Ah, memories.”

“You know, I still regret doing that.” Kai admits.

“What? Why? That was such a fun day, I miss being able to come over to each other’s houses and just playing around.” B says.

“Yeah, but the cooking was my idea, and you got hurt because of it.” Kai says, looking at her then with regret. “I know I said it a million times that day, but I’m sorry Baba.”

B scoffs, dismissing his apology. “Come on, it’s fine. I barely felt it anyway, and that was ages ago. Look, it’s your idea to cook today too, and I don’t think anything could go wrong since you’re not letting me do anything to help around the kitchen.”

“That’s cause I wanna make sure that nothing like that happens again.” Kai admits. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this. Just keep talking to me so I won’t feel too bored.” he requests.

“Alright then, anything you wanna talk about?” B asks, resting her elbows on the counter and leaning forward.

“What exactly happened to you last year?” Kai asks suddenly. B’s heart drops and she feels the knots in her stomach start to form, even though she knew he’d want to hear about it soon. “All you said was something about your family and your dad’s job and stuff, but I could tell you were having a really tough time so I didn’t want to push you into telling me all about it back then. And I guess I understand if it’s still something you’d rather not talk about, but as your best friend I’m just worried about you.”

B takes a deep breath, preparing herself to recount the bad experience. “Okay, I’ll tell you now, but to be completely honest with you, the whole thing was a bit of a blur for me too.”

Kai looks at her with his brows furrowed. “What do you mean? Like, you don’t remember what happened?”

B shakes her head. “No, it’s not like that. I remember what happened, I guess I just don’t understand why or the reason behind it? Or what exactly was going on?”

“Okay, I am very confused right now. If this is your way of saying that you’re not comfortable with talking about it, then it’s fine with me, you really don’t have to tell me.” Kai says, trying to sound comforting.

“No, Ninging, I promise I’m gonna tell you everything I know. The thing is, I don’t know much. How do I begin to explain this…” B wonders aloud, sighing before saying “Okay, do you remember what my dad’s job is?”

Kai nods, his eyes focused on his work in the kitchen. “He’s a lawyer, right?”

“Yup, he’s one of the most high-powered lawyers in the country, he works at CNK, which is a globally recognized law firm. He deals with a lot of high profile clients and is one of the most sought-after attorneys for classified cases, usually for big companies with dirty little secrets.” B explains.

Kai nods again, keeping his eyes focused on his work. “Okay, so what does your dad’s work have to do with you?”

“Everything, I think. At the time, my dad was working on a big classified case. I could tell it was big cause he only went home to sleep, shower, and then he was off to work again. I’ve never shown interest in the cases he works on because it’s his business, and it’s not like he’s allowed to talk about them anyway cause they’re usually classified.” B sighs as she realizes that she was starting to ramble, subconsciously stalling.

“Anyway, he was working on this one case, and I didn’t think it was a big deal, but one night he came home looking really shaken, like he was terrified. We usually have dinner together, me and my parents, but when he got home that night he and my mom immediately went up to his office. I tried my best to listen from outside the door, but at first I could barely hear anything, as if they were whispering. Then suddenly, I can hear my mom start to shout things like ‘drop this case right now,’ ‘what am I supposed to do’ and the one that sent chills down my spine was when she said ‘what about our Baby, what if they come for her?’” she says, trying her best to keep her voice stable.

“‘What if they come for her?’ What’s that supposed to mean?” Kai asks, his brows pulled together as he was trying to process everything she was telling him.

“I think there was a death threat.” B forces herself to say out loud.

There’s a moment of silence as Kai���s hands freeze, and B swore she could hear her heart pounding. She started counting her breaths, trying to slow them down as Kai looks up at her, his eyes meeting hers.

“You think there was a death threat?” he asks, repeating her words.

She nods slowly. Taking a shaky breath before continuing. “Yeah, that’s the only explanation I can think of for what happened, because since that night I’ve had bodyguards with me everyone I went. Outside my bedroom, at the dining table, they’d even be waiting for me outside my classroom and walking with me around school. Not only that, my parents put me on complete lockdown. I was only allowed to go out to school, then I’d be taken straight home. I mean, my parents were always a bit strict, but this was insane.”

“That sounds really rough, Baba. And it sounds scary.” Kai says, looking at her full of concern.

“It really was. I felt like I was suffocating, cause I never got a moment to myself. The bodyguards wouldn’t leave me alone, and of course everyone at my school started to act like total dicks because of it. Stories started going around, my friends started avoiding me because of the rumors, everyone probably thought I was a criminal or something because they all started treating me like an outcast. And I really felt like I was.” B says, remembering the stares she got at her old school.

“The kids at your old school are all idiots for judging you like that.” Kai says.

B sighs. “I don’t blame them, if a student at school suddenly showed up flanked by 2 bodyguards everywhere, I’d probably be weirded out too. But the worst part is, I don’t know why it all happened. My parents were very adamant about not telling me anything. All they said was ‘it’s for your own good.’”

“Oh wow, so they never explained anything to you? They put you through that shit without even telling you why?” Kai asks in disbelief. “I always knew uncle and aunty were a bit strict, but that’s just cruel.”

“Well if it was really a death threat, I guess they just didn’t wanna scare me. It got better once my dad’s firm won the case though. Again, I don’t know what exactly happened, but at the end of the school year my dad won the case, my parents eased up on my bodyguards, but the damage was done. I lost my friends, I was seen as a weirdo at school, and I felt so frustrated and suffocated that I just wanted to get away.” B continues. It was the first time she had said all of this out loud, and as shaken as she was, she felt a lot better to finally let it out.

“So that’s why you begged your parents to let you transfer schools? And move out of the house?” Kai says, finally understanding.

B nods. “Wow, I feel much better letting it all out now.” she says, taking a deep breath. “I’m just glad my parents let me do it. I think they only agreed because they felt bad about the whole thing, but ever since you mentioned when you walked me home the other day, I really do think that they might have secretly hired security to look after me.” she says, laughing at how ridiculous the whole situation sounded.

“You know what? Come here.” Kai says, motioning her over to his side of the kitchen. She stands and walks over to him and is surprised when he suddenly pulls her into his chest and wraps his arms around her.

“Ningning? Wha—?” she starts, but then he hugs her tighter and shushes her.

“Shut up and let me hug you for a moment, alright?” he says, and she feels his body rumble as he laughs. “Listen here, Baba. While I’m around, I promise I won’t let anything hurt you. You got that?”

B tries to relax into the hug, but he was so tall and he was holding her so tight that her face was buried in his chest and she was starting to have a hard time breathing so she lifts her head up and takes a deep breath before saying “Got it. Thank you, Ningning. That means a lot to me.” she says, smiling up at him.

They stay that way for a while longer before she says “Um, I think your food is burning.”

Kai jumps and screams then, panicking as he tries to save his cooking.

The two of them spend the rest of the afternoon picking out the unburnt parts of Kai’s cooking to eat, lying around the couch and chatting with some cheesy Netflix series playing in the background before they fall asleep.

B wakes up when she hears her phone ringing. She notices that the sky was much darker, and she panics when she sees the time and the notifications from Soobin.

[ghostisrping]

a couple ideas

ive just got like a list of things i would like to write either in plot form or using an oc ive got just sitting around. if youre interested and are 18+ like this or hmuuuuu!! this is all stuff ive been dying to do and have a lot of ideas for. it can all be adjusted to fit my partners or if you didnt see anything you like but still wanna rp thats cool too.

1. sugar daddy au! mxm (suga, bts with - )

first of all, let me tell you about my suga 'oc' being like wow i gotta a lot of money and a little bit of time on my hands so im gonna be a sugar daddy to one of these younger idols who like needs a little bit of help. my thought process is that they date without strings and yoongi drops a hot dollar in their pocket but obvi things progress. the pair i had in mind was like maybe bang chan from stray kids. but whoever is fine just like a younger leader trying to do right by his boys but also being like bruh min yoongi from bts wants me to share dinner with him for like money---

2. hp!au an oc heavily inspired by remus lupin (could be a mumu, playing multiple characters each in the universe)

a whole world is possibly built in this one. i have ideas for a korean version of hogwarts in modern time with upgraded wifi magic and magical drugs. and an oc fairly similar to remus, an angsty teen wolf trying not to be too chaotically bi at school. im hoping for a mxm ship with this one too but he is bi so whatever. also it doesnt have to be korean either as long as youre okay with me probably using a korean fc.

3. let me also use woojin from ab6ix-

i just have this idea of him being a cute buff mukbang youtuber whos like awkwardly gay and trying to find a date but also just eating food for a camera-

4. definietly a mumu, scooby doo gang!!!

must be okay with dark/scary theme. the scooby gang living in a van, getting stoned and solving mysteries with creepy vampires, weird lake monsters, and killers. them being like bffs and seeing cool shit but also scary shit that causes nightmares and just overall a big plot tbh.

5. i also got like a shit load of faces id like to use for sure - changbin, jisung, and woojin from stray kids would be great! suga for sure, seonghwa from ateez and maybe hwiyoung from sf9.

[beesmygod]

i watched “crazy rich asians” and im mad i didn’t see it in a way where i could directly give the creators money to keep making movies like this: a review

i’ve been flying 6 hours back and forth on a plane recently to go apartment shop in the exotic and very sexy local of rhode island and to celebrate, i decided to introduce myself to a new culture that i’m typically cautious of: romcoms. the plane was STOCKED with oscar bait and romcoms, but i was really only in the mood for something light and breezy to ease my quaking stomach and addled mind.

pals, i liked this movie a whole heck of a lot. its a B+ movie, held back by a single, solitary, yet very important thing. otherwise the movie is a truly delightful story about a woman coming to love herself against a new kind of adversity that a lot of us have had to deal with growing up: a cold and unwelcoming family that is obsessed with keeping up appearances.

THE PITCH: constance wu and her boyfriend, henry golding head to singapore for a family wedding, only for her to discover that his family is one of, if not THE, most rich family in the nation. she is not welcomed with open arms.

PERFORMANCES: constance wu is a terrific and wonderful lead lady and i really desperately want to see her in more roles as a protagonist/central character in a romantic comedy. she plays the role perfectly, balancing a tightrope of both being vulnerable (due to being uprooted temporarily and having her legitimately impressive credentials as a new york professor stomped into dust by the financial success of this family she had no idea she was every going to come in contact with in her life) and standing firm, refusing to concede any ground to the family trying to drive her out,

henry golding is a very handsome and extremely charming man who was done dirty by the script. more on that later. he elevates the role just by being naturally charming and pleasant, radiating a warmth through the screen that makes you be like “hell yeah i wish i was learning to make dumplings with henry golding”

and last but def not least: michell yeoh takes the cake for the best villain ive seen in a movie in a while. she’s perfectly well rounded, her motivations are distasteful but not cartoon-ish to the point where you wonder why henry golding wants to be around her at all, and she glides through every scene so frigid you’d think she’s carved from ice. she’s poised and cool and collected and unflappable and proves to be a legitimately disruptive force in the plot that doesn’t make you frustrated as an audience member to watch so much as “rightfully furious” on the protagonists behalf. watch for that scene that takes place in the stairwell to have your socks blown clean off by her speech.

A SIGNIFICANT DISAPPOINTMENT: dont get me wrong: henry golding the man himself is great in this movie. the character of nick young, (who he plays) is kind of a dud. he’s not a monster (doesn’t even APPROACH being a bad guy in any sense of the term) and passes every boyfriend test thrown at him by the plot (a part where a person at the bachelor party makes fun of his girlfriend’s body results in golding standing up to knock his ass out and i was like YEAH DO IT) but hes.

boring.

he’s just really boring. its too bad because rich people should be at least a little neurotic (look at the rest of his family) but hes just like 100% perfectly well adjusted and says the right thing at all the right times and does everything right and after a while you just kinda wish he’d trip and fall on his face or something just to make him feel a little more human. he never really says anything too funny. he never really does anything too spectacular that isnt induced by the other people in his life. he’s great! he’s just, you know. a little too perfect.

we’re still perfecting the tech needed to make truly Great male romcom leads. we’re almost there. we just need to implant personality technology.

THEMES: but, ultimately, crazy rich asians is about constance wu finding her own worth in a sea of people telling her she’s nothing; and proving to them she’s worth more than all of them combined. and that? that’s fucking entertainment to me. THAT’S a story i love and can get behind.

NEAT STUFF IF YOURE IGNORANT AS HELL LIKE ME: a friend linked me this really great breakdown of the final scene (spoilers, obviously) that added so many legitimately interesting layers to a scene that worked perfectly well without it, but if you had the cultural and gameplay understanding to know what was happening, it really knocks it right out of the park. im one of those people that breaks out into a cold sweat when a videogame has anything locked behind a mahjong game so this article was cool as hell to me

4/5 stars its good i’d watch it with both my mother, and my grandmother.

[kotolocke]

Entry #01: New Bark & Beyond.

God it really has been a week since I started this blog and I still haven’t updated it? Gotta stop being useless and post more regularly. I’ve made decent headway into the game so I have several posts I need to make about it. So let’s get started. I’ll save y’all from a long summary of the game events and stick with just mentioning important game-play stuff and how Lyra reacts to them.

First up: Elm’s request.

   This whole little introductory quest that Elm sends her on is actually kinda meaningful to her perception of herself as a trainer. In blog cannon, Lyra immediately goes to collect her starter from Elm after having a massive argument with her Mum about leaving home, which ended with her Mum basically pushing her out of the door and telling her she wouldn’t care if she came back. She would. She didn’t mean it, she was just lashing out. But Lyra didn’t know that and she ran most of the way to the lab choking back tears.

   So she takes a deep breath, calms herself down and as soon as she’s in the lab, Elm’s asking her to act as a representative of the lab and complete an important task for them. At this point, Lyra’s already been helping out around the lab for some time so this isn’t entirely out of the ordinary. But being asked to take care of a “real” “discovery” one of Elm’s peers has made whilst she’s still highly fraught from a fight but is pretending that she’s totally fine? This is the basis of the person she becomes. Someone who thinks of herself as a highly important “chosen person” who cannot express her real emotions or else she’ll won’t be taken seriously or allowed to follow her goals. Because something tells me Elm wouldn’t be too comfy sending a crying eleven year old off into the wild world of Pokemon after a big fight with her parents.

Next up: Lyra’s starter.

   Meet Cabbage!

   She’s an extremely sheltered Chikorita who honestly never thought she was actually going to end up travelling with a trainer. Surely she was just going to spend the rest of her life in the lab with the Professor? Lyra decided otherwise, and decided primarily because she was the only girl of the three Pokemon Elm was raising. Lyra was anticipating getting some flack for being a young girl on a Pokemon journey so she kinda projected some of this onto Cabbage. Moron boy trainers would probably turn their nose up a cute, female Pokemon so she should had to take Cabbage with her so she wouldn’t feel like she was anyone’s last choice.

   Cabbage would have been okay with that but unfortunately can’t tell Lyra how she feels. She’s just gotta learn to embrace all the terrifying Pokemon battles Lyra puts her through. Which happens surprisingly quickly; Lyra’s an impatient girl but she always gives her Pokemon the time they need to adjust. Speaking of adjust:

Cabbage is legitimately confused and slightly irritated about her nickname. It’s the first of many little annoyances that eventually lead to her becoming stubborn and standoffish towards Lyra as she grows more confident.

Next: Mr. Pokemon & Professor Oak.

   In terms of character development, this whole scenario kinda bolsters Lyra’s ego even more. But I want to single it out because it’s the start of one of her three major plot threads:

   This fckin’ egg. This egg is important and eventually hatches into one of Lyra’s core team members. This egg is also lowkey a symbol of everything early journey Lyra thinks about herself. She’s so unique and powerful and special, Elm can see she’s naturally good with Pokemon so he chose her to go on this dangerous quest to collect a mysterious egg! And better yet, during this quest the esteemed Professor Oak, advisory to the legendary Red, asks her if she can help him out with something too!

   He gives her a high-tech Pokedex, an item so exclusive that only a handful of trainers own one? Wow she must be the best trainer out there, she’s only just got her first Pokemon and everyone’s falling over themselves to get her to do trainer stuff for them. Clearly she’s hyper naturally talented and all the smart Pokemon experts know it! She’s a dumbass child. I love her.

   Anyway, why’s the egg important you ask? Oh—

—no reason.

And finally: Silver.

   Did you know: Lyra absolutely hates Silver’s guts pretty much until she sees he also hates Team Rocket? Because he kinda epitomises the older boys who would belittle her for being a girl who wanted to be a trainer?

   It’s pretty clear to Lyra that Silver kinda knows some shit about Pokemon training because she hears him muttering shit about Elm’s lab being “famous”. Bitch, the only people that Elm’s famous to are fringe nutcase trainers who breed for something they call IVs because he’s basically lord high king of egg knowledge or whatever. That makes it doubly annoying when Silver tries to kick her when she asks if he’s getting a Pokemon there too and twice as satisfying when she knocks him over with a retaliation kick and stamps off righteously. She’s especially glad that she chose Cabbage at this point; just thinking of what he might say about her makes Lyra fume. 

   More evidence that Silver is a bog-standard shitface sexist kid:

Whilst Silver would say this sort of crap to anyone, this hits a little too close to home for Lyra and she takes it as a misogynistic insult. Generally implying that she’s somehow not worthy of becoming a trainer is a surefire way to make Lyra go feral because she kinda thinks it’s the only thing she’s good at. And it’s just not true, look at what level Cabbage is at this point:

Three levels above where she started and only around 3-4 hours have passed since they first met. Lyra is insanely good at training Pokemon. She has great intuition when it comes to assessing individual Pokemon’s strengths and weaknesses and encourages them to fight in whatever way suits them best. She doesn’t always have great long-term strategy in battle, but she knows exactly what her Pokemon can and cannot take and dish out and this is what secures her most of her victories.

   Also Silver’s “someone weak” comment  is 100% self-projection, just so we’re clear.

   lyra vc: lmao yeah i am???

   lyra vc: lmao no!!!

   Queue Lyra getting Actually Mad™ because there is no way a dick like Silver could become a better trainer than her?? She’s gonna be the greatest, just you wait and see Tampon!!

   If you don’t think she was holding it in the air just out of his reach then you have fundamentally underestimated how much of a petty little shit my Lyra is.

   Regardless, Lyra then runs back to the lab to see exactly why Elm called her in such a panic.

In conclusion: All cops are bad.

   A kind of recurring theme in Lyra’s story is her distrust of traditional authority figures, and it all starts here.

   Okay, so obviously this exchange is so cartoonishly stupid that I cannot see it going down like this in blog cannon. But the cop that does come to investigate the lab in blog canon is pretty much as incompetent as this guy. Stealing a Pokemon is kind of not a big deal in Johto? Shit happens all the time, the cops are corrupt as fuck and they don’t care about doing their job. It’s the reason Rocket was able to regroup in Johto without anyone really making any attempt to stop them.

   So this guy is mad that he’s been taken really far out of his way to investigate some minor crime in a tiny town and now some brat kid is going on about how some other kid was rude to her? Yeah, he’s not happy and totally belittles her, calling her “girlie” and scoffing at the idea of her and her wimpy looking Pokemon could have defeated a criminal. It’s not until Lyra insists that it was the red haired boy Elm mentioned to the guy she battled that he starts listening to her, and even then he’s still extremely brusque with her. And Lyra cannot stand being talked down to so this drives her round the bend.

   A lot of terrifying things happen to Lyra during her journey, enough that she could easily qualify for police protection, but she never once asks for it throughout her journey. Because whenever she imagines walking into a police station, she imagines a bunch of wrinkly, balding, middle-aged men who will belittle and insult her the same way this cop did. And she’s not going to willingly suffer through that again.

[thisweekingundamwing]

This Week In Gundam Wing! September 03-09, 2017

ThisWeek’s Gorgeous Offerings for September 3 - 9, 2017

Sorry for the wait my patient and kind and wonderful people….. Honest I worked hard on it…. And then passed out at around 4am and then woke up to work on it more…. I'm off to bed again…. 3 hours of sleep is not good…. Not even for a Duo-like person like ME! Loves to all of you wonderful people! -Mod Rhys

Fanfiction:

Mind Reader -  @weiclown       http://archiveofourown.org/works/11990478 Heero’s been in a long dry spell. He knows he shouldn’t trust Duo’s match-making abilities, but he finds himself saying yes to a blind date. And when he meets his date? Oh Heero is glad for once he agreed to Duo’s demands, because Quatre pushes all of his buttons in the right ways. Heero/Quatre.  Alternate Universe, Cowboys, Songfic, Smut, NSFW, End of Summer Block Party

Runaway by @claraxbarton for Kangofu-CB, http://archiveofourown.org/works/12042747 Trowa Barton/Duo MaxwellDuo Maxwell Trowa Barton Summary Just back from a hellish undercover op, Duo is greeted by Trowa. Series Part 2 of Slow Show

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11970393 Ónoma Ὄνομα by Diana_Lua Duo Maxwell/SoloDuo Maxwell Solo (Gundam Wing) Zechs Merquise Naina PeacecraftAngst Yaoi Angel Sex Shounen-ai Alternate Universe Summary Sometimes it's necessary to choose a new name to live freely. [AU; Something about Duo's past with Solo; 'Where my demons hide' side story (can be read independent of it); Angst; Shounen-ai; probably yaoi/lemon at ending (Angel incest)] Series Part 1 of Where my demons hide

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12022200 Methods of Persuasion by @kangofu-cb_CB for ClaraxBarton Trowa Barton/Chang WufeiTrowa Barton Chang WufeiPlot What Plot/Porn Without Plot Shameless Smut plot so thin you can use it as a windowpane librarian!Trowa Foul Mouth Wufei Summary Wufei, losing track of time at the library, is reminded it's closing time by the librarian, who makes an interesting proposition. But he might get more than he bargained for...

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12019632 Friction by pepperminteabag Trowa Barton/Relena PeacecraftRelena Peacecraft Zechs Merquise Trowa Barton Summary Every grey cloud has a silver lining, for Relena that lining comes in the form of Trowa Barton.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12014352 Best Intentions by @downwarddnaspiral for Kangofu_CB Quatre Raberba Winner/Heero YuyQuatre Raberba Winner Heero Yuy Duo Maxwell Trowa Bartonsick!fic AU College Roommates Tumblr Prompt end of summer block party somewhat belatedly Tropes Enemies to Friends with the potential for more than friends Fluff Heero is a moody little somebody Nurse Quatre Semi-Platonic Cuddling for Warmth Hurt/Comfort Duo is an Awful Neighbor Summary Heero’s roommate was annoying enough on any average day. Then, he caught the flu.

Hi! Thanks for doing this. I forgot to submit my stuff in the previous week but it seems mod Hel had already covered that. @nekoflashficcing / @fantwirls (whichever works) Winter vacation gone wrong - http://archiveofourown.org/works/11983299 - GWblockparty trope fest. Cuddling for warmth trope. - AU - The aftermath of a bad fall in the snow featuring Quatre, a cabin stranger and a cabin. 3+4. The thing everyone seems to know - http://archiveofourown.org/works/11989251 - GWblockparty trope fest. Domestic/everyone thinks they’re dating trope.   - Usually Saturdays are grocery shopping days, but friends are coming over so they need to adjust a bit. 1+2. Weird - http://archiveofourown.org/works/12004233 - GWblockparty trope fest. Roommates/Spy trope.   - AU - “I think my roommate is a vampire”. Gen ft. 4+3.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11981688 Blooming For You by @remsyk-blog Trowa Barton/Heero Yuy Trowa Barton/Duo Maxwell/Heero YuyDuo Maxwell Trowa Barton Heero Yuy Quatre Raberba Winner Chang Wufei Sally PoGW Block Party Tropes Hanahaki Disease Pining Duo Established 1x3 Eventual 1x2x3 ot3 for life Angst We don't talk about feelings Accidental Voyeurism Matchmaker Quatre Sexy Times Slow Burn Summary "You made flowers grow in my lungs, and though they are beautiful, I can't fucking breathe." Duo has silently loved for them for years. He watched them find each other, yet the feelings still remained. But now the love he's carried for so long may become the thing that ends him.

Ficlets and Drabbles @kangofu-cb https://kangofu-cb.tumblr.com/post/165169273032/gundam-wing-drabble

@lifeaftermeteor https://lifeaftermeteor.tumblr.com/post/165167226177/nu-solutions-ltd-1-brussels-belgium-207-april

@invidiamalice http://invidiamalice.tumblr.com/post/165169137309/gundam-wing-drabble

Fanpics, awesome artwork, cosplay and other things….

@lifeaftermeteor https://lifeaftermeteor.tumblr.com/post/165131697796

@kangofu-cb​ https://kangofu-cb.tumblr.com/post/165134230017/just-dancing-claraxbarton-gundam-wing-archive

@liluggo​ http://liluggo.tumblr.com/post/165108529629/idc-what-anyone-says-relena-is-my-favorite

@maevemauvaise​ http://maevemauvaise.tumblr.com/post/165163749501/claraxbarton-okay-and-because-ive-never-done-a

http://maevemauvaise.tumblr.com/post/165139351556/so-relena-in-that-famous-blue-dress-from-don

http://maevemauvaise.tumblr.com/post/165150220833/gw-chinese-characters

http://maevemauvaise.tumblr.com/post/165151793587/okay-so-all-three-anastasiarelenas-in-one-post

Events Past that could use a revisit because they ended this week…. Gundam Wing End of Summer Tropefest Masterlist…. https://gwblockparty.tumblr.com/post/165083867661/tropefest-2017-masterlist

Events upcoming…..

@gwoc-october​ OC-tober…. I don’t know the full details but I am sure it’s still happening….

@gwblockparty​ Unnatural November is still upcoming I believe….

And…. Gundam Wing Eve War Event Open Science Fiction Themed Event (Saturday) December 23, 2017 - (Sunday) December 24, 2017 *** event will be observing Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) ***

Submissions: Fanfiction, Meta essays, Personal Headcanon, Fan Art

Rules: All works must feature a science fiction theme. Alternate Universes, and cross-over fiction are welcome. There are no limits to characters, pairings, audience rating, time frame or universe.

To participate please check @gw-evewar​ for participation information.

[in-retrospeck]

SWR Season 4 Predictions

So this is late and it’s probably been done before, but here are some predictions for Season 4 to tie you over for the week ahead of us! 

(spoilers below for SWR and Rogue One)

Major Character Death 

Okay uh… this sounds pretty bad, but I think it’s probably time one of the original 6 bite the dust. If executed well, it’s an effective strategy to raise the stakes and draw the audience into the story. So far, none of the Ghost Crew has died yet, which leads me to believe something devastating will happen this season. Also Dave Filoni promised a far darker season than anything we have seen before on this show, and what could be darker than being blinded? However, I suspect that the writers will save this effect for the second half of the season to achieve the maximum impact and feels of a particular character’s death. 

Saw Gerrera’s Exile 

The last we see of Saw in SWR, he was highly involved with the rebellion and already known for his extremist methods. In Rogue One, he is exiled, disgraced and desperate, slowly closing in on the existence of the Death Star. Season 4 will likely connect the dots and reveal his slow descent into madness, and his actions that will cause authority figures in the rebellion (Mon Mothma, probably) to finally lash out. Seeing as to how Saw is already present in both trailers and at least one episode (In the Name of the Rebellion), we’ll probably get to see an arc leading up to his exile. 

Conflict between Saw and Kallus 

These two have so much history together, it’d be a waste if there wasn’t focus on some conflict between them. On Onderon, Kallus suffered from mental and physical trauma caused by the Lasat mercenary and Saw’s extremism. With Kallus on the Yavin IV base, he’s bound to run into Saw. As an imperial defector, he’d already find difficulty in adjusting to a completely new lifestyle, but throw in Saw into the equation and Kallus’s old wounds will be reopened. Conflict will thus arise as the two characters call each others’ history and actions into question. This ultimately ties into a theme that SWR has heavily emphasised before of intention vs. action, or in other words, whether the means defines the end. 

Mart Mattin 

We have yet to see Mart’s reaction to Sato’s sacrifice. I can only imagine that he’d be grieved by the loss of his kin, or even angered by the rebellion’s refusal to get involved. How this emotion will provoke him to act, I’d love to see. He has a lot of potential for growth, not just as a military leader, but also as a character. I’m interested to see his character arc in season 4, like seeing him stepping up to the challenge of leadership, just like his father and uncle did before him,  or slowly turning away from the rebellion. He can go either way. 

Jai Kell 

We know that Jai Kell is going to appear in season 4, and I applaud the writing team for not forgetting about this character and re-weaving him into the story. With the heavy plot that we’re probably going to get, I doubt there’ll be much time to focus on an arc for Jai. However, I’m sure a little bit of insight into what he’s been doing can be written into the story. Also let’s not forget that he’s likely to be force-sensitive, and wouldn’t it be fun to see Ezra teach him a force trick or two? 

Resolution of Thrawn’s Prophecy

There have been some guesses, but no one really knows the true meaning of the Bendu’s ominous prophecy in Zero Hour. Since it’s the last season, there’ll probably be a resolution to this prophecy. However, alternatively, this resolution will be revealed in the Thrawn Alliances book, although we don’t know what this book is going to focus on. I’m also hopeful to see the effect that this prophecy will have on Thrawn, like becoming more wary around force-users like Vader. 

Lothal’s 5 Year Plan

This plan was mentioned way back in season 2, and yet little else is revealed. Since it was “ordered by the Emperor himself”, it should have massive importance, which seems intriguing. I suspect that this plan isn't just about the TIE Defender factory, but probably also has something to do with the force, leading me onto the next point... 

Lothal’s Mythology Explained 

Clearly, with the mythical wolves and the Jedi temple, Lothal has a connection to the force. I’ve always been curious about the oddly high concentration of force-sensitives in Ezra’s imperial class. It’s likely that the ancient imagery that Ezra finds along with the wolves will be explained through his discoveries, linking it back to a history with force-users of some variant, like the Nightsisters on Dathomir, or Chava the Lasat wisewoman. Personally, I find it intriguing any time more of the force and its mysterious ways are revealed, and it seems that there’ll be a lot of it this season. 

Connections to the Films at Yavin IV 

With the crew on the Yavin IV base for this season, a much wider and more integrated look into the rebellion will be offered. The crew would thus interact more directly with rebel command, but this also means that we might see pre-established characters on base. I’m really hoping to see some connections to Rogue One, given the closeness of the timeline, like a Cassian Andor in training to be fulcrum or K-2SO ambling around the base. The fandom will go nuts for it. Also since The Last Jedi will be released in December this year, SWR will probably do something to hype the film up and link the two together. 

Return of Ahsoka 

Okay, we all know it’s gonna happen. Ahsoka’s story is far from over, especially in SWR. To see Snips finally return and reveal how she survived on Malachor would be fantastic, to say the least. Goodness knows the rebels and all of us needs her involvement. 

[rdcoc]

Hearing God’s Voice When We Pray – Part IV

    The opening verse of Psalm 4 might prove challenging even to the most faithful of Bible readers.  How dare one call out to God with such a demand? “Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.” (Psalm 4) The opening words as hard as they appear express a conviction of faith. The Psalmist walks in a relationship with God believing that God hears our prayers even if the words express the distress on one’s hearts.

    Hearing God’s voice when you pray is not about hearing an answer as much as how well you are at listening for God’s reply? Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and discovered that you have not heard the last ten minutes? If you have been married six months or have been in a deep committed relationship for some time if you are a man reading this, you know exactly what I am speaking about. You must be engaged in a conversation to hear a conversation. If you have just found your way to this page I encourage you to look back a couple of weeks where I introduced my central theme; “As one who yearns to hear God’s word how well do you listen for his voice?”

    Prayer is the means by which one is able to share the deepest thoughts with God, and prayer is the way individuals and the community of believers communicate with – the God who is. When the psalmist begins “Answer me...” he is not demanding God’s attention and immediate reply. The psalmist speaks from experience that God truly does hear our prayers. This might catch you by surprise, but prayer is not a religious activity; God does not need us to pray. However, God desires that we call on him through prayer. Some might be familiar with the “Lord’s Prayer” (Mt. 6:6-11prefered or Lk. 11:2-4). The disciples ask Jesus; “Lord teach us to pray…” what Jesus teaches in this prayer is designed to adjust your heart to be more in tuned to listen for God’s voice. First by acknowledging God as “Father”, which instills an image of God as the giver of life a sense of intimacy, and that God is involved in his creation. Second is to acknowledge God’s reign over creation and over your life. Sadly, most of our personal prayers – mine included – are one-way requests presented as a wish list with negotiations; “God if…God please…God I will…if you will…” just to list a couple examples.

    The biggest challenge we might find in our prayer life is to pray and listen rather than pray and wait. This is what the psalmist demonstrates regardless of how harsh his cry to God is, his faith prepared him to listen for God’s voice; “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (Psl. 4:8) To come before God in prayer is to come to a place in your heart where your approach is to seek the voice of God leading you to listen as you pray for his direction in your life to understand his will and his purpose as you walk in his kingdom. So why do we pray? Prayer allows us to open our heart to God, to bear our concerns, our hurts, our struggles, even our thankfulness for God’s blessings.  Still, prayer also opens your heart to listen, not wait but listen to God for his voice and his answer.      

[jam2289]

Making Speeches for the Harry Potter Festival - Part 2 of ?

You know when you start a project that's somewhat similar to one you've done before, and then it ends up being a bit more complex than you first imagined? That's what we're into here.

I've given hundreds of speeches on many different subjects. In the last month or so I've given speeches on resentment as the most destructive emotion, analyzing the philosophical roots of rock lyrics, how my family originated as Leprechauns, how I raised a dragon egg when I was a kid, the importance of comic books as an art form, and what a virtuous human being is. I've had people come up to me after every one of those speeches and tell me how much they liked it and how much it made them think, because I seem to have a unique view on most things. Next week I'm giving a speech titled "Alligator Wrestling and the Meaning of Life". But these Harry Potter speeches are a... challenge.

I have 2 things that are solid. I have 3, or 4, or 5 things that still have to be worked out. I have a good background for my career.

- - - - - - -

Jeffrey Alexander Martin

Visiting Lecturer - Sparta Institute for the Study of Muggles

Current Assistant Professor of Muggle Studies - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Former Professor of Muggle Studies - Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

- - - - - - -

I have a good speech about the many uses of the rubber duck.

- - - - - - -

1. My first accidental encounter with a rubber duck as a child.

2. Reading Arthur Weasley's paper on "The Many Uses of the Rubber Duck" while in school at Ilvermorny.

3. A teenage adventure to try to observe a rubber duck in action. (factory and/or family)

4. What the research has revealed: humor, entertainment, child training in animal interaction, water transportation, distraction, possible growth into hunting decoys, relation to the rubber chicken, play as life preparation.

5. Questions fielded from the class. (Possibly hundreds of people from a large crowd in front of the main stage.)

6. Homework assignments.

- - - - - - -

I have to work out three more speeches. Here's the problem.

I am pretending to be a wizard professor speaking to a class of witches and wizards about muggles. But, I'm actually a muggle speaking to a crowd of muggles about muggles. That's a problem because what the imaginary witches and wizards would find interesting is going to be boring to the real muggles standing in front of me.

I've been drumming my mind on this idea for the last two months. For instance, it would be cool to do a speech about how planes stay aloft because Arthur Weasley was interested in that question. Witches and wizards would find that interesting because it would be a mind-blowing concept to them about something completely new. For muggles, everyone already knows that the air moves faster over the top of the wing than the bottom creating an upward pulling force on the curved wing. It's boring, heard it before and I didn't like it when they were forcing me to sit through boring classes in school. Outside of school it's interesting because my own interest naturally leads me to study what's in my current zone of proximal development. (But that's a whole other article about why the government-run education field is jacked.)

A straight take on the subject won't work, but that doesn't mean you just give up, you pivot. I'm guessing a lot of people would suggest making it funny, something like a standup comedy routine. That's a bad suggestion for two reasons. One, I'm not particularly skilled at preparing original jokes, only professional comedians are. Two, professional comedians will work on routines for months and years to develop a routine that's good. Jerry Seinfeld, the most successful comedian of all time, figures he gets about 20 good jokes out of every 500 that he writes. Also, he doesn't know which ones they are. You have to go try them in front of audiences. You develop good material by bombing and adjusting, getting a smile and adjusting, getting a giggle and adjusting, getting a laugh and then putting it in your paid routine. This won't work for me because there isn't a good place to try this Harry Potter role-playing material out in.

Just because that won't work we don't give up, we pivot. Stories are great. I'm good at stories. I can speak on the same general subject of planes and weave an interesting story around it. Let's say as a professor I was researching muggle transportation systems. I decided to take a plane ride to somewhere to see what it was like, for research. We go through the crazy process of security checks, waiting in lines, delays, how it doesn't seem safe, being offered peanuts, being cramped, having to pay for a movie, a shaky landing, having to find my luggage, etc. This part would probably naturally come out somewhat funny, great. Depending on how the details work out I could then dive into the history of flight and talk about people attaching wings to their arms and flapping while jumping off of barns, gliders, how bicycle mechanics made planes, and the current industry. It might be okay, it probably would be okay. I don't want to do it, too boring.

After we've pivoted around the same idea a few times, we give up. Knowing when to stick and when to quit is an art. I did this with a few different ideas, namely the mail system and dishwashers. It wasn't working.

I do have two original ideas that I still think are worth pursuing, the muggle duel and something about dragons. I have to do something about dragons.

For dragons I think I could simply relate incidents from history. A collection of stories with the theme of muggle encounters with dragons. I think that might end up turning out great actually. (I recently found a drawing that I entered in the Ionia Free Fair when I was twelve. It won a blue ribbon. It was of a dragon.) I will work out those details in a later article.

The muggle duel idea is the most logistically challenging, but has the potential to be the most entertaining. It's challenging because it would be so much more fun to do demonstrations. That means that I'll bring two people up from the audience and have them go through fist fighting, wrestling, knife fighting, stick fighting, sword fighting, and pistol fighting. It would be great. I would work it out with my helpers beforehand obviously. And, we'll simply cover some history with some odd observations. For instance, there was a tribe somewhere that didn't do a real fight. One person would hit the other on the top of the head with a stick. Then they would reverse roles. They would alternate until one gave up or passed out. That would be funny. Or, the Eskimos had singing duels. That's odd and could be fun, and funny. Apparently several different tribes around the world had that tradition.

See, it's coming together. I have my personal fictional background. I have a solid speech about the many uses of the rubber duck. I have a speech that will definitely work about muggle encounters with dragons. And, I have a potential speech about muggle duels. One more good idea.

This came to me earlier today when I was buying groceries: "The Great Gnome Conspiracy of ....". I don't know what it's going to be about, but it's a good name. The writer R. L. Stine often comes up with a good title and then figures out a story based on it.

It needs a year, so let's look at Google Ngrams. That allows us to search a word and see the history of it occurring in books. Let's search gnome. "gnome" first appeared in a book in 1753. Its use has had some ups and downs, but overall the trend has been slightly up over time. There were some big ups and downs until 1800, maybe we use that.

"The Great Gnome Conspiracy of the 18th Century". It sounds like a wizarding class about muggles. That's a good sign.

Here's something. In 1794 a book was published titled "A Complete Edition of the Poets of Great Britain. Volume the Eighth. Containing Pope, Gay, Pattifon, Hammond, Savage, Hill, Tickell, Somervile, Broome, Pitt & Blair."

Gnome is used four times in this book. In Canto IV of "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope, this is the selection that I like.

- - - - - - -

Swift on his footy pinions flits the gnome,

And in a vapour reach'd the difmal dome.

- - - - - - -

(They often used "f" instead of "s" at that time in printing presses.)

There are now a ton of ways you could go with this speech, probably an unlimited number of options. Here are some that I'll think about. Maybe Pope was a wizard that thought the secrets of magic shouldn't be secret. Maybe Pope was a muggle with a wizard friend who leaked a secret to him. Maybe it wasn't a big deal until muggles started trying to catch gnomes for some reason. Maybe some rich people liked playing with them in their garden games, as royals are want to do. Maybe muggles tried to kill off the gnomes. Maybe gnomes weren't kept a secret until then because they were good at staying hidden. But, then when people realized that they were good at sneaking around they tried to catch them and train them to be thieves and spies. This got out of hand. Maybe the queen was robbed or something. Then, a decision was made.

It was decided that gnomes should be kept secret from muggles. They tried to do this through various means, but it wasn't fully working because the proverbial cat was out of the bag. Then, in whatever year, someone came up with the idea to hide gnomes in plain sight. The wizarding community hid gnomes in stories and myths. This mostly did the trick, but there were still a few problems later. I could go through an incident in here somewhere to make it concrete and engaging. Later, it was realized that the fake garden gnome could be invented and promoted and then everyone would think the idea of real gnomes would be ridiculous. That's a pretty good overall idea. Maybe I could include a local political meeting near the beginning of this whole ordeal where the different sides were presented. Maybe a witch became rich and famous for inventing the fake garden gnome. Ideas.

Alright, good stuff. Now, we have our good ideas: "Further Research on the Many Uses of the Rubber Duck", "The History of Muggle Encounters with Dragons", "The History of the Muggle Duel", and "The Great Gnome Conspiracy of the 18th and 19th Centuries".

I will work out the details of the three new ideas in further articles.

See how I can create something from nothing? It's because I'm a wizard.

Here's more Harry Potter:

http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/search/label/Harry%20Potter

________________________________________________

You can find more of what I'm doing at http://www.JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com

[toomanysinks]

Fortnite, copyright and the legal precedent that could still mean trouble for Epic Games

Anne Friedman Contributor

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Anne Friedman is of counsel at DLA Piper where she focuses her practice on structuring and negotiating large scale sourcing and technology transactions.

Andrew Deutsch Contributor

Andrew Deutsch is a partner at DLA Piper concentrating on intellectual property litigation and advice, including copyright, trademark, defamation and other First Amendment concerns, trade secret, unfair competition and misappropriation, advertising law, and law of the Internet, social media and electronic databases.

Ric Flaggert Contributor

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Ric Flaggert is a partner at DLA Piper where he focuses his global practice on entertainment, media, and communications matters.

A new US Supreme Court decision is pitting entertainers and video game developers against one another in a high-stakes battle royale.

The decision in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com LLC raises interesting questions about several lawsuits brought against Epic Games, the publisher of popular multiplayer game Fortnite.

In Fortnite, players may make in-game purchases, allowing player avatars to perform popular dance moves (called emotes), such as the Carlton, the Floss, and the Milly Rock.

Five performers, all represented by the same law firm, recently filed separate lawsuits against Epic Games in the Central District of California, each alleging: (i) the performer created a dance; (ii) the dance is uniquely identified with the performer; (iii) an Epic emote is a copy of the dance; and (iv) Epic’s use of the dance infringes the plaintiff’s copyright in the dance move and the dancer’s right to publicity under California statutory and common law.

In short, the dance creators argue that Epic Games used their copyrightable dance moves in violation of existing law.

The building battle

What do these Fortnite lawsuits in California have to do with the US Supreme Court?  US copyright law says that a copyright owner can’t sue for copyright infringement until “registration of the copyright claim has been made” with the US Copyright Office.  Prior to the recent Supreme Court decision in Fourth Estate, lower federal courts split over what this language means.

Some (including the federal courts in California) concluded that a copyright claimant could sue an alleged infringer upon delivering a completed copyright application to the Copyright Office.  Other lower federal courts held that the suit could not be brought until the Copyright Office issued a registration, meaning that the Office viewed the work to be copyrightable.

Because the Copyright Office now takes over seven months to process a copyright application and issue a registration, claimants often chose to sue in California federal courts, which had adopted the quicker “application approach.”  This was the route chosen by the plaintiffs in all five Fortnite cases.

Down (but not out)

On March 4, 2019, in Fourth Estate, the Supreme Court ruled that California federal courts and others following the application approach were wrong, and that a plaintiff cannot sue for copyright infringement unless the Copyright Office has issued a copyright registration.

This had an immediate impact on the Fortnite lawsuits because the Copyright Office had not yet registered any of the dances and, indeed, had found two of the plaintiffs’ dances uncopyrightable.  Recognizing their vulnerability, plaintiffs preemptively withdrew these lawsuits, announcing they would refile the complaints once the Copyright Office issued registrations.

Epic question #1: are the emote dances copyrightable?

The central question is whether the dances used in Fortnite emotes are copyrightable material  protected under US law. If not, then Epic Games’ use of the dances is not copyright infringement, and in-game sales of the particular dances may continue unfettered.

Dance moves fall into a gray area in copyright law.  Copyright law does protect “choreographic works,” but the Copyright Office says that “social dance steps and simple routines” are not protected. What’s the difference between the two? The Copyright Office says that choreography commonly involves “the composition and arrangement of a related series of dance movements and patterns organized into a coherent whole” and “a story, theme, or abstract composition conveyed through movement.”  Dances that don’t meet this standard can’t be copyrighted, even if they are “novel and distinctive.”

So are the Fortnite plaintiffs’ dances “choreographic works” in the eyes of the Copyright Office?  Herein lies a clash of cultures. The performer-plaintiffs undoubtedly feel they have created something not just unique, but a work entitled to protection for which they are owed damages.  But the buttoned-down Copyright Office may not agree.

The Copyright Office has already denied Alfonso Ribeiro a copyright registration for the Carlton, a widely recognized dance popularized by Ribeiro during his days as Carlton Banks on the show Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  The Office stated that the Carlton was “a simple routine made up of three dance steps” and “is not registrable as a choreographic work.”

The plaintiffs’ lawyer in the Epic Games cases has disclosed that 2 Milly’s application for copyright in the Milly Rock was also rejected, but that a long “variant” of Backpack Kid’s Floss dance was accepted for registration.  The Copyright Office’s view on the other two plaintiffs’ dances has not yet been reported.

If a registration is denied

Denial of a copyright registration is not necessarily a dead end for these lawsuits.  The Copyright Act allows a plaintiff who has been refused a copyright registration by the Copyright Office to still sue a potentially offending party for copyright infringement.  However, the Copyright Office can then join the lawsuit by asserting that the plaintiff’s work is not entitled to copyright protection.

Historically, the federal courts have usually followed the Copyright Office’s view that a work is uncopyrightable.  If the other Fortnite plaintiffs are denied registration, as Ribeiro and 2 Milly were, they will all face an uphill fight on their copyright claims.

Other issues to overcome

Even if the plaintiffs’ copyright claims survive, they face other problems, including originality, which is a requirement of copyright.  If their dances are composed of moves contained in dances previously created by others, the plaintiffs may fail to convince the court that their dances are sufficiently original to warrant their own copyright.  For example, Ribeiro has stated in interviews that moves by Eddie Murphy, Courtney Cox and Bruce Springsteen inspired him when he created the Carlton.

Ownership of the dance can also be at issue if the dance was created in the course of employment (such as while working as an actor on a television show), as the law may hold that the employer owns the copyright.

Epic question #2: the right to publicity

The plaintiffs’ right to publicity arguments could go further than their copyright infringement claims. The right to publicity claims were based on the assertion that plaintiffs’ dances are uniquely associated with them and that Epic Games digitally copied the plaintiffs performing the dances, then created a code that allows avatars to identically perform the dances.  Some side-by-side comparisons of the original dance performances and the Epic emote versions (speed adjusted) look strikingly similar for the few seconds the emote lasts. According to plaintiffs, this use misappropriated their “identity.”

Their assertion is not as far-fetched as it may seem, given the broad reading courts in California have given to the state’s common law and statutory publicity law.  For example, the Ninth Circuit has previously ruled that an ad featuring a robot with a wig that turned letters on a board wrongfully took Vanna White’s identity, and that animatronic robots sitting at airport bars vaguely resembling “Norm” and “Cliff,” characters from the popular TV show Cheers, misappropriated the identities of the actors who played the roles, George Wendt and John Ratzenberger.

There remains an open question on whether the courts will be willing to take another step and find that a game avatar having no physical resemblance to a performer misappropriates the performer’s publicity rights just because the avatar does a dance popularly associated with the performer.

Once the Copyright Office announces its decisions on the outstanding copyright applications, the Fortnite plaintiffs may choose to re-file their cases; and this question could eventually be decided.

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/25/fortnite-copyright-and-the-legal-precedent-that-could-still-mean-trouble-for-epic-games/

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Fortnite, copyright and the legal precedent that could still mean trouble for Epic Games

Anne Friedman Contributor

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Anne Friedman is of counsel at DLA Piper where she focuses her practice on structuring and negotiating large scale sourcing and technology transactions.

Andrew Deutsch Contributor

Andrew Deutsch is a partner at DLA Piper concentrating on intellectual property litigation and advice, including copyright, trademark, defamation and other First Amendment concerns, trade secret, unfair competition and misappropriation, advertising law, and law of the Internet, social media and electronic databases.

Ric Flaggert Contributor

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Ric Flaggert is a partner at DLA Piper where he focuses his global practice on entertainment, media, and communications matters.

A new US Supreme Court decision is pitting entertainers and video game developers against one another in a high-stakes battle royale.

The decision in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com LLC raises interesting questions about several lawsuits brought against Epic Games, the publisher of popular multiplayer game Fortnite.

In Fortnite, players may make in-game purchases, allowing player avatars to perform popular dance moves (called emotes), such as the Carlton, the Floss, and the Milly Rock.

Five performers, all represented by the same law firm, recently filed separate lawsuits against Epic Games in the Central District of California, each alleging: (i) the performer created a dance; (ii) the dance is uniquely identified with the performer; (iii) an Epic emote is a copy of the dance; and (iv) Epic’s use of the dance infringes the plaintiff’s copyright in the dance move and the dancer’s right to publicity under California statutory and common law.

In short, the dance creators argue that Epic Games used their copyrightable dance moves in violation of existing law.

The building battle

What do these Fortnite lawsuits in California have to do with the US Supreme Court?  US copyright law says that a copyright owner can’t sue for copyright infringement until “registration of the copyright claim has been made” with the US Copyright Office.  Prior to the recent Supreme Court decision in Fourth Estate, lower federal courts split over what this language means.

Some (including the federal courts in California) concluded that a copyright claimant could sue an alleged infringer upon delivering a completed copyright application to the Copyright Office.  Other lower federal courts held that the suit could not be brought until the Copyright Office issued a registration, meaning that the Office viewed the work to be copyrightable.

Because the Copyright Office now takes over seven months to process a copyright application and issue a registration, claimants often chose to sue in California federal courts, which had adopted the quicker “application approach.”  This was the route chosen by the plaintiffs in all five Fortnite cases.

Down (but not out)

On March 4, 2019, in Fourth Estate, the Supreme Court ruled that California federal courts and others following the application approach were wrong, and that a plaintiff cannot sue for copyright infringement unless the Copyright Office has issued a copyright registration.

This had an immediate impact on the Fortnite lawsuits because the Copyright Office had not yet registered any of the dances and, indeed, had found two of the plaintiffs’ dances uncopyrightable.  Recognizing their vulnerability, plaintiffs preemptively withdrew these lawsuits, announcing they would refile the complaints once the Copyright Office issued registrations.

Epic question #1: are the emote dances copyrightable?

The central question is whether the dances used in Fortnite emotes are copyrightable material  protected under US law. If not, then Epic Games’ use of the dances is not copyright infringement, and in-game sales of the particular dances may continue unfettered.

Dance moves fall into a gray area in copyright law.  Copyright law does protect “choreographic works,” but the Copyright Office says that “social dance steps and simple routines” are not protected. What’s the difference between the two? The Copyright Office says that choreography commonly involves “the composition and arrangement of a related series of dance movements and patterns organized into a coherent whole” and “a story, theme, or abstract composition conveyed through movement.”  Dances that don’t meet this standard can’t be copyrighted, even if they are “novel and distinctive.”

So are the Fortnite plaintiffs’ dances “choreographic works” in the eyes of the Copyright Office?  Herein lies a clash of cultures. The performer-plaintiffs undoubtedly feel they have created something not just unique, but a work entitled to protection for which they are owed damages.  But the buttoned-down Copyright Office may not agree.

The Copyright Office has already denied Alfonso Ribeiro a copyright registration for the Carlton, a widely recognized dance popularized by Ribeiro during his days as Carlton Banks on the show Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  The Office stated that the Carlton was “a simple routine made up of three dance steps” and “is not registrable as a choreographic work.”

The plaintiffs’ lawyer in the Epic Games cases has disclosed that 2 Milly’s application for copyright in the Milly Rock was also rejected, but that a long “variant” of Backpack Kid’s Floss dance was accepted for registration.  The Copyright Office’s view on the other two plaintiffs’ dances has not yet been reported.

If a registration is denied

Denial of a copyright registration is not necessarily a dead end for these lawsuits.  The Copyright Act allows a plaintiff who has been refused a copyright registration by the Copyright Office to still sue a potentially offending party for copyright infringement.  However, the Copyright Office can then join the lawsuit by asserting that the plaintiff’s work is not entitled to copyright protection.

Historically, the federal courts have usually followed the Copyright Office’s view that a work is uncopyrightable.  If the other Fortnite plaintiffs are denied registration, as Ribeiro and 2 Milly were, they will all face an uphill fight on their copyright claims.

Other issues to overcome

Even if the plaintiffs’ copyright claims survive, they face other problems, including originality, which is a requirement of copyright.  If their dances are composed of moves contained in dances previously created by others, the plaintiffs may fail to convince the court that their dances are sufficiently original to warrant their own copyright.  For example, Ribeiro has stated in interviews that moves by Eddie Murphy, Courtney Cox and Bruce Springsteen inspired him when he created the Carlton.

Ownership of the dance can also be at issue if the dance was created in the course of employment (such as while working as an actor on a television show), as the law may hold that the employer owns the copyright.

Epic question #2: the right to publicity

The plaintiffs’ right to publicity arguments could go further than their copyright infringement claims. The right to publicity claims were based on the assertion that plaintiffs’ dances are uniquely associated with them and that Epic Games digitally copied the plaintiffs performing the dances, then created a code that allows avatars to identically perform the dances.  Some side-by-side comparisons of the original dance performances and the Epic emote versions (speed adjusted) look strikingly similar for the few seconds the emote lasts. According to plaintiffs, this use misappropriated their “identity.”

Their assertion is not as far-fetched as it may seem, given the broad reading courts in California have given to the state’s common law and statutory publicity law.  For example, the Ninth Circuit has previously ruled that an ad featuring a robot with a wig that turned letters on a board wrongfully took Vanna White’s identity, and that animatronic robots sitting at airport bars vaguely resembling “Norm” and “Cliff,” characters from the popular TV show Cheers, misappropriated the identities of the actors who played the roles, George Wendt and John Ratzenberger.

There remains an open question on whether the courts will be willing to take another step and find that a game avatar having no physical resemblance to a performer misappropriates the performer’s publicity rights just because the avatar does a dance popularly associated with the performer.

Once the Copyright Office announces its decisions on the outstanding copyright applications, the Fortnite plaintiffs may choose to re-file their cases; and this question could eventually be decided.

Via Jonathan Shieber https://techcrunch.com