#like he is all sunshine and brightness and then his social circle...

[bunathebunny]

someone mentions how yanqing is a lonely person and i'm just nodding along like yesh so right because yanqing is a lonely person in that his life centers around one person - who btw is the one who brought him up, teaches him, is also his boss - and he does not have people who he is close with

like fu xuan is just another colleague, tingyun is that pretty sister he meets sometimes on the streets, yukong is also another colleague, bailu he probably knows - due to proximity - but is not close with and it does not seem like he knows about sushang or qingque

it is just a little thing but i'm always so happy that it's not just me who thought that yanqing is a lonely person

[theodorenmyth]

Enzo and mattheo sharing a lover who’s socially awkward

Two Suns, One Moon

Pairings ; Mattheo Riddle x GN!Reader x Lorenzo Berkshire

Summary ; Being the quiet, socially awkward lover of the ever-energetic Lorenzo Berkshire and the mischievous Mattheo Riddle often leaves you feeling like a shadow beside two suns. But a peaceful afternoon by the Black Lake reminds you that even the moon has a vital role to play in balancing the brightness of their world. What starts as a tranquil moment turns playful when a splash of water ignites a lighthearted battle, bringing the three of you closer together, reminding you that you belong exactly where you are—right between them.

A/N ; literally two orange cats, one black cat, two suns, one moon, two energetics and 1 calm trope. I LOVE THIS

warnings); none

Word count ; 1.7k+

The Hogwarts courtyard was alive with the usual bustle of students, but you found yourself seeking the comfort of the quieter corners. You sat on the edge of a stone bench, the cold seeped through your robes, but it didn’t bother you. It was familiar, grounding, a stark contrast to the overwhelming energy that usually surrounded you.

“Hey, love,” a warm voice called out, snapping you from your thoughts. You looked up to see Lorenzo Berkshire approaching with that ever-present smile of his, like sunshine breaking through the clouds.

Beside him, Mattheo Riddle walked with his usual confident stride, his gaze already locked on you, dark eyes brimming with mischief.

“Found our little black cat, have we?” Mattheo teased, slipping onto the bench beside you, close enough that you could feel the heat of his body. Lorenzo chuckled as he took the spot on your other side, sandwiching you between them.

You swallowed, feeling a little self-conscious, as usual. They were so effortless in their presence, like twin suns, burning bright and drawing everyone into their orbit.

You, on the other hand, felt more like a shadow, fading into the background as soon as they appeared.

“Are you cold?” Lorenzo asked, noticing how tightly you had your arms wrapped around yourself.

“I’m okay,” you mumbled, looking down at your hands, twisting your fingers nervously. Mattheo gently tugged on your sleeve, drawing your attention back to him.

“Liar,” he said, though his tone was affectionate. “You’re freezing. Why didn’t you wait inside?”

“I didn’t want to be in the way,” you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper. Crowds always made you feel like you were on display, and being around people as lively as Lorenzo and Mattheo only amplified that feeling.

“Nonsense,” Lorenzo said, his arm coming around your shoulders, pulling you into his side. “You’re never in the way, darling. We’d much rather have you with us than hiding out here alone.”

Mattheo nodded in agreement, his hand finding yours, his thumb tracing slow circles against your skin. “Besides, we’ve missed you. It feels like we haven’t seen you all day.”

“I saw you both in Potions,” you reminded them, a small smile tugging at your lips despite your nerves.

“Yes, but that doesn’t count,” Lorenzo insisted. “You were all the way on the other side of the room. Far too far away for my liking.”

Mattheo leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “We were thinking of staging a little incident, you know? Maybe a small explosion to get Professor Snape to rearrange the seating.”

“Mattheo,” you gasped, eyes wide with alarm. But you knew he was only half-joking. “You’d really risk detention just to sit closer?”

“In a heartbeat,” Mattheo said, his smile wicked. “It’s boring without you to talk to.”

“And to copy notes from,” Lorenzo added with a playful nudge.

You laughed, the sound easing some of the tension in your chest. It was hard to stay anxious around them, even if they were as different from you as night and day.

“So,” Lorenzo said, changing the subject with that natural ease of his, “what do you want to do today? We’ve got a few hours before dinner.”

“Whatever you two want is fine,” you said quickly, not wanting to impose your own ideas. You were always afraid of making the wrong suggestion, of boring them with your quieter tastes.

Mattheo raised an eyebrow at you. “You say that, but last time we let Lorenzo decide, we ended up trying to sneak into the Restricted Section. And when it was my turn, we spent an hour trying to scale the Astronomy Tower.”

“You were the one who suggested the Astronomy Tower,” Lorenzo pointed out with a grin. “And I seem to remember you enjoying the Restricted Section.”

“Well, I did manage to find that book on hexes I’ve been wanting,” Mattheo admitted, looking pleased with himself.

You shifted, feeling a bit out of place. The truth was, you were just as happy spending time with them doing something simple. You didn’t need the excitement they seemed to crave. But saying that out loud felt.. wrong, somehow. Like you’d be dampening their spirits.

Noticing your hesitation, Lorenzo’s expression softened. “We don’t have to do anything wild, you know. Just say the word, and we’ll go along with whatever you want.”

Mattheo nodded, squeezing your hand reassuringly. “Yeah, we’re not trying to drag you into trouble. Well, not always.”

You felt a warmth spread through you at their words, the reassurance soothing your anxieties. “Maybe we could just…go for a walk? By the lake?”

Lorenzo smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “That sounds perfect.”

Mattheo stood, tugging you up with him. “Lead the way, love.”

As the three of you wandered down towards the Black Lake, you couldn’t help but marvel at how effortlessly they made you feel included, even when you felt so different from them. Where they were all fiery energy and boldness, you were quiet and reserved, more comfortable observing from the sidelines than being in the thick of things.

But somehow, they never made you feel like you didn’t belong. They accepted your awkwardness, your silences, and your tendency to withdraw when the world got too loud. They didn’t try to change you or push you out of your comfort zone, unless it was clear you wanted that.

Lorenzo kept up a light conversation as you walked, talking about everything and nothing, his voice a soothing backdrop to the crunch of leaves underfoot. Mattheo, on the other hand, stayed close, his presence a steady comfort beside you.

He’d occasionally point out something interesting, a particularly twisted tree root, a group of birds taking flight, and you’d find yourself relaxing, enjoying the moment without the usual pressure to keep up with them.

When you reached the shore of the lake, the three of you settled on a patch of grass, the sun dipping low in the sky, casting a golden glow over the water. You sat between them, feeling like the calm center in their whirlwind of energy.

“This is nice,” you murmured, the tension finally melting from your shoulders. “Thank you.”

Lorenzo leaned back on his elbows, tilting his head to look at you with a warm smile. “You don’t have to thank us. We’re just happy to be with you.”

Mattheo nodded in agreement, his hand finding yours again, fingers intertwining. “Yeah, we’re a team, remember? Two suns and one moon.”

You blinked, looking at him in surprise. “What?”

He smirked, clearly pleased with himself. “That’s us. Lorenzo and I, we’re the suns. Bright, warm, maybe a little overwhelming at times. And you, you’re the moon. Quiet, steady, a little mysterious. But we all work together, right? Balance each other out.”

Your heart swelled at his words, the metaphor wrapping around you like a comforting blanket. You’d always felt like you were on the outside looking in, but Mattheo’s words made you realize that, to them, you were just as important a part of their little world.

“I like that,” you said softly, feeling a little bolder, a little more at ease. “The moon is pretty powerful, you know. Controls the tides and everything.”

“Exactly,” Lorenzo said, leaning in to press a kiss to your temple. “Don’t underestimate yourself, love.”

Mattheo chuckled, leaning in to kiss your other cheek. “We certainly don’t.”

A peaceful silence settled over the three of you as you watched the sun's reflection ripple across the lake. The quiet moment was short-lived, however, as Mattheo suddenly leaned over, scooping up a handful of water and flicking it in your direction.

The cold droplets splashed across your face, making you gasp in surprise. “Mattheo!” you exclaimed, wiping at your cheeks with the sleeve of your robe.

Mattheo grinned, looking unapologetic. “What? You looked like you were getting too comfortable.”

Lorenzo laughed, watching the exchange with a gleam in his eye. “Careful, Mattheo. I think you’ve just declared war.”

You narrowed your eyes at Mattheo, a mischievous spark igniting in your chest. “You’re going to regret that, Riddle.”

“Oh, I’m trembling,” Mattheo said, mock fear in his voice, though he was already inching away from you, sensing your impending retaliation.

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, you quickly dipped your hand into the water, flinging a larger splash back at him. The water hit him square in the chest, soaking the front of his robes.

“Merlin’s beard, that’s cold!” Mattheo shouted, but he was laughing even as he wiped the water off his face.

Lorenzo couldn’t resist joining in, his hands cupping water and sending it flying in both your and Mattheo’s directions. “It’s every person for themselves now!” he declared, his laughter contagious.

Soon, the three of you were engaged in a full-blown splash fight, water flying everywhere as you all tried to outmaneuver each other. Mattheo, not one to be outdone, managed to catch you off guard with a particularly well-aimed splash, sending a wave of water over your head.

“Okay, okay! Truce!” you called out, laughing so hard your sides hurt. You held up your hands in surrender, trying to catch your breath.

Lorenzo was grinning from ear to ear, water dripping from his hair. “Do you accept, Mattheo?”

Mattheo eyed you both warily, as if expecting another sneak attack, but finally relented, lowering his hands. “Fine. Truce. For now.”

You smiled, shaking your head as you sat back down on the grass, the cool breeze drying the water on your face. Despite the chaos, you felt lighter, the earlier tension completely washed away.

Lorenzo stretched out beside you, his arm wrapping around your shoulders as he pulled you close. Mattheo joined in, lying on your other side, his hand finding yours again.

“See?” Lorenzo murmured, his voice soft as he nuzzled into your hair. “Sometimes, all you need is a little water fight to clear your head.”

Mattheo hummed in agreement, his fingers tracing patterns on your palm. “And a reminder that we’re all in this together. Two suns and one moon, right?”

You smiled, feeling a warmth that had nothing to do with the sun as you relaxed between them. For the first time in a long while, you felt completely at ease, content in the knowledge that you were exactly where you were meant to be.

“Yeah,” you whispered, closing your eyes as you let the peacefulness of the moment wash over you. “Two suns and one moon.”

[thewritetofreespeech]

Delicos nursery!?! Fic requests!?! Please please~~

Dino classic marries a plus size woman who at first seems cold but is a total sweetheart and just doesn't understand why people are afraid of her husband? She adores her step son like her own and even call him teddy for short? I love the sunshine x grumpy trope!

There were many things Dino liked about being an aristocrat. Power. The prestige. Being apart of the inner circle of their society.

The one thing he hated about being an aristocrat was the parties.

But, if you wanted to be apart of the inner circle, and get the power & prestige, there were a certain number of social events that were an unspoken mandatory for a man of his station. Particularly one with a new wife, whom he was obligated to introduce to society as such. What a bore.

Luckily, his new wife was much more adept at these kind of things than him. Bright and bubbly, with a family almost grievously overconnected, his new wife took to the party like a fish to water. Talking to everyone and making efforts to re-introduce herself to old friends & new as the current Lady Classico.

Dino entertained himself back in a corner. A position he had grown comfortable with since he was a young man forced onto these parties; until his mother made him come out and talk to people, as he was never going to get married rooted to the ground like a wallflower. He just liked to watch more than participate. He felt it was easier to gauge the situation, gather intel, from the sidelines than in the fray. Plus people being near him always seemed to make his skin crawl.

A while later he noticed his wife coming over to him. A noticeable, deep pout on her lips. One he had never seen; save for the pretend ones she threw at him when she wanted to get her way. This one seemed real though. “What’s the matter?”

“These people are rude.”

This shocked Dino. As he had also never heard his wife speak ill of anyone either. She always seemed to find the good in others. Found the good in him. “How so?”

“They make underhanded comments about you and seem to think I’m too stupid to understand them.” Dino frowned at that. His wife was not stupid. They could say what they wanted about him, some of it probably true, but they would not speak ill of his wife. “Would you…be terribly disappointed if we go? I do not want to make a bad impression, but I also do not think I can screw on a smile much longer?”

Disappointed? Dino thought. He’d jump up an’ click his heels, if only his back would ever forgive him. “Of course. I’ll have our coats and coach sent for.” His wife smiled. Seeming to want to kiss him in her enthusiasm, but remembering they were in public.

Dino instead took her hand in his and kissed her glove where his ring would be. “Could we also take some cakes home for Teddy?” She had taken to calling Theodore that. At first he tried to talk her out of it, but she commented that he was just so cute. Theodore didn’t seem to mind (in fact he seemed to enjoy it judging by his blush) so Dino let it go. “I know you don’t like him to have many sweets but…once in a while can’t hurt. They’ll just throw them away at the end of the night anyway.”

He glanced at the elaborate dessert table. Days of work for the host’s staff. Barely touched. All to go to waste as she predicted. “Take two. The two of you can have them after dinner tomorrow night.” His wife grinned and scurried off to the table to collect her sweets while he called for their coach.

When they arrive home it is late, but not too far gone. His staff greet their new lady and she made quick work to greet them back before running upstairs to try and catch Theodore before bed. He was likely up reading late anyway.

Dino stood there in the foyer, watching her go, before he looked down at the parcel of cakes suddenly in his hands. He opened the lid to see what she had picked and smiled. Not surprised to see 3 slices instead of 2. See, his wife was very clever. She seemed to have no end to surprising him.

[kokoch4n3l]

DEAD GIRL’S BEACH࿐ྂ KUROKAWA IZANA x f!oc x SANO MANJIRO

TWO — beachy dreams

“he had trauma stemming from childhood. abandonment issues? currently unsure. he says he has a house on the beach. rich? 100% sure. lol would he adopt me if I ask?” — MAYA'S ROUGH NOTES ON K.I

chapter summary: Maya finds herself at Chifuyu's place with his rowdy friends before hitting the club and she's drawn into flirtatious exchanges with a mysterious club owner. Tensions arise when a revelation links Maya's work to her social circle. Izana gives her an intriguing invitation.

chapter warnings: mentions of body image, clubbing, alcohol use, intoxication, mentions/implications of forced prostitution, mentions of gang violence, inaccurate depictions of psychiatric hospitals, f!oc with zero self preservation skills

word count: 4764

moodboard | masterlist | previous | chapter 3

"didn't know you were keeping this pretty lady to yourself Chifuyu! How cruel" One of Chifuyu's friends, Mitsyua Takashi, says with a soft croon

It's 7 pm and Maya's just reached Chifuyu's place due to a change of plans. Originally it was supposed to be her and him going to some restaurant to catch up but Chifuyu's friends from middle school had also been pestering him to meet up which resulted in Chifuyu changing plans last minute and bringing Maya to his place to pre-game before going to a club. Chifuyu had picked her up from her apartment and brought her to his apartment where his friends had already come inside due to having the code for his door. "Mitsuya-kun, she's 6 years younger than you" Chifuyu hisses at Mitsuya, hiding Maya behind him

Maya felt her cheeks tinge pink at the attention she was suddenly receiving from all the people in Chifuyu's apartment. There were so many people there and she kind of hated Chifuyu for not warning her earlier. There were mostly only guys here and 2 other girls. Everyone was dressed in typical club attire. Maya herself was in a matching set, a lilac mini skirt and a matching crop top in the same colour. The crop top had a spaghetti v-neck line and was slightly cinched in the center. It was backless, held together by a button she had taken around 10 minutes to do by herself. Both pieces clung to her skin, accentuating her thin body and even somehow making her lack of boobs look bigger. Slightly that is(Maya unfortunately wasn't blessed in that area). The fabric of both pieces were slightly sparkly and she had done matching makeup with it and wore platform heels and a leather jacket on top and two diamond studs in her ears. Of course, she couldn't forget the two necklaces she was wearing. One was a gold oval pendant with a delicate border and the outline of a daffodil flower in the center of it. The second necklace, also gold, was a small butterfly pendant. Maya never exactly took these necklaces off. Yes, she was supposed to remove her jewellery for her job but Sunshine Grove was surprisingly lenient. But still, she always kept her necklaces tucked underneath her shirt and only ever wore stud earrings or none at all at work. "Oh well—"

"Oh my you're so cute" Maya feels her face being grabbed "Matsuno, where have you been hiding her!?"

Maya comes back to face with a tall girl with ginger hair and brown eyes. "Guys please stop scaring her and embarrassing me" Chifuyu grumbles in annoyance at his friends, pulling Maya out of the tall girl's grasp

Maya turned bright red and shifted on her feet, unsure of what to say in front of so many people who were clearly older. "This is Kaneko Maya. 5 and 6 years younger than all of us" Chifuyu says "stop scaring her I swear to god"

Maya waves nervously and the room gets quiet for a moment. She shifts. Oh man, this was a bad idea. She should have just told Chifuyu that they could reschedule but her damn lovesick brain just accepted the offer of going with him and his friends. What felt like hours to Maya was a mere few seconds to everyone else and they all started introducing themselves to her. Well, all except for the ginger-haired girl, Shiba Yuzuha's, younger but very tall model brother, Shiba Hakkai(he's apparently afraid of women). Maya doesn't usually drink much. So as the rest of them around her are taking a few shots, she sits on the sofa next to Tachibana Hinata who just doesn't drink at all. Maya can't help but notice the four leaf clover necklace she was wearing. "So when did you and Chifuyu-kun meet?" Hinata asks

Hinata seemed sweet. Like too sweet. Like an angel from fucking heaven. "uh... When I was in middle school... Like 7th grade"

Then comes Hanemiya Kazutora who leisurely takes a seat in front of both of them on the coffee table. Kazutora was Chifuyu's roommate and really the only other person Maya knew here. Maya knew about how Kazutora went to jail in his youth and got out recently but she didn't ask for what. "so how's your job with the crazy people doin' Maya?" Kazutora asks with a grin and Hinata gives Maya a confused look

Maya laughs nervously. "Uh... I'm a psychiatrist... I work at a psychiatric hospital"

"Oh wow... Must be hard work" Hinata says with a smile "That's great that you got hired this young. I heard hospitals rarely hire people fresh out of university"

Maya nods. "Yeah got rejected by everyone at first and ended up at this shitty psychiatric hospital, Sunshine Grove, just outside of Tokyo. They pay well but the place is scary"

"Sunshine Grove, huh" Kazutora says slowly as if trying to remember where he heard the name of the hospital

But Kazutora's thoughts are cut off by Draken, a super tall intimidating guy with a dragon tattoo on the side of his head, calling them and telling them it is time for them to leave. The room is filled with hooting from the boys. Maya can't help but laugh a bit. Chifuyu's friends were nice. "Come on Maya, we're gonna have so much fun tonight" Yuzuha says pulling her off the couch

They make it to the club not too long later. Maya is linking arms with Hinata and holding hands with Yuzuha. The lineup is pretty big and Maya wonders how long it will take for them to get in. But to her surprise, the boys are all walking straight up to the entrance. "Huh? shouldn't we get in line?" Maya asks Hinata

Hinata and Yuzuha look at each other for a moment then at Maya. "ah~ the boys know the owners" Hinata explains "we always come here since it's the safest out of all the ones they own"

Hinata's words raise a few red flags in Maya's head. Safest out of all the ones they own? What did that even mean? "a friend's I'm assuming" Maya says as they reach the bouncer

Yuzuha scoffs. "Please, the last thing any of them would call each other is friend"

That concerns Maya even more. If they weren't even friends, why the fuck were they here. They make it to the front of the line and instantly the bouncer starts letting them in but stops Maya. "Hey, she's with us too" Mitsuya says lowly and Chifuyu looks pissed now

The bouncer scoffs. "I know you guys are special guests of the Haitanis but I'm sure they wouldn't want a minor in the club either. ID"

Maya feels embarrassed by this. She pulls her phone out of the inside pocket of her leather jacket, takes her ID out of her case, and hands it to the bouncer. "Birth year?" The bouncer asks

Her cheeks burn in embarrassment as all of Chifuyu's friends watch the entire thing play out. "1996" She squeaks out

The bouncer looks between her and the ID card a few times then gives it back to her and lets her in. "Oh god that was embarrassing" Maya whimpers to Chifuyu who now has an arm around her shoulder, guiding her through the club up to the VIP section

"It's fine Maya" Chifuyu says with a laugh into her ear over the loud music "Can't control how young you look"

Her heart beats faster when she feels Chifuyu's breath against her skin. He guides her to sit in the VIP booth and then slides in next to her. His arm goes around her shoulders once again as he talks to his friends. Maya feels her face go pink. Thankfully the lights are dim and no one could tell. "let's go get the ladies some shots" Mitsuya says and drags Hakkai and Draken with him

"Fuck I have a feeling all of us are gonna black out tonight" Kazutora says with a laugh

The music is more muffled in the VIP section. Maya wonders if it's because of the connection Chifuyu and his friends have with the owners that they're able to be here. Honestly speaking, despite having known Chifuyu for so long, she's never been to the club with him. It was usually only restaurants, cafes, parks and just fun places like that. This was the first time Maya was out clubbing with Chifuyu. "You okay?" Chifuyu murmurs into her ear, her breath brushing against her skin

Maya's heart beats faster at the feeling and she suppresses a shiver. Chifuyu's arm around her shoulder tightens and he pulls her a bit tighter into his side. "listen, anything happens tonight, you're not feeling well, something does something, everyone is here for you. Not just me, okay?" He says and Maya almost flinches when she feels his lips brush against her ear "Understand"

She almost can't respond. "Y-Yeah... I understand"

Chifuyu is probably tipsy because he kisses her cheek and turns around to talk to Kazutora. Maya sits there stunned and if it weren't for the flashing neon lights, everyone would see how flushed her face was. She lets out a shuddery breath and gulps, hoping no one saw that. Thankfully everyone was too tipsy to actually notice and soon after Mitsuya, Draken and Hakkai bring more shots, they drink some more and everyone is drunk. Everyone except Draken and Mitsuya who were apparently the designated drivers for tonight. Jun thinks she's drunk, somewhat. She stumbles off the dance floor away from Hinata and Yuzuha to the bar where the music wasn't as louder. Everyone was scattered around, talking to girls or whoever. She's drunk out of her mind at this point and just one more drink away from blacking out. Just as she's about to call the bartender over, someone stands beside her. "haven't seen you before" someone says,

Maya looks up and sees a very tall guy. His hair is short, coloured purple and black. His skin is pale and his eyes are lilac. Woah he was handsome. "I doubt you could keep track of who comes and goes unless you're here every day" Maya tells him with a smile

The man chuckles. "This is my club sweetheart, I know who comes and goes"

Maya giggles drunkenly, too far gone to remember that Hinata and Yuzuha said the boys weren't that good of friends with the club owner. "Really? You're rich?" she asks and leans in closer

The man sighs and leans in closer as well, with a tentative finger brushing one of her wavy locks behind her ear. "All pretty girls are gold diggers huh?" he says it more to himself than to her

Maya pouts. "'m not a gold digger" She pokes his arms and has to tilt her head back to look at him despite wearing heels "I have student loans and need to pay them off y'know"

The man starts to laugh and he drapes an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer. Maya stumbles forward and he catches her against his chest. "I like honest girls..." He murmurs sweetly, sounding like he was crooning

Maya finds herself attracted to the club owner. Not just because of his money but he was definitely very charismatic. Her hands somehow find their way up, hooking her fingers into the belt loops of his pants and he smiles, seemingly satisfied by her action. His free hand comes up and cups her cheek, brushing his thumb against her cheekbone in a gentle affectionate manner. The same way she wanted Chifuyu to touch her. Maya's expression turns sour at the thought of her unrequited love and she turns away from the club owner. "Hey, what's wrong sweetheart?" he asks, holding her cheek again to make her face him "thought we were having a moment"

"Need a drink..." Maya says with a frown as the man keeps his arm tightly around her shoulder

He presses her into his side and chuckles. "yeesh, I know that look" he says and asks the bartender to make her a drink, on the house apparently

Maya looks up at the man and sees he's already looking at her. "So what's your name pretty lady?" He asks

"Maya" She answers, not smiling anymore

She needed more alcohol before she could smile again. The man, however, grins. He's charming and clearly doesn't mind Maya's mood swings. "Haitani Ran, owner of this as you already know"

Maya had a feeling she had heard this guy's name somewhere. She couldn't put her finger on it. But the bartender puts her drink in front of her so she doesn't think about it anymore and basically chugs it. Ran then decides to order shots and Maya might as well be blackout drunk at this point. But at least she wasn't thinking about Chifuyu anymore. "so cute, hm" Ran says pressing her into his side

His skin was warm and despite how sweaty the club was now, Maya couldn't help but like it. Ran smelled really good too. Like that expensive cologne she smelled at Sephora the other day when she went shopping with Chifuyu. Jo Malone if she remembered correctly. "You've got this lovesick look in your eyes" Ran says as he holds her cheek in one hand, making her tilt her head back so she is looking right at him

(Eye contact was important for Haitani Ran. It was the way into a woman's heart after all.)

"I do?" she mumbles drunkenly, practically leaning into Ran at this point who didn't mind, holding her up against his side

"Yeah, someone break your heart?" Ran's tone is condescending but also holds a sense of curiosity in it

Maya groans. "Not yet" she pouts, her words starting to slur together "he doesn't like me back... Haven't confessed to him 'cause I know he doesn't like me... Says 'm too young for 'im"

She feels dumb dumping all her feelings to a stranger but she's far too intoxicated to care. There was no harm done anyway. "poor little girl" Haitani Ran coos, his tone almost mocking as he runs a hand through her hair "I guess he's missing out on the fun of younger girls, hm..."

He sounds dangerous. Scary. Had Maya been sober she would have run far away from Haitani Ran the moment he came up to her. But with the mixture of the alcohol and her lovelorn state, it was hard to really get a grasp on reality and the dangers of this situation. "younger girls are adorable and real needy" Ran murmured, looking down at her "You sure are needy"

Maya wanted to retort, say something back but she finds herself getting a bit lost in her own head trying to come up with a response to him. She just stares up at him until she's suddenly ripped out of Ran's arms. "Hands off Haitani" A familiar voice warns as her back is now pressed against someone's chest

Maya looks down at her waist where a strong arm is tightly wrapped around her and she faintly recognizes Mitsuya's rings and watch. "Oh, this one of yours Mitsuya?" Ran says with a chuckle "C'mon don't be greedy. Was just havin' some fun"

She feels Mitsuya hold her tighter and Maya's knees feel weak so she leans back against him. "We all know what your version of fun is. Take videos and use them till they're dead. Leave her alone" Mitsuya says angrily

Maya can't see Mitsuya's face but she can assume he's probably pissed as hell. "What's going on?" she slurs, turning her head back to look at Mitsuya

Mistuya and Ran are having a staring contest— Mitsuya looking pissed off and Ran just smiling like nothing is wrong. Maya on the other hand is too drunk to really care. Mitsuya is pissed off and Maya is admiring how hot he looks angry like an absolute idiot. Were all of Chifuyu's friends this hot? She sighs dreamily, admiring the way Mitsuya's neck tensed when he got angry. God-fuckin-damn. "stay away from her Haitani" Mitsuya hisses

Ran only laughs. "You're not a part of Toman anymore Mitsuya, I have no need to listen to you" He walks closer to them and leans down so he's on eye level with Maya "We've only kept our hands off Shiba and Tachibana out of respect for Mikey and Kisaki and for the sake of old times... Else—"

"Shut up" Mitsuya says before Ran can say anything else and looks down at Maya, hoping she is too drunk to remember any of this

Chifuyu had explicitly told all of them he didn't want Maya to they used to be a part of Tokyo Manji Gang and Mitsuya wanted to respect his wishes. "Not her" Mitsuya says and it's not up for discussion

Mitsuya drags her back to the booth and makes her sit down. He's standing over her, holding her face in his hands checking for injuries or something. Maya doesn't know. Mitsuya's cold hands just feel really good to her heated skin right now. "You sure have a thing for attracting dangerous people, hm?" Mitsuya says with a laugh, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear

Maya just stares up at Mitsuya, openly admiring him now and he laughs. "fuck you're cute" He coos and ruffles her hair like she's a little kid

Maya doesn't really remember what happens after that. She was up with a pounding headache in Chifuyu's room, lying in between Yuzuha and Hinata who were snoring away. They were both still in their outfits from last night as well as Maya. But she had a familiar zip-up hoodie over her two-piece outfit. Chifuyu's grey hoodie sits on her shoulders and Maya's heart flutters. Had she not been feeling like absolute shit, she would have been squealing and kicking her legs like a middle school girl. But Yuzuha and Hinata were still sleeping so she kept herself quiet. She carefully gets off the bed, trying her best not to wake the other girls and picks her purse off Chifuyu's bedside table and heads to the bathroom connected to the room. She closes the door and turns on the light and gasp seeing her face. Her mascara was running down her cheeks like she'd cried and her lipstick was smudged. Maya shudders at the thought of all of Chifuyu's hot friends(and Chifuyu himself) having seen her like this and pulls out makeup wipes from her purse. It was a good thing she kept makeup wipes, moisturizer and things like that in her purse. Thank god for Sephora and other brands selling mini versions of their products. Once Maya gets her face clean and fixes her hair she leaves the bathroom and picks her phone up from the bedside table, leaving her purse there instead. As expected, her phone was dead. She puts it on charge and sighs. Yuzuha and Hinata were still dead asleep. The digital clock in Chifuyu's room shows it was 10:45 am. Maya zips up the hoodie about half way and heads out of the room silently so she didn't wake the other girls up. As she heads for the kitchen, she hears voices.

"Haitani is a fucking bitch" That was Draken

"Did he try anything?" Now Chifuyu

"She was too drunk to tell me anything but I don't think so" Next Mitsuya

Huh? What were they talking about?

"All that matters is that she's alright" Now that was a new voice

Maya pulls down the end of her mini-skirt and walks over to the kitchen. Immediately their conversation stops. The boys all look at each other nervously and before Maya could say anything, Mitsuya speaks up first. "Good morning Maya, I made soup. You probably feel like shit"

Maya just nods and looks at the newcomer who was wearing a suit and looks slightly awkward right now. "Oh yeah uh... this is Tachibana Naoto, Hina-chan's younger brother" Chifuyu says "and Naoto this is Kaneko Maya"

They both greet each other and Maya takes a seat at the dining table next to Kazutora who looks like he doesn't want to be up right now, his duel coloured hair sticking up in multiple directions. As Maya looked over at the couch she could see Hakkai knocked out, snoring away, sleeping in a somewhat uncomfortable-looking position. As Maya slowly sips the soup Chifuyu starts talking about what Naoto does. "He's a detective. Handling the Tokyo Manji Gang case right now" Chifuyu says with a grin

Maya nods. "Oh that's cool. I'm a psychiatrist"

Naoto seems genuinely interested. "Really? Where do you work?"

"Sunshine Grove. It's like outside the city—"

"Sunshine Grove?" Naoto's voice completely changes "You work at Sunshine Grove?"

Maya nods slowly. "Yeah..."

Naoto looks worried and that makes the rest of the boys worried as well. "Why what's wrong?" Draken asks the detective

Naoto shakes his head. "Uh... Insider info. I found out Toman's number 3 is possibly admitted in there for cocaine addiction"

Maya raises a brow. Now that was news. She had no idea someone like that was admitted to Sunshine Grove. "Wait seriously?" Kazutora is wide awake now and the rest of them have dark expressions on their faces

"Apparently," Naoto says "It's not confirmed but, it's what my sources say"

They all look toward Maya as she's drinking her soup. Her eyes widen realizing they were expecting an answer from her. "O-Oh... I wouldn't know. I don't work with the patients who are there for addiction. That's second floor, I work fourth floor with the criminals"

Mitsuya starts to laugh while Chifuyu groans. "C'mon I thought I told you to tell them to switch you to another floor" He complains

Maya only pouts. "4th floor makes more money"

Mitsuya laughs even harder at that. "see I told you. She just attracts bad people"

"Do not!"

Later when Hinata and Yuzuha wake up, Naoto insists on exchanging numbers with Maya. "I know there is this whole doctor-patient confidentiality thing and I won't push it... But um... If there is ever anything wrong, please tell me" The detective says with a small smile, his suit jacket now worn by his older sister

Maya nods and they exchange numbers. Hakkai and Yuzuha leave not long after and then followed by Mistuya and Draken. "I saw that~" Kazutora teases

Maya pulls the hood of Chifuyu's hoodie over her head and collapses on the couch. "Saw what?" she asks, bringing her bare feet up on the couch, sitting in a kind of fetal position

"Naoto's got the hots for you~" He says in a singsong voice

Maya narrows her eyes. "Nah uh!"

"100 percent. I saw it too" Chifuyu says teasingly from the kitchen where he is washing the dishes "he was blushing so damn hard. So fuckin' cute"

"Shut up" she grumbles

Maya had in fact not noticed any of what Kazutora and Chifuyu were talking about. She had been too preoccupied looking at Chifuyu to really look at Naoto. Now she just feels bad. Naoto was about 4 years older than her, of course, Chifuyu was encouraging this. Chifuyu had never been a huge fan of age gap relationships especially if it's more than 3-4 years. Maya, as a psychiatrist, does not blame him. But oh how she wished she was born earlier so Chifuyu would at least look at her as something other than a child that hangs around him. She figures it was alright. Even if she were the same age as Chifuyu, she wouldn't have confessed anyway.

Why?

He just doesn't like her that way.

Monday comes along pretty fast as usual. Maya clocks in and greets the other doctors leaving from the day shift. She does her usual, give all the 4th-floor patients their food, collect their trays, bring the cart back down to the 1st floor then come back up and give either Mr. Ueda company or talk to Mr. Kurokawa if he is awake. "You know, you're rarely asleep," Maya says taking a seat on the chair in his room "When do you sleep?"

"I'm in here all day, I sleep when I want," Izana says simply with a shrug "You on the other hand doctor, I still don't understand why someone as young as you would take the night shift. You still have a lot of living to do"

His words sounded oddly ominous. But Maya just shrugs that feeling off with the thought of it just being her nerves and not yet used to the night shift among criminals. "I do my living on the weekends, Mr. Kurokawa," Maya tells him "went out clubbing this weekend and got blackout drunk... Wait you don't have a problem with alcohol do you?"

Maya realizes she had a slip of the tongue. She wasn't supposed to be talking about alcohol or things like that with patients. "Calm down doctor, I think we're past the point of a normal doctor and patient relationship. I basically know everything about you. And no, I don't have an alcohol problem. I'm not here for that" Izana says with a lazy grin "How about you continue your story"

Maya shifts a bit in her seat. She looks at the small notebook in her hand and flips through the pages to where she had written down possible offences and the possible things wrong with Izana. She crosses off alcoholism. So far the ones circled were abandonment issues, mommy issues, narcissism and sociopathy. She was starting from scratch with him so she had to make some assumptions. "Um... Well... Went clubbing with that guy I told you about on Friday. He's..." She pauses trying to find the right words "Older... like about 5 years"

"You like older men, doctor?" Izana is teasing her and it works, her cheeks flush

Maya clears her throat. "Anyways..." she grumbles "I met his friends for the first time... They were nice. We went to a club, and got blackout drunk. Everyone ended up crashing at his place and in the morning one of the girl's younger brother came to get her... He was a police officer and now my crush is trying to set me up with him"

Izana laughs. "Police officer? A psychiatrist and a police officer. That sounds chaotic"

Maya just shrugs. "Forget that, he's trying to set me up with someone else and it's just... ugh" she groans

Izana laughs even more. He seems to be enjoying her misery. "Don't laugh at me" she whines "You're probably single too"

Izana gives her a mocking smile. "I don't have a lack of ladies, doctor"

Maya doesn't doubt him one bit. Izana was handsome. She can imagine him being the center of attention wherever he goes despite his condescending behaviour. Some girls were into that after all(Maybe Maya too). They end up dropping the topic and soon another starts and then another. Izana tended to avoid talking about his past, particularly his childhood. Maya would try her absolute best not to push it. However, after spending hours of the night just talking, the topics would shift into typical first-date or ice-breaker questions. "So if money wasn't a problem where would you live?" She asks

"Money isn't a problem, doctor. I'm rich" Izana tells her "I can live where I want. What about you?"

Maya thinks for a moment. "The beach"

"The beach?" He repeats "Really?"

Maya shrugs. "Yeah, why not? Warm weather all the time, nice view. It'd be nice"

Izana hums, seemingly agreeing with her. "I can agree with that. I have a beach house. Bought one recently because my younger brother likes the sea"

Oh? He has a brother? "that's sweet... how much younger is he than you?" Maya can't help but start jotting things down in her notebook again

Izana watches in amusement. "3 years. An annoying little shit sometimes but he does what I say because I'm all he has left"

Now that was ominous. "hm... What do you mean?" Maya asks slowly, furrowing her brows

Izana doesn't say anything after that. At the end of the night before Maya leaves, Izana speaks up. "You know when I get out of here, you can come visit my beach house" He suggests with his usual lazy grin

Maya laughs a bit. "I don't think that's very appropriate Mr. Kurokawa"

She bids him goodbye and Izana sighs, staring at the metal door. "Well see about that, doctor"

notes: I’m creating a tag list for this fic so if you’d like to be apart of it tell me :)

[violetsaffron5]

Beautiful Disaster (6)

← Chapter 5 • series masterlist • Chapter 7 →

↳ 6 | Turning Point

Pairing: Gojo Satoru x f!Reader

some time has passed since your date with Satoru and you're both moving on

words: 4.3k

cw: jealously, obsessive gojo, masterbation (male - gojo thinking about reader)

Taglist • Ao3 • Discord 18+ • Social Media • Series Masterlists

“I… caught the science lab on fire today.”

“Fucking dumbass.”

“Accidents happen, Sukuna. Don’t be mean to our little brother.”

You’re at Sukuna’s place, sitting on the floor at the coffee table in the living room looking between Sukuna, Choso and their little brother, Yuji, as they argue about whether the accident was due to stupidity or curiosity.

When arriving at Tokyo Tech, you signed up to be a tutor for an easy extra credit and were assigned Yuji as the high school student you’re meant to help. When you first talked with Yuji and asked where he’d like to meet, you were surprised and confused when he gave you Satoru’s address.

Looking at Yuji, it’s easy to tell he’s related to Sukuna - the peach hair with chestnut coloring underneath. Their facial features are incredibly similar as well, albeit, Yuji’s are less prominent and softer, not to mention the lack of facial tattoos.

But Choso, he looks so much different from the other two.

“I’m sorry, wait,” your brows are furrowed, an obvious look of confusion on your face, “you’re all brothers?”

Sukuna’s sitting on the couch, legs spread wide, cigarette in his mouth, “Yuji’s mom is Choso’s dad. I’m some random mix of the two but don’t care enough to figure it out. Choso’s got some other brothers, I guess.”

“I- wait what?” You look at Yuji who shrugs but you don’t worry about dwelling on it too much after hearing Shoko and Satoru walk through the front door together.

“Hey, babe,” Satoru says casually as he takes a seat on the floor next to you, “whatcha doin’?”

You cock your head towards Satoru with a small smile, flushed cheeks because even though it’s been two weeks since your date, he still calls you babe, “tutoring Yuji in Geometry and Biology.”

“Mm,” he’s grinning, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind your ear, letting his fingers linger on your neck, “if you ever need tutoring, we could study anatomy.”

“Wow. That was genuinely… terrible.” You scoff before rolling your eyes while Yuji rifles through his backpack.

He finally moves his hand off you before leaning forward on the coffee table, resting his head in his arms,  “damn, and here I thought that would work.”

“You’re too much,” you reply with a soft laugh, watching as his eyes flicker over your features and down to your lips several times before he sighs, turning his attention to talk with Sukuna.

Gathering a few papers you printed with problems reviewing the pythagorean theorem, you hand them to Yuji, ensuring this is something he’s covered in his class before letting him loose on the problems himself.

“Ok, Yuji, find x.”

They’re relatively simple, but when you were assigned Yuji as your tutee, the higher-ups over the program had explained he needed extra attention, more than any other student, in these two areas.

The poor kid, who emits nothing but rainbows and sunshine through his personality and smile, stares at the paper for several minutes before scribbling for a moment and handing you the paper back.

And you just stare at it in disbelief before looking up, watching him nervously twiddle his thumbs.

You blink several times, trying to form a coherent sentence, “Yuji… you circled x. You need to solve for it.”

His cheeks flush bright pink before laughing, placing his hand on the back of his head and scratching at his undercut, “yeah, I knew that.”

Sukuna rolls his eyes, calling him obscenities to Choso’s dismay, who tries to cheer Yuji on, telling him he’ll get it right the next time.

You grab the paper and the pen, going over how to solve the problem as Satoru watches with a raised eyebrow and Shoko furrows her brows, “and then the answer is seven cm, see?”

“It’s five cm,” Satoru interrupts.

“What? How’s it 5?”

“The height is three cm and the length is four cm,” Satoru grabs the pen from your hand, scribbling how to solve the problem with prettier handwriting than you anticipated, “do you even know how to do math?”

“Shut up.” Your cheeks are flushed with embarrassment, “it’s just been a while since I’ve had to do that. Let’s just work on Biology instead.”

Yuji gives a thumbs up and wide smile, grabbing his book and opening it to the most recent pages they’ve looked over in class.

“So, gonna be here tonight?” Satoru asks casually.

Shoko groans from the couch, rolling her eyes at the way you’re biting your lip while talking to Satoru about the party, “yeah, was thinking I’d just stay when I’m done helping Yuji and-”

“Or…” Shoko suggests a hint of annoyance in her tone, “you can come get ready with me and come back later. Not sure if Utahime can join us yet or not.”

You purse your lips, staring at her for a moment before scrunching your nose, making a disgruntled face, “I don’t think Utahime likes me very much.”

It’s only partially true. Utahime has never been rude to you, but you can tell when you talk about Satoru she easily gets annoyed, and since you gave them the details of your last date, can’t help but feel like she’s side-eyeing you at all times because of it.

Shoko waves her hand at you while lighting her cigarette, “she just takes a while to warm up to people.”

Next to you, Satoru rolls his eyes when you ultimately agree to go back to the dorms with Shoko and come back later.

You’d also be lying if you said you weren’t at least a little bummed, not staying at the house, being able to spend a little extra time alone with Satoru.

Things with Satoru are platonic since your date… mostly.

The days are fine, going to class, sitting next to each other and talking with your friends at lunch, maybe a little flirting here and there.

But, when you’ve been drinking, and you’re at a party together and tipsy, you find you like being in his presence, more than you should.

And he likes having you around, likes being able to sling his arm around your neck when talking to friends in the kitchen, pulling you in close to him.

Likes whispering in your ear when you’re sitting on the couch together, the way you automatically lean in closer to him.

Sometimes you make out on the couch while others ignore the two of you, continuing their conversation while your hand is cupping his jaw, tongues melded together. It hasn’t gone any further than that, to Satoru’s obvious dismay.

Tonight’s one of those nights, where your legs are across his lap and his tongue is in your mouth, mapping it out like he might die if he doesn’t.

There were fights in their basement again, Satoru against someone you can’t remember the name of to save your life. Not that it matters much because he won.

He kissed you after his match, and hasn’t stopped. Satoru always tastes like spearmint, with a hint of copper tonight, even though there’s no visible cuts on his soft lips.

The music that’s playing is loud enough to cover your moans when Satoru moves from your lips to your neck, but he grins, able to feel the vibrations even when he can’t hear them.

You can vaguely make out your name being called a few times over the music, but the way Satoru is sucking a small mark on the crook of your neck, and slowly running his hands along the length of your legs is too distracting, unable to bring yourself to pay attention to anything else.

“Y/N.” You hear your name being firmly called from Shoko once again.

Satoru groans in annoyance, “she’s a little preoccupied right now.”

“Mm. Well, I need to talk to her. Right now.”

He’s about to reply before you cut in, telling him you’ll be right back.

He pouts his kiss swollen lips before threading his fingers through your hair, tugging on your lip before letting you out of his grasp.

Shoko’s unamused when you finally detach yourself from Satoru and stand up. You’re not sure what she needs to talk to you about so urgently, but judging by the lack of warmth coming from her, you’d venture to guess it’s nothing good.

She walks through the house to the back, maneuvering her way through the groups of people who have all huddled into awkward spaces in the halls and kitchen before bringing you out to the back patio, where hardly anyone is at.

“So… what’s up?” You ask nervously.

Shoko leans against the wooden railing around the patio, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket before asking seriously, “what are you doing?”

It’s quiet outside, except for the music coming from inside the house. But it’s calmer out here, leaves rustling in the wind, the cool air causing you to shiver slightly, hoping this conversation goes quickly:

You laugh awkwardly because you know why she’s asking, even if you don’t want to say it, “I- What do you mean?”

“You’ve said multiple times since your date you don’t want to be involved with him if he’s not going to be exclusive. Yet here you are getting involved with him.”

“I’m not getting involved,” You roll your eyes, “we’re just friends. That’s it.”

“Really hard to tell when his tongue is down your throat every time you’re together.”

You scoff, folding your arms over your chest, looking away from her gaze, “sounds like you’re jealous it’s not yours.”

It’s quiet for a moment, the sound of the music in the background drowned out by the sound of crickets in the distance as you shiver, guilt quickly setting in because you know you shouldn’t have suggested that.

You’re able to see Shoko staring at you with a stern expression from the corner of your eye, taking a deep drag of her cigarette before putting it out on the wood of the fencing, letting the smoke slowly trickle from her nose before breathing out.

“Right. Well, he’s not going to stop, even if he’s not doing that shit in front of you. You’re just going to end up hurt. Don’t come running to me when it happens because I’ll just say I told you so.”

It’s true. Since your date, you haven’t seen Satoru even look in another woman's direction while he’s with you.

There’s been a very small part of you that had hoped he stopped, that he’d want to be exclusive, even though deep down you know it’s not the case.

“Why can’t I just have fun with him?” You ask quietly.

“Because it’s not really what you want. You’re trying to convince yourself to be okay with it but as soon as you see him with someone else, you’re going to be heartbroken. And I don’t wanna see that.”

You huff dramatically, running your hands through your hair before admitting she’s right, and apologizing for being an asshole earlier as you make your way back inside, planning on tonight being your last fun and flirty night with Satoru.

But the universe has other plans because when you’re in the hall, just outside the living room, you can see Satoru with his back turned.

He has a hand on another girl's chin, leaned in close. She’s blushing at whatever he’s saying to her, and your heart is in your fucking stomach.

You were literally in a similar position as her not ten minutes ago and he’s found someone to replace you almost instantly. Easily.

“Jesus Christ,” Shoko mumbles next to you, hand on your shoulder, nodding her head towards the door to Utahime, “just wanna head out?”

You don’t make eye contact with Satoru as you cross the living room to gather your things, but you can see he’s smiling from your peripherals, expecting you to come join him on the couch again.

Instead, Shoko tells them you guys are going to head back.

“I’ve gotta head that way, I can walk you guys back,” Choso offers, standing from the couch and walking to the front door.

“You guys can just stay here. It’s not a big deal.” Satoru says, you can hear the annoyance in his tone.

Shoko says she has things to do in the morning, which is true.

She’s attending a few seminars for pre-med with Utahime. She asked if you had wanted to go too, but you declined.

Now you’re wondering if it’s too late to join, to help keep your mind preoccupied.

“Later,” Suguru says to you with a warm smile, “I’ll see you in class, and we can start planning our World History project.”

“Yeah, sounds great.”

Satoru watches as you give Suguru a forced smile, one that looks like it’s supposed to be genuine, but it’s not.

He clicks his tongue, turning away from you, folding his thick arms over his chest as you walk out of the door with Shoko, Utahime and Choso.

Satoru’s annoyed with how close you’ve gotten with Suguru and how Choso just seems to linger around you too. He could easily give you what you asked for, sure, but where’s the fun in that?

Satoru has actually come to like you quite a bit since you’ve met. But he likes variety, and what he does keeps him from getting bored of one person too easily.

He’s young and has his whole life ahead of him to worry about settling down.

To him, this is better, dating a few people at a time.

There doesn’t have to be commitment with that, and when he gets bored or who he’s seeing gets annoying, he can spend time with someone else, without them hating him or breaking up with him.

But seeing your reaction, how you wouldn’t look at him after whatever Shoko said to you.

That’s weighing on him more than he’d admit to anyone.

October 2011

“Okay, so… put that one right there.”

It’s early evening, and Satoru is sitting on the stairs waiting for his date to arrive as you and Suguru work on your World History diorama. He watches as you nimbly grab a few of the toothpicks and glue, putting them in place where Suguru directs.

The two of you have been partnered together to do this project over the fall of the Roman Empire while Satoru got partnered to work with some asshole he doesn't care to remember the name of.

Suguru invited you over to finish the project this weekend. Satoru’s planning on just letting his partner do the whole thing because who the fuck wants to work together on a boring project?

He’d probably attempt to be more helpful if he was partnered with someone more interesting, like Suguru.

Or you.

It’s been a few weeks since you’ve really spoken to Satoru, or even paid him much attention. Not since you left the night of the party after Shoko talked with you.

If Satoru’s around while you’re talking with friends, you’ll acknowledge him, but that’s the most he’s been getting out of you.

No replies to texts, no looking at him in class or at parties.

Now, all he wants to do is get a rise out of you. Happiness, anger, jealousy. Doesn’t really fucking matter, just something to show you’ve still got feelings for him, still want him.

Satoru’s basically burning a hole into your head with how intently he’s watching you right now from between the railing on the stairs.

You’re sitting between the oversized couch and coffee table, watching how you quickly, yet gently, place each toothpick into its proper spot before smiling and looking at Suguru.

There’s a gentle knock on the front door, and Satoru lets out a heavy sigh as he stands to answer it, already knowing it’s his date for the evening.

She smiles wide and bright. He thought it was endearing a few weeks ago when he first talked to her, but right now it seems dull in comparison to the way you just smiled at his best friend.

“Hey, baby,” Satoru greets anyway, putting on his best smile, pulling his date into a hug, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and kissing the top of her head as she giggles into his chest.

When she pulls away from him, she runs her hands along his arms until they’re at his hands, cupping them in hers, “I’m so excited to go out tonight. I barely slept last night.”

“Hmm,” Satoru hums, looking back at you and Suguru through the corner of his eye to see you’ve finally looked up from your project to see who the girl is at the front door, “did you know you can get paid for sleeping?”

“Oh, really?” She asks curiously, “I could probably make so much money, normally I love to sleep.”

“It’d be a real dream job, huh.”

There’s an awkward silence for a few seconds and then Satoru’s date snorts before loudly chortling.

“Oh, my god, that’s so funny,” she continues.

“Wasn’t that good.” Satoru hears you whisper under your breath.

He lets go of her hands and sighs, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. He’s tempted to just end the date right here and now so he doesn’t have to listen to this annoying laugh the rest of the fucking night.

But he doesn’t. Instead he gives the girl his most charming smile, cupping her face in his hand before locking his lips with hers.

She immediately melts into his touch, slipping her tongue against his and into his mouth. It’s incredibly apparent how inexperienced she is, with the way she’s just wagging her tongue around with no purpose.

Satoru sighs, rolling his eyes before turning her just enough to be able to take control of the kiss, showing her how it’s done.

She’s putty in his hands at this point, exhaling deeply as Satoru opens his eyes to catch you staring at them, jaw ticking in irritation before you close your eyes, turning your attention back to Suguru.

Satoru smiles at your reaction, which in turn makes his date smile as well, thinking he’s doing it because of her.

“Come on, baby,” Satoru says, running his thumb over her lips, “let’s get outta here.”

At dinner, Satoru sits with his hand on his chin as his date prattles on about school, or her parents. He’s not entirely sure since his mind has been preoccupied with thoughts of you since before he left the house.

He’s never cared much if one of his dates runs off and wants to date Suguru, or someone else. That’s just the nature of casually dating. But when you’re around Suguru, Satoru can’t help but be annoyed that you're not paying attention to him.

And fucking ice washes through his veins whenever he sees you and Choso talking.

You probably think these guys are all just so nice and helpful when it couldn’t be further from the truth. Satoru’s very familiar with the look in their eyes when they’re with you.

How they’re all too interested in you. Choso, Suguru, even fucking Sukuna has made remarks about how he’d like to see you tied up in his bed one day.

You’re too sweet for them. Honestly too sweet for Satoru, too, but he’s got an addiction to sweet things, and you’re becoming one of them.

So sweet, the way you smell, the way you taste. Fuck, if he doesn’t wish it was you who’s legs his head has been between this last month. Devouring you rather than some girl he doesn’t really care for.

He doesn’t even really want to fuck them either, a real first for him. Which is why he’s walking back through his front door alone after his grandiose display of going on a date. One he didn’t really even want to go on, he just had an overwhelming urge to make you jealous.

He hopes it worked.

The lights in the living room are off when he gets home. Sukuna’s car was gone but Suguru’s was still here, so Satoru heads upstairs only to find Suguru’s bedroom door closed, light murmurs of Suguru’s voice coming through the door.

Huffing, Satoru makes his way to his room, closing the door behind him before stripping off his shirt and changing into a pair of loose gray sweatpants.

He falls onto his bed with a heavy sigh, crossing his arms behind his head and like clockwork, his thoughts fall back to you and how you’ve been avoiding him.

He hadn’t been following you per say, but he’s perceptive, definitely noticed when you’d be walking around campus, talking to someone. His eyes always seemed to land on you.

You’d walk into class and take your normal seat next to Suguru and Choso, probably thinking Satoru was too busy playing Candy Crush or some shit on his phone, but he’d be watching you, unable to tear his gaze away as you smiled and laughed at someone who isn’t him.

He’s not sure why he’s got you on his mind so much since your date. It didn’t work out, you don't want the same things, it’s not the first time.

But he likes being around you, and he has a dopey fucking grin on his face just thinking about how smart and funny you are. How you’re animated when you talk with your hands while telling a story.

How you look at him with soft eyes and a pretty smile, like he’s more than his family's money and the fact that his father has plans for him to take over the family business.

He also likes that you’re not afraid to just tell him how you feel and what you want.

Satoru groans when he slips his hand past the waistband of his sweats, half-heartedly stroking his hard length at memories of your warm, sweet tongue pressed against his. The way you gently sigh into him when he’d run his hands along your body with light, teasing touches.

He fumbles for his phone next to him, searching every social media app he has until he finds you on one of them, scrolling through your pictures.

There’s not many, and they all seem to be from your freshman year in Kyoto with friends, but there is one of you in a swimsuit similar to the one you wore on your date.

Satoru slides his hand up and down his silky cock, imagining what your mouth would feel like kissing down his chest and abs until your lips are around his hard length.

Your tongue is so soft against his, and the way you hum and sigh into him when you kiss, when he’s between your legs; he just knows you’d look and sound so pretty on your knees in front of him, nose pressed to his groin with his hard cock down your throat.

You’d take him all, and he’d tell you how great you’re doing, that you’re a good girl. He can tell you’d like that.

“Fuuuuck,” he moans softly to himself, still staring at the picture of you, hips doing most of the work as he fucks into his hand.

He’d let you give little kitten licks while he threads his hand into your hair, before pushing you down to the base.

His abs constrict thinking about the way you’d gag on his cock the same way you did his fingers on the beach, a few tears spilling from the corner of your eyes as he fucked your throat recklessly; and when he cums in your mouth you’d swallow without being told, just like his spit, and you’d like it, probably ask for more too.

Satoru moans out your name softly as his body twitches and tenses, covering his abdominals in thick, white spurts of too warm cum.

He sighs heavily before standing up to clean himself off, but when he’s back on his bed, he looks through a few more photos of you.

Nothing too interesting, but one photo catches his eye only because there’s a comment from some guy, Kenji, with several heart eye emojis.

Satoru clicks on his pictures and looks through the photos, immediately noticing an odd similarity to Suguru. And you clearly have a history with him, judging by the several untagged photos you’re in with them.

There’s also several, more recent photos, where you’re in the background, clearly unhappy while Kenji poses with another woman who looks oddly similar to yourself.

If that guy is an ex, as he assumes, then that would at least explain why you seem so drawn to Suguru.

Satoru clicks his tongue in annoyance and opens your text history, debating on messaging you. But if he did, it would just go unanswered, like the others he’s sent the last two weeks. 

Grumbling to himself, he tosses his phone onto his night stand and rolls over, trying his best to just fall asleep.

Satoru wakes with the early morning rays shining through his windows. It’s Saturday, but he’s awake earlier than he thinks he’s been in some time, courtesy of going to bed early for the first time in forever.

He stretches and yawns loudly before making his way to the kitchen to get something to drink, preferably with caffeine but his movements are halted when he walks into the kitchen to see a sight he wasn’t expecting.

You.

With messy hair, no pants and one of Suguru’s oversized sweatshirts, drinking a glass of water, looking over at Suguru who appears to be making toast for two.

You stayed the night. With his best friend.

Satoru’s blood is boiling, clenching his jaw, eye twitching at the sight.

He quietly walks to the table in the kitchen, grabbing a chair and dragging it loudly across the floor letting it screech before plopping down, clicking his tongue, eyes flickering between you and Suguru when you both look over at the source of the sound.

You look awkward. Uncomfortable. A little mortified, if Satoru had to guess, with big doe eyes like you’ve been caught red handed before quickly setting your glass on the counter and scampering out of the kitchen as fast as you can.

@petalsrdead @sugurunicorn @niki-sun @lilith412426 @sofiaconlaz @lxvephxbic @kash2 @violetsapplejuice @iam-mia9 @laylasbunbunny @creolequeen11210 @xiaosie @lem-hhn @s-witch-bitch @yogurttea @slut-jr @watyousayin @desthedemon @ritsatoru @faewithsnakes @abba-simp @myabae @hvziers

[frostfall-matches]

[ matchmaking... ]

@chryaelous : [ match report ready ]

your match is…

✦ Malleus Draconia

-> [ Your warmer, friendly demeanor really helps break the ice between you two. ] It’s clear that you’re not the type to judge, that you’d prefer to meet people at their level in order to make them comfortable and get to know them. While you might be a touch hesitant and shy in his presence initially, you don’t regard Malleus with the same fear or uneasiness that most of your classmates do, and that is so important to him. You’re a warm ray of sunshine in his life! Malleus isn’t a particularly sad or pessimistic individual, just… pensive, calm, and admittedly quite lonely. He does have things that he enjoys in his life, and he’s quite pleasant and level-headed - but his social circle is rather limited, with most fearing him and drawing back when he tries to reach out.

-> [ He insists you join the gargoyle research club! ] With research being a huge passion of yours, he is absolutely sure that your skills will be put to great use in his club. (Besides, it’s a good way for you two to spend time together during school hours). You have a wide range of interests anyway, but thankfully gargoyles are likely to fall within the range of your preferred subjects - they’re works of art, with a distinctive purpose in architecture. Malleus would be eager to finally have someone in his club and actually interested in the subject since he’d be able to have substantial conversations about this interest of his.

-> [ As one who appreciates the arts, Malleus is very supportive of your artistic hobbies. ] Whether it be visual or musical! When it comes to photography in particular, he’s quite interested to see what you can do. Given that he isn’t the biggest fan of technology, and what he’s used to in terms of technology is very different from what you’re used to, the ins and outs of photography are quite new to him. But he loves to see your work! On another note, he also definitely understands not wanting to pursue the arts as a career despite your interest and love for them - most people have many different passions and skills, and it’s practical to consider your options and future.

-> [ He would love to watch documentaries with you. ] Considering your respective schedules at NRC and Malleus’s tendency to wander off and lose track of time, your documentary dates most often happen on the weekends late in the evenings when you two can get a bit of privacy (and peace and quiet). It’s really nice all around - it’s a very relaxed, comfortable atmosphere and you’ll probably have snacks on hand. It’s low-key enough that you two will often drift between paying attention to the documentary to talking about your thoughts on it (and some chit-chat about the events of your days as well).

-> [ Malleus is 100% in agreement with your preferred dates. ] He likes calm, relaxing, one-on-one dates. Not that he wouldn’t be willing to have the occasional date somewhere busy and crowded like an amusement park - he just very much prefers quieter environments where he can really focus on you. Stargazing with him? Inevitable. You two probably stargazed together even when you two were just friends - it just becomes all the more romantic when you do start dating. However, he’s not really one for sunbathing and having picnics on bright, sunny days… but if it were overcast, or you knew a really good spot with shade? Absolutely!

-> [ He finds your sleepiness to be quite endearing. ] Honestly, it reminds him a lot of Silver. Thankfully, you’re not going to just pass out literally walking or standing, meaning that you’ll be snoozing in slightly more appropriate places (or at least safer places). It almost becomes like a game to Malleus who starts to search for you whenever he can’t seem to find you. He’s quick to notice any trends of where you prefer to take your naps. The funny thing is, most of the time he won’t bother to wake you up - he’ll just sit there quietly with you until you wake up on your own, unless there’s something pressing that needs your attention.

-> [ Your strong attachment to your previous world, your previous life, is something very bittersweet when it comes to your relationship with Malleus. ] He understands the sentiment well, knowing it would be difficult on him if he were suddenly and forcibly separated from his loved ones, placed in a world that is completely different to what he was used to. His heart hurts whenever he sees you working tirelessly trying to find a way back home, the stress weighing heavy on your shoulders. Malleus knows he can’t force you to stay, but there’s a part of him that really hopes you decide to stay in Twisted Wonderland, with him and all the friends you’ve made there.

[muu-kun]

Muu and his Safe Layers: An easy reference guide for those curious of what that means, and why he is engaging in such a bizarre habit.

Purpose: Due to a triggered abandonment wound and fear of abuse associated, he's picked up a strong desire to have many, many shields adorned over his person that both hide and conceivably protect him in the process. Other individuals in the a similar predicament might find more success in merely reaching out to those in their social circle to find out if safety, comfort, and love are all still available aspects in their interpersonal connections; however, Muu, not one to want to pester in that way, has found this different solution to take on instead.

The layers thus far:

Socks and underwear. Both are both of his own belongings, yet one category is definitely more unique of an undergament than the other. That being his unordinary boxer briefs. They are technically meant for women, yet he makes them work. They are made of a specialized material that can not be cut, or even pulled down unless desired upon by his own whims due to the locking mechanism along the waistband. The color of his socks and briefs are always likely to vary.

An otherwise standard pair of gray denim jeans that have always been owned by him and him alone.

A t-shirt passed down to him by Fran of @smokes-and-bullets

A button up long sleeve shirt gifted by Roman of @falseamore

Black hoodie absolutely stolen from Deo also over @falseamore

A larger and vibrant purple hoodie given to him by the darling Pchan @nvrcmplt

And the necklace he was not supposed to keep for himself, but still did so because of his wish to have someone of his friend Lotty so many years ago.

And you can bet he's rocking his once bright yellow rainboots to complete the look. He'd never go without his sunshine shoes.

Also in his possession is what he managed to get his grubby hands on from Sully @tximidity. What could be a knitted sweater, a blanket, or even a complete surprise-- he simply still just calls it his wubby as he maneuvers around town doing his lil adult Muu things.

[passerine-writes]

Symbols - Chapter 33

Warnings: Brief mentions of past harm, I suck at writing in third person but I hate switching POV's Word count: 2373

Back to Masterlist

Chapter 32 | Chapter 34

Third Person POV

Akaashi woke up dazed and warm, warmer than normal. His back was pressed against Bokuto's ribs, with a small girl curled up in his chest. A few of her fingertips barely grazed against a certain symbol on his ribs.

His breathing hitched, his typical calm composure flying out the window for a moment. His blue irises flittering over Kaara's sleeping figure. Watching as she turned in her sleep and curled into his chest. The moon light revealed her relaxed face, a sight he rarely saw anymore. It was enamoring to him, how she was so completely and utterly relaxed and how madly in love with her he had fallen.

Slowly, he rested an arm around the girls waist and pulled her closer to his chest and simply admired her. Her light brown hair in a bun that she always insisted on straightening but her baby hairs kept a small wave to them. The glittering golds in her ears, glimmering just a little under the moons bright beams of light. Her long eyelashes, the few light freckles dancing across her cheekbones from the years out in the sunshine. Her slightly defined jawline, followed by her minimally rounded baby face and plump lips. Everything about her was absolutely perfect to the four boys. It didn't matter if she deemed it a flaw or an imperfection, they adored everything about her.

They all wanted her to realize her feelings, the girl being a little too dense at times to put it together. They all felt the amount of love she held towards them, the way she blushed anytime she saw them shirtless or gave her any ounce of affection or endearing statements. They were all more than willing to wait though. So they decided to continue their boys of flirting until she either asked them to stop or realized how she felt this whole time. The four just hope that when she does realize, she won't work harder than she has to reject the bond.

Akaashi rubbed her back slowly, tracing light circles on top of the over sized shirt she adorned. He tried his hardest to ignore the electricity running through his veins and the blush on his face. He has experienced this from three boys in particular but this was the first time he felt this from Kaara. The emotions and sensitivity to them when they touch their mark. So he tried to focus on something else, and somehow found that focus on her emotions.

He let out a deep breath when he felt her copious amounts of relaxation and serenity before falling back asleep himself.

Kaara didn't feel confused when she won't up on a warm chest. In fact, it almost felt normal to her at this point. She was just relieved to finally get a full nights rest, no nightmares waking her up or terrorizing her through the night.

Her face bloomed a bright red when she finally opened her eyes, being met with the toned chest of Akaashi in front of her. The setter in question, kept his left arm draped over her waist and lower back while he scrolled through social media on his phone.

"Good morning." His morning voice was thick as he spoke, the gravelly sound making Kaara blank for a short moment.

"Morning. What time is it?" His hand moved to rub her back like the night before.

"Quarter after nine. Did you sleep well last night?" She promptly nodded, happy with the unbroken sleep she finally got.

"You?" He paused for a second, seemingly thinking of the answer he already knew.

"Same here." She hummed in response and rested her head against his chest again.

Her eyes fluttered shut as she let herself relax, the amount of missing sleep finally catching up to her. She only intended to let her eyes rest for a moment or two but next thing she knew, all four boys were talking when she came to again. Groggily, she popped her head up and found Kuroo staring at her cheekily.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Kaara simply rolled her eyes at his jest, knowing she must have been out for quite some time if all four boys were awake to some degree.

"You only slept for about an hour and a half, it's almost eleven." She looked to Akaashi and nodded at his words. "Those three already ate because Mei called us down, I said I'd just eat after you woke up. You need as much sleep as you can get and I wasn't risking waking you up."

"I-If you want you can go grab something now that I'm up. I'm not that hungry but I know you are by now." He gave her a concerned look but nodded slowly as they sat up.

"I'll be back in a moment, Mei's usually laid back about eating up here." She looked away once he stood up, remembering that he was shirtless and for some reason it made her blush.

To keep herself distracted, she readjusted her messy bun that was even messier from sleeping for twelve hours. Taking a moment to stretch, she didn't realize the the shirt rose up a bit to reveal some of her bruises. While it was an oversized shirt, she cut it down to a normal length but still appreciating the bagginess. However, all four boys noticed immediately what they saw on her stomach. The girl freezing under the worried watch of four boys, quickly tugging her arms down and around her stomach to try and avoid the conversation one of them was bound to start.

"Bubbles.." She tugged her lip between her teeth as Kuroo started talking.

"I'm fine, they're just from Tuesday." She mumbled underneath the intense stares. Kuroo sighed with a grimace but nodded, he hated that he couldn't do anything to help.

So instead, he leaned forward a little and pulled the petite girl into his chest. His toned arms wrapping around her with a dove-like touch as he simply held her. It was the only thing he could fathom that might help without making her uncomfortable. But he froze when he felt it again.

Her spike of panic just like the night before caught him off guard along with everyone else in the room. Cautiously, Kuroo lowered his arms and let them rest by his sides, wanting to give her free reign of comfortability to decide if she wanted to be touched. When she didn't move after a minute, resting against his chest with no residual panic, he was chary moving his arms back to hold her.

"Is this okay?" He waited before finally holding her, patiently sitting there as she debated in her head. The concern grew in her head, about many things revolving around the four boys who were all in the room until she finally chose to succumb to the relaxation and comfort his embrace brought. Hesitantly she nodded her head as an answer. "Okay." He whispered in her ear as he pulled her close to his warm body again. Her head rested against his shoulder a smidge as their heartbeats unknowingly fell in sync.

"Nobody take the thigh pillows, she gave me first dibs at the practice match." Two of the four jokingly huffed at Akaashi's statement while the other two laughed. His comment definitely breaking the remaining tension before he left to get his food. She let her eyes rest for a moment before opting to scroll through social media like she thought the others were doing. Unbeknownst to her, they were texting in an older group chat that got little to no use.

Cats and Owls

From Tetsurou <3 : You all felt that too, right?

From Koutarou <3 : The fear?

From Kenma <3 : Yeah. It happened last night too.

From Tetsurou <3 : Yeah, I don't know what exactly it was about, but it might have something to do with us

From Koutarou <3 ; Do you think she's gonna leave again??

From Kenma <3 : I don't think so.

From Koutarou <3 : Really???

From Kenma <3 : Yeah.

From Tetsurou <3 : She might just be getting into her head too much. Let's just hope she talks about it eventually

From Keiji <3 : I got caught talking to Mei for a moment. However I felt it too. It was more panic and anxiety then fear I think.

From Kenma <3 : I agree. She seems almost unsettled. Could it be from the bruises?

From Tetsurou <3 : I don't think it was just the bruises, but that definitely didn't help

From Keiji <3 : I agree with Tetsurou. If it was just the bruises I don't think she would have felt panicked last night.

From Koutarou <3 : Is it because of that snake yesterday???

From Tetsurou <3 : That definitely didn't help and could be part of why for this morning. He's a snake for a reason.

From Kenma <3 : Yeah.

From Koutarou <3 : Kaara told us a bit about it yesterday but didn't really go into detail

From Tetsurou <3 : What'd she say?

From Koutarou <3 : She said that you two went to middle school together and he always wanted to one up you and stuff

From Koutarou <3 : And she told us how he even went to the lengths of trying to be friends with her and said some mean stuff but she didn't tell us a lot

From Tetsurou <3 : She pretty much covered it all, as vague as she was about it. One of the the nastier things he said was when he called Kaara a punching bag. His girlfriend at the time was the one who saw the bruises on her stomach in the locker room. At the time, we all just thought the bruises were from volleyball practice outside of school but he took it a step further and called her that. He also called pudding head and I some names and slurs but got benched because coach heard him say it. I don't know how or what he knows about her mom though

From Keiji <3 : Should we ask her?

From Kenma <3 : Maybe, it might be good for her to talk about it but it could set her on edge too.

From Koutarou <3 : I'm curious now but I don't want to make her sad :(

From Tetsurou <3 : I'll ask her, we don't have to worry about her being upset because even if it's a bad emotion, it's not directed at us and after everything it's normal for her to feel how she does

From Koutarou <3 : That's true, I'm sorry

From Tetsurou <3 : Baby you don't have to apologize. She doesn't write off emotions or direct them at other people like your dad does with you, okay?

From Koutarou <3 : Okay :(

From Kenma <3 : We promise, Kou.

They glanced up from their electronic devices when Keiji walked in empty handed.

"What happened to your food?" Kaara asked, very confused at the fact he didn't have food with him like he said he would.

"Mei kept me talking so I ate while we talked." All made a notion of acknowledgment, knowing fully well how much Mama Mei can talk if given the chance.

The ravenet laid down on the bed with a full stomach perpendicular Kaara and silently asked before resting his head on her thighs. She nodded delicately, her small agreement to his intended actions and he finally placing his head on her thighs. One leg bent up and the other stretched out over Bokuto's lap a smidge, but everything from earlier left his head the moment her slender fingers carded through his hair. Her nails ever so slightly scratching his scalp and relaxing his body.

"Hey little atom, I wanted to ask you something." She could slightly feel the vibrations of his words rumbling through his chest when he spoke. She hummed in response, encouraging him to ask. "What did that snake mean yesterday? When he asked about your mom?" Two boys felt her tense up before any of them saw it. Her hand in Akaashi's hair stopped for a minute before picking up speed again, and everyone felt the gut wrenching nerves swarming her.

"He uh, w-well um, one day my mom forgot to, uh, shut the blinds and he saw stuff happen when he walked by." All four boys' expression dropped into a sour one when they put the puzzle pieces together for when he started calling her a punching bag.

"Is that why he started calling you that?" She nodded in turn and melted for half a second when Kuroo pulled her closer after his question.

He knew words wouldn't be enough and would fail him, so he did the next best thing and held her. He felt her relax in his arms a little, her hands resuming with a small shake in the youngest's hair as everyone absorbed the new information.

"He's a prick." Kaara laughed at Kenma's statement, all tension in the room dissipating in three simple words.

"Yeah, he is." The girl agreed quietly while she thought about things she swore a long time ago she wouldn't anymore.

Such as how her mother was doing, what she was up to. If she had a new boyfriend. If she moved in the last few years. But most of all, why? Why did she treat her daughter in such a way? Why didn't she protect her eldest child? Why did she subject her to all she went through? If she hated Kaara so much, why didn't she send her to live et her fathers all those years ago? Did she just view her as a chess piece? A mere pawn to try and hurt her father even more? Did she just view her as someone to keep her vast amount of partners around longer? Did her grandparents believe Kaara or did they think it was just an overactive imagination? Why wasn't she enough for her mother?

She stopped for a fraction of a moment when she felt the quick kiss from Kuroo on her head.

And now she had more things to think about.

[mkyoungha]

› see you again . . . !

even after he had a few years to adjust to seoul, youngha stop himself from longing for home. socially, he doesn't struggle. youngha is more than capable of creating another circle of friends. korea is a beautiful country, what's meant to be his home—and yet, youngha still misses the home he had left behind back in australia, along with the people he had grown up knowing. despite finally meeting the relatives his parents would talk about so often, he hasn't exactly made a stable connection with them. personally, youngha can't fathom why his parents desperately sought their approval, but it's nothing youngha has a say in. all he can do is accept his circumstances, all the while stomping on his desire to go back.

but, there are silver linings. he's enjoying his time in university, the lessons aren't all too bad, and his grades aren't terrible either. young has been making friends too, like he had hoped! if he was forced to pick one thing that he's grateful for though, it would be his unexpected reunion with ( @jihoonmk ), something he never thought to be possible.

that being said, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. more often than not, he'd spot a frown etched onto jihoon's face, especially after a visit from home. youngha never pried into the cause of jihoon's sudden disappearance, as long as he can see jihoon then youngha is more than content. still, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that something is amiss, even if jihoon doesn't say anything.

today seems to be one of those days.

he can easily find jihoon from the corner of his eyes, and there it is—the lack of a smile, which honestly makes youngha's chest feel heavy. "hoonie, over here!" he calls out from the other end of the courtyard, approaching with gentle steps. at the sight of his old friend, youngha musters a bright grin. "i've been wanting to see you! how are you doing?" he tries to go for subtle, hoping he doesn't step on any boundaries.

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

A Flower's Father

Pairing: Dilf!Bucky Barnes x Teacher!Reader

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: none this is so beautifully fluffy

Genre: fluff- just fluff

Summary: Bucky's daughter has some thoughts on his social life and thinks her teacher can help

***

You're humming along softly to the music coming from your laptop as you straighten up the front of your classroom.

"Oh miss y/l/n!" You hear the bright voice of the last student in your class.

"Oh miss Liiiiily!" You spin around to face her as you reply in the same sing-song voice she used to call you. The young girl in your third grade class has wavy brown hair and bright green eyes, her face is littered with freckles and there's a small gap between her two front teeth.

"I finished putting away the books by the reading circle, and I pushed all the chairs and I put back the markers by-"

"Woah there- correct me if I'm wrong sunshine but I do believe I only asked you to clean up the reading circle."

"You did but then I saw more stuff I could do so I did that too- is there anything else I can help with?" She blinks up at you, smiling brightly.

"You have done more than enough for today Lily, you're an exceptional little helper. Thank you." You finally stand up straight when you notice shifting by the door. In the doorway stands a tall man with a leather jacket and gloves on. It's not nearly that cold yet and you subtly step forward to put yourself between the stranger and your student. "Hello, can I help you with something?" You ask. He blinks at you and gestures towards Lily who finally goes-

"Daddy!" She yells hopping in place.

"Oh! You must be Mr. Barnes then. I'm y/n- I don't believe you were at parents' night."

"Daddy doesn't like talking to people- except me and uncle Stevie and uncle Sam." Lily tells you. "Daddy this is my favoritest most bestest teacher ever." She tells him.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are sweeter than sugar little miss Lily?" You ask her with a smile.

"You do!" She giggles.

"Well at least someone says it." You wink.

"See daddy isn't she great?" She looks at him. You clear your throat.

"Lily why don't you go grab your backpack so daddy can take you home and I'll see you in the morning okay?" You ask bending to do your short secret handshake with her. Low five, high five, back hand, back hand, fist bump. She runs over to her cubby and grabs her bag before running over to her dad.

"Bye miss y/l/n! See you tomorrow!" She calls as her dad grabs her hand. You wave back smiling at her as they leave without her dad saying anything. You frown a little at the interaction. He seems to be his daughter's total opposite. While she's talkative and friendly he's quiet- probably awkward around new people. No wonder he's never come in to pick her up before today.

Meanwhile Bucky spent the entire interaction absolutely losing his mind. He finally met the teacher that made his little girl excited for school every day and he couldn't utter two words to you! Nothing he wanted to say felt right, and before he could even finish processing his options his ever talkative daughter had managed to brand him a socially inept loner with only two friends.

~

As you're finishing up the last of your lesson the final bell for the day rings.

"Oop- alright everybody pack up, gather your things! Make sure to write down the homework before you leave! Oh! Remember to-" you stop for a second when you hear a knock on the door frame. You glance back to see a large blond man. "Uh remember to bring your workbooks tomorrow!" You finish and turn your attention back to the man. "Hi, sorry, how can I help you?" You ask smiling at him.

"Oh don't worry about it. I'm just here to pick up Lily." The man tells you.

"Lily? Sorry- uh can I get your name?" You ask.

"Sure! Steve- Steve Rogers."

"Alright, if you'll just give me a second- I have to check that you're authorized to pick her up since you're not her father, Mr. Barnes or Mr. Wilson who I believe gets her most days."

"Mr. Barnes? You mean Bucky? Man, it's been a while since I heard anyone call him Mr. Barnes." Steve chuckles, following you to your desk where you check who is on file to pick up Lily.

"Does he not go by Mr. Barnes? He didn't correct me when I met him before- oh geez. I hope that didn't bother him. I wish he'd said something if he wasn't comfortable with that."  You frown. Your frown deepens when Steve laughs.

"No wonder Lily likes you so much." Steve muses.

"I'm sorry?" You tilt your head at him.

"Lily talks about you a lot. You're even sweeter than she says is all." He shrugs. You flip through your cabinet as you respond to him.

"Ah- Lily's a wonderful girl. Anyway your name is here so- you're good to take her home. Thank you for understanding all the protocol." You smile at him.

"Hey I get it. I think it's great that you check these things. It makes me feel good knowing my niece's school takes her safety seriously. I know it makes Bucky feel better too." Steve nods. You quickly grab something on your desk and hold it out to him.

"Oh can you- pass this off to Mr. Barnes? The third and fourth graders are going on a trip to the zoo and each class needs two parent volunteers." You explain.

"And you want Buck to volunteer?" Steve asks with a curious smile.

"Lily wants him to! Actually she kind of insisted I at least ask." You say. Steve leans down to look at Lily who's standing next to him.

"What are you plotting little flower?" Steve asks her.

"Nothing. I just wanna go to the zoo." Lily shrugs innocently. Steve stands to his full height.

"He doesn't have to chaperone if he really doesn't want to as long as he lets me know soon enough to ask someone else." You add.

"I'll pass on the message." Steve says.

"Thank you, have a good day. I'll see you on Monday Lily." You say waving at them both as Steve walks Lily out of your classroom.

~

"Chaperoning?" Bucky deadpans looking from Steve to his daughter.

"Apparently Lily insisted her teacher at least ask." Steve says smiling as he leans against his hand on the island.

"What are you up to Lily?" Bucky narrows his eyes suspiciously at his daughter.

"That's what I asked her." Steve says looking at her.

"Nothing! But you do totally need more friends dad." She shrugs.

"Oh do I? And I should be looking for those friends on your zoo field trip? You want me to be best friends with your teacher?" Bucky cocks an eyebrow.

"It doesn't have to be my teacher, there will be other adults. Parents, the other teachers- although if you pick a teacher mine is definitely the best." Lily says making Steve laugh in spite of himself.

"Lily- I don't need your help making friends okay." Bucky tells her.

"Tell that to your two person social circle." She shrugs as Steve can't hide the way his mouth drops open.

"Okay- that's enough of that. You're not hanging out with Sam anymore." Bucky scoffs.

"Fine but you're gonna need his help if you wanna get my teacher to like you. Uncle Stevie can't help you, he's just as bad as you are." Lily says skipping out of the kitchen.

"Now why am I getting attacked?" Steve blinks.

"Who said anything about trying to get your teacher to like me you rugrat?!" Bucky yells after her.

"Buck you crushin on Lil's teacher? I mean she's fine but- since when are you like that?" Sam chuckles strolling into the kitchen.

"You know me giving you a key for emergencies doesn't mean you can just bypass knocking when I'm home. And I'm not crushing on Lily's teacher." Bucky says.

"Lily told her teacher to ask Bucky to volunteer for a field trip." Steve says.

"She thinks I need to expand my social circle- a notion I'm sure she picked up from you." Bucky points at Sam.

"Hey if the shoe fits Cinderella- be back by midnight." Sam laughs.

"She also thinks you are going to help Bucky get Miss y/l/n to like him." Steve says.

"I've met the woman once I don't know where Lily got the idea that I'm trying to get her to like me. I mean you pick her up the most."

"Lily's a smart girl. I guess something in that one introduction told her something you didn't notice." Sam shrugs.

"That's ridiculous." Bucky rolls his eyes.

"Well- if you don't wanna volunteer I could get behind going." Sam jokes.

"Shut up. I'll go. But I'm going because Lily wants me to. Not because of her teacher."

"If you say so man." Sam chuckles.

~

You clap your hands from the center of the classroom to get the kids' attention as you walk to the front.

"Alright kids settle down- we're about to start loading the buses." You call out.

"Am I late? I- had to run back home and grab Lily's lunch." Bucky says slipping into the classroom.

"You made it just in time. We're about to get them on the buses. Mr. Barnes this is Alexander's mom Ms. Louis. Ms. Louis this is Mr. Barnes he's Lily's father." You introduce the two parents.

"Hello Ms. Louis." Bucky nods.

"Oh- please- call me Dalilah." Ms. Louis says with a slow drawl that you pretend not to notice as you suppress a chuckle.

"Uh- how can I help, Miss y/l/n?" Bucky turns his attention to you.

"Right now we have to get the kids lined up and outside so- oh here's an attendance sheet for the kids in my class." You say handing him a clipboard.

"Cool. Thanks."

"Everyone get in line so we can get on our bus." You put your hand up as you walk to the door for them to line up. Once everyone is in line you do a quick headcount before leaving the classroom with Bucky and Dalilah near the middle and end of the line respectively.

"Are we going to be the only class on the bus?" Bucky asks you as you load the students.

"Oh- no there's two third grade classes and two fourth grade classes with 20-25 students each so we'll be sharing the bus with the other third grade class." You explain.

"And at the zoo? How are we dividing the students?" He asks.

"We're just going to move as a class- that's why we needed 2 parents per class. 20 students and 1 teacher is a bit much." You say.

"Oh- that makes sense, yeah." Bucky nods.

"Mr. Barnes- you should sit beside me on the bus." Ms. Louis says not so subtly placing her hand on his shoulder and you once again have to stifle a laugh.

"Uh- sorry I have to talk to Miss y/l/n about one of Lily's tests. It would probably be easier if I sat with her." Bucky says awkwardly, sliding away from Ms. Louis.

"Maybe on the way back then?" She bats her lashes at him as you slip away to get on the bus behind the last of your kids.

"Uh maybe." Bucky says scrambling onto the bus and into the seat you're standing next to.

"Make room kids, Miss. Conner's class will be joining us on this bus okay everyone." You tell them, settling in beside Bucky for the bus ride to the zoo. Once the other class is on the bus and the fourth graders have been loaded on their bus your ride to the zoo is about twenty minutes long.

"So, are you excited Mr. Barnes?" You ask once the bus has left the school.

"To watch a bunch of kids at the zoo?"

"Well- yeah sure. The zoo is nice- even with 20 eight year olds."

"I don't usually do the chaperone thing." He tells you.

"Ah- well I'm sure you'll be fine. After all Lily seems to think you'll totally kill it. Plus I'll be around the whole time so all you have to do is help me not lose any kids." You joke.

"Is that a problem you've had often on field trips?" He blinks at you.

"No- that was a joke. I'm actually pretty good at not losing kids thank you very much. But two sets of eyes are better than one Mr. Barnes."

"Bucky." He says.

"What?"

"Call me Bucky. No one- calls me Mr. Barnes." He explains.

"Oh- okay. Bucky." You nod.

When you arrive and the group of children are off of the busses you take a moment to get their attention.

"Alright kids find your parent volunteers! They should be wearing the same colored shirt as you!" You shout over the group of kids before walking over to the other teachers.

"Ah field trips- what an experience." Ms. Thomas muses.

"Okay so it's 10:30 now- we meet at the pavilion at 12:30 for lunch and get everyone back on the buses by 1:30, 2?" You ask checking your watch.

"Sounds like a plan." Ms. Adams nods.

"Okay everyone knows what route they're taking then?" You ask.

"Yep." Miss. Conner nods.

"In that case, we'll see each other at lunch then." You say walking before back over to your class.

"Everything good?" Bucky asks you.

"Oh- yeah we were just going over the itinerary." You tell him as you do a headcount of your students.

"Ms. Louis did attendance while you were talking to the other teachers." Bucky tells you.

"Oh- thank you. Alright kids we're going to head this way!" You clap walking towards one of the paths. Your path starts with the primates. From there you and your students see the big cats and then the pandas. The reptile house interests some of the kids and freaks out some of the others so you allow some of the kids to wait outside with Ms. Louis. Then you pass the birds where everyone gets excited watching the flamingos and toucans in their habitats. You hit the aquatic animals after that and the kids get to catch the penguins getting fed which is obviously entertaining for all of them. By the time you've made it through most of the zoo it's about time to start going to the pavilion for lunch so from there you head to meet the other classes for lunch.

When you get to the pavilion Miss. Conner is already there with her third-grade class and Ms. Adams has made it too. By the time you've settled your class at some of the lunch tables, Ms. Thomas has also arrived with the last group. Before you can grab a seat Miss Conner snatches you over to where she and Ms. Adams are already sitting with their lunches.

"I've been dying to ask you all day who is that fine man in your group y/n?" Miss. Conner asks.

"You mean Mr. Barnes? He's a parent. There's his daughter Lily." You explain.

"You have to give us more than that!" Ms. Adams says.

"Is he married?" Miss. Conner asks.

"Single?" Ms. Adams adds.

"Divorced?" Ms. Thomas chimed in.

"Well I think he's not married. I've never seen a ring and Lily's emergency contacts are two men who are also very attractive. She calls them uncle Stevie and uncle Sam. One of them picks her up most of the time. There's never been a woman to get her and Lily's never mentioned a mom so-"

"So he's single?" Miss Conner squeals.

"I did not say all that. He's very quiet I don't know much about him in all honesty. Lily claims he's not exactly the social type." You tell the others.

"He's getting pretty social with your other volunteer right about now." Ms. Thomas chuckles. You glance over your shoulder and sigh.

"Ms. Louis has been flirting with him all day and he's obviously super not comfortable with it. It's like the woman can't take a hint." You drop your head.

"You might wanna go rescue him Y/n." Ms. Adams snickers.

"At this point, I'm quite tired of her myself. I'll catch you later." You sigh standing from the table with what's left of your lunch to save Bucky.

"I just think it's so rare for dads to volunteer for field trips. I'd expect Mrs. Barnes to be here honestly Mr. Barnes." You catch Ms. Louis's completely unveiled attempt at flirting.

"Uh actually there isn't a Mrs-"

"Mr. Barnes, Ms. Louis! How's lunch?" You ask slotting yourself between the two of them.

"Well I was just telling Mr. Barnes how admirable it is that he's volunteered for this trip. Not a lot of fathers do that." Ms. Louis says.

"Oh! Lily really wanted him to come. I was actually really glad when he confirmed that he'd do it." You smile at Mr. Barnes.

"Yeah- I mean you know- anything for my little girl." Bucky shrugs.

"Such a devoted father." Ms. Louis gushes.

"I mean with a kid like Lily it's hard not to be devoted. She's one of my best students." You say.

"She adores you as a teacher. I think you make it easy for her to excel." Bucky nods at you.

"I hope I make it easy for everyone to excel, but thank you." You smile.

"Alexander adores her too. She's clearly a miracle worker with kids don't you think Mr. Barnes?" Ms. Louis leans forward to look at him. You almost want to laugh at the way Bucky's face subtly shows his growing irritation.

"It's uh- yeah she's- pretty great." Bucky nods.

"We'll have to get the kids on the buses soon." You mutter, checking your watch. "Bucky do you mind helping me collect trash from the kids?"

"Absolutely." Bucky stands quickly and rushes to grab a trash bag. Bucky walking around with a trash bag prompts a few of the other volunteers to also gather trash from the collection of students. Once everyone's packed up you lead the kids back onto the buses and Bucky pulls you into the seat next to him before Ms. Louis can take it.

"That eager to sit next to me Bucky?" You joke with a smile.

"More eager to stay away from Ms. Louis." He says with a huff and you nod. You don't notice but he grimaces at how his answer probably came off. "I mean- not that you aren't great company it's just-"

"I get it- no need to explain yourself Mr. Barnes- uh Bucky. No need to explain yourself Bucky. I know Ms. Louis has been- a bit friendly to say the least." You reassure him.

"Friendly might be an understatement." He scoffs. You throw your head back as a laugh bubbles out of your throat. Bucky allows himself to smile as a feeling he can't name warms his chest at being the cause of such a wonderful sound.

"Yeah- it probably is an understatement." You say. Bucky chuckles a little but can't think of anything to say despite wanting to continue talking to you so he lets the silence drag. When you get back to the school and the kids are in the classroom he finally thinks of something to say.

"Do you- need any help with the students til the parents show up." He asks you. There's about half an hour left until pickup though you're sure several parents will show up early.

"Ah I'm sure Lily's ready to go home. You don't have to stay. Thank you for offering though!" You smile.

"We can stay if you need us Miss. Y/l/n. I don't mind. Daddy doesn't either." Lily skips around her dad as she talks.

"I can handle it little flower I promise. You take the excuse to leave early." You say squatting to her eye level. "I say you make daddy get you ice cream." You suggest in a stage whisper.

"Ice cream?! Daddy let's get ice cream!" Lily says excitedly.

"You sure changed your mind quick." Bucky laughs.

"You learn the ways of children very quickly when you teach them." You shrug triumphantly.

"Well- guess I lost this one. If the princess wants ice cream then I can no longer stay to help." Bucky chuckles.

"Yes well have a nice weekend." You smile. Bucky and Lily both wish you the same before she skips out of the classroom with her father in tow.

~

"Hey Lily! How was your Zoo trip the other day?" Steve asks as he walks into Bucky's kitchen.

"Fun! Daddy spent the whole day talking to Miss. Y/l/n.  They sat together on the bus, talked during the whole walk, and she even sat with him at lunch." Lily reports.

"You know you were supposed to be there to look at zoo animals. Not me." Bucky looks at her incredulously.

"Uncle Sam told me to look out for anything interesting." Lily shrugs.

"Uncle Sam needs to mind his business." Bucky rolls his eyes.

"Are you going to ask Miss. Y/l/n on a date?" Lily asks.

"No. Why would I do that?" Bucky sighs.

"Because you like her." Lily shrugs.

"Why do you think he likes her Lily?" Steve asks with an amused smile.

"He spent all day talking to her even when he wasn't trying to avoid Ms. Louis." She shrugs.

"Alright missy that's enough." Bucky says.

"Ms. Louis?" Steve frowns.

"Alexander's mom. She kept hitting on dad." Lily says skipping out of the kitchen.

"Look at you cassanova." Steve laughs.

"Shut up. Are you picking her up tomorrow or is Sam?" Bucky rolls his eyes.

"You are." Steve says.

"What? I'm supposed to be at the shop tomorrow."

"Well do some rearranging bud. I think the kid's right." Steve shrugs.

"Right about what?" Bucky blinks at his friend.

"You should ask out the teacher. If you like her so much." Steve explains.

"Between you Sam and my daughter you are supposed to be the rational logic using adult. Why are you agreeing with my eight year old?!" Bucky sighs.

"You can't stay single forever. And don't use Lily as an excuse she clearly wants you to have a love life just as badly as you need one. You deserve it. Plus if you ask out her teacher you don't have to go through the awkward 'I have a kid' talk or worrying if Lily will like her. She already knows and they get along great. No drawbacks."

"This is ridiculous." Bucky huffs.

"Just give it a shot. The worse that can happen is she says no. In which case I'll do my best to make sure you don't have to see her again and in a couple months Lil will have a new teacher anyway." Steve shrugs.

~

In a couple months Lily will have a new teacher anyway. That's what Bucky tells himself as he walks with Lily back towards your classroom. A knock on the doorframe pulls your attention away from your computer where you're entering grades. You look up and see Bucky in the doorway.

"Mr. Barnes. Is everything okay? Did you not find Lily outside?" You ask with a concerned frown as you walk over to him.

"Hi Miss. Y/l/n!" Lily pokes her head into the doorframe.

"Oh- nevermind then- did you leave something little flower?" You look at Lily.

"Nope!" She shakes her head.

"In that case- to what do I owe the pleasure?" You ask with a smile.

"Well I uh- I wanted to ask you something actually." Bucky says looking around the classroom.

"Ask away!" You tell him.

"I was just wondering if you- wanted to grab dinner together sometime." He forces himself to look at you while he asks the question.

"Dinner?" You blink at him. The question caught you off guard honestly.

"Is that incredibly stupid? Have I- overstepped?" He grimaces.

"No! No, not at all I just- I was surprised. One second." You say. You turn your back to him and subtly blow out a breath, smiling as you walk back to your desk hoping your excitement isn't noticeable. You quickly scribble your number down on a sticky note and walk back over to him. "Here. My phone number, you can call me and we'll plan something." You say with a smile.

"Uh- yeah yeah okay. Sounds good." He nods.

"Great. Have a good night and- I hope to hear from you soon Bucky." You say walking back over to your desk and sitting back down to your work.

"Yeah- you too." Bucky says cheesing almost too hard as he walks Lily back out of the school.

"See dad? Told you you should ask her on a date." Lily smiles as she skips down the hall.

"Oh hush." Bucky chuckles.

"Make sure you call her!" Lily tells him

And he did. He called you later that evening, around 6, not wanting to call too soon but not wanting to call you too late at night either. You giggled through the whole conversation as you listen to Bucky talk through potential date ideas. You eventually agree on a little Italian place that Bucky swears by and with a quiet good night your call ends after almost an hour.

Your date is scheduled for that weekend, Saturday. Bucky would've scheduled it for earlier but he figured during the week would be too busy for you and he didn't want to schedule it for too soon. He's extremely nervous as he pulls up to the restaurant at 6:45. You're supposed to meet him at 7 but he wanted to be early, to meet you when you arrive.

"Bucky!" You call when you spot him near the entrance. He spins around to face you with flowers in his hand.

"Hey! Did you find the place okay?" He asks with a smile.

"Yeah! I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"Not at all. I brought you flowers, although I realize it- will probably be awkward to have them at the table all night." Bucky chuckles as he hands you the bouquet of wildflowers.

"Thank you. They're gorgeous and I think it'll be great to keep them at the table honestly. We'll make it work." You take the flowers from him and take his outstretched arm for him to lead you into the restaurant. He talks to the host who seems familiar with him as they talk all the way to your table.

"A server will be with you shortly." The host says and walks away.

"I take it you come here a lot." You muse with a smile.

"Oh uh kinda- Lily loves the place so- we're not strangers." He shrugs.

"That's cute. What's her favorite thing on the menu?" You ask.

"She usually orders the spaghetti- she's a huge fan of their breadsticks." Bucky laughs.

"Well- breadsticks are good to like." You nod.

"Any idea what you're gonna order?" He asks.

"What do you recommend?" You look at him.

"Uh the tortellini carbonara is pretty good- and the angel olio. And- if you can't decide alfredo's always a solid goto." Bucky points at menu options.

"Those all- sound like amazing options."

"Whatever you pick will be good I promise." Bucky smiles. When the waiter comes by you both order, you the angel olio, and him the tortellini.

"So uh, how long have you been teaching?" Bucky asks.

"About six years now." You tell him.

"Has it been third grade the whole time or- did you start elsewhere?" He asks.

"I worked at preschool first actually and then I started working at Lily's school 2 years ago." You explain.

"How do you like it? Better or worse than preschool?"

"If every student I ever had was like Lily, I'd say it's better for sure- but sometimes you get students that make you just- sigh. Either way I love teaching." You shrug.

"From what I know you're pretty amazing at it so-" he smiles. By now your food has arrived and you have to remember to eat as you continue talking.

"Thank you. So- what do you do?" You ask him.

"I uh- own a bookstore." He says.

"Really? That's so cool." You say.

"Yeah- it was real instrumental in the whole reintegration thing."

"Reintegration?" You frown.

"I'm a veteran." He shrugs.

"Oh!"

"Don't tell me you didn't wonder what was up with the metal arm."

"I- never thought about it all that much actually. Life happens. Plus you usually cover it." You shrug.

"I do- people stare. Most kids think it cool but their parents usually don't so- I cover it to pick her up."

"I think it's cool." You tell him with a small smile.

"Do you now?" He chuckles.

"Totally. It's attached to someone I think is cool so- it's cool by association." You say.

"You're sweet." Bucky says and you chuckle as you answer.

"Like candy, I'm told. So- Steve and Sam are they like- your best friends or-"

"Steve and I grew up together- he's basically a brother to me. Sam was his friend and- we didn't always get along at first but- he grew on me for sure. Plus- Lily loves him so- I keep him around." Bucky says with a thoughtful smile.

"Just- outta curiosity- is Lily's mom in the picture? I mean- Lily never mentions her and, I've only ever seen one of you three pick her up."

"Lily's mom-"

"If it's- you know not something you're comfortable with we don't have to go there. I'm just being nosy." You shrug.

"No no- it's fine I, I just wasn't expecting it. But typically people wanna get to know each other on dates right? It's a valid thing to ask." He says.

"So- if you don't mind, can you tell me?"

"Lily- doesn't have a mom. Well I mean- she does technically but- like there's no woman in my life connected to Lily. I adopted her." Bucky laughs slightly at the awkward way he tried to say that.

"Oh! When? Was she old enough to know she's adopted or-"

"She was 2- so not quite old enough to understand. She knows now though. I think she never really talks about it because it doesn't matter to her but she knows. It doesn't change who her family is but if she ever wants to find her biological parents- I have names."

"What made you want to adopt a kid?"

"Well- when I came home and got this arm- I had a real tough time trying to figure out what the hell the rest of my life was gonna look like. The white picket fence with the perfect family that I thought I'd have no longer- made sense. I knew I still wanted a family but- honestly it felt like the traditional route wasn't gonna work out all that well. So- I opened a book store and once I felt... adjusted enough to care for someone other than myself I looked into adopting."

"Do you want more kids?" You ask.

"Maybe- I don't know how Lily would adjust to siblings but- I think I'd like more kids- adopted or biological. Doesn't matter- depends on where life takes me I guess." He shrugs.

"I think Lily would make a great big sister." You tell him.

"Think so?"

"Yeah."

"Me too." He nods. "I think it's my turn to ask questions."

"Ask away Mr. Barnes." You smile.

"Do you have any kids?" He asks.

"Nope. Although teaching sometimes makes it feel like I've got 20." You joke.

"Do you want kids?"

"Yeah- whenever the time feels right."

"You seem so normal." Bucky says after a moment.

"Normal?" You ask.

"Yeah- I come with all this baggage and you- like don't."

"Baggage is a weird way to refer to life experience." You say.

"A military veteran with a metal limb is just 'life experience' to you?"

"Sure- it's not the happiest life experience sure but it's part of what makes you you- and so far I like what I've seen." You smile. You and Bucky spend another hour just chatting away even after the food has long been finished and by the time you're making your way out of the restaurant you feel like you've known him for years. Bucky walks you all the way to your car with your hand in his.

"I had a lot of fun tonight." You tell him once you reach your vehicle.

"Me too- thanks for agreeing to this."

"Thanks for inviting me. I uh- hope we can do this again sometime." You say. Bucky leans forward and plants a delicate kiss on your cheek.

"We will." He says softly against your skin. "Goodnight." He adds stepping back.

"Goodnight. Get home safely." You say wistfully as you get into your car.

"You too." He says walking away. You glance at the flowers you put in your passenger seat as you start the car. You're beaming the entire way home- you can't help yourself. You don't go on dates often and this has definitely been one of the best. You hope that whatever your future with Bucky is just as great or better than tonight.

***

[anonymityisfunwriter]

Two Sides Of The Same Coin - Chapter 5: "Wonderland"

"We found Wonderland, you and I got lost in it and we pretended it could last forever..."

Pairing: Sunshine!Reader x Grumpy!Bucky Barnes

“Of course the one time I bank on them being in the lab, they’re not in the lab,” Sam huffs, while your eyes wander flickering to all the machines and technology you'd never seen before. “FRIDAY, can you tell Tony and Bruce that I’m in the lab waiting for them?”

“Of course,” FRIDAY announces.

You look around the room, startled. “Who was that?”

“That was FRIDAY- an AI. And before you ask, that is an explanation I’m not really capable of giving you-” Then you hear Sam’s phone start to ring, as he pulls out his phone, he says, “Of course, it’s Fury, the man has the worst timing. Listen, I’m going to take this, but wait here, okay?” You eagerly nod, paying more attention to the strange machines in the unfamiliar room. “And don’t touch anything!” 

You look around the room, surrounded by all kinds of unfamiliar equipment and technology. You keep Sam’s warning in mind, but you’re distracted by all the novelty of everything surrounding you. 

In your peripheral, you see a bright blue light inside a large glass container. Entranced by this strange object, you find yourself slowly stepping towards it, your hand absentmindedly reaching out to touch it.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a voice warns, jolting you out of your stupor.

“I wasn’t touching anything!” you reflexively call out, whirling around to see a stranger at the door of the lab.

“I just saw you,” Tony points out.

"Oh...right," you nervously chuckle. "It just looked so pretty," you coo, turning to look at it again.

“Yeah, pretty until it kills you. That’s what the big warning sticker on the front is for. Do people not read nowadays?” he asks sarcastically.

You shrug, absently replying, “Er…I dunno.”

Tony takes another step toward you, snapping his fingers to get your attention. Your head snaps to the unfamiliar man, who's definitely getting a little annoyed at the strange situation. “Probably should’ve asked this first, but who are you? And what are you doing in my lab?”

“Sam told me to wait here,” you state confidently, finally focusing your attention on the man in front of you.

“And where is Wilson? You’d think he’d be here considering he called me down here.”

“Nick called him."

“Nick?”

“Nick Fury,” you clarify. “I don’t know why, probably to check on me.”

“Fury calls Sam to check on you?” Tony asks in disbelief. “Okay, let’s circle back to who you are?”

You give him your first name, your only name considering you don’t have a last name. At least until Sam sorts that out. Tony nods suspiciously and tells FRIDAY to get Sam back down here ASAP.  Then another unfamiliar man walks in. “Um…hello.” He holds out his hand to you, “I’m Dr. Banner- Bruce Banner.”

You reach out and shake his hand like Sam taught you, and give him your name. You study the man in front of you, making Bruce nervously ask Tony, “Uh, Tony, what’s she doing in here?”

“Still trying to piece that together myself,” Tony mutters, intently watching your every move. 

“Sam, told me to wait here,” you re-state, awkwardly standing there rocking back and forth on your feet. They both look equal parts irritated, amused, and anxious by you, and given your limited social capabilities, you're unsure of how to diffuse the tension, so you remain standing there trying to keep a smile on your face.

Then, finally, in walks Sam. “Great, you’re both here. This is-”

“We know already,” Tony interrupts. “Now would you like to explain why she’s coming in here and touching things like she can’t read a caution label?”

“I think he’s mad at me,” you quietly murmur to Sam who comes to stand right next to you.

“Yeah, hi, I can still hear you,” Tony retorts.

“I told you not to touch anything,” Sam whispers back. Then turns back to Tony, “And she is our newest recruit.”

“Recruit? Says who?”

“Nick Fury,” Sam replies simply.

“And why is this the first I’m hearing about this?”

You turn your attention away from the two men bickering back and forth. Your eyes wander until you come across a blue and red shield. Bruce eyes you, equally uninterested in watching Sam and Tony bicker, as you watch the shield intently, slowly shuffling closer and closer to it.

“That’s Captain America’s shield,” Bruce tells you.

“It almost feels like James’ arm,” you marvel. “But he doesn’t let me mess with his arm.”

“Felt?” Bruce asks, now directing his question to Sam. “But she’s not even touching it.”

“James? As in Barnes?” Tony adds, getting more annoyed by this muddled situation.

“Do you know other guys with a metal arm?” Sam scoffs.

“How does she know Bucky?” Bruce asks.

“Long story.”

“How do you know each other?” 

“An even longer story.”

“You’re a real fountain of knowledge today, Wilson. Care to explain what she’s doing?” Tony retorts, arms crossed as he huffs in annoyance. 

“Give her a minute,” Sam whispers, watching the way you examine the shield, lightly ghosting your hand over the metal.

“It’s almost as light as air,” you comment in awe. “Can I mess with it?”

“Mess with Captain America’s shield? Like toss it around?” Tony asks, now completely unamused.

“That’s not what she means. She wants to see if she can mess with it, bend it, change its shape, that kind of thing,” Sam explains as if it's the most normal thing in the world. 

“It’s vibranium, it’s virtually indestructible,” Bruce coolly explains.

“That sounds like a challenge to me,” Sam grins, nodding to you to go ahead.

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” Bruce tries to interrupt, but it’s too late. You slowly lift the shield off it’s resting place. It’s suspended in the air and with a twist of your head, the whole thing bends in half.

“Oh my God,” Bruce remarks, subconsciously taking a step back. When you turn your head again, you straighten it back to its original shape. Your eyebrows pull in and the shield starts to crumple inward.

“You know, I imagine Steve will want that back,” Tony murmurs to Sam.

“Right,” Sam nods, then turns to you, “Alright, just like you found it, please.”

You silently nod to Sam, straightening the shield and lowering back into its original spot. “That was fun,” you smile, turning back to the three men who are watching you in awe.

“Alright, I take it all back- you’re my new favorite,” Tony remarks, walking around the counter to put an arm around your shoulder. “Anything else you want to mess with, feel free. Except my suit. Don’t touch my suit.”

“Really?” you giddily ask.

“No,” Sam forcefully interjects, pushing Tony's arm off of you. “Not really.”

“Aww,” you whine. “Why not?”

“Come on, you know why.” 

“Right,” you sigh dejectedly.

“Um…I don’t know why,” Tony interjects. 

“We have rules,” you explain.

“Rules?” Tony scoffs. “I don’t have any rules.”

“Maybe we should…” Bruce starts again, only to be ignored by Tony again. 

“Trust me, you want the rules, Tony,” Sam insists.

“Rules are for schmucks, Sam. Go on, pinkie pie.”

You look to Sam, who throws his hands up in defeat as he takes a step back. “Go ahead.”

“But you just said,” you remind Sam. 

“You know what? I say we move this to the training room- where our indispensable research and work isn’t, Tony,” Bruce cautions, taking your hesitation as his chance to finally squeeze a word in. 

“Fine,” Tony huffs, rolling his eyes. “Come on, pinkie pie. I’m going to show you a room with no rules.”

The four of you walk down the hall to the large training room. You watch in wonderment as you walk into the large room with concrete walls and a large open area. You look to Sam, unsure of what to do. 

He nods. “Go on. We’ll be just behind the glass. Show Tony why we have rules.”

“Okay,” you shrug. 

From the other side of the glass, the men watch as you look around the room, examining your new surroundings. “So are you going to explain?”

“Explain the rules?” Sam asks, keeping a very close eye on you.

“Or why she listens to your rules at all, either or,” Tony shrugs.

“She was found,” Sam states. “Less than a year ago.”

“You found her?” Bruce wonders. 

Sam shakes his head. “Fury found her- he thought she'd make a good addition to the team.”

“Where’d he find her?”

“It’s hard to explain. It wasn’t a good place- spent her entire life there. These last 10 months have been her only contact with the outside world.”

“And how old is she?” Tony asks, watching you like he's watching his next science experiment. Sam doesn't like it, not one bit. 

“Don’t know. We think early to mid twenties.”

“You don’t know?” Tony repeats in disbelief, looking to Bruce who's equally suspicious of this entire situation. 

“Nope.”

“So let me get this straight, we don’t know anything about this girl. Not where she came from. Not how old she is. Not even a last name. No idea where her powers came from, and you and Nick Fury thought this was a good person to bring into the team. What if she’s a mole? A spy?”

Sam's eyes flicker to you as he shakes his head. “You think she’s a spy? A ten minutes ago you thought she wasn’t fit to be on this team and now you think she’s some evil mastermind.”

“Okay," Tony concedes. "Point taken- but you can’t deny that it’s strange.”

“I’ve been living with her for almost a year, I trust her.”

“And you’ve been living with her? Seems like a strange initiation process,” Tony suggestively remarks.

“It’s not like that,” Sam scoffs. “It’s a long story, which I’m sure will all make sense when you inevitably read her file. And that-” he nudges his head in your direction. “-is why we have rules.”

All three men turn to look out at the training room, where you’re standing in front of a punching bag that has just spontaneously combusted into flames. “Should I get FRIDAY to extinguish that?” Tony asks, just that much more intrigued by you. 

“Just give her a second.”

And just as quickly as the fire started, it slowly dies down leaving a half melted punching bag. “Oh, Steve!” Sam calls when he sees the blonde walk down the hallway. “You’re just in time.”

“In time?” Steve asks, walking into the viewing room, immediately noting the unfamiliar face standing in front of a melted punching bag. “Who’s that?”

“She is our newest recruit.”

“Her?” Steve asks in disbelief. 

“Why does everyone say it like that? When did this team become so judgmental?” Sam asks defensively.

“Honestly, Cap, you really shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover,” Tony sarcastically remarks. “Especially considering that girl right there folded your shield like a piece of paper.”

“She what?” Steve exclaims.

“She also fixed it,” Tony adds, smirking at a bewildered Steve. “You can’t even tell. But it was entertaining- I may have her do it again.”

“No, you will not.”

“That’s really up to her,” Tony snickers. “Wilson, does she take bribes?”

“No,” Sam frowns. “Now, pay attention.”

They turn back to you, who suddenly has a bubble of water in your hand. “Did she just pull water from thin air?” Bruce asks.

“Yes,” Sam replies, then presses the button for the intercom. “Hey, why don’t you come say hi? There’s a new person here.” Once he lets the button go, he turns to the three men, “She hasn’t met a lot of people so…be nice.”

You walk into the room, jolting as the doors automatically open as you approach the doorway. As you walk into the viewing room, you still hold a bubble of water in your hand. “Hi!” 

You reach out to shake Steve’s hand, but he just looks questioningly at the water in your hand. “Oh right, where can I put this down?” you ask Sam, pulling your hand away from Steve.

Sam jokingly tilts his head. “Tony said this is a lawless land. Anywhere you want.”

“Okay,” you shrug, letting the bubble drop and splash on the floor. 

“Alright, well since the three of you are here,” Sam says, gesturing to the three of them respectively, “This is Tony Stark, Dr. Bruce Banner, and Steve Rogers.” Then he gestures to you, smiling proudly, "And this is the newest member of our team."

Previous Chapter ⏐ Next Chapter

"Two Sides Of The Same Coin" Chapter List AnonymityIsFun Masterlist

[atinydise]

Ateez reacting to their s/o crying in front of them for the first time

❦ Genre: Fluff, a little bit angsty.

❦ Pairing: OT8.

❦ Word count: 3K4.

❦ Requested: Yes, thank you! 🦋

HONGJOONG

It had been 2 weeks since you had nonstop these hating comments on every social media. Your friend and Hongjoong warned you that the beginning will be hard, but you never imagine it would be like this. Before sleeping, you did your best to delete most of the meanest comments because you didn't want Hongjoong to be upset. To reassure yourself, you were telling every day that it would stop someday, but you were wrong. It was worse the next days. Just to enjoy your boyfriend's presence, you went to his studio. He would be busy, but his presence was enough for you. That's the only thing you wanted right now.As he was adding another beat on his production, you were deleting the comments again. Every time you tried to suppress one, another one came up. It overwhelmed you more than you imagined.

"I'm almost done babe! After that we can go watch our movie." Said Hongjoong, turning his chair around. His heart missed a beat when he saw tears sliding from your red eyes. His smile faded quickly. Your boyfriend immediately stood up and kneeled just next to you. "What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself?" Of course, when you heard that, you busted in tears, sobbing crazily. Hongjoong was shocked and confused to see you crying like this. In fact, he never seen you crying. "Y/N, look at me." He whispered, holding your hand. Despite your blurry vision, you stared right at him. "What's wrong?" He repeated. "What's ruining my usual sunshine's mood?" You took your time to explain the situation; that you are wasting your time on deleting a thousand of comments per day. You added that reading them, made your feel really insecure. "It's really hard Jong..." you sobbed, your lips shaking. "I'm sorry that you went through all of this, alone." He lifted himself a bit to hug your little figure. Face buried on his hoodie, you just gave it up and cried again. "The company is protecting me, but no one does it for you. I’ve failed." He patted your back, trying to comfort you as he could. "I'm really sorry Y/N." He whispered. You stayed at least 15 minutes in his arms, gripping the hem of his hoodie like your life depended on it. Hearing you being so sad made Hongjoong realize how much you suffered and kept everything for yourself. "You won't be alone anymore. We are going to find the perfect solution, so you won't get hurt once again. Okay?" You nodded, making him slid his hand on the back of your head to keep you closer. "Everything will be okay love." You ignored if it was your boyfriend's warm presence or the tears you finally let out, but you felt so much lighter.

SEONGHWA

"Okay babe. Are you ready?" Asked Seonghwa, face buried behind a history book. "I think I should study a bit more." You replied. "But you've done this the whole week. I'm sure you are ready." He smiled. Not sure of yourself, you shrugged. "Let's give it a try then." The next week, you needed to pass the most important exam of your entire life. Compared to an "idol life", it's like the last audition which will determine if you can debut or not. The one you are not supposed to fail. That's why you set and organized a complete and strict revisions schedule since these past weeks. To be honest, it had been pretty intense, and you were pretty exhausted now. "So, first question from when lasted the 2nd World War?" "1940 to 1945?" You replied not sure of yourself. "1939 to 1945." Rectified Seonghwa. Good. 1st question and already one mistake. "Next one: in which year did the USA joined the WII?" You knew this date; you had an entire sheet on it. So why the answer wouldn't come out? "19-" you paused, thinking hard about the answer. "Y/N, we studied together this date and this chapter." Said Seonghwa, trying to help you. Mad at yourself, you closed your notebook and buried your head in your arms. "Y/N-" "I don't remember!" Your voice cracked and your shoulders started to shake. "I'm useless and stupid!" Seonghwa was surprised to see you like this. You were not the type of person to cry. In 1 year and a half of relationship, he never saw you cry. "Just let me fail this exam!" You sobbed, tears dripping o the blue ink of your notebook. "Y/N. You are one of the smartest people I know." Whispered your boyfriend resting his head just next to yours. His arm was wrapped around your shoulders. "You just worked and studied so much these weeks that your brain needs a break." "I have so many chapters and topics to learn." You sniffled, lifting up a bit, but to hide your face behind your hand. "You are having a mental breakdown babe. Just take a break you won't fail." Seonghwa's voice was affecting you in the right way. You could feel yourself calming a bit, but the stress was always there. "Let's watch TV for the rest of the night so tomorrow you can focus back on your task." "But I need to study." You wiped your tears with your shirt. "If you continue today, you won't remember anything tomorrow. That's what you want?" You shook your head. "Good. Then let's go watch a movie. I'll order a pizza." "Thank you." You whispered, still sniffling.

YUNHO

You had a pretty mad argument with a close friend. You couldn't even call her this way because what she did was wrong. In a short resume, she hangs out with your other friend's crush. The worst part was that she never apologized or realized that her actions were bad and could hurt someone else. So, since this day, you've been pretty alone. The trio you formed with your friend was over. Nobody talked on the group chat like you usually do. Your girl trip was cancelled, and you had no choice but to accept it and cancel all the reservations you've done. It could be childish and ridiculous to be sad over a friendship but it as a particular one for you. They were the first ones to talk to you when you arrived in Korea. The language barrier never had been an issue. Thanks to them you improved more than you could imagine. When you had an argument with Yunho, they were the first ones to get you out, just to change your mind. How could a good friendship finish so badly? "Y/N? Are you listening to me?" Asked Yunho, sitting on the couch next to you. "Huh sorry, I was deep in my thoughts." You smiled shyly. "It is because of-" started Yunho. "Don't." You stopped him straight. "Don't pronounce their names." Your boyfriend was staring at you. He never thought it would affect you so much. "I tried my best to stay strong," you sighed. "But i can't lie to you. This is pretty hard." "Babe..." "I've been with them for so long. A bit like you and the guys." You smiled sadly, thinking about the old and good times. "They were my family here, in South Korea. Yunho was looking at the decomposition of your face. You were completely devastated. "I miss them so much." You finally let out, head bending, and eyes closed to avoid tears to fall. "I'm sure it will be fixed soon." Whispered Yunho, ignoring what to do. A light laugh escaped your lips. "Nothing will be the same, and it's better if we stay apart." Your boyfriend was secretly thinking the same thing. It was a pretty good issue. He left his thoughts when you whined of sadness before sniffling for the third time. What to do? What do you need? He never saw you like that. You always said that you hated to cry. It makes you feel weak. "Do you want a hot chocolate? I know you like." He offered. "If you don't mind, I really need a hug right now." You stared at him; face completely wet. "Yes of course." He didn't hesitate and pulled you closer to him. He assumed that you felt better because you cried a bit more. Losing friends can be really painful sometimes. Yunho hoped that you would be okay. He would be there every time you need someone to talk with. However, at the same time he hoped to never see you crying again. That was too painful for him to look at your usual bright face, changing into a sad one.

YEOSANG

Yeosang's phone buzzed on his pocket. He stared at the clock hanging on the wall. 11 PM. By that, he guessed that you were calling him because you missed him. Without waiting any longer, he sat down on the floor and picked up. ["Hello!] You waved at the screen. ["Hey boo! What's up?"] He asked, fixing his hair at the same time. ["I miss you."] You pouted. ["It's been pretty hard to catch up these times."] Yeosang's scratched his nape, nervously. ["Yeah... We've been busy 24/7. I can't tell when the last time was, I had enough time for myself."] ["Keep some time for you. It's important."] You replied, looking at his little dark circles. ["I will try to-"] ["Hello Y/N!"] Waved San, appearing on the screen. ["It's daytime for you?] You smiled at him. He was always so energized. ["Hello San! And yeah, it's 3PM here."] ["Can you let me talk to my girl in peace? I can't do it often already!"] Scolded Yeosang gently, flickering San's forehead. At this comment, you felt all the emotions and feelings you kept during these 7 months, submerging you. Before you could realize it, a tear escape of your eye, followed by another one. ["Yeah yeah! Leave us alone!"] he pushed San out of the screen. ["So, what you- Y/N? Are you crying?"] His face approched the screen phone really fast. ["Oh!"] You said, surprised. ["I didn't even notice."] You chuckled sniffling. ["What's wrong. It's the first time I see you crying."] Asked Yeosang, worried something bad happened. ["Nothing. This week had just been stressful, and I really miss you."] You looked up to suppress the other tears to come. ["We are going yo see each other soon I promise."] He said, feeling mad to be so far away from you. ["Sorry, I didn't plan to cry like a baby 'in front' of you."] You air quoted. ["It's just so hard Yeosang."] Your voice cracked, causing your boyfriend to feel sorry. ["I promise we will see each other faster than what you think."] You nodded, still avoiding looking at him. ["Don't cry Y/N. I hate seeing you like this."] He sighed. Forbidden you to cry made you do it even more. You put down the phone so he could only see your ceiling. ["It's okay. I'll calm down."] You said between 2 sobs. Yeosng was staring at the phone, hoping to see your smile back. ["I want to see you."] ["I look terrible."] You positioned the phone back, wiping the bottom of your eyes. ["No. You look like Frankenstein’s wife."] He teased you. ["So, you are Frankenstein?"] You giggled. ["Ouch, you got me."] You laughed at his disbelieving face. Yeosang was the only one who could make you cry, and in the next minute, make you laugh crazily.

SAN (⚠️this one can be a little bit triggering since it’s mentioning the lockdown)

"Finally! Some time for myself!" Claimed San, holding your hand tighter. "Since a long time, he had or find an empty time on his schedule and rushed to spend time with you. San invited you at the restaurant and for a quick walk before heading back to the dorm. No matter how hard you tried to stay focus on your boyfriend and the conversation, you zoned out time to time. San ignored what was bothering you. The lockdown had been pretty hard for you and your mental health. You lost your self-esteem and didn't find anymore any good compliments for yourself. For several months, you documented yourself to find something which could lift your mood. Most of the time, you spent your day on TikTok, but it messed up more than it should. Thanks to San, he was the only one who avoided you to end depressed completely. He still ignored that you were going through a lot. You always acted like everything was totally fine. "I can't believe we are already in February." He looked at the stars. "Yeah." You smiled. "Time flies." "It's been almost 2 years that I've met you too!" He giggled. "I'm so lucky. Many girls would have run away with an idol as boyfriend." He started. "But not you! You are still here. The rock of our couple." More he was talking; more you were realizing that you were not that strong anymore. "I'm really lucky!" He repeated, kissing your hand lovely. You didn't have enough time to suppress the sob coming from your throat. You slapped your free hand on your mouth, even if you couldn't know if you were really crying, tears felt right on your fingers. "Y/N? Are you-" he stopped, realizing how stupid the question was? "What's happening baby?" The soft tone he used to talk, made you bust in cry a lot more. "Wow wow! Y/N, what is going on?" He asked, completely worried. You hesitated to tell him what was going on, but you couldn't let him with no information. "I'm just so done." You started. "So tired, so sad, so depressed, every fucking day." "Why?" You shrugged, picking a tissue of your pocket. "I don't know. I just feel like that. I want to be happy and strong again, but I'm always overthinking. It makes me doubt on everything." San pulled you in a warm and safe hug. He ribbed the back of your head to comfort you. "Don't worry. I will help you to pass this hard period." He whispered. "I really don't know what is going on with me and I don't like that." You added, tugging on his hoodie. "It's okay. Everyone goes through difficult moment. But I’m here to help you. I will give you everything."

MINGI

Mingi got out of the sleeping state when he heard a sniffle. At first, he thought that he was dreaming. Even though his dream was completely crazy, no one was crying. He just let it out and tried to sleep completely. Until he heard another sniffling. This time Mingi cracked an eye. The room was plunged in the dark. Exactly like how he fell asleep. "Did you catch a cold?" Asked Mingi, with his deepest voice. No answer, but still the sniffling could be heard. "Y/N." He repeated a bit louder. His body was still facing the window so he couldn't see you. No answer. Mingi thought that you were deep in the sleep to not hear him. So, he sneaked his arm under the sheet to squeeze your leg. "Get up and take a medicine at least, bec-" He stopped when he had nothing to squeeze. Finally, he sat up and looked at your usual spot. Empty. The sheet was cold. So, you were probably awake since a long time. Mingi walked to the hallway, looking for any light or any shadow hid in the dark. When he saw the one coming from the bathroom, he rushed there. Without knocking, he entered making you jump by surprise. "What are you doing here? It's late!" He raised a brow. Feeling the tears coming back, you hid your face behind your hands. Mingi's face softened immediately. He turned you around, so you could look at him. Just by seeing you crying, he understood what was going on. "You saw the article?" He whispered. You nodded, your shoulders shaking at each sob, like a baby. "You should have told me that it made you sad." He pulled you in a warm hug, trying to comfort you. "How? We made a deal." You wrapped your arms around his waist. "This deal sucks if you end by crying like that." He kissed your forehead. "I just wanted to protect you from every crazy fans. But I had no idea, people would start assuming that I'm dating the entire world." "It's not your fault." You sobbed. "I accepted to hide our relationship too." "I'm going to fix it Y/N." Claimed Mingi. "I hate saying you like that. I've never seen you crying yet." You smiled shyly at him. He wasn't the best man on this earth, he barely knew how to comfort you, but he has this strong and safe aura. It was everything that matters. "Stop crying please. I hate that." He pouted. You wiped your eyes quickly and gave him a warm smile. "Thank you Mingi."

WOOYOUNG

You were sitting on the dance practice's couch, looking at your boyfriend and San joking around. It was not a big deal. The atmosphere was really good, and everyone was in the right mod. Except you. Why? Because you had a secret interview with the CEO and the group manager. They made you understand that your relationship with Wooyoung was prohibited. It's been 3 years that you were dating, and they never had a problem. Until the group gain more and more attention and that journalist were following them around. One of them already threatened KQ to reveal an article few days before the comeback, just to ruin it. That's why, while the group was singing and dancing along, you were slowly getting sadder. To not ruin the mood, you got up and exited the room. The more natural possible. Even though you thought that nobody spotted your sudden sadness, Seonghwa noticed that something was wrong. And since you put a foot in the room. "Wooyoung." "Yeah?" "You should check after Y/N. I feel like something is off." He said. "She just probably went to restroom." He shrugged. "No, something is really wrong." Insisted Seonghwa. Without saying anything, Wooyoung rushed out of the room. He didn't last long to find you. His heart missed a beat when he saw your face. Tears were storming on your cheeks. Your nose was running, and your entire body was shaking also. He stayed there, without moving at all. Wooyoung never saw you this way and he was completely freaking out. His brain finally functioned again when you started to choke, hands on your chest. "Babe babe! Calm down." He kneeled in front of you, embracing you as much as he could. "I'm here. Calm down." He repeated. You gripped the back of his shirt, still completely devastated. Wooyoung rubbed the back of your head. Your face as buried on the crook of his neck. "Baby. Breathe." He whispered. Your boyfriend never asked once why you were crying. He stayed 30 minutes, in the same position, waiting for you to finally calm down. The most important think was you to be 100% ready to talk about it. "No matter what, I'm here." You are not alone."

JONGHO

The room was plunged in the dark. A light flame coming from the center of the table was lighting things around you. It been 2 hours that you were sitting there. Your eyes were locked o the big window, which is usually help the moon reflection to enter in the apartment. Your entire house was quiet. But you were annoyed by the loud noise coming from your mind thoughts. Jongho has left since this afternoon. Just after, probably one of the biggest argue you ever had. "Oh, you are so annoying! You know what? I'm leaving." This sentence was stuck in your throat. Jongho was really mad this time and was probably not ready to forgive you. Your head lifted up when you heard footsteps in the hallway. You prayed and hoped that your fiancé was coming back home. But few seconds later, the neighbor's door slammed and resonated in your ears. At the edge of a mental breakdown, your lips started to shake, and your eyes were getting itchy because of the tears forming in your eyes. Quickly, a sob escaped of your lips. Followed by another one. Before you could realize it, you busted in tears, crying loudly. All of your fear and pain stuck in your head, made you cry. Your dog, not understanding the situation, put his head on your lap, trying to comfort you. "Y/N!" Your heart missed a bit when you heard Jongho's voice. For a short second, you thought that you were dreaming. But your boyfriend was really standing there, hands full of your favorite restaurant food. In no time, you gently pushed your dog and rushed to Jongho. Arms wrapped around his waist, you felt like living again. He couldn't answer to your hug or otherwise he would drop the food, but you felt like his warm aura around you. "Ah," he smiled. "I might have been a little bit too harsh with you. It's the first time I see you crying." "You are dumb." You sobbed, still wrapped around him. I really thought you left." "Aye, come on. I can never do that." Probably because of the relief, you cried even more. "You are acting like a strong and independent woman but here you are, sobbing like a baby." He kissed your head. "I hate you." You replied. "Yeah. I love you too." He giggled.

[mouthfulloftoothpasterry]

Grandparents Day

Hi!!! Sorry for posting it then deleting it, I decided I didn’t want to post it now I want to! So sorry about that haha:) this is just the styles family going to the park and visiting the grandparents! I hope you enjoy 💕

Today Y/n and Harry are leaving their cozy cottage and scoundering out into the real world, leaving the home-y confines of their cottage and going to visit the grandparents for a late lunch.

They are having a picnic out at the park, Harry offered to host it at their cottage and have it out in their backyard- claiming the flowers and plants would make great scenery, But the family had denied. They said the four needed to get out and see more people than the customers at the farmers market.

The couple of course agreed, renting out a park pavilion for the day and packing up their contribution of the picnic foods. “Come on, my love, mummy made sun tea!” Harry coos, holding Violet's hand and hoisting her up into her booster seat.

“Yummy!” She cheers, letting Harry clip her in the seat securely. Harry buckles it right under her chest, making sure the big buckle is positioned correctly. “Comfy?” Harry questions, holding a thumb up for her. She smiles widely, showing her small baby teeth and sticking her tiny thumb up for him. “Good!” She cheers, Harry smiling and softly tickling her belly, kissing her cheek then brushing his hand from her hair to her cheek, softly giving it a pinch before he shoots her a wink, softly closing the door.

Y/n walks out, the picnic basket in her hand along with Forest laying in her arm. “I’ve got that, sunshine” Harry hums, pushing up his glasses and grabbing the picnic basket from her hands, the kids diaper bag balanced on top of it. He places it in the back, Y/n thanking him and buckling Forest into his bus seat.

**

“Come on, sweet pea. Let’s get you out of the bus!” Harry coos, pulling Violet out of the bus seat and resting her on his hip. He circles to the back of the bus, grabbing the diaper bag and the wooden picnic basket, heading toward the big pavilion entry. Y/n walks a couple steps ahead of him, guiding the way while he hauls the food behind her.

“Hello!” Harry’s mum greets, making the man look up with a smile. “Hi!” He sings, his wife offering her a polite smile while she deals with a slightly fussy Forest. Y/ns parents greet them, the styles family making their way over to the picnic table. “Go see nana!” Harry coos, letting Violet slip down from his hip and land on her feet, padding away on the concrete flooring to go visit her grandparent, getting her cheeks pinched and dollars slipped to her behind her parents backs.

They all finally greet each other, laughs and conversations laying over the other until they all settle down and take their seats on the old red chipping bench of the picnic tables. Harry pulls Violet on his lap, making sure she’s not running off and getting lost. (She likes to do that when they go off to the park- which isn’t often.) Harry slides her plate toward her, the girl's sippy cup full of sun tea, balanced between her chubby hands.

“It's time to eat, sunshine.” Harry announces to violet, pulling her next to him on the picnic table bench. She stretches her little neck to look at the array of food everyone had brought. She makes quick grabby hands for the fruit sandwiches Harry hand prepared for the outing. Harry catches her in the act and grabs her hand before she can shove a bite into her mouth, pulling her hand away and kissing the back of it, shoving an orange baby spoon in her hand instead. He puts a small portion of summer pasta on her plate, the girl forming a tight pout on her lips before she stabs the pasta and shoves it in her mouth angirly, mad her daddy didn't let her have dessert first.

“How is the farm?” Anne asks while she holds Forest, holding a sleepy baby in one arm and feeding herself with the other, something the youngest parents out of the group have mastered.

Y/n finishes her bite, wiping her mouth off on the floral printed napkin before answering annes question. “Everything is good. We sold a bunch at the farmers market a couple weeks ago.” Harry nods along, serving himself while everyone passes the bowls and plates of food around, complimenting each other on their dishes quietly. “We’re thinking of getting some bunnies. Violet would love it.” Harry adds, violet instantly snapping her head up at the mention of adding the fluffy white animal to the family farm. “Bunnies?!” she asks, making the group laugh.

“Yep,” Harry says, licking his thumb and rubbing red sauce from her face, the little girl's face scrunching up while she pushes his large hand away. “You're gonna eat them?” Y/n’s dad asks, the family shaking her head, violet getting visibly upset by the questions. They dont eat bunnies! Bunnies are for petting and loving. “No, just have them as pets. We dont eat meat, we haven't for a while.” Harry informs, violet being his little sidekick and nodding along to every word he has to say.

“So are you getting them?” Anne asks, Violet looking up at Harry with so much hope. She loves bunnies, she draws them all the time, it's just one big circle, a smaller one for the head, then four tiny ones for the feet and a happy face made with two dots and a curved line but it's a bunny to her and she loves it. “...yeah,” the father slowly nods. Y/n gives him sharp eyes. They were supposed to surprise Violet and Forest with the new addition to their farm, even though forest wouldn't be that enthusiastic, he's only four months old.

“What about preschool? Are you going to send her to preschool?” y/n’s mum barges into the conversation, always nagging at her daughter to get the kids out. They do get the kids out, just not often. They have playdates and go to the park to socialize with the other kids but they are usually inside and if they do leave they stay together, no disturbing the people around them.

“Were still deciding on whether to homeschool her or send her to Harry's old preschool.” Y/n answers her nons nagging questions. She would love for Violet to stay with them, it's not like she wants to go out and see all these kids, she's a very antisocial toddler. She is shy and nervous around new people, if it's not her mummy, daddy, and little brother she usually doesn't prefer to be around them for long periods of time.

“Just let the kid breathe! She probably wants to be with other kids ever not and then, you know.”

Y/n tries not to get frustrated but she doesn't need people telling her how to parent, especially when they dont know how her child feels being around people that arent her immediate family.

Y/n sighs, rubbing her eyes. “Violet doesn't like being around other people for a long time. I dont want to send her away for three hours a day to a place where she isn't comfortable. Especially when we are already teaching her stuff at home and she is doing great.” she argues back, harry pulls a hand on the small of her back and rubs softly. He knows she gets annoying about things like this, she is usually a very zen person.

Harry 100% backs her up on this. He knows how anxious his little one can get when she is around new people- or people who aren't her parents. Why would they send her off to a preschool when they can teach her ABC’s at home, how to write her name, counting, and even more that they teach at a preschool. They can have one on one time with their child when the teacher wouldn't be able to focus on just one child at a time. They even get to teach her more about the animals, show her what noises animals make and what colors they are up close and personal.

“I think it would just be nice for her to make some friends,”

Harry senses some trepidation, and he doesn't want Violet to watch her mumma and grandma to get into a disagreement. Not that it would get ugly, Harry just prefers his kids ears aren't around bad language, and when a disagreement happens the adults tend to get loose lips.

“Hey, are you done? Let's go play, you can eat this on the swings.” Harry grabs a fruit sandwich, picking the girl up and excusing them while he walks into the wood chip filled playground. Violet munches on her desert when she slides down bright yellow slides with Harry, sitting on his lap while they both sing out “weeeee!”

Y/n helps everyone pack up, throwing away paper cups and plates in the big rusty trash cans that they had in the pavilion. She watches Harry and Violet chase each other, watching them closely since Violet happens to be a very accident prone (almost) two year old. She keeps to herself while she stuffs drinks back in blue coolers, stuffing their tupperware back in their picnic basket and leaving the sun tea out because they had seemed to enjoy that.

While the rest of the crew cleans up Harry chases Violet around the playground, the black floors being filled with wood chips that were once stuck on little ones shoes, or maybe some naughty kids were bringing them up on the jungle gym to play around in them. “Hey, watch your step, pumpkin!” Harry yells before Violet misses her step and falls over a big black chunky step, falling right into the wood chips. Cries instantly fell from her mouth, she was just trying to run down the playground steps but her chubby legs couldn't keep up.

“Hey,” Harry pouts, sitting on the black step and pulling her onto his thighs. “Are you okay, sweet pea?” Harry asks, dusting off the debris on her knees and hands. She huffs as she cries, her bottom lip poking out while tears roll down her cheek, her nose and cheeks growing pink and hot from her crying. Harry gives her a big pout when he sees her knee bleeding, He hopes she doesnt have a splinter.

“Lets go get you clean your boo boo’s up” Harry mumbles, pulling her up to his chest and kissing all along her hair line, letting her cry in his neck. He walks back up to the pavilion in search of the diaper bag, they have a first aid kit stashed in there, it's a necessity when you have a bambi-like toddler.

y/n watches Harry set down a crying violet, fishing for a first aid kit. “What happened?” she sighs, handing the little girl her sippy cup. Harry glaces up at his wife for a second before looking back down at his toddler, preparing to clean her boo boo’s. “She fell,” he cleans her cuts up only making her cry more, her hands were only scraped, but she had a small cut on her knee. He adds some neosporin, patching on a baby shark bandaid before kissing over her cut.

“All better?” the girl huffs, wiping her tears. She looks at her knee, holding up two fingers like she's going to pinch something, Harry laughs. “Lets go sing baby shark somewhere else, your nana might give me a boo boo.”

Y/n laughs, Harry kissing her and Forest's head before they sit on the park bench together, their singing still heard.

The grandparents all swarm over the free child, watching him sleep peacefully. Y/n laughs awkwardly, hoping that Harry would be back soon to distract them or so Violet could play with them. “Are you putting this one in pre school?” Y/n scoffs at her mothers nagging, surprised it's only been an hour of hearing nagging about their kids.

“He's a real momma's boy. He's gonna be a heartbreaker.'' Robin laughs, making Y/n smile and laugh, her boy isn't dating because no one's ever gonna be good enough.

They decide to join the rest on the playground, the men playing with violet- or Harry pushing Violet on the swing while the men talk to him. Anne and Y/n’s mom join her on the park bench, the small boy finally waking up from his long nap. They talk about the farm and the kids while the sun sets, loud giggles from violet fill the park while Harry pushes her higher and higher. “It's beautiful out,” Anne says, looking up at the glowing sky, a painting of orange, purple, and blue framing the cloudy sky.

“It is,”

Hiii!! I hope you enjoyed reading part three!! I’m sorry for being a tease and posting it then deleting it. I was in my teasing era. Anyways, thank you for everything, you have all been so fucking amazing, like it shocks me how sweet and supportive you all are, thank you!!! It means so much!!! I love you all. My requests are open, I’m currently writing part four and then I will be putting out a blurb about when y/n was pregnant with Forest after part four is out. Thank you for everything!!!

[isanyin]

Be my Date? (Hetalia Denmark x Reader) (Pottertalia AU)

School Year: 4

Third Person's POV:

It was a new Year at Hogwarts, and a new year of adventures. The Slytherin Witches had seated themselves in the train on their way, unknowing of the surprises they would face upon arriving. “My brothers told me that as 4th Years, we will be attending the Yule ball. I guess we should probably try and get out of our normal social circle and scout for dates, no?” (Y/n) proposed to the other two early on the ride. “Yeah, you're right. I however believe that spending the year scouting for dates would deprive us of our study time, and I honestly don't see the point of having to go.” Hedvika responded, her nose in a book. “You are right, but would it not be fun to go? Perhaps this year, I would find someone and make brother Ivan jealous… But other than that, it would also be interesting to attend it regardless.” Natalya mused, with a ghost of a smile gracing her face. 

“Or maybe we could still go even without dates? Perhaps I could ask Professor Snape if it was allowed to go to the ball as just the three of us. It should be allowed, it not like nobody in the history of Hogwarts has ever been Asexual or un-asked.” (Y/n) wondered aloud, curious as to how they would go. She too was curious about the Yule ball as her brothers rarely mentioned it with her before, other than telling her that she should be absolutely precise with choosing a man as her date; that is, if she even gets a date.

As they entered for the new year, all students were greeted by headmaster Dumbledore. Now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. You see Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: The Tri-Wizard tournament!” 

As the feast began, many students from the different schools sat and stayed at different tables that evening to meet other students. And our Slytherin Witches were among those students. A blonde boy with spiky hair and bright blue eyes made his way towards the three, and stopped as he came in front of (Y/n). “God aften! The name's Mathias Køhler of the Vulpelara House. What's your name? If you don't have one, can I call you mine?” He winked, taking a seat. “Oh- uhm, my name's (Y/n). (Y/n) (L/n) of Slytherin. It's a pleasure to meet you.” “Damn, what an awesome name for an awesome girl.” Mathias grinned. The duo talked for hours without end, until Mathias was called back over by some of his friends. The two promptly exchanged goodbyes and headed to their respective houses. 

As (Y/n) entered the Slytherin common room, she was immediately greeted by Romeo, Arthur, Hedvika, and Natalya. “Where were you?! You took so long, we were starting to think someone from the other schools kidnapped you or something!” Hedvika scolded. “Bella, we were-a very worried! You're not-a usually this-a late without at least-a one of us!” Romeo reasoned, as Arthur frowned. 

“Did you get held up by those boys from Durmstrang? If any of them had hurt you, they'd be sorry for messing with a lady!” “I'm with Mr. Eyebrows over here. Those boys didn't do anything to you, yes?” Natalya growled protectively. “I'm sorry guys. I didn't mean to take so long, I swear! Nobody kept me against my will, so none of you need to get mad. I just got caught up is all.” She apologized, smiling. “Thanks for worrying though. You guys are the best friends ever.” “We Slytherin must stick together, no?” Romeo smiled, hugging her tight. “Bloody git, can't you ask her for consent before touching her?! She is a lady after all!” Arthur yelled at the Italian boy, fuming with his hands crossed. “Oh don't be so grumpy, Artie. Get over here and hug me.” (Y/n) playfully smiled. 

“A-are you sure, love?” “You wouldn't want to disappoint a lady, now would you?” “Well if you insist...”

After a few minutes of calming her friends down, (Y/n) headed to bed, dreaming of the boy she met.

First Person's POV:

As the early morning rays of sunshine entered our dorm room, I could feel myself wake up on my own. I sat up and stretched my arms looking over at the other two who were still sleeping. I wonder if I could find Mathias again today; he seemed like a really fun guy last night. My ears perked up as I heard Hedvika yawning and sitting up herself. “Dobré ráno, (n/n).” “Morning, Hedvika. So, are you gonna wake up Natalya or am I?” I questioned. Daily, we would wake up earlier than our Belarusian roommate at the crack of dawn; unless it was a weekend or Monday, where Hedvika and I would sleep in a little late, causing Natalya to have to wake us up. Mondays were never fun, but thank God today wasn't Monday anyway.  

I don't know why, but I had a particularly good feeling about this year. 

As I entered the Great Hall, I picked out some (f/f) for breakfast. “Hey good lookin, I’m guessing you hang here often?” A familiar voice spoke out from in front of me. Mathias! “Well this is the Slytherin table, so yes. Last I recalled, you aren’t a Slytherin, so what brings you here?” I replied. “Hm, not much. Just trying to catch a certain lady’s attention.” He replied casually. Was this guy for real? “This certain lady doesn’t happen to be me, does it?” I ‘innocently’ smiled. “Maybe.” Mathias smirked playfully. Before either of us could make a comeback, another voice spoke up; “Found yourself a boyfriend, now have ya?”

“Hedvika!! He isn’t my boyfriend!” I blushed furiously, scowling. “Not yet~” Mathias corrected. Hedvika chuckled, and Natalya pulled out her wand. “If you hurt our (Y/n), you will not live to see your next birthday, you got that bicycle boy?” She growled. Mathias looked between her and her wand, and nodded, gulping nervously. 

“Oh let the poor boy be, Nat. If you hunt down every boy that looks in our direction, we probably might not get a date for the ball.” (Y/n) pouted playfully. “Oh, you won't have to worry about finding one. You've got a potential date right in front of you.” Mathias smiled.

“Well then, Mathias Køhler. Wanna be my date?”

“It depends. (Y/n) (L/n), do you wanna be my date?”

“Sure.”

Human Names:  Belarus = Natalya Arlovskaya Czech Republic = Hedvika Libuše Jelínková Russia = Ivan Braginsky England = Arthur Kirkland Seborga = Romeo Vargas Denmark = Mathias Køhler

A/n: This oneshot is a part from my Pottertalia x Reader AU fanfiction, so if you liked this I hope you check the book out! Link to the book is ‘HERE’

The chapter where this takes place hasn't been published yet because reasons, so pls be patient. 

[lilyharvord]

Meet Me at Our Spot

  HELLO EVERYONE!! Vet school turned its back for a day and I was able to finish this one for you all. ((: Here is a lovely little one shot that is rated M people, so please read responsibly. Office AU because someone asked for it once upon a time and the image of Cal in one of those well tailored shirts/suits with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows has lived in my head rent free since then. So enjoy!!! ((: 

also, I’m obsessed with that song Meet Me at Our Spot by Willow and The Anxiety (specifically the live version). So that’s the vibe were going for. (:

find it on Ao3 too: link

Mare Barrow always felt underdressed when she entered the massive glass and steel structure that housed the Calore enterprises. Even when she put on her only pair on heels, and a nice outfit, she felt like a smudge of dirt on the pristine floors. Today though, she was determined to not feel that way. She had a plan, a vision, and she was not about to let some socially constructed idea like dress code ruin it for her.

           Striding up to the main desk before the elevators that lead to the corporate side of the building, she planted herself firmly before Tiria and cleared her throat to announce her presence.

           The young woman looked up from the book she was scribbling things in and held up a finger as she spoke into the receiver cradled in her other hand.

“Of course sir. Yes, two on Friday.”

With a sigh, Mare braced her forearms on the counter and glanced out at the massive atrium next to her. Multiple people strolled by in their nice suits and tight business dresses, carrying portfolios and briefcases and talking heatedly about a number of things. She got a few looks from them for her baggy sweatpants, oversized jacket, and faded ugly sneakers. She simply smirked back at them in response, a glint in her eye that dared them to talk about her after they had passed.

No one had ever really gotten a good look at her here, and if they had, it was when she was quickly being ushered past this front desk and into the elevators behind it. She was, for all intents and purposes, a very well-kept secret. One that was mandatory to remain a secret, given her position and her affiliation with this place.

Never in her wildest dreams had she thought she would ever set foot in a place like this, let alone be associated with the circle she now tenuously walked through. It had its perks though, like getting to give a bright shiny middle finger smile to the people Farley would have spit at. Mare couldn’t exactly spit like she wanted to though, because she happened to enjoy being around one of them. And she was supposed to be on her best behavior when she was in this building. It was part of the stupid rules she had been forced to agree to a year ago.

Rule number one: No one can know your name, where you are from, and who you are.

Rule Number two: best behavior at all times when you are in the building or near him. No exceptions.

Rule number three: You are not allowed to show up unannounced or uninvited.

           Well rule number three could just go fuck itself today, and rule number two could join it. The rules were just a way of making sure that the pristine reputation of this place didn’t get tarnished in the tabloids. She had laughed herself hoarse when they brought her into that dim conference room and dropped the pile of papers with the rules outlining everything in front of her. She never thought getting into a relationship would feel like a contract or a business deal but somehow this was made into one. Then again, the Calore family could make a business deal out of a child’s pretend game.

“Yes sir, I will let them know. Thank you for confirming, we will see you then.”

Tiria snapped the receiver back into the cradle and turning a scrutinizing eye to Mare she quirked a perfectly manicured brow. Every front desk girl in the world honestly looked the same to Mare, and in this place, there was no exceptions.

“Can I help you?”

“I have an appointment.” Mare said as she pressed onto her toes and pointed with a finger randomly into Tiria’s book.

The girl looked down at the line Mare pointed to with a frown while Mare swiped the key card Tiria always kept just under the ledge with her other hand. Tucking it into her pocket, she forced her eyes wide in a fake showing of bewilderment as Tiria gave her a contempt glare when there was nothing on the line.

“I could have sworn I called!” Mare gasped as she pressed herself up onto the counter to teeter further over it while her feet dangled. Damn these stupid things were high. She should have worn heels just so she could actually see over the top of the counter. “Maybe I should have called to confirm.”

“Miss Barrow, please stay on that side of the counter.” Tiria sighed as she leaned back in her chair.

Sliding down and dropping with a huff, Mare crossed her arms, trying to mimic the expression she saw most of these people give when they didn’t get what they wanted. “I want to go up.”

           Forcing her sigh through her nose so it wasn’t as obvious, Tiria shook her head and adjusted a pen that had moved out of its perfectly straight line. “You’re not supposed to be here today. Don’t make me call security.”

           “Well that would announce my presence.” Mare argued before picking up her backpack. “Besides, I’ll only be ten minutes.”

           “Miss Barrow, I like my job and want to keep it. Leave.”

           Letting out her own exaggerated sigh, Mare threw her hands up and spun on her heel to leave. “Honestly, you’d think I’d get a free pass giving who I’m dating in this place.”

           Peeking over her shoulder to see if Tiria was still paying attention, she smirked as the girl dropped her head to write something down. One of the benefits of everyone looking down on her here was that as soon as she turned around, she was out of sight and out of mind. It made sneaking around easier.

           Spinning back around, she scurried over to the elevators, ducking below the ledge of the counter slightly in case Tiria looked up again. Humming a song she heard on the radio to herself, she swiped the card and pushed the button to call the elevator. She had joked once this place was locked up tighter than a military institution, only to learn there was a reason for that. She doubted she could just swipe a key card and sneak into the Pentagon though.

           The doors opened with a little ding, and she glanced over her shoulder once before darting in and pressing the button for the top floor. She had to swipe the key card again and punch in a four digit code she memorized weeks ago, but the doors still slid shut and the massive glass box rose.

           Grinning like a fiend, Mare glanced over her shoulder at the green land stretching out behind her. She had to borrow Bree’s car to drive out to this place, and it almost didn’t make it. Her brother’s check engine light had been on since he bought the car, but he assured her it could make it the fifty mile trip and back. It had coughed the whole way, but it got her here. Beyond the trees she could just make out the highway she took with cars rushing along it.

           The first time she saw this place, she was afraid of it. Why was it so far away from everything, why was it so tucked away? What were they trying to hide behind the wall of trees? She hadn’t entire believed the excuses they gave, but she was at least certain they weren’t building nuclear weapons at this place.

           The doors slid open silently to a long hallway with dark floors and another bank of windows for a wall. Stepping out into the sunshine, Mare strolled forward, adjusting her hair and jacket as she went. Turning a corner, she passed a few smaller offices that belonged to some of the board members that held staff positions. The only one that was closed belonged to one of the only people she really, really didn’t want to see.

           Volo Samos made her nervous. If there was anyone who might be trying to make a nuclear weapon in this place, it was that man. She edged by his office, glancing through the swaying vertical shades to see if he was actually there or he had left for lunch. He was sitting at his desk on the phone.

Scurrying past him, Mare quickened her pace. If he was here, then the rest of the board might be too. Which meant she might be walking in on a meeting. Not exactly the best option, and neither was sitting outside in the hall and waiting.

           She had been so certain that there was nothing happening this week. She had planned everything around that fact. Maybe she should have called… just to make sure before she drove all the way out here.

           Before she knew it though, she was standing before the heavy dark wood doors at the end of that hall. She had never been nervous to open them. They were intimidating with an exterior that was meant to deter people, but once you opened them and peeked inside there was nothing to fear, just like with the man behind them. She knew that, and yet, she had to squash the shake in her hand as she nudge the door open a fraction.

           The office was empty.

           Throwing the door open all the way, she stepped inside and glanced awkwardly around the space. She had spent enough time in here that she knew there were very few places to hide. Not that Cal would have any reason to hide in his own office. Pursing her lips she pushed the door closed and stormed over to the desk before throwing her bag down behind it and tossing herself into the chair. It spun in a slow circle with her momentum until she faced the back windows. Slouching down she tried to determine her next move with a pout. Maybe he had left for lunch. It wouldn’t surprise her. If the board members were here, then he might have had to play the good CEO and daddy’s boy he was supposed to be and taken them all to lunch to placate them. But Volo was here… so maybe they hadn’t gone to lunch?

           She had put makeup on for this surprise. Honestly, was it so hard for him to be in the place he was supposed to be at this time?

           Forcing out a sigh, she crossed her arms and spun the chair back around with her toes to look at the papers scattered around the desk. Cal was perhaps one of the most messily organized people she had ever met. He was an oxymoron himself though, so it only made sense. She picked up a thick stack of papers that were clipped together and lifted one of the corners between her finger and thumb like it was radioactive. She didn’t understand a word on the next page or the numbers scribbled in the margins. Putting it back in its place she glanced at the few pictures he kept on his desk.

           The first time she had been in his office he had been on a phone call, and she had to entertain herself. She had picked up the pictures and made up the stories behind them while he watched her out of the corner of his eye. The picture of the two little boys crouched and playing in the mud on the edge of a lake was her favorite. She had been confused by it at first, until she saw the one next to it, with the same two boys almost a decade later in front of the Roman Coliseum.

Cal and his brother vaguely looked like brothers. They had similar features, but they wore them very differently. Where Cal was tall and broad, his younger brother was lean and sharp. Their eyes were strikingly different, but it was to be expected. She’d met Maven twice in the year she’d dated Cal. The first time was when he flew home for their father’s retirement party. He’d been quiet and reserved the whole evening until Cal dragged him out for a drink with her after to introduce them, properly as Cal had teased. When the brothers were alone and not around their father, they were different people. Maven especially. He seemed to soften, to melt a little bit. It had surprised her that someone could be so different just because the personnel around them changed. But Maven was a master of it.

The second time she’d seen him, Cal dragged her halfway across the world to Scotland to surprise Maven on his birthday. Cal’s brother lived as far from their father as possible, and honestly, Mare didn’t blame him. Unfortunately, Cal wasn’t afforded that luxury. Hence the rule book she had to follow.

           He had a picture with his uncle next to that. The man was a few years younger than her father, but he caried those years poorly. Still, he adored Mare,  and she didn’t have to pretend to tolerate him, unlike most of the other people that surrounded Cal at a given time.

A picture with his father was next to that one. It was a close second favorite of Mare’s. She couldn’t stand his father, the man was insufferable, but she loved to look at the younger version of Cal. He looked impossibly different as a kid, so different she almost hadn’t recognized him in the picture. She had told him that he reminded her of a taffy piece that was pulled too long in that picture. He was only ten in it, but his legs were already too long for him, and he was thin as a pole. He certainly had grown into his body, but the smile he gave to the camera there… he only gave it to her now. Or at least, she thought he did. She’d never seen him smile that brightly at anyone else.

           Next to that, tucked almost behind the other pictures was a photograph of a young woman in a window box with a toddler resting on her legs. She smiled at him, clutching his hands in hers, completely unaware of the camera trained on her. Cal didn’t talk about it, or the woman in it, but Mare wormed it out of Julian that Cal’s mother was a sore subject with everyone. Even though she was smiling in the picture, Mare could almost sense the sadness that radiated from her. She didn’t look much older than Mare in that picture. No doubt she had been tied up with the same strings and restrictions Mare faced now. If that were the case, Mare wasn’t surprised she had been so sad. The rules and regulations that came with dating a powerful person were like a cage. It worried Mare some days. She didn’t like being confined, but when she was with Cal away from all of this, she didn’t feel that way. It was only when they were together around other people that she did. More oxymorons where the man was concerned.

           The door into the office opened and Mare snapped to attention as Cal stepped in. His hands were full with papers he shuffled through while balancing his phone on his shoulder and speaking with someone. He’d nudged the door open with his hip and because of that, he had yet to turn and face her.

           Even though she hated all the restrictions she had to face while she dated him, she knew they didn’t truly bother her because he was hers. All of him carefully folded into a suit that hugged every muscle made her stomach tighten and other parts flutter. And all of it was hers, some nobody from a backwater city block. She sometimes felt like a tiny dragon hording a single coin when she was with him. She didn’t have much to her name, never had and probably never would, but he was hers. She wasn’t sure if she would get to keep him, but she planned to enjoy every last second that she could with him.

           Her lips curled into a smile as she leaned back in the chair and crossed her leg over the other, trying to paint a picture of coyness. It was probably not the best showing of it, but Cal was a miserable good boy who couldn’t handle anything remotely teasing.

           The papers ended up on the other side of the desk from her, while he shifted to hold the phone and rest his other fist on the table. The muscle in his jaw that always twitched when he was irritated fluttered like a bird’s wing now. He pressed his fingers into his closed eyes as if he could force whatever headache was probably there away with just that touch.

           “We didn’t agree to that when we signed the papers. They can’t come back and impose that restriction on us now.”            She squirmed in the chair at the tone in his voice. There were multiple sides to Cal that she had seen. There was her Cal, who had no idea how to dance, and who blushed whenever she teased him. Then there was the Cal she sometimes got at one in the morning who would grab the inside of her leg while he whispered in her ear exactly what he was going to do. Then there was this Cal. The one who had been heir to an empire company since the day he was born, and who could command a room like it was any other Tuesday. Sometimes it was hot to watch him do it. Right now though, it was the opposite. He wasn’t happy with something, and it honestly sounded like the last thing he needed was her here.

           She decided she definitely should have called before coming.

           Edging the chair back with her toes, it squeaked as it went over the floor, and his eyes darted up to her before widening.

           With an awkward smile, she wiggled her fingers in greeting before spinning the chair to face the back windows. Her cheeks were burning, and there were other parts that had melted to a very dangerous temperature. The look he gave her as he looked up at been fleeting, but it had been enough to put her on the teetering edge of deciding to grab him and pin him to the desk, or ask him to do just that with her.

           “Deal with this. Don’t call back until you have.”

           The silence following his words told her, that she was now the singular focus of his attention. His gaze was like a brand even through the leather of the chair. Crossing her arms and adjusting her posture accordingly, she went to spin the chair back around. He beat her to it though, spinning it to face him and tipping it back slightly so she had an easier time looking up at him.

           “I don’t believe I left anything at the apartment.”

           “You left me.” Mare pouted with a withering stare in his direction.

           “Very funny. Now how did you even get up here?”

           With a smirk, Mare fished the ID card out of her pocket and flashed it before him proudly. He snatched it from her hand with a startled gasp.

           “Mare… what the… what are you a thief now?”

           “Obviously.” She waved her hand to dismiss his comment before gesturing to the card. “You should really get lanyards to put those on by the way. I just kinda grabbed that off her desk. And if I got it anyone else could have—”  

           “You can’t go around stealing people’s ID cards. She needs this to get around the building.” He gestured at her with it, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

           “Well I needed it more in the moment.” Mare reasoned with a smile before leaning back in the chair. She didn’t really feel that bad, but the worry starting to etch itself into Cal’s brows did make her feel a little guilty.

           He tossed it unceremoniously onto the desk before sitting on the edge of it and massaging his face slowly with his hands.

“While I’m happy to see you, I don’t have time to deal with anything outside of work today.” His words were muffled by his palms but she could still hear every stressed syllable. Even when his work got stressful, which it undoubtably was at times, he still could push it aside whenever he saw her. Whatever he had been on the phone about had been serious, serious enough that he actually wasn’t all that happy to see her.

           “What happened?” Mare asked, scooting the chair close enough for her to set her hands on his thighs and squeeze gently. Now was not the time to be thinking about just how well that suit fit, but the thought still crossed her mind. Along with a few choice other thoughts.

           “Stupidity.”

           Cocking her head to the side, she waited for him to elaborate. It took him a moment, but he eventually dropped his hands and let his head fall back to look to the ceiling.

           “We signed papers on a deal a year ago. When that happens it’s done, the contract is sealed and stored away. In that contract, we agreed that should anything happen with a shipment, we were not liable. The group we shipped to doesn’t like that anymore, because a 30.5 million dollar shipment got lost.”

           Now it made sense to her. This wasn’t anger, or frustration. This was stress. Stress she could handle.

“How does one misplace 30.5 million dollars?” She teased before running hers hand up and down his legs.

“I don’t know. But there are five different parties all in a screaming match over it, including us. And if the other four don’t back down anytime soon, I’m going to have to find 30.5 million dollars somewhere.” His eyes darted down to her as she brushed her thumbs along the inside of his thighs. Glancing up through her lashes at him then, she tilted her head ever so slightly.

“And that is hard because?”

“Does it look like I have 30.5 million dollars lying around to just throw at someone?” He reasons, and the dips in his cadence brought a smirk to her lips. Now she had his attention. Pushing up to her feet she slid between his knees until she could drape her arms around his neck. Immediately, his hands found her hips and hugged her closer still.

“I’m sure there are one or two things you could sell in this building to cover that cost.” She ran her thumb along the back of his neck, before tracing the spot at the base of his jaw. His head tilted in the opposite direction, trying to escape the feather light touch. Both of them knew exactly what it did after all. Smirking at his reaction, Mare ran her other hand along his shoulder, tracing the contours she knew by heart.

“I bet I could pick out one of two things.”

“I don’t need to find the thirty and a half because it’s not our fault what happened.” He squeezed her hips, and even though she could see the fight in his eyes, it was quickly guttering. The tension in his shoulders was still more than she would have liked, but that tended to be where he kept most of it.

“So stressed out over something that isn’t even your fault.” She teased as she pressed her thumb into the knot closest to his neck. He tensed under her, but didn’t speak. At this point, his voice had already dropped an octave, and Mare had known him long enough now to know that when he went silent like this, he was trying to hide just how far she had pushed him. “Do you want help releasing some of that?”

“Not unless you can get up in front of five different boards and convince them otherwise.” She had to admire how even he kept his voice. It still wavered in a few places as he tried to remain composed under her scrutiny. Dropping her hands from around his shoulders to land on his thighs again, she squeezed hard enough to emphasize her next point.

“That sounds like a challenge.” Mare actually witnessed his pupils dilate as she dropped her voice an octave too. “You and I both know it’s not much of one. I can be very persuasive.”

“You’re gonna get us both in more trouble than I can get us out of.” He whispered to her, a tiny smile lifting the edges of his lips. The glint in his eye made her stomach flutter, especially as he started to finger the waistband of her pants. She didn’t want him to put his hands under it just yet though, she still had one surprise she wanted to save.

Pulling back to slip out of his arms, she dropped back into the chair with a proud smirk. “Then I see no reason to not walk me down there, call up these assholes, and have me deal with them.”

His hands grasped the air where she had been a second ago as his mind failed to register her abrupt disappearance. Frowning, he leaned forward to grab the arms of the chair and pull her close again. Her heart pounded against her ribs as she watched him look her over and hold for a little too long on her lips.

“I’d love to see them try and deal with you.”

Oh she was going to make him sweat so very much.

Grabbing his face and yanking it down to hers, she crushed her lips against his. He tasted like mint toothpaste, and he smelled like that cologne she bought him for Christmas. Gisa said it was cheap, but he’s smiled and thanked her for it anyway. And now he was wearing it. The very idea sent a thrill through her.

With a groan, he slid his hands along her legs and then underneath them to grab her ass and hike her out of her chair until she was flush against his chest. Her lips curled into a smile as she took his lower lip between her teeth and pulled hard enough to draw a sound from the back of his throat. Knotting her fingers in his hair, she tugged and whispered, “You get to deal with me first.”

His eyes opened, barely an inch from hers, and the look in them sent a shiver down her spine. When he looked at her like that, it drove her half mad every time. “Put me down and I’ll show you just how persuasive I can be.”

He set her down with exaggerated stillness, making sure to drag her body along his so she could feel every inch of him. Smirking at getting her way, Mare nudged him back until he was sitting on his desk. Bracing her hands on either side of him, she asked, “Which do you want first? Surprise one, or surprise two?”

His brow quirked, and he slid a hand around her waist to pull her between his legs. “I want you, just you.”

When his voice dropped that deep, it made it very difficult to stay focused on what she had planned. But she wanted to see him squirm, and if there was anything Mare Barrow was, it was persistent.

“Surprise number two it is.” She grinned like a cat with a mouse as she hooked his belt with a finger and trailed it along the waistband of his pants to the buckle. Humming to herself, she undid it, sliding it through each loop like a needle with thread. When it was fully out, she held it up with a wink. “Give me your wrists.”

Even in the heat of it all, his cheeks burned. Immediately he put his hands behind his back. Pouting at his movement, she lowered the belt. “It’s no fun if you don’t play along.”

“Can’t be restrained. I may have to get to my phone.”

“Then I’ll answer it and tell them you’re busy.” She teased before cupping the back of his neck and pulling him close to ghost her lips across his. He sighed, and the tension in his shoulders melted as she ran her hand along one side. She loved when he scrambled in these moments. Locked between a rock and hard place, he was like turtle on its back. If all she had to do to knock him down was insinuate like this, she would do it every night.

When he pulled away with narrowed eyes, she released a mock exasperated sigh and tossed the belt away. “Fine, next time.” Without giving him a moment of relief, she unbuttoned his pants and tugged to start sliding them off. “But since it’s my job to help you relieve stress, here’s what I’m going to do.”

He visibly swallowed, even as he helped her slide his pants off. Running her hands up his legs after she dropped them, Mare chewed on her lip. “If you can keep it together for longer than ten minutes, I will let you do me from behind.”

His eyes widened, shock pouring out of every pore of his body. She hated that position, and always refused it. It was the most degrading thing, she insisted. If a man was going to fuck her, he should look her in the eye while he did it. She may be trash from the other side of the tracks, but she knew her worth.

           “Ten?” He breathed, his eyes darting to the clock on the wall next to them.

           “Ten.” She confirmed before crouching down. “But it has to be ten. If you cheat, I’ll know because I will be keeping track of the time.”

           His mouth opened to refute before closing with a snap.  She could see him working it over, trying to determine whether or not she would play fair. She never really did, but this time she made a promise to herself that she would. Besides, she trusted him to at least make the whole experience entertaining.

           “Clock starts when I do.” She teased before tugging on the waistband of his boxers, making the elastic snap back. He tensed at the feeling, until she pulled them off too.

           Perhaps it was the fact that she had snuck up here, or maybe it was the fact that anyone—including one of the most prestigious board members—could walk in on them at any second, but the sight of him sent electricity along every nerve in her body.

           It was ten minutes. He wouldn’t make it to five, she told herself as she dragged her tongue along her lower lip. With that thought for reassurance, she gripped his thighs and closed her mouth over his cock. Immediately she felt the muscles in his legs tense, and his breathing hitched. She hummed, almost laughing at his reaction as he immediately grabbed the hair on the back of her head and pulled. She slid back an inch before diving back down, taking more than she had before. The groan he released was loud enough that she almost paused to make sure no one had heard. There was the fun in this, she supposed, getting caught might be exciting.

           “Mare.” He gasped as she continued her ministrations, and began to trail her nails along his skin up to his hips. Forcing her head down further, he muttered a breathless apology when she gagged. Digging her nails and fingers into his skin, she smiled and hummed again.

           “Fuck.” He spit the word like poison and bucked against her, earning another hum from her. “Not fair, that’s not fair.” He panted as she picked up the pace of her work.

           His finger dug into her scalp as he pulled even harder on her hair. She stayed on like a leach though, stifling a laugh at his squirming. His other hand gripped the edge of the desk until his knuckles turned white, and his legs tensed in time with each of her movements. But the stubborn bastard kept it together, and no matter what she tried in her arsenal, he only cursed and gripped that desk until she thought it might splinter.

           “Ten,” he crowed with a breathless laugh. “That’s ten.”

           Mare snapped away with a grunt, swiping her hand along her mouth, smearing the lip gloss across her cheek. Glowering up at him, she grumbled a curse word that would have made her mother slap her across the mouth. A deal was a deal.

           “Don’t look so bitter about it.” He teased, before cupping her face and lowering himself to capture her lips. His tongue darted along hers as his fingers gently pushed the hair he had pulled behind her ears.

           When she pulled away for air, her chest ached and the space between her legs ached even more. “I’ve got one more surprise for you.” She rose to her full height, and had the pleasure of seeing a bead of sweat roll down from his hairline. He had barely made it. If she was being honest, she would say that she hadn’t been keeping track of the time. She’d lost all of it to the feeling of his hips rocking and the tension of his muscles.

           Backing away a step, she winked at his confusion. “Remember a few weeks ago when I went to mall and made you go find something to do?” She fingered the zipper of her jacket, another bolt of electricity ran down her spine as he straightened up, completely attentive to her. “I was saving this for your birthday, but I got tired of waiting.”

As she went to unzip the jacket, he leaped, catching her hands almost knocking her over. Scrambling to stay on her feet, Mare let him take her whole weight as she gasped. “Fucking hell Cal—”

“Let me.” He smirked as he straightened her up and grabbed the zipper before she could. With a gentle tug, he unzipped it halfway, his eyes darkening again as he caught sight of the top half. She’d picked it carefully, the first time she’d ever done something like that honestly. Normally she grabbed things off the rack and hoped it matched. This though, she had taken her time selecting.

He had the jacket off in less than a heartbeat, and his fingers danced along the thin black lace of the corset. His eyes followed his hands as he searched the whole thing over, making her swallow in uncertainty. He trailed a knuckle along one of the many straps, his teeth obviously working at the inside of his cheek. Gently, he grabbed the waistband of her sweat pants and pulled them down as he dropped into a crouch before her. His eyes widened at the matching bottoms.

Immediately, his hands gripped the back of her legs as he glanced up at her. The weight of that stare could crush her if she didn’t realize that it was the most reverent of gazes. He looked at her like she had put the stars in the sky, and hung the moon too. It she was honest, she would admit that it might go to her head a little bit ans that the smile she gave him was mostly fed by that. She could bring this man to his knees by simply standing in a pair of lacy panties.

           “Where,” he voice cracked on the word, and his fingers dug into her hamstrings a little more before he dragged his lips up the inside of her bare thigh. “Where did you keep this?”

           Threading a hand through his hair, she exhaled in a sigh as his lips grazed the seam along the inside of her thigh. “You like it?”

           “I’ll like it better when it’s on the floor.” He murmured before sliding his hand up to grip her ass again. She almost yelped, and grabbing his shoulders she let out a breathless laugh as he pressed more kisses along the inside of her thigh.

           Standing up, he kept his hand on her as he lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his hips, and let him spin her around to the desk. With a quick sweep of his hand, he sent the papers all over it to the side before laying her down on it. With a tug, he dragged her back to the edge so she was still straddling him and braced his hands on either side of her head. She panted as she watched his lips curl into a hint of a smile.

           “Forget fucking you from behind.” He murmured, before lowering himself to trail his nose along her sternum. “I want to see every inch of you in this.”

           She grinned triumphantly as he slid a hand up her side to squeeze her breast, made far more generous with the help of the corset. It had been a good idea to listen to the pushy sales girl just because of that. “Good thing you don’t have to take it off.”

           His brow quirked in confusion, and sliding her hand down her body, she opened her legs a little wider to brush her fingers along herself. “Made sure it would be easy for you. Didn’t want you to feel intimidated by all the straps and buckles.”

           The snort he let out made her laugh, and she smiled as he stole the sound from her lips with a kiss. Rubbing his hips against hers, he lifted them off the table slightly until she was arched against him. Groaning when she felt how hard he was, she dug her nails into his arms, and said, “If I knew all it took to get you like this was wearing a pretty scrape of lace, I would buy sexier panties.”

           “I happen to like the panties you already own.” He teased before reaching between her legs for the bundle of nerves there. Rubbing in a tortuously slow circle, he grinned down at her as she craned her head back so her hair spilled across the desk. Grabbing onto the edge above she tried to grind against his palm, seeking further friction.

           Dropping his lips to her neck, he let his finger slide down to penetrate her. Groaning loud enough that she actually slapped her other hand over her mouth, Mare arched until her chest was smashed against his. He let out his own pleased sound at how wet he found her, and let her grind against his palm.

           “Can you last ten minutes?” He whispered in her ear before catching her earlobe with his teeth and pulling lightly. Mare twitched in response to the movement of his finger inside of her, whimpering when he pressed a kiss to the point where her pulse pounded in her neck. And although this was heavenly, she’d be damned if he won at this.

           Setting her jaw, she squeezed her legs together, earning a laugh from him as he withdrew his hand and brought his fingers to his lips. Sitting up quick enough to make herself dizzy, she grabbed his wrist to stop him from putting those fingers in his mouth. He froze as she closed her lips around his fingers and glanced up at him through her lashes. Releasing them with a pop, she watched his pupils dilate until they swallowed almost his entire iris.

           Smirking when a blush exploded across his cheeks and neck, she licked her lips and said, “You won’t even last that long.”

           Without speaking, he put a hand to her shoulder and slowly guided her back down to the desk as he stood over her. He pinned her hips down with his other hand as he tilted his head to the side ever so slightly and said, “I will take that as a challenge.”

           Mare’s heart fluttered in her chest at the tone of his voice, and how deep it had dropped. Keeping her breathing as level as possible, she closed her eyes as he traced a hand along her side and cupped her breast before leaving open mouthed kissed along the column of her throat.

“Cal,” she breathed his name in a gentle exhale as she threaded her fingers into his hair at the same time that he slipped his hand to her entrance again and pressed his palm against her.

           “Say my name like that again.” He whispered in her ear. “And I will do anything you want.”

           “Anything?” Her voice hitched as she ground against his palm, her eyes fluttering as she sought out the friction he denied her as he teasingly pulled away.

           His lips pulled up into a hint of a smile as he withdrew enough that she chased him with her lips. Their breath mixed as he rested his forehead against hers, and through her lightly fuzzy and crossed vision she could see the depths of his irises. Dark gold, and amber like honey. She could drown in them and be happy.

“Anything.” He answered her.

           Lowering herself back to the desk, she pulled him with her while her other hand threaded between them to grab his hip and pull him closer. Without breaking eye contact, he let her guide him to her entrance. With a sigh, she tipped her head back and locked her ankles behind his hips as he pulled her completely to the edge of the desk.

           “Cal.” She whispered as she grabbed the top of the desk again and squeezed her eyes shut.

           “That’s my girl.” He replied before putting a hand on her hip to keep her pinned to the desk and pulled out before pushing in deeper. Mare bucked against him, gasping as she clenched her thighs together around his hips, pulling him closer. Bracing his other hand next to her head, he dropped his chin as he moved in and out.            She only regretted doing this here for half a second, since she had to contain whatever sounds she made to minimal volumes. The last thing they needed was Volo Samos hearing something or coming to investigate what he was hearing. Although that might have been part of the thrill. If they were at her apartment, she could be as loud as she wanted, even with the window open. The traffic outside was loud enough to mask anything that happened in her shoebox apartment.

           “Harder.” She panted as she dragged her nails down the side of his nice shirt. She wanted to tear it off of him, to get to his skin underneath. He caught her hand before she could do just that, and pinning that hand above her head he obliged her. She half yelped, half gasped as she slid along the desk until her head almost dangled off the edge.

           Like a light switch flickering on and off, the light beyond her closed eyelids alternated with each meeting of their hips. She could feel the change in pace as he sensed her reaching her climax, and her lips curled into a pleased smile even as she arched slightly, hoping to escape him to last longer. He laughed softly at her attempt and pulled her toward him until she was dangling off the desk and had to grab on or risk falling to the floor. He caught her, but she still gasped as the change in angle pushed her completely over the edge so she shattered like glass. Every muscle in her legs contracted and her chest hitched on the rapid inhale she took. Curling around him as much as she could in her position, she stifled any other sound that wanted to come out.

           The best part? She knew she had lasted longer than ten minutes. The worst part? She wanted him again. And there was no way that was going to happen because as she sat there panting after he put her back on the desk and bent over to kiss her lightly, she heard the subtle ringing from a cell phone.

           “You’re getting a call.” She panted in his ear as she ran her fingers through his hair. It was damp now, and his chest pushed into hers with every inhale he took around his rapid heartbeat.

           “It can wait.” He murmured in reply before pressing a kiss against her jaw again.

           “I thought thirty and a half million dollars meant a lot right now.” She laughed as she traced a finger down the column of his spine from his neck to the middle of his back. He turned the full force of his gaze on her and she almost melted into a puddle in the heat of it.

           “You’re worth more than that. More than any deal, any job.” He kissed the tip of her nose. It kept her from turning away to hide the blush that exploded across her cheeks. He traced a thumb along it, and smiling at her he continued, “Who’s blushing now?”

           With an amused roll of her eyes, she traced a finger along his jaw in response to his light touches. This close to him, she realized he was beautiful, in the same way a marble statue in a museum was. She used to think he belonged in places like that, surrounded by priceless and irreplaceable objects that everyone paid to see.

           “I love you.” She tilted her head to the side, testing the phrase again. It was only the third or fourth time she had used it seriously with him. The weight of it settled over him, and he brought her fingers to his lips to press a kiss to them.

           “I love you.” He dropped the hand and pulled her into a sitting position so she could drop her legs from around his waist. Still connected with him, she trailed her fingers along his arms and drank her fill of him with her eyes. A part of her knew that someday she would lose him. Nothing in her life was ever truly hers and he luck had always been rotten, it was why she never bought a lottery ticket. And of course, his father did not like her. He wanted her gone because he saw her as an obstacle, or a hurdle his son would trip over. It took everything to not dig her fingers into Cal’s arm when they were around his father. Maybe if she did so, she could tattoo herself onto him and never lose him.

           “What are you thinking so deeply about?” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and pressed another kiss to the tip of her nose.

           “Nothing important.” She lied effortlessly, the smile she conjured for him almost real. If he saw through it he didn’t comment. The phone rang again from its sad position on the floor where it had ended up, and this time they both looked at it. The screen was lit up and he grimaced at the number showing on it.

           “I think you have to take that one.” Mare whispered before pressing a kiss to his cheek and sliding away from him to hop off the desk. He managed to catch her, and bring her to his chest before she could escape. Closing her eyes, she let herself melt against him for a second, inhaling the smell of his cologne and the smell of her that was now on him.

           When he pulled away to grab the phone off the floor and his pants from their pile near it, she sank back into the chair and watched his back as he finally answered the call. Whatever he was saying was like a buzz against her ears. She could only see him right then: the man he was, and the one he could become. She hated what he was in a small part of herself. But he wasn’t… he wasn’t like the other people he had spent most of his life around. And neither was his brother. Maybe that’s what that life did to people like them. Pushed them so hard that they turned out the opposite of their parents.

           He glanced at her with a smile as he managed to step into his pants with one hand and pull them up. She conjured up another smile for him and stood to fix his hair. He leaned down far enough that she could do that while he went about stringing his belt back into his pants. She trailed her fingers along his chest and down to the buckle and wrestled his fingers from it to clasp it shut herself.

           By the time she had finished he was done with the call, and was sitting in silence watching her work. She glanced up at him through her lashes, but he cupped the back of her head so she tipped her head back completely to him. His thumb rubbed a soothing rhythm along the back of her skull as he whispered, “I have to go. They found a solution.”

           She nodded. “So I guess you don’t have to bring out the big guns and put me in front of them.” Her smile was easy even as she prepared to pull away from him again. He held her steady, staring into her eyes for a long moment.

Just after the silence had stretched too far, he whispered, “Thank you.”

           “For what?” She managed to disentangle herself from him, and turned to gather her clothes. If he was leaving she needed to disappear too. They couldn’t leave together though, or people might notice. And she did not need it getting back to his father that she had broken any of those stupid rules. Then she might as well consider this the last time she ever saw him. What a last time it would be though. It would live with her for the remainder of what she had heard his father call a measly insignificant little life.

           “Everything. You… you make me impossibly happy Mare.” He threaded an arm around her waist before pulling her back against his chest and laying a kiss on top of her head. She finally melted completely into his arms. Wrapping his forearms with hers to trap him for a moment longer she closed her eyes. Suddenly, she didn’t care about the rules she had agreed to. Rules were meant to be broken, and she had always excelled at doing just that. With him, she would break every rule and scatter the ashes of them to the wind.

[i-need-air]

Katsuki with daughter hc? I'm dead (x-x) that piece is so precious I can't!!!! Imagine him with a twin both boys with different personalities, the other one is energetic and the other one is shy but they are both angels (like a kirshima and deku) he loves them all and and andd aughhh!😭 my heart can't take it!! -🧸🎂

Yes. This. Yes. Yes. Aha. This is it. This is my life juice. This right here. Fuck me up. Give me. I need this now. Bakugou with twin boys is the dream.

Hybrid!Bakugou with twin boys HCs:

× so we established his daughter would be just like him but;

× i live for this ask right now because it's absolutely precious!

× imagine his surprise when be finds out you're having twins

× absolutely adores them and will pamper them so much

× [ thanks the lord, the heavens, the old gods and all the stars in the galaxy because they're more chill akdjjwjdj ]

× if his daughter is daddy's little girl, the twins are glued to you and he's lowkey jealous but doesn't know if he's jealous of you since you're getting all of their attention or on them since they're getting all of your attention

× big family snuggling on the couch; everyone sprawled everywhere, the kids snuggling into you and he'd just... he'd be in his element, man;

× pulls such a soft face bc he's living for this moment

× his pack; that's it, this is his pack.

× as the twins are laid back and just smol sunshines, he'd be a little worried but both of them have each other's backs!

× one would be the one doing all the socializing while the other would calm the situation even from an early age

× they wouldn't fight and that's a relief; I feel that combo of personalities would make such a great team, for real.

× [ part 2 of thanking the heavens but ok ]

× he'd play with them and also teach them how to growl

× imagine one growling lively and the other letting out a very shy rawr then cry bc he didn't make it

× Katsuki would pat his head and reassure him; "It's ok, kid, you'll get it someday. Now show me your teeth!"

× he makes a face at smol bean until he starts laughing through the tears

× this man will feel so accomplished it's surreal

× the twins will also be his biggest fans too; think about them talking with other kids at the playground and saying "My dad is the strongest!" and "Yeah, he's so cool."; meanwhile Bakugou, who was just keeping an eye on them, grins like a mad man bc FUCK YES HE IS DAMMIT!

× instantly sends you messages about it to make you feel jealous but blushes bright red if you say something along the lines of "Of course you are!"

× that being said—

× Katsuki will always make sure they have their favorite food prepared and that's a hassle to say at least! Both have completely different tastes too

× bitches about the kids but with no backbone

× akdjskdjdj everyone, gather around in a circle and let's have an imagining exercise: Bakugou manhandling them; never ever hurts them but let's say he throws one on his shoulder and picks the other in his hand like a baggage, limbs dangling and both laughing at their dad 💕

× or just grabs one by the hood of his tiny hoodie and another from his ankle and just places them on the couch until he finishes cleaning or something

× if they run up to you and jump on you he's again showing that soft look and it's so adorable...

× THEIR TAILS WOULD BE WAGGING WHEN RUNNING TO YOU AND IT'S HNNNGGNGNNNN— 💕💞💕💞💕💞

× you can tell them apart just by their tails bc the more outgoing bean wiggles it like crazy knocking stuff in his path and the shy one would just— 🥺 wave it slowly— or just the tip would wiggle a little bit;;;;

× they're still his kids so they're little shits; as much as they're normally sweet angels, they do have their moments and I'm not even sorry about it

× let's say they do blame each other for something bc they'd be terrified to blame it on their bigger sister akddjdkkd at the end they're still a team but it turns out to be ridiculous...

× "No, he did it!"

× "Wasn't me..."

× "Fine, it was—uh... An alien!"

× "Y-yeah—!"

× starts bitching and cussing like a sailor: "See these brats?! Saying fuckin' E.T. broke into the fucking house and colored the walls!" He's irritated as hell but smirking at his dumbass children. [ spoiler alert: both of them did it and they fucking signed it— 💀 ]

× you all go hiking and Bakugou has a stroke bc everyone is doing their thing, running around in too many directions and he's fuming but loving it

× very active so good thing he has the energy for that even if you don't

× drops in bed at night and sighs

× hides a small smile off his face when he says "Knew you'd torture me with more devils."

× he loves them so, so much