#like he's a know-it-all that manages to simultaneously insult everyone around him

[moonfromearth]

- Scary movies are so easy to survive. They never think to just move out or call the cops or something.

Day 4 - The Outcast

"Responsible and level-headed, they're often perceived as a 'Debby Downer.'"

from @windbrook's Slashed Challenge.

[are-you-still-writing-that]

Yandere Alphabet: Kisaki Tetta

I´m so glad, that I found the time to finish up with him! :) At some points, he was even surprisingly difficult... The semester is nearly over, so now comes the exam time, where I will be more focused on studying... At least for the next month...

Anyway here we go:

Kisaki Tetta

Obsessive and manipulative, he already has very prominent traits, that could define him as Yandere even in Canon. In my opinion, he is already one of the closest depictions of what a Yandere could be like in Tokyo Revengers. So let´s see, what we can do with him.

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

That man is intensity personfied. He is all or nothing, with the things he does. A possessive hand in the small of your back, as he practically leads you along. An expensive gift, that he insists you wear, because it matches him. He is all about making clear to everyone that you and him, are one. He would commit the worst atrocities, murder and torture and then gift it all to you. He wants, that whoever thinks of you, will also think of him and the other way around. There is no separation between the two of you in his mind.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

He can get very messy, when it comes to his darling. He can´t stand it, when someone acts like they are above his darling, and he will personally make sure, that they will regret such things. Kisaki identifies himself with you, and every action taken against you, is in extension also taken against him. He would tear everyone apart, who dares to issue such an insult to the both of you.

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

With him, there a backhanded compliments, that might have had a genuine root, but his intention got somewhere twisted between what he wanted to say and what comes out of his mouth. He is the king of gaslighting and mental manipulation, as he twists everything you say around. But all these things stem from his strong desire to not lay his hands on you. The only way to make him violent, is when he feels deeply cornered and can´t find another way out, at least when it comes to you.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

He manages to somehow navigate events in such a way, that everything tends to run in a manner that is favourable to him, which he also does in conversations with you. In short, whenever the two of you talk, he tends to manipulate you, or if he can´t reach you in the moment, he will turn to other people. You might not even realize, what is going, but that man definitely took the reins from you. He is the one, that makes the choices

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

It most certainly depends on how much he trusts you in the first place, before he tells you anything. Still, even when he doesn´t trust you, he will sometimes rant in front of you. Just venting out his frustrations, while simultaneously trying to keep things away from you, that could be used against him. This though, rather in the vein of „Ignorance is bliss“, as doesn´t want to paint a  target on your back, when it would come out, that confides in you. Though everyone sees the two of you as the same, no?

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

Kisaki will understand, that this is simply part of a natural response, when someone realizes, that they are loosing control of everything. He takes you lashing out surprisingly well, as he does his best to give you a calm facade. Still, he is annoyed, even though he saw it coming from a mile away, but that doesn´t mean he has to like it, now does it? He will wait it patiently out, as he waits for the situation to calm down again. He knows, there is nothing he can do, that would help.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

He is confident in his abilities to keep you confined, if he will so. Kisaki knows, that there is no way, that you would ever get too far away from him. He knows, that he has played you in a position, where escape from him is impossible. Still, he doesn´t like it, when has to watch you attempt to run, even when he easily caught you again. For him, it feels like you are willing to throw the love you have simply away. It´s like you consider not even worth it. He hates that. It feels like you don´t even acknowledge what he is doing for you.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

It is a terrifying moment, when the man in front of you seems to change suddenly in front of you. From everything, that you could have ever wanted, to someone, who is clearly cunning and arrogant, who wouldn´t care if the world burned down around him as long as he still gets what he wants in the end. How when you try to run, to separate yourself from him to understand what just happened, he just casually points out, that there is no one you could run to. The knowledge, that he is right, and the loneliness that slams into you. He is right.

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

He believes, that what he wants in his future, is something, that would be so easy for you to give. He wants his feelings to be reciprocated. That´s it. Sometimes, you can catch him paging through wedding magazines, just looking at it all, though he will put those aside, when you come around. He wants to be loved. That is all he wants, and while he does thinks on one hand,  it would be easy for you, he knows on the other, that it is not as easy and will be so much harder for you. Because while he can be a bit delusional about the future, he is very aware of the present.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

When he sees someone cozzying up to you, all fuses get blown out in his brain. It doesn´t matter how you reacted to the attempts, the only thing that he can see, is someone else taking away, what he wanted for so long, and you not even trying to stay. He will sharply lash out at the offender in public, and depending on how angry he is, the other might never be seen again. Only in private, he will send sharp jabs at you as well. Making thinly-veiled insults, that blame you for what has happened. In that, he is rude and immature, and so very insecure in what he has with you.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

When he is just starting to get to know you, he will act in a manner, that appeals to you entirely. It´s the way he dresses himself, and the manners he displays. In total, he appears like the man you have always wished for. Though over time, some of his actual personality traits start to shine through, as he lets them show more and more, but you barely notice. Till the final moment, where he lets mask fall completely, and you have to deal with the consequences of his love.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

Kisaki tends to be awfully observant. He might know more about you, and how you tick, than you might know about yourself. Ever now and then, he will drop a tidbit of information, that make clear to you, that he cares about you. He mentions things, that you talked about, and just seems to listen to you, when you talk. He acts, as if the two of you run primarily in the same circles, as he slowly inserts himself into every aspect of your life. He knows, and that is with what he approaches you.

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

His mask and his actual personality differ a bit in ways, Kisaki himself, can´t stand. He is aware, that he is a bit more anxious, than he would like to be, but it might even exceed of what he is aware of. He is also just a tad bit more insecure, than he tends to present himself, though he always tries to never let that part of him slip through. He knows, how easily the image he pulled up, could be destroyed by emotions, that are genuine for him, and so he hides it. Again, and again.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

A tactian trough and trough, he will not become physical with you, when he deems your behaviour unacceptable. He know, that if he falls down to that level, that he can kiss his expectations and dreams goodbye. Instead, he will try to isolate you, withholding your meals. He will ignore and stop talking to you, as if to make you crave his interactions again. If all of these attempts, will fall flat, he isn´t above to turn his ire to the people you loved, and blame you for the things he did.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

He is a manipulator. There aren´t many things, that you can do any more, as soon as you are in his hands, that are outside his control. Kisaki won´t allow you many freedoms, keeping everything you do closely monitored, even though you might not even realize it, at this point any more. He just always seems to be there, wherever you go, and in whatever direction you turn, he will be there to catch you again.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

Kisaki knows how the saying goes: Good things, come for those that wait. And so, he settles down to do exactly that, wait. He will be the most patient he has ever been, and even if he feels his own patience comes to an end, he will simply remind himself over and over again, what his reward would be. Decades, would have nothing on this man, as he knows, that he is getting closer to his goal, with every action, the two take. He lays in wait, and feeds himself with dreams and fantasies. He will wait.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

It would be quite a wonder, if his darling ever manages to escape or leave him. And quite frankly, he would simply get them back, if this was the case. Tough, if his darling dies, he would be inconsolable. He will mourn your death, as it renders him apart. You were the most important thing for him in the entire world. He doesn´t know what to do without you here. He will turn into a menace, as there will be absolute hell to pay for the world, that tore you away from him. In retaliation, he will absolutely ruin, everyone elses life, just like his is ruined without you there.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

If he ever felt guilty, expect him to rationalize his way through it. In the same way, he will also deal with you. Every action he takes, brings him one step closer to what he wants, and he knows that. He knows, what he needs to do, to face the least amount of complications to his courting of you. He knows, what needs to be done to keep you safe, alive and happy, and he will provide. He will do all these things, that are so very necessary in his eyes. It´s simply rational.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

Kisaki grew up in a cold home. A distant father and even further out of reach mother. The only thing his parents left for him, was the weight of their expectations under which he suffered. Achievement after achievement of his was discarded for only harsher expectations. And no matter what, he would always meet them, even if he received no praise for it.

He was a lonely child, and when he found you, and you acknowledged what he could do and what he did, that was the moment he fell in love. It was also the moment, your life was forfeited. He feels, because you are the only good thing in his life, entitled to be the only one, that receives your affections. He feels entitlement towards the whole of you.

It also doesn´t help, that sociopathetic tendencies of his in his youth, were resolutely ignored by the people, who didn´t even care in the first place. It makes him more dangerous, than many will ever realize, and when they do, it will already be too late. Another thing, that comes back to bite everybody in the ass, that Kisaki only managed to receive praise from the people around him as a child, when he was absolutely ruthless, which obviously only nourished that kind of behaviour even further.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

While witnessing these kinds of behaviours from his darling, don´t necessarily make him uncomfortable, it still doens´t mean, that he likes to see it either. If it´s needed Kisaki can ignore your crying and screaming, and simply continue on as if normal. He can stop you easily from isolating, when he simply moves his work into whatever room you are, so that you never really loose his company. But even though he feels more neutral about the whole thing, he still has to admit, that he finds it exhausting when you are in these moods, and so tries to prevent them from happening in the first place.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

No matter how is emotions play him, no matter what cruel things might be his first impulse, he stays rational. He keeps staying composed, no matter what happens. Kisaki is aware of all the things that tend to run amok inside his mind, but he also knows how to keep all of these intrusive thoughts under wraps. To be honest, the only thing that tends to annoy with Kisaki is how he will feel entitled to you, but this is also one of the only ways, that is tendencies will showcase themselves.

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

While he is fairly arrogant, and tends to seem like he is folding to your wishes, don´t think you can manipulate this man. Any attempt of that, can only end badly for you. It´s not so much that it is impossible, but more the fact, that even while he seems sometimes a bit aloof to you, he still very aware of who you are as a person and how you normally act. For him, it ´s fairly obvious, when you change your behaviours, in small or big ways. It doesn´t matter. In this relationship, he is the master manipulator, and he will stay that as well. Rationality, the thing he loves so much, might be your only friend in this situation.

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

He isn´t one for hurting his darling, because he knows, that it won´t really amount to anything, except fear and reluctance. Both things, he doesn´t want from you. So, he won´t really resort to violence. Especially, because it would also tarnish the reputation he had build for himself. And quite frankly, he doesn´t even like it. The only time, he will lash out violently, is when he feels himself backed into a corner. Though, it is unlikely, that you will actually achieve that in the first place. A cornered animal, is the most dangerous that exists.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

While he is not exactly a worshipper, he doesn´t want to be worshipped either. Still, there is something about the way he acts, that does and demands both either way. He sees you as the only one for him. In that matter, he makes it clear to you, that there won´t be anyone else. He has thrown in his lots with you, and so he will stay no matter what. He is dedicated to you in all the ways, that matter to him. In the beginning he even changed his personality to fit in better with you, and some remnants of that time will always cling to him. He has changed himself for you. All of this simply because of the loyalty and dedication he holds for you.

After all of this, he expects your dedication to him as well. He wants to be only one for you as well, and expects the reassurance from you that he is. He wants to know, that you love him, just as much as he loves you. That you will listen to him, and acknowledge who he is. That you want him, the same way that he wants you. He just wants to see his love being reciprocated wholly

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

He would pine forever for his darling, if that is what it would take. The only way, you could make this man snap, is when you outright reject him. It´s the only thing, that he can´t bear to hear from you. Outright rejection would break him. Otherwise, he tends to stay amicable, as he still tries to garner your favour. He would wait till the end of time, as long as you don´t say „No“ to him.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

He fell in love with who you are. Kisaki loves you for being you. He changed himself to fit better in with you. There is no way, that he would ever break you. He does play mind games. Sure. Because they are one of the few things, that come naturally to him. It doesn´t mean, that he wants to break your mind apart. Even so, he takes great care, to mend you mind, whenever he feels like you´re slipping from him. Trying to isolate. He will be there. This is one thing, that you will never have to worry about with him.

[gaylotusthatexists]

For the kiss game. 12 (in grief) Tango/Joel :>

(this turned out. very sad but simultanously quite silly asdfjlgsn hope u enjoy <3 still also somehow managed to make this about ranchers. the opportunity was there okay asdhjf)

tws: past/off-screen major character death, grief/mourning, alcohol consumption

ao3 | send a number and a ship for a kiss <3

It had been a long day, and Joel was pissed in more ways than one, and all he really wanted was a few moments peace away from all of Grian’s complaining. If it was any other person, he might’ve just gone home, cried himself to sleep and hoped that he wasn’t too much of a zombie by the morning. But he had to be here for Grian, and… 

Well. And for Jimmy, he supposed. 

Stupid fucking Jimmy, who’d managed to go get himself killed. Because of course he’d go and do that, the absolute idiot, leaving his two best friends without even a goodbye. Making him have to go to a blummin’ funeral. Leaving Grian to act all weird and grouchy - grouchier than usual, anyway. Leaving Joel… 

Well, leaving him a bit of a mess, really. He’d been trying to hold it together, because he wasn’t about to cry in front of people, that’d be awful for his reputation, but he had to admit a few tears had slipped out during bathroom breaks. Probably didn’t help that he’d had about four too many pints of Carling - not his personal choice, but it’d been Jimmy’s favourite - and whilst he could usually hold his alcohol pretty well, today was an entirely different circumstance. 

He’d be fine. He would be fine. He just needed a few moments alone, a bit of fresh air. Which he theoretically could get - plenty of fresh air out in the beer garden and not many people, since with it being this late everyone was inside shielding themselves from the cold - except… 

Well. Unfortunately his assumptions hadn’t quite been correct. 

Out in the beer garden, sitting alone at Jimmy’s favourite table - the one right at the very end, next to the flower beds, exactly in the right position for the sun to shine down on in the late afternoon - was a stranger. And usually, Joel would’ve just turned around and found somewhere else, maybe go for a walk down the street and back, but the stranger was crying. And staring up at Joel with wide eyes. And he supposed it felt a bit awkward, just leaving him out here, without even saying hello, offering his condolences. Sure, Joel could be a dick at times, but he wasn’t an asshole . 

He sat down next to the stranger, offering him a polite smile. “Lovely night, innit?” he greeted, only to be met with silence. After a second, he cleared his throat. “You, uh, here for the funeral, then?”

The stranger stared at him, his eyes rimmed red. 

“Right, right, uh- stupid question.” He thought for a moment, then sighed. “Sorry, I’m… not great at this. Is there anything I can do for you? Like- I dunno, get you a drink? Or… a friend?” 

He sniffled, lifting a hand to wipe at his eyes as he shook his head. “I’m alright.” 

Joel narrowed his eyes. “You sure? You don’t look it.” 

The stranger shot him a glare. “I’m fine. It’s just-” He gestured vaguely in the air, seemingly unable to come up with words. Joel couldn’t really blame him for it. “-y’know. All this is… yeah.” 

“Right, right, I get it,” Joel said, which was the truth. Of course he got it. It’d been a hard night for everyone, he was sure. 

No one had been expecting Jimmy’s death. It really had just come out of nowhere - one day, he was perfectly fine, and the next… 

Joel wasn’t even sure he’d gotten to say goodbye to him, not properly. They rarely ever did say goodbye, usually just threw some meaningless insult or vague compliment depending on the vibes of the conversation before the other bolted away. Knowing that they’d see each other again soon enough anyway, knowing they could just pick things right back up from where they left. 

…until they couldn’t see each other again. 

(He really hadn’t expected that day to come so soon. It really did suck. It really wasn’t fair .) 

(But there wasn’t a whole lot Joel could do about it, was there?) 

Before any more tears could fall, Joel plastered on another polite smile, curling up his fingers in his lap, fingernails digging just a bit too harshly into his skin, probably leaving a mark. He couldn’t really find it in himself to care. 

“So,” he said, trying desperately to raise this poor man’s spirits, “how’d you know Jimmy, then?” Probably not doing a very good job at it, but oh well. Joel was by no means a therapist, wasn’t about to start acting like one. 

The stranger was quiet for a moment, looking away from Joel. He covered one side of his face with his hand, sort of continuing to wipe away those tears but mostly just seeming to hide them. “He, uh… he was my boyfriend?” 

Joel blinked. “Your boyfriend?” he repeated. Since when did Jimmy- oh. His eyes widened. “Wait. Shit, you’re Tango?” 

Tango stiffened, then slowly lowered his hand, glancing over at Joel. “Yeah?” 

“No way, you’re real?” 

Tango frowned. “What do you mean, ‘I’m real’?” 

Joel snorted. “Just- I mean, Jimmy told us about you, obviously, but, uh… I mean, none of us ever actually met you. And whenever we’d bring it up he’d just change the conversation. So we all had our doubts, if you know what I mean.” 

Tango stared at Joel again, for a long, long moment, before groaning and collapsing down to the table below, his head buried in his arms. His shoulders moved up and down, shaking slightly, and Joel heard him draw in a sharp breath, choking back tears. And Joel wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to do about that, he really wasn’t the right person for this, but- 

He laid a hand on Tango’s back, beginning to gently pat it, in a vague attempt at comfort. “Hey, hey, uh…” He scrunched up his face, trying his damn hardest to come up with the right words here. 

(Jimmy would’ve known what to do. He’d always been sweet, good with people. But he wasn’t here, was he?) 

Now wasn’t the time for Joel to start crying as well. He took in a deep breath, doing his best to stay composed. As composed as he could be, at least, given his current emotional state and the amount of alcohol in his system. 

“Look, I, uh… I know it must be hard for you, right now,” he said, leaning in a little closer to Tango, continuing to rub up and down his back. “Jim… He…” Joel trailed off and let out a heavy sigh. “I mean, we were close, so I get it, is what I’m trying to say.” 

Tango groaned, twisting his head slightly so that he faced Joel, resting his ear on the inside of his elbow. “How could you possibly get this?” he said, voice cracking. “It’s not like he was your boyfriend- you don’t even look upset!” 

“I am upset!” Joel exclaimed, leaning away from Tango and folding his arms. “You have no idea how upset I am right now!” 

Tango rolled his eyes. “You seem fine to me. Looks like you haven’t shed a single tear tonight.” 

Joel scoffed. “That doesn’t mean I’m not upset,” he said, electing not to mention that he definitely had - again, he had a reputation to uphold. “Besides, Jimmy wouldn’t want me to. If I did and he was here, he’d probably make fun of me for it. And, like- that wouldn’t stand. I’m the one who makes fun of him, not the other way round.” 

“He wouldn’t do that,” Tango said, sounding absolutely certain. He sat back up, staring Joel down. “Ji- He was the sweetest guy.” 

“You must’ve not known him that well, then-” 

“I must’ve not known him?!” Tango shook his head, as if in disbelief. “I think you’re the one who didn’t know him. I was his boyfriend, for goodness sake-” 

“And I was his best friend!” Joel argued. “I’ve known him far longer than you have. How long were you two even together? Like, what, a couple months?” 

“A couple years, actually. We were planning on moving in together!” 

Joel huffed. “No you weren’t.” 

“Yes we were. Why would I lie about that?” 

“First time I’m hearing about it,” Joel said, shaking his head. “Jimmy would’ve told me.” Jimmy told him everything. 

“I’m sure there’s a lot of things Jimmy didn’t tell you-” 

“He would’ve told me,” Joel reiterated, standing up and stepping away from the table. He could feel tears prickling at his eyes again, just- just thinking about Jimmy like that, thinking that there might’ve been stuff he didn’t know. Conversations they’d never had. Secrets they’d never shared. Things they couldn’t share, not anymore, even if they wanted to. 

He sighed, taking a seat again and burying his head in his hand, leaning an elbow against the table to prop himself up. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. Besides him, Tango shuffled a little closer, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey, are you-” 

“I’m fine,” Joel snapped, despite the fact that he clearly wasn’t. “I just…” He felt a sob trying to escape his throat, and did his damn hardest to push it down, squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as he could, tugging just a bit too harshly on his hair. 

“You… don’t look fine,” Tango said. His voice was softer than before, and whilst he was clearly trying to be comforting, all it did was fill Joel with rage. 

“Would you make up your blummin’ mind?” He felt the hand lift, and… somehow, he felt colder. He almost tried to chase it, tried to lean into Tango. He gripped his other hand around the edge of the table, fingernails scraping against the wood. “You- You literally just said I did look fine, I-” 

“Yeah, but- that was before- before all this! With the- you-” After a series of mostly incomprehensible noises, Tango cut himself off, letting out a heavy sigh. “Obviously you aren’t.” 

“Yeah. Obviously.” Joel lifted his other hand to his face, gripping his forehead. It was starting to ache. “I’m at my best mate’s fucking funeral. In what world would I be okay with that?” 

“Right, right, I- I get it,” Tango tried to reassure him. “And that’s perfectly okay. You don’t have to be alright. Just… I don’t know, you didn’t exactly give off that impression-” 

“I was- I was trying to lighten the mood, okay?” Joel said, his voice beginning to quieten, growing tired. He lowered his hands back into his lap, glancing at Tango. Not bothering to wipe the tears anymore. “I- Honestly, I came out here looking to be alone.” 

“You didn’t have to stay .” 

“I wasn’t gonna leave you out here, you were crying-” 

“‘Course I was crying, we’re at a funeral.” 

“I- Shut up.” Joel let out a heavy sigh. “Sorry. I- Maybe I should-” He sniffled. “-leave you alone.” 

“It’s okay,” Tango said. “You were… concerned, that’s alright. Honestly, right now I’m more concerned about you.” 

Joel huffed. “Probably should be. I’m a blummin’ mess, honestly.” 

Tango shrugged. “That makes two of us, then.” 

Huh. He… supposed Tango wasn’t wrong. 

Joel swallowed, then took in a deep breath, desperately trying to recompose himself again. He really hadn’t intended to have that kind of outburst tonight, especially not with someone he didn’t even know. Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but feel a little bad. Obviously, Tango was hurting as well. 

Probably not more than Joel was, that didn’t sound possible, but… pretty darn close, he reckoned. 

“Sorry,” he said again, as genuinely as he could. “I shouldn’t have-” 

“It’s fine, really,” Tango said. Joel’s shoulders hitched up, not quite believing him, but Tango gave him a soft smile and, somehow, that was enough to make him relax. 

(Now that he was… really looking, Tango actually reminded him a lot of Jimmy. Same messy blonde hair, same awkward charm, same bright smile. If he squinted, he could almost see his face.) 

“So, uh- you and- and Jimmy were close, then?” Tango asked, after a moment of silence. He looked away, fixing his eyes back to the table, as Joel slowly nodded, looking away as well. His gaze drifted down to the hands in his lap, watching his thumbs roll over one another. 

“Yeah,” he answered, the beginnings of a smile ghosting across his face. “Known each other since we were kids. Best mates all throughout school, and- y’know, never managed to get rid of him.” That smile continued to grow. “Used to get him to skip class with me so we could make out at the back of the field. Good times. Miss him.” 

Tango hummed in acknowledgement. “I miss him too.” Then, a moment later, “Wait. Make out?” 

Joel snorted. “Yeah. I mean, it was his idea, I was mostly just there ‘cause I couldn’t be arsed to do my work. Not a bad kisser, though, so can’t really complain.” He frowned. “Although, we were teenagers at the time, so might just be that my standards were lower. You’d probably know better.” 

“So- So he’s your ex?” Tango asked, and immediately Joel burst into laughter. 

“No! No, God, no,” he said. Not a moment later, that laughter soon turned back into tears, as more and more memories popped up to the surface. Nothing but Jimmy’s face circling his mind. “I- I love him, I do, but not like that. We were just… trying things out, I guess. Messing around. As friends do, y’know?” 

“I… don’t think that’s usually what friends do?” 

“What are you talking about?” Joel glanced back up at Tango. “I’ve made out with pretty much all of my friends at some point. You saying you haven’t?” 

“I- No? I haven’t?” 

Joel hummed. “You should try it. Good fun.” 

“Only person I really wanna kiss right now is Jimmy,” Tango said, folding his arms over his chest. “And, uh… well, it’s a little too late for that now, isn’t it?” 

A little too late. 

Fuck. 

Joel looked away again, feeling another sob trying to rack through his body. He pushed it down, reminding himself that it’s not what Jimmy would’ve wanted. “You, uh… I mean-” He pursed his lips. “I guess you two were close as well then, huh?” 

“...yeah. I loved him,” Tango said, voice suddenly rather sombre. “Love him. Don’t think I’ll ever stop.” 

Joel hummed in agreement. “Very lovable guy, he was.” 

“Yeah, exactly.” Tango looked up to the sky, eyes tracing over blinking stars. “He’s wonderful. Never met a guy so amazing. And- And the past few years I’ve known him have been the best, you have no idea. So… y’know.” He sighed, allowing his eyes to slip shut. “Finding it all… a little hard to take in. We had a whole life planned out together. I- I just- I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.” 

“He’d want you to- to keep going,” Joel said. “Be happy.” 

Tango was quiet for a moment, breathing softly. Again, Joel couldn’t help but see Jimmy in his place, sitting there in all of his glory. (He was even sat in Jimmy’s old spot.) “I don’t know how I’m supposed to be happy right now, when it was him who- who brought all that joy to my life. He just- He made everything seem so bright . So warm and- and beautiful. Like- how’d you feel if suddenly the sun disappeared from the sky? You really think you’d be able to just- just keep going as normal?” 

Joel thought for a moment. “Well. Probably not as normal, but… we’d still have the moon, wouldn’t we?” he said, glancing up to the sky. 

He’d never really appreciated it much before, but… maybe now, he could. Maybe now, right that second, Jimmy was up there somewhere, watching them with a smile. 

“And all the stars,” he continued. “They’re just like- mini suns, right? Just millions of miles away. Maybe… Maybe one day you could find another?” As soon as he heard those words come out his mouth, his cringed, scrunching up his face. “Ew. You’ve got me sounding all poetic now. How dare you.” 

Tango huffed, letting out a weak chuckle. “No, no, you’re right. I… He wouldn’t want me to just- wallow in self-pity for the rest of time, would he? He’d want me to be happy.” 

Joel nodded. “Y-Yeah, exactly. Like, obviously it might take some time, but…” He trailed off, looking down again. 

“…but I’ll get there,” Tango finished for him, his voice very quiet. “We’ll get there.” 

A smile tugged at the corner of Joel’s lips. “Yeah. We’ll get there.” 

Silence again, for a long moment. Somehow, though, it was nice. Comfortable. Comforting . Knowing that Tango was next to him, and that he understood. That Joel was beginning to understand him as well. 

“I just- I wish I’d had, like, one more day, y’know?” Tango said, eventually. His voice was small, quiet, and yet in Joel’s mind it felt like the loudest he’d been all night. 

“...yeah. Yeah, I know.” 

“Or, like, even just one more conversation,” he continued. “There are so many things I wanted to tell him still. So many things I wanted to do with him. I- Even just saying goodbye, for real. Or- Or giving him one last kiss.” He let out a shaky exhale. “God, I wish I could kiss him right now.” 

Joel hummed in thought, silent for a few moments as he took in Tango’s words, and considered his response. He really should’ve spent a longer time considering. “Do you wanna make out?” 

“...huh?” 

Yeah. Definitely should’ve spent a longer time considering. Joel looked away, avoiding Tango’s gaze. “I mean- you said you wanted to kiss someone, right? I’m right here. Available to kiss. Doesn’t have to mean anything, either, if you don’t want it to. Might help?” Tentatively, he glanced back at Tango, searching his face. 

Tango blinked. “I… I said I wanted to kiss Jimmy.” 

Joel shrugged. “Kinda hard to do that now though, innit-?” 

“Dude-” 

“What?” Joel huffed, turning away from Tango. “I was just offering, alright? It’s alright if you don’t want to.” 

“No, I-” He cut himself off, letting out a noise of frustration. For a moment, he sat in silence, before quietly asking, “You really think it’d help?” 

“Oh, I don’t know!” Joel said, a little too harshly. (Suddenly rather embarrassed, and trying his damn hardest to hide it.) “I get it, it was a stupid idea, we really don’t-” 

All of a sudden, the air to his lungs was cut off, as Tango leaned in and pressed his lips against Joel’s. 

…okay. So. That was happening. 

Cool. 

It didn’t take long for Joel to melt into it, moving his lips against Tango’s in a steady, gentle rhythm, shuffling a little closer to the other man. He moved to wrap an arm around Tango’s back, attempting to tug him in a little closer as well, eyes flitting shut in contentment, a low, pleased hum rumbling at the back of his throat. 

Tango’s hand ghosted across his back, afraid to touch. Joel tried to lean back into it, wanting to feel everything , but after a mere second Tango pulled it away, and with it, himself. Initially, Joel began to chase his lips, until the cold night air hit them and he realised that Tango had pulled away, that Tango had- 

Tango had kissed him. 

Actually, genuinely kissed him. 

…this was not at all how he’d been expecting his evening to go. 

When he opened his eyes, though, rather than the look of joy he’d been expecting, Tango instead looked vaguely terrified. “Sorry,” he blurted out. “I- I didn’t- It- You-“ 

“Hey, hey, it’s alright, it’s alright,” Joel reassured him. “I offered, remember?” 

“…r-right. I remember.” 

Joel gave him a warm smile. “Did it help?” 

“Not… really,” Tango said, honestly. Which, well, Joel supposed was fair. “But it… it was nice, I guess.” 

Joel nodded along. “Yeah. Yeah, it was nice,” he agreed. “You’re a pretty good kisser, y’know. Better than Jimmy was, anyway. He was lucky to have you.” 

“Hey, Jimmy was amazing. He was a good kisser. I was lucky to have him-” 

“I never said he was bad,” Joel defended. “Just that you’re better. And, like- to be fair, last time I kissed him he was, like, fifteen probably-”

“Right, right.” Tango giggled. Giggled. A smile on his face, so very different from the forlorn look he’d worn when Joel had first laid eyes on him. “You’re, uh… pretty good as well, y’know.” 

“Thank you, thank you. I mean, I know, obviously, but I appreciate the compliment.” 

“Can we… do it again?” 

Tango didn’t even really have to ask. As a grin spread across Joel’s face, he leant in close again, capturing Tango’s lips in his own. His hands wandered down to Tango’s waist, feeling him shiver beneath his touch, bringing up his own hands around Joel’s back and tugging him in. Tango was so warm beneath him, so soft and gentle with his kisses, and Joel could almost forget about all the other emotions swirling around in his chest, allowing himself to just enjoy it. 

It was almost like the old days, huddled in the corner of the field with his best mate, away from any prying eyes, just… having fun. Enjoying each other's company. Laughing and smiling and allowing the rest of the world to fade away. 

Maybe Tango felt the same. Maybe he could pretend that everything was back to normal, that his boyfriend was right there in his arms, that maybe he could have one more chance. Joel didn’t see the harm in letting the man indulge, just this once. 

It took a while before Tango finally pulled away - Joel waited for him to do so, waited until he was ready. When he did, he looked happy. Eyes shining, kinda wet like he might start crying again, but contented, nonetheless. His hands came to rest on Joel’s shoulders, and then a moment later his head, burying himself into the crook of Joel’s neck. 

“God,” he murmured. “I…” He trailed off, as Joel tugged him even closer, keeping a strong, comforting arm around him. 

“Did that help?” he asked, after a moment, keeping his voice quiet, calm. 

“...yeah. Kinda.” He let out a heavy sigh. “I miss him, still.” 

“I know, I know,” Joel said. “So do I. But… we’ll be okay. Yeah?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, we will.” Silence for a moment, before a quiet chuckle. “God. What would Jimmy think of us, doin’ something like that?” 

Joel hummed. “He’d probably be happy for us. I think he’d want to see his two favourite lads getting along, y’know?” 

Tango snorted. “Yeah. I guess so.” He drew back, untangling himself from Joel, who let him go. “We should do this again sometime.” 

Joel raised an eyebrow. “What, make out?” 

“No, no!” Tango shook his head, then paused. “I mean. Maybe. But- I mean, like… hang out. Talk. It’s been nice, having someone to talk to, after… after everything.” 

“Ah, of course, of course!” Joel nodded. “Any time, really. Glad I could be of help.” It would be good for Joel as well, to be fair - if anyone understood what Joel was going through, it was Tango. “Here, uh-” He pulled out his phone, bringing up his contacts and handing it to Tango, who took it to put in his details. “Just give me a call if you ever need someone to, uh, reminisce with. Or cry to. Or, y’know. Make out with.” 

Tango nodded, handing Joel his phone back. “I will, I will. Thanks, again.” 

“Thank you, as well,” Joel said, moving to stand up. “It’s been wonderful. And I don’t feel like crying anymore, so… mission accomplished, I guess.” 

Tango huffed in what was almost a laugh. “Don’t think I’m quite there yet, but… definitely feeling better.” 

“Good,” Joel said. He began to make his way back inside, giving Tango a wave. “I’ll see you around, yeah?” 

“Yeah, absolutely! See ya!” 

Jimmy would want them both to be happy. Truly happy. 

Maybe, with each other's help, one day they could get there.

[goddesswitchmother]

More thoughts for the ikevamp fanfiction! Enjoy or not, I don't care. I'm doing this for me, and if others happen to enjoy as well, then that's a bonus. Yeah, I'm saying this more for myself than anything as I'm a recovering people pleaser. Sometimes, I just need to remind myself to have fun be myself and not worry about what others think of me .

Desperation pt 3

I hate him. I fucking hate him. But perhaps I shouldn't have slapped his stupid face. My hand 😭. "Theodorus Van Gogh, I fucking hate you. I've known you all of four days and I already hate you. I've never, and I mean NEVER, hated someone before. You haven't once even tried to get to know me. You've done nothing but judge me, insult me, bully me, and have make all sorts of assumptions about my character and yet you don't know the first thing about me. I don't know how you call yourself an Art Dealer because you have proven countless times already you don't have what it takes. You're a piece of shit and I hope you prove me wrong because I really don't like hatred and I don't think it's merely because it's a foreign feeling." I rant angrily as he just gawks at me with that stupid look on his face.

"Also, you'd have to be simultaneously deaf, blind, and stupid to confuse you for Vincent. You are absolutely nothing alike whatsoever, and if I didn't already know better, I would never guess you were related. Vincent, I'm sorry you had to see me like this. I really valued your friendship, and I have no intention of dating you. However, I understand if you no longer want to be friends." I added this time in tears. Fuck I'm so embarrassed. So I did what I do best, and I ran. A part of me was aware that I had an audience. I vaguely noticed just about everyone had ended up in the gardens, probably drawn in by my outburst. The only ones not there were Isaac, Napoleon, Mozart, Leonardo, and Sebastian. I made it to my room uninterrupted and threw myself into bed to bawl my eyes out. I feel so pathetic.

Once I had managed to stop crying, I mindlessly sought out one of the few comforts I managed to bring with me. I set up my watercolor book on the desk with my watercolor paints, several brushes, and the untouched glass of water from the nightstand. As an afterthought, I grabbed my mixed media book, my colored pencils, and markers just in case.

I don't know how long I spent tearing pages out and throwing them on the floor. All of them bearing finished paintings or drawings that I just didn't like. Any works left on the desk were unfinished concepts that I couldn't put together. However, I was interrupted by a knock on the door. And then the door was opened. I didn't bother checking to see who it was. "You haven't even touched your dinner. I hope you aren't planning on skipping breakfast, too. We can't have that." I was shocked back into reality then. "What?! But I only just ate breakfast a few hours ago." I really started looking around then. Sebastian quickly approached me and tilted my head up to look at him. "Uh...." I was unsure what I wanted to say. Whatever it was could wait, though. The way Sebastian was intensely studying me with concern overwhelmingly obvious in his gaze. I never had anyone worry so much about me before that it rendered me speechless. I suddenly felt the urge to cry that I violently squashed it down, hoping he didn't notice. He cleared his throat and glanced around at the mess I created. "You just might be as bad as Leonardo at losing track of time. Just yesterday, I brought you lunch, but you were crying. I don't know if you remember, but you refused lunch. You promised you'd eat dinner if I brought it to you. However." He explained, gesturing to the platter of dinner sitting neglected on the tray near the bed. I blushed as I vaguely remembered something like that. "I'm sorry. Let me clean up this mess, and I'll eat breakfast out there so you can be certain I eat." I offer hastily getting up. "Oh, I'll pick these up, if you don't mind. Just go wash up and perhaps change your attire, and I'll have your place at the dining table set." He offered, already carefully stacking the papers from the floor neatly into his arms. Damn he works quickly and efficiently. I make a noise of agreement and grab a random outfit before rushing to my bathroom.

(images sourced from pinterest)

I had quickly washed my face and brushed my hair and teeth and applied deodorant. You know the usual. But the whole time I was disturbed by how pale I was as well as the shadows around my red rimmed eyes. When I finished dressing I went to grab my makeup to see Sebastian had the same idea. "Hope you don't mind, I just thought that you were looking a little pale and sleep deprived." I just smiled gratefully. "You're a life saver." I say as I rush off to do my makeup.

(Images sourced from pinterest)

(My eyes are actually amber, though, so imagine that.)

I managed to improve my mood and started feeling my self-confidence boost by the time I made it to the dining room. Sure enough, Sebastian was just setting down my plate stacked high with the French toast and sausage I requested. A glass of hopefully cranberry apple juice joining them. "Ooh, looks delicious, thank you, Sebby." I say happily. I see his back straighten up. "Sebby, huh? Do I get a nickname, luv? Also, you look absolutely ravishing. Are you -" "Yeah, yeah, Arty-boy, I'm not wearing sweats today, so I'm definitely trying to seduce you." I interrupt, voice heavily dripping with sarcasm. "So hard to believe a woman can dress up for her own happiness." I mutter, stabbing a sausage onto my fork. Out of my peripheral, I see theo opening his mouth like he's about to say something. "Now shut up. I'm hungry." I add not to anyone in specific.

[ashellofwhatusedtobegood]

Damn Raven

Character involved: Ace

Notes: Scene in ace's backstory, from where he tried to challenge Whitebeard before he joined the crew. Reader is the raven, but genders(or lack thereof) is not implied, feel free to imagine it how you like.

Summary: Ace thought that a pet crow was a good enough target to provoke Whitebeard into finally fighting him.

Warnings: none, except for my lack of research and imagination.

Ace, the newest member of the Whitebeard Pirates(though he didn't know it yet), always saw that huge old man with a crow on his shoulder. He wasn't sure what that old man was playing, but trying to be the textbook definition of a pirate by having a pet crow wasn't going to stop him from challenging the old man to a fight.

So, in hopes of riling him up, Ace decided that today he should just insult that pet crow. Who knows, maybe then the old man would at least swing a fist or two and do more than just swatting him away. He wanted a fight, not to be a damn fly.

"Hey Whitebeard!" Today's the day. He better get a fight by the end of today. "Why'd you have a pet crow? You know that crow's a sign of bad luck and bad omen, right?"

At his words, everyone within hearing vicinity simultaneously froze. And grimaced. They grimaced at Ace and turned to look at Whitebeard—who raised a brow at his statement—and nudged the bird on his shoulder. The silence unnerved Ace, but seeing the bird flying off Whitebeard's shoulder gave him hope. That means Whitebeard was going to fight him now, right?

"You cheeky brat, you've gone and done it now." He laughed, which prompted the others to follow him. Ace looked around confusedly, before noticing the crow closing in on him. And he wasn't sure if it was the lack of food or sleep, but maybe...the crow's getting bigger?

"You.."

Oh yeah, the crow was definitely bigger than before. Actually, as a matter of fact—and definitely not a hallucination—that crow turned into a human.

"Pops, permission to beat someone up?" The crow-human casted a side-glance at Whitebeard. That man only laughed with a wave of his hand. "Not too badly, he's my newest son after all."

Ace couldn't find the will to be angry about that title when the crow-human advanced in on him quicker than he's seen anyone moved. He registered a fist incoming but what he felt next was definitely not a fist, as he doubled down on the floor holding his stomach, heaving and coughing for a solid minute.

"Wha..t," He managed to ask no one in particular, when a foot—as much a foot as something sharp poked at his skull and head—slammed his head down to the floorboards. Oh, and is that blood or saliva? He wasn't sure, not when he's kissing the floor.

"This one," The crow-human spoke, "Have been meaning to beat you since forever. I heard you call me a crow over and over again. This one's a damn raven, crackhead."

The foot dug in his skull, screwing him deeper into the floorboards than he ever thought possible. "Who cares if a raven has the same bad omen going on, this one is gonna make you believe its true." The raven-human said and for a moment, the weight on his head lifted—and maybe because he's seen this one before, he gathered all of his strength to avoid the for sure incoming foot to his head.

Except it didn't. Nothing was slammed beside him or on him. Or anywhere, really.

"There, there." A new voice sounded. Ace lifted his head enough to see the raven-human being held back by Marco, who smiled understandingly at the former. "No need to bash his head in. If you did, then you wouldn't be able to get his shiny things."

"This one will do that and steal his things," The raven-human's lifted foot slowly set down. Now Ace realized why the foot was sharp; it was a crow's talons—! Sorry, raven. It was a raven's talons.

"Easy now," Whitebeard spoke next, "I think he got it in his head lest he wants another beating." He laughed, and some snickered. "Marco, see if Ace is fine."

"And this one is gonna go and plan on how to handle being on the same ship as him," The raven-human huffed, turning back to a raven and flying off to Whitebeard's shoulder. It poked and jabbed his shoulder, earning a laugh and a pat from him.

From then on, he reluctantly learned the difference between a crow and a raven, and even after a year, that raven-human hybrid hasn't spoken to him ever.

[thefanficmonster]

Swear Jar

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Mentions of Teenage Pregnancy and Teenage Parenting, Swearing

Genre: Domestic Fluff, Romance, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: Corpse gets a brief visit from his daughter mid-stream. It goes without saying that he’s got some explaining to do afterwards.

Requested by Anon. Hi darling! Thank you so much for your adorable request! I’m so sorry you’ve had to wait so long for it to be turned into a fic but here it is and I really hope you come across it and enjoy the read! Love, Vy ❤

Note: Y/D/N - Your Daughter’s Name

“Guys, guys, let’s take a break so Corpse can get a change of underwear.“ Toast teases, causing the whole gang to erupt in laughter while Corpse only rolls his eyes.

“Keep talking shit, Toast, you screamed like a girl in the last round.“ The messy-haired boy defends himself with a chuckle as he focuses most of his attention on his quickly flowing chat.

“Um, excuse me?! That’s an insult to us girls.“ Tina argues, correcting Corpse’s terminology, simultaneously getting backed up by Rae and Leslie.

“Yeah Corpse, that’s insulting and untrue. He screamed more like you did two rounds ago.“ Charlie interferes with his own sarcasm which get’s everyone to laugh, making Corpse roll his eyes.

“Oh fuck you all, that’s so un-fucking-fair!“ He complains, running a hand through his hair to push away the strands hanging before his eyes. He hasn’t had much time to pamper himself and take care of himself this morning - oh I’m sorry, did I say morning? I meant afternoon. He slept in till ten minutes before the stream he had announced a week prior was about to start. He even tried arguing an extra minutes with Y/N when she tried to wake him up, luckily failing to win the negotiation cause when she pointed out the time to him, he practically flew out of bed.

He’s had his usual broken sleep pattern of staying up late and barely getting a wink of sleep due to his ailments but he’d usually at least give sleep a try. Last night he couldn’t, although ‘didn’t want to’ is a more accurate term. He had his girlfriend Y/N to keep him company along with a bottle of wine they cracked open when the apartment finally fell quiet.

“Fuck you!“

The call falls silent when a childish voice says the very inappropriate insult Corpse used a few moments ago. The voice also emerges from his mic but it’s too realistic for people to think it’s his voice just modified by an app. When they hear him chuckle they’re sure he wasn’t the source of it.

“We don’t say that, Y/D/N. Go put a dollar in the Swear Jar.“ Corpse attempts to scold the little girl whose voice was heard seconds ago, managing to shush the whole VC without even trying.

“Nuh-uh! You said it too! Why can you say it but I can’t?!“ The girl whines, making a solid point against the man’s argument.

He sighs, “You’re right, I shouldn’t say it either. Go get the Swear Jar I’ll put in a dollar as well.”

A giggle is heard before light but quick footsteps echo in his room, growing gradually distant as the kid runs off to grab the aforementioned jar. Silence falls upon the call once more now that Corpse has been left alone again.

He’s not stupid, he knows damn well he’s got plenty to explain but is really not looking forward to doing it. Not to his friends and especially not to his audience. It’s not something he’s been going around telling people, not because he’s ashamed of it but for privacy reasons and, unlike what people may think, his privacy is not the only one on the line here. It’s the privacy of that little girl and his unknown-to-the-public girlfriend Y/N.

Looks like they’re both about to be known though.

“You have a niece? Why didn’t you tell us she was visiting?“ Asks a very confused Rae who’s very clearly shooting in the dark with this question, looking for either confirmation to her assumption or a correction.

She gets the latter when Corpse speaks up, “Uh, no...I don’t have a niece. I forgot to lock my door and my daughter took advantage of it...”

Just as he’s about to pick his next words and prepare himself for the upcoming avalanche of questions, another voice pops in, barely caught by his mic since it’s a whisper.

“Hey, I’m sorry for the intrusion. I looked away for two seconds and she dipped.“ Says the female voice of a woman who’s age cannot be determined by the listeners due to the whisper being the only suggestion of her identity.

“Don’t worry about it, babe.“ Corpse answers her, “It was a pleasant surprise. I’m sure everyone can agree.“

There’s a moment of silent understanding in the room as Y/N’s eyes widen in both shock and guilt. Her boyfriend on the other hand gives her a warm smile, reassuring her that it’s no big deal. He reaches out for her and she approaches him, closing the five feet of distance now that she’s standing directly in front of him, towering over him in contrast of the regularity of it being the other way around. He takes her hands in his, bringing them to his lips, a gesture he’s always done to calm her nerves and/or anxiety. She closes her eyes, the feeling of the gentle kisses on her knuckles closing the pit which has opened up in her stomach. She’s not particularly afraid of what’s gonna happen to her and Y/D/N, more so afraid of how Corpse’s career will potentially change after this reveal, unsure of whether this is gonna affect it negatively or not.

That, however, is the last thing on Corpse’s mind right now.

“It’s ok. I promise you, it’s ok.“ He whispers to her as he holds her hands to his chest, pulling her down to place a kiss on her forehead. A kiss of reassurance she desperately needs.

Y/N nods, clearing her throat which until this point had been clogged by a lump of worry. She turns on her heel to leave and fetch their daughter who’s probably gotten distracted by something on the quest to find the Swear Jar. She doesn’t exactly manage to make it to the door though - with Corpse still holding onto her hands, she barely makes a step. Turning her head to look at him, she sees him motion to his lap so she can have a seat and assist him with the following explanation. She’s initially reluctant, but the comforting squeeze he delivers to he hands is about enough to convince her.

She settles in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck instinctively as he rolls his chair closer to the desk, turning on the mic he had discreetly turned off when Y/N popped into the room, just after the first sentence she spoke.

“So...um...as I said, that was my daughter, Y/D/N. She’s six years old. Her and her mom, aka my darling girlfriend Y/N have been living with me since we were eighteen. I hate to say this but she wasn’t exactly planned or wanted at the time, considering Y/N and I had nothing serious going on and were just dumb teenagers. We had friends-with-benefits relationship, if you can call it that, but I always saw her as something more. Someone far more important in my life than just harmless fun. When we were seventeen, that fun proved to be not so harmless when she told me she was pregnant. She told me she wanted to keep the baby but kept saying she didn’t need any input from me. She didn’t let me get a word out until I asked her to be my girlfriend but that’s your typical Y/N and...basically we’ve been living together ever since Y/D/N was born. Her and Y/N are the only two people I’ve ever cared for so much and are the only ones lighting up this dark life of mine from the very start. I love them with all my heart but I find it really hard to say it - especially to Y/N who I could barely ask to be my girlfriend. Imagine how much stalling I’ll do when I have to pop the million dollar question.“ He chuckles through the last part of his speech, bringing a smile to his girlfriend’s face which is also decorated by her shiny glossy eyes.

“You won’t have to...“ She says, “Not when you know the answer in advance.“

Realizing she’s been present the whole time Corpse was talking, the chat no longer gives two shits about him and neither do his friends who have moved on to stringing up small talk with Y/N, getting to know her while not exposing her identity. Her and Rae click immediately with the roasts they throw Corpse’s way, something Charlie and Toast get into as well. She also shares Sykkuno’s kindness and sweetness as they talk about their shared interests.

Overall, it’s an interaction neither of them could’ve predicted or have even tried envisioning. Corpse finds it incredibly heartwarming to see his shy girlfriend be so outgoing with people she’s only heard stories about. He’s never known any of her friends but knows she doesn’t have many she’s close with but it seems fairly certain that the number of friends has indeed increased.

“I know I missed out on Y/D/N, but can I please be the godmother for your next one?“ Rae pleads with Y/N who seems to be the only one the question is directed towards. Yeah, cause fuck Corpse’s opinion anyway.

“Good luck with that.“ She laughs, “I ain’t doing that shit again.“

“Don’t worry.“ Corpse reassures his friends, “That claim never really sticks.“ He winks at Y/N causing her to roll her eyes.

“Not until there’s a ring on this finger.“ She teases, waving her already ring covered hand at him. What is a girl to do when she likes his boyfriend’s rings after all - she borrows them, of course!

He chuckles, gazing at the woman who’s had his heart since they were Juniors in high school. By the looks of it, she doesn’t seem like she’ll be giving it back to him anytime soon. He prefers it that way though, “That won’t be a problem.”

“Dad! I found the Swear Jar!“ The cheery high-pitched voice of Y/D/N pierces through the room. She’s announced her discovery as if the jar had been hidden and not just chilling on the dining room table.

“Did you put a dollar in there?“ Corpse asks with a smile across his face only Y/N and his daughter can see.

“Yes!“ The little girl exclaims excitedly.

Her mom furrows her eyebrows, “And where did you find a dollar?

“Your wallet, mommy!”

This provokes the laughter not only of Corpse but of the entire call. Y/N too is on the brink of laughter as she pretends to get up, “Oh you little gremlin...”

That’s more than enough to chase the six-year-old out of the room, squealing the whole way probably to her usual hiding spot in one the bottom kitchen cabinets.

Seeing as how the assailant has escaped, Y/N turns to glare at the second one on her chopping block. “You owe me a dollar.”

“Oh, come on! How is that fair!“ He whines, “I already put a dollar in the jar.“

Her eyebrows perk up maliciously, “Oh, thanks for reminding me.” With that she snatches the wallet he still hasn’t been able to put aside and she too scrams away, leaving him behind to call after her, now robbed of all his money including the Swear Jar.

“If any of you guys could start me a GoFundMe, I’d really appreciate it.“

@maat-the-prescriptive  @simonsbluee  @save-the-sky  @itsminniekat  @hacker-ghost  @bi-andready-tocry  @imtiredaffff  @jazzkaurtheglorious  @hereforbeebo  @fandomgirl17  @chrysanthykios  @maehemscorpyus  @loraleiix  @letsloveimagines  @annshit  @i-cant-choose-a-username-help  @enigmaticmaze  @divine-artemis  @waterlilypat  @idontknowwhatthisisfam  @evi-ka  @classyandfabulous00  @redperson58  @lilysdaydreams @solowheein  @mythicalamphitrite  @axen-gers  @luckygirl144  @nj01  @buddyemily   @the-albino-lioness  @stardream14  @gdhdkfnn  @nomadicgypsyy  @preciousskye  @fluffysuicideunicornsworld  @o-kaelin  @manacharlotte  @awkward-youtube-trash  @lolalee24  @bonky-beerns  @meme-lord-and-savior-sebastian  @strawbrinkofdeath  @teenloves  @tams0527  @browneyespinkhair  @starstruckllamapuppy  @daisychains012  @y0ulooked  @tinytacosuitcaseflap @supernatural-is-my-only-life  @jula-pauline  @melodykitty  @just-that-bi-girl  @crazybutconfidentaf  @lowellshade @alphakees  @bellero  @weallneednamjesus  @starryhanji  @boiled-onionrings  @husherstan  @fockingwhore  @melaningoddessthings  @prettypastelpetals  @haleypearce  @godwhyamiawkward  @y-napotat  @daisychainyoonmin  @little-miss-rebel3  @free-wheelin-bi-sexual  @redmoon261 @darkacademic2  @wiseflamingoqueen  @into-the-end  @namikhai-i  @nastiablr  @thelittleplantlover  @mirktuan  @dont-hyuck @jjk-bunny  @vintagegothlover  @easygoingtheatre  @itsrandombooklover  @miiaivi  @emmybaybee  @befourgolden  @jjk-is-my-shit  @eternalteaaars  @spacebadgerx  @princesslunalight  @acequinn14  @samm48  @misselsbells06 @simp-lykawa  @fo-love  @marishimomura-blog  @therealglenncoco  @cinnamonbun332  @killtherandomness  @sanshinexxxsan  @fee-btheweeb  @press-lay  @cathleenpotgieter16  @jazzydoesstuff  @moonlxghtbay  @forestrain2000  @hyunjinhugs  @blood-of-fandoms  @lovellylies  @ukiyolixx  @simpforhpcharacters  @chrisdylan17  @parkerjisung  @pedernille  @theodonyous  @wineandionysus  @malfoystilinskii05  @morbid-x  @coryisagee  @jessewa26  @scoobydooluver97 @mindintheskies365  @raeanneinwonderland  @indecisive-empanada  @gluttonypalace  @loriane2503  @btsiguess-kpop  @khaoticbunny  @lucidlycactus  @smiithys  @rottenroyalebooks  @kpopgirlbtssvt  @fangirl-tc27  @fr0z3n-1  @notmesimpingfortechno  @shotarosleftpinky  @kunoi-chan  @idk-whats-wrong-with-me  @yikeroonie  @goldenstarofthunderclan  @poetry-and-tea  @ama-do-writing-stuff  @wishbonewolf  @emeraldxhope  @t0xick1tty  @kusuinko  @speakyourselfloveyourself  @sophia902103  @lo-manburg  @classsykittykat  @dmgama  @depressedpuppythatneedscoffee  @btsiguess-kpop  @akaashi-baby  @gun-jong-simp  @geschichtenfee  @yerapotato-wp  @browneyedgirl365  @thysagclub  @sparklycloudnight  @helloatomicshadow  @queentorresstuff @vtte @val-gal  @lucy-bunny17  @aaliyahh0  @katluckybear  @boyleanti  @straybids  @franchesca-791  @cosmicstorm19  @averyisbackinthetrashcan  @aomi-nabi  @xlanawriter  @allensimpsforcorpse  @sunnyrae-cessh  @ladykxxx08  @meowiemari  @renupf  @booklover76  @sra-verissimo  @beatrhizn  @blueberrystigma  @beatrhizn  @chicken-taco-burrito  @scorpio-echo  @nyctophiliiiiaaa  @squirreljoe   @azra-x  @ace-of-spaids2

[luna-writes-stuff]

I would be honored if you could do an imagine for Fili crushing on someone who went on the journey with the Company. He thought she liked his brother, but after seeing him with Tauriel, Fili feels like he has a chance and offers everything to make her as happy as he thought she would be with Kili. Lovely fluff and some misunderstandings with everyone living because IF I CAN'T SEE CANON THEN IT DOESN'T EXIST

Mixed signals, Fili Durin (platonic Kili x reader)

what do you mean they don’t usually live???? Idk I always skip the last half hour of botfa. If I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist.

Ahahah I got taken away a bit so it’s a long request. Sorry….

Headcanons, female s/o

Tw: misunderstood feelings, mention of injury and blood, tiny sprinkle of angst, fluff, Kili being a lil shit, Fili being jealous, few mentions of Y/N I’m so sorry.

- This man is whipped for you. I posted a request similar to this one yesterday, and I feel like it says enough.

- The moment he sees you, he knows you’re his One. Yet, he can’t allow himself to show you. His brother wouldn’t shut up about it and besides that, after Erebor was to be reclaimed, he had to marry royalty in order to form an alliance.

- But Thorin wasn’t blind. He has seen the look in Dis’ eyes many times before. He had seen his sister find her One, so it came as nothing out of the ordinary when he witnessed his nephew do the same.

- And this is pre-dragonsickness. Back when Thorin was all “I hate everyone but I guess I have to keep up with these two idiots so I’ll tolerate them.”

- And he wanted to grant Fili the opportunity to be with his One. He had even told him to simply go for it.

- But Fili was a bit insecure. When you met him, you didn’t seem taken away in any way. It was almost as if it had only been him who was in love.

- And with that, you had grown remarkably close to his brother, Kili. You two joked around all the time. You sat together during the evenings, Kili would help you up on your horse/pony, he would take offer your watches and he even let you hold his bow and arrow. That is basically dwarven language for “I love you and I wish to court you” or “I love you and I’m so glad to have you in my family.”

- What Fili didn’t know is that Thorin told Kili about you being his One. But instead of teasing Fili about it, Kili had made it his duty to agitate his brother so much that he would have no choice but to confess to you before Kili would sneak you away.

- For your information: Kili had no intention of sneaking you away. He just wanted to make it look like it for Fili, and, lucky for him, you had just been going along with it subconsciously.

- But it did not agitate Fili. It made the poor lad confused and tired. You were showing so much affection and endearment to his brother that he felt like he could never compete. Even though Kili had never been attractive in dwarven standards, he knew his way around women. And seeing someone finally pay attention to him, made Fili happy for his brother.

- And Kili just kept up with the act. He was oblivious to what his brother was feeling. Thorin had quite specifically told Kili not to tell his brother, and for once, he didn’t. But when days turned into weeks, Kili made more advances. Not in any way uncomfortable for you, but they had been a step further.

- He would let you rest against him during night shifts, he would let his hand linger on your waist when he helped you get onto your horse/pony. This sneaky bastard even managed to toy with your hair.

- Fili grew absolutely devastated at these moments. He had distanced himself more and truly felt as if his One had been taken away and he would die alone.

- But then Mirkwood happened. It was obvious to Fili that his brother had taken a liking on Tauriel, the female elf that saved him earlier. You had been passed out of exhaustion in your cell, not paying attention to your surroundings anymore.

- And that was when Fili finally decided to speak.

- “What are you doing? I thought you liked Y/N and now you’re flirting with that elf? You can’t treat her like that!”

- And now Kili was confused.

- “I thought you liked Y/N?” He had questioned, not even knowing whether his uncle had been lying to him or not.

- “That doesn’t matter. What matters is, you can’t just run around-“ but Kili had already cut him off. “It does matter. Because Y/N isn’t my One. I’m not attracted to her!”

- And now Fili was dead silent. He had been contemplating on whether to act furious or taken aback. In reality, he had been a bit of both.

- “You don’t like Y/N?” Fili asked, nearly insulted.

- “I was only trying to agitate you. Uncle said she was your One but that you wouldn’t confess.” Kili admitted finally, knowing that keeping the act up any longer wouldn’t work.

- “So you tried to beat it out of me?” The only response the blonde got was a quiet hum.

- “You thought I would take away your chance of happiness?” Fili wondered aloud, his anger now showing more clearly. “Well, not if you put it like that-“ “How else am I supposed to put it?”

- With those words, the space grew quiet. One more question lingered on Fili’s mind, and he had to ask it.

- “Does she know you don’t like her?” A short pause was heard from Kili before he responded. “She does. When we grew closer she told me she wasn’t attracted to me and I told her she wasn’t my One.”

- A sigh of relief came Fili’s way, but his brother kept on talking. “She grew all confused by the concept of ‘Ones’. Had to give her a whole history lesson. She thinks it’s adorable. I’m sure she won’t reject you.” With those words, Fili’s ears pricked up.

- “How so?” “Because every time we are together, she won’t stop asking me about you.” Fili never thought someone could ever bring him more butterflies than when you smiled at him, but as Kili’s sentences reached him, his stomach felt all light again.

- “At first I thought it was because you were ignoring her, but I quickly figured out that wasn’t the case.” Kili shot a quick look his brother’s way, even though he had been in a cell on the other side of the hall. “She likes you, she really does. She’s not as good at hiding it as you are. If you ask her to court you, she won’t say no.”

- Fili had spent the entire night pondering over his brother’s words. Even as they escaped the dungeons and took the boat to Laketown, his anxiety bubbled up.

- But as soon as the orcs entered the city, reality sunk back in. They had been on the run while simultaneously claiming their homeland. There might be a chance neither of you would make it. And it terrified him.

- As you were busy holding off the orcs in Bard’s home, Fili had been right beside you covering your back. He knew asking you to court him would require more steps. Up until this moment you had only held a handful of conversations, but Fili was running out of patience.

- “When all this is over, I need you by my side.” He told you quickly, his voice heavy as he fenced off the attackers. You grew confused at your words, yet your actions did not falter one bit. And it only made Fili more attracted to you. How you maintained yourself on a battlefield, yet somehow managed to hold that perfect look. It could quite easily take his breath away.

- “But I am by your side.” You answered, not catching his meaning, thinking it had been too good to be true.

- “I mean by my side at Erebor. When we reclaim the mountain. Will you stay with me?” Upon your silence, Fili tried explaining his speech. “I know asking you to court me requires more steps but we might not have time for them anymore. I need you to stay with me. We can do all these steps afterwards, I promise.”

- You cast him a quick look before giving him a sincere nod. “I’ll stay with you.”

- And that is exactly what you did. Upon finally arriving at the mountain with the four dwarves, Fili finally got the time to braid your hair, even if Thorin told him to look for the Arkenstone. You had even managed to braid his hair too, even though you had no beads yet.

- Even as Thorin slowly grew insane, Fili had done what he promised; he remained by your side, defending you against his uncle and keeping you as safe as he could.

- During the battle of the five armies, you stayed with him and Kili. You traveled with the three of you, not once separating. Not even when Fili decided you should split up. Because of that, you managed to do quite a number on Azog before Thorin called out to him.

- Azog had gotten a good slash on your leg, nothing life threatening but enough to make you collapse on the spot. Fili had been so worried. He had promised to look out for you, but now you were bleeding out on the snow covered floor. Kili had already ran off for help, even though the possibility he would come back with one would be highly unlikely, as battle was still raging on.

- On top of Ravenhill everything had grown silent. Bodies of dead orcs were littered over the floor but all that mattered to Fili right now was you being safe. Eventually, Kili had ran back with Bilbo, Thorin and Gandalf by his side. They had successfully beaten Azog, finally putting an end to the bloodshed.

- As the mountain was being rebuilt, Oin had put you on bed rest to let your leg heal and Fili had been with you the entire time. Thorin hadn’t even tried to get him for royal duties. He knew he had been awful to you during his dragonsickness, and this was his way of apologizing to you. And you had been fine with it.

- When you had finally recovered, Kili took you to the forges to make beads for Fili. You wanted it to be a surprise for him, but you needed supervision. At first, Dis, Fili and Kili’s mother, had offered to help, but it had become her duty to distract the crown prince.

- A few burns and scratched had started to form on both your and Kili’s hands but it had been worth it. The beads were incredible.

- Fili was so happy when you gave them to him. He was so surprised by the amazing details and the thought and time your poured into them.

- He wears them the entire time. Now exceptions. Not even for bed or bath. None. They must always be in his hair.

- I WANNA WRITE MORE BUT IT’S ALREADY SO LONG BUT JUST ASSUME HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH AND WILL TREASURE YOU FOREVER AND LOVE YOU FOR EVERY LITTLE THING YOU DO

[221bshrlocked]

this burning

December Writing Challenge 2021

Day 5 - Fire Places || Fuzzy socks, soft rugs, and hands intertwined.

Pairing: Ardeth Bay x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Lots of yearning. Implied smut.

Words: 1526

A/N: Believe me, I am more surprised than you that I wrote for this character again. P.S. 'gamela' means pretty or beautiful.

You couldn’t help but stare at him as the night went on. He was almost otherworldly, the way he spoke, the way he moved, even the slightest facial expressions in reaction to something John was doing. You have never met someone who was simultaneously so simple yet so interesting in your life before, which was telling, considering how often you traveled across the world.

When he arrived earlier in the evening, you were reminded of all of the feelings you spent months setting aside out of respect for his culture and religion. He was much more vibrant than the last time you saw him just outside the city of Karnak. And as much as you wished to ignore him, to pretend he wasn’t there and that you didn’t see him for almost half a year, you couldn’t. There were only a few acquaintances that arrived as early as him and you didn’t want him to think that he was no longer welcome among your family. Evie would kill you if she got so much as an inclination of what you felt for the man.

So you swallowed your feelings and pride, and tried to speak with him enough to not make it seem weird. You could swear there was something different about the way he was speaking with you, perhaps even looking at you, but you blamed the few glasses of wine you already went through. When the Christmas party reached its peak, you grew tired of socializing and quietly grabbed another glass of wine and walked towards one of the corners of the room, making sure to tell Alex not to whisper of your whereabouts to his parents should they ask him where you were hiding.

But that was not the only reason why you hid behind one of the bookshelves.

From where you were standing, you had the perfect view of the Medjai. You couldn’t believe how easily you forgot the aura about him. Seeing him around a handful of people was one thing, but seeing him in his dark, black cloaks that juxtaposed perfectly with the multitudes around him made him all the more fascinating, the more special. It shouldn’t have surprised you. He had the blood of the old gods running in his veins. His mere existence showed the majesty of the ancient civilization.

It was very clear, though, that you weren’t the only one longing to be near him. The attention he was receiving was justified and you couldn’t take it anymore, envious of how easily everyone else spoke with him when you only tensed at the sight of him.

Making sure that no one would miss your presence, you quietly made your way up the stairs into the private living rooms overlooking the gardens of the estate. A shiver ran down your spine and you reluctantly walked away from the balcony back towards the fireplace. It was moments like this when you missed Egypt. The fire may have always been put out by the winds of the desert but they managed to connect you to another time and place that old England could never aspire to do.

“You are not enjoying the party?” A deep voice pulls you away from your nostalgic thoughts and you turn around quickly to face the man, barely managing to hold back from gasping when you saw his cloaks flutter behind him as he approached you. Reluctantly, you moved away from the heat as soon as he stood in front of it, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to take being this close to him and not being able to know him the way you’ve desired ever since the two of you met.

“I- I don’t do well with crowds. And I suspect you don’t either.” The comment slipped from your lips before you can stop yourself and you stepped closer to him while holding out your hand just as he began to chuckle at your declaration. “Forgive me, sir, I didn’t mean to insult you. I just-” You try to backtrack from your previous words but the ruler of the medjai shakes his head and turns away from you.

You can’t help but admire his features as the fire shadows swim across them. The man was stunning, in every sense of the word. But there was something intimate about the tattoos across his handsome face being highlighted by the dancing flames, as if they were etched there by the fires of Osiris and Horus. You couldn’t look away from him. He was so approachable now, existing in a space that was held by your presence alone.

“Why do you continue to call me with such titles even after I’ve begged you to not do so? Is it so- so different from this land’s names that you cannot bear to say it? Or do you truly consider us as nothing more than acquaintances?”

The sudden outburst causes your eyes to widen in shock, mostly because you’ve known the man to always have strong control over himself, even in his moments of severe anger.

“It’s, umm- it’s out of respect? As I understand it, the Ruler of the Medjai held a high level of authority in the ancient world. I do not wish for you to think that I do not respect and understand your position just because we are in this modern civilization. As for being acquaintances, I- I thought…or I was told that you do not try to mix with someone like me, which I completely understand. It- please, know that it was never my intention to offend you.” You aren’t sure when the two of you ended up standing a foot away from each other but one minute you’re offering your apologies, and the next thing you know, the man in front of you closes the space and reaches out to touch your hair.

You’re not sure how you should react and you hold your breath when he leans down and takes a long whiff of your scent. You wish you could do the same with his beautiful, long locks but you remember that it might be offensive to be so forward so you hold back from mirroring his actions.

“Have you any idea what you do to me woman?” The question is whispered and it’s the only thing you need to hear to finally reach out and touch his hand.

“My name, say my name gamela. I want to hear you sing my name in that bewitching voice of yours.” You make the mistake of looking into his eyes as he orders you to whisper his name to him.

What you find in his eyes is terrifying.

It’s the same that’s in yours whenever you’re studying him.

“Ardeth…Ardeth please.”

It’s all you need to say for the semblance of control to finally snap. You don’t have time to react as he pushes you down underneath him atop the soft rugs adorning the floors and covers you with his body. He’s much warmer than you, and you aren’t sure if it’s because he was standing near the fire or because he feels this heated from the brief interaction. You can’t find it in yourself to care. Before you can say anything, Ardeth descends down on you, not caring for how animalistic he’s being as he raises the dress from around your thighs and nestles himself in between your legs. He makes sure to cover you with his robes, and you silently thank him for wanting to keep some form of your virtue from wandering eyes should you get caught.

As your arms wrap around him, Ardeth growls into the kiss and takes hold of both of your wrists, slamming them harshly against the ground before sliding his palms up to your hands and intertwining your fingers together. You gasp at the intimacy of the moment and regret it almost immediately when he sneaks his tongue into your mouth and claims you. His weight on top of you shouldn’t feel this glorious and comforting, and yet it is.

Even after he stripes you of your clothes and claims your body.

Even after his hands roam across your skin as if he, and only he, had the right to your body.

Even after he whispered his eternal love to you as he filled you with his essence over and over again.

But you find that it all makes sense, every little thing your mind and body and soul felt towards this man made sense. The way you seem to feel connected to an ancient past the more he draws shapes across your heated skin makes this otherworldly experience come forward and explain what you’re feeling.

As he wraps you in his arms and kisses every inch he can reach, you finally come to understand what all of these emotions came to be.

You’re in love with him.

And even though you thought you’d be afraid of admitting it, you aren’t.

In fact, you find that you don’t have an issue completely losing yourself in him, completely giving yourself up to him.

The thought is comforting. This burning fire was comforting.

All because it was him.

[oyapluto]

how the team reacts to one of their managers being insulted

[ 𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗢 𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 ]

“look, it’s karasuno!”

“wheres that super hot manager of theirs?”

“i don’t know, but their assistant manager is no where near as good looking”

ᴅᴀɪᴄʜɪ sᴀᴡᴀᴍᴜʀᴀ

- will unfortunately have the most “restraint” at first

- he’s literally holding tanaka and nishinoya by the neck just so they won’t pummel whoever said that to a pulp

- he’ll try to assure you first and foremost that you are beautiful and that those guys have no clue what they’re talking about

- he’s trying to keep his composure but tbh he’s the most likely to lose his shit

- and then he’ll address them with a smile and a murderous aura

- “please keep our manager out of your mouth in the future. because  next time, i won’t hold them back.”

- thatttt would deter most guys from fucking with you

- but the reALL douchebags that keep going while daichi is walking away

- they’re getting punched right in the nose 😭 and he just leaves it at that

sᴜɢᴀᴡᴀʀᴀ ᴋᴏsʜɪ

- literally freezes at first bc who the fUCK??? 

- his primary concern is you though, and he’ll immediately go to you while glaring at whoever said that 

- he’ll grab your arm lightly and put himself in front of you in a protective manner

- will assure you by saying they’re just jealous they don’t have any managers that are like you

- while his right hand his holding you gently his nails are digging into his palm in his left 

- he is furioussss

- but when the tension breaks and the team walks away he moves his arm around your shoulder whispering comfort into your hair and scowls at anyone that looks your way

ᴀsᴀʜɪ ᴀᴢᴜᴍᴀɴᴇ

- listen you and i both know that asahi is a huge softie that couldn’t hurt a fly 

- at first he’s shocked too, and it takes him a few seconds longer to process what was just said 

- then it’ll click, and his eyes will immediately travel to you first 

- once he sees that sugawara was already comforting you, he’ll take a step forward 

- kinda has tunnel vision and doesn’t even know what the other team members are doing around him 

- but all he has to do is walk towards the guys that said it and they’re already cowering in fear by asahi’s height and appearance 

- “i- isn’t that the guy who got held back three years at karasuno?” 

- “WE’RE SORRY LET’S GET OUT OF HERE” 

ᴛᴀɴᴀᴋᴀ ʀʏᴜᴜɴᴏsᴜᴋᴇ

- literally reacts right away 

- there’s no way in hell ANYONE is insulting HIS MANAGERS AKA THE CUTEST ANGELS TO WALK THIS PLANET 

- “WHAT DID YOU SAY PUNK?!” 

- he’s seeing red 

- you’ve never seen tanaka so pissed in his life 

- literally grabs one of them by the shirt collar and yanks him so they’re eye to eye

- takes daichi to pull him back before things can escalate further 

- will definitely comfort you after they’re out of eyesight from the trash ass men

ɴɪsʜɪɴᴏʏᴀ ʏᴜᴜ

- right next to tanaka 

- they literally react simultaneously 

- while tanaka is handling one of them noya definitely got his hands on the other

- since he’s on the shorter side he uses both hands to grab onto the dude and bring him face to face 

- “don’t you EVER speak about our y/n like that. who the hell do you think you are?” 

- if you call out to him he’ll immediately snap out of it and turn to you

- his eyes go soft and making sure you’re not distressed

- will calm down enough to not fight the dude but will definitely shove him away while mumbling how he’s not worth it

ᴋᴀɢᴇʏᴀᴍᴀ ᴛᴏʙɪᴏ

- has his hands in his pockets and his back faced to them but he hasn’t moved a muscle 

- when he does turn around his eyes pierce into their souls and they know they fucked up 

- not the type to get physical with strangers but he’s defending you nonetheless

- will definitely insult their status as a team and their skills as players 

- “you better hope we’re not on the court together cause we will destroy you.” 

- “that’s a lot of talk coming from a team with no ranking.” 

- “maybe you should focus on your plays rather than our manager.” 

- he’s the last person to ask if you’re okay after it’s all done, but that’s because he doesn’t really know how to go about it (he really does care so much though)

ʜɪɴᴀᴛᴀ sʜᴏʏᴏ

- needs someone else to assure him that his ears aren’t deceiving him 

- “did they really just say that about y/n?” 

- once someone confirms, it’S ON SIGHT 

- “hEY WHO DO YOU THINK YOU’RE TALKING TO???” 

- hinata can’t really do much since noya and tanaka are already all up on them, but it doesn’t matter anyways since coach ukai is holding him back 

- he already gets enough trouble as it is at the bathroom he can’t afford getting into more fights LMAOOOOO

- “hinata, y/n will not appreciate it if you get your ass beat trying to ‘defend’ them. show them who’s boss on the court!” 

- extra aggressive during matches

ᴛsᴜᴋɪsʜɪᴍᴀ ᴋᴇɪ

- you wouldn’t THINK tsukishima cares (or even likes) you enough to do anything 

- in fact he laughs at first 

- but it’s not a genuine laugh, no its more like a scoff if anything 

- “you two are pathetic.” 

- “what the fuck did you just say four eyes?” 

- “you heard me. you’re losers. as if you have any chance to begin with with y/n. are you two really gonna talk about appearances when you look like that? you make me sick.”

- everyone thinks tsukki is heartless but he hates senseless bullying unprovoked

- will approach you in private: “don’t listen to them y/n, they don’t know what they’re talking about.” 

ʏᴀᴍᴀɢᴜᴄʜɪ ᴛᴀᴅᴀsʜɪ

- like suga his attention is diverted to you first since he’s more of a lover not a fighter 

- that doesn’t mean he isn’t as upset as everyone else though, in fact its quite the opposite

- he is seething on the inside

- who has the AUDACITY to insult how you look ?? the fuck ??? 

- honestly the first to ask you if you’re okay in the moment 

- he’ll get even angrier if he sees that you’re visibly upset or crying 

- he’s too familiar with insecurity, with being compared to others, and he thinks out of everyone you deserve to experience that the least

- surprisingly he has the last word: “Y/N IS BEAUTIFUL. you’ll see.” 

[shirophantomvox]

How Illumi, Hisoka, and Chrollo would react to their S/O in the hospital

Hi, anon! You are welcome to join my Discord Server if you are a fan of Hxh, Voltron, or both! I promise this is a safe environment! This is an interesting topic for sure! To the other anon(s), I am working on your request! This will contain both fluff and angst. I forgot to include Leorio in this, so I’ll include him in the next HxH post. You’ll have to forgive me, I have 2 more requests in my inbox and I am not feeling the best. I just got my second Covid shot and it is hurting like hell. Nevertheless, I encourage you all to get your shot if you can. I will be on this site one and off and I should be on it for real next week. I have run out of ideas to write and I began to think I was annoying people with my HxH content (no one said this I just assumed). This post has 1974 words. After these requests are finished, I plan on doing a character analysis for Leorio.

Anyway, let’s get into the post!

We’ll start with Hisoka this time.

Hisoka

In all honesty, this man has heard of a hospital (since he sends a lot of people to it after fights) but has never been in one.

The signs, floors, staircase numbers, and elevators all confuse him. He has only been in one once when he was a kid and has never been again.

He isn’t a social butterfly in this setting because this is a professional establishment and not a college party. Asking for directions takes quite a toll on him because of his established pride. You know guys act when they want to find a destination on their own and will go miles out of the way instead of just asking for direction.

He doesn’t talk to anyone; all he wants to do is find you and make sure you are alright.

He is the tallest person in the freight elevator. So tall that everyone at turns to look at him at once for at least 10 seconds and turn back around surprised.

“How tall is he,” one of the nurses ask.

“Tall enough to be my house!”

This annoys him. He takes out the Joker card and lays it against his thigh but realizes he cannot make any hasty decisions. His bloodlust was activated merely out of irritation and not by threat. You were on his mind and destroying these worthless humans wasn’t an option for today.

He approached the guest desk and waited for about 2 minutes before he was acknowledged.

“May I help you,” a smug receptionist asked. Wow, these people do not know who they’re talking to.

“I’m here to see y/n.”

“Y/n is in room 345. Go down the hall and to the right all the way down.”

This man nearly ran with a quickness! His jester shoes somehow made the floor shake as he ran.

You were awake, eating the horrible food the hospital provided and watching TV. It seemed like you were doing ok, but you had just been in a car accident. Your arms and right leg were still sore. It was so bad that you’d be fine with Hisoka carrying you everywhere.

When you two are alone in serious public places, he doesn’t play games or tricks. He is often portrayed as a ruthless man, but in settings like this, he places the jokes and games aside for later. When he enters your room, he is silent for 30 seconds. Much too long. He was shocked; he walked around your hospital bed, pulled up a chair, and stared at your cast. It had many names written on it.

“Yes, I am ok.”

“I apologize for not being there for you,” he began to say.

“Shh… it’s ok. This is life. It hurts like hell, but I’m a trooper!”

Admiring your cast and its multiple fonts of handwriting and messages, he grabbed a sharpie marker, wrote his name, with a heart and spade next to it. Surprisingly, his cursive was very neat and legible.

“I didn’t know you knew how to write in cursive! Why don’t you write me letters?”

“I see you every day and it hurts my hand.”

The doctor wouldn’t be in for another 1 ½ hours, so Hisoka used your thigh as a pillow as he took a nap. He had been up for countless nights thinking about you. He was screwing up so bad, Chrollo let him leave early.

“As soon as your better, we will fight again. I won’t go easy on you. You won’t be in the hospital but you get the jest.”

Illumi

Illumi isn’t the type of man to overreact in these types of situations. When you both agreed to date each other, you knew you all were tough cookies. You were aware of the dangers of dating an assassin and he knew about the dangers of dating a bounty hunter. People hated you both and you targeted.

One night you both were caught in a vulnerable state. While you both enjoyed chocolate milkshakes at a laid-back 1950’s styled diner, two men were previously thrown out for fighting. While your back was turned one of those men shot your arm, causing you to carelessly throw your body to the ground due to impact.

While everyone else was screaming, Illumi jumped to the ground and tied his hair tie around your arm to temporarily stop the bleeding.

“Illu, why does it feel cold in here,” you managed to breathe out.

His heart dropped to his stomach for the first time in history.

“Don’t say things like that!”

Illumi is already horrible at displaying emotions, but all he could do is frown in fear. Once the EMS came barling in, he demanded that he ride with you.

Illumi hadn’t experienced anything like this since Killua had been injured when he fell from a tree.

You and he were separated when you were rushed into surgery leaving him alone in the waiting room.

When Illumi is stressed and cannot properly display how he feels, he tends to act in “odd” ways.

He begins to furiously turn pages in magazines or bother the receptions every 2 minutes about the status of your surgery. When the woman finally says that you’re still alive, he tones it down a little.

Illumi is open to conforming advice from strangers; he has been receiving it secretly from strangers. Since Silva was busy abusing him, he often found comfort from “the streets”.

He has a bad habit of pacing back and forth and fidgeting in his seat while horrific images fill his mind. All he has seen is pain and even though he was used to it, he didn’t want you to go through it as well.

While sitting in his seat (finally!) and head in his lap, doubled over indescribable sorrow, a little girl walks up to him with her hands folded and a doll under her arms. Illumi feels her presence and looks up. The girl’s curly hair covered her endearing eyes and her smile is wide.

“They’ll be alright. I just know they will,” turning around returning to her mother, the girl said with confidence.

On cue, Illumi placed his hand over his heart, smiling just a little.

He walked quickly to your room once you were out of surgery.

His speed walk mimics one of a soldier; his left arm in since with his right leg. His shoes echoed throughout the hall.

As soon as he enters the room, he shuts the door harder than usual and gives you a tight embrace. This surprises you! You’re lucky if he lays his head on your shoulder!

Illumi had been working out lately. He wanted to beat you in the “squish the melon” contest. He is very competitive and even if he lost, that doesn’t hurt his ego. Not in the slightest. Since it was just the both of you alone, he bends down to hug you tight, so tight that your face is squished against his.

This behavior is only surprising because he usually doesn’t coddle you even when you get hurt, but this time he realized that you could have died from the gunshot wound.

After that he kissed your forehead and almost simultaneously the doctor barreled in just missing the sweet moment between you and your beau.

Chrollo

When Chrollo is holding meetings with the Phantom Troupe, he always appears to be neutral. That is very important. A leader has to show strength even through the worst/hurtful times of their lives.

Chrollo had gotten a call from Nobunaga that you had gotten hurt on a mission and had actually gotten captured by the enemy. Phinks was able to get you back but you suffered horrible injuries.

This is protocol; they do this for any of the members. The troupe was oblivious to the fact that you and Chrollo were dating. They thought you were here to replace Uvo.

In situations like this, he is calm on the outside but screaming on the inside. Common sense will tell you if you are startled by the news you’ve just received and you begin to drive, you could cause more harm on the way to your destination.

Chrollo is very silent; he doesn’t call to check on your status or anything; he would rather see it for himself.

You were a trooper! After all, you are dating a dangerous robber.

Chrollo already knew what room you were in so he just went.

“I knew I should have kept y/n by my side. Y/n insisted on doing my dirty work that they almost died! How foolish could I have been?” He constantly cursed himself for letting his guard down with you.

He always gave you room to think and complete your own tasks but he can’t help his protective nature; one he has for the troupe but times 10.

His childhood friends had been shot by law enforcers, his home was horrific, and the last thing he needed was for you to be gone. You were keeping him afloat in society.

When he opened the door, Phinks was sitting in a chair, one leg over the other, laughing at a TikTok video.

Nobunaga on the other hand was watching the world news and seemed invested that he didn’t hear Chrollo enter the room. Once they both saw, they stood to their feet.

“Y/n is ok boss. They suffered a few cuts and burns, but they're breathing.”

Chrollo’s straight face remained as he stared at you.

Chrollo’s silence is something the troupe has internalized as a sign of anger, rage, or both. When he didn’t speak and just stared, everyone knew that their next mission was going to be a brutal one.

Chrollo is a man that isn’t afraid to express how he feels. He could cry right now if he wanted to and no one would dare laugh at him or insult him. After all, Nobunaga cried when he realized Uvo was dead.

Nobunaga and Phinks excused themselves as they saw him place his hand over his mouth.

Once the door closed, He pulled up the chair, grabbed your hand, and gently squeezed it. His warmth woke you up instantly and you turned your head. You winced in pain causing Chrollo to jump from his seat, moving to your right side so you wouldn’t turn your head too much.

“I’m glad you're alive, darling. What were you doing putting yourself in danger? Feitan could have handled the beast!”

He isn’t trying to doubt your ability to fight, he’s just concerned for your safety. Even so, why would he insist that you join the spiders?

A tear dropped from his face as he silently kissed your hand three times. You smiled warmly and placed your right left hand on top of his.

“I am fine, boss. You need not worry. I’m a trooper, remember?”

He placed your hand against his dry cheek and continued to kiss it. You were his lifeline and he wanted to spend every moment with you.

[yhwhsdaughter]

HQ!! Manager being protective when people insult their player

(ft. oikawa, hinata, tanaka, yachi, osamu, kuroo)

Warnings: threats, physical altercations, bullying, public humiliation

I usually don’t condone the usage of violence, but I woke up mad today lmao

OIKAWA

the pretty setter was getting ready to serve, his fangirls screaming in support while the rest of the team took a break.

to the side were a couple of guys staring in jealousy, “heh, his weak ass gets a big ego just because—”

they continued their insults and while they didn’t reach oikawa, his team members certainly heard it all

teasing oikawa was different when it came from them because they genuinely cared about him,, but for someone else to continuously bully the setter without reason?? it was infuriating

before any of them could kick their asses, their manager approached them.

(name) was perhaps the most polite individual they’d met; always patient and kind despite their antics

“ah, i can see the misunderstanding that oikawa is a weakling. he’s got a broken knee and constantly pushes himself despite the excruciating pain.”

the aura surrounding them suddenly turned dark and cold as (name) clutched the shoulder of the main bully with an iron grip

“what about you? shall i break your knee so we can find out if you’re stronger than him?”

at that moment, their gentle mannered manager had the eyes of a beast, unyielding as the guy tried to escape their grip

when they left, the players approached (name) who still glared in that direction. “woah we didn’t know you could be so scary (name)”

now calmer, they replied, “you’re my team, i would kill anyone that tries harm you.”

it was such a matter-of-fact that the males couldn’t help but laugh “haha you’re funny too”

“am i laughing?”

that day they learned their precious manager would deadass commit murder for them

extra: when oikawa found you defended him, he ran with open arms, “(name)-channnnn marry me!” squeezing the life out of you

HINATA

competition hadn’t even started and people were already shit talking karasuno

“flightless crows” blah blah blah

as their third manager, you would be in the benches with yachi, supporting the team

however, hinata had gone to the bathroom and he wasn’t back. daichi had sent you to get him since the game was about to start

you found the team’s sunshine nearly corned by a tall player “aah you’re so short and you’re a middle blocker?? i’ll be looking down on you little shrimp!”

he didn’t get to say more because your leg swiftly hit the back of his knees, falling to the ground harshly.

no one and i mean no one messes with hinata without you getting a few hits in, regardless height

“oh look. you’re below him now”

mans was lucky y’all were in a competition, otherwise he wouldn’t have left unscathed

with that, you steered your baby hinata away from that asshole, throwing him a dirty look in case he wanted to try anything

if he did, you would not hold back. literally on sight

fyi hinata was totally not blushing the entire way back. everytime you approach him now he gets all flustered

everyone else is like ???

TANAKA

the ladies man, tanaka had encountered a group of attractive girls at the arcade so he decided to shoot his shot

when they declined, tanaka was prepared to leave them alone, respectful of a woman’s boundaries, but they decided to verbally attack him

“who’d wanna go out with you?” “yeah you’re so ugly, stupid baldie”

wrong move

unfortunately for them, you were also at the arcade, having heard how the entire conversation went down

you knew tanaka would never use violence against a girl, even if they were rude, but you would.

equal rights equal fights bitch

those girls never saw it coming, you grabbing the leader’s hair roughly and yanking it back, “you’re right, longer hair is much better”

you went feral; simultaneously slapping the others away when they tried to pull you off, your tight grip never faltering.

only when tanaka placed a gentle hand on your arm that you released her

“insult him again and you’ll be the baldie next time”

in short, tanaka now sees you as his personal deity. boy will adore you

YACHI

the third years were gone now

kiyoko had left the team in your and yachi’s hands, with you mainly taking charge as the now-third year manager

the team all sat together for lunch (yes, tsukki too), they were waiting for you since you’d been talking with a teacher

a girl in front of you side-eyed yachi, watching with envy as the blonde sweetheart spoke with the handsome volleyball players

plan brewing in that toxic mind of hers, the girl pretended to trip, spilling her lunch all over yachi. the team didn’t have time to react, watching in shock as food splatted on her lap

sis even had the audacity to say “oh sorry didn’t see you there” as if she didn’t just purposefully throw her food on someone else

worry not, because you returned the favor.

as soon as she gave her faux apology, your food was already making its way down her head to her shoes

there wasn’t a part of her left uncovered

“my bad, i thought you were the trash” you did not look sorry at all

half of the cafeteria watched this unfold—tsukki even making some snide remarks. you grabbed yachi’s hand, guiding her to the restroom to help her clean off

from that moment on, people got the message to never mess with the volleyball team lest they face the wrath of their manager

OSAMU

osamu was your best friend, the reason why you joined inarizaki as their manager

currently, you were in home ed, making the assigned dish but it wasn’t difficult so your movements were lax so much that you couldn’t help but overhear the conversation going on in front of your table

at the mention of osamu, your ears perked up

“he was SUCH a jerk. i kept asking hoping he would grow tired and say yes, but nooooo. apparently osamu thinks he’s better than me”

some of her friends looks uneasy at her inability to take ‘no’ for an answer but the girl continued on her rant

the teacher stepped out for a moment. “HAHAHAHHAHA” the class turned to look at you, laughing like a maniac while you chopped vegetables with scary precision and inhuman strength

“you sure got some nerve, harassing someone like that.. especially my best friend”

that was the moment the grew knew she’d fucked up. she couldn’t even answer back because the teacher was back.

you made a point to ask the teacher if you could be partners with that girl for the next lesson, making her gulp in fear as you ran a finger across your throat

to say the least, she stopped talking for the remainder of the class

KUROO

chemistry?? you and kuroo?? friends?? together in class???

a fucking chaos

just kidding. the two of you were actually really good students. the best, if you had to brag

despite being the teacher’s favorite, you were lowkey about it while kuroo liked to insert as many chem jokes as he could in presentations

it was kinda embarrassing and you subtly teased him, but never with malicious intent

during a lab, you got partnered with a bully. you tried to ignore him and continue working, but it kept getting worse.

the breaking point was dragging in kuroo to all of this. you’d rejected his offers of going on a date and when kuroo made a motion to ask if you were ok, the dude took it as a sign to talk shit

“seriously? him? he’s a fucking nerd. his jokes are lame and has shitty hair—”

your eye twitched. “oi you better stop if you don’t want me to burn your face off”

clueless in class, he didn’t know how to handle the material so you were doing all the work. he didn’t believe you

bringing in the acidic substance near his face is when he finally backed away, at which point you had already called the teacher and told them that he was playing around with dangerous chemicals

although it was the other way around, who do you think the teacher believed, their star student or the school bully??

lmao, bitch could ask his detention buddies out on a date now

kuroo: ??

[spencers-renaissance]

you know that a boy who likes boys is a dead boy

Summary: Spencer's gay. He joins the BAU and befriends the team, but it is 2003. It's a secret he has to keep. He just didn't expect it to be this hard.

Tags: gay!spencer, coming out, hurt/comfort, insecure!spencer, misunderstandings, angst with a happy ending, dad hotch, protective!hotch, protective!derek, childhood trauma TW: one instance of explicit homophobia, but it is referenced a lot, as is Spencer's internalised homophobia at the start of this fic. A shit ton of heteronormativity but tbh that's just canon lol

Pairing: Spencer Reid/OMC, Spencer Reid & Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid & Aaron Hotchner, The BAU Team & Spencer Reid

Word Count: 6k

Masterlist // Read on AO3

Consider this my contribution to pride month 😌 I've waited so long to post it and I'm so glad I'm finally doing it because it's definitely one of my all time favourites <3 Gideon is here somewhere but just like with all my early season fics he's not really part of the plot I combined my moreid and gen taglists bc it was hard to know the audience for this, but just ignore it if you're not interested!

you know that a boy who likes boys is a dead boy, unless he keeps his mouth shut, which is what you didn’t do, because you are weak and hollow and it doesn’t matter anymore. — richard siken, a primer for the small weird loves

Spencer has only told one person in his whole life.

His mother guessed. For as long as he can remember, she’s used gender neutral pronouns when talking about his future partner, read him all the gay literature she could find, promised him that he’s perfect just the way he is.

The trouble is that Spencer only believes her until the first grade, when Ryan Sampson shoves him over in the playground and calls him gay. His mom had only ever used that term in a sweet, loving way, taking care to associate such words with positivity, as long as his dad wasn’t around to hear. When that word comes out of Ryan Sampson’s mouth, it is not said with sweetness and love; it is said with venom, and Spencer learns quickly that his mom is wrong. He is not perfect just the way he is.

And so, he keeps it a secret. When his mom notices him getting uncomfortable at the mention of future partners, she stops bringing it up, though she refuses to give up the diverse education she provides for him outside of school. His dad tells him that one day he’ll be a strapping young man and marry a nice girl in a church, and Spencer nods along. He ignores the way his stomach turns with anxiety at the thought. Ignores the screaming match his parents have that night. Ignores the fact that it started because Diana chipped in with ‘or boy’.

He’s in high school by the time he’s twelve, and the only part he’s grateful for is the absence of pressure to get a girlfriend. His dad’s out of the picture now, and Spencer tries not to let himself think that maybe if he wasn’t like this he might have stayed. Diana’s so out of it most days that she doesn’t remember what she noticed about him when he was a child, only recalling the last few years of shoving himself so far back in the closet he can hardly see the door anymore.

It feels like he’s lost his last ally.

(He hates that a small part of him feels relieved she doesn’t remember; that he almost feels assured by the fact that the last person to know who he really is has forgotten. There is only this version of Spencer Reid now. No other exists.)

He makes the mistake during his second undergraduate degree. He’s just turned eighteen but he is already a doctor and, fortunately, this alienates him from most of his peers, but someone manages to slide past his defences. Ethan Miller is twenty, in the second year of his (first) undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering, and he’s nice. Spencer doesn’t have a lot of experience with friendship, but they get on well and Ethan makes him laugh. For the first time, he feels comfortable in the presence of anyone other than his mother.

They slip into an easy friendship: waiting for each other after class — Spencer back in the undergraduate buildings now he has his first PhD under his belt — and going out for ice cream and pizza and Thai food. Ethan goes to parties while Spencer studies, and then they reconvene to watch Doctor Who and play cards.

For almost a year, Spencer keeps his secret carefully locked up, hidden behind the mask he’s perfected after so many years. Even though he’s eighteen, nearly nineteen now, he doesn’t try and explore that side of himself. No, that’s far too risky. He doesn’t try and pretend any other way either, he just stays silent and lets people’s assumptions lie for him, but he can’t help the longing that claws up his throat when he locks eyes with a passing guy on campus. One time, he’d seen two men kiss on a bench in the city, and he’d run back to his dorm and had a panic attack. Why couldn’t he have that?

The feelings don’t stop, and he doesn’t know how to make them. He hates that he isn’t normal, but still longs for the touch of a man, the feeling of being wrapped up in strong arms, of being kissed by dry, chapped lips, and falling asleep to a heartbeat approximately 11% slower than that of a woman’s.

It’s a constant battle inside him, emotions raging, and he struggles to control it, suppress it, tame it.

He pays a sorry price.

Ethan makes him feel comfortable, and that turns out to be a detriment. He relaxes around the other boy: he tells him about growing up as a pre-teen in a high school, about how a child feels living 260 miles away from home, even about his mother’s illness.

And one day, it slips out. They’re on the beach, lying on towels as they look up at the blue sky, talking about what their futures will look like: Ethan will be a successful chemical engineer in Berlin, and Spencer will work for the FBI, profiling serial killers.

“You’ll have to marry a German girl,” he tells Ethan. “It’ll be tough to convince an American girl to move all the way to Germany as soon as you graduate.”

“Yeah, and what about you? You’ll be off fighting crime around the country, not much of a life for a family.”

“Oh, I imagine my husband will be the type to—”

“Husband?”

Spencer freezes. It shocks him as much as it shocks Ethan. He doesn’t even pay much attention to Ethan’s disgusted face and his outraged tirade. He hears slurs and insults, hears him say that he can’t believe Spencer tricked him like this, that he was probably waiting to make a move on him, that he was never to look in Ethan’s direction again, but Spencer is frozen in time.

He’s never allowed him to think much about what his personal life might look like in the future, but he’d said ‘husband’ on instinct, without thinking, and it’s clearly something he actually wants. Ethan’s words sting, but the moment brings about a realisation Spencer is thankful for; it instigates a journey of self-discovery and self-expression, of the joy of living as your true self.

He loses his first and only friend, but he gains something much more valuable. He visits gay bars — nervously sipping a non-alcoholic drink in the corner at first, before soon becoming confident enough to respond to the men who sidle up to him and ask for his name. He lets go and dances the night away, sometimes going home with one of the many dance partners he acquires during the night, sometimes heading back to his own dorm happily alone.

Makeup and dresses and skirts and heels make their way into his wardrobe, and he befriends girls and drag queens and other gay men who encourage him to be exactly the way he is. And the best part is, he never has to come out to any of them. All of them know, and that’s good enough for everyone.

The fun comes to a sad sort of slow, however, when he joins the BAU. Everyone knows law enforcement’s relationship with the LGBT community is less than adequate — Spencer’s seen it with his own eyes: butch lesbians and men in dresses getting roughed up by angry police officers for ‘lewd behaviour’ or ‘drunkenness’ when they’re just being themselves. It’s not safe for him to tell anyone, so he doesn’t.

He still goes out with his friends when he’s in town and wears makeup and dresses and crop tops when he’s at home, but presents as rigidly straight Dr Spencer Reid to his team at the BAU.

The hardest part about it is that he loves his team. He’s known Gideon for years — and he wouldn’t be surprised if he suspects something after coming over to his house unannounced one night, only to have a man other than Spencer open the door — but he settles into a comforting dynamic with Hotch. He can’t help but see him as something of a father figure, and he knows Hotch has a soft spot for him, always looking out for him and taking him under his wing without a moment’s hesitation.

Elle, JJ, and Penelope all take a shine to him, too, teasing him without a hint of malice in their tones, only the kind of playful kindness that reminds him of his mother. He forms a special bond with Penelope and they spend hours watching Doctor Who together and geeking out on all the areas their interests overlap, and the comfort he feels with her matches the comfort he’s found with his new group of queer friends.

(She doesn’t hold a candle to Ethan, he decides one night, after he’d cried at a movie she’d made him watch and she felt so bad she made him hot chocolate and jam toast and cuddled him until he felt better.)

Derek becomes a brother to him. He puts him in a headlock at least once a day — which Spencer has been reliably informed by multiple sources is a very brotherly thing to do — and teases him relentlessly, while simultaneously being fiercely protective of him. Enough so, that Spencer sometimes wonders if he even has Hotch beat in that department.

He loves his team and his team loves him. It should be simple. It is still 2003.

He comes in one morning late for a briefing, his shirt buttoned wrong and his hair is a mess, and he’s fairly sure that his attempt to cover the hickey at the base of his neck with concealer has been ultimately unsuccessful. It’s obvious why he’s late. Gideon is too engrossed in the case file to notice, but Hotch raises an eyebrow, an amused look on his face as everyone else immediately takes to teasing him.

“Who’s the lucky lady, pretty boy?”

Elle raises an eyebrow to match Derek’s shit-eating grin, “Someone definitely got some strange last night.”

“When do we get to meet her, Spence?” JJ asks, smirking as he takes a seat.

He’s bright red — as if he needed to look any more debauched — and Spencer tries to ignore the hurt that seizes his chest at the reminder of his need to stay quiet. This team respects him, and he can’t throw that away just because Spencer gets too comfortable.

God, he wishes Penelope was here.

“None of your business,” he mutters, trying to keep his tone light. He fails.

Naturally, Hotch notices and swiftly moves the briefing on, and Spencer keeps his gaze locked on the case file, not missing the absence of a reprimand from his superior. He’s constantly thankful for the older man, but in this moment, he wishes he could hug him.

(A voice that sounds dangerously close to Ethan’s rises up and taunts him in his ear: he wouldn’t want a dirty homo like you anywhere near him—)

Derek doesn’t let up on the case, continuing to bug him about the special lady in his life. He does concede that it could’ve been a one night stand, which is one front he’s right on, but a couple more concessions are necessary before Derek comes close to the truth of last night.

Eventually, Derek stops, and Spencer notes that the cessation of comments comes suspiciously close to the last time Derek and Hotch were alone together. He doesn’t have it in him to feel angry at Hotch for stepping in when he had it handled; doesn’t have the energy to act as though his pride is wounded, because really, neither of those things are true, and he doesn’t need to add another item to ‘Spencer Reid’s List of Things He Pretends to Be.’

The situation is forgotten, and time moves on.

Things change when he finds his first proper boyfriend. He doesn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the giddying rush of emotions it turns out to be, and Spencer spends his days smiling as he daydreams his time away.

His name is Oscar Wilkins, a History professor at Georgetown University, and Spencer falls quickly in love with him. Ever since their mutual friend had introduced them at a gay bar one evening, they’d spent all their free time together. He’s kind and gentle and understanding of Spencer’s hectic and unpredictable job, and he finally has the chance to experience everything he quietly and shamefully longed for as a teenager.

The only downside is the silent breaking of Spencer’s heart that the most important people in his life can’t meet his boyfriend. He longs to show Oscar off, to hold hands in front of his team, lean up to press a tender kiss to Oscar’s lips. He wants to put a framed picture of the two of them at the Washington Monument on his desk to remind him of why he needs to get through the hard days; he doesn’t want to have to sneak out of the hotel room he shares with Derek to whisper hushed, loving goodnights over the phone.

But he’s too scared. Too cowardly.

It’s different being who he is with his gay group of friends littered with wlws and drag queens and other gay and bisexual guys. They understand.

But Derek and Hotch are two extremely masculine, alpha men: Derek’s a ladies’ man and Hotch is married to a woman he met in college with a baby on the way and both have a strong and dominant energy that still sometimes manages to intimidate Spencer even after all these years. And Elle and JJ are lovely — some of his closest friends, really — but sometimes they remind him a little too much of the mean girls he went to high school with.

The hardest person to keep his secret from, though, is Penelope. She’s his best friend and he desperately wants to give her all of him, but he’s so scared. He’s lost a best friend to this secret before, and even though he’s certain she’d be fine with it, what if she accidentally let it slip to Derek? What if Hotch found out and didn’t see him in the same light anymore? What if the girls started teasing him? What if Gideon didn’t want to mentor him anymore?

The fear paralyses him. And it’s a cycle he doesn’t know how to break.

Fear, though, doesn't stop everyone from noticing his daydreaming, his dopey smile when he checks his messages, his urgency to get home where he would’ve stayed until the small hours of the morning before. As excellent as he is at hiding his sexuality, he’s fucking terrible at hiding the fact that he’s in love: it was easy enough to pretend he was straight, but hiding something this all-consuming is an impossible ask.

Derek comes over to perch on the edge of his desk one afternoon, sighing as he sits down. “Pretty boy, this is getting ridiculous,” he says, snatching Spencer’s attention away from his phone. “You’ve been grinning like an idiot for the last twenty minutes as you’ve texted Future Mrs Reid. When are we going to meet her?”

(He hates the new nickname the team has given his mystery significant other, although Oscar had found it hilarious. “It’s funny because when we get married, we’ll hardly be able to tell,” he’d argued through his laughter. “Neither of us will change our name because of our academic profiles, and we’ll both still be ‘Dr’. Our wedding rings will be the only indicator.”

Spencer hadn’t argued back, because he’d been too tongue-tied and flushed pink at Oscar’s use of ‘when’ in regards to their hypothetical nuptials. It was only made bearable by Oscar kissing him gently and tucking him under his arm, not embarrassing him any further as Spencer had sort of anticipated, warmth settling over his chest at the thought of their future together.)

“You won’t,” he replies, perhaps a little too curtly.

Derek starts at that, clearly not expecting it. He definitely should’ve tried to play it off as a joke. “What— should I be offended, pretty boy?”

You wouldn’t call me that if you knew who I really am.

“That’s up to you, Derek,” he says calmly, although he still can’t meet his eyes, “but you won’t meet the ‘Future Mrs Reid, so I think it would probably be best if you left it alone.”

“Damn,” Derek mutters under his breath, clearly pissed off and probably more hurt than Spencer ever intended. “Suit yourself.”

And with that, he gets up and leaves his desk. Spencer’s only solace is the text message he sees on his phone when he picks it back up: I love you so much. You know that, right?

The light-hearted ridicule comes to an abrupt halt after the incident with Derek, and it’s clear that he had been the biggest contributor to the teasing. He’s thankful that the jokes have stopped, but he wishes desperately that it didn’t come with the growing distance between him and his team. Loneliness takes the place of his previous irritated anxiety, and he isn’t sure what’s worse.

It all comes to a head at the end of a case in Michigan. They’re stuck in the lounge of the small inn they’d stayed in the last few days, a snowstorm having blocked them in and grounded the jet, although Gideon had long since retreated to his room. The fire’s going and they’re the only guests around, so it’s cosy enough, but Spencer can’t help but feel sick at the idea of another night away from home.

It’s only been two weeks since he’d snapped at Derek, but the chasm between him and the team is only widening with each passing day. He knows it’s not a case of ‘pick a side’, but the team’s morale relies on light-hearted banter and teasing, and him not being a part of that anymore has only brewed awkwardness. Everyone’s trying to give him space when space is the last thing he wants.

Oscar’s keeping him company over the phone at least, but it’s not quite enough to quell the loneliness swimming around his stomach, and the 'discrete' sideways looks he gets from the team only make him feel worse.

“At least it’s nice and toasty in here,” JJ sighs as she takes a sip of the hot chocolate the kindly inn owner had made for them all.

Elle hums in agreement. “There are worse places to be grounded.”

“I dunno, man, I just wanna get home,” Derek says, not taking his eyes off the fire. Spencer can’t help but agree.

“Oh, come on,” Hotch muses, considerably more jovial now the case is over, “we’re here, and that’s not going to change any time soon. We should make the most of it.”

“It’s at least nice to be somewhere sort-of Christmassy now it’s December,” Elle points out. “We could be stuck in a dingy police station like we probably will be next week.”

“Ooh, I noticed that Jemimah and Kiran started planning the Christmas party last week,” JJ says, smiling at them. “I offered my help, but they seem to have it covered.”

Hotch raises an eyebrow“That’s probably a good thing. You don’t need more work on your plate.”

“Not gonna argue with that,” she murmurs, smiling as she brings her mug to her lips again.

Spencer doesn’t miss that Derek is still stewing on the opposite side of the room.

“Are you looking forward to the Christmas party, Spencer? Will you come?” Hotch asks, clearly trying to rope him into the conversation, which he appreciates. He’s been making a lot of effort with him the past few weeks, and it’s just about the only thing that’s getting him through each day.

Before he can reply, though, Derek erupts from the other side of the room; an already pissed-off man being pushed over the edge. “He won’t even let us meet his fucking girlfriend, Hotch, he’s not gonna want to come to the Christmas party!” he yells, throwing his hands in the air as he glares at Spencer with a stormy expression raging across his face.

Suddenly, Spencer can’t stay silent anymore, and his retort shocks himself just as much as it does everyone else. “I don’t have a girlfriend!”

It might be the loudest he’s ever shouted in his whole life. He’s always been quiet and restrained, the type to state his feelings as calmly as possible no matter how he’s feeling on the inside. Even in the biggest fight he’s had with Oscar, his voice was barely loud enough to qualify as a shout.

There’s a brief stunned silence, but Derek quickly slices his way through it, voice raising to meet Spencer’s fiery emotion, fierce and loud. “Oh, don’t even go there, Reid, you’re really gonna try and argue that? You’re gonna lie about her as well as not let us meet her? What a boyfriend you are.”

“I don’t! I don’t have a girlfriend!” he repeats, voice catching this time as tears rise unbidden to the backs of his eyes and all the emotions of the journey he’s taken with his sexuality over the years flood him in a wave of intensity he’s not prepared for.

“You’re fucking lying—!”

“I have a boyfriend!” he yells. “Alright? I have a boyfriend. I’m gay.”

The anger and emotion quickly dissipates, and he’s left standing alone in front of the team he’s put so much effort into hiding this from, watching shock spell out across everyone’s expressions. He’s never felt smaller than he does in that moment, and he quickly grabs his phone before running upstairs to his room, locking the door behind him.

“Oh God, Oscar, I fucked up so bad,” he cries over the phone as soon as his boyfriend picks up.

“Hey, hey, breathe, baby,” Oscar says gently, but Spencer can hear the anxious concern in his voice, “it’s gonna be okay, I promise. I’m here. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“I just— Oh God, I just told the team.” A new wave of horror rolls over him as he realises what he’s done. Times might be changing, but it’s still only 2006, and he doesn’t know each and every nuance of his team members’ political positions and, fuck, he hates that his existence is a fucking political position.

Oscar’s been so understanding of his reluctance to not tell the team, even though Spencer’s met pretty much everyone in his life. He isn’t sure what he’s done to earn such a gracious and understanding boyfriend, but he’s not about to question it.

“Baby, I know it’s scary, and I know you’re really worked up right now,” he counsels, voice soft and reassuring, using the nickname he knows Spencer loves the most to make him feel as safe as he can from 700 miles away, “but it’s probably not as bad as you think. From what you’ve told me about the team, they love you so much, and even in the case that in the past they've had some issue with gay people, I can't imagine they’d ever actually think of you any differently when it comes down to it, Spencer.”

He’s crying too hard to reply, and Oscar understands immediately, gently transitioning into a story about his day that slowly starts to calm him down, and by the time he’s wrapping it up, his tears are starting to subside.

“Thank you, Ozzy,” he whispers into the phone, lifting himself up off the floor and making his way to sit on the bed instead.

“You know I’d do anything for you, sweetheart,” he murmurs warmly. “Do you want me to stay on the phone for a bit?”

“Yes please,” he whispers again, holding it as close to himself as possible, drawing all the comfort he can from his boyfriend’s voice.

He lies there listening to Oscar’s voice and trying not to think about the disaster downstairs for a good ten minutes before there’s a tap at the door.

“Oz, there’s someone here,” he says, voice panicked.

“I think you should probably speak to them, baby,” he urges. “I’ll stay on the phone with you while you do, if you like?”

“Please.” He gets up from the bed gingerly, keeping his phone tightly gripped in his right hand as he slowly unlocks the door with his left, revealing Hotch on the other side.

“Hey, Spencer. Do you mind if I come in?”

He’s riddled with nerves, but Hotch is smiling warmly, and he’s never said a harsh word to Spencer, so he steps aside and lets him into his room.

Hotch quickly notices the phone in his hand, visibly still on a call. “Is that your boyfriend?”

Spencer nods.

“Do you mind if I talk to him?”

His brows knit in confusion and his lips part slightly in surprise, but it’s all he can do to hand the phone over, watching Hotch carefully.

“Hi, Spencer tells me this is his boyfriend?” Hotch inquires politely into the phone, his tone still warm. “I’m Hotch, Spencer’s boss.”

He can vaguely hear Oscar speaking on the other end of the line, and he worries slightly that Oscar will somehow give away the familial feelings he holds for Hotch, but the conversation doesn’t last long enough for the anxiety to really take over.

“Everything’s fine here, I just want to have a conversation with Spencer, so is it alright if we hang up and I talk to him alone for a minute? He can call you straight back afterwards.” After a brief pause in which Oscar says something, Hotch looks back up at him. “Are you okay with that, Spencer?”

He nods hesitantly, and Hotch says a quick goodbye to Oscar before surging forwards and wrapping Spencer in a hug. It catches him off guard, but he doesn’t waste any time in burying his face into Hotch’s neck and soaking in the comfort and warmth that always radiates from his father figure.

“Come on,” Hotch says softly as they pull away a good minute or so later, “let’s sit down, shall we?”

“You’re not mad?” Spencer can’t help but ask, the question burning his tongue as anxiety — however quietened from Hotch’s hug — still swims around in his stomach.

“There are many things that could make me mad, Spencer,” he says earnestly, “but this is not one of them. I would never be angry at you for being who you are, okay? I might… I might be overstepping here, and if I am, then tell me and I’ll back off, but I’ve always seen you as a mentee, and over the years that’s developed— well, I see you more as a son these days. And part of that is wanting to protect and support you no matter what you do or say or who you are.”

Spencer wastes no time in diving back in for a hug, clinging onto Hotch for dear life as he hugs back, rubbing his back gently.

“I’m so sorry you didn’t feel like you could tell us sooner, Spencer,” he says in a voice soft with affection and regret. “But I’m so glad you’ve told us now.”

He only presses closer at that, tears springing back to his eyes. “I didn’t want to lose you.” He knows what he’s implying, and even in a roundabout way, he’s glad he’s telling Hotch.

“Oh, Spence,” he sighs sadly, “you couldn’t do a single thing to lose me. I’m in it for the long haul.”

“Really?” he asks, hating how insecure he sounds.

“Really,” Hotch promises, pulling away as Spencer does. “Now, you have a whole team of agents downstairs who are feeling very sorry for themselves and really want to see you.”

Nausea rolls in his stomach and panic springs back up as he looks at Hotch, desperate for some sort of grounding. “Are they angry at me? Do they hate me now?”

“No one hates you, Spencer,” he says firmly. “I promise you that. Everyone just wishes that they’d made you feel more welcome and comfortable. We all hate that you felt you had to lock up something so integral to who you are, and we can’t help but feel we played a part in it.”

“No,” he protests — the last thing he wants is family blaming themselves when it has nothing to do with them, “it’s not your fault, it’s just…”

Hotch nods. “I understand, it’s okay. Now, do you want to go down and see them? You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it might help ease your mind to see that they really don’t hate you.”

Spencer pauses, taking a moment to think. “Can I see Derek first?”

“Of course,” Hotch says understandingly, and the comforting smile that crosses his face makes Spencer feel safe and taken care of. “I’ll send him up?”

Spencer nods and Hotch hugs him once more before leaving the room almost reluctantly. He wastes no time in picking up his phone and sending a text to Oscar. You were right. Hotch is fine. He’s just sending Derek up before I go and see the team but he says that no one’s angry and I think I believe him. Thank you, Oscar. I love you.

Not even half a minute goes past before his phone lights up with a text back. I’m so glad, baby. Call me later, okay? I want to make sure you’re okay before I go to bed. I love you more.

Before Spencer can argue that actually, he is the one more in love with the other, a hesitant knock sounds on his door. Nerves suddenly flip his stomach, and he clenches and unclenches his fists a couple of times before forcing himself to cross the room, revealing a very worried and regretful-looking Derek.

“Oh, pretty boy,” he says sadly, before crushing Spencer in a warm and tender hug. Immediately, he relaxes into the arms of one of his best friends, and relief courses through his blood at Derek’s reaction. “I am so sorry that I ever made you feel like you couldn’t tell me that you were gay or had a boyfriend. That’s completely on me. I don’t care who you love, Spencer, I just want you to be happy, okay? And if this guy makes you happy, then that’s fine by me. But if he ever lays a hand on you or—”

“Derek, Derek,” he laughs, “it’s fine I get it. Thank you, though, I’m… I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier and for snapping at you in the bullpen that time…”

“I understand, Spence,” he promises. “It’s in the past, okay? And I’m sorry for pushing so hard. I mean, I’d love to meet him but if you don’t feel comfortable or you don’t want to, that’s fine, too. It’s your life, man.”

“No, I… I think I want you guys to meet him. It’s been so hard to keep him away from the people I consider my family, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. Maybe after Christmas, we can all have dinner or something.”

Spencer smiles shyly. “Well, Oscar’s a great cook, so I reckon we could work something out.”

Derek grins, throwing an arm around his shoulders as he immediately jumps back into teasing him as they make their way to the door to go downstairs and see the rest of the team. “Ooh, lover boy’s got him a chef, hey? What else does this Oscar have going for him?”

Spencer chatters eagerly about his boyfriend to Derek, barely skipping a beat when he joins everyone downstairs, his friends taking his cues and joining in with the conversation seamlessly. He’s had enough fuss for one night, and the warmth and understanding on everyone’s faces tells him everything he needs to know.

“Do you have any pictures of him?” JJ asks, raising an eyebrow with eager expectancy as they all settle back into their seats by the fire, a warm and unbelievably happy feeling settling in Spencer’s stomach.

He blushes, digging out his phone from his pocket and unlocking it. “More than a few, I think.”

He finds the most recent picture of his boyfriend — a candid shot of him cooking in the kitchen, spatula aloft, and a huge grin on his face — and hands the phone around.

“Oh wow, you like them buff, huh, pretty boy?” Derek teases as soon as he gets his hands on it, and Spencer’s stomach twists in a sudden bout of fear, expecting to see some hesitancy or even disgust on his friend’s face. What if he thinks that Spencer has a crush on him? What if he’s uncomfortable around him now?

But if Derek’s having any of those thoughts, they don’t show on his face. He’s smiling widely and openly, all the pent-up anxiety and frustration borne from hurt gone from his body language, and he looks completely comfortable sat next to Spencer, his arm stretched out behind him on the back of the sofa.

They sit happily around the fire for a couple of hours, settling into a happy, intimate familiarity Spencer hadn’t realised was missing when he was hiding something so integral to his being from his family, and he’s still smiling when they finally part ways to head to bed, the clock ticking closer and closer to 1 am.

He gets ready for bed quickly, brushing his teeth and throwing on the top he’d stolen from Oscar the first time he’d stayed at his place; a welcome change from his worn and wrinkled suit. As soon as his teeth are brushed and the lights are all off except for his bedside lamp, he pulls out his phone, knowing there’s one more thing he has to do before he goes to sleep.

“Spencer?” Penelope’s voice sounds down the line, clearly concerned. “It’s almost 2 am here, are you okay?”

“I’m gay,” he says, getting straight to the point. The main reason he ever kept it from her was because of his fear of it accidentally getting out to the team rather than fear over her reaction. After all, multiple of his drag queen friends are also hers.

“Oh my God,” she says in that small voice she uses when she’s not actually talking to you, before finally actually replying to me. “Spencer, I’m so happy you told me!”

He doesn’t miss her choice of words, or the way she says them and he tilts his head suspiciously. “You already knew, didn’t you?”

She sighs. “Yeah. I’m sorry, a couple of months ago I saw a text from Oscar on your phone when you went to the bathroom during one of our Doctor Who marathons, and it wasn’t hard to figure out the relationship.”

“And… wait, you’re not mad at me for not telling you sooner?”

“Spencer! Of course not. I was waiting for you to be comfortable enough to share it with me. I felt awful that I knew without your consent but I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to catch you off guard or make you feel uncomfortable. It’s fine that you waited, baby genius, I’m just so happy you told me now. What finally gave you the courage?”

“Well, it might have slipped out in front of the team this evening,” he admits sheepishly, “and the only reason I never told you was because I was scared that it would slip out somehow — accidentally, of course, I didn’t think you’d tell anyone on purpose — and now everyone knows. It’s been killing me not to tell you, Penelope, it really has because I love you so much and you’re my best friend and I trust you with my life, it’s just…”

“Whoa, slow down, Spence,” she laughs fondly, “you don’t have to explain yourself to me, I understand. But I’m glad you finally told everyone and you can be yourself completely with us, now. We all love you no matter what, you know that right?”

“I do now.”

“Good. You should get some sleep, baby boy, it’s late and you’ve had an emotional evening.”

Spencer smiles. “Yeah, I know. You should, too, Pen. I’ll see you when we can finally make it home, okay? Love you.”

“Love you, too, 187,” she says softly, and Spencer can hear the smile in her voice. “Goodnight.”

As soon as he hangs up, he settles down into the bed, turning off the light and pulling the duvet up over his shoulders before dialling one more number.

“Hey, baby,” Oscar says, voice as gentle and caring as it always is, although thicker with tiredness now. “I take it everything went okay?”

“Yeah,” Spencer murmurs, already feeling tired as the safety he always feels at the sound of Oscar’s voice settles into the fibres of his being. “It went so well. I can’t wait for you to meet everyone.”

“I can’t wait either, sweetheart. Are you in bed now?”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “Can you talk to me as I fall asleep?”

“Anything for you, Spence,” he says softly, before transitioning seamlessly into a story about the professors on campus, and his gentle comfort and the knowledge of the unconditional love his family has for him finally lulls Spencer into the best sleep he’s had in weeks.

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[jungblue]

aphrodite in war | 01

pairing: jeon jungkook x reader

genre: comedy, fluff, angst, eventual smut / greek life, fake dating, roommates, lovers to enemies and back to lovers au

word count: 11,022

description: Everyone knew about the war that had been brewing on the edge of campus for the past two years. Sorority versus Fraternity; a showdown for the ages. However, when the escalating antics between them yields the consequence of possible suspensions for both chapters, the presidents of each house must come together to try and figure out how to end this battle... Which is kind of hard, considering they were the ones responsible for it in the first place.

note: here is an audio post of a beautiful song with lyrics inspired by AiW, which was written by one of my lovely readers!

→ part 02

Hostility bleeds deep. The rivers of resentment collide violently as they carve a divide so saturated in disdain between the parties involved that you don’t even need to be told that there is something more to the story. It doesn’t need to be said out loud, but is just instinctively felt.

You didn’t need to be told that the ominous house at the end of street was sketchy and should be avoided at all cost; you just knew it. You didn’t need to be told that there was bad blood between the guy and girl whose jaws suddenly stiffened as their lips transformed into a firm, straight line when they caught sight of each other at a party; you just knew it — And you most certainly didn’t need to be told that there was an absolute war brewing at the end of Greek Drive between the Tri Delts and Lambdas; you just fucking knew it.

In the beginning, their rivalry was small. It was simple antics such as egging each other’s houses or fucking around with the letters that they so proudly displayed on their lawns. But then it turned a bit more intense. Egging the houses turned into spray-painting them and fucking with the letters on their lawns turned into completely trashing each other’s lawns. It was because of this that the once harmless pranks turned infamous. Everything that happened between their houses had constantly been circulated around campus for the past two years, or at the very least among their Greek counterparts… Which was probably how the two newly inducted presidents of Delta Delta Delta and Lambda Phi Epsilon, on the very first week of their final year in college, found themselves sitting in the office of a much higher power than their own titles — The president of their university; a single word spilling past his lips that had their stomachs twisting.

“Suspension!?” They both yelled in disbelief.

It was a word no organization wanted to hear. It branded your chapters with a shame that would be painted across the local news stations and even across the country. The lines would blur, only to lump them in with those terrible hazing stories that constantly flooded the media.

“P-president Kwon,” Jungkook finally stuttered out after a moment of coming to terms with the seriousness of the situation they were being faced with. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I promise the very... minor pranks that go on between our houses are probably much less problematic than what you’re thinking.”

“Mr. Jeon, do you think that we would threaten something of such dramatic action without several instances of confirmed proof?” President Kwon asked in a clipped tone as he leaned forward in his chair.

You could see the way that Jungkook blanched next to you, clearly not expecting this harsh treatment from President Kwon. Lambda Phi Epsilon happened to be President Kwon’s former fraternity, so it was well known that there was a good relationship there. However, in this moment you could make out nothing except for a glaring, red warning shining off the president’s ice-cold eyes.  

“I — no, sir,” Jungkook whispered, dropping his head slightly to hide the sudden flush of red that was rushing to his face.

“It is more embarrassing than I can possibly describe to the two of you, receiving dozens upon dozens of phone calls and emails over the incidents involving your organizations. Garbage littering every inch of your front yards, obscene images drawn onto your houses, several instances of animal control having to be called due to rodents being set free in the house as a… as a prank? All of this is happening while visits from prospective students and their parents are being conducted. Donors who help this school are wandering the campus and seeing it. Tell me, did the incidents I just mentioned not actually transpire, Mr. Jeon? Ms. Y/L/N?”

The air was so stiff that you barely managed a shaky inhale in order to respond to the juvenile antics being laid out before you. “No, th-they did transpire, sir. And I don’t know what to say besides that I’m so, so sorry that we’ve embarrassed the university this way.” You bit at the inside of your cheek, President Kwon’s relentless glare of disappointment cutting you through and through.

“Yes, so completely sorry,” Jungkook added.

Nothing was said for a few moments after that. It seemed President Kwon wanted to make the two of you squirm for everything that you had done, and it was definitely working. Every movement made you feel self-conscious, the judgement permeating the office air felt as if it were sticking to your skin.

“I know that what we’ve done is completely unacceptable, President Kwon,” You began, not being able to take the silence anymore. “But I promise if you give us just one more chance, we’ll clean up our acts. No more pranks, just cordial neighbors. As the new presidents of our chapters this year, we’ll make sure the members understand that this behavior isn’t something that will be tolerated anymore.”

Jungkook was nodding his head next to you in agreeance. But once again the room was plunged into silence. It was honestly torture, sitting there under such scrutiny as someone held something so dear to you in the palm of their hand. It would break your heart if the suspension actually went through… Considering it was yours and Jungkook’s fault that tensions had gotten to where they were in the first place. The bad blood between the two of you had seeped into the minds of your members as well, which was ultimately how it got so ugly. But it had gotten especially bad this year now that you were the respective presidents of each of your houses and had allowed things to escalate further. Harsh feelings between two people couldn’t do much damage, but when it was dozens versus dozens, well that was when things got messy.

Eventually though you found yourself being pulled back to reality. President Kwon cleared his throat, the sound making your heart stutter in your chest as you prepared yourself for the worst.

“You’re exactly right. It won’t be tolerated any longer.” He paused for a moment, probably for the added effect of letting anxiety seize its way around your lungs. “Probation for the next three months. One more incident and it’s over. Do you understand?”

At that there was a simultaneous sigh of relief from you and Jungkook as the looming consequence faded… At least for now.

“Thank you so much, President Kwon.” Jungkook stood from his chair, reaching across the table to shake his hand. “I promise we won’t mess this up.”

You lifted yourself up from your chair as well, following his lead. “Yes, we promise.”

“I hope that’s true,” Is all President Kwon responded with as he led the two of you towards the door of his office. “Take care.”

With rather mumbled and rushed goodbyes you exited his office, the two of you shuffling quickly down the hallway until you were sure you were out of earshot. Both of you stopped as you turned the corner, insults already resting on the tips of your tongues.

“This is all your fucking fault!” You yelled in a hushed whisper.

“My fault!?” He whispered back, equally as intense. “You’re the one who started this shit, Y/N. No one would even be fighting if you hadn’t opened your mouth to your friends.”

“I was just venting to them! I had no idea that they would go and actually do something about it. And it was a harmless prank. They planted fucking flowers in front of your house for god’s sake, and your loser friends retaliated by digging holes in our yard. You guys are the ones who escalated it, and now it’s this out of control thing that’s going to get our chapters suspended!” Your chest was rising and falling, anger boiling inside of your blood. You had never even partaken in any of the antics that had gone on between the two houses nor had you baited any of your members into participating.

Jungkook rolled his eyes, tongue pressing at the inside of his cheek. “You know what? It’s whatever. We’ve been arguing about this for two years now, so I’m not expecting you to be reasonable any time soon.”

Your fists clenched at your sides, the painful reminder of how long this had been going on searing a deep cut across your chest. But it was like Jungkook had said, this had been going on for a long time and there was no point in arguing about who was right, because it wasn’t as if it actually mattered. So instead, you just didn’t respond. You stared at him for a moment, sneer fading into this sad downward turn of your lips. And surprisingly you watched the way his expression softened as well. His brows were furrowing a little less, his jaw not as hard and brooding.

You gave him a tiny nod before you turned away and headed towards the exit. It was a few seconds before you heard his footsteps start to follow you. Every time his sneakers would squeak against the linoleum floor behind you, it felt like this tiny pressure was beginning to build at the base of your throat. You weren’t sure why you still got these feelings of… longing, even after all of this passed time. It was pathetic. Jungkook apparently didn’t long for anything from back then, so why did you?

Eventually you were able to breathe a little clearer once you pushed your way through the exit and away from the tight and tense space of faculty meetings and suspension threats. The fresh air filled your rattled lungs — too bad it was murky and humid beneath the gray storm clouds that were currently drowning the campus in a depressing drizzle.

“Goddammit,” You muttered beneath your breath.

You didn’t drive here since this building had been so close to your last class of the day. The Tri Delt house was about a ten minute walk from here, so it looked like you needed to get going before the light sprinkle of rain turned into a thunderstorm. You were about to step out from underneath the overhead of the roof and down the steps when you felt a light tug of someone pulling at the back of the belt loop on your jeans. 

“Do you need a ride?” Jungkook asked before you had even turned around to fully face him. His expression was neutral. It didn’t seem annoyed or concerned, but he had always been good at hiding his emotions like that.  

Of course you didn’t want to walk home in the rain, but sitting in a confined space with Jungkook after you’d both just gotten done yelling at one another didn’t seem like the greatest time either. But in the end, you decided that a few minutes wouldn’t kill you. “Yeah, I guess,” You whispered, motioning for him to go ahead so you could follow. His car was parked in one of the first spots at the bottom of the steps. You were both silent as you opened the doors and climbed inside.

It was weird. You hadn’t been in Jungkook’s car in years. You watched him pull out of the parking space, one hand on the wheel, the other leaning against the center console. It felt all too familiar. You blew a heady sigh past your lips, hands wringing in your lap. It didn’t seem to matter how much time passed, the tension between you and him never seemed to lessen. It was a constant, palpable stiffness in the air.

“Do you think we’ll be able to get them to stop fighting?” Jungkook finally asked once they turned onto Greek Drive, giving some mild relief to the strain that the two of you were so highly aware of.

“If suspension doesn’t do it, then I honestly don’t know what would.”

He nodded, seeming to agree. “Yeah, I’m sure they’ll cut it out.”

“Yeah, they can’t be that dumb—” However, your words seemed to disintegrate along your tongue as the car approached the Lambda and Tri Delt houses that stood side by side.

“Jesus Christ,” Jungkook muttered, pulling into the driveway which currently had a Lambda named Jimin running down it towards his truck that was completely covered in saran-wrap and a laughing Tri Delt named Joy who was holding said saran-wrap.

“Get back here and take this shit off my truck right now!” You heard Jimin yell.

“Nope, I’m good.” She smiled, shrugging and taunting him as she jogged away.

“This… This might be harder than we thought,” You said.

Jungkook rested his head against the steering wheel, eyes closed. “Yeah, way fucking harder.”

---------

It was several mass group texts later, demanding that every Lambda and Tri Delt come to their houses immediately, that all forty-two members of the combined organizations who actually lived in-house finally arrived… Yeah, there was no way that this could go terribly wrong or anything… Right?

You and Jungkook stood in front of the members as they gathered on the grassy area that separated your two houses. As expected there were dozens of mumbled conversations transpiring, all speculating on what the hell was going on here. You looked to Jungkook, giving him a nod to tell him that they should start.

He cleared his throat, clapping his hands together, resulting in large boom that got everyone’s attention. “All right, listen up. We have something important we need to discuss.”

“Jungkook, why the hell are the Tri Delts here?” A Lambda named Yuta yelled out.

“Because we can be, asshole.” It was Jennie.

“Who’re you calling an asshole?” Taehyung asked, even though he had nothing to do with it.

“Your dickhead friend,” Sana responded, again even though it had nothing to do with her.

And then Chanyeol chimed in, followed by Momo, which then got escalated by Johnny and continued by Dahyun. After that you lost track of who was arguing because it just became a giant clusterfuck of people yelling and this was the perfect example of how this entire war started — people getting involved in the business of others that didn’t even concern them.

You started rubbing at your temples, fingernails digging into your palms. This was enough. “Shut the fuck up!” You yelled, a loud echo that reverberated through the air and hushed everyone into silence. “This is why you’re all here.” You motioned towards them.

“What do you mean?” Someone asked from the back. “What’s going on?”

“Me and Y/N had a meeting with President Kwon today,” Jungkook paused, releasing a deep sigh before continuing. “He said that if we all keep publicly fighting the way we have been… that our chapters will get suspended.” 

There was a small pause, as if it didn’t immediately click with everyone what had been said — and then the panic set in. 

“What?!”

“No fucking way!”

“He can’t be serious!”

“That’s bullshit!” 

“This is just another prank, right?!” 

Having forty-two people publicly shouting expletives, wasn’t the best start to this image reset that President Kwon wanted, but there was no way either of the chapters would have been okay with the other house coming into their own, so this little outdoor set-up was the best option they had. 

You and Jungkook sort of just stood there for a moment, letting the members get their gut-reactions out. Then he turned to you, motioning towards the mob of angry Greek lifers. “You were always better at yelling than me. You wanna quiet them down?” He smirked, a jab that had you clenching your teeth. 

“Great way to start off this so called peace treaty, but sure, I’ll gladly calm them down and get straight to the point. I wouldn’t want to let them drown in their own heads without knowing what’s going on because someone won’t just be upfront.” You stared him straight in the eyes, making sure he got your double meaning since he wanted to play dirty and bring up the past. He simply clenched his jaw and averted his gaze back to the crowd of hysterics laid out before them. 

“Quiet down and we’ll explain.” You yelled as loud as you could, hoping it would reach everyone so that the chatter would die down quickly. Luckily it seemed they were all on the verge of a mental breakdown and needed answers, so the volume was almost instantly brought down to a hush. All eyes were now on you. “To make things simple, President Kwon thinks that our little prank war or whatever the hell you want to call it, has brought too much negative attention to the school. Visiting students and their parents, donors, and apparently a lot of other people have noticed all of the antics that we pull on each other, and they don’t like it.” You paused, gauging the reactions, but everyone was just frozen in place, waiting for more details. “He put both of our houses on three months of probation and said that if we don’t clean up our acts and stop with all of this petty bullshit that he would suspend our chapters. So, really it’s that easy. We just have to let this feud die down...” You paused, not wanting to say what you were going to say next, but you thought that it would be the best way to diffuse the situation. “And I know that it was the venting of my personal feelings that started this entire thing, so I wanted to say… I’m sorry for causing it.” You didn’t look towards Jungkook, but you could feel his stare burning into the side of your face. You didn’t want to see his expression. Didn’t want to see the smugness or whatever the hell he was feeling towards this forced public apology. You were about to continue, but before you could, a high-pitched voice cut in. 

“No, why are you apologizing?” Sana said, stepping past the front lines of the two groups. “It is not your fault.” She shot a glare towards Jungkook who simply rolled his eyes and kept his stare straight ahead. 

Then it was Jennie pushing to the front to join in on your defense. “She’s right, Y/N. It’s not your fault. We’re the ones who planted the flowers as a joke. Even though it was a harmless joke,” She turned towards the Lambda boys, venom coating her words, “that made their trashy house look a little bit nicer. Yet, they had to escalate it into something else.”

Oh, this was not good.

Jimin broke through the front line for the Lambdas, a scowl etched across his face. “It’s not the issue of what you did. It’s the fact that back then you blindly fucked with the house that all of the guys lived in, not only Jungkook, just because of Y/N being upset over their relationship — which, he did nothing wrong since you wanna start glaring at people for no fucking reason Sana.” 

It was this violent concoction of anger and sadness colliding inside of your stomach that had you simultaneously fighting back the urge to bite off Jimin’s head or crying pathetically in front of everyone. 

Multiple people were stepping to the front of their groups now, various arguments splintering off as people began defending the heads of their respective houses. Y/N this, Jungkook that. You stared at the second story of the Tri Delt house, focusing in on the bedroom window all the way to the right (your bedroom), so that your hearing would blur out. You didn’t want to listen to these arguments any more, but you also didn’t have the energy to both somehow defend yourself while also admitting that Jungkook’s feelings from back then were also valid. So you stood there, eyes glazing over at the sight of the room where this entire feud spawned from. Though, maybe that wasn’t exactly correct. According to Jungkook it had started in no particular place and at no particular time that he could actually pinpoint. That was just the place where it had all finally been verbalized. 

You weren’t sure how long you zoned out for, just reminiscing on the conversation from that night, but it was Jungkook’s voice thundering through the air that halted everyone’s arguments once again, along with your torturous thoughts. 

“All of you just fucking stop!” He yelled. “It doesn’t matter whose fault it is or how it started. If we keep doing this we’re gonna get our chapters suspended. Do you guys want that?” There was an awkward moment of silence where everyone was just sort of looking around at one another before the members finally grumbled a unanimous ‘no.’ “Okay, so then you guys are just gonna have to get over this bullshit, just like how me and Y/N are,” Jungkook paused, one brow arched as he turned to face you. “Right?”

You felt your face heat up as you clamped your teeth down onto the inside of your cheek. “…Right.”

“Good.” Jungkook smiled, seeming very happy with himself for getting that out of you — smug asshole. He turned back to face all of the members, clapping his hands together before saying something that caused the entire group to erupt into hysterics. “Now, apologize to each other.”

“Fuck that!” Someone screeched from the back. “Baek let the air out of my tires last year. I was late for my final.” 

“Because you put a pair of panties in my car and my girlfriend thought I was cheating on her!” 

“You probably were!”

Everyone was screaming and calling out various incidents, saying there was no way in hell they were ever going to apologize. 

“Fine! Fucking fine!” Jungkook cut in immediately before it could devolve again. “How about if me and Y/N just apologize to each other and it’ll count for the rest of you? And then this war is dead. Sound fair?” 

No one said anything concrete in response, just unintelligible grumbles rippling through the crowd. Jungkook apparently took this as an okay, because he was suddenly turning toward you. “Alright, you go first.” 

You scoffed. “I’m not apologizing first. It wasn’t even my idea. Besides I already apologized to everyone earlier.”

“It wasn’t an apology to me though.” 

“I don’t think I owe you an apology.” You shrugged. “I apologized for my friends fucking with your house. What else do I need to apologize for?” 

He just looked at you, with those eyes that were unreadable. Though you could see a slight shift, as though there truly was something that he wanted you to apologize for from back then, but he could tell that you weren’t going to back down, so he went for something that cut deep as punishment. 

He huffed in annoyance. “Fine, if you wanna be like that. I’m sorry that I broke up with you, Y/N.”

Your entire body flared with anger that had a pool of sweat instantly swelling at your hairline. You stepped closer to him, only a foot of space between you, but he didn’t back down and you weren’t going to either. “And I’m sorry I wasted three years of my life with a lying, cheating piece of shit!” 

His eyes went wide. The word that never failed to strike a nerve whenever this argument was brought back under the light. His response was quiet but firm, everyone, all forty-two members watching in silence. “I never cheated on you, but if you want to think that just so I can be the bad guy in your head, fine.” 

His final word felt like a sharp cut across your chest, but you stood firm, not backing down. You didn’t break eye contact with him as you voiced your final sentiment to the two groups of warring Greeks. “I don’t care whose side you guys fall on when it comes to this overblown drama between me and Jungkook. The fighting, the pranks, all of it, it’s over.” 

“Agreed.” Jungkook bit out before turning and walking towards the Lambda house, a silent command for his Brothers to do the same. 

You didn’t stand there for a single second longer and began walking toward your own house, your fellow Sisters following. Your best friends, Sana and Jennie, instantly threw their arms around your shoulders. “Vodka?” The universal distraction from all things awful in life. 

You shook your head. “Tequila.” The universal eraser to all things awful in life. “Lots of tequila.”

 ——-

“He’s lucky that we’re in a truce now or I would’ve thought up something diabolical for his arrogant ass,” Jennie said as she dusted some blush on her cheeks. 

“I know right, ugh!” Sana made a disgusted sound as she handed you the necklace she was letting you borrow for the night. “Telling you to apologize first. Like fuck you. You haven’t even done anything.”

You simply sighed, jumping to get your jeans past your thighs. “It’s fine guys. As long as no more issues pop up we can just ignore them and act like none of this ever happened.” 

“I know, I know, but it just pisses me off that they always bring your name into the argument. Like you didn’t tell us to go and mess with them. We did it ourselves, and sure, looking back on it now we shouldn’t have done it — even though they were some nice fucking flowers — but regardless, they pushed it to another level.” Sana let out a final huff as she hopefully released the last of her ranting for the night. 

“The point of the tequila,” You said as you filled three shot glasses, several wedges of lime waiting beside them, “Is to forget the problems. Not continue thinking about them.” 

Sana snapped her fingers and pointed at you with a smile as she picked up her shot. “You know what, you’re right. Fuck the Lambdas. They no longer exist. In my head we live next to a vacant patch of grass.” 

“Exactly.” Jennie picked up her glass, leaving the final one for you. “Cheers to no longer having to deal with the house that must not be named.”

The three of you let out a little cheer before clinking your glasses together and forcing your bodies through the post-shot shivers that followed. 

After the front yard meeting fiasco you knew immediately you would be going out. However, it had still been quite early, so you, Sana, and Jennie decided to indulge in several glasses of wine to bide the time before it was late enough to feel like an appropriate time to be downing shots. Tequila at six in the afternoon, even on a Friday, just didn’t feel right, so alcohol juice it had been. Though, the warm feeling that was already radiating through your legs as you walked over to the mirror to do one last once over of your outfit indicated that the so called alcohol juice had done its job as the pre-game to the actual hard liquor pre-game a little too well. 

“Okay, I’m only opting for one more round while we’re here or else we will be having a repeat of St. Patrick’s Day.” Too many green beers that day. Too many. 

“Senior year wisdom.” Jennie placed her hand over her heart. “Our freshman year brains would never.” 

“Our freshman year brains didn’t have an aversion to six different types of alcohol yet.” You laughed as you motioned to take the next round of shots. “And I would like to still be able to look at a bottle of tequila without going into a full-body sweat after tonight, so we’re pacing ourselves.” 

“Oh, Fireball. The days when I could still drink you were so simple.” Sana grabbed her face and grimaced as if Fireball was a long lost god, while you audibly gagged from the name of the cinnamon flavored whiskey alone. 

“Sana, stop. You know Y/N can’t even look at a churro anymore without looking like she’s gonna yak everywhere like a dog.” 

I faked a sniffle. “God, I miss being able to eat churros.” Cinnamon was now inedible to you thanks to your now forever connection between the delectable spice and the previously mentioned unspeakable liquor. A break up that rivaled that of yours and Jungkook’s. 

“Uber’s gonna be here in three minutes,” Jennie said as she returned to your bedside table to grab her shot glass once again. 

The three of you raised your glasses together with a clink. “Let’s fuck it up.” 

——----

The bar right next to your college, simply referred to as “Pub,” was a weird place to be on the first Friday of the new semester. It was a mix of underage freshman trying to slyly sip at their alcohol while attempting to hide the X’s marked on their hands, and of age students that felt a little too old to be at Pub, but who could argue with free drinks for girls until midnight? Definitely not you, Sana, or Jennie. 

The three of you found your temporary home at the tables on the deck right outside of the entrance, the fresh air much preferable to the stuffy atmosphere of the dance floor that you would soon find yourself on given the right song choice to send you flying through the door. 

You watched as Sana shimmied through the crowd of people to return to your table, three tiny plastic cups in hand. “You get a vodka Sprite, you get a vodka Sprite, and I get a vodka Sprite!” She yelled as she set the cups down on the table. 

You laughed. “People may call that basic, but we still get drunk and don’t have to drink Jack and fucking Coke.”

“The Devil’s combo.” Jennie sipped her drink. “You see a guy drinking that: run. He thinks he’s so fucking cool.” 

Sana raised her plastic cup. “Cheers to the truth.” 

“Cheers,” You all agreed collectively. 

“But speaking of guys who don’t drink Jack and Coke, I ran into Namjoon when I went to the bathroom a minute ago.” A blush crept across Jennie’s cheeks. 

“Are you finally gonna see if he’s interested? He’s not your TA anymore, so it’s not sketchy.” 

Jennie shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s weird. He seems so uninterested that it’s intimidating. Like I’ve imagined thirty-seven different scenarios for our first date and he’s only like ‘Hi, Jennie. Bye, Jennie.” 

You and Sana couldn’t help but laugh, however, the amusement was cut short by a decently sized group of familiar males. 

“Fuck me,” You said under your breath, which was enough for Jennie to turn around and see the pack of Lambda boys climbing the wooden steps onto the deck of the bar, Jungkook leading the way. 

“You try to forget your problems and they just walk in on two legs.” Sana groaned. “It’s rude really.” 

The group got caught in the line to get into the bar, which unfortunately left them idling uncomfortably close to your table, and of course something had to be said. 

Jimin glanced down at them sitting, a fake grin plastered to his mouth. “If it isn’t our cordial neighbors.” 

Jennie snapped her head up to look at him, mirroring his forced smile. “Cordial can also mean that we’re pretending you don’t exist. In fact, we no longer acknowledge that we even have neighbors.” 

“That’s fantastic, actually. It means I can forget that awful blowjob you gave me freshman year even happened.” 

Jennie’s jaw clenched for all of a millisecond before responding. “Awful? Say that to my untouched vagina after you came in sixty seconds. Though again, we’re pretending you don’t exist, so I guess I can forget the most underwhelming sexual experience of my life. Thanks, Jimin.” She turned back to you and Sana, not sparing a second glance as if she’d simply given someone directions to the nearest Denny’s. 

But Jimin wasn’t through. “That’s not what happened—”

You could see in your friend’s face she was already squaring up another jab, and as much as you found it entertaining you knew it was setting a bad example. 

“Jennie,” You said at the same time that Jungkook sighed “Jimin.”

You both looked at each other, a silent message of gratefulness passing between the two of you at trying to actually make this work. 

“Guys, neither of us want to get our chapters suspended. If ignoring each other is the best route, do that, or maybe even be friends. Whatever results in no fuckery between our houses, okay?” You reminded them of what was at stake here and everyone nodded, letting any planned animosity fall away as the line to get into the bar began to move. 

You tilted your head, watching as Jungkook’s back disappeared into the building, his eyes crinkling as he smiled brightly at some girl who noticed him the second he made it past the threshold. 

Again, that stupid feeling of longing for something that was clearly dead and gone. But you didn’t want to get too down, so before you could spiral too far you turned back towards your friends. “So did he really last sixty seconds?” 

“No,” Jennie smiled, “But I definitely still have the texts of him telling me the next day it was the best suck of his life. He’s the one that lied first, so I get to bend the truth too.”

“Freshman year is so weird to think about. Everyone was actually friendly. Jennie and Jimin might be dating right now if it wasn’t for our little war.” Sana laughed as she batted the napkin away that Jennie tossed at her. 

“Absolutely not. I want someone like Namjoon, who’s smart and respectful. Not Jimin, who… who…” She trailed off simply finishing her thought with a wordless grimace. 

Jennie said that, but you knew it wasn’t exactly true. You remembered very well when Jennie and Jimin were involved and she actually seemed to enjoy the Lambda’s presence quite a bit. But then things went to shit the summer after your freshman year was over, and well, this was the reality now. Snide comments at every passing instead of mutual invites to beach days. 

You were beginning to let a little slideshow of memories from that first year cloud your head when a song that already had you lifting out of your chair clamored inside the bar. “We dance till dawn!” You pulled your friends by their arms through the entrance, waving your wristbands at the bouncer before pushing your way to the middle of the dance floor. 

“Drinks!” Jennie beamed, remembering that they had finished the others outside. “I’ll be back!” She yelled over the music, pointing towards the bar. 

You and Sana gave her a thumbs up as you began to dance together, singing the lyrics so loud your throats would certainly punish you by night’s end. But you didn’t care. Today had been absolutely disastrous, ripping up old wounds that you wished would just stay permanently beneath their flimsy bandaid, so you were thankful for this music that was blaring so loud that thoughts weren’t even an option, the alcohol that was so potent you could barely remember Jungkook’s smug face from the house meeting today, and your friends that allowed you to be this happy on days this bad. 

A few songs passed and you and Sana were still dancing and getting so hyped up by every new spin that it took you a second to remember that Jennie definitely should’ve been back by now. You looked around, only to find a sight that made you let out a slight scream that was completely concealed by the music. You tapped Sana and began pointing towards the bar. She turned and immediately mirrored your excitement. 

Namjoon was leaning into Jennie at the bar, whispering something into her ear and you could see her smiling, redness once again blooming on her face. In your drunkenness you pulled out your phone and snapped severa blurry pictures, which were sure to be a great topic of discussion in the group chat tomorrow. You watched Jennie nod her head, smiling and pointing to the three drinks in her hand, and then she started back towards where you were. 

“Bitch, the drinks could’ve waited!” You tried to say over the music. “Go back and talk to him.” 

Jennie actually looked giddy as she handed over the drinks to you and Sana. “I am. He’s leaving soon though, but he asked if I wanted to grab something to eat with him at the diner down the street.” 

Sana jumped up and down in excitement. “So he basically asked you to marry him? Got it.” 

“Oh yeah, he’s totally gonna propose to me over my omelette.” She joked, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Are you guys okay if I go?” 

“Of course, but I will be checking your location in fifteen minutes and if you are not at that diner I will hunt Namjoon’s ass down in two seconds,” You warned. “—Except if you decide you wanna skip the diner and go straight to fucking that’s cool too, just let us know.” 

Jennie threw out another giddy expression at the thought. “I’ll text you guys. Love you!” She said,  kissing her hand and throwing it out to you as she weaved back towards where Namjoon was waiting for her at the bar. 

“Fuck Disney,” You shouted to Sana. “Dreams come true at Pub too.”

She bent over, laughing as she tried to sip her drink. “Ugh, if only we could be that lucky. I’ve never had a TA even close to that hot.”

“Same, but maybe we’ll find something else tonight.” You motioned toward the back where you could see some of the soccer players hanging out. You eyed Jung Hoseok. The two of you had hooked up a few times last year, and getting laid would be a perfect ending to this bad to actually decent day. 

“Oh, I see.” Sana wiggled her brows, giving a knowing look. “Let’s go bump into them.” She grabbed your hand and began leading you through the crowd until you reached the area that the soccer players were idly standing around and sipping their drinks. You started a conversation about something random right behind Hoseok, and it was only a minute or so before he turned around and noticed the two of you. 

“Oh, look who it is.” He smiled, hugging you. “Been a while.” 

“I know your summer must’ve been so dull without me,” You flirted, sipping at your drink. 

“No question.” He leaned back against the wall, pulling you by the waist so you weren’t halfway on the dance floor and constantly being bumped into. Sana noticed the gesture and took that as her cue to let things simmer between you and Hoseok. 

“Y/N, I see Nayeon and Joy over there.” She pointed towards the other corner of the bar, where you saw the two Tri Delts mingling. “I’m gonna go over there, okay?” 

“Sounds good.” 

She leaned into your ear, whispering, “If you wanna go home with him just text me. I’ll catch a ride with them on the way back to the house.” 

“I’m ninety-five percent sure I will, but I’ll text you to make sure,” You whispered back. 

She squeezed your shoulder before pulling back. “Take care of her Jung. I’ve heard you’re very good at that.” Sana smiled like a tiny devil before running through the crowd, leaving you slightly slack-jawed. 

You bit your lip, a small warmth creeping into our face. “Please, ignore that,” You bit through an awkward laugh. 

“Why’re you embarrassed?” He smiled, shrugging before leaning next to your ear. “I mean I have taken care of you every single time we’ve been together, right?” 

His breath was hot against the side of your face, leaving you tingling. You lifted your hand, cupping his jaw as you pulled him back to look him in the face. “You can’t say things like that to me when we’re in a bar and you can’t do anything about it.” 

He smiled, eyes drifting to your mouth. “I mean we could always leave. It’s almost closing time anyways.” 

You smiled. “One more drink, after I finish this one.” 

“Perfect.” He leaned in, gave you a small peck on the lips before ruffling your hair a little and turning to say something to his friend. Presumably it was something about him getting laid tonight, which was exactly the same conversation you were about to have with your friend. 

You: the hookup is secure 

Sana: quick work. i’m proud 

Sana: joy and nayeon said that lisa is sick in the bathroom and they’re about to take her back to the house, so i was just going to catch a ride with them if you’re going with hoseok. sound good? 

You: oh really? i hope she’s okay. make sure she gets water at home. and yes i’ll be fine. we were gonna have one last drink and then go. i’ll text you when i make it to his place

Sana: sounds good. love you!

You slipped your phone back into your pocket after returning the sentiment. 

“Everything good?” Hoseok asked. 

“Yeah, one of our friends is sick so Sana was just letting me know she was gonna go home with her.” 

“Damn,” Hoseok tsked, jokingly.  “Does that mean I’m stuck with you for the night?” 

“It would seem so.” You smiled, and then he pulled you beneath his arm and adjusted the backwards cap on his head. 

“You know, I’m all for just fucking or whatever, but you’re really never gonna say yes to a date, are you?” 

You paused before answering, remembering that time last year that he’d asked about actually taking you out to dinner. You had thought about it, but in the end you just decided you had no desire to even slightly pivot in the direction of being any more than friends with benefits with someone. Though, if anyone were able to sway you away from that mindset after Jungkook, it would be Hoseok, but just not yet.

“If I let you take me to Steak n’ Shake after this, will that suffice?” You giggled at the way he rolled his eyes while still smiling. 

“I have leftovers in my fridge better than the food from there, so I’ll let you have that.” He paused, a slight glimmer filling his eyes. “Maybe I’ll light a candle, make it romantic, sort of like a date.” 

Your skin prickled slightly at the mention of the candle, a call back to one of their more… unconventional hook ups from last year.

“Is candle wax being melted onto my naked body and drunkenness really a good mix?” You asked, even though it had been one of the best feelings you had ever experienced. 

“Not that drunk, but it could always wait until the morning.” 

You tapped your finger to your lips as if you were pondering it. “Let me get my last drink and I’ll let you know my answer.” 

“I have a tab open.” He motioned towards the bar. “Just get it on mine.” 

“Thanks,” You said, even though you planned to pay for it yourself. Random guys you didn’t mind hustling a few free drinks from, but not guys you were actually sort of friends with. 

You walked up to the bartender. “Vodka Sprite,” You said over the thumping music. He nodded and then stepped to the left and made your drink. He handed it to you as you slipped him your credit card, motioning to close the tab out. 

You were already halfway done with sipping on the drink when the bartender returned a slight look of awkwardness on his face. “Uh, it declined.” 

Your brows furrowed. Your financial aid refund for school had definitely been deposited into your bank account. You knew this because you had jumped for joy when it hit and you were finally able to return to the sanctuary that is no-ads Hulu. There was enough to cover your dues for staying in the Tri Delt house this semester, so there should certainly have been enough to cover a four dollar drink. You were pondering what to do, maybe just put it on Hoseok’s tab like he said you could. It was probably just your actual bank having issues and it would sort itself out in the morning anyways. You were just about to say to put it on his tab when someone slid their muscled bicep right in front of your face with a credit card in hand. 

You knew that it was pathetic that you knew exactly who that bicep belonged to before he even turned to look at your face, black strands of hair hanging over his forehead.

“I got it,” Jungkook said to the bartender. 

“Why’d you do that?” You asked. 

“Because I was right behind you and heard him, and I know how embarrassed you get about things like that.” He shrugged, grabbing the paper and pen that the bartender slid back towards him. 

He was right. You had terrible secondhand embarrassment, let alone actual first hand embarrassment. “Well… thanks. I don’t know why it did that. I got my refund already.” 

“Just check your bank account. If the money’s in there then the bank system is probably just fucked up right now.” 

“Yeah…” You slid your phone out of your pocket and immediately went to your banking app and pressed your fingerprint down onto the login. You waited a few seconds, and when your balance appeared on the screen, you felt your heart drop. “What in the actual fuck?” You said, staring at your bank account with a whopping dollar and twenty cent in it. 

“What’s wrong?” Jungkook asked, brows furrowed as he rounded to your side to look at your screen to see the low number that was not at all what it was yesterday. “I thought you said you got your refund?” 

You were shaking your head. “I… I did. I don’t know what the hell happened. Oh my god, I’m gonna freak the fuck out. I have to pay my housing cost for Tri-Delt with that money. Like what the fuck is going on—”

You felt Jungkook’s on your back, rubbing light circles. “Just breathe.” You stiffened at the touch, but didn’t try to pull away. “It’s probably just a financial aid fuck up. Call them tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” 

You knew that he was probably right, but a creeping feeling was telling you otherwise. This was your fourth year in college dealing with the same exact scholarships every single semester and this had never happened before. 

“Fuck.” You brought your hands up to push at either of your temples. “That really just fucked up my whole mood. I’m not even horny anymore—” You cringed, realizing what you just said. “Please, just ignore me I’m drunk.” You shook your head, squeezing your eyes shut, not wanting to see the expression he’d made at your admission. 

“What’re you doing now? Where’s Sana and Jennie?” He asked, ignoring your flub and finally lowering his hand from your back. 

“They’re not here. Jennie left earlier and I told Sana I was gonna go home with… Hoseok, but now I just wanna go lay in bed by myself so I can spiral into every negative possibility of why my bank account looks like that.” 

“It’s gonna be fine.” This time he placed his hand on the back of your neck, cupping it slightly. It was a motion that had always for some reason calmed you down when things got overwhelming. It seemed he remembered. But even though you appreciated the comfort, the feeling of his hand there made something in your stomach flutter — that stupid feeling of longing seriously needed it’s wings shredded. You gripped his forearm, pulling it away from you, and you saw something shift in his eyes as you did so. 

“I guess I’m gonna go tell Hoseok that I’m just gonna go home—” But then you suddenly remembered something. “Fuck! I can’t Uber because I don’t have any money on my card.” You pinched the bridge of your nose. “This day was so bad and then actually pretty good, only to turn out fucking awful.” 

There was a couple of seconds of silence between the two of you, but you kept your eyes closed, trying to clear the fog in your head from all the alcohol to figure out what you were going to do. However, Jungkook finally let out a sigh before speaking. “Come on.”

“What?” You asked.

“All of these people are trying to get out of here at once and they’re ordering Uber’s at the same time.” He flashed his phone screen, showing that it was not only almost closing time, but that the next driver wouldn’t be available for thirty-two minutes with everyone having already ordered their rides. “It’s a twenty minute walk back to your house. I’ll just walk you there.” 

Even though Jungkook was currently the president of the Lambdas, he actually decided not to live in the frat house this year and instead opted for a cheaper apartment that was still near campus. You and Jungkook both relied on scholarships to pay for most of your schooling,  and fraternity and sorority dues on their own were not cheap, and living on Greek Drive only made that burden a million times worse. 

But the point was that Jungkook had no need to go to campus because he lived in a completely different direction now.

“You don’t even live there anymore. How’re you gonna get home?” You asked. 

“I’ll just sleep on the couch and get Tae or Jimin to drive me to my place in the morning.” He shrugged. 

You weren’t exactly keen on the idea of having to walk all the way back to campus with Jungkook,  considering just a five minute car ride earlier in the day had been sufficiently awkward all on its own. But you also were unfortunately no longer in the mood for sex, leaving Hoseok’s house out of the picture, and your bank account was for some reason drained, which resulted in you only having one option really. 

“Alright,” You finally said. “Just let me tell Hoseok and then we can go.” 

He nodded as you walked back towards the group of soccer players, tapping Hoseok on the shoulder. It seemed your dismay was painted plainly on your face because he immediately asked what was wrong. 

“I actually can’t hang out tonight. I just found out my bank account is fucked up and I can’t really think about anything else right now, so I was just gonna head home, but I wanted to let you know. I’m sorry.” 

“No, you’re fine,” He said, shaking his head. “Do you have a way home then?” 

You glanced towards Jungkook, releasing a heavy sigh. “Uhm, yeah, Jungkook was gonna walk me.” 

Hoseok’s eyes darted toward where you pointing, narrowing slightly. Most people knew about the feud between the Lambdas and the Tri Delts, which meant most people also knew the details about why there was a feud in the first place. 

“Are you sure you’re good with that?” Hoseok asked. 

Not really, but a twenty minute walk wasn’t going to kill you. “We’re fine, promise. Actually we’ve been… cordial lately.” You tried to say it like it was actually the truth, but you thought maybe if you spoke it into existence then it would actually come to fruition. 

Hoseok tilted his head, giving you a look that said he didn’t really believe you, but regardless he pulled you in for a hug. “Okay, let me know when you get home.” 

“I will,” You assured him before waving goodbye and making your way back towards Jungkook. 

“Ready,” He huffed, a slight annoyance seeming to coat his words as he pushed himself off of the wall and started towards the entrance. 

“Are you really gonna have an attitude?” You asked as you did a little jog to catch up with him. “I would’ve found another way if I knew you were gonna act like an ass.” 

“I’m not trying to be a dick. I’m just tired.” He placed his hand on one of your shoulders, moving you in front of him so the two of you could move through the mass of people more quickly until you were walking through the entrance and down the wooden ramp that connected to the outside deck. 

“Then why’d you offer? I could’ve called someone to pick me up.” 

“Because,” He paused, motioning towards the crosswalk that already had dozens of drunk college kids filing through it. “I couldn’t just leave you there, and I thought just taking you home would be quicker than you calling people to try and find a ride.” 

Ouch. He was just trying to be nice and you were calling him an ass. Heat flushed beneath your skin from embarrassment. “I’m sorry…” You finally said as you made it to the sidewalk and began the straight shot down the main road towards Greek Drive. “Thank you for making sure I got home alright.” You added, avoiding any eye contact and opting to walk a little bit in front of him. 

After about five entire minutes of silence you thought to yourself, yeah, this was going pretty much as expected. But you were thankful that at least there wasn’t any hostility. You didn’t want any more arguments like the ones from today.  You had seethed at each other after the two of you left President Kwon’s office. Had thrown insults at one another at the meeting between your houses. Like sure, maybe the silence hurt more than it should’ve. The idea that the guy you started dating and fell in love with when you were a junior in high school not even being able to fake a conversation with you for twenty minutes was mildly heartbreaking to say the least. But again, the silence was better than the anger that had fueled most of your interactions since breaking up the summer after starting college. 

You had become somewhat content with the lack of speaking. You were still a few steps ahead of Jungkook as he walked behind you, but he suddenly picked up speed and joined you, shoulder skating against yours before he was curving his hand around your waist and nudging you to go to the side of the sidewalk that wasn’t closest to the main road that was currently buzzing with post-bar traffic. 

“Wouldn’t want you falling face first into a Camero that someone’s Daddy bought them, Drunkie,” He said, offering a playful smile as he dropped his arm back down to his side. 

You were caught so off guard by the positive expression from Jungkook that it took you a second for your head to actually realize what he had even said. You pushed his shoulder. “I’m not even drunk anymore.”

“Well, considering I can literally smell the tequila on you, I’d rather not take any chances of you falling into oncoming traffic.” 

“You’re being nice.” You narrowed your eyes at him. “Too nice.” 

“What?” He chuckled. “I’m just making an effort to try and fix things between us so that the members don’t see us constantly fighting and think it’s okay to do the same.” 

Ah, that’s what it was. He didn’t care if you guys actually patched this up, just that it looked like you did. 

“Well, we could always pretend to like each other, since the appearance is all that actually matters apparently.” You forced a smile and began walking a little bit faster. Ten more minutes. Ten more minutes of being alone with him and his stupid presence that overwhelmed you with thoughts that you wished would just disappear. 

“That’s not what I meant,” He said almost immediately, not letting that unbearable plunge into silence return. “I would love it if we could be nice to each other and actually mean it… I just…” He trailed off, seeming to hesitate in whatever he was trying to say. 

“Just spit it out.” 

There was one more second of a brief pause before he spoke quietly. “I just don’t think that’s ever going to happen, because I know you still blame me for everything.” 

You tensed up, still keeping your pace of being slightly ahead of him. You inhaled a deep breath through your mouth before turning to look over your shoulder at him, his eyes already waiting to meet yours. 

“I don’t blame you.” You smiled, but with a sad furrowing of your brows. “I… resent you.” 

Jungkook’s mouth fell open, his eyes widening in surprise. “I mean, that’s… that’s even worse than blaming me.”

You shook your head. “No, it’s not.” 

His expression turned more puzzled. “How is you resenting me better than you blaming me?” 

“Because, blame implies that I think it’s your fault… Resentment just means I’m angry and upset, regardless of whether I think you were right or wrong for what happened.” You felt the bridge of your nose begin to tingle with that telltale sign of tears, so you quickly looked forward and urged them to stay hidden until you were at least in the comfort of your own room. “I’m just resentful of the things I now think and feel about myself, but that isn’t your fault. It’s my issue to deal with.” You shrugged. 

“What things do you think and feel about yourself?” He asked, and you could tell that he had hurried his pace and was a little closer behind you now. 

You closed your eyes, shaking your head. You didn’t want to talk about this. The two of you hadn’t had an in depth conversation like this since you’d first broken up. But things were different now compared to that first conversation. Back then it was raw and fresh, the pain too intense to notice what was growing underneath. Now it was a scar, and you were left with all of the emotions, feelings, and implications of how and why things ended. 

“I… I don’t really wanna talk about it honestly.” You said that, but you also wanted Jungkook to understand that you were perfectly aware of how you had acted the past few years. You may have said and acted in ways that seemed bitchy and ridiculous, but it was because of these disgusting emotions that were now plaguing your mind constantly, and maybe it was time he knew. “I kind of wish we had broken up over this giant fight that was about something unfixable. Something where we both clearly did things wrong and we were both through with each other because there was no way either of us were going to change our minds. I think I could’ve dealt with that so much better than what you actually broke up with me for. Which was just the fact that you thought I was...” You trailed off, the word that bombarded your thoughts mercilessly landing on your tongue. “Boring.”

You heard the way his shoes scratched against the concrete at his screeching halt, and he clearly thought that that was going to stop you as well, but you kept going, not actually wanting to hear any response from him. You said your piece and now maybe he would understand. But of course you knew that he wasn’t just going to let it end like that, which was made apparent when you felt him suddenly gripping your arm, trying to get you to slow down for a second. 

“I never said or even thought that about you, Y/N, ever.” He tried to pull you to look at him, but you twisted your body and threw a hand over your face to cover your eyes that were already glistening. 

“No, stop,” You said firmly, and he ceased with trying to get you to look at him. “I told myself after that night in my room I was never going to let you see me cry over you ever again, and if I look at you right now, I will. I just know I will, so please just stop.” 

He didn’t say anything for a minute, leaving just the sound of grasshoppers and the random gust of cars passing by. You thought maybe he would just let it go and you could continue the last few minutes of the walk without speaking, but you had verbalized your thoughts and Jungkook was without a doubt going to respond. 

“I know how it’s easy to think that,” He started, his voice a whisper with his hand still wrapped around your arm, as if he was afraid you would bolt down the street without letting him finish if he let you go. “But that’s not why I ended things. You were the first girl I ever actually dated, and when we got here I just started thinking about—”

“—All of your new exciting options.” You cut in, anger flaring before you could stop it. 

“Y/N…” He trailed off, squeezing your arm. “That’s not what it was—”

“—No,” You said before he could try and dance his way through some explanation of how he just wanted to go crazy in college without actually saying it out loud. “You don’t have to explain it again. I’d rather you didn’t actually. I remember in excruciating detail the way you explained it that night. I understand, I get it… So, p-please,” Your voice cracked, finally being too overwhelmed by this entire situation. “Let’s just keep walking and not talk about it anymore. Please.” 

It turned so quiet I could even hear how hard Jungkook was breathing. It sounded heavy but unnatural, like he was trying to forcibly steady his heartbeat. And after a few seconds you felt him finally drop his hand from your arm and you didn’t wait for him to say a single word before you started down the sidewalk again.

The Tri Delt house was five minutes away, leading to five minutes of complete and utter silence between two people that was so palpable it blocked out the scratching of your shoes as you walked and the rustle of tiny animals running through the trees next to you. It engulfed you in this tunnel of noiselessness. 

Eventually you saw the bend at the end of the street where yours and Jungkook’s houses sat next to one another. It was only a little bit away, yet it felt so far. Twenty minutes. All it had taken was twenty minutes of the two of you not partaking in your back and forth hostility from the last few years for you to break down again. It felt pathetic. It was completely pathetic. 

You were finally approaching the point where the Tri Delt and Lambda house split into opposite directions. All you had to do was keep walking straight while Jungkook veered to the left and— 

You felt the light tug at the belt loop of your jeans, stopping you in place, just like from earlier today after the suspension meeting. You were about to tell him to let you go, when he beat you to the punch. 

“You’re not boring, Y/N. You never have been.” He was so close you could feel his breath hitting the back of your head. “It was one of the millions of reasons that I loved you. I just wanted you to know that.” 

And then he was gone. The pressure of someone tugging you in place disappearing, leaving you to catch your balance as you finally stood alone. You forced yourself to stare straight ahead as you walked towards your front door, not daring to look at him as he walked to the Lambda house. You shoved your keys inside the lock, forcing it open and then taking the stairs by two’s until you were collapsing in your bed, fingers crushing your pillow as you finally let yourself cry. 

——--

A phone was ringing inside of your dreams. It was ringing and ringing and ringing until you realized the sound was coming from some otherworldly place — oh yeah, that would be the current hell that is your life. 

You blinked a couple of times, blindly reaching for the source of the noise that was lost somewhere in your bed. You finally felt your hand slide across the leather of your phone case. You brought it up to read the name and you felt your stomach curl. 

‘Jungkook the Jackass’ was calling. And if it weren’t for the fact that he was calling you at seven in the morning you probably would’ve just sent him straight to voice mail in order to avoid any further conversations about what transpired last night. But alas, it was seven in the morning and just seemed to be too early of a time for him to be calling about something mundane. 

You regretfully lifted the phone to your ear. “Yes?” You grumbled, voice scratchy. 

“We have a problem.” No mention of last night. It was just a clear cut declaration that did not sound good. 

“What’s wrong?” You asked, sitting up from bed. 

“Come outside your house. Now.” 

Your eyes widened and you instantly jumped from bed. He sounded urgent enough that you decided your flimsy nighttime apparel was going to have to do. You hurried down the stairs and opened the front door, revealing Jungkook in the front yard staring at something. 

“What is it?” You asked, arms crossing over your chest as you tried to hide your bralessness. 

Jungkook pressed his lips together as he pointed towards the front of the Tri Delt house. “My idiot Lambda Brothers.” 

You followed the direction of his finger, your mouth dropping at the sight before you. 

Dozens and dozens and dozens of boxers covering every inch of the first story of the house. You turned towards Jungkook, so angry and anxiety-riddled that someone from administration had already seen this, that you could hardly speak. 

“I’m going to murder them,” You finally managed to spit through clenched teeth. 

“No,” He started, turning to you, mirroring your own frustration. “I’m going to murder them.” 

→ part 02

[aseioh]

Of Cakes and Late Celebrations

Author’s Notes: This was supposed to be posted on Mother's day. But just like this fic, I got derailed and ended up being late. (picture taken from the internet)

It was Mother's day.

Or to be precise it will be Mother's day in 15 hours 25 minutes. It shouldn't be a problem for Alcina, she usually just buys something from the Duke to give to Mother Miranda.

Unfortunately, such a thing is not possible right now. The Duke was delayed with his routine arrival at the castle opening, something about a spooked horse and lycans trying to get a nibble.

Honestly she lost interest after the word delayed was spoken through the phone. How is she going to remedy this. The gift itself was one of the finest silk she was able to obtain, she was sure Mother would appreciate a new ritual robe.

This is bad. To show up without a gift on this special day. She was sure she would be made a mockery during the gathering. Whats worst was that fool Heisenberg would be the first to lead with his pathetic insults.

Just the thought made Alcina's blood boil.

”I should send Bela to switch that man's shampoo with dog shampoo. Although the man still smells like wet dog. No. I'll think of something more devious.“

But back to the matter at hand. It's almost Mother's day and she doesn’t have a gift. Taking a deep drag off her cigarette, she considers her dwindling options.

At western part of the village

Donna is also facing a similar problems.

"What do you mean you're not coming?! Where am I supposed to find a present at this hour?!" Angie's raspy voice filtered through the phone "do you know how hard it is to find a 1st edition book on occult and rituals."

"Apologies Miss Angie, but the horse spooked and the carriage suffered a broken wheel. Even if the servants manage to haul themselves your house to the Duke's location and back it would still be too late." The main servant said trying to sound as apologetic as he can come across.

"This would not do" Donna said finally in her normal voice.

Somewhere inside the Stronghold.

Karl Heisenberg was having a meltdown.

"YOU STUPID LYCANS! I GAVE YOU ONE JOB AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO IT RIGHT!!" Heisenberg paces around the small assembly hall. Ten Lycans looked very apologetic, although it was very hard to tell from their looks. One even lets out a soft whimper.

“I told you to stall The Duke for a while. I didn’t said to derail him completely. The man has a package for me, now how am I supposed to get it!?” Heisenberg seethes.

His plan was a simply one really. Stall The Duke so that he would arrive at Castle Dimitrescu late, that way Alcina would not get her package and present it to Mother Miranda. That would show her, a little payback for calling him a child.

What he didn’t count on was the utter incapability of the Lycans to follow simple directions. Now even he doesn’t have a gift. Oh Miranda’s gonna blow a gasket.

“Augh... I hate the consequences of my actions” He lamented

 At Moreau’s Reservoir

“NOOOOOOO!! That’s not fair, that’s not fair!!!” Moreau starts throwing his stuff on the floor. He had finally saved up his money to buy Mother Miranda that nice jewelry that would go perfectly with her black wings.

“Someone’s gonna pay” He vows to take revenge on the Lycans responsible for his problem.

 After all his pet fish has been hungry for some Lycan meat.

 Castle Dimitrescu (13 hours until Mother’s day)

“I have gathered you here today for a very important meeting” Alcina starts looking at the sad (Donna) and tearful (Moreau) faces of her so called ‘siblings’. Heisenberg is surprisingly calm which puts Alcina on high alert, but lets it slide in favour of the more pressing matter

“We have a big problem. The Duke will not arrive on time for Mother’s Day. That means all the presents we bought for Mother will not arrive”

“We need a solution, any ideas?”  

“We kill the Lycans responsible and feed them to my fish”

“Yes Moreau, but that’s after we solve this problem” Donna said and tries to placate a Moreau by patting him at the back.

“Whoa, that’s a bit dark but I like it. And Moreau is right, we’re gonna make fish food out of those Lycans” “Better off those basdards, after all I don’t want to implicate myself” Heisenberg thinks

“People, you’re missing the point here” Alcina says pinching her nose to ward off an incoming headache. “Listen, we don’t have time. You know Mother Miranda, She’ll say she wasn’t really expecting something and then low-key punishes us for missing the day. We don’t want a repeat of the 1967 incident do we?”

Moreau whimpers from the trauma.

Donna goes into a slight trance and starts to shake.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough” Heisenberg stands. “Why don’t we just bake something and say it’s from all of us”

 *beat*

“Do you know how to bake?”

“I work at the Factory, I make steel molds for a living how hard could it be?”

“That doesn’t answer my question Heisenberg”

“We could make a small doll” Donna pipes up

“Sorry Donna that would still take time. And I don’t think we have the right materials on such short notice.” Alcina says

“For someone who’s looking for a solution you sure are shooting down all of them”

“Because it’s not feasible Heisenberg.” Alcina huffs “Can you gather all the materials in less than 10 hours? No? Of course not”

“And I keep telling you just BAKE A CAKE!”

“I don’t know how to bake, child! I’m a BLOODY COUNTESS not hired help” Alcina bellows at Heisenberg

“I know how to bake”

Everyone turns to Donna.

“Really?”

“Of course, I used to watch my Mother bake cakes before the accident. I just need help decorating. I never got a hang of that part” Donna beams with pride as she explains the basics of baking

“And we can gather the ingredients no problem. You have a pantry here somewhere right Alcina?” Moreau asked

“Of course. We always have a full pantry for the servants.” At that Heisenberg looks at Alcina with a hint of disbelief

“What? We need them healthy to serve us. I’m not a complete monster.” Alcina defends

“In any case we should start early. It takes time to cool and decorating is hard”

 Castle Kitchen (12 hours 30 minutes before Mother’s Day)

It was truly a sight to see. In a way it was enough for the Castle’s servants to wet themselves in fear when they saw the 4 Lords gathered at the kitchen in various forms of concentration. Needless to say, everyone was warned to steer clear of the kitchen for now.

Moreau was together with Donna supporting her with mixing the wet ingredients. Meanwhile, at the other side of the cooking station Alcina and Heisenberg are charge of measuring out the dry ingredients.

“You need to be precise, don’t put too much. Remember what Donna said and look at the damn recipe”

“I know what I’m doing you damn woman. I’m all about precision. Why don’t you move away and get that mixing bowl at the top shelf.” Heisenberg grouched

“I’m not your servant. And I certainly will not start fetching stuff for you” Alcina shot back

“Alcina, we need to work together. We don’t have time and you’re the tallest of us all. Please cooperate with Karl just this once. Please?” Donna implored

“Once. I’m helping him for this one time only. When I get my hands on the Lycan responsible for this problem, I’m gutting him and throwing him at Moreau’s reservoir.” At Donna’s admonishment of Alcina, Heisenberg gives a shit eating grin, showing some rather very pointy canines.

“And Heisenberg, stop provoking Alcina.” Donna adds

“Fine, you’re no fun Donna”

Suffice to say, the baking went well. Who knew that the 4 Lords working together would be a great success? If only Mother Miranda saw her children working together peacefully she might have had a heart attack and thought that she suffered one as well.

Or she might have been dreaming.

 Castle Kitchen (6 hours before Mother’s Day)

“Alright, the cake has cooled down completely, So what color will be the icing?” Donna asked

“Yellow” “Cream” “Light Blue” the other three said simultaneously.

 *beat*

“Light blue? Really? Not everything needs to be manly Heisenberg”

“And not everything needs to be boring like your color, Alcina”

“It should be yellow, like Mother’s sunny smile” Moreau explains

“And in which ever universe has Mother ever smiled like the sun?” Heisenberg counters Moreau

“Hey now. No need for that tone!”

“Tsk, sorry Moreau” Heisenberg apologizes to a quiet Moreau

“Fine, let’s do pastel yellow it’s easier for the eyes anyway” Donna supplies, getting ready to start coating the cake with the yellow cream

 Inside the Sanctuary

“Happy Mother’s day”

“We hope you like the cake Mother”

“Yes, we poured out our love in baking it. I hope you appreciate it” Heisenberg said

“Why thank you loves. This is a wonderful surprise. And Moreau said that you all worked together in baking it. How wonderful!” Mother Miranda said grateful for once that her children worked together without collateral damage (that she knew of).

“Although Heisenberg, I heard something interesting from Urias” Mother Miranda looks pointedly at Heisenberg, who for some reason starts to sweat and turn pale.

‘oh shit’ “Really Mother? Good news I hope” Heisenberg tries to bluff his way out.

“Why it was quite peculiar really. He said that you got 10 of his Lycans for a special project. I wasn’t aware that you have some side projects”

 The 3 Lords turn to Heisenberg

“Wait what?”

“I KNEW IT!!” Alcina unsheathes her claws

“You’re responsible for this mess in the first place!!”

“Really guy relax, if anything I just proved that we need more than one traveling merchant in the village for a successful and on time delivery” Heisenberg starts to carefully ease his way to the nearest exit.

 “GET HIM”

In the end, Alcina was more than ready to feed Heisenberg to Moreau’s pet fish. Only Donna stopped her, citing Moreau would probably be inconsolable if his pet got indigestion from all the metal.

And that is how Heisenberg saw himself in doggy jail for a week along with his Lycan cohorts. Mother Miranda did get her Mother’s day gifts from her children although a bit later than expected.

 And the cake?

 The cake was surprisingly delicious.

[jobean12-blog]

Truth or Dare

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Word Count: 1,169

Summary: A friendly game of truth or dare leads you to uncovering the real truth about Bucky and how big he really is...

Author’s Note: This is for the HBC’s @the-ss-horniest-book-club​ drunk drabble clean up and the super fun prompt below from @buckys-henley​ I got this amazing ask about the team playing truth or dare and things getting fun so I thought it worked well with the prompt! Hope you guys like this and it makes you laugh! Thank you all so much for reading! Much love always! ❤❤❤

Warnings: lots of teasing and banter, friendly fun, cursing, the guys being ridiculous, fluffy fun, flirting, light smut at the end (18+ only please)

“Oh, come on Tony, quit picking dare, we all know you’ll do just about anything!” Steve yells this across the room and Tony’s eyebrows shoot up, “so you better give me something good then. Up your game Rogers!” Everyone oooooh’s and aaaaah’s, now waiting for Steve to give him a good dare.

Sam leans close to whisper in Steve’s ear and his eyes go wide, his face scrunching up in disgust. “I don’t wanna see that Wilson! No way!” Sam just shakes his head and waves him off, sitting back on the couch and grabbing a drink. “Steve, do it!” you shout, smiling wide when he just stares at you. Bucky nudges you with his elbow, “you may be sorry you said that doll face.”

When you turn toward Bucky you know your face must already be pink from his sweet endearment because he kisses your cheek, smiling softly before looking back to Steve. “Alright Tony. I dare you to whip your dick out right now.” Tony doesn’t even flinch as he takes a chug of his drink and stands, unzipping his pants and letting them drop to the floor.

You, Nat and Wanda all screech and hide while Pepper’s face remains unamused and not at all surprised. “OH MY GOD Buck. Tell me when it’s over.” You’ve buried your face in his chest, his arm now snaked around your waist and holding you close. “I promise I will.” You stay hidden, giggling when you hear everyone’s groans and laughter.

“It’s safe now doll.” You peek an eye out and see that Tony is looking smug and buttoning his pants. “Impressive, right?” Everyone starts laughing again and Steve blurts out, “not bad, but I mean, you haven’t seen a super serum dick yet.” Bucky smacks his knee, cackling, “yet? What the hell Steve, no one asked to see yours!” You can feel your face heating at the thought of how big Bucky might be and you quickly grab your drink, downing half in one gulp. “Hey, slow down baby girl, you don’t wanna miss any of this fun.” You wipe your mouth and nod, trying to keep your eyes from wandering between his legs.

You can tell the group is getting rowdier as people down more drinks, the conversation raunchier and the friendly insults flying. “MY TURN!” Tony announces, rubbing his goatee. “This is a double truth or dare. And I don’t want to hear it, my house, my rules.” A collective groan resonates through the room, but no one fights him on it, knowing there’s no use.

“Alright you two, truth or dare.” Bucky locks eyes with Steve and it’s as if they are of one mind when they simultaneously say, “dare.” Tony fist pumps and taps his watch, the hologram of a ruler lighting up in front of his face. “You shouldn’t have opened your mouth Rogers. Let’s see ‘em boys and we can determine whose is bigger.” You audibly swallow, licking your lips and waiting to see what Bucky will do.

They both stand and walk to the center of the room, shrugging and undoing their jeans. “Are we comparing to each other or do you just wanna prove my point Tony?” Tony eyes roll so hard they almost get lost in the back of his head. “You already saw my dick so.” Steve smirks, “so we know you’re out of the contest already.”

Pepper nearly spits out her drink, Tony glancing down and giving her a look, “whatever Rogers, I got nothing to prove.” Bucky’s eyes shift to yours for a brief moment while he pulls down his jeans, your gaze traveling up his thick legs and landing on his perfect ass. He winks when he sees you staring and you quickly dip your head, searching for a new place to hide.

You want to look, so badly, but you’re afraid you’ll make it so obvious you want him. When you look at Nat you giggle as Clint covers her eyes, everyone else waiting with bated breath. “Ok, here,” Tony says handing Steve his watch, “you can measure yourselves because I’m not getting that close.” Steve pulls his boxers down first and you shield your eyes, separating your fingers just enough to see a blur but nothing else.

Steve shouts out a number that nearly makes you faint, and you can’t stop yourself from joining in on the hoots and hollers. He hands the watch to Bucky and you pull your bottom lip between your teeth, spreading your fingers farther apart to get a better look. At the last second you close them, grinding your jaw while you wait. You can hear him chuckle before he yells out a number only slightly larger than Steve’s. A few colorful curses leave Steve’s lips, and everyone erupts into laughter, Tony’s the loudest.

Now you really feel dizzy, your mind racing with the all the ways he could use all those inches. The couch dips and a cool hand pulls at your wrist, revealing your very red and heated face. “You ok there baby doll?” At first you don’t say anything and just stare at him while the noises around you fade away, “no way Buck. It’s so big.”

The words are out before you realize what you’ve said and Bucky’s lips brush the shell of your ear, “oh yes way,” he teases, his eyes darkening when he hears your gasp. “Is that a dare baby?” You manage a playful smirk, “and what if it is?”  He takes your hand and stands, walking slowly out of the room toward his bedroom. You hold tight to it, afraid if you let go, you’ll melt to a puddle on the floor.

In the next second, you’re in his room, your back to the door and his lips barely brushing yours. He closes the gap, and you moan into his mouth, trying to work open his jeans. You get them undone and reach down to rub your hand over his boxers. “Fuck,” you rasp out, feeling the wetness collect between your thighs. “Oh my god, Bucky.”

You feel him smile against your lips, his cock already hard beneath your hand, “I was telling the truth.” Letting his jeans hit the floor you kneel and slowly peel off his boxers, unable to control your lewd moan when his cock springs free. You reach out and pump your hand over his substantial length, squeezing your thighs together in eagerness.

Bucky’s fingers slip under your chin and he lifts you back up, kissing you soundly before taking you in his arms and wrapping your legs around his waist. Carrying you to the bed he lays you down and pulls off his shirt, discarding it on the floor. His body covers yours and when you feel his cock press along your inner thigh you hum in satisfaction, letting your legs fall open. He trails warm kisses down your neck, nipping your earlobe before he whispers, “ladies first,” and slips his metal hand under your leggings.  

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[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There: 9.3

Childe elected to ignore your groan of pain when he yanked you to your feet.  "No hard feelings, comrade."

"I-I'm gonna kill you," you breathed.  "I'll kill you and that damned witch if it's the last thing I do."  A cold hand pressed to your side while the harbinger threw your other arm over his shoulder to escort you inside.

"I suppose I'll have to train you then if that's your goal."

He wasn't joking; the two of you would remain at a stalemate until your strength grew.  He taught you--what you assumed was--almost everything he knew, though for you to reap the full benefits of his knowledge would take years of training.  Despite this he pushed you over and over again, every day, after the wound he gave you closed.  He didn't give you the courtesy of healing completely before initiating fights with you.  He didn't go easy on you either--but it's not like you would've wanted him to in the first place.  At least your sparring sessions gave you an outlet to take out your frustrations on.

You didn't count the days that passed.  You didn't call for Xiao.  You didn't rely on him to save you when all is said and done.  It was time to rescue yourself; if you overran the palace on your own, then other nations wouldn't need to get involved on your behalf.  If the palace fell, no one except you would be held responsible.  You were okay with that.  If it meant Xiao, Aether and Zhongli would be excluded from the wrath of the cryo archon, then your struggles were more than worth it.

Yet with every passing day, more and more Fatui agents were injected with the serums that contained your blood--and survived.  The only thing that made their successful adaptation possible was the sealing of your and Xiao's bond.  With that thought in mind, you were growing increasingly impatient.  You were the one that insisted upon training for most of the day, not Childe.  You were the one looking for a fight.

"Why're you doing this?"  You asked one day while your hand absently trailed down to the fresh scar on your side where he had impaled you.

"Doing what?"

"Training me.  Isn't it a stupid move to train someone how to fight when they're intent on killing you?  If I was you, I would've just let me bleed out in the snow back then."

"If I didn't train you, I would be missing out on one of the best fights of my life."

"Is that supposed to flatter me?"

"It's the truth.  Where else am I supposed to find a worthy opponent?  At my current power level, I'd have more luck with creating one."  Childe conjured his bow and twirled it in his hand, seemingly debating something that was on his mind.  "With your improved skills, I think we'd be able to take the other harbingers."

You froze.  "What?  Why would you say that?  Whatever happened to your undying loyalty?"

"My loyalty for the Tsaritsa and my respect for my coworkers are two entirely different matters.  What I really care about is fighting.  It's been so long since I've had an exhilarating battle, even after Aether showed up.  I would give anything to feel that thrilled again.  And that, dear ojou-chan, is where you come in."

"I'm not fighting you for the thrills.  I will kill you, I'll make sure of it."  It's insulting that he'd even look at your anger as a type of entertainment!  The nerve of this guy--

"Well until then I think we could stir up quite the trouble, you and I, don't you think?"  His eyes finally left his weapon and locked onto you.

"...What exactly are you implying, Tartaglia?"  Narrowed suspicious pupils returned his mischievous ones.

He didn't answer, instead leaving you with an ominous smirk and returning to the palace walls.  Why should you trust a word that fell from his mouth after the Lantern Rite stunt he pulled?  Maybe a small part of you wanted to believe he had some inkling of good in him, but you forced that wishful thinking down into the depths of your soul.  Childe betrayed you so many times; it was in his nature to do so.  He would never be done deceiving you either.  You were sure of it despite the doubts that weighed on your mind.

.........................

"Bow before Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa."  La Signora crossed her arms over her chest when you just glared at the dark throne that sat beneath the shadows.

"I think not."

The clicking of the harbinger's heels echoed in the silent room as everyone held their breaths.  No one dared stand up to the cryo archon; it was unthinkable, even considered treason to question her actions.  This would be the first meeting with the god since you formed a contract with her.  And yet despite your quivering knees, you didn't remove your disrespectful glare from the throne.

"I wasn't asking."  Fingers gripped your chin and forced you to look Signora in the face at an uncomfortably close distance.  "You know the drill.  Bow."

A beat of silence hung heavily in the air and then an awkward cough came from one of the Fatui advisors to your far right.  You didn't blink.  "Did I stutter?"

Signora's lips curled into a half-amused smirk before her fingers let go of your chin and were replaced by a palm slapping you instead.  Her nails broke skin, but your expression never changed even when the stinging pain rang through your ear.  "Have you forgotten who you serve?"

"She's not my god."

"Maybe not the one you worship, but I am the one you serve," the Tsaritsa leaned forward from her place on the throne and gestured for the Fair Lady to return to her side.  "Tell me, why did you request to see me?"

A quick glance was sent Childe's away as if to check yourself.  You had decided it best to at least try the peaceful way out before throwing yourself into a suicide mission.  If worse came to worse, at least you'd be able to put your new knowledge to the test.  "I'm no longer working for you."  The archon's silence urged you to continue.  "You don't need me here anymore.  You got what you wanted.  I'm going to return to Liyue."

"Is that so?"

"I will leave regardless of your answer."

"And you think I'd just let you walk out of here after all I've done for you?"  The temperature dropped, but it displayed an emotion that you couldn't put your finger on.  "I gifted you your vision, spared your life and that of your friends, and you insult me in return?"

What is this feeling of dread in my stomach?  Your fists tightened and you took a deep breath to steady your nerves.  "The trials are over now that Dottore's injections work.  That was our deal, was it not?  You want to break our contract?  I thought you were more credible than that," you tested.

"I know what you've been thinking," the archon's thin lips formed a sinister grin.  "I know you're plotting to cause an uproar, and I am telling you now that you will fail.  Heed my words, Mezzetin, you are and always will be under my control."

"Wh-What did you just say...?"  Your heartbeat drummed loudly in your ears and you knees felt like they would give out beneath you.  This...This happened before.  When did she say that?  Where did I hear these words from?  Cold, desolate eyes watched you carefully as the room spun beneath your feet.  "Stay...away..."

"You work for me, not the other way around.  If you leave now, I'll give the order to kill those friends of yours.  You're not done until I say you're done."

"You wouldn't--!"  Bile burned the back of your throat, and a shaky hand covered your mouth in case you suddenly couldn't hold it in.  "You...you..."  An unsettling realization came to light.

"Do you understand the position you're in, Mezzetin?"

"It was...You gave me those nightmares!  Those were all you?"

"You don't think I'm oblivious to your desires, do you? You will always be under my control."

"If you dare touch him I'll--!"  Hundreds of shards manifested behind you and simultaneously shot at the throne.  The more that shattered against the seat and back wall, the more that manifested and replaced them.  

The ones that barreled nearest to the Tsaritsa diverted their path and shattered against the back wall like they had a mind of their own.  Signora used her catalyst to redirect the remaining shards to you.  Luckily none of them landed a strike on your skin, but a charged arrow of Childe's landed before your feet and you slipped on the forming ice.  His hydro blade was immediately at your throat, along with Signora hovering over you with an annoyed look on her face.  The three of you were surrounded by Fatui officers in an instant; despite their capabilities, they were slower than the harbingers.

"If she makes a move, kill her," the archon calmly ordered, completely unbothered by the commotion.

Signora had her men drag you away to the all-too familiar exit that led to the cells beneath the palace.  They forced your head forward so you didn't see the Tsaritsa recline back in her seat and into the shadows.

The archon swiped her finger across her pale cheekbone and warily inspected the fresh blood that had run down the side of her face.  I missed one?  One of your shards did manage to hit her.  Such a measly attack shouldn't have injured me, she thought as she stared at her fingers in awe and concern.  While your power had grown to a certain extent thanks to Childe's training, it was by no means anywhere near equivalent to his--much less equivalent to a god's.  Your strikes, while powerful, shouldn't have been able to hurt the cryo archon.  Yet here she was, staring at the blood you drew from her.

She recalled the wild look in your eyes when you decided to attack her.  Such a beautiful, pitiful sight that held an immeasurable lack of sanity and rational thought.  Your rage was feral, but just like a wild animal, so was your fear of being caged.  She could see it in your stance;  you were all bark and little bite.  The soft interior within her hardened heart actually admired your bravery...only a little, though.  If she were to achieve her goals, that flame of admiration would quickly be extinguished since it had no place in such a cruel world.

Her thumb smoothed over her bloodied fingers while she thought quietly to herself.  It shouldn't have been possible to harm her.  Not on your own, not even with your vision.  It was then that it dawned on her the true meaning of your bond with Morax's sole-surviving warrior adeptus.

So this is the power of the Vigilant Yaksha.