#like whenever i see a damsel in distress i want to dig into her and make her her own

[dullahandyke]

that one post abt 'if i ever hatee a female character i know its my fault, im just not doing enouhg to understand her' but for female (esp main) characters that are boring. if i think shes boring then thats my issue for not looking hard enough. she has a personality in there somewhere because women are interesting and cool i just need to work on finding it

[captainhunnicutt]

I hate the episode “Hanky Panky.” Hate it. And not because my boy is at his absolute worst (relatively speaking, he gets worse later in the series and I love him for it - I will die on this hill). I hate it because it’s done in such a way that screams “the viewer is stupid and we need to hold their hand through it.”

The episode literally starts out reminding us of how committed BJ is, and how much of a "family man," he is. Incase we had forgotten - because otherwise this plotline would fall even flatter than it does.

It immediately puts you on alert. "Uh oh. BJ is gonna do something stupid, isn't he?" And you immediately realize it's with Carrie - WHO WE HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE - and now you're just waiting and hoping BJ doesn't fuck up.

Maybe if we had seen some sort of introduction to Carrie an episode or two before, "Hanky Panky" would achieve what it's after. Shock. The realization that BJ isn't this perfect golden boy who won't be impacted being thousands of miles away in a war zone. But we don't. We meet her 1 minute and 26 seconds prior to the conversation with BJ and Hawkeye. That's it.

I joke a lot about the lightning of this episode, but for real it's just so infuriating as an intelligent and capable viewer. I'll couple it with the close up shots because they ultimately go hand in hand.

That soft lighting in Post-Op is the thing I hate the most about this episode - particularly the soft lighting behind BJ. It's a totally different angle than we're used to seeing of people talking in Post-Op and it just screams "Viewer!! Look!!! BJ looks attractive and charming and approachable!! Remember this!!!" And Carrie (I love her by the way), looks angelic and perfect and like some damsel in distress.

Then the scene in Carrie's tent. The lighting and shots start out just fine. Absolutely normal - and then right when they start to pull away from the hug the coloring and lighting does a blatant shift. It even goes as far as the cliche fade to black to allude to they idea of them sleeping together. VIEWER!! YOUR GOLDEN BOY, THE FAMILY MAN, MADE A BIG OOPSIE!!!

And then finally, the talk outside of Post-Op? Goodness. Obviously we're supposed to sympathize with Beej here. He's lit more behind, his hair has an angelic glow, we're looking at him head on - Carrie is barely lit behind, and the camera angle is looking down at her the entire time. The message becomes clear: "BJ fucked up but it's okay because it's BJ and you'll forgive him and move on, viewer. We just wanted to show you he's not so perfect!!!"

And unfortunately the writers were right. We all completely disregard how shitty BJ is about the entire situation. We all completely ignore that he gets "an enormous attack of the guilts" that he blatantly ignores her and is a "bear," to her whenever around. We all completely pretend like he doesn't admit OUT LOUD that he's worried he can't control himself because she's "right here, and you're so attractive and so close." "And so vulnerable." "Yes."

Yeah, we all pretend it doesn't happen. We all move on, myself included, and love him anyway and so the writers got what they wanted. But it's the epitome of lazy because we all forget about it so quickly. It doesn't impact anything or anyone. The only time it's even hinted at again is in "War Co-Respondent" - which does such a better job at showcasing BJ's mental struggle in regards to being unfaithful (Note: Thank you Mike for that. I have my own thoughts on where that episode comes from but that's neither here nor there, I guess). If it wasn't such a lazily written episode, we'd talk about it more. But we don't. It's a throw away episode for a lot of us, because we never actually get to see BJ wrestle with it outside of that one scene in the Swamp with Hawk. That's it.

If it had been done right, that was their chance to really start to dig into BJ's morals and ethics on more than a surface level - and how those are challenged because he's not in the confines of his safety net of marriage and family in the states - and how those things coupled with being there against his will forces him to look at is it the idea of wanting to be committed that's appealing, or the actual act.

In conclusion, I hate "Hanky Panky" and I would've loved to have seen Carrie lay into him and call him out on his shit for a solid five minutes.

[mysticdragon3md3]

📏...

A while back, i posted how i didn't like big height differences between members of a ship. This is what i meant:

But this, I'm fine with:

Even though I prefer this:

I wanted to dig out more examples of height differences that I disliked, from my manga collection...but then I realized that I was unlikely to have bought manga like that. lol

I know that a lot of mangaka choose contrasting character designs for a couple, to make interesting, every composition they're together, which is expected to be often. But sometimes I don't like how a lot of Shoujo manga makes the leading lady so short, baby faced, and childlike, while the male love interest is so masculinized and seemingly aged-up, that the excessive contrast makes the heroine seem infantilized. Maybe that's not the intention of the mangaka, and it's certainly not going to be the implication that other people interpret. But for me, I can't help seeing those symbolic signifiers and reading it as "infantilized heroine", especially since I've so often seen such heroines turned into "damsels in distress" or infantilized in her personality or in her relation to the leading man. And it's usually just so the leading man can seem so much more masculine and reassuring. And by "reassuring", I mean some of these leading men just act like guard dogs, parental, jealous, and/or basically a big mountain for the leading lady to get smothered with. (I flipped through Happy Hustle High today, years after I had last read it, and I was reminded how often the leading man just smothers the heroine in his arms, and jealously pulls her away from other guys that he perceives as romantic threats.) I'm not a big fan of this imbalanced power dynamic, and I can't help expecting it, whenever I see a couple with such excessive height differences.

My problem being more in the character design reflecting that expection, more than in my problem being in the height difference alone, is proven by me shipping Ichiruki. I don't care that Rukia is so short and Ichigo is so tall. In fact, it's kind of funny that way. But because the power dynamic between them is so blatantly level, I don't have to see their height differences as a signifier of power imbalance. She has authority as his mentor figure in the ways of being a Shinigami and a warrior experienced on a higher level than his average life demanded. He's the gutsy protagonist who will stand up to her when he disagrees or spend entire story arcs, rescuing her. And as the series goes on, they learn from each other equally and very quickly become peers. They have a very equal power balance. Because of that, I don't have to interpret their height differences as a signifier of a power imbalance.

But that's not often the case, especially in Shoujo manga.

And actually, I see it a lot in BL manga too. Often, an uke is designed so bishounen, that sometimes he'll look like a tiny child next to the overly macho-ified seme, and the bishounen uke is often additionally treated as this fragile "damsel in distress" to protect. Sometimes the uke looks so childlike compared to the seme, that the narrative will have to explicitly state or prove that the bishounen uke is 18 or old enough for college, so we don't have to feel like the couple is problematic, because of their contrasting appearances. I like bishounen and pretty characters, but when the partner to the bishounen is drawn so relatively overly masculine, the contrast becomes too much for me, especially when a series gets lemony. I'll put up with such extreme pairings of character designs (regardless of orientation) if a story or pairing is really good, but I'd rather not.

Again, not everyone will interpret height differences as reflecting power imbalance. I know there are actual short girls and tall boys that exist. I know that gay couples of contrasting heights exist in real life. But I'm talking about fictional character designs in an industry where art direction, art style, and character designs are used to convey story, tone, personalities, and expected relationship dynamics. I'm sure some mangaka purposefully design their height-difference couples to intentionally reflect one as the protector and the other as the protectee. It's a very common Romance genre trope. Though often technically an imbalance of power, it plays into a specific fantasy that some people really like. And I'm sure some manga readers and mangaka artists may not see height differences as reflective of power imbalance. But I think I've seen it enough times for it to mean that to me. Just as much as big eyed, cutesy character designs and art styles used to immediately convey to a reader that a new manga series' tone will be light. (Until Madoka Magica made subversion trendy.) Or just as much as realistic art style can often immediately convey a series will have a serious tone. I think there is a language of symbols in manga art styles, and it's kind of necessary in the industry, to quickly convey to potential readers what types of stories are inside of books. So I don't think it's too far fetched for me to see "super short romantic lead paired with super tall love interest", and fear a power imbalance might be in store. That's why I prefer fictional couples with same or similar heights.

[doctorofmagic]

Hello friend! I play Strange on a Marvel RP server and one of the regular RPers there wants to play Clea! (:D) She's only a casual comic fan like me and we've been digging into Clea's history to see what we can do to make a hybrid MCU/comics Clea to match the hybrid Strange I have.

The problem we're running into is figuring out her personality without rereading all the comics. I read that she made the first advances on Strange so that gives her some sort of boldness, but from what both of us remember, her run as just a non-powerful apprentice in the 60s was a bit boring and (in our recollection) she was a rather flat "damsel in distress" more than anything.

So we're trying to find what her personality actually is in canon. We know what she *is* in terms of roles over the years, and her history. But that doesn't say anything about what she likes, dislikes, introverted or extroverted, how good of a leader she is (if she likes it or does it out of obligation more than anything), stabs at her Myer-Briggs profile, and other fun things like that. Basically, things that have been really well established with Strange and recorded all over the internet in character analyses don't seem to exist with Clea.

You seem to love Clea so I'd love to get an idea of your take on her personality (and, if you wish, how it's evolved from the 60s onward). I'll be looking at what's established in the Death of Doctor Strange run but that's not that much with her whole history to establish a personality, well, *beyond* being just another woman in Stephen's sphere.

Go as little/long as you like, I know this is a big ask :) Thanks in advance!

Greetings, my friend!

Ohhh, that one will be a challenging ask but I'll give my best. Clea has changed A LOT since her debut in the 60's. I'll give a quick overview of each phase and from that you and your friend can work on her characterization. Although this is, of course, merely my own interpretation of Clea.

Strange Tales v1!Clea is brave and bold enough to betray Dormammu by just seeing Stephen's courage and inherent goodness. She's never afraid and she shows great knowledge about the Dark Dimension. She's often the damsel in distress but for someone who was conceived in the 60's, I believe she's pretty strong and independent on her own.

Doctor Strange v1!Clea is somewhat curious and the one to make the first move, but she still remains the nerfed apprentice who can't return to her own dimension. She's not shy at all and she's not afraid of showing her emotions and thoughts.

Doctor Strange v2!Clea and Defenders!Clea are my least favorite version of the character. This is the one who is submissive, insecure, jealous, melancholic. She doubts her own strength because she compares herself to Stephen, and this version is basically the female being reassured by the male character. This is why she leaves Stephen in the first place. It's only at the end of the run that we manage to see a strong Clea again, willing to fight her own mother in order to get the throne of the Dark Dimension. She starts showing the first signs of independence and strength without depending on Stephen. But that's just a looooong road.

Doctor Strange - Sorcerer Supreme!Clea is absolutely my favorite version!! She's the girl boss I always believed her to be. She's a queen and she actually saves Stephen twice!! She's confident enough to get married to him but she doesn't leave the Dark Dimension's throne for him. She won't take Stephen's BS and overprotective attitude toward her. She will confront him about it and she will make her stand whenever she's unpleased. In DSv2, she leaves Stephen because she believes Morgana's love is stronger than hers. In DSSS, she says she will never do that again. When they part ways, it's because they're both too busy with their own issues. Stephen is hiding from Salomé, gathering the power to fight her, while Clea lost her throne and is back to leading the rebelion against Dormammu. But they're mature enough to be aware that they still love each other.

After that, I don't believe there's a good representation of Clea until DODS, in which she's strong but also emotionally damaged for everything she'd been through. Waid's interpretation of her is okay, except that he ruined her memories and that was disgusting, especially when she's a woman literally being gaslighted by a male character. That's a huuuuuuuuuge no-no.

Now, with everything in mind, I can come up with a summary.

So basically I believe Clea - in a general context - is determined, stubborn, clever, powerful, definitely a girl boss, she dislikes when things are unspoken, she's not afraid of emotional conflict in a relationship because she wants to fix things rather than leaving it in the shadows, she's honest and willing to learn more about human culture, she questions certain social traditions, she IS a natural leader for she was the one to lead the rebellion against Dormammu, she became queen of the Dark Dimension once, even though she finds her duty a bit boring, she's definitely definitely definitely horny on main as much as Stephen, they both share the trait of loving too much, she hates when people underestimate her, she's independent and has lived centuries, which means she's wise enough to fight for what's right. Canonically speaking, she loves flowers, rabbits, popcorn, snow and flying. She will use magic to do silly tricks in order to make Stephen laugh. She's definitely an extrovert because she loves meeting people and learning more about human traditions. She's strong enough to bring Valkyrie back to life with her magic, and Val is one of her best friends for sure. She can ride Aragorn (Val's horse), which tells A LOT about her because Aragorn is picky. She also made Val's new outfit, and although little is shown, she's also close to Patsy. I think Clea is lonely as much as Stephen, but the difference is, she doesn't want to. I think she enjoys when she's surrounded by people. Clea never learned love until she met Stephen, but she deserves so much more than just a single romantic relationship.

Regarding MBIT... I'd say she's an ENF(T)P. She's an extrovert for sure, but she will definitely perceive the world by her impressions (this is how she fell in love with Stephen in the first place. I guess N is meant for sorcerers after all). I'm a bit conflicted about the F/T because, although she makes decisions based on her emotions (leaving Stephen because of Morgana and then confessing she still loves him in the middle of a battle), she also allows logic to dictate her fate (leaving Stephen to lead the rebellion because people are suffering). I suppose she's more mature now to make decicions based on logic so perhaps she's a T? Not sure about that tho. And lastly she is aware that magic is not about control so her mindset is probably based on letting things play out.

I think Clea is the type of character that is figuring things out as she goes. She's not perfect but she's strong and brave enough to fight for what she believes. She fights for love, most of all, and she's not afraid of being who she is. And this is precisely what makes her so interesting and my favorite match for Stephen. She makes him be a better man by allowing him to grow emotionally. She's the light of his dark heart, even though she doesn't know everything.

I guess this is pretty much everything I can offer about her. I hope it was enough! Have fun with your rp!!

[mermaidxatxheart]

Better Together Chapter 6

ok, I know it's been a while. I'm sorry for the long time in between posts. I'm working on several stories at once, or at least trying to, while also trying to get accustomed to a promotion and new job responsibilities at work. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me. I really appreciate you all. My work is no to be reposted anywhere without my permission.

Pairing: Poe Dameron X Reader

Word Count: 4.9k

Warnings: Violence, panic, Poe being soft, Bryce being a dick. I think we can just assume that will be a permanent tag.

Series Master List

Chapter Five

You try to sit up with a strangled scream, but you end up bouncing your head off the plastic dome monitoring your vitals.

“Hey, it’s okay.” A voice to your left says. The voice is… familiar, but it’s not the one you really wanted to hear. But at the same time, you’re grateful you don’t hear that voice.

You roll your head to see Bryce, your boyfriend. He’s your boyfriend. He won’t hurt you. You can relax.

Why aren’t you relaxing?

“You’re safe now. Back home where you belong.” He says gently, reaching for your hand. You flinch away and he frowns, pausing.

“S-sorry.” You rasp, closing your eyes.

“It’s cool.” He lifts the dome and moves to get your clothes at the foot of the table. “Come on. Get dressed, we’ll get you something to eat.” He says, setting them next to you.

You try to speak again, but your voice is just as rough, only this time you don’t know if it’s from being quiet for so long, or the raw emotions destroying you. You clear your throat painfully. “H-how’s Poe?” You ask, nearly stuttering over his name.

“Dameron is fine. Been annoying all the women ever since he got back.” Bryce rolls his eyes. He doesn’t catch the way you shrink in on yourself as you sit up.

So, Poe doesn’t...want to...see you. The words struggle in your mind. He’s… he’s probably trying to forget what you did to him. No wonder he doesn’t want to see you.

“Can you step outside so I can get dressed?” You ask quietly.

“Babe, it’s not like I haven’t seen it before.” He says and you lower your head. “Fine. Just, don’t take too long. I’m starving.” He says, walking out and shutting the door loudly behind you. You jump at the sudden snap of it and squeeze your eyes shut.

You can’t handle the commissary right now. It’s always packed full of people, loud, claustrophobic. You carefully get dressed, trying not to notice all the new marks on your body. You’re careful of the fresh stitches covering your arms, legs, stomach, and back. Careful not to pull the bandages holding you together.

You’re dressed faster than you want to be, stepping carefully out of the room. It still doesn’t feel safe, it feels like you should be hiding. You tug the long sleeves down further, wishing you had more to cover you.

“Come on.” He slings his arm around your shoulders and you tense as the weight settles on you. “I missed you.” He says softly, but you don’t feel comforted by his words. They turn to ice in your veins. He practically has to drag you along, your nerves stretching and spiking with each step, with every noise.

“I-I’m not hungry.” You protest, trying to dig your heels in. You can hear the loud room from here.

“Y/N, you have to eat.” He says firmly.

“N-n—“ you stammer, trying to push away from him. He sighs and scoops you up over his shoulder, carrying you along easily. Pain flares through you as your stitches pull. He’s not careful with you. Either he doesn’t know, or he doesn’t care. You try to struggle, you don’t care if he drops you. At least then you could get away.

“Y/N, I swear to the Maker, stop struggling. These are your friends. They want to know you’re okay.”

“What if I’m not?” You snap, the fear boiling over. You want to go to your room. You want to hide. You want to be alone. You want Poe.

He stops and considers for a minute before continuing on. “You can’t hide forever, Y/N.”

“Bryce, please, please!”

He walks inside and sets you down none too gently in a chair at a table full of people. “Look who’s finally awake.” He says loudly. Your teeth jar, biting down on your tongue from the abrupt impact.

There are five whole heartbeats where everyone is just staring at you. Something claws its way up your throat in the eerie silence, and then everything just explodes.

Voices, chairs moving, hands touching you, patting you on the shoulder, or touching your leg. The lights get too bright, you can’t see anything. You feel like they’re all climbing on top of you, too much weight. You can’t breathe. You try to suck in a breath, but it’s like your lungs won’t expand.

You bolt.

You’re not proud of it, but you shove through all the people and fly for the door. Blind twists and turns down hallways you don’t remember seeing, and couldn’t remember in the moment. You can barely hear your name being shouted behind you, but you can’t stop, can’t look back. You just know you’ve ripped stitches in your thighs, and stomach. You don’t care. Your only thought is escape. Hyper flight mode.

A hand grabs you from the darkness, pulling you in and pinning you against the wall. You fight, slapping and hitting against your assailant as you sob, gasping raggedly.

“Y/N! It’s me, stop it!!” Poe shouts, grabbing your wrists. “It’s Poe, it’s me. Stop.” He says, holding your hands against his chest until you stop fighting him.

You think you gasp his name, your legs give out on you and you sink to your knees in front of him, sobbing. He doesn’t let go of your wrists, just loosens his grip. Relief washes through you as you realize who it is.

“Breathe. Just breathe. Big, slow breaths for me, sweetheart.” He whispers, slowly kneeling in front of you.

“P-Poe—“

“I know. Sh, it’s okay. I’m right here.” He wraps his arms around you tightly, hugging you to him.

He shouldn’t be doing this for you, not after everything you put him through. Guilt roils through you, choking off your air. You start to pull away but he doesn’t let go. His fingers braid in your disheveled hair and you can’t help but sink into him a little more.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up. I wanted to be.” He exhales in a rush, burying his face in your hair.

“Why—why would you want that?” You hiccup, keeping your face away from him.

“Because you’re my best friend? Why would you think I wouldn’t want to be there?”

“B-because,” you try taking a deep breath.

He seems to realize that you’re shivering on the cold ground. “Let’s get out of here. Do you wanna go back to medbay or your room?” He asks, easing you out of his arms and standing up.

You hesitate, suddenly not knowing how to ask him to stay. It’s selfish, you know it is, after everything you’ve put him through, to want him to suffer even longer.

“I don’t think I was actually discharged.” You mumble, pulling yourself to your feet on your own. It’s a massive effort.

He makes a noise in the back of his throat and steps to the door. He looks up and down the hallway before looking back at you. “It’s all clear.”

“I don’t even know what part of the complex I’m in.” You admit, dropping your head back. In the forest, you knew exactly where to go. But on a planet you’ve called home for how long? You’re lost.

Useless.

“Okay. Come on.” He holds out his hand and you’re so tempted to take it. But you don’t. Instead, you walk to the door with him and carefully slip out without touching him. You’ve done enough damage.

He follows after a small minute and leads you down the hallway. “You never answered my question.” He starts suddenly and you look up at him. His face has too many cuts, a deep bruise under his eye, a split lip. It hurts you to look at him. More guilt.

It’s your fault.

You could pretend to be ignorant. Not remember the question to stall for time. Claim sudden hearing loss. But you never could lie to him, and you don’t want to start now. You know exactly what question.

“I didn’t think you would want to be there. Not when this whole thing is my fa-fault.” You mumble, your voice cracking on the last word. You hate yourself for putting him through this. You hate yourself for feeling like a damsel in distress and not being able to fight back the way you should have.

He stops walking and stares at you. His forehead crinkled in confusion.

“You think—“ he starts, his voice incredulous, but is promptly cut off by a medical droid beeping angrily at you.

“Yeah, got it. Back to bed.” You mumble, taking one last look at a stunned Poe before following the droid the rest of the way.

The droid gets you back into a medical bed, looking almost as if it wants to restrain you to keep you there. You clutch your hands to your chest, not wanting to be restrained.

“I won’t go anywhere.” You promise. The droid beeps and rolls away, the door sliding shut behind it. You cross your legs and lay back, wincing at the pull in your ribs. On the list of things that hurt, the ribs are kind of low. But they’re drawing the most attention at the moment. The droid comes back after a moment, making quick work of fixing your stitches, hopefully for the last time. It rolls away and you’re left in agonizing silence. You stare at the ceiling, counting the cracks.

The door opens again and Leia walks in. You freeze, wondering what she could possibly want from you. Poe’s words flash through your mind. Do you think Leia is sobbing uncontrollably right now? She certainly looks tired, but not necessarily like she was heartbroken that you were gone for… for… you can’t remember how long you were in that place. You break out into a sweat. What else have you forgotten?

“Y/N,” she starts solemnly. “I’m so glad you’re back with us and awake.” She sits on the edge of your bed and you don’t know if this is protocol or not. Is it normal? You don’t say anything, you simply wait for her to continue, she’ll get to her point eventually. “Poe told me about what happened, I’d like your report as well, whenever you feel up to it. I know you must still be exhausted.” She says.

So, all business.

She probably didn’t even notice you weren’t there.

You nod once. You can be all business, too. “I’ll have it for you by tomorrow.” You say and she blinks.

“I didn’t mean—“

“You need it. You’ll have it.”

“Poe told me you were incredibly brave.” She says, watching your face as she speaks. She’s clearly looking for something.

“He—“ you cut off. You had been about to say that he exaggerates, or was lying. But then she would think that she can’t trust her most loyal commander. She slowly arches an eyebrow as you struggle to think. “He’s too kind. I was terrified. Did more harm than good.”

“Hmm. Well, in any case. I know you’re still healing. Bacta is useful, but it can’t heal everything overnight. Get some rest.” She stands up. “And,” she pauses and turns back to you. “If you need to talk, about anything at all, I’m here to listen.” She says pointedly. You nod once and she heads for the door, stopping only long enough for it to hiss open.

You slump back against the pillows, gritting your teeth against the sudden pain. It’s odd how sometimes you don’t feel it at all, and other times it’s all you can feel. You feel like you’ve been going nonstop for days and days. You need to think, to rest. You need to stand up to Bryce next time. You’re not just a scientist, you’re a damn good pilot-only second to Poe, and you’re one of the best shots on base. He can’t just push you around like he did.

You need to think, sort out what was real and what was panic. You close your eyes and try to hold as still as possible. The faces are the faces of your friends, this isn’t some First Order trick. They aren’t trying to hurt you.

But… then… Why was Poe shouting when he got off the ship? Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Maybe you really are losing your mind.

The door hisses open and you jerk upright, instantly grabbing your side. Bryce tosses his jacket onto the chair next to your bed and crosses his arms, turning slowly to glare at you.

“Was that fun for you? You made me look like an idiot out there.” He snaps and you want to hurl something heavy at his head.

“I don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m tired.” You say, wishing there was a more final way to say that, like shutting a door in his face.

“You just slept for three days!” He shouts, throwing his hands up.

“Get. Out!” You shove yourself off your bed, ignoring the screaming pain in your ribs and back. “Get the fucking fuck out! I told you I wasn’t kriffing ready but you didn’t fucking listen. You never fucking listen! I just want some peace. Maker!” You shove him backwards through the door, bouncing it off its track. You feel the pop in your wrist, burning hot pain flares up your arm. “For once in your life, try to see things from someone else’s perspective.” You snap, going back into your room.

“Whoa, hey. I’m sorry, okay?”

You pick up the heavy decoration on the side table and throw it as hard as you can. If he hadn’t moved his stupidly perfect head, it would have hit him right in the face. Unfortunately, he does move and it crashes into the floor behind him, breaking into pieces. Good, more ammo for next time.

“I don’t want to hear your apologies! I want. To be. Alone!”

He holds up his hands and backs down the hallway. You walk around to the other side of the bed, sinking to the floor so that no one will see you. Your hands are trembling as you try to breathe. Your sides begin to ache for another reason altogether, and you realize you aren’t even breathing because you’re trying not to cry.

You let out a ragged gasp, covering your face in humiliation. Rocking forward, you rest your face on the ground, letting yourself hurt with every silent sob. You deserve all the pain. A curious beep reaches your ears and you cover your mouth, forcing yourself to keep quiet. You know, somewhere in the back of your mind, you need to get your new injuries checked out. You definitely did damage to your wrist. You feel a droid roll to a stop next to you, but you're not under control yet.

They beep softly again and nudge you with their big round base. You lift your head to see the familiar orange and white pattern of Poe’s droid, BB8. He rotates his lens up to look at you, and somehow, despite being metal and made of parts, he shows sympathy, worry, concern. He wants to know if you’re okay, if his friend is okay. Your vision goes blurry as your eyes flood with tears all over and he rolls forward, nestling right against your chest. You grip his headpiece, lowering your forehead against it and resting there, shoulders shaking and stomach cramping from the uncomfortable position. But you can’t bring yourself to move just yet.

***

Your head slips to the side and you jerk up, hitting your head against the edge of your bed. BB8 looks up at you, bless his circuit board. He would have stayed there with you for hours if you hadn’t woken yourself up. You wipe your tears and drool off his head.

“Sorry, buddy.” You whisper, voice not wanting to go higher than that. “You should get back to Poe. I’m sure he’s looking for you.”

His head tilts, question unasked in the quiet air.

“I’ll be okay. Thank you, for checking on me, I mean.”

He beeps a rapid-fire and rolls away in search of his master, or is friend a better description at this point? You twist, pulling yourself up and seeing Bryce sitting on the floor in the hallway. His eyes are closed as he rests his head against the wall.

With a sigh, you page for a med droid to come in and check on you. You lay back on your bed, closing your eyes while you wait. You didn’t mean to fall asleep on the poor droid.

Your wrist is checked out and bound. Already on the edge of breaking, shoving your stupid boyfriend pushed it over the edge. The droid tsks about not getting it taken care of right away before wheeling away.

“Can I come in now?” Bryce asks from the hallway.

“No. I’m still mad.” You reply, rolling over. It’s cool in here, settling in your bones in an unfamiliar way. You reach towards the end of the bed for a blanket before you realize there isn’t one there. With a huff, you get up and look around for one with no success.

“What are you looking for?” He asks, pushing himself up with a quiet grunt.

“A blanket. I’m freezing.” You reply, digging through the supply locker in the room.

“I’ll go get you one.” He turns around and disappears, leaving you to settle back down. You can hear those familiar beeps coming down the hallway and that voice you’ve come to depend on since you were taken follows it.

“Yeah, buddy, I know. Always rubbing it in.” Poe sighs.

Bryce comes back, spreading a heavy blanket over you before stepping back awkwardly. “Thanks. I’m sure you have something you need to be doing, Bryce. I’ll be here.” You say, more gently this time and he presses a tender kiss to your forehead.

“I’ll come see you after my shift. We’ll talk then and you can yell at me all you want, okay?” He promises.

You nod, laying your head down on the pillow as he leaves. You can see his shoulders tense as he sees Poe coming towards him. You can hear the little droid beeping in outrage but Poe shushes him.

“Is she awake?” He asks.

“She’s resting. You shouldn’t be here, anyway. Haven’t you done enough, Dameron?” Bryce snaps.

What? No. He’s not to blame! You are!

“Bryce. Go to work.” You call and he looks over his shoulder at you, unable to get rid of the coldness completely before he turns on his heel and storms off.

Poe waits until he can’t see him anymore before coming into your room. “Hi.” He says after a minute and your lips twitch.

“Hi.”

“Have a good nap?” He asks as BB8 chirps next to him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep him here for so long.” You mumble.

Poe snorts. “He’s not sorry, bragged about it for at least ten minutes.” He rolls his eyes and you scoot over on the bed carefully. He eases himself down and takes your newly bandaged hand. “What happened?” He asks with a frown.

“I wasn’t careful. Typical me.” You scoff derisively.

He’s quiet for a long time, his handsome face going through a wide range of emotions as he traces the outline of your fingers. The feeling of it is relaxing, soothing you. Everything about him is comforting, just like he’s always been. Even though you don’t deserve his compassion, his forgiveness.

“Poe,” you start, capturing his hand, even though you could conceivably let him keep doing that forever.

“I have so many things I want to say to you.” He starts, his voice crumpled.

You take a deep breath and nod, steeling yourself for the inevitable. It’s going to hurt, it will break your heart, but he should say it. Tell you he hates you for kissing him, for distracting him, for getting him caught, and all the terrible things that came after it.

“You sa-said before that this is all your fault.” He starts, his eyes very firmly on your hands wrapped around his.

“Because it is.” You answer and his beautiful brown eyes squeeze shut.

“How can you even think that?” His voice cracks and you’ve never seen him so close to tears before. This is the man that’s perpetually in a good mood, everything is an opportunity to make you laugh. Even in the face of certain harm, he’s making jokes.

“Poe, I distracted you. I—“ you glance at the door to look for potential eavesdroppers. “In the river, I ki—“

He covers your mouth softly. You could easily pull his hand away, but you don’t. “We were on a planet where the most dangerous thing was supposed to be a giant butterfly. There was no way to know, no indication of anyone else being on the planet. You didn’t do anything wrong, sweetheart.” He says. You can hear the sincerity in his voice, but you can’t stop the feeling that he’s wrong. You did everything wrong. “And… we don’t have to… to talk about that thing in the river… if you don’t want to.” He stammers, scratching at the back of his neck.

You want to. You want to do it again. But you can’t. Your fingers flex in his before pulling them back against your torso, cutting off all touch with his warm body.

“Leia came to see me earlier.” You change the subject without giving him an answer. You’re not ready to close the book yet, but you can’t open it yet, either.

“Yeah. I gave my debrief.” He says, sounding a little deflated.

“You lied.” You correct and his head snaps up.

“What?”

“You told her I was brave. That was a big, fat lie.” You say and he rolls his eyes.

“You’re impossible.” He takes your hand again. His touch is feather-light, soft, and delicate as he strokes the back of your hand, following the length of your fingers.

“I don’t think she cried.” You say suddenly and he looks up at you.

“Come again?”

“You asked if I thought Leia sobbed uncontrollably while we were gone. I don’t think she even got a stuffy nose.” Your voice turns dark, your secret angry thought slipping out before you can stop it.

“You think she didn’t care?” Poe asks.

“Did you find out how long we were gone?”

“Yeah. Three weeks.” He says, practically choking on it.

“Two weeks over what we were supposed to be gone. You don’t think that’s odd? She didn’t send anyone after her best pilot?”

“Y/N, she has a lot of different responsibilities, to more than just us. We had no contact with anyone prior. How would they have found us? They didn’t have our information yet. They would have been just as lost as we were.” He reasons.

“Ground exploration on a new planet should have more than two people. No matter how good one of them is.” You pull your hand back, angry now.

You don’t want to be angry, not with Poe, of all people. But you can’t stop yourself. He’s rolling over and playing lapdog for his perfect princess, same as he always does. Your cheeks burn with anger.

Hurt crosses his face, his hands suspended where they were. “Both. She sent two of her best people. She sent you, and me because we work so well together. Because we could get it done much faster, quieter, better than anyone else on this base.” He says and your heart wavers.

You don’t want to cause him any more pain. You take a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, I think I just need sleep.” The words sound stiff, forced.

“Do you want me to stay?” He asks, but you shake your head.

“No. I’m just gonna catch a few hours and then get to work on the report for Leia.”

“No, I already did that.” He corrects.

“She asked me for one.”

“I debriefed so you wouldn’t have to go through it again.” He clenches his hands. “I’ll take care of it.” He promises.

“I don’t mind. It might give her a better idea of what a rotten liar you are.” You say, trying to joke.

“I didn’t lie.” He huffs, leaning down and pressing the softest kiss to your forehead. “I’ll leave BB8 with you if you need anything. Come find me when you wake up?”

“Promise.” Your voice cracks at just the wrong moment and he stills, looking down at you.

“I can stay. Just like in the cave.” He offers.

“Go away.”

He gives your hand a gentle squeeze and stands up. “What happened to the door?” He asks.

“I shoved Bryce through it.” You admit and he breaks out into a grin.

“That’s my girl.” He praises before walking through it.

You have to stop yourself from calling him back, from begging him to stay with you. It’s not that you don’t trust anyone else here, they are your friends. But, Poe would understand. He knows what you went through, he understands what it was like. He won’t judge you for being upset. When you lost your temper with him just now, he didn’t get mad, he talked you down.

No, Poe Dameron understands better than anyone what emotions you’re going through right now. He goes through them on a daily basis and has for a long time.

***

You can’t look at him. Every time you do, another wave of guilt threatens to drown you. You kissed him. You kissed him. You have a boyfriend back home, missing you and you went and kissed your best friend. And worse, got said best friend captured by the enemy.

Now, he’s furious with you. Hasn’t said a word in hours. You can’t remember the last thing he said. Did he shush you? Was it your name? You can’t remember. Tears blur your vision as you try to twist your face away from him.

“Shit. Y/N,” he starts. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay. I’ll get us out of this.” He promises.

And just the fact that he thinks that’s what you’re upset about is blindingly frustrating. And that he feels the need to fix your fuck up.

“Why don’t they just kill us?” You ask, forcing the tears not to fall.

“They probably want information on the Resistance.” He clenches his jaw. “Y/N, I never wanted to have to say this to you, but no matter what they do to you, you can’t talk. You can’t tell them anything.” He pleads.

You nod. “Okay. I won’t say anything.” You promise weakly. The idea of being tortured is so out of your realm, you don’t know what to expect. But Poe seems to know something at the very least.

He curses again and you look back at his face. “I promise. I promise I’ll get us out of this.” He thrashes against the metal restraints on the upright table and you worry he’s going to hurt himself.

“I’ll be okay, Poe.” You whisper, but he squeezes his eyes shut.

The door behind you opens and a StormTrooper walks in. You can’t tell if it’s one of the same ones from the forest, but it doesn’t matter. This one is carrying a tray with a cloth covering it.

“Ready to begin?” He asks, voice modulated to fit your nightmares. “Where is your base of rebel scum?” He asks, slowly removing the cloth and picking up a thin blade. He turns towards Poe, sliding the knife under the silver chain around your partner’s neck. His mother’s ring, beautiful as it glints in the light, slowly rotates into view. Poe struggles slightly, giving his restraints another hard yank, but he gets nowhere. The stormtrooper curls his fingers around it, tugging and popping the chain free. He tosses it into the dank corner and it disappears from view. Poe snarls until the trooper lifts the glittering knife again and turns his helmet towards you. You can feel him studying you, sizing you up.

“I said, where is your base of rebel scum?”

Poe looks over at you, and you can see the worry in his eyes. Will he start with you? Or with Poe? When neither of you answers, he turns and slashes out at your best friend. You cry out, thinking he cut his throat, but instead, there’s a small cut on his cheekbone.

“I haven’t got anywhere to be. Let’s begin again.” He says evenly and your stomach clenches uncomfortably.

***

You sit up with a ragged gasp, clutching at your face. Blindly, you find the medical droid and sign yourself out, grabbing the blanket and heading through the halls for the one person you want to see. BB8 rolls after you, chirping quietly. You feel for the chain in your pocket, the weight of it is comforting.

You knock quietly on the door. It’s so late, you shouldn’t be here. The door slides open and he's there in front of you, exhausted and very much alive. He holds out his arms and you step easily into them, heartbeat finally settling.

Poe.

He walks you back inside and lays down on his bed without a single word. No teasing, no jokes. Just him being there for you like always. You wait until he’s comfortable before crawling into bed next to him and laying down, your head resting against his chest.

“I’m sorry.” You mumble.

“Sh. Go to sleep. I’m here.” He says gently, his big, warm hands rubbing your back.

Chapter 7

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[pollylynn]

Title: Goldilocks WC: 1000 Episode: The Final Frontier (5  x 06)

He assumes, most of the time, that it is his holy mission to make sure that she plays sometimes. He is not entirely self-appointed in this regard. She herself was the first to come out and say it, so long ago at this point—so comparatively early in their partnership—that he sometimes thinks he imagined it, as he is certainly wont to do. But this is not just him rewriting history in this case. It’s not just him Mary Sue-ing his way into the role of the Play Police. She’s said it herself, in so many words: Having him around counteracts, in some small way, how hard the job is. Having him around makes things a little more fun. 

And he knows because she’s told him, low-voiced and sweetly, that Roy kept him around for the same reason. She’s told him that, and she didn’t have to, and it means the world to him. Elsewhere in their universe, the boys, for all that they like to make sure that the workplace is where flirtatious fun goes to die, definitely enjoy the lighter side he brings out in Beckett, and he has read between the lines of Lanie’s perennially narrowed eyes and determined that, yes, she will kill him slowly if he screws up and hurts her friend, but she is generally of the opinion that he provides a valuable fun-based service. 

He takes his work seriously, ironically enough, and from the beginning, he has enjoyed the job immensely. He has taken pride in every jinx he’s lured her into or paid off in off-brand diet sodas from the vending machine. He has an entire notebook devoted to schoolyard taunts he’s baited her into making. It truly feels like victory when he gets her to shake off the role of the grown-up for even the briefest of moments. 

But it’s a next-level victory when he unearths some bit of her past that reveals play comes naturally to her. And this—the Nebula-9 confessionals—all of this is appropriately out of this world. He loves, in retrospect, discovering how much sooner he should have been on to her devotion to the show. He chuckles as he thinks about the slightly manic way she’d teased the SciFi murder scene, fully expecting him to be as wowed by the ties to the show as she clearly is. He wants to kick himself remembering how Ryan, of all people, seemed to clue in immediately when she suggested using the fansite to canvass for potential witnesses. 

The charm of it—the ever-present thrill he feels whenever he discovers something wonderfully playful in her past—dims a bit when it comes to Captain Max. He sees, once again with the benefit of hindsight, her initial awe at the prospect of meeting him, and he sees how quickly it fades when it rapidly becomes obvious that the man is nothing but one might call foibles if one were motivated to protect all that is wondrous and playful in the tender heart of the woman of one’s dreams. 

And he is motivated. He is happy to play bad cop with Gabriel Winters so that she doesn’t have to. He’s happy to more or less call the man stupid to his face, to be the one who notes that there’s little point in being shy about personal matters when they already know about his threesome with the Lieutenants Chloe. He is ready to go across the table and throttle the man when he has the STD-riddled balls to call the Nebula-9 fans lunatics, though he manages to confine himself to a Sing-Sing joke instead, but only because he knows she’ll kill him if he disrupts an interrogation. 

He doesn’t end up protecting her from all that is gross about Gabriel Winters, because there’s simply too much, as the hits regrettably keep coming, despite the man’s very slightly redeeming judo take-down of their killer in the end. That leaves her smiling, but it’s nowhere near redemption. 

She doesn’t need him to protect her memories, her deeply nerdy fangirl heart, or her commitment to playfulness, as it tuns out. It’s everything about Stephanie Frye that makes that clear, and really, he should have known better anyway than to mistake Kate Beckett—even nostalgia-ridden Kate Beckett—for any kind of damsel in distress. 

She knows who her heroes are and who they aren’t. She knows that inspiration, reassurance, and role models turn up in the strangest places, and she knows the difference between fact and fiction. She lifts her unashamed chin in his direction and declares her unwavering love and admiration for her warrior–scientist heroine and—maybe a touch less emphatically—for the noble leader of the crew tasked with carrying the human species into the future.

It’s such a wonderfully grown-up response to the entire situation. It’s so healthy and functional that he almost finds himself envious. Almost, though he has no plans to retire from the solemn job of making sure she plays from time to time. 

And maybe it’s nostalgia, but her take on everything puts him in mind of Kyra. It puts him in mind of the very first thing she said in response to the dig he just couldn’t resist making. 

Does that mean the groom is a grown-up, too? All work and no play?

He remembers the well-warranted sharp look and the softer one that followed—the one that was probably fonder in that moment than he deserved. 

No. He plays just enough. 

She puts him in mind of Kyra, of that conversation, of same-time, next-year flings and the joy of leaving them behind. He thinks of Meredith and Gina and the extremes they represented in his life, in his past. 

He thinks of her—of Kate—wonderfully playful, wonderfully grown-up. So this is what that’s like then. This is exactly what that is like. 

A/N: So I did manage this bit of total lack of morphousness. OR DID I? Without morphousness (which this is totally without), who can say? 

images via homeofthenutty

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes : RELOADED

More safe house shenanigans as the gang looks for leads.

Table of Contents

Previous Chapter : My Damsel in Distress

Delayed Flight 

John 'Soap' MacTavish

Task Force 141 - Disbanded

Safehouse 110197, Brazil

Soap haven't slept like this for quite a long time. He almost felt guilty that he's peacefully sleeping all while the world was in chaos. 

Slowly got up after noticing that Alex and Ghost were still asleep beside him, they looked like they just slept and he didn't bother waking them up for breakfast. Another scan of the room indicated that everyone else is downstairs. 

John quickly tiptoed across the room and swung the door open. On the other side of the door was France who looked focused while carrying two mugs of coffee.

"Oh! You're up!" she said in surprise as her coffee mugs wobbled. John's quick reflex immediately caught her hands and held them tight until it stabilized.

"I'm sorry I surprised you. Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, a smirk escaped his face as he noticed a faint blush from the female's cheek.

"Yeah. I brought you coffee since the hot water was almost out and you were still asleep." she stammered, not making eye contact to him. Soap looked curious, where was the woman that confidently rejected him yesterday? 

"Aww. So you are concerned!" he mused, holding her hands tight, drawing the steaming coffee mug close to him.

"Not really. I just thought that you're the last one to drink some so the kettle would finally be empty. Don't get your hopes too high, MacTavish." she gently shoved him the mug and carefully stormed off. There she was, back on her guard.

"Well, thanks for the concern." He greeted as he stepped down the stairs while sipping his coffee and met with everyone in the living room.

"Aren't we supposed to do recon for Samantha?" He asked, addressing the leaders who were casually reading a newspaper.

"Negative." Jack said, not looking at the Scottish soldier.

"We still have fuel from Nikolai's plane but we can't waste in on suspicion alone. We have to get solid intel." Price added.

"So we're like chilling here. Doing nothing." He said.

"Not exactly nothing. Ghost might have a lead anytime soon. For now, why don't you run some errands. Maxine needs some things for us here." Price replied, eyes still focused on the paper.

"John?" Maxine peeked from the kitchen and both Price and Soap turned to her.

"I meant Price." she dismissed, making Soap turn away from embarrassment.

"Can I come with them instead of making a list?" she asked, Soap could see Roach behind her eyeing on the interaction. 

"Sure. You've got three bodyguards with you. Just make sure you're always with at least one of them." he muttered. Beside him, Jack stood up and placed the paper on the table. 

"All-righty then, I'll lead you to the town just this once. Next time out, you'll be on your own. It's quite a long walk. And you lad, dress less suspicious." he pointed to Soap's camo pants. Soap actually felt scared at Alex's former CO. His very being still intimidated the Scot.

"I'll be back in a minute." he mumbled and dashed upstairs while France walked by Maxine to the door.

~

"I know Price told us to wear civilian clothing but for some reason you still have the ability to stand out and raise suspicion." France announced as the small team of four exited the safe house en route to the nearby town.

"Is it the hair?" Soap quickly placed one of Price's bucket hats and flashed a grin at the two ladies behind him. "Happy now?" he asked.

"Aside from the fact that you're wearing a t-shirt too small for your size? Yep. When did you last buy clothes for yourself?" France replied sarcastically and asked. Maxine giggled as she walked beside her sister, something she started to accept and try to recall.

"You're just finding an excuse to look at me." He muttered as he dashed to catch up with Jack, who was peacefully enjoying the walk.

"I'm amazed as to how you two act like you're not soldiers right now. How do you do it?" Jack chuckled as he rolled his eyes to Soap's direction, trying not to laugh at the Scot. If he was being honest, the hat did him a worse job. It made his head look small and unproportional to his bulky build. He turned back to France and Maxine who were silently signaling him to keep quiet.

The road was quite long and Soap finally found a small puddle of water to look at how he looked. No wonder they were giggling. He looked like a teddy bear who had a small head.

He then shyly took off his hat and glanced back at the puddle. Maybe it was time for him to buy larger clothes.

"Yeah. Guess someone has to help me pick some clothes as well." he muttered, while France paced beside him and gave him an assuring smile.

"I could always help, John." she said cheerfully and their eyes met. John slowly felt the sincerity on her smile, his heart sped and he found himself inching his face closer to her.

"The town's almost there!" Alex yelled from the distance as the two broke their gazes toward each other and quickly caught up with the two.

Awkward silence. They walked together behind Jack and Maxine who were now discussing what Jack's interests were back in the day. Not that it mattered to John, as all his mind was thinking was this pretty lady walking beside him. He wanted to graze his hand against hers, just to feel her smooth touch, he wondered if she'd let him hold her.

But he insisted, France was more of a slow but steady kind of person. She pointed it out to him multiple times and if he really wanted them to work, he had to do it the old-fashioned way. Sure the kiss was sudden, but what they had back at the Gulag was something worth waiting for and kissing her anytime now would never feel the same as the first.

Jack and Maxine quickly split off toward the market while the two of them remained by the center of the plaza. John scratched his head as he stuttered to ask her where to go.

"So… um… where to?" He asked.

"Looks like they got some cool jackets over there! You think you look good on those?" She asked excitedly.

"What do you think?" He asked shyly.

"Hmmmm.. Maybe… I'm not quite sure." She replied. John expected the classic you'd-look-better-without-any joke but she's not that kind of girl, and he's digging it.

When they say time flies by when you're having fun, John resonated with the quote. They spent most of the time laughing over clothes whose designs didn't make much sense and ended up buying most of them. Despite all the things going on around the world, John felt normal when he's with her, something he hasn't felt in quite a while. He'd even imagined that they're actually boyfriend and girlfriend whenever people around look at them. He was happy. He could get used to this.

~

It was about lunch time when they returned to the Safe house, and the scenery inside was the most unexpected thing ever.

Price was sleeping by the couch, his whole head was covered by a newspaper which had "End' times" written as the headline. Ghost and Roach were fighting over a piece of broccoli on the table while Alex sat by the stairs, wearing a shirt with a huge whale printed on it, playing with a lighter, flicking it open then closing it back as he stared at the flames.

"So that's where Smokey went." Soap muttered.

"Smokey?" France asked.

"My lighter." Soap replied confidently.

"Really?" 

"Yep." he said, popping the 'P' as he unloaded most of the supplies to the kitchen.

"What happened here?" Jack asked, taking off his jacket, completely regretting wearing it in a tropical country.

"Roach ate my broccoli!" Ghost complained.

"Ghost ate my pie!" Roach complained back as Jack sighed and placed a palm on his face.

"We had pie?" Soap asked, his eyes beamed at the table, only to be disappointed that there was none.

"Technically it's a tart and it's supposed to be for Maxine." Ghost smiled shyly eyeing at Maxine.

"Well, it didn't have her name on it so I assumed…" Ghost replied.

"You don't have to assume! You should've asked!" he yelled.

Soap was amazed at the spectrum of the team, which ranged from very righteous and courageous warriors to actual toddlers. It made him happy that he joined this little group he could call family.

~

Another day had passed and they still had no leads. But Ghost looked like he was onto something as Soap found him with Price as they discussed matters that sounded serious. He just hoped it was a lead. He's starting to worry about Alex who was constantly moping around. With nothing to work on, all he could focus on was Samantha.

"Guess you liked playing with that lighter so much." Soap leaned by the door, looking concerned at his comrade.

"Hey man. How was the market." Alex asked, his tone was nonchalant, almost lifeless.

"Well, it was busy. Jack led us there because you were asleep all morning…"

"Yeah. I couldn't go there. We shared so many memories in that town. I just can't handle it at the moment." He frowned and tossed him the lighter which Soap caught immediately.

"Thanks for this. And if you ever need someone to talk to… We're here for you, pal." Soap said awkwardly. The term pal was very American and he thought it'd be appropriate.

"Thanks, pal." Alex chuckled and stood up. 

"Let's go get dinner." Alex added, his eyes were fueled with determination. And Soap was happy that he's taking small steps to recover.

Next Chapter : Lurking in the Shadows

Notification Squad my Beloved

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[2460nodone]

Trophies

Title: Trophies Category: Plays/Musicals » Les Misérables Author: AliceInSomewhereland Language: English, Rating: Rated: T Genre: Drama/Romance Published: 05-19-13, Updated: 05-19-13 Chapters: 1, Words: 3,671

Summary: They meet on their respective fields - his, baseball, and hers, soccer - and it changes everything. Enjonine modern AU for the Fic War on tumblr! Oneshot, rated T for language.

originally written for the e/e fic war and posted to ffnet. prompted with “soccer AU, baseball AU” by tumblr user samthenardier.

Chapter 1/1

He's not quite sure when he first noticed her.

Perhaps it was the weekend Courfeyrac hit the ball out of their diamond, and, as he played in the outfield, she reached him first to return it. He hardly paid her any mind, only nodding in thanks. She was clearly just as busy as he, covered in dirt and soaked with sweat, her shin guards smeared with grass stains.

Perhaps it was the weekend that it rained. Bahorel and Grantaire, playing on his team that weekend, were highly distracted when the women with whom she was playing declared their match to be shirts versus skins. She seemed to be the chief in insisting that it be the girls who played as skins, against the shirted boys.

The boys on his baseball team couldn't help but stare as the girls stripped, their shorts rolled low on their hips and clinging to their thighs in the rain, their tops bare, save for their soaked-through sports bras.

He noticed that she and her friends were frequently shooting glances in the direction of the baseball diamond, delighting and giggling when his teammates and opponents fawned over them.

Perhaps he noticed her the weekend that it was so hot they almost had to cancel – she, again, was shirtless, but this time her sports bra was soaked with sweat. They watched as she poured cold water over her face and head and shoulders – his teammates with hunger and desire, he with disinterest.

Perhaps it was the weekend he saw her running to their diamond, soccer ball under her arm and her hand entwined with another girl's, one with dusky skin and dark hair. They sat in the bleachers, watching and cheering and laughing. It was quite distracting. Afterwards, he watched as she made a beeline to Marius, just as Joly and Bossuet appeared to be racing to talk to her friend first.

He paid her little to no mind, though he did notice when she wasn't there sometimes, especially because his baseball team (and often their visiting competition) and the eternal pick-up soccer game that she participated in often went out for drinks together after their respective games were over. It seemed oddly quiet when she wasn't there, rare though that was, but it also irritated him when she was there, because she spent the whole damn time mooning over Marius and trying to get that freckled fool to pay attention to her.

He never bothered to interact with her; in fact, he didn't even know her name. Nor did he try to learn it. Whenever she came into his peripherals, he merely acknowledged her mentally as "Marius' Shadow."

However, everything changed when he was leaving the park one day, and came across her corned up against a tree, an older man who must have been her father screaming in her face as she cowed. When the man hit her across the face, he lost it.

He dropped his things, and suddenly he was next to her, then in between her and the man, then shoving the man away and shouting things that he didn't remember later. They tousled briefly, resulting in a bloody nose on his face and a black eye on the old man. The man stormed away, screaming and cursing at them.

When he turned, he didn't even have time to react before she slapped him sharply across the face. It left him momentarily dumb; he wasn't sure whether to pinch his nose to stop the bleeding or hold his smarting cheek. Then she was shouting at him.

"I don't want your help! I'm not some sort of damsel in distress that needs rescuing from some bourgeois knight in shining armor!" She shoved him, though it was hardly strong.

Her lip was bleeding and was starting to swell from where the man hit her.

Ten minutes later, he was in the dugout, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Hey," a voice said behind him, startling him. He turned, and there she was – fat lip, messy dark hair, long, thin legs and a torso hidden by an oversized jersey. She held a plastic bag in her hand.

He just sniffed blood, trying to keep it from running down his face more, and stared at her. He was hardly forgiving; if she resented his interference, he wouldn't interfere. He had a bloody nose and probably a black eye (try explaining that one at work tomorrow), all because he was trying to help her. So as far as he was concerned, they had no reason, especially now, to interact at all. He wanted nothing from her.

"Sit down," she ordered. Her tone surprised him; it reminded him of how his mother or his teachers would talk to him as a child. He wondered where she picked it up. Then he sat.

She put the bag on the bench beside him, digging around inside. From it, she pulled gauze, an ice pack, hydrogen peroxide, and band-aids. Without a word, she began mopping up the blood on his face.

"I'm sorry I slapped you," she murmured, keeping her eyes fixed on the blood that was still gushing from his nose.

He shrugged.

"It was my dad. It wasn't the first time," she told him quietly. He wondered why she was telling him this; from the look on her face, she was wondering the same thing. Then, "I'm Eponine. Eponine Jondrette."

He regarded her for a moment, and she finally met his eyes. They were a beautiful, bright brown, flecked with gold, but were dark and angry from the memories that were undoubtedly cycling through her mind. He looked at her lips; dried blood had trickled onto her chin, though she hadn't seemed to notice.

"Enjolras," he said. "Gabriel Enjolras."

Eponine's lips twitched into a small smile, then she got back to work on cleaning him up.

When she was finished, she threw the first aid supplies into her backpack. "I'll buy you a beer," she offered, "as a thanks – and an apology."

*

He's not quite sure why he kissed her.

It was several months after the day he fought her father.

They were heading off to the park together. His league's season was over, but he and his friends still met each weekend for pickup games. She had wormed her way into his friend group, and they had invited her along, eager to teach her how to play baseball. In return, she was going to teach them a little bit about soccer.

She met him on the corner near his apartment – it was more convenient for her to cut through his neighborhood to reach the park, as she lived a few blocks away.

"We need to run to my place," she said when he found her, not bothering to greet him. "I would've gone alone, but my phone was dead and I didn't want you to think I was ditching you.

Though they lived relatively close together, there was a marked difference between his neighborhood and hers. His was more affluent – he was a lawyer, the only son in a wealthy family, and therefore, his apartment was large and well decorated and safe.

Eponine's apartment, however, was one room of a giant, sketchy-looking complex. She joked that this was where the meth-heads came to die.

He worried for her safety.

Inside, however, she had done her best to make the place comfortable. It was colorful, but tasteful – very bohemian, but it worked because it was so Eponine.

She had hung curtains to separate her small bed from the rest of the room, and disappeared behind them for a few moments.

When she reemerged, she beckoned him over. "Enj, these are my soccer trophies from high school. I was being scouted for college, being offered scholarships and even full rides, but then I blew out my knee."

He hadn't known. He knew she was good, but not that she could have started in college. Nor did he know that her knee had ruined her opportunity to get out of – well, out of this life. It broke his heart; she could have truly been something quite incredible. She was smart, she was driven and talented, but lacking the resources to rise out of the life she so despised. To have come so close, only to have an ill-timed physical issue rip her chances away – he couldn't even imagine.

"That sucks, Ep, I'm so sorry," he told her sincerely.

She smiled warmly, though he could see a touch of bitterness in her eyes. "Whatever," she shrugged, "I have all these crazy trophies for my trouble!"

And she did. There must have been more than 30 of all colors and sizes, from participation awards to tournament placements to MVP's.

"My collection would totally kick your collection's ass," he teased, nudging her with his elbow. "I was given a partial scholarship to play in college. I wanted to go pro. I didn't have time for anything else, not even girls. My entire life revolved around baseball and school."

She looked at him. "What happened?"

He stared straight ahead at a trophy she had won her sophomore year of high school for most valuable player. "My priorities changed," was all he said. He could hear the hardness in his own voice; out of the corner of his eye, he saw her searching for something on his face before she turned back towards the trophies. He cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, reaching out and touching a medal, "all my trophies are at my parents' house."

"I like having mine home with me," was Eponine's soft reply.

He looked at her. There was a faraway look on her face, an absent smile on her lips. "They help me remember a time when I was happy." She seemed to be talking to herself now, and he wondered if she remembered he was there.

He couldn't take his eyes off her, all of a sudden, and he felt something building inside of him that was foreign and, if he had to admit it, a little frightening.

When she turned to him, a questioning look on her face and an inquiry forming on her lips, he kissed her, swallowing whatever it was she was about to say. She responded immediately against him, and he pulled her body flush against his instinctually when her lips parted against his.

*

He's not quite sure why he slept with her.

He had never been with a woman before.

And she was vulnerable; he couldn't shake the feeling that he had taken advantage of her.

Marius and his girlfriend, the perfect, blonde Cosette, had gotten engaged.

Eponine had showed up at his door, in tears and completely inconsolable. So he ordered pizza, and ran to the liquor store around the corner for a bottle of Jack.

Three hours later, she was straddling him on his couch and kissing him wildly, half the bottle abandoned on the table behind her.

The whole experience, as intoxicating and wonderful as it was, was like being with a hurricane. It was wet and strong and dangerous, but he loved every second of it.

When he woke the next morning, she was in his kitchen, dressed in one of his t-shirts, making breakfast.

She kissed him good morning.

*

He's not quite sure when he fell in love with her.

They were out all night.

It was a warm night, in the middle of spring, a summery breeze sweeping through her hair and toying with the hem of her dress as she skipped around him.

Eponine didn't want to go home, and had talked him into staying out with her all night and going down to the docks to watch the sunrise.

"I've never seen the city when it sleeps," she had said.

They weren't together, per se, but Marius was married and Eponine was putting him behind her and now whenever she saw Enjolras she kissed him. He didn't hate it.

They had sat on the docks, swinging their bare feet inches above the water.

She grabbed his hand, humming a song into the wind. She was being strange; it was that mix of happiness and sadness that he'd learned to associate with her. Like she's almost ready to be happy, almost ready to let go of her problems, but she just can't.

She took his hand as the pre-dawn sky turns purple.

She kissed his cheek and then his lips when it turns pink.

When it turned orange, its bright glow lights up her face.

When the sun broke free of the water, she laughed. He had never seen anything so beautiful.

And that was when he knew: he'd fallen for her.

*

He's not quite sure why she wouldn't let him save her.

Eponine was stubborn, and always refused his help. He frequently reminded her that it was his job to help people, that it was his calling, but she would just snap at him that "a calling is a thing for entitled bourgeois boys," and that those he was "called" to help did not always want it.

When her little brother died, hit by a car in the middle of the night, he was not sure she'd ever come back to him.

She pushed him away. Stopped seeing him, stopped meeting him for baseball or soccer, stopped coming to his games and stopped showing up to her own. She wouldn't even answer her calls. Nor would she talk to any of her other friends.

Musichetta, her soccer friend, and Joly were dating, and even Musichetta had not heard from her in weeks.

When he finally saw her again, her face was gaunt. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and hadn't eaten in weeks. Her already thin frame clung to her bones, her cheeks were sunken in, her hair was dirty and unkempt, and her hollow eyes had dark circles.

He didn't know how to save her, but for god's sake he tried.

*

He's not quite sure why she left him.

It isn't fair – that's the only thought that's cycling through his mind right now.

He's been sitting in this chair for, well, he doesn't even know how long. His friends keep coming to check on him, but he barely hears them. They can't say anything helpful anyway. They don't know.

All he can think of is her, of those precious moments by her side, as he stares straight ahead.

Directly in front of him is her casket. And he can't take his eyes off it, off her lifeless body laying there for those attending the wake to gawk and cry over.

He can't cry, he can't eat, he can't feel. He briefly wonders if this was how it was for her when little Gavroche was killed, and if that was the straw that broke the camel's back in her life.

He wonders, much more extensively, why he couldn't save her. He was always reminding her that saving people was all he wanted to do. He just wanted to help.

Why hadn't he been able to help her?

It was a sunny afternoon. They were sitting on the stairs of her fire escape. She was under his arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Not everyone wants to be saved, Enj," she told him. "Not everyone will let you."

"As long as you let me save you, that's fine," he replied.

She said nothing for a long while. "It might be too late for that," she whispered, avoiding his gaze.

And it was. It was far too late.

She was gone.

The only woman he had ever loved, ever cared for, ever had time for, was dead.

This was a woman who had opened up an entire new world for him, and he would never see her again.

He's not sure what comes next; now that he's lived in this world of hers, he isn't sure if he can live without her.

When he's angry at her, angrier than he's ever been before, he curses her name, screaming at her ghost for leaving him behind, for ruining his life.

He hates her; she destroyed everything about him, everything he was, and left this empty shell behind. He was fine before - he didn't know what he was missing, and ignorance truly was bliss. He was settled in his life. But then she appeared in it, and turned it upside-down.

He tries to breathe.

Azlema, her younger sister, walks up to him.

She wraps herself around him, and he lets her, squeezing her tightly. She, of course, knew Eponine too (in a way that his friends didn't), and just as he lost the love of his life, she lost her older sister - and her baby brother. So she understands.

"She loved you, Enjolras," Azelma murmurs, her voice shaking with emotion and thick with the tears that spill from her eyes. "I know she never told you, but she told me. She loved you, and she would've wanted you to know."

He cries.

*

He's not quite sure how he picks up the pieces.

It's been forever, but it's also been no time at all.

His nights are cold and lonely, and his days are torture.

Grantaire has moved in with him, though perhaps that wasn't the best decision on the part of his friends, as the other man is so full of anger and sadness himself that all they do is spend their time drinking.

Combeferre seems to catch on, because then he comes to stay, too.

Suddenly, he's forced to eat the food Combeferre has cooked. He's forced to look at Grantaire's artwork and give his opinions, he's forced to go to work and do a good job again.

He's forced to look at her photographs every day (but that one he does to himself), too. In them, she seems happy. She's bright and beautiful and alive. God, she used to be so alive, even when she was miserable, even when she was depressed. She could be in the worst mood, but being around her was like being in the middle of a beautiful storm.

He misses that.

Eventually, Courfeyrac convinces him to come play a pickup game.

It feels good, being back on the diamond. The power of the ball as it flies from his hand, the feel of the wind in his face as he runs from plate to plate. He especially likes being at bat, because smacking that fucking ball into oblivion is suddenly the most therapeutic thing.

And then the game is over and his friends leave and he's slamming his stupid bat into the ground, raging in the middle of the field, screaming at her at the top of his lungs and undoubtedly causing quite the scene.

He collapses, and then someone is there – Jehan, perhaps? – speaking to him, trying to calm him.

But what does it is Eponine.

No, she's not there, of course, but he sees her team playing soccer on the next field. Or maybe it's a different team, he isn't sure if her friends play here anymore.

He looks up into the overcast sky, closing his eyes to the clouds, and can almost hear her laughter carried to him on the wind.

He goes home, pulls out the trophies he took from her apartment and those he took from his parents' house. He places them in pairs around the apartment, wherever they fit - his next to hers and hers next to his wherever he can find the room for them.

"They help me remember a time when I was happy," she had said that first time he kissed her.

And she was right.

There they were, once again – playing baseball, playing soccer together, just like when they had become friends. This time, however, their endless games were in his apartment. But looking at their trophies together was, for some stupid reason, extremely comforting. It made him feel like she was there, in these dumb objects she had been so proud of.

He sees her in them. They make him think of her. And he misses her, he does, but she would want him to be okay.

She would want him to keep on playing, because she wasn't able to.

And that's exactly what he's going to do.

Fin.

[hardcore-evil-regal]

Life Saver

Summary:

Based off the prompt: Modern AU

Aang works as a lifeguard at the local pools during the summer and happens to save a damsel in distress.

Author’s Note:

For the 2nd prompt of Taang Week: Modern AU

And just because I love to go the extra mile, I also threw in a lil lifeguard AU too ;D

In this fic Aang and Toph are both teenagers (like 17 or so?)

Enjoy, y'all ^_^

You can read the story here, on AO3 or FF.net

A deep huff escapes his lips as his steel grey eyes scan the water. Children are laughing loudly, high pitched squeals of delight escaping them as water spouts from the openings in the pebbled shallows of the kids pool. Excited whoops of delight can be heard from the older children as they slip down the water slides, rushing down and landing with a satisfying splash. Distantly he can hear the calls of swim instructors as they guide their students through the lessons.

Another summer, another stint working as a lifeguard at the local pool.

Nothing ever really happens and Aang supposes he should be grateful seeing as though his job as a lifeguard is to save people from drowning; but sometimes he wishes something would happen to break the awful monotony of just 'watching'. 

A group of teenagers walk in, pushing and shoving each other jokingly as they dump their belongings at a free space on the benches lining one side of the pool lanes. Aang watches them with little interest, but maybe just a touch of jealousy. All of his friends have gone away for the summer, leaving him behind to work his holiday job and enjoy their adventures through the wonders of Snapchat. He wishes he could be like those teenagers, just enjoying his summer with his friends and not having to suffer through a boring job of watching other people have fun all day. The group of teenagers are making their way towards the water slides, laughing loudly and he notices one of the girls is unusually dressed still in her T-shirt, jeans and shoes, whilst the rest of her friends are in their swimwear.

"Hey Toph, think quick!" One of the taller guys shouts before abruptly shoving the girl forcefully with his shoulder against hers.

Her smaller stature yields under his weight as she feels herself falling to the side. Stepping with her left foot to right herself, she loses her balance as her shoes slide on the wet ground, and before she can react she's tripped over the raised edge surrounding the pool and fallen in with a resounding splash. 

"What the fuck Jet!" The other girl in the group says, alarm in her voice. "She can't swim."

Her friends freeze like deer stuck in headlights but Aang has been watching the whole scene unfold and doesn't hesitate for a moment before throwing his radio to the side and diving into the pool. Of course the one pool that her friends had to push her into is the diving pool, the deepest pool out of all the possible pools at the centre.

His feet kick furiously behind him as he powers his arms through the water furiously, working his way towards the sinking figure. Almost in slow motion, he watches as her limbs begin to drag heavier through the water, her frantic motions turning sluggish. Wrapping his arms around her petite waist, he pushes off hard against the bottom of the pool feeling the extra weight of another person and her water soaked clothes slowing him down. If feels like too long before he resurfaces with her, inhaling deep lungfuls of air as he tows her limp body along with him towards the edge of the pool. 

Her friends are waiting by the side anxiously, helping pull her out of the water as he climbs out. She lies there, eyes closed and completely still and Aang fears for a moment that he is too late. Her chest convulses, back arching deeply as she spasms for a moment before her eyes shoot open and she vomits up water onto the ground. His heart jumps in relief and he can’t help the relieved sigh that escapes him as he rubs soothingly at her back.

Once Aang is sure that she’s finished clearing all the water from her system, he radios someone to clean up the area as he takes the girl to the med bay. Her clothes are still sopping wet, so he digs through his locker to find a spare hoodie and pair of shorts for her to change into. After giving her several minutes to change out of the wet clothes, he re-enters the room and thinks that he should not find her as adorable as he does with her dressed in his far too big hoodie and shorts. The hoodie is practically a dress and the sleeves keep slipping over her hands despite her attempts to push them up, and he can see that she’s had to roll the waistband of the shorts several times just for them to stay on.

“Thanks for saving me,” she says breaking the silence between them as she swings her legs sitting on the sick bed. 

For just the briefest of moments he is stunned and can’t help but notice how pretty her green eyes look with her dark rimmed glasses on.

“Don’t mention it,” he smiles, “I’m sorry I don’t have anything that fits you.”

She laughs off his comment though she sounds just a little hoarse and she coughs a few times, sipping from the cup of water he’d bought her.

“Make sure you do go to the hospital after this though,” he adds once the laughter has subsided, “I know you didn’t want us to call the paramedics but it is vital that you get yourself checked out just in case.”

She nods her head, waving her hand as she tells him that she’ll make a stop by the local hospital on her way home and a part of him wonders whether she actually will or not with her blasé attitude. 

“You know your friend is a jerk,” he says with all seriousness and is surprised by the bark of laughter that escapes her.

“Don’t I know it,” she quips as if it hadn’t been made blindingly obvious by her sudden dip in the pool.

“I’m serious, he shouldn’t have been messing around like that near the water,” Aang says with a furrowed brow, concern in his eyes. “He could have seriously hurt you.”

The barest trace of pink colours her cheeks and she clears her throat several times before giving a half hearted shrug. 

“He’s a bit of a dick sometimes.”

Aang shakes his head with a small smile as he lets out a huff from his nose, just the slightest bit amused at her relaxed reaction to her friend, quite literally endangering her life. 

“So you gotta name Mr Lifesaver?” she asks him with a teasing smirk as she leans back on the sick bed to rest against the wall, legs still swinging over the edge.

“Aang,” he tells her, offering his hand as he hops up to sit next to her.

“Aang,” she smiles, taking his hand, “my hero!”

He laughs along with her and he likes the way her small hand feels in his own.

“You know I never caught your name,” he looks at her with grey eyes bright.

“Toph,” she answers, still holding his hand.

“Well it was my pleasure, saving your life Toph,” he tells her, sincerity in every word.

Toph swears that the blush that spread across her cheeks as he pressed his lips to the back of her hand was due to the summer heat and not his chaste kiss, but Aang always laughs and kisses her sloppily on the cheek making her blush whenever they tell other couples the story of how they first met. 

x

x

A/N

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I am enjoying Taang Week so much, but I also need to hustle because I haven't finished the last 3 fics for the rest of the week yet!! Wish me luck my dudes!!

[heynikkiyousofine]

This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but I wanted to go ahead and get it posted before the weekend, Chapter 9 will be posted Sunday. 

@keichanz @neutronstarchild

Three days passed by in a blur. Kagome spent her mornings training with Miroku, Sango and now Inuyasha. A few times, King Toga graced them with his presence to see her progress and find out how she was doing. She hadn’t seen much of him lately, noticing he was held up in his meeting room most of the time with King Sesshomaru, who never spoke to her whenever he arrived again with his troops. Not taking it to heart, she understood there was a fight coming and they were probably busy with preparations.

She could shoot her arrows extremely well, hitting a bull eyed every single time now, her arms sore and exhausted, but could learned she could send pure power with her arrows, shattering the side of the weapons shack in the process. She also learned she could grow things fairly fast, but that was more draining. She almost passed out yesterday, trying to sprout a tree in the field they were standing in. When she almost passed out from the drain of power, Inuaysha snarled at Miroku and Sango as he caught her and carried her away to his tree as he liked to call it. There they had spent a long time, missing lunch, talking to each, getting to know each other better. It was also where she snuck him a few kisses, letting him hold her in his embrace. There they had talked about everything until dinnertime and even strolled through the gardens at night before bedtime, where he would kiss her hand gently before wishing her sweet dreams.

A few times, they had gotten into arguments over silly things, both of their tempers equal in their passion, before laughing at the situation and making up. The king and queen always laughed at them, glad someone could help put their sons antics in his place. It made for an interesting few days.

Today was the final day of training before they left for the borders tomorrow. She wondered if her home still stood standing. Inuaysha, Miroku, Sango and herself would travel through the forest again, not wanting to draw too much attention to Kagome, while also gathering more allies from the mythical creatures. King Sesshomaru and King Toga would take their armies and travel the roads, greeting the people as he went. Sango’s brother would follow the kings, while Shippo would stay behind at the castle with Rin, Queen Izayoi and Queen Kagura. A troop of men would stay behind as well, in order to protect the castle and its inhabitants.  

Her afternoons were spent walking through the gardens with her books, reading more and more about her heritage, the past and her parents. She was accompanied by either Queen Izayoi or Sango, and occasionally Kagura before she would tire out for a nap. Shippo spent more of his time with Rin and the local village children. It was there, when no one else was around, she helped the flowers grow in the garden. She had finished a bush of roses when Inuyasha strolled up behind, kissing her cheek before grabbing her free hand. Warmth spread through her as she smiled at him.

“Mother said you asked for some new clothing for tomorrow?” He inquired, an eyebrow raising, looking more like his father.

Laughing Kagome only nodded at his question, not wanting to go into too much detail. She had expression her concerns to Izayoi in private and decided to surprise everyone with her “costume change” as Izayoi had put it. It arrived this morning in her room before she left ,after changing for lunch. She was excited for something to help with her fighting and her wings, while not getting too close to her legs either.

Not understanding why she was keeping this a secret, Inuaysha let it go. Squeeing her hand softly, knowing they would have to head to the dining hall soon for dinner, he turned to her, a serious expression on his handsome face. “Kagome.” Stopping in her tracks, she looked at him and waited for him to begin.

“Tomorrow and on out, it won’t be the same as in the castle. I know we are headed near your home, but I want you to know I promise to protect you with my life. We are only stronger together and the past few days have been blissful, but I just worry about you. Once Naraku knows who you are, nothing will stop him from trying to get to you.”

Understanding where he was coming from, she nodded and smiled at him. “I agree Inuyasha, from here on out, we protect each other. I’m not some damsel in distress. I can protect my own.”

“Damn right, woman.” He rumbled heartily, “Let’s go get dinner. I think Father has something big planned.” He rolled his eyes, knowing his father loved celebrations and frivolous feasts.

As the night wore on, everyone gathered around the dinner table, discussing happy memories, hearing the tales of Shippo and RIn and sharing jokes with each other. Inuaysha and Kagome sat next to each other, simply enjoying the company of their friends and family. After they strolled through the garden one last time before bed, Kagome and Inuyasha kissed passionately in their tree, as his father now deemed, making them both embarrassed as can be at dinnertime, not wanting to part from one another just yet. They knew the next day would change everything and while Kagome felt she was prepared and ready to fight for her people and get her mother back, she didn’t want to end this little time of happiness. She swore to herself as she crawled into bed that night, that she would do whatever it takes to protect everyone from Naraku.

Golden rays flittered in the room, Kagome opened her eyes, her mind blank as she sat up. She knew she needed to keep calm and level headed from here on out, while she practiced her meditation. Toga had spoken to everyone briefly yesterday about the plan of attack and how Kagome was to kept hidden until the right time. Word of Naraku traveling, his henchmen and himself towards the border had been trickling in since she arrived at the castle. They were going to meet him at the borders, before he could cross into the Northern Kingdom, with King Koga and his men coming from behind at the southern border to trap them. It was then, when Naraku would show himself during battle, and try to take the Kings’ life’s and powers that Kagome would show her true self and hit him with an arrow, sealing him into a tree that she would sprout from the ground. While she had been practicing and knew she was ready for battle, she was still nervous.

A soft knock came to her door, when she went to go answer, Queen Izayoi stepped in. Watching her with a wondering expression, Izayoi simply smiled and told her she wanted to help her get ready. She was excited to see her in this new costume, they talked about things while Izayoi helped tie the bodice on Kagome’s back.

“My dear, I want you to know, you are always welcome here. I understand that you will probably want to go back to your home after the battle, and I bless your relationship with my son completely, just don’t forget to visit me once in a while.” Izayoi simply stated, watching Kagome’s cheeks flush. How many times can I blush in this castle? Kagome thought grumpily.

Agreeing, promises were made and Kagome walked to stand in front a full length mirror attached to her wardrobe. Gasping, she was astounded and speechless. Deciding to forgo her pendent until she could get her outfit on, she loved what her reflection showed. She was ready. Smiling at the queen, Kagome pulled her pendant over her head, walked arm in arm out of the room, towards the breakfast table, where everyone sat, ready to dig in.

As goodbyes were said, and two crying children were comforted, Kagome gave a now sniffling Shippo the tightest hug, told him to be good for the queens and watched as the castle doors fell away from sight, riding along her horse. Glancing at her, Inuaysha, grabbed her hand, squeezed it tightly and smiled at her softly. She looked stunning in her outfit, truly fit for a queen going into battle, with her weapons strapped to her back and knife in her boot. While he longed for her wings to be flowing in the breeze, he knew she was being cautious until the time came. With MIroku and Sango trailing behind them talking softly, they began to trip to the borders, knowing they would reach the area a day or two before the troops. He had planned on taking Kagome back to the meadow, where he would ask her if she would officially be his mate when they defeated Naraku. 

It took almost three fulls day to get near the borders and the meadow, stopping quite a few times along the way to gather Kagome’s friends and their allies. Gnomes trailed alongside the horses, Kagome striding next to two unicorns and fairies flying about. He knew they existed, for having seen a few of them on his travels through the forest. He wondered in astonishment how many there were, for more kept joining the group wanting to fight Naraku. At one point, he hope the large ogre at the very back would be a good partner to take down Naraku’s henchmen. He had a bone to pick with Bankotsu, Kagome told him what happened the night her mother was taken. Growling softly to himself, he missed the worried look from Kagome.

“Inuaysha, let’s go for a quick walk and stretch our legs?” The small, fiery woman suggested, grabbing his hand. Nodding in agreement, they wandered away from the campsite, near the flowing stream. “We are almost to my home. How are you holing up? You’ve been so quiet the last day or so.” Kagome asked softly.

A sigh escaped his lips before he could respond. “I was just thinking of the man who took your mother and tried to force himself on you. I’m sorry for worrying you koi.” He wiped his hands down his face in agitation. 

Smiling at the fond endearment, Kagome smiled, “I get it. I know this is a lot for you, we keep gathering more friends. I didn’t know there was so many out there like me and word spreads fast for them. We could use all the help we can get.”

“I agree, I’m just tired from riding on my horse for so long as this slow pace. I don’t want to get there too much earlier before Father. Thank you for checking on me, I should be checking up on you.”

Nodding in agreement and understand, they began to head back towards the campsite, when Inuaysha tugged on Kagome’s hands, stopping her and pulling her closely. Touching her cheek softly, he looked in to her eyes. At night, they reflected the stars around them, shimmering so bright, he could get lost in them for hours.

“Kagome, I’m worried about tomorrow and what we will find. I don’t think there is anything left of your home.” He hated saying this out loud, knowing she probably already had thought of this, but he wanted to protect her heart as well.

“There was fire the night I left, so I doubt there will be much either. I just want my mother to be okay. If they don’t have her with them, if she’s dead or she’s being held in the castle, I just don’t know.” She sighed sadly, leaning into his touch.

Her feelings so intense, he hastily pushed his lips to hers, making her gasp quietly. They stood there, ravishing each other, this kiss full of heat and passion, while also unspoken words saying that they may not get to do this for quite some time, if ever again. There was so much uncertainty and Kagome felt hot tears stream down her cheeks. Stopping to catch his breath, Inuaysha brushed her cheeks with his thumbs, rumbled softly for her and kissed her forehead, while she clutched his hands tightly.

“Come on, let’s go get situated for the night, I want you to hold me.” She whispered back, taking his hands again, while they strode back to camp, both with content smiles on their face. 

The next morning, as they emerged from the forest line, near her former home, Kagome’s heart stopped when she saw the blackened wood of her old home. Around her, the flowers were almost black from the flames and the charred well near the home was nearly dry. My home is gone, she thought sadly. Feeling Inuyasha grab her left hand, Calliope land on her right shoulder and Sango reach for the right hand, she took a deep breath while everyone began to set up camp in the cleared area. The ogre and some centaurs had started to move the burnt wood, making a fire pit for everyone to gather around. Oblivious to the woods around them, no one noticed a set of glowing red eyes, near the eastern border, clouded by a small barrier with miasma, watching the group with hungry eyes.

[seb-owns-these-tatas]

Chapstick (Lance Tucker x you)

Characters: Lance Tucker x female Reader

Summary: Y/N was in the middle of getting trained for the Olympics when her boyfriend decided to talk to her just to break up. Lance sees his trainee having a mental breakdown and he didn't hesitate to comfort her.

Warnings: A LOT of cuss words. We're talking about Lance Tucker, Tater tots. An asshole ex boyfriend. Kinda asshat, Tucker. Just kinda?

Words: 3,763

A/N: This is my first oneshot for him, I guess? I hope y'all would love it because I had fun writing him!

Disclaimer: GIF'S and pictures used are not mine. Only the edits are and the oneshot of course. 😉 Credits to the owners of the GIFS.

PLAGIARISM IS A CRIME. 

"What do you mean it's not good, coach? I've did what you wanted me to do!" You huffed and panted at the same time. Chest heaving up and down as you eyed your hot coach, all prepped up with his blue, white and red uniform that he never ceases to forget to wear every damn day. He stood before you looking like a Greek god and you mentally slapped yourself for thinking about obscene things with him when you were in a relationship with your boyfriend. Plus, Lance was a total douche towards you so imagining those things could make you cringe at the thought because of his obnoxious personality that was overpowering the attraction you had for the man, mentally killing the attraction you had.

"You wobbled," Lance 'the fucker' Tucker spat as a matter of fact, squinting his eyes on your ungraceful form, probably judging you inside his head.

You rolled your eyes in discreet, he probably saw that because you do it all the time but he didn't bother acknowledging it. You marched out of the mat to go chalk your hands because it seemed to sweat a little much today. Your high bun ponytail swinging in the same time with your heavy footsteps. Here you thought your coach would stop pestering you, it turns out he never knew when to shut his filthy..gorgeous mouth of his.

"Did I tell you to fucking walk off?" Lance spat, his brows cinched together. He was acting like a pole was up in his butt, even more hot headed than the days before. He was certainly not helping your mixed emotions running inside your stupid head. "I'm this close to ripping your balls away and making you eat it alive!" You reprimanded back, teeth gritted together. The sudden power answering him back shocked you because you never did since day one. However, today seemed to be an exception. Lance was acting more of an asshole than he is and he better not make a mistake because you could turn feral when provoked.

"Do it! Fucking do it, I fucking dare you, Y/N!" He barked back, marching towards you with that fiery gaze of his. His gaze looked so sexy and hot, yet you were trying your hardest not to get affected by your raging hormones travelling inside of your head and in between your legs. You were a taken lady, have a boyfriend even. A boyfriend who appear to be distant and cold the past weeks. Your heart stopped beating when you felt Lance's hands on the sides of your arms, his fingers digging on your sides, he leaned down to be in line with your vision. It was then and there you saw how beautiful the colors of his eyes were, they were a pretty pair despite of the pissed off look he was giving you. He was being the epitome of a walking sin. "You're all talk and less action, Y/L/N. Kitty got scared?" His pretty Steele blue eyes was livid. Eyebrows all up and daring you, "I'd rather have your lips sucking my balls, wouldn't it be a waste if you would throw it away? Come on, Y/N." He clucked his tongue, cocking his head to the side as he found everything amusing, yet slightly aggravating for you. "Have a little fun while you have it,"

Lance's tasteful lips turned into a smirk, his demeanor goading you into grabbing the bait. "My nuts won't bite...unless triggered,"

Your jaw was tightly clenched, your next words coming out of your lips harshly, eyes completely trained on the piercing blue eyes of your trainer, trying hard not to back down and kiss his feet. "You sick fuck," Your nickname for him made him raise a brow, shaking his head in entertainment. "Why are you even so mad at me right now? I did nothing wrong!"

His hands began to rest on the sides of his hips, and you knew in that simple gesture meant that he switched to his coach mode, full rant about your performance with the practice was about to get jot down like bullets. "You keep doing mistakes, even have a difficult time registering the basics inside your head!" Lance licked his lips in aggravation, pointing a finger at you. "If you're goddamn distracted because of one stupid fucking lover problems, you better know to throw those pathetic distractions away while you're here! We gotta act professional, Y/N!"

An audible loud snort came out of you as you shook your head in utter disbelief. "Wow," You spat as a matter of fact, giving him a series of claps. Entirely amused by the methods of his coaching. "So much to say for yourself, Coach. Aren't you the sick fuck who was asking a twenty year old to suck his balls a while ago?"

He had back you away till your back hit a cold metal pole. Lance was eyeing you down like a lion watching his prey, never even forgetting to give you a once over because you looked completely exquisite in your leotard. "I wasn't asking," He muttered nonchalantly, popping a gum inside his filthy mouth, Mint. Definitely mint because whenever he had to talk to you up close, his minty breath was all you could ever sniff besides his spicy, macho perfume that all the itchy ladies loved. "It was a great suggestion rather than ripping my balls off alive," Lance chewed on his gum very loudly, making you more irritated by his huge ego, conceitedness and arrogance.

He was clearly even a walking asshat, you mindlessly thought over the back of your mind. Embedding that opinion inside your head over and over again.

Your staring contest was cut off when both of you heard a loud knock on a wall, letting his presence be known. Lo and behold, the boy who had forget about you for an entire week stood at the end of the gym. Looking all innocent and anxious as he stood his weight from one foot to the other. He then yelled, never looking bothered that Lance seemed to be rather much close to you and has you trapped in his presence. "May I speak to her?" Your boyfriend croaked out, sounding unattractively throaty. "It's important,"

Lance spun his heels around, his brows deeply furrowed, eyes squinted and glaring at the young man who came to see you. He looked definitely more furious than before, "What if I fucking say no?" He spoke aloud, oblivious that he raised a hand to brush his perfectly fuck boy gelled up hair. "We're practicing! Come back when she's fucking done being an uncoordinated gymnast!" He lowly snorted, only you had the advantage because you were close to your asshole of a coach. His piercing blue eyes swiftly landed on you, cocking his head to where your boyfriend was, a lopsided smile on show. "Limp dick's here to get his damsel in distress, if you ever were in a fucking distress which I clearly can't see,"

"Can you stop being an asshole for one second?" You exasperatedly whisper-yelled at the Adonis in front of you, sounding desperate as you were on the verge on exploding all your pent up emotions towards everyone. You definitely had to deal with your boyfriend right now, and Lance is not helping. Your heels whipped around, eyes leaving your very amused coach in the gym as you flipped him the bird after he yelled, "I'm giving you five minutes, so you better not fuck like rabbits in my gym!"

You shake your head, rubbing your temples together as you paraded towards where your boyfriend was, looking serious and mad. Well, what was his problem then? You weren't the person who became distant, forgetting that you have a boyfriend. It was technically the other way around. Arms crossed in front of him, you glared into his eyes. Totally showing how pissed off you were at him, yet the sentence he spat seem to irk you more. "Lance Tucker? Really, Y/N? There are tons of great coaches in the world, why the fuck did you pick him?"

"Everybody had 24 hours a day, so why didn't you fucking bother talking to me when all I ever wanted was a bit of your attention?"

(Y/BF/N)'s eyes went all wide. Igniting that growing anger inside of him. "Don't change the topic, Y/N--"

"You're here to bitch out about why I chose Lance as a coach? Why don't we skip the irrelevant problem and go straight to the main problem? Why. Did. You. Ignored. Me. For. A. Week Y/BF/N?" Your words were emphasized and even your emotions. The more that your conversation continues, the more it gets intense. From the moment you've started raising your voice, a man who have been busying himself with his phone on the other end of the gym have raised his head, instantly setting his pretty blue eyes as he was checking if you were still fine.

Which is exactly the opposite.

"Babe," Y/BF/N tried to reach your arm, yet you were faster and harshly jerked his hand away. "Oh no you don't," He dropped his hands in a tight fist, glaring down at your figure. Oh, the audacity. "Don't call me that because it's giving me shivers,"

"Bet he calls you that too," He spat, his eyebrows cinched together in fury. Was he really thinking you and Lance had something together? Sure, your coach was a womanizer, but you...you won't go that far with him. Your mind was set, you've picked Lance because he won gold and silver. He has a lot of potential in teaching you how to win the gold. You know everything happening was strictly professional..sometimes. But, it's not the point. You know he's a great gymnast.

Former limp dick shrugged his lanky shoulders, staring straight at you with no remorse, showing the animosity that you didn't expect to come from him. He was acting strange, like he's become a changed man in just over a week. "You probably moan his name in bed either, Maggie showed me the video,"

Well, that made your eyebrows grow up higher than the empire state building.

"Maggie--Maggie Townsend? How the fuck do you even know her? And what video?"

You've notice a pair of eyes have been on you since the moment your argument started, you couldn't help but take a glimpse at the asshole of a coach that you have.

His eyes were tightly squinted together, Lance looked like he was ready to pounce on Y/BF'S/N, eyebrows all furrowed and serious..Your heart skipped a beat as you saw him being all protective, guarding you like a hawk. Even thinking that your boyfriend would hurt you at that exact moment..Not until Lance started wiggling his brows, nodding knowingly at you while he raised his wrist, showing you the time while he gestured that you only had two minutes left.

Y/BF'S/N technically curved your question and started ranting with his unstoppable dirty ass mouth, making your insides go at war with your emotions. He was really getting on your nerves right now and Lance didn't let that go unnoticed when you started impatiently tapping your foot on the floor while you tightened your fists. "Don't be an in denial bitch, Y/N. You're just like everybody else. What's even special about him? His huge ego? Conceited self? A narcissistic bastard? Or his arrogance turned you on, so that's why you gave in?" He whisper-yelled, scared that Lance would hear the argument. Wow, what a limp dick indeed.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SAYING?" You yelled and the whole gym echoed. Lance began to cross his arms, his thewy biceps already popping out of his red, blue and white uniform. Every little bit of his attention was practically on you, and only you.

"Don't play dumb on me, Y/N. I had to force this out of Maggie in exchange for..something valuable. If I didn't give her what she wanted, then I wouldn't have known this,"

"What the fuck are you talking about? What did you even give her?" You didn't realized that your voice started to go quieter, smaller and weak. There was a hunch inside your head, but you were trying your hardest not to believe it. However, your boyfriend's next words broke you whole, tearing the trust and love you had for him. Even your big, youthful heart.

Y/BF'S/N's whole demeanor changed, he held his head up high as he looked down on you. Seeing you in the verge of tearing apart was feeding his ego and pride. It was making him damn happy for a lie that was fed off to him by a woman who was extremely infatuated at him. Hard. "Paradise. Just like those kind that Mr. Lance-the-fucker-Tucker gives you,"

"W-What?" You stuttered, and Lance saw how your shoulders fell. It wasn't the Y/N he knew. You should've sassily raised a brow at your boyfriend, show him those fangs that he sees all the time.

Lance sighed exasperatedly to himself, pinching at his temples. "Fuck, Tucker. Don't interfere, don't fucking involve yourself." He chanted like it was his mantra.

"That's right, Y/N. Now, you know how it feels,"

You blew out a breath you've been holding, glowering at him with an incredulous glint in your eyes. "Are you seriously thinking straight right now?" You spat, squinting your eyes at him and realizing that his eyes looked entirely different, too different and colored. "Oh, God. No you aren't. Your eyes are full blown red, you're...you're--"

Lance saw how you washed your face with your hand, trying to hold back on punching your ex-boyfriend in the face. He saw you raise your arm, pointing towards where the exit was.

"Get outta my fucking sight, Y/BF/N! You're a fucking douche bag, an asshole!"

Y/BF'S/N cocked his head to the side, smirking widely. His mouth never knowing when to stop, "If I'm an asshole, then you're a bitch. Fair enough?"

The whole gym was quiet, your mind went blank and you just wanted to scream at him for showing you his true demons. He wasn't the boy you used to love, the boy in front of you was a huge bastard, he even had the courage to smirk after basically telling you he had sex with your friend turned enemy when she began leaving you for a new, popular group of friends and her boyfriend who have been the popular boy in school.

Past was definitely the past. Time's changed now and you were already in your freshman year, you knew she went to a university far from you but you didn't expect she'll still be around. Maggie even had to guts to ruin your relationship and lie just to have her favorite, new eye-candy who was technically not available, yet that didn't stop them from fucking each other.

You could feel yourself frowning, eyes all cloudy and warm. Uh-oh, you thought to yourself. Your tears were threatening to fall and if he doesn't leave, then he'll have the satisfaction to see you crying over a worthless boy.

"Aw, guilty as charged, Y/N?" He badly teased, leaning down to take a better view of your face. You were about to open your mouth and shout a loud cuss on his face, yet you heard a voice that you didn't expect would be your knight in shining armor because he can also be a knight in shining asshole at the same time. But, to make everything a little better, Lance probably thought it was time to show his assholey-ness towards a person who was born the same race with him.

"Hey, dick-sucking-fucker! That's enough! Out of my fucking gym," Lance crossed his arms after practically marching with heavy foot steps as he went towards where you were. Y/BF'S/N gave him a scowl and to your surprise, Lance snaked his hand on your shoulder, clamping his hand tightly on your arm. Mentally telling you now to cry over a petty boy like your ex. You bit your lip hard before squeezing yourself in between the empty space of Lance's arm, which made him lift a lopsided smile when you did.

He saw how your ex-boyfriend took notice of the interaction. That's good, Lance's mindlessly thought at the back of his mind. That's what he wanted Y/BF'S/N to feel. He wanted him to die inside his own insecurities and doubtfulness, believing over a manipulated gossip that was obviously a lie.

"What are you going to fucking do about it, asshole?"

Lance shrugged, chewing on his gum rather loudly than he intended too. "I'm letting you choke up a fucking pole while you try and smoke another joint, Limp dick."

"M-My dick is not limp," Y/BF'S/N reprimanded, stuttering by Lance's intimidating aura. Just his mere presence could make his ego turn to dust. Your coach snickered, chuckling to himself and raising his hand to point out what he wanted to say. "Small dick? better? I remember how Y/N told me it was a size of a--what was that called? Oh, a fucking Chapstick,"

"You assho--!"

"I'm an asshole, but at the same fucking time," Lance breathed though his nose, eyes blazing and taunting. "I'm the fucking God of gymnastics and that's why your fucking girlfriend whom you took for fucking granted chose me over your good-for-nothing self!"

You were moved when Lance rapidly snatched your ex-boyfriend's shirt by the neck, his steele blue eyes entirely in rage, completely heated with anger because of how Y/BF'S/N was disrespecting you. Your heart stopped as you stared at the both of them having an intense staring competition.

You could see how Lance was panting hard and how startled your ex boyfriend was from how your coach snapped. "Leave, weed dick. I don't want you near my gym at all costs, if all you'll ever do is let a beautiful, precious woman cry her heart out, then you better leave. Out. NOW. "

Beautiful. Lance's words kept replaying inside your head even after he pushed your ex-boyfriend away towards the exit. He suddenly became nice and it was impossible.

You stood rooted on the ground, completely shook from the sudden plot twist that happened in your life. The loud bang of the door made you jump, and you saw how Lance marched towards you. A grimace shown in his attractive features. Once he stopped in arms reach, you were startled to feel his rough fingers wiping your hot tears away. "Stop," He nonchalantly uttered, ignoring your questioning eyes. "Stop crying for a useless asshole like him, he doesn't fucking deserve it,"

He placed his hands on his hips after wiping your tears away, scratching his neck as he glanced to see your eyes that needed answers from him. "What--Do you--" You started but ceased yourself to continue as you thought everything all out. You were about to open your mouth for the second time when his next words kept your mouth zipped.

"I meant it,"

You raised a brow at him. Sniffing your snot away. What did he mean that he meant it? Your asshole of a boyfriend broke up with you and now your coach says he meant it? Did he meant to call you beautiful? He's kidding.."I meant that he's a fucking limp dick, Y/N. Do you really think I'll fucking call you beautiful when you're giving me a headache because of being so uncoordinated?!" Lance saved himself from being misunderstood. Unless, he was lying. He was now crossing his bulgy arms, and repeatedly placing his hand back on his hips like he was acting fidgety.

"I wasn't even saying anything?" You spoke back, a small smile wanting to come out but you're fighting it back. Trying to appear serious in front of your bothered coach. "You're uncoordinated and fucking hard headed," Lance sternly muttered to himself, his scowl and eyebrows tightly cinched together. Finding out how those words slipped out of his dirty little tucker mouth. You could feel your hidden pride clapping inside of your brain as a smirk lifted your lips up in entertainment, "I'm uncoordinated and hard headed,"

Lance huffed to himself, eyebrows raising as he nodded so big. "Took you long enough to realize, Y/N!"

You lowly laughed to yourself, eyeing him up as he was towering over you. His perfume so aromatic that it could hypnotize you and maybe it did because you were starting not to think straight, "But that didn't stop you from staring at my ass the entire time,"

You stood on your tippy toes, trying to reach his ears and the look on his face was priceless. "I'm uncoordinated and so hard headed that you so wanted to fuck, Lance Tucker."

Y/N had the last laugh because she was right and for the first time, Lance the fucker tucker was speechless because everything she said was true and he couldn't believe it himself.

PLEASE DO REBLOG, COMMENT OR LIKE THIS POST! IF YOU WANT MORE, GO FOLLOW MY BLOG PROFILE! Thank you for reading, Tater tots! 

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[itshardcandy]

Jinnuendo

Kim Seokjin x Reader

(Originally written for and posted by @letsgetitinbusan for a writing game but I chose to also post it on this blog now)

8806 Words

Genre: Fluff, Friends to lovers, Smut, Crack,

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, dirty talk, fingering, outdoor sex, unprotected sex (wrap it before u tap it, kids), Jimin’s cakes

Summary: Camping with your friends was supposed to be fun- you could only agree, now that Jin had made camping even funner.

Preview: 

“Ohmygod”

You mumbled with a full mouth,

“Amazing”

You said and Jimin smiled proudly. Jin watched the interaction quietly from his seat. Damn, he thought, he should have remembered to bring some rice cakes for you. He wasn’t really jealous of Jimin and his cakes. Really, he wasn’t. He was convinced that little crush of yours was completely food related, so he didn’t really think there was anything more to it. All he wanted was for that interaction to have taken place with him and also, for you to give all your attention to him and not Jimin. That seems like a reasonable mindset, right?

“Yikes, I wouldn’t wanna be her right now”

Said the bus boy standing next to you, crossing his arms as he watched the restaurant manager approach the newest addition to the waiter team, who was currently involved in a rather heated discussion with a guest,

“It’s a shame she’s gonna have to leave, she was nice…” 

You added and both of you sighed heavily and returned to your duties while the poor girl was being fired for standing her ground. She was the third one this month alone. To be fair, your manager was not an easy man to please, so it only made sense that new additions to the tea would be examined even more closely than you and the others, who had worked here for longer. The only thing keeping you safe from the manager’s wrath was your natural ability to fake-smile for hours on end. It was a gift as much as it was a curse but it had secured your job in the customer service sector so far.

And soon you will have survived another painful day of serving bitchy, rude and entitled Karen’s and Chad’s for the sake of financing your studies. At least they tipped well if you smiled hard enough.

This was your last day of work before you could look forward to two weeks of uninterrupted relaxation time. You handed in your last paper for this semester last week, so all of the work for university was also done and nothing would interfere with your plans to sleep for three days straight and then spend the rest of the time at the beach, cooking in the sun.

 “See you guys in a few weeks”

You yelled into the kitchen after you gathered your things and clocked out for the night. A few hurried goodbyes reached your ears before you exited through the back door of the restaurant and finally breathed in the fresh air, smelling of freedom and definitely not the burger grease stench coming from the kitchen AC vent.

No, it was definitely freedom and it was glorious.

_________  

After a hot shower and big glass of wine you were slumped on your couch, ready to pass out any second now, when your phone went off and almost gave you a heart-attack.

You took a deep breath and checked the caller ID to see your friend Seokjin calling,

“What is it?”

Normally, Jin calling was a thing you were happy about, however, being interrupted while passing out after a 10-hour shift at your job, was not a happy occasion and you couldn’t mask the annoyance in your voice,

“Whoa, what’s got your panties in a twist? Did that guy at work steal your tips again?”

He asked and you breathed a heavy sigh,

“No, I think he learnt his lesson after I cut out the butt on all his work pants…

You answered, slowly sitting up and reaching for your wine glass to empty it with a last few sips before continuing the conversation

“Why are you calling so late? I was about to fall asleep…”,

“I just wanted to remind you to pack if you haven’t done it already. Which you probably haven’t. Case in point”

Pack? You creased your brows. Pack for what?

“YN? You still there?”,

“Uhh, yeah I am I just… can you remind me what I’m supposed to be packing for?”

If you weren’t so tired, you’d probably be a little more embarrassed,

“Seriously? It’s that time of the year, YN! It’s blackout week! Joon send everyone reminders months ago! And then weeks ago! And then again 2 days ago! How could you forget the most magical event of the year?”  

You needed to hold the phone at a slight distance as to not go deaf at the sound of Seokjin’s friendly reminder. He was right, though, how could you forget? Blackout Week was the one week that you and your group of friends all looked forward to collectively every year. A whole week of camping in the mountains near a beautiful lake and no one was allowed to bring any kind of electronic devices, unless it was absolutely necessary for survival. A flashlight would be an exception but other than that you guys were pretty adapt at reverting your way of life back to the good old dark ages. You were lucky that Jungkook and Hoseok had been part of a group of boy scouts or else blackout week would have ended in a disaster each time. Yeah well, maybe you had exaggerated when you said that all of you were pretty adapt at this stuff… But nevertheless, you were all very determined, which was just as important,

“Shit, you’re right, I completely forgot…”

You ran your hand across your face and sighed,

“Of course, you forgot, why am I even surprised…”

Jin sounded more upset that he actually was, you knew him by now. You just needed to work him a little bit,

“How early are we leaving tomorrow? Can I do it in the morning? I’m so tired…”

You probably sounded a little whiney but that usually did the trick with Jin,

“I told you to be ready at 5, you know how long the drive is. Ah YN, I still can’t believe it, you’re so careless sometimes…”

He already sounded a little softer,

“I’m sorry, I’ll start packing right now, ok?”,

You made sure to sound like the helpless damsel in distress you wanted Jin to believe you were and you were sure you had cracked him. You heard him sigh heavily on the other end of the line,

“Do you need help packing? I’ll come over and help you, it’ll be quicker and you can get more sleep”,

“Are you sure? It’s late already…”,

“Just stay awake for the next fifteen minutes and open the door when I knock, ok? I’ll be right there”,

“Ok…”

He hung up and you smiled to yourself. There were a few advantages to knowing how Jin’s mind worked. And knowing Jin, he would never not come and help you out and you were grateful to have such a selfless friend. He knew you were an absolute mess and he didn’t mind picking up your slack once in a while because you took care of him in turn. It wasn’t like you turned up whenever he called, like he usually did for you but you were the type of friend to think of things he forgot to do for himself. You had been friends for so long, that he had given you a key to his apartment a while back and you used it to make sure his fridge was always stocked, and his plants were taken care of. He worked a lot. Way more than you and the little things like self-care and chores sometimes got put on the back burner. Since you had a little more time on your hands you would take care of these things once in a while. Before you got up off the couch to put on some comfy pants, you stretched your tired limbs and pressed play again to let Netflix run in the background. Jin knocked right as you finished pouring two mugs of coffee, which both of you would probably need to undertake the monumental task of packing your camping bag. You opened the door and let him inside, handing him the mug right away and watching a smile creep onto his face,

“Coffee was a good idea”

He said and slurped loudly after he closed the door,

“Thought it would make me feel less dead. I have yet to see that theory proven”

You sipped on your coffee, too,

“Thank you for helping me, though, I completely forgot about the trip”

Jin waved you off,

“At this point I’d be surprised if you actually remembered to take a shower after work. I know I’m usually the busy one but this semester you’ve had so much stuff to do, that I can’t even be mad you forgot everything not related to uni”

You smiled at him. Even though Jin loved to get his Dad mode on and get all red-faced and out of breath from all the scolding, he was a softie at heart and everyone knew, no matter how hard he puffed up his chest, he never really meant any harm. He was all bark and no bite and none of your friends took anything he said seriously,

“Let’s get started then”

He said and put down the mug in your sink before waltzing off towards your bedroom and digging around in your closet until he emerged with your suitcase. You watched him zoom around the place for a second until you joined him, sitting down on the bedroom floor and grabbing some clothes to roll up and place in the case,

“You want any snacks?”

You asked Jin in case he wanted some food in addition to the great entertainment you provided with Netflix in the background, your loud combined breathing and the rustling of useless stuff around you as you moved it around to find viable things to pack,

“I’m good, thanks, though”

He said and dived head first into a pile of clothes to look for your warmer sweatshirts. The end of summer was in sight and you would be staying pretty high up the mountains, so better be prepared,

“Although… do you still have some of those mini pretzels?”,

“Yeah, sure”

You got up and got him the bag of his beloved snack and then it was time to get some real work done.

­­­­_________  

“Thank GOD we finally made it!”

Jin jumped out of the car and went to kneel down to kiss the ground but you stopped him before things could get ugly. What a baby, you thought to yourself… so what if you sang along to Cotton Eyed Joe for three hours straight? It’s a timeless masterpiece,

“So what if I sang along to Cotton Eyed Joe for three hours straight, it’s a timeless masterpiece!”

You argued and Jin’s eyes almost bulged out of his head,

“A timeless- can you even comprehend the unspeakable agony I was in? It felt like my soul left my mortal body and only the haunting of Cotton Eyed Joe remained…”

He could be such a drama queen sometimes. You rolled your eyes and sighed; deciding to be the bigger person really should be considered a virtue,

“Anyway, we made it here on time, didn’t we? You sure know how to burn some rubber when you don’t like the music I play…”

Jin pulled himself off the ground, holding onto the car door. His joints weakly cracked while he got up,

“I aged like 30 years during this trip and it’s only just starting…”

He mumbled to himself, shaking his head and making his neck crack in addition to everything else,

“What was that?”

You asked and Jin quickly went to unload the trunk,

“Nothing, nothing”

He answered, avoiding an even longer discussion about Cotton Eyed Joe.

You quickly joined him and had your bags unloaded in no time.

It seemed like you were the first ones to arrive at the camping site and when you informed Jin of that, his mood immediately shifted,

“We get to choose our spot?”

He looked at you in disbelief,

“Seems like it…”,

“Finally, we don’t have to sleep next to the dumpster!”

You never got to choose your spot because you had never been the first ones to arrive,

“Jin, there isn’t even a dumpster here, were in the middle of literal nowhere, nothing but lake, mountains and forest for miles”,

“True but somehow, the garbage always ended up being next to our tent because it was the only space left”

Ok, well, you guessed that was kinda true. You didn’t mind it though, you were a heavy sleeper,

“Ok, so let’s pick a good spot this time, hm?”

You said, clapped your hands together and looked around to assess the available spots,

“How about over there?”

You pointed to the edge of the clearing, where the trees began to grow thicker and taller. Jin squinted and pursed his lips,

“Hmmmm….”

He hummed and you guessed you wouldn’t be setting up there,

“What do you think about setting up here?”

You walked into the middle of the clearing, near the stump where the campfire would be set up later and Jin immediately pursed his lips even harder and hummed louder and you quickly suggested more,

“Ok, so near the lake then? Work with me here, Jin”

You walked down to the soft grass near the shore and presented it as appealingly as possible and Jin lips formed a smile. He nodded, finally. He walked towards you with the rolled-up tent under his arm and you planted it firmly in the ground. Not a second to soon, too because right after you set it down, another car approached and parked right beside Jin’s,

“Ah, the cavalry arrives”

You commented and just as you and Jin had planted the last fixture and the tent was stable, the car doors opened and the three Musketeers exited the vehicle in style.

Yoongi, sporting his usual urban-grandpa-couture, adjusted his tinted glasses and ran a hand through the hair that stuck out from his headband, before he casually nodded at you and Jin in greeting. Hoseok and his brother Taehyung waved at you enthusiastically in their brightly coloured jackets and each held up a bag filled with goodies that looked extremely promising,

“Woooow! You’re here early!”

Hoseok could barely believe it,

“And you even grabbed the best spot, well done guys!”

He congratulated you, genuinely surprised that you made it here before anyone else for the first time,

“be honest, did you ever expect this to happen?”

You asked him as he came over to hug you and Jin simultaneously,

“Not in a million years”,

“But we’ve been rooting for you guys ever since we started this tradition”

Tae said as he leisurely strolled over and hugged you tightly,

“Thanks, it only took us almost 10 years to get here, so we’re gonna make sure to rub it in your faces whenever possible”

Jin piped up and you chuckled to yourself,

“If you got here so early you could have prepared the fire already instead of being lazy”

Yoongi grumbled and trudged over, as well,

“Missed you too, boo bear”

You cooed at him and went to pinch his cheeks,

“Goochie goo, look at you, you put on weight”

You loved treating him like a baby. He also loved it when you did it but he would sooner die than ever admit to that,

“Ugh, don’t touch me”

He weakly tried to wiggle out of your grip on his pinchable cheeks and after they presented all the goodies, they brought with them, you helped the guys set up their tent. Then you actually did prepare the fire. The last of your friends to arrive were Namjoon, his baby cousin Jungkook and Jimin. Even more pinchable cheeks for you to victimize, you thought, rubbing your hands together evilly. When they arrived, the rest of you were sitting around the fire and you only noticed their arrival when you heard their voices approach through the trees. Apparently, they had chosen to hike here,

“I’m never listening to you again… hiking here, for fuck’s sake! I can’t believe I thought this was a good idea”

Joon said, sounding somewhat out of breath as he and Jungkook stepped into the clearing. He dropped his bags and drew in a long breath,

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad! And it’s not like you couldn’t use a little more exercise…”

Jungkook said, mumbling the last part of the sentence,

“What was that?”,

“Nothing, nothing…”

Jungkook picked up Joon’s bags in addition to his and marched on towards you guys, sitting by the fire. Jimin stepped out of the woods last and looked just as ethereal as everyone remembered. As he ran a hand through his hair, the sun immediately took a step back to let him take the place in the spotlight. A collective sigh ran through your group and a couple of awkward glances and coughs were exchanged before you all got your bearings back. He smiled when he saw you and gave a little wave that made you giggle like a little girl when you waved back. Jin could only shake his head in disbelief. Sure, Jimin was hot. Even he could admit to that; but surely you thought Jin was handsome, too, right?

“Sorry we’re late, guys!”

Jungkook said as he reached you and set the bags down,

“Don’t worry about it”

Hoseok got up first and hugged the younger boy tightly before the rest of you got up and said hi. Joon and Jimin walked over, too and the hugging continued for a little longer than usual hugging because everyone took a little more time to get an extended hug with Jimin. It was honestly ridiculous how thirsty all of you were for him. And the poor guy had no idea.

______

After all the tents had been set up, everything was prepared and all of you had settled back around the fire, you watched Yoongi and Jimin prepare dinner, while Hoseok and Taehyung played UNO and Jungkook was scribbling something in a notebook. Jin was sitting next to you and reading through the gas grill’s user manual, Jimin and Yoongi were currently trying t get to work,

“Are you sure, you’re not holding it upside down?”

You asked him and reached out to grab it from him but he held it out of your reach and sighed,

“YN, I know how to read a damn…- hold on, it’s actually upside down”,

“Wait, really?

You were only joking about the upside-down thing,

“NO, of course not! How incapable do you think I am?”

Jin slapped your shoulder with the papers and you laughed as you tried to lean away far enough,

“Very, and I’m not even sorry for it”

you said and Jin’s mouth dropped open and he coughed out a laugh,

“With a friend like you, I really don’t need any enemies”

He said and you leaned back in to look up at him and channel your cutest pout,

“This is why you love me, though”

You were right, he thought, no one could make him feel so dumb, yet so happy at the same time. Especially with an annoyingly cute pouty face like yours,

“You’re lucky, that’s true”

He continued flipping through the manual and soon, the grill was working and he saved Yoongi and Jimin from their misery. Just in time, too because Tae was getting hungry and no one wanted to deal with that.

_______

“Aw man, that was so good!”

Jungkook said, stuffing the last food from his bowl into his mouth, chewing loudly,

“You want the rest of mine?”

You asked him, holding your bowl in his direction and he nodded eagerly, big eyes getting even bigger,

“There you go, big boy”

You smiled to yourself and handed him your bowl,

“God, where is all that food even going?”

Yoongi said, as he watched Jungkook devour the additional food he had just received,

“Shhh, let him eat”

You shushed Yoongi with a pat to his leg and watched Jungkook munch happily,

“Anyone want some rice cakes?”

Jimin piped up and opened up a Tupperware filled with the juicy looking sweet treats,

“Oooooh, Jimin, they look amazing!”

You couldn’t believe your eyes; they were your favourite,

“I knew you’d like them”

Jimin said as he watched your eyes and smile grow bigger,

“Have some”

He added and held the box your way,

“Oh yes! Thank you”

You got up and tiptoed around the fire to kneel in front of him to munch on his cakes. You looked at him with glossy eyes, happy that he remembered your favourite treat. And they were good, too. So good, that you had to close your eyes as you had the first bite,

“Ohmygod”

You mumbled with a full mouth,

“Amazing”

You said and Jimin smiled proudly. Jin watched the interaction quietly from his seat. Damn, he thought, he should have remembered to bring some rice cakes for you. He wasn’t really jealous of Jimin and his cakes. Really, he wasn’t. He was convinced that little crush of yours was completely food related, so he didn’t really think there was anything more to it. All he wanted was for that interaction to have taken place with him and also, for you to give all your attention to him and not Jimin. That seems like a reasonable mindset, right? So, in conclusion, he wasn’t jealous, at all. However, when Jimin took a second rice cake out of the box and held it to your lips, time seemed to slow down for Jin and not in the good, romantic way he would have preferred it. Jimin gently placed the cake in your mouth and your lips closed around his finger for a second before he slowly pulled away. You moaned in pleasure as you started chewing and Jin had to bite down on his tongue to not lose his mind. To the others this was a completely normal and innocent thing to witness; just two friends sharing some food, what’s wrong with that? Everything, according to the way Jin was currently staring Jimin down and tried to telepathically communicate his disdain for the way he fed you food in the most erotic way possible. Ok, maybe he was a little jealous, after all. Why was this suddenly getting to him? He knows that the relationship you have with him isn’t purely based on friendship, since the both of you had had some ambiguous moments of will they, won’t they before but it was never really anything you acted upon or even talked about. Nothing to take seriously. Maybe, by watching you and Jimin flirt so innocently, he had just realized now, how precious you really were to him and that he wanted to try and incorporate a romantic aspect into your relationship. Or maybe, he just never felt threatened before. Never felt like his place in your life was about to be taken away from him by a guy with sweet, juicy and delicious cakes. Damn Jimin’s cakes! Jin got up and started collecting everyone’s dishes. He didn’t want to continue watching you basically crawling in Jimin’s lap and sucking the cakes off his fingers. Maybe he went a little too hard with the whole dish collecting thing because as he ripped Jungkook’s bowl from his hands, the younger hadn’t completely finished I and yelled after Jin, as he went down to the lake and started vigorously scrubbing everything. However, Jin didn’t know that he had absolutely nothing to be jealous of because as soon as he had left the circle, Tae, who was sat next to Jimin, made him feed him cakes, as well. Let’s just say that even someone as oblivious as you knew when some actual sexual tension was developing. You decided it was time to awkwardly retreat to your seat now, before you were sandwiched in between the two boys. Only now did you notice that Jin had left the comfort of his camping chair,

“Hey, where did he go?”

You asked Joon, who was wrapped in a thick jacket with his hands around a warm cup of tea. While someone outside of your circle might be a little confused at the sight of someone with such a warm jacket on in this warm weather, you had stopped wondering about his weird habits a while ago. He slurped his tea and pointed down to the shore where, if you squinted heavily, you could faintly recognise the outline of Jin’s body in the dark. You excused yourself from the others and walked the short distance to join Jin in washing the dishes. He was slumped over, kneeling at the shore and, apparently, hadn’t noticed you approaching. So you yelled and gripped his shoulders from behind:

“Careful!”

The high-pitched scream he let out almost burst your eardrums but it was definitely worth it to see him almost jump into the water in shock,

“What the hell, YN? Why would you do that?”

He was clearly very upset about the whole thing but you only snickered like a mean little kid and kneeled down next to him,

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist”

You said and took the knife he was scrubbing out of his hands. Safer this way. Even in the dark you could see his eyes, big as saucers and it only made you laugh more. You took his hand in yours in apology and Jin didn’t resist, he just yelled louder like he usually did,

“You’re such a brat! I volunteer to do the dishes and what do you do? Wow, the disrespect is off the charts!”

His yelling was like an affectionate pat on the back by now because you knew he would never actually yell at you in anger. He knew you loved it because you always laughed even harder when he started ranting. And when you squeezed his hand a little tighter, he was sure there was nothing he enjoyed more than making you laugh by making an ass of himself,

“I’ll stop, I promise!”

You bowed your head and clutched his hand to your chest, still smiling,

“Tsk, empty promises”

He shook his head and you looked up at him,

“I’ll make it up to you, I’ll help you with the dishes”

You said eagerly,

“And also, I snagged one of the rice cakes for you”

Jin listened up,

“I know you love these things even more than I do”

He heard some shuffling and then you held your hand up in front of his face, a tiny cake sitting in your palm,

“Open up”

You said, taking the treat between two fingers and holding it up for Jin,

“For me?”

He asked, just to make sure he wasn’t imagining this,

“Of course, for you, you genius”

 Jin slowly opened his mouth and you gently placed the treat in it, like Jimin did with you. However, Jin didn’t think of Jimin in this moment, he only thought about the way your thumb lingered on his lower lip for a few seconds before you pulled your hand back. He felt his affection for you stir in his heart again. He also felt something else stir in a different bodily region at the feeling of your fingers on his lips. He quickly turned away and swallowed the sweet cake before clearing his throat, 

“Thanks”

He managed to mumble and went right back to washing dishing and willing away the growing problem you were responsible for,    

“Move over, I’ll help”

You said and crowded his space again to help him with the dishes and then a comfortable silence set in, only interrupted by the occasional loud laughter from the rest of the guys.

_________

The last night approached quicker than all of you would have liked. After all of the days spent on the lakeshore, basking in the sun and eating smores at night around the campfire, it was finally time to return to your normal life. You and Jin had gotten used to the tent situation quickly, even though it wasn’t the most comfortable or convenient. Well, for Jin at least. After the you had gone to sleep on the first night, Jin lay awake for a while longer, not being able to get your small fingers and your gentle touch out of his mind and it didn’t help that you were right here next to him, bodies only separated by a thin sheet you used as blanket.

And it had only gotten worse.

Tonight, the silhouette of your body, illuminated by the dying light of the fire outside, made Jin especially weak. He, like you and the others, had a few drinks to celebrate your trip and commemorate your friendship and, surprisingly, alcohol didn’t do a lot to enhance his self -control. More like the opposite,

“You good? Are you comfortable?”, 

“Yeah”,

“Ok”

You and Jin had finally arranged yourselves into the bed rolls and were about to go to sleep. You were turned away from him with not a lot of distance between your bodies. It had been an especially hot day and even though it was already dark, the air and the ground hadn’t begun to cool down, yet. Jin was uncomfortable in the heat and he had already stripped down to his briefs; just being in the tent, next to you, not even a sheet over your bodies, to avoid even more heat, he felt like his body was heating up even more. He heard you shuffle around a little and then your thin top was flying over his face and you wore nothing but your underwear,

“I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable but I feel like I’m melting”

You said and fanned your face to feel even the slightest relief from the heat. Jin didn’t say anything for a few seconds, too caught up in the realisation that you were in nothing but your underwear, right next to him,

“It’s fine”

His voice betrayed him, sounding breathy and thin. He cleared his throat,

“Don’t worry about it”  

There, he sounded super manly again,

“I’m dying over here… it was nice when we were in the water but now? I’m not made for this weather”

You lamented and turned to Jin, tucking your hands under your head to be comfortable. He was glad that it was so dark because if there were even a little bit more light coming in from the outside you would have seen him staring shamelessly at your tits, pushed together between your arms,

“Yeah it’s uh… really bad”

Very smooth, Jin, managing to answer even though his briefs were getting uncomfortably tight, he thought to himself. The fire outside finally went out completely and the clinking of glasses and the sound of another tent zipper let you know that the last of your friends were about to hit the hay, as well,

“Do you mind if I open the zipper? Let some more air in?”

You asked and sat up already,

“No, go ahead, can’t be worse than this, anyway”  

You felt around for the zipper and dragged it down until the flaps of the tent opened and a slight breeze greeted you from outside,

“Well, it’s not much but I can breathe a little better”,

You fell back into the bed roll with a sigh and Jin suddenly had an idea,

“Hey, YN”,

“Hm?”,

“How about we just go down to the lake? Put our feet in the water, cool down a little, you know?”,

“Mhmh, I guess”,

“It’s probably more effective than just opening the zipper”,

“Yeah, you’re right”

You sighed again and sat up in the tent,

“Ok then, let’s go. We gotta be quiet though, I think everyone’s sleeping already” 

You said and Jin sat up, too, to crawl out of the tent and help you stand up after you crawled out, too. He grabbed your hand and slowly you navigated the dark clearing in the full moon light down to the soft grass around the lake shore until you felt the water gently lap on your feet. Both of you sat down on the grass and let the waves envelope your feet on their way up,

“Ugh, I already feel so much better”

You relaxed and lay back on the grass, stretching your overheated and tired limbs,

“Same”

Jin stretched his legs, tapping and tickling your smaller feet with his and making you giggle,

“Jin, that tickles”

You tried to wiggle away, and escape his big gorilla feet,

“Is this an unexplored fetish of yours?”  

you asked, making Jin laugh and trying to not be too loud,

“The tickling or the feet?”,

“Oh my god is it both?”,

“Are you kink-shaming me?”

“Definitely! Feet are gross”

You smiled and pushed yourself off the grass back into a sitting position,

“I don’t have a weird kink, calm down”

Jin loved riling you up, just as much as you did it to him,

“Anyway, I’m gonna go in, I think”

He announced after he was done teasing you and slowly waded into the shallow water,

“you coming?”

You looked up at him, shaking your head,

“I don’t think so, I don’t have my bathing suit. Don’t wanna sleep in wet undies”

“Suit yourself. But don’t complain about the heat”

He simply said and turned around, walking until water reached up to his ribs. It probably wouldn’t be so bad to get your underwear wet; in this heat they would be dry in no time anyway. But another thought crossed your mind and you contemplated just going commando. Even though yours and Jin’s relationship had never been anything more that friendly, except for a little flirting here and there, you felt like it could be more. There could be more to the flirting and the innocent hand touching. And times like these made you want to just cross the line. Despite Jin thinking he was pretty subtle about everything, you had noticed how, during the trip, he eyed you and Jimin curiously whenever you were talking. You had also noticed how he tried to put as much distance between you as possible in the tent as to not push his very obvious hard on anywhere near you. By now you just wanted to see if he would cross the line first. Watching him, you unclipped your bra and slipped your panties down your legs, before you also let the cool waves roll against your body. He had already made his way a little farther out and you stopped where your feet could still feel the ground and the water just reached around your clavicle,

“Guess the heat finally got to you, hm?”

Jin said, as he noticed you approaching,

“Right, the heat”

You mumbled and he swam closer, back to you,

“Not worried about the clothes anymore?”

You shook your head and smiled,

“What clothes?”,

“Your under- Oh”

Jin stopped in the middle of the sentence after he had realised what you meant. His mouth fell open as his eyes took in the naked line of your shoulders, no straps in sight,

“I didn’t wanna get them wet”

You said and Jin has to swallow hard. You’re naked under the blurry sheen of the water and he doesn’t know how to handle the situation,

“Yeah, no, I get it, convenience and all that, right?”

He laughs awkwardly and tries and fails to cover up his sudden insecurity about your naked boobs just a few inches away from his face,

“Yeah, I just thought I’d let the girls breathe, you know?”

You looked down and Jin could see your hands covering your boobs right under the surface,

“Yeah, yeah, no big deal, just let the… the girls out”

He took a deep breath and tried to look anywhere but your hands encasing your tits. The trees were pretty in the dark, so out there. And their crowns looked so big and full and round in the moonlight. They were probably very soft if he were to submerge his face between them.

Yeah, trees really were something; He had always been a tree guy.

And he probably should take a step back so he wouldn’t accidentally poke you in the stomach,

“Are you ok? Am I making you uncomfortable?”

You asked, your voice sounding all soft an innocent,

“Do you want me to put it all back on?”

Jin whipped his head around at that and held his hands up,

“No! No, I mean…”

More awkward coughing,

“Don’t bother, you’re comfortable. I’m completely fine”

You giggled cutely and Jin felt his self-control pack its bags and jump out of the window,

“Are you sure? You seem kinda bothered…”

You took a step forward and Jin escaped immediately,

“I think I’m gonna go back out, it’s freezing in here, don’t you think?”

He stuttered and rushed through the water so fast that I splashed you in the face. You smiled to yourself, fully aware that Jin was definitely not unbothered by your boobs. A fact, that you would use to your advantage.

And Entertainment.

You also swam back to the shore, where Jin was already standing on the grass again, his back turned to the water. When the water wasn’t high enough to cover up your nakedness anymore you wanted to get Jin’s attention again. You slowly exited the water and walked towards Jin, who was currently picking up your underwear carefully. You noticed him stalling a moment and feeling the soft fabric of your panties between his fingers before he spoke up,

“YN, I’ll leave your stuff closer to the water, ok?”

He said, thinking you were still swimming around without a care in the world,

“No need”

You said from behind him and he jumped, dropping your things, then tripped and landed on his ass, as he tried to put some more distance between you again,  

“Ah… you scared me again

He said, sitting on the floor and covering his eyes with his fingers immediately. He was only able to see your face through the gaps between his fingers. You didn’t say anything; you just stood there for a few seconds, making Jin suffer even more,

“I uh, do you wanna go back by any chance? I’m kinda tired”

He tried to find an excuse to flee again but you weren’t having it. You knelt down and placed your self firmly in his lap, straddling him,

“I don’t wanna go back, yet”

You mumbled and gently wrapped your small fingers around the wrist of Jin’s hand, trying to get him to uncover his eyes and look at you. He resisted. Not at all cost but it was enough to give you pause and make you doubt your intentions,

“Jin, it’s ok, you can look”

You tried to soothe him a little but he didn’t relent,

“YN, please, I’m trying so hard”

He whispered, hoping you would get the message.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to look, he definitely wanted to. He was sure, the hard dick poking you in the thighs told you so very clearly. It was just that he wasn’t sure what would happen, if he gave in. Your friendship was something he treasured and was thankful for every day, no matter how annoying you could be at times,

“Would it be so bad? We’ve been friends for so long, have you never thought about it?”

Your soft voice slowly but surely worked on dismantling his determination,

“Of course, I thought about it. Multiple times, actually. Especially this week”

Jin answered and he felt you shift slightly above him,

“So, if you thought about it, does that mean… you just don’t want to?”

He thought he heard something like disappointment in your voice and he was never good at ignoring when you felt down,

“Are you kidding? You think I’d be this hard if I didn’t want to?”

He tried to lighten the mood and let his free hand move up and down your thigh,

“I’ve been wanting to do this forever, YN, I just don’t know if this is a good idea”, 

“Jin, please…”

He swallowed as he felt you move again, this time you were pushing down on him, grinding against him and he had a hard time to keep his eyes covered,

“Shit”

He cursed at the feeling of you grinding on him and you moved his hand higher from your thigh while you tried again to remove his hand from his face. He slowly let you but he kept his eyes closed,

“Jin, look at me”

You now held both of his hands in yours and you slowly moved the up your body until they cupped your breasts. You sighed and squeezed Jin’s hands around them making him moan and his head fell forward, against your shoulder,

“YN, fuck, you need to stop… I’m a weak man and your tits feel amazing”

He started squeezing on his own and slowly rubbed his thumbs on your nipples,

“Touch me, baby, please”

Your pleas were making him so weak and he knew there was no way he would stop now, that he felt your soft skin under his hands. He turned his head just a little, placing his lips against your neck and kissing you gently. He listened to your moans and let you move against him, rub yourself against his dick in his briefs and it made him so hard; shit, you just felt so good against him, warm and soft and your tits were so fucking nice he couldn’t form a coherent thought anymore. He wanted more, needed more, needed to touch more and taste more of you, so he quickly spun you around and pushed your body back into the soft grass and hovered above you,

“Kiss me”

You whine and he wants nothing more than to kiss every inch of your skin. Starting with your pretty lips; you pretty lips which were always pouting smiling, making him crazy and making him wish he knew what the felt like around his dick. He leans down and they’re so soft. So damn soft like your beautiful tits, which he went right back to squeezing and massaging, making you moan into his mouth. Then it’s wet; tongues finding each other, wet bodies grinding together and your wet pussy rubbing against him. God, you’re so wet. He even feels it through his boxer briefs. He never thought he’d be able to get you this wet. When you lift your legs and wrap them around his hips, he can’t hold back any longer,

“Shit, you feel so good, YN, so fucking soft”

He starts kissing your neck again, moving along the smooth skin down to your collarbone and then further down to suck one of your nipples into his mouth. You moaned and ran your hands through his hair, tugging slightly and running your nails along his scalp,

“Feel good, baby?”

He asked, voice rough as he switched sides,  

“So good…”

You managed to answer through your bliss-clouded mind,

“Want more”

You added and weakly grabbed one of Jin’s hands to move it lower, between your legs,

“More? Want me here? Want me to touch your pussy?”

You never would have guessed Jin would be so vocal during sex, you always thought he’d be the sweet and vanilla type of guy but you weren’t about to complain when his fingers felt so good rubbing your lower lips,

“Yes, touch me, please, want you so much”

you pulled his face back down to yours to kiss him as he let his fingers slide through your wetness and moaned into the kiss at how fucking good it felt,

“Shit, you’re so wet… so fucking warm, fuck”

He started rubbing your clit lightly and you broke the kiss to bury your face in his neck and muffle your moans,

“Ah, Jin…”,

“Like this?”,

“Fuck, yes”

He made you feel so good, you wanted to do the same. You worked your hand between your bodies, too and started rubbing Jin through the fabric of his briefs. The feeling of his hard dick in your hands made you want more and you slipped your hand inside, wrapping it around him for real and gently moving it until you felt his fingers lose their rhythm on your clit and all you could hear were the pleasured moans he failed to hold in,

“Am I doing it right?”

You knew you were doing it right but you also knew Jin loved it when you acted helpless and cute. Could only apply even more in this situation,

“Yeah, you are… So right, so good, shit”

He sucked on the skin of your neck and slid his finger from your clit down and slowly, gently slipped it inside of you, moaning at the warm wet feeling that greeted him. You couldn’t find any words that would accurately express your thoughts at this moment; you could just tighten your legs around him and try not to be so loud you’d wake the others,

“You like that, hm? Feel so tight, baby, can’t wait to fuck you”

Jin moaned in your ear and you felt a heatwave run through your body,

“Jin, fuck me, plea- Ah…”

right as you begged him, he slid in a second finger,

“That what you want? Want me to fuck you?”

He pushed his fingers in deeper and you tried to not lose the rhythm you had going on with your hand around his dick,

“Mhmmh”

You couldn’t form a decent answer at this point,

“You sure, baby? I could make you come like this and then fuck you; make you come again”

He kissed you slow and deep this time, moving his fingers in tandem with his tongue. You shook your head, tightening your legs again, pushing his fingers even deeper,

“No? You want it now? Want me to fuck that tight little pussy?”

Jesus, you thought, you never knew words could turn you on so much,

“Then you’ll get it, baby”

He pulled his fingers out slowly and you watched as he stuck them in his mouth to suck them clean,

“Mhm, fuck, I’ll eat you next time, don’t even try to stop me”

You spread your legs as he sat back on his haunches and pushed his briefs down, finally. You couldn’t make out his size in the dark but you had already felt that it was a little bigger than what you were used to.

Jin gripped himself, moving his hand along his dick and sighing,

“Can’t believe this is happening…”

He said and leaning back down, hovering over your body,

“Wanted this for so long”

He continued and you let your hand travel over his naked chest as he guided his dick to slide through your wetness. You watched him shudder and a breath hitched in his throat as his dick made contact with your wet, warm centre,

“God, feels so good already, Jin, don’t tease me”

He bent down and kissed you,

“I won’t, I just…”

He hesitated for a second and took a deep breath,

“I don’t have any condoms with me, I wasn’t really planning on this to happen”

You smiled at the sudden insecurity in his voice and gently ran a hand through his dishevelled hair,

“It’s fine, I have an IUD, you don’t have to worry”,

“I can come inside you? You sure?”,

“I want you to”,

“Fuck…”

Jin went right back to kissing and sucking on your neck,

“Please, Jin, just fuck me… want you so bad”

The way you sounded so fucking whiney and sweet; he moaned into your skin and rubbed his dick along your pussy before he slowly pushed the head inside. Unprepared for the incredible feeling of your wet, tight pussy around his dick, he pushed in even more, swallowing all your moans and pleas. Never had he felt this good before, literally never. Your pussy felt so damn good around him, he wasn’t even completely sure this was real,

“Ah, Jin!”

He could tell you tried to be quiet,

“Shit, it’s so big…”,

“You ok? Want me to go slow?”

He asked for your comfort, yet he wasn’t sure he could do anything about it because his dick was definitely pushing itself deeper inside you of its own accord. He probably couldn’t stop, even if he wanted to,

“No, I’m fine, it feels amazing”

You threw your head back into the grass and Jin bent a little to suck your nipple back into his mouth, adding to your pleasure even more. He pushed in deeper and deeper, moving his hips until they wouldn’t go any further and he was balls deep inside you. Even if you didn’t, he needed a moment to come back to reality and not finish before he had even started. You held him so tightly and he squeezed every bit of skin he could reach as your hips moved against his, stealing his breath and making him feel so fucking good,

“You feel so good, YN, so fucking good”

He closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the feeling of your body against his, 

“So wet, so tight- this pussy’s made for me”

He mumbled against your skin and kissed and sucked what his lips could find. He wanted to be more in control, wanted to be more focused on your pleasure but it just felt so good. He could only hope he was making you feel as good as he possibly could,

“Jin, touch me…”

He heard you sigh and he placed one last kiss to your lips before he pushed himself up to sit back, so he could bring his fingers back to your clit,

“Like this?”

He asked as he rubbed you and immediately felt you clench around him,

“Yes, ah… like that”,

He lifted your leg onto his shoulder with his other hand, spreading you even more for him. This new angle had him hitting you deeper and Jin did his very best to hit all the right places. He already felt his end approaching and he knew he couldn’t hold it off for long,

“Jin, fuck, I’m close, don’t stop”

Your words were music to his ears. He held your leg tightly to his chest, fucking you deeper and harder, working his fingers as close to the rhythm his hips were setting as possible,

“That’s it, baby, come for me”

He ben forward slightly, wanting to be closer to you, wanting to see your face when you came,

“Come all over my dick”

His words made you feel hot all over and you felt your muscles contracting, bringing you closer to your end,

“Ahh, I’m gonna come”

Your voice was strained and you put both of your hands over your mouth, knowing this was gonna be a loud one. Jin was captivated by the pure look of pleasure on your face and devoted all of his movements to making you come, desperate to see your face and feel you clench around his dick,

“Gonna come for me? I can feel it, baby, tell me what to do”,

“Just like that, don’t stop”,

“You’re so beautiful… look so good like this; I want you so much”

He told you all the things he always wanted you to know and more until he felt your pussy tighten around him and your leg spasm in his grip while you moaned through your hands in a desperate attempt to deafen the noise as you came around him. He pushed in so deep, revelling in the feeling of your orgasm and letting his own take over. He bent down, pushing your hands out of your face and capturing your lips in a slow, deep kiss that made your toes curl like that orgasm just did. He came so deep inside you, filling you up so good and holding you so tight and close, you never wanted him to let you go. As your muscles relaxed and your breathing evened out again, just like Jin’s, he took your hands in his and kissed them before intertwining your fingers and pressing another long, deep kiss to your lips,

“Jeesus, Jin, I never would have thought you’d be so uh... vocal”

Was the first thing that came to your mind as he slipped out of you and lay down next to you. He let out a hearty laugh and ran a hand over his face,

“I don’t know what came over me”

He said and you smiled,

“I just bring out the best in you, don’t I?”

He squeezed your hand lovingly,

“My best is definitely in you, yes”

He snickered and you slapped his shoulder,

“You’re so nasty”

You both giggled as suddenly a loud voice rang through your post-orgasmic bliss,

“You’re both nasty! Fucking like horny teenagers while all your friends are trying to sleep? What are you, 16? Get a damn room next time, fuck!”

Both of you recognized Yoongi’s voice. You probably woke him up or kept him from sleeping,

“Whoops…”

You said, hiding your face in Jin’s neck,

“You should be happy it’s only happened now! Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten any sleep at all!”  

Jin yelled back and you laughed even harder.

He had exactly zero shame and that was probably why you worked so well together. And you continued to work well together two more times that night. And then you continued to work even better together for a lot more years to come.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

A spooky midnight feast

What a long night - and I mean that in a good way! First the theatre, now it's the Spooky Moon Festival. We just enjoyed a spooky midnight feast hosted by Jack to kick off the festivities.

A couple days ago we visited Peace Coast Island to see Marlo and Don. Marlo’s an old friend from Rosevine who left home about six years ago to become an actress in New York City. Not too long after moving there, Marlo met Don, a journalist for News Times, and as of last year they became engaged.

Marlo is who some would consider a starving artist. While she has appeared in numerous commercials, soap operas, and stage shows, Marlo hasn't gotten her big break yet. She has always managed to get by with odd jobs in between sporadic gigs but it sometimes seems like she gets the short end of the stick. It's a shame because she really is a talented and versatile actress.

But it looks like Marlo's finally gonna get her big break with Sugar and Spice, a brand new musical comedy drama that just made its debut at Starlight Theatre. The show played for two weeks there and the next stop will be Port Beacon, followed by Etienne Falls, Glassenwick, Cabot Bridge, and Petunia. This isn't the first time Marlo's gone on tour for a brand new show, but in past experiences, the show turns out to be a bomb and the tour closes early. Though based on the reviews for Sugar and Spice so far - as well as my own thoughts on it - we have high hopes!

Tagging along with Marlo for the first leg of the tour is Don. Since Marlo went off on her first tour, Don has been tagging along to write a review for the show, so he gets work done and gets to spend some time with Marlo - a win-win situation for both. However, if the tour goes on for the full twelve weeks - or more if things go really well - that's gonna be the longest time the two have been apart from each other.

Instead of heading back to New York, Don's gonna be staying at the camp for a while. He's gonna write an article about the Spooky Moon Festival, which he plans to finish tomorrow to get that out of the way. Marlo was the one who suggested that he take some extra days off by visiting the camp to get his mind off things. It's so sweet how much they're gonna miss each other while Marlo's away.

I've met Don a handful of times since he and Marlo started dating. They're a sweet couple, like a comedic duo with Marlo being the funny one while Don's the straight one - they play off each other super well. Anyone who can keep up with Marlo's antics while having a great sense of humor is a winner. I can't wait for the day when they finally get married!

Considering how long they've been together, it was hard to believe that they almost broke up last year. Don spoke about the near breakup when he and Marlo appeared as guests on Garden Chats, a podcast about mental health, a couple months back. It's a really good episode that not only brings up interesting points about the stigma behind depression but also the strong bond Marlo and Don share. Don said that he was hesitant to do the podcast at first but in the end he was glad he did it.

How the two got together is a cute and funny story. Marlo had her first acting gig for an ad for a security system where she played a damsel in distress during a break in. Don was nearby and thought Marlo was in danger so he swooped in to save the day, only to be humiliated after getting yelled at by her and the crew. The poor guy was so caught up in helping someone in need that he failed to notice the cameras and other equipment that were clearly visible. After getting over the embarrassment, Marlo decided to take him out to dinner as she found him kinda cute and didn’t want to be responsible for him crawling under a rock and never ever seeing the light of day again.

For the next four years Marlo and Don hardly left each other’s side. Marlo’s dad often complains that every time he comes over to visit his daughter, her boyfriend’s always there - though over the years he’s warmed up to him. Likewise whenever Marlo comes home, Don usually tags along with her. I think it was Luciana or maybe Emmaline who said that sometimes they forget that Don’s not from Rosevine nor has he ever lived there.

In a way it’s kinda like an opposites attract sort of relationship. Don’s more serious and levelheaded while Marlo is more lighthearted and playful. She’s confident and ambitious, always jumping from one thing to another. He’s more of a go with the flow type, the one who picks and chooses his battles with consideration. He may come across as a no nonsense kind of guy sometimes, but he’s also a sensitive one. She may have a tendency to ramble on and attract trouble, but you have to admit her heart’s in the right place. Marlo gets in over her head while Don gets taken in for the ride. They compliment and contrast each other - sometimes even picking up each other’s traits over the years.

So imagine what was going through everyone’s heads when rumors started going around about the engagement being broken. Since there was never really a confirmation or a denial, no one really knew what was going on. At least for me and my circle of friends, while we were concerned, we knew it wasn’t our place to get involved in any way. Now that we know what really happened thanks to the podcast, I’m glad that the whole thing never really made the gossip mill.

The podcast that Don and Marlo did was hosted by Lessa, probably making it the first time I’ve ever listened to a podcast where I know the host and the guests on a personal level. Don spoke about how he was recently diagnosed with clinical depression and how he had suspected that something was wrong with him for a long time before that. Pressure from work and his engagement along with a bunch of other personal issues led to him getting cold feet and abruptly breaking things off with Marlo. With everything going on he suddenly found himself unable to cope so he ended up almost sabotaging the best thing to ever happen to him. Looking back, he felt that it was his way of punishing himself for not being happy enough despite having everything he could have ever wanted (and more) from someone he loved.

Marlo also spoke about the near breakup and how she began doubting herself when Don started pushing her away. When he told her that he couldn’t marry her, she couldn’t believe it. So she fought back, demanding an explanation and blaming herself. But because she loved him, Marlo knew that she couldn’t just stand there and watch Don slip into a downward spiral.

The “breakup” lasted for about a month, which was the longest Marlo and Don went without talking to each other. By then their friends had noticed a change in Don’s behavior as he was isolating himself from everyone and acting erratically. Marlo felt helpless but persisted and once Don realized that he wasn't all right, he turned to Marlo and her family for help. Since then their relationship has grown stronger.

It was interesting to hear them be so open and vulnerable about their struggles. If the whole conversation isn't proof of how much they care about each other, I don't know what is. I'm glad that Don's getting the help he needs and that Marlo's luck is finally changing.

As for the wedding, there's no set date yet but it's definitely happening. Though at this point they're pretty much like an old married couple, which is super cute. With everything going on in their personal and professional lives, they want to wait until things settle down before tying the knot. Daisy Jane, Andrea, Almie, and I are betting that the wedding's happening sooner rather than later - as in this year. Based on these past few days, it looks like we're not too far off the mark!

Marlo was absolutely fantastic in Sugar and Spice! From the catchy songs to the witty dialogue and relatable characters, it's no wonder that the play has been getting glowing reviews! Marlo stole the show, easily one of the highlights of the play. Unlike previous shows Marlo toured for, she's not stuck being the saving grace of a poorly executed script, something that she has been the victim of far too many times.

The show's about a group of friends who work at a bakery called Sugar and Spice. Marlo is Gingie, a newcomer who had just left home and rediscovers her love for baking through the bakery. There's a funny running gag of Gingie coming up with the most ridiculous cookie recipes that turn out good and leaving the kitchen in such a state of disaster in the process. It's a cute and funny show about a bunch of friends who like to bake.

In between shows, Marlo joined us at the camp. Most of the nights were sold out or didn't have enough seats for the camp, which was why we were unable to attend the first week. Once things got settled down with rehearsals and such, Marlo and Don were able to have some time for themselves at the camp. The two enjoyed picnics on various hangout spots, sightseeing near the mountains, and chilling at the beach.

We also helped Jack set up for the Spooky Moon Festival. Marlo was bummed that she's gonna miss it so Don promised to take a lot of pics for her. It's been great catching up with them and seeing them have fun together. They plan to return in the near future so that's something to look forward to!

The Spooky Moon Festival comes once every few years to celebrate the Spooky Moon. While helping out with the festival, I've learned a lot about the event. Basically there's a spooky looking moon that looks like it's covered in cobwebs that comes into view every four years. It looks super cool, like something out of a vintage spooky picture you see in old books. Everything about the festival gives off Halloween vibes and I'm really digging the aesthetic!

After seeing Marlo off, we got to prepping for the midnight feast. Don's been a great deal of help and it's nice getting to know him on a one on one basis. I think this is the first time I've hung out with him without Marlo. He's been enjoying the camp, which is great as Marlo didn't want him to worry about her too much. Like I said, it's sweet how much they watch out for each other.

At midnight, the festivities began! Making the food was a lot of fun, especially making everything look spooky and cool for the occasion. Decorating cookies was my favorite part as well as cutting out dough into fun shapes for the pies. It took a lot of prep time but the effort was so worth it - everything came out great!

Along with the food, we enjoyed listening to spooky stories, playing fun games, and looking at the moon through the astronomer's telescope. The Spooky Moon's a lovely view to see, made even better with good company to share it with!

[getitinbusan]

Jinnuendo

Jinnuendo Submitted by @befriendswithj​ is the first fic for our Campfire writing game. Jungkook, Jimin And Yoongi coming soon. Taehyung, Namjoon and J Hope are still open!

Camping with your friends was supposed to be fun- you could only agree, now that Jin had made camping even funner. 

 Jin x Reader

8806 Words

Genre: Fluff, Friends to lovers, Smut, Crack,

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, dirty talk, fingering, outdoor sex, unprotected sex (wrap it before u tap it, kids), Jimin’s cakes, The title… Well, there’s no excuse for that, sorry

I think that’s it?

_______________

“Yikes, I wouldn’t wanna be her right now”

Said the bus boy standing next to you, crossing his arms as he watched the restaurant manager approach the newest addition to the waiter team, who was currently involved in a rather heated discussion with a guest,

“It’s a shame she’s gonna have to leave, she was nice…”

You added and both of you sighed heavily and returned to your duties while the poor girl was being fired for standing her ground. She was the third one this month alone. To be fair, your manager was not an easy man to please, so it only made sense that new additions to the tea would be examined even more closely than you and the others, who had worked here for longer. The only thing keeping you safe from the manager’s wrath was your natural ability to fake-smile for hours on end. It was a gift as much as it was a curse but it had secured your job in the customer service sector so far.

And soon you will have survived another painful day of serving bitchy, rude and entitled Karen’s and Chad’s for the sake of financing your studies. At least they tipped well if you smiled hard enough.

This was your last day of work before you could look forward to two weeks of uninterrupted relaxation time. You handed in your last paper for this semester last week, so all of the work for university was also

done and nothing would interfere with your plans to sleep for three days straight and then spend the rest of the time at the beach, cooking in the sun.

“See you guys in a few weeks”

You yelled into the kitchen after you gathered your things and clocked out for the night. A few hurried goodbyes reached your ears before you exited through the back door of the restaurant and finally breathed in the fresh air, smelling of freedom and definitely not the burger grease stench coming from the kitchen AC vent.

No, it was definitely freedom and it was glorious.

_________

After a hot shower and big glass of wine you were slumped on your couch, ready to pass out any second now, when your phone went off and almost gave you a heart-attack.

You took a deep breath and checked the caller ID to see your friend Seokjin calling,

“What is it?”

Normally, Jin calling was a thing you were happy about, however, being interrupted while passing out after a 10-hour shift at your job, was not a happy occasion and you couldn’t mask the annoyance in your voice,

“Whoa, what’s got your panties in a twist? Did that guy at work steal your tips again?”

He asked and you breathed a heavy sigh,

“No, I think he learnt his lesson after I cut out the butt on all his work pants…

You answered, slowly sitting up and reaching for your wine glass to empty it with a last few sips before continuing the conversation

“Why are you calling so late? I was about to fall asleep…”,

“I just wanted to remind you to pack if you haven’t done it already. Which you probably haven’t. Case in point”

Pack? You creased your brows. Pack for what?

“YN? You still there?”,

“Uhh, yeah I am I just… can you remind me what I’m supposed to be packing for?”

If you weren’t so tired, you’d probably be a little more embarrassed,

“Seriously? It’s that time of the year, YN! It’s blackout week! Joon send everyone reminders months ago! And then weeks ago! And then again 2 days ago! How could you forget the most magical event of the year?”

You needed to hold the phone at a slight distance as to not go deaf at the sound of Seokjin’s friendly reminder. He was right, though, how could you forget? Blackout Week was the one week that you and your group of friends all looked forward to collectively every year. A whole week of camping in the mountains near a beautiful lake and no one was allowed to bring any kind of electronic devices, unless it was absolutely necessary for survival. A flashlight would be an exception but other than that you guys were pretty adapt at reverting your way of life back to the good old dark ages.

You were lucky that Jungkook and Hoseok had been part of a group of boy scouts or else blackout week would have ended in a disaster each time. Yeah well, maybe you had exaggerated when you said that all of you were pretty adapt at this stuff… But nevertheless, you were all very determined, which was just as important,

“Shit, you’re right, I completely forgot…”

You ran your hand across your face and sighed,

“Of course, you forgot, why am I even surprised…”

Jin sounded more upset that he actually was, you knew him by now. You just needed to work him a little bit,

“How early are we leaving tomorrow? Can I do it in the morning? I’m so tired…”

You probably sounded a little whiney but that usually did the trick with Jin,

“I told you to be ready at 5, you know how long the drive is. Ah YN, I still can’t believe it, you’re so careless sometimes…”

He already sounded a little softer,

“I’m sorry, I’ll start packing right now, ok?”,

You made sure to sound like the helpless damsel in distress you wanted Jin to believe you were and you were sure you had cracked him. You heard him sigh heavily on the other end of the line,

“Do you need help packing? I’ll come over and help you, it’ll be quicker and you can get more sleep”,

“Are you sure? It’s late already…”,

“Just stay awake for the next fifteen minutes and open the door when I knock, ok? I’ll be right there”,

“Ok…”

He hung up and you smiled to yourself. There were a few advantages to knowing how Jin’s mind worked. And knowing Jin, he would never not come and help you out and you were grateful to have such a selfless friend. He knew you were an absolute mess and he didn’t mind picking up your slack once in a while because you took care of him in turn. It wasn’t like you turned up whenever he called, like he usually did for you but you were the type of friend to think of things he forgot to do for himself. You had been friends for so long, that he had given you a key to his apartment a while back and you used it to make sure his fridge was always stocked, and his plants were taken care of. He worked a lot. Way more than you and the little things like self-care and chores sometimes got put on the back burner. Since you had a little more time on your hands you would take care of these things once in a while.

Before you got up off the couch to put on some comfy pants, you stretched your tired limbs and pressed play again to let Netflix run in the background.

Jin knocked right as you finished pouring two mugs of coffee, which both of you would probably need to undertake the monumental task of packing your camping bag. You opened the door and let him inside, handing him the mug right away and watching a smile creep onto his face,

“Coffee was a good idea”

He said and slurped loudly after he closed the door,

“Thought it would make me feel less dead. I have yet to see that theory proven”

You sipped on your coffee, too,

“Thank you for helping me, though, I completely forgot about the trip”

Jin waved you off,

“At this point I’d be surprised if you actually had remembered it. I know I’m usually the busy one but this semester you’ve had so much stuff to do, that I can’t even be mad you forgot everything not related to uni”

You smiled at him. Even though Jin loved to get his Dad mode on and get all red-faced and out of breath from all the scolding, he was a softie at heart and everyone knew, no matter how hard he puffed up his chest, he never really meant any harm. He was all bark and no bite and none of your friends took anything he said seriously,

“Let’s get started then”

He said and put down the mug in your sink before waltzing off towards your bedroom and digging around in your closet until he emerged with your suitcase. You watched him zoom around the place for a second until you joined him, sitting down on the bedroom floor and grabbing some clothes to roll up and place in the case,

“You want some snacks?”

You asked Jin in case he wanted some food in addition to the great entertainment you provided with Netflix in the background, your loud combined breathing and the rustling of useless stuff around you as you moved it around to find viable things to pack,

“I’m good, thanks, though”

He said and dived head first into a pile of clothes to look for your warmer sweatshirts. The end of summer was in sight and you would be staying pretty high up the mountains, so better be prepared,

“Although… do you still have some of those mini pretzels?”,

“Yeah, sure”

You got up and got him the bag of his beloved snack and then it was time to get some real work done.

_________

“Thank GOD we finally made it!”

Jin jumped out of the car and went to kneel down to kiss the ground but you stopped him before things could get ugly. What a baby, you thought to yourself… so what if you sang along to Cotton Eyed Joe for three hours straight? It’s a timeless masterpiece,

“So what if I sang along to Cotton Eyed Joe for three hours straight, it’s a timeless masterpiece!”

You argued and Jin’s eyes almost bulged out of his head,

“A timeless- can you even comprehend the unspeakable agony I was in? It felt like my soul left my mortal body and only the haunting of Cotton Eyed Joe remained…”

He could be such a drama queen sometimes. You rolled your eyes and sighed; deciding to be the bigger person really should be considered a virtue,

“Anyway, we made it here on time, didn’t we? You sure know how to burn some rubber when you don’t like the music I play…”

Jin pulled himself off the ground, holding onto the car door. His joints weakly cracked while he got up,

“I aged like 30 years during this trip and it’s only just starting…”

He mumbled to himself, shaking his head and making his neck crack in addition to everything else,

“What was that?”

You asked and Jin quickly went to unload the trunk,

“Nothing, nothing”

He answered, avoiding an even longer discussion about Cotton Eyed Joe.

You quickly joined him and had your bags unloaded in no time.

It seemed like you were the first ones to arrive at the camping site and when you informed Jin of that, his mood immediately shifted,

“We get to choose our spot?”

He looked at you in disbelief,

“Seems like it…”,

“Finally, we don’t have to sleep next to the dumpster!”

You never got to choose your spot because you had never been the first ones to arrive,

“Jin, there isn’t even a dumpster here, were in the middle of literal nowhere, nothing but lake, mountains and forest for miles”,

“True but somehow, the garbage always ended up being next to our tent because it was the only space left”

Ok, well, you guessed that was kinda true. You didn’t mind it though, you were a heavy sleeper,

“Ok, so let’s pick a good spot this time, hm?”

You said, clapped your hands together and looked around to assess the available spots,

“How about over there?”

You pointed to the edge of the clearing, where the trees began to grow thicker and taller. Jin squinted and pursed his lips,

“Hmmmm….”

He hummed and you guessed you wouldn’t be setting up there,

“What do you think about setting up here?”

You walked into the middle of the clearing, near the stump where the campfire would be set up later and Jin immediately pursed his lips even harder and hummed louder and you quickly suggested more,

“Ok, so near the lake then? Work with me here, Jin”

You walked down to the soft grass near the shore and presented it as appealingly as possible and Jin lips formed a smile. He nodded, finally. He walked towards you with the rolled-up tent under his arm and you planted it firmly in the ground. Not a second to soon, too because right after you set it down, another car approached and parked right beside Jin’s,

“Ah, the cavalry arrives”

You commented and just as you and Jin had planted the last fixture and the tent was stable, the car doors opened and the three Musketeers exited the vehicle in style.

Yoongi, sporting his usual urban-grandpa-couture, adjusted his tinted glasses and ran a hand through the hair that stuck out from his

headband, before he casually nodded at you and Jin in greeting. Hoseok and his brother Taehyung waved at you enthusiastically in their brightly coloured jackets and each held up a bag filled with goodies that looked extremely promising,

“Woooow! You’re here early!”

Hoseok could barely believe it,

“And you even grabbed the best spot, well done guys!”

He congratulated you, genuinely surprised that you made it here before anyone else for the first time,

“be honest, did you ever expect this to happen?”

You asked him as he came over to hug you and Jin simultaneously,

“Not in a million years”,

“But we’ve been rooting for you guys ever since we started this tradition”

Tae said as he leisurely strolled over and hugged you tightly,

“Thanks, it only took us almost 10 years to get here, so we’re gonna make sure to rub it in your faces whenever possible”

Jin piped up and you chuckled to yourself,

“If you got here so early you could have prepared the fire already instead of being lazy”

Yoongi grumbled and trudged over, as well,

“Missed you too, boo bear”

You cooed at him and went to pinch his cheeks,

“Goochie goo, look at you, you put on weight”

You loved treating him like a baby. He also loved it when you did it but he would sooner die than ever admit to that,

“Ugh, don’t touch me”

He weakly tried to wiggle out of your grip on his pinchable cheeks and after they presented all the goodies, they brought with them, you helped the guys set up their tent. Then you actually did prepare the fire.

The last of your friends to arrive were Namjoon, his baby cousin Jungkook and Jimin. Even more pinchable cheeks for you to victimize, you thought, rubbing your hands together evilly.

When they arrived, the rest of you were sitting around the fire and you only noticed their arrival when you heard their voices approach through the trees. Apparently, they had chosen to hike here,

“I’m never listening to you again… hiking here, I can’t believe I thought this was a good idea”

Joon said, sounding somewhat out of breath as he and Jungkook stepped into the clearing. He dropped his bags and drew in a long breath,

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad! And it’s not like you couldn’t use a little more exercise…”

Jungkook said, mumbling the last part of the sentence,

“What was that?”,

“Nothing, nothing…”

Jungkook picked up Joon’s bags in addition to his and marched on towards you guys, sitting by the fire. Jimin stepped out of the woods last and looked just as ethereal as everyone remembered. As he ran a hand through his hair, the sun immediately took a step back to let him take the place in the spotlight.

A collective sigh ran through your group and a couple of awkward glances and coughs were exchanged before you all got your bearings back. He smiled when he saw you and gave a little wave that made you giggle like a little girl when you waved back. Jin could only shake his head in disbelief. Sure, Jimin was hot. Even he could admit to that; but surely you thought Jin was handsome, too, right?

“Sorry we’re late, guys!”

Jungkook said as he reached you and set the bags down,

“Don’t worry about it”

Hoseok got up first and hugged the younger boy tightly before the rest of you got up and said hi. Joon and Jimin walked over, too and the hugging continued for a little longer than usual hugging because everyone took a little more time to get an extended hug with Jimin. It was honestly ridiculous how thirsty all of you were for him. And the poor guy had no idea.

______

After all the tents had been set up, everything was prepared and all of you had settled back around the fire, you watched Yoongi and Jimin prepare dinner, while Hoseok and Taehyung played UNO and Jungkook was scribbling something in a notebook. Jin was sitting next to you and reading through the gas grill’s user manual, Jimin and Yoongi were currently trying t get to work,

“Are you sure, you’re not holding it upside down?”

You asked him and reached out to grab it from him but he held it out of your reach and sighed,

“YN, I know how to read a damn…- hold on, it’s actually upside down”,

“Wait, really?

You were only joking about the upside-down thing,

“NO, of course not! How incapable do you think I am?”

Jin slapped your shoulder with the papers and you laughed as you tried to lean away far enough,

“Very, and I’m not even sorry for it”

you said and Jin’s mouth dropped open and he coughed out a laugh,

“With a friend like you, I really don’t need any enemies”

He said and you leaned back in to look up at him and channel your cutest pout,

“This is why you love me, though”

You were right, he thought, no one could make him feel so dumb, yet so happy at the same time. Especially with an annoyingly cute pouty face like yours,

“You’re lucky, that’s true”

He continued flipping through the manual and soon, the grill was working and he saved Yoongi and Jimin from their misery. Just in time, too because Tae was getting hungry and no one wanted to deal with that.

_______

“Aw man, that was so good!”

Jungkook said, stuffing the last food from his bowl into his mouth, chewing loudly,

“You want the rest of mine?”

You asked him, holding your bowl in his direction and he nodded eagerly, big eyes getting even bigger,

“There you go, big boy”

You smiled to yourself and handed him your bowl,

“God, where is all that food even going?”

Yoongi said, as he watched Jungkook devour the additional food he had just received,

“Shhh, let him eat”

You shushed Yoongi with a pat to his leg and watched Jungkook munch happily,

“Anyone want some rice cakes?”

Jimin piped up and opened up a Tupperware filled with the juicy looking sweet treats,

“Oooooh, Jimin, they look amazing!”

You couldn’t believe your eyes; they were your favourite,

“I knew you’d like them”

Jimin said as he watched your eyes and smile grow bigger,

“Have some”

He added and held the box your way,

“Oh yes! Thank you”

You got up and tiptoed around the fire to kneel in front of him to munch on his cakes.

You looked at him with glossy eyes, happy that he remembered your favourite treat. And they were good, too. So good, that you had to close your eyes as you had the first bite,

“Ohmygod”

You mumbled with a full mouth,

“Amazing”

You said and Jimin smiled proudly. Jin watched the interaction quietly from his seat.

Damn, he thought, he should have remembered to bring some rice cakes for you. He wasn’t really jealous of Jimin and his cakes. Really, he wasn’t. He was convinced that little crush of yours was completely food related, so he didn’t really think there was anything more to it. All he wanted was for that interaction to have taken place with him and also, for you to give all your attention to him and not Jimin. That seems like a reasonable mindset, right? So, in conclusion, he wasn’t jealous, at all.

However, when Jimin took a second rice cake out of the box and held it to your lips, time seemed to slow down for Jin and not in the good, romantic way he would have preferred it. Jimin gently placed the cake in your mouth and your lips closed around his finger for a second before he slowly pulled away. You moaned in pleasure as you started chewing and Jin had to bite down on his tongue to not lose his mind. To the others this was a completely normal and innocent thing to witness; just two friends sharing some food, what’s wrong with that? Everything, according to the way Jin was currently staring Jimin down and tried to telepathically communicate his disdain for the way he fed you food in the most erotic way possible. Ok, maybe he was a little jealous, after all.

Why was this suddenly getting to him? He knows that the relationship you have with him isn’t purely based on friendship, since the both of you had had some ambiguous moments of will they, won’t they before but it was never really anything you acted upon or even talked about. Nothing to take seriously.

Maybe, by watching you and Jimin flirt so innocently, he had just realized now, how precious you really were to him and that he wanted to try and incorporate a romantic aspect into your relationship.

Or maybe, he just never felt threatened before. Never felt like his place in your life was about to be taken away from him by a guy with sweet, juicy and delicious cakes.

Damn Jimin’s cakes! Jin got up and started collecting everyone’s dishes. He didn’t want to continue watching you basically crawling in Jimin’s lap and sucking the cakes off his fingers.

Maybe he went a little too hard with the whole dish collecting thing because as he ripped Jungkook’s bowl from his hands, the younger hadn’t completely finished I and yelled after Jin, as he went down to the lake and started vigorously scrubbing everything.

However, Jin didn’t know that he had absolutely nothing to be jealous of because as soon as he had left the circle, Tae, who was sat next to Jimin, made him feed him cakes, as well.

Let’s just say that even someone as oblivious as you knew when some actual sexual tension was developing. You decided it was time to awkwardly retreat to your seat now, before you were sandwiched in between the two boys. Only now did you notice that Jin had left the comfort of his camping chair,

“Hey, were did he go?”

You asked Joon, who was wrapped in a thick jacket with his hands around a warm cup of tea. While someone outside of your circle might be a little confused at the sight of someone with such a warm jacket on in this warm weather, you had stopped wondering about his weird habits a while ago. He slurped his tea and pointed down to the shore where, if you squinted heavily, you could faintly recognise the outline of Jin’s body in the dark. You excused yourself from the others and walked the short distance to join Jin in washing the dishes. He was slumped over, kneeling at the shore and, apparently, hadn’t noticed you approaching. So you yelled and gripped his shoulders from behind:

“Careful!”

The high-pitched scream he let out almost burst your eardrums but it was definitely worth it to see him almost jump into the water in shock,

“What the hell, YN? Why would you do that?”

He was clearly very upset about the whole thing but you only snickered like a mean little kid and kneeled down next to him,

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist”

You said and took the knife he was scrubbing out of his hands. Safer this way. Even in the dark you could see his eyes, big as saucers and it only made you laugh more. You took his hand in yours in apology and Jin didn’t resist, he just yelled louder like he usually did,

“You’re such a brat! I volunteer to do the dishes and what do you do? Wow, the disrespect is off the charts!”

His yelling was like an affectionate pat on the back by now because you knew he would never actually yell at you in anger. He knew you loved it because you always laughed even harder when he started ranting. And when you squeezed his hand a little tighter, he was sure there was nothing he enjoyed more than making you laugh by making an ass of himself,

“I’ll stop, I promise!”

You bowed your head and clutched his hand to your chest, still smiling,

“Tsk, empty promises”

He shook his head and you looked up at him,

“I’ll make it up to you, I’ll help you with the dishes”

You said eagerly,

“And also, I snagged one of the rice cakes for you”

Jin listened up,

“I know you love these things even more than I do”

He heard some shuffling and then you held your hand up in front of his face, a tiny cake sitting in your palm,

“Open up”

You said, taking the cake between two fingers and holding it up for Jin,

“For me?”

He asked, just to make sure he wasn’t imagining this,

“Of course, for you, you genius”

Jin slowly opened his mouth and you gently placed the treat in it, like Jimin did with you. However, Jin didn’t think of Jimin in this moment, he only thought about the way your thumb lingered on his lower lip for a few seconds before you pulled your hand back. He felt his affection for you stir in his heart again.

He also felt something else stir in a different bodily region at the feeling of your fingers on his lips.

He quickly turned away and swallowed the sweet cake before clearing his throat,

“Thanks”

He managed to mumble and went right back to washing dishing and willing away the growing problem you were responsible for,

“Move over, I’ll help”

You said and crowded his space again to help him with the dishes and then a comfortable silence set in, only interrupted by the occasional loud laughter from the rest of the guys.

_________

The last night approached quicker than all of you would have liked. After all of the days spent on the lakeshore, basking in the sun and eating smores at night around the campfire, it was finally time to return to your normal life. You and Jin had gotten used to the tent situation quickly, even though it wasn’t the most comfortable or convenient.

Well, for Jin at least. After the you had gone to sleep on the first night, Jin lay awake for a while longer, not being able to get your small fingers and your gentle touch out of his mind and it didn’t help that you were right here next to him, bodies only separated by a thin sheet you used as blanket.

And it had only gotten worse.

Tonight, the silhouette of your body, illuminated by the dying light of the fire outside, made Jin especially weak. He, like you and the others, had a few drinks to celebrate your trip and commemorate your friendship and, surprisingly, alcohol didn’t do a lot to enhance his self -control. More like the opposite,

“You good? Are you comfortable?”,

“Yeah”,

“Ok”

You and Jin had finally arranged yourselves into the bed rolls and were about to go to sleep. You were turned away from him with not a lot of distance between your bodies. It had been an especially hot day and even though it was already dark, the air and the ground hadn’t begun to cool down, yet. Jin was uncomfortable in the heat and he had already stripped down to his briefs; just being in the tent, next to you, not even a sheet over your bodies, to avoid even more heat, he felt like his body was heating up even more. He heard you shuffle around a little and then your thin top was flying over his face and you wore nothing but your underwear,

“I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable but I feel like I’m melting”

You said and fanned your face to feel even the slightest relief from the heat. Jin didn’t say anything for a few seconds, too caught up in the realisation that you were in nothing but your underwear, right next to him,

“It’s fine”

His voice betrayed him, sounding breathy and thin. He cleared his throat,

“Don’t worry about it”

There, he sounded super manly again,

“I’m dying over here… it was nice when we were in the water but now? I’m not made for this weather”

You lamented and turned to Jin, tucking your hands under your head to be comfortable. He was glad that it was so dark because if there were even a little bit more light coming in from the outside you would have seen him staring shamelessly at your tits, pushed together between your arms,

“Yeah it’s uh… really bad”

Very smooth, Jin, managing to answer even though his briefs were getting uncomfortably tight, he thought to himself. The fire outside finally went out completely and the clinking of glasses and the sound of another tent zipper let you know that the last of your friends were about to hit the hay, as well,

“Do you mind if I open the zipper? Let some more air in?”

You asked and sat up already,

“No, go ahead, can’t be worse than this, anyway”

You felt around for the zipper and dragged it down until the flaps of the tent opened and a slight breeze greeted you from outside,

“Well, it’s not much but I can breathe a little better”,

You fell back into the bed roll with a sigh and Jin suddenly had an idea,

“Hey, YN”,

“Hm?”,

“How about we just go down to the lake? Put our feet in the water, cool down a little, you know?”,

“Mhmh, I guess”,

“It’s probably more effective than just opening the zipper”,

“Yeah, you’re right”

You sighed again and sat up in the tent,

“Ok then, let’s go. We gotta be quiet though, I think everyone’s sleeping already”

You said and Jin sat up, too, to crawl out of the tent and help you stand up after you crawled out, too. He grabbed your hand and slowly you navigated the dark clearing in the full moon light down to the soft grass around the lake shore until you felt the water gently lap on your feet.

Both of you sat down on the grass and let the waves envelope your feet on their way up,

“Ugh, I already feel so much better”

You relaxed and lay back on the grass, stretching your overheated and tired limbs,

“Same”

Jin stretched his legs, tapping and tickling your smaller feet with his and making you giggle,

“Jin, that tickles”

You tried to wiggle away, and escape his big gorilla feet,

“Is this an unexplored fetish of yours?”

you asked, making Jin laugh and trying to not be too loud,

“The tickling or the feet?”,

“Oh my god is it both?”,

“Are you kink-shaming me?”

“Definitely! Feet are gross”

You smiled and pushed yourself off the grass back into a sitting position,

“I don’t have a weird kink, calm down”

Jin loved riling you up, just as much as you did it to him,

“Anyway, I’m gonna go in, I think.”

He announced after he was done teasing you and slowly waded into the shallow water,

“you coming?”

You looked up at him, shaking your head,

“I don’t think so, I don’t have my bathing suit. Don’t wanna sleep in wet undies”

“Suit yourself. But don’t complain about the heat”

He simply said and turned around, walking until water reached up to his ribs.

It probably wouldn’t be so bad to get your underwear wet; in this heat they would be dry in no time anyway. But another thought crossed your mind and you contemplated just going commando. Even though yours and Jin’s relationship had never been anything more that friendly, except for a little flirting here and there, you felt like it could be more. There could be more to the flirting and the innocent hand touching. And times like these made you want to just cross the line. Despite Jin thinking he was pretty subtle about everything, you had noticed how, during the trip, he eyed you and Jimin curiously whenever you were talking. You had also noticed how he tried to put as much distance between you as possible in the tent as to not push his very obvious hard on anywhere near you. By now you just wanted to see if he would cross the line first.

Watching him, you unclipped your bra and slipped your panties down your legs, before you also let the cool waves roll against your body. He had already made his way a little farther out and you stopped where your feet could still feel the ground and the water just reached around your clavicle,

“Guess the heat finally got to you, hm?”

Jin said, as he noticed you approaching,

“Right, the heat”

You mumbled and he swam closer, back to your,

“Not worried about the clothes anymore?”

You shook your head and smiled,

“What clothes?”,

“Your under- Oh”

Jin stopped in the middle of the sentence after he had realised what you meant. His mouth fell open as his eyes took in the naked line of your shoulders, no straps in sight,

“I didn’t wanna get them wet”

You said and Jin has to swallow hard. You’re naked under the blurry sheen of the water and he doesn’t know how to handle the situation,

“Yeah, no, I get it, convenience and all that, right?”

He laughs awkwardly and tries and fails to cover up his sudden insecurity about your naked boobs just a few inches away from his face,

“Yeah, I just thought I’d let the girls breathe, you know?”

You looked down and Jin could see your hands covering your boobs right under the surface,

“Yeah, yeah, no big deal, just let the… the girls out”

He took a deep breath and tried to look anywhere but your hands encasing your tits. The trees were pretty in the dark, so out there. And their crowns looked so big and full and round in the moonlight. They were probably very soft if he were to submerge his face between them.

Yeah, trees really were something; He had always been a tree guy.

And he probably should take a step back so he wouldn’t accidentally poke you in the stomach,

“Are you ok? Am I making you uncomfortable?”

You asked, your voice sounding all soft an innocent,

“Do you want me to put it all back on?”

Jin whipped his head around at that and held his hands up,

“No! No, I mean…”

More awkward coughing,

“Don’t bother, you’re comfortable. I’m completely fine”

You giggled cutely and Jin felt his self-control pack its bags and jump out of the window,

“Are you sure? You seem kinda bothered…”

You took a step forward and Jin escaped immediately,

“I think I’m gonna go back out, it’s freezing in here, don’t you think?”

He stuttered and rushed through the water so fast that I splashed you in the face. You smiled to yourself, fully aware that Jin was definitely not unbothered by your boobs. A fact, that you would use to your advantage.

And Entertainment.

You also swam back to the shore, where Jin was already standing on the grass again, his back turned to the water. When the water wasn’t high enough to cover up your nakedness anymore you wanted to get Jin’s attention again. You slowly exited the water and walked towards Jin, who was currently picking up your underwear carefully. You noticed him stalling a moment and feeling the soft fabric of your panties between his fingers before he spoke up,

“YN, I’ll leave your stuff closer to the water, ok?”

He said, thinking you were still swimming around without a care in the world,

“No need”

You said from behind him and he jumped, dropping your things, then tripped and landed on his ass, as he tried to put some more distance between you again,

“Ah… you scared me again”

He said, sitting on the floor and covering his eyes with his fingers immediately. He was only able to see your face through the gaps between his fingers. You didn’t say anything; you just stood there for a few seconds, making Jin suffer even more,

“I uh, do you wanna go back by any chance? I’m kinda tired”

He tried to find an excuse to flee again but you weren’t having it. You knelt down and placed your self firmly in his lap, straddling him,

“I don’t wanna go back, yet”

You mumbled and gently wrapped your small fingers around the wrist of Jin’s hand, trying to get him to uncover his eyes and look at you. He resisted. Not at all cost but it was enough to give you pause and make you doubt your intentions,

“Jin, it’s ok, you can look”

You tried to soothe him a little but he didn’t relent,

“YN, please, I’m trying so hard”

He whispered, hoping you would get the message.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to look, he definitely wanted to. He was sure, the hard dick poking you in the thighs told you so very clearly. It was just that he wasn’t sure what would happen, if he gave in. Your friendship was something he treasured and was thankful for every day, no matter how annoying you could be at times,

“Would it be so bad? We’ve been friends for so long, have you never thought about it?”

Your soft voice slowly but surely worked on dismantling his determination,

“Of course, I thought about it. Multiple times, actually. Especially this week”

Jin answered and he felt you shift slightly above him,

“So, if you thought about it, does that mean… you don’t want to?”

He thought he heard something like disappointment in your voice and he was never good at ignoring when you felt down,

“Are you kidding? You think I’d be this hard if I didn’t want to?”

He tried to lighten the mood and let his free hand move up and down your thigh,

“I’ve been wanting to do this for ever, YN, I just don’t know if this is a good idea”,

“Jin, please…”

He swallowed as he felt you move again, this time you were pushing down on him, grinding against him and he had a hard time to keep his eyes covered,

“Shit”

He cursed at the feeling of you grinding on him and you moved his hand higher from your thigh while you tried again to remove his hand from his face. He slowly let you but he kept his eyes closed,

“Jin, look at me”

You now held both of his hands in yours and you slowly moved the up your body until they cupped your breasts. You sighed and squeezed Jin’s hands around them making him moan and his head fell forward, against your shoulder,

“YN, fuck, you need to stop… I’m a weak man and your tits feel amazing”

He started squeezing on his own and slowly rubbed his thumbs on your nipples,

“Touch me, baby, please”

Your pleas were making him so weak and he knew there was no way he would stop now, that he felt your soft skin under his hands. He turned his head just a little, placing his lips against your neck and kissing you gently. He listened to your moans and let you move against him, rub yourself against his dick in his briefs and it made him so hard; shit, you just felt so good against him, warm and soft and your tits were so fucking nice he couldn’t form a coherent thought anymore. He wanted more, needed more, needed to touch more and taste more of you, so he quickly spun you around and pushed your body back into the soft grass and hovered above you,

“Kiss me”

You whine and he wants nothing more than to kiss every inch of your skin. Starting with your pretty lips; you pretty lips which were always pouting smiling, making him crazy and making him wish he knew what the felt like around his dick. He leans down and they’re so soft. So damn soft like your beautiful tits, which he went right back to squeezing and massaging, making you moan into his mouth. Then it’s wet; tongues finding each other, wet bodies grinding together and your wet pussy rubbing against him. God, you’re so wet. He even feels it through his boxer briefs. He never thought he’d be able to get you this wet. When you lift your legs and wrap them around his hips, he can’t hold back any longer,

“Shit, you feel so good, YN, so fucking soft”

He starts kissing your neck again, moving along the smooth skin down to your collarbone and then further down to suck one of your nipples into his mouth. You moaned and ran your hands through his hair, tugging slightly and running your nails along his scalp,

“Feel good, baby?”

He asked, voice rough as he switched sides,

“So good…”

You managed to answer through your bliss-clouded mind,

“Want more”

You added and weakly grabbed one of Jin’s hands to move it lower, between your legs,

“More? Want me here? Want me to touch your pussy?”

You never would have guessed Jin would be so vocal during sex, you always thought he’d be the sweet and vanilla type of guy but you weren’t about to complain when his fingers felt so good rubbing your lower lips,

“Yes, touch me, please, want you so much”

you pulled his face back down to yours to kiss him as he let his fingers slide through your wetness and moaned into the kiss at how fucking good it felt,

“Shit, you’re so wet… so fucking warm, fuck”

He started rubbing your clit lightly and you broke the kiss to bury your face in his neck and muffle your moans,

“Ah, Jin…”,

“Like this?”,

“Fuck, yes”

He made you feel so good, you wanted to do the same. You worked your hand between your bodies, too and started rubbing Jin through the fabric of his briefs. The feeling of his hard dick in your hands made you want more and you slipped your hand inside, wrapping it around him for real and gently moving it until you felt his fingers lose their rhythm on your clit and all you could hear were the pleasured moans he failed to hold in,

“Am I doing it right?”

You knew you were doing it right but you also knew Jin loved it when you acted helpless and cute. Could only apply even more in this situation,

“Yeah, you are… So right, so good, shit”

He sucked on the skin of your neck and slid his finger from your clit down and slowly, gently slipped it inside of you, moaning at the warm wet feeling that greeted him. You couldn’t find any words that would accurately express your thoughts at this moment; you could just tighten your legs around him and try not to be so loud you’d wake the others,

“You like that, hm? Feel so tight, baby, can’t wait to fuck you”

Jin moaned in your ear and you felt a heatwave run through your body,

“Jin, fuck me, plea- Ah…”

right as you begged him, he slid in a second finger,

“That what you want? Want me to fuck you?”

He pushed his fingers in deeper and you tried to not lose the rhythm you had going on with your hand around his dick,

“Mhmmh”

You couldn’t form a decent answer at this point,

“You sure, baby? I could make you come like this and then fuck you; make you come again”

He kissed you slow and deep this time, moving his fingers in tandem with his tongue. You shook your head, tightening your legs again, pushing his fingers even deeper,

“No? You want it now? Want me to fuck that tight little pussy?”

Jesus, you thought, you never knew words could turn you on so much,

“Then you’ll get it, baby”

He pulled his fingers out slowly and you watched as he stuck them in his mouth to suck them clean,

“Mhm, fuck, I’ll eat you next time, don’t even try to stop me”

You spread your legs as he sat back on his haunches and pushed his briefs down, finally. You couldn’t make out his size in the dark but you had already felt that it was a little bigger than what you were used to.

Jin gripped himself, moving his hand along his dick and sighing,

“Can’t believe this is happening…”

He said and leaning back down, hovering over your body,

“Wanted this for so long”

He continued and you let your hand travel over his naked chest as he guided his dick to slide through your wetness. You watched him shudder and a breath hitched in his throat as his dick made contact with your wet, warm centre,

“God, feels so good already, Jin, don’t tease me”

He bent down and kissed you,

“I won’t, I just…”

He hesitated for a second and took a deep breath,

“I don’t have any condoms with me, I wasn’t really planning on this to happen”

You smiled at the sudden insecurity in his voice and gently ran a hand through his dishevelled hair,

“It’s fine, I have an IUD, you don’t have to worry”,

“I can come inside you? You sure?”,

“I want you to”,

“Fuck…”

Jin went right back to kissing and sucking on your neck,

“Please, Jin, fuck me, come inside me… want you so bad”

The way you sounded so fucking whiney and sweet; he moaned into your skin and rubbed his dick along your pussy before he slowly pushed the head inside. Unprepared for the incredible feeling of your wet, tight pussy around his dick, he pushed in even more, swallowing all your moans and pleas. Never had he felt this good before, literally never. Your pussy felt so damn good around him, he wasn’t even completely sure this was real,

“Ah, Jin!”

He could tell you tried to be quiet,

“Shit, it’s so big…”,

“You ok? Want me to go slow?”

He asked for your comfort, yet he wasn’t sure he could do anything about it because his dick was definitely pushing itself deeper inside you of its own accord. He probably couldn’t stop, even if he wanted to,

“No, I’m fine, it feels amazing”

You threw your head back into the grass and Jin bent a little to suck your nipple back into his mouth, adding to your pleasure even more.

He pushed in deeper and deeper, moving his hips until they wouldn’t go any further and he was balls deep inside you. Even if you didn’t, he needed a moment to come back to reality and not finish before he had even started. You held him so tightly and he squeezed every bit of skin he could reach as your hips moved against his, stealing his breath and making him feel so fucking good,

“You feel so good, YN, so fucking good”

He closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the feeling of your body against his,

“So wet, so tight- this pussy’s made for me”

He mumbled against your skin and kissed and sucked what his lips could find. He wanted to be more in control, wanted to be more focused on your pleasure but it just felt so good. He could only hope he was making you feel as good as he possibly could,

“Jin, touch me…”

He heard you sigh and he placed one last kiss to your lips before he pushed himself up to sit back, so he could bring his fingers back to your clit,

“Like this?”

He asked as he rubbed you and immediately felt you clench around him,

“Yes, ah… like that”,

He lifted your leg onto his shoulder with his other hand, spreading you even more for him. This new angle had him hitting you deeper and Jin did his very best to hit all the right places. He already felt his end approaching and he knew he couldn’t hold it off for long,

“Jin, fuck, I’m close, don’t stop”

Your words were music to his ears. He held your leg tightly to his chest, fucking you deeper and harder, working his fingers as close to the rhythm his hips were setting as possible,

“That’s it, baby, come for me”

He ben forward slightly, wanting to be closer to you, wanting to see your face when you came,

“Come all over my dick”

His words made you feel hot all over and you felt your muscles contracting, bringing you closer to your end,

“Ahh, I’m gonna come”

Your voice was strained and you put both of your hands over your mouth, knowing this was gonna be a loud one. Jin was captivated by the pure look of pleasure on your face and devoted all of his movements to making you come, desperate to see your face and feel you clench around his dick,

“Gonna come for me? I can feel it, baby, tell me what to do”,

“Just like that, don’t stop”,

“You’re so beautiful… look so good like this; I want you so much”

He told you all the things he always wanted you to know and more until he felt your pussy tighten around him and your leg spasm in his grip while you moaned through your hands in a desperate attempt to deafen the noise as you came around him. He pushed in so deep, revelling in the feeling of your orgasm and letting his own take over.

He bent down, pushing your hands out of your face and capturing your lips in a slow, deep kiss that made your toes curl like that orgasm just did. He came so deep inside you, filling you up so good and holding you so tight and close, you never wanted him to let you go.

As your muscles relaxed and your breathing evened out again, just like Jin’s, he took your hands in his and kissed them before intertwining your fingers and pressing another long, deep kiss to your lips,

“Jeesus, Jin, I never would have thought you’d talk so dirty to me”

Was the first thing that came to your mind as he slipped out of you and lay down next to you. He let out a hearty laugh and ran a hand over his face,

“I don’t know what came over me”

He said and you smiled,

“I just bring out the best in you, don’t I?”

He squeezed your hand lovingly,

“My best is definitely in you, yes”

He snickered and you slapped his shoulder,

“You’re so nasty, Jin!”

You both giggled as suddenly a loud voice rang through your post-orgasmic bliss,

“You’re both nasty! Fucking like horny teenagers while all your friends are trying to sleep? What are you, 16? Get a damn room next time, fuck!”

Both of you recognized Yoongi’s voice. You probably woke him up or kept him from sleeping,

“Whoops…”

You said, hiding your face in Jin’s neck,

“You should be happy it’s only happened now! Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten any sleep at all!”

Jin yelled back and you laughed even harder.

He had exactly zero shame and that was probably why you worked so well together. And you continued to work well together two more times that  night. And then you continued to work even better together for a lot more years to come.

Submitted by @befriendswithj​

[merinnan]

DMBJ Ep 5

We start episode 5 with the Xiaoge Rescue Count at 6 for Wu Xie, and 7 total.

- Pangzi just sitting there eating while they go to dig an evil bug out of A-Ning 

- A-Ning is luckier than Pan Zi, though, having it in her leg rather than in her gut 

- Should I consider this part of the Xiaoge Rescue Count? Technically he is saving A-Ning here, but does she count?

- Fuck it. There's now 3 Xiaoge Rescue Count categories: Wu Xie, the protagonists as a whole, and everyone 

- So the count is now 6 for Wu Xie, 7 for the protagonists, and 8 for everyone 

- That was a relatively painless bug removal. Probably helped that A-Ning was unconscious 

  - That's a large hole left in her thigh. Speaking from experience, standing & walking are not going to be fun for her for a LONG time. 

- But this is a cdrama, so she'll be fine within an ep or two 

- lol, I've never seen an unconscious person with this level of muscle control

- Wu Xie, you don't just wrap a bandage around a wound like that! Dress it first! 

- But, again, it's a TV show, so a bandage will be fine 

- JESUS CHRIST PANGZI 

- LOL, yes, shhhh, Pangzi. Shhhh. 

 - Pan Zi's looking a lot better this ep 

- ...what's wrong, Wu Xie?

- Aaaand he just passed out. 

- Xiaoge actually looks mildly disturbed. I think this is the second most amount of emotion we've seen from him so far 

- That looks like a nasty bite 

- Oh, we're just gonna...feed him blood. That's what we're going. 

- And it woke him up

- Okay, so Xiaoge Rescue Count is now 7 for Wu Xie, 8 for the protagonists, and 9 for everyone 

- Fortunately, Xiaoge hasn't lost as much blood as he did last time he used it for magic rescue purposes. Last thing they'd want is a comatose Xiaoge down here

- Everyone is just so chill whenever Xiaoge does weird stuff, it's great 

- Aaah, I was wondering how he'd been bitten, since I didn't remember a bug biting him. I forgot that A-Ning did 

- That's some odd poison if it got into her saliva just because she had a bug in her leg

- GDI Pangzi 

 - Of course the cure is in the tomb, and of course Xiaoge knows about it 

- LOL, there's a vaccine against the poison gas 

- Oooh, I was wondering when the dudes in the trees were gonna make their move. Poor Wu Xie's friend. He really would have been safer in the tomb, huh

- Hahah, why are the bad guys treating Wu Xie like the leader when he's just a uni student? 

- Ooh, who did that? 

 - Oh, Wu Xie's friend. Good boy. I mean, it was dumb, but brave. Now they can't use you against your friends. 

- Poor Wu Xie is so woozy he's not sure what happened

- Yeah, figured it was some more of A-Ning's friends 

- YOU LOSE CONTACT, & YOU LOSE CONTACT, & EVERYONE LOSES CONTACT! YAAAAY! 

- Get out before nightfall. Isn't that what Xiaoge said, too? 

- Yeah, abandoned in a forest at night doesn't sound like fun

- She should NOT be walking that well, although at least it is showing her limping and in pain instead of just okay 

- God, Pangzi, that was a dick move 

- And that was even more of one 

- Wow. I...don't really like this Pangzi. Those things he just did were actively cruel, even if she is an antagonist

- It's blocked? Yeah, ya think? 

- Oh, STFU Pangzi 

- Pan Zi looking at him like "I really regret not shooting you properly when I had the chance" 

- Xiaoge doing this "stab fingers STRAIGHT INTO MORTAR and remove the brick" trick again 

- The look on Pangzi's face is pure gold

- Had to pause watching for a sec to think about why I'm so mad at this Pangzi and more forgiving of Liu Sang in Chongqi. I think it's because Liu Sang intended to pull a prank. A mean prank, but he lacked the experience to understand that it was actively harmful and dangerous. It went wrong, and then he freaked because of that lack of experience and didn't know what to do/say until Xiaoge pushed him. And then he tried to help make up for it. Whereas this Pangzi did things that he knew would cause real physical pain to A-Ning and potentially worsen her injury just because he doesn't like her, and he doesn't seem to care or even give that a second thought, let alone look like he's going to apologise or try to make up for it. 

- OK, mini-rant over, back to the episode.

- Gratuitous Xiaoge side-profile pic just because

- And now Pangzi is gonna embarrass himself by trying & failing to be Xiaoge 

- YEAH CHENGCHENG I WONDER HOW THEY KNOW YOUR NAMES 

- Okay, I gotta stop to look up his name. I can't keep calling him Wu Xie's friend all the time

- High Shao. There we go

- High Shao is a good kid 

- A-Ning's eyeroll at Pangzi is my entire mood with his antics right now 

- Eyeroll from Wu Xie 

- Can't see Pan Zi's face, but his whole posture is basically an eye roll 

- Oh. Well. Huh. I did not expect Pangzi to actually manage to break the wall

- Judging by everyone's expressions, no-one else did, either 

- Oooh, something bad must be coming, Xiaoge is going on guard 

- Yep. Zombie dude is on his way 

- Yes, send the woman with the serious leg injury to go crawling through a tiny cave tunnel first. Brilliant idea, Wu Xie

- OK, I should stop being so hard on bb!Wu Xie, this is his first time in a tomb after all 

- Y'know, guys, I really think it would have been a better idea to let Pan Zi go before Pangzi, given that he's also injured and all. Get your most injured people to safety first.

- How the fuck is that zombie deflecting Xiaoge's sword with his HAND?! 

- WHY IS IT MAKING TINGING NOISES AS IF IT'S METAL HITTING METAL?! 

- Oh, NICE, Xiaoge! 

- I am very disappointed that I could not get a good screencap of that awesome, smooth, and effortless slide he did through the tunnel

- Things I discovered when I went to YouTube to see if I could get a good screencap of it by slowing down the playback (which I can't do on Viki) 

- the eps on YT and the eps on Viki are edited differently. I'm gonna have to watch this again on YT once I'm done with the Viki one

- At a guess, the YT ones have a bunch of stuff cut, because where I'm up to in ep 5 on Viki is in ep 4 on YT 

- For instance, XIAOGE'S AWESOME SLIDE THROUGH THE TUNNEL JUST THEN is not in the YT one?! 

- Wow, I'm going on a lot of tangents tonight. OK, back to the ep.

- Xiaoge holding the zombie at swordpoint until it gives up and backs away 

- So these zombies have some intelligence 

- ngl, though, if I was on my hands and knees in front of a hot guy holding a sword on me, backing away would be like the last thing I would be doing

- Why the fuck is there a giant, chained up tree deep in the middle of an underground tomb? 

- And ivy all over the cave walls? 

- WHERE ARE YOU GETTING SUNLIGHT FROM DOWN HERE?! HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?! 

- I'm glad you're just as confused as I am, Pan Zi

- OK, some sunlight is getting in, since there are two bodies laying in a conveniently positioned sunbeam 

- Sure, what the fuck are you gonna do to him, Pangzi? He's dead. He doesn't care. 

- Unless he's another zombie who's gonna rise from the grave, but still don't think he cares

- Yes, Pangzi, tomb robbers don't end well 

- Love Wu Xie's cute suspicious face 

- Lucky grab there 

- Oh, there you are, Sanshu 

- Do all the tunnels in this place empty out at this tree? 

- LOL, I love that Sanshu immediately doesn't take any of Pangzi's shit

- That was a bad place to faint 

- Good thing Xiaoge is right there! 

- Xiaoge Rescue Count: 8 for Wu Xie, 9 for the protagonists, 10 for everyone 

- I love how often Wu Xie is the damsel in distress

- Don't worry, Sanshu, Xiaoge will definitely look after his future bf

- Looks like Pangzi is about to fall. Again 

- Pangzi, if you had HELD ON to that vine, it wouldn't have been as bad 

- Wait for him to realise he's laying between two corpses in 3, 2, 1... 

- Uh...I hope they're just stuck to him and not actually sitting up under their own power

- These are remarkably well-preserved corpses 

- THERE'S that realisation 

- And there's the freakout 

 - They did get just get caught 

- They're not gonna have kids, Pangzi, they're dead 

- Pangzi, what are you doing? Leave the corpses alone now

- Wake them? I don't like the sound of that, Sanshu 

- Also, how do you know that? 

- Cute pingxie shots just because 

- In her mouth? 

- Oh, a key, thank goodness. I thought it was gonna be an evil bug 

- Pangzi, stop appraising her necklace, didn't you say you're not a tomb robber? 

- There's fucking what now? 

- HOW?! 

- THERE'S A WHAT IN HER ASS?! 

- Hahah, well that certainly stopped Pangzi from checking out the valuables on her 

- JFC 

- That got Xiaoge's attention 

- Oooh, he's noticed something in the tree 

- Sorry not sorry for more gratuitous Xiaoge shots

- That's a pretty looking key 

- ...and now her corpse is undergoing rapid decay? How the fuck was the key preventing the corpse from decaying? 

- That explanation makes no logical sense, Sanshu 

- Maybe that box the other corpse is holding, Wu Xie? 

- Pangzi thought of that, too

- What were those flashes? Were those just for the viewer, or was one of the characters getting them? 

- That seemed to be the unnaturally bright green-eyed man from the opening credits 

- Leave the sword alone, Pangzi 

- Although I do understand the desire to pick it up

- Uh...what 

- No shadow is NEVER a good thing 

- WTF? 

- Sanshu, I never wanna play poker with you 

- This doppelganger has done a damn good job of acting like Pangzi this whole time 

- When did it replace him? 

- Maybe it was the doppelganger who was so cruel to A-Ning? We'll see.

- That's a very solid ghost 

- And that's kinda creepy 

- Uh...isn't she already dead? 

- Sanshu just going straight for the tackle 

- Clever boy, Wu Xie 

- Though, Xiaoge, where were you? Were you just gonna let Pangzi strangle Sanshu, or did you figure Sanshu had it handled?

- (he did not have it handled) 

- (pretty sure if that had been Wu Xie you'd've jumped in the moment Pangzi's hands went around his throat, if not before) 

- *sigh* Pangzi, pls 

- The Green Eyed Fox? 

- Was that the dude in the fox mask? 

- Probably (also?) the opening credits guy

- How the fuck has it taken me 3 hours to get through half an ep? 

- Oh yeah, I keep going off on tangents and pausing to take pretty screenshots of Xiaoge 

- So we're doing fox demons, are we? 

- Don't touch anything. Yeah, like that sword you had casually slung over your shoulder.

- Storytime! 

- Suuure, Pangzi 

- Xiaoge really seems to know everything 

- Don't rattle it, Wu Xie 

- Oh, that interested A-Ning 

- I wonder if this is the thing that's supposed to cure Wu Xie 

- Sanshu thinks it's a bad idea, but doesn't want anyone other than Wu Xie to know

- Or, more to the point, doesn't want Pangzi and A-Ning to know 

- Good excuse, Wu Xie 

- I wonder if Pangzi is still supposed to be a doppelganger, or if that was part of the hallucination 

- Yeah, suuure you're not going to steal relics, Liu Tai

- Have they set up a new camp at the digsite, or did they take Chengcheng and High Shao back to their original camp? 

- I think he does legit want A-Ning to be ok, though 

- Looks like I was right, all the tunnels lead to the tree 

- Which means I expect zombie guy to show up any minute

- Don't think A-Ning will be happy they kept what happened to her friend from her when that happens 

- Xiaoge back into 'something is coming' mode 

- Oh, how was that for timing? Less than a minute after I said it, zombie dude is on his way 

  - And it goes straight for Pangzi 

- Maybe he knew Pangzi was a dick to his friend 

- GDI A-Ning 

- That's a strong zombie 

- XIAOGEEEEEEE! 

- Xiaoge Rescue Count: 8 for Wu Xie, 10 for the protagonists, 11 for everyone

- Yes, Pangzi, Xiaoge IS amazing

- lol, Pangzi making so much noise cheering for Xiaoge that he got the zombie's attention back 

- Xiaoge Rescue Count: 8 for Wu Xie, 11 for the protagonists, 12 for everyone

- This is apparently the Xiaoge Rescues EVERYONE ep 

- I'm not surprised you fell, A-Ning, with that wound

- That was a heavy fall. Ouch 

- Come on, A-Ning, you seemed more level headed than this so far 

- And the zombie knocks away the easier/closer target, Wu Xie, to target A-Ning 

- Wonder if there's a reason for it, or just dramatics

- And then he stops trying to bite her to kick her away & go back to fighting Xiaoge? 

- Those are some very nice moves from Xiaoge 

- And now the zombie is...launching himself at Wu Xie and the others? 

- Wu Xie being the hero and pushing everyone else out the way

- Pangzi to the rescue? 

- No - A-Ning!

- Poor A-Ning 

- Oh yeah, better pull Pangzi out the tree 

- Zombie spitting up blood as he's dying 

- No, Pangzi, he's not gonna be fine. A-Ning shot him like 4 or 5 times in the chest 

- Aaah, zombie is lucid now

- Wu Xie ain't doing too good right now 

- Those are some nasty bruises. Caused by the poison gas/blood, I'm guessing 

- WTF made you think drinking the water in a tomb chamber was a good idea? 

- Xiaoge's shown emotion a total of 3 times in 5 eps, and 2 of those have been worry for Wu Xie

- Whatcha looking for, Xiaoge? 

- Huh, no-one even thought to look under there, just assumed the box was all that was interesting 

- Kirin blood?!  

- And how did A-Ning know what it was, esp from that distance? 

- Pan Zi, you are like the second most badass person here next to Xiaoge

- Also, I am no longer feeling sorry for A-Ning 

- You owe these people your life, A-Ning, and this is how you repay them? 

- Xiaoge isn't too impressed. After all Pan Zi ain't Wu Xie 

- Oh, that seems like a fair deal. 

- I am pleased with the amount of Xiaoge in this ep

- Xiaoge Rescue Count: 9 for Wu Xie, 12 for the protagonists, 13 for everyone

- Not gonna count his offer to A-Ning as a rescue, since he didn't bother waiting to see if she'd accept before he went ahead and saved his future bf 

- This is the softest I've seen him look all show

- Pan Zi is much nicer than I would have been. I would have probably punched her 

- Then again, they've made a fuss a few times about treating her differently because she's a woman, ugh

- Hahah, Xiaoge just getting up and walking off without any explanation for poor Wu Xie

- Wu Xie seemed so concerned, like he thought he'd done something wrong 

- Then all worried, aww 

- Hahah, Xiaoge not even gonna wait for A-Ning, just gonna go find her guys all by himself 

- Several *thousand*? No wonder Wu Xie's gagging

- Oh, eating super old kirin blood is what made Xiaoge's blood magical? Does that mean Wu Xie's blood is also magic now? 

- Just Chengcheng in danger, Sanshu? What about High Shao? 

- What about climbing the tree? 

- XD XD XD

 - Sanshu saying exactly what I just did

- There's sunlight already coming through, will you even need to dig a hole? That sunbeam on the corpses was pretty big 

- Pan Zi like "of course I can climb all the way up there with a hole in my gut and several other injuries"

- Of course Wu Xie is gonna worry about A-Ning getting out as well. He wouldn't be Wu Xie if he didn't 

- Wu Xie is such a nice boy 

- Pan Zi is also pretty forgiving 

- Pangzi, you just can't take people being sincere with you yet, can you? 

- That's some depressed fatalism there

- Sanshu now doing his part to convince A-Ning by appealing to her sense of responsibility for her men 

 And there we go for ep 5! It only took me...5 hours for a 40 minute ep 

We end with Xiaoge Rescue Count at 9 for Wu Xie, 12 for the protagonists, 13 for everyone

[fightevilandthengetblownup]

FIC: Wolf Day Afternoon

---

"Well now," She joked as the final rope holding his hands were cut away from where they had been digging into his wrists. "How's it feel to be the damsel for once?"

"Pretty damn good, actually," Garth replied with a lopsided grin, or at least he hoped it was one, as he slowly lowered and rubbed his sore skin. From the look on the blonde's face, he figured that smile wasn't even close to what he hoped it would be. "How'd you go as the knight in shining armor?"

That at least got a laugh out of her as Jo moved towards one of the other people in the room, carefully removing the IV bag of djinn venom from their arm with a sour look when the girl's - and Garth flinched to recognize her as the second of the missing people, a young fifteen-year-old who went missing from the local library and whose face was plastered across every phone pole in town - blue eyes remained misted over even as she sagged in the bindings from her captor.

"You know me, s'long as I get to swing a sword-" "Or a silver knife with lamb's blood." "Yeah, that too!"

Garth moved towards the man strapped up closest to him - the last of the djinn's catch before himself - and worked the dripper of venom from the younger man's arm before jerking back as brown eyes flashed open and the man screamed.

"Hi there, friend," He spoke as softly as possible, carefully checking the man for other marks of distress or injuries as he reached to slowly undo the ropes from the man's hands. Garth could tell from the whites showing around his eyes that this man was almost as alert as he himself was, and musn't have been as lost in the wish world as he could have been. "You've just had a-"

"Very potent drug affect." Jo's voice came up from over his shoulder before her own thing fingers worked the knot undone better than his own shaky ones could. The way the man seemed to focus straight onto her face was something Garth had gotten used to hunting on occasion with the blonde - she just had a way with people, to draw attention when she wanted, and a soothing something to her whenever they had to calm someone down after an attack that Garth was almost jealous of. At least he was still better talking to children than her though. "I'm so sorry to say, mister, but you got yourself kidnapped by a very dangerous gang that've been operatin' in the area. I'm Officer Harvelle, and we've managed to apprehend the criminals."

"I was-" "Kidnapped and drugged." "But I was just-" "Walkin' home from the bar, remember? You went down the alley towards your car and then you were jumped."

The man's head slowly started nodding along with the story that the blonde was weaving, the faint glint of a badge on her belt and the gun holster that wouldn't stand up to scrutiny as official helping smooth the scared, confused man as they worked to release him. There was a full amount of truth in what she said - Garth had had the exact same thing happen to him while Jo had been going along the opposite path - that the man would remember his true memories that led to his abduction by the djinn that he should buy what she was saying. The taller hunter took a step back as the man's hand were freed and he slumped a little under his own weight, and moved towards the two other victims that were still in their binding as he could hear Jo spinning the story that would see the man stumbling home, believing this was all a drugged fuelled dream and forgetting about asking for her badge number until the hunters were long gone.

Both others were as dull-eyed as the first girl, but Garth felt the prickle of tears in his eyes as he pressed his fingers against their pulse points to the deadly missing thump of blood through their veins. Carefully lifting both bodies down from their entrapment, he quietly moved them one at a time towards what looked to be a tarp behind a few shelves out of the sight of the still mumbling man. As the hunter picked up the second, he brushed at his cheek at the tell-tale wetness of a tear.

"Fuck. They... We weren't ever goin' ta be early enough for them, I don't think."

If Garth hadn't heard the crack in her voice as the blonde had snuck up behind him from his quiet reflection, the hunter might have wondered if the woman was as heartless as some of them that were in their community - but as he stood up with a sore crack of his back from being immobile for the last day, he was so touched to notice the same wet-look in her eyes as his own. Sometimes hunting with others left him aching for the slow beat away of humanity in some of those who were on the road every day of the year; those raised in the life like Sam and Dean left him sorrowful for their detachment at times, but that Jo - another hunter raised in the life unlike him - had similar reactions to himself helped fill that gulf between him and the others.

"Not likely, no." "Well... three out of five isn't bad." "Are you counting that girl as the third?"

Both hunter's eyes turned towards the first girl, where she still sat, slumped over to the side and unwilling to move away from where she had sunk. The grey pallor of her skin was still present, even as her cheeks were slowly gaining a little pink back in them. The redhead's aunt had cried constantly when they'd interviewed her - and Garth figured he could guess what the recently made orphan's wish world had held for her and just how hard it may be for her to return to life as it was. To accept reality. His own thankfully was not that hard.

Jo's sigh caught his attention, and as the short blonde moved over to help lift the girl up with a struggle - he rushed forward to pick the girl up himself despite the faint wooziness from his own energy-zapping.

"Her aunt, no matter what will be glad to have her home," Garth mumbled quietly as he held the girl and slowly made his way out of the space with the man they'd rescued beside himself.

There was a faint query of where their squad car was from the man as they emerged from the old dockside building, which was quickly shut down by and distracted from as Jo peppered him with questions instead and long-winded answers about the man's situation. It was almost like circles around and around before Garth realized just how convoluted a story she had weaved that the man would never get to the end of the ball of knots.

Both saved victims were dropped off at their homes as quickly as possible and with as distractingly dizzy conversation for the more focused man than the young girl, before Jo turned the car back towards their motel only to come to a screeching halt at a payphone.

"Gimme a sec, yeah?" The blonde didn't wait for a response from him at all as she leaped out and went to make the call about the two bodies of the women they hadn't been able to save, a stronger constitution in her that Garth envied. 

He could barely get himself to sit upright rather than slumped in his passenger seat with his forehead pressed against the cold glass of the window in a way that he wished felt more reassuring than it did. It used to calm him to feel the slight vibrations of a car and the cold numbing sharpness from the glass, but all he felt then was the same hollow feeling at his world being reconfirmed to reality and the sticky dark blood he'd seen from the djinn's body as Jo had rescued him.

Shuddering to himself, Garth was unsurprised that Jo was back in the car and the pair set straight off back out of town towards his own home base than back to the motel. She was just that organised, he'd thought to himself for ages, and that she had known that she would finish the hunt and had the foresight to get their equipment already as well as wipe their motel rooms clear rather than delay after she'd dispatched the villain of their hunt was something Garth still struggled with. The confidence and trust in himself that he would finish the task, that he would be able to save the day and do what needed doing for such things.

"How do you do it?" He was surprised to hear his own voice in the quiet space of the car, the dull rumble of the engine and the whistle of an air system that needed a tune-up the only sound that had been in their with them, but wasn't surprised to hear himself voicing a query he'd never quite finished for the other.

"Whatcha mean?" "The killing that's involved. The confidence that you're doing the right thing. That you'll actually do it." "Huh?" "I just... I go into a hunt never actually sure that I'd be able to take out the monster at the end of it, especially with what I am now. I guess I just... How do you do it, Jo? And so comfortably? So well? Even without considering your relationship with non-humans being as complex as my own situation."

He found himself turning his head, his cheek pressing against the cool glass, to look across the darkened centre of the car to look towards Jo and the tiny frown on her face as she continued their passage back towards the place he called home. Garth wished at moments like this he knew how to be a better friend, or word his thoughts better, or maybe even just read minds, as he could see a range of shadows play across her face that had nothing to do with the glow from the speedometer or the passingly illuminated road signs.

"Well, if you think I'm comfortable with it," Her words cut through his silent observation, a self-deprecating warmth in the tone as she raised a hand from the wheel to scratch at her neck. "Then I'm doin' a good job pretendin' then."

"You're not-?" "Of fuckin' course not!" "Since when?" "Since forever? You know 'bout my uncle, I told you when you wanted to quit huntin' and asked me to... help."

Garth felt his own shadows playing at that and ducked his head from watching her. That had been a dark day for him.

He was pulled out of that reflection by the other's voice though and shook that memory from his mind as he turned back to look across at the pained expression on Jo's face as she drove patiently and calmly in a way belied from the stress in her tone. "I've never thought that being a monster was somethin' worthy of hatred or loathin' or death. You know this, Garth, or at least a bit of it. And I just... I've never been okay that some hunts end bloody and just how hard it is to come up with or work out another solution."

"You know, that was my wish." Garth said sharply over the whispered end of Jo's own rant, and smiled softly when Jo looked across at him with a raised brow. "That there were other options, actually - it boiled down to a wish I had when I got into hunting-"

"The tooth fairy again?" "Yeah, that's the one." "So, what was the wish?"

Letting out a bit of a quiet laugh, Garth found himself feeling slightly lighter than he had since he'd stumbled back into reality - the weight of his wish world finally lifting as he saw the curious and warm, gentle smile he was getting as he shared. "That I didn't have to kill it. That I didn't have to kill any monsters. That no one did." He found himself twisting his hands a bit as he remembered it - they'd been on this same hunt, an irony that wasn't lost on him that they managed to stop the djinn within his dream world but hadn't needed to kill it the same as Jo had in the real world, and the djinn had simply needed to be discussed about some methodology that involved drawing only small dreams and energy from those willing and wanting to escape reality for a while - and just how easy it seemed that the world could tilt enough on its axis to allow monsters to be not so monstrous. It felt like if he just remembered enough, dug deep enough, found enough examples, he could make a real difference in a way that the thick blood that had pooled from the djinn's neck couldn't be stopped. "It... it felt good in that world, to help not only humans but-"

"Those non-humans too?" "Yeah. It felt like I could really do good for everyone with this job. Not just... People that other hunters think are what matters."

There was a noticeable slowing in the vertigo of the world speeding past the windows outside, and Garth looked confused between the darkened tree line flashing past slower than before and then the cool look on the blonde's face. 

"Jo?"

"You're right," Her voice was a tad robotic, but Garth knew better than to interrupt someone speaking in that tone. If she'd been a little girl and not a grown woman controlling the car they were driving in, he'd be trying to work out how to grab Mr Fizzle's to help with whatever train of thought was about to come out; but instead found himself sinking quietly into his seat and diverting his eyes back out through the front window at the panicked look in the white's of her eyes. "The human lives are the only ones that matter to most of us. And it's depressin'. Especially I'm sure for you, now, Garth. That if you were talkin' to some other hunter, they'd possibly change how they talked the minute they remember you ain't human any more." There was the drumming of untrimmed nails on the steering wheel and Garth shifted uncomfortably in acknowledgement. "And that if... If you were on a hunt with someone else? And trapped how you were? That they-" There was a gasped breath there, and he knew if they were anywhere but a speeding car he'd be dragging the other hunter into a hug no matter what disapproval or attempts to stop him she might make. Something was caught in her mind, tugging at the loose thread of an idea in a way Garth thought must be painful and in the same was she was drawing the same, horrible, thread of thought out in his own. "They might've left you like that. As one less... One less monster to deal with."

The rumble of the car and the heavy sound of gravel as Jo slowed to a crawl along the side of the empty highway felt like thunder, or perhaps that was just the thumping of his heart in his ears. It was pounding. Like he was on a hunt again, fighting for his and other's lives.

Glancing out the corner of his eye at Jo as the car came to a stop and put it into park without a word, there was a moment when he thought just maybe he still was. Right until two arms went around him despite the awkward pull of seatbelts, and Garth felt himself giving a shaky breath all his own as he wrapped his own around her frame in response. He couldn't say how long he stayed like that, eyes pressed tightly closed and some smell he never quite managed to determine with his new senses under that warmth he knew to be her shampoo as Jo pressed her hug back just as tightly.

Perhaps they weren't be most normal hunters, but Garth knew in his heart - no matter the momentary fears - that he'd found someone he could trust to save him as much as any human. And maybe just be able to help make his wish become a reality.

---

AFK - just checking on Garth

Jo pinged off the message on the team chat as she could hear a rustling noise over the bickering between Charlie and Spruce about the effectiveness of Harley Quinn's glitter gun. There was an immediate sound of a response as the group sat in the start menu while she got up, but she'd respond after checking on her host.

Padding along the hallway and then down the stairs into the belly of the converted boat, the blonde ducked her head under the last beam before the bottom of the stairs and paused cautiously at that point, tilting her head towards the front locked room to try to determine if the noise was coming from where it should or where it shouldn't be. The rattle of another chain came about from that direction and breathing a sigh of relief, Jo wandered towards the locked door with a more relaxed smile.

"Doin' 'kay in there, Garthy?" She called out quietly as she reached the door, sliding the small viewing panel in the door as her eyes adjusted to the dark in that part of the boat. The gentle lap of the water and sway of the boat in the currents was equally relaxing as she blinked and squinted into the darker room.

It wouldn't be a safe room if there were windows, and they'd worked together on what was the most comfortable and best for the other during these times of the month, and darkness was, unfortunately, an almost necessity when it came to keeping the beast tamed. Frowning a little as she heard the noise of movement again, Jo gave a small laugh when she noticed where the hunched over form of her friend was, curled up in the middle of the large mattress on the floor - they'd had to remove the frame the second month after Jo lost sight of the werewolf and he'd launched at her from under the bed itself on the first night - in a gangly arrangement of limbs. His foot, bare despite the cooler air of the night and those darkened sharp nails of his kind, was kicking out in his sleep, rattling the silver chain his ankle was locked into. Jo had been reluctant and found the need to chain her friend up distasteful - a sharp reminder for her each night that he wasn't the only man she adored that she'd shackled before, but a penance in a way even if the other wouldn't know it  - but they'd determined it was necessary that first month of testing. Though now, Garth's nocturnal form wasn't at all surprised when he would transform and the beast would find itself bolted down to an extent of the room and Jo had actually found his transformations less violent and feral than they used to be. A promising sign, and watching as Garth rolled to the other side, finger claws raking along his arms to draw only the faintest amount of blood this month, Jo let out a sigh as she shut the panel again. She'd need to play nurse in the morning, but that was nothing compared to some of the other injuries they'd both been shocked to see that side of him inflict upon him.

Heading back upstairs and shutting the hall door behind her, Jo let out a gentle sign as she slid the small lock into place - a back up to a back up to a back up, a precaution on top of so many precautions - and fished a diet soda from the fridge on her way back to Garth's rather impressive gaming system. Falling back into the exceptionally comfortable lounger chair, she slid the headset back over her hair, pulling a few strands of hair out of the way as she heard the voices of Spruce and Charlie still arguing.

"-it's not like she couldn't kill with that kind of impact-" "Oh that's bull shit and you know it!" "Those glitter explosions had force!" "The bean bags could kill, sure, but not fucking glitter."

Back - they still at it? - Jo quickly sent the message off in the chat itself rather than interrupt the ongoing fight. The pair were always arguing over one thing or another, and as she slid her character selector over towards Soldier 76 as she took a swig of her soda.

"Yeah, they're still trying to decide if it was deadly force or not." Ed chirped through the headsets, and Jo let out a laugh at that. "Hey, you wouldn't know would you?"

"Not sure if glitter would have the impact force-" "HA!" "But I have shot salt rounds at that proximity and velocity, and if the glitter was packed that tightly could have an impact, but not sure if it'd be deadly force for a regular human. Maybe it if was to the face?"

"Ha you're fucking self, Spruce!" Charlie's snap came readily as Ed, Harry and Grey all groaned in unison. "Anyways, is Shada around for today's game? We've got seven if she is, so could just play some death matches with a random?"

There was a quiet second before Grey's voice came through rough and tinny, "I've just sent her a message. Actually, I might have an eighth though please be nice to her guys, she's never played before."

"Who?" Jo found herself asking quickly, frowning slightly as she picked up her own phone to shoot a question off to Shada privately that they didn't have to interrupt anything if Shada was busy with whoever the other was.

"Sister." "You've got another sister? She hot too?" "None of you are flirting with her, Ed, she's a kid." "Ah, fair enough."

Jo frowned a moment at that, taking another moment to send Shada another message full of question marks and exclamation marks, as Grey said he'd be back in a second and Charlie and Spruce started bickering about some new topic of contention over the top of Ed and Harry making plans to catch up the next month if they could for some weird anniversary or something. Sinking into the comfortable chair more, Jo started picking at the plastic covering on the controller - a very colorful Mr Rogers-themed sticker that made her heart feel all the softer about her friend sleeping away the night downstairs - as she waited. Ombre - she's a total baby. She learned how to do body jumping around Christmas last year and is SUPER excited to get to talk to you - the message came through with a loud beep on her phone from the dark haired shadow she'd been waiting to hear back from. Shada's emphasis seemed genuine, and Jo found herself biting her nail as she considered that perhaps she'd need to have a chat with Grey about introducing her to the family as much as she did him to hers sometime soon. Another three beeps in quick succession as new messages came through, all in caps lock, and with some extra exclamation marks - SHES SO EXCITED TO PLAY!!  OMBRE WANTED TO KNOW IF THE DOG LIKED HER GIFTS??!! GREY IS SO FUNNY SETTING UP THE SYSTEM!! - that made Jo laugh to envision before she frowned at the question in the middle before a thought to the baby pink items for their furbaby at Christmas made more sense now.

"-isn't that right, Jo?"

"Huh?" She barely caught the sound of her name as she lifted her fingers from tapping mindlessly at her phone trying to decide the response to the brunette shadow, before blinking stupidly to herself for a moment. "What's what now?"

"I was just trying to explain to Spruce and Ed what a djinn was and how it's not at all like a three-wishes-genie," Harry said, tone laced with humor, "That was what you and Garth were on right?"

"Oh, I didn't know djinn were really real!" Charlie's voice picked up, perkily high, and intrigued, and Jo found herself frowning as she wondered if it would be best to change the topic before Grey got back with his sisters out of politeness or not, before frowning further as the redhead woman's voice continued. "Of course, I knew there was as basis to the idea of magical genies, and Dean had said-"

"Dean's just pissed his wish world was so corrupted and distracted him from helpin' Sammy." Jo found herself snapping back, pissily, and cringing at herself for just how stupid she sounded doing that whenever Charlie would bring up the other hunter. She needed to work on that, but biting her lip she couldn't help the snarky feeling that he had been her friend and brother first, and shaking her head she added quickly. "But yeah, djinn's don't really grant wishes the way that like Aladdin and stuff would make you think. They take your deepest dream or wish and make it come true. None of the trickery of it goin' bad, and none of the pain. But they keep you in that trance and drain your energy until you're dead."

"Oh like-" "You better not be sayin' what I think you were 'bout to say, Harry." "No, no of course not. I just meant the, uh, energy thing."

"Completely different vibe, but... I guess." Jo sighed sharply, and furrowed her brow as she let out a silent thanks that none of the shadows had signed in or were active yet, before continuing business like. "But yeah, basically you can live a whole life time in a djinn's dream, wish world, when it's really only a few days or weeks in reality before hand."

"Like the red waterfall and green anchor in Doctor Who!" Charlie's input was actually so welcome right then, especially as all three Ghostfacers suddenly jumped on the topic and the group began talking about the mechanics of multi-verses and time travel of a solo individual rather than continue to ask about Jo's recent hunt or the much more complicated comparison that she did not want to be discussing whenever Grey got his sisters' set up to play. Distracting the talk to be about the time travelling alien and his companions was far better a topic of conversation for whenever the other got back.

Charlie and Ed were bickering this time - about if Amy Pond or Clara were the better of Eleven's companions - when the beep of new connections added to their voice chat and then a perky, extremely young and excited voice cut through the conversation - "Oh! They're talking about ponds? I like ponds, they're so pretty!"

"Uh... Sorry guys, that's... This is my sister, Ombre," Grey's voice cut over and Jo found the slight tension that had been building simply waiting to hear his voice again started to relax. "Ombre, we don't just cut in on people's conversations, it's rude."

"Oh. Oh! Sorry! I'm just... I've barely gotten to talk to people before, and especially not when I can't see them like this!" There was a girlish giggle, followed by a slightly deeper one of the other shadow woman's laugh in turn as the younger one added quickly, "I mean, not since I got eyes, I mean. This is so interesting! Ce Magnifique!"

There was a pause in the conversation, before Jo found herself laughing at the deep, worn sigh that came through her headset as everyone else joined in letting out a few laughs in turn. She could just picture Grey leaning over his knees and rubbing at his eyes or scratching at the back of his neck as he tried to corral his sister who it sounded like it'd be like herding kittens. It was like that was all that was needed to lighten the mood again, and quickly everyone introduced their voice to their name and welcomed the younger girl as well as giving general greetings to Shada and teasing that the shadow girl just wanted to balance the number of girls and guys playing for once.

It took another five minutes before they all settled in to actually playing - the competitive nature starting up between Charlie and Ed as always as the death matches began and they started striving for who out of them would get higher on the board.

Jo found herself more distracted as they played than usual though, topping the chart typically but with the verbal agreement after the third round that she wouldn't actually play to attack until the second half of each match to even the playing field as was the usual plan, and spent most of the games more just talking to Grey and asking about how his week had been and focused on conversation over gameplay. She was fairly certain he felt the same way, as his place on the leader board was usually towards the bottom and she spotted his Moira on several occasions just standing still rather than moving as he talked to her about something that Nana had done the day before or some recipe he was testing out, and asking about how bad diner meals she had this time around.

"Okay, seriously, are you two actually playing or just chinwagging?" Spruce's brash tone cut over the jab about Charlie being a camper from Shada as the redhead had killed the brunette for the third time right after respawning again, the sound of a beer can cracking quietly over the call before he added with a laugh, "I mean, if you're going to end up flirting the whole time, you might as well move it to phonese-"

"Hell no!" "Oh god, Spruce, why!" "What's-" "Ombre, you don't need to know. Look Nana's stuck her head around the door, lookat that." "I'm with Spruce, if they're going to-"

Jo felt her cheeks going bright red and let out an awkward laugh as all five of the others fed in, blushing deeper at Charlie's cheeky agreement and as she heard Shada and Ombre's voices muffled as they'd dropped off their headsets to try to tempt her baby into befriending them. There was usually teasing of a sort, but usually she hadn't been away from the other for over a week already, and twisting her legs as she moved her position in her seat for another moment, she tried to ignore the ache at not being able to look across at what she was sure to be a very pissy look on Grey's face at the teasing. Or at least, she hoped it would be. That despite his sisters' being around for company he was missing her just the same.

There was a quiet moment until suddenly she noticed onscreen a sudden flurry of attacks and colors coming from the area of the map she thought was where Grey's character had been last. And then shouts of outrage from both Charlie and Spruce broke up the silence as their characters kept dying before they got the chance to add anything else. Jo found herself directing her own character that way and assisting in tag-teaming the pair with her own headshots added to the deadly attacks from the other. It was the way of the remaining count down of the round, and the blonde actually let out a laugh to see Grey's account name at the told of the tally board, just above her own.

"Is that actually playing enough for you, Spruce?" Grey's clipped tone through the headset felt sharp and jagged in a way only Jo would recognise, and rubbing at her chest, she felt a little bad that she'd ever questioned if he felt the same aching. "Now, I was asking what you're up to around Garth's..."

"Time of month?" She supplied cheekily which managed to get a laugh out of Charlie and Ed alike, as the tension from the group as a whole seemed to bleed away and the few conversations started up as the next round started up and Harry declared his intention to top everyone that game which got a round of giggles and snickers from the fellow men, and Shada's quip that he could try to beat her for once. Jo waited a few seconds as she heard the rest starting up before answering softly. "I visited another friend I knew in the area today while Garth slept off the sleeping off. And Garth suggested we go fishin' sometime once he's had a day or two to adjust to the aches."

"Sounds fun." "Yeah, should be calm enough to do a few hours at least." "Not going swimming?" "Not this time. Garth said that there'd been some weird algae outbreak in the river and recommended not." Jo found herself saying, even though it was only a partial truth. There was an algae outbreak at the moment in the river system, and Garth had said it would be unlikely to be a good time to go swimming for that reason alone; but it wasn't the main reason she was avoiding the water. Running a finger gently over her bare thigh as she shifted in her seat again, she found herself unconsciously sighing as she traced over the dark lines that now covered her skin and the soft covering of antibacterial gel over it that she would need to reapply after their gaming session was over. "It's a shame, given how hot it's been."

"Nana had a fun time in the lake yesterday-" "Yeah?" "She didn't want to get out. I guess the heats getting to her."

"She's resting out in the kitchen tile," Shada's voice cut in, and Jo could picture the smile behind it easily enough as she watched the dark-haired woman's character go running past to take out Ed's from behind before jumping away again. There was an outraged noise, before the giggle came up again and the girl added, "I'm sure you'd be happy, the dog didn't even bark at our arrival today."

"Wow! Really?" "Not even a sad little yip. Though she has stayed in the kitchen for the most part." "But she didn't bark. That's good."

"Yes, brother here got you a very interesting dog." The affection behind the words was so gentle, and running her finger across the dark twists of a petal, Jo couldn't help but feel the same level of affection just then herself. She was very lucky with just how interesting her life was now. "She's been very well behaved, and Ombre is enamoured with her." "She's so cute!" The squeal made Jo wince at just how high pitched and excited it was and found herself wondering if the girl's look matched just how upbeat and perky her voice and excitement level had been. "Your petit fille is such a cutie!"

Jo found herself chuckling a little, and couldn't help the smile at the compliments to her baby girl. Whenever she got to meet this sister, she figured she'd approve right away of her compared to how stifled the first meeting she'd had with the woman she now considered a close friend. "Thanks, Ombre. That's really sweet, we've worked really hard trainin' her to be able to handle all of our friends and family."

Suddenly the chat burst into a collection of voices and Jo found herself frowning until she noticed her screen was frozen. The server down and next moment she was booted from the game itself. The angry reactions and Ed and Harry both shouting that they weren't able to log back in, and shortly after everyone began to log off when the system was still down after five minutes. Charlie called a farewell and promise to answer Jo and Harry's questions about an issue with the hunter portal; Ed, Spruce and Harry all agreed within a few words to jump onto some other shooter together, and Jo found herself talking to Shada and Ombre about possibly catching up sometime when Jo got back into town; until only Grey's voice remained connected to the group Discord call.

"So... you'll be home soon?" His voice came through softly, and Jo could somewhat hear the muffled voices of the two shadow-girls who had just logged off talking in the background before fading away as if they'd left the loungeroom and gone towards the kitchen or elsewhere in the house for a time. Jo did remember that Grey'd gotten her some wildflowers with bergamots, prairie clovers, and bellflowers that she had put up away from her curious baby's nose on the hall table, so perhaps they were taking photos or doing something like that while giving their brother the privacy to talk to her, which made Jo's cheeks flame and heart feel all the warmer. "You sure everything was okay on your hunt? And with Garth?"

"Should be home by the weekend, yeah." She replied just as softly, smiling to herself as she closed her eyes and leaned into the couch. If she kept her eyes closed she could imagine they were curled up together just talking. "Poor... Did I message you what happened?"

"What? No?" "Garth, uh, got caught." "Is he okay?!"

Jo nodded to herself, smiling gentler at the sheer concern bleeding through the other's voice. "Yeah, he's alright. I finished the hunt off the mornin' after he got nabbed, so he's alright. But otherwise, everything went fine."

"Jo... Your partner on this hunt got attacked and caught by the thing you were after-" "Djinn." "Huh?" "The djinn, not thing."

There was an exasperated sound like Grey'd dragged a heavy breath in through his nose or had swallowed down some kind of answer to her correction and almost choked on it, before a rush of air. She knew that noise and snuggling into the couch, she ran her fingers across the still slightly raised skin of her thigh as she waited for Grey's inevitable thought process to continue.

"Anyway - he got attacked, and you say everything was fine?" The clipped tone and the boneachingly stong worry in it brought a sigh from her own lips in response, before there was an echo from the other end and then a pained sounding chuckle. "Is he alright?"

"He's okay. We...talked 'bout it, and I think he's goin' to adjust back fine." Jo replied gently, her thoughts flickering to that moment of fear that had flooded the other hunter's soft eyes before she'd wrapped her arms around him, and curling her hands up around her own waist she wished all over again that she could be wrapped up instead in the warmth of home instead. "He wasn't under for long, I don't think."

"Well, if either of you need something-" "You will always be the first person I run to." Jo found herself cutting him off quickly, eyes slowly blinking open as she heard a call through his mic of Shada's voice calling out about some idea the sisters had come up with, and let out a noiseless sigh. "Sounds like your own business calls-" "Not if you need me." Grey's firm response came through, and smiling again to herself, Jo shifted to sit upright again as she looked around the small living space of the badly refurbished Fizzles Folly before she let out a small laugh. There was a pause, and then found herself smiling wider still to hear the gentle tease. "But you'll be home in a few days-"

Running her finger over the delicate and deliberate lines marked into her thigh, the lines that were as much her own as they were his under her skin, Jo found herself biting back the desire to ask him to come to her then. To come to be with her in a way that having these marks would always show through no matter where she was that connection back - back to the warm feeling that was flooding her chest to look at a bit of him so secretly knowing it was there as much as that feeling was deep in her chest. Giving a small, quiet sigh of longing, Jo smiled to herself as she replied.

"And then I'll be home."

---

Day three was always the best day. Or at least, day three was the day that Garth started to feel like a real human in the morning after he'd unlocked his chains and knocked the secret beat to get Jo to unlock the door. It was the day that his bones felt like they were in the right places, and his nailbeds didn't ache, and his teeth felt like they actually belonged in his mouth. The scent of vanilla wasn't overpowering when Jo'd open the door, and the smell of the river outside that would gush in with the smells of fish and rats and the ginger tabby cat that used to hang around near his boat line weren't overwhelming. Day three was when Garth was a person and not just a weird person-shaped lie.

Stretching his back as he made his circles around the boat, Garth wasn't surprised to hear his phone buzzing and the name of his current companion's partner flashing on the screen. Jo had mentioned she'd used his account for the usual gaming session the night before, and that she'd explained briefly that something had gone wrong on the hunt; and he was unsurprised to find the call coming in, inevitably to check up on him.

"Ahoy hoy," he said cheerfully as he answered, holding the phone to his ear as he moved around the starboard side of the boat up towards the bow. "How was game night?"

There was a pause, and tugging at a rope pile that needed looping again later, Garth could almost predict there was some kind of thought struggling on the other's end to formulate. He felt kind of bad for the other guy. Garth had heard enough from Jo, and from the Winchesters, and from Bobby, to know that the other man had had struggles enough to match most other hunters that he'd ever met - and there had been something to the tone he'd heard the last few times Jo came for a slightly more extended time (a hunt followed by a moon, usually, or vice versa) that there was clearly some kind of separation anxiety. Jo showed it too, usually, and by the next afternoon Garth expected Jo's usually perky smile would be clearly straining to remain normal - and hearing the soft groan of thought through the phone from the other, Garth figured that the other was already at that point or near enough.

"It was alright. I'm sorry you missed it - both of my sisters joined in this time." There was a levity in that at least, and Garth found himself nodding and making an agreeing noise - Jo had mentioned something about that - before the other continued. "But Jo said something went wrong on your hunt?"

Garth let out a lighter sounding laugh at that phrasing. It sounded like how the blonde would explain it.

"Yeah, I, unfortunately, was looking left when I should have been looking right." He let out a self-depricating chuckle at that as he moved further around the front of the boat to lean against the window ledge looking between the river and into the living room. "Jo was two buildings over searching, and unfortunately the djinn we were looking for nabbed me before we could, well... before I could do anything."

"That sounds bad. I- I am not a fan of them." "Yeah, it's... very disconcerting what they get up to." "Mind powers and games are not-" "They're not great. Especially... that type of thing."

Leaning heavily against the outer wall, Garth let out a quiet sigh as he plucked and toyed at a bit of rusting metal under the window that would need to be sanded down and repainted eventually if he didn't want to deal with a leak. The whole place was a constant work site, but it was nice when friends like Jo or Bobby or even that one wonderful time Rufus was caught up in a case and needed somewhere to lie low for a while. Usually, it meant extra hands to help out, and this time he knew, looking in through the window, that Jo'd been working on fixing some of the rotted floorboards inside.

"Jo said you... were doing okay?" Grey's voice caught him off guard, and Garth found himself nodding before remembering that the other couldn't see it. Mumbling a 'yep', he wasn't surprised to hear the other continue questioning him. "Are you sure though? Cause it must have been strange returning to normal."

"More strange having someone having my back as much as Jo does." Garth replied with a warm laugh, turning to look over towards the river again before a thought occurred to him. "Hey man, I'm going to hang up a second and then video call you, okay? I figure you're not likely getting on this rust bucket with the amount of iron any time soon-"

"You are absolutely right!" "- so instead I'll give you a tour. Oh hey, I can show you what Jo's been helping out with the last few moons too."

"Oh? Sure." Grey's voice sounded curious, and not giving him a chance to finish which Garth cringed about as he realized he'd cut the other off - he quickly disconnected the call and pressed the video call button instead. Not even one ring completed before the other picked up and Garth waved a large hand awkwardly and mostly out of camera at the other. "You were saying Jo's been helping...with the boat?" The confusion on Grey's face matched the voice, and the hunter nodded as he grinned warmly at the other. It was good to see him again, even if he looked somehow less like he was going to puke like the first time they met but simultaneously somehow worse and more tired.

"You've got yourself a regular Rosie the Riveter with her," Garth chuckled, smiling as he looked about the boat to try to locate the first place to start. "Oh, here!"

The pair talked back and forth as Garth kept switching the camera mode from his face to looking and showing some odd job Jo had helped with the last few months - the fixed electrical box to the generator, the welding work to fix that leak for his transformation hold, the paint job to the whole exterior of the boat that Garth enjoyed telling Grey of the hilarious way Jo had fallen in the river and decided it was easier to make the paint float beside her than paint upside down - as well as some of the weirder parts of the boat Garth had built for himself. Grey laughed at the right times, and seemed to be interested and asked all the kinds of questions that Garth would expect, but when asked about what he'd been up to while Jo was away - the other demurred and changed the topic after saying he'd been doing household chores or trying some dish or other. Something seemed off, but Garth found himself shrugging as he moved quietly into the main lounge room of the boat before letting out a laugh.

"Seems I've worked Jo to the breaking point," He joked quietly, flipping the camera around to show the sight that had met him walking into the space with a huff of laughter. "This happen often at yours?"

There was a matching chuckle from the other end of the phone, and Garth didn't bother to bite down the smile he felt growing seeing the way the other man's face seemed to light up at the view Garth was sending back. Sprawled out in the sun beam shining through the main window, Jo had an arm tossed over her eyes and her hair was splayed about her head, while her overalls were covered in tiny flecks of wood varnish and there was still a hammer resting in her other hand against her stomach. The flannel that he was sure she had been wearing earlier was tucked under her head too like a pillow, and he didn't try to hide at all how wonderful it was to see the amount of affection and love pouring through from Grey's eyes as Garth kept the camera focused that way.

"Actually, seems it's like mother like daughter," The other replied, mirth and love evident throughout his tone as the camera on that end switched. Garth didn't bother to hide the loud laugh that the new camera angle brought up showing the extremely fluffy stomach of the Bernese mountain dog the pair shared likewise proudly on display, soaking up an equally warm seeming sunbeam as the dog's feet twitched in the air in her sleep. "Man, I'm sorta jealous looking at the both of them, aren't you?"

"You're not wrong. Sleeps hard to come by this time of month." Garth replied gently, smiling as he kept his screen forward but noticed Grey turned his camera back around, eyes fixated on where Jo's image was probably on his screen rather than on the camera itself. "How are you doing on that end?"

"It's fine." "You sure? I mean... Jo hasn't been sleeping much here-" "Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She's napping during the day. It's not good for her to sleep at night when I could... When it's... When I'm not in control." Garth found himself quickly saying and then correcting and correcting himself again. The slight shift in the other's look, from loving to worry, flashed so quickly he was almost certain there was something else at play; pausing for a moment, Garth frowned to himself before asking again, firmer, "Are you doing okay, Grey?" "I'm fine." "Grey-" "I'm absolutely fine, everything is alright. Just worried about you and Jo." "If your sure-"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Oh, Nana's woken up." Grey quickly added the last, and if Garth didn't know better of the other he'd think that might just be a lie. "Looks like she wants to go out. I'm going to have to deal with that-" There was a gesture and shift of the camera, and from what he could see it looked like the other man was rubbing at his neck awkwardly for a moment, eyes fixed on something behind the camera, before they focused back on the screen with a sad-looking and sounding sigh. "Thanks for touching base Garth, and for taking care of Jo. We'll see you up here sometime soon?"

"Sure thing-" "Okay cool. Yeah, I have to let Nana out. Have a good one."

"See you-" Garth barely managed to get the words out before the call disconnected with the ghost of a smile coming up on the other's face before he pressed the power button to close his own phone off in response. Frowning as he looked from the black screen to the restless shuffling of Jo's nap, the hunter found himself wondering if perhaps he really should go drop by sometime soon. Just to make sure that both his friends were alright. ---

"So-" He found himself having tried to work out the way he wanted to ask this for the last five days, but had struggled to work out exactly how to make it come outright. "Why exactly did you get that done down here? Now?"

That wasn't quite right, but leaning forward to thread a worm onto his hook as they sat side by side on the riverbank just down from the mooring point, he couldn't think of any better way to ask it. It wasn't unusual at all for Jo to stay with him, especially during the full moon of the month, but that she'd said she'd be getting some work done the day before the moon started to show it's full face seemed strange. When Jo had him drop her off at the artist's office, it seemed even stranger but Garth had visited the man himself too for the dark ink on his calf when Sam had suggested he should upgrade from charm to protective tattoo. Perhaps she had needed something done or touched up, or maybe it was to do with that weird obsessive searching she'd had about the fae a while back, so it wasn't as strange then once he'd thought about it. Right until he'd picked her up right before sundown and found out it had been a large, artistic choice, rather than anything protective or related to their line of work.

"Time finally seemed right. And Chris did my ass tattoo-" Garth found himself laughing there alongside the blonde's own snicker, before she continued, "So I figured I felt comfortable with him doin' the piece."

The hunter was nodding, understanding from that side of things. Jo's own anti-possession tattoo placement had made him laugh hysterically the first time it had been brought up, and the color on Dean's cheeks when Garth had suggested he'd get his own in the same spot a few weeks later had been hilarious. Sam had teased for hours over a fair few beers until Dean had stormed off in a huff, and that memory was almost as precious as some of the other. Seeing the brothers laughing and teasing one another was far between, unlike getting laughter from the blonde beside him, so it was exceptionally special to have been privy to their antics. What he didn't understand, however, was the choice of design or why she didn't get the work done closer to her home where Grey could have helped rub the ointment on her rather than herself - not that Garth really wanted to think about that mental image.

"Yeah, but why him? Why down this way?" Garth finally asked, frowning slightly as he flicked his rod and cast out his line with a loud 'plop' from the bouy as it bobbled on the surface and he turned to look at Jo.

The blonde shrugged a shoulder, looking out across the murky river with her own tiny frown. "Mostly? It's a surprise for Grey."

"Huh?" "I wanted to surprise him with it." "Does he not like your tattoos?"

"Uh... hmm, not actually sure, but this one?" Jo rubbed a hand over the skirt fabric covering her thigh and protecting her newest inking from the harsh sun that they were both basking in. It had looked very red when Garth had noticed it the day after it was done, and Jo had limped about the boat for the first two days, but otherwise seemed fine now. "This one I really want him to be surprised by."

"I didn't take you for a flower type girl," He found the words bubbling up quickly, and if it was some other woman he'd said it to - Garth would have been outraged on their behalf for his words, but smiling despite the scowl he got in response. Holding on hand up in surrender, the other holding the rod gently, he added, "It's just a very different style than I thought you'd like is all."

“I dunno. I just wanted somethin’?” Jo shrugged again as she slowly stopped scowling, a soft smile growing as she rubbed her thigh still for a second before paying attention back to the rod clamped between her knees. "But, yeah, that's true. I’m not a big... flower design fan."

"So?" “So what?" "So why that design?"

"That's a very personal question to ask." Jo teased back, sticking her tongue out at him as she reeled her line back in only to cast out again, another few feet further. There was a pause before she said, that same loving tone Garth knew was her and her lovers special tone, "But this is Grey's work. So I wanted to surprise him with it."

Garth almost dropped his rod at that, scrambling to grab it with two hands again before looking back at Jo carefully. "That's one of his sketches?"

"Eyup! I found it in one of his older scrapbooks, and he says... I'm like his own personal sun to his sunflower sometimes." Jo slowly brought the words out, as if she was trying to put them together in her mouth for the first time. As if it was the first time she was verbalizing the intent and point behind her choice. As if she wasn't absolutely certain why, other than that she did.  “Something in it spoke to me and was just like ‘Jo Harvelle, put me on your body’?

Garth nodded, glancing out the corner of his eye and thinking to himself that he didn't think the shadow was wrong at all. "Makes sense... Is that what-?"

"It's, yeah, some sunflowers. And some peonies 'cause... Well, I like to get him peonies from the lady down the road." Jo found herself stumbling over her words still, and Garth had to bite down on the desire to laugh watching her. There was something ridiculous about how the blonde reacted to things, and Garth found it all too funny to see the self-assured hunter be so off her game, though he supposed it was the same for the likes of the other hunters born into the life - confident at the job but not normality. She let out a little laugh herself, shaking her head. "I just wanted to have a piece of him with me, if that makes sense?"

"I mean, it's not as ridiculous a reason as the girls who get a dolphin because they're 'free spirits'," He replied with a goofy grin, reaching out to press an affectionate pat to Jo's shoulder as he looked across at her. “That why you got it?”

Jo shrugged a shoulder again, reeling back in her rod and laying it on the ground before her with a far off look on her face. Garth hadn’t seen that often, the dark shadow in her eyes crossing and swirling darkly for a moment in a way that seemed so opposite to the description before that was second hand as it was, and fighting a frown from forming on his own face, he raised a brow across at her as the blonde let out a shaky breath.

She slowly lifted a hand to her shoulder, fingers stretching onto the back of her shoulder blade as she looked away, and Garth felt his stomach twisting painfully as Jo whispered quietly. “I... I’ve always collected bits of other people. Or memorials to them, I guess. My dad, my uncle, some... others.” Garth could see her scratching at the other area he knew she’d added a few extra birds to on this expedition, frowning how she was rubbing at the area as if they irritated her. Before he could ask, Jo continued, a tone bleeding into her words that made his heart hurt. “But I’m... I’m not goin’ to be... I’m not goin’ to be the one doing the memorialising. So, I don’t know? I guess I just... It’s nonsensical, but I want this time and feelin’ and I guess some kind of part immortalised.”

Garth found himself frowning sharply at that word, eyes turning away quickly to the river and the bobbing bouy of his line as he tried to think over the best answer.

“I guess my reasoning doesn’t really matter anyway,” Jo said sharply after a few moments silence, her hands twisting together in her lap. “All that really matters is that I like it, and that hopefully Grey does too.”

That got a little bit of a laugh from him though, the focus on whether or not the man that Garth had watched stare so lovingly at her when she wasn’t aware would like or not such a beautiful show of affection and love from her. “You’re right Jo, it doesn’t really matter why other than you’re happy.”

Jo’s smile then was almost back to it’s normal brightness, and tilting his head at her, Garth found himself smiling back.

"Besides, I can guarantee that Grey's going to love it when you show him." "Ya think?"

Garth found himself blinking in surprise as he noticed the tiniest shift in Jo's posture as she asked it, her shoulders shrinking in slightly and her hands twitching nervously on her rod, and the bright red blush growing on her cheeks as she chewed on her bottom lip unsurely. It was so different to her usual stance, and as Garth ran an eye over her trying to work it out he let out a quiet chuckle all his own.

Dropping his rod, he didn't even think about it as he leaned over to wrap his own arms around her shoulders and tug her into a warm hug. An echo of uncertainty and concern bleeding out of her that Garth remembered himself, and pulling her into a hug with a laugh he felt good to know that he could give even a fraction of the support back that he got from the blonde over the years and even very recently. "Yes, you idjit!" He cried out with another laugh, hand reaching up to rub his knuckles against the crown of the struggling and giggling blonde's head for a second before releasing her. "I'm absolutely certain."

"As certain you are that you can get that back?" Jo's teasing quip confused him, and Garth frowned.

"Get what back?" "Your rod."

Following her gaze over his shoulder to see the end of his rod disappearing over the riverbed, Garth leaped up after it with a splash and a loud cry of "Balls!" amidst Jo's own laughter.

---

The fanfare that greeted her was pretty much normal by now. And by normal, Jo meant it made her heart ache so fiercely with the amount of love she'd be greeted with upon getting home from such a prolonged time apart.

It was rare she was away as long as she had this time, the hunt followed by staying with Garth had just doubled her usual times away at a stretch, but she could hopefully stay home for a little while now. And brushing her hair back from her face as she'd slid the key into the front lock, Jo had found herself smiling widely at the loud barking she could hear already.

"Hey babygirl, princess, gorgeous baby!" Jo cried out warmly as soon as she had the door open and found herself with a mass of fur and barking and licking and wriggling excitedness bumping into her legs immediately. Dropping her pack by the door as she slid in against Nana's squirming enjoyment, Jo shut the door before sinking to the floor and wrapping her arms around the excitable dog. "Oh baby girl, I missed you. Yes, mommy missed you so much, my little princess. How well behaved were you? You're such a good girl! And I heard you behaved for Auntie Shada and Auntie Ombre too! What a good good good girl!"

Her congratulations and praise were lapped up like the dog had been starving for attention, in the overly dramatic fashion their darling girl always seemed to have, while Jo glanced over the mound of fur against her face as Nana slobbered on her shoulder to see the person who really would have been giving the pup the most attention and love possible stepping out from the kitchen. She drank in his appearance like she'd been starving herself, and finally detangling herself from Nana with a lot of head pats, Jo practically threw herself down the hallway in a thunder of feet to wrap herself up in the warm embrace that was also waiting for her.

"Hey," Grey's voice was as soft and warm as his arms were firm and hot around her, and tilting her head up, Jo drank in the kisses she got back before he could say anything else. 

She couldn’t say how long it was before finally his lips drew back from hers with a happy sounding sigh from the both of them.  This was home. This is what she wanted more than anything.

“Missed me?” “More than anything, pretty one.” “Anythin’? What’a ‘bout more than, um, paintin’?” “More than that.” “What ‘bout my baking?” “Why, without you, Jo, I’d never have your baking again.” “Hozier?” “All these colors fade for you only.” “Hmmm, what ‘bout Nana?”

“Pretty one,” Grey sighed out softly, shaking his head at her for a moment before cupping her cheeks with both hands that made her knees buckle, smiling in the face of her happiness. “Stop comparing yourself to anything else. I’ll always miss you most of all.”

“Well, good. Cause I missed you too.” The kissing she got in response to that made her laugh all over again, hands fisting in the other’s apron front and cuddling in closer to him. “I’m so glad to be home.”

And as Jo let him lift her up and to sit atop the kitchen table as he kissed her thoroughly and soundly, making up for every single kiss they'd missed while apart, the way he always would - she could feel the warmth of their love, and underneath the bubbling anticipation for tonight.

The anticipation for after the kisses were through, and Grey had drawn back to hugging her and asking her how her week had been. For after she'd gone and unpacked and Grey'd called her down to help with making whatever they were having for dinner together. For after they'd washed the dishes and cuddled up in a pile on the couch made of them and their fluffy baby girl despite the heat wanting that closeness.

That anticipation for when they'd go up to bed, and after brushing her teeth, and maybe even feeling the soft tug of his brushing her hair, and they'd made sure their girl was happily sleeping on the spare bed - when Grey would spin her about again and they'd kiss all over again before he finally drew her jeans down her legs and would see the dark ink etched into her.

His artwork brought into life and buried into her skin the way he was buried deep inside her all the same.

A small piece of his art, a piece of him marking her forever, in a way that his name was already tattooed across her very heart. 

---